When it comes to DNA repair, it's not one tool fits all

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.

This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: Four National Health employees test positive for COVID-19

Four employees from the National Department of Health have tested positive for COVID-19, the department announced on Tuesday.

The department said the four infected employees include one from the Ministerial Office and three from the department itself.

All employees, who had been in close contact, are being traced and will be managed as per the expected procedures for contact tracing, testing and quarantine. We wish these employees a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming them back when they are declared fully recovered, the department said in a statement.

The department said it continues to operate and will not be closed. It said the Minister and Deputy Minister of Health had not physically been in contact with any of the employees.

The department said the health and well-being of its employees, who are essential to the fight against Coronavirus, is of paramount importance.

 The department employees have been exemplary in their conduct since the onset of the pandemic. All workplace regulations have been closely observed and service delivery has been maintained, even while many have been working from home, the department said.

The Ministry of Health has also expressed sincere gratitude to all employees in the Department of Health for leading by example.

Coronavirus will touch all our lives, but our best efforts do make a difference. We can fight Coronavirus, even as we open the economy and interact more with each other, if we observe the rules of engagement. We must always wear our masks over the nose and mouth, even in the workspace.

We must strictly abide by the rules of social distancing. We must clean our hands and the surfaces we encounter fastidiously  Added to this, we must avoid crowded places and avoid leaving home whenever possible, the department said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Al-Kahila gallery is back withSummer Colours, a group show featuring among others Sayed Saad El Din, Ayyad Alnimer, Mohamed Rabie, Mohamed Dmarawey,Britt Botrous Ghali and Dina Targram.

BrittBotrous Ghali is among the important Norwegian artists of the century. Steeped in the early influences of abstract expressionism, she studied painting and sculpture under Ellen Christensen and Ferdinand Lunde in Oslo in the late 1950s. She also employed impressionist techniques.

I remember the exhibition the artist gave in Egypt in 1999, featuring speedy spectral lines with rough intermittent touches of the brush, using oils intensively on the surface. Shapes are more suggestive from a distance, although they never resolve into anything definite. As for her current exhibition, there is an artistic breakthrough in terms of style, colour and design.

In contrast to her beginnings, Britt has spent the last 40 years in Egypt. Her studio overlooks the Nile, which serves as a place of abundance  not only for local artists and eccentrics to meet, but also for people who travel from afar to see and collect her work. The many years spent in Egypts rich, colorful and exotic culture and environment has greatly influenced her work.

Britt has exhibited internationally throughout her career. Her work is widely collected. In 1996, she was awarded the Saint Olavs Order, the highest Norwegian honour for an artist, by King Haakon of Norway, for promoting Norway through her art abroad.

The exhibition is on until 30 July.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Although the coronavirus pandemic has affected all aspects of life, as long as women exist, fashion will go on, says Lisa Sarigiannidou, a prominent Greek hat maker and designer.

She says that her handmade designs have classic lines, but that they evolve every year in line with new fashion trends.

Bucket hats and scraped hats of different sizes are the trends for this summer, she says.

Sarigiannidou usually uses a natural straw braided material. "I love raw materials and enjoy working with them in designing the Savapile collection.

"The final result along with the feeling you get when you have your own handmade or custom-made and unique hat is magnificent," she tells Ahram Online.

"My straw hats are made to accommodate the demands of the summer season; they have hard endurance for heat, they love water, salt and sand, and they also have multiple uses as they can be used in the afternoon as baskets so you can carry for example your fruit inside them," she explains.

Sarigiannidou, who also makes hats for special occasions like weddings, caps for men, berets, heart-shaped hats and many others, stresses that straw hats have a special place in her heart.

"They are for everyone and different age groups, they love your head, they breathe as well as protect," she added.

Sarigiannidou also recommends wearing hats while shopping at the market in the morning, having your coffee in your favourite cafe, while sunbathing, when eating at a restaurant or enjoying the sunset.

For Sarigiannidou, it takes two days to finish one hat. It is the process of wetting and drying, not only sewing, that requires this amount of duration.

Every single hat is different from one another, she says,

My father had started the millinery business in 1960, in the centre of Athens, and I grew up watching him working there.

"Since I was born, I was surrounded by hats, so all my memory images are connected with this profession. My family has always supported me, especially my sister, says Sarigiannidou, adding that the hat shop was in the neighbourhood of Psirri in Athens, right under the amazing Acropolis, which has influenced her aesthetics and designs.

As for packing for holidays, Sarigiannidou believes that a hat that is big enough to cover the face and shoulders should definitely have a place in every summer suitcase. "Not only is it very stylish, but also it is a life saviour," she says.

Many celebrities have worn my hats, but what touches me most is when someone wears a hat of mine even though they are shy, or they think that hats do not suit them, and then they tell how it boosted their confidence and esteem.

Asked about her favourite item in her closet, Sarigiannidou says she loves a vintage hat that she received from her father.

She believes that every new designer has to understand that fashion design is basically a dream that is intertwined with passion.

"When creativity is at stake, we just have to keep on dreaming," she argues.

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Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly chaired a meeting on Monday to discuss strategies for the upcoming academic year in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Minister of Education Tarek Shawqy, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar and Minister of Communication and Information Technology Amr Talaat attended the meeting.

In a statement after the meeting, Madbouly said the state has directed giving greater attention to e-learning and the crisis of the coronavirus has proved that it is on the right track, asserting that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has ordered an expansion in the remote learning system.

Shawqy said the ministry has made vast investments in e-learning and its infrastructure, adding that there is a notable increase in people's acceptance of e-learning.

He also reviewed the tools and means the ministry provided to deal with the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis as the academic year was halted in the middle of March. He also proposed the ministry's plan for the new academic year 2020/2021.

The minister noted that curricula for all academic stages have been uploaded through the ministry's platform https://study.ekb.eg/, the digital library and the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, adding that 13.5 million students across the nation have already been admitted to digital classes, in addition to a million parents.

Abdel-Ghaffar proposed a plan for higher education, including a merge between traditional education and e-learning systems to reduce the density in classes. He said students will be assessed through three phases of knowledge, assessment as well as activities and services.

At the end of the meeting, the premier ordered an expansion in the internet capacity to include more educational content for all academic stages and the database needed for the increasing demand.
Egypt's irrigation ministry said on Wednesday that Ethiopia's adherence to its strict stances concerning the technical aspects of the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) would make the chance of reaching a consensus less likely.

The ministry said these aspects, including how to deal with drought and years with scarce inputs during both the filling and operating stages of the mega-dam, represent the backbone of the technical part of the agreement for Egypt."

Egypt's statement comes on the fifth consecutive day of the new round of virtual talks with Sudan, and Ethiopia, held under the aegis of the African Union, with the aim of reaching a consensus on how the mega-dam on the Blue Nile should be filled and operated.

Up to 11 observers representing the EU, the US, the AU Commission, South Africa and the AU's legal and technical experts are attending the online talks.

Egypt also said that technical and legal differences over the dam still persist.

Two parallel meetings of the three countries technical and legal teams were held on Tuesday in an effort to reconcile opinions.

According to the ministry's statement, the technical discussions saw differences between the three countries, despite the flexibility Egypt showed via its proposals, regarding the measures needed during periods of drought, including prolonged drought, and dry years.

There are also differences on the rules of re-filling the dam following the periods of prolonged drought, the ministry said.

Ethiopia is sticking to apply the same rules of the first filling, a matter that constitutes additional burdens for the Egyptian high dam, in addition to the impact caused by the drought periods, which represent a main point of contention, read the ministry statement.

Ethiopia has refused to include the flow of annual operations in the deal, the Egyptian ministry said, as Addis Ababa wants to be in sole control of the operation of the dam, and to be able to change the rules of operations unilaterally. It would be able to do so without the approval of the downstream countries, and be required only to inform them of the change.That suggestion has been totally rejected by Egypt and Sudan, according to the statement.

Commenting on the discussion of the legal teams, the Egyptian ministry said that legal differences persist.

At the end of the fifth day of meetings, the three countries agreed to put forward their reports to the tripartite ministerial meeting.

They agreed to put off the bilateral meetings between each country and observers to Wednesday.

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 resolve the stalemate to preserve international peace and stability.

The Security Council urged the three countries to avoid adopting any unilateral actions and conduct talks on the basis of mutual understanding.

Abiy says filling will start

Earlier on Tuesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that his country will start filling the reservoir of the GERD to tap into the current heavy rain season, despite Egypt and Sudan earlier saying that the three countries had agreed to delay the filling until a trilateral agreement on the disputed project is reached.

"Ethiopia will not harm Egypt and will start filling the dam to tap into the [current] heavy rain season. We will not deprive Egypt of water and will reach an agreement soon," the Ethiopian premier was quoted by Al-Arabiya as saying on Tuesday.

The spokesman of the Egyptian irrigation ministry, Mohamed El-Sebaie, has said the recent remarks by Abiy Ahmed are deemed opposed to pledges made by the three countries late last month to not take any unilateral action over the project.

We can't confirm that the filling has started," he said in televised comments on Tuesday.

"Egypt had spent 40 hours in negotiations with the Ethiopian side, according to the outcomes of the mini-summit held between the three countries' leaders on 26 June," he said.

The negotiation is contingent on only two main points: how to deal with periods of drought during filing and operation of the dam, which represent 95 percent of the Egyptian concern, he added.

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Anhui was rated as the 10th most innovative province in China, according to an evaluation report issued recently in Beijing.

The report, titled China Regional Innovation Capacity Evaluation Report 2019, ranked 31 provincial regions on the Chinese mainland in terms of innovation capacity in 2019.

The report set the first-level indicators from five aspects: knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition, corporate innovation, environment for innovation and innovation performance.

Anhui has been among the most innovative provinces for eight consecutive years.

The number of high-tech enterprises reached 6,636 in the province last year, 1,233 more than that in 2018. 196 out of them registered more than 1 billion yuan in operating revenue each, while 17 ones got more than 10 billion yuan.

The provinces high-tech industrial output rose 11.2 percent in 2019, and its value-added output increased 13.7 percent.

The province also made remarkable achievements in sci-tech projects, for example, Mozi, the worlds first mobile quantum communication satellite, allowed two ground stations more than 1,120 kilometers apart to be activated by entanglement-based quantum key distribution.

Up to 368 million yuan of subsidies were given to 1,880 innovative programs in 2019. Meanwhile, the province won nine State Science and Technology Awards.

Wuhu, a major city in the province, hosted an exhibition last year to present the Yangtze River Delta regions latest achievements in scientific and technological innovation. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui in the region pledged to work together to build a national technological innovation center, according to an agreement signed by sci-tech regulators from the municipality and the provinces.




HONG KONG, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Office of the commissioner of the Chinese foreign ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) expressed on Monday strong disapproval of and firm opposition against the accusations against the national security law made by a principal official of the U.S. Consulate-General to Hong Kong.

The commissioner's office released on Monday a statement in response to the accusations against the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR by a principal official of the U.S. Consulate-General to Hong Kong in an interview.

It is a common practice globally, including in the United States, that safeguarding national security falls within the purview of the central authorities. Therefore, it is wrong to apply double standards and point fingers at the Chinese central authorities' enactment of the national security law, the spokesperson of the commissioner's office said in the statement.

The spokesperson pointed out that the Chinese central authorities enacted the law in strict compliance with the Constitution and the Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and the Basic Law of the HKSAR, and the procedure was thorough, rules-based, sound, democratic and transparent.

In the lawmaking process, the central authorities consulted via multiple means the Hong Kong community extensively, including the HKSAR chief executive, principal officials of the HKSAR government, and the legal profession in Hong Kong among others, the spokesperson noted. "Nearly three million Hong Kong residents signed a petition endorsing the legislation in eight days. Why has the U.S. side ignored these facts?"

The national security law stipulates in the general principles that human rights shall be respected and protected; that the rights and freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, of the press, of publication, of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration, which Hong Kong residents enjoy under the Basic Law of the HKSAR and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong, shall be protected in accordance with the law; and that the international principle of the rule of law shall be adhered to, including the principle of legality, presumption of innocence, the rule against double jeopardy, the protection of the rights of the parties in judicial proceedings, and fair trial, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson emphasized that "one country, two systems" is a basic state policy of China, and no one has more determination and good faith than the Chinese government to implement the policy.

"Two systems" can only operate within "one country", which is the very foundation. And the high degree of autonomy, not full autonomy, that Hong Kong enjoys can only work within the framework of "one country, two systems", the spokesperson pointed out.

The national security law is intended exactly to ensure the enduring success of "one country, two systems" and the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, the spokesperson said. "The U.S. side should carefully study the Constitution of the PRC, the Basic Law of the HKSAR and the national security law so as to fully and accurately understand 'one country, two systems'."

The spokesperson pointed out that the legal grounds for the Chinese government's governance of the HKSAR are the Constitution of the PRC and the Basic Law of the HKSAR, not the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

"After Hong Kong returned to China on July 1, 1997, foreign countries including the U.S. have no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of supervision over Hong Kong. China firmly opposes any attempt by the U.S. to meddle with Hong Kong affairs under the pretext of the joint declaration."

The spokesperson said that it is in line with the principle of protective jurisdiction, an international common practice, that the national security law applies to offenses under this law committed against the HKSAR from outside the region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the region.

"It is simply unacceptable that the U.S. criticizes China's reasonable practice that is consistent with the international norm even as it itself abuses long-arm jurisdiction against foreign businesses and individuals."

The spokesperson pointed out that Hong Kong is part of China, and it is only right and proper for the central government of China to enact and implement the national security law in accordance with the Constitution and other laws. "It is the U.S. sanctions over the law that has violated international law and basic norms governing international relations."

The spokesperson said that no international financial center, be it New York, London or Hong Kong, will see its business environment undermined because of the implementation of national security legislation.

"Although it has only been six days since the implementation of the national security law, its positive effects have already manifested themselves," the spokesperson said, adding that the consensus for stability and peace and the momentum of solidarity and development are building across Hong Kong society, and the residents are feeling safer as hatred, division and the intensity of violence are declining.

Since late May, the Hang Seng Index has kept rising and the Hong Kong dollar remained strong. The majority of foreign businesses have chosen to stay. All of these are votes of confidence cast by international investors in the national security law, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson emphasized that the Chinese government is rock-firm in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, in implementing the "one country, two systems" policy, and in opposing any external interference in Hong Kong affairs.

"The U.S. side should reverse its course and immediately stop meddling with China's internal affairs in any possible way," said the spokesperson.
A CH-92A armed reconnaissance drone is delivered to Serbia. Photo: Website of Serbia's Ministry of Defense

Serbia has reportedly taken delivery of a batch of CH-92A armed reconnaissance drones plus missiles recently, the first time China has exported military-use aviation equipment to a European country and a milestone for Chinese arms firms in the European market, analysts said on Monday.

The drones are expected to become some of the most advanced weapons in the Serbian arsenal, as the cost-efficient unmanned aircraft can conduct tactical reconnaissance, precision targeting, ground attack and patrol missions, experts said.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic inspected the drones on Saturday local time, according to Serbia's Ministry of Defense.

A total of nine CH-92A drones plus 18 FT-8C air-to-ground missiles were included in the delivery. Fifteen more drones are expected in future procurements, reports said.

Developed by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the CH-92A drone has a combat radius of more than 250 kilometers, a ceiling of 5,000 meters, and a maximum speed of 200 kilometers an hour, and it can carry two missiles, including the FT-8C air-to-ground missile that can reach targets 9 kilometers away, according to publicly available information.

Beijing-based military expert Wei Dongxu told the Global Times on Monday that the CH-92A is the best option for Serbia because of its high cost-efficiency. At a relatively low price, this type of medium-sized drone can offer precise tactical reconnaissance, hit ground targets including high-value targets and bunkers, guide artillery fire, and conduct patrol missions in sensitive areas such as border and conflict regions.

Chinese military observers pointed out that while the monetary worth of the deal is not high, this is the first time China has exported military-use aviation equipment to a European country, which will have great significance in Chinese arms firms' position in the European market.

Wei said that other European countries that run on a tight military budget can now take a closer look at Chinese drones, such as the CH series and Wing Loong series.

Chinese arms firms have been active providers of military-use drones in the international market, as CH series and Wing Loong series drones can often be seen in the Middle East and Africa. As of December 2018, 100 Wing Loong drones had been delivered to foreign clients.

Chinese weapons and equipment are well known on the international market not only because of their high efficiency and low cost, but also good after-sales services and logistics support, observers said, noting that China does not attach political conditions to arms sales, unlike some countries such as the US.
Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Monday deposited the instrument of accession to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) of the People's Republic of China to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

After depositing the instrument of accession, Zhang said that the Chinese government "attaches high importance to the problems caused by illicit transfer and abuse of conventional arms. China supports the purposes and goals of the treaty and agrees on taking necessary measures to regulate international arms trade and combat illicit arms transfer."

Meanwhile, China always strictly regulates export of military articles, "with policies and management measures meeting or in some areas even exceeding ATT requirements." It is worth pointing out that China only allows export to sovereign states, not non-state actors. This fully demonstrates its high sense of responsibility. China calls on all parties to strictly regulate export of military items, disallow export to non-state actors and stop interfering in sovereign states' internal affairs through arms export, he said.

A Chinese-made military drone is displayed at the Kazakhstan Defense Exhibition in Astana (Nur-Sultan), Kazakhstan, May 23, 2018. /Xinhua

The envoy noted that accession to the ATT is another important step in China's active participation in global arms trade governance to safeguard international and regional peace and stability. "It demonstrates China's resolve and sincerity in maintaining international arms control regime, supporting multilateralism, and forging a community with a shared future for mankind. It will further enhance the treaty's universality and contribute to global security governance and international arms control process."

U.S. refuses to ratify ATT

The Arms Trade Treaty, which aims at regulating the trade of conventional arms and cracking down on illicit arms transfers, was adopted by the UN General Assembly on April 2, 2013, and entered into force on December 24, 2014. It now has 107 states parties with China's accession.

At the 74th UN General Assembly held in September 2019, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the start of China's domestic legal procedures for joining the treaty.

Last month China's top legislature voted to adopt a decision on joining the ATT.

Depositing the instrument of accession marks the conclusion of the domestic legal procedures for China's accession to the treaty. As per the provision of the treaty, the treaty will enter into force for China 90 days after the deposit of the instrument of accession.

Then U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) signs the Arms Trade Treaty during the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, September 25, 2013. /AP

Then U.S. President Barack Obama's administration signed the treaty in 2013, but it was opposed by the National Rifle Association and never ratified by the U.S. Senate.

President Donald Trump said in April last year that he intended to revoke the status of the United States as a signatory.

In July 2019, the U.S. told Guterres that Washington did not intend to become a party to the treaty and that it had no legal obligations from its 2013 signature.

'Major powers need to honor commitment'

The world is facing many challenges, and unilateralism has become the source of trouble. A certain country has quit multilateral arms control agreements and international treaties and organizations in succession, walked away from international commitments, and launched acts of unilateralism and bullying, said Zhang.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a letter to the Senate about the Arms Trade Treaty as he speaks to the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association in Indianapolis, U.S., April 26, 2019. /AP

"This has brought huge uncertainties to the global strategic balance and stability, and seriously undermined the joint efforts of all countries to tackle global challenges. At this critical moment, major powers need to honor commitment, shoulder responsibilities, and set an example by contributing to safeguarding the international order, the rule of law, the role of the UN and multilateralism," said the envoy.

Zhang said that China will continue to "take the side of multilateralism and fairness and justice, abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, uphold international arms control treaties and regimes, and make greater contribution to shaping a well-regulated and sound order for arms trade, maintaining international peace and stability, and promoting common development of the world."
Major General Stefano Del Col, head of mission and force commander of UNIFIL, inspects the 18th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Lebanon on July 5.

By Huang Shifeng and Lin Duo

BEIRUT, July 6 -- Major General Stefano Del Col, head of mission and force commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), inspected the 18th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Lebanon and spoke highly of their outstanding performance on July 5th, 2020.

Later on that day, Maj Gen Del Cole and his entourage were transferred to the Chinese doctors barrack in southern Lebanon by plane, where they listened to the work briefing and toured the clinics.

Maj. Gen. Del Cole said that the Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent had made a great contribution to the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic in local area. Their professionalism, team spirit and sense of responsibility deserved deep respect.

Li Ruzhen, head of the medical contingent, said that the praise was not only a recognition of their work in the past, but also the encouragement for the future. The Chinese peacekeepers would continue to take good care of the UN peacekeepershealth and provide humanitarian assistance to local residents, safeguarding the peace and stability in the south Lebanon.

It is learned that the 18th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Lebanon, composed of 30 service members, is mainly responsible for the daily medical support of military and civilian personnel in the Sector East of the UNIFIL. Meanwhile, it also provides humanitarian medical assistance to local people within their capacity and has won wide acclaim from the UNIFIL and the local people.
The final satellite of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System is launched and sent into orbit by a Long March 3B carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province on Tuesday. [Photo by Yin Gang/For China Daily]

By Li Guoli and Yang Xin

BEIJING, July 7  On July 6, the 9th Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum was held via video-link.

"The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is Chinas first space infrastructure to provide public services for the world. During the development of the BeiDou-3 system, we have always kept our Arab friends in mind," Wang Zhaoyao, Chairman of the China Satellite Navigation Committee, told reporters. "Today, a China-Arab Space Silk Road is in the making. The BDS is bound to promote the cooperation between China and Arab states to a higher level."

In January 2016, China signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in terms of BDS development with Saudi Arabia, the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization (AICTO), and the Arab Academy for Science Technology & Maritime Transport(AASTMT) to establish a formal cooperation mechanism; in May 2017, the first China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum was held to build a High-end China-Arab states cooperation forum in satellite navigation; in April 2018, the first China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center was inaugurated in Tunisia, serving as a open platform for the China-Arab cooperation in satellite navigation; in December 2018, China optimized its satellite launch plan to provide privileged services to BRI countries including the Arab states two years ahead of schedule; in April 2019, the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum was held, marking a long-term mechanism for the forum developed; in September 2019, China and Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on Beidou expansion, clearly reflecting an all-round cooperation in BDS application.

Wang Zhaoyao said that cooperation between China and Arab states should not remain in the economic and trade field. China is willing to share technological achievements with Arab countries in the high-tech field and is ready to strengthen its technical cooperation and exchange in the field of satellite navigation with Arab countries through multiple ways of joint R&D, industrial collaboration, education, and training, to achieve collective progress.

Over the past 20 years, from the successful launch of the first experimental satellite BeiDou-1A in October 2000 to the deployment of the last global networking satellite of the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System in June 2020, China has successively launched four BeiDou experimental satellites and 55 BeiDou-2 and BeiDou-3 networking satellites into orbit.

At present, the BDS has been applied in more than half of the countries and regions across the world. Solutions based on the system for confirmation of land rights, precise agriculture, digital construction, timing service at airports, monitoring and management on vehicles and ships, and intelligent port management have been successfully applied in countries in the ASEAN, South Asia, East Europe, West Asia, Africa, etc.

It is learned that the current BDS's global positioning accuracy is better than 5m, and it can also provide high-precision and high-integrity services to users with meter, decimeter, and centimeter-level real-time positioning. In addition to the basic navigation and timing services, the BDS can also provide diverse services, including satellite-based augmentation, ground-based augmentation, short message communication, international search and rescue, and precise point positioning.

"The three different orbit mixed constellations, unique of BDS, have integrated the Medium Earth orbit (MEO), the inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) and the geostationary orbit (GEO) with higher accuracy of service signals and stronger anti-shielding capabilities," Wang Zhaoyao said, adding that the BDS is a Chinese approach contributing to the world.
South Africa: Social Development Minister welcomes ECD ruling

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has studied and welcomed the Gauteng High Court judgment on the reopening of early childhood development (ECDs) programmes.

Delivered on Monday, the judgment by the High Court stipulated that private nursery schools can reopen, provided they follow the safety measures put in place.

The Department of Social Development appreciates that the judgment upholds the departments position that ECD centres and partial care facilities should reopen, subject to the appropriate and/or prescribed safety measures being in place.

This is in line with the provisions of the Childrens Act, said the department.

The ruling comes after the Social Development Department had taken a decision that ECD centres remain closed under level 3 of lockdown.

Over the past few weeks, the department has been seized with the implementation and roll out of its readiness programme, working with all provinces, ECDs and stakeholders in the sector.

This readiness programme aims to provide guidance or protocols on the operations of ECDs and to ensure that ECDs are ready to open under the current lockdown.

To this effect, the department wishes to emphasise and reiterate that the re-opening of ECD centres is still subject to meeting the appropriate and/or prescribed safety measures, the department emphasised.

The measures must comply and meet the requirements as contained in the following:

1. Regulations issued in terms of section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002, published in Government Notice No. R. 480 of 29 April 2020 (Government Gazette No 43258), as amended, as far as it pertains to the measures to address, prevent and combat the spread of COVID-19 under risk level 3.

2. Standard operating procedures and guidelines for an early childhood development programme and/or partial care facility that provides an after-school service on measures to address, prevent and combat the spread of COVID-19 that was published by the Department of Social Development on 23 June 2020.

3. The relevant provisions and requirements as set out in the Children's Act 38 of 2005 for the registration and management of early childhood development centres.

4. The completion of the self-assessment form (Form 1) as required in terms of the Department of Social Developments Circular dated 21 June 2020 accessible on https://forms.gle/c7y8ZL5W94diuqTS6. The forms are also available at local social development offices and service points within which ECD centres or partial care facilities operate.

5. Any Directions that the Minister of Social Development may issue in terms of Regulation 4(5) of the Regulations issued in terms of section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002.

Management of the ECD centres that are to reopen, are required to establish the measures and procedures, including physical, material and programmatic requirements, as well as the requirements for the return, orientation and training of the staff.

The department will continue to work closely with ECDs to ensure that they are ready to open. An ECD centre that is not compliant with the minimum COVID-19 health, safety and social distancing measures on COVID-19, may not re-open until all the health, safety and social distancing measures are in place, said the department.

The judgment, however, does not apply to other forms of early childhood development programmes, such as child minders, playgroups, toy libraries, among others, or any partial care facility, other than a partial care facility that provides an early childhood development programme.

The Social Development Minister is set to issue directions to be published in the Government Gazette to further guide the opening of all ECD programmes, including those in public schools.

The department encouraged all ECD centres to continue registering through its Vangasali campaign, which can be accessed at https://www.nelsonmandela.org/vangasali. - SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Amb. Li Song

The Chinese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Disarmament Affairs H.E. Li Song and his US counterpart Robert Wood had a bout at the recent Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva, Switzerland. Amb. Li Song fought back resolutely against the rumor-mongering by the US side.

The world will not be deceived by American lies, hurled Amb. Li Song against Washingtons ridiculous rumor-mongering.

The CD in Geneva is the only standing multilateral platform of disarmament negotiation in the international community nowadays. China joined the conference in February 1980 and assigned a resident disarmament ambassador to Geneva in 1983. Due to the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, CDs second and third sessions beginning in March were postponed and convened on June 30.

At such an occasion of multilateral arms control and disarmament negotiation, the US disarmament ambassador Robert Wood began with launching a vicious attack of Chinas anti-pandemic efforts, accusing China of concealing the epidemic and harming the world.

To his words, Amb. Li Song requested to exercise the right of reply and resolutely opposed and rejected the US accusations, saying that the US only goal is to divert domestic conflicts and shirk its domestic and international responsibilities for Washingtons disastrous pandemic response.

Scapegoating is a clumsy trick played by the US, but its lies cannot deceive the world or the people. They will only fool the US itself. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, what has China done for its people and the international community and what has America done for its people and the world? The world and history will have a fair judgment!

Arms control is neither a game nor a trick. The US owes its sincerity to the world.

Amb. Wood during the CD unreasonably criticized China's nuclear arms control policy and military build-up, arguing that China poses a major threat to world peace and security. In the meantime, the US has strongly demanded China join the so-called trilateral arms control dialogue with the US and Russia, which Amb. Li Song pointed out was another way of shifting blame.

Since China is not restricted by the US-Russia bilateral arms control treaty and doesnt join the arms control negotiation, Washington wants to take that as an excuse to shake off the restriction imposed by the current treaty. In short, the US insists that no one does right except itself, and America must come first and be an exception, said Amb. Li Song.

China has exposed the hypocrisy of Americas arms control policy and assertion at many multilateral occasions, including the CD and UN GeneralAssembly. Arms control must show respect to history. As the superpower with the largest and most advanced nuclear arsenal, the US should not shirk its historic responsibilities for nuclear arms reduction simply by saying the days of a bipolar world are gone.

Chinas accession and US withdrawal, coincidental as it is, speaks for their attitudes.

Amb. Li Song announced at the CD that China would soon officially join the Arms Trade Treaty as the country has completed all the legal procedures at home. At the same time, the Trump administration announced its decision to revoke the signing of the treaty.

In the past half-century, the CD and its predecessor platform have, through negotiations, reached a long list of relevant international treaties, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Biological Weapons Convention, Convention on the Banning of Chemical Weapons and Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. However, the US has refused to negotiate about nuclear disarmament and other topics on various excuses.

Chinas joining the Arms Trade Treaty and Americas withdrawal is coincidental in time, but it speaks for their completely different attitude toward and practices on multilateral arms control. Thats why Chinas joining of the treaty has receiveda positive response from the international community. Many representatives at the CD described it as good news much needed in multilateral arms control, Amb. Li Song said.

Speaking of the international arms control process in the midst of todays complicated international situation, Amb. Li Song said China would continue to safeguard and intensify the multilateral arms control mechanism and promote candid and pragmatic dialogue and cooperation. Arms reduction should not be used as a tool of major-country strategic rivalry but should be dedicated to protecting collective security free from the damaging effects of Cold War mentality.
A photo shows the lighthouse on the Nansha Islands' Zhubi Reef in the South China Sea. Photo: Xinhua

By Wu Shicun

The Nimitz and Reagan aircraft carrier strike groups of the US Navy are carrying out military exercises in the South China Sea right now. This is the first such drill in recent years. The US military even publicly declared this to be the most significant symbol of its determination.

The year 2020 will witness the situation in the South China Sea shift from "stabilizing" to "turbulent". Specifically, a series of events in the South China Sea since May triggered the increased tense situation in the South China Sea. Worrying new changes are taking place in this region.

Provoking "militarization of the South China Sea"

The COVID-19 pandemic hits the US really hard, and the US military has not been spared. But instead of slowing down its military operations in the South China Sea, the US has intensified its use of the South China Sea issue to contain China.

The US issued the report titled "United States Strategic Approach to the Peoples Republic of China" on May 20, threatening to suppress China. The US Mission to the United Nations submitted a diplomatic note to the office of the UN Secretary-Generals office on June 1, objecting China's enjoyment of "historic rights" that exceeds the marine entitlements that China could assert consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in the South China Sea.

It is strange that also on June 1, the Philippine government ordered the suspension of the "Philippines-US Visiting Forces Agreement". The Philippine Defense Minister boarded the Zhongye Island in the South China Sea on June 9. At the same time, the US Navy carried out two rounds of double aircraft carrier exercises in the Philippine Sea on June 21 and 28, respectively.

At the same time, the US did not relax its surveillance and intelligence gathering of Chinese military exercises from the sea and the air. The Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) carried out operations in the South China Sea for two consecutive days from June 30 to July 1. A US Navy EP-3E electronic reconnaissance aircraft appeared over the Bashi Channel on July 2. If we take into consideration the five "freedom of navigation" operations carried out by the US in the South China Sea since this year, it is not difficult to find that US military operations in the South China Sea are more aggressive and provocative than ever before. The US is the biggest threat to stability in the South China Sea and the biggest black hand that provokes the "militarization of the South China Sea."

Colluding with the US?

The US is neither a coastal country nor a claimant of the South China Sea. If it wants to maintain a military presence therein, intervene in relevant disputes, and use the South China Sea issue to contain China, it cannot plot without the collusion of the countries in the region.

In other words, the provocative and risky actions of the countries in the region against China are either instigated by the US or backed by the US. This can be proved by the "diplomatic note war" triggered by Malaysia's submission of an extended shelf claim in the South China Sea to the UNs Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) at the end of last year, and the unilateral actions of other claimants. Shadows of the US are even looming over the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) consultations.

The diplomatic notes submitted by the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia against Malaysia or China are based on the arbitral award in favor of the Philippines over the South China Sea issue, which denies China's "historic rights" in the South China Sea, the island status of the Nansha Islands and the claims of maritime jurisdiction. At a critical moment of the diplomatic wars of words among various countries, the US suddenly jumped out and intervened. Its note to the UN totally denied China's rights and claims in the South China Sea.

Moreover, other episodes include: the unilateral oil and gas development in the Wan'an Tan area by Vietnam last year, the "ship collision incident" caused by illegal fishing in waters off Xisha Islands in this April, and Vietnam's recent threats to initiate a new South China Sea arbitration against China. Vietnam obviously would not go all out to "fight with China to the end" without USs support. Similarly, Malaysia's unilateral oil and gas development in the disputed area of Nansha Islands, the expansion of the Philippines' facility on Zhongye Island, and the aggressive law enforcement by Indonesia in the traditional Chinese fishery in Natuna Islands are inseparable from the instigation and public support of the US.

The stability of South China Sea cannot be subverted.

The strategic cooperation between the US and Vietnam, and the alliance relationship between the US and the Philippines have continued to rise. Some claimant countries have used the window period of COC consultations to consolidate and expand vested interests with unilateral actions. The COC consultations stalled due to the pandemic. The resurgence of the arbitration award and its interference with the maritime cooperation in the South China Sea will be the distinctive features of the development and changes in the South China Sea in the future.

As a leading force safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea, China will spare no effort to promote the rule-based development of a maritime order in the South China Sea, promote the construction of facilities based on the civilian development of Nansha islands and reefs and the provision of international public goods. China will integrate its maritime powers with the goal of rights protection and stability maintenance in the South China Sea, and build its capabilities to adapt to the future naval warfare style change. China will be devoted to give full play to "the Chinese strength" and "the Chinese presence" and will continue to be the anchor for maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.

(The author is President of Chinas National Institute for South China Sea Studies and Chairman of Board of Directors of China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea)

Disclaimer: This article is originally published on huanqiu.com and translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
Australia is considering offering safe haven visas to Hong Kong residents following China's imposition of sweeping national security laws. Australia has said it is disturbed by the developments in Hong Kong and has received a request from Britain to share the burden if there is a widespread exodus from the territory. The moves have been strongly criticized by China.

Britain has asked Australia and its other Five Eyes alliance partners, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S., to help if people are forced to leave Hong Kong. The U.K says it would offer asylum.

Hong Kong residents fearing political persecution can already apply for protection under Australia's existing humanitarian program. Several government lawmakers in Canberra have been fiercely opposed to Beijing's crackdown on Hong Kong protesters.

Prime minister Scott Morrison says new resettlement plans are being drafted. "We are considering (it) very actively and there are proposals that I asked to be brought forward several weeks ago, and the final touches will be put on those and they will soon be considered by cabinet to provide similar opportunities and we think that is important and very consistent with who we are as a people," Morrison said.


"Most of the infections reported since May, including ones traced to Itaewon clubs... were the GH strain of the virus," KCDC chief Jeong Eun-kyeong said. "Many people came to Korea from Europe and the U.S. in March and April and we believe the GH strain was introduced at that time."

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that analysis of 313 genetic sequences of 2,362 new COVID-19 cases detected here since May showed that 98.4 percent were the "GH" strain that may be up to six times more infectious than the first.

The World Health Organization classifies COVID-19 into seven strains such as S, V, L, G, GH and GR.

According to the KCDC, the S strain comes from Wuhan, China, while the V strain spread in Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang Province primarily among the Shincheonji sect. The GR strain was discovered among Russian sailors who arrived recently in Busan.

Most of the initial cases in Korea were the S strain. Now, the GH strain is the dominant one, which is also the case in Europe, North America and South America.

Researchers at Duke University, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Sheffield announced recently that the GH strain is three to six times more contagious than the original strain.

"The GH strain is believed to proliferate much faster and combines more easily with human cells, making it highly contagious," Jeong said.

When asked to comment on the possibility of airborne infection of the virus, she said, "More research is needed," but added, "Existing quarantine and prevention measures are still valid, since the main routes of infection continue to be indirect contact."
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Contact tracing apps against COVID-19

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile software applications have been developed worldwide. Such apps are part of a wider array of digital tools for the prevention and control of infectious diseases. Which technical questions occur in the development of these apps? What ethical aspects must be considered? How can these apps be helpful in the relaxation of restrictions on public and economic life?

International experts will discuss these issues at an English-language virtual panel discussion organised by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina on Wednesday, 15 July, 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m CEST. We cordially invite you to this event and would appreciate an announcement of this date in your medium.

Virtual Panel Discussion

"Contact Tracing Apps: Promising Tool in the Fight against COVID-19?

Wednesday, 15 July 2020

10:00 am-11:15 am BST (London & Dublin)

11:00 am-12:15 pm CEST (Berlin)

6:00 pm-7:15 pm KST (Seoul)

Debating at the podium:

- Sir Jonathan Montgomery, Professor of Healthcare Law, University College London, Chair of Oxford University Hospitals NHSFT and Non-executive Director of Health Data Research UK

- Judith Simon, Professor of Ethics in Information Technology, University of Hamburg and member of the German Ethics Council

- Douglas Leith, Professor of Computer Systems, Trinity College Dublin and founder of the Hamilton Institute, National University of Ireland at Maynooth

-Myongsei Sohn, Professor of Public Health and Executive Director, Institute for Global Engagement and Empowerment at Yonsei University of Seoul, South Korea

The panel will be moderated by Regina T. Riphahn, Vice President, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and Professor of Statistics and Empirical Economics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

Further information can be found at: http://www. leopoldina. org/ livp .

The event is open to all interested parties. Participation is free of charge. Prior registration is required via the following link: https:/ / zoom. us/ webinar/ register/ WN_WKeoI9nXQjCG_vwT92I0NQ

After successful registration, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with a dial-in link for the webinar and a password. You will also receive information on how to dial into the event by phone. When using the ZOOM video conferencing system, the privacy policy of the provider applies: https:/ / zoom. us/ de-de/ privacy. html

About the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina

As the German National Academy of Sciences, the Leopoldina provides independent science-based policy advice on matters relevant to society. To this end, the Academy develops interdisciplinary statements based on scientific findings. In these publications, options for action are outlined; making decisions, however, is the responsibility of democratically legitimized politicians. The experts who prepare the statements work in a voluntary and unbiased manner. The Leopoldina represents the German scientific community in the international academy dialogue. This includes advising the annual summits of Heads of State and Government of the G7 and G20 countries. With 1,600 members from more than 30 countries, the Leopoldina combines expertise from almost all research areas. Founded in 1652, it was appointed the National Academy of Sciences of Germany in 2008. The Leopoldina is committed to the common good.

###

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.




In remarks to Andina al Dia program, the President of the Council of Ministers reiterated the strong readiness of the Executive Branch to maintain an open and direct dialogue with Parliament.





"The strength of a democracy is dialogue, so I am going to visit the Congress Chairman on Wednesday in my capacity as Prime Minister to shape a country's agenda, a conjunction in the work effort, and it is obviously the President's readiness ratified today," he said.





Zeballos emphasized that, in the same spirit, he met with general secretaries and leaders of political forces in Congress so as to reconcile and prepare a common response to the circumstances that the country is experiencing due to the novel coronavirus.

He went on to say that the Government is committed to health care and the containment of the pandemic, "and we would like Congress to place this issue as a priority on the agenda," he added.





(END) CVC/RMB

Peruvian Prime Minister Vicente Zeballos on Monday affirmed that he will meet with Congress Chairman Manuel Merino to work on a country's agenda and get projects of national interest off the ground.Published: 7/6/2020
Nevertheless Persists

The film festival moves online for its second year.

by Maggie McMillin

From the July, 2020 issue

"You want to feel good about yourself. The industry doesn't make you feel good about yourself, so I became my own advocate." So says Nataki Rhodes, a Chicago waitress-turned-activist featured in Abby Ginzberg's 2019 documentary Waging Change, which plays at this year's Nevertheless Film Festival.



Rhodes' description of her journey into activism echoes that of Nevertheless founder Meredith Finch. After working for several film festivals, Finch started Nevertheless because she wanted to see more women represented behind the camera. Now in its second year, the festival features films where women make up at least half of the leadership team (directors, writers, composers, and other off-screen creatives). Finch describes them as movies that are "made by women, for everyone."



Waging Change follows the fight to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers, who earn as little as $2.13 an hour ($3.67 in Michigan). Shot before Covid-19 hit the U.S., the documentary's insistence on the importance of a fair wage is more relevant than ever. Ginzberg's reminder that "10 percent of the entire U.S. workforce" is employed in restaurants is a grim statistic in light of Covid job losses.



This film, the first of Nevertheless' lineup that I watched, was an immediate reminder of the importance of women's stories in shaping a full narrative. Reflecting the gender makeup of the service industry, many of the film's subjects are women. They're plagued by sexual harassment, but their reliance on tips makes it hard to fight back against rude customers--another consequence of America's wage inequality.



But Nevertheless isn't a festival about women's issues, per se, nor is it meant only for an audience of women. When I asked Finch what defines the program if not an orientation toward woman-centered topics, she put it simply: "they're really good movies that happen to be directed by women."



Another highlight of this year's lineup is Asking For It, an immaculately detailed dark comedy about a young writer who is targeted by an online stalker. With

...continued below...

fast-paced, blink-and-you-miss-it humor, directors Becky Scott and Amanda Lundquist explore the insidious ways in which faux feminism, celebrity obsession, and male entitlement coexist in our culture. As the film follows protagonist Jenny through encounters with her narcissistic boss, an apathetic policeman, and a creepy suitor, it examines the dangers of existing in the public eye and perfectly captures the hectic anxiety of millennial life.This year's program includes twenty-six films from eight countries; twelve directors are women of color and eleven are first-time filmmakers. These films are important, hilarious, mind-opening, and heart-wrenching, and they break out of the Hollywood mold, where (as of 2019) 85 percent of top films are still directed by men. Inmultiple interviewees reminds us that, as consumers, we have the power to support businesses and organizations whose practices are worthy of our respect. Nevertheless has certainly earned mine.Nevertheless Film Festival is available online July 9-12. Purchase tickets and see the full schedule at Nevertheless2020.eventive.org [Originally published in July, 2020.]
STEPANAKERT, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan received Armenias Minister of Education, science, culture and sport Arayik Harutyunyan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The President of Artsakh highly valued the level of partnership between the partner structures and stated that the coordinated work of the two ministries is the imperative of the day, and in this context the engagement of the Artsakh specialists to the discussion stages of the upcoming reform programs is very important. He said the current difficulties in the education sector created new challenges, and new approaches are necessary for finding alternative solutions to them.

The Armenian minister thanked the President of Artsakh for the warm welcome, stating that the issues voiced will be included in the joint working discussions between the two ministries.

The meeting was also attended by Artsakhs minister of education, science and culture Lusine Gharakhanyan.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan received today US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne M. Tracy, the ministry told Armenpress.

During the meeting the sides discussed issues relating to the Armenian-American bilateral cooperation in the defense field. The meeting participants also summed upon the measures taken in the past, as well as observed the opportunities of implementing cooperation projects under the coronavirus-related restrictions. They also discussed Armenias constant participation to the international peacekeeping and stability missions.

The defense minister introduced the preventive measures taken in the Armed Forces against COVID-19.

The US Ambassador said she is happy to meet with the defense minister and discuss issues relating to the mutual interests and concerns of the US and Armenia.

The meeting participants also exchanged views on the regional security and other issues of mutual interest.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited today the Kalashnikov manufacturing plant in Yerevan.

Accompanied by the company representatives, the Armenian PM toured the manufacturing plant and got acquainted with the production. He also talked to the workers during the tour.

Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan accompanied the PM.

A company producing Russian AK-103 Kalashnikov assault rifles started operating in Armenia in early July.

The company has been formed based on the cooperation contract signed between Neytron GAM CJSC and the Russian Kalashnikov Concern on May 15, 2020 for a 10-year term.

At the initial stage, the military-industrial plant will assemble AK103 rifles. The details will be delivered from Russia.

At the second stage the production of simple details will launch, again with the Russian technologies.

The rifles will soon be supplied to the Armenian Armed Forces. In the future the products will also be exported.

Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
STEPANAKERT, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Arayik Harutyunyan received today Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia Arthur Davtyan, the Presidential Office told Armenpres.

Issues relating to the mutual cooperation between the relevant structures of the two Armenian republics were on the discussion agenda.

The Prosecutor General of Armenia noted in his speech that they were impressed by the proper work of their Artsakh counterparts carried out in the direction of electoral violations registered during the recent national elections in Artsakh.

Artsakh Republic Prosecutor General Mher Aghajanyan attended the meeting.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan visited today the Kalashnikov manufacturing plant in Yerevan, the PMs Office told Armenpress.

Accompanied by defense minister Davit Tonoyan and minister of high technological industry Hakob Arshakyan, the PM toured the manufacturing plant and got acquainted with the production process.

Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin also joined the tour.

The factory is producing Russian AK-103 Kalashnikov assault rifles.

PM Pashinyan was reported that the factory will produce 50,000 rifles annually. Production of nanofibers, as well as different items from nanofibers is also expected.

In particular, the factory will manufacture optical-electronic devices and night thermal signs. The production will start after the full test and will meet the demand of the Armenian defense ministry within a year.

The agreement on manufacturing Kalashnikov Russian rifles has been signed in August 2018 between the Royalsys Engineering Ltd. and Kalashnkov Concern. Some of the products will be supplied to the Armenian Armed Forces, the rest will be exported.

The Armenian PM highlighted the establishment of the plant and assessed it as an outcome of close defense cooperation between Armenia and Russia.

He also got acquainted with the upcoming projects of Neytron GAM CJSC. It was reported that the production of bullets by the factory is transported from Yerevan to Kotayk province.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, 7 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 7 July, USD exchange rate up by 0.77 drams to 485.12 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.15 drams to 546.92 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 6.72 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.06 drams to 605.43 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 277.84 drams to 27885.82 drams. Silver price up by 4.11 drams to 284.72 drams. Platinum price up by 316.34 drams to 12898.69 drams.
YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan sent a condolence letter to Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe on the occasion of devastating flood and landslides that hit Japans island of Kyushu.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, the condolence letter runs as follows,

Your Excellency,

It was with deep grief that I learnt about the devastating flood and landslides that hit Kyushu island of Japan. I offer my sincere condolences to you and the friendly people of Japan on the occasion of the dozens of casualties and devastations.

I am confident that the decisive measures taken by the Government of Japan will rapidly eliminate the consequences of this calamity.

Expressing solidarity with the people of Japan, I wish the relatives and friends of the victims steadfastness and spiritual strength, and speedy recovery to the injured.

Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. The participants of the April war, the servicemen who carried out peace-keeping missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo or those who served in the Armenian army in some period of time assemble Kalashnikov automatic rifles in Armenia. ARMENPRESS reports "NEUTRON GAM" newly opened company currently assembles the rifles with parts imported from Russia.

Photos by Gevorg Perkuperkyan

Now we are allowed to assemble up to 50 thousand rifles annually. In the 1st stage of the production the rifles will be assembled with imported parts. The specialists who assemble the rifles have passed through the April war and have carried out peace-keeping missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo. They are familiar with the weapon not from school courses, but from their personal experience. They served or worked in army during different periods, Deputy General of the company Igor Gardienko said.

The company assembles the new AK-103 model, the 1st batch of which will be provided only to the Armed Forces of Armenia, while later they can be also exported.

The company plans to start the 2nd stage of production in mid-2021, which assumes producing the parts in Armenia.

Bullet production is also planned. 150 million bullets will be produced annually. Design work are nearly completed and the factory will launch the production from mid-2021. Nearly 1200 people will work there, Chief engineer of the company Armen Bakhshyan said, adding that 150 million bullets exceed the demands of Armenia and they can also be exported.

The production is based on the agreement between "NEUTRON GAM" company and Kalashnikov Concern.

Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan, Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Press secretary of the Prime Minister of Armenia Mane Gevorgyan commented on the recent announcements of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev. ARMENPRESS reports Gevorgyan wrote on her Facebook page that the continuous attempts of the Azerbaijani president to delve into the history are really ridiculous.

''He claims that there are no remarks about Armenians in the agreement of Kyurakchai signed at the beginning of 1800s. We naively thought that Mr. Aliyev is familiar with the most popular ancient historical records, such as the Histories of Herodotus, Xenophon's Retreat, Strabos Geographica, the works of Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, Cassius, Appian, Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus, the works of famous European travellers such as Rubruck and Marco Polo, which have a large-scale coverage of the Godly Hayastan-Armenia country and its indigenous Armenian people.

If Mr. Aliyev does not trust the mentioned authors, he could at least have read the Ottoman writers of 16-19 centuries such as Mustafa Naima, Rashid, Ismail Asim Efendi, Suleiman Izghi, Katib Chelebi, Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Evliya Celebi, some of whome not only have provided vast information about the Armenian world, but travelling to Armenia-Ermenistan, contacted with its Armenian-Christian residents.

''Of course, they did not write anything about Azerbaijan, but it's not their fault that they did not encounter a country named Azerbaijan in its current territory until 1918'', Mane Gevorgyan wrote.

Referring to Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, Mane Gevorgyan emphasized that it cannot be solved unless Azerbaijan recognizes the rights of the people of Artsakh, including the participation of Armenians of Artsakh in the negotiations about their own fate.

''And finally, PM Pashinyan has proposed a clear formula for making the negotiations productive. Any solution to NK conflict should be acceptable for the people of Armenia, people of Artsakh and people of Azerbaijan. This formula is accepted by the international community, but it's not accepted by Mr. Aliyev, who claims that the settlement must be accepted only for the people of Azerbaijan. And he accuses us in fascism. And why does he regularly claim that Karabakh issue has military solution. Our response is the same  if the issue has a military solution, the citizens of Artsakh solved the issue long ago. Mr. Aliyev blames OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, Armenia and historical justice in the failure of the settlement of the conflict, but he should blame only himself for abandoniong the constructive field of the discussions long ago'', Gevorgyan wrote.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Man cops five-year sentence for $13k tax refund. Source: Getty

As Australians begin to collect receipts and lodge their tax returns, the Australian Taxation Office has issued a stern warning against anyone considering committing a tax crime on their refund this year.

Those who deliberately cheat the system will be held to account, the ATO stated.

The tax office revealed a series of crimes committed by Aussies at tax time, with penalties ranging from major fines to jail time.

Queensland man Joseph Kanowski earned himself five years behind bars after using stolen identities to get his hands on fraudulent tax refunds and social security payments, the ATO revealed.

Joseph Kanowski took over an unsuspecting individuals myGov account, navigated to ATO online services, and changed the payment destination details to his own, the ATO stated.

He then submitted two false income tax returns, netting himself $8,027 in fraudulent refunds.

Months later, Kanowski used the personal information of another individual to set up a myGov account in their name.

That time, he wrongfully obtained a further $5,260 by submitting an original and amended income tax return for the previous year.

But he didnt stop at tax refunds - Kanowski also made a number of false Centrelink claims, which resulted in him wrongfully claiming social security payments.

He also impersonated other Centrelink customers and organised for their payments to be redirected to his account, according to the ATO.

Kanowski was charged with four counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception, and was ordered to pay the money back on top of doing time for his crime.

Helen Feulufai, from Crestmead in the south of Brisbane, was also convicted for making false statements on her tax returns.

Feulufai claimed clothing and travel costs as work-related deductions on her tax returns for financial years from 2016 to 2018, despite never being required to travel or use a car, and receiving a full work uniform by her employer, the ATO stated.

There was also the case of Micah Robby Elstak, a Brisbane man who lodged 62 fraudulent tax returns and attempted to claim $565,895 worth of refunds.

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Elstak was sentenced to five years in jail after hearing 106 charges relating to the identity theft of 52 taxpayers.

How to protect yourself against identity theft

The ATO said while there are measures in place to prevent and detect tax crime, its important to keep your personal information safe.

As an added level of security, you should use multi-factor authentication where possible, the ATO stated.

Using SMS codes as your sign-in option for myGov is a quick and secure way to sign in to access ATO online services.

And, if you think your tax file number or personal information has been stolen, you can phone the ATOs client identity support centre on 1800 467 033.

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The Commonwealth Bank has launched a new website. WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images.

Financial abuse is one of the most common elements within violent relationships, with research showing nearly 90 per cent of people affected by domestic and family violence have also been financially abused.

Its a growing issue, and one the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has described as particularly troubling in the age of coronavirus, when travel restrictions and financial struggles have exacerbated the danger for many vulnerable Australians.

Its an unfortunate reality that domestic and family violence is a prevalent community issue in Australia, which is particularly troubling in times of crisis like the current coronavirus situation, Sian Lewis, CBAs group executive of human resources, said.

As one of Australias largest employers, we know how important it is to provide the right support for employees who are experiencing a domestic and family violence situation.

The major bank has partnered with prominent leading domestic violence prevention group Our Watch to provide tools and resources to people experiencing violence at home through a new website.

The site includes a series of videos and links to resources designed to help organisations understand domestic violence and its impact on communities, as well as how to address it at work.

Domestic Violence NSW, No to Violence, Australias CEO Challenge, Wire and UNSW Sydney all contributed to the formation of the site.

Workplaces have a significant influence over peoples professional and personal lives, and within society more broadly. Research tells us that by increasing gender equality in public and private life  including workplaces, we can reduce violence against women, Our Watch CEO Patty Kinnersly said.

These videos can help workplaces and their staff understand how to respond to and prevent family and intimate partner violence and ultimately, contribute to creating a more respectful and equal workplace.

Around one-in-four women and one-in-13 men in Australia have experienced intimate partner violence, with the prevalence increasing during coronavirus.

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1800 RESPECT said its online chat tool had seen usage increase by 38 per cent in March and April.

CommBank recently plugged a hole allowing users to send abusive messages through money transfers, warning it will penalise those who send such messages.

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The problem with Kanye Wests 2020 Presidential bid. Source: Getty

US rapper Kanye West has revealed he is gunning for the presidency this year - a mere four months before the election is set to take place.

I am running for president of the United States! he tweeted on 5 July.

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But his announcement attracted one major question: how?

West hasnt filed with the Federal Election Commission or created a campaign committee, and he cant run for either of the main two political parties in the US as their candidates are already presumed: Donald Trump for the Republicans and Joe Biden for the Democrats.

However, the rapper could potentially register as an independent candidate  but hed need to get in quick.

According to Ballotpedia, deadlines for registering in Texas, New Mexico, Indiana, Maine and North Carolina have already passed, and for other states the deadline is August.

But West would face a bunch of hurdles in pursuing a bid this late, according to the New York Times.

"There's a way to run as an outsider but it's hard and expensive, and I think West, or anyone else, has missed their window of opportunity to have a meaningful impact," Nathan Gonzales, editor of Inside Elections told the publication.

What are Kanye Wests political policies?

Outside of unifying our vision and building our future, West hasnt indicated what his political policies would be, and his allegiance isnt clear cut.

Back in 2005, West claimed that then-president George Bush didnt care about black people, but hes since backflipped on his comments.

Now, controversially, hes shown to be a strong Trump supporter.

Hes been seen wearing a Make America Great Again cap, and met with Trump many times.

On Saturday Night Live in 2018, West said if someone inspires me and I connect with them, I dont have to believe in all their policies.

He also claimed slavery was a choice, and shown support for far-right commentator Candace Owens, who said Black Lives Matter protestors were whiny toddlers pretending to be oppressed.

His wife, Kim Kardashian, is training to be a lawyer, and successfully secured clemency for Alice Marie Johnson in 2018 after lobbying Trump.

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Her family has always publicly supported the Democratic Party.

Is Kanye West going to follow through?

The 43-year-old has been known to make a publicity play or two throughout his career, and critics claim this is just another stunt.

The rapper first floated the idea of presidential candidacy back in 2015 at the MTV Video Music Awards.

It's about ideas, bro. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth. And yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president, he said.

And his announcement has come at a convenient time: America is in a state of civil unrest after the death of George Floyd, with Black Lives Matter protests taking place all over the nation.

It also coincides with Wests new single release, and reports that theres a new album in the works.

Whatever West does, at the moment one thing stands: theres no indication that West is going to follow up the tweet with a serious campaign.

Right now, this is not a campaign. This is a tweet about a potential campaign, Gonzales told Complex.

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If you were hoping to play Mafia: Definitive Edition later this summer, youll have to wait just a little longer. Today, 2K Games announced that the re-make of the original 2002 game will arrive on September 25th, not August 28th as originally planned. Unsurprisingly, the delay is due to COVID-19.

Finalizing everything in time for that launch date has become increasingly challenging due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, and the last thing we want to do is compromise the quality of the experience, 2K Games and Hangar 13 wrote in a statement.

As a consolation for the delay, 2K Games has released a 15-second teaser, and the company plans to release an extended look at Mafia: Definitive Editions gameplay on July 22nd. Fans will be able to find that on the @mafiagame Twitter account.

Mafia I is being completely overhauled and rebuilt from the ground up by Hangar 13. 2K Games calls it a faithful but expanded 4K- and HDR-ready remake that improves both visuals and gameplay, builds on the narrative and adds new features like motorcycles and collectibles.

The Definitive Editions of Mafia II and Mafia III arrived in May, but those games didnt receive nearly the same treatment as the original. The third installment came out in 2016, so its just a re-release with all DLC included, while the second game got some minor graphics updates. While the updated second and third games obviously arrived before the first, that shouldnt be too much of an issue, as the three titles each have their own unique narratives.

From the beginning, this has been a passion project for us. Many of our developers helped create the original Mafia, and all of us are committed to crafting an updated experience worthy of that timeless classic. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make Mafia: Definitive Edition the very best it can be for all of our fans worldwide, 2K Games and Hangar 13 wrote.

Correction, 3:15PM ET: This post originally stated that Mafia II and Mafia III were completely overhauled but they only received relatively minor updates. The text of this article has been updated to reflect that. We apologize for the error.
Ho Chi Minh and Tokyo, Jul 6, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - Viet Capital Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Viet Capital Bank), a major commercial bank in Vietnam, Seven System Viet Nam Jsc (7-Eleven Viet Nam), a worldwide convenient supermarket, and JCB International Co. Ltd. (JCBI), the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co.,Ltd., today announced the launch of Viet Capital Bank JCB 7-Eleven Credit Card.





Viet Capital Bank JCB 7-Eleven Credit Card





A great population of more than 90 million people, Vietnam is considered an attractive market for consumer goods. Vietnamese people likely change the habit in purchasing consumer goods, need to be convinced and purchase all the time 24/7. That's causing the rapidly opening of convenience store.



7-Eleven Vietnam is evaluated as a reputation convenience store, in which developing utilities especially in diversifying the payment, and increasing the loyalty of customer, the co-branded card is launched.



As Viet Capital Bank and 7-Eleven Vietnam exploring,

- 7-Eleven Vietnam expect to operate 1000 stores by 2027.

- This is the first co-branded card of convenience store in Viet Nam.

- With the first step of the campaign, Viet Capital Bank and 7-Eleven Vietnam will prioritize and specifically focus on those group customers are currently member of 7-Eleven Vietnam.



The cardholders can access the JCB acceptance network with about 34 million merchants around the world, special privileges at selected merchants, and customer service at JCB Plaza, an overseas service counter.



In addition, Viet Capital Bank and 7-Eleven offers a lot of benefits with cardholders.

1) Free lifetime annual fee for cardholder, grace period up to 55 days.

2) Loyalty program from 7-Eleven: 1 point for each 1,000 VND transaction amount in App 7REWARDS.

3) Loyalty program from Viet Capital Bank: 5 point for each 1,000 VND transaction amount.



About Viet Capital Bank



Viet Capital Commercial Joint Stock Bank was established in 1992. Over 27 years of operation, with many changes, up to now with the right business vision and strategy, Ban Viet Bank is gradually asserting its position on financial and banking market with the ability to flexibly meet the diverse needs of customers' products and services. The Bank has planned and implemented the Development Strategy for the period of 2016-2020 with the message "We started from YOU" to aim to become a modern, versatile, customer-oriented retail bank. especially individual customers and small and medium business customers.



About 7-Eleven Viet Nam



The first 7-Eleven store in Viet Nam opens in 2017, making Viet Nam the 19th country to host the world's largest convenience store chain.



Seven System Viet Nam (SSV) is the Master Franchisee of the 7-Eleven convenience store system in Viet Nam, based in Ho Chi Minh City. SSV is a group of dynamic professionals who relentlessly make great efforts every day to continue the success story of this iconic brand.



Our mission is to always put our customers first - bringing them fresh food, convenient products and essential services compatible with the culture and lifestyle of a modern and dynamic Viet Nam.



About JCB



JCB is a global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes about 34 million merchants as well as cash advance locations around the world. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.global.jcb/en/



Contact

JCB Co., Ltd.

Kumiko Kida, Ayaka Nakajima

Corporate Communications Department

Tel: +81-3-5778-8353

E-Mail: jcb-pr@jcb.co.jp



Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has consistently downplayed the risks of coronavirus, announced Tuesday he has tested positive, as the United States -- the nation hardest hit by the pandemic -- formally launched its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN health agency meanwhile acknowledged that there was "emerging evidence" of airborne transmission of COVID-19, which has infected nearly 11.7 million people around the globe and caused more than 539,000 deaths. Bolsonaro, who said he had experienced only mild symptoms, has ignored containment measures such as social distancing, despite Brazil being the second-worst hit country, with more than 66,000 dead. The far-right leader, who at 65 is in the highest-risk age category, insisted he was feeling "perfectly well" and took off his face mask during a TV interview announcing his test results. He repeated his mantra that the "collateral effects" of the virus should not be worse than the illness itself. Since the beginning of the virus outbreak, Bolsonaro has minimized the risks of what he initially called "a little flu" while resisting wearing a mask in public. Brazil is a large reason why Latin America and the Caribbean has now surpassed three million cases, according to an AFP tally. The region has seen nearly 140,000 deaths, nearly half of them in Brazil. - 'Chaotic and incoherent' - In Washington, a senior US official said the United States had informed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres of its intention to leave the WHO, effective July 6, 2021. President Donald Trump has been critical of the WHO's pandemic response, accusing it of bias toward China and ignoring early signs of human-to-human transmission of the deadly virus. The United States is the largest financial contributor to the WHO -- which leads the fight on global maladies from polio and measles to mental health -- providing $400 million annually. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said Tuesday he would immediately reverse the decision and keep the US in the WHO if he defeats Trump in November. Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the Trump administration's move. "To call Trump's response to COVID chaotic and incoherent doesn't do it justice," Menendez said. "This won't protect American lives or interests -- it leaves Americans sick & America alone." - 'Unsustainably high numbers' - Critics say Trump is seeking to deflect criticism from his own handling of the pandemic, which has killed nearly 131,000 people in the United States, by far the highest death toll of any nation. Officials have said hospitals in some parts of the country are in danger of being overwhelmed, with many states hit particularly hard after they eased virus restrictions. Texas -- one of the new US hotspots -- on Tuesday registered a new daily case total of 10,028, making it the third state after New York and Florida to hit the grim milestone. Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci has warned the country is still "knee-deep" in the first coronavirus wave. But Trump pounced on that comment Tuesday, saying the United States was "in a good place" and adding: "I disagree with him." Experts are still struggling to understand COVID-19, and the WHO said it was open to new research after scientists lobbied for it to stress that the virus can spread through the air farther and for longer than initially believed. There have been explosions of infections across the world, including Iran, which announced 200 new deaths on Tuesday. Australia on Tuesday ordered five million people locked down in Melbourne, its second-biggest city, to combat a surge in cases. "We can't pretend" the crisis is over, said Daniel Andrews, premier of Victoria state. The restrictions in the Melbourne area will last at least six weeks, while Victoria state will be effectively sealed off from the rest of the country. Cases are also surging in India and four new coronavirus field hospitals were opened on Tuesday in the financial capital Mumbai as the nationwide death toll jumped past 20,000. - 'Viral bomb' - Italy's health minister ordered a one-week suspension of flights to Rome from Bangladesh on Tuesday, after 21 passengers arriving from Dhaka tested positive, adding to the number of cases within the Bangladeshi community in the Lazio region surrounding Rome. Lazio's top health official Alessio D'Amato called it a "veritable viral 'bomb' that we've defused." Meanwhile, the head of the prestigious Royal Society science journal said Tuesday that people who refuse to wear face masks during the pandemic should be stigmatized in the same manner as drink-drivers. "If all of us wear one, we protect each other and thereby ourselves, reducing transmission," wrote Venki Ramakrishnan. burs-cl/sst/st Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he was feeling "perfectly well" after testing positive for COVID-19 World toll of coronavirus infections and deaths, as of July 7, 2020 at 1900 GMT The US has submitted its notice of withdrawal to the the World Health Organization A health care worker administers a COVID-19 test at United Memorial Medical Center testing site in Houston, Texas -- now only the third state to register more than 10,000 virus cases in a 24-hour period Australia will effectively seal off the state of Victoria from the rest of the country Police in the southern New South Wales border city of Albury check cars crossing the state border from Victoria
Brazil may be struggling in its battle against the coronavirus, but it is on the cutting edge of vaccine development with large-scale trials and the production of millions of doses on the horizon. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across the Latin American nation -- a situation underlined when President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive on Tuesday -- creating the necessary conditions for testing a vaccine's efficiency. Brazil, which is the primary global producer for yellow fever vaccines, is renowned for its expertise in vaccines, which it produces on a large scale in public institutes. The leaders for two of the most advanced vaccine projects -- one from Oxford University, in partnership with AstraZeneca labs, and one from China's Sinovac -- will carry out Phase Three tests, the last one before the drug is approved, on thousands of Brazilian volunteers. Only three vaccine projects in the world have reached Phase Three. And Brazil won't be short-changed either: both projects have technology transfer agreements that will enable the country to produce the vaccines themselves, should the tests prove conclusive. With lockdown measures applied unevenly nationwide, Brazil -- a country of continental proportions with 212 million inhabitants -- has not managed to contain the pandemic, which has killed 65,000 people in the country. It is the second worst-hit nation after the United States. - 100 million doses - "Brazil is a good testing ground because the virus is still very present there, and there is a wide variety of epidemiological characteristics" throughout the country, Margareth Dalcomo, a researcher at FIOCRUZ, the research organization that will help produce the Oxford vaccine, told AFP. "The more volunteers are exposed to the virus, the greater chance to quickly prove the vaccine's efficiency," said Sue Ann Costa Clemens, a researcher at the Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP), which is in charge of carrying out tests for Oxford's project on 5,000 Brazilian volunteers. "If we manage to recruit these volunteers while the curve is still rising, we hope to get results quickly, as early as November," added Clemens, who is also the head of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Sienna, in Italy. Phase Three tests for the vaccine began in June in Brazil, as well as in the UK and South Africa "If the tests are conclusive, the vaccine could be registered in the United Kingdom by the end of the year and in other countries, including Brazil, in early 2021," Clemens added, noting that registration in Brazil should be easier and faster due to on-site testing. As part of the agreement with Oxford and AstraZeneca, the Brazilian government will invest $127 million to enable FIOCRUZ to acquire the technology and equipment to produce an initial quantity of 30.4 million doses during the experimentation phase. If the vaccine passes the clinical trials, Brazil will be entitled to produce 70 million additional doses at an estimated cost of $2.30 each. - Political rivalries - Meanwhile, the government of Sao Paulo state will start on July 20 testing for the vaccine by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac on 9,000 volunteers. The partnership also provides for technology transfer for "large-scale production" in the event of successful testing. "This is technology that we have mastered perfectly, we have already produced other vaccines in a similar way," said Dimas Covas, the director of the Butantan Institute, which is in charge of producing the doses. "We will have the autonomy necessary to meet the demand from Brazil, but also other Latin American countries," he said. With the two large-scale trials, "Brazil is the repository for the hopes of a large part of the world," Covas added. But the announcement three weeks ago of the partnership with Sinovac has drawn criticism, as well as dubious conspiracy theories. It came against the backdrop of a political rivalry between Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria and Bolsonaro, a noted coronavirus skeptic who announced he was feeling "perfectly well" and had only mild symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19. "A Chinese laboratory making a vaccine against a Chinese virus and research funded by a governor who is a major partner of China. I don't want this vaccine, do you?" tweeted Roberto Jefferson, a former congressman who recently joined Bolsonaro's camp. The leaders for two of the most advanced coronavirus vaccine projects -- Oxford University, in partnership with AstraZeneca labs, and China's Sinovac -- will carry out clinical testing in Brazil Brazil, which is the primary global producer for yellow fever vaccines, is renowned for its expertise in vaccines World map showing official number of coronavirus deaths per country, as of July 6, 2020 at 1900 GMT
Video of staff at a sandwich franchise in the US making a noose out of dough has caused outrage after it was shared on social media.

In the 16-second video, employees from the Jimmy Johns shop in Woodstock, Georgia can be seen fashioning a noose out of bread dough and mocking a staff worker being hanged.

The text Happy 4th of July appears at the bottom of the video.

The noose is a symbol wildly regarded as racist and associated with the lynching of black people.

In the 16-second video, employees from Jimmy John's can be seen fashioning a noose out of bread dough and mocking a staff worker being hanged. Source: Twitter

Two staff appeared to be filming the incident on their mobiles phones while two others laughed.

The Telegraph of Macon reports that the clip was posted on Snapchat by a person with the username "Riley:))", the video was quickly shared across other social media platforms, angering the thousands of people who watched it.

In Woodstock, GA at a Jimmy Johns, some white employees made a noose, look at the DETAILS in the damn noose dough thats used for sandwiches. Crazy. They done this before.... one Twitter user who reposted the video said.

White employees decided to make a noose out of bread dough, to mock the lynching of Black Americans, another person wrote along with the same video.

Customers threatened to boycott the sandwich shop over the incident, calling the video hateful and racist.

Jimmy Johns released a statement on their offical social media accounts condemning the video and confirming the employees participating in the video had been fired as soon as the local franchisees were notified of the video.

We have zero tolerance for racism or discrimination in any form," the company commented under the video, which was shared by a Twitter user Sunday.

"The franchisee has taken immediate action and the employees have been terminated.

The actions seen in this video are completely unacceptable and do not represent the Jimmy John's brand."

Story continues

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You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson apologised on Tuesday for a series social media posts condemned as anti-semitic and slammed by his team as "offensive and appalling." Jackson triggered an outcry after posting comments he attributed to Adolf Hitler and separate posts praising Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan on Instagram. "(White Jews) will extort America, their plan for world domination won't work if the Negroes know who they were," one excerpt read. Jackson also shared posts about Farrakhan, who has been branded anti-semitic by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center, a prominent anti-racism watchdog. Jackson initially addressed his posts in an Instagram message late on Monday. "Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way," Jackson wrote. "I have no hatred in my heart towards no one!! Equality equality." On Tuesday he added: "I do not have hatred towards anyone. I really didn't realize what this passage was saying... This was a mistake to post this and I truly apologize for posting it and sorry for any hurt I have caused." The Eagles, meanwhile, condemned Jackson's posts in a strongly worded statement, hinting that the team may take disciplinary action against the 33-year-old receiver. "We have spoken with DeSean Jackson about his social media posts," the Eagles said. "Regardless of his intentions, the messages he shared were offensive, harmful, and absolutely appalling. "They have no place in our society, and are not condoned or supported in any way by the organization. "We are continuing to evaluate the circumstances and will take appropriate action." The NFL said it had been talks with the Eagles over the case. "DeSean's comments were highly inappropriate, offensive and divisive and stand in stark contrast to the NFL's values of respect, equality and inclusion," the league said in a statement. Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson says social media messages condemned as anti-semitism were miscontrued
The number of foreign medical graduates from Muslim-majority countries coming to the US to become doctors has declined by 15 percent under the Trump administration, exacerbating shortages in America's physician workforce, a study said Monday. International medical graduates represent about a quarter of practicing doctors in the United States, with countries like Pakistan, Egypt and Iran historically providing the bulk from Islamic nations. Overall, citizens from Muslim-majority nations made up 4.5 percent of the US physician workforce in 2019. The number of graduates from these countries applying for certification in the United States rose from 2009-2015, peaking at 4,244, before falling steadily to 3,604 in 2018 -- a decline of 15 percent. The study appeared in Journal of the American Medical Association, and was led John Boulet, vice president of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates that oversees the certification process. Boulet and colleagues said that recent US policies, such as the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries "affect the inflow of IMGs International Medical Graduates) by restricting travel to the country for citizens from specific nations." They added: "Even a perceived immigration ban could affect who chooses to complete the requirements for... certification" while potential difficulty obtaining a visa could dissuade the program directors of medical residencies from making a job offer. The US demand for physicians has long outstripped supply for a variety of reasons, from population growth and aging, to a federal cap on funding for residency training. As a result, the US could see a shortage of as many as 122,000 doctors by the year 2032, according to a 2019 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Some economists also argue that the short supply of doctors has led to a surge in their wages; costs that are eventually passed down to patients. "To the extent that citizens from some countries no longer seek residency positions in the US, gaps in the physician workforce could widen," the authors said. The attractiveness of the United States as a destination may have also waned in comparison to other countries like Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Britain, the authors wrote. Members of the New York Immigration Coalition hold a news conference in Foley Square, to talk about the US Supreme Court decision to uphold US President Donald Trump's Muslim ban, in June 2018
Hundreds of firefighters and rescue workers rushed to deal with a forest fire that has killed six people in eastern Ukraine, the interior minister said on Tuesday. Water-bombing planes were also sent to the scene of the blaze in the Lugansk region, which is partially under the control of pro-Russia separatists, Arsen Avakov said. Firefighters initially battled back the flames but it spread again, helped by gusts of wind and soaring temperatures, and eventually raged over an area of some 80 hectares (200 acres), according to emergency services. More than 120 houses were incinerated close to the front line of fighting between the separatists and Ukrainian forces. Regional governor Serhiy Haidai told Radio NV the fire, which started on Monday, may have been caused by arson. He said teams were trying to evacuate at-risk areas but some older residents were refusing to leave. "They don't want to leave their homes. They say, 'here we were born, here we will die'," said Haidai. Spring wildfires earlier this year ravaged more than 66,000 hectares in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl in northern Ukraine, scene of one of the world's worst nuclear accidents in 1986. This handout picture taken and released by the press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on July 7, 2020 shows firefighters extinguishing a wildfire at Novoaydarivsk district, Lugansk region This handout picture from the press service of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service on July 7, 2020 shows residents and police trying to extinguish fires and limit damage in a house, during a wildfire at Novoaydarivsk district, Lugansk region
As countries ease their lockdowns, authorities need to recognize the coronavirus can spread through the air far beyond the two meters (six feet) urged in social distancing guidelines, an international group of 239 scientists said Monday. In a comment piece that takes direct aim at the World Health Organization for its reluctance to update its advice, researchers recommended new measures including increasing indoor ventilation, installing high-grade air filters and UV lamps, and preventing overcrowding in buildings and transport. "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)," wrote the authors, led by Lidia Morawska of the Queensland University of Technology. "Hand washing and social distancing are appropriate, but in our view, insufficient to provide protection from virus-carrying respiratory microdroplets released into the air by infected people." The new paper appears in the Oxford Academic journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. When an infected person breathes, speaks, coughs or sneezes, they expel droplets of various sizes. Those above five to ten micrometers -- which is less than the width of a typical human head hair -- fall to the ground in seconds and within a meter or two. Droplets under this size can become suspended in the air in what is called an "aerosol," remaining aloft for several hours and traveling up to tens of meters. There has been a debate in the scientific community about how infectious microdroplets are in the context of COVID-19. For the time being the WHO advises that the potential for infection from an aerosol occurs "in specific circumstances" mainly in hospitals, for example when a tube is placed down a patient's airway. On the other hand, some studies of particular spreading events suggest that aerosolization and microdroplet transmission can happen in a variety of settings. The air flow from an air conditioning unit appeared to waft the coronavirus to several tables in a Chinese restaurant in January where patrons became infected, according to a study that appeared in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Another study that appeared in a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that the virus was spread by microdroplets from people singing during a choir practice in Washington state in March. Fifty-three people fell ill at that event and two died. That is in addition to the fact that bars jam-packed with people have also emerged as hotspots of contagion, with droplets of all sizes believed to contribute to the spread. Cath Noakes, a professor of environmental engineering for buildings at the University of Leeds, who contributed to the paper, said COVID-19 doesn't spread in the air as easily as measles or tuberculosis, but is a threat nonetheless. "COVID-19 is more likely to be 'opportunistically' airborne and therefore poses a risk to people who are in the same room for long periods of time," she added. The WHO advice is out of step with both the US CDC and its European counterpart. "We are aware of the article and are reviewing its contents with our technical experts," the WHO said in response to the new commentary. - 'Precautionary principle' - The authors recognized that the evidence for microdroplet transmission was "admittedly incomplete," but argued that the evidence for large droplets and surface transmission was also incomplete yet still formed the basis for health guidelines. "Following the precautionary principle, we must address every potentially important pathway to slow the spread of COVID-19," they wrote. Put another way, "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," said Julian Tang, an associate professor of respiratory sciences at the University of Leicester who contributed to the commentary. "The WHO say that there is insufficient evidence to prove aerosol/airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is happening. We are arguing that there is insufficient proof that aerosol/airborne transmission does not occur," he said. Medical staff seal a vent in what used to be an isolation ward for patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan, China
Hollywood actor Johnny Depp strenuously denied being violent to his ex-wife Amber Heard, as he launched a libel claim in a London court on Tuesday against a British tabloid newspaper that called him a "wife-beater". The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, 57, is suing the publishers of The Sun and the author of the article for the claims, which were made in April 2018. Depp, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and facemask, was met by a throng of cameras as he arrived at court while Heard, a 34-year-old actress, used a separate entrance. The high-profile case has laid bare the couple's turbulent relationship, which ended in divorce in 2017, just two years after they married. But Depp said in a witness statement submitted to the court: "For the avoidance of any doubt, I have never abused Ms Heard, or, indeed any other woman, in my life." He said it was a "strong and central part" of his moral code that he would never hit a woman, having witnessed domestic violence growing up and vowed never to do so. "I find it simply inconceivable and it would never happen," he added. "She (Heard) is a calculating, diagnosed borderline personality; she is sociopathic; she is a narcissist; and she is completely emotionally dishonest," he went on. "I am now convinced that she came into my life to take from me anything worth taking, and then destroy what remained of it. The couple first met on the set of the 2011 film "The Rum Diary" and married in 2015. - Final straw - News Group Newspapers (NGN) is contesting the case, and is relying for its defence on 14 separate claims of domestic violence said to have occurred between early 2013 and May 2016. It argues Depp was "controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs" -- and has evidence to prove it. But Depp said it was the other way round, accusing Heard of violence against him during their "unhappy" time together. In one alleged incident, he said she repeatedly punched him in the face, and in another severed his finger with a flying vodka bottle and stubbed out a cigarette on his cheek. Heard has claimed she was physically assaulted over three days in Australia in early 2015 but Depp called the allegations "sick... and completely untrue". He rejected claims of being overbearing and instead said Heard had an "obsessive need" to control him, encouraging him to drink and take drugs, despite his well-known addiction issues. He said the final straw for him was in May 2016, when he discovered she or one of her friends defecated in their bed "as a prank", and immediately filed for divorce. Depp's lawyers, in a written outline of his case to the court, also argued that although the couple's relationship was at times "physical", it was at Heard's instigation. Lawyer David Sherborne said his client on occasions had to defend himself from Heard's violence, calling her allegations "complete lies". "He is not a wife-beater and never has been," he said. Heard was a "complex individual", whose behaviour was "extremely unpredictable", with violent rages and prone to extreme mood swings, he added. She sought attention, was provocative, had affairs, and was on a "wide range" of prescribed medication and other drugs. Depp loved her but found her behaviour "often bewildering" and "very difficult" to understand or deal with, he added. - Jekyll and Hyde - Depp was the first witness called in the case and under cross-examination admitted using drugs and alcohol from a young age to "numb the pain" of a difficult childhood. But he rejected suggestions from NGN lawyer Sasha Wass he had a "nasty side", that saw him turn into a "monster" who would lose control, smash up hotel rooms and assault photographers. "It wasn't Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde," he insisted. The Sun story -- "Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beast film?" -- came after he had already publicly denied domestic violence. Depp said he had suffered "significant reputational damage" as a result, both in terms of his career and personally. The High Court trial is due to last three weeks. Both Depp and Heard were present at the first day of the London trial Amber Heard (L) has claimed she was physically assaulted over three days in Australia in early 2015
Peru's iconic tourist attraction Machu Picchu will reopen at half capacity following a coronavirus-forced closure, the Peruvian government said on Tuesday, although it didn't set a date. "Admission to Machu Picchu will be 2,244 visitors a day," the government said in the official gazette. That's half the number of tourists usually allowed in to the ancient Inca citadel in the high season. The new limit has been suggested by international experts in a bid to avoid the gradual deterioration of the crown jewel of Peruvian tourism, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. The new limited capacity has nothing to do with the coronavirus, though, and is part of measures the culture ministry was planning on taking anyway. The implementation was delayed by the country's virus lockdown. Before the pandemic struck, Machu Picchu used to welcome between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors a day, with peaks of 5,000 in the high season. The pandemic has caused a collapse of Peru's tourism industry. In the city of Cusco, the ancient Incan capital 70 kilometers (42 miles) from Machu Picchu, tourism employs 100,000 people. Machu Picchu, which opened to tourists in 1948, was due to reopen on July 1 at a limited capacity of just 675 visitors a day with social distancing measures -- but that plan was abandoned over fears it could contribute to infections spreading in neighboring towns. Peru's borders have been closed for almost four months as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed almost 11,000 people and infected more than 300,000. It is the third worst affected country in Latin America for deaths and second worst hit in terms of cases. The government stepped up security at Machu Picchu, which last closed to visitors in 2010 after a flood damaged the access railway, during the lockdown to prevent thefts of archeological treasures. The Peruvian tourism industry has suffered losses totaling $3.3 billion this year, according to Prime Minister Vicente Zeballos. The Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is the jewel of Peruvian tourism but it has been closed since a lockdown was imposed over the coronavirus outbreak
NASA has drawn up a list of 80 recommendations that US aerospace giant Boeing will have to address before attempting to refly its Starliner space capsule, following the failure of an uncrewed test last year. The recommendations primarily concern the on-board software, which was the main problem with the flight test last December. The capsule could not be placed in the correct orbit, due to a clock error, and a had to return to Earth after two days instead of docking with the International Space Station as planned. Boeing subsequently learned that other software problems could have caused the capsule and the rocket to collide at the time of separation, a potentially very dangerous event if the flight had been crewed. Most of the problems identified run deep and are organizational, for example NASA's verification procedures. The space agency has been a client of Boeing's for decades, but seems to have placed too much faith in its historic partner. "Perhaps we were a little more focused on SpaceX," said Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, in a call with reporters. SpaceX, a relative newcomer to the space industry, is the other company chosen by NASA to develop a crewed vessel -- but unlike Boeing, its Crew Dragon successfully completed its uncrewed test flight in 2019, then its first crewed flight in May, with two astronauts on board. Starliner's next attempt could take place in "the latter part of this year," added Stich, without making a guarantee. Boeing won't therefore be able to carry astronauts until at least 2021, while SpaceX's second crewed flight is set to take place this summer. A Boeing Starliner capsule touches down in White Sands, New Mexico in December 2019 after an unsuccessful uncrewed test flight
A high-profile Russian journalist who became an adviser to the head of the space agency was detained for two months Tuesday on charges of treason for allegedly divulging state secrets. Ivan Safronov, 30, worked for business newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti and was one of Russia's most respected journalists reporting on defence. On Tuesday, he was detained by the FSB security service and after hours of deliberation, Moscow's Lefortovsky court approved Safronov's arrest for two months despite a massive outcry against his detention. A member of Safronov's defence team, Yevgeny Smirnov, told AFP after the hearing the former journalist is suspected of cooperating with Czech intelligence since 2012. Safronov's arrest on charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars, sparked an uproar among supporters, some of whom took to the streets of Moscow to protest earlier in the day. Twenty five people had been detained, said OVD Info which tracks detentions at political protests. Safronov's lead lawyer Ivan Pavlov said it was the first time in nearly 20 years that a reporter had been accused of state treason in Russia, adding the fate of independent journalism was now on the line. Supporters took to social media arguing that the charges were a response to his reporting, which had ruffled feathers among the ruling elite. Safronov's arrest came after President Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for two decades, oversaw a controversial nationwide vote that allows him to extend his grip on power until 2036. The FSB said Safronov had collected confidential data about the Russian military, defence, and security and was "handing it over" to the intelligence of a NATO member country. Safronov allegedly handed over to the Czech republic data about Russia's military cooperation with Africa and the Middle East in 2017, lawyer Smirnov said, citing investigators. The Kremlin insisted his detention was not related to his previous work as a journalist. "Our counterintelligence is very busy, has a lot of tasks, and does its job very well," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. But the space agency said the charges were unrelated to Safronov's work at Roscosmos where he started working in May. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said Safronov "did not have access to secret information". In recent years authorities have ramped up efforts to squelch dissent and a wide range of individuals including scientists have been accused of high treason or disclosing state secrets. Security analyst Andrei Soldatov said Safronov's arrest indicates that repression in the country may be entering a new phase. "The case against Ivan Safronov is an absolutely new level of repression against journalism in the country," he said. - 'Arrest after arrest' - Safronov reported on the military, politics, and Russia's space programme, which has suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks and corruption scandals in recent years. In 2019, Kommersant removed from its website an article he co-authored about the delivery of Russian fighter jets to Egypt after court proceedings were opened into the disclosure of state secrets. He was forced to quit Kommersant in May last year following the publication of an article he co-authored which reported that the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament was planning to step down. The entire politics desk of the newspaper resigned in protest against his dismissal. A number of media outlets including Kommersant issued statements in defence of Safronov, describing him as one of the best Russian journalists and a patriot. "It is simply impossible to imagine Ivan, the son of an officer, to be a traitor," said Vedomosti. Safronov followed in the footsteps of his journalist father who also covered defence for Kommersant. Ivan Safronov senior died in 2007 after falling out of a window under murky circumstances. At the time of his death he worked on a story about Russia sending air defence systems and planes to Iran and Syria. On Monday, a reporter from the northwestern city of Pskov was fined nearly $7,000 for "justifying terrorism", in a case that sparked an outcry. "Watching arrest after arrest of Russian journalists ?- it's starting to look like a concerted campaign against #MediaFreedom," tweeted Rebecca Ross, a spokeswoman for the US embassy in Moscow. Until he started his Roscosmos job in May, Safronov worked as a journalist covering defence matters and politics Safronov was forced to resign from Kommersant in May last year, prompting the resignation of the newspaper?s entire politics desk
Britain said on Tuesday it would resume arms sales to Saudi Arabia, halted last year after a UK court ruling over the Gulf kingdom's bombing campaign in neighbouring Yemen. Weapons exports were stopped in June 2019 after the Court of Appeal ordered the government to clarify how it assesses whether their use in Yemen's civil war breaches international humanitarian law (IHL). The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst existing humanitarian crisis. However, the British government has concluded Saudi Arabia "has a genuine intent and the capacity to comply with IHL", according to International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, allowing for export licence reviews to restart. "I have assessed that there is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL," she said in a written statement to parliament "The government will now begin the process of clearing the backlog of licence applications for Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners that has built up since 20 June last year." She said it could take "some months" to complete. The announcement came just a day after Britain slapped sanctions on 20 Saudis for their suspected roles in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. - 'Morally bankrupt' - The weapons decision drew immediate criticism from arms control activists, with the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) saying it was considering further legal steps. "This is a disgraceful and morally bankrupt decision," said Andrew Smith of CAAT. "The Saudi-led bombardment of Yemen has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and the government itself admits that UK-made arms have played a central role on the bombing. "We will be considering this new decision with our lawyers, and will be exploring all options available to challenge it." Government figures analysed by CAAT show that Britain had licensed nearly 5 billion ($6.4 billion) in weapons to the kingdom since its Yemen campaign began in 2015. In its 2019 ruling, England's Court of Appeal said the government had broken the law by failing to assess properly whether the arms it sells to Riyadh violated its commitments to human rights. The court ordered the UK to "reconsider the matter" and weigh up future risks. Truss said it had now "developed a revised methodology" to assess allegations of violations by Saudi forces, and determined past incidents were "isolated". She said applications would be "carefully assessed" against the Consolidated European Union and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. "A licence would not be granted if to do so would be a breach of the Criteria," Truss said. Campaigners say Britain has licensed nearly 5 billion in weapons to the kingdom since its Yemen campaign began in 2015
The imposition of a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong has sent chills through Taiwan, deepening fears that Beijing will focus next on seizing the democratic self-ruled island. China and Taiwan split in 1949 after nationalist forces lost a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, fleeing to the island which Beijing has since vowed to seize one day, by force if necessary. "The law makes me dislike China even more," 18-year-old student Sylvia Chang told AFP, walking through National Taiwan University in Taipei. "They had promised 50 years unchanged for Hong Kong but they are getting all the more heavy-handed... I am worried Hong Kong today could be Taiwan tomorrow." Over the years China has used a mixture of threats and inducements, including a promise Taiwan could have the "One Country, Two Systems" model that governs Hong Kong, supposedly guaranteeing key civil liberties and a degree of autonomy for 50 years after the city's 1997 handover. Both Taiwan's two largest political parties long ago rejected the offer, and the new security law has incinerated what little remaining faith many Taiwanese may have had in Beijing's outreach. Some now fear even transiting through Hong Kong, worried that their social media profiles could see them open to prosecution under the legislation. The law "makes China look so bad, distancing themselves even further from Hong Kongers, not to mention people across the strait in Taiwan", Alexander Huang, a political analyst at Tamkang University in Taipei, told AFP. - 'Hong Kong today, Taiwan tomorrow' - Beijing has taken an especially hard line towards Taiwan since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), ramping up military, economic and diplomatic pressure. Tsai views Taiwan as a de facto independent nation and not part of "one China". But the pressure campaign has done little to endear China to Taiwan's 23 million people. In January, Tsai won a second term with a historic landslide and polls consistently show a growing distrust of China. A record 67 percent now self-identify as "Taiwanese" instead of either Taiwanese-Chinese or Chinese -- a ten percent increase on the year before -- according to a routine poll conducted by the National Chengchi University. In 1992, that figure was just 18 percent. In recent decades Taiwan has morphed from a brutal autocracy into one of Asia's most progressive democracies. Younger Taiwanese tend to be especially wary of its huge authoritarian neighbour. Social media is filled with messages of support for Hong Kong's democracy movement. Some back Taiwanese independence, or highlight China's rights abuses in regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang. Wendy Peng, a 26-year-old magazine editor who said she often shared pro-Hong Kong democracy messages on social media, said she would now avoid visiting the city. "The national security law makes me wonder how far would China go. Right now I don't see a bottom line and there's probably none. I think it's possible they will target Taiwan next," she said. - Universal jurisdiction - Peng's fears are not unfounded. As well as allowing China's security apparatus to set up shop openly in Hong Kong for the first time, Beijing's security law claims universal jurisdiction. Article 38 says security crimes can be committed anywhere in the world by people of any nationality. Hong Kong police have made clear that support for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet or Xinjiang independence is now illegal. University employee Patrick Wu, 31, said he would now avoid even transiting through Hong Kong. "It's like a blanket law, whatever China wants to define and interpret," he told AFP. "I don't know if the 'Likes' or messages I have left on social media will be prosecutable." Last week Chen Ming-tong, the minister for Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, accused Beijing of aiming to become a supremely powerful "heavenly empire" by ordering "subjects all over the world" to obey its law. Lin Fei-fan, deputy secretary-general of the ruling DPP, warned that "regular Taiwanese people" might now face arrest in "manufactured cases" if they went to Hong Kong. He cited China's jailing of Taiwanese NGO worker Lee Ming-che under the mainland's own subversion laws. Lee was arrested in 2017 during a trip to the mainland and held incommunicado for months before his eventual fate was made public. Sung Chen-en, a political commentator and columnist in Taipei, said Beijing's new security law "creates a great uncertainty about what can be said" far beyond Hong Kong's borders. "If everyone is watching his own expression of opinions, it creates a chilling effect on democracy," he told AFP. "If everybody is exercising constraint, there is no freedom at all." A woman in Taipei walks past a billboard promoting democracy for Hong Kong A woman walks past a painting at an exhibition about Hong Kong's protests in Taipei
The Cayuga County Board of Elections started opening thousands of absentee ballots on Monday as it works to finish the vote count for the June primary election.

Primary election night was two weeks ago, but election boards across New York had to wait until after July 1 to begin counting absentee ballots. The delay is due to a requirement that the state checks to ensure voters didn't cast multiple ballots.

While some election boards chose to start the absentee ballot count before the Fourth of July weekend, Cayuga County opted to wait until Monday.

Katie Lacey, the Democratic elections commissioner in Cayuga County, said that the board has completed processing half of the absentee ballots. There were at least 4,000 absentee ballots returned for the June 23 primary election.

There were two main primaries in districts that include at least a portion of Cayuga County: The 24th Congressional District Democratic primary and the 126th Assembly District Republican primary.

Dana Balter is the presumptive Democratic nominee after received nearly two-thirds of the early and election night tally. Francis Conole, the other Democrat in the race, conceded two days after the election.
When the COVID-19 outbreak began in New York was around the time the fair would begin to announce its musical lineup. Waffner believes they had a strong slate for the 2020 fair  he called it "the best free concert lineup of probably anywhere in the world"  and noted that the fair invested $3.8 million in the concert series. They will attempt to reschedule those acts for 2021.

The pandemic's impact on the fairgrounds extends beyond the cancellation of the state fair. Since mid-March, the fairgrounds hasn't hosted non-fair events, such as the Syracuse Nationals. The fair issued full refunds for all events that were canceled in March, April and May.

But Waffner is motivated to make the 2021 fair an event that "knocks our socks off." After the cancellation this year, the fair in 2021 will be the first with an 18-day schedule. The expansion from a 13- to 18-day event was announced by Cuomo in January.

The fair will honor tickets sold in February for the 2021 fair or allow customers to get refunds. The refund system is in the process of being set up. Any tickets for the 2019 fair that would've been honored this year will be honored in 2021.
"I will fight for the resources we need to protect our natural resources, to strengthen our schools, to provide economic opportunities for working families and to secure equitable access to health care," Brouk said.

Many of the districts the Democratic candidates are seeking to represent are demographically diverse. The 50th and 54th state Senate districts include several rural towns, suburban areas and cities. Both districts include portions of Auburn in Cayuga County.

Nearly all of the districts share a common trait: The representatives are in the minority. The districts are represented by Republicans, who are in the minority in the state Assembly and Senate.

Comegys, an alpaca farmer in Wayne County, said the new caucus will encourage Democrats to collaborate and raise the region's concerns in state government.

"We pledge to work together as a part of the majority to ensure our region is better included in decisions that impact us," he said.

Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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Search using keywords such as a company's name or city/town to see businesses in the Cayuga County-area that received money from the Paycheck Protection Program meant to keep Americans employed during the pandemic. The program has been popular but also controversial.

The Paycheck Protection Program is the centerpiece of the federal governments plan to rescue an economy devastated by shutdowns and uncertainty. The program, which helps smaller businesses stay open and keep Americans employed during the pandemic, has been both popular and controversial.

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Demand was so great that a first infusion of $349 billion ran out in just two weeks. Many businesses couldnt navigate the application process rapidly enough to get one of those first loans before funding dried up. Meanwhile, several hundred companies traded on stock exchanges -- hardly the image of a small business -- received loans maxing out at $10 million each, causing a public backlash and leading dozens to return the money.

And the public may never know the identity of more than 85% of the nearly 5 million beneficiaries to date because the administration has refused to release details on loans under $150,000 -- the vast majority of borrowers. That secrecy spurred an open-records lawsuit by a group of news organizations, including The Associated Press.
LOS ANGELESMichael Avenatti, the embattled former lawyer for AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels, got some good news and bad news in his ongoing legal struggles Monday. In the good news, a federal judge ruled  at least for now  that Avenatti may remain out of jail for an additional 60 days, following July 24, which was the date he was set to return to Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, according to a report by the legal site Law 360.

Avenatti, who was convicted in February of attempted extortion against the Nike Corporation, faces a series of cases accusing him of pilfering money belonging to his clients. Included among those cases, his upcoming trial on charges that he embezzled nearly $300,000 from Daniels by diverting her 2018 book advance into his own bank account.

Avenatti then used Daniels money to cover his own personal expenses, according to the allegations.

In April, a judge allowed the disgraced lawyer to leave the Manhattan jail due to concerns that he could contract COVID-19 while incarcerated. Avenatti has been permitted to live under house arrest at the home of a friend, Jay Manheimer, in Venice, California.

But the government claims that Avenatti violated the terms of his release by using Manheimers computer to access the internet, which was specifically prohibited by the judge. In a chaotic, conference-call deposition on June 17, Manheimer appeared to acknowledge that Avenatti accessed the computer.

But on Monday, federal Judge James Selna ruled that Avenatti could remain out of jail for 60 days past his original 90-day release period. The judge said that he had not seen a confidential forensic report from prosecutors, which they say shows Avenatti violated his release terms.

Once prosecutors present him with the report, he could change his ruling if indeed the forensics prove that Avenatti used an internet-connected computer, according to the Law 360 report.

In the bad news for Avenatti this week, the California State Bar Association has filed a 573-page document spelling out in painstaking detail the numerous allegations against Avenatti of misusing client funds.

In one case, Avenatti won a $1.6 million settlement for a client in an intellectual property dispute. But when the cash was paid, it went into an account controlled by Avenatti, who never told the client the money had arrived, and never paid himself his agreed-upon fee out of the money, according to the allegations.

Instead, Avenatti made multiple withdrawals from the account and used the money on personal expenses, according to the Bar Association filing.

The Bar Association filing seeks to make Avenattis law license inactive, because there is a reasonable probability that he will be disbarred at a later hearing, the document says.

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SOMERVILLE, Mass.For some, September 15, 1890 probably ought to be a holiday. That's the day when Wilford Woodruff, then president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (better known as the Mormons) declared that his church would no longer approve of the polygamous relationships that had been part of its DNA since the religion was formed earlier in the century. The renunciation was in part a move to help Utah become a state, which happened about five years later.

But times change (though many Mormons did not), and though most states have laws on the books outlawing plural marriage (the legal form of polygamy) and even multiple people living together, one town in Massachusetts, which became the first state to legalize gay marriage, voted on June 25 to include polygamy/polyamory in its new domestic partnership ordinance. One purpose of the ordinance was to open the door to allowing people who are non-blood/non-married who live together to be able to visit their hospitalized partners who may be sick with coronavirus.

"People have been living in families that include more than two adults forever," noted Somerville, Mass. City Councilor JR Scott, who suggested adding "polyamorous relationships" to the ordinance. "Here in Somerville, families sometimes look like one man and one woman, but sometimes it looks like two people everyone on the block thinks are sisters because theyve lived together forever, or sometimes its an aunt and an uncle, or an aunt and two uncles, raising two kids," adding that he knows of "at least two dozen polyamorous households in Somerville."

"Folks live in polyamorous relationships and have forprobably forever," said Somerville City Councilor Lance Davis, who supported that portion of the ordinance. "Right now, our laws deny their existence and that doesn't strike me as the right way to write laws at any level. Hopefully this gives folks a legal foundation from which to have discussion. Maybe others will follow our lead.

"I dont think its the place of the government to tell people what is or is not a family," he added. "Defining families is something that historically weve gotten quite wrong as a society, and we ought not to continue to try and undertake to do so."

It's the first ordinance of its type in the U.S., though in mid-May, Utah decreased its punishment for polygamy from a felony to an infraction similar to a traffic ticket, and there's certainly a possibility that some more progressive states may decide to follow Somerville's leadbut not if the Religious Right has anything to do with it.

"Of course it was never going to stop with same-sex couples," Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Ryan Anderson told the Catholic News Agency. "Once you redefine marriage to eliminate the male-female component, what principle requires monogamy?

"Once the law and culture says the male-female aspect of marriage violates justice and equality, we havent expanded marriage; weve fundamentally redefined what it is," he added. "And those redefinitions have no principled stopping point."

Indeed, in Robert Heinlein's 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, the author assumed that by the early 21st century when the moon was first colonized and the crowded conditions played havoc on personal relationships, pretty much everyone in the lunar colonies would be part of a plural marriage.

Blogger Jonathan Van Maren of LifeSite News agreed with Anderson's view.

"Once marriage was redefined and placed in a panoply of morally acceptable romantic arrangements, it was only a matter of time before the number of partners would mean as much as the sex of the partners," he wrote, referring to both the Utah decision and Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage. "Which is to say, nothing. Even promiscuous multi-taskers can demand that the government endorse and financially support their sexual arrangements."

"I warned about this years ago and was mocked for saying it, but if love is love, why not legally recognize polyamorous relationships?" tweeted religious conservative Dr. Michael L. Brown, a frequent contributor to Townhall.com, on July 2. "Well, a Massachusetts city has done just that, 'broadening the definition of domestic partnership to include relationships btw. 3 or more adults.'"

On the other hand, Lauren Evans of Jezebel.com reports that "Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said that he has only received positive feedback thus far."

Polyamory supporters at San Francisco Pride March 2004, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The social media site Parler advertises itself as a free speech platform. The site has recently seen a boost in popularity thanks to several prominent Republicans  including Texas Senator Ted Cruz and California House Rep Devin Nunes  announcing that they would join the site, claiming that other platforms such as Twitter have censored their viewpoints.

But according to an analysis by the tech news site TechDirt, users who read the fine print of Parlers Term of Service agreement may be surprised to find that they are on the legal hook for their posts. In fact, according to the Parler ToS, if Parler is sued over any user activity, that user  whether it is Ted Cruz or anybody else  must cover the companys legal bills.

The clause was first exposed by Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief on The Verge and a commentator on tech issues for CNBC. Writing on his Twitter account, Patel called the Parler terms basically a reverse 230 clause.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is the 24-year-old law that serves as the foundation of open online communication, because it shields platforms from legal liability over posts by users. But the law has recently come under attack from both ends of the political spectrum, who say that social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as other internet services, should be held more accountable for legally questionable content.

Cruz himself has stated support for repealing Section 230 altogether. And the law was recently invoked by a federal judge who ruled that Nunes could not sue Twitter over parody accounts that attack him, includng the account Devin Nunes Cow.

But Parler appears to anticipate an internet landscape in which Section 230 no longer exists, requiring users to defend and indemnify Parler, its employees and executives against any legal actions. In fact, if Parler decides to wage its own defense against a lawsuit, the user whose post sparked the suit must pick up the companys legal expenses.

Under section 230, however, the company would not be liable, and therefore would have no, or minimal, legal expenses to cover.

While Parler has yet to face major lawsuits over user content, as the site grows in popularity, such suits appear inevitable.

If that's the case, any of its users (including Cruz) will then be in deep shit if they don't have 230 helping to reduce their legal liability, wrote TechDirt reporter Mike Masnick.

TechDirt has also reported that despite its claims of allowing free speech, Parlers ToS allows it to remove and moderate user content, and to ban individual users from its site, as do Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms.

Parlers CEO John Matze described the site in a recent interview as "a community town square, an open town square, with no censorship. If you can say it on the street of New York, you can say it on Parler."

But according to a Newsweek report last week, numerous new users have already reported that they were banned from Parler or otherwise censored.

Photo By Gerd Altman / Pixabay
AMSTERDAMProduction company Datoro Media is launching FeelVRPorn, a new platform featuring virtual reality content and able to connect to a variety of headsets and devices.

Thanks to our wide array of partners across the globe, we have managed to source and produce the best quality interactive content for our customers in Europe and the U.S.," said Ivo Abels, founder and CEO of Datoro Media. Our interactive site FeelXVideos helped us find our niche in the interactive video industry where we received amazing results. We are using this same method with FeelVRPorn and we are excited to see the results.

FeelVRPorn aims to offer users high-quality interactive virtual reality experiences featuring a comprehensive list of never-before-seen VR content at a reasonable price.

Currently, Datoro Media is searching for new partners that would like to collaborate.

The new content will support all the popular VR headsets, such as Playstation VR, Oculus, HTC Vive and other mobile headsets. It will also support all KIIROO interactive sex toys for a truly immersive experience.

For more information, contact partnership manager Mellany Korver at [email protected] or visit datoromedia.com




Fortunately, the hospital is now able to sterilize and reuse its N95s.

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We can expand the lives of the masks about 10 times by reprocessing them, so its a huge gift that keeps on giving, Spyrow said of the donation, which will allow the hospital to use its own funds for other forms of protective equipment like gowns, testing swabs and other types of masks.

Desert Financial also donated 250 face shields and 650 gift bags for FMC employees, which include snacks, care items and $20 gift cards for the hospital cafeteria.

Ron Amstutz, Executive Vice President of Desert Financial, said the company heard about the support FMC has provided to the Navajo Nation during the pandemic and wanted to step up to help support the hospital.

Long before COVID-19 started impacting the rest of the state, Flagstaff Medical Center was on the front lines of this battle, saving lives and slowing infection rates. Your heroic efforts have not gone unnoticed, Amstutz said when awarding the gift to NAH leaders.

He said the credit union is looking to expand to Flagstaff over the next 12 to 18 months, becoming its first location in northern Arizona.
How steep, you ask? Is this wimp exaggerating again?

Try an elevation gain of 906 feet in the first mile alone. All told, you gain 2,259 feet in about five miles and, nearly as jarring on ones joints, you lose about the same amount on the downhill. At times, it seems you do more rock climbing than running or hiking on this route  but, hey, its good cross-training, right?

Then, theres the vegetation to deal with. Lush is one adjective to use. Another is overgrown. In other words, the foliage nearly envelops the trail at several points on the extreme downhill in miles two and three. You never lose sight of the trail, but you also never lose touch with the branches and leaves that scrape against your arms and legs. When not fending off rogue branches, you are scrambling over or ducking under felled ponderosa pines every half-mile or so.

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Let me pause here a moment. I realize that, so far, I havent made this trail too attractive to the reader. Which is a shame, because I highly recommend taking on this challenge.

Really, I do.
In light of his years as a Billings physician, the family will celebrate a small funeral presided over by Anthony Sauer, S.J. When the pandemic is behind us, a celebration will be held in his honor and you're all invited. Donations in Dr. Sauer's name should be made to Kelker's Kids, a Billings Clinic organization offering financial assistance to the families of children with cancer. And as someone who needed plenty of it in his last years, Dr. Sauer encourages everyone to donate blood.

Pat and Terry would like to especially thank Dr. Jesus Fabregas at Billings Clinic, who fought for and supported us these last four years. making it possible for Pat to live his best life. We thank Kyle and all the staff in the cancer center for their loving care as well.Dr. Sauer is grateful to all his patients and their families who placed their trust in him, and to all the doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals he worked with every day. Lastly, Dr. Sauer would like to sincerely apologize to anyone he offended along the way.
A grizzly bear that was trapped at a campground near West Yellowstone after raiding a tent is being sent to a wildlife enclosure.

The bear had gotten into unsecured garbage at a house Wednesday, according to a press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. It then repeatedly sought food at the Rainbow Point Campground. It got into a cooler, food and garbage in the back of a pickup, flattened a tent, and climbed on to an unoccupied vehicle.

Officials closed the campground Friday and reopened on Saturday after the bear was trapped. Officials had unsuccessfully tried to haze the bear away from the campground.

The bear is a 5- or 6-year-old male.

The chance to relocate an animal to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone is "a rare option," the release said, "because space and opportunities for bears are limited at such facilities."
Koelsch Communities stated in its press release that protocols were put in place in mid-February to prevent exposure of COVID-19 at Canyon Creek. "These preventative procedures included; limiting visitation to only essential persons or end of life situations, the screenings of every individual upon entry to the community (including staff) for temperature, travel history, or known exposure and an increase in both food and PPE supply stock."

Both Billings hospitals contacted about the Canyon Creek outbreak provided statements Tuesday saying they continued to be ready for a surge in cases.

"At this time, Billings Clinic has not had to alter operations due to these new cases at Canyon Creek," said Zach Benoit, a Billings Clinic spokesperson. Benoit said that the hospital has a "multi-tiered surge plan" in which they could rely on branch clinics, affiliate sites and community partners to share beds in the event of a significant increase in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

"We remain ready and available to care for our patients and the communities we serve, whether it is for COVID-19 or other health needs," Benoit said.
Mayor Bill Cole released a statement earlier on Monday "strongly encouraging" the community to wear masks when social distancing wasn't a possibility and imploring residents to follow the directives given by the county public health agency.

Mill levy

At the meeting, the council also talked about how to tackle the publicity campaign for the upcoming public safety mill levy vote, which repeals an older public safety mill levy on the books and replaces it with an updated model.

Under state law, city employees can offer educational materials and meetings on mill levy campaigns, but they're barred from advocating for them. Council members are allowed to advocate for the mill levies, but they can't do it during formal council or committee meetings.

The simple message that staff must communicate, said city administrator Chris Kukulski, is "we're here to educate not advocate."

The city is also under a tight deadline. Ballots will likely go out to voters by the end of August; they'll be due back to the county election office by Sept. 15. As a result, Kukulski said he'd like to hold the majority of the public safety mill levy informational meetings by Sept. 1.
Search below to see businesses in your community that received money from the Paycheck Protection Program meant to keep Americans employed during the pandemic. The program has been popular but also controversial.

The Paycheck Protection Program is the centerpiece of the federal governments plan to rescue an economy devastated by shutdowns and uncertainty. The program, which helps smaller businesses stay open and keep Americans employed during the pandemic, has been both popular and controversial.

Demand was so great that a first infusion of $349 billion ran out in just two weeks. Many businesses couldnt navigate the application process rapidly enough to get one of those first loans before funding dried up. Meanwhile, several hundred companies traded on stock exchanges -- hardly the image of a small business -- received loans maxing out at $10 million each, causing a public backlash and leading dozens to return the money.

And the public may never know the identity of more than 85% of the nearly 5 million beneficiaries to date because the administration has refused to release details on loans under $150,000 -- the vast majority of borrowers.
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.
The Stutsman County death is only the second in the state in which the person had no underlying conditions. The first was a Grand Forks County man in his 60s, whose death was reported by the state on June 5.

Officials categorize statewide deaths of people infected with COVID-19 this way: 72 cases in which the disease is listed as the cause of death, 11 deaths in which the disease was not the primary cause, and one case in which an official death record has not yet been filed. That can take up to 14 days under state law.

The state also separately lists the deaths of nine people who never had a positive COVID-19 test result but were presumed positive by a health care provider based on symptoms or exposure, and whose death records list the disease as the cause. They are not included in the total of 84, which includes 69 in Cass County, two in Morton and none in Burleigh.

The health department on Tuesday reported 52 new coronavirus cases statewide, bringing the total to 3,898, with 3,413 recoveries.

New cases included 16 in Burleigh County, bringing its total since the start of the pandemic to 343, and six in Morton County, raising its total to 109. Active cases statewide fell by 18 to 401, but they rose slightly in Burleigh and Morton counties, to 124 and 33, respectively.
The president's spokespeople are playing the word games. Pressed on whether the information was included in the PDB, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany sidestepped. The president "has not personally been briefed on the matter and that's all I have for you today." Well, that could mean merely that the information was not spoon-fed verbally. Besides, she added, the reports of Russian cash for American corpses were "unconfirmed" and there was "no consensus" in the intel community. But that is always the case with intelligence.

CIA Director Gina Haspel, by contrast, did not deny the intelligence. She acknowledged that when information is obtained that may affect the welfare of U.S. combat forces, it is "shared throughout the national security community -- and with U.S. allies.

In fact, The Washington Post has reported that the intelligence was shared with the British. So the British were informed, but the president was kept in the dark? And if he was kept in the dark, what does that say about his leadership?
So, even though my death is a certainty at some point and time, I am not rushing to meet it. To some of the old people who are choosing to not wear face masks because we are going to die sometime anyway: With that kind of attitude, I am surprised that I do not see you playing in the street on Bismarck Expressway.

While death is a certainty, so is taxes. I read, with much interest, the article in The Bismarck Tribune about the purchase of two 15-acre parcels of land by the Bismarck School Board to ultimately erect two new elementary schools -- one parcel of land in northwest Bismarck at a cost of $1.16 million and the second parcel in northeast Bismarck at a cost of $1.14 million. In addition, the cost to build these two schools is estimated to be around $11 million each. The article also states that the cost to purchase these parcels of land will come out of existing funds. Just how much surplus funds does the Bismarck School Board have in their coffers? I do not mind paying my share of taxes, but there should not be surpluses.

These schools may be needed because the city is expanding in that direction, but remember that not too long ago, this same school board wanted to close Roosevelt and Highland Acres because of shrinking enrollment. So, is the future plan to close more schools in south and central Bismarck and only build and expand those on the north side of the city? So, is BHS the next school on the chopping block? I also think that the timing of this purchase is ill-advised because we do not even know if schools will reopen this fall. At this rate, taxes are not only a certainty, theyre also demanded and required.

Bob Cartledge was born and raised in Bismarck and lived here most of his life. He is retired after working close to 30 years for the North Dakota State Penitentiary, where he supervised the Treatment Unit. He was recently a member of the citys Special Assessment Task Force. He and his wife were therapeutic foster parents for over 20 years with Path of North Dakota. He is an avid hunter, especially upland birds, and a part-time blogger.

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Zoological knowledge typically comes from one of two primary sources: the living and the dead  observations of animals going about their business in their habitats; and the study of preserved specimens. We rarely get the whole picture of an animals natural history without both, and each feed into how species are portrayed to those that have never seen them.

Getting echidnas wrong



Consider the echidna, for example. Examining echidna specimens in museums helps us to understand their evolutionary relationships and enables us to come up with some reasonable suggestions for how they live their lives. The impenetrable coat of thick spines is clearly for defense against predators and guessing at an ant-eating lifestyle doesnt require too much imagination when you think about what its narrow toothless snout and stout, digging claws might be for. However, we wouldnt be able to confirm exactly how these things are put to use without seeing them alive.

As someone with one foot in the world of Australian mammal ecology (the living) and another in natural history museums (the dead), one thing that really interests me is the cross-over: how do the dead represent the living? Museums are sites of communication  they provide windows onto the natural world for people to engage with animals they may never see alive. This has made the topic of how animals are depicted  in writings, illustrations and museums  a real focus for me.

While museum specimens are in one sense a primary source, they are also modified by people in order to make them presentable to the public. Taxidermy is intended to make visitors forget the animal is dead, and to achieve that a flat animal skin has to be rebuilt into the shape of a living animal. The trouble is that throughout history, the person doing the taxidermy  particularly for specimens that had travelled to Europe from Australia  had often never seen the living animal. This means that their poses are often incorrect.

In the case of the echidna, it is extremely common for the back feet to point in the wrong direction  in life they should point backwards (enabling echidnas to scratch in between their spines and dig vertically downwards to bury themselves in defense), but taxidermists often didnt know that, so twisted their feet around. Ive come across tens of wrong-footed echidnas, and I know the reason why, but I was flummoxed a few years ago when I encountered an echidna with blue eyes at the Manchester Museum. Where did that error come from?

That mystery echidna popped back into my mind recently when re-reading the original species description on the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and I think I know the answer.

In 1792 George Shaw (who would also publish the first scientific description of the platypus seven year later) included The Porcupine Ant-Eater in The Naturalists Miscellany. Amongst an otherwise perfectly reasonable description of the species (which he considered to provide a link between actual porcupines in the genus Hystrix and actual ant-eaters in the genus Myrmecophaga), Shaw includes this line:

The snout is long and tubular, and perfectly resembles in structure that of the Myrmecophaga jubata, or great ant-eater; having only a very small opening or rictus at the tip, from whence is protruded a long lumbriciform [worm-like] tongue, as in the ant-eaters. The nostrils are small, and seated near the extremity of the snout. The eyes are very small, and black, with a pale-blue iris.

Curiously, the illustration that accompanies the text (above)  which is assumed to be based on a painting by Sydney-based collector John White  has correctly coloured black eyes. The question then becomes why Shaw thought echidnas had blue eyes  could it be that the eyes of Shaws specimen (sent by Joseph Banks) had been discoloured by the preservative? In any case, it seems likely that the echidna in Manchester was modified to fit Shaws original description.

Elsewhere on BHL, we can find examples of illustrations of echidnas that were clearly based on doctored dead specimens, rather than observations of living ones, as their feet incorrectly point forwards and the animals appear flattened. Artists were basing their depictions on primary sources in museum collections, but unfortunately those specimens werent accurate.

Tasting platypus milk

I am currently writing a new book on the echidnas relative, the platypus. Ive been utterly reliant on the incredible collection of works on BHL to tell the story of the importance of platypus representations on the history of taxonomy. The introduction of the species to scientific circles in Europe sparked a decades-long debate over where it fitted on the tree of life and what characteristics mammals could possess. One of the many arguments in contention was whether or not they are mammals, another was whether or not they lays eggs. We now know they are, and they do.

A defining feature of mammals is that they feed their young with milk, so those who argued that platypuses are mammals were searching for evidence of milk-producing mammary glands even though platypuses lack nipples. Richard Owen was among those who was attempting to prove their milkiness.

The battle is played out in the documents available on BHL, and to my absolute delight, it led me to this line in one of Owens papers on platypus anatomy. Owen had squeezed what he thought was the mammary gland of a preserved platypus and watched the holes where the glands opened onto the skin:

[T]here escaped from these orifices minute drops of a yellowish oil, which afforded neither perceptible taste nor smell, except such as was derived from the preserving liquor.

Owen was so dedicated to his argument that he tasted the milk from a platypus that had been dead for many months, or even years.

Without a resource like BHL, putting together the pieces of the platypus puzzle across 220 years, and the changing way that specimens and field-observations have been used to inform representations of the animal over time, would be extremely difficult.
Earlier this month we learned French police cracked the EncroChat network which sold its cryptotelephones for around 1,000 euros each and offered subscriptions with worldwide coverage for 1,500 euros for six months.

The encrypted platform was used by 60,000 people worldwide, including around 10,000 in Britain, British police said. The service pushed a message to all its users on June 13 alerting them that their systems had been breached and urging users to throw away their phones, European Union police agency Europol added.

Britains National Crime Agency said it used EncroChat data to launch investigations that led to the arrest of 746 suspects and the seizure of more than 54 million pounds ($68 million) in criminal cash, 77 firearms and more than 2 tons of drugs.

So obviously there is great demand for such a service among criminals but also among those people who live under tyrannical governments  which, unfortunately, seems to grow by the day. In fact, yesterday, Facebook, Twitter and Google will no longer give Hong Kong authorities user data as a result of China effectively taking control of the country.

In what seems to be perfect timing -John McAfee has announced The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service, a 4G data service to make connections to the network untraceable. McAfee is looking for members of the media interested in beta-testing the service, which is slated for global launch in September.

The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service uses eSIM technology that allows data connections on a smartphone without a physical SIM card. Users of supported phones connect to a special network for data services. This network is configured to use a range of technologies and techniques to provide an untrackable and untraceable connection. Service is data-only but will support VOIP and other IP based communication platforms.

At launch, The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service will support most of the latest flagship phones, including the Google Pixel 3 / 3 XL / 4Xl, Samsung Galaxy S20 / S20+ / Z Flip /Fold and the iPhone 11 / 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max / XS / XS Max / XR. Support for more phones will be added as eSIM technology gets added to mid-range and budget models.

To use the data network, all owners of a supported phone need to do is scan a QR code supplied when they purchase service. No personal information is required for sign-up and all service is prepaid with no contract. The service includes a free app available for both Android and iOS that further enhances data protection and privacy.

The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service is one component of a larger ecosystem, which also includes the Ghost cryptocurrency for private transactions and the GhostX Exchange for private cryptocurrency exchange. John McAfee explains that the Ghost brand will encompass a range of practical, real world tools for people to protect our rights and take back our privacy. Privacy is a human right.
La Television is a short film from 1947 that imagines what the world might be like if everyone had handheld wireless devices. It shows people using them in restaurants, on public transportation, and as they walk around in public places. At one point two men bump into each other because they are so immersed in the tiny screens.

Inspire d'un essai de Barjavel, le documentaire propose l'evolution de la television en format de poche transportable, et la facon dont les humains interagiront avec l'objet.

Aujourd'hui, des paralleles sont traces entre l'objet decrit dans le documentaire, et les smartphones.

Google Translation:

Inspired by an essay by Barjavel, the documentary proposes the evolution of television in transportable pocket format, and the way humans will interact with the object.

Today, parallels are drawn between the object described in the documentary, and smartphones.

Image: YouTube
Charlie Kaufman is the acclaimed screenwriter behind surrealist movies like Being John Malkovich; Adaptation; Synecdoche, New York; and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. My favorite bizarrely wonderful story about him  which, in a way, is kind of a synecdoche for his entire oeuvre of work, which is also something I learned about through his films  is that his Academy Award-winning screenplay for Adaptation is one of the few Oscars credited to a completely fictional person. Kaufman was hired to write an adaptation of The Orchid Thief, and seeing no way to write a dramatic narrative out of some meditative thoughts on flower poaching, he decided to write a screenplay about Charlie Kaufman struggling to write a screenplay about The Orchid Thief. Except, in the context of the movie, Fictional Charlie Kaufman also has an identical twin brother named Donald  who is credited as co-writer on the actual, real-life screenplay.

I thought of this as I read this New York Times Magazine profile on Charlie Kaufman, ahead of the July 7th release of Antkind, a 700-page novel that marks Kaufman's first foray into prose writing. Journalist Jon Mooallem had the article planned well before the pandemic hit, but quickly had to improvise when he realized he wouldn't be able to interview Kaufman in person. As the lockdown dragged on, their long weekly phone conversations became a surprising source of stability for both of them (as chronicled in the article). Moallem thought he had something  but right as he turned a draft into his editor, the political climate took an every starker turn with ongoing protests against racism and police brutality, making his quaint pandemic-focused profile seem out-of-touch.

The result  which I highly recommend reading, especially for fans of Kaufman  is a delightful bizarre meta-narrative of a profile, that's loosely structured around a self-referential framework of what the article was originally going to be in its unpublished form. It even includes blockquoted excerpts from the original draft, presented as such for contexts to explain what would have been, and how it changed through current events and subsequent conversations with Kaufman. It's a little hokey, sure, but it is also perfectly Kaufmanian.

(It's also worth it to hear Kaufman explain how the traditional Hollywood system, rather than Netflix or anything else, is the source of his professional frustrations.)

I haven't read or bought Antkind yet, although I certainly plan on it; I'm currently debating if I should bump up the other Huge Books I have in my queue to finish first, or if I should just dive right in this week. The premise sounds wonderfully Kaufmanian:

B. Rosenberger Rosenberg, neurotic and underappreciated film critic (failed academic, filmmaker, paramour, shoe salesman who sleeps in a sock drawer), stumbles upon a hitherto unseen film made by an enigmatic outsidera film he's convinced will change his career trajectory and rock the world of cinema to its core. His hands on what is possibly the greatest movie ever madea three-month-long stop-motion masterpiece that took its reclusive auteur ninety years to completeB. knows that it is his mission to show it to the rest of humanity. The only problem: The film is destroyed, leaving him the sole witness to its inadvertently ephemeral genius. All that's left of this work of art is a single frame from which B. must somehow attempt to recall the film that just might be the last great hope of civilization. Thus begins a mind-boggling journey through the hilarious nightmarescape of a psyche as lushly Kafkaesque as it is atrophied by the relentless spew of Twitter. Desperate to impose order on an increasingly nonsensical existence, trapped in a self-imposed prison of aspirational victimhood and degeneratively inclusive language, B. scrambles to re-create the lost masterwork while attempting to keep pace with an ever-fracturing culture of "likes" and arbitrary denunciations that are simultaneously his bete noire and his raison d'etre. A searing indictment of the modern world, Antkind is a richly layered meditation on art, time, memory, identity, comedy, and the very nature of existence itselfthe grain of truth at the heart of every joke.

This Profile of Charlie Kaufman Has Changed [Jon Mooallem / New York Times Magazine]

Image via YouTube
Brazilian premier Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for coronavirus after falling ill with symptoms typical of Covid-19.

Bolsonaro regularly downplayed the risks of the virus, comparing it to the common cold, and Brazil soon became an infection hotspot with the world's highest tally of reported cases outside the U.S. A new surge of infections was reported two weeks ago, but officials continued to claim it was under control.

Though his illness was reported yesterday and described by a regional CNN affiliate as Covid, official confirmation came only this morning after he took an antibody test, reportedly his fourth.

"Because we have a more tropical climate we've almost reached the end or it's already over," Bolsonaro said in March, of the pandemic. "The virus doesn't spread as fast in warm climates like ours."

Recent people in close contact with Bolsonaro include the U.S. ambassador, reports the BBC, who will now also undergo testing.
The Branson Board of Aldermen on Thursday (now postponed to July 28) will consider an ordinance that would require face coverings in public spaces. The aldermen might approve it, disapprove it, or approve an amended version. Would you be in favor of some form of mandatory face covering ordinance in the city of Branson?

You voted:
Chrusciki Bakery's 33-year run as a year-round vendor in the Broadway Market came to a close at the end of June, owner Ania Duchon confirmed following a detailed update on the business' Facebook page.

"Unfortunately, in recent years, The Market does not attract the same volume of business as it used to, with the exception of Easter and the Winter holidays, day-to-day operations are no longer sustainable as a business," read the bakery's statement. "Having to leave The Broadway Market simply breaks our hearts as this was where our family business was established, and we have so many amazing memories over the years."

The bakery is known for authentic Polish desserts such as freshly baked placek and angel wings, as well as special offerings such as paczki, the sweet, filled Polish doughnut celebrated on Fat Tuesday each year.

The brand, operated in large part by Duchon and her family, will continue its existing Lancaster store, at 80 W. Drullard Ave., as well as its new joint project with sister business Simply Pierogi at the Eastern Hills Mall in Clarence.
Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown made a request Monday to rename the Utica Street Transit Station in honor of Robert T. Coles, the late African American architect and Buffalo resident who designed the station.

According to the mayor's office, Brown sent a letter to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority's Board of Commissioners requesting the renaming in honor of Coles, who died in May.

"Mr. Coles was widely acknowledged as a leader, innovator and trailblazer in both local and national architectural circles," Brown wrote in his letter to the Board of Commissioners.

"Naming a station  one that he designed  in his memory would ensure that his public legacy leaves a lasting mark and serves as a continuing inspiration in the community he lived in and loved so much, Brown added.

Brown's office noted that fewer than 10 public spaces are named after prominent Black people in Buffalo. Nationally, the lack of monuments and memorials to specific Black leaders has become a subject of discussion in various cities. Renaming the Utica Street Station to honor Coles and placing the appropriate interpretative signage and materials will be a critical step in addressing this disparity locally, according to the mayor's office.
Jakubowski said that having the libraries become cooling centers doesnt require any additional resources or preparations, just that the locations know that they might have increased foot traffic. She said that if there is significant increased attendance at libraries, theyll consider extending hours or opening other parts of libraries such as meeting rooms.

Burstein said that while most community facilities remained closed due to the pandemic, she recommended that people call 211 to see what services or options are available in their area.

The health commissioner stressed that whether people seek refuge from the heat at a community center, or even at a friends home where there may be air conditioning, everyone should be wary of the coronavirus.

"Even though its hot, we still have Covid-19 amongst us," Burstein said. "It hasnt gone away."

Burstein said that the recent dramatic Covid-19 outbreaks in other states, many in the south and west, have shown that the virus has not shown to be adversely affected by high temperatures.
The defacing of the William McKinley monument in Niagara Square over the weekend likely was more an act of mindless vandalism than a political statement. If anyone involved was trying to advance a meaningful agenda, their actions had the opposite effect.

The toppling of statues and other monuments around the country began as protests spread over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The demonstrators first targeted figures from the Confederacy, which fought in the Civil War to preserve slavery in the United States. The desecrations and demonstrations spread to images of other historical figures, including Presidents Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt, the latter for a statue that showed him on horseback flanked by an African American man and Native American man, both in subservient poses. Princeton University dropped the name of Woodrow Wilson, a noted racist, from its school of international relations.

The debate lands on slopes more slippery than the Delaware Avenue S-curves during an ice storm. Historical figures were complicated. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were slave owners, but that does not solely define them or their contributions to U.S. history.
Posted 7/7/20

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the first Missouri Constitutional Convention, the Supreme Court of Missouris bicentennial committee, in partnership with Missouri 2021, created two quizzes 
Posted 7/7/20

Ive always liked time travel movies. The Love Letter, For All Time, Somewhere in Time and of course Back to the Future are my favorites. I guess my love for these movies is 
Early screening may reduce breast cancer deaths by more than half in childhood cancer survivors

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:

Analysis of Response Data for Assessing Treatment Effects in Comparative Clinical Studies

Bo Huang, PhD; Lu Tian, ScD; Zachary R. McCaw, PhD; Xiaodong Luo, PhD; Enayet Talukder, PhD; Mace Rothenberg, MD; Wanling Xie, MS; Toni K. Choueiri, MD; Dae Hyun Kim, MD, ScD; and Lee-Jen Wei, PhD

Research and Reporting Methods

Abstract: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ M20-0104

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Family offices around the world are making new, impactful investments with a socially responsible focus. The trend of impact investing has given rise to a new indicator of extra-financial wealth - social return on investment. On average, family offices allocated 17% of assets under management to impact investing in 2020. London's Kinnerton Capital is taking impactful investment to the next level by pursuing sustainable construction in Taiwan and launching funding for various film production projects.

Advisors at Kinnerton are preparing investment strategies that appeal to the next generation of wealth with yields that come to fruition in the future. As most families statistically lose wealth by the second or third generations, the bold investment move is both an adaptable and a practical one. Managing Director, Martin Bernard describes the balance between purpose and performance.

"Our mission in Kinnerton Capital is to help families connect purpose to performance. Therefore, to finance this project was to provide exactly that to one of our clients who has sustainability as one of his main values," says Bernard.

While traditional investors and asset managers are under major constraints and only invest in staple or risk-averse opportunities, family offices have proven to be more flexible and agile investment contenders. Sustainable investment is uniquely positioned to become the golden opportunity that drives profitable outcomes for investors and communities in developing countries.

Taiwan's sustainable construction projects have generated increasing interest, promising substantial returns for companies and private entities willing to invest. The country's wind turbine projects are growing by the day, as the government has been on a three-year transition plan to transform energy sources through sustainable, renewable alternatives. Construction will begin offshore as major global electricity and construction companies have joined forces to create over 8MW of power for villages and rural communities.

Story continues

The advent of socially responsible investment trends is a positive reflection of generational change. Family offices like Kinnerton are in-tune with the latest investment developments and are keen on reflecting the values of newer generations in renewable energy and media production. Family offices are perhaps one of the only market players that can still make a significant difference where the world needs it the most.

CONTACT:

Company: Kinnerton Capital

Contact Person: Martin Bernard

Email: martin.bernard@kinnertoncapital.com

Website: http://www.kinnertoncapital.com

SOURCE: Kinnerton Capital





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/596583/Kinnerton-Capital-Commits-to-Impact-Investing-Opportunities-in-Taiwan




FILE PHOTO: A Canadian dollar coin, commonly known as the "Loonie", is pictured in this illustration picture taken in Toronto

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday as investors grew more worried about renewed coronavirus lockdowns slowing economic recovery, with the loonie pulling back from a near two-week high the day before.

A five-day charge by world stocks <.WORLD> fizzled after pandemic lockdown measures were reimposed in Melbourne, Australia, and large parts of the United States reported tens of thousands of new coronavirus infections.

"The general mood in markets today is more hostile to the Canadian dollar," said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive. "Canada is more tied to the United States than any other currency."

Canada sends about 75% of its exports to the United States, including oil. U.S. crude oil futures settled 1 cent lower at $40.62 a barrel, while the Canadian dollar <CAD=> was down 0.5% at 1.3608 to the greenback, or 73.69 U.S. cents.

Among G10 currencies, only the Norwegian crown <NOK=> lost more ground. The loonie, which on Monday notched its strongest intraday level since June 23 at 1.3616, traded in a range of 1.3525 to 1.3609.

Adding to headwinds for the loonie was news on Monday that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request from President Donald Trump's administration to allow construction to start on Keystone XL, a planned oil pipeline running from Alberta to Nebraska.

"The outlook for Canadian oil exports to the United States is darkening and we are seeing that reflected in the Canadian dollar today," Button said.

Still, Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data showed signs of economic recovery, with Canadian purchasing activity expanding in June for the first time in four months.

Canadian government bond yields eased across a flatter curve in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The 10-year <CA10YT=RR> was down 3 basis points at 0.515%.

Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau is due to present a fiscal snapshot on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Peter Cooney)
Under Way in Europe Since May, In Preparation in the U.S.

Designated As An Urgent Public Health National Priority In U.K.

BETHESDA, Md., June 29, 2020 /CNW/ -- RevImmune, a privately held biotechnology company developing CYT107 immune therapy for infectious diseases and cancer, announced today that it has launched the "ILIAD" Phase II trial for treatment of COVID-19.

Many COVID-19 clinical trials have focused on decreasing the hyper-inflammatory phase that often occurs in COVID-19 patients and can cause substantial damage. However, there is a growing recognition that the hyper-inflammatory phase is generally temporary, and is often followed by a stage of immune exhaustion and T cell loss. Therapy with CYT107 is designed to substantially increase the number of immune T cells and correct the immune exhaustion.

CYT107 is a therapeutic form of the master growth factor for human T cells: Interleukin-7 (IL-7). CYT107 has been administered to over 440 patients in clinical trials and is known to substantially increase the number and diversity of T cells, including in patients in the ICU with low and exhausted T cell levels from overwhelming infections. CYT107 has an excellent safety profile, even in very sick patients.

The "ILIAD" Phase II trial of CYT107 for COVID-19 was selected by the U.K. National Health System for designation as an "urgent public health national priority." The trial opened in the U.K. in mid-May and is enrolling patients at 10 sites across the U.K. The trial opened in France and Belgium in early June. Preparations for the trial are under way in the U.S.

In addition to the clinical trial in COVID-19, RevImmune has also treated 12 COVID-19 patients on a compassionate use basis. The data from the compassionate use cases support the ILIAD trial design and are in the process of peer reviewed publication.

The effects of CYT107/IL-7 in restoring immune levels are both rapid and durable. The treatment involves just two administrations per week for 2-4 weeks. In clinical trials to date, the effects have been seen within days of beginning administration of CYT107, and have been seen to continue for up to a year after the 2-4 week administration. This lasting effect of CYT107 to maintain the increase in immune cells over time is important in preventing late infections that are a frequent cause of patient relapse and hospital readmission.

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CYT107/IL-7 can readily be combined with other treatments as well. For example, CYT107/IL-7 can be combined with treatments such as Remdesivir, other anti-viral treatments and/or anti-inflammatory treatments. Thus, CYT107 offers a novel means of improving outcomes in COVID-19 and other infectious diseases by safely strengthening the patient's own immune system.

RevImmune is collaborating with a team of leading experts in critical care and immunology, including: Dr. Manu Shankar-Hari, the Principal Investigator leading the U.K. trial cohort, Dr. Bruno Francois, the Principal Investigator leading the trial cohort in France and Belgium, as well as Drs. Richard Hotchkiss and Ken Remy at Washington University in St. Louis, Drs. Lyle Moldawer and Scott Brakenridge at the University of Florida Gainesville, and Dr. Martin A. "Mac" Cheever, Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network (CITN) at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Dr. Remy commented: "data over the past few months from China, Italy, and the US have demonstrated that patients with COVID-19 infections have a sustained and severe loss of lymphocytes with a profound immune suppression. Patients who succumb to COVID-19 have the most severe loss of lymphocytes and have a 50% incidence of developing secondary hospital-acquired infections."

Dr. Hotchkiss explained that "IL-7 has well documented anti-viral activity in immuno-suppressed patients with HIV, hepatitis C, and JC virus. In addition, in a multi-center Phase II trial that we conducted with RevImmune, CYT107 also reversed lymphopenia (low levels of T cells) and improved immunity in patients with life threatening sepsis. We believe that IL-7/CYT107 represents an important new approach for treating immune-suppressed patients with a variety of infectious diseases."

About RevImmune

RevImmune is a privately held biotech company based in France, the U.S. and the U.K. RevImmune is in multiple Phase II trials with CYT107 for treatment of sepsis, certain infectious diseases and certain cancers. Over 440 patients have been treated with CYT107 in RevImmune's prior trials for multiple different viral diseases and sepsis. CYT107 showed an excellent safety profile and encouraging results in those trials.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/revimmune-announces-phase-ii-trial-of-the-t-cell-growth-factor-cyt107-for-covid-19-301084785.html

SOURCE RevImmune Inc

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/29/c0342.html
The cruise industry has been driven to a standstill by the coronavirus-induced crisis. However, the ongoing pandemic has compelled companies to forget rivalries and come together to counter the scenario. Case in point, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. RCL and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH have teamed up to develop safety standards.



Former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt and former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, are serving as co-chairs of a newly formed group of experts called the "Healthy Sail Panel." The expert panel, which has been working for approximately a month, will provide their initial recommendations by the end of August.



Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group said Bringing aboard these respected experts to guide us forward demonstrates our commitment to protecting our guests, our crews and the communities we visit.



The leisure industry has been grappling with the ongoing pandemic with travel warnings and cruise cancellations starting to take a toll on cruise lines. The players are thus offering modified booking and cancellation policies to woo hesitant cruisers to tide over this unprecedented situation.



In the mid-March, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a no-sail order for all cruise ships. In last month, Norwegian Cruise extended previously announced suspension of global cruise voyages owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The extension of suspension includes all voyages for Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises embarking between Aug 1 and Sep 30. However, cancellations exclude September Seattle-based Alaska voyages. Owing to travel and port restrictions, the company has cancelled select voyages through October 2020, including Canada and New England sailings.



Norwegian Cruise carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), while Royal Caribbean has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Shares of Norwegian Cruise and Royal Caribbean have fallen 72.4% and 62.5%, respectively, compared with the industrys decline of 48.5%.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Winshear Gold Corp. (TSX-V: WINS) is pleased to announce that Dr. Mark V. Sander has agreed to join the management team of the Company as President. His role will focus on accelerating exploration and development of the Companys Peruvian properties as the country reopens from Covid-19-related curtailments. Dr. Sander currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Winshear Gold.



Dr. Sander holds a PhD in Ore Deposits and Exploration and a MS degree in Geostatistics from Stanford University. He is a co-founder and Principal of Plinian Capital, a private equity firm focused on mining and exploration investment opportunities. He formerly held the successive roles of COO, then President & CEO of Mandalay Resources Corporation. Prior to Mandalay, he held senior management roles with BHP and Magma Copper. He founded and led the exploration program for Magma, including the teams that made the initial discoveries of the Resolution copper deposit beneath the historic Superior Mine (Arizona USA) and of the Oyu Tolgoi copper deposit (Mongolia) for Magma.

Richard Williams, CEO of Winshear Gold, commented, I am pleased to welcome Mark Sander as our new President. In the last year Winshear Gold has transitioned to becoming a Peruvian exploration company whereby it requires more time than I am able to provide due to other managerial responsibilities. The board unanimously agreed that Mark is an ideal candidate to advance the Gaban Gold Project forward.

Dr. Mark V. Sander, President of Winshear Gold, commented, Winshear Golds 2019 sampling campaigns revealed a 350 by 1000 metre, unbounded bedrock gold anomaly at our Gaban project in Puno, Peru, coincident with a prominent aeromagnetic anomaly (see press release of June 4, 2020). We are eager to accelerate our exploration efforts and planning to resume field work in the next six weeks as Peru reopens. Our goal is to complete at least four more sampling campaigns in 2020 to determine the full extent of the gold mineralization identified in 2019 which remains open in all directions. To date vein sampling locations that have returned anomalous gold assays also commonly show gold in hand samples that are crushed and panned in the field. Gold panning allows us to expand our sample coverage quickly and cost effectively in real-time, until we reach the edges of the anomalous zone. As well, we will continue to advance permitting for an anticipated initial drill program in the 2021 season. I am extremely excited for the opportunity to participate in the growth of Winshear and the advancement of the Gaban gold project.

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About Winshear Gold Corp

In 2019 Winshear Gold Corp. acquired the Gaban Gold Project in the Puno region, SE Peru and the Tinka IOCG project in the Ica district, southern Peru, from Palamina Corp. The Company, formerly Helio Resource Corp., has also delivered notice to the Tanzanian government to commence arbitration to recover its investment in the SMP gold project in Tanzania.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard D. Williams

Richard D. Williams, P.Geo

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.

Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain statements and information that may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including, if any, those related to the likelihood of commercial mining or the ability to fund future mine development are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information specifically include, but are not limited to, statements concerning: Company plans at the Gaban project, the Companys ability to fund the projects in Peru, and any Company plans in relation to Tanzania.

Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as intends or anticipates, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, should, would or occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including the risks normally involved in the exploration, development and mining business or as may be otherwise set out in the Companys filings with Canadian securities regulatory agencies. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such 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 and forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

For more information please contact Irene Dorsman at (604) 210-8751 or by e-mail at irene@winshear.com.
Clearview AI, the controversial U.S.-based technology firm, will no longer make its facial recognition software available in Canada. Federal and provincial privacy authorities made the announcement on Monday and then Clearview confirmed it to CBC News.

A statement issued by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada said Clearview had advised officials of the decision in response to an ongoing investigation by the privacy authorities of Canada, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec.

In its announcement Monday, the federal privacy commissioner's office said the joint investigation into Clearview would remain open and that "authorities still plan to issue findings in this matter given the importance of the issue for the privacy rights of Canadians."

In a statement emailed to CBC News, Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That said, "In response to [the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's] request, Clearview AI has ceased its operations in Canada."

"We are proud of our record in assisting Canadian law enforcement to solve some of the most heinous crimes, including crimes against children. We will continue to co-operate with [the Office of the Privacy Commissioner] on other related issues."

Ann Cavoukian, a former Ontario privacy commissioner, called the announcement "great news."

"This shows that we can indeed make a difference and stop privacy-invasive practices," said Cavoukian, who now serves as executive director of the Global Privacy and Security by Design in Toronto.

The company first came under scrutiny earlier this year when it boasted about collecting billions of photos from the internet to feed its facial recognition app.

Clearview said the tool is meant to allow police to "identify perpetrators and victims of crimes," but privacy advocates worried the technology could fall into the wrong hands or lead to a dystopian future in which anyone can be identified within seconds whether they consent to facial recognition or not.

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Software used by police forces

Several law enforcement agencies, from the RCMP to Toronto and Calgary police, acknowledged their members had briefly used the software.

Monday's statement by federal and provincial privacy authorities said the RCMP was "Clearview's last remaining client in Canada" and that the contract would be suspended indefinitely. A separate investigation into the Mounties' use of the software would also continue, the federal privacy watchdog said.

RCMP spokesperson Catherine Fortin confirmed the Mounties' National Child Exploitation Crime Centre "no longer has a license with Clearview AI and has stopped using its software." She did not indicate exactly when the force ended its use of the app.

WATCH | Canadians' faces in Clearview AI database:

Another "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 Clearview's collection of Canadians' personal information," the federal privacy watchdog's statement said.

CBC News reported in June that while Clearview was offering residents of certain jurisdictions the opportunity to request their data be deleted from the firm's database, it did not appear Canadians were eligible.

Ton-That told CBC News that Canadians will now "be able to opt out of Clearview's search results" without specifying how people could do so.

On Monday afternoon, the company's website still quoted an unnamed "detective constable in the sex crimes unit" of a Canadian law enforcement agency as saying, "Clearview AI is hands-down the best thing that has happened to victim identification in the last 10 years."
Portugal is in talks with the British government over its exclusion from a list of countries exempt from the coronavirus travel quarantine.

The country's prime minister, Antonio Costa, said: "The foreign minister had a long conversation with his counterpart.

"It is very important we build a confident relationship."

Last week, the government unveiled a list of more than 70 countries which holidaymakers can visit without having to self-isolate for 14 days on their return to England.

Portugal was not among them, a decision Lisbon called "absurd".

On Friday, Mr Costa tweeted a graph appearing to show the UK had a much higher number of cases per 100,000 people than the Algarve.

The Portuguese PM added: "Which is the safest place to stay? You are welcome to spend a safe holiday in Algarve! #UK #visitportugal."

Exemptions from quarantine will apply from 10 July.

Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker

The Department for Transport said the approved destinations pose "a reduced risk to the public health of UK citizens", but the list will be kept "under constant review".

The full list is as follows:
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's government will disburse 1.8 billion euros (1.5 billion pounds) in aid to support transport companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic, transport minister Jose Luis Abalos said on Tuesday.

State-owned rail operator Renfe will receive 1 billion euros of the funds via an increase in its debt capacity, while 673 million will be for private transport companies, Abalos said after the weekly cabinet meeting.

Land infrastructure operator Seipsa will receive a one-off loan of 110 million euros, he said.

"Transporters were key when the pandemic hit the hardest to keep the supply of basic goods. It is fair that we now fulfil our duty towards them," Abalos said.

Air transportation companies have already received funds to help them pay for new safety measures imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The government has also lent 1.8 billion euros to Spanish airlines so far, the minister said, adding that part of the 10- billion-euro bailout fund set up to keep "strategic" companies alive could be used to prop them up.

International Consolidated Airlines's <ICAG.L> Spanish units Iberia and Vueling already said in May they had secured 1 billion euros of government-backed loans.

(Reporting by Nathan Allen, Inti Landauro, Belen Carreno; editing by Andrei Khalip and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low near 75F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
A logo of the World Health Organization (WHO), is seen before a news conference in Geneva

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States will leave the World Health Organization (WHO) on July 6, 2021, the United Nations said on Tuesday, after receiving notification of the decision by President Donald Trump, who has accused the agency of becoming a puppet for China during the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump, who announced the decision over a month ago, has to give one-year notice of the U.S. withdrawal from the Geneva-based body and pay all Washington's dues under a 1948 joint resolution of the U.S. Congress. The United States currently owes the WHO more than $200 million in assessed contributions, according to the WHO website.

After more than 70 years of membership, the United States moved to quit the WHO amid escalating tensions with China over the coronavirus pandemic. The virus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

The WHO has denied assertions by Trump that it promoted Chinese "disinformation" about the virus.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi described Trump's official withdrawal as "an act of true senselessness as WHO coordinates the global fight against COVID-19."

"With millions of lives at risk, the President is crippling the international effort to defeat the virus," the Democratic leader posted on Twitter.

So far there have been nearly 12 million cases of the coronavirus and more than 540,000 known deaths worldwide, according to a Reuters tally, with about 25% of both cases and deaths in the United States.

Trump's decision could be overturned before it takes effect if he is defeated by his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, in a November election.

Trump had halted funding for the 194-member organization in April, then in a May 18 letter gave the WHO 30 days to commit to reforms. He announced the United States would quit less than two weeks later.

Vice President Mike Pence, asked in a Fox News Channel interview whether it was the right time to break with the WHO, said: "It's absolutely the right time."

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"The World Health Organization let the world down ... There have to be consequences to this," Pence said.

The WHO is an independent international body that works with the United Nations. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that the WHO is "absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19."

"The Secretary-General ... is in the process of verifying with the World Health Organization whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Tuesday.

Since taking office, Trump has also quit the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. cultural agency, a global accord to tackle climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. He has also cut funding for the U.N. population fund and the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham and Eric Beech; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Bill Berkrot)
Just when things started to look better for the airlines and they had announced plans to add thousands of flights to their schedules, yellow lights have started to flash at United. A source tells Reuters the airline has warned of booking declines and potential furloughs.

What sparked the warning? What United encountered after New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut announced travel restrictions. Those Northeastern states said last month they would require that travelers who arrive from hot-spot states quarantine themselves for 14 days. Reservations quickly began to slide.

Hardest hit: Uniteds Newark hub. Near-term net bookings as of July 1 amounted to just 16% of levels a year ago.

Shares of United Airlines slid in early trading Tuesday, pulling down those of other major carriers as well.
Yeezy, the California-based fashion label run by Kanye West, managed to get a multimillion-dollar loan from the federal government's coronavirus stimulus package, Daily Beast reports. The U.S. Treasurys Small Business Administration released records on Thursday and eagle-eyed analysts found Yeezy among the list of small businesses that are receiving funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which is part of President Trump's lager CARES Act, which offers up economic relief during the coronavirus pandemic.

Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

RELATED: Kanye West Tweets He's Running for President in 2020

Records show that Yeezy was awarded a loan in the range of $2 million and $5 million and that the funds went to saving 160 jobs. The Daily Beast notes that California business records list West as the manager of Yeezy LLC, though it's not just a fashion house. It's a holding company established in Delaware and run out of La Palma, California. The Yeezy brand reportedly made $1.5 billion last year.

The PPP loan raises the issue of a conflict of interest. West has been an outspoken supporter of President Trump and has made multiple trips to the White House. According to Forbes, West officially became a billionaire back in April. PPP loans, which are intended for companies with fewer than 500 employees, are generally written off by the government if the companies that qualify spend the money on eligible costs and also retain a certain amount of staff. A complete list of the 40,000 companies that received loans of $150,000 and above was made public today.
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.

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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.
Industry Partnerships

HBCU Claflin U Signs First-Ever Zoom University Partnership

An historically Black university in South Carolina has set up a partnership with Zoom Video. The arrangement between Claflin University and Zoom encompasses internships, scholarships and curricula development. The monetary value of the deal is about $1.2 million, according to the two organizations.

Program components include:

Paid internships for students during school and as part of Zoom's summer internship program;

Scholarships for selected students, based on merit and/or need;

Participation in academics: Zoom-led virtual meetings for students' technical skill, career path and interview development; "meaningful" Zoom-focused projects within the institution's capstone project program; and the two entities will co-develop case studies for use in the classroom;

Aparna Bawa, Zoom's chief operating officer, will join Claflin's Board of Trustees, and a member of Zoom's leadership team will join the university's computer science and mathematics professional advisory board;

Zoom will support the university's general operating plans, both financially and by working with its alumni community in career development- and hiring-related efforts; and

The company will also turn to students and faculty for feedback and guidance on its product development.

The partnership began when Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents the 17th Congressional District of California, which encompasses Silicon Valley, joined Congressman James Clyburn, an HBCU graduate who represents the district where the university is located, for a tour of Claflin.

"The resulting partnership between Claflin and Zoom will demonstrate the mutual benefits of corporate investments in minority-serving institutions and the profound impacts it can have on the students and the companies that help empower them," said Clyburn in a statement.

"We are extremely grateful that Zoom selected Claflin for its first-ever partnership with a college or university and we welcome Aparna Bawa ... as the newest member of our Board of Trustees," added Claflin President Dwaun Warmack. "We also express our highest appreciation to Congressman James Clyburn. His persistent support for Claflin and programs that enhance access to technology throughout South Carolina was critical in establishing this partnership."

"Zoom understands the historical, present and future importance of historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions across the [United States]," said Bawa. "We are committed to supporting these institutions via innovative partnerships that are relevant, holistic and sustainable. Claflin University is the perfect place to begin. The university's leadership has a broad and inspiring vision for how it should educate the leaders of tomorrow, is committed to embracing technology as a means to deliver and enhance education, and is dedicated to working with Zoom to help us build a service that addresses the needs of our diverse customer base."
Organisers the Together coalition have called for the "pause for applause" to become a yearly event, and said the event recognised everyone who has helped the country through the pandemic, as well as the community connections that have been forged.

Though the UK as a whole has a confirmed virus death toll of more than 44,000, the third-highest in the world behind the United States and Brazil, the NHS and everyone who works within it has been lauded for their work and care.

Johnson said the three letters don't just stand for the National Health Service but for an idea and set of values that healthcare must be available and affordable to all, with contributions from all.

"It's been the most challenging year in the history of the NHS and staff from across the health service have pulled out the stops like never before to deliver extraordinary care", said Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England.

In a video message, Prince Charles has spoken of his gratitude and pride for the "costly sacrifices" of NHS staff.

On Saturday, dozens of landmarks in Britain, including Downing Street, the Royal Albert Hall, the Shard and London Eye, were lit up blue to mark the birthday of NHS.

Despite all that has been endured, there is deep cause for gratitude, and a true reason for pride, the royal added.

Johnson was joined by Annemarie Plas, who founded the ClapforCarers initiative that lasted for 10 weeks following the imposition of the UK-wide lockdown on March 23, during Sunday's round of applause.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will join a nationwide round of applause paying tribute to NHS staff on the health service's 72nd anniversary.

The Prince also quoted from the Bible: "In Psalm 18, we read these words of thanks for deliverance from danger: You have also given me the shield of your salvation: and your right hand has held me up, and your gentleness has made me great".

The NHS was launched on July 5, 1948, in Manchester.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) Issues tackled and resolved during the House of Representative's deliberations on ABS-CBNs franchise bid will prove to be advantageous for the media giant, a lawmaker said Tuesday.

It is my personal assessment that all of the issues taken up by the joint committees would be in favor of ABS-CBN, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman told CNN Philippines The Source.

Among the topics Lagman cited include ownership issues, the citizenship controversy of ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III, as well as supposed tax liabilities of the network.

The Justice Department, following lengthy deliberations, ruled that Lopez is a Filipino citizen, dismissing claims of alleged violations of the media ownership rule. The 1987 Constitution prescribes that the ownership and management of mass media "shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines," a provision seen to protect the industry from foreign incursion and control.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Securities and Exchange Commission also said that the media company did not violate any corporate laws and has regularly paid its taxes for the past years.

After weeks of successive hearings, the chambers joint congressional panel is set to decide on ABS-CBNs franchise application in the coming days.

House Committee on Legislative Franchises chairman Rep. Franz Alvarez said the panel will likely cast votes before President Rodrigo Duterte's State of the Nation Address on July 27, though the date has yet to finalized.

The committees discussion on issues involving the network wrapped up on Monday. Meanwhile, another hearing is scheduled on Thursday, where there will be a summation of topics discussed during the joint deliberations.

The main operations of the media firm have been shut down since May 5 due to an expired franchise, which was followed by subsequent cease and desist orders against Lopez-owned Sky Direct cable service and the operations of ABS-CBN TV Plus programs via channel 43 in Metro Manila.

The company's digital platforms including online news websites, video streaming services, and social media platforms continue to operate.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  CNN Philippines will temporarily stop broadcasting starting today after a member of its utility staff tested positive for the coronavirus disease.

"As a precaution and for everybody's safety, we are temporarily going off the air starting tonight to disinfect the CNN Philippines office on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong," the company said in a statement.

Majority of CNN Philippines employees have been working from home, but those who reported for work in the office on Tuesday were evacuated for isolation.

CNN Philippines will continue to deliver news through its website and its Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. Updates will also be posted on the CNN Philippines Viber community.

The total number of COVID-19 cases nationwide rose to 47,873 on Tuesday, with 1,309 deaths and 12,386 recoveries. The mysterious disease has infected more than 11 million people worldwide and killed over 530,000.

COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which is related to the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS  but not as deadly. Most patients exhibit mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.

The disease is spread through small droplets from the nose or mouth when people infected with the virus cough or sneeze. To prevent further spread of the virus, health authorities are urging people to practice regular hand washing, cover their mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, practice social distancing and avoid contact with those who show respiratory symptoms.

LIVE UPDATES: COVID-19 pandemic
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  Only around 1.3 million beneficiaries have received the second tranche of the emergency cash subsidy from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) out of its target of 12 million families.

During a hearing Tuesday of the House Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability, DSWD Chief Rolando Bautista shared to the panel that most of the beneficiaries of the program are low-income families residing in areas under enhanced community quarantine, as declared by Executive Order 112 issued on April 30.

Bautista said this includes some five million families who were waitlisted from the first tranche of the financial aid.

Habang hirap na hirap po ang ating mga kababayang nagugutom, a little over 10% lang po ang nabibigyan, said Camarines Sur 2nd District Representative Raymund Lray Villafuerte Jr.

[Translation: While our countrymen are suffering and are getting hungry, only a little over 10% have been given (cash aid)]

The agency has consistently blamed the verification of the names of beneficiaries for the slow distribution of the emergency subsidy. Bautista said they have found 48,000 duplicated names.

DSWD Undersecretary Danilo Pamonag also pointed out that some local government units were quick to comply with the requirements, while some barely followed.

As long as the (list of the) names of the beneficiaries is completed, we could complete the distribution of emergency subsidy for a period of a week, Pamonag said.
(CNN) - The number of COVID-19 cases around the world is continuing to climb and the increases are "not purely as a result of testing," a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.

"What is a concern is the fact that the disease numbers are increasing day by day," Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHOs Health Emergencies Program, said during a briefing in Geneva.

"In April and May we were dealing with 100,000 cases a day. Today were dealing with 200,000 cases a day  and that is not purely as a result of testing," Ryan added. "This epidemic is accelerating."

Ryan added that the rise in case numbers has occurred at the same time the global COVID-19 death rate has remained stable, which suggests that frontline doctors and nurses may be treating patients earlier and saving more lives.

The latest numbers: There have now been more than 11 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 535,000 deaths around the world due to the pandemic, according to WHO.

"The outbreak is accelerating and we have clearly not reached the peak of the pandemic," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during Tuesday's briefing.

"While the number of deaths appears to have leveled off globally, in reality some countries have made significant progress in reducing the number of deaths, while in other countries deaths are still on the rise," Tedros said. "Where there has been progress in reducing deaths, countries have implemented targeted actions toward the most vulnerable groups, for example those people living in long-term care facilities."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Rising COVID-19 cases are "not purely as a result of testing," WHO official says"
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  It's another stalemate between the government and the group of big businesses looking to upgrade the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

In a joint statement issued Tuesday, members of the NAIA Consortium said its revamped proposal to rehabilitate and upgrade the facilities of the country's biggest airport has been rejected by authorities.

"The far-reaching and long-lasting consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on airline travel, airline operations and airport passenger traffic necessitated a review of the assumptions and plans to ensure that the NAIA project will be viable in the 'new normal,'" the business group said, adding the adjustments were made to "ensure the bankability" of the project.

"Unfortunately, the government indicated that it is not willing to accept most of the consortium's proposed options and the consortium can only move forward with the NAIA project under the options it has proposed," they added.

Asked how this will affect the future of the project, Transportation Undersecretary Ruben Reinoso said via text that the "MIAA (Manila International Airport Authority) will have to decide on next steps."

The NAIA rehabilitation plan has been proposed as early as February 2018 but has not been rolled out since. Prior to the pandemic, the group and the Department of Transportation had already been tossing proposals back and forth.

The NAIA Consortium is composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc.; AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.; Alliance Global Group, Inc.; Asias Emerging Dragon Corp.; Filinvest Development Corp.; and JG Summit Holdings, Inc. Tycoon Manny Pangilinan's Metro Pacific Investments Corporation said in March that it will leave the NAIA Consortium, citing issues with real property taxes.

The global coronavirus crisis has paralyzed air travel and tourism for months now, with major airlines abroad going bottom up. Local operators Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and AirAsia have resorted to layoffs to keep their businesses afloat.

The original contract price for the NAIA rehab plan was set at 350 billion for a 35-year concession period, which was scaled down to 102 billion for a 15-year deal.

RELATED: House bill seeks to rename NAIA

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade earlier said that they are modeling the rehabilitation plan for the countrys main gateway after the Clark International Airport, as the two gateways need to maintain daily operations while repair works are underway. He once threatened to cancel the project as the group seemed to be taking too long with its final pitch to repair the airport.

In November, the group's plan to repair NAIA already secured final approval from the government, which will trigger a Swiss challenge to check if other firms can submit a more competitive counter-proposal. If there's none, the consortium will officially bag the project and will operate the gateway during the concession period.

NAIA has grown congested without any alternative gateways to the country. Duterte previously ordered the DOTr to have the Sangley airport in Cavite usable for general aviation in a bid to ease air traffic in Manila.

Separately, the government has approved the plan of billionaire Ramon Ang to build the New Manila International Airport in Bulakan, Bulacan for 734 billion.
(CNN)  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for Covid-19, following months of downplaying the virus.

Bolsonaro himself announced the result, speaking on Brazilian TV channels Tuesday. "Everyone knew that it would reach a considerable part of the population sooner or later. It was positive for me," he said, referring to the Covid-19 test he took Monday.

"On Sunday, I wasn't feeling very well. On Monday, it got worse when I started feeling tired and some muscle pain. I also had a 38-degree [Celsius] fever. Given those symptoms, the presidential doctor said there was suspicion of Covid-19," Bolsonaro said, adding that he then went to hospital to receive a lung scan.

He said that his wife, First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro was also tested.

In an interview with CNN Brasil following his diagnosis, Bolsonaro said he would steer clear of in-person meetings in the near future. "I'm not going to see anyone for meetings. Everything will be done via video conference and I will rarely meet people if I need to deal with more reserved matter," he said.

He also acknowledged the grave risk posed by a virus that he has in the past dismissed as just a "little flu." "We know the fatality of the virus for those of a certain age, like me, above 65, as well as for those with comorbidities, diseases, other issues. In those cases, the virus could be decisive and lead to death -- everyone knew that," he said.

Bolsonaro previously reassured supporters on Monday that his lungs were "clean," after being tested. Wearing a mask, he warned them to not get near him.

"You can't get very close [to me], OK? Recommendation for everyone," he said.

'I thought I had contracted it already'

Brazil is second only to the United States in numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths. But Bolsonaro has often appeared in public and at rallies without a face mask, even hugging supporters.

"I have to admit, I thought I had gotten it earlier, considering my very dynamic activity in the face of the people," he said on Tuesday. "And I can tell you more, I am the President and I am on the front line, I don't run away from my responsibility nor do I shy away from the people."

"Because of my contact with the people, I thought I had contracted it already and not noticed it, like the majority of the Brazilian population that contracts the virus, and doesn't know," he continued.

More than 65,000 people have now died of the virus in Brazil, according to figures released by the country's health ministry on Monday. So far, 1,623,284 cases have been confirmed. With coronavirus tests hard to come by in the country, some local experts say the real number of people infected could be 12 to 16 times higher.

The Brazilian leader struck a defiant note during his interview with CNN Brasil, defending his government's management of the pandemic.

"No country in the world has managed to prevent deaths," he said. "The whole world was unanimous in saying that the purpose of the isolation measures... was not to prevent people from contracting the virus but that the contraction was inevitable and it should happen over a longer time for hospitals to be equipped with ICU beds and respirators."

Bolsonaro has long maintained that lockdowns will hurt the country more than the virus itself. "Our life has to go on. Jobs should be maintained," he said during a March 24 speech broadcast on national television and radio.

He held onto that position as Brazil's outbreak dramatically worsened, criticizing governors and mayors for introducing stringent lockdown measures in an attempt to curb cases.

Local targets of his ire included the mayor of Manaus Virgilio Neto, to whom Bolsonaro referred as a "piece of shit" for digging mass graves in his city during the pandemic. Neto is now being treated for Covid-19 at a prominent Sao Paulo hospital, according to a statement from his office.

During a Facebook Live session last month, Bolsonaro also implied that local politicians might be inflating the number of deaths from coronavirus in order to make the federal government response look bad. "No one lost their life, in most cases, due to the lack of ICU beds or ventilators," Bolsonaro said, calling on citizens to enter hospitals to check "if the beds are occupied or not."

Following his diagnosis on Tuesday, Bolsonaro emphasized that mayors and governors were responsible for the handling of the pandemic. "If it is going well or is going badly, it is a responsibility of governors and mayors, according to a decision of the Supreme Court," he told CNN Brasil.

Like US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro has boosted anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for the virus, though it has not been consistently proven effective and the World Health Organization (WHO) has discontinued a major trial with the drug.

Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil on Tuesday that he took both hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin while he awaited the result of his fourth Covid-19 test in four months, and credited the controversial drug for his well-being.

"I am feeling very well. I believe that the way they administered the hydroxychloroquine on, the effect was immediate," he said.

The WHO on Tuesday wished Bolsonaro a "speedy recovery." "It's very important to understand the seriousness of this virus and to be really serious," noted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing in Geneva.

"No country is immune, and no country is safe, and no individual can be safe."

Contact-tracing the president

Bolsonaro has previously tested negative for coronavirus in at least three separate examinations. Those tests were administered between March 12 and March 17, after Bolsonaro returned from a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida and many in his entourage tested positive.

This week's positive result comes just days after he attended a July 4th commemoration event with the US Ambassador to Brazil, Todd Chapman. According to a photo posted to the President's official Facebook page, Bolsonaro was at the Ambassador's residence with Chapman for the event.

Images from the gathering show Bolsonaro not wearing a mask or observing social distancing. In one picture, he stands next to several US and Brazilian officials, including Chapman, and Brazil's foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo. Chapman and his wife have Janetta Chapman have since tested negative for Covid-19, according to a statement tweeted by the US Embassy in Brazil.

Despite his diagnosis, Bolsonaro on Tuesday emphasized that his priority is still to restart Brazil's lagging economy. "I know that nobody can recover from dying, but the economy not working leads to other causes of death and suicide," he said. "We have suffered very harsh criticism in this regard, but today it shows that we are right. The fact that I am infected shows that I am a human being like any other."

At the end of his comments, Bolsonaro stepped back and removed his mask. "I'll get away a little. Just so you all can see my face. I'm fine, I'm fine, thank God. Everything is ok," he said. "Thank you to those who prayed for me. Those who criticized, no problem, they can continue to criticize if they want. After all, we preserve the freedom of speech and understand it as one of the pillars of our democracy."

He then resumed the assurances that have become a hallmark of his attitude toward the virus, "So let's take special care of the elderly, of course. Younger people: take care, but if you are affected by the virus, be assured that for you, the possibility of something more serious is close to zero."
(CNN) Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have encouraged the UK to reckon with its colonial past, highlighting the "wrongs" of its historic involvement in the countries that now make up the Commonwealth.

Speaking at a session of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust on Wednesday, Harry said people must "acknowledge the past," even when doing so is uncomfortable.

"When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past," he said. "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," the Prince added.

The Commonwealth is made up of 54 nations, almost all of which were previously ruled by Britain as part of its empire. Britain's colonization of those countries has been reassessed in the wake of recent global anti-racism protests.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, also contributed to the session, which focused on how the Commonwealth can support young people.

"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," 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."

Prince Harry discussed his own unconscious bias, saying: "We can't deny or ignore the fact that all of us have been educated to see the world differently. 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."

"When it comes to institutional and systemic racism, it's there and it stays there because someone, somewhere is benefiting from it," Harry added.

"It's not just in the big moments, it's in the quiet moments where racism and unconscious bias lies and thrives," said Meghan. "It makes it confusing for a lot of people to understand the role that they play in that, both passively and actively."

"We're going to get there, and we have a lot of renewed faith and energy in that having had this conversation," she told attendees at the session.

Protesters around the UK have demanded that some statues honoring imperialists and slave traders be removed in recent weeks. A similar reassessment has taken place in other historical imperialist powers, including Belgium.

Both royals praised the Black Lives Matter demonstrations during the conversation, with Harry telling attendees: "For the first time ever, thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement ... this is the moment when people are starting to be listened to."

Harry and Meghan announced in early 2020 that they were quitting their roles as senior members of the royal family, and have since been spending most of their time in North America.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Prince Harry and Meghan say countries including the UK must right the wrongs of colonialism."
(CNN) - The Trump administration has notified Congress that it is formally withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization amid the coronavirus pandemic, multiple officials tell CNN.

Sen. Robert Menendez, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted about the development as well. "Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the @WHO in the midst of a pandemic," he tweeted.

A source briefed on the letter told CNN that the letter was very short, around three sentences, and confirmed it will trigger a one-year withdrawal timeline, but cautioned that they cannot confirm it was the final version.

Still, the letter indicates that the administration intends to move forward with its plan to withdraw from WHO after members of the GOP China task force urged President Trump last month to reconsider his decision to terminate relations with the international body, arguing the US can do more to affect change as a member.

Trump initially announced his intention to withdraw from WHO in May and has consistently accused the organization of aiding China in covering up the origins of the virus.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Trump administration informs Congress the US is withdrawing from WHO"
The Nebraska Public Service Commission is also continuing to fine-tune provisions passed in 2018 to provide for reverse auctions in exchanges where the existing provider refuses to improve service. In those areas, a reverse auction could be held and the lowest bidder will become the new provider to expand broadband infrastructure.

The Federal Communication Commission has also made $20 billion in grant funding available to expand broadband access in rural America. The grant will be implemented in two phases. First, $16 billion to areas that have no high-speed internet service. The second phase focuses on underserved households.

LB996 allows the Nebraska Public Service Commission to create a broadband data crowdsourcing program in order to collect more accurate data on broadband availability. This will help communities identify underserved areas and will qualify them for phase 2 of the grant. I am supporting this bill for passage when we resume the session. It could open Nebraska to much needed funding opportunities.

Governor Ricketts has allocated $40 million the state received through the CARES Act for a new grant program called the Rural Broadband Remote Access Grant. This grant is available to broadband service providers to expand access in communities where the majority of resident do not have high-speed internet access.

We encourage everyone in your support of each other as we continue to address COVID-19. Please contact my office with your comments, concerns or questions by phoning 402-471-2719 or email at bbostelman@leg.ne.gov.

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One Columbus mans passion for local history has led to the formation of a fire truck museum, slated to be open the first of the year.

Dennis Hirschbrunner has a passion for the history of fire apparatus as his grandfather, father and brother were firefighters. It wasnt until he and a friend saw an antique firetruck -- a 1949 American LaFrance -- from the City of Columbus that was going to be sold for scrap that the idea for the museum was born. Coincidentally, Hirschbrunners father and brother worked on the vehicle.

As it turns out, my friend Fred Hoppe and I, saw this advertisement in the paper, Hirschbrunner said, adding that he and Hoppe teamed up to make sure the truck wouldnt be scrapped out.

Hoppe said that while Hirschbrunner has always been passionate about the subject, it was purchasing that first truck that sparked the idea of a museum. Hoppe has an interest in the subject as his father was a volunteer for the Schuyler Fire Department.

We felt like it was a real opportunity to save this truck and let the people of Columbus and the surrounding area see a fine piece of fire apparatus that served the city for many, many years, Hirschbrunner said.
When the Trump administration required nursing homes to report their COVID-19 cases, it also promised to make the data available to residents, families and the public in a user-friendly way.

But some facilities that have had coronavirus cases and deaths turn up as having none on Medicares COVID-19 nursing home website. Those data may be incomplete because the reporting requirements dont reach back to the start of the pandemic. Numbers dont necessarily portray the full picture.

The biggest thing that needs to be taken away ... is in its current form, it is really leaving consumers in the dark, Sam Brooks, project manager for Consumer Voice, said of the website, maintained by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. Consumer Voice is a national advocacy group for improved quality in long-term care.

Nursing homes are only required to provide CMS with data on coronavirus cases and deaths among residents and staff as of May 8, or more than two months after the first outbreak in a U.S. facility was reported. Nursing homes have the option of full disclosure, but not all have taken it, and there is no penalty for withholding older data that may reflect poorly.

The missing information from early in the pandemic leads to some puzzling results on the website.
Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, who is in charge of coronavirus-related supplies for the White House, told Congress last week that more than than one-fourth of the states have less than a 30-day supply.

"It would seem like in less than 30 days, we're going to have a real crisis," said Rep. Bill Foster, an Illinois Democrat.

FEMA, which manages the nation's stockpile, would not break down which states have enough gear to last beyond 30 days and which do not. In June, the government started replenishing its once-depleted stockpile with the goal of building up a two-month supply.

As of June 10, FEMA had distributed or directed private companies to distribute more than 74 million N95 masks and 66 million pairs of gloves, along with other gear. The agency said it changed its distribution method to send more equipment to hot spots.

Although all U.S. states and territories have received some protective gear from FEMA, an Associated Press analysis of the agency's own data found that the amounts varied widely when measured by population and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
He now has a complete collection when it comes to having worked on every campus in the North County School District during the past 17 years. But that kind of symmetry is just an added perk for Jeff Cauley, having landed the directors job at UniTec Career Center upon the retirement of Larry Kekec.

Cauley wants to update the physical appearance of the vo-tech school, which was built in the early 1970s. Paint, some new furniture, a bit of new equipment and tools, as well as re-tooling some of the curriculum and recruitment program.

A 1986 graduate of North County, Cauley said back then, he retained the common misperception about the old vocational-technical school, which shifted when he graduated from college, and then again when he began working for the district.

This is where I was wanting to be, since I worked for the high school back in 2003. Seriously, he said. I thought that it had a negative stigma when I was in high school. I don't think that was the case, but that's what I thought, right? I thought that you came to UniTec if you didnt want to go to college, and I knew I wanted to go to college, so I didn't come to UniTec.
Vanuatu turns the Corner LETS USE THIS AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR THE FUTURE
Yes. I will do my part to conserve household energy usage, even if I'm uncomfortable in my home.

No. It is too hot to conserve household energy usage.

I already conserve, even before ERCOT requested it.

Maybe, depending on the reason ERCOT provides and whether or not I am home during that time.

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About Documentation Centre

The Documentation Centre of ICSF was initiated in 1999, in Chennai, India. The main aims behind the setting up of the Centre were to disseminate relevant information pertinent to small-scale fisheries and fishworkers in a format that would be easily available. The focus areas of information collection of the DC has been: artisanal fisheries, working conditions of fishworkers, fishworkers unions, fishworker movements, social security, women in fisheries, fisheries statistics, fishing technology, fishing communities, aquaculture, fisheries trade, fisheries management, coastal ecosystems and legal instruments, from different parts of the world.
Woburn, MA (01801)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to cloudy skies and rain during the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 82F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Rain early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low 53F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
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Local activists with Black Lives Matter are aligning with a national movement to defund police, a catchphrase for a new push to reallocate s
CLAUDE DUCLOUX is an attorney and the former president of the Austin Bar Association and former chair of Texas Center for Legal Ethics.
RAMIRO VALDEZ has been a frequent guest columnist in the Denton Record-Chronicle and is a retired area counselor. He welcomes feedback and suggestions via letters to the editor or emailed to rambam.valdez@gmail.com.
As a society, we have yet to shake off the reefer madness that cloaked the country back in the 1930s. If we were to let our guard down then, our children would have been exposed to marijuana and we would have ended up a society of degenerates led onto a path straight to perdition.
More than 20 Christian bands from around the country are set to descend upon eastern Howard County this weekend to perform as part of the annual Kingdom Come Festival.

Originally scheduled for the third weekend in June, the Christian music festival was moved to this weekend, as festivals were permitted to resume per Indianas Back on Track plan set by Gov. Eric Holcomb. After festival organizer Angie Leyda contacted the 29 original bands slated to perform and 26 of them said they still were in for the rescheduled date, Leyda said she knew the show had to go on.

Initially out of 29 bands, only three said they couldnt come. That was like, 'OK, well God must have been making sure the schedule was clear because He knew it was going to happen,' she said.

Since then, a few more bands have dropped off the schedule, but more than 20 bands still will be performing at the Healing Field over two days.

The event is free to the public, and free primitive camping also is permitted. Guests must sign a waiver acknowledging any risks and agreeing to certain rules, such as not hugging people and leaving politics at the door.

Were trying to be wise but not fearful, and were going to address it (the COVID-19 pandemic) but not focus on it. When people arrive, there will be a waiver they need to sign making sure they know all of the rules, no motorized vehicles. If you have people under 13, keep them with you. Dont go hugging everybody because you dont know what their personal preference is right now. So well have things like that in place, Leyda said.

Leyda said there will be hand washing stations and hand sanitizer set out around the venue. Staff and bands will go through screenings and temperature checks, and merchandise tables will be set up six feet apart. Leyda said its up to the individual bands whether they want to interact with fans.

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If they are comfortable with having people come and sign and all that stuff, its up to them, she said. There are a couple that have high-risk family members, so theyre going to be more cautious than some of the others who are like, No, Ill hug them.

Performers set for Friday, July 10, are Meagan Reeves, Autumns Descent, Poetic Descent, Amongst the Giants, Aaron Ray, The Persuaded, Grave Robber, Death Therapy, TJ Harris of Decyfer Down, Zahna, and headliner Spoken.

A Christian rock band from Nashville, Spoken has released four studio albums and is signed to Tooth & Nail Records.

On Saturday, July 11, the following performers will take the stage: Forsaken Hero, Midnight Wedding, Shane Tracy, Winona Avenue, Matt Moore, Trevor Heyd, Relentless Flood, Bred 4 War, Point5, GFM, I Am Spartacus, Set for the Fall, Chaotic Resemblance, The Protest, and headliner Disciple.

Disciple, a Christian metal band from Knoxville, has earned countless accolades, including GMA Dove Award nominations, an Inspirational Life Award, and multiple number-one Christian rock hits.

In addition to featuring numerous rock bands, Leyda said the lineup also includes pop, rap, and punk bands.

Leyda said she's looking forward to bringing the community together.

Were just coming in here just to refresh and just to get encouraged, and hopefully everybody leaves filled with hope and feels like they got loved on all weekend, she said. Im just so glad were able to do it because there are so many Christian festivals that are canceled this summer, even ones that were happening after ours. I think people just need this right now, just a place to go and get away from all the mess and just have a great time with one another. If worshiping is your thing, then worship with us, and if its not your thing, then just have fun with us.

Kingdom Come Festival takes place July 10 to 11. The festival kicks off at 1 p.m. Friday and continues through Saturday night. The festival takes place at the Healing Fields, located at 8313 E. 400 S., Greentown. For more information, visit kingdomcomefestival.com or visit Kingdom Come Festival 2020 (official) on Facebook.
The Finance Ministry has warned investors over high coupon rate corporate bonds, for the second time in three months, amidst their rising issuance.

Corporate bond issuance in the first five months of the year rose 15 percent year-on-year to VND91.6 trillion ($4 billion), according to the Hanoi Stock Exchange.

The ministry said in a statement that investors should not buy bonds based solely on their high coupon rate, as there are chances that they will lose out if the companies run into financial difficulties and are unable to repay their dues.

Analysts at brokerage MB Securities said that real estate companies were increasing their bond issuance amount to raise funds as banks tightened lending to limit bad debt. The State Bank of Vietnam had also tightened control over real estate sector borrowings to minimize risks.

The government is seeking to tighten corporate bond issuance following some companies issuing bonds worth 50-100 times their equity last year.

A government decree effective January 1 next year will limit bond issuance through private placement to three times the issuing entitys equity.

It will also require a minimum six month gap between two issuances, a proposed rule that seeks to prevent businesses from raising money from a large number of investors via private placements.

The value of corporate bond issuances increased by 25 percent from 2018 to VND280 trillion ($12 billion) last year, according to SSI Securities Corporation.
Real estate consultant Savills Vietnam says the supply shortage in Hanois Grade A office segment in terms of both quality and quantity means that the average rent in the city is likely to keep rising.

A Savills report says Q1 2020 recorded an increase in Grade A office rent while that of Grade B almost remained the same. In previous quarters, Grade B office rentals were on the rise. The report attributed the new development to the scarcity of Grade A office space and the high occupancy rate the segment enjoys.

Hanois office rental market has stayed stable for the last two years with an average occupancy of 93 percent. However, the supply for Grade A office segment remains modest with only around 500,000 sqm of floor area out of the total of 1.8 million sqm, according to Savills.

Paucity of Grade A office space in Hanoi is likely to keep rents rising for the next few years.

A report by property service firm CBRE also notes that rent for the Grade A office segment in Hanoi rose by 0.6 percent in Q1 2020 over Q4 2019 and by 5.8 percent over Q1 2019.

Analysts have said the lack of choice in this segment is evident, with most Grade A buildings now old and having outdated facilities.

Given that the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are unlikely to dent Vietnams fairly positive economic prospects, the current situation in Hanois office rental market is unlikely to change.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has forecast a 4.8 percent GDP growth for Vietnam this year, higher than other countries in the region. This has been attributed to timely intervention from the government and the central bank, with policies and financial support to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic and its success so far in containing the disease.

Fitch Solutions, a unit of credit ratings Fitch Group, in early July forecasted Vietnam's economy would expand 3 percent in 2020, a revision from its previous forecast of 2.8 percent.

The country has gone 82 days without community transmission of Covid-19, with only 28 active cases as 340 patients have recovered and no deaths recorded.

Savills Vietnam expects rent for Grade A offices in Hanoi to keep increasing at seven percent a year over the next three years.

Therefore, it will be a wise decision for companies to find office space at the earliest, in the pre-opening phase of an office complex, analysts said.

One of the projects that will offer Grade A office space very soon is Capital Place, invested by Singapores CapitaLand.

Capital Place office building in Hanoi's Ba Dinh District.

Taking the lead with LEED

The Capital Place twin tower project, which will offer more than, 93,000 sqm of international Grade A office space for lease, is the first office building in Hanoi to achieve the prestigious LEED Gold Certification, a globally recognized symbol of environmentally friendly, sustainable buildings.

In the heart of the capital city, it offers a verdant setting where office workers can relax and recharge their batteries.

Its developers say Capital Place's twin towers take inspiration from the Thang Long dragon soaring magnificently across the sky - a symbol of Vietnam's cultural heritage that also represents the strength of its people.

Towering above Lieu Giai and Van Cao streets, the 37-storied towers are located in the heart of Ba Dinh District, one of the most bustling business areas of Hanoi, close to embassies of Japan and Australia.

It is ideally located, just 30 minutes from the Noi Bai International Airport, 10 minutes to Hanoi Old Quarter and the West Lake area. Capital Place will also be the first commercial project in Hanoi within walking distance of a metro line (Kim Ma station) in future. The location will help enterprises save travel time given the context of traffic congestion in the capital city.

Across the two towers, 32 high-speed elevators will function at 6m/s, assigned to individual zones to reduce waiting time for guests. The Capital Places leasable office spaces feature one of the largest column-free floor areas to help optimize space and design efficiency. With standard acoustic raised floors and inter-floor connectivity, it offers a smart and efficient solution for multi-floor offices.

Capital Place offers a smart and efficient solution for multi-floor offices

Capital Place was awarded The Best Office Development in Asia at the Asia PropertyGuru Awards 2019 in Bangkok. The building also received several other prestigious awards at the Vietnam Property Guru Awards 2019: Best Office Development, Best Office Architectural Design, Best Universal Design Development, and highly commended for Best Green Development.

The project is in its final stages and ready to welcome customers from the third quarter of 2020. More information can be found at: www.capitalplace.com.vn
Releasing American citizens who have been unjustly held against their will by foreign governments is a top priority for the United States. So far, more than 40 hostages and detainees have been brought home since President Donald Trump took office.

In June, Americans celebrated the release of U.S. Navy veteran Michael White from Iranian custody. Mr. White had been wrongfully detained in Iran for almost two years. The United States negotiated and secured his release with notable help from the Swiss government. As part of the agreement between the parties, charges were dropped on Majid Taheri, a Florida dermatologist who had violated U.S. sanctions on Iran.

At a press briefing, U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said that such a successful diplomatic outcome on the consular level builds confidence that [the United States and Iran] are able to negotiate agreements that advance the interests of both countries.

There is no question that if we could reach an agreement, a comprehensive agreement . . . it would advance the interests of the Iranian people. Theyre very tired of seeing their national wealth squandered in places like other countries in the Middle East and also in places like Venezuela.

He pointed to the benefits a new deal would bring to Iran, including lifting sanctions and restoring diplomatic and economic ties.

Special Representative Hook noted that Iran has so far declined the opportunity for deeper dialogue and engagement. Because of this, the United States has pursued a three-fold policy toward the Iranian regime: maximum economic pressure, diplomatic isolation, and the credible threat of military force to defend U.S. interests.

That policy, Mr. Hook declared, has denied Irans leaders money for their malign activities. It is also the way to advance the Presidents goal of bringing them to the negotiating table.

The President has had the door open for diplomacy for many years, said Special Representative Hook. A new and better deal will certainly benefit the people of the United States and the people of Iran. And so the door remains open.
I wonder if Milo Yiannopoulos, Ben Shapiro, Charles Murray and Heather MacDonald are reacting to these antifa riots the same way I am.

I mean, not that any one of us would enjoy the sight of reporters being trapped, chased through the streets and physically assaulted by antifa goons. Or liberal Democrats having to defend their homes with guns in St. Louis. Or the president hiding in the White House bunker as antifa lays waste to Lafayette Park. Or the mayor of Seattle finally shutting down the CHAZ summer of love when the mob came to her house.

Theyre all peaceful protesters  until they come near you.

Imagine that instead of being a president, mayor or reporter in the vicinity of mentally unbalanced, historically illiterate, thuggishly violent lunatics ... imagine that you, personally, are the window they want to smash.

Now you know what its like to be a conservative trying to give a speech on a college campus today. (Thanks for all the help, guys!)

Neither the conservative media nor elected Republicans gave a crap about the left-wing paramilitary force thats been mobilizing since Trumps election.
Letter: Lets get Nevadas unemployed hired back first

Everywhere in America, the pandemic lockdown has put people out of work, but nowhere has been hit like Nevada.

Our tourism and entertainment industries rely on American confidence and American mobility, the two things hit hardest by the virus. The result is the highest unemployment in the country here in Nevada, peaking in April at an almost unimaginable 30.1 percent.

Thankfully, the Nevada job market is recovering. A great rehiring is underway with initial and continuing jobless claims on a continuous downward trajectory. The state unemployment rate fell nearly five points in May to 25.3 percent.

In a time like this, with hundreds of thousands of Nevadans recently out of work and desperately trying to get back into the job market, it would be downright immoral to allow companies to continue to offer thousands of positions to temporary foreign workers. State governments, however, are powerless to do anything to regulate the existing system which was designed 30 years ago to allow companies to more easily supplement the supply of hard-to-find skills in good economic times.
A return for Brazilian superstar Neymar to Barcelona from Paris Saint-Germain is "unlikely", according to the LaLiga club's president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

The Brazil forward left Camp Nou for the French capital in a world-record 222million deal back in 2017, but a return to Barcelona - where he won eight major trophies across four seasons - has long been mooted.

Coronavirus changed everything

However, Bartomeu thinks such a move would be hard to pull off in the current climate as Europe's elite clubs adjust their plans due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Such an operation is unlikely because the situation of all the clubs in Europe is very difficult," Bartomeu told RAC 1.

Yet there was no such dismissal when Bartomeu was asked about another forward in Lautaro Martinez.

Lionel Messi's Argentina team-mate is said to have a 111m release clause in his contract, but that is thought to expire on Tuesday, and it has been reported Barca will not try to activate it before the deadline passes.

Martinez, 22, has scored 17 times in 37 appearances for Inter this term and is under contract at San Siro until 2023.

Bartomeu "not talking about transfers"

"I'm not talking about transfers," Bartomeu added when asked about Martinez.

"We have not marked the signings in the calendar on when they should be."

One man who will be joining Barcelona is midfielder Miralem Pjanic, who will move at the end of this season, with Arthur heading in the opposite direction to join Juventus.

Though Pjanic is seven years older than Arthur and there are reports Barcelona looked to offload the Brazilian to balance the books, Bartomeu insists the new signing had been a long-term target.

"Pjanic is a player who has wanted to sign for a long time, he was highly sought after and there is a Barca player who wants Juve," Bartomeu explained.

"But it is an exceptional situation. It is not to balance balances because we would have sold other players for whom we had offers. Arthur is a player who is highly valued."
New York expands coronavirus travel quarantine as U.S. pandemic widens

Visitors from three more U.S. states who travel to New York will be required to quarantine for 14 days to control the spread of coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday, as alarm grew over a surge in infections in large parts of the country.

New York state, which had been the early epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, unveiled the travel advisory last month in an effort to prevent a resurgence after the state got its outbreak under control.

Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma, all of which are grappling with "significant" community spread of the virus, have been added to the list, Cuomo announced in a statement, bringing the total number of states under the travel advisory to 19.

New Jersey, which along with New York had experienced the brunt of the early part of the U.S. outbreak, also added the three states to its quarantine order.

Parts of the United States, including Florida, Texas and California, have experienced a sharp rise in infections in the past two weeks, an indication that the pandemic remains largely uncontrolled despite the end of lockdowns to control its spread.

A line of more than 200 cars snaked around the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston on Tuesday as people waited for hours in sweltering heat to get tested for COVID-19, the sometimes fatal illness caused by the coronavirus. Some had arrived the night before in order to secure a test at the drive-thru site.
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The CARES Act, which provided relief from the economic hardship caused by the Covid-19 pandemic was signed into law on Friday, March 27, 2020. Under that legislation the first stimulus checks were paid into people's bank accounts over the weekend of the 11 and 12 of April, giving a lag time of about two weeks for the first payments.

The first people to receive the stimulus payments, directly into their bank accounts, were taxpayers who had filed a 2019 or 2020 tax return.

Tens of millions of Americans received their direct payment by April 15, that is two and a half weeks after the legislation was signed into law by President Trump.

The fast majority of filers had received their payments directly in the first two weeks after the first payments, by the end of April.

Where the IRS do not have people's bank statement and have been issuing paper checks or prepaid debit cards the process has been far slower, with many millions still to receive their first stimulus payment in the middle of June. The IRS said they expected almost all stimulus payments to be made within 20 weeks.

However, with most Americans now having received their first stimulus check some time ago, and the economic effects of the pandemic still badly affecting the country, there is pressure on law-makers and the government to do something about further financial support to help those hardest hit by the pandemic.

Second wave of payments?

Speculation has been rife about the possibility of a possible second wave of stimulus payments as Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans now appearing more positive that there will be a second round of payments, at least for some people.



Speaking in Kentucky yesterday, Monday, McConnell said: "I think the people who have been hit the hardest are people who make about $40,000 a year or less. Many of them work in the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry, as all of you know, just got rim-racked - hotels, restaurants - and so (more stimulus checks) could be part of it," adding: "the country needs one last boost."

Without providing details of a bill still being crafted, McConnell, who had previously stated that "basic protections" provided by federal unemployment insurance should be included, indicated they would not be as generous as those in the pandemic-related legislation enacted earlier this year.

"To have the basic protections of unemployment insurance is extremely important and should be continued," McConnell told reporters.

But the huge coronavirus stimulus bill enacted in late March contained "a mistake" by paying "people a bonus not to go back to work," he said. McConnell was referring to a provision that paid an extra benefit that topped up the wages earned by some workers before the pandemic hit and shuttered businesses.

McConnell has said he is putting together legislation that would protect businesses, non-profits, schools and other enterprises from liability lawsuits as they reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, weeks ago, approved a $3 trillion bill which would continue federal unemployment benefits and a second round of direct payments, along with a range of other support, such as emergency aid to state and local governments.

McConnell has refused to consider that measure and has repeatedly said he would put together his own bill.
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.

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.

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.






Workers of China Railway Construction Group at a construction site of the China-Laos railway. [Photo by Jiang Zhiyuan/For China Daily]

Work on the China-Laos railway, a strategic project under the Belt and Road Initiative, is progressing steadily with work on Vientiane station commencing on Friday in the Laotian capital, despite COVID-19 challenges.

The 14,543-square-meter station is the largest of the 20 newly-built stations under the China-Laos railway project, which seeks to make Laos a land-linked hub.

Vientiane station plans to have four platforms and seven railway lanes, two reserve platforms and three reserve lanes (places for platforms and lanes in future constructions). When completed, the station can hold 2,500 people at a time at most.

Vientiane station is being constructed by China Railway Construction Group, which has executed 13 other projects in the line, including stations and dispatching centers.

According to the company, the station has combined both Chinese and Laotian cultural elements with modern construction styles, aiming to build a customer-friendly and environment-friendly station.

Chantula Phanalasy, director general of management of the railway project on the Laos side, said he was pleased with the progress in construction and hoped that it would be completed and operated soon to further boost Laos' economic development.

The China-Laos railway, linking Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan province with Laos' capital city Vientiane, is the first overseas railway project that is mainly invested, constructed, operated by China, and linked to the Chinese railway network since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The China-Laos railway construction has adopted Chinese technologies, standards, and equipment, and is reported to contribute greatly to Laos' economic development as well as the Belt and Road Initiative related constructions.

The China-Laos railway has helped foster trade between the two countries, said Zhou Minliang, a senior researcher at the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Zhou said the BRI presents opportunities for economies involved to join the global value chain, especially those that have abundant natural and labor resources but lack infrastructure, technological and financial abilities to develop and promote their products in overseas markets.

"The BRI-related projects have promoted a more efficient exchange of resources, technology, capital, and will facilitate a win-win cooperation for all the economies involved. The BRI has been playing an important role in facilitating trade and globalization," Zhou said.

"It is also a good sign that COVID-19 is a speed bump rather than a hurdle to the BRI. Going forward, BRI projects should further leverage resources from the economies involved to promote better trade for all and contribute to a more globalized world," Zhou said.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, trade in goods between China and the BRI participant economies surpassed $7.8 trillion from 2013 to 2019. China's direct investment in the BRI participant economies topped $110 billion in the same period.
Artem Kokhanevich, CEO at GigaCloud

Almost four months after Ukraine has implemented the measures to counteract COVID-19, its now time to sum up intermediate results. I would say right away how Im pleased that Ukraine suffered noticeably less during the current crisis than many developed EU countries or the US. Let's see why, and how long we are going to be so lucky.

For almost half a year, business around the world has been living in the situation when global economic forecasts change almost daily. However, despite everything that happened, Ukraine managed to prevent the collapse of the national currency, to keep the economy and the banking system in a very efficient state. Yes, we see a fall in GDP of 1.5% - or even 1.3%, due to the updated NBU report. But at the same time, in economically more prosperous countries, such as France or Spain, GDP against the backdrop of COVID-19 declined much more - by 5.8% and 4.1%, respectively. And US GDP in the first quarter fell by 5% for the first time since 2008.

Such a difference in the economic indicators of Ukraine and the world may be explained by the fact that quarantine measures affect, first of all, the service sector. And if in most developed countries the share of medium and small businesses in the structure of the economy can occupy up to 95%, in Ukraine it cannot reach 30%. According to statistics from the European Business Association (EBA), more than 50% of the working-age population are occupied in the field of small business in the EU countries, while in Ukraine this index barely reached 10%.

Even the Ministry of Economy recognizes that micro and small enterprises bring Ukraine only 16% of GDP. For comparison, in Europe - at least two, and in some countries, three times as much. Naturally, many small business representatives in Ukraine work in shadow. But even assuming that only a third of SMEs in Ukraine are transparent and reflected in official reporting, we are still far from developed EU countries.

Ironically, these particular differences gave the Ukrainian economy a chance to survive in the era of the coronavirus. Indeed, all quarantine measures firstly hit not SMGs or international players, but SMEs in the service, trade, transport and tourism sectors

Of course, COVID-19 significantly thinned out the ranks of micro and small Ukrainian businesses. For a while, this market may significantly lose not only in quantity but also in the quality of services, because the more players there are in the market, the healthier the competition. Besides, large enterprises cannot stop rising unemployment - SMEs are much more active in creating new jobs in stable times.

It is worth paying attention to another interesting index - consumer spending. In Ukraine, with the beginning of quarantine, it decreased significantly, however, remaining in the growth tendency (+ 8.1% in the first quarter). In the US, this figure has fallen by 7.6%, and this is the worst decline since 1980. In Europe, consumer spending also declined amid a pandemic, and only in May began to gradually return to pre-crisis volumes.

At the same time, the general consumption trends in Ukraine and in the world coincide - people began to spend less on goods and services that are not included in the basic necessities category, buy more on the Internet, and more often use delivery services. Meanwhile, on the background of general stagnation, the IT business showed very steady growth rates - due to the large number of companies switching to remote work, an increase in demand for the Internet access services, and due to the growth of cloud infrastructure.

In Ukraine, the IT market is now in a twice-winning position. Firstly, our economy remains quite stable, despite the challenges of the corona crisis. Secondly, our specialists are still cheaper than European and American colleagues. So, taking into account the focus of business during any economic crisis, first of all to optimize the costs, Ukrainian specialists will become even more sought-after worldwide.

But still just the IT sector cannot feed all the budget. It is very important that the country's economy develops in a balanced manner and that people who have lost business and work do not have to wait for years for a suitable environment and for the restoration of market growth. The main role of the state is high-quality investment of money earned within the country. And the best our government can do now is to invest all available funds in entrepreneurs and SME, creating conditions for the rapid growth of this market segment. Indeed, as the experience of developed countries shows, this segment may well be a powerful locomotive of the economy.
The Ministry of Energy, together with the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine and Ukraine Denmark Energy Center, have developed a bill providing for the creation of an energy efficient modernization fund to finance energy efficiency of enterprises through a carbon dioxide emissions tax.

According to a report on the website of the Ministry of Energy, the fund will be able to accumulate revenues from the tax on carbon dioxide emissions and provide enterprises with compensation for part of the loans for the purchase of energy efficient equipment.

The ministry clarified that the matter concerns the targeted use of revenues from carbon dioxide tax in the amount of approximately UAH 900 million per year, which are now sent to the general fund of the state budget. At the same time, the ministry emphasized that the issue of energy efficiency and energy modernization is becoming increasingly relevant in connection with plans to introduce a fiscal mechanism for regulating the import of carbon-intensive goods in the EU within the framework of the European Green Deal.

"In 2018, the tax on emissions of one tonne of carbon dioxide increased from 41 kopecks to UAH 10. As a result, revenues from this tax rose from UAH 50 million in 2018 to almost UAH 1 billion in 2019. These funds can become a source of financing for energy modernization of enterprises. The expected result is a reduction in energy consumption and, subsequently, carbon dioxide emissions, the creation of new jobs and increasing the competitiveness of the economy," acting head of the agency Kostiantyn Hura said.
The Slovak side takes advantage of legal inaccuracies and believes that it is not obliged to voluntarily introduce European network codes on the border with Ukraine, in connection with which the Ukrainian side appealed to the European Commission and the Energy Community Secretariat for help in resolving the situation, Head of Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine LLC (GTSOU) Serhiy Makogon has said.

"After Ukraine and the EU jointly implemented European legislation on the Ukraine-Russia border, the situation with manual and non-transparent distribution of capacities on the Ukraine-Slovakia border looks extremely strange," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Makogon recalled that Ukraine, for its part, in line with amendment 27 to the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, has undertaken obligations to transpose European network codes and has already implemented them. On the part of European countries, such codes have already been introduced on the border with Poland, Hungary and Romania, he said.

The head of the GTSOU said that this serious issue with the implementation of European energy legislation on the Slovakia-Ukraine border was updated due to a technical problem  the need to repair the Looping 4-IP Budince pipeline, already scheduled by the Ukrainian operator from August 11 through October 1, although these dates are still being specified.

Makogon said that the gas pipeline at Budince was quickly built in 2014 to organize physical imports from the EU, since at that time Gazprom strongly opposed the use of the more powerful IP Uzhgorod/Velke Kapusany infrastructure for imports and was the only one guaranteed route for gas supplies to Ukraine from the EU in the amount of 27 million cubic meters per day. "Therefore, proposals to postpone the necessary repairs to next year are at least unprofessional," the head of the GTSOU said.

According to him, it is not planned to halt imports from Slovakia in connection with the repair works, but on the contrary, the Ukrainian operator is making every effort to increase and simplify the work of traders on the Ukraine-Slovakia border. Imports at the second IP Velke Kapusany are possible in the amount of up to 110 million cubic meters per day, which is 2.5 times higher than the capacity of IP Budince (42 million cubic meters per day), he said, adding that import is also possible through Poland, Hungary and Romania.

Makogon said that starting from March 1 this year, the Slovak operator could offer import capacities to Ukraine at IP Velke Kapusany in the amount of up to 110 million cubic meters per day, but offered only 10 million cubic meters per day. Now import through this IP is 6.5 million cubic meters per day, and all traders have access to import capacity of 60 million cubic meters per day.

The head of the GTSOU also said that, after identifying technical defects, the Ukrainian operator offered the Slovak operator Eustream two options for the repair period: free transfer of already booked capacities from Budince to Velke Kapusany and combining these two IPs into one virtual, as it has already been done on the border with Hungary and Poland, but it did not bring the result.

"Due to the fact that Eustream refuses to transfer previously booked capacities from Budince to Velke Kapusany on the Slovak side, traders may incur additional costs, but there will definitely be no problems with imports," Makogon said. He recalled that the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission of Ukraine (NEURC) has already allowed traders to transfer previously reserved capacities on the Ukrainian side for free from Budince to Velke Kapusany.

At the same time, the GTSOU welcomes the decision of Eustream to offer additional capacities at the entrance to Ukraine at IP Velke Kapusany in the amount of 60 million cubic meters per day for the repair period. The Ukrainian operator said that at present, IP Uzhgorod/Velke Kapusany load does not exceed 40% and will continue to decrease. This enables the operators of Slovakia and Ukraine to develop options for using two of the four large diameter pipes to organize uninterrupted and guaranteed imports to Ukraine, instead of a temporary solution at IP Budince, the GTSOU said.

The operator said that the system solution in accordance with European network codes is the creation of a single virtual interconnection point and the introduction of a standard mechanism for distributing capacities on the basis of auctions according to the ENTSOG calendar, similar to the way it works at all interconnection points within the EU.

According to information from one of the market players, the main reason for the Slovak operator's refusal to switch from two existing points to a single virtual point is a reduction in tariffs and the loss of a rather substantial income, provided the supply volumes are unchanged.
PrivatBank to file cassation against court ban to enforce return of 247 filling stations belonging to bank from companies of bank ex-owners

The northern business court of appeals on June 23, 2020 decided not to satisfy the appeal of state-owned PrivatBank, upholding the decision of Kyiv's business court made on March 10, which banned the return or enforced return of a chain of 247 filling stations from companies affiliated with former owners of the bank Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov to secure the claim of these 38 companies.

The press service of PrivatBank told Interfax-Ukraine that the bank plans to file a cassation appeal against the ruling of the business court of appeals.

As reported, previously, the 38 companies also filed similar applications for securing their lawsuits in 16 cases with business courts in Kirovohrad, Lviv, Cherkasy and Volyn regions. However, they were dismissed, because the stated measures to secure the lawsuits are identical with the satisfaction of the lawsuits.
Former governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Valeriya Gontareva calls on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to suspend payments to Ukraine until the government appoints a new independent governor of the NBU.

"To defend the reforms we made, the IMF should announce that it is not making any further payments to Ukraine unless Zelensky appoints a governor who will safeguard reforms," she said in an interview with Central Banking.

She said the IMF should even consider demanding the repayment of its previous support for Ukraine.
Operational plans of state-owned banks foresee cut of NPL in system to 32% by 2023  NBU

The operational three-year plans of state-owned banks to reduce non-performing loans (NPL), approved by the Financial Stability Council on June 30, provide for a reduction in NPL in the banking system from 51% to 32%, and in state-owned banks from 66% to 31% by 2023, the press service of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

According to the report, in absolute terms, the NPL level is expected to decrease by UAH 305 billion in three years.

State-owned banks plan to achieve such a level of NPL by writing off troubled assets from their balance sheets, including loans for which a reserve of 100% has already been formed.

"According to the NBU regulations, cancellation does not mean debt forgiveness. Banks will continue to defend their interests in collecting debts from owners," the regulator said.
It is possible that Ukraine will sooner or later appeal to the UN International Court of Justice because of the destruction of the Ukraine International Airlines plane by Iran, said Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Enin.

"Obviously we really need a serious legal team, because it will be a very serious combat, and from the very first day we do not exclude, we prepare for the fact that sooner or later we will have to go to UN court and force the Iranian side to agree to a pre-trial settlement and we will be able to do this by only having formed the proper evidence base. The stronger the base, the greater the chances of reaching an agreement sooner," he told reporters on Monday.

Enin said that Ukraine has sent notes at least four times with a proposal to start negotiations as soon as possible. "At the same time, we did not receive a single formal answer, and we hear about their desire to talk mainly from some interviews," the deputy foreign minister said.

Enin said that the purpose of negotiation mechanism, based on data from a technical investigation, criminal process, is to establish Irans international responsibility, to seek not only apologies, but also guarantees that the incidents will not repeat in the future, and receive compensation as well.
Some have questioned why COVID-19 doesnt appear on publicly-disclosed death certificates, and its because the cause is being redacted as part of a long-standing practice relating to certain communicable diseases.

As many know, vital records, such as death certificates, often are disclosed publicly, and theyre printed in newspapers such as this one. Many have noticed that COVID-19 hasnt appeared as a cause of death, even though Howard County has had 61 deaths due to the novel coronavirus.

According to Howard County Steve Seele, this isnt because the information is being hidden for nefarious reasons, as has been alleged by some who have questioned him about the practice.

People are not understanding why they arent seeing COVID listed as a cause of death. Right now, when all of this started, we were given directives from the Indiana State Department of Health guidelines," said Seele.

The guidelines suggest health departments black out this information for privacy reasons. Certain other diseases, such as AIDS or AIDS-related complex and HIV, are handled similarly when someone dies due to complications from these disorders.

But, said Seele, just because the public doesnt see COVID-19 on public death certificates doesnt mean its not on there and accessible to public health officials. It is listed on death certificates, just not the versions available to the public, according to the coroner.

When news media prints or releases information from open records, theres only a certain amount of information that is released, said Seele. I think people arent seeing COVID-19 listed as a cause of death, so there is an assumption being made that we are therefore making these numbers up or thus hiding those numbers. Theres just no truth to that. Theres no truth to that whatsoever.

Howard County has striven very hard to make those numbers accurate, so our government can make proper decisions based on statistics  Also, the numbers are being reported in aggregate. Just because you dont see the information on the persons death certificate, theres a lot more information on that death certificate that isnt printed. People are making assumptions just because they dont read the word COVID-19 on the cause of death. That printing doesnt include everything.

The Kokomo Perspective can confirm that some death certificates received by this office that appear to be from someone who died due to COVID-19 do have a line that is whited out. It appears this is the practice in play.

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Regardless, Seele said both his office and Howard County Board of Health work to ensure that reporting COVID-19 and related deaths is accurate by acting as a checkpoint for such information in a multi-step process.

That process begins with the physicians responsible for treating those with COVID-19. These physicians work to determine whether the novel coronavirus was a contributing factor to their patients death. Normally, said Seele, this is determined by reviewing the symptoms that were present in a patient prior to death, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Current procedure mandates that the coroners office must be notified, and thats noted on the death certificate the physician certifies.

From there, the coroners office and health department are notified, and the case is reviewed. Similarly, if the death certificate doesnt indicate the coroners office was notified, funeral homes are required to notify the coroners office. Then a case can be further reviewed in case it slipped by, and it cant receive final certification without approval from the coroner.

That process ensures government offices can review the cases and ensure their accuracy.

As of right now, every COVID and COVID-related death crosses my desk, said Seele. It also crosses the desk of the health department  They are well aware of each and every death. Each and every death is reviewed. We have a good rapport with the physicians in our community. Sometimes when there is a question, whether it needs to be listed or not be listed as a contributing factor or non-contributing factor, obviously that conversation takes place between the physician, sometimes myself, sometimes the health department, as it has to be done.

Also, Seele said he works to ensure that just because someone has died who tested positive for COVID-19, that doesnt mean its always listed as the cause of death. Seele said patients must manifest symptoms of the virus, and it must have contributed to their death in order to be counted among state aggregate data.

Similarly, every COVID-19 death that is counted among the aggregate data reported to the state must actually have received a test, according to the coroner. There are times, he said, when a patient has been brought to a hospital for treatment and died prior to a test being administered or the test results received. But, Seele said tests must be run in cases where a patient dies without having received one, and in instances where patients die prior to test results being returned, the test results must have been received before the death can be certified as having been caused by COVID-19.

I feel there are certain segments of death that should be a family matter, not a public matter  What people have to realize, still the statistics are being reported, but they are being reported as a total without attaching the persons name to it, said Seele.
Ukraine is considering peacekeepers' deployment in Donbas and is even studying the possible deployment of OSCE peacekeepers, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Oleksiy Reznikov said.

"Peacekeepers are one of the possibilities, which is also being studied by us. Actually, we have gone farther and started studying the hitherto unprecedented capacity of the OSCE mandate. It appears that they also have the right to deploy peacekeepers but have never done that before. Yet the formal and legal possibility exists," Reznikov said in the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) talk show aired by the television channel ICTV on Monday evening.

In Reznikov's words, peacekeepers seem to be the only option "the other side might be ready to accept." "However, all talks have their moment. Regretfully, this moment has not come yet," he said.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Oleksiy Reznikov has allowed for the possibility of a Normandy-format summit of Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia in Berlin in August on condition that the sides meet each other halfway and fulfill the agreements reached at the Paris summit in December 2019.

"In fact, the next meeting of the political leaders of the four countries of the Normandy format should be held in Berlin after it becomes clear that the Paris [agreements reached in December 2019] have been fulfilled. I am sure it will be possible to hold this meeting in August. On condition that we are really meeting each other halfway," Reznikov said in the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) talk show aired by the television channel ICTV on Monday evening.
The bill on decentralization amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution will apply to all regions of Ukraine, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation and member of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) political subgroup Andriy Kostin said.

"We realize that the decentralization issue is important to entire Ukrainian society and that decentralization parameters will be the same for entire Ukraine," Kostin said in the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) talk show aired by the television channel ICTV on Monday evening.

The deputy noted that the bill, which is part of Ukraine's obligations under the Minsk protocols, is being discussed in the working group's framework by civil society members and local self-government associations and will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada after the consultations are finalized.
Russia did not give any ultimatums to Ukraine at the meeting of political advisors to the chiefs of Normandy-format member states in Berlin on July 3, while the Ukrainian delegation explained once again that the Ukrainian Constitution could not provide any "special statuses," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Oleksiy Reznikov said.

"As a witness, I can tell that I personally did not hear or see any ultimatums given over those 11 hours. There was a discussion and questions were asked as to how you plan to fulfill Point 1 of the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, which pertains to legal aspects of the conflict settlement process and the adoption of a number of legislative acts pledged by Ukraine in 2014," Reznikov said in the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) talk show aired by the television channel ICTV on Monday evening.

Reznikov noted that only a bill on decentralization amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution could be discussed in the course of the Minsk process.
Serhiy Nayev, the commanding officer of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) in Donbas, believes that Ukrainian Navy Commander Rear Adm. Oleksiy Neizhpapa has overstated the threat of Russian military invasion from Crimea.

"The commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Navy, Adm. Neizhpapa, who had been appointed just recently, gave an interview to a regional media outlet and made a statement consistent with his vision and opinion, without being fully aware of the developments in the Tavrichesky sector. His statement could be described as an overstatement, considering the current circumstances," Nayev said in the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) talk show aired by the television channel ICTV on Monday evening.

At the moment, there is no direct threat of Russian military invasion of Ukraine, including in the Tavrichesky sector, Nayev said. He noted that the supreme commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the chief of General Staff were receiving full intelligence information.

As reported earlier, Neizhpapa said in an interview with the Odesa website Dumskaya.net that the Ukrainian Navy was preparing for an all-out military confrontation with Russia.
Russia security leaders in Crimea have been holding searches in the apartments of Crimean Tatar people since 04.00, six persons have already been detained, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova said.

"This is how the searches in Crimea look like. Today, from 04.00 the occupant has been holding searches of the families of the Crimean Tatars in the four regions of the peninsula. Six were detained. Most likely, everyone is waiting for the popular article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Now they are being held in the Federal Security Bureau's office in Simferopol," she wrote on Facebook on Tuesday morning.

Dzhaparova said that today 67 Crimean Tatar have already been detained by the Russia security forces under Article 205.5 of the Russian Criminal Code.

"They are trying to pass them off as the terrorists," she added.
A dozen Ukrainian citizens who were not allowed to enter Greece on Saturday will return to Ukraine on Tuesday on two Ryanair flights, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.

"For 12 Ukrainian citizens who are stuck in Athens, tickets are currently booked for two Ryanair flights that will take place today. The first flight is scheduled for 17.10 and the second at 21.55 on July 7. These two flights are supposed to return 12 citizens back to Ukraine. They were stuck there and held in the detention area at the airport," he said at an online briefing on Tuesday.

Kuleba noted that for four more Ukrainians in Greece, the issue is being resolved. He said the 12 citizens will return at the expense of the airline.

"One man managed to work with our consuls with the border guards to be allowed to cross the border, because he goes in transit to another EU country," the minister said.

Later on his Facebook page, Kuleba said four more Ukrainians would return from Greece on WizzAir flight.

He also pointed out that the Ukrainian Embassy in Greece is actively working with the authorities of this country so that deportation stamps are not put in the passports of the stranded Ukrainians, something that could complicate their future trips to EU countries.

"As of now, it is agreed that they will not be 'deported.' The consuls will personally monitor this," Kuleba said.

The Foreign Minister also noted that the incident in Greece was not the first.

"Unfortunately, despite our efforts, airlines have continued to take Ukrainian citizens on board, knowing in advance that they would not be allowed into the EU country they are flying to," he said.

The minister appealed to airlines not to sell tickets.

"Advice for airlines: please, please, do not try to earn an extra penny on a ticket for a Ukrainian who buys a ticket to an EU country, knowing in advance that you drop this person off the plane, you leave him face to face with problems," said he.

Kuleba advised Ukrainians to carefully check entry information before traveling abroad.

"And two tips for Ukrainian travelers: first, do not be lazy to check the information about entering a country before you buy the appropriate tickets. Do not waste your money. Do not create additional problems for yourself. Study everything in detail," the minister said.

At the same time, Kuleba said Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs would assist Ukrainians who would fall into a difficult situation.

"Of course, we will come to your aid and will help you return to Ukraine if you find yourself in a difficult situation, but it will be best for all of us if we will prevent such situations," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, who is also the first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group, said that at negotiations of political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format countries there was a certain rapprochement of positions, but the Russian delegation was not ready to subscribe to the elaborated formulations from Ukraine, Germany and France and took time to prepare its proposals.

"The discussion went on for eleven hours, including on wording, interpretations, on a word, on a comma, on a dash, etc. But the main idea and goal was for all four political advisers to be ready to sign a specific set of recommendations for the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG). And at that moment the rapprochement of positions took place, I am a witness to this. But there was no willingness of the Russian to subscribe to the statements proposed by German and French sides," he said on air of the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) program on ICTV on Monday, July 6, in the evening.

Reznikov noted the constructive and "pro-Ukrainian" position of Jan Haecker and Emmanuel Bonn, the foreign policy advisers to the German Chancellor and the French President.

"As a result, the positions on the statements of Ukraine, France and Germany converged, but Russia asked for time to work on another project and express its proposals. Therefore, no agreements were reached - it's true, but a real rapprochement took place," he said.

As reported, following a meeting of the advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format countries on July 3 in Berlin, the Office of the President of Ukraine announced that Ukraine, Germany and France had shown their readiness to do their best to fulfill the Paris agreements of the leaders of the Normandy format of December 2019, while Russia took a break to prepare an answer to this consolidated position of the three countries.

The meeting of political advisers to the leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia was attended by Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov, who led the Ukrainian delegation.
Four servicemen of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) were injured as a result of shellings by Russia-led forces in Donbas from the beginning of the current day as of 17:00 on Tuesday.

"They were promptly delivered to a medical institution and emergency medical assistance was provided. The health status of each Ukrainian defender is satisfactory," the JFO headquarters said on its Facebook page.
In the first six months of this year, the country attracted a number of major projects, pushing the average size of each FDI project from US$4.3 million in 2019 to nearly US$6 million in the first half of 2020.

However, there is no clear evidence of global FDI shifting from China to new investment destinations, including Vietnam. It takes 2-3 years to move a factory from one place to another following the careful consideration of all opportunities. Moreover, in the context of global investment activities having been almost paralysed due to Covid-19, the investment promotion activities of multinational corporations have also been interrupted, so investment decisions are very difficult to implement at this time. In addition, host countries have also made policies to keep existing foreign investors as well as increase tax and land incentives and reduce costs and procedures to attract new investors; therefore, Vietnam has to face many competitions. The country should have a proactive and appropriate investment attraction strategy to attract some new eggs in line with the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket.

There are now three trends of global FDI inflow shifting: factory shifting, the transfer of parent company's capital and order shifting. According to economic experts, the movement of factories is very difficult, because companies around the world are struggling due to the pandemic. Therefore, an immediate opportunity that Vietnam can seize is the shifting of orders from the corporations which are operating their production in Vietnam. This trend can happen soon and rapidly, so Vietnamese enterprises should prepare all relevant conditions to receive and gradually master the technology needed.

Opportunities always come with challenges. In the long term, Vietnam should promote oriented investment to important investors. The attraction of FDI capital at the expected levels in terms of both quantity and quality depends largely on the preparedness of Vietnam. In particular, the most important solution is to improve the capacity of departments and agencies in the localities as well as management boards in order to give advice on how to select investors and projects in line with the new orientation contained in Politburos Resolutin No.50-NQ/TW on orientations to perfect institutions and policies and to improve the quality and effectiveness of foreign investment cooperation towards 2030.

It is also crucial to review conditions related to land, infrastructure and human resources to be ready to receive shifted investment capital flows. Vietnam should focus on multinational, hi-tech and environmentally friendly corporations.
Below are the arrests from June 25 by Kokomo Police Department. All those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Braxton Harrison, 23, was arrested on July 3 at 5:49 a.m. at Markland Avenue and U.S. 31 for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class A misdemeanor.

Steven Hillie Jr., 43, was arrested on July 4 at 12:14 p.m. at 516 W. Jackson St. for a warrant for failure to appear from Madison County.

DMariyae Horton, 24, was arrested on July 5 at 4:25 a.m. at North Ohio and Jefferson streets for driving while suspended, a class A misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle with an ACE of .15 or more, a class A misdemeanor.

Black Johnson, 28, was arrested on July 5 at 5:10 p.m. at 1105 S. Plate St. for a warrant for non-compliance.

Dunae Kelley, 64, was arrested on July 3 at 8:50 p.m. at 1114 W. Madison St. for domestic battery, a class A misdemeanor; strangulation, a level 6 felony; possession of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor; and possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor.

Steve Long Jr., 27, was arrested on July 3 at 5:23 p.m. at 2700 N. Washington St. for possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony.

Alex McCarey, 30, was arrested on July 5 at 5:37 a.m. at 1504 S. Plate St. for domestic battery knowingly in the presence of a child, a level 6 felony; strangulation, a level 6 felony; criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor; intimidation, a class A misdemeanor; and interfering with the reporting of a crime, a class A misdemeanor.

Bryan Parr, 28, was arrested on July 5 at 6:24 a.m. at SR 931 and Markland Avenue for resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor; public intoxication, a class B misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class C misdemeanor.

Christopher Paulson, 38, was arrested on July 5 at 1:43 p.m. at 416 W. Taylor St. for domestic battery, a class A misdemeanor; and interfering with the reporting of a crime, a class A misdemeanor.

Philip Rodgers, 30, was arrested on July 3 at 5:39 p.m. at 2700 N. Washington St. for possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony; and possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor.

Chris Thompson, 55, was arrested on July 3 at 9:08 a.m. at 1224 S. Courtland Ave. for criminal trespass, a class A misdemeanor.

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Delonte Walker, 27, was arrested on July 3 at 1:09 a.m. at North Washington and Jefferson streets for possession of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor; and driving while suspended with a prior suspension, a class A misdemeanor.

Brandon Whittaker, 30, was arrested on July 3 at 3:15 p.m. at 1920 E. Markland Ave. for two counts of theft, a class A misdemeanor; and a warrant for body attachment.

Dominic Wilson, 27, was arrested at on July 4 at 12:39 a.m. at Sycamore and Ohio streets for two counts of resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor and level 6 felony; possession of handgun without a license, a class A misdemeanor; reckless driving, a class A misdemeanor; driving while suspended with a prior suspension, a class A misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class A misdemeanor.

Adam Worland, 39, was arrested on July 4 at 8:35 p.m. at Bell and Tate streets for driving while suspended with a prior suspension, a class A misdemeanor; and a warrant for battery by means of a deadly weapon.

Scott Callis, 55, was arrested on July 2 at 9:12 p.m. at Center Road and S.R. 931 for dealing marijuana, a class A misdemeanor; and possession of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor.

Kory Eitelman, 25, was arrested on July 2 at 2:57 p.m. at Lincoln Road and Webster Street for possession of a schedule I, II, III, IV, V, a class A misdemeanor.

William Harless, 43, was arrested on July 2 at 8:57 p.m. at West Elm Street and North Webster Street for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class A misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle while intoxicated with prior conviction, a level 6 felony.

Myron Lamb, 55, was arrested on July 2 at 9:19 p.m. at Center Road and S.R. 931 for possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony.

Duwayne Richadson Jr., 37, was arrested on July 2 at 4:17 a.m. at 608 Rainbow Circle for a warrant for failure to appear.

Megan Stackhouse, 28, was arrested on July 2 at 3:07 p.m. at West Lincoln Road and Webster Street for possession of hypodermic syringe or needle, a level 6 felony; possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor; and driving while suspended with prior suspension, a class A misdemeanor.

Katherine Tolley, 27, was arrested on July 2 at 8:22 p.m. at East Sycamore Street and Longview Street for possession of a legend drug or precursor, a level 6 felony; possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle, a level 6 felony; and a warrant for failure to appear.
According to the agriculture ministry, exports to Thailand surged by 233.4% to US$68 million while shipments to the Republic of Korea increased by 21.8% to US$67.4 million.

Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports to Japan and the Netherlands rose by 15.5% and 9% respectively to US$57.7 million and US$34 million.

Shipments to the United States also climbed by 6.1% and reached US$62 million.

But exports to China, the largest market for Vietnamese fruit and vegetables with a 60.4% market share, fell by 29.1% to a little over US$906 million, compared with US$1.3 billion last year.

With the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement set to take effect on August 1, Vietnam will have more opportunities to boost fruit exports as 94% of tariffs on these products will be eliminated.

In addition, Japan is seeking to increase its fruit and vegetable imports from Vietnam for products such as bananas, dragon fruits, sweet potatoes and lychees.
As the two countries first teleconference in this field, the event aimed to help businesses popularise products and seek cooperative opportunities amid the complexities brought about by COVID-19.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Trade Counsellor in Japan Ta Duc Minh emphasised that cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in support industries has yet to matchtheir mutual potential.

The added value of Vietnamese companies remains modest, he said, urging them to further invest in research and development and modern equipment.

After the plenary session, businesses from the two countries will have 6 trading sessions.

It is expected that through this teleconference, Vietnamese businesses and Japanese importers will better understand each other's needs and capabilities, opening new processing and manufacturing cooperative opportunities.
In June alone, 409,000 tonnes of rice worth US$207 million was shipped abroad, according to the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority (Agrotrade) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Philippines was the top buyer between January and May, importing 1.3 million tonnes of Vietnamese rice worth US$598.6 million, or 40% of total rice exports, up 23% in volume and 42% in value from a year earlier.

During the first five months, markets to which the value of rice exports enjoyed the strongest year-on-year growth were Senegal (18.3-fold), Indonesia (2.9-fold), and China (2.3-fold).

Meanwhile, rice export prices increased 13% from the same period last year to average US$485 per tonne.

Agrotrade said the rice sector now has even more opportunities under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), recently ratified by the National Assembly and set to take effect in August.

Under the agreements terms, the EU pledges to provide an annual rice quota of 80,000 tonnes to Vietnam and completely liberalise trade in broken rice. After three to five years, tariffs on rice products will be slashed to 0%.
In the first six months of 2020, both the region and the world continued to witness rapid and complicated changes. While many long-running conflicts in the Middle East and Africa having not found a radical solution, many hot spots are at risk of flaring, even in the Asian-Pacific region. Peace, cooperation and development remain the mainstream, however, multilateralism, and regional and global mechanisms, are still facing many obstacles. Conflicts between a number of great powers have spread to multilateral fora, and even to the United Nations.

But, as outlined by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge the world has faced since the Second World War. In the history of the modern world, the international community has never faced a non-traditional security challenge, having such a wide-ranging impact that is so difficult to control both in scope and scale as is currently the case.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected all aspects of international life, and of course, the activities of the UN Security Council. After three months of temporary lockdown due to the disease, the UN Security Council has adapted to the new normal, operating via online meetings and applying situational measures in consultation, negotiations and remote voting.

Despite many difficulties and great challenges, the UN Security Council. has still completed a large workload, with about 200 meetings and discussions, and hundreds of negotiations on documents at different levels, about a huge variety of problems across all continents and regions. In the past six months, nearly 70 important documents, including resolutions of the Security Council, the Presidential statement and notices, were adopted by the Council, on many topics such as international peace and security, anti-terrorism, climate change adaptation, humanitarian aid, children in armed conflicts, gender equality, etc.

In 2020, Vietnam took over the dual role of ASEAN Chair and non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Vietnam has a great opportunity to participate and contribute to the international community, and at the same time show bravery and assert its national position. In an effort to promote common interests, Vietnam has made a good impression upon its joining of the UN Security Council.

As the President of the UN Security Council in January 2020, Vietnam chaired and operated many regular and irregular tasks, such as official meetings, consultations, and discussed decisions and resolutions of the Council. As the Coordinator of the 10 non-permanent member countries of the United Nations Security Council (E10), Vietnam has played an active role while actively promoting online meetings between E10 and the UN Secretary-General.

In particular, two outstanding initiatives have attracted the special attention of the international community. The first is the Ministerial Open Debate of the United Nations Security Council entitled Toward the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations: Upholding the UN Charter to Maintain International Peace and Security, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, with the participation of over 100 speakers. The statement drafted by Vietnam was approved by the UN Security Council, affirming the UN Charters sustainable value. This is the first time the Security Council has approved a separate presidential statement on compliance with the UN Charter.

The second was the meeting on cooperation between the UN and ASEAN and this is the first time this topic was discussed at the UN Security Council. Here, the UN Secretary-General, the ASEAN Secretary General and leaders of other countries highly lauded ASEAN's achievements in development and integration, maintenance of peace and stability in the region and its contribution to the international community. The success of this event reflected Vietnam's initiative to promote comprehensive and effective cooperation between the UN and ASEAN, strengthening the connection between the ASEAN Communitys Vision and the UNs sustainable development goals.

In its second time holding a position as a non-permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, Vietnam continued to participate and contribute to the common work on the basis of its steadfast foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, openness, diversification and the multilateralisation of external relations; with a constructive, responsible and balancing spirit; making clear its support for and upholding of the UN Charter and international law; fostering dialogue, reducing tensions and confrontation, finding fair and equitable solutions through negotiations for conflicts, as well as issues that threaten regional and international peace and security.

The active and positive imprint of Vietnam in its first stage at the UN Security Council are a solid foundation, creating favourable conditions for the country to continue to participate and make practical contributions to maintaining international peace and security and a stable environment for development.
>>> Vietnam enters 82nd straight day without new COVID-19 infections in community



>>> Vietnam records 14 more imported COVID-19 cases



>>> Only 12 active COVID-19 patients in Vietnam



>>> COVID-19: British pilot to be discharged from hospital

For doctors at the Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho Ray Hospital, the smile on the face of Patient 91 on June 3 has brought great happiness to them, because this is the first radiant light after a three-month grey journey "scrambling in the narrow tunnel", struggling to save his life that once "hung by a single hair."

Resilience to consecutive upheavals

After about a month since Patient 91 was hospitalised, on April 8, Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases asked for a consultation when he was in a critical situation, falling into a coma with fibrosis of the lungs. The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control urgently dispatched a team of elite and versatile young doctors from Cho Ray Hospital to the citys Hospital for Tropical Diseases to provide technical support on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Over the past 100 days, hundreds of medical staff from both the hospitals have day and night resolutely handling consecutive upheavals related to the 43-year-old British. "When his lung function was too low, the consultation team indicated a lung transplant. We thought that his lungs were almost dead and the patient's chance of survival was extremely low," said Assoc. Prof., Dr. Pham Thi Ngoc Thao, Deputy Director of Cho Ray Hospital, as she slowed down the battle of wits to make vital decisions before an unprecedented medical case in the world.

Assoc. Prof., Dr. Pham Thi Ngoc Thao: "The only command from the heart of a doctor is to save the patient by all means".



All the highest technique, from dialysis to ECMO, have been applied on the patient to save him. The first complication occurred just after using ECMO for two hours as the filter solidified. The patient also has anti-heparin antibodies, causing heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT)  an immune reaction in patients receiving ECMO. But the HIT syndrome in a patient with both ECMO and COVID-19 is a very special case that has not been reported much in the worlds medical records.

When his lungs were only 10% active, the male pilot also suffered from pneumothorax, combined with bacterial infection. Doctors assessed that his alveoli may have been invaded by viruses, causing necrosis, thrombosis, alveolar coagulation and inoperable lungs. His bacterial infection was an important pathophysiological component detected during the course of treatment, so Vietnamese doctors must further study this issue as well as COVID-19.

During treatment, the man's immune system overreacted when the viruses attacked, producing cytokines against the body, known as a cytokine storm. His lungs were also badly injured.

Consultations are held regularly to seek effective treatment regimens for Patient 91.



At that time, doctors had to decide to switch to a specific antibiotic, not heparin, but Vietnam has never imported this drug. A 10-day waiting period after that for the German-made intravenous anticoagulant to import to Vietnam was really stressful.

Whether or not to use the new drugs?" Dr. Thao brought the concern to discuss with her colleagues. In the end, they agreed to use new drugs that have never before been seen in treatment regimens to conserve ECMO membranes, helping to save the patient. We adjusted the dose by testing his blood samples every six hours to monitor ECMO membrane concentrations. It was just like we were the wire-walkers. If we tilted on this side too much, the patient may suffer from cerebral haemorrhage, but if the other side is too inclined, ECMOs membrane would be solidified. In those 10 days, we were just waiting for the test results to focus on adjusting his blood clotting. We said to each other, in the circus, performers walking on the rope would be hurt if they fall, but if we fall, the patient dies, Dr. Thao recounted the moments of pressure and stress.

This is the first case after two hours performing the ECMO method, the membrane was freezing, while the normal medical crew cannot replace the filter. Doctors must perform membrane replacement very quickly so that the patient does not have cardiac arrest or bleeding. In 57 days using ECMO, seven ECMO membranes were replaced.

Doctor Tran Thanh Linh, Deputy Head of the Department of Active Rehabilitation, Cho Ray Hospital recalled that taking the patient from the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases to Cho Ray Hospital was not an easy task even though the two facilities were not far from each other. "If omission or negligence in attaching machines, it can affect the life of the patient," Linh said.

After overcoming the continuous upheavals, the next heavy task for doctors at Cho Ray Hospital was how to help the patient give up ECMO and mechanical ventilation. Dr. Thao looked at her colleagues and said "Is this an impossible task?" However, doctors and nurses in the Positive Recovery Department of Cho Ray Hospital did their best in the hope of finding light at the end of the tunnel for the male pilot. When he had hand movement and gave up ECMO and sedation, the greatest fear for the treatment team was that he might not wake up due to brain cell damage. Luckily, when he stopped using multiple drugs, he recovered his senses very well.

After days of hard struggle with reviving the patient, another brainstorm came to those who lived in the same quarantine room with him. Language barrier, along with the fact that the patient after long-term isolation was seriously psychologically affected, making treatment cooperation more difficult. When the patient texted with his friends, hearing from his friends how Vietnamese doctors saved him, then he smiled more with us, said Dr. Linh.

Experts in the Treatment Subcommittee under the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control evaluated that the recovery of Patient 91 is a feat of Vietnamese medicine. This is also a special case of world medicine and can be written into international reports. From having only 10% of the lungs active, now he has fully recovered. From an immobilised body for nearly two months, being attacked by bacteria into the lungs and bloodstream, the patient has now escaped the critical condition of multiple organ failure. Each of his progress is an encouragement for Vietnamese physicians and specialists to continue striving and devoting their strength to best treating the patient.

Doctor Tran Thanh Linh, Deputy Head of Department of Active Recovery, Cho Ray Hospital, talks about the days of taking care of Patient 91.

Must save his life

Assoc. Prof., Dr. Pham Thi Ngoc Thao likened the journey to save the life for the British male pilot like a war in which all strategies are calculated in detail. In dealing with any patients, no matter who they are or where they live in the world, the only command from the heart of the doctors is to save the patients by all means.

Each doctor and nurse at Cho Ray Hospital has prepared a backpack with full equipment needed to be ready for any situation. The regular staff with Patient 91 are very young, some of them have young children, some of them are unmarried. But in the back, these young doctors and nurses are always supported by their leaders, who are always motivate them and create the best conditions for them. Thanks to that hard work, resilience and solidarity, doctors and nurses at Cho Ray Hospital have performed a miracle, which is the pride of every Vietnamese person.

For Le Thi Hong Tham, a 28-year-old nurse, the past month was perhaps the most memorable days in her five years as a nurse. When Patient 91 woke up, in order to help him cooperate with her easily, she had to further develop her English capacity. At first I spoke unclearly, making the patient uncomfortable. I have to learn English more at home to communicate better with him. And when she saw the patient smiled after her words and listened to her instructions, Tham felt her efforts had paid off.

When being asked about the pressures of treating Patient 91 as the whole world are looking into this case, Thao said: We do not pay much attention to external pressures, because we only follow our best efforts to save the patient's life. At that time, we just thought whether we had the best treatment, or there were any better drugs or technical measures to help the patient better? We did not think of the pressure of making the world know that Vietnam has helped Patient 91 recover.

Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong was touched and surprised by the miraculous recovery of the British pilot.



Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Medical Services Administration Department under the Ministry of Health cum Deputy Head of the Treatment Sub-Committee under the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, said that the recovery of Patient 91 is the clearest evidence for determination not to give up on treating COVID-19 patients from the Vietnamese Government, Ministry of Health and related hospitals. The COVID-19 fight has mobilised the intellect of all health workers across the country, with the best equipment and drugs, including those imported from abroad, to offer optimal treatment.

After over 100 days receiving medical treatment, and having regained his life from the hands of death, thanks to the support from Vietnamese doctors, Patient 91 has had a comprehensive recovery and is now healthy enough to repatriate as his wish as a normal passenger without quarantine on a normal commercial flight back home.

Patient 91 has had a miraculous 100-day revival journey.



On July 12, Patient 91 will return to his homeland in the UK. On this special flight, he will still have the companion of Vietnamese medical staff. It will be a special returning-home flight with full of peace and good luck.
For the first time since February, Iran's official death toll on Tuesday reached 200 while according to the Chairman of Tehran City Council over the last 24-hour reporting period 70 died in the capital Tehran alone.

In her daily briefing, Dr. Sima-Sadat Lari, Health Ministry Spokesperson, said death of 200 COVID-19 patients has been confirmed on the basis of final test results since Monday. According to Dr. Lari 2,637 new cases were identified during the same period, bringing the total cases to 245,688.

Tehran City Council Chairman Mohsen Hashemi on Tuesday warned about the spiking number of coronavirus victims in the capital on Tuesday. Speaking to the reporters before the meeting of the Council, Hashemi said deaths from COVID-19 in the capital had dropped to [as few as] 19 but on Monday 70 victims were buried at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in the south of the capital.

A month ago, COVID-19 fatalities in Iran rose above 100 after a two-month interval during which the daily death toll even dropped to around 50. In recent days, however, the number of deaths has now doubled.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki on Tuesday said he regrets that his warnings about another peak were not heeded. "I pleaded a lot, with people and with those who put a lot of pressure on us to lift the restrictions. I did warn that thinking the situation is normal and [the danger of] coronavirus is over is very dangerous," he said.

Namaki also added that the rate of businesses' compliance with social distancing regulations has dropped from 85 to 10 percent. "I really didn't wish people to come to a point where they would finally take my advice seriously at such a high cost," Namaki said.

In recent days hospitals in various provinces are reporting a shortage of beds and ventilators. In Tehran the situation has been fast escalating. Social media users have shared photos of patients who are being ventilated outside the hospital or in their cars in the parking of Masih Daneshvari Hospital, one of the major centers for COVID-19 treatment in Tehran.

COVID patients receiving oxygen in an outside space at Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran

On Monday the head of the infectious diseases ward said the hospital had run out of vacant beds for COVID patients but denied that patients were receiving treatment in the parking space of the hospital. Dr. Payam Tabarsi said the place where patients have been photographed is an open air area with oxygen machines for patients waiting to be admitted to the ward because in closed spaces they would infect others.

Officials say people have stopped abiding by recommended health protocols such as wearing masks and keeping a safe distance. On Tuesday the Health Ministry Spokesperson said weddings and funerals were hugely responsible for the spike in cases. However, many believe normalization of activities following the easing of the partial lockdown in the country is the main reason for the spike in new cases and deaths.
In a statement on Tuesday, Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi condemned a planned 25-year agreement Iran is seeking to sign with China.

"The regime dominating our country is seeking to sign a despicable 25-year agreement with China to plunder Iran's natural resources and accepting a foreign army in our homeland, " Prince Reza Pahlavi said in the statement which was published on his official Telegram Channel. He added that the agreement "planned with the direct approval and support of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic is an undeniable betrayal of Iran's national interests".

On June 23 Tabnak, a conservative website, revealed that the government of President Hassan Rouhani had ratified the draft of a 25-year agreement with China in a cabinet meeting and tasked Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif to follow up with the Chinese side to sign the agreement.

Zarif told reporters June 24 he was going to follow up on a 2016 agreement with China called "The Cino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" that was a $400 billion project.

Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri on Tuesday, July 7 said development of strategic partnership with China should be "bravely defended".

The Petroleum Economist, however, has claimed that the partnership with China "could mark seismic shift in the global hydrocarbons sector". According to the monthly journal, the central pillar of the new deal is that China will invest $280bn developing Iran's oil, gas and petrochemicals sectors.

Prince Reza Pahlavi has also maintained that the Iranian nation must be informed of all the conditions and details of any agreement which will then be put to the vote of the "real representatives of the nation who have been elected through a fully democratic process".

Iran's hardliners have strongly supported the planned agreement. The Revolutionary Guard-linked newspaper Javan called the agreement "a pact between the lion and the dragon".

There has been no reaction from China to Iran's statements about a long-term partnership.

The pro-Ahmadinejad Telegram channel @Dolatebahar has alleged that "some of the Chinese companies" possibly involved in this project "have Iranian owners or shareholders, which means they are the relatives of officials who have come up with the project. "
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday, July 6, that Middle Eastern countries demand to extend Iran's arms embargo, and the United Nations Security Council should listen to them.

Citing a remark by Pompeo, the State Department said, "from Israel to the [Persian] Gulf, countries in the Middle East - who are most exposed to Iran's predations  are speaking with one voice: Extend the arms embargo. UNSC has a responsibility to listen to them."

Based on the Security Council Resolution 2231 of 2015, Iran's international arms embargo expires on October 18, in less than four months. The resolution was adopted at the conclusion of negotiations between Iran and world powers to limit its nuclear program.

Meanwhile, the United States has presented the draft of a resolution, calling the international body to extend the embargo.

In recent weeks, U.S. officials have been in extensive talks with European partners to secure their support for their proposed resolution to extend the arms embargo indefinitely.

However, both China and Russia have veto power in the UN Security Council and have already stated their opposition to the extension of Iran's arms embargo.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 37 times, Trend reports on July 7 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 7

Trend:

Ex-Chairman of Azerbaijan's Zaminbank JSC's Supervisory Board Nadir Ismayilov has been accused of appropriating more than 16 million manat ($9.4 million), Trend reports referring to the Prosecutor General's Office's press service.

Anti-Corruption General Directorate with the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan investigated the fact of appropriation of another property as a result of abuse of authority by Zaminbank JSC officials.

During the investigation, reasonable suspicions arose on use of various corruption schemes and appropriation of bank loans in the amount of more than 16 million manat, allocated for legal entities and individuals, with the help of the banks other officials by the former chairman of the liquidated Zaminbank JSCs Supervisory Board Nadir Ismayilov, while worked still worked for the bank.

The investigation has also established that Ismayilov, deliberately using fictitious documents, appropriated 145,000 manat ($85,290) belonging to Elshan Shirinov, director of the banks Baku branch.

Ismayilov was charged under the articles 308.2. (abusing official powers entailing grave consequences), 179.3.2. (misappropriation in large-size), 178.3.2. (swindle with causing damage in the large size) and 320.2. (use of obviously counterfeit documents) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. By the decision of the Binagadi district court, a preventive measure in the form of arrest for a period of four months was chosen in his regard.

In order to ensure compensation for damage caused to the state and citizens as a result of these illegal actions, necessary investigative and operational measures are ongoing to identify property belonging to Nadir Ismayilov, as well as to determine the circle of other persons involved in the committed crime.

To date, the Anti-Corruption General Directorate, in connection with the unlawful actions of Zaminbank JSC officials, as a result of the investigation of 7 criminal cases against 11 people, has ensured compensation of damage in the amount of more than 18 million manat ($10.5 million) to the aggrieved persons. At various times, these criminal cases were sent to the courts for consideration, and on the basis of court sentences, the accused persons were sentenced to various punishments.

Zaminbank JSC was liquidated in 2016.

(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on July 7)
South Africa: COVID-19: Eastern Cape rethinks game plan

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane says they are reaching a point where tough decisions will have to be made regarding funerals, in order to try to control the spread of Coronavirus.

[Were at a point] where were no longer talking about 50 [mourners] attending, but where people will be buried by their children or siblings -- were reaching that point, the Premier said on Tuesday.

Mabuyane said they have been receiving complaints from funeral parlours about feeling overwhelmed about the situation that the province is facing.

As of Monday, the province remained the third worst hit province, with 38 081 COVID-19 cases and the second highest provincial death toll, with 528 deceased.

Were now really facing the eye of the storm. Its no longer about the issue of the peak. Were now there in the middle of a crisis, the Premier said.

Mabuyane said a risk-adjusted, differentiated approach must be implemented to rescue the province. Together with this, primary health education and awareness campaigns will have to be amplified in efforts to slow the spread of the disease.

We know that the Eastern Cape is the most vulnerable province. We know the health profile of our people, how risky the situation is. Thats why we believe in preventative measures.

There are still other people who believe theres no COVID-19 and those who using their Constitutional Rights to say, I cant be isolated or quarantined.

He said all their life-saving sites have never been full to capacity and still have extra beds.

Theyve been running below 50% and thats why were asking people to voluntarily come forward and isolate themselves.

Meanwhile, those isolating at home should take full responsibility, the Premier pleaded.

You cant be loitering when your doctor has condemned you to be at home for that particular period and if [you] dont, [youre] engaging in culpable homicide unintentionally.

The Premier has asked the people to work together with government to fight the pandemic.

Its about being patriotic; we have a country and a future to protect.

He believes that it is not going to be easy to introduce lower alert levels as government tries to save lives, while preserving peoples livelihood.

Mabuyane said they have many cases of people who die in their homes before they reach the hospital, especially in rural areas.

We are saying people must be tested, even if its posthumous, to ensure we protect those who are left behind.

The Eastern Cape is currently recording the second highest daily infections after Gauteng, which records about 3 000 day-to-day.

This shows that this infection is galloping, Mabuyane said, adding that people should stay at home to avoid spreading the disease.

Corruption will not be tolerated

Meanwhile, the province is dealing with alleged corruption after a company claimed R4.8 million from the OR Tambo District Municipality in the so-called door-to-door COVID-19 campaign.

According to reports, the company claimed its employees had spoken to 6 400 people, while some residents said no one visited their homes.

We were not surprised at all when it happened because we knew there would be chance takers whod use this pandemic to get rich quick, the Premier said.

He has now written to President Cyril Ramaphosa asking for the Special Investigating Unit to intervene, while the Departments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Treasury are busy with the preliminary investigations.

Weve never heard about door-to-door campaigns where people are paid."

He has applauded the whistleblowers for lifting the lid on this matter.

Grade R learners to go back in August

The Eastern Cape announced over the weekend that Grades 3, 6 and 11 will now reopen on 20 July due to the spike in the number of COVID-19 infections.

Mabuyane said Grade R learners will only return to the classroom on 17 August, as they do not want to endanger lives.

Were at high risk in the Eastern Cape because thats where you get all these grandchildren staying with their grandparents. If these young people are contracting this virus at school, it will be more dangerous for their grandparents at home, especially in the rural areas.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A Kokomo woman put the Howard County Sheriffs Department on notice recently, making her intentions clear that she will be suing the department after she allegedly was sexually assaulted while incarcerated in the local jail.

On June 16, a tort claim notice was sent to the sheriffs department, county commissioners, and county jail by the attorney of Shana Turner. That notice showed Turner intended to seek damages over the claim that she was sexually assaulted at the jail in February in separate incidents by jail employees. The case relates to allegations that led to the ousting of six employees at the jail earlier this year.

I will do everything on behalf of my client and any of the victims to get to the bottom of what happened and have the truth exposed, said attorney Timoth Stoesz, who represents Turner. This is not an indictment of the entire Howard County Sheriffs Department. I know some Howard County Sheriffs Department employees and have represented them, and theyre good people. But if there are bad apples, then the bad apples need to be removed.

According to the tort claim, two incidents occurred while Turner was incarcerated at the jail.

On or about Feb. 2 and 3, 2020, Shana Nicole Turner was sexually assaulted by officers of the Howard County jail, Howard County Sheriffs Department, and Howard County. The sexual assaults of Ms. Turner were illegal and caused damage to her, read the claim.

According to Stoesz, these were separate incidents, and a different jail employee was involved in each alleged sexual assault.

The Kokomo Perspective is not identifying which officers are named in the claim until a civil suit is filed, but the alleged incidents relate to a spate of firings that occurred earlier this year at the jail. The firings primarily related to allegations of improper activity with inmates. Sheriff Jerry Asher fired employees for this, as well as for impropriety that occurred during the ensuing internal investigations. The results of these investigations eventually also were forwarded to the Howard County Prosecutors Office. One officer was eventually charged.

The two incidents that gave rise to Turners suit did not give rise to criminal charges being filed. In response to a request for comment, Howard County Prosecutor Mark McCann released the following statement:

Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Contribute

In reference to Case Number HCSD 2020-000329 involving two terminated Howard County Correctional Officers, the Howard County Prosecutors Office reviewed the investigation for the purpose of making a charging decision. Based on the information provided by HCSD Detective Waymire, there was insufficient evidence to file charges against both individuals. There is no independent evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a crime occurred. Our office has closed this file. If further evidence is obtained, our office will re-open the file and re-review the case.

But, Stoesz took issue with the internal investigations conducted by HCSD.

After reading the Howard County prosecutors statement to the media recently, it appears the Howard County Sheriffs Department investigated the Howard County Sheriffs Department, said Stoesz. I find that unbelievable  There is an inherent conflict of interest to investigate ones own self. The bias is, on its face, obvious. Its time for the Howard County Sheriffs Department, the Howard County commissioners, and the Howard County attorney to ask for an Indiana State Police investigation of this entire episode.

Asher declined to comment on the tort claim, citing the pending litigation.

Stoesz also said that another former female inmate of the jail had contacted him with similar allegations to Turner recently. At this point, the attorney said he was not sure if this inmates claims would result in a civil suit.

In the claim filed by Stoesz, it noted that Turner would seek the maximum amount of $700,000 for each occurrence of negligence by each individual employee of Howard County and the Howard County Sheriffs Department. The claim, at this point, is that HCSD failed to properly train its employees and supervise them, leading to the alleged sexual assault.

When the allegations first surfaced this year, a release from Asher noted the sheriff has a zero-tolerance policy for violations of this nature and took immediate action to investigate the allegations and swiftly terminate bad actors. That release also stated all department staff receive extensive training on department policies and codes of conduct, and after the incidents occurred a division-wide retraining was held to review department policies and codes of conduct.

With the tort claim served, those named in the claim have 90 days to respond, after which Stoesz said he intended to formally file a civil suit on his clients behalf. He also urged any other potential victims to contact his office.
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, Jul. 7

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Kazakhstans Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) is planning to maintain sustainability of companies registered in its jurisdiction during and after COVID-19 pandemic, AIFC official told Trend.

The official said that current circumstances demonstrate the importance of the financial center as a well-established platform focused on strengthening financial stability, ensuring market integrity, protecting consumers and supporting financial markets.

"Initially, the AIFC was created in 2016 as an anti-crisis tool to develop Kazakh economy, diversify it, develop the capital market, and attract foreign investment into the country with the help of special jurisdiction based on the principles of English law," the official said.

Thus, presently AIFC Financial Services Authority (AFSA) is working closely with companies registered in the AIFC jurisdiction to assess the financial and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. AFSA decided to provide support measures to companies and the financial community so that they can prioritize their business and operational issues during business disruptions.

Also, Kazakh government created the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund Ltd.(KDIF) in the AIFC.

"All decisions on investing in projects are made by the Kazakh government, the KDIF Board of Directors is headed by Kazakhstans Prime Minister Askar Mamin. KDIF registration at the AIFC allows attracting foreign business for a partnership more effectively," the official said.

The official noted that the KDIF received an additional capitalization of 35 billion tenge ($88.2 million).

"These funds will be used to fulfill the obligations of KDIF for financing joint projects with foreign investors. All KDIF projects are in the non-commodity sector, i.e. the agricultural sector, tourism and the development of regional infrastructure," the official said.

The majority of the projects are being implemented in Akmola, Almaty, Mangistau and Turkestan regions. Total volume of foreign direct investment on these projects is about $155 million, all of them are implemented on the principles of co-investment.

Talking the effect of support measures offered by AIFC, the official expressed hope that Kazakh government uses the AIFC as a tool for economic development, and will achieve its goals with the help of KDIF.

"Tax revenues to the budget will be 6.1 billion tenge ($15.3 million) per year by 2025 after the mentioned above projects are implemented and commissioned," the official said.

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Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7

Trend:

Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF), through Kapital Bank and the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), paid compensation on insured deposits in the amount of 181.4 million manat ($106.7 million) to depositors of Amrahbank, AGbank, NBC Bank and Atabank, which are in the process of liquidation, Trend reports referring to the fund.

Issuance of compensations to depositors of Atabank and Amrahbank started from June 1, 2020, and is carried out in 35 branches through debit cards of Kapital Bank and the Khazri quick money transfer system.

Compensation payment to depositors of AGbank and NBC Bank began on June 16, 2020, and is carried out through debit cards of the IBA in 20 branches.

According to article 28.3 of the Law of Azerbaijan on deposit insurance, the Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund accepts applications of depositors within a year from the date of the first publication of the notification on compensation.

(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on July 7)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jul. 7

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Tajikistan will evacuate its residents from Kazakhstan amid COVID-19 pandemic, Trend reports with reference to the Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The flight to carry Tajik residents back from Kazakhstan will be implemented on Jul. 9, 2020 on the Dushanbe  Almaty  Dushanbe route. Tajik Somon Air company will operate the flight.

Earlier this month, Kazakhstan announced a decision to resume international flights to a number of countries. The flights have been gradually resumed to Turkey, China, South Korea, Thailand, Georgia and Japan as of Jun. 20, 2020.

On Jun. 2, 2020, an announcement was made that Kazakhstan is reintroducing quarantine regime as the COVID-19 cases count is increasing countrywide.

By a decision of an intergovernmental commission, the quarantine is being imposed for a period of 14 days starting Jul. 5, 2020.

The first two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020.

The total number of coronavirus cases confirmed in Kazakhstan since the virus was first confirmed in the country amounted to 49,683 cases. This includes 16,183 people who recovered from the coronavirus, and 264 patients who passed away.

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Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
Tehran Mayor Pirouz Hanachi and Chinese Ambassador to Iran Chang Hua late on Tuesday underlined the need to expand bilateral relations, especially in the field of metro development and reducing air pollution, Trend reports citing IRNA.

Hanachi hailed longstanding relations between the two countries, saying that Iran and China are the two ancient civilizations in Asia with numerous cultural affinities.

Referring to broad collaboration between Tehran and Beijing in the field of public transportation, he added that most of the equipment for lines and wagons used in the Tehran metro has either been imported from China in the form of a complete knocked down (CKD) assembly line or made in cooperation with Chinese consultants in Iran, and this cooperation is still ongoing.

Tehran Mayor described Beijing's efforts to counter and reduce air pollution as successful, saying air pollution and traffic is one of the problems of metropolises, but if a metropolis manages to control pollution and increase the number of clean days, it shows the city's continuous and systematic planning of that city.

"Tehran is interested to use Beijing's experience in this area, as the United Nations has cited Beijing's experience as rare and successful in controlling air pollution. And this shows that the increase in the number of healthy days and the blue sky in Beijing has been the result of a medium- and long-term plan," he said.

Slamming the US sanctions amid coronavirus pandemic, Hanachi said that it has not been customary in the world not only not to help each other but also impose restrictions in times of crisis, such as floods, earthquakes, or now the corona pandemic.

Chinese envoy, for his part, described Tehran as an ancient and innovative city with very modern infrastructures, saying that Iran-China relations are historic and longstanding.

Tehran and Beijing singed sisterhood agreement in 2015, he recalled, saying that after that deal, Tehran has been the fifth friendly city of Beijing.

Relations between China and Iran have been growing since the outbreak of the coronavirus, and they have always supported each other, he said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7

By Samir Ali - Trend:

The volume of Azerbaijans GDP has decreased by 1.7 percent, while the volume of import dropped by 26.7 percent, and export  by 25.3 percent over the first five months of 2020, Azerbaijani MP Tahir Mirkishili told Trend.

According to Mirkishili, cargo and passenger transportation also showed drop by 10.3 percent and 24 percent respectively.

"The reductions mainly occurred in areas sensitive to international market changes such as falling oil prices, lowering export prices, decline of freight transportation and others, regardless of the steps taken by the Azerbaijani state, which is quite expected," said MP.

"At the same time, it is rewarding to observe continuous development in the areas with great potential for economic growth and employment in the country, he said. Thus, rise in the volume of non-oil industry by 14%, agricultural production by 3.6% and budget revenues by 17% for the five months of this year testifies to the considerable development potential of the country even in these difficult conditions.

It should be especially noted that, as the analysis shows, the growth is ongoing in those areas where economic reforms were carried out most vigorously," said MP.

He noted that growth in the average monthly salary to 740 manat ($435.2) is also very important in terms of improving the well-being of the population.

"I should also point out that, GDP in the EU countries is expected to fall by 14% in the second quarter of this year. In a new Global Economic Prospects report of the World Bank, published earlier, GDP in Azerbaijan is projected to decrease by 2.6% in 2020. For comparison, the GDP in Russia is projected to decrease by 6%, in Georgia - by 4.8%, Kazakhstan - by 3%, and in Turkey - by 3.8%, Mirkishili said.

The growth in the current conditions in those sectors of the economy in which the reforms were most actively carried out allows us to say that Azerbaijan has sufficient opportunities to overcome the pandemic crisis with minimal losses," he concluded.

(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on July 7)
The Catalan regional government warned on Monday that it may introduce stricter lockdown rules to contain the coronavirus outbreaks in the comarca of Segria, in Lleida province. According to Catalan authorities, the number of outbreaks in the comarca  a traditional administrative division in parts of Spain  doubled on Monday from seven to 14 in just four days.

In a bid to curb contagion, Catalan authorities confined more than 200,000 residents of the comarca on Saturday, with no one able to enter or leave, with the exception of those who need to for work. But authorities now say tougher measures may be needed. If the situation does not change in two weeks, we will have to consider new measures like home confinement, said Pere Godoy, the head of the epidemiological services in Lleida, who explained that community transmission of the virus has returned to the comarca.

If the situation does not change in two weeks, we will have to consider new measures like home confinement Pere Godoy, head of Lleida epidemiological department

The affected area is in the south of the province, on the border with neighboring Huesca and Zaragoza provinces, and contains 38 municipalities, including the city of Lleida. The main source of the outbreak has been traced to infections among fruit pickers in the area, which has spread to homes and then to the rest of the community. Of the 14 outbreaks, 10 have been detected in fruit picking companies.

According to Godoy, the contagion rate in Lleida was 3.1% at the beginning of June, slightly below the rest of the country, which was at 5%. However, the increased economic and social activity, as well as the arrival of approximately 30,000 fruit pickers for the harvesting season, led to the rise in infections over the past few weeks. Last week, the accumulated incidence of Covid-19 in Segria rose to more than 175 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, several times above high-risk levels. Godoy, who is also the president of the Spanish Epidemiological Society (SEE), warned that according to a macro prevalence study, 97% of residents in Segria are still susceptible to Covid-19, as they have not yet contracted the virus or developed antibodies.

On Friday, the Catalan regional government set up a field hospital near Lleidas Arnau de Vilanova hospital to manage the rise in coronavirus patients. According to the latest figures, there were eight intensive care admissions on Monday, double the figure recorded 10 days ago, and 57 hospitalizations. Catalan authorities have also begun recruiting volunteers from the public healthcare system to work at the field hospital.

In a radio interview on Tuesday, the head of the Catalan health department, Alba Verges, said that the government was considering making the use of face masks compulsory in Catalonia even when social distancing can be respected  a measure that has already been introduced in Segria.

Health Ministry says confinement should have happened sooner

Fernando Simon, the director of the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts (CCAES), said on Monday that the Catalan government should have taken action sooner to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

On the regional governments decision to confine the comarca, Simon said: Its a courageous act. I would have liked them to have made it earlier.

The health official said that he was very worried about the situation in Segria, but explained he was concerned about all outbreaks in Spain. Generally, [the outbreaks] are being controlled correctly but there are some that are growing in volume, with a number of cases much higher than what is desirable, he added.

Now that Spain has entered the new normality following a prolonged coronavirus lockdown and deescalation process, it is up to regional authorities  not the central government  to manage and control coronavirus outbreaks.

In response to Simons comment, the Catalan health department replied: Thank you, but now decisions are made in Catalonia. Here we have the data, we are on the ground and we know the reality of the situation. One cannot govern from an office 600 kilometers away.

Other outbreaks

The comarca of A Marina in Galicia. carlos Castro/Europa Press / carlos Castro/Europa Press

The northern region of Aragon, where four comarcas have been moved back to Phase 2 of the coronavirus deesclation plan, reported a significant rise in cases over the weekend, with 41 new infections detected. This brings the total number of cases to 410, with the majority of those affected fruit pickers.

Meanwhile in the comarca of A Marina in Spains northwestern region of Galicia, which was confined on Sunday due to a Covid-19 outbreak, 22 new coronavirus cases were reported on Monday, according to the Galician health department (Sergas). This brings the total to 128 infections, of which 119 are active.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
KYODO NEWS - Jul 7, 2020 - 11:12 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on global supply chains and the international community must come together to prevent such crises in the future, Japan's annual white paper on trade said Tuesday.

The document, released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said business activity has been hit hard by border closures and lockdowns, triggering the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The white paper said hold-ups in shipments of auto parts and electronic components from China had halted factory production in Japan, and called for diversifying procurement routes in order to mitigate future risks.

The International Monetary Fund said in June it expects the global economy to shrink 4.9 percent in 2020 from the previous year, a more severe fallout than previously expected.

The international community should work toward "a strong socio-economic system that allows us to respond flexibly to crises and enables sustainable growth," the document said.

Meanwhile, it criticized protectionist steps taken by some countries in response to the pandemic, including banning exports of medical equipment such as face masks and ventilators that were in short supply.

According to the World Trade Organization, at least 80 countries and regions had implemented export bans or restrictions of some kind as of late April.

The multilateral trade system is facing unprecedented challenges including heightened tensions between the United States and China, U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to pull out of the WTO, and the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.

But, the white paper argued, the coronavirus, which has rapidly spread across borders to infect more than 11 million and kill over 500,000 globally, has highlighted the need for more international cooperation, not less.

The pandemic has also sparked the rapid digitalization of the economy, such as through e-commerce and remote working. While taking advantage of technology, countries should also begin looking at ways to safely ease travel restrictions starting with essential personnel, the document said.

Japan currently bans foreign travelers from 129 countries and regions from entering but is in talks with several countries such as Australia and Thailand to begin letting businesspeople back in.
KYODO NEWS - Jul 7, 2020 - 16:57 | All, Japan

Japan has expressed concern to the United States over its decision to halt the issuance of some types of work visas, arguing the move could not only hurt Japanese companies but also the U.S. economy, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday.

"Japan invests in the United States and builds factories there, procures parts and establishes distribution channels, making an extremely big contribution to employment and the overall economy," he said at a press conference.

"We have communicated concerns that the visa halt could affect this," he said.

Related coverage:

308 Japanese companies affected by U.S. work visa halt: survey

U.S. to oust foreign students taking online-only classes

On June 22, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending until the end of the year the issuance of work visas he claimed "presents a significant threat to employment opportunities for Americans affected by the extraordinary economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak."

They include the H-1B, which is used by highly skilled workers in fields such as technology and finance, the H-2B for temporary nonagricultural workers, as well as those for exchange workers and those being transferred within a company from abroad.

More than 1,400 workers from at least 308 Japanese companies have been affected, according to a survey by the Japan External Trade Organization.

The visa halt has also drawn criticism from Japan's largest business lobby. Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of the Japan Business Federation or Keidanren, said last month that it "poses a serious problem" to the operations of Japanese companies.
Bhubaneswar:

While the killing of at least 27 Maoists, including seven of their top leaders, dealt a major psychological blow to the outlawed CPI(Maoist) in Odisha, it has boosted the morale of the security personnel as the Maoists have lost their safe home in Malkangiri district.

The killings took place during a joint operation by Odisha and Andhra Pradesh police at Bejingi in the Panasput gram panchayat area under Chitrakonda police station in Malkangiri district, surrounded by hills and forests on three sides and Balimela reservoir on one.

The ultras used to take shelter there after committing violence in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh or Chhattisgarh, said Nihar Nayak, a researcher of the Maoist movement in Odisha, adding that they used to take advantage of the geographical location of the area since they started operating from these parts in the 1980s.

When the Maoists had started using the place as a safe haven in the 80s, the then Odisha government had taken little action because the ultras refrained from creating any disturbance in the state. Their activities were mostly confined to Andhra Pradesh, said a senior police officer.

The Bejingi area, where Monday's operation took place, had hosted a meeting of top Maoist trainers last night. The rebels did not think that the security personnel would launch an assault in the deep forests surrounded by hills and flanked by a reservoir, the officer said.

The Maoists had eliminated at least 38 security personnel, including 35 members of Greyhound, Andhra Pradeshs elite anti-Naxal force, while they were crossing the Balimela reservoir in a mechanised boat in 2008.

At least 27 Maoists, including seven of their top leaders, were today gunned down in a fierce gun-battle with the security forces in Odishas Malkangiri district on the border with Andhra Pradesh.

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New Delhi:

BJP on Tuesday distanced itself from the meeting between Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and a delegation led by its leader Yashwant Sinha, saying the party has nothing to do with it.

"It is not a BJP delegation. BJP has nothing to do with this," its National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

A five-member civil society delegation led by the former Union Minister on Tuesday met Geelani amid continuing volatile situation in the valley.

Some media outlets have said that it is a BJP delegation which is absolutely wrong, Sharma said, adding Sinha too maintained that he took up the enterprise in his personal capacity.

The other members of the delegation are Wajahat Habibullah, the former chairman of National Commission for Minorities, Kapil Kak, former Air Vice-Marshal, journalist Bharat Bhushan and Sushoba Barve of Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. They plan to meet other separatist leaders too.

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Islamabad:

Pakistan may attend a key regional conference on Afghanistan in India in what is seen as a calculated move to offset efforts by the Indian government to isolate the country following the Uri terror attack, media reported on Monday.



According to media reports, Pak Prime Ministers Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Monday that Pakistan to attend 'heart of Asia' conference in India. The Heart of Asia-Istanbul ministerial meeting is scheduled to take place in the first week of December in Amritsar in Punjab.



Pakistans participation was doubtful due to ongoing tensions and Indian boycott of the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) scheduled to be held in Pakistan in November.

ALSO READ | To control India's SAARC influence, Pakistan proposes another economic alliance



Citing continuous cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, India had announced that in the present circumstances it was unable to participate in the SAARC summit in Islamabad.

Pakistan to attend 'heart of Asia' conference in Amritsar in December says Adviser to Pak PM on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz: Pak media  ANI (@ANI_news) October 24, 2016

Foreign ministers from 14-member countries, including Russia, China and Turkey, are expected to attend the day-long conference meant to discuss the current Afghan situation and possible initiatives the immediate and extended neighbours of Afghanistan could undertake to restore long-term peace and stability in the war-torn country.



Senior officials from 17 supporting countries, including the United States, will also participate in the meeting to be jointly presided over by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ALSO READ | After boycott by India and 4 other nations, Pakistan postpones SAARC Summit in Islamabad



The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process was established in 2011 at the initiative of Afghanistan and Turkey. Its main objective is to foster efforts for regional cooperation and connectivity with a view to promoting long-term peace and stability as well as progress and development in Afghanistan.



Pakistan hosted the last Ministerial Conference in December last year which was also attended by Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.



Notably, the Afghan regional conference last year had helped Pakistan and India to revive their stalled peace process after the meeting between Aziz and Swaraj on the sidelines.

(With PTI inputs)

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Sudans Prime Minister Sunday dismissed the countrys head of internal security and his deputy after protests called for measures against officials linked to ousted President Omar al-Bashir, Anadolu news agency reports.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok took to Twitter to announce the dismissal of Ezz Eldin Sheikh Ali and Othman Mohamed Younes. The officials have replaced.

Though Hamdok provided no reason for their replacement, the move, the Turkish news agency reports, follows nationwide protests on June 30 calling for wide-ranging political, legal and economic reforms after nearly a year since the formation of the transitional government.

Ali, aged 58, joined the police forces since in 1985 and has worked in various units.

Bashir who ruled Sudan for 3 decades was topped in April 2019 by the army following a mass and nationwide protests against life hardship.

The former leader was sentenced in December to years in prison for corruption. He is also facing other charges over obstruction to the constitution over the 1989 military coup he led.

Hamdok was appointed last year following a power sharing deal between the army and civilians inked in July.
Caracas:

Venezuelas government and opposition have agreed to launch talks in the hope of settling the political crisis in a volatile country stricken by food shortages.



The national dialogue aims to calm tensions after the opposition accused socialist President Nicolas Maduro of trampling on democracy by blocking their bid for a vote on removing him.



Months of tension were threatening to boil over after authorities enraged the opposition last week by annulling their drive for a recall referendum.



With the opposition vowing mass street protests as analysts warned of an increased risk of violent unrest, the Vatican stepped in on on Sunday.



Papal envoy Emil Paul Tscherrig joined a meeting in Caracas of government and opposition representatives and announced afterwards they had agreed to launch formal talks.



Maduro meanwhile received a private audience at the Vatican with Pope Francis.



I thanked him in the name of Venezuela for all the support, so that at last, definitively, a formal dialogue could be started in Venezuela between the opposition and the legitimate Bolivarian government that I lead, Maduro said in televised comments afterwards.



In Caracas, Tscherrig announced that the sides had agreed to launch formal talks on October 30 on the Venezuelan Caribbean island of Margarita.



That appeared to be the most significant gesture of appeasement by both sides since the opposition took control of the legislature in January following an election victory.



Sundays preliminary meeting took place in a respectful, cordial atmosphere of political will, Tscherrig told a news conference.The talks will seek to improve the economic, social, political and institutional circumstances that are fundamental for democratic harmony.



In a private audience with Maduro, the pope urged the parties to show courage in pursuing the path of sincere and constructive dialogue, to alleviate the suffering of the people, particularly of the poor, and to promote renewed social cohesion, a Vatican statement said.



Tscherrigs announcement came as a surprise after a weekend of rising tension.



The opposition had earlier vowed to fight what it called Maduros dictatorship as it embarked on a new strategy to oust him.



It threatened to put him on trial and stage massive nationwide protests from tomorrow.



Maduros opponents were furious over a decision by electoral authorities last Thursday to block a referendum on cutting short the presidency of the man they accuse of driving Venezuela, once a booming oil giant, to the brink of collapse.

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Malkangiri :

At least 27 Maoists, including their top leaders, were gunned down in a fierce gun-battle with security forces in Odishas Malkangiri district on the border with Andhra Pradesh, giving a major blow to CPI(Maoists).

A senior commando of the elite anti-Naxal force, Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh was also killed, while another commando was injured in the encounter that took place in the cut-off area of remote Chitrakonda on Andhra-Odisha border, Malkangiri SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said.

On Monday, the bodies of 24 Maoists, including that of some women, were recovered from the site after the joint operation conducted by the Odisha police and Greyhounds, while a few of the rebels are suspected to have fled, the SP said.

On Sunday death toll rose to 27 after 3 more dead bodies of Maoists were recovered by Andhra Pradesh & Odisha police.

Some high-ranking Maoist leaders, including Uday and Chalapati who carried heavy rewards on their heads, were suspected to be among those killed in the encounter that took place in a mountainous forest area between Bejing and Muchiputam under Panasput grampanchyat, the police said.

Meanwhile, arrangements are being made to airlift the bodies of the slain Maoists to Malkangiri, the SP said adding that combing operation was also intensified in the forest in Andhra-Odisha border areas to locate bodies, if any, and the fleeing Maoists.

Noting that the encounter site was located in a highly remote area which is accessible by road only through Andhra Pradesh, he said the bodies are to be airlifted by helicopter to Malkangiri.

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New Delhi:

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer cannot escape Indian laws just because it has struck a settlement with American authorities over corruption in sale of planes to India and three other countries, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Tuesday.

He said a new blacklisting policy will be finalised next month.

"The CBI investigation into the USD 208 million deal will go by Indian laws on corruption, kickbacks, whatever it is, subject to evidence," he told reporters.

The minister stated that the American laws were different from Indian laws.

"In American law, criminal processes can be compounded (settlement through payment of fines). However, in India, criminal law is not compounded unless the acts are of very minor nature," he said.

On being asked whether the three planes supplied by Embraer to the IAF for Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS) will be grounded, the Defence Minister said there was no question of grounding the planes.

"I can assure you that national requirement is a priority. In fact, I am coming out with a proposal or guidelines for blacklisting. The next Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) will finalise it," he said.

"It cannot be a knee jerk reaction. Proper decision making is required," he added.

The move comes months after the Defence Ministry laid down norms for engaging agents in defence deals. Sources said the new norms will be a mixture of heavy fines, graded blacklisting and other penalties.

The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer has come under the scanner of the US Justice Department after the former agreed to pay kickbacks for a range of defence deals with many countries.

Embraer has agreed to pay over USD 205 million to resolve charges of corruption and making bribe payments to officials in foreign nations, including USD 5.76 million allegedly being paid to an agent in India, in connection with the sale of three military aircraft for Indian Air Force.

Under the settlement, apart from the USD 107 million penalty to the US Justice Department as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, Embraer must also pay more than USD 98 million in disgorgement and interest to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to the company's admissions, Embraer executives and employees paid bribes to government officials and falsified books and records in connection with aircraft sales to foreign governments and state-owned entities in multiple countries.

Parrikar said the Embraer deal was being discussed and efforts were being taken to fine-tune it.

"The basic concept is that a criminal activity should be punished with a ban. But to what extent the ban should be, will be decided as per the national security. Giving exemption will also be based on national security," he said.

"If I have a platform where a company has been banned, I cannot stop operating the platform, because the company which is now blacklisted had supplied me the platform. Whose loss is it?" he asked.

The Embraer deal was signed in 2008 between Embraer and the DRDO for three aircraft equipped with indigenous radars for AEW&C (airborne early warning and control systems).

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Lahore:

A Pakistani man has been handed down the death penalty by a court here for killing his 12-year-old daughter last year because she did not make 'gol roti'.

An additional district and sessions judge gave the death penalty to Khalid Mehmood, who murdered his daughter and then dumped the body outside a hospital here.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Asghar Khan, after hearing arguments from both sides, stated on Monday that such an individual cannot be pardoned who murdered his daughter in cold-blood over a minor dispute.

According to the prosecution, the convict registered an FIR, claiming his daughter might have been abducted as she had gone out to buy some food but did not return.

Later, the Shadbagh police learnt the girl found dead outside Mayo Hospital was actually killed by her father for not making 'gol roti' (round bread), the Express Tribune reported.

Police arrested the girl's father and brother Abuzar after interrogating their neighbours. The suspects confessed they had thrashed the girl, who died of her injuries. The men admitted they dumped the body and filed a false case of kidnapping.

After hearing all arguments and examining evidence, the sessions judge announced the decision to award the death penalty to Khalid, who was also fined Rs 500,000.

"Khalid and his son kept shedding crocodile tears to hoodwink the police but the mother took off the lid on how brutally they beat the 12-year-old to death," a senior police official had said at the time of their arrest, according to Dawn News.

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New Delhi:

Indian deputy high commissioner to Islamabad JP Singh was summoned by the Saarc director general on Tuesday as Pakistan accused India of firing in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) along the Line-of-Control (LoC).

Pakistan lodged its protest against the two civilian casualties caused by what it called unprovoked ceasefire violations by India.

"The Indian deputy high commissioner was summoned by the director general (SA & SAARC) today. A strong protest was lodged against the unprovoked ceasefire violations on 23-24 October 2016, by the Indian forces along the LoC in Phuklian and Chaprar Sectors, which resulted in martyrdom of two civilians including one-and-a-half years old girl. Six civilians were also injured as a result of the Indian shelling," a press release issued by the Pakistan's foreign affairs ministry said.

It was conveyed to the Indian side that it should investigate the incident and share the findings with Pakistan, instruct its troops to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit, refrain from intentionally targeting the villages and maintain peace, the release said.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Army started heavy shelling at Indian Army positions in Noushera sector of Rajouri district, prompting the army to give a befitting response.

From 10am, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation in Noushera sector of Rajouri district by targeting our positions with mortar bombs and small arms fire, an army officer said.

There was no report of any loss of life or the property on the Indian side as the firing from both the sides was still going on.

A 6-year-old boy and a BSF Jawan were killed and 10 people including 8 civilians were injured in the shelling on Monday when Pakistan Rangers targeted over 25 border out posts in the hamlets along the International Border.

There have been over 40 ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side since the Indian side carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir targeting terror launching pads, post the attack on an army camp in Uri on September 18.

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New Delhi:

In a video, Republican nominee for US Presidential elections has been seen copying Narendra Modis campaign slogan, Ab ki Baar Modi Sarkar. This video is a unique style to woo the Indian community for the upcoming US elections. However, the authenticity of the video is yet to be established.

The 59 second video starts with a Happy Diwali message and ends with the Republican presidential candidate saying Ab ki baar Trump Sarkar.

In another move to woo the Indian American community, Ivanka Trump, Donalds daughter, has announced she will celebrate Diwali at a Hindu temple this weekend.

She will attend the festival of lights at Rajdhani Temple at Chantilly, Virginia, with Indian Americans.

Earlier also Trump had said that if he is elected President, the Indian and Hindu community will have a true friend in the White House.

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Tokyo:

Acid-tongued Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte takes his diplomatic roadshow to Japan on Tuesday days after his apparent tilt towards China raised questions about the leaders strategic intentions.

The Philippines and Japan have long been key US allies in Asia, but Duterte has done a dramatic U-turn since coming to office in late June.

That appeared to culminate last week in Beijing where he declared his separation from the United States, played down a maritime dispute with China and pledged to enhance friendship and economic ties.

Back home on Saturday, however, the former mayor seemed to walk back his comments, saying he would not be severing the alliance with Washington.

And yesterday, he went further, telling Japanese media that the US will remain the countrys sole military ally.

The alliances are alive, it is there, he said in a reference to the United States, according to Kyodo News. There should be no worry about changes of alliances. I do not need to have alliances with other nations.

Other Japanese media including the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun quoted him as saying that all military activities with the US should be halted. His seesawing has been closely watched in Japan, a major investor and aid donor to Manila that is wary of Chinas rising influence.

It is important to have good communication and to listen directly to what Mr Duterte has in mind, Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida, who will dine with the president later today, told reporters when asked about the firebrand leaders elusive comments on ties with Washington.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has worked to beef up relations with Manila by providing patrol boats and has supported it in the territorial row with China, as Japan seeks support in its own maritime dispute with Beijing.

Dutertes predecessor took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive claims in the South China Sea where it has built artificial islands capable of hosting military facilities and the Philippines won a resounding victory in July.

Japans Asahi Shimbun newspaper said that improvement in diplomatic relations among neighbouring nations is desirable in principle.

But if they disrespect the rule of law for the sake of narrow bilateral interest, that would be a grave concern for the Asian region, it said in a Saturday editorial, referring to Dutertes Beijing visit.

Duterte told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that his talks with Abe will centre on economic cooperation and shared interest in an interview ahead of his three-day visit.

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New Delhi:

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia along with the officials of the Excise Department raided four liquor shops in Mayur Vihar Phase 2 Monday evening and suspended the license of one.

The Deputy CMs move came after some local residents complained about the liquor shops violating excise rules.

During the raid, it was found that out of four shops, two were being run on one license which is against the rules.

The Deputy CM has ordered suspension of the license. The excise department has also sealed the illegal liquor shop, said a government official.

The Deputy CM, who heads the Excise Department, said he had received complaints from the locals that people drink alcohol in the open near these shops and Haryana-made liquor also is served. He said strict action will be taken against the violator.
Visakhapatnam:

At least 21 Maoists were gunned down in an exchange of fire with the Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha Police in Malkangiri forest area on the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border on Monday, a top police official said.

Police suspect that a top Maoist leader and son of another high-ranking cadre might be among those killed in the encounter.

AP director general of police, Nanduri Sambasiva Rao who left for Visakhapatnam immediately upon receiving news of the encounter, confirmed the Naxal casualties to PTI.

According to AP Police, two constables of Greyhounds, an elite anti-Maoist force, were also injured in the encounter that occurred during a routine combing operation being jointly carried out by police of both the states at Ramgurha in Malkangiri district of Odisha.

The face-off between the security personnel and the outlaws lasted for about an hour.

The injured constables were shifted for treatment to the King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam by helicopter, the police official added.

Police have recovered four AK-47 rifles from the scene of the encounter, where a Maoist den was also found. The DGP said combing operation was still continuing as there was information that there were some more Maoists roaming in the region.

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New Delhi:

Japanese auto giant Honda Motor Co. launched its flagship model Honda Accord Hybrid in India on Tuesday. The auto maker has priced the hybrid model at Rs 37 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

India becomes only the sixth country in the world where Honda has launched the Accord Hybrid since its debut earlier this year.

"It is always our endeavour to offer Honda's latest technology and products to Indian customers and the introduction of the Accord Hybrid is in line with our commitment," Honda Cars India President and CEO Yoichiro Ueno told reporters here.

Stating that the company is prepared to play its role towards environmentally friendly and sustainable mobility, he sought the government's support for such initiatives.

"Hybrid is the technology for future, we are ready to harmonise the need for human mobility and taking care of the environment. We would like to work with the government," Ueno added.

The Accord Hybrid has a 2-litre petrol engine combined with two electric motors. It has a fuel economy of 23.1 km per litre.

The new model from Honda will directly compete with rival Toyota's Camry Hybrid, which is priced at Rs 30.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Since its launch in India in 2001, the Honda Accord has sold 27,000 units. The company had stopped selling the car since November 2013.

With the launch of Accord Hybrid, the model is making its comeback in India.

HCIL Senior Vice-President sales and marketing, Jnaneshwar Sen said the new model can be booked from all its dealers across the country, but will be delivered from only select outlets.

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The European Union, UE, will boycott Israel if it presses ahead with the annexation of the West Bank, the Jewish countrys foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi warned Sunday.

Ashkenazi reportedly indicated the EU has discussed punishing action against Israel if it goes ahead with annexation, noting that the punishment could include a halt of foreign ministers visits to Israel, halt in dispatching students and cancelling scientific scholarships in Israel.

We recommend listening to political, legal and security evaluations before taking any decision, Ashkenazi told Israeli Hebrew newspaper Maariv.

We recommend that everything is done through talks, he stressed while warning that the annexation could deteriorate Israels relations with the EU and Jordan.

Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had set July 1 as the date to start annexation of the occupied West Bank and Jordan Valley. The plan has been shelved as no agreement could be made on the undertaking with US officials.

Voices around the world have raised concerns about the plan.

The plan has unified divided Palestinian factions.

The Palestinians also warned that they are no longer bound by treaties agreed with Israel if annexation goes ahead, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports.
New Delhi:

The feud in UPs ruling Samajwadi Party on Tuesday continued as the meetings between different factions of the party began from early morning.

1) Live updates: Meeting Mulayam Singh's residence ends; Narad Rai, Ambika Chaudhary, Om Prakash Singh come out with Shivpal Yadav

On Monday, the high voltage drama in SP came out into the open as party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav sided with his younger brother Shivpal and friend Amar Singh, and reprimanded son Akhilesh Yadav but ruled out his removal as Chief Minister.

2) 60 dead, 100 injured in terror attack on Pak police academy in Quetta , Afghan terror links suspected

Major General Sher Afgan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, told reporters Tuesday that the attackers appeared to be in contact with handlers in Afghanistan. He said the attackers belonged to the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi group, an Islamic militant group affiliated with al-Qaida.

3) Tata Group stocks take a hit, trip up to 4% after Cyrus Mistry ouster

Tata Group stocks hurtled down by up to 4.2% after Cyrus Mistry was removed as chairman of India's largest conglomerate and replaced by his predecessor Ratan Tata in the interim.

4) No financial turnaround in sight, Twitter planning to cut 300 jobs this week: Reports

According to source based story by a news channel, Twitter Inc may cut about 8 per cent of the workforce, or 300 jobs, the same percentage it did last year when co-founder Jack Dorsey took over as chief executive officer.

5) Watch: Ramgopal Yadav stands by Akhilesh, says will launch election campaign on Nov 3

Ousted Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav on Tuesday accused several party members, including party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, of being jealous of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.





















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New Delhi:

India will resume the long-stalled negotiations with EFTA, a bloc of four European countries including Switzerland, for a proposed free trade agreement this week in Geneva to iron out differences.

A team of officials from the commerce ministry is visiting Geneva to resume talks, an official said.

"The three-day negotiations will start from tomorrow," the official added. The last round of negotiations was held in November 2013 and thereafter the negotiations have remained suspended.

In June this year, a meeting between the chief negotiators of India and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was held here to take stock of the ongoing negotiations for Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).

Both sides had expressed willingness to jointly address the major outstanding issues and agreeing to an early resumption of negotiations and concluding a balanced agreement in a time-bound manner.

The trade pact talks had started in October 2008. So far, 13 rounds of negotiations have been held at the level of chief negotiators.

The four EFTA members are - Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

The proposed pact covers trade in goods and services, market access for investments, protection of intellectual property and public procurement.

Negotiations were stuck on some issues related with intellectual property rights. EFTA wants India to commit more in IPR. They were also demanding for data exclusivity, which India is completely opposed to.

The two way trade between the regions stood at USD 21.5billion in 2015-16 as against USD 24.5 billion in the previousfiscal. The trade gap is highly in the favour of EFTA group.

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Mumbai:

Under fire over allegations of "brokering" a deal between producers of "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has maintained that he had opposed the offer of Rs 5 crore contribution from makers to the Army welfare fund.

Karan Johar's film faced protests by MNS workers for casting Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. Film's smooth release, scheduled to open on October 28, was ensured at a meeting Film Producers' Guild, producers and MNS Thackeray, mediated by Fadnavis last week.

A key demand conceded in the meeting was Rs 5 crore contribution from makers for the army welfare.

"Thackeray had put three demands, out of which there was no objections to the other two. When the issue of Rs 5 crore came up, I intervened and made it clear to the Film Producers' Guild that they need not have to agree to it. I also told them that the contribution has to be made voluntarily. However, it was producers' decision to accept it," Fadnavis said on Monday at his residence in Mumbai.

"I categorically told that although it is nice that the Guild has decided to stand by the families of our martyrs but it is not a compulsion. Still if they wish to do, they may contribute whatever amount they feel (is) appropriate. This figure of (Rs) 5 crore came from MNS but was not agreed in the meeting and turned down then and there only," he said.

When asked about allegations of "brokering" the deal, Fadnavis said, "Another choice was deploying thousands of police staff outside theatres (when film releases). I would then faced allegations like I have spoiled Diwali holiday mood of police staff. Issues should be solved by talking, and we are a democratic government," he said.

Before intervention, Mumbai Police had already arrested MNS activists, hence there should not be any doubts about government's intentions.

Some even called that state government is playing both sides, which is not true, he added.

BJP's ally Shiv Sena has slammed the CM's intervention in the matter and had termed Fadnavis's act as "siding with Pakistani personalities."

On this, the CM said, "Did our governments not talk with separatists like Hurriyat (Conference) or negotiate with Naxal groups for peace? Then holding discussions with a political party, though this is comparatively a minor one (issue), should not be criticised so bitterly. I think, successful mediation has disappointed some people," he said.

Fadnavis also refuted charges of going soft on MNS and emphasised that there was "no political motive" behind such negotiations.

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New Delhi:

A day after the abrupt ouster of Cyrus Mistry as Tata Group chairman, Ratan Tata, who has assumed charge as interim Chairman, has asked senior management of the conglomerate's firms to focus on their businesses without being concerned about the top level change.

Stating that his role is for short term so as to ensure stability and continuity at the group, Tata asked top executives of the USD 100 billion conglomerate to act as leaders in respective markets and focus on enhancing returns to shareholders.

"I assumed the role of the interim Chairman for stability and continuity so that there is no vacuum. This will be for a short time. A new permanent leadership will be in place," he said while addressing managing directors and senior leaders of Tata companies at the Bombay House.

In a sudden and dramatic turn of events, Cyrus Mistry was sacked on Monday as Chairman of Tata Group and was replaced by his predecessor Ratan Tata in the interim.

The three-hour long Tata Group's CEO meet concluded at 1 PM.

According to the group statement, Tata said: "The companies must focus on their market position vis-a-vis competition, and not compare themselves to their own past. The drive must be on leadership rather than to follow."

Referring to the ongoing initiatives in group companies, he said, "We will evaluate and continue to undertake those that are required to. If there is any change, they will be discussed with you."

Recollecting his past association with the executives, Tata said: "I look forward to working with you as we have worked together in the past. An institution must exceed the people who lead it. I am proud of all of you, and let us continue to build the group together."

Tata left the venue without addressing the media waiting outside.

Tata Sons has already announced that a Selection Committee has been constituted to choose a new Chairman, and will complete its mandate in four months.

Also read:

No decision yet on legal recourse over Cyrus Mistry's ouster from Tata Group: Shapoorji

Tata Group stocks take a hit, trip up to 4% after Cyrus Mistry ouster

Ratan Tata writes to PM Narendra Modi to inform him about Cyrus Mistry's exit


Mumbai:

Cyrus Mistry, who was part of the panel tasked to find a successor to Ratan Tata for heading the over USD 100 billion Tata Group, had himself become a surprise selection only to see his tenure cut short abruptly on Monday within four yearsthe shortest at the conglomerate.



The 78-year-old Tata is now part of the selection panel that has been asked to search the next Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd, the groups main holding company, within next four months and he would also serve as interim chairman in this period.



A low-profile man to the extent of being reclusive, Mistry, now 48, was a surprise choice to succeed Tata, who retired on December 29, 2012 as Chairman of the one of countrys oldest business empires.

ALSO READ | Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry sacked; Ratan Tata returns as interim chief for 4 months



The only second non-Tata to take charge of the group after Nowroji Saklatvala in 1932, Mistry by virtue of his age came in with a lot of promise, specially of continuity when he became Chairman of Tata Sonsthe promoter of the major operating Tata companies at the age of 44.



However, in nearly four years since he took over the reins of the salt-to-software conglomerate, Mistry had to face many challenges in both domestic and global markets as many of the group companies faced headwinds.



He undertook a strategy of divesting assets in contrast to what his successor did. Significant among them is the groups steel business, specially Tata Steel Europe. Earlier this year, the company had completed selling of the European long products business that three units the UK as well as a mill in France to Greybull Capital.

ALSO READ | Who is Cyrus Mistry, the former chairman of Tata Sons?



It had also announced plans to sell its UK operations after years of losses, although the company is yet to finalise the sale.



In July, Tata group's hospitality firm Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), which runs Taj Group of hotels, completed sale of Taj Boston hotel for USD 125 million (about Rs 839 crore).



The hospitality firm had also sold off 12.7 lakh shares of Belmond (earlier known as Orient Express, which the Tata Group tried unsuccessfully to acquire in Ratan Tatas time) for a consideration of USD 11.96 million. IHCL had also sold BLUE Sydney, a Taj Hotel, to Australia Hotels & Properties Ltd for AUD 32 million (nearly Rs 179 crore) in 2014.



The Tata group is also engaged in a legal battle with Japans Docomo over the split of their telecom joint venture Tata Docomo.



Contrary to these developments, Tata led the group into some notable acquisitions, starting from Tetley by Tata Tea for USD 450 million in 2000 to steelmaker Corus by Tata Steel in 2007 and the landmark Jaguar Land Rover in 2008 for USD 2.3 billion by Tata Motors.



While the reasons for Mistrys sacking by the Tata Sons board is not clear, according to sources, the decision taken on the suggestion of Tata Trusts.



In the long term interest of Tata Sons and the Tata Group, the principal shareholdersTata Trusts suggested to the Board of Tata Sons that it would be appropriate to look for a change and look forward, a source said.



When Mistry took over, the Tata Group had a revenue of USD 100.09 billion in 2011-12. Since then, the groups revenue grew to USD 103 billion in 2015-16.



About 66 per cent of the equity capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the Tata family. The largest of these trusts are the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which were created by the families of the sons of Jamsetji Tata, the Founder.



Mistry belongs to Shapoorji Pallonji, which is the single largest shareholder in Tata Sons with 18.4 per cent stake.

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Patna:

Leading telecom company Airtel on Tuesday launched its 4G services in Bihar. The services was launched by Ajai Puri, Director, Operations (India & South Asia) at a function here. Initially Patna, Gaya, Siwan, Motihari and Bhagalpur would get 4G services, Puri told reporters.

He said that in the next 45 days, other towns of the state would be included in this service network. With the launch, customers across these towns can now enjoy high speed mobile broadband on Airtel 4G and get on to the digital superhighway to enjoy uninterrupted HD video streaming, superfast uploading and downloading of movies, music and images, Puri said.

Airtel 4G is available to customers across a range of smart devices including mobile phones, dongles and 4G hotspots, he said.

Special demo zones and kiosks have been installed at Airtel stores -- both owned and franchised -- in these places respectively.

Customers across Bihar can switch their existing 2G/3G SIMs with 4G ready USIMs completely free of cost at any Airtel store/retailer in the city, the Airtel Director Operation said.

"To ensure higher network capacity and superior customer experience, Airtel 4G services in Bihar have been rolled out using dual spectrum bands of 1800 MHz (FD LTE) and 2300 MHz (TD LTE)," he said.

This also makes amongst few states in India to have an integrated dual band Airtel 4G network, he added.

Airtel also announced a new 4G offer for prepaid customers who can enjoy 10 GB 4G data for just Rs 247 with any new 4G handset. With Rs 247 recharge, 1 GB data will be instantly credited to the customer's account and the additional 9 GB data can be claimed by the customer through My Airtel app. Users can avail a maximum of 3 recharges within 90 days on the offer, Puri said.

There are about 2.92 crore customers of Airtel services in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Airtel, the country's largest telecommunications services providers, has 95,000 outlets in Bihar out of which 85 per cent are in rural areas. It claimed to have 48 per cent of mobile market share in Bihar.

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New Delhi:

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday made it clear that donation to the Army was voluntary and he does not appreciate holding of someones neck, amid a row over the MNS diktat asking film producers employing Pakistani actors to pay Rs 5 core to army welfare fund.

The army has been upset over being dragged into politics. The concept is voluntary donation and not catching neck of someone. We dont appreciate it, Parrikar told reporters here on the sidelines of the naval commander conference.

The Defence Minister said the concept behind the newly created Battle Casualty Fund was to ensure that all those people who wanted to donate voluntarily for welfare of the family of martyrs could do so.

There will be a scheme managed by MoD with assistance from Adjutant General Branch concerned. It is a voluntary donation and therefore we are not concerned with anyone demanding something to be donated to that, he said.

He said the Ministry is formulating a scheme through which all families of martyrs will be helped equally.

The controversy erupted after Karan Johars Ae Dil Hai Mushkil ran into a storm of protests led by MNS because Pakistani actor Fawad Khan has a role in it.

The film has been allowed to be released after its producers met with three conditions put forward by MNS chief Raj Thackeray, including payment of Rs 5 crore to Army Welfare Fund.

All contributions (to welfare fund) are voluntary. Extortion is not allowed. We would want people to contribute on their own rather than under any coercion, a senior army official had said.

Army sources said that they have a system in place to check all contributions and can even reject a contribution made under duress or by any person whom the force does not want to be associated with.

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Jammu:

Pakistan Army on Tuesday violated the ceasefire by targeting Indian Army positions with mortar and small arms fire in Noushera sector of Rajouri district, prompting the army to give a befitting response.



From 10 AM, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation in Noushera sector of Rajouri district by targeting our positions with mortar bombs and small arms fire, an army officer said.



He said the army was giving a befitting response to the ceasefire violation from the Pakistani side.



The army is giving a befitting response to the Pakistani army, the officer said.



There was no report of any loss of life or the property on the Indian side as the firing from both the sides was still going on.



A 6-year-old boy and a BSF Jawan were killed and 10 people including 8 civilians were injured in the shelling yesterday when Pakistan Rangers targeted over 25 Border out Posts in the border hamlets along International Border.



There have been over 40 ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side since the Indian side carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir targeting terror launching pads, post the attack on an army camp in Uri on September 18.

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Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Los valores en la curva de rendimientos del soberano de Espana perdieron en las operaciones del martes en la manana.El rendimiento a 1 ano bajo 1.5pbs a -0.54%El rendimiento a 10 anos subio 1.2pbs a 0.466%El rendimiento a 30 anos subio 2pbs a 1.432%El diferencial de rendimiento entre 2 anos y 30 anos fue de 193.4pbs, en comparacion con el cierre anterior de 191.8pbsLas acciones IBEX 35 Index bajaron 0.2%Los CDS de Espana a 5 anos permanecieron sin cambiosEl indice de bonos del gob
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.
Central Organisation of Trade Union(COTU) Secretary general Francis Atwoli has hit out at the Kenya Airways board over plans to retrench a significant number of employees.

According to a report by the Star on Monday, the national carrier plans to send home 182 pilots, with a further 400 cabin crew also facing job losses.

We regret to advise you of managements decision to terminate your appointment by giving you one month notice with effect from June 24, 2020, copy of the letters addressed to the pilots read in part.

The lay off package includes salary and all applicable allowances up to and including June 24, 2020, a one months salary in lieu of notice and accrued leave days as at June 24.

A decision has been reached to carry out an organisation-wide rightsizing exercise which will result in a reduction of our network, our assets and our staff. Effectively, we have commenced a phased staff rationalisation process, which we expect to conclude by September 30 2020, said KQ chief executive Allan Kilavuka in a memo to staff.

However, COTU boss Atwoli has said the workers union will challenge the retrenchment in court if the KQ workers interests are not safeguarded.

The outspoken trade unionist noted that the Kenya Airways board did not consult the union as well as its employees on how they should be sent home.

We understand that Kenya Airways top management is holding a meeting right now to send workers at home. No employee from those who will be affected is represented in todays meeting, Atwoli said at Cotu headquarters in Nairobi on Monday afternoon.

The board is composed of people who have outlived their usefulness. They should be at home and allow people who understand modern dynamics to take over, he added.

As Cotu, we will not allow this to happen. We have to stop it and ensure the welfare of workers are safeguarded.
Workforce

Biden promises to undo Trumps workforce policies

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic Partys presumed presidential nominee, promised, if elected, to roll back many of the workforce policies that President Donald Trump instituted during his time in the White House.

Bidens Empower Workers platform said he would reinstate an Obama-era executive order that penalized federal contractors that pursued anti-union campaigns and did not pay their workers at least a $15 per hour and provide other benefits.

The Empower Workers platform has made Bidens support for expanding and protecting collective bargaining rights a key point of his campaign's appeal to public-sector workers.

Biden pledged to pass the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, both of which would codify into law the right for public employees -- including police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians -- to unionize and collectively bargain over issues such as wages and work schedules.

States have decimated the rights of public sector workers who, unlike private sector workers, do not have federal protections ensuring their freedom to organize and collectively bargain, Biden's platform states.

The campaign did not respond to FCWs request for an interview.

While it has yet to formally announce which candidate it will endorse, the American Federation of Government Employees published the results of recent poll in which 58.4% of respondents said that the union should endorse Biden.

AFGE Public Policy Director Jacqueline Simon told FCW that the current administration has adopted scorched-earth, anti-federal worker, anti-civil service policies, particularly the three May 2018 executive orders that rolled back unions ability to conduct business using official time, accelerated the timeline for firing workers and restructured the grievance negotiation process.

The Trump administration has been devastating to federal workers rights, Simon said in an interview. The executive orders narrowed our already narrow collective bargaining rights and made it harder for federal workers to get union representation even when they vote for it and pay for it.

Biden, in his answer to an AFGE questionnaire for presidential candidates, said he would support efforts that would prevent rollbacks of official time use and block efforts to prevent voluntary automatic union dues deductions from federal workers paychecks.

As the current COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the economy, another area of union concern is cuts to workers salaries and retirees benefits, a tactic used during the 2008 recession, Simon said.

In recent years, the Trump administration has proposed cuts to retired federal employees benefits and increasing the contribution expected from current workers.

We made it clear to the Biden campaign that those kinds of outrageous cuts due to anti-deficit budget posturing were something that they need to stay far away from, Simon said.

In his questionnaire response, Biden pledged to abstain from doing so.

Our federal employees deserve fair compensation and should not be subject to cuts in health insurance premiums or other critical employee benefits, he wrote. The federal government should lead by example and provide high quality benefits, instead of pushing anti-worker budget adjustments designed to shift the burden of health care and retirement costs onto employees.

Biden also pledged to support legislation that would permanently appropriate money to continue funding federal workers salaries in the event of any lapses in agency funding due to events such as the 35-day partial government shutdown that began in December 2018.

The uncertainty of budget showdowns can be a source of great stress for federal employees trying to make ends meet and are harmful to the dedicated public servants who keep our country running, Biden wrote in his questionnaire answer. Not only was this hard on working families, it also compromised our safety. In my administration, workers, their safety, and the safety of the public will come first above all else.
New Partnership to Transform Community Health

ST. PAUL, Minn., July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Sanneh Foundation is happy to announce a five-year partnership agreement with 3M to provide its employees and alumni access to the Conway Community Center and future seasonal dome during the hours youth participants are in school. The partnership will provide The Sanneh Foundation with $500,000 over the term of the usage agreement to support the operational sustainability of the 11 million dollar capital improvement project. With this investment, 3M is reinforcing its commitment to their employees engagement in locally based organizations like The Sanneh Foundation.

We are grateful that 3M understands and is committed to investing in our vision for creating a new type of social and physical environment based on equity in the city of St. Paul, said Tony Sanneh, founder and CEO of the Sanneh Foundation. This partnership will help transform Conway into a community center that addresses the entire range of social determinants that affect community health in communities of color.

The funds will be used to increase Conways annual usage from 10,000 to 100,000 youth once the renovations are complete, and the partnership will encourage 3M and its employees to participate and volunteer in the work of The Sanneh Foundation at the Conway Community Center. The center resides a just few blocks west of 3Ms global headquarters.

We are thrilled to advance our partnership with The Sanneh Foundation and help strengthen their mission to empower youth, said Kourosh Motalebi, 3Ms head of global strategic partnerships and incoming Sanneh Board Member. The Conway Community Center is a special place for so many St. Paul residents and we feel completely aligned with their focus on supporting families and communities.

About The Sanneh Foundation: The Sanneh Foundation (TSF) is a Saint Paul, Minnesota based 501(c)3 that serves the holistic youth development needs of the increasingly diverse state of Minnesota. TSFs mission is to empower youth through in-school and after-school support, improve lives through programs that strengthen physical health and social and emotional development, and unite communities by advancing diversity, equity, and community well-being. For more information, visit www.thesannehfoundation.org .



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About 3M

At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives daily. With $32 billion in sales, our 96,000 employees connect with customers all around the world. Learn more about 3Ms creative solutions to the worlds problems at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M or @3MNews.
NEW YORK and MONTVALE, N.J., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) released today from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA  (Institute of Management Accountants) for Q2 2020 found that while 2020 will be the worst for the global economy since World War II, North America is more optimistic about an imminent economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic than other regions across the globe.

The survey found that global confidence recovered slightly from a record low in Q1 2020, providing some optimism that recovery is on the horizon during the second half of the year. Despite this, many regions across the globe still face challenging economic times.

The Q2 2020 GECS, the largest regular economic survey of accountants around the world in terms of both the number of respondents and the range of economic variables it monitors, captured the true scale of the global recession caused by the response to the coronavirus pandemic. The full report is available here and at https://www.imanet.org/insights-and-trends/global-economic-conditions-survey?ssopc=1.

The report notes that activity indicators covering orders, capital spending, and employment are at or close to record lows in most regions and that the global orders balance fell by 15 points, around twice its previous biggest quarterly drop, while other global measures of extreme weakness include plummeting employment index and the rise in concern about customers and suppliers going out of business.

The economic shock of the COVID-19 crisis is shifting unemployment rates from close to record lows late last year to extreme highs in the space of a few months. In the United States, the report notes, the unemployment rate rose to 13.3% in May from below 4% at the start of the year (but improved slightly to 11.1 percent in June, per the U.S. Department of Labor last week).

The report notes that headwinds for recovery are likely to remain in coming quarters amid social distancing and consumer caution. Earlier expectations of a sharp V-shaped recovery have given way to anticipation of a fairly long period to regain the level of output prior to the pandemic. For emerging markets, much will depend on commodity prices as well as the strength of any recovery in advanced economies. The authors note that for many economies, including the United States, it may not be until the second half of 2022 at the earliest when the country could reach the same level of output as existed at the end of 2019.

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Yet, despite the troubling findings, respondents in North America were optimistic about a recovery. The survey found that over a third of respondents in North America expect a recovery during the current quarter spanning July to September.

"Confidence in Q2 was a mixed picture and globally there was a modest bounce from the record low in Q1. This unusual combination of very weak orders but slightly better confidence can be interpreted as expectations of a turning point  an unprecedented collapse in activity in the first half of the year, to be followed by some degree of recovery in the second half," said Raef Lawson, Ph.D., CMA, CPA, IMA vice president of research and policy.

The new survey introduced special COVID-19-related questions, which generated an overall 50-50 split between those expecting economic recovery in the second half of this year and those not expecting this until 2021.

Said Warner Johnston, Head of ACCA USA, "The mixed picture on confidence contrasts with the universally gloomy readings on activity indicators such as orders and employment. Recovery in confidence from Q1 lows can be interpreted as optimism about economic prospects over the second half of the year. In regions such as North America and Europe, the recovery in confidence was modest but in stark contrast with the large fall in orders in both regions."

The report also notes that the plunge in the GECS employment index reflects the dramatic surge in unemployment, particularly in the United States, and reasons that this is a downside risk to sustained recovery.

While overall confidence ticked up slightly from a record low in Q1, hinting at a slightly brighter outlook, the portrait for 2021 depends on the trajectory of the virus.

Said Lawson, "On the assumption of no second wave of the virus that requires renewed lockdown measures, the global economy will recover in the second half of this year and through 2021. But the pace of expansion in 2021 is highly uncertain and will depend on developments in the health crisis, such as treatments or a vaccine as well as on economic factors such as policy, and consumer and business confidence."

Added Johnston, "More generally, the degree of so-called scarring will become apparent; how much permanent damage has been done to economies and certain sectors such as hospitality, travel and tourism  and crucially how far and fast is unemployment falling across economies. It is unlikely that growth will be sufficient to lift the level of economic activity to its pre-crisis level by the end of next year."

Fieldwork for the Q2 2020 GECS took place between May 29 and June 12, 2020 and attracted responses from 1,070 ACCA and IMA members around the world, including more than 100 CFOs. The COVID-19 questions elicited 805 responses.

About ACCA

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants, offering business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.

ACCA supports its 227,000 members and 544,000 students (including affiliates) in 176 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. ACCA works through a network of 110 offices and centres and 7,571 Approved Employers worldwide, and 328 approved learning providers who provide high standards of learning and development. Through its public interest remit, ACCA promotes appropriate regulation of accounting and conducts relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.

ACCA has introduced major innovations to its flagship qualification to ensure its members and future members continue to be the most valued, up to date and sought-after accountancy professionals globally. Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. More information is here: www.accaglobal.com

About IMA (Institute of Management Accountants)

IMA, named the 2017 and 2018 Professional Body of the Year by The Accountant/International Accounting Bulletin, is one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the CMA (Certified Management Accountant) and CSCA (Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis) programs, continuing education, networking and advocacy of the highest ethical business practices. IMA has a global network of more than 125,000 members in 150 countries and 300 professional and student chapters. Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., USA, IMA provides localized services through its four global regions: The Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and Middle East/India. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org.

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SOURCE ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)
(Bloomberg) -- The chief executive officers of Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. will testify on July 27 before a congressional panel investigating competition in the technology industry, according to an announcement from the House Judiciary Committee.

Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook are likely to face a torrent of critical questions from lawmakers on the panels antitrust subcommittee as the investigation builds a case for revamping antitrust enforcement.

Bezos may be in for a particularly tough session. Unlike the other chiefs, the worlds richest man will be addressing Congress for the first time, and his company has sparred with subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline over previous testimony by another company official and allegations of anticompetitive conduct.

The appearances may be virtual, according to the Monday evening announcement, which said additional details on the format would be forthcoming.

Given the central role these corporations play in the lives of the American people, it is critical that their CEOs are forthcoming, said Cicilline and Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler in a joint statement. As we have said from the start, their testimony is essential for us to complete this investigation.

Some of the companies had been reluctant to send their top executives even though Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, has said he would be willing to subpoena CEOs. He has said he wants to use their appearances to inform a final report recommending changes to antitrust law.

Antitrust scrutiny of giant technology companies is accelerating. Facebook and Alphabets Google both face competition inquiries by federal enforcers and nearly all 50 states. Amazon is under investigation in California, Bloomberg has reported, and both the e-commerce giant and Apple are facing scrutiny from the European Union.

The Judiciary Committee had previously announced that the four men would testify, but had not set a date or format.

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Tadros is just one of a select few worldwide to be awarded one of Microsoft's Regional Directors

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.

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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

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(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. said it is assessing a new Hong Kong security law that has sparked concern about criminalizing protests.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant also said it has not received requests for Hong Kong user data since the law kicked in last week, and noted that it doesnt get requests directly from the government there.

Apple has always required that all content requests from local law enforcement authorities be submitted through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in place between the United States and Hong Kong, the company said. Under that process, the U.S. Department of Justice reviews Hong Kong authorities requests for legal conformance.

On Monday, other tech companies, including Google, Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. said they would pause processing user data requests from the Hong Kong government as they review the new law.

On its website, Apple said that in the first half of 2019, it received 358 requests for user device information, 155 requests related to fraudulent transactions, and two requests for account data from Hong Kong.

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
By Stephen Nellis

July 7 (Reuters) - Arm Ltd plans to transfer two software businesses to its Japan-based parent, SoftBank Group Corp , in a strategic shift to focus on growing its core chip businesses, the British-based company said on Tuesday.

The units, under Arm's internet-of-things services group, help chip purchasers manage data generated by all sorts of devices connected on the internet. Arm, based in Cambridge, England, said in a statement it hopes to complete the transfer by September.

SoftBank, a telecommunications carrier, acquired Arm for $32 billion in 2016, its largest-ever purchase, in part to expand into the "internet of things," which connects everyday devices from traffic signals to refrigerators to the internet.

Arm has forecast that 1 trillion devices would become connected by 2035, many with chips containing its intellectual property, from which it generates license and royalty fees.

Arm supplies the chip technology for virtually all mobile devices such as phones and tablets but is expanding into processors for cars, datacenter services and other devices. SoftBank plans to relist Arm by 2023.

"Arm would be in a stronger position to innovate in our core (intellectual property) roadmap and provide our partners with greater support to capture the expanding opportunities for compute solutions across a range of markets," Arm Chief Executive Simon Segars said in statement. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang)
Stocks, oil slip but Chinese stocks rally a sixth day The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investor caution over renewed coronavirus-related lockdowns buoyed the dollar and snapped a five-day rally in most world equity markets on Tuesday, but was not enough to halt a hot streak in Chinese stocks.

The dollar edged higher as risk currencies such as the Australian dollar took a breather from recent gains and gold dipped as investors booked profits after bullion rallied to a near eight-year peak, trading around $1,780 an ounce.

Bourses in London <.FTSE>, Paris <.FCHI> and Frankfurt <.GDAXI> fell about 1% for most of the session before paring some losses, while losses were greater on Wall Street even as the Nasdaq posted a fresh intraday high before closing down.

U.S. Treasury yields ticked lower as a rising caseload of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, raised concerns about economic reopening plans.

The greater Miami area in Florida became the latest U.S. coronavirus hot spot to roll back its reopening. Cases surged nationwide by the tens of thousands and the U.S. death toll topped 130,000.

Stocks have rallied on the belief therapies and vaccines will be developed to deal with the coronavirus and that the United States has enough experience with the pandemic to avoid economy-wide lockdowns, said David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise.

But the three states where infections are currently the most intense - California, Texas and Florida - are the three most populous and account for almost one-third of U.S. gross domestic product, Joy said.

"Other countries have shown it is possible to knock this virus down," Joy said. "But it takes social discipline and that seems to be in short supply here."

MSCI's all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS>, which tracks shares in 49 nations, fell 5.24 points, or 0.97%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> dropped 0.62%.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 396.85 points, or 1.51%, to 25,890.18 and the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 34.4 points, or 1.08%, to 3,145.32. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 89.76 points, or 0.86%, to 10,343.89.

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Lockdown measures were also reimposed in Melbourne, Australia, confining its nearly 5 million residents to all but essential travel for another six weeks.

Corporate earnings are expected to fall by about 20% percent this year following the deepest recession in more than a century. Pictet Asset Management expects a 30% to 40% slump.

"But that does not mean equity and corporate bond markets are due a sharp fall," said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management.

Paolini predicted the U.S. Federal Reserve will inject a further $1.3 trillion of stimulus this year and the European Central Bank will add another 1.1 trillion euros ($1.24 trillion).

The euro <EUR=> was last down 0.34% at $1.1269.

The euro zone economy will drop into a deeper recession this year than previously expected and take longer to rebound, the European Commission forecast. The commission said the 19-nation single currency area would contract a record 8.7% before rising by 6.1% in 2021, worse than its previous forecast.

The dollar index <=USD>, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six currencies, rose 0.22% to 96.942. The yen <JPY=> was up 0.20% at $107.5700.

Analysts said signals from the Chinese government through a state-sponsored journal on "fostering a healthy bull market," published on Monday, helped the buying binge in Chinese shares.

Chinese blue-chips rose for a sixth straight day to close at highs last seen in June 2015 as retail investors rushed to join an officially sanctioned bull market.

The Shanghai index pared earlier gains of more than 2% as investors consolidated their positions after some analysts drew parallels with a stock market boom-and-bust five years ago.

Copper prices soared to their highest in more than five months due to strong demand prospects in top consumer China and worries about supplies from Chile, the world's largest producer of the red metal.

Oil prices edged higher after the U.S. government forecast higher fuel demand and lower production, overshadowing concerns that the surge in new coronavirus cases would hamper demand.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast global oil demand would recover 101.1 million barrels per day (bpd) by the fourth quarter of next year.

Brent crude futures <LCOc1> slid 2 cents to settle lower at $43.08 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures <CLc1> fell 1 cent to settle at $40.62 a barrel.

Spot gold rebounded to within striking distance of $1,800 an ounce on the potential that a sharp jump in COVID-19 cases would lead to more accommodative monetary policy measures and greater demand for the safe-haven metal.

U.S. gold futures <GCv1> settled up 0.9% at 1,809.90 an ounce after earlier striking the highest since September 2011 at $1,810.80. Graphic: World's biggest stock markets since start of 2020 - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/gjnvwwkrovw/Pasted%20image%201594112037896.png Graphic: Coronavirus and financial markets - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/xegvbmbdkpq/Pasted%20image%201594123352010.png

(Reporting by Herbert Lash, with additional reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Will Dunham)
SYDNEY, July 6 (Reuters) - Australia's most populous state of New South Wales will close its border with Victoria state 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.

(Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Tom Hogue)
Popular city preacher Robert Burale has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Burale broke the news on social media Monday, narrating his scary experience after developing breathing complications last week Wednesday. The celebrity preacher was rushed to Nairobi Hospital, where his worst fears were confirmed.

Last week Wednesday I (after recording an FB program that airs of Fridays) was struggling to breath and rushed to Nairobi Hospital where I was tested for Covid-19 (the doctor in the PPE was the most intimidating thing at that moment) 24 hours later the results were outThe doctor walks into the isolation room and she says Hello Mr Burale your results are out, and I reply So I can go home? She says, Unfortunately you have tested positive for Covid and we have to now take you to the isolation ward, wrote Burale in a long post on Facebook.

The father of one noted that he was worried about his daughter who is now okay.

A lot went through my mind I was scared.I got angry.I was devastatedThen I worried for my daughter (thank God she is perfectly okay)Well, ladies and gentlemen, still in shock, you are taken to a treated lift. It opens for you and you are briefed, When the lift opens you will find somebody waiting for you and I find a gentleman dressed in the full PPE (this I only see in movies )Kudos to Nairobi HospitalHe immediately calmed me down and walked me to the bedAs I walked through I saw grown men fighting for their lives I was scared very scared. For two days I fought for my life under the great care of the doctors and nurses at Nairobi HospitalI saw the Hand of GodMy progress is goodMy vitals are responding well he wrote.

The image consultant and former panelist on Citizen TVs Fashion Watch further cautioned Kenyans that coronavirus is not a joke.

FOR anyone who thinks this thing is a joke ..May the Lord have mercy on you ..I gathered courage and called a few people who have tirelessly prayed for me and sent encouraging messages

Please guys be carefulWhere did I get it? Your guess is as good as mineI wish I knew..

I have seen the Doctors and Nurses work so hard to keep people alive Please remember these frontline warriors in prayer ..Encourage them

The food is served wrapped securely.Opening your food to eat is like opening a bank vault and for a Luhyia like me, Time is of the essence..Visitors strictly not allowed.This is my first taste of power Security is as tight as that of the president

Please be careful..

The battle is the Lords ..We shall overcome

I humbly ask for your prayers

I shall stand TESTIFY

May the Lord have mercy on All of Us

Please the responsibility is now on You and I stay safe
Triman Also Adds Eugene Mamajek as Vice President of Business Development & Strategy

WEST BERLIN, N.J., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Triman Industries, Inc. ("Triman" or the "Company"), a leading provider of distribution, supply chain and repair management solutions to the military aftermarket, announced today that Dan Edwards has joined the Company as President, and Eugene Mamajek has joined the Company as Vice President of Business Development & Strategy. Both appointments are effective immediately. Triman is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners LP ("AEI"), a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense & Government Services, Power Generation and Specialty Industrial markets.

"Triman has experienced strong growth over the past decade due to our relentless focus on serving our growing list of OEM partners and our customers," said Scott Truskin, CEO of Triman. "Dan is a strong fit with the Company and brings a unique set of experiences and perspectives that will help us accelerate our growth over the next decade."

"Triman has developed a unique platform for partnering with OEM suppliers and their military customers to form the critical link between the product and the end-user in the supply chain," said Mr. Edwards. "I am thrilled to join the highly talented and dedicated team at Triman and look forward to continuing to expand the unique value proposition we deliver to both our OEM partners and military customers."

"Dan brings a strong combination of business and military experience to Triman," said Jon Nemo, Senior Partner at AEI and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Triman. "We are excited to have Dan join Triman as President, and we are confident he will continue to successfully develop our strategic direction and leading market position."

In this newly created role, Mr. Edwards will be responsible for leading the strategic direction and growth of the Company while delivering a best-in-class value proposition to OEM partners and customers.

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Mr. Edwards brings significant leadership and operational experience throughout the military aftermarket. Most recently he was VP of Operations at MAG Aerospace. Prior to MAG Aerospace, Mr. Edwards served as General Manager of Aviation Technical Services and President of the Arresting Systems division of Zodiac Aerospace. Mr. Edwards served more than 23 years in the United States Air Force both in active duty and reserve status as a KC-10 pilot, including serving as Commander of the 78th Air Refueling Squadron and Deputy Operations Group Commander at McGuire Air Force Base. He has an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS degree in Civil Engineering from the US Air Force Academy.

Mr. Mamajek has deep leadership, business development and operational experience throughout the military market. He most recently served as Executive Director of the Avionics Systems division of Esterline Technologies Corporation, responsible for managing all military programs and a dedicated military market business development team. Prior to Esterline, Mr. Mamajek served more than 20 years in the United States Marine Corps, as both an Officer and an Aviator, having logged over 5,700 hours operating F/A-18 C/D and KC-130J missions and as a T-45C advanced flight instructor. He has a BS degree in Aerospace Engineering and Physics from Kent State University.

"We have known Eugene for several years and we are excited to have him join the Triman team in a leadership role," said Mr. Truskin. "Eugene is a strong fit with the Company and his business development background will help accelerate our growth and expand our market presence."

"Eugene is a proven leader with strong knowledge of the military aftermarket, and I look forward to working closely with him," said Mr. Edwards. "He has a deep understanding of Triman's role in the supply chain and will play a key role in continuing to differentiate our market position and the services we deliver."

About Triman Industries

Triman is a leading provider of distribution, supply chain and repair management solutions to the military aftermarket. Founded in 1995 and based in West Berlin, NJ, Triman has mastered the business of partnering with OEM suppliers and their military customers to form the critical link between the product and the end-user in the supply chain. Today, Triman represents a growing list of over 50 OEMs and provides a full suite of value-added services including inspection and testing, packaging, labeling, marking, processing, export management, contract administration and repair management services. The Company's proven track record, reputation for quality and responsiveness, and deep list of certifications and accreditations have allowed it to establish a leading market position and valuable partnerships in its marketplace. For more information, please visit www.trimanindustries.com .

About AE Industrial Partners

AE Industrial Partners is a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets. AE Industrial Partners invests in market-leading companies that can benefit from its deep industry knowledge, operating experience, and relationships throughout its target markets. Learn more at www.aeroequity.com .

CONTACT:

Lambert & Co.

Jennifer Hurson

(845) 507-0571

jhurson@lambert.com

Or

Kristin Celauro

(732) 433-5200

kcelauro@lambert.com

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A pedestrians walks past the Aviva logo outside the company head office in the city of London

By Huw Jones and Carolyn Cohn

LONDON (Reuters) - Aviva <AV.L> named independent director and former Zurich Insurance <ZURN.S> executive Amanda Blanc as its new chief executive on Monday who immediately signalled a potential strategy overhaul, sending the British insurer's shares up.

Blanc succeeds Maurice Tulloch whom Aviva said was stepping down with immediate effect for family health reasons. It is the second change at the top in less than two months after chairman George Culmer took up the reins in May.

The changes have revived speculation of a break-up of the life and general insurer, which some analysts and investors say has an unwieldy structure.

"I'm not a business as usual person, and I haven't come here to do a business as usual job," Blanc, the first woman to run Aviva, said on a media call.

"We will look at the strategic options."

Aviva's shares hit a three-week high and were up 4% at 1314 GMT, outperforming a 1.7% rise in the FTSE 100 <.FTSE>.

Insider Tulloch took the top role in March, 2019, amid concern about Aviva's lagging stock market performance. (Graphic: Aviva underperforms, https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/bdwvkaqrjvm/Pasted%20image%201594041954654.png)

KBW analysts said they expected Blanc's appointment to lead to a strategic review, less than a year after Aviva reorganised into five divisions.

KBW advocated a break-up of the group "as the best way to maximise value".

Blanc was appointed in January to the board of Aviva, which traces its history to the launch of the Hand in Hand Fire & Life Insurance Society in London in 1696 and has businesses in Europe, Asia and Canada.

Prior to Zurich Insurance, Blanc was group CEO, AXA UK, <AXAF.PA>, and has served as chair of the Association of British Insurers and president of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

"The board and I were saddened to hear of the personal reasons behind (Tulloch's) desire to step down and we wish him and his family the very best for the future," Culmer said.

(Additional reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru and Ritvik Carvalho in London; editing by Patrick Graham, Jason Neely and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market Research Report by Type (In Vivo Devices and Microcantilever Sensors), by Application (Analysis, Cell Culture, Detection, Diagnostic, and Drug Delivery) - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

New York, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market Research Report by Type, by Application - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913609/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market is expected to grow from USD 3,573.57 Million in 2019 to USD 6,947.89 Million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.71%.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



On the basis of Type, the Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market is studied across In Vivo Devices and Microcantilever Sensors.



On the basis of Application, the Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market is studied across Analysis, Cell Culture, Detection, Diagnostic, Drug Delivery, Surgical, and Therapeutic.



On the basis of Geography, the Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market is studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas region is studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The Asia-Pacific region is studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa region is studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market including Abbott, Baxter, Becton, Dickinson, and Company, Boston Scientific Corporation, CapitalBio Technology, lepumedical, Medtronic, PerkinElmer Inc., Teledyne DALSA Inc., and United Gene High-Tech Group.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market on the basis of Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on sulfuric acid offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market?

6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Biomedical Microelectromechanical Systems Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913609/?utm_source=GNW



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(Adds additional codes, adjusts dateline)

By Andrew Hedlund

NEW YORK, Jul 6 (LPC) - Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP's credit arm GSO Capital Partners is seeking US$7.5bn for its fourth subordinated debt vehicle, according to investor notes from the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana.

The New York-based asset manager has launched its GSO Capital Opportunities Fund IV (Fund IV), which is looking to surpass the US$6.5bn raised by its predecessor (Fund III), the pension fund notes show.

Fund IV will invest US$100m to US$450m in mezzanine debt for North American and Western European businesses that have enterprise values between US$500m and US$5bn.

With US$121bn in assets under management, GSO invests in leveraged loans, high yield bonds, mezzanine debt and direct lending opportunities, among others.

The Fund IV portfolio will consist of between 30 to 40 investments with a hold period of three to five years.

Fund III posted a 6% net internal rate of return and a 1.1 times multiple on invested capital, according to Blackstone's first-quarter earnings results.

According to the most recent data available from financial data firm Preqin, global mezzanine debt funds collected US$1.6bn in the first three months of the year. Of the total amount of investor capital currently being sought by all private credit funds monitored, 18% of it would go to mezzanine debt funds.

If GSO meets or surpasses US$7.5bn, it would be one of the largest private debt funds raised.

In recent years, a slew of global private debt firms have gained market share. Fourteen percent of the funds in the market are seeking more than US$1bn but targeting 49% of the aggregate capital across all private debt strategies, which include direct lending, special situations and distressed debt. (Reporting by Andrew Hedlund. Editing by Michelle Sierra and Andrew Weinman.)
By Eric M. Johnson

SEATTLE, July 7 (Reuters) - Boeing Co has reached settlement agreements in more than 90% of the wrongful death claims filed in federal court after the 2018 crash of a Lion Air 737 MAX in Indonesia that killed all 189 people on board, a court filing on Tuesday said.

The fatal crash, followed within five months by another 737 MAX jetliner in Ethiopia, led to the worldwide grounding of the best-selling model and a corporate crisis that has included hundreds of lawsuits alleging the jet was unsafe and separate probes by the Justice Department and U.S. lawmakers.

Boeing has been racing to clear a number of remaining hurdles to win U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval to fly the MAX again commercially, potentially later this year.

In a filing in federal court in Chicago, Boeing said claims relating to 171 of the 189 people on board the crashed jet have been fully or partially settled. That includes 140 of the 150 claims filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The company did not disclose how much it paid victims' families or estates. In 2019, Reuters reported that some Lion Air cases had been settled for at least $1.2 million per claim.

A Boeing spokesman said the company remains committed to resolving the remaining cases.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all those onboard Lion Air Flight 610," the spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, said by email.

"We are pleased to have made significant progress in recent months in resolving cases brought by the victims' families on terms that we believe fairly compensate them."

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; editing by Richard Pullin)
As Canada begins to reopen, the company's new website enables construction industry to use leading-edge technology for productivity and worker safety

Burnaby, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 6, 2020) - As Canada begins to open up after months of lockdown caused by the global pandemic, the construction industry will be moving aggressively to get projects back on track - even as some employees continue to work from home offices. A key priority for many in the industry is to improve productivity and ensure worker safety. To support these efforts, BuildingPoint Canada today announced the launch of its new website at http://www.buildingpoint.ca/ which features new resources and tools for construction professionals

BuildingPoint supports the construction industry by enabling constructible processes that unite hardware, software and services, making communication between the office and field seamless and friction-free. Key to this is BuildingPoint's status as the largest provider of Trimble construction and fabrication solutions in the country. Trimble is recognized worldwide for transforming the way people work in major industries like construction, agriculture and transportation, offering solutions like Tekla Structures, Tekla TEDDs, and SketchUp.

David Davidson, General Manager of BuildingPoint Canada comments, "The construction industry has great progress to make in reducing waste and improving productivity. And now, as we begin to emerge from the pandemic, there is an even greater sense of urgency to accomplish those goals. BuildingPoint Canada is part of the solution for construction companies. The resources we're making available through our website support that goal by making it easier for construction professionals to find the solutions they need to improve workflows and become more efficient and profitable."

The resources on BuildingPoint Canada's site include:

Live and on-demand training and webinars for skills development and solutions including Tekla Campus, Tekla Structures, Trimble Connect;

Short videos explaining nearly every product in the portfolio;

Full product details for every Trimble solution offered by Building Point Canada, from features and benefits to downloadable data sheets;

One-click access to support for all products and solutions;

Blog posts, industry news and other helpful updates.

Learn more at www.buildingpoint.ca.

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About BuildingPoint Canada

BuildingPoint Canada is the country's leading provider of Trimble construction and fabrication solutions. BuildingPoint's experienced team is dedicated to delivering technology, advice and service that will make a tangible, measurable difference to the bottom line, today and tomorrow.

Trimble is transforming the way the world works through products and services that connect the physical and digital worlds. Their technologies in positioning, modeling, connectivity and data analytics enable customers to improve productivity, quality, safety and sustainability. From purpose-built products to enterprise lifecycle solutions, Trimble software, hardware, and services are transforming industries such as agriculture, construction, geospatial and transportation and logistics.

BuildingPoint Canada offers integrated hardware and software expertise to empower clients to make the most of their Trimble investments. With offices in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, we serve businesses nationwide. Learn more at www.buildingpoint.ca.



Contact:

Aimee Kessler Evans

akesslerevans@themezzaninegroup.com



NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59065
Jerry York, Global VP of Sales will continue to focus on accelerating international growth and expansion plans

TAMPA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / ByDesign Technologies, the leading provider of software for the direct selling industry, is pleased to announce and welcome industry leader, Greg Fink as Senior Vice President of Sales. Greg will be responsible for developing new business opportunities and delivering enhanced solutions to address client needs. Bob Hipple will continue to support the delivery of ByDesign's technology roadmap in his new role as a strategic consultant.

"Greg brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our executive leadership team and we are looking forward to him driving our sales efforts to new heights," said Daryl Wurzbacher, CEO, of ByDesign. "Fink's direct selling business and software background will be a valuable resource as we strive to accelerate our growth year after year. We're thrilled to welcome Greg to the team."

Before joining ByDesign, Fink worked at Momentum Factor as the Vice President of Business Development, where he led the sales, marketing, and business development efforts.

"I am excited to join ByDesign Technologies, a company with such a strong reputation for being the innovation leader for the direct selling industry.," said Fink. "I am looking forward to building on my vast experiences and tapping into my deep enterprise knowledge to continue to drive ByDesign's growth in the market by delivering optimal client solutions."

Greg is a well-known figure in the direct selling industry with more than 30 years of experience. The first 14 years of his career were spent in various capacities at Jenkon, where he was instrumental in the company's growth. Within the industry, Greg has also held executive-level positions at numerous software and fintech companies.

"Greg has a proven track record of facilitating long-term business relationships with customers and industry luminaries. We've been busy this year expanding our leadership team, and Greg is another fantastic addition to our growing world-class team. His strong winning attitude, sales insight, and business expertise will complement and enhance ByDesign's ability to meet the needs of our clients as we continue to provide the highest quality and most innovative products to the marketplace" said Scott Maher, CEO of Retail Success - the parent company of ByDesign.

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About Retail Success and ByDesign Technologies

Retail Success is an Overland Park, Kansas-based financial technology company that provides custom software, retail technology, and electronic payments products. The company's customers include brick-and-mortar retailers, e-commerce retailers, retail wholesalers, and direct sellers across a variety of vertical markets.

ByDesign Technologies is a provider of management tools for the direct selling industry based in Tampa, Florida. Since its launch in 2000, ByDesign has helped nearly a thousand companies grow their big ideas by leveraging The Freedom Cloud Solution as their direct selling software. As a result, ByDesign Technologies has empowered more than 10 million individuals to follow their dreams in the direct selling industry.

Corporate and Media Contact:

Linda Gulla

VP of Marketing

ByDesign Technologies

813-253-2235 x125

linda.gulla@bydesign.com

SOURCE: ByDesign Technologies





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/596441/ByDesign-Technologies-Welcomes-Greg-Fink-as-Senior-Vice-President-of-Sales




QUITO, July 7 (Reuters) - Canadian miner Lundin Gold Inc expects to produce between 200,000 and 220,000 ounces of gold this year at its Fruta del Norte gold mine in the Ecuadorean Amazon, its head told Reuters, after restarting operations last weekend.

Lundin halted production in March when Ecuador's government declared a health emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic and the firm cut staffing at the site to the mininum required.

Ron Hochstein, Lundin's chairman and director, said in an interview on Monday that despite the pandemic's impact this year, the company expects average annual production of 325,000 ounces of gold over the mine's 14-year life span.

Lundin inaugurated the mine last November as Ecuador's market-friendly president, Lenin Moreno, sought to attract investment to diversify the stagnant oil-dependent economy. Fruta del Norte, Ecuador's first large-scale gold mine, contains some 4.8 million ounces of gold in proven reserves.

Ecuador's mining activity plunged about 60% as authorities imposed harsh quarantine measures to limit the new coronavirus' spread, but the government in May approved security protocols to allow operations to resume. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Two women from Kirinyaga tempted fate on Thursday last week after attempting to sneak marijuana into a police cell.

According to Kirinyaga East police boss Antony Wanjuu, the women had stashed 17 rolls of weed into a tea flask when they were arrested.

Mr Wanjuu said the women had gone to visit a suspected drug peddler at the police station in the evening under the pretext that they had brought him tea.

Their plan was thwarted by officers on duty who grew suspicious and demanded to see what was in the flask. This is when the cops discovered the rolls of marijuana and promptly arrested the women.

The women said the man in police custody is well known to them and that he can not do without smoking, the police boss said.

They claimed the man normally falls sick if he does not smoke. Which is a ridiculous claim.

The man was arrested last Wednesday for being in possession of marijuana.
Work On Tasiast South To Commence Within 3 Months

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - Chilean Metals Inc. (TSXV: CMX) (SSE: CMX) (MILA: CMX) ("Chilean Metals," "CMX" or the "Company") is pleased to advise that it has signed a C$4.5 million funding term sheet for the creation of a joint venture vehicle with ASX and AIM-listed Aura Energy Limited for its gold, base and battery metal tenements in Mauritania.

The Aura's Tasiast South tenements over 435 km2 are in a highly prospective area lying on two lightly explored mineralised greenstone belts in Mauritania. The areas lie along strike from Kinross' giant +20 Moz1 Tasiast Gold Mine, where Kinross has recently announced that it will expand gold production to 530,000 ounces per year.

Aura maintains that these tenements, also with strong base and battery metal results, represent some of the best under-explored greenstone belt targets in the world.

The transaction, which remains subject to due diligence, will see Aura progressively vend its Mauritanian gold and base metal licences into a joint venture vehicle (PubCo) with Chilean contributing four scheduled payments totalling C$4.5 million before October 2021. The third and fourth Chilean payments will be at their election.

At that time Aura will own 50% of the vehicle and Chilean will own 50%. Aura will also receive 1,000,000 shares in Chilean Metals as part of the transaction, subject to Chilean's receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval. Chilean may source the required funding from its own corporate sources or individual investors with the payment schedule by Chilean into the new vehicle as follows:

C$1.5 million - Before 31 st August 2020 (on definitive agreement execution)

C$1.0 million - 30 January 2021 (or sooner)

C$1.0 million - 1 June 2021 (at Chilean's election)

C$1.0 million - 1 October 2021 (at Chilean's election)

Aura Energy Executive Chairman Mr Peter Reeve said, "Aura has maintained an exceptionally strong belief in these extremely under-explored greenstone belts given the high-quality preliminary gold and base metal exploration results achieved. This substantial funding package from a group of seasoned resource investors/developers will help reveal their true potential. With the Tasiast Gold Mine (+400,000 ozs pa) on the same belt just north of our project, the potential for discoveries is, in the eyes of our technical people, very conceivable.

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"The excellent base metal indications also revealed on these properties, particularly nickel and high-grade cobalt, also highlights the broader potential of these properties on a similar basis as the Kalgoorlie region in Western Australia where significant gold and base metal discoveries have been made in similar Archean Greenstone settings.

"Aura is very pleased that Chilean Metals has recognised the attributes of this geological belt and welcomes Chilean into this project. Chilean's understanding of what it takes to enable mineral discovery and their connection to important gold investment sources will be important ingredients in this transaction. The current global economic environment is driving the gold price and provides the perfect environment for a separate vehicle to hold these strongly undervalued assets."

The key terms of the deal are as follows:

Chilean pay C$4.5 million before October 2021 into a JV vehicle

Aura contribute 100% of its gold and base metal tenements

Aura receive 1,000,000 shares in Chilean Metals

Aura and Chilean will hold 50% each in the JV vehicle

Aura will hold 3 board seats in the vehicle and Chilean 2 board seats

It is intended the new vehicle will be listed on the TSXV exchange

Aura will provide the management and technical team for the vehicle

Aura will receive a mutually agreed management fee for operating the vehicle

The deal remains subject to due diligence and will remain non-binding until the definitive agreement is executed.

Aura and Chilean will now move to finalise a definitive agreement for the transaction no later than 31st August 2020.

Aura's Principal Geologist, Neil Clifford, who conceived the project initially, has been involved in exploration on Archean Greenstone belts for a significant part of his career and has led teams that resulted in over several million ounces of gold discovery on such belts. The discoveries include Sunrise Dam, Mt Todd, Union Reefs, Tanami and Coyote.

Neil commented, "Prior exploration here has been limited to a first pass program directly along strike from the giant Tasiast gold deposit aimed at locating similar major deposits. This identified a number of mineralised zones, most notably the Ghassariat Zone, where thick intersections of gold mineralisation in sulphidic mafics located in reconnaissance RC drilling on sections kilometres apart, could in fact be part of a Tasiast style mineralised system."

"Interestingly the Tasiast gold deposits are in late Archean greenstones with strong similarities in terms of rock types, structure and mineralisation style with the great gold provinces in the Archean greenstone belts of Australia and Canada in which there have been many hundreds of gold mines developed. In the Tasiast district there is currently only one discovery, reflecting how little explored this belt is. Clearly the potential for additional and substantial discoveries in the Tasiast district is very high," Mr Clifford said.

"It's an exceptional greenfield exploration opportunity with sufficient initial drilling and exploration work to suggest the Archean Greenstone Belts are charged. Its notable that little of the previous drilling had gone beneath 100 Metres yet it was just beneath this level that the ore discovery by Red Back Mining and developed by Kinross turned Tasiaist into such a world class gold mine. Can lightning strike twice? With these types of belts around the world it is quite common to find multiple million-ounce deposits. Certainly, we view this as the best entry price per unit of gold discovery potential that we have seen. Even better it comes with a management team with a significant track record of success and deep knowledge in the region." Commented Chilean Metals CEO Terry Lynch.

Chilean Metals had announced its intention to complete a financing of up to $3,000,000 via an offering of a Unit at $0.10 per unit. Each unit would consist of one share and a half warrant. One warrant gives the holder the right to acquire for the next two years an additional share for $0.15. Completion of the financing is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

About Chilean Metals,

www.chileanmetals.com/

Chilean Metals Inc. is a Canadian Junior Exploration Company focusing on high potential Copper Gold prospects in Chile & Canada.

Chilean Metals Inc is 100% owner of five properties comprising over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific IOCG ("Iron oxide-copper-gold") belt of northern Chile. It also owns a 3% NSR royalty interest on any future production from the Copaquire Cu-Mo deposit, recently sold to a subsidiary of Teck Resources Inc. ("Teck"). Under the terms of the sale agreement, Teck has the right to acquire one third of the 3% NSR for $3 million dollars at any time. The Copaquire property borders Teck's producing Quebrada Blanca copper mine in Chile's First Region.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

Chilean Metals Inc.

"Terry Lynch"

Terry Lynch, CEO

Contact: terry@chileanmetals.com

(647) 448-8044

Forward-looking Statements: This news release may contain certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that CMX 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. Forward-looking statements in this document include statements regarding current and future exploration programs, activities and results. Although CMX believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration success, continued availability of capital and financing, inability to obtain required regulatory or governmental approvals 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.

1 +20 M.ozs refers Tasiast's gold "endowment", i.e. current reserves + resources (9.8 M.0z - refer Kinross 2019 Annual Report) plus gold previously mined. In confirmation Kinross's published Tasiast resource at December 2011 was 20.5 million ounces at 1.2 g/t gold based on cut-off grades of 0.6 g/t gold for CIL ore, 0.25 g/t Au for heap leach ore and 0.1 g/t Au for dump leach ore. There are no assurances that Aura's Tasiast South tenements will achieve similar results as Kinross and such details are provided for background information only.





To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59250
Newly manufactured cars are seen at a port in Dalian

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's passenger car retail sales dropped 8% in June from a year earlier, the China Passenger Car Association said on Monday.

The association said on a social media post that the recent coronavirus situation in Beijing had contributed to the sales drop.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Support for digital, "untact" smart work system for companies via collaboration with NBP

SEOUL, South Korea, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloudike, a member company of the Born2Global Centre, has deployed a business cloud service in Southeast Asia through a collaboration with Naver Business Platform (NBP). Cloudike has been an active member company of the Born2Global Centre since 2016.

The release was done via Naver Cloud Platform (NCP), NBP's public cloud service. The server for Cloudike, which was established for NBP's new regional business activities, is located in Singapore, ensuring high-speed, stable access for Southeast Asian companies. Cloudike is available in several languages, including Malaysian, Indonesian, and English.

Cloudike is a SaaS cloud-based storage service, allowing companies to share and synchronize files easily. Clients can specify the exact storage capacity they need, and the service has comprehensive URL and internal file sharing options, allowing for secure, easy sharing. The shared files can be viewed immediately on a mobile or PC browser without needing to be downloaded, and without an account.

Large companies such as Nexon, CJ, HK innoN, and TERAFUNDING are already using an in-house (on-site) corporate version of Cloudike. In addition, 350 SMEs ranging from broadcasting and multimedia production to construction and education are using a subscription-based, SaaS version of Cloudike. These companies cite cost-efficiency, reliability, speed, security, and ease-of-use as Cloudike's main strengths.

Sun Ung Lee, CEO of Cloudike said, "We are delighted to expand our business cloud subscription service, which has already been tried and tested in Korea, into Southeast Asia. Given that the most important step for digital workspace transition is integrating the basics of collaboration--file sharing and management--to a cloud system, I am confident that Cloudike will accelerate the adoption of "untact" and smart work practices by Southeast Asian companies."

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Kieun Park, CTO of NBT said, "We are helping Korea's most competitive startups in their efforts to branch out overseas. Cloudike is a cloud service provider whose technologies have already been verified domestically and overseas. We will support Naver's cloud platform in Singapore such that Cloudike can achieve success in Southeast Asia."

For more detailed information on Cloudike, visit www.cloudike.net.

Media contact

Cloudike: sunung@asdtech.co

Born2Global Centre: jlee@born2global.com

Video - https://cdn5.prnasia.com/202007/Cloudike/video1.mp4

SOURCE Born2Global Centre
Determines Proposal Significantly Undervalues CoreLogic, Raises Serious Regulatory Concerns, and is Not in Best Interests of Shareholders

Materially Raises Full Year 2020 Financial Guidance and Provides Guidance for 2021 and 2022

Increases Share Repurchase Authorization to $1 Billion

Adopts Short-Term Shareholder Rights Plan

CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX) today announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously rejected the unsolicited proposal from Senator Investment Group LP and Cannae Holdings Inc., received on June 26, 2020, to acquire all outstanding common shares of CoreLogic for $65.00 per share in cash. After a careful and thorough review, conducted in consultation with its independent financial and legal advisors, CoreLogics Board of Directors unanimously concluded that the unsolicited proposal significantly undervalues the Company, raises serious regulatory concerns, and is not in the best interests of its shareholders.

An investor presentation can be found at http://investor.corelogic.com/.

Paul Folino, Chairman of the Board, said, "Our Board is open to all viable paths to increasing shareholder value, and we are willing to meet with Senator and Cannae, but given CoreLogics strong momentum, increasing margins, accelerating growth, and multi-faceted value-creation model, we are unanimous in our belief that CoreLogic will be able to deliver significantly more value to shareholders than this opportunistic proposal. The proposal also fails to address the serious regulatory concerns raised by significant overlaps between CoreLogic and the network of companies associated with Cannaes Chairman, including Black Knight and Fidelity National."

"We are seeing the benefits of our strategic realignment, with significant new business wins and continued growth in market share, revenues, free cash flow and EPS in 2020 driven by growth in the core mortgage and insurance and spatial businesses. CoreLogic today is far more than a play on U.S. mortgage volumes, and our materially increased full-year 2020 financial guidance and new 2021 and 2022 guidance underscore the Boards confidence that our strategy is working. In addition, we have increased CoreLogics share repurchase authorization to $1 billion, demonstrating our confidence in the Companys prospects as well as our ongoing commitment to returning capital to shareholders."

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Strong Financial Performance Expected in 2020, 2021 and 2022

CoreLogic expects full-year 2020 financial results to materially exceed previously issued revenue, EBITDA and EPS guidance ranges, driven principally by continued market share gains and operating leverage.

Updated FY 2020 Financial Guidance:

$ in millions except adjusted EPS Previous Guidance Updated Guidance Revenue $1,690 - $1,730 $1,840 - $1,880 Adjusted EBITDA(1) $500 - $525 $565 - $585 Adjusted EPS(2) $2.80 - $3.00 $3.40 - $3.60

(1) Net income from continuing operations adjusted for interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation, non-operating gains/losses, and other adjustments

(2) Diluted income from continuing operations, net of tax per share, adjusted for share-based compensation, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, non-operating gains/losses, and other adjustments; assumes an effective tax rate of 26% for 2020

The updated 2020 guidance builds off multiple quarters of strong results, with CoreLogic beating analyst consensus estimates of revenue, adjusted EPS and adjusted EBITDA for full year 2019 and Q1 2020. The Company recently announced increased revenue and EBITDA guidance for Q2 2020.

CoreLogic today also provided 2021 and 2022 financial guidance, reflecting market share gains and major new business wins as well as latest estimates of housing market activity. The Company is confident in its ability to deliver significant value to shareholders by continuing to execute its strategic initiatives and enhance its competitive positioning.

2021 and 2022 Financial Guidance:

$ in millions 2021 2022 Revenue $1,910 - 1,950 $2,000-2,040 Adjusted EBITDA $595-615 $630-650

Increasing Return of Capital to Shareholders

Reflecting its confidence in CoreLogics business outlook, the Board has increased CoreLogics share repurchase authorization to $1 billion. The increased share repurchase authorization is in addition to CoreLogics recently initiated quarterly dividend and reflects the Boards stronger outlook for the business and continued intention to return a significant portion of free cash flow to shareholders.

Short-Term Shareholder Rights Plan

CoreLogics Board of Directors has also adopted a short-term shareholder rights plan to ensure that all shareholders are able to realize the long-term value of their investment in CoreLogic.

Under the rights plan, CoreLogic will distribute to its stockholders a dividend of one right for each share of its common stock held as of the close of business on July 17, 2020. Each right is attached to and trades with the associated share of common stock. The rights will generally be exercisable only if a person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 10% or more of the Companys common stock (or 20% in the case of certain passive investors). This includes such persons or group's ownership of derivative instruments, and any such person or group who exceeds the applicable threshold as of adoption of the plan is grandfathered from triggering the plan until such time as they become the beneficial owner of any additional shares of Company common stock or derivative instruments, as further detailed in the rights plan.

If the rights become exercisable, each right (other than rights held by the acquirer and related parties triggering the plan) will entitle the holder to purchase a number of shares of CoreLogics common stock with a market value that equals twice the exercise price of the right. Further details about the rights plan are contained in a Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Evercore is serving as financial advisor to CoreLogic and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is serving as CoreLogics legal advisor.

Shareholder Letter

CoreLogic today sent the following letter to its shareholders regarding the Senator/Cannae proposal:

July 7, 2020

Dear Fellow Shareholder,

As you may know, CoreLogic recently received an unsolicited acquisition proposal for $65.00 per share in cash from two of its shareholders, Senator Investment Group LP and Cannae Holdings Inc. After a careful and thorough review, conducted in consultation with our independent financial and legal advisors, the Board unanimously rejected the proposal based on its belief that the proposal significantly undervalues CoreLogic, is opportunistically timed, fails to address serious regulatory concerns, and is not in the best interests of shareholders other than Senator and Cannae.

We want to explain to you why we made this decision and why you can be confident that your Board is laser-focused on delivering maximum value to shareholders.

Senator and Cannaes Proposal is Opportunistically Timed to Benefit Them

Senator and Cannae are experienced investors who have an understanding of our business and our industry. They know CoreLogic has transformed its business model, is generating significant momentum, and has a wealth of opportunities across its business. Their proposal is opportunistically timed to acquire CoreLogic at a low valuation and then take all the upside that is rightfully yours.

Even their announcement timing was opportunistic, and their public letter appears designed to mislead shareholders. On the evening of June 25, the day before Senator and Cannae announced their proposal, CoreLogic raised Q2 guidance, which resulted in the stock price increasing by ~9% to $57.80 in after-hours trading. Senator and Cannae scrambled to get their announcement out before the market opened on June 26 and before the impact of CoreLogics announcement was reflected in the stock price, so they could claim it provided a large premium. In fact, their proposal represents only a 12.5% premium to where CoreLogic had traded on fundamentals the night before.

Senator and Cannae suggested that CoreLogic increased guidance to thwart them, but they know full well that CoreLogic had no knowledge of their proposal until we saw their press release on June 26. Indeed, it appears that Senator and Cannae themselves didnt intend to submit their proposal that morning, and it was only after they saw the positive impact our guidance had on our after-market share price that they did so. Evidence of this haste is that they had not even completed their acquisition of the 15% economic ownership they claimed in their press release. Based on their own SEC filings, they acquired over 3% on June 26 after their pre-market announcement. Tellingly, they bought some shares at prices above $68.00 per share, revealing they know the shares are worth more than $65.00 per share.

CoreLogics Board Has Transformed the Business and Has a Strong Track Record

Since the spin-off in 2010, CoreLogics highly qualified Board has overseen successful execution on key initiatives and repositioned the Company into a stronger business with an improved growth and margin profile. CoreLogic is now a less cyclical, more diversified business, with a favorable business mix, differentiated technology, and growth and margin enhancement from productivity initiatives. Over that period, the Board has overseen:

Growth in share and market leadership in key operating units Building out high-margin growth drivers: insurance, spatial/hazard, valuation, marketing and realtor solutions

Scaling of core mortgage operations Bundled solution packages leveraging our efficient and integrated technology and back-office infrastructure

Successful cost productivity initiatives Margins exceeding 30% in last 12 months with further margin expansion expected Migration to Google Cloud Platform Investment in automation and AI Organizational efficiencies/managing headcount

Revenue mix shift toward platform and higher profit solutions driving predictability and margins Expanded platform offerings related to mortgage underwriting, home purchase-related marketing services, and insurance and spatial solutions



Executing on these initiatives has led to strong financial results  CoreLogic has met or exceeded consensus estimates for revenue and adjusted EBITDA in each of the past five quarters.

We Have Strong Momentum and it is Accelerating

CoreLogic remains committed to leveraging content, technology and connectivity to power growth, and our momentum continues to accelerate as we execute our plan. In Q1 2020, CoreLogic delivered growth in market share, revenues, free cash flow and earnings per share driven by growth in the core mortgage business as well as the insurance and spatial businesses.

The actions taken to position our business for substantial value creation are already being realized, as evidenced by our increase in Q2 and FY 2020 guidance as well as newly provided guidance for 2021 and 2022. Specifically, this includes:

Increasing fiscal 2020 revenue guidance to $1,840 to $1,880 million, adjusted EBITDA guidance to $565 to $585 million, and adjusted EPS guidance to $3.40 to $3.60 -- midpoint increases of 9%, 12% and 21%, respectively

Providing 2021 revenue guidance of $1,910 to 1,950 million and adjusted EBITDA guidance of $595 to 615 million

Providing 2022 revenue guidance of $2,000 to 2,040 million and adjusted EBITDA guidance of $630 to 650 million

Increasing share repurchase authorization to $1 billion

We are Market Leaders and Strategic Partners to Clients and Continue to Diversify our Business Mix

Fundamental to the strength of our market position are the efforts taken to diversify our verticals and geographic footprint. Over the last few years, we have grown share and leadership positions in key operating units and built out high-margin growth drivers across insurance, spatial/hazard, valuation, marketing and realtor solutions. We continue to scale our mortgage operations as we further diversify into adjacent business opportunities.

CoreLogic is also evolving to a more predictable revenue mix expected to further drive margins, as well as transforming mission-critical data and workflow solutions through technology and data innovations by migrating toward the Google Cloud Platform. We anticipate realizing associated cost efficiencies and enhanced security measures from the transition.

Based on our forecasted 2021 EBITDA, the Senator/Cannae proposal is in line with our standalone value based on EV/EBITDA multiples we have traded at recently. It provides no takeover premium, ascribes no value to our recently announced business wins and strong pipeline, and ignores the impact of increased return of capital. Furthermore, it fails to reflect potential multiple expansion underpinned by our transformed business and strong guidance. The reality is that CoreLogic today has growth and margin profiles consistent with other publicly traded information service providers.

Proposal Raises Serious Regulatory Concerns

The proposal also fails to address serious regulatory concerns raised by the significant overlaps between CoreLogic and the network of companies associated with Cannaes Chairman, including Black Knight and Fidelity National. Senator and Cannae fail to acknowledge the inherent regulatory risks in their proposal or address how a transaction could receive regulatory approval and how long that could take.

Commitment to Value

CoreLogics Board is committed to delivering value to CoreLogic shareholders who are already reaping the benefits of our progress.

We are open to all viable opportunities to increase value, and we are willing to meet with Senator and Cannae to learn more about their proposal and position on a number of important matters, including ability to deliver appropriate value and plans to address regulatory and other concerns.

We will continue to work tirelessly on your behalf to generate superior shareholder value.

Best Regards,

The CoreLogic Board of Directors

About CoreLogic

CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), the leading provider of property insights and solutions, promotes a healthy housing market and thriving communities. Through its enhanced property data solutions, services and technologies, CoreLogic enables real estate professionals, financial institutions, insurance carriers, government agencies and other housing market participants to help millions of people find, buy, and protect their homes. For more information, please visit www.corelogic.com.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including but not limited to those statements related to CoreLogic, Inc.s ("CoreLogic", the "Company" or "us") expected financial results in 2020, 2021 and 2022; overall mortgage market volumes; market opportunities; shareholder value creation; statements regarding our strategic plans or growth strategy; and the near and long-term consequences of the unsolicited proposal we received from Cannae Holdings, Inc. ("Cannae") and Senator Investment Group, LP ("Senator") on June 26, 2020 (the "Unsolicited Proposal"). Risks and uncertainties exist that may cause the results to differ materially from those set forth in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the anticipated results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements include the risks and uncertainties set forth in Part I, Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as such risk factors may be amended, supplemented, or superseded from time to time by other reports we file with the SEC. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: any potential developments related to the Unsolicited Proposal; any impact resulting from COVID-19; our ability to protect our information systems against data corruption, cyber-based attacks or network security breaches; limitations on access to or increase in prices for data from external sources, including government and public record sources; systems interruptions that may impair the delivery of our products and services; changes in applicable government legislation, regulations and the level of regulatory scrutiny affecting our customers or us, including with respect to consumer financial services and the use of public records and consumer data; difficult conditions in the mortgage and consumer lending industries and the economy generally; risks related to the outsourcing of services and international operations; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of certain acquisitions and/or divestitures and the timing thereof; impairments in our goodwill or other intangible assets; and our ability to generate sufficient cash to service our debt. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.

Use of Non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) Financial Measures

This press release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS, which are provided only as supplemental information. These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or a substitute for, U.S. GAAP. The Company believes that its presentation of these non-GAAP measures provides useful supplemental information to investors and management regarding the Companys financial condition and results of operations. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income from continuing operations adjusted for interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation, non-operating gains/losses, and other adjustments. Adjusted EPS is defined as diluted income from continuing operations, net of tax per share, adjusted for share-based compensation, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, non-operating gains/losses, and other adjustments; and assumes an effective tax rate of 26% for 2020. Other firms may calculate non-GAAP measures differently than the Company, which limits comparability between companies. Because the non-GAAP measures included herein are forward-looking, the Company is not able to provide a reconciliation, without unreasonable efforts, of its forward-looking guidance of adjusted EBITDA or adjusted EPS to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure due to the unknown effect, timing, and potential significance of special charges or gains that are material to the comparable GAAP financial measure.

Important Additional Information and Where to Find It

In the event that Senator and Cannae file a consent solicitation statement or a proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") in connection with a solicitation to, among other things, possibly remove directors in furtherance of the Unsolicited Proposal (the "Solicitation"), the Company plans to file a proxy statement or a consent revocation statement, as applicable (each, a "Solicitation Statement"), with the SEC, together with a WHITE proxy card or consent revocation card, as applicable. SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE APPLICABLE SOLICITATION STATEMENT (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT THE COMPANY WILL FILE WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

Shareholders will be able to obtain, free of charge, copies of the Solicitation Statement, any amendments or supplements thereto and any other documents (including the WHITE proxy card or consent revocation card, as applicable) when filed by the Company with the SEC in connection with the Solicitation at the SECs website (http://www.sec.gov), at the Companys website (https://investor.corelogic.com), or by contacting Innisfree M&A Incorporated by phone toll-free at (877) 750-9498 (from the U.S. and Canada) or +1 (412) 232-3651 (from other locations), or by mail at Innisfree M&A Incorporated, 501 Madison Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, New York, 10022.

Participants in the Solicitation

The Company, its directors and certain of its executive officers and other employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders in connection with the Solicitation. Additional information regarding the identity of these potential participants, none of whom owns in excess of one percent (1%) of the Companys shares, and their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be set forth in the applicable Solicitation Statement and other materials to be filed with the SEC in connection with the Solicitation. Information relating to the foregoing can also be found in the Companys definitive proxy statement for its 2020 annual meeting of shareholders (the "2020 Proxy Statement"), filed with the SEC on March 19, 2020. To the extent holdings of the Companys securities by such potential participants (or the identity of such participants) have changed since the information printed in the 2020 Proxy Statement, such information has been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in Ownership on Forms 3 and 4 filed with the SEC. You may obtain free copies of these documents using the sources indicated above.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005439/en/

Contacts

Investors:

Dan Smith

703-610-5410

danlsmith@corelogic.com

Media:

Sard Verbinnen & Co.

George Sard/Jim Barron/Robin Weinberg

CoreLogic-SVC@SARDVERB.com
The Trump administration on Tuesday began the process of formally withdrawing from the World Health Organization, making good on its vow to revoke support for the embattled agency for botching its response to the coronavirus crisis thats infected nearly 12 million globally.

Multiple outlets reported that the White House gave notice to the WHO, the first step in what is expected to be a yearlong process of cutting aid to the United Nations-sponsored organization, as the world grapples with a pandemic thats claims more victims on a daily basis.

New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez appeared to confirm the move on Twitter, where he joined public health officials in blasting the administrations actions.

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Not only is this the WORST time do so, in the middle of a global public health emergency, let's not forget that the U.S. is driving the COVID-19 pandemic with [the number] of infections & deaths, wrote Leana Wen, a physician and health policy expert at George Washington University, on Twitter. Collaboration and learning is key, she added.

The move represented a sharp escalation in an increasingly acrimonious fight between the worlds largest economy and a high-profile international organization that even some proponents acknowledge has mishandled its response to the outbreak. President Donald Trump has been a fierce critic of the agency, accusing its leadership of being too deferential to China as the COVID-19 crisis leapfrogged around the world after being discovered in Wuhan.

However, even those supportive of the agency have faulted the WHO for its handling of the outbreak. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease specialist, told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview that the agency was imperfect but still essential in the fight against global health crises.

The WHO has come under sustained criticism from within the scientific community for being slow to recognize the spread of COVID-19 by people who dont manifest physical symptoms, as well as resisting evidence of the growing importance of airborne infections.

Story continues

Bolsonaro tests positive

Separately, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally who has shared his resistance to public health efforts to contain the novel coronavirus, revealed on Tuesday that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Brazils surging coronavirus infections has made the country a global epicenter of the pandemic, and the president is only the latest political official to contract the disease. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had a severe case in April that required hospitalization; meanwhile in the U.S., Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms also revealed on Monday she had tested positive.

Bolsonaro  who like Trump has repeatedly minimized the public masking and other measures associated with reducing the spread  announced to reporters that he got tested Monday evening, after experiencing symptoms associated with the virus.

As the virus ravages Latin Americas largest economy, several Bolsonaro aides have also tested positive for the disease. His skepticism about its severity has put him in the same company as Trump  who is also under mounting pressure as U.S. deaths and diagnoses skyrocket.

Brazil and the U.S. are two of the worlds largest COVID-19 hot zones, with nearly 5 million diagnoses combined, according to Johns Hopkins data. Americas inability to flatten its curve has put growing hopes on finding effective treatments.

On Tuesday, those efforts got a boost as the U.S. government awarded Novavax (NVAX) $1.6 billion to test and manufacture a potential vaccine as part of Operation Warp Speed  a publicly-funded initiative to develop a treatment on an accelerated timetable.

Novavax is considered one of the frontrunners in the global race to find a COVID-19 cure, and is pushing to have 100 million doses available by early 2021  or as early as this year.

We're halfway through the trial. we expect to have human data, results, safety and response by the end of this month, Stanley Erck, Novavax CEO & president, told Yahoo Finance in an interview. If all goes well in phase 3 of the vaccine trial, production could start by years end, he added.

The urgency to produce a vaccine comes as investors are increasingly betting on a rebound, while U.S. officials are struggling to balance the restoration of public life against a case spikes that are threatening more lockdowns.

The battle to contain COVID-19 has shifted from coastal epicenters to Sun Belt States like California, Texas, Florida and Arizona  which on Tuesday reported a record number of deaths on Tuesday  are seeing record cases and surging hospitalization rates.

The end of restrictive stay-at-home orders has been complicated by data suggesting the virus spreads far more aggressively indoors than outdoors. If true, the dynamic has major implications to reopen dining establishments, gyms, theaters, and schools, among other venues.

In the face of mounting pressure, the WHO on Tuesday acknowledged "emerging evidence" that the novel virus spreads via air  particularly in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation. WHO expert Benedetta Allegranzi told a group of reporters at a briefing that the agency was open to the evidence on modes of transmission" of COVID-19.

Cases outside New York are spiking. (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

FDA vows no cut corners in vaccine race

As the global vaccine race continues, a condensed timeline has spurred concerns about the safety of any successful candidate. Polls show Americans are concerned about the sped up timeline.

But FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn has repeatedly assured the American public that the regulatory body will not cut corners when it comes to the vaccine approval process.

We have not lost sight of our responsibility to the American people to maintain our regulatory independence and ensure our decisions related to all medical products, including COVID-19 vaccines, are based on science and the available data, Hahn said in a recent statement.

He reiterated the commitment at a Senate committee hearing last week, just as the FDA released its guidelines for what it would consider an acceptable vaccine. That included a 50% effectiveness rate, which is slightly better than the flu ( 40%-60%) but worse than the measles (97%), based on CDC data.

While the guidelines back Hahns commitment, other officials have been far more optimistic and provided more aggressive timelines.

President Donald Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have both been optimistic about a vaccine by the end of the year.

Fauci has repeatedly suggested a timeline for an efficacy signal anywhere from September to early winter. Yet Hahn has refused to commit to a timeline

I cant predict when a vaccine will be available, he told ABCs This Week in an interview. We want to be very clear, our solemn promise to the American people is we will make a decision based upon the data and science.

Former FDA official Henry Miller told Yahoo Finance that Hahn public remarks suggested a way to ward off White House pressure ahead of the November election.

This is Hahns bulwark against being pressured into approving a vaccine too early, Miller said.

The FDA guidelines being released was itself a kind of insurance policy for Hahn, immunizing him from being pressured by the White House, likely because Hahn doesnt want to be part of a pre-election October Surprise, Miller said.

Of course, there is also the small chance that none of the early vaccines are effective, or that newer generations of vaccines will be needed, even as research points to the virus already mutating.
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
(Bloomberg) -- The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating wealth and racial inequalities around the world. Nowhere is that more apparent than in San Francisco.

While many low-income employees in the service sector have been laid off or risk getting sick if they do go to work, the citys high-paid tech workers have been mostly shielded. The engineers and product managers who helped push up the cost of living in the area over the last 15 years arent nearly as affected by the pandemic, with companies like Alphabet Inc. and Facebook Inc. giving them cash bonuses to upgrade their home offices and organizing virtual yoga sessions to help them stay fit.

Most tech employees arent worried about getting fired and the mostly-digital nature of software work means they can safely do their jobs from home. Many have even left the Bay Area completely.

To help staff cope while working remotely, companies are rolling out perks. Salesforce.com Inc. recently sponsored a virtual talent show and is running a week-long adventurers club to entertain workers kids while theyre stuck at home, in addition to providing benefits such as six additional weeks of parental leave. Microsoft Corp. is also offering parents extra leave time amid school and camp closings.

At the same time, service industry workers like Joe Grandov, who has a part-time security job at San Francisco International Airport, are struggling.

Grandov, 65, says his hours have been cut by up to 20 a week since the pandemic began because he hasnt been able to pick up overtime shifts. He also used to earn extra money driving for Lyft Inc. but said he had to stop because he was making as little as $35 a week, hardly enough to justify the health risks the gig posed. Business travel has come to a halt, which is hurting jobs like his that depend on a lively tech sector.

Its not been easy, said Grandov, who is a member of the airports local union. Weve been selling things we dont need because we need the money more.

Story continues

This divide between the tech and service industry is compounding the income disparities that have plagued the Bay Area for years. Since January, earnings among low-income workers in San Francisco County have fallen 52.1%, among the highest in the state, according to data from Opportunity Insights, a Harvard University research lab.

The service sector already had stagnating wages, then you introduce a pandemic, and it becomes not just an income gap but a stark divide between those who will survive versus those who cant, said Russell Hancock, chief executive officer of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit that analyzes the regions economy.

The changes cut across racial lines too, deepening inequalities between White and non-White workers in the area. More than 30% of the Bay Area is Black or Latino, according to the Bay Area Equity Atlas. Fewer than 10% of Facebook and Google staff are Black or Latino, according to the companies latest diversity reports.

The inequalities extend to the virus impact: In San Francisco, Hispanic and Latino people make up 50% of cases and about 15% of the population. In Santa Clara County, Latinos are 47% of cases and 26% of the population.

Some of the companies boosting perks for their own employees are also acting to address economic and racial inequities. Salesforce is adding diversity recruiters and spending $200 million on organizations that are working to advance racial equality, and pledged to advocate at federal, state, and local levels for policies to address the equity gap, exacerbated by Covid-19.

The effects of low-income job losses are already weighing on workers, according to Richard Garbarino, mayor of South San Francisco. While the city of about 68,000 hasnt had major food insecurity issues in the past, it recently partnered with a food bank to distribute 750 meal boxes a week. The pandemic has hit low income families the hardest because they often rely on multiple part-time jobs, Garbarino said.

Over 55% of leisure and hospitality jobs were cut between May 2019 and May 2020 in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties, the most of any industry in the area, according to data from Californias Employment Development Department. Over the same period, professional and business services, which includes computer engineering and management, saw a 2% drop.

San Franciscos economy may face even more challenges the longer tech employees stay home. Google and Facebook have told their staff to prepare to work remotely until 2021. Twitter Inc. says anyone who wants to can work from home forever.

Restaurant and service workers are currently paid really well because theyre supported by big companies. When they take their work away, or those jobs away, that ripples through the rest of the economy, said Jay Cheng, public policy director at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. If that happens, San Francisco is no longer going to be able to be the golden child of the United States economy.

(Adds details on Salesforce policies in fourth and 12th paragraphs.)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
It appears popular news anchor Ken Mijungu saw his sack coming and had put contingency plans in place in the event he lost his lucrative job at NTV.

Just days after he was fired by the Nation Media Group-run TV station, the media personality has unveiled his next venture after working at NTV for 7 years.

Without providing much detail, Mijungu on Monday morning shared on social media a logo of his eponymous consultancy business. The logo indicates that its a legal consultancy offering services in Immigration, Finance, Property, Imports and Exports.

Ken Mijungu, who is a lawyer by profession, captioned the logo: Believers will always be believers Mathew 6: 26-34.

The Bible verse reads: Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
FILE PHOTO: A worker refurbishes a Huawei cell phone at a workshop of the Oxflo company, specialised in refurbishment of broken European smartphones in Lusignac

BERLIN (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom on Tuesday denied a report that it had intensified its business relationship with China's Huawei despite security authorities' warnings.

Handelsblatt newspaper earlier on Tuesday cited confidential documents as showing the German firm had increased its dependency on Huawei as a supplier for its 5G network and broadband expansion, cloud service and television offering.

It said Telekom had also asked Huawei to give it a technological edge in Germany over its competitors to make it the country's top 5G network provider.

It added that the two firms had agreed to increasingly rely on "U.S.-free" network components for Telekom's 5G network.

A spokesman for Deutsche Telekom said the Handelsblatt report was "contrary to the reality" and added that the Bonn-based firm had scaled down its business with Huawei in the past three years.

"Deutsche Telekom has said on several occasions that it is entirely doing away with Chinese providers in security-critical areas such as core mobile network," the spokesman said.

Handelsblatt had cited a Huawei spokesman as saying that the Chinese firm had never sought to hide its close relationship with Telekom.

Deutsche Telekom is against any blanket bans on foreign vendors of telecoms network equipment as it believes these would reduce its flexibility.

Berlin has been resisting U.S. calls to exclude the Chinese company from its telecoms networks on national security grounds.

Last month, the German government said it would not agree rules on installing components in the future 5G mobile communications network until at least September.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Nadine Schimroszik; Editing by Edward Taylor and Michelle Martin)
U.S. power suppliers  Duke Energy DUK and Dominion Energy D  declared over the weekend their plan to terminate the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project. This came as yet another setback for the U.S. energy industry, which has already been reeling under coronavirus-induced poor power demand.

The natural gas pipeline project, initially announced in 2014, has been going through a series of delays amid intense criticism and legal challenges from environmental groups.

What Led to the Cancellation?

The cancellation of the ACP project, which represented one of the three biggest U.S. pipelines, came as quite a surprise after a favorable ruling by the United States Supreme Court in June that had granted the federal government authority to allow the natural gas pipeline to cross under the popular Appalachian Trail in rural Virginia.

However, this was a solution for only one of the several hurdles facing the project. Specifically, a series of legal challenges related to the projects federal and state permits in the past caused significant project cost increases and timing delays. Cumulatively, these pushed up the project cost to $8 billion from the original estimate of $4.5 to $5.0 billion. In addition, the most recent public estimate of commercial in-service in early 2022 represents a nearly three-and-a-half year delay with uncertainty still looming large.

Resultantly, Duke Energy and Dominion Energy decided to cancel the ACP project, citing the increased cost burden and consecutive delays threatening the economic viability of the project.

Roadblocks for Other Pipelines

Steadily declining oil and gas prices along with major upheaval on the demand side, courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the global oil and gas industry hard, and the pipelines segment is no exception. Amid the virus-related challenges, pipeline operators are taking measures such as reducing capital expenditures, suspending work or reducing staff at project construction sites. This in turn is forcing midstream operators to delay and in some cases, stall their pipeline projects.

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Notably, Phillips 66s PSX Liberty Oil and Red Oak pipelines construction in the United States have been postponed, in response to the companys decision of reducing expenses across its business line amid the ongoing market conditions. It has also deferred its ACE Pipeline in Louisiana, which it is constructing jointly withHarvest Midstream.

Pembina Pipeline Corp. PBA has delayed expansion of its Peace Pipeline system, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant economic slowdown as the primary inhibitor. Enterprise Products Partners EPD deferred its 450,000 bpd Midland-to-Echo 4 crude pipeline, as part of a $1.1billion capital expenditure reduction plan in 2020.

Is There Any Road to Recovery?

Adding to the aforementioned hurdles that the U.S. midstream operators are already facing came a disappointing ruling by a U.S. district judge in Montana in the last week of May. The ruling turned down the Trump administration's request to revive a permit program for new oil and gas pipelines. Notably, the court case originated with environmentalists challenging TC Energy Corp.s TRP Keystone XL crude oil pipeline from the oil sands region of Canada to the United States.

However the ruling is now going to affect oil and gas pipeline proposals across the nation. In the absence of the nationwide permit, companies will have to apply for numerous individual construction permits on lines that sometimes cross hundreds of water bodies. Per Paul Afonso, chief legal officer of the American Petroleum Institute, this may cause delays of a year or more for more than 70 pending pipelines, increasing their combined costs by $2 billion.

So unless there comes a reversal of this ruling, with the COVID-19 impact expected to hover around the global economy for the time being, the chances of the U.S. midstream operators to take a rebound remain slim.

(We are reissuing this article to correct a mistake. The original article, issued on July 6, 2020, should no longer be relied upon.)



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Enter the Virtual Buffalo 60 Strong Calendar Contest: Celebrate Life After 60!

Enter the Virtual Buffalo 60 Strong Calendar Contest: Celebrate Life After 60!

PR Newswire

BUFFALO, N.Y., July 7, 2020

Nominate an Inspirational Senior Between Ages 60 and 69 by August 31 To Be Featured on the Buffalo 60 Strong Calendar!

BUFFALO, N.Y., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- You, or someone you know, could be featured in the 2021 Buffalo 60 Strong calendar, an exclusive calendar showcasing inspirational "60 somethings" and highlighting Buffalo events and activities. In addition to appearing in the calendar, winners receive "celebrity treatment"  a virtual kick-off party, professional photo shoot and compensation for their modeling time.

Anyone can nominate a friend or family member -- age 60 to 69 -- who has achieved remarkable levels of fitness, pursued a new hobby or helped their community. The candidate you admire might be "giving back" to a charity, fighting a chronic condition or caring for someone who is.

Here's how it works:

Log on to www.Buffalo60Strong.com to submit an application form, 200-400 word essay, head shot and full-length photo by Monday, August 31. Instead of the essay, you can upload a smart phone video describing the candidate .

Or download an application at www.Buffalo60Strong.com and mail the completed form, a 200-400 word essay, head-shot and full-length photo to: Buffalo 60 Strong Contest, c/o Buffalo Medical Group Administration, 325 Essjay Road, Williamsville, NY 14221. The entry must be postmarked by Thursday, August 27, 2020.

Those who nominate winning candidates receive a $50 gift certificate.

Buffalo 60 Strong candidates must be between ages 60 and 69 on September 1, 2020, and a resident of the following counties in Western New York: Alleghany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagra, Orleans & Wyoming.

Celebrity judges will select 12 winners who exemplify how life after 60 can be a vibrant and active time. Contestants are judged on health/fitness/wellness, community involvement, volunteerism and how they are inspirational.

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Winners must be available Thursday, October 1, through Saturday, October 3. Questions? Email us at Buffalo60Strong@SrCareOne.com. All proceeds from the calendar will benefit Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo to provide medical care, social, emotional and spiritual guidance and comfort for families and their loved ones facing end-of-life.

About Senior Care Advantage One

Buffalo Medical Group is proud to announce the Buffalo 60 Strong Contest in conjunction with the launch of Senior Care Advantage One, a program designed to provide seamless and greater coordination of care for their senior patients.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/enter-the-virtual-buffalo-60-strong-calendar-contest-celebrate-life-after-60-301089280.html

SOURCE Senior Care Advantage One
The logos of car manufacturers Fiat and Peugeot are seen in front of dealerships of the companies in Saint-Nazaire

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have extended their investigation into Fiat Chrysler <FCHA.MI> and Peugeot maker PSA's <PEUP.PA> proposed merger to Nov. 13, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

"The Commission extended the deadline in agreement with the parties," a spokeswoman for the EU competition enforcer said.

The Commission launched a four-month long probe last month, concerned that the deal to create the world's fourth-biggest carmaker may hurt competition in small vans in 14 EU countries and Britain.

The move suggests that the companies will have to offer concessions to address the competition concerns. Antitrust authorities in the United States, China, Japan and Russia have already given the green light.

Italian-American Fiat's brands include Fiat, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Maserati while French peer PSA has Peugeot, Opel and DS.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Louise Heavens)
Secures Strategic Piece of Value-Chain for Continued European Expansion

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - EuroLife Brands (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CMA) (OTC Pink: EURPF) ("EuroLife" or the "Company"), a vertically integrated enterprise focused on the pan-European health and wellness sector today announced that, further to the news release of November 22, 2019, it is proceeding with the close of an initial equity ownership position (the "Transaction") in Farmhus GmbH, a state-of-the-art outdoor hemp facility located near Dresden, Germany.

Farmhus GmbH boasts the following list of assets that collectively comprise one of the largest fully operational outdoor hemp cultivation projects in Europe:

More than 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of prime agricultural land available for hemp cultivation near Dresden, Germany;

Scalability via option agreement to approximately 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres);

Approximately 110,000 kilograms of existing hemp biomass currently in storage inventory that has been harvested and processed from the latest harvest cycle;

Existing off-take agreements and purchase orders;

Specialized harvesting machinery capable of efficient commercial harvest at a rate of 50 hectares (123 acres) per day;

Specialized cleaning machinery utilized to extract and separate seeds from stems using a mechanically induced vacuum process with negative pressure;

Specialized drying machinery;

Drying rooms and warehouse space to be utilized for excess capacity, storage, cleaning and drying.

According to the Farmhus GmbH 2020 two-year business plan, the outdoor hemp operation is expected to generate more than 3 million from the sale of hemp oil, cosmetics, and pet food in its first season of operation. The operation is projected to have 200 hectares of hemp under cultivation and generate margins related to the sale of retail products in the range of 30-40%.

After an unforeseen delay due to the COVID pandemic, EuroLife is pleased to have completed its acquisition for the first equity tranche of ownership, representing an additional forward step in EuroLife's European Business Model for end-to-end supply chain ownership. The complex will provide cost efficient raw product supply towards EuroLife's pending acquisition of the HANF Hemp Retail Stores in Germany and Luxembourg. A total of seven (7) retail store fronts will have the opportunity to benefit from EuroLife's umbrella ownership for direct-to-supply ownership of raw materials.

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"Our goal to buildout a vertically integrated enterprise in the health of wellness sector took a monumental and logistically significant step forward today. With the investment into a hemp supply chain operation run by the experienced team at Farmhus, EuroLife gains a stake in a key physical asset in Europe for the growing health and wellness markets," said Shawn Moniz, CEO of EuroLife. "EuroLife now has an equity ownership of a highly tactical asset located in Germany. We will leverage our position to ensure a supply of affordable and consistent quality raw materials for many hemp-based products sold online and through potentially owned or related physical retail locations. We look forward to work alongside the other notable stakeholders of the project in order to establish EuroLife's leadership position in the European health and wellness business while capturing additional value-add downstream opportunities for the Company."

In consideration for an initial five (5) per-cent ownership stake in Farmhus GmbH, EuroLife shall issue 500,000 common shares (the "Shares") at a deemed price of $0.50 per Share for a deemed value of $250,000, and make payment of $35,000 in cash. EuroLife maintains the right to increase its ownership in Farmhus GmbH up to twenty (20) percent. Closing of the Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Strategy and Downstream Value Creation



This operation will serve as a key strategic asset for EuroLife as it continues executing on its roadmap of creating a vertically integrated and diversified enterprise operating within the EU. Through sustained strategic deployment of capital and unification of synergistic assets EuroLife aims to become amongst the largest health and wellness companies in Europe.

On April 20, 2020 EuroLife announced it had entered into Letter of Intent (the "LOI") to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding securities of CWE, a Canadian Corporation, which owns and operates six retail locations in Germany and one in Luxembourg. CWE is seeking to become one of the largest hemp retail and online retailers, building controlled access to Central European customers by opening retail locations in Germany, Austria and Luxembourg.

HANF Hemp promotes an organic, health conscious lifestyle based mainly on hemp products. Physical store locations are known for their clean and safe profile, with friendly knowledgeable staff and an open and drug free atmosphere emphasizing fairness towards producers, suppliers and customers. HANF takes a holistic, comprehensive approach to the universe of Health and Wellness, offering a range of over 300+ products from the world of hemp including oils, edibles and cosmetics.

European Hemp Market

Boasting a population of over 700 Million citizens, with over 500 Million in the EU alone, the European opportunity afforded within the hemp and cannabidiol marketplace is growing at a substantial pace. EuroLife is of the opinion that as the industry matures and normalization takes hold, organizations equipped with low cost production combined with tactical downstream capability will prevail.

Currently there is a robust hemp market in the EU, with production in most member nations. In 2018, European cultivation grew by over 40% from 2015 to more than 40,000 hectares of production. Hemp production is centered in France, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Romania, with France being largest producer, accounting for almost 50% of Europe's total production.

The demand for hemp continues to grow fueled by the increasingly diverse use of this crop including the production of cannabidiol (CBD), which can be extracted for use in an array of food supplements, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The legal cannabis market in Europe remains strictly medical, however the consumption of hemp-derived CBD infused products for recreational purposes is legally permitted across much of the continent.

With health and wellness taking hold of the global market the opportunity is staggering. It is suggested that the CBD products market could account for over 0.15% of the health and wellness market value by 2028. According to the latest research by the Global Wellness Institute, the worldwide wellness market grew 12.9% from $3.72 trillion in 2017 to $4.2 trillion in 2018. The European CBD market alone is projected to be worth at least 1.5 billion by 2023.



About Farmhus GmbH

Farmhus is the owner and operator of a state-of-the-art industrial hemp cultivation operation located near Dresden, Germany. Our vision is to revitalize the hemp markets and promote the versatile use of hemp from a single source. It processes the entire plant to allow for as many areas product applications as possible. Farmhus follows sustainable cultivation and holistic utilization of hemp, through environmentally friendly operation paving the way for future generations.

Farmhus guarantees cannabinoid-rich products in the food and pharmaceutical sector from certified cultivation with the highest quality. It also supplys high-quality fibers from hemp for the manufacture of textiles and materials making the region the origin of clothing, upholstery and plastic substitutes the new reality of German and European industry. For more information visit: www.farmhus.de.

About EuroLife Brands Inc.

EuroLife Brands (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CMA) (OTC Pink: EURPF) is a leading global markets cannabis brand empowering the medical, recreational and CPG cannabis industry worldwide through a data-driven CBD marketplace supported by exclusive and unbiased physician-backed cannabis education and detailed consumer analytics.

For additional information:

Contact: ir@eurolifebrands.com or visit EuroLifeBrands.com

No stock exchange or securities regulatory authority has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the business plans for EuroLife Brands described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59235
Commission to Review Case; Final Determination Targeted for November 2020



Jeuveau Launch and Product Supply Unaffected by Initial Determination

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evolus, Inc. (EOLS) today announced that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) overseeing the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) case filed by Allergan and Medytox in January 2019 against Daewoong and Evolus released a Notice of Initial Determination. This non-binding initial decision by the ALJ finds a violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. All aspects of the ALJs ruling are subject to review by the Commission itself.

We strongly disagree with the initial determination and we look forward to the full Commissions Final Determination targeted for November 6, 2020. In addition, we intend to petition the Commission to review the initial determination, said David Moatazedi, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Among the grounds on which Evolus will seek review is that this investigation represents an improper attempt to use the USITC as a means to litigate a dispute between two Korean competitors that is completely disconnected from the United States. The trade secrets asserted by Allergan and its Korean partner Medytox have never been used in the United States. The intellectual property jurisdiction of the USITC was created to protect domestic industries from improper foreign competition. Evolus will petition the full Commission to review this questionable legal maneuvering which would improperly increase the jurisdiction of the USITC beyond the Commissions mandate.

Once this issue and all other issues in the case have been briefed, the Commission in its final determination may affirm, set aside or modify the portions of the Initial Determination under review.

About Evolus, Inc.

Evolus is a performance beauty company with a customer-centric approach focused on delivering breakthrough products. In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Jeuveau (prabotulinumtoxinA-xvfs), the first and only neurotoxin dedicated exclusively to aesthetics and manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility using Hi-Pure technology. Jeuveau is powered by Evolus' unique technology platform and is designed to transform the aesthetic market by eliminating the friction points existing for customers today. Visit us at: www.evolus.com .

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Jeuveau is a registered trademark of Evolus, Inc.

Hi-Pure is a trademark of Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd.

Forward-Looking Statements

This statement contains forward-looking statements as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the status of regulatory processes, future plans, events, prospects or performance and statements containing the words plans, expects, believes, strategy, opportunity, anticipates, outlook, designed, or other forms of these words or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The companys forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to the strength of our intellectual property, and the status, strategy, outlook and impact on our business of ongoing litigation.

Forward-looking statements are based on current estimates and assumptions made by management of the company and are believed to be reasonable, though they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or experience to differ materially from that expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Other factors that could cause actual results or experience to differ materially from that expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include uncertainties associated with the continued impact of COVID-19 on our business and the economy generally, uncertainties, customer and consumer adoption of Jeuveau, competition and market dynamics, our ongoing legal proceedings and our ability to maintain regulatory approval of Jeuveau and other risks described in the section entitled Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 25, 2020 and May 11, 2020, respectively, all of which is available online at www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, Evolus undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, changed circumstances or unanticipated events. If the company does update or revise one or more of these statements, investors and others should not conclude that the company will make additional updates or corrections.

Evolus, Inc. Contacts:

Investor Contact:

Ashwin Agarwal, Evolus, Inc.

Vice President, Finance, Investor Relations & Treasury

Tel: +1-949-284-4559

Email: IR@Evolus.com
First Arkansas Bank & Trust (FAB&T), based in Jacksonville, Ark., has helped customers save more than $500,000 since launching Plinqit, a brandable, savings app and the only savings tool that pays users for engaging with content.

As an early adopter of Plinqit, FAB&T has experienced an increase in customer engagement and deposits. The average Plinqit user saves over $1,400 and 80% of users maintain or create another goal after achieving their first Plinqit savings goal. FAB&T customers are enjoying a better digital experience and learning positive money habits with a wide variety of savings goals from emergency funds to summer vacations to college tuition.

Plinqit is unlike any other saving app on the market because its free and easy to use, while simultaneously driving engagement and deposits. The mobile-first platforms patent-pending Build Skills pays users for engaging with content and learning about finances. By watching educational videos or reading articles in the Plinqit library and taking a short quiz, customers are rewarded by adding money toward their savings goal. This creates higher engagement for financial institutions, like FAB&T, while rewarding users for improving their financial literacy.

"Plinqit has proven to be our customers savings tool of choice and the results have been pretty remarkable," said Roger Sundermeier, SVP & Chief Brand Officer with FAB&T, "The app really helps people save by giving them a goal to work towards rather than just storing away funds. It feels tangible and real for users because they know what they are saving for and learn more about finances in the process. Plinqits mobile platform makes it even more attractive in our current environment."

Sundermeier continued, "While we have locations across the state, our headquarters is in a military town with a lot of military personnel who come in and out of the city. With Plinqit, we have the flexibility for them to maintain their initial financial relationships while saving digitally. Plus, we are able to strengthen our relationship with the base by supporting their initiatives such as Military Saves week, Teach Children to Save project and overall promoting financial literacy."

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"We created Plinqit as a tool to not only help customers safely and securely meet their savings goals, but to also help financial institutions compete for deposits and develop deeper relationships with customers," said Kathleen Craig, founder and Chief Executive Officer of HT Mobile Apps, creator of Plinqit. "We are thrilled to see FAB&T and their customers meet this milestone. Saving over $500,000 truly demonstrates how effect Plinqit is at helping users practice better savings habits and grow their knowledge of personal finances."

About Plinqit

Plinqit is a brandable, mobile first platform that is elegant and highly powerful at the same time. Unlike any other savings app on the market, its patent-pending Build Skills pays users for engaging with content, creating higher user engagement for financial institutions. Created by Millennials for Millennials, Plinqit helps financial institutions connect with this important demographic in a meaningful, relevant way  bringing together digital customers, FIs and savings in one beautiful place. For more information, visit www.plinqit.com.

About First Arkansas Bank & Trust

FAB&T is a family-owned and managed commercial bank chartered in Jacksonville, Arkansas with Total Assets of $760 million and 22 locations in Central and North Central Arkansas. FAB&T also offers a full-service mortgage department, trust and wealth management services, 24/7 Customer Call Center, and a credit card division, located in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit www.fabandt.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005505/en/

Contacts

Samantha Hall

samantha@williammills.com

678.781.7227
PLANO, Texas (AP)  As coronavirus cases skyrocket in Texas, Regina Greenwell showed up to vote Monday bent on minimizing the risks.

She wore a mask, which are not required in Texas, where the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations have more than tripled in the last month. She scoped out the line from her car to game how long she would be indoors. She brought her own pen but inside was a touchscreen system with disposable latex finger guards for voters to use.

We'd like to make it to the November election, said Paul Greenwell, her 70-year-old husband.

Three months after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott postponed primary runoffs to July 14  saying at the time that sticking to the original May election would threaten the health and safety of many"  Texas is voting at a moment when the outbreak is far more dire. Confirmed coronavirus cases quadrupled in June, Houston hospitals are filling up and Abbott is retreating from one of America's swiftest reopenings by shuttering bars and scaling back restaurant service.

The result is that at a moment when Abbott is urging the public to stay home, thousands are starting to go to the polls.

And by the looks of it, even more are still going to the gym: At the Carpenter Park Recreation Center, a polling location in the Dallas suburb of Plano, most of the steady lunchtime traffic heading in on the first day of early voting were there to work out, not cast a ballot.

"Its a joke, said Gilbert Hernandez, 52, who arrived to vote in the Democratic primary with his family, all of whom wore masks. The way that our government has responded to this crisis, its compounding a very serious problem.

The pandemic has caused unprecedented election disruptions around the U.S. as states have pushed back their elections to manage an onslaught of poll worker cancellations and consolidation of polling places. On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence wore a mask in Dallas and praised Abbott for his decisions to reopen the state and then dial back those plans, saying about two weeks ago something changed.

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One consolation for elections officials is that primary runoffs typically have low turnout in Texas, where a growing blue streak in America's biggest red state is giving Democrats hope. Their voters are picking a U.S. Senate nominee to run against Republican incumbent John Cornyn, choosing between Air Force veteran MJ Hegar and state Sen. Royce West.

There are also closely watched GOP congressional runoffs, including President Donald Trump's former doctor, Ronny Jackson, running for a seat in the Texas Panhandle.

A steady trickle of eager morning voters  all arriving in masks  kept poll workers busy at Davis Elementary School in Austin. Voting machines were six feet apart and wiped down frequently. Poll workers sat behind plastic shields, and blue tape on the floor encouraged voters in line to keep their distance from one another.

Dana DeBeauvoir, the Travis County Clerk who oversees Austin's elections, recruited about 80 poll workers on standby after having a slew of no-shows on Super Tuesday. Abbott doubled the amount of early voting days for the runoff but DeBeauvoir said the state mostly just provided protocols the county already had in place.

It was nice that they tried, but it wasn't all that helpful, DeBeauvoir said.

Democrats want Texas to let all of the state's 16 million registered voters cast ballots by mail, but the state is fighting to keep its restrictions in place. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency request to expand mail-in voting in Texas, which Trump tweeted was a big WIN as he alleges without evidence that widespread mail-in voting will lead to rampant fraud.

Linda Bianchi, who declined to give her age but described herself as senior citizen, voted in the Republican primary in Plano without wearing a mask and said she didn't feel the need to take extra precautions.

Do not do mail-in ballots. No. Come to vote. We did during the war, Bianchi said. Its our wonderful right as Americans.

___

Weber reported from Austin.

___

Follow all of APs coronavirus coverage at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
(Reuters) - China's big miners are snapping up gold mines and strategic minerals in a deal binge that comes as governments in mineral-rich Canada and Australia tighten restrictions on foreign investment.

Here are some of the recent deals and their status:

- Shandong Gold Mining Co in May offered C$230 million ($165 million) to buy Canada's TMAC Resources. The deal requires Canadian government approvals.

- Shandong Gold on June 18 offered A$321 million ($221 million) for Ghana-focused miner Cardinal Resources Ltd. The deal is subject to review by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board.

- Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd on June 12 agreed to buy Toronto-listed Guyana Goldfields for C$323 million ($238 million). The deal is subject to approvals.

- Zijin Mining on June 7 acquired a 50.1% stake in Tibet Julong Copper Co Ltd for $548 million.

- Zijin Mining in February completed its C$1.3 billion acquisition of Colombia-focused Continental Gold.

- China's Goldsea Group said on June 24 it will let a takeover bid by its local unit for Australian gold miner Alto Metals lapse after the country's foreign investment board sought extra time to consider the deal.

- Chinas Baogang was blocked from taking up a $20 million stake in rare earths miner Northern Minerals which owns the advanced Browns Range heavy rare earth project in Australia's north.

- Privately held Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry in May completed a A$10.7 million investment in lithium hopeful AVZ Minerals, which has a project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deal was amended after Australia's FIRB advised that an earlier proposal for a 12.1% stake in AVZ faced rejection for being "contrary to the national interest."

Sources: Company filings

(Reporting by Jeff Lewis in Toronto; Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne and Tom Daly in Beijing; Editing by Denny Thomas and Matthew Lewis)
No sooner had news anchor Nancy Onyancha been sacked by K24 TV than she landed a new TV job with another local media house.

The Swahili news presenter is set to join Switch TV, owned by Red Cross. Ms Onyancha dropped the hint on Monday, sharing a Switch TV logo on her Instagram page.

Good morning My neighbors  she captioned the logo.

Nancy and her husband, Joab Mwaura, were among over 100 journalists who lost their jobs at the Mediamax owned station late last month. They had worked for K24 TV for 7 years.

Nancy is one of the few media personalities who have since landed new gigs following the media industry shake-up that has affected top media houses.

She will be joined by former Inooro TV presenter Fredrick Muitiriri who has also landed a new job after his retrenchment.

Taking to social media, Muititiri disclosed that he will be joining the Red Cross owned station.

This is to show you how Mighty and Powerful our God is. Is He not the one who stopped river Jordan for His elected to pass, isnt He the one who says Hell never leave us nor forsake us?

He surely does hear our prayers, whenever we pray! Your prayers have been heard! He reigns! He Reigns! To my media colleagues, this cloud will surely pass, wrote Muitiriri.
FBL Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: FFG) will announce its second quarter 2020 earnings approximately 15 minutes after the close of the market on Thursday, August 6, 2020. The second quarter earnings release and financial supplement will be posted on the FBL Financial Group website (www.fblfinancial.com) at that time.

FBL Financial Group will hold a conference call to discuss second quarter 2020 earnings on Friday, August 7, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. ET. The conference call will be webcast live on the Internet. Investors and interested parties who wish to listen to the call on the Internet may do so at www.fblfinancial.com.

The call may also be accessed by telephone at (866) 218-2403. A transcript of the prepared comments from the call, as well as an audio replay, will be available shortly after the call on FBL Financial Group's website. An audio replay will be available via telephone through August 21, 2020 by calling (877) 344-7529 and entering code 10137323 when prompted.

FBL Financial Group is a holding company with the purpose to protect livelihoods and futures. Operating under the consumer brand name Farm Bureau Financial Services, its affiliates offer a broad range of life insurance, annuity and investment products distributed by multiline exclusive Farm Bureau agents. Helping complete the financial services offering, advisors offer wealth management and financial planning services. In addition, FBL Financial Group manages all aspects of two Farm Bureau affiliated property-casualty insurance companies for a management fee. Headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, FBL Financial Group is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FFG. For more information, please visit www.fblfinancial.com and www.fbfs.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005384/en/

Contacts

Investor Relations Contact

Kathleen Till Stange, Vice President Corporate & Investor Relations

(515) 226-6780, Kathleen.TillStange@FBLFinancial.com
July 7 (Reuters) - Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said the U.S. economic recovery is in danger of stalling due to the recent spike in coronavirus cases across many American states.

High-frequency data had shown a "levelling off" of economic activity both in terms of business openings and mobility, he told the Financial Times newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

"There are a couple of things that we are seeing and some of them are troubling and might suggest that the trajectory of this recovery is going to be a bit bumpier than it might otherwise," he told the newspaper https://on.ft.com/2VSiu9v.

"And so we're watching this very closely, trying to understand exactly what's happening."

California, Texas and Florida are all among two dozen U.S. states reporting high infection rates as a percentage of diagnostic tests conducted over the past week, an alarming sign of a virus still spreading largely unchecked throughout much of the country.

The U.S. death toll from the virus has topped 130,000, Reuters calculations show.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
First-of-its-Kind Dashboard Highlights Benefits of Federal Highway Investment in Indiana

First-of-its-Kind Dashboard Highlights Benefits of Federal Highway Investment in Indiana

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2020

National and state-by-state data available: artbahighwaydashboard.org

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Indiana leveraged more than $1 billion in federal funds to advance over $1.9 billion 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 2,135 Indiana 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 three projects receiving federal funding in the state during 2018 included:

PR69, New Road Construction, From S of Bloomington via SR37 corridor to SR39, Monroe County, PLC-37991

I65, Added Travel Lanes, From US 50 to SR 58, Bartholomew County, SR-28940

I69, Added Travel Lanes, From 0.8 miles N of SR 38 to 0.5 miles N of SR 9/SR 109, Madison County, R-39093

"This dashboard focuses on specific state-level 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

"The dashboard spotlights the important role the federal highway program plays in our state," says Richard Hedgecock, President, Indiana Constructors, Inc. "Passage of a long-term bill by Congress with increased investment is the right medicine to significantly boost our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic."

In FY 2018, 44 percent of projects costs were for reconstruction or repair work on existing highways, according to the ARTBA analysis. Planning, design and construction engineering (18 percent of funds), new construction (15 percent) and added capacity (12 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).

Indiana Constructors, Inc. is the voice of the highway, heavy and utility construction industry in Indiana.

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-indiana-301089494.html

SOURCE American Road & Transportation Builders Association
(Bloomberg) -- Frances decision to give only temporary security approval for fifth-generation mobile equipment shows the government intends to gradually sideline Huawei Technologies Co., a majority party lawmaker said.

The head of the countrys cybersecurity agency Anssi said this week it will grant time-limited waivers on 5G for wireless operators that use the Chinese companys products.

The measure will deter them from choosing Huawei, said Eric Bothorel, who sits on the cyber security committee in Frances National Assembly and presented a 2019 government-backed bill to regulate communications networks.

Yes, its a phasing out of Huawei, Bothorel said in a phone interview. It wont be a total phase-out but there will be much less Huawei in the future network.

Anssi Director General Guillaume Poupard told Les Echos newspaper in an interview published on Monday that its the natural course of things to reduce Huaweis presence in Frances communication networks, although it wont totally ban the Shenzhen-based company.

Two of Frances four national mobile operators -- Bouygues Telecom and Altices SFR -- use Huawei for parts of their 4G networks and have planned to do so again for 5G. Their Huawei equipment represents about 22% of national wireless infrastructure.

The governments intention is to lower this to as little as 13%, according to one person familiar with the governments plans.

Bouygues Telecom, SFR and the French Presidents office, which ultimately decides on the mobile network policies, declined to comment.

The decision reflects a hardening of Frances position on Huawei, the worlds biggest maker of mobile network equipment, which is under threat from a growing U.S.-led boycott.

Western security officials are concerned that Huaweis systems could be infiltrated by hackers or hostile states. That poses a dilemma for European countries that are relying heavily on Huawei for 5G networks being built to handle fast-growing data traffic and new industrial applications. Replacing the company mid-rollout would be disruptive and expensive.

Story continues

Britain, which long resisted the pressure from Washington to ban Huawei, now intends to stop using it for 5G as soon as this year, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.

Extremely Careful

Until recently, France also sought to strike a middle ground that would allow Huawei to remain an important supplier while keeping it out of some parts of its wireless infrastructure.

Last year President Emmanuel Macron said our perspective is not to block Huawei or any company, adding that France and Europe are pragmatic and realistic. We do believe in cooperation and multilateralism. At the same time, we are extremely careful about access to good technology and to preserve our national security and all the safety rules.

Read More: U.K. Set to Start Huawei 5G Phase-Out as Soon as This Year

Anssis plan to issue time-limited authorizations of between three and eight years is designed to deter them from using the company due to the uncertainty it creates around major investments, said Bothorel.

The move poses a technical challenge for Bouygues and SFR, which will now think twice before slotting Huawei 5G kit on top of their 4G systems and will have to consider costlier work-arounds.

Poupard said some operators will need to dismantle Huawei equipment. The government has not said whether it intends to compensate them for the disruption.

The move against Huawei adds to the uncertainty around the timing of 5G deployment in France, which was already delayed by the Covid-19 crisis. The government aims to hold an auction of 5G airwaves as soon as September to keep pace with other countries upgrading their networks.

Bouygues executives have called for the tender to be delayed to the end of the year or early next year as companies and households grapple with a deep economic slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Shares of Franco-Nevada Corporation FNV have rallied 32% year to date compared with the industrys growth of 24.8%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has declined 2.7%.



Franco-Nevada has a market capitalization of $26 billion. Average volume of shares traded in the past three months was 1.05 million. It has a long-term estimated earnings per share growth rate of 4%.



The company has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 13.9%.





Lets delve deeper and analyze the factors driving the stock.



Driving Factors



Franco-Nevada Corporation reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. Adjusted earnings came in at 58 cents per share, up 65.7% from the prior-year quarter. Revenues were $241 million in the reported quarter, reflecting a year-over-year improvement of 34%. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate on both counts. In the reported quarter, 89% of revenues were sourced from gold and gold equivalents (69.4% gold, 9.2% silver, 9.4% platinum group metals and 1% from other mining assets) while the balance 11% was generated from energy (oil, gas and natural gas liquids).



Given that major portion of the companys revenues is sourced from gold compared to other metals, the rally in gold prices this year bodes well for its top-line performance. Gold has gained 17% so far this year primarily owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Notably, the gold prices have been gaining primarily on the pandemics devastating impact on the global economy and the unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus in response to the same. The civil unrest in the United States, geopolitical tensions and the U.S.-China trade spat have also significantly contributed to the price movement so far. With the pandemic showing no signs of relenting any time soon, the ongoing uncertainty regarding its impact on the global economy will continue to trigger safe haven demand for the yellow metal, thus fueling gold prices.



Franco-Nevada's revenue is generated from various forms of agreements, ranging from net smelter return royalties (NSR), streams, net profits interests, net royalty interests, working interests and other types of arrangements. The company does not operate mines, develop projects or conduct exploration. Franco-Nevada's business model is focused on managing and growing its portfolio of royalties and streams. Some of its mining operators have been facing the unfavorable impact of the coronavirus outbreak, which includes temporary suspension of operations and production curtailment. Notably, the companys operator diversification will help negate the overall impact on revenues.



Also, given its continued focus on cost management, Franco-Nevada continues to generate high margins. Notably, the cash costs per GEO (Cost of sales, less depletion and oil and gas costs, divided by gold equivalent ounces) was at $266 in 2019, seeing a CAGR of 3% during the 2015-2019 period. During this time, its margins witnessed a CAGR of 5%. Hence, the combination of high gold prices and low costs will bolster margins.



Franco-Nevada is financially strong and has a debt-free balance sheet. As of Mar 31, 2020, the company had available liquidity of $1.5 billion. Thus, the company is well-positioned to make further investments to grow its diversified portfolio of assets despite the troubled times. Notably, while other companies are suspending dividends or refraining from dividend hikes owing to the coronavirus-induced crisis, Franco-Nevada announced that its board of directors has declared a 4% hike in dividends.

Story continues

Positive Growth Projection

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the companys current-year earnings is pegged at $2.17 per share, suggesting year-over-year growth of 19.2%. The same for 2021 stands at $2.69, indicating year-over-year growth of 23.8%.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Franco-Nevada currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Galiano Gold Inc. GAU, Clearwater Paper Corporation CLW and The Scotts MiracleGro Company SMG. All of these stocks currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Galiano Gold has a projected earnings growth rate of 1167% for the current year. The companys shares have gained 19% so far this year.

Clearwater Paper has an estimated earnings growth rate of 1043% for fiscal 2020. Its shares have appreciated 68% year to date.

Scotts MiracleGro has an expected earnings growth rate of 30% for fiscal 2020. So far this year, the companys shares have surged 27%.

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 >>



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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Market Segmentation & Coverage: This research report categorizes the Biomass Boiler to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets: On the basis of Feedstock Type, the Biomass Boiler Market is studied across Agriculture & Forest Residues, Biogas & Energy Crops, Urban Residues, and Woody Biomass.

New York, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Biomass Boiler Market Research Report by Feedstock Type, by Product Type, by Application, by End-User - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913606/?utm_source=GNW





On the basis of Product Type, the Biomass Boiler Market is studied across Bubbling Fluidized Bed (BFB) Boilers, Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) Boilers, and Stoker Boilers.



On the basis of Application, the Biomass Boiler Market is studied across Heating and Power Generation.



On the basis of End-User, the Biomass Boiler Market is studied across Commercial, Industrial, and Residential.



On the basis of Geography, the Biomass Boiler Market is studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas region is studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The Asia-Pacific region is studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa region is studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Biomass Boiler Market including Aara Energy Innovations Ltd, Alstom, Amec Foster Wheeler, Dongfang Electric, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, Ecovision Systems Ltd, ETA Heiztechnik GmbH, General Electric Company, Hurst Boiler & Welding Co, Inc., and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Sytems.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Biomass Boiler Market on the basis of Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on sulfuric acid offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Biomass Boiler Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Biomass Boiler Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Biomass Boiler Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Biomass Boiler Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Biomass Boiler Market?

6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Biomass Boiler Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913606/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Clare: clare@reportlinker.com

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001
Police in Kisumu have arrested one of their officers after she allegedly shot and injured her husband following a domestic wrangle.

According to witnesses, the policewoman identified as Maureen Awuor accused her husband of giving their househelp Sh50 for lunch without consulting her.

A police report indicates that Constable Awuor, who is stationed at Kasagam Police Station, returned to their home in Nyalenda estate on Sunday night at about 8 pm and found her husband watching television. During the ensuing quarrel, she reportedly cocked her AK47 rifle, threatening to take her own life after shooting her spouse.

Neighbors at Dago area in Nyalenda who were alerted by the gunshots tried to intervene but she fired her gun again before fleeing back to the police station to return the firearm.

Kisumu East sub-county Police Commander Mwenda Musyimi said the officer shot the man twice; on the right side of the head and ear.

The victim, a clinical officer at Milimani Hospital in Kisumu, was rushed to the Kisumu County hospital where he was treated and is now in stable condition.

Constable Awuor is expected to be charged with attempted murder.

The couple has been together for three years and has a boy child.
Market Segmentation & Coverage: This research report categorizes the Biomass Power Generation to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:

New York, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Biomass Power Generation Market Research Report by Process, by Feedstock - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913607/?utm_source=GNW



On the basis of Process, the Biomass Power Generation Market is studied across Anaerobic Digestion, Combustion, Gasification, and Pyrolysis.



On the basis of Feedstock, the Biomass Power Generation Market is studied across Agricultural & Forestry Residues, Animal Manure, Energy Crops, and Urban Wastes.



On the basis of Geography, the Biomass Power Generation Market is studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas region is studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The Asia-Pacific region is studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa region is studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Biomass Power Generation Market including Alfagy Ltd., Ameresco, Inc., Bilfinger, Drax Group Plc, Engie, Eon, Forth Energy Ltd., Helius Energy Plc, Indus Green Bio Energy Pvt. Ltd, and The Babcock & Wilcox Company.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Biomass Power Generation Market on the basis of Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on sulfuric acid offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Biomass Power Generation Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Biomass Power Generation Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Biomass Power Generation Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Biomass Power Generation Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Biomass Power Generation Market?

6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Biomass Power Generation Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913607/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Clare: clare@reportlinker.com

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001
The global snus market is expected to grow by USD 780 million as per Technavio. This marks a significant market slowdown compared to the 2019 growth estimates due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020. However, steady growth is expected to continue throughout the forecast period, and the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of about 11%. Request free sample pages

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005070/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Snus Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Read the 120-page report with TOC on "Snus Market Analysis Report by Product (Portion snus and loose snus) and Geography (Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and MEA), and the Segment Forecasts, 2020-2024".

https://www.technavio.com/report/global-snus-market-industry-analysis

The market is driven by the availability of flavored snus. In addition, the increasing number of smoking bans across the world are anticipated to boost the growth of the snus market.

In the last five years, the global snus market has seen a surge in the launch of new products with innovative flavors. For instance, Swedish Match AB (Swedish Match) offers branding and quality measures through different product lines. The company (Swedish Match) offers the XRANGE series of attractively priced, premium snus. Also, Swedish Match offers slim, dry, all-white portion snus through its other brand Omni, which has an appealing taste and is produced using patented technology. Similarly, Altria Group Inc. operates a product line under its subsidiary USSTC, with its well-known moist snuff range, Skoal. The product gained immense popularity instantly among adult consumers when it was launched in 2015 and managed to acquire a 5% market share in the US snus market in 2016. Skoal snus is offered in flavors like Cinnamon, Mint, Long Cut, Berry Blend, and Citrus Blend. Therefore, the availability of snus in different flavors is likely to propel the growth of the market in focus globally during the forecast period.

Story continues

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Major Five Snus Companies:

Altria Group Inc.

Altria Group Inc. has business operations under various segments, such as smokeable products, smokeless products, wine, and others. Key products offered by the company include Marlboro Strong Original Portion and Marlboro Strong White Portion.

Arnold Andre GmbH & Co. KG

Arnold Andre GmbH & Co. KG operates its business through various segments, such as short filler, long filler, pipe tobacco, fine cut, and chewing tobacco. Key products offered by the company include Sirius Ice Cold snus and Sirius Ice Cold Slim snus.

British American Tobacco Plc

British American Tobacco Plc has business operations under various segments, such as US, APME, AMSSA, and ENA. Key products offered by the company include Camel Large Frost Snus and Camel Mellow Snus.

Dholakia Tobacco Pvt. Ltd.

Dholakia Tobacco Pvt. Ltd. operates its business through two segments, such as tobacco products, and non-tobacco products. The company's key offerings in the snus market include Herbal Original snus and Indian Rose snus.

GN Tobacco Sweden AB

GN Tobacco Sweden AB has business operations under various segments, such as chewing tobacco, snus, and filter tubes. The company's key offerings in the market include Oden's snus and Siberia snus.

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Snus Market Product Outlook (Revenue, USD million, 2020-2024)

Portion snus

Loose snus

Snus Market Geography Outlook (Revenue, USD million, 2020-2024)

Europe

North America

APAC

South America

MEA

Technavios sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavios 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 Technavios 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/20200707005070/en/

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The Trump administration on Monday released data on loans made through the Paycheck Protection Program meant to help small businesses get through the coronavirus pandemic, including the names of 660,000 companies that received loans of $150,000 or more. The loan recipients include restaurant chains, businesses linked to members of Congress and the Trump administration, high-priced law firms, special interest groups, Planned Parenthood locations and Kanye Wests clothing and sneaker company, Yeezy.

The disclosure could bring some renewed criticism of the PPP, which has faced questions about whether it is reaching the businesses that need help the most. The program generated some outrage early on when large, publicly traded companies said they had taken out loans. More than $30 billion in loans were reportedly returned after the administration said that companies with access to other sources of capital shouldnt be borrowing through the program.

My 1,000-foot takeaway is that the government was handing out free money and the line went around the corner, Aaron Klein, a fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, told The New York Times. This is not your mom-and-pop shop on Main Street.

The big picture: The program issued more than $521 billion across nearly 4.9 million forgivable loans through June 30. The health-care and social assistance industry received more than $67 billion, or 12.9% of the loan money. Professional and technical services got 12.7%, while 12.4% went to construction and 10.3% went to manufacturing

The program still has $131.9 billion in funding left unused, though Congress just passed legislation to extend the application deadline through August 8 and is considering ways to repurpose funds left over.

The data released Monday doesnt include names or addresses for businesses receiving loans of less than $150,000, which collectively represent 86.5% of loans and about a quarter of the total loan dollars approved. The data also only provides loan amounts in broad ranges, which groups advocating for government transparency criticized as inadequate.

Story continues

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the PPP has supported more than 51 million jobs and more than 80% of all small business employees, with an average loan size of about $107,000. Still, nearly 49,000 loan recipients reported that they would save zero jobs with the borrowed money and nearly 41,000 others did not say how many jobs they would keep with the money, according to The Washington Post. Ten companies apparently received between $5 million and $10 million but reported retaining only one job with the money, the Post says.

Who got big loans: More than 4,800 businesses received loans between $5 million and $10 million. Restaurants, medical offices and car dealerships were the top recipients of large loans from the program, the Times reports. More than 40,000 full- or limited-service restaurants received loans worth as much as $32 billion, according to the ranges provided by the government. Among the large chains with Wall Street backing that received loans between $5 million and $10 million were PF Changs, Legal Sea Foods and Silver Diner, according to the Post.

The Times also notes that doctors offices received as much as $19 billion, while law offices got $13 billion, with more than 100 law firms getting loans ranging from $1 million to $10 million. The firm of President Trumps longtime personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, received between $5 million and $10 million. The firm said the money enabled it to keep on its hundreds of employees at full salary and benefits.

Businesses linked to lawmakers got millions: At least nine lawmakers and three congressional caucuses have ties to organizations that took millions of dollars in aid, Politico reports. In total, companies linked to lawmakers and congressional caucuses have received at least $11 million in aid from the federal program that Congress created to help small businesses.

It is not illegal for lawmakers to receive the loans, and their offices generally emphasized that the money was taken to help keep workers employed.

Among the lawmakers who own or have other ties to businesses that received loans are Republicans Reps. Rick Allen (GA), Vicky Harzler (MO), Kevin Hern (OK), Mike Kelly (PA), Markwayne Mullin (OK) and Roger Williams (TX) as well as Democratic Reps. Matt Cartwright (PA), Susie Lee (NV) and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL). A company tied to the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) got a loan of between $350,000 and $1 million.

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the nonprofit arms of the member caucuses, also received loans of between $350,000 and $1 million each.

Trump-connected loans: The Trump Organization did not apply for PPP loans, but many tenants at buildings owned or managed by Trump reportedly received funds. An Associated Press analysis found that as much as $273 million in PPP aid went to more than 100 companies that are owned or operated by major Trump donors, though the report notes that theres no evidence the companies received favorable treatment as a result of their Trump connections. Other loan recipients were linked to Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser. Businesses tied to Trumps family and associates stand to get as much as $21 million in loans, according to ProPublica.

The disclosure could again raise questions about the extent to which the presidents businesses are benefitting from his government role, but plenty of politically connected applicants got PPP funds.

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, the Times reports. 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.

Cultural institutions: Some well-known cultural institutions  including some with large endowments  received millions in PPP loans, Bloomberg News reports: The institutions -- such as Carnegie Hall and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the San Francisco Symphony -- were among the largest recipients of aid to nonprofits under the program, with each of them receiving injections in the range of $5 million to $10 million.

Grover Norquists anti-spending group took a loan: A foundation affiliated with Grover Norquists Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative group known for its anti-tax advocacy and its efforts to rein in government spending, received a PPP loan of between $150,000 and $350,000. In a statement, the organizations said Americans for Tax Reform had never opposed PPP and that the foundation that received the loan was badly hurt by the government shutdown, used the money to avoid layoffs and does not engage in lobbying.

But the Daily Beast notes that Norquist had signed on to a recent letter asking Trump and McConnell to stop spending on coronavirus relief. The inside-the-beltway crowd falsely calls these trillions of dollars a stimulus to the economy, the letter read. But government can only give money to some people, as Nobel-prize winning economist Milton Friedman taught all of us many years ago, by taking money from others.

Two other groups focused on cutting government spending, Taxpayers for Common Sense and Citizens Against Government Waste, also received PPP loans, as did Citizens United, the group that fought to enable more corporate spending on elections. On the Left, Media Matters for America reportedly received a loan of between $1 million and $2 million while the Center for Economic and Policy Research and The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy each received between $350,000 and $1 million, according to Roll Call.

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Rating Action: Moody's assigns Ba3 to Greentown's new USD notes

Global Credit Research - 07 Jul 2020

Hong Kong, July 07, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Ba3 senior unsecured debt rating to Greentown China Holdings Limited's proposed USD notes.

The rating outlook is stable.

Greentown will use the proceeds to refinance existing indebtedness.

RATINGS RATIONALE

"The proposed note issuance will not have a material impact on Greentown's credit metrics, because the proceeds will mainly be used to refinance existing debt," says Celine Yang, a Moody's Assistance Vice President and Analyst.

Greentown's Ba3 corporate family rating (CFR) incorporates its standalone credit strength and a two-notch rating uplift based on Moody's expectation that the company will receive extraordinary financial support from its largest shareholder China Communications Construction Group (Limited) (CCCG), in times of financial distress.

The stable outlook on Greentown's rating reflects Moody's expectation that the company will maintain its sales execution, stable financial profile and adequate liquidity over the next 12-18 months.

Greentown's B2 standalone credit strength reflects its (1) well-established market position in property development in Hangzhou city and Zhejiang Province, (2) long operating track record, good brand name, quality products and large nationwide land bank, and (3) improved financial management and funding costs as part of CCCG; and (4) good liquidity.

On the other hand, the B2 standalone credit strength is constrained by its continuously high debt leverage, partially because of its ongoing need to purchase land to sustain sales growth and longer project development cycle given its high product quality standards.

Moody's expects Greentown's debt leverage, as measured by revenue/adjusted debt, to improve moderately to 44%-45% in the next 12-18 months from 39% in 2019, because it will scale back land acquisition from the high levels recorded in 2019. In addition, its adjusted EBIT/interest will improve slightly to 2.4x-2.5x from 2.3x during the same period.

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Greentown's contracted sales increased 33.8% to RMB66.1 billion in the first six months of 2020 compared to the same period last year. Moody's expects its contracted sales to grow slightly to around RMB140 billion in 2020 from RMB135 billion in 2019.

Greentown's senior unsecured bond rating is not affected by subordination to claims at the operating company level. This is because, despite its status as a holding company, Moody's expects support from CCCG to Greentown to flow through the holding company rather than flowing directly to its main operating companies, thereby mitigating any differences in expected loss that could result from structural subordination.

In terms of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, Greentown's Ba3 CFR takes into consideration (1) the company's high leverage; (2) the presence of strong shareholders; (3) the disclosure of significant related-party transactions as required under the Corporate Governance Code for companies listed on the Hong Kong Exchange; and (4) the presence of diversified board of directors and three special committees (including audit, remuneration and nomination committees) that are chaired by INEDs.

Moody's has also considered that Greentown issued additional 323 million shares to Xinhu Zhongbao Co., Ltd. (B3, Negative) in May 2020, which effectively reduced CCCG's ownership of Greentown to 25.06% from 28.78% previously, bringing it closer to the change of control threshold of 25% for a few of its offshore bonds. A shareholding below such threshold could trigger a repayment acceleration by its bondholders.

Nevertheless, Moody's expects the support from CCCG to remain unchanged, given (1) it still has significant influence on the company as its largest shareholder; (2) CCCG occupies four out of six executive director seats on the company's board; (3) it has demonstrated a willingness to provide financial support through a keepwell deed and a deed of equity purchase, as well as through an investment and liquidity support undertaking for Greentown's senior and perpetual bonds; and (4) it has a strong ability to provide support, underpinned by its large scale, strong business and financial profile, and good access to funding.

Moody's regards the impact of deteriorating global economic outlook amid the rapid and widening spread of the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under its ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health and safety.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATING

Greentown's rating could be upgraded if it strengthens its financial and liquidity positions.

Specifically, Moody's could upgrade the rating if (1) revenue/adjusted debt exceeds 55%-60%; and (2) EBIT interest coverage rises above 2.5x.

A material reduction in contingent liabilities associated with joint ventures or lower risks of providing funding support to joint ventures could also be positive to the ratings. This could be a result of reduced usage of joint ventures or material improvement in the financial strengths of its joint venture projects.

Moody's could downgrade the rating if (1) contracted sales growth slows; (2) credit metrics weaken, with EBIT/interest coverage falling below 1.5x, or revenue/adjusted debt falling below 40% on a sustained basis; or (3) liquidity deteriorates, as reflected by cash/short-term debt falling below 1.0x.

Moody's could also downgrade the rating if the company's contingent liabilities associated with joint ventures or the risks of providing funding support to joint ventures increase materially. This could be a result of a material deterioration in the financial strengths and liquidity of its joint venture projects or a substantial increase in investment in new joint venture projects.

The principal methodology used in this rating was Homebuilding And Property Development Industry published in January 2018 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1108031. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.

Greentown China Holdings Limited is a major property developer in China, with a primary focus in Hangzhou City and Zhejiang Province.

At 31 December 2019, the company had 142 projects with a total gross floor area of 38.7 million square meters (sqm), with 22.4 million sqm attributable to the company.

REGULATORY DISCLOSURES

For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.

For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.

For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action, and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action, the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity. Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures, if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.

The rating has been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated agent (s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.

This rating is solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on its website www.moodys.com.

Moody's considers a rated entity or its agent(s) to be participating when it maintains an overall relationship with Moody's. Unless noted in the Regulatory Disclosures as a Non-Participating Entity, the rated entity is participating and the rated entity or its agent(s) generally provides Moody's with information for the purposes of its ratings process. Please refer to www.moodys.com for the Regulatory Disclosures for each credit rating action under the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page and for details of Moody's Policy for Designating Non-Participating Rated Entities.

Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating review.

Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1133569.

The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed by Moody's Deutschland GmbH, An der Welle 5, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph 3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is available on www.moodys.com.

Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued the rating.

Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.

The first name below is the lead rating analyst for this Credit Rating and the last name below is the person primarily responsible for approving this Credit Rating.

YuYing (Celine) Yang Asst Vice President - Analyst Corporate Finance Group Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd. 24/F One Pacific Place 88 Queensway Hong Kong China (Hong Kong S.A.R.) JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Franco Leung Associate Managing Director Corporate Finance Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd. 24/F One Pacific Place 88 Queensway Hong Kong China (Hong Kong S.A.R.) JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077

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Announces annual program to fight famine, poverty, and disease.

SINGAPORE, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The impact of COVID-19 has been felt acutely across the world, within workplaces, and among individuals. In response, HULFT, a comprehensive data logistics platform, is proud to announce its first corporate giving program which will be managed through its parent company Saison Information Systems Co. Ltd. with regional offices structuring donations based on local communities that are at greatest risk.

Under the new program, the company will commit at least one percent of its annual operating profits to organizations that are fighting poverty, famine, and disease. Saison Information Systems, as well as its subsidiaries, will partner with global causes that are creating a positive change in the human condition.

Statement from Kazuhiro Uchida, President of Saison Information Systems:

"Our decision to establish this important initiative aligns with our mission statement to 'contribute to the near future society by accelerating innovation' We firmly believe that part of our evolution as a 50-year-old global leader involves increasing our corporate giving. This pandemic has uncovered and magnified many structural and systemic problems and iniquities across all areas of society. Our board members and I agreed that it was time for Saison Information Systems to turn our values into action."

During this fiscal year beginning April, Saison Information Systems is honored to partner through donations with medical institutions and humanitarian aid organizations that are responding to COVID-19: Doctors Without Borders, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Japanese Red Cross Society, Masks for Heroes, United Way Bay Area (UWBA), Bethlehem House of Detroit, National Council of Social Services (Singapore), and to a medical non-profit organization in Thailand.

These donations will support local communities in three cities in Japan (Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka), the United Kingdom, Singapore, Thailand, China (Shanghai and Beijing) and the United States (San Francisco/Bay Area, and Detroit).

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"Singapore has united to care for the vulnerable individuals and families affected by COVID-19." The Invictus Fund, in Singapore, will channel funds through Community Chest to enable over 80 social service agencies to continue delivering critical services to vulnerable groups in the community.

In Thailand, donations will help support the epidemic prevention project, the front-line medical workers, as well as the patients affected by the global pandemic.

About HULFT Pte. Ltd.

HULFT Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Saison Information Systems Co. Ltd., was established in 2015 as a global base for marketing, sales support and training of HULFT products to local customers and partners in ASEAN markets. A division of Saison Information Systems (TYO: 9640), which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, HULFT has helped more than 10,000 global customers automate, orchestrate, and accelerate the secure flow of information at scale. HULFT provides a single global platform that helps IT quickly find, secure, organize, transform, and move the right information  automating the entire business processes of data flow, and unlocking value in a sea of information. HULFT is the engine that makes data work. For more information, please visit www.hulft.com/apac/.

About Saison Information Systems Co. Ltd.

Head Office: Akasaka Intercity AIR 19F, 1-8-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan

Date of establishment: September 1, 1970

Representative: Kazuhiro Uchida (President and Representative Director)

Capital: 1,367 million yen

Business activities: Financial IT Services, Distribution IT Services, Linkage, HULFT business

Securities Code: 9640 (Tokyo Stock Exchange, JASDAQ Standard Market)

URL: https://home.saison.co.jp/

Media contact:

Masaaki Yamamoto

Masaaki_Yamamoto@sis2.saison.co.jp

SOURCE HULFT Pte. Ltd.
VANCOUVER, BC , July 7, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) published an open letter to British Columbia Premier John Horgan , outlining the auto insurance industry's concern with Bill 11  Attorney General Statues (Vehicle Insurance) Amendment Act, 2020. IBC also provided a list of legislative amendments to the government that, if implemented, would give consumers more choice and help to lower auto insurance rates in the province.

Insurance Bureau of Canada Logo (CNW Group/Insurance Bureau of Canada)

As currently designed, Bill 11 will further limit consumer choice, create new barriers to stifle the limited competition that currently exists in BC's optional auto insurance market, and risks driving other insurers out of BC's optional auto insurance market entirely.

As part of the move to a no-fault system, Bill 11 creates a new mandatory Basic Vehicle Damage coverage that is only available through the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). This product will provide coverage for vehicle replacement and repair when a driver is not responsible for an accident. Today, these repairs can be covered by the third-party liability insurance of the driver responsible for an accident, which is open to choice and competition above ICBC's basic limits.

"Bill 11 will reduce what little choice drivers have in BC's optional auto insurance market," said Aaron Sutherland , Vice-President, Pacific, IBC. "There is no rationale for this expansion of ICBC's monopoly over vehicle damage insurance. A better, more affordable auto insurance system would allow drivers to purchase this coverage from any insurer they choose."

IBC has suggested a number of amendments to Bill 11 that would provide consumers with choice in vehicle damage coverage  whether that coverage is mandatory or optional. This would make BC similar to the no-fault system in Quebec , where injury coverages are provided by the government insurer and vehicle damage coverages are provided by private insurers. Total premiums in Quebec (including the government's no-fault coverage) are $717 on average1, less than half the $1,500 that ICBC projects its no-fault insurance will cost.

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If enacted, IBC's suggested amendments would create a more competitive market for vehicle damage coverage and, most importantly, would improve the affordability of this coverage over the long term. This would be particularly true if the government were to also remove the existing barriers to choice and competition in BC and provide all insurers with equal access to driver abstracts and provincial claims information.

"Under ICBC's monopoly, British Columbians pay more for auto insurance than anyone else in Canada ," noted Sutherland. " Canada's private insurers want to help lower premiums in the province and are committed to working with the government to create a system that works for everyone."

QUICK FACTS:

ICBC basic insurance currently provides coverage for $200,000 in third-party liability, accident benefits and uninsured motorist protection. Optional insurance provides excess third-party liability (above $200,000 ), as well as comprehensive and collision insurance.

Today, vehicle damage claims are paid from the third-party liability coverage of the driver responsible for the crash. Bill 11's Basic Vehicle Damage Coverage will move this coverage under ICBC's basic policy and cover repairs when the driver is not at fault.

Removing excess third-party liability coverage under no-fault will shrink the optional insurance market by up to 30%.

Last year, BC drivers spent $2.9 billion on optional insurance, with $300 million of that being spent on policies with private insurers.

In Quebec (a no-fault insurance province), drivers have full choice in who they purchase their vehicle damage coverage from  both mandatory and optional. Total annual auto insurance premiums (including the government's no-fault coverage) in that province are $717 on average, less than half the projected cost of ICBC's no-fault insurance ($1,500) .

About Insurance Bureau of Canada

Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is the national industry association representing Canada's private home, auto and business insurers. Its member companies make up 90% of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance market in Canada . For more than 50 years, IBC has worked with governments across the country to help make affordable home, auto and business insurance available for all Canadians. IBC supports the vision of consumers and governments trusting, valuing and supporting the private P&C insurance industry. It champions key issues and helps educate consumers on how best to protect their homes, cars, businesses and properties.

P&C insurance touches the lives of nearly every Canadian and plays a critical role in keeping businesses safe and the Canadian economy strong. It employs more than 128,000 Canadians, pays $9.4 billion in taxes and has a total premium base of $59.6 billion .

For media releases and more information, visit IBC's Media Centre at www.ibc.ca. Follow us on Twitter @IBC_Pacific or like us on Facebook. If you have a question about home, auto or business insurance, contact IBC's Consumer Information Centre at 1-844-2ask-IBC.

__________________________________

1 2018, the most recent full-year available

SOURCE Insurance Bureau of Canada

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2020/07/c8752.html
Dublin, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Vitiligo Market and Competitive Landscape - 2020" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.





This report provides comprehensive insights into the Vitiligo pipeline, epidemiology, market valuations, drug sales, market forecast, drug forecasts, and market shares. This research analyzes and forecasts the Vitiligo market size and drug sales. It also provides insights into Vitiligo epidemiology and late stage pipeline.



This research covers the following: Vitiligo treatment options, Vitiligo late stage clinical trials pipeline, Vitiligo prevalence by countries, Vitiligo market size and forecast by countries, key market events and trends, drug sales and forecast by countries, and market shares by countries. The research scope includes the countries US, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Japan, Europe, Global (G7 Countries).



Research Scope:

Countries: US, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Japan, Europe, Global

Vitiligo pipeline: Find out drugs in clinical trials for the treatment of Vitiligo by development phase 3, phase 2, and phase 1, by pharmacological class and company

Vitiligo epidemiology: Find out the number of patients diagnosed (prevalence) with Vitiligo by countries

Vitiligo drugs: Identify key drugs marketed and prescribed for Vitiligo in the US, including trade name, molecule name, and company

Vitiligo drugs sales: Find out the sales value for Vitiligo drugs by countries

Vitiligo market valuations: Find out the market size for Vitiligo drugs in 2019 by countries. Find out how the market advanced from 2016 and forecast to 2024

Vitiligo drugs market share: Find out the market shares for key drugs by countries

Benefits of this Research:

Evaluate commercial market opportunities for Vitiligo drugs

Synthesize insights for business development & licensing

Track market size, competitor drug sales, market shares in the Vitiligo market

Develop in-depth knowledge of competition and markets

Analyze Vitiligo drug sales data to update your brand planning trackers

Develop tactics and strategies to take advantage of opportunities in the market

Track Market Events and Trends and analyze key events in the Vitiligo market

Develop forecast models, healthcare frameworks, or economic models

Answer key business questions; supports decision making in R&D to long term marketing strategies



Key Topics Covered:



1. Vitiligo Treatment Options



2. Vitiligo Pipeline Insights

2.1. Vitiligo Phase 3 Clinical Trials

2.2. Vitiligo Phase 2 Clinical Trials

2.3. Vitiligo Phase 1 Clinical Trials



3. Vitiligo Epidemiology Analysis by Countries



4. US Vitiligo Market Insights

4.1. Marketed Drugs for Vitiligo in US

4.2. US Vitiligo Market Size & Forecast

4.3. US Vitiligo Drugs Sales & Forecast

4.4. US Vitiligo Market Share Analysis



5. Germany Vitiligo Market Insights

5.1. Marketed Drugs for Vitiligo in Germany

5.2. Germany Vitiligo Market Size & Forecast

5.3. Germany Vitiligo Drugs Sales Forecast

5.4. Germany Vitiligo Market Share Analysis



6. France Vitiligo Market Insights

6.1. Marketed Drugs for Vitiligo in France

6.2. France Vitiligo Market Size & Forecast

6.3. France Vitiligo Product Sales Forecast

6.4. France Vitiligo Market Share Analysis



7. Italy Vitiligo Market Insights

7.1. Marketed Drugs for Vitiligo in Italy

7.2. Italy Vitiligo Market Size & Forecast

7.3. Italy Vitiligo Product Sales Forecast

7.4. Italy Vitiligo Market Share Analysis



8. Spain Vitiligo Market Insights

8.1. Marketed Drugs for Vitiligo in Spain

8.2. Spain Vitiligo Market Size & Forecast

8.3. Spain Vitiligo Product Sales Forecast

8.4. Spain Vitiligo Market Share Analysis



9. UK Vitiligo Market Insights

9.1. Marketed Drugs for Vitiligo in UK

9.2. UK Vitiligo Market Size & Forecast

9.3. UK Vitiligo Product Sales Forecast

9.4. UK Vitiligo Market Share Analysis



10. Europe Vitiligo Market Insights

10.1. Europe Vitiligo Market Size & Forecast

10.2. Europe Vitiligo Product Sales Forecast

10.3. Europe Vitiligo Market Share Analysis



11. Japan Vitiligo Market Insights

11.1. Marketed Drugs for Vitiligo in Japan

11.2. Japan Vitiligo Market Size & Forecast

11.3. Japan Vitiligo Product Sales Forecast

11.4. Japan Vitiligo Market Share Analysis



12. Global Vitiligo Market Insights

12.1. Global Vitiligo Market Size & Forecast

12.2. Global Vitiligo Product Sales Forecast

12.3. Global Vitiligo Market Share Analysis



13. Research Methodology



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ejpgd9

Story continues

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.



CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

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Shares of International Paper Company IP have lost 21.9%, year to date, compared with the industrys decline of 28.1%. This downside resulted from the coronavirus pandemics unfavorable impacts, bleak demand for printing paper, lower price and mix as well as higher input costs.





Factors Plaguing International Papers Business



The coronavirus pandemic has affected paper consumption in schools, offices and businesses due to the stay-at-home measures implemented to contain the spread of the virus, in turn straining paper demand. The company has also witnessed unprecedented decline in commercial printing segments due to the significant pullback in print advertising. This will hurt the Printing Paper segments performance in the near term. Further, the transition to digital media continues to affect paper demand.



In the wake of the uncertainty regarding the impact and duration of the pandemic, the company has withdrawn the current year guidance for adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. Lower price and mix is expected to have dented the industrial packaging segments performance during the June-end quarter. Volume is expected to have registered a decline and input costs might have flared up on higher recovered fiber cost. Operations and costs might have muted earnings in the global cellulose fibers segment during the second quarter.



Will the Stock Rebound?



Despite the aforementioned headwinds, the company is witnessing robust demand driven by processed food, proteins, chemicals, tissue and towel in e-commerce. The company will continue to benefit from the growing e-commerce demand as it has become a primary spending channel for customers owing to the containment measures amid the pandemic.



International Paper has been undergoing restructuring initiatives to transform itself into a core packaging company. The company has strategically offloaded businesses in China to focus more on its U.S. operations. It believes it could cater to the Chinese and Asian markets more effectively by supplying globally competitive products primarily through its Ilim joint venture in Russia, as well as through exports from the United States and other parts of the world. International Paper also completed the divesture of its consumer packaging business in North America to Graphic Packaging Holding Company GPK. The divesture helped the company maximize the value of the North American Consumer Packaging business by combining it with Graphic Packaging, while also focusing on its core businesses and strengthen the balance sheet.



Mergers and acquisitions are a key strategy for International Paper to strengthen its packaging business. In North America, the company envisions a large opportunity within its industrial packaging businesses, which continue to generate the best margins in the industry. The company is taking initiatives to drive further margin expansion across the business.



International Paper has completed the acquisition of leading timberland owner Weyerhaeuser Co.s pulp, which has strengthened its position in the global fluff pulp market and augmented the operating cash flow. The acquisition has provided it with a higher flexibility to manage the wide portfolio of products for meeting customer needs through superior R&D capabilities and priceless patent portfolio.



The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and has a VGM Score of B. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) 2 (Buy) or 3, offer the best investment opportunities.



The company outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the trailing four quarters, the average positive beat being 15.6%.



Stocks to Consider



Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Sandstorm Gold Ltd SAND and Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited HMY, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 currently. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Sandstorm Gold has an expected earnings growth rate of 33.3% for 2020. The companys shares have surged 71.8% in the past year.



Harmony Gold has a projected earnings growth rate of 28.6% for fiscal 2020. Its shares have soared 87.7% in a years time.



Zacks Single Best Pick to Double



From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each picked their favorite to gain +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Zacks Director of Research, SherazMian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.



This young companys gigantic growth was hidden by low-volume trading, then cut short by the coronavirus. But its digital products stand out in a region where the internet economy has tripled since 2015 and looks to triple again by 2025.



Its stock price is already starting to resume its upward arc. The skys the limit! And the earlier you get in, the greater your potential gain.



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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Lawsuit: U.S. Military Veterans and Family Members Endured Extensive Injuries

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A Washington, D.C. federal court has ordered the Islamic Republic of Iran to pay $879 million in its decision after finding the Iranian defendants directed the 1996 terrorist bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia where U.S. forces were housed, according to MM~LAW LLC and co-counsel.

Lead attorney Adora Sauer, of MM~LAW LLC, said, "Justice has not forgotten these brave U.S. Air Force veterans and their families. It is an honor and privilege to fight for justice and compensation for these families. The passage of over two decades since the Khobar Towers attack has not thwarted our efforts. We will continue to seek to hold the Government of Iran accountable for this terrorist attack as long as is necessary."

The plaintiffs, which include 14 injured U.S. Air Force members and 21 of their immediate family members, brought the lawsuit under the terrorism exception to the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The defendants are the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

The court ruled that the Iranian government directed and provided material support to Hizbollah terrorists that detonated a 5,000-pound truck bomb at the Khobar Towers complex in Dhahran. The blast killed 19 U.S. airmen and injured more than 400 others at the site charged with monitoring Iraqi compliance with United Nations security council resolutions.

U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell found the defendants liable and awarded plaintiffs $132 million for pain and suffering as well as prejudgment interest for a total compensatory damage award of $747 million and $132 million for punitive damages. The plaintiffs will be eligible for partial payments from the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, the concept and legislation of which was originated by MM~LAW, to compensate American victims of acts of international terrorism with funds obtained from fines and forfeitures levied against companies caught illegally laundering money for sanctioned countries and persons. The attorneys also intend to pursue enforcement of the judgments through litigation intended to seize Iranian assets.

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The families are represented by the law firms of MM~LAW LLC, of Chicago; The Urquhart Law Firm, PLLC, of Houston; the Law Offices of James R. Moriarty, of Houston; and Sullo & Sullo, LLP, of Houston; and The Miller Firm LLC, of Orange, Va.

Plaintiff Glenn Tyler Christie, a retired Air Force staff sergeant crew chief severely injured in the bombing, said, "The physical and psychological toll on our families has been extremely high, but this judgment is welcome news. More than 20 years on, we want the world to remember the evil that Iran did at the Khobar Towers. Through the work of our attorneys, we intend to do just that."

John Urquhart, of The Urquhart Law Firm, PLLC, said, "It is certainly an honor to represent these veterans and their families in holding Iran accountable. The massive explosion took so much from their minds and bodies on the day of the attack in 1996 and every day and night since then. They can now live with that balance justice provides."

Mr. Urquhart, along Mr. James Moriarty and Gavriel Mairone, are combat veterans themselves. Mr. Urquhart served as a U.S. Marine Corps infantry platoon commander in Iraq before going to law school, while Mr. Moriarty served three tours in Vietnam and is a Gold Star father. The legal team represents victims of state-sponsored terrorism in other lawsuits as well, including more than 2,500 veterans injured in Iraq and U.S Gold Star families.

The case is "Glenn Tyler Christie, et al., v. The Islamic Republic of Iran," et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-01289-BAH, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

CONTACT: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for MM~LAW LLC and co-counsel, 281.703.6000, info@powersmediaworks.

Cision

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iran-ordered-to-pay-879-million-to-khobar-towers-bombing-survivors-mmlaw-llc-301088893.html

SOURCE MM~LAW LLC
BASRA, Iraq, July 7 (Reuters) - Iraq partially reopened its southern Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran on Tuesday after more than three months of closure to combat the spread of the new coronavirus, border officials said.

The crossing was being opened only for the trade of foodstuffs, allowing in some 500 trucks from Iran per week and would open every Wednesday and Sunday from now on, one of the officials said.

Iraq closed its international borders and provincial boundaries in March except for the delivery of essential goods such as food as it sought to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Iran, which shares a long border with Iraq, has been the epicentre of the virus in the Middle East but the spread has also accelerated in Iraq which is registering nearly 2,000 new cases every day. More than 2,500 people have died from COVID-19 in Iraq according to its health ministry.

Iran is one of Iraq's biggest trading partners. Both countries' economies are in crisis. Iran continues to suffer from U.S. sanctions and Iraq is reeling from low prices of oil, which accounts for almost all its state revenue. (Reporting by Aref Mohammed, writing by John Davison; editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
RTHK: Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro tests positive

Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday said he has tested positive for Covid-19 after months of downplaying the virus severity.

Bolsonaro confirmed the test results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in the capital Brasilia.

"I'm well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations, Bolsonaro said.

The president has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a little flu were he to contract it.

He has also repeatedly said that there is no way to prevent 70 percent of the population falling ill with Covid-19, and that local authorities' measures to shut down economic activity would ultimately cause more hardship than allowing the virus to run its course.

Cities and states last month began lifting restrictions that had been imposed to control the spread of the virus, as their statistical curves of deaths began to decline along with the occupation rate of its intensive-care units. Brazil, the worlds sixth most populous nation, with more than 210 million people, is one of the global hot spots of the pandemic.

On Monday, Bolsonaro told supporters in Brasilia that he underwent an X-ray of his lungs that showed they were clean, and that he would be tested for Covid-19. On Tuesday, he told CNN Brasil that his fever had subsided.

Over the weekend, the Brazilian leader celebrated US Independence Day with the nations ambassador to Brazil, then shared pictures on social media showing him with his arm around the ambassador alongside several ministers and aides. None wore masks, despite being in close quarters.

The US Embassy said on Twitter on Monday that Ambassador Todd Chapman is not showing any Covid-19 symptoms but would be tested.

Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with the US President Donald Trump in Florida. Multiple members of his delegation to the US were later reported to be infected with the virus.

More than 65,000 Brazilians have so far died from Covid-19 and more than 1,500,000 have been infected. Both numbers are the world's second-highest totals, and are considered to be undercounts to the lack of widespread testing. (AP)

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Here are todays biggest headlines.

When the Presidents own medical advisers refuse to correct his misleading claim, the coronavirus trust gap grows On Saturday night, President Donald Trump made the dangerously inaccurate claim that 99% of coronavirus cases are totally harmless. On Sunday morning, one of his top health experts failed to correct the assertion, a stunning breakdown of the governments core duty to keep Americans safe and protect the public health.

Nick Cordero, Broadway actor, dies at 41 after battle with Covid-19 Nick Cordero, a Broadway actor who had admirers across the world rallying for his recovery, has died after a battle with Covid-19, according to his wife, Amanda Kloots.

As Florida sets records for Covid-19 cases, health authorities often fail to do contact tracing Despite claims that Florida traces every case of Covid-19, a CNN investigation found that health authorities in Florida, now the nations No. 1 hotspot for the virus, often fail to do contact tracing, long considered a key tool in containing an outbreak.

US-China tensions heat up in South China Sea For the first time in six years, two US Navy aircraft carriers are in the South China Sea, the latest show of military might from Washington as it pushes back against Chinas sweeping claim to much of the contested region.

The bubonic plague is back again in Chinas Inner Mongolia 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.

Man in famous 9/11 photo dies of Covid-19, family says A man seen in a famous photo of New Yorkers fleeing the 9/11 collapse of the World Trade Centers south tower has died due to Covid-19, his family told CNN.

Kanye West says hes running for president. But he hasnt actually taken any steps Kanye West said on Saturday that he is running for president in the 2020 US election, an apparent challenge to go head-to-head with President Donald Trump.

Crystal clear that drunk people cant socially distance  UK police officer Drunk people cant properly socially distance, a UK police officer warned after finishing a late shift Saturday  the first day that London (CNN)  pubs reopened in England after the coronavirus shutdown.

China is storing an epic amount of oil at sea. Heres why China bought so much foreign oil at dirt-cheap prices this spring that a massive traffic jam of tankers has formed at sea waiting to offload crude.

Tesla stock topped $1,200. Heres how it could hit $2,000 Teslas stock soared 26% during the holiday-shortened week, topping $1,000, $1,100 and $1,200 in the process. Tesla is now worth more than most blue chip firms in the S&P 500.

Coronavirus: India becomes third-highest country for virus cases  BBC News The UK governments 1.57bn support package for the arts sector has been warmly welcomed by many arts leaders, some of whom said they thought it to be at the upper end of what had been hoped for. But, as always, the devil will be in the detail.

What Donald Trump gets wrong about Somalia In our series of letters from African journalists, Ismail Einashe considers how Somalia has become caught up in the US election campaign. President Donald Trump is making Somali-American congresswoman Ilhan Omar one of the bogeywomen of his campaign for re-election to the White House in November  and by proxy her country of birth Somalia.

Louvre reopens in Paris for first time since March The Louvre museum has reopened in Paris after its closure nearly four months ago due to the coronavirus pandemic. Masks are compulsory, a one-way system is in place and numbers of visitors will be controlled. There will also be a spaced queue to view Leonardo Da Vincis famous Mona Lisa painting.

India passes Russia as Covid cases continue to rise India has recorded more than 24,000 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking its total above that of Russia. The country now has the third-largest number of confirmed cases in the world, 6,97,413. There have been 19,693 deaths.

The best films of 2020 so far BBC Cultures film critics Nicholas Barber and Caryn James pick 10 of this years highlights, including Da 5 Bloods, The Hunt and a blood-soaked Brazilian homage to Westerns. Da 5 Bloods Spike Lees latest is a passionate, kinetic, thoroughly involving epic, combining intense drama with flashes of wit.

The 15 absolute best original series on Netflix 2020 has been a particularly long year, but our streaming subscriptions flourish more than ever. Its entirely likely that you or someone you know has recently uttered the phrase Ive watched everything in my queue, or Ive seen everything on Netflix. No, sweetie, you havent.

Tesla launches S3XY short shorts, breaks its website Elon Musk wasnt kidding about launching Tesla shorts. Over the weekend, the Tesla CEO announced the new product on Twitter: Tesla short shorts with S3XY emblazoned on the back. Theyve proven so popular that the website went down at one point (as of publication time, its working again).

The best apps of 2020 (so far) Without apps, an iPhone is an expensive paperweight. Luckily for iOS and Android users, there have been a lot of great new apps released in 2020. And while our day-to-day routines have been radically altered by the global pandemic, apps are still integral to our lives.

Kanye West claims hes running for president and Elon Musk is playing along Kanye West has announced hes running for president. As if this Fourth of July wasnt already cursed enough. As scattered fireworks celebrations were beginning across crowdless cities on the East Coast Saturday night, Kanye West, the controversial rapper and fashion mogul, decided to log on to Twitter and let the world know that he would be running for president of the United States in 2020.
COEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / New Jersey Mining Company (NJMC) ("NJMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the expansion of its strategic land holdings to include the Roberts Rare Earth Element (REE) Project in Lemhi County, Idaho.

The Roberts REE Project is comprised of 12 unpatented mining claims covering an area of approximately 89 hectares (219 acres). This Project is located within the Mineral Hill Mining district, approximately 48 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the town of Salmon, Idaho. Recent sampling by Company geologists returned grades in excess of 12% combined rare earths elements.

NJMC's VP of Exploration, Rob Morgan commented, "I consider 1% to be the threshold of REE ore grade mineralization, so to see grades exceeding 12% is extraordinary. As with many higher-grade project's, if our initial sampling holds true as we advance the property, an economic ore deposit could be defined within a relatively small footprint.

In Idaho, most of the lode REE occurrences lie along a northwest trending line from Lemhi Pass, through Diamond Creek, to the Mineral Hill district, before crossing the Idaho-Montana state line. This lineament stretches at least 100 miles across central Idaho and the Roberts Project (and Diamond Creek) are on this trend. In our opinion the Roberts is the next best REE mineralized occurrence along this trend and lies northwest of NJMC's Diamond Creek Project."

The mineralization at the Roberts Project belongs to a unique group of mineral deposits known as Carbonatites. Carbonatites are carbonate rocks sourced from magmatic origins, with primary carbonate compositions exceeding 50%. These Carbonatite-type deposits are almost exclusively associated with continental rift-related tectonic settings. Out of the eight known carbonatite occurrences within the Mineral Hill District, the Roberts Project covers what NJMC geologists consider the two best occurrences.

At the Roberts, one carbonatite occurrence can be found in a northwest trending seam, which measures approximately 400 meters (1,300 feet) long and 90 meters (300 feet) wide; the second occurrence is a small carbonatite plug, measuring about 200 meters in diameter. Studies conducted by A.T. Abbott (1954) and A.L. Anderson (1958) from the Idaho Geological Survey (IGS), and E.P. Kaiser (1956) with the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) pioneered recognition of these unusual deposit types in the Mineral Hill District. Abbott reported cutting a 2.5 foot sample across the Roberts lode which returned 21.5 per cent combined rare earth oxides and thoria.

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The unusual carbonatite seam and intrusive plug occurring on the Roberts property are characterized by an exceptional REE concentration. REEs like; neodymium, praseodymium and samarium occur on the property in abundance. Similarly, as with NJMC's Diamond Creek project, REE's are not the only valuable commodities found on the properties; gold and niobium are also present according to historic information and NJMC sampling, and both may prove to be desirable by-products should these properties advance to production. Recently collected samples from the Roberts property show assays with gold values up to 8.8 grams per tonne (0.25 ounce per ton) and niobium as high as 0.50 %.

Mr. Morgan further commented, "Grade is king in our industry, and the grades of the combined total rare earth elements at our Roberts prospect equals and/or surpasses the grades found at many other world-class REE ore deposits. The commercial potential of these types of REE deposits was first recognized in the 1950's, however clean energy, battery and defense-related technologies had not matured, with negligible demand until decades later."

NJMC President and CEO John Swallow stated, "With one asset already in production and preparing for the next stage of its expansion/development, we are in the unique situation of utilizing our existing skillsets and expertise to secure a position in REE's that we have long considered for their potential to add to the growth of the Company (should opportunity and timing converge). Furthermore, the rigorous assault on the U.S.'s supply chains during the COVID pandemic has shown the general public the strategic importance of developing domestic supplies of all resources needed by the United States.

Supporting our point of view are some of the following key factors:

A low-carbon future is not possible without a tremendous amount of critical minerals.

Defensive readiness is subject to reliable sources of critical minerals and domestic supply chains.

An actionable U.S. "supply chain stress test" does not exist.

China currently supplies and largely controls the world's supply of critical minerals.

The U.S. is 100% reliant on China for many of its critical minerals.

China, as part of its national "going out" strategy, has invested heavily across the world to control foreign deposits and processing - while essentially outsourcing substandard environmental practices.

Idaho is ranked the #7 most favorable mining jurisdiction in the world in a current survey of the world's best regions for mining investment by the Fraser Institute.

The USGS and the IGS have recognized and published our "national inventory" of critical mineral resources, with two of the most promising prospects located in Idaho.

(Idaho-based) New Jersey Mining Company is a proven mine developer, producer and processor.

New Jersey Mining controls two of the most promising critical mineral occurrences in Idaho.

Mr. Swallow concluded, "Our approach with regard to Diamond Creek and Roberts is to seek collaborations, partnerships and other approaches toward the funding of Research & Development programs to advance these properties into reliable sources of raw materials. We feel these properties have the potential to provide some of the important raw materials required by our country's technology and defense sectors. The advancement of our Idaho rare earth properties is similar to that of a tech company possessing a promising patent, technological edge or other valuable advantage over domestic upstarts and foreign competitors.

I understand that it took us 192 years to amass $1 trillion in debt and that we are adding almost that amount each month due to ramifications from the virus (and other policies). In addition to "whatever it takes" money creation and our immediate need for PPE, food and energy, many folks have now realized just how reliant we are on China for our defensive readiness and control of our own low-carbon future. In my opinion, the debate is no longer about why any of this is happening, it is about the consequences of it happening and not falling victim to the monetary and critical minerals uncertainty that lies ahead."

Qualified person

NJMC's Vice President of Exploration, Robert John Morgan, PG, PLS is a qualified person and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this press release.

About New Jersey Mining Company

Headquartered in North Idaho, New Jersey Mining Company is the rare example of a vertically integrated operating junior mining company. NJMC produces gold at the Golden Chest Mine and recently consolidated the Murray Gold Belt (MGB) for the first time in over 100-years. The MGB is an overlooked gold producing region within the Coeur d'Alene Mining District, located north of the prolific Silver Valley. In addition to gold, the Company maintains a presence in the Critical Minerals sector and is focused on identifying and exploring for Critical Minerals (Rare Earth Minerals) important to our country's defensive readiness and a low-carbon future.

New Jersey Mining Company possesses the in-house skillsets of a much larger company while enjoying the flexibility of a smaller and more entrepreneurial corporate structure. Its production-based strategy, by design, provides the flexibility to advance the Murray Gold Belt and/or its Critical Minerals holdings on its own or with a strategic partner in a manner that is consistent with its existing philosophy and culture. NJMC has established a high-quality, early to advanced-stage asset base in four historic mining districts of Idaho and Montana, which includes the currently producing Golden Chest Mine. Management is stakeholder focused and owns more than 15-percent of NJMC stock.

The Company's common stock trades on the OTC-QB under the symbol "NJMC."

For more information on New Jersey Mining Company go to www.newjerseymining.com or call:

Monique Hayes, Corporate Secretary/Investor Relations

Email: monique@newjerseymining.com

(208) 625-9001

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that New Jersey Mining Company believes are reasonable, but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the Company's ability to identify additional resource or expand development at the Golden Chest Mine, the risk that the mentioned rare earth minerals can be further defined or developed into an economic reserve or resource, or that gold or other valuable minerals can be identified as a byproduct of these potential resources, an increased risk associated with production activities occurring without completion of a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including risks inherent in developing mining projects, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold and silver and the potential impact on revenues from changes in the market price of gold and cash costs, a sustained lower price environment, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. NJMC disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: New Jersey Mining Company





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/596542/New-Jersey-Mining-Company-Acquires-Roberts-Rare-Earth-Element-Prospect-in-Idaho




HOUSTON , July 6, 2020 /CNW/ -- Physician-investigators at Johns Hopkins University Hospital report on the promising data of treatment of COVID-19 induced acute respiratory distress syndrome with allogeneic, cord blood derived T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapy (manufactured by Cellenkos), published in peer reviewed journal of Annals of Internal Medicine. Both patients were critically ill and intubated (one on ECMO). Both had failed Tociluzimab (Actemra, Roche) and had multiorgan failure. Patients received cell therapy under FDA Emergency Use IND for up to 3 doses. Clinical improvement was evident within 48 hours of first infusion and correlated with concurrent dampening of the cytokine storm as demonstrated by a rapid decline in peripheral biomarkers including lactate, C-reactive protein, and Ferritin as well as decreased blood levels of inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IFN and TNF .

Cellenkos logo (PRNewsfoto/Cellenkos, Inc.)

"We are excited by these early data in very sick patients suffering from COVID-19 ARDS. We recognize that there are several factors at play but believe that the temporal relationship between Treg infusions and patient recovery cannot be ignored," said Dr. Douglas Gladstone , principal investigator at Johns Hopkins . "We look forward to evaluating this promising therapy in the FDA-approved randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of cryopreserved, allogeneic, off-the-shelf, cord blood derived T-regulatory cells (CK0802) in intubated patients suffering from COVID-19 ARDS. Planned correlative assays during this trial will provide insights into the mechanism of action of CK0802 and its relation to clinical outcomes."

The multicenter clinical trial is set to launch in Q3 2020, with patients assigned to treatment with multiple doses of CK0802 or placebo, with two co-primary outcomes of safety (no severe toxicity) and efficacy (alive and extubated at day 28). CK0802 will be manufactured by Cellenkos and shipped to the clinical site to be infused at the patient's bedside.

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"We are very encouraged by these early clinical observations and remain fully committed to bring forward this promising, potentially life-saving therapy into market. We believe that our product will materially change the fatal outcome of COVID-19, allowing for the needed (necessary) time to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine," said Tara Sadeghi , VP, Clinical Operations at Cellenkos. "Our company-owned clean room facility allows us to have full control of the manufacturing processes, supply chain, and distribution logistics. We are confident that we can deliver on this multicenter clinical trial."

Since 2017, the company has owned and operated an independent ISO-7 cleanroom manufacturing facility in Houston , engaged in process development and manufacture of clinical cell therapy products, including testing and quality control. Staffed with experienced personnel, the facility is equipped to support product supply for the clinical trials. Cellenkos already holds two FDA INDs for inflammatory bone marrow failure syndromes and demyelinating polyneuropathy. Cellenkos' CK0801 cell therapy product has demonstrated a high degree of safety in bone marrow failure syndromes, in the first two dose level cohorts completed to date at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (NCT03773393).

About Cellenkos Treg platform

Cellenkos Treg platform aims to develop tailored T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapeutics for various underserved inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders. The technology allows for varying degrees of immune responses against antigens of choice as well as immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases.

About CK0802

CK0802 is a novel allogenic, off the shelf, cell therapy product consisting of Treg cells derived from clinical-grade umbilical cord blood units and manufactured using Cellenkos' proprietary process. The product is cryopreserved and readily available off-the-shelf, without any requirement for HLA matching, and is infused intravenously. One manufacturing campaign can generate multiple doses for infusion into several different patients. The multi-center trial of CK0802 will examine safety and efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19 ARDS. It is a cryopreserved product that will be manufactured by Cellenkos and shipped to the participating clinical site, where it can be thawed and infused at patient's bedside.

Treg cells in CK0802 express lung homing markers on their cell surfaces. Once the cells reach the tissue, Treg cells are believed to disarm and dampen the cytokine storm by engaging with antigen-presenting cells including the pneumocytes that line the alveolar epithelium and drive the inflammatory reaction. Rather than indiscriminate therapy with a drug such as an inhibitor of single cytokine such as IL-6, the T-regulatory cells can potentially calm inflammation exactly where it is most active, without causing a more general "global" immunosuppression that would be harmful in a virally infected patient.

About Cellenkos, Inc.

Cellenkos is founded on technologies arising from the laboratory investigations of Simrit Parmar , MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at the University of Texas at MD Anderson Cancer Center and funded by Golden Meditech.

About COVID-19

There were a total of 11,565,414 COVID-19 cases confirmed globally with 536,649 deaths ( July 6, 2020 ), according to Johns Hopkins University data. Gilead's antiviral Remdesivir is the only therapeutic agent specifically approved for the treatment of COVID-19. Although recent reports have suggested that dexamethasone has a beneficial effect on mortality in COVID-19 patients on ventilation, its' role among treatment modalities remains unclear.

For more information, please visit www.cellenkosinc.com.

CONTACT: bd@cellenkosinc.com

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SOURCE Cellenkos, Inc.

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C44U-M, C44P-R, and R75H series offer reliable power conversion and power density performance



FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KEMET (KEMET or the Company), a subsidiary of Yageo Corporation (Yageo) (TAIEX: 2327), a leading global supplier of electronic components, today announces three new series of metallized polypropylene dielectric film capacitors: C44U-M, C44P-R, and R75H. Constructed with an aluminum canister design, both the C44U-M and C44P-R power film series address the increasing demand for high-power conversion systems in green energy and industrial applications. These capacitors also support power conversion in energy storage systems, IGBT and wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices. The R75H series, a radial box pulse capacitor, is similar in that it supports these applications, but also addresses the automotive sector with its high voltage, AEC-Q200 certified design.

The latest C44U-M series features a DC-Link and DC filter power film capacitor designed for high-power conversion systems applications in green energy, industrial, and energy storage systems. It supports DC networks and proportionally supplies high current based on circuit needs or load demandsa common characteristic in wind, solar, and storage energy technologies. Its high DC voltage load capability (1,800 VDC) and high ripple current make this UL810-certified capacitor optimal for high capacitance while minimizing ESR. Similarly, the new C44P-R series is UL-810-certified and features high current capability for input and output AC filtering (up to 1,000 VAC) in solar converters, wind turbines, uninterruptible power supplies, and power factor correction systems. These cylindrical aluminum canister capacitors allow for higher energy density, extended life, reliability, and quality constructions due to our fully vertically integrated manufacturing facility in Bulgaria.

Designed with a radial box style for PCB mounting, the R75H Pulse series includes the same high energy density, extended life, and reliability benefits. This series meets one of the most rigorous reliability standards in the industry with its high voltage range (up to 2,000 VDC), high capacitance range, high dv/dt capability, and AEC-Q200 certified design. These automotive-grade capacitors can support power conversion for on-board electronics systems and on-board battery management systems in vehicles, micro-inverters in solar panels, and WBG semiconductor devices in power supply systems. This series is designed for versatility in harsh conditions due to its THB (Temperature Humidity Bias) test capability of up to 85 C/ 85 R.H and operating temperature up to 125C. Its high temperature capability is well-suited for applications that require miniaturization and fewer capacitors due to elevated temperatures and frequencies, such as resonant tank circuits with WBG semiconductor components.

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These film capacitors launch at a time when renewable (green) energy and technologies are growing at a steady pace. In the International Energy Agencys (IEA) Renewables 2019 report * , the total global renewable-based power capacity will grow by 50 percent between 2019 and 2024. Solar photovoltaics technology, utilized by solar panels, accounts for over half of the growth, while onshore wind technology accounts for 25 percent of the growth. With major growth in China specifically, Asia accounts for most of the global renewable capacity expansion over the forecast period. Along the same line in automotive technologies, the market for on-board chargers for electric vehicles is estimated to reach $10.8 billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 22.5% from 2020 to 2027*.



The C44U-M, C44P-R, and R75H series are available immediately via KEMET distributors. To learn more about these power conversion technologies, visit https://www.kemet.com/en/us/applications/power-conversion.html .



*Sources:

Renewables 2019 by IEA, October 2019



Electric Vehicle On Board Charger Market by Power Output, Vehicle Type, and Propulsion Type: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 by Allied Market Research, July 2020



About KEMET

KEMET, a subsidiary of Yageo Corporation (TAIEX: 2327), helps our customers build tomorrow with the broadest selection of capacitor technologies in the industry, along with an expanding range of electromechanical devices, electromagnetic compatibility solutions and supercapacitors. With over 100-years of making the world a better, safer, and more connected place to live, our vision is to be the preferred supplier of electronic component solutions demanding the highest standards of quality, delivery and service. Additional information about KEMET can be found at www.kemet.com .

Contact for editors:

Fernando Spada, KEMET

Tel: +1 954 766 2815

Email: fernandospada@kemet.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3163dd43-41ee-4c57-9a95-c37dc772e1d1




SEATTLE, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kidder Mathews, the largest independently owned commercial real estate firm on the West Coast, has completed its 3-year succession plan and appointed the firm's President & COO, Bill Frame, to CEO, and Brian Hatcher, former Regional President of Brokerage, to President & COO. Jeff Lyon, who has served as Chairman & CEO for 20 years, will remain Chairman of the firm.

Bill Frame, CEO & Brian Hatcher, President & COO

Bill Frame, who has been a top producing broker, has served on the board, and has had various leadership roles in his 28-year career at Kidder said, "This is an important period of expansion for our company, and I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Kidder Mathews at such an exciting time. We've grown dramatically from four offices in Washington to 22 offices in five states with 900 people. Although we are an established and successful 50-year old company in the Northwest, we've made an accelerated push to expand over the past 3+ years in Southern California. That is where we will continue to focus our immediate efforts to expand beyond when the timing is right. We have a unique brand, and it has served us well to expand to regions beyond our Northwest headquarters. Our entrepreneurial culture, the opportunity for professionals to become owners, and our outstanding marketing and support services has fueled our ability to attract typically difficult-to-recruit high-quality professionals. I am very excited to continue to build on our momentum."

Brian Hatcher, the firm's new President & COO, has been with the firm 23 years, nine of them as President of Brokerage. He is highly regarded across the industry and in the firm, and he has been instrumental in assisting with the firm's strategy and growth. A respected and experienced leader having served on the firm's board, its strategic planning committee, and he has held various leadership roles in industry groups, Hatcher will be responsible for the 450-person brokerage infrastructure and its growth across all regions and corporate operations. "We really do have an attractive culture here, and I'm grateful to have such a key role in upholding it. It's long been the advantage that allows us to attract and retain some of the best professionals in the industry," said Hatcher.

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Over his remarkable 20-year career as Kidder's CEO, Jeff Lyon has won multiple awards for his leadership style and significant growth of the firm. His efforts have established Kidder Mathews as the premier privately held commercial real estate firm on the West Coast, growing the firm's footprint across five states and increasing revenue from $27 million to $212 million, and transaction volume from $769 million to $12.3 billion. "I'm proud of where we are today, and I have confidence in our seasoned leadership team to lead our continued growth of Kidder Mathews," said Lyon, the firm's Chairman.

About Kidder Mathews

Kidder Mathews is the largest independently owned commercial real estate firm on the West Coast, with 900 real estate professionals and staff in 22 offices in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona. Kidder Mathews offers a complete range of brokerage, appraisal, property management, consulting, project & construction management, and debt & equity finance services for all property types. The firm performs $9.6 billion in transactions, manages 70 million square feet of space, and conducts over 1,680 appraisals annually. For more information, visit kidder.com.



Contact:

Karen Benoit

Sr. Vice President Marketing

Kidder Mathews

206.296.9600

karen.benoit@kidder.com

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SOURCE Kidder Mathews
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Kuwait, Government of

Global Credit Research - 06 Jul 2020

New York, July 06, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") reviews all of its ratings periodically in accordance with regulations -- either annually or, in the case of governments and certain EU-based supranational organisations, semi-annually. This periodic review is unrelated to the requirement to specify calendar dates on which EU and certain other sovereign and sub-sovereign rating actions may take place.

Moody's conducts these periodic reviews through portfolio reviews in which Moody's reassesses the appropriateness of each outstanding rating in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. Since 1st January 2019, Moody's issues a press release following each periodic review announcing its completion.

Moody's has now completed the periodic review of a group of issuers that includes Kuwait and may include related ratings. The review did not involve a rating committee, and this publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future; credit ratings and/or outlook status cannot be changed in a portfolio review and hence are not impacted by this announcement. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history.

The credit profile of Kuwait (issuer rating Aa2) is supported by the country's economic strength score of "a2", which incorporates the country's exceptionally high wealth levels and vast hydrocarbon reserves; its institutions and governance strength score of " ba1" which is derived by its credible monetary policy framework and strong banking system oversight, balanced against a deterioration in some aspects of the institutional framework and government effectiveness due to an inability to execute planned fiscal and economic reforms; its fiscal strength score of "aaa" which is supported by the low level of government debt, and vast sovereign wealth fund assets accrued from large fiscal surpluses prior to 2015; and its susceptibility to event risks score of "ba" reflecting its exposure to regional geopolitical risks, high level of reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, which are offset by a relatively neutral foreign policy stance.

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This document summarizes Moody's view as of the publication date and will not be updated until the next periodic review announcement, which will incorporate material changes in credit circumstances (if any) during the intervening period.

The principal methodology used for this review was Sovereign Ratings Methodology published in November 2019. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.

This announcement applies only to EU rated and EU endorsed ratings. Non EU rated and non EU endorsed ratings may be referenced above to the extent necessary, if they are part of the same analytical unit.

This publication does not announce a credit rating action. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history.

David Rogovic Vice President - Senior Analyst Sovereign Risk Group Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 250 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007 U.S.A. JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Marie Diron MD - Sovereign Risk Sovereign Risk Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 250 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007 U.S.A. JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653

 2020 Moody's Corporation, Moody's Investors Service, Inc., Moody's Analytics, Inc. and/or their licensors and affiliates (collectively, "MOODY'S"). All rights reserved.

CREDIT RATINGS ISSUED BY MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE, INC. AND/OR ITS CREDIT RATINGS AFFILIATES ARE MOODY'S CURRENT OPINIONS OF THE RELATIVE FUTURE CREDIT RISK OF ENTITIES, CREDIT COMMITMENTS, OR DEBT OR DEBT-LIKE SECURITIES, AND MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND INFORMATION PUBLISHED BY MOODY'S (COLLECTIVELY, "PUBLICATIONS") MAY INCLUDE SUCH CURRENT OPINIONS. MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE DEFINES CREDIT RISK AS THE RISK THAT AN ENTITY MAY NOT MEET ITS CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AS THEY COME DUE AND ANY ESTIMATED FINANCIAL LOSS IN THE EVENT OF DEFAULT OR IMPAIRMENT. SEE MOODY'S RATING SYMBOLS AND DEFINITIONS PUBLICATION FOR INFORMATION ON THE TYPES OF CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS ADDRESSED BY MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE CREDIT RATINGS. CREDIT RATINGS DO NOT ADDRESS ANY OTHER RISK, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: LIQUIDITY RISK, MARKET VALUE RISK, OR PRICE VOLATILITY. CREDIT RATINGS, NON-CREDIT ASSESSMENTS ("ASSESSMENTS"), AND OTHER OPINIONS INCLUDED IN MOODY'S PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT STATEMENTS OF CURRENT OR HISTORICAL FACT. MOODY'S PUBLICATIONS MAY ALSO INCLUDE QUANTITATIVE MODEL-BASED ESTIMATES OF CREDIT RISK AND RELATED OPINIONS OR COMMENTARY PUBLISHED BY MOODY'S ANALYTICS, INC. AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES. MOODY'S CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS, OTHER OPINIONS AND PUBLICATIONS DO NOT CONSTITUTE OR PROVIDE INVESTMENT OR FINANCIAL ADVICE, AND MOODY'S CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS, OTHER OPINIONS AND PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT AND DO NOT PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO PURCHASE, SELL, OR HOLD PARTICULAR SECURITIES. MOODY'S CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS, OTHER OPINIONS AND PUBLICATIONS DO NOT COMMENT ON THE SUITABILITY OF AN INVESTMENT FOR ANY PARTICULAR INVESTOR. MOODY'S ISSUES ITS CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS AND OTHER OPINIONS AND PUBLISHES ITS PUBLICATIONS WITH THE EXPECTATION AND UNDERSTANDING THAT EACH INVESTOR WILL, WITH DUE CARE, MAKE ITS OWN STUDY AND EVALUATION OF EACH SECURITY THAT IS UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR PURCHASE, HOLDING, OR SALE.

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- 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.
VC-backed Clara setting out to remake the world of startup legals

LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clara, the London-based legaltech company, today announced that it has secured the rights to incorporate companies in two of the world's most popular jurisdictions for raising venture capital: the Cayman Islands and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Clara's capacity to form Cayman and ADGM companies is a result of its acquisition of Foundra Corporate Services, a leading provider of company formation services in ADGM and its partnership with an affiliate in the Cayman Islands. With these deals, Clara takes another step towards providing startups with an automated, online solution for many of their legal needs.

Clara founding team - includes Patrick Rogers, Lee McMahon, Hannah McKinlay, Ahmed Arif, Arthur Guest and Foundra Managing Director Kathryn Burke

"Startups are looking for a new approach to help them overcome the pain and complexity of dealing with legal matters," said Patrick Rogers, CEO and Co-Founder of Clara. "These transactions will allow us to completely streamline the customer experience of incorporating Cayman and ADGM companies  adding further value to the Clara platform, which digitizes and automates startup legals."

These developments will enable Clara to further enhance its offering to startups, creating a value chain of incorporation and ongoing management of companies. Clara's digital formations module, which has already been integrated with both DocuSign and Checkout.com, will be launched in August and will initially focus on Cayman and ADGM.

Under the terms of the transactions, Foundra and its Cayman affiliate will be re-branded as "Clara Formations".

Clara is led by a team of seasoned lawyers and technologists who have worked at some of the top companies within their sectors. The company's platform automates many of the tasks currently performed by startup lawyers including: forming companies, drafting agreements, building cap tables, structuring data rooms and predictively educating founders on legal concepts. The company has raised US$3 million in seed financing from institutional investors, including 500 Startups and Techstars.

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Foundra was established in 2018 and quickly became the leading provider of incorporation services for ADGM, which is one of the world's leading financial centers. To date the company has established more than 400 companies. "Clara is an ideal partner to advance our mission," said Kathryn Burke, Managing Director of Foundra. "With Clara's tech resources and global platform, we will be able to accelerate innovation in the company formation space. I could not be more excited for what lies ahead."

Clara plans to add to the list of jurisdictions where they will be able to incorporate companies. They are currently considering: Delaware, Singapore, and the UK.

About Clara

Clara is a legal operating system that digitises and automates startup legal expertise. Clara educates and empowers founders to address many of the tasks currently performed by lawyers, including incorporating companies, drafting agreements, building cap tables and structuring data rooms. At the same time, Clara acts as a collaboration and information sharing tool for founders, investors and lawyers so that the key players in the global startup ecosystem can work together more efficiently.

Clara Technologies Limited Logo

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SOURCE Clara Technologies Limited
LONDON, UK, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leo Holdings Corp. (Leo) (LHC), today announced that, due to the public health and safety concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and recommendations and orders from federal and New York authorities, the extraordinary general meeting of Leos shareholders, which will be held on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 9:00 a.m., New York City Time (the General Meeting) will be held remotely by teleconference. The purpose of the General Meeting is to vote on certain proposals relating to the previously announced Business Combination Agreement, dated as of April 23, 2020 (the Business Combination Agreement), by and among Leo, Digital Media Solutions LLC (DMS) and the other parties thereto.

The General Meeting will be accessible by dialing (833) 780-7941 (toll free - North America) or (469) 333-9522 (International). Shareholders will be able to ask questions to Leos management via the conference line.

General Information

All information about the General Meeting, including the definitive proxy statement, is available at https://www.cstproxy.com/leoholdingscorp/2020.

In connection with the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (Business Combination Agreement), Leo has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) a Registration Statement on Form S-4 (the Registration Statement) and mailed a definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents to its shareholders. This press release is not a substitute for the Registration Statement, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus or any other document that Leo will send to its shareholders in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (the Business Combination). Investors and security holders of Leo are advised to read the definitive proxy statement/prospectus in connection with Leos solicitation of proxies for its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to be held to approve the Business Combination (and related matters) because the definitive proxy statement/prospectus contains important information about the Business Combination and the parties to the Business Combination. The definitive proxy statement/prospectus was mailed to shareholders of Leo as of June 24, 2020, the record date established for voting on the Business Combination. Shareholders are also be able to obtain copies of the definitive proxy statement/prospectus, without charge, at the SECs website at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to: Leo Holdings Corp., 21 Grosvenor Place, London SW1X 7HF, United Kingdom.

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Participants in the Solicitation

Leo and its directors, executive officers, other members of management, and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies of Leos shareholders in connection with the Business Combination. Investors and security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names and interests in the Business Combination of Leos directors and officers in Leos filings with the SEC, including Leos Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the SEC on March 13, 2020, as well as in the Registration Statement, which includes the definitive proxy statement/prospectus of Leo for the Business Combination. Shareholders can obtain copies of Leos filings with the SEC, without charge, at the SECs website at www.sec.gov.

About Leo Holdings Corp.

Leo is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses.

About Digital Media Solutions LLC

Digital Media Solutions, LLC (DMS) is a leading provider of technology and digital performance marketing solutions leveraging innovative, performance-driven brand direct and marketplace solutions to connect consumers and advertisers. DMS deploys a robust database of consumer intelligence and leverages massive proprietary media distribution to provide customer acquisition campaigns that grow businesses. Continuing to experience explosive year-over-year growth, DMS has been continuously recognized on the Inc. 5000 list, securing its sixth consecutive ranking in 2019, and the Entrepreneur magazine 360 list. Named one of Americas Best Places to Work by Inc. magazine and awarded the Excellence in Lead Generation Award by the LeadsCouncil, DMS brings together some of the industrys most knowledgeable people, efficient processes and sophisticated technology across the digital marketing spectrum.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Leos and DMSs actual results may differ from their expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as expect, estimate, project, budget, forecast, anticipate, intend, plan, may, will, could, should, believes, predicts, potential, continue, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Leos and DMSs expectations with respect to future performance and anticipated financial impacts of the proposed Business Combination, the satisfaction of the closing conditions to the Business Combination and the timing of the completion of the Business Combination. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Most of these factors are outside Leos and DMSs control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Business Combination Agreement; (2) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Leo and DMS following the announcement of the Business Combination Agreement and the transactions contemplated therein; (3) the inability to complete the proposed Business Combination, including due to failure to obtain approval of the shareholders of Leo or other conditions to closing in the Business Combination Agreement; (4) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Business Combination Agreement or could otherwise cause the Business Combination to fail to close; (5) the amount of redemption requests made by Leos shareholders; (6) the inability to obtain or maintain the listing of the post-business combination companys common stock on the New York Stock Exchange following the proposed Business Combination; (7) the risk that the proposed Business Combination disrupts current plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the proposed Business Combination; (8) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed Business Combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably and retain its key employees; (9) costs related to the proposed Business Combination; (10) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (11) the possibility that DMS or the combined company may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and (12) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the proxy statement relating to the proposed Business Combination, including those under Risk Factors in the Registration Statement, and in Leos other filings with the SEC. Some of these risks and uncertainties may in the future be amplified by the COVID-19 outbreak and there may be additional risks that we consider immaterial or which are unknown. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks. Leo cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Leo cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Leo does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

No Offer or Solicitation

This press release is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase, nor a solicitation of an offer to sell, subscribe for or buy any securities or the solicitation of any vote in any jurisdiction pursuant to the Business Combination or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer or securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act and otherwise in accordance with applicable law.

Investor Contact

Sherif Guirgis

Leo Holdings Corp.

(310) 800-1005

guirgis@lioncapital.com

Edward Parker

(646) 677-1864

edward.parker@icrinc.com

Media Contact

Jack Murphy

(646) 677-1834

jack.murphy@icrinc.com
Popular Instagram personality Vera Sidika has relocated from the Capital city to Mombasa over health complications.

Speaking to Standard, the socialite said the cold weather in Nairobi forced her out of the city to the much warmer coastal region. She said she developed a serious flu that threatened her health.

I started sneezing and caught the flu. Everyone started looking at me as if I had contracted Covid-19 and that forced me to get tested. I am well though. I am doing better here, she said.

My voice had sort of gone and I have had to take care of my health; what I am taking and what I am wearing. Mombasa is warmer. The weather here is good and I trust I will be here quite a while, she added.

It remains unclear how Vera traveled from Nairobi to Mombasa given the lockdown order of both cities, which has since been lifted.

Following Uhurus briefing on Monday where he lifted the cessation of movement order, Vera invited those who were trapped out of Mombasa to the city.

Yall that were trapped and couldnt get to Mombasa coz of lockdown can come to Mombasa now, she wrote.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Lucky Minerals Inc. (LKY.V)(OTC PINK:LKMNF)(LKY.F) ("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.

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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




VANCOUVER, BC, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Luminex Resources Corp. (TSXV: LR) (US OTC: LUMIF) (the "Company" or "Luminex") is pleased to release Condor Camp deposit drilling results for holes CC20-30, CC20-31 and CC20-32. The Company has completed approximately 17,800 metres in 32 holes at the Camp deposit since the campaign began. Holes CC20-29 to 32 were not included in the maiden mineral resource estimate for the Camp deposit that was released March 31, 2020 and have started to delineate a new high-grade area that adds mineralization to the deeper southeast area of the deposit. This area is open along strike in both directions and to depth.

Holes CC20-30 and CC20- 31 stepped out into the area above two of the deposits' highest-grade intercepts, in holes CC20-29 and CC20-12, where drill coverage had previously been insufficient for resource categorization. Hole CC20-31 intercepted 25 metres (13.5 metres true width) of 3.3 g/t gold and 31.5 g/t silver. This area exhibits higher zinc grades than the rest of the Camp deposit (see Table 1), possibly increasing as drilling vectors towards the intrusive mineralization source. Hole CC20-32 stepped out to the southwest approximately 80 metres from hole CC20-21 and continued to expand the deposit in this direction. The location of the new drill holes in relation to the rest of the Camp deposit are shown in Figure 1 below.

Luminex is currently drilling with one rig in the Soledad Baja and Soledad deposit areas. Soledad Baja, the immediate southeast surface extension of the Camp deposit and the Soledad deposit, represent a continuation of the trend to the southeast from the Camp area. Approximately 1,750 metres has been completed in three holes to date (see Figure 2).

The Government of Ecuador has mandated that companies in "Strategic Industries", a denomination that includes mining, continue operations during the COVID-19 State of Exception. Luminex continues to follow the Ecuadorian health and safety requirements as well as strict in-house safety protocols developed based on World Health Organization guidelines to minimize risk to employees and contractors from COVID-19. To date the Company has had no occurrences of COVID-19 at its Condor project. All incoming employees and contractors are tested and screened prior to all shift changes.

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Table 1  Drill Hole results





Hole Azimuth / Dip

(degrees) /

Depth (m) From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) True Width

(m) Gold

(g/t) Silver

(g/t) Zinc

(%) CC20-30 30/-60/849.85 m 304.0 312.0 8.0 3.3 1.48 5.5 0.72 Incl.

310.0 312.0 2.0 0.8 3.68 5.5 0.74 And

358.0 360.0 2.0 0.8 2.65 1.5 0.10 And

407.0 409.0 2.0 0.8 4.08 13.0 0.76 And

420.0 429.0 9.0 3.4 3.16 48.0 2.20 And

451.0 513.0 62.0 22.2 1.45 11.4 0.85 Incl.

499.0 505.0 6.0 2.4 3.10 13.4 1.32

















CC20-31 30/-55/775.23 m 521.0 546.0 25.0 13.5 3.30 31.5 0.96 Incl.

541.0 542.0 1.0 0.5 48.70 293.0 7.13 And

590.0 593.0 3.0 2.8 2.40 10.0 0.16 And

603.0 604.0 1.0 0.9 2.01 7.6 0.77 And

608.0 609.0 1.0 0.9 3.60 41.2 0.17 And

673.0 674.0 1.0 0.9 2.03 10.7 0.11

















CC20-32 30/-50/535.10 m 222.0 227.0 5.0 3.1 2.33 3.4 0.77 And

329.3 330.0 0.8 0.5 8.12 118.0 10.60 And

342.0 344.0 2.0 1.3 3.00 22.9 0.78 And

402.0 404.0 2.0 1.3 2.08 9.5 0.13 And

408.0 410.0 2.0 1.3 2.09 14.4 0.56 And

439.0 440.0 1.0 0.6 3.53 7.2 0.68

Intervals calculated using a lower limit of 0.5 g/t Au with a maximum inclusion of up to four continuous metres below cut-off and the highest gold and silver values used in the reported weighted averages are 48.7 g/t Au and 293.0 g/t Ag. More drilling is needed to determine the geological data required to calculate true widths for the intercepts.

Figure 1: Vertical Longitudinal Section showing best drill intercepts from the Camp Zone. The camp zone dips southeast at approximately -80 degrees. New drill hole results in this release highlighted in yellow. (CNW Group/Luminex Resources Corp.)

Figure 2. Geological map with surface and drill core samples showing the main target areas in the area of the Camp deposit. (CNW Group/Luminex Resources Corp.)

Quality Assurance

All Luminex sample assay results have been independently monitored through a quality assurance / quality control ("QA/QC") protocol which includes the insertion of blind standards, blanks as well as pulp and reject duplicate samples. Logging and sampling are completed at Luminex's core handling facility located at the Condor property. Drill core is diamond sawn on site and half drill-core samples are securely transported to ALS Laboratories' ("ALS") sample preparation facility in Quito, Ecuador. Sample pulps are sent to ALS's lab in Lima, Peru for analysis where gold content is determined by fire assay of a 50-gram charge with ICP finish.

Silver and other elements are also determined by ICP methods. Over-limit samples assaying greater than 10 g/t gold and 100 g/t silver are re-analyzed by ALS using fire assay with a gravimetric finish. Luminex is not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein. ALS Laboratories is independent of Luminex.

Qualified Persons

Leo Hathaway, P. Geo, Senior Vice President Exploration of Luminex and the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed, verified and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release and has verified the data underlying that scientific and technical information.

About Luminex Resources

Luminex Resources Corp. (TSXV:LR) is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on gold and copper projects in Ecuador. Luminex's inferred and indicated mineral resources are located at the Condor Gold-Copper project in Zamora-Chinchipe Province, southeast Ecuador. Luminex also holds a large and highly prospective land package in Ecuador, including the Tarqui and Pegasus projects, which are being co-developed with BHP Group plc and Anglo American respectively.

Further details are available on the Company's website at https://luminexresources.com/.

To receive news releases please sign up at https://www.luminexresources.com/contact/contact-us/.

LUMINEX RESOURCES CORP.

Signed: "Marshall Koval"

Marshall Koval, CEO and Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/luminex-intercepts-25-metres-of-3-3-gt-gold-and-31-5-gt-silver-at-camp-301088965.html

SOURCE Luminex Resources Corp.
(Bloomberg) -- Augmented reality startup Magic Leap Inc. has hired Peggy Johnson, a Microsoft Corp. executive, to take over as chief executive officer starting next month, as the company continues to reshape itself as a provider of business services.

Magic Leap had been one of the buzziest startups in recent years. It raised more than $2 billion from high-profile investors including Alphabet Inc., largely on the promise that it would turn augmented reality into a viable consumer technology. Rony Abovitz, the company founder and CEO, became the de facto evangelist for augmented reality, with bold and colorful pronouncements of its potential.

But the Florida-based company struggled to execute, and sales of its flagship product, the Magic Leap One headset, never took off after extensive delays. The company said late last year it would focus more on business applications, and cut more than half of its workforce in April. Selling to companies is a far different prospect than building a consumer product, and one Abovitz rarely showed as much enthusiasm for. He announced in May he would step down once the company found a replacement.

Johnson, who spent more than two decades at Qualcomm Inc., brings extensive experience negotiating partnerships with other large businesses. She joined Microsoft in 2014 as one of CEO Satya Nadellas first major hires, at a time when the software makers dealings with other companies were often contentious. As head of business development, Johnson worked to repair Microsofts relationships with partners like Salesforce.com Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., becoming the face of a new, friendlier company. In 2016 she started Microsofts venture capital arm M12.

I look forward to strategically building enduring relationships that connect Magic Leaps game-changing technology and pipeline to the wide-ranging digital needs of enterprises of all sizes and industries, Johnson said Tuesday in a statement.

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Microsoft also makes one of the main rivals to Magic Leap, the Hololens, which it has always positioned primarily as a business tool. A Microsoft spokesperson said the company is satisfied that any confidentiality issues arising from Johnson moving to a direct competitor have been addressed.

Microsoft will conduct an internal and external search to find Johnsons replacement and her duties will be assumed in the short term by Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood, who already oversees mergers and acquisitions, according to a spokesperson.

(Updates with background on Johnson in the fourth 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.
FILE PHOTO: AirAsia planes are seen parked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, during the movement control order due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Sepang

By Mei Mei Chu and Jamie Freed

KUALA LUMPUR/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Malaysia's flagship budget carrier AirAsia Group Bhd expects its 2020 capacity to be just 45%-60% of last year's levels due to the coronavirus outbreak and to fill 70-75% of seats this year compared with the usual 85%.

The forecast was released in a presentation posted on the airline's website on Tuesday, a day after it reported its biggest first-quarter loss since it listed on the Malaysian bourse in November 2004, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

AirAsia expects travel demand to rebound to an extent in 2021, with capacity reaching 85% of its 2019 levels and load factor, a measure of the percentage of seats filled, returning to 85% in 2021, according to the presentation.

AirAsia posted a loss of 803.3 million ringgit ($187.91 million) for the quarter ended March, from 96.1 million ringgit net profit in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 15% to 2.31 billion ringgit.

AirAsia shares were down 2.8% at 0545 GMT on Tuesday.

The company management had guided that an equity raising via a placement or rights issue looked imminent, Affin Hwang Capital analyst Isaac Chow wrote in a note.

AirAsia last month said it had received proposals from investment bankers, lenders and potential investors to help cope with the pandemic.

It said on Monday it had ongoing deliberations for joint-ventures and collaborations that might result in additional third party investments in specific segments of the group's business.

Demand was positive since the carrier gradually restarted domestic routes after grounding most of its fleet in March due to movement restrictions to contain the coronavirus, AirAsia added.

The company had sought payment deferrals from suppliers and lenders to ensure sufficient working capital and had restructured a major portion of its fuel hedges, Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said in a statement on Monday.

AirAsia has also applied for bank loans in countries it operates in to shore up liquidity, the statement said.

($1 = 4.2750 ringgit)

(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu and Liz Lee in Kuala Lumpur and Jamie Freed in Sydney; editing by Jane Merriman and Rashmi Aich)
Next Generation ICM Offers Remote Programming with Improved Longevity and Enhanced Accuracy

DUBLIN, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medtronic plc (MDT), the global leader in medical technology, today announced it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance and CE (Conformite Europeenne) Mark approval for its LINQ II insertable cardiac monitor (ICM) with remote programming, which enables clinicians to optimize device settings without the need for patients to return to the office or hospital. The LINQ II system also delivers improved device longevity (4.5 years*1) compared to other ICMs and enhanced accuracy to correctly detect abnormal heart rhythms, simplifying the diagnosis and monitoring of patients.

LINQ II is a small (one-third the size of a AAA battery), wireless ICM for patients with abnormal heart rhythms who experience infrequent symptoms including dizziness, palpitations, syncope (fainting) and chest pain, thereby requiring long-term monitoring or ongoing management. The device will be commercially available in the U.S. and Europe later this summer.

In the current COVID-19 environment, the LINQ II system offers patients a seamless way to experience ongoing connectivity between their device and their physician, while reducing the need for in-office visits, said Rob Kowal, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of the Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure division, which is part of the Cardiac and Vascular Group at Medtronic. LINQ II gives physicians actionable data to help diagnose underlying heart conditions and define treatment protocols for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or other abnormal heart rhythms.

The LINQ II device incorporates many of the features of LINQ with TruRhythm plus improvements that differentiate the device from other ICMs:

Accuracy and Streamlined Workflows: The LINQ II device has the lowest published rates of AF false detections compared to previous ICMs. 2-5 It also has an industry-exclusive Premature Ventricular Contraction (PVC) detector to help with patient diagnosis; PVCs are extra, abnormal heartbeats that begin in the ventricles, and disrupt the heart rhythm. Additionally, clinicians spend 33 percent less time reviewing ICM transmissions, 6 resulting in potential office efficiencies and reduced costs due to more streamlined workflows.

Remote Programming : The LINQ II ICM offers remote programming, which reduces the need for patients to come into the office to have their device settings adjusted  a benefit for both patients and physicians, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Remote Patient Management: Patients with the LINQ II ICM can choose one of two monitoring options to fit their lifestyles and increase remote monitoring compliance, potentially leading to improved patient outcomes:

Patients can use their smartphones to automatically transfer device data via the MyCareLink Heart mobile app using BlueSync technology that enables secure communication via Bluetooth. Patients who are unable or prefer not to use a cell phone can transmit device data with the MyCareLink Relay Home Communicator.



Increased Longevity: The LINQ II device offers an extended duration of continuous monitoring at 4.5 years*1. Continuous monitoring gives physicians greater insights into patient data, aids in diagnoses and helps them manage chronic cardiac arrhythmias.

In collaboration with leading clinicians, researchers and scientists worldwide, Medtronic offers the broadest range of innovative medical technology for the interventional and surgical treatment of cardiovascular disease and cardiac arrhythmias. The company strives to offer products and services of the highest quality that deliver clinical and economic value to healthcare consumers and providers around the world.

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About Medtronic

Medtronic plc ( www.medtronic.com ), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services and solutions companies  alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 90,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in more than 150 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together.

Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

-end-

* Nominal settings

1LINQ II Clinician Manual. M974764A001.

2BiotronikBioMonitor 2 Technical Manual. 2017.

3NolkerG, et al. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2016;27:1403-1410.

4Confirm Rx ICM DM3500 FDA Clearance Letter. 2017.

5PurerfellnerH, et al. Europace. 2018;20:f321-f328

6Alert Analysis for LINQ II with TruRhythm and LINQ II, Medtronic data on file, 2020.









Lauren Mueller

Public Relations

+1-763-285-9053

Ryan Weispfenning

Investor Relations

+1-763-505-4626
Fighting Chance NEIPA Commemorates Nearly 2 Million Face Shields Made Locally, Delivered Globally

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.

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.

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Media Contacts:

Coaster Cycles:

Ben Morris

Phone: 415-580-6144

Email: info@ccfaceshields.com

Imagine Nation Brewing:

Fernanda M.B. Krum

Phone: 406-303-0521

Robert Rivers

Phone: 406-303-0526

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SOURCE Coaster Cycles
After years of successful collaboration, two Fort Worth-based firms, Mosaic Strategy Partners (Mosaic) and SKM Communication Strategies (SKM) have formed a strategic alliance, the firms partners announced today. With Mosaics decades of experience navigating federal, state, county and city government policy and communications, coupled with the public relations, stakeholder engagement and crisis communications experience of SKM, the strategic alliance has created a full suite of capabilities perfectly suited for the current business climate.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005497/en/

Susan Medina (l), founder of SKM Communication Strategies, and Tom Stallings and Brooke Goggans, co-founders of Mosaic Strategy Partners, announced a strategic alliance of their Fort Worth-based firms. (Photo: Business Wire)

The partnership unifies Mosaics experience in government policy, regulation and communication strategy in Washington D.C., Austin, Fort Worth and the Fortune 500 level strategic advisement, public affairs and crisis communications expertise of SKM. The strategic alliance launches having signed as a client, The Lion Strategy Group (https://thelion.institute), a Texas-based comprehensive Law Enforcement reform and training program.

"The goal of our strategic alliance is to offer businesses in the region the combination of skills and services necessary to navigate the complexities of our current reality," said SKM President Susan K. Medina. "Mosaic and SKM have worked together for a number of years in impactful ways for our clients. We felt it was time to put an official affiliation around our partnership."

"We are thrilled to see companies like Mosaic and SKM take a strategic and innovative approach to growing their respective businesses," said Brandom Gengelbach, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. "Now is the time for Fort Worth businesses to unite as we move forward from the effects of this pandemic on our business community."

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Mosaics founder, Brooke Goggans, added, "Todays environment requires all companies to evaluate their business models and evolve to deliver services differently and more efficiently; our alliance removes the burden on clients to assemble a team with the necessary experience to navigate the ever-changing regulatory, community and communications landscape."

Both firms offer a variety of historically underutilized business designations that can benefit a wide range of clients, including: Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE); Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Woman-owned Business Enterprise (WBE) certifications from the North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency (NCTRCA), Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) with the state of Texas and Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB). The firms are also certified as Small Business Enterprise (SBE); Public Involvement pre-certified from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and System for Award Management (SAM) with the U.S. government.

Goggans and Medina are serving as 2020-21 co-chairs for the United Way of Tarrant County Women United Committee which helps to raise and designate funds for local nonprofits serving women and children.

Under the alliance, each company will maintain its own brand and current client portfolio.

SKM Communication Strategies, LLC

After working in various capacities in the public affairs and public relations arena for more than a decade, Medina founded SKM nearly 20 years ago. She and her firm provide strategic advisement in the areas of public, media, governmental, stakeholder and community relations, as well as crisis communication. Medina was recently selected as a member of Leadership North Texas 2020-21 Class 12.

Mosaic Strategy Partners

Launched in 2016, Mosaic is a data-based Public Affairs and Strategic Communications firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. Mosaic applies a unique three-pronged approach  in-depth data analysis, the art and science of strategy and targeted communication to change public perceptions and behaviors. Mosaic specializes in public-private partnerships, transportation, real estate, education and social services.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005497/en/

Contacts

Susan K. Medina

817.707.1306
Mortgage lender and servicer selects employee for recognition of community service achievements

NewRez LLC ("NewRez" or the "Company"), a national mortgage lending and servicing organization, announced earlier this month its partnership with Multiplying Good, a long-standing national nonprofit dedicated to empowering, supporting and celebrating public service. One component of the partnership involves recognition for employee volunteerism through Multiplying Goods long-standing Jefferson Awards Foundation (JAF) Champions Program, honoring those who put others first. Those receiving Jefferson Awards are empowered to do more, while their stories of extraordinary public service inspire others to action.

NewRez is pleased to announce that Donnie Gravley, Director of Training and Development of the companys servicing division, has been selected to receive the companys inaugural JAF Champion award.

Since starting with the company 8 years ago, Mr. Gravley has championed countless giving and volunteer efforts across offices in Houston, Texas, Tempe, Arizona, and in his home office in Greenville, South Carolina. He embodies the NewRez mission of investing in the health, vibrancy and sustainability of our communities through charitable contribution, outreach, and participation. By way of time and deed, Donnie has gathered colleagues to support the March of Dimes, United Way, Harvest Hope Food Bank, Susan G. Komen, The Wounded Warrior Project, and several local schools, education programs, and womens centers. "Donnie is passionate about supporting local communities and has demonstrated this passion in countless ways over the years. He has led numerous charitable initiatives and successfully engaged other employees in his efforts. We recognize Donnie as one of those people who sees a problem and wants to fix it," says Liz Monahan, NewRez Chief Human Resources Officer. "Donnie is a conscientious and caring person, and he approaches every giving opportunity with gusto."

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"Engaging my colleagues in community service is very important to me. Giving connects and engages us as a team. Its the opportunity to feel were part of something bigger," Gravley said of his charitable endeavors. "The most gratifying part of leading these efforts is, for me, planting a seed of giving back and watching it grow into something beautiful. I have seen first-hand my colleagues taking small things and made great strides to give back. With the help of the NewRez NOW (Neighborhood Outreach Works) program, we will be able to do even more incredible things for our communities."

Over the past four decades, the list of Jefferson Award recipients is unparalleled. Recipients include hundreds of national figures  both public and private more than 63,000 unsung heroes, and tens of thousands of individuals in communities across the country. These individuals represent the good that is happening all around us, in every community across the nation. Multiplying Good makes it their mission to elevate them and exponentially increase their acts of service.

About NewRez LLC

NewRez LLC (NewRez) is a leading nationwide mortgage lender and servicer. As a lender, NewRez focuses on offering a breadth of industry-leading products, supported by a loan process that blends both human interaction and the benefits of technology into an unparalleled customer experience. Founded in 2008 and licensed to lend in 49 states, NewRez is headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania and operates multiple lending channels, including Correspondent Lending, Wholesale, Direct-to-Consumer, Retail, and a network of joint venture partners. The servicing business operates through NewRezs servicing division, which consists of its performing loan servicing division, NewRez Servicing, and its special servicing division, Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing. NewRez also has several affiliates that perform various services in the mortgage and real estate industries. These include Avenue 365 Lender Services, LLC, a title agency, and E Street Appraisal Management LLC, an appraisal management company. NewRez is member of the New Residential Investment Corp. family. More information is available at www.newrez.com.

About Multiplying Good

Multiplying Good is a national nonprofit that channels the power of public service to unleash potential in individuals. For nearly 50 years, they have honored those who build better communities, trained young leaders, and activated individuals and organizations to multiply the impact they can deliver. Through a continuum that starts with engagement and culminates in recognition, they fuel personal growth and multiply the power of service to others. Through recognition, they inspire individuals and those who hear their stories to deliver greater positive change. You can learn more about the organization by visiting MultiplyingGood.org or engaging with their online communities via Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005506/en/

Contacts

Lauren Darkes

Lauren.Darkes@NewRez.com

(0) 267-705-4692
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

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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:

Read this article on OilPrice.com
It was a week when both oil and natural gas prices settled sharply higher.



On the news front, Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A and ExxonMobil XOM issued updates on their upcoming Q2 earnings. Meanwhile, BP plc BP agreed to sell its global petrochemicals business for $5 billion.



Overall, it was a bullish week for the sector. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 5% to close at $40.65 per barrel  the highest since March  while natural gas prices jumped 12% for the week to finish at 1.73 per million Btu (MMBtu). In particular, the oil markets reversed their loss from the previous week when the commodity recorded a sharp decline.



Coming back to the holiday-shortened week ended Jul 2, the crude benchmark recorded a big increase after a weekly report from the Energy Information Administration ("EIA") revealed that domestic crude stockpiles fell unexpectedly from their record levels. The drop in crude inventories came as refinery runs rose by 193,000 barrels per day and shipments from Saudi Arabia fell with the kingdom reining its production as part of the OPEC+ cuts. On a further positive note, oil at the storage hub in Cushing continued to fall.



Natural gas prices spiked too, on prospects of less associated gas, draining the oversupply amid hopes of rising demand due to warmer temperatures.



Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories



1. Royal Dutch Shell recently provided an update on second-quarter 2020 guidance, envisioning its post-tax impairment charges between $15 billion and $22 billion. This hefty write-down comes as the coronavirus and associated demand deceleration wipe billions off the oil and natural gas asset value.



Meanwhile, Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) Shells upstream production is projected between 2,300 and 2,400 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). The year-ago production was 2,656 thousand boe/d. Further, Shell estimates second-quarter oil product sales in the band of 3,500-4,500 thousand barrels per day. This indicates a 46.8% decrease from the year-earlier reported number due to a dramatic drop in demand stemming from the adverse COVID-19 impact, assuming that the upper end of the estimate will be met.



You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



The company also expects second-quarter LNG liquefaction volumes to contract to 8.1-8.5 million tonnes from its previous years quarterly output of 8.66 million tonnes. Moreover, its segmental production is forecast in the 880-910 thousand boe/d band. In the year-earlier period, Shell produced 927 thousand boe/d. Compared with the prior-year quarter, the company expects to incur additional $250-$350 million well write-offs for the ongoing quarter due to tepid macroeconomic outlook. (Coronavirus Takes a Toll on Shell Imposing $15-$22B Write-Offs)



2. ExxonMobil is expected to incur losses in both upstream and downstream businesses in second-quarter 2020 due to continuing headwinds from the coronavirus pandemic.



Upstream operations are expected to take a hit of $2.1-$2.5 billion in the second quarter from first-quarter 2020 due to fall in liquids prices. It will likely bear an additional $400-$600 million brunt of declining gas prices. Energy demand destruction caused by coronavirus-induced lockdowns and global supply glut resulted in a significant commodity price fall in the second quarter.



Profits from the refining business are expected to decline $700-$900 million from the first quarter due to lower margins. Moreover, the company is expected to have a $100-$300 million impact from the North American crude logistics differentials. Notably, the chemicals business is expected to record an operating profit in the range of $400-$600 million compared with first-quarter earnings of $500 million. (ExxonMobil's Upstream to Incur Q2 Loss, Refining to Take a Hit)



3. BP recently agreed to divest the global petrochemicals business to a privately-owned U.K. multinational chemicals company, INEOS. This will be a massive step toward strengthening its finances. BP is expected to receive $5 billion through this divestment.



The companys petrochemicals business has two sub parts, aromatics and acetyls. The business has 14 manufacturing facilities that are strategically located in the United States, Europe and Asia, which employ more than 1,700 personnel all over the world. Last year, the company produced 9.7 million tons of petrochemicals. The deal provides INEOS with the option of acquiring BPs Naperville research complex in Illinois for additional consideration. However, BPs petrochemicals assets at Gelsenkirchen and Mulheim in Germany are excluded from the divestment, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year.



Notably, INEOS had acquired BPs subsidiary Innovene in 2005 for $9 billion. The transaction included two refineries and the majority of BPs the then chemical assets. Markedly, the recent move is expected to further strengthen the relationship between the two companies. (BP to Divest Petrochemicals Business to INEOS for $5 Billion)



4. Eni SpA E recently announced offshore gas discovery in the Mediterranean Sea. The discovery has been made in the first exploration well in the North El Hammad concession. The prospect is named Bashrush, located off the coast of Egypts Nile Delta.



The integrated energy player believes that the new finding of a single 152-meter-thick gas column in the well has extremely good petrophysical properties. The exploratory well is being tested by Eni for production. To fast-track production activities, the company will also weigh the development options.



Notably, in the North El Hammad license, containing the Bashrush prospect, the Italian energy company holds an operating interest of 37.5%. British energy giant BP plc and Frances TOTAL S.A. have a 37.5% and 25% stake, respectively. (Eni Discovers Gas in Bashrush Prospect, Off the Coast of Egypt)



5. Petrobras PBR recently announced the commencement of oil and natural gas production at its Atapu pre-salt field. The output will be generated using P-70 floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) platform in the eastern region of the deepwater Santos Basin near the Buzios field, offshore Brazil.



The P-70 FPSO platform has the ability to churn out 150,000 barrels of oil and nearly six million cubic meters of natural gas daily. The unit will operate at a water depth of 2,300 meters and 200 kilometres from the coast of Rio de Janeiro in order to get connected with up to eight producing wells and eight injector wells.



The Atapu shared deposit, which consists of Oeste de Atapu, Atapu fields and a fragment of the country's noncontracted region, is expected to contribute to production growth in the pre-salt. The Atapu field is jointly run by Petrobras (89.257%), Royal Dutch Shell, TOTAL, PetrogalBrasil S.A. and government-owned PPSA. (Petrobras Announces Initiation of Production at Atapu Field)



Price Performance



The following table shows the price movement of some the major oil and gas players over the past week and during the last 6 months.



Company Last Week Last 6 Months

XOM +1.1% -37.8%

CVX +2.1% -26.8%

COP +3.5% -37.2%

OXY +0.5% -60.5%

SLB +3.1% -56%

RIG +3.4% -74.3%

VLO 0.0% -38.5%

MPC +2% -38.1%



The Energy Select Sector SPDR  a popular way to track energy companies  gained 2.3% last week. The best performer was upstream biggie ConocoPhillips COP whose stock was up 3.5%.



But longer-term, over six months, the sector tracker is down 38.7%. Offshore driller Transocean Ltd. (RIG) was the major loser during this period, experiencing a 74.3% price plunge.



Whats Next in the Energy World?



As global oil consumption gradually ticks up, market participants will be closely tracking the regular releases to watch for signs that could further validate a rebound. In this context, the U.S. government statistics on oil and natural gas - one of the few solid indicators that comes out regularly - will be on the energy traders' radar. Data on rig count from energy service firm Baker Hughes, which is a pointer to trends in U.S. crude production, is also closely followed.



Zacks Single Best Pick to Double



From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each picked their favorite to gain +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Zacks Director of Research, Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.



This young companys gigantic growth was hidden by low-volume trading, then cut short by the coronavirus. But its digital products stand out in a region where the internet economy has tripled since 2015 and looks to triple again by 2025.



Its stock price is already starting to resume its upward arc. The skys the limit! And the earlier you get in, the greater your potential gain.



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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras (PBR) : Free Stock Analysis Report



ConocoPhillips (COP) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Eni SpA (E) : Free Stock Analysis Report



BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) departed Yokosuka, Japan, July 2, for Portland, Oregon, to complete a scheduled a 17-month Depot Modernization Period.

The guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) departed Yokosuka, Japan, July 2, for Portland, Oregon, to complete a scheduled a 17-month Depot Modernization Period.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell transits the western Pacific. (Picture source: U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Chris Cavagnaro)

The United States values Japans contributions to the peace, security, and stability of the Indo-Pacific and its long-term commitment and hospitality in hosting U.S. forces forward-deployed there. These forces, along with their counterparts in the Japan Self-Defense Forces, make up the core capabilities needed by the alliance to meet our common strategic objectives.

The security environment in the Indo-Pacific requires that the U.S. Navy station the most capable ships forward. This posture allows the most rapid response times possible for maritime and joint forces and brings our most capable ships with the greatest amount of striking power and operational capability to bear in the timeliest manner.

Maintaining a forward-deployed naval force capability supports the United States commitment to the defense of Japan and the security and stability of the vital Indo-Pacific region.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) transits through the South China Sea. (Picture source: U.S. Navy photo by Naval Air Crewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Jack Ryan/Released)

About the USS Mc Campbell:

USS McCampbell (DDG-85) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named in honor of Naval Aviator Captain David S. McCampbell, a Medal of Honor and Navy Cross recipient who was the Navy's leading ace in World War II. This ship is the 35th destroyer of her class. USS McCampbell was the 20th ship of this class to be built by Bath Iron Works at Bath, Maine, and construction began on 16 July 1999. She was launched and christened on 2 July 2000. On 17 August 2002, the commissioning ceremony was held at Pier 30 in San Francisco, California.

The destroyer has a displacement of 9,200 tons, a length of 509 ft 6 in (155.30 m), a beam of 66 ft (20 m) and a draft of 31 ft (9.4 m). The warship is propulsed by 4  General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines and can reach a maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).

The armament comprises of 1  5 inch (127 mm)/62 caliber Mk 45 Mod 4 naval gun, 2  25 mm Mk 38 Autocannons, 4  .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns, 1  20 mm Phalanx CIWS, 2  Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes for Mk 46 torpedoes and 96-cell Mk 41 VLS for RIM-66 Standard Missile 2, BGM-109 Tomahawk, RUM-139 VL-ASROC missiles.
Ology Bioservices Inc., a biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced today that the Department of Defense (DOD), through the Joint Science and Technology Office of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), has awarded the company with three biomanufacturing contracts with a combined value of more than $16 million.

In the first program, valued at $8.5 million, Ology Bioservices will manufacture a conjugated vaccine candidate comprising the conserved protein from the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei and the adjuvant CPS-CRM-197. The vaccine candidate, developed at the University of Nevada, Reno, will be tested in a Phase 1 clinical trial and is being developed to prevent the disease melloidosis.

In the second program, valued at $4.6 million, Ology Bioservices will manufacture outer membrane vesicles from Burkholderia mallei as a potential vaccine against the bacterial disease glanders. The vaccine candidate was developed at Tulane University. The material produced in this program will support a Phase 1 clinical trial.

In the third program, valued at $3.2 million, Ology Bioservices will manufacture a DNA vaccine against Venezuelan equine encephalitis to support a Phase 1 clinical trial. The vaccine was developed at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

"We are pleased to be working with DTRA on these important programs," said Peter H. Khoury, President and CEO at Ology Bioservices. "The diverse biomanufacturing technologies employed in these three programs clearly demonstrate the capabilities of our team at Ology Bioservices and the functionality of the Advanced Development and Manufacturing Facility."

About Ology Bioservices Inc.

Ology Bioservices is a privately held, full-service Contract Development Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) serving both government and commercial clients, specializing in biologic drug substance manufacturing from early stage through commercial product. The company has 183,000 square feet of manufacturing, process development and QA/QC space in its state-of-the-art Advanced Development and Manufacturing Facility in Florida. The companys infrastructure provides unique services to its clients, including full regulatory support from preclinical through licensure, clinical trial operational support and bioanalytical testing, as well as CGMP manufacturing up to Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3). Ology Bioservices has more than 20 years of experience developing and manufacturing drugs and biologics for the U.S. government, with over $1.8 billion in government contracts awarded. The team at Ology Bioservices has decades of experience manufacturing, developing and licensing vaccines and protein/antibody therapeutics. For more information, visit the companys website at www.ologybio.com.

Story continues

About DTRA

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency enables the Department of Defense, the United States Government, and international partners to counter and deter weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and improvised threat networks.

Countering WMD and improvised threats is a global problem that requires DTRAs unique global presence and execution capabilities. As a Combat Support Agency, DTRA provides various forms of support to the Combatant Commands (CCMDs) and the military services with both defensive and offensive capabilities. The agency is uniquely prepared to address some of the most immediate, consequential, and non-conventional weapon threats to national security through leveraging and expanding collaboration with interagency and international partners.

As the DoDs research and development leader focused on WMD and improvised threats, DTRA facilitates innovation through combining traditional research with unconventional means to develop and quickly field solutions to the most complex, deadly and urgent threats facing the United States and the rest of the world.

DTRA has over 2,000 uniformed military personnel and DoD civilians working on every continent except Antarctica. The agency has thousands of global engagements in more than 100 countries and in addition to multiple locations stateside and overseas, the agency has liaisons in many embassies.

[The information contained in this press release does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the U.S. government and no official endorsement should be inferred.]

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005689/en/

Contacts

Ology Bioservices Inc.

Robert V. House, Ph.D.

Senior VP, Government Contracts

301-276-7851

robert.house@ologybio.com

Surgence Communications Strategies

Wendy Crites Wacker, APR, CPRC

352-494-2129

wendy@surgencecs.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - Orestone Mining Corp. (TSXV: ORS) (WKN: A2DWW7) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the following exploration update on the Company's Resguardo copper-gold porphyry/manto project located 75 kilometres NE of the City of Copiapo, Region III Northern Chile. Access is excellent along Highway 31 which is the main route to the La Coipa Mine and the northern Maricunga Gold Belt.

The contracting company Araya Hermanos S.A. of Copiapo has mobilized to the Resguardo property and to date completed improvements to the access roads and drill camp/staging site, drill pad preparation is well advanced. Perfo - Chile Ltda., an experienced and well-respected drill contractor has been authorized to mobilize to the site in preparation for drilling. Both contractors and the Company are coordinating with Sernageomin, the government agency controlling mining and exploration in Chile, to design and implement protocols to ensure the safety and health, especially with respect to COVID-19, for all the personnel of the Company and Contractors involved in the drilling program.

The drill program, consisting of a minimum of 1200 meters of reverse circulation drilling in up to five drill holes, will be the first drill test of a strong IP chargeability anomaly that has a strike length of 1400 metres, a width of 500-800 metres, and lies at a depth of 150-200 metres below the surface. This IP target is located immediately west of outcropping oxide copper mineralization grading 1 to 7% copper and 0.50 g/t gold that was mined historically in a series of pits and underground workings. Although this historic sampling is believed to have been competently carried out, it was not certified by a professional geologist, therefore the results are not NI43-101 compliant and cannot be relied upon.

The Resguardo project hosts copper-gold mineralization in mantos, skarns and breccia bodies (historic workings) accompanied by zones of strong hydrothermal alteration consisting of sericite-silica-clay with copper oxides at the junction of regional NNE trending low angle extensional faults with NW trending vertical faults in association with the large IP target.

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Gary Nordin, P.Geo, a director of the Company, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Mr. Nordin has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

Resguardo in Chile, as well as Orestone's Captain project in BC, are located in structural corridors adjacent to large copper gold deposits. In Chile Orestone's Resguardo project is located in a NNE trending structural corridor 80 kilometres to the south of the El Salvador Mine and the past producing Potrerillos Mine, both large copper-gold porphyries. In Canada, the100% percent owned Captain project is located 30 km south of the Mt. Milligan Mine, a large copper-gold porphyry. On both projects copper and gold mineralization in association with extensive hydrothermal alteration demonstrate the potential for discovery of large copper-gold deposits. For more information please visit: www.orestone.ca

ON BEHALF OF ORESTONE MINING CORP.

David Hottman

CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this News Release. This news release has been prepared by management and no regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, market conditions, availability of financing, currency rate fluctuations, actual results of exploration and development activities, environmental risks, future prices of copper, gold, silver and other metals, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, delays in obtaining governmental or regulatory approvals and permits, and other risks in the mining industry. In addition, there is uncertainty about the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the impact it will have on the Company's operations, global supply chains and economic activity in general. All the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59278
PacStar 400-Series selected to enhance agility and reliable tactical communications for Army pilot program

PacStar, a leading developer and supplier of advanced communications solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), today announced it has been awarded a contract to support the U.S. Armys Expeditionary Signal Battalion-Enhanced (ESB-E) program. Under the contract, PacStar will deliver its PacStar 400-Series modular platform to enhance agile and reliable tactical communications for the expeditionary-style warfare units increasingly relied upon by DoD organizations.

Expeditionary Signal Battalions (ESB) support units that do not have organic communications capabilities such as military intelligence battalions, chemical battalions, engineering battalions, and air defense artillery branches. Within these battalions, the Army recognized a need to improve communications performance and speed of equipment delivery. As a result, the Army adopted a more expeditionary approach to these battalions tactical communications by providing more special ops gear to enable early entry. This approach facilitates uninterrupted mission command, thus rapid deployment and maneuverability across the battlefield. One example of this is the ESB Scalable Network Node (SNN) which is the focal point of the ESB-E construct and requires systems to be scalable between small, medium, and large configurations as the mission dictates.

PacStar 400-Series solutions equip these smaller units with the lightweight communications equipment they need to help them maneuver quickly from situation to situation. The platform features 128 GB RAM, virtual routing, and the new PacStar 463 Radio Gateway. DoD organizations can also leverage PacStar Smart Chassis, powered by a first-of-its-kind communications server that provides a mechanical and electrical standalone capability to house up to five PacStar 400-Series modules. PacStar Smart Chassis may be utilized as a standalone entity or a component in a larger system.

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"Network modernization to meet warfighter needs and defense priorities is a core focus for the Army and across the DoD, and we are proud to support these efforts with PacStar 400-Series for ESB-E," said Peggy J. Miller, CEO of PacStar. "With these solutions, ESB-E SNN will get the smallest, lightest, modular tactical communications platform in the industry, which is part of our larger initiative to enable increased reliability and innovation for warfighters."

The ESB-E program supports the Armys modernization effort to unify the network by providing assured network transport in congested environments. The ESB-Es tactical network communications support will enable a more lethal, mobile, and hardened joint and coalition force, helping the Army retain overmatch against increasingly capable adversaries.

For more information on PacStar 400-Series and small form factor solutions, visit our site.

About PacStar

Pacific Star Communications, Inc. (PacStar) is a leading provider of advanced communications solutions for a wide range of military, intelligence and commercial applications. PacStar created and manufactures its COTS-based rugged, small form factor expeditionary and mobile communications systems. Separately, it developed integrated, network communications management software, IQ-Core Software, for the military, federal, state/local government and emergency responder markets. The companys patented IQ-Core Software, hardware technology and integrated solutions provide secure, command, control and communications systems, particularly in remote or infrastructure starved areas. In addition, PacStars communications systems are ideally suited for commercial/industrial organizations with mission-critical field communications requirements. For additional information, please visit https://pacstar.com, LinkedIn and Twitter @pacstarcomm.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005170/en/

Contacts

Brian Lustig

Bluetext for PacStar

202.836.9112

PacStar@Bluetext.com
(Bloomberg) -- Palantir Technologies Inc. said it filed confidentially with U.S. regulators for a public stock listing, taking a major step toward a market debut that has been many years in the making.

The secretive Silicon Valley company, which sells data analysis software used by governments and large companies worldwide, is seeking to go public by the fall, Bloomberg previously reported, though the timing could change.

Palantir has been weighing a direct listing of its shares on an exchange against an initial public offering, people with knowledge of the deliberations have said.

The company said in a statement Monday that it had filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a public listing of its stock, wording that has been used by other companies planning to pursue a direct listing. Such announcements typically specify a company is planning an IPO when that is the case. Palantir may still decide to pursue a traditional IPO to raise capital for the business.

Palantir is in the process of raising $961 million, $550 million of which it has already secured, according to a filing earlier this month with the SEC. That includes a $500 million investment from Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings Inc. and $50 million from Fujitsu Ltd.

Those sums make listing the stock directly a more accessible path for Palantir, following in the footsteps of Spotify Technology SA and Slack Technologies Inc.

A direct listing wouldnt let Palantir raise money by issuing new shares, but it would allow it to bypass an investor roadshow and other formalities of an IPO, while letting current stockholders sell their shares at the opening bell rather than waiting until the end of a lock-up period.

Billionaire Peter Thiel founded Palantir in 2003 with a group of business partners including Alex Karp, the chief executive officer. In 2015, Palantir reached a valuation of $20 billion, though in recent years stockholders have sold blocks of shares for much less. It isnt clear what valuation the company would seek in going public.

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Breaking Even

The company told investors this year that it expects to break even in 2020 on revenue of about $1 billion.

In June, Palantir added three directors including the first woman to serve on its board, former Wall Street Journal reporter Alexandra Wolfe Schiff.

Dozens of law enforcement and government agencies around the world use Palantir to compile and search for data on citizens with the intent of combating crime, hunting terrorists and in recent months, tracking the spread of Covid-19. The pandemic has boosted business as companies use its products to help determine how to reopen.

However, Palantir is highly controversial for the way its tools have been used to compromise privacy and enable surveillance. Its use by police and immigration officials, in particular, has sparked numerous protests.

Valuation Concern

The Palo Alto, California-based company had long resisted a public offering to avoid getting valued as a consultancy, and to stay out of the public eye as it worked toward profitability, people familiar with the matter have said.

Its dependence on engineers customizing software for each client and bloated cost structure also resulted in consistent annual losses. That heightened the possibility that it wouldnt be valued as a software company despite its Silicon Valley credentials.

That changed last year, with customers using a new more automated product that has put Palantir on the path toward profitability.

Palantirs funders include Founders Fund, the venture capital firm started by Thiel. Other investors include Morgan Stanley, BlackRock Inc. and Tiger Global Management.

Thiel, a co-founder of Pay PayPal Holdings Inc., has helped launch or advance Silicon Valley firms including Facebook Inc., where he has been a board member since 2004. Through Founders Fund and other investments, his influence has been extended to an array of technology companies. Thiel has also served as an adviser to President Donald Trump, chastising other technology companies, in particular Alphabet Inc.s Google, for their reluctance to work with the Defense Department.

(Updates with statement details in fourth paragraph)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
NEW YORK, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Co-Diagnostics, Inc. (Co-Diagnostics or the Company)(CODX) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court for the District of Utah, Central Division, and indexed under 20-cv-00481, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired Co-Diagnostics securities between February 25, 2020, and May 15, 2020, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.



If you are a shareholder who purchased Co-Diagnostics securities during the class period, you have until August 17, 2020, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Co-Diagnostics, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company, intends to manufacture and sell reagents used for diagnostic tests that function via the detection and/or analysis of nucleic acid molecules. It also intends to sell diagnostic equipment from other manufacturers as self-contained lab systems.

The Complaint alleges that Defendants made continual, knowing and willful misstatements about their main product, a COVID-19 diagnostic test, to pump of the price of Co-Diagnostics' stock while the officers and directors exercised low priced options and dumped their stock into the market. Their fraudulent misstatements, and disregard for the basic scientific principles that make the falsity of their statements clear in retrospect, cost investors to lose millions of dollars.

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In the late morning and early afternoon of May 14, 2020, third parties revealed startling information about Co-Diagnostics allegedly 100% accurate test.

The Salt Lake Tribune (Tribune) reported that TestUtah.com, which used tests developed by Co-Diagnostics, declined to join other major Utah labs in a joint experiment to confirm one anothers quality. Moreover, the Tribune revealed that TestUtahs tests (by Co-Diagnostics) have a higher limit of detection  that is, they require more of the virus to trigger a positive result  than most other coronavirus tests approved for sale in the U.S., according to an analysis by the life sciences publication BioCentury. This meant that Co-Diagnostics tests were likely to have a much higher false-negative reporting rate, meaning that potentially thousands of infected people were inaccurately told that they did not have the disease, an observation that was consistent with earlier concerns about TestUtahs lower rate of positive test results.

The Tribune article also expressed concern relating to TestNebraska.com and TestIowa.com testing services that also used Co-Diagnostics tests.

Also on May 14, 2020, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued a public statement, stating, Im pleased to announce that the State Hygienic Lab completed the Test Iowa validation process yesterday, achieving high ratings of 95 percent accuracy for determining positives and 99.7 percent accuracy for determining negatives. These results did not comport with statements previously made by Co-Diagnostics on May 1, 2020.

In fact, Defendant Brent Satterfield (Satterfield), Ph. D., Co-Diagnostics Chief Science Officer, himself has recently confessed that the lower positive rates for Co-Diagnostics tests has certainly got all of us scratching our heads a bit, and that the tests will correctly identify 95% of true positive resultsa massive discrepancy from Co-Diagnostics representations of 100% accuracy given that the tests are intended to be administered among hundreds of thousands or even millions of people.

Based on the release of third-party information casting serious doubt as to Co-Diagnostics bold claims of 100% accuracy, the stock price began to fall, closing the day at $22.13 per share on May 14, 2020, after hitting an intra-day low of $18.35 per share, a greater than 38% decrease in price within hours.

At that point, Co-Diagnostics could have, but did not, revise its claims of 100% test accuracy, given that Co-Diagnostics released earnings and first-quarter 2020 financials to the public after-hours and had a scheduled investor call for the same evening.

Co-Diagnostics reported that it achieved record sales and that the start-up had finally, after nearly seven years, reached profitability. However, it did not address the testing accuracy or sensitivity allegations or correct Defendant Satterfields prior statements about tests being 100% accurate.

Rather, the call was described by The Gazette, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa publication covering TestIowa.com, as sounding more like Thanksgiving with drunk uncles  dogs were barking, people were swearing, and someone was moaning. The Gazette also noted that [n]one of Co-Diagnostics or Nomi Healths news releases about the Logix Smart tests have revealed how many tests have been sold, for how much, and so far all three testing initiatives in Iowa, Nebraska and Utah have been secretive about the tests and the results.

That same day, the FDA issued a press release about testing accuracy. Another, much larger drug company had created a diagnostic test for COVID-19 that was under increasing public scrutiny for apparent inaccuracy. The FDA announced to the public that [t]he FDA looks at a variety of sources to identify and understand potential patterns or significant issues with the use of the Abbott test. No diagnostic test will be 100% accurate due to performance characteristics, specimen handling, or user error, which is why it is important to study patterns and identify the cause of suspected false results so any significant issues can be addressed quickly. (Emphasis added).

Based on the multiple third-party sources revealing serious problems that were known, or should have been known, in advance of May 14, 2020, the stock price further fell to close at $17.07 per share on May 15, 2020, or a decrease of 22.86% from the prior days closing price.

By May 20, 2020, a statistician, Zhiyuan Sun, wrote an article specifically about Co-Diagnostics allegedly 100% accurate COVID-19 test. Sun explained:

In May, Co-Diagnostics announced its COVID-19 in vitro test had been found to have 100% accuracy, 100% specificity (likelihood of preventing a false-negative error), and 100% sensitivity (likelihood of preventing a false-positive error), as per independent verification in laboratories across the world.

To start off, Co-Diagnostics came to the conclusion that its test was 100% effective on all three diagnostic dimensions (specificity, accuracy, and sensitivity) based on studies with small sample sizes. For example, laboratory testing of the Logix test kit conducted in Australia involved about 100 COVID-19-positive patients and 100 COVID-19-negative patients. With a sample size that small, a low error rate, say 1% to 2%, could be really hard to detect. In fact, the study itself explicitly stated that the test could in fact be between 96% to 98% effective, rather than 100%.

In addition, the testing environment is by no means indicative of the actual prevalence of COVID-19 in the population at this point in the pandemic. Among the test samples, 50% contained SARS-CoV-2, and obviously, at this point, nowhere near half the people in the world have been exposed to the coronavirus. "But wait a minute!" the intelligent reader might say. "Nothing in the world is perfect, so who cares if a tests results are off by 1% or 3%? Effectiveness of 97% is still nothing short of an A-plus. Youre just being a devils advocate, Zhiyuan!" Unfortunately, this is one of the cases where it is critical to pay attention to the devil in the details. In fact, a 1% or 3% error rate can render a in vitro test almost useless. Heres why.

Let us assume, for the sake of argument, the true sensitivity of Logix is 98%, and its true specificity is also 98%. In other words, the probability of the test delivering a false positive is 2%, and the probability of the test returning a false negative is also 2%. Both of these values are directly stated as being probable in studies citing Logixs range of effectiveness, and they are valid assumptions given that the test has not been fully vetted by the FDA or other regulators. It is also common knowledge that because there are not enough viral tests for the COVID-19, the number of people who have the virus is likely to be significantly higher than official figures. For example, it is estimated that up to 4.1% of the residents of Los Angeles County have COVID-19 antibodies. Lets use that 4.1% figure in our calculations as a measure of prevalence of COVID-19 (a lower prevalence would hurt the test even more). Assuming 1 million people are given the Logix test, 41,000 should test positive for an ongoing SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, if the test provides a false negative 2% of the time, only 98% of those 41,000 -- 40,180 -- would show up as positives.

On the other hand, out of the 959,000 people who were actually negative for the virus, a 2% error rate would yield 19,180 cases of false positives -- individuals who dont have the disease despite the test saying they do. All told, that makes 59,360 people getting positive results, but only 40,180 of them would actually be positive. That yields a predictive value of 67.7%.

In other words, if the Logix test only works as well as it does in this scenario -- and its right 98% of the time -- theres still a 1-in-3 chance that the test will indicate you have COVID-19 even though you dont! As one can see, a 32.3% false-positive error rate isnt very good at all. This problem gets worse if we assume the same prevalence, but lower Logixs potential sensitivity and specificity estimates to 95% for both. In this scenario, the probability of getting a false positive increases to 55.2%! While the results are surprising, they nonetheless use the basics of conditional probability; here is a calculator in case you want to try it out for yourself. Furthermore, a recent New York University study on COVID-19 in vitro tests developed by Abbott Laboratories (ABT) found them to be widely inaccurate and unacceptable for use in patients. Keep in mind, those tests were also promoted as having 100% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity in earlier investigations. Unfortunately, this just serves to highlight how difficult it is to develop an accurate test for diseases with a low rate of prevalence like COVID-19.

Co-Diagnostics knew that even a highly accurate testsuch as 96%, 98%, or even 99%was not the same, and not remotely as valuable, as a 100% accurate test. That is because having a 100% accurate test would have significantly distinguished Co-Diagnostics from other, larger, more reputable competitors introducing COVID-19 tests into the marketplace. Additionally, the widespread administration of a COVID-19 test that is even minimally inaccurate can have highly adverse public health consequences. Co-Diagnostics knew this, and so it intentionally issued statements to the public to fend off truthful analysis and scientific skepticism about its supposed miracle test.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com .
July 5 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

- British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has drawn up proposals to exempt most homebuyers from paying any stamp duty under plans to kick-start Britain's economic recovery. https://bit.ly/38v57kA

- Royal Dutch Shell Plc has hinted that it may move its headquarters from the Netherlands to the UK as it tries to simplify its complex capital structure. https://bit.ly/3iIjjeW

The Guardian

- British banks are preparing a code of conduct for pursuing businesses that default on taxpayer-backed coronavirus loans, amid industry estimates that up to eight out of 10 borrowers could fail to repay in full. https://bit.ly/2Z4ent3

- Rishi Sunak considers to give all adults 500 pounds ($623.85)and children 250 pounds ($311.93)in vouchers to spend in sectors of the economy worst hit by the COVID-19 crisis. https://bit.ly/31M6dXS

The Telegraph

- UK Treasury and British Business Bank officials are reviewing access to state-backed loan schemes after the European Union relaxed state aid rules. https://bit.ly/3f3zxwX

- The boss of Essar Oil UK has quit in mysterious circumstances less than six months after being appointed as head of the business that owns one of the country's biggest oil refineries. https://bit.ly/2Zzx076

Sky News

- British companies will be paid 1,000 pound bonuses by the government to hire young people as trainees. https://bit.ly/3iAUO2W

- Britain has promised an emergency aid of 1.57 billion pounds in cash and grants to the nation's arts sector. https://bit.ly/3ixBxPY

($1 = 0.8015 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
Ranpak Holdings Corp. ("Ranpak") (NYSE: PACK), a leading provider of environmentally sustainable, systems-based, product protection solutions for e-commerce and industrial supply chains, today announced two upcoming investor events for July 2020.

July 8, 2020  Craig-Hallum Capital Group will host a group investor call with Omar Asali, Ranpaks Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Bill Drew, Ranpaks Interim Chief Financial Officer on July 8th at 11am EST. The format for the call will be a discussion with management led by Greg Palm of Craig-Hallum with investors in listen-only mode.

July 14, 2020  Ranpak will be presenting at the 20th Annual CJS Securities "New Ideas" Summer Conference which will be held virtually. Omar Asali, Ranpaks Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Bill Drew, Ranpaks Interim Chief Financial Officer will be presenting and hosting one-on-one meetings.

About Ranpak

Founded in 1972, Ranpak's goal was to create the first environmentally responsible system to protect products during shipment. The development and improvement of materials, systems and total solution concepts have earned Ranpak a reputation as an innovative leader in e-commerce and industrial supply chain solutions. Ranpak is headquartered in Concord Township, Ohio and has approximately 600 employees.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

Additional information about Ranpak can be found on its investor relations website: https://www.ranpakholdings.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005503/en/

Contacts

Investor Inquiries:

Bill Drew

212.763.0939

ir@ranpak.com
(This July 6 story corrects to say Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has one black board director instead of "none of the top six banks had either a Black CEO or a board member")

By Nichola Saminather

TORONTO (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada <RY.TO> is committing C$150 million ($111 million) to racial diversity initiatives and aims to increase the proportion of non-white executive hires to 30% from 20%, Canada's biggest lender said on Monday.

RBC joins Bank of America <BAC.N>, which announced $1 billion to address racial inequality, and others, including Alphabet Inc's Google <GOOGL.O> and Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>, in committing funds for racial justice causes following the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May.

Across Canada's top six banks, people of color account for only about 10% of senior executives, according to a Reuters analysis, but none of the top six banks had either a Black CEO or a board member.

Minorities made up 37% of RBC's Canadian workforce and 35% of U.S. employees in 2019, according to a report.

RBC said in a statement it has to better understand, identify and address issues that impede the success of Black, Indigenous and other racialized groups at the bank.

The Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism in June urged business leaders to commit to increasing Black representation among their workforces, executives and board roles by 2025.

"Many Canadian companies have made statements condemning anti-Black systemic racism it's now time to back that up with action by signing the pledge," founder Wes Hall, who also runs shareholder services firm Kingsdale Advisors, said in a statement.

RBC did not say when it seeks to reach its 30% firm-wide target for non-white executive hires.

The bank pledged C$100 million in small business loans over five years to Black entrepreneurs and a C$50 million investment until 2025 to create opportunities for 25,000 Black, Indigenous and people of color.

Last month, Manulife Financial Corp <MFC.TO> and Bank of Nova Scotia <BNS.TO> pledged C$3.5 million and C$500,000 respectively for diversity initiatives.

(Reporting By Nichola Saminather; Editing by Dan Grebler and Aurora Ellis)
According to a contract released by the U.S. doD (Department of Defense) on July 6, 2020, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $12,805,321 not to exceed, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for materials and engineering services required to develop and integrate technological improvements for the DDG-51 hull; mechanical and electrical machinery control systems (MCS); Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Freedom class MCS; and Landing Helicopter Dock/A (LHD/A) MCS installed onboard current Navy ships in support of Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division.

According to a contract released by the U.S. doD (Department of Defense) on July 6, 2020, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $12,805,321 not to exceed, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for materials and engineering services required to develop and integrate technological improvements for the DDG-51 hull; mechanical and electrical machinery control systems (MCS); Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Freedom class MCS; and Landing Helicopter Dock/A (LHD/A) MCS installed onboard current Navy ships in support of Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

The DDG 51 guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) arrives at homeport at Naval Base San Diego following more than two years of restoration and modernization at Huntington Ingalls Industries - Ingalls Shipbuilding Division's Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard.(Picture source U.S. Navy)

The services under this contract will support the development, implementation, execution and life cycle sustainment of shipboard MCS for LCS class, LHD/A class and DDG class surface ship machinery control equipment and systems, as well as serve the Logistics Management Branch of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division. This statement of work requests highly specialized services that only Lockheed Martin can support. As such, Lockheed Martin has developed proprietary test scripts and test equipment to provide for delivery and support of MCS systems and components. Work is expected to be completed by July 2026.



The U.S. Navy DDG 51 guided missile destroyers are warships that provide multi-mission offensive and defensive capabilities. Destroyers can operate independently or as part of Carrier Strike Groups, Surface Action Groups, and Expeditionary Strike Groups. This type of ship is capable of conducting Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW). The destroyer's armament has greatly expanded the role of the ship in strike warfare utilizing the MK-41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) of the DDG 51 class, and the Advanced Vertical Launch System (AVLS) the DDG 1000 class.



The LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin (for the odd-numbered hulls, e.g. LCS 1). It is a steel monohull design constructed by Lockheed Martin in the Fincantieri Marinette Marine Corporation's shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin. The Independence variant is an aluminum trimaran design originally built by an industry team led by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works for LCS 2 and LCS 4. Currently, Independence variant LCS (LCS 6 and subsequent even-numbered hulls) are constructed by Austal USA in the company's Mobile, Alabama, shipyard.

Amphibious transport dock ships are warships that embark, transport and land elements of a landing force for a variety of expeditionary warfare missions.

LPDs are used to transport and land Marines, their equipment, and supplies by embarked Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles (AAV) augmented by helicopters or vertical take-off and landing aircraft (MV 22). These ships support amphibious assault, special operations, or expeditionary warfare missions and serve as secondary aviation platforms for amphibious operations.
You know we dont drive down that road, my father said.

I had asked him why we never took the shortest path to the beach. Just eight years old, I was fascinated by maps and was questioning my fathers choice. Years later I would learn the route I suggested was mired with armed groups of all stripes whose interests didnt align with mine or that of other Colombian families.

You may be familiar with the conflicts that plagued Colombia for decades, but you might not be aware of the progress institutions, advocacy groups and its government have made with regard to building a future where citizens have options and mobility that's not constrained by armed conflict.

In fact, Colombia has at times improved its ease of doing business ranking as measured by the World Bank. The country, its institutions and its leaders have a longer way to go when it comes to ensuring that opportunity reaches all corners of the country, particularly at a time that COVID-19 magnifies the inequities that persist. But one thing is for sure, the path to prosperity would look a lot better if Colombia further embraced innovation.

I have dedicated the last decade to Colombias path to prosperity. I have done so by studying at Colombias most prestigious Universidad de Los Andes, raising more than $10 million in venture capital and building two companies that generate direct and indirect earnings for more than 70,000 Colombians. I have directly retained hundreds of computer engineers by showing young Colombians that its possible to earn a good living without emigrating for professional opportunities. Heck, Ive even convinced a few past emigrants to return to Colombia and work for me at Picap.

My contribution to Colombias prosperity and the contribution of thousands of talented engineers that build technology in Colombia is at risk. Its at risk because the Colombian authorities and the legislative branch have been slow to update transportation and technology regulation designed for an era when regulation could last decades because the pace of societal innovation was measured in, well, decades.

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In Colombia, we need to update regulations governing technology and transportation. The ever present threats that Colombian authorities and regulators have imposed on Uber and Picap are not only futile attempts to put the technology genie back into the bottle, but also delay the critical conversations that would build long-term partnership for mutual success.

Its urgent that Colombia and countries around the globe construct regulatory frameworks that simultaneously advance the public good and technology innovation. We, in fact, have evidence of the kinds of benefits that can expand when new mobility models and technologies are embraced. Take GoJek or Grab which started, like Picap, as two-wheel ride-hailing platforms. Each is now worth billions and facilitates commerce, financial services and more, all for the benefit of societies which then produce more consumer surplus, formalize economic activity and stimulate new forms of innovation. Picap, and others, can do this in Colombia and more places across Latin America with regulatory advancements.

There are congressional leaders in Colombia who have made considerable efforts to advance their understanding of technology platforms, but their efforts, however laudable, have not advanced. Now, more than ever, Colombias leaders must, for example, recognize that private transport services need regulation that works for the citizens that power new mobility options. Every country in the globe faces a reckoning based on how easily COVID-19 weakened state-supported and independent systems of health, mobility and economic activity. Technology will be an inevitable component of strengthening health, mobility and economic activity in every country. Weve already seen that delivery platforms, including Pibox by Picap, increasingly play a role in helping countries preserve social distancing. And yet theres an opportunity for states to differentiate and think about not just defensive strategies during the pandemic, but also how to remake themselves for the future.

Colombia can learn from the example of South Korea, which for years positioned itself to fulfill the worlds future demands for the types of silicon chips that subsequently made LG and Samsung household names. South Korea did this not by impeding technological advancement, but by facilitating the development of know-how, investing in education and partnering with technology. As technologists, theres nothing that would make us prouder than helping Colombia develop the kinds of economic activity that will strengthen the country in the long-term. Ive seen the future, I practice it daily, and I know that Latin America, and Colombia in particular, need to invest in retaining tech talent and advancing regulatory frameworks that attract technology investment, or our economies will struggle even further in the coming years of potential recovery from COVID-19.

Recently, the Alianza IN, a mobility platform trade group, launched in Colombia with the goal of advancing conversations with Colombian lawmakers and regulators on the principles that the Colombian MinTIC (Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications) could incorporate to help attract more investment, retain talent and proactively prepare for a future in which mobility and technology platforms are critical partners of the countrys economic future. Technology platforms are already a part of the present, and the Alianza INs actions are a great step on the path toward ensuring that updated regulatory frameworks serve the millions of Colombian citizens who depend on mobility and technology platforms for income, mobility and improved quality of life.

Last year, Colombian technology companies received more than $1.2 billion of investment capital. I am impressed with the new headlines my generation and Colombian colleagues across technology have achieved in only 20 years. But I can assure you that Colombias headlines in the 21st century will be stunted if Colombian politicians and authorities do not address the underlying need to improve regulation that embraces technology and new mobility, including Picap. We have room to grow and show the world how our tenacity and resilience will help address not just Colombian or Latin American challenges, but global challenges.

I look forward to soon meeting the young Colombian woman who in 20 or even three years will have developed a renewable energy or disease-prevention innovation that serves billions of people. We have to remove roadblocks. Weve begun doing so across Colombia on some fronts; we need to continue to do so on the technology front. I, alongside, my generation, will continue to attract the capital, retain the talent and further develop the competitive advantages that will position Colombia to lead in the 21st century.

I hope that the Colombian government, regulators and the Duque administration does this, as well.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- As the coronavirus pandemic continues, Bloomberg Opinion will be running a series of features by our columnists that considers the long-term consequences of the crisis. This column is part of a package on immigration. For more, see an interview with the World Banks expert on migration and remittances, Tracy Walsh on preventing coronavirus from decimating refugee camps, Pankaj Mishra on changing global attitudes toward immigration, and the Bloomberg Editorial Board on fixing U.S. immigration policy.

Gone to Gulf. That phrase came up a lot in conversations among grown-ups that I overheard as a schoolboy in Kerala during the early 1980s. My father, who managed a lobster-export business in the port of Kochi, was constantly griping about workers who quit on short notice  or none at all  to take up jobs in the Gulf cities of Muscat, Doha or Jeddah.

His friends  executives in rubber or coffee plantations, officials in the state-run shipyard or port authority  had the same problem: a constant exodus of workers, most of them gone to Gulf.

The jobs there were usually menial, and Dad harrumphed about Keralites giving up a gig at an air-conditioned lobster-processing plant to get roasted in the desert sun. He was astonished when his secretary, a university graduate he had marked for a bright future in the company, gave it up for a job pumping gas in Sharjah.

But neither Dad nor his friends could compete with the salaries being offered in the Persian Gulf countries. In their helplessness, they took empty comfort in making dire predictions of the day when Arab employers, having built all the palaces they could want, would finally send the foolish young Keralites back home, to beg for their old jobs.

Instead, years later, my father would join the exodus, agreeing to manage a small shipyard near Dubai, lured by the prospect of a final payday before retirement. He was not amused when I suggested that he had been inspired by that promising young secretary and gone to Gulf himself.

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Four decades on, the dark auguries of Dad and his friends are coming true for many Keralites in the Gulf: Their Arab employers are laying them off in large numbers. And not just them, or there. The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for foreign workers everywhere.

[See Q&A with the World Bank migration expert Dilip Ratha.]

The official numbers have yet to be reported, but its safe to say that so far thousands have died and millions have lost their jobs. The impact on their families back home has been doubly debilitating: The loss of income from abroad  often from the sole breadwinner in the family  comes at a time of acute local hardship.

For economies that depend on this foreign income, the outlook for 2020 is bleak. The World Bank expects a 20% plunge in remittances to low- and middle-income countries. This plunge would be the steepest in history, far exceeding the 5% dip after the 2009 global financial crisis. The pain will be felt acutely in Kerala, which has an unhealthy addiction to remittances, and has failed to create alternative opportunities for its labor force.

This loss of income is likely just the start of a long cycle of despair. It will be years before countries that employ large numbers of foreign workers fully recover from the economic damage caused by the pandemic. Even when they do, they will have less room for migrants. Fewer Keralites will have the opportunity to join the ranks of the gone to Gulf, with profound economic implications for their families and their state.

***

In the petrostates of the Arabian Peninsula, the post-pandemic economic downturn will add impetus to long-standing programs designed to replace foreign workers with locals. Authorities in six member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have for years been pressing employers  using catchphrases like Saudization and Omanization  to reduce their dependence on foreigners.

These initiatives have tended to wax and wane with the price of oil: When it is high, unemployed citizens can depend on generous government subsidies, allaying concerns about foreigners taking all the jobs. It helps that many of the jobs done by migrants are unattractive, menial and low-paying.

But years of low oil prices combined with the swelling ranks of unemployed locals have forced authorities to take localization programs more seriously. These programs are at the heart of ambitious economic and social reforms being pursued by new, young rulers like Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Qatars Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Omans Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said.

This reformist zeal is bad news for countries at the other end of the migration chain. Since the fall in oil prices in 2014, remittances from the GCC have plateaued. (In the case of Saudi Arabia, they have fallen precipitously.)

This year, judging by the early indicators, they are projected to go off a cliff. Remittances from the United Arab Emirates to India are expected to drop 35% in the second quarter alone. The UAE is the GCCs largest source of remittances, and India is their top recipient.

Indeed, India should have experienced a slowing of money flows over the past few years. It bucked the trend in large part due to massive flooding in Kerala in 2018 and 2019, which led to spikes in remittances as Keralites in the Gulf sent home larger-than-usual sums to help with relief and reconstruction.

But that streak is about to be snapped. Unlike previous natural disasters, the pandemic is depleting the flow of money from abroad.

Kerala, which has ancient ties to the Gulf, will likely feel the pinch more than other Indian states. It receives nearly a fifth of remittances to the country, most of it from the GCC, whose members are home to between 2 million and 2.5 million Keralites. Although the state government doesnt publish annual remittance figures, they are thought to consistently account for over a third of Keralas GDP.

This dependence leaves the government of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan handicapped even as it grapples with the impact of the pandemic. Kerala was the first Indian state to record a case of Covid-19  a student who had returned from university in Wuhan, the Chinese ground zero of the crisis. Vijayan, a Marxist who had won acclaim for his adroit administration during the floods in the previous two years, moved quickly to flatten the curve.

Now the pandemic is spiking again, in Kerala as well as across India. With a loss of state revenues due to the effects of the lockdown, Vijayan could really use another surge in remittances from the Gulf. But this time, it is the diaspora that is in distress, and he must deal with the plight of Keralites who are losing their livelihoods in the GCC as well as the anxieties of their families at home.

The state expects more than 500,000 Keralites to return, many of them in the special repatriation flights organized by the Indian government. This figure is almost certainly an underestimate. Many others will make the return journey months from now, as companies and governments cut more jobs in the Gulf. It will be a long time before we know how many Keralites have come home, says S. Irudaya Rajan, who researches migration and remittance flows at the Center for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, Keralas capital.

Speaking to me privately, some Kerala government officials say they are not especially alarmed about the localization efforts of the Gulf states. The demand for Keralas best and brightest, they say, will resume after the pandemic. Just because the authorities want jobs to be filled by locals doesnt mean there are sufficient numbers of locals who can fill them.

But Shashi Tharoor, a member of Indias parliament from the state, allows that business may never return to usual. Its not just about Arabs taking jobs, but the jobs themselves disappearing for good, he says.

Junaid Ahmad, the World Banks country director in India, likens Keralas challenge to that of post-conflict countries, where governments must reintegrate former fighters into society, by training and providing them with economic opportunities. Vijayan has to do the same for the returning Keralites, Ahmad says, but instead of working with a peace dividend, he has to do this despite a loss in remittances.

Whats more, he has to do it under extreme pressure at a politically inopportune moment. Diaspora groups are a powerful lobbying force in the state, and Vijayan faces elections in less than a year.

***

The recalibration of Keralas remittance-dependent economy will take longer. The migration of Keralites to the Gulf began in the 1970s; it was already a steady stream when I was a schoolboy in Kochi. By the turn of the century, nearly 1.5 million Keralites lived and worked in the GCC.

Kerala was uniquely positioned to cater to the seemingly insatiable demand for foreign workers from the petrostates. A long maritime history had made Keralites culturally prone to seeking their fortune abroad, and a series of business-unfriendly governments, not all of Vijayans Marxist stripe, had prevented the development of a robust private sector at home. (The company that employed my father in Kochi had left Kerala before I finished high school.)

Keralas proud record for near-total literacy gave its citizens a leg-up over other Indians  not to mention Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and others  seeking jobs in the Gulf. Despite their better education, the overwhelming majority of Keralites did jobs that indeed required being roasted in the desert sun, as Dad put it. In the classic migration pattern, young men endured great physical hardship and forewent luxuries to save up, remit money home and bring over friends and relatives. The steady exodus allowed the state government to get away with its poor economic management; jobs in the Gulf made up for unemployment and remittances fueled consumption. The running joke was that Kerala had a money-order economy.

But the money coming from the GCC was rarely put to the most efficient use: Much of it went into personal consumption  families bought gold and property, built homes. Bungalows popped up in formerly poor villages throughout the state.

This spending yielded little employment outside the construction sector, and even there much of the work involved back-breaking labor, hardly in keeping with the aspirations of educated Keralites. In an ironic echo of migration patterns in the Gulf, Kerala began to attract low-cost labor from other Indian states. The remittances were never used to build a significant industrial base, or to develop an information-technology sector comparable to its neighbors. In the absence of a sizable private sector, there were no other investment possibilities, says Reuben Abraham, CEO of the IDFC Institute, a public-policy think tank.

Still the remittances kept growing. In time, Keralites began to climb the value chain abroad, from blue- to white-collar jobs, from construction to banking, insurance and other services. This ascent, in addition to the size of the settled diaspora, meant that although other Indian states sent more workers to the Gulf annually, Keralites were able to send more money home.

Now, Keralites risk becoming victims of their own success: It is those white-collar jobs that are most likely to be localized. Saudis and Emiratis are not going to work on construction sites, says Rajeev Mangottil of VPS Healthcare, a large Keralite-owned company that runs a chain of hospitals in the GCC. Foreigners who are working in offices are very vulnerable right now.

***

Many tens of thousands have already lost jobs to the pandemics economic impact, and it may be months before an accurate count is available. Emirates, the Dubai-based airline and one of the UAEs largest employers, will eventually trim 30,000 from its rolls. (Dubai, it is worth remembering, was already experiencing its fastest pace of job losses in a decade before the pandemic struck.) Unsurprisingly, hundreds of thousands of Indians have registered for special repatriation flights from the UAE.

Among Keralites who have lost white-collar jobs in Dubai, panic has set in. Few have any expectation of finding work back home, much less work that will sustain the lifestyle they enjoyed in the Gulf. Those who have lost their jobs but have EMIs (equated monthly installments) to pay are stuck, says Mangottil. People are applying for jobs that pay half their previous salaries. When hope is finally extinguished, they will swell the ranks of returnees to Kerala.

What awaits them allows for little optimism. Top state officials, already working flat out to contain the coronavirus spike, have not yet articulated a strategy for dealing with the returning migrants. The government has announced some self-employment schemes, involving small loans and subsidies. But these were conceived before the pandemic, when the returnees numbered in three or four digits, not six.

The glass-half-full view is that the returnees will bring world-class skills and reserves of experience not easily found in Kerala. S.D. Shibulal, co-founder of the tech giant Infosys and one of the states more successful entrepreneurs, reckons that a nascent knowledge industry offers good opportunities for returnees to invest.

Putting what the World Banks Ahmad calls the skills dividend to use, however, will be a challenge for a state where socialist policies and powerful unions have created a reputation for hostility toward business. Kerala ranks 21st among 29 states in the Indian governments ease-of-doing-business rankings.

Changing that perception will require more than efficient management of natural calamities. Competition for investment is fierce among Indian states and will grow fiercer as investments shrink with a slowdown in the global economy. Even if returning Keralites feel inclined to invest in business, theres no guarantee they will restrict themselves to their home state.

Some officials argue that it would be short-sighted to focus too much on the returnees and lose sight of Keralas competitive advantage in the global labor market. Exporting workers is what the state does best. If demand shrinks in the Gulf, it will eventually pop up elsewhere: Its a matter of pointing the outflow of migrant Keralites in the right direction. Government energies, these officials argue, are better expended on ensuring that the next generation of leavers has the right skills to compete and succeed wherever opportunities arise.

Even before the pandemic, says Tharoor, Keralas big question has always been, How do we get enough people working abroad and sending money home? That question is now being asked by the governments of dozens of countries that depend on remittances. The past few months have made finding the answer much more urgent.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He writes on foreign affairs, with a special focus on the Middle East and the wider Islamic world.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Resco, the leading provider of cross-platform enterprise mobile solutions, is proud to announce its strategic partnership with Hitachi Solutions, Ltd., a global provider of business IT solutions, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

The partnership brings together Hitachi Solutions IT consulting and implementation expertise with Rescos renowned mobile technology. It will enable Hitachi Solutions customers to utilize Resco Inspections, Routes, Mobile Sales, Field Service and other advanced mobile solutions, seamlessly integrated with their enterprise systems. Through powerful and innovative mobile experiences these organizations will be able to achieve even more with their corporate systems.

Drawing from their long-time knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Salesforce, Hitachi Solutions will utilize Resco technology within its solutions and deliver mobility for clients running on either of the two platforms. The company also plans to utilize Resco to offer completely new mobile experiences for customers using various enterprise systems.

Furthermore, Hitachi Solutions customers can now also utilize the standalone Resco Cloud as their complete enterprise solution of choice  a complete package that delivers a cloud server backend, fully customizable web & mobile clients, as well as ready-to-use templates for the Inspections, Routes, and Mobile Sales & Field Service apps and more.

Hitachi Solutions have been continuously recognized for their exceptional projects and service - including a Microsoft Partner of the Year Award in Japan for four consecutive years, and multiple Salesforce Partner Awards for five consecutive years. This new partnership further extends Hitachi Solutions Groups portfolio and brings Resco products to clients in Japan and the wider APAC region  delivered by a partner with a proven track record of excellence.

"At Resco, we are beyond thrilled to start a strategic partnership with Hitachi Solutions, a company that is truly well-established in the Microsoft and Salesforce ecosystems. This collaboration is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for us, as Hitachi Solutions is our first active partner from Asia operating also on a global scale. We are fully committed to provide the company with the best of our innovative mobile technology. Hitachi Solutions has a substantial expertise and know-how in local markets, and we are eager to see what we can achieve together," noted Miro Pomsar, Chief Executive Officer, Resco.

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"We are very pleased to launch a strategic partnership with Resco, a world leader in innovative mobile applications. As an IT service provider playing a key role in the information and telecommunication system business of Hitachi Group, we have provided various solutions to support social lifestyles and corporate activities globally. Moving forward, we will further advance digital transformation based on collaboration with customers by providing cutting-edge solutions from Resco, and will address the issues confronting contemporary society and businesses," said Seigo Usuki, Executive Officer & General Manager, Social Innovation Systems Administration Division and Industrial Innovation Business Division, Hitachi Solutions.

About Hitachi Solutions, Ltd.

Hitachi Solutions, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a core member of the Information & Telecommunication Systems business of Hitachi Group and a recognized leader in delivering proven business and IT strategies and solutions to companies across many industries. The company provides value-driven services throughout the IT life cycle from systems planning to systems integration, operation, and maintenance. Hitachi Solutions delivers products and services to customers worldwide through key subsidiaries in North America, Europe, India/Middle East, and Pacific Asia.

For more information on Hitachi Solutions, please visit: www.hitachi-solutions.com

About Resco

Founded in 1999, Resco is one of the global leaders in developing cross-platform mobile software solutions. Today its products are utilized by 2,500+ corporate customers with more than 200,000 licensed users. The cornerstone of Rescos multi-experience development platform is the Woodford configuration and management tool which, together with the Resco mobile apps, is at the heart of all Resco products.

For more details on Resco, please visit: www.resco.net

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Todd Johnson joins VIDA, bringing expertise in enterprise imaging, clinical software applications to growing bench of experts for AI-powered pulmonary imaging company

CORALVILLE, Iowa, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VIDA Diagnostics, Inc. ("VIDA"), the leader in AI-powered lung imaging analysis, announced today that Todd Johnson has joined the company as chief technology officer. Johnson, a leader in enterprise imaging and advanced clinical applications, will apply his expertise to extend the breadth and depth of VIDA's LungPrint solutions, ensuring the company's AI (artificial intelligence) insights are accessible to a broader base of clinicians to improve the diagnosis and treatment of lung disease.

"Technology supporting early and accurate diagnosis and management of lung and respiratory disease has become of increasing importance amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, especially as evidence builds for long-term lung damage," said Susan Wood, PhD, president and CEO of VIDA. "Todd's depth of expertise further strengthens our leadership team and positions us well for accelerated market expansion in the pulmonary clinical setting."

Johnson has over 25 years' experience in the clinical imaging and healthcare IT industries. Throughout his career, he has been responsible for accelerating medical technologies, including advanced clinical applications, enterprise imaging, and data solutions -- all with the goal of optimizing the delivery of patient care in radiology, cardiology, oncology, and dentistry.

"VIDA has married a deep clinical background with advanced AI technology and lab services to modernize the treatment of lung disease both in drug discovery and in the clinical setting," said Johnson. "I'm thrilled to be joining this exceptional company at a time when it is more important than ever to focus on and improve care for patients with or at-risk of lung disease."

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Prior to joining VIDA, Johnson worked for Evident Inc. as the chief technology officer, where he leveraged SaaS technologies to transform the dental industry in the way it shares and communicates clinical data. He also led the enterprise and radiology imaging suite and the rapid transition to leverage web technologies at Change Healthcare (formerly McKesson Imaging). In addition, Johnson has held multiple leadership positions during his 17 years at Vital Images/Toshiba, including work on Toshiba's clinical imaging informatics platform, global product development execution, and strategic partnerships.

Johnson earned a bachelor of science in biomedical and electrical engineering from the University of Iowa, and a master's in business administration from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

About VIDA

VIDA provides the new standard of pulmonary care by using AI-powered CT imaging software and services to aid the early detection, evaluation, and treatment planning of patients with or at risk of respiratory and lung diseases, including emphysema and airway obstructive diseases (COPD), asthma, interstitial lung disease, COVID-19 and lung cancer. VIDA's software is FDA cleared, CE-marked, Health Canada licensed and TGA registered for clinical use in the US, European Economic Area, Canada and Australia. Learn more at vidalung.ai.

VIDA Diagnostics, Inc. Logo (PRNewsFoto/VIDA Diagnostics, Inc.)

Cision

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SOURCE VIDA Diagnostics, Inc.
ResearchAndMarkets.com published a new article on the 5G industry "New Restrictions on Huawei from the US May Result in the Company Having to Rely on Untrusted 5G Technology."

The UK government is currently considering the impact that additional US sanctions against Huawei could have on the United Kingdoms 5G networks. In January, the UK government included Huawei as a supplier of 5G equipment with the condition that the companys equipment would be used for non-core elements of the network only. Huawei technology is already used extensively in 5G networks across the United Kingdom. However, analysts have predicted that the United Kingdom could reverse the January decision as a result of the latest US sanctions against the company.

In May, the US passed a new rule requiring foreign manufacturers using American chipmaking equipment to get a license before being allowed to sell semiconductors to Huawei. This rule seriously restricts Huaweis ability to source microchips for its 5G equipment since it prevents the company from using computer chips designed by American companies even if they are manufactured outside of the United States. It is feared that this restriction may result in the company having to rely on untrusted technology which could have security implications for the United Kingdom.

To see the full article and a list of related reports on the market, visit "New Restrictions on Huawei from the US May Result in the Company Having to Rely on Untrusted 5G Technology."

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Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rio Silver Inc . ("Rio Silver" or the "Company") (RYO.V) is pleased to announce that the Company has been notified by its partner, Peruvian Metals Corp. (Peruvian Metals), that Peruvian Metals plans to initiate an exploration and bulk sampling program on the high grade Au-Ag-Cu Palta Dorada project (Palta Dorada or the Property) early in the third quarter. The Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Peruvian Metals in early January 2020 (see The Companys news release January 9th) to jointly explore the Property by conducting a detailed sampling and mapping program along with a bulk sampling campaign. Under the MOU, Peruvian Metals is required to provide the upfront capital to start the program and has also informed Rio Silver that permits have been approved to extend underground workings at the main exploration target on the property. Extracted mineralized material from the underground exploration will form the bulk sampling program.



The Property, located in the Ancash Mining Department in Northern Peru, covers an area of approximately 1200 hectares. Precious metal mineralization at Palta Dorada consists of several high-grade Au-Ag-Cu structures hosted in granitic rocks. The gold-silver mineralization and exploration model is considered to be Intrusion-Related Gold Vein System similar to gold systems in Perus gold rich Pataz Mining Region, Nasca-Ocona Gold Belt and gold systems within the Tintina Gold Belt of Alaska.

Initial work at Palta Dorada identified and sampled four structures. The Main Structure that trends ENE-WSW consists of a quartz vein exposed both in outcrop and in two small underground adits and shafts. The Main Structure exposure is observed to have a strike length of over 800 metres and is open along strike in both directions. Artisinal workings expose portions of the Main Structure including a 53-metre-deep shaft where seven chip samples were taken at various depths from quartz vein containing sulphides. Results from these samples range from 3.06 g/t Au to 24.1 g/t Au, 36 g/t Ag to 865 g/t Ag and 0.31% Cu to 4.94% Cu over an average width of 0.60 meters. The weighted average of these samples from the quartz-sulphide vein is 10.51 g/t Au, 329 g/t Ag and 1.74% Cu.

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A second mineralized structure, the North 1 Structure or N1S is observed north of the Main Structure and trends WNW-ESE. The intersection of these structures represents a good exploration target. Twelve samples were taken from very small workings over a strike length of approximately 480 meters. All samples were strongly oxidized and returned from 1.40 g/t Au to 17.3 g/t Au, 10.8 g/t Ag to 456 g/t Ag and 0.02% Cu to 0.14% Cu over widths of 0.20 to 0.80 meters. The weighted average of these samples from the oxidized quartz vein is 7.92 g/t Au and 102 g/t Ag. A bottle-roll metallurgical sample with a head grade of 13.0 g/t Au and 102 g/t Ag returned 92.15-per-cent gold and 65-per-cent silver recoveries over 36 hours. Two other gold bearing structures, the South 1 Structure or S1S and the South 2 Structure or S2S, were identified approximately 1500 meters south of the artisanal workings on the Main Structure. Limited sampling was conducted in this area however one sample was taken from a mineral sack ready for shipment to a toll mill and contained oxidized quartz material that returned 14 g/t Au and 74.4 g/t Ag.

Peruvian Metals plans to start a property wide sampling and mapping program followed up by a detailed magnetic survey. The exploration will also consist of continuing the underground sampling and mapping on the Main Structure by extending the underground workings both laterally and vertically. Permits have been submitted and approved to conduct underground work which will also result in bulk sampling of the mineralized material. The underground work will greatly aid in the understanding of the mineralized structures and can be followed by underground drilling. The COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the government at this time do not yet allow the Company to commence underground work. It is expected work will begin in the next phase of reopening of the Peruvian Economy.

Metallurgical work performed by Procesmin Ingenieros Laboratories from a composite sample from mineral ready for shipment by the previous owner had a head grade of 23.2 g/t Au, 29.0 oz/t Ag and 4.95% Cu. Metallurgical work showed that two concentrates can be produced. The first and more valuable concentrate graded 125.6 g/t Au, 4,808 g/t Ag and 24.41% Cu. A second Au-pyrite concentrate was also produced and graded 11.5 g/t Au, 565 g/t Ag and 2.90% Cu. Sales from metal concentrates produced from the bulk sampling activity will be shared between the Companies less all operational expenses related to the bulk sampling. Peruvian Metals 80% owned Aguila Norte Processing Plant will charge the joint effort commercial mineral processing rates on a similar basis to its other clients for processing the bulk samples. The Plant is accessible from the property by approximately 180 kilometres of mainly paved roadway.

Peruvian Metals will act as the operator of the joint effort and is responsible for the permits necessary to explore the property and to extract bulk samples. Chris Verrico the CEO of Rio Silver states, Having recently purchased this tremendous asset and with the recent strength in gold prices, we remain excited to see Palta Doradas non-dilutive advancement underway with a seasoned in-country operator motivated to perform. Any returns from the bulk sampling campaign from processing this high-grade vein rock at Peruvians nearby custom milling plant, will bring mutual benefit to both groups and help to advance our 100% owned Ninobamba project in Southern Peru. Ninobamba is a world class medium/high sulfidation epithermal gold/silver deposit where $US 9 million in previous exploration and feasibility work has been completed and one that rivals the potential of any similarly endowed deposit being forwarded in Peru, to our knowledge.

Jeffrey Reeder, P Geo, a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has prepared, supervised the preparation, or approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Rio Silver

Rio Silver Inc. is a Canadian Exploration and Mine Development company. Our business is to develop our 100% owned Ninobamba project and to unlock the tremendous potential for shareholder value identified from the previous $10 million spent by Newmont at the Jorimina Zone and others. Our own recently commissioned & independently constructed exploration potential model for Ninobamba Main has identified more world class development potential. Benefits are also soon to materialize from the carried development of the our new Palta Dorada Au Ag project, focusing on a near term revenue stream. For more information, please visit:

https://www.riosilverinc.com/

For more information contact:

Christopher Verrico, President, CEO

Tel: (604) 762-4448

Email: chris.verrico@riosilverinc.com

Website: https://www.riosilverinc.com/

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.

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not a guarantee of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable laws.
Ross + Kramer Gallery will open its' doors at 515 West 27th Street in New York at the former space of the famed nightclub, Bungalow 8

NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ross + Kramer Gallery, the fine art gallery with predominately blue-chip artwork, is moving from its Upper East Side location this coming Fall to Chelsea where the historic nightclub Bungalow 8 lived. While admittance to the club has been referenced in pop culture as one of the most sought after in New York City, the celebrity hot spot closed in 2009. The opening of Ross + Kramer Gallery will grant access for all to view the works of prominent artists in this iconic space.

"We are so excited to be moving the gallery downtown to Chelsea. When we saw the location we knew it had to be ours. It was a beautiful jewel box space that we knew artists would want to exhibit their work in, helping us grow our primary program and artist partnerships," said Todd Kramer, Co-Founder of Ross + Kramer Gallery.

The inaugural exhibition set to open Fall 2020 will be titled "How Bout Them Apples" showcasing works from Nina Chanel Abney, Eddie Martinez, Erik Parker, Jonathan Chapline and other New York based artists. A percentage of the proceeds from the show will go to Project Sunshine, a nonprofit that brings creative arts activities to children in hospitals globally.

"We wanted our first exhibit in the new space to honor both its location here in New York City and the artists based here. It's all about inclusivity and giving access to patrons, collectors, and artists," said Todd Kramer.

Ross + Kramer Gallery also has a location in East Hampton, NY and is looking to open in Miami come Fall 2021.

Ross + Kramer Gallery specializes in exhibiting and bringing to market a wide variety of blue- chip artworks by established artists while also housing a strong primary program offering. RKG provides clients unparalleled advice for acquiring art  whether for someone making a first purchase or a seasoned collector looking to add to an already established collection. RKG is dedicated to cultivating a dynamic roster of artists in both its primary program and the secondary market, with imaginative exhibitions that source both the rising stars of the art world and those who are already landmarks.

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For press inquires: press@rkgallery.com

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SOURCE Ross + Kramer Gallery
(Corrects Vistara executive's designation to chief commercial officer, from chief strategy officer, in paragraphs 1 and 4)

By Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI, July 6 (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. (Reporting by Aditi Shah; editing by David Evans)
SOCHI, Russia (AP)  Tens of thousands of vacation-goers in Russia and Ukraine have descended on Black Sea beaches, paying little heed to public health measures despite the numbers of reported coronavirus cases remaining high in both countries.

Desperate for a break from the confinement of months-long lockdowns, few wear masks or try to maintain social distance as they bask in the sun on overcrowded beaches in the Russian city of Sochi and in the Ukrainian seaport of Odesa.

While popular vacation destinations in Europe are still closed to visitors from Russia and Ukraine as European nations move carefully to lift restrictions on foreign visitors, Black Sea resorts in Russia and Ukraine are filled to capacity from domestic tourism.

We usually go abroad: the Emirates, Tunisia, Turkey, and we did plan to go again this year," Tatyana Kofler, a Russian who is spending her summer leave in Sochi, said. "But then our plans changed.

The owners of beaches that require a fee place lounge chairs at required intervals, but on the city's public beaches few visitors appeared concerned with trying to avoid COVID-19 by maintaining a safe distance.

Hotel owners are happy about the bonanza, and prices for rooms are soaring.

Our hotel is booked to the max, and the projections are very optimistic, because preliminary bookings indicate the load will remain very good up to November, said David Vardanyan, a Sochi hotel owner.

In the past, many Russians who live in the eastern part of a country that spans 11 time zones took vacations in Thailand, China or Vietnam to save money on air travel. Those destinations remain off-limits to foreigners, too, for now, helping swell the numbers of people streaming westward to Sochi and the Crimean Peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Last year, Sochi and other resorts in the Krasnodar region of Russia attracted 17 million tourists, most of them Russian, while about 7 million visited Crimea. In comparison, 18 million Russians spent their vacations abroad in 2019. Some 7 million traveled to Turkey, about 1.5 million visited Thailand, 1.2 million spent their vacations in Spain and about 1 million visited Italy among other foreign destinations.

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Now, Russian sun-lovers are left with the narrow pebble beaches of Sochi or Crimea as their only beach vacation options.

A 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge to Crimea that opened in 2018 facilitated travel to the region, but it has suffered from freshwater shortages and rationing resulting from Ukraine cutting supplies. Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, a move that Ukraine and most of the world regards as illegal, problems that overshadow the attractiveness of the Black Sea peninsula's beautiful coast and scenic mountains.

Both in Sochi and Crimea, popular hotels that offer European standards of comfort already are fully booked for the summer.

Tourists who traveled to Cyprus, Turkey, Greece or Spain during the past years have grown accustomed to a certain level of comfort, Alexan Mkrtchian, head of the Pink Elephant tourist agency, said, according to the Interfax news agency. Only 20 to 30 hotels meet those criteria.

Mkrtchian noted that a jump in demand provoked a hike in hotel prices that jumped by 50% in Sochi and up to 100% in Crimea, costing a couple of hundreds dollars or more for lodging at an average 4-star hotel.

The flow of visitors to seaside resorts comes at a time when both Russia and Ukraine are continuing to report high daily numbers of new cases.

Russia, which has the world's fourth-largest coronavirus caseload of more than 687,000 following the United States, Brazil and India, currently registers daily infection numbers topping 6,600. While Moscow has ended a lockdown as contagion dropped, many other regions of the vast country have kept restrictions in place.

Ukraine, which lifted most lockdown measures last month, has seen infections reaching new highs in recent weeks, prompting the authorities to consider re-imposing restrictions in some areas.

In Ukraine's Odesa, traffic jams at the entrance to the city spread for kilometers (miles), and crowds besiege the city's night clubs after sunset. Vacationing visitors are flouting rules to wear masks in public and paying little attention to maintaining social distance. Officials are worried about a possible spike in coronavirus infections.

The Ukrainians are afraid of the coronavirus less than anyone in the world," said Fazil Askerov, chairman of the Tourism Development Association in the Odesa region. Our tourists are braver.
- Over 200 countries can send and receive money via Vodacom's Tanzania M-Pesa

- The mobile Money services continues to drive economic growth and financial inclusion in Africa

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Tanzania's leading mobile money service provider - Vodacom M-Pesa - has announced the expansion of its International Money Transfer service portfolio. Vodacom customers will now have the option and ability to easily transfer and receive funds from individuals across more than 200 countries worldwide.

Download Image: Assistant Manager, Oversight and Policy at Directorate of National Payment Systems from Bank of Tanzania, Albert Cesari (centre), in a group photo with Vodacom Tanzania Executive Committee members including WorldRemit Tanzania Country Director Cynthia Ponera (second left) during International day of family remittances event held in Dar es Salaam

This was said recently at an international day of family remittances event held in Dar es Salaam where stakeholders met to deliberate on the future of International Remittance post COVID 19.

Speaking during a panel discussion on the same, Assistant Manager, Oversight and Policy at Directorate of National Payment Systems from Bank of Tanzania (BOT) Albert Cezari said the national bank has increased limits on digital transactions and reviewed balances of mobile wallets in a bid to provide relief and ensure continuity of services as part of measures taken amidst COVID-19.

On his part, Vodacom Tanzania PLC Managing Director Mr. Hisham Hendi, said that international remittances make possible people and small businesses to stay connected irrespective of geography. He further pointed out that international remittances continue to transform the lives of thousands of Tanzanians through facilitating payments in education, health, and various business segments which is why Vodacom M-Pesa has aimed to continue providing a platform for Tanzanian diaspora to effectively participate in socio-economic activities which will contribute to the overall development of the country.

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"We pride ourselves for being enablers in the payment system by facilitating cross border trade within the region for the efficient and seamless sending and receiving of funds, from anywhere around the globe through M-Pesa International Money Transfer Service.' He said.

Vodacom M-Pesa has broadened its portfolio of partnerships and countries over the past few months to widen its Money transfer service worldwide. At the global stage, partners include MoneyGram, WorldRemit, Remitly and JubaExpress, all of whom enable customers to receive money from over 200 countries across the World directly into their M-Pesa wallet.

Pan African partnerships include Safaricom, MTN, EcoCash and Mama Money, which enable customers to send or receive money from Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Burundi and South Africa.

'With such a huge portfolio of international Money transfer partners, the world is a village with M-Pesa. We thank our customers for their patronage and we remain committed to deliver on our vision to lead Tanzania into the digital age and change lives through technology" He concluded.

Peter De Caluwe, CEO- Thunes praised the move saying such partnerships and innovations support the true African spirit because African countries have always been connected through daily movement of people, goods and services. International Money Transfer services are critical to the African economies as they facilitate inflow of foreign currency into these countries which has a direct bearing on the social and economic welfare of Africans".

"Whilst the importance of mobile payments to financial inclusion in developing markets cannot be overstressed, the M-Pesa IMT service goes an extra mile by allowing previously excluded to send and receive money across borders affordably. Thus our partnership with Vodacom M-Pesa aims at increasing the reach of international money transfers'.

According to World Bank Figures, Tanzania recent remittances stood at $430 million, an increase of $25 million from 2019. The sum represents 0.8 percent of the country's GDP.

Ends

About Vodacom Tanzania:

Vodacom Tanzania Plc is the country's leading mobile operator and mobile financial services provider. We provide a wide range of communication services for consumers and enterprise - including voice, data and messaging, video, cloud and hosting, mobile solutions and financial services - to over 15 million customers. Vodacom Tanzania Plc and its subsidiary companies are part of the Vodacom Group registered in South Africa, which is in turn, owned by Vodacom Group Plc of the United Kingdom. It has been registered on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) with registration number ISIN: TZ1886102715 Stock name: VODA.

For further information, please visit our website: www.vodacom.co.tz

About Vodacom M-Pesa Tanzania

Vodacom M-Pesa is Tanzania's largest mobile financial service introduced by Vodacom Tanzania PLC in 2008. Now GSMA certified and with over 10 million customers, M-Pesa has significantly contributed towards financial inclusion and economic activity in the country. Customers deposit and withdraw money from their M-Pesa wallets through over 200,000 agents across the country. The M-Pesa ecosystem connects businesses, banks and government agencies making digital payments possible.

To date, M-Pesa continues to be the market leader in mobile financial services, rolling out innovative services such as savings & Loans, Virtual Debit cards, Overdraft services, Group savings, E-payments and many more, which address the real needs of Tanzanian thereby enhancing financial inclusion and deepening.

SOURCE: Vodacom Tanzania Plc via EQS Newswire





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Seven principles to align COVID-19 recovery with Canada's climate commitments--new report shown to key federal ministers

Seven principles to align COVID-19 recovery with Canada's climate commitments--new report shown to key federal ministers

Canada NewsWire

OTTAWA, ON, July 7, 2020

Leading environmental organizations endorse new green recovery guidelines

OTTAWA, ON, July 7, 2020 /CNW/ - As the federal government works out its COVID-19 economic recovery, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) today released seven principles outlining a roadmap for meeting Canada's 2050 climate commitments while spurring economic resilience and creating good jobs. Canada's leading environmental groups, who represent close to two million people, have signed on to the new recommendations. Several of the groups, including the Pembina Institute, Climate Action Network Canada, David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence, and Equiterre, met last week with key federal ministers to provide a more detailed path forward as Canada moves out of an emergency phase and into recovery.

"The federal government is spending billions on economic stimulus and has signalled that it is committed to a green recovery," says Vanessa Corkal of IISD, lead author of the report. "This report shows the vital importance of strong climate action if we are to be effective in creating good jobs, a resilient economy and a healthy, fair society."

Several organizations, including Climate Action Network Canada, Leadnow, and Greenpeace Canada, have started mobilizing their members and asking MPs to commit to the seven green recovery principles. Days of action and e-rallies will continue throughout the summer.

"This spring, while over 400 organizations across Canada united to call for a transformational and just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, oil and gas companies were lobbying hard to take Canada backwards," says Catherine Abreu of Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac).

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The report Green Strings: Principles and Conditions for a Green Recovery from COVID-19 gives policy-makers concrete steps to act on. These steps include adding conditions, or "green strings," to funding given to industry, such as requiring concrete plans for net-zero emissions by 2050, with immediate action for reducing emissions in key high-carbon sectors. The report also recommends financial conditionsincluding prohibiting corporate stock buybacks and executive bonuses, and withholding support from companies using tax havenscoupled with strong transparency and accountability measures.

The authors of the report urge policy-makers working on recovery to take steps to increase equity. To truly build back better, the authors say, recovery must address societal inequities, which are magnified by COVID-19 and climate change.

"This report is a roadmap for ensuring the coherence of reconstruction projects with Canada's environmental objectives," says Caroline Brouillette of Equiterre. "We are optimistic about the possibility of integrating these principles into the government's plans and policies."

SOURCE International Institute for Sustainable Development
MILWAUKEE, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP is investigating Vivint (NYSR: VSLR) for possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of the law in connection with the sale to Sunrun.

Click here to learn how to join the action: http://ademilaw.com/case/vivint-solar or call Guri Ademi toll-free at 866-264-3995. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP alleges Vivint's financial outlook is improving and yet shareholders will receive only 0.55 shares of Sunrun common stock, representing approximately $11.74 based on the closing price of Sunrun's shares on July 6, 2020. Vivint stockholders are expected to own approximately 36% and Sunrun stockholders are expected to own approximately 64% of the fully diluted shares of the combined company. The merger agreement unreasonably limits competing bids for Vivint by prohibiting solicitation of further bids, and imposing a termination penalty if Vivint accepts a superior bid. Vivint insiders will receive millions of dollars as part of change of control arrangements. We are investigating the conduct of Vivint's board of directors, and whether they are (i) fulfilling their fiduciary duties to all shareholders, and (ii) obtaining a fair and reasonable price for Vivint.

If you own common stock in Vivint and wish to obtain additional information, please contact Guri Ademi either at gademi@ademilaw.com or toll-free: 866-264-3995, or http://ademilaw.com/case/vivint-solar.

We specialize in shareholder litigation involving buyouts, mergers, and individual shareholder rights throughout the country. For more information, please feel free to call us. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contacts

Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP

Guri Ademi

Toll Free: (866) 264-3995

Fax: (414) 482-8001

Cision

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SOURCE Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Renewable Energy Group, Inc. ("Renewable Energy" or the "Company") (REGI). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Renewable Energy and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action]

On June 23, 2020, Renewable Energy issued a press release "announc[ing] that the Company's second quarter 2020 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between negative $12 million and negative $2 million," down sharply from the range of $20 million to $35 million that the Company had previously announced on April 30, 2020. Explaining its significantly revised outlook, Renewable Energy advised investors that "[t]he guidance model used in connection with the previous estimate contained inadvertent calculation errors, which on their own would have resulted in a significant reduction in the Company's previous Adjusted EBITDA estimate."

On this news, Renewable Energy's stock price fell $5.85 per share, or 20.47%, to close at $22.73 per share on June 24, 2020.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

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SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP





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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Silver Elephant Mining Corp. ("Silver Elephant" or the "Company") (ELEF.TO)(SILEF)(1P2N.F) is pleased to report that all proposed resolutions were approved at the Company's Annual General and Special Meeting of shareholders held on July 7, 2020, via teleconference (the "Meeting"). Voting Results were as follows:

MATTERS VOTED UPON VOTING RESULTS Votes in Favour(1) Votes Against or Abstained(1) 1. The number of directors was fixed at five (5)(1)(3) 22,493,688 (96.97%) 701,847 (3.03%) 2. Election of Directors(1) John Lee(4) 22,054,575 (95.08%) 1,140,961 (4.92%) Greg Hall(5) 22,305,992 (96.17%) 889,543 (3.83%) Masateru Igata(6) 22,359,602 (96.40%) 835,934 (3.60%) Ronald Clayton(7) 22,421,865 (96.67%) 773,671 (3.33%) Marc Leduc(8) 22,920,981 (98.81%) 274,554 (1.18%) 3. Davidson & Company LLP, Chartered Accountants, was re-appointed as the auditors of the Company and directors were authorized to set their remuneration. (1) 37,556,064 (99.39%) 231,982 (0.61%) 4. Approval of an ordinary resolution certain shareholders approving the amendment to the exercise price of previously issued warrants of the Company, with or without variation. (2)(9) 19,358,529 (83.46%) 3,837,006 (16.54%)

Notes:

The percentages reported are calculated on the votes cast in person and by proxy at the Meeting which total 37,788,046 with respect to the above motion. 9,110,231 shares held by Insiders were excluded from the calculation of the voting results. There were 14,592,511 non-votes reported by the Scrutineer of the Meeting in respect of the above motion. There were 14,592,510 non-votes reported by the Scrutineer of the Meeting in respect of the above motion. There were 14,592,511 non-votes reported by the Scrutineer of the Meeting in respect of the above motion. There were 14,592,510 non-votes reported by the Scrutineer of the Meeting in respect of the above motion. There were 14,592,510 non-votes reported by the Scrutineer of the Meeting in respect of the above motion. There were 14,592,511 non-votes reported by the Scrutineer of the Meeting in respect of the above motion. There were 14,592,511 non-votes reported by the Scrutineer of the Meeting in respect of the above motion.

A report on voting results on all matters voted on at the meeting have been filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

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The Company had previously received conditional approval from the TSX to amend the exercise price of an aggregate of 24,318,927 previously issued common share purchase warrants (the "Original Warrants") of the Company to $0.26 (the "Amendment") pending shareholder approval of the Amendment. Pursuant to the passing of the ordinary resolution approving the Amendment, the Original Warrants will be cancelled and replaced with amended common share purchase warrants repriced to $0.26 (the "Amended Warrants"), which Amended Warrants shall become effective 10 days from the date of this news release being July 7, 2020. All other terms of the Amended Warrants are unchanged from the Original Warrants and remain in full effect.

About Silver Elephant

Silver Elephant is developing its premier Pulacayo silver project in Bolivia. Further information on Silver Elephant can be found at www.silverelef.com.

SILVER ELEPHANT MINING CORP.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Michael Doolin"

Chief Executive Officer

For more information about Silver Elephant, please contact Investor Relations:

+1.604.569.3661 ext. 101

ir@silverelef.com www.silverelef.com

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Silver Elephant Mining Corp.





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Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) has so far been able to withstand the pandemic onslaught, though its business has sufferred for obvious reasons. Dividend investors may easily be lured by the dividend yield that the largest mall REIT in the U.S. currently provides.





On March 18, just a few days before the pandemic-induced market bottom, the Indianapolis, Indiana-based mall operator announced that it would close all of its stores nationwide for at least 11 days. Simon Property Group had 133 properties about to close its doors to. A month and a half later, the mall REIT finally reopened a little more than 75% of its stores.





Simon Property Group recently reported its performance for the first quarter that ended in March. At first glance, the company seemed unscathed for for the quarter, as the mall REIT registered only a 1.1% drop in its occupancy to 94% in its malls and premium outlets, with an increase of 2.6% in its rent at $55.76 per square foot per month. It seems most of the costs for Covid-19 damages are being footed by the retailers themselves, which are the REIT's clients.

However, Simon Property is not naive about the tumults that it will be facing moving forward as it slowly recovers from the nationwide lockdown and some of its clients begin to file for bankruptcy. Its Chairman collected no salary and deferred his bonus, while board directors experienced payment suspensions and salaried employees had to commit to salary cuts. Simon Property also drew nearly $4 billion in its credit facilities, raising its overall debt to $28 billion. This gives the company a more leveraged balance sheet with a debt-equity ratio of 10.





What is a little uncertain here is how Simon Property will manage to continuously grant its dividend payouts to its investors, especially after a critical report from Green Street Advisors reported that on average, strip mall owners were paid less than half of April's rent. The dividend of an REIT is directly tied to the rent income it collects.





To put things in perspective, Simon Property made $1.35 billion in revenue in the first quarter and was left with $438 million in profits after paying all expenses. The REIT then paid $645 million in dividends to its shareholders, a 147% payout ratio. The company has had an average payout ratio of 111% in the last five years.





Fears of dividend stability were moderately quenched late last month when Simon Property declared its dividend with a 38% cut from its February payout. With tight cash flowing through its business, investors may prefer to see Simon Property take more precautions in its payout strategy. Now with a forward dividend yield at 7.64%, one must think twice about whether an REIT providing this payout in the current environment can survive.





On the other hand, investors seem to be confident in Simon Property's chances, as its stock price has appreciated well over 60% since it bottomed in April. REIT investors need to be on the defensive in case the company cuts its dividend again moving forward.





Disclosure: No shares in Simon Property.

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HOLBROOK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. (AP)-a privately-held, independent broker/dealer (IBD) that services financial advisors nationwide-is pleased to announce that Steve Krameisen, an industry leader in Financial Information Technology (FinTech), has joined the firm in the capacity of chief information security officer (CISO).

"Steve comes to the table with a tremendous amount of broker/dealer (B/D) and wealth management experience," states CEO Lon T. Dolber. "We're fortunate to be in the unique position of having a CISO on board with a career background that's incredibly specific to the financial services industry. I have always had a lot of confidence in him; he fits right into AP's culture with a roll-up-your-sleeves, let's get it done' attitude. Overseeing the dedicated resources currently in place in this critical area, Steve will efficiently manage the rapid influx and subtle nuances of information security, protecting our infrastructure and assets, as well as working with our affiliated financial advisors, business partners and the investing public."

In his role as CISO, Krameisen leads information security and works within the firm's technology area as an executive-level manager, directing all information security initiatives around strategy, operations and the budget in the protection of AP's enterprise information. Krameisen's information security responsibilities span infrastructure, data and applications, customers, and vendors, as well as the policies and procedures applicable to the enterprise's security. "Steve's role directly complements our existing technology team," states Chief Administrative Officer Dalchand Laljit. "He will ensure that our security strategy will be implemented timely, effectively and securely-specifically as it relates to our infrastructure, both in the Cloud and on-premises, as well as our applications. It goes without saying that the financial services industry, by nature, is subject to great risk. With Steve now in the mix, our current information security protocols will be further safeguarded, providing a higher level of protection on every platform where B/D, personal, customer and end-client information reside."

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Krameisen brings with him more than 35 years of FinTech experience, with specificity to the financial services industry. Early in his career, he served as the CIO and managing director for Nathan & Lewis Securities, an independent broker/dealer and Insurance General Agency to MetLife / New England Financial. It was there that Krameisen first met Dolber; Nathan & Lewis founder, as well as current American Portfolios Holdings, Inc. (APH) Advisory Board Member, Jay Lewis; and its then executive vice president and COO Tom Wirtshafter, who once served as AP's president before moving into his current role in surveillance. "Bringing Steve on is a continuation of the relationship that I've had with Nathan & Lewis, which is the most significant financial services relationship in my career," imparts Dolber. "AP's already stellar bank of talented team members now includes Nathan & Lewis' three core partners-a triad-with Jay, Tom and Steve all weighing in with expertise vital to running a successful B/D."

Since 2018, Krameisen had been providing his consulting services to AP through Wealth Tech Consultants, LLC, a firm he formed in 2015. Laljit brought Krameisen on as a consultant to provide direction to the B/D and its Registered Investment Advisor (RIA)-American Portfolios Advisors, Inc. (APA)-with respect to its information technology and technology operations. Engagements included documentation of the firm's technology operations, information security and data management processes. During his consultancy, Krameisen's best practices recommendations led to the firm's strategic direction in a number of key areas within technology, including processing of its data, security and technology stack, as well as the research and development of the firm's overarching information security corporate polices. He also developed and created future state processes and workflows, including change management, incident response, information technology asset management and secure coding practices. Additionally, Krameisen spearheaded a project for the firm to select a Managed Security Services Provider to monitor and safeguard AP's environment.

"Steve comes to the table with a tremendous amount of broker/dealer and wealth management experience. We're fortunate to be in the unique position of having a CISO on board with a career background that's incredibly specific to the financial services industry." -- CEO Lon T. Dolber

About Us

About American Portfolios

Headquartered in Holbrook, N.Y., American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. (APFS) is a full-service, independent broker/dealer and member firm of FINRA and SIPC, offering a complete range of financial services, including personal financial and retirement planning, securities trading, mutual funds, access to investment research, long-term care planning, insurance products and tax-free investing. Fee-based asset management is offered through its sister subsidiary, American Portfolios Advisors, Inc., (APA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Both entities, along with technology entity American Portfolios Advisory Solutions, LLC, collectively reside under the legal entity American Portfolios Holdings, Inc. (APH). Full-service securities brokerage is available through a clearing firm relationship with Pershing, LLC, a BNY Mellon firm, the securities of which are held on a fully disclosed basis. The company currently supports 850 independent investment professionals-inclusive of registered assistants-and more than 375 non-registered associates, located in 397 branch locations throughout the nation. It was named Broker-Dealer of the Year* (Division III) by Investment Advisor magazine for five consecutive years (2015-2019); a WealthManagement.com 2019 Industry Award Finalist in the category of Enhanced Customer Service Support**; one of the Best Companies to Work for in the state of New York for five consecutive years (2016-2020) by the New York State Society for Human Resources Management (NYS-SHRM) and the Best Companies Group (BCG); and one of the Top Long Island Workplaces for 2018 and 2019 by Newsday.

* Based on a poll of registered representatives conducted by Investment Advisor magazine. Broker/dealers rated highest by their representatives are awarded "Broker/Dealer (B/D) of the Year."

** Wealthmanagement.com Industry Award finalists are selected by a panel of independent judges made up of subject matter experts in the industry. Award is based on support provided to AP's affiliated people and does not reflect public customers nor their account performance.

About Steve Krameisen

Throughout his more than 35-year career in the financial services industry, Steve Krameisen has held senior management and executive level technology positions at Fortune 50 companies and leading corporations, including MetLife Broker/Dealer Group; Advanced Equities Financial Corp.; First Allied Securities; Cetera Financial Group; People's United Bank; Gerstein Fisher; and Nathan & Lewis Securities. In 2015, he formed Wealth Tech Consultants, LLC, an information technology consultancy geared specifically for the financial services industry. Krameisen earned his Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego, followed by enrollment in a Master of Science program at Baruch College, with a focus in computer methodology theory and technique. Krameisen, a member of the Financial Services Institute (FSI), is a past speaker at FSI events, as well as at Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) conferences.

Contacts

Melissa Grappone 4250 Veterans Memorial Hwy; Ste. 420E; Holbrook, NY 11741 VP, Mktg. & Corp. Comm. Work: 6314394600 apcorpcomm@americanportfolios.com http://americanportfolios.com/

SOURCE: American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc.





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Lindemann to grow Taulias presence in the EMEA region

Taulia, the leader in working capital technology solutions has today announced the appointment of Christian Lindemann as Director of Supply Chain Finance EMEA. Christian is based in Switzerland and will be the EMEA regions Working Capital Solutions Expert. In an all-encompassing role, Christian will use his deep Supply Chain Finance knowledge to support the sales, marketing, and product organizations to further strengthen Taulias solutions and presence in the market.

Christian joins Taulia with fourteen years of experience working in the banking and finance industry. He has previously worked at Macquarie Group in the Corporate and Asset Finance division. In 2008, he co-founded a financial services company, SCC Swiss Commercial Capital, which was later acquired by Macquarie Group. Christian holds a Masters in Management from the University of Fribourg.

Michael Rieskamp, Managing Director, EMEA, "Christian joins us at a critical moment as we are rapidly growing in Europe. He brings a wealth of Supply Chain Finance experience and his leadership will be crucial to helping us strengthen and deliver our unique product offering."

"The demand for Supply Chain Finance, specifically within Europe, is accelerating and I want to be a part of this journey to help all businesses survive and thrive. Im looking forward to working with the Taulia team to create the best Supply Chain Finance solution in the market," states Christian Lindemann.

About Taulia

Taulia is a leading provider of working capital technology solutions headquartered in San Francisco, California. Through a unique combination of its technology platform, people and process, Taulia helps companies access the value tied up in their supply chain by transitioning from inefficient and often manual working capital management practices into technology-led, working capital optimization strategies. Taulias vision is to create a world where every business thrives by enabling buyers and suppliers to choose when to pay and get paid. A network of 2 million businesses use Taulias technology and the company processes over $500 billion every year. Taulia is trusted by the worlds largest companies including Airbus, AstraZeneca, Nissan, and Vodafone. For more information visit www.taulia.com

Story continues

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005062/en/

Contacts

Mary Arrizza

Marketing Communications Associate

mary.arrizza@taulia.com
Japanese officials warned of more heavy rain on the southwestern island of Kyushu and bolstered search and rescue operations, as the death toll in flood-hit areas reached at least 50 with about a dozen people reported missing.

The government said it would double rescue and relief personnel as heavy rain destroyed homes and caused landslides in what is shaping up to be Japan's worst natural disaster since Typhoon Hagibis killed 90 people in October.

Police, Self Defense Force and Coast Guard units were deployed and are conducting search and rescue effort.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / When Lisa Collum started out as a young teacher, she knew something was missing from the lessons. She was shocked at how underdeveloped some curricula were in many schools.

Lisa started her long-wanted teaching career as a fourth-grade writing teacher at one of the lowest-performing Title I schools in Palm Beach County. Very soon, she realized a big problem: there was no specific writing curriculum available anywhere for her to use. Thinking outside the box and wanting to see her students pass the state writing exams someday, she devised a plan to be able to teach them the necessary lessons.

As a result of her efforts, the school's proficiency rate rose from 50 to 95 in a matter of months. Lisa reached 100 percent proficiency for two years in a row afterward.

After seven years in the classroom, Lisa started Top Score Writing, a company that specializes in writing curriculum for grades 2 to 12. Lisa not only owns the business but also authors each curriculum level. The company engages itself in different programs such as professional development and training for teachers across the nation, consultations with schools, and tutor programs.

Top Score Writing is the sole company specifically designed to prepare students for the state writing assessment. Most schools rely solely on reading and grammar programs to teach ELA skills, yet today's tests are heavily weighted on a student's ability to write. The lack of writing-specific curricula results not only in lower writing scores but also in lower ELA scores across the board. Top Score Writing can directly correlate the improvement in writing scores to higher overall school grades. The company is Lexile-certified, which enables them to create custom-made and innovative lessons with thought-provoking and original passages tailored to aid in teacher instruction on targeted reading levels.

While she was on her entrepreneurial journey, Lisa found out about a small private school in her area designated for students that struggled in school, had dropped out, or just needed something different. She knew she wanted to own this school to be able to provide students with an alternative educational setting.

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Lisa Collum purchased Coastal Middle and High School, a very small private school with 10 to 15 students. Though it is a fully accredited private school in Lake Park, Florida, it is far from being a normal traditional school. Coastal has a focus on flexibility, breaks, various curriculum choices, and lots of small-group and one-on-one teaching. Lisa's mission for Coastal is not to gain profit but for it to become an efficient resource to help children. In this school, Lisa avoids the "one size fits all" approach to learning in order to accommodate her students fully. She believes that not all kids can learn the same way, and they should not have to.

Coastal creates plans and schedules that work best for their students and allow them to show their best. The school de-emphasizes grades and instead puts importance on effort so that students can learn life skills aside from mandatory school lessons. Coastal is able to accept children going through difficult situations because of its nonconformist setup. Students are able to take the time they need before diving into activities and schoolwork. This fosters a caring and nurturing environment for all students that is conducive to learning. Many students have graduated from Coastal Middle and High School and went on to attend colleges all over the state.

Learn more about Lisa Collum on her website and her company Top Score Writing. Get in touch with Lisa by sending her an email at lisa@topscorewriting.com or by calling (561) 577-2097.

SOURCE: Authority Titans





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The Zhejiang Education Department has announced the results of 2019 Provincial First Class Undergraduate Module scheme lately. We are delighted that the following modules delivered by colleagues in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences have won this accolade.

Introduction to Drama

This module introduces students to the extraordinary variety of drama in the Western dramatic tradition. Students examine the theatre of ancient Greece; medieval mystery and morality plays; the drama of Shakespeare and the Restoration; and nineteenth-century naturalism. We explore dramatic texts produced by writers from Sophocles to Ibsen, and also consider a variety of extra-textual features of drama, including the performance styles of actors, the significance of theatre locations, and the composition of various audiences.

Undergraduates Economics Dissertation

The purpose of the Dissertation is for students to demonstrate familiarity with a particular area of economics and apply economic analysis to address a specific research question (or questions). The Dissertation must include a contribution that is students own (i.e. not just a summary of the ideas of others). In many cases, their contribution will be a piece of empirical or theoretical analysis, applying techniques acquired over the degree programme to look in depth at a specific issue. In some cases, students may undertake a literature survey in which case their contribution will bring the literature together in a new way and derive implications or lessons.

Diplomacy

This module introduces students to the theory and practice of diplomacy from the perspective of the discipline of foreign policy analysis. The module provides an advanced theoretical understanding of diplomacy, as a component of foreign policy. It examines the nature of international negotiations, as well as an analysis of diverse areas of diplomacy, ranging from conflict mediation to trade and environmental diplomacy. In addition, newer forms of diplomacy, such as public and online diplomacy are examined. The core question that students try to answer in the course of this module is: What is the role of diplomacy in todays global politics? To that end, there is a strong focus on contemporary diplomatic challenges, such as the rise of China (and the diminishment of the liberal international order), the belligerence of North Korea, and ongoing questions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Story continues

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005134/en/

Contacts

University of Nottingham Ningbo China

Laura Hong

Digital Assistant

Laura.hong@nottingham.edu.cn
- Acquisition strengthens thyssenkrupp Elevator Canada's service and modernization footprint throughout the Winnipeg area

- All 23 employees will be retained by thyssenkrupp Elevator Canada

- thyssenkrupp Elevator Canada was also recently selected to modernize 12 elevators and was awarded the service contract at the tallest building in Manitoba

WINNIPEG, MB , July 7, 2020 /CNW/ -- thyssenkrupp Elevator Canada has acquired Winnipeg Elevator Group (WEG), a leading service provider in the Winnipeg area for more than 50 years. WEG maintains approximately 1,000 elevators, stairlifts, escalators and dumbwaiters in the region, while also boasting a strong presence in the modernization segment, as well.

thyssenkrupp Elevator Logo (PRNewsfoto/thyssenkrupp Elevator)

All 23 employees and most of the ownership team will be retained and employed by thyssenkrupp Elevator Canada.

"We are very excited to add Winnipeg Elevator Group to the thyssenkrupp Elevator family. For half a century, WEG has kept the City of Winnipeg and the surrounding communities up and running with a high level of service and professionalism that mirrors the approach thyssenkrupp Elevator takes in our own day-to-day activities. This acquisition will not only strengthen our position in a key market but will also allow us to add experienced leaders and top-notch field personnel to our growing team," said Blaine Coupal , CEO of thyssenkrupp Elevator Canada.

WEG specializes in providing cost-effective repairs and service with minimal downtime. Utilizing a fully stocked warehouse and fully stocked service vehicles, WEG earned its reputation as a top service provider in the region with 24-hour emergency elevator repairs that involved everything from damage caused by water to door operator repairs and vandalism.

"In Canada, thyssenkrupp Elevator has earned its reputation as the top vertical transportation company by providing the highest quality products and services. It is an organization that truly values its employees and customers, and its long-term vision and values will significantly benefit Winnipeg Elevator Group and our loyal customer base for many years to come," said Brenda Lackey , President and CEO of Winnipeg Elevator Group.

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Another recent win in Winnipeg for thyssenkrupp Elevator Canada involved being awarded the contract to modernize 12 elevators at 201 Portage, the tallest building in Winnipeg and in the province of Manitoba . Factoring in two more escalators and four additional elevators, thyssenkrupp Elevator Canada will now hold the service contract on the 18 vertical transportation units in the 33-story, 128-meters-tall office tower.

Press Contact

Dennis Van Milligen

Communications Specialist

thyssenkrupp Elevator North America

Tel: +1 312 525 3190

E-Mail: dennis.vanmilligen@thyssenkrupp.com

Web: www.thyssenkruppelevator.com

Michael Ridder

Head of Communications

thyssenkrupp Elevator AG

Tel: +49 201 844-535 104

E-Mail: michael.ridder@thyssenkrupp.com

Web: www.thyssenkrupp-elevator.com



People shaping cities blog: www.urban-hub.com

About us:

thyssenkrupp Elevator

thyssenkrupp Elevator brings together the Group's global activities in passenger transportation systems. With sales of 8.0 billion in fiscal 2018/2019 and customers in over 100 countries, thyssenkrupp Elevator built its position as one of the world's leading elevator companies from scratch in a mere 40 years' time applying thyssenkrupp unique engineering capabilities. With more than 50,000 highly skilled employees, the company offers smart and innovative products and services designed to meet customers' individual requirements. The portfolio includes passenger and freight elevators, escalators and moving walks, passenger boarding bridges, stair and platform lifts as well as tailored service solutions for all products. Over 1,000 locations around the world provide an extensive sales and service network to guarantee closeness to customers.

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. Together with our customers we develop competitive solutions for future challenges in their respective industries. With our engineering expertise we enable our customers to gain an edge in the global market and manufacture innovative products in a cost- and resource-friendly way. Our technologies and innovations are the key to meeting diverse customer and market requirements around the world, growing on the markets of the future, and generating stable earnings, cash flows and value growth.

SOURCE thyssenkrupp Elevator

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2020/07/c3956.html
Digital marketing companies evaluate brands' online presence and create strategies to achieve their business goals, using tactics like advertising, content marketing and more. TopMarketingCompanies.com shared the top companies with experience in building digital marketing strategies that deliver bottom line value.

NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Digital marketing companies evaluate brands' online presence and create strategies to achieve their business goals, using tactics like advertising, content marketing and more.

TopMarketingCompanies.com, a B2B marketplace connecting brands with digital marketing experts, identified the leading marketing companies that can help businesses use digital channels to amplify their brand and meet business objectives.

The top digital marketing companies are:

1. Digital Alpha Agency  digitalalphaagency.com

Expertise: Content Marketing & Copywriting, Paid Media & Pay Per Click, Social Media Marketing and more

2. Dotnik Studio  dotnikstudio.com

Expertise: Digital Marketing, Branding, Website Design and more

3. ENCE Marketing Group  encemarketing.com

Expertise: Ad Services, Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing and more

4. Esferasoft Solutions Pvt. Ltd.  esferasoft.com

Expertise: UX Design, Digital Marketing, Website Design and more

5. Geoxis iHub Pvt Ltd  geoxis.co

Expertise: Paid Media & Pay Per Click, Content Marketing & Copywriting, Social Media Marketing and more

6. pr.business  pr.business

Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing & Copywriting, Creative Services and more

7. Protocloud Technologies PVT. LTD.  protocloudtechnologies.com

Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Online Reputation Management, Content Marketing & Copywriting and more

8. Provis Technologies Private Limited  provistechnologies.com

Expertise: Graphic Design, Digital Marketing, Website Design and more

9. Techvantage Innovations  techvantage.org

Expertise: Website Design, Digital Marketing, UX Design and more

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10. Xtrategy Digital  xtrategy.digital

Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Ad Services, Website Design and more

Brands can view the top-ranked digital marketing companies by price, expertise and location on TopMarketingCompanies.com.

About Top Digital Marketing Agencies: TopMarketingCompanies.com is a B2B marketplace connecting brands with digital marketing experts around the world. The site acts as a directory of digital marketing companies carefully ranked by their area of expertise, industry experience and US location.

SOURCE TopMarketingCompanies.com
ATHENS, Greece, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TOP Ships Inc. (the Company) (TOPS) announced today that it has entered into a placement agency agreement with Maxim Group LLC relating to the sale of the Companys common shares (the Placement Agency Agreement). Pursuant to the Placement Agency Agreement, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional investors in connection with a registered direct offering of an aggregate of 158,640,000 common shares at a public offering price of $0.10 per share (the Registered Offering). The aggregate gross proceeds of the Registered Offering is $15.9 million. The Registered Offering is expected to close on or about July 9, 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.



Maxim Group LLC is the sole placement agent in connection with the offering.

The common shares are being offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form F-3 (File No. 333-234281) previously filed and declared effective by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A prospectus supplement relating to the offering will be filed by the Company with the SEC. When filed, copies of the prospectus supplement, together with the accompanying base prospectus, can be obtained at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov or from the offices of Maxim Group LLC, 405 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10174, Attn: Prospectus Department, or by telephone at (212) 895-3745.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Any offers of securities will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus.

About TOP Ships Inc.

TOP Ships Inc. (TOPS) is an international owner and operator of modern, fuel efficient ECO tanker vessels currently focusing on the transportation of crude oil and petroleum products.

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, anticipate, intends, estimate, forecast, project, plan, potential, may, should, expect pending and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

For further information please contact:

Alexandros Tsirikos

Chief Financial Officer

TOP Ships Inc.

Tel: +30 210 812 8107

Email: atsirikos@topships.org
Strategy Offers a New Approach to Investing in Todays Global Creative Disruption

Gregg Fisher, portfolio manager and factor investing pioneer, today announced the launch of Quent Capital, the second investment firm founded by Fisher. Quent Capital will be based in New York City and will focus on a global small cap long/short strategy.

Over the course of his 30-year career in investment management, Fisher has developed and fine-tuned innovative investment strategies over multiple market cycles and constructed institutional-grade investment operations. Known as a research-driven, quant-focused investor, Fisher has a history of launching strategies when their respective asset classes were out of favor; each time, he produced a track record that matched or exceeded the relevant benchmarks over investment periods of more than a decade.

"Quantitative investing and entrepreneurship are my passions in life and form the basis of this new venture and the word Quent," says Fisher. "With small, entrepreneurial companies now able to source top talent from around the world and acquire institutional-grade technology at low cost, dynamic firms with disruptive technologies and services will be able to meet the challenges of the turbulence and dislocations in todays economy and forge ahead. I am excited to focus my attention on helping qualified investors systematically and thoughtfully gain exposure to the surge in innovation that I am anticipating we will see across the world."

In 1993, Fisher founded Gerstein Fisher, a quantitative investment firm that was one of the first investment managers to offer factor investing. In the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis, the firm launched three factor-based strategies, helping to pioneer factor investing in the global growth stock and global REIT asset classes. Fisher was the highly ranked, sole portfolio manager for these strategies, which matched or exceeded their respective benchmarks. In 2016, with more than $4 billion in assets under management and advisement, Fisher sold Gerstein Fisher to Peoples United Bank. Today, in the face of recent growth of large cap and private equity investment, Fisher is choosing to focus on global small cap public equities.

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"It is my belief that public equity is a more cost-effective and nimble way to participate in todays global creative disruption than private equity, which tends to overpay for assets," comments Fisher. "Quent will combine academic research and quantitative analysis to systematically measure characteristics such as R&D, brand and human capital that allow small companies to succeed but generally have been ignored by traditional accounting measures and the public markets."

The strategy was originally run out of the Fisher family office, and a significant portion of Fishers liquid assets are invested in the fund, keeping his interests aligned with those of investors.

About Quent Capital

Quent Capital is an asset management firm that offers a new vision for investing in global innovation. Founded and managed by investing pioneer Gregg Fisher, Quent Capital features a growth-oriented long/short equity strategy focused on global small company stocks.

Quents investment approach melds the discipline of academic research and quantitative analysis with the energy and intuition of successful entrepreneurs to systematically measure some of the hidden and intangible characteristics that make entrepreneursand the companies they buildtruly great.

About Gregg S. Fisher

Gregg S. Fisher founded one of the first investment managers to offer factor investing, Gerstein Fisher, in 1993. Perhaps best known for his innovative multi-factor strategies developed at Gerstein Fisher, Fisher skillfully bridges the investing and research communities through active engagement with an international network of highly respected academicians. He funds, supports and works with academic partners at multiple universities and research centers to conduct cutting-edge, proprietary research projects that help to inform his investment strategies. In 2009, Fisher founded the Gerstein Fisher Research Center, which collaborated with leading academics in the areas of finance, risk management and economics, to apply theoretical research concepts to real-world challenges facing individual investors. Some of Fishers most important research contributions to investment science include quantifying the value-add of the investment advisor; replicating hedge fund returns through more liquid, transparent investment strategies; and quantifying the excess returns attributable to the small country factor.

Fisher is on the program committee of the Q Group, a 50-year-old organization that promotes global investment management by bringing together investment professionals and leading scholars who are conducting advanced research in the field of quantitative finance. He has served as a guest lecturer for the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, New York University, Columbia University, McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, Cornell Business School and Harvard University. In 2018, he was named to The University at Buffalos Board of Trustees and is now Chair of the billion-plus dollar endowment/foundation. The following year, he established the Fisher Research Collaborative within the universitys School of Management to promote data-driven interdisciplinary research. Throughout his career, Fisher has advised and learned from fellow entrepreneurs as an active member of business leader organizations including YPO, CEO, Vistage and Tiger 21.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005879/en/

Contacts

Tyler Bradford

Hewes Communications

Tyler@hewescomm.com

Office: 212-207-9454

Mobile: 917-628-8512
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  The Turkish foreign minister on Monday called on the European Union to be an honest broker in disputes between Ankara and EU member states France, Greece and Cyprus.

Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that Turkey would be forced to reciprocate against any decisions the bloc takes against the country.

In a joint news conference with visiting EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Cavusoglu also renewed a call for France to apologize for its depiction of a standoff between Turkish and French ships in the Mediterranean Sea. France suspended its involvement in a NATO naval operation over the incident.

Borrell arrived in Turkey for talks at a time when tensions between Europe and Turkey are running high over a slew of issues, including Ankaras disputes with Greece and Cyprus over energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean region. The EU might take up punitive measures against Turkey at an upcoming meeting.

We want to work with the EU, Cavusoglu said, but added: If the EU takes additional decisions against Turkey, we will be forced to reciprocate. The situation will become more tense, and this will serve no one.

Cavusoglu said: Our expectation is for the EU not to be a party to the problem but to be a part of the solution. If it approaches the issues as an honest broker rather than in solidarity (with EU) members in the eastern Mediterranean or on the issue of Cyprus, then it will contribute to a solution.

He was referring to the dispute over drilling for oil and gas in waters off Cyprus. Turkey dispatched warship-escorted vessels to drill for gas in an area where Cyprus insists it has exclusive rights; the Turkish government has said it's acting to protect its interests in the area's natural resources and those of Turkish Cypriots.

The Greek Cypriot government of the ethnically split island has slammed Turkey for encroaching in its waters and economic rights. The EU has rallied to the defense of its member states, Greece and Cyprus.

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Borrell said Turkey was a key partner for the EU even though relations are not passing through the best moment. He called for increased cooperation and dialogue.

Currently, the situation is far from being ideal ... We have a mutual interest to get out of this situation and chart a new and positive trajectory, Borrell said.

Borrell, who met with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, told reporters later during a video conference, that the EU supports the positions of Greece and Cyprus in the Mediterranean.

On Turkey's dispute with France, Borrell said: It's not acceptable that between the navies of two (NATO) members these kinds of situations can happen.

Earlier, Borrell also spoke of the need to overhaul a 2016 agreement between Turkey and the EU. The deal, aimed to curb the massive flow of irregular migrants from Turkey to Europe, but unraveled in late February when Turkey made good on a threat to open its borders. Ankara, fearing a new migration flow from northwestern Syria, said it can no longer hold back migrants who wanted to go to Europe.

Greek forces pushed back, leading to scenes of chaos and violence, the deaths of at least two migrants and hundreds of injuries.

Cavusoglu said Turkey wouldn't accept a revision of the agreement that would be attached to new conditions, such as concessions on Cyprus.

Last week, France temporarily suspended its role in a NATO maritime security operation after Paris accused Turkey of violating a U.N. arms embargo in Libya where the two countries support warring sides. Frances temporary withdrawal from the Sea Guardian mission follows a dispute on whether a Turkish naval targeting radar lit up a French frigate in the Mediterranean in June.

France was not honest, Cavusoglu said. It needs to apologize to Turkey. And it needs to apologize to the EU and to NATO for deceiving them.

__

Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul contributed to this report.
Zai Lab Granted Exclusive Rights to Develop and Commercialize Repotrectinib in Greater China



Turning Point to Receive $25 Million Upfront, Potential for Future Milestones of up to $151 Million and Royalties

TRIDENT-1 Phase 2 Registrational Study of Repotrectinib to Open Additional Sites in Greater China

SAN DIEGO and SHANGHAI, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc. (TPTX), a precision oncology company developing next-generation therapies that target genetic drivers of cancer, and Zai Lab (ZLAB), an innovative commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced an exclusive license agreement for the development and commercialization of Turning Points lead drug candidate, repotrectinib, in Greater China, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Under the terms of the agreement, Zai Lab will obtain exclusive rights to develop and commercialize repotrectinib in Greater China and Turning Point Therapeutics will receive a $25 million upfront payment, with potential to receive up to an additional $151 million in development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments. Turning Point will also be eligible to receive mid-to-high teen royalties based on annual net sales of repotrectinib in Greater China.

With more than 700,000 newly diagnosed lung cancer patients every year in Greater China, and the development and commercialization capabilities Zai Lab have shown over time in the region, we view Zai Lab as the ideal partner to help expand the potential reach of repotrectinib, said Athena Countouriotis, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Turning Point Therapeutics. Our collaboration with Zai Lab is a strategic step to potentially accelerate the development of repotrectinib in Greater China.

Zai Lab anticipates opening additional sites for the TRIDENT-1 Phase 2 registrational clinical study of repotrectinib. The ongoing study is currently active in 11 countries globally and enrolling patients with ROS1-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and NTRK-positive solid tumors.

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We are very pleased to enter into this agreement with Turning Point Therapeutics. Repotrectinib is highly synergistic with Zais existing pipeline and further strengthens our disease area strongholds across most common tumor types in China, particularly in lung cancer. We are looking forward to bringing this potential best-in-class agent in the front-line setting and for patients previously treated with an approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) where there are no approved targeted therapies, said Samantha Du, Ph.D., Founder, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Zai Lab.

In China, there is only one approved targeted therapy for patients with advanced ROS1-positive lung cancer and despite its efficacy, most patients eventually acquire resistance, said Dr. Lu Shun, Director of Chinese Lung Cancer Association. The unmet need in the ROS1-positive lung cancer patient population is significant. The preliminary clinical activity and safety data generated to date for repotrectinib represent a promising clinical profile. If approved, repotrectinib has the potential to be the standard of care for ROS1-positive patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer in China.

About Repotrectinib

Repotrectinib is an investigational next-generation TKI designed to effectively target ROS1 and TRK A/B/C with potential to treat TKI-naive or -pretreated patients. ROS1 rearrangement is estimated to be an oncogenic driver in approximately 2 to 3 percent of patients with advanced NSCLC in China, and NTRK is estimated to be an oncogenic driver in approximately 0.5 percent of patients with other advanced solid tumors in China.

Utilizing a 22 July 2019 data cut-off, data from the Phase 1 portion of TRIDENT-1 demonstrated the potential for repotrectinib to be best-in-class for the treatment of ROS1-positive advanced NSCLC in patients who were not previously treated with a TKI, with a 91 percent overall response rate by blinded independent central review, a median duration of response of 23.1 months, a median progression-free survival of 24.6 months, and a generally well-tolerated adverse-event profile.

More information about the ongoing TRIDENT-1 study of repotrectinib may be found by searching clinical trial identifier NCT03093116 at https://clinicaltrials.gov .

About Turning Point Therapeutics Inc.

Turning Point Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision oncology company with a pipeline of internally discovered investigational drugs designed to address key limitations of existing cancer therapies. The companys lead drug candidate, repotrectinib, is a next-generation kinase inhibitor targeting the ROS1 and TRK oncogenic drivers of non-small cell lung cancer and advanced solid tumors. Repotrectinib, which is being studied in a registrational Phase 2 study in adults and a Phase 1/2 study in pediatric patients, has shown antitumor activity and durable responses among kinase inhibitor treatment-naive and pre-treated patients. The companys pipeline of drug candidates also includes TPX-0022, targeting MET, CSF1R and SRC, which is being studied in a Phase 1 trial of patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring genetic alterations in MET; TPX-0046, targeting RET and SRC, which is being studied in a Phase 1/2 trial of patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring genetic alterations in RET; and TPX-0131, a next-generation ALK inhibitor in IND-enabling studies. Turning Points next-generation kinase inhibitors are designed to bind to their targets with greater precision and affinity than existing therapies, with a novel, compact structure that has demonstrated an ability to potentially overcome treatment resistance common with other kinase inhibitors. The company is driven to develop therapies that mark a turning point for patients in their cancer treatment. For more information, visit www.tptherapeutics.com.

About Zai Lab

Zai Lab (ZLAB) is an innovative commercial stage biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing transformative medicines for cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases to patients in China and around the world. To quickly target the large, fast-growing segments of Chinas pharmaceutical market and address unmet medical needs, Zai Labs experienced team has secured partnerships with leading global biopharma companies, generating a broad pipeline of innovative drug candidates. Zai Lab has also built an in-house team with strong drug discovery and translational research capabilities, aiming to establish a global pipeline of proprietary drug candidates against targets in our focus areas. Zai Labs vision is to become a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company, discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing its portfolio in order to impact human health worldwide.

For additional information about the company, please visit www.zailaboratory.com or follow us at www.twitter.com/ZaiLab_Global.

Turning Point Therapeutics Forward Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, the efficacy, safety and therapeutic potential of Turning Point Therapeutics drug candidate repotrectinib, the results, conduct, and progress of Turning Point Therapeutics TRIDENT-1 clinical study of repotrectinib, including the ability of Zai Lab to open additional sites and the potential to accelerate the development of repotrectinib in Greater China, the ability to expand the potential reach of repotrectinib to patients in Greater China, and the potential to receive milestone and royalty payments from Zai Lab. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such as plans, will, believes, anticipates, expects, intends, goal, potential and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Turning Point Therapeutics current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with Turning Point Therapeutics business in general, risks and uncertainties related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to Turning Points business, and the other risks described in Turning Point Therapeutics filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Turning Point Therapeutics undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

Zai Lab Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains statements about future expectations, plans and prospects for Zai Lab, including, without limitation, statements regarding the prospects of and plans for commercializing repotrectinib in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Such statements constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact nor are they guarantees or assurances of future performance. Forward-looking statements are based on Zai Lab's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including but not limited to (1) Zai Labs ability to obtain additional future funding, (2) Zai Labs results of clinical and pre-clinical development of its drug candidates, (3) the content and timing of decisions made by the relevant regulatory authorities regarding regulatory approvals of Zai Labs drug candidates, (4) Zai Labs ability to generate revenue from its drug candidates, (5) the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on general economic, regulatory and political conditions and (6) other factors discussed in Zai Lab's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, filed on April 29, 2020, and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Zai Lab anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Zai Labs expectations and assumptions to change and undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Zai Labs views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

CONTACTS:

Turning Point Therapeutics

Jim Mazzola

jim.mazzola@tptherapeutics.com

858-342-8272

Zai Lab

Billy Cho, CFO

+86 137 6151 2501

billy.cho@zailaboratory.com

Media: Ryo Imai / Robert Flamm, Ph.D.

Burns McClellan, on behalf of Zai Lab

212-213-0006 ext. 315 / 364

rimai@burnsmc.com / rflamm@burnsmc.com
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Kelly Dunning, an assistant professor in Auburn Universitys School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, was part of a team that created and implemented a volunteer-driven citizen science project called Nurdle Patrol, which measured microplastic pollution across the Gulf of Mexico.

The projects open-access findings, Measuring plastic pellet (nurdle) abundance on shorelines throughout the Gulf of Mexico using citizen scientists: Establishing a platform for policy-relevant research, were published earlier this year in the Bulletin of Marine Pollution.

The vast scope of volunteer interest allowed for the projects expansion across the Gulf of Mexico region, with 744 citizen scientists conducting 2,042 surveys of microplastics from the shorelines of Mahahual, Mexico, to Fort Jefferson, Texas.

Dunning said the findings serve as a warning about the wide prevalence of microplastics, or nurdlessmall plastic pellets composed of the raw material of nearly everything that is made of plasticin the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the power of citizen science to bring about widespread awareness of marine pollution.

Because of the many scales of policy implementation around microplasticsinternational, national, regional and localthere are significant challenges to getting all actors to work together to lessen microplastic spills into the environment, said Dunning, whose role on the project was to analyze how citizen science informs decision-maker action, leading to policy that can reduce the amount of marine microplastic pollution.

Private companies must act to lessen nurdle spills in production and transport phases, and local and state governments have the most power to work with companies to tighten microplastic security along the supply chain where leaks into coastal waters occur most, she said.

The project began in 2018, when scientists at the Mission Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, led by the organizations director, Jace Tunnell, noticed the nurdles on the beaches of Corpus Christi, Texas. From there, they established the Nurdle Patrol, which was made up of citizen scientists tasked with monitoring the presence of nurdles.

Janaki Alavalapati, dean of Auburns School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, said this wide-scale, citizen science-led project will shed a bright light on the vast presence of plastic particles bringing about marine pollution in the Gulf of Mexico.

By taking on the arduous task of measuring the amount of microplastic spills in the Gulf of Mexico, Dr. Dunning and her fellow researchers, including the many citizen scientists who devoted their efforts to this project, have brought about widespread awareness that is likely to lead to serious action that will not only address the current problem, but also substantially decrease microplastic spillage in the future, Alavalapati said.

Dunning said the work could not have been done without the hard work of the citizen scientists.

It would have been completely impossible, she said.

An interesting and encouraging fact about this massive research is that it originated in research done by Tunnells daughter, Parker.

This started as her science fair project. So, it shows how young women in STEM can lead to huge movements that span countries, states and communities, Dunning said.

Tunnell agreed that the scope of the study would be insurmountable without the contribution of the widespread group of citizen scientists.

The extent, frequency and visibility of the project all depends on citizen scientists, Tunnell said. This could not be done by one single group of researchers, and it is so inspiring to work with such compassionate groups of individuals wanting to make a difference on plastics reaching the ocean."

(Written by Teri Greene)
By Devika Krishna Kumar and Valerie Volcovici

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. court ordered the shutdown of the Dakota Access oil pipeline on Monday over concerns about its potential environmental impact, a big win for the Native American tribes and green groups who fought the major pipeline's route across a crucial water supply for years.

The decision by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia followed the cancellation of another high-profile U.S. pipeline project on Sunday and came as a blow to the Trump administration's efforts to lift the domestic fossil fuels industry by rolling back environmental red tape.

According to the ruling, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it granted an easement to Energy Transfer LP to construct and operate a segment of the oil pipeline beneath Lake Oahe in South Dakota, because they failed to produce an adequate Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The court ordered Energy Transfer to shut and empty the 570,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) line within 30 days, closing off the biggest artery transporting crude oil out of North Dakota's Bakken shale basin to Midwest and Gulf Coast regions.

"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," it said.

It is rare for regulators or officials to force an oil pipeline to be drained, unless it is in the aftermath of a spill, oil market sources said.

Energy Transfer said it was looking at legal and administrative measures to avoid a shutdown, and was considering an appeal if those efforts fail.

In a filing seeking a temporary stay to the order, the company argued that time-consuming and expensive steps are required to shut the pipeline down safely and empty it of oil, which means the process would take well more than 30 days.

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If the motion for a stay pending an appeal is denied by the district court, the company said it intends to file one in the Washington, D.C., circuit court.

Preparing a thorough EIS could take about thirteen months, according to an estimate by the Army Corp.

Consultancy Rapidan Energy Group said the ruling casts long-term doubts over the future of the pipeline, which has only been operating for about three years.

"With odds of a temporary stay on appeal only 30%, the court-ordered DAPL shutdown on Aug. 5 should last at least 10-12 months if Donald Trump wins re-election and permanently if not," it said in a note.

The ruling comes a day after Dominion Energy Inc and Duke Energy Corp decided to abandon the $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline, meant to move West Virginia natural gas to East Coast markets, after a long delay to clear legal roadblocks almost doubled its estimated cost.

Separately on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court did not allow construction to begin on TC Energy Corp's Keystone XL oil sands pipeline and partially left in effect a ruling that blocks the use of a key federal permit that allows dredging work on pipelines across water bodies.

Native American and environmental groups cheered the DAPL court ruling.

"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," said Chairman Mike Faith of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which led protests and legal efforts against the project.

"This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning."

Greenpeace USA Climate Director Janet Redman called the pipeline setbacks a victory in the fight against climate change.

IMPACT

The Trump administration, Republican lawmakers and industry groups blamed activists and said the pipeline setbacks would cost the U.S. economy.

"I'm not quite sure what they're cheering except for perhaps the loss of jobs all throughout America," U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said during an interview on Fox Business Network.

"Shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline would have devastating consequences to North Dakota and to America's energy security. This terrible ruling should be promptly appealed," said Kevin Cramer, North Dakota Senator and Trump ally.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's campaign declined to comment.

The American Petroleum Institute, the nation's main oil and gas industry lobby group, called for urgent reform of the permitting system. The Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL) said that if this decision is not reversed on appeal, Americans will be deprived of affordable energy.

Energy Transfer shares dropped on Monday by about 8%.

Large investors in the pipeline could also be on the hook for hundreds of millions in payments, according to a Reuters review of company disclosures.

Refiner Phillips 66, an investor in the project, said shutting down the pipeline would throw the country's crude supply system out of balance and jeopardize national security.Oil prices have plunged this year as the coronavirus pandemic eroded global demand by nearly 30% in April and restricted travel across the world. The collapse forced oil producers across the United States to shut in production and curtail new drilling. North Dakota is one of the costliest spots in the United States to produce crude, and its output has dropped by about one-third from last year, more than most other oil-producing states.

Bakken crude prices in Clearbrook, Minnesota, slumped to their weakest since early May on news of the shutdown order, traders said.

Market sources in the Bakken said the ruling will likely divert some oil flows onto railcars.

(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York, Valerie Volcovici in Washington DC and Laila Kearney; additional reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Marguerita Choy, Richard Chang and Sonya Hepinstall)
July 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration alerted clinical laboratories and healthcare providers on Monday about false positive results from one of Becton Dickinson and Co's COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tests.

The test, designed to detect viral nucleic acid from the virus that causes COVID-19, is in use in nearly every state across the U.S. at hundreds of laboratories.

In one study, the manufacturer found about 3% of the results were false positives, according to the FDA. (https://bit.ly/3e5g2Td)

The health regulator said it was working with Becton Dickinson to resolve the issue.

Becton Dickinson is selling a variety of other types of tests for the coronavirus. The FDA on Monday granted emergency use authorization to the company's COVID-19 antigen test that can be administered at the point of care, with results within 15 minutes. (Reporting by Dania Nadeem in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
By Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith

SEOUL, July 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. point man for North Korea will meet with South Korean officials in Seoul on Wednesday for wide-ranging talks, overshadowed by Pyongyang's insistence that it has no intention of returning to denuclearisation negotiations any time soon.

Stephen Biegun, who led working-level negotiations with the North Koreans and now has broader responsibility as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, arrived late on Tuesday.

Talks will likely cover a range of issues, including coronavirus responses and ongoing negotiations over military cost-sharing, but North Korea is expected to dominate the agenda, Seoul officials said.

Biegun is due to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young and chief nuclear negotiator Lee Do-hoon, according to the foreign ministry.

He is also likely to meet with Suh Hoon, South Korean President Moon Jae-ins new national security advisor who, as spy chief, was instrumental in facilitating summits between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a Seoul official said.

Talks with Pyongyang have since stalled, and North Korean officials say the country has no intention to sit down with the United States.

Moon's call for a new Trump-Kim summit and Biegun's visit had sparked speculation of a last-ditch effort to try to revive North Korea talks ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.

But given North Korea's strident rejections of new talks, Biegun's visit seemed more likely to focus on coordination between the two allies, rather than seizing some opening for diplomacy, said John Delury, a North Korea expert at Yonsei University in Seoul.

"I dont see signals from North Korea that they are looking for engagement," he said.

Coordination between the two long-time allies is critical now, said Duyeon Kim, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group, a Belgium-based independent non-profit organisation.

"The allies should get on the same page about upcoming defence drills, how their working group can support inter-Korean projects while enforcing existing sanctions, and how to jointly respond if Pyongyang escalates or tests more weapons," she said. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith)
WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) - The United States will restrict visas for some Chinese officials because China obstructs travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region and other Tibetan areas by U.S. diplomats, journalists and tourists, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday.

"Today I am announcing visa restrictions on PRC government and Chinese Communist Party officials determined to be 'substantially involved in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas,'" Pompeo said in a statement, referring to the People's Republic of China. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Eric Beech)
U.S. airlines move toward federal loans as COVID-19 surge threatens demand, jobs FILE PHOTO: Passengers check in at a counter of Delta Air Lines in Mexico City

By Tracy Rucinski

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The largest U.S. air carriers have all signed letters of intent on federal loans to help them weather the novel coronavirus, with United Airlines warning employees on Tuesday that a surge in outbreaks was hitting bookings, threatening a travel rebound and jobs.

United employees should expect to receive as soon as this week notices about potential furloughs effective Oct. 1, the airline said in a regulatory filing. It expects travel demand to remain depressed until a widely accepted COVID-19 treatment or vaccine is found, with no straight line to an industry recovery.

U.S. airline shares closed 5% lower on Tuesday, with United down 7.6%.

While travel had picked up in some areas over the past two months from pandemic-driven lows in April, United has seen reservations for travel within the coming month slide after New York, New Jersey and Connecticut said they would require people arriving from hot-spot states to quarantine for 14 days.

The slump was most pronounced at United's Newark hub, where near-term net bookings were just about 16% of year-ago levels as of July 1. Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth said the bookings trend was likely much broader than the New York area.

Andrew Nocella, United's chief commercial officer, told employees at a virtual town hall meeting on Tuesday that its network would be slightly more impacted than other U.S. domestic airlines, sources said after the meeting.

It is among U.S. airlines encouraging employees to accept voluntary departure packages to help prevent tens of thousands of job losses in the fall but said not enough workers have signed up ahead of a July 15 deadline to apply.

U.S. airlines have drastically reduced their flight capacity and rushed to shore up capital while warning that tens of thousands of jobs could be at risk as the industry braces for a slow recovery.

United sees domestic load factors at around 50% in July versus around 80% normally, with international loads around 30%, and will continue to adjust its capacity based on demand.

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Delta Air Lines said last week it may scale back the number of flights it had planned for August.

United and Delta were among U.S. carriers - along with Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines - that the U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday had signed letters regarding the terms of a $25 billion loan package under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Last week, the department said it had agreed on the terms for government loans under the CARES Act with five other airlines including American Airlines.

U.S. airlines have already received $25 billion in payroll aid under the CARES Act to protect jobs through September and have until Sept. 30 to decide whether to take the loan, which would include the issue of warrants and restrictions on executive compensation and share buybacks.

U.S. unions representing aviation workers have separately asked lawmakers to extend the payroll aid package through March as Congress considers a new round of spending to address coronavirus-related issues and jobs.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Matthew Lewis)
By Subrat Patnaik and Tina Bellon

(Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc on Monday said it would acquire Postmates Inc for $2.65 billion to expand its food delivery market share and significantly increase the business of supplying everyday goods at a time when the coronavirus has pummeled its core ride-hailing service.

The all-stock deal, still subject to regulatory approval, would give Uber a roughly 30% share of the U.S. food delivery market, trailing only rival DoorDash, which commands some 45%, according to analytics firm Second Measure.

Uber said both companies' boards have approved the deal, for which Uber currently expects to issue some 84 million shares of common stock. Uber offered a premium of about 10% on Postmates' last valuation of $2.4 billion. Its shares were up 5% at $32.24.

Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi on Monday told analysts the tie-up would allow Uber Eats to distinguish itself by delivering not only restaurant food, but everything from groceries to personal care and fashion items.

Uber has launched an option to send packages via its U.S. ride-hail drivers during the pandemic and teamed up with grocery stores in several countries. The acquisition allows it to expand into Postmates' existing network in 4,200 U.S. cities.

"The vision for us is to become an everyday service," the Uber CEO said.

Khosrowshahi said he expects the deal to create profitability for the Uber's Eats unit, as well as some $200 million in cost saving synergies in about two years and additional efficiency gains through Uber's smarter routing technology.

The tie-up comes after a month of frenzied merger talks in the industry as millions of Americans were marooned at home by the coronavirus crisis. Companies have traditionally tried to gain market share with costly promotions and driver incentives.

Uber's original plan to acquire U.S. food delivery rival GrubHub, which commands a 23% market share, faltered over regulatory and other concerns. GrubHub was snatched up by Takeaway.com NV on June 11.

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When Uber presented its offer in June, Postmates was gearing up for an initial public offering for July.

Postmates board, however, was concerned that being a smaller player in food delivery and the economic recession could cast a shadow over the new stock's long-term performance, according to a source familiar with the matter. The board instead decided to opt for certainty by agreeing to a tie-up with the well-capitalized Uber.

Even with a pandemic-induced increase in demand, Uber Eats recorded a $313 million adjusted EBITDA loss in the first quarter. Uber on Monday said Eats bookings have more than doubled in the second quarter, but the company declined to provide additional financial details, including on Postmates.

Khosrowshahi said some 30% of Postmates' orders come from subscribers, a reliable customer segment Uber aims to expand with its own subscription service.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik, Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru and Tina Bellon in New York; Additional reporting by Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr, Maju Samuel and Bill Berkrot)
Cooperation focuses on developing and commercializing next-generation quantum dot-based specialty agricultural films for greenhouse coverings

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. and BRUSSELS, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UbiQD, Inc., an advanced materials company powering product innovations in agriculture, clean energy, and security, and the Solvay Group, announced today that they have agreed to partner on the development of next-generation luminescent greenhouse technology under UbiQD's UbiGro family of specialty agricultural products.

Greenhouses with UbiGro consistently produce larger crop yields by enhancing the spectral quality of sunlight.

UbiGro is a layer of light that helps plants get more from the sun. Powered by UbiQD's safe and bright quantum dots, UbiGro uses fluorescence to create a more optimal light spectrum for crops. UbiQD's dots convert underutilized colors of light from the sun, such as blue and UV, to more photosynthetically active colors of light. UbiQD has demonstrated plants grow faster under the orange UbiGro product; consistently producing up to 20% larger harvests for farmers.

"We are only just beginning to see what UbiGro can do for the greenhouse industry, and this exciting new partnership with Solvay will accelerate deployment of a full-cover solution," said Hunter McDaniel, UbiQD Founder and CEO. "Solvay is the industry leader in greenhouse film additives, and they are widely recognized for their polymer innovation as well as supply chain reliability."

Through the partnership, growers will be able to achieve spectrum optimization without needing to change existing greenhouse designs or invest in lighting fixtures or electricity infrastructure.

"Our innovative solutions have helped drive the growth of the $3 billion greenhouse cover market," explained Olivier Touret, Vice President, Solvay. "We look forward to partnering with a company equally innovative and committed to growing the market."

Eric Aubay, Business Development Director, Solvay, added, "We intend to leverage our rich heritage in polyethylene stabilizers and additives to accelerate the development of what will be the highest performing cover films available."

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The cooperation will benefit from leveraging the existing greenhouse cover film supply chain. Other objectives of the partnership include ensuring quantum dot additive processability at an industrial scale, as well as demonstrating the fluorescent layer stabilization in various climates and greenhouse constructions.

About UbiQD, Inc.

UbiQD is an advanced materials company powering product innovations in agriculture, clean energy, and security. Our quantum dots enable industry leaders to harness the power of light. UbiGro, is a layer of light that uses fluorescence to create a more optimal greenhouse spectrum for crops. Headquartered in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the company is licensing technology developed at leading research institutions, including Los Alamos National Laboratory and MIT. To learn more, please visit: http://www.ubiqd.com and http://www.ubigro.com.

About Solvay S.A.

Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group's innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world's top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of 10.2 billion in 2019. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels (SOLB) and Paris and in the United States, where its shares (SOLVY) are traded through a Level I ADR program. Learn more at www.solvay.com.

Media Contact

Kat Brown

Jones-Dilworth, Inc.

713-498-3643

kat@jones-dilworth.com

UbiQD, Inc. Logo (PRNewsfoto/UbiQD, Inc.)

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SOURCE UbiQD, Inc.
* Lebanon faces serious economic crisis

* Talks with the IMF have been put on hold

* Donors want Beirut to fix state waste and corruption

By Tom Perry and Laila Bassam

BEIRUT, July 7 (Reuters) - Lebanon is facing a "financial siege" imposed by international powers and its priority is staving off strife caused by the country's economic meltdown, leading politician Gebran Bassil said on Tuesday.

Bassil, an ally of the Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah, said he supported talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), hoping they would pressure the state into reforms, but that Lebanon was running out of time and any foreign aid could not come at the price of sovereignty.

Talks with the IMF were put on hold last week after becoming bogged down by a dispute on the Lebanese side over the scale of losses in the financial system and pending the start of reforms to address the root causes of the crisis, seen as the biggest threat to Lebanon's stability since the 1975-90 civil war.

The government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, which is backed by Bassil and Hezbollah, has yet to embark on serious reforms sought by donors including the United States and France, which say Beirut must fix state waste and corruption before any aid is released.

"What we are subjected to is an economic, financial and political siege ... This doesn't pardon the state and the Lebanese from their mistakes ... at the forefront of them -- corruption," Bassil said in an interview.

"When there is a desire to help Lebanon, tomorrow the gates will be opened. And when there are great powers blocking the gates, Lebanon does not have capacity to open them."

"The absolute priority ... is how to keep Lebanon away from anarchy and strife."

Lebanese must also be protected from extreme poverty, said Bassil, a son-in-law of President Michel Aoun.

Hezbollah is classified as a terrorist group by the United States. The group's influence in state affairs has grown since it won a parliamentary majority with its allies in 2018.

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Opponents say the alliance forged by Aoun and Bassil with the heavily-armed Hezbollah has provided political cover for its arsenal.

Though critics say he exercises wide influence over the government, Bassil said no ministers were members of the Free Patriotic Movement he leads, and the cabinet must accelerate reforms.

"We don't accept this model of low productivity," he said of the government, which he said could not continue if it failed to do more.

Asked if he saw a risk to peace, Bassil said: "Of course this fear exists."

The response, he said, was "in national unity" and dialogue.

He warned of the risk of "an international game" unfolding to weaken Lebanon or "a party in Lebanon such as Hezbollah".

"Syria must be a lesson for all. It would be a shame to take Lebanon on the path to destruction once again," he said. (Editing by Timothy Heritage)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Care Capital Inc. (CSE: HLTH, FRANKFURT: L6V1) (the Company or Global Care) a global investment company which engages in early stage investment opportunities in private and public companies, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, ViraxClear, through its joint venture, Shanghai Biotechnology Devices Ltd. (SBD) has received approval on July 3rd, 2020 from El Instituto de Salud Publica de Chile (ISP) for the distribution of COVID-19 Rapid Antibody Test Kits (Test Kits) supplied by its previously disclosed manufacturing partners, Innovita Biological Technology Co., Ltd and Vazyme Biotech Co., Ltd (Innovita, Vazyme), for the Chilean market. ViraxClear has signed a non-binding LOI with Biosonda Biotecnologia (Biosonda) for the distribution of up to 3 million Test Kits for the Chilean market, a contract valued at up to $17.25 million in gross revenue.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f21c6f66-8b2f-4b6c-a13d-fd8e9822d37b

Distribution Contract for Test Kits in Chile

ViraxClear has received initial orders for trials and market testing of their Test Kits for the Chilean market and manufacturing is expected to commence over the next 60 days. The LOI provides for a 60-day exclusivity period during which ViraxClear and Biosonda intend to sign a definitive agreement with a total contract value of up to $17.25 million.

Biosonda is a biotechnology company founded in Chile in 1992 by leading scientists. It is currently one of the main distribution companies of products for scientific research and clinical diagnosis in Chile, with a recognizable corporate image in the national market. Biosonda works with some of the top global brands in the clinical and diagnostic industries and handle everything from marketing, import, logistics, research and development and sales.

The Biosonda commercial department is made up of a sales force, with a high degree of specialization and extensive experience in the market made up of experts in molecular biology and immunology. They offer a technical service laboratory for equipment maintenance, repair and training, a personalized after-sales service, and a commercial-logistics team that manages the tasks of quotation, import, logistics, inventory, orders and dispatch to provide an optimum service.

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Alex Somjen, CEO of Global Care Capital Inc., stated, This distribution deal represents the culmination of months of negotiating by ViraxClear with top distributors in key global regions. Biosonda is in a perfect position to roll out mass testing for the region with Chile already seeing 288,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the population requiring Antibody Testing once the curve has flattened.

ISP Approval

The Chilean government require medical testing devices to receive ISP Approval before they can be sold in Chile. Both Innovita and Vazyme, ViraxClear suppliers, are now on the list of ISP Approved factories, allowing ViraxClear tests to be imported and sold nationally.

Established in 2006, Innovita is a Chinese high-tech enterprise specialized in R&D, manufacturing, marketing and after-sales service of In-vitro diagnostic tests. The CE and NMPA (formerly known as CFDA) approved Innovita serology tests have performed particularly well during preliminary clinical tests carried out by the COVID-19 Testing Project; a multidisciplinary team of researchers and physicians at UCSF, UC Berkeley, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub and Innovative Genetics Institute. According to their studies, Innovita tests scored a 96.3 % specificity (NPV); 83.3% Sensitivity (PPV) with an IN-HOUSE ELISA test (gold reference standard) giving 99.1 % specificity (NPV); 81.8 % Sensitivity (PPV): https://covidtestingproject.org/

Vazyme, which is a highly reputable producer of enzymes and antibodies with products covering clinical diagnosis, molecular diagnostics, high-throughput sequencing and life science research, as well as RNA sequencing, enabling customers and reagent manufacturers to get enzymes with higher resistance. Vazyme owns a dedicated 8000 m2 R&D site and have established the Biotechnology Industry Research Institute, which is comprised of a team of nearly 100 scientists.

The Test Kits are intended for the qualitative detection of IgG and IgM antibodies against 2019 Novel Coronavirus, produced by the immune system after virus infection. IgM is the earliest antibody that appears upon the first immune response, with detection indicating an early stage infection. IgG is produced later and lasts a long time in the body, indicating a prior infection. The combination of the two markers offers an insight into what stage the virus has reached.

About ViraxClear

ViraxClear focuses on commercializing novel products that address significant healthcare needs with a specific target on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The companys main focus is marketing its ViraxClear Rapid IgM-IgG Combined Antibody Test. The ViraxClear Rapid IgM-IgG Combined Antibody Test for COVID-19 is a lateral flow immunoassay used to qualitatively detect both early and late marker IgG/IgM antibodies.

http://www.viraxclear.com

info@viraxclear.com

About Global Care

Global Care Capital is a global investment company which specializes in providing early stage financing to private and public companies. The Company engages in new, early stage investment opportunities in previously underdeveloped assets and obtaining positions in early stage investment opportunities that adequately reflect the risk profile.

http://www.globalcarecapital.com

GLOBAL CARE CAPITAL INC.:

Company Contact:

Alex Somjen, President & CEO

asomjen@globalcarecapital.com

Neither the CSE nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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 the 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.

Also read: Vizag gas leak: Panel blames LG Polymers' negligence, poor maintenance for mishap
Rating Action: Moody's assigns Aa1 to Virginia Housing Dev. Auth.'s Rental Housing Bonds, 2020 E and F

Global Credit Research - 07 Jul 2020

New York, July 07, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Aa1 rating to the proposed $44.77 million Virginia Housing Development Authority's ("Virginia Housing" or "the Authority") Rental Housing Bonds, 2020 Series E-Non-AMT and the $151.455 million 2020 Series F-Taxable. Moody's is also maintaining the Aa1 ratings on all outstanding Rental Housing Bonds. The outlook on the ratings is stable.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The Aa1 is based on the Authority's issuer rating as the issuer has pledged its general obligation to secure the bonds. The issuer rating reflects the Authority's very strong financial performance, sizable unrestricted net assets available to cover general obligations, and successful operational and debt management track record.

We regard the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under our ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health and safety. The coronavirus crisis is not a key driver for this rating action. We do not see any material immediate credit risks for the Virginia Housing Development Authority. However, the situation surrounding Coronavirus is rapidly evolving and the longer term impact will depend on both the severity and duration of the crisis. If our view of the credit quality of the Virginia Housing Development Authority changes, we will update the rating and/or outlook at that time.

RATING OUTLOOK

The stable outlook is based on the stable outlook for the Authority's issuer rating.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OF THE RATINGS

- An upgrade of the Authority's general obligation rating

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

- A downgrade of the Authority's general obligation rating

LEGAL SECURITY

The bonds are a general obligation of the Authority. The bonds are also secured by a pledge of the program's assets and are equally and ratably secured with the currently outstanding bonds under the Rental Housing Bond resolution and any additional rental housing bonds issued hereafter. The resolution permits the authority to release assets from the lien or pledge created by the bond resolution, subject to the satisfaction of a revenue test.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

Proceeds of the 2020 Series E and F bonds are expected to be used to finance short- and long-term multifamily mortgage loans.

PROFILE

VHDA is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia established in 1972 to assist the housing needs of low to moderate income persons. The authority is located in Richmond, VA.

METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was US Housing Finance Agency Issuer Ratings Methodology published in October 2019 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1154472. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.

REGULATORY DISCLOSURES

For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004

For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.

The ratings have been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.

These ratings are solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on its website www.moodys.com.

Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating review.

Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1133569.

The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed by Moody's Deutschland GmbH, An der Welle 5, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph 3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is available on www.moodys.com.

Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued the rating.

Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.

Rachael McDonald Lead Analyst Housing Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 7 World Trade Center 250 Greenwich Street New York 10007 US JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Florence Zeman Additional Contact Housing JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 250 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007 U.S.A JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653

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CSE: VYGR

OTCQB: VYGVF

Borse Frankfurt: UCD2

Voyager Digital Logo (CNW Group/Voyager Digital (Canada) Ltd.)

Dynamic Smart Order Router to Deliver Enhanced Liquidity, Trade Execution and Market Access to Bosonic's Institutional Customer Base

NEW YORK , July 7, 2020 /CNW/ - Voyager Digital Canada Ltd. ("Voyager" or the "Company") (VYGR.V) (VYGVF) (UCD2.F), a public, licensed crypto-asset broker that provides investors with a turnkey solution to trade crypto assets, today announced it has partnered with Bosonic, a leading crypto focused Prime Broker, to deliver greater liquidity and trade execution to institutional clients utilizing Voyager's dynamic Smart Order Router and Bosonic's real-time clearing and settlement solution.

Voyager currently offers trade execution for 35 digital assets. Powered by its proprietary Smart Order Router technology, the Company brings investors competitive prices and faster, more reliable trade execution through multiple exchanges, OTC desks and market makers. Incorporating Voyager's Smart Order Router, these capabilities will now be integrated into the Bosonic Prime Brokerage platform to offer Bosonic's Institutional customers an unmatched depth of liquidity and market access while eliminating counterparty and settlement risk.

Stephen Ehrlich , CEO and Co-Founder of Voyager said, "Expanding our dynamic Smart Order Router to institutional customers is a natural extension of the Voyager Platform. Rosario and his team share a similar belief on what institutions are looking for in the crypto space, all of which aligns with our mission at Voyager. The Voyager-Bosonic partnership is a great strategic step for both companies in securing the best trade execution for our clients and growing our institutional businesses."

"We are very pleased Voyager has chosen to partner with Bosonic for Prime Brokerage," said Rosario Ingargiola , CEO and Founder of Bosonic. "Our Prime Brokerage platform will help Voyager eliminate counterparty and settlement risk, both when executing trades on behalf of their retail clients, as well as increasing their reach by offering their liquidity to institutional clients on a non-custodial basis. By combining our respective areas of excellence, both firms will be able to grow trading volumes on their respective platforms as we offer clients the ability to trade digital assets across various venues for the best price with the lowest risk."

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Voyager and Bosonic customers will receive notifications of the platform enhancements and capabilities integration throughout the coming months.

Voyager also announces it has engaged two firms to provide investor relations services. Aitkencheck.de AG of Germany has been engaged to provide a marketing awareness program in Europe (at a cost of 50,000 over four months); and Stockhouse has been engaged to provide banner advertising and targeted marketing of investors (at a cost of $5,000 per month for six months).

About Voyager Digital ( Canada ) Ltd.

Voyager Digital ( Canada ) Ltd. is a crypto-asset broker that provides retail and institutional investors with a turnkey solution to trade crypto assets. Voyager offers customers best execution and safe custody on a wide choice of popular crypto-assets. Voyager was founded by established Wall Street and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who teamed to bring a better, more transparent and cost-efficient alternative for trading crypto-assets to the marketplace. Please visit us at https://www.investvoyager.com for more information and to review the latest Corporate Presentation.

About Bosonic

Bosonic is the first Crypto Prime Brokerage offering the elimination of counterparty and settlement risk without the use of its balance sheet and without becoming a counterparty to any trades. The firm provides the only blockchain-powered, multi-custodian solution that decentralizes and distributes Prime Brokerage capabilities across all participating custodians. Real-time clearing and settlement is performed against provable assets at the custodian account level. Automated net settlement, both intra-custodian and soon cross-custodian, make it possible to trade with any counterparty dealer, exchange or other firm from a single account at any connected custodian with zero risk. Bosonic is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. For more information please visit bosonic.digital

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information: The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this release and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Voyager Digital ( Canada ) Ltd.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2020/07/c2416.html
The Arab Institute for Women announces a legacy naming opportunity to establish a strong regional presence and continue vital work for Arab womens rights through scholarship, training, and advocacy.

New York, NY, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEW YORK, NY  In preparation for the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Arab Institute for Women (AiW) in 2023, the Institute welcomes partners, supporters, and sponsors who desire to scale a strong regional voice for Arab women. The Institute is a legend, a pioneer, and the force for our feminist future.

Dr.-Lina-Abirafeh:Dr. Lina AbiRafeh is the Executive Director of the Arab Institute for Women (AiW) at the Lebanese American University.

The AiW at the Lebanese American University is the first of its kind in the region  and a center of power for Arab women. Founded in 1973, the AiW operates at the intersection of academia and activism to amplify womens voices in the region and around the world. The Institute is a bridge connecting women in the region to global platforms - because representation matters.

No country in the world has achieved full gender equality, but the Arab region ranks lowest in the world. Empowering women is not just a human rights principle. It is a precondition to sustainable development and the strongest vehicle for peace, prosperity, and progress, said Lina AbiRafeh, Executive Director of the AiW in New York.

Lack of funding due to the coronavirus pandemic has compromised the survival of womens rights organizations. If women are once again left out of leadership and activism, the patriarchal consolidation of power will have devastating effects on women's rights, equality, and autonomy. This requires a robust feminist response, ensuring that women's organizations and feminist activists have the tools and resources they need to advocate and act on behalf of women and girls.

The AiW is a fueling station and a hub for support, resources, and inspiration for women changemakers with a history of support for womens rights activists. Throughout decades of insecurity and now during the COVID-19 pandemic, AiW continues to provide opportunities to enhance their leadership and give them the skills they need to strengthen their force on the frontlines, said AbiRafeh. The pandemic has resulted in massive job losses for women and has pushed them even further into the informal economy and toward riskier sources of income  such as trafficking and transactional sex - for survival.

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THE OPPORTUNITY

Women in Arab countries are an underutilized economic force, with only 24% working outside the home  the lowest female employment rate in the world. When employed, women are more often relegated to traditionally feminized work, in addition to their disproportionate share of unpaid care.

Academic institutes like the AiW have a huge role to play in galvanizing and supporting womens movements. Across the Arab region, women, particularly young women, are leading calls for change. The AiW brings 47 years of data, community engagement, and lived experience at the frontlines of Arab feminist movements.

These movements have the potential to be a turning point, a time-marker, resulting in a major shift toward social change.

An Arab region built on a foundation of human rights and social justice is within our reach  and long overdue, said AbiRafeh.

NAMED GIFT LEGACY ENDOWMENT

The AiW seeks a visionary champion interested in offering an endowment and leaving a lasting legacy for Arab women for generations to come.

We seek prime movers who believe in the impact of their gifts and who are committed to building a philanthropic legacy for themselves, their families, and for ALL women and girls in the region, said AbiRafeh.

An endowment gift of $7 million will entitle the donor to naming rights for the Institute  a legacy in your own name, or to honor a loved one who believed in this cause. This endowment will, over time, generate sufficient interest to enable the Arab Institute for Women to establish a stronger regional presence in order to continue its critical work for Arab womens rights through scholarship, training, and advocacy.

Most Arab countries have signed and ratified universal conventions supporting human rights (with reservations), but these have not brought meaningful change for women, and gender inequality remains the greatest impediment to regional progress. This must change.

SHAPING THE FUTURE

The underlying message is this: unless were addressing inequalities everywhere, we will achieve equality nowhere, said AbiRafeh.

Arab women are significantly behind in terms of womens participation and representation in politics. Even when women are present in politics, they are still kept from exerting power to influence change. This lack of political participation is largely due to cultural barriers, little access to economic and financial resources, and the absence of female role models in political and public life.

Rights, freedoms, and opportunities cannot be named and claimed as long as women are unsafe in public and private space. Globally, one in three women worldwide has experienced some form of gender-based violence in their lifetime. The Arab region is no different. Intimate partner violence is the most common and the least reported. Sexual violence and harmful practices  like honor killing, female genital mutilation, and child marriage - also continue to be prevalent and show no signs of abating. As the region continues to face insecurities, these forms of violence will only increase. The AiW seeks to create a future where all women are free from violence and have access to meaningful opportunities.

For many Arab countries, instability and insecurity are the norm. The regions multiple protracted humanitarian crises - Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Iraq - have destroyed systems of social protection, reduced access to safe services and support, displaced communities, and increased vulnerabilities.

In these settings, womens rights are the first to be stripped and the hardest to revive. Conflicts and insecurities magnify pre-existing vulnerabilities, and women are the first to suffer, the last to recover, and the hardest hit by these insecurities. From the revolution in Beirut to more violent conflicts in Gaza, Sanaa, and Baghdad, women continue to demand rights, equality, and justice.

Women are the face  and the force  of revolutions across the Arab world. They deserve our support, said AbiRafeh. The Arab regions diverse collection of 22 countries have one thing in common: women continue to experience a backlash against their own long-overdue rights and fundamental freedoms.

These challenges are overlapping, meaning progress  or regress  in any of these areas has an impact on all aspects of womens lives. Insecurities dont stay neatly confined within their borders.

Fostering gender equality in the Arab region is a non-negotiable imperative. And this is a historic moment to provide full support for Arab women to organize, train, inspire and ignite to bring equality, rights, and justice to the region. Centering women will enable the region to better withstand future shocks. In short, when women lead, we all benefit, said AbiRafeh.

ABOUT DR. LINA ABIRAFEH

Dr. Lina AbiRafeh is the Executive Director of the Arab Institute for Women (AiW) at the Lebanese American University. Lina spent over 20 years in development and humanitarian contexts, working with the United Nations and other international organizations in countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, and others. Her work is summarized by her TEDx talk and a range of presentations and published works. Lina is listed as one of the Gender Equality Top 100 worldwide in 2018 and 2019.

https://aiw.lau.edu.lb/





News via: https://story.kisspr.com









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If you are looking for the best ideas for your portfolio you may want to consider some of Third Point's top stock picks. Third Point, an investment management firm, is bullish on Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) stock. In its Q4 2019 investor letter  you can download a copy here  the firm discussed its investment thesis on Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) stock. Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) is one of the best-known names in consumer electronics. The stock is up 0.1% since the Third Point's pitch in January 2020. On a year-to-date basis, Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) stock has risen by 3.9%.

On January 31, 2020, Third Point had released its Q4 2019 Investor Letter. Third Point said that Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) stock can provide massive upside ahead.

For the quarter ended December 31st, 2019, Third Point Offshore fund recorded a return of 3.9%, compared to 9.1% of the S&P 500 Index. This brings its 2019 full-year return to 17.1%, compared to 31.5% of the S&P 500 Index.

Lets take a look at comments made by Third Point about Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) in the letter.

"We invested in Sony in Q1 2019 when shares traded down on market fears that cloud gaming posed a substantial threat to the companys PlayStation franchise and overall gaming business. While the market saw only risks, we saw an incredible collection of media assets: the worlds largest video game platform, a top-three music label, and a top-five Hollywood film studio. Hidden behind the media empire was an underappreciated, best-in-class semiconductor business. We also saw a capable management team open to improving shareholder value and willing to listen to our suggestions about how the company could reach its full potential. As is often the case with conglomerates, concerns over a single business impaired total value, giving us the opportunity to purchase shares at a large discount to our view of intrinsic valuation. The rest of 2019 proved excellent for Sony. Fears around cloud gaming were overblown. Sonys semiconductor business has grown from ~15% of profits to ~25% and analysts expect semis to be a core driver of Sonys growth going forward. Gaming profits were down only slightly ahead of a major product launch this holiday season, the PS5, after which most analysts expect Sony gaming to return to growth. While business performance has been stellar, we believe true value maximization at Sony is only beginning. Out of Sonys four major non-core publicly listed stakes, the company has divested only one of its smallest, Olympus. Sony has yet to outline a clear strategy for its remaining ~$14 billion in public stakes, largely concentrated between Sony Financial and M3, but has indicated that it will do so. Sony has avoided the topic of portfolio optimization, but we continue to believe that Sonys media and semiconductors franchises can stand alone and create more value independently than together."

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In Q1 2020, the number of bullish hedge fund positions on Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) stock increased by about 8% from the previous quarter (see the chart here), so a number of other hedge fund managers seem to agree with Sony's growth potential. Our calculations showed that Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) isn't ranked among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.

The top 10 stocks among hedge funds returned 185% since the end of 2014 and outperformed the S&P 500 Index ETFs by more than 109 percentage points. We know it sounds unbelievable. You have been dismissing our articles about top hedge fund stocks mostly because you were fed biased information by other media outlets about hedge funds' poor performance. You could have doubled the size of your nest egg by investing in the top hedge fund stocks instead of dumb S&P 500 ETFs. Below you can watch our video about the top 5 hedge fund stocks right now. All of these stocks had positive returns in 2020.

Video: Top 5 Stocks Among Hedge Funds

At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, 2020s unprecedented market conditions provide us with the highest number of trading opportunities in a decade. So we are checking out stocks recommended/scorned by legendary Bill Miller. We interview hedge fund managers and ask them about their best ideas. If you want to find out the best healthcare stock to buy right now, you can watch our latest hedge fund manager interview here. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. Our best call in 2020 was shorting the market when the S&P 500 was trading at 3150 after realizing the coronavirus pandemics significance before most investors. You can subscribe to our free enewsletter below to receive our stories in your inbox:

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
(Bloomberg) -- Wirecard AGs collapse displayed a growing blind spot for the guardians of the worlds financial system: how do you regulate a firm that acts like bank, but isnt really a bank?

For years, Germanys supposed fintech star escaped strict scrutiny because financial watchdog BaFin was focused on its banking unit rather than Wirecard as a whole. With the scandal undermining Germanys reputation as a place to do business, the government is overhauling who regulates who, but it could also spark a regulatory rethink with consequences for the broader fintech industry.

As banks retrenched after the 2008 financial crisis and spent billions on settling the resulting litigation, rather than new technology, other companies stepped in. Wirecard and competitors like Adyen NV process payments far quicker than traditional banks while also offering clients services to manage their risk and learn more about their own customers. Technology giants like Amazon.com Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. are also increasingly offering financial services.

Swathes of the fintech sector are currently unsupervised, particularly in the area of cryptocurrencies. Around 31% of fintech firms in Europe are not subject to any regulation, according to the European Banking Authority.

We need regulation that addresses banks and non-banks on a level playing field, says Benoit Coeure, head of innovation at the Bank for International Settlements, better known as the central bank for central banks. Fintech companies play an important role in wider financial markets and not just in payments, he said in an interview with Bloomberg TVs Nejra Cehic on Friday.

At issue is whether fintechs and other digital payments firms should be subject to the same type of strict regulation as the banks and financial companies they are trying to disrupt. There are already some regulatory overlaps in many cases but some experts say more gaps need to be covered to ensure the digital companies are supervised as financial firms.

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In Europe, a company crosses the line into finance and all the regulatory scrutiny that entails when more than 50% of its business is associated with financial activities like lending and taking deposits, according to the EBA. Banks have faced tougher reporting and compliance obligations since the financial crisis.

Wirecard wasnt classified as a finance company in previous assessments by BaFin and other institutions. While its German bank and its U.K. unit were supervised by local regulators, oversight of the group company was essentially limited to whether it met the disclosure obligations of a German listed company, watched over by BaFin.

BaFin President Felix Hufeld has described the collapse of Wirecard as a massive fraud. But for some, the debate about changing or increasing regulation is a distraction from the failure by authorities like BaFin to enforce existing rules.

A Wirecard spokeswoman declined to comment on Hufelds characterization.

The real issue is that BaFin didnt use the powers they had already, said Sven Giegold, a member of the European Parliament for the Green party. This is negligence by the supervisor, so this doesnt need a new approach to financial regulation of fintechs.

While classifying Wirecard as a financial company would have given BaFin more access, the regulator was already able to pursue red flags at Wirecard. BaFin received documents alleging irregularities at the company in January 2019 and asked Germanys accounting watchdog to look into it. Yet that group failed to deliver a report before Wirecard itself disclosed the 1.9 billion euros of missing cash in June this year. BaFin has also been faulted for moving too slowly.

Hufeld has acknowledged that BaFin is among institutions that fell short in the supervision of Wirecard and has pledged to review any failings. Germanys Justice Ministry canceled its contract with the accounting enforcement watchdog, known as FREP, while the Finance Ministry has said investigative powers should be handed to BaFin.

To get a license to process payments, companies like Wirecard need to provide documentation on governance to national regulators and are required to keep their customer funds separate from their own revenues. Management also need to be screened by regulators and the banking arms need to maintain a certain level of financial strength.

The regulatory framework thats there is fit for purpose, said John Ahern, a partner at law firm Covington & Burling, who advises clients on financial regulation. The question is whether the supervision of regulated entities is sufficiently effective.

Hufeld said he has been pressing the issue of oversight over technology companies for two years, but that ultimately its a political decision. Germany took over the rotating presidency of the European Union this month, meaning it could press for changes, although it may be more focused on the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Wirecard exposed a failure in oversight both by accountants and regulators, but Europes regulatory structure also contains gaps which will be more in focus as electronic payments grow, says Huw van Steenis, senior adviser to the CEO at UBS Group AG.

Europe has been so keen to drive open the payments market to break the banks monopoly that the regulatory change has meant that payments firms fall between the cracks, he said in a Bloomberg TV interview. Addressing this payments regulatory gap is going to be ever more important in the post-pandemic economy.

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.
File---Picture taken June 24, 2020 shows the Wirecard logo at the headquarters of the payment service provider in Aschheim, Germany. (Sven Hoppe/picture-alliance/dpa via AP, file)

BERLIN (AP)  Investigators searched the headquarters of German payment systems provider Wirecard and four other locations Wednesday as part of their probe of an accounting scandal that led to the arrest of the company's longtime CEO and forced the firm to file for bankruptcy protection.

Twelve prosecutors were supported by 33 police officers as well as police IT experts in Wednesday's raids, Munich prosecutors said. Five locations were searched  three in Germany, including Wirecard's headquarters in the Munich suburb of Aschheim, and two in neighboring Austria.

Markus Braun, an Austrian who had led Wirecard since 2002, was arrested last week on suspicion of incorrect statements of data and market manipulation, and then released on bail. He had resigned as CEO days earlier, shortly after Wirecard said auditors couldn't find accounts in the Philippines that were supposed to contain 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion).

His arrest came hours after the company said it had concluded that the money probably didn't exist. Investors wiped out much of Wirecard's share value over the past two weeks, and the company said Thursday it was filing for insolvency, a form of bankruptcy protection.

Prosecutors have said they suspect Braun of inflating the companys financial position using sham income, possibly in collaboration with further perpetrators, in order to portray the company as financially stronger and more attractive for investors and clients."

Wirecard's headquarters was already searched on June 5 in an investigation of narrower allegations of market manipulation, involving suspicions that managers may have given misleading signals for the company's share price in statements in March and April, prosecutors said.
VIENNA (Reuters) - An Austrian lawyer has filed a criminal complaint against Wirecard's former Chief Executive Markus Braun and Chief Operating Officer Jan Marsalek at a court in Vienna, accusing them of market manipulation and serious fraud.

The Vienna prosecutors' office confirmed on Tuesday that it received the claim, which was first reported by Austrian newspaper Der Standard.

The lawyer, Joerg Zarbl, told Reuters on Tuesday that Braun took out a 120 million euro ($135 million) loan to buy at least 2.5 million Wirecard shares via a holding company in May after a critical audit by KPMG sent its shares crashing in late April.

Braun's stock buys helped Wirecard's shares recover, Zarbl said. He wants prosecutors to investigate whether Braun's intention was to send positive signals to the market. "There is a suspicion of market manipulation here."

Wirecard was once one of the hottest fintech firms in Europe with a market value of $28 billion at its peak. It filed for insolvency on Thursday owing creditors nearly $4 billion. Its auditor EY said a massive hole in its accounts was the result of an elaborate and sophisticated global fraud.

German prosecutors are already investigating possible criminal offences in connection with the payments firm, as is the Philippine's anti-money laundering agency.

Braun was released on bail after being arrested in Munich last week. His lawyer was not immediately available for comment. Marsalek is missing. His law firm declined to comment.

Wirecard hired KPMG to conduct an independent audit after critical media reports about the financial technology company. KPMG said it was unable to verify 1 billion euros in cash balances and questioned Wirecard's acquisition accounting.

The Vienna prosecutors' office is now checking whether it is the right jurisdiction to receive the claim against the German company, a spokesman said.

Zarbl said he filed the claim in Austria as Braun and Marsalek were Austrians and his clients had bought Wirecard shares via Austrian banks.

($1 = 0.8921 euros)

(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich and Kirsti Knolle; Additional reporting by Joern Poltz; Editing by David Clarke)
(Adds comment from Pompeo, resident)

* HK leader says security law is mild, not strict

* TikTok exits HK; tech firms suspend processing data requests

* Journalists who do not break the law are free to report - Lam

* "Time and facts will tell" if law undermines freedoms - Lam

By Yanni Chow and Carol Mang

HONG KONG, July 7 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's national security law does not spell "doom and gloom", its leader said on Tuesday, as she tried to calm unease over legislation that critics say could quash freedoms that have underpinned the city's success as a financial hub.

In an illustration of worries about the law, the video app TikTok said it was preparing to leave the Hong Kong market, and other tech firms said they have suspended processing Hong Kong government requests for user data.

The sweeping legislation that Beijing imposed on the former British colony punishes what China defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with up to life in prison.

It came into force at the same time it was made public, just before midnight last Tuesday, with police arresting more than 300 people in protests the next day - about 10 of them, including a 15-year-old, for suspected violations of it.

"Surely, this is not doom and gloom for Hong Kong," the city's Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, told a weekly news conference.

"I'm sure, with the passage of time ... confidence will grow in 'one country, two systems' and in Hong Kong's future."

The legislation has been criticised by democracy activists and Western governments, for undermining freedoms guaranteed under a "one country, two systems" formula agreed when Hong Kong return to Chinese rule in 1997.

Both Hong Kong and Chinese officials have said the law, which gives mainland security agencies an enforcement presence in the city for the first time, was vital to plug holes in national security defences, exposed by the citys failure to pass such legislation itself as required under its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

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Lam said cases involving the new mainland agents would be "rare", but nevertheless, national security was a "red line" that should not be crossed.

The legislation was not harsh when compared with that of other countries, she said.

"It is a rather mild law. Its scope is not as broad as that in other countries and even China," she said.

Critics say the aim of the law is to stamp out a pro-democracy movement that brought months of protests, at times violent, to the city last year.

Late on Monday, Hong Kong released details of how the law would be implemented, outlining police powers over the internet, including the ability to ask publishers to remove information deemed a threat to national security.

Internet firms and their staff face fines and up to one year in jail if they do not comply and police can seize their equipment. The companies are also expected to provide identification records and decryption assistance.

But Lam said she had not noticed widespread fears and the law would restore the city's status as one of the safest in the world after the violent pro-democracy protests last year.

'TIME AND FACTS'

Despite her assurances, the law has had a chilling effect.

"If Hong Kong police and the government do not get information from Facebook, they may have other means," said 45-year-old playwright Yan Pat-To.

"The fear has spread over freedom of expression."

Shortly after the law came into force, pro-democracy activists such as Joshua Wong disbanded their organisations while others have left.

Many shops have removed protest-related products and decorations and public libraries have removed some books seen as supportive of the democracy movement. Canada has suspended an extradition treaty with Hong Kong.

TikTok, a video app owned by China-based ByteDance said it would exit the Hong Kong market within days.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late on Monday the United States was "certainly looking at" banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, amid concern they were not in a position to decline Chinese government requests.

TikTok, which has sought to emphasise its independence from China, has been banned in India.

Facebook Inc, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, Google Inc and Twitter Inc suspended processing government requests for user data in Hong Kong.

The final power of interpretation of the law lies with authorities in mainland China, where human rights groups have reported arbitrary detentions and disappearances. China has been clamping down on dissent and tightening censorship.

China's official Procuratorial Daily paper said authorities had launched a special taskforce to ramp up political policing to maintain social stability.

The news came on the day that Xu Zhangrun, a Beijing law professor who has been an outspoken critic of the ruling Communist Party and President Xi Jinping, was taken away by authorities.

Lam, asked about media freedom, said if reporters could guarantee they would not breach the new law, she could guarantee they would be allowed to report freely.

"Ultimately, time and facts will tell that this law will not undermine human rights and freedoms," she said. (Reporting by Yanni Chow, Carol Mang, Joyce Zhou, Clare Jim, Yoyo Chow; Writing by Marius Zaharia Editing by Kim Coghill, Robert Birsel)
KEY HIGHLIGHTS

More than 32 accidents have occurred in factories across India since May, claiming 75 lives

Gas leakage at LG Chem's Vizag factory that killed 12, boiler blast in Neyveli Lignite Corporation's facility in Tamil Nadu killing 13 were the biggest mishaps

Trade unions have written to the PM warning the pattern indicates more accidents may happen

Lax safety regulation, enforcement and inspection has been blamed for the recurring accidents



India is witnessing increased instances of industrial accidents in the last few months as factories have started to come back to life after an over month long complete lockdown in March and April.

Since May, more than 30 industrial accidents have been reported in the country that have led to the death of 75 workers and injuring over 100 others, as per data collated by IndustriALL Global Union, a Geneva-based federation of unions from across the world. The number of accidents signify one mishap every two days since the withdrawal of lockdown.

ALSO READ: Vizag gas leak no exception; India sees 30 industrial accidents, 75 deaths post-lockdown

While the toxic gas leakage at LG Polymers' factory in Vizag on May 7 that led to the death of 12 workers and a boiler blast at Neyveli Lignite Corporation's factory in Tamil Nadu on July 1 that killed another 13, grabbed headlines, many smaller instances have happened under the radar that have gone relatively unnoticed. Another boiler explosion at Yashashvi Raasayan Private Limited at Dahej in Gujarat killed at least eight people and injured about 40, while a blast at a mining site at Mahoba in Madhya Pradesh killed 6 people including two women and three minors.

In a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, IndustriALL Global Union has warned of recurring instances that indicate a pattern of prolonged lapses in safety, regulations and inspection and has asked for a thorough review. At Neyveli for example, a fire broke out at the furnace that led to the death of 7 workers on May 7, almost two months before the bigger mishap on July 1. In all, 20 workers have died at Neyveli alone in nearly two months.

"We are gravely concerned over the incessant occurrence of avoidable fatal accidents. It is nothing but industrial homicide and the Government of India should immediately sound a national alarm to impose proper safety measures and protocols to prevent accidents," said Kemal Ozkan, Assistant General Secretary, IndustriALL. "International norms and standards, particularly workers' rights, play a central role in improving safety. The government must engage with the unions, listen to their demands, and implement and monitor safety measures in a collective way. IndustriALL is ready to work with all stakeholders and provide technical support to improve safety. The world and India cannot have another Bhopal."

ALSO READ: Vizag gas leak: Panel blames LG Polymers' negligence, poor maintenance for mishap

The accidents have continued into July in chemical plants, coal mines, steel factories, and power stations. The union has blamed widespread use of contract workers lack of safety inspections, inadequate penal action against safety violations and not fixing responsibility on the employer as some of the important factors contributing to the accidents.

"The type of failures we see in India right now fall under the category of Process Safety Management (PSM) failures. Serious unplanned events of this scale are beyond the control of individual workers," IndustriALL General Secretary Valter Sanches says in the letter to Modi. "Preventing such events means ensuring that all aspects of safety are at their best. Materials, tools, equipment, the work environment, job and task procedures, and people (both management and workers) must create a system of multiple layers of prevention, with little opportunities for failure."

Has the abrupt manner of shut down as witnessed in March and the lack of planning while restarting in May, lead to the accidents? The unions think so. Failure to ensure adequate maintenance and inspection during lockdown has also exacerbated matters, they believe.

"The Government of India should form an expert commission to analyse the industrial accidents, immediately address this safety crisis and stop potential accidents," said Dr G Sanjeeva Reddy, President of INTUC. "The government should involve unions in the decision making process both at the national level and at the factory levels to avoid accidents in the future."

ALSO READ: Gas leak at pharma plant in Andhra Pradesh; 2 dead, four critical
PITTSBURGH, PA / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr, P.C. urges long term shareholders in Novartis AG ("Novartis" or "the Company") (NVS) to contact us to learn more about your rights. The firm is investigating whether Novartis directors breached their fiduciary duties.

email us at: yateslaw@aol.com, info@yatesclassactionlaw.com

phone an Attorney Now: (412) 391-5164, 1-844-391-5164

Novartis AG (NVS) Shareholder Investigation:

The investigation concerns whether Novartis and the board of directors may have breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders by violating Medicare anti-kickback laws and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

On July 1, 2020, Novartis reached a $687 million settlement in a civil fraud lawsuit that alleged the company bribed doctors at speaker events it organized. The United States Department of Justice was investigating Novartis on claims it violated the federal False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by providing doctors with cash payments and other inducements, which led them to prescribe Novartis drugs reimbursed by federal healthcare programs. The company also agreed to an additional $51 million settlement related to the company's use of three foundations to funnel payments to cover costs for patients taking its multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya and kidney cancer drug Afinitor.

On June 25, 2020, Novartis agreed to pay $225 million in criminal penalties and disgorge $112 million to settle bribery allegations. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Novartis on claims that: (1) Novartis had bribed doctors and hospitals in Greece to prescribe "Novartis-branded pharmaceuticals"; (2) the Company had paid bribes in Vietnam to advance their business; and (3) Novartis falsified their financial records to conceal said activities.

Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Alfred G. Yates Jr., Esquire

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers 2020

Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr., PC

(412) 391-5164

1-844-391-5164

yateslaw@aol.com

info@yatesclassactionlaw.com

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SOURCE: Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr., P.C.





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https://www.accesswire.com/596404/Yates-Class-Action-Law-Encourages-Long-Term-Stockholders-of-Novartis-AG-NYSE-NVS-to-Contact-The-Firm




For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  July 7, 2020  Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include:Abbott Laboratories ABT, Zoom Video Communications, Inc. ZM, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and NVIDIA Corporation NVDA.

Here are highlights from Mondays Analyst Blog:

4 Stocks to Play the Phenomenal Spike in Cases of COVID-19

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 

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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. 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.

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 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. 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 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 >>

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.



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At a time when businesses have had to change the way they operate, Sarit and Jordan Zalter have designed a unique strategy to support and unite their local community with #FoodForFriends.

HAMILTON, Ontario, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Renowned Hamilton real estate agents, Sarit and Jordan Zalter, launch #FoodForFriends, a social media campaign to support local restaurants during the covid-19 pandemic.

Every week the Zalter Real Estate team chooses one local restaurant to feature, and asks their fans to follow the restaurant and tag three friends in order to enter the competition. At the end of the week a contestant is randomly selected and provided with a scrumptious dinner for their entire household.

The results have been phenomenal for all involved since the launch on May 2, 2020. Local restaurants welcome the initiative with open arms and are eager to participate. The Hamilton community is joining in on the fun and discovering local businesses that they might not have known about. Most importantly, the Zalters are able to support local restaurants at a time when many are struggling during covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions. The initiative is a win-win for everyone.

"We are very proud to have come up with a way to support some of our favourite local businesses through these challenging times" says Jordan Zalter, Sales Representative at RE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

More About Zalter Real Estate:

Sarit and Jordan Zalter are the real estate team everyone wants on their side when selling or buying property in Hamilton, Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough or Burlington. The mother and son duo are a force to be reckoned with in the real estate industry, and it's not hard to understand why.

With 35+ years of experience helping home buyers and sellers with their real estate needs, the Zalter Real Estate team has an impressive track record under their belt, and the experience needed to provide their clients with exceptional guidance and recommendations throughout the buying and selling process. What sets them apart from other real estate professionals is that the Zalter team is family-focused, and this extends to each and every client. They go the extra mile to build relationships with their clients based on trust, respect and understanding.

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Companys ability to adapt to shifting economic conditions and consumer behavior with mobile tire shop leads to continued growth

Zohr, the tire shop that comes to you, today announced it is expanding operations to the Houston market despite COVID-19s crippling effect on the global economy. Zohrs ability to provide mobile on-demand tire service while practicing social distancing has resulted in accelerated growth for the company during the month of July, with growth expected to continue as more people rely on ground transportation over air travel and other modes of transportation. Zohrs Houston launch is part of the companys nationwide expansion of mobile tire shops to major American metropolitan areas in 2020 and beyond.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005183/en/

Zohrs contactless mobile tire service rolls into Houston keeping drivers safe during COVID-19 pandemic with metro discount (Photo: Business Wire)

With Coronavirus cases increasing rapidly across Texas, the need for contact-free services are more important than ever," said Komal Choong, co-founder & CEO, Zohr. "Its not uncommon to see large groups of people waiting outside tire shops, including the elderly who may not have been introduced to the idea of mobile tire services. Were here to offer the good people of Houston a safer path forward by providing essential tire services at a competitive price without the additional risk of being exposed to illness."

Zohr is offering a special promotion as part of its Houston expansion. Customers can use the promo code HTX10 to receive 10 percent off any new tire purchases. Zohrs Houston expansion will also contribute to the local economy as the mobile tire shop will be creating skilled labor jobs in the region.

Zohrs no-contact mobile tire shop is timely as consumers adjust to changing conditions brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic. With Zohr, consumers simply choose their tires and book an appointment online. Zohr does the rest, coming out to the clients home or office to deliver and install the new tires. This not only saves consumers the time and hassle of going to a tire shop, but also lowers the risk of being exposed to illness. Additionally, Zohr offers fleet services to help businesses better manage company cars and fleets. And Zohr offers its level of service at the same price as going to a traditional tire shop.

Story continues

"At Zohr, we had the foresight to see that E-commerce and service delivery is the future of our economy. COVID-19 has accelerated that future by 3-5 years," added Choong. "We are building the tire shop of the future and due in part to the Coronavirus, that future is now."

For more information on Zohr, visit www.zohr.com.

About Zohr

Zohr is the tire shop that comes to you. Founded by two brothers with a passion for high performance cars, Zohrs on-location tire service keeps vehicles moving safer. With the click of a button, simply choose from a large catalog of tires for any passenger or light-truck vehicle, and book a service appointment. Certified Zohr technicians, provide repair, replacement or rotation on site, eliminating wait times at traditional tire shops for the same price. Zohr currently offers its services to individuals and businesses across Texas, Kansas and Missouri, and will be expanding throughout the US in 2020. For more information, visit www.zohr.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005183/en/

Contacts

Zohr

Donna Loughlin Michaels

(408) 393-5575 | donna@lmgpr.com
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has warned that a spike in violence by militants in the country poses a "serious" threat to the peace process with the Taliban.



Speaking on July 6 during an online conference aimed at briefing the international community on the expected talks with the militant group, Ghani said the current level of violence was higher compared with last year even though preparations are being made for peace talks.



"If the Taliban continues fighting, the Afghan peace process will face serious challenges," Ghani told online attendees.



Afghan authorities and the Taliban are preparing to engage in direct negotiations aimed at putting an end to the nearly two-decade-old war in Afghanistan.



But Afghan officials have blamed the Taliban for killing hundreds of security personnel and civilians in recent weeks, following a three-day cease-fire at the end of May.



The Taliban have denied responsibility for many attacks, but have acknowledged targeting Afghan security forces in rural areas.



The videoconference was attended by senior Afghan officials, as well as representatives of more than 20 other countries, including the United States, Russia, Pakistan, India, Iran, China, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan. International organizations such as the United Nations also participated..



Ghani will host two other videoconferences later this week.



The Western-backed government in Kabul has released more than 4,000 Taliban prisoners as part of a deal between the militants and Washington that was signed in February. The Taliban has so far released about 750 government prisoners.



Under the U.S.-Taliban accord, the United States agreed to reduce its forces in Afghanistan from 12,000 troops to 8,600 by mid-July. If the rest of the deal goes through, all U.S. and other foreign troops will exit Afghanistan by mid-2021.

With reporting by AFP
KHYBER PASS, Pakistan  Truckers hauling cargo from Pakistan into Afghanistan though the main border crossing between the two countries have complained of bribes, long delays, and harassment by police and transport union officials.

In interviews with Radio Mashaal, several Pakistani and Afghan truck drivers say that going through the Torkham border crossing connecting northeastern Pakistan with eastern Afghanistan in the historic Khyber Pass is now an obstacle course that frequently results in stress and a loss of both business and time.

Muhammad Iqbal Afridi is one among the hundreds of drivers who frequently cross at Torkham as part of the more than 1,800-kilometer journey from the southern Pakistani seaport city of Karachi to the Afghan capital, Kabul. He says they are tormented by a recent government decision that forces truckers to make a stop at a terminal in Bara, some 50 kilometers from Torkham. Bara and Torkham are towns in the western Khyber district, which is named after the historic Khyber Pass, a historic trade route and invasion path.

Afridi has been waiting at Baras Akkakhel terminal for more than two weeks for the authorities to allow him to take his haul of sugar, flour, and cement into Afghanistan.

Everyone is forced to wait endlessly, he told Radio Mashaal. There is nowhere for us to sleep or rest in the scorching heat. We are just forced to try to survive in the shadow of our trucks.

Muhammad Gul, an Afghan trucker, has been waiting for three weeks. With his container truck of rice, Gul reached Bara on June 18. He frequently wipes the sweat from his face, visibly agitated about the delays in crossing into Afghanistan.

How can we protect ourselves from the coronavirus when we dont have soap or water? It is very difficult to stay away from others in this crammed space where we stay for days or weeks, he told Radio Mashaal. Truckers who pay bribes are allowed to go through. Our rights are being violated. Someone needs to sort this mess out.

Traders in the region say cumbersome border protocols have reduced the number of trucks crossing daily from 800 earlier this year to around 200. This has also resulted in decreasing custom revenues for Islamabad, according to reports in the Pakistani media.

But officials in Khyber district deny they are harassing truckers or forcing them to make bribes. Mazhar Afridi, a senior police official in Khyber, says that based on an understanding with Afghan officials they are allowing only 200 trucks to pass through Torkham daily.

If presented with evidence, we will prosecute any police officers, transport union officials, or truckers who are involved in giving or taking bribes, he told Radio Mashaal, alluding to a recent directive by the head of police in Khyber district.

Torkham is the largest of several border crossings along the more than 2,500-kilometer Durand Line, the 19th-century demarcation that forms the border between the two restive neighbors. To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Islamabad closed its border with Afghanistan in March. But by late June, Pakistani officials said they had reopened three major border crossings with Afghanistan.

Meanwhile in Chaman, a border crossing connecting Pakistans southwestern Balochistan Province with southern Afghanistan, traders and activists are protesting border restrictions. Their monthlong sit-in protest demands the complete reopening of the border to restore hassle-free trade with Afghanistan, which is the mainstay of the economy in the arid region.

Abubakar Siddique wrote this story based on Radio Mashaal correspondent Farhad Shinwaris reporting from Khyber, Pakistan.
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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. 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.

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. Because those smaller particles can linger in the air, the scientists are urging WHO to update its guidance.

"We are aware of the article and are reviewing its contents with our technical experts," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said on Monday in an email. How frequently the coronavirus can spread by the airborne or aerosol route - as opposed to by larger droplets in coughs and sneezes - is not clear.

Any change in the WHO's assessment of risk of transmission could affect its current advice on keeping 1-metre (3.3 feet) of physical distancing. Governments, which rely on the agency for guidance policy, may also have to adjust public health measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.

Although the WHO has said it is considering aerosols as a possible route of transmission, it has yet to be convinced that the evidence warrants a change in guidance. Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, said the WHO has long been reluctant to acknowledge aerosol transmission of influenza, "in spite of compelling data," and sees the current controversy as part of that simmering debate.

"I think the frustration level has finally boiled over with regard to the role that airborne transmission plays in diseases like influenza and SARS-CoV-2," Osterholm said. Professor Babak Javid, an infectious disease consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals, said airborne transmission of the virus is possible and even likely, but said evidence over how long the virus stays airborne is lacking.

If it can hang in the air for long periods of time, even after an infected person leaves that space, that could affect the measures healthcare workers and others take to protect themselves. WHO guidance to health workers, dated June 29, says SARS-CoV-2 is primarily transmitted through respiratory droplets and on surfaces.

But airborne transmission is possible in some circumstances, such as when performing intubation and aerosol-generating procedures, the WHO says. They advise medical workers performing such procedures to wear heavy duty N95 respiratory masks and other protective equipment in an adequately ventilated room.

Dr. William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the report under review at the WHO "makes many reasonable points about the evidence that this mode of transmission can happen, and they should be taken seriously." But how often airborne transmission happens, which is unknown, also matters.

"If airborne transmission is possible but rare, then eliminating it wouldn't have a huge impact," he said in emailed comments. Officials at South Korea's Centers for Disease Control said on Monday they were continuing to discuss various issues about COVID-19, including the possibility of airborne transmission. They said more investigations and evidence were needed.
Above 14,000 feet on Colorado's Crestone Peak, Josh Collman wasn't feeling quite right. He felt exhausted that morning of Aug. 13, 2017.
As the Colorado Springs Philharmonic plays on the radio, fireworks fill the sky from 10 locations around the Pikes Peak region.
Lynn Bartels thinks politics is like sports but without the big salaries and protective cups. The Washington Post's "The Fix" blog named her one of Colorado's best political reporters and tweeters. Bartels, a South Dakota native, graduated from Cottey College in 1977 and Northern Arizona University in 1980 and then moved to New Mexico for her first journalism job. The Rocky Mountain News hired her in 1993 as its night cops reporter and in 2000 assigned her to her first legislative session. The Gold Dome hasn't been the same since. In 2009, The Denver Post hired Bartels after the Rocky closed, just shy of its 150th birthday. Bartels left journalism in 2015 to join then Secretary of State Wayne Williams's staff. She has now returned to journalism - at least part-time - and writes a regular political column for Colorado Politics.
A technician prepares COVID-19 patient samples for testing at a laboratory in New Yorks Long Island. The number of COVID-19 cases in El Paso is rising and has exceeded the average number of daily cases seen in April and May.
Stop the violence, now. All Black lives matter and the mostly white nationwide protests are ending Black lives in droves, as seen during a heart-breaking July Fourth holiday weekend.

The made-for-TV protests are not peaceable, not legal, and it is past time for President Donald Trump, governors, and mayors to shut them down. It is the least they could do to honor the irreplaceable Black children killed over the holiday weekend as the direct or indirect result of civil unrest.

Much of the mainstream national media have no intention of accurately portraying the violence. They want Americans to believe these are peaceful civil rights demonstrations to defend Black lives.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, a seasoned journalist with a juris doctor from Harvard Law School, admonished her media colleagues at the end of Mondays news conference.

I was asked probably 12 questions about the Confederate flag, McEnany said. Im a little dismayed I didnt receive one question on the deaths that we got this weekend. I didnt receive one question about New York City shootings doubling for the third straight week and over the last seven days shootings skyrocket by 142%. Not one question. I didnt receive one question about five children who were killed. And Ill leave you this remark by a dad. It broke my heart. A dad of an 8-year-old lost in Atlanta this weekend. They say Black lives matter. You killed a child. She didnt do nothing to nobody was his quote. We need to be focused on securing our streets making sure no lives are lost, because all Black lives matter.

Atlanta police report a protester shot 8-year-old Secoriea Turner while riding in a car with her mother and an adult family friend on the Fourth of July. A group of armed protesters confronted the car.

Someone in that group opened fire on the vehicle, striking it multiple times and striking the child who was inside, a police statement says.

Secoriea died in her mothers arms.

July 4 was supposed to be a day of fun with family for 7-year-old Natalia Wallace. Instead, a bullet struck her in the head as she played outside her grandmothers home. Another Black life lost.

Later that day, Chicagos upheaval led to the gunshot killing of 14-year-old Vernardo Jones. Natalia and Vernardo were among nearly 80 shooting victims, most of them Black, in Chicago during the holiday weekend.

Across the country, mindless street violence killed at least six Black children under 10.

A white, left-wing protest turned violent last month in the sleepy southwest Colorado town of Alamosa (population 8,780), which is 1% black and elected a black mayor.

A report by the Alamosa Valley/Courier, republished on the front page of Sundays Gazette, details a protest shooting in which 27-year-old white lawyer James Edward Marshall IV  known for wearing the best suits in town  shot an Army veteran who is the parent of a 5-year-old girl.

Marshall was protesting the police among other young, mostly white protesters. He faces charges for shooting Danny Pruitt in the head as he drove his pickup into a crosswalk occupied by protesters. Pruitt, 49, emerged from a coma and continues to recover.

This is where society drifts when radicals demonize law enforcement, demand elimination of police, denounce the country, and justify wanton destruction under feigned concern for minorities.

Those who genuinely care about Black lives want peace. They want police to protect innocent black children from violent activists who belong behind bars. But in a state of anti-American left-wing chaos, killer bullies rule the day.
Hong Kong: Hospitals to step up infection control

Public hospitals will enhance infection control measures to combat the next wave of epidemic, the Hospital Authority announced today.

The move came amid a number of confirmed COVID-19 local cases with unknown sources of infection and the increased risk of community outbreak.

Accident and emergency departments triage and test centres will be reinstated in public hospitals tomorrow. Suspected cases with stable condition will be tested and wait at a designated area for test results, while being segregated from other patients of A&E departments.

The authority will defer scheduled annual maintenance works for isolation facilities to ensure sufficient first-tier isolation facilities to admit suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients. Public hospitals will also review the readiness of the second-tier isolation wards for possible admission of recovering patients with stable condition.

The pace of resuming non-emergency services will be adjusted to reduce the flow of people within public hospitals.

The authority said the current stockpile of personal protective equipment will be adequate for around three months' usage. It will continue to procure the required personal protective equipment, drugs and test kits.

Noting the outbreak in an elderly home in Tsz Wan Shan, the authority will suspend from Thursday the special visiting arrangement implemented earlier in non-acute hospitals to minimise the infection risks of inpatients. Compassionate arrangements and video-visiting will be made as far as practicable.

The authority appealed for public understanding and cooperation, and reminded all healthcare staff to stay vigilant.

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Shaina NC, treasurer and spokesperson of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced that she has been nominated to the board of state broadcaster Prasar Bharti.

She wrote on Twitter today, "Truly humbled. Sincere thanks to PMO India, Narendra Modi ji for nominating me to the board of Prasar Bharati. Prasar Bharati is the body at heart of communication and broadcasting. A role that I will perform with utmost responsibility. Thanking Prakash Javadekar ji and the ministry of information and broadcasting".

Truly humbled. Sincere thanks to @PMOIndia@narendramodi Ji for nominating me to the board of @prasarbharati. #PrasarBharati is the body at heart of communication & broadcasting. A role that I will perform with utmost responsibility. Thanking @PrakashJavdekar Ji & @MIB_Indiapic.twitter.com/YrMrAPoUFu - Shaina NC (@ShainaNC) July 7, 2020

The BJP spokesperson is a fashion designer as well as a social worker. She is the daughter of Nana Chudasama, the former Sheriff of Mumbai.

NC entered politics in 2004 and immediately joined the BJP. Aside from being the national spokesperson she also serves as a member of the national executive council of the BJP. She is also the treasurer of the party's Maharashtra unit.

She also runs two NGOs - I Love Mumbai and Giants International.

Meanwhile, Prasar Bharti has been reviewing its relationship with one of the country's leading news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). The agency has been accused of alleged anti-national reporting by the state broadcaster.

The row started when a few days ago PTI published an interview with Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong. In the interview, the Chinese diplomat blamed India for the ongoing border crisis with the two countries. He also blamed India for the entire Galwan Valley incident which had resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers.

Also Read: Rs 1.14 lakh crore sanctioned to MSMEs under credit guarantee scheme; SBI, HDFC Bank top lenders

Also Read: 'Boycott China' impact: UltraTech Cement divests entire equity in Chinese cement maker for $120 million
Digital contact tracings mixed record abroad spells trouble for US efforts to rein in COVID-19

Two public health measures  testing, to identify those infected, and contact tracing, to identify those who may have encountered an infected person  have become essential as countries around the world reopen their economies and fresh surges of COVID-19 infections appear.

Even as testing ramps up, contact tracing with a wide enough net remains a daunting task. Contact tracing involves public health staff conducting interviews with infected people. Public health experts are calling for 180,000 more contact tracers, but progress on contact tracing has not been going well, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Enter digital innovations that offer a tantalizing promise: to automate the laborious task of alerting people who have been exposed to the virus. Numerous governments have championed such apps as a means of augmenting manual contact tracing. As an economist who tracks digital technologys use worldwide, Ive found that the experiences of these countries reveal challenges to getting enough people to use the apps. Unfortunately, these challenges appear to me to be all but insurmountable in the U.S.

Privacy and trust

Contact tracing apps detect when a smartphone is in the presence of another app-enabled smartphone whose owner has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

These apps come in two types. One mimics traditional contact tracing by uploading to a central public health server the ID numbers of smart phones that have been close to an infected persons smart phone. Depending on the app, public health authorities can be notified of the smart phone owners identities.

The alternative is an exposure notification app that prioritizes privacy by using random numbers to ensure that no one can learn anyone elses identity. All data are stored on the users phones. The Apple-Google collaboration supports these types of apps.

Initial enthusiasm for digital contact tracing was sparked by early successes in countries such as South Korea. Some countries, such as India, had to mandate it. Others, such as Germany had to reconsider its approach and change course.

South Koreas, Indias and Germanys experiences suggest a three-question test for gauging the potential of such apps: Does the government have its citizens trust, leading citizens to believe that the government is not collecting data or, if it is, will not misuse it? Are citizens willing to pay for improved health outcomes by accepting some loss of privacy? Are there events in the nations history that help shift the balance in favor of citizens willingness to share data?

South Korea: widespread voluntary adoption

Despite being hit early and hard by COVID-19, South Korea kept its number of deaths low by deploying contact tracing technology together with widespread testing. Its contact tracing arsenal included tracking apps paired with CCTV footage, travel and medical records and credit card transaction information.

Arguably, it has one of the most intrusive digitally aided tracking systems anywhere. The system shares locations of infected people, even with the media, and issues emergency text alerts.

All of this was widely accepted, except when intrusion crossed a line. When a COVID-19 cluster was linked to gay clubs and bars and led to calls to out people who visited such establishments, it raised concerns about discrimination against the LGBTQ community. The government stopped singling out particular clubs or bars in its alerts.
National political forecasters believe the 1st Congressional District will be one of the most competitive races in 2020. The Cook Political Report has rated IA-01 as toss up.

NOT THIS YEAR: For the first time in his 40-year Senate tenure, Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley will not attend the Republican National Committee national convention.

Im not going to go because of the virus situation, he told reporters Monday.

The RNC decision to move the convention from North Carolina, where governor said it wouldnt be safe to have such a large gathering, to Florida is probably the right thing to do if you want to have a convention, Grassley said.

And 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.

VIRTUAL VISIT: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will make a virtual visit to Iowa tonight to speak to the Polk County Democrats Summer Dinner fundraiser.
Vardhman Polytex share has delivered strong returns to investors in last 23 trading sessions or nearly one month. An investment of Rs 1 lakh in Vardhman Polytex stock on June 4 would have grown to Rs 3.22 lakh on July 7, 2020. On July 7, Vardhman Polytex share price hit upper circuit of 5% at Rs 9.52 compared to close of Rs 2.95 on June 4, delivering 222% returns for its shareholders.

During the same period, Sensex gained 6.74% from 33, 980 on June 4 to 36,273 in today's trading session.

The microcap stock saw only buyers and no sellers during the trade today. This penny stock stands higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages. Penny stocks are those scrips that trade generally with a share price less than Rs 10.

These stocks have very low market capitalisation and typically under Rs 500 crore. Trading in these stocks is considered risky since their fundamentals are not very encouraging and institutional investors also stay away from these stocks.

Vardhman Polytex share comes under the GSM category.

Sebi has placed penny stocks with market cap lesser than Rs 10 crore and free float market cap under 1 percent under the GSM categoty. Graded Surveillance Measures (GSM) are imposed on shares which witness an abnormal price rise not commensurate with financial health and fundamentals.

The share has gained 142.24% in one year and risen 281% since the beginning of this year. In one week, the share has gained 19.35. Total 0.13 lakh shares changed amounting to turnover of Rs 1.21 crore on BSE.

This stock held by Jhunjhunwala hits all-time high, zooms 90% in 3 months

Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 21.22 crore.

The firm will announce earnings for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2020 on July 10. Earlier, a meeting of the board of directors of the company for considering Q4 earnings was scheduled to be held on June 29, 2020.

In Q3 of last fiscal , the firm logged widening of net loss to Rs 20.1 crore against Rs 19.8 crore loss in Q3 of 2018-19 fiscal. However, loss for Q3 narrowed from Rs 21.2 crore loss in Q2 of 2019-20.

This stock held by Jhunjhunwala hits all-time high, eyes Rs 1,100 mark

The firm has posted loss in last 11 quarters (excluding Q4 of current fiscal. Vardhman Polytex last posted profit of Rs 1.69 crore in quarter ended March 2017.

For fiscal ended March 2019, net loss narrowed to Rs 74.26 crore against loss of Rs 423.88 crore for fiscal ended March 2018. However, in fiscal 2017, Vardhman Polytex reported profit of Rs 0.23 crore.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala earned Rs 31 crore with this stock in three months

Vardhman Polytex Limited (VPL) is the flagship company of textile conglomerate Oswal Group with multiple production facilities located at Bathinda, Ludhiana, Nalagarh. The company manufactures yarn, garments and develops residential and commercial colony or project. The firm operates through two segments: Textile and Real estate.

The company's residential and commercial colony/project Vardhman Park is situated at Chandigarh Road, Ludhiana. The company has two subsidiaries, namely F.M. Hammerle Textiles Limited and F.M. Hammerle Verwaltungs GmbH.
CEDAR RAPIDS  Executing an Iowan found guilty of the death five people, including two children, would contribute to a growing disrespect for the sacredness of all human life, Iowa Catholic bishops say in a letter asking President Donald Trump to commute the killers sentence.

We believe that state-sanctioned killing would not deter or end violence, but instead perpetuate a cycle of violence, the four Roman Catholic bishops wrote in a July 1 letter to the president. We oppose the death penalty to follow the example of Jesus, who both taught and practiced the forgiveness of injustice.

However, Trump has spoken often about capital punishment and his belief that executions serve as an effective deterrent and an appropriate punishment for some crimes, including mass shootings and the killings of police officers.

Acknowledging his horrific acts, the bishops are asking Trump to commute the sentence for Dustin Honken from death to life without the possibility of parole. Honken, whose attorney described him as a deeply remorseful and devout Catholic and loving father of two children, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection July 17.

Dustin Honken murder case timeline On July 25, 2019, Attorney General William P. Barr directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to
A gut punch to Iowans.

A gut punch to Iowans. Thats the only way to describe the Biden Administrations decision to roll back the previous administrations Navigable Water Protection Rule. Sadly, for those of us who have been on the frontlines of this fight since 2015, this news is not a surprise.

Now let me be clear: everyone can agree that clean water should be a national priority. Iowans, and all Americans, want sensible safeguards that protect our environment and keep our nations water clean. But what they dont want is a one-size-fits-all, Washington power grab that makes it harder for Iowans to farm, ranch, and build.

Thats why, in 2015, when the Obama-Biden Administration finalized its Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rulegiving the federal government authority to regulate water on 97 percent of the land in IowaI immediately got to work to get it off the books. I fought to nullify the rule, but even after my bill passed both the House and Senate with bipartisan support, it was vetoed by President Obama.

But I didnt back down, and even before President Trump took office, I signaled my intent to work with him on a new, more flexible rule. And we did: the Trump Administration released a proposed rule to replace the Obama-era rule with one that provided much-needed predictability and certainty for farmers. Importantly, it established clear and reasonable definitions of what qualifies as a water of the United States. That rule, entitled the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, was finalized in January 2020.

As they say, however, elections have consequences. Anticipating a return to the Obama-Biden era of burdensome regulations, at the beginning of this year I urged the Senate to stand with workers, farmers, manufacturers, and businesses by upholding the previous administrations Navigable Waters Protection Rule.

Despite having the support of 25 of my colleagues and stakeholders across the country, the Biden Administration ignored these concerns, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced their plans to undo all of our progress.

The reality is the fight for Iowas agriculture community is never over, and right now Im working to push back on any harmful regulation this new administration might impose on these hardworking folks.

Together with Senator Chuck Grassley, Im pressing the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, to make known to the president and his colleagues at the EPA and the Corps the serious concerns Iowas farmers and ranchers have with their recent actions on WOTUS. Im also working to strengthen the voices Iowas small businesses in the federal rulemaking process. Too often, Washington bureaucrats put forward rules and regulations without considering their impact on small businessesand the Obama-Biden WOTUS rule is a perfect example. Thats why Ive put forward the Prove It Act which allows our small businesses to send federal agencies back to the drawing board to prove what theyre proposing wont hurt small businesses. Specifically, the bill gives the Small Business Administration the ability to question an agencys analysis if it claims a rule or regulation wont impact small businesses.

When it comes to WOTUS, instead of continuing to confuse Iowas hardworking families, farmers, and businesses by changing its definition with each new administration, we need to make a reasonable, workable definition permanent. To do so, I helped introduce the Define WOTUS Act. This commonsense effort is more important now than ever.

Theres simply no reason to return to the Obama-era ways of giving an unchecked federal agency and unelected Washington bureaucrats more authority to control whats done on private land. I will always fight tooth and nail for Iowas agriculture community, our working families, and our small businessesand Ill continue to push back against any attempts to impose complex, burdensome, and overreaching regulations on folks in our state.
Stocks to watch today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Tuesday's trading session based on latest developments.

Share Market LIVE: Sensex rises 150 points, Nifty at 10,804; SGX Nifty down 28 points

Bajaj Finance: The company said it may consider additional accelerated provisioning for Covid-19 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 to further strengthen its balance sheet.

Torrent Power: Company said it has raised Rs 300 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures on private placement basis.

Indiabulls Housing Finance: Company board will hold EGM meet on July 29 to seek shareholders' approval to raise up to USD 300 million by issuing securities through QIP or FCCB.

Suzlon Energy: The company posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 834.22 crore for the March quarter as against a net loss of the company was Rs 294.64 crore in the quarter ended on March 31, 2019. Its revenue from operations declined 54% to Rs 659 crore compared to Rs 1,450 crore posted a year ago.

Bandhan Bank: Lender's loans and advanced for the June quarter stood at Rs 74,325 crore, up 18% year-on-year. Lender's total deposits increased 35% to Rs 60,602 crore.

HUL: The Bombay High Court on Monday said FMCG firm Emami shall give HUL seven days prior notice before initiating legal proceedings on trademarks. This was on back of dropping the word 'Fair' from its skin cream for men and renamed it 'Glow & Handsome.

Godrej Consumer: Company said it expects a "mid-single-digit, volume-driven sales growth" in the April-June quarter of FY21

PVR: Company's Rs 300 crore rights issue will open from 17 July to 31 July.


Parents advocating for the option to return to the classroom daily have pointed to the guidance as a way to safely allow more students to return to the classroom.

Most proposed reopening plans unveiled by local Virginia school districts so far involve a combination of in- person and remote learning, along with a 100% remote option.

The guidance also reflects Virginias transition to Phase 3, with large school gatherings limited to 250 people.

The states updated guidance incorporates recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization  which also discusses a minimum of 3 feet distancing  and the AAP. The guidance may change as state health leaders learn more, the update states.

Last week, Roanoke County Superintendent Ken Nicely reported to the school board that Dr. Molly ODell, who is leading the pandemic response for the Roanoke and Alleghany Health District, said it was reasonable for younger students to distance at 3 feet in combination with face coverings.
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.
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Events like the Lincoln Parade and Rodeo and Helena Valley Timing Association's Blast from the Past Car Show were not approved by LCPH, but the events were held anyway, according to Niemann.

"We've been identifying issues related to events for over a month now," she said. "Many of these event organizers are unwilling to make edits to their plans."

Denise Wolf, a representative of the nonprofit organizing the Helena 2020 Bruin-Bengal Junior/Senior Summer Prom, said she felt the order was retaliatory and called it "conveniently placed" with the time the day before the dance. She now has the arduous task of informing the nearly 400 teens that their prom has been canceled a second time, she said.

"They are the silent victims in all this," Wolf said. "The mental health of these kids has really, really deteriorated."

Just like the threat of a speeding ticket hopefully prevents speeding, Neimann said she hopes this order will prevent organizers from holding large events, and in the case of the private prom, it worked.

"I was potentially facing 340 misdemeanors and 90 days in jail," Wolf said. "To me, that seems like overkill. Had it been just one, I might have pressed on."
MISSOULA  From time to time, backcountry travelers notice an unusually tall and odd-looking tree in the forest: a clumsily camouflaged communications tower.

Those towers, and more obvious collections of cellphone and data relay stations, could get technological updates soon based on directives from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. The federal department that oversees the U.S. Forest Service has ordered it to expand broadband service across public lands to benefit rural residents.

Theres been a strong push by the secretary for years on strengthening rural America, and part of that is to bring much wider broadband access, said Deputy Chief of the Forest Service Chris French. Specifically, weve been working on an initiative that aligns our processes for folks to apply for permits thats simpler and more consistent with other agencies, so companies have a more stable environment to work in.

French said in rural regions of the West, the Forest Service typically manages the high-elevation spots best located for communications towers. From early radio and microwave repeater facilities to modern cellular telephone relays, those are good for voice and data delivery from point to point, but not equipped to spread Wi-Fi signals across wide areas.
The State Bank of India's Northeast head office's three floors and the entire regional business office were sealed on Monday after at least 30 employees in the two buildings tested positive for COVID-19, officials said. Kamrup Metropolitan Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu declared the offices of the country's largest public sector bank as "containment zones" and ordered to seal them with immediate effect to prevent further spread of coronavirus in the area.

Accordingly, the three floors of the eight-storied SBI's Northeast head office, which is located just opposite of the Assam secretariat, was sealed along with the bank's regional business office at Swagata Square complex in ABC Point. A senior official of the SBI told PTI that at least 86 employees, including contract ones, have tested positive across its branches and complexes in Guwahati so far.

"These results have come after the bank management voluntarily decided to test its staff at private labs on its own expenses. Unfortunately, the government has not done any contact tracing of the people yet," he added. The official said that 22 persons at the SBI Northeast head office and eight at the regional business office have tested positive, but there has been no contact tracing yet.

"Earlier, 37 employees at our Liability Central Processing Centre (LCPC) and Centralised Pension Processing Centre (CPPC) building at Lokhra tested positive. It is still not sealed and open for public visit," he added. Many staff have tested positive in other branches such as New Guwahati-Sarb (10 cases), Fancy Bazar (seven cases) and SBI Premium (two cases), he said.

"The cook of the Officers' Transit Cottage and Officers' Residential Complex turned positive. Hundreds of people live in that compound, but no contact tracing has been done yet by the administration," the official said. "The numbers are rising on a daily basis. It is a very alarming situation and the bank management is doing everything possible within its reach. However, we have not got much support from the health officials," he added.

Besides the SBI offices, the Kamrup Metropolitan district has also sealed the Dhirenpara Maternity and Child Welfare Hospital in Guwahati and declared it a containment zone till July 13 after several COVID-19 cases were detected there. Also, the entire Swagata Square complex has been declared a containment zone for an indefinite period after a number of workers tested positive there, the official order said.

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Bankers pledge to support MSMEs during liquidity crisis
The new NAFTA is now in place. Signed, sealed, and delivered by negotiators. Approved by all elected officials. And toasted by two of the three chief executives. Which says more than meets the eye.

The USMCA, the trade agreement among the US, Mexico and Canada, became official July 1. Given the fact that President Trump wanted NAFTA to be abolished when he was inaugurated, the USMCA been three and a half years in the making.

As far as agriculture, Central Illinois farmers should not see much in the way of immediate or maybe even long-term benefits. The main benefits were Canadian changes in wheat grading and milk pricing. However, many farm organizations saluted the fact that trade among the three nations was back on stable ground after three years of uncertainty.

The American Farm Bureau estimated the USMCA will be a $2 billion benefit to agricultural trade within the $1.4 trillion trade zone. At least thats better than tariffs being implemented and Mexico going to Brazil for all of its corn and soybean purchases, which was a distinct possibility.

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President Obrador of Mexico was in Washington last week and toasted the trade deal at the White House. Premier Trudeau of Canada said he was too busy to party. Which is a significant signal about the trade agreement, because not all is well in USMCA land.

When NAFTA was implemented in 1994, biotechnology was just evolving and grain imported from the U.S. was received with a jaundiced eye, sometimes rejected, sometime banned. Eventually, most of the challenges were worked out. But with gene-editing and genetic sequencing just beginning, we will start all over convincing importers in our closest trading partners that the grain is safe.

Canada is already proposing tariff-rate quota allocations counter to its USMCA commitments, and Mexico has stopped approving biotech traits for U.S. firms. Enforcement of the deal will be a key, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson says, So, we need to be vigilant, and we need to make sure that the agreement is enforced  and that it goes into place, the way that it was intended.

The agreement is coming into life with the COVID-19 reality, and trade officials say the disease has cut trade to its lowest level in 10 years. At the same time, the Trump Administration is currently threatening to implement new tariffs on aluminum imports from Canada. The U.S. could impose a 10% duty if Canada doesnt agree to quotas to help slow the surge of its aluminum exports, which would likely bring a retaliation from Ottawa.

So what happens now? U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer calls the agreement the most far-reaching trade agreement in history. However, he also says he wont hesitate to file dispute cases early and often to enforce USMCA provisions. He says Mexicos failure to approve U.S. biotech products is an example. And the U.S. is not happy with the way Mexico is dealing with changes in labor laws it promised.

Some may ask, What was wrong with NAFTA?

Stu Ellis is an observer of the Central Illinois agriculture scene. In addition to his weekly column, you can view his From The Farm and Harvest Heritage reports on WCIA 3 News.
Todays Highlight in History:

On July 7, 1865, four people were hanged in Washington, D.C., for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln: Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Payne), David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the federal government.

On July 7:

In 1846, U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison.

In 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii.

In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War erupted into full-scale conflict as Imperial Japanese forces attacked the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing.

In 1941, U.S. forces took up positions in Iceland, Trinidad and British Guiana to forestall any Nazi invasion, even though the United States had not yet entered World War II.

In 1948, six female U.S. Navy reservists became the first women to be sworn in to the regular Navy.

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In 1954, Elvis Presley made his radio debut as Memphis, Tennessee, station WHBQ played his first recording for Sun Records, Thats All Right.

In 1963, a Navy jet fighter from Willow Grove Naval Air Station in Pennsylvania crashed into a picnic area, killing seven people; the pilot, who ejected, survived.

In 1976, the United States Military Academy at West Point included female cadets for the first time as 119 women joined the Class of 1980.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day OConnor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2005, terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a double-decker bus killed 52 victims and four bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II.

In 2009, some 20,000 people gathered inside Staples Center in Los Angeles for a memorial service honoring the late Michael Jackson, who was tearfully described by his 11-year-old daughter, Paris-Michael, as the best father you could ever imagine.

In 2010, President Barack Obama bypassed the Senate and appointed Dr. Donald Berwick to run Medicare and Medicaid. In Philadelphia, a disabled sightseeing duck boat adrift in the Delaware River was struck by a barge and capsized; two Hungarian tourists died. Los Angeles police charged Lonnie Franklin Jr. in the citys Grim Sleeper serial killings. (Franklin, who was sentenced to death for the killings of nine women and a teenage girl, died in prison in March 2020 at the age of 67.)

In 2015, President Barack Obama met at the White House with the head of Vietnams Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, as the U.S. pressed ahead to conclude talks on a groundbreaking Asia-Pacific economic pact. Subway said it had mutually agreed with Jared Fogle to suspend their relationship after the home of the sandwich chains longtime pitchman was raided by federal and state investigators. (Fogle later pleaded guilty to one count each of distributing and receiving child porn and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child, and was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison.)

In 2019, the Navy announced that Adm. William Moran, the four-star admiral whod been set to become the Navys top officer, would instead retire, a move prompted by what Navy Secretary Richard Spencer described as poor judgment regarding a professional relationship. The U.S. womens soccer team won its fourth Womens World Cup title, beating the Netherlands 2-0; Megan Rapinoe converted a tiebreaking penalty kick and Rose Lavelle added a goal. Leaked diplomatic cables published in Britains Mail on Sunday newspaper revealed that Britains ambassador to the United States had called the Trump administration dysfunctional and inept.

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DECATUR  The fate of who gets to be Macon County sheriff is being re-decided one painstaking ballot at a time.

And with nearly 40,000 of them to pick through, the hand recount is likely to take three or four weeks in its attempt to figure out whether incumbent Democratic Sheriff Tony Brown remains duly elected or whether his Republican challenger, Lt. Jim Root, should have gotten the top job.

The court-ordered recount of the 2018 race for Macon County sheriff got underway Tuesday in the Macon County Office Building. The recount was a compromise Brown and Root agreed to after Root filed a legal challenge to the election that he lost by one vote, 19,654 to Browns tally of 19,655.

But whatever the recount outcome, excluding the possibility a clear vote lead emerges or the very outside possibility Root or Brown concedes the issue, the candidates are likely to be arguing in court about what happens next.

At issue are disputed ballots thrown up along the way where voters intentions arent clear. Champaign Circuit Court Judge Anna M. Benjamin, who ordered the recount, wants those dubious ballots sealed and she will decide what happens to them after hearing legal arguments from both sides.

Michael Raub, a lawyer acting for Macon County and advising Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner, said the whole process of a hand recount on this scale is very unusual. And, he said, its a vague legal area covering the mechanics of changing who gets to be sheriff if the judge, based on her judgement of what the majority of the voters intended, awards the race to Root two years into Sheriff Browns term.

I dont know how that works and even if the election code even addresses that point specifically, said Raub. And in Illinois, everyone has one appeal, meaning the judges decision itself could be contested.

The lawyers for Brown and Root, meanwhile, remain confident the hand recount, with every ballot examined by the human eye and not a machine, will yield a more definitive result.

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We have maintained all along that the recount would actually result in Sheriff Brown increasing his lead, said Christopher Sherer, Browns attorney. Brown had previously filed a motion to dismiss Roots legal challenge to the election result and Sherer said that had been based on an earlier discovery recount which Sherer said gave Brown more votes. The judge, however, ruled in June 2019 that Roots challenge could continue.

So once we see how everything shakes out here (at the hand recount) I think both sides will have a better idea of the relative strengths and weaknesses of their argument, Sherer added.

Roots attorney John Fogarty said that, whatever happens, this election re-result is going to be a close-run thing. But I would not be surprised if there is a movement of a handful of votes, maybe five or six, he added.

Out of the original 40,000 ballots cast, there will be a number of votes that didnt get counted because the marking isnt quite in the right place for the machine to read. But somebody who is reading it by hand now can tell that this is meant to be a vote for Brown or Root or whoever.

Fogarty said the main task ahead is to get the undisputed ballots counted and agreed and so to clear the way for the lawyers to do the math and fight about the rest of them.

Tanner, the county clerk, said the judges orders on the recount are very specific to ensure fairness. A total of 10 election judges, split between Republican and Democrats, hand count each precinct, two judges to a precinct. There are also 10 poll watchers, split evenly between Brown and Root, who are chosen by them and who monitor the process and can raise objections to a decision on any ballot.

Each weekday the recount starts at 8:30 a.m. and runs until 4:30 p.m. The judges get paid $10 an hour and get half an hour for lunch. When they leave to go eat or when they finish for the day, the ballots are gathered up and locked in a vault until the counting starts again.

Its awkward, but its the process, and so we just march on, said Tanner, who was not in office at the time of the original sheriffs vote. This has been a pretty unusual year and, hopefully, the election in November runs smoothly.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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Hayes did not make any order regarding Matthews representation of Pollard but did ask Matthews what work he had been doing on Pollards case. Matthews said he and his investigator have been reviewing the case and evidence since they were assigned to the case in September 2019. He added that he was assigned to the case through the state Capital Defender Office.

Assistant District Attorney Jamie Adams said Pollard was scheduled to go to trial twice previously in August 2018 and September 2019.

It was delayed the first time because Pollards previous attorney Scott Gsell had a trial in Charlotte. The case was delayed the second time because Pollard requested that Gsell be removed from his case, Adams said.

Adams said the district attorneys office has huge, sufficient amount of evidence in the case.

All the state has to prove, as your honor knows, is that there was intent to rob and that someone died in the course of the robbery, Adams said.

The hearing grew tense at times. At one point, Hayes told Pollard to quiet down after Pollard began to talk over him.
Two individuals were charged with breaking and entering in Alexander County on Sunday.

Officers with the Alexander County Sheriffs Office responded to a phone call from a male subject that he had two individuals held at gunpoint at a residence on N.C. 127 in the Ellendale community of Alexander County, according to a release from the sheriffs office.

After arriving on scene, officers met with Larry Allen Miller, 53, of Conover. Officers asked what he was doing at the residence. Miller stated that he had run out of gas.

Miller told officers that when no one came to the door of the residence, he then walked around the property looking for old cars, according to the release.

But officers found a black trash bag that had been filled with different food items, such as ice cream and popsicles that were still frozen. There was also a five-gallon can of gas that had been taken from a vehicle, the release said.

The suspects vehicle had been driven behind the residence and tree limbs placed over the vehicle. Alexander County Sheriff Chris Bowman said the suspect was attempting to hide the vehicle.
Business Digest  1 

Tesla  SpaceX Stanford University2 Satellite 2020   /Business Digest25
India's first coronavirus vaccine candidate Covaxin will be tested on more than 1,000 people in two phases. The ICMR and Bharat Biotech India Limited, a private pharmaceutical company, and the National Institute of Virology have jointly developed Covaxin. In the phase 1 trial, Covaxin will be tested on 375 people, and in the second phase, Bharat Biotech might enroll 750 people.

The Central Drug Standard Control Organisation--the office of Drug Controller General of India (DGCI)-has granted permission to initiate Phase-1 and Phase-2 clinical trial of Covaxin. A total of 12 institutes have been selected to conduct clinical trials for Covaxin, including AIIMS Delhi.

Zydus Cadila has also got approval from the DCGI for human clinical trials for ZyCov-D, its vaccine candidate.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 19 vaccine candidates currently in the clinical evaluation as of July 6. Out of the 19 vaccine candidates, AstraZeneca/University of Oxford, and Sinovacare are the two developers that have entered Phase 3 trials.

The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca's phase 3 clinical trial involves assessing how the vaccine works in a large number of people over the age of 18. Adult participants will receive one or two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. According to Oxford University, "ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 is made from a virus (ChAdOx1), which is a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees". If the trial is successful, then the Oxford Vaccine Group expects to launch the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this year.

China's Sinovac Biotech has also begun Phase 3 trial of its potential coronavirus vaccine in Brazil. Sinovac said the study will be done in partnership with Brazilian vaccine producer Instituto Butantan. Sinovac initiated the development of the vaccine candidate in late January and is preparing a coronavirus vaccine plant, which it hopes will be ready this year.

Pfizer, Novavax, Cadila Healthcare Limited, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Moderna, and CanSino Biological are the other firms that are on the Phase 2 clinical trial, according to the WHO. Meanwhile, Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the WHO, said there will be one or more safe and efficacious vaccines by next year.

Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Sinovac starts phase-3 trials for potential candidate in Brazil

Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Covaxin human trials on 375 people to begin next week
Europeans have become used to seeing solar panels on the roofs of buildings. But there are plenty of other man-made surfaces in our cities and towns that could be used to harvest energy, including building surfaces.

In Europe there is a similar amount of square metres of building surfaces available as roof space, said Dr Bart Erich at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. He leads a project called ENVISION, which investigates technologies to harvest energy from building surfaces.

The project team estimates that there are some 60 billion square metres of building facade surface in Europe - prime real estate for achieving Europes goal of an energy-neutral built environment in 2050.

Companies and researchers with the project set themselves the challenge of making apartments energy positive, which means that buildings generate more energy than they use. The idea is to integrate four new technologies into building facades to harvest heat or electricity.

One technology is photovoltaic windows which harvest electricity. They have stripe-like features in the glass, making them suitable for staircases or windows where you want light to come in, but complete transparency isnt necessary.

Another approach uses special paint that absorbs 40%-98% of sunlight, depending on the colour. Painted panels are then attached to special heat pumps. (These) can generate heat or hot water, said Dr Erich.

The system also keeps the panels at a fairly stable temperature even during hot summer days, making it efficient at collecting heat. This technology has been trialed at a school gym hall in Almere, in the Netherlands, where it was used for heating the gym and for hot water.

There are also panels of coloured glass with heat harvesting technologies. These can be used decoratively on building facades.

The fourth technology makes use of special ventilated windows to cool down a building in the summer. The glass is transparent and it harvests the near infrared radiation (from sunlight), said Dr Erich.

By moving air through channels inside the glass the heat is removed. It cools because, like a window blind, the glass filters out energy from sunlight. Oftentimes, much light is reflected outside, contributing to the heating up of cities and boosting demand for air conditioning.

Smarter surfaces

Many of us see everyday surfaces as something which should simply be hardwearing. Professor Cesare Sangiorgi, materials engineer at the University of Bologna in Italy, believes that we should expect more from these surfaces and that we can create a new kind of urban environment with smarter surfaces. We are looking to create more liveable urban spaces and surfaces, said Prof. Sangiorgi, who leads a project called SaferUp.

The project supports early career scientists to investigate how to improve the pavements and roads that we cycle, drive, and walk on. Most pavements contain no technologies and are similar to what has been used for centuries, but European scientists aim to revolutionise this situation.

In the UK, researchers at Lancaster University, including one at SaferUp, are making smart roads by putting electromechanical devices in them. When squished by traffic, these turn mechanical energy into electricity. Under normal traffic conditions, this could generate enough energy along a 1 kilometre stretch to light up around 2,000 street lamps or power sensors that monitor traffic volumes. Field tests are planned for 2021.

In Europe there is a similar amount of square metres of building surfaces available as roof space. Dr Bart Erich, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research

Scientists at the University of Perugia in Italy, meanwhile, are devising smart sensors in cement that can be placed in roads or bridges. The little particles change in their resistance to electric current when bent or deformed by the passage of (a) vehicle, said Prof. Sangiorgi. This is called the piezoelectric effect  it happens when mechanical strain is placed on certain materials, such as ceramics.

You need some pieces of electronics, but the material itself could then detect the weight, or how fast or how many vehicles pass over it and report the condition of the material (that makes up a bridge), said Prof. Sangiorgi. In the future, this information could be downloaded onto the phone or laptop of a safety engineer during road or bridge inspections. This could prevent catastrophic failures, such as the motorway bridge collapse in Genoa, Italy, in April 2018, by better monitoring of wear and tear of such structures.

Cool cities

Futuristic pavements are also being designed to better handle heat. Today, many cities suffer from higher temperatures during summer than the surrounding countryside as buildings and pavements release heat from sunlight during the night.

This heat island effect causes more illness and death, especially when heat waves strike. Scientists at the University of Perugia are developing lighter coloured surfaces that absorb far less heat than black asphalt. This takes advantage of phosphorescent materials, which can store and then emit light. The special materials glow either blue or yellow even when mixed with concrete. The temperature of this glowing pavement is lower than regular city surfaces.

The glow from the pavement lasts for one or two hours after sunset, as it releases energy from sunlight, says Dr Anna Laura Pisello, a materials scientist at the University of Perugia in Italy. This can save energy on street lighting, she said. Testing the mix on Italian pavements began last year on the University of Perugias campus and is expected to be used in the city later this year.

The surface of asphalt can peak at a scorching 70C during summer heatwaves. Heating causes it to buckle and crack, increasing maintenance costs and shortening a surfaces lifespan. In Germany, a scientist with SaferUp is working with others to develop a network of embedded pipes within pavements to take away heat. The pipes can get energy from geothermal energy to heat up the pavement when theres ice, or take groundwater to cool down a pavement when it is too hot, said Prof. Sangiorgi.

For the new facades, Dr Erich said that, normally, building fronts do not give money back to owners, but the coloured glass panels, for instance, should give a return on investment in 15 years. As with the pavement technologies, the first step is to build prototypes in the lab and then to test and showcase them in the real world. More demos of the energy-harvesting painted panels, transparent and coloured glass will be integrated into buildings in the near future to showcase future facades. The PV glass is being tested in a utility building in Austria, panels and ventilated windows in a building at the University of Genoa, and coloured heat collectors in apartments in the Netherlands.

In the near future, Europeans will walk on smarter pavements with sensors and electronics inside. If they look up, they may admire attractive building facades that are silently harvesting energy from sunlight while cooling the cities around them.

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.
New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) India's Global Real Estate Transparency Index ranking has improved by one notch to 34 on the back of regulatory reforms, better market data and green initiatives, according to property consultant JLL.

India was ranked 35th in the index during 2018 bi-annual survey, while the country was at 36th position in 2016 and 39th in 2014.

The country's real estate market is currently placed in the 'semi-transparent' zone.

The United Kingdom (UK) ranks first in the list of 99 countries, followed by the United States, Australia, France, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden and Germany.

Mainland China is at 32nd position, Chinese Taipei at 23rd, Sri Lanka is at 65th position while Pakistan is at 73rd.

Top 10 countries are categorised as highly transparent, while those in the 11th position to 33rd are termed as transparent.

'The country ranks 34th globally on the index, with higher levels of transparency observed in India due to regulatory reforms, enhanced market data and sustainability initiatives,' JLL India said in a statement.

This improvement is led by the progress in the country's REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) framework attracting greater interest from institutional investors.

The structural reforms such as the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act 2016 (RERA), GST, Benami Transaction Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2016, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and digitisation of land records have brought about greater transparency in what was an erstwhile largely unregulated sector a few years back, JLL said.

This is the 11th edition of the Global Real Estate Transparency Index. It covers 99 countries and territories and 163 city regions.

This latest survey has been extended to quantify 210 separate elements of transparency, with additional coverage on sustainability and resilience, health and wellness, proptech and alternatives sectors. PTI MJH ANS ANS
Key equity indices sharply pared losses and traded near the flat line in early afternoon trade. At 12:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 3.24 or 0.01% at 36,484.16. The Nifty 50 index was slipped 9.45 points or 0.09% at 10,754.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.07% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.27%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1116 shares rose and 1377 shares fell. A total of 134 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index the breadth was negative with 19 stocks advancing and 31 stocks declining.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 348.35 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 263.47 crore in the Indian equity market on 6 July, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

India reported 2,59,557 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 20,160 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Total coronavirus cases worldwide stood at 11,622,741 with 538,079 deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, was down 0.13% to 25.1625. The Nifty July 2020 futures were trading at 10,684, at a discount of 30.7 points compared with the spot at 10,714.7.

On the weekly index options front, the Nifty option chain for 9 July 2020 expiry showed maximum Call Open Interest (OI) of 44.70 lakh contracts at the 11,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 39.71 lakh contracts was seen at 10,000 strike price.

On the monthly index options front, the Nifty option chain for 30 July 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 24.65 lakh contracts at the 11,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 31.04 lakh contracts was seen at 10,000 strike price.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Punjab National Bank (PNB) said that its board will meet on Thursday (9 July 2020) to consider a proposal to raise capital through a mix of both equity and debt. The board will consider proposal for raising capital through issue of Basel-III-compliant tier-1 bonds, tier-2 bonds and equity shares by way of private placement, qualified institutions placement, follow-on public offering, rights issue or any other mode or through a combination, it said. Following the board approval, the resolution will be put for the shareholders' nod, the bank added.

Story continues

SH Kelkar and Company jumped 6.32% to Rs 70.70 after the company said it further reduced its net debt to between Rs 254 to 258 crore as on 30 June 2020 from Rs 299 crore as on 31 March 2020. The company in its business update on Monday (6 July) said the nationwide lockdown significantly affected production and sales in the domestic market during April and May. The firm witnessed encouraging demand pick-up from the last week of May 2020 continuing into June 2020. The revenues in Q1 FY21 stood between Rs 190 to 192 crore (provisional and unaudited figure). The management continues to very closely monitor the operating environment and actively engage with its customers to build demand. From June 2020 onwards, the company said it has been witnessing initial signs of recovery in the FMCG industry and a gradual normalization of the supply chain system. Accordingly, the firm is taking all necessary steps to ensure optimal production levels are maintained throughout the year.

Gujarat Pipavav Port surged 8.03% to Rs 85.45 after JP Morgan Funds purchased 0.63% stake in the company worth Rs 23.62 crore via block deal on Monday. On Monday (6 July), JP Morgan Funds purchased 30.34 lakh equity shares, or 0.63% stake, of Gujarat Pipavav Port at an average price of Rs 77.85 per share via block deal on the BSE. JP Morgan Funds acquired the shares from Flagship Indian Investment Company (Mauritius).





Source: Capitalmarket.com
New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) Samsung Ventures-backed TagHive on Tuesday said it has raised funding from Complement Capital Managing Partner Joon Hyon, which values the edu-tech startup at USD 10 million (around Rs 74.9 crore).

While the company did not disclose the amount of funding raised in the pre-series A round, sources said the amount ranged between Rs 3-5 crore.

'Our efforts to develop the product in South Korea have paid rich dividends to us as we now cater to over 400 schools there, Pankaj Agarwal, founder and CEO of TagHive, said.

Class Saathi, as a platform, has already been proven to be effective in India in collaboration with the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, he said, adding that the startup will deploy the funds to strengthen its presence in these two states.

The funds will also be used to rapidly grow the presence of Class Saathi to other states, the company said.

Agarwal stated that in India, the company has already onboarded close to 50 schools in less than a year and is looking at expanding its operations across 10,000 schools by 2022.

'We need to take cognizance of the fact that e-learning has tremendous business potential in India, as has been witnessed in this lockdown.

Class Saathi is intuitively designed to create an interactive and immersive learning experience for the students making them confident about their subjects which might not be possible with classroom learning alone, he said.

Founded in 2017 in South Korea by IIT Kanpur graduate Pankaj Agarwal, TagHive offers an affordable edtech platform (device and software) for schools.

Its Class Saathi solution offers a combination of a classroom response system for schools and an at-home learning solution to create an engaging online learning experience.

TagHive entered the Indian market in 2019. PTI SR ANZ ANS ANS
Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 6 (ANI): Three Uttar Pradesh police personnel were suspended on Monday on suspicion that they were involved in tipping off Vikas Dubey, the main accused in Kanpur encounter case in which eight policemen were killed in firing allegedly by the history-sheeter's henchmen in the early hours of Friday. Kanpur IG Mohit Agarwal said that 25 teams from 40 police stations have been formed to investigate the details of the case. "Today, three police officers have been suspended for their suspected role in leaking information to Vikas Dubey. A total of 25 teams of 40 police stations have been formed to carry out searches to arrest people involved and very soon we will arrest all," he said. Earlier Vinay Tiwari, Station House Officer (SHO) of Chaubeypur Police Station in Kanpur district was suspended for fleeing from the spot during a raid to arrest the gangster Dubey in Bikru village. Sub-inspectors Kunwarpal and Krishna Kumar Sharma and constable Rajiv were among those who were arrested today. "As many as 21 people who opened fire on a police team have been identified. Of them two people were killed and one was arrested yesterday," he added. On Sunday, police arrested Dayashankar Agnihotri, an alleged accomplice of Dubey, who said that the gangster had summoned his men after learning from someone at the police station that policemen were on their way to arrest him. Meanwhile, the bounty on the arrest of Dubey has been increased to Rs 2.5 lakhs from Rs one lakh. Currently, a search operation is underway for Dubey. Police have put up his posters at Unnao toll plaza and in Lakhimpur district near the India-Nepal border area. Yesterday, 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 killed in the Bikaru village encounter. (ANI)
New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) Apollo Tyres has decided to cut its capital expenditure (capex) by Rs 400 crore this fiscal amid challenging business environment due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a senior company official.

'Given the overall demand situation, we have cut back on capex to the tune of another Rs 400 crore in 2020-21 to make sure that we are not stressed from a cash flow or a liquidity perspective,' Apollo Tyres Chief Financial Officer Gaurav Kumar said in an analyst call.

The company had earlier earmarked a capex of around Rs 1,400-1,500 crore for the domestic operations for the current financial year.

Apollo Tyres has also taken a cut in the capex investment across its European operations, he added.

'We would have talked if I remember correctly the figure in India of Rs 1,400-Rs 1,500 crore. That number for the current year would be about somewhere between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,100 crore. And, similarly, we have taken a cut in the European operations as well,' Kumar said.

With uncertain scenario due to rising COVID-19 cases, the company has taken various steps to control cost as much as possible, he noted.

'These range from announcing no increments for the year, top management taking salary cuts, cutting down on sales promotion, advertising and promotion expenses, improvements that were visible last year on the working capital side and we will continue to monitor that very actively,' Kumar said.

On the outlook for the current financial year, he noted, 'In terms of what we see looking ahead, while we will probably have a sales decline in FY21 compared to FY20, because the OE (original equipment) business is still looking fairly weak and there is no promising outlook as well.' But, the fact that a majority of business is replacement, it is a significant plus for the company, Kumar said.

'Barring passenger car tyre segment, on all other product segments -- truck tyres, farm tyres, two-wheeler tyres -- we are seeing a good recovery in the replacement segment,' he added.

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All the company plants in India have started operations under the state government guidelines, Kumar noted.

They are running at lower levels of utilisation and as expected would be gradually ramping up, Kumar said.

Commenting on European operations, he said: 'We expect a sales decline given the situation...But, there is a possibility that sales could recover sharply. Both our plants in Europe are operating and going up in capacity utilisation in Hungary and Netherlands.' PTI MSS HRS
An Australian flag is pictured at its embassy in Beijing

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia has warned its citizens they may be at risk of arbitrary detention in China, in an updated travel advisory.

The travel advice for China on Australia's Smart Traveller website includes the warning, "Authorities have detained foreigners because they're 'endangering national security'".

On Tuesday, a new warning was added by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: "Australians may also be at risk of arbitrary detention."

Diplomatic relations between Australia and top trading partner China became frayed after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the source and spread of the new coronavirus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Australia continues to advise its citizens not to travel to China, and under coronavirus control measures its citizens cannot leave Australia without an exemption granted by the Home Affairs department.

Beijing has also recently imposed sweeping security legislation on Hong Kong that punishes what China defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with sentences up to life in prison.

Late on Monday, Hong Kong released additional details of the law, saying security forces had overriding authority to enter and search properties for evidence and to stop people from leaving the city.

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week signalled his government may follow Britain in offering safe haven to Hong Kong citizens in response to the security law, and proposals would be considered by Cabinet soon.

Canada has also warned its citizens in Hong Kong they may be at risk of arbitrary detention and extradition to mainland China, and has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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Australia has warned its citizens they may be at risk of arbitrary detention in China, in an updated travel advisory.

The travel advice for China on Australia's Smart Traveller website includes the warning, "Authorities have detained foreigners because they're 'endangering national security'".

On Tuesday, a new warning was added by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: "Australians may also be at risk of arbitrary detention."

Diplomatic relations between Australia and top trading partner China became frayed after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the source and spread of the new coronavirus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Australia continues to advise its citizens not to travel to China, and under coronavirus control measures its citizens cannot leave Australia without an exemption granted by the Home Affairs department.

Beijing has also recently imposed sweeping security legislation on Hong Kong that punishes what China defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with sentences up to life in prison.

Late on Monday, Hong Kong released additional details of the law, saying security forces had overriding authority to enter and search properties for evidence and to stop people from leaving the city.

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week signalled his government may follow Britain in offering safe haven to Hong Kong citizens in response to the security law, and proposals would be considered by Cabinet soon.

Canada has also warned its citizens in Hong Kong they may be at risk of arbitrary detention and extradition to mainland China, and has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong.
Kolkata, Jul 6 (PTI) A 41-year-old Bangladeshi man, hiding inside an empty goods train, was apprehended by BSF personnel from along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal on Monday, officials said.

They said that this seems to be a case of human trafficking as the man, who worked in a jewellery shop in Cumilla district of the neighbouring country, told BSF personnel that he was sent to this side by some touts promising to get him employment here.

He also said that he wanted to visit Ajmer Sharif dargah in Rajasthan after earning some money, officials said.

The man was intercepted from an empty rail wagon that came to the Indian side at Petrapole in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal at about 1:30 pm, they said.

The man from Bangladesh has been handed over to the local police even as the BSF has asked railway authorities that they should check every wagon before the start of a journey from either side of the border in order to thwart human trafficking bids.

Since June 20, BSF troops in this border area have apprehended at least six Bangladesh residents who were being trafficked to either side of the border.

PTI had reported on Sunday that the border force has sounded an alert all along the 4,096 km long India-Bangladesh front to check cross-border human trafficking instances that may witness a spurt in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the linked lockdown.

The force has noticed some innovative methods to push the poor and vulnerable from across the border by luring them with job opportunities in cities like Kolkata, Guwahati, some other towns in northeast India and as far as Delhi and Mumbai. PTI NES SMN SMN
New Delhi [India], July 6 (ANI): 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 Pakistan's 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 association The SFJ had been declared as an unlawful association under provision 3 (1) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 on July 10 last year. 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. MHA sources told ANI that official website of SFJ biz 'www.sikhforjustice.org' and referendum 2020 biz 'www.2020referendum.org' were sharing and sourcing content from a Karachi based websites of a number of SFJ activists. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act Tribunal had at the start of this year upheld the Centre's decision to impose a ban on Sikh for Justice (SFJ) observing that the unlawful activities of the proscribed association are disruptive in character and is a threat to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India. (ANI)
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: The West Bengal government is mulling a 14-day total lockdown in North 24 Parganas on account of rise in fresh Covid-19 cases. The plan for a fresh lockdown comes in the wake of a proposal from the North 24 Parganas district administration for a fresh containment plan. Bidhannagar, Barasat, Basirhat, Barrackpore and Bongaon municipal areas are likely to come under the lockdown in the district. The proposal is to close markets and shut down public transport in the district, and allow only standalone shops to remain open.

India's death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 20,000 today and case numbers surged as the south Asian nation pushed ahead with relaxations to its almost two-month lockdown amid grim economic forecasts. The rate of both new virus infections and deaths are rising at the fastest pace in three months, as officials lift a vast lockdown of India's 1.3 billion people that has left tens of thousands without work and shuttered businesses. The country reported 467 new deaths on Tuesday, taking the toll to 20,160. It also recorded 22,252 new infections, increasing the total to 719,665. India on Monday overtook Russia as the third most affected country globally, behind the United States and Brazil.

But its death rate per 10,000 people is still a low 0.15, compared with 3.97 in the United States and 6.65 in the United Kingdom, according to a Reuters tally. Health officials fear the number of deaths, which usually lag behind the detection of new infections, could rise significantly in coming weeks. India's death toll is currently the world's seventh highest, behind the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain. Over the first week of July, India reported an average of 450 deaths each day, compared with 250 in the first week of June, and 101 in the first week of May. Officials on Monday withdrew a planned reopening of the Taj Mahal, citing the risk of new coronavirus infections spreading in the northern city of Agra from visitors flocking to see the 17th century monument to love.

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Meanwhile, Karnataka minister JC Madhuswamy has said Covid-19 is spreading at the community level, with the situation going out of hand. "Medical condition of eight infected with coronavirus admitted in Tumkur COVID Hospital is critical. 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," Madhuswamy, Tumakuru district-in-charge minister, said, even though Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Deputy CM Ashwath Narayan and Medical Education Minister Dr Sudhakar have denied community transmission in the state earlier.

Addressing reporters, Madhuswamy said: "We have reached a point where it is difficult for the district authorities to restrain it, even though we are trying to restrain it. Somewhere the situation is going out of hand. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there are 23,474 coronavirus cases in Karnataka, including 13,255 and 372 deaths. While Karnataka grapples with the onslaught of the virus, Haridwar has sealed its borders following a ban on the annual 'Kanwar Yatra' of devotees of Lord Shiva in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Every year during the month of Sawan, lakhs of Lord Shiva devotees visit Haridwar to fetch holy water from the Ganges.

To check the spread of the novel coronavirus, the government has barred religious gatherings. In view of the ban, borders of Haridwar district were sealed at Narson, Bhagwanpur, Chidiyapur and Saptrishi checkposts on Monday, official sources here said. Only people having written permission from their respective district magistrate are being allowed to enter Haridwar in their vehicles, they said. Hundreds of vehicles bound for Haridwar were returned from the border as they did not have the required permission, the sources said. Security around Har ki Pauri has also been stepped up. The administration is questioning devotees who are coming on motorcycles. Four such people who had come from Delhi were quarantined here for 14 days to send a strong message, the sources said.
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.

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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:
Idukki (Kerala), July 7 (PTI) Six people, including the manager of a private resort, have been arrested for organising a party with belly dance performance in violation of COVID-19 restrictions at nearby Udumbanchola in this hilly district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident came to light after a video of the party in which a Ukraine national was among the dancers went viral on social media.

The party was held at the resort as part of the inauguration of a private firm and many people took part in it violating the COVID-19 protocol.

According to police, the event was organised on June 29 night and a case registered on July 3 under various provisions of the Kerala Epidemic Act and the India Penal Code.

'We have arrested six people, including the manager of the resort, another person is the manager of the newly inaugurated business establishment and four other persons who were associated with the party,' the investigating officer in the case told PTI.

More arrests would be made in coming days, the officer added.

Dismissing media reports that the 'exotic dancers' were brought to the resort from Bengaluru, police said the dancers were from Ernakulam and the Ukraine-national is a resident of Fort Kochi.

Police also added that they were verifying the details of the attendees with the list of participants in that party.

The district administration and the police said they did not receive any complaint about the party and the action was taken after the video surfaced. PTI RRT UD VS VS
FILE PHOTO: U.S. former Representative Giffords embraces student activist Wright during in a news conference about proposed gun background check legislation, on Capitol Hill in Washington

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) - The gun safety group Giffords will launch a nationwide effort next week aimed at boosting Democratic candidates in key U.S. Senate races who support universal background checks for firearms purchases.

With Democrats' chances of flipping the Senate improving as Republican President Donald Trump's poll numbers slide ahead of the Nov. 3 election, the group said background checks were a wedge issue that could win support from critical voting blocs in close races and beyond.

"This issue helps Democrats in every single state and every single congressional district," Senator Chris Murphy said in an interview, citing opinion polls that show background checks are popular even among Republican voters.

Murphy, a leading voice on gun violence since the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre in his home state of Connecticut, will kick off the group's "tour" on July 14 with former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords, who founded the group after she nearly died in an assassination attempt in Arizona in 2011.

Giffords will then host virtual events with Democratic Senate candidates in several battleground states this summer, including Michigan, North Carolina and Colorado.

"The road to passing lifesaving gun safety legislation goes through the Senate," she said in a statement about the group's effort, which will be announced on Tuesday.

Giffords' husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, is running for the Senate in Arizona as a Democrat in one of the highest-profile 2020 races, but the group said previously it would not engage in that contest.

DEMOCRATS EMBRACE ISSUE

The issue of gun control, once seen as a political third rail for Democrats, has largely been turned on its head. Many Democratic congressional candidates in 2018 attacked Republican opponents for bowing to the gun lobby.

During this year's Democratic presidential nominating race, every candidate, including presumptive nominee Joe Biden, called for universal background checks and other restrictions.

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But amid the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent economic crisis, it remains to be seen whether gun violence is salient enough in 2020 to drive voters to the polls.

A Public Policy Polling survey commissioned by Giffords in late June found 61% of respondents would be more likely to support a candidate who favors background checks, while only 10% would be less likely.

Polls have shown that suburban women who helped drive Democratic gains in 2018 and have deserted Trump in droves are particularly motivated by gun violence, and young voters also cite gun safety as a major priority, said Peter Ambler, executive director of Giffords.

The Giffords group's focus on the Senate comes after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill in February 2019 closing loopholes in the background checks law.

Trump and Senate Republicans have declined to take up the legislation, even after mass shootings last summer reignited a national debate over the widespread availability of firearms in the United States.

Opponents of expanding background checks argue that it would do little to prevent criminals from obtaining guns and warn that the data collected could be used as a firearms registry to impose more stringent limits in the future.

Murphy said a number of Republican Senate colleagues had privately told him they would vote for a universal background checks bill, including some who opposed similar legislation introduced after the Sandy Hook shooting. But he said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would not allow a vote unless there was an assurance that Trump would support it.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney)
Researchers around the world are working on the next generation of coronavirus tests that give answers in less than an hour, without onerous equipment or highly trained personnel.

The latest so-called point-of-care tests, which could be done in a doctors office or even at home, would be a welcome upgrade from todays status quo: uncomfortable swabs that snake up the nose and can take several days to produce results.

The handful of point-of-care devices now on the market are frequently inaccurate. The up-and-coming tests could yield more reliable results, researchers say, potentially leading to on-the-spot testing nationwide. But most of the new contenders are still in early stages, and wont be available in clinics for months.

Some of the tests in development swap brain-tickling swabs for plastic tubes that collect spit. Others dunk patient samples into chemical cocktails that light up when they detect coronavirus genes. Another type of test identifies coronavirus proteins in minutes, using a cheap device thats easy to produce in bulk and deploy in low-resource settings.

To combat this virus, we need to test widely and frequently, and get the results back quickly, said Dr. Zev Williams at Columbia University, who is developing a coronavirus spit test that can run in about 30 minutes. That requires a genuine paradigm shift in the way we go about testing for it.

Once scaled up and distributed, faster tests could be used in hospitals to quickly screen emergency room patients. Schools and workplaces could buy them to monitor the health of children and employees. With additional tinkering, some tests could even be developed to work as simply as a pregnancy test, yielding a clean-cut positive or negative result in the comfort of a persons home.

The quicker and easier tests can be done, the more ubiquitous they can be, said Dr. Amesh Adalja at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. Thats going to help people get back to some semblance of normalcy.

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Most diagnostic tests on the market now hunt for bits of genetic material specific to the coronavirus. (This distinguishes diagnostic tests from antibody tests, which sample the blood and show if a person has been exposed to the virus in the past.)

The gold-standard method involves funneling a long, absorbent swab a few inches into the nose until it hits the nasopharynx, the part of the airway where the nasal passage meets the throat and a common target of the coronavirus.

The moment you see the swab, youre like, Oh no, my face isnt that deep, said Fernanda Ferreira, a virologist at Harvard University who took a nasopharyngeal swab test in April. Turns out it is.

The virus genes must be extracted from the sample with a specific suite of chemicals. The material is then processed through a laboratory technique called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, in which a machine cycles through several temperature changes to amplify genetic material. This step is key to these tests success: Copying genetic material over and over means that even tiny amounts of the virus can be spotted.

But the process can bog down at multiple points. Swabs and chemicals necessary for processing are often in short supply, and invasive sampling requires trained health care workers who quickly drain precious supplies of gowns, gloves and masks. Additionally, many community testing centers lack PCR machines and must outsource their samples to large laboratories, leading to delays of days or even weeks.

Rachel Coker, the director of research advancement at Binghamton University  one of many institutions nationwide that have begun to reopen  had to wait 10 days for her results after being sampled at a drive-thru testing site.

The good news was it was negative, she said. But she could have been exposed while waiting for results. By the time I knew, Coker said, it was almost useless.

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, 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, Massachusetts, another team of researchers is tackling the next plodding step in the workflow: 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% 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 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% of the time, according to a study that has not yet been published in a scientific journal. Williams and his team are seeking authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers are still gauging how the accuracy of spit tests stacks up against that of the deep nasal swabs, but early results are promising. You put it in a tube  thats hard to mess up, said Anne Wyllie, an epidemiologist at Yales School of Public Health who is studying the saliva tests.

Still, the quick tests available now are frequently inaccurate. Although they ensure we can get an answer faster, said Dr. Ibukun Akinboyo, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at Duke Universitys School of Medicine, you lose some sensitivity. Its hard to win at both.

Last month, a swab-based point-of-care test called Abbott ID Now made headlines when an analysis found that it might miss infections up to 48% of the time, despite being promoted by President Donald Trump as highly accurate.

Sensitivity issues also plague antigen tests, which detect pieces of proteins made by the virus, rather than its genes. Antigen tests have been used to detect other airway infections, such as the flu, in less than an hour, and are easy to manufacture en masse. But the convenience comes at a cost: Unlike genetic material, antigens cant be amplified easily. Some antigen tests, including a few that search for influenza viruses, fail to pick up on active infections around 50% of the time.

If a COVID antigen test performs like an influenza antigen test, I dont think they will have much utility, said Dr. David Alland, the director of the Center for Emerging Pathogens at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Still, he noted, if improved, they could be very promising.

Even imprecise tests have their place in this pandemic, as long as theyre easy to use and distributed widely enough. Should a test miss someone on Monday, maybe youll get them a day or two later, Wyllie said.

So far, only two companies have received emergency authorization from the FDA for coronavirus antigen tests. One is Quidel, which is, according to a representative, producing millions of tests each month, many of which have been distributed to urgent care centers and medical clinics in the United States. On Monday, a second firm, Becton Dickinson & Co., also entered the fray with a point-of-care antigen test that can reportedly produce results in 15 minutes. While speedy, both Quidels and BDs tests may produce false negatives between 15% and 20% of the time.

Other antigen tests have made headway overseas, and experts estimated that several more will likely seek clearance in the U.S. in coming months.

One will likely come from medical device manufacturer OraSure, which has made antigen tests for HIV and Ebola. Stephen Tang, OraSures president and chief executive officer, said his team is brewing up a secret sauce that will make their coronavirus test highly accurate, while still producing results within half an hour, but declined to specify details.

Until these experimental tests are widely available, many people will still need the nasty nasal swab.

For any kind of normal life to resume, I think all of us need to get this idea that were going to have to get tested all the time, Binghamtons Coker said.

A faster, less invasive test would be nice. But even an unpleasant test is better than no test at all, she said. If its this painful one, so be it.

Katherine J. Wu c.2020 The New York Times Company
Lahore, Jul 5 (PTI) The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Sunday expelled a senior lawmaker, days after a controversial audio clip was leaked on social media in which she was purportedly heard speaking on the increasing role of the military establishment in the government and commenting on the private lives of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his third wife.

The PTI in a statement said it has expelled Punjab Assembly member Uzma Kardar from the party for 'violation of discipline'. However, it offered no further explanation.

Kardar, who won a reserved seat for women as a PTI candidate in the 2018 general elections, was one of the most active leaders in the Punjab province.

A few weeks ago, Kardar was removed from the Punjab government's media strategy committee following the leak of the audio clip.

'The establishment, the government and Prime Minister Imran Khan are going hand-in-hand. No government in Pakistan can be run without the support of the military establishment,' she was heard saying in the tape.

Kardar was also heard discussing the private lives of Prime Minister Khan and his third wife Bushra Bibi in a negative way.

She allegedly commented on how 'Bushra Bibi is influential in deciding important matters such as postings of senior officials sitting in the Prime Minister House'. She also spoke about how Bushra Bibi favours friends and prevent others from approaching Khan.

The prime minister's former wife Reham Khan in her controversial memoir had mentioned the name of Kardar, alleging that she had relations with Imran Khan. PTI MZ SCY SCY
In Turkana, Kenya's poorest region, Achilo Christopher is battling swarms of locusts, armed only with his phone.

He's a locust scout - trained by aid group ACTED with support from the UN and the regional government to track and log information about the swarms, using a new application, E-Locusts.

"So I go look for locusts where they are, I report, I take pictures, I upload videos of their movement and also advise them if which kind of control can be used."

It's a race against time.

In the coming days or weeks, the locusts' bodies will turn from pink to yellow, their wings will harden and, if nothing is done to stop them, they will begin to swarm with disastrous consequences.

"Within sometime you just, all the trees are just naked without. Even they go inside the farms, they strip the farms, so it is a very big impact on the food security."

That's where the app comes in - aiming to facilitate a rapid response to the swarms.

Information from locust scouts is sent in real time to Lodwar -- the largest town in north-western Kenya - where technical teams decide what to do next.

Gabriel Okata is a crops officer in Turkana.

"That information will guide us in making decision in terms of resource mobilisation and planning for control and surveillance."

Desert locust numbers are the worst in three generations and could cost East Africa and Yemen $8.5 billion this year, the World Bank has said.

A single square kilometre swarm can eat as much food as 35,000 people and, when airborne, they can travel up to 80 miles in a day.

Though now, and thanks to the smartphone-wielding scouts, they may be met with a swift response when they arrive.
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Kathmandu, Jul 7 (PTI) A Nepalese lawmaker was sacked by her party on Tuesday for defying its decision to unanimously endorse the constitutional amendment to revise the country's map to include three strategically key Indian territories, according to media reports.

The Opposition Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) decided to sack Sarita Giri for breaching the party whip to withdraw her amendment registered at the Parliament Secretariat against the Nepal governments second amendment to the Constitution.

A three-member panel led by party general secretary Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav recommended that the party sack Giri from both as a lawmaker and the party member, and the meeting of the officer bearers of the party took the decision on Tuesday, the Kathmandu Post said.

The Constitution amendment, which was aimed at updating the new administrative and political map of the country on the national emblem, was unanimously endorsed by the House of Representatives on June 18.

The SJP and the main Opposition Nepali Congress had backed the move by the government of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.

Contrary to her party's official position on the endorsement of the new map, lawmaker Giri registered a separate amendment proposal at the Parliament Secretariat.

Giri sought to retain the old map on the national emblem arguing that there was no clear evidence to claim Lipmiyadhura, Lipu Lekh and Kalapani as Nepali territories.

The Samajbadi Party had asked Giri to withdraw the amendment and warned her of internal action, but Giri had refused to take back her amendment proposal.

The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.

Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.

Nepal later released the revised political and administrative map of the country laying claim over the strategically key areas, more than six months after India published a new map in November 2019.

India had then sternly asked Nepal not to resort to any 'artificial enlargement' of territorial claims. PTI NSA AKJ NSA NSA
Kathmandu, Jul 6 (PTI) Nepal's ruling communist party's crucial Standing Committee meeting to decide Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's future has been postponed until Wednesday, according to an official announcement.

Prime Minister's press advisor Surya Thapa said that the meeting was deferred for Wednesday.

The reason for the postponement was not immediately known.

On Saturday as well, the meeting was postponed for Monday as the top leaders of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) required more time to forge an understanding on the outstanding issues.

The crucial meeting of the NCPs 45-member Standing Committee, the most powerful body of the party, was scheduled to be held on Monday.

Top NCP leaders, including former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, have demanded Prime Minister Oli's resignation, saying his recent anti-India remarks were 'neither politically correct nor diplomatically appropriate.' Oli and Prachanda were expected to meet on Monday, ahead of the Standing Committee meeting. PTI CPS AKJ CPS
Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 6 (ANI): SSP Kanpur Dinesh Prabhu said that there is no record of the purported letter that DSP Devendra Mishra had written weeks before his death in which he had made serious allegations against Chaubeypur SHO. Prabhu, however, said that the matter is under investigation. Prabhu said, "A letter written by Circle Officer Devendra Mishra (who lost his life in Kanpur encounter) to police department against Chaubeypur police station SHO Vinay Tiwari has gone viral. According to the letter, history-sheeter Vikas Dubey was being favoured. No record of the letter found." Further Probe is underway, SSP said. A letter claimed to be written by Circle Officer Devendra Mishra is getting viral on social media in which it is claimed that he had written the letter to SSP, Kanpur. It is claimed that in the letter, Mishra had written against Chaubeypur police station SHO Vinay Tiwari for favoring Vikas Dubey history-sheeter and main accuse in Kanpur encounter case. Earlier in the day, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that DSP Devendra Mishra had written a letter to Kanpur SSP on March 14, alleging links between the now suspended Chaubeypur SHO and gangster Vikas Dubey, but nobody acted upon this information. Addressing a press conference after meeting the family members of DSP Devendra Mishra in Kanpur, he addressed a press conference here and said, "Today, I met family members of Devendra Mishra. His daughter informed me that she has found a letter written by his father to SSP on March 14 in which he had mentioned about the possible fallout in law and order situation in Kanpur. In his letter, Mishra had informed the SSP about the Vikas Dubey and his friendship with Chuabeypur Police Station SHO Vinay Tiwari, but nobody acted on it." Sub-inspectors Kunwarpal and Krishna Kumar Sharma and constable Rajiv have been suspended after police came to know that they were involved in tipping off Vikas Dubey. Earlier Vinay Tiwari, Station House Officer (SHO) of Chaubeypur Police Station in Kanpur district was suspended for fleeing from the spot during a raid to arrest the gangster Dubey in Bikru village. Main accused Vikas Dubey's 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 72 hours, UP Police and ATS have not yet discovered anything about the whereabouts of Dubey, sources informed. Meanwhile, the bounty on the arrest of the main accused of Kanpur encounter case, Vikas Dubey, has been increased to Rs 2.5 lakhs. Police have put up his posters at Unnao toll plaza and in Lakhimpur district near the India-Nepal border area. Vikas Dubey is the main accused in the Kanpur encounter case, in which he and his men allegedly opened fire on the police team which came to arrest him on Thursday late night and eight policemen were killed in the incident. (ANI)
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.

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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.
London, Jul 6 (PTI) A new UK-only post-Brexit global sanctions list released on Monday includes 20 suspected killers of Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi and 25 Russian nationals among 49 people designated for action such as travel bans and asset freezes.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the House of Commons that the new ground-breaking global regime means the UK has new powers to stop those involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the country, channelling money through UK banks, or profiting from the UK economy.

'Today were designating 49 people and organisations for responsibility in some of the worst human rights abuses in recent memory, said Raab.

This is a demonstration of Global Britains commitment to acting as a force for good in the world, he said.

The Russian nationals on the list are believed to be involved in the mistreatment and death of auditor Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered widespread corruption.

Besides, two high-ranking Myanmar generals allegedly involved in violence against Rohingya and other ethnic minorities in Burma and two organisations believed to be involved in forced labour, torture and murder in North Korea's gulags have also been listed.

The measures will target individuals and organisations, rather than nations. It is the first time that the UK has sanctioned people or entities for human rights violations and abuses under a UK-only regime, and said this will allow Britain to work independently with allies such as the US, Canada, Australia and the European Union (EU).

Britain could previously only impose sanctions as part of collective UN and EU frameworks and was not able to reveal the names of those banned on human rights grounds, but is able to do so following its exit from the EU earlier this year. Opposition Labour's shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, welcomed the new list as a clear sign to criminals that the UK would no longer be a haven for their illegal activities and called for corruption charges to also be included in the regime, dubbed the Magnitsky amendment after the late Russian tax adviser.

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Following his announcement in Parliament, Raab is set to meet with Sergei Magnitskys widow and son Natalia and Nikita, along with his friend and colleague Bill Browder, at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London.

The new system 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 FCO 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. The suite of measures can also apply to those who facilitate, incite, promote, or support these violations and abuses, as well as those who financially profit from human rights violations and abuses.

The FCO added that the UK will continue to utilise a range of tools to tackle serious human rights violations and abuses around the world, including the UN and EU multilateral sanctions regimes. PTI AK SCY SCY
Colombo, Jul 6 (PTI) Sri Lanka on Monday extended the time for the twice-postponed August 5 parliamentary elections by one hour after conducting several mock polls in adherence to the safety guidelines due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The polls will take place between 7am to 5pm local time, which is an hour's time extension for voters to visit the polling station, election commission officials said.

In the previous elections, the voting was conducted between 7am and 4pm.

The counting of votes, which normally takes place on the night of the polls, will now start at 8 am the following morning, the elections commission said.

The announcement of the final results would be delayed until the night of August 6.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on March 2 dissolved the Parliament, six months ahead of schedule, and called for snap polls on April 25. However, the election commission in mid-April postponed the elections by nearly two months to June 20 due to the coronavirus outbreak in the island nation.

The commission last month informed the apex court that the polls cannot be held on June 20 because of the coronavirus pandemic and the new date was decided following a unanimous decision reached between the members of the commission.

Over 16 million voters are registered to vote on August 5 to elect a 225-member parliament for a 5-year term.

The officials said the extended voting time was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The elections commission has been struggling to make arrangements for a free and fair poll due to the health risks causes by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They held several mock polls to determine the time needed for each of the procedures while maintaining health guidelines to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

The election will be held under the proportional representation system with 196 members elected from 22 electoral districts and another 29 appointed based on each political party's cumulative votes tally.

According to the Johns Hopkins University data, Sri Lanka has 2,076 COVID-19 cases with 11 deaths. PTI CORR RS RS
By Jane Wardell

(Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States pushed past 3 million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, roughly equal to the population of Nevada, stoking fears that hospitals will be overwhelmed.

The United States has the highest known numbers of both COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world. More than 130,000 Americans have died from the disease, a toll that experts warn will likely surge following recent record spikes in case numbers in many states.

In the first seven days of July, 18 states have reported record increases in new cases of COVID-19, according to a Reuters tally.

In Texas alone, the number of hospitalized patients more than doubled in just two weeks. The Democratic mayor of Austin warned over the weekend that his city's hospitals could reach capacity in two weeks and run out of intensive care unit (ICU) beds in 10 days. In Arizona, about 90% of ICU beds are full.

The rise in cases also cast a shadow over the nation's Fourth of July celebrations, with many towns and cities across the country cancelling annual fireworks displays to avoid large crowds gathering.

During an Independence Day speech at the White House on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump asserted without evidence that 99% of coronavirus cases in the United States were "totally harmless."

Trump, a Republican, has refused to wear a mask in public and has been reluctant to encourage Americans to do so, saying it was a personal choice. A July 4 celebration he attended at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota was "mask-optional" and had no social distancing.

(Open https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/USA-TRENDS/dgkvlgkrkpb/index.html in an external browser for a Reuters interactive)

(Reporting by Jane Wardell; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
The United Nations has been providing evidence Tuesday (July 7) that deadly aerial strikes carried out by Syrian and Russian planes in the province of Idlib amounted to war crimes.

They took place between November 2019 and June this year.

The U.N. report also condemned attacks by Islamist militants.

It said "indiscriminate bombardment" by pro-government forces, which took place ahead of a March ceasefire brokered with Turkey, claimed hundreds of lives and forced a million civilians to flee, which may amount to a crime against humanity.

There was also a damning account of Jihadist groups in northwestern Syria, accused of firing artillery into civilian areas quote "with no apparent legitimate military objective."

Paulo Pinheiro, chairman of the U.N. panel said, quote, "All sides likely committed war crimes."

"Children were shelled at school, parents were shelled at the market, patients were shelled at the hospital. Entire families were bombarded, even while fleeing these attacks."

Russias most notable involvements are reported to have been deadly airstrikes in January and March, when its warplanes were solely responsible for attacks on a hospital and farm.

Russia denies involvement in the latter attack.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied many previous U.N. accusations of war crimes.
Swarajya

The CBSE on Monday informed the Supreme Court that the optional examinations for Class 12 students, unsatisfied with its assessment criteria, would be held between August 15 to September 15. The CBSE in an additional affidavit said: "Regarding the date before which the optional examination for the candidates who are not satisfied with their assessment with the policy, the examinations for such candidates shall be conducted any time between 15 August to 15 September 2021, subject to conducive situation." The board added that the examinations for private, patrachar and compartment would be conducted in such a manner so that they will fall within the assessment policy for the academic year 2019-2020.
By Praveen Menon

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand police and security services were warned of a threat against another mosque for the same day that a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in 2019, an Islamic women's group told an inquiry into the shooting massacre.

The Islamic Womens Council of New Zealand said it warned police and security services repeatedly about threats from white supremacists, including when they received a Facebook message threatening to burn the Quran outside a mosque in Hamilton on March 15, 2019, the same day as the Christchurch attack.

Although the threat was not directly connected to the mass shooting, extra security measures could have been taken at all mosques, said the submission to the closed-door inquiry which was made public on Tuesday.

"The police had enough intelligence to warrant a coordinated national strategy," the group said in the 130-page submission

"If there had been such a strategy, then the message would have alerted every mosque in the country to a threat to one mosque on Friday 15 March 2019 and for all mosques to take extra security measures. Whether or not the threat was connected to the Christchurch killer is irrelevant."

Armed with semi-automatic weapons, Australian Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, attacked two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, broadcasting New Zealand's worst mass shooting live on Facebook.

Tarrant has pleaded guilty and a court will begin his sentencing on Aug 24.

The Islamic Womens Council submission said police, security services and government representatvies were focused only on combating terrorism by Muslim extremists, leaving the community vulnerable to the rising alt-right movement.

"Evidence indicates that public sector employees were, at best, asleep on the job and, at worst, intentionally

ignoring our pleas and actively undermining our work," Aliya Danzeisen, who leads the group's government engagement, said in a statement.

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Police said no comment would be made until the Royal Commission had concluded. However, on the specific threat in the report it said the person was identified and formally warned.

A government spokesman said the government will wait for the Commissions report before making any comment.

The Royal Commission inquiry into the shooting massacre is due report its finding by end of July.

Threats to the Muslim community have continued since the attack, with a threatening social media post appearing earlier this year.

New Zealand, unlike the United States or Britain, has never recorded specific hate crime offences, raising questions about what signs security agencies may have missed.

Islamic Womens Council estimates there would not be a Muslim woman in New Zealand who wears the head scarf who has not been abused in public at some time.

(Editing by Michael Perry)
FSB accuses arrested ex-journalist of transmitting top-secret data to NATO spy agencies

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

14:00 07/07/2020

MOSCOW, July 7 (RAPSI) - Advisor of the Roscosmos state corporations CEO and ex-journalist of Kommersant newspaper Ivan Safronov is accused of collection and transfer of data constituting a state secret to an intelligence agency of one of the NATO states, the Federal Security Services (FSB) press service told RAPSI on Tuesday.

According to the statement, Safronov discharged a task of a North Atlantic Treaty Organizations security service to collect information on military and technical cooperation, defense and security of the Russian Federation and transmit it to its representative.

Safronov was arrested on Tuesday. He is charged with treason. According to the Roscosmos press service, Safronovs arrest is not connected with his work in the company.

The former reporter of Kommersant and Vedomosti newspapers was appointed as advisor of Dmitry Rogozin in May 2020 after a scandal related to the publication of an explosive article about possible resignation of the Federation Council head Valentina Matviyenko.
Having students on campus and seeing those children every day is essential to what they do at Wolf Meadow, and Brinson wanted students to have every chance they could get to be at school.

Potentially having more opportunities to (touch base with children face to face) by moving to the traditional calendar was the biggest deciding factor for us, she said. Being able to check in with students and make sure all of their needs are being met and being able to connect with them, and if there are other needs that they have, being able to connect them with the people or the agencies that can support children and support families, all of those things are really difficult to do in a virtual environment.

But having that opportunity to meet with them face to face, even if it ends up being a couple times or once or twice a week, you have a better opportunity to really connect with kids.

Wolf Meadow also has a large portion of students who are learning English as a second language.

With the recent environment across the state and nation focusing on equity across all races, both socially and educationally, challenges can be presented for not only helping a student become more proficient in a second language, but also succeed academically in other subjects, especially in a remote learning setting.
Berman was appointed by a GOP president and has served as an outstanding prosecutor for many years. No person is above the law. Not even the president.

John Boltons recent book outlines numerous wrongdoings in the White House by our president, which clearly describe obstruction of justice. Bolton states Vladimir Putin plays Donald Trump like a fiddle, and North Korea is farther along in the development of long-range nuclear weapons. Bolton refused to testify before Congress, when he could have been useful in revealing the truth.

The coronavirus is another example of failure of leadership. The president attributes high rates of infection to increased testing rather than emphasizing measures to reduce the spread of the virus by means of distancing and the wearing of protective masks. Scientific evidence and expert opinon carry little weight in this global crisis as all too often CDC and WHO guidelinges are dismissed for attempts to open up the economy and to carry on massive political rallies in crowded venues.

The so-called Peoples House, the House of Representatives, has passed over 200 bills on a bipartisan basis, yet the Mitch McConnell-led Senate has refused to act on them due to personal loyalty to the president.
Across the country, states have either delayed reopening or reimposed restrictions amid surges in COVID-19 cases that have begun packing hospitals.

Waiting on the sidelines, at least for now, is Illinois, where health officials are watching daily statistics uneasily as the state continues to allow its residents more freedom to travel, visit and shop.

Those statistics offer some good news for Illinoisans, at first blush: Were far below peak case levels, and not even close to being as bad as the most struggling states. For example, Arizonas rate of new cases, relative to the states population, is more than seven times Illinois.

The bad news: Illinois big drops of late May and early June are history -- and some daily metrics are increasing. As the state continues to uncover hundreds of new cases a day, at least one researcher said the state should consider adding more restrictions until its clear whats going on.

Its (at) a level of concern that, if we didnt change what were doing now, that we could be headed toward a Texas or Arizona sort of situation, Jaline Gerardin, a Northwestern University assistant professor of preventive medicine who works on virus modeling, said in an interview Thursday.

She offered that assessment even before numbers rolled in from the holiday weekend that further cemented a rise in the number of Illinois daily cases. State and local officials have said theyre monitoring all the data but havent announced major rollbacks to reopening.

Nearly four months into the pandemic, authorities cannot say, with relative certainty, how much and how quickly the virus has spread. Researchers say we dont have the type of widespread and frequent (and expensive) testing that could best tell us just how deeply the virus has invaded different communities, and whether its dying out or coming back.

Heres some information to help gauge how the state is doing:

Where are we on the curve?

For months, officials were all about bending the curve, typically defined as slowing the growth in case counts. It took a while, but it happened, to the point that new daily cases dropped even as more people took tests.

That was a great sign the virus was in retreat in Illinois. But now, daily case numbers are slowly rising again. Thats true even when those figures are averaged over seven days, which is a way to smooth out daily ups and downs so overall trends are easier to see.

The average rose from 598 on June 20 to 772 on July 3 -- the most recent day an average could be computed from Illinois Department of Public Health figures.

And, if you dig deeper into Junes numbers, it appears they are increasing across the state, which makes this rise different than the first one, which was almost entirely fueled by cases in the Chicago area. As of July 3, nearly as many cases a day were added downstate (202 on average) as in Chicago (217).

Chicago measures its cases differently than the state. (The state counts a confirmed case on the date the test results come back. Chicago counts it on the date the test was taken, no matter how long the results take.) But even Chicagos own case curve, also based on a seven-day average, shows a small uptick in late June.

How do Illinois cases compare?

Illinois boost in cases can leave researchers and officials feeling uneasy. But the state still appears in far better shape than some parts of the country.

One way to compare states is by taking the average number of new cases over seven days and converting that figure into a rate, such as the average per 100,000 residents. (That way, bigger states can be more fairly compared with smaller states.)

By that measure, Illinois rate of daily cases -- 6.3 per 100,000 residents -- puts it among the lower half of states. Ten states have rates above 20. And the worst states, Arizona and Florida, have rates more than six times as high as Illinois'.

These figures were computed with the help of data collected from the COVID Tracking Project, a national volunteer group. A separate compilation, from a coalition of researchers including the Harvard Global Health Institute, shows similar results for Illinois. Those researchers put Illinois in the second best of four groups of states. (That website also offers county case metrics, as does a separate website run by the Illinois Department of Public Health that displays older but more comprehensive data.)

Illinois excels on positivity rate

When case rates jump, a natural question follows: Is it just because were testing more? After all, the White House has argued that case figures are up across the country merely because people are taking more tests.

That argument can be addressed by another metric, the positivity rate. In essence, out of everyone tested, its the percentage testing positive. (So if 100 people are tested, and 10 test positive, the positivity rate is 10%.)

As a pandemic is brought under control, researchers say the positivity rate should drop even as more people are tested. The World Health Organization recommends a rate below 5% (among other metrics) for a region to consider loosening restrictions on movement. Researchers from the University of Illinois have said a 3% rate or lower suggests a region likely has the spread under control.

Heres where the recent spikes across the country alarm researchers. Not only are case counts going up, but so is the positivity rate. For example, the states now with the highest rate of new cases -- Arizona and Florida -- have also seen massive jumps in the proportion of tests coming back positive since May: from 4% to 19% in Florida, and 6% to 26% in Arizona.

But this also is where Illinois stands out, for now. Its one of 17 states with a positivity rate below the 3% threshold.

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And Illinois good showing can be found across the state. Downstate Illinois positivity rate remains well under 3%, and the suburbs and Chicago have hovered close to 3% since mid-May. In essence, at least in Illinois, case counts have gone up, but the positivity rates have remained flat.

Still, this metric doesnt end the debate. Thats because testing, in general, is not based on robust, random samples, which -- while expensive -- could offer more accurate predictions on the viruss spread.

Illinois officials recognize this. A team from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University has suggested a slimmed-down plan to spot outbreaks sooner by testing small groups continuously, such as women giving birth. The state said it wants to incorporate the concept into a broader testing boost.

But for now, either people choose to get tested or its a condition of employment. Both of these factors can obscure the pandemics true trends. (Just ask Cass County, the only place pegged as worrisome in a recent state scorecard. Its figures jumped because the residents and workers at a nursing home were tested.)

Hospitalizations level off

Thankfully, most infected people arent sick enough to need to be hospitalized. But hospital data offers a consistent barometer of the unlucky number who have.

The state tallies the number of patients each day in a hospital who either have tested positive for the virus or are suspected of having it. The average COVID-19 bed count dropped from a high of 4,822 on May 1 to 1,448 on July 2.

But the way it has dropped has fueled concern. Much like the case data, the trends have begun to flatten in the last couple of weeks.

Northwesterns Gerardin has access to more detailed and timely state data, as part of her role helping the state develop virus forecasts.

She said last week that some parts of Illinois were showing upticks that, while not severe, concerned her, particularly with the increase in positive tests. Thats because Illinois, even after new cases had dropped considerably, was never really able to squelch the virus so only a handful of cases remained.

If we saw the same uptick, but we had eight cases and not 800, then I would feel differently, she said. A 10% increase from eight cases would not be as alarming as a 10% increase in 800 cases. Thats more transmission from a lot of COVID (cases) than more transmission from a tiny bit of COVID.

And, when looking at hospitalizations, Illinois does not compare as favorably with other states, at least by one measure. When averaging COVID-19 bed counts in the seven days ending July 5, the most recent comparable data, Illinois is among the highest third of states, even after adjusting for population.

Illinois rate, at 11.5 beds occupied per 100,000 residents, is not much lower than those in other states in the headlines now, such as California at 17, though it is still far less than Arizonas 40. One caveat: Three states havent consistently reported hospitalization data, including Florida, which is seeing a major surge in reported cases.

On the other hand, when you look at whether bed counts are going up or down, Illinois is among those showing declines. But this measure by its nature is based in part on older data. (It compares the most recent average of hospital beds used with the average from a week prior.) And we know that, whatever Illinois past achievements, its hospitalizations appear to have leveled off.

Still, many other states saw increases last month, including neighboring Missouri, where the figure rose roughly 24% from week to week. Even steeper spikes were seen in 10 other states, including Georgia (42%) and Texas (53%). (Again, Florida is among three states without data to report.)

Comparing the curves

One more way to look at Illinois place in the pandemic is to chart its case curve against those of other large states: California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas.

Illinois has the countrys sixth-biggest population, and (as noted above) is seeing its rolling average of new cases trend slightly upward. But its case curve has evolved far differently than the other states.

Early in the pandemic, New York was the epicenter of new cases. When New York bent its curve downward, Illinois briefly led this group of states on number of cases, before beginning its own drop.

Three other states, however, couldnt contain their case growth. By late May, California passed Illinois on average daily count. A week later, so did Texas and, days later, Florida.

Now those three states have average daily case counts more than eight times Illinois average cases.

California, Texas and Florida are among the 15 states that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot cited when she required travelers from those places to quarantine for two weeks, starting Monday.

Ultimately, Illinois fate in this pandemic remains murky.

Because of the lag time between someone getting infected, then tested, then receiving lab results and (potentially) becoming ill enough to be hospitalized, Gerardin said Thursday that the statistical upticks Illinois is seeing now may be attributed to the tail end of the third phase of reopening, with even more, yet-to-be-recorded cases likely resulting from the eased restrictions in phase four.

When asked if there was reason for concern, she offered a quick and resolute answer: absolutely.

The big picture is that were not out of the woods, she said.

10 ways Illinois schools could look different this fall

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She wrote about her kids  Maureen and Rick, Dan and Pete, Tom and Ben and the baby Meg.

On Sept. 1, 1978, she wrote about her husband, Don, and all the things that invariably went wrong when he was away on business.

The next month, she wrote about laundry. I am chained to the washing machine. The laundry is the most important thing in my life. I think about it more than I think about my husband or children.

She was Erma Bombeck with a Lincoln address.

Her smiling photo appeared with the column. I read it over bowls of Rice Krispies as a kid growing up. I admired it when I was a mom, too, with my own laundry nightmares.

I think my mom viewed women as the glue that held everything together for the world, her son Ben Costello said. She definitely made me a feminist and encouraged me to see the value of women and how much the burden of life is put on them.

Women were so important to her mom, her oldest daughter Maureen Mattern said. Her own mother, her sisters, her aunts, her friends.

She just believed in the strength of women and the intelligence of women.
Monday, Bliemeister said there were six people at the home at the time, the four who lived there and two friends. He said investigators are talking to everyone, comparing their statements and looking at their cellphones.

"We really are working hard to determine what are the exact events that preceded the discharge of the shotgun in the residence. Until then, it would be amiss for us to speculate on exactly what the motive (was) or whether or not this was an accidental shooting," he said.

Asked if alcohol may have been a factor, Bliemeister said that was part of the search of the home by crime scene technicians and a part of the interviews "and will be something that we take into account as we go forward."

He called it an ongoing investigation and asked anyone with information that could help to call police or Crime Stoppers.

At Serna's court appearance Monday, the prosecutor asked the judge to continue the court date to Aug. 20, and asked Lancaster County Court Judge Joseph Dalton to set Serna's bond at $50,000, which his family later posted.

The hearing later was continued to October.
Lincoln will receive $4 million in federal CARES Act funding to help individuals affected by the coronavirus put food on the table, make rent or mortgage payments, and pay utilities, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said Tuesday.

The funds to offset some of the hardships created by COVID-19 come as the Nebraska Department of Labor announced it would once again establish more strict guidelines for those seeking unemployment payments starting next week.

"For individuals and families already struggling with basic needs, the pandemic has exacerbated the situation," Gaylor Baird said at her daily news conference. "Others are experiencing hardships for the first time.

"These funds will help many in our community to feed their families, to stay in their homes and to find permanent housing," she added. "The grants also provide hope, and help our entire community recover."

A total of $450,000 will be given to the Lincoln Food Bank to purchase food for individuals who are living through a crisis, according to executive director Scott Young.

While Nebraska has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, many people are still living on the brink, he said, and the funding will be instrumental in addressing a "critical need in our community."
Animals are sentient beings with feelings and thoughts, but they can't talk with us, Radesky said.

"You have to work to read what your dog is thinking and respond to their behavior. That gets kids out of their headspace and more thinking about what another being is thinking," Radesky said. "That's [the magical factor] of empathy and social reciprocity, meaning the back and forth of relationships that helps us heal during times of stress."

Healthy development enables human capability, Christian said, "allowing children to reach maturity and participate in economic, social and civic life."

Pets "can be social enablers and help teach children about responsibility through caring, training and looking after their pet," she added.

What to know before getting a dog

Because the researchers didn't have many details on family structures, it's possible that the findings may represent families who were able to provide more nurturing environments for their children, the study said. The value of getting a dog is an individual decision, Radesky said.
Hearing of arguments in New Greatness extremist movement case postponed for tenth time

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

15:57 07/07/2020

MOSCOW, July 7 (RAPSI) - Moscows Lyublinsky District Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing of arguments in a case against activists of the New Greatness (Novoe Velichie) extremist movement for the tenth time, the courts press service told RAPSI.

The next hearing is set for July 14.

Initially, the court postponed the trial because of a judges illness, then due to the coronavirus restrictions. Moreover, one of the defense lawyers involved in the movement case is currently in France and cannot depart for Russia because of the closed borders, the statement reads.

Four defendants, Ruslan Kostylenkov, Vyacheslav Kryukov, Dmitry Poletayev and Petr Karamzin are in detention. Three other alleged members of the movement, Maria Dubovik, Anna Pavlikova and Maxim Roshchin are under house arrest.

One more accused person, who had been placed under house arrest, Sergey Gavrilov managed to escape and was put on a wanted list. His case was returned to the prosecution.

Alleged activists of the extremist movement were arrested in March 2018. Investigators stated that the defendants followed far-right ideas and that their leader claimed that he planned to establish a new order in Russia.

The New Greatness case became a subject of public controversy because the defense has information that the movement itself was organized by a law enforcement officer.




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.
Search below to see businesses in your community that received money from the Paycheck Protection Program meant to keep Americans employed during the pandemic. The program has been popular but also controversial.

The Paycheck Protection Program is the centerpiece of the federal governments plan to rescue an economy devastated by shutdowns and uncertainty. The program, which helps smaller businesses stay open and keep Americans employed during the pandemic, has been both popular and controversial.

Demand was so great that a first infusion of $349 billion ran out in just two weeks. Many businesses couldnt navigate the application process rapidly enough to get one of those first loans before funding dried up. Meanwhile, several hundred companies traded on stock exchanges -- hardly the image of a small business -- received loans maxing out at $10 million each, causing a public backlash and leading dozens to return the money.

And the public may never know the identity of more than 85% of the nearly 5 million beneficiaries to date because the administration has refused to release details on loans under $150,000 -- the vast majority of borrowers. That secrecy spurred an open-records lawsuit by a group of news organizations, including The Associated Press.
Boating is very weather-dependent, Vandera said. Were happy to be able to offer boating to those who are willing to practice social distancing and just trying to enjoy their time outside. Its a safe environment.

Jeff Clear of the Rockford, Ill. area said that weather was definitely a factor for him when deciding to boat on Monday. The beautiful weather brought him, his wife Peggy, his two daughters and a friend out on Lake Michigan, he said.

He boats weekly during the summer months. The Fourth of July weekend was busy for his wife, who is a healthcare worker, so the group came out Monday.

Clear said hes been boating more this year because of the pandemic and because it was a nice day Monday.

Its nice way to get out and keep the family safe, he said.

He also said he feels safe social distancing because not that many people are out on the docks when hes been there, including when getting fuel.

Everyones been real good, he said. The group has been traveling from Racine, boating to Milwaukee and stopping in Port Washington for lunch.

Clear said he has loved boating since he was 4 years old, when his father introduced him to it.
Dane County, Wisconsin's second-most populous county, will begin requiring all people in the county to wear masks while indoors starting Monday. It is the first order of its kind in Wisconsin as cases of COVID-19 are rising in the state, particularly among young adults.

Under that order, people will not be required to wear masks when only members of their household are present.

Public health research now shows that face coverings are critical to slowing the spread of COVID-19, Janel Heinrich, director of Public Health Madison and Dane County, said in a statement. Given the current number of COVID-19 infections in our county, we need to all be wearing face coverings every time we leave the house.

The City of Milwaukee is also discussing taking similar steps.

A mask requirement is possible in the City of Racine, Public Health Administrator Dottie-Kay Bowersox told The Journal Times, but has not yet been formally proposed.

Bowersox said in an email that it would be better if everyone in the city simply wore masks of their own volition to help present the spread of disease, and that ordering masks to be worn was not her preference.

"Wearing a mask means you care about other people, understand the science, are making a personal decision to help protect the health of your family, friends, and those you have yet to meet," she said. "This Public Health Department would prefer everyone voluntarily utilize respiratory etiquette, but an ordinance is well within our means if we see another spike in cases."

Statewide order unlikely

A growing number of states are requiring masks to be worn in public, including Illinois and Michigan.

It's unlikely for a statewide mask order to be put in place in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers said.

Evers said that the Republican-led lawsuit that led to the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court's overturning of the Safer at Home order has left him unsure if it's even legal for the state's executive branch to require masks, regardless of how bad a pandemic gets.

We really dont know if I have the authority to do that," said Evers, who wore a face mask during a virtual press conference with reporters Tuesday.

Orders elsewhere

The new order in Dane County says "that everyone age 5 and older wear a face covering or mask when in in any enclosed building where other people, except for members of the persons own household or living unit, could be present."

As such, masks would have to be worn by anyone visiting another persons home, but not inside someone's own residence.

Dane County's order came after the county closed bars for indoor service and tightened limits on gatherings last week as confirmed cases rose. People with health conditions that prevent them from wearing masks are exempt.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Investigators complete probe into Moscow lawyer accused of $15 mln embezzlement

 AGN Moskva

18:05 07/07/2020

MOSCOW, July 7 (RAPSI)  Investigators have completed probe into Sergey Yuryev, the president of Moscow's bar association Mezhregion charged with embezzling 1 billion rubles ( about $15 million) from the State Air Traffic Management Corporation (ATM), the Investigative Committees press service reports.

The case with an approved indictment will be soon forwarded to court for consideration, the statement reads.

Investigators claim that in 2008, the State ATM Corporation signed a contract for legal services with one of the bar associations. The bar chairman working connections in the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) submitted a conclusion with a write-up value of legal services for the completion of tender documentation. The signed agreement has been repeatedly prolonged in violation of the established procedure.

The contract overpricing resulted in unjust receipt of more than 1 billion rubles by the bar association from 2008 to 2018, investigators claim.

Yuryev pled not guilty. He is in detention.

Members of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers Council and heads of several regional bar associations have repeatedly stood bond for Yuryev. He is an honest and reputable attorney, the Chambers statement reads. One of the lawyers bail bondsmen was Chair of the Federal Chamber of Lawyer Yury Pilipenko.
MADISON  More than $100,000 has been allocated by the State of Wisconsin to manage the coastline in Racine and Kenosha 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.
MADISON  Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday that his office would be sending more than 2 million cloth face masks to K-12 public, private and charter schools statewide. Another 4,200 infrared thermometers would be sent to schools as well.

According to state numbers, there are approximately 2,240 schools statewide with more than 850,000 students in total.

The masks and thermometers "will be distributed over the coming weeks," Evers said during a briefing with reporters Tuesday.

This announcement comes as school districts try to plan what their educational strategies will be in fall, when schooling is expected to return. Racine Unified has a trio of plans which range from having no in-person schooling to having in-person teaching five days a week like normal, albeit with added cleaning practices as COVID-19 remains a threat nationwide.

Stacy Tapp, chief of communication for RUSD, told The Journal Times in an email, "we don't know yet when we will receive" the masks and thermometers.
- A research group from the University of the Philippines claimed that the country may have over 100,000 COVID-19 cases by August

- The Philippines may exceed the 100,000 mark if the government will not change the system in handling the pandemic, the expert said

- He also suggested that the authorities should tighten the border controls and immediately isolate the patients

- As of posting time, there are now more than 46,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country

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An expert from the University of the Philippines warned that the Philippines may have over 100,000 cases of coronavirus disease or COVID-19 by August.

KAMI learned that Dr. Guido David, a member of the UP OCTA Research group, claimed that it will exceed 100,000 if the trend continues.

Photo from Getty Images

Source: Getty Images

In a report by the ABS-CBN News, David urged the government to change the system in handling the pandemic to prevent the further increase of the cases.

"Sa nakita ko, iyong trend niya mas mataas pa, hihigit pa sa 100,000 kung hindi natin baguhin iyong ating sistema, ating pag-handle ng pandemya," David said.

The UP expert also asked the authorities to tighten the border controls and immediately isolate those who tested positive for COVID-19 instead of asking them to undergo home quarantine.

Aside from that David said that the government should rethink the situation of transportation workers now that almost 200 employees of MRT-3 tested positive for the coronavirus.

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The coronavirus disease has infected over 11 million people across the globe. The coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China.

As of July 6, 2020, the Department of Health has recorded a total of 46, 333 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The active cases are 32, 845.

The Palace also said on Monday that the Metro Manila could go back to stricter community quarantine if hospitals will be overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases.

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Source: Kami.com.ph
- An 80-year-old woman went to the police in Aborlan, Palawan with her child to report a disturbing and horrific crime

- The grandmother was raped by a farmer in the said region

- The victim was on her way home after collecting palm leaves when she was attacked and raped by the 42-year-old farmer

- The police acted quickly and they were able to capture the suspect who committed the horrendous crime

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Photo from Facebook (Palawan, Philippines)

Source: Facebook

An 80-year-old woman went to the police in Aborlan, Palawan with her child to report a disturbing and horrific crime.

According to a report by Zhander Cayabyab for ABS-CBN News, the grandmother was raped by a farmer in the said region.

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The widow, a member of the tribe called Tagbanua, was on her way home after collecting palm leaves when she was attacked and raped by a 42-year-old farmer.

The authorities acted quickly and they were able to capture the suspect who committed the horrendous crime.

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Despite the current COVID-19 pandemic and community quarantine in the Philippines, there have been a few grievous crimes that have horrified the nation during the crisis.

One of them is the murder of a part-time driver named Jang Lucero, found dead inside her car in Calamba, Laguna.

Her girlfriend, Meyah Amatorio, revealed that the victim told her that she would be transporting three passengers from Laguna to Gil Puyat, Manila.

When she could not contact Lucero anymore on her cellphone hours later, she decided to seek the polices help. She added that she is not aware of any feud or conflict involving her girlfriend.

The PNP has announced that they already identified the persons of interest involving the case but that they are still trying to build a strong case against those people.

A person with a codename Alyas Althea is tagged as the mastermind behind the gruesome murder. CCTV footage of Jang Lucero picking up her last passengers has also surfaced online, which has helped authorities in identifying the persons of interest.

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- Chanda Romero shares the horrible experience that her mother went through in dealing with COVID-19

- it was on June 9 when her mom was tested and because she had pneumonia, she was picked up by an ambulance

- According to the actress, her mother was already out of the woods and they were even preparing for her mom to come home

- The actress was heartbroken upon recalling that she simply received a call on that fateful day, where a doctor told her that they tried to resuscitate her but she just flatlined

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Chanda Romero bravely recalls the painful battle that her mother had with coronavirus.

According to the veteran actress when her mother was taken to the hospital, she was picked up by an ambulance because she had pneumonia. Her brother could not even bring her to the hospital.

This was what she said during an episode of "Chika Minute" aired on July 6.

Chanda Romero painfully recounts mother's fight with COVID-19, "virus is no joke"

Source: Facebook

"She was out of the woods na. Okay na 'yun papauwiin na siya, e. In fact, I was arranging for people to disinfect the house. At 8:53 in the morning, I got a call from the resident doctor that they tried to resuscitate her, injected her with epinephrine and she flatlined," recalled the actress.

She then aired her final thoughts about the deadly disease.

"You think it's something that just happens to other people but when it touches your life, sobrang mag-iiba talaga buhay mo. For people out there, really take this seriously because the COVID-19 virus is no joke. Walang pinipili 'yan," the actress said.

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Chanda Romero painfully recounts mother's fight with COVID-19, "virus is no joke"

Source: Facebook

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Previously, the actress took to social media and was asking for plasma donors. She was already imploring the public to help her mom.

There were many known personalities who were infected with coronavirus. Celebrities reacted upon learning that Sylvia Sanchez was positive for COVID-19. Both the actress and her husband tested positive.

Chanda Romero is one of the most well-respected actresses in the Philippines. She has done a lot of movies in the country.

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Source: Kami.com.ph
1. Yes. Its important for students to stay focused throughout the year. Its a plus.

2. Yes. It would fill the learning gaps caused by COVID and would help cut youth crime.

3. No. Students and teachers deserve a summer break. Year-round school wont work.

4. No. It wouldnt work with the militarys summer PCS schedule. Its a bad idea.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing how the school calendar would work.

Vote

View Results
Hong Kong: Security measures clarified

More than half of the measures for safeguarding national security in Hong Kong are practices that currently exist in Hong Kongs laws, Secretary for Security John Lee said today.

Article 43 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region stipulates various measures Hong Kong may take when handling cases concerning offences that endanger national security.

Speaking to the media after attending the Legislative Council joint panel meeting this evening, Mr Lee said: The seven measures that were announced yesterday and gazetted, actually among the seven measures, four measures are current practices in Hong Kong laws.

Citing the power to search, Mr Lee explained that such power will be conducted under a warrant issued by the Judiciary.

In general situations it will be conducted under a warrant issued by the court. But in exceptional circumstances - where evidence may be destroyed in a short period of time or the person responsible may have a chance to escape - when police officers are facing these situations they can search the premises without applying for a search warrant.

Such practice actually exists in current laws such as when Police have to do similar things under the Firearms & Ammunition Ordinance or when the Independent Commission Against Corruption exercise their powers under relevant laws, he added.

The security chief emphasised that there are checks and balances in all these measures, adding that the procedures to implement them do comply with the protection of human rights and the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights.

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Russian Supreme Court proposes extension of misdemeanor institute to economic crimes

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

12:22 07/07/2020

MOSCOW, July 7 (RAPSI)  The Supreme Court of Russia is drafting a bill extending the institute of criminal misdemeanor to minor and medium economic crimes, Chair of the highest instance Vyacheslav Lebedev said during the plenary meeting of the Council of Judges on Tuesday.

The initiative is to be submitted to the State Duma this year, he added.

Currently, the lower house of parliament considers the Supreme Courts bill fixing the term of a criminal misdemeanor.

The Supreme Court of Russia filed a bill introducing a new term, criminal misdemeanor, to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, with the State Duma in December 2018. According to the draft law, a criminal offense of a low gravity, which cant result in a prison term, is to be considered as a criminal misdemeanor.




About 20 Wisconsin National Guard members are at the Vernon County Fairgrounds today helping the Vernon County Health Department and Emergency Management host free drive-thru COVID-19 testing until 6 p.m.

Testing began at 10 a.m., and Brandon Larson, Emergency Management director, said people were lined up in their cars before the start time.

During a media briefing held at 11 a.m., Linda Nederlo, public information officer, said 400 tests are available. We encourage people to come, she said.

Larson said if more than 400 tests are needed, the county will make a request to hold more testing on another day.

Nederlo said Viroqua is a central location for testing, and testing is available to not only county residents but also those living outside of Vernon County.

Last week, Larson said, the health department opened the drive-thru testing to asymptomatic (those without COVID-19 symptoms) people age 5 and older. Initially, the testing was announced for those experiencing one or more symptoms of COVID-19. He said test results will be available within 24 to 72 hours.
Thats why were trying to particularly focus on that area, said Tim Acklin of the city planning department, who also serves on the citys Census 2020 Complete Count Committee.

How do we get to them to just kind of get the word out? he added.

This is the first year that the census form is being offered online  56% of all La Crosse households have chosen that route when responding  which makes it easier for students who may have temporarily moved back home to still fill out their form.

Students already struggle knowing how to fill out the census form: What address should I use if my family lives in another city but I go to school in La Crosse? If I have roommates, do I count them in my household?

And COVID-19 created an added layer of confusion: Im home now, so what address should I use?

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I think theres just been a lack of understanding of where theyve been filling out their address on their census, Acklin said.

Theyre supposed to be filling it out here with their school address, he added. It was already tough to get them to fill it out anyway and when COVID hit it was even harder.

Its just been a struggle, Acklin said.
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Police in Los Angeles County and across California use force on Black people far out of their proportion of the population, according to a KPCC/LAist analysis of state Department of Justice data over a four-year period.

In Los Angeles County, 27% of the 688 people police shot or seriously injured were Black. That's more than triple the share of Black Angelenos in the population.

Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, said the numbers expose a painful reality: "The conversation in Black communities has always been that Black people have been the targets of police use of force -- of the over-criminalization, of brutality, and of killings at the hands of police."

The data tells a similar story statewide: Black Californians were 18% of those shot or seriously injured, but make up just 6% of the state's population.

At nearly half of L.A. County's population, Latinos are somewhat overrepresented among those on the receiving end of police uses of force. Officers used force significantly less often on whites and Asians, compared to their shares of the population.

The data also represents a broader look at police violence. While a small number of use-of-force cases make headlines, most draw little, if any, media scrutiny.

The data analyzed by LAist covers 2016 through 2019 and is not limited to any single department. Since 2016, law enforcement agencies in the state have been required to report shootings and many uses of force to the California Department of Justice -- an effort dubbed "URSUS."

The uses of force include gunshots, physical blows, rubber bullets and control holds. The injuries reflected in the data are not mere scrapes or bruises, but represent "substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ," according to the state.

The uses of force on Black people in L.A. County look different: Physical force, including kicks and punches, is the most common.

A 2016 study found that Black and Latino suspects received more force in the early stages of interactions with police; for white suspects, interactions escalated into use of force later. In Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed by an officer who pressed a knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes, police use force against Blacks at dramatically higher rates compared to whites.

"You're very used to there being increased physical contact, and that that contact is much more brutal," said Abdullah. She supports reducing contacts between police and Black Angelenos, and shifting police budgets to social workers and mental health providers.

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'FORCE NEVER LOOKS GOOD'

Oftentimes, the URSUS data shows, the people involved of all races were impaired or mentally ill. Many resisted arrest, or were armed with a gun, knife or other weapon. Officers are sometimes injured, and in a small number of encounters, killed.

Officers "have to use some level of force to overcome the force that's being generated against them," said Eric Nunez, president of the California Police Chiefs Association and the Chief of Police in the Orange County city of Los Alamitos. "No matter how you look at that, force never looks good."

Nunez said that the racial disparities in uses of force mirror those seen in arrest data, and that reforms outside of policing are needed to address them. "Underneath, there's something that we have to really unmask," he said.

In June, the California Police Chiefs Association published a statement saying, "Our country suffers from a history of racism, and although peace officers are not the root cause of this, we are also not immune from the impacts."

In California, the officers using force look different than the people on the receiving end: Just 1 in 20 officers using force was Black, and over a third were white. More than half of the 1,977 officers using force were Latino.

The rates are roughly in line with the demographics of the county's two largest agencies. The LAPD and L.A. County Sheriff's Department are roughly half Latino, and a third white, according to state data.

Southern California's police forces have become dramatically more diverse in recent decades. "That's a valuable goal, but I don't expect it to have any meaningful impact on use of force rates," said Justin Nix, a criminologist at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

Explaining the patterns in the data is a difficult issue for researchers like Nix. Bias by police in traffic stops, or by 911 callers in reporting suspicious persons, shapes who interacts with police to begin with. "You're starting with data that are already touched by bias," Nix told LAist.

Yet there's no disputing the disparities.

The stark racial divide seen in L.A. County's data is not new or unique:

"The racial disparities are a natural outcome of this entire system that we've created," said civil rights attorney Connie Rice. (Rice is an Honorary Life Trustee of the SCPR board.)

She said that the "warrior mindset" is still active at the LAPD, the department that pioneered militarized policing in America. In 2016, the union representing rank-and-file LAPD officers called an award honoring police who de-escalate a "terrible idea." "That's all you need to know," Rice said.

The problems go beyond policing -- to deep, structural inequalities that harm the health, education, housing and wealth of Black people.

"L.A. is a first-world, third-world city. We're not taking care of third-world L.A. -- and that's what government is supposed to do," Rice said. "Our priorities are just skewed. The system is designed to serve the wealthy."

ORIGINS OF URSUS

California's use-of-force tracking system was born in 2015, after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., ignited fierce debates about policing and exposed the absence of reliable data on police shootings.

"There was no data, nothing was being reported at the time," said Pomona Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez. He wrote the bill that required California law enforcement agencies to report uses of force each year. It attracted wide support, including from police groups and the ACLU, and passed unanimously in the statehouse.

The state Department of Justice used KPCC's database as a blueprint in setting up the system. URSUS is named after the bear on California's state flag.

Rodriguez, whose son is a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy, said he hoped the data would lead to a richer understanding of uses of force and improved trainings for police.

URSUS's data collection began in 2016, and the system has logged data on 2,839 incidents in its first three years, from the shooting of a suspect in Redding to the stabbing of an officer in San Diego.

Overall, the shooting and uses of force have involved 2,990 "civilians" and 6,616 officers. The URSUS data does not show the identity of the officers, making it impossible to identify officers or deputies using force repeatedly.

It also does not include detailed location data. An analysis of ZIP codes by LAist shows dramatically higher numbers of uses of force in areas with more Black residents.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra publishes a report on the previous year's URSUS data each July, though Rodriguez said he hasn't seen much interest in the data from journalists, activists or academics.

"Maybe not enough folks are aware of this data," he told LAist.

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A liquidation sale began this week at Flower and Home Marketplace, a silk flower and crafts superstore in Blue Ball that will be closing later this summer and then be replaced by an auction center.

Ken Mull, who operates the nearly 140,000-square-foot store with his wife, Audrey, said the couple plans to liquidate the merchandise at the store just south of Route 23 in Blue Ball and then merge its retail operation with Audreys, their wholesale home decor business in Lebanon. Online retail sales will continue at www.flowerandhome.com

Mull said the couple had been contemplating such a change over the last six months for the 60-employee business theyve operated since 2013 when the bought the Flower & Craft Warehouse, a similar business that began operating in part of the former sewing factory in 1990.

While Flower & Home Marketplace will stay open as long as there are things to sell, Mull said he expects it to close by at least the end of September.

The Mulls sold the property in June for $2.15 million to PA Auction Center of Quarryville which will be moving its 12-year-old auction business to the spot just south of Route 23 in Blue Ball

PA Auction Center owner Chris Stoltzfus said the much-larger East Earl Township location will allow him to hold all his events inside, while adding a roughly 10,000-square-foot retail store to the regular schedule of auctions that include sales of sporting goods, antiques, restaurant equipment and tools, among other things.

Stoltzfus said he expects to begin holding auctions in Blue Ball within a month of Flower & Home Marketplaces closing. Stoltzfus said he plans to sell PA Auction Houses current, 17,000-square-foot location northwest of Quaryville along White Oak Road.
ALL INDIA PEOPLEs SCIENCE NETWORK (AIPSN)

5 July 2020

AIPSN Statement on Covid-19 Vaccines and Treatment Drugs

India must follow Transparent, Reliable, Scientific Clinical Trials Protocols

Development of vaccines and medicines that treat Covid-19 are extremely important elements in the ways to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. Around 150 vaccine candidates are currently undergoing pre-clinical and clinical trials globally, though none are yet available. However urgent the need, this vaccine development must also ensure both efficacy and safety, otherwise it will endanger the efforts to overcome Covid-19 and also vaccine programmes against other infectious diseases.

Scientists working in the National Institute of Virology (NIV) under the ICMR and Hyderabad-based BBIL have developed an inactivated vaccine candidate, BBV152 COVID, using a virus strain isolated in NIV. BBIL got approval for Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials on June 29 from the Central Drugs and Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) as part of the fast-tracking of the process even while pre-clinical animal trials are still underway. According to the submission of BBIL with the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI) also under ICMR, the enrolment for Phase 1 was to begin from July 13th and the duration of the trial covering all the three stages was to be 15 months. 12 hospitals with widely varying track-record and experience in vaccine trials have been selected for the purpose by ICMR in an entirely arbitrary and non-transparent manner.

On July 2nd, Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR, who is also Secretary, Health Research in the government, sent a letter to BBIL with copies to the 12 chosen hospitals for the trials saying that it is envisaged to launch the vaccine for public health use latest by August 15th, 2020, that is in less than 6 weeks compared to the planned 15 months. The letter demands that subject enrolment be initiated no later than 7th July 2020, even though the CTRI registration itself shows July 13th as enrolment initiation, leaving no time for proper consideration and approval by the respective institutional ethics committees. Finally, the letter threatens these hospitals that non-compliance will be viewed very seriously, adding that the vaccine project is being monitored at the top most level of the Government.

Since top most level of government has been invoked, DG ICMRs deadline appears for enabling the Prime Minister to announce successful development of a Covid vaccine by India, before any other country, from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day. However, as Indias premier scientific and medical research body, ICMR knows well the rigorous protocols required to be followed for vaccine trials, and therefore also that a deadline of 6 weeks to complete all three phases is scientifically absurd downright dangerous, and will cause serious damage to the reputation of Indian science and research. A desire to grandstand and please the political masters seems to have overtaken science and ethics within ICMR. AIPSN deplores the emerging trend in India of short-circuiting established protocols for trials of Covid19 vaccines and treatment drugs.

Earlier, there was the instance of Coronil, an ayurvedic mix sought to be launched for treatment of Covid-19 by the Patanjali group headed by Baba Ramdev, based on spurious, improperly conducted and assessed clinical trials. . After uproar by scientists and in the media, the AYUSH ministry prohibited Patanjali from selling or advertising Coronil as a treatment for Covid-19. However, nothing was done about Patanjali not following due process of clinical trials and approvals. Glenmark obtained approval from DCGI for Covid19 treatment without any trials in India for manufacture of the antiviral drug Favipiravir. At a cost of Rs 103 a tablet and needing 122 tablets for a full course, the company stands to make a killing in profits. Highlighting the dangers of such hasty approvals without due process, the Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi recently decided to stop using Favipiravir for Covid19 treatment following observations of problems in heart rate and uric acid levels in patients.

ICMR has also persisted with guidelines to administer Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to frontline health care workers and care-givers for patients in home isolation as a prophylactic. It is supposedly a trial but without the strict protocols required for a trial. This despite published results of international trials showing lack of efficacy and possible adverse side-effects, and WHO guidelines against use of HCQ.

AIPSN demands that the due process of scientific trials be followed strictly and transparently for all Covid19 candidate vaccines and treatment drugs, regardless of systems of medicine, and overcoming temptations to make haste prompted either by corporate greed or false national pride.

AIPSN calls for a globally coordinated effort that puts people before profits to make drugs and vaccines that will be available free to the public and with allocations to countries made as per needs without any discrimination instead of the current perverted race to develop drugs and vaccines driven by jingoistic-nationalism and corporate profits.

AIPSN demands that the efforts of the scientists who came up with the BBV152 COVID vaccine candidate, or others likely to come up in the near future, not be wasted by such unseemly political pressures which compromise the safety of people by not following due process and which is highly likely to bring Indian science and research into disrepute.

For clarifications contact:

P. Rajamanickam 9442915101 D. Raghunandan 9810098621
The Fulton Theatre needs to raise about $500,000 to keep the nonprofit performing arts organization running through the next several months without revenue coming in from any mainstage shows.

So the theater is turning to a time-honored way for performers to raise a portion of those funds: a telethon.

The Fultons fundraising telethon, titled This is Our Home, will be broadcast Saturday, July 25, on television station WGAL from inside the empty theater.

It will feature performances by popular Fulton artists, testimonials from members of the community and a behind-the-scenes look at aspects of the expanding Fulton performing arts center thats under construction along Prince and King streets.

The telethon for the nonprofit theater company will be paired with a silent auction of packages of Fulton-related experiences, says Jeffrey Coon, the Fultons annual fund and foundation manager and one of the hosts of the telethon.

We have basically two hours of broadcast time, including an hour that is designed as classic telethon material, Coon says. And thats the hour thats going to be broadcast on WGAL from 7 to 8 p.m. on July 25.

In addition, there will be two half-hour segments  one just before and one just after the TV broadcast  that will be streamed live on the Fulton Theatres YouTube channel and Facebook page, says Coon, also an actor who performs in Fulton shows.

The half-hour at 6:30 p.m. will be an introduction to the telethon and the different ways to donate to the theater, Coon says, along with a description of a group of the silent auction packages.

(A donation website, fulton.givesmart.com, has already been set up, Coon notes).

And the half-hour after WGAL-broadcast portion of the evening ends will be a chance for the theater to thank the audience for their various forms of support, Coon adds.

Marc Robin, the theaters executive artistic producer. announced last month that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fulton will not return with mainstage shows until late April or early May of 2021.

Were as motivated about informing in this telethon as we are with entertaining and fundraising, Robin says. Its remembering that the Fulton is one component of a bigger wheel that is downtown Lancaster. It is our home. ... Its always remembering that all our dots are connected.

Robin notes that during a typical Fulton Theatre season, there are 186,000 visits to the theater by members of the ticket-buying public. That results in a $15 million impact on the shops and restaurants of downtown Lancaster, according to an economic study done before the expansion project began, he adds.

So, part of the mission of the two hours of the telethon evening, Robin says, will be to remind the public to continue to come downtown on the nights they would have come to the Fulton, and patronize the citys businesses.

Performances

As for the hour-long WGAL-broadcast telethon itself, Coon and Robin say to think back to the Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethons of yesteryear.

Thats very much the inspiration for this, that it is very much designed to be a fundraiser, Coon says. But (its) not just us having our hands out for an hour. Its designed to be entertaining, so that if this is someones first experience with the Fulton Theatre ... they get a sense of what we do on our stages.

We are doing a lot of stuff that's specifically produced for this event, Coon says. We're putting time and effort into really giving folks a fully produced event that looks as beautiful as we hope our shows on stage do.

The telethon will be hosted by WGAL anchors Lori Burkholder and Brian Roche, and by Robin, Coon, Fulton donor relations director Nicole Hackmann and popular Fulton actors Curt Dale Clark and Charis Leos.

Most of the performances will be recorded in advance, Robin says. The one live performance will be by Darius Harper, who played Lola in the Fulton production of the musical Kinky Boots. Harper will perform a song from the show on the Fulton stage, where the musicals set is still in place. The run of the show was interrupted when the theater closed because of the pandemic. (Another run of Kinky Boots will reopen the theater next spring.)

Robin says students from Fulton Academy theater classes will perform with Harper  remotely, in a socially distanced way.

Other performers at the telethon include a Fulton leading man quartet of Coon, Nathaniel Hackmann, Travis Taylor and Randy Jeter, to be filmed in Josephines restaurant in downtown Lancaster.

Fulton actors Kate Fahrner, Ciara Renee and Tarra Conner Jones will also perform.

Robin says he expects there to be a special appearance by Fulton alumnus Jonathan Groff  from Germany, where the Lancaster County native is filming Matrix 4  among the testimonials from community members and past Fulton performers.

Silent auction

Coon notes the silent auction portion of the telethon evening will be sort of a stand-in for the theaters annual Fulton Follies in-person fundraising evening.

Fulton experiences to bid on, which will be fulfilled after the theater reopens, include a chance to sit in on local auditions and have dinner with Robin; a Boos and Booze evening that includes a tour of the theater with a healthy dose of lore from its reputation as a haunted site; and a chance to sit backstage with the stage manager during a Fulton show.

There will also be Fulton props and set pieces up for auction, from such shows as Beauty and the Beast and A Christmas Story (leg lamp, anyone?).

Robin notes that he and his remaining staff members  he laid off 70 percent of his employees when the company decided to remain dark until next year  have been reaching out to private and corporate donors to make up the other portion of the half-million dollars that the telethon doesnt raise.

One of the things thats exciting (about the telethon) is that we can reach so many more people, Coon says. Because of the generosity of WGAL, were going to have so mnay more thousands of eyes on us for this event. He says if everyone watching on July 25 gave $20, the Fulton could raise the funds it needs.

The Fulton belongs to the entire community, Robin says, and the telethon is a chance for the community to feel that pride of ownership by donating to the theater.

Robin remembers his parents allowing him to donate $10 to the Jerry Lewis muscular dystrophy telethon when he was a kid. Hed donate it in the last hour, so he could feel he helped put Jerry over the top toward a fundraising record.

In the same way, through the telethon, Robin says, those donating to the Fulton can say, I can keep something Im passionate about going, Im a part of it.

FULTON TELETHON DONATIONS  Visit fulton.givesmart.com to donate online or to bid on Fulton experiences that will added to the website in the days before the telethon.  Text Fulton to 76278, which will take you through the procedure of donating on your phone.  Call the phone number that will be on the screen the night of the telethon.  The telethon runs from 7 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 25, on WGAL.  The half-hour shows before and after the telethon hour can be viewed live on facebook.com/FultonTheatre and youtube.com/user/FultonTheatre.
Some Manheim Township residents are boycotting Skyline Pool after staff called the police on a Latino and Black family on Friday, expressing their anger and frustration on a township parks department Facebook page that has since been taken down without comment or explanation.

Two teenage girls one Puerto Rican and the other African American and Venezuelan  were told by Skyline Pools manager to either change their bikini bottoms or leave. A sign outside of the entrance to the pool prohibits cheeky bikini bottoms, or ones that show too much.

The two girls were cooperative with the pool manager, said Justice McNeil, a 21-year-old Manheim Township resident who witnessed the incident. They went home and changed, one returning in shorts.

The mother of one of the girls approached the pool manager to clarify why her daughter was asked to leave, McNeil said. The mother has since been identified by LNP | LancasterOnline as Tonya Garcia, and the pool manager -- formally the facilities/programs manager -- Kristal Narkiewicz. Garcia said she did not want to yet comment on the incident, and efforts to reach Narkiewicz for comment were unsuccessful.

After speaking with Garcia, Narkiewicz called the police, and Garcia and her family were escorted out, McNeil said.

McNeil said that several white women were also told to change or leave by Narkiewicz, though McNeil did not notice any of the women leave or change. None were escorted out by police either.

There were so many other visible people with cheeky bathing suits, McNeil said. The only difference is race.

The incident quickly made its way to social media, with posts from those involved and those who witnessed the incident popping up on Facebook and Instagram. Community members expressed their outrage on the Manheim Township Recreation Departments Facebook page.

On Saturday, the Facebook page disappeared.

Its such a blatant example of them choosing not to talk about it while perpetuating the pattern of erasing experiences and truth of people of color, McNeil said, also noting that Garcia was calm while speaking to pool staff and police.

Several Facebook users added reviews of the recreation department after the incident, calling the pool out for racially profiling. The department responded to many of the negative reviews, saying the situation had nothing to do with race, before the page was deleted.

We enforce the same pool rules for all patrons and we only call the police when a situation warrants it, the department said, according to screenshots provided to LNP | LancasterOnline.

The Department of Park Planning would not comment on the disappearance of the Facebook page or the incident itself. The Manheim Township Board of Commissioners is investigating the incident, the township said in a statement Sunday.

It has been brought to the attention of the Commissioners that there has been an incident which occurred July 3 at the Skyline Pool that began with our bathing suit policy. We are closely investigating the incident, which we take very seriously. During our investigation we will discuss the matter with management, staff, the police, and pool patrons, including those who raised the issue.

WHATS THE DRESS CODE POLICY? The Manheim Township Rules And Regulations Governing Use Of Park And Recreation Facilities, Buildings And Grounds doesnt list anything about bathing suit attire. The document lists several things guests cannot do when visiting park and recreation facilities, such as swear or ignite fireworks. But at no point does the document say what guests can and cannot wear to the pool. A rule is listed on Manheim Townships website for pool guests concerning a dress code: Proper bathing attire is required. The policy does not go into detail on what is and is not considered proper. A sign at the entrance of Skyline Pool states that proper bathing suits are required for entrance. Basketball shorts, t-shirts and cheeky bikini bottoms are prohibited. The sign also states If you dont have appropriate bathing attire, you will not be allowed to swim. (The policy is) being applied in a way thats discriminatory, Troy said. It seems like its being applied in a way that is particularly harmful to Black and brown families who are choosing to go to the pool.

The statement came after a Facebook post made by Garcia on Friday night detailing her familys experience. The post has been shared over 100 times.

Manheim Township Police Chief Thomas Rudzinski said police officers were dispatched to Skyline at 2:21 p.m. for a report of a disturbance in progress involving staff and a guest. Officers mediated the dispute and Garcia and her family left, Rudzinski said.

Narkiewicz threatened to call police on her family as well, McNeil said, after McNeil used foul language to tell the pool manager how she felt on her way out of the facility. She told Narkiewicz she wouldnt be returning to Skyline Pool, and that shed tell others not to visit. She used explicit language, but said she was responding to the fact that police were called to a non-violent policy infraction. McNeil takes full responsibility for the foul language, and doesnt want people placing the blame on Garcia, whom McNeil did not hear curse.

On social media, some have claimed that police were called due to foul language used, but McNeil said she was the one who used foul language -- after police were called.

The threat to call police on her family solidified the fact that she (Narkiewicz) feels like thats a useful resource for her to use as a pool manager, McNeil said.

Former Manheim Township Commissioner Allison Troy, who spoke out about the incident in a post on her Facebook page, called it horrifying.

When the pool leadership decided to call the police and bring in ... armed police officers to a community pool, that made the people at our pool not safe, Troy said. For me, this is fundamentally an issue about safety.

Troy, who resigned from her position as commissioner at the end of May, said it wasnt a violent situation. There were no guns, no physical harm done.

McNeil and Troy, along with many others on social media, have called for Narkiewicz to be fired.

Its clear from what happened that this manager is not maintaining public safety, and in fact, the very opposite, Troy said. They have jeopardized the safety of people who are choosing to go to the pool.

McNeil called for de-escalation, anti-racism or implicit bias training.

It seems as though right now their de-escalation routine is to call the police, McNeil said. ...They need to come up with a new way on how to handle it and de-escalate situations.
Millersville University's president will discuss implications of the coronavirus in a webinar Wednesday with Dr. Anthony Fauci and others.

The virtual event, hosted by the United Nations and dubbed "Confronting COVID-19 Through Innovation and Research: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic," will feature a recorded message from Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and a live conversation among educators and health experts from across the globe.

Daniel Wubah, Millersville's president, will be joined by Christopher Meinel, president and CEO of Germany's Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering; Lamiaa Mohsen, dean of the school of medicine at Egypt's New Giza University; and Padmini Murthy, professor and global health director at New York Medical College.

Wubah is chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' international education committee. He's also an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a microbiologist and holds a doctorate in botany.

How to watch What: "Confronting COVID-19 Through Innovation and Research: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic." When: 10 a.m. Wednesday. How: Register to watch live here.

Related coverage
The state Department of Healths order requiring all Pennsylvanians to wear masks adds another twist to the already convoluted plot of reopening schools this fall.

The order, which also applies to students and school employees, was announced last week, as Lancaster County schools were in the thick of planning for the 2020-21 school year, with many opting to encourage, not require, mask-wearing.

Now, school leaders must consider how and when to enforce the new rule.

"While I understand the order, it threw yet another complication into the plans that have been developed," Penn Manor Superintendent Mike Leichliter said.

Penn Manor, which plans to unveil a draft health and safety plan later this month and approve it in early August, initially was going to stop short of requiring universal masks, but the states latest update supersedes that, Leichliter said.

School boards must approve reopening plans before their districts return to in-person instruction.

Evolving, conflicting guidance

The evolving, and at times conflicting, guidance can be difficult to navigate, Leichliter and other school officials said.

The state now requires students to wear masks if they cant maintain six feet of social distance, but the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions latest guidance says students should wear masks and stay 6 feet apart "when feasible."

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently said three feet of social distancing may be enough, "particularly if students are wearing face coverings and are asymptomatic."

"I feel like thats what were told today, but, again, that will evolve and change by the start of the school year," Cocalico Superintendent Ella Musser said of the evolving guidance.

How and when to enforce

On masks, Musser said various challenges face schools that may have to implement and enforce mask-wearing among all students.

The states mask order applies to all school employees and students, except those with disabilities who cannot wear a face covering.

Schools, Musser said, are put in a difficult position to enforce such a rule if the broader community views masks and their benefits differently. Students wont be accustomed to wearing masks in certain areas, she said.

Then theres making sure students use masks properly: "Are they wearing them correctly? Are they keeping it clean?" Musser said.

Another potential complication is the states vague language regarding exceptions to wearing masks, Hempfield Superintendent Mike Bromirski pointed out. The order says students dont need to prove a disability before choosing not to wear a mask.

"Is that going to be used as kind of a catch all for anyone who doesnt want to wear a mask?" he said.

Bromirski also expressed concern for those who dont wear a mask for valid physical or mental health reasons but are judged for doing so.

"This is definitely going to have people make some personal decisions," he said.

More support needed

Besides more guidance on the mask order, school officials said they anticipate more support from the General Assembly before the school year begins. Among the topics on their minds: standardized testing, the 180-school day requirement, flexible instructional days and how to manage a temporary school closure if the virus enters their schools.

Penn Manors Leichliter said while the state has offered comprehensive guidance for businesses such as restaurants and bars, schools are in need of more support.

"I would really encourage our elected officials to prioritize a safe return of school," he said.
LNP | LancasterOnline Opinion Editor Suzanne Cassidy is hosting an online discussion that started at 2 p.m. Wednesday about the debate now raging in the United States  and Lancaster County  over statues and monuments honoring Confederate generals, Christopher Columbus and other historical figures.

Taking part in the conversation: Michael J. Birkner, a professor of history at Gettysburg College, whose published works include three edited volumes on the late President James Buchanan; Maria Mitchell, a professor of history at Franklin & Marshall College, who teaches seminars on the politics of memory and race in modern Europe; Leroy Hopkins, president of the African American Historical Society and retired Millersville University professor; and Ismail Smith-Wade-El, Lancaster City Council president, who maintained in a recent LNP | LancasterOnline column that Lancasters Christopher Columbus statue needs to be removed from its place near the county courthouse.

The discussion can be viewed on LNP | LancasterOnline's Facebook page, or in the video above.
Taibbi Exposes New York Times Launching 1619 Project To Exorcise 2016 Election, U.S. History

July 6, 2020 (EIRNS)Year Zero: On Americas Birthday, Celebrating the Corporate-Sponsored Revolution, the latest post in Reporting by Matt Taibbi, is an extraordinary expose of New York Times actions not new, but already forgotten by many, by which the Times called for the current attempt to destroy the history of the American Republic, in order to undo the election of Donald Trump. Year Zero refers to the Jacobins attempt to start history over again with no past. The Times began this, Taibbi recalls, with the infamous summer 2019 meeting of editor Dean Baquet and Times staff, after Robert Muellers flameout effectively ended Russiagate impeachment. Slate published a leaked transcript.

Baquet consoled the staff: This week [we] will publish the 1619 Project, the most ambitious examination of the legacy of slavery ever undertaken in [inaudible] newspaper, to try to understand the forces that led to the election of Donald Trump. The 1619 Project was a drive, using many media for coverage of it, to cause Americans to forget the devout, republican congregationalist Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth in 1620 to colonize the interior; and remember only the royal- chartered merchant adventurers who landed with slaves at Jamestown in 1619, looking for gold.

Taibbi fills in that Jake Silverstein, the editor for Nikole Hannah-Jones who wrote the 1619 series, explained that literally everything exceptional about America grew out of slavery, which he called the countrys very origin. And that Hannah-Jones claimed, in Taibbis words: the American Revolution was not a project to oppose a despotic king and install a durable system of democratic government. Instead, Jefferson and all of those slave-owning revolutionaries only broke off from England because independence was required in order to ensure that slavery would continue. 

As Taibbi reports, the New York Times Magazine, on July 5 published this: Throughout human history, three caste systems have stood out. The lingering, millenniums-long [sic] caste system of India. The tragically accelerated, chilling and officially vanquished caste system of Nazi Germany. And the shape-shifting, unspoken, race-based caste pyramid in the United States.

He continues: It is impossible to disentangle this profoundly negativistic portrait of the American experiment from the admitted context of the 1619 Project: an effort by the nations leading elite media organ to explain the Democratic Partys loss to Trump. Would this have been published if Hillary Clinton had won the White House? The Hillary Clinton who defended Wall Street from Bernie Sanders thus: If we broke up the banks tomorrow, would that end racism?
Local Assemblywoman Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, D-Marina del Rey, announced today she has tested positive for the coronavirus after apparently being exposed while the Legislature was reviewing the state budget.

Her positive test led to a closure of the state Capitol in Sacramento so the Assembly offices could be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.

On July 3rd I received a call from the Assembly Human Resources Department that I had a `mask to mask exposure to COVID-19 on June 26th, Burke wrote on her Twitter page. I was tested on the morning of July 4th and received my results in the evening that I had tested positive for the coronavirus.

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Currently my daughter and I have no symptoms, but will be remaining in quarantine until released by a doctor, she wrote. Thank you to everyone who has reached out with well wishes. We are fine but it is of the utmost importance that everyone stay safe, be healthy & remain vigilant.

The Los Angeles Times reported that four other people who work in the Capitol had also tested positive, and the building will be closed for a week.

A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, told The Times there were five confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Assembly, but he declined to identify the other patients or say if they were elected officials or staffers.

The state Assembly and Senate are both on recess this week.


Friday, May 1, 2020

Though I have been thinking about the question in the title of this post for a few weeks now, this new Marijuana Moment article finally got me to work on this post. The piece is titled "Thousands Of Constituents Urge Governors To Deprioritize Marijuana Enforcement Amid Coronavirus," and here are excerpts:

The marijuana reform group NORML is leading an effort to encourage states to deprioritize the enforcement of cannabis criminalization amid the coronavirus pandemic. So far, more than 4,000 constituents across the country have participated in the organizations action campaign launched on Wednesday by sending messages to their governors, urging them to take steps to minimize the spread of the virus by avoiding unnecessary marijuana arrests. NORML created customized email blasts to supporters in all 39 states that have yet to legalize marijuana for adult use. Each one contains a link to a suggested prewritten letter asking the governor to abide by the groups public health recommendations during the COVID-19 outbreak. Beyond deprioritizing marijuana enforcement, the organization said states should also drop existing charges for nonviolent cannabis violations in order to reduce non-essential interactions, review and release those currently incarcerated for marijuana convictions and waive pending probation requirements for cannabis-related cases.

Though I am unaware of any proclamations that formally call for police and prosecutors to deprioritize marijuana enforcement, it is my sense that functionally a lot of police and other law enforcement are deprioritizing all sorts of low-level criminal enforcement. For example, this local article on plummeting arrest rates notes:

In some places, police leaders have been frank about ordering officers to cease arresting for low-level crimes. In some places, prosecutors are refusing to pursue such cases. For example, Philadelphia police have been ordered to avoid arrests for crimes like drug offenses and burglaries. Instead, they are issuing warrants to be processed once the health crisis abates, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

Similarly, consider this local piece from Indiana: "The sheriffs office is making fewer arrests to combat the spread of disease, [Jay County Sheriff] Ford said. For those charged with most non-violent misdemeanors and drug-related Level 6 felonies, court summons are being issued instead of them being arrested." And this piece from Austin, Texas with some more specifics: "Austin posted the fewest number of arrests in the month of March for at least four years.... Some of the largest declines include a 75% drop in traffic warrant arrests, to 33 arrests this March from 132 arrests in March 2019. A similar drop was also seen in the number of those arrested and charged with possession of marijuana."

I am not knocking NORML for seeking a formal call for police and prosecutors to deprioritize marijuana enforcement, but I am really interest in seeing whatever data might be available concerning just how much enforcement is currently afoot. My guess is relatively little, though still arguably a lot more than is healthy or just during these weird and uncertain times.

Eventually, but likely at least a few years from now, we will get official FBI arrest data for 2020 and we will all surely see a wide array of notable "COVID" craters. I sure hope someone might be collecting and assessing the marijuana arrest data a lot sooner.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/marijuana_law/2020/05/is-anyone-closely-tracking-state-or-national-marijuana-arrest-data-during-this-coronavirus-era.html
The title of this post is the title of this new article from YouGov discussing its survey that provides an interesting window into the positive impression that marijuana reform has made in states that have legalized adult-use. Here are the details:

States that have legalized recreational marijuana dont seem likely to regret it.

YouGov asked more than 32,000 Americans whether they believe recreational marijuana legislation has been more of a success or failure in the states that have legalized it. In many states where recreational cannabis is legal, a plurality of citizens believes these laws have been more of a success than a failure overall.

That is a particularly strong belief in Colorado, where citizens were among the first-in-the-nation to vote in favor of recreational weed in 2012. Today, about a quarter (26%) of Coloradans say the state-level recreational cannabis laws have been a success only and another 45 percent say they have been more of a success than a failure. Fewer than one in five (17%) believe the laws have been more of a failure....

While decriminalized marijuana and approvals for medical marijuana became popular in the 1970s and 1990s, recreational marijuana was not legalized anywhere in the United States until 2012. Now, recreational marijuana is legal in 11 statesWashington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Colorado, Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Alaska, and Vermontwith more states considering the legislation this year.

About two-thirds of those in Oregon (69%) and Massachusetts (67%) believe that the laws have been more of a success. That remains the majority opinion among those who live in Washington (65%), Nevada (64%), California (59%), Illinois (59%), and Michigan (56%).

Michigan and Illinois are the only Midwestern states with legal recreational marijuana, and they are the most recent additions to the list. Michigan became the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana after residents approved it during the 2018 Midterm elections. Illinois became the 11th after its state government approved recreational cannabis for adults over 21 during the 2019 legislative session. The state began selling recreational marijuana in January.

Maine is the only state surveyed where fewer than half (47%) view the laws as more of a success. About one in nine Mainers say the laws have been a success only. About one-third (37%) consider the laws more of a success than a failure. One in five (20%) believe the laws have generally been more of a failure, and one-third (33%) are uncertain.
As reported by this tweet, the Governor of Nevada, Steve Sisolak, has placed "a resolution on the Board of Pardons Commissioners agenda next week to provide relief to tens of thousands of Nevadans previously convicted for possession of small amounts of marijuana, which is no longer a crime in the State." This Marijuana Moment article by Kyle Jaeger provides some context for this action and other notable recent gubernatorial activity in this arena:

Last year, the governor signed a bill providing people with cannabis convictions a means to petition the court for expungements, but this resolution would offer proactive pardons for anyone convicted of possession up to an ounce of marijuana.

The people of Nevada have decided that possession of small amounts of marijuana is not a crime, Sisolak said, referencing the states 2016 vote to legalize cannabis for adult use. If approved, this resolution will clear the slate for thousands of people who bear the stigma of a conviction for actions that have now been decriminalized.

The board is set to meet on Wednesday, June 17. The agenda designates time for a discussion that may include but not limited to the resolution regarding pardons for persons convicted of minor marijuana possession. While pardons dont void convictions, they can restore rights such as the right to vote, own a firearm or serve on a jury.

The governors of Washington State and Illinois have both issued pardons for cannabis offenses since their states legalized the plant.

Meanwhile, other top state officials have recently made arguments that marijuana reform is a necessary civil rights issue thats particularly important to pursue as a means of addressing racial inequities. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said last week that legalization was about addressing the ills of this war on drugs.

The governor of Virginia said on Tuesday that the passage of marijuana decriminalization legislation this year represents an example of how his state has addressed racial inequities that are inspiring mass protests over recent police killings of black Americans.
Seguin, Texas (78155)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. Low 74F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
The Wall Street Journal had this recent lengthy article exploring the intersection of marijuana reforms and religious leaders. The piece is headlined "The Word of God in the Age of Legal Marijuana" and this subheadline highlights it themes: "As more believers begin to tolerate legalization, current and former religious leaders find themselves in the middle of a debate over health, race and law enforcement." Here are excerpts:

When it comes to marijuana legalization ... some faith leaders ... are weighing the damage the drug can do against the number of people, especially people of color, sent to prison because of it, and the benefits it can provide those in physical pain.

Polls suggest that public tolerance of the drug has gone mainstream, even in religious communities. A September survey by the Pew Research Center found that 67% of the 2,480 Americans asked spoke in favor of legalizing cannabis, up from 31% in 2000. The survey found a majority in favor among several religious denominations. Even evangelicals polled slightly in favor, with 50% saying yes and 49% no....

Plenty of absolutists remain among American clergy. Dr. Russell Moore is an evangelical theologian and president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the denominations public-policy arm. Hes also a prominent marijuana critic.

He stands against legalization or decriminalization because he says marijuana is neither medicine nor a harmless recreational drug, and pro-legalization forces are backed by a profit-driven industry. He calls marijuana legalization unwise and even disastrous. Dr. Moore, who lives in Brentwood, Tenn., says he has counseled people with various addictions, including marijuana. He says he sees religious leaders on the front lines of fighting marijuana and the harm it does to families, children and young adults. Most of the young evangelicals I know seek to minister to friends who have been harmed by marijuana culture, he says. This isnt theoretical to them at all.

But other religious leaders find themselves in a position that would have seemed unthinkable in decades past. Like Dr. Moore, Pastor Jamal Bryant is a clergyman with a large following and a share of critics that comes with that kind of profile. He leads New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, an Atlanta-area African-American megachurch with 10,000 parishioners and an online viewership of more than 90,000. It hosted the funeral of Coretta Scott King.

The pastor has created a line of cannabidiol (also known as CBD) oil-based products called Canna Blessed, organized as an LLC in Georgia. Selling small amounts of the substance can be legal  it contains no THC, an ingredient in marijuana that provides a high. CBD has been shown to be helpful in treating some conditions, including certain types of epilepsy, according to a 2018 report by the World Health Organization.

Pastor Bryant wants to sell Canna Blessed in church bookstores. If THC products became legal in Georgia, he would be open to selling them, too. Im not telling you God said for you to take it, he says. But if it helps someone in the choir manage a health condition, he says the church should provide it.

Pastor Jamal Bryant says that by entering the cannabis industry he can model generational wealth for his church, congregation and community. He insists he wont be getting zooted on the roof of the church or giving out cannabis as communion. Instead he says he wants to raise awareness about holistic medicine and entrepreneurial opportunities he intends to model for his church community. That would really begin a larger conversation that we really need to have, he says. And I dont think it can happen until its in our faces.

Rev. Alexander Sharp, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and executive director of Clergy for a New Drug Policy in Chicago, views the question in more political terms. He supports adult recreational use and criminal-justice reform. And since the drug can relieve pain, he argues that legalization is an act of compassion and mercy  one that follows the example of Jesus Christ. The only thing that made Jesus really angry were the Pharisees that were hypocrites, he says. And there are pharisaical attitudes in those who oppose drug use.

Rev. Sharp hopes to witness an end to the war on drugs. He believes regulation and education are the best responses to human vices, but also says the most compelling argument is for social justice. You can pick your numbers according to your state, but African-Americans and Latinos are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana offenses, he says.
Monday, June 15, 2020

Long-time readers know that I have long viewed marijuana reform as a form of criminal justice reform. And, at a time when we are all rightly concerned about police encounters with people of color and systemic racism in our criminal justice systems, it is more than fitting that some legislators and commentators are highlighting how we might improve our criminal justice system by reforming our marijuana laws. Here are three pieces and brief excerpts:

"Bernie Sanders And Cory Booker Talk Racial Injustices Of Marijuana Criminalization At Virtual Town Hall" by Kyle Jaeger:

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) discussed the role of marijuana criminalization and the broader drug war in perpetuating racial injustices during an online town hall on Wednesday. The former 2020 presidential candidates touched on a variety of drug-related policy issues. For example, Booker brought up an ongoing ban on access to coronavirus relief programs for business owners with prior drug convictions and said its an example of why the two senators talk about marijuana justice all the time.

"Criminalization that never should have been: Cannabis" by Justin Strekal:

In short, the prohibition and criminalization of cannabis were, and still is, a racially motivated public policy response to personal behavior that is, at worst, a public health matter. But this should have never been a pretext for expanding police powers to search, incarcerate and arrest millions of American citizens. Annually, over 650,000 Americans are arrested for violating marijuana laws. According to an analysis of these arrests released earlier this year by the ACLU, In every single state, Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and in some states, Black people were up to six, eight, or almost ten times more likely to be arrested. In 31 states, racial disparities were actually larger in 2018 than they were in 2010.

"Racist cannabis arrests put Black Americans at higher risk of Covid-19" by Jenni Avins:

Even as cannabis reform sweeps the nation, offering Americans access to state-regulated cannabis-infused gummies and designer vape pens  and entrepreneurs the opportunity to sell them  poor people are still behind bars for possessing or selling the plant. Statistically speaking, theres a very good chance those people are Black. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reports cannabis arrests still make up some 43% of all drug-related arrests, the vast majority of which are for possession, as opposed to more serious charges such as distribution or sale. A 2017 study by the National Registry of Exonerations found that Blacks were five times as likely as whites to go to prison for drug possession  despite that surveys show whites use drugs as much or more than Blacks in the US. In some places the statistics are markedly worse. In 2018, Blacks and Latinos accounted for nearly 90% of arrests for cannabis possession in New York City, despite being just 51% of the citys population. And in every single state, Blacks were likelier than whites to be arrested for cannabis possession. (Florida and Washington, DC did not provide data.)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/marijuana_law/2020/06/timely-reminders-that-marijuana-reform-is-criminal-justice-reform-especially-when-black-lives-matter.html
The title of this post is the headline of this timely new Forbes piece worth reading in full. Here are excerpts:

Bribing the cops is illegal, but not in politics. Without paying off the cops, California might not have legalized recreational cannabis.

But now, four years later, with the legal industry struggling and police unable to protect legal merchants from either the illicit market or organized thieves, theres serious doubt whether devoting tax revenue from marijuana sales to police budgets was smart politics. And in light of calls to defund or cut police spending throughout the country, Californias experience is a warning for legalization efforts in other states. Should police get a cut before education, healthcare, or disadvantaged communities shut out of the legal market? And does law enforcement have any business making money off of legalization at all?

Eager to sell regulating and taxing cannabis to uneasy suburban and conservative voters, the authors of Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, offered the states powerful law-enforcement lobbies a gift. Twenty percent of the promised $1 billion in annual tax revenue legalization would create was earmarked for public safety. Legalization advocates heard an earful from growers and merchants eager to go legal  why reward the crews that had spent decades trying to arrest them?  but it was sold as necessary and practical electoral strategy. And from a public-safety standpoint, the gambit worked  sort of. Though the cop lobbies opposed the measure anyway, they also didnt run a massive scare campaign. On Election Day 2016, AUMA won more than 57 percent of the vote....

Similar tactics have been employed elsewhere. Californias generosity was notable only in its size. Marijuana legalization has meant money for American police everywhere the social experiments been tried.... In Nevada, pot taxes help pay the police to enforce the measure (along with, one assumes, other laws). In Colorado, cannabis taxes fund diversion and addiction-recovery programs, which are administered by the police. In Portland, Oregon, most of a special 3 percent city tax on cannabis, part of which was meant to help jump-start minority entrepreneurs, somehow ended up in the police budget, infuriating local lawmakers who thought the cash would go to minority entrepreneurs....

Either Arizona, New Jersey, or maybe New Mexico or New York will be the next state to legalize cannabis for adults. All need money, badly. And in all states, elected officials and policymakers have suggested cannabis could provide that money. This is the ATM argument for legalization. But anyone running those campaigns will now have a harder sell promising cash to cops  at all, and not just up front.

As for California, lawmakers are now in a bind. I can think of a lot of betters uses of those funds, said Matt Kumin, a San Francisco-based lawyer who advocated for Prop. 64s passage. In the coronavirus pandemic, with millions of Americans going untested for COVID-19 symptoms and millions more out of work, hes not the only one.

Redirecting legalization money away from police budgets will require modifying the voter-approved legalization law. This can probably be done by the state Legislature, but not without a fight. The cops use blackmail, threaten, and practice low enforcement activity if pols threaten their budgets, Kumin added. Hints of this were underway before the pandemic and the protests. In December, an effort to cut local weed taxes in Oakland, where Goldsberry and other merchants paid a 10 percent local tax on top of state taxes, in order to stimulate the industry was opposed  by the local police union.

Defunding the police will be a lengthy and divisive political project. Whether legalization should fund the police in the first place may be a question settled much sooner.
Friday, July 3, 2020

The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new Crime Report piece headlined "Marijuana Laws Central to Justice Reform, Advocates Say." Here is how it starts:

As protests against racism continue to march on across the country, conversations have sparked a new dialogue about policing, criminal and racial justice, and even the War on Drugs. Lawmakers and advocates alike say the latter of these dialogues must play a central part, seeing that the War on Drugs and policing of marijuana usage has disproportionately targeted Black Americans, and encouraged negative police interactions, Stateline and Brookings report. In light of these discussions, some states are taking active roles in changing the current narrative.

I would also recommend these linked pieces from Stateline and Brookings:

Long-time readers know that I have long viewed marijuana reform as a criminal justice issues first and foremost, though I fully understand why public health advocates and others see lots of other issues implicated in this arena. But in light of the very, very, very clear evidence that marijuana prohibition's enforcement is racially skewed, I think everyone concerned about racial justice must be thinking hard about how marijuana reform can be part of creating a more fair and just society.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/marijuana_law/2020/07/is-to-growing-clearer-that-marijuana-reform-is-criminal-justice-reform-and-racial-justice-imperitive.html
The question in the title of this post is drawn from the headline of this great new Atlantic piece by Edward-Isaac Dovere fully titled "The Marijuana Superweapon Biden Refuses to Use: Legalizing marijuana is extremely popular. So why wont Joe Biden embrace the idea?". Here are extended excerpts from an interesting piece worth reading in full:

Democratic political consultants dream of issues like marijuana legalization. Democrats are overwhelmingly in favor of it, polls show. So are independents. A majority of Republicans favor it now too. It motivates progressives, young people, and Black Americans to vote. Put it on the ballot, and its proved a sure way to boost turnout for supportive politicians. Its popular in key presidential-election states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Florida, Arizona, and Virginia. Theres no clear political downside  although marijuana legalization motivates its supporters, it doesnt motivate its opponents. For the Democratic presidential nominee, the upsides of supporting it would include energizing a very committed group of single-issue voters and making a major move toward criminal-justice reform and the Bernie Sanders agenda.

Joe Biden wont inhale.

Democrats eager for Biden to support legalization have theories about why he wont. His aides insist theyre all wrong. Its not, they say, because hes from a generation scared by Reefer Madness. Its not, they say, because he spent a career in Washington pushing for mandatory minimum sentencing and other changes to drug laws. Its definitely not, according to people who have discussed the policy with him, because hes a teetotaler whose father battled alcoholism and whose son has fought addiction, and whos had gateway-drug anxieties drilled into him. With legalization seeming such an obvious political win, all thats stopping Biden, current and former aides say, is public health. Hes read the studies, or at least, summaries of the studies (campaign aides pointed me to this one). He wants to see more. Hes looking for something definitive to assure him that legalizing wont lead to serious mental or physical problems, in teens or adults....

If Biden really has his eyes on public health, he should think about how many Black people end up in jail for marijuana sale and possession, argues Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Chokwe Lumumba  a young Black progressive who oversaw local decriminalization in his city in 2018.... Alternatively, John Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, says Biden should think about how legalization could raise tax revenue in the post-pandemic economy of state budget deficits....

Amid the criticism that Biden hasnt taken a definitive stance on legalization, its easy to lose track of how far ahead he is of any other major-party presidential nominee in history in terms of changing marijuana policy. Hed decriminalize use, which would mean fines instead of jail time, and move to expunge records for using. Hed remove federal enforcement in states that have legalized the drug. Thats further, by far, than Donald Trump, or Barack Obama, has gone. Biden would move marijuana off as a Schedule 1 narcotic, the same category as heroin, but would not take it off the illegal-drugs schedule entirely, so that federal law would treat it the way it does alcohol or nicotine....

As science ends up with more conclusive evidence regarding the impact of marijuana, I think he would look at that data. But hes being asked to make a decision right now. This is where the science guides him, Stef Feldman, Bidens policy director, explained to me.... There isnt some conclusive study about health effects that Biden is ignoring, but one is also not likely to emerge anytime soon. And though they insist this is all about health, other ripples from legalization are on the minds of institutionalists like Biden and his close advisers: trade deals that require both sides to keep marijuana illegal would have to be rewritten, half a century of American pressure on other countries about their drug policies would be reversed, and hard-line police unions would have to be convinced that he wasnt just giving in to stoners.

Realistically, marijuana isnt a priority right now for the campaign. Legalization is at once too small an issue for Bidens tiny team to focus on and too large an issue to take a stand on without fuller vetting. And it comes with a frustration among people close to Biden, who point out that liberals talk about trusting science on everything from climate change to wearing masks  and, notably, wanted vaping restricted because the health effects were unclear  but are willing to let that standard slide here because they want marijuana to be legal.

Bidens compromise: going right to the edge of legalization, while appointing a criminal-justice task force for his campaign whose members have each supported at least some approach to legalization. But that sort of signaling doesnt get people to the polls. Being cute is fine. Being bold is motivating, Ben Wessel, the director of NextGen America, a group focused on boosting political involvement among younger voters, told me.

If Biden said he wants to legalize marijuana tomorrow, it would help him get reluctant young voters off the fence and come home to vote for Biden  especially Bernie [Sanders] supporters, especially young people of color who have been screwed by a criminal-justice system that treats them unfairly on marijuana issues, Wessel told me. Publicly supporting marijuana legalization would be an easy, attention-grabbing move, and might help many Sanders diehards get past the fact that hes not where they want him to be on the rest of their candidates democratic-socialist agenda.

In 2018, top Democrats credited a legalization ballot initiative in Michigan with boosting turnout and producing the biggest blue wave in the country  winning races for governor, Senate, attorney general, and secretary of state, along with flipping two congressional seats and multiple state-legislature seats. A ballot initiative is expected for the fall in Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota, and possibly Montana. Anyone who believes  hopefully, or out of cynical political calculation  that Biden will announce some big change in his thinking, aides told me, will be disappointed.
Political leaders of the United States, Europe and Japan have denounced Chinas new national security laws. They note the laws are aimed at punishing activists in self-ruling territory.

But some observers are wondering: Will international anger and statements of concern make a difference?

Some experts say individual countries have little influence over human rights in mainland China. They say a joint effort could make a difference. But, that appears unlikely because of tensions between the United States and its traditional European allies.

Rod Wye studies the Asia-Pacific area for Chatham House, a research group in London. He said, The U.S.A. and EU are moving in different directions in many areas. It is perhaps to Chinas advantage that that should be so.

Wye said The European Union does not want to be pulled into trade disputes between the U.S. and China.

The Asia Society, the Bertelsmann Stiftung and George Washington University released a joint U.S.-European report on relations with China last week. It said concern about human right abuses in China remains strong. The issues include the national security laws for Hong Kong which took effect last week. Suppression of Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang area of western China is another concern.

However, China largely dismisses criticism of these issues as interference in its domestic affairs. In addition, Chinas new Hong Kong laws outlaw receiving money or support from overseas.

This is purely Chinas internal affairs, and no foreign country has the right to interfere, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said recently.

When Hong Kong was turned over to mainland China in 1997, the territory was promised a high level of self-rule for 50 years. The idea is known as one country, two systems.

But many fear that Chinas latest national security law for Hong Kong will take away the territorys traditional freedoms.

Britain, Hong Kongs former ruler, has called the law deeply troubling and said it lies in direct conflict with Chinas international obligations.

The United States has said China has repeatedly violated international promises. And the EU has warned that China risked very bad damage to its international image and business interests.

Steve Tsang directs the China Institute of Londons School of Oriental and African Studies. He said that, if the EU would join forces with the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, such a group would have a lot of influence. The EU is Chinas largest trading partner.

But he said it was far-fetched for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson or President Donald Trump to work with the EU on the issue.

China experts say Western countries have little influence over China because of a basic difference. The West values political rights while China values economic rights.

Yu Wanli is a professor at Beijing Language and Culture University. Yu said, China doesnt need to care about pressure from the West for this reason.

In a show of support, Britain announced last week that it would extend residency rights to up to 3 million Hong Kong people. Those able to receive British National Overseas passports would be permitted to live and work in Britain for five years.

Reinhard Butikofer is chairman of the European Parliaments delegation for China relations. He said European lawmakers are considering measures such as banning exports of technology used to oppress Hong Kong citizens. He said Germany, which is now EU president, must organize member states to show China that there are consequences to its actions in Hong Kong.

The U.S. has said it will ban defense exports to Hong Kong and stop its special treatment policy on the territory. The U.S. already has placed restrictions on Chinese officials linked to limiting Hong Kongs self-rule and has warned of additional measures.

Wye of Chatham House said the results of such measures are likely to affect the territory more than anywhere else.

So the people likely to be hurt are Hong Kong businesses and Hong Kong people rather than Chinese businesses and the Chinese government, he said.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Syliva Hui reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver 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

advantage n. something that improves a person or groups position or makes them more likely to succeed

domestic adj. related to matters in ones own country

obligations n.(pl.) things that must be done because of a law, rule or promise

confidence n. a feeling of belief that a person or group will do as they say or will maintain conditions in a certain way

far-fetched adj. not likely to happen

consequences n. serious results of some action


In its more than 1,400-year existence, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul has meant many things to many groups of people.

The building served for centuries as the main religious center for Christians in the Byzantine Empire. Under Ottoman rule, it was used as an Islamic religious center. Today it serves as a museum. Millions of people visit the famous domed structure each year. UNESCO -- the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - recognizes it as a World Heritage Site.

Now, the 6th-century building is at the center of a heated debate between nationalist, conservative and religious groups. Some people want Hagia Sophia returned to Muslims so they can use it as a mosque. Others want it to remain a museum.

Observers say this debate represents Istanbuls importance as a bridge between continents and cultures.

On July 2, Turkeys Council of State began studying a request by a group seeking to change Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. The group making that request wants to cancel a 1934 decision by the Council of Ministers. That decision turned the historic structure into a museum. At the time, the head of the group was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Political viewpoints

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leads a political party that is closely allied to Islamic groups. He has spoken before about possibly changing Hagia Sophias status to a mosque.

Some observers say they believe he is using the Hagia Sophia debate to strengthen his support with voters and to draw attention away from Turkeys economic problems.

An expert on Turkey notes that this is not just a debate about a building.

Soner Cagaptay works for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a research group based in the United States. He also wrote a book called Erdogans Empire.

Cagaptay says Ataturk established Hagia Sophia as a museum to create a secular Turkey. And nearly 100 years later, he continued, Erdogan is trying to do the opposite.

Cagaptay said that Erdogan feels the pressure of popular support lessening. Cagaptay said he believes the Turkish leader may want to use the debate issue to win back political support. But Cagaptay said that will only bring voters back temporarily.

If Erdogan does not deliver economic growth, Cagaptay added, he may not be able to win elections as he did in the past.

Religious viewpoints

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I is considered the spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians.

In early July, he noted that Hagia Sophia served as a place of worship for Christians for 900 years and for Muslims for 500 years.

He added that as a museum, Hagia Sophia can serve as a place of peaceful coexistence of peoples and cultures and a unity between Christianity and Islam.

Islamist groups, however, strongly object to the buildings use as a museum. Large crowds gathered outside Hagia Sophia on May 31, the anniversary of the citys capture by Ottoman forces. They prayed and demanded that it be restored as a place of Muslim worship.

U.S. government comments

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged Turkey to keep the famous structure as a museum.

In a statement, he said Hagia Sophia has a rare ability in the modern world: to serve humanity as a much-needed bridge between those of differing faith traditions and cultures. A change in its status, he added, will lessen that ability.

Im Anna Matteo.

Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Elena Becatoros in Athens and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed. Anna Matteo adapted the story for VOA Learning English. The editor was George Grow.

____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

museum  n. a building in which interesting and valuable things (such as paintings and sculptures or scientific or historical objects) are collected and shown to the public

dome  n. a large rounded roof or ceiling that is shaped like half of a ball : domed  adj. describes something that has a dome

World Heritage Site  n. a natural or man-made site, area, or structure recognized as being of outstanding international importance and therefore as deserving special protection. Sites are nominated to and designated by the World Heritage Convention (an organization of UNESCO).

status  n. the condition of a person or a thing in the eyes of the law

draw  v. to cause (attention) to be given to someone or something

secular  adj. not religious : of or relating to the physical world and not the spiritual world : of, relating to, or controlled by the government rather than by the church

worship  v. to show respect and love for God or for a god especially by praying, having religious services, etc.




The United States has awarded $1.6 billion to Novavax to pay for testing and manufacturing of a possible coronavirus vaccine.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced the governments choice of the Maryland-based company.

The award is the biggest yet under an effort called Operation Warp Speed. President Donald Trump and his aides set up the program to speed up development of vaccines and treatments to fight COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The department released a statement from Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. He said the addition of Novavaxs candidate (vaccine) to Operation Warp Speed increases the odds that we will have at least one safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year.

The Reuters news agency spoke with Novavax Chief Executive Stanley Erck. He noted that, What this Warp Speed award does is it pays for production of 100 million doses, which  may be completed by January or February of next year.

The award will also help pay for the cost of a large Phase III trial - the final stage of human testing, which could begin as early as October.

Separately, the U.S. government awarded $450 million to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to make and supply its antibody treatment for COVID-19. Just a day earlier, Regeneron announced that it has started Phase III testing to measure the effectiveness of patients antibodies in preventing and treating the disease.

Tuesdays announcements follow a $456 million government investment in Johnson & Johnsons vaccine candidate in March and a $486 million award to Moderna Incorporated in April. The government also promised up to $1.2 billion in support in May for a vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca with Britains Oxford University.

The U.S. government also gave Emergent BioSolutions $628 million in June to expand the countrys ability to make a possible vaccine and drugs to treat COVID-19. In total, the government currently supports over 50 programs to develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.



What is Novavax vaccine?

Novavax is somewhat of an unknown in the race for a coronavirus vaccine. The company has yet to produce a licensed vaccine of any kind. And it did not start human safety trials for the coronavirus vaccine until late May.

In May, Novavax received $388 million from a group called the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. And the U.S. Defense Department gave the company $60 million in June to support manufacturing of 10 million doses of its vaccine in 2020.

The Novavax vaccine works together with an adjuvant -- a substance that strengthens the bodys ability to fight the virus. The French drug-maker Sanofi uses the same basic technology to make flu vaccine so the risk of us not succeeding is pretty low, noted Gregory Glenn. He is a doctor and president of research and development for Novavax.

Currently, Novavax makes its adjuvant in Sweden. The company is hoping to build factories in the U.S., Europe and India.

Chinese effort to develop vaccines

While coronavirus cases in the U.S. are rising, Chinas government has reported more success in controlling the disease. This makes it harder for China to conduct large-scale human trials for a possible vaccine. With concerns over issues of quality and safety, Chinese officials are facing difficulties in persuading the U.S. and European countries to cooperate.

This has forced China to bring the government, the military and businesses together in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

China is behind eight of the 19 vaccine candidates listed by the World Health Organization in human trials.

Johns Hopkins Universitys Coronavirus Resource Center estimated that, as of July 7, the virus has infected nearly 3 million people in the United States. About 130,000 U.S. deaths have resulted from COVID-19. Around the world, the disease has infected nearly 12 million people and killed 540,000.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English with reports from Reuters and HHS. George Grow was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

odds - n. the chance that something will happen

executive - n. a person who manages or directs other people in a company

dose - n. the amount of medicine that is taken at one time

phase - n. a step in a process

stage - n. a particular point in the development of something

licensed - adj. having official permission to have or do something

conduct - v. to plan and do something
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DAWSON COUNTY  A National Weather Service Hastings meteorologist says residents in Dawson County should be paying attention to the weather from 7 to 11 p.m. Wednesday evening, severe weather is looking more likely.

Meteorologist Ryan Pfannkuch said while July is not known for organized thunderstorm outbreaks, Wednesday, July 8 is looking at increasing chances for severe weather.

The Strom Prediction Center placed most of north and south central Nebraska under a slight risk for severe weather on Wednesday, a two out of five in threat level. Tornado chances were increased to 5 percent, but then lowered to only two percent, reflecting the isolated chances.

Pfannkuch said storms will likely develop in western Nebraska over the Sandhills and once they do, two scenarios could be likely.

The most likely is storms will quickly organize into a mesoscale convective system, or squall line. If this occurs the line of storms could move southeast across most of the NWS Hastings warning area, including Dawson and Gosper.

Another possible scenario is that some storms will be able to stay isolated and if they do, there is a better chance for a tornado. The SPC noted low level wind shear would be present in central Nebraska, which is contributing to the threat.
I was sitting at my computer when we got the call. My father in his chair, my mother on the sofa. Two days earlier we had found out that my fathers aunt was in the hospital in Rio with the coronavirus. She was my grandmothers twin sister. My biological grandmother died in the early 1970s, two decades before I was born. Given her absence, her twin had stood in her place. I had always known her as my grandmother. The twins merged in my mind. Two grandmothers in one. I hung up from a Zoom call and looked at my father who was glued to his mobile phone. She had succumbed to the virus. She had had a heart attack a few minutes before theyd planned to transfer her to a ventilator. I felt a double loss, for the grandmother I never knew and for the grandmother I did.

I was supposed to be in Shanghai this year. I was meant to be doing fieldwork towards my DPhil thesis. But I wasnt able to take up my post as a visiting scholar at Fudan University because in February, at the start of their academic term, Oxford had deemed it too dangerous to travel to China. I had remained in the UK instead. I have been watching the exponential creep of the coronavirus for many months. I knew it was serious. But I never expected it would reach Brazil. I never in my wildest dreams imagined it might take the woman I knew as my grandmother. But it did, as these things do.

I dont want to offer any grand theories here. All I hope to offer is an autoethnography of mediated grief. I wonder how much my experience is universal, and whether or not this experience might be of service to others who are trying to think about this time. Ultimately, this is a record of pandemic time.

Like most knowledge workers, the transfer to working from home was not that great a rupture. I was saddened to not be able to go to Shanghai to conduct more fieldwork, but I had already conducted a year of work in Chengdu and I had materials from there to be working on. There was an infinite supply of articles on WeChat and Weibo to translate and think through. I was used to chatting with my supervisors via Skype from the field, so nothing had really changed there.

But of course, everything had changed. The future sputtered and quieted itself. I heard birdsong in my room for the first time, because planes had stopped flying over my house. Good for the environment, but a visceral reminder of the uncertainty of a future that had been predicated on international travel. These were the relatively early days of lockdown, when the death rate in the UK started creeping up and people worried the NHS was on the verge of collapsing. This was when the Prime Minister bragged of shaking hands with people at a hospital and then found himself in intensive care two weeks later. This was before the trauma of the moment pivoted from abstract terror to personal tragedy. It was when the statistics were still numbers, before they included a loved one.

At the start of the pandemic I was dizzied by how fast every vestige of my life had digitized itself. My mother and I started doing yoga with an instructor via Zoom. My friends organized pub quizzes. I toured the Picasso exhibit at the Royal Academy from my sofa. Occasionally the camera panned past a painting too fast; sometimes the audio commentary was for a different painting to the one visible. Teething problems, we were all figuring it out. I joined seminars and a reading group. I attended a virtual music festival, danced alone in my room.

There is a phenomenological argument to be made here. We can ponder the screenness of screens [1] and the mediated [2] nature of the present moment. Im fairly compelled by De Zegotitas argument that a mediated experience is one that has options. That is what makes a mediated experience unreal, what makes screens different to windows [3].

In March, we adjusted to being online all the time. In April, just as everything was settling, my grandmother passed. Suddenly the same online tools were turned towards the grieving process. Two days after she passed, we did a group Zoom call with close family. My parents pulled out photos I had never seen before and we held them to the webcam. I saw the photos flipped in the camera, shaky in my dads hand. We changed the Zoom background to a family photo and sometimes my mum would shift in her chair and disappear. The photo arrayed itself in such a way that my grandmother sat in a chair, thirty years younger than I had ever seen her, with my dads face somewhere near her feet.

Then we logged on a day or two later for a mass at church conducted via Facebook. A sidebar flashed the names of other family members when they joined to watch, but we couldnt see them. Just their floating names C- has joined, and R has joined, etc. Sometimes somebody, whether a normal member of the congregation or someone from our family, would push the like button and a couple of cartoon hearts would float up from the corner of the screen. There were four priests on screen. They were old, and we cringed when they ate the Eucharist and shared the communion wine. Everything had become a disease vector. The lustre on the cup, a shining reminder of viral potential. There was a dog that sometimes peeked out from behind the altar.

What would this experience have felt like in person? Would it have brought my family closer? I longed for the conversation we might have had on the way to the church we never visited. I missed my cousins; I missed the opportunities to take people aside and discuss family politics. I wondered whether the dog would have been there if we had been there in person; whether wed have sniggered to ourselves the way we did in our living room had we been sat in a pew. When the priests sang, we remained completely silent. In church, wed have awkwardly mumbled along.

The rituals felt broken. It felt strange to go from Zoom yoga to Zoom memorial to Zoom therapy. There was no sense of place; I travelled from my living room to all of these virtual spaces. There were no environmental cues. Yet, I adjusted quickly. Its not as if I suddenly found myself incapable of moderating my behaviour from one context to the next. I didnt go to the Zoom memorial in my yoga pants, and I managed not to cry during yoga. Embodied knowledge seems to be more flexible than often theorized in medical anthropology, [4] note Lenore Manderson & Susan Levine in a recent article responding to the pandemic.

Instead, I experienced a great flattening. My most profound feeling has been that time has ceased to anchor itself to the staccato rhythms of movement. Im used to watching weeks and months pass by, punctuated by travelling. That was the month I attended X conference, or travelled to interview Mr. Y. That was the time I went home to visit family, or when we went to Brazil for that wedding. Those rhythms suddenly ended. I didnt leave my house. My days passed with trips from the living room to the kitchen. The step counter on my phone one day recorded a grand total of 300 steps.

The screen has also flattened space. One of our yoga instructors is in New York. My family is in Brazil. The hypnotherapist I see once a week is in Bali. I still havent really left my house, and Im now keenly aware of time zones. This is hardly novel, but it is no longer a sideshow to the main events of a life lived in the daily rhythms of a particular city. London is still there; its just dormant. I cycled along Regent Street on a Tuesday morning and saw a single person.

Thirty days after my grandmother passed there was another mass. It was in a different church this time, with a different set of priests. It was the same format though, conducted via Facebook Live. We sent prayer emojis in the chat box. We held hands in London when they mentioned my grandmothers name. It was the only part of the ceremony I really understood, because I dont speak Portuguese having not grown up there. I wonder if Ive ever felt more distant, more conscious of the oceans and timezones that stand between me and my family there.

The Second World War had separated my family. My father is Polish and grew up in a Polish community outside of London. The Brazilian side of my family exists because my grandmother couldnt get a visa to London. She managed to leave via Lisbon to start a life there. She remained, and the three generations following her (she had just welcomed her first great-granddaughter a few months earlier) were born Brazilian.

At the same time that the pandemic flattened time for me, I have been forced to confront this rupture. As anthropologists we often meet people who are living through extraordinary times; a moment of history significant enough to their particular culture that we feel the need to record and preserve it. The pandemic has been both global and local. Global in its rapid spread and local in its variegated response. It has thrown into stark relief the frailties of healthcare systems, the hubris of certain politicians. Bolsonaro jokingly referred to himself as the messiah but said there was little he could do about the virus. [5] He rejected the need for lockdown. [6] My grandmother died. So what? he said, when asked about the deaths of 474 people in a single day. [7]

The pandemic is a historical event that we are all living through, in our own way. Our rhythms obstructed, our rituals broken. We have adapted, stuttered and zoomed our way through this great flattening. But did it feel historical? Was the daily tenor of your life historic? At the start of the pandemic London had unseasonably warm weather for March that lasted an entire week. A whole week of bright sunshine. In March. I sat on a bench outside of my house and marvelled at the silence of it all. I had always expected the apocalypse would come with more smoke, more noise. It was all so abstract, so distant. Shuttered shops and quiet streets.

My grandmother lived through World War Two. She had a twin that she lost to suicide. She watched the iron curtain rise, lived to see it fall. She saw Rio grow from a seaside town to a metropolis. She saw favelas crawl up the mountainsides. She lived to see her grandchildren have children. A few years ago, she wrote a memoir. She hired a journalist and they eventually produced a tiny 47-page book. The first thirty pages were all about her and her twin playing as children, and about the large poodle they had. There was nothing about the war, nothing about the Soviet Union or the dictators in Brazil.

At the time I never understood it, and the family was disappointed. We asked her to write it again. We wanted her to tell us what it was like to live through so much history. But she never did. I think we have to be honest, in our work as anthropologists, that while life might be lived in the shadow of great events, that does not necessarily help us understand where the light comes from. Holding my grandmothers tiny memoir is to hold a piece of her history, of what she wanted to leave behind. She had no interest in leaving us war or loss. She wanted to leave us a record of childhood joy.



Barclay Bram is a DPhil candidate in Oxford Universitys School of Global and Area Studies.

Works Cited

[1] Lucas D. Introna and Fernando M. Ilharco (2006) On the Meaning of Screens: Towards a Phenomenological Account of Screenness Human Studies, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Jan., 2006), pp. 57-76 (I would like to thank Dr Chihab El Khachab for pointing me towards this literature)

[2] de Zengotita, Thomas (2005) Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live in It London: Bloomsbury

[3] Anderson, Sam (2016) Letter of Recommendation: Looking out the Window New York Times Magazine accessed 25.5.2020

[4] Lenore Manderson & Susan Levine (2020) COVID-19, Risk, Fear, and Fall-out, Medical Anthropology, DOI: 10.1080/01459740.2020.1746301

[5] Tom Philips (2020) So what?: Bolsonaro shrugs off Brazils rising coronavirus death toll The Guardian accessed 25.5.2020 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/29/so-what-bolsonaro-shrugs-off-brazil-rising-coronavirus-death-toll

[6] Tom Philips (2020) So what?: Bolsonaro shrugs off Brazils rising coronavirus death toll The Guardian accessed 25.5.2020 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/29/so-what-bolsonaro-shrugs-off-brazil-rising-coronavirus-death-toll

[7] Tom Philips (2020) So what?: Bolsonaro shrugs off Brazils rising coronavirus death toll The Guardian accessed 25.5.2020 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/29/so-what-bolsonaro-shrugs-off-brazil-rising-coronavirus-death-toll

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Only one new coronavirus case found in Mumbai's Dharavi

(Photo: Reuters)





Cities in Israel and the US re-imposed several restrictions as Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc on healthcare systems and the economy. Rise in cases in Florida saw Miami-Dade county go under lockdown. Arizona has most cases of Covid-19. Authorities in Israel believe that the lockdown was lifted too early as cases continue to rise across the nation.

Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic

Several lawmakers throughout the world reiterated the need for wearing masks and maintaining social distance. New York City mayor De Blasio warned citizens against complacency. German Chancellor Angela Merkel doubled down on the need of wearing masks as several lawmakers said the rule is a trade-off if people want to travel freely again. Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro who diluted the mask-wearing law underwent a test for Covid-19 after developing symptoms.
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The agricultural nonprofit Vineyard Team has this year awarded $21,500 in scholarships to 12 undergraduate students entering or already attending college. The recipients are the children of Central Coast farmworkers and are first-generation college students, according to the Atascadero-based organization.

The organization, which promotes sustainable wine growing practices throughout the region, launched the scholarship program in 2015. The program is funded by over 300 regional vineyard and winery members.

Thanks to the generous donation from Vineyard Team winery members, we were fortunate to be able to offer so many scholarships during a time when funding is scarce due to the pandemic, said Vineyard Team Executive Director Kris Beal.

Illustrating the importance of her Vineyard Team scholarship, Maria Contreras, a 2019 scholarship recipient and current student at Cuesta College, reported that the education assistance she received last year was a big help that took much of the financial burden off her parents' backs. Contreras used the scholarship to help pay for school materials and fees, which allowed her to work fewer hours and focus more on school.

I come from a family of five and Im the first in my family to attend college, Contreras wrote in her scholarship application.

Rancho Laguna Farms raises pay to $2.10 a box, commits to respecting worker rights Following weeks of protests and negotiations, employees at Rancho Laguna Farms in Santa Maria have been granted their second pay raise in a month, bringing the wage per box of strawberries to $2.10, with owner Larry Ferini stating the company's commitment to improving safety and respect for employees.

Aaron Hernandez, a 2020 scholarship recipient studying urban and regional planning at Cal Poly Pomona, reported that once his studies are complete he hopes to return to the Central Coast and devote his planning skills to the community that has invested in him.

A King City high school student who will be attending college this fall with the assistance of a Vineyard Team scholarship, Jorge Flores was recognized as a DAR Good Citizen through his school due to his academic success and clocking over 300 volunteer hours between Mee Memorial Hospital and the Soledad State Prison.

He said the scholarship will allow him to focus on school and internships so he can reach his goal to become a registered nurse and, ultimately, a medical doctor.

For students Aline Garcia and Esteban Garcia, both born in Mexico, they say despite their challenging start, education has become a top priority for them.

Esteban recalled entering elementary school at the age of 8, unable to speak English. He said he had never considered furthering his education until a very close uncle became sick.

I saw him laying down in the hospital bed. He was so pale and fragile. All I could remember him saying [was], Go and get your education, mijo, Esteban said.

Moved by the wise advice, he enrolled in college soon after his uncle's death. Since then, Garcia has put all of his effort into getting a college education so he can work in the wine industry and set a good example for his children.

Aline also understands the importance of a college education.

As a member of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that protects eligible immigrant youth from deportation, she does not qualify for federal assistance and, thus, needed to locate alternative funding for college. She is currently attending Hancock College with plans to transfer to a four-year university, such as California State, Channel Islands.

Aline said her hope is to return to her hometown of Santa Maria to serve as an elementary school teacher.

Scholarships to children throughout the Central Coast are offered each spring. Donations are accepted year-round.

For more information about the program, visit www.VineyardTeam.org/scholarship

+8 'We really had students in mind': Santa Ynez High School sports new Pirate Plaza, cafeteria, football field The year-long improvements project targeted the cafeteria, student center and football fields, all of which, will be ready for students upon their return to campus on Aug. 13.
Among the multitude of narratives prompted by the current pandemic, the biography of June Dalziel Hart Almeida has been circulated by the BBC and other periodicals in numerous languages. Through the Internets power to feed the voracious desire and need to produce and consume information about the infection and microorganism involved, this woman virologist has achieved heroine status. It was Almeidas skill with an electron microscope that enabled her to produce images of a coronavirus during the 1960s. Apparently surrounded by a halo in the initial plates she obtained, it was this trait that gave the virus its name, from a phenomenon observed during an eclipse of the sun and other stars: corona. In a short letter to the editor of the British journal Nature, Almeida and a handful of other virologists demonstrated the consensus necessary for the manufacture of a scientific truth, by bestowing this name on a new kind of virus. The corona proved to be composed of a set of protuberances that actively participate in the virus pathogenic ability (Banatvala 2011).

Cristina Moreno has described how illustrators at the US Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including Alissa Eckert, have produced a clear, bright image of the virus; an icon, now widely viewed in the multitude of news reports. Moreno herself reproduces it in her text on Covid-19 visual cultures. It looks like a knitted ball made from the yarn used to weave velvet: a velvet glove for an iron fist, or hand as we say in Spanish  a haunting representation. In such images, the protuberances are presented as small red tassels that evoke its ability to enter and infect cells; practices of Covid-19 repeatedly confirmed during the current pandemic.

While knitting and crochet are regarded as womans skills  whether for demand or fun  the act of weaving to manufacture textiles  by hand or machine, in artisan or industrial looms  and the symbolic power of fabric have often been used to describe the forms and functions of microbe walls. The German virologists, Wolfhard Weidel and Helmut Pelzer (1964), described the formation of a bacterial cell wall as a bag-shaped macromolecule, a tightly knitted net running back into itself. A break or tear of one thread through the action of a lysozyme or antibiotic would eventually cause the wall to disappear, thus leaving the bacteria protected only by its fragile and permeable membrane (Santesmases 2016, 2018). It is this fragile membrane that allows bacteria to develop a diversity of shapes, many of which had been carefully studied by the German bacteriologist, Emmy Klieneberger, during the 1930s. Having left her home and family to escape Nazi persecution, Klieneberger made the photomicrographs of these bacteria without a wall while working at the Lister Institute in London, with support from the Academic Assistance Council of the British Federation of University Women.

The electron microscope coronavirus images provided by June Almeida suggest a certain fragility, but also, and above all, they appear blurred, the contours imprecise. As contemporary technological products, this imprecision did not discredit the images or the device; on the contrary, these cloudy borders apparently dissolved in the plaque background held the promise of increasingly better techniques and image quality, eventually provided in the clear lines used to represent these natural shapes in drawings. The mindful hands and handy minds, whose simultaneous work produce both reliable knowledges and practical techniques (Roberts and Schaffer 2007: xv-xvi) was provided by the US CDC illustrators, who have presented a tridimensional ball, inside of which hides a nuclei acid, detectable by the action of a polymerase that multiplies the amount to identify the virus and diagnose infection: PCR.

The tyranny of diagnosis, to use Charles Rosenbergs (2002) phrase, thus proceeds in a kit, contained inside one of the black boxes analyzed by Bruno Latour. The input of a particularly tiny sample composed of an equally tiny amount of nucleic acid is introduced to provide an augmented output. Diagnosis is not always an automatic output, however. The identification of a microbe in a Petri dish and a slide under the optic microscope is a centuries-old practice, and even the electron microscope is over half a century old. Both kinds of microscope require the preparation of an appropriate sample to render a cell and its parts visible. Thus, biological samples undergo tainting, partial or total purification, and other similar treatments. The skills in handling the device include this expertise of preparing what will be explored, making its materiality suitable for exploration. Virology and microbiology require the trained eye, manual abilities and the knowledge that has been accumulated over centuries. These activities have been performed by many women, many times, under the supervision of a colleague; the man heading the research laboratory or medical unit. This is illustrated by a photograph circulating with Almeidas biography: in the foreground, white-coated, she is seated at an electron microscope in Torontos Institute of Cancer, under the attentive gaze of two men, who stand behind her as if supervising, one in a white coat, the other not. Almeidas work has been received as an example, or maybe as an exception to be treasured. The retrieving of her name may have inclusive intentions. The image can be taken as a source to display Almeidas agency in the construction of virus images themselves, and the reliable knowledge those images embody.

The work and professional rank of technical assistant, like other posts with low salaries and apparent dependency on supervision, was created to name womens work. Medical schools have always resisted women, but for over a century, women have nevertheless had this option and now, in many countries, women outnumber men among medical students. As nursing remains a womans domain of training and practice, a woman in a white coat may be regarded as a nurse by hospital visitors and, at times, patients. With the same white coat, Almeida remains a laboratory Cinderella in the circulated narratives of her biography; her father was a bus driver, declares one chronicler, suggesting her family was not able to pay for university. As she lacked the university certificate of an academic degree, Almeida was still regarded as untrained after a decade of work as a technician, a non-educated virologist who apparently secured a doctorate in Science through her research. Telephone operators, cigar makers, and women workers in munitions factories during both World Wars are among those who have received less recognition and thus lower salaries than the men who would have done the same work. Women historians have suggested some posts were specifically created for women to be paid less (Berg 2005, Borderias 1993, Galvez 2000), while access to the institutions that could qualify them for supervisory roles was discouraged. The creation of engineering studies to qualify men for particular tasks excluded women to such an extent that many are dissuaded from applying to engineering schools even today. Through these gendered cultures of education and professionalization, women became helpers, collaborators, assistants to those qualified by the higher education system. It is this same logic that considers care tasks to be womens duties, unqualified work performed at home for relatives in times of pandemic: indeed, women without medical qualifications taking care of the sick at home are preventing overcrowded medical services from collapsing. A doctors assessment places women on the secondary tier of care, and when the doctor leaves  if she or he goes beyond a phone call  home in a time of pandemic remains the topos of care and cure, usually represented by a woman at the bedside of the infected (Cabre 2020).

With recognition of her work in England and Canada in a research group led by a well-known scientist, including the publication of her research on many viruses, June Almeida has finally been recognized as a scientist through an image obtained by her skills in sample preparation and electron microscopy: by observing and qualifying coronaviruses, she became qualified herself. In the midst of a global crisis her name has been brought into the history of an organism that has created dramatic trials and unknowns of a gendered, sick planet.

Copyedited by Joanna Baines, this is an English version of a slightly shorter piece in Spanish at https://sehmepidemiassaludglobal.wordpress.com/. A brief reflection, also in Spanish, on June Almeidas research can be found at https://veinte20.org/coronavirus/

Maria Jesus Santesmases is Research Professor of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC, Spanish National Research Council) at the Institute of Philosophy. Her research and publications focus on history of contemporary biomedical sciences, and of gender and women in biomedicine. Back to the cell after her research on biochemistry and molecular biology, she has recently published on cytogenetics articles on visual cultures, womens bodies and chromosomes. A related project, after her book Penicillin in Spain, is dedicated to the cultures of antimicrobial resistances.

Works Cited

Jangu E. Banatvala, 2011. Almeida [nee Hart], June Dalziel (19302007), virologist. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-99332.

Maxine Berg, 2005. The Age of Manufactures, 17001820: Industry, Innovation and Work in Britain (London: Routledge).

Cristina Borderias Mondejar, 1993. Entre lineas. Trabajo e identidad femenina en la Espana contemporanea. La Compania Telefonica Nacional de Espana (Barcelona: Icaria).

Galvez Munoz, Lina, 2000. Compania Arrendataria de Tabacos,18871945. Cambio tecnologico y empleo femenino (Madrid: LID Editorial Empresarial)

Montserrat Cabre, 2020. Jerarquias del cuidado y representacion simbolica de la enfermedad epidemica. https://sehmepidemiassaludglobal.wordpress.com/2020/05/20/jerarquias-cuidado-representacion-epidemica-cabre/

Cristina Moreno Lozano, 2020. Seeing COVID-19, or a Visual Journey Through the Epidemic in Three Acts. http://somatosphere.net/forumpost/visual-journeyepidemic-covid-19/

Lissa Roberts and Simon Schaffer, 2007. Preface. In Roberts, L., Simon Schaffer, and Peter Dear (eds.) The Mindful Hand. Inquiry and Invention from the Late Renaissance to Early Industrialisation. Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Charles E. Rosenberg, 2002. The tyranny of diagnosis: specific entities and individual experience. The Milbank Quarterly 80(2): 237-260.

Maria Jesus Santesmases, 2016. The bacterial cell wall in the antibiotic era: An ontology in transit between morphology and metabolism, 1940s1960s. Journal of the History of Biology 49: 3-36.

Maria Jesus Santesmases, 2018. The circulation of penicillin in Spain: health, wealth and authority. London Palgrave-Macmillan.

Wolfhard Weidel and Helmut Pelzer, 1964. Bagshaped Macromolecules  a New Outlook on Bacterial Cell Walls. Adv Enzymol Relat Areas Mol Biol 26: 193-232.

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CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters.
Manal J. Aboelata is the deputy executive director of the California-based nonprofit Prevention Institute, manal@preventioninstitute.org. She is also a member of Los Angeles Countys Community Prevention and Population Health Taskforce.
Demand was so great that a first infusion of $349 billion ran out in just two weeks. Many Main Street businesses couldnt navigate the application process rapidly enough to get one of those first loans before funding dried up. Meanwhile, several hundred companies traded on stock exchanges  hardly the image of a small business  received loans maxing out at $10 million each, causing a public backlash and leading dozens to return the money.

Congress added $310 billion to the program, but confusing, shifting and sometimes restrictive rules cooled interest. About $140 billion was unclaimed as the application deadline closed June 30. With money still available, Congress voted to extend the program just as it was expiring, setting a new date of Aug. 8.

The public may never know the identity of more than 80% of the nearly 5 million beneficiaries to date because the administration has refused to release details on loans under $150,000  the vast majority of borrowers. That secrecy spurred an open-records lawsuit by a group of news organizations, including The Associated Press.

Still, the release of the data is the most complete look at the programs recipients so far.
Two-year-old pacing colts invaded Woodbine Mohawk Park on Monday evening, starring in six $23,000 Grassroots divisions and No Better Joy kicked off the provincial campaign in style with an impressive 1:52.1 victory.

Starting from the outside Post 9, driver Bob McClure settled No Better Joy in fourth as Flash Cube took the field to a :27.2 opening quarter. Heading for the :56.2 half McClure put the fan favourite on the front, but Flash Cube stepped up to apply pressure before the 1:24.3 three-quarters. At the top of the stretch it looked as though Flash Cube would prevail, but No Better Joy shifted into another gear and came back on for a head victory. Flash Cube settled for second and Cantstoplying closed well to be third.

Ive never had a horse, like even when youre training at the farm and when you come to the top of the stretch, even if theres another set 20 or 30 lengths ahead, he always puts it in another gear to chase them, so I think he kind of seen that horse and he picked it up again, said Nicky Comegna, who trains No Better Joy for his father Bruno Comegna of Burlington, ON. Hes always had that attitude, thats why I liked him.

Comegnas son Jordan picked No Better Joy out at last falls London Selected Yearling Sale, offering up $46,000 for the Betterthancheddar son. The youngster impressed his connections all winter, but a few hiccups in qualifying action and his first race made Comegna opt for the Grassroots rather than the July 3 Gold Series event.

If he had gone good last week we were going to put him in on Friday, but I just couldnt justify throwing him in there after that interference break (June 26), said the Cambridge resident. So I figured wed maybe get him in a little easier and see if we do have something that can go a little bit, you know. Believe it or not it gave him an extra two, three days to kind of forget about last week, and it worked out.

McClure closed the Grassroots portion of the evening with another victory, guiding Shadow Play son Lawless Shadow to a 1:53 score for trainer Dr. Ian Moore of Cambridge, ON and his partners R G McGroup Ltd. of Bathurst, NB, Serge Savard of St-Bruno, QC and Frank Cannon of Sanford, FL. Bulldog Hanover was hot on the heels of the fan favourite in second and Wisk Key K completed the top three.

Driver Sylvain Filion captured three Grassroots divisions, kicking off his hat trick in the second $23,150 contest with fan favourite Uncontrollable. The Control The Moment son delivered the largest margin of victory in the Grassroots divisions, reaching the wire six and one-half lengths ahead of Candy Trader and Watch My Beverage in 1:53.

He told me a couple of days ago that he was really high on him. He said he probably made a mistake, he should have probably put him in the Gold, so it made me pretty high on him too, you know, said Filion of the Scott McEneny trainee. He was actually very, very nice. I left with him, then I pulled again around the last turn and he just cruised home.

Like No Better Joy, Uncontrollable will likely make the jump up to the Gold Series for his second Ontario Sires Stakes start. McEneny, who also owns the $6,000 yearling purchase, noted that a strong showing against the top colts on July 18 could see Uncontrollable supplemented to the Battle Of Waterloo Eliminations at Grand River Raceway on July 27.

I think Im going to give him a shot. You know what, hes better off a helmet. You can see he buzzed around them really quick and then he kind of got a little lazy, but I think if you can keep him covered up he can pace with any of them, said Puslinch resident McEneny. Like I said, first start, with a big drop time-wise, and he did it right, so Im pretty happy with him.

Filion was back in the winners circle after the third division with Betterthancheddar son Brilliant Corners, who sat fourth before stepping out to mount an attack on pacesetting favourite West Coast Kid. Brilliant Corners sprinted home to a 1:54.2 victory, one and three-quarter lengths ahead of his TheStable.ca stablemate First Glance. Frank Deford was four and one-quarter lengths back in third.

He was a bit of a hot-headed horse early on and I was able to sit him in the hole in the qualifiers, but he was really strong, headstrong you know, and he wouldnt really relax, but tonight he was as good as Ive ever seen him. Calm, relaxed and I was able to sit him in the hole as long as I wanted and thats the reason why he was so strong at the end of the mile, said Filion. Hes learning  its still a learning process with the two-year-olds  but every time I sat behind him he got better and better, so I hope he keeps going.

Filion engineered the win for trainer Harry Poulton and fractional ownership group TheStable Brilliant Corners of Guelph, ON.

The Milton resident completed the hat trick in the fifth division with Saratoga Blue Chip, who was as headstrong as Brilliant Corners was relaxed. The Hes Watching son gave Filion a workout as he sat in the pocket behind Mr Charisma, but had enough left to get home for a one-half length win over Beach Blogger. Mr Charisma finished third in the 1:53.3 mile.

When he left the gate he was half a runaway. I had a hard time to hold him and I had to re-move him to the front, and then I had to take a huge hold of him again to let James (MacDonald, with Mr Charisma) go by, and then moved him again around the end of the last turn. So it wasnt the greatest drive, but it worked out anyway, said Filion with a rueful chuckle. He stretched my arms pretty good.

Filion piloted Saratoga Blue Chip to the win for trainer Anthony Beaton and owner Larry Menary of Branchton, Michael Guerriero of Brampton, Alan Alber of Thornhill, ON and George Harrison of Wanes Walton, England.

Avion Seelster took the other division with a 1:53.2 victory over Lil Red Sportsstar and Warrawee Wazzup. Jody Jamieson piloted the Sportswriter colt to the win for owner-trainer Jack Darling.

Theres a good group of Grassrooters. Wow, its amazing how fast they go, said Filion of the freshman colt season opener. The weather is so warm, and no wind at all and the track is perfect, so it makes for speed.

The two-year-old pacing colts will return to Woodbine Mohawk Park on July 20 for their second Grassroots start. Complete results from Mondays program are available at Woodbine Mohawk Park Results.

(OSS)

To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results  Woodbine Mohawk Park.
There are some exemptions to the new rule for those who have physical, mental or developmental conditions that prevent them from wearing a mask. Individuals who are eating at a restaurant also will not be compelled to wear a face covering, for example.

For those who arent able to wear a mask, local health officials are encouraging them to ask a business for reasonable accommodation such as curbside pickup or delivery.

Masks and distance are really the two most effective means of slowing the spread of COVID-19, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi said in the release. Given the recent rapid increases in cases in our countythat happened even before school and university classes resume this fallits imperative we take this step now to try and slow the march of COVID through our community.

Masks must cover an individuals nose and mouth, according to the announcement.

Wisconsin is one of more than a dozen states that dont require face masks to be worn in public, according to media reports, a reality thats unlikely to change at the state level.
Whatever the approach, we should be sure the burden of meeting the COVID-19 challenges should not fall on the shoulders of people who are least able to carry them and that is going to require a case by case analysis of each legislative proposal that is going to go through, he said.

He didnt name further policy proposals, saying hes reluctant to do so because were still trying to manage the situation, figure out what problems we can solve and then whats the best way to go about solving the problems.

Noting what could be a $2 billion budget shortfall, Baldeh, meanwhile, called for raising taxes on the wealthiest individuals and potentially looking at a further, temporary tax that would be lifted once the pandemic ends. Such a tax, he suggested, could be levied on services, including those that lawyers and accountants provide.

Im not advocating for those to be taxed but I think one of the ways to augment the gap, we have to find a way to really bring in funding, he said, adding: We should look at those options, just for a temporary fix of our economic gaps.
These differences should not disqualify Lee from consideration. They should move her to the top of the list at a time when Biden and the Democrats desperately need to get in touch with the zeitgeist. And with the future.

Lee and I have spoken often about the campaign that Shirley Chisholm mounted all those years ago. The Californian delights in the fact that Chisholm, who was not treated with the seriousness her candidacy merited in 1972, is now featured on postage stamps and in popular films. Chisholms name has become so synonymous with principled politics that even centrist Democrats invoke it on the campaign trail and in convention speeches.

It has been said that Chisholm was ahead of her time. The truth is that the Democrats of the 1970s were behind the times. It took them decades to catch up.

It has also been said that Lee is ahead of her time, especially on matters of war and peace. Instead of waiting to praise her in the future, this would be a very good time for Joe Biden and the Democrats to catch up.

John Nichols is associate editor of The Capital Times. jnichols@madison.com and @NicholsUprising.

Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.
As has become Trumps rhetorical modus operandi, all of this was done in an obvious effort to deflect attention from the real crises confronting the nation: the horrific economic and health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a host of other problems the president has failed to address and that arguably he caused or at minimum exacerbated.

Trumps dark message was explicit and unsubstantiated: "As we meet here tonight there is a growing danger that threatens every blessing our ancestors fought so hard for. Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children." He asserted that there exists a "far-left fascism" which is the "very definition of totalitarianism."

In addition, the president falsely claimed: Those who seek to erase our heritage want Americans to forget our pride and our great dignity, so that we can no longer understand ourselves or America's destiny. They would tear down the beliefs, culture and identity that have made America the most vibrant and tolerant society in the history of the Earth."
Dear Editor: As a former Northwoods resident and one who loves northern Wisconsin, especially the area around the proposed Enbridge extension of Line 5, I am adamantly opposed to the proposal for several reasons:

 For the same reason the Bad River Band does not want the pipeline running across the reservation  the threat to its water resources  it makes absolutely no sense to run the line around the reservation. It would be an even bigger threat to those precious waterways, for it would still cross them  186 times, according to the permit request.

 To replace a straight-line crossing of the Bad River Reservation with a meandering line around the reservation, at least three times as long, greatly increases the odds of leaks and ruptures in the operating line and during construction.

 One of our most precious and beautiful resources, Copper Falls State Park, would have the pipeline running on three sides of it, crossing both of the ancient rivers that join in the park to make it a completely unique and precious resource.
Police pulled the Camry over and its driver, Tyrone L. Jackson, 53, told officers he had been in a dispute with the men in the SUV and that one had previously beaten him.

Jackson denied having a gun at the park, DeSpain said, but a police dog later found a loaded handgun behind the home where Jackson had stopped.

Jackson was arrested on tentative charges of second-degree reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct while armed, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Sun Prairie

In Sun Prairie on Monday, police responded to a 911 call from a person who arrived home to find a bullet fragment inside the persons apartment in the 1300 block of Sunfield Street, Sgt. Ryahn Smith said in a statement.

Officers found several shell casings at the scene and discovered one bullet had passed through the apartments window. The shots were fired just before the resident returned home, Smith said. No injuries were reported.

Investigators believe the person the shooter was targeting was in the area at the time, and that the apartment that was struck was not the intended target, Smith said.
UW-Madisons reopening plan states that no student will be required to take classes on campus if they feel unsafe doing so, but the federal guidance appears to force international students into that exact situation. They can participate in online learning as long as at least one of their courses is delivered in person, according to ICEs announcement.

On the face of it, it seems like we either have to risk our health or be deported, said UW-Madison doctoral student Trisha Chanda, who is from India and starting her third year in the consumer behavior and family economics program. Thats not an easy choice. Thats not a fair choice.

Chanda didnt know which format her classes would be taught in next semester when ICE unveiled its guidance. After sending a flurry of panicked emails, she learned that two of her classes will be offered online while an independent study and one-credit discussion seminar will be delivered face-to-face.

For UW-Madisons 5,800 international students affected by the rule, the guidance goes beyond next semester, potentially influencing their long-term educational prospects.
Three-year-old pacing colts Allywag Hanover, Chief Mate and Captain Groovy have been entered to race this week in Pennsylvania.

Allywag Hanover and Captain Groovy, both of whom have already won in 1:48 this season, will be mixing it up in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action Friday (July 10) at Harrah's Philadelphia. The Friday program will see no less than five $39,432 divisions of the PASS's opening leg contested. The card will also be six $20,000 divisions of the companion Pennsylvania Stallion Series.

Allywag Hanover, by Captaintreacherous, had been entered for this Saturday's Meadowlands Pace eliminations at the Meadowlands Racetrack. Although, when only 12 colts dropped in for the 'M-Pace' elims, the conditions of the stakes called for 'byes' to be offered to the top seasonal moneywinners (for complete information, click here). Allywag Hanover was second in seasonal earnings and opted out to come to Harrah's Philadelphia, as did Chief Mate, who was third in 2020 earnings.

After a good freshman campaign, Allywag Hanover has been nothing short of sensational thus far in 2020 with two Meadowlands victories (the latest came on Saturday in 1:48, in which he paced his final quarter in :25.3). Trained by Brett Pelling for the Allywag Stable, Allywag Hanover is scheduled to be handled by Tim Tetrick Friday from Post 6 in Race 8, which will feature a field of seven.

Captain Groovy, who is also a son of Captaintreacherous, posted his 1:48 victory 20 days ago at the Big M, where he rushed home in :26. Not kept eligible for the Meadowlands Pace, Captain Groovy is slated to be driven by Mark MacDonald from Post 4 in Race 12 for trainer Ray Schnittker, who is also a co-owner with Ted Gewertz, Howard Taylor, and Mary Kinsey Arnold.

Chief Mate is scheduled to start from Post 4 in his sire stakes assignment, which has been carded as Race 10. Chief Mate has won in 1:50.2 at Harrah's Philly and 1:50 at Pocono in an undefeated campaign. George Napolitano Jr. has been tapped to drive the son of Captaintreacherous for trainer Tony Alagna and the ownership of Brittany Farms LLC, Marvin Katz, Brad Grant, and Captain Kirk Racing.

(With files from PHHA / Harrahs Philadelphia)
Whats really so very serious about the situation were in right now is that by transmission going in the wrong direction, were at risk of the virus getting a foothold to the point where its widespread. In that situation, everybody is at risk, Westergaard said.

Wont list businesses

Following a video conference last week with local health departments, a DHS official said Tuesday the department had walked back potential plans to publicly list the names of businesses that see multiple positive cases of COVID-19.

We received feedback during that call (and throughout the week) about this proposal, DHS spokeswoman Elizabeth Goodsitt said in an email. We took all of that input into account and decided that we have no immediate plans to post the information on the website.

Palm also said the department had conversations with different partners about posting such data on the DHS website and through those conversations, we decided that we would certainly not be doing that this week.

However, DHS officials said the department currently is processing outstanding records requests pertaining to public health investigations at individual businesses to determine what information might be released.
In court documents, the Legislatures attorney, Misha Tseytlin, cited a previous case describing the Wisconsin Constitution as requiring shared and merged powers of the branches of government rather than an absolute, rigid and segregated political design.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs have argued the Legislatures veto authority over Kaul amounts to a substantial burden on his ability to faithfully execute the law. Kaul sought to demonstrate that when he said several cases that could provide the state with millions of dollars in settlement money were essentially on hold due to a dispute with the Legislatures appointed oversight committee.

Kaul is required to seek the committees approval to reach settlement agreements in certain cases, but Kaul and the committee have failed to agree on a confidential procedure for how to do that. Republicans have argued the laws give them a seat at the table in legal decisions that can have broad political and policy implications.

In 2019, before the court heard oral arguments in the case, UW-Madison political science professor Howard Schweber said the public should be concerned about the Legislature turning the attorney generals office into a means for one political party to go after enemies or shape policy through selective application of the law. But others, such as the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Libertys president, Rick Esenberg, downplayed those concerns and say corruption is always a risk.

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One exception is the Los Angeles Zoo, which has avoided layoffs and furloughs despite losing more than half a million visitors since its closure. Unlike most zoos, which are private nonprofits, the L.A. Zoo is a city department and has remained remarkably healthy, according to Denise Verret, the chief executive and zoo director. Nevertheless, zoo employees, like other city workers, may have their pay reduced by 10% in the coming fiscal year city budget. Meanwhile, the concessionaire hired by the zoo had to lay off workers. And the zoo is cutting back its conservation grants to other organizations.

Of course, zoos cant lay off their animals. They have to continue to look after the wildlife in their care and maintain more complicated routines to keep the animals safe from any worker who might have been infected with the coronavirus. And some still have their live cams up. (Check out the Detroit Zoo penguin cam.) As a consequence, most zoos are burning through the three to six months worth of revenue that they typically keep in reserve.
And schools would need to comply with local mask orders, such as those in place in McCall, Moscow, Hailey, Boise and Driggs, Critchfield said.

West Side School District Superintendent Spencer Barzee has already publicly released his districts reopening plan. During Mondays meeting, he expressed some surprise that outside restrictions could still be placed on reopening.

I guess I didnt realize that we could have that obstacle as well that the Department Health and Welfare could tell us to shut our doors too, he said.

Barzee said local school officials like himself, not public health officials, should be able to determine how serious transmission is at the district level.

What my board views as minimal to moderate may be different than what the health department views as minimal to moderate, he said.

I dont want the guidance to be too specific on defining whats minimal to moderate. I personally want to be able to define that because 15 households out of 350 is pretty mild. I mean its not even moderate.

Little has said he would consider calling a special session of the Legislature to address civil liability issues for schools that reopen. As of Monday afternoon, Little was still looking into the issue and has not made a decision, Wilson said.
The history of disease among tribes is in a word  terrible. Epidemic diseases killed more indigenous people in the Americas at the start of European colonialism than all the Indian wars. Measles, smallpox, and tuberculosis devastated the misnamed Indians, from fishermen-borne diseases brought to tribes along the Atlantic coast in the 16th century to the near-extirpation of the Cayuse in the 1840s. These diseases, unfamiliar to the native Americans, continued to damage tribes through the twentieth century.

Charles Mann argues strongly in 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, that disease attacks on Indians had a genetic component, meaning that indigenous Americans were far more susceptible to viral diseases than white populations. And, according to Indian friends, there are strong tribal memories of the devastating 1918 flu. That generational memory has some living in fear today as Covid-19 marches across America.

Historian Alvin Josephy said that when we are not lying about American Indians our history we are omitting them. A recent instance of omission: Politico reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has turned down tribal epidemiologists requests for data about the virus that its making freely available to states.
If the past few months have left you in need of a getaway, this could be just the ticket.

A replica Wild West town deep in rural New Zealand has been put on the market  and if you have $7.5 million to spare, it's yours.

Mellonsfolly Ranch was built with meticulous attention detail in 2006, intended to resemble 1860s Wyoming. It features a boardwalk, a sheriff's office, a courthouse that doubles as a movie theater, and even a licensed saloon.

The property, which operates as a hotel and is well-hidden in a vast hilly landscape in central New Zealand, offers buyers a fairly unique opportunity to recreate every Western movie they've ever seen  when they're not looking after guests, that is.

All the hallmarks of a Western experience are available: billiards, swing doors, wood paneling and fireplaces, and some charmingly old-timey exteriors.

But it's not all fun and games. Real-estate agents New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty describe the tough day-to-day experience that any prospective cowboys would have to endure.
Gospel for Asia Supplies 37 Million with Safe Water in 'Thirstiest' Continent

Faith-based agency has drilled more than 30,000 'Jesus Wells,' distributed 58,000-plus water filters





QUENCHING THE THIRST OF A CONTINENT: Gospel for Asia (GFA World, www.gfa.org) today revealed it has provided safe drinking water for a staggering 37.5 million people in Asia, the world's "thirstiest" continent. The faith-based mission agency released a new report titled Don't Drink The Water (Unless You Know What's In It).



NEWS PROVIDED BY

Gospel for Asia

July 7, 2020



WILLS POINT, Texas, July 7, 2020 /Standard Newswire/ -- A leading mission agency today revealed it has provided safe drinking water for a staggering 37.5 million people in Asia, the world's "thirstiest" continent.



The number of people helped by Texas-based Gospel for Asia (GFA World, www.gfa.org) is roughly equivalent to the entire population of California.



GFA World reported millions of water-deprived families across Asia -- home to six out of every 10 people on the planet -- now have safe, reliable drinking water thanks to the organization's deep wells and BioSand filters.



In the past two decades, GFA World and its partners around the world have provided more than 30,000 wells and 58,000 filters.



In 2019 alone, the faith-based organization -- manned entirely by local workers, many traveling from village to village on foot -- helped drill 4,856 new "Jesus Wells" and distribute 12,243 new water filters in communities, many of which were stricken by waterborne diseases.



"In the world's thirstiest continent, GFA World workers and churches are committed to meeting people's most vital physical need -- safe drinking water," said the organization's founder Dr. K.P. Yohannan, as the mission agency released a new report titled Don't Drink The Water (Unless You Know What's In It).



The report comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) says one in every three people in the world doesn't have access to safe drinking water, and the United Nations predicts that by the year 2050 up to 5.7 billion people worldwide could be affected by water shortages.



Finding safe drinking water is not just a problem in Asia. In the U.S., as many as 63 million people -- nearly one in every five Americans -- have been exposed to potentially unsafe drinking water, GFA World's report says, citing lead and arsenic contamination.



Demand for Water to Skyrocket

In the next 20 years, global demand for water is expected to surge by more than 50 percent, according to the U.N.



"This desperate situation is especially acute in Asia, where millions of families get their drinking water from the only source available to them -- often a dirty river or stagnant pond, which are breeding grounds for parasites and deadly bacteria," Yohannan said.



Drinking contaminated water can lead to fatal diseases such as typhoid, hepatitis A, and diarrhea. Globally, diarrhea kills almost 2,200 children every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).



By providing safe water, GFA World hopes people who've never heard about God's love will see "love in action."



In one community, the local pastor began praying for a new well when the old village water source dried up, forcing villagers to trek every day to the river. Days later, a team arrived to drill a new Jesus Well. Although skeptical at first, locals soon realized the new well was heaven-sent, the report says.



Going Deep, Finding Lasting Solutions

Beginning with the first well in the year 2000, Jesus Wells -- up to 1,500 feet in depth -- tap deep underground reserves and bring year-round, clean water to thousands of villages across Asia, each well supplying hundreds of people on average and providing a central community gathering place.



Because local people receive training to maintain the wells, the water keeps flowing. One team recently found a Jesus Well still going strong after 20 years.



Meanwhile, portable BioSand filters -- another clean-water solution, costing around $30 each -- remove most contaminants, making water 98 percent pure.



Gospel for Asia (GFA World, www.gfa.org) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFAs latest yearly report, this included more than 70,000 sponsored children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.



SOURCE Gospel for Asia



CONTACT: Gregg Wooding, 972-567-7660, gwooding@inchristcommunications.com


Except that apparently, somebody did. The New York Times reports that two American officials say the information was included in late February in the Presidents Daily Brief, a document summarizing national security concerns and assessments that is prepared by the intelligence community each morning for the president to read. In all fairness, that last word is problematic with this particular president, whose impatience with the printed word is legendary.

And besides, hes a busy man. Indeed, according to one of the Times sources, the specific date the Russian intel was included was February 27, a day Trump met with Diamond and Silk, two former Fox News personalities famed for being black and loud while supporting him. Because, you know, priorities.

Presumably, the PDB he received that day would have told him how three Marines were killed by a bomb last April. Presumably, it would have informed him that this tragedy has emerged as the focal point of a probe suggesting Russia put a bulls-eye on Americans. Whereupon a normal president would surely have raised the alarm, confronted the enemy or, at a minimum, acknowledged the crime.

But again, Trump is a very busy man, what with coronavirus blame to dodge and Confederate statues to defend.
On Friday night Donald J. Trump, president of the United States (though it is not clear what those words mean anymore), delivered a speech at the foot of Mount Rushmore, a mountain blasted, chiseled, and carved by a man who directly supported the mission of the Ku Klux Klan. This president denounced in gesticulating bloviations far-left fascism as a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children.

The brazen gall of this alleged human being could only be forged in the fires of the delusional and psychotic hell from which he has crawled and into which he is actively, but witlessly, choosing to cast what remains of the future of this country.

What can I say in response? In the words of James Baldwin, There are days  this is one of them  when you wonder what your role is in this country and what your future is in it. How, precisely, are you going to reconcile yourself to your situation here and how you are going to communicate to the vast, heedless, unthinking, cruel white majority that you are here. Im terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country. These people have deluded themselves for so long that they really dont think Im human. And I base this on their conduct, not on what they say. And this means that they have become in themselves moral monsters.
Reaching McDowell residents throughout the county has been the focus of the Food Hubs early summer outreach efforts. Neighborhoods that often seem detached from the city proper do not always have access to social media announcements or bulletin posts regarding food programs.

For these locations, the Food hub relies on local news, radio, word-of-mouth, and establishing relationships within the community. For the summer of 2020, Foothills Food Hub plans to set up temporary pantry opportunities similar to the efforts in Jacktown, Nebo, Coxes Creek and others.

Residents that know of areas without a food pantry are encouraged to reach out with suggestions.

While Food Hub drive-thru pantry events are held in various neighborhoods, transportation and other factors affect residents ability to feed themselves. Through research and networking with other local organizations, the decision to provide a Community Meal opportunity allows for residents to receive a prepared hot meal that would otherwise be impossible, according to the news release.

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We want people to know, said Edwards. We See You. We acknowledge the impact the shutdown has taken on an individual, personal level. It's not just about numbers or statistics on a report; sometimes it's just a warm meal to feed your fellow neighbor.
Gardasil vaccine and box. Image: Wikipedia

With a tiny brush, briefly swab the vagina to collect cells. Then slide the swab into a screening kit and drop it into the mail.

Proponents believe a simple test like this, which can be done at home, may help the U.S. move closer to eradicating cervical cancer. The National Cancer Institute plans to launch a multisite study next year involving roughly 5,000 women to assess whether self-sampling at home is comparable to screening in the office by a clinician.

Nearly 14,000 Americans this year will be diagnosed with the highly preventable cancer, and more than 4,000 will die. Women who are uninsured or can't get regular medical care are more likely to miss out on lifesaving screening, said Vikrant Sahasrabuddhe, a program director in the NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention. If women could collect the vaginal and cervical cells to be tested for human papillomavirus (HPV)the virus that causes virtually all cervical cancersthey could get screened from home, just as home-based stool samples can be used to detect colon cancer, he said.

"What we have seen is this persistent group of women who continue to get cervical cancer every year," said Sahasrabuddhe, who oversees studies involving HPV-related cancers. "And that number is really not going down."

Federal officials hope the research will fast-track a test approved by the Food and Drug Administration that could be part of screening guidelines if self-sampling is proved effective, Sahasrabuddhe said. Rather than wait for self-sampling studies to be done by the individual companies that make the HPV tests for clinicians, federal officials will team up with the companies, academic institutions and others in a public-private partnership, he explained. NCI officials, who expect to spend about $6 million in federal funds, will oversee the study's data and analysis.

"If every company goes and does their own trial, they may take years to achieve it," Sahasrabuddhe said. "We want to accelerate that process."

HPV self-sampling, already promoted in countries such as Australia and the Netherlands, is one of several approaches that U.S. cervical cancer researchers are pursuing. Another key strategy involves vaccinating adolescents against HPV, which is transmitted through sexual activity. As of 2018, nearly 54% of girls had been fully vaccinated by age 17, as had almost 49% of boys, according to the most recent federal data. The countries that have had better success in reducing cervical cancerone analysis predicts that Australia is on track to eliminate the diseasehave emphasized HPV vaccination for adolescents.

Federal officials still advise vaccinated women to get regularly screened, as the vaccine doesn't guard against all the strains that cause cervical cancer. But persuading some women to come into the office for the physical exam is sometimes a tough sell.

For some, access or cost may be an issue. Most insurance plans cover screening and there are also some public programs, but uninsured women who are unaware of them may have to pay for an office visit and test. Besides, women can't always break away from work or find child care, or they may have had "negative emotions or experiences in the past with pelvic exams," said Rachel Winer, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health who studies HPV self-sampling.

Roughly 4 out of 5 women get regularly screened for cervical cancer, but the rates peaked around 2000 and have been on a slight decline since, according to federal data. That figure, which is based on patient self-reporting, may be optimistic. Another analysis, which looked at the medical records of 27,418 Minnesota women ages 30 to 65, found that nearly 65% were up to date as of 2016, according to the findings, published last year in the Journal of Women's Health.

"Sadly, I think our data is probably more reflective of what's happening with screening rates in our country," said Dr. Kathy MacLaughlin, a study author and researcher at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

One hurdle to getting screened may be the complexity of the guidelines, MacLaughlin said. Rather than an easy-to-remember annual exam, screenings occur at intervals of longer than a year. A woman's age helps determine when the HPV test or a Pap smear, which collects cells from the cervix to look for precancerous changes, is recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

"It's just that challenge of, how do any of us remember to do something every three years or every five years?" MacLaughlin said. "That's hard."

While the NCI hasn't yet settled on the precise self-sampling approach it will use, the technique generally requires the woman to insert a tiny brush into her vagina and rotate it several times to collect the cells. Then she slides the brush into a specimen container that has a preservative solution and returns the kit for HPV analysis.

According to a review of studies published in 2018 in the medical journal BMJ, the accuracy of identifying HPV was similar when the samples were collected by women at home as when collected by clinicians. A urine-based HPV test, which may prove easier for women to perform, also is being studied, said Jennifer Smith, a professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina's Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Before companies can pursue applications for an FDA-approved home test, self-sampling by women has to be shown comparable to detect HPV, though perhaps it may not be quite as accurate as when a clinician is involved, Sahasrabuddhe said. NCI officials are still finalizing study details. But the plan is to invite four companies that already manufacture HPV tests for clinicians to participate, Sahasrabuddhe said. The companies will pick up the tab for the cost of the tests as well as future fees related to pursuing license applications through the FDA, he said. Sahasrabuddhe expects the study results to be available by 2024, if not sooner.

Any woman who tests positive for HPV will be referred for procedures, including possibly a biopsy, to look for abnormal cells or cervical cancer, Sahasrabuddhe said.

If an FDA-approved home test is developed, it's crucial that uninsured women and others who don't have easy access to medical care be able to get those procedures, Smith said.

"You just don't send random kits out to people's homes," Smith said, "and not ensure that they have someone to talk to about the results and are going to be able to be integrated into a follow-up system."

Explore further Mailed self-sampling kits helped more women get screened for cervical cancer

2020 Kaiser Health News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Dr. Nita Patel, Novavax director of antibody discovery and vaccine development, examines a vial of the company's experimental COVID-19 vaccine

The US on Tuesday announced it was providing $1.6 billion in funding for the development and manufacture of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate produced by biotech firm Novavax, the largest amount awarded under Operation Warp Speed.

Separately, the US also said it was providing $450 million to Regeneron for its experimental COVID-19 treatment and prophylaxis, a combination of two antibodies.

Under the terms of its agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense, Novavax agrees to deliver 100 million doses of its vaccine, potentially by the end of the year.

"We are honored to partner with Operation Warp Speed to move our vaccine candidate forward with extraordinary urgency in the quest to provide vital protection to our nation's population," said Stanley Erck, the company's president and CEO.

The final stage Phase 3 trial of its vaccine, called NVX-CoV2373, is set to take place this fall.

The Maryland-based company uses insect cells to grow synthesized pieces of the SARS-CoV-2's "spike protein," which the virus uses to invade cells, in order to trigger the human body's immune response.

It also uses an "adjuvant," a compound that boosts the production of neutralizing antibodies.

In the spring, the company said it had proven the efficacy of a seasonal flu vaccine it had developed using similar technology.

The amount awarded to Novavax by the US is higher than the $1.2 billion given to the Oxford University vaccine that is being developed by AstraZeneca.

Under Operation Warp Speed, the US is aiming to deliver millions of doses of safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 in 2021.

Also Tuesday, the US said it was providing New York-state based Regeneron with $450 million to scale up manufacture of its COVID0-19 antibody treatment.

The company, which announced on Monday it was entering late stage human trials, estimates that it could have between 70,000 and 300,000 treatment doses, with the first available by late summer.

The drug, called REGN-COV2, is a combination of two antibodies that block the coronavirus' spike protein.

Regeneron scientists evaluated thousands of antibodies harvested from genetically-modified mice with human immune systems and from humans, identifying the two they found to be most potent, while not competing against each other.

The company uses a multi-antibody strategy to decrease the chances that the virus will mutate in order to evade the blocking action of a single antibody, an approach it detailed in a recent study in Science.

Last year, a triple antibody cocktail developed by Regeneron was shown to be effective against the Ebola virus.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
Chilblains

(HealthDay)In a case series of 31 patients, published online June 25 in JAMA Dermatology, chilblains did not appear to be directly associated with COVID-19.

Anne Herman, M.D., from the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Brussels, and colleagues examined whether chilblains are associated with COVID-19 in a monocentric case series conducted at a tertiary care hospital. Thirty-one patients who had recently developed chilblains were included.

The researchers found that the patients were generally in good health and most were teenagers or young adults. The diagnosis of chilblains was confirmed in histopathologic analysis of skin biopsy specimens, and occasional lymphocytic or microthrombotic phenomena were observed. In seven patients, immunofluorescence analysis showed vasculitis of small-diameter vessels.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remained undetected by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction on nasopharyngeal swabs and in biopsy samples of skin lesions for all patients. In all patients, immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G antibody titers were negative for SARS-CoV-2. There were no significant abnormalities noted in blood test results indicative of systemic disease.

"We report several cases of chilblains occurring mainly in young people during the COVID-19 pandemic," the authors write. "We hypothesize that these skin lesions may be caused by lifestyle changes brought on by containment and lockdown measures. Dermatologic lesions, even if increasingly observed during the current pandemic, should be carefully interpreted."

Copyright  2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Chile surpassed 300,000 coronavirus cases on Tuesday after reporting more than 2,400 new infections over the last 24 hours, prompting the South American country to move ahead with easing its lockdown.

There were 50 new deaths, bringing the total to more than 6,400, although the health ministry believes another 3,500 deaths were probably caused by the virus.

Chile's numbers have been declining for more than three weeks, and the country is now planning to ease confinement measures.

"We confirm an improvement that has been going on for 23 days," said Health Minister Enrique Paris.

The metropolitan region of the capital Santiagohome to 7.1 million people, more than a third of Chile's total populationis also home to 80 percent of all cases.

Paris said the numbers in the capital had dropped a bit, but 24 percent of tests taken are coming back positivestill a high rate.

With plans for a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions under way, Paris warned that authorities still need to be cautious.

In mid-April, President Sebastian Pinera announced that the virus had reached a plateau, with daily new cases hitting 500.

He introduced a plan to relax containment measures that some experts say led to an exponential increase in cases.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
(HealthDay)With the number of coronavirus cases in the United States approaching 3 million on Monday, hospitals across the Sun Belt continued to be flooded with COVID-19 patients.

Arizona reached 89 percent capacity for ICU beds, as Alabama, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas also reported unprecedented numbers of hospitalizations, the Washington Post reported.

For the 28th day in a row, the country's rolling seven-day average of daily new cases obliterated previous records, though the number of deaths nationwide has remained relatively stable, the newspaper reported.

Testing centers across the country are now being stretched to their limits, according to the Post. In many cities, a combination of factors are fueling the problem: a shortage of key supplies, backlogs at laboratories that perform the tests, and surging infection counts as cases climb in almost 40 states.

Forget any talk about a second wave of COVID-19 infections, because America is "still knee deep in the first wave," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday, the Post reported. Unlike Europe, "we never came down to baseline and now are surging back up," he explained.

Other public health experts have issued similar warnings.

"We're right back where we were at the peak of the epidemic during the New York outbreak," former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Sunday on the CBS show, "Face the Nation," the Post reported. "The difference now is that 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. And Florida looks to be in the worst shape."

On Monday, new coronavirus cases in that state exceeded 6,300, NBC Miami reported. That is a drop from the 10,000 new cases a day the state has experienced multiple times in recent weeks, the Post reported.

Florida's total caseload passed 206,400, a grim milestone only reached so far by three other statesNew York, California and Texasthe New York Times reported.

Meanwhile, the virus appears to be spreading wildly in Arizona, as hospitals rushed to expand capacity and adopted practices similar to those employed at the height of the outbreak in New York City and Italy, the Post reported. Those measures include doubling up hospital beds in rooms, pausing elective surgeries and bringing in health-care workers from other states.

So far, coronavirus death counts have not matched the spikes in new infections, however.

"What we're able to do is when people do get hospitalized and get into the ICU, we're able to save more lives with treatments like remdesivir, with steroids now, which has a big impact on mortality, and innovations in care like using blood thinners on patients and not intubating them as aggressively," Gottlieb explained.

As cases skyrocket, 'pooled' testing strategy tried

Case counts could get even worse.

The nation's top infectious disease expert warned that daily case counts could soon top 100,000 a day if the spread of COVID-19 isn't slowed.

"I can't make an accurate prediction, but it is going to be very disturbing, I will guarantee you that, because when you have an outbreak in one part of the country, even though in other parts of the country they are doing well, they are vulnerable," Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a Senate committee hearing last week.

"We've really got to do something about that, and we need to do it quickly," Fauci testified during questioning from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

One new strategy that U.S. health officials plan to adopt is "pooled" coronavirus testing, the Times reported. The decades-old method would vastly increase the number of virus tests performed in the United States.

Instead of carefully rationing tests to only those with symptoms, pooled testing would allow frequent surveillance of asymptomatic people, the newspaper reported. Mass identification of coronavirus infections could hasten the reopening of schools, offices and factories.

With pooled testing, nasal or saliva swabs are taken from large groups of people. Setting aside part of each individual's sample, a lab then combines the rest into a batch holding five to 10 samples each. If a pooled sample yields a positive result, the lab would retest the reserved parts of each individual sample that went into the pool, pinpointing the infected person, according to the Times.

"We're in intensive discussions about how we're going to do it," Fauci told the Times. "We hope to get this off the ground as soon as possible."

A handful of states have actually brought the virus under control after being slammed in the early stages of the pandemic. Determined to keep case counts low, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey have said they will now mandate quarantines for travelers coming from states that are experiencing large spikes in new cases, the Times said.

By Tuesday, the U.S. coronavirus case count neared 3 million as the death toll passed 130,000, according to a Times tally.

According to the same tally, the top five states in coronavirus cases as of Tuesday were: New York with over 402,000; California with over 277,800; Texas with more than 209, 000; Florida with over 206,000; and New Jersey with more than 175,400.

Vaccines and treatments

There has been some good news in recent weeks, however. Researchers at Oxford University in England announced that dexamethasone, a widely used, low-cost steroid, appears to cut the death rate for ventilated COVID-19 patients by one-third. It also lowered the death rate for patients who require oxygen (but are not yet on a ventilator) by one-fifth, the Times reported.

"Bottom line is, good news," Fauci, who directs the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Associated Press. "This is a significant improvement in the available therapeutic options that we have."

But at least three manufacturers of the drug have reported shortages, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, STAT News reported. Two of the manufacturers cited increased demand as a reason for their shortages.

Meanwhile, the search for an effective vaccine continues.

The federal government will pay Novavax $1.6 billion to speed development of 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by the beginning of next year, the Times reported.

The deal is the largest that the Trump administration has made so far with a company as part of Operation Warp Speed, a federal effort to make coronavirus vaccines and treatments available to the American public as quickly as possible, the Times said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had already said that it would provide up to $1.2 billion to the drug company AstraZeneca to develop a potential coronavirus vaccine from Oxford University, in England.

That research agreement funds a clinical trial of the potential vaccine in the United States this summer with about 30,000 volunteers, the Times reported.

The goal? To make at least 300 million doses that could be available as early as October, the HHS said in a statement.

The United States has already agreed to provide up to $483 million to the biotech company Moderna and $500 million to Johnson & Johnson for their vaccine efforts. It is also providing $30 million to a virus vaccine effort led by the French company Sanofi, the Times reported. Moderna said a large clinical trial of its vaccine candidate could begin in July.

Nations grapple with pandemic

Elsewhere in the world, the situation remains challenging.

Even as the pandemic is easing in Europe and some parts of Asia, it is worsening in India. As officials in New Delhi worked to test all of the city's 29 million residents, the number of coronavirus cases passed 719,600 on Tuesday, making it the country with the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases and pushing many hospitals to their breaking point, the Times reported.

Brazil has also become a hotspot in the coronavirus pandemic, with well over 1.6 million confirmed infections by Tuesday, according to the Hopkins tally. It has the second-highest number of cases, behind only the United States.

Cases are also spiking wildly in Russia: As of Tuesday, that country reported the world's fourth-highest number of COVID-19 cases, at nearly 693,000, the Hopkins tally showed.

Worldwide, the number of reported infections passed 11.4 million on Tuesday, with nearly 538,000 deaths, according to the Hopkins tally.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the new coronavirus

Copyright  2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Aerial view of asylum camp for refugees in Swifterbant, Flevoland, Holland. Credit: Shutterstock/AerovistaLuchtfotografie

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a crisis among asylum seekers and refugees in the Netherlands. According to our research, the start of the pandemic saw an information vacuum within this community, leading to a general atmosphere of confusion and anxiety and the spread of fake news.

When our fieldwork with asylum seekers, refugees and unauthorised migrants in Amsterdam was interrupted due to the lockdown we decided to speak to the people who work with these groups every day to get a wider understanding of how the COVID-19 crisis was affecting these communities. We conducted interviews with NGO workers, migration officers and volunteers. Our interview subjects were working with people staying in reception centres (where asylum seekers await the outcome of their legal case) and detention centres (where migrants whose claims have been rejected wait to be returned to their home country), as well as other accommodation like houses and shelters.

Almost everyone we interviewed told us that many of the people they were helping had experienced stress or some sort of personal crisis due to the lack of access to reliable information.

Research shows that long asylum procedures cause psychological damage. Our interviews illustrated that on top of this stress the pandemic was bringing back traumatic memories of war in those from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan. While some African refugees were worried the Ebola crisis might be triggered again and many others feared for the family they had left behind.

In addition to these usual stresses, asylum seekers were having to wait even longer for a decision on their legal status (and, consequently, to be reunited with their families). We found that pandemic-related stress factors added to the growing list of worries influencing the mental state of refugees.

The language barrier

Some of the issues we identified included, the lack of shelter during the day, the postponement of legal procedures and a general feeling of insecurity about the future. This particular feeling was fed by misinformation. During the initial phase of the crisis, official communications from the government and relevant authorities were only in Dutch, English and sign language. These are languages that many refugees and asylum seekers don't speak or understand.

This confusion led to the spread of fake news. Examples of inaccurate stories included: how taking vitamin C could stop you getting COVID-19 and how holding your breath was a good way to test whether you were infected.

But the misinformation also related to rumours and hearsay. In one particular centre, it led to some fearing that "contaminated" asylum seekers would be transferred to a large container that was placed in front of their buildingthe container was actually intended for the separation of waste.

Cafes and helpesks

The use of interpreters to provide newcomers with correct information and to help facilitate their access to healthcare became vital and was taken up by several NGOs.

We discovered that some informal initiatives became very important in filling the information vacuum. For example, information cafes organised by NGOs to inform asylum seekers and refugees about the crisis and to give them the opportunity to ask questions worked really well.

About two weeks after the lockdown, Pharos (an expert centre for healthcare) translated and circulated government information about the virus, precautions and government policies intoamong othersArabic, Tigrinya and Farsi. Since then, translating centre, Global Talk, has translated the government press conferences into eight languages so that refugees are directly informed on the developments.

Several other grassroots organisations also established the Corona Action Committee for Refugees (CAS) which started a helpdesk where people can ask all types of questions in Tigrinya and Arabic. But volunteers experience several problems. One told us: "Normally, refugees have someone literally standing next to their computer and helping them, but that is not possible now. And it is very difficult for us to remotely apply for social or unemployment benefits. That is a hell of a job. And it is not that you can say: 'Just turn on Zoom or just turn on Skype' because they don't have that, either."

Many newcomers are stuck in the Dutch bureaucracy and it is very complicated to remotely support them. How do you explain by telephone how someone with an outdated computer system can fill in complicated official forms? How do you help with homeschooling if the facilities just aren't there?

Helpdesk volunteers are not receiving formal support from the government yet. The volunteers we spoke to say this needs to happen soon so refugees can understand vital information about how Dutch society works. Refugees need to be given the tools to help themselves, otherwise they face being caught in a permanent cycle of anxiety, bureaucracy and fear.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Huawei Enterprise BG introduced the Intelligent World 2030 vision for Indian industries at its flagship India Ecosystem Partner Summit 2020. Held in a live streaming virtual session, the summit saw Huawei update its network of partners and customers on India Enterprise BGs performance, business strategy and partner programs and incentives for India, one of its most important markets.

Speaking on the occasion, David Li, CEO, Huawei India said, India is very strategic for our Enterprise business, and we have a long-term commitment to this country. Today, we are slowly starting to resume economic activity under the new-normal, and I firmly believe that it is more important than ever to collaborate and work together. World over it is being observed that enterprise-led digital innovations are driving economic activity and resurgence. This is the time for the Indian ICT industry to step up and fully realize its potential in finding ICT-enabled solutions to support on-ground requirements. There is a lot that Huawei can contribute here for Indias nation building. We have been part of Indias story for 20-years and are committed to collaborate for new 5G+AI based technologies, develop new skillset and support new ICT infrastructure for the realization of Indias digital ambitions.

Derek Hao, President, Huawei India Enterprise Business said: The next decade will witness rapid development of new ICT. Huawei believes that new types of connectivity, computing, platform, and ecosystem will build a solid foundation for the intelligent world of 2030. Ultra-broadband and high-speed networking built using 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and quantum communications will bridge the physical and digital worlds, laying a foundation for the intelligent world.

He added, The partner summit is a great opportunity for us to thank our valued India partners and customers. We are grateful for the many resilient and fruitful relationships that we have forged over the years in India. I am delighted to state that in 2019, our India Enterprise business not only saw a significant expansion in the number of local partners, but our Indian partners witnessed significant revenue growth with Huawei business. We look forward to continuing this growth story with our existing relationships as well as forging new ones in the future.

The Intelligent World 2030 will be built on the foundation of new types of connectivity, computing, platform, and ecosystem. It will enable the intelligent development of a wide variety of industries, including urban development, manufacturing, energy, finance, transportation, and so on. In this future, information will flow with new ICT, such as 5G, AI, and IoT, and will help build the foundation from which everything originates.

Huawei believes that the future intelligent world 2030 will have five features  From the government aspect, people-oriented digital governments will be built to better adapt to peoples livelihoods. From the economic aspect, a dynamic labor force will bring considerable advantages, for instance intelligent robots are set to play a critical role in our economic development. From the social resources aspect, digital technology will enable the efficient sharing and proper distribution of education, healthcare, and other public resources, achieving digital fairness. From the cultural aspect, people will be freed from heavy physical labor and tedious repetitive work, and their focus will naturally shift from mere material value to mental value. Finally, in terms of the environment, thanks to the deployment of various digital technologies, we will be able to monitor and control carbon emissions more effectively and, as a result, make the world a better place to live.

The intelligent world of 2030 cannot exist without the digital transformation of industries across the spectrum. Huawei has accumulated extensive experience in helping industries such as government, transportation, finance, and electric power to achieve digital transformation for the present and the future, through new connectivity, computing, platform, and ecosystem. Currently, more than 700 cities worldwide and 228 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, including 58 of the Fortune Global 100 companies have selected Huawei as their partner for digital transformation.

Huawei Enterprise Groups Platform + AI + Ecosystem strategy focuses on cooperation with ecosystem partners, governments and enterprises to build a solid foundation for the intelligent world with new types of connectivity, computing, platform, and ecosystem, and together delivering to the promise of the intelligent era.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Cases of brain disease linked to COVID-19 are occurring across the globe, a new review by University of Liverpool researchers has shown.

Published in The Lancet Neurology, the study found that strokes, delirium and other brain complications are reported from most countries where there have been large outbreaks of the disease.

COVID-19 has been associated mostly with problems like difficulty breathing, fever and cough. However, as the pandemic has continued, it has become increasingly clear that other problems can occur in patients. These include confusion, stroke, inflammation of the brain, spinal cord, and other kinds of nerve disease.

A recent Liverpool-led study of COVID-19 patients hospitalised in the UK found a range of neurological and psychiatric complications that may be linked to the disease.

To get a sense of the wider picture, the researchers brought together and analysed findings from COVID-19 studies across the globe that reported on neurological complications. The review, which included studies from China, Italy and the U.S. among others, found almost 1000 patients with COVID-19-associated brain, spinal cord and nerve disease.

Research Fellow, Dr. Suzannah Lant, who was working on the project, said: "Whilst these complications are relatively uncommon, the huge numbers of COVID-19 cases globally mean the overall number of patients with neurological problems is likely to be quite large."

One of the complications found to be linked to COVID-19 is encephalitis, which is inflammation and swelling of the brain.

Dr. Ava Easton, CEO of the Encephalitis Society, and co-author on the paper said: "It is really important that doctors around the world recognise that COVID-19 can cause encephalitis and other brain problems, which often have potentially devastating, life-changing consequences for patients."

Professor Tom Solomon, senior author on the paper and Director of the Global COVID-Neuro Network, added: "Although such patients are being seen everywhere the virus occurs, many of the reports are lacking in detail. We are currently pooling data from individual patients all around the world, so that we can get a more complete picture. Doctors who would like to contribute patients to this analysis can contact us via the Global COVID-Neuro Network website."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: Mark A Ellul et al. Neurological associations of COVID-19, The Lancet Neurology (2020). Journal information: Lancet Neurology Mark A Ellul et al. Neurological associations of COVID-19,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(20)30221-0
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Two new studies examine the health and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 who have undergone kidney transplantation or are receiving hemodialysis. The findings appear in an upcoming issue of CJASN.

During the global COVID-19 pandemic, it's important to identify individuals who are at high risk of developing severe forms of the disease. Kidney transplant recipientswho take life-long immunosuppressive drugs and tend to have additional illnessesmay be especially vulnerable. Early reports indicate that kidney transplant recipients who are hospitalized for COVID-19 have similar symptoms and outcomes as other patients, but little is known about how they fare in the outpatient setting, when they are not admitted to a hospital.

To provide insights, clinicians led by Sumit Mohan, MD, MPH and S. Ali Husain, MD, MPH (Columbia University Medical Center) described their early experience with outpatient kidney transplant recipients with established or suspected COVID-19 seen at their medical center.

Of 41 patients who were included, 22 (54%) had confirmed COVID-19 and 19 (46%) were suspected cases. Patients most commonly reported fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Most patients' symptoms went away without the need for hospitalization. Thirteen (32%) patients required hospitalization, and these patients were more likely to have shortness of breath and higher levels of a blood marker for impaired kidney function. There were no differences in demographics or medical illnesses between those who were or were not admitted to the hospital.

"In the midst of the pandemic surge in New York, many transplant recipients needed to be monitored remotely. Our report underscores the fact that a comprehensive outpatient monitoring protocol could provide adequate clinical care and excellent outcomes for outpatient kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 by allowing identification of those individuals who would benefit from inpatient care," said Dr. Husain.

Of note, the study revealed a wide variation in the amount of time it took patients to improve. Among the patients who were hospitalized, the average time between symptom onset and admission was 8 days (similar to the general US population), but one patient was admitted 16 days after symptoms started. Among the patients with outpatient management, the average time from symptom onset to improvement was 12 days, with one patient taking 23 days before symptoms improved. "These findings show that patients must be followed until improvement to watch for late worsening of symptoms requiring hospitalization," Dr. Husain said.

Another study led by Xiangyou Li, Ph.D. (Tongren Hospital of Wuhan University) investigated the clinical features of patients with kidney failure on hemodialysis who developed COVID-19. The study included 49 hospitalized dialysis patients and 52 hospitalized patients without kidney failure (controls) with confirmed COVID-19 in Wuhan, China from January 30th to March 10th.

Fever, fatigue, and dry cough were the dominant symptoms in controls, whereas the most common symptoms in patients on dialysis were fatigue and anorexia, with fever and cough being less common.

Common complications including shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome, arrhythmia, and acute cardiac injury were significantly higher in patients on dialysis. Also, 14% of patients on hemodialysis died, compared with 4% of controls.

An accompanying editorial stresses the need for more research and guidance related to COVID-19 in these patient populations. "As time passes, a treatment protocol based on patient characteristics, phase of illness, and disease severity using antivirals, anti-coagulation, immunomodulators, and immunosuppressive agents will be formulated," the authors wrote. "However, there are concrete steps that the nephrology community can take immediately to optimize the safety of our patients and ourselves."

Explore further Acute kidney injury common in COVID-19 patients at NYC hospital

More information: "Early Outcomes of Outpatient Management of Kidney Transplant Recipients with COVID-19," "Early Outcomes of Outpatient Management of Kidney Transplant Recipients with COVID-19," cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/  0/05/15/CJN.05170420 "Clinical Features of Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients With 2019 Novel Coronavirus-infected Pneumonia in Wuhan, China," cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/  0/05/21/CJN.04160320. "COVID-19 in Patients with Kidney Disease: A High Risk Population," cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/  0/07/06/CJN.09730620.
(HealthDay)A potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria could be hiding in the dirt and water of the southernmost U.S. states, warns a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bacterial infection, called melioidosis, caused the lungs of a 63-year-old Texan to shut down in late 2018, forcing doctors to put him on a ventilator to save his life, the researchers said.

U.S. citizens who've caught melioidosis in the past typically picked it up in a foreign country, but this man had not recently traveled abroad, said Johanna Salzer, a veterinary medical officer with the CDC's Bacterial Special Pathogens Branch.

What's more, the bacteria that caused the man's melioidosis was genetically similar to two prior U.S. cases, one in Texas in 2004 and one in Arizona in 1999.

"We feel like this is evidence that it could be in the environment" in the United States, Salzer said. "We just need to find it."

Melioidosis is caused by the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei. Humans pick up the bacteria by inhaling dust or tiny droplets of water, or by dirt or water getting into an open wound, Salzer said.

There are an estimated 160,000 cases of melioidosis every year around the world, and 89,000 deaths, "which is really high for a disease a lot of people don't know about," Salzer said. It most commonly kills through blood poisoning or respiratory failure.

The fatality rate is estimated to exceed 70% if a person sick with melioidosis is left untreated, Salzer said.

There's no vaccine for the bacteria, and it is naturally resistant to many commonly used antibiotics. These include penicillin, ampicillin, cephalosporins, gentamicin, tobramycin and streptomycin, the researchers said.

Patients often require at least two weeks of IV drugs followed by several months of oral antibiotics to wipe out the infection.

The man, from Atascosa County, Texas, went to the hospital in November 2018. He'd had fever, chest pain and shortness of breath for three days, according to the report in the June issue of the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia, and a blood test revealed a B. pseudomallei infection. He subsequently developed a large ulcer on his chest.

Four days after admission to the hospital, the man stopped breathing and was put on a ventilator. He was transferred to another hospital, which switched him to an antibiotic that was more effective against the bacteria.

The patient left the hospital after three weeks, but remained on daily antibiotics for another three months, according to the report. The disease also injured his kidney, which required dialysis three times a week.

These bacteria are most commonly found in the tropical climates of Southeast Asia, South and Central America, and northern Australia. It also has been detected in two U.S. territories, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Salzer said.

Previously, B. pseudomallei "has never been found in the environment in the continental United States," Salzer said.

Unfortunately, the handful of cases cited by the researchers seem to indicate that the bacteria might have made a home for itself in the southern United States.

"There is global modeling that the bacteria could survive, and survive well, in Texas and areas of Florida," Salzer said.

The CDC plans to partner with academic institutions to search for the bacteria in the continental United States, in much the same way that it was uncovered in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Salzer said.

Melioidosis can be tough to diagnose, Salzer said.

"It's been called the Great Mimicker or the Imitator Disease," Salzer said. "If you're not looking for it, it doesn't have really clear and reliable symptoms in all people."

Symptoms also can take months or years to develop, making it even more difficult for doctors to puzzle out their patient's illness, the report added.

The CDC experts urge doctors to test for the presence of the bacteria in patients in the southwestern United States who:

Have symptoms that seem to indicate pneumonia, blood infection, skin lesions or internal organ abscesses.

Have chronic diseases that put them at increased risk for dangerous infections, especially diabetes or kidney disease.

Don't improve after treatment with commonly used antibiotics.

More than 60% of melioidosis patients have diabetes, including the man in Texas, Salzer said.

Dr. Robert Glatter is an emergency medicine physician with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Lack of an international travel history should not rule out a diagnosis of melioidosis. People who also travel to the southwest U.S. are consequently at increased risk," he said.

"Increased health care provider awareness and education regarding the geographical distribution of this disease along with risk factors and pitfalls for managing melioidosis can help reduce mortality," Glatter added.

More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about Journal information: Emerging Infectious Diseases The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about melioidosis

Copyright  2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Countries' death rates per 1 million people after about three months varied based on how quickly that country adopted a policy to recommend mask-wearing. For countries that recommended masks within 15 days and even countries that recommended masks within 30 days, the death rate from COVID-19 was far lower than for countries that waited longer. Credit: Ryan Knight, Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU

Why have some countries, such as Italy and the United States, faced major public health crises with COVID-19 cases and related deaths, while others seem to have watched the pandemic come and go as merely a blip on the radar? A new study led by Virginia Commonwealth University's Christopher Leffler, M.D., currently in the peer review process, indicates that when governmental face mask requirements were put in place is a big factor.

Leffler, an ophthalmologist at VCU Health and Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, and the other study authors looked at multiple variables across 198 countries, including age, sex ratio, obesity prevalence, temperature, urbanization, smoking, duration of infection, lockdowns, viral testing, contact tracing policies and mask wearing norms and policies.

The study found that the single most important factor that can be controlled is wearing masks in public.

"In countries that recommended face masks early on a national level, or those in which the public wore them early based on cultural norms, the COVID-19 death rate has been lower than projected," said Leffler, an associate professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the VCU School of Medicine. "And it's not just by a few percent, but up to a hundred times lower mortality."

Initial recommendations in the U.S. were that face masks should be reserved for health care workers and only worn by members of the general public who were experiencing symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention then recommended that all Americans wear masks in public beginning April 3, a couple of weeks after all 50 states had reported cases of COVID-19. Meanwhile, several countries in Asia, including Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, which maintains a separate governing system from that of mainland China, began using masks very early and have since demonstrated their effectiveness.

"A number of countries in Asia still have mortality close to 1 in 1 million or less. In the U.S. right now, our coronavirus mortality is 1 in 2,500 people in the population," added Leffler.

Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom also implemented mask-wearing policies much later and have had similarly high rates of infection and death. This is critical information as states, including Virginia, begin the next phase of reopening with looser restrictions on gathering and entering public spacesand as health officials warn that another wave of COVID-19 is possible.

"It's very important for people to wear masks when we're around others, particularly when indoors. That's the bottom line," Leffler said. "This study shows it really can make a difference in preventing the spread of infection and helping us do all the things we want. We want kids to be back in school. We want businesses to be open. We want to live our normal lives."

Masks do not need to be medical quality or prohibitively expensive. When worn properly over the nose and mouth, store-bought or homemade cloth masks can be effective in preventing the spread of respiratory droplets and coronavirus.

It's key to continue frequent and thorough hand-washing, along with social distancing to limit the spread of coronavirus as well.

Leffler brings a unique background and perspective to the study, having completed a residency in occupational and environmental medicine. He also earned a master's degree in public health and served as an undersea medical officer in the Navy. The study, which has been widely shared by researchers, was the most-read paper by a U.S. author during the week of June 22 on the international research database ResearchGate.

"This study from Dr. Leffler and our School of Medicine team underscores the science behind how important it is to wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19," said Peter Buckley, M.D., interim CEO of VCU Health System and interim senior vice president of VCU Health Sciences. "As the CDC has statedand as this study's data showscloth face masks are most effective when used widely in public settings."

Leffler, the study's lead author, collaborated with co-authors from VCU, Central Virginia VA Health Care System, the University of Toronto, the University of Miami, the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, and the Poland Institute for Research in Ophthalmology.

Two additional factors when controlling for other variables were the age of the population, specifically those over 60, and urbanization, Leffler and his co-authors found. These results were not surprising, given that older adults tend to have more adverse outcomes with infection when compared to people who are younger. Cities, where social distancing is often more difficult, are also being hit harder in terms of infection and per capita coronavirus-related mortality rates.

Other factors, such as smoking rate and household income, did not appear to be as significant in affecting mortality due to COVID-19, while less-controllable environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity and sunlight, may be relevant and warrant further investigation.

This research continues to guide studies on related topics, including a Goldman Sachs analysis on the role of face masks in the spread of coronavirus and the associated impact on gross domestic product. The global investment firm confirmed Leffler's findings and proposed that a national face mask mandate could theoretically substitute for stay-at-home orders and improve GDP.

Explore further Countries with early adoption of face masks showed modest COVID-19 infection rates
This map shows data on confirmed cases of COVID-19 exclusively collected from publicly-available sources, including government reports and news media. Courtesy of HealthMap. Credit: Samuel Scarpino

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, epidemiological models continue to provide vital information for lawmakers, public health officials, and individuals trying to slow the spread of the virus.

This has put the modelers conducting this research in the spotlight. And accurately communicating these data and insights to the public has been a challenge.

"We find ourselves asking scientists to do more than simply study the virus," said Mark Patterson, associate dean for research and graduate affairs in Northeastern's College of Science, in a conversation streamed on Facebook Live. "In state houses, in cable news interviews, and on social media, they're translating their data into insights, recommendations, and even advocacy."

Patterson spoke to Samuel Scarpino, head of Northeastern's Emergent Epidemics lab, to discuss how science is being communicated during this pandemic. Scarpino has been working on modeling the coronavirus since January and has been sharing his insights with lawmakers, community groups, and news anchors for months.

"We are providing information, data points, model forecasts, to aid and support decision makingwe are not making policy recommendations," Scarpino said. "That is not the role of these models. It's not the role of the mathematical epidemiology that we do. It is to paint a picture and provide the resources that are necessary for the policymakers to make the decisions around how they want to move forward to best protect their populations and also try to support the economy and ensure that individuals have the health services that they need."

Your research has concluded that we as a nation were too slow to act in curbing the spread of the virus. Do you believe the policymakers and the public were not ready to hear the science behind COVID-19, or that the scientists themselves were not prepared to communicate? Or was it a mixture of both?

There were certainly a lot of complexities early on in the pandemic that led to the slow response in the United States and many other countries. One aspect was certainly because this was a novel disease. We were learning about the biology, the sociology, in real time, as the outbreak started to unfold. That's one of the reasons why the messaging around things like face mask wearing has changed, because our understanding of the importance of that type of intervention has shifted.

However, when I think back to early February, March, it was very clear that the disease was spreading rapidly in China, that it was starting to move out of China into surrounding countries. We were starting to see early cases in the United States. And that was the opportunity to ramp up testing, and to focus on testing individuals who met the case definition, meaning the symptoms that are associated with COVID, as opposed to just focusing on travel history.

So what we saw, retrospectively, is that a number of early introductions on the West CoastSeattle, Californiawere stopped with public health measures. We identified the cases, we performed contact tracing and isolation, and we prevented the outbreak from taking hold. However, once the pandemic was seeded in Europe, and we started having cases come into the eastern United States, we were no longer finding those individuals because we had both a low capacity to test and we were focused heavily on China, and were missing those individuals that were traveling through Europe in the United States.

In a situation like this, do scientists need to become advocates for using data, if policy issues or if government organizations are either unwilling to understand the message or unwilling to implement the necessary health measures? Is it fair to ask scientists to be advocates?

I think it's certainly an expectation that scientists should have of themselves that if there is an opportunity and a need to advocate on behalf of the research that you're involved in, then those kinds of advocacy methods or approaches are important.

However, it's impossible for almost anyone to be an effective advocate, an effective communicator of science, overnight. And so one of the things that we're seeing as an increasingly important part of scientific training is ensuring that individuals have the science communication training, the advocacy training, but importantly that they have the support network around them, because most of us are not, and will not ever be, experts in public policy, in advocacy, in science communication.

I think you really have to be building that skill set and building those networks of collaboration before the pandemic hits, so that you're not trying to implement all this as you're also learning about a new disease and trying to stop it in its tracks.

The United States is significantly behind other countries and we've got very lax and uneven state policies with regard to managing the health aspects of this crisis. Do you think we really need a command and control at the national level to deal with something at the scale of a country? Are you an advocate for national control as opposed to regional, state-level measures?

One of the challenging aspects about the COVID-19 pandemic has been the essential absence of leadership at the federal level. So we know that the CDC has really not been a daily feature as they were in 2009 with H1N1, in 2015 for Ebola, and with Zika virus as it was hitting our continent. And so that sort of void is also part of the reason why many scientists have had to step up into these advocacy and public policy rolesbecause the traditional venues where that advocacy is communicated, where the science is translated into policy, have not been available.

And what we're seeing is the need for federal coordination when it comes to implementing things like mask-wearing, testing, approving testing, determining what are safe and effective measures for keeping cases from growing into large local epidemics.

All that being said, of course, you think back to April, as Boston was experiencing one of the largest surges of COVID-19 in the globe, there were parts of the U.S. like Arizona, Texas, Florida that were not seeing very large outbreaks. And now, of course, things have flipped and Boston is continuing to see day over day, week over week, declines in cases while they're spiking in Arizona. And so we need a system where there's federal-level coordination, but also flexibility at the local level to respond to differences in what's happening in people's neighborhoods.

I wonder if you could tell us a little bit of the modeling approaches you and your team have been taking. For example, how do you scale up from helping the mayor of Boston, to then helping the governor of Massachusetts, to then helping the regional group of governors in New England, manage something of this magnitude?

The first step that we took from the modeling approach was to begin building large scale data sets around COVID-19. One of the things that we know from past outbreaks, from past pandemics, is that it's very difficult to get high-resolution, accurate, validated data, especially early on during a pandemic to power those models that we've been seeing across the front page of The New York Times and The Washington Post.

So we stood up a volunteer consortium across the globe, institutions like Oxford and Beijing Normal University, Northeastern, University of Washington, collaborating with technologists at Boston Children's Hospital, Healthmap, Mapbox and now Google to build a comprehensive data set around COVID-19 to power these mathematical models.

In terms, then, of actually scaling, part of that scaling is the preparation ahead of time. Researchers at Northeastern University like Alessandro Vespignani and the MOBS lab have been building towards COVID-19, in terms of their response to past outbreaks, for decades. And so they have the computational infrastructure, they have the political experience in terms of navigating the various state, federal, international organizations, to be able to rapidly deploy these kinds of tools. So it's a combination of building the data sets and tailoring the models to the specific policy questions that affect Boston, affect Massachusetts, affect the United States, affect our global community, but then also having the frameworks and foundations in place so that you're ready to deploy even before the pandemic happens.

Tell us a little bit about the open source data essentially crowdsourced from your community of scientists and medical experts out there. And why would this data not be available already with modern healthcare systems?

Why the data would not be available is the kind of question that would require essentially a dissertation to fully answer.

Why isn't the World Health Organization able to collect and share epidemiologic data? It's part of their mandate, but they have to negotiate with all of their member states, many of whom barely get along with each other, and all of the data-sharing agreements, the collection, what can and can't be accessed by whom and for what has to be negotiated. And typically it has to be negotiated as the pandemic is unfolding. We saw this during Ebola, we saw this during H1N1, we saw this during Zika and chikungunya.

So we were anticipating the complexities around data-sharing by these nongovernmental organizations or government organizations like the CDCa similar kind of complexity, in terms of data sharing as it interfaces with politics, affects the CDC's ability to share information from state and local health agencies across the United States.

However, what has changed since 2009 is that vast amounts of health data, epidemiologic data, are reported through news sources, through public channels, coming out of state, county, and city health departments and national health departments.

And so two individuals in particularMoritz Kraemer, who's a research fellow at Oxford, and David Pigott, who is an assistant professor at University of Washingtonrealized that we needed to begin entering these data ourselves into an open source comprehensive database. And those individuals grew to what is a team of now over 100 people. We've entered about 2 million individual records from 150 countries. We have brought on engineers from google.org to help us scale the technology and computational infrastructure behind the data. We brought on brilliant designers and product managers.

We're rebranding ourselves under this new kind of international consortium, of which Northeastern is a major part, to not just provide data for COVID-19 over the coming weeks, months, and probably years, but also for the next pandemic that we know is coming in the future.

What's your read of the national situation with respect to what your models are predicting? What's in store for the fall and how does aerosol transmission, transmission just through being in the same airspace as somebody, figure into this as we go back to work?

Part of the reason the lockdowns were so important is that we needed to make sure that the entire country doesn't synchronize with respect to COVID, because then all of the healthcare systems will be overwhelmed at the same time, which is what we were doing with the 'flatten the curve'preventing the healthcare systems from being overwhelmed.

And so we were very aware of the likely scenario that we would see outbreaks in New York City, Boston, the East Coast, the places that had the first cases. And then we would likely see outbreaks in other large cities in the U.S. and comparatively more suburban and rural areas later into the summer. And so this kind of pattern is almost exactly what we were expecting with, of course, variability in terms of magnitude in the predictions.

We know that mask-wearing is highly effective at stopping transmission. We now know that probably 80 percent of transmission events result from 10 or 20 percent of people that are infected. And so a combination of reducing gathering sizes and mask wearing will dramatically slow down COVID-19. So when we see states like Arizona, Texas, Florida, opening up, having large gatherings, not enforcing mask-wearing, given that they hadn't had an outbreak yet, it's essentially a perfect storm for generating the kinds of massive waves that we're seeing now.

Now, the question around the fall is one that's very, very hard to answer. It's really going to depend on mask-wearing. It's going to depend on what decisions are made around how to reopen different parts of our society. It's going to depend on how this coronavirus will interact with influenzathat's something that we don't know very much about for this particular coronavirus.

It's going to depend on the specifics of how transmission works, in terms of our social network structure. That affects quite a bit where the herd immunity threshold, which is the fraction of individuals that have to be immune for there to be a low chance of an outbreak turning into an epidemic, is.

These are all questions that we're learning right now, and still don't have a great answer for.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Coronavirus infection rates continue to rise, with the number of new cases climbing in dozens of states and the U.S. reporting record numbers of cases on individual days. Hospitalization across the U.S. has dramatically jumped; some cities are seeing surges that threaten to overwhelm their health care systems.

Meanwhile, the demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd brought tens of thousands into the streets, congregating shoulder-to-shoulder. Many are the victims of tear gassing by police, potentially increasing the risk of transmission and infection. The latest models indicate COVID-19's U.S. death toll could reach 170,000 by October. A second wave this fallor the continuation of an unabated first wavecould make that number even higher.

But these are not unprecedented times.

As a historian of medicine at the University of Michigan, I am a student of the 1918 influenza pandemic. It remains the deadliest public health event in recorded history. There are lessons to be learned from what happened a century ago. True, there are differences between then and now. Then we were a nation at war, with an economy led by manufacturing and a male-dominated workforce. We had far less medical and scientific knowledge. And it was an entirely different virus. But striking similarities exist between how we reacted to the pandemic in 1918, and how we're responding now.

Lessons from the last century

The city of Denver, Colorado, is perhaps the most relevant case study. As the epidemic skyrocketed, officials ordered the immediate closure of schools, churches, and places of public amusement. Indoor public gatherings were banned. Such action, it was argued, would save lives and money.

The business community agreed. One theater owner put it this way: "I shall sacrifice gladly all that I have and hope to have, if by so doing I can be the means of saving one life."

That noble sense of civic duty quickly faded as townspeople took to congregating outdoors. They met in the busy downtown shopping district and at outdoor church services and lodge meetings. Business owners and those thrown out of work by the closure orders decried these gatherings; they were bearing the brunt of the closures, they said, while the public shirked its duty. Denver's health officer, calling out the "criminal neglect" of those at the open-air assemblies, added outdoor gatherings to the prohibitions.

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Within just two weeks of the closures, residents grew restless. As records of new cases leveled off, many demanded an end to both the closure order and gathering ban. Giving in to the pressure, the mayor and health officer announced the measures would be lifted on Nov. 11, 1918. That dayin a horrible twist of fateturned out to be Armistice Day. Thousands thronged the streets, hotels, theaters, and auditoriums of Denver to celebrate both the end of World War I and the pandemic. But only one of them was truly over.

Health authorities realized a new surge of influenza deaths were likely but acknowledged there was little they could do. "There is no use trying to lay down any rules regarding the peace celebration," said one official, "as the lid is off entirely."

The next wave hits

The surge came hard and fast. Within a week, physicians reported hundreds of new cases and dozens of deaths per day. Officials responded with another set of closure orders and gathering bans. Theaters, bowling alleys, pool halls, and other places of public amusement were shut down. Affected business owners, complaining they were singled-out, formed an "amusement council," and demanded the city close all places of congregation or issue a mask order. City officials acceded. They put a mask order in place.

Enforcement was an issue. Residents routinely refused to wear masks even when threatened with arrest and hefty fines. The mayor soon realized the futility of the order. "Why, it would take half the population to make the other half wear masks," he said. "You can't arrest all the people, can you?" Officials then backed off again: they would recommend mask use, not require it.

Except for streetcar conductors. They still had to wear them, said the city. Bristled at being singled out, the conductors threatened to strike. A walkout was averted when city officials again watered down the order. Conductors only had to wear them during rush hour commutes. The new provisions were all but useless, and a few days later the mask rule was abolished.

Denver's epidemic continued for several months. It was unchecked by any public health orders, save for isolation and quarantine for those with the illness. The result: a second spike of deaths higher than the first, and one of the nation's largest per capita death tolls.

History could repeat itself

Surely at least some of this sounds familiar. If Denver's story tells us anything, it is that we must do better than in 1918. All of us must continue to combat COVID-19 with face masks and social distancing in public. Recent studies show face masks, along with hand sanitation and social distancing by a majority of the population, can quickly bring this pandemic under control.

Those levels of compliance, however, might become increasingly difficult. In 2020, we are bristling much the same way they did in 1918. A century ago, masks were widely despised; many today feel the same way. Yet if we don't take these measures seriously, we will likely face a resurgence of the virus.

If the past offers us any perspective into the future, it is this: returning to the sweeping closures and stay-at-home orders that we're emerging from may be difficult. It proved all but impossible to do so a century ago. It very well may prove impossible today.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Purkinje cell morphology. Credit: Konstantinos Ampatzis

In a study published in PNAS, researchers from Karolinska Institutet, the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Nagoya University, and Technische Universitat Braunschweig show an undiscovered heterogeneity of adult zebrafish Purkinje cells, revealing the existence of anatomically and functionally distinct cell types.

The cerebellum, sometimes referred to as the "tree of life," is an important brain structure that allows us to perform smooth and coordinated movements. The Purkinje cells which are the principal neurons of cerebellar computations, were up until now thought to be more or less identical.

"In our recent study, performed on adult zebrafish, we show that the Purkinje cells are forming a mixed population of neurons with distinct characteristics," explains Konstantinos Ampatzis, assistant professor at the Department of Neuroscience and corresponding author of the study.

"Importantly, the different types of Purkinje cells were found to communicate extensively, allowing them to process the motor program differentially, revealing a new logic of the organization and functionality of the cerebellum," he continues.

Besides the importance of the cerebellum in movements, current studies also suggest it is involved in several and diverse non-motor functions such as cognition, emotions, learning, and social interactions. Consequently, abnormalities in cerebellar organization and functionality characterize an array of different conditions, ranging from ataxia to autism. A shred of common pathological evidence in all these situations of the cerebellum is the partial loss of Purkinje cells.

"The loss of Purkinje cells were thought to be random because of the assumption that all are similar, however, we can now reveal that these cells are different and we anticipate that future studies will disclose the existence of Purkinje cell type related vulnerability, which is a common feature in all neurodegenerative disorders," Konstantinos Ampatzis adds.

The study investigated the organization of Purkinje cell population and probed their contribution to locomotion, using anatomical, electrophysiological, and behavioral approaches in adult zebrafish. It challenges the notion that Purkinje cells are all identical neurons by providing detailed evidence that are organized into distinct types.

What are the most important results? "We hope that our research will set up the pillars to help us better understand the involvement of the cerebellum in motor and non-motor functions, which could better explain the Purkinje cells' pathophysiology," says Konstantinos Ampatzis.

Involved in the study are researchers from Karolinska Institutet, the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Nagoya University in Japan and the Technische Universitat Braunschweig in Germany.

Explore further Scientists shed new light on neural basis of tremors

More information: Weipang Chang et al. Functionally distinct Purkinje cell types show temporal precision in encoding locomotion, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Weipang Chang et al. Functionally distinct Purkinje cell types show temporal precision in encoding locomotion,(2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2005633117
Credit: StudioMolekuul, Shutterstock

An EU-backed high-performance computing platform has tested the impact of known molecules against the genomic structure of coronavirus and identified an already-registered generic medication's efficacy.

There are a significant number of studies focusing on potential treatments for COVID-19, including existing drugs that are being trialled. Some progress has been made, too.

A private-public consortium funded by the EXSCALATE4CoV project has announced promising results for the fight against the coronavirus. According to the announcement, "an already registered generic drug used to treat osteoporosis, Raloxifene, could be an effective treatment for COVID-19 patients with mildly symptomatic infection," as stated in a European Commission press release.

The EXSCALATE4CoV platform brings together supercomputing centres in Germany, Spain and Italy, pharmaceutical companies, large research centres and biological institutes across Europe. It uses "a unique combination of high performance computing power and AI with biological processing," as noted in the same press release. "The platform has around 120 Petaflops computing power, allowing research into the behaviors of molecules with the aim of identifying an effective treatment against coronavirus." Petaflop refers to one thousand trillion, or one quadrillion, floating point operations per second.

The European Commission press release adds: "The consortium has already virtually tested 400 000 molecules using its supercomputers. 7 000 molecules were preselected and further tested 'in vitro'. Raloxifene emerged as a promising molecule: according to the project, it could be effective in blocking the replication of the virus in cells, and could thus hold up the progression of the disease." According to the project partners, Raloxifene "is well-tolerated with a known safety profile," as explained in a press release on the project website. The EXSCALATE4CoV consortium is in discussions with the European Medicines Agency for establishing "the fastest path to clinical trials in humans."

Screening procedure takes weeks, not years

The EXSCALATE4CoV platform can "perform in weeks a screening process that with traditional techniques would take many years. In a first step it has so far identified 6 out of 25 different protein models of the novel coronavirus that are constantly evolving, with various mutations received weekly, which are translated into a digital form for use in the next step." The European Commission press release adds that the second stage "is to match the digital structure of coronavirus proteins against the available library of molecules. In the third and final step, the identified molecules undergo several additional biological screening operations in laboratories located in Belgium and Germany to understand how an identified molecule interacts with the virus model and to assess the degree to which it can stop its activity."

Project partners hope that in the next phase, the EXSCALATE4CoV platform will enlarge the current tests, taking into account an extended library of 5 million molecules out of 500 billion in its chemical library. These massive virtual screening activities will be supported and empowered by three of the most powerful computer centres in Europe: CINECA, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, and Julich Research Centre. The EXSCALATE4CoV (EXaSCale smArt pLatform Against paThogEns for Corona Virus) project will run until September 2021.

Explore further Speeding up the search for an effective COVID-19 cure

More information: EXSCALATE4CoV project website: EXSCALATE4CoV project website: www.exscalate4cov.eu/index.html
People can become dependent on drugs like opioids. Credit: Shutterstock

The "hard lockdown" of nine public housing towers in Melbourne has no doubt brought an array of challenges for the thousands of residents.

For people who regularly use drugs, this period could increase the risk of drug-related harms.

Recognizing this, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews yesterday announced a series of support measures, including access to "wraparound mental health and drug and alcohol support."

While the specifics are not yet entirely clear, it appears these measures will cater to people receiving alcohol and other drug treatment, to allow them to continue with this.

It's also important these measures recognize that people who use drugs regularly, though not receiving treatment, may also need support during this time.

Why are these supports needed?

There's a complex relationship between housing stress, financial and social disadvantage, and mental health problems, including alcohol and other drug issues. But there's very little recent data on alcohol and other drug use among people living in public housing in Australia.

Around 38% of people in public housing experience significant mental health problems or other disability. Some of those will have alcohol and other drug problems.

People who are socially disadvantaged are actually less likely to use alcohol and other drugs (and more likely to be past users). But they may be at greater risk of problems associated with their use.

For example, the rate of risky alcohol and other drug use among people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness is higher than the Australian average.

Ensuring people with alcohol and other drug problems can access support has important benefits: from the individual, to improving public health, to economic returns. For every $1 spent on drug treatment we save $7 in other costs.

What are the concerns?

Most people who use alcohol or other drugs use them occasionally with few problems.

A smaller number who use regularly may become dependent. This means their body has adapted to the drug in their system and they now need it to function.

In lockdown, people may not have access to their usual drug supply. For people who are dependent, stopping suddenly can result in withdrawal.

As the drug leaves the system, withdrawal symptoms can range from uncomfortable to life-threatening.

How will the government's measures help?

We know treatment is effective in helping people stop or reduce drug use. It also helps prevent relapse. So it's important for people already in treatment to be able to continue to access support so they don't return to problematic use.

Pharmacotherapy (like methadone and buprenorphine) prevents opioid withdrawal symptoms. It works in a similar way to nicotine patches for people trying to quit cigarettes. It also dramatically reduces the risk of death.

People who are dependent on alcohol could experience withdrawal if they cant get it during the lockdown. Credit: Shutterstock

A range of measures were put in place in the early stages of the pandemic to ensure access to pharmacotherapy.

These include procedures to allow delivery of these treatments to people in their homes if they are in lockdown or quarantine (normally they would need to visit the pharmacy daily).

It's important these measures continue to be available to those in the locked down social housing estates.

Withdrawal from drugs like opioids, benzodiazepines and alcohol can usually be managed safely at home using approved medicines under the care of experienced doctors and nurses.

The government has announced the establishment of two field emergency management units staffed by medical workers, GPs and nurses. A 30-bed urgent care clinic is also being set up in the area.

But people with risk factors, such as previously experiencing seizures during withdrawal, may require transfer to hospital. This must be factored into the government's measures.

The government's package also includes pharmacotherapy and medicines available on site. For people who are taking prescribed medicines, making sure they still have access to these prescriptions is essential.

People not currently in treatment

It's important that people who are not already in treatment, especially those at risk of going into withdrawal, also have access to supports.

These include the option to start pharmacotherapy, access to other medicines they may need, doctors and nurses to support withdrawal, and counseling via telehealth. The government's announcements so far don't specifically address these measures.

With potentially less access to alcohol and other drugs during the pandemic, it's also a good opportunity for people who want to cut back or stop altogether.

There were not enough alcohol and other drug treatment places to meet demand before COVID-19. Broadening access to treatment to meet the anticipated extra demandboth in the public housing towers and beyondcould have significant public health benefits.

After lockdown

When the time comes to leave lockdown, and access to alcohol and other drugs increases, this presents a greater risk of overdose and other harms. For people who have reduced their alcohol or other drug use, their body will have adapted to lower levels of the drug, so what was a normal dose before may now be too much.

When people go back to using opioids after withdrawal, there's a higher rate of death because their tolerance to opioids has decreased. So we must make sure naloxone, a drug that counters the effects of an opioid overdose, is readily available at the end of the lockdown.

If you resume alcohol or other drug use after a period of reduced use or abstinence, it's important to use a small amount to start with until you see how you're affected.

Getting help

If you'd like to talk to someone about your alcohol or other drug use call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015. It's a free call from anywhere in Australia.

If you're trying to manage your drinking, Hello Sunday Morning offers a free online community of more than 100,000 like-minded people.

You can also chat online with a counselor at CounsellingOnline. Or talk to your GP about seeing a psychologist or counselormany are now offering non-contact telehealth sessions.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Federal and state policies to expand access to birth control have included increasing access to preventative and emergency hormonal contraception at retail pharmacies for women and girls of all ages without a physician's prescription.

A new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago investigated the impact of these policies in Los Angeles County, California.

"We focus on Los Angeles County because it consistently has among the highest number of unintended pregnancies and teen births in the U.S., disproportionately affecting women and girls in low-income, minority neighborhoods," said corresponding author of the study Dima Qato, associate professor of pharmacy systems, outcomes and policy at the UIC College of Pharmacy.

The UIC researchers found that more than one year after California law granted pharmacists prescriptive authority for contraceptives without any age restrictions, only 10.1% of Los Angeles County pharmacies provided this service and 77.4% imposed age-restrictions at 18 years or older, including in neighborhoods with the highest rates of unintended pregnancies and teen births.

The findings of the study, which was conducted via a mystery shopper telephone survey of all pharmacies located in Los Angeles County, are published in the journal Health Affairs.

To obtain information on birth control access at these pharmacies, a young woman trained as an interviewer posed as a patient seeking both oral hormonal contraceptives without a prescription from a physician and over the counter emergency contraception, commonly known as Plan-B, or a generic. The interviewer asked to speak with a pharmacist, followed a standardized script and documented the responses provided.

Of the 1,611 eligible pharmacies in LA County, 1,482 participated in the survey.

The study findings also indicate that more than five years after the Food and Drug Administration removed age restrictions for Plan-B in 2013, nearly half of Los Angeles County pharmacies that carried emergency contraceptives did not dispense it to people younger than 18 years of age.

Qato says, "The findings from this study suggest that regulations that authorize pharmacists to prescribe contraceptives are not enough. Regulations that mandate they dispense birth control regardless of age may also be necessary. Without a dispensing mandate, these restrictive practices are likely to persist and adolescents will continue to encounter additional barriers in accessing birth control, including at retail pharmacies."

The authors also offer several policy recommendations to better increase pharmacy access to birth control, particularly in neighborhoods most in need.

"Expanding the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, contraceptive coverage mandate to include pharmacy reimbursement for pharmacist-prescribed contraception services may increase its availability at retail pharmacies," Qato said. "Expanding eligibility for Title X funding to include pharmacies, which are often more accessible than health centers, including family planning clinics, may also provide financial incentives for pharmacies to implement contraceptive services as well as increase access to birth control to uninsured women and girls at no-cost."

Findings from this study also indicate many low-income, minority neighborhoods in Los Angeles County lack pharmacies, including those neighborhoods with the highest unintended pregnancy and teen birth rates.

Qato and her colleagues found that 1,292,437 (61.1%) women and girls ages 15-44 years live in neighborhoods with no pharmacy and nearly half of these individuals live in neighborhoods with very high teen birth rates.

The data showed that among predominantly minority neighborhoods only 29.8% had at least one pharmacy. Of those neighborhoods, only 3.5% had a pharmacy that offers pharmacist-prescribed contraception. In other neighborhoods, 43.9% had at least one pharmacy and 7.9% had a pharmacy that provided pharmacists-prescribed contraception.

"Women and girls most in need of, and most likely to benefit from, policies aimed at expanding access to birth control lack pharmacies in their neighborhoodspolicies focusing solely on expanding pharmacy access are not sufficient for addressing disparities in contraceptive use," Qato said.

Explore further Closures affect one in eight pharmacies in the US
RTHK: FBI chief says China has preferences in US election

The head of the FBI said on Tuesday that China is pushing its preferences in the US election as part of broad intelligence operations, whose economic impact he called unprecedented.

Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, did not say whether China backed either President Donald Trump or his presumptive Democratic rival Joe Biden, both of whom have harshly criticised Beijing.

"China's malign foreign influence campaign targets our policies, our positions, 24/7, 365 days a year," Wray said at the Hudson Institute.

"So it's not an election-specific threat; it's really more of an all-year, all-the-time threat. But certainly that has implications for elections and they certainly have preferences that go along with that."

US intelligence concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 election, in part by manipulating social media, in an effort to elect Trump.

The Republican has criticised the 2016 finding and his administration has shown irritation over intelligence briefings that Russia is similarly interfering this year.

Wray was answering questions after a speech focused mostly on China's alleged economic espionage, cases of which he said have soared by 1,300 percent over the past decade.

"It's the people of the United States who are the victims of Chinese theft on a scale so massive that it represents one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history," Wray said.

"If you're an American adult, it is more likely than not that China has stolen your personal data," he said, pointing to the massive 2017 data breach at credit reporting agency Equifax.

Wray said that China accounted for nearly half of the 5,000 ongoing counter-intelligence cases being pursued by the FBI.

"We've now reached the point where the FBI is opening a new China-related counterintelligence case about every 10 hours," he said.

Wray also said that China works "relentlessly" to identify "middlemen" to pressure US governors and other officials who take actions it opposes - notably travelling to Taiwan.

The Trump administration has taken an increasingly hawkish tone on China, including blaming the communist power for not stopping the coronavirus pandemic - on which the president's own record has been criticised. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Dwayn LYTHGO has joined Deloitte Asia Pacific (AP) to further boost our leading managed cyber security services capability and delivery in the Asia Pacific region.

Dwayn joins Deloitte in the new role of Managing Director of the AP Cybersphere. Prior to joining Deloitte, Dwayn was Vice President of Operations at NTT Security. He has also held leadership positions in SingTel and CSC, where he completed many projects; including transformations, maturity evaluations (Cloud, ITSM and Cyber) and complete security reviews of Government agencies, Banks and Insurance companies across Australia, Asia, Middle East and Africa. He also established multiple Security Operations Centers across Asia. Dwayns full profile is in the Appendix enclosed.

In this new role, Dwayns key focus is to lead and develop the AP Cybersphere  the innovative evolution of our regional managed security services, providing an exceptional experience and value for our clients across the region. The AP Cybersphere is a virtual delivery centre incorporating regional Cyber Intelligence Centres (CICs) in Australia, India and Southeast Asia and positioned to align with the strategic cyber needs of businesses operating in Asia Pacific by further accelerating the scale, quality and innovation of managed security services in the post-COVID-19 new normal environment.

The AP Cybersphere will provide more opportunities for cross-border systemic innovation, such as advanced cyber analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in combating increasingly sophisticated cyber threats while enhancing professional and technical skills development programmes for cyber and security talent

Deloitte Asia Pacific Risk Advisory Leader Dave Kennedy, said, The AP Cybersphere will enable Deloitte to redefine the quality, innovation and capital efficiency of managed cyber services across the region. Dwayns expertise and exceptional reputation managing cyber services for defence, government and enterprise will expand the capability of our Risk Advisory practice across the region and deliver significant outcomes for our clients.

Deloittes Cyber leader for Asia Pacific, James NUNN-PRICE, said, I am pleased to have Dwayn onboard our Asia Pacific Risk Advisory team. He brings with him a wealth of experience and leadership skills that will take our clients experience of our already leading managed security services to the next level, and develop our cyber and security talent for the future. The launch of the AP Cybersphere builds on the investments we have made so far to help our clients at this critical time with the new normal post-COVID-19 with leading cyber capabilities in Asia Pacific and beyond.

Managing Director of the Deloitte AP Cybersphere, Dwayn LYTHGO, said, I am delighted to join Deloitte and be part of its established risk advisory practice. Cyber security is a global priority as businesses and individuals are pushed to accelerate their digital transformation and consumption in order to thrive. It is imperative that fast, efficient and cost-effective service is made available so that business needs can be swiftly addressed in todays climate, and I look forward to help meet these needs through AP Cybersphere.

Deloitte Southeast Asia Risk Advisory Regional Managing Partner Mr. David CHEW, said, It is our pleasure to welcome Dwayn to the team and we are excited that the AP Cybersphere collaboration will be led from Singapore. We will draw upon Dwayns deep expertise and the broader Asia Pacific cyber competency and infrastructure to enhance our managed security services in Southeast Asia to address the ever-evolving threats.
The paper published in The Lancet claimed that hydroxychloroquine increased risk of death in COVID-19 patients, but was retracted when other scientists discovered the data used for the study was unreliable. Credit: The Lancet/Mandeep R Mehra, Sapan S Desai, Frank Ruschitzka, Amit N Patel

Several high-profile papers on COVID-19 research have come under fire from people in the scientific community in recent weeks. Two articles addressing the safety of certain drugs when taken by COVID-19 patients were retracted, and researchers are calling for the retraction of a third paper that evaluated behaviors that mitigate coronavirus transmission.

Some people are viewing the retractions as an indictment of the scientific process. Certainly, the overturning of these papers is bad news, and there is plenty of blame to go around.

But despite these short-term setbacks, the scrutiny and subsequent correction of the papers actually show that science is working. Reporting of the pandemic is allowing people to see, many for the first time, the messy business of scientific progress.

Scientific community quickly responds to flawed research

In May, two papers were published on the safety of certain drugs for COVID-19 patients. The first, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, claimed that a particular heart medication was in fact safe for COVID-19 patients, despite previous concerns. The second, published in The Lancet, claimed that the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine increased the risk of death when used to treat COVID-19.

The Lancet paper caused the World Health Organization to briefly halt studies investigating hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment.

Within days, over 200 scientists signed an open letter highly critical of the paper, noting that some of the findings were simply implausible. The database provided by the tiny company Surgispherewhose website is no longer accessiblewas unavailable during peer review of the paper or to scientists and the public afterwards, preventing anyone from evaluating the data. Finally, the letter suggested that it was unlikely this company was able to obtain the hospital records alleged to be in the database when no one else had access to this information.

By early June, both the Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine articles were retracted, citing concerns about the integrity of the database the researchers used in the studies. A retraction is the withdrawal of a published paper because the data underlying the major conclusions of the work are found to be seriously flawed. These flaws are sometimes, but not always, due to intentional scientific misconduct.

The urgency to find solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic certainly contributed to the publication of sloppy and possibly fraudulent science. The quality control measures that minimize the publication of bad science failed miserably in these cases.

Imperfect and iterative

The retraction of the hydroxychloroquine paper in particular drew immediate attention not only because it placed science in a bad light, but also because President Trump had touted the drug as an effective treatment for COVID-19 despite the lack of strong evidence.

Responses in the media were harsh. The New York Times declared that "The pandemic claims new victims: prestigious medical journals." The Wall Street Journal accused the Lancet of "politicized science," and the Los Angeles Times claimed that the retracted papers "contaminated global coronavirus research."

These headlines may have merit, but perspective is also needed. Retractions are rare  only about 0.04% of published papers are withdrawnbut scrutiny, update and correction are common. It is how science is supposed to work, and it is happening in all areas of research relating to SARS-CoV-2.

Doctors have learned that the disease targets numerous organs, not just the lungs as was initially thought. Scientists are still working on understanding whether COVID-19 patients develop immunity to the disease. And to close the case on hydroxychloroquine, three new large studies published after the Lancet retraction indicate that the malaria drug is indeed ineffective in preventing or treating COVID-19.

Since the beginning of scientific publishing, peer review has helped weed out bad science, but public discourse between researchers has easily played as big a role. Credit: Public Domain

Science is self-correcting

Before a paper is published, it undergoes peer review by experts in the field who recommend to the journal editor whether it should be accepted for publication, rejected or reconsidered after modification. The reputation of the journal is dependent on high-quality peer review, and once a paper is published, it is in the public domain, where it can then be evaluated and judged by other scientists.

The publication of the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine papers failed at the level of peer review. But scrutiny by the scientific communitylikely spurred on by the public spotlight on coronavirus researchcaught the mistakes in record time.

The hydroxychloroquine article published in The Lancet was retracted only 13 days after it was published. By contrast, it took 12 years for the Lancet to retract the fraudulent article that incorrectly claimed vaccinations cause autism.

It is not yet known whether these papers involved deliberate scientific misconduct, but mistakes and corrections are common, even for top scientists. For example, Linus Pauling, who won the Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of proteins, later published an incorrect structure of DNA. It was subsequently corrected by Watson and Crick. Mistakes and corrections are a hallmark of progress, not foul play.

Importantly, these errors were exposed by other scientists. They were not uncovered by some policing body or watchdog group.

This back-and-forth between academics is foundational to science. There is no reason to believe that scientists are more virtuous than anyone else. Rather, the mundane human traits of curiosity, competitiveness, self-interest and reputation come into play before and after publication are what allow science to regulate itself. A model based on robust evidence emerges while the weaker one is abandoned.

Living with uncertainty

From high school classes and textbooks, science seems like a body of well-known facts and principles that are straightforward and incontrovertible. These sources view science in hindsight and often make discoveries seem inevitable, even dull.

In reality, scientists learn as they go. Uncertainty is inherent to the path of discovery, and success is not guaranteed. Only 14% of drugs and therapies that go through human clinical trials ultimately win FDA approval, with less than a 4% success rate for cancer drugs.

The process of science generally takes place below the radar of public awareness, and so this uncertainty is not generally in view. However, Americans are paying close attention to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many are, for the first time, seeing the sausage as it is being made.

Although the recent retractions may be unappetizing, medical science has been very successful over the long run. Smallpox has been eradicated, infections are treated with antibiotics rather than amputation and pain management during surgery has advanced well beyond biting on a stick.

The system is by no means perfect, but it is pretty darned good.

Explore further Authors pull study flagging hydroxychloroquine risks

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Despite schools being encouraged to implement sun protective hat wearing policy to reduce children's future risk of skin cancer, less than half participating in a University of Otago study had robust policy in place.

A team of Dunedin researchers, led by Associate Professor Tony Reeder of the Social & Behavioral Research Unit in the Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, surveyed 1242 schools62 percent of New Zealand primary and intermediate schoolsabout their sun protection policies, including requirements about the use of sun hats.

"Our study demonstrates that despite its potential significance for the prevention of head and neck skin cancers, there remains substantial scope for improvement in New Zealand primary school sun protection hat wearing policy, with only 43 percent meeting optimal criteria," Associate Professor Reeder says.

"Given expectation that these policies have been in place for several years, it is disappointing to see that many schools still struggle to implement them, especially in New Zealand where seasonal solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels can be high and it is known that exposure to UVR in early life is linked with subsequent increased skin cancer risk," he says.

"The head and neck suffer a disproportionately high burden of skin cancer as a consequence of high exposure to solar UVR. The wearing of a sun protective hat can effectively shield the scalp and reduce exposure to other areas of the head and neck. Rigorous school hat wearing policies can potentially help reinforce sun protective behavior patterns and reduce lifetime skin cancer risk."

As part of their investigations, the researchers identified potential ways to improve the situation. The uptake of two relatively straightforward strategies was associated with schools having the most rigorous policies requiring children to wear the most protective types of sun hats.

If a school was a member of the SunSmart Schools program or used the SchoolDocs professional policy drafting service, which manages all school policies and ensures they remain up to date and accurate, the study results show that sunhat wearing policy in those schools was more robust. This was after socioeconomic differences, such as school roll size and decile rating, were taken into account.

SunSmart accredited schools and schools using SchoolDocs demonstrated a significantly increased probability (6.48 and 7.47 times, respectively), of obtaining the highest protective hat score (three) rather than the lowest score (zero). In addition, when compared with non-accredited schools, accredited schools had 228 percent increased odds of incorporating a compulsory "no hat, play in the shade" requirement in their policy. Similarly, there was a 170 percent increase in the odds for schools that used SchoolDocs.

Associate Professor Reeder says the positive association between schools belonging to an organized school sun protection program and the strength of hat wearing and shade use policies suggests that such programs help improve the policy by requiring the school to meet the minimum criteria when applying for accreditation.

Anecdotally, these policies provide continuity when school staff changes occur and, in particular, when a principal is replaced and commitment to the SunSmart Schools program may wane.

Associate Professor Reeder says schools which used professional policy management services also had better and more comprehensive sun protection policies in place, suggesting these services may help strengthen policy as well as potentially ensure a more comprehensive, unambiguous specification of all recommended criteria and encourage consistency between schools.

Currently, schools pay an annual fee for this service and Associate Professor Reeder says improvement in sun protection policy, as well as in other policy areas in New Zealand schools would likely occur if the Ministry of Education or other agencies met the cost of the service.

New Zealand and Australian melanoma skin cancer rates are consistently the highest in the world. Skin cancer treatment places a significant cost burden on New Zealand's health services, estimated at $180 million annually and negatively affects the lives of many New Zealanders, with about 500 dying every year. Yet, Associate Professor Reeder says most skin cancers are potentially preventable by reducing harmful levels of exposure to UVR and there is no better place to start than among school children.

Explore further Sun protection poor for NZ secondary school students
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The world is seeing a rise in diseases caused by viruses that have jumped from animal hosts to the human population, with COVID-19 just one example, a group of experts said in a report released on Monday.

Ebola, MERS as well as West Nile and Rift Valley fevers were other examples of zoonotic diseases, which are driven by the degradation of our natural environment, the United Nations Environment Department (UNEP) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) said.

"While many in the world were surprised by COVID-19, those of us who work on animal disease were not. This was a highly predictable pandemic," said Delia Randolph, ILRI veterinary epidemiologist and lead author of the report.

Randolph described a "very clear trend" since the 1930s that showed that 75% of emerging human diseases stemmed from wildlife.

COVID-19, for example, most likely originated in bats, according to UNEP and ILRI.

Further outbreaks will emerge unless governments take active measures to prevent other zoonotic diseases from crossing into the human population, UNEP warned.

The report identifies seven trends driving the prevalence of zoonotic diseases.

They include increased demand for animal protein, a rise in intense and unsustainable farming, increased use and exploitation of wildlife, and climate change.

"The science is clear that if we keep exploiting wildlife and destroying our ecosystems, then we can expect to see a steady stream of these diseases jumping from animals to humans in the years ahead," said UNEP executive director Inger Andersen.

Protecting the environment can help to protect people from enduring another global outbreak, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as it was often human activity that was breaking down natural barriers that used to protect humans from disease pathogens, according to UNEP.

Every year, some 2 million people, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, die from neglected zoonotic diseases, according to the report.

In the last two decades alone, zoonotic diseases have caused economic losses of more than $100 billion, not including the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is expected to cost $9 trillion over the next few years, the U.N. said.

African countriesa number of which have successfully managed zoonotic outbreakshave the potential to leverage this experience to tackle future outbreaks through approaches that incorporate human, animal and environmental health.

"With their experiences with Ebola and other emerging diseases, African countries are demonstrating proactive ways to manage disease outbreaks," said ILRI director General Jimmy Smith.

African nations were, for example, combining public health, veterinary and environmental expertise and thus achieve faster responses to zoonotic disease outbreaks, Smith said.

Other key aspects included surveillance as well as early detection and response.

"If pandemics can be caught right at the start, (studies have shown that) the costs can be reduced by 90%," said Randolph.

Explore further Shut down 'risky' meat markets to stop disease

2020 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A doctor looks at a 3d monitor showing the skulls of twins Ervina and Prefina during surgery at the Vatican pediatric hospital, in Rome. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday, July 7, 2020 they have successfully separated conjoined twins whose skulls were fused back-to-back, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in Mbaiki, Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (Bambino Gesu Hospital via AP)

Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday they have successfully separated conjoined twins whose skulls were fused back-to-back, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect.

The twins, Ervina and Prefina Bangalo, were born June 29, 2018 in Mbaiki, Central African Republic with their heads attached and sharing critical blood vessels around their brains. Such cases of conjoined twins occur once in every 2 million births or so.

The Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital, which is Vatican-owned but operates within the Italian public health system, brought the twins and their mother to Italy soon after their birth. The hospital said the toddlers are recovering well a month after their third and definitive separation surgery on June 5.

Video released by the hospital showed the girls waving along to music from their beds, clapping and holding markers, as well as celebrating their second birthday in their mother's arms as hospital staff sang "Happy Birthday" to them in Italian.

The key goal of the surgery was "to obtain a separation with the girls in perfect condition. So the objective we gave ourselves was very ambitious, and we did everything to reach it," Dr. Carlo Marras, chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Bambino Gesu, said.

Ermine holds her twins Ervina and Prefina, at the Vatican pediatric hospital, in Rome, June 30, 2020. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday, July 7, 2020 they have successfully separated conjoined twins whose skulls were fused back-to-back, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in Mbaiki, Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (Bambino Gesu Hospital via AP)

Marras led the team that worked for nearly two years planning and executing the separation.

At a press conference to announce the outcome of the sisters' surgery, Marras said the prognosis was "these girls can have a normal life" after a phase of rehabilitation.

There have been successful separation surgeries in the past of twins joined at the head, but most have been for twins whose heads were fused vertically, at the top. Ervina and Previna's skulls were joined back-to-back in what is known as "total posterior craniopagus."

That made the surgery particularly challenging since the back of the head is a far more critical place for blood supply to the brain and drainage of blood away from it, said Dr. Jesse Taylor, head of plastic surgery at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who has participated in some separation surgeries.

Ermine holds her twins Ervina and Prefina as she poses with Carlo Efisio Marras, top right, head of the Bambino Gesu hospital's neurosurgery department and the staff, in Rome, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday, July 7, 2020 they have successfully separated conjoined twins whose skulls were fused back-to-back, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in Mbaiki, Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (Bambino Gesu Hospital via AP)

"It's one of those configurations that I think a lot of centers, when they see it, say, 'You know, we're not sure that this can be done safely,'" Taylor said. "The venous drainage tends to be the main limiting step for separability" in twins connected at the back of the head.

He said in typical separation surgeries, doctors can "borrow" some blood vessels to give to each twin. "But when it comes to the back of the head, you don't have a lot of wiggle room for borrowing veins," Taylor explained.

Marras said that indeed, the most complicated aspect of the Bangalo twins' separation was to give each child autonomous venous drainage systemsprocedures that began with two surgeries in May and June 2019. The final, 18-hour surgery last month to physically separate them involved a team of 30 doctors and nurses, who made use of 3-D imaging and neurosimulators.

Ermine, right, looks at her twins Ervina and Prefina lying on their beds at the Bambino Gesu' Vatican pediatric hospital, in Rome, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday, July 7, 2020 they have successfully separated conjoined twins whose skulls were fused back-to-back, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in Mbaiki, Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (Bambino Gesu Hospital via AP)

Before the separation surgery, members of the Vatican hospital's staff gave the girls mirrors so they could see one another. They knew what each other sounded like, but the mirrors helped them associate facial expressions with their personalities and sounds, Marras said.

"It was an experience that wasn't just professional but above all human: to think that you can arrive at something that we had only imagined, with all the possibilities of failure. It was a magical moment. Marvelous," he said.

Marras said there was only one previously known case of a separation of twins conjoined at the back of the head, performed in the United States during the 1980s. He said the outcome in that case was poor.

He was referring to the 1987 surgery at Johns Hopkins University by a team led by Dr. Ben Carson, who is now U.S. President Donald Trump's housing secretary. Both twins suffered serious neurological problems; an Associated Press story from 1989, two years after the surgery, said one of the boys was in a vegetative state and the other had severe developmental delays.

Mariella Enoc, president of the Bambin Gesu' (Baby Jesus) pediatric hospital, left, and Carlo Efisio Marras, head of the hospital's neurosurgery department, center, pose with Ermine, mother of conjoined twins Ervina and Prefina, before a press conference at the Vatican pediatric hospital, in Rome, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday they have successfully separated twins who were conjoined at the back of their skull, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in the Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

In the case of the sisters from Central African Republic, Marras said the girls so far have suffered no neurological harm.

The twins' mother, Ermine Nzotto, wiped tears from her eyes as she watched a video prepared by the hospital of the twins' before and after their separation. Nzotto said she never went to school but hopes her daughters would study to become doctors.

"It's a joy, that I can see my girls run and play like other children. May they tomorrow study and learn to become doctors to save the other children of this world," she said through an interpreter.

The mother thanked Marras, the hospital president and Pope Francis, who visited Central African Republic's capital of Bangui in 2015 and has since strongly supported Bambino Gesu's collaboration with the pediatric hospital there.

Nzotto said she also hopes that Francis will now baptize her girls.

Ermine holds her conjoined twins Ervina and Prefina in this photo taken on April 2019. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday, July 7, 2020 they have successfully separated conjoined twins whose skulls were fused back-to-back, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in Mbaiki, Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (Bambino Gesu Hospital via AP)

Carlo Efisio Marras, head of the Bambino Gesu' (Baby Jesus) pediatric hospital neurosurgery department, meets the media during a press conference in Rome, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday they have successfully separated twins who were conjoined at the back of their skull, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in the Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

Carlo Efisio Marras, right, head of the Bambino Gesu' (Baby Jesus) pediatric hospital neurosurgery department, poses with Ermine, mother of conjoined twins Ervina and Prefina, before a press conference at the Vatican pediatric hospital, in Rome, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday they have successfully separated twins who were conjoined at the back of their skull, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in the Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

Ermine, mother of conjoined twins Ervina and Prefina, smiles before a press conference at the Vatican pediatric hospital, in Rome, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday they have successfully separated twins who were conjoined at the back of their skull, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in the Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

Carlo Efisio Marras, head of the Bambino Gesu' (Baby Jesus) hospital's neurosurgery department, left, poses with Ermine, mother of conjoined twins Ervina and Prefina, before a press conference at the Vatican pediatric hospital, in Rome, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Doctors at the Vatican's pediatric hospital said Tuesday they have successfully separated twins who were conjoined at the back of their skull, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect. Twins Ervina and Prefina Bangalo were born June 29, 2018 in the Central African Republic sharing the same skull and critical blood vessels around their brains. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

Hospital President Mariella Enoc had met the twins soon after they were born during a visit to the Central African Republic and was the driving force behind bringing them to Rome and seeing if they could be separated.

She said deciding to do so created ethical and economic questions, since the cost of 1 million euros ($1.1 million) paid for primarily by the hospital foundation could have been spent on less-risky procedures that might have benefited more children.

But Enoc said: "When you find a life that can be saved, you have to save it."

Explore further Separated Bangladeshi twins stable: doctors

 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Making the latest research results available to doctors increases the opportunities for finding better individualized cancer treatment. For a few years, researchers at Karolinska Insititutet and several other universities have been working on building a digital tool which will make global genomic data easily available as support for treatment decisions.

The results are now published in Nature Medicine and at the same time the toolthe Molecular Tumor Board Portalwill be launched on www.mtbp.org. Janne Lehtio, professor at the Karolinska Institutet Department of Oncology-Pathology led this work, along with researcher David Tamborero.

What is the Molecular Tumor Board portal (the MTB portal)?

The MTB portal is a web-based tool which provides support for clinical decisions in the field of cancer, based on cancer-related changes in the genetic material. The MTB portal creates a link between research and treatment and is used to analyze genomic data from different databases around the world. Cancer occurs when gene changes take place in the genetic material of the cells. By analyzing the molecular properties of the tumors, it is possible to find information about each individual tumor. The MTB portal makes it possible to match the specific properties of one tumor with various approved or experimental treatments tested in clinical trials.

How can the MTB portal contribute to the development of better cancer treatments?

Via the MTB portal the latest research is made public and more accessible, and both base researchers and research clinics the world over are able to be informed about the great amount of knowledge there is around the world. The tool makes it possible for the treatment team to seek similar analyses in order to then design a more individualized treatment based on the specific characteristics of the patient's disease.

Are there any concrete examples of how the MTB portal has been used?

Within the framework of clinical trials, in conjunction with seven leading cancer centers in Europe, we have analyzed more than five hundred tumors which did not respond to the standard treatment. Subsequently, approximately 140 patients were included in various clinical trials where, by analysis of their specific tumor, they will undergo a molecular based treatment instead. Moreover, by means of analyses in the MTP portal we have been able to identify 10 to 15% of cases whose cancer has a genetic mutation which may be hereditary. This information is forwarded to the clinic carrying out the treatment, to be followed up by the patient and their family.

Why is this tool so important?

In the treatment of cancer time is a decisive factor. The use of the MTB portal can reduce the time for complex analysis from two or three months to only two weeks while the risk of interpretation error also decreases. This means that treatment can be initiated much more quickly. In the last five years many new cancer medicines have also been introduced, but finding the best combination of treatments for each individual has produced a kind of bottleneck effect. The MTB portal helps to unblock this bottleneck, since the tool is accessible and free to use for researchers and doctors the world round.

What effect does the MTB portal have on clinical work?

The MTB portal is patient-centered and easy to use, which lowers the thresholds for introducing complex data in clinical work. We also see that an online portal increases collaboration between hospitals and knowledge is shared in an efficient way. This is especially important when the case is complex. Medical teams around Europe gain easy access to the latest knowledge about each patient's specific cancer mutations and can think about treatment decisions together.

Who is behind the tool?

The MTB portal was developed and managed by Lehtio lab at Karolinska Institutet with funding from Radiumhemmets Research Funds, the Swedish Cancer Society and the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation. Seven leading European oncology centers collaborated in this work under the umbrella of Cancer Core Europe: Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre (Great Britain), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) & National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg (Germany), Gustave Roussy (France), Instituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano (Italy), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands) and Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (Spain).

Explore further St. Jude Cloud portal expands access to treasure trove of pediatric solid tumor data

More information: undefined undefined et al. Support systems to guide clinical decision-making in precision oncology: The Cancer Core Europe Molecular Tumor Board Portal, Nature Medicine (2020). Journal information: Nature Medicine undefined undefined et al. Support systems to guide clinical decision-making in precision oncology: The Cancer Core Europe Molecular Tumor Board Portal,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0969-2
(CNN) -- In the span of a week and a half, the number of coronavirus cases in the United States has doubled, yet officials are saying this is still the first wave of the pandemic.

"We are still knee-deep in the first wave of this," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a Facebook and Twitter livestream Monday. "I would say, this would not be considered a wave. It was a surge, or a resurgence of infections superimposed upon a baseline ... that really never got down to where we wanted to go."

The surge in recent weeks has led to a shortage of hospital beds and threatens to set the economy back even further. This virus is notorious for how contagious it is -- and how easily people can infect others without symptoms, prompting warnings from health officials that the crisis could get even worse after images of packed beaches emerged over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

"We are in free fall," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"You see the footage of what happened this past weekend. And people are either naive to the influence of their actions, or they're simply resigned to ignore it."
"This was not sexual assault," she said in a phone interview. "My son is innocent."

The mother said continued bullying since the incident, including eggs thrown at her house and her son's vehicle being vandalized, spurred her to move away from Seeley Lake and transfer her son to a school in Missoula. She said her son on Tuesday obtained a defense attorney, but she has acquired evaluations of her son from two psychologists deeming him no threat and referencing his claims of bullying at Seeley-Swan High School.

The mother said he could have made a better choice in the situation.

"There was a whole hallway full of people and he had been antagonized," she said. "He probably should have pushed him or walked away."
Does it matter if a jogger on a U.S. Forest Service trail is exercising for personal benefit or competing in an organized marathon?

How one answers that question defines the heart of a new directive to the agency that oversees 193 million acres of public lands and thousands of miles of trail. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue ordered the Forest Service to streamline its special use permit process to be more responsive to customer needs. Considering how the agency issues more than 6,000 categories of permits for everything from mushroom-picking to dude-ranch pack trips, thats a complex order.

If theres a church activity that takes place four weekends out of the year, why are we doing NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) analysis on those activities the general public can just do? asked Deputy Chief of the Forest Service Chris French. Or an outfitter-guide who leads hikes into the forest? Those same trails get as much or more use by that person, and were basically doing a 60-page environmental assessment when that use is commensurate with general-public use. So whats the right level of analysis to do? Does NEPA apply to those uses?
"We are going to try and answer those calls as quickly as we can, but it's kind of jamming up our phone lines a little bit, so just try to call back if you can't get through," Farr said.

The health board issued a strong recommendation for mask use in April. Since that time, the number of positive cases has increased across Montana.

"We're no longer in a time of having COVID-19 brought to us from outside," Farr said. "A lot of people think that it's coming in from travelers, but we're actually giving it to each other. We're getting it from our friends, our family, our coworkers."

The Board of Health meeting to vote on the rule comes after Missoula City and County elected officials asked the Missoula City-County Health Department last week to issue an order requiring the wearing of masks or cloth face coverings in businesses.

"As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in Missoula County and data suggest that masks are among the measures that can limit spread of the virus, this step seems reasonable and timely," the letter read.
It is now 2020. We just celebrated the 244th anniversary of the United States independence from British rule. But this year more than most in recent history, America appears to be at a crossroads regarding the direction it will take.

To put it more succinctly, the people of America are at a crossroads, for a line in the sand has been drawn. Like it or not, each of us is being forced to make a choice. Therefore, which side of the line will you choose? Having just celebrated another Fourth of July holiday, let us recall a snapshot in American history.

The year was 1776 on a dark winters night in December. There was no moon to illuminate the surroundings or the small boat crossing the freezing waters. Lieutenants Madison and Monroe and General Washington crossed the Delaware while the weary troops on shore anticipated the eminent attack. Though tired, hungry and ragged, some even shoeless, they waited to receive their marching orders for the battle that was about to begin. They awaited the command to attack from General Henry Knox. To encourage the ragtag Continental Army, General Knox read the following words:
Yotta Infrastructure, a Hiranandani Group subsidiary and a Managed Data Centre Service Provider developing hyper-scale data centre parks in India, inaugurated Indias largest data center building, Yotta NM1, in a virtual event in the presence of Shri Uddhav Thackeray Hon. Chief Minister, Govt of Maharashtra, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad  Hon. Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Govt of India and Sh. Subhash Desai  Hon. Minister of Industries and Mining , Govt of Maharashtra. It is the largest Tier IV Data Center certified by Uptime Institute in Asia and second largest in the world.

With proximity to Mumbai and Pune, Yotta NM1 Data Center is located in the 600-acre Hiranandani Fortune City in Panvel. Yotta NM1 is first of the five data center buildings coming up at this Integrated Yotta Data Center Park, which, once fully built, will have an overall capacity of 30,000 racks and 250 MW power. At 820,000 sq. ft, 7,200 racks, 50 MW of power and 4 redundant self-owned fiber paths connecting the DC to national highways, the first DC Yotta NM1 itself offers a highly scalable data centre infrastructure, capable of hosting global cloud, content and OTT operators besides the mission-critical applications of enterprises and governments. The ultramodern building, supported by a highly redundant on-site power infrastructure shall soon be powered by its own captive solar power plant and an on-site captive gas-based co-gen power plant thus delivering to its hosted customers long term reliable, green and cost-effective source of power.

Speaking at the virtual event, Shri. Uddhav Thackeray, Hon. Chief Minister, Govt. of Maharashtra, reiterating the importance of Data Centers said, Govt of India said, Covid-19 has made the digital future into a reality and given us a new perspective on life. The Maharashtra government is inviting investors to come to our state to do business here and we will extend all support and cooperation to them. Weve launched the Maha Jobs portal just yesterday for job seekers from the state and also to facilitate workers for industries to act a bridge between employers and employment seekers. By the evening we received thousands of applications and it is a great example of the power of Digital. Working from home has also been made possible by a robust digital infrastructure even in the face of a pandemic and the Hiranandanis are enabling work of the future today with Yotta Infrastructure. The government of Maharashtra will extend all support towards this endeavor.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon. Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Govt of India said, A good data center infrastructure is critical for a robust digital economy and with this data center the Hiranandani Group has yet again delivered on their standards of creating a new benchmark in every industry that they operate in. Under the vision of the Honorable Prime Minister we have launched the Digital India initiative  to empower the country with technology, bridge the divide and bring digital inclusion, and all of this must be achieved through technology that is homegrown. This particular data center is a powerful statement of intent that India is rising high in the quest of data security, data use and data innovation. For the success of Digital India, we must become a big global Data Refinery  data cleaning, data processing, data innovation and research  and all of this will need to be done keeping in mind data privacy laws. We shall never compromise on the data sovereignty of India. The data economy has a lot of potential and in all its promise  a good data center is the pillar it builds on.

With the pandemic fast-tracking the digital transformation efforts across enterprises and mass transition to remote working, Canalys Global reported that cloud spends were at a record high in Q12020, up 34% during the time. As enterprises increase their dependency on cloud services, and as India becomes increasingly digital, shifting speedily to web collaboration, e-commerce, e-payments, emerging technologies like AI, ML, IoT, Robotics, connected cars, and as 5G adoption permeates, the resultant growth in generated data is humongous and requires a massive buildout of evolved data processing and storage facilities i.e. data centers. Initiatives under the Digital India campaign are further accelerating the growth in Indias data center industry.

Commenting on the development, Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-founder and Managing Director of the Hiranandani Group, said, Enterprises and Governments are now focusing more than ever before on Self-Reliance (Atmanirbhar) in their supply chains within the country, also leading to more emphasis on data privacy/protection and consequently on data localisation. The demand for hyper-scale data centers is on the rise, thanks to the Governments push for the National E-commerce Policy and proposed policy on Data Center Parks. Also, with the new normal established due to COVID-19, reliance on technology from enterprises and consumers has increased. All these factors together make for a tremendous growth story for data centers in India. What makes the Yotta story unique is our ownership of all key input resources, massive economies of scale with our land banks, captive green energy generation and distribution capabilities and unmatched expertise and experience in Data Center domain including design, engineering, construction and operations.

Darshan Hiranandani, Group CEO  Hiranandani Group, said, This data center is a global pioneer not just in terms of capability and price but more so in terms of its focus on efficiency and sustainability. We provide the most efficient power offering available in the market today  not just the lowest price of power but also a Power Usage Efficiency or PUE that is a global benchmark for the tropics. That is only phase zero (0). Our plan to migrate to renewables and gas-based combined heat and power generation onsite will give us chilled water at the most efficient cost structure possible and will bring our design PUE numbers down to 1.2  again unheard of in Indian weather conditions. But we do not plan to stop there. We are building facilities today to ensure that we can be future ready to be 100% run on renewables whether offsite, through solar and wind coupled with onsite hydrogen based co-generation and fuel cells in the future.

Besides Navi Mumbai, Yotta is also developing similar sized giant Data Center Parks at Chennai and New Delhi. Each of these parks will feature more than 20,000 racks, 200 MW plus power and multiple self-owned fiber paths connecting the Park to the main highways. Yotta envisages to spend about INR 3500 crores in next 3 years and about INR 15,000 crore over next 7 to 10 years across these Data Center parks.

Sunil Gupta, Managing Partner & CEO  Yotta Infrastructure, said, Foreign hyperscale cloud players, and OTT companies are looking to setup large bases in India. A hyper-scale Data Centre Park with the scalable ecosystem of power, fiber and skillsets, like what Yotta offers, gives them quick access to large colo capacity from day one from a multi-tenanted data centre like NM1 and also gives them long term sustainability at the same site with the availability of customised single tenanted data centres and in-campus fiber networks. Enterprises can expect from Yotta a fully managed hybrid IT infrastructure  combination of colo, private cloud, public cloud and IT management skills on a low-risk, pay-as-you-use model, that creates a win-win situation for everyone. Yotta hit the ground running within a year, and I am pleased to say that the interest garnered by Yotta from enterprises has been overwhelming. We are pleased to house many anchor customers at Yotta NM1 already, and the list will only continue to grow.
I agree with conservative columnist George Will and liberal economist Paul Krugman, who rarely agree on anything: Both say that Republicans should be entirely purged from power in the next election.

Ronald Reagan said: Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. Republicans have made this come true. The swamp is now a cesspool.

Republicans decry scientists and educated people as elite, when actually the Republican Party serves only the financial elite. When science and fact-based journalism are waved away as liberal, we cannot hope to cope with a pandemic, or climate change, or our countrys cold-hearted history of slavery. Witness disastrous responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and police brutality.

Sinclair and Fox broadcast companies, and other wizards behind the curtain, support Republicans by distracting people with emotionally hyped stories about guns, abortion, tribalism and sexy stories about celebrities.
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Associated Press

Most of the headstones have dates but no names. The cemetery in Zarzis is nearly exactly as Rachid Koraichi pictured it when he sketched his vision of the Garden of Africa that would be the final resting place for hundreds of anonymous men, women and children whose bodies have washed up on the shores of this coastal Tunisian city in recent years. For him, it was a duty to make a burial ground, one with presence and intelligence, so that one day the families, the fathers, the mothers, the tribes and the countries know that their children are in a heavenly place, the first step to heaven," Koraichi told The Associated Press.
The Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina purchased 96 acres in Burke County on June 9 for permanent conservation.

The protected land adjoins the 46-acre Mineral Springs Mountain parcel, which the conservancy acquired in 2019 for the creation of a future public trail to South Mountains State Park, other Foothills Conservancy preserve lands and the town of Valdese. Foothills Conservancy and partners are exploring several trail alternatives to attempt to connect these areas for North Carolina State Parks new Wilderness Gateway State Trail.

The Wilderness Gateway State Trail, while still in the planning stages, will provide public access to some absolutely gorgeous landscapes in McDowell, Rutherford, Burke and Catawba Counties, said Smith Raynor, State Trails planner for North Carolina State Parks. The WGST, like all of our state trails, will only be realized through essential partnerships with local government, private organizations and volunteers. Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina has proven to be an indispensable partner in the efforts to make the WGST a reality. Their capacity to preserve land, organize volunteers and collaborate in the planning is proving invaluable.
The department said it is important for those who are at high risk for COVID-19 to stay home as much as possible. The following groups are considered high-risk for COVID-19, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services:

 Anyone who lives in a nursing home or long-term care facility.

 Anyone 65 years old or older.

 People with heart disease with complications, compromised immune systems, severe obesity or any other underlying health or medical conditions.

State guidance recommends anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19, has close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19, lives or works in a high-risk setting, and people who have attended protests, rallies or other mass gatherings should get tested for the virus.

Anyone who has been tested is required to stay at home and self-isolate until they receive their test results, which could be two to four days, according to the county health department. Those people should also isolate from others in their home to avoid exposing them to the virus.
In February, Texans experienced forced rolling and extended blackouts ordered by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas as demand for electricity spiked during a winter storm. On Monday, ERCOT took precaution to avoid blackouts by urging Texans to conserve power through Friday as summer temperatures continue to rise. Approximately 12,000 megawatts of generation were offline Monday, and ERCOT officials said the outages were unexpected. Are you satisfied with ERCOTs oversight of the states electric grid?

You voted:
But then, the plan was put on hold.

The week before we were supposed to leave in March, we had to make the call to cancel the mission trip for this year, Evans said. In light of the global situation, it was decided that it was not safe to expose ourselves or the people of Covadonga to any disease we might catch while traveling. A few days after we canceled the trip, the United States instituted a global travel ban.

While going to do work abroad was no longer an option, helping Evans local community was not. She reached out to see how she could help in the area and was able to alter her idea to fit Morganton.

I decided to adapt my project to something that could be carried out in my own community, Evans said. I talked with the principal of Forest Hill Elementary School, (Nikki Costello), and discovered that she was taking food and supplies weekly to about 30 families. These families had been identified as in extreme need. If the parents could not afford to feed their children, they undoubtedly could not buy necessary hygiene items that are critical to have, especially during this time.

I updated my kits to include face masks, bars of soap, information regarding COVID-19 in both Spanish and English, as well as jump ropes and bubbles for the children to enjoy. I rode behind FHES principal as she went on her weekly food distribution route, and provided each family with several kits in regard to how many family members lived in each household. While my project was not what I had originally planned, the looks on the childrens faces when they received their toys and the gratitude from their parents lets me know that I was still able to make a large impact in my own community.

Justin Epley can be reached at jepley@morganton.com.
"They are to do this with each positive test result," she added.

RiverStone is working to trace the contacts of the infected and set up separate living arrangements for residents. The county health department said in its press release that it is also working to ensure adequate personal protective equipment is available and being used properly at Canyon Creek.

Residents and their families have been notified, according to the press release from Koelsch Communities and Canyon Creek Memory Care Community.

The facility is under quarantine, the Canyon Creek press release says.

The state is attempting to test all residents and employees at every nursing home and assisted living facility in Montana under a proposal to monitor vulnerable populations such as those older than 65 or with underlying health conditions. Bullock said in a press call Tuesday that Canyon Creek had declined to participate in that surveillance testing, and he enacted a rule that requires facilities that allow visitors to participate in testing of residents and employees.
ARCHIVED - 13 illegal migrants detained after landing in La Azohia



Its believed that two are still at large although the number could be higher

Police are searching for at least two illegal immigrants who came ashore Tuesday morning on Playa de la Chapineta in La Azohia on the Cartagena coastline just before 08:00.

The men are believed to be Algerian.

Witnesses who saw the boat land say that the men scattered and disappeared off into the scrubland behind the beach, which leads up to Campillo de Adentro, and the Cabo de Tinoso, an area with several arterial ramblas leading off into the surrounding countryside.

13 were detained, but it's believed that there are two, and possibly more, still missing according to the latest reports.

The men detained were taken to the port of Santa Lucia in Cartagena, where the Policia Nacional receive any migrants caught trying to enter Spain illegally via the Murcian coastline, first ensuring that they are given a medical checkover, before photographing and registering their arrival.

All migrants are now being given a Covid swab test.

There is obviously considerable concern about the arrival of illegal migrants at the moment due to the possibility that they may be Covid-positive; last week eight of the migrants who arrived in the region via the coast were found to be Covid positive.

This is causing a great deal of concern amongst local residents precisely due to situations such as this, as most of the new cases confirmed in the Murcia Region during the last two weeks have been due to the arrival of illegal migrants in small boats and imported cases such as that which has added 38 cases to the regions total due to a flight from Bolivia which brought 3 positives to the region, causing an outbreak.

This morning Lorca council protested vociferously after the Covid-positive migrants who tried to escape from Santa Lucia hospital in Cartagena at the weekend were transferred to Lorca without the health authorities previously advising the local council.

Local police have also added their voices to the protests, complaining that resources are being stretched and local police put at risk by the lack of control at the moment, demanding that facilities be opened in which the migrants can be held until PCR tests confirm whether they are positive or not.

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???????

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ARCHIVED - Andalusia was hottest place in Spain on Monday with 43.6 degrees in Huelva



All of the ten hottest places in Spain exceeded 42 degrees Celsius

Although it felt breathlessly hot for all of us in Murcia with temperatures in the mid 30s, feel pity for the residents of Andalucia, which recorded the hottest temperatures in Spain, all well into the 40s. When temperatures reach this level its almost hard to breathe and sleeping at night is a challenge, with temperatures remaining stubbornly in the 20s in these areas even as night falls.

Huelva was the hottest place in Spain recording 43.6, Sevilla 42.7, Cordoba 42.7 and Badajoz 42.5; all of the top ten temperatures in Spain were in excess of 42 degrees Celsisus. That's hot!!!!

Its interesting to note that the areas with lowest night-time minimums are all those still experiencing problems with Covid-19.

Take care during these spells of hot weather

Every year our regional governments issue warnings and run campaigns to minimise the risk to the elderly and infirm in particular, the main thrust of which is:

-Drink lots of water

-Stay out of the sun as much as possible and be particularly careful if working out in the sun

-Minimise your exposure to the sun

-Have a siesta during the hottest period

-Always wear high factor sunscreen, hat and quality sunglasses

-Wear loose clothing

-Be careful when jumping into cold water after exposure to hot sun, cool the body by splashing with water first; this can shock the body causing dizziness and even loss of consciousness; this often leads to drowning in the sea

- Make sure summer visitors are aware how dangerous this hot sun can be and dont overdo the sun bathing!

- Be aware of the increased fire risk

- UVA is just as dangerous as the direct sun and clear skies mean high UVA levels, so always wear good quality sunglasses; dont buy cheap rubbish from street markets, particularly for children.

Visuals: Aemet

Join the Murcia Weather Watch group on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest forecasts and weather related stories: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RegionOfMurciaWeatherWatch/.

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ARCHIVED - Lorca council unhappy that Covid positive illegal immigrants have been transferred to Lorca hospital



On Sunday morning one of the patients climbed out of the window of the Santa Lucia hoispital in Cartagena and escaped

The Lorca councillor for health, Jose Angel Ponce, has requested an explanation from the murcian regional government as to why Covid positive illegal immigrants who arrived in small boats off the Murcian coast last weekend and have tested positive for Covid-19 have been moved from the Santa Lucia hospital in Cartagena to the hospital Virgen del Alcazar in Lorca.

Last week the regional health service announced that all Covid cases would be concentrated into two hospitals, the Virgen de La Arrixaca in Murcia City and the Santa Lucia in Cartagena in order to better focus resources as the number of Covid patients requiring hospital treatment had fallen considerably.

The councillor is particularly irritated to have read about the transfer in local media instead of the regional health service having informed him first that these patients were being taken to Lorca and has demanded to know why.

He is concerned that Lorca council will now have the unwelcome task of reassuring local residents that these patients will not escape and sow new Covid cases in the local community; last week a Covid positive patient who had been installed in the main Lorca hospital after arriving in a small boat in Aguilas attempted to escape, unsettling staff and patients, on Friday a Covid positive illegal migrant succeeded in getting out of the Santa Lucia and was detained by police by the main roundabout at the entrance to the hospital and then on Sunday morning another of the 8 positives found amongst the 198 illegal migrants who arrived in the region last weekend tied his bed sheets together and climbed out of the window at 3am in the morning; it took police all day to locate him and return him to the hospital in Cartagena.

Currently the migrant transit centre in Santomera is closed due to the closure of borders in Algeria and Morocco; the result of this is that the national government is unable to repatriate these illegal migrants or detain them unless they are covid positive or in quarantine.

See below for article published on Friday about this situation:

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???????

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"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.
The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option.
Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said Monday his division is offering an Iowa Fraud Fighters  Shield Your Savings public education webinar series this month.

Fraudsters target seniors because they know these hardworking Iowans have saved for their retirements and that is where the money is, Ommen said. Being a victim is not a weakness; these perpetrators are professional con artists who have scammed the most sophisticated of investors.

A True Link report on elder financial abuse estimated 1 in 3 Americans ages 65 and older were affected by financial abuse over a five-year period, with seniors losing $36.5 billion each year to financial exploitation, criminal fraud and caregiver abuse, Ommen said.

Each webinar will feature a video of Martha-Jo Ennis, a retired schoolteacher from Marion who lost her retirement savings and the money she invested from the sale of her family farm  totaling more than $1 million  to a Ponzi scheme.

The webinar series will educate and empower Iowans to combat and report investment, consumer and insurance fraud, including Medicare fraud.
Congress will override President Donald Trump if he vetoes a $740.5 billion defense policy bill because it includes legislation to rename military bases and assets that honor Confederate leaders, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley predicted Monday.

Well, first of all, I would hope he wouldnt veto it just based on that, the Iowa Republican told reporters Monday.

Trump has threatened to veto the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act if lawmakers include a provision to rename those bases and other military assets that refer to the Confederacy.

I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill! he said in a Twitter post.

The Senate version of the NDAA contains a provision that would require the Pentagon to remove names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederacy and anyone who voluntarily served it from bases and other property of the U.S. military within three years.
FNB has announced it will stop issuing cheques from 1 January 2021.

The bank stated the decision follows the declining use of cheques locally and globally, coupled with the recent announcement made by the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) to reduce the maximum value of cheque limits from R500,000 to R50,000 in May this year.

Customers who still use cheques have been given a six months notice period to adapt to alternative forms of payments, the bank said.

FNB Business Product Head Kenneth Matlhole said from 2021 FNB clients will no longer be able to issue cheques.

However, the bank will still honour other banks cheque payments until further notice.

Less than 0.1% of total payments

Matlhole said cheque payments have contributed a minute amount of total payments in South Africa in recent years.

South Africa has seen an annual decrease of 30% in cheque usage, making cheques contributing less than 0.1% of the total payments ecosystem in South Africa, Mathole explained.

He added that this decline increased substantially during the initial stages of the national COVID-19 lockdown.

During level 5 lockdown, volumes decreased by 80% and we have seen businesses continue to adapt to more digital and secure options of transacting.

FNB said it has encouraged clients to migrate to safer, faster and more cost-effective payment mechanisms such as Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), mobile payments, online banking, and card payments.

These forms of transacting are not only safer but are far more advanced and effective means that businesses can use to transact, the bank said.

FNB has taken the following steps as a phased approach to exit cheques as a payment instrument:
Microsoft South Africa Managing Director Lillian Barnard is one of the countrys leading technology executives, and she has built a strong, high-performing team to run the company.

Barnard has more than 20 years experience in the ICT industry who has held senior executive positions in South Africa and abroad.

She joined Microsoft in May 2017 as public sector director and was appointed as MD of Microsoft South Africa in March 2019.

Barnard has been pivotal in re-igniting the South African chapter of [email protected] and spurring a culture that encourages gender equality in the workplace.

In this interview, Barnard talks about the impact of COVID-19 and the lockdown on running a company in South Africa.

She also sheds light on how Microsofts technology tools are being used by companies to help them during this time.

She ends the interview by sharing her Aha-moment during the lockdown.

The full interview is embedded below. You can see all Whats Next with Aki Anastasiou interviews here.
Cloud computing, and the way hosting and cloud providers deliver their services, is constantly evolving.

Historically, companies wanting to update their infrastructure solutions from physical to virtual, or from on premise to cloud platform, face a number of challenges. A migration strategy is not always clear, and often an experienced partner is a welcome support structure.

RSAWEB do things differently. As one of the first companies to pioneer a true cloud hosting platform in South Africa, RSAWEB have always been focused on delivering customer-centric solutions that work.

Through their experience and expertise, they have developed a unique approach to solution development and service delivery by navigating their customers through a process of Engagement, Engineering and Evaluation.

Engagement

Its important that in todays times, with the COVID-19 pandemic and our countrys current economic landscape in mind, that you find a technology partner who engages with you regularly to assess and identify your (changing) business needs.

RSAWEB do exactly this, investing their time with new and existing customers to understand the strategy, operations, industry sector, and stressors which are impacting the business.

Gaining an understanding of these challenges and pressures, RSAWEB specialises in leveraging technology to overcome them  enabling your business to continue progressing and growing.

RSVP and learn more about how RSAWEB can engage with your business to identify your cloud needs at their next webinar

Engineering

Their engineering team have a pragmatic approach to solution architecture and system performance.

Systems thinking ensures alignment with the customers business needs. RSAWEBs customer team includes stakeholder representation from both technical and business elements of the customer business.

RSAWEB ensures solution architecture and system deployment meets with industry specific security and compliance regulations.

Environment security and data management best practices are proposed and implemented.

RSVP and find out more about how RSAWEB use their engineering capabilities to tailor your cloud requirements at their upcoming webinar

Evaluation

Evaluation is key to RSAWEBs systems thinking approach, and continuous feedback loops ensure that the solution architecture is providing resolution to the challenges and pain points identified.

RSAWEB actively seek out these results to ensure your business is receiving a value-based service.

They gauge if their cloud solution is enabling your business to balance the key production metrics of quality vs time vs cost.

Learn more about how RSAWEB evaluate their cloud service once implemented at their next webinar  click here to RSVP

Join RSAWEB at their upcoming webinar

On 10 July at 10:30, RSAWEB will be hosting a Webinar discussing their cloud services and solutions named: How to get the most out of your cloud: 3 ways RSAWEB helps its customers save.

Join RSAWEB, fellow technology experts, and business representatives at a talk that puts RSAWEBs cloud at the center of the discussion.
A national strike by the All Truck Drivers Foundation (ATDF) is set to cause massive disruptions to courier services and deliveries in South Africa.

In a communication sent by Fast + Furious to its clients, the company acknowledged the threat of a national strike by the ADTF on Tuesday 7 July which may continue for some time.

As communicated across various news outlets and social media platforms a national strike by the ATDF (All Truck Drivers Foundation) is planned to be initiated after their meeting which is expected to be held at 18:00 on the 6th of July 2020, the company told its partners.

It said online stores and other partners should expect delays due to the protest action.

We appreciate and understand the urgency of your deliveries but as our valued partner, we urge you to expect delays and communicate this across your various channels of communication to ensure we effectively manage your clients as well as their clients expectations.

Fast + Furious said that it was taking all necessary action to sustain its service offerings, but it would put the safety of its employees first.

We are most certainly in unprecedented times and while the country tries to recover and navigate its way through the COVID-19 pandemic we are unfortunately not immune to forces outside of our control, the company said.

National shutdown

A report by eNCA confirmed this morning that South African truck drivers belonging to the ATDF are threatening to shut down the country from Tuesday 7 July.

Truck drivers are reportedly protesting the employment of foreign nationals in most sectors of the economy for lower wages, and they have requested the government to intervene.

This is not only the ATDF strike  this is national, said ATDF spokesperson Michael Masimini.

We are engaging in this peaceful strike as we try to draw attention from our government.

It is expected that this protest action will result in the delays of online shopping deliveries across the country  a service which is already constrained due to a surge in demand during the lockdown.

Many South African online stores told MyBroadband that delays had been unavoidable due to a slowed supply chain and a massive spike in demand.

Since the full release of ecommerce, towards the back end of May, we have seen revenues increase by over 70%, Loot said. We are seeing sales levels higher than Black Friday and the festive period.

Masiminis interview with eNCA regarding the ATDF strike action is below.
Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku has blamed the accelerated spread of COVID-19 in the province on the blatant disregard of lockdown regulations, among other factors.

Speaking in an interview with eNCA on 5 July, Masuku said that the province was in discussions with the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) about how it could more strictly enforce the advanced level 3 lockdown restrictions.

The number of recorded COVID-19 cases in South Africa rose to 205,721 on 6 July, breaching the 200,000-mark.

Gauteng has emerged as a major hotspot, accounting for 32.5% of all COVID-19 cases with 66,891 recorded cases in the province.

The Gauteng government was previously discussing a plan to re-implement a hard lockdown in the province, but Masuku told eNCA the executive council has agreed to look at stricter enforcement of the current regulations instead.

What we agreed on as the executive council is to see how we are able to apply and enforce the regulations that will help us to reduce the rate of transmission, he said.

These regulations are the ones that are already applied but are not being respected by the community.

Masuku said the biggest problem was the adherence to rules around public gatherings.

People have defied that. People are deliberately and intentionally organising social events, parties, and weddings.

There are regulations that prohibit those types of interactions and we want to see those being enforced, he said.

Masuku added that people should not gather in any groups if it is not necessary.

Working with police and soldiers to enforce lockdown rules

One new restriction being considered by Gauteng is the limitation of alcohol sales to only one day per week.

Masuku did not confirm whether this would be implemented, stating only that the province had the power to regulate the sale of alcohol and it has noted the effect reopening sales has had on hospitals in the province.

The issue of alcohol restriction is within the provincial purview and we can regulate it, he said.

We have seen the impact of reintroducing the sale of alcohol, what it has done to our casualties, to our trauma units, and it is something that as the provincial government we took a very strong decision around and we just feel that it should be properly regulated.

Masukus statements that Gauteng would further clamp down on enforcement were supported by provincial spokesperson Thabo Masebe, who confirmed yesterday that the provincial government would not push for a hard lockdown.

We are not calling for the return of hard lockdown. We fully understand and support the current risk-adjusted strategy, which is being implemented by the national government, Masebe said.

The things that we are looking at is the continued use of police, being supported by soldiers, to got to places and help enforce regulations.

We will also continue working with other spheres of government to go factories, shopping malls, and other places to ensure that people follow the regulations, Masebe said.

National Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has not ruled out the possibility of a hard lockdown in the province, however, stating that this would be evaluated by the NCCC.

At the moment weve not taken a decision for a hard lockdown but it cannot be ruled out as a future instrument that can be used, he said.

Now read: 20 schools closing every day in the Western Cape
Wits University professor Alex van den Heever has warned that both private and public hospitals in Gauteng could be overwhelmed in the next two weeks.

Speaking on the Midday Report with Mandy Wiener, van den Heever said that the surge of cases in Gauteng means that the provinces strategy in addressing the spread of the virus has failed.

We are seeing a surge in new infections [in Gauteng] that is very steep, it is not expected because we do have prevention strategies that were meant to be in place, and it is potentially indicative of the fact that our prevention strategies are not addressing the super spreading risks in many social spaces, he said.

We shouldnt be seeing such a steep increase.

From March to now, we should have implemented a framework to attack the epidemic, but it looks like were failing.

Van den Heever said South Africa would never have had the resources to cope with an uncontained COVID-19 pandemic, which is why lockdown measures were implemented nationwide.

He added that Gautengs approach has failed in containing cases to a manageable level, however, and health services are now in danger of being overwhelmed soon.

I think that in Gauteng we have added very few additional beds to the system, so we are at risk of the health services being overwhelmed in the next two weeks.

That is entirely a consequence of not enough emphasis on the prevention side of the epidemic, he said.

He said that the Gauteng provincial government must improve its COVID-19 prevention strategy, or it will be unable to cope with the rising number of cases.

Our services are just not going to be able to cope, and I am really concerned that we will run out of space in both the public and private sector in the next few weeks.

Stricter enforcement

The Gauteng provincial health department has addressed the rising number of cases in the province, blaming the increase on the blatant disregard of lockdown regulations by the citizenry.

Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku said that the province was in discussions with the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) about how it could more strictly enforce the advanced level 3 lockdown restrictions.

What we agreed on as the executive council is to see how we are able to apply and enforce the regulations that will help us to reduce the rate of transmission, he said.

These regulations are the ones that are already applied but are not being respected by the community.

Masuku said the biggest problem was the adherence to rules around public gatherings.

People have defied that. People are deliberately and intentionally organising social events, parties, and weddings.

There are regulations that prohibit those types of interactions and we want to see those being enforced, he said.

Mandy Wieners full interview with Professor Alex van den Heever is below.
Granted, the Fourth of July didnt quite feel like the Fourth of July without the citys fireworks show. However, it didnt feel just like a regular day either thanks to Saturdays First Responder Parade downtown. Just seeing the antique Schneer fire truck cruising down a main drag lined with American flags (thanks, Kiwanis Club!) gave me a pleasant jolt of patriotic zeal. God bless America, and God bless each of you.

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Cameo Cinema fans surely perked up their ears at the news that Cathy Buck planned to reopen the Cameo Cinema on July 11. Alas, with the countys COVID-19 cases surging, Cathy is postponing the reopening. With Napa County on the states monitoring list, the Cameo will have to stay closed at least through the end of the month. Patrons should expect to receive a survey asking when they would feel comfortable returning to the theater. For now, drive-in screenings will continue on Thursdays through Sundays.

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And speaking of the drive-in, Julys shows are all sold out, but keep checking cameocinema.com for the August schedule. When you see it, pounce!

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An initiative aiming to prevent hotel development on the Adams Street property is so vague that it would likely be struck down in court, according to a legal analysis released Monday.

The City Council will discuss City Attorney Kara Uedas report via Zoom teleconference at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 8.

Rather than adopting the measure or placing it on the Nov. 2 ballot, a staff report endorses a third option: The council should reject the measure for being too vague and not meeting the legal standard required of a ballot initiative under California law.

Proponent Nancy Dervins initiative doesnt specify any legal mechanism to prevent hotel development on the 5.6-acre city-owned property, such as amending the General Plan or Municipal Code.

Dervin, who collected enough signatures for the initiative to qualify for the ballot, has said the measure could be effectuated through a statute or deed restriction, but the initiative itself only says the property shall be protected in perpetuity from hotel/motel development of any kind.
Another is to have special bus lanes at the Napa Junction Road, Donaldson Way and American Canyon Road traffic signals. Buses could move to the front of the traffic line and with an early green light get a jump on other vehicles when leaving the intersections.

Still another is to install new bus stops at Napa Junction Road, Eucalyptus Drive, Rio Del Mar, Donaldson Way and American Canyon Road, though an American Canyon Road stop could be replaced by one at Crawford Way.

One notable proposed change is to remove from the Broadway District Specific Plan the idea of expanding Highway 29 from four to six lanes through American Canyon.

Even that change wouldnt necessarily take a highway widening off the table forever. City Community Development Director Brent Cooper explained the situation in an email to the Napa Valley Register.

The (highway) right-of-way is wide enough to accommodate the extra travel lane, so it may be possible in the future, Cooper said. However, capacity improvements have shown to induce additional traffic demand and there is limited funding for both constructing and maintaining highway infrastructure.
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.
During his second governorship, journalists occasionally would ask Jerry Brown what he was doing about Californias highest-in-the-nation poverty rate.

Brown would tick off several actions, his centerpiece being the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which provides school districts with billions of extra dollars to upgrade the schooling of at-risk students, those from impoverished homes and/or English-learners.

He was right to do so  on paper. Closing the achievement gap that separates those students, mostly Black and Latino, from more privileged kids would be the single most effective way of also closing the income gap by equipping them with skills for well-paying employment and/or higher education.

However, strangely and perhaps cynically, Brown consistently spurned efforts by civil rights and education reformers to make local school officials accountable for spending the extra money on the intended recipients and actually improving their levels of learning.

Brown insisted, both by word and in a response to one lawsuit, that his job ended with providing more money and that he trusted local educators to spend it wisely and effectively, citing the ecclesiastical principle of subsidiarity as justification for his hands-off position.

Not surprisingly, in the seven years since LCFFs enactment, independent research organizations and journalists have consistently reported how the extra money was being diverted into purposes other than its lofty intent, while Brown and the former state schools superintendent, Tom Torlakson, looked the other way. At one point, Torlakson, a former teacher and legislator, overruled his own department and gave districts permission to use LCFF funds for salary increases

Just last November, state Auditor Elaine Howle issued a report detailing how three school districts, chosen as a cross-section, were failing to implement LCFF as intended.

We are concerned that the state does not explicitly require districts to spend their supplemental and concentration funds on the intended student groups or to track how they spend those funds, Howle told the Legislature, adding, therefore, neither state nor local stakeholders have adequate information to assess the impact of those funds on intended student groups.

+2 Dan Walters: Newsoms confusing COVID-19 decrees California's governor, Gavin Newsom, has been issuing confusing orders on COVID-19 recently, undermining trust, columnist Dan Walters says.

The LCFF law even includes a self-defeating loophole, allowing districts to convert funds not spent in one year on the targeted kids into general revenues for any purpose.

It has fallen to civil rights and school reform groups to do what Brown and Torlakson refused to do  enforce the law. They have filed complaints and lawsuits against local school officials, challenging their plans, called LCAPs, that are supposed to guide how LCFF money is being spent.

The latest example emerged this week. A coalition led by Public Advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union formally complained that the San Bernardino County superintendent of schools, Ted Alejandre, had allowed districts he oversees to divert LCFF funds into other purposes, including campus police.

The coalition said that Alejandre approved multiple LCAPs with egregious proportionality deficiencies, undermining the fundamental LCFF requirements of equity, transparency, and community accountability, and denying high-need students the benefit of the increased and improved services needed to close opportunity gaps.

+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?

However, district-by-district legal actions are a tough slog at best. Now that Brown has retired, LCFF should be subjected to official oversight to ensure that its doing what it should be doing.

A good start would be enactment of Assembly Bill 1835, carried by the Legislatures most persistent critic of the program, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, a Democrat from San Diego. The bill, already approved by the Assembly, would close that ridiculous loophole that encourages local educators to avoid helping the kids who need help the most.

Watch now: How to clean and disinfect your home

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

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"No person other than the wholly of the White Caucasian Race, shall use, occupy or reside upon any part of or with and any buildings located in the above described subdivision, except servants or domestics of other races employed by the occupants of any said lots."

I recently reached out to Amar Abbott through social media and praised him for letting his story be told. He graciously responded and said the real historian is Alexandra Brown, a friend of his who has uncovered not only the rich history of Napa Valley but also its racist history.

I don't believe Napa, the city I was raised in and reside in, is currently a majority community of racist people and racist Realtors. However, roughly only .73% of Napa's current population is Black, which means the demographics have not changed since the racist 1970s of Amar Abbott's childhood.

To understand our current lack of Black population in Napa you have to go as far back at least as 1950 and understand that we still have a deficit in Black population in Napa's community and it's either due to:

1.) Napa is a majority racist community with racist Realtors, which I do not believe.

Or

2.) Blacks understand Napa is racist and don't live there.
Armenia ex-President: Kocharyan. I have not yet decided whether to refuse, accept parliamentary mandate

Armenia army General Staff: Committee is set up to investigate course of Artsakh war

Armenia army General Staff chief: Russian peacekeepers will be deployed in Gegharkunik Province

77 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia delegation member calls on PACE to freeze Azerbaijan presidents European bank accounts

Hand grenade is thrown under Armenia public, political figures car (PHOTOS)

Newspaper: What is expected after Armenia snap parliamentary elections?

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM to use his "steel mandate" against opponents

Another rally demanding Artsakh Presidents resignation to be held in Stepanakert

US State Department issues statement on Armenia snap parliamentary elections

Armenia ruling party member warns pseudo-lawyers

'Armenia' bloc issues statement on results of snap parliamentary elections and election observation missions

US will not warn Russia about cyberattacks, Psaki says

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

Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #9/48 in Yerevan district (VIDEO)

Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #9/49 in Yerevan district (VIDEO)

Tense situation at polling station #9/21 in Armenia, red beret police officers called to location

Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #14/13 in Etchmiadzin (VIDEO)

Power goes out before vote count at polling station #25/58 in Armenia's Odzun

Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov returns to US

Armenia Police receive 87 alarms via hotline as of 8:30 pm

Armenia snap parliamentary elections voter turnout 49.4%, 51.55% voter turnout in Yerevan

Armenia Ombudsman's statement on taking photos of ballots speculated
The US State Department has responded to the concerns by members of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues regarding major recent military exercises in Azerbaijan and the US military assistance to Baku, VOA reported.

Frank Pallone, Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, reflected on the aforesaid.

According Pallone, a 10,000-strong armynot counting armored vehicles, tanks, and artillerytook part in the said Azerbaijani military exercises, the State Department's response that this does not require notification, according to the Vienna document, is wrong, as the level and capacity of such military exercises obviously require that.

According to Pallone, the provision of US military assistance to Azerbaijan is a clear manifestation of bias, which violates the agreement on the balance of power, whereby despite the administration, the same amount of US military assistance has always been provided to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

As per to the congressman, even if these provided funds are not spent on offensive purposes against Armenia, thanks to the military aid of $100 million, Azerbaijan gets the opportunity to buywith the released fundsoffensive weapons from Turkey or another country.

Pallone said that the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues is now trying to include certain provisions in the National Defense Authorization Bill which will be put on the agenda of the House of Representatives in late July, and which will deprive a country violating human rights of the opportunity to receive US military assistance. According to the congressman, Azerbaijan is known for its human rights violations and militant policies, so it should not be included in this defense program whereby it received $100 million in US military assistance.
YEREVAN.  Vaccine development and drug development are two different processes that are simultaneously taking place around the world. Armenias Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan stated this Tuesday during a meeting with journalists, and regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are taking action with both," he added.

The minister also noted that the situation is different with regard to vaccines. "About 200 vaccines are currently being developed around the world, about 20 of which have a good chance of becoming a final product. Its a compromise situation, and public health experts believe there will be a vaccine. That conviction is very important; at first, there was no such conviction. That's why the countries are already discussing the issue of buying the future vaccine. ().

We [Armenia] have decided to at least start such talks with manufacturers () as well as with collective buyerssuch as UNICEF, WTO, Gavi [the Vaccine Alliance]that can buy batches and evenly distribute for 100 countries at once. Only the presence of a vaccine will allow us to return to a normal lifewithout masks," Torosyan said.
YEREVAN.  It's not that we're saying we shouldn't increase the number of tests; also, it's not that it hasnt increased. Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan stated this Tuesday during a meeting with journalists, and regarding Armenias fight against COVID-19.

"We are already conducting 2,500 tests a day, which will increase in the near future. We predict that in 1-2 weeks, along with the increase in our capacity, we will increase the potential of only our state labs to 3,000 per day, and plus the private labswe may have up to 4,000 tests [per day].

However, we must remember that testing is just a way to detect infected people, which [the testing] has two purposes: to isolate and treat mild patients.

In terms of treatment, I can say that we are treating all those in need of treatment, but we have a problem in detecting asymptomatic cases, and here, the increase of testing will help that, said the minister.

He added that four new labstwo in Yerevan and one, each, in Ijevan and Martuni townswill be opened in Armenia in the near future.

Arsen Torosyan informed that during this period they had purchased 80 thousand test kits, received another 60 thousand as gifts, and another 100 thousand test kits were manufactured in Armenia.
YEREVAN.  The court session on the criminal case against second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and several other former senior officials has resumed Tuesday with the discussion of the motion by the prosecutors. To note, according to the prosecutors, it is about "abuse of the rights of the defense."

Karen Mejlumyan, the lawyer of former Minister of Defenseand defendantSeyran Ohanyan, had motioned for a postponement of the discussion of the prosecutors' motion, as his motion, which was submitted back on August 22, has not been discussed yet. But the court denied the motion, and in response, the lawyer appealed the court's actions.

Defense lawyer Mihran Poghosyan agreed with the opinion of his colleagues, and stated about the violations by the court.

Defense attorney Hovhannes Khudoyan followed the example of his colleagues, noting that the court did not follow the proper conduct of the parties, and the prosecution could not oversee itself.

Khudoyan also presented all the charges by the prosecutor's office, and added that the charge was a blatant lie.

Tigran Yegoryan, a legal representative of the injured party, noted that the parties were not given a time limit, after which he motioned to limit the actions and speeches.

Defense lawyer Hayk Alumyan complained about the court's inaction.

And Hovhannes Khudoyan said as follows in particular: "This motion is nothing more than an attempt to deprive the defendants of their right to speak."

And defense lawyer Aram Vardevanyan stressed that there was no attempt by the defense to delay the process. According to him, the discussion of this motion shows that the prosecutors confuse the status and compare the defendants and the injured party.
YEREVAN.  A group of representatives of the youth organization of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) are holding a flash mob, entitled "Voronezh and Krasnodar," in front of the government building.

Hayk Mamijanyan, the head of the RPA youth organization, said that this flash mob of theirs would be continuous, as, according to him, the government thinks it will be able to "cover up" its scandalous corruption stories and illegalities. "With this action, we remind that it will not be possible to make those problems become forgotten, he added, in particular.

Mamijanyan noted that according to the results of polls conducted in November 2019, only 60 percent considered that corruption is a serious problem in Armenia. "But now, according to their polls, it's about 80 percent; this is how they fight against corruption. We have heard the version of citizen Mikael Minasyan [former ambassador to the Holy See and son-in-law of ex-President Serzh Sargsyan] about this whole process. A criminal case has been opened in Russia, but none of the Armenian authorities has spoken about it," the RPA representative said, adding that the Armenian authorities should try to refute the story of smuggled cigarettes, but it seems that will not work.

Asked on the basis of the claim that members of the serving Armenian government are involved in the story of smuggled cigarettes, Mamijanyan responded that Armenia is in a deep lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore all passenger and cargo transportation to and from the country is limited. "And in the meantime, several planes of cigarettes are being taken out of the country. Are you saying that the government should not be aware of this? I can't believe that," he added, in particular.
YEREVAN.  Armenias Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan on Tuesday received US Ambassador Lynne Tracy. The diplomat noted that she was glad to meet with the defense minister and to discuss the mutual interests and concerns of Armenia and the United States.

They discussed the Armenian-American bilateral cooperation in the defense sector. They summed up the previously implemented respective measures and studied the possibilities of implementing cooperation programs in the conditions of restrictions conditioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

They also discussed Armenia's ongoing participation in international peacekeeping and stability missions, and the course of implementation of shifts in the current situation.

The defense minister presented the measures being taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Armed Forces, as well as the organization of the summer conscription under the condition of this pandemic.

The interlocutors also exchanged views on regional security and some other matters of mutual interest.
Armenia Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan today met with representatives of the Prosecutor Generals Office of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) during a working visit to Artsakh.

During the meeting, Davtyan congratulated Mher Aghajanyan on being elected and assuming the office of Prosecutor General, as well as the newly appointed deputies of the Prosecutor General and wished them all success.

Armenias Prosecutor General welcomed the new Prosecutor Generals vision and ideas for reforms in Artsakhs prosecutorial system and stated that the Prosecutor Generals Office of Armenia is always ready to contribute to the capacity-building and increase of effectiveness of the Prosecutor Generals Office of Artsakh. He also highly appreciated the organized and coordinated actions of the Prosecutor Generals Office of Artsakh in terms of effective prosecutorial oversight over reports, applications of entities involved in electoral processes, examination of alarms and processing during the recent nationwide elections in Artsakh.

During the meeting, the parties discussed issues related to the need for legislation directly linked to prosecutorial activities in both countries, harmony of institutional reforms and ensuring of uniformity, as well as the ensuring of continuity of the established mechanisms and traditions of exchange of experience.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on July 6 referred to the Armenian genocide, an event the U.S government has previously declined to acknowledge, as reports The Washington Post.

President Trumps close ally, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, may not be happy about this one.

After decades of the United States government declining to acknowledge the Armenian genocide because it would alienate Turkey, the White House on Monday invoked the term  albeit indirectly.

In the course of decrying protesters desecrating memorials across the country, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany referred to a memorial to the genocide by its proper name.

There seems to be a lack of understanding and historical knowledge when the Armenian Genocide Memorial, remembering victims of all crimes against humanity, including slavery, is vandalized, McEnany said.

McEnany appeared to be referring to the Armenian Genocide Memorial outside the Colorado state Capitol in Denver, which was vandalized several weeks ago.

The inclusion by McEnany was meant to reinforce the haphazard nature of the protesters alleged disregard for history. But it also trod into uneasy waters for an administration that, like its predecessors, has conspicuously avoided using the g-word.

The United States has long declined to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, owing in large part to its strategic alliance with Turkey in the Middle East. The Ottoman Empire is accused of slaughtering more than 1 million Armenians during World War I.

As a candidate, Barack Obama pledged to recognize the genocide for what it was, but his administration never made good on that promise over his eight years.

Likewise, Trumps administration has shunned a more forceful congressional attempt to press the issue. After both chambers of Congress last year passed bills  each overwhelmingly  to symbolically recognize the genocide, Trump declined to sign it, and his State Department argued that the measure wasnt U.S. policy.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) later said that he momentarily blocked a vote on the measure in the Senate at the express request of the White House, given that Erdogan happened to be visiting at the time.

The only reason I did it is because he [Erdogan] was still in town, Graham said, adding: That wouldve been poor timing. Im trying to salvage the relationship, if possible.

The recognition of the genocide is indeed politically dicey. The White House will surely argue that McEnany was simply referring to a memorial by its actual name, but even using that name has been a no-go for many years inside the White House. Some Obama aides have expressed regret for not making a more principled stand on the issue. Im sorry, Obamas former United Nations ambassador, Samantha Power, said in 2018. Im sorry that we disappointed so many Armenian Americans.

Whats more, groups that have been pushing for the recognition hailed McEnanys comments Monday.

We appreciate that the [Trump] administration has taken note that the Armenian Genocide memorial in Denver was vandalized and of the need for a better understanding of historical knowledge, Armenian Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny said in a statement to The Fix on Monday. This monument, dedicated on the 100th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, commemorates the victims of all crimes against humanity. 

The Trump administration has addressed atrocities against Armenians, saying on Armenian Remembrance Day this year, Today, we join the global community in memorializing the lives lost during the Meds Yeghern  an Armenian phrase meaning great calamity that recent U.S. administrations have adopted  one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century. That statement, including the use off the Armenian phrase, echoed how the Obama administration handled it.

The use of the actual word by McEnany is particularly striking from the Trump administration, though, given that Trump has carved out an especially close relationship with Erdogan. Among other things, Trump withdrew troops from northern Syria, which detractors, including many Republicans, argued allowed Erdogan to slaughter the U.S.-allied Kurds in the region. Former White House national security adviser John Bolton also said in his recent book that Trump told Erdogan he would intervene in a Justice Department case involving a Turkish firm  apparently Halkbank.

Given Trumps posture, it would seem odd that McEnany would refer in any terms to the Armenian genocide, even if just using the proper name for something.
The US strike in Iraq that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani represented a violation of international law, Reuters reported referring to UN expert.

The attack violated the UN Charter, said Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

The world is at a critical time, and possible tipping point, when it comes to the use of drones. ... The Security Council is missing in action; the international community, willingly or not, stands largely silent, Callamard, an independent investigator, told Reuters.

Major General Soleimani was in charge of Iran military strategy, and actions, in Syria and Iraq. But absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the U.S. was unlawful, Callamard wrote in the report.
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 07.07.2020:

White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany used the Armenian Genocide term during her press briefing.

While criticizing protesters who have been desecrating memorials across the country, McEnany referred to an Armenian Genocide memorial by its proper name.

There seems to be a lack of understanding and historical knowledge when the Armenian Genocide Memorial, remembering victims of all crimes against humanity, including slavery, is vandalized, McEnany said.

McEnany seemed to be referring to the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Denver vandalized several weeks ago.

As the Washington Post noted: The Trump White House finally  if unintentionally  invokes the Armenian genocide.

A total of 349 COVID-19 new cases were reported in Armenia on Tuesday, bringing the total number to 29,285.

The death toll has reached 503.

The total number of tests conducted so far is 125,088.

Also, 11,711 people are currently being treated.

According to the latest data, 16,907 people have recovered thus far.

Armenian 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, PM Nikol Pashinyan told a briefing.

"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," the PM added.

"About 200 vaccines are currently being developed around the world, about 20 of which have a good chance of becoming a final product," he noted.

According to him, public health experts believe there will be a vaccine and that's why 'the countries are already discussing the issue of buying the future vaccine.'

He added that Armenia has decided to at least start such talks with manufacturers as well as with collective buyerssuch as UNICEF, WTO, Gavi [the Vaccine Alliance]that can buy batches and evenly distribute for 100 countries at once.

"Only the presence of a vaccine will allow us to return to a normal lifewithout masks," Torosyan noted.

Kim Kardashian called on her millions of social media followers to support small businesses in Armenia by donating to Armenia Support Fund.

"Consider donating to Armenia Support Fund help provide COVID-19 aid to struggling small businesses in Armenia," the reality show star and successful businessman wrote.

The TV star also published the names of several companies which especially need support in this regard.

Armenia Support Fund has partnered with The Paros Foundation to launch the Armenia COVID-19 Small Business Support Initiative to raise funds to support the business-related needs of family-owned small businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19 in Armenia.
Spokesperson of the Prime Minister of Armenia Mane Gevorgyan posted the following on her Facebook page:

I read the statements that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made yesterday in Khatay region, and I must say that the Azerbaijani Presidents ongoing attempts to dig deep into history are truly ridiculous. He claims that there is nothing mentioned about Armenians in the Kyurakchay Treaty concluded in the early 1800s.

We were naive to think that Mr. Aliyev is familiar with the most popular works in ancient history in which there are tremendous materials devoted to Hayastan-Armenian and its indigenous Armenian people.

If Mr. Aliyev doesnt trust the authors of those works, he should have at least read Ottoman authors of the 16th-19th centuries, some of which have not only provided a lot of information about Armenia, but have also traveled through Armenia-Ermenistan and interacted with Christian Armenian residents.

We thought Mr. Aliyevs knowledge would allow him to know well about Amaras, Dadivank Monastery and the 13th century Gandzasar built by Armenians in Artsakh in the early Middle Age and with Armenian inscriptions.

It isnt Prime Minister Pashinyan who says that Artsakh is Armenia, but the Armenian inscriptions on Amaras, Dadivank Monastery and Gandzasar Monastery.

Mr. Aliyev is trying to claim that at the Munich Security Conference Prime Minister Pashinyan presented a king as an Armenian who had nothing in common with the Armenian people. He should at least be ashamed of the authors mentioned above. True, they didnt write anything about Azerbaijan, but its not their fault that they havent come across such a country in the territory of modern-day Azerbaijan until 1918.

As far as the negotiations over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are concerned, Mr. Aliyevs last statement clearly mentions the reason why the conflict remains unresolved  the rights of the people of Artsakh have been fully ignored. The citizens of Artsakh will obviously protect their rights, and the negotiations cant be effective as long as Azerbaijan hasnt recognized those rights.

After all, Prime Minister Pashinyan has proposed a clear formula for making the negotiations effective, and that is that any solution to the Karabakh issue must be acceptable for the peoples of Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan. The international community accepts this formula, but not Mr. Aliyev, who says the settlement of the conflict must be acceptable only for the people of Azerbaijan.

Armenias response remains the same  if there is a military solution to the issue, the citizens of Artsakh solved the issue a long time ago.

Mr. Aliyev is blaming the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Armenia and historical justice for the fact that there is no solution to the issue, but he must only blame himself for not discussing the issue constructively for a long time now.
President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian today met with members of the Professional Commission on Constitutional Reforms, as reported on the official website of the President of Armenia.

Once again, the head of state highlighted the need for constitutional reforms and welcomed the fact that the Prime Minister established the Professional Commission. You, as members of the Commission, will be dealing with reforming the number one law of the country, Sarkissian said, noting that the Staff of the President and the presidential institution will be approaching the issue very seriously and will be participating in the process.

The participants of the meeting particularly talked about the Commissions activities and the development of the document for reform and shared their comments.

As far as the discussions on a presidential or parliamentary system are concerned, the head of state said both systems can be either be great or very bad. In this context, the President said it was extremely important to hold public discussions and ensure as wide participation of the public as possible.

Touching upon the view of one of the members of the Commission that concerned the direct election of the President of Armenia, Sarkissian particularly said the following: I try to be the president who is neutral. You all want the President to not be politically affiliated, right-wing or left-wing, but a person who will be able exercise his powers the right way. During crises or in case of need, you have to be right in the middle in order to be an intermediator. In reality, this is very difficult, and a direct election may contribute to the process.

Talking about the Constitution, Sarkissian said the Constitution is also a culture and philosophy. Attaching importance to the simple mechanism of checks and balances, President Sarkissian stated that this will provide the opportunity to avoid the problems and situations that the presidential institution has faced over the past two years. He brought the example of the election of a judge of the Constitutional Court and said it is possible for the President, the Supreme Council and the National Assembly to elect three judges each.
A citizen contacted the editorial office of Armenian News-NEWS.am and said police officers had fined the citizens mother when she lowered her face mask to fix her glasses in an open space in the city today.

In Dilijan, my mother was walking to a pharmacy. Her glasses became foggy due to her sweating and she wanted to remove her glasses, and her face mask came down from her nose. Police officers approached her and reported that they are preparing to draw up a record. They threatened to videotape her and said they would take her to the police station, the citizen said.

According to the citizen, the record doesnt state the amount of money that the citizens mother has to pay. In any case, the citizen said the mother is preparing to dispute the record.
Police arrested and charged three suspects after a 111-year-old Confederate monument outside of a United Methodist church in Cornelius was defaced again early Tuesday.

At about 2 a.m., police arrested Treyvon Ciccio, 19, of Cornelius, and Gabriel Huezo, 21, of Charlotte, and charged them with first-degree trespassing and injury to personal property, Mecklenburg County jail records show. Ciccio and Huezo are free on $12,000 bail, according to the jail.

A juvenile also was arrested in the vandalism outside Mt. Zion UMC north of Charlotte, Cornelius Today reported.

Vandals spray painted the words racist and BLM, short for Black Lives Matter, on the monument, according to video taken of the scene by The Charlotte Observer. Police did not return two calls from the Observer Tuesday.

The vandalism came just hours after another often-vandalized Confederate statue in the Charlotte region was moved on a flatbed from its 111-year-old perch in downtown Salisbury into temporary storage, Observer news partner WBTV reported.

The Salisbury City Council and the local United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter reached an agreement to place the Fame statue in the Old Lutheran Cemetery, where Confederate dead are buried, the Observer has reported.

Legacy of shame

Both the Salisbury and Cornelius statues have been vandalized repeatedly in recent years, as calls grew to move them from their places of prominence.

Police in 2017 charged a Davidson man with misdemeanor injury to property after the Cornelius memorial was defaced with an X in blue spray paint over the words Our Confederate Soldiers, the Observer reported at the time.

Cornelius Police arrested three suspects after a 111-year-old Confederate monument was vandalized again on the lawn of Mt Zion United Methodist Church in Cornelius Tuesday.

Demands to remove Confederate monuments have occurred nationwide in recent months, prompted by widespread protests for the Black Lives Matter movement and against police brutality in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by Minnesota police.

In early June, Mt. Zion pastors Jonathan and Angela Marlowe called for the Cornelius statues removal. On Monday, leaders of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church also said its time for the statue to go.

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The argument that these monuments are simply a part of some peoples heritage, is actually a reminder and legacy of the shame, hate, intimidation and degradation of a whole people, conference leaders said in a statement.

The Cornelius statue was built in 1909 during the Jim Crow era, and is still owned and maintained by the Mount Zion Monument Association, formed by descendants of Confederate veterans, the Observer previously reported.

The memorial is an obelisk topped by the statue of a soldier. The church owns neither the memorial nor the land on which it sits, the Marlowes have said.

Politically charged climate

Mount Zion Monument Association chairman Donald Archer did not reply to requests for comment over the past week. But in a statement to the Observer in June, Archer said the group was reviewing what to do with the monument.

In todays politically charged climate, many people do not view this memorial as a significant and valuable piece of history, he said in the June statement. Due to this climate, the association is exploring all options available to protect and save this significant part of the history of Mecklenburg County and ... North Carolina.

In a July 2 statement, members of the Mt. Zion administrative board backed the Marlowes call to remove the Cornelius statue, saying the monument is perceived by many as offensive and urged the association to immediately remove the monument.

We know our church to be a very warm, welcoming, and hospitable congregation, administrative board members said. We truly love and welcome all people ... For many people, the outward appearance that they see does not match the inward reality that we know.

All remaining Confederate monuments should be removed from courthouses, public squares and main streets across the United States, leaders of the Western North Carolina Conference of United Methodist churches said Monday.

The conference includes 1,138 churches with about 285,700 total members, according to its website.

Symbols of white supremacy

Conference leaders called on Confederate heritage groups to work with local and county governments to remove the monuments.

We oppose symbols commonly associated with white supremacy, like the Confederate battle flag and other Confederate symbols as they do not represent the values of a holy, just, equitable, and Beloved community, conference leaders said in the statement.
Upper Haight

La Alacran, which opened last spring, had to close permanently. | Photo: Camden Avery/Hoodline

Even before the pandemic, it was already a tumultuous time for businesses in the Upper Haight, with lots of closures and high commercial vacancy rates.

But as some shops and restaurants  like Mendel's, Buffalo Exchange, and Cha Cha Cha  begin to welcome back customers, a clearer picture of permanent business closures in the neighborhood is beginning to emerge.

By our count, five Haight Street small businesses have closed since the shelter-in-place order came down. And many more are likely in peril.

The Haight outpost of John Fluevog Shoes reopened its doors to customers last month. But it's only surviving because of web orders and a strong online presence.

"We see some people coming in just because we're open, but nobody's really shopping," says manager Denny Garbuio. "People are afraid to spend money."

Garbuio says he's worried about neighboring businesses, especially with the collapse in summer tourism. "People visit Haight Street to shop  it's an experience, it's a tourist destination."

Here's more on each of the five neighborhood businesses that closed in recent weeks, and why.

Bladerunners (1792 Haight St.)

Bladerunners. | Photo: Camden Avery/Hoodline

Bladerunners, the hair salon at Haight and Shrader streets, was about to celebrate its 30th year in business. Instead, it's closing.

According to signs posted in the storefront last month, the salon's landlords hiked its rent by 150% during the COVID-19 closure. The salon is now completely cleared out, including inventory, fixtures and signs.

La Alacran (1701 Haight St.)

Plants and gifts on display at La Alacran. | Photo: Camden Avery/Hoodline

Family-owned plant and art shop La Alacran is closing after just a year in business. Owners Leo and Landsley Vega, San Francisco natives, confirmed the closure but declined to share further details.

The shop launched a Gofundme campaign back in March, but it only raised $200 of its $20,000 goal.

"What a ride," the Vegas said via email. "We are focused on cleaning out the shop, staying in good spirits, and looking forward."

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Haight Street Bazaar (1696 Haight St.)

Haight Street Bazaar is shuttering after 4 years in business. | Photo: Camden Avery/Hoodline

Tibetan gift and clothing shop Haight Street Bazaar has announced a permanent closure, just shy of what would have been its fourth anniversary.

The shop isn't currently holding regular hours, but signs in the window indicate that merchandise is being marked up to 50% off to liquidate inventory.

Dolls Kill (1475 Haight St.)

Dolls Kill is listed as "temporarily closed," but signs point to a remodel and final move-out. | Photo: Camden Avery/Hoodline

The website for Goth-Lolita party clothier Dolls Kill says it's only closed temporarily. But a visit to its storefront shows it's empty, with a fresh coat of paint inside.

The shop, which opened in April 2017 as a pop-up store, had been open at the start of this year. The owners didn't respond to a request for comment.

Gypsy Men's (1474 Haight St.)

Gypsy boutique has shuttered its dedicated men's store permanently. | Photo: Camden Avery/Hoodline

Gypsy Men's, the sibling store to counter-culture clothier Gypsy Streetwear Boutique, has closed for good, according to signs posted in its windows. There's now a "for lease" sign posted as well.

Gypsy says it will continue to sell menswear via its online store, and perhaps integrate it into the original shop as well. For now, though, its other Haight storefront is also closed.

See something interesting while youre out and about? Notice a potential permanent closure? Text Hoodline and well try to find out whats going on: (415) 200-3233.
National Imaging Associates (NIA), a Magellan Health Company, Updates Clinical Guidelines for Medical Necessity to Include a Recommendation of Lumbar Total Disc Replacement

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aesculap Implant Systems, LLC today announced that National Imaging Associates (NIA), a Magellan Health Company, has updated its "Clinical Guidelines for Medical Necessity for Musculoskeletal and Surgery" to include a medical necessity recommendation for Lumbar Total Disc Replacement (TDR), including the latest generation activL Artificial Disc.

activL Artificial Disc with Intelligent Motion Technology

Multiple U.S. commercial payers including Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA), Florida Blue, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan and Dean Health Plan follow NIA Magellan's clinical coverage guidelines, and, therefore, NIA's recent update potentially opens the door for positive coverage to more than 8.5 million American commercial health insurance beneficiaries. NIA Magellan provides a third-party prior authorization service to U.S. insurers. According to the company's website, the service delivers cost savings to the payers by taking over the burden of clinical analytics, and their due diligence leads them to recommend evidence-based practices that result in "better quality and bottom-line outcomes" for health plans.

"For several years, we have noted that NIA Magellan had outdated references in their clinical guidelines for Lumbar Total Disc Replacement," said Kim Norton, reimbursement consultant for Aesculap Implant Systems and V.P. of Reimbursement for Simplify Medical. "It took us several tries to get this issue in front of the right decision makers, so we were pleased to see that they were able to objectively review the strong evidence for lumbar TDR and update their guidelines based on that."

NIA Magellan's new guideline leans on a Cochrane Review (2013), the 2019 North American Spine Society (NASS) Coverage Policy Recommendation and a level-one meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trial outcomes by Dr. Jack Zigler and Dr. Matthew Gornet (2017) to shape the positive recommendation for lumbar TDR.

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About Aesculap Implant Systems, LLC

Aesculap Implant Systems, LLC, a B. Braun company, is part of a 175-year-old global organization focused on meeting the needs of the changing healthcare environment. Through close collaboration with its customers, Aesculap Implant Systems develops advanced spine and orthopaedic implant technologies to treat complex disorders of the spine, hip and knee. Aesculap Implant Systems strives to deliver products and services that improve the quality of patients' lives. For more information, call 800-234-9179 or visit aesculapimplantsystems.com.

Cision

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SOURCE Aesculap Implant Systems, LLC
July 4 fireworks New York NYC Empire State Building

Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

US airlines saw more than 700,000 passengers per day three times over the July 4 holiday weekend. That's a new record for travel demand since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

However, the numbers remained far below 2019 levels, as airlines continue to burn cash amid the drop in demand.

More than 3.3 million people flew over the first five days of July, compared to more than 11.9 million during the same period in 2019.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

More than 3.3 million people traveled by air over the first five days of July, setting a new record for air travel during the coronavirus pandemic.

Additionally, more than 700,000 people flew over three days of the long holiday weekend  July 2, 3, and 5, according to the US Transportation Security Administration  breaking that barrier for the first time since March 18, early into the pandemic quarantines.

Despite the uptick in travel over the holiday period, however, the larger picture remains bleak for airlines in the US and globally.

For instance, although the TSA saw 764,761 passengers on July 2, nearly 2.1 million people flew on the same day in 2019. Last year, nearly 12 million people flew during the first five days of July.

Even with the holiday increase, travel demand is likely to come back slowly, especially as states across the US see record spikes in coronavirus cases.

The overall number of travelers published by the TSA represents the total distributed across the nation's commercial airlines. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said last week that the airline expected to fly just 600,000 passengers over the July 4 holiday weekend, compared to 3.2 million passengers last year  an 80% reduction. An American Airlines spokesperson told Business Insider that it was the airline's busiest weekend since March.

Daily passenger counts in the US have grown steadily since mid-April, when the total hit a low of just over 87,000.

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However, that growth has been slow, and typically consists of passengers traveling for leisure, rather than more profitable business travelers.

"Business travelers, who provide the bulk of our revenue, have not yet returned in significant numbers," Bastian wrote in last week's memo.

Airlines in the US and globally have been decimated by the collapse of travel demand, particularly of business travel. Even as some corporate travel bans are lifted and certain unavoidable business travel resumes, such as that within the manufacturing sector, demand is expected to take 3-5 years to fully recover across the industry.

US airlines are consequently seeking to cut staffing. While they are prohibited from laying off or furloughing workers through September 30, under the terms of the CARES Act, the notices have already started to go out to employees who will be impacted.

American, for instance, issued its first furlough notices to management and support workers last week, while warning that it was overstaffed by about 7,000 to 8,000 flight attendants, and about 20,000 employees overall.

In an effort to avoid or minimize layoffs, the major airlines have offered various voluntary separation options to workers, including buyouts and early retirements. These packages typically offer departing employees some form of continued pay, as well as helath and travel benefits.

In Thursday's memo, Bastian urged workers to consider taking the "a once-in-a-career opportunity to depart Delta with generous cash severance and retiree medical and flight benefits." The airline said it would accept applications through July 13.

Read the original article on Business Insider
CAIRO (AP)  An American medical student detained without trial in an Egyptian prison for nearly 500 days has been freed and returned to the United States, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.

The release of Mohamed Amashah, a dual Egyptian-American citizen from Jersey City, New Jersey, followed months of pressure from the Trump administration, according to the Freedom Initiative group, which advocated on his behalf.

We welcome the release of U.S. citizen Mohamed Amashah from Egyptian custody, and thank Egypt for its cooperation in his repatriation, the State Department said.

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, said hed personally raised the issue of unjustly detained Americans with Egypt's foreign ministry last week.

Like thousands of political prisoners in Egypt, Amashah, 24, had been held in pre-trial detention on charges of misusing social media and aiding a terrorist group, according to the Freedom Initiative. Under broad counterterrorism laws, state prosecutors have used these vague charges to renew 15-day pretrial detention periods for months or years, often with little evidence.

In March of last year, Amashah stood alone in Cairos Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypts 2011 Arab Spring uprising, holding an Arabic sign that read: Freedom for all the political prisoners.

He was swiftly arrested and sent to Cairo's notorious Tora prison complex, where he remained for 16 months. Before boarding a flight home late Sunday, he relinquished his Egyptian citizenship as a condition of his release.

Protesting has been illegal under Egyptian law since 2013, when President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, as defense minister, led the militarys ouster Mohamed Morsi, Egypts first democratically elected president, amid mass protests against his rule.

Over the years, el-Sissi has moved to quash dissent, silencing critics and jailing thousands.

In March, as the coronavirus spread in Egypt and raised the specter of unchecked contagion in the countrys crowded prisons, Amashah and fellow inmates began a hunger strike to protest their unjust imprisonment, the Freedom Initiative said.

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Amashah suffers from asthma and an autoimmune disease, making him particularly vulnerable to the virus. His deteriorating health stoked fear in Washington that he could end up like Mustafa Kassem, an auto parts dealer from New York whose recent death after a hunger strike in the same prison sent a chill through Egyptian-U.S. relations.

No one wanted to take the risk of another Kassem, said Mohamed Soltan, founder of the Freedom Initiative.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators asked that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urge foreign governments to release Americans detainees, including Amashah, citing the risk posed by the pandemic.

His case is welcomed progress and a step forward in the right direction, the Freedom Initiative said in a statement.

This spring, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights appealed for the release of pre-trial detainees in Egypt to save them from a possible viral outbreak.

Egypts prisons, estimated to hold 114,000 people, are overcrowded, unsanitary and suffer from a lack of resources," the human rights office said, adding that detainees are routinely denied access to critical medical care and treatment.
ATLANTA, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameris Bancorp (Nasdaq: ABCB) (the "Company") announced today that it intends to release its second quarter 2020 financial results in a press release before the market opens on Monday, July 27, 2020. H. Palmer Proctor, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Nicole S. Stokes, Chief Financial Officer, and Jon S. Edwards, Chief Credit Officer, will host a teleconference at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time on that same day to discuss the Company's results and answer appropriate questions.

Ameris Bancorp logo. (PRNewsFoto/Ameris Bancorp)

The conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-877-504-1190 (or 1-855-669-9657 for participants in Canada and 1-412-902-6630 for other international participants). The conference ID name is Ameris Bancorp ABCB. A replay of the call will be available beginning one hour after the end of the conference call until August 10, 2020. To listen to the replay, dial 1-877-344-7529 (or 1-855-669-9658 for participants in Canada and 1-412-317-0088 for other international participants). The conference replay access code is 10146087. The conference call replay and the financial information discussed will also be available on the Investor Relations page of the Ameris Bank website at ir.amerisbank.com.

About Ameris Bancorp

Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and the parent of Ameris Bank, a Georgia state-chartered bank. Ameris Bank currently has 170 branches in Georgia, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina.

Cision

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SOURCE Ameris Bancorp
In many primary elections nationwide, progressive challengers are running to kick out ineffective, centrist Democrats who have failed to meet their constituents needs.

For Dr. Arati Kreibich  who is challenging Rep. Josh Gottheimer in New Jerseys 5th Congressional District in todays primary  its personal: She volunteered to reelect her opponent two years ago. But after he voted to give funding to Trumps border wall, Kreibich decided she had had enough of Trumps favorite Democrat, as she labeled him. (Check out joshgottheimer.republican, a website her campaign set up.)

Dr. Kreibich, who came to the U.S. from India at age 11, is a neuroscientist whose research focuses on opiate addiction. She became politically active after Trump was elected in 2016, when she successfully ran for the Glen Rock, NJ, borough council, and became its first South Asian member. Unlike Gottheimer, she supports policies like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, and she says her district has changed a lot in the past few years and is ready for a progressive in Congress.

Ahead, we spoke with Kreibich about why she believes North Jersey needs new leadership, Trumps response to COVID-19, her children, and more.

Why do you believe Rep. Josh Gottheimer needs to be replaced?

When my opponent voted to fund Trumps border wall, voted against the Iran War Powers resolution, and fought to bail out predatory lenders in the midst of this pandemic crisis, he betrayed the real Democratic values of my community. North Jersey needs a leader who will fight for universal healthcare and paid family leave, who will advocate for a Green New Deal, and who will stand up to Trump, not side with him 76.7% of the time. We need a leader to stay true to our values, to lead by example, and to govern as a real Democrat.

Youve been backed by progressive figures such as Sen. Bernie Sanders. Why do you believe that its time for a new type of Democrat to step up and lead? What has been the biggest challenge about being a primary challenger?

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In these unprecedented times, we need representatives who are willing to take bold action. Young people in NJ-5 and across our nation are calling for leaders who will protect their future on this planet and advocate for equity and justice. As a primary challenger, Ive faced obstacle after obstacle since the day that I announced my campaign, but far more noteworthy is the support our movement has garnered from Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Indivisible, Sunrise Movement, Working Families Party, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and dozens of other groups who know its worth electing a real Democrat in NJ-5.

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Youve said that you decided to run for Congress when Josh Gottheimer backed Trumps anti-immigrant agenda. What immigration policies would you support?

When my opponent sided with Trump to oppose protections for kids in cages, I knew I needed to step up and run myself. Welcoming immigrants is central to Americas core values, and our immigration policy should reflect that. I support creating a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in our country. As an immigrant myself, I know what its like to migrate to our country looking to build a better life for yourself and your family. America has room for all of us, but we must fight to ensure we all truly belong.

What is the hardest thing about raising your sons in this era of crisis?

Raising my sons in this time of near-constant crisis is difficult. I worry about them and their future on this planet. While I worry about their emotional resilience and about their mental health, I also worry about the children who do not have the support systems and opportunities that my children have. When my children ask me what I am doing to make a difference, I want to be able to say honestly that I am doing everything in my power to protect them, our planet, and every community that is under attack by our current administration.

As a scientist and medical researcher, where do you believe the U.S. has failed the most in responding to COVID-19? What are our biggest opportunities in terms of solving the crisis?

We have failed to heed the warnings of scientists and public health experts. Had the Trump administration listened to scientists and experts, instead of ignoring them, acted sooner, and made decisions based on data, we could have saved thousands of lives. New Jersey has picked up the slack where the federal government has failed us, but we have already seen in other parts of the country what will happen if we reopen too quickly. Moving forward, we can save lives and livelihoods if we increase testing, provide direct cash payments of $2,000 a month for the duration of the crisis, and institute a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures.

Dont forget to register to vote.

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Tenant right advocates including Karissa Stotts organized a honking, vehicle protest around the US Bank building.

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via Getty Images

As the federal moratorium on evictions nears its expiration, experts are worried there could be a homelessness crisis.

Twenty percent of the 110 million Americans who live in rented homes are at risk of eviction by the end of September, The Aspen Institute reported.

The issue is especially expected to hit Black and Hispanic renters hard.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As many as 20% of the 110 million Americans who live in rented homes are at risk of eviction by the end of September, The Aspen Institute reported last month citing data from the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project.

That project estimated somewhere between 19 to 23 million American renters could be evicted depending on the unemployment rate. The report uses a model that combined data on renter households' income, savings, and housing cost burden.

The federal government banned evictions in federally assisted properties until July 25. (However, The Post notes that it has been unevenly enforced.) Additionally, cities and states put their own measures to ensure renters are protected but the vast majority of those orders have begun to expire in June, CNBC reported.

The unemployment rate was 11.1 % in June  as the virus continues to surge in multiple states forcing some businesses to close again  and the ending of extended unemployment benefits on July 31 is likely to compound the issue of Americans being able to pay rent.

Black and Hispanic renters are expected to be hit harder

According to an April 2019 report from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, Black and Hispanic households are more likely to be extremely low-income renters and make at or below the poverty line or 30% of their area's median income. They already face a shortage of affordable living options, the Coalition reported. One in five Black households and 16% of Hispanic households qualify as extremely low-income renters.

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"If you look at the COVID pandemic and the health outcomes, the economic outcomes, that is hitting Black and brown people very hard," Peter Hepburn, a research fellow at Princeton University's Eviction Lab told The Post. "And that is likely to be seen in the housing market as well."

According to an analysis of responses from a Census Bureau survey by Urban.org, around 44% of adult Latinx or Hispanic respondents said they had no or slight confidence they could pay their rent next month or were likely to defer payment. For Black renters, it was 41%. The statistics are from data collected between May 28 and June 9.

State and city moratoriums are already expiring

In Pennsylvania, the state's moratorium on evictions is set to expire on Friday, and some are worried there could be a homelessness crisis to follow, The Reading Eagle reported.

Like much of the state, Berks County has seen a record number of jobless claims and a slowed backlogged state unemployment department that's been very slow to process or provide benefits.

Officials are concerned that hundreds of people haven't paid rent in months.

"We think there will be a considerably large number of people facing eviction when the moratorium is finally lifted," Kenneth Pick, executive director of the county redevelopment authority told the Eagle, adding that it is still unclear just how big the problem will be. "No one has been able to figure it out because no one has been able to file evictions."

According to The Post, Milwaukee could be an example of what the rest of the country could look like. Moratoriums were lifted in Wisconsin on May 27. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in the first two weeks of June eviction filings rose by 42% across the state compared to last year.

Officials in the state are still worried the number of evictions could increase especially at the end of the month when federal eviction bans expire.

Additionally, data collected by the Eviction Lab research group. shows that in June almost 1,300 eviction cases were filed in Milwaukee as of June 27, an increase of 13% compared to last year. According to The Post, almost two-thirds of those eviction cases were in majority-Black neighborhoods.

"Milwaukee is the future. A lot of these other cities are just beginning to ramp up their capacity to process cases again," Hepburn told the Post.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Addis Ababa (AFP) - A leading opposition party representing Ethiopia's Oromo ethnic group said Monday that five senior members had been detained following violence last week that claimed at least 166 lives.

The political crackdown deepens fears of a large-scale roundup of government critics as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seeks to maintain control and keep a lid on simmering ethnic tensions and resentments.

The opposition politicians from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) were seized by security forces in the capital, Addis Ababa, party chairman Dawud Ibsa told AFP. They include Chaltu Takkele and Gemmechu Ayana, senior political officers, and Kennesa Ayana, a member of the party's central committee.

"We don't know why they were taken," Dawud said. "They were just simply sitting in their rooms and doing their jobs."

Protests broke out in Addis Ababa and the surrounding Oromia region following the fatal shooting on June 29 of Hachalu Hundessa, a pop star whose songs channelled marginalisation among his Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia's largest.

An Oromia police official said late Saturday that 156 people had been killed across the region in the ensuing violence, including 11 members of the security forces. Ten additional deaths have been reported in Addis Ababa.

Officials have attributed the deaths to a combination of lethal force by security officers and inter-ethnic violence.

The situation in the capital has been calm since Friday, though a nationwide internet blackout remained in effect Monday for a seventh consecutive day.

Abiy, who won last year's Nobel Peace Prize in part for opening up Ethiopia's political space, lifted a ban on the OLF shortly after he assumed office in 2018.

But the OLF's Dawud said some senior members of his party had been arrested numerous times since then and held for extended periods -- several months in some cases -- without ever seeing a courtroom, a tactic common under previous Ethiopian leaders.

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"It's the continuation of the past and we don't know why it's happening," he said.

The OLF is not the only party to be targeted in recent days. During last week's unrest officials also detained Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba from the Oromo Federalist Congress, as well as Eskinder Nega, a longtime government critic who has recently spoken out against government policies he argues favour Oromos.

All three men appeared briefly in court last week.

In addition, officials on Friday detained Yilkal Getnet, chairman of the opposition Ethiopian National Movement Party, for reasons that remain unclear, according to Girma Bekele, vice chairman of the Ethiopian Political Parties Joint Council, a consortium of more than 100 parties.

"I for one do not think Yilkal has any involvement with recent unrest. He believes in a peaceful, legal struggle," Girma told AFP.
In April, the coronavirus was tearing through the Northeast and Midwest, overwhelming hospitals and filling morgues. The situation was bleak.

But the rules, at least, were clear.

Businesses were shuttered. Flights were canceled. Nearly everyone had been ordered to stay home. And thats what nearly everyone did, reducing overall mobility by as much as 30 percent and reducing the number of new daily COVID-19 cases by roughly the same amount.

America may never return to that kind of economically devastating national lockdown. Yet with more tests coming back positive now than ever before  and with infections currently rising in 39 states, many of them in the South and West  lockdowns in some form may be the only way to regain control over a virus that has ruthlessly exploited Americans eagerness to return to normal life.

Dr. Anthony Fauci at a Senate hearing on June 30. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

The question is whether individualistic Americans who already endured one big  and only partially successful  lockdown will tolerate another.

With all due respect to American exceptionalism, Americans share with the rest of the world a desire not to die. The experience of other countries may suggest a path forward  if the nation will listen.

On Monday, two of Americas top infectious disease experts  Dr. Anthony Fauci and his boss, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health  convened online to discuss the pandemic running out of control in much of the U.S.

The conversation was telling. At the outset, Fauci warned that America was still knee-deep in the first wave of the contagion, describing the countrys new normal of more than 50,000 cases per day as a serious situation that we have to address immediately.

But how? asked Collins. What should people do, who are listening to this, who want to do what they can do to try to deal with this surge and not have it get any worse? Whats the recommendation?

Americans, Fauci said, need to adjust their personal behavior.

Regardless of where you are, the fundamental concepts [apply], Fauci explained. Physical distancing. Wear a mask at all times when youre outside [the home]. Wash your hands often. Avoid crowds. ... Outdoors [is] always better than indoors. If youre going to have a social function, maybe a single couple or two. Do it outside if youre going to do it.

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Then Collins and Fauci started talking about vaccines.

The message couldnt have been more quintessentially American: Emphasize personal responsibility  at least until whiz-bang innovation can save the day.

Yet whether out of pessimism or discretion  it was hard to say  Fauci and Collins skipped over the most important step, illustrating the challenge now confronting America and the dysfunction that has made the situation so much worse.

Sure, everyone should wash their hands and mask up. But while personal precautions are necessary, theyre not sufficient. The truth is, individual action isnt the only thing  or even the main thing  that flattened the initial curve of projected cases back in April and May. And given that most people who are spreading COVID-19 may not even know theyre infected  and many are getting infected while performing the kinds of frontline, blue-collar jobs they cant do from home  its unlikely to arrest the deadly viruss alarming summertime resurgence, let alone reduce its spread to the point where the U.S. can control and contain it.

Only systemic action by the entire society can do that. And judging by other countries experiences  not to mention Americas own efforts this past spring  that almost certainly means more targeted stay-at-home orders.

For proof, look no further than Europe, where most countries made sure the virus had been suppressed to a level low enough that containment was theoretically possible once business as usual resumed  and where governments are now closely monitoring new case clusters and quickly reinstating localized lockdowns when infections spike. Today, the European Union (population: 446 million) is averaging about 4,000 new cases per day. The U.S. (population: 328 million) is averaging 12 times that number.

On Monday, Fauci himself contrasted the European model with the United States. Americas baseline number of cases really never got down to where we wanted to go, he explained. If you look at the graphs from Europe ... it went up and then came down to baseline. Now theyre having little blips as you might expect as they try to reopen. We went up, never came down to baseline and now were surging back up.

In Germany, hundreds of cases of COVID-19 linked to a meatpacking facility triggered the lockdown of Gutersloh in North Rhine-Westphalia. In the United Kingdom, much of the country reopened last week, but the city of Leicester reimposed lockdown after a similar local surge.

Spain, however, may be the most revealing example. As with the U.S., the countrys response to the coronavirus has hardly been flawless. Spain has recorded about a quarter of a million cases so far, and nearly 30,000 people have died from COVID-19 there, the worst per capita death rate in the world after Belgium and the U.K. Yet 49 days of near-total lockdown  the kind where residents were barely allowed to leave home  suppressed the disease to fewer than 400 new daily cases.

And after reopening, the countrys response to those 400 cases has been very different from Americas response to its 50,000 daily cases.

Case in point: Segria county, an agricultural zone some 100 miles west of Barcelona. Last week, 524 new cases were diagnosed there, a doubling from the week before. (For comparison, Florida added 60,000 new coronavirus cases last week.) Of the 14 outbreaks in Segria, a region thick with hundreds of thousands of fruit trees, 10 are associated with companies that employ migrant workers, who live and labor in close quarters during the harvest.

In response, the regional government sealed off all 210,000 inhabitants of Segria, setting up 24 police checkpoints at the border and blocking all nonessential traffic in and out.

Same goes for A Marina, an area in Spains northwest region, Galicia. There, bars are believed to have seeded 119 cases. Now all 70,000 residents are back in lockdown.

Some might consider [this] maybe too drastic, Sara Canals, a journalist in the region, told the BBC. But theres a willingness here to find a right balance between reopening the economy but also to ensure safety.

In other parts of Spain, including Murcia, individual buildings have been completely quarantined.

To be clear: This isnt a national lockdown. The Spanish government lifted the nations state of emergency on June 21, handing control back to Spains 17 regional governments. Those regional governments are now the ones responding to flare-ups.

Theoretically, U.S. states, ardent defenders of federalism, could do the same. Again, Spain is not some Platonic ideal of coordination and transparency. Recently, Madrid and Barcelona stopped reporting case counts, to the chagrin of the national health department. The Spanish government isnt announcing new outbreaks, defined as three or more active cases. Observers are questioning whether Segria hid its rising case count until the situation was out of control. And just like Americans, not all Spaniards wear masks, even though face coverings are required wherever and whenever social distancing isnt possible.

Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is imploring Spaniards to go out and revitalize the economy. The land of the conquistadors, Sanchez recently declared, has successfully defeated the pandemic.

Yet because of systemic action  an initial lockdown that flattened the curve to a manageable level followed by targeted lockdowns meant to nip any new outbreaks in the bud  Spain no longer must rely solely on individual behavior to keep the virus at bay.

Thats good, because theres no indication that such behavior alone can contain 400 cases per day  let alone 50,000.

By Faucis own, optimistic estimation, a COVID-19 vaccine wont be ready for public use until early 2021, and it wont be widely available until months later. That means mass inoculation is at least a year away.

Does anyone really think the U.S. will be able to muddle through until then by telling Americans to wear masks and hoping theyll listen? Weve been doing that for weeks, yet our accelerating outbreak shows no sign of slowing down. So far this month, 14 states have recorded new single-day highs.

Meanwhile, residents in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, will no longer be allowed to leave their homes unless its for grocery shopping, caregiving, exercise or work. The measures are expected to remain in place for six weeks.

The reason? The state of Victoria (in which Melbourne is located) saw a record rise in daily coronavirus cases Tuesday  to 191 new infections.

Over the same time period, more than 2,000 new cases were reported in the Miami area alone.

People in Miami Beach, Fla., on Monday. (Johnny Louis/Getty Images)

To be fair, there has been some progress in the U.S. Republican governors who long resisted mask mandates are starting to relent; states are reclosing bars and pausing restaurant reopenings. And mobility in hard-hit states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona and California is beginning to tick downward after peaking in late June, according to data collected by Cuebiq  a likely sign that residents are at least trying to rein in their behavior.

Yet even the mobility trend lines show the limits of relying on individuals to restrain the coronavirus. In Florida, mobility peaked around June 15 at a level about 0.8 percent lower than last year at the same time. Today, its fallen back down to about 1.5 percent lower than last year.

In early April, during lockdown, mobility was nearly 28 percent lower than it was the previous April.

Unfortunately, the kind of clarity we had back then  stay home or else!  is gone forever, replaced by a cacophony of conflicting, politicized messages on everything from masks to fatalities to vaccination. Experts who study the psychology of decision making say this is precisely the sort of environment where individual judgment will fail us  and where, in the absence of a broader systemic response, the coronavirus will continue to thrive.

Americans disgust should be aimed at governments and institutions, not at one another, Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, a professor of law and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, recently wrote in the Atlantic. During a disease outbreak, vague guidance and ambivalent behavioral norms will lead to thoroughly flawed thinking. If a business is open but you would be foolish to visit it, that is a failure of leadership.

Ultimately, Americans will probably never accept another national lockdown. But all the evidence from the rest of the world suggests theyre unlikely to stop the spread simply by fending for themselves. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom pressured Imperial County to reimpose its stay-at-home order last week after the areas positivity rate soared to more than 20 percent. Other governors might soon have to follow suit.

Donald G. McNeil Jr., the lead coronavirus reporter for the New York Times, put it succinctly Monday.

We are doing the dance in, dance out of various forms of lockdown, McNeil explained on the podcast The Daily. But we need to get to the point where were all basically dancing to the same music  where all governors accept the notion that when they have a problem that is getting out of control in their state, they react quickly. And if they do that they will save lives of their own citizens.

We need to arrive at [a] common understanding, he concluded. We dont all have to move in lockstep as a nation. But at the crucial moments we need to take similar steps to save lives.

With reporting by Melissa Rossi in Barcelona

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Cummins Inc. executive brings extensive knowledge of China and emerging markets to Axalta as the Company continues to grow globally

PHILADELPHIA, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE: AXTA), a leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, today announced that Steven M. Chapman has been appointed to its Board of Directors, effective as of July 21, 2020. Mr. Chapman will serve on the Company's Audit and Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability Committees.

"I'm pleased to welcome Steve to our Board of Directors," said Mark Garrett, Axalta's Board Chair. "He brings extensive China and emerging markets experience from his long and distinguished career at Cummins Inc., a global Fortune 500 manufacturing leader. Axalta continues to focus on growing our customer base, and Steve has a proven track record of building a successful business in China, and he understands the M&A market in the region, as well as how to leverage partnerships and joint ventures to drive performance. His guidance will help Axalta further build our leadership position in the coatings industry around the world."

"Steve's background and 30+ years of experience in China and emerging markets where he successfully grew Cummins' China business make him a great fit for Axalta's business goals and priorities," added Robert Bryant, Axalta's Chief Executive Officer. "Moreover, Steve will complement our Board's current expertise in the automotive and commercial vehicle markets, particularly in China."

Mr. Chapman (66) is currently Group Vice President - China and Russia at Cummins Inc., responsible for driving business growth in both countries. He joined Cummins in 1985 as Manager - International Business Development and has held a number of positions related to Cummins' international operations, including leadership of Southeast Asia and China. He has been instrumental in developing Cummins' successful business model for emerging markets and is retiring from Cummins effective as of July 31, 2020. Previously, Mr. Chapman was employed by Green Giant in Taiwan and China.

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Mr. Chapman earned his Bachelor's degree in Asian Studies from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Master's degree in Public and Private Management from the Yale University School of Management. He is a Senior Advisor to the US-China Industrial Cooperation Partnership, a private equity fund managed by Goldman Sachs. He also serves on the board of directors of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., the board of trustees for Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the Yale Greater China Board of Advisors.

About Axalta:

Axalta is a leading global company focused solely on coatings and providing customers with innovative, colorful, beautiful and sustainable solutions. From light vehicles, commercial vehicles and refinish applications to electric motors, buildings, pipelines and other industrial applications, our coatings are designed to prevent corrosion, increase productivity and enable the materials we coat to last longer. With more than 150 years of experience in the coatings industry, the global team at Axalta continues to find ways to serve our more than 100,000 customers in 130 countries better every day with the finest coatings, application systems and technology. For more information, visit axalta.com and follow us @Axalta on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/axalta-names-steven-m-chapman-to-board-of-directors-301088763.html

SOURCE Axalta Coating Systems Ltd.
Original drummer for The Beatles, Pete Best performs with The Pete Best Band at the Fest for Beatles Fans 2007 at The Mirage Hotel & Casino July 1, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Original Beatles drummer Pete Best let bygones be bygones as he wished Sir Ringo Starr a happy 80th birthday on Tuesday.

Starr, real name Richard Starkey, replaced the musician in 1962 when the group was managed by Brian Epstein in a decision which caused controversy.

Best, 78, tweeted: "Thought about it and thought why not. Happy Birthday Ringo. Its a special one. Have a good day.

Read more: Handwritten Hey Jude lyrics sell for 732,000 at auction

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He had originally been invited to go along with the group in 1960 to a series of club dates in Hamburg, Germany.

Epstein fired him from The Beatles in 1962 at the behest of members John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison before quickly being replaced by Starr.

An early portrait of the British rock group The Beatles. Left to right: Paul McCartney, Pete Best, George Harrison (1943 - 2001) and John Lennon (1940 - 1980). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

After spending time in other groups, Best went to work as a civil servant for 20 years. He returned to the music industry in 1988 with the Pete Best Band.

The release of Beatles compilation album Anthology 1 in 1995 saw Best receive a substantial sum in royalties due to the use of tracks with him featured on drums.

Upon reaching the milestone birthday, Starr also received well wishes from a number of famous faces including his fellow remaining Beatle, Paul McCartney.

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Posting a photo of Starr to Instagram, McCartney wrote: "Happy birthday SIR RICHARD alias RINGO. Have a great day my long time buddy! - Paul."

Meanwhile, Lennon's widow Yoko Ono shared to Twitter: "Happy, Happy Birthday Ringo! Lots of peace and love, yoko."

Elton John also wished the drummer a happy birthday from himself and husband David Furnish.

Posting a throwback photo of the pair of them to Instagram, he commented: "Happy 80th Birthday Ringo!! One of the worlds kindest people. And an inspiration to us both."
RTHK: US formally starts withdrawal from WHO

President Donald Trump on Tuesday formally started the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organisation, making good on threats to deprive the UN body of its top funding source over its response to the coronavirus.

Public health advocates and Trump's political opponents voiced outrage at the departure from the Geneva-based body, which leads the global fight on maladies from polio to measles to mental health - as well as Covid-19, at a time when cases have again been rising around the world.

After threatening to suspend the US$400 million in annual US contributions and then announcing a withdrawal, the Trump administration has formally sent a notice to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a State Department spokesperson said.

The withdrawal is effective in one year - July 6, 2021 - and Joe Biden, Trump's presumptive Democratic opponent, is virtually certain to stop it and stay in the WHO if he wins the November election.

A spokesman for Guterres and the global health body itself confirmed that the United States, a key founding WHO member, gave its notice.

In a speech earlier in the day, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said of Covid-19, "National unity and global solidarity are more important than ever to defeat a common enemy."

In line with conditions set when the WHO was set up in 1948, the United States can leave within one year but must meet its remaining assessed financial obligations, the UN spokesman said.

In late May, Trump said that China exerted "total control" over the WHO and accused the UN body led by Tedros, an Ethiopian doctor and diplomat, of failing to implement reforms.

Blaming China for the coronavirus, Trump, a frequent critic of the UN, said the United States would redirect funding "to other worldwide and deserving, urgent, global public health needs."

Democratic lawmakers have accused Trump of seeking to deflect criticism from his own handling of the pandemic in the United States, which has suffered by far the highest death toll of any nation despite the president's stated hope that the virus will disappear.

"To call Trump's response to Covid chaotic and incoherent doesn't do it justice," said Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.

"This won't protect American lives or interests - it leaves Americans sick and America alone," he wrote on Twitter.

Representative Ami Bera, himself a physician, said that the United States and World Health Organisation had worked "hand in hand" to eradicate smallpox and nearly defeat polio.

"Our cases are increasing," Bera said of Covid-19. "If the WHO is to blame: why has the US been left behind while many countries from South Korea to New Zealand to Vietnam to Germany return to normal?"

Even some of Trump's Republican allies had voiced hope that he was exerting pressure rather than making a final decision to abandon the World Health Organisation.

The investigative news outlet ProPublica reported last month that most of Trump's aides were blindsided by the WHO withdrawal announcement, which he made during an appearance about China.

The Trump administration has said that the WHO ignored early signs of human-to-human transmission in China, including warnings from Taiwan - which, due to Beijing's pressure, is not part of the UN body.

While many public health advocates share some criticism of the WHO, they question what other options the world body had other than to work with China, where Covid-19 was first detected late last year in the city of Wuhan.

The anti-poverty campaign One said the United States should work to reform, not abandon, the WHO.

"Withdrawing from the World Health Organisation amidst an unprecedented global pandemic is an astounding action that puts the safety of all Americans the world at risk," it said. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Dubai-headquartered DMCC, the worlds most interconnected Free Zone, and the leading trade and enterprise hub for commodities, has expanded and extended its Business Support Package which will run until August 31.



The announcement follows the positive market reaction from the Dubai business community to the original package launched in April  DMCCs largest ever commercial incentive.



Designed to reduce the cost of doing business, support SMEs, and boost the commercial resilience of members during an economic climate shaped by Covid-19, a whole range of cost reduction measures have been announced.



New support measures, applicable to DMCCs existing member companies, include:



 33% discount on 3-year licence renewal (or 1 year for free)

 25% discount on 2-year licence renewal (or 6 months for free)

 20% discount on 1-year licence renewal

 30% discount on additional licence

 100% waiver on change of address fee for relocating from physical office to DMCC Business Centre

 100% waiver of the office sharing permit fee

 100% waiver of late renewal penalties for expired licences

 100% waiver of late renewal penalties for expired leases

 50% on license reinstatement fees if the company license was terminated by an authority due to non-license renewal

 50% discount on dormancy fees

 2 months rent holiday for Flexi Desk and DMCC Business Centre tenants or monthly/quarterly instalments with no discount



DMCC also announced that it has partnered with Emirates NBD to offer new and existing member companies cardholders to convert payments into flexible and interest free instalments.



In June, DMCC revealed that 805 new member companies joined the business district in the first half of 2020, highlighting its continued appeal for ease of doing business. Despite the challenging business climate, May and June saw a noticeable uptick in new company registrations on par with previous years.



Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, stated that Free Zones are a critical component of Dubais economy, contributing AED135 billion ($26.75 billion), equivalent to 33%, to the emirates GDP.  TradeArabia News Service
Almost exactly 2,450 years ago, in 430 b.c., a plague devastated the democratic city-state of Athens, killing perhaps as many as 100,000 people, or 25 percent of its population. Even without the epidemic, which apparently came from abroad and the likes of which no one had ever experienced, it was a bad time: Athens was in the second year of what was to be a protracted and ultimately doomed series of wars with its rival, Sparta. In his famous description of these wars, the historian Thucydides recorded that he himself survived the plague; the great Athenian statesman and general Pericles was one among many who did not.

The situation went from bad to worse. Shortly after succumbing to Sparta, Athens lost another great citizen, the philosopher Socrates, who was forced to drink hemlock after a trial in which his peers found him guilty of impiety and corrupting the Athenian youth. But about a dozen years later, Socratess student Plato founded a school in a grove outside the city: the Academy, which fostered debates over issues of moral and epistemological importance that very much still occupy us today. One of the most impressive features of the Academy was that it actively encouraged reasoned disagreement. After all, Platos most famous student was Aristotle.

Right now is, I suggest, a better time than most to take seriously the idea of heterodoxy that Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle promoted in both theory and practice. Until a few months ago, those of us in or hoping to enter what is often called the academy regularly wrung our hands about one or another crisis within it  the illiberal stifling of dissent, the rampant growth of middle management, the toxic combination of identity politics, virtue signaling, and cancel culture. Now, of course, the whole globe is in crisis: Coronavirus has struck us at precisely the moment when our agreement over what constitutes the social contract is at its weakest.

In an unmoored world, students need mooring. So, frankly, do their teachers. This brings me to the John and Daria Barry Scholarship, which will a few months from now send its first full cohort of recent baccalaureates to the oldest and arguably greatest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford, for two years of graduate study. This is not an award tied in any way to the pandemic  the recipients learned of their selection last December  but it is one whose recipients, individually and as a group, possess qualities that will lead all of us, including members of the academy, into a safe and just new normal: respect for truth, difficult or complicated as it may be, and that rare combination of scholarly rigor and joy in discovery that makes every professors heart sing. I know this because I am the chairman of the Barry Academic Committee.

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Describe in no more than 1,000 words an occasion when your opinion or position was unpopular of differed from the mainstream. How did you articulate your ideas and beliefs? What did you learn from this experience of disagreement? This was one of the prompts we presented to prospective Barry Scholars. You will not find anything like it in applications for other U.K.-based fellowships, which tend to result in generic essays about leadership rather than philosophical and practical reflections on truth, virtue, sincerity, and courage  including the courage to question campus and other orthodoxies. Another thing most fellowships do not do is request samples of applicants best work. We do, and the senior theses, op-eds, films, and poems we receive are a wholly unpredictable pleasure to read and watch and savor: earnest and witty, risky and brilliant.

What else is different about the Barry Scholarship? For one thing, there is the process by which the young scholars are selected. We do not have students convince their professors and employers to submit canned letters of recommendation reporting that so-and-so is the best in a generation, only to see the same phrase trotted out for someone else twelve months later. Rather, we accept applications only from those who have been nominated by a biennially rotating group of distinguished faculty members charged with selecting the one or two most promising students they know, at any educational institution and in any academic discipline, who would benefit from a sojourn in Oxford. Put simply, the Barry Scholarship is a prize more than a scholarship.

Furthermore, the winners actually represent the United States. Two of the ten Barry Scholars in the inaugural cohort attended Claremont McKenna College; the others received degrees from Arizona State, Berkeley, Duke, George Fox, Penn, Princeton, St Andrews (Scotland), and Williams. By contrast, of the 32 most recent Americans to be named winners of what has widely been considered the most prestigious postgraduate prize at Oxford, the Rhodes Scholarship, no fewer than fifteen come from just four institutions: five from Harvard, four from Yale, four from MIT, and two from Princeton. Only three attended college west of the Mississippi River and only two graduated from an institution without a Ph.D. program. My own educational path gives me no credibility to gripe about elitism, but there is clearly something wrong here.

At Oxford, the Barry Scholars, who have been accepted into graduate programs in such fields as Music, Philosophy, Political Theory, Theology, Sociology, and Islamic Studies, will join a new academy, the Canterbury Institute, a registered U.K. charity whose motto is Rediscovering the academic vocation through humility towards the truth. The four American graduate students who formed a small seed group this past year have been doing just that, starting to build a community that respects the past and attends to the future. The Institute encourages its members, many of whom are senior Oxford faculty, to read and debate timeless texts together, to enjoy one anothers company, and to ease away from the soul-destroying dependence on impersonal devices.

It would be absurd to say that there was any one cause of the Renaissance, but the restructuring of society after another plague, the Black Death, was certainly a motivating factor. When Raphael painted The School of Athens, he was simultaneously depicting both his reborn world and Platos original Academy. What we urgently need now is another rebirth.

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Simone Askew, first captain of the Corps of Cadets, leads the chant before a game between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, December 9, 2017.

Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

Several Black cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point detailed their experience with racially charged incidents during their tenure at the renowned institution.

"I was called a 'n----' during my freshman year at West Point," one person wrote. "I was told that I was going to rob someone because I was Black. A student made a noose and put it on his Black roommate's desk as a joke. I was called 'white' because I speak intelligently, which is built on the assumption that white people speak better than Black people."

Their testimonies were included in a 40-page policy proposal to address the institution's failings in "uprooting the racism that saturates its history."

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Black cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point say they were subjected to racially charged harassment and weren't taken seriously when they reported it to authorities at the renowned institution.

Their testimonies were included in a 40-page policy proposal to address the institution's failings in "uprooting the racism that saturates its history" and to remove honors for Confederate soldiers, written by a group of US Army officers, all of them recent graduates and former student leaders at West Point.

Nine former West Point cadets, including 1st Lt. Simone Askew, a Rhodes Scholar and the first Black female to become West Point's First Captain; and 1st Lt. David Bindon, a First Captain and the class of 2019's valedictorian, submitted the June 25 letter to the academy, warning that it "has not taken the necessary strides" to build an inclusive environment, one that "ultimately fails to produce leaders of character equipped to lead diverse organizations."

"We encourage you to read this proposal in its entirety in order to understand the prevalence of racism at the Academy and our vision for its elimination," the officers wrote in the letter. "Though we are deeply disturbed, we hold fast to the hope that our Alma Mater will take the necessary steps to champion the values it espouses. Now is the time for action."

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The former cadets outlined three core failings at West Point: the continued presence of "systemic racism;" and the absence of anti-racism education and "anti-racist space."

The proposal offered a number of solutions to address the claimed failings, including hiring a full-time diversity chair; the creation of a mandatory class that teaches "the intersection between race, ethnicity, gender, and class;" launching an investigation of West Point's donors who may have had ties to white supremacist organizations; and the removal of "all names, monuments, and art honoring or venerating Confederate figures."

The military academy has several symbols honoring Confederate leaders  the cadet barracks is named after Confederate general Robert E. Lee, who also graduated from West Point and served as its superintendent. While efforts to rename the barracks were spearheaded by lawmakers since 2017, the campaign has gained momentum amid the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the country.

In the proposal, First Lt. Simone Askew, who graduated in 2018, recounted an incident two weeks after she was selected to become the First Captain, the senior leader representing her entire cadet class. Askew wrote she found a note under the door to her room that included "a picture of me holding a rifle, photoshopped with a monkey's face."

"Though I was aware of the historical precedence of portraying Black people as monkeys, I wondered if the depiction suggested something deeper about my leadership," she wrote. "Racing through my mind were all the presentations and conversations that I had given in the past 14 days as First Captain and whether I had made any mistakes.

"This self-interrogation fueled in me a paralyzing fear," she added.

Askew developed a strategy to "perform flawlessly" during her tenure at West Point and remained "optimistic that I had finally done enough."

Despite her efforts; however," Askew said that racist caricatures continued to spread online.

"One of the popular images even depicted me as Satan himself," she wrote. "Am I an animal, am I a demon, or am I human?"

United States Military Academy at West Point

Bettmann/Getty Images

'I chose to attend this place because I thought that racism would be addressed'

The letter also included some testimonials from the cadets in 2020. Many of them said they were ignored or even retaliated against for reporting these incidents. We are "consistently silenced and shunned by our Chain of Command and peers when we speak out against racist behavior," one person said.

"I was called a 'n----' during my freshman year at West Point," one person wrote. "I was told that I was going to rob someone because I was Black. A student made a noose and put it on his Black roommate's desk as a joke. I was called 'white' because I speak intelligently, which is built on the assumption that white people speak better than Black people. These are just a few of many examples."

A woman who identified herself as the only Black female in her company's class, recounted her experience with discussing the topic of race with her colleagues:

"But one day I sat with a group of white males in my company during dinner. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was coming up. One of them mentioned how his teacher made him feel 'guilty' about being white because of the oppression their ancestors put upon minority Americans for hundreds of years. The Cadet explained how he should not feel guilty because he was not the one that caused the pain.

"However, I mentioned how it is important to recognize the privilege young, white, straight, Christian males reap due to the power dynamic white men have created in American society. Once I said those words, I was suddenly being shouted at by every white male at that table. I was being told that I was 'crazy and racist,' that 'African Americans should do the same because of affirmative action,' and 'You're only saying that because you're Black.' I have learned that the 'respect for other races' at West Point is simply a coverup for the underlying racism that this institution tolerates.

"This is especially saddening to me because I chose to attend this place because I thought that racism would be addressed."

One cadet who received high marks for some of West Point's training classes said he was taken aback by one of the grades.

"Military performance has always been my strongest pillar. It therefore surprised me when my squad leader told me my force distributed grade for the detail. He said he would have graded me higher if I had done more to be part of the group.

"As someone who made sure to integrate himself into the group by hanging out with them during free time and sharing personal stories, I found it hard to believe that I was not integrated well enough. When I asked for examples, he cited my lack of interest in country music or my failure to try dipping tobacco during summer training."

West Point's class of 2023 included 1,190 candidates, 400 of whom were minorities, according to a press release last year. Of the candidates, 180 are Black, 145 are Hispanic Americans, 99 are Asian-Americans, and 19 are Native Americans.

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Two weeks ago, the author of the Slate Star Codex (SSC) blog deleted its archive after a New York Times reporter threatened to leak his personal information in a story. The blogger, a psychiatrist who goes by Scott Alexander (his first and middle names), says he went offline out of concern for his personal safety and that of his psychiatric patients. In an email, Alexander told me he had not heard from the Times since deleting his blog on June 23.

Slate Star Codex is part of the canon of the rationalist community  a group of academics and technologists who aim to maximize the accuracy of their beliefs by testing them using Bayesian methods. The rationalist emphasis on unbiased empirical analysis often leads them into dangerous territory: In a 2015 post on feminism, Alexander argued that the gender earnings gap is the result of womens professional and educational choices, rather than misogyny; elsewhere, he has suggested that the British Empire had positive effects on its colonial subjects and that certain ethnic groups may have inherently higher IQs than others.

The attempted doxxing of Scott Alexander is only the latest attempt by the mainstream media to proscribe the limits of public discourse. Because Alexander does not rely on publishers or advertisers, he can grapple with questions that academics and popular writers wouldnt touch with a ten-foot pole. But Times tech correspondent Cade Metz seemed to have found a way around this  not only by threatening to print Alexanders name but also by writing a story about the overlap between SSC and the Y Combinator/Andreessen-Horowitz crowd, a reference to two prominent venture-capital firms. But wait: Neither Y Combinator (YC) nor Andreessen-Horowitz (a16z) funds or otherwise supports Slate Star Codex. Alexander says that while YC founder Paul Graham reads his blog, he cannot remember ever meeting or conversing with anyone affiliated with YC. And outside of self-help clickbait (Nine Books Warren Buffett Thinks You Should Read This Year), the reading habits of businesspeople rarely make headlines.

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What, then, is the overlap to which Metz refers? Like Alexander, Graham and Marc Andreessen make the mistake of deviating from the Times bestseller list and reading unapproved literature. As technologists with money on the line, they are subject to objective standards of accuracy in their thinking and work. It is not enough for them to be popular; they have to be correct. Unsurprisingly, they sometimes run afoul of polite orthodoxy. The overlap stems from their shared independence.

Graham, an early investor in Airbnb, Stripe, and Dropbox, has been through the wringer before. In a 2013 Atlantic article titled Paul Graham Proves Sexism in Tech Is Still a Problem, he was tarred and feathered for pointing out that young women, on the whole, tend to be less interested than young men in computer science. Never mind that Graham suggested reforming primary-school curricula to encourage more women to go into technology. By pointing out an observable fact that cut against the media narrative on sexism in Silicon Valley, he undermined the legitimacy of journalists whose work depends on the menace of discrimination. They were not going to let him get away with it.

Andreessen, too, has faced accusations of thought crime. In 2018, he recommended books by conservatives Douglas Murray and Jordan Peterson to his Twitter followers, recommendations that journalist Eoin Higgins called the first cogent hint of his rightward tilt. In a piece for The Outline, Higgins reported that Andreessen had favorited posts by conservatives and members of the intellectual dark web. Andreessen, a one-time Democrat who switched parties to support Mitt Romneys 2012 campaign, was deemed alt-right adjacent.

Journalists used to be news brokers, acting as middlemen between those who created the news (politicians, businesspeople, etc.) and those who consumed it. Now that social media have cut out the middleman, theyve pivoted to selling narratives. The Times gained subscribers after Trumps 2016 victory not because of an increase in demand for news stories, but because of an increase in demand for the particular packaging of news stories offered by the Gray Lady.

For peddlers of ideology, free inquiry is a business risk. Much like the hotel industrys attacks on Airbnb, media attacks on Graham served to protect their territory. As an added bonus, they also generated clicks. Controversy sells, and if youre not too scrupulous, you invent controversies, or magnify small ones, as Graham tells me in an email.

When you sell an ideology, you have to protect it. Hence the journalistic obsession with samizdat.

The challenge for the censorious media is that, for the most part, technologists do not rely on legacy institutions for money or status. In the uber-competitive tech industry, the best products tend to win out irrespective of whos behind them. Graham says that hostile coverage distracts and demoralizes founders a bit, but he doubts that it cuts the average founders productivity more than a few percent. The whole phenomenon is a sideshow. That is why journalists harbor more-potent hostility towards venture capitalists than towards bank or oil CEOs, whose businesses rely at least partially on the imprimatur of the political and pundit class.

For his part, Alexander does not ascribe nefarious motives to Metz. I think he was honestly trying to write a fair piece about SSC, but didnt realize the real name thing was going to be a problem until it was too late. It is unclear whether Alexander says this sincerely or as a hostage trying to negotiate his release.

In any event, while a doxxing would cause Alexander considerable personal harm, it would do less damage to the intellectual community that exists on SSC and other blogs. Alexander can always write under a different pseudonym, and even if his writing disappears, other unorthodox thinkers will fill the void. Like the tech industry, the blogosphere is decentralized: Removing one node cannot bring down the system as a whole.

As the legacy media double down on intellectual conformity, pseudonymous blogs, encrypted chats and anonymous corners of Twitter are becoming the last havens of open debate. Fearing the ire of the mob, most prominent thinkers have intellectually neutered themselves. A discord server offers more intellectual rigor to the curious reader than do newspaper opinion pages, which now air only the most predictable, inoffensive takes. While the strategy of journalism-as-intimidation may silence the occasional investor or blogger, it will eventually pass its culminating point of success.

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Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro confirmed on Tuesday that he has tested positive for coronavirus.

Im perfectly well, Bolsonaro said while announcing the diagnosis on CNN Brasil. The president was tested on Monday after developing symptoms of coronavirus, including a fever, and is currently taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine in an attempt to mitigate the infection.

Bolsonaro has frequently ignored the advice of his countrys health officials and joined large crowds of his supporters, while also pushing to reopen the Brazilian economy. Bolsonaro fired health minister Luis Henrique Mandetta in mid-April after clashing over social-distancing recommendations.

I do not condemn, I do not recriminate, and I do not criticize Minister Mandetta, Bolsonaro said at the time. He did what, as a doctor, he thought he should do at the time. Isolation, increasingly, became a reality. But we cannot make decisions that destroy the work that has already been done.

Brazil has seen at least 65,000 deaths and 1,620,000 cases of coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak in the country of over 209 million is among the worst outbreaks in Latin America.

In March of this year, as coronavirus was spreading throughout the U.S., Bolsonaros chief of staff tested positive for the illness after being photographed standing next to President Trump and Vice President Pence. The Brazilian president had come to discuss trade between the two countries, as well as policy regarding Venezuela. Neither Pence nor Trump have announced a positive diagnosis since the start of the pandemic.

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SAO PAULO (AP)  Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said he will be tested for COVID-19 after having an X-ray of his lungs on Monday. He didn't say whether he was showing symptoms of the new coronavirus.

Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly downplayed the risks of the disease, told supporters outside the presidential residence in capital Brasilia that he is feeling well.

Brazil's Supreme Court published documents in May showing that Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida. The Brazilian leader hasn't said whether he took any additional tests for the disease since.

Bolsonaros prior tests were conducted using pseudonyms, as is customary for medical tests performed on Brazilian leaders in order to preserve their privacy.

The president has repeatedly appeared in public without wearing a mask, shaking hands with supporters and mingling with crowds. He has fiercely criticized local leaders' restrictions on activity and said the economic impact of shutdowns would inflict more hardship than the virus.

More than 65,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Brazil.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly downplayed the severity of the coronavirus outbreak even as it has ravaged his nation, said Tuesday that he had COVID-19.

Confirming his diagnosis to journalists in the capital, Brasilia, Bolsonaro said he was suffering muscle aches, fatigue and a fever but otherwise felt "normal."

"I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations, said Bolsonaro, 65, who said he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that's been praised by President Trump but has not proved to be an effective treatment for COVID-19.

Like Trump, with whom Bolsonaro is frequently compared because they embrace a similar brand of populist politics, the Brazilian president has been a vocal skeptic of the gravity of the pandemic and of social distancing efforts to slow its spread.

He has dismissed COVID-19 as a little flu, saying if he got it he wouldn't become seriously ill because he used to be an athlete. He's criticized media coverage of the pandemic as hysteria. Bolsonaro was recently warned by a judge after appearing in public without a face mask, and Twitter has deleted several of his tweets that it said spread misinformation about the disease.

Bolsonaro has clashed with officials in his Cabinet and governors of the country's most populous states over the appropriate coronavirus response, saying imposing lockdowns do more harm than allowing the virus to run its natural course.

In April, he fired Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who had defended shutdown measures and criticized Bolsonaro's lackadaisical response. Four weeks later, Mandetta's replacement, Nelson Teich, resigned.

More than 65,000 Brazilians have died of COVID-19  the second-highest death toll in the world after the United States. In all, 1.6 million people have tested positive for the virus in Brazil. Low levels of testing mean the true counts are probably much higher.

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Bolsonaro has continued to hold large public events where he mingles with supporters, often without a mask.

Over the weekend, he was photographed with his arm around the U.S. ambassador to Brazil at a July 4 celebration. Neither of them were wearing a mask.

https://twitter.com/ernestofaraujo/status/1279475037574176768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1279475037574176768%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2020%2F07%2F07%2Fworld%2Fcoronavirus-updates.html

The U.S. Embassy said Monday on Twitter that Ambassador Todd Chapman was not showing any symptoms but would be tested.

Bolsonaro has had previous coronavirus scares.

After Bolsonaro met with Trump in Florida in March, several members of the Brazilian delegation tested positive for the virus. Bolsonaro tested negative.

Speaking to journalists Tuesday, Bolsonaro compared the virus to a falling rain that would eventually drench most people.

Vulnerable Brazilians, such as the elderly, should take extra care, he said. He said young Brazilians didn't need to worry.

"Life goes on," he said. "Brazil needs to produce. You need to get the economy in gear."

As stores and restaurants begin to reopen in parts of the country this month, polls show a majority of Brazilians believe Bolsonaro is impeding the fight against the virus.

That displeasure sounds in the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, where every evening many residents lean out of their windows to bang pots in a noisy protest against the president.

Dr. Michael Ryan, emergencies director of the World Health Organization, said in a virtual news conference that Bolsonaro's infection "brings home the reality of this virus" by proving that it doesn't distinguish between the powerful and the poor.

"No one is special in that regard," he said. "We are all potentially exposed."
Citywide

Photo: Teresa Hammerl/Hoodline

Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday that the city won't allow indoor dining and outdoor bars to reopen on July 13, as previously scheduled.

"We were doing well in terms of the numbers," Breed said during a press conference. But the city "saw a spike" in recent weeks, and health officials don't want to add fuel to the fire.

The number of new daily cases per 100,000 San Franciscans has risen to 6.1, far exceeding the city's goal of 1.8. Currently, 68 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in San Francisco. (13 of them were transferred from other counties.)

In total, San Francisco has recorded 4,020 cases of COVID-19. 50 people have died.

Breed says that officials are still evaluating the return of other businesses that were set to reopen on June 29, including hair salons, barbershops, indoor museums, outdoor pools, gyms and the San Francisco Zoo. They'll make a decision by the end of the week.

"We know the pause on reopening is disappointing, but it is in the best interest of public health," Breed said, noting that outdoor dining and indoor retail will continue.

SF Department of Public Health director Grant Colfax said that the Fourth of July in San Francisco was far more muted than in previous years.

"[But] unfortunately, there were still dozens of gatherings around the city," with "people not wearing face masks," he said. That could lead to an increase in cases and hospitalizations over the next two to three weeks.

Several Bay Area counties that had opened up indoor dining, movie theaters, zoos and museums have already had to shut them back down, including Marin, Contra Costa and Solano counties. San Quentin State Prison has also seen an outbreak, with 1,369 inmates testing positive for COVID-19. Six have died.

"We want to keep the people around us safe," Breed said, urging San Franciscans to remember "how important it is to wear your masks."

Here are more details on where you can get tested for COVID-19 for free in San Francisco.
Photos of Breonna Taylor were displayed during a vigil for her outside the Judicial Center in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on March 19, 2020.

Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal/Reuters

Breonna Taylor did not receive medical attention for up to six minutes after being shot 8 times when narcotics police executed a so-called no-knock warrant on her home, her family alleged in a new court filing seen by The New York Times.

According to The Times, the Sunday filing describes the raid against Taylor's home as "reckless" and "wanton."

Sam Aguiar, a lawyer for Taylor's family, said in an interview with The Times: "In the six minutes that elapsed from the time Breonna was shot, to the time she died, we have no evidence suggesting that any officer made entry in an attempt to check and assist her."

Calls for justice over Taylor's death continue to grow louder as Black Lives Matter protests have swept across the nation. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer suspended the use of "no-knock" warrants last month in response to the outcry.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Breonna Taylor did not receive medical attention for up to six minutes after being shot 8 times when narcotics police executed a "no-knock" warrant on her home, her family alleged in a new court filing seen by The New York Times.

The 26-year-old Black medical technician was killed in the early hours of March 13 by white officers who used a battering ram to enter her Louisville apartment. When the officers came into the home, Taylor's boyfriend opened fire, assuming they were intruders. During the shootout, Taylor, who was asleep in bed, was shot eight times and killed.

Only one of the three police officers who was involved in the deadly shooting has been fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department; none of the officers have been arrested or charged with a crime.

According to The Times, the Sunday filing describes the raid against Taylor's home as "reckless" and "wanton."

Sam Aguiar, a lawyer for Taylor's family, said in an interview with The Times: "In the six minutes that elapsed from the time Breonna was shot, to the time she died, we have no evidence suggesting that any officer made entry in an attempt to check and assist her."

Story continues

"She suffered," Aguir said.

According to The Times, Barbara Weakley-Jones, the coroner that performed the autopsy on Taylor, said that the time of death recorded on Taylor's death certificate is "an estimate," adding that Taylor's injuries were so severe that she likely died in "less than a minute."

"Even if it had happened outside of an ER we couldn't have saved her," Weakley-Jones said, according to The Times.

Calls for justice over Taylor's death continue to grow louder as Black Lives Matter protests have swept across the nation. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer suspended the use of "no-knock" warrants last month in response to the outcry.

Aguiar said last month that the firing of Brett Hankison, one of the officers involved in Taylor's killing, was "another good, small step."

An official termination letter written by interim Chief of Police Robert Schroeder on June 23 said that Hankison "displayed extreme indifference to the value of human life" by firing rounds indiscriminately into Taylor's apartment while executing a warrant with two other officers in mid-March.

However, Aguiar added that justice has not yet been served for the family grieving the loss of their daughter.

"We won't be satisfied until rightful charges are brought against [Hankison], until charges are brought against everyone responsible for Breonna's death," Aguiar said, according to the Courier-Journal.

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In a recently released report, the UKs National Audit Office concluded that although Britains new aircraft carriers have successfully conducted sea trials and will be ready for deployment in tandem with the United States next year, the Ministry of Defense is struggling to develop the necessary carrier support infrastructure.

Queen Elizabeth-class

With a 65,000 ton displacement, Britains Queen Elizabeth-class are the largest ships ever built for the Royal Navy. The class is made up of two hulls, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, and the HMS Prince of Wales, and enable the United Kingdom to respond to conflicts or humanitarian disasters around the globe on short notice via their Carrier Enabled Power Projection plan, which also aims for full interoperability with NATO forces.

The Ministry of Defense built both carriers around the United States F-35B stealth fighter. This variant, also used by the U.S. Marine Corps, is designed for short take-off and vertical landing.

Unlike the United States carriers, the Queen Elizabeth-class features a prominent ski jump at the bow and is not equipped with arrestor wires or catapult assists for takeoff. The decision to forgo assisted takeoff and landing equipment was made after the projected costs for the equipment doubled. In their current configuration, the class can only operate with STOVL aircraft like the F-35B, helicopters, or tilt rotor aircraft like the V-22 Osprey.

Though the class was explicitly designed for interoperability with the United States Navy, the class differs significantly from their American counterparts. They are not nuclear powered but rely on gas turbines and diesel generators for power. Like the foregone catapult-assisted takeoff and arrestor system, conventional propulsion was chosen as a cost-cutting measure. Though cheaper, the carriers face significant gaps in capability.

Crowsnest

While on deployment, the carriers are intended to be accompanied by one or more destroyers, at least one anti-submarine warfare frigate, and additional ships for resupply and support. Of significant importance to the carriers safety are their Merlin anti-submarine warfare helicopters.

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Lockheed Martin designed and tested the Merlins new submarine radar, the Crowsnest. The radar system is intended to provide long-range air, maritime and land tracking capabilities that will ensure early detection of potential threats and vital surveillance for the entire fleet, according to the Lockheed Martin website.

Although the NAO considers the radar system a crucial element of protection for the carriers, it is eighteen months behind schedule. The Crowsnest radar capability will not be ready for operational deployment until September 2021. The NAO laid blame squarely at the feet of the aerospace company Thales, a Lockheed subcontractor for this project. Consequently, the NAO estimates that both Queen Elizabeth-class carriers will not have full radar detection capability until May 2023.

The other significant setback to the class is an insufficiently developed logistical support system, specifically support ships that would provide ammunition, food, and fuel to the carriers. Currently the Royal Navy has only a single ship available to resupply a carrier at seasignificantly hampering deployment tempo.

Postscript

Despite the setbacks, the class has been deemed ready by the NAO for their first operational deployment with the United States in 2021 and will reach initial operating capability by December of this yearbut with a limited radar capability. Until the Royal Navys Merlin subhunter helicopters are equipped with the radar capability theyve been promised, the Queen Elisabeth-class will be left vulnerable.

Vulnerabilities aside, aircraft carriers do not operate alone. Though nuclear propulsion would have indeed been more expensive in the short-term, some of the logistical bottleneck could have been alleviated by opting for nuclear propulsion. Until the support and logistics bottleneck can be relieved, the carrier strike groups will have much shorter deployment times.

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

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The eTrade for all initiative, which aims to make the digital economy more inclusive has welcomed the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Labour Organization (ILO) to its fold, increasing its membership to 32 organizations.



The partnership, marking its fourth anniversary this month, has become even more important in light of the pandemic as countries seek to foster new strategies for economic recovery.



E-commerce is expected to be at the vanguard of the recovery efforts as the world moves farther online.



The Commonwealth Secretariat is delighted to join the eTrade for all community, said chief of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Patricia Scotland.



Without our collective efforts, there is a real risk that many individuals, businesses and even countries may be left behind by digitalization and excluded from participating effectively in the digital economy.



By leveraging the strengths of multiple stakeholders, we can help ensure individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses across the world are empowered to harness the benefits of e-commerce for inclusive and sustainable development, she added.



The ILO is actively engaged in the debates on the digital economy and identifying knowledge gaps related to digital skills, working conditions and social protection.



Were excited to join the partnership and look forward to making an important contribution to it, said Vic van Vuuren, director of enterprises at the ILO.



E-commerce is a futuristic catalyst for economic growth, reducing the social deficit and caring for the planet whilst entrenching a decent work agenda, he said.



UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi commended the partnership for its strong commitment to ensuring no one is left behind in the digital economy despite the vagaries of the global landscape.



Im delighted to witness the increasing number of eTrade for all partners in all of the initiatives growing activities, Dr Kituyi said.



To ensure no one is left behind in the digital economy, the international community needs to work more, not less, together, he added.



The partnership has grown and deepened. In the past year, it reached a significant milestone, with two external evaluations held over the last few months lauding its sterling work in leveraging the expertise and resources of all partners working together.

The eTrade for all initiative has evolved into a solid, trusted, neutral and useful source of information and a potent catalyst for partnerships across the digital economys global landscape.



Through shared purpose, the partners have collaborated to connect the dots for gainful benefit from e-commerce and the digital economy in developing countries.



They have also generated widely acknowledged and critical programmes, such as the eTrade readiness assessments and the eTrade for Women initiative.



The partnership and its spin-off activities received funds in 2019 and 2020 from Australia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Enhanced Integrated Framework and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation.  TradeArabia News Service
By Elizabeth Piper and Andy Bruce

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain imposed sanctions on 25 Russians and 20 Saudis on Monday as part of post-Brexit measures foreign minister Dominic Raab said were aimed at stopping the laundering of "blood money".

After leaving the European Union in January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to forge a new independent role for Britain in foreign and trade affairs and this was the first time London could impose asset freezes and visa bans independently.

Raab has pressed for tough sanctions and set out the first names in parliament, including Russian nationals Britain says were involved in the mistreatment and death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and Saudis held to be involved in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Russia said it would respond to the new measures. The Saudi government media office and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"If you're a kleptocrat or an organised criminal, you will not be able to launder your blood money in this country," Raab told parliament.

"Today this government...sends a very clear message on behalf of the British people that those with blood on their hands, the thugs and despots, the henchmen and 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."

Investors from Russia, China and the Middle East have poured billions into London, buying everything from luxury properties to entire companies, but the source of some of the wealth has been questioned by transparency campaigners.

The biggest Russian name on the list is Alexander Bastrykin, whose Investigative Committee reports directly to President Vladimir Putin.

He has also been blacklisted by the United States and Canada over the death of Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer arrested in 2008 after alleging that Russian officials were involved in large-scale tax fraud. Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison in 2009 after complaining of mistreatment.

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"It is particularly outrageous that the senior representatives of the General Prosecution and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation as well as judges were included in the sanctions list," RIA news agency cited a Russian embassy spokesman in London as saying.

Raab also announced sanctions on 20 Saudis who Britain says were involved in the death of Khashoggi, following other western countries who have put sanctions on officials there.

Saud al-Qahtani, a former Saudi royal adviser, and Ahmed al-Asiri, a former deputy intelligence chief, both had charges against them dropped by a Saudi court. Eleven suspects were put on trial in December over the killing, with five sentenced to death.

Bill Browder, a client of Magnitsky who has led a campaign to expose corruption and punish Russian officials whom he blames for the lawyer's death, welcomed the move as "a huge milestone in our campaign for justice for Sergei Magnitsky".

"The door's now been opened ... This is the beginning of a new trend in rights advocacy," he told Reuters.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Andy Bruce; Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow and Raya Jalabi and Alistair Smout in London; Editing by William Schomberg, Angus MacSwan and Alex Richardson)
Chinese public health officials urged travellers to the rural areas and grassland 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 grassland 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 grassland or any contact with wild animals to doctors, Pang urged.

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 alt=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 history's 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 grassland.

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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.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Here's What You Need to Remember: The next-generation fighter jet will feature decisive improvements over current-gen fighters, making air forces deadlier and more effective than ever before.

A recent trend in the aerospace world is to divide postwar warplanes into so-called generations. These generations are mainly distinguished by time and technology, and the current state of the art lies in fifth-generation fighters. Now that at least three countries, the United States, Russia, and China are developing such jets, speculation naturally turns to what comes next. What would a sixth-generation fighter look like, and how would it differ from todays fighters?

First, lets discuss what makes a fifth-generation fighter. Fifth-gen fighters are generally known for three things: stealth, sensors, and supercruise. Its the first generation where stealth is a mandatory requirement, with the shape of the aircraft lowering the jets radar signature. While recent advances in radar technology have repeatedly heralded the end of stealth as a featureincluding discoveries in the field of quantum radarmany of have been exaggerated and stealth is now as a part of a fighter jet feature set as electronic warfare and radar.

Fifth-generation fighters are also known for their sensor suite, particularly advanced electronically scanned array (AESA) radars and advanced electro-optical sensors that allow adversaries to be detected by their infrared signature at increasing ranges. While many fourth-generation aircraft incorporated these features or were back fitted with them in upgrades, fifth-generation fighters are the first generation where these sensors are mandatory. This category also includes sensor fusion, a broad term that includes projecting real-time video, augmented reality cues, and other data into a pilots field of view. Critical to this is the ability to take data from other aircraft, ground, and sea forces and present it as useful data to the fighter pilot.

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Finally, fifth-gen fighters demand engines that allow them to cruise above the speed of sound without using afterburners, a technique called supercruise. This allows the fighter to get where it wants to go faster, gives it a powerful advantage maneuvering against enemy aircraft, and conserves fuel. While fifth-generation fighters will still use afterburners, they will need such fuel-intensive bursts of speed less frequently.

A sixth-generation jet would naturally incorporate the feature set of a fifth-generation jet, but it would also incorporate ideas that are still on drawing boards around the world. Eventually, as countries field jets, the feature set will coalesce, but for now were left to speculate based on current research and development trends. Heres some tech that could make it onto a sixth-generation fighter.

Lasers. Laser weapons could revolutionize short-range aerial warfare. Currently, fighter jets use chemical energy guns in the 20 to 30-millimeter range. Fifth-generation jets like the F-35 have retained guns but the need to store all weapons, fuels, and sensors inside the aircraft fuselage severely restricts the size of the gun magazine. The F-35A, for example, carries just 182 rounds for its internal four-barrel 25-millimeter gun. Furthermore, the aircrafts fire control system must account for the velocity of the cannon round, the accuracy of the gun, and the effect of gravity on the round as it travels toward its target.

A laser weapon would be a vast improvement on chemical energy guns. The weapon would simply require the laser and draw power from the aircrafts engine or engines, storing it and then releasing it in pulses of concentrated light. The laser might need an energy storage system but it would theoretically have an unlimited number of shots. Furthermore, a laser would travel in an absolutely straight line at 186,000 miles a second, making hitting enemy aircraft much easier. A laser in a traversable mount could also act as a defensive weapon system, shooting down incoming air-to-air missiles.

Range. Many of the current fighters in countries in North America, Europe, and Asia are multirole aircraft with a fairly typical combat radius of 670 nautical milesor less. As attention shifts back to the realm of big power warfare and the prospect of war between the United States, NATO, Russia, and China increases so does the need for long-range. The vastness of the Pacific Ocean, as well as Eastern Europe and European Russia, means that tactical aircraft may have to travel long ranges to reach their targets. This situation is further complicated by the abundance of tactical and short-range ballistic missiles in Russian and Chinese inventories, and efforts by both countries to cripple U.S. and NATO airpower by targeting tankers and early warning aircraft with long-range missiles.

The need for modern aircraft to conceal everything: weapons, sensors, and fuel within a stealthy body shape rules out the use of drop tanks. A sixth-generation fighter with 40 percent greater range would need to be physically larger to accommodate the extra fuel. While a bigger fighter isnt ideal, giving fighters longer legs would allow air forces to distribute airpower over a wider area while still concentrating it when needed. Additional fuel would also give pilots more flexibility in how they approach targets, perhaps flying around known surface-to-air missile batteries on the ground instead of engaging them, and ambushing enemy fighters and support planes from unexpected directions.

Drones. Current research into high performance, subsonic drones will give fighter pilots the ability to assign important tasks to drones, sending them into dangerous situations instead of a manned aircraft. The U.S. Air Forces Loyal Wingman concept means fighters will someday fly into action with a small fleet of drones, each outfitted to accomplish certain missions such as reconnaissance, electronic warfare, strike, and even air-to-air warfare. Low-cost and disposable, such drones will allow air forces to buy back numbers of airplanes overall while the cost of manned aircraft skyrockets.

In the future, a flight of sixth-generation fighters on a penetration mission could be accompanied by several drones. Some might search for enemy surface-to-air radars and destroy them with anti-radiation missiles, even loitering and waiting for careful radar operators to turn their radars back on. Others might broadcast powerful jamming signals, or impersonate the sixth-generation fighter on radar. If the mission is intercepted by enemy fighters, drones armed with air-to-air missiles could outflank the enemy or act as bait, drawing them into a trap laid by the manned fighters. Finally, other drones could act as flying magazines for the manned fighters, carrying even more precision-guided missiles to drop on enemy targets.

Artificial Intelligence. The abundance of sensor data from the pilots aircraft, nearby aircraft, ships, ground forces, satellites, and other sources of information will threaten to overwhelm pilots. The amount of data pilots will have to deal with in the future will only grow and never go away. Pilots have enough on their plate flying the plane, so an AI that could sift through the river of data, prioritize it, and present the relevant bits to the pilot would go a long way toward managing his or her workload.

A sixth-generation fighter AI could, for example, detect the emissions of a Russian Cheese Board radar system and recommend courses of action, including engagement or avoidance. It could keep tabs on drones flying alongside the sixth-generation fighter, monitoring fuel use, range, and weapons. It could recommend alternate landing sites for damaged aircraft, taking into consideration range, airfield condition and damage to the manned fighter, and make the necessary fuel and range calculations. It could even assign other less pressing data to other A.I.s to keep abreast of developments and bring it to the master AIor pilotsattention as it grows in relevance to the mission.

There are many new emerging technologies that could make it onto the next generation of fighter jets. This tech: lasers, longer range, drones, and artificial intelligence will very likely define the sixth-generation fighter of the future. Other tech may come out of left field and quickly find a home on the fighter of 2035. Whatever the case, the next-generation fighter jet will feature decisive improvements over current-gen fighters, making air forces deadlier and more effective than ever before.

Kyle Mizokami is a writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and The Daily Beast. In 2009 he co-founded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch.

This article first appeared last year and is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Wikimedia

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Atwater, in California's Merced County, declared itself a "sanctuary city" from the state's coronavirus stay-at-home orders. City Council members John Cale, left, Danny Ambriz, City Manager Lori Waterman and Mayor Pro Tem Brian Raymond bow their heads during the invocation at the start of a meeting on May 26. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

In mid-May, Merced County Sheriff Vernon Warnke had a lot to say about California's stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus, none of it good.

He posted a defiant message to Facebook saying he refused to enforce the state's orders because they meant "economic slaughter" and he believed government had no right to tell him or anyone else it was too risky to get a haircut or dental checkup.

"I truly believe that Governor Newsom's motivation is to have the majority of the citizens (and illegal residents) dependant [sic] on governments assistance so he could maintain this control once this 'pandemic' is declared over," Warnke wrote.

Two months later, with cases spiking and Merced County now on the state's coronavirus watch list, the sheriff has changed his tune: "Wear your masks, do your social distancing, wash your hands. ... Please take it seriously."

Cases have more than quadrupled over the last month in Merced County, which reported 1,702 cases on Wednesday. On June 6, the county had reported just 343 cases.

COVID-19 has killed 12 people in Merced County since the pandemic began.

Merced County, in the Central Valley, is one of 23 counties being monitored by the state for rising case counts and increased hospitalizations. Local public health officials say they worry that hospitals soon will be overwhelmed.

"The cases are rising coincident with opening businesses, the onset of the agricultural season, holidays, graduations, get-togethers and mixed messaging that existed from different sources," Dr. Salvador Sandoval, the county health officer, told The Times in an email Monday.

Reyna Bautista, 55, on her first day of reopening her embroidery shop, the Sewing Room, in Atwater, Calif., in May. "We need to work. We need to be open," she said. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Among concerns cited by the state are household and workplace infection clusters in Merced County among Latinos  who, along with Black people, have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, becoming infected and dying at disproportionately high rates.

Merced County is 61% Latino, but that number swells during the agricultural season, Sandoval said. Overcrowded agricultural worker housing, poverty, insufficient availability of health information in Spanish, and employment in service jobs that require leaving home have contributed to high infection rates among Latinos, Sandoval said.

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In the Merced County city of Atwater, residents have had to navigate varying levels of restrictions at the state, county and city levels  which, county health officials said, has led to confusion.

In mid-May, the City Council in Atwater declared it a "sanctuary city" for business in defiance of the state's stay-at-home orders. City leaders said all businesses could reopen, regardless of state restrictions, without interference from local officials.

The politically potent "sanctuary city" label quickly landed Mayor Paul Creighton on "Fox & Friends," where he called California's lockdown orders "draconian," and the "Glenn Beck Program." Politicians and police chiefs from across the U.S. reached out, saying they also wanted to create sanctuaries.

On June 3, there were 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Atwater. As of Monday, there were 209 cases in the city, Sandoval said.

Randy Romero, one of the few in the audience wearing a mask, says the Pledge of Allegiance at the May 26 Atwater, Calif., City Council meeting. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Caleb Hampton, an Atwater resident who started a Change.org petition asking the City Council to pause reopening until it established safety guidelines for reopened businesses, said he and his wife were frustrated that the city has not changed course amid the spike in cases. He noted that the city's website no longer has a banner display touting the sanctuary city resolution.

"To us, it seems like now that they've had their photo op and their Fox News appearance, they are just trying to sweep it under the rug," he said.

Atwater City Manager Lori Waterman told the Times on Tuesday that the city had no plans to rescind the sanctuary city resolution.

"The city still stands behind the business owners' rights to be socially responsible and maintain effective social distancing and health protocols as outlined by the governor and the health officer," Waterman said in an email.

City officials, she said, are working with Merced County to create and implement a self-certification process in which businesses receive a "Ready2Open" certificate they can post in their windows if they meet certain criteria.

To get the certificate, she said, businesses will have to do the following: post signage about COVID-19 restrictions for customers, enforce social distancing, sanitize regularly, monitor the health of employees and have them go through safety training.

Atwater Mayor Pro Tem Brian Raymond said a rise in cases was to be expected, "with summer coming and the nature of our agricultural economy." Protecting from the coronavirus and reopening businesses, he said, are not mutually exclusive.

"We can take the measure we all should be taking: wearing a mask, practicing good hygiene and social distancing, while still opening our economy," Raymond said in an email. "Those that think it's either or are treating our current situation like a political football and only taking a position that is advantageous to them and their particular political agenda."

In a video message released last week, Warnke said he wanted to clarify that his previous, widely shared message about the pandemic "did not mean that this disease is not serious. It is very serious."

Warnke, who also is the county coroner, highlighted two recent COVID-19 deaths: A 29-year-old man who "hemorrhaged to death" and a man in his early 40s who had a sudden onset of symptoms, then quickly died of a stroke.

Imploring people to wear a mask, Warnke noted that he keeps one "in my personal truck, my work truck, my cars" and at home "in case somebody comes over unexpectedly."

The sheriff requested the closure of three parks before the Fourth of July weekend to prevent holiday gathering and said he would have deputies on scene to enforce closures.

"The government shouldn't be making anybody be responsible for your health, but it's gonna get to that point where so many people are getting deadly sick and dying that something's going to have to be done," Warnke said.

"I'm not an advocate for any law enforcement personnel to enforce the face masks, I'm just not. That's why I'm counting on you to do your part."
Camilla guest edited the Emma Barnett show on Radio 5. (Getty Images)

The Duchess of Cornwall has taken over the airwaves of Radio 5, turning her hand to editing a show on the station for the first time.

Camilla gave an interview for The Emma Barnett Show and then used the rest of the show to highlight charities and causes she is passionate about.

In particular, she raised issues of domestic violence and abuse, bringing up her fears that the true figure of the problem in lockdown would be high.

Speaking after the show, she said she was thrilled to hear so many of her charities talk about how COVID-19 had affected them.

She told Barnett they would celebrate with a hobnob after the show.

She booked Dame Judi Dench

Actor Dame Judi Dench made an appearance on the show, and the two women swapped stories of getting used to using the internet during lockdown.

After Dame Judis call, Barnett thanked Camilla, saying: Thanks for a booking a good guest there, Im not sure we could have got her without you.

Camilla replied: You cant do better than Judi.

Camilla booked Dame Judi Dench for the show on Tuesday. (Getty Images)

Shes excited to hug her grandchildren

Camilla has previously talked about how much she is missing her grandchildren in lockdown, and called it a great treat to be able to see her grandchildren when restrictions eased partly in June.

On the show, she said: Youre so excited because you havent seen them for three-and-a-half months. Your first reaction is to run up and hug them, and you have to sort of put up your hands. Its a very odd feeling.

Shes keeping up with her exercise by using Facebook - but Joe Wicks is not for her

The duchess revealed earlier in lockdown that she was doing ballet and Pilates from home, and she said shes been keeping up with it throughout.

Asked if she was a fan of Joe Wicks, who has been doing regular workouts for children through the pandemic, she said: I havent tried Joe Wicks, because I know if I did I would put something out straight away.

Id start very enthusiastically.

Camilla with Silver Swans in Bath - she's been doing the lessons online. (Getty Images)

Camilla dubbed herself a very ancient silver swan and spoke about encouraging a group of her friends to join up to the ballet classes, which are for over-70s.

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She said: In lockdown I got it on Facebook, I got Sarah (one of the instructors) on Facebook, but then I managed to obviously doing something wrong, I did something to my back and so I had to lay off it for a bit.

She said she does the classes every morning but I dont do it in front of the mirror - the shock might be too great.

I do about 20 minutes of the exercises I was given, so hopefully I will be back.

Of whether her friends would return, she said: I will get the rather creaky crew back together.

I might get some t-shirts made, Im not sure theyd appreciate it.

Read more: 100 things the Royal Family has done in 100 days of lockdown

Shes a zoom granny

Camilla has chatted online with her grandchildren and her son, Tom Parker-Bowles, revealed she had also been able to play games using House Party.

He said he was definitely impressed.

She said: Yes, I played Trivial Pursuit on House Party - and I won.

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Shes not strict, says her son

Camillas son, food critic Tom Parker-Bowles, called into the show, and Barnett took the opportunity to ask if his mother was a strict parent.

After hesitating a bit, he said: My mother? Strict... no.

She replied: You know when Im cross.

They also spoke about their differences in tase, with Tom saying he likes chilli and spiced food, but she prefers plain dishes.

Camilla and her son Tom can't cook together, it seems. (Getty Images)

He said: We argue in the kitchen, she would say I was doing something wrong, I would moan her knives are blunt or not enough light, so its best if we keep separate.

Camilla said: Tom is a very good cook, and he is dead right, he loves everything very very hot, he adores chillies, Im afraid to say I dont.

He complains about my kitchen, he says Ive havent got the modern stuff, everythings wrong, my knives are blunt.

Shes worried about domestic abuse in lockdown

Camilla has become patron of SafeLives, a domestic abuse charity she has worked with for several years, and she recalled the story which led her to want to work with victims.

She said she was moved to tears after hearing about a woman whose husband killed her in a hammer attack, in front of her children.

The mother of the woman killed by her husband wrote into the show to give an update, saying the children were grown up and doing well.

Camilla said: I just want to say how impressed I was by you when I met you. Being a grandmother myself, I cant imagine it.

To take these children into your home, its remarkable thing to do.

Just one look at your face, I knew I had to do something.

Camilla has also voiced fears the true number of victims will be horrific.

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She talks to her dogs

Camilla had to try to convince host Emma Barnett about dogs (the host said she didnt understand why anyone would share a home with an animal which effectively poos outside and then comes and wipes itself on your nice rug) so spoke about her pets positivity in all circumstances.

Camilla said: The nice thing about dogs is you can sit them down, have a nice long conversation, you can be cross, you can be sad, and they just sit looking at you and wagging their tail, and they dont answer back.

She added: Something in the eyes, they look up, and those nice warm eyes.

Theyre always pleased to see you. I come back from London, or from long tours, and open the door, they jump up and down, its really cheering.

Read more: Camilla compares Prince Charles to a mountain goat, as she calls him 'fittest man I know'

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The duchesss dogs, Beth and Bluebell, were both adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats home, and had been abused.

Camilla said Beth had been moved about from pillar to post, while Bluebell had been found in the woods no hair on her, covered in sores, virtually dead. She described her as very sweet, but neurotic.

She said her dogs were allowed nearly everywhere, though they cant sleep on the bed.

Shes finding the new normal strange

Camilla was asked about how she is finding the new normal of social distancing and avoiding shaking hands.

Its very strange, we went to Gloucester the other day to thank these wonderful frontline NHS workers, and you want to go up to them and shake their hands, and say youve done such a wonderful job.

It didnt feel quite the same standing on my circle, dont move to left or right, you had to shout thank you.

Its very different, she said.

She also said her frequent visits to India and Nepal mean she and her husband are used to using a namaste greeting instead of shaking hands.

Camilla said in-person engagements were preferred to online ones.

Camilla chats with NHS staff and front line key workers who who have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic during a visit to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. (Getty Images)

Read more: Camilla appears to take style cues from Duchess of Cambridge for Swindon visit

Her husband Charles is still feeling effects of coronavirus

Prince Charles, Camillas husband of 15 years, tested positive for coronavirus in March, but has made a good recovery, having experienced mild symptoms.

But he recently revealed he had lost his sense of taste and smell because of the disease.

Camilla told Barnett that hes still not quite back to normal.

Asked if he has got the senses back, Camilla said: Nearly.

It sort of comes and goes a bit.

She also revealed he is a very very fit man, likening him to a mountain goat who leaves everyone miles behind.

Charles and Camilla use a namaste greeting to avoid shaking hands with Emmanuel Macron. (Getty Images)

She still calls the radio the wireless

Old habits die hard and for Camilla, that means she calls the radio the wireless, though by the end of the show she had managed to call it a radio once or twice.

Camillas turn on the wireless follows her husbands takeover of Classic FM earlier in lockdown, as he highlighted the plight of musicians who had lost work because of the closure of venues.

The couple is living in their Wiltshire and Gloucestershire homes as they make gradual returns to work in-person.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  As a once enormously popular governor, scion of a prominent family and ambassador under two presidents to Americas biggest global rivals, Jon Huntsman Jr. should be a political force to be reckoned with. But his comeback attempt fell short in a GOP primary as he contended with a crushing pandemic and a fresh-faced opponent.

Huntsman was narrowly beaten Monday by Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who had heightened visibility as he helped the state response to the coronavirus while also pitching himself as an earnest leader with rural Utah roots.

Huntsman, meanwhile, dealt with his own bout with the virus even as he faced conservative skepticism about his return and tried to capture voter attention during both the pandemic and national protests against racial injustice.

Voters are upset, theyre looking for change, said Tim Chambless, a political-science professor at the University of Utah. In a sense, Jon Huntsman Jr. is a symbol of the past.

Coxs conservative brand, bolstered by a quirky-yet-wholesome Twitter feed, helped him capture more Republican voters in deep red parts of the state. His onetime criticism of President Donald Trump and sympathetic stance on LGBTQ rights meant he didnt scare off voters who make Utah a rare conservative bastion ambivalent about the president.

A very early start to his campaign also proved fortuitous in hindsight, allowing Cox, 44, to clock months visiting voters before the coronavirus hit.

Huntsman, meanwhile, was serving as U.S. ambassador in Russia under Trump as his main competitor motored into tiny towns in his bright green campaign bus.

Huntsman, 60, had just a few months before the pandemic hit to answer questions about why he was returning and what he would bring to the job after stepping down in 2009 to serve as ambassador to China under Democratic then-President Barack Obama.

I dont think he was ever able to answer that question, Brigham Young University political science professor Chris Karpowitz said. I think they had a plan to talk about future growth, managing growth and about international connections for the state ... everything was overtaken by the challenges of the pandemic.

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Meanwhile, there were two other candidates in the race, and vocal Trump supporter Greg Hughes likely siphoned off votes from both front-runners by railing against coronavirus-related business shutdowns, said Jason Perry director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.

Cox, for his part, decried negative campaigning during his victory speech Tuesday, though he didn't mention Hughes' criticism specifically.

We have too much of that in our country today. We are far too negative. We are far too divisive. Politics have become a religion to people. Politics have become so toxic, and we stand against that," he said.

The Huntsman campaign, meanwhile, tackled its challenges in part by encouraging people to register as Republicans so they could vote in the closed primary. The move tapped the wide popularity during his previous time as governor, when he oversaw a loosening of Utah's famously strict liquor laws and expressed early support for same-sex unions. Prominent Democrats encouraged party crossover, helping bolster the GOP rolls by more than 100,000 new members since January.

While Huntsman put in a strong showing, it wasnt quite enough for Republican voters like 45-year-old Trevor Irish, a therapist in rural Vernal, Utah. He felt like Cox had more energy and authenticity, though he acknowledges the pandemic did make the race feel more distant and muted Huntsmans message.

I looked at him, I read his stuff. I just didnt get the vibe, he said. I just felt like Spencer Cox had more oopf, saying, 'All right, this is what Id accomplish.

Cox will likely have to answer hard questions about state spending and a recent surge of coronavirus cases during the general election against Democratic law professor Chris Peterson, though Utah has elected Republicans for decades.

The loss is a setback for Huntsman, though he still has plenty of political capital in the state where buildings bear the name he shares with his father, the late billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He hasnt said what hell do next, only that he wants to contribute to the good of our community.

I do think his electoral future is cloudier than it was, Karopwitz said. That doesnt mean he doesnt have an important role to play in thinking about the nations future.
Demonstrators were hit by a car on Monday at a Black Lives Matter protest in Bloomington, Indiana, after residents had rallied over what has been described as the attempted lynching of a Black man in the city.

Vauhxx Booker, a member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, wrote a viral Facebook post on Sunday about his experience at Lake Monroe, a reservoir near Bloomington.

On July 4th evening others and me were victims of what I would describe as a hate crime, Booker wrote. I was attacked by five white men (with confederate flags) who literally threatened to lynch me in front of numerous witnesses.

A lawyer for Booker, Katharine Liell, told reporters Tuesday that the FBI is investigating the alleged attack as a hate crime. The investigation was approved by federal prosecutors, she said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.

Video footage of part of the incident shared by Booker shows him on all fours, pinned against a tree and surrounded by white men, as others scream for the men to let Booker go. Booker, who NBC News was unable to reach for comment, said he heard the men scream get a noose, as he was being attacked. He called the incident an attempted lynching. After beating him up, the men let him go when witnesses intervened, Booker said.

The identities of the men are unknown, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, which is investigating the incident, did not respond to NBC News request for comment.

In his Facebook post, Booker said the incident began when he and friends were walking to a location at Lake Monroe and a white man approached them on an ATV saying they were on private property. NBC News has not independently verified this account and this portion of the Saturday incident was not recorded on video.

We relayed to him that we believed the organizers had received permission from the property owners to cross, but apologized and went on to our beautiful site, Booker said, adding he and his friends instructed other guests to use the public beach to get their site to avoid conflict, but then discovered it had been blocked off.

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When folks tried to crossed they yelled, 'white power' at them, he said of the group blocking the public beach.Thats when Booker says he decided to speak to the men, which is when the interaction turned violent.

Booker said he suffered a minor concussion, abrasions, and bruising. He also said the men ripped out some of his hair.

A protest held on Monday to show support for Booker after the apparent attack was disrupted by a driver.

Toward the end of the peaceful protest, a red car drove into some demonstrations, speeding through the street as a woman hung onto the hood, video obtained by NBC affiliate WTHR shows.

"The car just speeds right into her," Rodney Root, who took the video, told WTHR. "She goes up on the hood and a guy is close by. You can see it in the video shortly, a guy tries to stop it and he's holding on. I'm not sure how long he stayed on the car but the car went full speed."

Bloomington Police said in a statement both the people on the car sustained injuries.

The 35 year-old man that had clung to the side of the vehicle suffered abrasions to his arms as a result of falling from the vehicle. The 29 year-old woman that had been on the hood was said to have been knocked unconscious and suffered a laceration to her head, the department wrote.

Bloomington PD said the driver and the passenger in the car have not been located as investigators work to learn more about them.

But the way the city polices its Black community also came under fire over the weekend.

According to a statement on Facebook from John Hamilton, the Bloomington Mayor, and Nicole Bolden, the Bloomington City Clerk, a sheriffs deputy from a neighboring county questioned and detained another Black Bloomington resident walking down the Bloomington street where they live in an apparent example of racial profiling.

In response to a request for comment on this incident, the BPD referred to the Monroe County Sheriff, who did not immediately respond by email or phone.

The mayor and the city clerk expressed their sympathy for the victims of both those incidents.

"On behalf of the City of Bloomington, we would like to express outrage and grief relating to two apparent racially motivated incidents reported in our community over the July 4 weekend," they wrote on Monday.

Before the car drove into protesters, Booker spoke at the Monday rally, decrying systemic racism in the Bloomington community and saying the incident has shaken me to the core.

We need to stop being bystanders, Booker added. Im here today because folks stopped being bystanders.




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Chevrolet is beginning to announce the changes it will make to the eighth-generation Corvette for the 2021 model year. It published an enigmatic preview video on its official Facebook page that seemingly announces buyers will have several new racing stripes options to choose from, including some drawn from the model's heritage.

"We're adding to the legacy," the company explained in the 14-second video (embedded below) after instructing viewers not to blink. Although that's the only morsel of information included with the clip, the footage largely speaks for itself. It all but confirms the 2021 model's color palette will include four new combinations: black with red stripes, black with yellow stripes, blue with orange stripes, and white with blue stripes.

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We've seen some of these liveries before. Several factory- and privateer-raced Corvette variants were painted in white with light blue stripes during the 1950s and the 1960s. Dozens of cars (including, most recently, Ford's GT and Mustang) have tried on Gulf's famous light blue and orange look. We'll need to wait until Chevrolet releases more information to learn the story behind the red-on-black and yellow-on-black options, though the latter reminds us of a straight, freshly-paved stretch of tarmac unfolding towards the horizon deep in the Utah desert.

The preview video adds another piece to the 2021 Corvette puzzle. We already know Silver Flare Metallic will replace Blade Silver, and Red Mist Tint Coat Metallic will substitute for Long Beach Red. Moving beneath the body, the magnetic suspension will become a standalone option, meaning buyers will be able to order it without selecting the Z51 performance package. And, perhaps more important, the coupe's base price will remain set at $59,995 including a mandatory $1,095 destination charge. Pricing for the convertible will start at $67,495.

Chevrolet might have other changes in store for the 2021 Corvette, and we won't have to wait long to discover them because the firm will begin taking orders for the model in July 2020. Its Bowling Green, Kentucky, factory is rushing to build as many 2020 models as it can, though a spokesperson confirmed not every order will be filled, and the 2021 Corvette will enter production on November 2. Considering that some enthusiasts who ordered a 2020 will end up with a 2021, it's reasonable to assume the next model year won't bring massive changes.

There's another way to add a Corvette with racing stripes to your collection. Costco will soon begin selling a 2020 model finished in Sebring Orange with contrasting black stripes. It should be easier to find than the version sold through Chevrolet dealers, and it will be considerably cheaper, but the catch is that it's about 10 inches long.
Photograph: Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images

Chinese agents have been pursuing hundreds of Chinese nationals living in the US in an effort to force their return, as part of a global campaign against the countrys diaspora, known as Operation Fox Hunt, the FBI director has said.

Related: Apple under pressure to act after TikTok pulls out of Hong Kong

In a speech about the security threat posed by China, during which he said Beijings counterintelligence work was greatest long-term threat to our nations information and intellectual property and to our economic vitality, Christopher Wray gave the example of one Fox Hunt target who was given a choice of going back to China or killing themselves.

Fox Hunt was launched six years ago by President Xi Jinping, ostensibly to pursue corrupt officials and business executives who had fled abroad. Beijing has celebrated its claimed successes, publicising the return of hundreds of economic fugitives, and issuing wanted lists of those still at large. The Obama administration complained about the activities of undercover agents in 2015.

Wray said the operations principal aim now was to suppress dissent among the diaspora.

He told the Hudson Institute in Washington: China describes Fox Hunt as some kind of international anti-corruption campaign. It is not. Instead, Fox Hunt is a sweeping bid by Xi to target Chinese nationals who he sees as threats and who live outside of China, across the world.

Were talking about political rivals, dissidents and critics seeking to expose Chinas extensive human rights violations.

The FBI director said: Hundreds of these Fox Hunt victims that they target live right here in the United States, and many are American citizens or green card holders. The Chinese government wants to force them to return to China, and Chinas tactics to accomplish that are shocking.

For example, when it couldnt locate one Fox Hunt target, the Chinese government sent an emissary to visit the targets family here in the US. The message they said to pass on: the target had two options, returned to China promptly or commit suicide.

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Wray said that Fox Hunt operations, directed by Chinas ministry of public security, were also under way in other countries, and the FBI had been cooperating with its partners to foil Chinese efforts at intimidation. He said Chinese nationals in the US were often coerced by thinly veiled threats against their families back in China.

Asked about other coercive tactics used, he replied: Use your imagination. Youre not going to be far off.

He appealed to anyone in the US who thought they were a Fox Hunt target to please reach out to your local FBI field office.

Wray portrayed China as an aggressive rival with little or no regard for international or national laws. He said that nearly half the FBIs 5,000 active counter-intelligence cases were China-related.

Weve now reached a point where the FBI is now opening a new China-related counterintelligence case every 10 hours, he said. Of the nearly 5,000 active counterintelligence cases currently underway across the country, almost half are related to China.

China was using leverage, pressure or persuasion through intermediaries on federal, state and local officials, as well as US corporations and media, to win support for Chinese foreign policy positions. Wray said such efforts had been stepped up during the coronavirus outbreak, aimed at generating praise for Beijings handling of the pandemic.

Although he did not say whether China backed either Donald Trump or his presumptive Democratic rival, Joe Biden, he claimed China was pushing its preferences for the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Chinas malign foreign influence campaign targets our policies, our positions, 24/7, 365 days a year, Wray said. So its not an election-specific threat; its really more of an all-year, all-the-time threat. But certainly that has implications for elections and they certainly have preferences that go along with that.

The FBI director said that China was also involved in mass hacking, identity theft and intellectual property espionage, and there are 1,000 investigations into Chinas actual and attempted theft of technology in all the bureaus 56 field offices.

The people of the United States are the victims of what amounts to Chinese theft on a scale so massive that it represents one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history, Wray said.

He said China was engaged in a whole-of-state effort to become the worlds only superpower by any means necessary. The stakes could not be higher.

In an interview on Tuesday, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said that the US was considering banning the social media platform TikTok and other Chinese-made apps.

India banned TikTok and over 50 other Chinese apps last week, in the wake of clashes on the China-India border in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

Were certainly looking at it, Pompeo told Fox News. With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cellphones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right. I dont want to get out in front of the president, but its something were looking at.
Kleindienst Group, a leading European real estate company based in the UAE, has strengthened its sales leadership team with a series of appointments, including that of Gabriela Rizova who has been named the new head of sales for its flagship $5-billion leisure destination - The Heart of Europe.

Rizova brings rich sales leadership experience to spearhead the sales campaign for the Phase Two of the Heart of Europe, the asset price of which has jumped manifolds due to its highly differentiated offering and the increased popularity of island tourism properties that fetch higher return on investment, said a statement from Kleindienst.

She will also lead the sales operations of the Heart of Europe, which is nearing the completion of its Phase I by the end of this year.

Rizova was earlier the sales director of Azizi Developments, where she had overseen the sales of a huge portfolio.

Welcoming the appointment, Group Chairman Josef Kleindienst said: "Rizovas rich sales experience will help us to achieve a higher sales target this year  a landmark year for the Heart of Europe when we deliver the Phase I of the iconic and sustainable tourism second home destination that will attract a large number of residents and foreign tourists."

"As we prepare ourselves to commercially open the Phase I of the project that is almost sold out, we are also preparing to launch the sales campaign for the Phase II of the project," he stated.

We will continue to announce highly differentiated new projects within the Heart of Europe. With the new leadership in sales strategy and operations, we expect to deliver the full project by 2023, as planned, he added.

On her new role, Rizova said: "I am very excited to join the Heart of Europe - a very innovative and iconic landmark tourism and second home project that will reinforce Dubais position as one of the most sought-after tourism destinations in the world."

"I have been selling properties for the last seven years. However, this is a new experience to me. What excites me is that this rare project offers a higher return on investment, the leisure tourism aspect, the unique second home offering, its prime location and the developers vision and strong commitment to sustainability," she observed.

The size of the portfolio and the expected footfall on the island will also contribute to sustain the value of the properties whilst offering long-term capital appreciation to investors, she added.-TradeArabia News Service
Chinese health officials confirmed Tuesday that a case of bubonic plague was diagnosed in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, with the WHO telling reporters that it is monitoring the situation carefully.

The health commission in Bayannur, a city 500 miles to the west of Beijing, issued a low-level public health warning through the end of the year after it found a case on Sunday, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. Officials also banned the hunting of marmots  a type of ground squirrel that is believed to be the cause of the 1911 pneumonic-plague epidemic, which killed tens of thousands of Chinese.

A city health official warned of the risk of human-to-human transmission, according to state-run media outlet China Daily.

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 Bayannur authority said.

Bubonic plague, which caused the deadliest pandemic in history after killing millions worldwide during the Middle Ages, is caused by fleas that live on rodents such as marmots, which are hunted for their fur and sometimes eaten in northwest China and Mongolia. Xinhua has already reported at least three cases of bubonic plague that have been discovered in Mongolia in the last two weeks.

World Health Organization spokeswoman Margaret Harris said in a Tuesday press conference that the situation was being well managed by China, and that the WHO did not currently consider it a high risk.

Bubonic plague has been with us and is always with us, for centuries. We are looking at the case numbers in China. Its being well managed, she said. At the moment, we are not considering it high risk but were watching it, monitoring it carefully.

The WHO has faced criticism for its slow reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic amid allegations of a cozy relationship with Beijing.

More from National Review
Designed by John Galbraith, the single-story home boasts black slate floors, redwood panels, walls of glass and a stone-clad fireplace. (Cameron Carothers)

It didnt take long for this Midcentury gem to dazzle a buyer. The Pasadena home recently sold to Grammy-winning DJ Christian Karlsson for $2.385 million after roughly two weeks on the market.

Karlsson, who performs as Bloodshy in the prolific production duo Bloodshy & Avant, mustve liked what he saw. Records show the Swedish native paid roughly $200,000 more than the asking price.

Theres plenty to like. The estate spans nearly an acre and centers on a low-slung 1960s home by architect John Galbraith. Clean lines and lush landscaping draw the eye to the pergola entry, and a vibrant teal front door flanked by 9-foot walls of glass accesses the home.

Black slate floors mix with redwood panels in the living spaces, which include a stylish mahogany kitchen and a dining area with a wet bar. At the center of it all, a dual-sided stone fireplace runs floor to ceiling.

Three bedrooms, four bathrooms and workshop complete the 3,567-square-foot floor plan. The master suite opens to the backyard, where a swimming pool with a slide takes in mountain views. A patio, lawn and orchard complete the scene.

Active since the turn of the century, Karlsson is best known for his work in the acts Bloodshy & Avant, Miike Snow, Galantis and the artist collective/record label INGRID. He won a Grammy for producing Britney Spears hit Toxic, and hes collaborated with pop stars such as Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry and Sky Ferreira.

Jane Workman and Margaret Nader of Deasy Penner Podley held the listing. Johnny Johnston of Compass represented Karlsson.
CINCINNATI, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cincinnati Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CINF) invites you to listen to the live internet broadcast of its conference call to discuss second-quarter 2020 results on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 11 a.m. ET. The company plans to release its results on Monday, July 27, after the close of regular trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

What: CINF second-quarter 2020 earnings conference call



When: Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 11 a.m. ET



Where: Live over the internet.



How: Visit www.cinfin.com/investors. Participants are encouraged to go to the website to test your systems for compatibility prior to the time of the call.



Replay: A replay of the call will be available at cinfin.com/investors beginning approximately two hours after the completion of the live call.



Contact: Stephanie Johnson, 513-870-2768

About the Company: Cincinnati Financial Corporation primarily offers business, home and auto insurance, our main business, through The Cincinnati Insurance Company and its two standard market property casualty companies. The same local independent insurance agencies that market those policies may offer products of our other subsidiaries, including life insurance, fixed annuities and surplus lines property and casualty insurance. For additional information about the company, please visit cinfin.com.

Also available on the company's website will be information reconciling any nonGAAP financial measures to be discussed on the conference call.

Cincinnati Financial Corporation logo. (PRNewsFoto/Cincinnati Financial Corporation) (PRNewsFoto/CINCINNATI FINANCIAL CORPORATION)

Cision

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SOURCE Cincinnati Financial Corporation
ORLANDO, Fla., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clean Streak Ventures ("Clean Streak" or the "Company") announces the acquisition of Top Dog Express Car Wash & Oil Change ("Top Dog"), a partnership with Clean Machine Car Wash ("Clean Machine") and the acquisition of three Blue Water Car Wash ("Blue Water") locations.

In November 2019, Clean Streak acquired Top Dog's three operating locations plus one additional site under development in the Orlando area. Top Dog's services include express and full-serve washes, detailing and quick lube. The company was founded by Chad Ibbotson, Doug Russel and their partners.

Chad Ibbotson said: "The Clean Streak and MKH Capital Partners teams were a pleasure to work with. We look forward to continue partnering with them on new locations and expanding the Top Dog brand together."

In January 2020, Clean Streak partnered with the Raskin family and purchased a majority stake in Clean Machine. The company currently operates three locations and has a new site under construction in the Naples / Fort Myers area.

Colin Raskin mentioned: "We are excited about our partnership with Clean Streak. We can leverage their team and resources to accelerate our growth and deliver our quality washes to more customers."

In March 2019, Clean Streak acquired three Blue Water locations to complement its existing Orlando footprint. These locations will be converted to the Top Dog brand.

Earl May and Ken Tyrell, the former owners of the acquired locations, said: "The Clean Streak and MKH teams showed strong conviction in the car wash industry, honoring their commitment to close our deal despite the uncertainty of COVID. We are pleased to see our former Blue Water employees in good hands with Tom."

Tom Welter, CEO of Clean Streak, said: "The founders of Top Dog, Clean Machine and Blue Water created high-quality, customer-centric operations. We are eager to continue growing the Top Dog and Clean Machine brands throughout Orlando and Naples areas."

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Clean Streak is actively seeking opportunities to expand its geographic footprint through national acquisitions or partnerships, and tuck-ins or new developments in its existing markets.

About Clean Streak Ventures

Clean Streak Ventures is a national car wash platform, which currently operates ten locations in Florida. The Company's main goal is to provide the best customer service experience and the industry's fastest, highest quality washes. Clean Streak prioritizes people, putting customers first and investing in its team members.

Clean Streak is actively pursuing acquisitions and partnerships to expand its geographic footprint. The Company's growth strategy is focused on acquiring regional market leaders and providing sellers with the option of realizing full liquidity or partnering with them and remaining actively involved in the business.

Headquartered in Orlando, Clean Streak Ventures is a portfolio company of MKH Capital Partners, a Miami-based private equity firm.

Cision

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SOURCE Clean Streak Ventures LLC
The Human Betterment Foundation, of which Caltech's Robert A. Millikan was a trustee, promoted forced sterilization in California. (Library of Congress)

To the ever lengthening list of institutions facing a reckoning with their racist pasts, add the California Institute of Technology.

A petition calling for the removal of the name of Robert A. Millikan from buildings, programs and open spaces on the Pasadena campus has gathered 862 signatures since June 28, according to its originator, Michael Chwe, who received his bachelor's degree in economics from Caltech in 1985 and is now a professor of political science at UCLA. The signatories include 51 faculty members and 448 alumni.

The organizers aim to force Caltech to recognize Millikan's role in promoting the openly racist doctrine of eugenics and policies of forced sterilization and segregation in schools and housing.

Robert Millikan is the patron saint of Caltech.

Michael Chwe, sponsor of a petition to remove Millikan's name from the Caltech campus

"He was not a bit player, but an important operative in this campaign," says Anthony M. Platt, a scholar at UC Berkeley who has studied Millikan's role as a leader of the Human Betterment Foundation, a group of wealthy and distinguished Californians whose advocacy of eugenics and forced sterilization influenced Nazi policies in the 1930s and 1940s.

The petition's goals could produce an earth-shaking reassessment of Caltech's self-image. Few historical figures occupy as revered a stature as Millikan does at Caltech. He is typically given credit for starting the conversion of the provincial Throop University into the global research powerhouse it is today.

Yet other similarly august figures have been or are being dethroned by their institutions. Perhaps most notable is the removal by Princeton of the name of Woodrow Wilson from a residential college and its public policy school. That's in belated acknowledgement of Wilson's uncompromising racism as president of Princeton, where he refused to admit any Black students, and as U.S. president, when he resegregated a federal civil service that had already become integrated.

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Caltech is gingerly taking note of the movement to remove Millikan's name. "We take seriously the concerns raised by members of our community on this matter," Shayna Chabner, the university's chief communications officer, told me by email.

Among its steps is "establishing a task force that is representative of Caltechs community  including trustees, alumni, students, faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and staff  to study and advise on Caltechs policy for naming buildings on campus: past, present, and future."

The university also has pledged to publish more detailed data about the diversity of its faculty, staff, and students, conduct a "campus climate survey" to glean the personal experiences of Caltech students and provide unconscious bias training for search committees on the campus.

This appears to be a response to a June 25 statement by the the Black Scientists and Engineers of Caltech asserting that a lack of racial diversity permeates the campus. Of 1,299 graduate students at Caltech, the group says, only 11 are Black.

Millikan was Caltech's first Nobel laureate  in physics in 1923, for establishing the elementary charge of the electron  and served as its president (technically chairman of the executive council) for 24 years, longer than anyone else.

His name adorns buildings, rooms and spaces across the campus; the nose on his bust overlooking a campus walkway has been worn to a bronze luster by generations of students rubbing it for luck before taking their exams.

During his reign at Caltech, from 1921 to 1945, Millikan was one of the best known and most respected scientists in the country. Simultaneously, he was helping to steer the Human Betterment Foundation, which tarnishes a legacy that extends well beyond Caltech  Millikan's name adorns streets and public schools across the Southland.

The Human Betterment Foundation was the brainchild of Ezra S. Gosney, who had settled in Pasadena with a fortune from farming and real estate and established the organization in 1929. The group's membership roll guaranteed it a wide influence.

It included Rufus von KleinSmid, then the president of USC, Lewis Terman, a Stanford psychologist who pioneered the study of IQ, and Harry Chandler, the publisher of the Los Angeles Times.

(The petition also calls for renaming Caltech's Gosney Research Fund and Harry Chandler Dining Hall, among other facilities.)

Under Chandler's leadership, according to Alexandra Minna Stern, a historian of eugenics, from 1935 to 1941 The Times published a weekly column titled "Social Eugenics" by one Fred Hogue, a eugenics enthusiast. In one 1936 column Hogue praised "the movement in Germany and other Nordic countries of Europe for the elimination of reproduction of the unfit."

Millikan was not a charter member of the Human Betterment Foundation, but joined its board in 1937. His views on race and women were no secret  indeed, they were excused by Caltech faculty member David Goodstein in a 2001 defense of Millikan against old charges of academic fraud as "typical at the time of a man of his upbringing and background."

Goodstein acknowledged that Millikan in 1936 advised Duke University not to hire a female professor of physics because there were no outstanding female physicists in the U.S.

Writing his wife from Germany around the same time, he described physicist Paul Ehrenfest as "a Polish or Hungarian Jew" whose "suavity and ingratiating manner are a bit Hebraic (unfortunately) and to be fair, perhaps I ought to say too that his genial openmindedness, extraordinarily quick perception and air of universal interest are also characteristic of his race.

The purported science of eugenics blanketed the world in the 1920s and 1930s. Its American manifestation, Platt observes, was noxiously right-wing, aimed not merely at promoting procreation among the ostensible elites  that is, wealthy and white  but the suppression of procreation by groups deemed to be undesirable.

The notion reached as high as the U.S. Supreme Court and the notorious 1927 decision by Oliver Wendell Holmes in the case of Buck vs. Bell, in which Holmes upheld Virginia's forced sterilization law by referring to the Buck family, which was Black, as a hive of "degenerate offspring" and declaring, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." In fact the Buck women were of normal intelligence but were sterilized without their knowledge.

American eugenicists found common cause with the emerging Nazi regime in Germany. In a 1934 article, Paul Popenoe, a lead researcher for the Human Betterment Foundation, saluted Adolf Hitler and the Nazis for their determination to achieve "national regeneration" by applying "biological principles to human society."

Popenoe quoted liberally from Hitler's "Mein Kampf," including his admonition that "to prevent defective persons from producing equally defective offspring, is an act dictated by the clearest light of reason.... the most human act of mankind."

Popenoe reproduced the Nazi sterilization law in its entirety and observed that while the law "may be considered better than the sterilization laws of most American states, the success...depends on conservative, sympathetic, and intelligent administration. Apparently the Nazis are doing their best to prevent criticism on this score."

The Human Betterment Foundation discerned only good things from forced sterilization in California. (Library of Congress)

Throughout the 1930s, Stern found, "California and German eugenicists traded ideas...and complimented each other's escalating sterilization programs." California, indeed, was a leader in the American sterilization movement.

Its forced sterilization law, enacted in 1909, was one of the first in the nation, and by 1938 its more than 12,000 involuntary sterilizations accounted for nearly half of all those nationwide. By 1979, when the state law was repealed, some 20,000 sterilizations had been performed.

Notes Platt: "Nazi racial scientists were excited to find supporters and endorsers in the U.S., and the foundation was excited that they were getting praise from a Western European country."

During Millikan's tenure at Caltech, Platt reports, a quota existed allowing for the appointment of only one Jewish full-time faculty member per year.

Perhaps most tellingly, Millikan oversaw the acquisition of the Human Betterment Foundation archives and its financial assets for Caltech after Gosney's death in 1942. The terms accepted by Caltech called for the income from Caltech's resulting Gosney Research Fund to be "devoted in perpetuity to the promotion of research into the biological bases of human qualities."

The names of members and trustees of the Human Betterment Foundation have been relegated to the trash heap by their institutions. USC last month removed Von KleinSmid's name and bust from a central building on its downtown Los Angeles campus.

The Palo Alto school district has voted to take Terman's name off a middle school. Pasadena's Polytechnic School has removed Gosney's name from a hallway named for him, and its Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church, which Millikan co-founded, last year removed his name from a room in its building.

Is Caltech up to the task of confronting the past of its revered figure? The action may be inescapable, but it may not be easy.

"Robert Millikan is the patron saint of Caltech," Chwe acknowledges, though he says that younger faculty members and undergraduates seem to be less invested in continuing to honor him than others.

Platt argues that a reconsideration of Millikan and the institution's links to the eugenics movement is long overdue. It missed a chance to do so in 1942, "when they took over the papers of the Human Betterment Foundation without questioning what it stood for."

Even after World War II, when the consequences of the Nazi embrace of eugenics were well known, "there was no reflection at Caltech of what Millikan had participated in." That time may have come.
The U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team descends during a July Fourth event on the South Lawn of the White House. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

Looking back on it now, Barack Obama had it all wrong in 2004.

There is not a liberal America and a conservative America, the Illinois state senator proclaimed in his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. There is the United States of America!

How quaintly aspirational that sentiment seems today.

As anyone who has been paying attention can see, there are indeed two Americas.

But to call them conservative and liberal is to miss the essence of the moment.

There is Donald Trumps America, a world of white racial resentment where the Confederate flag proudly flew, where monuments to traitors are to be revered, where protesting racial injustice is an intolerable act of aggression, and where a pandemic that has killed at least 133,000 Americans and put millions out of work is a mere inconvenience that people will come to accept.

And then, there is what I like to think of as the real America, a deeply flawed country that is starting to come to grips with the wages of racism, a too-violent police culture, a wealth gap, an education gap, a health insurance gap. A country that believes in its better angels, a country that knows it can do better.

Trump, as many political observers have noted, has decided that his path to reelection will be paved with hatred and racial division. The outpouring of anguish that followed the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis and the subsequent, widespread embrace of the Black Lives Matter movement, has simply given him the foil he requires to rile his base.

Just this week, Trump seemed to demand that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, a Black man, take responsibility for a noose that was found in his garage. The FBI had concluded that the noose had been in the garage before it was assigned to Wallace, so its presence could not be construed as a hate crime.

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.

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A few days earlier, Trump declared that painting Black Lives Matter on Fifth Avenue next to his namesake New York City tower would amount to a symbol of hate.

He has declared that renaming the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians is a capitulation to political correctness. But could he just stop there? No, he could not: Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, he added, must be very angry right now!

And then there were his Independence Day speeches, delivered a day apart, one at the base of Mt. Rushmore and the other on the South Lawn of the White House.

At a time when most presidents applaud the American ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, and often single out the branches of the military for praise, Trumps words were notable for their divisive tone and ugly rhetoric.

In South Dakota, he warned of a growing danger that threatens every blessing our ancestors fought so hard for.

"Our nation," he said, is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children.

He spoke of a new far-left fascism, of a left-wing cultural revolution, of angry mobs who are trying to unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities, of cancel culture (as if he were not its foremost practitioner), of attacks on our liberty, and the need to preserve our beloved American way of life.

Back in Washington, he stuck to his theme of pitting Americans against one another: We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters  .

Trumps response to Americas genuine outrage at the death of Floyd, and so many other men and women of color, has been so tone deaf and immoral that even James Mattis, the retired Marine general who became Trumps secretary of Defense until they broke over the presidents Syria policy, could take it no longer.

Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people  does not even pretend to try, Mattis wrote in a statement published by the Atlantic last month. Instead, he tries to divide us.

That judgment was harsh, but it pales next to something else Mattis wrote: Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that the Nazi slogan for destroying us ... was 'Divide and Conquer.' Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.'"

You understand how extraordinary that is, right? Mattis essentially compared Trumps values to Adolf Hitlers.

Over the past few days, in honor of our national holiday, I spent some time in the archives of presidential speeches.

I came across the 1964 speech that made Ronald Reagan, future governor of California, a national political star. It was a full-throated endorsement of Barry Goldwaters doomed presidential campaign, a cry against big government, the welfare system, and it was pocked with racist dog whistles.

But Reagan did say something that struck me as relevant to the current moment.

You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right, Reagan said. Well, Id like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There's only an up or down.

This November is another time for choosing. Will we go up or let Trump drag us down?

@AbcarianLAT





For the record:

1:34 PM, Jul. 08, 2020: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly stated that Ronald Reagan was governor of California in 1964. He was elected in 1966.


Guests cheer for President Donald Trump as he speaks at a rally to show support for Ohio Republican congressional candidate Troy Balderson on August 4, 2018 in Lewis Center, Ohio. Balderson faces Democratic challenger Danny O'Connor for Ohio's 12th Congressional District on Tuesday.

Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Congress could see an influx next year of newly minted lawmakers who subscribe to the far-right, pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory.

Ten Republican candidates who either explicitly endorsed or signaled support for the conspiracy will be on the ballot in November.

Five candidates are running in California, while one candidate is running in districts in Colorado, Georgia, Ohio, Oregon, and Texas.

Two candidates in Georgia and Texas are also heading into upcoming primary runoffs  one with a high likelihood of winning a House seat.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Congress could see an influx next year of newly minted lawmakers who subscribe to the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory.

Ten Republican candidates who either endorsed or have signaled support for the conspiracy will be on the ballot in November, according to the left-leaning watchdog group Media Matters. Five of those candidates are running in California, while the five others are running in Colorado, Georgia, Ohio, Oregon, and Texas.

Two candidates in Georgia and Texas are heading into upcoming primary runoffs.

Here's who will be on the November ballot:

Mike Cargile, a Republican running to represent California's 35th Congressional District.

Erin Cruz, a Republican running to represent California's 36th Congressional District.

Alison Hayden, a Republican running to represent California's 15th Congressional District.

Buzz Patterson, a Republican running to represent California's 7th Congressional District.

Nikka Piterman, a Republican running to represent California's 13th Congressional District.

Lauren Boebert, a Republican running to represent Colorado's 3rd Congressional District.

Angela Stanton-King, a Republican running to represent Georgia's 5th Congressional District.

Ron Weber, a Republican running to represent Ohio's 9th Congressional District.

Jo Rae Perkins, a Republican running for an Oregon Senate seat. She previously ran to represent the state's 4th Congressional District but withdrew from the Republican primary on May 19.

Johnny Teague, a Republican running to represent Texas' 9th Congressional District.

QAnon centers around an anonymous online individual known as "Q," who claims to have top-secret security clearance. The Daily Beast reported that "Q" first surfaced in October 2017 on the fringe website 4chan, before moving over to 8chan.

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Broadly, the conspiracy theory claims that the world is run by a Satanic cabal of elites intent on bringing down the Trump presidency.

It alleges, among other things, that the former special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, and other top Democrats who opposed Trump; that the so-called American "deep state" tried to shoot down Air Force One before Trump's summit in North Korea last year.

Followers believe there will be a "Great Awakening" before a "storm"  an idea derived from the president's unclear reference in 2017 to "the calm before the storm"  during which Trump will conquer elites, globalists, and the deep state.

Ultimately, they believe, Trump is going to fix everything by sending Obama, Clinton, and others to Guantanamo Bay.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican candidate running to represent Georgia's 14th Congressional District, dominated a GOP primary earlier this month and is headed to a runoff with a high likelihood of clinching the House seat.

"Q is a patriot, we know that for sure," Greene said in a recent video. "I don't know who Q is, but I'm just going to tell you about it because I think it's something worth listening to and paying attention to."

GOP leaders condemned Greene last month after Politico revealed racist, anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic comments she made in Facebook videos.

And in Texas, Republican candidate Samuel Williams won a March 3 primary and will head to a runoff on July 14.

Lauren Boebert, a far-right gun rights advocate who won her Tuesday primary against incumbent Colorado Rep. Scott Tipton, said during a May interview with conspiracy theorist Ann Vandersteel that if QAnon was real, "it could be really great for our country."

"I hope that this is real because it only means America is getting stronger and better, and people are returning to conservative values, and that's what I am for," Boebert said.

There is no evidence that any aspect of the conspiracy theory is true, and it has been debunked by multiple media outlets. Still, it's not unusual to spot multiple signs promoting QAnon at Trump rallies.

Last year, the Trump campaign drew backlash when it released an ad that featured multiple supporters holding QAnon signs, weeks after the FBI warned that conspiracy theories are a domestic terrorism threat.

In a "Women for Trump" video posted by the campaign last July, which was first reported by Vox, a supporter was seen holding a sign that says "Keep America Great" with a "Q" taped onto it. Later, another supporter was seen holding a "Women for Trump" sign where the O's were replaced with "Q"s. The ad was later taken down.

At a Trump rally in March of last year, dozens of his supporters wore T-shirts emblazoned with the letter "Q," held signs reading "We are Q," and shouted support for "Q" while waiting in line in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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DUBLIN, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --The "Global Consumer Tissue Paper Market: Size and Forecasts with Impact Analysis of COVID-19 (2020-2024)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Research and Markets Logo

The global consumer tissue market has showcased strong growth over the historic years (2015-2019).

Various factors contributed to the growth of the market such as improving disposable income, a spike in global healthcare expenditure, the boom in global population, demand from hospitality industry and preference over other alternatives like cotton towel. The market is also confronted with certain challenges such as vulnerability to fluctuation in prices of raw materials and harmful effects of certain tissue paper products.

Strong mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity, innovative product launches and technological advancements in tissue product manufacturing, and acceleration in sales of tissue products via e-commerce due to COVID-19 are some of the latest trends existing in the market.

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have different impacts on AFH and household tissue segments. On one hand, demand for tissues from the AFH segment is anticipated to face major headwinds mainly due to severe impact on demand from end-users like hospitality, restaurants and offices. On the other hand, the consumer segment is projected to benefit on the account of greater tissue consumption as a result of increased awareness on respiratory hygiene coupled with the spike in adoption of work from home by companies around the world. As a result, the market is estimated to demonstrate robust growth over the years 2020-2024.

The global consumer tissue paper market is a highly fragmented market. Kimberly Clark., Georgia-Pacific LLC, SCA, WEPA Group and The Procter and Gamble Company are some of the players whose company profiling has been done in this report. In this segment of the report, business overview, financial overview and business strategies of the companies are provided.

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Report Scope

This report provides an analysis of the global consumer tissue market, with detailed qualitative analysis of the impact of COVID-19 for regions such as China & Rest of the Asia Pacific and North America. The report also includes an assessment of the global market in terms of value, volume and segments.

Moreover, the report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and would be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall consumer tissue paper market has also been forecasted for the period 2020-2024, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.

Key Topics Covered



1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction

2.1 Tissue Paper: An Overview

2.2 Benefits of Tissue Paper

2.3 Categories of Tissue Paper

2.4 Applications of Tissue Paper

3. Global Market Analysis

3.1 Global Tissue Paper Market Analysis

3.1.1 Global Tissue Paper Market by Value

3.1.2 Global Tissue Paper Market by Volume

3.1.3 Global Tissue Paper Market by Application (Away from Home and Consumer)

3.1.4 Global Away From Home Tissue Paper Market by Value

3.2 Global Consumer Tissue Paper Market Analysis

3.2.1 Global Consumer Tissue Paper Market by Value

3.2.2 Global Consumer Tissue Paper Market by Product Segments (Consumer Toilet Tissue Paper, Consumer Facial Tissue and Others)

3.2.3 Global Consumer Toilet Tissue Paper Market by Value

3.2.4 Global Consumer Facial Tissue Paper Market by Value

3.2.5 Global Consumer Tissue Paper Market by Region (Asia Pacific and Rest of the World)

4. Regional Analysis

4.1 Asia Pacific Consumer Tissue Paper Market Analysis

4.1.1 Asia Pacific Consumer Tissue Paper Market by Value

4.2 Average Per Capita Tissue Consumption by Region Analysis

5. Impact of COVID-19

5.1 Global Consumer Tissue Market: Regional Impact Analysis

5.1.1 China Impact Analysis

5.1.2 Rest of Asia Pacific Impact Analysis

5.1.3 North America Impact Analysis

6. Market Dynamics

6.1 Growth Drivers

6.1.1 Improving Disposable Income

6.1.2 Spike in Global Healthcare Expenditure

6.1.3 Boom in Global Population

6.1.4 Demand from Hospitality Industry

6.1.5 Preference Over other Alternatives like Cotton Towels

6.2 Challenges

6.2.1 Vulnerability to Fluctuation in Prices of Raw Materials

6.2.2 Harmful Effects of Certain Tissue Paper Products

6.3 Market Trends

6.3.1 Strong Mergers and Acquisition Activity

6.3.2 Launch of Innovative Products

6.3.3 Technological Advances in Tissue Product Manufacturing

7. Competitive Landscape

7.1 North America Tissue Paper Market: Players Analysis

7.1.1 North America Tissue Paper Market by Players: Capacity Analysis

7.1.2 North America Tissue Market Players by Capacity Share

8. Company Profiles

8.1 Kimberly-Clark Corporation

8.1.1 Business Overview

8.1.2 Financial Overview

8.1.3 Business Strategy

8.2 Georgia Pacific LLC

8.3 SCA

8.4 The Procter & Gamble Company

8.5 WEPA Group



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/c0dzuk

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

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Some 79% of the participants of a study in the region say their organisational leadership is actively trying to empower and promote women while 77% believe women and men are afforded the same benefits and facilities.

About 60% of respondents want an improved organisational culture supporting women, while 57% want increased leadership commitment to womens workforce engagement and 46% want better recruitment opportunities for women.

These are the findings of a Thought Leadership Report, titled Women in the Economy: The Gulf Region Outlook, launched by The Pearl Initiative, the regions only non-profit organisation promoting a corporate culture of accountability and transparency across the Gulf Regions private sector, and Nama Women Advancement Establishment (Nama).

The report provides a thorough synopsis of the latest insights on womens experiences in the workplace, as well as how both genders differently interpret workplace support mechanisms and what women are looking for in a supportive and encouraging work environment.

It sheds light on the impact of adopting a positive tone from the top to promote women in the workforce as a common denominator for the active support and development of womens careers.

Organisations can build stronger and more supportive policies to create diverse and inclusive workplaces, as well as to create mechanisms in offices which support womens inclusion, career progression, training, mentorship, and success.

Reem BinKaram, Director, Nama Womens Advancement Establishment, said: Womens meaningful inclusion in the workplace requires an evidence-based approach in order to achieve concrete results. The creation of equitable societies and workplaces for women is at the core of Namas efforts, and we are proud to have launched this pioneering regionwide study and achieved this milestone together with our valuable partner, The Pearl Initiative, in fulfilling our shared goal of achieving diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

PwC, a champion of diversity and inclusion, supported in the data parsing for the report.

Norma Taki, Diversity and Inclusion Leader at PwC Middle East, says: Diversity and inclusion is one of our strategic priorities at PwC Middle East, we are committed to the advancement of this agenda in the communities we operate in. According to our Women in Work - Insights from Mena, diversity has been found to improve financial performance, breed creativity and innovation, and is an integral factor in navigating the digital revolution.

Collaborating with the Pearl Initiative on this report has supported our perspective of the ongoing dialogue on diversity and our partnership is a testament to that. We are confident that more work in this space will drive action for the change we aspire to achieve across the region.

Yasmine Omari, Executive Director of the Pearl Initiative, said: When we look at the future, we see diversity and inclusion for women across the board. Our expertise lies in our ability to produce novel and contemporary research based on the regions business trends and needs. The aim of this first-of-a-kind report in the region is to boost the community by providing a valuable source of insightful data to emphasise the business case for a diverse and inclusive work environment. We strongly believe that diversity is a pillar of good corporate governance and this is the reason we launched the DIBL programme back in 2014.

The report wouldnt have been possible without the support of our long-term partner and supporter of the DIBL programme, Nama Women Advancement Establishment. We would also like to thank our partners PwC as a supporter of the DIBL research as well as advising on the business case for diversity.

Founded in 2010, the Pearl Initiative is a businessled non-profit organisation promoting a corporate culture of accountability and transparency as key drivers of competitiveness and sustainable economic growth across the Gulf Region. The organisation develops programmes and publishes regional research reports and case studies to promote the implementation of higher standards of corporate governance amongst business and student communities across the Gulf Region. -- Tradearabia News Service
Over the first half of 2020, BMWs sales were down 23% from last year. Photo: Jan Woitas/picture alliance via Getty Images

Premium German automaker BMW (BMW.DE) sold 25% fewer cars in the second quarter than in the same period last year, as plant closures and dealership lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic took their toll.

The Bavarian car manufacturer said on Tuesday that it sold 485,701 vehicles between April and June. Mini sales were down by just over 38%, while sales at the core BMW brand fell by a little over 23%. The biggest loser in the BMW stable was Rolls-Royce, where sales in the quarter slumped nearly 47%.

Over the first half of the year, the groups sales were down 23% from last year.

On the bright side, BMW said that the sales slide had been counteracted by a 17% uptick in sales the Chinese market in the quarter.

We see a positive development in China, where our sales in the second quarter were already higher than in the previous year, said Pieter Nota, the management board member responsible for customer, brand and sales.

READ MORE: Tentative restart to UK car market in June

Sales of clean-energy cars, including plug-in hybrids and the new fully-electric Minis, were the most resilient during the tough second quarter, falling by 4.9%. However, these electric vehicles only account for less than 7% of the carmakers entire group sales.

BMW is not alone in seeing sales plunge due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus forced global carmakers to a halt in April and May, as supply chains splintered as country borders closed to contain the outbreak and customers in lockdowns stopped buying cars.

Germanys big three  Volkswagen (VOW3.DE), Daimler (DAI.DE) and BMW  were forced to put hundreds of thousands of workers onto short-time (Kurzarbeit) hours, and are still waiting for demand for new cars to pick up again. Audi (NSU.DE), Daimler, and BMW are all planning to cut thousands of jobs in the next few years, in part to help cut costs to fund the switch to e-mobility.

READ MORE: German car industry warns of job losses due to unprecedented slump in the market

Hildegard Muller, president of the German Automotive Industry Association (VDA) said last week that Germanys short-time work programme, where the government pays 60% of workers salaries to avoid layoffs, wont be enough to prevent redundancies in the automotive industry, despite the governments stimulus measures.

The slump in the market is unprecedented in its scale and global scope, Muller said.
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Emergency management in any sizable country necessarily requires collaboration across multiple layers and units of government. This applies to efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus in 2020. Commentators have attributed some countries prompt and effective actions to a set of robust indicators such as prior experience, leadership, and emergency management institutions. What has rarely been discussed in the news media, however, is how fundamental features of a countrys governance and intergovernmental relations affect its approaches and effectiveness in addressing the crisis.

A comparison between China and the United States shows how characteristics of the two governance systems constrain approaches to large-scale emergency management. The comparison opens a window for assessing aspects of the two governance systems relative strengths and weaknesses that may be less visible under normal circumstances.

Chinas Governance System

Some scholars describe Chinas governing system as a form of administrative contracting. The system is highly centralized in the sense that government leaders at each level are selected by those at a higher administrative level. The central government usually delegates considerable authority to the middle layersprovincial and city governmentswhich act like administrative contractors to oversee policy implementation and manage the incentives for motivating their subordinate governments.

Under normal circumstances, being the ultimate political principle, the central government would undertake periodical spot inspections to ensure that local governments do their due diligence in implementing central policies. Occasionally, the central government recognizes that a specific problem has been gravely mishandled at the local level. In such cases, the central government has unchallenged authority to reset the system and launch a campaign to ensure governments at all levels focus on solving a specific problem of top national priority.

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Centrally-directed campaigns can yield immediate results quickly and be highly effective for confronting sudden and large-scale crises. Campaigns could be quite effective for confronting crises if they last only a short time, and the central government sets realistic goals. It is, however, difficult to sustain a campaign for a long time as it requires focused attention and intense resource mobilization. Since centrally directed campaigns are unsustainable in the long-term, they are less effective in solving long-term problems, such as rebuilding after a major earthquake and public health emergency. When the attention of the central government inevitably wanes, local officials may no longer be committed to solving the underlying problems.

Responses to the Coronavirus in China

The weaknesses and strengths of the Chinese system of governance have played out during the coronavirus crisis. When the first cases of coronavirus emerged in Wuhan in December 2019, the city leaderships initial response was to downplay its significance. By mid-January, Wuhan authorities continued to maintain that the city saw only a few dozen cases, in an apparent attempt to avoid disrupting the local peoples congress and political consultative committee meetings being held at the time.

In early January 2020, the central government sent a team of medical experts to Wuhan to investigate. Outside medical experts who visited the city at that time recalled that city officials failed to disclose to them that the disease had been transmitted among medical professionals. All evidence points to the usual logic of the Chinese governing systemlocal government leaders, when facing uncertainty about the nature of a problem, tend to understate its seriousness to avoid being blamed by their administrative superiors. The situation was worsened by information censorship, which made it even harder for those outside the government to fully understand the on-going situation. The party-secretaries of both Wuhan City and Hubei Province were subsequently fired in mid-February for mishandling the crisis. Later, the Wuhan Mayor reportedly claimed that his government reported to the relevant central agencies about the virus early on, but central directives did not come promptly.

China missed several weeks of critical time that might have enabled them to contain the spread of the coronavirus better early on. Still, once the central government recognized the seriousness of the problem, it was able to act quickly and on a large scale. By early April, China was able to control the spread of the virus and started to reopen the economy gradually. There have been many criticisms on how China handled the crisis. The chief among them is the continuing lack of transparency on government operations. Many cases and deaths from the coronavirus may not have been fully reported, and many individual sufferings during the draconian lockdown may not have been fully considered.

United States Governance System

The United States has a polycentric governance system with over ninety thousand governments of varying forms and at different levels. Each of them is selected by and held accountable directly or indirectly to the people within its jurisdiction. Each level or unit of government possesses a relatively stable set of responsibilities, which may overlap across jurisdictions. While being highly fragmented in terms of service functions, each government unit maintains its autonomy in deciding what services to provide, how to administer them, and when to implement their short- and long-range plans. Compared to those in China, local government officials in the United States are more concerned about horizontal than vertical accountability as they are elected, appointed, or hired locally.

With some exceptions, coordination across multiple government units in the U.S. is not organized or mandated by higher-level governments. Higher-level governments may sometimes investigate possible illegal activities and sanction local governments for failure to uphold federal and state laws. But unlike that of the province in China, the primary responsibility of the state in the United States is not to oversee lower-level governments but to implement their policies and programs with their own personnel. In most cases, cooperation occurs voluntarily among local governments themselves to tackle significant problems that each cannot address alone.

A significant drawback of the U.S. governance system is that when a nationwide emergency arises as in COVID-19, it is challenging to coordinate promptly across levels and units of government. Further, state and local governments may choose their own ways, thus rendering the efforts in the aggregate inconsistent or duplicative. Therefore, any effective coordination that needs joint inputs from all levels of governments is inherently difficult to attain in a short timeframe. In the long run, however, the system itself allows considerable state and local initiative for crafting intergovernmental arrangements that can provide enduring solutions for recurring problems.

Responses to the Coronavirus in the United States

The first coronavirus case in the United States was reported in the state of Washington on January 21, 2020. Since then, the federal government acted rather rapidly, with the establishment of the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29 and declaration of a public health emergency two days later. The federal government also banned the entry of international travelers who had recently visited China. Afterward, however, neither the federal government nor any state governments took any substantive action until as late as early and mid-March.

Up to later days in March and April, what had been mostly missing was interstate coordination moderated by the federal administration, as well as collaboration among local governments under state leadership. The federal government made no attempt to build any intergovernmental cooperative framework with the states despite the regular conference calls between the White House Task Force and the governors.

Some states managed to assist each other through Emergency Management Assistance, an interstate compact that allows states to share resources under emergency. The mutual aid agreements helped coordinate emergency response resources for the hardest-hit areas during the disasters created by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. But in the case of the coronavirus, which has hit every state, these agreements played a somewhat limited role.

Further, states often had to compete against one another to secure protective devices and medical equipment from private vendors. Incoordination was more severe within some states that initially adopted a county-by-county approach but received substantial pushback from local officials. These local actions included city- or county-level stay-at-home orders, the closing of non-essential businesses, suspension of alcohol licenses in restaurants, temporary shutdown of local public parks and open spaces, school breaks, and even curfew in some places. Orders issued by local authorities often also conflicted with those from the state.

As the crisis continued, state and local officials began to see the problem with inter-jurisdictional inconsistencies and patchwork approaches in crafting effective large-scale measures. Governors in contiguous borders began working together and local government leaders have also been taking similar collaborative actions even in the absence of state direction. The U.S. polycentric system makes it challenging to develop rapid and concerted efforts toward managing large-scale emergencies. The system, however, allows for the formation of collaborative and enduring solutions to long-term and recurrent problems.

How Governance Matters

A pandemic emergency exposes the vulnerability of a countrys governance system. Chinas administrative contracting system relies on vertical mechanisms (i.e., hierarchical personnel control) to hold local government officials accountable, thus creating incentives for them to avoid disclosing crises. A key challenge during the coronavirus crisis was to identify and reveal the crisis early on. The U.S. polycentric system relies mostly on horizontal mechanisms (i.e., local electoral processes) to hold local government officials accountable. Local officials are, therefore, quick to sound alarms on emergencies. Yet a key challenge during the coronavirus crisis has been collaboration across levels and units of governments.

The ongoing coronavirus crisis provides a valuable window on how each country must incrementally overcome the fundamental weaknesses of its governance system and avoid making the same mistakes in emergency management repeatedly. Without such efforts, China may succumb to similar delays in uncovering another epidemic in the future. Without strengthening its capacity for intergovernmental collaboration, the United States may face similar confusion in responding to other large-scale crises.

Shui-Yan Tang is Frances R. and John J. Duggan Professor of Public Administration in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California

Brian An is an assistant professor of political science and public policy in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. From fall, 2020, he is joining the Georgia Institute of Technologys School of Public Policy as an assistant professor of public policy.

Image: Reuters

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Landlords fear furlough cuts will leave tenants struggling to pay rent. Photo: PA

UK landlords are warning of a serious danger that many young renters will struggle to pay their rent as the furlough scheme is wound down.

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) issued a joint statement with two of Britains leading homelessness charities Crisis and Centrepoint sounding the alarm on Tuesday.

A survey by the NRLA shows around a quarter of young private renters have been furloughed, and have taken a greater hit to average incomes than older age groups.

With employers expected to cover more costs for furloughed workers from August, there are widespread fears of increased lay-offs. As the furlough scheme is wound down, many young renters would struggle to afford their rents where they are reliant solely on benefits, the NRLA said in a statement.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Furlough scheme caps out at 9.4 million people

New figures published by the Treasury on Tuesday show that 9.4 million people were on the governments job retention scheme as of 5 July, up from 9.3 million on 28 June.

Some 33 million people were in work at the start of this year, according to the Office for National Statistics, meaning over a quarter of the entire working population has been placed on furlough. The scheme, which is due to run until the end of October, has so far cost the UK taxpayer 27.4bn ($34.2bn).

In early June, a ban on landlords evicting renters was also extended by two months as part of continued emergency coronavirus measures. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said it would benefit "millions of renters.

New evictions from social or private rented accommodation in England and Wales are suspended until 23 August. The original legislation, which began in March, was due to expire on 25 June.

Ahead of chancellor Rishi Sunaks summer statement on Wednesday, the three organisations are now calling on the UK government to boost the safety net for renters with three new reforms.

READ MORE: UK house prices fall for a fourth month in a row

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They want to see a suspension of the benefit cap, a limit on total household benefits introduced by former chancellor George Osborne. It is reported to have already prevented some households from receiving greater support during the crisis when the government recently increased housing benefits.

Another demand is to tackle the controversial five-week wait before new universal credit claimants receive any cash. The government introduced advance loans to bridge the gap, but the charities and landlords body say debt should not be baked into the system and it should become a grant.

Their third demand is giving serious consideration to scrapping the cap on rent support for low-income renters under 35. Exemptions should at least be introduced for young rough sleepers, care leavers up to 25, and victims of domestic abuse and human trafficking, according to the groups.

READ MORE: UK firms paid to hire young staff in biggest ever traineeship boost

Young renters have borne the brunt of the COVID crisis, said Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA. Many have relied on the furlough scheme to enable them to pay their rent. As this support reduces there is a serious danger that they will struggle to meet their payments.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, added: We know that across the country thousands of young people are bracing themselves for the anxious months ahead as they struggle to pay high rents on reduced hours and low wages. This is set to become all the worse when the eviction ban comes to an end next month.

A government spokesperson said it had taken unprecedented action to support renters and prevent financial hardship.

We have introduced the furlough scheme to protect jobs, provided over 6.5bn to strengthen the welfare safety net, and introduced higher local housing allowance rates, he said.

We have also provided protections to renters that have meant no-one has been forced from their home as a result of the pandemic.

He also said the government was working with the judiciary to provide appropriate protection to people suffering because of the crisis when proceedings resume.
Homes in Castle Combe, Wiltshire, as UK house price figures are released. Photo: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.

UK residential property prices slid for the fourth consecutive month in June as the coronavirus pandemic dampened the housing market.

Halifaxs monthly house price index showed the price of an average home edged 0.1% lower between May and June to 237,616 ($296,599). It marked the first four straight months of decline in a decade.

But the data released on Tuesday showed prices remain 2.5% higher than a year ago. Halifax said activity levels began to bounce back strongly in June, with new mortgage enquiries doubling month-on-month as lockdown restrictions eased.

Separate data on Tuesday showed the highest jump in housebuilding activity in five years last month after collapsing in recent months. Firms said supply chains disrupted by the pandemic were reopening, though new order numbers remained flat.

Russell Galley, managing director of Halifax, said it was too early to say if the rebound would be sustained. He predicted prices would continue to fall in the third quarter, but said it rested on government support measures and the speed of wider economic recovery.

READ MORE: UK government to cut stamp duty for six months

The figures come amid growing expectations that UK chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce a temporary stamp duty holiday to revive activity in his summer statement on Wednesday. The reports lifted housebuilders shares for a second day running on Tuesday morning, with Persimmon (PSN.L) and Barratt Developments (BDEV.L) among the biggest risers on Britains FTSE 100 (^FTSE).

Sunak is said to be weighing up raising the threshold for the levy on purchases from 125,000 ($156,000) to between 300,000 and 500,000, leaving the average property exempt from the tax.

But reports that the measures may only take effect this autumn sparked warnings it risked crippling the market if it meant buyers held off summer purchases. Helen Miller, deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, welcomed the proposal, but warned pre-announcing a cut was a very bad idea.

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The pandemic has had only a relatively limited impact on house and flat prices so far, given Britain is facing the steepest economic downturn in decades. Estate agents say would-be buyers have been left disappointed not to secure bigger bargains in recent months. Rightmove reported asking prices were 6,000 higher in June than in March.

READ MORE: Biggest jump in housebuilding activity in five years

Pent-up demand and new interest in moving during the lockdown is boosting buyer numbers. Crisis policies may also be buttressing demand and limiting forced sales, with interest rates slashed, one in six mortgages given a payment holiday, almost one in three workers furloughed on state-subsidised pay.

Zooplas research director Richard Donnell said in early June the spike in demand since restrictions were eased may prove short-lived. He predicted Britains economic troubles would feed through into market sentiment later this year.

Bank of England analysis in May suggested UK property prices may drop 16% this year, as the economic fallout grows and government support is tapered off.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 540,000 people worldwide.

Over 11.6 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations' outbreaks.

Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 2.9 million diagnosed cases and at least 131,238 deaths.

Latest headlines:

US formally submits notice it will withdraw from WHO, official says For 1st time since March, CT reports no COVID-19 deaths At least 21 states have reversed, paused reopening Brazil's President tests positive for COVID-19

Here is how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.

5:30 p.m.: US formally submits notice it will withdraw from WHO

The U.S. has notified the World Health Organization that it will formally withdraw from the body next year, a senior Trump administration official said.

"The United States' notice of withdrawal, effective July 6, 2021, has been submitted to the U.N. Secretary-General, who is the depository for the WHO," the official said in a statement Tuesday.

The United Nations confirmed Tuesday it had received the letter and is verifying with the WHO that the U.S. meets the conditions for withdrawal, which include giving a year's notice and payment of all financial obligations.

When contacted by ABC News, a WHO spokesperson did not have any further details at this time.

President Donald Trump had said in late May the U.S. would end its partnership with the WHO and be "redirecting those funds to worldwide, and deserving, urgent global public health needs."

Trump's move to pull out of the WHO during a pandemic have been met with criticism. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Twitter Tuesday that the withdrawal "won't protect American lives or interests -- it leaves Americans sick & America alone.

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4:40 p.m.: For 1st time since March, CT reports no COVID-19 deaths

For the first time since March, Connecticut had no COVID-19 deaths to report on Tuesday, said Gov. Ned Lamont.

PHOTO: Course residents watch play on the eighth green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 28, 2020, in Cromwell, Conn. (Rob Carr/Getty Images, FILE)

Connecticut reported 57 new cases Tuesday, bringing the state's total diagnosed cases to 47,033.

The state's positivity rate is down to .99%.

PHOTO: People eat lunch at Meli-Melo Creperie, Juice Bar & Cafe, June 17, 2020, in Greenwich, Conn. (Mark Lennihan/AP, FILE)

2:35 p.m.: At least 21 states have reversed, paused reopening

At least 21 states have either reversed or paused reopening measures, ABC News has found.

Six states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Texas -- have reversed some aspect of their economic reopening.

Arizona, for example, began reopening on May 8. But on June 29, Gov. Doug Ducey announced the state would close all bars, gyms and movie theaters until July 27. The executive order also included a delay in state school openings.

PHOTO: People listen to the speaker at a rally against restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Phoenix, July 4, 2020. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)

These 15 states have either paused reopening plans or delayed any further action: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

New Jersey, for example, started reopening on May 18.

But on June 29, Gov. Phil Murphy said after seeing a surge in cases in other states, he would postpone reopening indoor dining indefinitely.

Then on July 7, Murphy said New Jersey would remain in phase two until further notice, explaining, "were not gonna be jumping the gun."

PHOTO: In this May 7, 2020, file photo, a sign at a motel lobby states 'WE ARE CLOSED FOR BUSINESS' during the coronavirus pandemic in Atlantic City, N.J. (Mark Makela/Getty Images, FILE)

Beyond those 21 states, two states -- Maine and Virginia -- as well as major cities like New York City and Philadelphia, have postponed some aspect of reopening, such as indoor dining.

2:15 p.m.: NJ, PA report cases linked to Myrtle Beach trips

Officials in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are reporting coronavirus cases in their states linked to trips to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, reported ABC Philadelphia station WPVI.

PHOTO: People wade in the ocean on July 4, 2020, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

The "small spike" in New Jersey is linked to people who went to a wedding in Myrtle Beach, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said, according to WPVI.

"We need to be smarter and we need to work harder," Murphy said.

1:25 p.m.: Miami-Dade mayor reverses course, says gyms can remain open

One day after announcing gym closures, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez reversed course on Tuesday and said fitness centers can remain open.

PHOTO: Daniel Bolling works out at the Downtown Gym, May 18, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. (John Raoux/AP, FILE)

"All doing activities inside must wear a mask or do strenuous training outside staying 10 feet apart w/outmask," he tweeted.

As cases in Florida surged, Gimenez on Monday said he was signing an emergency order to close gyms, as well as restaurants, short-term rentals and party venues.

"We are still tracking the spike in the number of cases involving 18- to 34-year-olds that began in mid-June, which the county's medical experts say was caused by a number of factors, including young people going to congested places -- indoors and outside -- without taking precautions such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing," Gimenez said Monday.

PHOTO: A woman rides her bike past pedestrians on Ocean Drive on July 03, 2020, in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, Fla. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Gimenez said he had a "productive" meeting with medical experts and the county's wellness group and arrived at the "compromise" to keep gyms open.

12:30 p.m.: WHO says there's 'emerging evidence' around airborne transmission

There's "emerging evidence" around airborne transmission, according to the World Health Organization.

"We acknowledge there's emerging evidence in this field -- as in all other fields regarding the COVID-19 virus and pandemic -- and therefore we believe we have to be open to this evidence and understand its implications regarding the modes of transmission and regarding the precautions that need to be taken," said Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO technical lead for the infection prevention task force.

MORE: How air purifiers and cleaners may help keep you safer indoors from COVID-19

WHO epidemiologist Dr. Maria Van Kerkove said they're looking "at the possible role of airborne transmission in other settings ... particularly close settings where you have poor ventilation."

Van Kerkhove said the WHO has been engaged with the group of scientists reporting growing evidence of airborne transmission of the COVID-19 virus since April.

MORE: EPA approves 1st disinfectant sprays that kill COVID-19 on surfaces

She said many of the signatories are engineers which adds important information in the area of ventilation.

Allegranzi said, "We do recommend as much as possible avoiding closed settings and crowded situations. We do recommend appropriate and optimal ventilation of indoor environments, and also physical distancing. And when this is not possible, in areas with community transmission of the virus, we recommend the use of face masks."

WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned Tuesday, "The outbreak is accelerating, and we clearly have not reached the peak of the pandemic."

11:25 a.m.: Brazil's President tests positive for COVID-19

Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil, said he has tested positive for COVID-19 after he repeatedly downplayed the dangers of the virus.

Bolsonaro said Tuesday that he feels better than he did Monday. Bolsonaro says he is taking hydroxychloroquine.

PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro speaks with journalists while wearing a protective face mask as he arrives at Alvorada Palace, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Brasilia, Brazil, May 22, 2020. (Adriano Machado/Reuters, FILE)

Two sources close to the president told ABC News that Bolsonaro began exhibiting symptoms of the virus on Saturday.

On Saturday Bolsonaro had a private lunch with the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, Todd Chapman. Bolsonaro and Chapman posted photos together on social media, without masks or social distancing.

PHOTO: In this July 4, 2018, file photo, Jair Bolsonaro of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) attends a debate at the Industry Confederation event in Brasilia, Brazil. (Adriano Machado/Reuters, FILE)

Chapman has tested negative but is quarantining at home, the U.S. Embassy said.

10:50 a.m.: Florida's positivity rate climbs to 16.1%

Florida's positivity rate has climbed to 16.1%, up 1.3% from Monday, according to data from the state's Department of Health.

PHOTO: A tour group riding Segways rides down Miami Beach, Florida's famed Ocean Drive on South Beach, July 4, 2020. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Miami-Dade County, which includes Miami, has a positivity rate of 21%. In Lee County, which includes Fort Myers, the positivity rate stands at 24.6%

Florida is reporting 7,347 new cases, with the total number of diagnosed cases now at 213,794.

PHOTO: Cars are seen as the drivers wait to be tested for COVID-19 at the COVID test site located in the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot on July 06, 2020, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The number of people hospitalized rose by 380 in one day and now stands at 16,425.

The state's death toll has reached 3,943.

10:23 a.m.: Delaware, Kansas, Oklahoma added to NY's travel advisory list

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday added three more states to New York's travel advisory.

Those traveling to New York from Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma now must quarantine for two weeks.

PHOTO: Crowds are shown on Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, July 4, 2020. (Chuck Snyder/Special to Delaware News Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC via USA Today)

Cuomo said the quarantine applies to anyone coming from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 people over a one-week rolling average, or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a one-week rolling average.

These are the current states on the travel list: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

MORE: Miami hospital flooded with critical patients as coronavirus cases rise

"As states around the country experience increasing community spread, New York is taking action to ensure the continued safety of our phased reopening. Our entire response to this pandemic has been by the numbers, and we've set metrics for community spread just as we set metrics for everything," Cuomo said in a statement.

"New Yorkers did the impossible - we went from the worst infection rate in the United States to one of the best - and the last thing we need is to see another spike of COVID-19," Cuomo said.

PHOTO: Customers have their nails done at Conny Nail Salon on July 6, 2020, in New York. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

PHOTO: Artist Jeremy Miller gives Jay Rivera a tattoo at New York Hardcore Tattoos on the first day of re-opening as New York City officially begins Phase Three of opening on July 06, 2020, in New York. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Of those tested in New York state Monday, 1.04% were positive for the coronavirus.

9:35 a.m.: India's death toll tops 20,000

According to India's Health Ministry, 467 people have died from the coronavirus in the last day, bringing the nation's death toll to 20,160.

The number of diagnosed infections are increasing rapidly. Authorities reported a one-day increase of 22,252, bringing India's total number of coronavirus cases to 719,665.

PHOTO: A family visits the Qutab Minar monument after monuments across India were reopened after almost four moths of lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus, in New Delhi, India, July 6, 2020. (Manish Swarup/AP)

PHOTO: A health worker takes a nasal swab of a woman for COVID-19 test at a hospital in New Delhi, India, July 6, 2020. (Manish Swarup/AP)

Delhi, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are India's hardest-hit states with a total of 427,788 diagnosed cases.

India is the third-most affected country for diagnosed cases, behind the U.S. and Brazil. India ranks eighth for total number of fatalities.

6:26 a.m.: Woman in viral video who deliberately coughed on a baby has been fired from her job

A woman who deliberately coughed on a baby in a stroller at a restaurant following a verbal altercation with the child's mother has been fired from her job.

The incident, which went viral, occurred in the afternoon of June 12 at approximately 5:25 p.m. at a Yogurtland establishment in San Jose, California, when the suspect was standing in line in front of a mother and her 1-year-old child, who was in a stroller, when she allegedly became upset with the mother for not maintaining proper social distancing.

The preliminary investigation revealed the suspect was upset the female was not maintaining proper social distancing, so the suspect removed her face mask, got close to the babys face, and coughed 2-3 times, said Sergeant Enrique Garcia in a press release from the San Jose Police Department.

PHOTO: Police are looking for a white female in her 60s, medium build, wearing a gray bandana, glasses and a long sleeve shirt with gray vertical lines after she coughed on a 1-year-old baby at a Yogurtland in San Jose, California on June 12, 2020. (San Jose Police Department)

Oak Grove School District recently released a statement confirming that the woman in the video worked for them and that she has been terminated following the incident that was caught on tape.

As many know, there have been allegations that a District employee was involved in a videotaped incident in which the person appeared to have intentionally coughed on a baby at a local Yogurtland," the Oak Grove School District statement read. "We want to inform our community that the District employee who was alleged to have engaged in this conduct is no longer an employee of our District. The Oak Grove School Districts highest priority is the safety of our students and the well-being of all of the children in the community we serve. We do not tolerate conduct from any employee that compromises any childs safety. As we welcome our students back for learning this summer and in the fall in these unprecedented times, the Districts commitment to creating and maintaining a safe environment for our students is unwavering."

5:17 a.m.: Georgia public universities to make face coverings mandatory

The University System of Georgia said Monday it will require everyone to wear face coverings while inside campus facilities and buildings at all 26 of its public institutions where 6 feet of social distancing may not always be possible.

The new policy will take effect July 15 and will be in addition to -- not a substitute for -- social distancing.

"Face coverings are not required in ones own dorm room or suite, when alone in an enclosed office or study room, or in campus outdoor settings where social distancing requirements are met," the University System of Georgia wrote in the updated guidance. "Anyone not using a face covering when required will be asked to wear one or must leave the area. Repeated refusal to comply with the requirement may result in discipline through the applicable conduct code for faculty, staff or students."

PHOTO: The Georgia Institute of Technology campus, June 16, 2006, in Atlanta. (Philip Mccollum/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE)

The change comes after more than two-thirds of the Georgia Institute of Technology's academic faculty protested the school's plans to reopen this fall without making face masks mandatory.

An open letter to the Board of Regents and the University System of Georgia voiced concerns that the current reopening plans only make masks mandatory for professors, while students are "strongly encouraged" to wear them. The letter, dated July 2, has garnered the signatures of more than 800 professors out of the roughly 1,100 faculty members at the prestigious public university in Atlanta.

4:33 a.m.: Florida teen who died from COVID-19 attended large church gathering

A Florida teenager who died from coronavirus complications last month had attended a large church gathering two weeks earlier, according to a medical examiner's report.

Carsyn Davis, 17, did not wear a face mask when she attended a church function with about 100 other children on June 10. Social distancing was also not followed, according to the report by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department.

Three days later, Davis developed symptoms of what her parents thought was a sinus infection

PHOTO: A nun with the Saint Ann Mission, who declined to give her name, leaves a COVID-19 testing site after being tested at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Clinica Campesina Health Center in Homestead, Florida, on July 6, 2020. (Lynne Sladky/AP)

On June 19, Davis' mother noted that her daughter looked "gray" and tested her oxygen saturation, which was in the 40s. The mother borrowed a home oxygen machine belonging to Davis' grandfather, and the teen's levels rose to the 60s. Her parents also gave her a dose of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that President Donald Trump controversially endorsed to treat COVID-19.

Davis' parents then took her to a local hospital where she tested positive for COVID-19, according to the report.

The parents declined intubation but Davis was given convalescent plasma therapy on June 20 and 21.

Intubation was required on June 22 after Davis' condition did not improve. She died on June 23, according to the report.

The report notes that Davis had a "complex medical history" and that hypothalamic-pituitary axis dysfunction, morbid obesity and bronchial asthma were all contributory causes to her death.

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map

3:30 a.m.: US reports 45,000 new cases; death toll tops 130,000

More than 130,000 people in the United States have now died from the novel coronavirus, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Some 45,000 new cases of COVID-19 were identified across the nation on Monday. The latest daily caseload is lower than the country's record high of more than 54,000 new cases identified last Thursday.

The national total currently stands at 2,938,624 diagnosed cases with at least 130,306 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.

PHOTO: People walk out onto the Pacific Beach Pier in San Diego, California, on July 4, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images)

By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up and crossing 50,000 for the first time last week.

Many states have seen a rise in infections in recent weeks, with some -- including Arizona, California and Florida -- reporting daily records.

ABC News' Aicha Elhammar, Alexandra Faul, Rachel Katz, Bonnie Mclean, Arielle Mitropoulos, Kirit Radia, Christine Theodorou and Scott Withers contributed to this report.

US submits formal notice it will withdraw from WHO originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 6, 2020, Credit Suisse declared a Coupon Amount for the Credit Suisse S&P MLP Index ETN (the "ETN").

Credit Suisse logo. (PRNewsFoto/Credit Suisse)

ETN

Ticker ETN Name Ex-Date Record Date Coupon Payment Date Coupon Amount

per ETN Coupon

Frequency Current Yield* MLPO Credit Suisse S&P

MLP Index ETN 7/10/2020 7/13/2020 7/21/2020 $0.1933 Quarterly 10.25%

* The "Current Yield" equals the current quarterly Coupon Amount, annualized and divided by the Closing Indicative Value of the ETN on June 30, 2020.

 The Current Yield, which is based on the ETN's Coupon Amount, is not indicative of future quarterly Coupon Amounts, if any, on the ETNs. The quarterly Coupon Amount (if any) is variable and dependent on the most recent distributions of the MLPs included in the index, and such amount does not represent a fixed periodic interest payment. There can be no assurance that the MLPs included in the index will make any distributions in any future period. Any payment on the ETN is subject to Credit Suisse's ability to pay its obligations as they become due. For more information regarding the ETN's coupon payments, please refer to the ETN's pricing supplement.

Press Contact

Anna Christensen, Credit Suisse AG, anna.christensen@credit-suisse.com

Credit Suisse ETNs

Telephone +1 800 320 1225, ETN.Desk@creditsuisse.com

The ETNs may not be suitable for all investors and should be purchased only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of investing in the ETNs. The ETNs are subject to the credit risk of Credit Suisse. You may receive less, and possibly significantly less, than the principal amount of your investment at maturity or upon repurchase or sale. Investors will not have any partnership interests or other rights in the MLPs included in the index. Coupon Amounts on the ETNs will vary and could be zero. An investment in the ETNs involves significant risks. For further information regarding risks, please see the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the applicable pricing supplement.

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Credit Suisse AG

Credit Suisse AG is one of the world's leading financial services providers and is part of the Credit Suisse group of companies (referred to here as 'Credit Suisse'). Our strategy builds on Credit Suisse's core strengths: its position as a leading wealth manager, its specialist investment banking capabilities and its strong presence in our home market of Switzerland. We seek to follow a balanced approach to wealth management, aiming to capitalize on both the large pool of wealth within mature markets as well as the significant growth in wealth in Asia Pacific and other emerging markets, while also serving key developed markets with an emphasis on Switzerland. Credit Suisse employs approximately 48,500 people. The registered shares (CSGN) of Credit Suisse AG's parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares (CS), in New York. Further information about Credit Suisse can be found at www.credit-suisse.com.

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This document was produced by and the opinions expressed are those of Credit Suisse as of the date of writing and are subject to change. It has been prepared solely for information purposes and for the use of the recipient. It does not constitute an offer or an invitation by or on behalf of Credit Suisse to any person to buy or sell any security. Any reference to past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future. The information and analysis contained in this publication have been compiled or arrived at from sources believed to be reliable but Credit Suisse does not make any representation as to their accuracy or completeness and does not accept liability for any loss arising from the use hereof.

Credit Suisse has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, for the offering to which this press release relates. Before you invest, you should read the applicable Pricing Supplement, the Prospectus Supplement dated June 18, 2020, and the Prospectus dated June 18, 2020 that Credit Suisse has filed with the SEC for more complete information about Credit Suisse and this offering. You may obtain these documents without cost by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov or clicking the hyperlink below:

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Alternatively, Credit Suisse, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC or any agent or any dealer participating in this offering will arrange to send you the applicable pricing supplement, prospectus supplement and prospectus if you so request by calling 1-800-320-1225.

This document was produced by and the opinions expressed are those of Credit Suisse as of the date of writing and are subject to change.

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Dubai Exports will co-host the UAEs major virtual international buyers forum in the Covid-19 era in partnership with Abu Dhabi Exports Office (Adex) and Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI).

Hosting Digital International Trade Forum jointly is a unified effort to boost the emirates export economy and increase foreign business to drive economic recovery for Dubai businesses, Adex said in a statement.

The announcement of the forum which will be held on July 21, 2020 was made in conjunction with the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between Adex, the UAE-wide export financing entity founded by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and Dubai Exports, an agency of Dubai Economic Department (DED), which specialises in developing and promoting the growth of the Dubais economy through the development and promotion of exports and industry.

The MOU, signed by Eng. Saed Al Awadi, CEO of Dubai Exports, and Saeed Al Dhaheri, Acting Director General of Adex, represents a commitment to collaborate on a range of strategic initiatives and data sharing to strengthen, unite and increase access to the broad range of financial and support services available to Dubai exporters.

The inaugural activation of the partnership will be a digital education forum bringing together leading exporters from across the Dubai business community with international buyers from around the world. Dubai Exports is activating on-the-ground resources from its 24 international offices to invite buyers to join in the UAEs first significant international trade promotion event since the global lockdown.

Participating companies will learn about the full range of financial support services, buyers credit facilities available through Adex and credit insurance available through ECI to stimulate transactions with foreign buyers of made in the UAE goods and services.

Eng Saed Al Awadi said: We are leveraging the full resources of the UAE national export community to help ensure Dubai exporters and their foreign buyers keep goods and services flowing across our borders to continue to stimulate economic recovery and long-term growth. Through Dubai Exports, we have the access and resources to bring buyers from around the world together with our leading export companies. Through ADEX, we have highly competitive, world-class direct and indirect financing products that can help make transactions happen efficiently and effectively on behalf of both our exporters and their foreign buyers.

Saeed Al Dhaheri said: The UAE has invested in building an incredibly comprehensive and powerful network of strategic financial products and services as well as support entities that together effectively increase access to international markets around the world and greater strengthen the competitive positioning of exporters across the world. This international buyers forum is among many initiatives Adex is undertaking to deliver on our commitment to work with partners across our national export community to ensure our business leaders know how to access and most effectively leverage the power of Adex and the entire export support network to enter new markets, expand their businesses and drive a robust, growing UAE export economy.

In the MOU, Adex and Dubai Exports will work together to support exporters to diversify the export markets for local businesses by introducing them to the facilities provided by the corporation. Starting with the international buyers forum, these joint activities aim to increase awareness of how to access and most effectively use the full suite of financial products and services available through Adex to help UAE companies safely enter new international markets and drive export growth.

Adex was established in 2019 by ADFD with a mandate to drive diversification and growth of the UAE export economy. It provides direct financing and credit guarantees to overseas buyers from the public and private sectors seeking to import goods and services from UAE companies. Adex funding and guarantees are designed to support national businesses across the UAE in all non-crude oil sectors. It has allocated AED 550 million ($150 million) in funding for qualifying export transactions of national companies. Through its direct funding program, Adex provides loans to qualifying foreign buyers of UAE goods and services with payment made directly from Adex to the UAE exporter, reducing their risk of delayed or non-payment.TradeArabia News Service
WASHINGTON  Days after Jeffrey Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested, a model who accused the disgraced financier of sexual battery in 1997 asked for an investigation into why her allegations were apparently ignored.

In letters sent Monday to California authorities, Gloria Allred, who represents the accuser, said her client was never contacted by police or prosecutors after she filed a police report more than 20 years ago and was never told whether there had been an investigation. Epstein was never charged.

Alicia Arden said she met Epstein at Shutters on the Beach, a hotel in Santa Monica, thinking she was coming in to audition to become a Victoria's Secret model. Arden said Epstein, who met her at the hotel room barefoot, groped her and tried to lift her skirt.

Maxwell arrested: Feds arrest Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of recruiting child sex victims

Alicia Arden, a model, accused Jeffrey Epstein of groping her inside a hotel room.

After Epstein became distracted with his phone, Arden said Monday, she left the room. Before she left, Arden said, Epstein put $100 on the table.

"I left the money in the hotel room and walked out. ... I felt violated and mistreated," said Arden, who was an aspiring model in her mid-20s. She said she filed a report with the Santa Monica Police Department days after the incident.

Allred, in letters to Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey and Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud, asked the authorities to determine what action, if any, police took in response to Arden's allegations.

"We'd like to know, first, what happened. Was there an investigation? Was there not an investigation?" Allred told reporters. "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 word against hers? Or did they not do anything?"

Federal prison guards in custody in connection with Jeffrey Epstein death

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The Santa Monica Police Department told The Associated Press last year that Arden declined to press charges, a claim Arden denied. A detective's notes showed that Epstein was questioned shortly after Arden filed the report and gave a conflicting statement, the AP reported.

Epstein died by suicide in a federal detention center in New York while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges last year.

Maxwell was arrested last week and charged with helping to procure young victims for Epstein's child sex trafficking operation that began more than 25 years ago.

Ghislaine Maxwell arrested: She's accused of grooming Epstein's victims

Ghislaine Maxwell, longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested as part of a federal inquiry into child sex trafficking.

A federal grand jury in New York indicted Maxwell on perjury and conspiracy charges that accuse her of helping Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately abuse victims from 1994 to 1997. Both allegedly knew the victims were under age 18 and as young as 14.

Maxwell and Epstein enticed and lured the victims to Epsteins homes scattered across the USA and abroad, which Maxwell knew and intended would result in their grooming for and subjection to sexual abuse, the indictment charges.

Maxwell was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire, where authorities said she had purchased a large property.

Bureau of Prisons: After Jeffrey Epstein suicide, new rule for guards: Stop surfing the web and watch inmates

Contributing: Kevin Johnson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jeffrey Epstein: Alicia Arden wants investigation into sexual battery
More than 55,000 deaths involving coronavirus have been recorded in the UK during the pandemic - Jack Taylor/Getty Images

Some people who died from Covid-19 were likely to die later in the year, the Government statistics body claimed as it predicted below that average death rates will continue.

More than 55,000 deaths involving coronavirus have been recorded in the UK during the pandemic, with the virus the main reason for deaths increasing above what would normally be expected for the period.

The elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions are the most vulnerable to Covid-19 and have been hardest hit by the outbreak.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the virus was likely to have brought forward the deaths of some older and vulnerable people, which could prompt a period of below-average deaths.

Its researchers said: "The disease has had a larger impact on those most vulnerable  for example, those who already suffer from a medical condition  and those at older ages.

"Some of these deaths would have likely occurred over the duration of the year, but have occurred earlier because of the coronavirus. These deaths occurring earlier than expected could mean we start to see a period of deaths below the five-year average."

Tuesday's ONS figures show that 8,979 deaths from all causes in England and Wales were registered in the week ending June 26  314 fewer than the five-year average.

It is the second week in a row that weekly deaths have been below the average for this time of year. Before the week ending June 19, the last time they were below average was before the lockdown, in the week ending March 13.

Caroline Abrahams, the charity director at Age UK, said the deaths of older people during the coronavirus crisis have been "catastrophic".

She said: "These most vulnerable people have been at the biggest risk of the virus and should have been better protected on all levels.

"It would be good to think that the number of deaths will fall over the coming months, but we must remain cautious and make sure that our most vulnerable are protected in case there is a resurgence of the virus late in the year.

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"To do this, the Government needs to re-finance and reform social care so that older people at home and in care homes are safe and adequately cared for. "

The figures show that registered deaths involving coronavirus had dropped in all but one region in England and Wales in the week ending June 26.

In the north-east, there were two more deaths registered compared with the previous week.

All regions except the north-west, the East Midlands and the north-east saw overall registered deaths below those that would usually be expected for this time of year.

For the sixth week running, the number of deaths involving Covid-19 was highest in the north-west. The East Midlands had the highest proportion of deaths involving the virus  11.1 per cent of all deaths.
New York (AFP) - Financial regulators in New York said Tuesday they have fined Deutsche Bank $150 million for failing to raise red flags on accounts held by tycoon sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The fine marked the first time a financial institution has been penalized for its dealings with the late financier, said the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS), an agency of the state government.

It said in a statement Deutsche Bank had failed to monitor Epstein's account sufficiently closely, "despite ample information that was publicly available concerning the circumstances surrounding Mr. Epstein's earlier criminal misconduct."

Epstein, who was 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.

"Banks are the first line of defense with respect to preventing the facilitation of crime through the financial system, and it is fundamental that banks tailor the monitoring of their customers' activity based upon the types of risk that are posed by a particular customer," said DFS Superintendent Linda Lacewell.

"Despite knowing Mr. Epstein's terrible criminal history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions," she added.

The financial regulator said the bank should have raised red flags over transactions that included "settlement payments totaling over $7 million, as well as dozens of payments to law firms totaling over $6 million for what appear to have been the legal expenses of Mr. Epstein and his co-conspirators."

It also listed suspicious payments "to Russian models, payments for women's school tuition, hotel and rent expenses, and... payments directly to numerous women with Eastern European surnames."

The DFS added that the regulators also found "periodic suspicious cash withdrawals  in total, more than $800,000 over approximately four years."

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"Throughout the relationship, very few problematic transactions were ever questioned, and even when they were, they were usually cleared without satisfactory explanation," it said.

The fine also covers Deutsche Bank's relationship with Danske Bank Estonia, which is at the center of a money-laundering scandal.

The regulator said Deutsche Bank had similarly failed to act on red flags in its relationship with FBME bank in Cyprus.
FRANKFURT, Germany and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Deutsche Bank and Google Cloud have agreed to join forces and form a strategic partnership that aims to redefine how the bank develops and offers its financial services. The partnership is unique in that it will not only deliver cutting edge cloud services to Deutsche Bank, but also enable co-innovation between the two companies to create the next generation of technology-based financial products for clients. Both parties have signed a Letter of Intent and plan to sign a multi-year contract within the next few months.

Deutsche Bank

The partnership will enable Deutsche Bank to accelerate its cloud transition and build on the engineering capabilities of both companies. Together with Google Cloud, Deutsche Bank will transform its IT architecture and thus generate considerable value for its clients. The multi-year transformation and optimisation of the bank's current systems will take place in a phased approach. Both parties are committed to compliance with privacy and data protection regulation to maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of customer data and Deutsche Bank's information assets.

With this partnership, Deutsche Bank will also gain direct access to world-class data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning to better serve customers. Potential use cases include helping treasury clients with day-to-day tasks such as cash flow forecasting, improved risk analytics, and advanced security solutions to protect clients' accounts. For the private banking business, digital and intuitive solutions will be the focus, to simplify the interactions between customers and employees.

"For more than 150 years, Deutsche Bank has been an industry pioneer, with a strong record of innovation in the financial services sector," said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. "We're excited about our strategic partnership and the opportunity for Google Cloud to be helpful to Deutsche Bank and its clients as they grow their business and shape the future of the financial services industry."

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"The partnership with Google Cloud will be an important driver of our strategic transformation," said Christian Sewing, CEO, Deutsche Bank. "It demonstrates our determination to invest in our technology as our future is strongly linked to successful digitization. It is as much a revenue story as it is about costs."

"This cooperation with Google Cloud is a significant step forward for our technology strategy, and will transform the way we produce and deliver our client services," added Bernd Leukert, Chief Technology, Data and Innovation Officer and Member of the Management Board. "By bringing together the best of both cultures, we look forward to creating new business models leveraging artificial intelligence, data analytics, and more, with an established technology and innovation leader."

The decision follows intensive discussions and due diligence over the past five months. In February 2020, Deutsche Bank invited a number of major cloud service providers to propose a partnership as part of its multi-vendor cloud strategy. As part of this strategy, the bank will continue to work closely with its existing technology partners.

About Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank provides commercial and investment banking, retail banking, transaction banking and asset and wealth management products and services to corporations, governments, institutional investors, small and medium-sized businesses, and private individuals. Deutsche Bank is Germany's leading bank, with a strong position in Europe and a significant presence in the Americas and Asia Pacific.

About Google Cloud

Google Cloud provides organizations with leading infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions. We deliver enterprise-grade cloud solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology to help companies operate more efficiently and adapt to changing needs, giving customers a foundation for the future. Customers in more than 150 countries turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problems.

Google Cloud Logo (PRNewsfoto/Google Cloud)

Cision

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Jeffrey Epstein (centre). Photo: Palm Beach Post/TNS/Sipa USA/PA

Deutsche Bank (DBK.DE) has agreed to pay $150m (119m) to settle investigations into compliance failings in part linked to dealings with Jeffrey Epstein.

New Yorks Department of Financial Services said in a statement on Tuesday it had imposed the penalty on Deutsche Banks New York branch for significant compliance failures in connection with the Banks relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the accused child sex trafficker who died in police custody last year.

The penalty also covers anti-money laundering failings linked to Danske Bank Estonia and Cyprus-based bank FBME.

The settlement brings to an end three investigations by the regulator into compliance failings at the German banking giant.

It also marks the first enforcement action by a financial regulator linked to the Epstein case.

Epstein, who is believed to have been a billionaire, became a client of Deutsche Banks in 2013, five years after he pleaded guilty to procuring for prostitution a girl below the age of 18 in Florida.

READ MORE: Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio to step down after decade in charge

Despite coverage of the settlement and subsequent allegations against Epstein, investigators found Deutsche Bank failed to properly monitor his account. Hundreds of transactions totalling millions of dollars that raised red flags were missed, the New York Department of Financial Services said.

These included payments to Epsteins alleged co-conspirators, settlement payments with victims totalling $7m, payments to Russian models, payments for womens school tuition and expenses, and payments to numerous women with Eastern European surnames that were consistent with public allegations of prior wrongdoing.

Repeated suspicious cash withdrawals by Epstein  totally over $800,000 over four years  also failed to raise concerns.

Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing: Working with Epstein was 'a critical mistake and should never have happened'. Photo: Natasha Livingstone/AP

Despite knowing Mr. Epsteins terrible criminal history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions, New Yorks Superintendent of Financial Services Linda A. Lacewell said in a statement.

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A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank said the bank deeply regretted its association with Epstein and said over $1bn has been invested in training, controls and operational processes.

In a memo sent to staff on Tuesday and shared with journalists, Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing said working with Epstein was a critical mistake and should never have happened.

We acknowledge our error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and shortcomings, the spokesperson for Deutsche Bank said.

Immediately following Epsteins arrest, we contacted law enforcement and offered our full assistance with their investigation. We have been fully transparent and have addressed these matters with our regulator, adjusted our risk tolerance and systematically tackled the issues.

Danske Banks Estonia branch was found in 2017 to be at the heart of a money laundering scandal involving 200bn of suspicious transactions moving money out of Russia and former Soviet states. Photo: Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images

The $150m penalty also covers two separate investigations into Deutsche Banks relationship with Danske Bank Estonia and FBME Bank.

Danske Banks Estonia branch was found in 2017 to be at the heart of possibly the biggest money laundering scandal in history. An estimated 200bn of suspicious transactions were discovered moving money out of Russia and former Soviet states.

Deutsche Bank acted as a correspondent bank for Danske Bank, helping it handle US dollars. Internally, Deutsche Bank gave Dankses Estonia branch its highest possible risk score as early as 2010, due to the volume of suspicious transactions flowing through the Estonia branch. However, it kept dealing with the bank.

In total, Deutsche Bank processed $267bn-worth of transactions on behalf of Danske Bank Estonia between 2007 and 2015, including $150bn from Russia and other former Soviet states.

READ MORE: Coronavirus to cause deeper recession than expected in EU

In the case of FBME, the regulators investigation found Deutsche Bank raised concerns about transactions involving an offshore company ultimately found to be owned by a Russian businessman who was affiliated with a Syrian research facility responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons. Deutsche Bank was unaware of this at the time.

However, Deutsche Bank did not stop dealing with FBME until it was named a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern in 2014 by the US Treasury.

A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank said there was no intentional effort by anyone within the bank to facilitate unlawful activity in either case.

Banks are the first line of defense with respect to preventing the facilitation of crime through the financial system, and it is fundamental that banks tailor the monitoring of their customers activity based upon the types of risk that are posed by a particular customer, Superintendent Lacewell said.

In each of the cases that are being resolved today, Deutsche Bank failed to adequately monitor the activity of customers that the Bank itself deemed to be high risk.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos via Getty/Facebook

A city council member in Norman, Oklahoma, proposed a police budget cut. Then officers for that department posted her address online. Days later, a woman who lived in the other half of her duplex was raped by an assailant who allegedly made a political threat.

The attack was a case of retaliation and mistaken identity, the council member alleges.

Alexandra Scott, a Norman council member who won the Democratic nomination for her state Senate seat last month, is an outspoken critic of her citys police force. When racial justice protests swept the nation in June, Scott proposed slashing the Norman Police budget by $4.5 million. During a city council meeting about defunding, she also discussed a stalking incident she experienced, which she said police handled improperly. Now a pair of Norman Police officers are under investigation for allegedly posting Scotts personal information online, which Scott says may have led to the sexual assault of her neighbor.

These 911 Emergency Dispatchers Are Ready to Defund the Police

Defunding the police is a fraught issue across the country, but especially in Norman, where police have made their disagreements with elected officials well known. Amid calls to slash the citys police budget by millions, council members voted to reallocate $865,000 from the department. The move didnt cut the polices overall budget (it mostly vetoes the departments requested raise, but keeps the departments coffers at slightly above last years budget) but it was enough for the citys police union to file a lawsuit against city council this month.

Scotts criticism of Norman Police has made her a favorite villain in some pro-police circles in the city. A recent Facebook post shared by a Norman Police officer called her another AOC, in reference to the New York representative who has become a boogeyperson for conservatives.

That same police officer, John Barbour, is one of two under investigation for sharing Scotts personal details shortly after her testimony on police defunding. In posts first reported by the Norman Transcript, Barbour made a Facebook post sharing an unredacted video of police responding to Scotts 911 call in May. (Although details of the video remain unconfirmed, they align with Scotts own testimony about calling 911 on a stalker that month.)

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Neither Scott nor Norman Police returned The Daily Beasts requests for comment. Barbour declined to comment, referring The Daily Beast to the Norman Police public information officer, as his case was under investigation. A spokesperson for the group Norman Citizens for Racial Justice said Scotts address was identifiable in the post.

After Alex shared her story of solidarity during that [city council] study session, an officer released an unredacted report and some footage of her making a police report fairly recently, the spokesperson told The Daily Beast. Those items that the officer uploaded to Facebook had her home address on there.

This Utah Police Chief Was Promoted Even After His Racist Posts Were Exposed. Now Residents Want Him Out.

When Barbour was met with criticism online for the video, he responded sarcastically. So what I am getting is that if the issue was the officer let everyone see, but when someone slanders the fine officers on open record meeting its not ok to find out the proof, he posted, apparently accusing Scott of being dishonest in her testimony.

Barbour removed the video but shared a recent police report (from when Scott was arrested at a recent protest) that contained her address. In comments viewed by The Daily Beast, Barbour accused Scott of participating in a riot. When commenters noted that you cant just call protesters rioters  There was no riot, Barbour responded, If you say so.but I bet state law says different.

Another Norman Police officer, Michael Lauderback, appears to have also shared Scotts personal information using the Facebook handle Tired Ofthehate, which was linked to his legal name. Lauderback posted a picture of a sexual assault report Scott made in 2015. Lauderback could not be reached for comment and appears to have since deleted his Facebook account.

Both officers are now under investigation for posting Scotts personal information, the Norman Record reported. The police department noted that since Barbour claimed to have obtained the video from a third party who obtained it through a public records request, the officers posts appear to be legal.

But Scott and Norman Citizens for Racial Justice said the posts play into a larger culture of harassment that has emerged on Norman-centric social media. Most of the targeting happened after we started advocating for defunding the police, the Racial Justice spokesperson told The Daily Beast, noting that many people in her group were experiencing harassment from a ReOpen Norman Facebook page.

In a since-deleted Facebook post, Scott said that social media activity had led to real-world horror for her and a neighbor.

People were passing around my address on social media (and wherever else) for 2 weeks & making light of my experiences with assault and stalking, she wrote. Ive received threatening messages and voicemails from men stating they, hoped I didnt need the police when something happened.

Scott claims those threats came to a head late last month. Her address, which was shared publicly, is in a duplex building. On June 27, someone broke into the other half of the duplex and assaulted Scotts neighbor.

She was raped by [a] stranger who broke into her side of our duplex last night. She had been out with her father, he dropped her off around Midnight and left. Then she was assaulted in her hallway, Scott wrote in the now-deleted post. Her rapist dug his elbow into her neck, pushed her into the wall, and told her Maybe next time youll learn your lesson. He threw her on the ground and raped her.

The attack, she said, was intended for her. They got the wrong woman, she wrote.

Norman Police released a statement acknowledging the incident and the prior publication of the address on social media although, in a heavily redacted police report obtained by the Transcript, the incident is described as a burglary.

Since Norman Police officers posted Scotts address, it has circulated on right-wing Oklahoma pages, where it remains online.

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Many visitors are surprised to find Mount Rushmore appears much smaller in person.

KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images; REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton; Insider

Mount Rushmore is one of the most famous monuments in the US, typically attracting 3 million people a year.

But the South Dakota sculpture depicting former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln doesn't always live up to expectations.

In real life, the monument appears much smaller than it does in photos.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Visitors typically flock to Mount Rushmore every summer. But they're often surprised when they get there.

The sculpture of four US presidents doesn't appear as large in real life as people might think. When viewing the monument from the observation deck, it's difficult to make out details in the faces.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump made a controversial decision to hold a Fourth of July fireworks display at the monument, and photos from the event showed how small the carved faces looked from the crowds.

These photos show what Mount Rushmore looks like in photos vs. reality.

Mount Rushmore is one of the most famous monuments in the US, and in non-pandemic times it typically attracts around 3 million people a year.

Mt. Rushmore, in Keystone, South Dakota.

KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images

Mount Rushmore was built between 1927 and 1941 under the control of designer Gutzon Borglum as a way to bring tourism to the West. Before the monument was built, advocates for a major sculpture in the area proposed carving the faces of local heroes, including Sioux chief Red Cloud, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

But Borglum decided to carve four presidents to make the monument more of a national draw.

But in real life, the monument doesn't loom as large as it may seem in photos.

mount rushmore

Bernell T./Yelp

Aside from seeing the sculpture itself, the national monument also has hiking trails, a visitor's center, cafe, Sculptor's Studio, kid's play area, and the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Heritage Village highlighting the thousands of years of Native American history in the area.

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In photos we see of the sculpture, the heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln loom large.

Mount Rushmore

Jess Kraft/Shutterstock

Each head is a slightly different size, but they're all roughly around 60 feet tall.

But it's difficult to gauge its full scope from the tourist observation deck.

A woman walks at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, where the Information Center is closed and all educational and interpretive programs are suspended in Keystone, South Dakota, on April 16, 2020.

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Washington's mouth is 18 feet across, and it's difficult to make out in this photo.

Close-up, the 20-foot noses look giant next to a worker dangling during construction in 1936.

The face of Abraham Lincoln under construction on Mount Rushmore in 1936 with Gutzon Borglum monitoring the work.

US National Park Service

It took 14 years and around 400 people to build, predominantly using dynamite.

But it's hard to make out the details of the sculpture in person.

mount rushmore visitor's center

neighborhoods.org/Flickr

From a distance, it's difficult to see what each face really looks like.

The Grand View Terrace is about 700 feet from the rock face. To get as close as possible, you have to walk along the Presidential Trail, which is still more than 300 feet away.

Tourists visit Mount Rushmore National Monument on July 01, 2020 in Keystone, South Dakota. President Donald Trump is expected to visit the monument and speak before the start of a fireworks display on July 3.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

People often complain about how disappointing the monument is in real life.

mount rushmore

Madeleine Deaton/Flickr

Thrillist reported there are an abundance of pages on TripAdvisor of people complaining about the monument's "disappointing" size.

Close-up photos of the monument show the detailed features of each president's face.

Mt. mount rushmore

Wikimedia Commons

In photos, the monument appears like a grand attraction.

But in real life, you have to make your way through crowds of people to catch a distant look, and use binoculars to really see the detail.

tourists take photos of themselves in front of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, on June 10, 2012 outside Keystone, South Dakota.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images

During the summer months, Mount Rushmore becomes bustling with tourists looking to take photos of the monument.

On July 3, President Donald Trump held a political rally in front of crowds of people. The monument looks tiny in the distance.

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive onstage during an Independence Day event at Mount Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota, July 3, 2020.

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Photos showed crowds of people gathering at the foot of the monument, which showed how small the sculpture looks in real life.

Though some photos framed just right make the faces appear somewhat larger than other images.

US President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives for the Independence Day events at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, South Dakota, July 3, 2020.

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Trump gave a speech and held a 4th of July fireworks display at the monument.

The monument also sits on contested land. Before Trump's speech took place, a group of protesters largely comprised of Native Americans held a demonstration against Trump for using sacred land.

Native American protesters and supporters gather at the Black Hills, now the site of Mount Rushmore, on July 3, 2020 in Keystone, South Dakota.

Micah Garen/Getty Images

Mount Rushmore has long been criticized for being built on Indigenous land. In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that the Black Hills were unlawfully taken from Sioux tribe.

Additionally, critics of the sculpture have noted that Borglum had ties to white supremacy with the Ku Klux Klan, and held anti-Semitic beliefs. It has also been noted that Borgum opposed adding any women to the monument.

So, when Trump announced he would be making a July 3 speech at the controversial monument, protesters gathered to block the road and reject the political event.

Since it's nearly 80 years old, the sculpture is also constantly developing new cracks and in need of repair.

mount rushmore

Library of Congress and Dynamichrome

Water regularly seeps into the cracks of the mountain and freezes, which causes the granite to fracture. In 2008 alone, 144 cracks were reported along the monument, and the National Park Service has to make repairs every year.

Some things may be better seen from the internet.

mount rushmore

KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images; REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton; Insider

Read the original article on Insider
St. Vincent Medical Center located at 2131 West 3rd st. in Los Angeles. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)

The wave started in early March. The novel coronavirus was spreading across Los Angeles County, and local hospitals were unprepared.

Public health officials feared the worst. The news from Italy and New York  the mass graves and morgue trucks  was clear. They needed more beds.

So they planned.

The hospital ship Mercy sailed to San Pedro to treat the uninfected sick or injured. The Los Angeles Convention Center was prepped as a field hospital, and the St. Vincent Medical Center reopened.

A crowd gathers to watch the arrival of the USNS Mercy hospital ship in San Pedro, Los Angeles, CA on March 27, 2020. Despite warning to remain at home. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)

The facility had closed in January, a victim of Verity Health Systems long bankruptcy. Lying just west of downtown Los Angeles, the sprawling campus was deserted, doors locked, 366 beds empty, with the virus creeping through the city.

On March 19, Dr. Jamie Taylor got a phone call.

The state was negotiating with Verity to lease the property, and her longtime colleague Dr. Anand Annamalai was putting together a SEAL team dedicated to COVID.

St. Vincent was to be known as the Los Angeles Surge Hospital, or LASH. Would she be interested in opening an intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients?

Taylor, 43 and a veteran of ICUs in California, New Jersey and New York, had experience treating severely ill COVID-19 patients at a hospital in Culver City. But that wasnt the only reason she was being asked.

Dr. Jamie Taylor stands in a room that was converted into an area for COVID patients at Los Angeles Surge Hospital (formerly St. Vincent Medical Center) in Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

She and Annamalai had worked together at St. Vincent for almost two years starting a liver transplant and oncology program, which ended in November when Verity decided to sell the property. (Five months later, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong purchased the medical center from Verity for $135 million. Soon-Shiong also owns The Times.)

Our swan song [at St. Vincent] had a bitter taste, Taylor said. It left all of us with a big hole in our stomachs about what was happening.

She now had an opportunity to chase that bitterness with something sweeter. The hospital that could not pay its bills had carte blanche to fight this new disease.

Within days of Annamalai's call, the state and Verity signed a six-month, $16-million lease. Kaiser Permanente and Dignity Health would help set up the facility and offer oversight and guidance once it was up and running. VEP Healthcare would provide physician services, and Annamalai, Taylor and nearly 35 other doctors signed up.

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By the time LASH closed on May 22, it would serve some of the poorest, sickest people in Los Angeles County and shore up the countys patchy hospital system. It would cost millions, last 39 days and treat 64 patients.

Created from scratch, this pop-up hospital brought hope to patients and families, and for its doctors and medical staff, it represented a rare opportunity to create their own healthcare system and practice medicine unconstrained by medical corporations and insurance companies.

LASH, Annamalai said, was a clinically led socialistic system.

::

Taylors first day back on campus was April 2.

Walking empty corridors, she imagined St. Vincents final week as Verity shut it down: patients transferred to other facilities, staff emptying rooms and filling boxes with supplies.

An empty ICU ward used for COVID patients at Los Angeles Surge Hospital. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Now those boxes had to be unpacked and the equipment inventoried, a triage of what could and couldnt be used. There was no better place for them to begin, Annamalai said, than rolling up their sleeves and grabbing a mop.

To create his SEAL team, Annamalai, 41, turned to friends and friends of friends. They had less than two weeks to get ready. Working late into the night, the doctors and specialists lived on pizza and one another's encouragement. Their motto: "Just get it done."

Staff from Kaiser and Dignity joined them stringing ducts for an air-filtration system and rewiring telephone lines. They sealed ICU rooms with plastic sheeting, rolled in beds and laid out mattresses.

They tested monitors and ventilators, and they sorted supplies: bottles of sodium chloride, Foley catheters, endotracheal tubes, disposable stethoscopes.

They practiced donning and doffing personal protective equipment and created protocols for disinfecting themselves, containing outbreaks, and eventually, for helping families visit dying patients.

There was not enough time to see the forest for the trees, Taylor said, because we were in the thick of it, chipping away at six tasks at a time."

Annamalai, a specialist in transplant and cancer surgeries, had worked in Central and South America helping under-financed hospitals build patient capacity. He applied those lessons to LASH.

The surge hospital would not have an operating room, which required a more complex level of care. Instead, there would just be the ICU and units for patients under observation and in recovery. Medical staff set up shop on the fourth floor, and they began with 31 beds.

As the opening drew near, Taylor felt a pang for what St. Vincent could have been. The stairwells had never seemed so clean.

More than 400 positions  from intensive care specialists to security guards, nutritionists to chaplains  needed to be filled. Applications came from as far away as Florida, Texas and Arkansas. For hires from local hospitals, LASH was a double shift.

Ryan Barnette, 37, signed on early. An ICU doctor at County-USC Medical Center, he was drawn not just by the urgency of the pandemic, but also by the challenge of opening a closed facility and mobilizing a staff to care for patients who might otherwise die.

Working at both hospitals, he put in 70 hours some weeks. Sleep became a luxury for the doctor who liked to think of himself as a guy not afraid of running into a burning building.

::

Every time the countys Medical Alert Center wanted to refer a patient to St. Vincent, Taylor's cellphone rang with Thievery Corporations Lebanese Blonde.

She listened to the assessment. If a patient had COVID-19 but was pregnant or had a heart condition or any diagnosis other than respiratory distress, they were turned down. She had to be sure they could provide proper care.

Decisions were made within 24 hours, and before long Taylor was accepting up to five patients a day.

The first was a young woman who arrived intubated, wide awake and terrified.

Respiri despacio, Taylor said in broken Spanish, trying to reassure her. Breathe slowly.

The woman cried. Taylor held her hand.

Todo esta bien. Everything is fine. (The patient was later discharged.)

From the beginning, the work was relentless.

Walking the ICU, covered head to toe, front to back, double gloved, masked and shielded, Taylor rediscovered something she had learned long ago.

Medicine is not just about giving pills or doing a procedure or following a prescribed therapy, she said. Medicine is about human beings interacting at a vulnerable point in someones life. It is the acknowledgement that a patient is more than the culmination of their disease process.

Often, in a patient's room, away from the steady drone of air-filtration units, Taylor found a calm and an intimacy that seemed all the more precious for how menacing this disease was. With families following precautions and staying away from patients, medical staff became family by proxy.

Never was this more evident than when patients were discharged. LASH personnel lined the ramp to the ambulance bay and cheered as the patients made the sign of the cross, blessed the staff and whispered thank yous, one tear-filled goodbye after another.

Taylor estimates that 90% of their patients were Latino and that diabetes was the most common preexisting condition.

LASH was a representation of how COVID disproportionately affects Latino communities, Barnette said, and a representation of how health care in these communities is struggling.

The hospital eventually added 32 beds outside the ICU, bringing its total to 63. The daily census, however, averaged about 22 patients.

Taylor attributed the low enrollment to a number of factors. Getting the word out  that LASH was open and taking patients with specific criteria  was difficult at first, and some doctors and hospitals were reluctant to transfer patients with whom they had a relationship.

Money also played a role. Hospitals experiencing a decline in revenue due to the postponement of elective surgeries, Taylor believes, were reluctant to give up patients with insurance plans that guaranteed reimbursement commensurate with the cost of treatment.

Only three of LASHs patients had private insurance, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. Twenty-eight were uninsured, and 33 were covered by either Medi-Cal or Medicare, which typically reimburse at rates lower than private plans.

::

Barnette said he was confident that LASH had saved "many, many lives."

That was the goal, right? Create an environment that could save lives. A lot of our patients, if they stayed at their admitting hospital, they might not have had a shot, Barnette said, calling his time at LASH one of the most amazing experiences of his life.

Resting area for doctors who treated COVID patients at Los Angeles Surge Hospital. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Annamalai said LASH had essentially eliminated the Goliaths of healthcare  insurance companies and hospital administration  and for a brief, bright moment in the midst of a pandemic, doctors had a chance to deliver care on their own terms.

Taylor welcomed this change. Over the years, she had felt her idealism wane in the face of increasing bureaucratic and financial pressures.

She had watched what happened when coverage was denied or slowly deliberated. She knew who benefited when hospitals advocated invasive procedures over end-of-life care, or when doctors received a percentage of income from patients in nursing homes.

LASH was agnostic to all that, she said. There was no administration saying you had to go to six committees to get a policy approved. We could write our own treatment plan and implement it in 24 hours.

LASH was expensive, but other hospitals throughout Southern California spent millions of dollars preparing for the surge, according to John Romley, a USC expert in health economics, and their critical care infrastructure was already in place.

Operating costs for the surge hospital through May 31, according to the Governors Office of Emergency Services, were $21.5 million which covered medical treatments and physician salaries, as well as food services and the lease on the property.

Kaiser Permanente and Dignity Health received $500,000 apiece for the salaries of their employees who were reassigned to LASH.

Those costs, the emergency services office said, were expected to be eligible for federal reimbursement.

Each day, Taylor said, they talked about how to work efficiently and save money, but she was also pragmatic.

What would the cost have been if we needed LASH and didnt have it? she said.

::

In time, the initial COVID-19 surge in Los Angeles County became more manageable.

Taylor had expected the hospital to be open into the summer but by mid-May, there were rumors that LASH was closing

The decision by state officials came abruptly. She was scheduled to work a night shift on May 22 when she got a text at home. EMTs were transferring the last patient to Good Samaritan Hospital.

She hurried. Traffic was light. She checked in with security, put on her N95 mask and took the elevator to the ICU.

The unit was deserted. As quickly as it had begun, the Los Angeles Surge Hospital had ended.

LASH, Taylor said, had reaffirmed my faith in medicine.

St. Vincent Medical Center located at 2131 West 3rd st. in Los Angeles is back in business to help ease the pressure on local hospitals amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Staff set up beds and other equipment ready to receive patients with Covid-19 starting Monday. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)

Of the 64 patients treated there, 55 were discharged to other hospitals, rehabilitation facilities or their homes. Nine died.

Given the hospitals unique nature and its selection of patients, a 14% mortality rate is hard to compare with other medical facilities. One hospital system in New York City recently reported a 21% mortality rate among its COVID-19 patients.

The care that LASH provided the patients was often underestimated, said Taylor. People thought we were pitching tents and bagging patients. That was not what it was at all.

Before leaving, Taylor stopped on the 9th floor, where a break room had been set up for staff.

She didnt know what the future for St. Vincent would be, and she didn't believe a new surge hospital would open on the campus. That decision lies with the state, which would once again have to take on the cost.

From the county's point of view, Los Angeles' public and private hospitals have the ability to meet current projections, especially if the public continues to take precautions. Hospitals, as well, can increase capacity  up to 20%  by canceling elective admissions, rapidly discharging patients who no longer need acute care, changing the designation of hospital beds, and opening up non-traditional spaces for care, said a spokesperson with the Office of Emergency Management.

Taylor walked out on a balcony, which had always felt like a portal to another world, a place to escape when there was a lull downstairs.

Dr. Jamie Taylor stands in the resting area for doctors who treated COVID patients at Los Angeles Surge Hospital. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

In the late afternoon sunlight, the city was quiet.

No one knows what happened here, she thought, in this least likely of places.

As she stared across the patchwork of homes and streets to the 101 Freeway and the Hollywood sign, she knew the virus was not done with Los Angeles.

A month later, a thousand more people had died in L.A. County, cases of the disease had doubled, and the numbers continue to rise.
Gulf Capital SME Insights, a new digital initiative by Gulf Capital and MEED-GlobalData, has been launched to support the regions small and medium enterprises (SME) economy. The digital platform will provide access to invaluable resources and host experts for live discussions on critical topics relevant to SMEs navigating a challenging financial climate amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a statement said.

In their ninth year of supporting and celebrating SMEs, Gulf Capital and MEED-GlobalData have come together to launch a multi-channel programme of activity to provide SMEs with the information, intelligence and support to make efficient business decisions and adapt corporate strategies to achieve success following Covid-19.

Studying the impact of Covid-19 on the start-up ecosystem across the MENA region, a recent report found that 59 per cent of small businesses said they had already been impacted by the crisis. The same report found that 48 per cent of start-ups surveyed cited revenue generation as a major concern, and 41 per cent foresee lower-than-expected revenue growth rates in 2020.

SMEs are undoubtedly the backbone of the global economy. The importance of this sector to the GCC economy is no different, with SMEs creating employment opportunities, championing creativity and driving innovation in line with regional economic growth visions. It is essential that we protect our SMEs more than ever due to the catastrophic economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and falling oil prices, said Dr. Karim El Solh, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Capital.

To support SMEs during this challenging time, we have joined hands with MEED-GlobalData to ensure that the SME community has the necessary foundations to respond, grow and succeed in the New Normal, he added.

The first webinar in the series of live broadcasts aired on 30 June 2020, featuring industry leaders from Hub 71, IBM, The Camel Soap Factory, and Gulf Capital.

Future editions of the bi-monthly webinar series will cover overarching themes around technology, financial solutions, legal perspectives, and communications strategies, featuring a panel of industry leaders - including Oracle, startAD, and in5, to address the key challenges faced by SMEs in the region. Following the webinar, a virtual roundtable will allow for additional dialogue between participants and individual moderators for further insight and awareness.

The series of virtual sessions will conclude on September 9, 2020 with the Gulf Capital SME Insights Summit. This virtual summit will bring together industry experts and thought leaders to provide valuable insights on the way forward. Following this, an awards reception on December 9, 2020 will be hosted to celebrate the SMEs that have demonstrated outstanding resilience, agility and innovation to sustain and grow their business.

Covid-19 is having a devastating impact on many small businesses, said MEED editorial director Richard Thompson. Lacking the financial reserves of big companies, with limited revenue streams, and dependent on a small pool of key employees and suppliers, SMEs are extremely vulnerable to systemic shocks. After four months of social distancing and lockdowns, many are facing extinction.

The SME sector is vital for innovation, new job creation and growth, said Thompson. It is imperative that key actors such as governments, banks, landlords, tech companies and others come together to support SMEs in the UAE and the GCC to create a sustainable enterprise eco-system in the region that will help SMEs to thrive in the post-Covid economy."

Through the Gulf Capital SME Insights, we are providing a platform to support the GCCs SME sector, helping small businesses to achieve sustainable growth and profitability, said Thompson. Over the coming months, this initiative will connect SMEs with prominent companies and investors, and provide them with a wealth of resources for support and inspiration.TradeArabia News Service
Nearly four months after being diagnosed with COVID-19, Karyn Bishof endures a long list of symptoms that includes a collapsed lung, chronic fatigue and a wildly irregular heartbeat.

But it's disbelief from an insurer and doctors that's frustrated her as much as her lingering health problems.

Youre either told you had a quick cold or you end up on a ventilator and pass away, said Bishof. Its really frustrating and you begin to self-doubt and, of course, it is a huge mental strain on top of all the physical ailments that youre facing.

Bishof, a Boca Raton, Florida, resident and former firefighter and paramedic, is one of countless coronavirus survivors with lingering side effects. Even President Donald Trump on Saturday seemed to discount COVID-19's long-term threat when he said 99% of cases are "totally harmless."

People with complications, self-described as long haulers, are uncounted in any official report as of now. But Bishof took tallying into her own hands when she posted a survey June 16 on social media. As of Monday, she's gotten 1,280 responses from COVID-19 sufferers who say they, too, experience ongoing symptoms.

Karyn Bishof, 30, of Boca Raton is shown with son Jayani. She had COVID-19 symptoms for 113 days on July 6 despite two negative tests following a positive one and a positive antibody test.

Memory loss, gnarled fingers, panic attacks: COVID-19 didn't kill these Americans, but many might never be the same

She said she got a runaround from a workers' compensation program linked to her former job, including the insistence she should do a telehealth visit despite having a documented partial collapsed lung that demanded more specialized care. She finally was able to schedule an in-person appointment with a pulmonologist later this month after her attorney intervened, she said.

Still, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows defended Trump's claim the virus is "totally harmless" in 99% of cases.

During an appearance Monday on "Fox & Friends," Meadows said "the vast majority of people are safe from this" and, other than people with underlying medical conditions, the "risks are extremely low and the presidents right with that, and the facts and the statistics back us up there."

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Patients who experience COVID-19 complications is 'significantly higher' than 1%

But other experts say there is potential danger in telling the public COVID-19 is harmless to all but 1% of people with the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns older adults and people with chronic health conditions such as kidney disease, heart disease and diabetes face greater risk.

Dr. Kathryn Wagner, a neurologist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, said published data suggests the share of people who experience serious complications is "significantly higher" than 1%.

The symptoms can include aches, anxiety, night sweats, rapid heartbeats and breathing problems. More recent research has revealed life-threatening complications such as stroke caused by blood clots.

"The concern about that statement is that people may not fully recognize the dangers of COVID-19 infections and may not take the appropriate precautions," Wagner said.

Dr. Ashish Jha, K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of Harvard Global Health Institute, said it's harmful to not communicate COVID-19's risk and underplay its threat.

"Ultimately, a large part of how well we can control the virus is going to depend on peoples behavior," Jha said. "And to the extent that you have leaders who are trusted by large segments of our population saying that its not a good deal, its all about testing and most people do fine and for 99% of people its harmless  it does two things: it says there isnt an outbreak out there or not much of one, and even if you get infected, it would be no big deal at all. We know both of those things are not true."

'We survived, but we aren't living': Long-term coronavirus effects worry doctors

The virus that causes COVID-19 was publicly identified just over six months ago in China, and scientists don't have data on long-term effects for humans. Nearly 3 million Americans have been infected and more than 130,000 died as of Monday night, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Jha said a growing number of people with lingering symptoms and the amount of lung damage visible on scans "makes me very worried about functional capacity and long-term lung function in a lot of these people who survive."

Though there is no data on long-term effects, Jha estimates "a sizable minority" of 10% to 20% of patients will have "meaningful long-term clinical effects of this virus."

'It's been a life saver': Telehealth can be life-saving amid COVID-19, yet as virus rages, insurance companies look to scale back

Kennedy Krieger anticipates more and more children will need therapy to rehab from COVID-19 neurological and physical complications, so it has set up a clinic for children, teens and adults under the age of 21. Patients are assigned to a care team that includes a neurologist, mental health specialist, physical therapist and occupational therapist.

"There really is to need to help those who have been seriously ill with COVID-19 to regain their previous function," Wagner said.

Adults and children recovering from severe cases might experience neurological issues, loss of strength, psychological distress, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, Wagner said.

In rare cases, children develop multi-symptom inflammatory disorder that can trigger an exaggerated immune response. In such cases, the immune response attacks the heart and kidneys or trigger respiratory failure or stroke.

Bishof, the former firefighter, likened the experience of COVID-19 survivors with nagging health struggles to a "mass casualty incident." She said there was a failure to recognize the severity of the illness for those who were not necessarily in the hospital but still dealt with health problems.

"Maybe we survived, but we aren't living," she said. "We're not able to do what we did before."

Contributing: Karen Weintraub and Nicholas Wu, USA TODAY.

Alltucker is on Twitter as @kalltucker and email at alltuck@usatoday.com. O'Donnell is on Twitter as @JayneODonnell and email at jodonnell@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus survivors dispute Donald Trump's 'totally harmless' claim
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Pointing to a future growth avenue, Dries Van Noten is to open his first freestanding boutique in China this fall in the Reel Mall in central Shanghai.

Matteo De Rosa, who was named president of the Antwerp-based fashion house in January, confirmed the retail project on the ground floor of the upscale shopping complex on Nanjing West Road.

We will be looking to expand our footprint in the coming years, both digitally and with brick-and-mortar, De Rosa said in an interview on Tuesday.

The 1,800-square-foot boutique, which will be operated with a local partner, is under construction and targeted to open in late August.

De Rosa said the boutique would showcase the complete mens and womens collections for fall 2020.

The brand is already distributed in China via Dries Van Notens main wholesale partner, Lane Crawford/Joyce Group, he noted.

In his previous job as managing director of the Ports 1961 label, De Rosa was based in Hong Kong and knows the Asian market well. He started his career at Ports in China, working in the groups accessories department.

Spains Puig Group, which acquired Dries Van Noten in 2018, trumpeted De Rosas experience in brand expansion both in Europe and in Asia when he was appointed president, a post that suggests the fashion house is gearing up for a growth phase.

The brand counts boutiques in cities including Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris and Seoul, some with partners, while key retail clients include Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Le Bon Marche, Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Shinsegae.

Van Noten remains a minority shareholder in the company, and carries the title of chief creative officer and chairman of the board.

He is on the calendar for the first online edition of Paris Fashion Week for men, for which brands were asked to present a creative film or video. Mens week runs from July 9 to July 13 in the French capital.

One of the original Antwerp Six, Van Noten comes from a family of tailors and is a graduate of Antwerps Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He launched his label with mens wear in 1986, and established his flagship, known as Het Modepaleis and located on the site of a historic department store, in his hometown in 1989.

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DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DuPage Medical Group (DMG), the largest independent, multi-specialty physician group in Illinois, is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Nelson as its Chief Executive Officer, effective July 6, 2020. Nelson will report to the Board of Directors and work in close partnership with Paul Merrick, MD, the Chairman of the DuPage Medical Group physician organization.

DuPage Medical Group Logo

Mr. Nelson is a seasoned leader with more than 30 years of healthcare experience at both payer and provider organizations. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare, a $190 billion division of UnitedHealth Group. During his 15-year tenure, he served in key leadership positions in both the Commercial and Government businesses and drove efforts that resulted in increased growth, employee engagement and customer satisfaction. Mr. Nelson also has significant provider experience, having served in a variety of executive roles with Henry Ford Health System and Intermountain Healthcare.

"Steve's long and successful track record of creating world-class performance by building culture and focusing on mission and purpose aligns well with the mission of DMG," said Merrick. "I am thrilled for him to join the organization and look forward to his partnership with the physicians of DMG. Together, we will transform the care delivery model in a way that the healthcare system demands, patients deserve and physicians desire."

"We are pleased to welcome Steve to DMG," said Mike Pacetti, who has served as interim co-CEO with Paul Merrick, MD, during the last 14 months. "Steve is a visionary healthcare leader who is aligned with our mission of taking great care of patients. He brings a track record of success and a passion for finding new and innovative ways to improve healthcare delivery and health outcomes. We conducted a selective and thoughtful search for a new CEO and are confident that Steve will lead our organization to its next phase of growth and success." Mr. Pacetti will now resume his role as Chief Financial Officer  a role he has held since 1999.

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"DMG has a remarkable mission and meaningful history as a physician-led organization," said Nelson. "I am honored to have the unique opportunity to work side-by-side with these talented physicians and employees. Together, we will continue the work to transform the healthcare system resulting in a better patient and physician experience, more affordable care and world-class health outcomes."

Mr. Nelson will spend the coming weeks learning more about and engaging with physicians and employees across the organization, as well as meeting with key partners, local business leaders and associations.

Mr. Nelson serves on the Board of GENYOUth and Kadiant, the Dean's Advisory Board at the University of Michigan and he is an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan.

About DuPage Medical Group

DuPage Medical Group (DMG) is the largest independent, multi-specialty physician group in Illinois with more than 750 primary care and specialty care physicians in over 100 suburban Chicago locations. For more than 20 years, DMG has focused on making healthcare better for its patients and communities by offering high quality, compassionate healthcare. As a physician-led organization, DMG's physicians work together  utilizing leading-edge technology and innovative treatment options  to ensure that each patient receives accessible and efficient healthcare. For more information, visit www.dupagemedicalgroup.com.

Contact: Maria McGowan, DuPage Medical Group, (630) 545-7640, maria.mcgowan@dupagemd.com

Cision

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SOURCE DuPage Medical Group
On April 5, when Floridas positive coronavirus cases were one-sixteenth the number they are today, 69-year-old Jeffrey Sand went to the infirmary at Blackwater River Correctional Facility, a privately managed state prison near Pensacola.

He complained of shortness of breath  and of a cough and diarrhea. Four days later, he was put back in his cell. He died there that same day, found sprawled on the floor of his cell, next to the door. The medical examiner says it was COVID-19, the first such death in the state prison system  but far from the last.

Until Monday, all the public knew was his name, and only because reporters confirmed it with the medical examiner in Santa Rosa County shortly after. No one knew that he was sent back to his cell by the infirmary while apparently on the verge of death. Sand was one of 2,443 inmates in the state who tested positive for COVID-19 and one of 25 who died.

Department of Corrections officials divulge precious little information about the circumstances under which inmates die, making it nearly impossible to determine whether inmates received adequate care. There were 361 such deaths in the first 10 months of the just completed fiscal year, and the only information the department shares on its mortality database is name, prison, date of death, cause (homicide, suicide, natural...) and status of investigation.

The medical examiner data, released after the Herald and other news organizations threatened a public records lawsuit, fills in some of the gaps. Although the COVID-19 victims are nameless in the ME records, short narratives and other data relating to each death provide clues that allow at least some of the victims to be identified as inmates.

Jeffrey Sand

All names used in this article were confirmed by the Miami Herald with medical examiners, family members or inmate advocates.

The medical examiner records detail a 53-year-old at Liberty Correctional Institution who had a fever, dry cough, shortness of breath and body aches for three days before being taken to the Calhoun Liberty Emergency Room, where he tested positive for coronavirus and died shortly after. Also revealed: How a 68-year-old inmate at Sumter Correctional Institution who was put into medical isolation with fever and shortness of breath died of COVID-19 four days later.

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In another case, a 67-year-old inmate at Union Correctional Institution was taken to Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville with stomach pain. There, he suffered kidney failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome and went into septic shock. He was intubated and later transferred to hospice, where he died.

The medical examiner records provided by FDLE account for only 16 of the states 25 COVID-related deaths in prison, which corrections spokeswoman Michelle Glady says is likely a result of a lag in reports from medical examiners offices. The Department of Corrections reports deaths of inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19, not inmate deaths ruled COVID-19-related by medical examiners.

Its also unclear whether medical examiners may be omitting the prison connection in their notes. Details provided by medical examiners vary greatly from district to district.

FDC is releasing information on deaths of inmates who tested positive for COVID-19, regardless of the cause of death, Glady told the Miami Herald in an email. The district medical examiner is responsible for determining the cause of death for any person who dies in a prison, and that determination is releasable by the medical examiner.

The inmate deaths reported by the medical examiner trend older, with an average age of 61. The youngest inmate to die of COVID-19 was 41-year-old Tyra Williams, a prisoner at Homestead Correctional Institution. Williams, who died June 25, was one of two women to die of COVID-19 in prison so far.

Floridas aging prison population, like the state as a whole, is threatened by the highly contagious virus, which has had an outsized impact on older people. There are currently about 23,000 Florida inmates over 50, a segment of the prison population that has increased by 12.5% over the past five years as the overall prison population has shrunk. Their care is expensive, even when there isnt a pandemic, because many abused drugs before prison and they tend to be in poor health. Prison healthcare, not known for its excellence, can make matters worse.

In 2018, elderly inmates  in the prison environment, elderly equates to all those 50 and over  accounted for half of all hospital admissions, despite making up just 24.2% of the population.

During the 2020 legislative session, lawmakers proposed bills to help streamline the process of releasing sick or elderly inmates  populations most at risk of dying from the disease. Both bills went nowhere. St. Petersburg Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes put forward one bill to create a streamlined process for the release of inmates with terminal or debilitating illnesses, and another would have established a conditional release program for inmates over 65 who had served at least 85% of their sentence.

In some states, frail or older inmates are being released as a solution to curbing the spread among the most susceptible population, but Florida is not among them. Currently, some inmates deemed terminally ill or permanently incapacitated and not a danger to themselves or others can be referred by the Department of Corrections to have their cases heard by the three-person Florida Commission on Offender Review.

When asked about the process earlier this year, FDC Secretary Mark Inch said in a statement that releasing an inmate is a complex process that involves a proper post-release plan for medical services and housing options that can take months of planning.

For these reasons, I believe accelerated early release creates significant risk, he wrote. As Secretary, I promise to remain diligent and focused on doing all I can to protect those who work and are housed in our correctional institutions.

Ryan Andrews, a Tallahassee-based attorney who represents Florida inmates, said the facilities are simply not set up to deal with treating the illness, much less stopping the spread. He said so many inmates are rushed to the hospital in their final days because the best treatment in prison happens if theres a thought the inmate could die. He compared it to the prison systems handling of Hepatitis C, where the state only began to treat inmates with urgency when some started dying of liver failure in the late stages of the disease.

Based on conversations with inmates, Andrews says sick people are frequently mixing with the healthy and there is a lot of misinformation spreading about how to protect against the highly contagious disease.

There is only so much prisons can do, he said. They are waiting until it gets bad or the person looks like they are dying. ... Their families just find out after theyre dead.

In some cases, members of the public are stepping in to try to help curb the disease. Debra Bennett, a former inmate and current prisoner advocate, has organized donations of masks, gloves, bleach, face shields, soap, toilet paper and other necessities to Homestead Correctional Institution, where 302 inmates are infected. When she drops off supplies, she notices that guards are sometimes not wearing masks or any other personal protection equipment.

On the day of her latest delivery, two women at Homestead died of COVID-19  both women Bennett knew well.

These are my friends. I cant describe what it felt like to see [Tyra Williams] in an open casket. I couldnt handle it, she said. My frustration is the Department of Corrections takes coronavirus as seriously as [Florida] Gov. [Ron] DeSantis does. Its not taken seriously.
The Philadelphia Eagles say they "will take appropriate action" after receiver DeSean Jackson posted anti-Semitic passages attributed to Adolf Hitler on Instagram on Monday. (Chris Szagola / Associated Press)

Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson has apologized for posting anti-Semitic passages attributed to Adolf Hitler on social media, a day after suggesting that his post containing the offensive language had been misunderstood.

"I post a lot of things that are sent to me," the two-time Pro Bowler wrote Tuesday on Instagram. "I do not have hatred towards anyone. I really didnt realize what this passage was saying. Hitler has caused terrible pain to Jewish people like the pain African-Americans have suffered. We should be together fighting anti-Semitism and racism. This was a mistake to post this and I truly apologize for posting it and sorry for any hurt I have caused."

Earlier Tuesday, the Eagles said in a statement that they "are continuing to evaluate the circumstances and will take appropriate action."

"Regardless of his intentions, the messages he shared were offensive, harmful, and absolutely appalling," the team stated. "They have no place in our society, and are not condoned or supported in any way by the organization.

"We are disappointed and we reiterated to DeSean the importance of not only apologizing, but also using his platform to take action to promote unity, equality, and respect."

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Jackson posted the passages attributed to Hitler (their legitimacy has been questioned) Monday on his Instagram story.

Also in recent days, Jackson posted messages in admiration of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has been identified as anti-Semitic by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center.

Jackson returned to his Instagram story later Monday to address his critics.

"Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way," he wrote without elaborating. "I have no hatred in my heart toward no one!! Equality. Equality."
Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the Supreme Court that states could punish "faithless" electors. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

Its unfortunately beyond the power of the Supreme Court to abolish the electoral college, a hopelessly antiquated and unfair way to choose the president. But in a unanimous ruling Monday, the court at least prevented the system from becoming even less democratic.

Acting on cases from Washington and Colorado, the justices held that states may punish  and even remove  electors who dont support the presidential candidate who finished first in the popular vote there.

In Colorado, which Hillary Clinton carried in 2016, an elector was replaced when he said he intended to vote for Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) instead. In Washington, where Clinton also won the popular vote, three electors were fined for voting for former Secretary of State Colin Powell despite having pledged to support Clinton.

Writing for the court, Justice Elena Kagan said that nothing in the Constitution expressly prohibits states from taking away presidential electors voting discretion. Equally important, she noted the long practice of choosing electors based on the state's popular vote for president, rather than having state lawmakers pick them.

The framers of the Constitution, she conceded, left for the future the question of how independent from  or how faithful to  party and popular preferences the electors votes should be. But, she added, the future did not take long in coming. Almost immediately, presidential electors became trusty transmitters of other peoples decisions.

Today 48 states award all of their electoral votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote. (Maine and Nebraska award two electors to the winner of the statewide vote and one to the winner of each congressional district.) Many voters likely dont realize that they are actually choosing electors who will gather in their states in December to cast the ballots that decide the race.

Kagan also emphasized that states have taken steps to bind electors to the voters will. Thirty-two states impose such obligations, and 15 of those states impose some sort of sanction on faithless electors, with most of them providing for the replacement of renegade electors.

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Mondays decision does justice to the long historical practice of choosing electors through popular elections. But it also is true to the framers overriding purpose: to entrust the selection of electors to the states, which have decided to honor the voters' wishes. To further deter faithless electors, states that don't currently have laws calling for defiant electors to be replaced  California among them  should swiftly enact them.

The timing of the decision is also important. It comes in a presidential election year already clouded by the possibility of an inconclusive or contested outcome that the unprincipled incumbent might try to exploit. The court has minimized the possibility of at least one sort of disruption.

Still, welcome as Mondays ruling is, it doesnt alter the fact that the electoral college is intrinsically prone to undemocratic outcomes. Two of the last three presidents  George W. Bush and Donald Trump  secured an electoral college majority without prevailing in the popular vote. Such a discrepancy between the popular and electoral result remains a danger even if electors faithfully reflect the outcome of a states popular vote.

That is unacceptable in a democratic society. Short of amending the Constitution to abolish the electoral college, the next best thing is for more states to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Under that arrangement, participating states pledge to award their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote. (The compact wouldnt go into effect until it included enough states to constitute a majority of 270 electoral votes.)

As the court noted, state election laws evolved to reinforce the notion that a states electors would vote the same way as its citizens. But the ultimate evolutionary achievement would, and must, be the abolition of the electoral college.
Regina King in a scene from "Watchmen." (Mark Hill / HBO)

Last year, television's best dramas  Ava DuVernay's wrenching "When They See Us" and "Chernobyl," the haunting history of nuclear catastrophe and bureaucratic rot  were limited series, and that's again the case this year. In fact, the 2020 class is so deep that an engaging program like "Belgravia," Julian Fellowes' gorgeous "Downton Abbey" follow-up, doesn't stand much of a chance in breaking through a crowded lineup.

Maybe the Television Academy needs to expand the nomination slots for these categories too, as it did for comedy and drama series. There's going to be some serious disappointment here when nominations are announced on July 28.

LIMITED SERIES

"Watchmen"

"Unbelievable"

"Normal People"

"Mrs. America"

"Little Fires Everywhere"

Next up: "Unorthodox," "Hollywood," "I Know This Much Is True," "The Plot Against America," "Defending Jacob," "Belgravia"

Netflix's searing crime drama "Unbelievable" was first out of the gate in September, and with its superb, empathetic storytelling, it established itself as the front-runner ... until a month later when "Watchmen" began its run on HBO and became the series of the year, an audacious tour de force that tackled America's stain of racism. Three other exceptional series arrived in the spring: Netflix's immersive story of self-discovery, "Unorthodox"; Hulu's emotionally intimate portrait of love, "Normal People"; and FX's extraordinarily alive history lesson "Mrs. America." Still, given the urgent way "Watchmen" speaks to our current moment, it's hard to see it not prevailing when the Emmys are awarded in September.

LEAD ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE

Regina King, "Watchmen"

Merritt Wever, "Unbelievable"

Kerry Washington, "Little Fires Everywhere"

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Cate Blanchett, "Mrs. America"

Reese Witherspoon, "Little Fires Everywhere"

Shira Haas, "Unorthodox"

Next up: Kaitlyn Dever, "Unbelievable"; Octavia Spencer, "Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker; Daisy Edgar-Jones, "Normal People"

As is the case in the lead actress comedy and drama series categories, this is a field that will require some painful choices. "Little Fires Everywhere" often felt adrift in its storytelling, but it tackled race and parenting and privilege in an audience-friendly manner that made it one of the most-watched shows in Hulu's history. Its success owed much to its leads, Washington and Witherspoon, and their resumes likely will give them an advantage over younger contenders such as Dever, Edgar-Jones and Haas.

LEAD ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE

Mark Ruffalo, "I Know This Much Is True"

Hugh Jackman, "Bad Education"

Aaron Paul, "El Camino"

Paul Mescal, "Normal People"

Russell Crowe, "The Loudest Voice"

Jeremy Irons, "Watchmen"

Next up: Andre Holland, "The Eddy"; Jeremy Pope, "Hollywood"; Chris Evans, "Defending Jacob"; Matthew Macfadyen, "Quiz"

From its shocking, opening moments, it's clear that "I Know This Much Is True" affords Ruffalo the kind of material that wins awards. Ruffalo plays twin brothers, one a paranoid schizophrenic, the other a weary working man making sacrifices out of familial love and duty. It's probably the best work of Ruffalo's career  but I found myself bailing after just one episode because the show felt like a self-indulgent dirge. (I'm happy to be told I'm wrong. But in this particular moment, I don't have the stomach to press on and finish it.)

I would, however, love to rewatch all 12 episodes of "Normal People" and luxuriate in its moving, melancholy love story that's anchored by the intense, expressive work from Mescal and Edgar-Jones. Newcomer Mescal is an absolute find, conveying Connell's endearing mix of confidence and insecurity with an intensity that never feels false or forced. Plus, he embodies the wise words of one Jeffrey Lebowski: "Strong men also cry."

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE

Toni Collette, "Unbelievable"

Jean Smart, "Watchmen"

Allison Janney, "Bad Education"

Patti LuPone, "Hollywood"

Rose Byrne, "Mrs. America"

Margo Martindale, "Mrs. America"

Next up: Sarah Paulson, "Mrs. America"; Uzo Aduba, "Mrs. America"; Tracey Ullman, "Mrs. America"; Holland Taylor, "Hollywood"; Melissa Leo, "I Know This Much Is True"

You could fill out this entire field with women from "Mrs. America." I mean, I wouldn't, because then you'd be ignoring the noteworthy performances from dependable favorites  Collette, Janney, LuPone and Smart. But that still leaves two spots for the "Mrs. America" ensemble, and I could just as easily see any of the past Emmy favorites Paulson, Aduba and Ullman making the cut ahead of Byrne or Martindale. (Ullman has 24 nominations and six Emmys alone.) Who do you choose from a show that wove together its characters and story with such skill? I'd vote for Byrne, searing as Gloria Steinem, and Martindale, for her poignant take on Bella Abzug. But ask me tomorrow, and I might have a different answer.

SUPPORTING ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, "Watchmen"

Tim Blake Nelson, "Watchmen"

Jim Parsons, "Hollywood"

John Slattery, "Mrs. America"

Joe Mantello, "Hollywood"

Jesse Plemmons, "El Camino"

Next up: John Turturro, "The Plot Against America"; Ray Romano, "Bad Education"; Louis Gossett Jr., "Watchmen"; Darren Criss, "Hollywood"; Dylan McDermott, "Hollywood"; Tituss Burgess, "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend"; Michael Sheen, "Quiz"; Tom Wilkinson, "Belgravia"; Jovan Adepo, "Watchmen"

I understand and appreciate Emmy voters' history of appreciation for Burgess, Parsons and Slattery. But Mateen plays the most important character on the year's most essential series, and he had to play pivotal scenes with his face completely obscured or spray-painted blue or in the nude. He made the most powerful being in the universe sublimely human, turning the series' eighth episode, "A God Walks Into Abar, into one of the most heart-wrenching hours of television this year. Please reward the work, Emmy voters.
Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, said Brussels could agree to the use of zonal attachment, a key British request - Shutterstock

The European Union is willing to accept UK demands that post-Brexit fishing opportunities be divided using a scientific method that reflects the number of fish in UK waters, rather than the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.

Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, said Brussels could agree to the use of zonal attachment, a key British request in ongoing trade negotiations, if it was coupled with other factors such as assessing the economic impact on coastal communities.

Zonal attachment will benefit UK fisherman because more fish have moved to British waters as a result of climate change since Common Fisheries Policy catch shares were set in the 1970s and 1980s.

The EU has previously insisted EU boats should have the same access to UK waters as now. and under the same conditions.

Mr Barnier admitted that the EU's position on fishing was "clearly not" balanced when he gave evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee about the post-Brexit trade negotiations.

He said Brussels was willing to be "creative" to break the deadlock, according to a transcript of the June 23 meeting, which was published on Monday.

He said: "I am waiting with much patience for a reply from the British side. If there is no response, there will be no agreement on fisheries and no agreement on trade."

While Mr Barnier ruled out the Norway-style annual negotiations on fishing opportunities Britain wants, he suggested some yearly talks could be possible.

"You can discuss fishing stocks regularly every year in the light of the scientific advice, so that we can protect resources and biodiversity, but negotiating access to waters and the fish in those waters every year would be impossible for 100-odd species," he said.

"There will be no trade agreement with the UK if there is no balanced agreement on fisheries. Is this 'balanced agreement' the British position, as it is now? Certainly not. Is it the European position as it is today? Clearly not."

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Mr Barnier said he offered UK negotiators a compromise that "would take account, of course, of the zonal attachment that the UK wants".

"We must take account of that, but of other parameters as well: historic fishing rights, sometimes dating back many centuries; the economic interests of coastal fishing communities in the EU and the UK; and international rules from the UN on biodiversity," he said.

Mr Barnier was speaking before the last round of intensified negotiations in Brussels broke up a day early with what he described as "serious divergences" between the two sides. Talks resumed in London on Monday.
SALT LAKE CITY, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Extra Space Storage Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE: EXR) announced today it will release financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 after the market closes. The Company will host a conference call at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 to discuss its financial results. Hosting the call will be Extra Space Storage's CEO, Joe Margolis. Joining him will be Scott Stubbs, Executive Vice President and CFO.

Extra Space Storage. You deserve some extra space! (PRNewsFoto/Extra Space Storage Inc.)

During the conference call, company officers will review operating performance, discuss recent events, and conduct a question-and-answer period. The question-and-answer period will be limited to registered financial analysts. All other participants will have listen-only capability.

To Participate in the Telephone Conference Call: Dial in at least five minutes prior to start time.

Domestic: 855-791-2026 International: 631-485-4899



Conference ID: 4349759





Conference Call Playback:



Domestic: 855-859-2056 International: 404-537-3406



Conference ID: 4349759



The playback can be accessed beginning on August 5, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET through August 10, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The conference call will also be available on the Company's website under Investor Relations at www.extraspace.com. To listen to a live broadcast, go to the site at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the call will also be available for 30 days on the Company's website.

Full Text of the Earnings Report and Supplemental Data

The full text of the earnings report and supplemental data will be available at the Company's website at http://ir.extraspace.com immediately following the earnings release to the wire services after the market close on Tuesday, August 4, 2020.

For those without Internet access, the earnings release will be available by mail or fax, on request. To receive a copy, please call Extra Space Storage Investor Relations at (801) 365-1759.

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About Extra Space Storage Inc.

Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, and a member of the S&P 500. As of March 31, 2020, the Company owned and/or operated 1,852 self-storage properties, which comprise approximately 1.3 million units and approximately 143.0 million square feet of rentable storage space offering customers conveniently located and secure storage units across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. The Company is the second largest owner and/or operator of self-storage properties in the United States and is the largest self-storage management company in the United States.

For more information, please visit www.extraspace.com.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/extra-space-storage-inc-announces-date-of-earnings-release-and-conference-call-to-discuss-2nd-quarter-2020-results-301089379.html

SOURCE Extra Space Storage Inc.
Apco Worldwide has appointed Mohammad Kamal as a regional creative practice lead which will elevate its multimedia content capabilities. It will also offer clients a full suite of 360 creative services, announced Mamoon Sbeih, Apco Worldwides Mena president.

The appointment of Kamal, a multi award-winning creative industry leader, complements and fortifies Apcos globally established artificial intelligence and digital capabilities.

We are proud to welcome one of the regions creative driving forces to lead our creative practice, Sbeih said. In todays always-on world, creative storytelling is part of the fabric of communications practice. Mos relentless pursuit of his artform will provide an invaluable boost to the ways our clients can engage the public, their stakeholders and wider audiences, as we fortify our creative capabilities with a truly 360 offering.

Known for his out-of-the-box, headline-making work, Kamal brings over 20 years of experience to Apcos Dubai office where he will head-up the Mena creative practice, and focus on amplifying clients positioning and work, through stimulating and inspirational multimedia content.

Prior to joining Apco, Kamal served as the managing partner and executive creative director at Memac Ogilvy Advize in Jordan. He founded Advize, a local boutique agency, until it merged with Memac Ogilvy Jordan in 2011. With his innate entrepreneurship, Kamal transformed the company into one of the top agencies in Jordan.

Kamal and his team have been consistently recognised for their professional excellence, including being on award-winning campaigns for a wide array of local and international brands such as G+, wi-tribe, Jordan Commercial Bank, Total and others. He earned a Grand Prix at the Dubai Lynx for two consecutive years and received a Cannes Lion in 2017both first achievements for Jordan.

Its an exciting time to be joining one of the worlds most highly esteemed communications firms, said Kamal. With the world undergoing a reset in so many areas, a range of new, creative ways to communicate across the spectrum of industry and business have emerged, and Im thrilled to be starting this era of creative and digital storytelling with a professional team as respected and aspirational as Apco Worldwide.

Kamal joins an experienced group of industry veterans in Apcos creative team who know their home markets but are global in their thinking, including Howard Pulchin, Tracy Mathews, Flor Marenco-Adelberg, Imad Lahad, Steve Salvador, Dave Burke and Brendan Ward, who joined Apcos Raleigh office earlier this year.-- Tradearabia News Service
Courtesy of Guy Bryant

This week, Julia and Shaun T talk to two people with a deep understanding of both sides of the foster care systema parent and a child. Guy Bryant, or "Pop" as his kids call him, is a 61-year-old single father who's dedicated his life to the systemand has taken in 50 (!!) children over the past decade. Bryant cares for young men, mostly in their late teens and early 20s, who have already "aged out" of the system to help them succeed as adults. No matter what happens in life, Bryant wants his kids to know that there's somebody there for them.

Then there's the talented Demetria Mack, who just finished her first year at Howard University and has been in foster care since she was 11. Mack has written about her relationship with her foster mom in a magazine called Represent, which is by and for young people in the child welfare system.

"Being a part of the podcast was absolutely empowering," says Mack. "I love sharing my story, and through this experience, I was able to speak directly to parents." What she'd like to tell them? Consider taking in a teen if you're thinking about fostering. "We're just looking for someone who's going to accept us and love us."

Upcoming episodes and topics this season include:

Adoption

Parenting with disabilities

Divorce, co-parenting and blended families

Single-parent households

Multicultural parenting

The family you didn't know you had

Listen to We Are Family on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, TuneIn, Stitcher, Google and everywhere podcasts are available.

Listen to episode 5 right now: Parents.com/FamilyPod-Ep5

Plus, follow along here:

Guy: At 2 o'clock this morning, I got a text from someone that lived with me and he said, "I just want to say, I was thinking about you and I would just want to say thank you for all that you do for me and all that you've done for me. Whenever I think things have gone really bad, I know that you'll be there."

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So I want to have that impact on everybody, that they know that there's somebody here.

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Julia: Hi, Im Julia Dennison

Shaun: And Im Shaun T

Julia: And this is We Are Family, a podcast from Parents magazine. This show is all about celebrating the different ways there are to build and be a familyand how beautiful that diversity is.

Shaun: This episode, were talking about foster carefrom the parents and the kids perspective.

Julia: There are more than 400,000 kids in foster care in the United States. Children enter the system for many reasons, but generally its because their parents werent able to take care of them, or they were abused or neglected.

Shaun: Foster care is meant to provide a safe home for kids whove been in bad situations. But moving in with strangers can be scary. Kids whove experienced trauma may have very good reasons not to trust adults. It takes time to build a strong relationship.

Julia: Today were talking to two people who understand this  on both sides of the equation. Guy Bryant works as a community coordinator for the Administration for Childrens Services in New York City, helping older teens and young adults in foster care transition to life after the system. Hes also a single dad. In the last twelve years, hes been a foster parent to over 50 young people, many of whom call him Pop.

Courtesy of Guy Bryant

Shaun: And Demetria Mack just finished her first year at Howard University. She went into foster care when she was 11, and she wrote about her relationship with her foster mom in a magazine called Represent, which is by and for young people in the child welfare system.

Julia: They both have a lot of wisdom to share.

Shaun: Were gonna hear from Guy first. We talked to him back in April, when he was quarantined at home in Brooklyn with four foster sonsall in their teens or early 20s.

Guy: There's a lot of testosterone going on here. It's like we're, we're cooped up in here, you know? And it's very difficult. But we're managing. A lot of food being eaten, a lot of food being cooked. I make cakes every couple of days because that kind of calms everybody.

Shaun: I will say that I wish I could come and have some cake.

Julia: It's so good.

Shaun: I know right. I think a lot of people are baking more now. I'm baking donuts and I don't know what you're baking Julia, but I want to go to Guy's house with some cake.

Julia: Comfort food.

Guy: I've never baked until now.

Julia: I think that's everybody though, right? We need it.

Guy: Yesterday I made a strawberry cake with vanilla, pink frosting, and it was the best one yet. I'm not used to baking, but the snack thing was going through fast, so it's better to make a big sheet cake and it saves a lot of money.

Shaun: Guy has had as many as NINE foster youth living with him at a one time. And hearing how hes created family with these young men really hit home for me.

Shaun: My mother was a single mother, and then she ended up dating someone and I was sexually abused by that person, and then I ended up moving in with my grandparents and my grandfather was an amazing father figure to me, and now I'm a dad myself. But the irony of all of that is I never met my biological father and hearing how you have taken in young men and become a father, a dad or a pop, if you will, just out of selflessness, it just means so much to me and I really want to commend you on just being a stand up human, and I'm sure you are changing lives even to this day. But how did you get started in the foster care system in the first place, and what was your motivation?

Guy: Part of it is I tried to recreate things that happened in my childhood. My mother was basically a single parent.

My father was involved from a distance. Um, he was the weekend dad and. Um, I lived in a house with my mother, my grandmother, and my mother's two sisters and we all shared a floor in the house. So my grandmother lived in the apartment with us. My family was very community involved. So we had big barbecues with a lot of people. We went fishing, we went to Bear Mountain, we went tobogganing. We did all kinds of things. So I enjoyed my childhood so much that I'm wanting to recreate that for others because I felt loved and important, and I felt like my family was important to the community. And I wanted to keep that going. So that's what brought me into this field originally, and I've been in the field 42 years, so it's what I do and it's all I know how to do. It's what I was raised to do.

Julia: Guy works in a unit at the Administration for Childrens Services that prepares young people to age out of the system. As we all know, a lot of 21-year-olds depend on their parents for financial support, health insurance, and a roof over their headnot to mention love and advice navigating the challenges of being a young adult.

Many foster youth dont have that kind of helpso Guy focuses on building the skills they need to live on their own successfully.

Shaun: Before he was a foster dad, Guy was a house parent in a group home for boys, and he really enjoyed it. After the city ended that program, he started looking for another way to get involved.

Guy: I decided to become a foster parent because I had a particular youth who was on my caseload with the city who I really enjoyed his company. He was pretty bright, but he had some behavioral issues that wouldn't allow him to be any place where there were other kids. So he, um, asked me would I take him as a foster child because they were closing his site down and he would have nowhere to go, and no family member would take him at the time. So I said, sure, I would. And I ended up taking him into my home and he was the first one, and he's in his thirties now, and he has seven children of his own.

Shaun: As a foster dad, Guy focuses on helping young men in their teens and early 20s.

Courtesy of Guy Bryant

Guy: My job is to make you a responsible adult and to prepare you for being on your own. I don't do laundry. I will cook. Um, but there's things that I won't do because they're going to have to learn how to do it real fast, because by the time I usually get these guys, they only have a short time left in foster care.

I'm not the kind of person to run to school and let's go to the doctor. If you want to continue in school, we'll get you into a school program and you make your own doctor's appointments and you keep them.

Julia: But theres one thing Guy always makes sure his kids have: a house key.

Shaun: That might sound like a no-brainer, but sometimes kids in the foster care system dont actually get one.

Guy: Well, I'm not a babysitter. [Laughs] I'm not going to sit and wait for you. When you live on your own, you're going to have keys to your apartment. So I mean, it's, it's important. It gives you a sense of security, gives you a sense of independence and it gives you a sense of belonging.

Julia: Well hear more about what else Guy does to build that sense of security, after the break. Stick with us.

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Julia: Welcome back to We Are Family. Today were talking to Guy Bryant, a single dad whos parented over 50 foster youthmostly in their late teens and early 20s.

Shaun: Julia, every time you say that number50I am amazed. I can barely keep up with the two kids I have. I cannot imagine having as many as nine teenagers living with me at one time. How does he do it?!

Julia: I know! But the way he sees it, its just not a big deal.

Julia: One thing I love about you Guy is that you are so kind of humble about what you do. Like it's no thing, you know, you're just like, this is what I have to do. This is my calling in life. And I'm sitting here, like I said, mom of one kid, and I'm like, I don't even know how he does this.

Um, and I think it's really interesting because when we first contacted you about being interviewed for this show, you were kind of surprised.

Guy: I was.

Julia: And can you, can you tell us why.

Guy: Well, you know what it is. I don't understand. Like I can't understand why people think that this is like such a great thing. I don't know.

I mean, it's a great thing to me personally, but I don't, I don't understand why other people see it that way. They could do it. That's how I feel like, just do it then, but it's like, I feel like, OK, like somebody has to do it and I enjoy it. I've gotten a whole lot of enjoyment over the past few years out of this. And so many, I've had some definite heartaches and some hardships. Um, last year one of my kids passed away and that destroyed all of us. He was just with us a few days before and he went back home to Connecticut and he had a heart attack and he's only, he's in his thirties.

Julia: Guy had been part of this foster sons life since he was 16, and he was the godfather of his child.

Guy: I think that's the worst moment that I've had. For him to pass away was devastating to me. Um, but the majority, I'd say 90 percent of the things that have gone on over the years that I've been doing this, they're enjoyable, pleasurable, and definitely give you a feeling of self worth.

Julia: You've spoken about being a parent before, and you've said a quote that I really liked that was, I can be somebodys pop without being biologically connected to them. What does being somebody's pop mean to you?

Guy: You can call me whatever you want. I've had kids that would call me Mr. B, and then all of a sudden, one day they flip and they say Pop.

And then we just continued that way. And that's just how it goes. It's whenever they feel comfortable, but what it means to me is to be available all the time for that person. At 2 o'clock this morning, I got a text from someone that lived with me and he said, "I just want to say, I was thinking about you and I would just want to say thank you for all that you do for me and all that you've done for me. Whenever I think things have gone really bad, I know that you'll be there." And it was so unexpected and so nice considering how rough around the edges this guy is. He's like, was involved with a gang and everything. And for him to feel that way was really special to me. And to think about it at two o'clock in the morning and send me a text message, it was important.

So I want to have that impact on everybody that they know that there's somebody here. Um, no matter what. And no matter how things, how bad things might get, um, that I'm here.

Courtesy of Guy Bryant

Shaun: And of course, being a pop has its bumpy moments tooespecially when you're parenting teens. But Guy manages by staying calm, and aiming to start each day fresh.

Guy: I may be upset with you today, but tomorrow is a new day, so I don't hold on to it, you know? You have to adapt to their peers, the school they go to, um, the interaction they have with their biological family. All of that comes into play. So you have to keep it pretty level because you never know when it's going to be some kind of outburst.

But even with your own kids, they're going to have to do that. You may not have the issue of another biological family involved, but you will have the issue of their peers and different things going on. So after so much of that, nothing surprises me anymore when something happens.

You know? I sit down and logically try to break down that situation and say, OK, if it's something negative, I'm going to say, how can I avoid this happening again? And I'll sit down and think about it. And then if it's something positive, I'll say, how can I make this happen again without forcing it? So that's basically how I handle it.

Julia: I love that. Um, I was just sitting here and getting teary hearing your story about, um, one of your kids texting you at 2:00 a.m. and thanking you. Sometimes being a parent can feel so thankless. So those moments are gems. Whenever you know, you feel that gratitude in return.

Shaun: You know, there are people out there who will hear your story and they'll say, wow, some parts seem easy, some parts seem hard. But what would you tell people who were thinking about becoming a foster parent?

Guy: I would tell them to go for it. If you feel in your heart that you can make a difference at all, go for it. Especially if you've raised like three or four children and those children are doing well and successful, and you feel that kind of emptiness, that kind of feeling like, OK, now what?

And you're not ready to settle down and just relax or retire. I'd say, go for it. This will never give you a dull moment, that's for sure. Although it's winding down for me and my two 21-year-olds, um, one is in college and one is about to go to college. And both of them have jobs and theyre both slated to go into their own apartments soon.

I have the two sixteen-year-olds. One of them is about to leave because, um, foster care is not for everybody and he needs, um, a higher level of care. And the other one is about to go home. So I'm considering, am I going to continue to do this? I'm not sure right now, but I've considered this before, over the years, and another kid always comes up that I say, "I can work with this kid."

And I ended up back with a house full again.

Shaun: So far weve been hearing about foster care from the parents perspective. But we wanted to know what its like from a young persons point of view too.

Julia: It turns out one of Guys foster sons happened to be in the room when we talked.

Guy: Actually the person who calls me Pop is here with me right now.

Julia: Is it Romario?

Guy: Yeah, Romario.

Julia: Does he want to say anything?

Guy: I don't know. You want to say something, Ro?

Romario: Hello. Who am I speaking to?

Shaun: Julia and Shaun. How are you?

Romario: Hello, Julia and Shaun.

Julia: Romario is 21, and before he came to live with Guy, he spent some time in a shelter.

Romario: I guess Mr. Bryant's seen that was not really for me, which I really didn't think it was for me neither. So he took me in and I really appreciate that. We have a lot of fun moments.

Like he'd bring us to Atlantic City. Brings us to, when we went to Washington D.C., I went there. I never went there like on a school trip. So that was pretty cool to see the monument. Mr. Guy is, he's the best foster parent.

Julia: Romario just graduated from high school, and hes got big plans for the future. He wants to be a fashion designer.

Shaun: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Romario: Oh. So I have my own, my whole plan. I love fashion. I love clothes. I love the trends. I love colors. I love-

Shaun: Me too, me too. Me too. [Laughs]

Romario: Whatever I don't see out there, I will be designing it. I want to be globally recognized, like everyone to say, oh, all my clothing line would be on my last name Vassell. So it would be Vassell. Oh, I've got those new Vassell jeans or, you know, [crosstalk]

So I have five years hands-on training on electrician work that I'm going to apprentice with someone five to six years, and then become a master electrician and then go straight into my, my real thing, like, which is fashion and I want to go to Parsons in Manhattan. And I heard like Marc Jacobs went there and stuff like that, but the workload is really hard.

So I was like, um, I'm just trying to get myself prepared for that and I needed more sketches and stuff like that and recognition, whatnot.

Julia: Well, you seem so organized and determined. I think you know, I've hugely high hopes for you. Thank you Romario.

Shaun: More organized than us, Julia right now,

Julia: I know, I'm sitting there thinking, "what's my five year plan?"

I don't know. You're going to be an electrician and a fashion designer at the same time. It's like skills up the wazoo. I love it.

Shaun: Thank you so much and good luck..

Shaun: Before we hung up, Guy gave me some parenting advice that Im probably gonna carry with me for the rest of my life.

You know, we always say it takes a village and I want to just give you props because you are raising a village and I just think you're doing a really good job and you've inspired me to be a better dad.

I'm just hearing some of the tips you gave on you know, really just being present and being patient and being calm. Having toddlers right now who are not patient, who are in their terrible twos is, it just gives me light into be present and what's happening right now and just to really connect to them. So you inspired me today.

Guy: Here's a tip for you, Shaun.

Shaun: OK.

Guy: Think about that little vacation that you had or that little dinner that you had with them and how much fun you had and whenever things would get really rough. So I have so many of those good thoughts to think about that I can always resort back to those when things are really rough.

And they've been rough the last couple of days. It's been so hectic. I just think this too shall pass, and I've had good times before and I'll have them again.

Shaun: Amen.

Julia: I love that so much. I love that. And talk about it takes a village, over 50 kids. I feel like that's a small town right there.

Well thank you so much, Guy. We so appreciate you coming on our show.

Shaun: Yeah thank you so much.

Guy: Not a problem.

Julia: OK Shaun, I know who Im calling for parenting advice when Ezzie hits her teens.

Shaun: Me too, Julia! Since we did this interview Ive already had moments where Im like, all right, Im channeling the zen of Mr. Guy Bryant.

Julia: Shaun, since we both have little kids, I feel like the hidden agenda of this show is that you and I are just building up our Rolodexes, so well be prepared to parent at all these different ages.

Shaun: You aint sayin nothing but the truth, because its the best excuse to ask all the questions I have about being a dad.

Julia: And while as parents we can help each other out, kids give great advice, too. So Im really excited that we have one more person to talk to today about foster care. Her name is Demetria Mack, and she just finished her freshman year at Howard University, where shes studying computer science. She wrote a beautiful story about building a relationship with her foster mom for a magazine called Represent, which is by and for young people in the child welfare system.

Courtesy of Demetria Mack

Shaun: When Demetria went into foster care, she was 11, and her little brother was just six months old. She was nervous, and didnt know what to expect. Her idea of foster care was based on little orphan Annie, who lived in the orphanage with mean Miss Hanniganand yall know Miss Hannigan was A LOT.

Demetria: Before I was in foster care, I was also taking care of my brother. So I had, I was just scared that we were going to be put with someone who was neglectful of my brother, like mean to him, and he was a baby at the time, and I didn't know if it would be an increased responsibility for me to take care of him.

Julia: Fortunately, Demetrias foster mom wasnt anything like Miss Hannigan. Her name was Ms. Pena, and she and her daughter were actually really nice to Demetria and her little brother.

Demetria: But like I realized, it's just sometimes we can just become too concerned with the, like um, stereotypes that, um, that surrounds something and like, it can really, like, not be like that at all.

Shaun: Demetria felt safe in her new home, and she finally got to be a kid for the first time. But it was still hard for her to trust Ms. Pena. And as she got older, Demetria wanted to feel like her foster mom trusted her to make good decisions, too.

Shaun: How was it like to write about your experiences with Ms. Pena?

Demetria: When I have to like compare my life living with Ms. Pena compared to my life living with my birth mother, it brings up a lot of emotions like you said. But my main goal when it comes to writing is to allow other people who are in foster care to realize that they're not alone.

Julia: Demetrias also really motivated by her younger brother.

Demetria: He's been in foster care since he was before he was 1. So it was, it's just, I just want to be able to show him that you don't have to be bounded by stigma surrounded by being a foster youth.

There are some people who won't be a product of their parents, won't be a product of their environment and will do things that will be great just like anyone else who has not been in foster care.

Julia: I love that. So a lot of our listeners might be thinking about becoming a foster parent. So I'd love to hear from your point of view, what you think some of the qualities of a good foster parent are.

Demetria: So I think one is just really being understanding and being able to sympathize with their emotions. Because a lot of these kids are coming from very traumatic, um, backgrounds, so being able to be patient with them and sit down and understand that they may have come from an unstable home, so they're just getting used to being somewhere more stable and being with someone who is willing to take care of them.

Also respecting that at first they may not be able, they may not want to like open up because they may be afraid, and being able to respect that. But in the same sense, making your home feel welcome to them, making sure you allow them to feel included.

So just making sure you always instill that sense of safety in them and letting them know that they're safe, that they have somewhere where they're welcome and they can come home to and be treated like family.

Shaun: Safe and inclusion. Wow. If I could just, I just want to like sit on that for a second in my own space, feeling safe and inclusion. And I remember when leaving my home, going to my grandparents' home, like you said, a lot of people or foster kids come from, you know, traumatic experiences. I was sexually abused by my stepfather. And so I was going into this new environment, hiding something. And in addition to that, as I got older, as I, you know, became an older teen, just, you know, accepting my sexuality and wanting to be able to express that, um, is really scary. So, but if you feel safe, and if you are in a space where you feel included.

Even if you have something that you don't want to talk about, you feel so much better. And you know, there's a line in your story where it says, odds are your foster teen has every reason not to trust adults. So be patient. And I think that's, you know, what I just described in my past, and obviously you as well. So I think the flip side of that, what can adults do to earn that trust?

Demetria: Hmm? Well, that's a good question. I never really thought about that.

I think it's important to respect their privacy, but also allow them to know that you're there for them if they need anything. If you see that your child has been distant, it's always good to reach out to them and sit down with them and have conversations from time to time just to see how they're doing, to see where their head's at.

I feel like that's what everyone wantsto have a parent that they can trust, and they can come to about anything, without worrying about being judged.

Julia: I heard a child psychologist once say that teenagers often want potted plant parents. So they want to know that you are consistently in the room and you are there for them, but they might just be walking past you and might not necessarily want you to always engage with them, but they want to know if they want to engage with you, that you're always there. And I thought that was really funny.

Shaun: I've never heard that. I have to remember that though, for sure.

I'm going to have Demetria's voice in my head when I start going down that path.

Julia: Right. I was actually curious, Demetria. Ms. Pena, did she ever read the story, and if so, what was her reaction?

Demetria: She has read the story and every time someone comes to her house, she has the magazine and she'll say, here read it, here read it. So she's really like supportive of me and like my writing career and she's always willing to, she always has like all my, anything that I've wrote, um, all the magazines out for people for if guests come over so they can read it.

Julia: That's so wonderful. That's the dream. I'm so happy about that.

Shaun: That is really so wonderful. You know Demetria, we have a line that we talk about a lot and how we say, it takes a village. And I wanted to just, um, give you some props, if you will, just the fact that you keep your younger brother in your thoughts knowing that you're going to be an impact on him and, you know, you are a figure that he looks up to. I just want to say thank you so much for that because that in itself will inspire so many people. But I just want to talk about that just a little bit more. In the foster care system, what is the community like?

Demetria: Well, my foster care agency, Children's Aid Society, they give us a lot of opportunities to bond with other students. Basically we come together as a group within our, um, depending on what age range you're in. And we basically talk about various topics such as school, education, work, finding jobs, dealing with mental health, and for the graduating seniors, they would always have celebrations for them and they would have parties. We would just talk to each other and, like, congratulate each other on the things that we've been able to accomplish.

One thing I appreciate is, like, we don't connect based off of our trauma. We try to do things that are outside of that and like we can talk about it, but it's not the basis of us coming together. We can, we are able to talk about other things outside of just our past and just being in foster care.

Julia: So lastly, Demetria, what's one thing that you want people to know about foster kids that they may not realize? Or about the system in general.

Demetria: So. I think a lot of people, they usually go for younger kids. The stigma around teens, we're not that bad. Even though we've been in foster care, we may have like prolonged trauma. It's, we're not that bad. And I feel like with any kid, we're just looking for someone who's going to accept us and love us.

I feel like that's literally all we want.

Shaun: Oh.

Julia: That's beautiful. So consider taking in a teen. That's a really important message.

Shaun: Thank you so much.

Julia: Thank you. Demetria, it's so great to talk to you.

Demetria: Thank you. I really enjoyed being here.

Shaun: And thats all for todays episode on foster care.

Julia: If youre thinking about becoming a foster parent, head to parents.com/wearefamilypodcast for some helpful tips and advice.

Shaun: And go read Demetrias story in Represent magazine. Its called Let Me Grow Up. You can find that link in the show notes too.

Julia: Tune in next week, because weve got another great story about fostering and adoption with bluegrass musician Barry Abernathy. Well catch you next time on We Are Family.

Thanks to our production team at Pod People: Rachael King, Eliza Lambert, Susie Armitage, and Lene Bech Sillisen. This show was recorded in New York and Arizona, edited in New York City, and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

You can find out more at parents.com/podcast. You can find Parents on Instagram at @Parents. And you can follow Shaun at @ShaunT, and Julia at @juliadennison.
Washington (AFP) - The number of foreign medical graduates from Muslim-majority countries coming to the United States to become doctors has declined by 15 percent under the Trump administration, exacerbating shortages in America's physician workforce, a study said Monday.

International medical graduates represent about a quarter of practicing doctors in the United States.

They are required to take several licensing exams and then complete two or three years of training to practice medicine in the United States.

Overall, citizens from Muslim-majority nations made up 4.5 percent of the US physician workforce in 2019, with Pakistan, Egypt and Iran historically providing the bulk.

The number of graduates from Islamic nations applying for certification in the United States rose from 2009-2015, peaking at 4,244, before falling steadily to 3,604 in 2018 -- a decline of 15 percent.

A small drop occurred in 2016, the year in which Trump was elected but his predecessor Barack Obama was still in office, before hastening in 2017 and 2018.

The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and was led John Boulet, vice president of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates that oversees the certification process.

Boulet and colleagues said that recent US policies, such as the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries "affect the inflow of IMGs International Medical Graduates) by restricting travel to the country for citizens from specific nations."

They added: "Even a perceived immigration ban could affect who chooses to complete the requirements for... certification" while potential difficulty obtaining a visa could dissuade the program directors of medical residencies from making a job offer.

The US demand for physicians has long outstripped supply for a variety of reasons, from population growth and aging, to a federal cap on funding for residency training.

As a result, the United States could see a shortage of as many as 122,000 doctors by the year 2032, according to a 2019 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges.

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Some economists also argue that the short supply of doctors has led to a surge in their wages -- costs that are eventually passed down to patients.

"To the extent that citizens from some countries no longer seek residency positions in the US, gaps in the physician workforce could widen," the authors said.

The attractiveness of the United States as a destination may have also waned in comparison to other countries like Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Britain, the authors wrote.
A Florida teenager with "a complex medical history" attended a large church function where she did not wear a mask and social distancing was not enforced, and when she became sick, her parents gave her a dose of hydroxychloroquine in the days before she died of COVID-19, according to a medical examiner's report.

The girl, Carsyn Leigh Davis, 17, of Fort Myers, fought health issues since age 2, including cancer and an autoimmune disorder, her mother, Carole Brunton Davis, said in a Facebook post that has been deleted, according to the News-Press of Fort Myers. Davis did not reply to requests for comment Tuesday. She told the newspaper that her daughter's father died when she was 10.

IMAGE: Carsyn Davis (via WBBH-TV)

Carsyn and 100 other children attended the church event June 10, according to the Miami-Dade County medical examiner's report.

It is unclear where Carsyn contracted COVID-19.

Her mother, a nurse, and her stepfather, a physician's assistant, "prophylactically treated her with azithromycin," an antibiotic, from June 10 to June 15, the report says.

On June 13, Carsyn developed a frontal headache, sinus pressure and a mild cough, which her family thought were due to a sinus infection. Her symptoms persisted, and six days later, the report says, her mother, saying she looked "gray" while sleeping, gave her oxygen through her grandfather's portable machine and a dose of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that President Donald Trump suggested could be beneficial for treating COVID-19. (That theory was debunked through a National Institutes of Health study.)

Carsyn was taken to a hospital by her mother and her stepfather, according to the report. She was transferred to a pediatric intensive care unit at another hospital, where she was diagnosed with the coronavirus on June 19.

Her parents initially declined intubation, the report says. She received plasma therapy June 20 and 21. On June 22, after her condition did not improve, she was intubated. She was transferred to a Miami-Dade County hospital, where she died at 1:06 p.m. June 23, two days after her 17th birthday.

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Carsyn's case gained renewed interest Sunday after data scientist Rebekah Jones, the former head of the Florida public information portal that lists the number of coronavirus casualties and cases, highlighted her death on her website dedicated to Florida coronavirus victims.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Jones, who was responsible for updating the COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard, has said she was ousted in May for refusing to manipulate state health data, which as of Tuesday showed 213,794 reported coronavirus cases and 3,841 deaths. Gov. Ron DeSantis' spokeswoman, Helen Aguirre Ferre, said in a statement in May that Jones' "blatant disrespect" for professionals who were working to provide updates on the pandemic was harmful.

Jones said in a series of recent tweets that the youth event Carsyn attended was hosted by First Assembly of God in Fort Myers.

The church told NBC News in a statement that it is following all health guidance with regard to holding church services.

"It is heartbreaking that a young lady who frequently attended Youth Church over the past few years has recently passed away. The church, and many members of Youth Church particularly, had reached out to her family and her during her illness, praying for her and sending video messages and personal encouragement while she was going through her illness and in the hospital," the church said. "Out of respect for her family, and at their request, the church did not comment to the media about her illness and her passing. The church intends to continue to honor that request."

The church said that because "false reports have been picked up, perpetuated and posted throughout national, local and social media," it has been subject to a relentless attack and "finds itself forced to make this statement in an effort to get the truth out."

Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak

Jones said on her website that she is saddened by Carsyn's death.

"Every death on this website is heartbreaking. Every minute lost in someone's life is a tragedy," she wrote.

She added, "But this one will stick with me long after this virus has torn through our communities."
FORT MEYERS, Fla. - The family of a 17-year-old Florida girl who died last month from COVID-19 treated her symptoms at home for nearly a week before taking her to a hospital, a medical examiner's report concludes.

The home care included giving the girl unproven drugs and putting her on an oxygen tank used by her grandfather.

Carsyn Leigh Davis died June 23 as Lee County's youngest victim of the novel coronavirus. Nearly two weeks before her death she had attended a 100-person church function and, according to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office, "She did not wear a mask. Social distancing was not followed."

Related video: Florida governor says no need to be fearful about COVID-19 cases

Carsyn Davis, 17, of Fort Myers and student at Cypress Lake High School, died Tuesday, June 23, 2020, due to complications from COVID-19.

The News-Press could not independently verify which church was involved and a call to the possible host of the event was not returned Monday. A reporter also tried to reach the girl's mother without success on Monday.

The girl had struggled with a number of health issues over the years, including a rare nervous-system disorder that resolved when she was 5, obesity and an auto-immune disorder, the report states.

Her mother, a nurse, and a man identified in the report as her father, a physician assistant, gave the girl azithromycin  an antibiotic being studied as a potential COVID-19 treatment  as a protective measure, the report states.

But on June 13, the girl developed a frontal headache, sinus pressure, and mild cough. The family assumed they were the result of a sinus infection, the report states.

On June 19, the girl's mother noticed that she looked "gray" while sleeping. The girl was then given an unspecified dose of hydroxychloroquine  an arthritis and lupus drug some, including President Donald J. Trump, have touted as a possible treatment for COVID-19.

The report does not state if the girl had a prescription for either drug.

Either way, there is little evidence that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment of COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration has warned people not to use the drug outside of supervised hospital settings because of its potential to cause heart, liver and kidney problems.

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Her parents then employed oxygen used by her grandfather, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, before taking her to Gulf Coast Medical Center in south Fort Myers.

Officials transferred Davis to The Golisano Childrens Hospital, which confirmed she had COVID-19. The girl's family refused to allow her to be intubated, opting for plasma treatment, the report says. That didn't work, and the girl was later intubated.

She was later transferred to Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami.

A GoFundMe account set up in Davis' name had received nearly $8,400 in donations as of Monday.

On it, her mother, Carole Brunton Davis, said: "We are incredibly saddened by her passing at this young age, but are comforted that she is pain-free. Heaven gained an angel. Carsyn did not have an easy life."

Contributing: Melanie Payne, The News-Press

Follow Frank Gluck on Twitter: @FrankGluck

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Teen who died of COVID-19 got hydroxychloroquine treatment at home
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Key Point: Here is a bit of history you might not know. It wasn't a major power like America or Britian that first used warplanes to attack an enemy ship.

In the annals of aerial warfare, the names of Greece and Mexico dont usually appear very often.

Yet Greece and Mexico were the first to use aircraft to bomb ships, a breakthrough that led to the Pearl Harbor raidand to todays aircraft armed with ship-killer missiles.

While the first reported incident of aircraft bombing ships was long thought to have happened during the Mexican Revolution, it turns out that the Greeks, who pioneered so much else in Western civilization, can also lay claim to that honor.

It happened during the First Balkan War of 191213, that warm-up act for World War I that saw the fading Ottoman Empire defeated by a coalition of Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia. On February 6, 1913, a French-made Maurice Farman two-seat aircraft, equipped with floats to convert it into a seaplane, took off into the morning sky. It belonged to the Royal Hellenic Navy, and aboard were the pilot, Greek army 1st Lt. Michael Moutoussis, and the observer, navy Ensign Aristidis Moraitinis.

Their mission was to reconnoiter Turkish fleet dispositions at Nagara Point in the Dardanelles. Circling over the target at 1,350 feet, they observed Turkish ships and shore installations. Then on their last orbit, Moraitinis dropped four grenades over the aircrafts side.

A Turkish military report recorded that three of the grenades fell into the sea, and the fourth left a six-inch hole in the ground. Apparently, no damage or casualties were inflicted, and the report did not identify any of the Turkish ships in the area, since none were hit, according to writer Jon Guttman. Turkish personnel subjected the Farman to rifle fire, turning the incident into a genuine air-sea engagementalbeit an extremely minor oneand reported that the aircraft was hit and landed on the sea after 40 minutes of flying in the air.

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In fact, the Farman hadnt been hit. But engine failure forced it to land in the Aegean, where the crew was rescued.

Almost four months later, and half a world away, came the next air attack. In 1913, Mexico was being torn apart by the Mexican Revolution, in which various factions vied for control of the country. Victoriano Huerta had taken control of the governmentwhich itself had to come to power through a coup. Opposing these Federales were the Constitutionalist factions.

In January 1913, Constitutionalist officers visited California to check out what was available in military aviation. They stopped by aircraft manufacturer Glenn L. Martin, and ended up hiring Didier Masson, a Frenchman working as one of the companys instructor-pilots.

The officials offered Masson $300 a month base pay, plus $50 for each reconnaissance flight and $250 for each bombing run he made, if he would join the revolutionary forces, according to writer David Grover. The base pay alone was what a U.S. Army colonel made at the time.

The rebels also bought a Martin pusher biplane (its propeller mounted in the tail) for Masson to fly. Fitted with a bombardiers seat and a primitive bombsight, the plane was nicknamed Sonora, after the Mexican state where it was stationed.

No aviation ordnance of any type existed in North America at that time, so homemade bombs were created for the attacks, Grover writes. The bombs were 18-inch-long pieces of 3-inch pipe, filled with sticks of 40-percent dynamite, among which rivets were distributed for shrapnel. A push-type detonator was rigged to the bottom through a pipe nipple, and a crude fin was mounted on the top to ensure that the bombs would fall in an upright position.

Some sources say it was on May 10, 1913, and others say May 29, but either way, Masson and Sonora flew a bombing mission against the Federalist cruiser General Guerrero, lying off Guaymas.

Accounts again differ as to how many bombs were dropped, from what altitude, and whether the warship fired back. In any event, neither aircraft nor ship was damaged.

It was an inauspicious start to the contest between aircraft and ships that became the fundamental factor in twentieth-century naval warfare. But thirty years later, those newfangled flying machines would have the last laugh at Pearl Harbor and Leyte Gulf.

Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

This first appeared in 2017 and is being reposted due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters

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Former Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander arrives at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday with his wife, Jayne, and daughters Lauren, left, and Lindsey. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Former Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander pleaded guilty to a single felony charge Tuesday in the ongoing corruption probe of City Hall, admitting he schemed to prevent federal investigators from learning about cash and other freebies he received from a Southern California businessman.

Englander struck a plea deal nearly four months ago, acknowledging that he accepted cash in envelopes, a hotel stay and other gifts during trips to Las Vegas and the Palm Springs area, and then engaged in an effort to lie to investigators. He pleaded guilty to one count of scheming to falsify material facts.

In his plea agreement, Englander admitted lying to FBI agents about the gifts he had received from a businessman. He also admitted to advising that businessman, who was looking to sell home technology and high-end cabinets, to lie to FBI investigators and conceal key facts about the Vegas trip.

Englander, in a brief statement, said he accepts "full responsibility" for his conduct and is grateful to his friends and family for supporting him.

"I look forward to continuing to contribute to my community and helping others," said the former councilman, who represented the northwest San Fernando Valley from 2011 to 2018.

In some ways, Englander seemed like a politician who had wandered into the middle of someone else's corruption probe. Englander flew to Las Vegas in June 2017 with an assortment of city staffers and others at a time when FBI agents were looking into frequent visits to that city by Councilman Jose Huizar and one of his staffers, George Esparza.

By then, the FBI's probe into Huizar and Esparza was nearly 2 years old. Investigators ultimately concluded that both men had been receiving an array of bribes, including more than a dozen trips to Vegas, from a Chinese billionaire seeking to develop a 77-story tower in downtown Los Angeles.

Both men are now facing racketeering charges.

While in Vegas, Englander accepted an envelope with $10,000 in cash from a businessman seeking to make connections with real estate developers in Los Angeles. That businessman also provided an expensive dinner, bottle service at a nightclub and a hotel room, and at one point instructed a female escort to show up at Englander's room.

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Esparza, the Huizar aide, went on the Vegas trip. So did John Lee, who at the time was a high-level Englander aide. Lee won Englander's council seat in a special election last year and was reelected in March, roughly a week before Englander surrendered to authorities.

Pilar Schiavo, right, co-founder of West Valley People's Alliance, and others protest outside the federal court in Los Angeles. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)

Protesters gathered outside the courthouse on Tuesday, calling on Lee to resign. The indictment in the Englander case said a top Englander staffer  identified as "City Staffer B"  received some of the same perks during the Vegas trip. After being contacted by investigators, Englander sent the businessman backdated checks for himself and his aide, according to the indictment.

"If John Lee is Staffer B, there's absolutely no doubt that he assisted Mitch Englander in falsifying information and lying to the FBI," said Ina Morton, a member of the West Valley People's Alliance, the group that staged the protest.

Lee has repeatedly declined to say whether he is City Staffer B. In a previous statement, he said he cooperated with investigators and did everything in my power to pay for and reimburse expenses related to this trip.

Englander, 49, also admitted in his plea agreement that he took an additional $5,000 in an envelope from the same businessman while in a bathroom at the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa near Palm Springs. A week later, Englander set up a lunch so that the businessman could pitch his company's product to a local real estate developer, the agreement says.

Although sentencing is scheduled for September, the judge indicated the matter would likely be postponed. Under the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorneys Office agreed not to seek a sentence of imprisonment of more than 36 months. They also intend to dismiss the other six counts in the Englander indictment.

Sabrina Johnson, an activist on housing and homelessness, sat in the audience as Asst. U.S. Atty. Mack Jenkins recited the many details in the case, describing Englander's secretly recorded conversations and his repeated use of a disappearing message app. Johnson, a vocal critic of City Hall, described the proceedings as "the highlight of my week."

"It's nice for the details of this come to light," she said.

Englander, who had been a reserve member of the Los Angeles Police Department, is the third figure to plead guilty in the sprawling City Hall corruption probe. A former city planning commissioner who raised money for Huizar and a real estate consultant have done the same.

In recent weeks, prosecutors have charged Huizar and Esparza with racketeering, saying both men had accepted casino trips, casino chips, private jet travel, cash and other bribes. Esparza has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.

In a 116-page affidavit, prosecutors have portrayed Huizar as the head of a criminal enterprise, saying he squeezed developers and other businessmen for bribes and campaign donations in exchange for help with their real estate projects.

Huizar has not yet entered a plea and his lawyers have declined to discuss the allegations, saying they intend to represent their client in court, not in the media.

U.S. Atty. Nick Hanna said last month that the investigation is ongoing.
Betsy Schoeller, a college lecturer and former member of the Wisconsin Air Guard, apologized for her comments made in Facebook group about the murder of Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-old solider.

University of Wisconsin , Fort Hood

Betsy Schoeller, a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and retired member of the Wisconsin Air Guard, apologized for her comments in a Facebook group on a news article about murdered US Army soldier Vanessa Guillen.

Schoeller wrote that "sexual harassment is the price of admission for women into the good ole boy club" and "if you're gonna cry like a snowflake about it, you're gonna pay the price."

A petition to remove Schoeller as a lecturer from UWM has amassed more than 135,000 signatures, but the university said "legal reasons" concerning her right to freedom of speech won't let it fire her.

Schoeller wrote that her comments were taken out of context and she meant to give a "voice" to harmful messaging that women are subjected to and to point out the "culture of sexual harassment."

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A college professor and retired colonel in the Wisconsin Air National Guard apologized, but will keep her job, after her comments in a private Facebook group Friday about sexual harassment allegations leveled by a since-murdered soldier were made public and circulated on social media.

As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, Betsy Schoeller, a longtime lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and a retired Wisconsin Air Guard colonel, made comments on a news article about the death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, a soldier at Fort Hood in Texas, whose dismembered body was discovered by Army investigators last week.

Related video: How the U.S. military came up with its salute

"You guys are kidding, right?" Schoeller wrote in the comments of a news article about Guillen's murder in a private Facebook group for veterans. "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."

Guillen, 20, had prior to her disappearance reportedly told her family members about the sexual harassment she experienced, according to CBS News. Guillen went missing at the Fort Hood base in Texas on April 22 and her partial remains, which were found dismembered and burned, were found on July 1. Guillen had been missing for over two months, according to the report.

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According to CBS News, police identified soldier Aaron David Robinson as a suspect in her death. Cecily Aguilar, a 22-year-old civilian from a community near Fort Hood, was charged for her alleged involvement in hiding Guillen's body. Aguilar confessed and told investigators Robinson killed Guillen by repeatedly striking her with a hammer at Fort Hood on April 22, according to the report.

Robinson died by suicide when confronted by authorities on July 1, according to reports.

Schoeller said her comment was taken out of context

In a statement on Sunday, Schoeller said her comments were taken out of context and were written to give a "voice" to the harmful messaging that women are subjected to and what she called a "culture of sexual harassment" and was trying to answer another person's comment about "how" and "why" Guillen was killed.

"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," Schoeller, a senior lecturer at UWM's School of Information Studies, wrote, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

She added: "Because it isn't just the sexual harassment. That's just the beginning. 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."

Schoeller did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Schoeller, who retired in 2017 after spending 23 years in the Air Force, Air Force Reserves, and Air National Guard, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she herself had been sexually harassed while serving in the military.

In a statement posted to Facebook, the Wisconsin National Guard called Schoeller's remarks "tasteless and insensitive."

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"That individual's comments and conduct are inconsistent with our values as an organization, and we do not condone them in any way. And while we cannot regulate the speech of former members of our organization, as an organization we are fully committed to ensuring the safety of our Soldiers and Airmen," it said.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee said it can't legally terminate Schoeller for her 'repugnant' comment

Despite growing support for her termination, including a Change.org petition that's gained more than 135,000 signatures since it was posted on Friday, the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee said in a statement Sunday it couldn't end her employment with the school due to "legal reasons."

"There are legal reasons why UWM cannot fire Ms. Schoeller for her social media postings, as some have demanded," the school said in the statement. "This type of speech is protected by the First Amendment, as UWM cannot regulate the private speech of its employees."

It called her comments "repugnant" and said they were "terribly at odds with UVM's values."

"UWM in no way condones Ms. Schoeller's comments, and we understand and empathize with the outrage and concerns we are hearing," it said.

It added: "UWM is proud to be the largest educator of veterans in the state of Wisconsin and stands in solidarity with those opposed to violence against women, and anxiously awaits justice for SPC Guillen and her family."

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A Frederick Douglass statue in upstate New York was vandalized on the anniversary weekend of his Independence Day speech

2 people were caught on camera vandalizing a Black Lives Matter mural in California, calling it 'a leftist lie'

7 men were arrested after police said they taunted a Black family with racial slurs and Nazi salutes at an Oregon beach

Trump attacks NASCAR and driver Bubba Wallace in bizarre tweet calling noose found in garage a 'hoax'

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Fox News features a photo of Jeffrey Epstein with Donald Trump just cropped out of frame: Fox News

Fox News has apologised for mistakenly cropping Donald Trump out of a picture featuring Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell that it displayed during an item about Ms Maxwells arrest.

The full picture, which has been widely distributed before, features Epstein with his left arm around Ms Maxwell and Melania Trump (then Knauss) to his right, with Donald Trump holding her by the waist.

As cropped by the network, the picture still features Ms Trump, albeit in a pose that makes her hard to recognise, but all thats visible of the president are his fingertips, just above Ms Trumps left hip.

Most remarkably of all, the crop creates an unusually slim portrait orientation, even though the network displayed it on a wide background with ample room for the full frame.

The photo was shown on the show American News HQ during an interview with lawyer Jordan Merson, who represents eight people accusing Epstein and Ms Maxwell of abuse.

According to a network spokesperson, the crop was an error. On Sunday, July 5, a report on Ghislaine Maxwell during Fox News Channels Americas News HQ mistakenly eliminated President Donald Trump from a photo alongside then Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell. We regret the error.

It is well-known that Mr Trump and Epstein were friends for a time, not just passing acquaintances. The two can be seen partying together in footage shot at Mr Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in 1992, and in 2002, a New York magazine profile of the convicted paedophile quoted the now-president describing their connection.

Ive known Jeff for 15 years, he told the magazine. Terrific guy  Hes a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.

Fox News is often accused of pandering to the president and parroting White House lines, but has also been considered an influence on him, with both officials and conservative commentators using appearances on it to propagate ideas and messages that they can be certain the president will see.

In fact, it is so established that the president routinely watches Fox News that anti-Trump groups have been able to strategically rile him by placing ads in the networks commercial breaks.

However, Mr Trump has lately expressed impatience with some of the networks shows, recently tweeting that its weekend programming was getting into @CNN and MSNDC (sic) territory and complaining that the network is running suppression polls  i.e. poll numbers that show him losing to Joe Biden by a humiliating margin.
Donald Trump Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 12, 2000.

Davidoff Studios/Getty Images

President Donald Trump was "mistakenly" cropped out of a 2000 photo featuring Melania Trump (then Knauss), Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell, Fox News said on Monday.

The network showed the edited photo during a Sunday segment on Maxwell, who was arrested last week on charges that she helped facilitate Epstein's sex trafficking.

"We regret the error," a Fox News representative said in a statement.

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Fox News on Monday said it "mistakenly" edited President Donald Trump out of a 2000 photo alongside Melania Trump (then Knauss), Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell.

The photo was taken at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 12, 2000.

The network showed the Trump-less image during a segment on Sunday about Maxwell, the British socialite and longtime Epstein confidante who was arrested last week on charges that she arranged and participated in the abuse of young girls.

Epstein died in an apparent suicide in a New York jail last August while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls. Epstein was already a registered sex offender.

In a statement on Monday, a Fox News representative said: "On Sunday, July 5, a report on Ghislaine Maxwell during FOX News Channel's America's News HQ mistakenly eliminated President Donald Trump from a photo alongside then Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell. We regret the error."

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Trump has been increasingly critical of Fox News in recent months amid a rift between the network's news anchors and opinion hosts.

The opinion side of Fox tends to present Trump in a positive light, and the president has close relationships with hosts like Sean Hannity. The news side of Fox, meanwhile, has routinely been the target of Trump's ire.

".@FoxNews weekend afternoons is the worst!" Trump tweeted on Sunday. "Getting into @CNN and MSDNC territory. Watch @OANN & @newsmax instead. Much better!"

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A statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass was torn from its base and abandoned 50 feet from its pedestal in Rochester, N.Y. on the anniversary of one of his most famous speeches, delivered 168 years ago.

The statue was vandalized and taken on Sunday from Maplewood Park, according to police, a site where Douglass and Harriet Tubman had helped shuttle slaves to freedom.

Douglass statue was left near the Genesee River with damage to the lower area where it had been ripped from and to a finger on the statues left hand, police said.

The abolitionists speech on July 5, 1852, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, marks one of his most memorable acts of fighting against slavery. Douglas, who was a slave, questioned the ideals celebrated on Americas independence day while oppressed and racially unequal citizens still existed.

Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must morn, Douglas said.

Douglass said that, to those enslaved, July 4th is a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.

Although it isnt confirmed that the statue was dismantled for politically driven or racist reasons, Carvin Eison, a leading force bringing Douglass statues into the city, told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, that its particularly painful that it happened at this time.

Social media goers echoed concerns that the vandalism had politically driven motivations, especially since it was committed on the anniversary of Douglass famed speech.

Eison said that the statue cant be repaired due to the scope of the damage, but another statue will take its place soon.

Eison helped bring 13 statues of Douglass - including the one in Maplewood Park - to the city in 2018 to celebrate the abolitionists 200th birthday.

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Its really sad because here in Rochester the statue of Frederick Douglass has always been a face of good, Eison said.

With the wave of statues arriving in Rochester came acts of violence and vandalism to one of Douglass statues. In 2018, two students were arrested for dismantling one and they later pleaded guilty to criminal mischief.

President Donald Trump addressed the issue on Monday, tweeting that the vandalizers are anarchists and have no bounds.

The scene is still being investigated, as there were no traces of graffiti in the park, police said.

Rachel Bucchino is a reporter at the National Interest. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report and The Hill. You can follow her on Twitter: @BucchinoRachel

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Amazon.sa is the brand which has achieved the largest rise in its Ad Awareness in Saudi Arabia this month. The uplift coincides with Amazon and Souq announcing the launch of Amazon.sa mid-month.

Following the rebrand of Souq in the UAE to Amazon.ae last year, the e-Commerce giant continues to grow the Amazon name in the Middle East with the rebrand now taking place in Saudi Arabia: Souq is now Amazon.sa.

The current digital adverts focus on informing consumers of the new website amazon.sa is here, as well as highlighting the brands offerings, such as wide product ranges and fast shipping. Arabic language is also available on the website to enhance the customers experience.

YouGov BrandIndex data shows the launch campaign for Amazon.sa is certainly having the desired effect in terms of cut-through, with the brands Ad Awareness score (whether someone has seen an advert for the brand in the past few weeks) increasing by almost 10 points, from 15.1 at the beginning of June to 24.9 on the 30th.

The launch of Amazon.sa has also seen other BrandIndex metrics rise as well. The Word of Mouth metric has increased by +12.3 points (from 12.4 on 2nd June to 24.7 on the 30th), showing more people are talking about Amazon with their friends and family. While Consideration for the brand is up by +4.2 points.

What remains to be seen is the impact of the rebrand on Satisfaction, and whether the new website and offerings are increasing customers likelihood to recommend the brand. BrandIndex data will continue to gather this data on a daily basis to form a complete picture of the impact of the launch on brand perception. -- Tradearabia News Service
PARIS (Reuters) - France's new prime minister, Jean Castex, said on Tuesday his government would commit an envelope of 7.5 billion euros to raise wages of hospital workers.

"I have insisted for jobs to be at the heart of the discussions," Castex said on Twitter of negotiations between unions, hospital officials and the government, which started before a government reshuffle on Monday.

Officials at the Health Ministry were not immediately available for comment.

Although France enjoys a reputation for having one of the world's best healthcare systems, hospital staff have been asking for more money, jobs and equipment in the last decade to better address the needs of an ageing population and a shortage of city doctors.

The coronavirus outbreak has strained the system even more with hospitals on the verge of saturation earlier this year.

(Reporting by Matthias Blamont; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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Gap Inc. has developed a coronavirus sideline and launched a business-to-business division selling face masks.

Already the company has sold about 10 million cloth masks to governments and businesses, including New York City, the State of California and health-care provider Kaiser Permanente.

In the effort, the company said it has leveraged its deep supply chain relationships and agile operations to provide companies in both the private and public sector with high-quality reusable, nonmedical-grade cloth face masks for their employees.

Gap started selling masks to customers as the pandemic got started, but saw a bigger need.

John Strain, head of e-commerce and technology at Gap, said: We quickly started hearing from companies like ours who wanted to be able to supply their employees with the same product.

The minimum order is 100,000 masks.

Gap Inc.s brands  which include Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta  have also made donations to community organizations and causes during the pandemic, including the donation of more than 200,000 masks.

The company noted, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization are still urging people to wear face masks or coverings when outside the home.

But the issue of masks has emerged as something of a partisan divide, with President Trump holding large, mostly mask-less rallies and refusing to appear in a mask himself as he seeks reelection.

With COVID-19 cases spiking in Florida, Texas, Arizona and elsewhere, masking up is widely seen as even more important for public health.

The mask business is just one of Gaps new ventures. Last month, the company linked up with Kanye West, who will bring his Yeezy line to the firms namesake chain (and get a chance to build a sizable stockpile of Gap shares if things go well).

But West is not constraining himself to retail or music or social media. The multihyphenate declared himself a late entry to the presidential race in a Fourth of July tweet, although he does not appear to have much of a campaign ready.

If there ever is a President West, at least hell know where to get his masks.

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The National Guard protected a barricaded Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown Atlanta during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of African-American man George Floyd, in Atlanta, Georgia

REUTERS/Dustin Chambers

The governor of Georgia has declared a state of emergency and authorized the deployment of up to 1,000 National Guard members to Atlanta in an executive order Monday.

The move follows a weekend of violence that saw more than 30 people shot, five of whom were killed. One of the deceased was an eight-year-old girl.

The Guard members will protect state buildings to free up police resources to patrol local communities.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency and authorized the deployment on Monday after a violent weekend saw dozens of people shot and several killed.

An executive order issued Monday also authorized the activation of up to 1,000 Georgia National Guard troops to protect state buildings and help free up police resources to "allow state law enforcement personnel to increase patrols on roadways and throughout communities."

More than 30 Georgians were shot over the Fourth of July weekend, and five people, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed.

The young girl, Secoriea Turner, was shot and killed Saturday night near the Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was killed in a confrontation with police last month. Turner was in a car with her mother and her mother's friend when multiple shooters opened fire on the vehicle.

Demonstrators have occupied the Wendy's since Brook's death, which has triggered several weeks of protests.

"Peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous, destructive agenda," the Republican governor stated Monday. "Now, innocent Georgians are being targeted, shot, and left for dead."

"This lawlessness must be stopped and order restored in our capital city," he said. "Enough with the tough talk."

The move Monday follows a tweet the day before saying that he was ready to "take action" if local leaders could not get the situation under control, a message apparently meant for Atlanta's Democratic mayor.

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Kemp tweeted Sunday that "this recent trend of lawlessness is an outrage & unacceptable," adding that "while we stand ready to assist local leaders in restoring peace & maintaining order, we won't hesitate to take action without them."

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms condemned the violence, saying Sunday night that "enough is enough" and stressing that the violence over the weekend was not at the hands of police but members of the community instead.

"This random wild wild West shoot-'em-up because you can has gotta stop," she said. "It has to stop."

The National Guard members deployed to Atlanta, according to a statement on the executive order, will be responsible for protecting the Georgia State Capitol, Governor's Mansion, and Georgia Department of Public Safety Headquarters. The latter was vandalized over the weekend.

The Georgia governor previously deployed National Guard troops in late May in response to looting, rioting and property damage amid nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police over Memorial Day.

Kemp's office said the latest order was in response to "weeks of dramatically increased violent crime and property destruction" in the city of Atlanta.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on Monday that at least 93 people were shot in the city between May 31 and June 27, twice as many as the same period last year.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Total industrial output, across manufacturing, construction and energy, rose 7.8% in May from the month before. Photo: Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images

German industry began to see green shoots of recovery in May, after coronavirus lockdowns were eased across the country.

Data from the federal statistics agency showed a 10.3% surge in industrial production alone in May, the bulk of which was down to car production ramping up again, after plants had been shuttered in April.

Total industrial output, across manufacturing, construction and energy, rose 7.8% in May from the month before, lower than the 10% increase broadly expected by economists polled by Reuters and the Wall Street Journal.

Industrial production in May was down by more than 19% from the same month last year.

Industrial production is likely to have bottomed out, but despite the recovery in May, capacities remain underutilised, the economics ministry said.

Germanys economy ministry on Monday (6 July) said industrial orders rose by 10.4% in May, but warned that the low level of orders also shows that the recovery process is far from over.

Economy minister Peter Altmaier was optimistic however, that Europes largest economy will begin picking up again from October onwards. Altmaier said that while the German economy will contract by 6% in 2020, he expects growth of over 5% next year.

READ MORE: German economy expected to grow again from October at the latest

While Germany appears to be emerging from the coronavirus pandemic with confidence, fears remain over a potential second wave of the virus, and several smaller lockdowns were implemented in recent weeks to contain local outbreaks.

Germanys export economy is heavily reliant on a rebound in global demand, which may hamper its recovery this year.

The German government unveiled a 130bn (117bn, $146bn ) financial stimulus package in June that earmarks 25bn in loans and grants for small and medium-sized businesses, price incentives for electric and hybrid cars, and lowering VAT through September.

The IFO Institute for Economic Research said today that the mood amongst Germanys factory bosses improved again in June, as they indicated they expect production to increase in the coming three months. The IFOs production index rose to plus 4.3 points in June, from minus 19.5 in May.

The IFO also found a growing optimism looking ahead in the automotive industry, as well as among beverage manufacturers, the food industry, pharmaceutical companies, and chemical companies.
PALM BEACH, Fla.  As Florida educators puzzle over how to start the new academic year, Gov. Ron DeSantis administration seemed to scramble its plans Monday. A new state edict called on public schools to provide in-person classes five days a week.

The emergency order, issued by state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, appeared at first to undermine the push by many teachers and some school board members to keep classes online when the school year begins.

Though the order says schools can remain closed if county health officials deem reopening too dangerous, a Corcoran spokeswoman heaped doubt on that possibility.

Logically, I dont think they could say schools arent safe if they are allowing people to be out in public, Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Vehicles full of Port Salerno Elementary School students and their families are greeted with a message during laptop and food distribution Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at the school in Port Salerno.

But as concern about the order spread online Monday, some school leaders across the state said: Not so fast.

Opening schools under current conditions "could be catastrophic," said Karen Resciniti, president of the Martin County Education Association. Most educators in her district are hesitant to return to the classroom, even if social distancing is followed and masks are required, she said.

While many educators recognize that online learning is less than ideal for some families and school employees, they also stress the dangers of in-person education to resume as soon as August, especially as Florida's case numbers rise.

"We realize theres no way to have a perfect plan," said E. David Freeland, president of the Education Association of St. Lucie County. "But we should at least meet the guidelines of declining numbers" before returning to in-person classes.

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It is up to each individual school district how it reopens in the fall and we will submit a plan to (the state education department), Florida's Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie wrote on Twitter.

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Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is the 6th-largest school system in the nation.

We will continue, he added, to follow the advice of our public health and medical experts as to how and when it is safe for our @browardschools community to return to school.

In Miami-Dade Public Schools, the 4th largest U.S. school district, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho downplayed the order as well, calling it fair and balanced on Twitter because it respects local decision-making based on health conditions at time of reopening.

Indeed, DeSantis and Corcoran both conceded last month that county school boards would have the final say about when and how to reopen their campuses.

The state constitution, after all, empowers school boards, not the state education commissioner, to operate, control and supervise public schools.

In Florida counties like Palm Beach, teachers' unions oppose a return to in-person classes. The district issued no statement on the state order, but officials say they will not reopen until it's safe to do so.

We are still in phase 1 in Palm Beach County, a district administrator said. The (districts) Health Advisory Committee is not going to recommend sending students to campuses before it is safe.

When in-person classes do resume, students should be required to wear masks in at least some settings  on buses and in school cafeterias, for instance  and practice social distancing whenever possible, educators say.

Follow the reporter on Twitter: @AMarranara.

Contributing: Sommer Brugal, Treasure Coast Newspapers.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida schools reopening amid coronavirus: Educators raise questions
Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

A six-year-old in Philadelphia, a seven-year-old in Chicago, an eight-year-old in Atlanta, a 15-year-old in New York, all shot. Community cries of enough is enough.

Neighborhoods in some of the largest US cities erupted in gun violence over the Fourth of July weekend, killing an estimated 160 people and leaving more than 500 wounded from Friday night to Sunday.

Georgias governor, Brian Kemp, declared a state of emergency on Monday after 31 people were shot and five killed over the weekend in Atlanta. He authorized 1,000 national guard troops to protect state property and patrol our streets.

Related: 'There are two pandemics': Chicago's gun violence persists amid lockdown

But Chicago saw the worst violence in one of the bloodiest holiday weekends in recent memory, ending with 17 people fatally shot including a seven-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy and 63 more wounded, an increase of five shootings on the high figures that had marred the holiday weekend the previous year.

Chicago police investigate the scene where a seven-year-old girl was fatally shot in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago on Friday. Photograph: Tyler LaRiviere/AP

Despite an effort that included an additional 1,200 officers on the streets and pleas from the citys mayor, Lori Lightfoot, for residents not to reverse limited progress that had been made against the epidemic of gun violence, Lightfoot lamented the children whose hopes and dreams were ended by the barrel of a gun.

The citys south and west sides have seen worse weekends this year, however, and a one-year-old and a three-year-old were killed during recent shootings. The rising violence prompted Donald Trump to write to Lightfoot and the Illinois governor, JB Priztker, both Democrats, accusing them of receiving more than $1bn in special federal funding for anti-crime measures and coronavirus relief that was not being turned into results.

Your lack of leadership  continues to fail the people you have sworn to protect, the letter said.

Lightfoot dismissed Trumps letter as all talk, little action.

Secoriea Turner, eight, was killed near a Wendys in Atlanta. Photograph: Atlanta Police Department Handout/EPA

The shooting death of an eight-year-old girl, Secoriea Turner, in Atlanta, prompted the mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, to call for justice while noting the shadow such street violence casts over the huge and largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protests against racism and police brutality.

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Enough is enough, Bottoms said. If you want people to take us seriously and you dont want us to lose this movement, we cant lose each other.

The shooting happened near the Wendys restaurant where a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, was killed by a white police officer in June.

She was only eight years old, Charmaine Turner said of her daughter Secoriea. Right now, she would have been on TikTok, dancing on her phone.

Atlanta police said two other people were killed and more than 20 injured in gunfire during the holiday weekend.

In New York, a series of shootings on Saturday and Sunday claimed at least nine lives and wounded 41 others in a rise in incidents in some neighborhoods. A 15-year-old boy was wounded in the Bronx.

And in Philadelphia, a six-year-old boy died of a gunshot wound amid five fatal shootings in about five hours on Sunday afternoon, police said.

The Trace, a non-profit news website covering gun violence in the US, which tallied the weekend toll of shootings in the US, reported that preliminary research from the University of California, Davis, has found a potential link between the rise in violence and a surge in gun-buying during the coronavirus pandemic, of more than 2.1 million more guns than usual between March and May.

Chicago is, woefully, a tale of two cities and across the country its a tale of two Americas Rev Gregory Livingston

The Rev Gregory Livingston, a pastor and civil rights leader who moved to New York last summer after many years running an anti-violence community organization in his native Chicago, spoke of Chicago going through absolute madness.

But he warned that nationwide systemic racism that is not being addressed, and the violent history of America that has not been reckoned with were dividing people and causing some communities to break down.

Chicago is, woefully, a tale of two cities, and across the country its a tale of two Americas. Chicago is a very segregated city, and that legacy is part of whats fueling this horrific violence, Livingston told the Guardian.

He condemned corruption and racism and said the pandemic and economic fallout had exacerbated inequality. The pandemic has been disproportionately hard on Black Americans already suffering economic and healthcare deprivations.

Livingston campaigned strongly to vote out the previous Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel. Lightfoot has been in the position since May 2019, and has just appointed a new police chief.

The Rev Gregory Livingston: Chicago is a very segregated city and that legacy is part of whats fueling this horrific violence. Photograph: Joshua Lott/The Guardian

Lightfoot agreed with Livingstons point that a long history of segregation in Chicago and under-investment were at the root of the explosion of violence.

You have to give a sense of hope. You have to reach out to those young men on the corners who are the shooters, but it cant just be on the police and the city government. Its all hands on deck, Lightfoot said.

She said of Trump: We are leading. He needs to take our lead and follow it.

Livingston called on Lightfoot to tackle racism and policing problems head on.

There is an individual responsibility [among those shooting], but there are also conditions that create a climate of violence, he said.

He accused the New York mayor, Bill de Blasio, of being scared of confronting racism in the New York police department. There is no courage in city hall, he said.

And he warned mayors across the US that Chicago was the control for what would happen elsewhere this summer if inequality and the demands of protesters coast to coast since George Floyd, an African American, was killed in Minneapolis by a white police officer did not spur change.

The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, declared herself dismayed that she was not asked about the weekend shootings at her briefing on Monday, despite citing a doubling of shootings in New York City for the third straight week.

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Journalists at the briefing responded that she had ended the 22-minute briefing and departed while many were still waiting, hands raised, to ask questions.
Hawaii Senate Fails to Protect Kids by Voting to Allow Continued Sale of Menthol E-Cigarettes and Cigarettes

Hawaii Senate Fails to Protect Kids by Voting to Allow Continued Sale of Menthol E-Cigarettes and Cigarettes

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020

Statement of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association and American Lung Association

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hawaii Senate today let down the state's kids and families by passing legislation (HB 2457) that exempts menthol e-cigarettes and menthol cigarettes from a proposed ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products despite the clear evidence that menthol products appeal to kids. This legislation will not stop the youth e-cigarette crisis that is addicting so many of Hawaii's kids, and it gives the green light to tobacco companies to continue targeting the state's kids with menthol products. Rather than protecting Hawaii's kids, this bill protects the interests of tobacco companies like Juul, Altria and R.J. Reynolds, the leading sellers of menthol e-cigarettes and cigarettes.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids logo. (PRNewsFoto/Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids)

Our public health organizations strongly oppose the bill passed by the Senate. We urge the Hawaii House of Representatives to reject these harmful menthol loopholes pushed by the tobacco industry and pass a bill that ends the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol products.

The evidence is clear that flavors drive youth use of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products, and only the elimination of all flavors can reverse this crisis. If menthol or any other flavors are left on the market, kids will flock to them. We know this from experience. For example, after Juul restricted the availability of flavors other than mint and menthol in November 2018, youth use of mint and menthol e-cigarettes soared. Similarly, after Juul was pressured to end the sale of its mint products in November 2019, sales of menthol e-cigarettes soared. There is every reason to believe that if Hawaii leaves menthol products on the market, kids will shift to them.

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We also know from decades of experience with menthol cigarettes that menthol appeals to kids. In fact, over half of current youth smokers smoke menthol cigarettes.

The biggest beneficiary of an exemption for menthol e-cigarettes would be Juul, the company most responsible for creating the youth e-cigarette crisis. It makes no sense for the Hawaii Senate to help Juul at the same time the state is suing Juul (and its Altria partner) for targeting and addicting kids. As Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors stated in filing the lawsuit, "In marketing their e-cigarettes to Hawaii's children, these companies ripped pages directly out of the tobacco-company playbook and resurrected Joe Camel for a 21st Century audience. By misrepresenting nicotine content and by presenting their products as healthy alternatives to cigarettes, they deceived the public and created a new generation of nicotine addicts."

It is also disappointing that the bill passed by the Senate fails to remove penalties on youth for the purchase, use or possession of tobacco products. Penalties should be imposed on tobacco retailers who sell illegally to kids, not on kids who have been targeted and victimized by tobacco companies.

In Hawaii, 1 in 4 high school students (25.5%) now use e-cigarettes. We urge Hawaii lawmakers to prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol products, in order to prevent e-cigarettes from addicting a new generation of kids and stop the tobacco industry from targeting kids with flavored products once and for all.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hawaii-senate-fails-to-protect-kids-by-voting-to-allow-continued-sale-of-menthol-e-cigarettes-and-cigarettes-301088768.html

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
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Homeland security officials in Florida warned that Twitter messages begging Iran to bomb Florida first could incite violence from extremists, leaked documents show.

The Southeast Florida Fusion Center, a clearinghouse for law enforcement and homeland security officials in the Miami-Dade region, was worried about such violence after U.S. forces killed Irans Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani in January.

Its assessment was leaked as part of BlueLeaks, a trove of law enforcement documents obtained by the hacker collective Anonymous and published on a website called Distributed Denial of Secrets.

[D]ue to this recent event that occurred in Iraq, individuals have taken to Twitter posting derogatory remarks toward South Florida, the State of Florida, along with President Donald J. Trumps visit to his residence in Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, officials at the Fusion Center wrote on January 3, hours after Suleimanis death. We assess that due to the posts shared via social media, it could potentially incite extremists to act.

The officials, however, noted that there had been no information to indicate credible threats and no discovered threats to the South Florida region.

Fusion centers across the country wrote notices in the days after Suleimanis death, warning of the increased risk of Iranian-backed terrorism as revenge for the assassination.

Iranian leaders vowed harsh revenge, putting both U.S. forces in the Middle East and law enforcement at home on high alert.

Iran eventually did retaliatewith a January 7 ballistic missile strike against a U.S. airbase in western Iraq that injured over a hundred U.S. troops. Iranian-backed militias have since clashed with U.S. forces several times.

The Department of Homeland Security continued to warn of terrorist threats to the homeland, issuing a bulletin through its National Terrorism Advisory System on January 18.

Iran likely views terrorism as an option to deter or retaliate against its perceived adversaries. At this time, we have no information indicating a specific, credible threat to the Homeland; however, we remain concerned about Irans potential to carry out cyber attacks, the bulletin stated.

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The social media posts do not seem to have incited pro-Iranian violence as of yet.

Antonio Rojas, a podcast host in New Jersey, had made it into the report for one of his posts: Hey Iran Cheetos is in Florida we will give you the address you can destroy Florida if u want we hate them too.

The National Interest approached Rojas on Twitter for his comment on the fusion center report.

I guess they was bored, he responded.

Matthew Petti is a national security reporter at the National Interest. Follow him on Twitter: @matthew_petti.

Image: Reuters.

Click here to read the full article.
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Key Point: An Indian purchase would face numerous obstacles.

Is India really getting ready to buy the F-35?

Indian media reported back in 2018 that the Indian Air Force has asked Lockheed Martin to brief it on the capabilities of the F-35. Yet it's not clear if this is true, or even whether an F-35 is on the horizon.

"The IAF top brass is formally requesting for a classified briefing by the F-35s prime builder, Lockheed Martin, on the capabilities of the sophisticated, fifth-generation fighter developed under the US Joint Strike Fighter program," claims the Indian publication Business Standard.

Lockheed Martin directed questions about this to the U.S. government. The U.S. Department of Defense's F-35 Joint Program Office told The National Interest that it was unaware of any request for a briefing by the Indian government. Had the request been made, it seems likely the Joint Program Officethe hub of the F-35 projectwould have been aware.

If the reports aren't true, it wouldnt be the first timeIndian media claimed in January that Lockheed Martin had proposed manufacturing the F-35 in India.

"However, it appears that the story was the result of confusion between discussion on the F-35 and the companys [Lockheed Martin's] well-publicized bid to move its F-16 line to India," reported Defense News.

So is India genuinely interested in acquiring an American stealth fighter? "I doubt an F-35 purchase would happen soon for a number of reasons," says Timothy Hoyt, who co-chairs the U.S. Naval War College's Indian Ocean Regional Studies Group.

While it's natural for India to be curious about a prominent combat aircraft like the F-35, which a dozen U.S. allies have already committed to buy, an Indian purchase would face numerous domestic obstacles.

Long a customer of Soviet and Russian arms, recently India has been buying American, including Apache and Chinook helicopters, howitzers and discussions are underway for acquiring drones. India remains cautious about relying on Washington for weaponry, given that the United States has long been a patron of its arch-nemesis Pakistan (a ticklish situation for Washington as well).

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India also has made effortsalbeit scandal-plaguedto develop indigenous major weapons such as the Arjun tank. India's Defense Research and Development Organization would likely "promise it can deliver an equivalent system in an unreasonably short time frame," Hoyt says. "If that doesn't kill the deal, there will be very strong voices insisting on licensed production in India with technology transfer, as well as demands for offsets on any deal."

To afford the F-35, New Delhi would have to boost defense spending, which might raise a furor given that even American critics have blasted the Lightning II over a price tag that's almost $100 million per plane. Even if a purchase were approved, "India's procurement process is abysmally slow," says Hoyt. "Despite all of the publicity given to the Medium Range Combat Aircraft acquisition about a decade ago, that decision has never been fully implemented."

One question is how the introduction of a potentially nuclear-capable stealth aircraft would affect India's volatile rivalry with Pakistan, which itself has nuclear weapons and a competent air force and missile arsenal to deliver them. "The US has introduced nuclear-capable aircraft into the region in the past, with the F-16 deal to Pakistan," Hoyt says. "It accelerated an arms race. India immediately sought new equivalents in the Mirage 2000 and MiG-29."

So how would Pakistan respond? "They could double down on nuclear deterrence, which appears to be their preferred method at the moment," says Hoyt. "If they need a new system, they could go to China. But I have no real idea how the Chinese would feel about technology transfer of their own latest-generation stealth fighter."

Ultimately, Indian acquisition of the F-35 will rest on political rather than military considerations, Hoyt believes. "It would be a deeply political action that would link the IAF much more closely, and make it much more interoperable, with the U.S. Air Force."

Which in turn suggests that Indian F-35s might really be aimed at China, with whom New Delhi fought a short war in 1962. While India may be cautious about allying with America, an F-35 buy "would send a message to China," Hoyt says.

Michael Peck, a frequent contributor to TNI, is a defense and historical writer based in Oregon. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, WarIsBoring and many other fine publications. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook. This article first appeared in 2018 and is reprinted here due to reader interest.

Image: U.S. Air Force / 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.
Nazish Hussain, TwoCircles.net

The family of thirty-year-old Tihar jail inmate Mahtab, who died inside the jail on 29 June, suspect police conspiracy in his murder.

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Mahtab died in Tihar jail (number 8) on Monday, 29 June. In the FIR filed by the police, a jail inmate named Zakir murdered him around 5:50 in the morning.

Speaking to TwoCircles.net, Mahtabs family said they dont believe the police version. The family alleged that Mahtab was murdered in a conspiracy by the police.

Mahtabs brother Abdul Salam, who is a constable in Lucknow said that, Police officers obviously wont kill themselves. They would have got him killed by some inmate only. Otherwise, their job would be in danger, which is why they plotted this.

According to Abdul Salam, Mahtab was facing harassment by the police officers after he complained against them on 4 March. In his application, he mentioned that he was facing difficulties in the jail. Abdul Salam continued that earlier too Mahtab had raised complaints before the court against the police personnel in jail.

They used to ask him for money. We would send 10,000 every month which would go to the superintendent. After the ongoing lockdown, we started sending money online. There was a guy. We transferred money to his account, Abdul Salam told TwoCircles.net.

In March, after Mahtab filed a complaint against them there was some tension between Mahtab and police personnel.

Whenever he spoke with us he always named police personnel saying they harass him and would ask for money and beat him up, he said and added that this was going on for the last five to six months.

Abdul had sent Rs 4000 to Mahtab four-five days prior to his death. Soon after this, Abdul received a call from his brother saying you have sent me less money and I am facing problems here.

After this conversation, Matabs family received a call from the police asking them to come and collect Mahtabs body.

My son got killed because of money. We could not pay money to the police because of lockdown, Mahtabs mother told TwoCircles.net

She said that for her sons death in custody, no one is to blame except police personnel.

They used to harass my son and ask for money. Whenever I used to visit my son he would tell me and ask me to pay Rs 10,000 to the police officers. Many times I have given money to a police constable to give it to the other police personnel inside, she revealed.

Mahtabs mother said that he never had any prior issues with the inmates. Whenever I would visit him, the other inmates always greeted me nicely. Mahtab never spoke of any enmity with any inmates, she said.

Abdul said when Mahtab suffered from paralysis in the jail, the jail superintendent called them and informed them. But this time we did not get any such information from them regarding Mahtabs death. The call we got from jail was in the evening around 4:56 p.m. while Mahtab had died in the morning. They just asked us to come and collect the body, he said.

The incident happened in the morning around 5:00 a.m. It even appeared in the news early morning but we had no information about it, he said.

Abdul said he was on duty in Lucknow when he received the news. By the time I reached home it got very late. My family went to collect the body of Mahtab in the evening. They said that the familys statement would be taken by a Magistrate and then they will release the body. However, the next day they refused to take our statement, he added.

Abdul demands that the familys statements should be taken.

Mahtab was an undertrial at Tihar Jail in a rape case since 2014.

In the FIR regarding his death filed on 29 June, An inmate (Zakir), son of Sher Khan who is said to have murdered Mahtab had done so to avenge his sister.

Abdul dismisses this claim, saying the girl with whom the case was going on had no brother.

Even if they are saying that Zakir killed him, Zakir could not kill him without support from police, Abdul added.

Adbul said that the family wants the case to be investigated by the CBI. We believe that it was due to the money issue as there was some tension going on between police and Mahtab for long. The problem arose after Mahtab filed a complaint against them in March. And you know in a government job, it gets problematic if a complaint is filed against you, he added.

If we get to see the CCTV footage, then everything will get clear, Adbul said.

Speaking to TwoCircles.net, Afjal Khan, lawyer of Mahtab said that he has been fighting the case since 2014 and Mahtab would tell him of police harassment. On each date of hearing he would say that police are harassing him. Mahtab would say, They are asking me for money. Where would I get the money? Mahtab filed many applications stating that police officers have been harassing him and asking for money. He also filed an application against a doctor, he said.

At times, his mother told me that she has given Rs 10,000 to someone in jail. Though, I dont know who she used to give to, he said.

Advocate Khan further said that the family had told him several times of a constable named Manoj, who along with others, would harass Mahtab for money. It is not possible for Manoj alone to harass him for money unless he gets support from his higher authorities, said Advocate Khan.

Talking of police cruelty towards Mahtab, Advocate Khan said that while in custody Mahtab suffered from paralysis, after which he was out on parole for five months. As he got a little better, he was sent back to jail. In jail, they would not let him go to the doctor for a checkup. He was only given some pills for pain and fever and that was all, Advocate Khan said.

Advocate Khan said that he had made several pleas at the Court for Mahtab to be given medical treatment. When Mahtab used to complain about his illness I asked the judge for his medical treatment. The judge would ask for his health report from jail. And every time they would send a report showing everything is normal, even though he had ailments. It would take me much effort to get permission for a health check-up, he said.

Casting doubt over the police version regarding Mahtabs death, Advocate Khan said that when he spoke with the police in the jail superintendents office in the evening, someone told me that Mahtab fell from the top and succumbed to his injuries. When I questioned as to how he got to the top in the first place, the police personnel refused to answer and disconnected the call.

Advocate Khan said that police have been changing their statements over the cause of Mahtabs death. They have been giving different reasons for his death. Also, we did not get any information from the jail authorities till evening about Mahtabs death. If we could obtain the CCTV camera, then we can know the actual situation, he said.

Advocate Khan said that due to the COVID-19 lockdown they are not able to go to court. There is no staff or judge. We are not able to approach the court with our concerns. We want to raise the point that the police must file CCTV footage in the charge sheet. This is my request to the investigation officer, he said and added, I would demand to check the CCTV cameras in the jail as there still is time. After 15 days they might say that the CCTV footage got deleted. And if they fail to get the CCTV footage it would mean they killed him under conspiracy which is why they did not produce the CCTV footage.
Valentinos creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli has done such a good job of perpetuating the dream of Roman life in his ready-to-wear and haute couture collections that its sometimes easy to forget that the designer doesnt actually live in the city. Instead, he arrives in the Eternal City early each morning (quite often by train) and discreetly exits Valentino H.Q. on the Piazza Mignanelli late every eveningcommuting back and forth to Nettuno, the lively seaside village he grew up in about an hour outside of Rome. A stones throw from the Fascist architecture of Sabaudia, a favorite topic of another Pier Paolo (Pasolini), Nettuno is anything but rationalcentered on its medieval borgo, or central square, the lively tourist spot boasts a bustling recreational port and popular holiday accommodations stretching right down onto the sand. It is there, yards away from a hive of vacation sublets with turquoise green awnings and celadon fiberglass facades that Picciolis own seaside abode surveys the Tyrrhenian Sea. This is my escape, Piccioli tells AD of the beachside retreat he keeps as a weekend spot for family and friends in addition to his family home in the center of town. I love the city in all its complexity, but my natural habitat is mostly marine. [This house] is a special alcove where I find refuge from the chaos of everyday life. I come here when I need to focus and detox, decompress, and find balance. I spend my time at home drawing and thinking, writing, and relaxing with the whole family. We are all very happy to share this intimate space, doing simple things together such as cooking and watching movies.

Despite the natural grandeur of ocean views from the terra-cotta-paved terraces, Picciolis beach house is refreshing in its simplicitya space not designed but lovingly composed and added to over the years by the designer; his wife, Simona; and their children Benedetta, Pietro, and Stella. Everything regarding this house is personal, intimate, reserved, says Piccioli, who is more likely to invite extended family and childhood friends for aperitivi than host a superstar coterie of Hollywood actors and society figuresthe likes of whom are more likely to gravitate to Mr. Valentino Garavani himself. Personally, I dont like representative houses, built as perfect images, studied in every detail as a design product, just as I dont like the word lifestyle, whatever it means. My house is a real one: Its value is all human, and it has to please no one but us, the ones who live in it.

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Picciolis humble outlook belies the lived-in beauty of his spaces, where subtle nods to Italian design history meet classic fittings and a healthy clutter of personal ephemera. An ornate kaleidoscope of beige-and-blue maiolica tiles grounds the living room floor firmly in the decorative traditions of the region, while corniced wooden walls are left mostly bare aside from framed illustrations by Picciolis daughter Stella and the American fashion illustrator Richard Haines. Hainess raw depictions of Valentino haute couture outfits capture the designers vivid color combinations with aplombyet its the amateur works that truly have his eye. My childrens drawings are the most valuable piece of art in the whole house, says Piccioli. Again, the real value of every single piece is emotional. Richards illustrations are instinctive and immediatein this sense they look particularly authentic and pure to me. Also, I like the fact that my son and my daughters love them.

Elsewhere, more telling objects reveal the depth of Picciolis bowerbird eye. To wit, Carlo Scarpas Poliedri chandelier for Venini hangs like a glistening nest above a plush red velvet sofa that dominates the living room. That is a family thing, says Piccioli of the fringed four-seater. We like to sit on that lovely sofa and watch movies together at night. Ive spent some of the best times of my life on that sofa! He explains, In the end, each piece of my homes furniture has more an affectionate value than an aesthetic meaning. All the objects that surround me remind me of a special moment, or a person. If I had to make a comparison between this house and my work life, I would think of it like a toilethe basis of a couture creationlike a neutral surface that gradually comes to life.

During legal confinement for the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Piccioli abandoned his daily commute to Romechoosing to sketch at his glass-topped desk surrounded by what amounts to a mere fraction of his reference library. A glimpse at those bookshelves reveals a kaleidoscope of references, from Murakami and Garcia Marquez novels to volumes of Proust, arte povera studies, and even epic poetry. My desk is a comfortable place. I like the perspective from that spot, and the freedom of sitting there alone with my fantasies. I find it useful and inspiring to have interesting materials around, especially while drawing or thinking about new projects, says Piccioli. My Renaissance painting books are always in reach, as I am passionate about the history of color in artespecially the technical processes that led to the creation of specific types of colors. As a designer, chromatic research is one of the creative aspects that interests me the mostI identify my whole life with color. But this is only partially reflected by the spaces I inhabit.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Jared Ostendorf, owner, International Minute Press franchise, Fayetteville, NC. Bounce Back Fayetteville (part of Bounce Back USA) provides free local listings and COVID-19 awareness and prevention posters to support local businesses.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit home in Fayetteville, NC, local business owner Jared Ostendorf decided that failure wasnt an option for himself and the community he loves. Jared has owned his printing and marketing franchise International Minute Press Fayetteville for eleven years, and as an essential business he was able to remain open and use his business for good. He supplied local restaurants and other open businesses with 100 free banners that can still be seen around town and launched a free community website Bounce Back Fayetteville to support local businesses. All of his efforts have paid off as Jared has doubled his monthly gross sales in May 2020, reaching record highs at the height of COVID-19.

On the success of his business during these times, Jared says, I always go by the philosophy that we dont tell a customer No. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we didnt stop. We got creative and listened to our customers. I looked at closing or taking time off as a personal failure so we did everything we could to stay open and our efforts paid off. Jared has been a longstanding member of the Presidents Million-Dollar Circle for his franchisor Minuteman Press International, which makes his sales success even more impressive.

One of the first things Jared did when the pandemic first took hold is to use his printing and marketing capabilities to give back to other local businesses. I reached out to local restaurants and other clients who couldnt advertise that they were open. We printed and gave away 100 banners that were appreciated and put up around Fayetteville once the city lifted restrictions and allowed banners to fly. The message was simple, WE ARE OPEN / TAKEOUT IS AVAILABLE. Before you know it, our banners with our branding and colors were all over Fayetteville. It sent the signal that we are open, that Fayetteville businesses are open.

Jareds goodwill went a long way. We wanted to do something to support local businesses because we are a local business. We generated new business from other open businesses who learned about our wide format printing services, and we gained 20 new repeat clients which helped bring us record sales in May. It was really nice to see the business community come together and our hard work come back around to help us thrive even during this time.

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You dont tell a customer no. In times like this, you need to be creative, support others, and keep marketing. Those three things helped us achieve and exceed our sales goals during COVID-19. -Jared Ostendorf, owner, International Minute Press, Fayetteville, NC

Resiliency of the Printing Industry

The printing industry has always been resilient during tough times. Jared explains how he was able to grow his business despite the effects of COVID-19. Its not about having the biggest customers but earning trust and having repeat customers from a diverse range of industries. We are able to do this because printing allows for such a wide range of products and services and so we can meet a diverse range of needs.

He adds, We are producing a lot of large format printing, signage and banners right now and we also can design, print, and send direct mail marketing campaigns for clients. Having a diverse client base allows us to be steady. While one of our bigger clients has been closed for two months, we also gained other clients who have been spending more. The customers you relied on might not be there right now, but then you make up for it with new customers.

As North Carolina continues to reopen, Jared is hopeful to continue accelerating his growth. As we enter Phase 2 in North Carolina, we are starting to see our clients come back with their normal orders and spending. Between that and the traction in sales weve gained, we are in a great position to help others bounce back as we all get back to more regular business.

Helping Fayetteville Businesses Bounce Back

To continue the momentum and help spur Fayettevilles reopening, Jared and his team at International Minute Press have jumped on board with a free website called Bounce Back Fayetteville, which is part of Minuteman Press Internationals larger Bounce Back USA initiative that was rolled out nationwide. Bounce Back Fayetteville provides local businesses with free listings and allows community members to support local businesses to help stimulate local economic growth and recovery. Businesses also receive a free COVID-19 awareness and prevention poster that they can display in their business to keep everyone safe.

Right now, we have approximately 120 local businesses participating in Bounce Back Fayetteville. The free service is a great way to connect businesses and consumers who want to support each other. I embraced the program as soon as it was launched by Minuteman Press International and immediately called customers just to ask them how they are doing. I explained what we were doing with Bounce Back Fayetteville, and just like the banners we gave away, everyone was so appreciative. Even the local radio stations got on board and started promoting the initiative, which keeps growing.

By staying open and reaching out to our clients with free banners and our free website Bounce Back Fayetteville, it allowed us to have a conversation and maintain a positive dialog with other local businesses. It was very heartening to see how we really are in this together, and how supporting local businesses is something we can all agree on. Its great to be able to lift each other up.

Receiving Leadership and Franchise Support

While Jared is the independent owner and operator of International Minute Press Fayetteville, as a franchisee hes thankful to have the ongoing support from Minuteman Press International. He says, From the beginning of COVID-19 through to today, our President Nick Titus has been incredible. Nick quickly mobilized the entire corporate and regional staff to support us and he personally stayed in contact with us frequently. I am a big fan of the initiative hes taken as the new President of Minuteman Press International during this unprecedented time. He brings new energy, the entire team has delivered new marketing programs for us to use such as the Bounce Back initiative, and I am excited for the future under his leadership.

On the local level, Jared credits Regional Vice President David Walton for always being there for him over the past eleven years as well. Dave is a great asset to have in my corner right here locally. Whenever Ive needed anything over the years, Dave has been there for me. Its also nice that Minuteman Press International allows us the freedom to run our business while also providing that support and guidance whenever we need it.

Jared concludes, We are glad to be here, standing tall. That message of hope is one I hope to share throughout Fayetteville as we continue to reopen.

Jared Ostendorfs International Minute Press franchise is located at 1005 Arsenal Ave., Fayetteville, NC 28305. For more information, call Jared and his team at 910-485-7955 or visit their website: https://www.fayetteville.intlminutepress.com. Learn more about Entrepreneurs #1 rated Minuteman Press International franchise opportunities at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com.

Contact Details

Chris Biscuiti

+1 631-249-1370

cbiscuiti@mpihq.com

Company Website

https://minutemanpressfranchise.com
How far off is 888 Holdings plc (LON:888) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. This will be done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for 888 Holdings

Crunching the numbers

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$60.0m US$63.5m US$65.0m US$66.3m US$67.5m US$68.6m US$69.7m US$70.6m US$71.6m US$72.5m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x5 Analyst x5 Est @ 2.38% Est @ 2.03% Est @ 1.79% Est @ 1.62% Est @ 1.5% Est @ 1.41% Est @ 1.36% Est @ 1.32% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 7.5% US$55.8 US$55.0 US$52.4 US$49.7 US$47.1 US$44.5 US$42.0 US$39.7 US$37.4 US$35.3

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$458m

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After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 1.2%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 7.5%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2030  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$73m (1 + 1.2%)  (7.5% 1.2%) = US$1.2b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$1.2b ( 1 + 7.5%)10= US$570m

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$1.0b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of UK1.7, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 23% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

LSE:888 Discounted Cash Flow July 7th 2020

Important assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at 888 Holdings as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.5%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.042. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Next Steps:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For 888 Holdings, there are three important elements you should explore:

Risks: Take risks, for example - 888 Holdings has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of. Future Earnings: How does 888's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the LSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
PITTSBURGH, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "I wanted to increase the visibility of a vehicle while driving at night, especially in the heavy rain, dense fogs, or blizzard conditions. I wanted to help prevent accidents," said an inventor, from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, "So I invented the LICENSE PLATE REFLECTIVE FRAME."

InventHelp Logo (PRNewsfoto/InventHelp)

The patented invention provides an effective way to reflect, shine, and illuminate a vehicle's license plate and make it more noticeable at night and during adverse weather. In doing so, it could help to prevent potential rear-end collisions and other accidents. As a result, it enhances safety and visibility. The invention features an attractive design that is easy to apply and use so it is ideal for vehicle owners. Additionally, it is producible in design variations and a prototype is available.

The inventor described the invention design. "My design reflects, shines, illuminates the rear of your vehicle to ensure that approaching drivers see you."

The original design was submitted to the Toronto sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 19-TRO-308, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/inventhelp-inventor-develops-multi-colored-reflective-frame-for-license-plates-tro-308-301088953.html

SOURCE InventHelp
Click here to read the full article.

Key Point: Israel believed that war was going to happen and that if they didn't seize the initiative it would go badly. And so they took action.

At 7:10 a.m. Israeli time, sixteen Israeli Air Force Fouga Magister training jets took off and pretended to be what they were not. Flying routine flight paths and using routine radio frequencies, they looked to Arab radar operators like the normal morning Israeli combat air patrol.

At 7:15 a.m., another 183 aircraftalmost the entire Israeli combat fleetroared into the air. They headed west over the Mediterranean before diving low, which dropped them from Arab radar screens. This was also nothing new: for two years, Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian radar had tracked Israeli aircraftthough never this many Israeli aircrafttaking off every morning on this same flight path, and then disappearing from their scopes before they returned to base. But that morning, instead of going home, the Israeli armada of French-made Mirage and Super Mystere jets turned south toward Egypt, flying under strict radio silence and just sixty feet above the waves.

It was June 5, 1967, and the Six-Day War was about to begin. The conflict, which would shape the Middle East as we know it today, had been simmering for months between Israel and its neighbors. Outnumbered by the combined Arab armies, and surrounded by enemies on three sides and the deep blue Mediterranean on the fourth, Israel had resolved to strike first and win quickly.

That meant controlling the skies. But the Israeli Air Force could pit only two hundred aircraft, almost all French models (the United States wouldnt sell aircraft to the IAF until 1968), against six hundred Arab planes, including many Soviet-supplied MiG fighters. Israeli leaders also worried over Egypts thirty Soviet-made Tu-16 Badger bombers, each of which could drop ten tons of bombs on Israeli cities.

Thus was born Operation Moked (Focus), a preemptive strike aimed at destroying the Arab air forces on the groundand one of the most brilliant aerial operations in history. The plan had been worked out and practiced for several years. IAF pilots flew repeated practice missions against mock Egyptian airfields in the Negev Desert, while Israeli intelligence collected information on Egyptian dispositions and defenses.

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Would all the effort pay off? The answer would become clear minutes after the Israeli aerial armada banked over the Mediterranean and arrived over Egypt.

Jordanian radar operators, troubled by the unusual number of Israeli aircraft in the air that day, sent a coded warning to the Egyptians. But the Egyptians had changed their codes the day before without bothering to inform the Jordanians.

Not that the warning would have made a huge difference. Rather than attacking at dawn, the IAF decided to wait for a couple of hours until 0745hrs, 0845hrs Egyptian time, writes author Simon Dunstan. By this time, the morning mists over the Nile Delta had dispersed and the Egyptian dawn patrols had returned to base where the pilots were now having their breakfast, while many pilots and ground crew were still making their way to work.

Meanwhile, the commanders of the Egyptian armed forces and air force were away from their posts on an inspection tour, flying aboard a transport as the Israeli aircraft came in (scared that their own antiaircraft gunners would mistake them for Israelis and blast them out of the skies, the commanders had ordered that Egyptian air defenses not fire on any aircraft while the transport plane was in the air).

The Israeli aircraft climbed to nine thousand feet as they approached their targets: ten Egyptian airfields where the aircraft were neatly parked in rows, wingtip to wingtip. Almost totally unhindered by Egyptian interceptors and flak, the Israeli aircraft, in flights of four, made three to four passes each with bombs and cannon. First hit were the runways so planes couldnt take off, followed by Egyptian bombers, and then other aircraft.

Embed from Getty Images

It was here that the Israelis deployed a secret weapon: the concrete dibber bombs, the first specialized anti-runway weapons. Based on a French design, the bombs were braked by parachute, and then a rocket motor slammed them into the runway, creating a crater that made it impossible for Egyptian aircraft to take off.

The first wave lasted just eighty minutes. Then there was a respite, but only for ten minutes. Then second wave came in to strike an additional fourteen airfields. The Egyptians could have been forgiven for thinking Israel had secretly managed to amass a huge air force.

The truth was that Israeli ground crews had practiced the rearming and refueling of returning aircraft in less than eight minutes, which allowed the strike aircraft of the first wave to fly in the second. After 170 minutesjust under three hoursEgypt had lost 293 of its nearly five hundred aircraft, including all of its Soviet-made Tu-16 and Il-28 bombers that had threatened Israeli cities, as well as 185 MiG fighters. The Israelis lost nineteen aircraft, mostly to ground fire.

The day still wasnt over for the Israeli Air Force. At 12:45 p.m. on June 5, the IAF turned its attention to the other Arab air forces. Syrian and Jordanian airfields were hit, as was the Iraqi H3 airbase. The Syrian lost two-thirds of their air force, with fifty-seven planes destroyed on the ground, while Jordan lost all of its twenty-eight aircraft. By the end of the 1967 war, the Arabs had lost 450 aircraft, compared to forty-six of Israels.

Six hours or so after the first IAF aircraft had soared into the morning sky, Israel had won the Six-Day War. Not that the tank crews and paratroopers on the ground wouldnt face some hard fighting in the Sinai, the Golan and Jerusalem. But destroying the Arab air forces didnt just mean that Israeli troops could operate without air attack; it also meant that Israeli aircraft could relentlessly bomb and strafe Arab ground troops, which turned the Egyptian retreat from Sinai into a rout.

To say that Operation Moked is unique is incorrect. On June 22, 1941, the Luftwaffe pounded Soviet airfields during Operation Barbarossa, Hitlers surprise invasion of the Soviet Union. The Soviets may have lost almost four thousand aircraft in the first three days of the offensivemany destroyed on the groundat a cost of less than eighty German aircraft.

But Operation Moked stands out for its meticulous preparation and split-second timing. It is a mark of respect that Israels air offensive has become the gold standard for preemptive air strikes to destroy an enemy air force.

Saddam Hussein began Iraqs 1980 invasion of Iran with an Israeli-style strike on Iranian airfields. It failed miserably.

Had Israel attempted this against North Vietnam in 1967, the outcome would also have been very different. For that matter, had Operation Moked failed to achieve surprise, or if the Israeli pilots had missed their targets, Israel would have gone down in history as reckless and foolish. Thats exactly what happened to the IAF six years later, in the 1973 October War.

But the gamble paid off. Yet there was nothing magical about the Israeli triumph. Careful preparation, abetted by Arab carelessness and a bit of good luck, had been rewarded.

Operation Moked changed the course of the 1967 warand of history.

Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

This first appeared in 2017 and is being reposted due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters

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MILAN  Italian fashion manufacturer Sinv has partnered with the Jacob Cohen Co. to create JC Industry.

The two companies revealed on Tuesday that they had signed a letter of intent to set up the partnership, which will produce and distribute the Jacob Cohen collections starting with the fall 2021 season.

More from WWD

Financial details and the amount of shares each company will own in the partnership were not disclosed.

JC Industry will be located between the Schio and Piove di Sacco towns in Italys Veneto region, but the design office, commercial direction, marketing and communication will continue to be based at the Jacob Cohen headquarters in Milan, inaugurated in June last year.

Jennifer Tommasi Bardelle, president of the Jacob Cohen company, touted the agreement as a new partnership model in the fashion sector, which strengthens the value of production in Italy and in particular in Veneto.

Jacob Cohen will leverage the experience Sinv, based in Schio, has built since its foundation in 1975 by the Dalla Rovere family. In addition to the Piazza Sempione label, acquired in 2013, Sinv Holding owns 30 percent of Moschino.

Over the years Sinv has produced collections for See by Chloe, McQ Alexander McQueen and young lines for companies ranging from Valentino to Roberto Cavalli and Yohji Yamamoto. Today it also holds licenses to develop collections for Dirk Bikkembergs and Love Moschino.

Jacob Cohen has been produced by Italys Giada SpA, which last year inked a license agreement for the production and distribution of a new Karl Lagerfeld Denim collection in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Jacob Cohen was founded in 1985 by Nicola Bardelle, who decided to launch a premium and sartorial denim line. Bardelle died at 45 in 2012 in an accident and Francesco Dalla Rovere, president of Sinv, referred to his deep friendship with Bardelle and said he was especially happy to contribute to his legacy with an enlightened entrepreneur such as Jennifer.

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Jacob Cohen counts four directly owned flagships in Milan, Paris, Saint-Tropez and Courchevel.

Denim was a family business for Bardelle, who relaunched the Jacob Cohen brand in 2003. His father, Tato Bardelle, dressed young teenagers with his Americanino and Outsider jeans in the Eighties here. Bardelle shared with his father a value for quality and longevity of product. The Bardelles have contributed to making the Veneto region one of Italys main denim hubs.

Bardelle had gradually developed Jacob Cohen into a total-look brand, differentiating it through the use of luxury fabrics, and standouts included the brands first jeans made with a cashmere and denim blend.
The charity which looks after the royal palaces and artefacts is seeking voluntary redundancies as it forecasts a 30 million loss this year.

The Royal Collection Trust manages the palaces including Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace as well as the huge collection of artefacts which are held in trust by the Queen for her heirs and the nation.

Usually its main source of income comes from the summer openings of the Queens London home, as well as Windsor, the Queens Galleries in London and Edinburgh and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

However the palaces had to remain closed this summer because of the operational challenges of social distancing.

Buckingham Palace hasn't opened for its usual summer period. (Getty Images)

The RCT employs 650 people, and voluntary redundancy is open to all of them.

A spokeswoman said: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed by far the greatest challenge to Royal Collection Trust in the charitys history.

The closure to the public of Windsor Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, and the Queens Galleries in London and Edinburgh has had a very significant and serious impact on our finances, as we are entirely funded by visitor income from admissions and related retail sales.

The spokeswoman said they were forecasting to make 13 million, revised down from initial figures of 77 million.

The RCT will suffer losses of 30 million this year.

Read more: Celebrity bookings, online exercise and Zoom family calls: 10 things we learned when Camilla took over Radio 5

The wedding outfits of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on display in the Grand Reception Room at Windsor Castle. (PA Images)

The spokeswoman added: While we have taken out a 22 million loan to enable us to continue to operate in the near future, we need to do so with a lower cost base to recover our financial position.

Inevitably this must include a reduction in staff costs, which is our greatest single expense.

As an initial step, we will implement a pay freeze, begin a process of consultation about the reduction of employer pension contributions and offer a Voluntary Severance Programme to employees.

Once this Programme has closed, we will be able to take an informed view on the requirement for any additional restructuring.

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In May there were warnings from Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel, the most senior official of the royal household, in an email seen by The Sun, of pay freezes because of losses of revenue.

The palace openings first began after the fire at Windsor Castle in 1992, as the Queen faced a large bill for repair work.

The RCT arranges the exhibitions at the palaces and manages the collections. (Getty Images)

It cost 8 for adults to visit in the summer of 1993. According to the BBC, all advance booking slots for palace visits booked up in a week  for the next three years.

The plan originally was just for the palace to open until 1997, but the RCT, which was set up to look after tourism at the London palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, continued the summer events.

The Queen and Prince Philip have been in Windsor Castle since the middle of March and may remain there for some time, though it was reported they could have their summer break in Balmoral.
LONDON  Johnny Depp begins legal action against a British tabloid on Tuesday in a case that is likely to delve into the private lives of the Hollywood star, his ex-wife actress Amber Heard and a number of other well-known figures.

Depp, the 57-year-old star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, is suing the Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, for libel over an article Wootton wrote in 2018 calling him a "wife beater."

The case, which will be heard at London's High Court, is set to last for three weeks, and both actors are expected to give evidence.

Image: Actor Johnny Depp at the High Court in London (Peter Nicholls / Reuters)

The couple met on the set of the 2011 film "The Rum Diary" and married in February 2015. But she filed for divorce after just 15 months and days later obtained a restraining order against him. She has accused him of physical abuse during their relationship, allegations he denies.

Their divorce was finalized in 2017 when the restraining order was dismissed and Depp agreed to pay her a previously announced sum of $7 million.

Last week, the Sun failed in a bid to have the libel case thrown out despite the judge concluding that Depp had not fully complied with a court order by not supplying details of mobile phone texts to his assistant which the paper's legal team said referred to obtaining drugs for the actor.

The judge, Andrew Nicol, has also ruled that Heard, who is expected to attend the trial, can be in court to hear her ex-husband testify.

In his judgements, Nicol has said the Sun would rely on witness statements from Heard and others, arguing that its stories were true.

"In those articles, it is said, the Defendants accused the Claimant of multiple acts of physical violence against Ms Heard, some of which, it is alleged the articles said, put Ms Heard in fear of her life," Nicol said.
HOUSTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Physician-investigators at Johns Hopkins University Hospital report on the promising data of treatment of COVID-19 induced acute respiratory distress syndrome with allogeneic, cord blood derived T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapy (manufactured by Cellenkos), published in peer reviewed journal of Annals of Internal Medicine. Both patients were critically ill and intubated (one on ECMO). Both had failed Tociluzimab (Actemra, Roche) and had multiorgan failure. Patients received cell therapy under FDA Emergency Use IND for up to 3 doses. Clinical improvement was evident within 48 hours of first infusion and correlated with concurrent dampening of the cytokine storm as demonstrated by a rapid decline in peripheral biomarkers including lactate, C-reactive protein, and Ferritin as well as decreased blood levels of inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IFN and TNF .

Cellenkos logo (PRNewsfoto/Cellenkos, Inc.)

"We are excited by these early data in very sick patients suffering from COVID-19 ARDS. We recognize that there are several factors at play but believe that the temporal relationship between Treg infusions and patient recovery cannot be ignored," said Dr. Douglas Gladstone, principal investigator at Johns Hopkins. "We look forward to evaluating this promising therapy in the FDA-approved randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of cryopreserved, allogeneic, off-the-shelf, cord blood derived T-regulatory cells (CK0802) in intubated patients suffering from COVID-19 ARDS. Planned correlative assays during this trial will provide insights into the mechanism of action of CK0802 and its relation to clinical outcomes."

The multicenter clinical trial is set to launch in Q3 2020, with patients assigned to treatment with multiple doses of CK0802 or placebo, with two co-primary outcomes of safety (no severe toxicity) and efficacy (alive and extubated at day 28). CK0802 will be manufactured by Cellenkos and shipped to the clinical site to be infused at the patient's bedside.

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"We are very encouraged by these early clinical observations and remain fully committed to bring forward this promising, potentially life-saving therapy into market. We believe that our product will materially change the fatal outcome of COVID-19, allowing for the needed (necessary) time to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine," said Tara Sadeghi, VP, Clinical Operations at Cellenkos. "Our company-owned clean room facility allows us to have full control of the manufacturing processes, supply chain, and distribution logistics. We are confident that we can deliver on this multicenter clinical trial."

Since 2017, the company has owned and operated an independent ISO-7 cleanroom manufacturing facility in Houston, engaged in process development and manufacture of clinical cell therapy products, including testing and quality control. Staffed with experienced personnel, the facility is equipped to support product supply for the clinical trials. Cellenkos already holds two FDA INDs for inflammatory bone marrow failure syndromes and demyelinating polyneuropathy. Cellenkos' CK0801 cell therapy product has demonstrated a high degree of safety in bone marrow failure syndromes, in the first two dose level cohorts completed to date at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (NCT03773393).

About Cellenkos Treg platform

Cellenkos Treg platform aims to develop tailored T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapeutics for various underserved inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders. The technology allows for varying degrees of immune responses against antigens of choice as well as immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases.

About CK0802

CK0802 is a novel allogenic, off the shelf, cell therapy product consisting of Treg cells derived from clinical-grade umbilical cord blood units and manufactured using Cellenkos' proprietary process. The product is cryopreserved and readily available off-the-shelf, without any requirement for HLA matching, and is infused intravenously. One manufacturing campaign can generate multiple doses for infusion into several different patients. The multi-center trial of CK0802 will examine safety and efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19 ARDS. It is a cryopreserved product that will be manufactured by Cellenkos and shipped to the participating clinical site, where it can be thawed and infused at patient's bedside.

Treg cells in CK0802 express lung homing markers on their cell surfaces. Once the cells reach the tissue, Treg cells are believed to disarm and dampen the cytokine storm by engaging with antigen-presenting cells including the pneumocytes that line the alveolar epithelium and drive the inflammatory reaction. Rather than indiscriminate therapy with a drug such as an inhibitor of single cytokine such as IL-6, the T-regulatory cells can potentially calm inflammation exactly where it is most active, without causing a more general "global" immunosuppression that would be harmful in a virally infected patient.

About Cellenkos, Inc.

Cellenkos is founded on technologies arising from the laboratory investigations of Simrit Parmar, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at the University of Texas at MD Anderson Cancer Center and funded by Golden Meditech.

About COVID-19

There were a total of 11,565,414 COVID-19 cases confirmed globally with 536,649 deaths (July 6, 2020), according to Johns Hopkins University data. Gilead's antiviral Remdesivir is the only therapeutic agent specifically approved for the treatment of COVID-19. Although recent reports have suggested that dexamethasone has a beneficial effect on mortality in COVID-19 patients on ventilation, its' role among treatment modalities remains unclear.

For more information, please visit www.cellenkosinc.com.

CONTACT: bd@cellenkosinc.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/703732/Cellenkos_logo.jpg

SOURCE Cellenkos, Inc.
Photograph: Douglas Healey/AP

Jonathan Sackler, one of the owners of Purdue Pharma, the maker of the controversial opioid prescription painkiller OxyContin has died, the company confirmed on Monday.

Sackler died on 30 June, according to a court filing. He was 65 and the cause of death was cancer.

Although he kept a low profile, he was known in conservative education circles for his vigorous support of and donations to the cause of charter schools.

Jonathan was the son of Raymond Sackler, one of three New York brothers who bought the small drug company Purdue Frederick in 1952 and built it into a hugely profitable pharmaceutical firm, now called Purdue Pharma, that developed the powerful, sustained-release opioid painkiller OxyContin.

The pill was launched in the mid-1990s and vigorously promoted but the Connecticut-based private company and its billionaire family owners have been sued by local government bodies and several state attorneys general across the US, accused of fueling the opioids crisis.

Jonathan Sackler was named as a defendant in some key lawsuits, alongside seven other members of the Sackler family, accused of marketing OxyContin in ways that misled the public and doctors about how addictive it could be and how easily abused, and with encouraging overprescription of the painkillers.

Those family members were faced with allegations in lawsuits that eight people in a single family made the choices that caused much of the US opioid epidemic via a deadly, deceptive  illegal scheme, although they are currently shielded from litigation by a bankruptcy court in New York state.

Related: House of pain: who are the Sacklers under fire in lawsuits over opioids?

Purdue is seeking bankruptcy protection as part of an effort to settle nearly 3,000 lawsuits that blame the company for sparking the opioid crisis that has killed more than 450,000 Americans in the last 20 years, and also settle a Department of Justice criminal investigation as part of the bankruptcy process.

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Hundreds of the lawsuits also named Jonathan and some other family members, including his late mother Beverly, who died last year at 95, the widow of Raymond.

The family and the company deny wrongdoing.

Jonathan Sackler served as an executive and board member for Purdue Pharma. Like other members of the Sackler family, he had stepped off the board of the company in recent years, though he retained ownership.

The companys settlement plan calls for the family, which has been listed among Americas wealthiest, to pay at least $3bn and give up ownership of Purdue.

Sackler, like his fellow company owners, avoided media interviews and scrutiny and the finances of the family and Purdue are not transparent, although the billionaire owners at last published estimate were said to be collectively worth about $13bn.

Jonathan was a vice-president of Purdue in the past though had less involvement than his older brother Richard, who has been chief executive.

The two brothers funded a professorship of internal medicine at Yale University.

The familys academic and arts philanthropy has come under high-profile attack from some quarters in recent years because their fortune was made from the high-margin OxyContin drug, and some institutions named after the Sacklers took the name down.

Jonathan Sacklers daughter Madeleine is a well-known documentary film-maker.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says new UK sanctions against Russia will not be left unanswered - Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

The Kremlin spokesman says that Moscow will respond to new UK sanctions against Russian citizens including a senior investigator and prison officials.

Britain on Monday used a new legislation drafted in the memory of a killed Russian tax adviser to sanction 25 Russian nationals linked to prosecution and mistreatment of tax adviser Sergei Magnitsky as well as 20 Saudis involved in the murder of a journalist in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday that Moscow can only lament such hostile steps.

We will certainly rely on reciprocity and respond in the way that fits Russias interests, he said.

Alexander Bastrykin, Russias top investigator and a university friend of Vladimir Putin, is arguably the most senior official to have been slapped by the new sanctions and his name is likely to anger the Kremlin.

As the head of the Investigative Committee, Mr Bastrykin is accused of covering up the mistreatment of Mr Magnitsky who died in prison after a year in pre-trial detention in 2009.

A tax lawyer, Mr Magnitsky discovered a massive tax scam involving Russian tax authorities and ended up jailed by the same officials he had exposed.

A Russian presidential commission concluded that he was beaten to death in prison.

Most of the people on the sanctions list are lower-level officials and prison staff including two prison doctors who faced charges of negligence but were never convicted.

All of them will now be subject to travel bans and asset freezes but it is not immediately clear if they have any property in Britain.

The United States adopted the Magnitsky Act in 2012, targeting money of senior Russian officials kept in Western banks. Russia then responded with travel bans as well as a ban on American adoptions of Russian children.

The Kremlin has outlawed institutions such as the British Council during previous diplomatic spats between the two countries, which does not leave Moscow much British property to target this time.
Joe Grieshaber, SVP and chief merchant, announces retirement

Stuart W. Aitken, SVP, named chief merchant and marketing officer

Yael Cosset, SVP and CIO, to lead alternative business and 84.51

CINCINNATI, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today announced the retirement of Joe Grieshaber, senior vice president and chief merchant, after more than 37 years of distinguished service, effective August 15. Grieshaber will be succeeded by Stuart W. Aitken, currently senior vice president of alternative business and CEO of 84.51, Kroger's data analytics subsidiary. Yael Cosset, senior vice president and chief information officer, will assume responsibility for alternative business and 84.51.

The Kroger Co. Logo (PRNewsfoto/The Kroger Co.)

"Today's leadership announcements are consistent with our positive track record of strong succession planning and will help us to continue to drive transformation of our business and culture, focusing on speed, action and agility to deliver value for our customers and shareholders," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO. "We are greatly appreciative of the unique talents and contributions that each of these leaders has provided to Kroger to create a best-in-class experience for our associates and customers."

Joe Grieshaber, Senior Vice President and Chief Merchant, Announces Retirement

Grieshaber started his career with Kroger in 1983 as a store management trainee in Nashville, Tenn. Since then, he has served in numerous roles, including as a meat merchandiser and district manager for the Michigan division. Later in his career, Grieshaber was promoted to vice president of merchandising of the Columbus division then assumed the role of corporate group vice president of perishables merchandising and procurement. He was named president of the Dillons division in 2010 and served as president of both the Columbus and Fred Meyer divisions before being promoted to his current role in 2019.

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"We thank Joe for his 37 years of service, leading with excellence by developing and uplifting associates and creating and executing innovative, results-oriented strategies," said McMullen. "He's been instrumental to Kroger as an accomplished leader with a passion for people and results, and we wish him all the best in retirement."

In his retirement, Grieshaber and his wife Vickie look forward to spending more time with their children and grandchildren, and once safe, they plan to travel more.

Stuart Aitken Named Chief Merchant and Marketing Officer

Aitken, currently senior vice president of alternative business and CEO of 84.51, will succeed Grieshaber, effective August 1. As chief merchant and marketing officer, Aitken will be responsible for sales, pricing, planning, promotions, execution, analytics, ecommerce and digital merchandising, and Our Brands. He will also retain responsibility for marketing.

"Stuart's outstanding leadership and deep history of putting the customer first through data-driven decisions and personalization will further transform our business for growth," stated McMullen. "Bringing together merchandising and marketing under one leader will strengthen our brand promise of Fresh for Everyone."

Aitken was named a group vice president five years ago and has led 84.51 as CEO since its inception in 2015. As the leader of 84.51, Aitken played a critical role in integrating data-based decision making into Kroger's merchandising organization. 84.51 combines customer data, predictive analytics and marketing strategies to drive business decisions, sales growth and customer loyalty using a sophisticated, proprietary suite of tools for Kroger and more than 300 consumer-packaged-goods companies in the U.S.

In January 2019, Aitken was promoted to senior vice president of alternative business, tasked with managing several groups, including 84.51, Kroger Precision Marketing and Kroger Personal Finance. As head of marketing as well, Aitken guided the company through its Fresh for Everyone brand transformation campaign in November 2019.

Prior to Kroger, he acquired many years of marketing, academic and technical experience across a variety of industries and held various leadership roles with other companies, including Michael's Stores, Safeway, Inc. and dunnhumby USA, where he served as CEO from 2009 to 2015.

Originally from Scotland, Aitken holds a bachelor's degree with distinction from Queen Margaret University and a master's degree in Information Management from the University of Strathclyde. He serves on the boards of InvenTrust Properties Corp. and the Food Marketing Institute. Aitken is also a member of the Cincinnati Business Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Yael Cosset Assumes Responsibility for Alternative Business and 84.51

Cosset, senior vice president and chief information officer, will assume responsibility for the alternative profit business portfolio and 84.51, effective August 1. Cosset will continue to lead Kroger Technology & Digital.

"Yael will continue to play an essential role in accelerating our grocery-to-growth business model," said McMullen. "His exemplary leadership, vision and customer-first obsession to make people's lives easier using technology and data will help us to create more personalized and engaging shopping experiences and drive more trips."

In January 2017, Cosset was promoted to group vice president and chief digital officer, where he led the company's overall digital growth strategy, ecommerce expansion and Vitacost business. He was named senior vice president and CIO in May 2019, assuming responsibility for Kroger Technology and blending two talented teams to form Kroger Technology & Digital. Previously, he served as chief commercial officer and chief information officer of 84.51.

Prior to Kroger, he held several leadership roles at dunnhumby, including executive vice president of consumer markets, global chief information officer and CEO of KSS Retail  an enterprise software company.

Cosset has been a member of 84.51's advisory board for the last three years, helping shape the business's strategy and direction. In February 2020, Cosset was appointed to the Kohl's Corporation Board of Directors.

Originally from France, Cosset graduated from the Classes Preparatoires aux Grandes Ecoles with a major in Mathematics and earned a master's degree from the Graduate Business School - Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Chambery.

In 2019, Cosset was recognized by Business Insider as one of the 10 people transforming retail. And in 2017, he was recognized by Retail Leader as one of the 17 leaders to watch.

To download headshots of Aitken, Cosset and Grieshaber visit here.

About Kroger

At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit. We are, across our family of companies, nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless shopping experience under a variety of banner names. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

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LONDON  AllSaints has struck a deal with landlords worldwide to keep its stores open by shifting to a new rent structure that puts less pressure on the retailer.

AllSaints said Tuesday that creditors have overwhelmingly approved its request to switch to new lease terms for All Saints Retail Ltd., in the U.K., and its subsidiary across the Atlantic, AllSaints USA Ltd.

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As reported last month, AllSaints had undertaken an insolvency procedure known here as a company voluntary arrangement, or CVA, to protect its 255 stores worldwide.

The move is common in the U.K. when a troubled company tries to save its business by renegotiating deals with landlords and other creditors. Both Arcadia Group and Debenhams have relied on CVAs to rescue their respective retail chains.

Peter Wood, chief executive officer of AllSaints, said he was grateful to the companys teams, suppliers and other partners around the world for their overwhelming support during this process.

He said the majority of landlords across the U.K., European Union, U.S. and Canada had voted in favor of the companys CVA proposals. The decision to launch the CVAs was not taken lightly, and this successful outcome will be instrumental in helping us to ensure the long-term viability of AllSaints, Wood added.

The deal means that AllSaints will shift to rental payments based partly on turnover, rather than entirely on pre-agreed leases pegged on open-market valuations. It also means that landlords have agreed to accept less rent, at least for now.

AllSaints did not disclose the terms of the new deals with landlords.

Traditionally, turnover rents are comprised of 80 percent open market value of the property, and 20 percent store turnover. In some cases, rental payments can be 100 percent based on turnover.

AllSaints had originally sought the CVA because it said store closures due to COVID-19 lockdown had dented sales, and that new social distancing measures, combined with lower footfall, would damage them further.

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Lockdown damage isnt brands only problem: Retailers in the U.K. have long complained that rent increases have outpaced store productivity. Brands with stores in central London are hit even harder as they also have to pay onerous business taxes on top of rising rents.

Gavin Kramer, a senior associate specializing in insolvency and commercial litigation at Collyer Bristow in London, said that while landlords have grumbled in the past about turnover-based rental agreements, it could be argued that turnover rents, which will rise if the companys position improves, are fairer to landlords than a blanket rent reduction.

Vicky Hernandez, a partner in the real estate at Royds Withy King, described turnover rents as deals where pain and gain are shared between the brand and its landlords.

The agreement announced today between AllSaints and its landlords marks a major milestone in the wider adoption of turnover rents and a true partnership between retailer and landlord, she said.

Hernandez added that while turnover rents may look attractive, they will continue to be challenging for both landlords and retailers because of the variables involved in calculating a single stores turnover, including online sales, click-and-collect services and gift vouchers.
Members of Congress were consumed last week with reports that the Russian government was paying bounties to Taliban militants who killed U.S. troops overseas. But they now appear poised to do little  if anything  about it.

Citing disputed intelligence assessments and interagency squabbles, lawmakers emerged from top secret briefings cautious and mostly tight-lipped about the veracity of news reports suggesting the Russians had American blood on their hands.

Those lawmakers  mostly Republicans  repeatedly stressed that there was no consensus on whether the GRU, Russias military intelligence unit, orchestrated the bounties, despite news reports from The New York Times and others that have detailed the alleged scheme with increasing specificity.

I think there are contradictory pieces of intelligence on this, Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 4 GOP leader and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said after a classified briefing.

The administration also appeared to sow doubt over the issue, with President Donald Trump and his aides either questioning the accuracy of the intelligence or labeling reporting on the bounties an outright hoax. And congressional Republicans recently rejected an amendment to the annual defense policy bill, written by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), that would impose new sanctions on Moscow.

Democrats and Republicans alike have supported stricter sanctions on Russia as punishment for its malign activities, including its interference in the 2016 election and its annexation of Crimea in 2014. But the Trump administration has repeatedly hesitated to fully deploy the sanctions regime Congress authorized in 2017, and Republicans have rarely used their leverage to press the White House on the issue.

Theres still a whole series of questions about what our policy is vis-a-vis Russia, and why there seems to be this unwillingness to call out Russian bad actions, said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee.

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The stalemate underscores the difficulties lawmakers face in confronting an increasingly emboldened Russia  especially in an election year, when Republicans are unlikely to publicly break with the president, who has sought to maintain a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin even as he continues to alarm some in the GOP with his deferential posture toward the Russian leader.

Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., departs the Capitol as the Senate finishes its work for the day in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, in Washington, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Im interested in hearing an administration speak clearly about their plans that arent just hypothetical sanctions sometime out in the future, but what should we be doing now to make the GRU have more doubts about their behavior not just in Afghanistan, but more broadly across the globe, said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), an outspoken Russia hawk who sits on the Intelligence panel.

The U.S. intelligence community broadly agrees that Russias military intelligence unit has been providing financial support to the Taliban to help fund Taliban operations that have killed coalition troops in Afghanistan. But a central dispute  outlined in a memo written by recently confirmed Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe earlier this month  remains over the Russians motives.

While the CIA and National Counterterrorism Center have assessed with medium confidence that the GRU has paid bounties to Taliban fighters specifically to kill U.S. soldiers  and that the operation has resulted in fatalities  other agencies have expressed low confidence in that assessment, stemming from difficulties tying specific payments to certain attacks, according to people who have seen the memo.

Whereas the CIA has confidence in its human sources and interrogations conducted on the ground, the National Security Agency relies more on surveillance and signals intelligence to make assessments, and remains uncertain about whether certain payments constitute bounties or whether they are just part of the broader pattern of Russian funding for Taliban operations that ultimately kill coalition troops.

The intelligence community and the Pentagon are continuing to investigate whether specific Taliban attacks on U.S. soldiers resulted directly from GRU payments, current national security officials said. Still, lawmakers are choosing to emphasize that there are no disagreements about how Putin has used his intelligence agencies.

Vladimir Putin runs real military and intelligence agencies and he puppet-masters a whole bunch more, and he tries to get them to be available to do horrible things to Americans and to our allies, Sasse said.

In the meantime, Democrats appear to be giving Ratcliffe, the nations top intelligence official, a chance to prove himself as a nonpolitical figure, given his history as a strident defender of the president. Some congressional officials raised eyebrows about the timing of his memo  which concluded that the interagency assessments of the bounty intelligence were still mixed and incomplete  given White House attempts to frame the issue as too uncertain to warrant an immediate response. But people familiar with the document said it was straightforward and factual.

I dont think Ratcliffe has been in this job long enough to characterize whether hes going to play it straight and do his job or whether hes going to be in more of a political role, said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Intelligence Committee. I think he has a lot to do to build confidence given his previous role on cable news networks.

I didnt support Mr. Ratcliffe, added Warner. Now hes in, I want him to be successful. And as long as he is transparent and forthcoming with this committee  and we have tried to treat everybody with respect  I want to work with him.

Democrats emphasized that they still had confidence in the career civil servants who make up the vast majority of the U.S. intelligence community, but said they are concerned Ratcliffe would not tell the president what they believe he needs to hear.

Ive made it clear that I think the executive branch has an obligation to be straight with the American people, and the list could go on, but hes the guy thats going to be held accountable, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), an Intelligence Committee member, said in a brief interview. In the last 48 hours, the administration isnt even close to a passing grade.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised Ratcliffe and noted that he was being forced to answer for intelligence assessments that might have occurred long before he was sworn in as director of national intelligence on May 26. Some of the intelligence on the bounties was included in Trumps written daily briefing, known as the Presidential Daily Brief, in February.

The challenge with anything is things that happened before your tenure  you have to sort of go back and reconstruct some of the things that happened and answer questions about it. But hes up to the task, he did great said Rubio, who added that he talks with Ratcliffe daily.

Ratcliffe has already briefed members of the Intelligence panel and a smaller group of congressional leaders, known as the Gang of Eight, on the intelligence assessments related to the alleged Russian bounties. Trump administration officials have also briefed smaller groups of lawmakers, including a contingent of House Democrats as well as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

But the latter briefing left senators, particularly Democrats, dissatisfied with the amount of information they were getting. It was a regularly scheduled briefing on Afghanistan, but lawmakers predominantly asked about the bounty allegations  in particular, whether and when the president was actually briefed on the intelligence assessment.

That was not a briefing, a frustrated Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a brief interview last week after walking out of the Senates secure facility.

There was no one there who had any information about what information was given to the president or when it was given to him, Warren added. [They] were evidently aware of nothing about briefings to the president, which is why we came.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) agreed, calling the briefing unsatisfactory on the question of who briefed Trump and when, and suggested sanctions as one possible response to the Russian escalation. And she said that of the five bounty-related intelligence documents she had read in a secure Capitol facility, none backed up the White House claims that the assessments were too uncorroborated to disclose to the president.

The documents I read are consistent with whats been reported so far, she told reporters. As far as I can tell, whats out there is accurate.


California prison officials are staring down yet another lawsuit from a transgender woman who says she was abused in custody.

C. Jay Smith, 59, filed a federal lawsuit last Monday alleging that staff members at San Quentin State Prison, just north of San Francisco, refused to investigate reports she had filed after having been sexually abused and that they retaliated against her. Smith alleges that the campaign went so far that guards falsely accused her of serious violations, potentially adding 10 years to her sentence.

C. Jay Smith (Medina Orthwein LLP)

A 36-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court for Northern California claims that staff members at the prison "used threatening and coercive tactics to try to get her to withdraw her allegations."

"Ms. Smith's case demonstrates that the 'Me Too' movement and the protections it has provided to women needs to also find its way to the violence and state-initiated torment transgender people face behind CDCR's prison walls," the suit says, referring to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Smith has lived almost her entire life as a woman, according to the complaint. She knew she was transgender at 10 years old and started to transition as a teenager, the suit states. But after she was sentenced to 25 years to life with the possibility of parole, she has spent the entire term  now more than two decades  housed in men's prisons.

Her complaint alleges that from the time she arrived at a CDCR Reception Center in 1998, officers "allowed multiple men in custody to rape Ms. Smith repeatedly over four consecutive days." Research has found that sexual abuse of transgender women in prison, especially those housed in men's facilities, is not uncommon: A 2010 study published in Justice Quarterly, which was cited in Smith's complaint, found that 59 percent of trans women in men's lockup facilities had experienced at least one instance of sexual assault.

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The 1998 assaults weren't the only time Smith says she was a victim of sexual violence. Smith said she was again violently raped in 2013, shortly after she arrived at San Quentin, by an unknown assailant who "attacked from behind," according to the lawsuit.

Not knowing the identity of her attacker "caused her to subsequently experience even more severe symptoms of PTSD," the complaint alleges, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Ms. Smith has been the target of indecent exposure and lewd sexual acts by many men in custody," her complaint states. "She has also been verbally harassed and called homophobic and transphobic slurs by staff  including medical and custody staff  on numerous occasions. The repeated sexual assaults and harassment aggravated Ms. Smith's PTSD, resulting in her placement in outpatient or inpatient mental health treatment for the majority of her incarceration."

Smith said she became the target of a campaign of harassment by officers at San Quentin when she tried to speak up about the violence. Her cell was "ransacked" and guards left the doors open to allow "other people in custody to steal her property," the lawsuit says.

"Defendants then caged Ms. Smith like an animal, verbally berated her, threatened her with physical assault, sexually harassed and assaulted her," the complaint alleges, adding that she was targeted with false reports of rules violations.

Among them was a charge of possession of a deadly weapon after officers reported her for having a graduation statue in her cell, her complaint says. The statue, she claims, had been a gift from a friend years earlier as motivation to complete her GED program. If she is found guilty, Smith could face 10 more years behind bars.

According to the suit, the "campaign of torture and retaliation" alleged against Smith "sent a message" to transgender women who are sexual assaulted in prison: "Do not report sexual violence or safety concerns or you, too, will be targeted."

Smith's lawsuit partly hinges on the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, or PREA, a 2003 law to stop sexual assault behind bars. It requires state prisons to house transgender prisoners case by case with either men or women after asking them where they would feel the safest. It also mandates that prison staff members immediately report and document knowledge or suspicion of sexual harassment or assault.

Smith's attorneys, Jen Orthwein and Felicia Medina, argue that cases like Smith's illustrate why many transgender survivors do not report sexual assault behind bars.

The CDCR "knows that there's widespread PREA violations, and what it does is it uses [disciplinary] process[es] against folks who are the most impacted, such as C. Jay, who is a transgender woman of color, because she reported sexual assault," Medina said in an interview. "She was set up."

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Smith is at least the sixth transgender or gender-nonconforming prisoner to have sued the state or its officials in recent years. Candice Crowder, a trans woman, sued in 2017, alleging that guards isolated her in solitary confinement after she reported having been raped at Corcoran State Prison. Crowder's case was settled for an undisclosed sum. Isaac Medina, a trans prisoner at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, sued the state last year claiming that corrections officers regularly sexually harassed and threatened him. The case is ongoing.

Three gender-nonconforming people sued the state in November 2017, alleging that the CDCR refused them medical treatment and denied them the opportunity to file grievances after they were sexually assaulted. An amended complaint was filed in 2019, and the case is still being adjudicated.

In a statement to NBC News, a spokesperson said the department "cannot comment on pending litigation."

"CDCR is committed to providing a safe, humane, rehabilitative and secure environment for all people housed in the state's correctional facilities and has policies, practices and procedures in place regarding the screening, housing and treatment of incarcerated transgender people," Deputy Press Secretary Terry Thornton said in an email. "CDCR maintains a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment, sexual violence, and staff sexual misconduct. This policy applies to all offenders, all CDCR employees, all volunteers and all contractors."

Thornton said the department "has not been served with this lawsuit."

Data show that transgender people face extraordinary rates of violence in prisons and jails. A 2015 report by the Justice Department found that 35 percent of transgender prisoners said they had been sexually assaulted by staff members or other prisoners in the past year. And an NBC News investigation this year found that of 10 trans women interviewed at the California Institution for Men in Chino, nine reported having been sexually assaulted while incarcerated.

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President Trump smiles in front of Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota on July 3. (Associated Press)

To the editor: President Trump, always looking for praise and the chance to present himself as a hero, and standing under the grand backdrop of Mt. Rushmore, is taking a stand to defend Confederate monuments.

He acts as if this is what our country needs amid a worsening deadly pandemic and a nationwide demand that we address systemic racial and economic inequality in the United States.

Where is his leadership to create a coordinated, effective response to the pandemic? Where is his call to action to all Americans to join together to confront the issue of inequality? Where is his interest in anything other than his own power and glory and rallying his base in the hopes of being reelected?

Once again, our president has his eye on the wrong ball.

Joanna Ryder, Hermosa Beach

..

To the editor: Heads blew up in the Trump universe when the president, in the shadow of Mt. Rushmore, accused the left of engaging in a "cultural revolution ... designed to overthrow the American Revolution."

Trump exposed a secret cabal of progressive Democrats, Black Lives Matter activists and "deep state" operatives who are working to return the United States to British rule. That explains why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are hiding out in Los Angeles  they are waiting to assume their roles as viceroy and vicereine of the new United Colonies of America.

Given some of the other bizarre statements emanating from the White House, this almost seems like a good idea.

Steve Martin, West Hollywood

..

To the editor: The headline, "At Mt. Rushmore, Trump uses Fourth of July celebration to stoke a culture war," cleary betrays your political animus, though ironically one day later the president delivered a July 4 address from the White House absent his usual verbal "fireworks."

The Mt. Rushmore speech was the president's response to a cultural war waged by the far left, which has been engaged in the destruction of historical statues across the United States, setting its sights even on Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

The article not only accused Trump of "stoking a cultural war," but also went so far as to accuse the president of "employing racist rhetoric or dog whistles," despite Trump having mentioned in his speech the important contributions of African American figures in our history.

Richard Friedman, Culver City




Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrate outside Los Angeles City Hall on July 5. (Los Angeles Times)

To the editor: I believe it is misleading for Sandy Banks to suggest that white Americans believe Black people are less than fully human. It also lets people like me and my white liberal friends off the hook.

I don't need to believe someone is sub-human to remain largely oblivious to systemic oppression and how I benefit from it. Before I become part of the solution I am going to have to admit that I am part of the problem, and I don't know a single person who would admit to believing that Black people are inherently less worthy than anyone else.

I can tell myself I deplore racism and still refuse to accept any responsibility or to take any actions to mitigate it. So long as racism is defined as conscious and overt racial animosity, I am relieved of any obligations.

The problem is not Southern racists. The problem is us.

John Bauman, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: As an 86-year-old black man who attended the University of Michigan in 1951 with tuition paid by the state of Georgia because Jim Crow practices prevented me from attending the University of Georgia even though my grandmother resided less than one mile from the campus, I was never so impressed with a strong analysis of our 400 years of institutional racism as when I read Banks' recent column.

William Hill, Sherman Oaks
A protester burns an American flag during a rally against police violence in Los Angeles in 2014. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

To the editor: One letter writer said the decision of the L.A. Times to publish a column on the man whose activism resulted in the Supreme Court decision making flag burning constitutionally protected speech was a "blow and slap in the face to every patriot and military veteran out there."

Not to this patriot and veteran.

I have witnessed only one flag burning. A man, talking at the outdoor free speech platform at UCLA in 1968, protested against the Vietnam War and suddenly raised a flag and ignited it. A group of what seemed like indifferent listeners suddenly became a mob and chased the man, running for his life, off campus into Westwood Village. He escaped.

The military exists to protect us but also preserve freedom and the right of that man to express his opinion, however odious, by burning the U.S. flag or wearing symbols that offend others. This veteran and patriot is grateful that this nation grants everyone that right.

Sidney Morrison, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: I, an Army veteran, found one letter writer's attempt to speak for me on flag burning deeply offensive.

But, the writer has a 1st Amendment right to express his views (as does the flag burner), and I applaud the L.A. Times for publishing his letter.

Al Fels, Aliso Viejo
2020 Jansky Lectureship awarded to University of Cornell professor Martha P. Haynes

Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) have awarded the 2020 Karl G. Jansky Lectureship to Dr. Martha P. Haynes, Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University. The Jansky Lectureship is an honor established by the trustees of AUI to recognize outstanding contributions to the advancement of radio astronomy.

Professor Haynes is being honored for her influential impact to our understanding of galaxies. She has made important contributions to our knowledge of the atomic hydrogen (HI) content of galaxies, environmental effects on gas, and large-scale structure in the local universe. She was responsible for the first three-dimensional view of remarkable large-scale filamentary structures, based on HI observations of the galaxies in the Pisces-Perseus supercluster.

Her work showed that galaxies are clustered on scales of tens to almost 100 megaparsecs, considerably more extensive than previously demonstrated. This completely altered our view of the scale of inhomogeneities in the universe, now recognized as a fundamental tenet of cosmology.

Haynes has also been a leader and advocate for the development of instruments to expand our ability to probe the radio universe. She provided oversight and vision to the improvements made to the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico, culminating with the ALFALFA HI Survey, which covered one-sixth of the sky and detected an astonishing 31,000 galaxies. She currently is a leader of the collaboration building the CCAT-prime submillimeter telescope in Chile.

She has served as an advocate for radio astronomy at the highest national and international levels including vice chair of the 2010 Decadal Survey and vice president of the IAU (2006-2012). From 1981-1983 she was NRAO's Assistant Director for Green Bank and from 1998-1999 she served as Interim President of AUI where she gave broad oversight to the operation of NRAO and led the early negotiations leading to the establishment of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

Haynes' achievements have been recognized through her election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1999, her election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2000, and through numerous highly-prestigious awards. Her professional activities have had a significant impact on astronomy policy and planning. In addition, she has been an inspiring teacher and mentor for her many students and a leader in bringing women into the field.

As Jansky Lecturer, Haynes will give (virtual) lectures at NRAO facilities in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Socorro, New Mexico. These lectures are open to the public.

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First awarded in 1966, the Jansky Lectureship is named in honor of the man who, in 1932, first detected radio waves from a cosmic source. Karl Jansky's discovery of radio waves from the central region of the Milky Way started the science of radio astronomy.

Other recipients of the Jansky award include seven Nobel laureates (Drs. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Edward Purcell, Charles Townes, Arno Penzias, Robert Wilson, William Fowler, and Joseph Taylor) as well as Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, discoverer of the first pulsar, and Vera Rubin, discoverer of dark matter in galaxies.

A complete list of past recipients is here: https:/ / science. nrao. edu/ science/ jansky-lecture

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Future Texas hurricanes: Fast like Ike or slow like Harvey?

HOUSTON -- (July 7, 2020) -- Climate change will intensify winds that steer hurricanes north over Texas in the final 25 years of this century, increasing the odds for fast-moving storms like 2008's Ike compared with slow-movers like 2017's Harvey, according to new research.

The study published online July 3 in Nature Communications examined regional atmospheric wind patterns that are likely to exist over Texas from 2075-2100 as Earth's climate changes due to increased greenhouse emissions.

The research began in Houston as Harvey deluged the city with 30-40 inches of rain over five days. Rice University researchers riding out the storm began collaborating with colleagues from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and Harvard University to explore whether climate change would increase the likelihood of slow-moving rainmakers like Harvey.

"We find that the probability of having strong northward steering winds will increase with climate change, meaning hurricanes over Texas will be more likely to move like Ike than Harvey," said study lead author Pedram Hassanzadeh of Rice.

Harvey caused an estimated $125 billion in damage, matching 2005's Katrina as the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Ike was marked by coastal flooding and high winds that caused $38 billion damage across several states. It was the second-costliest U.S. hurricane at the time and has since moved to sixth. Ike struck Galveston around 2 a.m. Sept. 13, 2008, crossed Texas in less than one day and caused record power outages from Arkansas to Ohio on Sept. 14.

Hassanzadeh, a fluid dynamicist, atmospheric modeler and assistant professor of both mechanical engineering and Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, said the findings don't suggest that slow-moving storms like Harvey won't happen in late 21st century. Rather, they suggest that storms during the period will be more likely to be fast-moving than slow-moving. The study found the chances that a Texas hurricane will be fast-moving as opposed to slow-moving will rise by about 50% in the last quarter of the 21st century compared with the final quarter of the 20th century.

"These results are very interesting, given that a previous study that considered the Atlantic basin as a whole noticed a trend for slower-moving storms in the past 30 years," said study co-author Suzana Camargo, LDEO's Marie Tharp Lamont Research Professor. "By contrast, our study focused on changes at the end of the 21st century and shows that we need to consider much smaller regional scales, as their trends might differ from the average across much larger regions."

Hassanzadeh said the researchers used more than a dozen different computer models to produce several hundred simulations and found that "all of them agreed on an increase in northward steering winds over Texas."

Steering winds are strong currents in the lower 10 kilometers of the atmosphere that move hurricanes.

"It doesn't happen a lot, in studying the climate system, that you get such a robust regional signal in wind patterns," he said.

Harvey was the first hurricane Hassanzadeh experienced. He'd moved to Houston the previous year and was stunned by the slow-motion destruction that played out as bayous, creeks and rivers in and around the city topped their banks.

"I was sitting at home watching, just looking at the rain when (study co-author) Laurence (Yeung) emailed a bunch of us, asking 'What's going on? Why is this thing not moving?'" Hassanzadeh recalled. "That got things going. People started replying. That's the good thing about being surrounded by smart people. Laurence got us started, and things took off."

Yeung, an atmospheric chemist, Hassanzadeh and two other Rice professors on the original email, atmospheric scientist Dan Cohan and flooding expert Phil Bedient, won one of the first grants from Rice's Houston Engagement and Recovery Effort (HERE), a research fund Rice established in response to Harvey.

"Without that, we couldn't have done this work," Hassanzadeh said. The HERE grant allowed Rice co-author Ebrahim Nabizadeh, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, to work for several months, analyzing the first of hundreds of computer simulations based on large-scale climate models.

The day Harvey made landfall, Hassanzadeh also had reached out to Columbia's Chia-Ying Lee, an expert in both tropical storms and climate downscaling, procedures that use known information at large scales to make projections at local scales. Lee and Camargo used information from the large-scale simulations to make a regional model that simulated storms' tracks over Texas in a warming climate.

"One challenge of studying the impact of climate change on hurricanes at a regional level is the lack of data," said Lee, a Lamont Assistant Research Professor at LDEO. "At Columbia University, we have developed a downscaling model that uses physics-based statistics to connect large-scale atmospheric conditions to the formation, movement and intensity of hurricanes. The model's physical basis allowed us to account for the impact of climate change, and its statistical features allowed us to simulate a sufficient number of Texas storms."

Hassanzadeh said, "Once we found that robust signal, where all the models agreed, we thought, 'There should be a robust mechanism that's causing this.'"

He reached out to tropical climate dynamicist Ding Ma of Harvard to get another perspective.

"We were able to show that changes in two important processes were joining forces and resulting in the strong signal from the models," said Ma, a postdoctoral researcher in Earth and planetary sciences.

One of the processes was the Atlantic subtropical high, or Bermuda high, a semipermanent area of high pressure that forms over the Atlantic Ocean during the summer, and the other was the North American monsoon, an uptick in rainfall and thunderstorms over the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico that typically occurs between July and September. Hassanzadeh said recent studies have shown that each of these are projected to change as Earth's climate warms.

"The subtropical high is a clockwise circulation to the east that is projected to intensify and shift westward, producing more northward winds over Texas," he said. "The North American monsoon, to the west, produces a clockwise circulation high in the troposphere. That circulation is expected to weaken, resulting in increased, high-level northward winds over Texas."

Hassanzadeh said the increased northward winds from both east and west "gives you a strong reinforcing effect over the whole troposphere, up to about 10 kilometers, over Texas. This has important implications for the movement of future Texas hurricanes."

Models showed that the effect extended into western Louisiana, but the picture became murkier as the researchers looked further east, he said.

"You don't have the robust signal like you do over Texas," Hassanzadeh said. "If you look at Florida, for instance, there's a lot of variation in the models. This shows how important it is to conduct studies that focus on climate impacts in specific regions. If we had looked at all of North America, for example, and tried to average over the whole region, we would have missed this localized mechanism over Texas."

###

Bedient is the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering and department chair of civil and environmental engineering and director of Rice's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center. Cohan is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. Yeung is the Maurice Ewing Career Development Assistant Professor in Earth Systems Science in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (AGS-1921413), NASA (80NSSC17K0266), the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's Early-Career Research Fellowship Program, Rice's Houston Engagement and Recovery Effort Fund, Columbia's Center for Climate and Life Fellows Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NA16OAR4310079, NA18OAR4310277) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA 103862). Computational resources were provided by the National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (ATM170020), the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Computational and Information Systems Lab (URIC0004) and Rice's Center for Research Computing.

Links and resources:

The DOI of the Nature Communications paper is: 10.1038/s41467-020-17130-7

A copy of the paper is available at: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1038/ s41467-020-17130-7

High-resolution IMAGES are available for download at:

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0703_TEXASSTORMS-harveyISS-lg. jpg

CAPTION: Hurricane Harvey as seen from the International Space Station on Aug. 28, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Randy Bresnik/NASA)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0703_TEXASSTORMS-IkeRain-med. jpg

CAPTION: Map depicting total rainfall from 2008's Hurricane Ike. (Image by Hal Pierce/SSAI/NASA)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0703_TEXASSTORMS-harveyrain-lg. jpg

CAPTION: Map depicting total rainfall from 2017's Hurricane Harvey. (Image courtesy of NOAA)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0703_TEXASSTORMS-pedram-lg. jpg

CAPTION: Pedram Hassanzadeh

This release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Click here to read the full article.

Here's What You Need to Remember: At 360 feet long and 6,927 tons submerged, the Los Angelesclass submarines were designed to be 20 percent longer and 50 percent larger by displacement volume than their predecessors.

The Los Angelesclass nuclear attack submarines were the most successful American submarines of the Cold War. The United States built sixty-two Los Angelesclass subs, more than any class except for the Gato class of World War II. Fast, powerful and heavily armed, the submarines are slowly being replaced by Virginia-class attack boats.

The Los Angelesclass submarines, also known as the 688 class, were first designed in the early 1970s. The first ship, Los Angeles (SSN-688), was laid down in 1976. The submarines were produced at a Cold War pace, with production averaging three to five submarines annually, significantly higher than the current pace of two Virginia-class submarines produced annually. The Navy sustained this rate of production until 1992. Over the twenty years the class was produced, various systems, including propulsion, bow and towed sonar, and even hull material were upgraded to reflect the latest technology.

At 360 feet long and 6,927 tons submerged, the Los Angelesclass submarines were designed to be 20 percent longer and 50 percent larger by displacement volume than their predecessors, the Sturgeon class. They are also reportedly much faster: while the Sturgeon class could make twenty-six knots submerged, the Los Angeles class can allegedly make a swift thirty-seven knots.

The Los Angelesclass submarines were constructed from HY-80 steel, with a glass reinforced plastic bow over the sonar array. This gives the submarine a maximum official depth of 650 feet. Other sources peg maximum operating depth at 950 feet. The absolute maximum diving depth in emergencies is reportedly 1,475 feet.

The submarines feature a teardrop hull first introduced with the Skipjack class, with diving planes mounted on the sail. The last twenty-three ships in class moved the diving planes to the bow and feature strengthened sails for breaking through Arctic ice. This was likely in response to the Soviet Unions Typhoon-class ballistic-missile submarines, which were designed to operate under and through Arctic pack ice.

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According to Combat Fleets of the World, each submarine is served by a General Electric S6G pressurized water reactor powering two sets of geared steam turbines. The reactor provides 35,000-shaft horsepower to a single seven-bladed propeller. Some of the last of the class built have pump jets instead of a propeller. A diesel generator and batteries are available to provide emergency propulsion.

The sensor suite is centered around the BQQ-5 sonar system, with the class progressively equipped with the BQQ-5A(V)1, BQQ-5C and later the BQQ-5Dthe same sonar that equips the Seawolf class. For flank detection, AN/BQG-5 wide aperture arrays dot the submarines sides, providing passive sonar detection capability. The class has been equipped with several towed sonar arrays, most recently the TB-29 Thin Line Towed Array. The tail fins that support the towed arrays also support seven-celled Countermeasure Set, Acoustic MK 2 launchers.

Armament consists of four 533-millimeter torpedo tubes for all production submarines. The tubes are placed amidships on the hull due to the bow housing the active/pass sonar array. The ships can carry twenty-six torpedo tube-launched weapons, which at the height of the Cold War included Mk.48 homing torpedoes, up to eight Tomahawk cruise missiles, Harpoon antiship missiles and CAPTOR mines. The last twenty-three submarines were equipped with twelve vertical launch silos for Tomahawk missiles, a concept carried on with the Virginia class, for a possible total of twenty Tomahawk missiles.

In addition to the traditional roles of undersea, surface and strike warfare, the Los Angeles class was capable of conducting special operations. Select ships in the class were capable of being fitted with the portable Dry Dock Shelter, which could hold a Swimmer Delivery Vehicle, up to twenty SEAL commandos and four Combat Rubber Raiding Craft. This role has been taken over by the Ohio-class cruise missile submarines and the Seawolf class, particularly the USS Jimmy Carter.

Although intelligence gathering has long been a role for submarines, starting in the 1990s the U.S. submarine fleet began using an Army phrase, intelligence preparation of the battlefield, to describe intelligence gathering in support of operations on the ground. Lacking a underwater enemy to fight, American submarines could linger off the coastlines of potential adversaries, collecting electronic data and conducting surveillance operations. The Los Angeles class was at the forefront of this effort, and USS Annapolis was refitted with a photonic mast featuring cameras instead of a traditional periscope mast.

Sixty-two Los Angelesclass submarines were built between 1976 and 1996. Not all of them served at oncesome of the earliest subs were retired starting in 1995 with just seventeen years of service to avoid costly nuclear refueling costs while the production line was still running! Today thirty-eight are still on active duty. The Seawolf class, meant to provide deeper-diving submarines capable of Arctic operations, was canceled at three ships, due to cost overruns and the quest for a 1990s peace dividend. The true replacements for the 688 class are the Virginia submarines, currently under construction.

Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami.

This article first appeared last year and is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Wikimedia

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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.  When Marlene Jose, 20, lost her mom to the coronavirus weeks after she lost her 1-year-old brother to the disease, she said, she felt like she was "split in half."

Her mother had been in the intensive care unit for a week, her lungs struggling to capture oxygen. She lost the ability to speak and breathe on her own before she succumbed on June 15.

"I told her, 'I'm here with you.' I told her, 'Soon God will get you out of this,'" Jose said of the last time she spoke with her mother, whom NBC News isn't naming because of her immigration status. Four days later, Jose's mother died alone in the hospital.

Jose's sad situation is one that is increasingly common in this small city in the foothills of Appalachia on Tennessee's border with Georgia. Hamilton County, where Chattanooga is located, recorded a single-day record on July 1, with 118 new cases. It has also had 16 deaths since June 1, bringing the total death count as of Sunday to 35 as the spread of the virus perpetuates the nation's greatest health emergency in more than a century.

IMAGE: Tennessee National Guard medical staff members (Troy Stolt / Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)

This city, like so many others in the South, has the makings of a virus hot spot: It reopened quickly, there is little regard for masks and distancing, which studies show help mitigate the disease, and contact tracers have begun to lose threads on possible infections. Meanwhile, bars, restaurants, gyms, beauty parlors, pools and many other businesses have remained open despite a precipitous increase in coronavirus infections.

This all hits the Hispanic community particularly hard. Hamilton County Health Department data show that Hispanics have an outsize infection rate compared to other groups, likely because they are more often essential workers who live in multigenerational homes.

The infections are beginning to spread throughout Chattanooga, however, without regard to ethnicity. The reasons appear clear: Many residents seem to be carrying on as though there is no pandemic. Politicians, health experts and residents also said everything was made increasingly difficult by the perceived politicization of responding responsibly to the disease.

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Meanwhile, case counts, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise, and they could be spreading faster than recorded cases show, according to a sewage study the city of Chattanooga conducted with Biobot Analytics.

"It's been a very delicate balance between the health and welfare of our people and their economic health, as well," said Rae Bond, the executive director of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society, who is leading the local COVID-19 task force. "I don't think any community wants to have to close the doors again and to go back to the full shutdown we had before. But at the same time, as the cases continue to expand, it becomes challenging."

Economic prosperity versus public health

Part of that changed Monday with the announcement of a mask mandate for all of Hamilton County, but there are still concerns that it could be too little, too late.

After much political infighting and frequent public disagreements, Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, a Republican, agreed to the mandate that everyone in the county wear masks or face $50 fines or 30 days in jail.

"The punitive part of this is not what we're looking for: We're looking for compliance," Coppinger said at a news conference announcing the mandate Monday. He had previously opposed the measure because he didn't consider it enforceable.

Image: Jim Coppinger (C.B. Schmelter / Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, a Democrat, had long wanted a mask mandate and a slower reopening for his city, but he lost oversight of Chattanooga's COVID-19 response at the end of April when Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ended the state's stay-at-home order and sent residents back to work. Lee's executive order further vested Berke's power to respond to the pandemic in the county Health Department and Coppinger, who declined to comment.

The governor's office didn't respond to a request for comment.

On Friday, Lee gave the authority to mandate masks to the mayors of 89 counties, rather than order them at the state level, even as Tennessee has one of the lowest mask use rates in the country, according to a University of Washington study. Fewer than 10 percent of Tennesseans reported wearing masks regularly.

"The president who has the largest microphone in the world is not encouraging people to wear a mask," Berke said while wearing a mask inside Chattanooga's shuttered City Hall. "On the local level, it's hard to overcome that kind of messaging. So that's left us, unfortunately, with mandates as the necessary response."

Berke and Coppinger in many ways represent the politicization of masks and the response to the pandemic, as well as the challenges local and state governments face as they walk a tightrope between economic prosperity and positive health outcomes.

But Berke is concerned that with Lee's decision to reopen quickly and Coppinger's willingness to go along with the governor's reasoning, Chattanooga could soon see the virus at a level similar to New York City's and without the economic flexibility to shut down once again. Berke said that the $2.5 million the city set aside to help small businesses during the shutdown has already been spent and that owners of many shops, bars and restaurants used their life savings to reopen.

Without a bailout from the federal government for state and local governments, which is unlikely to be approved by Congress, the city's economy may not be able to survive another shutdown.

"If something like that happens again, given our decline in revenue," Berke said, referring to the drop in city tax revenue, "we don't have the same capacity or ability to support people as we did even three months ago."

Reopened but at risk?

The situation is especially frustrating for those who have been out of work and see the sudden uptick in cases as a sign that they will be unemployed even longer. While a group of people can pile into a bar without masks, live performances at theaters, where Erin Kellam worked as an electrician, still can't bring in audiences.

Kellam has been unemployed since the pandemic started, and she fears that a spike in cases could mean she won't be able to return to work any time soon. The development also comes as the CARES Act, which provides an additional $600 to state unemployment benefits, is set to run out at the end of July with little hope of being extended by Congress.

"I don't think we should have ever opened back up until we started to see that decline, and, as rapidly as we're rising now, we have to do something to start to get a decline," Kellam said. "But many of my friends and family that I have on my Facebook still believe it's a hoax."

Image: Totto Sushi in Chattanooga, Tenn. (C.B. Schmelter / Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)

Some argue that a city like Chattanooga, which is economically tied to hospitality and tourism, can't survive if people stay inside through the pandemic. Some businesses that have reopened insist that they are doing so safely.

Ruby Falls, a popular tourist destination on a ridge just outside the city limits, now runs at about 40 percent capacity, allowing 25 masked people to ride down an elevator into the cave at 15-minute intervals. Twenty-six stories below the ground, groups wind their way through narrow, cold, damp corridors at the direction of a tour guide as an employee watches the cave's camera feeds and tries to stop groups from crossing paths as much as possible.

The attraction sells all of its tickets online, so it knows how many people will arrive each day. It has regularly sold out since it reopened the tours on May 19, even with the recent spike in cases.

Ruby Falls CEO Hugh Morrow was an adviser for the state's reopening strategy and helped write the Tennessee Pledge, a series of guidelines that businesses can follow to safely reopen. He said that the park is continuing to operate at a loss despite the large influx of people but that being open allows it to pay staff and puts it in a prime position to reopen at full capacity if the pandemic is resolved. Morrow said visitors are getting a "tremendous value" because of the smaller tour groups.

"We feel that we're following protocols as tightly as they can be brought," he said inside Ruby Falls' closed cafe. "The analysis of our people that we do every morning when they walk in, where they've been and what they've done, is important. It's extremely important to be open and open safely and that we begin to re-create some of our tax base."

Contact tracers, however, point to large attractions like Ruby Falls as a frustrating variable as they try to follow the path of the infection through Chattanooga, and large exposure events continue to occur.

Dawn Ford, a former Hamilton County Health Department epidemiologist who led the local response to bird flu, is now a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she oversees a contact tracer training program. About 100 students and professors have gone through the training and volunteer to follow cases as best they can. The local Health Department has hired eight of the trainees to do the job full time.

Ford's concerns are that most of the people they call don't want to participate and aren't taking the disease seriously  some are even openly hostile  and that the disappearance of social distancing will make their jobs impossible.

"It's getting more difficult," Ford said. "A couple of months ago, most people were agreeable. But I think as people realize that they're going to be under quarantine for 14 days if they're interviewed by the Health Department, they are becoming less and less willing to work with us."

As case counts and deaths continue to grow in Chattanooga, Berke, who has largely been sidelined in the response, said a local response won't be enough to mitigate the disease, especially in this city that shares borders with two other states that have their own protocols and rules.

"It's a global pandemic," Berke said. "A small-scale response doesn't lead to the outcomes that you want. You have to have consistent large-scale interventions to stop this virus."
Many Willing to Take Pay Cut to Avoid Going Back to the Office

The pandemic has led many companies to make working from home the new normal, and recent research suggests many employees would give up some of their salary to keep things that way.

A survey by business-planning website RealBusinessSavings.com asked workers across the country to give their thoughts about working remotely, and how willing they would be to make working from home more permanent.

Not only did respondents point out a variety of reasons they dont miss the office, but some said they were even willing to take a pay cut to keep working remotely.

The value of working from home

While economic anxiety has increased in recent months because of the pandemic, some employees feel secure enough in their jobs to accept earning less, at least if its for the right reason.

On average, employees across the country said they would take a $316 monthly pay cut if they could continue to work from home, the survey found.

The amount employees were willing to give up varied by state. For example, Californians were willing to give up the most, as on average, they would accept a $495-per-month pay cut to avoid going back to the office.

On the other end of the spectrum, Hawaiians were willing to give up the least, as they would only take an average cut of $71 per month to keep working from home.

Benefits of working from home

A majority of workers (57%) who are able to work from home have found enough tangible benefits to request more telework in the future to avoid being exposed to the coronavirus. This resembles findings from other recent surveys showing wide concern about contracting COVID-19 at work.

But the RealBusinessSavings.com study turned up other reasons for wanting to stay remote, including 46% who said their mental health had improved, and 60% who said they are more productive at home.

And when it came to respondents favorite perks of working from home:

30% said saving money on commuting is the best thing

28% said the best is avoiding the commute itself

22% pointed to saving money on lunches and after-work drinks

12% most liked avoiding office politics

8% said the best part is being able to wear casual attire

In-person meetings may be a casualty of the pandemic

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One reason employees may feel more productive at home is because they can avoid some potentially time-wasting meetings. Thats the sentiment shown in another new survey, this one from conferencing software provider Premiere Global Services.

Among respondents, 75% of those working from home because of the COVID-19 outbreak said the remote experience helped them see that in-person meetings arent always necessary. Likewise, 69% said they now felt that some of the meetings theyve attended in the past werent necessary.

In addition, 76% of employees working from home because of the pandemic are using video conferencing tools more often, with 63% saying they can get more done during a video conference meeting than they can in an in-person meeting.

Methodologies: RealBusinessSavings.com surveyed 3,500 workers across the United States using Google surveys in the month of June 2020.

Premiere Global Systems surveyed 2,026 adults in the U.S., 745 of which were employed and working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey, conducted by The Harris Poll, took place between June 11 and June 15, 2020.
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.

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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
New York (AFP) - 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.

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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.
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Key Point: The Me 163 was too fast to be a good bomber destroyer.

Nazi Germany pursued numerous ambitious and impractical weapon programs over the course of World War II. One of the few that saw action was the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, the only rocket-powered fighter to enter operational service. The stubby rocket planes were blindingly fast by the standards of World War II fightersbut were in as much danger of blowing up from their volatile rocket fuel as they were of being shot down by enemy fire.

The quest for more powerful propulsion systems is as old as the history of aviation. While development of the first turbojet engines began in the late 1920s, other designers were drawn by the potential of preexisting rocket technology. Unlike air-breathing turbojets, rocket motors rely operate solely on propellant, and can deliver greater thrustwith the limitation being that they burn through propellant really fast.

The first aircraft to fly under rocket power was actually a modified tail-less glider, the Ente (Duck) produced by German designer Alexander Lippisch. Lippisch began working with glider-manufacturer DFS on a proper rocket fighter in the late 1930s, before transferring his DFS 194 prototype to the Messerschmitt airplane manufacturer. Because Messerschmitt had worked on an observation plane called the Bf 163 before switching to using Me aircraft designations, the designers figured using the Me 163 designation would trick Allied intelligence as to the rocket planes true nature.

The first Me 163A prototype was produced in 1941, sporting swept wings for improved high speed performance. Powered by an HWK 109 liquid-fuel rocket engine, it proved phenomenally fast, setting a world speed record of 624 miles per hour in level flight on October 2, 1941. Front-line fighters of the time rarely exceeded 350 miles per hour.

In 1944, a modified Me 163 reportedly achieved 702 miles per hour in a dive, nearly shearing off its vertical stabilizer in the process. This unofficial record was not exceeded until 1947, when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in his Bell X-1.

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However, the Komet burned through its fuel in just seven minutes of flightgiving it an operational range of just twenty-five miles. Nonetheless, the Luftwaffe decided it could use the Me 163 as a point-defense fighter, deploying it to airfields close to high-value targets subject to repeated attack.

The Komets design was revised for mass production in the Me 163B. A tiny propeller added on the tip of the nose generated electricity for the Komets avionics. The Me 163 had smooth handling characteristics and a superb rate of climb, but its unpressurized cockpit made it necessary for pilots to undergo special conditioning in high-pressure chambers to avoid passing out at high altitudes.

The first thirty preproduction B-0 aircraft were armed with MG-151 twenty-millimeter cannons, while the remaining four hundred B-1s had twin Mk 108 thirty-millimeter cannons. The heavy cannons could punch out a fighter plane with a single direct hit or a bomber with four or five shells. However, they lacked long-range accuracy due to their low muzzle velocity.

To save on weight, the Komets wheels were mounted on a trolley, which it jettisoned shortly after takeoff. For landing, the Me 163 relied on a skid retracting from the belly with an oil-hydraulic shock absorber. However, the Komets glider-like characteristics gave it so much lift that it was difficult to landand because it had usually exhausted its fuel by the time it made its approach, it could not usually attempt a second pass if it overshot. Once an Me 163 skidded to a halt on its belly, it had to be hoisted up and towed by a modified agricultural tractor.

The Komets rocket engine used a propellant called C-Stoff, combining methanol and hydrazine hydrate. The C-Stoff was oxidized with a hydrogen peroxidebased solution called T-Stoff. Both chemicals were transparent, corrosive and toxic to the touch, and extremely volatile when mixed, even at room temperature. Ground crew in special protective suits employed separate fuel trucks to fill Me 163s with C-Stoff and T-Stoff, and of course the T-Stoff was stored behind and next to the cockpit. The chemicals were so dangerous that Me 163s sometimes combusted spontaneously on the tarmac. On other occasions, battle damage or collisions would result in midair explosions.

The first Me 163Bs were deployed to the Erprobungskommando 16 testing unit on January 1944, and first saw combat in an inconclusive B-17 intercept on July 28, 1944. By August, an entire wing of Komets, designated JG 400, commanded by Maj. Wolfgang Spate, deployed to Brandis and Stargard to defend the Leuna and Politz synthetic fuel plants, respectively. Allied planners had finally realized that fuel was the Achilles heel of Germanys war economy, and shortages of C-Stoff caused by allied bombing would actually keep many of the Me 163 grounded for much of their time in service.

Nonetheless, some Me 163s did see action. Typically, one or two Komets would dive down on Allied bomber formations in a hit-and-run attack, before gliding back to base, their fuel spent.

It turned out the Me 163 was too fast to be a good bomber destroyer. Flying up to four hundred miles per hour faster than the bombers it was hunting, while using cannons accurate only at short range, a Komet pilot had about 2.5 seconds to aim and fire before he shot past his target. Allied fighters had no chance of keeping pace with the speedy Kometsbut they learned to follow them back to their airfields and strafe them as they made landing approaches.

In an attempt to address the accuracy problem, the Luftwaffe fitted Me 163s with the experimental SG500 Jagdfaust, which involved six recoilless fifty-millimeter mortars fixed in the wings roots of the Komet. When the Me 163 flew under an enemy bomber, the bombers silhouette would trigger the SG500s optical photocells, automatically launching the recoilless weapons vertically into the targets belly. The Jagdfaust was used only once operationally to shoot down a Lancaster heavy bomber on April 10, 1945.

In all, Komet pilots claimed sixteen aerial victoriesmostly B-17 and Mosquito bombers though only nine can be confirmed with certainty from Allied records. In return, between six and nine Me 163s were shot down in combat, mostly by P-51 Mustangs, though one also fell victim to a B-17 tail gunner. Another nine were lost to accidents. It was not an impressive showing, given the resources invested in the Komet project.

Messerschmitt developed an Me 163C with a double-chambered rocket engine, expanded fuel tanks and a pressurized cockpit. However, only one of the three prototypes produced is believed to have flown. In the end, the Luftwaffe realized its slower Me 262 turbojet fighters were far more practical than the short-range Komets, which were withdrawn one month before the German surrender. Allied troops went onto capture many Me 163s intact and take them back home for testingat least ten of which can be seen in museums in North America, Europe and Australia today.

The Me 163 story doesnt end in Europe. Germany agreed to share Me 163 technology with Japan for twenty million reichsmarksbut both Japanese submarines carrying Komet parts back to Japan, as well as a German U-Boat, were sunk in transit in 1944 and 1945. However, an officer on one of the submarines disembarked at Singapore and flew back to Japan with the instruction manual. Japanese designers used the manual to create their own versions of the Me 163, the J8M Shushui (Autumn Water) for the Navy, as well as the Ki-200 for use by the Army Air Force.

A total of seven J8Ms were assembled using slightly less powerful rocket motors, but only one was ever flown. On its maiden flight on July 7, 1945, the J8Ms rocket motor quit after takeoff, and the airplane combusted after a minor collision during the emergency landing, mortally injuring the pilot. The remaining aircraft were grounded until the fuel system could be fixed and the war ended before plans for full-scale production were realized.

The Komet remains the only rocket-powered fighter to have entered operational service. Despite attaining speeds unsurpassed by any other airplane of its time, the Me 163 stands as an object lesson on the limitations of maximizing one attribute of a combat plane at the expense of all others.

Sebastien Roblin holds a Masters Degree in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing, and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring. This article first appeared several years ago and is being reposted due to reader interest.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

More From The National Interest:

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The aerospace firm North American Aviation designed the XF-108 as a long-range interceptor. Its primary mission would have been to intercept Soviet strategic bombers that were en route to the United Stateswith American cities in their crosshairs. To fulfill this hypothetical mission, the U.S. Air Force issued several stringent design requirements.

They XF-108 would have to fly fast and highabout 60,000 feet, at a minimum speed of Mach 1.7all while having at least a 1,000 mile range. As an interceptor, the XF-108 would have to be able to target and shoot down Soviet nuclear bombers and was therefore to be equipped with a powerful new radar. Though it was not implemented on the XF-108, this radar would have made the interceptor the first jet with a look down/shoot down capability. It would also would have been able to detect and lock onto targets below the horizonmaking it the first airplane able to accurately hit targets beyond the horizon.

The radical new radar was to be paired with an equally radical air-to-air missile, the AIM-47. Originally designated the GAR-9, the missile could be equipped with conventional explosivesor a small nuclear warhead. Despite the XF-108 project cancelation, the missiles capabilities would continue to grow, eventually achieving a range of over 100 miles per hour.

Though the XF-108 design varied somewhat throughout its short lifetime, the final design used a type of modified delta wing design. This large wing design offered some aerodynamic advantages over conventional wing designs during high subsonic, transsonic, and supersonic flight. It also allowed a much greater volume of fuel to be stored internally inside the wing, significantly increasing the XF-108s potential range.

Thanks partly to the XF-108s wide hypothetical range, North American Aviation proposed the XF-108 as a fighter complement to their XB-70 Valkyrie strategic nuclear bomber project. In this role, the XF-108 would have used its good range and phenomenal speed to keep Soviet interceptors at bay, away from Americas nuclear-armed bombers during a war.

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Postscript

Ultimately the XF-108 never made it past a single wooden mockup. Though the jet was decidedly modern looking and would have been quite capable, the interceptor role it was designed for was no longer needed by the late 1950s. Both the United States and the Soviet Union shifted nuclear delivery from bombers to intercontinental ballistic missiles. There was therefore no longer a Soviet bomber threat, at least not of the importance that the Air Force had originally envisioned. So much for the XF-108 Rapierit would have been a phenomenal interceptor.

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

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-- Funding Accelerates Product Development and Time to Market --

SAN DIEGO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MemComputing, Inc., developer of disruptive high-performance computing technology, today announced that Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is the latest investor in MemComputing, joining other institutional investors such as IT-Farm. The latest investment brings the company's total funding to over $3 million and helps the company accelerate its product development and expand its sales and marketing efforts.

Finding solutions for today's impossible computational problems. (PRNewsfoto/MemComputing Inc.)

"Partnerships with funds as prestigious as Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and IT-Farm help demonstrate the credibility of our technology," said John Beane, CEO, and co-founder of MemComputing, Inc. "Both teams are delivering critical introductions to industry and other venture partners. We are thrilled to have them involved."

Anna Mason, Partner at Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, commented, "Despite the hype, the promise of quantum computing is likely still years from becoming a reality, but businesses have large, computationally complex problems that need to be solved today. MemComputing's new spin on classical computing is an innovation that meets this moment where there has never been a more pressing need for problem-solving on a grand scale."

"MemComputing is one of those rare Deep Tech breakthroughs that can change the whole field," said Morio Kurosaki, the President of IT-Farm. "Beyond immediately solving complex optimization problems, MemComputing has the potential to launch the next revolution in computing hardware as well."

MemComputing continues to gain momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic with steady growth with customers in Oil and Gas, Transportation Logistics, and the Department of Defense. With additional funding, MemComputing plans to roll out advanced features to the MemCPU XPC SaaS and begin developing its first Application Specific Integrated Circuit.

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About MemComputing

MemComputing represents the next generation of compute performance. Find out for yourself, register for a free evaluation of the MemCPU XPC SaaS at www.memcomputing.com .

About Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund

Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Funds are investment funds that are part of a nationwide platform led by Steve Case focused on spotlighting regional startup hubs and investing in early-stage, high growth companies across the country. The team partners with regional ecosystem leaders and co-investors to build and scale the next wave of transformational companies. The Rise of the Rest Seed Funds are backed by a group of iconic entrepreneurs and business leaders who believe that the next great startups are located outside of coastal tech hubs. The Rise of the Rest Seed Funds are headquartered in Washington, DC and part of Revolution's family of funds including Revolution Growth and Revolution Ventures. Visit us online at revolution.com/rotr or @RiseOfRest.

About IT-Farm

IT-Farm is an early-stage venture capital firm. From its offices in Tokyo (Japan) and Palo Alto (California, USA), IT-Farm has been supporting early-stage startups realize their dreams and visions on a global scale since 1999.

Press Contact:



Johnny Aiken

MemComputing, Inc.

jaiken@memcpu.com

Cision

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SOURCE MemComputing Inc.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won't be joining him and President Donald Trump in Washington this week to mark the start of a new free trade accord.

Lopez Obrador said Trudeau had asked to speak with him and they planned to speak by phone on Monday. Late last week, Trudeau had not committed to attending the White House gathering.

Lopez Obrador has come under heavy criticism at home for making his first foreign trip to meet with a president who has insulted Mexicans and doing it just months before U.S. elections.

But Lopez Obrador has managed to maintain a cordial relationship with Trump and believes the start of the new trade agreement, negotiated from before the start of his administration is worth the trip.

Lopez Obrador also said he would likely be tested for COVID-19 Monday afternoon before traveling to Washington Tuesday. He said he would share his results, if he had them, Tuesday morning.
DETROIT  Motorists in Michigan were met with a startling message Monday on an electronic billboard in Redford Township.

"Driving while Black? Racial profiling just ahead. Welcome to Livonia."

The organizer behind the billboard lives in Livonia and said it is an effort to awaken the city to problems that continue to exist with profiling and other forms of racism.

The mayor called the billboard counterproductive. The police chief said his department does not engage in racial profiling.

The message is funded by a Facebook group called Livonia Citizens Caring about Black Lives. The billboard can be seen on northbound Telegraph Road in Redford Towsnhip, just south of I-96.

This billboard is supposed to greet Interstate 96 drivers by Monday, July 6, 2020.

Organizer Delisha Upshaw created a donation fund to raise money to pay for the billboard message. The fundraiser website says the group had a goal to purchase four weeks of billboard space with the message.

Billboards have long been banned in Livonia but the group wanted to make a highly-visible statement to daily highway commuters. So members chose Redford Township as a location.

Upshaw said the plan is to highlight the decades-old problem of racial profiling in Livonia, an issue that critics have been mentioning at protests and public forums.

Some people want to deny that its a problem, Upshaw said. That cant be the way. Livonia is not an all-white city anymore. We have to be a city that is welcoming for everyone.

Upshaw says that Livonia is an amazing city for families, but it is marred by a perception of bigotry and discrimination amid a historic reputation for racial profiling by its police department.

Video: Why some Black men fear profiling while wearing masks

Mayor: Billboard is 'counterproductive'

Livonia Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan has pledged to work for change but called the billboard "counterproductive."

"This billboard will not help advance the progress of diversity in our community, something to which I am committed," Brosnan said in a news release.

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She said the Livonia Human Relations Commission has been recommissioned and hosted the first Partnership for Progress Listening Session, which was sponsored by the Western Wayne NAACP and the Conference of Western Wayne.

Police Chief Curtis Caid in the news release Monday said his officers do not target their enforcement actions to individuals based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, etc."

"Racial profiling is a serious allegation and is not tolerated," Caid said. "We are proud that Livonia has been consistently ranked as one of the safest cities in the region.

"Livonia is a welcoming community to all regardless of ones race. This billboard sends the exact opposite message of our values at the Livonia Police Department and of those in our community.

At a June 24 Listening Tour event, Caid said the department is open to change.

As well intentioned the officers may be, sometimes their actions are perceived to be the opposite of what theyre trying to accomplish, he said. Unfortunately, as a result of that (and) these tragic events, we find ourselves facing some realities. Were willing to work with that and learn from that and make our communities better.

At the same event, the mayor said shed like to embed more mental health services into the community and police department. Mental health and domestic calls have spiked largely because of the pandemic, Brosnan said.

The police department has been targeted by protesters as part of the larger Black Lives Matter movement that has swept the nation since the death of George Floyd.

Hometown Life reporter Susan Vela contributed to this report.

Investigations: Hundreds of millions of dollars goes to COVID-19 contractors accused of prior fraud

'Really not good': Dr. Anthony Fauci warns US is 'knee-deep' in first wave of coronavirus cases

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan billboard ad calls out 'racial profiling' in Livonia
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TikTok is the popular mobile app of the moment, one often used by teenagers to make funny musical videos, while it's also sometimes used to make political statements. But now, the U.S. Secretary of State is threatening to ban the app, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, in the United States.

Appearing on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show on Monday night, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that such a ban is under consideration.

Following news that India has banned the app and Australia is considering following suit, Ingraham asked Pompeo, "shouldn't we be considering, right now, tonight, a ban on Chinese social media apps, especially Tiktok?"

"We're taking this very seriously, we're certainly looking at it. We've worked on this very issue for a long time, whether it's having Huawei technology in your infrastructure, we're gone all over the world and we're making real progress getting that out."

"With the respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you, the United States will get this one right, too," before cautioning that he didn't want to get out in front of the president.

When the tech site Gizmodo reached out for comment, a spokesperson denied that TikTok had ever provided user data to the Chinese government. It's not clear if the oft-stated accusation that China uses TikTok to spy on citizens is true, but the hacker collective Anonymous alleged last week that the app is "essentially malware operated by the Chinese government running a massive spying operation."

The story came on the same day that TikTok announced it was pulling out of Hong Kong, following China's recent crackdown on that territory.

It's worth pointing out that President Trump and members of his administration have frequently used "we're looking at that" or "we'll look at it, as Pompeo did in the interview, as a rhetorical dodge for questions that they weren't expecting. And also, TikTok is so popular among younger Americans that a ban of it may end up causing political problems for an administration, four months ahead of the next election.

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One such teenager, the 15-year-old daughter of White House aide Kellyanne Conway, has made news in recent weeks for using TikTok to slam President Trump, although her account was taken private over the weekend.

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.

Image: Fox News Screenshot.

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A group called Mission Impawsible is reuniting people with their pets during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Mindy Schauer/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Move over, Tom Cruise  we have a new group of action heroes who are stepping up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kyla Robertson and her husband faced the heart-wrenching prospect of going through the pandemic without their dog. Robertson and her husband were returning to Vancouver after spending the past two years in China, but they couldnt secure a flight for their rescue terrier.

They quickly realized this wasnt a novel problem, created a WeChat group for people looking to find flights for their pets in hopes of being reunited, and Mission Impawsible was born.

The Mission Impawsible GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $39,000 at the time of this writing, approaching their goal of $100,000.

"It's been a whirlwind and definitely never in my wildest dreams did I think that creating a WeChat group was going to lead me here six weeks later," Kyla Robertson said to CNN. "Chartering a flight across the ocean for my dog."

Robertson chartered a plane from Shanghai to Vancouver then Seattle for a flight that will take off on July 18 and carry over 100 dogs and cats.

"It's just been kind of one of those things where we've been like ... at first, 'Whoa, can we even pull off something like this?'" Robertson said. "We don't even know each other, we haven't even met in person, we're from different places.

Robertsons kindness and quick thinking has been lauded by the other members of the WeChat group.

I've never met Kyla and she's willing to accompany my dog on a 12-hour flight. And that's amazing," Ontario resident Kailtlyn Hooper said to CNN. "When the world has been so dark for the last few months, it's really added a lot of light in the last few days."

I cant speak for everyone but a flight full of dogs is one Id love to be on. Heres to Robertson and the rest of Mission Impawsible being reunited with their pets in a time where we could all use some unconditional love.

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Mortgage Brokerage Franchise Ranked as a Fastest-Growing and Top New Franchise

DENVER, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accolades from Entrepreneur magazine keep accumulating for the Motto Mortgage brand. Recently, Motto Mortgage was named as one of Entrepreneur's 2020 Top New franchise brands1, ranking #15 out of 100, as well as an Entrepreneur Fastest-Growing Franchise2, for 2020 with an overall ranking of #71 out of 100.

Motto Mortgage is a different kind of mortgage network. Each office is independently owned, operated and licensed. (PRNewsfoto/Motto Mortgage)

This is the second year in a row Motto Mortgage has been ranked on these lists; the brand was previously distinguished in 2019 by Entrepreneur as one of the Fastest-Growing-Franchises3 as well as a Top New franchise brand4. Motto Mortgage raised its ranking in both categories for 2020, jumping 41 spots on the Top New list.

Entrepreneur also recognized Motto Mortgage as one the Best Franchise Brands of 2020 and named Motto Mortgage as one of the 9 youngest franchise brands on its 2020 Franchise 500.

Earlier this year, Motto Mortgage was named to Entrepreneur magazine's 41st annual Franchise 500 list, ranking #395 overall and first in the Miscellaneous Financial Services category5. Placement in the Franchise 500 is a highly sought-after honor in the franchise industry. This was the first time Motto Mortgage has been included in the prestigious Franchise 500.

"We are elated to have earned placement on these Entrepreneur lists, along with some of the most respected franchise brands in the country," said Ward Morrison, president, Motto Franchising, LLC. "These rankings are a testament to the strength of the nationwide Motto Mortgage network and showcases the potential of our brand and business model."

Motto Mortgage, a "mortgage brokerage in a box," continues to disrupt the mortgage industry by providing exceptional service, more options, transparency and convenience for consumers. This model not only offers an ancillary business for current real estate brokerage firms, but also opportunities for mortgage professionals seeking to open their own businesses and independent investors interested in financial services.

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Each Motto Mortgage franchise is independently owned, operated and licensed.

About Motto Mortgage

The Motto Mortgage network is breaking the mold by giving the power of choice back to consumers with less jargon, more transparency, and even more options to choose from as they shop for the right home loan. With over 100 offices open in more than 30 states, Motto Franchising, LLC's unique national franchise mortgage brokerage model is the first of its kind in the United States. Created to disrupt the mortgage industry, the Motto Mortgage network connects loan originators and real estate agents to provide a seamless, personalized experience and one-stop shop for consumers. Motto Mortgage is the second member of the RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. family of brands. Each Motto Mortgage office is independently owned, operated and licensed. To learn more about Motto Mortgage, or for license information for a Motto Mortgage office, email newsroom@mottomortgage.com, or visit www.mottomortgage.com/offices.

1Motto Mortgage named a 2020 Top New Franchise based on Entrepreneur magazine's analysis of data, including costs, fees, size, growth and brand and financial strength, from franchise disclosure and related documents dated August 2018 to July 2019 of 255 participating franchise systems open for 5 years or less as of July 31, 2019.

2Motto Mortgage named a 2020 Fastest-Growing Franchise based on the net number of franchise units added in the U.S, and Canada between August 2018 to July 2019 according to Entrepreneur magazine's review of units lists and Franchise Disclosure Documents of 1,105 participating franchises across all industries.

3Motto Mortgage was named an Entrepreneur Magazine 2019 Fastest-Growing Franchise based on the net number of franchise units added in the U.S. and Canada between July 2017 to July 2018 according to Entrepreneur magazine's review of unit lists and Franchise Disclosure Documents of 1,094 participating franchises across all industries.

4Motto Mortgage was named as an Entrepreneur Magazine 2019 Top New Franchise based on Entrepreneur magazine's analysis of data, including costs, fees, size, growth and brand and financial strength, from franchise disclosure and related documents dated August 2017 to July 2018 of 274 participating franchise systems open for 5 years or less as of July 31, 2018.

5Franchise 500 and category ranking based on Entrepreneur magazine's analysis of data, including costs and fees, support, size and growth, brand strength, and financial strength and stability, from franchise disclosure and related documents dated August 2018 to July 2019 of 1,105 participating franchise systems.

This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a Motto Mortgage franchise. It is for informational purposes only. We will not offer you a franchise in states or other jurisdictions where registration is required unless and until we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration requirements in your state (or have been exempted therefrom) and a Franchise Disclosure Document has been delivered to you before the sale in compliance with applicable law. New York residents: This advertisement is not an offering. An offering can be made by prospectus only. Minnesota Reg. No. F-8089; Motto Franchising, LLC, 5075 South Syracuse St #1200, Denver, CO 80237, 1.866.668.8649.

Cision

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SOURCE Motto Mortgage
delivery.com expands to another 150 Cities with MyTown2Go

NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- delivery.com, a leading destination for local online food ordering and delivery that connects consumers and corporate clients to their favorite local businesses, today announced it is significantly expanding the reach and capabilities of its platform. This expansion is due to nationwide food delivery service MyTown2Go. MyTown2Go brands Dinner Dart in Mississippi, Go Cravy in Florida and Gulf to Go in Alabama are also included. All four are now available exclusively through the delivery.com website and app. The current management and teams, located throughout the Midwest, will remain local to leverage their roots and take a local first approach to expanding online ordering and delivery services in their areas. Along with MyTown2Go's markets, delivery.com now connects more than two and a half million customers and corporate clients with more than 19,000 restaurants, liquor stores, dry cleaners and other local businesses in 2,000 cities and growing.

Customers who live in the regions served can continue to order from their favorite local restaurants for delivery or pickup, and can now access the delivery.com suite of offerings:

Best-in-class technology and mobile apps: consumers can experience a frictionless, easy-to-use platform to order from their favorite neighborhood restaurants.

Order tracking: After placing their order, customers receive a link designed for tracking the progress of their order and stay up-to-date on its ETA.

Delivery Points: popular loyalty program from delivery.com that allows customers to earn free food and other rewards.

delivery.com Office: corporate clients can order catering, set up individual ordering for their offices, or use the Group Order feature.

"The broad reach of MyTown2Go and their brands will be a valuable addition to our team," said Jed Kleckner, CEO of delivery.com. "They deeply value the neighborhoods they serve, and work closely with restaurants and local businesses. We're excited to bring our technology and tools to their communities to provide a better ordering experience for everyone.

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delivery.com and MyTown2Go share a "local first" approach to online ordering. delivery.com provides the exceptional ordering experience and delivery know-how that consumers have grown to expect from a national delivery brand. Together with deep local expertise, a network of drivers, and relationships with the best merchants that MyTown2Go supplies, delivery.com is poised to offer consumers end-to-end excellence while supporting the growth of local businesses.

"With everything going on in the world today, our customers were our top priority. They deserve the best experience possible, and we believe delivery.com provides that. We will have the backing of a large company, while keeping our hometown roots in place. That was very important to us. This was the perfect time to transition to a superior technology, which will improve overall efficiency and keep our existing customers happy. It will also help us gain more customers for the MyTown2Go family. Overall, we are very excited about the transition and look forward to serving our communities with this new platform," said Mike Hall, MyTown2Go CEO.

The announcement with MyTown2Go is part of a rapid series of acquisitions and partnerships and comes only weeks after delivery.com announced that California-based Doorbell Dining also joined their network. With the addition of 40,000 MyTown2Go customers, delivery.com expands its regional presence in 14 states and continues to grow nationwide. MyTown2Go plans to roll out a full set of delivery.com services in their markets, including Group Ordering and office ordering features, as well as expanded offerings beyond food delivery. For a limited time, MyTown2Go is offering $10 off orders of $15 or more to first-time users of delivery.com with the code ORDERNOW (see the website for details).

About delivery.com

delivery.com empowers the neighborhood economy by enabling consumers and corporate customers to order online from their favorite restaurants and other local businesses. More than two and a half million delivery.com customers and delivery.com Office clients explore their communities and order from over 19,000 local businesses in more than 2,000 cities while at home, at work, or on the go. With headquarters in New York and a growing presence across the country, delivery.com makes e-commerce an integral part of local daily life, enabling customers to order, companies to provide, businesses to grow, and neighborhoods to thrive.

About MyTown2Go

MyTown2Go is a restaurant marketing and delivery service that started in 2016 in Topeka, KS. Within 4 short years, MyTown2Go has rapidly expanded into 40 locations servicing hundreds of cities. The MyTown2Go mission has always been about offering a fast, reliable and convenient service to customers, while giving back to the communities they serve. The business model is simple: MyTown2Go partners with local restaurants and independent contractors to quickly and accurately deliver fresh and delicious food to hungry customers. They are proud to be locally owned and operated, while actively supporting their communities. They do so through charities, sponsorships, and donations, as well as providing jobs and facilitating the local economy.

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san quentin

REUTERS/Stephen Lam

On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a COVID-19 outbreak in San Quentin State Prison was his "top focus and priority," and that nearly 1,000 inmates would be released early or relocated.

The announcement came after more than one third of the inmates had been confirmed having COVID-19.

Last week, University of California San Francisco infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told NBC Bay Area the prison had become "the Chernobyl of COVID."

San Quentin's coronavirus outbreak stemmed from a transfer of 121 highly vulnerable inmates from the California Institution for Men in Chino on May 30.

Over three weeks, the prison went from having no cases to 499 confirmed cases.

California Sen. Mike McGuire called the error a "failure of leadership" and said the crisis had been "completely avoidable."

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San Quentin State Prison's coronavirus situation is so volatile it's been labeled "the Chernobyl of COVID," and Californian Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is looking into who can leave as soon as possible.

On Monday, Newsom said that the outbreak in California's oldest correctional facility was his "top focus and priority," and nearly 1,000 inmates will be released early or relocated, according to The Washington Post.

San Quentin is California's only prison with inmates on death row.

Since June 24, at least five of the inmates on death row have died from COVID-19, and by the end of June about a third of the prison's inmates  more than 1,300 inmates  were infected.

On July 2, University of California San Francisco infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told NBC Bay Area the prison had become "the Chernobyl of COVID."

"That tower is burning," he said, "and it's really unsafe to get in their right now."

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San Quentin's coronavirus situation stemmed from a transfer of 121 inmates, who were considered highly vulnerable to COVID-19, from the California Institution for Men in Chino, on May 30, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Over three weeks, the prison went from having no cases to 499 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Officials said that the transferred inmates had not been properly tested, according to The Post.

California Sen. Mike McGuire called the error a "failure of leadership" and said the crisis had been "completely avoidable," according to the Associated Press.

At Monday's press conference Newsom admitted that the prisoners should not have been transferred.

But he said his staff had been on the problem for the past three weeks, and he himself was going through prisoner files to work out who could be released or transferred while ensuring the released prisoners did not end up living on the streets.

Prisons are hot spots for the coronavirus due to a lack of space, an inability to practice social distancing, and poor infrastructure, according to The Guardian.

Across California, more than 2,600 inmates had active coronavirus cases and 2,200 had recovered, according to AP.

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A pro-China supporter holds a Chinese national flag during a rally to celebrate the approval of a national security law for Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. - Kin Cheung/AP

Nearly half of British adults support the Government's proposal to welcome Hong Kongers, a poll has revealed.

The Savanta ComRes survey found just one in four oppose the proposal to offer Hong Kongers that hold British National Overseas (BNO) Passports and their dependents a bespoke five-year visa, with the pathway to later apply for full UK citizenship.

Over two in five Brits (42 per cent) expressed support for Boris Johnson having made this offer, with just one in four (25 per cent) expressing any opposition.

Support is higher among those who say they are familiar with recent events in Hong Kong, with half (50 per cent) expressing outright support.

Not since 1997 and the handover of Hong Kong to the Peoples Republic of China has the UK ever been involved in such a heated clash over the territorys future.

Beijings introduction of the new National Security Law last week has drawn widespread condemnation and criticism as an affront to Hong Kongs special one country, two systems status.

While the UK has vowed to make good on its promise of a five-year residency to BNO-status Hong Kongers, with an eye to gaining full citizenship, the public are not averse to the Government going further.

Simon Cereda of Savanta ComRes said: The Covid pandemic has prompted many parliamentarians and other experts to ramp up their questioning regarding the UKs relationship with China, from our reliance n the Huawei network to our implicit tolerance of the treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The British public seemingly reflect this shift in narrative, with a strong and overwhelming desire for a more distant relationship with China across a range of issues.

The poll, which interviewed 2,062 UK adults aged over 18 online between July 3 and 5, found over two in five Brits (44 per cent) desire a more distant relationship with China. It comes as Mr Johnson is reported to be reevaluating the decision to incorporate Huawei as a central partner in our 5G national infrastructure.
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Here's What You Need to Remember: Israeli nuclear weapons guard against everything from defeat in conventional warfare to serving to deter hostile states from launching nuclear, chemical and biological warfare attacks against the tiny country.

In a private email leaked to the public in September of 2016, former secretary of state and retired U.S. Army general Colin Powell alluded to Israel having an arsenal of 200 nuclear weapons. While this number appears to be an exaggeration, there is no doubt that Israel does have a small but powerful nuclear stockpile, spread out among its armed forces. Israeli nuclear weapons guard against everything from defeat in conventional warfare to serving to deter hostile states from launching nuclear, chemical and biological warfare attacks against the tiny country. Regardless, the goal is the same: to prevent the destruction of the Jewish state.

Israel set off to join the nuclear club in the 1950s. David Ben-Gurion was reportedly obsessed with developing the bomb as insurance against Israels enemies. Although an ambitious goal for such a small, initially impoverished country, Israel did not have any security guarantees with larger, more powerful statesparticularly the United States. The country was on its own, even buying conventional weapons off the black market to arm the new Israeli Defense Forces. Nuclear weapons would be the ultimate form of insurance for a people that had suffered persecution but now had the means to control their own destiny.

Ben-Gurion instructed his science adviser, Ernst David Bergmann, to direct Israels clandestine nuclear effort and set up and chair the Israel Atomic Energy Commission. Shimon Peres, who later went on to serve as president and prime minister of Israel, cultivated contacts with a sympathetic France that resulted in the latter agreeing to supply a large, heavy water nuclear reactor and an underground plutonium reprocessing plant, which would turn spent reactor fuel into the key ingredient for nuclear weapons. The reactor was built at Dimona in the Negev desert.

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By the late 1960s the United States assessed Israeli nukes as probable, and U.S. efforts to slow the nuclear program and get Israel to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty went nowhere. Finally in September 1969, Nixon and Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir reportedly reached a secret agreement that the United States would cease its demand for inspections and Israeli compliance with antiproliferation efforts, and in return Israel would not declare or test its nuclear weapons.

Israel didnt have long to wait for its first nuclear crisis. The 1973 Yom Kippur War saw Arab armies achieve strategic surprise, sending Israeli ground forces reeling in both in the Sinai desert and the Golan Heights. Israeli nuclear weapons were placed on alert and loaded onto Jericho I surface-to-surface missiles and F-4 Phantoms. Determined Israeli counteroffensives were able to turn the situation on both fronts around, and the weapons were not ultimately used.

Not much is known about early Israeli weapons, particularly their yield and the size of the stockpile. The strategic situation, in which Israel was outnumbered in conventional weapons but had no nuclear adversaries, meant Israel likely had smaller tactical nuclear weapons to destroy masses of attacking Arab tanks, military bases and military airfields. Still, the relatively short ranges between Israel and its neighbors meant that the Jericho missile, with only a three-hundred-mile range, could still hit Cairo and Damascus from the Negev desert.

Israel does not confirm nor deny having nuclear weapons. Experts generally assess the country as currently having approximately eighty nuclear weapons, fewer than countries such as France, China and the United Kingdom, but still a sizeable number considering its adversaries have none. These weapons are spread out among Israels version of a nuclear triad of land-, air- and sea-based forces scattered in a way that they deter surprise nuclear attack.

Israels first nuclear weapons were likely gravity bombs delivered by fighter aircraft. The F-4 Phantom is thought to be the first delivery system; as a large, twin-engine robust fighter, the Phantom was probably the first aircraft in the Israeli Air Force capable of carrying a first generation nuclear device. A new, smaller generation of nuclear gravity bombs likely equips F-15I and F-16I fighters. While some might argue a gravity bomb is obsolete in light of Israeli advances in missile technology, a manned aircraft allows a nuclear strike to be recalled right up to the last minute.

Israels first land-based nuclear weapons were based on Jericho I missiles developed in cooperation with France. Jericho I is believed to have been retired, replaced by Jericho II and -III ballistic missiles. Jericho II has a range of 932 miles, while Jericho III, designed to hold Iran and other distant states at risk, has a range of at least 3,106 miles. The total number of Israeli ballistic missiles is unknown, but estimated by experts to number at least two dozen.

Like other nuclear-armed nations, the Israeli Navy has reportedly deployed nukes to what is generally agreed to as the most survivable seagoing platform: submarines. Israel has five German-built Dolphin-class submarines, which experts believe are equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. The cruise missiles are reportedly based off the Popeye air-to-ground missile or the Gabriel antiship missile. This ensures a so-called second-strike capabilityas long as one submarine is on patrol, some portion of Israels nuclear deterrent remains invulnerable to a nuclear first strike, guaranteeing the ability to launch a nuclear counterattack.

The establishment of a nuclear triad demonstrates how seriously Israel takes the idea of nuclear deterrence. The country will likely not declare itself a nuclear power any time soon; ambiguity over ownership of nukes has served the country very well. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and general instability across the Middle East has ensured that Israel will likely remain the only nuclear-armed state in the region for the foreseeable future, but a collapse of the agreement or some new nuclear program could easily change that. In the meantime, Israels ultimate insurance policy isnt going anywhere.

Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national-security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009, he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami.

This article first appeared last year and is being republished due to reader interest.

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The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates.

Whats happening

At least 54,000 residents and workers at nursing homes and other elder-care facilities have died of COVID-19 in the United States, according to data compiled by the New York Times in late June. The U.S. has more deaths connected to nursing homes than any country other than Brazil has in total.

COVID-19 has proved to be especially dangerous for the elderly. People over 65 represent more than three-quarters of Americas nearly 131,000 coronavirus deaths. The age of nursing home residents, combined with the ease with which the virus spreads in communal spaces, has led to devastating outbreaks. Some facilities have been connected to more than 70 deaths.

Across the U.S., there are about 1.4 million people living in nursing homes. Though their residents make up less than 1 percent of the countrys population, nursing homes account for more than 40 percent of Americas COVID-19 deaths. The fatality rate for nursing home residents who contract the virus is more than three times the national average, according to the New York Times.

Why theres debate

To some experts, the coronavirus has highlighted flaws in the U.S. nursing home system that can only be fixed by radically changing the way the country cares for the elderly. Critics argue that nursing homes were vulnerable to the virus not just because they house older people in tight quarters, but also because of long-standing problems like limited resources, poor government support, underpaid staff, lack of oversight and financial structures that incentivize substandard care. The size of the countrys older population is expected to nearly double by 2050, which could further strain the already strained nursing home system.

A better plan, some argue, would be a major increase in at-home care for seniors supported by government funds, new technology and community members. Some studies suggest that at-home care is cheaper and leads to better health outcomes. Shifting the majority of elder care to the home would allow nursing homes to focus on supporting people with intensive health needs, experts say.

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Others say a massive restructuring of elder care could leave behind poor people and people of color, who are less likely to have stable housing and the money needed to support at-home care. Many of the issues with the current system, they argue, can be fixed through more funding for care and staff pay, a more equitable health care system and more government accountability.

Perspectives

The government should help fund at-home care for seniors

The desire is there to stay at home, but until the government takes action, nothing will change. Maybe the extraordinary events of the past few months will finally be the catalyst we need to move forward to aging at home.  Julian Gray and Frank Petrich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The virus has drawn attention to ongoing problems with nursing homes

The pandemic doesnt have many silver linings, but as the number of nursing-home deaths piles up, the news media is being forced to cover a world many of us would prefer to ignore.  Charles C. Camosy, New York Times

Technology and family support can ease the burden of at-home care

One alternative is supporting in-home care for seniors to age in place, undergirded by technology that can virtually detect falls, provide companionship through robotics, monitor the frequency of sleeping and toilet visits, or even check how often the fridge door is opened. The pandemic should prompt us to explore these alternatives, or options for generational living where grandparents reside with younger generations, contributing to the mortgage and pitching in with child care.  Michele L. Norris, Washington Post

The country needs to prepare for a major spike in the elderly population

Long, full lives are our new normal  thanks in no small part to modern medicine. If the coronavirus pandemic has upsides, I hope one is that it challenges doctors, politicians, and everyone else to more thoughtfully adapt to this new reality for the human species.  Louise Aronson, Atlantic

There may not be enough workers to support a transition to at-home care

Transition to home-based care would require more home health care workers  many of whom work for lower pay, and with fewer labor protections, than their counterparts in facilities. In some places, there are already too few people willing to fill those roles.  Michael Schulson, Mother Jones

Nursing home staff deserve more money and better protection

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, our system of caring for the elderly was like dry kindling waiting for a spark. Low-wage workers are not to be blamed for the concentration of coronavirus cases and deaths in nursing homes. Instead, they need to be appreciated and protected. Doing so will protect us all.  Don Taylor, Tampa Bay Times

We must address the ageism that leads to poor elder care

Lets stop the ageist rhetoric  which only increases suffering by devaluing the elderly at a time when they are already vulnerable  and focus on the value they bring to society.  Tracy Davis, Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.)

The business model of nursing homes results in substandard care

The pay in the industry is low, the demands are high, and many say the incentives are all wrong. A look through the piles of federal lawsuits filed against nursing homes in recent years yields a similar dismal tale time and again. Too many patients needing too much care. Far too few staff, paid far too little.  Brett Arends, MarketWatch

A transition to at-home care could make those left in nursing homes even more vulnerable

Some experts worry that if too much funding shifts toward home care, that could gut already cash-strapped nursing homes, which could create an imbalance for those stuck there  who are more likely to be poorer residents and people of color.  Nina Feldman and Laura Benshoff, WHYY

Is there a topic youd like to see covered in The 360? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com.

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Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images
Peter Humphrey, former journalist and investigator, photographed last year - Heathcliff O'Malley

By Peter Humphrey

Ofcoms damning judgment on Monday against Chinese state television outfit CGTN for helping Chinas police extract and broadcast forced and false confessions from untried prisoners is an important victory against the human rights abuses of the Chinese Communist Party dictatorship.

During a two-year captivity ordeal in 2013-2015 on manufactured charges, I was twice submitted to this abusive practice, once while locked in a cage with steel bars.

I and my wife were accused of illegal information gathering on behalf of our due diligence firm, ChinaWhys, after being engaged by GlaxoSmithKline to profile a former Chinese GSK executive who turned out to be a whistle-blower informing Chinese police about GSKs bribery schemes.

I was drugged, handcuffed, locked into a metal chair inside the cage, and questioned by one of my daily police interrogators pretending to be the voice of a journalist, while crews from CCTV and other Chinese media filmed me without obtaining my consent under free will.

CCTV and its English-language offshoot CGTN, both of which are official propaganda organs of the Chinese Communist Party, packaged the material to make it look like a confession of crime and broadcast it worldwide, including on UK air waves.

My complaint, filed in November 2013, unleashed a slew of like-minded actions by numerous complainants, with Ofcom yet to rule on their grievances.

Ofcoms guilty verdict on CGTN this week is historic on various counts. It was unprecedented that an individual anywhere in the world outside China launched a legal action against an arm of the Chinese Communist Party. It was again unprecedented that an individual anywhere in the world had filed a legal complaint against Chinese state television. My victory is also an unprecedented and massive reprimand to Communist Party authority and abuse.

For me personally, it is a milestone along the path to exoneration while I continue to wrestle with PTSD and cancer caused by my false imprisonment and denial of medical treatment in jail.

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But needless to say, I am still a way off from the point where Beijing admits its crimes against me, expresses remorse, and punishes those responsible, which is my ultimate goal.

The verdict comes at a sensitive time in Anglo-Chinese relations when UK diplomacy is wrestling with three big issues: Hong Kong, Huawei and the future of CGTN in this country.

With two, London has recently shifted course to a more anti-CCP posture.

Today the third domino fell. Ofcom will now choose from sanctions ranging from fines to revocation of CGTNs UK broadcast licence.

I believe the only just course, given the seriality of CGTNs offences and the gravity of these forced confession abuses, is to strip the licence and send them packing.

There should be no place in our free and open and democratic society for a police state propaganda organ from a hostile country masquerading as a media outfit.

Peter Humphrey has spent 45 years as a sinologist, journalist and businessman. He is an external research affiliate of Harvard University and Kings College London
The Daily Beast

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photos via GettyPresident Vladimir Putin has pulled off a targeted propaganda operation against the U.S. thats so simple it never should have workedand he did it in plain sight as part of the build-up to last weeks summit with President Joe Biden.This weekend, Russias favorite propaganda shows celebrated a job well done. State TV propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov asserted on his show on Sunday, Biden should keep in mind that not only America is back, but Rus
Company Recognized for its Ongoing Investment in an Open, Collaborative Culture Where Employees & Customers are Valued

DALLAS, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- One Technologies, LLC has been honored by Texas Monthly magazine, the Texas Association of Business, Texas SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), and Best Companies Group with inclusion in the 2020 listing of "Best Places to Work in Texas."

One Technologies, LLC https://onetechnologies.net/ (PRNewsfoto/One Technologies)

"We understand that we cannot accomplish our mission to help consumers better monitor their credit, and their overall financial lives, with analytics, technology, and Big Data alonewe also need the right people," said Carlos Medina, Senior Vice President of Operations and Business Development at One Technologies. "We are proud to provide our employees with a collaborative and inclusive environment where they can pursue challenging and fulfilling careers, while also having fun."

The 100 "Best Places to Work in Texas" are determined using the results of a two-part survey. The first portion, worth one-fourth of a company's total score, evaluated nominated companies' workplace policies, systems, practices, philosophies, and demographics. The second part, accounting for three-quarters of every nominee's score, required employees to answer questions about their experience working for the company. Best Companies Group analyzed the data and determined the final rankings, which are published in the July 2020 issue of Texas Monthly. For more information about the "Best Places to Work in Texas" survey and awards program, please visit https://www.bestcompaniestx.com/.

This year marks the sixth occasion One Technologies has been honored as one of the "Best Places to Work in Texas," having also been recognized in 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2018.

"As part of our ongoing effort to maintain a workplace culture where people know they are valued, we generously reward our employees with competitive benefits and perks for sharing our dedication to consumers," said Heather George, Vice President of Human Resources and Facilities at One Technologies. "Our company is, at its core, a people-focused organization where our team and our customers come first. We are glad to be recognized by our employees as well as the Texas business community for our commitment."

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To learn more about careers at One Technologies, please visit https://onetechnologies.net/careers/.

"One Technologies cares deeply about compliance, cybersecurity, and the customer experience, and it is very gratifying to be part of a company that actively invests in people like me, who live and breathe these values every single day," said Chau Ly, Manager of Marketing at One Technologies. "At One Technologies, I don't just feel like an employeeI feel like I am part of a community."

About One Technologies

One Technologies, LLC harnesses the power of technology, analytics and its people to create solutions that empower consumers to make more informed decisions about their financial lives. The firm's consumer credit products include ScoreSense , which enables members to seamlessly access, interact with, and understand their credit profiles from all three main bureaus using a single application. The ScoreSense platform is continually updated to give members deeper insights, personalized tools and one-on-one Customer Care support that can help them make the most sense of their credit.

One Technologies is headquartered in Dallas and was established in October 2000. For more information, please visit https://onetechnologies.net/ .

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Ontarios privately-run cannabis stores will no longer be permitted to deliver or offer curbside pickup once an emergency order issued by the province in response to COVID-19 expires.

As our province carefully moves towards recovery, the (emergency order) to temporarily allow for cannabis retail curbside pickup and delivery will end when the declaration of emergency expires, along with other temporary measures that had been put in place to support people and business during the public health emergency, said Richard Clark, communications director for Ontario's Finance Minister, in an emailed statement.

Ontario's state of emergency is set to expire on July 15. Premier Doug Ford's office said it would introduce a motion Wednesday to extend it until July 24. The government introduced legislation on Tuesday to extend some pandemic emergency orders over the next year, but not measures related to cannabis sales.

Canadas most populous province declared a state of emergency on March 17. Ontario issued a list of essential workplaces allowed to remain open on March 23 that included cannabis stores and cannabis producers. Those businesses were dropped from an updated list issued on April 3, forcing pot shops to close for an initial period of 14 days after April 4.

On April 7, the province passed an emergency order allowing pot retailers to temporarily sell through click-and-collect and delivery channels. Online sales and delivery had previously been exclusive to the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS).

Private cannabis stores in Ontario praised the move to keep their businesses alive during the pandemic.

Click-and-collect was a lifeline for us, Badyr Valcarcel, director of retail operations at Shiny Bud in North York, told Yahoo Finance Canada last month.

The opportunity to expand into new online sales has even spurred innovation among retailers. A number of observers have called on the province for a permanent expansion of ecommerce to private stores.

Story continues

With files from The Canadian Press.

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
MELBOURNE, Australia, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Apromore, the leading developer of open-source process mining technology, today announced it has raised AU$6.84 million (EUR 4 million) in a Series A round led by German business process management specialist GBTEC. The Series A round also involved investment from Melbourne-based consulting and technology firm Leonardo and The University of Melbourne, which helped to incubate Apromore prior to spin off.

From left: Prof Marcello La Rosa - CEO and Co-Founder, Prof Marlon Dumas - Partnerships and Co Founder, Dr Simon Raboczi - Chief Architect and Co-Founder and Dr Ilya Verenich  Chief Data Scientist and Co-Founder.

The Series A investment will allow Apromore to strengthen its product development capacity and to expand into the realm of AI-driven automated process improvement, including robotic process mining, prescriptive process analytics, and automated decision optimisation. According to Gartner's 2019 Market Guide for Process Mining: "[Apromore] focuses significantly more than its competitors on intelligent support for model enhancement, and on predictive analytics."[1] It is anticipated the investment will allow Apromore to build on its success to date and further solidify its market position.

Apromore's CEO, Prof. Marcello La Rosa, highlighted that "Apromore inherits a decade of R&D in the field of business process management and process mining, and we have packed the most advanced algorithms for process mining into Apromore's products. This investment will allow us to maintain our competitive advantage, by incorporating the latest research and innovations in the field of AI-driven automated process improvement into our product. It will also allow us to continue pursuing our mission of democratising process mining via a commercial open-source business model."

The investment is coupled with a strategic partnership with GBTEC. The partnership will see GBTEC offering Apromore's process mining technology as a core component of its BIC Platform for business process modelling and automation.

Commenting on the investment and the strategic partnership, GBTEC's CEO, Gregor Greinke, said: "The integration of Apromore into the BIC Platform will provide a one-stop shop for companies seeking to accelerate their digital transformation journey with full-lifecycle process optimisation. The analytics capabilities that Apromore brings into the BIC Platform are truly exceptional when it comes to identifying underperforming processes, rework loops, waste, and bottlenecks. By joining forces, we are certain to establish one of the best analytics and AI-driven process optimisation tools on the market."

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Leonardo's Managing Director Adam Mutton also commented on Apromore's potential: "Apromore is leading the way in innovative AI-driven process improvement  from automated discovery of actual as-is processes, to predictive process modelling based on live data to future directions involving integrated robotic process discovery, scripting and automation. Clients are excited by the ability to dramatically reduce discovery and analysis time, rapidly analyse large data sets and drill to specific issues and root-cause analysis to determine the highest priority improvements.

Prof. Mark Cassidy, Dean of Melbourne School of Engineering, also added, "This is a clear demonstration of the strong commitment of the University of Melbourne's School of Engineering to turn world-class research into commercial innovation." Prof. Uwe Aickelin, Head of the School of Computing and Information Systems, added: "This successful spinoff is testimony to the quality and relevance of the research conducted in our school, and accentuates our position as a world-class hub for computing research".

Apromore is the result of over a decade of extensive research and innovation at The University of Melbourne, University of Tartu (Estonia), and other research institutions across the globe.

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Apromore Pty Ltd

About GBTEC Software + Consulting AG

About Leonardo

About The University of Melbourne

Contact:

Marcello La Rosa

Tel.: +61 3 8344 9887

E-Mail: info@apromore.com

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SOURCE Apromore
By Charlotte Greenfield and Mubasher Bukhari

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE (Reuters) - Pakistan's health minister on Monday said he had tested positive for COVID-19, the latest senior figure to contract the novel coronavirus in a country where rising cases are putting pressure on the health system.

"I have tested positive for COVID-19. Under (medical) advice I have isolated myself at home & taking all precautions. I have mild symptoms. Please keep me in your kind prayers," State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza said on Twitter.

Pakistan has so far confirmed more than 229,831 cases with 4,762 deaths, according to government figures. The country has continued to confirm around 4,000 new cases per day, despite daily testing numbers falling.

A number of high level officials have tested positive in Pakistan, including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who announced he had the virus on Friday, just days after meeting with U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad.

The Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed and the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Asad Qaiser have also contracted the virus.

On Monday, 48 doctors resigned in the eastern city of Lahore, one of the hardest hit areas by the virus. Salman Haseeb, president of the Young Doctors Association for Punjab, said the resignations were due to low morale in the stretched health system due to poor working conditions.

"See the lack of seriousness of the government during the deadly pandemic that it is accepting resignations instead of addressing the doctors' problems at this critical time when more doctors are much needed in Pakistan," he said.

The spokesman for the Punjab Health Department, Syed Hammad Raza, told Reuters that the resignations were not related to COVID-19 and were due to personal reasons, and that doctors had enough protective equipment and received extra bonuses for working during the pandemic.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield and Mubasher Bukhari; Editing by Peter Graff)
An officer investigates the scene of a shooting in Chicago on Sunday - AP

A perfect storm of a coronavirus outbreak, social justice protests and police reforms have caused a huge spike in gun crime in cities across the United States, figures suggest.

Chicago and New York in particular have seen some of the worst violence in decades as calls have grown across the country to "defund" its police forces.

Chicago's bloodiest holiday weekend in memory ended with 87 people shot - 17 fatally - including a seven-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. In New York, 65 people were shot over the two days, several of whom in broad daylight as the country celebrated its independence on July 4.

The violence in Chicago and New York caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who tweeted: "Crime numbers are way up. Federal Government ready, willing and able to help, if asked!

"Perhaps they will have to start changing their ways (and thinking!)"

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Kayleigh McEnany, White House spokeswoman, told reporters to ask themselves why only Democrat cities were seeing spikes in gun violence.

Shootings and murders began to noticeably rise in New York after the Covid-19 lockdown was implemented in late March and rose again after the New York Police Department (NYPD) disbanded its anti-crime unit of plainclothes officers on June 15, in reaction to street protests against police brutality.

Its 600 members had been involved in a number of high-profile police shootings and deaths, including the chokehold that killed Eric Garner.

With a total of 205 shootings in New York during the month of June, it was the bloodiest June in 24 years  going back to 1996, when the NYPD logged 236 incidents, the department said.

A Chicago police officer helps a child walk through an area being investigated after two men were shot - AP

In June, the number of shootings surged 130 per cent compared to last June.

A similar pattern has emerged in Chicago, Atlanta, Memphis and Philadelphia.

No one is safe read the front page of the New York tabloid Daily News on Tuesday, above a photograph of a suspect pointing a gun out of a car window at a man walking with his seven-year-old daughter in the Bronx.

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This is something that we have to double down on, Bill de Blasio, the citys mayor, said at a news conference on Monday, adding that the rise in shootings was fuelled by several factors, but mainly the dislocation that has happened over these last four months with the coronavirus.

NYPD Police officers listen as Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York President Pat Lynch holds a news conference to address the "current anti-law enforcement environment." - AFP

The fact that the court system is not working, the economy is not working, people have been penned up for months and months, so many issues underlying this challenge, he said.

The NYPD has blamed bail reform, and the early release of about 2,500 inmates from city prisons because of Covid-19.

Some law enforcement officials and their political allies have sought to link the recent violence with anti-brutality protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by white police officers in Minneapolis in late May.

Others say it is a once-in-a-lifetime confluence, describing it as a perfect storm.

"You have to ask yourself if the combination of all the changes  the decrease in enforcement, the bail reform, the protests, whether or not that impacts behaviour in some way, crime committing behaviour, and, logically, you almost have to say it does or else it is very hard to otherwise explain," said Richard Aborn, the president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City.
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.

During the return of diplomacy on the Korean peninsula in 2018, a number of observers expressed their hope for a formal end to the Korean War. However, the developments of the past months have again made clear how difficult this problem is to solve. One of the main reasons for this is the series of enormously complex and interdependent challenges with the establishment of a genuine peace regime on the Korean peninsula. Consider, for example, the denuclearization of North Korea, building trust among the relevant parties and establishing a corresponding regional security architecture. However, to North Korea there are also domestic political motives for maintaining the war.

The Political Motives of Sustaining a Perpetual War

While oftenyet mistakenlycalled the forgotten war, to both North and South Koreans the Korean War is not some distant memory, but has become an integral part of their respective national identity. In North Korea, the discourse on the Korean War is among the most important meta-narratives that make use of the countrys foundational history and recurring historical analogies to explain and legitimize contemporary their government. According to this narrative, the Korean War did not end in 1953 and while the nature of this conflict changed over time, the logic of a perpetual national emergency has been kept intact.

Even in times of political detente, the discursive construction of a permanent threat by and perpetual war with the United States was largely upheld in the domestic discourse. Described as a diplomatic war in many North Korean sources, diplomacy with America is described as continuation of war by other means. Understanding the reason behind this logic requires us to acknowledge that, to the decisionmakers in Pyongyang, sustaining a state of perpetual war and supreme emergency serves a number of tangible political functions. For instance, most notably to strengthen collective identity by provoking and allaying anxiety to maintain quiescence and de-legitimizing dissent. As the identity of the Self is experienced and apprehended more strongly in times of increased threats and the existence of an external enemy, these notions are frequently used to build internal unity and coherency.

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Selig Harrison rightly stated that North Koreas permanent siege mentality has not only helped bonding the society (and the political class) together, but that the permanent state of supreme emergency is also a powerful political strategy that helped solidify the rule of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and now Kim Jong-un. As the leader is basically equated with the sovereignty and independence of the North Korean state and the protection of the Korean nation, the production of an identity as a warring nation reinforces a strong need to preserve the absolute nature of its leader.

It is in this context that North Korea regularly invokes the bitter memories of the Korean War to legitimize contemporary political practices. For instance, it is very possible that without the construction of a perpetual and all-encompassing threat, without the notion of an ongoing war, the massive efforts and expenditures that accompany North Koreas nuclear strive would be impossible to sustain. As such, the notion of an ongoing war also helps to elevate the status of security actors (such as the military), diverting scarce resources into ideologically-driven political projects (such as the nuclear program) or distracting the public from pressing social ills (such as the structural economic crisis).

Dr. Eric J. Ballbach is the director of the Research Unit North Korea and International Security at Freie Universitat Berlins Institute of Korean Studies. He also serves as Korea Foundation Visiting Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) in Berlin. Dr. Ballbach advises the German Parliament and various Ministries on Korea-related issues and he regularly participates in various informal Track 1.5 initiatives involving high-ranking representatives from the DPRK.

Image: Reuters

Click here to read the full article.
- The core offering will enable Petplan to provide an enhanced digital customer experience and support new product growth

RALEIGH, North Carolina, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sapiens Americas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sapiens International Corporation, (NASDAQ: SPNS) (TASE: SPNS), a leading global provider of software solutions for the insurance industry, announced today that Petplan, the pet insurance provider with the most comprehensive coverage in North America, has selected Sapiens CoreSuite for Property & Casualty to provide a cloud-based, full digital experience for their customers and expand product offerings.

Sapiens International Corporation Logo (PRNewsfoto/Sapiens International)

"In order to support our ambitious growth goals, we required a cloud-native infrastructure with user-oriented configurability, a strong digital platform and open architecture," said Danna Rabin, chief operating officer, Petplan North America. "After an extensive search, Sapiens proved to be the perfect fit. Their fully digital insurance platform will enable us to reimagine the customer experience, quickly launch new products and services, and deliver increased organizational efficiency."

Added Rabin: "Sapiens' team understands insurance and technology and they 'speak digital' in a way that allowed our teams to quickly define their business needs and requirements."

"We are excited to welcome Petplan to the Sapiens team," said Roni Al-Dor, president and CEO, Sapiens. "With the performance and configurability of our digital insurance platform, we can provide the innovative capabilities Petplan requires to continue growing in a unique insurance space."

Sapiens CoreSuite for Property & Casualty over the cloud will facilitate a digital experience and self-service for customers and agents, while speeding the introduction of non-traditional insurance products to the market.

About Petplan

Petplan is a leading pet health insurance provider, offering the most comprehensive pet insurance coverage in North America. Founded in 2003, Petplan was acquired by Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing, in October of 2019. The acquisition provides access to significant capital and resources to drive meaningful growth. Under new leadership, Petplan is achieving milestone subscriber counts, now serving a quarter million customers. The company is leading with innovation across product, technology and customer experience, while simultaneously creating strategic partnerships, new sales platforms and creative materials to support projected growth. For more information about Petplan pet health insurance, visit GoPetplan.com.

Story continues

About Sapiens

Sapiens International Corporation empowers insurers to succeed in an evolving industry. The company offers digital software platforms, solutions and services for the property & casualty, life, pension & annuity, reinsurance, financial & compliance, workers' compensation and financial markets. With more than 35 years of experience delivering to over 500 organizations globally, Sapiens has a proven ability to satisfy customers' core, data and digital requirements. For more information: www.sapiens.com.

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The man seen pulling his gun out in Philadelphia's Old City neighborhood.

Twitter/DJ Torney

A bar owner in Philadelphia pulled a gun on a man outside a bar after the man criticized patrons for not social distancing or wearing a mask.

The incident happened near Infusion Lounge in Philadelphia on Sunday. After a confrontation, the bar owner pulled a gun on the man.

Philadelphia police are investigating the incident.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Philadelphia bar owner was videotaped pulling a gun on a man who had criticized customers for not wearing masks or social distancing.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the incident happened in front of Infusion Lounge in Philadelphia's Old City neighborhood on Sunday. It began when a man on a bike started shouting "Social distancing! No one is wearing a mask!"

Customers started shouting at the cyclist, and a man identified by the Inquirer as Infusion owner Jamie Atlig confronted him.

Witnesses told the Inquirer that the cyclist got off his bike and yelled "MAGA privilege," to which Atlig responded by saying "Trump 2020" and pulling out his gun. Witness Liz Krieger told the Inquirer that the cyclist grabbed his bike lock for self-defense.

A woman ran to the man's side, and told Atlig to put his gun "the f--- away."

"He's doing nothing. He's doing f------ nothing. He had a f------ bike lock," she can be heard saying in video of the incident that was posted to Twitter.

Seconds later, Atlig put his gun away and sat back down.

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Philadelphia Police spokesman Eric McLaurin told the Inquirer that officials have opened an investigation into the incident.

Krieger told the Inquirer that she believes Atlig pulled the gun out because the man was Black.

"The Black man doesn't 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 weren't social distancing. He was completely in the right to be yelling at us  and if I hadn't been there, this is how Black people are shot and it's claimed later that he had a bike lock on him and people thought it was a gun. But let's be clear: The bike lock was never pulled out [until after the gun was]."

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In an interview with FOX29, Atlig said he pulled his gun out in self-defense, and that he's "the actual victim in this situation."

"It looked like, at that point, he was drawing a gun, because it was a black, metal object as he reached behind," Atlig said.

Insider has contacted Atlig's lawyer for comment.

Read the original article on Insider
Nairobi (AFP) - Kenyan police on Tuesday fired tear gas at protesters marching against police brutality in the capital Nairobi, arresting dozens for defying a ban on large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.

The march took place to commemorate "Saba Saba" day, which means the seventh day of the seventh month.

It marks the day in 1990 that violent protests broke out in Kenya to demand free elections under the iron-fisted president Daniel arap Moi.

This year the march was aimed at denouncing police brutality, which has seen at least 15 people killed by police enforcing an evening curfew put in place to stop the spread of coronavirus, according to a toll compiled by the police oversight agency IPOA.

Activists had planned demonstrations in downtown Nairobi, as well as several informal settlements, however some were broken up with tear gas, while protest organisers were arrested in several locations.

Contingents of heavily-armed police officers were deployed to protest areas to disperse demonstrators.

"We have 57 in custody and I know the security operation is going on because these people have been retreating and coming back," a police officer involved in the operation told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Nairobi Police Chief Philip Ndolo said the protests were illegal.

"It is outlawed, it is not legal, and no permit has been given. As you are aware, no public gatherings are allowed at this time due to COVID-19 and we will not allow anyone to hold any meeting or march of any kind," he said.

"Those arrested will be charged for contravening the ministry of health regulations on COVID-19 by congregating."

People charged with flouting coronavirus restrictions in Kenya have in recent weeks been fined 5,000 shillings ($47, 41 euros) or given community service.

Protesters waved placards reading "Stop the Killings" and "Respect the Constitution" while singing freedom songs and waving the national flag.

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"I am yet to know my offence after I was arrested," said Wilfred Olal who was coordinating the protests in the eastern suburb of Dandora.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused police officers of murder and using excess force, whippings and tear gas to violently force Kenyans indoors during the early days of the curfew.

In June, the police oversight agency IPOA said at least 15 deaths had been "directly linked" to curfew enforcement.

In a separate incident, three people were shot dead on June 25 when police fired on a crowd of motorcycle taxi drivers protesting the arrest of a colleague for flouting coronavirus restrictions.
Princes William and Harry have agreed to split the future income of their mothers memorial fund as they take separate paths.

Financial documents show an agreement signed last December, which divides the funds between the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the now abandoned Sussex Royal.

Harry and Meghan had hoped to use Sussex Royal after leaving their senior roles in the Royal Family, but had to wind it up this month after agreeing not to use the word royal in their branding.

Prince Harry and Prince William are splitting the future funds of the Diana memorial trust. (Getty Images)

The Royal Foundation assumed control of The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund in April 2013, to safeguard future income after its operations ended.

At the time, the foundation covered the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

The fund is no longer actively raising money but still receives some legacies and donations. The money will now be split between the Royal Foundation, and Sentebale, at Harrys request.

Sentebale is a charity Harry set up to help the victims of extreme poverty and HIV/Aids in Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi.

Prince Harry and Prince William, meeting well wishers and viewing tributes to Princess Diana in 2017. (WireImage)

Read more: Prince Harry and Meghan say people will be 'uncomfortable' as racism and unconscious bias are tackled across the Commonwealth

The Royal Foundations report and consolidated financial statements for the year ending 31 December, 2019, said: On 18 December 2019, an agreement was signed with the Sussex Royal Foundation by which The Royal Foundation intended to grant half of the net future proceeds received by the Diana Fund to Sussex Royal.

In March 2020 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they would no longer be operating Sussex Royal as their primary philanthropic vehicle in the UK and accordingly their share of the net income will instead be donated to another charity of The Duke of Sussexs choosing.

The documents show the Foundation received 21,346 from The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund  close to the 21,583 received in 2018.

The Royal Foundation documents also show that 145,000 was awarded to Harry and Meghan as an unrestricted grant for them to set up Sussex Royal after the Cambridges and the Sussexes agreed to split their households.

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A further 100,000 was given to Prince Harry as a restricted grant to set up Travalyst, his sustainable tourism project.

The project is continuing as a non-profit which will be based in the UK.

Princess Diana with Prince Harry and Prince William in Kensington Palace. (Getty Images)

Read more: Harry and Meghan close Sussex Royal charity ahead of big 2021 launch

The Royal Foundation has also provided a home for legacy projects set up by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

It means Hubb Community kitchen, which the Duchess of Sussex worked with, is still given grant funding through the foundation, as well as the Empowering Communities and Full Effect programmes, which combat youth violence in London and Nottingham.

It was announced earlier this year that the Endeavour Fund Awards, another passion project for Harry, was transferred to the Invictus Games Foundation.

Harry, 35, and his wife Meghan, 38, are planning their next move as they prepare to launch the Archewell Foundation next year, which will be a non-profit organisation.

They have also signed up as speakers with an agency that also represents Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as Meghans friend Serena Williams.

The Royal Foundation continues to be the main philanthropic vehicle for Prince William and Kate.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation Collaboration With Pan-Cancer Consortium Clarifies And Promotes Consistent Use Of Common Terms For Biomarker And Germline Genetic Testing

The Prostate Cancer Foundation Collaboration With Pan-Cancer Consortium Clarifies And Promotes Consistent Use Of Common Terms For Biomarker And Germline Genetic Testing

PR Newswire

LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2020

White Paper Published by Cancer Leaders Provides Industry-Wide Recommendations for Testing Terminology in Precision Medicine

LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) has collaborated with a consortium of 41 leading patient advocacy organizations, professional societies and industry partners to publish a white paper detailing recommendations for the use of testing terminology in precision medicine for patient education throughout the cancer community. Use of consistent language will significantly improve patient awareness and understanding of potentially life-saving testing options available for both new cancer diagnoses and progression or recurrence of disease. In prostate cancer, testing is a crucial tool that may reveal additional treatment options and/or information for a man's family about their own cancer risk.

Visit pcf.org. (PRNewsFoto/Prostate Cancer Foundation) (PRNewsFoto/Prostate Cancer Foundation)

Research shows that despite widespread acceptance of the importance of testing, actual testing rates lag far behind best-practice recommendations for both biomarker testing for somatic (acquired) mutations and other biomarkers, and for germline genetic testing for identifying germline (inherited) mutations (also known as variants). Analysis by The Consistent Testing Terminology Working Group (Working Group) indicates that language disparity is a primary obstacle to patient communication with providers about testing for their specific cancer type. Further, development of consistent language can increase patient understanding and communication, facilitate shared decision making, support value-based care and assure concordance in policy development.

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"Both types of testing  biomarker testing and genetic testing for inherited cancer risk  are important in the care of prostate cancer patients," said Dr. Andrea Miyahira, Director of Global Research and Scientific Communications at PCF. "One example is the very recent approval of medications for men with advanced prostate cancer and certain mutations in their tumor or inherited mutations that would be revealed through testing. Therefore, clear terminology and understanding between patients and providers is all the more vital. PCF supports this valuable collaboration across cancer types."

The Working Group is a consortium of 20 cancer patient advocacy groups representing solid tumor and hematologic malignancies, three professional societies, and 18 pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies and testing laboratories. Over the course of many years, multiple activities, led by numerous individual patient advocacy organizations and professional societies have developed the groundwork for this effort. The Working Group has launched a multi-faceted dissemination and communications effort to ensure that its recommendations and supporting materials are widely available among all key stakeholders within the cancer ecosystem, including providers, patient advocacy organizations, guidelines agencies, payers, and policymakers.

In developing its recommendations, the Working Group, first convened in 2019 by LUNGevity Foundation, identified 33 terms related to biomarker, genetic and genomic testing that were being used in patient education and clinical care within the different cancer communities. In many cases, multiple terms were used to describe the same test. Various testing modalities, the source of testing samples, and the multiplicity of gene mutations currently identifiable by testing, were contributing factors in this often-confusing overlap.

In the final analysis, three umbrella descriptor terms emerged as recommendations from the Working Group's milestone exploration: "Biomarker testing" was selected as the preferred term for tests that identify characteristics, targetable findings or other test results originating from malignant tissue and blood; "genetic testing for an inherited mutation" and "genetic testing for inherited cancer risk" were selected as consensus terms for tests used to identify germline (inherited) mutations.

"Far too many patients across all cancer types are still missing out on essential tests for biomarkers and inherited mutations indicating cancer risk," said Michelle Shiller, DO, AP/CP, MGP, Co-Medical Director of Genetics at Baylor Sammons Cancer Center and Staff Pathologist at Baylor University Medical Center. "With rates of biomarker testing and genetic testing for an inherited mutation at sub-optimal levels for numerous patient populations, patients are not benefiting from biomarker-directed care or not learning about their inherited cancer risk. Confusion around testing terms is a driving factor in this undertesting and ultimately has a detrimental impact on patient care."

"When someone is diagnosed with cancer, they're swept into a whirlwind of bewildering words and complex, pressing decisions. Our Working Group's goal is to help calm that storm of confusion with clear and consistent language that facilitates communication and medical decision-making. A unified voice and message from providers, industry and the patient advocacy community about testing is absolutely vital to optimal cancer care," said Nikki Martin, Director of Precision Medicine Initiatives at LUNGevity Foundation.

An abstract on the Working Group's recommendations was published in May 2020 as part of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting Virtual Library. The White Paper can be viewed in its entirety at http://www.commoncancertestingterms.org/.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity Foundation is the nation's leading lung cancer organization focused on improving outcomes for people with lung cancer through research, education, policy initiatives, and support and engagement for patients, survivors, and caregivers. LUNGevity seeks to make an immediate impact on quality of life and survivorship for everyone touched by the diseasewhile promoting health equity by addressing disparities throughout the care continuum. LUNGevity works tirelessly to advance research into early detection and more effective treatments, provide information and educational tools to empower patients and their caregivers, promote impactful public policy initiatives, and amplify the patient voice through research and engagement. The organization provides an active community for patients and survivorsand those who help them live better and longer lives.

Comprehensive resources include a medically vetted and patient-centric website, a toll-free HELPLine for support, the International Lung Cancer Survivorship Conference, and an easy-to-use Clinical Trial Finder, among other tools. All of these programs are to achieve our visiona world where no one dies of lung cancer. LUNGevity Foundation is proud to be a four-star Charity Navigator organization. Please visit www.LUNGevity.org to learn more.

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation

The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world's leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised more than $830 million in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 220 leading cancer centers in 22 countries around the world. Thanks in part to PCF's commitment to ending death and suffering from prostate cancer, the death rate is down more than 50% and countless more men are alive today as a result. PCF research now impacts more than 73 forms of human cancer by focusing on immunotherapy, the microbiome, and food as medicine. For more information, visit PCF.org.

Media Contact:

Donald Wilson

Prostate Cancer Foundation

(310) 428-4730

press@pcf.org

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SOURCE Prostate Cancer Foundation
Teresa Dominguez, left, and Rosa Moreno hug at a Black Lives Matter rally in Los Angeles after the story of their sons' deaths at the hands of law enforcement were told. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Rosa Moreno had heard many stories in her neighborhood about mothers whose sons were killed by police.

Their pain seemed unspeakable. Their cases left a trail of questions.

Police are supposed to keep us safe, Moreno used to think. Why would they hurt people and take away their children?

Then, in 2017, her 23-year-old son, Cesar Rodriguez, died brutally in an encounter with law enforcement, and the mother of three became yet another cautionary tale around East L.A.

In recent years, she and other women from Lincoln Heights, Boyle Heights and East L.A. who have lost their sons to police violence have found solace and a sense of collective voice in one another. Their group numbered less than a handful when they began about three years ago, then gradually, as law enforcement shootings continued, grew to 15.

As protests against police brutality have spread nationwide and the rallying cry Black lives matter has gone global, these Eastside moms have pushed for change, largely on their own. They comfort one another while also pressuring law enforcement to overhaul its use-of-force policies and better its relationship with the Latino community.

Isaiah Valdovinos raises his fist at a June 24 rally against police brutality. Behind the boy is Evelia Granado, who spoke on behalf of the Rodriguez family at the downtown L.A. protest. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

We have no phrase, not even a name, said Moreno, 51. But were warriors for our sons. We support one another like family.

Some of them found each other at their most desperate moment, on the side of road, in parking lots and housing complexes roped off by yellow crime tape, just hours after their sons were killed. Others connected in support groups.

At one such group about a year ago, 10 mothers were brought together to talk about the effects of gang violence in East L.A. But when it came time to speak, the women shifted to law enforcement brutality.

It turned out that about 8 out of 10 of the women had had a child killed by police, said Johnny Torres, an organizer with Soledad Enrichment Action, a gang intervention program paid by L.A. County.

Since Torres began serving the area in late 2017, hes spent a lot of time getting to know the mothers. And though his mandate in East L.A. is gang intervention, theres been so much concern about the violent behavior of the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department that Torres has become one of the few people the community turns to for help. His phone rings at random hours with desperate calls from mothers, siblings, aunts and uncles searching for a loved one who they fear may have faced off with deputies.

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Department officials seldom release information on shootings and fatalities, Torres said, so he and the families are left to piece together fragments. He often rushes to crime scenes to be sure their legal rights are being respected.

Evelia Granado, left, 5-year-old Isaiah Valdovinos and Valerie Rivera protest the death of their loved ones at a June 24 Black Lives Matter rally in downtown L.A. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

A lot of times, theres no remorse, no compassion, even if the guy deserved it, Torres said about deputies. They need to at least respect the familys pain.

In the last three years, his list of those killed by law enforcement on the Eastside has grown: Jose Serrano, 23; Omar Garcia; unnamed victim, 20; Paul Rea, 19; Ivan Pena, 42; Fernando Cruz, 18; Rene Herrera, 40; Anthony Vargas, 21; Jesse Romero, 14; Jose Mendez, 16; Christian Escobedo, 22; Edwin Rodriguez, 24.

Some reportedly died as they tried to run from authorities. Others allegedly engaged in a physical struggle, carried a weapon and, in some cases, reportedly shot at law enforcement.

Nearly all the victims died in East L.A., an unincorporated area of L.A. County thats 96% Latino. The region is under the sheriffs jurisdiction. While in nearby neighborhoods the Los Angeles Police Department has been scrutinized for its use of force, including over the last few months, the Sheriffs Department has its own long history of violence and abuse, feeding the communitys wariness. Some of the mothers have said they and their families have been harassed by deputies after their sons were killed.

Officials with the Sheriffs Department did not respond to requests by The Times seeking comment. The Times this week filed a lawsuit against L.A. County, alleging that the department has repeatedly refused to turn over public records, including those about deputies involved in misconduct or shootings.

Figures tracking fatal law enforcement shootings by race are tough to come by, but statewide, according to 2018 numbers released by the Office of the Attorney General, about 47% of those affected by incidents that involved the discharge of a weapon or use of force resulting in death or serious injury were Latino.

Torres said East L.A. is in dire need of more resources to help families with police brutality and more oversight of the Sheriffs Department, particularly from county officials.

I think Hilda Solis is fighting in her own way, Torres said of the L.A. County supervisor. She came out and denounced what happened to George Floyd. Thats commendable, but what about your own backyard? Theres so much happening here, too.

Solis, whose district oversees East L.A., said her office is aware of community frustrations with the Sheriffs Department. She holds Sheriff Alex Villanueva accountable.

He really needs to take a close evaluation of the people he has at the East L.A. station, she said. He came in with a lot of rhetoric, but hes not listening. ... Hes inciting and harassing and intimidating, trying to shut the voices out.

Solis said she and others established the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission and granted them subpoena power to try to keep the office in check. She also said she supported the inspector general investigating the department.

I even went as far as holding his budget, Solis said. But hes not been responsive.

Leah Garcia, who lost her son, receives a hug during a vigil in Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

For mothers pushing for answers about their sons deaths, its been a battle, said Leah Garcia, whose son was shot and killed by deputies last summer during an altercation after a traffic stop.

At the end of the day, were all in this together. Black lives matter. Our sons lives matter. But when you see no change, it feels like a harder, lonelier fight.

The grieving mothers in her group are the only ones who understand the trauma, she said. Together, they keep a running calendar of their sons birthdays and the anniversaries of their deaths. They hold Masses at one anothers homes or vigils where their sons were shot down.

At home, many put up altars as a tribute. Garcia keeps her son Paul Reas image everywhere: His portraits hang on her walls. His life-size cutout stands in her living room. Stickers of his face deck her laptop and her car.

The group has gotten support from those in the Black Lives Matter movement and also from the American Civil Liberties Union, but most days, their efforts are spontaneous and informal, without too much thought for an overall strategy.

Leah Garcia cries for her late son, Paul Rea, during a vigil in Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Most of the moms hardly consider themselves activists. Some struggle with their English. Others worry about their immigration status. A few have faced criticism for posting their sons image on social media.

Still, staying home and staying quiet is not an option, so they carry rally signs and banners in their cars, always ready to bring attention to their cause.

At many protests  outside the Hall of Justice and the Sheriffs Department  Lisa Vargas, a mother known for having a nice way with words, often leads the way. Her son Anthony Vargas, 21, was killed by deputies in August 2018.

The day Anthony was killed, Lisa was frantic. She said she had to wait nearly 24 hours at the site of the shooting before getting confirmation that her son had been killed. At some point, Moreno showed up and introduced herself. So did other women whose sons had been killed by authorities.

They knew how I felt because the same thing had happened to them, Vargas said. Weeks later, the women held one of their first protests. About 300 people showed up.

Vargas, like Moreno, now tries to rush over whenever there is a police shooting on the Eastside to offer her help. She connects families with attorneys willing to help or sets up money drives to cover funeral expenses.

Their goal moving forward, she said, is to reform the Sheriffs Department, make it more transparent, have it provide better training to deescalate situations and get deputies to wear body cameras. Many women also want charges brought against the officer who killed their son.

Carlos Montes, an organizer with Centro Community Service Organization, began working with the moms a few years back. His Boyle Heights grass-roots group focuses on immigrant rights and education, but it shifted its focus to police brutality after a rash of killings in 2016.

At 77, Montes has a long history of activism on the Eastside. Hes been protesting sheriffs deputy misconduct for five decades, dating back to the Chicano civil rights movement and through the Rodney King uprising. Over the years, he said, hes seen moms in East L.A. and Boyle Heights take on leadership roles to fight gangs, the construction of prisons and toxic environmental waste sites.

This is the first time he recalls a group of women holding law enforcement accountable for killing people.

These mothers are taking on the big guns, he said. Theyre going up against forces that others consider too controversial. Im inspired by them.

Three years after her son Cesars death, Moreno struggles with how little shes accomplished.

She constantly plays out the day Cesar walked out of their East L.A. home to head to Long Beach. Three days later, after not hearing from him, she learned that her son had allegedly not paid his train fare and reportedly ended up in a struggle with a Long Beach police officer. Cesar wound up pinned between a train and the platform. Moreno filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit in April, alleging assault and battery, excessive force and inadequate training.

For days after his death, Moreno said she lost her voice. I couldnt get a word out. I hardly recognized myself or anyone around me, she said.

Now, when she feels adrift, she calls on the other mothers. She marches alongside them.

No matter what happens, I know Im not alone, Moreno said. I see myself reflected in them.




SAN FRANCISCO  In 2014, leading technology companies released data showing they vastly underemploy African Americans and Hispanics. Those groups make up 5% of the companies workforce, compared to 14% nationally.

Company personnel leaders  many with titles such as director of diversity and inclusion  admit they have work to do but often cite a "pipeline problem" as a key factor in their inability to hire more computer scientists of color.

But a USA TODAY analysis of employment documents submitted by Facebook, Google and Yahoo to the federal government reveals that minorities are also sharply underrepresented in non-technical jobs such as sales and administration, with African Americans faring noticeably worse than Hispanics.

For example, Hispanics make up 5% of college-educated officials and managers nationwide, 4% at Yahoo and even less at Facebook and Google. African Americans make up 6% of officials and managers nationally, but 2% or less at these three tech giants.

Black and Hispanic professionals  a broad category that includes lawyers, accountants, marketers and computer scientists  make up 5% of all professionals at Facebook, Google and Yahoo but 13% of college-educated professionals nationwide.

"The data tells the whole story," says Rev. Jesse Jackson, whose Rainbow PUSH coalition has pressed Silicon Valley companies to face up to their diversity problem. "There are talented blacks and Latinos who can fill well-paying non-tech jobs in the tech industry. Let's not limit the debate to computer science and engineering positions."

Kara Smith, 36, has an MBA from Northwestern University and is a product manager at Xtime, a Redwood Shores, Calif., company bought by Cox Automotive last month for $326 million in cash. She says she's gotten used to being one of the few black people in the room.

"If you are going to feel intimidated by that, this is probably not the industry for you," Smith said. "Do I think this leaves me behind sometimes or that I am not reaching my full potential? Possibly. But I try not to focus on it."

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Jesse Jackson addresses Microsoft executives, one of many such meetings in recent months as his Rainbow/PUSH coalition tackles the issue of diversity hiring in Silicon Valley.

Erin Teague, an African-American engineer and director of product management at Yahoo, says the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley is a deterrent to many of her talented peers of color.

"I have friends who say, 'I can move to New York and work at an amazing company or I can move to Silicon Valley and work at an amazing company, but in New York I will have a network, I'll have friends,' " she says.

That poses a major challenge for Silicon Valley companies that are staffed largely by white and Asian men while trying to appeal to diverse users.

"If we are the primary users of these products, then we have to be part of the teams building them," Teague says. "It's advantageous for companies to employ us."

A broad range of interviews and reports by USA TODAY in the recent months show that Silicon Valley companies tend to be built through the professional and social networks of employees, perpetuating the status quo. Hiring managers and executives have begun casting a wider net to broaden diversity and are training employees how to combat unconscious bias.

"I think people at Google and these other companies mean well. Sometimes they're just not aware the problem exists because the priority at these companies has been to build great products for their users. Now that they are more established and have proven their models work, they naturally reflect on what they would have done or will do differently going forward," says Eric Flores, a former Google employee now an entrepreneur in residence at Manos Accelerator, which targets Latino entrepreneurs.

Flores adds that he doesn't expect change overnight: "We have to be patient."

Black and Hispanic executives at major technology companies declined to speak on the record about their experiences out of fear of reprisal or losing their jobs.

But in months of interviews, many say they feel isolated inside their companies and have seen their career advancement stall.

An executive at one Silicon Valley company, echoing the experiences of other black and Hispanic employees, described how his employer insisted on including him in staged photos to give the impression of racial diversity. He said the photo ops often took place after meetings to which he was not invited or where he had no input.

A former employee of another technology giant said women and African Americans were routinely shut out of management roles.

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Mitch Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, run the Kapor Center for Social Impact, which is pushing for more diversity in technology. They say if change is to come, senior company leaders will have to walk the diversity walk.

"It's like climate change: There's a process of accumulating enough evidence and momentum that people's view of the world changes," says Kapor. "I think we are still, to be honest, really early in that process."

Adds Kapor Klein: "There is underrepresentation in every category. (But) I do think we've seen in 2014 the beginning of the dismantling of this myth of meritocracy. And if Silicon Valley isn't one, why and what can we do to make it one?"

COLLECTING, ANALYZING THE DATA

USA TODAY was interested in learning more about the racial and ethnic mix at major tech companies, especially since more than half of their workers do not write software or handle technical tasks.

We analyzed 2013 Equal Employment Opportunity 1 reports filed with the federal government by Facebook, Google and Yahoo. The firms disclosed their reports, which the government keeps confidential, under mounting pressure from Rev. Jackson.

Apple and Amazon have repeatedly refused to provide such specifics. Microsoft revealed its EEO-1 earlier this month.

We compared the reports with federal data on the civilian workforce ages 20 and older, against which employment diversity and discrimination are measured. We narrowed our comparison to those with a bachelor's degree or more, given tech giants often limit hiring to this group.

Among the findings:

 Hispanics fared best at Yahoo. Hispanic professionals and technicians are twice as common at Yahoo as they are at Google and Facebook. All three employ Hispanics in sales and administrative support roles at levels that roughly match or exceed their shares of the national workforce.

 African Americans fared poorly at all three tech companies. As officials and managers, professionals, sales and administrative support workers, they reach just a third to half of the levels they represent in the national workforce. The only job category in which they approach the national rate is as technicians, with Yahoo providing the most jobs and Google the fewest. However, technicians make up just 1% of the three firms' employment.

 Among the three firms, Facebook's black representation ranks lowest in almost every job category.

Facebook, Google and Yahoo declined to comment on the findings.

Tracy Chou, an engineer at Pinterest, is spearheading an effort to encourage tech companies to collect and crunch data to analyze and address the diversity problem.

These companies routinely crunch numbers to build the best products; now they must dissect every aspect of recruiting and retention to build the best companies, says Chou, who used to work at Facebook and Google.

"That's not very standard right now. The data is not being rigorously collected and analyzed," Chou said. "Establishing a baseline for the state of the world is how we can identify where the leverage points might be."

Ultimately, changing these numbers will be critical to the continued success of the American tech sector, which in turn helps power the national economy, says Kapor Klein. She adds that with whites expected to become a minority in the USA by 2044, it will be critical that tech firms have a healthy pipeline to minority talent. Or else.

"What messages are (students of color and girls) getting from the culture, what messages are they getting from the tech companies?" asks Kapor Klein, noting that the wrong messages cause people of color to give up on tech careers. "The candidate pool just shrinks then, all the way to the door of Silicon Valley."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Discrimination in tech: Few Black, Hispanic employees in non-tech jobs
World's Largest Security Intelligence Provider and Investment Firm to Own Minority Stake in Leading Actionable Fraud Intelligence Company

BOSTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Recorded Future, the largest global security intelligence provider, with the support of its lead investor, Insight Partners, has invested in leading fraud analytics provider, Gemini Advisory, for a minority stake in the company. Gemini Advisory's practical intelligence disrupts fraud schemes through dedicated resourcing and superior expertise, enabling clients to prevent fraud.

In coordination with its services offering, Gemini Advisory's proprietary software helps companies accurately evaluate the exposure level of their assets portfolio to identify and isolate assets targeted by fraudsters and online criminals. Gemini Advisory clients and partners include financial organizations, technology providers, and law enforcement.

Since its founding in 2017, Gemini Advisory has expanded its services to support clients across North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region. In the last year alone, it has reported on over 300 breaches, additionally identifying emerging fraud trends and disrupting sophisticated attacks targeting e-commerce sites.

"Andrei and his team are tangibly evolving the state of fraud prevention solutions by combining the best human analysis with automated, scalable asset monitoring  they're taking a security intelligence approach to a traditionally manual process. Recorded Future and Gemini Advisory are deeply aligned philosophically  this investment helps bolster Gemini Advisory's ability to service more customers, quickly, but importantly also helps strengthen the cybersecurity community."  Dr. Christopher Ahlberg, CEO and co-founder, Recorded Future

"We're impressed with how much the Gemini Advisory team has accomplished in such a short period of time and are eager to help accelerate their work through this investment. We fundamentally believe that investing in security companies building automated, scalable solutions that solve specific problems helps push the community forward."  Thomas Krane, Principal, Insight Partners

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"We are excited about this investment and look forward to working with Insight Partners and Recorded Future. This show of support for the work we're doing is confirmation of our vision and will position us to accelerate the development of our asset and payment breach monitoring capabilities, as well as improve our capacity for fraud prevention research."  Andrei Barysevich, CEO and co-founder, Gemini Advisory

Disrupting Adversaries: Accelerating Security With Intelligence

Recorded Future is creating a world where defenders apply unprecedented intelligence to disrupt adversaries, mitigate risk, and secure their organizations. The Recorded Future Security Intelligence Platform enables collaboration across security functions while providing a single authoritative source for all intelligence needs, including: SecOps and Response, Threat Intelligence, Brand Protection, Vulnerability Management, Third-Party Risk, and Geopolitical Risk.

Clients and analysts have recently shared the following outcomes using Recorded Future:

Reduced time spent on due diligence and reference checking by 50%

Improved threat intelligence workflow efficiency by 50%

Improved overall visibility of threats targeting the organization by 25%

Request a demo of Recorded Future at: https://www.recordedfuture.com/demo/

About Gemini Advisory

Gemini Advisory provides cutting-edge Fraud Threat Intelligence to equip organizations with the knowledge they need to effectively combat ever-growing cyber threats. Founded by seasoned subject matter experts, Gemini offers clients access to compromised data, CPP analysis, brand monitoring, and covert actor engagement informed by 15 years of experience in undercover operations. Armed with extensive insight into the dark web, Gemini's Fraud Intelligence Specialists can accomplish critical tasks with speed and precision.

About Insight Partners

Insight Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight Partners has invested in more than 400 companies worldwide and has raised through a series of funds more than $30 billion in capital commitments. Insight's mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on software expertise to foster long-term success. Across its people and its portfolio, Insight encourages a culture around a belief that ScaleUp companies and growth create opportunity for all. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit www.insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.

About Recorded Future

Recorded Future delivers the world's most advanced security intelligence to disrupt adversaries, empower defenders, and protect organizations. With proactive and predictive intelligence, Recorded Future's platform provides elite, context-rich, actionable intelligence in real time that's ready for integration across the security ecosystem. Learn more at recordedfuture.com and follow us on Twitter at @RecordedFuture.

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SOURCE Recorded Future
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Google Fiber was launched in 2010, with an aim towards providing very fast Internet service in U.S. cities. The service was built out in the Kansas City area first, while also establishing a presence in Austin, Atlanta, parts of Utah and other places.

The service appeared to stall out around 2015, when Google restructured and established Alphabet as its parent company, and Google Fiber became part of the Access and Energy division. In 2016, Google Fiber stopped expanding, although it continued to provide service in the areas where it had launched.

This week, Google announced the first new city for Google Fiber in four years, West Des Moines, Iowa.

Google Fibers mission is to help all communitiesbig, small, urban, rural, and everywhere in betweenget access to internet thats fast, reliable, fairly priced and open, the company said in a blog post Monday, authored by director of corporate development David Finn. Today, were taking the next step on our journey, working with the city of West Des Moines, Iowa, to bring gigabit internet to their residents and businesses.

West Des Moines, the post said, has been pursuing a Strategic Plan for fast and affordable Internet since 2016, and that Google Fiber is coming in as the first tenant on that network.

Municipalities like West Des Moines excel at building and maintaining infrastructure. At digging and laying pipes under the roads, restoring and preserving the sidewalks and green spaces, reducing traffic congestion, and lowering construction disruption, Finn said. And for our part, Google Fiber is proud to be an internet company that specializes in providing a fast, reliable internet connectionalong with the customer experience were known for.

Google, in the post, also addressed its four-year hiatus from rolling out in new cities.

West Des Moines marks our first new market in more than four years. During that time, weve been focused on improving our customer experience around speed, reliability, and service. Google Fiber has learned a lot in our first 10 yearsweve made some good decisions, and weve made some mistakes. Yet, our commitment to provide high-speed, reliable internet while finding sustainable ways to build and deliver service and move the industry toward meaningful change has never wavered.

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Published in April, HighSpeedInternet.com ranked Google Fiber the fastest Internet provider in the United States. In regional rankings, Google Fiber was also ranked first in both the Southern and Western United States.

Google Fiber ranked fifth in speed nationwide in PCmag rankings released in June, but its not the fastest one in Iowa. That honor goes to Cedar Falls Utilities (CFU), an obscure regional provider that ranked first nationwide in speed.

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.

Image: Reuters

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Senate Republicans could lose nearly half of the women currently in their caucus come November after recently making painstaking gains  the latest potential blow to the party in the Trump era.

Out of nine Senate GOP women serving, four face highly competitive races this year in Arizona, Maine, Georgia and Iowa. It's a dynamic that exists in part because Republicans have had some success in chipping away at the gender gap in Congress: the Senate GOP currently has an all-time high of women after nearly doubling the number of women in its conference since 2016. House Republicans have also enhanced their recruitment efforts after seeing their ranks shrink in 2018.

Its always been ... a traditional weak spot for us, said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who is also up in 2020, but in a relatively safe race. Our numbers are not obviously as large as the Democrat Caucus, but were gaining on them.

But Republicans face a challenging electoral environment up and down the ballot, particularly as suburban female voters have turned away from the party in droves out of antipathy for President Donald Trump. Losing those races would be a setback for the partys efforts to broaden its representation  and to keep the Senate majority. Along with other battlegrounds in North Carolina, Colorado and Montana, they could decide which party controls the Senate.

I always say that we need to do a better and an aggressive job in recruitment of women, Republican women for the Senate, the House, for our local candidates, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). And so thats just our reality.

Top Senate Republicans have worked hard in recent years to improve representation among women in the chamber. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not only recruited candidates to run but occasionally pushed governors for their appointments when vacancies arose.

Republicans citing progress highlight the recent appointments of three who are up in 2020: Sens. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, Martha McSally of Arizona and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi. They also note that former Rep. Cynthia Lummis is on track to replace retiring Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). Even some Democrats privately acknowledge the effort Republicans have made recently.

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But the push could stall this year as Trumps poor polling threatens to pull the GOPs Senate majority down with him. Both Republicans and Democrats note that the women GOP senators in competitive races are not endangered because of their gender, but because of the states they represent and the broader electoral environment facing the party.

Its a tough alignment of the stars, because weve seen such progress with Republican women in the Senate and it just so happens that its a really tough year, said Janet Mullins Grissom, a veteran Republican strategist and former McConnell chief of staff and campaign manager.

Fortunately, the female Republican candidates are strong candidates, Grissom added. I think we can be optimistic and hopeful that they'll battle back in whats been a tough year.

The four GOP women with difficult races include veteran centrists like Sen. Susan Collins, who is expected to take on Maine state House speaker Sara Gideon, as well as conservative freshman Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa who faces businesswoman Theresa Greenfield. Meanwhile, McSally is in a tough race against Mark Kelly, a former astronaut married to former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), and Loeffler faces an intraparty challenge from GOP Rep. Doug Collins and a fight against Democrat Raphael Warnock.

In an interview, McSally rejected that Trump was a drag on the votes of suburban women.

Im a suburban, college-educated woman, so this is my demographic, McSally said. Ive given my life to serve others, to break barriers for others  to stand up against discriminating policies like my eight-year battle in the Pentagon over the burka so this is my constituency, man.

Meanwhile, Loeffler, who was appointed to her seat in December, credits Trump with inspiring her own desire to serve in the Senate.

FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2020 file photo, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., arrives for a re-enactment of her swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington. Loeffler and Rep. Doug Collins, both Republicans, paid their fees and filed paperwork to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot Monday, March 2, 2020, the first day of candidate qualifying in the state. The early entries make official the head-to-head fight between recently appointed Republican Sen. Loeffler and Rep. Doug Collins, challenging Loeffler for the seat. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Files)

The partys been very supportive, Leader McConnell has been incredibly supportive, everyone, I think that were doing a great job, Loeffler said in a recent interview. In fact, under President Trump, more Republican women are running for office at any time in history.

Several of the Republicans have broken barriers. Ernst, who serves in party leadership, was the first woman to represent Iowa in Congress and the first female combat veteran in the Senate; McSally was the first female fighter pilot to serve in combat; and if she wins this year, Loeffler would be the first woman elected to the Senate from Georgia.

But they all face difficult campaigns.

Kelly has significantly outraised McSally since he launched his campaign, and nearly every poll shows McSally losing in a state where Trump is also struggling. Collins faces the toughest and most expensive race of her career, amid a barrage of attacks from the left for her vote for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. A recent internal GOP poll conducted in late June, however, found Collins ahead by 8 percentage points.

Ernsts race is a toss-up and a recent poll from the Des Moines Register had Greenfield leading as Trumps poll numbers slip in a state he carried four years ago. And Loeffler has trailed Collins in the polls amid scrutiny over her stock trades during the pandemic, though the FBI and Ethics Committee have since dropped probes on the issue.

Democrats argue that the GOP has a major problem with women voters, fueled mostly by Trumps divisive presidency, and one that will hurt Senate candidates across the map. National surveys and battleground polls consistently show a major advantage for Joe Biden over Trump with women. Biden had a 22-percentage point lead among women in a recent New York Times national survey, and an even larger lead among college-educated women. Democrats expect similar gender gaps to emerge in Senate contests, some of which are being fought in presidential battlegrounds.

If you vote with an unpopular president like Donald Trump  who's doing damage to your state  96, 97, 98 percent of the time, voters are going to hold you accountable, said Martha McKenna, a veteran Democratic strategist who ran the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committees independent expenditure program in 2018. Trump's ugliness and destruction, and their complicity in that, is an impossible hurdle for them. Women voters are done and that's true for all of them.

Democrats have 17 women in their caucus  more than one-third of their partys senators  and theyve played key roles in the partys electoral success in recent cycles. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Jacky Rosen of Nevada were the only two Democrats to flip GOP-held seats in 2018. This year, the DSCC has endorsed women in Iowa, Maine, Kansas, Kentucky and Texas, all of which could be competitive.

McConnell, meanwhile, has publicly discussed his goal of electing more women to the conference. He made adding GOP women to the Judiciary Committee a priority after the contentious 2018 Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, in which the judge faced sexual assault allegations. Still, most Republicans argue that what matters most is the quality of candidates, not whether theyre men or women.

I think its important to recruit candidates, good people to serve no matter their gender, said Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.). A campaign spokesperson for Collins emphasized that the Maine Republican has never thought of herself as a woman senator, she is a senator and has never solely focused on what some might say are womens issues, instead, she has focused on issues that are important to all Americans.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who won her seat in 2018 and joined the Judiciary Committee along with Ernst, said shed still like to see more recruitment of conservative women and acknowledged that Trumps numbers have been up and down with women. But she said that conservative women overall have an appealing message.

Most women are center to right, Blackburn argued. The economy and safety and security are the top issues with women, and I think were good on those.
Masked waiters, tables spaced six feet apart, plexiglass barriers, and even stuffed animals occupying seatsthese are some of the changes you might encounter the next time you dine out. As many U.S. states and countries around the world come out of lockdown, a whole new set of restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 are coming into play. Though there is still a lot we dont know about the coronavirus, its rapid person-to-person spread is a threat to the way restaurants operate. And while many restaurants are suffering financially, some are coming up with creative ways to reopen while adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Making the Most of Outdoor Space

Photo: Emily Andrews for Rockwell Group

Every summer, in cities across the northern hemisphere, the demand for outdoor dining skyrockets. This year, though, the ability to sit outside in the fresh airwhere coronavirus infection is less likely to occuris paramount. In fact, outdoor dining may be the only option for restaurant-goers in cities like New York for the foreseeable future. Though the city has just entered Phase 3 of the coronavirus lockdown, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced recently that restaurants will not be allowed to reopen for indoor dining as anticipated, due to the rampant spread of the coronavirus in states like California, Florida, and Texas.

New York restaurants have been scrambling to expand their outdoor dining space however possible, and fortunately, the mayor is making it easier. As part of the Open Streets plan, 67 miles of streets are closed to vehicular traffic, with over 2.6 miles dedicated to Open Restaurants, an initiative that gives restaurant owners permission to expand their footprint onto the sidewalks and streets on the weekends provided they meet certain criteria. So far, 6,800 restaurants in New York City have reopened for outdoor dining.

One such restaurant is Melbas in Harlem, which received a spiffed-up design by the Rockwell Group as part of the firms pro bono DineOut NYC project. According to founder and president David Rockwell, the project was born when he reached out to friend Melba Wilson, owner of Melbas Restaurant and president of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, to ask how he could help create a safe space for restaurant workers and guests. He and his firm built and donated six outdoor dining areas at neighborhood restaurants in all five boroughs with the help of donations from furniture and fabric manufacturers and other design industry vendors.

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Photo: Laura Itzkowitz

I believe that by continuing to think about flexibility and how to improve outdoor dining, this new normal will be sustainable, Rockwell tells AD, adding, Based on what we know about COVID-19, I think we will see more restaurants redefining the boundary between indoors and out. In the long run, restaurants will have to be adaptable, with seating plans that expand and contract easily and quickly, providing a great experience in every format.

Of course, New York restaurants are not the only ones to take advantage of previously unused outdoor space. In Rome, the Michelin-starred Imago restaurant in the iconic Hassler Hotel has relocated from its indoor space to the terrace of a seventh-floor suite for the duration of the summer. Since the hotel is still closed, its easier and possible to use the suites terrace, the hotels owner and managing director Roberto Wirth tells AD. Furthermore, I made this decision to guarantee more security for our guests and our staff. Its really a great gift to my guests: a Michelin-starred dinner under the stars, with the beauty of the great Rome under your feet.

Other Ways of Ensuring Social Distancing

US-HEALTH-VIRUS Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

The use of mannequins and stuffed animals to ensure social distancing isnt likely to become permanent, but has become a temporary fix for restaurants like The Inn at Little Washingtonwhere mannequins donning 1940s garb occupy half the tablesand Maison Saigon in Bangkok, where stuffed pandas ensure people dont sit too close together. And the plexiglass barriers some restaurants have installed between tables will likely disappear when COVID-19 is no longer deemed a threat.

Photo: Willem Velthoven for Mediamatic Amsterdam

But one restaurant in Amsterdam created a solution so appealing that it might just stick around. Mediamatic Foundations Eten restaurant installed a series of mini greenhouses along the side of a canal that allow couples and small groups of up to four people to dine without being exposed to other guests. In the evening, they seem to glow, creating a romantic atmosphere that guests can appreciate regardless of COVID-19.

Going Contactless

With the heightened need to disinfect surfaces, many restaurants are doing away with traditional tabletop decor such as candles, lamps, flowers, tablecloths, and menus that would need to be cleaned between seatings. At Oro Bistrot by Natale Giunta, the rooftop restaurant at the NH Collection Fori Imperiali in Rome, guests are seated at bare tables with QR codes that allow them to load the menus directly on their smartphonesan innovation that has already become rather commonplace around the globe.

Grupo Gitanowhich runs six boho-chic restaurant-barsis also going contactless. We are making many creative changes at all of our locations in Tulum, Miami, and NYCthere will be electronic waiting lists with QR codes, and QR codes at every table to allow diners to order and pay for food and cocktails by smartphone, James Gardner, founder and owner of Grupo Gitano, told Food & Wine. According to Forbes, QR codes are popping up all over the place in response to the pandemic. We can likely expect to see more forms of contactless ordering and payment in the future.

More Takeout and Flexible Options

Photo: Cory Smith / Courtesy of Amass

Until theres a vaccine, takeout is still the safest betfor both restaurant workers and consumers. Many restaurants that did not previously offer takeout or delivery began doing so during the lockdowns, and some bars started offering cocktails to go. Matsuhisa MunichNobus Peruvian nikkei restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Munichtook delivery to the next level, introducing the Matsuhisa sushi truck, which is available for catering private celebrations and events.

Theres also a trend toward offering more casual, flexible dining options at a variety of sit-down and even fine dining establishments. Brooklyn chef Greg Baxtrom, for example, just launched Olmsted Summer Camp, which offers Baxtroms take on American summer classics served in Olmsteds backyard with bigger portions than diners would find at the restaurant. This is in addition to Olmsted Trading Post, which has been selling farmers market veggies, homemade ice cream, baked goods, jams, and specialty items like duck pastrami and yuzu kosho butter since mid-June. Amass in Copenhagen, an avant-garde restaurant with a focus on sustainability run by Noma alum Matt Orlando, recently decided to devote half its dining space to Amass Fried Chicken & Wine, which serves more approachable food at a lower price point.

Whether these changes will last remains to be seen. The coronavirus pandemicand the economic havoc its wreaking on the restaurant industrywill result in some restaurants closing while others rush to adapt. As restaurateurs and designers rise to face these new challenges, hopefully theyll re-examine aspects of the restaurant industry that will improve the experience for staff and guests alike.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Camilla Lackberg, whose latest novel, "The Golden Cage," updates a Fay Weldon classic. (Magnus Ragnvid)

If you buy books through links on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.

Ask an American crime fiction fan to name their favorite Swedish series and odds are they will cite Henning Mankells Kurt Wallander mysteries or Stieg Larssons Lisbeth Salander franchise. Less frequently mentioned are a number of female crime writers, among them Liza Marklund, Helene Tursten and Camilla Lackberg. That Lackberg isnt as celebrated as her male counterparts is particularly glaring; her ten-novel Fjallbacka series, published in the U.S. since 2010, has sold some 26 million copies in 60 countries. From her 2003 debut, The Ice Princess, through The Girl in the Woods (2018), Lackbergs series, set in her hometown, stands out for its atmospheric depiction of the Swedish coast, well-drawn characters and (at its best) complex and psychologically nuanced plots.

In the spirit of Swedish mystery writers with rich prehistories, Lackberg brings to her work an economics degree from the University of Gothenburg, work experience as an accountant and a recent history of founding startups, including Invest in Her, a venture capital firm that nurtures businesses run by and for women. Her newly translated novel, The Golden Cage, draws directly on that experience, resulting in a book that is in some ways her most personal thriller, even if its putative feminism leaves something to be desired.

Any biographical connection between author and protagonist is hard to discern in the novels opening pages. Faye Adelheim, Fjallbacka born and raised, lives a glamorous Stockholm life as the wealthy, cossetted wife of Jack, chief executive of a wildly successful company called Compare. While Faye is devoted to him and their teenaged daughter Julienne, the man is a cipher in the marriage. When hes home, hes either hiding out in his home office or sexually dominating his wife; the rest of the time, his business requires him to be away for long stretches.

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Faye fills the time snooping through Jacks home computer, watching teenage girls being exploited on porn sites he frequents or dining in Stockholms trendy Ostermalm district, where she one-ups her fellow ladies-who-lunch with the latest designer accoutrements while ignoring her expanding waistline.

Lackberg uses the third person in these chapters, distancing the reader from Faye just as she seems to distance herself from the rottenness at her lifes core. While screening Jacks porn, The knot in her stomach grew bigger with each clip she watched. The girls were young, skinny, submissive. Jack had always liked his women thin and young. It wasnt him who had changed, it was her. And wasn't that how most men wanted their women? In Ostermalm there was no room for aging and weight gain. At least not for women. Is this a cogent observation on womens objectification or simply the lament of a 30-ish trophy wife whos hit the wall?

(Knopf)

Alternating with these chapters on Fayes present downward spiral are flashbacks to the person she was a decade earlier, narrated in the more immediate first person by Faye herself. Newly arrived from Fjallbacka and anxious to shed her murky past, the younger Faye is drawn toward the vibrancy of Stockholm. That was when my life really started, she says. The past clung to my ankles like a deadweight.

Young Faye first takes up with handsome, kind and reliable Viktor. Later, inspired by Viktors friends, she enrolls in an MBA program at the Stockholm School of Economics using her middle name, Faye, after the author of her mothers favorite book. (Back to that in a moment.) She excels at her studies until she meets bad boy Jack Adelheim  wealthy, sexy, with a whiff of buried family scandal that resonates with the past Faye is trying to outrun. Before you can say feminist throwback, Faye dumps Viktor, quits school and takes up waitressing to support her boyfriend, hiding her brilliance under a bushel while providing Jack and his friend Henrik with spot-on advice on their fledgling business. Soon the two marry, but not before lovestruck Faye inexplicably signs a prenup agreement ceding any interest in Jacks company, while helping to advance the myth of two maverick, male founders for the good of the business.

By the time a long-legged colleague shows up in a pencil skirt and ponytail, readers will have figured out what time it is, even if gullible Faye has not. When the truth is humiliatingly shoved in her face, heretofore weak-willed Faye embarks on an elaborate plan for revenge  one thats a little less surprising if youve figured out the allusion to her mothers favorite author.

In a Facebook post some two months ago, Lackberg acknowledged The Golden Cage was partly inspired by Fay Weldons 1983 novel, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, which spawned a BBC miniseries and a 1989 film starring Roseanne Barr and Meryl Streep. Lackberg has updated the particulars of Weldons scabrous satire, transforming the philandering husband into a tech wunderkind steering his company toward an IPO, while the other woman, Ylva Lehndorf, morphs from a romance writer to a chief financial officer whose leadership is crucial to Compares launch on the Swedish stock exchange. Ylva is everything that Fayes not: thin, suntanned, engaged in meaningful work.

The fury and focus of Weldons archetypal jilted woman remains. Faye goes through a similar transformation  weight loss, surgical enhancements, meaningless sex with a variety of younger men she can control  all in the service of destroying her ex-husband. But in Lackbergs reimagining, Fayes quest also encompasses a genuine impulse toward kinship with similarly abused and underappreciated women. The company she creates as a vehicle for her grand plan says it all: Revenge. For all our sisters who have been broken down by idiots, all the unfaithful husbands who have cast us off for a younger model. All the men, all the guys who have exploited us, patronized us, and deceived us. Theres more than a little naivete in Fayes journey: Revenges product lines  hair-care products and perfume  are hardly original, and it strains credulity to think she could so easily get high-profile women and social media influencers to back her. Or are we meant to believe its as simple as her best friend says: Vengeance sells?

While The Golden Cage is at times a sexy, deliciously dark journey, its black-and-white perspective on men and women in love and business seem even more dated in the 21st century than Weldons romp was in 1983. And if Fayes weaponizing of her body and business chops werent suspect enough, Lackbergs ignorance, willful or otherwise, of Swedish divorce laws and securities regulations undermines some of her key plot points. Surely Lackbergs international fans, as well as her presumed target audience, readers of Gone Girl or Big Little Lies, deserve better  even as they gleefully cheer the final twists of both the plot and the knife in Jacks fleshy, duplicitous back.

The Golden Cage



By Camilla Lackberg



Translated from the Swedish by Neil Smith



Knopf: 336 pages; $26.95

Woods is a book critic, editor and author of several anthologies and crime novels.




A reward for information leading to the whereabouts of 25-year-old Kenna Harris, a Monroe, Washington woman missing since March, has been increased to $20,000, her mother Kelli Harris told Dateline.

Were hoping this reward money will encourage people to come forward with information, Kelli said. Any tiny bit of information would help.

Kenna Harris

Kenna, who has been missing since March 31, 2020, suffered a traumatic brain injury in a high-speed rollover crash six years ago and has been living with her family in Monroe, Washington ever since.

Her mother told Dateline that Kenna was scheduled to go to work at Walmart on the day she disappeared. A DART bus for those with disabilities arrived at Kennas house to pick her up, but she was already gone.

Kelli was not home that day, but said a neighbor saw Kenna around 11 a.m. carrying a backpack and yoga mat.

She did say she wondered why Kenna had her yoga mat, Kelli said. Because no yoga classes were being held. Everything was shut down because of the virus.

Kennas family was immediately concerned for her safety and called the police.

Kenna Harris

Detective Dave Fontenot with the Snohomish County Sheriffs Office told Dateline he has never seen a missing persons case where the person just seemingly vanished into thin air.

Its so perplexing, Det. Fontenot said. Weve searched the area. Weve checked surveillance videos from buses and businesses. These days there are so many electronic footprints. But theres nothing that has led us to Kenna.

Det. Fontenot told Dateline that they have records of Kenna going to Chase Bank in Monroe around noon and withdrawing about $200 from her bank account. He added that on April 2, Walmart direct-deposited Kennas paycheck, but her account hasnt been accessed since the day she disappeared.

He said Kenna then got on a Community Transit bus and rode it to the Snohomish Shopping Center on Bickford Avenue. Her phone last pinged just after noon, a time when she would have still be on the bus, police believe. She was then seen at a Subway sandwich shop around 1:15 p.m., but left without ordering food. And thats where the trail ends.

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Det. Fontenot told Dateline that the security video they gathered from the area shows no footage of Kenna leaving the area.

Search teams used drones and dogs to search the wooded area near the shopping center, but found no sign of Kenna.

The hardest part is that theres no evidence of a crime, Det. Fontenot said. In the videos, it just looks like shes a teenager running away. But her mental state makes us concerned for her safety.

Kennas mother Kelli told Dateline she believes her daughter got in a car with someone she thought she recognized or who she thought looked friendly.

Since her accident, she has struggled with decision making and her memory, Kelli said. She added that just looking at her, someone would have no idea that she had a brain injury but once they start talking to her, she acts like someone of 14 or 15 years old.

The crash that Kenna was in six years ago changed her life. She was driving her car at a high speed when it crashed and rolled multiple times. The traumatic brain injury she suffered was one from which the doctors thought she would never recover, Kelli told Dateline.

We never gave up on her, Kelli said. There were a lot of bad days but also a lot of good days. And she came through it.

Kenna made a miraculous recovery and was sent to live at home under the care of her parents.

She has a larger-than-life personality and shes so much fun to be around, Kelli said. Shes independent and self-sufficient. But because of the brain injury, she does have bad days. Shes up and down.

Kelli told Dateline that on the day Kenna disappeared, she had told her father she didnt want to go to work. She said he encouraged her to go and she got mad and left.

The way she was acting was like a teenager, Kelli explained. And it was impulsive. Its part of her brain injury.

She worries that this is what got Kenna into an unsafe situation.

If she found a place to stay and she is safe, then I understand that, Kelli said. But we just want to know that she is OK. For Kenna to go from calling me 6 or 7 times a day to nothing is just heartbreaking. Something isnt right.

Kelli adds that its unusual for Kenna to not be in contact with the family, but is holding out hope that her daughter is safe and that she will come home soon.

Her family, along with Crime Stoppers, is offering a reward of $20,000 for information that leads to Kennas whereabouts.

Detective Fontenot told Dateline that there havent been many tips or leads lately, but they follow up on every one that comes in.

It only takes one good tip, Det. Fontenot said. It hurts my heart every day that we dont find her, but we havent given up.

A Facebook group Please Find Kenna Harris was created to help spread information about Kennas case.

We just hope that someone saw her or gave her a place to stay at some point and they can tell us where she is -- they can assure us she is safe, Kelly said. Because not knowing is the hardest part.

Kenna will turn 26 on July 30. Shes described as being 58 tall, 180 pounds with short, reddish-brown hair and hazel green eyes. She was last seen wearing a gray knit beanie, dark blue jeans, a black t-shirt, black Brooks sneakers, a long black knitted scarf, and a black down waist-length jacket.

Anyone with information on Kennas whereabouts is asked to call the sheriffs office at 425-388-3523 or submit a tip to Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at www.crimestoppers.com or by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Donald Trumps response to Russias attempts to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan is a dereliction of duty, and yet another sad reminder that the actions of the US president cost American lives.

Related: Critics say Russian vote that could allow Putin to rule until 2036 was rigged

Numerous reports detail how the Trump administration  and the president himself  were aware as early as 2019 that Russia had been offering bounties to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan to kill US soldiers. The United States reportedly has evidence of money transfers from a bank account controlled by Russian military intelligence to a Taliban-linked account and has identified a possible middleman who helped distribute the cash to the Taliban. These bounties have been linked to the deaths of American soldiers.

Despite the fact that this information was known to the Trump administration for at least months, there is no indication that the president has done anything to punish Russia. The White House has not even attempted to convince the public otherwise. To the contrary, Trump has continued his obsequious behavior towards Vladimir Putin. Since the intelligence on bounties was reportedly provided to Trump in February 2020, Trump has spoken with Putin numerous times, praised Putin publicly, invited Russia to rejoin the G7 group of democracies, and announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Germany without consulting US allies  a giant gift to the Russian president.

In its attempts to deflect from the story, the White House has trotted out a dizzying mix of contradictory excuses  including arguing that the information was not briefed to Trump because it was uncorroborated, yet simultaneously serious enough to justify warning US allies. Trump has claimed the whole thing is a hoax. The national security adviser tried to blame one of Trumps intelligence briefers for not highlighting it for Trump.

It is impossible to believe that Trump was somehow unaware. Every other senior official in the government would have been made aware of the information; it was widely distributed within the intelligence community by May; and it would have been included in each of the briefings for Trump before his calls with Putin in the last few months. Michael Hayden, the former head of the CIA and NSA, made clear that the intelligence agencies regularly brief the president on information that is not 100% verified  thats how intelligence works. And the former national security adviser Susan Rice explained how she would have dealt with information: Had I, as national security adviser, received even raw reporting that Russia was paying to kill US service members, I would have walked straight into the Oval Office to brief the president.

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In its attempts to deflect from the story, the White House has trotted out a dizzying mix of contradictory excuses

Which leads to the disturbing reality: Trump knew that Russia was paying people to kill American soldiers and he not only did nothing to stop it, but he continued to praise and do favors for Putin. Since the moment Trump asked Putin to hack personal information from Trumps political opponents in 2016, everyone has wondered why Trump acts as though he is in debt to Putin. Whatever the reason for Trumps consistent attempts to ingratiate himself with Putin and seek his help at the expense of the American people  from the 2016 campaign to taking Putins word over that of the US intelligence community  the result is clear: Putin believes he can act with impunity against the US. In addition to doing so by targeting US soldiers, he is probably attempting to interfere in our election this year, yet again, to help Trump.

This story is, of course, much bigger than the Trump-Putin relationship. It is about the danger that lies at the core of the Trump administration. The American president, it has become disturbingly clear, is not looking out for the American people. Trump looks out only for himself  whether its asking Russia, China, or Ukraine to help him advance his personal political agenda or continuing to profit off his personal business while in office.

Related: CIA official chose not to tell Trump of Russia bounty report, top adviser claims

Beyond Afghanistan, one need only look at Trumps disastrous response to the pandemic, which has already killed more than 128,000 Americans and is currently raging through the country without the slightest hint that Trump will take the actions necessary to save lives.

Whether its US soldiers in Afghanistan or the thousands of Americans that have died in the pandemic, it seems every day like the president cant be troubled to do whats necessary to protect the American people.
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Key Point: Whether any nation would risk nuclear war by going after an opponent's strategic weapons is a valid question.

We can't know for sure what was on Vladimir Putin's mind last week when he boasted of Russia developing an invincible nuclear-powered cruise missile, a nuclear torpedo and other strategic weapons. Perhaps he thought he was asserting Moscow's power against Washington, or deterring a perceived American threat. Or maybe he was trying to talk up Russia's martial prowess.

But one thing he certainly did not intend was to increase the chances of a nuclear war. It's not the weapons that are the issue: Western experts deride a nuclear-powered cruise missile as an atomic Edsel, a failed concept that Americans and Soviets dropped in the 1950s.

The problem is what is called nuclear entanglement, when the lines between conventional and nuclear weapons become blurred. When you have a missile that can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, and the other side can't be sure which kind the rocket is carrying, that's entanglement. When conventional and nuclear forces are located in the same area, so that an attack on regular troops can be mistaken for a first strike aimed at destroying a nation's nuclear deterrent, that's also entanglement.

During the Cold War, the prospect of nuclear Armageddon was more ominous, but also more straightforward. Destroying the other superpower's nuclear missiles in their hardened silos meant landing a nuclear warhead on top of them. But a new generation of fast, stealthy, hard-to-shoot-down conventional weapons, such as hypersonic cruise missiles traveling at faster than Mach 5, are more than just devastating battlefield weapons. They raise the specter of a surprise attack using nonnuclear weapons an opponent's nuclear strike force.

These new conventional weapons actually increase the chances of nuclear war, says arms control expert James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace. Acton, along with Russian and Chinese experts, authored a report late last year on nuclear entanglement.

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Whether any nation would risk nuclear war by going after an opponent's strategic weapons is a valid question. But so is this: how many leaders want to be the first to employ nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack? Already many Americans are grumbling over the Trump administration's draft nuclear policy, which suggests that the United States might respond with nukes to a cyberattack or an attack on American satellites.

Russia is certainly concerned about this, which helps explain Putin's boast of developing new strategic weapons. An enduring concern among Russias leadership is the threat of a massive disarming strike using non-nuclear high-precision weapons, according to the Carnegie report. In a non-nuclear conflict, U.S. strikes might inadvertently spark concern that such a counterforce attack was under way. For example, because strategic submarines and bombers are kept at the same bases as general- purpose naval vessels and aircraft, strikes designed to target the latter might unintentionally destroy the former.

The report focused on how Russia and China treat nuclear war differently than the United States, including entangling nuclear and nonnuclear forces. While Russias mingling of nuclear and conventional forces might seem appropriate to planners in Moscow, it creates a dilemma for Washingtontargeting regular Russian troops can now be perceived as a nuclear threat.

Issues such as whether an attack on early warning satellites is a casus belli is as much cultural as military. For example, while the Trump administration views targeting satellites as an existential threat that could merit a nuclear response, China does not see this the same way.

Some Chinese analysts, especially those arguing for the use of anti-satellite weapons in a limited regional war against the United States, tend to view the thickened fog of war that would result from such strikes as a tactical military advantage for China, says the Carnegie report. Another consequence, however, is that the United States might misinterpret Chinese military movessuch as exercises or the mobilization of missile forcesas preparations for actually using nuclear weapons.

Acton recommends confidence-building measures in which the United States and Russia would agree not to mass cruise missiles within range of each other's strategic targets, prohibit testing of anti-satellite weapons, and include intercontinental boost-glide hypersonic weapons within the next strategic arms reduction treaty.

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: Reuters

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

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Troubling Questions, Including New Allegations of Fraud, Should Be Grounds to Halt the Sale, Workers Say

LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The following release is being issued by SEIU United Healthcare Workers - West:

A union of healthcare workers has filed a formal objection with the California attorney general to the sale of St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood to Prime Healthcare, a corporation with a history of allegations involving Medicare fraud, bilking taxpayers, and misdiagnosing patients in a scheme to jack up their reimbursements and profits.

In written opposition submitted to the attorney general of California, whose office must approve the sale, Service Employees International Union  United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) calls for a rejection of Prime's acquisition of St. Francis, saying the sale is "not in the public interest" and likely to have a "negative impact on the availability and accessibility of healthcare in the community." The filing calls on Verity Health System, the current owner of St. Francis, to find a new purchaser that will better serve the community.

"Prime's shocking history of deceit, fraud and repeated elimination of health services that patients depend on is simply out of step with owning a hospital like St. Francis, which is a lifeline to the people of Lynwood and surrounding communities," said Mauricio Medina, a certified nursing assistant at St. Francis and a member of SEIU-UHW. "My co-workers and I have endured multiple sales of our hospital and the dangers of treating patients with COVID-19, too often without the proper protective equipment. After all of that, it's outrageous to think that our hospital will now be sold to a corporation with such a checkered past."

The filing raises new issues beyond Prime Healthcare's $65 million settlement in 2018 with the U.S. Department of Justice based on allegations of Medicare fraud.

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As part of its settlement in 2018, Prime entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement ("CIA"), a document outlining the obligations that a company involved in healthcare makes with a federal government agency or a state government as part of a civil settlement. But recent activities raise troubling questions about whether Prime is in violation of the CIA:

The union's filing with the attorney general reveals an arbitration in which Prime's current chief medical officer, a certifying official under the CIA, was found liable for $1 million in punitive damages, plus compensatory damages, for claims of embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duty, including claims that he fraudulently diverted or attempted to divert Medicare reimbursements to his personal accounts. The arbitration award was confirmed in a judgment by the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Among other legal proceedings, a whistleblower suit is pending in the Central District of California under the federal False Claims Act and other federal and state laws, where the court recently denied a motion to dismiss the case. The suit claims Prime illegally compensated a co-defendant doctor for referrals to a Prime-owned hospital, and that Prime has submitted inflated claims for medical devices to private insurers and government health programs. The case is set for trial in 2021.

Prime also has disclosed that the company is currently under investigation by the IRS for the 2012 tax year and by the California Franchise Tax Board for the years 2009 to 2016. The disclosures were made in the company's 2018 audited financial statements.

An analysis by SEIU-UHW further shows that Prime has a history of cutting services at hospitals it acquires, including maternity and cancer services.

"We cannot trust Prime. They turned their backs on this community just a few years ago because they would not go along with a requirement to retain all of the services our patients need," Medina said, referring to 2015, when the attorney general approved Prime's proposed acquisition of the Daughters of Charity Health System, which then included St. Francis Medical Center. Prime walked away, declaring that the attorney general's conditions, which were designed to ensure the continuation of essential healthcare services, were too "onerous."

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is one of the largest unions of hospital workers in the United States, with 97,000 members, including approximately 1,000 at St. Francis. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.

St. Francis Medical Center is a 384-bed general acute care hospital serving 1.7 million people. It is a critically important provider of health and trauma care to the community of Southeast Los Angeles and a key safety-net provider. SFMC treats a substantially higher number of patients covered by Medi-Cal relative to hospitals in both Los Angeles County and California overall. SFMC has reported positive net income for the past four fiscal years, ranging from $70.4 million in FY 2015 to $18.7 million in FY 2019.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seiu-union-files-objection-with-ca-attorney-general-over-sale-of-st-francis-medical-center-to-prime-healthcare-citing-the-companys-history-of-bilking-taxpayers-and-cutting-services-301089348.html

SOURCE SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West
A new book by President Donald Trump's niece  which his family sued to stop from being published  paints the president as an emotionally damaged narcissist who has cheated to get ahead and is unable to "experience the entire spectrum of human emotion."

"Donald's pathologies are so complex and his behaviors so often inexplicable that coming up with an accurate and comprehensive diagnosis would require a full battery of psychological and neuropsychological tests that he'll never sit for," Mary Trump writes in her book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man."

NBC News obtained a copy of the book, which is scheduled for release on July 14. Her publisher describes the author as a clinical psychologist.

Among the revelations and allegations:

Mary Trump paints Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump, as emotionally abusive and as having caused lasting damage to both her father, Fred Trump Jr., and to the future president, his younger brother. "The only reason Donald escaped the same fate is that his personality served his father's purpose. That's what sociopaths do: They co-opt others and use them toward their own ends  ruthlessly and efficiently, with no tolerance for dissent or resistance," she wrote. "Fred destroyed Donald, too, but not by snuffing him out as he did Freddy; instead, he short-circuited Donald's ability to develop and experience the entire spectrum of human emotion. By limiting Donald's access to his own feelings and rendering many of them unacceptable, Fred perverted his son's perception of the world and damaged his ability to live in it."

Donald Trump had no issue cheating his way to success. He would have his eldest sister, Maryanne, do his homework for him, and he hired a ringer to take his SAT for him, the book says. "To hedge his bets [Donald] enlisted Joe Shapiro, a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker, to take his SATs for him. That was much easier to pull off in the days before photo IDs and computerized records. Donald, who never lacked for funds, paid his buddy well," Mary Trump wrote.

The president's father viewed apologies as a sign of weakness, according to the book. "Fred hated it when his oldest son screwed up or failed to intuit what was required of him, but he hated it even more when, after being taken to task, Freddie apologized. 'Sorry, Dad,' Fred would mock him. Fred wanted his oldest son to be a 'killer' in his parlance (for what reason it's impossible to say  collecting rent in Coney Island wasn't exactly a high-risk endeavor in the 1950s), and he was temperamentally the opposite of that," the author wrote.

"For some of the Trump kids, lying was a way of life, and for Fred's oldest son, lying was defensive  not simply a way to circumvent his father's disapproval or to avoid punishment, as it was for the others, but a way to survive," Mary Trump wrote. "For Donald, lying was primarily a mode of self-aggrandizement meant to convince other people he was better than he actually was."

After her father had the heart attack that would kill him, Mary Trump said, Donald Trump didn't go with him to the hospital and didn't go to visit; instead, he had "gone to the movies."

Mary Trump acknowledged helping The New York Times with its prize-winning investigation into the president's tax history. "I hadn't fully grasped how much of a risk I was taking. If anybody in my family found out what I was doing, there would be repercussions  I knew how vindictive they were  but there was no way to gauge how serious the consequences might be," she wrote. "I had to take Donald down."

Maryanne Trump Berry, the president's sister, wasn't exactly supportive of his 2016 campaign. "He's a clown," Berry, a retired federal judge, told Mary Trump, according to the book. "This will never happen." Mary Trump said she told her aunt that she couldn't believe people were buying his claim that he was a self-made man, and she questioned what he'd ever accomplished on his own. "Well," her aunt replied, "he has had five bankruptcies."

Berry, a Roman Catholic, was irate that evangelicals were supporting her brother and questioned what was "wrong with them." "The only time Donald went to church was when the cameras were there. It's mind-boggling. He has no principles. None!" the book quotes Trump's sister as saying.

The president's younger brother, Robert Trump, went to court last month to stop the book from being published, arguing that it violated a nondisclosure agreement Mary Trump signed in 2001.

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The agreement was part of a settlement in an ugly court fight that Mary Trump and her brother, Fred Trump III, had launched over their grandfather's estate. Mary and Fred's father, Fred Trump Jr., died in 1984, and they said they had been shortchanged in his will thanks to the family's machinations.

The court fight included allegations that Donald Trump and his two surviving siblings had cut off family medical coverage for Mary and her brother, who was married and had a young child with a neurological disorder.

"When he sued us, we said, 'Why should we give him medical coverage?'" Donald Trump told the New York Daily News then, referring to Fred Trump III.

In an interview with Axios last month, the president said the nondisclosure agreement is "very powerful" and "covers everything."

"She's not allowed to write a book," he said.

A New York state judge initially agreed, issuing a temporary restraining order to stop the book's publication, but a state appeals court reversed the order. The publisher, Simon & Schuster, moved up the publication date by two weeks, from July 28, citing the "high demand and extraordinary interest in this book."

White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews pushed back on some of Mary Trump's allegations on Tuesday.

"The President describes the relationship he had with his father as warm and said his father was very good to him. He said his father was loving and not at all hard on him as a child. Also, the absurd SAT allegation is completely false," she said in a statement.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that she had not yet seen the book, but she called it "a book of falsehoods."
After losing his job abruptly amid the coronavirus in March, Alejandro Curbelo saw a TV ad for a unique volunteering opportunity to help with contact tracing in the U.S.

At the time Curbelo, a Cuban native, was living in Cancun, Mexico, and had been working in the tourism industry before being laid off.

Without any experience in the medical field, or any knowledge of what the opportunity would entail, Curbelo told ABC News he signed up to become a contact tracer for a community hospital in South Florida  more than 500 miles from his home in Mexico. But he quickly noticed a problem: Most contact tracing training resources were in English, which could hamper efforts to reach out to Latino communities in the U.S.

Now, nearly four months later, Curbelo, along with 70 volunteers from around the world, have completed their work on a Spanish-language contact tracing course from Larkin Community Hospital in Miami, Fla. It's adapted from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials program into Spanish to better include the Latino community in the race to slow the spread of COVID-19.

(MORE: Florida records a record 11,458 new COVID-19 cases)

As the country sets new daily infection records fueled by outbreaks in Florida, Arizona and Texas -- all states with large Latino populations -- efforts to corral the virus using contact tracing are coming up short. Contact tracing is a classic public health technique used to control outbreaks of sexually transmitted disease and foodborne illnesses by tracing the past contacts of the infected.

Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, told ABC News that efforts to reach non English-speaking communities has been replicated in other parts of the country as local officials increasingly recognized the need to effectively communicate -- especially with regard to Latino communities that have been hit disproportionately hard.

"In some cases, there is a gap [in outreach], and people are trying to fill that gap," she said.

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PHOTO: Larkin Community Hospital in South Florida. (Larkin Community Hospital)

In Texas, for example, health officials in Harris and Tarrant Counties have translated their website and information about COVID-19 into Spanish, held tele-town halls with bilingual staff, and run advertising campaigns in Spanish to better communicate with local residents.

The outreach to South Floridas Spanish-speaking community comes at what experts say is a dangerous inflection point of the pandemic in the U.S.

Its not going well, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, said of contact tracing efforts to contain the virus in an interview aired by the Milken Institute late last month.

In a subsequent press conference on June 26, Fauci said that many Americans arent picking up the phone when health officials call. The problem is pronounced in minority communities where trust between community and institutions can be fractured or virtually non-existent, he said.

When its done by phone, maybe half of the people dont even want to talk to someone they think is a government representative, Fauci said. If you live in a community that is mostly brown or black, youre in a different situation  maybe 70% dont really want to talk to you.

Even in Miami, where many local government employees are native Spanish speakers, officials must also navigate language barriers for Latinos, and other populations.

(MORE: Latinos shoulder disproportionate coronavirus cases: CDC data)

Limited non-English language resources from the federal government has also added to the challenge, according to experts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does have a website including Spanish-language resources on the coronavirus and contact tracing, as does Florida's state department of health.

"In the beginning, everything was in English," said Curbelo, the contact tracing volunteer. "But I knew that people who spoke Spanish and were sick wouldn't want to take part in contract tracing because of the language barriers. Contact tracers need to speak with people and learn as much as they can for it to work."

Curbelo was one of 400 volunteers to take the English-language course with Miamis Larkin Community Hospital, which has a campus in Hialeah where 95% of the residents are Hispanic.

"If you speak to me in my native language, I will understand you and empathize with you," Curbelo said.

It can take about 20 minutes for an investigator to conduct a thorough contact tracing interview, according to Larkin Community Hospital executive physician Jack Michel.

Using text messages, phone calls, calendars and emails, investigators work to reconstruct an infected persons schedule in order to map every potential interaction -- before repeating the process with each close contact.

Tracers must also work to map out a persons contacts soon after their test results are known, in order to limit potential spread. The time-intensive and exhaustive work underscores the need for large numbers of tracers in every community -- and for those who speak their language.

The Latino community is also disproportionately effected by COVID-19. Current statistics released by the CDC show the percentage of Hispanic/Latino Americans making up coronavirus cases is almost equal to whites -- around 34% -- despite Latinos being a significantly smaller portion of the population.

PHOTO: People wear a protective face mask outside The Smith on the Upper East Side as New York City moves into Phase 2 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic on June 30, 2020. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)

"We felt there was a necessity to bring this to the community and to the rest of the country," said Laura Salazar, a volunteer. "Our Hispanic population is getting sick and they are Spanish speakers."

"This was a huge effort," Michel said during a Zoom town hall related to the effort on Wednesday. "It turns out, there's so much that goes into it. But we had volunteers who would immediately volunteer to take on and create videos and what they did is amazing."

The Spanish-language course translated by Larkin Community Hospital was released publicly last week, and takes about three hours to complete online.

The course, together with a digital platform designed by the hospital, are available for use by contact tracers and health care officials in Central and South America, Michel told ABC News. It's already in use at Larkin Community Hospital, and could be rolled out by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) to the greater U.S. later this month.

"The more we could get native Spanish speaking contact tracers, we would be better off in managing the virus," Marcus Plescia, the chief medical officer for the ASTHO, told ABC News. "Larkin was an opportunity to have a partner to help us do that."

"I am very proud of what we have done," said Curbelo. "This is going to help save so many lives.

Jay Bhatt, a practicing internist and Aspen Health Innovators Fellow, is an ABC News contributor.

In South Florida, volunteer contact tracers take on language barrier in urgent COVID fight originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY  Staff and visitors brought the coronavirus into nursing homes across New York State, a new report by the Department of Health concluded.



According to the report, "Factors Associated with Nursing Home Infections and Fatalities in New York State During the COVID-19 Global Health Crisis," which was released on Monday, several factors were clear after examining the data  and they indicated that the spread of coronavirus was related to staff or visitors, not patients transferred from hospitals or other facilities.

At Peconic Landing in Greenport, for example, a per diem employee tested positive for the coronavirus in March.

About 6,432 coronavirus deaths have been reported in nursing homes in New York, or 21 percent of the total number of deaths, the report said.

"Employee infections were related to the larger community spread and employee transmission has the strongest correlation to nursing home fatalities," the DOH report said.

According to data submitted by nursing homes, 37,500 nursing home staff members  one in four of the states approximately 158,000 nursing home workers  were infected with COVID-19 between March and early June 2020, the study said.

The data also suggests that nursing home quality and admissions policies were not a factor in mortality from COVID.



"Comparing nursing home policies and mortality rate timelines suggests COVID-19 transmission is strongly correlated to nursing home employees entering the facility. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the consensus among public health experts suggested asymptomatic people did not spread the disease and asymptomatic positive or presumed positive employees were allowed to continue to work," the report said. "Later in the crisis, public health experts were forced to reverse this position as it became clear from the data that asymptomatic people could transmit the disease."

NYSDOH also analyzed the timing of the COVID-positive staff infections and the timing of nursing home deaths, the study said. "Based on published data, the average length of time between COVID-19 infections to death is between 18 to 25 days. Therefore, the link between the timing of staff infection and nursing home mortality is supported by the fact that the peak number of nursing home staff reported COVID-19 symptoms on March 16, 2020  23 days prior to the date of the peak nursing home fatalities, which occurred on April 8, 2020. It is likely that thousands of employees who were infected in mid-March transmitted the virus unknowingly  through no fault of their own  while working, which then led to resident infection."

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In addition, the report said, independent testing done by BioReference in May showed 29 percent of nursing home employees surveyed had COVID antibodies.

"Extrapolating the data means that approximately one in three nursing home workers were infected," the report said. "Such a high percentage of employees having at one time been positive for COVID-19 suggests a strong correlation to contributing to the spread to patients. Our analysis brings to the forefront the possibility of transmission from staff as an important mode of transmission. If states had accurate information about COVID transmission at an earlier time and had the testing capacity to detect asymptomatic but infected individuals, other procedures might have been taken," the report said.

For example, all asymptomatic employees should have been barred from facilities as if they were symptomatic, which is the current policy, the report said. If widespread testing was available earlier, all employees could have been tested earlier, the report concluded.

Some have protested that those with coronavirus should not have been admitted, or re-admitted, to nursing homes, and questioned if that might have caused the spike in deaths; the report, however, refuted those concerns.

Speaking on the report at a press briefing Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said visitors were not initially barred from nursing homes; that did not happen until mid-March, he said. "By that time, the virus was in the nursing homes," he said. "At that time we weren't testing anybody, testing was just starting and if you look at when the visitors were allowed in, up until about mid March the spike in the nursing homes was seven days, 14 days after that," Cuomo said. "The report said between family coming in and the staff  they were the transporters of the virus."

He added that from "Day 1, we all knew that nursing homes were the most vulnerable place," which is why, Cuomo said, he made the decision to ban visitors despite how difficult it was for seniors in nursing homes not to see loved ones for months.

The report concluded that the issues faced are national issues that must be addressed through, for example, better training of staff, enhanced and rapid testing, and better coordination with other healthcare facilities. "Nursing homes and other congregate settings will pose a continued risk for the coronavirus or another public health threat in the future that attacks older adults," the report said.

This article originally appeared on the North Fork Patch
The lobby of the Quirk Hotel Charlottesville in Charlottesville, Virginia, during June 2020.

Michelle Gross

In mid-June, after 95 days of self-quarantine in New Jersey and testing negative for COVID-19, Michelle Gross and her husband decided to relocate to North Carolina to continue social distancing.

The couple made the drive with their two dogs and stayed at three hotels along the way: Hyatt's Quirk Hotel Charlottesville, Virginia; The Alexandrian, a Marriot hotel in Alexandria, Virginia; and the Kimpton Arras Hotel in North Carolina, an InterContinental Hotels Group hotel.

After taking notes and photos to document each hotel experience, Gross says that staying at a hotel was very different during the pandemic, but that hotels are working harder than ever to keep guests safe.

In compliance with state and county laws and CDC guidelines, every hotel has their own new set of cleaning protocols and procedures to ensure that guests' health and safety is prioritized.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It wasn't some profound moment of clarity or any sort of breaking point. When June rolled around and my family road trip from Paris to Provence  long since scrapped as a result of the coronavirus pandemic  loomed closer on my calendar, the weight of 95 days (and counting) spent quarantining in a one-bedroom apartment in Jersey City started to take its toll.

While the lavender-fringed fields and long rose-filled lunches would have to wait, with COVID-19 cases perceivably on the decline by mid-June, and cities and states reopening in phases around the country, my husband and I felt the time was right to self-isolate elsewhere and decided to head south by car to North Carolina.

Traveling right now is a highly personal decision and I know full well that it is still a risky proposition at that. I've been reporting on how the travel industry and hotels in particular have been operating in light of COVID-19. According to a recent study by The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), while domestic travel has continued to tick up in recent weeks, hotel booking in smaller markets and towns are also on the rise. Hotels are taking employees and guests safety seriously, developing new cleaning protocols and consulting with leading health experts to mitigate potential exposure and risks at every turn.

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Knowing we'd need to break up our journey, this was as good an opportunity as any to do some legwork and see just how hotel brands are living up to their commitment to keeping guests and employees safe. After much deliberation and many conversations of the "should we, or shouldn't we" variety, in the days and weeks leading up to our trip, we plotted our route in an excel spreadsheet so carefully that every pit stop and potential bathroom break were accounted for, along with a tab for local and state laws between here and our final destination.

After testing negative for the COVID-19 virus, my husband and I, along with our two dogs, hit the road. We stayed in three hotels in three small towns: a Hyatt, an InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), and a Marriott. While we still brought plenty of our own supplies including masks, gloves, and enough Lysol wipes to last a lifetime, we learned that every hotel is operating differently and has their own unique set of cleaning practices and procedures.

Here's a look at what our experiences at each hotel entailed.

The first stop on our road trip was to the recently opened Quirk Hotel Charlottesville in Virginia.

1. Quirk Hotel Charlottesville lobby

Michelle Gross

The Quirk Hotel Charlottesville is an 80-key boutique that's a part of Hyatt's loyalty program. We'd visited the original Quirk Hotel in Richmond, Virginia a couple years ago and love the brand for its art-centric attention to detail. Quirk Charlottesville, which just opened their doors in March before shutting down two-weeks later as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, had just reopened in early June so we were among the first guests to stay there. The cost was $239 per night plus a pet fee of $150.

Before arriving at the hotel, I was sent an email from Hyatt Hotels & Resorts with an online check-in invitation.

2. Ouirk Hotel Phone Online Check In_jpeg

Michelle Gross

The online check-in invitation allowed me to update all of the information for our stay including my confirmation number, approximate check-in time, hotel address, and phone number.

We arrived at the hotel late Friday afternoon and upon check in were directed by the valet to the self-parking lot across the street.

Jess Gabba, the Quirk front office manager, wearing a signature Quirk mask.

online check-in invitation

The valet was wearing gloves and a signature Quirk mask which was a thoughtful touch. We we're told valet service would not be available to limit the possibility of contamination, which I appreciated.

After parking our car in the parking lot, we entered the lobby to collect our room key.

The lobby of the Quirk Hotel Charlottesville in Charlottesville, Virginia, during June 2020.

Michelle Gross

Checking in at the front desk, we were greeted by the front desk manager who stood behind a plexiglass wall. In addition to our room key, we were given a handout that included the hotel's protocols and cleaning procedures, which the front desk clerk quickly walked us through.

In the lobby leading up to the front desk, there were illustrated floor markers reminding guests to maintain social distancing while inside the hotel.

5. Floor Marker to Q Up at Quirk Hotel

Michelle Gross

When we got to the elevator bank there was a small table with a sign and a box of tissues that was to be used for pressing elevator buttons.

6. Social Distancing Sign at Elevator

Michelle Gross

The hotel is serviced by two elevators, and we noticed there was the same table-tissue set up on each floor of the hotel by each subsequent elevator bank.

When we arrived at our room on the third floor, we noticed there were no decorative pillows or blankets on the couch or bed.

7. Quirk bed and couch with no decorative pillows or blankets

Michelle Gross

Pre-COVID, these are always the first items I remove whenever I get to my hotel room as they're notoriously harder to keep clean, so I was relieved to find that Quirk had made the conscious decision to remove them.

The hotel, which is committed to sustainability, installed shampoo, soap, and conditioner as well as plenty of towels.

8. Quirk Bathroom

Michelle Gross

As part of their COVID-19 cleaning protocols, housekeeping would only be available upon request and we would need to vacate the room in order to receive service.

While the hotel's main on-site restaurant remained closed, the rooftop restaurant was serving food and drinks outside at a limited capacity and with all tables at a minimum of 6-feet apart.

9. Rooftop Signage at Quirk Hotel

Michelle Gross

When you arrive off of the elevator bank, you're greeted by a poster-size sign that cautions about limiting the risk of COVID-19

Food and drink menus were only available using a QR Code to eliminate the use of printed menus.

10. Quirk Pizza

Michelle Gross

The rooftop serves specialty thin-crust pizzas, wood-fired dishes, and drinks. We opted for the house specialty, an Appalachian-inspired pizza which comes topped with BBQ sauce, and locally sourced vegetables and meats.

The hotel is also home to an on-site art gallery that starts in the lobby and extends throughout the ground floor.

11. Quirk Art Gallery

Michelle Gross

It's one of the coolest features of staying at a Quirk Hotel and provides such a great way to experience and appreciate art in a safe and controlled environment.

The hotel also houses a coffee shop and breakfast area and provides plenty of outdoor seating with tables spread apart.

12. Quirk Charlottesville Outdoor seating

Michelle Gross

After Quirk, the next hotel on our road trip was Kimpton Arras Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina.

1. Kimpton Lobby (1)

Michelle Gross

The Kimpton Arras Hotel is located in the heart of Asheville. In addition to the hotel's pet-friendly policy, we chose to stay here because of Kimpton's pledge to the IHG Clean Promise program which includes a contactless check in process, verified sanitation in guest rooms, and deep cleaning on high touch surfaces. The cost to stay here was $233 per night, and there was no pet fee.

Unlike Quirk Hotel Charlottesville, valet service at Kimpton was available during our stay, however we decided to forgo valet and self-park in the hotel's lot in the AC Marriott Hotel next door to avoid any potential issues with cross-contamination.

When we checked in, we were greeted in the lobby by a plexiglass front desk area and markers on the floor along with signage and plenty of hand sanitizer. Signage along with markers on the floor were common throughout the lobby area to remind guests to stay six feet apart.

Hotel staff greeted us wearing masks, and we were handed a guest sheet outlining the hotels COVID-19 protocols and priorities from behind the plexiglass shield.

2. Kimpton Front Desk Plexiglass

Michelle Gross

The front desk manager placed the key cards and treats for our dogs on a front desk tray so there was indeed a contactless exchange.

3. Front Desk tray for contactless key delivery 2

Michelle Gross

In the main elevator bank, you have to select your floor number on a keypad that will direct you to the corresponding elevator.

4. Kimpton Elevator signage

Michelle Gross

There was a sign on the outside of the elevator bank reminding guests to limit the elevator usage to two people or one family. Once inside the elevator, you don't need to press any buttons.

When we got to our room, we found the screen queued to IHG's "Clean Promise" which was available to read at our discretion.

5. Kimpton Screen Committed To Clenliness

Michelle Gross

The information provided on our handout listed all of the same information but was a nice reminder for how our stay would look a little different in light of the current climate.

In the bathroom, there were no amenities save for a single bar of soap on the counter for washing out hands.

6. Kimpton Bathroom

Michelle Gross

There was a sign next to the soap saying we would need to call to request any other amenities during our stay which would be delivered and dropped off for a contactless transaction, free of charge.

While the bed was devoid of decorative pillows and blankets, the couch did have two decorative pillows on it, which I immediately removed.

7. Kimpton bed and couch

Michelle Gross

That evening we had light dinner and drinks on the outside patio of the hotel.

8. Kimpton Lobby Ordering Screens

Michelle Gross

The main restaurant area was closed, but menus were made available on large TV screens on the right-hand side of the restaurant.

I checked out of the hotel on my phone after being sent my folio.

10. Contactless key return

Michelle Gross

In the lobby, there was a large bowl made available for contactless key return, along with a sign about the keys being sanitized.

The last stop on our road trip was The Alexandrian in Alexandria, Virginia.

1. The Alexandrian Front Desk COVID 19

Michelle Gross

A stately Autograph Collection hotel in the heart of Alexandria, Virginia, the hotel is part of Marriott's expansive portfolio. We used our Marriott Bonvoy points here, but $125 per night is the rate we were quoted, plus a $25 per night pet fee.



There's no valet option here, so after self-parking in the garage, we made our way to the lobby.

Once again in the lobby we were greeted by a large plexiglass barrier at the front desk and handed a one-sheet explaining the hotel's cleaning protocols and procedures.

On the floor throughout the hotel's grand lobby, floor markers emphasizing social distancing were placed strategically throughout.

2. Bricks of Old Town Social Distancing Floor

Michelle Gross

In the elevator, a sign about Alexandria's physical distancing was a nice touch.

3. Elevator Physical Distancing in Alexandria

Michelle Gross

When we got to our room, I was elated to find a handwritten welcome note along with a package of Autograph Collection branded antibacterial wet wipes and masks.

4. The Alexandrian Guest Amenity Mask and Wipes

Michelle Gross

This was the only hotel on our trip to offer this type of amenity, which I think is a nice touch.

Our room was as spacious as it was lovely and devoid of decorative pillows and blankets, I was relieved to find.

5. The Alexandrian Hotel Room

Michelle Gross

Our room was facing the hotel's inner courtyard and looked down on the on-site restaurant that had just reopened for outside dining only.

6. The Alexandrian Restaurant

Michelle Gross

On the last night of our trip we had dinner at j20, the hotel's southern themed restaurant and whisky bar.

7. The Alexandrian Sipping wine in the room

Michelle Gross

There were only a few patrons all spread out across the patio, but it proved to be a nice place to sit and enjoy a spicy pineapple margarita and pulled pork fries. After dinner, we went back to our room and enjoyed a bottle of wine mask free.

While staying in a hotel may look and feel different in the wake of coronavirus, there's something to be said about enjoying a bit of normalcy in times like these. On our drive home, we learned that several southern states  including North Carolina, where we'd spent the bulk of our time  had spiked in coronavirus cases.

We're back in Jersey City now, going on Day 7 of a state-mandated 14-day quarantine. I think travel for most Americans is going to look and feel a little different for the time being  and a lot of what the future holds still remains to be seen.





Read the original article on Business Insider
U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday, breaking a five-session streak of gains as investors weighed the prospects of a global recovery with spreading coronavirus outbreaks.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 396.85 points, or 1.5%, to 25,890.18, giving back most of its gains after surging 460 points a day earlier. The Standard & Poors 500 lost 1.1% to 3,145.32, snapping a five-day winning streak.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9% to 10,343.89, after hitting a record Monday. Technology stocks retreated from session highs in afternoon trading, with Amazon falling 1.9% to lead stocks lower after touching an all-time high. Microsoft and Apple lost 1.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

Government stimulus and hopes for an economic turnaround have kept investor sentiment upbeat recently, helped by stronger-than-expected data that have bolstered hopes that a recovery is underway.

But pandemic uncertainties are lingering, and the situation is fragile. The U.S. has seen almost 3 million confirmed cases and more than 130,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there have been 11.6 million cases and almost 540,000 deaths.

House hunting hurdles: COVID hasn't stopped the housing market, but good luck finding a home you can afford

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To be sure, investors for the most part have shrugged off continued signs of global economic damage from the pandemic. The S&P 500 index capped its best quarter since 1998 and is back within about 7.1% of its February record after tumbling nearly 34% during the March lows.

The uptick in infections is posing a threat to consumer sentiment, Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a note to clients. But investors have continued to focus on the positives. While we expect continued volatility, we think there are grounds for optimism that economies and markets can weather the recent acceleration in infections.

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While investors have focused on hopes for a robust bounce back in the global economy, the worry is that the pandemic will continue worsening, with hotspots stretching across the U.S. South and West. Cities in major economies like Australia and Britain have seen pockets of new contagions, requiring new lockdown measures. That trend is likely to keep shoppers and businesses from spending.

Arizona is one of the hot spots in the U.S. The state surpassed 100,000 cases Monday, and more than 62,000 of the 101,441 reported cases involve people younger than 44, state officials said. The state is nearing 2,000 deaths.

Trader Vincent Napolitano works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, March 2, 2020.

Data released Tuesday showed U.S. hiring jumped to a record in May and layoffs fell as businesses reopened, but economists caution that the labor market could cool after states paused reopening efforts recently. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, a widely watched measure of labor demand, showed hirings rose by 2.4 million jobs to 6.5 million in May, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

The worst-case scenario for markets is that governments resume more widespread lockdowns implemented during the spring and choke off the budding economic recovery. Either way, many economists expect it will take years for the global economy to return to the level of output it was at before the pandemic.

The resurgence of virus cases comes as Congress debates over whether to extend a number of fiscal measures, including additional federal unemployment benefits set to expire at the end of July.

The U.S. has so far delivered coordinated fiscal and monetary support sufficient to offset the estimated initial shock from the pandemic and spillovers to the full economy, analysts at BlackRock Investment Institute said in a note. Any premature reduction of stimulus in July, and as the shock persists, would increase the risk of financial vulnerabilities among businesses and households facing cashflow stresses.

Travel-related stocks fell Tuesday, with United and American Airlines dropping 7.6% and 7%, respectively. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line both lost about 5% apiece.

Energy stocks fell 2.5% for the largest loss among the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500. Theyve swung sharply with expectations for the economys health and demand for oil and gasoline. Devon Energy lost 7.3%, while Valero Energy fell 5.9%.

Benchmark U.S. crude slipped a penny to settle at $40.62 per barrel after earlier flipping between losses and gains. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2 cents to close at $43.08 per barrel.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 0.64% from 0.68% late Monday. It tends to move with investors expectations for the economy and inflation.

In Europe, Frances CAC 40 fell 0.7%, while Germanys DAX slipped 0.9%. Britains FTSE 100 dropped 1.5%.

In Asian trading, Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 0.4% and South Koreas Kospi gave up 1.1%. Australias S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, edging less than 0.1% lower. Hong Kongs Hang Seng shed 1.5%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.4%.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dow: S&P 500 snaps five-day rally as virus cases jump
GEORGIA  More than half of readers believe schools will not be prepared to reopen for the new academic year amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to an informal Patch survey.

The survey, conducted from Tuesday to Monday, received 3,817 responses. It is not meant to be a scientific survey, but rather an informal way to gauge public opinion.

We conducted the survey as school districts either announced or are preparing reopening plans for the 2020-2021 academic year. The Georgia Department of Education and Georgia Department of Public Health released June 1 back-to-school guidelines, providing guidance to help schools plan for a safe return to in-person instruction this fall. Among them are masks, frequent hand-washing and eating at desks.

If in-person learning is part of the reopening plan, schools will look vastly different from past school years. Because of Centers for Disease Control and state guidelines such as physical distancing, school districts may have to plan for measures such as rotating days for in-person classes, spacing in classrooms and buses.

In our survey, 58.6 percent of respondents believe schools cannot safely reopen in the fall while 29.8 percent said "yes" and 11.7 percent said "not sure."

Preferences for different reopening scenarios are mixed. The highest share  45 percent  believe there should be a continuation of remote learning at first. Meanwhile, 29.2 percent believe schools should begin with a mixture of remote and in-class learning, and 21.7 percent support in-class learning with social distancing and mask-wearing. The remaining 4.1 percent were undecided.



Respondents were less divided on the place of face masks in school settings. In all, 54.4 percent do not believe it is realistic to have children wear face masks in a school setting. By comparison, 23.9 percent want to see all children wear face masks and 18.9 percent believe it is realistic for only older children. The remaining 2.7 percent said "not sure."



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For those with school-age children, we wanted to measure how many parents plan to send their children back to class if schools do resume in-class learning in the fall.



In all, 35.6 percent said they will keep their children home until they are more confident it's safe, 26.8 percent said they will send their child to school, 19.9 percent said they were unsure, and the remaining 17.7 percent said they do not have school-age children.

Lastly, we asked all readers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest, how great are their fears of sending their kids back to school.



Of the nearly 4,000 replies, 44.2 percent said they were at a level 5, with 14.8 percent ranking at a level 1.

We received over 660 additional comments on families' sentiments. A common thread was a concern about virtual learning's impact on learning and well-being, particularly among young students. Other parents were worried since both worked outside the home and did not have a choice in keeping their children home.



One reader wrote, Having a combination of in-school and virtual learning would be the least desirable in my opinion. Those that cannot work from home will need to hire caregivers or find centers to care for their kids on virtual days... this will increase everyones bubble of exposure and increase risk.

Another said, If a common cold spreads like wildfire I cant imagine this being any different, wearing a mask is uncomfortable for adults, imagine kids. Its not being realistic, kids will not keep on their masks throughout the school day.

An older female speech pathologist and cancer survivor, said, I dont feel safe returning to in-class learning. To work on articulation of sounds, you have to be able to see childrens mouths, which would be impossible wearing masks.

Another educator commented that, unless older students are required to wear a mask, I will be electing to online teach. It is too soon to be back in the classroom.

Many readers suggested beginning school after Labor Day, which is typically weeks after many schools resume in Georgia. Schools should consider opening after Labor Day. People that are not responsible will travel to GA because our beaches are open. Let the holidays pass and then reopen schools.

One reader kept it simple by saying, It is a must. Time to get kids back to school.

This article originally appeared on the Johns Creek Patch
ASHLAND, Va., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stegmann first released its EcoWool Clog fall 2019. Made with sustainably sourced heritage wools native to each region, the footwear line may be one of the most sustainable in the world. Its production financially supports heritage sheep breeds and their farmers as a part of the brand's species preservation initiative .

The complete line of Stegmann EcoWool Clogs for women. There is also a men's line of EcoWool Clogs.

The EcoWool Clog line will be available online in four colors August 3, 2020:

Stonesheep made with wool from Tyrolean Stone Sheep in Austria

Shetland made from wool from Shetland Sheep in Scotland

Alpaca made from the wool of Preuvian Alpacas in the Andes (New in 2020)

Juraschaf made from the wool of Juraschaf Sheep in Switzerland (New in 2020)

Stegmann felts, shapes and stitches all of its wool uppers by hand. Once formed, the EcoWool upper is paired with a sustainable cork/latex footbed sustainably sourced in Portugal. Stegmann's entire production line in Austria is clean, green, carbon neutral, chemical-free and zero-waste.

The EcoWool shoe reflects all of the signature comfort details Stegmann shoes are known for. The anatomical shape has orthopedic-level comfort features: arch, toe, metatarsal bar and heel cup support. It's the perfect travel and work shoe. Podiatrists themselves wear the EcoWool shoe:

"Stegmann shoes have an amazing design that contours to our arches and provides the right amount of support we deserve for all day wear and tear. I personally love the metatarsal support when standing for long periods of time." - Dr. Bradley Schaeffer of TLC's "My Feet are Killing Me"

Please see more information and images attached. We'd be happy to send samples to you and your team. Please let us know a good address, your shoe color preference, and size.

Share the Stegmann Shoe Experience: Order the new EcoWool Clogs August 3, 2020 at www.StegmannUSA.com. Earn commission by sharing our products with readers via ShareaSale or Amazon.com. Click here for our ShareASale invitation link.

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More about Stegmann: Born and based in Austria, the Stegmann brand has been handcrafting wool felt comfort footwear since 1888. Famous for their iconic styling, seamless wool upper and contoured comfort sole, this stalwart brand is poised for growth in the US with fresh styles and finishes to bring sophisticated comfort to new admirers and loyal fans. For more information about Stegmann, visit stegmannusa.com .

Contact:

Lauren Nelson

Director of Marketing, Stegmann

243085@email4pr.com

(804) 798-1891

The Stegmann EcoWool Clog for women in a new color sourced from Peruvian Alpacas. The shoe material is sustainably sourced and part of the company's species preservation initiative.

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SOURCE Stegmann Clogs
Eat Right will hire over 30 new employees as the company launches Nationwide shipping

TAMPA, Fla., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Eat Right Lifestyle Delivery Meal Plans announced today that the company has expanded its fresh meal delivery service based in Tampa, Florida to nationwide shipping. The company is safely delivering contact free and fully vacuum sealed meals to over 40,000 zip codes; including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

"With nationwide delivery we are changing the times of people having to wait until the middle of the week to receive their meals. Instead, using our cutting-edge vacuum seal technology that preserves meals up to 17 days without freezing, we deliver an entire weeks' worth of meals every Friday, so our members are ready to kick off their week right," said co-founder Cameron Fulks.

Due to COVID-19, business has increased significantly. This nationwide operation will allow Eat Right to hire an additional 30 plus team members located in the Tampa Bay community. The company plans on increasing its work force by 75 team members within the next 12 months.

"During these times we're proud to be able to offer amazing and great paying positions to those in need, including Veterans," said Fulks.

When Colby Fox and Fulks started Eat Right in 2017, they decided not to build the company on old technology. Instead, they invested over $250,000 in a custom software that uses GPS data to direct drivers in the field, allowing them to make more than twice as many drops each night, safely and efficiently. The tool has now allowed the company to expand from the state of Florida and Dallas to members throughout the nation.

Eat Right's technology was developed to rapidly grow the meal delivery service, and it has performed seamlessly. The meal delivery company uses an AI technology to order all the ingredients required by company chefs based on customer orders and current inventory.

"We knew we couldn't run this company on a spreadsheet, we needed something much more powerful," Fox said. "Since our members are all communicating via text message these days, we had to build our system to interact with them through that medium. The software we needed wasn't available, so we built it."

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About Eat Right

Eat Right is a nationwide meal delivery service, focusing on its member's health and overall lifestyle. Founded by former US Army veteran, Cameron Fulks, the company delivers more than 14,000 fresh, never-frozen meals created and prepared by area chefs to members throughout the United States. The company offers high-tech support to anyone who desires to live a healthier life and enjoy all of the benefits that brings with it. For more information about the company, visit online at https://www.eatright.life/.

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SOURCE Eat Right
The recognitions highlight Tata Communications' unmatched service delivery in India

MUMBAI, India, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tata Communications, a digital ecosystem enabler, received top honors at Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards, with eight wins in the 'Company of the Year' category. All the awards were for excellence in service provision, underlining the company's dominance in the Indian service provider market.

Applauding Tata Communications' feat, Benoy CS, Vice President, Digital Transformation Practice, Frost & Sullivan, said, "Tata Communications' services are aligned with industry best practices and address vertical-specific needs. It is an ideal example of a service provider that has the best-in-class people, processes and technologies to offer customer-focused solutions and services."

In its 19th edition, the 2020 India ICT Awards celebrated the achievements of the IT industry's best innovators, disruptors and leaders. The event honored industry professionals and corporates that created breakthrough business models and strategies through the innovative use of transformative technologies.

"We are thrilled that our continued focus on delivering superior customer experiences has resulted in another year of wins at the prestigious Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards," said Sumeet Walia, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Tata Communications. "To have won eight awards, especially the 'Enterprise Data Service Provider of the Year' for the eleventh time, is a strong validation of our efforts and expertise. The economic disruption triggered by the pandemic has resulted in an accelerated shift towards a digital-first world, creating an essential need for every industry to align to the new models of working. Our large suite of solutions, services and partnerships have helped unlock infinite possibilities to enable a seamless digital transition for our customers. These awards are a testament to the customers' confidence in us as their trusted advisor. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our customers and enabling secure connected digital experiences for them."

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Accolades Won by Tata Communications at Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards:

Enterprise Data Service Provider of the Year

Tata Communications has demonstrated tremendous innovation in product launches and strategies along with strong service delivery and support. It has enhanced the IZO cloud enablement platform, which integrates IZO Internet WAN with Global MPLS VPN, to form IZO Hybrid WAN. This is fully linked to its security services, such as DDoS mitigation, virtual proxy secure web gateway and Unified Threat Management. The company's unique IZO SD-WAN service is available in 150+ countries globally and is continuously gaining traction among Indian enterprises.

Tata Communications follows a multi-pronged strategy and has the vision to enable faster service delivery through automation and self-servicing/provisioning capabilities implemented through APIs and virtual platforms. Furthermore, it aims to enable automation and virtualisation to expedite customers' business transformation journeys.

Enterprise Telecom Service Provider of the Year - Large Enterprise Segment

Bolstered by its global network infrastructure and leadership in emerging markets, Tata Communications is continuously developing its service portfolio to include new technologies and innovations that simplify their enterprise customers' operations and help promote a competitive enterprise telecoms services business.

The company has a vast portfolio of solutions and services aligned to the needs of large enterprise customers. Its focus on staying agile and delivering superior customer experiences has helped it position itself as a digital ecosystem enabler. Its international network coverage and partnerships help it serve Indian companies with a global footprint and global companies with India presence.

Managed Multi Cloud Service Provider of the Year

Tata Communications has developed an integrated value proposition by combining its managed service prowess with multi-cloud capabilities. This is helping it tap newer opportunities in the emerging multi-cloud space.

Its broad multi cloud portfolio enables digital transformation for enterprises by bringing together all enterprise workloads on a single pane, yet giving each workload a choice of platforms to run on multiple models such as public clouds, managed hosting, private cloud and cloud container services. It helps the organisations balance investments in on-premise private cloud technologies with effective utilisation of off-premise public cloud services to achieve an optimised total cost of ownership (TCO).

SDWAN Service Provider of the Year

Tata Communications has been the frontrunner for efficiently leveraging and building innovative solutions using cutting-edge technologies such as Software Defined Networking/ Network-Function Virtualization and IoT. It has exhibited exceptional go-to-market strategies and service innovations by providing two different deployment models so customers can pick the one that best aligns with their SD-WAN deployment strategy.

Tata Communications has maintained its SD-WAN leadership in India on the back of its customised SD-WAN solution suite, continuous addition of innovative features in SD-WAN service, strong R&D capabilities and collaborative business with customers.

Unified Communications Service Provider of the Year

India's Unified Communications & Collaboration (UCC) market is becoming increasingly cloud-oriented as more businesses are willing to shift to the hosted/cloud model as long as they have a strong service provider that can manage their UCC requirements end-to-end. Tata Communications has been a clear leader in identifying these changing preferences of Indian businesses and continues to build technology partnerships to provide best-in-class UCC experiences to its business customers.

Managed Security Service Provider of the Year - Telecom

As enterprises aim to build a 360-degree cyber security posture, the number of security tools within the IT ecosystem has increased at a rapid pace. Organisations are not only focused on perimeter security, but are extending the security elements beyond the enterprise network; notably to the cloud and mobile devices. They need service providers that have a broad range of capabilities to manage and monitor security concerns around these areas. Tata Communications has expanded its cyber security offerings in response to this and significantly improved its threat detection and response capabilities. It leverages next-generation technologies and security frameworks that are industry-compliant and dependable.

Cloud Interconnect Service Provider of the Year

A trendsetter in the cloud interconnect space in India, the company has a robust roadmap to further enhance its cloud interconnect offerings and improve customer experiences. It plans to develop expansive multi-cloud connectivity capabilities involving customer use cases such as distributed applications in multiple clouds. Additionally, Tata Communications is developing cost-effective approaches wherein a customer can connect to multiple cloud service providers through a single physical connection. This would be significantly more efficient than building multiple dedicated physical connections to different cloud service providers.

Tata Communications intends to integrate its managed security services capabilities with cloud interconnect services. Moreover, it hopes to increase its existing interconnect capacity with cloud providers to address the rising demand for bandwidth.

Video Managed Services Provider of the Year

As the video managed services segment continues evolving due to the rapid advancement of technologies, service providers are being challenged to address customer demand on-the-go to remain relevant. The video managed services segment has, as a result, undergone a significant transformation in terms of the introduction of customised solutions by various players. The declining infrastructure cost of cloud-solutions and the rising demand for a wider range of video solutions at low costs are key issues that need to be addressed.

Tata Communications provides managed video services to enterprises leveraging its flagship product, Video Connect, as a core service for live and file-based contribution and global distribution to broadcasters and aggregators. It has the largest dedicated fiber-based Video Connect managed service, which offers unprecedented reach, flexibility and reliability. With a focus on constant innovation, the company has become the managed service provider of choice for broadcasting solutions such as Live 4K, 8K, and 360-degree video.

About the Awards

Frost & Sullivan's India ICT Awards contenders were judged on a variety of parameters including revenue, market share, product diversity, vertical and horizontal diversity, major customer acquisitions, the efficacy of the innovation process, product service, and positioning. The judging process involved in-depth primary interviews with various industry participants and secondary research conducted by Frost & Sullivan analysts. An elite panel of jury members comprising some of the most prominent CIOs/CTOs from the industry evaluated the compiled data and incorporated the end-user perspective. Frost & Sullivan then presented the awards to the companies that received the number one industry rank in each category.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Tarini Singh

P: +91-20 6718 9725

E: Tarini.Singh@frost.com

Smriti Arora

P: +91 98192 76755

E: Smriti.Arora@tatacommunications.com

About Tata Communications

Tata Communications is a digital ecosystem enabler that powers today's fast-growing digital economy.

The company enables the digital transformation of enterprises globally, including 300 of the Fortune 500  unlocking opportunities for businesses by enabling borderless growth, boosting product innovation and customer experience, improving productivity and efficiency, building agility and managing risk.

With its solutions orientated approach and proven managed service capabilities and cutting-edge infrastructure, Tata Communications drives the next level of intelligence powered by cloud, mobility, Internet of Things (IoT), collaboration, security, and network services.

Tata Communications carries around 30% of the world's internet routes and connects businesses to 60% of the world's cloud giants and 4 out of 5 mobile subscribers.

The company's capabilities are underpinned by its global network, the world's largest wholly owned subsea fibre backbone and a Tier-1 IP network with connectivity to more than 200 countries and territories.

Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

www.tatacommunications.com

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
Click here to read the full article.

MILAN  Over the past months Italys fashion companies, small and big, have been vocal about the need to preserve the countrys pipeline to ease restart once the COVID-19-related restrictions are over.

With lockdown now eased throughout the country, Como, Italy-based textile maker Colombo Group is pressing on debuting a new division and label as part of its offer.

Named Progetto 62, in a nod to the year the company was founded by husband and wife Piero and Anita Colombo, the new line is aimed at injecting a dash of innovation and contemporary edge to the companys offer, which already counts the Colombo, its Area and Mario Boselli Jersey lines.

Although the textile maker already generates the bulk of its revenues from the luxury segment, the new label  which is making its debut with the fall 2021 collection  will further stress that vocation, by targeting luxury companies only.

The strategic thinking behind the project is to stress our commitment toward the luxury sector banking on the manufacturing know-how of the company, said Massimo Colombo, the companys chief executive officer. He added the company plans to implement a streamlined distribution for the new line tapping into a number of selected clients.

Progetto 62 pivots around the pillars of creativity, innovation and sustainability. The last one, Colombo said, is increasingly taken into account by fashion brands and end consumers, pushing the textile maker to implement a range of initiatives across its entire supply chain.

While already boasting the Global Organic Textile Standard certification and working to secure the Forest Stewardship Council approval on the traceability of its fabrics, the companys ceo said that Progetto 62 will take the green efforts to the next level by including a range of repurposed yarns deadstock fabrics.

The company has conscripted Arman Avetikyan, a young designer with stints at Giorgio Armani, Oakley and Massimo Piombo, to conceive a new style for the line. Arman has a very different experience from us as he comes from brands, so he was the right fit for this project, said Colombo. As part of his tasks, Avetikyan will nurture collaborations with young designers, artisans and international fashion schools to add currency to the fabrics the firm develops.

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For the fall 2021 collection, he said he delved deep into the companys archives, retrieving silk fabrics done in signature nuances such as peacock blue and ecru, in an attempt to deliver a distinctive and recognizable style for the project.

Comprising five categories and around 100 different styles, the fabrics under the Progetto 62 moniker are crafted from silk and viscose, as well as wool. Avetikyan noted the innovative bent of the collection, yet to be fully developed, will entail performance-driven fabrics and high-tech treatments.

Colombo added that in sync with Made in Italy companies demand for personalization, the company will produce seasonal collections but it will also offer custom-made fabrics.

In 2019, the Colombo Group generated revenues of 6.5 million euros and the executive said he had predicted a modest increase in 2020 before COVID-19 scuppered the industry. Orders for the fall 2020 season were not impacted by the pandemic, while spring 2021 experienced a sales contraction of 40 percent compared with the same season a year earlier.

The group is looking with hope at 2021 when it aims to post sales of 8 million euros, driven in part by the new line, which has the potential to strengthen the whole companys image, Colombo said.

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Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether ATTRAQT Group (LON:ATQT) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

View our latest analysis for ATTRAQT Group

How Long Is ATTRAQT Group's Cash Runway?

A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. As at December 2019, ATTRAQT Group had cash of UK4.0m and no debt. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through UK1.7m. Therefore, from December 2019 it had 2.3 years of cash runway. Notably, however, the one analyst we see covering the stock thinks that ATTRAQT Group will break even (at a free cash flow level) before then. In that case, it may never reach the end of its cash runway. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

AIM:ATQT Debt to Equity History July 7th 2020

How Well Is ATTRAQT Group Growing?

ATTRAQT Group boosted investment sharply in the last year, with cash burn ramping by 61%. That does give us pause, and we can't take much solace in the operating revenue growth of 13% in the same time frame. In light of the data above, we're fairly sanguine about the business growth trajectory. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

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Can ATTRAQT Group Raise More Cash Easily?

Even though it seems like ATTRAQT Group is developing its business nicely, we still like to consider how easily it could raise more money to accelerate growth. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.

ATTRAQT Group's cash burn of UK1.7m is about 3.4% of its UK50m market capitalisation. Given that is a rather small percentage, it would probably be really easy for the company to fund another year's growth by issuing some new shares to investors, or even by taking out a loan.

How Risky Is ATTRAQT Group's Cash Burn Situation?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about ATTRAQT Group's cash burn. For example, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap suggests that the company is on a good path. While its increasing cash burn wasn't great, the other factors mentioned in this article more than make up for weakness on that measure. It's clearly very positive to see that at least one analyst is forecasting the company will break even fairly soon. Looking at all the measures in this article, together, we're not worried about its rate of cash burn; the company seems well on top of its medium-term spending needs. On another note, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the company, and identified 2 warning signs for ATTRAQT Group (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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.
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Narbe Alexandrian did not see COVID-19 coming, and thats okay. As chief executive officer of the cannabis venture capital firm Canopy Rivers (RIV.TO), hes not in the business of predicting pandemics.

What he did see prior to 2020 were cracks forming in the business model that has dominated legal cannabis in Canada since its inception: vertically-integrated licenced producers.

Many of the largest cannabis players were having a tough 2020 before the economic wallop of COVID-19. So far, the year has been marked by mass layoffs and lacklustre financial results. Producers face scarce financing options, unforgiving capital markets and resilient illicit sales.

Plans for global expansion and trial-backed pharmaceuticals years in the making have been shelved as investors demand tighter controls on spending and clearer paths towards consistent profits. Just about everyone is pulling back.

For Alexandrian, its proof of something hes been saying for a while now.

Vertical integration doesnt work, he told Yahoo Finance Canada in an interview. Prior to legalization, because of how the public markets were valuing these companies, everyone had to increase their footprint as quickly as possible. They invested in cultivation, extraction, consumer packaged goods, pharma with clinical trials, pet health, biosynthetics, and they bought retail stores as well. You cant be everything to everyone.

For pot industry heavyweights like Canopy Growth (WEED.TO)(CGC), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO)(ACB) and Tilray (TLRY), the retail investor frenzy that preceded recreational legalization in Canada fuelled a period of rapid expansion now being dismantled to match the realities of todays smaller-than-expected cannabis market.

You can do a lot of things when capital is flowing freely, and you can raise hundreds of millions of dollars, Alexandrian said. As soon as that capital starts drying up, you really cant service every single part of the value chain with the strength that youd want. They are starting to thin out.

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He predicted big cannabis companies without major investments from outside the sector, such Constellation Brands (STZ) $5 billion investment in Canopy Growth, would struggle to manage seed to retail pot empires spanning multiple continents. As it happens, the booze-backed Smiths Falls, Ont.-based weed giant is now among the major producers reining in its operations in a bid to cut costs.

Canopy Rivers has not been immune to the thinning trend. In the quarter ended March 31, the Toronto-based firm reported a $30.5 million net loss and $11.2 million in impairment charges tied to its portfolio of equity investments. In May, the company slashed compensation and headcount with the goal of shrinking spending by 35 per cent.

Every day feels like a week, Alexandrian said when asked to sum up the first half of 2020 in the cannabis sector. The industry is moving very quickly. It could be different a month from now.

For the time being, the firm mainly plans to sit on its nearly $47 million cash pile. But with valuations on the decline and capital in ever shorter supply, Alexandrian said theres no shortage of deals crossing his desk.

Here are some of the trends hes watching.

Consumers love cheap pot

HEXO (HEXO.TO)(HEXO) is widely credited with kicking off the value cannabis category last fall with its Original Stash line priced to compete with the legacy market. Now, most major licenced producers are fighting to lure budget-conscious buyers with prices in the $5 per gram range.

You look back to Q4 of 2019, or even Q3 of 2019, value brands are about six per cent of total sales within the Ontario Cannabis Store. Fast-forward to now, were at 23 to 24 per cent, Alexandrian said.

Thats taking market share away from the blackmarket. If you go back to Q3 of 2019, the legacy market made up about 92 per cent of the entire market. Now its at about 81 per cent of the entire market within Ontario.

Gummy goodness

Canopy Growth, the most prolific pusher of pot beverages, owns a roughly 27 per cent stake in Canopy Rivers. But the venture capital firm sees a bigger opportunity in another cannabis 2.0 category: gummies.

Gummies represent 50 per cent of any mature market. They had a stocked out rate of 90 per cent when they first came online (in Canada), Alexandrian said. There is a huge demand for gummies, and there is not enough supply for it in the market today.

Canopy Rivers latest portfolio addition was a stake in infused gummy-maker Dynaleo. The Edmonton-based company recently received a processing licence from Health Canada and expects to begin supplying retailers shortly.

Valuations plunge, institutional money & Fortune 500 firms flee

Canopy Rivers invests in both private and public companies. Alexandrian said valuations have softened considerably as cash-strapped firms run short on financing options. The flip side, he said, is the institutional money and blue chip companies that tend to propel the sector when they buy into pot are increasingly retreating to the sidelines.

We need that kind of capital coming into the industry, Alexandrian said, referencing Canopys deal with booze giant Constellation Brands.

Cannabis entrepreneurs are adjusting to the new normal as well.

We still see some valuations that we think are absurdly high. They find out quickly that they cant raise at that number. They come back a week or two later and say, Were 50 per cent lighter than what we told you, he added. If you look at our statistics through our database of who is pitching to us, the median raise was at $4 million prior to COVID. Post-COVID, its gone down to about $2 million.

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

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Protest in Hong Kong - PHILIP FONG/AFP

In the days after the Brexit vote, Boris Johnson wrote for the Telegraph of his desire to re-open the UK to the world as a truly global Britain.

The country sought a new role, he said, seeking to be humane, compassionate, principled  to do good around the world, and to exploit growth markets to the full.

Much of this was pooh-poohed by Remainers characterising Brexit as an insular move, turning the nations back on the rest of the world.

But this month the UKs offer to allow almost three million people from Hong Kong to move to Britain and take citizenship shows the slogan has meaning.

As far as growth markets go, it could also help turn Britain into just such an economy.

Hong Kong - ISAAC LAWRENCE /AFP

The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that if one-tenth of those eligible move to the UK, it could boost GDP by 12bn.

If the flow is sustained and one million arrive over a five-year period, it could be more like 40bn.

The analysts call the potential arrivals a ray of sunshine.

Hong Kong is one of the few nations which performs better than the UK on the World Banks human capital index, which seeks to measure educational attainment and the economic value built up in the population.

This plays out in the jobs market. Hong Kongs pre-pandemic unemployment rate of 3.1pc was even lower than Britains exceptionally low 3.9pc.

Average earnings were the equivalent of 1,856 per month at the end of last year, not too far below the UKs average of 2,154.

The CEBR puts average productivity per year at 69,900, which is higher than the UK level of around 60,500.

The high-productivity industries of finance and insurance account for 7.6pc of its employment vs the UKs 4pc. The City of London would welcome a slice of the 293,000 workers in the rival financial hub.

Almost one-in-six work in real estate and professional business services  important industries in the UK

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When the Prime Minister wants to build, build, build, it is handy that 8.6pc of Hong Kongs workers are in construction, just above the UKs 7pc.

It seems unlikely that all three million would relocate to Britain, however. Around 300,000 people in Hong Kong have British National (Overseas) passports. The offer extends to them and their dependents.

Last year 677,000 people migrated to the UK while 407,000 left, leaving net immigration of 270,000. In this context tens or even hundreds of thousands of new arrivals would not radically alter the usual flows in and out of the country.

It would change the mix, however. Official figures from 2016 indicated there were around 9,000 Hong Kong nationals resident in the UK, as well as 95,000 people who were born in Hong Kong, 74,000 of whom were British citizens.

The CEBR notes that protesters, who might have the most need to flee, tend to be relatively young. This could mean they are less productive than average, but are also less reliant on state services such as healthcare and education.

In one sense, it is not ideal timing to absorb new migrants into the jobs market. With millions of workers on furlough and unemployment rising, a skills shortage is not a pressing problem.

On the other hand, new arrivals bring their own demand to the economy, as well as resources as workers. Entrepreneurial migrants could bring particularly significant benefits for the country in the long-term.

Look to historys examples. Almost 30,000 Ugandan Asians, for instance, came to the UK after their expulsion by Idi Amin in 1972  a gloomy economic decade of stagflation, oil price shocks and strikes in Britain.

Priti Patel - PIPPA FOWLES/Shutterstock

Arriving often with nothing but the clothes they stood in, they are now famed as an outstanding example of successful integration. The retail industry was radically altered by the migrants, while businesses such as Dominos Pizza were founded by the new arrivals. Priti Patel, the home secretary, was born to parents who moved from Uganda in the 1960s.

Speaking on the 40th anniversary of the expulsion Lord Popat, who arrived from Uganda in the UK a year earlier, praised their contribution to the nation.

Today in Britain, Ugandan Asians play a sizeable role in the national economy, he said in Parliament. While exact figures are not easily available for the impact of this one community, Britons with south Asian roots today make up 2.5pc of the population but account for 10pc of our national output. The number of Ugandan Asians on the rich list is also sizeable.

Parallels abound with Hong Kongers.

Close British ties before and after the handover in 1997, widespread use of English  just over half speak the language, with a far greater share of the younger generation taught it at school  and similarities in the legal system and elements of business practice would all ease any move.

Global Britain could quickly pay dividends.
Pent-up consumer demand drove strong results at U.S. store-closure sales, note Tiger Group's Dan Kane and Michael McGrail in Goldman Sachs webinar.

NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Retail inventory valuations bounced back quickly in May and June as large numbers of Americans responded to retail re-openings by hunting for bargains at liquidation sales, said executives from Tiger Capital Group in a webinar with analysts from Goldman Sachs.

Dan Kane

"Nobody anticipated just how strong some of these closeout sales would be when stores and shopping centers opened up again," said Dan Kane, Co-Founder and Managing Member of Tiger Group, on the webinar. "Maybe it was as simple as pent-up demandpeople wanting to get out of their homesbut at Tiger we have been pleasantly surprised at how well these closing sales have performed so far."

Focused on U.S. retail liquidations and closeouts, the June 24 call was an hour-long deep dive with Kane as well as Michael McGrail, Tiger's Chief Operating Officer. Goldman Sachs analysts Chandni Luthra, Kate McShane and Alexandra E. Walvis quizzed the veteran asset appraisal and disposition executives on the overall state of the U.S. retail landscape; the performance and prospects of different retail categories; dynamics in the closeout space; and plausible scenarios for retail's future.

In the early weeks of the pandemic, McGrail noted, retail inventory valuations were highly uncertainso much so that Tiger advised clients to hold off on appraisals until more transaction data was available. Store-closure sales, some of which had been interrupted by the lockdowns, provided precisely such data once malls and shopping centers began to reopen. "All indications are that appraisals are now pretty close to pre-Covid 19 numbers depending on the category and the region you're in," McGrail said.

But the COO qualified that view with a significant caveat: "You can argue about whether that pent-up demand is sustainable," he said. "If there were another shutdownsome sort of drastic setbackthat could certainly affect values."

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Parts of the United States are now recording record numbers of Covid-19 cases, with governors in some states once again restricting bars and dine-in restaurants. Nonetheless, results from those initial store-closure sales appear to be good news for both retailers and asset-based lenders. "Let's say you have a two- or three-month interruption," McGrail said. "When things open back up, all signs indicate that we can liquidate that inventory and it will maintain its appraised value, again depending on the category and other factors."

All of that said, both Kane and McGrail underscored that the U.S. retail landscape is contracting rapidly, with thousands of stores already set to close and new consumer habits likely to further reduce demand for brick-and-mortar space. "Because of Covid-19, people didn't have a choice but to learn how to order more and more merchandise online," Kane said. "Those behaviors are going to be sticky."

Indeed, McGrail has long predicted that retail square footage in the United States would shrink by as much as 40 percent by 2025. Covid-19, he said, has accelerated the shift. "The United States is over-retailed to begin with," he told the analysts. "Moreover, retail is built on a financing structure that leads directly to too many stores, malls and, ultimately, auctions. The retailer buys its inventory, uses it for collateral, gets an asset-based loan and ramps up its square footage to build that pyramid."

While it might sound counterintuitive, Kane added, cheap money has also worked against the health of U.S. retail in general. When retailers have easy access to loans (or are acquired and kept open by mall landlords seeking to stave off vacancy), they may need to slash prices to raise cash. "That starts hurting healthier retailers at that mall," Kane explained. "Now they have to lower their prices in turn."

That's precisely why, in response to a question from a Goldman Sachs analyst, McGrail cautioned against full-price retailers jumping into the closeout business as a response to a sudden glut of inventory. "That transition could be disastrous, because the customer could then be conditioned to pay less for that merchandise, and margins could erode," he said. "When the retailer tries to go back to full price after Covid is over, the customer balks and says, 'I'm already accustomed to you being a discounter.'"

An archived audio file of the webinar is available up until July 9. To listen, go to:

https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1337204&tp_key=d81d62fc05

Passcode (Case Sensitive): Liquidation2020

Press Contacts: At Jaffe Communications (908-789-0700), Elisa Krantz, 243006@email4pr.com or Bill Parness, 243006@email4pr.com

Michael McGrail

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A pint-size predator to bugs may provide scientists clues about the ancient ancestors of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, a study published Monday suggests.

Standing about 4 inches tall, Kongonaphon kely could be one of the last common ancestors of all dinosaurs and pterosaurs, an extinct flying reptile, and explain some of their physical characteristics and traits.

The discovery and description of the fossil of Kongonaphon kely  which means "tiny bug slayer"  could provide scientists big insights since the species was much smaller than most dinosaurs.

"There's a general perception of dinosaurs as being giants," Christian Kammerer, a research curator in paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, said in a statement. "But this new animal is very close to the divergence of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and its shockingly small."

The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The ancient animal's fossils date back 237 million years and were discovered in 1998 in Madagascar, said John Flynn, curator of fossil mammals at the American Museum of Natural History.

"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," Flynn said in a statement.

Dinosaurs and pterosaurs evolved from the group Ornithodira, but little is known about their origins. Kammerer said other small animals have been discovered in the group, but they were thought to be an exception. Archosaurs, a larger group that includes birds, crocodiles and dinosaurs, and ornithodirans were all thought to be similar in size before dinosaurs and their huge dimensions.

"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.

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This illustration provided by Alex Boersma in July depicts a Kongonaphon kely, a tiny relative of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

The scientists discovered characteristics about the Kongonaphon kely, including wear on the teeth that suggests it ate insects and fuzzy skin that retained heat. Both adaptations may have helped the tiny animal fill a unique niche.

Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kongonaphon kely, ancient dinosaur ancestor, was tiny, had fuzzy skin
A South Korean law enforcement officer attempts to detain a celebrator.

Screenshot via SBS

American troops in South Korea celebrated the Fourth of July by lighting fireworks on public sidewalks and beaches, prompting local authorities to shut down the groups.

Over 70 police reports were filed and 200 police officers were deployed to Busan, according to South Korean news reports.

At least one US Army soldier was briefly detained.

"It was totally like a foreign country, not Korea," one resident told South Korea's YTN News. "If you look at the restaurants, they were packed with US service members eating. And none of them were wearing face masks."

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Update: United States Forces Korea (USFK), the military command that oversees US forces in the country, released a statement on Tuesday apologizing for the "disruptive behavior and poor conduct."

"We regret the inconvenience and disruption this behavior caused the people of Busan," USFK said in its statement. "This type of behavior is deeply troubling to USFK and does not represent the strong respect we hold for the Korean people, their culture, laws and regulations."

"USFK will cooperate with Korean law enforcement authorities in their efforts to identify those responsible, and all commanders will take appropriate action for those service members determined to be involved in this type of behavior," the command added.

Americans living in South Korea celebrated the United States' independence by lighting fireworks on public sidewalks and beaches, prompting local authorities to shut down the groups.

In the Haeundae district of the city of Busan, over 70 police reports were filed over the lighting of fireworks, according to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. Residents also reported dozens of fireworks being aimed at buildings and at people.

Over 200 law enforcement officers were reportedly deployed to the beach in response to the police reports. Lighting fireworks on the public beach is banned and carries a fine of up to an US equivalent of $42, according to South Korean news reports.

Story continues

At least one US Army soldier was briefly detained.

Videos and pictures showing foreigners lighting fireworks in a crowded street spread on social media. One video showed a celebrator fleeing from pursuing law enforcement officers, while another showed foreigners fighting each other.

Americans reportedly fought with one another in video footage obtained by YTN News.

Screenshot via YTN News.

Some residents also complained that the visiting US troops were not wearing face masks. Although South Korea saw 48 new coronavirus cases reported on Monday. The country has been widely praised for its response to the pandemic  which include a vast contact tracing effort.

"It was totally like a foreign country, not Korea," one Busan resident told South Korea's YTN News. "If you look at the restaurants, they were packed with US service members eating. And none of them were wearing face masks."

In April, USFK advised US troops to wear face masks off-base "as a courtesy and sign of solidarity with our host nation communities," and as "a visible sign of our commitment to combatting COVID-19 and testament to US-[Republic of Korea] Alliance."

Following a July incident in which a US Army soldier was accused of attempting to steal a taxi and assaulting a police officer, Abrams reiterated that "we are guests here."

"We are also Ambassadors who represent our country on and off duty. Below is an example of not being a good Ambassador," Abrams said in a tweet in response to the incident.

In December, USFK officially ended a country-wide 1-5 a.m. curfew for its roughly 28,500 troops.

"Leaders are responsible for our Service Members on and off-post conduct; we are ambassadors of USFK, the United States and the ... Korean people," US Army Gen. Robert Abrams of USFK said in a statement at the time.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A stranger might know what you want in a partner just as much as you do. (Getty Images)

If you were asked to describe your dream partner, youd probably have an idea of the qualities youd be looking out for.

Maybe youd be looking for someone who makes you laugh, is super smart and holds open doors. Or maybe being kind to children, animals and the elderly is top of your list.

But when we describe the traits were looking for in our perfect other half are these ideal qualities specific to us, or are we merely listing positives that everyone would appreciate in a partner?

Well, new research aiming to shed light on this very subject, has suggested that peoples ideal partner requirements actually dont reflect any unique personal insight.

In other words, were all kinda looking for the same thing.

Read more: Lost your libido in lockdown? Here's how to find it again

The study, by researchers at the University of California and published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, analysed the top three romantic partner ideals of 700 participants.

The participants then rated their romantic desire for a collection of people they new personally, some being romantic partners, others blind date partners or friends.

Read more: Single men with cats less likely to find relationship on dating apps

The traits you look for in a partner might not be unique to you. (Getty Images)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, when the personal acquaintances exhibited participants top three must-want qualities, they felt an increase in romantic desire.

But researchers decided to compare how it might work if participants considered their romantic desire towards the same personal acquaintances if they possessed the top three attributes of a random stranger within the study.

So for example, if participant A listed down-to-earth, intelligent and thoughtful as her own top three attributes, participant B also experienced more desire for acquaintances who were down-to-earth, intelligent and thoughtful.

The people in our study could very easily list their top three attributes in an ideal partner, noted Jehan Sparks, former UC Davis doctoral student and lead author of the study.

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We wanted to see whether those top three attributes really mattered for the person who listed them. As it turns out, they didnt.

Read more: Coronavirus lockdown has spawned a boom in 'turbo relationships'

Professor Paul Eastwick, co-author of the study from UC Davis Department of Psychology, used a restaurant analogy to help explain the results.

Why do we order off the menu for ourselves? Because it seems obvious that I will like what I get to pick, he tells ScienceDaily.

Our findings suggest that, in the romantic domain, you might as well let a random stranger order for you - youre just as likely to end up liking what you get.

Study authors believe their findings could help to change how people consider potential partners via online dating sites.

They suggest the time people spend scouring dating profiles for those who seem to possess their ideal qualities, could in fact be somewhat wasted.

It's really easy to spend time hunting around online for someone who seems to match your ideals, Sparks explains. But our research suggests an alternative approach: Dont be too picky ahead of time about whether a partner matches your ideals on paper. Or, even better, let your friends pick your dates for you.
CARMEL, Ind., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Transworld Business Advisors of Indiana (www.tworld.com/indiana) is excited to welcome Ms. Derrer to the Team! She has assumed the position of Business Advisor and will focus on serving clients in the State of Indiana with her strong financial and business background.

(PRNewsfoto/Transworld Business Advisors of)

Ms. Derrer has over 20 years of business experience. She has successfully led multi million-dollar businesses, launched start-ups and executed turnarounds within the consumer electronics, automotive and utility industries. Ms. Derrer, also, holds an Indiana Real Estate License. Her credentials include a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee State University and an Executive M.B.A. from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Ms. Derrer has a unique blend of natural people skills, education and business experiences that delivers an incredible attention to detail, remarkable customer service, and outstanding results.

Ms. Derrer is a former board member and longtime WFYI supporter, a past United Way Loaned Executive as well as a regular donor to Dress for Success and local food banks.

Ms. Derrer joins a strong team in Transworld Business Advisor of Indiana which represents the largest business brokerage platform in the world with 40+ years' experience serving owners. All advisors have completed extensive training and are supported by a team with years of experience.

For more information about Transworld Business Advisors of Indiana, please visit www.tworld.com/indiana or contact Andrea directly at Aderrer@tworld.com.

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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Trianni, Inc. (TRIANNI) and Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS) today announced a collaboration for the development of transgenic monoclonal antibody platforms for the discovery of new veterinary treatments.

Trianni Logo (PRNewsfoto/Trianni)

"We are confident that the application of TRIANNI's proven transgenic human monoclonal antibody discovery platform technology to the veterinary field will add value to Zoetis' product development programs," said Matthias Wabl, Ph.D., Trianni's President and CEO.

"We appreciate TRIANNI's experience in the development of therapeutic antibody platform capabilities and look forward to working with them on innovations for animal health," said Catherine A. Knupp, D.V.M., M.S., Executive Vice President and President, Research and Development at Zoetis. "This collaboration will enhance our internally-developed pipeline of novel monoclonal antibodies and hasten the development of therapeutics that could transform the way veterinarians treat a range of diseases in animals."

No financial details were disclosed.

About Trianni, Inc.

Trianni, Inc. is a privately held biotech company specializing in antibody discovery technology. TRIANNI's lead technology, The Trianni Mouse, is a next-generation platform enabling efficient generation of fully-human monoclonal antibodies. TRIANNI's transgenic platform leverages a novel approach to design made possible by advances in DNA synthesis and genomic modification technology, making it a best-in-class therapeutic antibody discovery platform. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Additional information about TRIANNI is available through its corporate website, www.trianni.com.

About Zoetis

Zoetis is the leading animal health company, dedicated to supporting its customers and their businesses. Building on more than 65 years of experience in animal health, Zoetis discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines, vaccines and diagnostic products, which are complemented by biodevices, genetic tests and precision livestock farming. Zoetis serves veterinarians, livestock producers and people who raise and care for farm and companion animals with sales of its products in more than 100 countries. In 2019, the company generated annual revenue of $6.3 billion with approximately 10,600 employees. For more information, visit www.zoetis.com.

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Forward-looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect the current views of Zoetis with respect to business plans or prospects, expectations regarding products, the development of future products and other future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or actions. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if management's underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. Zoetis expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A further list and description of risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, including in the sections thereof captioned "Forward-Looking Statements and Factors That May Affect Future Results" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in our Current Reports on Form 8-K. These filings and subsequent filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.zoetis.com, or on request from Zoetis.

Media Contact: Trianni, Inc.

Elizabeth Tran

Marketing Manager

elizabeth.tran@trianni.com

(415) 231-0257

Media Contact: Zoetis

Christina Lood

christina.lood@zoetis.com

(973) 822-7249

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SOURCE Trianni
MEXICO CITY/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not visit Washington with Mexico's president this week to celebrate a new North American trade deal, his office said Monday, after Canada raised concerns over potential U.S. aluminum tariffs.

In a Monday morning phone call, Trudeau told Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador he hoped the talks with U.S. President Donald Trump would be successful.

Lopez Obrador, who had urged Trudeau to join him, is due to meet Trump at the White House on Wednesday on his first trip outside of Mexico since taking office 19 months ago.

Trudeau will be attending Cabinet meetings and a sitting of parliament in Ottawa, his office said in a statement on Monday.

"We wish the United States and Mexico well at Wednesday's meeting," the statement said.

Trudeau last week said he was not sure about attending, citing tensions over possible U.S. tariffs on Canadian aluminum. Trudeau also flagged concerns over the novel coronavirus.

In their call, Trudeau "expressed regret" to Lopez Obrador that he could not go to Washington, Trudeau's office said.

Their discussion also touched on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal that went into effect last week, efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, and investment in renewable energy infrastructure.

The two leaders expressed interest in meeting in person, Trudeau's office said, without providing further detail.

Lopez Obrador said Trudeau was invited to Mexico, and after their call announced that the Canadian prime minister had agreed to visit the country "as soon as possible."

Lopez Obrador said he will undergo a coronavirus test before leaving Mexico on Tuesday, and was prepared to have another in the United States if necessary. Lopez Obrador said he plans to return to Mexico from Washington on Thursday.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Jonathan Oatis)
The Trump administration notified the WHO of the withdrawal on Monday - Bob Stefko

The Trump administration has formally notified the United Nations that it will withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), breaking ties with the international health body as the US death toll from coronavirus surpassed 130,000.

The US notice of withdrawal, effective from July 6 2021, was formally submitted to the United Nations secretary-general, the depository for the WHO, on Monday a senior administration official told The Telegraph.

The move was immediately critcised by Democrats with Joe Biden, the party's presumptive presidential nominee, pledging to rejoin the WHO on his "first day" as president if he is elected in November.

"Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health," Mr Biden said, saying he would "restore our leadership on the world stage".

Bob Mendez, a Democratic senator for New Jersey, revealed Congress had been notified of the WHO withdrawal on Tuesday as he criticised the move, pointing out that the country was still "in the midst of a pandemic".

"To call Trumps response to Covid chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice. This won't protect American lives or interests - it leaves Americans sick & America alone," Mr Mendez said in a tweet.

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Donald Trump first announced in May that he would be terminating Americas relationship with WHO, blaming its ties to China and indicating that the international body would get no more US funding.

The US president has blamed the WHO for failing to warn countries quickly enough about the dangers of coronavirus and not doing enough to make China be transparent about the outbreak, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Mr Trump had previously paused funding to the WHO, pending an investigation carried out by his administration into the body's handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

"Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating the relationship, Mr Trump said as he announced his decision in May.

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He added that China has total control over the World Health Organization".

Mr Trump said the US contributes about $450 million to the world body while China provides about $40 million each year.

The decision to formally withdraw has prompted criticism in some quarters, with Amanda Glassman, from the Center for Global Development, saying the move endangers public health and well-being in the United States and around the world".

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It comes as America's top infectious disease experts warned the country is still "knee deep in the first wave" of the coronavirus pandemic, as the death toll from the virus surpassed 130,000.

Dr Anthony Fauci, a key figure on the White House coronavirus task force, said that the record number of new cases the country had reported in the past week were a serious situation that we have to address immediately.

Dr Fauci warned that the US compares poorly with Europe, which is now merely handling blips as countries reopen, communities in the US never came down to baseline and now are surging back up.

"We are still knee-deep in the first wave of this," he said in a Facebook live interview with Francis Collins, the National Institutes of Health Director.

Dr Fauci urged Americans to wear masks and social distance - Alex Brandon /AP

The huge US death toll from Covid-19 makes up about a quarter of the global total, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has forecast that it could climb to 160,000 later this month.

Hospitals in Texas are preparing to meet capacity amid a surge in coronavirus cases that has caused hospitalisations from the disease to more than double over the last two weeks.

As of Monday, nearly 8,700 people were in hospitals in the state and officials in major cities such as Houston, San Antonio and Austin fear their hospitals risk becoming overwhelmed within a fortnight.

The state reported more than 9,000 new Covid-19 cases on Monday according to a New York Times database, surpassing a record-high figure on Saturday.

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Hospitals across the Sun Belt continue to be flooded with coronavirus patients, with Arizona reporting a new high of more than 3,300 cases on Tuesday and its ICU units reaching 89 percent capacity.

Miami, another hot spot for infections, has imposed a mask wearing requirement and ordered some businesses to close, with penalties imposed on those who do not comply.

The White House has played down the surge, attributing the rise in new cases to an increase in testing for the virus.

However, more states are also reporting a troubling increase in the percentage of coronavirus tests that come back positive - a key indicator of community spread.

Two dozen states, mostly in the South and West, have averaged positivity rates over the past week exceeding 5 per cent, a level the World Health Organization considers to be concerning.
WASHINGTON  The United States officially notified the United Nations on Tuesday of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, a White House official said.

The notice, which comes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread around the globe, was submitted to the U.N. secretary-general and to Congress. The withdrawal is expected to take effect July 6, 2021.

A spokesperson told NBC News that the WHO was aware of reports but declined to comment further.

Lawmakers from both parties, including Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., swiftly criticized the move.

"I disagree with the president's decision," Alexander, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a statement. "Certainly there needs to be a good, hard look at mistakes the World Health Organization might have made in connection with coronavirus, but the time to do that is after the crisis has been dealt with, not in the middle of it.

"Withdrawing U.S. membership could, among other things, interfere with clinical trials that are essential to the development of vaccines, which citizens of the United States as well as others in the world need," he added. "And withdrawing could make it harder to work with other countries to stop viruses before they get to the United States."

The top-ranking Democrat on the committee, Patty Murray of Washington, called the withdrawal "an abdication of America's role as a global leader and it is the opposite of putting America first it will put America at risk."

"Refusing to work with our partners across the world to fight this pandemic will only prolong the crisis, further undermine our international standing, and leave us less prepared for future crises," she said in a statement. "President Trump needs to realize this crisis doesn't recognize borders and hiding from it or passing the blame won't make it go away or make him any less responsible."

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Trump said at the White House in late May that the U.S. would be "terminating" its relationship with the WHO over its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent public health needs," Trump said. "The world needs answers from China on the virus. We must have transparency."

That followed an announcement by Trump in April that the U.S. was halting funding to the organization pending a review. In 2019, the U.S. contribution was about 15 percent of the WHO's budget.

A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. has "worked to scale down its engagement with the WHO" since Trump's May announcement.

"The President has been clear that the WHO needs to get its act together," the spokesperson said. "That starts with demonstrating significant progress and the ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks with transparency and accountability. The United States will continue efforts to reform the WHO and other international organizations to ensure they operate with transparency, fulfill their mandates, and hold governments accountable for their commitments under international law."

A president typically does not have the ability to unilaterally redirect congressionally appropriated funding, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had called the threat "dangerous" and "illegal" in April.

Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, wrote Tuesday on Twitter that the Trump administration had notified Congress of its plans.

"Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the @WHO in the midst of a pandemic," he wrote, using the abbreviation for "president of the United States."

Menendez went on to excoriate the president for his actions during the pandemic: "To call Trump's response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice. This won't protect American lives or interests  it leaves Americans sick & America alone."

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to an NBC News tracker, almost 3 million cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the United States as of Tuesday, with almost 132,000 deaths attributable to the outbreak.
Donald Trump speaks during a Salute to America event on the South Lawn of the White House to mark the Fourth of July, 2020: AP

Donald Trump has been accused of being a co-conspirator of Covid by New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who suggested the president had worsened the crisis by making up facts and declining to set an example to the public by wearing a face mask.

With the US currently on almost 3m coronavirus cases and 130,000 deaths, top infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci has again sounded the alarm, warning the US situation is really not good and still knee-deep in the first wave of the pandemic as Miami is forced to re-close its restaurants due to a spiking infection rate.

The administration announced its intention to withdraw from the World Health Organisation, effective July 2021, following the president's row with the international agency and his claims that it had "covered up" the outbreak to defend China.

At the White House, the presidents press secretary Kayleigh McEnany offered a rather different assessment, insisting Trump is regarded as a leader on the crisis, despite his disastrous record.

Several excerpts from a new tell-all book written by the president's niece made several embarrassing claims detailing the president's narcissism, rampant fraudulence and "cheating as a way of life", including allegedly paying someone else to take his SAT.

Ms McEnany said that Mary Trump's "ridiculous, absurd allegations that have absolutely no bearing in truth,"

A day after demanding that Nascar driver Bubba Wallace, who is black, apologise after a noose was discovered in his garage, which the president called a "hoax", Mr Trump appeared to criticise the organisation banning the Confederate flag from its events.

"Nascar can do whatever they want and they've chosen to go a certain way and other people chose to go a different route," he said. "But it's freedom of speech."

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US gives formal notice it is withdrawing from WHO

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Most astounding accusations in Mary Trump's book
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration has officially begun to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grip the globe and infections spike in many states across the U.S.

Congress received formal notification of the decision on Tuesday, more than a month after President Donald Trump announced his intention to end the U.S. relationship with the WHO and blasted the multilateral institution as a tool of China. The White House said the withdrawal would take effect on July 6, 2021.

Democrats said the decision was irresponsible and ill-considered, noting it comes as the pandemic is raging and international cooperation is vital to confront the crisis.

"This won't protect American lives or interests  it leaves Americans sick & America alone," Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeted after receiving the White House's notification. "To call Trumps response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice."

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said he would rejoin the WHO immediately if he wins.

"Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health. On my first day as President, I will rejoin the @WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage," the former vice president tweeted.

Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesman for the WHO, said the organization had received reports of the United States' formal notification. "We have no further information on this at this stage," he said.

The formal withdrawal comes as the United States nears 3 million reported coronavirus cases and more than 130,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there have been 11.6 million cases and almost 540,000 deaths.

Trump and his advisers have blasted the WHO for failing to press China to be more transparent about the scope and severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China.

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Trump has said that China "has total control" over the WHO, even though it contributes far less than the US to the health organization's budget. The U.S. has contributed approximately $450 million dollars a year.

Menendez and other Senate Democrats have introduced legislation to reverse the decision and restore U.S. funding to the WHO. It's unclear how far that could get in the GOP-controlled chamber, although some Republicans have also expressed concern with Trump's decision.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump in Beijing, on May 9, 2019.

Critics said Trump's WHO attacks are an attempt to deflect blame from his own mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak  and one that will end up hurting the U.S.

"Deflecting blame onto the WHO wont reverse the administrations mistakes or undo the suffering our country has endured," said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "The president needs to get serious about stopping this pandemics lethal spread by restoring our membership in the WHO, ramping up testing, and encouraging everyone to practice social distancing and wear masks.

Amanda Glassman, a public health expert and executive vice president of the Center for Global Development think tank, noted the world doesn't just face today's threat of COVID-19 but also the treat of future pandemics, which are more likely because of increased zoonotic transmission.

The probability of a high lethality strain of influenza in the next decade or so is also significant, said Amanda Glassman, a public health expert and executive vice president of the Center for Global Development think tank. She said corrective measures at the WHO are needed but can only happen with the United States staying engaged.

Withdrawal is counterintuitive at best and dangerous to human life at worst. The US Congress should immediately explore what power it has to prevent this from happening, Glassman said

Gayle Smith, president and CEO of The ONE Campaign, an advocacy group focused on improving global health and eliminating poverty, echoed that assessment. "The US should use its influence to strengthen and reform the WHO, not abandon it at a time when the world needs it most," said Smith, who served on the National Security Council and other top positions in the Obama administration.

More: Trump formally cuts ties with World Health Organization, says he's revoking Hong Kong's trade perks in rift with China

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump withdraws US from World Health Organization amid pandemic


President Donald Trump.

Associated Press

President Donald Trump went to see a movie while his older brother, Fred Trump Jr., died in the hospital in 1981, according to a New York Times report on Mary Trump's tell-all book, which is set to be published next week.

No family members accompanied Fred Trump Jr., known as Freddy, to the hospital the night that he died at the age of 42, Mary wrote in her book, according to The Times.

Mary alleged that Freddy and Donald were both abused by their father, Fred Trump, who favored Donald.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump went to see a movie while his older brother, Fred Trump Jr., died of a heart attack caused by alcoholism in 1981, according to a New York Times report on Trump's niece's forthcoming book.

Video: The rise and fall of Donald Trump's airline

No family members accompanied Fred Trump Jr., known as Freddy, to the hospital the night he died at age 42, Mary Trump wrote in her tell-all book, set to be published next week, according to The Times.

Mary said that Freddy and Donald were both abused by their father, Fred Trump, who favored Donald. She wrote that her grandfather would tell Freddy, "Donald is worth ten of you."

Freddy left the family real-estate business to become a pilot for Trans World Airlines, allowing Donald to ascend in the family business.

The White House responded to the book by claiming that Mary Trump wrote it to make a profit, rather than for the public interest, and denied her claims that the president's father, Fred Trump, was emotionally abusive.

"President Trump has been in office for over three years working on behalf of the American people  why speak out now?" White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews told Business Insider in an email. "The President describes the relationship he had with his father as warm and said his father was very good to him. He said his father was loving and not at all hard on him as a child."

Matthews did not respond to the specific allegation that Trump went to the movies while his brother was hospitalized.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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In mid-March, suddenly, there was radio silence. Then, slowly, the requests began to creep in. We must cancel our order; Those goods arent my responsibility; I dont care what we agreed, if you dont drop the price, were not paying for that.

As Europe and the U.S. began to close down in the grip of the coronavirus, attempts by beleaguered international fashion brands to delay, reduce or cancel payments to Turkish manufacturers became an avalanche. Worse still were those remaining silent as the pandemic grew, leaving suppliers hanging on, wondering if they were ever going to get rid of finished goods, pay their own suppliers or, even, go bankrupt.

When most of Europe and many U.S. states were in lockdown and retailers shut up shop, the knock-on effect on Turkeys booming clothing manufacturing industry looked enormous.

We were left all alone with $1.5 billion to $2 billion worth of stock, said Seref Fayat, chair of the clothing committee at Turkeys main industry group, TOBB.

The sector had shrunk by around 30 percent just at the end of March. By the end of April, it had contracted by a record-breaking 65 percent.

Hadi Karasu, head of the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers Association, put it even more bluntly. I said then that brands were wrecking our industry, and I stand by that, Karasu, who is also a new vice president of Euratex, the European trade body, told WWD. Im not being emotional. This happened. In March, with all that panic, all talk of things like solidarity, sustainability, code of conduct went right out of the window.

When textile companies came to call, manufacturers were asked to pay for goods nominated by foreign brands. Utility bills started to come in. Concerns over cash flow loomed. The potential fallout was huge for an industry that directly sustains more than 1.5 million workers  a further 3.5 million including families  with an equally large number of associated jobs in sectors such as marketing, distribution and cotton growing.

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They didnt seem to understand that for so many people it was a life-and-death situation. We were just all in shock, said Karasu. If they had continued like that we would be left with a huge disaster.

The clothing and textile industry is vital to the economic health of Turkey, second only to the automotive sector. The worlds sixth biggest exporter of textiles and Europes third biggest source of ready-to-wear, Turkey is a rare net exporter  contributing up to 15 percent of the countrys exports.

In April and May, worried clothing associations began to issue calls for calm and pleas for cooperation between buyers and suppliers as the TGSDs Coronavirus Help Desk flooded with messages of concern and complaint.

Things began to stabilize. Big fashion groups such as Inditex and H&M discussed solutions. Levi Strauss & Co., Adidas and Nike Inc. cooperated, prompting others to follow suit. Payments were made or rescheduled. Slowly, Western governments supported industries and workers, allowing their brands to give assurances to suppliers. The inventory affected dwindled to around $200 million to $300 million worth and the situation has been improving. But problems continue.

Some brands still arent paying up. And this includes well-known names, Fayat, who is also chairman of the board at System Denim, told WWD. He pointed out that Turkish government support was less comprehensive than in Europe and the U.S., as it is mostly loans and limited wage support, rather than furlough schemes, interest-free lending and grants. Yet that didnt stop the pleading and bargaining.

You think, how can we possibly be in better shape than you? Fayat said. I get maybe 5 to 10 percent of the price that these goods are sold at. They sell at multiples of 30 or 40 times cost. I know this. I put the price tags on.

Nobody is yet willing to name and shame offenders  although Karasu said he may well have to after the next round of talks  but all agree that there has been a lot of bad behavior.

Asked about the main culprits, fingers point unanimously to the U.K. and the U.S.

According to Mustafa Gultepe, head of the Istanbul Apparel Exporters Association, Europeans eventually behaved well. The best were the Germans. The French, the Spanish were OK.

There was trouble from Californian brands, he said, but they finally agreed to postpone payments and deliveries. The worst were the British  and this goes across the board, Gultepe said. There was a lot of opportunism as they forced discounts and threatened not to pay at all. The British are always harsher. Brands are all very keen on talking about ethics but they need to show they are being ethical themselves.

Told that British stores had reopened and queues were pictured outside retailers such as Primark, one source said: Good, they better start selling so they can start paying. We know Britain didnt manage the coronavirus well and that retail there was already in trouble. We sympathize, but they didnt have to act like this.

The timing has been particularly unfortunate for Turkish manufacturers as their COVID-19-related problems began when the industry saw itself in good shape following years of economic setbacks caused by a range of issues, including a coup attempt in 2016 and several terrorist attacks. Then came diplomatic rows with countries such as key trade partner Germany, and the freezing of Turkeys European Union accession process over concerns for the rule of law.

The economic woes had produced one upside. The lira lost value, helping Turkey to become competitive against developing countries and still aim to secure a reputation as a quality producer. Faced with ever-cheaper competition from Asia, Turkey has been focusing on sustainability and higher-end production, promoting its status as a vertically integrated industry with a skilled workforce.

It was working. Last year Turkish ready-to-wear exports hit $17.7 billion. Exports in January and February totaled $3 billion. Talk was all about increased capacity, new factories and innovation. In late February, trade minister Ruhsar Pekcan praised the prospects for the industry, highlighting a 2020 export expectation of $19 billion: Our goal is no longer to sell cheaply but to sell high-quality products with added value.

When the outbreak started in China, orders began migrating to countries such as Turkey. Manufacturers moved fast to capitalize amid hopes that the disease would remain localized. They had expected a bonus 10 percent growth due to the outbreak. This in turn boosted hopes that Turkey would meet an expectation for apparel and textile exports of $30 billion by 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republics creation from the defunct Ottoman Empire. Now this target looks difficult, if not impossible.

There are still grounds for hope. One saving grace  although only a small portion of Turkeys output  was the growth of online sales, with a rash of orders from companies such as the U.K.s Asos and Germanys Zalando. Turkish businesses have increased their own online capabilities. We have achieved in three months what was planned for three years, said Fayat.

Digital is the way to go, said Gultepe, citing projects already in motion  such as an EU-funded business-to-business project to make the latest technology available to Turkish businesses, enabling them to design and show collections on virtual models in a digital setting without the need for samples. We aim to build the digital infrastructure, especially for SMEs in both manufacturing and retail, he said. Increasing digital capabilities, and quickly, was key to reshaping the way the sector does business and meeting customer expectations.

There is less of a chance domestic demand will plug gaps. High streets are slowly recovering, but stores in shopping malls are arguing with landlords over rent and contracts, while achieving only 25 to 30 percent of their usual sales at most.

International trends offer more succor. The pandemic exposed the danger of large orders, long lead times and sprawling shipping routes at a time of uncertainty. This sped up moves for closer, more flexible supply chains, putting the focus on Turkey, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. Turkish brands are already in talks to pick up orders that would have gone farther afield.

Karasu believes his senior role at Eurotex is also meaningful, as it puts Turkey on a top table as the supply chain is reconstructed after the coronavirus.

Turkish fashion leaders expect international buyers to try to push prices down, but they warn of pushback. You have to stop somewhere, said Karasu. Brands can no longer just pay lip service to ethics and sustainability. We have to see this in their purchasing practices.

Turkeys government is already considering plans for green clusters of renewable energy-driven hubs of businesses, with eco-friendly water treatment and waste management, although COVID-19 has put a pause on that.

The fallout from the trade war with China helped refocus the mind of Americans, manufacturers said, to the benefit of Turkey. Many have offices there, including Ralph Lauren, Levis and the Newtimes sourcing group. More are expected.

But the emphasis is Europe, thanks to proximity and growth potential. Fayat pointed out that 72 percent of Turkeys clothing exports go to Europe. Yet this constitutes only 6 percent of their imports  so our 72 percent is their 6 percent. Imagine increasing our supplies to just 10 percent of their imports  that would effectively mean doubling our sector. Theres a lot to be gained.

Fayat expects the sector to contract by 20 percent this year, recovering some of the worst early losses, with a return to pre-pandemic numbers by the first quarter of 2021 and renewed growth by the second quarter. Online sales are coming to the fore and thats all about working with small orders and moving fast. I think Turkey will do well out of this at least until 2025, he said.

But it depends on the pandemic. If there is a second wave, all bets are off.

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For many investors, the main point of stock picking is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But its virtually certain that sometimes you will buy stocks that fall short of the market average returns. Unfortunately, that's been the case for longer term Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) shareholders, since the share price is down 40% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return of around 38%.

Check out our latest analysis for Philip Morris International

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the unfortunate three years of share price decline, Philip Morris International actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 2.8% per year. This is quite a puzzle, and suggests there might be something temporarily buoying the share price. Or else the company was over-hyped in the past, and so its growth has disappointed.

It's pretty reasonable to suspect the market was previously to bullish on the stock, and has since moderated expectations. However, taking a look at other business metrics might shed a bit more light on the share price action.

We note that the dividend seems healthy enough, so that probably doesn't explain the share price drop. It's good to see that Philip Morris International has increased its revenue over the last three years. But it's not clear to us why the share price is down. It might be worth diving deeper into the fundamentals, lest an opportunity goes begging.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

NYSE:PM Earnings and Revenue Growth July 7th 2020

Philip Morris International is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. So it makes a lot of sense to check out what analysts think Philip Morris International will earn in the future (free analyst consensus estimates)

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What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Philip Morris International's TSR for the last 3 years was -30%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 9.7% in the last year, Philip Morris International shareholders lost 5.5% (even including dividends) . Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 1.9% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Philip Morris International , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.

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.
Photo credit: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michelle U. Blesam, 210th Field Artillery Brigade

From Popular Mechanics

The U.S. Army is in the middle of a major push to refine artillery and make it shoot farther than ever before.

Long Range Precision Fires allows artillery units to use satellite data to quickly target enemy units at long range.

Tests carried out in Germany for the first time connected space sensors to artillery units.

The U.S. Army now is pairing space-based sensors with artillery units to allow howitzer and rocket gunners to detect, identify, process, and engage enemy units faster than ever. In tests conducted in Germany, Army artillery units were able to use satellite data for the first time to hit targets beyond the line of sight.

The tests, according to C4ISRNet, took place at the Armys Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany. Army M777 155-millimeter howitzers and M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems were able to access satellite sensors and use the data to engage imaginary targets. The howitzer and rocket shells used precision guided shells to hit their targets.

Photo credit: 50th Space Wing Public Affairs

Its not exactly clear how the satellites helped the artillerymen hit their targets. The Army says its Futures Command Assured Position, Navigation and Timing (A-PNT) team was responsible for the exercises success. Position, navigation, and timing (PNT) is typically associated with the U.S. governments constellation of 24 GPS satellites. Civilians associate GPS with turn-based directions.

Artillery units, on the other hand, can use PNT to determine their own location on the battlefield, particularly how far they are from enemy targets and to figure out quickly if they have the range to hit them. They can also find their way to firing positions with certainty, and synchronize their timing so they can precisely time their salvoes.

Its not clear how the Army used space-based sensors in this case, since artillery units already do most of these things. Army artillery units also already use satellite-guided rounds, one example being the services GPS-guided M982 Excalibur artillery shell . Whatever it is, its a space-based sensor the Army says ground forces havent had access to before.

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One possibility is that Army units were able to access data from the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS). Operated by the U.S. Air Force, SBIRS is a network of satellites monitoring the surface of the Earth for the telltale signs of ballistic missile launches. Americas fleet of SBIRS satellites images the entire planet every ten seconds and could quickly determine the location of a ballistic missile launch vehicle.

The ability to locate and destroy ballistic missiles is a known Pentagon priority made especially crucial given the proliferation of ballistic missiles among countries such as Iran, North Korea, and Syria, and even non-state rebel groups such as the Houthis in Yemen.

Photo credit: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Cody Quinn

For now, the use of SBIRS is pure speculation, but Army artillery forces have added some new space-based sensor capability. Whatever it is, well probably find out soon enough.

Source: C4ISRNet.com

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The U.S. is looking at banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Monday.

His comments come amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China and as scrutiny on TikTok and Chinese technology firms continues to grow.

Image: FILES-US-CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS-DIPLOMACY-POMPEO (Andrew Harnik / AFP - Getty Images file)

When asked in a Fox News interview if the U.S. should be looking at banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, Pompeo said: We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it.

We have worked on this very issue for a long time, he said.

Whether it was the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure weve gone all over the world and were making real progress getting that out. We declared ZTE a danger to American national security, Pompeo added, citing the two Chinese telecommunications networking companies.

With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cellphones, the United States will get this one right too.

TikTok was not immediately available for comment late Monday.

Related video: TikTok users organize fake ticket reservations to Trump rally

Washington has been on a campaign against Chinese technology firms.

Huawei in particular has been in the crosshairs. The U.S. maintains that Huawei equipment could be used for espionage by Beijing, and that user data could be compromised. Huawei has repeatedly denied those allegations.

But TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has also been on the radar since last year. Washington has been concerned that the platform censors content and that its data could be accessed by Beijing.

TikTok has tried to distance itself from its Chinese parent company. In fact, TikTok was meant to be for the international market while ByteDance runs a separate app in China called Douyin.

The company hired former Disney executive, Kevin Mayer, to be TikToks CEO earlier this year. His priority was seen as rebuilding trust with regulators.

But the Trump administration still appears skeptical of TikTok. When asked by Fox News if Americans should download the social media app, Pompeo said: Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Multiple precision-guided anti-ship missiles stream across the ocean, armed enemy drones circle the skies and swarms of radio-networked enemy small boats coordinate integrated surface attacks all while enemy radar systems track and target U.S. Navy surface ships.

Such an attack scenario is increasingly realistic for U.S. Navy warfare strategists working on arming the surface fleet for massive blue-water combat. How might the Navy be equipped to respond to such a multi-pronged attack? Surely, this combination of attack strategies, designed to overwhelm and destroy ships defenses, could present serious problems for Navy Carrier Strike Groups.

Holistically there are a number of simple, straightforward counterschief among them increased superiority in the electromagnetic spectrum.

The warrior that controls the electromagnetic spectrum is likely to win the next fight, Mike Meaney, Vice President, Land and Maritime Sensors, Northrop Grumman, told Warrior in an interview.

The Navy and Northrop Grumman are now fast-tracking an advanced electronic warfare

(EW) technology intended to simultaneously track, deceive, jam and derail multiple inbound weapons that may be using different frequencies. Electronic sensors guiding incoming missiles using GPS, inertial measurement units, radar and radio networks or even laser designation, could all collectively be thrown off course with a new, mature,

multifunction networked EW technology now in production.

Were using the electromagnetic spectrum as a domain and as a means, and we understand and grasp it, former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Greenert said in a Navy report several years ago. We have to figure out how we can beat things electronically first. Why do we spend all this money kinetically if we can jam, spoof or do otherwise?

Introducing SEWIP

How is the Navy enabling this multi-dimensional counter-attack strategy? Through an advanced EW system called the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3, for which Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor. The emerging Block 3 variant advances the technical features for EW by adding an advanced offensive electronic attack capability and a future capability to integrate Electronic Warfare with Information Operations (IO), among other things.

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SEWIP B3 is an electronic attack weapon that is not limited to locating, jamming and disrupting inbound threats; it is also capable of conducting offensive operations against enemy communications networks, datalinks, radar systems or other electronic sources. SEWIP Block 3 is currently designed for installation on Navy DDG-51 Class Destroyers and is on track to be operational in the next few years, Northrop developers explain. Navy officials tell Warrior that the services new Frigate is also being engineered for configuration with advanced EW systems.

The Power of AESA

The SEWIP Block 3 EW system uses a collection of 16 Active Electronically Scanned Arrays, or AESAs, to emit groups of targeted, individually separated pencil beams. One advantage of an AESA is that it can generate pencil beams as opposed to a transmission of wide overlapping beams, Meaney explained. These pencil beams are narrow and specifically focused - allowing the system to put energy only where it is needed as the track progresses quickly A future concept is to connect crucial intelligence gathering technology with EW attack and defense systems by synthesizing IO & EW. Part of this is accomplished through consistent continuous software upgrades and threat monitoring.

The Block 3 system operates at machine speed for rapid engagement to help drive the missile to kill itself. It is agile and fully programmable so as threats change, we can evolve, Meaney explained. Utilizing a number of integrated individual narrowly-configured EW beams brings a number of significant tactical advantages. Not only can the system track multiple threats simultaneously, but it can also help with targeting and limit own-ship signature emissions.

SEWIP confuses in bound anti-ship missiles to the point where they are ineffective; EW systems are special because they have an unlimited magazine to protect warfighters against in-coming, often sophisticated, threats, Meaney said.

By transmitting a narrower signal, an EW weapon can greatly reduce its detectability and therefore be less likely to reveal its location. Naturally, the larger and wider spanning the electronic emission, the easier it is for enemies to detect. In effect, Meaney explained that the advanced SEWIP system enables Commanders to limit the adversary to seeing what you want them to see.

Also, as part of this strategy, SEWIP can turn off emissions and enter passive and silent mode, meaning it can detect enemy signals without emitting any signature.

The Importance of EW/IO Integration

Similarly to EW, we are manipulating operations in the information domain, revealing knowledge that enables a continuation of overall battlespace awareness and opens the aperture further to fully understand the threat environment. We can defend ships in a distributed fashion, rapidly performing multiple missions with a single system, Kevin Hays, Director, Information (IW) Programs, Northrop Grumman, told Warrior.

It is upon this foundation that Northrop developers are expanding the EW technology by integrating it with Information Operations (IO). Part of this EW/IO integration is evolving through a Northrop Grumman-Office of Navy Research initiative to connect advanced EW with communications; this not only helps identify approaching threats with better fidelity but also works to de-conflict the EW Spectrum, which might otherwise be overloaded by multiple systems on a single ship.

This effort, engineered into the Science and Technology (S&T) predecessor to SEWIP Block 3 (known as the Integrated Topside (InTop)), is a capability that ultimately could be deployed as the U.S. Navys AN/SLQ-32(V)7 system, according to a Northrop Grumman White Paper called Spectrum Superiority in the Maritime Domain.

Crowded ship topsides, with multiple transmit and receive antennas in close proximity, result in signal blocking, signal reflections, restricted sensor arcs of view, and electromagnetic interference (EMI)/electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) frictions. The ONR developed the Integrated Topside program to help mitigate EMI/EMC challengesalong with developing the next generation EW system for the U.S. Navys surface force, the essay states.

The essay goes on to explain that InTop development has hinged upon simulation and individual subsystem modelling related to software, electronics and system and ship structures and hardware.

Instead of fielding EW/IO separately we are looking at how to do that simultaneously. The concept is software defined and hardware enabled, Hays said. As Hays explained, SEWIP Block 3 is software definable, thus engineered to function for decades into the future. Northrop and the Navy are now immersed in the Low Rate Initial Production of the system.

SEWIP is built upon advanced electronically scanned arrays, which allows you to put power where you want it, when you want it, if you need to, Hays said. Naturally, ships are increasingly being armed with new sensors, radars, interceptors, networked aerial nodes and emerging weapons such as lasers and guided long-range attack missiles. Such systems, now engineered with added cyber resilience and advanced command and control, comprise indispensable elements of the Navys evolving layered ship self-defense systems.

EW can, by design, bring new, non-kinetic networked options for commanders to achieve an impactful non-explosive battlefield effect. This enables ships to track and destroy a multitude of coordinated attacks and gives commanders the option of destroying an enemy missile without creating large amounts of explosive debris - should war take place in a heavily trafficked ocean area.

Fundamentally every ship needs a non-kinetic system to defend itself against an anti-ship missile. It is really about controlling the spectrum - if you can deny the enemy access to target you, then you can launch your own weapons with purposeful intent, Hays said.

This article by Kris Osborn originally appeared in WarriorMaven in 2020.

Kris Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army - Acquisition, Logistics& Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

Image: Reuters.

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- Ferring joins with UCB to promote CIMZIA prefilled syringe for Crohn's disease in the U.S.

- Co-promotion strengthens commitment to patients living with Crohn's disease by reaching more gastroenterologists while also continuing patient support programs

- Ferring is expanding its focus in specialty areas within gastroenterology, demonstrating commitment to gut health

- UCB is preparing for future launches in immunology, demonstrating commitment to patients with severe chronic diseases

ATLANTA and PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UCB and Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced they have entered into a co-promotion agreement to commercialize the prefilled syringe formulation of CIMZIA (certolizumab pegol) in the United States, specifically for the treatment of Crohn's disease (CD). Ferring will take over marketing, sales promotion, and field medical affairs activities. UCB will continue to be responsible for all product-related activities, including revenue recognition. CIMZIA is an injectable biologic treatment option for adults with moderate to severe Crohn's disease with inadequate response to conventional therapy. UCB will continue to promote and to commercialize the lyophilized formulation of CIMZIA for all indications as well as the prefilled syringe formulation for CIMZIA's rheumatology and dermatology indications.

"UCB is committed to serving the needs of immunology patients, including those living with Crohn's disease. We are excited about this opportunity as it will expand the awareness to the benefits of CIMZIA for individuals living with moderate to severe Crohn's disease, while continuing to support patients through our services and programs," said Camille Lee, Head of U.S. Immunology at UCB. "We believe UCB and Ferring are a strategic fit for the co-promotion as both companies have a strong patient-focused commitment and Ferring has expertise in gastroenterology. UCB is preparing for future launches in immunology, demonstrating our commitment to patients with severe chronic diseases."

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This co-promotion allows Ferring to expand its growing portfolio in the gastrointestinal space and support patients living with Crohn's disease, while enabling UCB to focus on and prepare for the future.

"Ferring is focusing on gut health as we expand our gastroenterology portfolio," said Brent Ragans, President of Ferring US. "Together with our existing portfolio, this agreement with UCB will allow Ferring to offer treatment options to the nearly 800,000 adult patients in the U.S. who suffer from Crohn's disease."

CIMZIA has been a treatment option for adults living with moderate to severe Crohn's disease over the last 12 years, since it was approved by the FDA in 2008 based on safety and efficacy data from clinical trials in more than 1,500 patients with Crohn's disease.

CIMZIA can be administered either through self-injection or by a healthcare professional.1 CIMZIA can lower the ability to fight infections. Some people who received CIMZIA have developed serious infections, including tuberculosis (TB) and infections caused by viruses, fungi, or bacteria that have spread throughout the body.1 Some of these serious infections have caused hospitalization and death.1

About Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease causing chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.2 Crohn's disease can affect any part of the GI tract from mouth to anus, most commonly involving the ileum and proximal colon.3 It belongs to a group of conditions known as inflammatory bowel diseases, or IBD.4 The disease can occur at any age, but is most often diagnosed in adolescents and adults between the ages of 20 and 30.2 Approximately 780,000 Americans are currently affected by Crohn's disease.3

Patients with Crohn's disease may present acutely or have a history of symptoms prior to confirming diagnosis.4 A hallmark symptom in patients with Crohn's disease is abdominal pain.4 Other symptoms include diarrhea potentially persistent in nature, GI bleeding, urgent need to move bowels, abdominal cramps, sensation of incomplete bowel evacuation and constipation, which can lead to bowel obstruction.4

About CIMZIA in the US

CIMZIA is the only Fc-free, PEGylated anti-TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor). CIMZIA has a high affinity for human TNF-alpha, selectively neutralizing the pathophysiological effects of TNF-alpha.

CIMZIA is indicated for reducing signs and symptoms of Crohn's disease (CD) and maintaining clinical response in adult patients with moderately to severely active disease who have had an inadequate response to conventional therapy.

CIMZIA is also indicated for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA), adults with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and adults with active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) with objective signs of inflammation.

In addition, CIMZIA is indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (PSO) in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. See important safety information including risk of serious bacterial, viral and fungal infections and tuberculosis below.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION about CIMZIA in the U.S.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

CIMZIA is contraindicated in patients with a history of hypersensitivity reaction to certolizumab pegol or to any of the excipients. Reactions have included angioedema, anaphylaxis, serum sickness, and urticaria.

SERIOUS INFECTIONS

Patients treated with CIMZIA are at increased risk for developing serious infections that may lead to hospitalization or death. Most patients who developed these infections were taking concomitant immunosuppressants such as methotrexate or corticosteroids.

Discontinue CIMZIA if a patient develops a serious infection or sepsis.

Reported infections include:

Active tuberculosis (TB), including reactivation of latent TB. Patients with TB have frequently presented with disseminated or extrapulmonary disease. Test patients for latent TB before CIMZIA use and during therapy. Initiate treatment for latent TB prior to CIMZIA use.

Invasive fungal infections, including histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, candidiasis, aspergillosis, blastomycosis, and pneumocystosis. Patients with histoplasmosis or other invasive fungal infections may present with disseminated, rather than localized, disease. Antigen and antibody testing for histoplasmosis may be negative in some patients with active infection. Consider empiric anti-fungal therapy in patients at risk for invasive fungal infections who develop severe systemic illness.

Bacterial, viral, and other infections due to opportunistic pathogens, including Legionella and Listeria.

Carefully consider the risks and benefits of treatment with CIMZIA prior to initiating therapy in the following patients: with chronic or recurrent infection; who have been exposed to TB; with a history of opportunistic infection; who resided in or traveled in regions where mycoses are endemic; with underlying conditions that may predispose them to infection. Monitor patients closely for the development of signs and symptoms of infection during and after treatment with CIMZIA, including the possible development of TB in patients who tested negative for latent TB infection prior to initiating therapy.

Do not start CIMZIA during an active infection, including localized infections.

Patients older than 65 years, patients with co-morbid conditions, and/or patients taking concomitant immunosuppressants may be at greater risk of infection.

If an infection develops, monitor carefully and initiate appropriate therapy.

MALIGNANCY

Lymphoma and other malignancies, some fatal, have been reported in children and adolescent patients treated with TNF blockers, of which CIMZIA is a member. CIMZIA is not indicated for use in pediatric patients.
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a growing storm on Tuesday after saying some care homes didn't follow procedures to stem the spread of COVID-19 deaths, sparking an accusation that he was trying to rewrite history.

Britain has one of the highest death tolls in the world from COVID-19, at more than 44,000, with around 20,000 dying in care homes, according to government statistics.

While the government has been heavily criticised by opposition politicians and some medics over the slow delivery of protective clothing and testing in care homes, Johnson appeared to suggest blame for the outbreaks lay with the care homes themselves.

"We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have, but we're learning lessons," Johnson said on Monday.

Mark Adams, Chief Executive of charity Community Integrated Care, said he was "unbelievably disappointed" by Johnson's comments, slamming them as clumsy and cowardly, adding they represented a dystopian rewriting of history.

"To get a throwaway comment almost glibly blaming the social care system, and not holding your hands up for starting too late, doing the wrong things, making mistake after mistake, it is just frankly unacceptable," he told BBC radio.

"If this is genuinely his view, I think we're almost entering a Kafkaesque alternative reality."

A Reuters Special Report detailed how the government's focus on preventing emergency wards from being overwhelmed left care home residents and staff exposed to COVID-19.

To free up hospital beds, many patients were discharged into homes for the elderly and vulnerable, many without being tested for the coronavirus.

Following his comments, a spokesman for Johnson said: "Throughout this crisis 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," he said.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout and David Milliken; Editing by Nick Macfie)
FREDERICKSBURG, VA  The University of Mary Washington plans to begin classes on Monday, Aug. 24 and have students go to class on Labor Day and forgo fall break as part of an accelerated fall semester designed to protect students, faculty and staff from the coronavirus, according to a preliminary plan released Monday by the university.

UMW campus facilities are undergoing modifications, with Plexiglas protective barriers being installed in high-traffic areas. Classrooms, meeting spaces and common areas also are being reconfigured to support social distancing requirements.

Face coverings will be required inside buildings by students, faculty, staff and visitors when in the company of others. UMW has purchased washable three-ply cloth masks for all students, faculty and staff who need them. In addition, UMW has purchased an "appropriate" number of clear masks and face shields.

Students will have more time  20 minutes  between classes to allow for cleaning desks, washing hands and avoiding bottlenecks in hallways.



At Thanksgiving, students will head home for a weeklong break and will remain at home to finish the semester, including taking final exams virtually during the week of Dec. 7-11.

"We anticipate that such a step may minimize the risk of spreading the virus by reducing travel and is consistent with planning for the anticipated rise in cases of COVID-19 predicted for the fall," UMW said in the draft plan titled "#ForwardUMW: Our Return to Campus Plan."

For the spring semester, students will return to campus in late January 2021. Spring break will be canceled, and exams will take place May 3-7, with the 2021 commencement scheduled for May 8.

In August, move-in for residential students will be staggered to permit social distancing and participation by family and friends will be strictly regulated. Students will be encouraged to bring fewer personal belongings to campus this fall.

No residential students will be allowed to arrive prior to Aug. 19 except for student workers in Residence Life and Orientation and students who are entering campus from abroad and are participating in a two-week mandatory self-quarantine.

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Signs will be placed across the UMW campus with reminders on cleaning and sanitizing responsibilities as well as social distancing requirements. (Mark Hand/Patch)

UMW Dean of Student Life Cedric Rucker has developed a training program for students and staff that will cover key information about the coronavirus and public health, as well as university policies and procedures in response to the crisis.

At the conclusion of the training, students and staff will be required to take the Mary Washington Pledge, agreeing to several things including: regular self-monitoring of health conditions, not coming to campus if sick, wearing face coverings, and maintaining good hygiene practices and social distancing expectations.



Signs will be placed across campus with reminders on cleaning and sanitizing responsibilities, social distancing requirements and occupancy limits, visitor protocols, and other behavioral expectations.

In student housing, triples and quads will be reduced to double occupancy. The densities in some residence halls will be reduced. Other changes include reducing the use of kitchens and common areas, providing access to only ones own residence hall and placing physical barriers at service desks.

UMW said it will focus its coronavirus testing resources only on symptomatic individuals. Visits to the Student Health Center will be by appointment only and conducted virtually. Students who are determined through a telemedicine appointment to be symptomatic will be told to go to Marshall Hall where a satellite Student Health Center and quarantine space have been established.

Student Health Center staff will administer a point-of-care antigen test. If the antigen test is positive, the student will be instructed to self-isolate in either designated on-campus isolation spaces or at their off-campus housing.

UMW said it has identified on-campus residential spaces should a residential student need to be quarantined or isolated. These 52 spaces have been set aside in Custis, Marshall and South Halls. Additional capacity on campus may be possible as final residence hall occupancy numbers emerge later this summer.

The university said it is working closely with the Rappahannock Area Health District on testing protocols and preparing for a scenario in which Virginia would implement tighter restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Such conditions could include:

Sustained negative trends in public health data, including a return to phase two under the Forward Virginia Blueprint for the Rappahannock health district.

Concern from local health systems that hospital bed capacity was limited and/or testing capacity was insufficient.

Broad-scale breakdown in adherence to sound public health principles, or supply chain or capacity constraints that undermine UMWs monitoring and containment plans such as insufficient cleaning supplies, lack of personal protective equipment, or exceeding quarantine/isolation capacity.

UMW said it is "much more prepared than in the spring" to shift fully to telework and remote learning if conditions deteriorate during the school year.

This article originally appeared on the Fredericksburg Patch
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Wake Island is not particularly impressive. Made of coral, the atoll is a mere twelve feet or so above sea level at its lowest point. It is remote, too. It is twenty-three hundred miles or about thirty-seven hundred kilometers west of Honolulu, and about two thousand miles, or thirty-two hundred kilometers, southeast of Tokyo. Wake Islands remote location is what makes the speck of rock so important to the United States presence in the Pacific Ocean region.

Wake Island was claimed by the United States in 1899, though European contact with the island had been made multiple times before then. The island remained mostly uninhabited, minus the occasional castaway or stranded ships crew until the late 1930s, when the United States placed a small Marine garrison on the coral outpost. During World War II, Wake Island was the scene of intense fighting between Marine elements defending the island against the Japanese, simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Wake Island Now

Today, Wake Island remains one of the most remote islands in the world, protected by miles and miles of open ocean. The rocky outpost has been modified extensively since World War II and hosts a nearly ten-thousand-foot-long runway, which can accommodate all aircraft currently in United States service.

In the event of a war in the Pacific, American bases on remote outposts like Guam or Okinawa would likely have a very difficult time fending off hostile missile attacks, partly because of their proximity to Asia. Okinawa in particular is only around five hundred miles or so from the Chinese coast.

Even though both islands have missile defense systemsthe Patriot surface-to-air missile system and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systemboth could be overwhelmed by a large enough missile salvo. Losses at islands nearer to Asia at the outset of a conflict could be immense and next to impossible to prevent. Wake Island however is harder to hitand it might just be out of reach.

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Another factor besides sheer distance that would keep Wake Island better protected is the United States Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GBMD), a missile intercept system. Whereas missile defense systems like THAAD or the Patriot missile defense system are shorter range and provide regional protection, the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense missile system has a much, much larger flight envelope.

The GBMD system is deployed in both Alaska and California and is specifically designed to counter longer-range missile threats against the entire United States and Canada. Wake Island is likely just inside the interceptors defense umbrella.

Postscript

In the event of a Pacific war, American bombers would have to carry out a high number of sorties against enemy missile and air defense outposts in the Western Pacific. In that conflict, Wake Island would be the last American outpost in the Pacific able to get bombers into the air and keep fighters alongside them fueled up and ready to go. Bombs away!

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: Reuters

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LIVERPOOL, England, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Southampton Clinical Trials Unit announced this week that they have launched their innovative COVID-19 drug testing platform, AGILE. The AGILE initiative is a collaboration between the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Southampton Clinical Trials Unit, University of Southampton, and Lancaster University, as well as other partners. AGILE has been developed by Infectious Diseases clinicians, clinical and pre-clinical pharmacologists, clinical trials specialists and statisticians. The result is a clinical trials platform that can test new drugs for COVID-19 and identify faster than ever before those compounds which could be game changers in the battle against COVID-19.

AGILE Logo (PRNewsfoto/The University of Liverpool)

"In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we need to find innovative ways to identify safe and effective treatments as soon as possible. The AGILE platform bridges the gap between pre-clinical drug discovery and large-scale testing, rapidly identifying drugs that have the best chance of success," says Professor Saye Khoo, Chief Investigator on AGILE at the University of Liverpool. "Seeing the launch of this new platform to test brand new COVID-19 treatments is truly exciting given the impact that any effective treatment could have on the pandemic and restarting society. We are optimistic that AGILE will accelerate the development of treatments for COVID-19, and also prepare us to respond quicker to future pandemics."

AGILE is a "proof of confidence engine" that can treat COVID-19 patients for the first time with promising drugs that have been developed in laboratories around the world. The trial is conducted at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital Clinical Research Unit, where treatment is carefully monitored throughout by an independent committee to ensure that it is safe to continue, and the first evidence about the effectiveness of the drug for treatment of COVID-19 is accumulated to determine if it should be fast-tracked into large-scale trials. The design of AGILE means that this can be achieved much more rapidly than when using conventional development pathways for new drugs, so that successful drugs can advance quickly enough to have an impact on the current pandemic. AGILE is flexible and can test drugs that are suitable for patients newly diagnosed with COVID-19 at home, as well as patients in hospital.

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The platform has full ethics and regulatory approval in the UK. Dr Siu Ping Lam, Director of Licensing, at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), comments: "Patient safety is our highest priority. We approved this trial, as it not only innovates in the early clinical trial process, which is crucial in the current pandemic, but it is also robust and safe, providing opportunities for more rapid progress towards suitable treatment options. We are delighted that such a platform, designed by UK clinicians and scientists, has the potential to change the future of clinical trials and global healthcare for the better."

The first drug set to be trialled in AGILE has been developed by the US pharmaceutical company Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. EIDD-2801 is an oral antiviral drug that has shown promising results against coronavirus infections in pre-clinical studies, and if successful in human trials, could change the future of the pandemic. The team at Ridgeback Biotherapeutics participated in the development and design, as well as provided funding, for the EIDD-2801 arm of the study.

The AGILE Initiative is made possible thanks to support provided through a variety of donors. In addition to funding provided by Unitaid and the Steve Morgan Foundation, some candidate-specific trials will be funded directly and solely through independent private companies (for example, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics). Collaborative financial support has also been provided by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, University of Liverpool, and Southampton Clinical Trials Unit as well as the NHS (Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust). The partners behind AGILE actively encourage other pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to put forward new COVID-19 treatment candidates for consideration.

About AGILE

AGILE is a clinical trial platform that aims to speed up drug testing in the ongoing pandemic and ultimately allow us to restart society quicker. The platform uses adaptable protocols and statistical models to design clinical trials in a fast and flexible way that will simultaneously test safety and efficacy in people who are ill. For further information on AGILE, please visit www.agiletrial.net.

About University of Liverpool

Associated with nine Nobel Laureates, the University is recognised for its high-quality teaching and research. Our research collaborations extend worldwide and address many of the grand challenges facing humankind today.

About Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is the world's oldest centre of excellence in tropical medicine and international public health. It has been engaged in the fight against infectious, debilitating and disabling diseases since 1898 and continues that tradition today with a research portfolio of over 320 million and a teaching programme attracting students from over 65 countries.

About Southampton Clinical Trials Unit

Southampton Clinical Trials Unit (SCTU) is based at Southampton General Hospital within the University of Southampton and is a UK Clinical Research Collaboration registered Clinical Trials Unit. SCTU receives CTU support funding from the National Institute for Health Research, is core funded by Cancer Research UK and has expertise in the development and co-ordination of clinical trials from first-in-human to large practice changing phase III trials.

About Lancaster University

Lancaster is a research-intensive university that combines world-class research with excellent teaching and high levels of student satisfaction. Lancaster University is among the best in the UK. Top 10 in all three major national league tables, it is also highly ranked in international league tables such as the QS World Rankings, and it holds a Gold rating in the UK government's Teaching Excellence Framework for the quality of its teaching.

About Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP

Ridgeback Biopharmaceuticals was co-founded by CEO Wendy Holman and Dr. Wayne Holman, a scientific advisor to the company, with a focus on developing anti-viral medications for diseases that have epidemic and pandemic risk. Ridgeback Biotherapeutics is a majority woman-owned biotechnology company which is dedicated to finding life-saving and life-changing solutions for patients and diseases that need champions. Initial funding for Ridgeback Biotherapeutics originated from Wayne and Wendy Holman; two individuals committed to investing in and supporting technologies that will make the world a better place.

About EIDD-2801

EIDD-2801 is an investigational, orally-bioavailable form of a potent ribonucleoside analog that inhibits the replication of multiple RNA viruses including SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. In animal studies of two distinct coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-1 and MERS), EIDD-2801 has been shown to improve pulmonary function, decrease body-weight loss and reduce the amount of virus in the lung. EIDD-2801 was invented at Drug Innovations at Emory (DRIVE), LLC, a not-for-profit biotechnology company wholly owned by Emory University.

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Goldman Pharmaceutical Group announces the creation of the only FDA registered over-the-counter pet medicines available online and without a prescription, Pet OTC. Treating animals suffering from motion sickness, digestive issues and emotional distress.

NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Goldman Pharmaceutical Group announces that its full lineup of over-the-counter pet medications include: NausX, an anti-emetic medication designed for dogs with motion sickness which include nausea, dizziness and vomiting; Calmatrol, an anti-histamine medication designed to relieve dogs in stress related circumstances bringing instant relief to your dog; and DIFIXN, an anti-diarrheal treatment designed to relieve dogs with diarrhea.

Pet OTC Products, Goldman Pharmaceutical Group Exclusive Manufacturer and Distributor of Pet OTC

American Pet Products Association (APPA) announced in February of this year that the U.S. is expected to reach a record 100 billion in sales for pet products and services. The CEO, Steve King of the American Pet Products Association (APPA), reported that U.S. sales of pet products and services are nearing $100 billion for the first time, as 2019 spending reached $95.7 billion. The announcement came during Global Pet Expo, the largest annual pet products trade show presented by APPA and the Pet Industry Distributors Association (PIDA). APPA's pet industry expenditures encompass spending in four major categories: Pet Food & Treats; Supplies, Live Animals & OTC (over-the-counter) Medicine; Vet Care & Product Sales; and Other Services.

"Scientific research from the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) shows that when you invest in your pets' health, you're investing in your own health," said King. "Improved physical health and reduced feelings of loneliness and social isolation are just a few of the health benefits you're likely to experience by owning a pet."

Goldman Pharmaceutical Group understands that motion sickness in dogs is a common problem before you know it, your furry best friend's breakfast can end up all over your backseat!

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NausX by Pet OTC is the ultimate treatment for canine motion sickness. It's a powerful preventative when taken before a trip, and a fast-acting remedy to treat sudden symptoms immediately. Some of the signs and symptoms of motion sickness in dogs include:

Uneasiness

Dizziness

Drooling

Whining

Vomiting

Excessive Smacking/Licking

Goldman Pharmaceutical Group created Calmatrol as a calming formula that reduces anxiety and stress in dogs and puppies for a much more confident and relaxed pet. Calmatrol by Pet OTC will soothe anxious dogs and alleviate symptoms of:

Pacing

Restlessness

Panting

Whining

Not Eating

Hiding

Chewing, Scratching

Urinating in House

The Calmatrol treatment by Pet OTC is formulated to encourage canine calmness android behavior, while helping your fury friend overcome feelings of nervousness, agitation and aggression.

The last of the over-the-counter pet treatments manufactured by Goldman Pharmaceutical Group is Difixn by Pet OTC an anti-diarrheal treatment that works fast to relieve dogs of the symptoms of Diarrhea.

Pet OTC Products:

No Prescriptions Needed

Veterinarian Recommended

FDA Registered

Made in the USA

Associated Press American Pet Products Association (APPA) press release cited, visit https://apnews.com/4b4705fc9bc1cdd6f3f951af2d3cd63d for more information.

About American Pet Products Association (APPA)

The American Pet Products Association is the leading trade association serving the interests of the pet products industry since 1958. APPA membership includes more than 1,100 pet product manufacturers, their representatives, importers and livestock suppliers representing both large corporations and growing business enterprises. APPA's mission is to promote, develop and advance pet ownership and the pet product industry and to provide the services necessary to help its members prosper. APPA is also proud to grow and support the industry through the following initiatives: Pets Add Life (PAL), Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) Pets and Vets Program, the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI), the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC), Bird Enjoyment and Advantage Koalition (BEAK), and the Pet Care Trust. Visit www.americanpetproducts.org for more information.

About Goldman Pharmaceutical Group (GPG)

Goldman Pharmaceutical Group is concerned with the overall health and well being of people and animals. GPG develops and markets products dedicated to human and animal health and safety. The company markets disinfectants, diagnostic test kits to detect viral bacteria, allergens, teeth and oral care, fungal nail treatments, acne skincare, luggage technology, pet food, pet wellness aids, and over-the-counter pet treatments. Goldman Pharmaceutical Group is a leader in contract manufacturing and distribution of a variety of animal healthcare products, including diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, wound care and disinfectants.

GPG started as a pharmaceutical repacking company focusing mainly on private labeling. Their mission is to continuously innovate and bring new products to market within the medical and pharmaceutical industries, while upholding and creating strong relationships with their clientele and the public. Visit http://goldmanpharma.com/ for more information. Exclusive Manufacturer and Distributor for Pet OTC Products.

Contact Information for Goldman Pharmaceutical Group and Pet OTC:

Jeff Magsitza

jeff@goldmanpharma.com

www.petsotc.com

Media Contact:

Annamarie Seabright, Publicist

Signature |PR

A Public Relations & Digital Marketing Agency in California and New York

annamarie@SignaturePR.press

www.SignaturePR.press

Goldman Pharmaceutical Group, New York, NY - logo (PRNewsfoto/Goldman Pharmaceutical Group)

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SOURCE Goldman Pharmaceutical Group
WASHINGTON  At 260 miles above Earth, it might seem easy to forget the pandemonium of a coronavirus crisis gripping the globe.

But for three U.S. astronauts  Chris Cassidy, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley  circling the planet in the International Space Station, the angst of COVID-19 never really disappears either.

"Were certainly worried for our families and all of mankind," said Cassidy, commander of the orbiting lab. "It is on our mind a lot just like every citizen of the world.

"The three of us (like) most astronauts have the ability to focus on our work and compartmentalize when we need to be sharp and safe and diligent about the task at hand," he said in an interview Tuesday with USA TODAY from the space station. "But when its off duty time were quick to find the latest news from our hometowns, our families and find out whats going on ... and we hope all the best of health for everyone."

In this still image taken from NASA TV, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (L) and Doug Hurley are strapped in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule at Kennedy Space Center.

The three have been together for 37 days, ever since Behnken and Hurley made history by docking their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to the ISS on May 31 following a 19-hour flight.

Their 27-foot capsule, launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30 at 3:22 EST, became the first spacecraft to carry humans from U.S. soil to the orbiting lab since NASA ended its Space Shuttle program in 2011  and the first private one carrying humans ever to do so.

A SpaceX Falcon 9, with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken in the Dragon crew capsule, lifts off from Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, May 30, 2020. For the first time in nearly a decade, astronauts blasted towards orbit aboard an American rocket from American soil, a first for a private company.

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For nearly a decade, NASA has relied on Moscow to ferry astronauts to the space station. Hurley praised the Russians for being "incredible" partners but called the resumption of U.S-based flights "far overdue."

"It was a tough proposition to swallow back in 2011 when the last shuttle flight flew and we had no capability from the United States to launch us into space," he said. "Its great to be back in that business again."

Plans for an early to mid-August return  which will include the first splashdown of a U.S. crew in 45 years  remain a working target but it's too early to pin down a specific date, Behnken told USA TODAY.

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More: How Elon Musk took SpaceX from an idea to the cusp of making history

"Looking at the Gulf or off the coast of Florida in August and September, you do need to wait until you have good forecasts before you can plan too far into it, just with hurricanes, thunderstorms and the dynamics that are out there," he said. "Weve got another two weeks or so and then a good plan ought to start coming together because the weather will be better understood."

The crew is scheduled to conduct at least two more space walks to finish work that Cassidy and Benkhen started with earlier space walks to upgrade the batteries providing power to the stations solar arrays.

In between station tasks, Hurley has been in the ISS cupola, taking breathtaking photos of his home planet and sharing them on social media.

"Personally, its trying to convey to as many people as we can just what we see with our eyes when we look out the window up here and how different it is to view the earth from space then to be standing on the Earth somewhere," he said.

Even with the ISS traveling at five miles per second and orbiting Earth about every 90 minutes, Hurley has little trouble recognizing the Rockies, the Himalayas or the turquoise sheen of the Caribbean.

"Every time we fly over the Bahamas, that vivid blue that you see that surrounds those islands is just unbelievable," he said.

For Hurley, the docking is familiar. In 2011, he was on the final space shuttle mission's rendezvous with the ISS, during which his team left behind an American flag to be retrieved by the next group of astronauts launched from U.S. soil.

Now, nearly 10 years later, he'll capture the flag he left behind.

Contributing: Emre Kelly, Florida Today

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA astronauts who flew on SpaceX to ISS talk about mission, COVID-19
PHOENIX, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VEREIT, Inc. (NYSE: VER) ("VEREIT" or the "Company") announced that it expects to issue, jointly with its operating partnership, VEREIT Operating Partnership, L.P. (the "Operating Partnership"), its Second Quarter 2020 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q on Thursday, August 6, 2020.

VEREIT is a full-service real estate operating company which owns and manages one of the largest portfolios of single-tenant commercial properties in the U.S. (PRNewsfoto/VEREIT, Inc.)

The Company will also host an earnings conference call via audio webcast on that same day at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the financial results. The call will be conducted by Glenn J. Rufrano, VEREIT's Chief Executive Officer, Paul McDowell, VEREIT's Chief Operating Officer and Michael J. Bartolotta, VEREIT's Chief Financial Officer.

Audio Webcast and Call Details

The live audio webcast will be available, beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, August 6, 2020, on the Company's Investor Relations website at: http://ir.vereit.com/. The dial-in information is as follows: (844) 746-0748 (domestic) or (412) 317-5274 (international). Participants should log in 10-15 minutes early.

Approximately one hour following the call, a replay of the webcast will be available at the link above and archived for up to 12 months. A telephone replay of the conference call can also be accessed by dialing (877) 344-7529 (domestic) or (412) 317-0088 (international), passcode 10146036. The telephone replay will be available until August 20, 2020.

About the Company

VEREIT is a full-service real estate operating company which owns and manages one of the largest portfolios of single-tenant commercial properties in the U.S. VEREIT has total real estate investments of $14.8 billion including approximately 3,900 properties and 89.5 million square feet. VEREIT's business model provides equity capital to creditworthy corporations in return for long-term leases on their properties. VEREIT is a publicly traded Maryland corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange. VEREIT uses, and intends to continue to use, its Investor Relations website, which can be found at www.VEREIT.com, as a means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Additional information about VEREIT can be found through social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth herein contains forward-looking statements, which reflect VEREIT's and the Operating Partnership's expectations regarding future results, events and plans, including the expectation that VEREIT and the Operating Partnership will file their Second Quarter 2020 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and host an earnings conference call on the announced date. The forward-looking statements involve a number of assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Generally, the words "expects," "anticipates," "assumes," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "could," "continues" and variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect future results are contained in VEREIT's and the Operating Partnership's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. VEREIT and the Operating Partnership disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of changes in underlying assumptions or factors, new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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SOURCE VEREIT, Inc.
Availability of alternative delivery mechanisms enabled traditional benchmarks to evolve and maintain stability and relevance under COVID-19 changing market fundamentals

LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Platts, the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets published a research paper under the Energy Comment series of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, focused on global crude oil benchmarks.

S&P Global Platts logo

Written by Jonty Rushforth, Head of Pricing, S&P Global Platts and Vera Blei, Head of Oil Markets, S&P Global Platts, the research paper - Yields vs. sulphur: What is driving crude benchmarks in 2020? examined the core question of what a crude benchmark, and in particular the Asian benchmarks Dubai and Oman should represent.

The crude oil market has witnessed some of the highest volatility in living memory, casting a spotlight on the value of different benchmarks and the quality definitions and yield of crude that is delivered into them.

The major global oil benchmarks, Brent, WTI and Dubai/Oman  must reflect the physical realities of the crude markets, both in terms of comparative crudes and also in terms of refining economics. They have to evolve in order to provide consistent and stable price indications to the broader market segments they represent. Importantly, they should not be beholden to buy or sell-side imbalances or regulatory interference in order to avoid becoming disconnected from the wider market complex.

Vera Blei, Head of Oil Markets, S&P Global Platts and co-author of the report said: "For a crude benchmark to be robust it must have a variety of often disparate characteristics. These include abundance in production volume, steady quality, diversity of buyers and sellers, geographic relevance and absence of interference, from political forces for example. Many crudes around the world share some of these characteristics but only a handful fulfil all criteria".

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The paper examined the performance of crude benchmarks, in particular the Asian crude benchmarks Dubai and Oman, following the introduction of the IMO sulfur marine cap in January 2019 and the demand destruction caused by COVID-19 on transportation fuels in the first half of 2020. It focused on the fundamental question whether market focus should move from the sweet-sour spread, to light versus heavy?  or the spread between crudes that produce a lot of gasoline, and those that produce more diesel or other heavier products. In the 'new normal', is sulfur suddenly irrelevant? and should benchmarks be constructed to a particular yield instead?

"The traditional definitions of the Dubai and Oman benchmarks around sulfur and gravity have withstood the test of time over the last 40 years", added Blei. "They did so because they evolved and adapted to the changing market fundamentals and thereby maintained all the key attributes that ensured their robustness and relevance to the wider market they represented".

Both Platts Dubai and Platts Oman offer an alternative delivery mechanism, which means that more than one crude grade can help form the daily value of the assessment and ensure sufficient liquidity for the benchmark. For Platts Dubai, this includes the alternative delivery of Oman, Upper Zakum, Al Shaheen and Murban. For Platts Oman, Murban is also acceptable as an alternative deliverable grade.

Murban, which is among the lighter and sweeter crude grades across the Middle East, has the highest yield of gasoline among all the crudes in the Platts Dubai and Platts Oman alternative delivery mechanisms. This explains why it is has typically been valued the highest. However, with gasoline demand decimated due to COVID-19, Murban was more competitively valued versus the other grades as it yield values shifted to reflect the economics of refining the grade.

"Murban proved itself relatively protected from the impact of price controls in China that affect the Oman grade, and hence provided an important level of protection for refiners across Asia. Without that protection, refiners outside of China would have faced crude prices well above the economics of the oil they were processing", said Jonty Rushforth, Head of Pricing, S&P Global Platts and co-author of the report. "That Murban, and by extension Platts Dubai and Oman, was weaker as a result of low refinery margins is exactly what one would expect in an efficient crude market".

The full report can be downloaded from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies here.

About S&P Global Platts

At S&P Global Platts, we provide the insights; you make better-informed trading and business decisions with confidence. We're the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Customers in over 150 countries look to our expertise in news, pricing and analytics to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to markets. S&P Global Platts coverage includes oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, metals, agriculture and shipping.

S&P Global Platts is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.platts.com.

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SOURCE S&P Global Platts
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vestcom, the leading technology enabled service provider of shelf-edge media solutions for Retailers and CPGs, announced two new appointments within their Commercial Leadership team today.

Shachar ("Shock") Torem will move into the role of SVP & General Manager, CPG & Retail Media Solutions. Shock will manage strategy and execution for a commercial team that delivers Vestcom's leading in-store media solutions which drive shopper engagement, spend efficiencies, and sales lift to a growing list of 400+ CPG clients. Shock joined Vestcom last year and had been leading the retail solutions team. He brings 25+ years of industry experience having led Sales teams for media and promotional marketing solutions at companies such as Catalina and Quotient, as well as working in various sales, trade and shopper marketing functions at leading CPGs such as Coca-Cola and General Mills.

Mark Sciortino will take on the role of SVP & General Manager, Retailer Technology and Solutions, extending the delivery of Vestcom's industry-leading solutions that help retailers further enable store team members, increase efficiencies, and ultimately maximize their impact at the shelf-edge across 60,000+ stores nationwide. Over the past two years at Vestcom, Mark has served as SVP of Strategy & Corporate Development guiding client, product, and communications strategies. Mark brings 15+ years of experience in retail, marketing, strategy and technology having served in leadership roles at Walgreens, Boston Consulting Group, and beginning his career in software development at Cintas.

"We're fortunate to have such an exceptional leadership team with incredible depth of cross-functional industry experience," said John Lawlor, CEO of Vestcom. "At such a pivotal time of evolution within the retail industry, we have never been better positioned to serve retailers and brands alike. These exciting changes will bolster our efforts to accelerate our clients' growth through better engaging shoppers at the shelf-edge."

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About Vestcom:

Vestcom is the industry leader in technology-driven shelf-edge media solutions for Retailers and CPGs. Our data-integrated media solutions engage shoppers where it matters most  the point of decision  increasing sales and loyalty. Our patented shelf-edge innovation has been trusted by top retailers for more than 30 years to drive productivity and profitable growth. Learn more at www.vestcom.com

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SOURCE Vestcom
MEXICO CITY (AP)  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 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.

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.

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 state 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.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VISTA Eye Specialist (VISTA) is pleased to announce that it has bagged the Malaysia Health & Wellness Brand Awards 2019 under the Health Institutions category. Further, VISTA is one of the few companies to have received this prestigious award for three consecutive years since the award began in 2017.

VISTA is one of the few companies to have received the Malaysia Health & Wellness Brand award for three consecutive years since the award began in 2017.

The Award was launched as a tribute to the leading lights of the dynamic health and wellness industry, and not only aims to reward the best in the industry but also to recognise companies that have shown a commitment to improving consumers' health and wellness and have achieved proven results in doing so. Organized by Sin Chew Daily, the leading Chinese-medium media in Malaysia and Life Magazine, a popular Chinese-medium magazine, the award is endorsed by the Malaysian Ministry of Health, and all winners are carefully selected by an esteemed panel of judges that include experts from the Ministry of Health, leading medical associations and Sin Chew Daily's health desk editorial team.

"It is indeed an honour to be acknowledged for our team's unwavering commitment and passion towards excellence - especially more so at these trying times," said Ms Chloe Wong, VISTA's Chief Marketing Officer. "It has always been in our DNA to deliver our very best in our five core values of Valuing our Staff, Delivering Wow service to our Patients, Seeking Win-win partnership, Embracing technology and innovation and giving back to the community."

VISTA, one of the leading eye specialist groups in Malaysia, is specialising in Cataract and Refractive Surgery and more recently expanded to kids myopia control, lazy eye treatment with Virtual Reality technology and Dry Eye Disease Management.

"This award has validated our tireless efforts and humbled us to work even harder with our partners to deliver the very best in eye care to our patients with great clinical safety, visual result and wow experience'.

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For the past 21 years, VISTA has taken the responsibility to be the frontline in War Against Blindness and has been running on-ground roadshows, carnivals, talks and screenings, which aims to raise awareness on the top three causes of avoidable blindness. Despite the current COVID-19 pandemic and restricted movement, these initiatives didn't stop as VISTA moved digitally online by organizing over forty Zoom Webinar and Facebook Live, and have reached out to over 200,000 people worldwide within a short period of time from March to June 2020.

Along with the above award, VISTA has also been voted for the Readers' Digest Trusted Brand Award 2019 as Malaysia's trusted Eye Surgery & LASIK Center for the 4th year in a row and received for the 2nd time Sin Chew Time Honor Brand Award 2019 which honours impactful Malaysian brands for their achievements and that have withstood the trials of time.

About VISTA Eye Specialist

Founded in 1999, VISTA is one of the largest Eye Specialist Centers in Malaysia with 11 centres covering the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Bahru.

KKLIU no.: 1505/2020, valid till: 15 Dec 2022

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200707/2849978-1

SOURCE VISTA Eye Specialist
Mixed messages on the severity of the pandemic from federal and state officials helped drive a coronavirus surge in June across much of the United States.

Now, top public health officials are warning that the country could see as many as 100,000 new cases per day, testing capacity is reaching its limit and the virus is spreading out of control. After months of downplaying the coronavirus threat, the White House has changed course, urging Americans to wear masks and avoid large gatherings. But it is not clear whether the public will listen, after months of recovery talk and political battles over everything from masks to infectious disease modeling.

Public health experts say the window to act is closing, and that if the government wants to change the course of the U.S. outbreak, officials need to deliver clear, consistent messages. They should be frank about what we still dont know about the virus, emphasize that our fates are collectively tied and focus on the need for face coverings, social distancing and frequent hand-washing.

National leaders, including the vice president and president and governors, should not only be talking about and encouraging people to follow public health guidance  they should be modeling it themselves wherever they can, said Tom Inglesby, director of Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Health Security. No more of this kind of strange commentary about personal choice. The point is to protect your neighbor, so the idea of it being a personal choice is illogical.

An administration official rejected the idea that the messages coming from the White House have been confusing or inconsistent. "Since March, the administration has consistently recommended the use of face coverings consistent with CDC guidelines, and that messaging has been included in every set of guidance from the administration," the official said. The messaging understands the urgency of certain states.

Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, says the first step the Trump administration should take is unmuzzling its scientists.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, right, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a briefing with members of the Coronavirus Task Force, including Vice President Mike Pence, left, at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, Friday, June 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The CDC abruptly stopped its regular briefings on the virus in March and has held only a handful since then. The White House coronavirus task force, whose members include top government scientists such as Anthony Fauci, no longer addresses the nation via daily televised briefings. And its once-daily private meetings are down to twice a week.

At the same time, more than 80 percent of Americans trust medical scientists, and more than two-thirds trust Fauci, the governments top infectious disease expert, according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll.

The CDC and the other public health experts within the government need to be on the front lines talking to the country every day, Lipsitch said. People without scientific qualifications  do not need to be stealing the show in terms of public communication.

But that is what has happened over the last few months, as President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other political leaders have dominated the national conversation about how to fight the virus  often contradicting the governments own health experts.

As cases soared in the Southeast in June, Trump repeatedly said that the new infections were simply a reflection of more testing. And as hospital capacity reached alarming levels in Texas and Arizona last week, Pence tried to tamp down concern by emphasizing that most new infections were in younger adults. He also attended a huge indoor rally at a Dallas church last Sunday and defended Trumps decision to hold a rally in Arizona days before  where thousands of mostly maskless supporters spent hours cheering  saying it gave people the freedom to participate in the political process.

It sends a message that those things are okay, and they are not, Inglesby said. These political leaders know the information and they still attended, suggesting these things are low risk. They are not low risk.

With no clear message from the top, governors are sending their own mixed signals. Bars in Texas reopened in May while North Carolinas stayed closed. Churches were allowed to remain open in Florida but not in Kentucky. Face coverings are mandated in New Jersey but a personal preference in Oklahoma.

The White House has sought to correct course over the last two weeks  with mixed results. Days after Pence said panic is overblown," he urged younger Americans, who were ignoring the guidance that we gave on the federal level for all the phases of reopening, to be more vigilant because they were a growing cause of the spread.

The same administration official said there are also political considerations at play  if the vice president isnt shaping the conversation, then the void will be filled by Trump critics or political opponents.

Trump on Wednesday told Fox Business that hed wear a mask when he could not socially distance, in line with CDC recommendations, but only once has he been spotted wearing one. At a news conference in late May, Trump taunted a Reuters journalist for wearing a facial covering and accused the reporter of wanting to be politically correct. The president also mocked Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, for wearing a mask.

There is evidence that the presidents skepticism has influenced public behavior. Three-quarters of Democrats who responded to a recent Pew poll said they wore masks most or all of the time in public, while just 53 percent of Republicans did the same. The split held even after controlling for differences in the severity of the outbreak in different parts of the country.

The president has a unique ability to derail good policy, Lipsitch said.

Going forward, the government needs to do a better job of managing expectations, said Jeffrey Shaman, an infectious disease researcher at the Columbia University School of Public Health. The coronavirus was unknown to science until December, and our understanding of it is changing as time passes and more people are infected.

The CDC, for example, first said masks would do little good and that the virus mostly affected the respiratory system. The guidance has evolved along with the understanding of the disease. Public health experts now know that children are more vulnerable than originally thought.

This is where leadership and messaging are so important, Shaman said. People have to understand its not like you can spend a month wearing masks and then its done. We dont have our Get Out of Jail Free card yet.

White House messengers need to express more humility and explain how much we still dont know, said Lori Freeman, CEO for the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

That part of the messaging has been missing, she said. If you dont say those words, each time the advice changes, as we have seen happen, it is a moment of a potential loss of trust.

Giving the CDC a more prominent voice and promoting administration scientists as respected sources of information would also enhance public trust, Freeman said.

If that were visible to the public, wed be in a different place  but we dont have that, she said.

Instead, administration leaders have gotten out ahead of the science or just flat out contradicted it in many instances. Trump and Pence have repeatedly downplayed the role that younger Americans play in spreading the coronavirus and contributed to an over-inflated sense that they were relatively safe from its effects.

If there was a message that was missed along the way it was that young people were not in danger of the disease or the virus, said Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who is now dealing with one of the worst outbreaks in the nation. Were seeing young folks with comorbidities  diabetes, obesity  are at high risk, and it is how this virus is also being spread.

And even as Trump nodded to public health Wednesday by saying hed wear a mask, he also claimed that the virus would just disappear. There were more than 55,000 new infections reported nationwide Thursday, a new record, and the majority of states are now showing alarming spikes in cases.

Convincing the public to take basic precautions such as avoiding large groups and covering their faces is crucial because people who dont feel sick may still have the virus and can infect others, says Keosha Bond, an assistant professor of Health Behavior and Community Health at New York Medical College.

There will be people who are walking around not showing any signs, but that doesnt mean they cant spread the virus, she said.

While Pence, HHS Secretary Alex Azar and other members of the coronavirus task force have resumed public appearances after a two-month hiatus, the president has only recently started endorsing simple preventive measures like masks following concerted calls from allies on the right and in the media to promote face coverings.

While its never too late to give the right message, experts fear that the country squandered the progress made in May and June, when cases were declining and the economy was coming back to life. That was the moment, Bond said, to reinforce the need to be vigilant.

They kind of missed the ball on that, she said. Now, its a Band-Aid on a situation, which could have been prevented. Thats the problem with the mixed messaging.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on July 6.

Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images.

During Monday's press briefing, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany would not say whether President Trump supports flying the Confederate flag or is against it.

McEnany delivered several answers as to why Trump claimed NASCAR made a mistake by barring fans from flying the Confederate flag at league races.

"What we're seeing across the nation is this vast cancel culture where we're going to tear down our monuments. We're going to tear down Gandhi. We're going to tear down George Washington. We're going to tear down Lincoln," McEnany said.

"I spoke to him this morning about this, and he said he was not making a judgment one way or the other" on the Confederate flag, McEnany said when pressed for an answer.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended President Donald Trump's NASCAR tweet at Monday's briefing, delivering a series of indirect answers before saying Trump "wasn't making a judgment one way or the other."

The tweet in question came early Monday morning. Trump said NASCAR has the "lowest ratings EVER!" because it banned the Confederate flag from its races and investigated what appeared to be a noose that was found in driver Bubba Wallace's garage.

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McEnany deflected when asked if Trump supported flying the Confederate flag.

"Well I think you're mischaracterizing the tweet," McEnany said. "The tweet was aimed at pointing out that the FBI report of the alleged hate crime at NASCAR concluded that the garage-door pull, which had been there since last fall, was obviously not targeted at a specific individual because, in fact, it was a garage pull and, in fact, it was there since last fall long before these 43 teams arrived."

"My question is why is the president so supportive of flying the Confederate flag?" NBC's Peter Alexander responded.

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McEnany said "the whole point of the tweet" was the "broader context" of defending NASCAR fans and the media's "rush to judgment" on the incident with Wallace.

Wallace did not allege any hate crime himself. He was alerted to the apparent noose in his car's garage by NASCAR officials.

When she was asked by another reporter to clarify the president's stance on the Confederate flag, McEnany said: "I spoke to him this morning about this, and he said he was not making a judgment one way or the other."

McEnany veered away from addressing the Confederate flag part of the tweet and instead pointed to disparate examples of "cancel culture" as the real issue at hand.

"What we're seeing across the nation is this vast cancel culture where we're going to tear down our monuments. We're going to tear down Gandhi. We're going to tear down George Washington. We're going to tear down Lincoln," McEnany said. "It's really quite appalling ... and the president wants no part in cancel culture."

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Reporters appeared to grow frustrated that McEnany would not directly address whether Trump is in favor of or defends the Confederate flag, with McEnany reverting to more outside examples hot-button cultural issues instead.

"I've explained to you  this is, I guess, the fourth attempt, but I guess we'll try it again," she said. "In aggregate, what he was pointing out is this rush to judgment to immediately say that there is a hate crime, as happened in this case, as happened with Jussie Smollett, as happened with the Covington Catholic boys."

McEnany ended the briefing after she was asked how the world was looking at the US amid a spike in coronavirus cases.

"And finally, I'd end with this: I was asked probably 12 questions about the Confederate flag," McEnany said.

"This president's focused on action, and I'm a little dismayed that I didn't receive one question on the deaths that we got in the country this weekend," McEnany added, referring to killings in major cities.

"We need to be focused on securing our streets, making sure no lives are lost, because all Black lives matter  that of David Dorn and that of his 8-year-old daughter. Thank you," McEnany said before leaving the podium.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump's re-election campaign made the decision to "strongly encourage" masks at the Republican president's next rally as a precautionary measure, the White House chief of staff said on Monday.

The Trump campaign plans an outdoor rally on Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

"Obviously we're looking forward to being in the Granite State and back with the folks up in New Hampshire, and as we look at that it's more a factor of precaution," Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said in an interview with Fox News.

In announcing Saturday's rally in Portsmouth, the campaign said, "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 change comes after Trump's indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month drew widespread attention for not imposing coronavirus restrictions, including social distancing and masks.

Masks were handed out in Tulsa but not specifically encouraged. Trump has refused to wear a mask in public or recommend that others do so, in contrast to the messaging from U.S. health experts on the White House coronavirus task force.

At least eight members of the campaigns staff who were in Tulsa for the June 20 rally tested positive.

In addition, Kimberly Guilfoyle, a senior campaign official and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., has tested positive and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said last week he had contracted the virus. Both attended the Tulsa rally.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany added on Fox, "So the campaign has been very clear that not only will we be giving out masks but we recommend the wearing of those masks. It's very important to follow the CDC guidelines."

Trump's pre-July 4 holiday event at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Friday drew 7,500 people, packed into an outdoor amphitheater. Masks were not required and many people did not wear them.

(This story has been refiled to fix typo McEnany in penultimate paragraph)

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Dan Grebler)
PEWAUKEE, Wis., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- This year, as WHR Group, Inc. (WHR)  a global employee relocation company  celebrates its 25th anniversary of helping its clients' employees through some of the most stressful times in their lives, the company also celebrates its ability to make an impact on people in other communities as well. WHR's philanthropic efforts are helping low-income, inner-city K3-8th grade students and their families at St. Marcus School in Milwaukee, Wis., and at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., WHR's generosity is helping to save pancreatic cancer patients' lives.

St. Marcus School, founded in 1872, is the largest urban Lutheran school in the U.S. "What makes St. Marcus so unique," says Superintendent Henry Tyson, "is demonstrated by our exceptional results in a place that's proven tough to get good results." The government does not give enough financial support to deliver an exceptional education to each child, explains Tyson, but WHR's philanthropic contributions have helped to bridge that gap. "Access to great education in a city where a great education is hard to find is transformational," says Tyson.

The school, with two campuses just four blocks apart, is located in a predominantly low-income, inner-city neighborhood with a vision of working to ensure that every family has access to high-quality education in the city of Milwaukee. Its 2019-2020 State Report Card received five stars meaning "significantly exceeds expectations." Few schools in the inner city and even fewer that are low income and predominantly African American receive this type of State Report Card, explains Tyson. St. Marcus follows graduates for eight years and reports a 90% high school graduation rate.

WHR's employees also participate in the St. Marcus Christmas Angels program. "Lots of our families are on tight budgets and they cannot always bless and celebrate their children during the holidays with presents, and that can be upsetting. WHR has stepped in and said, 'we will give and share what we have with people who have a lot less,'" says Tyson. Tyson believes the City of Milwaukee and our country have significant segregation. "It's so beneficial for employees of WHR to meet and interact with our families, since it creates bridges. Anytime you can build bridges, it's transformational for the students and their families." WHR is a suburban company west of Milwaukee, Wis.

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WHR Founder and Owner, Roger Thrun, who is originally from Chicago and raised lower middle class, reflects on WHR's philanthropic efforts with both St. Marcus and Mayo Clinic. "It doesn't matter what color someone's skin is, all that matters is that our money and efforts are going to great causes and that we can help someone," says Thrun. "I feel fortunate that WHR is able to help people in other communities and I can see tangible results from our philanthropic efforts. I know that St. Marcus School is influencing and shaping kids to be successful for the rest of their lives." A cancer survivor himself, Thrun understands how important it is to receive good healthcare. "I also know that on any given day, someone is getting a personalized cancer plan that WHR paid for through our research funding program. This program saves lives."

Mayo Clinic's Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgeon, Surgical Oncologist, Dr. Mark J. Truty's, M.D., M.S., revolutionary research practice has found a proven way to help pancreatic cancer patients who have been told elsewhere that they are out of options. "There is such a stigma associated with pancreatic cancer," says Truty. With the standard level of care, the survival rate is 5% after 5 years, dependent on the cancer Stage, explains Truty. His research practice has found a way to significantly increase those survival odds, giving patients much more time to enjoy their lives  even for some patients who have been told their cancer was inoperable. "WHR's generous philanthropic contributions have made a massive impact and help to keep my program alive," says Truty. The contributions have also drawn attention to Truty's program. Many researchers are clamoring for support but having a benefactor like WHR points a finger at the program and makes it easier. "Lots of medical research is going into discovery but I want to see something translational," says Truty, who explains his research directly helps patients now.

Pancreatic cancer treatment is typically done serially. One drug is used, and if that doesn't work, a second drug is tried. "The clock is ticking and time is lost with this method of treatment," says Truty. His approach addresses the problem quite differently. A patient is given personalized chemotherapy treatments that have already been proven in Truty's research lab to provide a high probability of effectiveness for that individual in shrinking the tumor before surgery. "The standard level of care is not good enough, we need to give patients something exceptional," says Truty. He is grateful for WHR's support saying, "WHR's owner Roger Thrun understands there's something more important than just running a successful business, Roger understands the importance of giving back."

"Yes, we buy real estate, yes, we help transferees find movers, but when you boil it down, we're just helping people. Dr. Truty of Mayo Clinic and Henry Tyson of St. Marcus School are truly making a difference in people's lives. Dr. Truty is saving lives and St. Marcus School is influencing kids who are already at a serious disadvantage and providing them with a positive launching pad for the rest of their lives," says Thrun. Thrun is grateful for all his employees and clients. He is proud WHR is still going strong 25 years later and able to make such a positive impact in other communities.

About WHR Group Inc.

WHR Group Inc. (WHR) is a privately owned, client-driven global relocation management company distinguished by its best-in-class service delivery and cutting-edge, proprietary technology. WHR has offices in Pewaukee, Wis. (global headquarters), Zurich, Switzerland, and Singapore. With its 100% client retention rate for the past decade, WHR continues to position itself as the trusted provider in employee relocation. To learn more about WHR, visit http://www.whrg.com, or follow @WHRGroup on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Media Contact

Mindy Stroiman, Corporate Writer

Email: Mindy.Stroiman@whrg.com

Phone: 262-523-7510

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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.

Ending the Korea War by 2025 is a remote and unlikely possibility, but it is not unimaginable. One fundamental challenge to resolving any international conflict is that the internal politics must be right for each party to come to the table before any external deal can be made. This is particularly challenging on the Korea Peninsula, since ending the war requires this alignment among three parties, the United States, North Korea, and South Korea.

The Democratic Republic of North Korea may be an authoritarian regime, but it is not immune to political realities. National defense is the first order priority for any government, so North Korea had little ability to deviate from its intense pursuit of nuclear weapons as long as the United States maintained its regime change policy toward the Axis of Evil. By 2009, Kim Jong-il had begun to establish Kim Jong-un as his heir, and this succession process added and additional barrier to North Koreas ability to negotiate. Kim Jong-uns own efforts to consolidate power in Pyongyang constrained his ability to freely negotiate with the United States and South Korea until the Seventh Congress of the Korean Workers Party in 2016, which, of course, followed considerable progress in the countrys nuclear program.

While Pyongyang has not had the political inclination to negotiate, over the past two decades, the same can be said about Washington. After jump-starting North Koreas nuclear program by committing itself to regime change, the Bush administration made no serious effort to engage North Korea. Rather, it used the foil of the Six-Party Talks to avoid direct interaction with Pyongyang, which was of course, unpalatable to North Koreas leadership. The efforts of the Obama administrations Leap Day Accord were doomed by Kim Jong-uns imperative to advance the nuclear aspect of his byongjin policy in order to consolidate his rule. After that, there was little interest in pursuing any policy except strategic patience.

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Thus, the Trump administration received the first opportunity to negotiate with North Korea in two decades. But, as is now clear, these efforts were not serious. The Singapore Summit offered a high-level road map with no plan for working-level follow up. The administration neglected to consider realistic economic incentives for North Korea while adhering to a failing maximum pressure policy. It pursed not a top-down diplomatic process, but a top-only approach where Trump exchanged Love Letters, but did not actually depart from the policy of strategic patience. The weakness of this approach was clearly exposed by the collapse of the process in Hanoi, which closed the most recent window of opportunity.

Recent South Korean administrations have been open to reunification (and likewise ending the Korean War), with varying levels of tolerance for what concessions to make and when. Thus, an end to the war could be on the table for both Moon Jae-in and the next incumbent of the Blue House. Yet, Syngman Rhee famously scuttled armistice efforts in 1953, fearing that the United States would make a deal that undermined the Republic of Koreas ability to reunite the peninsula on its terms. It is unthinkable that South Korea would accept a U.S.-North Korea deal that did not address its fundamental interestsand it is hopeful that the United States would not pursue one, although in a continued America First era, one cannot discount the possibility.

To make progress, the United States will have to make concessions that are meaningful to Pyongyang. This prospect is complicated by imminent 2020 elections. In one scenario, a second Trump administration will have to abandon its maximum pressure policy and begin to offer economic incentives to change North Korean behavior. In another scenario, a Biden administration will have to shed its outdated thinking on North Korea and do the same.

Yet, either administration will likely face a North Korean provocation campaign designed to escalate to deescalate before any negotiationsthink 2017-redux. Will Pyongyang be able to successfully ratchet up tensions without making it inordinately difficult for the United States to return to the table? Will North Korea have a domestic situation that is stable enough to allow Kim Jong-un to come back to the table himself? Will Kim Jong-uns health hold out long enough that North Korea can avoid another succession before 2025?

And we havent even considered Chinas stakes in resolving this issue.

With so many variables in play, it is difficult to be optimistic about ending the Korean War to an end by 2025, but it is not impossible. It will rely on all parties making concessions, and the biggest question is if they will be willing to do so.

Chris Steinitz is Director of the North Korea Program at CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization located in Arlington, VA.

Image: Reuters

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Princeton Universitys decision to remove the name Woodrow Wilson from its School of Public and International Affairs is a big win for progressive activists, and the implications will extend far beyond the campus.

It hardly surprises me, in todays polarizing environment, that my alma mater caved to pressure from radical progressives. What is surprising, however, is that the school caved now, after resolutely standing against the pressure for so many years.

Five years ago, as part of a broader nationwide effort to rewrite American history, Princeton students mounted a campaign to remove President Woodrow Wilsons name from the school because of his racist views and his efforts to prevent the enrollment of black students. In response, the Board of Trustees formed a committee to review the matter. The following year, the board released a report detailing how to handle President Wilsons legacy.

The 2016 report drew this important conclusion:

The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Woodrow Wilson College should retain their current names and . . . the University needs to be honest and forthcoming about its history. This requires transparency in recognizing Wilsons failings and shortcomings as well as the visions and achievements that led to the naming of the school and the college in the first place.

How refreshing  a recognition that the school should be honest and forthcoming about its history and employ a sophisticated approach to reconciling Wilsons moral failings with his accomplishments for the university.

Princetons own statement tacitly acknowledges the key factor here. It was not the name Woodrow Wilson that was under attack; history itself was the target. As we see across the nation, progressives now use Alinsky tactics on history itself. Saul Alinskys formula of picking a target, freezing it, personalizing it, and finally polarizing it is no longer reserved for living people; historical figures and even episodes in history receive the Alinsky treatment.

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Back in 1852, Daniel Webster delivered a speech to the New York Historical Society, on the importance and dignity of history. The dignity of history, he orated, consists in reciting events with truth and accuracy. History is unapologetic in its presentation of facts. History demands that we examine facts and incidents that make us uncomfortable. Such study challenges us, inspires us, and serves as a call to action in our own lives. The progressive pressure campaign is not about progress. Rather, it is an attempt to erase parts of history leftists do not like. This is a slippery slope, as many left-wing activists are even attempting to tear down statues of Abraham Lincoln, the president who ushered in the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves.

History, it turns out, is little concerned with our comfort level.

In the speech, Webster also explained that historys main purpose is to illustrate the general progress of society. History and progress are inextricably linked. History tells the story of progress, and progress is possible by studying history  and, in some cases, learning from past mistakes.

What the Princeton incident reminds us of, however, is how little progressives care for progress. They are unable to recognize the progress the university has made, which the school noted in its 2016 report, in rejecting Wilsons racist policies and championing the enrollment of black students. Former first lady, Michelle Obama, a Princeton graduate, frequently cites her experience at Princeton as an empowering opportunity  one that was possible only through the schools progress.

How do we celebrate Americas accomplishments if we do not acknowledge where we started?

The Princeton name change is part of a larger movement of destruction. As Americans watch in horror and disbelief while statues, national monuments, and even war memorials are removed and defaced, we are left to wonder: What is the end goal of all of this destruction? When will it stop?

Elihu Yale, an early benefactor of Yale University, actively participated in trading slaves, including purchasing and shipping slaves to the English colony of St. Helena. American universities are littered with this type of racism: William Marsh Rice, the Lowell family of Boston, Thomas Jefferson, and Jesuit priests in Maryland all used the profits derived from slave labor to build some of the most prestigious universities in the country. Will tearing down these institutions achieve progressives goal?

Will changing a colleges name or removing the statue of a Founding Father change a Klansmans deeply held racist beliefs? Will erasing certain books and movies from our public lexicon truly change the hate in someones soul? These changes might appease progressives for now, but their goal is much larger.

In my forthcoming book, The Capitol of Freedom: Restoring American Greatness, I explore this very topic. Progressives are determined to destroy not just statues, but historical memories, because they know American history is incompatible with their goals. Americas founding documents, and even the stories behind the statues in the U.S. Capitol building, tell the story of American greatness and offer a roadmap for us to renew our commitment to our founding principles.

Slavery is a dreadful part of our history. Despite what progressives say, the abolition of slavery occurred because of, not in spite of, our history and foundation. A nation that was formed with liberty as the chief objective of government was on the right path. The 19th century improved what the 18th century got horribly wrong, and the 20th century continued to build upon the 19th centurys advancements. With each century that passes, we move toward a more perfect union. That is progress.

From its founding, our nations history is the story of individual freedom and personal responsibility, with limited government as a means for accomplishing both. Our Constitution simultaneously protects individual liberty and thwarts the progressive agenda. Progressives are constantly frustrated in their attempts to remake America into a socialist and godless society because of our Constitution. Is it any wonder that they devote so much of their energy to undermining, subverting, and circumventing the Constitution?

Progressives know that what can be erased can be replaced. Knocking down statues and removing names of institutions are the necessary first step in reshaping Americas future.

For Americans hoping to stop the progressives destruction, Princeton provides the answer. No, not the Princeton of 2020 with its disappointing decision to abandon Woodrow Wilsons name, but the Princeton of 2016 that recognized the importance of being truthful about our history.

In our fight against the progressive agenda, our history is not only what we seek to protect  it is also our primary weapon.

More from National Review
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Key Point: The Su-35 could be a serious disrupter of air superiority throughout the world.

Throughout much of the latter part of the Cold War, American fighter jets were largely seen to have an advantage when going up against whatever the Soviets could offer. That included the Su-27, which was introduced in 1988. In the past twenty years, that jet hasn't seen nearly as much action as the American F-15. But the latest derivative of the Su-27 presents a real threat in the air.

The Sukhoi Su-35S is actually the second improved version of the Su-27M; it is a single-seat, twin-engine, supermaneuverable aircraft. This 35S versions feature thrust-vectoring engines in place of the Su-27's canards. Designated the Flanker-E by NATO, this 4++ generation" fighter has proven itself to be a very capable foe to current U.S. aircraft, including the F-15 Eagle, the F-18, and even the F-35 Lightning II.

The Su-35's armament includes a GSh-30-1 30mm autocannon with 150 rounds, along with 17,630 pounds of payload on twelve external points. It can carry a variety of air-to-air, air-to-surface, anti-radiation, and anti-ship missiles, as well as a number of TV, laser-, and satellite-guided bombs. By comparison, the new U.S.-built F-22 has just four hardpoints on its wings and three on internal weapon bays.

The twin Saturn AL-41F1S turbofans provide the Su-35 with maneuverability that can easily match or exceed the evasion techniques of nearly all existing fourth generation fighters. With a maximum speed of 1,550 mph and a ceiling of 59,050 feet, it is a well-armed, speedy aircraft.

However, defense analysts have suggested that the Su-35 in its current modified configuration is really a stop-gap measure, at least until the Russian military is able to ramp up production of its fifth generation stealth multirole-fighter, the Sukhoi Su-57.

Fighter Disruption

The threat from the Su-35 isn't just in what the plane can do in the air, however. This is because the Russian Air Force isn't the only operator of this advanced aircraft and what it could mean for regional power balances. In fact, the fighter was originally designed for export, but the Russian Air Force became the launch customer in 2009.

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Both the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the Indonesian Air Force have placed orderswith the former receiving its initial delivery of four aircraft in 2016 followed by another ten in 2017 as part of a contract for twenty-four aircraft that Jane's reported to be worth $2.5 billion. The Russian-Sino agreement also included support equipment and spare engines, with the contract to be fully implemented by the end of this year.

After China became the first international customer of the Su-35, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the Asian nation for breaching of the congressionally-mandated Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Despite this, the Su-34 officially entered service with the PLAAF in April 2018.

Last fall, Turkey also began an advanced stage of negotiations to purchase thirty-six Su-35 from Russia. That move came after Turkey was ejected from the F-35 program and unnerved its NATO allies for purchasing Russian S-400 air defense missiles.

Several other nations have been listed as potential operators of the Russian-built aircraft include Algeria, Egypt, India and the United Arab Emirates. Though just a stopgap for the Russian Air Force, the Su-35 could be a serious disrupter of air superiority throughout the world.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based freelance 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 earlier this year and is reprinted due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters

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From Popular Mechanics

On Monday night, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that the Trump administration is considering banning Chinese apps, including TikTok.

Pompeo cited security issues, saying the U.S. has already cracked down on other Chinese technology firms like ZTE and Huawei.

The U.S. believes Chinese apps like TikTok transmit private data to the Chinese Communist Party.

The U.S. is considering a ban on TikTokthe wildly popular social media app where teens create and share short comedy clips, lip-sync videos, and dancesaccording to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

It's part of a broader crackdown on Chinese-owned and operated technology due to national security concerns that companies are funneling user data to the Chinese government. So far, these claims are unsubstantiated.

Pompeo's comments came during a Monday interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. When she asked Pompeo if the U.S. is considering a ban on Chinese apps, "especially TikTok," he responded: "I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at."

For precedent, Pompeo cited the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) move to designate two Chinese companies, Huawei and ZTE, as national security threats. In a June 30 release, the FCC noted that officials could no longer use money from its $8.3 billion Universal Service Fund to "purchase, obtain, maintain, improve, modify, or otherwise support any equipment or services produced or provided by these suppliers."

"With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cellphones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right, too," Pompeo said, adding that U.S. citizens should only download TikTok "if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party."

Banning TikTok

Photo credit: NOAH SEELAM - Getty Images

If the U.S. does take the step to ban TikTok, it won't be the first country to do so. Last month, India banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok.

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In a statement, India's Ministry of Information Technology said it has received complaints from "various sources" about misuse of some iOS and Android apps for "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorized manner to servers outside India."

Considering TikTok has seen over 611 million downloads in Indiathat means in theory, about half of the country's 1.3 billion users have used the platformthe move was a staggering blow to the social media company. Globally, the app has some 800 million users.

Curiously, the Indian government never mentioned China by name in the release, though the appslike Shareit, Kwai, and Baidu Mapall come from Chinese companies.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the government is considering a similar ban. Jim Molan, a senator from New South Wales, called the platform "a data collection service disguised as social media" in an interview with The Guardian Australia. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also urged citizens to use caution in handing over their data through the app.

Lee Hunter, general manager for TikTok Australia, told The Guardian Australia the app does not share users data with foreign governments.

Chinese Espionage?

Photo credit: NurPhoto - Getty Images





The vitriol toward TikTokwhich Beijing-based ByteDance owns and operatespartially stems from accounts that the platform acutely invades the privacy of its users, potentially passing on data to the authoritarian Chinese government.

Back in April, a Reddit user operating under the handle bangorlol posted an analysis of the social media app after reverse-engineering it, and has even started a subreddit channel called tiktok_reversing. Bangorlol contends that TikTok collects:

 Hardware IDs: Vendor-created strings of numbers and letters that connect a device to software. These can include MAC addresses used in Bluetooth and WiFi networking, CPU serial numbers, and hardware dongle identifiers. Usually, your software licenses are tied to hardware IDs.

 Memory usage on your device.

 Apps installed on your phone.

 IP addresses: These serve as unique identifiers for your computer, tablet, or phone.

 WiFi access points.

 GPS pings.

Notably, TikTok does acknowledge some of this in its privacy policy. The company says it can "automatically collect certain information from you when you use the Platform, including internet or other network activity information such as your IP address, geolocation-related data ... unique device identifiers, browsing and search history."

Further, bangorlol says if anyone attempts to reverse-engineer or debug the app so that it, say, doesn't censor videos that are displeasing to Beijing (which it currently does), the app will notice those actions and adapt to conceal its code. "They dont want you to know how much information they're collecting on you," bangorlol wrote.

As Popular Mechanics previously reported, some of the discrepancy in privacy policy comes down to a fundamental difference in data governance between the U.S. and China.

"China has a very different legal framework and perspective on the rule of law, Andrea Little Limbago, chief social scientist at the encryption and privacy company Virtru, told Popular Mechanics last year. "TikTok claims they do not store data in China, but this is difficult to validate."

If you absolutely must use the app because you can't get enough of the viral dances, food hacks, and grandma pranks, you should be doubly careful in enabling permissions. Does the app really need permission to use your camera or microphone if you're just watching videos? Probably not. Use common sense.

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Key Point: An Israeli F-35 doesn't just carry bombs. It also sows doubt.

Israel is locked in a perpetual state of deterrence with its neighbors, all of whom are enemies now or could easily become enemies again. In particular, Israel is threatened by rockets and ballistic missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, who in turn are threatened by the prospect of Israeli retaliation. Israel's F-35s add uncertainty to the mix. That Israeli aircraft could reach Iran, and routinely strike Hezbollah and Syria, is no secret. But Iran now has to wonder whether Israeli F-35s can stealthily penetrate Iranian defenses (and note that the Israeli specially modified F-35I has extra fuel capacity).

Something changed in the region several years back, when Israel declared its first squadron of F-35s operational. Numerically, the change seemed minor. The Israeli Air Force's (IAF) 140 ("Golden Eagle") Squadron has just nine F-35I Adir aircraft, scheduled to grow to fifty over the next three years. That's a small number compared to the roughly 300 F-15s, F-15Es and F-16s currently operated by the IAF.

But the significance of Israel's F-35s is more than numbers. First, there is the simple qualitative advantage. Nationalists and propagandists can argue the merits of the F-35 versus the latest Russian MiG and Sukhoi fighters. What matters here is that neither Iran nor Syria are likely to get the most advanced Russian fighters or antiaircraft missiles (it took Iran ten years before it received Russian S-300 long-range anti-aircraft missiles in 2017). The F-35 is superior to Iran's collection of F-14, MiG-29s, and F-4 Phantoms, Syria's MiG-29s and Egypt's F-16s. There is a remote possibility that Israeli F-35s could confront Russian Su-35s (which Russia claims scared off U.S. F-22s) over Syria. But otherwise, Israel has and will continue to have the most advanced combat aircraft in the region.

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Then there is the stealth factor. It has been almost thirty-six years since Israel last conducted a major air campaign against an opponent possessing a respectable air force. Now the IAF spends its time conducting pinprick raids with a few aircraft against a Hezbollah arms convoy here, a Hamas weapons dump there. Even a handful of stealth jets will enable Israel to conduct sneak raids over Syriaor even Iran.

Critics can rightly point out that technological advantages like stealth are fleeting. Perhaps Israel's enemies will develop, or receive from Moscow, the capability to detect and defeat the F-35. All of which may be true, but which also misses the point.

Israel is locked in a perpetual state of deterrence with its neighbors, all of whom are enemies now or could easily become enemies again. In particular, Israel is threatened by rockets and ballistic missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, who in turn are threatened by the prospect of Israeli retaliation. Israel's F-35s add uncertainty to the mix. That Israeli aircraft could reach Iran, and routinely strike Hezbollah and Syria, is no secret. But Iran now has to wonder whether Israeli F-35s can stealthily penetrate Iranian defenses (and note that the Israeli specially modified F-35I has extra fuel capacity).

Whether or not the aircraft can successfully accomplish this doesn't matter in this context. It's only whether Iran believes it can, and whether this will affect Tehran's actions.

An Israeli F-35 doesn't just carry bombs. It also sows doubt.

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: U.S. Air Force / Flickr

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Key Point: Perhaps it would have been easier not to get rid of those F-16 pilots.

Fighter pilots aren't cheap. The U.S. Air Force estimates that training a new pilot to fly a plane like the F-35 costs $11 million. And that doesn't count the priceless experience of a veteran pilot who has been flying for years. That's why the U.S. Air Force is willing to offer half-million-dollar bonuses to retain experienced fighter pilots.

So a nation that throws its fighter pilots in jail is not just wasting money, but also an extremely valuable resource. Yet in the name of politics, Turkey's government has purged its air force so badly that it can barely fly its F-16 fighters.

The trouble began on July 15, 2016, when members of Turkeys military allegedly launched a coup to topple the Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The word allegedly is used for a reason. Despite being pros at overthrowing civilian governments (with four successful coups between 1960 and 1997), the 2016 effort was laughable. Soldiers attempted to isolate Istanbul by erecting roadblocks on the Bosporus Bridgebut only blocked the lanes in one direction. Youtube video showed soldiers with Leopard tanks surrendering to police and civilians. As Erdogan was flying back to Istanbul from vacation, two Turkish Air Force F-16s had his aircraft in their sightsbut failed to shoot it down.

And the vaunted Turkish military was supposed to be NATO's Cold War southern bulwark against the Soviets? If so, it's a wonder that the Kremlin never seized the Bosporus.

All of which had skeptics wondering whether the coup was actually a false-flag operation by the Turkish government, aimed at providing (or provoking) an excuse to quash secular Turkish generals and covert followers of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. Either way, the coup fizzled in less than an hour, and then Erdogan's government took its revenge.

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Numerous senior and field-grade officers were purged. More than 300 F-16 pilots were dismissed. This defanged the Turkish military as a political threat, and strengthened the increasingly authoritarian rule of Erdogan and his neo-Ottoman Justice and Development Party, which has imprisoned many journalists. But it left a gaping question: who would be left to fly Turkey's jet fighters?

With war raging in Syria, and Turkish forces grabbing parts of northern Syria, Turkey's military is keeping busy (including an F-16 that shot down a Russian plane over Syriathe Turkish pilot who did it was one of those purged). It hardly seems a propitious time to decimate your pilot cadre.

The Turkish government has been looking overseas to make up the shortfall. However, the Washington has rebuffed a request to send over U.S. flight instructors, though Turkish pilots are receiving basic flight training in the United States. Turkey has also sought assistance from Pakistanwhich also flies F-16sthough training Turkish pilots could violate U.S. arms export rules. In a sign of desperation, "the Turkish government has issued a decree that threatens 330 former pilots with the revocation of their civil pilot license, unless they return to Air Force duty for four years," notes an Atlantic Council report.

"It is unclear how the decision to compel a return to service will impact unit morale," the report added.

Now, enter Russiaa traditional enemy of Turkey for centuries, and one of whose jets was shot down by the Turks over Syria. Yet Turkey is seeking to buy Russia's S-400 long-range anti-aircraft missiles, which only ratchets up tensions between Washington and Ankara over Syria and other issues.

Turkey has also signed an agreement with Franco-Italian missile maker Eurosam to develop a long-range anti-aircraft missile. And why is Turkey suddenly so interested in surface-to-air missiles? "In aftermath of 15 July, with the operations against the Turkish Armed Forces, there was a reduction in the number of F-16 pilots, creating a need to develop our air defense," said Turkish analyst Verda Ozer. "This is the reason for the S-400 purchase."

But even the S-400 wouldn't totally solve Turkey's air defense travails. "Since the Russian S-400 system cannot be integrated into NATO infrastructure, it cannot be used to protect against missile defense," Ozer notes. Hence, Turkey needs two systems: the S-400 to shoot down hostile aircraft, and a Eurosam weapon to intercept ballistic missiles.

Perhaps it would have been easier not to get rid of those F-16 pilots.

Michael Peck, a frequent contributor to TNI, is a defense and historical writer based in Oregon. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, WarIsBoring and many other fine publications. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook. This article first appeared in 2018 and is reprinted here due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters

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There's been an uptick in shootings in New York City this summer.

Reuters

Shootings in New York City claimed the lives of at least 11 people over the weekend, police say.

The weekend follows an especially violent June: 250 people were shot in the first 28 days of the month, according to NYPD stats.

On Monday morning, Mayor Bill De Blasio attributed the spike in violence to what might be the "single worst combination of crises New York City has ever faced," including the court closure and coronavirus.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer attributed the spike in violence to the coronavirus shutdown and the recession it's caused.

NYPD Chief of Department Terry Monahan said bail reform, anti-police rhetoric, and the release of prisoners from Rikers Island play a role.

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A surge in Independence Day weekend shootings, which follows an especially violent June in the New York City, has prompted the police department and union officials to blame recent criminal justice reform efforts and anti-cop rhetoric.

Mayor Bill De Blasio, though, said at a Monday morning press conference that the violence comes in the midst of what could be considered the "single worst combination of crises New York City has ever faced."

"There's no question that as we're getting into warmer and warmer weather, and we're feeling the effects of people being cooped up for months, and the economy has obviously not restarted to anywhere the extent we need it to, there is just a lot less for people to do," De Blasio said Monday. "We have a real problem here, and I think profoundly the fact that our court system is not functioning, and needs to function again, underlies all of this."

At least 64 people were shot in New York City between July 3 and July 5, and there were 11 homicides, according to NYPD data.

During the same period last year, there were 21 victims of gun violence, according to information provided by an NYPD spokeswoman.

Story continues

During the first 28 days of June, there were 250 people shot in the city, a 208% increase over 2019.

Police have pointed to the uptick in shootings to enhance their arguments against reform efforts related to bail and the recently passed anti-chokehold bill, which NYPD Chief of Department Terry Monahan called the "insane diaphragm bill."

The new law prohibits any action that restricts the flow of air or blood by compressing the windpipe, diaphragm, or the carotid arteries during an arrest.

"It's a combination of things," Monahan said of the weekend's violence. "Bail reform, Covid releases from prisons, the court shutdown which has Rikers of half of where they were last year with the population."

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"I've said this before, the animosity towards police out there is tremendous," he added. "Just about everyone we deal with is looking to fight a police officer."

The uptick in violence follows an unprecedented time of shutdowns and unrest

For almost all of the first half of 2020, New Yorkers have been living under coronavirus stay-at-home orders, during which thousands lost their jobs.

On top of that, the country spiraled into unrest at the end of May when George Floyd was killed by police on Memorial Day in Minneapolis. His killing launched the nation into protests and conversations about police brutality and reform.

In New York, those conversations and protests lead to the disbandment of the NYPD's plainclothes anti-crime units last month and the passage of the "Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act."

Gale Brewer has been Manhattan Borough President for seven years and on the city council for 12 years before that.

She told Insider Monday that this weekend's shootings  including one that pierced a baby's bedroom  were the worst she's ever seen.

"We're trying to figure out how to have more community centers open," Brewer said. "It's never happened before with this number of shootings in northern Manhattan."

Brewer said that police budget cuts and recent reforms haven't yet gone into effect. She says the recent wave of violence has likely been spurred by the combined effects of coronavirus shutdowns and the resulting recession.

"It's guns. It's the gangs. It's the lack of jobs, the lack of activities," she said.

Brewer said that she's been on the phone all day organizing meetings this week to address the violence.

Police, too, have been working with borough leaders to come up with a "realistic" solution, she said.

"This is all hands on deck," she said. "Police have been working with us. It's always both sides of the coin. They can't do the prevention. We need to do the prevention."

The violence follows a coronavirus shut down, in which thousands were left unemployed.

Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty

Monahan denied Monday that NYPD is participating in any sort of "slowdown" as a response to the protests.

He did say, though, that the lack of support of police, and reform movements, have some officers "hesitant to enforce some of these quality-of-life issues" in fear that they will end up being prosecuted for actions they took during struggles with suspects.

"Anyone who has ever arrested anyone knows there is a good chance that your knee is going to end up on a suspect's back in the middle of a violent scuffle," he said.

"It's so vital that we get our communities coming together, supporting our cops, speaking up for the police officers that are out there," Monahan said. "Morale is low. You're looking at a lot of the rhetoric that is going out there, which is being done by a small minority of people when the vast majority do support our police. We need to know from the communities how they want their neighborhoods policed."

De Blasio said there is no way to know which factors have contributed to which crimes: 'It's everything together'

On Monday afternoon, the NYPD hosted a briefing to release data around the crimes from June and July.

As a part of it, NYPD leadership said that bail reform and the early release of more than 2,500 people from Rikers Island due to coronavirus concerns are partially responsible for the uptick.

As an example, they said that 275 people of the more than 2,500 released from Rikers have been rearrested 550 times since.

Two people released from Rikers during that time  one of which would otherwise be still committed  have been rearrested on a new murder charge, police said.

Of the 16 killings in July, police attributed 14 of them to gun violence. All shooting victims were members of "minority communities," NYPD Chief Michael LiPetri said Monday.

"We have 3,000 people have been arrested 9,000 times since the pandemic," Chief Michael LiPetri said.

So far this year, killings in the city are up 23% since last year  176 as of June 28 compared to 143 in 2019.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio attends a news conference in New York City, U.S., July 8, 2016.

Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Even so, the city's homicide rate remains far lower than the mid-1990s and early 2000s.

In 2006, the city saw 255 murders between Jan. 1 and June 28, according to The New York Daily News.

On Monday, De Blasio fielded several questions about how he feels that NYPD and union leadership have blamed the city's actions for an uptick in violence.

The mayor said that he understands that officers trying to keep the city safe are frustrated. He said the biggest contributor to the spike in violence, though is the closure of courts, which has slowed the follow-though for arrests.

"We, all of us together, have been keeping the city safe. It's an extraordinarily difficult time in our city's history," he said. "The city of New York didn't ask for the coronavirus to come here, nor for our court system to be shut down."

"There is a tremendous about of frustration," he added "It's impossible to say which factor has which outcome. It's everything together."

Expanded Coverage Module: black-lives-matter-module

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NASA finds powerful storm's around Tropical Storm Cristina's center

A low-pressure area strengthened quickly and became Tropical Storm Cristina in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and infrared imagery from NASA revealed the powerful thunderstorms fueling that intensification.

Cristina developed by 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, July 6, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. Six hours later it strengthened into a tropical storm and was renamed Cristina.

On July 7 at 4:10 a.m. EDT (0810 UTC), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite used infrared light to analyze the strength of storms within Cristina. NASA researches these storms to determine how they rapidly intensify, develop and behave.

Tropical cyclones are made of up hundreds of thunderstorms, and infrared data can show where the strongest storms are located. That is because infrared data provides temperature information, and the strongest thunderstorms that reach highest into the atmosphere have the coldest cloud top temperatures.

MODIS found those strongest storms in two areas around Cristina's center of circulation where cloud top temperatures were as cold as minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62.2 Celsius). NASA research has found that cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 7, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the center of Tropical Storm Cristina was located near latitude 12.2 degrees north and longitude 102.8 degrees west. Cristina is centered about 480 miles (770 km) south-southeast of Manzanillo, Mexico. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1005 millibars. Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph (65 kph) with higher gusts.

Cristina was moving toward the west-northwest near 13 mph (20 kph), and the NHC expects that general motion to continue for the next few days, keeping the cyclone well away from the coast of Mexico.

NHC forecaster David Zelinsky noted in the July 7 Discussion, "The [vertical wind] shear and some nearby dry air that appear to have inhibited Cristina's organization so far are not expected to persist as negative factors for much longer. All of the models still forecast strengthening, and given the very favorable environment that the cyclone will encounter in a day or two, a period of rapid intensification at some point would not be surprising."

Strengthening is anticipated and Cristina is forecast to become a hurricane in a day or two.

Typhoons/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA's expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts, visit: http://www. nhc. noaa. gov

By Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

###

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A light crowd enjoys the sand and surf at Manhattan Beach on July 6, 2020, following the three-day Fourth of July weekend. (Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the surge in coronavirus cases hitting California was due in part to younger people who might believe "they are invincible" but nonetheless are becoming sick from COVID-19.

These are younger adults  who Newsom called "the young invincibles"  who are testing positive for the disease, a trend that has become apparent as the economy has reopened and working-aged adults return to work and had resumed social gatherings.

"So a lot of these younger folks may be coming into hospitals, but with not as acute needs as what we were seeing in the past," Newsom said. In L.A. County, working-age adults are making up an increasing share of the percentage of those who are hospitalized, while seniors are making up a declining share.

Some young people think "they are invincible but don't feel it's going to impact them and if it does, it's not a big burden."

But Newsom and other experts have warned that increasing infection in younger adults may serve as a way the disease can spread to those with underlying health conditions and older adults.

That's why, Newsom said, he has made moves to strengthen public health orders, such as ordering many of California's most populous counties to shut down bars and indoor restaurant dining rooms as hospitalizations have increased.

While a higher percentage of coronavirus tests is confirming infections, "we're not seeing a commensurate increase yet in mortality," Newsom said. For the last six weeks, California has reported an average coronavirus death toll of about 436 a week since Memorial Day; for the preceding six weeks, the average weekly death toll was 510, a Times analysis found.

"Those are lagging indicators: hospitalizations, ICUs and deaths," Newsom said.

It can take weeks for newly infected people to get sick enough to be hospitalized, and even more time before they die from the disease.

Story continues

Experts say it can take three to four weeks after exposure to the virus for infected people to become sick enough to be hospitalized, and four to five weeks after exposure for some of the most vulnerable patients to die from the disease.

The same trends of younger adults being increasingly infected with the coronavirus is being seen in L.A. County.

By the Fourth of July, almost 50% of new cases occur among younger people," which are adults 40 and younger, said Barbara Ferrer, the L.A. County director of public health, on Monday. In early April, that age group made up only about 30% of new confirmed cases.

Adults 18 to 39 make up about one-third of L.A. County's population.

The decline in deaths in L.A. County is partly due to a significant decline in new deaths among nursing home residents. In May, L.A. County was reporting an average of 25 daily coronavirus deaths among nursing home residents. By late June, the average daily death toll from nursing homes was about 10, Ferrer said last week.

Officials have said better use of personal protective equipment, such as masks, gowns and gloves, and increased testing, has helped reduce the effect of the pandemic on nursing homes.

Daily average percentage of COVID-19 cases by age, according to L.A. County. (Los Angeles County)

The age makeup of those being hospitalized in L.A. County has also changed. In late April, seniors 65 and older made up 50% of those hospitalized with COVID-19; middle-aged people between 41 to 64 made up more than 35%; and the youngest adults made up less than 15% of cases.

Now, its working-aged adults who are seeing their share of hospitalizations rise, while the elderlys rate falls. By the Fourth of July, middle-aged adults made up roughly 45% of hospitalizations; seniors made up less than 30%; and the youngest adults made up more than 25% of hospitalizations.

COVID-19 hospitalized cases by admission date by age, according to L.A. County. (Los Angeles County)

There are several reasons why younger adults are increasingly becoming infected, Ferrer said, citing survey results compiled by the USC Dornsife Center of Economic and Social Research.

More L.A. County residents are leaving their home. In mid-April, 86% of L.A. County residents said they stayed home at all times except for essential activities or exercise; by the last week of June, only 58% said they were doing so.

The percentage of L.A. County residents who stayed home except for essential activities and exercise through the last week of June. (Los Angeles County)

More L.A. County residents are also having close contact with people outside of their household. In mid-April, only 31% of L.A. County residents had such close contact with people outside of their household; by the last week of June, 55% were doing so.

The percentage of L.A. County residents who had close contact with people outside of their household through the end of June. (Los Angeles County)

As the reopening has accelerated, however, fewer L.A. County residents are reporting a fear of running out of food because of a lack of money or other resources. In early April, 30% of L.A. County residents surveyed were worried about running out of food; that figure has fallen to 11% for the last week of June.

The percentage of L.A. County residents worried about running out of food because of a lack of money by the end of June. (L.A. County)

Additionally, fewer L.A. County residents are now reporting psychological distress as the reopening accelerated. In early April, 47% of surveyed county residents reported mild, moderate or severe symptoms of psychological distress; as the reopening accelerated, 36% reporting feeling such symptoms.

The percentage of L.A. County residents with symptoms of psychological distress as officials accelerated reopening businesses. (Los Angeles County)

There was also a slight reduction in the percentage of L.A. County residents who reported the pandemic posed a moderate or substantial threat to their household finances; 64% said it did so in mid-May; 56% said it did so in mid-June.

The percentage of L.A. County residents who reported the coronavirus crisis posed a threat to their household finances through mid-June. (Los Angeles County)

"This is the good news about opening  it's that in fact, for many people, it's provided some very important and much needed relief," Ferrer said.

But as people have returned to physical work locations, workplaces have increasingly become sites of exposure to the highly contagious virus. While in early May, 37% of surveyed L.A. County residents said their job required them to come within six feet of other people regularly, 43% said they had done so in mid-June.

The percentage of L.A. County residents whose jobs require close contact on the job through mid-June. (Los Angeles County)

More L.A. County residents are increasingly concerned California is lifting restrictions on public activity due to the pandemic too quickly, the survey found. While 75% of survey respondents expressed such worry in early May, 79% did so in mid-June.

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 hospitals  an 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.

Newsom said Monday that California is now monitoring 23 counties for surges in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. That's four more since last week.

Counties on the watch list include: Contra Costa, Colusa, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Merced, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura.
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It added that based on the current risk level of COVID-19 in Nigeria and the ongoing community transmission, the number of those gathered should be limited to one-third of the actual capacity of the venue with minimum of two metres observed.
However, it is obvious now why the president did not seek to have Magus appointment confirmed even with the current legislative dispensation, under Ahmad Lawan, which is tied to his apron strings. I think Buhari did not discount the allegations against Magu, but he would not bend to the will of the senate under Bukola Saraki which was at daggers drawn with him.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to the invitation of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, by the Department of State Services (DSS).





The PDP, in a statement shared on its official Twitter handle on Monday, said the development confirms malfeasance in EFCC.





The party said Magu should now step aside to forestall destruction of evidence against him.





The PDP asked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to show the genuineness of its war against corruption by allowing the unhindered investigation of the acting Chairman of EFCC.

The party said Nigerians were already aware that the EFCC boss has been pulled in for questioning.





The main opposition party noted that the fact that Magu has to be accompanied by his lawyer shows that the said invitation, is beyond the routine.





The PDP holds that the development around the @officialEFCC acting Chairman as well as the desperate attempt by the Commission to cover or waveoff his investigation, only raise more integrity questions regarding Magus activities in the EFCC, the statement added.





Only last month, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Abubakar Malami, released a memo in which he indicted Magu of alleged diversion of recovered funds and fraudulent sale of assets seized by the @officialEFCC.





The PDP it was keenly monitoring the development alongside Nigerians and indeed, the international community are and expect the Buhari-led presidency to muster the courage to carry out a comprehensive investigation and make its findings available to the public.





The PDP called on the Buhari administration to order Magu to step aside, adding that this will preserve the integrity of the office of the Chairman of the EFCC.





Moreover, with the allegations and investigation, Magu has lost the moral rectitude to continue to preside over the anti-corruption agency. He should step aside until he proves himself innocent.





Ibrahim Magu was on Monday invited by the Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations that he owns four properties.





In 2016, DSS accused the EFCC boss of living in a N40m mansion paid for by one Umar Mohammed, a retired Air Commodore.





However, the EFCC said Magu, was not arrested on Monday.





According to the EFCC, he only honoured an invitation by a Presidential Panel reviewing the activities of the agency.





The Head of Media, Dele Oyewale, said this in a statement on Monday.





He said the review was held at the Banquet Hall wing of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.





In the same vein, the Department of State Services (DSS) said it did not arrest Ibrahim Magu as widely.





But despite the rebuttal, it was gathered that DSS blocked Magu in Wuse traffic shortly after he left office.





He was then taken to the Presidential Villa.





Magu is being reportedly grilled over allegations against him.









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That is approximately the sum of N7.183 million per LGA for the three-month period. The procurement of these items can only be done by the National Directorate of Employment, complying with strict procurement guidelines in the Public Procurement Act.
Home | News | General | Alleged bribery: EFCC witness contradicts self in Shehu Sani's trial

- The court case instituted against Senator Shehu Sani by the EFCC is still on

- A mild drama ensued at the Federal High Court Abuja on Monday, July 6 at the resumed trial of the case

- The witnesses cross-examined contradicted their own claims against Senator Sani

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A mild drama took place at the Federal High Court Abuja on Monday, July 6 at the resumed trial of the $25,000.00 bribery allegations against Senator Shehu Sani.

The controversy forced the trial judge, Justice Iyang Ekwo to stand down the continuation of the trial till Tuesday, July 7.

At the resumed trial, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel, Abba Mohammed had presented two witnesses, one Ismaila Bala and Alhaji Sani Dauda.

A file photo of Shehu Sani in court.

Source: Original

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Under cross-examination by the prosecuting counsel, Bala, who claimed to be a domestic staff to ASD Motors Nigeria Limited, claimed the alleged bribery took place in December 2020.

He further told the court that he only knew Senator Sani through television but, insisted that Sani visited the Maitama residence of the company five times.

He narrated to the court how Sani visited and left with an envelope, which he said, he didnt know the contents on all of the occasions.

He, however, could neither remember the date or the year the senator allegedly visited.

Ismaila who spoke through an interpreter claimed he did not see Sani receiving or returning the money, but said was informed by Dauda.

On his part, Dauda said Senator Sani only collected $13.95 prompting confusion in the courtroom as the witnesses statement were contradictory.

Amidst the contradictions, the trial judge, Justice Ekwo Iyang stand down the continuation of the trial till Tuesday, July 7.

N10 billion fraud allegation: IGP orders probe of Udoms appointee

The EFCC is prosecuting Shehu Sani on two-count criminal charges, bordering on name-dropping and obtaining the sum of $25,000.00 from Alhaji Dauda of ASD Motors, Kaduna, under a false pretence that he would use the sum to bribe the acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, to shield Dauda from EFCCs investigation.

Sani has since denied the claims, saying he is a victim of political prosecution by the anti-graft agency.

The assessment of the EFCC's effectiveness in combating corruption in Nigeria has always been tainted with politics.

Experts say the organization has not been effective in combating corruption in Nigeria but has been very active in intimidating political opponents of the powers that be.

The recommended approach to the EFCC focusing on its core duties, the experts say, is to correct those identified inhibitors that undermined the commissions capacity, such as intrusive government interference, lack of autonomy, poor funding and weak laws, among others, to mitigate corruption.

Kogi guber: Huge number of APC aspirants is due to my efforts, says Gov Bello

Recall that Justice Ekwo had earlier threatened to revoke the bail granted Senator Sani if he fails to appear in court on the next adjourned date.

Shehu Sani granted N10million bail | Legit TV

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Home | News | General | It's a result of power-play - FG committee on anti-corruption speaks on Magu's ordeal

- Ibrahim Magu's appearance at a federal government panel continues to generate reactions

- The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption says Magu is being hounded by powerful officials

- The federal government committee also alleged that plans to replace Magu are already in motion

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Professor Femi Odekunle, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), has reacted to the ordeal of Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Magu faced a panel at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday, July 6 over allegations of corruption.

Magu's ordeal is coming two weeks after the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), recommend his removal to President Muhammadu Buhari.

AGF Malami had in a memo indicted the EFCC boss of corruption. Photo credit: BBC

Source: UGC

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Malami, in a memorandum to the president, anchored his recommendation on several grounds raging from diversion of recovered loot to insubordination and misconduct by Magu.

In a preliminary reaction to the situation on behalf of PACAC, Professor Odekunle said the plans to replace Magu are already in motion.

He made the allegation this in a statement sent to journalists in reaction to the media reports which went viral concerning the EFCC boss.

Part of the statement read: The alleged originating Malami memo, up to the current "arrest seems an outcome of power-play by power blocs in the corridors of power in which Malami appears to be an arrow-head or major agent of a power bloc that is not really interested in, or in support of, Buhari's anti-corruption fight.

The position of PACAC is that while Magu, or any official of whatever status, must be nailed if found to be corrupt, the president must be careful not to shoot its anti-corruption fight/modest achievements in the foot, and not to forget that EFCC under Magu has been the administration's anti-corruption poster-face.

Xenophobia: Nigerians are worse than South Africans - Comedian Hyenana reacts to ongoing protest in Nigeria

It may not be contestable that Malami has been exploiting his alleged loyalty and closeness to the president for his personal /power bloc agenda. For, to the best of PACACs knowledge and observations, Malami has not manifested any genuine commitment to the anti-corruption fight.

Notwithstanding the situation at hand, the hope of PACAC is that the president would wake up to the ongoing shenanigans of power players that are working from the inside against his anti-corruption fight.

PACAC expressed hope that retired Justice Salami, who is heading the panel investigating Magu, would carry the day for thoroughness, fairness and justice in the interest of the anti-corruption fight.

The committee also expressed optimism that the chief of staff to the president, Professor Ibrahim Gambari would handle the situation without bias or favouritism.

Meanwhile, the Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call Dr Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, to order.

N10 billion fraud allegation: IGP orders probe of Udoms appointee

Dr Ngige recently announced the suspension of the management of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund.

How Nigerians should fight corruption - civil society group | Legit TV

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Home | News | General | Nigerian professionals in Europe commend over fight against insurgency, COVID-19

- Some Nigerians in Europe have commended the federal government's effort in the fight against insurgency

- The Nigerians also commended the military leadership and soldiers fighting insurgents in the northeast

- They also commended the fight against coronavirus pandemic by the Nigerian government

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The Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe (ANPE) has said that President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian armed forces have done much better than other countries in the fight against terrorism.

The group of Nigerians also hailed the Federal Government's response to the coronavirus pandemic and the general socio-economic development of the country.

In a communique signed by its president, Dr Agwu Onyeke and seven others at the end of a virtual consultative assembly, ANPE said the spate of insecurity in Nigeria has been propelled by politicians focused on scoring political points.

Coronavirus: Traders reveal hike in cost of food items as Easter beckons

President Muhammadu Buhari flagged by two foreign guards. Photo credit: Presidency

Source: Twitter

The group also said that no country facing the multi-layers of security threats like Nigeria has done better in the handling of the various threats.

"The Association of Nigerian Professionals unanimously agreed that the spate of insecurity in Nigeria had been propelled mainly by politicians that want to score political points towards the 2023 general elections," the group said.

While hailing the security heads for discharging their duties despite the campaign of calumny, ANPE said troops have displayed an enviable level of professionalism in tackling insecurity.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Federal Government on Monday, July 6, expressed worry over the growing cases of COVID-19 among VIPs across the nation.

The team on the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said such rise in the number of positive coronavirus cases is a threat to Nigeria's economy, security and governance.

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Mustapha also called on all Nigerians to adhere to expert advice on the prevention of the spread of the deadly disease as the virus does not discriminate.

Also, the Nigerian air force has denied claims linking the chief of air staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, to statements that it will end Boko Haram in 2020.

NAF said at no point did the institution or its leadership boasts that it will wipe out the terrorists in any specific time.

How Nigeria's Covid-19 cases rose from 7000 to over 20,000 in one month | Legit TV

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Home | News | General | Edo election: Obaseki may lose if we underrate Ize-Iyamu - PDP chieftain warns

- A PDP chieftain, Okharedia Ihimekpen, has warned the leadership of the party against underrating Pastor Ize-Iyamu

- Ihimekpen cautioned leaders and members of his party not to underrate the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu

- According to him, said Ize-Iyamu is a strong tactician who is very perfect in planning

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Okharedia Ihimekpen, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state, has cautioned leaders and members of his party not to underrate the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

The Nation reports that Ihimekpen, said this on Monday, July 6, at an interactive session with reporters in Benin, expressed optimism that Governor Godwin Obaseki would emerge victorious on September 19, but added that PDP members in Edo must work much harder.

Nigerian striker scores 2 goals to help top European club stretch their unbeaten run to 9 games

Legit.ng gathered that Ihimekpen said Ize-Iyamu is a strong tactician, adding that he is very perfect in planning and he is a grassroots man.

He said: I know that Pastor Ize-Iyamu is a strong tactician, he is very perfect in planning and he is a grassroots man. You do not underrate him, if you do, it is at your peril. So, if you say I am a governor, nothing is happening, you sit down and swim in joy, thinking that you have arrived; you will only be deceiving yourself. If you do not close mark Pastor Ize-Iyamu, you will be shocked.

The governorship candidate of APC, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. Twitter/Ize-Iyamu.

Source: Twitter

Look at the person that Pastor Ize-Iyamu picked as his running mate, Hon. Ganiyu Audu, also a grassroots politician from Edo North senatorial district as the deputy to Governor Obaseki, Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu. Hon. Audu is the engine room of Edo North senatorial district and he is a perfect gentleman, who knows what politics is all about.

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The combination of Pastor Ize-Iyamu, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the former national chairman of APC/ex-governor of Edo state and Audu, coupled with the sympathy of the people of Edo North senatorial district for their son (Oshiomhole) is a danger that the PDP members must contend with.

He said: Winning the September 19 election is a 50/50 chance for Governor Obaseki because the disaster that happened to Comrade Oshiomhole lately has brought all the people of Edo North senatorial district together to be in sympathy with him.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Prince Kassim Afegbua, a member of PDP and former commissioner for information and orientation in Edo state, reiterated that he would not back Governor Godwin Obaseki's re-election bid.

It was reported that 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.

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Home | News | General | Breaking: FG announces new dates for 2020 WAEC exams

- FG has announced new dates for the commencement of WAEC

- The examinations would now start on August 4 and end on September 5

- Emeka Nwajiuba, the minister of state for education, disclosed this on Monday, July 6

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The federal government has announced that the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) would commence on August 4.

Channels TV reports that this was made known on Monday, July 6, in Abuja, by the minister of state for education, Emeka Nwajiuba, at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

Legit.ng gathered that he said the examinations would start on August 4 and end on September 5. urging the general public to take note of the announcement.

He said: From the 4th of August to the 5th of September, please take note. Last week the chairman of the PTF announced that school facilities will be available for those who want to go into revision classes.

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The minister of state for education, Emeka Nwajiuba, says WAEC exams would commence on August 4 and end on September 5.

Source: UGC

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.

We have done the most we can with our representatives at WAEC and we have, this afternoon, confirmed that the dates allotted for the exams will be from the 4th of August through to the 5th of September."

According to him, the ministry would publish the local timings for the examinations after a meeting with authorities of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), among other stakeholders.

Nwajiuba disclosed that as soon as WAEC examinations were concluded, the government would take up the National Examination Council (NECO) and the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) examinations.

WASSCE is a standardised test conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) for senior secondary school students in the graduating class.

List of elected candidates for 2019 senatorial election

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that WAEC on Sunday, July 5, asked Nigerians to disregard a timetable currently in circulation around the country.

It was reported that the supposed timetable was said to have been released hours after the governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announced the resumption of schools to some sets of students.

The schools had remained shut for months now over the spreading coronavirus pandemic in Lagos and some parts of Nigeria. In reaction to an inquiry by a Nigerian on Twitter, Jamiu Kazeem Babatunde, WAEC said the timetable did not emanate from it.

WAEC had said that it, "did not release the timetable in circulation. As you can see, it was a timetable we had used for a previous examination. Please, disregard it."

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Home | News | General | How Buhari, service chiefs can end terrorism, banditry - Security expert

- Nigerians have been urged to support President Muhammadu Buhari and the service chiefs in the fight against terrorism

- The call was made by a Kaduna-based security expert and author Terrence Kuanum

- Kuanum said some individuals have been introducing pettiness to serious issues of security across Nigeria

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A security expert, Terrence Kuanum, has warned against ungodly utterances capable of distracting the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria's security chiefs from focusing on winning the ongoing war against banditry and terrorism in Nigeria.

Kuanum, while speaking in Abuja on Sunday, July 5, said there are attempts by some self-serving individuals to divert the attention of the president from the ongoing war against banditry and terrorism in Nigeria.

The security expert and author said these individuals have been operating by introducing pettiness to serious issues of security.

Nigerian striker scores 2 goals to help top European club stretch their unbeaten run to 9 games

He said what the president and the security chiefs need now is support and cooperation from all citizens, not politically induced cynicism.

Kuanum stressed that with the ongoing fight against terrorism and banditry the military high command cannot afford to allow anything that will take its eyes off the ball.

He said every second is crucial at this critical time that the war is about to be concluded and the insurgents and bandits have been overwhelmed and boxed to a corner.

"There's the need to allow for full concentration otherwise the criminals who are praying for something to distract the service chiefs may want to take advantage and strike once they notice the slightest opportunity," Kuanum said.

Nigeria's president, Muhammadu Buhari in a closed-door meeting with the service chiefs. Photo credit: Aso Rock

Source: Facebook

He also said that from all indication, it is obvious the insurgents are looking for the slightest opportunity to unleash mayhem on the people especially in the northern region.

He said the various operations launched by the military in various parts of the country have all been fruitful without exception saying this suggests that the service chiefs know what they're doing.

Kogi guber: Huge number of APC aspirants is due to my efforts, says Gov Bello

"There are many more that the military has been able to achieve but this is the few I remember but I can assure you that what I've mentioned are not even one-third of the successes recorded," the expert said.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the leadership of the Nigerian air force has said that it never said Boko Haram would be wiped out by the year 2020.

The air force denied statements linking the chief of air staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, to claims of completely wiping Boko Haram insurgency from Nigeria by 2020.

According to the Nigerian air force, the institution never announced a designated time or year the terrorists would be wiped out.

5 years after, Nigerians speak about Buhari's administration | Legit TV

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Home | News | General | Hushpuppi in fresh trouble as FBI accuses him of duping top Italian giants N9.6 billion

- Hushpuppi has been accused of being the scammer who scammed Lazio in 2018

- The Italian side lost massive sum of 2 million they wanted to use to buy Stefan de Vrij

- FBI are said to have made this latest revelation about the Nigerian social media celebrity

Nigerian social media star known as Hushpuppi has landed himself into another problem as the FBI have reportedly accused him as the brains behind the 2 million SS Lazio scam.

This is another fresh case against the Nigerian big boy who is currently facing prosecution in America over many financial crimes he is being accused to have committed.

Two years ago, Italian Serie A side Lazio were reported to have been scammed on the payment of the transfer deal of defender Stefan de Virj who now plays for Inter Milan.

During that time, Lazio chiefs were reported to have been duped by online scammers as they wrongly paid part of the player's transfer money to a wrong account instead of to the actual Feyenoord.

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According to Italian newspaper Il Tempo, the Serie A club were tricked into sending 1.75 million to the wrong bank account in Holland by hackers with knowledge of the deal.

Lazio got an email with the name of Feyenoord, the bank account number was sent and the payment made. The Italian side did not know that they paid money into the wrong account.

With more investigation still going on, already, there has been news that the minimum jail-term Hushpuppi could get for all his crimes is 20 years.

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Hushpuppi reportedly alleged as architect behind 2 million SS Lazio scam (Photo Credit: Hushpuppi on Instagram)

Source: Instagram

Named Ramon Olorunwa Abbas by his parents, Hushpuppi, is a social media celebrity who has more than 2 million followers on Instagram.

Earlier, Legit.ng had reported how investigations commenced into the alleged fraudulent activities of Ramon Abba, popularly known as Hushpuppi, on how he and his gang attempted to dupe a Premier League club to the tune of 100m (N48bn).

Former Real Madrid star reveals how Mourinho almost 'killed' Ronaldo despite scoring a hat-trick

Over 10 days after the arrest of the alleged fraudster, the Dubai police released footage that captured the operation dubbed Fox Hunt 2 that led to the arrests.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director, Christopher Wray, has extended his appreciation to the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), represented by the Dubai Police General HQ, for the concerted efforts in arresting the alleged fraudsters.

The fresh allegation is contained in an affidavit according to Special Agent, Andre Innocenti, who is in charge of the Los Angeles Filed Office High-tech Organised Crime Squad.

Rashidi Yekini is irreplaceable in Super Eagles  Abdul Sule | Legit TV

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Home | News | General | Collapsed Wase/Langtang Bridge to be repaired in 2 months  Fashola

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The Minister of Works, Mr Babatunde Fashola, says repairs of the collapsed Wase/Langtang Bridge in Plateau will be completed in two months.

The minister made this known when Gov Simon Lalong of Plateau visited his office in Abuja on Monday.

According to a statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Affairs to the Governor, Dr Makut Masham, the minister sympathised with the state government over the natural disaster.

Fashola said the ministry had commenced the design and costing of the bridge which would take two months to complete.

He said that immediate palliative works should be carried out to restore temporary connection for people in the area, while the permanent solution was being worked out.

The Federal Controller of Works in Plateau had recommended the replacement of the old collapsed bridge with a new one, which was being considered, Fashola said.

Earlier in his remarks, Lalong said the visit was to seek immediate solution on the bridge which had completely cut off links to Wase and Langtang Local Government Areas and travellers to Taraba State.

I took a personal visit to the area to see things for myself last week and as you know, it is a Federal Road. From what I saw, it is something that needs the federal financial might to fix.

I have asked my people to provide boats as alternatives for now but this cannot be sustained for a long time considering the economic activities that take place in the area.

We need the quick intervention of the Federal Government which is why I decided to pay this visit to you, he said.

The governor thanked the Federal Government for its support in carrying out road projects in the state, particularly the Longvel-Yelwa-Ajikamai-Ibi-Federal Road being constructed by the state government.

He was optimistic that the Federal Government would refund the cost.

A follow-up team on intervention was agreed by the minister and the governor.

Reports that Governor Lalong on June 29 conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the collapsed Wase/Langtang Bridge.

The governor noted the importance of the bridge in facilitating commercial activities in the two local governments area affected.

[NAN]

Vanguard News Nigeria.

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Home | News | General | BREAKING: Ondo Deputy Gov drags Assembly to court over planned impeachment

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Dayo Johnson Akure

The embattled Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Hon Agboola Ajayi has dragged the State House of Assembly to court over his planned impeachment.

Speculations were rife that the lawmakers planned to begin his impeachment process on Tuesday for abandoning the ruling party to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

Ajayi through his lawyer has filed a suit seeking to stop the impeachment proceeding and enforce his fundamental right of association.

Other defendants in the suit filed by his lawyers, aside from the House of Assembly, include the Inspector General of Police, State Commissioner Of Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr David Oleyeloogun

The suit filed by Mr I. Olatoke SAN seeks to enforce the fundamental right of the Deputy Governor to retain his position having defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to People s Democratic Party (PDP).

Vanguard learnt that the suit was filed today and the assembly had been served.

Details later

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Home | News | General | Edo: You are no match for Wike, PDP replies Ganduje

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Ganduje

By Dirisu Yakubu

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Monday, described the chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, national campaign council for the Edo governorship election, and governor of Kano state, Abdullahi Ganduje, as a barefaced treasury looter who has no moral rectitude to speak on corruption.

The party stated this while reacting to comments credited to the Kano governor over the manner the APC would take Edo, specifically saying that his counterpart and governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike would be isolated until the conduct of the poll in Edo on September 19 this year.

In a statement issued by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP described as a huge irony that Governor Ganduje, who has become a butt of national shame after being seen on viral video stuffing his robe with gratification in foreign currency, would accuse the PDP of corruption intentions in the Edo state governorship election.

The statement read: It is a paradox that an individual who has earned himself the disgraceful public sobriquet of gandollar, after being caught collecting gratification, would attempt to accuse others of having intention of looting the treasury of a state.

The PDP points out that it is only in a party like the APC, under a Buhari Presidency, that such a tarnished individual can be selected to speak in public, let alone lead a governorship election campaign.

Apparently, Governor Ganduje and other APC leaders are so used to looting public treasuries that such is his first mental direction after his inauguration to lead the Edo governorship campaign.

Governor Ganduje has further confirmed the real intention of the APC, which is to use their morally embattled candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu for their desperate effort to regain access to Edo state treasury, after Governor Godwin Obaseki liberated the state from the stranglehold of APC treasury-looting godfathers.

Our party invites Governor Ganduje to note that there is no free dollars for him and other APC leaders to loot in Edo state. Under the PDP, the resources of Edo state, and indeed other PDP states, belong to the people and not to any political cabal and their godfathers.

Of course, this is why the people of Edo state are solidly behind Governor Obaseki for firmly resisting APC looters.

Moreover, Governor Ganduje, with his infamous gandollar video, is no match to the Chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council for the Edo election, Governor Nyesom Wike.

Whereas Governor Wike is a highly respected, upright, honest, transparent, people-based and development-driven leader, who is firmly in touch with the people of Edo state and enjoys their confidence and trust, Governor Ganduje, on the other hand, represent a leadership that is fraught with dishonesty, corruption, non-performance and public shame.

Vanguard

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Home | News | General | Police Service Commission dismisses 10 officers, demotes 8 others

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has dismissed 10 senior police officers and demoted eight others over cases of misconduct.

The Head of Press and Public Relations of PSC, Mr Ikechukwu Ani, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

Ani said the decision for the dismissal of the police officers was reached during the three-week delierations at the 8th Plenary Meeting of the commission that ended on July 1.

He said those dismissed were one Superintendent of Police (SP), five Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP), and four Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP).

Those demoted were a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), four Superintendents of Police (SP), one Deputy Superintendent of Police, and an Assistant Superintendent of Police.

The commission also approved giving of severe reprimand for 16 officers and reprimand for 13 officers as well as issuing of letters of warning to four others.

Two officers are to receive letters of advice while 11 others were exonerated.

The commission in plenary looked into 83 disciplinary cases which included eighteen appeals and petitions, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commission also approved the promotion of 6,618 senior officers.

[NAN]

Vanguard News Nigeria.

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Home | News | General | Lagos Assembly urges Sanwo-Olu to probe LAWMA workers protests

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The Lagos House of Assembly has urged Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to investigate the recent protest by street sweepers engaged by Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) over non-payment of their salaries.

The resolution followed a motion, entitled; Need to Enhance Waste Management In Lagos State, moved by Mr Desmond Elliot (Surulere Constituency I) during plenary on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that highway highway workers had on June 23 embarked on protest over non-payment of their three-month salaries.

The sweepers also took to social media to express their grievances.

In a video posted on Twitter, the sweepers were seen removing their uniforms and dumping them on the floor, which formed a huge pile.

Elliot said the House condemned those behind the videos that went viral on the issue of non-payment of their salaries.

The lawmaker urged the House to call on the governor and the Ministry of the Environment to look into it and bring the people behind it to book.

The House should call on Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to direct the Commissioner, Ministry of Finance, Accountant General, State Treasury Office, the Commissioner, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.

Others are the Acting Managing Director, Lagos State Waste Management Authority, and other relevant Agencies to expedite action on the payment of all outstanding allowances of the sweepers.

Gov. Sanwo-Olu should direct the Commissioner, Ministry of Information and Strategy, in conjunction with the relevant agencies to sensitise members of the public on the need to dispose their refuse properly.

The state government should also sensitise the public on the importance of having waste bin in their respective houses.

The House should also mandate the Committee on the Environment to investigate the immediate and remote causes of these irregularities in LAWMA with a view to finding a lasting solution to the matter, he said.

Elliot said the House was mindful of the modern technology means deployed by the state government to ensure a cleaner Lagos.

He said that the governor should mandate the Committee on the Environment to investigate the activities of LAWMA to make their job more effective.

Elliot said that the House also needed to commend the efforts of the state government on waste management in the state.

In his comment, the Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, said there was need to address the issues raised by the highway workers during the protest.

Obasa said the highway workers were employed to clean the roads based on humanitarian gesture of the state government.

The speaker said that the state government had the alternative of using mechanised ways of removing wastes in the state.

The state can come up with mechanised ways of removing wastes. We also want to reduce crime, which was why we are doing the job manually.

We should condemn those behind the video because there are many ways of making their grievances known.

The issue started during the break out of COVID-19 and everybody was affected. Those behind the video should be brought to book. We should condemn those going to the media to embarrass the government.

For those who played roles in the delay of the salaries of the sweepers, the committee should see how they could be held responsible, he said.

Contributing, Mr Rotimi Olowo (Shomolu I), said that policing the canals and primary drainages in the state required more attention.

Mr Kehinde Joseph (Alimosho II), in his comment, said the matter should be investigated but government should not stop the salaries of the highway workers in the process.

Also Speaking, Mr Ajani Owolabi (Lagos Mainland I), said that the pandemic slowed down efforts of the state government to deal with some issues.

Ajani said that the major challenge with wastes in the state had to do with plastic wastes.

The roads are usually being flooded. We can monetise the plastic waste, and we can call on the governor to look at this in a way that we can monetise plastic wastes, he said.

Also, Mr Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti Osa II), said the state government should not ignore the viral video where the highway workers where protesting non-payment of their salaries.

Yishawu, however, supported the motion that their salaries should be paid.

He said that the highway workers were among the frontline workers that worked during the lockdown, and that the matter should be investigated as suggested in the third leg of the resolution.

The speaker, therefore, passed the motion through voice votes which was supported by all the lawmakers present in the House

[NAN]

Vanguard News Nigeria.

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Home | News | General | PDP calls on Magu to step down

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu to step down.

The call followed Mondays quizzing of Magu by security agencies over alleged infractions..

In a statement on Monday night by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party urged President Muhammadu Buhari to show the genuineness of his war against corruption by allowing unhindered investigation of Magu.

The party said Nigerians are already aware that Magu has been pulled in for questioning; adding that the fact that he has to be accompanied by an attorney showed that the said invitation, was beyond the routine.

It further stated that the development around the EFCC chair as well as the desperate attempt by the Commission to cover or wave off his investigation, only raised more integrity questions regarding Magus activities in the EFCC.

The statement said, Only last month, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Abubakar Malami, released a memo in which he indicted Magu of alleged diversion of recovered funds and fraudulent sale of assets seized by the EFCC.

Our party, Nigerians and indeed, the international community are keenly monitoring the development and expect the Buhari Presidency to muster the courage to carry out a comprehensive investigation and make its findings available to the public.

Now that Magu has been pulled in for investigation, the Federal Government should preserve the integrity of the office of the Chairman of the EFCC by ordering him to step aside while investigators take charge of every activities of the office to forestall destruction of evidence as well as unnecessary interferences in the matter.

Moreover, with the allegations and investigation, Magu has lost the moral rectitude to continue to preside over the anti-corruption agency. He should step aside until he proves himself innocent.

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Home | News | General | IPOB calls for UN referendum

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has called for the United Nations(UN) supervised referendum in Nigeria for the citizens to decide where to belong.

In a statement on Monday, the IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful said the move has become necessary following decision of some ethnic groups to belong to Biafra..

He expressed happiness that many ethic groups had been declaring for Biafra.

As they continue their propaganda battles on social media, the great family of IPOB, through Radio Biafra, continues to win over the hearts and minds of all lovers of freedom within the new 2020 territorial boundaries of Biafra.

We have been receiving overwhelming evidence that Idoma and Igede have now taken their rightful position in the family of Biafran nations. Esan also has come home to Biafra. The new frontier is Benue, Kogi, Edo and Ondo, no longer Enugu and Anambra. We are uniting the chosen children of God under one banner.

We must allow Nigerians make their decision as doing so would safe the nation from distegration.

The more we delay the worse it will get for everybody. We need a UN supervised Referendum now.

Let me use this opportunity to continue to encourage the oppressed Hausa majority in the north to sustain their new found courage in Southern Kaduna for they too shall soon taste freedom.

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Home | News | General | N-Power: 109,823 Beneficiaries Now Business Owners  Minister, Farouq

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, claims no fewer than 109,823 beneficiaries of the N-Power Programme are now business owners.

Farouq, in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by her Special Assistant on Strategic Communication, Mrs Halima Oyelade, said the beneficiaries of Batch A and B of N-Power have established businesses in their communities

Statistics like this gives me joy and once again, I want to say congratulations; I look forward to hearing amazing testimonies and meeting beneficiaries of this programme who will be doing great things in the future, she said.

The minister reiterated President Muhammadu Buharis vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years by creating opportunities to enhance the productivity of Nigerian youths for entrepreneurship or employment.

Farouq stressed that the vision was imperative because youths represented 70 million of the Nigerian Population while youth unemployment stood at over 20 per cent with 4.5 million entering the job market annually.

The minister also assured beneficiaries that outstanding payments would be made and transition plans were ongoing and would be duly communicated to them on their platform. (NAN)

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Home | News | General | Im not leaving APC, but wont support Akeredolus re-election  former SSG

Former Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Honourable Ifedayo Abegunde said he would not defect to another party and would also not support Governor Rotimi Akeredolus reelection.

Abegunde, who resigned his appointment today (Monday) said he would remain in the APC but support another governorship aspirant..

He said that he would not be joining his friend the defected deputy governor Hon Agboola Ajayi in the opposition PDP as mist people in the state would want to believe.

Abegunde said: I will remain in the APC. I wont support governor Akeredolu in his second term bid but will throw all my weight behind Dr Olusegun Abraham.

According to him, Olusegun Abraham is the messiah that Ondo State needs now.

Akeredolu to swear in the new Secretary to the State Government Tomorrow.

Meanwhile, governor Akeredolu will Tomorrow (Tuesday), July 7, 2020, swear in the new Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Tayo Oluwatuyi.

A statement signed by the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, indicated that the event which takes place at the governors office in Akure and will be presided over by the Governor.

Ojogo said: The event will be a solemn one in accordance with the mood of the State and shall start at exactly 11.00 am.

Accordingly, he added that only members of the State Executive Council and invited guests shall be allowed access to the venue in strict adherence to crowd control and management protocols.

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Home | News | General | EFCC Issues Statement On Magus Reported Arrest

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..

He was served the invitation to the Panel, while on his way to the Force Headquarters, Abuja for a meeting.

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.

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Home | News | General | Activism is what I do - Activist rejects invitation by new political coalition NCF

- Another prominent Nigerian has distanced himself from the newly formed NCF

- Anti-corruption activist, Hamzat Lawal, says he will rather focus on his development work

- The NCF, however, dismissed speculations that it is transforming into a political party

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Nigerian anti-corruption activist, Hamzat Lawal has declined the invitation of the newly formed political movement; National Consultative Front (NCF).

In a press statement sent to Legit.ng on Monday, July 6, Lawal who is the founder of the social accountability movement, Follow The Money, expressed misgivings about the political coalition.

The NCF had listed Lawal amongst several prominent Nigerians it wanted onboard the new political movement.

A file photo of Hamzat Lawal. Photo credit: Connected Development

Source: Facebook

The current NCF approach does not align with my conviction of what ignites the right spirit and buy-in required for the multi-interest revolution we all dream about as the vehicle to birth a new Nigeria, Lawal, 33, stated.

He further stated that he would do better as an activist in contributing to Nigeria's development.

He continued: I choose to remain in my turf and continue the struggle in my own little way. Right from childhood, I have always wanted to add value to my environment.

In founding Connected Development, and innovating Follow The Money, I now feel a sense of being in the zone of my lifes work.

I am a born development worker. Activism is what I do and I would rather stick to familiar ground.

He, however, acknowledged the vision that drives the NCF, commending the urgency of the call to raise Nigeria to a new height of glory.

I am all for good governance, accountability, social welfare, national peace and prosperity and I wish to focus my energies on my present work.

While I hope for a future convergence with other patriotic initiatives, I must keep exploring the opportunities that are opening before us in our service to country and humanity, he added.

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Similarly, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) recently distanced itself from the NCF.

The CUPP in a statement sent to journalists on Thursday, July 2 by its spokesman, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere said it frowned at the inclusion of its name as part of the new coalition when its leaders were not consulted.

But, in a recent statement, the NCF said it is not transforming into a political party as widely speculated.

According to the NCF, they would embark on immediate mass mobilisation of the nooks and crannies of the country for popular mass action towards political constitution reforms that is citizens-driven and process-led in engendering a new peoples constitution for a new Nigeria that can work for all.

'Nigeria needs a leader, not a president' | Legit TV

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Home | News | General | Guterres says terrorists, hate groups exploiting COVID-19 to advance objectives

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said terrorists and hate groups were seeking to exploit difficulties associated with COVID-19 to push their agenda.

Guterres stated this in his remarks at the opening session of the UN Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week.

Psycho-social, economic and political stresses associated with COVID-19 have risen dramatically, he noted, saying terrorists must not be allowed to exploit those fissures and fragilities.

It is too early to fully assess the implications of COVID-19 on the terrorism landscape.

But we know that ISIL, Al-Qaida, 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.

ISIL is continuing its efforts to reassert itself in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic.

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.

The pandemic has also highlighted vulnerabilities to new and emerging forms of terrorism, such as misuse of digital technology, cyberattacks and bioterrorism, he said.

Noting that terrorism, like the novel coronavirus, had no regard for national borders, the UN Chief said it could only be defeated collectively.

He urged nations to harness the power of multilateralism to find practical solutions.

To this end, he highlighted five areas to guide future actions by nations in the field of counter-terrorism.

First, he called on nations to sustain the tempo in the fight against terrorism.

This, according to him, includes continued investments in national, regional and global counter-terrorism capabilities, especially for countries most in need of assistance.

Second, Guterres suggested that the international community should closely monitor evolving terrorist threats and evolving trends, and be innovative in its responses.

That means ensuring we have the right technology, tools and concepts to stay ahead of terrorists.

Third, counter-terrorism responses must always be gender sensitive  recognising 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.

The fight against terrorism must uphold these values or without which we will never succeed, he said.

The Secretary-General called for international collaboration in repatriating foreign nationals, especially women and children, from camps in Syria and Iraq, where COVID-19 risk is worsening already dire security and humanitarian conditions.

He further called for concerted efforts to check the spread of terrorist narratives through pandemic-sensitive, holistic approaches.

Lastly, Guterres underscored the need for enhanced information sharing to learn from the experiences and good practices of others in the COVID-19 security landscape.

The UNs Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact framework has helped enhance coordination and coherence in the delivery of UN technical assistance and capacity-building to Member States.

Quality capacity-building assistance to Member States will remain an important pillar of the United Nations counter-terrorism work.

We must commit to doing more and better. As in every other area of our mission, our work will be assessed by the difference we make in peoples lives, he submitted.

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Home | News | General | Indian hemp: 70-yr-old woman, 4 others docked in Osun

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A 70-year-old woman, Sarah Agboola, was on Monday arraigned in an Ile-Ife Magistrates Court in Osun over alleged possession of Indian hemp, conspiracy and unlawful assembly.

Also arraigned were Olalekan Kabir, 28; Segun Sunday, 26; Azeez Olarinoye, 22 and Taofeek Ojuade, 21.

The Prosecutor, Sgt. Adesina Elijah, told the court that the defendants committed the offences on Sunday at about 05:30 pm at Nonso Brotel in Obalufon area of Ile-Ife.

He said the defendants had in their possession some quantity of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.

Elijah said that the defendants also conspired among themselves to engage in an unlawful assembly and cultism.

He further alleged that the defendants were members of Eiye Confraternity, a secret cult, disturbing the peace of Ile-Ife.

Elijah said the offences contravened Sections 62, 64, 430 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Osun, 2002.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge of possession of Indian hemp, conspiracy and unlawful assembly.

The defence counsel, Mr Unah Sunday, applied for bail for his clients in the most liberal terms, promising they would provide reliable sureties.

Magistrate A.A. Adebayo granted bail to the defendants in the sum of N300,000 each with one surety each in like sum.

Adebayo said that the sureties must swear to an affidavit of means and reside within the courts jurisdiction.

He added that the sureties must be on Grade Level 08 as well as provide three recent passport photographs each.

The case was adjourned till July 16 for hearing.

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Home | News | General | Dont Wake a Sleeping Lion!  Fayose Warns Femi Adesina

A former Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has warned a presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, not to wake a sleeping lion.

Reacting to Adesinas latest piece, Fayose said failure to heed his warning could attract consequences that Adesina would be unable to cope with..

The presidential spokesman had said that President Muhammadu Buhari would have dealt with Fayose and Rivers Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike over their combative remarks but chose to tolerate the duo as a father of the nation.

But in a series of tweets yesterday, Fayose said he decided not to comment about issues relating to Buhari because he has realised that Buharis presidency is deaf and dumb.

On the comment by my brother and friend, @FemAdesina, on the President not dealing with myself and Gov. Wike, President Buhari, in my opinion is an Accidental President, who is not only clueless but unconscious of happenings in his own Presidency.

A man who cant defend or protect his immediate family is not in any way better than an effigy. If not, those around him wont be talking about a President punishing serving governors or even ordinary Nigerians as if they are his servants.

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Home | News | General | Edo election: You have no moral rights to talk on corruption - PDP fires back at Ganduje

- PDP has replied Governor Ganduje over his comment on Edo election

- Ganduje had alleged that PDP is only interested in looting the treasury of Edo state

- The party, however, noted that Ganduje has no moral right to accuse it of corruption

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Hours after he boasted that the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for Edo governorship election, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, would defeat his main challenger and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Godwin Obaseki, the opposition has hit hard on Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

Channels TV reports that PDP described Ganduje, who is the chairman of the APC national campaign council for the Edo governorship election, as a barefaced treasury looter, who has no moral rectitude to speak on corruption.

Legit.ng gathered that the PDP described as a huge irony that Governor Ganduje, who it said has become a national shame after being seen on viral video stuffing his robe with gratification in foreign currency, to accuse the PDP of corruption intentions in the Edo state governorship election.

Kogi guber: Huge number of APC aspirants is due to my efforts, says Gov Bello

The governor of Kano state and the chairman of the APC national campaign council for the Edo governorship election, Abdullahi Ganduje. Credit: Kano Government.

Source: Twitter

The party in a communique on issued on Monday, July 6, said it is a paradox that an individual who has earned himself the disgraceful public sobriquet of gandollar, after being caught collecting gratification, would attempt to accuse others of having the intention of looting the treasury of a state.

The PDP further pointed out that it is only in a party like the APC, under a Buhari presidency, that such a tarnished individual can be selected to speak in public, let alone lead a governorship election campaign.

Our party invites Governor Ganduje to note that there is no free dollar for him and other APC leaders to loot in Edo state. Under the PDP, the resources of Edo state, and indeed other PDP states, belong to the people and not to any political cabal and their godfathers.

The PDP, therefore, counseled Governor Ganduje and the APC to quietly perish the thoughts of looting Edo state treasury, adding that the people of Edo state would humiliate them in the September 19 election.

Revealed: 10 lawmakers who will not return to Lagos Assembly after 2019 elections

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Ganduje boasted that the APC would win the forthcoming Edo governorship election.

It was reported that Ganduje, who is the chairman of the ruling party's national campaign council for the poll also said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is only supporting Governor Godwin Obaseki because of its interest in the state's treasury.

In another report, the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, sent a congratulatory message to Governor Wike of Rivers State on his new appointment.

Wike was appointed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the chairman of Edo state governorship election national campaign council while Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa would be supporting him as vice-chairman.

Atiku expressed optimism that Wike, Fintiri and other members of the council will do a very good job in making sure the party cruises to victory in the coming election.

Fact check: How true is FGs claim that oil price averaged $100 per barrel for 16 years under PDP?

APC disqualifies Obaseki from Edo guber primaries | - on Legit TV

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Home | News | General | Were ready for cultists planning 7/7 anniversary  Police

The Oyo State Police Command has said intelligence report indicates that some groups are warming up for their annual anniversary.

A statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, Nwachukwu Enwonwu, gave the information on Monday..

The Commissioner of Police said the annual celebration of the cults, Aiye confraternity, on 7th July, and Buccaneer on 8th of August every year across the South-West states had come to the notice of the Ccommand.

Adequate security measures have been emplaced to forestall any unlawful assembly and breakdown of law and order and loss of life associated with such unauthorised activities.

The command further wishes to reassure the people that the Police in Oyo State are on top of the situation and are working assiduously to clamp down on aforementioned secret cults, the statement read.

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Just over a year ago, in February 2019, we published a story HERE about ambitious plans to build an accurate, airworthy replica of the iconic, though all-but-extinct Fokker D.XXI. Coming together under the direction of experienced aircraft aircraft maintenance and restoration professional, Jack Van Egmond, within his hangar at Hoogeveen Airport in The Netherlands, the diminutive Dutch WWII fighter aircraft is coming close to completion.

As we described in our previous article, the Fokker D.XXI fighter was designed for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force, but a handful also saw service in defense of the homeland during the German invasion in May, 1940. While the prototype flew for the first time in March, 1936 and displayed encouraging performance, it only saw limited service in the Netherlands. Of the 148 examples constructed, 90 served with Finland, where they saw ferocious combat against the Soviets during the Winter War of 1939/1940 and the Continuation War from June, 1941 through September, 1944. Indeed, the sole-surviving complete airframe is a Finnish-built Fokker D.XXI on display at the nations Air Force Museum in Tikkakoski, Jyvaskyla, Finland.

In total, 36 Fokker D.XXIs flew for the Dutch military, but despite their superior agility and the valiant efforts of their pilots, they were no match for the Messerschmitt Bf 109s they faced in combat. Germany completed their rout of Holland in just five days between May 10th and May 14th, 1940.
Home | News | General | Presidency reacts to Magus travails, reveals why EFCC boss is facing investigation

- The presidency has confirmed that the acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, was invited by a presidential panel for questioning

- A presidential aide, Garba Shehu, said Magu was invited so that he can respond to issues as they arise

- Shehu however, disagrees with the narrative that Magu was arrested

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The presidency has confirmed that the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu, was invited by a presidential panel for questioning.

A presidential aide, Garba Shehu, informed Daily Trust, via text message that Magu was invited so that he can respond to issues as they arise.

Presidency says Magu was invited to answer questions on recovered assets

Source: UGC

He said the EFCC boss was needed to answer questions by the presidential panel investigating the disposal of recovered assets

"There is a presidential panel that has begun sitting, investigating the disposal of recovered assets and the EFCC chairman is responding to their questions, the message from Garba Shehu read.

Nigerian striker scores 2 goals to help top European club stretch their unbeaten run to 9 games

I will not call it arrest per se, as many have suggested, but they need him to be immediately available to them so that he can respond to issues as they arise, he said.

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Meanwhile, Professor Femi Odekunle, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), has reacted to the ordeal of Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Magu's ordeal is coming two weeks after the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), recommend his removal to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Malami, in a memorandum to the president, anchored his recommendation on several grounds raging from diversion of recovered loot to insubordination and misconduct by Magu.

In a preliminary reaction to the situation on behalf of PACAC, Professor Odekunle said the plans to replace Magu are already in motion.

N10 billion fraud allegation: IGP orders probe of Udoms appointee

He made the allegation this in a statement sent to journalists in reaction to the media reports which went viral concerning the EFCC boss.

Part of the statement read: The alleged originating Malami memo, up to the current "arrest seems an outcome of power-play by power blocs in the corridors of power in which Malami appears to be an arrow-head or major agent of a power bloc that is not really interested in, or in support of, Buhari's anti-corruption fight.

The position of PACAC is that while Magu, or any official of whatever status, must be nailed if found to be corrupt, the president must be careful not to shoot its anti-corruption fight/modest achievements in the foot, and not to forget that EFCC under Magu has been the administration's anti-corruption poster-face.

However, Itse Sagay, the chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), has denied the statement credited to it over the ongoing investigation of the acting chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.

Kogi guber: Huge number of APC aspirants is due to my efforts, says Gov Bello

The Nation reported that Sagay said on Tuesday, July 7, that the agency has not issued an official statement on Magu's ongoing probe.

Sagay, in a statement by PACAC communications officer, Aghogho Agbahor, said Odekunle spoke for himself.

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Home | News | General | Breaking: Ibrahim Magu removed as EFCC chairman

- The acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has reportedly been suspended by President Buhari

- Magu was reportedly suspended on Tuesday, July 7, to allow him to face a probe into the allegations of misconduct against him

- They said the suspension of the acting EFCC boss has not yet been made official by the government

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The acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has reportedly been suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Magu was reportedly suspended on Tuesday, July 7, to allow him to face a probe into the allegations of misconduct against him, Premium Times reported.

The newspaper said top presidential sources who did not want to be named, confirmed the suspension of Magu.

Nigerian striker scores 2 goals to help top European club stretch their unbeaten run to 9 games

Another newspaper, The Nation, which also reported on the suspension of the acting EFCC boss, said the government was planning on releasing a formal statement regarding the suspension.

Magu's reported suspension comes a day after he was summoned by a presidential panel for questioning over alleged infractions against him.

The acting EFCC boss was reported to have been questioned for several hours by members of the panel in the presence of an EFCC counsel member, Rotimi Oyedepo.

Sources said at the end of the day, Magu spent the night at Area 10 Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) ahead of the second day of questioning.

Meanwhile, Professor Femi Odekunle,a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), has reacted to the ordeal of Ibrahim Magu.

Magu's ordeal comes two weeks after the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), recommend his removal to President Buhari.

N10 billion fraud allegation: IGP orders probe of Udoms appointee

Malami, in a memorandum to the president, anchored his recommendation on several grounds raging from diversion of recovered loot to insubordination and misconduct by Magu.

In a preliminary reaction to the situation on behalf of PACAC, Professor Odekunle said the plans to replace Magu are already in motion. He made the comment in a statement sent to journalists in reaction to the media reports concerning the acting EFCC boss which went viral.

Part of the statement read: The alleged originating Malami memo, up to the current 'arrest' seems an outcome of power-play by power blocs in the corridors of power in which Malami appears to be an arrow-head or major agent of a power bloc that is not really interested in, or in support of, Buhari's anti-corruption fight.

The position of PACAC is that while Magu, or any official of whatever status, must be nailed if found to be corrupt, the president must be careful not to shoot its anti-corruption fight/modest achievements in the foot, and not to forget that the EFCC under Magu has been the administration's anti-corruption poster-face."

Legit Poll: Nigerians debate who conducts the best election between Jega and Yakubu

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Presidency, Nigerians give their thoughts on the fight against corruption| Legit TV

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Home | News | General | Social media reacts as beautiful lady celebrates 20th birthday with stunning Mercedes Benz

- A beautiful local sport reporter, Chulumanco Amahle, decided to buy herself an expensive gift as an early birthday present

- Amahle bought herself a brand-new Mercedes Benz and she showed off the whip on social media

- While many congratulated her on the new car, others could not believe she was actually 20 years old

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On Monday, sport reporter Chulumanco Amahle took to Twitter to show off her new whip. She revealed she bought herself an early birthday gift.

Amahle shared photos of herself with her new whip and she captioned it:

"Not doing too bad for a 20-year-old. Early birthday gift to myself."

Photo credit: Chulumanco Amahle/Twitter.

Source: UGC

Take a look at the post below:

The post gathered a lot of reactions and South Africans could not believe Amahle was only 20 years old.

Coronavirus: Traders reveal hike in cost of food items as Easter beckons

Twitter user, @ituselolo_, commented:

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with being 35 sis, anyway congratulations."

To prove that she is in fact 20 years old, Amahle shared a photo of her student card with her ID number on it.

She captioned the post:

"For everyone saying Im not actually 20... heal."

Others did not care about Amahle's age and they simply congratulated her on her new whip.

Twitter user, @VuyelwaDeSousa, wrote:

"Hehehe haibo! I wonder what some of us are doing wrong."

Boromo Mokoena, who goes by the Twitter handle @Boromo_M, commented:

"Wow! Congratulations Amahle, I'm inspired."

In other news, a Nigerian man who arrived from Canada as a student five years ago has taken to Twitter to share his success story.

The man identified as Tunde Omotoye said he arrived from Canada five years ago as a student who was unsure of what the future held for him in the North American country.

Listen to the amazing hit by Wendy Shay - C. T. D

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Despite the uncertainty, he revealed that he launched his own company five years after leaving the shores of Nigeria.

According to Omotoye, his company's aim is to help immigrants like him navigate their immigration and career journeys swiftly and with confidence.

He tweeted: "5 years ago, I arrived in Canada. A student, unsure of what the future had for me in Canada.

"Today, I launched a Canadian company that will help immigrants like me navigate their immigration and career journeys confidently and swiftly."

Why I don't feel bad about N200k prize money - best graduating law student | Legit TV

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Home | News | General | Buhari writes Senate, seeks confirmation of Judges, others

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President Muhammadu Buhari

By Henry Umoru, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has written the Senate, seeking for the screening and subsequent confirmation of 11 nominees as Judges of the Federal High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The letter from President Buhari was read yesterday on the floor of the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan.

The letter read: In accordance to Section 256(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, I have the honour to forward for confirmation by the Senate, the under-listed names of eleven (11) nominees as Judges of the High Court of the FCT, Abuja.

The nominees are Abubakar Husseini Musa (Adamawa State); Edward Okpe (Benue State); Babashani Abubakar (Borno State); Emuesiri Francis (Delta State); Jude Ogho (Delta State); Josephine Enobi (Edo State); Christopher Opeyemi Oba (Ekiti State); Mohammed Idris (Kano State); Hassan Maryam Aliyu (Kebbi State); Fashola Akeem Adebowale (Lagos State); and Hamza Muazu (Niger State).

Speaking after the names were read, Senate Minority Whip, Senator Philip Aduda, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, FCT who came under Order 43 of the Senate Standing Orders as Amended, however, objected to the absence of a nominee from the FCT.

In his remarks, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central), who came under the same Order 43, explained to the contrary that the FCT already has Judges on the bench of the FCT High Court.

Senator Bamidele said, What is being done by the National Judicial Council at the moment is to fill existing vacancies on the bench of the FCT Judiciary.

What will become an issue is if you take the list of the over 40 Judges of the FCT and any particular state is missing, that is when it becomes an issue.

A major criterion is to ensure that states that do not have anybody on the bench are given priority. I just wanted to clarify that FCT has Judges on the bench of the FCT, the lawmaker explained.

In a related development, President Buhari has written to the Senate, requesting for the Confirmation of three members of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

The letter read, In compliance with the provision of Section 154(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and pursuant to Section 1(2) and (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau Act LFN 2004, I write to request for confirmation by the Senate, the following three nominees for appointment as members of the Code of Conduct Bureau. The curriculum vitae of the nominees are attached herewith.

The Nominees are Barr. Ben Umeano (Anambra State  South East); Hon. Johnson Abonaema (Edo State  South-South); Olayinka Babatunde Balogun (Ogun State  South West).

Also to be confirmed is the appointment of Umar Garba Danbatta, as Executive Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for a second term of five (5) years.

According to President Buhari, the nominees appointment is In accordance with the provision of Section 8(1) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.

Meanwhile, the confirmation of the nomination of Idahagbon Williams Omoregie for appointment as Commissioner of the Federal Civil Service Commission was referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to Senator Ibrahim, APC, Kano Central led Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service.

The Senate President also referred the nominations of Usman Mahmud Hassan as Commissioner of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission to the Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi, APC, Ekiti North led Senate Committee on National Planning and Economic matters.

Tella Adeniran Rahmon as Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC was referred to the Senator Kabiru Gaya, APC, Kano South led Senate Committee on INEC.

Also Suleiman Sani as Career Ambassador; and the appointment of 41 Non-Career Ambassadors were referred to Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, APC, Bauchi North led Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The Committees are expected to submit their reports to the Senate in two weeks.

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At the height of Porters operation, which Rutherford said began to take off around winter of 2018, Porter would traffic as much as one pound of meth into Nelson County every week.

Jafori Porter also assisted in meth distribution and collection of money at times. Jafori Porter is one of the 11 others involved in the distribution network who pleaded guilty before Peter Porter.

Peter Porter was arrested on outstanding indictments upon his arrival to Miami, Florida, from Jamaica, where he is originally from, in February 2019 with assistance from the U.S. Marshals, the release states.

The charges, the release states, stem from a lengthy investigation by the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Task Force and the office of the commonwealths attorney with assistance from the Nelson County Sheriffs Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Felmlee expressed gratitude the commonwealth agreed to adjust Porters charges, but he said the minimum 14-year sentence still was harsh given Porters cooperation and the fact he has no previous criminal record.

Peter Porters guilty plea marks the third drug trafficking organization dismantled in Nelson County since Rutherford took office in November of 2016, the release states.
It was with her video this week on British eggs, using canned whipped cream, that Michelle  who lives in the UK and is presumably familiar with local mores  confirmed suspicions that she is indeed very much in on the joke.

The fifth columnist of TikTok has already amassed more than five million Likes for her efforts, but she has also incited righteous anger in a nation close to boiling point, and with a lot of time on its hands.

So Dame Karen Pierce, British Ambassador to the United States in Washington, called in the military.

Yes, that's right, on a video posted Monday she got the boys from the British Army, Navy and Air Force to demonstrate how to prepare tea in a manner both patriotic and pukka. There was even a nod to how to conduct high tea at high altitude.

Pierce had got the armed forces behind her, but when Woody Johnson, the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom got involved on Wednesday, he made like Dirty Harry and went in solo.

His strategy was a smart one. He went after Britain's weakness: coffee. With the UK famously weak at continental-style caffeine consumption, how could he possibly go wrong?
Jason Greene, president and CEO of Delta Star, said the company has drastically shifted the way it does business, including daily business operations, face-to-face interactions, customer visits and travel.

Weve had to make tough decisions and will continue doing so as necessary, but that hasnt stopped us from working tirelessly to protect the health and safety of our employees while continuing to serve our customers, local communities, and North America with the deliverance of quality products and services, he said.

Among the 15 local businesses that got loans between $2 million and $5 million were the Lynchburg engineering firm Hurt & Proffitt, the manufacturer Automated Conveyor Systems, Wintergreen Resort in Nelson County and Johnson Health Center.

At Johnson Health Center, a regional clinic, the objective through the pandemic was to always maintain the workforce at 100%, according to Executive Director Gary Campbell.

The PPP money really gave us an opportunity to extend that out, he said. The money covered about eight weeks of payroll to keep our employees at 100%.
However, VRS based those estimates on a potential return of 1% in the fiscal year that ended last week, so the expected 2% return would slightly improve the funded status of both pension plans.

The systems unfunded liabilities  $13.1 billion for the teachers plan and $6.5 billion for the state employees plan a year ago  stemmed from market losses in the Great Recession and chronic state underfunding of the retirement contributions that VRS determines are necessary for the system to pay its long-term pension obligations.

Pension reforms and increased funding in the state budget have helped reduce those unfunded liabilities. Were gratified by the demonstrated commitment to funding the contribution rates, VRS Director Trish Bishop told legislators on the commission.

Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne, who was briefed by VRS officials on Monday afternoon, said the Northam administration supports the retirement systems decision to lower its long-term investment return expectation, even though it required the state to increase its funding in the two-year budget the assembly adopted on March 12.

We should not back off, Layne said in an interview on Monday.
Aircraft carrier Liaoning, submarines, vessels and fighter jets take part in a review in the South China Sea, April 12, 2018. /Xinhua

Editor's note: Hamzah Rifaat Hussain is a former visiting fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, and currently serves as assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in Pakistan. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The warm waters of the South China Sea have once again witnessed a rise in tensions with another addition to U.S. maritime activities posing an existential threat to Beijing.

The dual U.S. aircraft carrier operations of the Kanagawa prefecture based USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Nimitz have entered the region for joint operations. The unusual aspect about these latest deployments however, is that there are currently three carriers in the Western Pacific. The last time two carriers were deployed in the South China Sea was in September 2014 when the USS George Washington and the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group operated in tandem.

Either way, this latest development has resulted in China becoming increasingly more encircled with stated aims of operational opacity and events leading up to the deployment highlighting the palpability and imminence of the threat.

In May this year, U.S. Air force B-1 bombers undertook missions in the sea with the aim of sending a message to the wider target audience that the United States will maintain a visible presence in the region with assurances provided to allies that mutual interests on the freedom of navigation in the sea will be protected.

Similar rationales are being cited once again with claims of supporting a "free and open Indo-Pacific." The reality however, is starkly different. The strategy is based on engulfment where for the first time in 16 years, the U.S. Air Force initially withdrew the B-1 bombers from the island of Guam in April 2020 which acted as a key deterrent towards American adversaries. A month later, the very same B-1 bombers were sent back to the island with four B-1s carrying a penetration and fragmentation warhead capable of destroying the adversary's warships. No specifications of the time frame on how long the deployment would hold were given with the U.S. Air Force adopting a strategy of operational unpredictability.

The presence of opacity, unpredictability and lethal payloads are clear causes for alarm in the South China Sea with the sudden withdrawal of B-1 bombers from the island of Guam hinting at an imminent threat to China if circumstances deteriorate. The strategy employed by the U.S. Air Force also makes it harder for American adversaries to target U.S. forces reciprocally.

In April, two B-1s also teamed up with Japanese F-2 and F-15 fighters for joint exercises in the region with the B-1 carrying a "Long Range Anti-Surface Cruise Missile" providing it with counter ship capabilities designed to hit adversary warships with utter precision. China being the only major U.S. adversary in the region becomes an obvious target of such deployments and doctrines particularly if the relationship between Washington, D.C. and Beijing deteriorates over navigational trends spiraling out of control.

Winter scenery of the Zhaoshu Island in the South China Sea, December 11, 2015. /Xinhua

In light of this, the statement of Rear Admiral George Wikoff regarding a commitment towards regional security and stability for allies of the United States in East Asia is largely cosmetic as there is an entire build up to the latest deployment of aircraft carriers.

American exercises have already taken place in close proximity to islands claimed by China with Beijing being regularly castigated over what the U.S. claims are unlawful maritime activities on its part. The threat perception of China augments considerably with the Philippines and Vietnam equally criticizing China's maritime exercises, requiring the latter to adopt a minimum credible deterrent in the eventuality of American reckless adventurism. Attacks can easily be initiated through spheres of influence such as Fort Magsaysay, BASA Airbase or the Lumbia Airbase, all of which are located in the Philippines. It is precisely because of this encircling strategy and China's desire to strike a balance between avoiding military escalation and enforcing the Nine-Dash Line along the Nansha Islands which clearly indicate that these islands constitute Chinese territory.

The deterioration of bilateral ties on account of trust deficits festering over the COVID-19 pandemic is an additional cause for concern.

The Trump doctrine on foreign policy is largely unpredictable given the retraction from the initial "non-interventionist" stance on global affairs and conflict zones making way for a more expansionist and aggressive posture. A prime example was in May 2020, when the USS Mustin sailed through the Xisha Islands.

In a Foreign Ministry regular press conference, Beijing categorized the U.S. narrative on Chinese drills as a negation of facts and deliberate obfuscation. Spokesperson, Zhao Lijian equated American military exercises with ulterior motives of Washington D.C. to stir up discord which falls nothing short of provocations. In retrospect, China dismissed American criticism of its drills and considered Washington D.C. solely responsible for increasing tensions.

For the Trump administration, however, the elections in November 2020 and facing setbacks over its domestic response to the pandemic and racial violence have made way for an expansionist foreign policy based on provocations in the South China Sea, which would allow it to cater to its constituency domestically. American domestic politics also has a bearing on the South China Sea equation as much as military build-ups, and joint exercises do.

In June, close to three hundred and fifty paratroopers from Alaska had arrived to complete a training mission at the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that the United States considers Chinese military exercises in disputed waters to be highly provocative. However, from Beijing's perspective, a policy of encirclement, diabolical payloads of air force bombers, operational opacity, and doctrines of unpredictability in the South China Sea is enough cause for alarm and rightly so.
RICHMOND  Gov. Ralph Northam wants school systems across Virginia to change the names of schools honoring Confederate leaders.

In a July 6 letter to the heads of school boards in the state, Northam says the names and mascots have a "traumatizing impact on students, families, teachers and staff of all backgrounds."

"When our public schools are named after individuals who advanced slavery and systemic racism, and we allow those names to remain on school property, we tacitly endorse their values as our own," Northam wrote. "This is no longer acceptable."

The names have come under increased scrutiny during ongoing civil unrest spurred by the May killing of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police. Protesters have highlighted racial disparities in education, including the disproportionate rates at which students of color graduate and face discipline in school, with the names, opponents say, being symbols of a racially unjust system school leaders are tasked with fixing.

"Now is the time to change them to reflect the inclusive, diverse, and welcoming school community every child deserves, and that we, as leaders of the Commonwealth, have a civic duty to foster," Northam said.
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.
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.
IDPH will continue to send positive COVID-19 case information to local health departments across the state with the expectation that the local health departments conduct the initial contact investigation and contact tracing for each case, Pottawattamie County Public Health said in a release.

The state public health department has also changed its process for deeming an individual recovered, with residents now considered recovered 28 days after diagnosis unless they contact their local public health department to indicate they are still symptomatic, have increased symptoms or are hospitalized.

Until this change, local health departments made frequent contact with each COVID-19 case to check symptoms, offer guidance and track each individual through their recovery, Pottawattamie County Public Health said. Per the updated IDPH guidance, Pottawattamie County Public Health will conduct the initial contact investigation and contact tracing with each new COVID-19 case, then mark the case as recovered after 28 days, unless an individual notifies PCPH they are still symptomatic.

Wyant said Pottawattamie County has seen a downward trend in cases, which has been greet.

He added, were waiting to see what happens with the July 4 holiday, noting an increase after Memorial Day.
Photo: Getty Images

At the moment, the top two entries on Amazons best-seller list are Trump tell-all books, and considering Mary Trumps and John Boltons ability to infuriate the White House  and stir up publicity  its no surprise that publishers want to put out more books in this genre. And theres already another in the pipeline: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former adviser to the First Lady, is expected to release Melania & Me on September 1.

Winston Wolkoff  a former PR manager for Vogue who once produced the Met Gala  first became friends with Melania Trump 15 years ago, the year that the Slovenian model married the current president. Despite this long relationship, the Daily Beast reports that people with knowledge of the project say the content of the book is largely negative and that the manuscript heavily trashes the first lady.

Toward the beginning of the relationship, the pair had a close working relationship: As an unofficial adviser to the first lady, Winston Wolkoff reportedly was able to share her dissenting opinion on ideas like the Be Best initiative (too clunky) and her decision to sport an aggressively callous jacket. But Winston Wolkoff was forced out following a February 2018 report from the New York Times detailing how her company was paid $26 million by Trumps inauguration committee, which was accused of fiscal mismanagement at its worst by the government watchdog Public Citizen.

As Winston Wolkoff became a face of the scandal, the White House ended her arrangement with the first lady. 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, Melania wrote to Wolkoff on the day of her ouster. Thank you Again! Much love. The year after she was thrown under the bus, Winston Wolkoff cooperated with prosecutors from the Southern District of New York as they investigated the inaugural committee  which raised twice as much cash as any previous inauguration and was riddled with overpayments, including some at Trump properties.
SEATTLE (AP)  A 27-year-old man drove a car onto a closed freeway in Seattle early Saturday and barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters, critically injuring two women, officials said.

Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove the car around vehicles that were blocking Interstate 5 and sped into the crowd about 1:40 a.m., according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol. Video taken at the scene by protesters showed people shouting Car! Car! before fleeing the roadway.

Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle, was in critical condition while Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Oregon, was upgraded to serious condition in the intensive care unit, Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.

Love was filming the protest in a nearly two-hour-long Facebook livestream captioned Black Femme March takes I-5 when the video ended abruptly; with about 15 seconds left, shouts of Car! can be heard as the camera starts to shake before screeching tires and the sound of impact are heard.

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 women, sending them flying into the air.

The driver, who was alone, fled the scene after hitting the protesters, Trooper Chase Van Cleave told The Associated Press. One of the 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.

Kelete was described by offices as reserved and sullen when he was arrested, according to court documents. He also asked if the pedestrians were OK, the documents say.

Kelete was booked into the King County Correctional Facility on Saturday morning on two counts of vehicular assault. Bail was denied.

A judge found probable cause to hold Kelete on an investigation of vehicular assault. He faces a second court hearing on Monday at which the judge will determine if he can be released on bail, according to court documents.

Story continues

It was not immediately clear if Kelete had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Officials were 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 women were hit. 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 before striking the women.

Troopers did not know whether it was a targeted attack, but impairment was not considered a factor, Mead said.

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 Saturday.

The Washington State Patrol said Sunday evening that going forward it wont allow protesters to enter I-5 and would arrest pedestrians on the freeway.

Seattle has been the site of prolonged unrest following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests. Dozens of people were arrested this past week in connection with protests as demonstrations continue after authorities cleared the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone Wednesday morning.

Protesters had shut down the interstate for 19 days in a row, Mead said at a press conference.

The State Patrol responded by closing sections of the interstate to keep drivers and protesters safe.

In a time that requires care and flexibility, we are exercising the safest means possible to avoid injuries or worse to motorists, protesters, WSDOT personnel and our troopers by closing the roadway and separating protesters from vehicular traffic," Chief John Batiste said in a statement on June 27, responding to complaints about the road closures.

Mead emphasized that the freeway is simply not a safe place" for pedestrians, and said he hoped protesters would cease what he termed unlawful behavior in blocking the interstate.

My hope is, as a result of this tragedy, protesters will reconsider their desire to be on the interstate because I cannot guarantee their safety, plain and simple, Mead said.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said the city stands beside the friends and family of the victims.

No one should risk their life for demanding better from our city, state and country, Durkan said on Twitter.

Protesters were on the freeway for more than an hour before the car drove around the blockade around 1:36 a.m., Mead said.

The state patrol tweeted out two pictures of the drivers car with significant damage to its bumper and windshield.

Seattle police tweeted that they were assisting.
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.



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The body of a 10-year-old girl who went missing Monday afternoon in Wisconsin has been found.

Kodie Dutcher was last seen around 4 p.m. Monday in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and her disappearance led to an Amber Alert and community-wide search before she was tragically found dead on Tuesday morning, WSAW-TV reported.

Baraboo Police Department Lieutenant Ryan Labroscian told Channel3000 that an investigation into Dutcher's death is ongoing.

Authorities said that there was reason to believe that the 10-year-old may have taken pills in a suicide attempt. Her cell phone was left at her house, and she reportedly did not have any shoes with her, Channel3000 previously reported.

"I would hope we find ways to, we as in everyone in the state of Wisconsin and our nation, try to find whatever we can to fund more mental health assistance  to help with these sorts of things before they happen," Labroscian said, Channel3000 reported.

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"We want to thank every agency and all the volunteers that responded or offered assistance with the situation," he added. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Kodies family in this extremely difficult time."

The Baraboo Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dutcher's aunt told WSAW-TV that her disappearance "doesnt feel real."

"I just kind of thought like shed be hiding somewhere and went to a friends house and wed find her," the aunt, Mackenzie Bielicki, said. "Weve gotta find her."

RELATED: 17-Year-Old Boy Drowns in Calif. Lake While Saving 12-Year-Old Friend Who Couldn't Swim

After groups of volunteers spent Monday evening and Tuesday morning searching for Dutcher, her body was discovered around 11 a.m. Tuesday, Channel3000 reported.

Dutcher's family had moved to Wisconsin in April, and the 10-year-old was only in school for a couple of weeks before classes were canceled because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, police said, according to WSAW-TV.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Special Representative on the China-India Boundary Question, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone conversation on Sunday evening with Indian Special Representative, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, during which the two sides reached positive consensus on easing their border situation.

Noting that this year marks the 70th anniversary of China-India diplomatic ties, Wang said that bilateral relations have experienced ups and downs and today's development situation has not come easily.

For the incident that occurred not long ago at the Galwan Valley in the western section of the China-India boundary, the merits of what happened are very clear, Wang said, adding that China will continue to firmly defend its territorial sovereignty and safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas.

Wang stressed that achieving development and rejuvenation is the top priority for both China and India, and the two sides share long-term, common strategic interests in this general direction.

He urged the two sides to adhere to the strategic judgement that China and India pose no threat to each other and are each other's development opportunities, attach great importance to the current complex situation facing bilateral relations, and work together to overcome and reverse it as soon as possible.

Wang also expressed his hope that the Indian side will meet China halfway, guide public opinions in the right direction, safeguard and promote normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, avoid the moves that will expand and complicate disputes, and jointly safeguard the overall situation of China-India relations.

The two sides exchanged frank and in-depth views on easing their border situation and reached positive consensus.

Firstly, both sides agreed to abide by the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries. Both believed that maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential for the long-term development of bilateral relations, and agreed that the boundary question should be placed in an appropriate position in bilateral relations so as to avoid an escalation from differences to disputes.

Secondly, the two sides reiterated their adherence to a series of treaties and agreements signed by the two countries on border issues and making joint efforts to ease the situation in the border areas.

Thirdly, the two sides agreed to strengthen communication through the mechanism of the special representatives' meeting, hold meetings of the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on the China-India border affairs regularly without interruption, continuously fine-tune and strengthen the building of confidence measures in the border areas, and avoid the recurrence of incidents affecting the peace and tranquility in the border areas.

Fourthly, the two sides welcomed the progress made in the recent military and diplomatic meetings between the two countries, agreed to continue maintaining dialogue and consultation, and stressed that the consensus reached at the commander-level talks between the border troops of the two countries should be implemented as soon as possible, and that the two sides should complete the disengagement process of their frontline troops expeditiously.


Prince Harry has found it "challenging" to find "resilience" amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 35-year-old royal has said the ongoing global health crisis has been a "challenging experience" for "many", as he explained that people have been "digging deep to find resilience" to carry on through the pandemic.

Speaking in a video message for his Sentebale charity to mark the Opening Ceremony of the AIDS 2020 Conference, he said: "This years theme is resilience, something all of us around the globe have understood, specifically in recent months. For many, digging deep to find that resilience has been a challenging experience."

Sentebale supports young people with HIV, and Harry also explained that the "resilience" of those suffering with the condition has been "inspiring".

He added: "For those who have been affected by HIV and AIDS, the examples of resilience within one's self and the community, have been felt and fostered for decades.

"At Sentebale we see the resilience of young people every single day, which is why I've been inspired each day, since founding the non-profit organisation with Prince Seesio in 2006."

The royal hailed those being helped by the charity as "role models", as he said they have learned to "bounce back" despite facing hardships.

In the video - which was shared on Twitter - he explained: "As you're about to see, these young people are about to speak out, chasing justice, as role models to their peers, support HIV prevention and challenge limiting systems in the hope of a more inclusive and accepting environment for all.

"And when they face set-backs, they not only push back, but bounce back. They are resilience personified. We all succeed when they are empowered."

Harry co-founded Sentebale with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006 to improve prospects for young people living with HIV and AIDS, and the organisation has since delivered adolescent-friendly HIV testing and counselling services to more than 21,000 people.
In the third major blow to oil pipelines in just two days, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered on Monday that construction of the long-delayed and once-resurrected Keystone XL project cannot begin.

The Supreme Courts ruling comes a day after Dominion Energy and Duke Energy canceled the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline project and on the day on which a court-ordered Dakota Access pipeline shut.

The justices at the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that the Keystone XL pipeline project cannot use the so-called Nationwide Permit 12 that allowed pipelines to cross rivers with minimal review if they meet certain criteria. The Supreme Court, however, allowed other pipeline projects to return to use that permit aimed at fast-tracking construction of vital oil and gas infrastructure.

In April, a Montana judge had canceled the vital permit for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, concluding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to consider the effects of the pipeline on one fish species present in rivers that the route of the Keystone XL would cross.

The Trump Administration in June asked the Supreme Court to vacate the lower courts ruling on blocking the nationwide permit.

The justices on Monday cleared other pipelines to use the permit, but not Keystone XL. While the ruling is generally favorable overall for other pipeline projects, it could doom the Keystone XL project that was designed to carry crude oil from Alberta in Canada to the United States.

The Supreme Courts ruling is likely to delay the start of potential construction into 2021, TC Energy said in court filings, as carried by Bloomberg.

TC Energy remains committed to the future of this project, the company developing Keystone XL said in a statement.

Todays ruling makes clear that the builders of Keystone XL cant rely on a flawed, rubber-stamped permit to force the projects construction through our wetlands, streams, and rivers, Cecilia Segal, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said in a joint statement of environmentalist groups.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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For decades during the Cold War, Latin America was a focal point of conflict between the two superpowers, the U.S. and Soviet Union. While the U.S. emerged victorious after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, Putins Russia could achieve what the Soviet Union couldnt for four decades, gain an upper hand in the silent war for Latin America.

A key development supporting Moscows ambitions in Latin America is Venezuelas economic collapse and the emergence of one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history. Venezuela, which holds the worlds largest oil reserves, was once Latin Americas richest and most stable democracies. Its thriving cosmopolitan capital Caracas has long been considered the cultural jewel of South America.

Venezuelas vast oil wealth, which has been squandered over the last two decades, provided a ready source of capital that allowed it to become South Americas most developed nation. After decades of mismanagement at the hands of Chavez and now Maduro, the country lies in ruins. The severity of Venezuelas crisis is illustrated by 2019 GDP contracting by an unbelievable 35%, compared to growing by 6.5% annually 30 years earlier.

Civil unrest, rampant corruption and Caracass malfeasance arent solely to blame, oils prolonged price slump has wrought considerable havoc on Venezuelas petro-economy. The oil rich nations petroleum industry is decaying rapidly. In June 2020, Venezuelas oil output fell to a record low of 422,400 barrels daily, which was less than a sixth of its 2015 average daily production. That severely impacts Caracass fiscal revenues and Venezuelas economy because oil accounts for 99% of export revenues. Production will keep deteriorating because of declining investment in Venezuelas oil industry and the flight of skilled labor, placing greater pressure on the imploding economy. The Trump administrations aggressive use of sanctions, which are aimed at preventing companies and countries from conducting business with Maduros regime, is intensifying Venezuelas economic woes and the populations suffering. The aggravated hardship of every day Venezuelans caused by the sanctions is amplifying considerable anti U.S. sentiment which scholars believe endures at all levels of Latin American society, because of the long history of American high-handedness and regional intervention.

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This creates the ideal opportunity for Moscow to reinforce its ties with Venezuela and gain a sizable foothold in Latin America. This is enhanced by Russias lack of neocolonial baggage in the region compared to the U.S.. Moscow has long coveted a prominent role in Latin America to strike at U.S. regional hegemony, gain control of the areas considerable petroleum wealth and solidify Russias image as a world power.

Acting as a lender of last resort to Maduros cash-strapped regime forms a key part of Moscows strategy, especially since the introduction of U.S. financial sanctions. Those measures make it virtually impossible for Venezuela to conduct business with other countries and companies to earn much needed hard currency. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Latin America makes Moscows offers of assistance more attractive in a region which is bearing the brunt of the disease.

In exchange for generous loans, Maduros government not only pledged consignments of oil as repayments but handed energy assets to Russian oil company Rosneft. Those included a lien on 49.9% of Venezuelan refiner Citgo, the jewel in the PDVSA crown, and oil fields.

In a sign Moscow is consolidating its position in Venezuela, a wholly Russian state-owned company acquired Rosnefts Venezuelan energy assets earlier this year. That allows Putins government to assist Venezuela in circumventing U.S. sanctions, while preventing them from impacting Rosneft which is already implicated in facilitating the sale of Venezuelan oil.

The Trump administrations officious application of sanctions against Caracas, despite the sharp impact on the Venezuelan people and ineffectiveness at triggering regime change, is magnifying Moscows leverage in Latin America. Academic studies and the post-Cold War history of sanctions demonstrate their inability to initiate regime change. The cost of abdicating, for a regime viewed as illegitimate, is far greater than clinging to power. For Maduro and his key supporters who are implicated in human rights breaches and drug trafficking, stepping down from power would mean a lengthy jail sentence, which is a considerable deterrent.

Trumps mishandling of relationships in Latin America, including conflicting messages last month stating he would consider meeting Maduro and soft-pedalling support for Venezuelan opposition leader Guaido, further tarnished Americas reputation in the region. That, along with a long history of destabilizing U.S. foreign policy and high-handedness in Latin America, is fueling existing anti-American sentiment at all societal levels in many regional nations.

Related: The Death Of The $2 Trillion Auto Industry Will Come Sooner Than Expected



Putins regime has demonstrated that its geopolitical ambitions are not hamstrung by dealing with pariah states. Moscow backed Bashar al-Assad in Syrias long running civil war which saw it rewarded with significant petroleum concessions, boosting its influence over oil prices. Russia is employing a similar strategy in Venezuela. Latest events give Russia appreciable leverage in a region it has coveted since the early days of the Cold War.

By gaining significant influence over Caracas, Moscow gains control of Venezuelas vast oil reserves, bolstering its ability to control oil prices. That will compound the considerable influence Moscow has already accumulated through its close cooperation with OPEC, notably Saudi Arabia. The threat of an oil price war between Moscow and Riyadh caused oil prices to crash to a level which is not profitable for the U.S. shale oil industry.

Washingtons latest missteps, recent chaotic foreign policy and regional insensitivity is undermining U.S. hegemony in Latin America. This creates an opening for Russia to expand its regional influence and secure access to the region's vast oil wealth. Ultimately, that forms part of Moscows strategy to expand its global geopolitical power and gain greater control over world oil supplies thus muscling-up its ability to manipulate energy prices. That will enhance Russias status, protect its oil dependent economy, assure fiscal revenues and pressure Americas oil industry. The March 2020 oil price crash triggered by the outbreak of a price war between Moscow and Riyadh, pushing many U.S. shale oil companies to the brink of bankruptcy, highlights the tremendous stakes at play.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

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The major integrated oil companies: Shell,(NYSE:RDS.A, RDS.B); ExxonMobil, (NYSE:XOM); BP, (NYSE:BP); Chevron, (NYSE:CVX), and a few others, so named for their vertical stewardship of the hydrocarbon molecule from initial extraction to final refining, have come under increasingly accurate fire from climate change advocates. In the past organizations like Greenpeace and a host of other conservation organizations, have used direct measures to interdict oil company operations. Measures that were flashy, as they drew a lot of attention from the global press, but over the long haul did little to achieve their goals of stopping oil and gas exploration.

Source

The companies themselves have had considerable success in pushing back these operations through the courts. As an example a Scottish court has fined Greenpeace 80K for its boarding of a Transocean rig, enroute to a BP North Sea location, in 2019. A boarding the court held to be in direct violation of an earlier edict prohibiting this type of activity.

She said its breaches of the injunction were so serious she would be justified in jailing John Sauven, Greenpeace UKs executive director, for up to two years or imposing a suspended sentence. He orchestrated the action from the start, knowing he was breaching a court order.

Source

Now these activist organizations are increasingly turning to courts around the world, and with particular focus on U.S. courts, to further their aims. Filings in U.S. courts avail the claimants of the extensive body of American environmental law, and consumer protection legislation. A recent article in Reuters noted that this strategy held out new concerns for the big oils as activists became increasingly shrewd in their approach.

Cases now are being fought on arguments such as consumer protections and human rights. This shift has been especially pronounced in the United States, where more than a dozen cases filed by states, cities and other parties are challenging the fossil fuel industry for its role in causing climate change and not informing the public of its harms.

Source

Related: Apples Holy Grail Of Data Leaves Oil Traders Disappointed



State and Local governments are also jumping into the fray as costs mount to comply with air and water quality federal mandates. Using tactics that had proved so successful twenty years ago with cigarette manufacturers, the State of Minnesota and the District of Columbia filed suit against ExxonMobil last month. Among the allegations are that the company had misled the public on the adverse environmental impact of its products, and accusing it specifically of engaging in deceptive practices and false advertising. Reuters in an interview with Kate Konapka, Deputy Attorney General for Washington, D.C., noted-

As awareness of climate change grew in the general public to the extent that their disinformation campaigns were no longer acceptable, there was a pivot to greenwashing,

Source

It remains to be seen how this approach will play out for the companies affected as it is early innings and the companies have had some success in pushing back. ExxonMobil in December of last year prevailed in a 4-year court battle with the State of New York, where it had been alleged that the company had failed to disclose what it knew about the effect its products were having on climate change.

The big funds are decarbonizing their portfolios

Pressure on the big oil companies also comes from the investment community, as major funds have begun limiting carbon based investing, or engaging in outright divestiture in legacy oil companies. As an example Norways $1 trillion dollar national wealth fund, rocked the energy world in 2019 by declaring it would no longer invest in companies primarily in the hydrocarbon energy business. They were followed in early 2020 by Blackrocks similar decision to decarbonize its lending portfolio. In his annual letter to corporate executives, Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock, put forth a sustainability rallying cry- Climate change has become a defining factor in companies long-term prospects. Awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.

A capital intensive business from the outset, hydrocarbon energy development has always depended on outside capital fund expansion. Those days could be coming to an end if this practice becomes widespread.

The big oil companies are taking note

Net Zero 2050 has become a catchphrase in recent times, as big oil companies led by BP have pledged to reduce their net emissions to zero by mid-century. Other major international and national oil companies such as Shell, Total, (NYSE:TOT), Equinor, (EQNR), Eni, (NYSE:E) and others have followed suit with similar pledges. This marks a shift in policy from these organizations from their past stance of not being able to control what became of their products after they were produced and sold. A recent article in Reuters noted this shift-

Many oil and gas chiefs remain reluctant to commit to reduce emissions from the use of the oil they extract, arguing that they cannot control whether the cars Ford builds or planes Boeing designs run on oil. Commitments like BPs move beyond that debate over responsibility for so-called Scope 3 emissions, which are indirect emissions in a companys value chain including from use of products sold, by signaling a fundamental shift in corporate strategy toward new and cleaner energy businesses

Source

In the case of BP what this means is likely to be a fundamental shift in the products that make up the companys value chain. A shift that is noteworthy to investors as it signals a fairly abrupt about-face on major investments to achieve the goal of net zero carbon by 2050.

As a sign that they are intent on taking affirmative steps toward this goal major impairments have been announced in recent months by BP and Shell. In the case of BP specific aspects of its up to $17.5 bn impairment charge to be reported on second quarter earnings havent been disclosed as yet, but perhaps their announcement last week of the sale of their petrochemicals business is instructive in that area. BPs CEO, Bernard Looney noted in a press release-

This is another significant step as we steadily work to reinvent bp. Strategically the overlap with the rest of bp is limited and it would take considerable capital for us to grow these businesses. As we work to build a more focused, more integrated bp, we have other opportunities that are more aligned with our future direction. Todays agreement is another deliberate step in building a bp that can compete and succeed through the energy transition.

For its part Shell has been a little more specific with its comparable $22 bn asset write-down for Q2. Approximately $9 bn of that charge will be allocated to the companys Western Australia LNG business, including their marquee Prelude Floating LNG ship. A bitter pill for a project that only came on line in 2018.

Source Next to the Prelude FLNG vessel a full-sized LNG tanker appears miniaturized.

In summary, while fighting these court cases one-by one on their merits companies like Shell and BP seem only to be resigned to, but rather are embracing these decarbonization initiatives. Investors may have cause to worry over the short haul as companies go about the task of Reinventing themselves.

Stranded Assets

This brings us to one of the most troubling aspects of these companies for investors. The prospects of key assets carried on the books for billions being written-down (their market value reduced due to circumstances) is jolting. For example both Shell and BP have said that natural gas, a lower carbon intensive energy play than crude oil, will be a central element in their long-term energy mix. Whether that will prove a success remains to be seen as one of the key final forms natural gas often takes is as Liquefied Natural Gas, or LNG. Overbuilding in this space is causing project delays as companies deal with pandemic reduced demand. The unusual step of LNG exporters or importers cancelling LNG cargoes has been on the rise in 2020. This has led to a number of major LNG project cancellations or deferrals have been announced globally, as producers attempt to rein in oversupply.

Related: The Death Of The $2 Trillion Auto Industry Will Come Sooner Than Expected



Another example of a shift away from a previously orderly Final Investment Decision- FID, approval process for its GoM projects, Shell announced in April it would defer a decision on its massive Whale prospect. Previously anticipated by the EOY 2020, Shell slashed pre-FID spending and deferred the FID to 2021. With billions already sunk in seismic, leasing, and drilling and appraisal costs, a thumbs down on Whale development would be the very definition of a stranded asset. In that case, hundreds of millions of barrels worth as much as $20 bn in todays market, would be left untapped.

What other forms these stranded assets may take, remains to be seen as the companies involved fine tune their product mix strategies going forward.

Your takeaway

The Investability of these oil giants is being increasingly called into question as they face battles on so many fronts around the world. Be it in U.S. or European courts, they are going to be confronted with thousands of climate change lawsuits with the advantage moving in the claimants direction. A single adverse decision could run into the billions. In spite of there being a clear need for hydrocarbon forms of energy well into the latter part of this century, increasingly the companies that produce it are being forced to alter their business practices to meet non-market, stakeholder demands.

Whether this will create or destroy value in these companies long term is yet to be determined. In some senses however, the market may have already spoken devaluing shares of Shell and BP by about 50% over the last six months.

Investors considering initiating new positions in these companies might take pause, as a single adverse court ruling could have long term consequences for the stocks valuation. As we have noted in this article the environmental adversaries of the legacy oil companies have become increasingly cagey in their plans of attack.

By David Messler for Oilprice.com

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Last August, Irans Foreign Minister, Mohammad Zarif, paid a visit to his China counterpart, Wang Yi, to present a roadmap on a comprehensive 25-year China-Iran strategic partnership that built upon a previous agreement signed in 2016. Many of the key specifics of the updated agreement were not released to the public at the time but were uncovered by OilPrice.com at the time. Last week, at a meeting in Gilan province, former Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad alluded to some of the secret parts of this deal in public for the first time, stating that: It is not valid to enter into a secret agreement with foreign parties without considering the will of the Iranian nation and against the interests of the country and the nation, and the Iranian nation will not recognize it. According to the same senior sources closely connected to Irans Petroleum Ministry who originally outlined the secret element of the 25-year deal, not only is the secret element of that deal going ahead but China has also added in a new military element, with enormous global security implications.

One of the secret elements of the deal signed last year is that China will invest US$280 billion in developing Irans oil, gas, and petrochemicals sectors. This amount will be front-loaded into the first five-year period of the new 25-year deal, and the understanding is that further amounts will be available in each subsequent five year period, provided that both parties agree. There will be another US$120 billion of investment, which again can be front-loaded into the first five-year period, for upgrading Irans transport and manufacturing infrastructure, and again subject to increase in each subsequent period should both parties agree. In exchange for this, to begin with, Chinese companies will be given the first option to bid on any new  or stalled or uncompleted  oil, gas, and petrochemicals projects in Iran. China will also be able to buy any and all oil, gas, and petchems products at a minimum guaranteed discount of 12 per cent to the six-month rolling mean average price of comparable benchmark products, plus another 6 to 8 per cent of that metric for risk-adjusted compensation. Additionally, China will be granted the right to delay payment for up to two years and, significantly, it will be able to pay in soft currencies that it has accrued from doing business in Africa and the Former Soviet Union states. Given the exchange rates involved in converting these soft currencies into hard currencies that Iran can obtain from its friendly Western banks, China is looking at another 8 to 12 per cent discount, which means a total discount of around 32 per cent for China on all oil gas, and petchems purchases, one of the Iran sources underlined. Related: Turkeys Latest Geopolitical Gamble Could Result In Catastrophe

Another key part of the secret element to the 25-year deal is that China will be integrally involved in the build-out of Irans core infrastructure, which will be in absolute alignment with Chinas key geopolitical multi-generational project, One Belt, One Road (OBOR). To begin with, China intends to utilise the currently cheap labour available in Iran to build factories that will be financed, designed, and overseen by big Chinese manufacturing companies with identical specifications and operations to those in China. The final manufactured products will then be able to access Western markets through new transport links, also planned, financed, and managed by China.

In this vein, around the same time as the draft new 25-year deal was presented last year by Irans Vice President, Eshaq Jahangiri (and senior figures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and intelligence agencies) to Irans Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, Jahangiri announced that Iran had signed a contract with China to implement a project to electrify the main 900 kilometre railway connecting Tehran to the north-eastern city of Mashhad. Jahangiri added that there are also plans to establish a Tehran-Qom-Isfahan high-speed train line and to extend this upgraded network up to the north-west through Tabriz. Tabriz, home to a number of key sites relating to oil, gas, and petrochemicals, and the starting point for the Tabriz-Ankara gas pipeline, will be a pivot point of the 2,300 kilometre New Silk Road that links Urumqi (the capital of Chinas western Xinjiang Province) to Tehran, and connecting Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan along the way, and then via Turkey into Europe.

Now, though, another element that will change the entire balance of geopolitical power in the Middle East has been added to the deal. Last week, the Supreme Leader [Ali Khamenei] agreed to the extension of the existing deal to include new military elements that were proposed by the same senior figures in the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and the intelligence services that proposed the original deal, and this will involve complete aerial and naval military co-operation between Iran and China, with Russia also taking a key role, one of the Iran sources told OilPrice.com last week. There is a meeting scheduled in the second week of August between the same Iranian group, and their Chinese and Russian counterparts, that will agree the remaining details but, provided that goes as planned, then as of 9 November, Sino-Russian bombers, fighters, and transport planes will have unrestricted access to Iranian air bases, he said. Related: Saudi Arabia Hikes Oil Prices For The Third Consecutive Month

This process will begin with purpose-built dual-use facilities next to the existing airports at Hamedan, Bandar Abbas, Chabhar, and Abadan, he said. OilPrice.com understands from the Iranian sources that the bombers to be deployed will be China-modified versions of the long-range Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3s, with a manufacturing specification range of 6,800 kilometres (2,410 km with a typical weapons load), and the fighters will be the all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter bomber/strike Sukhoi Su-34, plus the newer single-seat stealth attack Sukhoi-57. It is apposite to note that in August 2016, Russia used the Hamedan airbase to launch attacks on targets in Syria using both Tupolev-22M3 long-range bombers and Sukhoi-34 strike fighters. At the same time, Chinese and Russian military vessels will be able to use newly-created dual-use facilities at Irans key ports at Chabahar, Bandar-e-Bushehr, and Bandar Abbas, constructed by Chinese companies.

These deployments will be accompanied by the roll-out of Chinese and Russian electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, according to the Iran sources. This would encompass each of the three key EW areas - electronic support (including early warning of enemy weapons use) plus electronic attack (including jamming systems) plus electronic protection (including of enemy jamming). Based originally around neutralising NATOs C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) systems, part of the new roll-out of software and hardware from China and Russia in Iran, according to the Iran sources, would be the Russian S-400 anti-missile air defence system: To counter U.S. and/or Israeli attacks. The Krasukha-2 and -4 systems are also likely to feature in the overall EW architecture, as they proved their effectiveness in Syria in countering the radars of attack, reconnaissance and unmanned aircraft. The Krasukha-2 can jam Airborne Warning And Control Systems (AWACS) at up to 250 km, and other airborne radars such as guided missiles, whilst the Krasukha-4 is a multi-functional jamming system that not only counters AWACS but also ground-based radars, with both being highly mobile.

It is again apposite to note here that an entire EW company (encompassing the three core elements of EW) can consist of as little as 100 men and, according to the Iran sources, part of the new military co-operation includes an exchange of personnel between Iran and China and Russia, with up to 110 senior Iranian IRGC men going for training every year in Beijing and Moscow and 110 Chinese and Russians going to Tehran for their training. It is also apposite to note that Irans EW system can easily be tied in to Russias Southern Joint Strategic Command 19th EW Brigade (Rassvet) near Rostov-on-Don, which links into the corollary Chinese systems. One of the Russian air jamming systems is going to be based in Chabahar and will capable of completely disabling the UAEs and Saudi Arabias air defences, to the extent that they would only have around two minutes of warning for a missile or drone attack from Iran, one of the Iran sources told OilPrice.com last week.

An indication of what Iran hopes to receive in return its co-operation with China, and Russia, came last week when Zhang Jun, Chinas permanent United Nations (U.N.) representative, in a statement to the Security Council, told the U.S.: To stop its illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran... The root cause of the current crisis is the U.S.s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and the re-imposition of unilateral sanctions against Iran. He also opposed the U.S.s push for the extension of the U.N. arms embargo on Iran, which expires in October. This has again undermined the joint efforts to preserve the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], Zhang said, and added: The [JCPOA] agreement was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council [UNSC] and is legally binding.

He concluded: We urge the U.S. to stop its illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, and return to the right track of observing the JCPOA and Resolution 2231 [of the UNSC]. Securing Chinas support was a key reason for the original secret part of the deal agreed last year, along with that of Russia, as the two countries have two-fifths of the total Permanent Member votes on the UNSC, with the others being the U.S., the U.K., and France. Aside from this support and the US$400 billion+ of investments pledged by China, the other reason that Iran has agreed to such Chinese (and Russian) influence in its country going forward is that China has guaranteed that it will continue to take all of the oil, gas, and petchems that Iran requires.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

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The collapse in oil prices has significantly deteriorated Canada's oil companies' finances and has made repaying their debt more challenging. Over the past decade, Canadian firms have borrowed money to survive the previous oil crisis of 2015-2016 and boost production post-crisis. But now the second price collapse in less than five years is leaving Canada's oil patch, especially the smaller players, extremely vulnerable as debt maturities approach.

This year, the oil crash coincides with the highest-ever annual debt maturities in the Canadian energy sector, according to Refinitiv data cited by Reuters. In 2020, oil and gas firms have to repay US$3.7 billion (C$5 billion) in debt maturities, up by 40 percent compared to last year.

The debt pressure adds to the Canadian energy sector's new predicament with low oil prices, low cash flows, and low overall demand for crude oil due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Some companies are set to default on debts, while others are looking at restructuring options and refinancing. Banks are not generally too keen to own energy assets. But the banks may be the ultimate judge of who can refinance, who can stay afloat, or who can go belly up in this crisis, legal and industry professionals told Reuters.

Some of Canada's oil and gas firms had not overcome the previous crisis when this one hit.

According to Bank of Canada's recent Financial System Review2020, the COVID-19 crisis led to widespread financial distress in all sectors, but "Canada is also grappling with the plunge in global oil prices, which hit while many businesses in the energy sector were still recovering from the 201416 oil price shock."

The energy sector has the most refinancing needs over the next six months, at US$4.43 billion (C$6 billion), and faces the most potential downgrades, according to Bank of Canada.

Related: Apples Holy Grail Of Data Leaves Oil Traders Disappointed



As credit downgrades could raise funding costs, energy companies are likely to face further pressure in obtaining refinancing.

Low oil prices could be a major hurdle to energy firms obtaining refinancing of their debt, the bank said, noting that energy-related bonds could dominate the high-yield debt in Canada.

Energy loans have surged as Canadian banks have increased their loans to the industry by 59 percent over the last five years.

After the pandemic struck, Canada's federal government launched programs to support businesses, including in the oil and gas industry, with relief financing to help them overcome the oil price crash and COVID-19.

Canada's oil firms, however, were still struggling last month to understand what it takes to qualify for a federal government program. Meanwhile, industry representatives said they were unaware of any firm that could access financing under those programs.

The large companies are refinancing short-term debt with new debt issues, but many of the small ones don't have this option and are looking at alternative ways to recapitalize and restructure.

One of the largest firms, Canadian Natural Resources, issued a few weeks ago US$1.1 billion in five- and ten-year notes, planning to use the proceeds to refinance its outstanding short-term debt.

Among smaller firms, Bonavista Energy recapitalized last month swapping debt with equity and going private. Delphi Energy Corp launched in May proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) aimed at restructuring. Cequence Energy is also under the CCAA proceedings "to pursue potential strategic options and alternatives to maximize the value for its stakeholders."

A growing number of smaller Canadian oil and gas firms are opting for the CCAA process to avoid bankruptcy, analysts told Kyle Bakx of CBC News last week.

Canada's energy firms are pressured not only by the low oil prices and the turmoil in the global oil industry, but also by the approaching debt maturities. Some companies with weakened finances and potential credit downgrades may not be able to secure refinancing, analysts say.

"There's a lot of extend, amend and pretend with respect to finance documentation," Alan Ross, regional managing partner with law firm Borden Ladner Gervais, told Reuters. "But at some point the music will stop."

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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With a projected budget breakeven oil price of US$69.1 per barrel of Brent this year, according to IMF figures, but accounting for around 96.8 per cent of the UAEs 98 billion barrels of proved oil reserves (the seventh-largest in the world), Abu Dhabis post-oil war position is not quite as bad as many of its OPEC and OPEC+ fellow members. Nonetheless, with Brent crude still trading in the US$40-50 per barrel range, and the US$69.1 per barrel budget breakeven oil price very close to the Trump Cap of US$70 per barrel of Brent, Abu Dhabi still needs to plug budget gaps and to fund plans to safeguard its current oil production level and to potentially push it higher next year. Its recent landmark gas deal is critical in this regard.

June 23 saw a statement from the UAEs state-owned oil company, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), saying that it had agreed to sell a 49 per cent stake in its gas pipelines for just over US$10 billion to a consortium of international investors, subject to the standard regulatory approvals. The consortium comprises the New York-headquartered infrastructure investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners, the Toronto-based alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management, Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board, South Koreas NH Investment & Securities, and Italys Snam. Despite the price war-led downturn in oil and gas pricing, the US$10 billion+ purchase figure for slightly less than half of the gas pipeline assets is in line with the US$20.7 billion valuation given for the entire assets, which are now held in the newly-formed ADNOC unit, ADNOC Gas Pipelines. The remaining 51 per cent will be held by ADNOC. Related: High Quality Oil And Gas Assets Should Drive An M&A Recovery

The deal comes at a time where a number of Middle Eastern gas producers appear to be using the current period of low global gas pricing to dramatically revamp their gas facilities with a view to taking advantage of the future rebound in gas pricing, as a function of rising demand from Asia in general and from China in particular. As part of its overall target of increasing the share of gas in its domestic energy mix to 15 per cent by 2030 (from around half that figure now), driven principally by a switch from coal, in just the past two years or so China has added over 75 billion cubic metres (bcm) to global gas demand, the equivalent of the entire U.K. gas market (the second largest European market), according to the IFRI Centre for Energy & Climate. In the last few weeks, then, Iran and Iraq, most notably  as key cogs in Chinas One Belt, One Road project  have announced major measures to increase their gas production, as well as Qatar, as covered in depth by OilPrice.com.

In addition to reaching new targets on its South Pars supergiant non-associated gas field, Iran is pushing forward with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) plans, to add to its already high-volume liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales to China. Iraq is finally moving ahead with plans to develop its associated and non-associated gas resources in the next two to three years, with the Oil Ministry looking at projects to develop 1.2 billion standard cubic feet per day (scf/d) of associated gas out of the 2.7 billion scf/d produced as an adjunct to oil excavation. At the same time, despite having suspended a number of developments at other gas fields, Qatar is pushing ahead with developments connected to its key North Dome supergiant non-associated gas field (the other part of the overall reservoir that comprises Irans South Pars). Related: Moon Mining Could Begin As Early As 2025

This deal by ADNOC falls within these general ambitions but is slightly more nuanced than some. According to an ADNOC statement, the company will lease its ownership interest in the assets to ADNOC Gas Pipelines for 20 years in return for a volume-based tariff and, in turn, ADNOC Gas Pipelines will lease the rights to 38 gas pipelines. This deal structure, according to ADNOC, will allow the state-run firm to maintain full operating control over the strategically-important gas pipeline assets included in the investment whilst concomitantly gaining cashflow as part of the tapping of new pools of global institutional investment capital. Even more specifically, the volume-based tariff that ADNOC will pay ADNOC Gas Pipelines will be for the use of pipelines that transports gas and natural gas liquids from ADNOCs upstream assets to Abu Dhabis key outlets and terminals across the UAE. The tariff will be charged on the total volumes transported through the pipelines, together with liquefied natural gas flows, subject to a volume cap, ADNOC stated. The international investors in the consortium will receive 100 per cent of free cash in the form of quarterly dividends, ADNOC added.

Longer-term the deal is part of Abu Dhabis drive to develop funding streams for its drive to increase gas production and, in turn, oil production as well, given that gas can substitute for oil in the domestic power generation grid, allowing for more oil to be exported for a higher price than gas or used in the value-added petrochemicals sector. ADNOC itself is aiming for complete self-sufficiency in its gas operations, with plans to boost production from its Shah sour gas field from around 1.3 billion scf/d to 1.5 billion scf/day through a joint venture with Occidental Petroleum, among other smaller projects. A geopolitical element to these ambitions, and a counterpoint to the aforementioned developments in Iran, Iraq, and Qatar (which can now be regarded as moving even more firmly into the China-Russia sphere of influence)  is that Abu Dhabis gas plans will allow the U.S.-allied UAE as a whole to curtail its dependence on gas imports from Qatar (North Dome) via Dolphin Gas.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com:
The U.S. Department of Energy issued a final long-term order to authorize exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a project in Oregon that they expect will help the U.S. sell gas to the fastest-growing import market, Asia.

The U.S. Department of Energy authorized exports of up to 1.08 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the proposed Jordan Cove LNG Terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon, owned by Canadas Pembina Pipeline Corporation.

Todays issuance to Jordan Cove serves to further expand opportunities for U.S. LNG abroad, particularly in the growing markets of Asia, and encapsulates what the Trump Administration has been working hard on for the past three years  providing reliable, affordable, and cleaner-burning natural gas to our allies around the world, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said in a statement.

Jordan Cove LNG, expected to come online in 2025, is poised to create 6,000 jobs during peak construction and an estimated 8,500 spin-off jobs in sectors like hospitality, retail, tourism, and healthcare, Pembina says.

The project, however, continues to face opposition, including from citizen organizations, Oregon lawmakers, and the state of Oregon, which has yet to issue vital permits for the project.

Jordan Cove is the latest LNG project to receive authorization from the U.S. Administration as several LNG export projects were approved and started operations over the past few years.

If Jordan Cove LNG obtains Oregon state permits, it could become a key export project for U.S. LNG from the Pacific Coast to the largest LNG importers in the world in AsiaChina, Japan, and South Korea.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the construction and operation of the Alaska LNG project estimated at US$43 billion, which has been years in the planning but still lacks investor commitments for its completion.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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It sounds far-fetched. It sounds counterintuitive. Nevertheless, analysts from the International Energy Agency (IEA) say that the work-from-home trend that the coronavirus pandemic has encouraged may not be as good for the environment as one might think.

In a study based on energy consumption modeling, the IEA team found that while working from home led to lower emissions from the commute, it could actually lead to more emissions than working from an office because of the increase in residential energy consumption--at least for those who live close to work.

The authors of the study analyzed labor market data and commuting trends from around the world, and based on that data, they projected that if everyone who could work from home did so for one day per week, it would shrink oil demand for road transport by 1 percent, and overall Co2 emissions by 24 million tonnes annually.

While not much, this would be the reduction for just one day per week, and the authors suggested that if it was to be multiplied by five, for a full work week, the reduction would be proportionately larger.

This wont get the world very far down the path of meeting its lofty climate goals.

Our analysis shows that for people who commute by car, working from home is likely to reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint if their journey to work is greater than about 6 kilometres, the study authors wrote. However, for short car commutes or those done by public transport, working from home could increase CO2 emissions due to extra residential energy consumption.

The reason for this somewhat surprising outtake from the modeling is that data from the lockdowns shows increased energy consumption for households as their members worked from home. Citing data from the United States and the UK, the IEA analysts said that energy consumption during the lockdown had risen by as much as 20 to 30 percent in some parts of the U.S.during the weekends, it must be notedand by 15 percent in the UK, in the first days after the lockdown began. Related: Second Covid Wave Could Send Oil Prices Into Tailspin

That was, of course, to be expected. Before the lockdown, people would spend just a few hours of their day at home. During the lockdown, people tended to spend all their hours at home. As a result, residential electricity consumption rose, but overall electricity consumption fell by some 20 percent, according to the IEAs data.

This overall drop is important. It means that as people left offices and started working from home, electricity consumption in these offices was much lower than before. It would be most interesting to study whether an individuals energy consumption patterns change based on where they are working from, but for now, its safe enough to say that one consumes energy where he or she is. In other words, if one works at an office, they would consume energy for work there. If they work from home, they would consume the same amount of energy there, for work purposes.

Of course, there are considerations such as air conditioning in warm parts of the world and heating in the colder parts. But, again, the energy spent on heating an office building will be eliminated if all the people working in that building stayed home. Granted, their personal heating or cooling bill will be higher, but on balance, it will be better for the planet because the commute would be eliminated.

Of course, the above situation is hypothetical. It is highly unlikely that everyone will suddenly start working from home. It would, for starters, be devastating for the commercial real estate industry. But work patterns are changing, and the changes will be long-term.

A number of tech majors have already made it optional for their employees to work from the office. More companies could follow the approach. This would certainly reduce traffic, whether by car or by public transport. It would increase residential energy consumption, certainly, but it would also decrease office energy consumption.

Many companies are learning that their workers are just as or even more productive working from home, the senior VP of staffing company Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Andy Challenger, told the AP last month. Productivity is important for employers, so its safe to say that more companies will likely encourage permanent remote work.

This will change transport patterns. It will therefore change demand for fuel. And as a result, it will lead to a change in emissions. This change will most likely be a positive one, given that the average one-way commute in the U.S. is 18 km, that in Europe is 15 km, and the average one-way commute in China is 8 km, according to the IEA study.

Of course, there are wide variations between different parts of different countries, major differences in fuel consumption and efficiency. Even with these, the overall effect of changing work patterns with a wider spread of remote work will likely be positive for the planets emission levels. According to the IEA, this effect will be largely modest, nowhere near the Paris Agreement targets. In the end, however, every little bit helps.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
BEIJING, July 7 Vietnam, chair of ASEAN 2020, convened Tuesday a video conference of the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials Meeting-Plus (ADSOM-Plus), which was attended by representatives from ten member states of ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners including China as well as the ASEAN Secretariat.

During the conference, participants shared views on regional security in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and other topics.

While briefing the participants on the Chinese militarys engagement and experience in combating COVID-19, the Chinese side proposed that all parties enhance the capability of jointly addressing non-traditional security challenges so as to facilitate security and development of the region.
Saukville manufacturer Rebel Converting, which has donated millions of masks already during the COVID-19 pandemic, has vowed to donate the materials needed to make a million masks if the City of Milwaukee passes an ordinance making the wearing of masks mandatory.

Owner Michael Kryshak sent a letter to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and the city's Common Council making the offer. Kryshak also promised to help the city find volunteers to turn the materials into masks.

When the pandemic struck, Kryshak worked with area groups to organize the MaskUpMKE initiative, which has harnessed the power of nearly 3,000 volunteers to manufacture and distribute almost 3 million masks via more than 550 organizations.

"We fully support Milwaukee legislation to mandate face coverings in public places," Kryshak wrote in the letter. "We want to make sure that affordability for low-income residents is not a barrier to anyone helping stop the spread of the disease in the community and complying with the requirement."

Kryshak said he wants to make sure, "that there will be no obstacles in Milwaukee to masking up.

"These masks will made available for free to low-income individuals in Milwaukee who cannot afford them. If desired, Rebel Converting would also be willing to donate 50,000 MaskUpMKE envelopes (each containing three facemasks and a 211 magnet) for law enforcement to hand out as needed if the City deemed it appropriate."

A proposed mask ordinance is expected to go up for a Common Council vote this week.

Rebel Converting, which manufactures disinfecting wipes, recently announced that it has purchased a building on Milwaukee's far northwest side for use as a manufacturing facility and headquarters.
" " The engraving by Gustave Dore (1832-1883) shows an angel coming to deliver Israel. DEA/BIBLIOTECA AMBROSIANA/Getty Images

Every spring, as Jewish families gather to celebrate Passover (Pesach), they retell the story of the Israelites' hasty exodus from Egypt. The ancient holiday takes its English name from God's promise to "pass over" the homes of faithful Israelites while delivering the 10th and most painful plague upon the Egyptians, the death of their firstborn. As it's written in Exodus 12:23:

For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

In the popular retelling of the Passover story, the "destroyer" is often called the "angel of death," but the words "angel of death" don't actually appear anywhere in the Hebrew Bible, the Christian New Testament or the Islamic Quran.

Does that mean that the angel of death doesn't exist in the monotheistic traditions? Not at all. It only means that our popular conception of the angel of death doesn't come from the standard biblical canon, but from curious texts like the "Testament of Abraham" from the first century C.E., and from tales of the angel of death circulated in the Hadith, sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad and his companions.

"Stories about angels move around Jews, Christians and Muslims like nobody's business," says Stephen Burge, a research associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London and author of "Angels in Islam. "There was a lot of overlap and sharing across these traditions in the late antiquity and medieval period."

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God and the Angels

Very few angels are named in the Hebrew Bible (known as the Old Testament in Christianity) or the New Testament. The angels Michael and Gabriel make appearances in the book of Daniel, and God sends the angel Gabriel to inform Mary that she will be the mother of Jesus. But the authors of the Bible took great pains to emphasize that God was the only one calling the shots, not angels. Indeed, in the Bible, there is no mention of an angel who ushers people from death to the afterlife.

The ancient world was full of polytheistic traditions that portrayed death as its own god with its own agency, explains Annette Yoshiko Reed, a religion professor at New York University and the author of "Demons, Angels and Writing in Ancient Judaism." Mot, for example, was the death god of ancient Canaanites and Phoenicians, and the Egyptian Book of the Dead presents a vast pantheon of gods and fearsome creatures encountered in the afterlife.

"In the Bible, though, the divine world is focused on a singular assertion of divine power, nothing akin to a polytheistic division of labor," says Reed. "The same God who created the world masters both life and death."

That's why the angel in the Exodus Passover story isn't given a name, but rather a role  the destroyer. And it is God himself who passes over the houses of the enslaved Israelites and decides who lives and who dies, not the angel.

Reed says that in the third and second century B.C.E., there was a shift in ancient Jewish literature that gave angels distinct names and personalities, as well as roles. The book of "Jubilees," written in the second century B.C.E., is one of those texts.

" " This 17th-century Italian painting, "The Sacrifice of Abraham," shows Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac to God but he is stopped at the last minute by an angel (not the angel of death). Mauro Magliani/Electa/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

"Jubilees" starts out with Noah pleading to God to get rid of the demons that were roaming the Earth after the great flood and tormenting his family. A figure named Mastema, the "chief of the spirits," stepped forward with a proposition that some of the demons remain with him to do his bidding. God agrees that a tenth of the spirits should do this while the rest descend into "the place of condemnation."

In "Jubilees," Mastema is an angel  he's called Prince Mastema  but God employs Mastema and his evil army to tempt and torture humankind, "to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy, and to shed blood upon the earth."

Mastema is the one that comes up with the idea of testing Abraham's faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son Isaac. And it's Mastema, we learn in Jubilees, who was the "destroyer" of the Passover story.

Still, Reed emphasizes, Mastema is not working against God to counter his divine will, but to be the "bad guy" who carries it out.

"Like Satan in the book of Job, Mastema has a divine role," says Reed. "He's part of the divine justice system."

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Nice Try, Abraham. You Can't Fool the Angel of the Death

As time went on, Jewish and early Christian authors played freely with the portrayal of an angel of death. The "Testament of Abraham" was written in Egypt in the first century C.E. and not only personifies Death, but pokes some fun at it.

In this highly entertaining text, the great prophet and patriarch Abraham has lived a full life (995 years) and God sends the angel Michael to inform Abraham of his impending death. Abraham isn't ready to die yet, so he tries to stall death by asking Michael a million questions, some clearly meant to amuse the reader.

For example, when Abraham is shown the wide gate that leads a departed soul to destruction and the narrow gate that leads to eternal life, he cries out: "Woe is me, what shall I do? For I am a man broad of body, and how shall I be able to enter by the narrow gate, by which a boy of fifteen years cannot enter?"

Eventually, God sends Death himself to collect Abraham's soul, but Abraham keeps up his old tricks. He asks Death endless questions about the different types of death (there are 72) and all of the mysterious and gruesome forms that the angel of death takes when collecting the unrighteous (a most gloomy face of a viper, a face of a most terrible precipice, a face of a fierce stormy sea, a terrible three-headed dragon, etc.) Finally, Death has enough:

"Behold, I have told you all that you have asked. Now I tell you, most righteous Abraham, to dismiss all counsel and to cease from asking anything once and for all. Come! Depart with me, as the God and Judge of all has commanded me."

Abraham says to Death, "Depart from me just a little while, so that I may rest on my couch. I am very faint at heart."

In the end, it's Death that plays the final trick, imploring Abraham to "take my right hand, and may cheerfulness and life and strength come to you." The great patriarch takes Death's hand and dies at once.

"In the 'Testament of Abraham,' Death is a personality; that's his job," says Reed. "The figure of Death is at the service of God and only kills Abraham because he tricks him. Between the two of them, the image of the righteous Jew is superior to the figure of Death itself."

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Malak al-Mawt, the Angel of Death in Islam

Like the Bible, the Quran only mentions two angels by name, Michael and Gabriel, but the role of angels in Islam is greatly expanded in the Hadith, a collection of teachings and sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad and his followers.

" " This 1881 painting by Evelyn De Morgan shows the angel of death taking a soul to heaven. Wikimedia

Through the Hadith, we learn that there are four archangels in Islam: Michael, Gabriel, Israfil (who blows the trumpet to ring in the Final Judgment) and the angel of death. Although some sources claim the angel of death's name is Azrael, there's no textual proof for that, says Burge. The correct name is Malak al-Mawt, Arabic for "angel of death."

Similar to the angel of death in ancient Jewish and early Christian texts, Malak al-Mawt doesn't choose who lives and who dies, but strictly carries out God's orders. Every soul is assigned an ajal, a fixed date of death that is immovable and unchangeable. Once a year, in the month before Ramadan, God hands Malak al-Mawt a list of all those who will die in the coming year, and it's Malak al-Mawt's responsibility to harvest their souls.

Like the Testament of Abraham, the Hadith contains accounts of other great prophets who tried to elude or cheat death. When Malak al-Mawt comes for Moses, for example, he slaps the angel so hard that one of his eyes pops out. After God fixes the angel's eye, Malak al-Mawt goes back and strikes a deal with Moses that if he goes peacefully, he'll be buried within a "stone's throw" of the Holy Land.

In contrast to Abraham and Moses, when Death comes for the Prophet Muhammad, he submits to his fate. Burge notes that in the Hadith, the angel of death knocks and asks Muhammad's permission before he enters, a sign of ultimate respect for the Prophet. In one Hadith, Death places Muhammad's fate in the Prophet's own hands:

"God has sent me to you, and has commanded me to obey you; if you command me to take your soul, then I will take it; but if you do not want [me to], then I will leave it." [Muhammad] said: "Do [it], angel of death." He said: "Yes, as you command."

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Now That's Cool The Grim Reaper is a more recent version of the angel of death, born in the Middle Ages as a personification of the Black Death. He's also appeared in 104 New Yorker cartoons.
Bangladesh police on Tuesday announced the arrests of two union leaders who had protested the closure of loss-making jute mills, more than 24 hours after their families accused plain-clothed officers of picking them up. The arrests followed Dhaka's decision last week to shut down all 25 of its state-run jute mills and lay off 25,000 employees, citing the factories' inability to compete with the private sector. Thousands of workers protested in the southern city of Khulna ahead of last week's announcement, which came as the impoverished nation struggles to contain the impact of coronavirus on its export-oriented garment sector, with global brands cancelling or withholding orders. Khulna police told AFP the two union leaders, Oliar Rahman and Nur Islam, were arrested on charges of assaulting officers in a case filed in April 2019. "We have already sent them to court," local police chief Syed Mosharraf Hossain said. But another union leader said the arrests were intended to foil any attempts at protesting the mill closures. "We heard they (Rahman and Islam) were allegedly planning a protest... against the shutdown of the mills. That's why they were arrested," he told AFP on condition of anonymity. The two men's families said they feared the two would be murdered in so-called crossfires -- allegedly staged police shootouts that have seen hundreds of suspected criminals and drug traffickers killed in recent years. Islam's son Mohammad Jewel told AFP that he had to make the rounds of several police stations before he was informed about the arrests and the charges, more than 30 hours after his father was picked up by unidentified men. "We were scared. We thought he was taken for a crossfire," Jewel said. Opposition politician Zonayed Saki, whose party held a rally protesting the arrests in Dhaka on Tuesday, called for their immediate release. "They were arrested ahead of a press conference they scheduled... this week to formally protest the shutdown. The police behaved like goons," he told AFP. Bangladesh's jute industry currently generates just under $1 billion in annual revenue, but the heavily subsidised state-run factories have long struggled to generate profits.
After the official launch was cancelled back in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local arm of Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi officially announced the availability of the Xpander Cross in the Philippine auto market, positioning it as the popular crossover model's top variant.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) brought the latest Xpander option following the models launch back in 2018. Since its release, the Xpander has become their top-selling nameplate.

The Xpander immediately developed a following in the market, selling 13,494 units during the first year. It currently has a total of 36,168 units running around the archipelago.

The Xpander comprises 30 percent of the total sales of MMPC, which validates its value for money.

Xpander Cross

The Xpander is a very important product to MMPC as it fits many of the vehicle requirements of Filipinos. It provides the reliable performance, spacious and comfortable interior, host of safety features and a very bold design. Now with the entry of the Xpander Cross and its added features, we see renewed potential to the already successful Xpander nameplate, MMPC President and CEO Mutsuhiro Oshikiri said.

With the tagline Live Extra," the Xpander Cross is targeted at Filipino families to help them break away from the regular work-to-home routine and allow them to live life to the fullest.

Xpander interior

Now with a class-leading high ground clearance of 225 millimeters and enhanced robust design, the Xpander Cross enables its owners to explore more adventurous terrains.

For its exterior, the Xpander Cross has an enhanced look with its new front grille and bumper design, LED headlights and fog lamps, 17-inch two-tone alloy wheels, new fender arch and side body molding, new rear garnish, LED combination lamps and roofrails.

It has the reliable 1.5L MIVEC DOHC 16-Valve for its power mill, said to be the most silent model in its class (near 80-percent articulation index), thanks to sound-absorbing and vibration-blocking materials installed in the engine itself.

Story continues

The Xpander is retailed at P1.255 million and is available in Sunrise Orange, Quartz White Pearl, Sterling Silver Metallic and Graphite Gray Metallic.

Further, MMPC also got the Arellano celebrity family as their brand ambassadors.

The Arellano family is the best representation of a modern and adventurous Filipino family. Despite their hectic schedule, both Drew and Iya are still able to balance a fun and healthy lifestyle. They excel in their professional careers, are known for their sporty lifestyle and still manage to be amazing parents to their kids, MMPC First Vice President for Marketing and Sales Division Alvin Dalida said.

Photos from Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation

Also read:

Get your 6th PMS for FREE with Mitsubishis latest promo

Mitsubishi PH Boosts Assistance in Extended ECQ

MMPC Brings Key Departments to BGC
A high-profile Russian journalist who became an adviser to the head of the space agency was detained for two months Tuesday on charges of treason for allegedly divulging state secrets. Ivan Safronov, 30, worked for business newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti and was one of Russia's most respected journalists reporting on defence. On Tuesday, he was detained by the FSB security service and after hours of deliberation, Moscow's Lefortovsky court approved Safronov's arrest for two months despite a massive outcry against his detention. A member of Safronov's defence team, Yevgeny Smirnov, told AFP after the hearing the former journalist is suspected of cooperating with Czech intelligence since 2012. Safronov's arrest on charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars, sparked an uproar among supporters, some of whom took to the streets of Moscow to protest earlier in the day. Twenty five people had been detained, said OVD Info which tracks detentions at political protests. Safronov's lead lawyer Ivan Pavlov said it was the first time in nearly 20 years that a reporter had been accused of state treason in Russia, adding the fate of independent journalism was now on the line. Supporters took to social media arguing that the charges were a response to his reporting, which had ruffled feathers among the ruling elite. Safronov's arrest came after President Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for two decades, oversaw a controversial nationwide vote that allows him to extend his grip on power until 2036. The FSB said Safronov had collected confidential data about the Russian military, defence, and security and was "handing it over" to the intelligence of a NATO member country. Safronov allegedly handed over to the Czech republic data about Russia's military cooperation with Africa and the Middle East in 2017, lawyer Smirnov said, citing investigators. The Kremlin insisted his detention was not related to his previous work as a journalist. "Our counterintelligence is very busy, has a lot of tasks, and does its job very well," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. But the space agency said the charges were unrelated to Safronov's work at Roscosmos where he started working in May. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said Safronov "did not have access to secret information". In recent years authorities have ramped up efforts to squelch dissent and a wide range of individuals including scientists have been accused of high treason or disclosing state secrets. Security analyst Andrei Soldatov said Safronov's arrest indicates that repression in the country may be entering a new phase. "The case against Ivan Safronov is an absolutely new level of repression against journalism in the country," he said. - 'Arrest after arrest' - Safronov reported on the military, politics, and Russia's space programme, which has suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks and corruption scandals in recent years. In 2019, Kommersant removed from its website an article he co-authored about the delivery of Russian fighter jets to Egypt after court proceedings were opened into the disclosure of state secrets. He was forced to quit Kommersant in May last year following the publication of an article he co-authored which reported that the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament was planning to step down. The entire politics desk of the newspaper resigned in protest against his dismissal. A number of media outlets including Kommersant issued statements in defence of Safronov, describing him as one of the best Russian journalists and a patriot. "It is simply impossible to imagine Ivan, the son of an officer, to be a traitor," said Vedomosti. Safronov followed in the footsteps of his journalist father who also covered defence for Kommersant. Ivan Safronov senior died in 2007 after falling out of a window under murky circumstances. At the time of his death he worked on a story about Russia sending air defence systems and planes to Iran and Syria. On Monday, a reporter from the northwestern city of Pskov was fined nearly $7,000 for "justifying terrorism", in a case that sparked an outcry. "Watching arrest after arrest of Russian journalists - it's starting to look like a concerted campaign against #MediaFreedom," tweeted Rebecca Ross, a spokeswoman for the US embassy in Moscow.
MANILA, Philippines  The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday said it has arrested an American wanted by United States authorities for alleged sexual exploitation of a Filipino minor.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente identified the suspect as 69-year old Michael Kent Clapper.

Morente said Clapper was arrested on Monday in San Manuel, Pangasinan during a joint operation conducted by operatives from the bureaus Fugitive Search Unit, Women and Children Protection Center, and the Philippine National Police Region 1.

The BI chief said the arrest was made after the US Embassy sought the agencys assistance in apprehending clapper due to his involvement in possible sexual exploitation of a minor in the Philippines.

Morente said Clapper has allegedly been in an inappropriate relationship with a 12-year old girl.

The Embassy also stated that Clappers US passport already expired, making him an undocumented alien who is subject to summary deportation.

He will be deported for being an undocumented and undesirable alien, Morente said.

His continued presence here poses a serious risk to our Filipino children, anyone of whom could be his next victim, he added.

The bureau said Clapper last arrived in the country as a tourist on March 26 last year.

He is temporarily detained at the San Miguel police headquarters pending release of his swab test for COVID-19.

If he tests negative for the virus, he will be committed to the BI Warden Facility in Bicutan, Taguig City where he will remain until he is deported.

Clapper will then be placed in the immigration blacklist and banned from re-entering the country, the BI said.

The post Suspected American pedophile nabbed in Pangasinan appeared first on UNTV News.
The Philippines has lifted its ban on non-essential travel, allowing Filipinos to travel outside the country, Malacanang Palace announced today.

All restrictions on outbound travel among Filipinos has been lifted, Palace Spokesman Harry Roque said in English and Filipino in todays virtual presser.

However, there are certain conditions that travelers need to fulfill, including presenting confirmed round-trip tickets from those possessing tourist visas. Passengers will also need to purchase travel and health insurance to cover the possible cancellation of flights and accommodations in case they are stranded in another country.

Roque added that travelers should ensure that their destination does not ban the entry of Filipinos. Travelers should also comply with health guidelines such as mandatory swab testing and undergoing 14-day quarantine upon their return to the country.

Read: Someones Having Fun: Spokesman Roque swims with Subic dolphins despite quarantine

Roque  who was recently seen doing some traveling himself, believed by many Filipinos to be non-essential  said that further guidelines on non-essential outbound travel will be released shortly by the Department of Tourism and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The Duterte government has issued a restriction on traveling outside the country since March 19. With the exception of overseas Filipino workers and uniformed personnel conducting official businesses, no Filipino tourists were previously allowed to fly out of the country at any time.

This article, Worth the risk? Malacanang now allows non-essential travel for Filipinos, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

For PNNL chemist and Air Force veteran Kabrena Rodda, living by an honor code is second nature. Her time at the Air Force Academy as both a cadet and later an instructor, instilled in her the valueand possibilityof a community that joins to uphold a standard of ideals, honesty, and responsibility.

This background made Rodda well positioned to join with the American Chemical Society and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to establish an honor code for the international community of chemists using The Hague Ethical Guidelines to guide discussions during the drafting. The resulting Global Chemists' Code of Ethics (GCCE) combined grassroots contributions from 18 countries in Europe, Asia, America, and the Middle East to define ethical standards working chemists are already expected to employ.

"When we came to consensus on the GCCE, there was enormous enthusiasm about sharing it," said Rodda. "As partners, we realized that if this code was going to be truly impactful, we needed to do further engagement to encourage people to put it into practice."

An opportunity to practice the GCCE is now possible thanks to an innovative e-training developed at PNNL in partnership with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the American Chemical Society's International Activities Office.

Practice makes progress

Trainees can practice responding ethically even when emotions might pressure another response, such as in this scenario where Maryam is tempted to speed up results for a paper that is running behind schedule by increasing the number of experiments beyond what has been safely approved. Credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Overwhelmingly, chemists around the world harness chemistry to conquer diseases, address energy needs, and make discoveries that improve human lives. But chemistry could potentially be used to manufacture harmful substances or create deadly weapons.

Having a codified standard of ethics like the GCCE makes it more difficult for people with nefarious intentions to blend in. With the majority of chemists committed to acting ethically, it's easier to spot bad actorsas long as everyone is aware of the code and their role in upholding it.

"Codes of ethics like the GCCE are particularly useful when they foster not only ethical behavior, but also a community that doesn't tolerate unethical behavior," said Rodda. "Responsible scientists are honor bound to address concerns, but that doesn't always feel natural."

Unlike routine safety checks on airplanes to prevent obvious physical danger, ethical checks may occur less frequently because the threats they address don't always have immediate consequences and speaking up may draw negative attention. Ambiguous situations can lead to the bystander effect: a sense that speaking up is someone else's responsibility.

The bystander effect is even more likely when a chemist is intimidated by pressuring individuals or doesn't want to look sanctimonious in front of their peers. Add the fact that some chemical accidents happen not because of a will to do wrong, but because of lack of skill in handling chemicals, people, or situations, and it's easy to see that slapping down sanctions for an unskilled action is going to do little to teach someone how to do better the next time.

In addition to being used internationally in academia, the training can also form an important part of onboarding for new employees in chemical enterprises or accessed by interested individuals to practice the Global Chemistss of Ethics online. Credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Global outreach for a global code of ethics

Practicing the GCCE's ideals in low stakes training scenarios can build the muscle memory chemists need to respond ethically if they encounter troubling situations in real life. Often these trainings are done through in person role playing, but the shifting health and geopolitical landscape makes it difficult or impossible to engage with many countries.

Rodda and her team knew they needed something that could be used remotely, and they wanted something to be engaging and realistic enough to allow meaningful practice. Ethical dilemmas aren't always straightforward, so it was important to show how a positive choice, even after one or more naive lapses, could still have dramatically different and better outcomes.

"We were inspired by the choose your own adventure books that were really popular when we were growing up," said Rodda. "It was a way to capture the context of emotions and inexperience that keep people from acting in a way that they imagine they would before they can see why some situations are trickier than others."

PNNL researchers fill the roles of students, professors, and an employer in still photographs depicting four common scenarios: a research paper on a tight deadline, chemical waste, missing chemicals, and a job opportunity. As participants advance through these dilemmas, they must determine the best possible responses based on their knowledge of the GCCE.

Some decisions may seem obvious, but with the nuance of interpersonal relationships and ambition, participants can feel the pull of other options. If they choose complacency or bow to outside pressures, the training identifies which aspects of the GCCE are relevant to the situation and encourages the participant to try again.

The e-learning is currently being used in academia, with universities in Iraq using the training modules as they establish courses in chemical security and teach faculty during onboarding. It is also being explored for use in training new staff in small to medium chemical companies in Iraq, Egypt, and selected North African countries. Through this work, the training exposes high school and college students, as well as emerging scientists, in chemical industry to the GCCE as an opportunity to shape the next generation.

Explore further Lab safety, 10 years later

More information: Global Chemists' Code of Ethics Training: Global Chemists' Code of Ethics Training: gcce.labworks.org/
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

I teach in gender studies, where I spend time with university students discussing critical issues that shape our society power, violence, racism and colonialism. My students learn that histories are complicated and alive in the present.

Yet at a recent Black Lives Matter march in Winnipeg, I was struck by two simple messages: one protestor wore a T-shirt that read "Be kind" and another walked by with a sign saying: "Get your knee off our necks."

The message to "be kind" seemed to gesture to another world, a world in which one white knee could not possibly have the power to end one Black life. The second message drove home the fact that we live nowhere close to such a world.

Instead, we live in a world where "normal" means systemic injustice that has become only more intense and apparent during COVID19.

We live in a world where white women like me don't have to teach our white kids to keep our hands on the wheel if stopped by police. We don't have to tell them never to talk back, always to agree, always to do exactly as they are told. We can say to them that they need to treat others with kindness and respect and that they deserve and can expect the same in return.

Make use of power

Canada could be better in a post-COVID-19 world if all of us recognize and make use of the power of our everyday actions toward social justice. We cannot be comfortable in a world where some of us are afforded kindness and respect, taught to expect it, and others are not.

During the pandemic, we have seen our ability to act in alignment with public health measures. As a result, we have all contributed to the success of reducing the spread and severity of this virus. But unlike COVID-19, injustice does not spread by accident. Injustice is about power: who has access to it and who does not.

The norm of present-day inequities stems from a history of colonialism in which white men with access to power built systems that benefited them at the expense of others.

Whether we look historically at the Canadian government starvation policy that helped to clear the Prairies of Indigenous people to make room for white settlers, the 200 years of slavery in Canada or the legal enforcement of women's subordinate status, we find a common theme: only propertied white men counted as fully human, and therefore they were the only ones who received rights, recognition and respect.

Altering the status quo

Although such an idea is counter to the equality touted in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we witness its continued effects in multiple formsfor example, in the climate of anti-Black racism and ongoing violence against Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people. Yet we also see a groundswell of support for Black Lives Matter in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. In large enough numbers, people with access to less power can alter the status quo.

It is crucial to name a problemin this case, systemic injusticein order to make it visible. The naming is important because it allows us to understand that the violence follows a pattern. But naming alone does not make change happen. Action does.

Calls for "systemic change" seem big and complicated, like the histories that brought us to this moment. But the systems that need changing do not exist in some separate realm. They are made up of people who make decisions every day, decisions about how to act and about who matters.

Similarly, people's experiences of unjust structures are not structural. They are personal, the result of the actions of othersactions rooted in the belief that some people matter more than others. Actions could equally be rooted in another belief: the belief that everyone is equally human. No one is an object and so no one should be objectified.

Everyone is equally human

We do need systemic change. We cannot accept a status quo of racialized and gendered violence. We are not equally implicated in the structures that operate unjustly, but we all do interact daily with other people (even if those interactions take place at a physical distance these days). Those interactions give us the opportunity to act in line with the belief that everyone is equally human, and equally entitled to the rights, recognition and respect historically granted only to the few.

It has taken centuries to build up unjust structures. They will not disappear quickly. Yet it is also true that unjust structures require unjust beliefs to hold them up. Taking apart the structures goes hand in hand with challenging the beliefs.

Millions of protesters have stood up against the institutionalized belief that Black lives do not matter. Black Lives Matter. It is incumbent upon all of us, particularly those with access to power, to act in alignment with a status quo of justice and respect.

"Be kind." It's true that it is a simple imperative. It might be a good place to start.

Be kind. Learn our collective history. Act in kind and respectful ways, every day. End the violence.

Explore further Are peaceful protests more effective than violent ones?

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
A wave washing up on the Inuvialuit hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk in Canada's Northwest Territories during an August 2019 storm. Credit: Weronika Murray

Extreme ocean surface waves with a devastating impact on coastal communities and infrastructure in the Arctic may become larger due to climate change, according to a new study.

The new research projects the annual maximum wave height will get up to two to three times higher than it is now along coastlines in areas of the Arctic such as along the Beaufort Sea. The new study in AGU's Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans suggests waves could get up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) higher than current wave heights by the end of the century.

In addition, extreme wave events that used to occur once every 20 years might increase to occur once every two to five years on average, according to the study. In other words, the frequency of such extreme coastal flooding might increase by a factor of 4 to 10 by the end of this century.

"It increases the risk of flooding and erosion. It increases drastically almost everywhere," said Merce Casas-Prat, a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) Climate Research Division and the lead author of the new study. "This can have a direct impact to the communities that live close to the shoreline."

Climate change in the Arctic

Earth's northernmost regions are a global warming hotspot, with some areas experiencing up to three times the warming of the rest of the world, Casas-Prat said. But researchers lack information on how the impacts may play out.

Casas-Prat and her co-author Xiaolan Wang, also with the ECCC, wanted to examine how global warming might impact extreme ocean surface waves in the Arctic. Casas-Prat said some northern communities are already reporting accelerated erosion in some areas and increased building damage due to extreme waves. A worsening of these ocean conditions will have a direct impact on coastal communities, energy infrastructure, shipping, and even ecosystems and wildlife.

Much of the Arctic is frozen for most of the year, but the warming climate is contributing to increasing periods of open water, which can become an issue when extreme waves are factored into the equation.

In the new study, the scientists gathered five sets of multi-model simulations of oceanic and atmospheric conditions like surface winds, which generate waves, as well as sea ice for the RCP8.5 scenario, a future scenario commonly used in climate change projections that assumes low efforts to curb emissions. Then they ran simulations of wave conditions for two periods, from 1979 to 2005 (historical), then from 2081 to 2100 (future). Using the ensemble of multi-model simulations, they were able to assess the uncertainty in the changes in the extreme Arctic waves due to the uncertainty present in the five climate models used.

One of their main findings was a projected notable wave height increase between these two periods in almost every place in the Arctic.

Among the hardest-hit areas was in the Greenland Sea, which lies between Greenland and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. The study found maximum annual wave heights there could increase by as much as 6 meters (19.7 feet).

Casas-Prat said the models present a degree of uncertainty about how much waves heights might change, but she is confident there is going to be an increase. The researchers' predictions also showed that by the end of the century, the timing of the highest waves may also change.

"At the end of the century, the maximum will on average come later in the year and also be more extreme," Casas-Prat said.

Impact on communities

Judah Cohen, a climatologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved in Casas-Prat's research, said these waves could be particularly devastating to coastal areas that have never previously experienced open water.

"The main conclusions of the paper are that waves will increase in height in the Arctic region and that Arctic coastlines are at greater risk to erosion and flooding are fairly straightforward," he said. "We are already seeing these increased risks along Arctic coastlines with damage to coastline structures that previously were never damaged."

The researchers examined one area of coastline along the Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska and Canada, which holds a number of communities as well as energy infrastructure, and also found notable wave height increases there.

Since larger waves can lead to increased risks of flooding and damage to coastal infrastructure, communities and development in this area might be affected by these waves. Flooding can also impact the availability of fresh water in some areas, as storm and wave surges can get into freshwater lagoons that communities rely on.

"As more and more ice melts and more of the Arctic ocean surface becomes exposed to the wind, waves will increase in height because wave height is dependent on the distance the wind blows over open waters," Cohen said.

In another recent study published in AGU's journal Geophysical Research Letters, Casas-Prat and Wang examined the contribution of sea ice retreat on the projected increases in extreme wave heights in the Arctic. They found that surface winds alone cannot explain the changes in the regional maximum wave heights.

"Sea ice retreat plays an important role, not just by increasing the distance over which wind can blow and generate waves but also by increasing the chance of strong winds to occur over widening ice-free waters," Casas-Prat said.

Increased waves could also increase the speed of ice breakup. The loss of ice due to waves could affect animals like polar bears which hunt seals on polar ice as well as a number of other creatures that rely on ice. It could also affect shipping routes in the future.

"Waves definitely have to be taken into account as an important factor to ensure those routes are safe," Casas-Prat said.

Explore further Extreme waves set to get bigger and more frequent due to climate change

More information: Merce CasasPrat et al, Projections of extreme ocean waves in the Arctic and potential implications for coastal inundation and erosion, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (2020). Merce CasasPrat et al, Projections of extreme ocean waves in the Arctic and potential implications for coastal inundation and erosion,(2020). DOI: 10.1029/2019JC015745 Merce CasasPrat et al. Seaice retreat contributes to projected increases in extreme Arctic ocean surface waves, Geophysical Research Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1029/2020GL088100 Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters
Faure Island in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Credit: Graham Fulton

Artificial watering points in rangelands are posing an increasing threat to surrounding biodiversity long after the removal of livestock, according to University of Queensland research.

UQ researcher Graham Fulton studied the behaviour and impact of 20 bird species on Faure Island in Western Australia's Shark Baya nature and conservation reserve which had previously been a pastoral station.

Mr Fulton said he found increased population density in the area around a 96 metre deep bore with more than 1600 birds counted.

"Livestock had been removed from Faure Island and replaced by re-introduced, rare native marsupials," Mr Fulton said.

"However, the birds know where the water is and seek it out which is disrupting the overall biodiversity of the area as well as the geographical concentration of birds across the island.

Mr Fulton's research found of the 20 species recorded, 80 percent showed a shift in relative concentration in the 100 hectares around the bore and across the island.

"Some birds, like the crested pigeon and little crow, increased their relative concentration near the watering point while other birds like the silvereye and Australasian pipit decreased," he said.

"It's easy to appreciate an increase in birds benefiting from water, but this is the desert and these particular bird numbers are expected to be lower.

"Ultimately an increase in the wrong animals and plants is an invasion."

The bore also provides a prime spot for predators like sea eagles and goshawks to hunt endangered marsupials or birds that frequent the area.

Further to the altered faunal density, lasting land damage from former livestock affected vegetation growth in the area surrounding the bore.

"I was surprised by the impact of the trampled ground around the boresthe earth was so compacted that few native plants could grow there," Mr Fulton said.

"This lack of vegetation results in attracting extraneous bird species while denying those that would have used the landscape in its natural state.

"As usual for desert landscapes, it will take a long time for the ground to heal if the bore is plugged."

Mr Fulton hopes that this bore and bores on other cattle stations that are to be converted to nature reserves could be plugged to help the areas return to their natural condition and balance.

"Watering points affect the distribution of birds and other animals on Faure Island and all across the continent," he said.

"Australia has the highest extinction rates of fauna in the world and proliferation of these bores is one of the reasons for this."

The research has been published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia.

Explore further Reintroduced marsupials may pose new threat to grounddwelling birds

More information: Effect of an isolated bore on birds in the complex arid landscape of Faure Island, Shark Bay, Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. Effect of an isolated bore on birds in the complex arid landscape of Faure Island, Shark Bay, Western Australia. www.rswa.org.au/publications/journal/103/RSWA %20103%20p79-87%20Fulton.pdf
Tumani, a 13-year old critically endangered western lowland gorilla that is expecting to give birth later this summer, eats in her enclosure at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, Monday, July 6, 2020. If the pregnancy is successful, it will be the first gorilla born at the zoo since 1996. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

One of the critically endangered gorillas in the New Orleans' zoo is expecting her first baby, and already is being trained with a "doll" to hold her future offspring.

Thirteen-year-old Tumani's training "doll" doesn't look anything like a gorilla because a stuffed toy could easily be torn apart, the Tumani, father Okpara, and females Alafia and Praline are western lowland gorillas. Although there were an estimated 362,000 in the wild in 2016, their numbers were falling about 2.7% a year, making them in 2017 from the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. Veterinarians don't know the baby's sex.

The 160-pound (72-kilogram) expectant mother is receiving twice monthly ultrasounds and has undergone training on how to pick up the doll, including how to hold it to her chest where a baby gorilla could nurse.

"We don't want the baby by itself. We want it with the mother at all times," McLean explained. "If the baby's on the ground, we want to be able to say, 'Hey, pick it up."

She also has been taught not to play with a baby bottle and its foot-long (30-centimeter) flexible hose leading to the nipple, which could be used if Tumani has a problem lactating or nursing.

Alafia, who has successfully raised a baby, also has been trained to do all the same things just in case she has to step in as the infant's foster mother.

Tumani, a 13-year old critically endangered western lowland gorilla that is expecting to give birth later this summer, eats in her enclosure at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, Monday, July 6, 2020. If successful, it will be the first gorilla born at the zoo since 1996. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Tumani, a 13-year old critically endangered western lowland gorilla that is expecting to give birth later this summer, looks for food in her enclosure at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, Monday, July 6, 2020. If the pregnancy is successful, it will be the first gorilla born at the zoo since 1996. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Tumani, top right, a 13-year old critically endangered western lowland gorilla that is expecting to give birth later this summer, eats in her enclosure at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, Monday, July 6, 2020. Below is the father-in-waiting, Okpara. If the pregnancy is successful, it will be the first gorilla born at the zoo since 1996. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Tumani, a 13-year old critically endangered western lowland gorilla that is expecting to give birth later this summer, eats in her enclosure at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, Monday, July 6, 2020. If the pregnancy is successful, it will be the first gorilla born at the zoo since 1996. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

McLean said both Alafia's experience at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo and the fact that Tumani saw younger brothers and sisters raised at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she lived until 2017, are in favor of successful motherhood.

"But we still don't know how they'll respond," he said.

Explore further New gorilla at Audubon Zoo may stay indoors for a little bit

 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Remdesivir can save more lives where ICUs are overwhelmed: BU study

Amid news that the United States has bought up virtually the entire global supply of remdesivir, a new Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study outlines how the drug could save lives in countries with less hospital capacity, such as South Africa, where COVID-19 is beginning to overwhelm intensive care units (ICUs).

Recent research has suggested that remdesivir can reduce deaths from COVID-19 by as much as 30%, but has a more significant effect on how long patients need intensive care, from an average of 15 days down to an average of 11 days.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, estimates that remdesivir's ability to shorten ICU stays could increase the number of patients treated in South Africa's ICUs by more than 50%. This increased capacity could save as many as 6,862 lives per month as the country's cases peak. Add to that the potential lives saved directly from remdesivir treatment, and the drug could prevent the deaths of as many as 13,647 South Africans by December.

"There are many countries with limited ICU capacity that could benefit from this double impact on mortality," says study lead author Dr. Brooke Nichols, assistant professor of global health at BUSPH.

"Why would you use a drug--that has limited availability--to save one life when that same drug could be used to save two lives?"

Nichols says she is worried by the news that the U.S. has bought up the remdesivir supply, especially if the government doesn't even make sure that priority goes to overwhelmed U.S. locations.

"Because more lives can be saved per person treated when using remdesivir in places where ICU resources are breached, using remdesivir when ICU resources are not breached would be a misallocation of scarce resources," she says.

Nichols and study co-authors in Boston and South Africa have been modeling South Africa's COVID epidemic to help the country's government make informed decisions, and previously predicted that the country's ICU capacity could be overwhelmed as early as this month. The hardest-hit province, the Western Cape, exceeded ICU capacity in June.

For the remdesivir study, the researchers used their South African National COVID-19 Epidemiology model to look at the estimated three to six months when severe cases will exceed the country's 3,450 available ICU beds. If every one of South Africa's ICU patients with COVID received remdesivir, reducing the average ICU stay, the researchers estimated that the number of patients treated in ICUs from June to December would increase from between 23,443 and 32,284 patients to between 36,383 and 47,820.

The mortality rate for COVID-19 in ICUs varies from country to country and hospital to hospital, so the number of lives saved from increased ICU capacity would also vary. The researchers modeled several different scenarios, finding increased ICU capacity in South Africa could save 685 lives per month if a patient who needed intensive care was just as likely to die in an ICU than outside of one. At the other extreme, the researchers estimated that the increased ICU capacity from remdesivir could save as many as 6,682 lives per month if almost all patients who required but didn't receive ICU care died, but those who did receive ICU care had a 50-50 change of surviving.

If direct treatment with remdesivir also saved the lives of an additional 30 percent of patients--the current estimate for the drug--then the researchers estimated that remdesivir's "double impact" could save as many as 13,647 lives in South Africa by December.

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About the Boston University School of Public Health

Founded in 1976, the Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top five ranked private schools of public health in the world. It offers master's- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations--especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable--locally and globally.

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Posted on: July 7, 2020 4:26 PM

Egyptian religious leaders welcome new Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria

The new Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria, whose inauguration was announced last week, has been described as one of the pillars of religious dialogue and cultural interaction in Egypt by the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Dr Ahmed Tayeb.

In a message after the announcement was made, Sheilk Tayeb said that the Episcopal / Anglican Church in Egypt was one of the pillars of national coexistence and an active member of the Egyptian family. We cherish the communication with the Anglican Church and the continuation of religious dialogue and cultural interaction between religions, he said.

The new Province, named after the north Egyptian city of Alexandria, which is home to one of the earliest roots of Christianity, serves 10 countries: Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Mauritania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. Formed from the former Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, the first Primate and Archbishop of Alexandria is the Bishop of Egypt, Mouneer Anis.

The formation of the new Province was also welcomed by the Council of Muslim Elders in Egypt. Its Secretary General, Dr Sultan al-Ramithi, sent a telegram to Archbishop Mouneer commending the role played by the Anglican Church in achieving dialogue and communication between East and West; and for its partnership in the Youth Forum for Peace initiative.

Congratulatory telegrams were also received from Pope Tawadros II, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church; and from the Catholic Patriarch, Ibrahim Isaac.

Responding with thanks to the messages of support, Archbishop Mouneer expressed his hope that the new Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria would contribute to enhancing interaction between followers of different religions. He said that the messages of congratulations were a push to complete the journey of interfaith dialogue and joint work between the Episcopal Church and all Islamic religious institutions as well as between Christian communities.

Archbishop of Canterbury welcomes UN call for global ceasefire

The Archbishop of Canterbury has welcomed last weeks unanimous call by the UN Security Councils for a global ceasefire, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In doing so, Archbishop Justin Welby urged churches and other faith groups to lend their support.

Archbishop Justin, a member of the UN Secretary Generals High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation, has written to representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council  China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States  urging them to go further than words and to actively promote peace.

I now appeal to the Permanent Five members of the Security Council: lead the world and support the Secretary General in actively seeking to implement even this temporary peace, when trust can be built and reconciliation begin, Archbishop Justin said in his letter.

He called on the countries to act positively and with speed, responding to this crisis and this opportunity with the same selflessness that enabled [the UNs] establishment after the great horrors of World War II.

Archbishop Justin said that he would work with other faith leaders and communities around the world and use all possible efforts to work with the UN in each of the areas affected by conflict; to seek peace and pursue it, adding: I will encourage other churches, faiths and ecumenical bodies to do the same.

The call was echoed by Pope Francis in his Angelus message on Sunday (5 July). The call for a global and immediate ceasefire is commendable, which would allow the peace and security essential to provide the humanitarian assistance so urgently needed, Pope Francis said. Pope Francis called on world leaders to follow respond to the UN Security Councils call by ceasing all forms of hostilities, encouraging the creation of corridors for humanitarian aid, openness to diplomacy, and attention to those who find themselves in situations of vulnerability.

Today (Tuesday), Archbishop Justin spoke with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Dr Ahmed Tayeb, by video conference. The two leaders spoke of the need for joint action more than ever in light of the Covid-19 pandemic; and the importance of the role of religious leaders, and the importance of cooperation between them in such crises.

Sheikh Tayeb welcomed Archbishop Justins statement on the Global Ceasefire call, describing the Security Councils resolution as a hopeful step.

Domestic Abuse cases increased during Covid-19 lockdown  Anglican Communion and Mothers Union say

There has been a sharp increase in incidents of domestic abuse since the global Covid-19 lockdown; a joint submission by the Anglican Consultative Council and the Mothers Union to the UNs Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says. In their submission, which was issued in response to the call for evidence by the UNs Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, the two organisations outline the experience of Anglican churches around the world.

Domestic abuse has steadily increased in countries across the Anglican Communion, they say, with particularly high prevalence noted in Uganda, South Africa and Liberia. New Zealand alone saw a 21 per cent spike in calls regarding domestic violence or the threat of violence, and Guyana has also seen an increase in gender-based violence, rising from 4-5 reported cases per day, to the current number of 4-5 cases per hour.

The submission also looks at exemptions from lockdown restrictions for those suffering domestic violence. In Southern Africa, it says, lockdown regulations are structured in such a manner that a women victim can leave her home to report abuse or apply for a court interdict without any fear of intimidation. In contrast, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, women must stay at home without exception, but arrangements may be made to transfer her from her home with the abuser into a family members home.

The joint submission from the Anglican Consultative Council and the Mothers Union can be read on the webpage of the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations: anglicancommunion.org/acoun.





Virtual synod to debate new clergy discipline rules in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia

A virtual meeting of the General Synod / Te Hinota Whanui of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia later this month will discuss a proposed Bill to change the Provinces Title D procedures. If approved, the Bill will introduce a new Ministry Standards Commission that will support bishops with triage and handling of complaints made against any clergy or lay people that hold a license to minister in the church.

The proposed Commission will employ a legal registrar whose task will be to help bishops to assess complaints. In the case of unsatisfactory conduct, the Commission can offer bishops guidelines for action; and in the case of serious complaints of misconduct such as financial misdealings, or physical or sexual abuse, the Commission can forward the complaint to a Tribunal.

The proposed changes are designed to guarantee a consistent approach to disciplinary procedure and redress processes across the province.

Details of the changes have been set out in a 33-minute video by Archbishop Philip Richardson, the senior bishop of the New Zealand dioceses; Jeremy Johnson, Chancellor of the Diocese of Christchurch; and Bruce Gray QC, Chancellor of the Diocese of Auckland and Legal Adviser to the Primates.

The one-day online meeting, on Saturday 25 July, replaces the full week-long 64th General Synod / Te Hinota Whanui, which was postponed from 9 to 14 May 2020 because of the Covid-19 lockdown.

The Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa call for reconciliation over Nile dam

The Primates of the Anglican Provinces in Africa (Alexandria, Burundi, Congo, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Southern Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, and West Africa) have issued a joint call over proposals to fill a dam fed by the River Nile.

In a letter to the Council of Ministers of the Africa Union (AU), and copied to the Heads of State of AU member countries, the AU General Secretary and the AU Eminent Persons Group, Archbishop Albert Chama, Primate of the Anglican Province of Central Africa and Chair of CAPA, said that We, the members of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) have been following with great concern the negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan with regard to the construction of the Ethiopian dam on the River Nile. We are sorry that negotiations, at the moment, are not leading to a satisfactory solution with regard to the filling of the dam reservoir.

We, however, pray and urge the three countries of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt to realise and accept the fact that the Nile is a gift from God to the people who are living along its banks and that each has a mutual responsibility to steward the river and its resources for the mutual benefit of all. We also pray that the nations of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia would celebrate the blessings of the Nile water and not to make it a source of dispute.

We urge the governments of the three nations to think each other with respect to the opportunities of the use for the resources of the Nile so that no nation suffers as a result of the building of the dam or any other related activities. We are confident that a solution can be reached through friendly and mutual negotiations having in mind the value of the Nile as Gods gift and each others role as a steward of Gods gift.

New Archbishop of York set to be confirmed in online legal ceremony

An ancient legal ceremony used to confirm the appointments of bishops in the Church of England will be held online this week for the first time, to confirm the appointment of the former Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, as the new Archbishop of York.

In the C of E, diocesan bishops are selected by the Crown Nominations Commission who send a proposed name to the Monarch, who serves as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, for approval. Once approved the name is announced by 10 Downing Street, the office of the Prime Minister. The Dean and Chapter  including the wider college of canons or prebendaries  of the diocesan cathedral are summoned to elect the chosen bishop. The legal ceremony  a mixture of worship and sworn statements of evidence  is then held to confirm the election.

The Confirmation of Election for Archbishop-designate Stephen was due to take place in York Minster, but has been switched to an online event because of the Covid-19 lockdown. It will take place on Thursday (9 July), at which point Bishop Stephen, a former member of the Anglican Consultative Council, will formally take on responsibility as Archbishop of York.
New research published by an Aberdeen academic has drawn into question claims that churches in the global south have experienced a growth in new converts as a result of their 'orthodoxy', particularly when it comes to the LGBTQ movement.

Andrew McKinnon, a senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Aberdeen, reports his findings in a paper recently published in The Journal of Anglican Studies.

He examined the figures claimed for membership of The Church of Nigeria and the Church of Uganda, often held up by their leadership as examples of growth that comes from upholding 'biblical values,' like monogamous heterosexual marriage.

Dr. McKinnon said: "The Anglican churches in the global north have on the whole at least shifted their positions in the direction of welcoming to LGBTQ persons in the church, albeit with pockets of resistance, some relatively large and others very well organised.

"Bishops in sub Saharan Africa, by contrast, have redoubled their condemnation of same-sex relationships. Proponents of such a conservative position on sexuality often claim that these churches are experiencing phenomenal growth from new converts, a product of their 'orthodoxy' of which abhorrence of homosexuality is taken as the litmus test.

"My recent research shows why that is highly unlikely to be true, at least in two of the largest Anglican churches in the world."

The Church of Nigeria is typically said to have 20+ million members, and the Church of Uganda, eight million members.

Dr. McKinnon explored these claims using statistical estimates drawn from nationally representative surveys and concluded that based on all available data, around 7.6 million Nigerians in 2016 called themselves Anglicans when askedabout 4% of the population.

In Uganda, he found that more people identify with the church than is usually assumed, about 10.9 million people in 2016, equating to around 27% of the population and making Uganda the largest Anglican-identified population in sub-Saharan Africa.

But when Dr. McKinnon analysed these numbers in conjunction with figures from the National Population and Housing Census (Uganda), he says the evidence shows that the proportion of the population that identifies as Anglican is in steep decline. Although the absolute number of Anglicans is growing because of population increase in Uganda, each year a smaller percentage of the population identify as Anglican.

He added: "We can see from an analysis of population that, even with room for error in the estimate, there is only the remotest chance that the population of Nigerians that identified as Anglican in that year could have exceeded 11.7 million, dramatically fewer than the church claims for itself.

"Similarly in Uganda claims of growth appear exaggerated. I can find no evidence of net growth from conversion in either province in recent decades. That does not mean there are no converts to Anglicanism but that these are offsetor more than offsetby defections to other religious identities.

Dr. McKinnon says his research findings add a new dimension to claims that Anglican church leaders in sub Saharan Africa are holding onto their members as a result of a rejection of LGBTQ values.

"Sexuality is a focal point of disagreement and dispute in the global Anglican Communion but the evidence I have found suggests that claims of numerical success as a rejection of Western values made by the Anglican churches of Nigeria and Uganda, and sometimes their advocates in the global north, is not backed up by the statistical evidence," he added.

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An artist's interpretation of Dilophosaurus based on the latest research. Credit: Brian Engh / The Saint George Dinosaur Discovery Site.

From movies to museum exhibits, the dinosaur Dilophosaurus is no stranger to pop culture. Many probably remember it best from the movie "Jurassic Park," where it's depicted as a venom-spitting beast with a rattling frill around its neck and two paddle-like crests on its head.

The dinosaur in the movie is mostly imagination, but a new comprehensive analysis of Dilophosaurus fossils is helping to set the record straight. Far from the small lizard-like dinosaur in the movies, the actual Dilophosaurus was the largest land animal of its time, reaching up to 20 feet in length, and it had much in common with modern birds.

The analysis was published in the Journal of Paleontology on July 7.

Dilophosaurus lived 183 million years ago during the Early Jurassic. Despite big-screen fame, scientists knew surprisingly little about how the dinosaur looked or fit into the family tree, until now.

"It's pretty much the best, worst-known dinosaur," said lead author Adam Marsh. "Until this study, nobody knew what Dilophosaurus looked like or how it evolved."

Seeking answers to these questions, Marsh conducted an analysis of the five most-complete Dilophosaurus specimens while earning his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences. He is now the lead paleontologist at Petrified Forest National Park.

The right hind leg of Dilophosaurus wetherilli, collected under permit from the Navajo Nation, and housed in trust at the Texas Vertebrate Paleontology Collections at The University of Texas at Austin. Credit: Matthew Brown / UT Austin Jackson School of Geosciences.

The analysis is co-authored by Jackson School Professor Timothy Rowe, who discovered two of the five Dilophosaurus specimens that were studied.

The study adds clarity to a muddled research record that reaches back to the first Dilophosaurus fossil to be discovered, the specimen that set the standard for all following Dilophosaurus discoveries. That fossil was rebuilt with plaster, but the 1954 paper describing the find isn't clear about what was reconstructeda fact that makes it difficult to determine how much of the early work was based on the actual fossil record, Marsh said.

Early descriptions characterize the dinosaur as having a fragile crest and weak jaws, a description that influenced the depiction of Dilophosaurus in the "Jurassic Park" book and movie as a svelte dinosaur that subdued its prey with venom.

But Marsh found the opposite. The jawbones show signs of serving as scaffolding for powerful muscles. He also found that some bones were mottled with air pockets, which would have helped reinforce the skeleton, including its dual crest.

"They're kind of like bubble wrapthe bone is protected and strengthened," Marsh said.

These air sacs are not unique to Dilophosaurus. Modern birds and the world's most massive dinosaurs also have bones filled with air. In both cases, the air sacs lighten the load, which helped big dinosaurs manage their bulky bodies and birds take to the skies.

Scientists have found evidence that the Dilophosaurus skull served as scaffolding for powerful jaw muscles, shattering the image of the dinosaur as more fragile and svelte that has been promoted in scientific literature and popular culture. Credit: Skull reconstruction by Brian Engh, commissioned by The Saint George Dinosaur Discovery Site.

Many birds use the air sacs to perform other functions, from inflating stretchy areas of skin during mating rituals, to creating booming calls and dispersing heat. The intricate array of air pockets and ducts that extend from Dilophosaurus' sinus cavity into its crests means that the dinosaur may have been able to perform similar feats with its headgear.

All the specimens Marsh examined came from the Kayenta Formation in Arizona and belong to the Navajo Nation. The University of California Museum of Paleontology holds in trust three of the specimens. The Jackson School Museum of Earth History holds the two discovered by Rowe.

"One of the most important responsibilities of our museum is curation," said Matthew Brown, director of the Vertebrate Paleontology Collections. "We are very excited to help share these iconic Navajo Nation fossils with the world through research and educational outreach, as well as preserve them for future generations."

To learn more about how the fossils compared with one another, Marsh recorded hundreds of anatomical characteristics of each fossil. He then used an algorithm to see how the specimens compared with the first fossilwhich confirmed that they were indeed all Dilophosaurus.

The algorithm also revealed that there's a significant evolutionary gap between Dilophosaurus and its closest dinosaur relatives, which indicates there are probably many other relatives yet to be discovered.

The revised Dilophosaurus record will help paleontologists better identify specimens going forward. Marsh said that the research is already being put into action. In the midst of his analysis, he discovered that a small braincase in the Jackson School's collections belonged to a Dilophosaurus.

"We realized that it wasn't a new type of dinosaur, but a juvenile Dilophosaurus, which is really cool," Marsh said.

Explore further Newly described fossils could help reveal why some dinos got so big
Known as 'Blue Carbon', seagrass meadows have been estimated to store CO2 in their soils about 30 times faster than most terrestrial forests. Credit: Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research at Edith Cowan University

An increase in carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 5 million cars a year has been caused by the loss of seagrass meadows around the Australian coastline since the 1950s.

The stark finding was made possible by new modelling done by marine scientists at the Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia.

Ph.D. student Cristian Salinas calculated that around 161,150 hectares of seagrass have been lost from Australian coasts since the 1950s, resulting in a 2 per cent increase in annual carbon dioxide emissions from land-use change.

The figures derive from Mr Salinas's research into the current carbon stocks of Cockburn Sound off the coast of Western Australia.

Cockburn Sound lost around 23 sqkm of seagrass between the 1960s and 1990s due to nutrient overflow caused by urban, port and industrial development.

Mr Salinas said the finding is significant because seagrass meadows play such a vital role in mitigating the impacts of climate change.

"Known as 'Blue Carbon', seagrass meadows have been estimated to store CO2 in their soils about 30 times faster than most terrestrial forests," he said.

"Seagrass meadows have been under constant threat in Australia through coastal development and nutrient run off since the 1960s. On top of that climate change is causing marine heatwaves that are catastrophic to the seagrasses.

"This study serves as a stark reminder of how important these environments are."

Mr Salinas said the study provided a clear baseline for carbon emissions from seagrass losses in Australia and warned of the need to preserve and restore the meadows. The inclusion of seagrass into the Australian Emission Reduction Fund could contribute to achieve this goal, he said.

Carbon flushed away

The ECU researchers assessed how environmental factors such as water depth, hydrodynamic energy, soil accumulation rates and soil grain size related to changes in soil carbon storage following seagrass loss.

Results showed that the degradation and loss of seagrass alone was not enough to cause the carbon loss from the soilhydrodynamic energy from waves, tides and currents also played a significant role.

"Without seagrass acting as a buffer, the hydrodynamic energy from the ocean releases the carbon by moving the seabed sand around," Mr Salinas Zapata said.

Researchers found hydrodynamic energy from water movement was much higher in the shallow water and associated low levels of carbon were recorded in these bare areas.

However, seagrass meadows established in shallow waters were found to have significantly more carbon stored compared to those growing in deeper areas.

"This means that nearshore meadows are particularly important to preserve," Mr Salinas said.

Explore further Rising ocean temperatures threaten seagrass meadows and their ability to hold carbon
Credit: Pixabay

Last summer's catastrophic bushfires burnt about one quarter of New South Wales' best koala habitat. On the state's mid-north coast, an estimated 30% of koalas were killed.

Collecting the most accurate possible information about surviving koala populations, in both burnt and unburnt areas, will help save these precious few.

But at the moment, accurate information can be hard to come by. A NSW parliamentary inquiry into koala populations last week found that the fires, and general population decline, meant the current estimate of 36,000 koalas in the state was "outdated and unreliable."

The report warned that without government intervention, wild koalas in NSW were on track for extinction by 2050. It recommended exploring the use of drones, among other detection methods, next fire season.

For the last year, we've been developing the use of heat-detecting drones to find koalas at night. This efficient method will save on costs. It will also help better assess koala numbersa key step in saving the species.

Promising results

Koalas camouflage well and are notoriously difficult to detect. Traditional methods such as scat surveys or spotlighting with head torches are often considered either too localized, or too labor intensive and costly to efficiently locate and count koalas.

Accurate koala counts are key to successful conservation efforts. Credit: IFAW

We tested our new koala-locating technique in Port Stephens, NSW, in the winter of 2019. Fortunately, the bush we visited did not burn in the later summer fires. Our method, published today as a study in the journal Australian Mammalogy, was more efficient and cost effective than traditional koala population survey techniques.

How much more efficient? Well, by searching forests at night on foot with spotlights we found, on average, about one koala every seven hours.

Flying the thermal drone at night in the same forests, we found an average of one koala every two hours. And this was in an area with a notoriously dispersed population.

This method could potentially be used to assess koala populations in fire-burnt areas over winter this year.

Drones have big potential

Victorian authorities used drones during the 2020 summer fireswhile fires were still activeto assess the damage in remote areas. Scientists also used drones to help detection dogs find starving koalas in the weeks after fire.

Koala night-time detection and daylight verification. On average, a koala is 17.1% brighter than the surrounding canopy. Credit: A. Roff/NSW DPIE

Our work takes the use of drones further, by detecting koala heat signatures at night.

On several occasions we flew the drone back to a possible koala detection at first light and confirmed the thermal signatures were indeed koalas.

We traveled to potential koala habitat in the Port Stephens area. Using a drone with a thermal and a color camera, we flew a lawnmower pattern (meaning back and forth, so no spots are missed) about 70 meters above the ground. We then checked the results in real-time on a handheld tablet.

We flew the drones mostly at night, as initial surveys suggested koalas were more likely to be detected in the early morning before sunrise. Each flight was around 22 minutes long and simultaneously captured thermal and color video recordings.

During and immediately after each flight, we checked the footage for signs of koalas. If we saw a large infrared "blob" in the tree canopy, we paused the drone to capture GPS data and detailed images.

Real-life checks

To make sure these "blobs" really were koalas, we needed to lay eyes on the animals. We did this at first light in two ways: one, by physically walking to the suspected koala location to check with binoculars and two, by programming the drone to fly back over the potential koala detection during the day.

This allowed us to simultaneously collect thermal and very high-resolution color images. It also meant we could verify night-time detections, even in difficult to reach places.

We learnt that koalas noticed the drone approaching but were not bothered by it.

The drone also detected wallabies, possums, gray-headed flying foxes and a number of birds, highlighting the future potential applications of the technology.

Our team comprised experts from the University of Newcastle and the NSW Environment, Energy and Science Group of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. We were helped by several local government and not-for-profit groups such as Port Stephens Koalas, Tilligerry Habitat and FAUNA Research Alliance.

On ground observers sight drone detected koalas and identify tree species. Credit: A. Roff/NSW DPIE

How could this help in future?

Under climate change, increasingly frequent and severe fires are likely to drive animal population declines.

A thermal camera won't be much help in a recently burned area that's still hot. But our technique could be used to monitor fire-affected bushland in the weeks, months and years following bushfireeven in isolated refuges or difficult terrain.

In future fire seasons, our method may also be useful for wildlife rescue, localized population monitoring, pre-land use surveys (such as before development, logging or hazard reduction burning), and after rehabilitation to check on released koalas.

Australia has an opportunity to lead the innovative use of emerging technologies such as drones to help find koalas and other hard-to-detect wildlife.

Other species that can be monitored using drones include bears, monkeys, sharks, whales, green sea turtles and albatrosses.

We plan to continue this work in the winter of 2020 in fire-affected areas of NSW to help understand and conserve koala populations.

Explore further Hundreds of koalas feared dead in Australian wildfires

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Sean Majoy, V06, VG13, was far too familiar with the toll that traumatic bleeding can take on dogs before he joined Cummings School as an emergency and critical care veterinarian and clinical assistant professor. Majoy served on active duty in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps from 2006 to 2017, and one of his jobs was caring for military working dogs returning injured from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Military working dog teamsthat is, the dogs and their handlerssave hundreds of lives on the battlefield due to their unmatched ability to detect hidden explosives," said Majoy, who worked at LTC Daniel E. Holland Military Working Dog Hospital on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

"As a result, in Afghanistan and elsewhere, enemy combatants may preferentially target these teams if given the opportunity," he said. "So military working dogs' chances of getting wounded catastrophically are pretty high."

Now the emergency and critical care team at Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals is participating in a clinical trial designed to assess if a human medication given in the field to injured soldiers with traumatic bleeding would also benefit military working dogs with catastrophic injuries.

The study also may improve the chance of survival for pets and other working dogs, such as local and state police K-9s, Majoy said.

The U.S. military has been using the drug, called tranexamic acid, to help save people severely wounded in the line of duty. Administered as a single dose in the field, tranexamic acid works by halting the abnormally rapid breakdown of blood clots that can happen during bleeding in major trauma.

Military working dogs chances of getting wounded catastrophically are pretty high, said Sean Majoy, here with a simulation mannequin that the U.S. military trains on to manage trauma and CPR for working dogs. Credit: Alonso Nichols

The U.S. military started using tranexamic acid based on the results of a landmark 2010 study in the scientific journal The Lancet. "It was a really impressive study," said Majoy. "It looked at the effect of giving tranexamic acid versus a placebo by IV in 20,000 severely traumatized patients, across forty countries and 270 hospitals. It found that tranexamic acid given within three hours of the point of injury significantly decreased all causes of mortality."

Soon after that study was published, the Department of Defense began including tranexamic acid as a field treatment for traumatic bleeding in soldiers. A follow-up study published in 2018 in JAMA Surgery suggested that the subsequent use of tranexamic acid in injured U.S. service members has largely been successful, but not without some concerns.

In some instances, tranexamic acid has been given when not needed, because the service member didn't have a catastrophic bleed, explained Majoy. And the drug appears to carry a risk of causing life-threatening blood clots. However, "those soldiers that end up with blood-clot complications still survived the catastrophic injury that was originally treated," he said.

Given that dog-handler teams are so often targeted during military conflicts, the Department of Defense hopes tranexamic acid also might help save more military working dogs, Majoy said.

"They wanted to start looking at whether the drug seems to help that population of dogs coming into referral veterinary hospitals with highly traumatic injuries and severe bleeds," such as pets hit by a car, he said.

So the U.S. Special Operations Command funded a study through NC State College of Veterinary Medicine.

Cummings School, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine were recruited to join NC State in a multi-institutional studywith Bernard Hansen, director of small animal emergency and critical care at NC State, serving as the lead investigator.

"With our high caseload and designation as a Level 1 veterinary trauma center, we quickly enrolled to help," said Armelle de Laforcade, V97, who heads Tufts' emergency and critical care service.

Together, the four veterinary schools seek to enroll a total of forty dogs brought into their ERs after experiencing trauma. Upon arrival, dogs will be immediately assessed and treated for their injuries and shock. Then, once a pet has been stabilized, its owner can decide whether or not to enroll in the clinical trial.

It is important to know if the effectiveness of tranexamic acid to mitigate traumatic bleeding in dogs is similar to the evidence we have for improving survival in human trauma patients, Sean Majoy said. Credit: Shutterstock

All dogs in the trial receive any necessary lifesaving care, but participants are randomly assigned to additionally receive either tranexamic acid or a saline placebo. In return for this and three blood tests over twenty-four hours, the study pays for a hospital credit for use toward the partial cost of the animal's care.

"Tufts is definitely leading the way," said de Laforcade. "With one of the busiest emergency caseloads of the veterinary teaching hospitals, we see a lot of trauma cases that potentially qualify for this study."

The military trauma management system is unique in that in certain environments, such as Afghanistan or Iraq, human health-care providers may be tasked to care for both the injured soldier and a military working dogin both the battlefield setting and, if a veterinarian is not available, in a trauma center, Majoy said.

"It is important to know if the effectiveness of tranexamic acid to mitigate traumatic bleeding in dogs is similar to the evidence we have for improving survival in human trauma patients," he said. "This study leads the way to investigate that question."

Explore further Study finds trend toward benefit in using blood-clotting agent for bleeding stroke

More information: Luke R. Johnston et al. Evaluation of Military Use of Tranexamic Acid and Associated Thromboembolic Events, JAMA Surgery (2017). Journal information: JAMA Surgery , The Lancet Luke R. Johnston et al. Evaluation of Military Use of Tranexamic Acid and Associated Thromboembolic Events,(2017). DOI: 10.1001/jamasurg.2017.3821
Credit: Chris Fogwill, Author provided

Evidence of minute amounts of marine life in an ancient Antarctic ice sheet helps explain a longstanding puzzle of why rising carbon dioxide (CO) levels stalled for hundreds of years as Earth warmed from the last ice age.

Our study shows there was an explosion in productivity of marine life at the surface of the Southern Ocean thousands of years ago.

And surprisingly, this marine life once played a part regulating the climate. Hence, this finding has big implications for future climate change projections.

Walking into the past

Our research took us on a four-hour flight from Chile to the Weddell Sea, at the extreme southern end of the Atlantic Ocean, to land on an ice runway at a frigid latitude of 79 south.

The Weddell Sea is frequently choked with sea ice and has been hazardous to ships since the earliest explorers ventured south.

In 1914, the Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton and his men became stuck here for two years, 1,000 kilometers from civilisation. They faced isolation, starvation, freezing temperatures, gangrene, wandering icebergs and the threat of cannibalism.

Surviving here is tough, as is undertaking science.

We spent three weeks in the nearby Patriot Hills, drilling through ice to collect samples.

Normally when scientists collect ice samples, they drill a deep core vertically down through the annual layers of snow and ice. We did something quite different: we went horizontal by drilling a series of shorter cores across the icescape.

Our Ilyshion aircraft landed on the Union Glacier (Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions). Credit: Chris Turney, Author provided

That's because the Patriot Hills is a fiercely wild place strafed by Weddell Sea cyclones that dump large snowfalls, followed by strong frigid winds (called katabatic winds) pouring off the polar plateau.

As the winds blow throughout the year, they remove the surface ice in a process called sublimation. Older, deeper ice is drawn up to the surface. This means walking across the blue ice towards Patriot Hills is effectively like traveling back through time.

The exposed ice reveals what was happening during the transition from the last ice age around 20,000 years ago into our present warmer world, known as the Holocene.

The Antarctic Cold Reversal

As Earth was warming, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were rising rapidly from around 190 to 280 parts per million.

But the warming trend wasn't all one way.

Those katabatic winds blowing hard.

Starting around 14,600 years ago, there was a 2,000 year-long period of cooling in the Southern Hemisphere. This period is called the Antarctic Cold Reversal, and is where CO levels stalled at around 240 parts per million.

Why that happened was the puzzle, but understanding it could be crucial for improving today's climate change projections.

Finding life in the ice

Over three weeks we battled the winds and snow to make a detailed collection of ice samples spanning the end of the last ice age.

To our surprise, hidden in our ice samples were organic moleculesremnants of marine life thousands of years ago. They came from the cyclones off the Weddell Sea, which swept up organic molecules from the ocean surface and dumped them onshore to be preserved in the ice.

Antarctic ice, which forms from snowfall, usually only tells scientists about the climate. What's exciting about finding evidence of life in ancient Antarctic ice is that, for the first time, we can reconstruct what was happening offshore in the Southern Ocean at the same time, thousands of years ago.

We found an unusual period, displaying high concentrations and a diverse range of marine microplankton. This increased ocean productivity coincided with the Antarctic Cold Reversal.

A walk across the blue ice is a walk back in time. Credit: Matthew Harris, Keele University, Author provided

Melting sea ice in summer sustains marine life

Our climate modeling reveals the Antarctic Cold Reversal was a time of massive change in the amount of sea ice across the Southern Ocean.

As the world lurched out of the last ice age, the summer warmth destroyed large amounts of sea ice that had formed through winter. When the sea ice melts, it releases valuable nutrients into the Southern Ocean, and fuelled the explosion in marine productivity we found in the ice on the continent.

This marine life caused more carbon dioxide to be drawn from the atmosphere as it photosynthesised, similar to the way plants use carbon dioxide. When the marine life die they sink to the floor, locking away the carbon. The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed in the ocean was sufficiently large to register around the world.

What this mean for climate change today

Today, the Southern Ocean absorbs some 40% of all carbon put in the atmosphere by human activity, so we urgently need a better understand the drivers of this important part of the carbon cycle.

We collected sample of ice to study later in the lab. Credit: Chris Turney, Author provided

Sea ice formed in winter melts in summer, and dumps nutrients into the ocean. Credit: Shutterstock

Marine life in the Southern Ocean still plays an important role in regulating the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

But as the world warms with climate change, less sea ice will be formed in polar regions. This natural carbon sink of marine life will only weaken, increasing global temperatures further.

It's a timely reminder that while the Antarctic may seem remote, it's impact on our future climate is closer and more connected than we might think.

Explore further Research sheds new light on the role of sea ice in controlling atmospheric carbon levels

More information: C. J. Fogwill et al. Southern Ocean carbon sink enhanced by sea-ice feedbacks at the Antarctic Cold Reversal, Nature Geoscience (2020). Journal information: Nature Geoscience C. J. Fogwill et al. Southern Ocean carbon sink enhanced by sea-ice feedbacks at the Antarctic Cold Reversal,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41561-020-0587-0

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
This artist's concept, updated as of June 2020, depicts NASA's Psyche spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Psyche, the NASA mission to explore a metal-rock asteroid of the same name, recently passed a crucial milestone that brings it closer to its August 2022 launch date. Now the mission is moving from planning and designing to high-gear manufacturing of the spacecraft hardware that will fly to its target in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Like all NASA missions, early work on Psyche started with drawing up digital blueprints. Then came the building of engineering models, which were tested and retested to confirm that the systems would do their job in deep spaceby operating the spacecraft, taking science data and communicating it back to Earth.

And the team just sailed through a key stage in that process, the critical design review. That's when NASA examines the designs for all of the project systems, including the three science instruments and all of the spacecraft engineering subsystems, from telecommunications, propulsion, and power to avionics and the flight computer.

"It's one of the most intense reviews a mission goes through in its entire life cycle," said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, who as principal investigator for Psyche leads the overall mission. "And we passed with flying colors. The challenges are not over, and we're not at the finish line, but we're running strong."

Studying a Metal-Rock World

Mission scientists and engineers worked together to plan the investigations that will determine what makes up the asteroid Psyche, one of the most intriguing targets in the main asteroid belt. Scientists think that, unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, Psyche is largely metallic iron and nickelsimilar to Earth's coreand could be the heart of an early planet that lost its outer layers.

Since we can't examine Earth's core up-close, exploring the asteroid Psyche (about 140 miles, or 226 kilometers, wide) could give valuable insight into how our own planet and others formed.

This artist's concept depicts the asteroid Psyche, the target of NASA's Psyche mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

To that end, the Psyche spacecraft will use a magnetometer to measure the asteroid's magnetic field. A multispectral imager will capture images of the surface, as well as data about the composition and topography. Spectrometers will analyze the neutrons and gamma rays coming from the surface to reveal the elements that make up the asteroid itself.

The mission team made prototypes and engineering models of the science instruments and many of the spacecraft's engineering subsystems. These models are manufactured with less expensive materials than those that will fly on the mission; that way they can be thoroughly tested before actual flight hardware is built.

"This is planning on steroids" said Elkins-Tanton, who also is managing director and co-chair of the Interplanetary Initiative at Arizona State University in Tempe. "And it includes trying to understand down to seven or eight levels of detail exactly how everything on the spacecraft has to work together to ensure we can measure our science, gather our data and send all the data back to Earth. The complexity is mind-boggling."

Building the Spacecraft

Now that Psyche is full-speed ahead on building hardware, there's no time to lose. Assembly and testing of the full spacecraft begins in February 2021, and every instrumentincluding a laser technology demonstration called Deep Space Optical Communications, led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratoryhas a deadline of April 2021 to be delivered to JPL's main clean room.

The main body of the spacecraft, called the Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Chassis, is already being built at Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California. While observing social-distancing requirements for COVID-19 prevention, engineers there are working to attach the propulsion tanks. In February 2021, Maxar will deliver the SEP Chassis to JPL in Southern California and then deliver the solar arrays that provide all of the power for the spacecraft systems a few months later.

Meanwhile, Psyche work is also buzzing at JPL, which manages the mission. Engineers who are essential to perform hands-on work are building and testing electronic components while following COVID-19 safety requirements. The rest of the JPL team is working remotely.

An electric Hall thruster, identical to those that will be used to propel NASA's Psyche spacecraft, undergoes testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The blue glow is produced by the xenon propellant, a neutral gas used in car headlights and plasma TVs. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

JPL provides the avionics subsystem, which includes Psyche's flight computerthe brain of the spacecraft. With equipment spread out on racks in a clean room, engineers test each piece before integrating it with the next. Once everything is connected, they test the full system with the software, operating the electronics exactly as they will be used in flight.

"One of the things we pride ourselves on in these deep-space missions is the reliability of the hardware," said Psyche Project Manager Henry Stone of JPL. "The integrated system is so sophisticated that comprehensive testing is critical. You do robustness tests, stress tests, as much testing as you canover and above.

"You want to expose and correct every problem and bug now. Because after launch, you cannot go fix the hardware."

Next up for Psyche: that February 2021 deadline to start assembly, test and launch operations, aka ATLO.

"I get goosebumpsabsolutely," Stone said. "When we get to that point, you've made it through a huge phase, because you know you've done enough prototyping and testing. You're going to have a spacecraft that should work."

Psyche is set to launch in August 2022, and will fly by Mars for a gravity assist in May 2023 on its way to arrival at the asteroid in early 2026.

Explore further NASA's Psyche mission has a metal world in its sights
Salmon spawn in an Alaska river. Credit: Shutterstock

Summer has finally arrived in the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, liberating hundreds of thousands of northern stream fish from their wintering habitats.

Through the long winter, many have endured cramped, icy quarters with perilously low oxygen levels. Others have recently journeyed incredible distances from large rivers and lakes to small summer habitats upstream.

Northern stream fish come from a long line of hardy adapters. Their ancestors were well equipped to survive multiple ice ages and then go on to colonize some of the coldest newly accessible northern habitats. They thrive in some of the most dynamic conditions on the planet, from short intense summers, with up to 24 hours of sunlight, to long cold winters with limited light and food.

But the survival tools these fish have used for millenniaexceptional tolerance to cold, slow growth rates and long lifespanscould be a disadvantage as environmental conditions in the north warm and more fast-paced species move in.

Our research team set out to see how stream fishes were responding to unprecedented environmental changes across their northern ranges. Ultimately, we wanted to know how these changes might affect the hundreds of thousands of people in Alaska and northern Canada that rely on local fisheries for food, culture and economic security.

Photo of Arctic grayling (left) and Dolly Varden trout (right). Credit: Alyssa Murdoch; Lilian Tran/Nunavik Research Centre and Tracey Loewen/Fisheries and Oceans Canada

A good news story?

On the surface, the results from our study appear to provide a "good news" story. Warming temperatures were linked to higher numbers of fish, more species overall and, therefore, potentially more fishing opportunities for northerners.

Initially, we were surprised to learn that warming was increasing the distribution of cold-adapted fish. We reasoned that modest amounts of warming could lead to benefits such as increased food and winter habitat availability without reaching stressful levels for many species.

Yet, not all fish species fared equally well. Ecologically unique northern speciesthose that have evolved in colder, more nutrient-poor environments, such as Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden troutwere showing declines with warming.

Fish strandings and buried eggs

Recent news headlines run the gamut for Pacific salmonfrom their increased escapades into the Arctic to massive pre-spawning die-offs in central Alaska. Similarly, results from our study revealed different outcomes for fish depending on local climatic conditions, including Pacific salmon.

Headwaters of the Wind River within the largely intact Peel River watershed in northern Canada. Credit: Don Reid/Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, Author provided

We found that warmer spring and fall temperatures may be helping juvenile salmon by providing a longer and more plentiful growing season, and by supporting early egg development in northern regions that were previously too cold for survival.

In contrast, salmon declined in regions that were experiencing wetter fall conditions, pointing to an increased risk of flooding and sedimentation that could bury or dislodge incubating eggs.

Interestingly, we found that certain climatic combinations, such as warmer summer water temperatures with decreased summer rainfall, were important in determining where Pacific salmon could survive. Summer warming in drier watersheds led to declines, suggesting that lowered streamflows may have increased the risk of fish becoming stranded in subpar habitats that were too warm and crowded.

The fate of northern fisheries

The promise of a warmer and more accessible Arctic has attracted mounting interest in new economic opportunities, including fisheries. As warming rates at higher latitudes are already two to three times global levels, it seems probable that northern biodiversity will experience dramatic shifts in the coming decades.

Despite the many unknowns surrounding the future of Pacific salmon, many fisheries are currently thriving following warmer and more productive northern oceans, and some Arctic Indigenous communities are developing new salmon fisheries.

A local fish camp along the Yukon River. Credit: Dennis Zimmermann/Big Fish Little Fish Consultants, Author provided

As warming continues, the commercial salmon fishing industry is poised to expand northwards, but its success will largely depend on extenuating factors such as changes to marine habitat and food sources and how many fish are caught during the freshwater stages of their journey.

Even with the potential for increased northern biodiversity, it is important to recognize that some northern communities may be unable to adapt or may lose individual species that are associated with important cultural values.

For example, many Yukon First Nations, including Tr'ondek Hwech'in, have voluntarily refrained from fishing their main traditional food of chinook salmon to help stocks recover. Other communities that rely on increasingly vulnerable northern-adapted species such as Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden trout may also be at risk to future changes.

Although climate change action is urgently required at the global level, there are still tools that environmental managers can employ locally to reduce some of the effects. For example, watersheds with an elevated risk of flooding during the salmon incubation period could have more stringent streamside habitat protections, such as preserving larger areas of streamside vegetation from development, actively revegetating disturbed areas and conducting site-specific erosion and sediment control studies. In dangerously warm and dry years, fishing quotas could be reduced to limit salmon die-offs.

Ultimately, we advise that getting ahead of these impending changes by preserving the integrity of large intact watersheds will be key for protecting these evolutionary superstars from new human-driven pressures.

Explore further Can salmon eat their way out of climate change?

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Eric Kostecky, a graduate student earning his master's degree in geography at The University of Toledo, completed the research as part of a course in environmental planning he took last fall while completing his undergraduate degree in geography and planning. Credit: Erik Kostecky

Every summer millions of people visit parks and protected areas along the shorelines of the Great Lakes to camp, hike, swim and explore nature's beauty.

While COVID-19 has impacted staffing, operations and budgets at the parks, tourists this year also may notice changes if recent record-high water levels persist on Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Superior.

A new study by a graduate student at The University of Toledo zeroes in on how coastal flooding and erosion in 2019 damaged park facilities and roads and interrupted visitor experiences, as well as examines the financial cost of the high water levels.

The research presented at the 2020 Great Lakes Virtual Conference, which is hosted by the International Association of Great Lakes Research, was completed by Eric Kostecky, a graduate student earning his master's degree in geography, as part of a course in environmental planning he took last fall while completing his undergraduate degree in geography and planning.

"A humbling statistic is that 75% of the parks indicated that continued higher lake levels in 2020 and beyond would further impact park operations and infrastructure," Kostecky said. "Future management actions would be to improve parking lots and roads and to move hiking trails, campgrounds and public access locations."

Golden Hill State Park in 2019 Credit: Patrick Lawrence

To gather information, Kostecky surveyed 50 parks along the Great Lakes, both federal and state parks in the United States and provincial parks in Canada. Twenty-nine responded.

"Even though Great Lakes parks and protected areas have experienced impacts from shoreline erosion and flooding during previous high water-level events in 1972-73 and 1985-86, this study is the first comprehensive attempt to catalog those impacts," said Dr. Patrick Lawrence, professor and chair of the UToledo Department of Geography and Planning and Kostecky's faculty advisor.

The study shows 50% of the responding parks were impacted by both shoreline erosion and flooding, with the most common type of damage being to boat launches and building structures that were flooded, and roads near dunes washed away by waves.

Total cost of damage for 55% of the parks was $50,000 or less.

As a result of the damage, parks implemented a variety of changes for public safety last year: sections of the park were closed, select park operations were canceled, and some visitor education programs were suspended.

Indiana Dunes National Park in 2019 Credit: Patrick Lawrence

Great Lakes water levels peaked in July 2019, with increases varying between 14 and 31 inches above their long-term averages; Lake Superior was at 14 inches above its average, while Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario were at 31 inches above average, Lawrence said.

"The water levels in the Great Lakes fluctuate, but they don't fluctuate rapidly, so it's hard to say if we're still in the upswing or on the downswing," Kostecky said. "We won't know if we're continuing to rise or if waters have started to recede for the next couple of years."

The Great Lakes shoreline stretches 10,000 miles around eight U.S. states and Canada.

"Many parks and protected areas in the Great Lakes have struggled with the economic costs and interruptions of their operations, including services and programs for their visitors, and are concerned that as this period of high water levels continues this summer, they will face ongoing challenges in delivering the levels of public access and services to their visitors so eager to explore the parks and enjoy the nature and environment provided by these special spaces," Lawrence said.
Male Green-crowned Brilliant hummingbird. Credit: Cagan H. Sekerciogluac

Binoculars in hand, birders around the world contribute every day to a massive database of bird sightings worldwide. But while community science observations of birds can be useful data, it may not be enough to fill the data gaps in developing countries where professional bird surveys are insufficient or absent.

Ornithologists at the University of Utah say that community science bird data shows different trends in bird populations than professional bird surveys do, especially in developing countries. Researchers look for trends to know whether the number of individuals in a species is increasing, stable or decreasingwith the latter as a warning sign that the species is in trouble. Their results are published in Biological Conservation. More observations are needed, the researchers say, both by birders and professionals.

"We hope that this study will encourage birdwatchers to be more conscientious in their recording," says Monte Neate-Clegg, doctoral student and lead author of the study, "to think of these data not just as a personal record but as contributing to a wider cause."

Birding is a long tradition, but as paper guidebooks and life lists have given way to digital records and mobile apps, birders have become more connected, compiling their data into near real-time global snapshots of where and when birders are seeing species. For this study, the authors accessed data from eBird.

Developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, eBird is the world's largest biodiversity-related community science project, the lab says, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year. Birders submit sightings and checklists to eBird, which reaches out to birding experts when a sighting seems out of the ordinary.

U ornithologist Cagan Sekercioglu is a world-class eBirder, currently ranked fifth in the world for spotting more than 8,000 bird speciesmore than 76% of all the species that eBirders have ever reported.

In 2018, former Sekercioglu lab member JJ Horns found that eBird trend data matched the U.S. Breeding Bird Survey to within 0.4%. The results of the three-year project were encouragingmaybe eBird, they hoped, could serve to accurately fill in data for countries that didn't have the same level of governmental or professional surveys.

So, to compare eBird trends with worldwide trends, they turned to BirdLife International, an independent global partnership of conservation organizations.

Quechua woman looking for birds through a birdwatching telescope in montane rainforest, San Miguel Polylepis Forest, Cochabamba, Bolivia. Credit: Cagan H. Sekerciogluac

"BirdLife amasses data and expert opinion across the world," Neate-Clegg says. Their methods for assessing bird populations and trends vary, though. "Some estimates are based on complete population counts or interpolated surveys," he says. "Most are indirectly assessed via changes in habitat or other impacts, such as hunting or wildlife trade."

Downloading and analyzing eBird data is not an Excel-scale task. The U's Center for High Performance Computing assisted in processing the data, which includes more than 800 million records. Using observations from the past 20 years, Neate-Clegg further filtered the data to focus on the best-quality observations and to match the list of species with those reported by BirdLife International. Calculating the trends in bird counts over time, Neate-Clegg rated them as increasing, decreasing or stable.

For the final list of 8,121 species, BirdLife listed 624 (7.7%) as increasing, 3,616 (44.5%) as stable and 3,881 (47.8%) as decreasing. The eBird trends differed: 1,974 (24.3%) species were rated as increasing, 4,942 (60.9%) as stable, and 1,205 (14.8%) as decreasing. Only a little more than a third of the species displayed trends that agreed between the two data sources. Unfortunately, that's not much better than would have been expected by chance.

"This isn't particularly reassuring," Neate-Clegg says.

Part of the disagreement is due to the different experience of birdwatching in the tropics as compared to the U.S.

"Birdwatchers in the tropics tend to be more targeted in their approach," Neate-Clegg says, "meaningfully searching for particular species. This may mean that, although a species is declining, eBirders are still finding them reliably and so we do not detect that decline in the eBird data."

"In some cases," Sekercioglu adds, "the rarer bird species can be seen more often by birders who may overlook the common species nearby that they have already seen before."

Some results of the study were encouraging, though.

Orange-billed Sparrow. Credit: Cagan H. Sekerciogluac

As in the earlier study, Neate-Clegg's study shows that the rate of agreement with BirdLife trends for a species increases as the number of eBird checklists for that species increases. "This suggests that our accuracy will increase as more people gather data in the tropics," he says. The rate of agreement is also higher for species where population trends are directly estimated rather than indirectly inferred. "This suggests that we still need in situ population trend estimation by experts to validate eBird trends," he adds.

Neate-Clegg says that the results of this study are far from the end of the story. "It is really important that we carry out studies such as these to validate the use of eBird data," he says. "It would be great to get to the point where we can successfully leverage what will soon exceed 1 billion bird records to estimate population trends."

With a need for more quality data, Neate-Clegg encourages eBirders to include as much additional information in their checklists as possible. For example, he says, eBirders have the option of recording all species seen or counts of every species, as well as associated metadata such as the duration of the birdwatching period and the distance traveled.

"All of these data are important for maximizing the number of checklists we can use while controlling for variation in effort," he says.

Birding in many different places, and not just hotspots with high species numbers, is also important. "You should be birding everywhere you go," Sekercioglu says, "which also has the personal satisfaction of being a pioneer as you are adding data from places with little or no bird data."

In other words, keep watching the skies. And the trees. And the wetlands. Birders' efforts do not go unnoticed. The researchers express their gratitude to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, BirdLife International and the millions of birders who contribute to eBird and other community science efforts like iNaturalist. "The centuries-long symbiosis between birdwatchers and ornithologists is the best example of the collaboration of community scientists, professional scientists and conservationists," Sekercioglu says.

Explore further Citizen science birding data passes scientific muster

More information: Montague H.C. Neate-Clegg et al, Monitoring the world's bird populations with community science data, Biological Conservation (2020). Journal information: Biological Conservation Montague H.C. Neate-Clegg et al, Monitoring the world's bird populations with community science data,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108653
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Metalloenzyme can couple dioxygen activation to substrate functionalization, which often exhibits unrivaled efficiency, even at ambient conditions.

It is believed that metal-superoxo intermediates are formed in dioxygen activation, and then further reduced to metal-peroxo and ultimately to -oxo species. However, the chemistry of metal-superoxo complexes remains largely unknown.

In their previous study, researchers led by Prof. Ye Shengfa from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborators discovered that treating divalent Mn(II), Fe(II), and Co(II) model complexes and/or enzymes with dioxygen generated corresponding short-lived trivalent metal-superoxo intermediates. They could be transformed into trivalent metal-hydroperoxo species via H atom abstraction.

Recently, the scientists examined the reactions of a Mn(III)-superoxo complex with Bronsted and Lewis acids using resonance Raman, multi-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies coupled with quantum chemical calculations.

They revealed that the Mn(III)-superoxo complex underwent proton- and metal-coupled electron transfer to yield a Mn(IV)-hydroperoxo and a Mn(IV)-peroxo-Sc(III) species, respectively, thereby manifesting ambiphilic character of metal-superoxo complexes.

This unprecedented method to generate superoxo-to-peroxo conversion represents an important step toward better understanding of dioxygen activation and evolution processes occurring in metalloenzymes and artificial catalysts.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Explore further Gradient Li-rich oxide cathode particles for batteries with minimum oxygen release

More information: Yen-Hao Lin et al. A Manganese(IV)-Hydroperoxo Intermediate Generated by Protonation of the Corresponding Manganese(III)-Superoxo Complex, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2020). Journal information: Journal of the American Chemical Society Yen-Hao Lin et al. A Manganese(IV)-Hydroperoxo Intermediate Generated by Protonation of the Corresponding Manganese(III)-Superoxo Complex,(2020). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c02756
People gather aound a community well in Mauritania, Africa. A severe drought led to a major food crisis in the region in 2012. Credit: University of Miami

Climate changefrom rising temperatures and more severe heavy rain, to droughtis increasing risks for economies, human security, and conflict globally. Scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science are leading an effort to better assess the climate-conflict link to help societies manage the complex risks of increased violence from a changing climate.

The links between climate and the risk of violent conflict are well studied; however, scientists in varying research disciplines often disagree about the scope and severity of possible climate change impacts. Some of the open research questions are about the links between climate change and violence, including large-scale armed conflict.

In a new report in Earth's Future, a group of scholars, with backgrounds including environmental and political science, geography, and economics, analyze the relationship between climate and organized armed conflict to define crosscutting priorities for future directions of research. In a previous assessment published in 2019 by the group, it was estimated that over the last century between 3-20 percent of organized armed conflict risk has been influenced by climate.

In this new assessment, the scholars suggest that future directions for climate-conflict research include deepening insight on what the links are, when they matter, and how they manifest. They suggest that future research can use data from diverse sources, including satellite and drone imagery, social media, and population surveys.

"Our changing climate poses threats for human security," said Katharine Mach, an associate professor at the UM Rosenstiel School and lead author of the assessment. "In this commentary perspective, we provide a roadmap for future research that is supportive of appropriate societal responses. The options include deepening our understanding of how climate shapes security and conflict risks, as well as the ways in which research can prioritize ethical, interactive, and ongoing engagement with the many organizations and governments promoting peace and stability in societies."

Changes in Earth's climate are already impacting societies and economies and will further increase the risks of a range of outcomes, including civil conflict, which is profoundly and enduringly destructive for societies. Comprehensive and transdisciplinary efforts are needed to fully understand the multifaceted links between climate and conflict and appropriate responses by governments and humanitarian assistance organizations.

"This research topic is controversial and contested," said Caroline Kraan, a Ph.D. student in the Abess Graduate Program in Environmental Science and Policy. "We came together to provide a full range of expert views to establish a way forward for research that can serve decision-making needs."

According to the authors, priorities for future directions of research include (1) deepening insight into climate-conflict linkages and conditions under which they manifest, (2) ambitiously integrating research designs, (3) systematically exploring future risks and response options, responsive to ongoing decision-making, and (4) evaluating the effectiveness of interventions to manage climate-conflict links.

Explore further Study investigates how much climate change affects the risk of armed conflict

More information: Katharine J. Mach et al, Directions for Research on Climate and Conflict, Earth's Future (2020). Katharine J. Mach et al, Directions for Research on Climate and Conflict,(2020). DOI: 10.1029/2020EF001532
Recent research has found that mail voting increases participation by a few percentage points, and does not meaningfully benefit one party over the other. Credit: Shutterstock.com

We are living in the midst of a global pandemic. And there is a bitter partisan debate unfolding on whether more Americans should cast their votes through the mail during a time when going out may be hazardous to peoples' health.

The debate is provoking online disinformation and conspiracy theories that could undermine trust in the results, even if there are no major problems. Simultaneously, Donald Trump's reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee have filed lawsuits to stop vote-by-mail legislation in places like California and Pennsylvania.

For University of Chicago political scientist Anthony Fowler, an expert on elections and voter turnout, the current controversy offers a chance to examine the benefits and drawbacks of voting by mail. An associate professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, Fowler discusses existing research on mail votingand reveals how he plans to vote in November.

What can be done to ensure trust in the upcoming elections?

That's a tough question. On one hand, we shouldn't be complacent about fraud or the integrity of our elections. But on the other hand, we shouldn't let unfounded fears prevent us from administering a fairer and more representative election. Election officials should do everything they can to detect and mitigate potential fraud while also educating the public about these efforts and about the typically low levels of fraud in our elections.

What has your research shown on participation and trust of the electorate in vote-by-mail elections?

Some of the research I've done suggests that the American public doesn't like mail voting. In surveys, for example, people say they don't trust the results of mail elections and they are less likely to vote if that's their only option.

But research also shows that when mail voting is implemented, it appears to actually increase participation. One interpretation is that people overestimate how burdensome voting by mail will be, but once they do it, they like it and they keep doing it. Another benefit of vote-by-mail is that you can cast your ballot in the comfort of your own home, and you can take the time to learn about all the offices and candidates, meaning that you might actually cast a more informed vote than you would at a polling place.

If this is right, and there is some research to support it, it means that even if mail voting doesn't meaningfully change the composition of the voting population, it could improve electoral selection and accountability, and most voters should be happy about that.

Could there be more fraud in an election that is almost entirely vote-by-mail?

Vote by mail does introduce new risks. In theory, it could be easier for someone to fraudulently vote on behalf of someone else or for someone to tamper with the ballots in a vote-by-mail system.

Furthermore, one might be more concerned about coercion or vote buying with mail ballots. A political operative can't join you at the polling place and verify that you voted for a particular candidate, but they could come to your home, pressure you to vote a particular way, and watch you fill out your ballot and drop it in the mail.

In practice, however, voter fraud is very rare, and the risk of widespread fraud is probably very minimal, even with all-mail elections. But nevertheless, as more voters cast their ballots through the mail, we should think about these issues and do what we can, within reason, to identify and mitigate fraud or coercion.

Several recent studies have come out showing increased participation in elections and neutral partisan effects when voters can vote-by-mail. What are your thoughts on these studies as we turn our sights to the upcoming presidential election in November?

One good study we discussed in detail in a recent episode of Not Another Politics Podcast. The authors are using a compelling design and the best available data to assess the effect of all-mail elections on turnout. They find that mail voting increases participation by a few percentage points and does not meaningfully benefit one party over the other.

Another study, which you can find here, is an example of why it can be dangerous to rush studies to the press before they've been carefully vetted. They claim to find that mail elections increased participation in Colorado by nine percentage points.

This estimate is much larger than any other study of which I am aware on vote-by-mail, and I suspect it's not very reliable. One concern is that the standard errors are unreliable, and the authors are using a statistical approach that is virtually guaranteed to give them a statistically significant estimate even if the effect of mail voting is zero.

Another concern is that the authors are using current voter files rather than aggregate turnout counts to estimate the effect of vote-by-mail. One problem with this is that eligible but non-registered people aren't included in the analysis and to the extent that vote-by-mail affects registration, this will bias the estimates. Another problem is that people who were registered might later be removed from the rolls because they didn't vote in several recent elections, which could also induce biases.

When I and others have tried to replicate this result using aggregate vote counts, the estimated effect of vote-by-mail is much smaller. There is only so much we can learn from Colorado about vote-by-mail because it's just one state and the entire state adopted all-mail elections at once, so any estimates are going to be highly uncertain. But when we look at more, better evidence, we learn that mail elections do increase turnout but only by a few percentage points.

Will an all vote-by-mail election mean voters who lack a physical address, or others, will be left out in the upcoming election? What needs to be in place to be ensure everyone who wants to cast a ballot, and is legally able to, can?

Homeless citizens are legally allowed to register and vote in every state, and they are often encouraged to list an address that would allow them to receive mail (a shelter, for example), although that may be difficult for some. In practice, I suspect that few homeless individuals do vote, so the implications of mail voting will be minimal in that regard, but nevertheless, election administrators will need to find ways to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to vote who is legally entitled to do so.

I'm not aware of anyone who is advocating for only mail voting. Even in states like Washington, Oregon, and Colorado that have "all mail" elections, there are still in-person voting centers and other ways for people to cast their votes if, in fact, they don't have a physical address.

In some states like Texas, mail-in voting is not an option for all voters. What needs to be done to change this? Why are some state leaders against opening up this option for all voters during the pandemic?

Electoral reforms are always contentious, presumably because there are fears that any reform could benefit one party over another, hurt incumbents, or change incentives, for example. The findings we discussed on our podcast from Daniel Thompson and his Stanford University colleagues should be somewhat reassuring to elected officials who are considering expanding mail voting. Voting by mail appears to be a good way to increase participation without systematically benefiting one party over the other.

Some states, like Illinois, allow people to vote by mail for any reason, whereas other states require a valid reasonsome states even require witnesses to prove their reason is legitimate. How do these restrictions fare during the time of coronavirus, and how do they affect outcomes?

I don't know if all of these different policies have been studied carefully, but these restrictions could certainly matter in the midst of a global pandemic. In April, for example, many voters in Wisconsin were confused about whether they were required to have a witness (they were), and this led many otherwise legitimate ballots to go uncounted. I suspect it deterred others from voting who couldn't safely find a valid witness during this difficult period of social distancing.

How do you plan on casting your vote in November?

I had always voted in person, but this March, I requested a mail ballot for the first time because of COVID-19. I found voting-by-mail to be a great experience (especially relative to the hassle of a polling place), and I don't plan to go back anytime soon.

Explore further Researchers see risks in online vote system for 3 US states
Siberia and the Arctic Circle are prone to large year-on-year temperature fluctuations, but the persistence of this year's warm spell is very unusual

Temperatures soared 10 degrees Celsius above average across much of permafrost-laden Siberia last month, which was tied for the warmest June on record globally, the European Union's climate monitoring network said Tuesday.

The 12-month period to June 2020 was also tied for the warmest to date across the planet, on a par with the ones ending in May 2020 and September 2016, an exceptional El Nino year, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported.

That means Earth's average surface temperature for July 2019-June 2020 was 1.3C above pre-industrial levels, the standard benchmark for global warming.

The 2015 Paris climate treaty calls for capping the rise in temperature to "well below" 2C.

In 2018, however, the UN's climate science panel (IPCC) concluded in a landmark report that 1.5Conly two-tenths of a degree above the new 12-month highis a far safer guardrail.

In the Arctic, meanwhile, an hourly temperature record for June37 degrees Celsiuswas set on the 21st near Verkhoyansk in northeastern Russia, where a weather station logged a blistering 38C on the same day.

The previously registered Arctic hourly highs in 1969 and 1973 were at least a full degree Celsius cooler.

Freakishly warm weather across large swathes of Siberia since January, combined with low soil moisture, have contributed to a resurgence of wildfires that devastated the region last summer, C3S reported.

An Arctic hourly temperature record for June37 degrees Celsiuswas set on the 21st near Verkhoyansk in northeastern Russia

Both the number and intensity of fires in Siberia and parts of Alaska have increased since mid-June, resulting in the highest carbon emissions for the month59 million tonnes of CO2since records began in 2003.

"Last year was already by far an unusual, and record, summer for fires in the Arctic Circle," said Mark Parrington, senior scientist at the EU's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), warning of "intense activity" in the coming weeks.

Permafrost 'carbon bomb'

Copernicus has said that "zombie" blazes that smouldered through the winter may have reignited.

Globally, June 2020 was more than half a degree Celsius warmer than the 1981-2010 average for the same month, and on a par with June 2019 as the warmest ever registered.

Siberia and the Arctic Circle are prone to large year-on-year temperature fluctuations, but the persistence of this year's warm spell is very unusual, said C3S director Carlo Buontempo.

Freakishly warm weather across large swathes of Siberia since January, combined with low soil moisture, have contributed to a resurgence of wildfires

"What is worrisome is that the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world," he said in a statement.

Across the Arctic region, average temperatures have risen by more than two degrees Celsius since the mid-19th century, twice the global average.

Despite lower-than-average temperatures in its western reaches, the whole of Siberialarger than the United States and Mexico combinedwas more than 5C above normal for June, according to C3S satellite data.

The softening of once solid permafroststretching across Siberia, Alaska and northern Canadahas upended indigenous communities and threatens industrial infrastructure, especially in Russia.

A massive diesel spill into rivers near the city of Norilsk, Russia resulted when a tank at a power plant built on melting permafrost collapsed in late May.

"Widespread permafrost thaw is projected for this century," the UN's climate science panel, the IPCC, said in a landmark report last year on the world's cryosphere, or frozen zones.

The 12-month period through June 2020 was also tied for the warmest to date

"The majority of Arctic infrastructure is located in regions where permafrost thaw is projected to intensify by mid-century."

Soils in the permafrost region across Russia, Alaska and Canada hold twice as much carbonmostly in the form of methane and CO2as the atmosphere, more than 1.4 trillion tonnes.

One tonne of carbon is equivalent to 3.65 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Explore further Warmest May on record, Siberia 10C hotter

 2020 AFP
Studies demonstrated that trefoil factor peptides are locally produced to combat inflammation and injuries of the gastrointestinal tract by accelerating wound healing. Credit: Universitat Wien

The fascinating family of trefoil factor peptides brings hope to both research and industry to improve the treatment of chronic disorders such as Crohn's disease. For the first time, a team led by ERC awardee Markus Muttenthaler from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna succeeded in the synthesis and folding of the peptide TFF1, a key player in mucosal protection and repair. Chemical synthesis of these gastrointestinal peptides is an important step towards a better understanding of their mode of action and therapeutic potential. The study was published in Chemical Communications.

The three known human trefoil factor family peptides TFF1, TFF2, and TFF3 are mainly produced by the gastrointestinal mucosa. Named after their trefoil-like folded structure, the molecules provide clinically intriguing properties. Studies demonstrated that these peptides are locally produced to combat inflammation and injuries of the gastrointestinal tract by accelerating wound healing. Therefore, they have a considerable therapeutic potential for gastrointestinal and other mucosal disorders such as the dry eye disease and asthma as the researchers state in an additional review article published in ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science.

Local effects

"To date, there are two oral peptide therapeutics against diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome on the market," says the medicinal chemist Muttenthaler. "Due to the relatively large size of the molecules, they are not being absorbed through the gastrointestinal wall into the bloodstream, and therefore can only act locally in the gastrointestinal tract without major side effects."

The trefoil factor family is "an essential starting point for new therapeutic strategies to treat chronic diseases that remain incurable," explains Muttenthaler, who leads research groups at the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Vienna and at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. The studies are being conducted in the context of Muttenthaler's ERC Starting Grant project, which aims at disclosing the mechanisms of wound healing in the gastrointestinal tract. "Based on the chemical synthesis of the TFF peptides, we can now find answers to fundamental questions that we were not able to tackle before."

TFF1 acts as homodimer

In their study, the researchers present the chemical synthesis of TFF1 and its homodimer, a molecule that comprises two TFF1 subunits. Only in its homodimeric form was TFF1 able to interact with mucins, main structural constituents of the gastrointestinal tract, which accelerates the closure of the mucosal barrier and its healing process.

With a length of 60 amino acids, conventional approaches were not applicable for the synthesis of TFF1. The scientists developed a new method to synthesize the peptide in two fragments and assemble them subsequently. The second challenge that the scientists had to overcome was to fold TFF1 correctly by selecting from a multitude of possibilities. Correct folding was then confirmed through structural analysis and the TFF1 homodimer was shown to interact with the gastric mucosa. Muttenthaler and his team now work on the chemical synthesis of the other two members of the trefoil factor family, TFF3 and the more challenging TFF2, which is longer and more complex with its 106 amino acids and 7 disulfide bonds.

New possibilities for molecular design

The chemical synthesis of TFF1 is a milestone for the field since it provides more options to modify this peptide class. To date, recombinant expression was the only way to produce these molecules. "Therefore, their design was limited to the 20 natural amino acids. Chemical synthesis now enables us to design advanced TFF1 probes to study their mechanisms of action or to optimize TFF1 towards its therapeutic applications," Muttenthaler explains.

Molecular probes are essential for a better understanding of TFF1 and its mode of action. Certain attachments such as fluorescent molecules or other reporter tags can help to study TFF1 interactions with its target proteins or receptors. Other modifications could be used to further improve the stability of the peptides and their drug-like properties for a more efficient therapeutic application.

Explore further Peptides that can be taken as a pill

More information: Nayara Braga Emidio et al. Chemical synthesis of human trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) and its homodimer provides novel insights into their mechanisms of action, Chemical Communications (2020). Nayara Braga Emidio et al. Chemical synthesis of human trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) and its homodimer provides novel insights into their mechanisms of action,(2020). DOI: 10.1039/D0CC02321C Nayara Braga Emidio et al. Structure, Function, and Therapeutic Potential of the Trefoil Factor Family in the Gastrointestinal Tract, ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00023 Journal information: Chemical Communications
Numab Therapeutics and Boehringer Ingelheim Enter into Collaboration to Develop Multi-specific Antibody Therapeutics for Cancer and Retinal Diseases

Details Category: More News Published on Tuesday, 07 July 2020 18:18 Hits: 1171

The collaboration with Numab Therapeutics expands Boehringer Ingelheims bi- and multi-specific antibody pipeline with two front-runner projects in lung and gastrointestinal (GI) cancer and geographic atrophy (GA)

Numabs proprietary platform enables the engineering of first-in-class and best-in-class bi- and multi-specific antibodies in a true plug-and-play fashion

INGELHEIM, Germany & WAEDENSWIL, Switzerland I July 07, 2020 I Boehringer Ingelheim and Numab Therapeutics (Numab) today announced that they have entered into a research collaboration and worldwide licensing agreement. It will start with two projects aiming at novel therapies for difficult-to-treat lung and gastrointestinal (GI) cancers and patients with geographic atrophy (GA), a progressive, irreversible retinal disease that occurs in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) for which there is no current treatment. The collaboration brings together Boehringer Ingelheims leading expertise in the research and development of life changing breakthrough therapies with Numabs multi-specific antibody platform.

Lung and GI cancers and retinal diseases are key focus areas of Boehringer Ingelheims research and development program. In oncology the company has built a broad and diverse pipeline, combining cancer immunology and cancer cell directed approaches. The novel T-cell engager to be developed with Numab adds to Boehringer Ingelheims growing cancer immunology portfolio and supports the strategy to take cancer on by targeting cold tumors with synergistic combination approaches. In retinal diseases Boehringer Ingelheim is pursuing a holistic approach leveraging existing expertise in oncology, inflammation, neurodegeneration, fibrosis and cardiometabolic diseases. The new GA program with Numab further broadens the companys comprehensive portfolio of next generation retinal therapy approaches in various stages of development up to Phase 2 in macular degeneration and diabetic retinal diseases.

We are thrilled to work with the excellent team at Numab to advance our portfolio assets. Numabs technology platform fits well with our internal antibody discovery and engineering capabilities and will enhance our efforts to deliver transformative antibody-based therapeutics to patients, said Paige Mahaney, SVP and US Discovery Research Site Head at Boehringer Ingelheim.

We are looking forward to working with Boehringer Ingelheim, a global leader in pharmaceutical R&D with profound expertise across a broad spectrum of therapeutic areas, further validating our technology platform. This addition to our growing roster of partnerships represents another key milestone in our business development efforts, commented Dr. Oliver Middendorp, Chief Business Officer of Numab Therapeutics. The upfront payment and near-term milestones attached to this alliance will further strengthen Numabs ability to accelerate the development of key proprietary assets.

Under the terms of the alliance, the partners will work together to discover one novel multi-specific antibody drug candidate in each area. Boehringer Ingelheim receives from Numab an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize the resulting candidates in exchange for upfront and milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on net sales of all products resulting from the alliance.

With todays announcement, Numab has been able to secure seven ongoing relationships with leading pharmaceutical companies including 3SBio / Sunshine Guojian, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eisai Co., Ltd., CStone Pharmaceuticals, Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Kaken Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Tillotts Pharma AG.

About Boehringer Ingelheim

Making new and better medicines for humans and animals is at the heart of what we do. Our mission is to create breakthrough therapies that change lives. Since its founding in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim is independent and family-owned. We have the freedom to pursue our long-term vision, looking ahead to identify the health challenges of the future and targeting those areas of need where we can do the most good.

As a world-leading, research-driven pharmaceutical company, more than 51,000 employees create value through innovation daily for our three business areas: Human Pharma, Animal Health, and Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing. In 2019, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of 19 billion euros. Our significant investment of almost 3.5 billion euros in R&D drives innovation, enabling the next generation of medicines that save lives and improve quality of life.

We realize more scientific opportunities by embracing the power of partnership and diversity of experts across the life-science community. By working together, we accelerate the delivery of the next medical breakthrough that will transform the lives of patients now, and in generations to come.

More information about Boehringer Ingelheim can be found at www.boehringer-ingelheim.com or in our annual report http://annualreport.boehringer-ingelheim.com.

About Numab Therapeutics

Numab Therapeutics is an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company based in Zurich-area, Switzerland. At Numab, we are writing the next chapter in cancer immunotherapy by creating multi-specific antibodies that enable the pursuit of novel therapeutic strategies. With our proprietary MATCH technology platform, we are fueling a new wave of multi-specific drug candidates engineered with versatility and developability in mind. Our lead product was designed to balance potent anti-tumor immunity with a desirable safety profile by targeting 4-1BB, PD-L1 and Human Serum Albumin simultaneously. We believe meeting the highest quality standards in every step of the drug design process matters and will result in better patient outcomes. For further information, visit www.numab.com (link is external).

SOURCE: Numab Therapeutics
On Sept. 20, 1986, Dick married the love of his life and soul mate, Donna J. (Moon) Davison at the First Baptist Church in Glens Falls.

He began his second career at Glens Falls Hospital as the director of Medical Data Services in 1978 and later advanced to assistant vice president of Medical Staff Affairs. He retired as corporate compliance director and institutional review board coordinator in 2014. In the course of his career at Glens Falls Hospital, he was highly respected as an excellent leader. During his time at Glens Falls Hospital, he continued his studies and earned his masters degree in healthcare administration from the New School for Social Research in 1991. He was happy to retire for the second time in 2014 with Donna from Glens Falls Hospital after 36 years of dedicated service.

Dick was a devoted loving family man. His wife and family were his world. He enjoyed hunting with his father-in-law, brother-in-law and son. He had a beautiful voice and was proud to sing solos at The First Baptist Church in Glens Falls and at Harrisena Community Church in Queensbury. He had a deep faith in God and shared this relationship in the many sermons he preached at both churches. Dick loved the outdoors.
It was huge that we were able to receive this funding, he said. It allowed us to keep our staff on, so that when things did improve, we were able to resume normal operations much faster.

The nonprofit operates lodges in the Lake George area, which have only just resumed operations following the shutdown, Brosseau said.

Cash for more than staff

Business owners have used the funding for a variety of reasons.

Funds can be used to pay overhead costs, including mortgages, rent and utilities.

George Pensel, the owner of Boats by George, said he would have been able to continue operations even without receiving a PPP loan, but borrowed money anyway to pay his staff, because he has concerns about the long-term economic impact the virus will have on his business.

Pensel said he received around $500,000 in funding.

Were not looking at this like just what happened, he said. Were looking at this as whats going to happen.

Carr, too, said hes concerned about the future.

The loan has helped in the short-term, but hes hoping business continues to pick up as the summer wears on.
A trip to Florida has gotten another Warren County resident sick with coronavirus.

In this case, a person who traveled to Florida and returned with COVID-19 has spread it to a household member, Warren County Health Services reported Tuesday. The person did not travel for vacation, Health Services said.

More worryingly, another person in Warren County tested positive without a clear source of infection, Health Services said.

Officials are investigating to determine how the person was infected.

There are now 10 people sick with coronavirus in the county and one is in serious condition in the hospital.

In addition, Warren County is now supervising quarantines for 45 people who traveled to a coronavirus hot spot.

A 14-day quarantine is now required for anyone who traveled through 19 states, including: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Also on Tuesday:
Prominent TV producer and Kyrgyz Service journalist Bubukan Dosalieva died on July 5 at a private hospital in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstans capital, from severe complications related to pneumonia. She was 61.

Despite the official diagnosis, several leading medical specialists told the Service that Dosalieva had symptoms indicative of COVID-19.

Hers is the first death of an RFE/RL employee attributable to the Coronavirus. Because of the public health threat, the Service closed its doors and sent its journalists home in June.

In a letter addressed to the Service, U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu paid tribute to Dosalieva, expressing "shock at the news about the loss of a gifted journalist, a dedicated worker, teacher, and political analyst." Lu wrote, "Bubukan Dosalieva served the interests of the Kyrgyz people over many years; her contribution to delivering truthful information helped Kyrgyzstan remain an independent and democratic state... Thanks to people like Bubukan, Radio Azattyk became and remains a pillar of independent journalism in the Kyrgyz media market."

Dosalieva worked for the Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, from 1995 to 2010. She was one of the first producers and presenters of several of the Services pioneering TV programs, including the talk show Inconvenient Questions, and the youth show Azattyk+. She left the Service to work for then-Kyrygz President Roza Otunbaeva, and was an executive secretary for the state awards department.

She returned to Radio Azattyk in 2017, telling colleagues, it was her life, the meaning of her life. She first worked first in a freelance capacity and then as a production manager. She moderated segments of the Services live morning show as recently as June.

Dosalieva was known for her distinctive voice and her presentation style. Viewers told Azattyk that "nobody can moderate roundtable discussions as professionally as Bubukan."

Before joining the Kyrgyz Service, Dosaliev taught journalism at Kyrgyz State University and the Bishkek Humanitarian University. She also worked at the countrys KTRK and other TV channels.

She is survived by her husband, four children, and seven grandchildren.
On Monday, interim Muscatine County Attorney James Barry issued a press release saying he believed Broderson had overstepped her authority with the proclamation and that his office would not prosecute any municipal infractions issued as a result.

When asked if people should wear masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19, Reynolds responded: Were going to take a look at everything. People need to practice personal responsibility. We have said that if you cant social distance, then you need to wear a face covering, and were going to continue to elevate the importance of doing that.

Were going to look at the data. There has been an uptick (mostly in 10 counties). Were going to monitor that. The seven-day trends are moving down. Were going to continue to monitor that, and we will act appropriately.

Commenting that the intent was never to have the mask police arrest or fine anyone, Broderson disagreed, saying she had worked extensively with Muscatine City Attorney Matthew Brick while drafting the proclamation. She said the proclamation stood. She also said it was not a political move, rather one of her jobs as mayor.
Local government officials and various groups advocating for racial equality and social justice are discussing policing and other issues in the Quad-Cities.

How law enforcement agencies police and the prevention of abuse of police powers, particularly against people of color, has been the focus of debate and protest in the United States since the May death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

The Quad-Cities area has been no different. There have been a number of protests, and government officials and representatives of the NAACP and other groups said recently they have been discussing those issues together.

We want to see what we can do moving forward to make sure we have a good community for all, Larry Roberson, president of the Davenport branch of the NAACP, said Monday.

The NAACP has been meeting with the police agencies in Scott County  the countys sheriffs office and the Davenport and Bettendorf police departments  to discuss concerns over restraint tactics like chokeholds and racial profiling as a problem, Roberson said.
 Litter pickup. Keep Scott County Beautiful will receive $2,000 to restock supplies for the 16th annual Xstream Cleanup.

Rather than host a single big cleanup day, the new model is to have hundreds of volunteers worth throughout the year in areas of their choosing.

 Water quality sampling. Partners of Scott County Watersheds will receive $1,835 to buy equipment to do water quality sampling, rather than having to borrow from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The equipment will allow the organization to continue its spring, summer and fall "snapshot" volunteer water quality monitoring and contribute to its 20+ years of water quality data.

 Bluebells. River Action, Inc. will receive $1,500 to do a bluebell planting in Davenport's Junge Park. In partnership with the city of Davenport, a section of land will be planted in native prairie and woodland plants. Initial work will include removing invasive plant species growing there now, including honeysuckle, red canary grass, Japanese hops and garlic mustard.
Four people gathered in front of the Scott County Administration Building just before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a crowd of close to 20 men and women of all ages. None of them wore masks. They huddled in tight clusters and even posed for a group photo.

A number of those who gathered said they were not worried about spreading COVID-19  despite the fact the county has over 800 confirmed cases, including 274 cases in the past 11 days.

They were there to protest Scott County Board Supervisor Ken Crokens motion to make masks mandatory for everyone who ventures out into the public. The Board of Supervisors held its regular committee of the whole meeting to discuss his proposal, as well as his motion to ask that any visitor inside county buildings wear a mask.

A woman asked why Croken thought he could legislate what people want to do with their bodies. A man tried to explain how wearing a facemask could be even more dangerous because of elevated levels of carbon monoxide.

A few people raised their voices, but the protest remained peaceful.
The significance of Monday's announcement, though, is that now everyone else knows it too, as the multi-block area between 1st and 6th avenues, from roughly the Centennial Bridge on the west to 21st street on the east has been officially added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The listing administered by the National Park Service adds an element of prestige and means that people wanting to redevelop historic buildings in the area will be eligible for both federal and state historic tax credits to help finance their projects. Read more.
DES MOINES  Executing an Iowan found guilty of the death of five people, including two children, would contribute to a growing disrespect for the sacredness of all human life, Iowa Catholic bishops say in a letter asking President Donald Trump to commute the killers sentence.

We believe that state-sanctioned killing would not deter or end violence but instead perpetuate a cycle of violence, the four Roman Catholic bishops wrote to the president. We oppose the death penalty to follow the example of Jesus, who both taught and practiced the forgiveness of injustice.

However, Trump often has spoken about capital punishment and his belief that executions serve as an effective deterrent and an appropriate punishment for some crimes, including mass shootings and the killings of police officers.

Acknowledging his horrific acts, the bishops are asking Trump to commute the sentence for Dustin Honken from death to life without the possibility of parole.

Honken, whose attorney described him as a deeply remorseful and devout Catholic and loving father of two children, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection July 17.

Location of the execution has not been released.
As has become Trumps rhetorical modus operandi, all of this was done in an obvious effort to deflect attention from the real crises confronting the nation: the horrific economic and health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a host of other problems the President has failed to address and that arguably he caused or at minimum exacerbated.

Trumps dark message was explicit and unsubstantiated: "As we meet here tonight there is a growing danger that threatens every blessing our ancestors fought so hard for. Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children." He asserted that there exists a "far-left fascism" which is the "very definition of totalitarianism."

In addition, the President falsely claimed: Those who seek to erase our heritage want Americans to forget our pride and our great dignity, so that we can no longer understand ourselves or America's destiny. They would tear down the beliefs, culture and identity that have made America the most vibrant and tolerant society in the history of the Earth."
The Rapid City Council unanimously upheld on Monday Mayor Steve Allender's veto of a conditional use permit for a rescue mission facility on E. North Street.

On June 15, the City Council voted 5-4 to approve the permit for RV Ministries to use a building at 112 E. North Street as a mission for homeless and vulnerable people.

Last week, Allender vetoed the decision citing public safety issues at the location because of pedestrian traffic not using crosswalks and a nearby railroad line. The mayor also said the record was not clear as to what conditions of building use RV Ministries would implement at the location.

During Monday's City Council meeting, Jared Tomac, an attorney representing RV Ministries, said concerns about the railroad and unsafe crossing of the street by those using the mission building have been addressed by offering to place a fence along the railroad line and having crossing guards.

"We can find an issue anywhere. If we can find a dangerous condition, we can find it," Tomac said. "If we're going to say that East North Street is dangerous for people to be at this location, there are times where it is going to be dangerous, but it's also dangerous at other locations."
Pennington County States Attorney Mark Vargo filed the charges against Tilsen but was not the prosecutor in court.

Vargo told the Journal that hes not aware of the specific reasons why Tilsen remained in jail when others were released. He said defendants booked into jail over the weekend and charged with crimes without a specific victim  such as disorderly conduct may be automatically released by the jail or after posting a bond set by a judge who reviewed the case outside of court. But he said defendants accused of crimes with a victim as in Tilsen's case usually have to wait for bond to be set in court so the victim has a chance to provide input if they desire.

Vargo declined to comment about the ankle monitor request and accusations that law enforcement and his office were targeting Tilsen for his role in the protest. He also wouldnt comment on the evidence against Tilsen but said he is the only protester charged with stealing the shield.
Nonetheless, the ruling did little to curb the jubilation of pipeline opponents, who saw the demise of Atlantic Coast as evidence that the same thing could happen again.

It absolutely was a huge morale booster, said Russell Chisholm, co-chair of the Preserve our Water, Heritage, Rights coalition.

The job is only half finished, Maury Johnson of the coalition said. Today we enjoy this victory, but tomorrow we must double down on our efforts, pull together and send MVP and MVP Southgate to the scrap heap of bad ideas with the ACP.

Southgate is an extension of the pipeline into North Carolina. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project last month but said construction could not begin until the main pipeline regained its permits.

Mountain Valley says it expects to do that in time to complete the project early next year, at a cost of up to $5.7 billion.

But if there are more lawsuits and delays, time could be a factor.

Bloomberg News Service reported this week that two of the pipelines shippers, or customers, amended a 2016 contract to allow them to pull out of the deal if Mountain Valley is not in service by the end of 2021.
Prosecutors have dropped a misdemeanor charge against a Roanoke gym owner accused of violating a statewide order to close his doors against COVID-19.

Thomas Milton, who runs Titan Fit, was cited April 19 for keeping his northwest Roanoke business open in defiance of Executive Order 53. That directive from the governor, an early precaution against the pandemic, ordered the temporary closure of gyms and other businesses deemed non-essential.

In May, Miltons attorney, Greg Phillips, filed a motion to dismiss the charge and challenged the constitutionality of the order.

But on Tuesday, Commonwealths Attorney Donald Caldwell cited a more localized issue with the case and claimed that Milton was feuding with two former customers who owed back payments to Titan Fit.

Caldwell said that dispute led to an April 10 confrontation with Milton that resulted in the couple being criminally charged with trespassing, assault and abusive language. The prosecutor maintained that the couple had retaliated by reporting that Milton wasnt observing the temporary closure order.

The commonwealth is not proceeding because I believe the police are being used by the parties involved, Caldwell said Tuesday in Roanoke General District Court. Im not going to be a part of that.
Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Humphries announced late last week a new capital funding campaign dubbed Call for All. The goal is to raise $5 million by the end of August, before the organization closes its fiscal year books.

We have never experienced the level of financial concern as we face today, Humphries wrote. Due to COVID-19 and the resulting halt of our fundraising events this spring, the NWTF has experienced a near catastrophic loss of revenue that has forced us to cut operational expenses to ensure the sustainable financial health of the organization.

Humphries said the staff cuts were extremely difficult, calling those who were laid off dedicated, passionate individuals who are friends, colleagues, mentors and members. She said NWTF is reaching out to its volunteer chapters, partners and supporters to discuss plans moving forward, including how their areas will be staffed.

About the $5 million goal, Humphries said, Together, we can get there, but we need the help of our members, donors, friends and partners like never before.

Ducks Unlimited and other associations dependent on usual fundraising tactics are also experiencing pain. The Fredericksburg chapter of DU has always been one of the national leaders in terms of fundraising events.
There are an awful lot of parties going on, she said, noting that she observed Fourth of July parties with people in close contact and no face coverings. Obviously, when I see large groups of people gathered without any face coverings, it makes me concerned that they are not taking this pandemic seriously.

Younger people may also shrug off the virus if they have friends who had it with few or no negative effects, ODell said. While she understands why they may think that, she said its not a compassionate viewpoint to hold, and they arent immune to adverse effects.

Local residents returning from Myrtle Beach continue to test positive, and ODell said local health officials recommend people self-quarantine for 14 days or telework when possible after traveling from Horry County, South Carolina.

There are currently six outbreaks within the health districts, ODell said: three work sites, two long-term care facilities and one restaurant.

Asked how she feels as the state reopens, ODell said she felt tired for her and her staff.
Students from the same families will be scheduled for classroom learning on the same days, according to the plan. Individual student schedules will be released later in July once transportation plans have been finalized.

Face coverings will be optional when 6-feet of physical distancing is maintained, but they will be required on the bus. Students, unless theyre from the same family, will sit one per seat on the bus, for which district officials plan to file an intent to vary form with the Virginia Department of Education.

Chair Michelle Crook praised the plan for being thorough and reasonable. She said board members received parent comments ranging from wanting students back in school five days a week to wanting classrooms to remain closed.

We cant please both of those parents, she said. Thats not going to happen in our job. So our job, although its not going to make everyone happy, we have a job to do, and this is the hard part of our work.

Massie said that after collaborating with numerous groups, organizations and people, including the districts insurance group and health officials, the proposed plan represented the safest option.
What would you do if your employer handed you a letter that someone in your workplace had tested positive for COVID-19  but the employer declined to identify who?

Thats the situation for several hundred workers at the U.S. Postal Services Processing and Distribution Center in Roanoke. At least some employees there were informed June 29 that an outside contractor who visits the facility regularly had tested positive for the easily transmissible virus.

But one employee told me that not all workers had been informed. And even the union that represents mail handlers there  Local 305 of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union  was unaware of it when I first inquired Monday.

A Postal Service spokeswoman confirmed a case of COVID-19 among a highway contract route driver at the facility. But she said federal law prohibits the service from identifying that driver.

Under the Rehabilitation Act and the Privacy Act, specific employee medical information must be kept confidential and may only be shared in very limited circumstances, spokeswoman Susan Wright wrote me in an email Monday. Therefore, the Postal Service cannot share the name of the employee who tested positive for COVID-19 or further specifics of his or her medical condition.
Nutrien Ag Solutions, which merged with Crop Production Services in 2018, will pay for the restoration of an 11-mile stretch of the creek.

The negotiated settlement does not punish the global firm enough, the resident wrote, and passes over a plan suggested earlier by the company to restock the creek.

However, the Fish and Wildlife Service did not recommend restocking, citing the limited or lack of experience with propagating many of the fish species killed by the spill. Multiple years of research would be required, the plan stated, followed by the creation of a facility and staff to restock the creek.

In an earlier email written in April, Ciparis said there has been a partial recovery of fish life since the spill. The natural healing would go faster, she wrote, if impediments to fish passage are removed.

A large amount of sediment has accumulated behind the dam over the years, and Friends of the Rivers of Virginia asked that it be tested for PCBs, an industrial chemical banned in the United States in 1979 that still shows up in low concentrations in some water bodies.

Breaking up the dam would send the sediment downstream and might expose pollution that had not been a problem before, said Bill Tanger, chair of the group.
The activism of our young people today and what weve been hearing from them for weeks now helped me to realize that changing the name on that sign that I have passed by for 67 years, is not for my benefit, she said. Its not for my peers, Black or white, its too late for all of that. ... Its for the benefit of my children and my grandchildren, and all of our grandchildren, and more for generations to come, so that their lives are not in any way negatively affected by the vestiges of an ugly past based on a heritage that included hate.
Unionized workers at Volvo Trucks North America in Dublin have been on strike for the past two weeks after voting down two contract proposals. Since the strike began June 7, Volvo has been slow to come back to the bargaining table, UAW representatives say.
Two-thirds of Americans believe the anger that spurred nationwide protests after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis was merited, according to a new survey.

A plurality of those polled had positive feelings about their own communitys local police, but some stark differences were seen in how people felt across racial groups, according to the results of a national survey released Tuesday by Reconnect Research and Roanoke College.

Some 54% of white people, for example, reported feeling satisfied with their local police departments, compared to 23% of Black people.

Meanwhile, some 44% of Black people said either they or an immediate relative had experienced police harassment, compared to 22% of white people.

Both demographics reported having helpful encounters with police at nearly the same rates  42% for white respondents and 39% for Black respondents.

But the results also appeared to point to a more deeply embedded fear of police brutality within the Black community.

When asked if officers seemed more likely to use excessive force against Black people, 78% of Black respondents felt that was the case.
Were just trying to help them fit the guidelines to their individual situations, she said.

The updated school guidance can give schools added flexibility depending on their building layouts, she said.

And I think everybody knows its very important for children to be in school to learn, and theyll have a better experience overall  this isnt just about health, its about social and intellectual and cognitive development, she said, adding that its impossible to frame it from just a COVID prevention point of view.

Guidance may continue to change between now and the start of the school year, she said.

I think what people are gearing up to is to create an environment thats as safe as it can be based on the knowledge we have now and give parents options for their level of comfort, she said.

In Mondays letter to superintendents and local school districts, State Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver and Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane wrote that the update reflects the latest science, and the best public health guidance and recommendations available intended to reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in school settings.
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.
The Virginia Board of Elections voted Tuesday to allow several candidates running for Congress  including Republican Bob Good  the ability to have their names appear on the November ballot despite them failing to file paperwork on time.

The board granted an extension to all eight candidates  seven of whom were Republicans  on a vote of 2-1. Board Chairman Bob Brink reluctantly voted to accept the late candidate paperwork, saying the board was forced to give a pass to the scofflaws at the expense of the candidates who followed the rules.

Also among those who got approval to appear on the ballot was Democrat Nicholas Betts, who is challenging Rep. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt, in the 6th Congressional District, which stretches from Roanoke to Front Royal.

Betts addressed the board, saying he filed his paperwork with the 6th District Democratic Congressional Committee with the understanding it would submit it along with other necessary forms to get his name on the ballot as the Democratic nominee.

I had no reason to doubt that all necessary forms had been forwarded to you all, said Betts, who then filed it to the state later.
Despite extensive police grilling, Howard did not immediately identify Fentress as the shooter. Indeed, Howard did not identify Fentress as the shooter until he was literally escorted into the courtroom in handcuffs at his preliminary hearing six months later! Howard, who would later admit that she was pretty well lit on the night in question was the only witness to implicate Fentress at his trial. There was no DNA evidence, no ballistics, no serology, no hair fiber or trace evidence, no confession, no other eyewitnesses  nothing except the testimony of Julie Howard. In fact, the prosecutor said in his closing argument to the jury: This case hinges on whether or not you believe Julie Howardit all boils down to [that].

The case against Fentress was so weak that just prior to trial, the Commonwealth offered Fentress a 5-year plea if he would plead guilty. Fentress rejected the deal and stated unequivocally: Im not guilty; I was never there. Thereafter, and based solely on the testimony of Julie Howard, 17-year-old Fentress was convicted and sentenced to 53-years in prison.
2. Or does this make it less likely that the MVP will be completed? The same regulatory hurdles that blocked Dominion are there for the MVP, as well. One of its biggest obstacles right now is a court ruling  not out of Virginia, but out of Montana. In May, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris blocked a streamlined permitting process the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wanted to use for when pipelines need to cross bodies of water. The case deals with Keystone XL Pipeline, but his ruling effectively shuts down pipeline projects nationwide until completion of the consultation process and compliance with all environmental statutes and regulations  a process that could take months.

Time is of the essence for the MVP for lots of reasons. First, any delay drives up the cost. If corporate behemoths such as Dominion and Duke couldnt stomach the rising costs of the ACP, how will a smaller company such as the one behind the MVP handle the extra expense? Originally estimated to cost $3.7 billion, the MVPs pricetag is now put at $5.7 billion. Second, the clock is ticking. Bloomberg News Service reports that the MVPs time may be running out after two customers in May amended a 2016 agreement to terminate the deal if service doesnt begin by the end of 2021. Third, theres a presidential election coming. If pipeline projects cant be completed under the Trump administration  with its pro-fossil fuel policies  what will happen if theres a Biden administration in 2021? Bidens views on natural gas are murky, at best. Like many Democrats, hes embraced a call for 100% clean energy by 2050 but hes also said that he wont eliminate natural gas drilling on private lands. No, I would not shut down this industry, he told Pittsburgh TV station KDKA in April. Environmentalists wish he would, but Biden knows he may need to carry Pennsylvania to win  and natural gas has become big business there. In any case, its a fair bet that any Biden appointees would not be as gung-ho for natural gas pipelines as Trump appointees are. That raises this question:
WALL STREET

Markets experience negative trading day

Wall Streets recent string of big gains came to an abrupt stop Tuesday as stocks closed broadly lower following a pullback in markets overseas.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1% after spending most of the day in the red. The sell-off snapped the indexs five-day winning streak. Technology stocks, banks and companies that rely on consumer spending accounted for a big slice of the slide, which accelerated toward the end of the day. Bond yields fell and the price of gold rose, another sign of caution in the market.

The selling followed a deeper pullback in France, Germany and elsewhere after the European Unions executive arm said this years recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic will be deeper than forecast. It also said next years expected rebound could be weaker than expected.

Optimism that the economy is on the mend as businesses reopen has helped drive stocks higher. But the recent surge in confirmed new coronavirus cases has clouded hopes for a relatively quick economic turnaround. Investors are also girding for what the next few weeks will reveal about the health of corporate America as companies begin reporting their second-quarter results.
MINING.COMs ranking of the worlds 50 largest mining companies based on market value shows an industry clawing back most of the covid-19 related losses by the end of the second quarter.

The Top 50 most valuable mining companies added $249.5 billion in market capitalization over the three months to end June, thanks to surging gold and silver prices, iron ore prices in triple digits, and a late recovery in the copper market.

Minings majors looked poised to join the trillion dollar club at the beginning of the year but the pandemic torpedoed the early stages of a cyclical upswing for the industry at the end of last year.

The MINING.COM TOP 50 had a combined market value of $957 billion at the end of June, still more than $30 billion below this years opening levels.

Not surprisingly, precious metals companies stormed the rankings during the first half of 2020 with primary gold producers in the ranking adding $70 billion in market value this year.

Newmont and Barrick now look entrenched in the top five as diversified giants Glencore and Anglo Americans bad runs continue.

The integrated Swiss trader and mining giant now sits at no. 10 after a 34% year-to-date market value drop in USD terms  three years ago its top 3 spot seemed secure. London-listed Anglo falls 3 spaces to no. 9 with its market cap decline compounded by a depreciating pound sterling.

Another prominent European name, Polish copper company KGHM, is edged out to no. 51 by 2020 gold newcomers, B2Gold, Yamana and Evolution Mining.

Fertilizer companies are having a tough 2020, as potash producer Nutrien leaves the top 10 and Mosaic just holds on at no. 49 thanks to a 44% and 33% market value plunge.

Israel Chemicals drops out of the ranking altogether, thinning out the sectors presence further, following the delisting of Uralkali last year.

With the worst of the price falls of the battery raw material behind it, top lithium producer SQM manages to climb the ranking while a Q2 rally in the shares of Tianqi sees the Chinese company hold onto the final spot after making it as high as no. 32 three years ago.

Another former Chinese battery metals highflyer  China Molybdenum  is down five positions this year to no. 33 after briefly cracking the top 10 at the end of 2017.

The worlds largest uranium producers  Cameco and Kazatomprom  once again fail to make the top 50 despite the long-awaited rally in the nuclear fuel.

Notes:

Source: MINING.COM, MiningIntelligence, Morningstar, GoogleFinance, company reports. Trading data from primary-listed exchange where applicable, currency cross-rates Jul 1 2020. *Percentage change based on US$ market cap difference, not exchange price in local currency.

As with any ranking, criteria for inclusion are contentious issues. We decided to exclude unlisted and state-owned enterprises at the outset due to a lack of information. That, of course, excludes giants like Chiles Codelco, Uzbekistans Navoi Mining, which owns the worlds largest gold mine, Eurochem, a major potash firm, trader Trafigura, top uranium producer Kazatomprom and numerous entities in China and developing countries around the world.

Another central criterion was the depth of involvement in the industry before an enterprise can rightfully be called a mining company.

Related: Equities Cheer Stellar Jobs Report, But It May Be Fleeting

For instance, should smelter companies or commodity traders that own minority stakes in mining assets be included, especially if these investments have no operational component or not even warrant a seat on the board?

This is a common structure in Asia and excluding these types of companies removed well-known names like Japans Marubeni and Mitsui, Korea Zinc and Chiles Copec. Levels of operational involvement and size of shareholding was another central consideration. Do streaming and royalty companies that receive metals from mining operations without shareholding qualify or are they just specialized financing vehicles? We included Franco Nevada, Royal Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals.

What about diversified companies such as BHP or Teck with substantial oil and gas assets? Or oil sands companies that use conventional mining methods to extract bitumen for that matter? Vertically integrated concerns like Alcoa and energy companies such as Shenhua Energy where power, ports and railways make up a large portion of revenues pose a problem as does diversified companies such as Anglo American with separately listed majority-owned subsidiaries. Weve included Angloplat in the ranking as well as Kumba Iron Ore.

Chemical companies are also problematic  should Albemarle not be ranked because its potash and lithium operations are such a small part of its overall revenues? The same issue applied to FMC before it spun off its lithium business.

Many steelmakers own and often operate iron ore and other metal mines, but in the interest of balance and diversity we excluded the steel industry, and with that many companies that have substantial mining assets including giants like ArcelorMittal, Magnitogorsk, Ternium, Baosteel and many others.

Head office refers to operational headquarters wherever applicable, for example BHP and Rio Tinto are shown as Melbourne, Australia but Antofagasta is the exception that proves the rule. We consider the companys HQ to be in London, where it has been listed since the late 1800s.

Trading data from primary listing exchange and currency cross-rates at the date of publication. Market capitalization calculated at primary exchange, where applicable from total share outstanding, not only free-floating shares.

By Mining.com

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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.

Related: Why The World Is So Divided In Its COVID-19 Response

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.



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



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The China connection has consistently been a bogeyman for the wildly popular TikTok, and now, TikTok feels completed to distance itself further from Beijing as India--its biggest market--bans the app over government infiltration fears. India has moved to ban not only TikTok but 58 other Chinese apps, including Tencents WeChat, as a threat to sovereignty and integrity, on the heels of deadly clashes between the two countries in a remote border region.

A statement from Indias information technology ministry said reports indicated that the mobile apps were stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data.

TikTok, owned by Chinese ByteDance--which was counting on $1 billion in ad revenue from India alone this year--has responded quickly in an effort to extricate itself from any connection to China and its military standoff with India.

Reuters reports that it has seen correspondence between the Indian government and TikTok in which the latter insists that the Chinese government has not been requesting user data from the app, and that even if it did, TikTok--which is not available in China at all--would not comply.

"I can confirm that the Chinese government has never made a request to us for the TikTok data of Indian users," CEO Kevin Mayer assured the Indian government last week. If we do receive such a request in the future, he added, we would not comply.

TikTok says the data is stored in Singapore, while the Associated Press now reports that it is shifting that data to Ireland.

The immediate beneficiaries are Instagrams Reel and local Indian rival Roposo.

Indeed, its been great for local apps, with Roposo, for instance, claiming to have added 22 million users in just 48 hours after the ban, according to Reuters.

Facebooks Instagram couldnt be happier at the opportunity. Instagram Reel--a video editing tool for TikTok-style fare to be shared on Instagram Stories, is now attempting to emerge in India, according to BusinessInsider.

Related: How A Pandemic Made Americans Better Workers

Still, analysts argue that it will be very difficult to fully ban TikTok in India because it cannot be erased from devices that had downloaded it prior to the ban. That leaves pundits suggesting that the move by India was meant to send a geopolitical message less than it was about fears of Beijing tapping into India user data.

In the meantime, India is now at a bit of a crossroads following the worst border clashes with China in 50 years in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed recently.

The border clashes are really all about Kashmir, and were prompted by Indias move to revoke the special status of this disputed territory in August 2019, breaking a fragile deal between China, India and Pakistan--all of whom hold part of this territory--that has lasted for 70 years. India split Kashmir into two parts, and China moved troops into the area in May.

Now, its a complicated situation when trade between the two countries hit $95 billion in 2018--up from only $3 billion in 2000--in Chinas favor.

There is too much of Chinese presence in the everyday life of the average Indian, ABC News quoted Alka Acharya, professor of Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, as saying. The professor suggested that India had to respond with a large message following the death of its soldiers.

For TikTok, it means the potential loss of $6 billion if we are to believe the Chinese media, and assuming Indians who already have the app heed the governments request that they delete it.

By Fred Dunkley for Safehaven.com

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Following weeks of protests and negotiations, employees at Rancho Laguna Farms in Santa Maria have been granted their second pay raise in a month, bringing the wage per box of strawberries to $2.10, with owner Larry Ferini stating the company's commitment to improving safety and respect for employees.
Researchers at Cybernews uncovered two unsecured databases, with millions of records, belonging to Chinese companies.

The original post available here: https://cybernews.com/security/unsecured-chinese-companies-leak-users-sensitive-personal-and-business-data/

Our research uncovered two unsecured databases, with millions of records, belonging to companies that are based in China and provide different types of services. One database belongs to Xiaoxintong, which offers multiple apps and services aimed at elderly care. The other database we discovered seems to be connected to Shanghai Yanhua Smartech tools, which provides services related to intelligent buildings.

The database for Xiaoxintong, which serves more than 200 million elderly people in China, contains sensitive information such as GPS locations, mobile numbers, addresses, hashed passwords and more.

The second database that may be from Shanghai Yanhua Smartech has even more sensitive data, such as easily-decoded audio files, names, employee ID numbers, heart rates, oxygen levels, GPS locations and more. Both databases are now closed.

What was in the database?

Each database contains particularly sensitive information. Lets look at what information is contained in each database, and why we believe theyre connected to Xiaoxintong and Shanghai Yanhua Smartech.

The Xiaoxintong database

According to ITJuzi.com, Xiaxintong is an intelligent elderly care service platform that is composed of both an intelligent mobile terminal and cloud service platform. This service provides mobile rescue, love and health services to the elderly for free.

When we looked through the database, there was a section for content on the database owners website. This includes this text:



2015+2IT

When we entered that into Google, we found that the text comes from a page for the company Xiaoxin. Translated to Filial Piety, Xiaoxintong serves 200 million elderly people living in China. For reference there are about 241 million elderly people in China, which means that Xiaoxintong serves nearly 83% of all elderly people in China.

The Xiaoxintong database contains more than 340,000 records of:

Mobile numbers, addresses and GPS locations

Mobile numbers and names of users relatives and other Guardians

Location tracks (including addresses and GPS coordinates)

Hashed passwords

SOS records and SOS record locations

Personal IDs

Most of these (about 285,000) were for addresses, GPS coordinates and personal IDs.

The second database (possibly from Shanghai Yanhua Smartech)

While were fairly confident that the first Chinese database belongs to Xiaoxintong, we havent fully confirmed that the second database belongs to Shanghai Yanhua Smartech.

Shanghai Yanhua Smartech Group Co., Ltd., is a Chinese company thats primarily focused on intelligent building business. While the company seems to cover a lot of areas, according to MarketScreener its core business is on intelligent building projects, intelligent medical projects, and intelligent energy-saving projects. Based on its December 2018 report, the company had $162 million in revenue.

When looking at the contents of this second database, we see that it covers a lot of the same types of data: facilities, alarms, employees health monitoring data, and vehicle-related information.

Secondly, the database contains entries with the keyword yhzn in its class categories:

Typing yhzn into Google, you get this:

Unfortunately, we werent able to get in contact with the company to confirm or deny that it is their database.

The second database contains more than 4.2 million records of:

Persons Names, ID numbers (work-related), alarm (possible entry/exits), and warnings Audio files, and some have associated names Pedometers and device battery strength Users heart rate, oxygen level, and probably blood pressure (DBP  diastolic blood pressure  and SDBP  systolic blood pressure) Project and person names Packet GPS locations Peoples various GPS locations, including for personal tracks Vehicles Vehicle work IDs and license plate numbers, alarms, community weights, garbage weights, collect counts for communities (termed villages), etc., totaling thousands of entries Vehicle GPS locations and tracks Facilities Names of facilities, types of alarms, alarm status, GPS locations

Most of these records are for vehicle GPS locations and tracks, facility data, and peoples GPS tracks.

Examples of data in the second database

Person audio example:

Person health example:

Person tracks example:

Oil amount monthly report example:

Who had access?

The database seems to have been exposed for an unknown period of time. The total amount of records for both databases  potentially 5 million in total or more  contained highly sensitive information about both the elderly and their families, and employees within seemingly intelligent buildings and connected vehicles. Fortunately, both databases have been shut down.

Its still unclear whether any bad actors were able to access the data before the databases were closed. However, since the databases could be accessed by anyone with a moderate amount of technical knowledge, without needing any authentication, it is still possible that others have accessed them.

Whats the impact?

The database on the specific movements and health data from these databases can bring varying rewards for cybercriminals.

Cybercriminals have the option of selling these sensitive records, potentially netting even $1 per record. However, this information can be used in combination with other data in order to more effectively scam the users whose information is contained within the database. This can also include more targeted phishing campaigns, as well as exploitation.

Disclosure

In order to get these databases taken offline, we attempted to contact the database owners immediately after we discovered them on January 14, 2020. However, we were unable to contact those owners. The Xiaoxintong database was closed soon after we notified them, but for the second database we had to go through CERT of China (CNCERT), which worked with us to eventually close the database on March 5, 2020.

We were unable to get any comment or information from the database owners.

About the author: CyberNews Team

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs  Chinese companies, data leak)

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2016 through 2019 produced four of the five lowest death-sentencing years in the U.S. since the Supreme Court struck down existing death-penalty statutes in Furman v. Georgia in 1972. With new death sentences already near historic lows and most capital trials and sentencings now suspended or delayed, 2020 is expected to produce the fewest death sentences of any year in the modern history of the U.S. death penalty....

Only two death sentences have been imposed since the pandemic began shutting down courts in mid-March. Neither of those sentences  a trial before a three-judge panel in Ohio and a California trial courts acceptance of a jury verdict issued in January  involved new jury action, nor did the last sentences imposed prior to the pandemic.

The last death sentences imposed before the widespread court closures were handed down by a Florida trial judge on March 13, who sentenced Jesse Bell and Barry Noetzel to death after they pled guilty and were permitted to waive their rights to counsel and a jury sentencing. The next new death sentence came on May 18, when an Ohio three-judge panel sentenced Joel Drain to death. Drain had waived his right to a jury trial and sentence, presented no guilt defense and refused to present mitigating evidence in the penalty-phase of his trial. The 66 days between those two death sentences was the longest the United States had gone without a new death sentence since 1973....

First-Half 2020 Executions
 New BREATHE Act proposes, among lots and lots of reforms, eliminating federal mandatory minimums and life sentences | Main | Two thoughtful new commentaries on the role of prosecutors in criminal justice reform 

Sarah E. Ryan has this notable new Crime Report commentary headlined simply "Why Justice Still Eludes Crack Offenders." I recommend the whole piece, and here are excerpts:

In early 2007, Carl Smith sold 1.69 grams of crack, less than half a teaspoon. He also sold a teaspoon of powder cocaine. A New Hampshire federal judge sentenced him to seventeen-and-a-half years imprisonment, the lowest end of the sentencing guidelines recommendation.

Last spring, Smith sought a sentence reduction under the First Step Act. The district court denied the request because he was convicted under a statutory subsection unaffected by the new law. In essence, he had sold too little crack to go free. According to an early 2020 analysis by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the New Hampshire district courts granted just four sentence reductions under the First Step Act. The district of Rhode Island granted four times more reductions; the district of Connecticut granted five times as many.

Nationally, the average sentence reduction was 71 months. As a result, many defendants had served their time and could be released from incarceration. But not Carl Smith. He remained locked up during a pandemic. He appealed, arguing that the First Step Act covered his conviction.

After analyzing more than 500 First Step Act cases, including 90 relevant circuit court opinions, I know two things: this area of law remains in disarray and the circuit courts have largely dodged the tough issues. They remain complicit in a decades-old mass incarceration scheme.

The now-familiar history of the crack laws omits one key fact: Congress knew early on that the drug laws were disproportionately affecting Black defendants.... In 1995, the Sentencing Commission told Congress that Black defendants accounted for nearly 90 percent of crack cocaine convictions and that most of their customers were white. In 1996, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported the changing nature of the federal prison population using bold-faced sub-headers such as: An increasing percentage of the Nations prisoners are black or Hispanic. In 1999, the BJS reported that the length of federal prison sentences had increased 40 percent.

By the mid-1990s, lawmakers understood that dealers like Carl Smith were serving prison terms usually reserved for second-degree murder, or intentional murder demonstrating an extreme indifference to human life. Yet Congress provided no relief, for decades.

In 2010, Congress raised the quantity necessary for future statutory minimum sentences in the Fair Sentencing Act; the law did not help defendants sentenced at the height of the drug war. A few thousand people remained incarcerated under the old crack laws. Their only hope was an historic reform amounting to an admission of Congressional guilt. The First Step Act was that law. A bipartisan coalition heralded the First Step Act as the end of the draconian drug laws. The Act gave sitting judges the authority to reopen the old crack cases and impose more appropriate sentences.... The intent of the law was clear, but some judges wavered.

There are two plausible ways to read the resentencing section  section 404  of the First Step Act: as a small fix to the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 or a broad mandate to rectify thousands of unjust sentences. The broad reading is historically, legally and morally correct. But hundreds of hearings in, the nations district courts remain divided on the laws most basic tenets, like which defendants can be resentenced or what Section 404 empowers judges to do.

Some judges apply Section 404 narrowly. A subset dismiss cases involving too little or too much crack without a review of the other facts. Still others review all cases implicating a Fair Sentencing Act statute, but only to perform a new mathematical calculation. They do not consider a defendants post-sentencing conduct or intervening changes in the law, even favorable state and federal supreme court rulings. Their narrow interpretations of the law unnecessarily depress the length of sentence reductions.

Other judges construe Section 404 broadly. They view the First Step Act as a gateway to relief. Some find that they can revisit the sentences of small-time dealers or inmates serving hybrid sentences for interconnected drug and weapons crimes. Some believe that they may consider a defendants good conduct, prison coursework and recent high court rulings. Broad-view judges find that Congress empowered them to mitigate the damage of the old crack laws. Their proof? The text of the law, including the word impose as a mandate to issue an independent sentence  and the testimony of a dozen or more senators, of both parties, characterizing the First Step Act as redress for the old drug laws.

Recently, the First Circuit adopted a broad view in Carl Smiths case [opinion here]. That appellate opinion is reason for hope that the circuit courts will raze the remains of the old crack laws. This summer, the appellate courts should adopt a broad reading of the First Step Act. That reading should require sitting judges to issue meaningful sentence reductions, including timed served in many cases.

And, it should hold sitting judges accountable for the continued incarceration of non-violent drug dealers who have served a decade or more. Amidst global protests for freedom, liberation and justice for Black citizens, and a raging pandemic, the courts must fully enact the First Step Act as Congress intended.
4 Stocks That Have Significantly Outperformed the Straits Times Index

It has been a roller-coaster ride for investors thus far this year.

Stock markets crashed swiftly in March as the COVID-19 infection and death rates worsened, only to witness a strong rebound as the situation eased slightly due to lockdowns and border closures.

With the second wave of infections hitting countries such as Japan, South Korea and the US, already weakened economies are at risk of suffering another major hit.

Back in Singapore, our Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) has declined by around 16.6% year to date.

Many industries have been badly hit by the virus and are still struggling to pick up the pieces.

However, amidst the carnage, there have been bright spots.

Some companies have not only weathered the storm but have also done significantly better during this tough period.

Here are four companies that managed to outperform the STI this year.

AEM Holdings Ltd (SGX: AWX)

AEM offers application-specific intelligent system test and handling solutions for electronic and semiconductor companies that serve the computing, 5G and artificial intelligence sectors.

Shares in the group have soared 58.4% year to date and closed at an all-time high of S$3.31 recently.

In a business update for the first quarter of 2020, AEM reported a sparkling set of results.

Revenue almost tripled from S$52.7 million to S$146.8 million.

Net profit after tax soared more than five-fold from S$6.6 million to S$36.1 million.

Net profit margin increased sharply, from just 12.5% in the first quarter of 2019 to 24.6% in the current quarter.

The stellar growth was driven by increased orders from its key customers for tools, consumables and services.

Prospects look bright for the group as it works on several new technologies with various potential customers.

COVID-19 has had minimal impact on the group as its operations are deemed essential and, therefore, are allowed to continue to operate.

iFAST Corporation Ltd (SGX: AIY)

iFAST is a financial technology company that owns a wealth management platform, with assets under administration (AUA) of S$9.54 billion as of 31 March 2020.

Story continues

The group is present in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and India.

Year to date, iFASTs shares have risen 35.6%.

The group reported a record quarterly net profit of S$3.64 million in the first quarter of 2020, up 126% year on year.

The result was achieved on the back of a 25% year on year increase in net revenue, and despite the sharp volatility experienced in financial markets.

Although AUA fell briefly below the S$10 billion mark, as of April 22, iFAST had regained the S$10 billion AUA level.

The group also recently announced that it had qualified for the next round of screening for Singapores first batch of digital wholesale banks.

Sheng Siong Group Ltd (SGX: OV8)

Sheng Siong is one of the largest supermarket chains in Singapore.

The group operates a chain of 61 grocery outlets across the island, selling a wide assortment of live produce as well as general merchandise.

Sheng Siongs share price has risen by 30.2% this year.

For the first quarter of 2020, revenue increased by 30.7% year on year, while net profit jumped by 50% year on year.

As food and groceries are considered essential services, Sheng Siong was allowed to operate normally during Singapores circuit breaker period.

The group saw a surge in buying during the first three months as many people stocked up on essential items due to an irrational fear of stocks running out.

Moving forward, the group has secured two new HDB leases and will proceed to fit out the new stores.

Riverstone Holdings Limited (SGX: AP4)

Riverstone is a manufacturer of nitrile and natural rubber gloves for both the cleanroom and healthcare industries.

The group has six manufacturing facilities located in Malaysia, China and Thailand, with a total glove production capacity of nine billion pieces per annum as of 31 March 2020.

Year to date, Riverstones share price has been on a tear, more than tripling from S$0.94 to S$2.93.

In a business update released for the first quarter of 2020, the group reported that revenue increased by 16.2% year on year, while net profit jumped by 54.3% year on year to RM 46.6 million.

The pandemic has led to a surge in demand for healthcare gloves, significantly boosting the groups order book.

For the remainder of 2020, Riverstone is on track to increase its capacity to a total of 10.4 billion gloves per annum, which should help to alleviate pressure on supply.

With share prices battered to multi-year lows, many attractive investment opportunities have emerged. In a special FREE report, we show you 3 stocks that we think will be suitable for our portfolio. Simply click here to scoop up your FREE copy before the next stock market rally.

Click here to like and follow us on Facebook and here for our Telegram group.

Disclaimer: Royston Yang owns shares in iFAST Corporation Limited.

The post 4 Stocks That Have Significantly Outperformed the Straits Times Index appeared first on The Smart Investor.
Financial crime compliance solutions ensure that local banks can fight AML/CFT threats in real-time and better support economic growth

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN / SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 7 July 2020 - Accuity, the leading provider of financial crime screening, payment services, and counterparty know-your-customer (KYC) solutions, today announced how leading banks across Pakistan, including HabibMetro Bank, Sindh Bank Limited, and Askari Bank Limited, are using Accuity solutions to meet ever increasing regulatory requirements. Having supported more than 40% of Pakistan's banking and financial services institutions over the past decade, Accuity continues to work closely to enhance the sector's ability to meet their local and international Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) obligations.





Pakistan has been making progress in meeting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 27-point compliance requirements. By meeting this global standard, Pakistan aims to strengthen its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and at the same time boost its economy by positioning itself as a regional financial and exports hub.





"Accuity has helped contribute to the efforts of the Pakistan government and State Bank of Pakistan to establish a strong system to combat money laundering and terrorist financing," said Bharath Vellore, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Accuity. "With our best-in-class financial crime screening and compliance solutions, our customers in Pakistan across banking, microfinance and insurance are confidently offering financial products and services to meet the levels of compliance required by global, regional and local regulators They are now in a better position to accelerate cross-border trade volumes, enable remittances from its large diaspora, drive financial inclusion, and provide small and medium enterprise credit."





Establishing Global Banking Relationships to Serve the World's Seventh Largest Diaspora

Story continues





HabibMetro Bank is a subsidiary of Habib Bank AG Zurich (HBZ) -- a Swiss multinational bank with operations in nine countries. Due to its international presence and multiple correspondent banking relations, HabibMetro must perform due diligence on its correspondent banks in a timely manner, as per the guidelines from FATF and the Wolfsberg Group.





To do so, HabibMetro uses the Bankers Almanac solution from Accuity, including the Due Diligence module, to conduct KYC due diligence checks when increasing its correspondent banking footprint in other geographies. Bankers Almanac provides a single and consistent source of truth for information on over 21,500 banks, providing supporting documentation for due diligence checks, and allowing the Bank to more effectively manage its financial counterparty KYC and mitigate any associated risks.





"Bankers Almanac helps HabibMetro to comprehensively manage our periodic financial counterparty reviews and onboard new financial counterparties more efficiently, with the click of a button," said Farooq Ahsanuddin, Head of Financial Institutions & Remittances at Habib Metropolitan Bank. "These capabilities allow us to increase the productivity of our financial services team and streamline our banking operations, while delivering unparalleled service to our customers worldwide."





Real Time Screening Capabilities to Meet Compliance Mandates and Drive Financial Inclusion



Sindh Bank Limited is a government-owned Pakistani scheduled bank with 330 branches in 169 cities nationwide. To effectively manage its AML and CFT compliance checks, identify politically exposed persons (PEP), and deter proscribed persons from engaging in illicit financial activities, the bank adopted Firco Compliance Link and Firco Global WatchList solutions to demonstrate enhanced screening capabilities and processes to local regulators. It is also using Bankers Almanac to provide supporting documentation for due diligence checks.





"The bank's ability to have a consolidated view of all accounts and transactions activities, conduct on-going and automated screening, coupled with comprehensive audit trails to the regulators, is fundamental in ensuring that our branch network both meets compliance mandates and promotes economic development," said Mr. Imran Samad, President and CEO of Sindh Bank Limited. "We have chosen to partner with Accuity for its sophisticated, intelligent and automated approach, speeding up operations and improving our services to our valued customers. This in turn gives us more capacity to innovate and help drive financial inclusion."





Setting Strong Controls on Exports with an Advanced Trade Compliance Solution





Askari Bank Limited is a commercial and retail bank in Pakistan that implemented Firco Compliance Link in 2018 to manage risks related to trade-based money laundering and terrorist financing. This solution brings together proprietary data, on-ground intelligence, and regulatory compliance expertise that allows the bank to centralize its screening processes against trade transactions involving sanctioned individuals, entities, vessels, ports, and dual-use and controlled goods (DUG).





"By offering an enterprise-wide, single screening solution, Accuity is covering seven different applications of the bank that are mostly integrated for the purpose of performing real-time screening for accounts, payments and trade transactions. Accuity is able to meet all our compliance and business requirements, thereby safeguarding the bank from any regulatory or reputational risks," said Mr. Ali Raza Zaidi, Chief Compliance Officer, Askari Bank Limited. "This allows Askari Bank Limited to maintain our position as the local standard bearer in proactively meeting the highest trade compliance requirements, while ensuring innovation."





More information on the Accuity portfolio of financial crime screening and payment services solutions can be found here: https://accuity.com/what-we-do/overview





About Accuity:

Accuity offers a suite of innovative solutions for payments and compliance professionals, from comprehensive data and software that manage risk and compliance, to flexible tools that optimise payments pathways. With deep expertise and industry-leading data-enabled solutions from the Fircosoft, Bankers Almanac and NRS brands, the Accuity portfolio delivers protection for individual and organisational reputations.





Part of RELX, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries, Accuity has been delivering solutions to banks and businesses worldwide for 180 years.
A couple wearing face masks walk past the Merlion statue in Singapore., 14 March 2020. (PHOTO: AP Photo/Ee Ming Toh)

By Low De Wei and Faris Mokhtar

(Bloomberg) -- In Indonesia, locals can soon fly from Jakarta to the beaches of Bali for a domestic vacation. Tokyo residents can escape the pandemic stress with a hike up Mount Fuji, and New Yorkers can head to the Hamptons on Long Island.

Residents of Singapore, a city-state smaller than New York City, have few such options, presenting a massive problem for its battered tourism industry. With borders closed to foreigners, hotels and tourist attractions need to count on staycationers to plug the gap in an industry that brought in almost US$20 billion in revenue last year. Its a tall order.

Unless we have a return to international business, the hotel industry is going to be decimated as up to 90% of our bookings come from international travellers, said Michael Issenberg, chief executive officer of Accor SAs Asia Pacific unit, the largest hotel operator in Singapore.

While tourism everywhere has been hammered by the pandemic, the gradual opening of some domestic travel has given a shot in the arm to airlines and hotels in places like Australia and Vietnam. Rosewood Hotel Group has seen occupancy rates as high as 70% at some of its China properties as leisure travel picks up, said CEO Sonia Cheng.

Singapores tourism sector faces a tougher challenge, as the hotels were just given a green light last week to request approval to welcome domestic tourists. Many locals like teacher Najeer Yusof prefer to save their money and wait for travel to resume in nearby hotspots like Thailand and Malaysia rather than spend it on a hotel down the street.

Theres more to see and experience overseas at a cheaper cost, said Yusof. Theres also the awe factor -- getting to see or experience something I wont otherwise be able to in Singapore, like the mountains and national parks in Indonesia and activities like diving and surfing.

Though the country of 5.7 million people has reopened its economy after a lockdown of more than two months, its borders are still largely closed. It recorded a historic low of just 750 foreign visitors in April, down from 1.6 million in the same month last year. Mays numbers werent much better, at 880.

Story continues

In the short-term, hotels, eateries and attractions can re-orientate to draw interest to staycations, attractions or food discounts, said Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. However, our inherent small domestic market size implies it may not be a longer-term sustainable solution.

GDP Boost

Tourism has been an increasingly important industry for Singapore, helping to diversify the economy from its traditional strengths of finance, oil refining and shipping. Attractions including the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino, the Universal Studios theme park and the Singapore Zoo have drawn tourists from around the world.

Last year, Singapore hosted a record 19.1 million visitors, while tourism receipts rose to S$27.7 billion ($19.8 billion), from S$26.9 billion the year before. Singapores tourism sector, which employs about 65,000 people, contributes about 4% to gross domestic product. The Singapore Tourism Board doesnt track the share of local versus international tourism.

The border closure means Singapore needs to persuade locals to spend more money at home. Even with overseas travel off limits, Singapore residents will still want to venture out, said Tourism Board CEO Keith Tan.

They may therefore be open to take time off in their own city and rediscover all that Singapore has to offer, he said in an emailed statement.

Singapore has set aside S$90 million for the tourism sector and a task force is developing domestic and international recovery plans to be shared soon, Tan added.

The board also aims to strengthen Singapores brand abroad by spending S$2 million to encourage content creators to produce compelling stories about the city-state, Tan said.

Expats Return

Hotels including the Shangri-la are also getting a small boost from the thousands of Singaporeans and expats who had been traveling abroad and are slowly being allowed back in. When they arrive, most are being forced to quarantine for 14 days in a hotel, at a cost of about S$2,000.

With occupancy running at just 15% for August, the iconic Raffles Singapore is offering a two-night special for about S$795, complete with a complimentary Singapore Sling, free breakfast, city tour and spa discounts.

Some tourist spots are also offering price cuts to attract residents whove been cooped up in their apartments for weeks. Sentosa Development Corp., which manages a resort island with attractions including Madame Tussauds and Universal Studios, has waived admission fees until the end of September, said Lynette Ang, the chief marketing officer.

Lo & Behold Group, which operates the Tanjong Beach Club just 15 minutes from the financial district, is launching a new concept called Dine In Nature, which includes curated gourmet picnic baskets. It hopes this will fulfill a growing demand from local residents for polished, thoughtful dining experiences, said Chief Operations Officer Andrew Ing.

For Singapores tourism industry, a full recovery isnt likely before 2022, and largely depends on countries avoiding additional waves of the virus and the development of a vaccine, said Wong King Yin, a lecturer in marketing at Singapores Nanyang Technological University.

Although domestic travel can be a solution at the beginning during the recovery stage, the tourism industry cannot rely on staycations to survive, she said.

(Updates with virtual promotion plan)

 2020 Bloomberg L.P.
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 6 July 2020 - Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) recently hosted a digital fireside chat on "Transformational Regulatory Change to Accelerate Innovation" with the Philippine Central Bank Governor Dr. Benjamin Diokno and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Chief FinTech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty, moderated by UnionBank Vice-Chairman Dr. Justo A. Ortiz.

The special hour-long discussion touched on various topics including open banking, the National ID system, blockchain and central bank digital currency among others. Governor Diokno and Mr. Mohanty also discussed the regulatory frameworks in the Philippines and Singapore respectively, highlighting the need for a sandbox approach when dealing with emerging technologies.

"Regulation and innovation - they sound like an oxymoron. For a long time it may have been the case but it is no longer," said UnionBank Vice Chairman Justo Ortiz.

Ortiz opened the session by recalling how compliance with regulatory requirements paved the path for UnionBank's transformation journey, showing how regulators can often be catalysts for innovation. "The only way to handle the compliance requirements in a sustainable, effective and timely way was to digitize our processes so that we could acquire, store, access and report the data in the various cuts the regulators want to see, and that went into our strategic planning exercise," Ortiz shared.

Central Bank Governor Benjamin Diokno recognized the crucial role of technology in revitalizing the economy amidst the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. He emphasized that the Central Bank's prioritizes support for banks and financial institutions so that these can deliver financial services to the public using innovative technology.

With this, the Governor shared three principles to foster an environment conducive to innovation. First, regulations have to risk-based, proportionate and fair. Second, there has to be active multi-stakeholder collaboration. Lastly, innovations should benefit consumers, especially the most vulnerable and those availing of financial services for the first time.

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Governor Diokno shared an overview of the Philippine Central Bank's Fintech Roadmap which focuses on proportionality of regulation based on risk profile and systemic importance. He also discussed improving Central Bank's capabilities through regulatory and supervisory technology such as AI and predictive analytics. Finally, Governor Diokno highlighted the importance of open collaboration between financial regulators and fintech players and providing a flexible "test and learn" environment to engage and oversee fintech innovators. UnionBank's i2i, which connects rural banks through a blockchain-based network, was cited as one of the successful initiatives born out of the Central Bank's test and learn approach.

MAS Fintech Chief Sopnendu Mohanty shared his view on what a post-COVID19 economy will be like and gave insights on what regulators should look into to respond and adapt to this new normal.

He mentioned that the pandemic has affected businesses in two ways: first, it shifted the focus of digitalization from efficiency and productivity to resiliency and sustainability, and second, it accelerated the digitalization of all processes. According to Mohanty, this new digital normal will make economies more open, connected and interoperable. However, regulators must embrace progressive policies for this to happen.

Mohanty emphasized the need for National Digital Infrastructure which lays the foundation for fintech capabilities such as the National ID, eKYC and seamless payment facilities. He also noted the need for trusted data exchange at the national level.

Another key component of a connected financial services ecosystem is open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) which can be accessed and consumed by financial institutions and fintechs. According to Mohanty, this is the first step to open banking and allows more seamless data accessibility among institutions, thus leading to better financial products and services as well as inclusive prosperity.

Lastly, Mohanty echoed the principles raised by Governor Diokno such as the need for a collaborative mindset and implementation of balanced and agile regulations. He also noted that an environment conducive to experimentation and collaboration, matched with regulation that adapts to ever-changing scenarios, can bring forth transformative innovations that benefit economies.

The fireside chat was part of UnionBank's Tech Up 0-1-2-3 webinar series, co-organized with the Fintech Philippines Association, the Distributed Ledger Technology of the Philippines (DLTAP), Tech Up Pilipinas, Philippine Fintech Festival, UnionBank GlobalLinker and UBX.
Over 200 countries can send and receive money via Vodacom's Tanzania M-Pesa.

The mobile Money services continues to drive economic growth and financial inclusion in Africa.





Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - EQS Newswire - 7 July 2020 - Tanzania's leading mobile money service provider - Vodacom M-Pesa - has announced the expansion of its International Money Transfer service portfolio. Vodacom customers will now have the option and ability to easily transfer and receive funds from individuals across more than 200 countries worldwide.





Download Image: Assistant Manager, Oversight and Policy at Directorate of National Payment Systems from Bank of Tanzania, Albert Cesari (centre), in a group photo with Vodacom Tanzania Executive Committee members including WorldRemit Tanzania Country Director Cynthia Ponera (second left) during International day of family remittances event held in Dar es Salaam





This was said recently at an international day of family remittances event held in Dar es Salaam where stakeholders met to deliberate on the future of International Remittance post COVID 19.





Speaking during a panel discussion on the same, Assistant Manager, Oversight and Policy at Directorate of National Payment Systems from Bank of Tanzania (BOT) Albert Cezari said the national bank has increased limits on digital transactions and reviewed balances of mobile wallets in a bid to provide relief and ensure continuity of services as part of measures taken amidst COVID-19.





On his part, Vodacom Tanzania PLC Managing Director Mr. Hisham Hendi, said that international remittances make possible people and small businesses to stay connected irrespective of geography. He further pointed out that international remittances continue to transform the lives of thousands of Tanzanians through facilitating payments in education, health, and various business segments which is why Vodacom M-Pesa has aimed to continue providing a platform for Tanzanian diaspora to effectively participate in socio-economic activities which will contribute to the overall development of the country.

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"We pride ourselves for being enablers in the payment system by facilitating cross border trade within the region for the efficient and seamless sending and receiving of funds, from anywhere around the globe through M-Pesa International Money Transfer Service.' He said.





Vodacom M-Pesa has broadened its portfolio of partnerships and countries over the past few months to widen its Money transfer service worldwide. At the global stage, partners include MoneyGram, WorldRemit, Remitly and JubaExpress, all of whom enable customers to receive money from over 200 countries across the World directly into their M-Pesa wallet.





Pan African partnerships include Safaricom, MTN, EcoCash and Mama Money, which enable customers to send or receive money from Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Burundi and South Africa.





'With such a huge portfolio of international Money transfer partners, the world is a village with M-Pesa. We thank our customers for their patronage and we remain committed to deliver on our vision to lead Tanzania into the digital age and change lives through technology" He concluded.





Peter De Caluwe, CEO- Thunes praised the move saying such partnerships and innovations support the true African spirit because African countries have always been connected through daily movement of people, goods and services. International Money Transfer services are critical to the African economies as they facilitate inflow of foreign currency into these countries which has a direct bearing on the social and economic welfare of Africans".





"Whilst the importance of mobile payments to financial inclusion in developing markets cannot be overstressed, the M-Pesa IMT service goes an extra mile by allowing previously excluded to send and receive money across borders affordably. Thus our partnership with Vodacom M-Pesa aims at increasing the reach of international money transfers'.





According to World Bank Figures, Tanzania recent remittances stood at $430 million, an increase of $25 million from 2019. The sum represents 0.8 percent of the country's GDP.





The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





About Vodacom Tanzania:

Vodacom Tanzania Plc is the country's leading mobile operator and mobile financial services provider. We provide a wide range of communication services for consumers and enterprise - including voice, data and messaging, video, cloud and hosting, mobile solutions and financial services - to over 15 million customers. Vodacom Tanzania Plc and its subsidiary companies are part of the Vodacom Group registered in South Africa, which is in turn, owned by Vodacom Group Plc of the United Kingdom. It has been registered on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) with registration number ISIN: TZ1886102715 Stock name: VODA.





For further information, please visit our website: www.vodacom.co.tz





About Vodacom M-Pesa Tanzania





Vodacom M-Pesa is Tanzania's largest mobile financial service introduced by Vodacom Tanzania PLC in 2008. Now GSMA certified and with over 10 million customers, M-Pesa has significantly contributed towards financial inclusion and economic activity in the country. Customers deposit and withdraw money from their M-Pesa wallets through over 200,000 agents across the country. The M-Pesa ecosystem connects businesses, banks and government agencies making digital payments possible.





To date, M-Pesa continues to be the market leader in mobile financial services, rolling out innovative services such as savings & Loans, Virtual Debit cards, Overdraft services, Group savings, E-payments and many more, which address the real needs of Tanzanian thereby enhancing financial inclusion and deepening.




Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to start pushing Monday for a global consensus on peace talks with the Taliban, even as his spokesman slammed the militants for a spike in violence. Ghani is hosting three online conferences with representatives of some 20 countries this week, with the first meeting scheduled for later Monday. They aim to "build a consensus" for the peace talks at regional and international level, said Gran Hewad, a spokesman for the foreign ministry. The United States and Russia along with some international organisations such as the United Nations will take part, officials said. Other countries participating include Pakistan, India, Iran, China, Egypt and Qatar, they added. But just hours ahead of the first online meeting, Ghani's spokesman slammed the Taliban for an uptick in violence in recent weeks. "There is no obstacle on our side for the peace process, but we see that the Taliban are not serious," Sediq Sediqqi told reporters. "The government of Afghanistan released a large number of Taliban in order to reduce violence in the country, but the violence has not decreased." Afghan authorities have released more than 4,000 Taliban prisoners out of 5,000 demanded by the insurgents in a deal with Washington signed in February. That deal paves the way for withdrawing of all foreign forces from Afghanistan by the middle of next year. Violence dropped in the run-up to the Taliban-Washington deal -- and again, briefly, after militants announced a three-day ceasefire on May 24. But there has been a spike in violence across much of the country in the past few weeks, with officials blaming the Taliban for killing and wounding hundreds of security personnel and civilians. The Taliban have denied responsibility for many of the attacks, but acknowledge their fighters were targeting Afghan security forces in rural areas.
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.

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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.

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People's Action Party Secretary-General and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, right, fields questions from the media at a nomination center ahead of the general election on 30 June, 2020. (PHOTO: AP)

by Chua Ming Xuan

As a first-time voter, I take my new responsibility very seriously.

I am part of a new generation of voters, who are creating viral memes highlighting important socio-political and environmental issues close to our hearts. It is deeply encouraging to see my peers beginning to explore the diverse manifestos proposed by the various political parties, scrutinising each detail and debating the future they envision and aspire towards. We are putting in tremendous effort to understand before we vote, showing that we arent as apathetic as critics might say.

I believe that each General Election (GE) allows Singaporeans to make a stand about the type of social contract we want. However, we must ensure that decorum and rules are abided during a GE.

We need to hold our politicians and ourselves to high standards  to use words responsibly so that everyone can vote wisely. By doing so, we can leave a legacy we are proud of for the next generation.

The rules of political discourse was less of an issue decades ago. Our forefathers focused on existential realities, not having the luxury to pontificate on such philosophies. I only gained a deeper appreciation of this perspective when I started volunteering in grassroots activities. My conversations with the older generation allowed me to empathise with their concerns.

Today, most of us are fortunate to enjoy the fruits of the labour of our ah gongs  many of us no longer worry about how or when to get our next meal. We must use this privilege to think about the ethos that defines our generation.

We are facing challenges besides those brought on by COVID-19  such as climate change and inequalities across various measures (economic, social and other markers of identity). Finding the words to understand and analyse the facts and feelings, and to mediate between different solutions to these problems, will be another challenge.

Take the Raeesah Khan controversy, for example. There are moments where regardless of race, language or religion is tested  when we discuss issues of privilege and race. While she may not have worded her feelings well in her social media posts, in my opinion, she does point out some hard truths we must face.

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Moving beyond the specifics of her comments, she and other minorities have raised issues about race in Singapore  lets debate about that. Lets listen to each other and get educated. We need to build a society thats able to deal maturely with different viewpoints and emotions. Right now, in an era where social media enables individuals to express their views more freely, we seem to be drowning in a competition about who is louder and forgetting to meaningfully explore differing perspectives.

For young voters, we must learn to sieve out the noise. It is our responsibility to do so as I sincerely believe that each and every one of our votes matter.

Beyond choosing the people who will form the government, we are deciding what type of politics we want to see  and eventually leave behind for our children.

Chua Ming Xuan is a final-year student reading International Relations at Singapore Institute of Management (University of London). The views are his own.

He will be a panellist on Inconvenient Questions Special - Panel Discussion with Prof Tambyah, Chairman, SDP. Organised by Strategic Moves in collaboration with National University of Singapore Society (NUSS), it is a one-hour panel discussion with the SDP chairman and his party colleagues, Damanhuri Abas and Min Cheong. They will be joined by six panellists from a range of industries. Watch the session live on the NUSS YouTube channel at 6pm.



Follow Yahoo News Singapores GE2020 coverage here.

GE2020 stories:

GE2020: Tan Cheng Bock shows up in Pasir Ris, calls SDAs Desmond Lim 'good friend'

GE2020: Elections Department tells parties to stop shouting slogans as it raises COVID-19 risk

COMMENT: WP, Raeesah Khan need to be more upfront over insensitive' remarks saga

GE2020: Don't be taken in by those saying it's important just to have more choices  PM Lee

GE2020: I'm determined to see through COVID-19 crisis, hand over Singapore in good order  PM Lee

GE2020: Opposition relying on old recycled manifestos, are completely silent on how to tackle COVID-19  PM Lee
Visitors wearing protective mask scan a QR code for Safe Entry check-in at the Universal Studios at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore. (PHOTO: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed on Tuesday (7 July) 157 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, bringing the total to 45,140.

Of them, 20, half of which are Singaporeans, aged between 2 and 70, are classified as cases in the community. Three others are imported cases, while the remaining 134 are foreign workers living in dormitories.

Overall, 94% of new cases are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing

Among the new cases, four are students  one each from Bedok View Secondary School, East Spring Primary School, Jurong West Primary School and Jurong WestSecondary School  and a fifth case is a teacher from Assumption Pathway School.

The four students are linked to household infections. They were already on Home Quarantine Order (HQO) due to MOHs ringfencing measures before they were later swabbed as close contacts of their household members. These students werewell when they were last in school the previous week. Investigations are on-going forthe teacher from Assumption Pathway School.

About 60 students and 10 staff each in Assumption Pathway School, East Spring Primary School, Jurong West Primary School and Jurong West Secondary School who were in contact with the confirmed cases, have been issued a 14-day Leave of Absence (LOA) by MOE or HQO by MOH.

For Bedok View Secondary School, as the student was last in school on 30 June, MOH has assessed the risk of infection for students and staff to be low. Hence, no LOA or HQO has been issued. said MOE.

We would also like to assure all parents and students that while we can expect to see such confirmed cases from time to time through a more extensive COVID-19 testing regime, we will continue to quickly isolate those who are at risk of infection through LOA and HQO. This will prevent transmissions and enable the rest of the school system to continue to function normally.

12 of the community cases today are linked to previous cases or clusters. Of these, 11 had been identified as contacts of previously confirmed cases, and had been tested during their quarantine to determine their status. The remaining case (Case 45087) was swabbed as part of the screening of workers in essential services, even though he is asymptomatic.

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8 of the community cases are currently unlinked. Of these, 5 cases (Cases 45085, 45089, 45090, 45091 and 45092) were tested as they work in essential services, even though they are all asymptomatic. The remaining cases (Cases 45027, 45149 and 45164) were swabbed under the community testing to test all individuals aged 13 and above who are diagnosed with acute respiratory infection at first presentation to a doctor.

Amongst the 3 imported cases aged between 7 and 32, 2 (Cases 45123 and 45147) are Indian nationals who are Dependants Pass holders, and have returned to Singapore from India on 23 June.

The remaining case (Case 45024) is a Filipino who returned to Singapore from the Philippines on 19 June. She is a Work Pass holder who is currently employed in Singapore. 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.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of 8 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 14 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased, from an average of 4 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 6 per day

Over 90% have fully recovered

With 285 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Tuesday, 41,002 cases  90.8 per cent of the total tally  have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 219 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while one is in critical condition in the intensive care unit, down from two on Monday.

A total of 3,893 patients with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Apart from 26 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 12 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four, including the 48-year-old male Indian national, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

Only cases where the attending doctor or pathologist attributes the primary or underlying cause of death as due to COVID-19 infection will be added to the COVID-19 death count, said the MOH in previous press releases, adding that the method of assessment is consistent with international practices for classifying deaths.

As of 29 June, the ministry has conducted 757,746 swab tests, of which 414,396 were done on unique individuals. This translates to around 132,900 swabs conducted per 1 million total population, and about 72,700 unique individuals swabbed per 1 million total population.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Manpower said in a media release that 384 more dormitories have been cleared of COVID-19 with effect from Tuesday (7 July).

These comprise one purpose-built dormitory, 345 factory-converted dormitories and 38 construction temporary quarters. In addition, 23 blocks for recovered workers in 5 purpose-built dormitories have been cleared.

This takes the total number to 625 dormitories and 44 blocks for recovered workers in 17 purpose-built dormitories cleared of COVID-19.

Singapore entered Phase 2 of its reopening  with various safe distancing measures still in place  on 19 June. This phase is expected to last up to six months or longer, according to authorities.

Singapores General Election will take place on 10 July during this phase.

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: Police investigating man believed to have made report on WP candidate Raeesah Khan

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GE2020: 'Good friends' PSP's Tan Cheng Bock, SDP's Paul Tambyah reiterate call for COVID-19 debate

On The Mic: GE2020  Kumaran Pillai of the Progress Singapore Party

COMMENT: A voter's responsibility to sieve out the noise, words matter

GE2020: IMDA refutes RP sec-gen's allegation it wasn't given enough notice for CPB
Workers' Party candidates He Ting Ru and Terence Tan, who met while volunteering for the WP and eventually married, speaking to Yahoo News Singapore on Monday, 6 July 2020. PHOTO: Nick Tan/Yahoo News Singapore

SINGAPORE  Back in 2013, He Ting Ru, now 37, first caught sight of her future husband Terence Tan when he spoke at a rally for the Punggol East by-election. Initial impressions were far from promising.

I just remember thinking, wow, this bald guy likes to shout, said He, who anchors the Workers Party (WP) team for Sengkang Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

Tan, now 48, had a far more positive view of the Cambridge-educated lawyer, I liked her. I respected her. I found her very caring and empathetic towards people, because I was doing house visits with her.

Today, the couple have been married for four years, and have two sons aged two and three. First introduced to the public as part of the WPs dazzling new slate of candidates for the 2015 General Election (GE), they are both running for office again, with Tan part of the WPs East Coast GRC team.

The duo joined the party in 2011. Tan now sits on the partys central executive committee as its deputy organising secretary.

Speaking to Yahoo News Singapore at a cafe in Paya Lebar on Monday (6 July) afternoon, the couple enjoyed an easy chemistry, teasing each other and completing each others sentences. Tan was the more gregarious of the duo, bantering away with this reporter, while He was more serious and reserved.

Recalling how the couple first met through the party, Tan quipped deadpan, I need to tell you now that the Workers' Party is not a dating agency.

There was also something endearing about how the couple was instinctively protective of each other. When Tan responded to a question about who the better politician is by praising his wife, He quickly jumped in. Dont discount the fact that Terence is a very passionate person. Hes got tenacity. When he actually believes in something, he will fight for it.

Tan responded, I think my wife is calling me stubborn.

Politics and love

It was in the heat of the intensive 2015 campaign that their romance was forged, with things turning serious shortly afterwards, said Tan, who runs his own law firm. At the time, the couple were part of the WPs Marine Parade GRC team.

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When you actually run a campaign, it gives a really strong sense of a person's character. There was something I really respected in the way he handled the stresses of that campaign, and that level of consideration (he had) for the volunteers and for the rest of the team, recalled He.

Tan immediately quipped, So youre not telling him about the number of times I broke down and cried?

For the 2020 campaign, agreeing to run for office again was one of the hardest decisions the couple has had to make due to its impact on their family life, admitted He. Because we always thought that maybe it was better that one of us step up and the other one to step back, especially, you know, we've got two young children.

But at the same time, because COVID had hit, I think it really exposed the cracks within our political system and within our country, and within our economy. Also, we just felt really uncomfortable about the political landscape and what it was actually heading towards.

She added, And I think ultimately, it just came down to the fact that we both felt that we had a part to play. Because we both believe so much in this cause, and we have children, we want to make sure that we do everything that we can for our children.

Tan stressed, It's a simple cause: I want a properly functioning parliamentary democracy.

Reluctantly in the spotlight

Terence Tan and He Ting Ru at a Workers' Party rally on 9 September 2015. PHOTO: Nick Tan/Yahoo News Singapore

Political couples are not new in Singapore. Opposition veteran Chiam See Tongs wife Lina went on to run unsuccessfully for his seat in Potong Pasir Single-Member Constituency (SMC) before becoming a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) in 2011.

While Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loongs wife Ho Ching is not a politician, she has considerable power as the CEO of Temasek Holdings. And the late Lee Kuan Yews wife Kwa Geok Choo, while not in politics either, nevertheless played a key role in her husbands career, even helping to draft the Separation Agreement between Singapore and Malaysia.

But Tan and He readily admit to being uncomfortable in the spotlight  the 2016 article by Chinese language daily Lianhe Wanbao that broke the story of their marriage did not sit easy with the couple, while they considered the request at length before agreeing to speak to Yahoo News Singapore. The duo were also at pains to stress that their goal is not the pursuit of power.

Tan said, I'm still coming to grips with (being part of a political couple). It's just a fact, isn't it, we're both running for one political party. But it's not odd either because I've met my partner, the mother of my children through the party.

His wife added, You can't really hide from it, it's just part of our family history. It's part of the memories that we have together as a family, as a couple.

Accidental politicians

We're not really professional politicians. I would say I'm an accidental politician, said Tan, with He readily concurring.

Asked if the party had considered running the couple in the same electoral division, Tan replied emphatically, Absolutely not. The analogy is similar to that of a company. You need the informed consent of your shareholders before you have directors with familial connections.

So what of the allegations that torpedoed would-be Peoples Action Party (PAP) candidate Ivan Lims political career, and the police investigation now facing their party mate and Sengkang GRC candidate Raeesah Khan? Does it put fear in them, that either might face similar allegations, true or not?

Of course it does. It can be very disconcerting. This thing is such that it can hurt. It doesn't even have to be substantiated, said Tan.

And what if either or both of them get elected to office? How would things work? We will have to work around it like every working couple with children, said Tan, who admitted that he would have to scale back his law practice.

He added, I think we may have to explain to (our kids) at some stage in time because my eldest is three and he went, Mama's on the poster on the lamppost. I want to tell him this is completely, entirely abnormal.

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: The quiet men of the Workers' Party making up for lost time in Aljunied GRC

GE2020: WP stands by Sengkang GRC candidate Raeesah Khan, who apologises for insensitive remarks

GE2020: WP 'playing with voters' by not saying if it will accept or reject NCMP seats if offered  Heng Swee Keat
Indonesias third-largest province has declared a state of emergency from 1 July 2020 after the country reported an alarmingly high number of over 700 fire hotspots. That means that neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia among other countries could experience transboundary haze.

Peak Season Likely to be in August

Haze may hit Singapore soon, with the annual recurring problem of forest fires. | Photo: Pinterest

According to an official from the environment and forestry ministry, Radian Bagiyono, the peak season is likely to be in August.

Siak in Riau and East Kotawaringin in the Central Kalimantan province are now bracing for the second phase that is said to last between July and October, said Bagiyono to news site kompas.com.

According to him in Phase 1, Kalimantan is part of the fire-prone regions that have passed the wildfire crisis from February to April.

Currently, the level of emergency is at the first alert stage whereby the country will focus on efforts to increase patrols and extinguish fires as early as possible.

The operations are said to run from 1 July to 28 September 2020, when the dry season ends.

Plans for fire-prone areas have begun, including cloud seeding activities to help artificially tweak rain in these areas.

Budget Cut to Protect Forests Due to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has a part to play in Indonesia calling for the state of emergency.

According to Bagiyono, the budget to help protect the forests has been halved due to the economic impact of the coronavirus.

With cut budgets, there would be lesser protection by the environment ministry who are working to contain the forest fires.

And the haze could be potentially thicker or similar to last year, according to Kiki Taufik, head of the Greenpeace forests campaign in Indonesia to Reuters.

This could intensify the current problems that Indonesia has been facing, and expose the local community to more dangerous fires.

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They might even have to fend for themselves.

Fire hot spots could potentially be bigger and spread to remote peatland areas, especially in the burned areas from 2019 that are not yet restored, said Taufik.

Fires An Annual Problem

The forest fires in Indonesia are an annual problem that has affected many neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines among others.

These fires usually occur due to farmers need to clear agricultural land for palm oil cultivation. The slash-and-burn techniques are used.

According to reports, the fires from last year were particularly damaging. A total of 1.6 million ha of forest and peatland were burned.

However, it is not certain if Singapore will experience a thick haze as of yet as the National Environment Agency (NEA) has not released any official statement.

Still, it is encouraged for Singaporeans to stay vigilant during this trying time and keep masks on, especially with the occurrence of COVID-19.

Safety Tips During Haze

It is advised to stay indoors as much as possible during the period of haze, which typically occurs between the months of May to October.

Tiny particles if accumulated in the body can harm the body. It increases the risk of developing viral and bacterial infections, in addition to heart and lung diseases, cancer and stroke.

Especially for those with existing health conditions such as chronic heart or lung conditions such as asthma, young children to elderly and even pregnant women should avoid heading outdoors if possible. Those with eye conditions should also limit heading outdoors as haze particles could be a source of irritation to the eyes.

A guide to PSI reading levels:

0  50 (Good)

51  100 (Moderate)

101  200 (Unhealthy)

201  300 (Very unhealthy)

Above 300 (Hazardous)

Here are some tips you can follow to protect your family from the haze:

Minimise or avoid outdoor activities when PSI levels are above 100

Minimise exposure outdoors for an extended period of time

Put on a mask The N95 mask is said to be effective in filtering out the small haze particles but is not required if indoors or when leaving home briefly, according to HealthXchange.

Drink plenty of fluids to hydrate yourself. Doing so helps to flush out toxins.

Consume more immunity-boosting foods such as fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamins A and C

Take medication if necessary (for issues such as eye or throat irritation). If symptoms worsen, do consult a doctor.

Utilise an air purifier

Grow houseplants

Avoid smoking

Cut down on coffee and alcohol

Practice good hygiene

You can keep a lookout on current haze levels (PSI readings) by visiting here.

Photo via Pinterest.

ALSO READ:

9 Everyday Habits That Would Help in Boosting Your Childs Immunity

7 Social Distancing Activities for Kids, Including How to Set Up Virtual Playdates

The post Haze May Hit Singapore As More Than 700 Fires Detected in Indonesia appeared first on theAsianparent - Your Guide to Pregnancy, Baby & Raising Kids.
Immigration Dept searching for migrant interviewee in Al Jazeera report

The Immigration Department is searching for the Bangladeshi national who appeared in the contentious Al Jazeera documentary, "Locked Up in Malaysias Lockdown" recently.

In a statement, the department said they are on the lookout for Md Rayhan Kabir, aged 25, to assist with its probe under the Immigration Act 1959/63.

Rayhans last known address is listed as Menara Uncang Emas, Jalan Loke Yew in Kuala Lumpur.

Members of the public with information can call Immigration assistant director (Operations Investigations and Prosecution) Nurulmasha Nazlinan Hussin, at 03-8880 1298 / 1294 during office hours or the operations room at 03-8880 1555 after office hours," the statement read today.

With the search notice, the department included an image of Rayhan featuring a beard and clean-shaven.

This comes as police have opened investigations into the documentary after several reports were lodged against it.

The documentary was aired on the international news agencys 101 East programme last weekend. It highlighted the government crackdown and handling of undocumented migrants during the movement control order (MCO) in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since its airing, many netizens have taken to social media to call out the alleged misrepresentation of facts in the report, with calls for the reporters and Rayhan to be deported. Some have even taken to doxxing the latter, by revealing his purported known locations and place of work.

Meanwhile, the National Security Council (NSC), which is coordinating Malaysia's response to the Covid-19 outbreak, issued a warning that migrants risked having their immigration passes cancelled if they made inaccurate statements against the country.

The Immigration Department is giving a strict warning that it will cancel pass approvals issued to foreign nationals should they issue inaccurate statements with the intention of damaging the countrys image, the post read.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

"Locked Up in Malaysias Lockdown" highlighted the cramped conditions under which migrants were housed. The documentary questioned if this was the practical reality of dealing with the pandemic or is it racism?.

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Aside from Rayhan, the segment included interviews with other migrants - both documented and undocumented - NGOs, civil society organisations, and trade associations.

It's worth noting that Al Jazeera claimed in its report that they reached out to Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin, and their deputies for comments, but their requests were not entertained.

Ismail is also the senior minister overseeing the security cluster.

However, Ismail has denied accusations of racism against the government action and demanded the news agency apologise, while Hamzah maintained that the authorities acted within the law, as well as according to the peoples wishes.

The racism claims were also denied by Health Minister Dr Adham Baba.
A rare but treatable benign breast lump, granulomatous mastitis, can be easily mistaken for breast cancer.

Not many women get it or have even heard of it. But when granulomatous mastitis suddenly occurs, it can cause panic and fear. This is because the condition shows up as a firm lump in the breast  a symptom that is similar to breast cancer. However, unlike cancerous tumours in the breast, which are usually painless, granulomatous mastitis lumps often cause pain.

Women who seek attention for breast lumps usually come with the concern that they may be cancerous, shared Dr Julie Liana Hamzah, Associate Consultant from the Department of Breast Surgery at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the SingHealth group.

Besides pain, other symptoms of granulomatous mastitis can include:

Skin inflammation

Redness and

Fever

In more serious cases, there may be ulceration or even enlarged lymph nodes.





Related article: Can ultrasound be used to screen for breast cancer instead of a mammogram?



The condition is rare. According to Dr Julie, her department sees a handful of women with granulomatous mastitis a year. It is unclear what causes granulomatous mastitis, although some conditions such as tuberculosis and sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease, can lead to it. Most cases, however, are idiopathic, meaning no cause can be found to explain its occurrence.

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis tends to show up in women of childbearing age between their late 20s and 40s, especially those who have had children. Nevertheless, the condition has also been known to occur in women in this age group who have not given birth before, Dr Julie added.

How is granulomatous mastitis diagnosed

Diagnosis is made by exclusion of other diseases. Normally, we will perform a physical examination of the woman in the clinic and send her for breast imaging, explained Dr Julie. If the scan points to an infection, oral antibiotics will be prescribed as the first course of treatment.

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A follow-up ultrasound will be ordered three months later. At this point, if this condition persists, doctors may recommend a core needle biopsy to sample and examine tissue from the lesion to rule out cancer or some other disease. A biopsy is usually not done at the start.





Related article: 6 Tips to keep your breasts healthy



In cases where the lump is accompanied by an abscess, the pus is surgically drained. At the same time, a tissue sample will be taken for diagnosis. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs will be prescribed for pain management. If the pain is not well-controlled, steroids may be prescribed.

How is granulomatous mastitis treated

If left untreated, idiopathic granulomatous mastitis resolves itself in nine to 12 months. However, treatment is recommended to speed up the recovery process, and reduce pain and discomfort.

Even after the condition resolves itself, it can recur. So the patient may find herself with another lump or infection in the breast sometime down the road.

Having said that, there isnt an increased risk of breast cancer or any other disease for these women. Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis isnt a precursor to cancer, but it may be a protracted course and almost always presents with inflammatory or infective changes. So we tend to want to control the pain and treat the infection, said Dr Julie.





Related article: Endometrial cancer (4th most common women cancer) - What are the symptoms, risk factors and how to prevent





--

Articles on HealthXchange.sg are meant for informational purposes only and cannot replace professional surgical, medical or health advice, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Photo courtesy of iStock.
Mexico's coronavirus pandemic could last until next April - health official Mexico's deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic could last in Mexico until next April, with infections expected to rise during the October flu season and through winter, a top health official said on Monday, further pushing back the potential resolution of the crisis.

Mexico has recorded 261,750 total cases and 31,119 overall deaths, putting it in fifth place worldwide for most fatalities from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a Reuters tally.

Mexican Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell, the coronavirus czar, has continually walked back forecasts about when the crisis would peak, and has said the death toll and infection tally are likely higher than reported figures.

In an interview with Mexico's Radio Formula, he warned that coronavirus infections may persist in significant numbers into the winter, carrying the pandemic into spring.

"Flu season begins in October and there are some reasonable assumptions that we could also have a spike in COVID-19 along with the flu throughout the fall-to-winter season," he said.

When asked about the length of the pandemic in Mexico, Lopez-Gatell said it could last "until March to April of next year."

The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has estimated that Mexico will exceed 88,000 deaths from the coronavirus by October.

(Reporting by Adriana Barrera; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon and Peter Cooney)
Murky procurement of 'blacklisted' X-ray scanners

SPECIAL REPORT | "There was a 40-foot container full of imported potatoes, and we couldn't see what was there at that small corner. However, the scanner enabled us to discover that more than 100kg of drugs were mixed in the potatoes, and we seized the drugs. Without this facility, we simply cant detect that."

"... Firearms, for example, a pistol, maybe hidden on the wall of the container. We can also see the shape of the firearm through the scanner. Even if you open the container to check, you can't see it at all," said then director-general of the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) during Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearings in 2014.

Customs inspection is the first line of defence against smuggling. Besides the constraints of human visual inspection, its impossible for the customs officer to inspect the containers by opening them one by one as there are thousands shipping in and out at the ports.

As such, RMCD started using X-ray scanners to detect hidden compartments and prohibited items in containers at the seaports and customs checkpoints since 20 years ago.

However, the inspection equipment which assisted humans to detect wrongdoings is now tangled with an allegation of fraud.

This came as the government planned to spend over RM240 million to buy new scanners by a China-based manufacturer, despite the government allegedly blacklisting the products after finding them to be faulty about a decade ago.

What is more intriguing is that the manufacturer, which is closely related to the so-called, China's Princeling", has been involved in corruption cases in various countries.

Frequent error and malfunction

According to a government source, the RMCD purchased a scanner manufactured by Nuctech Co Ltd for RM12.2 million and installed it at the Klang Container Terminal (KCT) about ten years ago.

However, error and malfunctions happened frequently within a few months after installation.

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The source said that according to government records, the machine had over 10 failures a month by the end of 2010, and the maintenance cost was extremely high.

An internal review, which was done by RMCD in 2011, concluded that the government should not purchase products of this brand again, if the technical problem was not properly resolved, claimed the source.

"The technology should have simplified human work, not the other way round. The recorded failure was just the tip of the iceberg. According to the personnel who were in charge, the failures occurred almost every day."

The government source pointed out that one of the recorded problems was that the machine could not scan and record car plate numbers and container numbers accurately.

"If it involves any court case, this problem may have undesirable consequences. The images displayed and recorded on the screens can be used as evidence in court, but the court case may be dismissed due to this technical error.

"In order to deal with this, the officer in charge needs to manually write down the car plate and container numbers before the vehicle carrying the container enters the scanner."

The cargo scanners are usually installed outdoors and should be waterproof. However, the source revealed that the scanner had malfunctioned due to the infiltration of rainwater even before the warranty period expired.

It cost nearly RM200,000 per month for maintenance of two scanners of this brand, which cost nearly ten times higher than other scanners in the same port, claimed the source.

Frequent failure mentioned in PAC report

The Auditor-General Report of 2013 (Series2) highlighted the problem and the PAC summoned RMCD to review the matter in the following year.

During the PAC hearings, the representative of the National Audit Department (NAD) had named Nuctech and pointed out the frequent failure of its products.

According to the Hansard of PAC hearings, the investigation by NAD found that the downtime of Nuctech scanners, which were installed in the Klang Port, North Port, and West Port, was over 160 days in a year, and at times even as high as 214 days.

Generally speaking, when a scanner fails to operate, the customs officer still has the right to request the container to be opened for inspection. However, some smuggling activities are very difficult to detect with the naked eye.

The government did not rule out that the customs officers may not be thoroughly inspecting due to fatigue or laziness, replied the NAD officer during the PAC hearings.

In January 2018, RMCD issued a letter to terminate the maintenance service of Malaysia-based company Nuctech Engineering & Services Sdn Bhd. Malaysiakini has sighted the letter and contacted RMCD for clarification.

Malaysiakini learned that Nuctech Engineering & Services Sdn Bhd was renamed Nes Scan Sdn Bhd in October 2017.

In 2018, then finance minister Lim Guan Eng (photo) announced that the Pakatan Harapan government decided to purchase 20 cargo scanners in order to enhance the prevention of smuggling and illegal declarations, thereby increasing tax revenue.

The PAC report in 2014 recorded that during the ten years between 2001 and 2011, the BN government purchased a total of 16 cargo scanners worth RM183 million.

In other words, the purchase of 20 scanners by the Harapan government can be said to be a very large-scale procurement.

Intriguingly, the lease-purchase tender has been cancelled and re-tendered twice without clear reasons given, according to a source in the industry.

Turning a big circle, the government might eventually spend over RM240 million to purchase the same product again, which was found to be faulty about 10 years ago.

The tender was announced for the first time at the end of 2018. In October 2019, Lim revealed that the government planned to allocate RM235 million to purchase the 20 scanners when he announced the 2020 Budget.

The tender information issued by the Finance Ministry (MOF) indicated the scanners will be installed at various ports in Selangor, Johor, Penang, Perlis, Kedah, Sabah, and Sarawak.

The project was divided into two packages - one was for 13 scanners in the Peninsular, and the second was for seven scanners in Sabah and Sarawak.

The first tender was scheduled to close in January 2019, but it was cancelled and then restarted twice.

The notices for the second and third tender were published on the MOF website in April 2019 and August 2019 respectively, and the final result of the tender was announced in January 2020.

The announcement of the tender result was only accessible for companies in related industries in the government electronic procurement system e-Perolehan.

A source in the industry told Malaysiakini that PTS Resources Sdn Bhd won the contract for 13 scanners in the Peninsular, with a total value of approximately RM147.04 million, while Infomina Sdn Bhd was awarded the contract for seven scanners in Sabah and Sarawak, with a total value of approximately RM95.2 million.

PTS Resources is registered as a supplier of industrial and electrical equipment, spare parts, as well as commissioning works. According to the company website, it specialises in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, with no experience in cargo inspection systems.

As for Infomina, it was registered as a company that provides maintenance and support services for information technology. Its official website shows that it is an IT company, mainly providing building automation, communication, green energy, information, and physical security systems including CCTV surveillance, access control, and perimeter detection.

The total value of the two packages was RM242.24 million, which is an extra RM7.24 million if compared to the RM235 million budget previously announced.

According to a tender document sighted by Malaysiakini, 12 of the 20 scanners will be newly installed while the remaining eight will be used to replace existing scanners, which include several scanners manufactured by Nuctech.

Since the tender does not allow foreign companies to participate directly, they would normally appoint local companies to do it instead.

Even when the contract-winning companies were announced, the brands proposed by the winning companies are not disclosed to the public.

The industry source claimed that the seven scanners proposed by Infomina, to be installed in Sabah and Sarawak, were actually Nuctech's products.

Malaysiakini has also called Nuctechs Beijing headquarters office to seek confirmation and respond to the allegations. The company responded that the media only need to contact their local partners for any enquiry.

When contacted, Infomina refused to confirm the product brand and model, citing a non-disclosure agreement with the government. Malaysiakini was asked to seek clarification from the government instead.

MOF and RMCD did not respond to Malaysiakini's request for confirmation and clarification.

Changing the brand after winning the contract?

According to the source, after the contracts were awarded, a more puzzling situation occurred.

PTS Resources, which was authorised by another China-based manufacturer CGN Begood Technology Co Ltd, which won the contract for the Peninsula, allegedly issued a letter to the government to request to change the proposed brand to Nuctech.

"PTS Resources has sent a letter to RMCD or MOF after they found that they were unable to deliver the 13 scanners, and they requested to be replace them with Nuctech products," claimed the source.

In short, even though the Harapan government changed the culture of "direct negotiation" in the BN era, the government may eventually purchase products of questionable quality after a tendering process that took almost a year.

PTS Resources confirmed with Malaysiakini that it was awarded the contract for the Peninsular package. However, it refused to comment on the request to change the brand, the reasons for such a request, and if the government had approved it.

Similarly, PTS Resources cited a non-disclosure agreement with the government, and Malaysiakini was asked to seek clarification directly from the government.

Malaysiakini has contacted RMCD director-general Abdul Latif Abdul Kadir and the deputy director of the Procurement Department, Mohd Faizal Mansor, to clarify on the above allegations.

Involved in corruption cases

Nuctech Co Ltd is a subsidiary of Tsinghua Holdings founded in 1997. It was headed by Hu Haifeng, the son of the former China president Hu Jintao, until 2008.

He resigned from Nuctech in 2008 and later joined Tsinghua Holdings and was also promoted as the Communist Party secretary.

According to some monographs, the company made great strides internationally and successfully entered the African market after Hu joined. Their security equipment was sold to various countries such as Macedonia, Philippines, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

However, Nuctech was also involved in corruption cases in many countries, not too long after that.

The Telegraph reported that Nuctech was involved in a multi-million procurement scandal in Namibia, which was probed by the Namibian Anti-Corruption Commission. Hu assisted the investigation as a "witness" in 2009.

The Namibian reported that three individuals were prosecuted in this case - namely a Nuctech Africa representative Yang Fan, Namibias former Public Service Commission member Teckla Lameck, and a representative of Nuctechs local partners Kongo Mokaxwa.

The prosecution alleged that the scanner price was inflated to enable Nuctech to pay a multi-million commission to a party linked to Lameck and Mokaxwa.

The accused first went on trial in 2013, but the case ended halfway as the judge had to step down from continuing to hear the matter, according to The Namibian.

The trio was reportedly acquitted in 2019 after the prosecution conceded that the state did not manage to present sufficient evidence.

Additionally, in Taiwan, it was reported that the former head of the Aviation Police Bureaus aviation security section, Sun Yi-Ming, was convicted in February 2020 for receiving kickbacks and engaging in other illicit activities.

Nuctech X-ray scanners which were purchased by Taiwanese authorities and installed at airports were found to have been repackaged in Japan to deceive Taiwanese regulators. Sun was also found to be lured by a female sales manager from Nuctech, according to Taipei Times.

A separate fraud case involving Nuctech happened in the Philippines.

ABS-CBN reported that the Philippine government purchased 30 X-ray scanners from Nuctech through a loan agreement with the Chinese government.

However, the Philippines Commission on Audit subsequently found that the machines were exorbitantly overpriced by 4.215 billion Philippine pesos (about RM360 million).

It was reported that the quality of Nuctechs scanners was questionable as they had zero detection of methamphetamine or other drugs for ten years, despite its maintenance cost being 1.5 times higher than other international service providers.

Looking back to Malaysia, the integrity of the tender process was also questionable. Calling for a thorough investigation, the source who spoke to Malaysiakini had also notified the MACC in early June 2020.

This news portal has contacted MACC for a response.

Tony Pua, as the former political secretary to Lim, responded that all things were done in compliance with open tender and MOF procedures.

He also claimed that the awarding of contracts followed the recommendation of the evaluation committee, which consisted of the chief secretary and senior officials of the MOF and RMCD.
By Sakura Murakami

TOKYO (Reuters) - A few hours after sundown last week, Thi Tu Luong dragged her suitcase down a side street in Tokyo's business district, looking for the temple that would take her in for the night.

Luong, a 22-year old Vietnamese worker, had just been fired from her job at a hotel in a hot springs town north of Tokyo.

After a few minutes of walking the street, she saw Jiho Yoshimizu, who runs a support group for Vietnamese workers, waving her in from the entrance of a concrete building.

The three-storey Buddhist temple, Nisshinkutsu, has become a haven for young Vietnamese migrant workers, one of the groups hardest-hit by the economic slump that followed the novel coronavirus outbreak in Japan.

"I felt abandoned," said Luong, shortly after she arrived at the temple. "I'm just really grateful I can be here."

Lured by higher wages but often burdened by debt to recruiters, Vietnamese are the fastest-growing group of foreigners in Japan. They numbered 410,000 in 2019, up 24.5% from the previous year.

In ordinary times, nuns at the temple would offer prayers for the deceased, but with the coronavirus upending the economy, they now spend their time making care packages for Vietnamese scattered across the country.

Inside the temple, young Vietnamese workers whose lives are in limbo study Japanese, cook Vietnamese food, look for work or book flights home.

"We do everything. We take care of people from when they're inside the womb to when they're inside an urn," said Yoshimizu, who heads the Japan-Vietnam Coexistence Support Group, a nonprofit based out of the temple.

The temple became known to Vietnamese circles after it took in Vietnamese workers who were left homeless after the 2011 earthquake in northern Japan.

As Yoshimizu's reputation spread in the community, she started receiving messages from young Vietnamese  including women seeking abortions, workers who were abruptly dismissed with nowhere to go, and labourers fleeing abusive employers.

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In 2019, Yoshimizu handled about 400 cases, but since April that number has spiked. She now receives between 10 and 20 messages a day, all pleas for help from Vietnamese across Japan.

"I've lost count," she said, sitting next to a phone that beeps and rings ceaselessly with calls and messages from labour brokers, employers, and desperate Vietnamese workers.

"No one else in Japan right now can provide this kind of support," she said.

When Luong was fired without warning and told to leave her dorm, she turned to Yoshimizu for help.

"I have no job, no place to stay right now. Please, please help me," Luong messaged Yoshimizu. "Can I come to the temple today?"

Luong graduated from a vocational school in March and started a job in mid-April at a high-end hotel in Nikko, a tourist destination known for its temples.

But she said she wasn't given any work and spent her days in a dorm room with nothing to do. Luong said she was paid about 30,000 yen ($279.04) in May and was not sure if she had been paid in June. A representative of the hotel where she worked told Reuters they were not in a position to comment because they did not employ Luong directly.

Many Vietnamese workers arrive in Japan as students or trainees, making them dependent on their employers and therefore vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Yoshimizu spoke in parliament last month to urge the government to do more to support Vietnamese students who do not have employment insurance.

"The current government's coronavirus policy is focused on helping the Japanese first," Yoshimizu said.

($1 = 107.51 yen)

(Reporting by Sakura Murakami; Editing by Stephen Coates and Christian Schmollinger)
Students and pedestrians walk through the Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge

By Mimi Dwyer

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Foreign students in the United States, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, will have to leave the country if their classes are all taught online this fall or if they transfer to another school with in-person instruction, a government agency said.

It was not immediately clear how many student visa holders would be affected by the move, but foreign students are a key source of revenue for many U.S. universities as they often pay full tuition.

China ranked first among countries of origin for international students in the United States with nearly 370,000 during the 2018-2019 academic year, according to data published by the Institute of International Education.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said it would not allow holders of student visas to remain in the country if their school was fully online for the fall. Those students must transfer or leave the country, or they potentially face deportation proceedings, according to the announcement.

The ICE guidance applies to holders of F-1 and M-1 visas, which are for academic and vocational students. The State Department issued 388,839 F visas and 9,518 M visas in fiscal 2019, according to the agency's data.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday that China was closely following the policy changes in the United States and would do everything to protect the rights and interests of Chinese students.

U.S. colleges and universities have begun to announce plans for the fall 2020 semester amid the coronavirus pandemic. Harvard on Monday announced it would conduct course instruction online for the 2020-2021 academic year.

The guidance does not affect students taking classes in person. It also does not affect F-1 students taking a partial online course-load, as long as their university certifies the student's instruction is not completely digital. M-1 vocational program students and F-1 English language training program students will not be allowed to take any classes online.

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President Donald Trump's administration has imposed a number of new restrictions to legal and illegal immigration in recent months as a result of the pandemic.

In June, the administration suspended work visas for a wide swath of nonimmigrant workers that it argued compete with U.S. citizens for jobs. The administration has also effectively suspended the admission of asylum seekers at the southern border with Mexico, citing health risks as justification.

(Reporting by Mimi Dwyer; additional reporting by Huizhong Wu in Beijing; editing by Ross Colvin, Dan Grebler and Nick Macfie)
A man has filed a police report against social media influencer Wendy Cheng over a now-deleted 2010 tweet that purportedly targeted migrant workers.

Vignesh Sankar, 21, reported to police yesterday after he found that Cheng, better known as Xiaxue, had posted on Twitter a comment he said was trying to stir up anti-Indian sentiments.

The tweet is no longer available on Xiaxues account but was captured in a video Sankar had put up on his Instagram.

The tweet in question had read: Coz they molest people and fuck our maids and leer at girls and flood little India!! Yeah Im stereotyping, but fuck u if u say its not true.

According to the police report Coconuts Singapore had looked at, Sankar also alleged that Cheng was propagating a misconception about migrant workers.

Xiaxue did not immediately respond to Coconuts Singapores online request for comment.

Singapores community of migrant workers include those from South Asia. Little India is among places commonly visited by locals, tourists as well as migrant workers, many of who work in the construction sector.

Sankar made the report after the 36-year-old influencer put up Instagram comments related to Workers Party candidate Raeesah Khan, who is currently under police investigation over two online posts for allegedly promoting enmity between people on grounds of race and religion.

Among other things, Xiaxue had asked Khan to stop trying to divide the nation with your race politics.

In a separate Instagram post, she also asked parties to stop fielding radical feminists/leftists as candidates ffs (sic) we dont need their poison infecting our politics.

Khan regards herself as an intersectional feminist.

Khan has since apologized for the two online comments, which were written in the context of the City Harvest Church trial in 2018 and the Robertson Quay incident involving social distancing violators earlier this year, respectively. In her apology, she said that her comments were insensitive and that her intention was to raise awareness on minority concerns.

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Many people who rallied support for Khan said that she was calling out existing inequalities in Singapore. Supporters have also spawned the #IStandWithRaeesah online movement.

Police began investigations after two reports were filed against Khan and a consultation with the Attorney-Generals Chambers.

Yesterday, a police report was also filed against the PAP over its statement calling on the Workers Party to state its stand on Khans online posts.

Goh Jing Heng Alfred claimed that the PAP had incorrectly asserted that Khan had admitted to making highly derogatory statements about Chinese and Christians and had through its statement allegedly promoted enmity between groups.

Other stories you should check out:

GE2020: PAP calls on Workers Party to state its stand on Sengkang GRC candidate Raeesah Khan

Man files police report against PAP over statement on Raeesah Khan

WP reacts to Lee Hsien Loongs rally speech, highlights COVID-19 proposals, party independence

This article, Man reports Xiaxue to police over 2010 little India tweet, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) -- Actor Tom Hanks is opening up about what it was like battling COVID-19 and how the illness affected him and wife Rita Wilson so differently.

The two were the first celebrities to be diagnosed with the virus.

Speaking to The Guardian on Monday, the 63-year-old revealed that he and Wilson experienced markedly different symptoms -- something that he says "was odd."

"My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did," The Greyhound star recounted.

"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," Hanks remarked. "That last bit is kinda like my natural state anyway."

Hanks also revealed the initial worries he had when he was first diagnosed with COVID-19 back in March.

"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?'" The Toy Story 4 alum disclosed, saying that "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."

He says the "discomfort" brought on the virus lasted for two weeks.

Still, when it comes to how the U.S. is responding to the pandemic, Hanks says it brings "nothing but question marks" because preventing the spread of COVID-19 couldn't be simpler.

"Theres really only three things everyone needs to do: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands," He maintained. "I know societally its been politicized, but I dont get it, man. I dont understand how anyone can put their foot down and say: 'I dont have to do my part.'"

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Slate is making its essential coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for the coronavirus after months of downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic. The president told reporters on Tuesday that he had taken the test after experiencing symptoms including fatigue, muscle pain, and a fever.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, and several other world leaders have contracted the disease and then recovered, but Bolsonaros diagnosis is particularly noteworthy given his emergence as one of the worlds leading COVID-19 gadflies.

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Bolsonaro has downplayed the severity of the virus, attended crowded public rallies with his supporters, and fought publicly with his own science advisers as well as state governments that have imposed lockdowns, even as Brazil has developed the worlds second-worst COVID-19 outbreak after the United States with more than 1.6 million cases and 65,487 deaths.

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Bolsonaros own health status has also been a continual source of speculation. In March, 23 members of Bolsonaros team tested positive for the virus after a trip to the U.S., which included a meeting with President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro claimed to have tested negative after the trip, but a court ordered him to turn over the results of his test amid allegations that he was lying. (Apparently, he was telling the truth that time.) Bolsonaros press secretary, energy minister, and national security adviser have all previously been diagnosed with the disease. On Saturday, the president attended what appeared to be a chummy and maskless Fourth of July party hosted by the U.S. ambassador.

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The 65-year-old president has said in the past that as an athlete he is not worried about getting the disease, though he was hospitalized early last year with symptoms of pneumonia related to a stab wound he received during his presidential campaign. Along with Trump, Bolsonaro has also been a vocal proponent of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which studies have shown is not the coronavirus silver bullet its proponents have claimed. (Bolsonaros health minister resigned after one month on the job in May partly over a disagreement over whether to promote hydroxychloroquine.)

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Speaking a few feet away from journalists on Tuesday, and at one point removing his mask so reporters could see his face, Bolsonaro said he was feeling fine, which he credited to having taken the drug. He also said he would work from home for the next few days while recovering.

Its worth noting that Johnson, who early on had also been dismissive of the idea of lockdowns and other draconian measures to fight the disease, took it much more seriously after experiencing it himself. Bolsonaro may be too dug in to the position he has staked out for a change of heart.
Claudia Conway has made a lot of headlines in recent days. Ever since New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz called attention to the fact that the 15-year-old daughter of Kellyanne (Donald Trumps former campaign manager and current counselor) and George (conservative attorney and co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project) was posting videos about her progressive political views on TikTok, news outlets have salivated over the spectacle of this Trump-adjacent family drama. Insider and USA Today ran interviews with the Conway teen. Some outlets, such as Teen Vogue, published multiple stories about her social media posts. Others ran extensive recaps of every beat of the story as it developed: the existence of Conways posts, the content of her interviews, her public battle with her parents as they pleaded with her to get off social media, and, finally, the locking-down of her accounts.

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Its a remarkably thorough spate of coverage for a set of utterly unremarkable TikTok videos. Take out the frequent mentions of her parentsyes, my mother is Kellyanne Conway, senior counselor to the president of the United States  soooo, your point?and Conway is every other teenage girl on social media: pouting for the camera, messing with her hair, shaking her butt in tiny gym shorts, mouthing off to rude commenters, posting a line or two about the political topic du jour, calling Trump a r@pi$t. As one would expect from the social media postings of an average 15-year-old, they contain no sophisticated political commentary or ambitious acts of civil disobedience. And yet the replies to Lorenzs tweets were ecstatic. Commenters praised Conways looks (stunningly beautiful), applauded her politics (she is displaying prescient criticism), and touted her as a potential leader of her generation (this girl is our future). When Conways father tweeted a plea for journalists to stop contacting his daughter, one much-retweeted reply compared Claudia Conway to Greta Thunberg.

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The impulse to valorize a teenager for antagonizing her parents with her political viewssomething teenagers have done since the dawn of timeis both strange and sad. Unlike her parents, Conways TikToks will have no impact on our federal government or national political discourse. Her behavior is more akin to that of her motherattention-seeking, self-contradictory, thriving on conflictthan that of a nascent activist who deserves a national platform. Thats not to say we should blame her for any of this. Conways parents have subjected her to a terrible adolescence: Her early teen years have been spent on the outskirts of a sadistic presidential administration and in the middle of a marriage disintegrating in the public eye. She deserves our sympathy, not our admiration.

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One of the many reasons the media should stop covering Conway as a manifestation of the anger many Americans feel toward her mother is that its hard to tell whether she comes by her politics honestly or simply wants to irritate her parents. She told Insider that her mom is a badass, her best friend, and 100 percent a feminist, but a few days later tweeted, If youre a woman supporting Trump, I feel bad for you. You must really hate yourself. Lots of internalized misogyny. When someone asked whether she meant it as a dig at her mother, Conway said, Maybe. On TikTok, she asked commenters to stop posting negative things about her parents, whom she called amazing people, then turned around and mercilessly mocked her dad on Twitter when he asked journalists to stop interviewing her. Youre just mad that Im finally getting my voice heard, she tweeted. Sorry your marriage failed, . Conway also livestreamed her mother trying to take her phone away, saying, Im just showing everyone the truth. Youre literally not letting me use my freedom of speech. This set of incoherent sentiments seems to suggest that Conway is trying to manipulate and weaponize the media in a bid for her parents attention by saying inflammatory things about her moms employer. If thats what shes doing, its working. And while George can complain all he wants about how the media took the bait, he only has himself to blameshe might as well have taken the tactic from his political playbook.

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Or maybe, like many teens, Conway just wants to be noticedby anyone. I couldnt care less about media exposureIll use whatever platform Ive given, big or small, for good, she tweeted, while complaining about being silenced by her parents. She roasted the media for identifying her by her parentslil psa that my name isnt Kellyanne Conways daughter or George Conways daughter! yet she mentions them in several TikTok videos, talks at length about them in her interviews, and surely knows that the only reason people care about her is because of who her parents are and how her views run counter to their politics. (According to People, over less than three days last week, Conway gained around 60,000 TikTok followers.) Unlike other teenagers, like Thunberg or the Parkland activists, who have rightly earned international news coverage, Conway doesnt appear to have a particularly firm attachment to the issues that undergird her professed political identity. Even if you have opposite views of me, as long as youre informed and able to see both sides, thats all that really matters, she told Insider.

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This whole Conway news cycle embodies the very worst of 21st century American politics. Its hyperfocused on interpersonal feuds and feel-good clapbacks, more concerned with the building and maintenance of political personal brands than with actual political activities, constricted to the 140 characters of a tweet or the 60 seconds of a TikTok video, and completely stripped of the impact of real-world policy on peoples lives. Kellyanne Conway is one of the people most responsible for the ascendance of Trump and Trumpism in American life, and yet liberals see her teenage daughter whining at her on social media as a sign of some kind of renewed promise of a brighter American future. Theyre having a good chuckle at how awkward family dinners must be at the Conway household. Meanwhile, the reality show presidency with the blood of more than 130,000 Americans on its hands continues its machinations apace, regardless of the rubbernecking diversions its characters provide. Kellyanne Conway and her anti-Trump daughter may be the future of reality TV, Arwa Mahdawi opined in the Guardian. Dont be surprised if Keeping Up With the Conways comes to a TV screen near you soon. The New York Post filed its story about Conway trolling her mom under Entertainment.

People are clearly tuning in. I literally woke up to hundreds and hundreds of thousands of views of people cheering me on and saying they stan me and all this stuff, she told Insider. Its just so beautiful for me, and I think thats the beauty of this generation. Considering all shes endured with her parents, maybe its fine for Claudia Conway to enjoy this moment. We adults should know better.

For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below.
Megan Cassidy is a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. For the past couple of years, shes made herself an expert on life inside Californias prisons, especially the states oldest one, San Quentin. Guards, inmates, relatives of people insidethey all seem to know how to reach her. So about a month ago, she heard about a few dozen new inmates who were transferred to San Quentin from a prison seven hours south, an effort coordinated by the state of Californias justice system. Cassidys contacts started hearing coughing. Then they started getting sick. The coronavirus was thus seeded there by state officials who either didnt know enough or didnt care, allowing their transfer decision to spread the virus. Now those same officials have to figure out whether they can make things right.

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On Tuesdays episode of What Next, I spoke with Cassidy about how Californias mistakes created its newest COVID hot spot. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mary Harris: How many inmates are there at San Quentin?



Megan Cassidy: There are about 3,500 right now.

And how many of them have tested positive at this point?

I think about 1,400. So about 1 in 3.

Once you have that many people testing positive, is it even possible to control the outbreak?

No, I mean, not in a place like San Quentin.

Californias prison system is extremely overcrowded, right?

Right. It would take about 20,000-odd prisoners to be released just to be at 100 percent capacity throughout the system.

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Pre-coronavirus?

Right.

The Supreme Court has ordered California to fix its overcrowded prison facilitiesit actually ruled that the conditions there are cruel and unusual. A federal judge, Jon Tigar, is now overseeing the systems efforts. Early on, advocates told Tigar that one way to protect inmates was to simply release them, to get them out of these struggling facilities. Instead, when there was an outbreak at a mens prison in Chino in San Bernardino, the state decided to move prisoners around. Thats how this latest outbreak started.

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It seemed to me like this transfer decision was, OK, the writings on the wall. We have to get some of these medically vulnerable people out of this prison before they get hit. So the decision was made to take close to 700 incarcerated people from the Chino prison to other facilities.

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And the idea was that by transferring them, theyd reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

Exactly.

More than 100 inmates from Chino were slated to go to San Quentin, where there were no reported cases of COVID-19. So these men get on buses to go to San Quentin. Were they attempting to socially distance on the buses? Was there any kind of special way they were processed once they got to San Quentin?

From what has been told to me, theres not really much of a way to social distance on the bus. They were given face masks. But, you know, the bus driver is there too. Theres a handful of guards on there as well. And then when they were offloaded, thats when people at San Quentin started seeing that something was really wrong here.

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When your sources inside the prison began calling you a month ago, what were they saying? What were they telling you about what they were sensing?

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Right after that transfer, I started getting some calls from not only the people inside but also from some of my sources who are staffers there. Once the transfers came, it was obvious that a handful of them were already sick, visibly ill, coughing. Purportedly they had tested negative before theyd gotten on the buses. But what my colleague Jason Fagone and I found out was that, yes, theyd been tested previously, but in some cases the testing was done up to a month earlier. And what no one knew at that time was that 25 of those men tested positive as soon as they got to San Quentin. It was a really botched move.

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Did you tell the people you were talking to what you knew about the virus?

Oh, of course. What I found the saddest was that I had more information, being on the outside, than some of the incarcerated people had. And Fagone and I got several emails, several calls, Twitter messages, any way to get a hold of us, from worried wives and mothers and children. Everybody has a different story. Somebody will say, My nephew or my kid has some sort of a medical issue and theyre still housing them in the gym. And theres no social distancing there. More recently, its something like, Ive tested positive. And the person I live in the cell with works in the kitchen. Im worried that now hes going to spread my virus to other people.

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A lot of people were worried that some men at San Quentin were going to be transferred to North Kern, another prison near Bakersfield. Because of prison politics, theres this perception that San Quentin is whats called a special needs yard. So people who are snitches, who helped out police, or who have an unfavorable crime conviction, like a sexual assaultthey may get immediately assaulted if they go to North Kern.

Like its just understood that if you go to this prison, thats whats going to happen.

Yeah, youll be assaulted on arrival. I got a lot of calls about that: I fear for my life if Im transferred to another facility. So a lot of people didnt want to be tested for that reasonthat if they tested negative, they would be transferred.

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My understanding about this current outbreak is that it began in a single unit, the Badger unit. Can you explain exactly what happened there?

When the men were transferred to San Quentin, they were offloaded and immediately tested. The ones who were exhibiting symptoms were isolated. The ones who were just exposed were quarantined in Badger. So thats where the bulk of these 121 men went.

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What does isolation or quarantine look like in a place like San Quentin?

Isolation is in the adjustment center. So its

Solitary confinement.

Yes. Thats another reason a lot of people, at least in the beginning, didnt want to be tested, because if you test positive, youre essentially being punished for it. Youre thrown in the hole or you have whatever few rights that you can cling tophone privileges, visiting the canteen, yard timetaken away from you.

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So quarantining at Badger doesnt mean real separation.

Badger is more general population housing. There are five floorsthey call them tiers, stacked on top of one another. So basically, the air mixes, the droplets mix, they fall onto the lower tiers.

And the men from Chino are put on the top tier, right?

Right on the top two tiers.

So you can see how you cough and a droplet escapes, and it just falls down past all these other open cells.

Right.

Did it just sound like coughing day in and day out to the people who were there?

Yes. And then what Im hearing now is its just man down every few minutes. Five people have died since the coronavirus hit. At least three of the deaths were definitely due to the coronavirus, and my sources inside say that the other two are likely that as well.

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When you asked the prison about the idea of putting prisoners whod been exposed to the coronavirus on top of other prisoners without any way of closing people off from each other, what did they say to you?

All I was told is that the men from Chino were quarantined separately from the general population, that those who have tested positive, are exhibiting symptoms, are isolated.

That sounds like a lie.

Its at the very least misleading. I think you could argue that its a lie. Theyre not double-bunking with the general population, but you could yell to somebody and they could hear you easily. Its all in the same unit.

So when you see this number reported, that more than 1,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus at San Quentin, do you think its way more than that?

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For sure.

You got these reports in early June that people were worried, and then gradually it sounds like you noticed more and more people becoming sick. And the reports became undeniable. Im curious how advocates for prisoners are trying to change things on the inside, maybe push for changes they couldnt get a few months back when they were originally advocating for a large-scale release.

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The one thing that the prison could do to curb this spread is a widespread release. And actually, Tigar has said in the past that hes not sure that he has the power to do it, but hes indicated more and more frequently that the prison should just do the release on its own.

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You reported on a letter that was sent to the state by health researchers looking at whats happening at San Quentin and warning that this wont stay inside the prison. Its been weeks now and not a lot has changed, except more and more people have gotten sick. I wonder how the area around the prison is preparing for whatever happens now.

Theyre setting up essentially a hospital on the prison grounds. Theyve set up like an emergency incident command center at the prison, which is something that the unions have called for. The staff are happy about that.

But what weve heard is there are about 10 incarcerated people sent to hospitals every day now. So there is a fear that this is going to start to overwhelm the community health system at a time were starting to see spikes elsewhere as well.

And of course, there are people inside the prison system who dont stay there, the guards and other people who are going out into the community. Is there evidence that thats increasing local spread too?

I wouldnt be able to speak to that, but I think it would be safe to say there are now over 100 staffers at San Quentin who have tested positive. So, yes, clearly theyre going home to their families and back out to the community.

Listen to the full episode using the player below, or subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Europes green wave hasnt crested yet, with ecologically minded parties continuing to rack up impressive election performances in recent weeks.

When Green parties throughout Europe saw unprecedented success in European Parliament elections last year, it was clear that voters were responding to concerns about the climate crisis as well as a loss of confidence in the big mainstream parties that have dominated politics for decades. But EU elections are often favorable for protest votes and fringe parties, and there were questions about whether the enthusiasm would last. People were already starting to flirt with us. Now they have had a one-night stand. Whether this is a permanent relationship is totally unclear, Sven Giegold, a leading German Green MEP told me last June. Judging from recent election results, the infatuation hasnt faded. In fact, in several countries the greens appear on the verge of eclipsing old-school socialist or social-democratic parties as the main electoral voice of the left.

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Local elections in France last week featured what Le Monde described as a green wave, with the countrys Green Party, officially known as Europe Ecologie Les Verts, winning in Lyon, Frances third largest city, as well as in Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and several other major cities, while President Emanuel Macrons centrist En Marche party failed to make much of a dent. As the BBC noted, Frances once dominant Socialist party has been all but wiped out at a national level, but one bright spot for the party was the reelection of Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo who ran with the support of the Greens and has made fighting climate change a centerpiece of her tenure.

In Ireland, the Green Party was key in bringing about a coalition deal reached on June 26, bringing an end to months of political deadlock since an inconclusive election in February. The countrys two historic rival center-right parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, will govern together for the first time. They reached a majority only with the support of the Greens, who signed on after winning concessions including a government target of 7 percent annual average carbon emissions cuts.

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Germany has one of the worlds oldest and strongest Green partiesits celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and has been a part of national-level coalitions in the pastlooks set for a return to power. With elections for the Bundestag looming next year, the Greens in second place behind the ruling CDU with 20 percent of the vote. As Deutsche Welle puts it, Die Grunen are replacing the Social Democrats as Germanys second party, and a likely partner for the next government coalition.

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The Greens recent gains come at a time of increased political fragmentation that has benefited smaller parties, and have mostly come at the expense of center-left stalwarts like the French Socialists or Germanys SPD. But recent developments in Austria show that perhaps we shouldnt be so quick to assume the Greens will be the new voice of the left.

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At the beginning of this year, the Austrian Greens struck a coalition deal with Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurzs Austrian Peoples Party. The 33-year-old Kurz had previously been in coalition with the Freedom Party, a far-right party founded by ex-Nazis, until that government fell apart as a result of an extremely sloppy scandal involving a drunken night in Ibiza and Russian influence peddling. Kurzs new partnership marks a shift to the left, but not as dramatic a shift as you might think. His government continues to stand against political Islam, and for lower taxes and reduced immigration. He has vowed to protect the climate and the borders.

The coalition deal was approved by an overwhelming 93 percent of the Green Partys membership. Writing in the American socialist magazine Jacobin, activist Teresa Petrik suggests we shouldnt be surprised by this. Some Green voters might identify as left-wing, she writes, Yet most of the partys base are highly educated and financially well off. They are not the people who will suffer from continued welfare cuts and the neoliberal policies the new government is pushing forward.

Austrias strange new government is more troubling evidence of just how easily environmental concerns can be wedded to a hard-line anti-immigration agenda. But on the other hand, its also a sign that the climate issue has become so mainstream in Europe that even the bona fide right-wingers are embracing it. The U.S. is not quite there yet.
Something strange is going on in Iran. Since June, fires or explosions have erupted at six factories and other facilities, two of them military in naturethe Parchin missile-production plant and the Natanz nuclear site.

At Natanz, the Iranian government has acknowledged, a fire greatly damaged an industrial shed where advanced centrifuges were being builtmachines that could have sped up the process of building an atomic bomb. Satellite photos showed the sheds doors hanging off their hinges, blown outward. An official with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the damage set back Irans nuclear program by months.*

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Is Israel or the United States, or both, to blame? The Iranians certainly think so, and Israeli officials are doing little to discourage suspicion. Asked about this by reporters, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz replied, Not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with usleaving wide-open the possibility that these incidents might have. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi went further: Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear capabilities, he said, adding that, to preempt this prospect, we take actions that are better left unsaid.

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The explosions may have been set off by cyberattacks, a much scaled-down version of the U.S.-Israeli Stuxnet virus that manipulated the controls at the Natanz site in 2010, destroying thousands of centrifuges by slowing down or speeding up their spin cyclesand doing so in a way that left Iranian scientists thinking the problems were caused by human error or malfunctioning parts.

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For this reason, some doubt the latest explosions were cyberattacks. A former senior official at the National Security Agency, which helped design Stuxnet and other hacking tools, told me that most cyberoffensive programs are designed to make the resulting damage look like an accidentwhereas the size and frequency of these latest attacks have the earmarks of sabotage. It is also unusual for a cyberattack to set off a huge explosion. On the other hand, another former official said the fire at the Parchin missile factorywhich was caused by a gas explosioncould have been triggered by a cyberattack on the plants gas controls.

These former officials, and others that I asked, emphasized that they have no inside knowledge of what happened. Some of the explosions might have been accidents; Irans record of handling complex technology isnt stellar. But some of them were almost certainly deliberate. On Friday, Irans Supreme National Security Council said that the cause of the Natanz fire had been accurately determined, but then offered no details.

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If saboteurs were at work, it is at least as likely that they used old-fashioned methodssmuggling in a bomb and detonating it remotely. The New York Times quoted a member of Irans elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as saying the explosion at Natanz was caused by a bomban astonishing admission of lax security at Irans most cherished and sensitive nuclear facility. The Times also quoted a Middle East intelligence official as saying that Israel was responsible for the attack.

Then again, Jiyar Gol, a reporter for BBC Persian, reported on Monday that just after midnight on June 30, he received an email from an unknown group calling itself the Homeland Cheetahs. The groupwhich claimed to be composed of dissidents within Irans military and security forcessaid that they had blown up a facility at the Natanz site two hours earlier. Gol went online to see if anyone was reporting such an explosion; he found nothing. Then, several hours later, Irans Atomic Energy Organization announced that there had been an incident at the Natanz plant.

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Could the bombing have been an inside job? Is it a sign of deep fissures within Irans most trusted security forces? Maybe. Or, just as likely (if not more so), Israeli forces want the Iranian regime to think soin part to divert attention from themselves (and, possibly, discourage a retaliatory attack), in part to foment distrust within high levels of the Iranian government and deepen whatever fissures exist.

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Tuesdays Jerusalem Post quoted Raz Zimmt, an Iran specialist at Israels Institute for National Security Studies, saying that these attacksalong with several other recent incidents and outbreaks of neglect and vulnerabilityare having an impact on the Iranian public. These other incidents include the U.S. drone attack that killed Irans most powerful military leader, Qassem Soleimani; an Israeli raid, in 2018, that seized a half-ton of nuclear documents from an archive in the center of Tehran; and the regimes utter incompetence at dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 11,000 Iranians.* Fingers are pointed at the regime that it does not provide its citizens with security, Zimmt said.

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On Sunday, Irans newly elected Parliament, heavily dominated by hard-liners, heckled Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, accusing him of selling out the country by negotiating the 2015 nuclear deal with the United Statesa deal that U.S. President Donald Trump has since revoked, resulting in the reimposition of economic sanctions that the deal was beginning to lift in exchange for the dismantling of Irans nuclear program. On Monday, the parliamentarians called President Hassan Rouhani for harsh questions about the countrys many economic and security issues.

At Sundays session, Zarif told the legislators, You should know we are in the same boat. We are all in this together. The U.S. does not recognize [the difference between Iranian] liberals, reformists, and conservativesrevolutionaries and nonrevolutionaries.

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Its a point that the Trump administration, and the Israeli government, should absorb. If they are responsible for the fires and explosions of recent weeks, as part of their maximum pressure campaign to disrupt and destabilize the Iranian regime, they should know that the successors to Rouhani and Zarif are not likely to be the Western-leaning young people who have occasionally protested in the streets or the dissident members of the Homeland Cheetahs (if such a group really exists). They are more likely to be the elite military and security forces themselves, whose longtime distrust of the West has been intensified by Trumps withdrawal from the nuclear dealand who, if they come to power, will crack down harder on domestic dissent and push faster on a military buildup against the U.S. and its allies.

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Trump and his top advisersnotably, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuhave long been pushing for regime change in Tehran. They should be careful what they wish for.

Correction, July 8, 2020: This piece originally misattributed a claim to the International Atomic Energy Agency that was made by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Correction, July 7, 2020: This piece originally misstated that COVID-19 has killed more than 500,000 Iranians. It has killed more than 11,000 Iranians.

For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below.
A book by the niece of Donald Trump is set to publish next week, even as the presidents family has tried to halt its publication in court. In the book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man, Mary Trump unpacks the presidents upbringing, focusing on the influence of his sociopathic father in a family rife with dysfunction.

Details emerged on Tuesday, as a number of reporters obtained copies of the book. Mary, daughter of Donalds older brother, Freddy, scans through the familys history in service of showing how Fred Trump Sr. rewarded ruthless competitiveness above all other qualities and emotionally stunted his children in an effort to mold them as he wished. Fred Trump propped up the favored son, Donald, with false flattery and pushed away Freddy, the son who broke with the family business, contributing to Freddys alcoholism and early death.

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The most newsworthy allegation to be published so far has to do with Donalds college education. According to Mary, Donald Trump paid a friend to take the SAT on his behalf. He was able to use those scores to gain entry to the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton business school, a feat he has bragged of often.

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Here are some of the other allegations Mary makes in the book:

 Freddy Trump received no medical help from family during the weeks before his death in 1981, as he stayed in their family home, even though the Trump family had financial ties to several hospitals. Mary wrote that a single phone call would have guaranteed the best treatment for their son, but no one made such a call. The night Freddy died from an alcohol-induced heart attack, he went to the hospital alonehis family chose not to come with him. Instead, Donald went to a movie that night.

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 Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired federal appeals court judge who stepped down in 2019, once told Mary that Donald Trump was a clown and that he would never be elected. Maryanne questioned why any evangelical Christians would support her brother: The only time Donald went to church was when the cameras were there. She added: But thats all about his base. He has no principles.

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 Mary, who has a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, believes her uncle meets all nine criteria for narcissism. She believes that he has only survived in the world because of his fathers wealth, which insulated him from any real responsibility.

 Donald also bullied his younger brother, Robert, for being weak. As a child, he would hide his brothers toys and often threatened to destroy them if Robert didnt stop crying.

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 At one point, Donald hired Mary to ghostwrite a book for him. During that process, he refused to be interviewed by her, but he did give Mary transcripts of recordings that she described as an aggrieved compendium of women he had expected to date, but who, having refused him, were suddenly the worst, ugliest, and fattest slobs hed ever met. In the recordings, he complained that German Olympic figure skater Katarina Witts calves were too large, for example.

 One of the women he complained about was Madonna, who he said chewed gum in an unattractive way.

 Ivana, Donalds first wife, was notorious for giving cheap gifts. Mary writes that Ivana and Donald once gave her a three-pack of underwear; another time a gold lame shoe filled with hard candy, which she thought must have been a past party favor; and another time a regifted charcuterie basket with an indentation where she suspected caviar had been.

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 One time, when Mary was 29, she was wearing a bathing suit and shorts to lunch with family. Donald looked up at her and said, Holy shit, Mary. Youre stacked. Marla Maples responded by slapping Donald on the arm.

The book is set to publish on July 14. A judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that Simon & Schuster could proceed with its plans to publish the book but will later determine if Mary violated a two-decade-old confidentiality agreement from a conflict over Fred Trumps will.

For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below.
In response to widespread demands to defund the police, a specific question repeatedly crops up: What about domestic and sexual violence? These what about questions imply that defunding, reducing, and reforming the aggressive street policing currently under public scrutiny will leave people without vital protection and trigger a tidal wave of crime.

As prominent prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba has explained, the police have never been the solution to violence against women. Few women actually report rapes to police, and when they do, officers disbelieve and mistreat them. Kaba and others point out that police officers frequently commit domestic and sexual violence themselves, often using their authority to get away with it.

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Still, some argue that this reality calls for more policing. Laws and policies could require officers to believe women and make arrests in their cases. This may, in turn, increase reporting and victim satisfaction. Some policies like this already exist in the form of special victims units where officers are trained to be victim-centered and trauma-informed and to pursue cases to arrest. One letter to the editor responding to Kaba suggested that we could change the face of policing: I disagree that we should abolish the police. Instead, we should simply replace male policemen with more women.

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It is tempting to see aggressive rape and domestic violence policing as the solution to violence against women, especially as the coronavirus lockdown is increasing such violence. But we have been down that road before, and it just led to more harm for marginalized people, including women.

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Beginning in the late 1970s, battered womens activists launched a remarkably successful campaign for states and police departments to adopt laws and policies that encouraged, even required, police officers to arrest in domestic violence cases. Before the policies, officers who responded to domestic disputes often did not arrest, instead choosing to mediate between the parties or temporarily remove the suspect from the scene. Department policies even encouraged police not to arrest.

In the early days of the movement, many feminists also rejected strict law enforcement. Black activists within the movement vociferously opposed increasing police presence in the lives of people of color. Social scientists warned that arrest initiates a judicial process which, experience tells us, has little chance of a productive outcome, as researcher Morton Bard observed.

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Consequently, much of the early battered womens movement was oriented not around policing but around services like helping women obtain housing, employment, and public benefits. Shelley Fernandez, an administrator at La Casa de las Madres, a shelter created for Latina women, testified to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 1978 about the kind of government intervention her clients needed: We need money for teaching sheltered children, bilingual and biculturally. We need money for the day-to-day operation of shelters, ongoing rent, food, furniture, clothing, remodeling, upkeep, and paid staff. We need money for supplemental housing because we are already full.

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Still, feminist advocates and lawyers heard horror stories from abused women who said they had begged for the abusers arrest, only to be dismissed by ambivalent or sexist officers. Feminists like advocate Yolanda Bako reasoned, Since the problem is already at the doorstep of the police, I think it is essential to make reform there. Activists pushed a pro-arrest agenda during an era of escalating tough-on-crime sentiments, and by the mid-1980s, law enforcement was the centerpiece of battered womens activism. The domestic violence arrest program received a boost in 1984 from a pioneering and highly publicized Minneapolis study, led by sociologist Lawrence Sherman, that tracked 205 domestic violence cases for six months and found that arresting suspects had a greater deterrent effect than giving suspects verbal advice or temporarily removing them from the home for eight hours. By 1991, around 90 percent of police departments and half of the states had adopted pro-arrest policies and laws. (A 2011 ABA survey showed that 19 states and the District of Columbia had mandatory arrest laws, and six states had preferred-arrest laws).

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The pro-arrest program did not generally increase victim reporting to or satisfaction with police, but it made women more reluctant to seek state intervention.

As police and lawmakers raced to implement aggressive arrest policies, Sherman was conducting large-scale replication studies that cast serious doubt on the deterrent effects of arrest. Several showed that arrest increased violence, particularly among unemployed Black men. By 1992, Sherman possessed enough evidence to proclaim, Mandatory arrest may make as much sense as fighting fire with gasoline. Some battered women advocates dismissed the replication studies in a disturbingly racist manner. One prominent activist argued that police simply needed to be tougher on unemployed Black men, whom she referred to as societys failures, because in subcultures of ghettoized people, where imprisonment is all too common, a few hours in jail may be seen as only minor irritation, or even a right of passage.

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The pro-arrest program did not generally increase victim reporting to or satisfaction with police, but it made women more reluctant to seek state intervention. Women were right to worry that calling the cops would result in their partners incarceration, job loss, or deportation, or even the womans own arrest. Research in California revealed that the adoption of mandatory arrest policies increased arrests of men by 60 percent and arrests of women by 400 percent. The primary deterrent effect of arrest policies, it appears, was deterring women from calling for help. And this may have had deadly consequences. A 2007 study that compared domestic homicide rates among states with and without mandatory arrest laws and within states before and after such laws found that the laws corresponded to a 54 percent increase in intimate partner homicides. The author hypothesized that arrest had deterred at-risk women from seeking help.

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The domestic violence law enforcement program was costly in other ways. Armed policing comes at a steep human cost. Take, for example, Derek Chauvin, the officer who killed George Floyd. In 2008, he responded to a domestic violence call, busted down the door of a bathroom where Ira Toles was hiding, and shot Tolles twice in the stomach. Chauvin claimed the unarmed Toles reached for his police gun. Toles told the Daily Beast that he remembered Chauvin breaking in and beating him but not being shot. But, he added, I remember my baby mother screaming and crying. Policing this domestic violence incident traumatized the victim, left Toles with holes in his stomach and a misdemeanor conviction, and garnered Chauvin a medal of valor.

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And significantly, the domestic violence policing program came at the expense of funding and expanding the many evidence-tested service programs available to states and localities, including shelters like La Casa de las Madres. The Violence Against Women Act, for instance, was the signature federal effort against domestic violence. A central part of the infamous 1994 crime bill, VAWA too had a tough-on-crime bent that became more pronounced over time. As professor Leigh Goodmark has noted, at VAWAs inception, 62 percent of its grant funds went to the criminal system and by 2013, 85 percent of the funds went to policing and punishment. For 40 years, lawmakers and the public accepted costly policing that failed to meaningfully reduce violence, when all the while, Shelley Fernandezs 1978 sentiments pointed the way.

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Policymakers are starting to recognize this failure. In 2017, the CDC published a comprehensive report on programs, policies, and practices that are effective at addressing and reducing intimate partner violence. The report deemphasizes the role of policing, prosecution, and punishment and instead highlighs programs that provide early violence intervention with children, prenatal care, shelter, employment, free preschool, and even green urban spaces, which studies have shown as being effective at reducing violence.

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One example is the Minnesota Family Investment Program, which provides cash and food assistance to low-income families to help working parents meet basic needs. Families receiving MFIP assistance experience a significant reduction in domestic violence compared with families that receive traditional benefits. Then theres Washington states Housing First program, which helps survivors obtain shelter, child care, and other necessary services. In pilot studies, 84 percent of survivors in the program reported an increase in safety. The U.S. Airforce Suicide Prevention Program was created to address the stigma of seeking mental health services and connect Air Force personnel with professionals. In addition to reducing the risk of suicide, the program reduced moderate family violence by 30 percent and severe family violence by 54 percent.

The evidence is clear: Dialing back aggressive policing, even without other changes, promises to benefit women, especially those living in low-income communities of color. Investing in programs proved to reduce violence and increase victims well-being, instead of policing, is even better. The question What about domestic violence? is better understood not as a critique of defunding the police but as an argument for it.
This piece originally appeared in the Conversation.

Hopes for a summertime reprieve from COVID-19 have been dashed as cases surged in June. As infections rise, so does the need for testing. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently announced that health officials are considering pooled testing for COVID-19 in response to the recent surge.

So what is pooled testing, and why does the U.S. need it?

The basic idea of pooled testing is that it allows public health officials to test small groupscalled poolsof people using only one test. This means you can test more people faster, using fewer tests, and for less money.

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Instead of testing one person at a time, samples from multiple individuals would be mixed together and tested as one. If the test comes back negative, everyone in the pool is clear. If positive, each member of the pool is then tested individually.

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For example, imagine a workplace with 20 people, one of whom is infected. Pooled testing divides the 20 people into four groups of five. Samples are taken from each person and mixed with the samples from other people in their group. Each grouped sample is then testedfour tests in all.

One of the pools will turn up positive because it contains the single infected person. All five people in this pool are then retested individually, and the one sick person is identified.

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In all, nine tests are used and all 20 workers have been screened. If everyone had been screened individually, it would have taken 20 tests.

In practice, the number of tests saved by pooling varies depends on the fraction of people infected. Higher infection rates mean that more pools come back positive, more people need to be retested, and savings from pooling are lower.

For example, pooled testing on suspected COVID-19 cases in Los Angeleswhere as of June 27 nearly 9 percent of people tested are positivewould reduce test use by about 50 percent. But in Montana, where only 0.1 percent of the population is infected, a pooled testing effort to test the whole state would reduce test use by nearly 90 percent.

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No matter the exact amount, at a cost of about $100 per test, the savings add up.

Pooled testing has long been used to test large asymptomatic populations for disease. State labs have used it to screen for chlamydia and gonorrhea and the Red Cross has used it to test donated blood for Hepatitis B and C, Zika virus, and HIV.

And some places have already begun using pooled testing to screen for active coronavirus infections.

Stanford University used pooled testing to monitor the early spread of COVID-19 in the Bay Area. Nebraskas Public Health Laboratory pooled and tested samples from five-person groups and roughly doubled the number of suspected COVID-19 patients it could test weekly.

Some people have expressed concern that the dilution of samples from pooling could reduce the accuracy of the PCR tests that look for viral RNA in samples. Fortunately, researchers have already shown that pooled testing is about as accurate as individual testing in pools as large as eight people.

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Another concern is infection prevalence. When infection rates climb higher than 15 percent, too many pools come back positive and pooling is no longer more efficient. Fortunately, on a nationwide basis only about 5 percent of tests on suspected cases are coming back positive. Even in extreme hot spots like Texas, where 10 percent or more of suspected cases are testing positive, pooled testing could still be useful.

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But the real strength of pooled testing would be seen if health officials start implementing large-scale testing of the general population.

For the most part, patients are currently tested only when a health care provider suspects they might be infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, asymptomatic and presymptomatic COVID-19 patients are common and are likely a major source of COVID-19 transmission. For this reason, experts have recommended screening everyone for infections.

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In the general population, the prevalence of new infections is estimated to be less than 2 percent, even in the hardest-hit states. At these rates, pooled testing could reduce test costs by 80 percent or more.

To date, the U.S. has conducted around 30 million COVID-19 tests, covering a bit less than 10 percent of its population. Yet, some experts have called for testing Americas entire population every three months or even every two weeks.

Considering that American labs are already short of testing reagents, it seems doubtful companies could soon produce enough material to run this many individual testsassuming companies or governments could even pay for them all. Widespread use of pooled testing can help screen more people using fewer laboratory tests.

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In order to increase capacity, the FDA recently released guidance that lays out a path to pooled testing authorization so more labs and test manufacturers can start doing it.

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Another potential obstacle is cost. If labs charge much more for testing a pooled sample than they do for an individual one, any cost savings will dissipate.

Cheaper, faster testing methods enable screening that is more widespread and more frequent. Frequency is critical for monitoring a disease that spreads rapidly. Moreover, repeat testing helps pick up cases that might have been missed previously. Retesting helps, because research suggests that PCR tests miss about 20 percent of infected cases, no matter whether they are pooled or not.

Pooling could get the U.S. one step closer to the goal of universal and repeated testingand play a crucial role in containing the spread of this relentless disease.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
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.

For its 30 million American users, the app TikTok means viral dance videos, hashtag challenges, and irreverent memes. But for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, TikTok is a matter of national security. On Monday, Pompeo told Fox News that the U.S. might ban the short-form video platform and other Chinese social media apps.

The announcement reflects mounting tensions between the U.S. and China, whose technology companies face ongoing scrutiny. ByteDance, a Beijing-based internet company, owns TikTok, and when questioned about the possibility of a ban on the app, Pompeo said, We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it.

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That doesnt necessarily mean it will happen, of course. But the China-U.S. tech relationship is fraught. Weve worked on this very issue for a very long time, he continued. Whether it was the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure, weve gone all over the world, and were making real progress getting that out. We declared ZTE a danger to American national security. With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cellphones, the United States will get this one right too. In fact, in December, the U.S. banned members of the armed forces from using TikTok.

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Pompeos statement trails a new security law that positions China to strengthen its control over Hong Kong. The legislation, which took effect last week, sanctions both online surveillance and censorship. Now the police can remove internet posts and punish corporations that refuse to comply with their requests for user data. After more than a year of civil unrest and protests, the law allows authorities in Hong Kong to hamper opposition to the Communist Party. It has already resulted in several arrests. In response to the new legislation, on Monday, Facebook, Google, and Twitter announced that they would ignore requests for user data from the Hong Kong government.

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In a statement, Facebook wrote, We are pausing the review of government requests for user data from Hong Kong pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts. 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.

Twitter and Google will likewise review the new law, though none of the three companies has stated whether itll eventually comply with parts of it. The Chinese government has threatened to fine internet companies nearly $13,000 if they refuse to comply with court orders. Employees at said companies could face jail sentences of up to one year if they fail to remove posts.

Not to be one-upped by American tech companies, TikTok took its response to the new security law even further. Within the week, the apps listing will disappear from the App Store and elsewhere in Hong Kong. It will also stop working for those who have already downloaded it there.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
The prettiest castle in Slovakia (from our archive)

A fairy-tale castle with peach-coloured outer walls and impressive neo-gothic turrets, Bojnice castle is a Slovak jewel.

This is an article from our archive of travel guides, Spectacular Slovakia. We decided to publish this gem for our readers, making only necessary adjustments. Some of the writers observations have changed, but much still holds true. For up-to-date information and feature stories, take a look at the latest edition of our Trencin Region Travel Guide.

The grand fortresss baby-blue spires and beautiful castle grounds attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world each year. Many come for its various festivals. In the summer months, a series of classical music concerts are held in Hunadyho Hall. Christmas at the Castle is a month-long celebration with re-enactments of the birth of Jesus and live musical performances.

But Bojnice needs no festivals to make it worth a visit. Simply walking around the castle grounds, tossing bread crumbs to the swans in the moat, touring the vast and intricate interior, or visiting the nearby zoo makes for a wonderful trip. In short, Bojnice is breath-taking.

Beginning of the castle

Bojnice Castle (Source: Jan Svrcek)

The romantic castle was originally a wooden structure with a moat that was recast into a stone fortification in the 13th century. At the beginning of the 16th century, the castle was expanded when it became the renaissance seat of local nobility, and in 1644 it was given a baroque make-over by the Palffy family, one of the richest and most influential Hungarian noble families in the Hungarian Kingdom from the 17th to 19th century. Pavol Palffy bought the castle in 1637 from Emperor Ferdinand III for 200,000 gold pieces.

The Palffys enjoyed almost uninterrupted ownership until the 20th century. They lost the castle once, in 1703, when Turkish troops attacked. The battle lasted eight months before the Palffys surrendered. Four years later, however, they returned and reclaimed Bojnice.

Fairy-tale change

In 1852, Count Jan Palffy (1829 -1909), the last noble owner of the castle and the man most responsible for its current beauty, inherited the castle. He took over Bojnice from his father, Frantisek, who had left the estate deeply in debt. Jan immediately installed a rigid, well-organised financial administration and eventually paid off the debts. Once financially secure (he also owned palaces in Vienna and Budapest and several estates throughout Slovakia, including Smolenice Castle), Palffy dedicated himself to his ultimate passion: collecting antiques.

Related article Find more info about Bojnice caste in our Trencin region travel guide Read more

The motive and aim of my journeys were not just so I could satisfy my own artistic appetite, Palffy once said, explaining the infatuation that led him to exotic destinations around the world. They were so I could acquire from foreign treasures as much as possible under the circumstances and according to my financial means. So that I could bring back works of art to my country and thereby contribute to enriching artistic taste at home, while also arousing greater interest in art.

The death of Palffy

By the time Palffy died in 1909, his enormous collection was valued at 90 million Slovak crowns. From his deathbed in Vienna, he ordered in his will that the castle be opened to the public, so he could share his accumulated treasures with other art enthusiasts.

Sarcophagus of Jan Palffy in Bojnice (Source: Jan Svrcek)

However, because he had no direct heirs, several relatives laid claim to the treasures. The heirs, who wanted to sell off the property, ignored much of Palffys will. After a bitter legal battle, the relatives and the state finally reached an agreement in 1923. It was decided that much of the collection could be auctioned off, which it was from 1924 to 1926, while the state retained possession of the remaining antiques.

Then in 1938, the heirs sold the castle to Jan Bata. But he was stripped of the ownership after World War II by the Communist regime - the state has since owned the castle and estate, with the interior now a part of the Slovak National Museum.

The celebrated exterior is also largely Palffy-influenced. Although he hired a team of Austrian architects for an extensive renovation in 1888, Palffy himself designed, drew and revised most of the final plans, inspired by French gothic castles in the Loire Valley. Sadly, Palffy died before the castle reconstruction was finished in 1910. His remains lie inside the castle in a red marble sarcophagus (one of the last stops on a museum tour).

video //www.youtube.com/embed/sRmQLJAwOYA

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Rebirth after fire

Credit for the enduring beauty of the castle must also be given to the Communists. According to Bojnice festival organiser, Jozef Mikulas Palffy, while the regime neglected many Slovak monuments and historical sites as a matter of doctrine, Bojnice was actually used by top leaders as a weekend getaway and private conference centre. So when a fire destroyed the castle towers in 1950, finances for its reconstruction were immediately granted. As a result, he said, Bojnice glittered while other castles crumbled.

Spectacular Slovakia travel guides

Romantic Bojnice Castle is one of Slovakias favourite tourist destinations. (Source: Jana Liptakova)

7. Jul 2020 at 6:02 | Chris Togneri
Ombudswoman looks at the Foreigners' Police. She sees room for improvement in personal capacities, general information in foreign languages, language skills of officers and use of the electronic system.

Visiting a branch of the Foreigners Police in Slovakia turned out to be an unpleasant experience for many new arrivals to Slovakia, and even foreigners living in Slovakia who just have a minor agenda to settle.

The Foreigners' Police, which is the immigration authority in Slovakia, has put in place many improvements over the past few years, following some harsh criticism of clients and human rights watchdogs. In 2020, clients can take advantage of their electronic ordering system, which improved the notoriously criticised queues. Nowadays, much like before, the experience of clients often depends on their specific case, the department and the individual police officer they are dealing with.

That stems from the 42-page-long report conducted by the Public Defender of Rights office published in early July. The ombudswoman's staff conducted their own research. In October and November 2019, they paid visits to Foreigners Police departments in Bratislava, Trnava, Dunajska Streda, Nove Zamky, Nitra, Trencin, Zilina, Banska Bystrica, Rimavska Sobota, Presov, Kosice and Michalovce.

Office of the Public Defender of Rights focused on interviews with foreigners as well as employees of the branches without notifying them in advance. They also ask foreigners about their experience in an online questionnaire, which returned over 500 answers.

Not enough police officials

The Foreigners Police faces insufficient personal capacities, Martina Tymkova, a guarantor of the research from Public Defender of Rights office, told The Slovak Spectator. She said that other problems arise from this issue.

The report said that the only fully personally occupied branch of the Foreigners Police is the one in Presov. The others do not have enough workers, the most significant lack of employees was in Dunajska Streda.

Branches with most unoccupied positions: Dunajska Streda - 36 percent (nine of 25)

Trnava - 35 percent (12 of 34)

Bratislava - 29.5 percent (21 of 71) Source: Research of the Public Defender of Rights office

Most vacant positions are in those branches of the Foreigners Police that face the biggest strain of clients in the long term, due to the presence of foreign companies and significant foreign investors in the territory they cover, the report reads. The shortage of human resources is then mirrored in the length of the proceeding in each individual case.

Currently, there is also no vast interest in working at the branches of the Foreigners Police, Tymkova noted.

All the staff at the departments are police officers, which means that police officers also fulfil such tasks as sorting out mail and issuing IDs.

The client centres running under the Interior Ministry that issue IDs and other official documents to Slovak citizens, in contrast, employ civil servants who are not police officers.

Some are nice, others aggressive

Foreigners have various experiences at the branches of the Foreigners Police  ranging from positive to very negative. Several foreigners evaluated the approach of a police corps member as arrogant, impudent, unwilling to help, aloof, the report noted.

7. Jul 2020 at 11:40 | Nina Hrabovska Francelova
The drug will be launched under the brand name Desrem in India and will be available to patients later this month

Mylan gets DCGI nod for remdesivir in India, to launch at Rs 4,800 per vial. (Photo- Twitter)

Bengaluru: Global pharmaceutical major Mylan has got approval for its remdesivir from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and will launch a generic version of Gilead Sciences' COVID-19 anti-viral in the country at Rs 4,800 for 100 mg/vial.

The drug will be launched under the brand name Desrem in India and will be available to patients later this month at about 80 per cent below the price tag for wealthy nations, the company said.

The approval for restricted emergency use is part of the DCGI's accelerated approval process to address urgent, unmet needs amid the evolving coronavirus pandemic.

Mylan will manufacture remdesivir in India at its injectables facilities which also make the product for the United States and have been inspected by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for compliance with good manufacturing practices.

The company said it continues to work extensively toward expanding emergency use access for patients in the 127 low- and middle-income countries where it is licenced by Gilead Sciences to do so, subject to reviews by national regulatory bodies and the pre-qualification programme of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The approval by DCGI in India represents the first for Mylan in these 127 markets.

Mylan President Rajiv Malik said the company and Gilead Sciences have partnered for many years to make high-quality medicines available to people who need them and have made significant progress to reduce the incidence of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, around the world.

"We commend Gilead for their continued leadership on this front, and also applaud and are proud to continue partnering with the DCGI for its ongoing efforts to accelerate access to critical medicine for patients with COVID-19 in India," he said in a statement.

Mylan joins domestic pharma firm Cipla and Hetero which have already received permission from the DCGI to manufacture and market remdesivir for the treatment of Covid-19.

In May, domestic pharma firms Hetero, Cipla and Jubilant Life Sciences and pharma major Mylan had entered into non-exclusive licencing agreements with drug major Gilead Sciences Inc for manufacturing and distribution of remdesivir.

The medicine has been issued an emergency use authorisation by the US FDA to treat COVID-19 patients.
Cordero and Kloots, a fitness trainer, relocated to Los Angeles, where he starred in the musical "Rock of Ages" in 2019.

He met Kloots, a former Broadway dancer, when they were both performing in "Bullets over Broadway," and they married in 2017.

According to Kloots, Cordero was initially hospitalized in March at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

She shared on social media that Cordero spent some time on a ventilator, suffered multiple COVID-19 complications and in April had to have his leg amputated.

He spent weeks unconscious, even as doctors brought him out of sedation, and the hashtag campaign #WakeUpNick sprung up on social media to support Cordero as he recovered.

In May, Kloots posted that her husband was awake and, while very weak, was making progress.

"Even closing his eyes, takes it out of him," she said. "They're waiting for him to regain strength, of course, time and recovery will help with that and then eventually PT will help him get stronger."
That creates too much uncertainty for a project already running billions of dollars over initial cost estimates and means delays in the tree clearing work slated for the winter in order to keep the project from falling further behind schedule, Dominion and Duke said in a joint statement.

Theyve already spent $3.4 billion in a more than five-year-old effort to build the 600 mile link between gas fields in West Virginia and big markets for gas in Hampton Roads, central Virginia and North Carolina. Dominions share of that expense, 53%, is the same as its ownership stake in the project

None of that cost has fallen on Dominions rate payers and none will, Dominion officials say. The project has not been included in assets the State Corporation Commission says Dominion can use as the basis for calculating utility customers rates.

Environmentalists have challenged the pipeline as a costly commitment to fossil fuel  shale gas  that creates major pollution issues. Extraction involves chemicals that taint groundwater while using gas to heat homes and businesses or to generate electricity accelerates climate change, they say.

Despite its decision to cancel the Atlantic Coast pipeline, Dominion says Virginia still needs gas  more than anyone can currently deliver.
Russia is having a hard time selling their 44-ton BMPT 72 Terminator 2 combat support vehicle. This specialized tank was developed in the 1990s to accompany regular tanks in urban combat and protect the tanks from enemy infantry using RPGs and other close-range weapons, like explosives or firebombs thrown from the tops of buildings. These tactics proved devastating for Russian tanks that went into the Chechen capital in 1994 and were quickly defeated. By 2000 the Terminator 1 showed up, but it only had a single 30mm autocannon and four ATGMs (Anti-tank guided missiles). Changes were made and Terminator 2 was ready in 2002. Like the earlier version, it used the chassis of a T-72 tank, with the 125mm gun turret removed and replaced with a smaller turret containing two 30mm autocannon, four ATAKA laser-guided ATGMs with a range of 6,000 meters plus a 7.62mm machine-gun with 2,100 rounds. Each 30mm autocannon had 850 high-explosive rounds and both were aimed and fired as a single weapon. One or both could fire and fired together they could take down helicopters or slow low flying (up to 2,000 meters/6,400 feet) fixed-wing aircraft. The 30mm autocannons were very accurate at up to 1,500 meters against ground targets, like infantry in buildings. The turret and T-72 chassis had additional protection against RPGs and the vehicle had an APS (Active protection system) to defeat ATGMs. The Terminator has a three-man crew (driver, commander and gunner). The commander can also act as a gunner and both he and the gunner have access day/night viewing devices with zoom.

Since Russian manufacturers depend so much on export sales, they pay close attention to user comments. The Russian military received some evaluation models of the BMPT and some of these were sent to Syria in 2016. Russia placed an order for several dozen BMPT in 2017. Between 2010 and 2016 the manufacturer sold 320 BMPTs to Kazakhstan and Algeria. There are a few more potential buyers but now the Chinese have a competing vehicle that does what the BMPT does and much more.

China has been very successful at taking Russian weapons designs and building better ones. Not just by copying the original Russian models, but by checking with users (often Chinese troops) to discover likes and dislikes as well as desired changes. As a result, the Chinese copies are increasingly a major improvement over the Russian original.

Case in point was the Chinese QN-506 Fire Support Vehicle that showed up in 2018. The 35-ton QN-506 is built on the chassis of a Type 59 (Russian T-54) tank with the original turret removed and replaced with a smaller one that is filled with weapons and sensors. The three-man crew (driver, commander and sensor operator) are within the body of the vehicle. The commander and sensor (vidcams, thermal imager) operator also operate the multiple weapons that are remotely controlled from inside the vehicle. These include a 30mm autocannon, a 7.62mm machine-gun, four QN-502 ATGM (anti-tank guided missiles), twenty 70mm laser-guided missiles (similar to the several models used in the West), four vertically launched S570 missiles that are actually small propeller-driven loitering missiles with a range of 10 kilometers that can act as reconnaissance aircraft for about 10 minutes before being sent against a target or self-destructing. There is also a quad-copter on board that can fly out to ten kilometers from the vehicle and returns. The vehicle also has an APS (active protection system) for protection against RPGs and ATGMs. ERA (explosive reactive armor) is added to protect against tank shells and inside the vehicle, there is a modern fire suppression system. The QN-506 vehicle is marketed for counterterrorism operations, especially in urban areas. The small crew and complexity of the QN-506, which is more complex than your average tank means it, like an aircraft, needs a crew of maintainers to keep all the sensors, weapons and heavy tracked vehicle operational.

The QN-502 was inspired by the Russian BMPT 72 Terminator 2, which is similar in design to the QN-506 which is a far superior design. The Russians started out designing the BMPT as a tank escort vehicle while the Chinese saw that the most effective use of such a specialized vehicle was as a counterterror or irregular warfare weapon. Russia seems to realize this as Terminator 3 is to be built on the Armata common chassis used for the new Russian T-15 infantry fighting vehicle (and T-14 tank). Terminator 3 will have more weapons and will function more like the QN-506. But the QN-506 is available now and Terminator 3 wont be showing up until the mid-2020s when, the way the Chinese operate, there may already be a new model of the QN-506 if the design proves useful enough to the buyers. So far there have been no reported export sales and the QN-506 has not shown up anywhere dealing with irregular forces either in urban areas or out in the open. The QN-506 is designed to handle both situations and, since it was developed by one of many Chinese weapons manufacturers with company funds, the government loses nothing if there are no export sales. The Chinese government encourages this sort of experimentation and will help obtain export sales.Success with that usually means the Chinese military will buy some and perhaps later on a lot of such new systems.

With the Russians, the military budget pays for all these new weapons and takes a hit if a new design is not successful with export sales, which keep most Russian defense manufacturers in business. The Chinese system is more effective but only works if you have a robust, diversified economy. The Chinese have one of those, the Russians do not.
July 6, 2020: The election commission recently set November 8th as the date of the first general election held in Burma under a civilian government in over 60 years. There are over 90 political parties registered and contesting 1,171 seats in both national and state legislatures.

The army still enjoys many parliamentary benefits because of the political compromise it worked out before it agreed to restore democracy in 2011. That agreement gave the military more influence in parliament. The military did not have an automatic veto but they only needed win over a few non-military members of parliament to get their way. That has been more difficult each year and a five percent cut in the military budget request last May was another example of that. A more threatening example of military decline is the current feud between the Burmese generals and the Chinese government. The Chinese want less fighting in the north, especially in areas near the Chinese border. This dispute is not out in the open and the Chinese have the last word. It is the Chinese veto in the UN that prevents Burma from being condemned and sanctioned for army atrocities against tribal rebels and Rohingya Moslems in the north. China has committed similar atrocities against its own Turkic Moslem minority but China is a cranky superpower while the Burmese generals are just cranky.

Party Politics

The Rohingya dispute has claimed some high-profile victims and the most prominent is Nobel peace prize winner and Burmese national hero Aung San Suu Kyi. She is being blamed by a growing number of foreign admirers for not doing more to solve the Rohingya problem. She has been harshly criticized for not speaking out more forcefully against the 2018 conviction of two foreign journalists who were sentenced to seven years in jail for violating Burma's Official Secrets Act. The two had also exposed army atrocities in the tribal north. The punishment of two foreign journalists had a lot of popular support inside Burma, as has the harsh treatment of the Burmese Rohingya, especially the million or so forced to flee the country.

All politics is local and Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese Buddhist who sympathizes with the plight of the Rohingya but recognizes that most Burmese feel less certain about who is at fault here. Another problem foreign critics overlook is that the Burmese military, which took power in 1962 and only gave it up in 2011, still has a lot of clout in Burma. The generals were the first ones to make an issue of the Rohingya citizenship status, and also put the issue on hold in the 1980s when they were in power because a refugee dispute with neighboring Bangladesh was not in their interest. Now it is. Aung San Suu Kyi, who won international praise for her decades of efforts to get Burmese democracy restored in 2011 (after negotiating with the military dictatorship) agrees with this it is an internal problem policy and has the support of India and China, two neighbors that have faced similar problems that both are still dealing with.

Aung San Suu Kyi also agrees with the Burmese military that China is the best alternative (for investment and essential imports) if international economic sanctions are again imposed on Burma, as they were until the generals gave up most of their power and allowed the 2011 elections. Suu Kyi fears the Burmese military trying to seize control of the government more than she fears foreign media and diplomatic criticism. The military coup possibility is more important to most Burmese than the fate of the expelled Rohingya or how Burmese courts treat foreign journalists. The only one benefitting from the anti-Rohingya violence, which was instigated by nationalist Buddhist religious leaders, is the military. Now the threat of international sanctions gives the military more power in Burma to resist corruption investigations and interference with their profitable, but illegal, activities in the north. China prefers to work with the Burmese military, which makes Burmese democrats uneasy. China does not trust the military either, but the generals and the Chinese have more in common than the generals and Burmese democrats.

July 3, 2020: In the northwest (Rakhine State) the fighting between tribal rebels and the army has intensified over the last few weeks and over 40,000 villagers have fled their homes. Many have fled all the way to the state capital, which is seen as the safest spot in the state. Army leaders have become more outspoken about foreign support the tribal rebels are receiving. The generals wont come right out and name China but it is no secret that China has done little to curb Chinese weapons dealers from selling all manner of military small arms to tribal rebels and getting it across the border into Burma. That cannot be done without the acquiescence of the Chinese government. In this way the Chinese are sending a message to the Burmese generals, who the Chinese see as equally responsible for the violence in the north, sometimes right on the Chinese border. Both the rebels and the army are often using Chinese weapons and ammo against each other. There are not a lot of casualties and most of them are from army convoys being ambushed or the army firing into pro-rebel villages to drive the civilians, and any rebels, out and into the bush. The army does not have enough troops to occupy all the territory they push tribal rebels, and civilians, out of. Often the rebels, if not the civilians (at least not right away) come back and resume attacking convoys and patrols.

Most of the rebels involved in the current fighting belong to the AA (Arakan Army). Most AA attacks are ambushes or raids on outposts or border posts. Outposts and border posts are looted after the troops have been driven away. These attacks are not just about stealing some weapons and other gear, it is also intimidating the border guards and troops into backing off on border security. A major source of income for the AA is getting illegal drugs from nearby Shan State, where most illegal drugs in the country are produced, into Bangladesh. The AA works with Burmese Rohingya refugees just across the border in Bangladesh. The appearance of the covid19 virus earlier this year has made the situation worse because the refugee villages are more crowded and disorganized than the nearby Bangladeshi towns and villages. As a result, the refugee communities are seen as a persistent source of covid19 infection.

Another source of casualties in the north, along the Bangladesh border, are the landmines and booby traps set by both the army and the rebels to make it more difficult to get hit with a surprise attack. There are 20-30 dead or wounded a month from the mines and other explosive traps in the north. Nearly 60 percent of these casualties are in Rakhine State where the AA and army have been fighting for several years now. Most of the landmine casualties are civilians, who often dont know the army or AA has planted some mines in an area. Both sides do often record and remove mines they have placed. But the point of mines is surprise and civilians travelling through mined areas do so without being warned that mines are there. The mine danger is another reason the army prefers to use artillery to clear civilians out of an area and sometimes to clear mines.

July 2, 2020: In the north (Kachin State), an illegal jade mining operation turned into a disaster when heavy recent rainfall caused a pile of mining waste to slide into a lake creating a mudslide that hit an area where hundreds of amateur jade miners were seeking small bits of jade. Over 17o people died. The last such disaster took place in the same area during April 2019 when 54 jade miners died during a landslide that took place at night while everyone was sleeping. About 40 vehicles also disappeared into what, when it was all over, was described as a mud lake. There is more risk of this thing because unemployed jade miners become scavengers who scour abandoned because the owners felt there was not enough jade left to be worth extracting, jade mining sites and work these sites without much regard for safety. Some lucrative jade mines are shut because of legal problems and those sites have armed guards and police to provide security for the jade mines mainly to keep scavengers away. But many old mines that still have some jade left in them are not guarded or monitored by safety engineers in order to prevent accidental deaths and more unwelcome publicity to the lucrative but embarrassing jade industry. The scavengers have few other employment options and are not deterred by armed guards or the danger. The death toll today was the worst ever. The previous record death toll was a hundred lost in a 2015 incident that led to calls for more jade mining safety. Not much was done.

July 1, 2020: Its been a month since much reduced quarantine rules were introduced throughout the country. All government and most non-government employees returned to work during June. There were still some distancing rules but not much fear of a major outbreak of the virus. So far there have been 313 confirmed cases of covid19 in Burma, with six deaths. There were 85 new cases during June bot no more deaths. So far that comes to six cases per million people and 0.1 deaths. Most of the known cases came from China.

Elsewhere in the region, Bangladesh has 986 covid19 cases per million and 12 deaths per million. In Thailand, its 46 cases per million people and 0.8 deaths. India has 506 cases per million and 14 deaths while Pakistan had 1,049 cases per million and 22 deaths per million people. Malaysia has 268 cases per million and four deaths while China, where the virus began, stopped releasing covid19 cases and deaths data as part of a government program to try and blame the U.S. for the virus. Few (Chinese or foreigners) believe that and it is taken for granted by neighbors of China that the Wuhan Virus, as it was first known, indeed came from China. By now it has also become known that covid19 is not much more dangerous than one of the deadlier annual influenza epidemics. The flu is taken for granted and it is unclear if covid19, which is genetically almost identical to the 2013 SARS virus, another Chinese corona (trans-species) virus, will be an annual event or disappear like SARS and similar diseases. Covid19 is unique in that it attacks the lungs and is often mistaken for pneumonia. As such it is particularly dangerous to the elderly or anyone with a weakened immune system or other illnesses. Most healthy adults and children do not notice covid19 at all even if exposed to it.

June 26, 2020: In the north, across the border in Bangladesh police clashed with Rohingya gangsters suspected of kidnapping people for ransom. The gun battle, which left four Rohingya men dead took place near one of the refugee settlements in an area called Coxs Bazaar. The presence of Rohingya gangsters makes worse a situation where the arrival of nearly a million Rohingya since 2017 has tripled the local population. At first, the locals were eager to help fellow Moslems, for a few months at least. But that expected short visit has gone on for three years and there is no end in sight. The appearance of the covid19 virus has made the situation worse because the refugee villages are more crowded and disorganized than the nearby Bangladeshi towns and villages.

June 2, 2020: In the northwest (Rakhine State), border patrol forces encountered about 30 armed ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) men near the Bangladesh border. At least two ARSA men were killed during a 30-minute gun battle. ARSA then withdrew, possibly taking other dead and wounded with them. The two dead ARSA men were wearing combat uniforms and were found with their weapons. Two border patrol police were wounded. Burma considers ARSA an Islamic terrorist organization because of attacks they made along the border in 2016 and 2017. Not much violence since then except for a few clashes in 2019 where ARSA fired on Burmese troops near the border. ARSA is a Rohingya Islamic terror group that has proved to be more bark than bite and that suits the army just fine. ARSA appears to be recruiting and rebuilding in Bangladesh refugee camps and concentrating on smuggling in order to raise money.
Current Affairs

T he Turks and Caicos Islands is the first British Overseas Territory to receive assistance from Cuban medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic, Deputy Governor Her Excellency Anya Williams said.



"Our colleagues are still working on agreements so certainly we welcome the team here. They will go into two weeks quarantine and from here they will be tested but during that period they will also undergo training with the TCI hospital and so on June 29th they will be fully deployed in our hospitals to assist and we encourage persons to take advantage of their care while they are here. Outside of the coronavirus these persons have expertise medical background that they can greatly assist in so we know the hospital greatly welcomes them, she said during a press conference at the Provo Air Center FBO, on Monday June 15th when TCI welcomed 20 Cuban medical personnel.



Minister of Health Hon. Edwin Astwood said it is truly a proud day for the Turk and Caicos Islands as the country strengthened its relationship with Cuba.

No doubt this has been long and common and this is a part of us building our capacity. The citizens of the Turks and Caicos Islands did a wonderful job and this allowed us to build, not just a physical capacity, but this allowed us to build a human capacity. This just shows a further step in that direction and building the capacity so that when we open up, if the virus does come back we will have the human capacity to here, he said.



Dr. Denise Braithwaite-Tennant - IHC Chief of Clinical Services expressed thanked those who made this possible.



We are certainly very much delighted and very grateful to the Deputy Governor, Ministry of Health and Minster of Health for making soothing like this possible. It is clear when you are fighting a pandemic it is not just equipment that you need, you also need critical care capacity in terms of human care capacity. Because of the pandemic it has been very challenging for us to get our usual low come in capacity because were all competing for the same resource. We are very much delighted and ecstatic, she said.

Dr. Braithwaite-Tennant said the team will undertake virtual training with the TCI Hospitals on their systems to ready themselves for full deployment on Monday June 29th, 2020 following testing.



She added: As of this week we will be starting engagements in our training program using virtual platforms in order to maximize on the time so when they finish their quarantine they will be very much familiar with us without having to go through our corridors and were very excited about that. We are also overjoyed and excited because as a Caribbean we are realizing that we have the resources that we need to work together and leverage them. I welcome the fact that we as a Caribbean know that we can conquer this virus together.






Tensions are running high following the assassination of prominent figures, with some pointing to the existence of a struggle for dominance between Iran-backed groups and Russia-backed groups writes Al-Modon.

Over the past three days, opposition information has been circulating regarding the killing of three senior regime officers under mysterious circumstances. Two of the officers were killed in Damascus, and the third in Deir ez-Zor.

The first incident came under the spotlight on Friday, as sources from both the opposition and the regime confirmed the killing of Colonel Ali Jumblat, Maher al-Assads bodyguard.

According to the sources, Jumblat, who is originally from the countryside of Jableh, was killed by a sniper in the town of Yafour in the countryside of Damascus. A group claiming to have ties to the Free Syrian Army issued a statement in which they took responsibility for the assassination. This group is not well known in Syrian politics and has previously made only two statements in which it had claimed the assassination of two young officers in Damascus.

On Sunday, opposition sources reported the killing of two senior officers from the Air Force Intelligence, one of whom was the head of the agencys branch in Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria.

According to word on the street, Brig. Gen. Jihad Zaal, head of the Air Force Intelligence branch in Deir ez-Zor, was killed on Sunday morning under mysterious circumstances. The details of the incidents had not been confirmed at the time of writing.

On Sunday afternoon, Syrian media published news of the killing of Brig. Thaer Khair Bek, who works for the Air Force Intelligence, by a sniper, in front of his house in the al-Zahira area of the capital Damascus.

Little is known about Bek, but it is said that he belongs to the reknowned Alevi family, which has provided many senior officers to the regime.

Speculations varied regarding the three incidents, as some considered them internal operations carried out by conflicting factions in the regime, while others considered that external parties carried out the operations  especially since some sources confirmed that the head of the Deir ez-Zor Air Force Intelligence branch had died as the result of an airstrike.

These incidents contribute to increasing speculation about the likelihood of an agreement being reached between the countries affecting the Syrian conflict, as many have considered that said countries have been killing off officers who have blood on their hands, while others think that this analysis is an exaggeration. This is not to mention the uncertainty shrouding the circumstances of the killing of the three officers.

Another point of view is that the regime has lost a lot of high-ranking officers over the past nine years, but that has not weakened it or affected its structure nor the methodology it has been utilizing to deal with the revolution and the opposition. This analysis resurfaces every time a high-ranking officer with the Army or the Intelligence is murdered.

Following the infamous Crisis Security Cell bombing in 2012 that took the lives of Defense Minister Daoud Rajiha, head of National Security Hisham Bakhtiar, in addition to Gen. Hassan Turkmani, the son-in-law of Assad and head of Intelligence, Asif Shawkat, the city of Deir ez-Zor witnessed the killing of two senior officers: Brig. Jami Jama in 2013, and Brig. Issam Zahr al-Din in 2017. The circumstances of those killings are still unknown.

The string of killings and assassinations that have affected many of the senior leaders and officers of the regime have not led to any significant change, which confirms, according to many, that these operations are most likely the result of assassinations caused by competition between the security services and their leaders, and sometimes disputes over some deals and corruption issues that do not necessarily have political dimensions.

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.
Over the course of the Syrian Civil War, 86,000 children have had limbs amputated, and forced to spend hundreds of dollars on prosthetics writes Asharq Al-Awsat.

With more areas in Syria being swept by the war and thousands having been killed and wounded, especially in the northwest, children have been effected most after being deprived of their basic right to move.

Khalid al-Hussein, a 12-year-old boy, told Asharq Al-Awsat, I was injured during a raid while going to the market with my father. My father was killed while I was severely injured and lost my foot.

I could not see a thing then; the smoke and dust was all that I could see at that moment. Then I found myself on a hospital bed with an amputated foot. I tried to move it a lot but couldnt; all that I could do was cry.

Khalid sells ice cream on the street to secure food until he receives artificial limbs.

The number of children who have lost their lives in Syria between March 2011 and March 2020 has reached 29,257 according to figures published by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, while the World Health Organization and Handicap International have documented around three million injuries during the war, including one million children, of whom, 86,000 have been amputated.

All of my friends are playing, except for me, says Khouloud al-Hamdan, 9, summarizing her suffering. Khouloud is one of the victims whose lives were destroyed by the raids carried out by the regime and Russia after a missile hit her house, leaving her with serious injuries.

I wish I could play alongside my siblings and friends, but I cannot because of my injury. My dream is to have new feet so that I could move however I want.

Dr. Mohammad al-Koli, a specialist in prosthetics, says, We are working on producing the components [of a prosthetic] in one of our factories and are purchasing ready-made parts that cannot be produced locally from abroad. We then examine the injured child, taking measurements of their injuries.

Al-Koli adds, We receive all amputees who are referred to us with a prescription from the liberated areas. The cost of one prosthetic is around 700 dollars, an acceptable price when compared to the costs of imported and smart prosthetics.

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.
At a recent meeting between Turkey, Russia and Iran, the three countries are believed to have come to an agreement regarding the fate of the Syrian Democratic Forces writes North Press.

Well-informed security sources told North Press on Sunday that Russia, Turkey, and Iran have agreed to launch intense strikes against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Ayn Issa in the northern countryside of Raqqa.

The SDF defends approximately one-third of Syrian territory. The region is administrated by the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria and supported by the US-led International Coalition.

A source from the Syrian government said that a meeting was held between Russian, Turkish, and Iranian officials outside Syria over the past few days and resulted in an agreement on determining the fate of the Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria.

According to the source, during the meeting Turkey proposed a strong blow to the SDF that would completely eliminate its presence in the region, also proposing that it undertake the implementation of this task, and the Russians and the Iranians agreed to the Turkish proposal, provided that the Syrian government forces are stationed in the attack area instead of the SDF.

The source said that another meeting was held between Russian and Turkish officers two days ago in the village of Kor Hassan in Turkish-controlled Tel Abyad, and the two sides discussed the presence of the SDF in the region.

The source added, Turkish officers asked the Russians to move the SDF 30 kilometres away from their current points, and the Russians expressed their approval of the request, provided that Syrian government forces replace them in this area.

Since the Sochi Agreement, on Oct. 22, 2019, the SDF has been stationed 30 kilometres from the Turkish border.

On Jul. 1, 2020, the presidents of Russia, Turkey, and Iran held a virtual tripartite summit as part of the sixth round of the Astana talks, in which they declared their determination to fight the Autonomous Administration and the SDF.

A closing statement issued by the summits attendees said they reject all attempts to create new realities on the ground, including autonomy initiatives, and expressed their determination to stand against these agendas in reference to the SDF and the Autonomous Administration.

Badran Gia Kurd, a senior official in the Autonomous Administration, said in a press statement a few days ago that, Turkey is trying to unite Russia and Irans stance with its position against the existence of the Autonomous Administration. It seems Russia has yielded to Turkish pressures, as well as Iran and Damascus supporting the Turkish position.

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 company brought these people back from San Francisco via a special chartered flight that landed in Bengaluru

Infosys brings back over 200 employees, their families from US via chartered flight. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: IT services major Infosys has brought back over 200 of its employees and their families, who were stranded in the US amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown, according to a senior company executive.

The company brought these people back from San Francisco via a special chartered flight that landed in Bengaluru on Monday morning.

"Infosys chartered flight took off from SFO (San Francisco) last night bringing hundreds of employees and families home to Bangalore," Infosys Associate Vice President - Retail, CPG and Logistics Samir Gosavi said in a LinkedIn post.

Infosys did not comment on the development.

According to sources, 206 individuals, including Infosys employees and their family members, were brought back.

These individuals were stranded in the US after international flights were suspended following the coronavirus virus outbreak and the resultant lockdown, a person said.

The employees were a mix of those working on client sites as well some who had travelled to the US for some meeting or event, another person said.

The US is the biggest market for Indian IT services firms accounting for the biggest share of their revenues. For Infosys, North America accounted for over 60 per cent of its revenue for the quarter ended March 2020.
Rafiq Shehadeh was previously the deputy head of Military Intelligence, but has now been moved to head up Bashar al-Assads office writes Sowt Al-Asima.

On Jul. 5, 2020, Major General Rafiq Shehadeh was appointed the head of the office of Bashar al-Assad, and the news was circulated by local news networks and through social media.

Shehadeh, who is originally from the village of al-Sharasheer in the city of Jableh, was one of the most prominent officers of the old guard of the Assad regime, and one of the most prominent figures as of late. He was also involved in the murder of detainees in security branches in Syria.

Shehadeh had held the post of deputy head of Military Intelligence in 2011, succeeding Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, in addition to assuming the position of chairman of the Security and Military Committee in Homs. It is said that Shehadeh is directly responsible for the al-Saa Massacre in Homs, and others in Baba Amr, Talbiseh, and al-Rastan.

Shehadeh started reporting directly to the army commander-in-chief in early March 2015, after he was named as one of those responsible for the killing of Maj. Gen. Rustum Ghazali, former chief of Political Security, where one of Shehadehs men beat up Ghazali based on differences sources attributed to corruption.

The US Treasury Department added Shehadehs name to the sanctions list, issued in 2017, along with 17 other officials and six entities affiliated with the regime, for their crimes and violations against civilians.

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.
Syria Ambassador in Lebanon has said that a video of a Syrian child being abused is old and has been released with ulterior motives writes Nadaa Syria.

The Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul Karim, has commented on the rape of a Syrian child by three Lebanese youth, a few days ago in the western Bekaa region.

Abdul Karim claimed that the incident is actually more than two years old, and that the recording that was circulated was put together in a way that aims to achieve certain goals and reactivate the issue.

In a televised interview on the regimes news channel yesterday, Abdul Karim reiterated his claim that the case may have been raised now to prompt an investigation, adding that the regimes embassy is following up on the issue with the Lebanese judicial system.

A few days ago, Lebanese sources confirmed that the 13-year-old Syrian child, M.H., had been subjected to sexual harassment and rape by three Lebanese youth, at his place of residence in the town of Suhmur.

The sources stated that the perpetrators from the town and their names are known. Among them is a son of a Hezbollah leader.

A recording was circulated on social media by one of the rapists, who posted it on his personal Facebook page. The video shows that they pursued the child, severely beating him on the head, and forcing him to engage in sexual acts with them.

In his testimony, the Syrian child confirmed that eight Lebanese people molested him two years ago while he had been working in an olive press. The Lebanese Internal Security Forces announced the arrest of one of the perpetrators and has issued arrest warrants for the remaining perpetrators.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
A Russian cargo ship has been spotted moving into the Mediterranean Sea, and is believed to be carrying tanks and other military vehicles reports Al-Masdar.

The Russian Ministry of Defense is continuing to deliver military equipment to the Syrian Arab Republic, with another cargo ship photographed transiting the Bosphorus Strait between the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

According to maritime observer Yoruk Isik, the LST Saratov 150 of the Black Sea Fleet was seen transiting the Bosphorus Strait, en route to the Syrian port-city of Tartous.

As pointed out by Isik, the Saratov 150 specializes in transporting armored vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers.

The delivery of tanks and other armored vehicles to Syria is incredibly important at this juncture, especially since Turkeys military attack on the Syrian Arab Army in early March of this year.

During the Turkish attack, several soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army and National Defense Forces (NDF) were killed, while tens of armored and technical vehicles were destroyed by the barrage.

Since the attack, however, the Russian Ministry of Defense has increased its cargo shipments to Syria, with this being the third time this year that Moscow has shipped tanks and other armored vehicles to the Arab Republic.

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.
Clashes have broken out between Liwa al-Quds and the regime, following an assassination attempt and accusations of looting and corruption reports Baladi News.

Deirezzor 24 reported that the Lions of Eastern Syria militia, an auxiliary of the regime forces, clashed with Liwa al-Quds as a result of a dispute between a house the Lions of Eastern Syria took as their headquarters in the al-Hamidiyah neighborhood of Deir ez-Zor.

The website added that the clashes took place near the State Security branch, the al-Hamidiyah neighborhood, and on the outskirts of al-Qusour neighborhood and continued for several hours before the regime forces intervened.

It is worth noting that the Lions of Eastern Syria is an unofficial militia founded by a man known as Abdul Basit of the Deir ez-Zor, to fight the Islamic State, alongside the regime forces, and to put themselves at the disposal of the latter.

The events of the armed conflict between the regimes Military Security branch and Liwa al-Quds, which broke out several days ago in Deir ez-Zor, kept on developing until the attempted to assassination of Liwa al-Quds Commander, Muhammad al-Saeed, near the town of Kafr Nabudah in the Hama countryside.

The regime-controlled areas have been witnessing conflicts between the local militias backed by Iran on one side and Russia on the other. This conflict was recently demonstrated when the National Defense Forces militia  affiliated with Iran  accused leaders of the regimes 25th Division, led by Suhail al-Hassan, of looting and pillaging. Media affiliated with the 25th Division responded with the same accusations. The Daraa Governorate has been witnessing daily killings and mutual arrests between the Fourth Division and the 8th Brigade militia of the Fifth Corps, backed by Russia

The conflict has been intensifying between Russia and Iran on social media platforms, with pro-regime Facebook pages affiliated with the Military Security accusing each of Maj. Gen. Ghassan Bilal, commander of the Fourth Divisions security office, the owner of Castle Security and Protections, Khader Taher al-Khader (known as Jajah), and his assistant, Youssef Ali Khanat (known as al-Ghawar), of corruption, stealing from the people, and imposing royalties.

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.
Master Sommelier George Miliotes and Hooten & Young Wine and Spirits are proud to announce the release of their first American Whiskey.

Hooten Young was founded by former Special Operations Soldier, Master Sgt. Norm Hooten and Tim Young. Created as a brotherhood bonded by the love of freedom, family and honor, Hooten Young is a tribute to the brave men and women of the armed forces who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

Notably known for his portrayal by Eric Bana in the film Black Hawk Down, Hooten is a true American hero. While retired from active military duty, he continues to work with veterans today as a full-time health care provider.

In addition to his medical work, Hooten has partnered with his closest friends to create an American Whiskey to honor the brave men and women of the armed forces.

Hooten Young was crafted to help folks slow down, bond with the people around them and remember those who are no longer here, Hooten Young President, Norm Hooten, said. Our mission is simple, we are committed to honoring Americas heroes one thought-provoking sip at a time.

Bonded by decades of friendship with Young, Hooten Young American Whiskey was discovered by Master Sommelier George Miliotes. Rare distillation and barrel aging practices, coupled with over a decades rest, have produced an American Whiskey with notes of maple, vanilla, ripe apple and a long smooth finish.

The whiskey is aged 12 years and made with 99% corn and 1% barley malt. Its distilled at 170 proof and put into second fill American oak barrels. Miliotes brings his renowned expertise to Hooten Young as one of only 268 Master Sommeliers in the world.

Its been an honor to assist Norm and Tim to create a whiskey that is evocative of their background and seeks to honor Americas heroes, Miliotes said. The uniqueness of our whiskey can be attributed to the 12 years of aging, as well as the second fill barrels instead of using the first fill. You cant fake aged whiskey, much like you cant claim wines are from old vines if they are new. Being able to find this aged American whiskey that is relaxed and different brings something new to an overcrowded whiskey market. After countless hours blending, evaluating proofs and tasting, we are thrilled with the final product.

Devoted to giving back, a portion of profits are donated to charities supporting Veterans. Hooten Young American Whiskey is currently available throughout the state of Florida in both retail shops and restaurants including Wine Bar George at Disney Springs in The Hoot cocktail, straight up, neat or however you like your whiskey. The new whiskey can also be found nationwide online at wineonlinedelivery.com.

Tasty Chomps Q & A with Master Sgt. Norm Hooten:

Tasty Chomps: What have you been up to since the days of Blackhawk Down?

Master Sgt. Norm Hooten: After the events in Mogadishu in October 3rd, 1993 I continued to serve in Special Operations for another 9 years. I retired from active duty in August of 2001 but was recalled to active duty about one month later subsequent to the events of September 11th. I was detailed from the U.S. Army to the Department of Homeland Security and soon after I transitioned over to the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) where I served as the National Training Coordinator for the FAMS Global Response Team. I served in this capacity until 2009. In 2009 I was selected to serve as the Deputy Director of the King Abdullah Special Operation Training Center (KASOTC). KASOTC was a joint Counter-Terrorism Training Center serving Special Operations Forces from around the world.

Tasty Chomps: What inspired you to pursue your Doctor of Pharmacy degree?

Master Sgt. Norm Hooten: My wife Bonnie is a pharmacist and she inspired me to attend pharmacy school. It was my intention to attend pharmacy school when I initially retired in 2001, and I was attending Campbell University School of Pharmacy. The events of September 11th resulted in my recall to service in the U.S. Army. Life had taken me in another direction, and I thought that the opportunity to complete pharmacy school had passed me by. While I was at KASOTC I realized just how pervasive opioid addiction was in the veteran community, so I made the decision to go back to school so I could play an active role in combating the opioid epidemic in the Veterans community.

Tasty Chomps: How did the idea of this new whiskey concept come about? Tell us the story behind the whiskey.

Master Sgt. Norm Hooten: Hooten Young was created as a tribute to the brave men and women of the armed forces who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Hooten Young was crafted to help folks slow down, bond with the people around them and remember those who are no longer here. Our mission is simple, we are committed to honoring Americas heroes one thought-provoking sip at a time.

Tasty Chomps: What else is being planned for the Hooten Young brand?

Master Sgt. Norm Hooten: We are just getting startedand hope to share some additional news about the expansion of our brand as it unfolds.

Tasty Chomps: What are some of your favorite hobbies in general and during this COVID-19 pandemic in particular?

Master Sgt. Norm Hooten: Ive been riding my bike a lot more lately with the gyms being closed during the pandemic. Ive also enjoyed spending more time at our family farm in South Georgia.

Tasty Chomps: Favorite local Orlando restaurant?

Master Sgt. Norm Hooten: Wine Bar George!





Tasty Chomps Q & A with George Mililotes of Wine Bar George:



Tasty Chomps: How did you meet Master Sgt. Norm Hooten and Tim Young?

George Mililotes: I first met Norm Hooten through Tim Young. Tim and I have actually known each other for decades  our wives used to work together many years ago. Weve stayed in touch over time and last year Tim mentioned that he was looking to add some whiskey to Hooten Youngs portfolio. Ive very much enjoyed getting to know Norm in the past year, its been an honor to partner with Norm and Tim to create a whiskey that seeks to honor Americas heroes.



Tasty Chomps: What are some important tasting notes about the Hooten Young American Whiskey and how it is distilled?

George Mililotes: Rare distillation and barrel aging practices, coupled with over a decades rest, have produced an American Whiskey with notes of maple, vanilla, ripe apple and a long smooth finish. The whiskey is aged 12 years and made with a 75% corn, 21% rye and 4% barley mash. Its distilled at 170 proof and put into second fill American oak barrels.The uniqueness of our whiskey can be attributed to the 12 years of aging, as well as the second fill barrels instead of using the first fill. You cant fake aged whiskey, much like you cant claim wines are from old vines if they are new. Being able to find this aged American whiskey that is relaxed and different brings something new to an overcrowded whiskey market. After countless hours blending, evaluating proofs and tasting, we are thrilled with the final product



Tasty Chomps: What are some of your favorite food pairings to go along with the whiskey?

George Mililotes: If Im having our whiskey in a mixed drink (like The Hoot made with G.E. Massenez Creme de Cassis and a splash of Ginger Beer), I enjoy pairing it with fresh guacamole, pico de gallo, chips, etc. Periodically this summer we will also bring back the Santa Carota Tomahawk for Two (36 ounces), a Hooten Young Old Fashioned would be the perfect pairing. Or, enjoy it with a little bit of ice and water for the perfect ending to your meal  its the perfect way to savor the flavors of the whiskey.



Tasty Chomps: What are some good cocktails to order with this whiskey?

George Mililotes: Id recommend trying in The Hoot cocktail at Wine Bar George  made with Hooten Young American Whiskey (aged 12 years), G.E. Massenez Creme de Cassis and a splash of Ginger Beer.

Tasty Chomps: What are the most popular dishes this summer at Wine Bar George?

George Mililotes: The Grilled Whole Greek Sea Bass (which serves two-four) paired with a crisp white wine has been a go-to order for many of our guests this summer. We will also periodically have the Santa Carota Tomahawk for Two (or even three or four at 36 ounces) with Yukon potatoes and seasonal vegetables. A solid option when your grill needs a break this summer. A Hooten Young Old Fashioned would also be the perfect pairing.

Photos and press release courtesy of Wine Bar George.

Wine Bar George

1610 E Buena Vista Dr, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

winebargeorge.com

(407) 490-1800
North Redondo Beach will absorb most of the 2,500 new homes over the next eight year.
Rowdy river revelers reported  Cowlitz 911 dispatch callers reported rowdy behavior among revelers along the Cowlitz River in the 800 block of Cook Ferry Road in Castle Rock on Saturday evening. An intoxicated man reportedly lit off fireworks and fired them at others, yelled and tried to fight people, and exposed himself. One girl reportedly threw a rock at another girl or womans face, requiring the victim to be taken to St. John Medical Center for facial injuries.

Makeshift mortar malfunctions, misfires  Cowlitz County sheriffs deputies Saturday evening reprimanded a man or boy after his makeshift mortar launcher (made from an aluminium bat) accidentally exploded near the river at Lazy Road and Ocean Beach Highway. A 911 dispatch caller had reported that teenagers were launching fireworks at his family. The mortar launcher owner was warned to only use manufactured launchers, and all parties were warned to stay separated.

Firework fight flares fiercely  A 911 dispatch caller in 800 block of Westside Highway, Kelso reported multiple people who had been drinking and trying to pick fights in the area late Saturday evening. A woman was pushed down and a man was punched in the face and shoved to the ground. The conflicts reportedly started over fireworks.
Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump levels scathing criticism of the president in her forthcoming book, accusing him of being a "sociopath" and charging that Trump's "hubris and willful ignorance" dating back to his early days threatens the country.

Mary Trump's book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," accuses Donald Trump's father of creating a toxic family dynamic that best explains how the president acts today. Mary Trump, whose father, Freddy Trump, died following struggles with alcoholism, writes that she could "no longer remain silent" following the past three years of Trump's presidency.

"Donald, following the lead of my grandfather and with the complicity, silence and inaction of his siblings, destroyed my father. I can't let him destroy my country," Mary Trump wrote in the book, a copy of which was obtained by CNN.

Mary Trump writes that some of the book is based on her own memory, and in parts she reconstructed some dialogue based on what she was told by some members of the family and others, as well as legal documents, bank statements, tax returns and other documents.

The White House declined to comment on the book.

Mary Trump's book is the second tell-all in as many months to present a withering portrait of the president, and like former national security adviser John Bolton's book, her book sparked an unsuccessful legal campaign to stop its publication.

Mary Trump's book comes at a challenging time in Trump's presidency as he struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic and presides over a country reckoning with systemic racism. He also trails his 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden in recent polling.

Mary Trump, a licensed clinical psychologist, offers both her take on Trump's actions in the White House as well as episodes throughout Trump's business career, Trump's handling of her father's struggle with alcoholism and infighting within the family. She writes that Trump's father, Fred Trump, "dismantled his oldest son," Trump's brother, Freddy Trump.

"The only reason Donald escaped the same fate is that his personality served his father's purpose. That's what sociopaths do: they co-opt others and use them toward their own ends  ruthlessly and efficiently, with no tolerance for dissent or resistance," Mary Trump writes.

Mary Trump writes that Trump even paid someone to take the SAT for him to help him get into the University of Pennsylvania. Trump was "worried that his grade point average, which put him far from the top of his class, would scuttle his efforts to get accepted."

She writes that he enlisted "a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker, to take his SATs for him," adding the test-taker was compensated for the effort.

"Donald, who never lacked for funds, paid his buddy well," Mary Trump writes.

Trump initially attended Fordham University in New York as an undergraduate before transferring to Penn's Wharton School.

Mary Trump says that she didn't take her uncle's run for president seriously at first and didn't think Donald Trump did either.

" 'He's a clown,' my aunt Maryanne said during one of our regular lunches at the time. 'This will never happen,' " Mary Trump wrote.

During the campaign, Mary Trump says her aunt, former federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry, accused Donald Trump of using Freddy Trump's death "for political purposes" by citing it while addressing the opioid crisis.

Mary Trump also claims that Donald Trump helped his sister to obtain an open seat in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey through his friend, famed lawyer Roy Cohn.

"Maryanne thought it would be a great fit, and Donald thought it might be useful to have a close relative on the bench in a state in which he planned to do a lot of business," she writes. "Cohn gave Attorney General Ed Meese a call, and Maryanne was nominated in September and confirmed in October."

'Undermine an adversary'

Trump's niece further describes what she says is the psychological hold that Fred Trump, the president's father, had over his children. Fred's eldest son, Freddy, Mary's father, had a brief and tumultuous career as a pilot for TWA in the early 1960s, just before Mary was born. This came after Freddy left the Trump company, a move that angered Fred but that Freddy apparently hoped would ingratiate himself to his demanding father.

The stormy relationship she describes between Fred and Freddy Trump seems to echo accounts of how Donald, Freddy's younger brother, expects undying loyalty from those around him and seeks control over those people's lives and decisions.

Freddy, Mary writes, would tell friends about the "constant barrage of abuse" he was receiving from his father after getting the job at TWA.

"Donald may not have understood the origin of their father's contempt for Freddy and his decision to become a professional pilot, but he had the bull's unerring instinct for finding the most effective way to undermine an adversary," Mary Trump writes.

It was during this time that Freddy's drinking worsened, and within a few months he had quit the job at TWA, moved his family back to New York, and tried flying for smaller airlines. By the end of 1964, he had quit the business entirely and returned, hat in hand, to his father Fred for a job in the company. The way Mary describes it, Fred's torment, with an assist from Donald, had "slowly, inexorably dismantled" Freddy.

'Master of the universe'

Mary Trump recounts the president's rise to prominence in New York real estate as largely the result of Fred Trump's financial and behind-the-scenes support, which she said was necessary to compensate for Donald's shortcomings.

She also traces what she views as an aptitude toward authoritarians to Donald Trump's earlier days working with Cohn in the 1980s.

At the same time, she recounts Trump's apparent disinterest at her father's decline into depression and alcoholism, which she characterizes as spurred partly by her grandfather's decision to elevate Donald instead of Freddy as his right-hand man and successor.

Throughout, Mary Trump portrays the support Donald received from his father as critical to his attempts to create a brand for himself as a "master of the universe" with a preternatural ability for business.

"His comfort with portraying that image, along with his father's favor and the material security his father's wealth afforded him, gave him the unearned confidence to pull off what even at the beginning was a charade: selling himself not just as a rich playboy but as a brilliant, self-made businessman," she writes. "In those early days, that expensive endeavor was being enthusiastically, if clandestinely, funded by my grandfather."

As she tracks Donald's rise in his father's company, she also identifies some of the origins of his current behaviors, be it dishonesty or a lack of empathy. She cites Cohn, who had worked on Sen. Joseph McCarthy's committee investigating alleged communist activity in the U.S., as a formative model.

"Fred had also primed Donald to be drawn to men such as Cohn, as he would later be drawn to authoritarians such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un or anyone else, really, with a willingness to flatter and the power to enrich him," she writes.

Legal battle over book's publication

Mary Trump's book is being published two weeks early by Simon & Schuster on July 14, amid high demand following a court battle over its release. The publisher has already printed 75,000 copies of the book, according to court filings.

After Mary Trump's book was disclosed last month, the president's younger brother Robert took legal action to block its publication.

Robert Trump briefly won an injunction against Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster in New York State Supreme Court, but an appellate court lifted the temporary restraining order against the publisher the next day.

The restraining order is still in place against Mary Trump, so she is unable to comment publicly.

Her spokesman, Chris Bastardi, said Monday: "The act by a sitting president to muzzle a private citizen is just the latest in a series of disturbing behaviors."

CNN's Kevin Liptak, Michael Warren, Clare Foran, Holmes Lyband, Betsy Klein, Tara Subramaniam, Marshall Cohen, Katelyn Polantz and Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire  &  2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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The programme will address immediate liquidity and credit needs of nearly 15 lakh viable MSMEs

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.
Panasonic India on Tuesday launched a new line of home appliances in India. Panasonics new line of home appliances consists of new washing machine models that are available at a starting price of 8,290, an LED television and new refrigerator models that are available at a starting price of 23,490. These devices are available for purchase on Amazon India and Flipkart.

As far as Panasonic's newly released home appliances are concerned, the company has launched four new washing machine models in India. While the semi-automatic model with 6.5Kg capacity is priced at 8,290, the model with 7Kg capacity is priced at 9,490 and the model with 8Kg capacity is priced at 12,290. Similarly, the top-load model with a capacity of 6Kg is priced at 12,990.

The company also launched a 40-inch LED television in India. Panasonics new LED TV is powered by Googles Android Platform and it comes with built-in assistance tools, which the company claims offers a superior TV viewing experience. The newly launched TV comes with the model number TH-40HS450DX and it is available for 19,990 on Flipkart and on Amazon.

Lastly, Panasonic has also launched five new refrigerators models in India. These refrigerators come with 307L, 336L, 268L, 305L and 335L capacity and they are priced at 28,490, 30,490, 23,490, 27,490 and 29,490 respectively.
Poco on Tuesday introduced Poco M2 Pro, its third phone in India. The smartphone will be available in India for a starting price of 13,999.

The company unveiled the phone at a virtual event today. Here are the highlights of the Poco M2 Pro launch event.

Poco M2 Pro Price & Availability

Poco M2 Pro comes in three variants - 4/64GB, 6/64GB and 6/128GB storage variants. The base model is priced at 13,999. The second variant is priced at 14,999. The top-end model costs 16,999. The first sale will take place on July 14, 12 noon on Flipkart.

Poco M2 Pro design

Poco M2 Pro is said to offer a symmetrical design. The phone is 8.8mm thick despite a 5,000mAh battery. The phone has a fingerprint sensor on the side. It comes with a 6.7-inch full HD+ display with 20:9 aspect ratio. The phone comes in three colours, Black, Green, and Blue.

Poco M2 Pro camera

Poco M2 Pro comes with four rear camera. It has a 48-megapixel primary sensor. Other sensors on the phone include 8MP ultra-wide sensor, 5MP macro sensor (with 1080p FHD video recording), and 2MP depth sensor. The front camera on the phone also has a night mode. It has a 16-megapixel selfie camera.

#POCOM2Pro making every Gamer #FeelTheSurge with,

Faster Graphics Rendering

Game Jank Reducer v1.0

Game Fast Loader v1.0

Depth of field, filmic tone mapping

Cinema-Quality Processing



Yup, The hype is real. pic.twitter.com/AQN4h47p24  #POCOForIndia (@IndiaPOCO) July 7, 2020

Poco M2 Pro goes official

Poco M2 Pro bets big on the performance. The phone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor. It has up to 128GB storage and UFS 2.1 storage. It has a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging.

The perfect amalgamation of 'Everything you need and nothing you don't' to create a one of a kind #POCO. #FeelTheSurge #POCOM2Pro pic.twitter.com/7qsBPVP88S  #POCOForIndia (@IndiaPOCO) July 7, 2020

Made in India

As expected, Manmohan reiterates that the company's all smartphones are made in India. The company has also launched a Poco for India campaign.

#POCO: A unique blend of ever-evolving technology that matters, with a democratized decision making by YOU, brings in the #POCOM2Pro.#FeelTheSurge pic.twitter.com/MQfG8zhZRY  #POCOForIndia (@IndiaPOCO) July 7, 2020

Poco X2

Manmohan reveals Poco X2 will soon get Android 11 update. He also pointed out that Poco X2 has better ratings than other products in the category.

C Manmohan promises a hatke launch

Poco India GM begins the event with the companys three focus  technology, democratising, and evolving.

Poco M2 Pro launch event begins

Poco's virtual event for the M2 Pro has begun. The company will launch the latest smartphone in India today. The phone is set to join the budget segment.

Competition

Poco M2 Pro will compete with a wide range of budget smartphones in India. This includes Xiaomis popular Redmi Note 9 series as well. Realme Narzo 10, Realme 6 and Vivo U20 are some of the top names in this segment.

Make in India

Poco and its team may also use today's launch platform to talk about the company's Make in India initiative. Xiaomi and several other Chinese handset companies have faced a backlash in the recent times amid India China border tensions.

How to watch the livestream

Here are the links to watch live stream on different platforms

Youtube: https://bit.ly/POCOM2YT

Facebook: https://bit.ly/POCOM2ProFB

Instagram: https://bit.ly/IndiaPOCOIG

Quad-camera

Poco M2 Pro will also offer a quad-camera setup on the back. There is no word on what the configuration will be. According a teaser, the phone has square-like camera module on the back. The setup is said to be very similar to Redmi Note 9 Pro's.

It's time to give your photography skills a booSt with the #POCOM2Pro.



With the Quad-camera setup, create stories on the go.



RT if you can beat the creative picture  #FeelTheSurge pic.twitter.com/MhkodQGbq9  #POCOForIndia (@IndiaPOCO) July 4, 2020

Feel the surge campaign

Poco is running a Feel the surge campaign for the new smartphone. The marketing is said to be for the 33W fast charging support. Poco will be one of the first phones to offer such fast charging capabilities in the budget segment.

Less than 24 hours to go for the unveiling of the #POCOM2Pro & we are feeling the surge. Are you ready to #FeelTheSurge?



RT to let everyone know. pic.twitter.com/ijZBFXSpuI  #POCOForIndia (@IndiaPOCO) July 6, 2020

Poco M2 Pro Price

Ahead of the official launch, Poco India GM C Manmohan hinted at the price of the upcoming smartphone. In an interview with leakster Mukul Sharma, he said Poco M2 Pro will be priced lower than the starting price of Poco X2. This means Poco M2 Pro could be priced under or around 15,000. If true, this will be the first time a Poco phone will be available in this segment.
Google is finally doing away with Google Plus. In case you did not know, Google Plus is the companys failed social network which once aimed to compete with the likes of Facebook. Google has already shut the end-user version of Google Plus and now it is pulling the plug on the enterprise version as well.

Google is replacing Google Plus with Google Currents. The iOS and Android apps of the social networking platform have already been rebranded. Currents is available for everyone starting today.

Aimed at enterprise users, Google Currents aims to help people to have meaningful discussions and interactions across your organization, helping keep everyone in the know and giving leaders the opportunity to connect with their employees, the company said in a blog post last year.

Google Currents comes with a new interface and a bunch of new features. The home screen can be customised and lets you focus on the important posts. Users also have the flexibility to sort the home stream on the basis on relevancy.

Just like Google+, Google Currents also allows users to post comments, ask questions through posts, and share feedback. It comes with built-in analytics to gauge the reach of each posts. Users can also follow tags and other topic-based streams to discover more content based on their preference.

A brief history of Google+

That said, Google Plus is one of the biggest failures for Google. Launched in June 2011, Google+ saw an instant mass uptake from users. Within two weeks of its launch, Google+ had garnered 10 million users. By 2013, the platform had about 540 million monthly active users.

The numbers, however, dont reveal that people signed up on Google Plus because of Googles ecosystem products such as Gmail and YouTube. A 2014 report in The New York Times described the social network as a ghost town as many users of Google Plus never visited the platform at all.

Despite redesign and improvements over the years, Google+ failed to take off. Rivals Facebook and Twitter continued to increase their user base in the meanwhile.

In October 2018, Google formally announced they were shutting down the platform for users. The final nail to the coffin for Google Plus came in December 2018 when it suffered a major security breach that affected as many as 52.5 million users. Google Plus for end-users was finally shut down in April last year.

So long, Google Plus. You will not be missed.

Source: 1, 2
Working from home has become the way of life ever since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world earlier this year. This has led to employees from across the globe using collaboration tools such as Google Docs, Sheets and Slides more frequently and more deeply. As people continue to use these tools to collaborate with their colleagues, Google has shared a bunch of tips and tricks to help users make use of these tools in a better way.

We have some quick tips, based on our popular series of short videos, that can help you take your productivity game up a notch, Google wrote in a blog post.

So here are top five Google-approved tips for you:

Have a dialogue with comments and suggestions

GSuite users can use Comments feature for tasks such as leaving feedback on a document or a slide. To do so users will have to select Comments option on highlighting and right-clicking on the text that they want to leave a comment on. On doing so, they will see a comment box where they can type their suggestions. Users can also use Suggestion Mode to propose edits without replacing the original text.

See new changes or restore an old version using version history

Sometimes its helpful to look back at an older version of a Doc, Sheet or Slide to see how the contents have evolved. Users can use GSuites Version History feature to see old versions of a document or restore it. To do so, users will have to click on the gray text at the top saying Last edit was on [date] in the File menu. Now, users will have to see a list of versions organised by date to the right of your file. Users can click on a version to view the associated changes. They can also revert to a particular version by clicking on the Restore this version option.

Present your project virtually

Users can also present a Doc or a Sheet virtually. Once youre in Google Meet, click the Present button, choose the content youd like to present and click Share, Google explained in the blog post.

Stay productive, even offline

GSuite comes with an offline mode that enables users to create, view and edit Docs, Sheets and Slides when they are offline. To do so, users will first have to enable Offline mode in Google Drive. To enable Offline mode follow this thread: open Settings > check the box next to Offline > right click on what you want to work on offline > select Available offline.

Bring real-time collaboration to Office files

Another interesting feature in GSuite enables users to perform tasks such as editing or commenting on a document made in Microsoft Word or Powerpoint slide using Google Drive. In Google Drive, double-click your Office file, which will open a preview of the file. At the top, click Open in Google Docs, Sheets or Slides. Then you can edit, share and collaborate as you usually would in a G Suite file and your changes will be saved to the original Office file, the company added.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Julin Jean parks her car in front of the local library in Port O'Connor, Texas, every day and gets out to work.

Jean, who lives in Los Angeles but is spending time with her parents in the tiny (population 1,253) Gulf Coast town, has no internet access at home.

"We're so off the grid that our only choice is to go to the library," which is open to the public from 1-4 p.m. daily, she says. But the library keeps the net going 24 hours daily, "which really comes in handy when you're trying to work," says Jean, who runs the Foxforce video production company with husband Chris.

Even betterthe library has a desk and two chairs outside the closed building for people to access when the building is closed.

Not everybody has home internet. According to the Brookings Institution, some 15% of the country does not subscribe to broadband service, meaning they either can't afford it or don't have access. Census data shows that homes in rural and lower-income counties trail the national average by 13%.

Maybe your home internet just went on the fritz, and you just want to get out of the house and keep working, but hanging inside a local Starbucks during a pandemic just isn't an option. Or you're a parent struggling with getting work done from home while sharing and straining the home internet with kids as they complete school work. What can you do? We've got some ideas:

Check with your local internet provider

Even if you're not a subscriber, Comcast Xfinity, the nation's largest, is offering 1.5 million free Wi-Fi hotspots nationally and you don't have to be a subscriber to the Xfinity cable TV or internet services or have a password. The free offers expire at the end of the year and is a COVID-19-related perk. (Check www.xfinity.com/wifi for the coverage map.) Comcast is available in 39 states, most heavily in the North, Southeast and Midwest. Rival Spectrum, which is heavy in the Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and California, Oregon and Washington, says it has 500,000 hotspots in 44 states, but they're only available to paying customers. (Charter's Spectrum had offered this service free to students, but the offer expired Tuesday.)

Comcast says that since offering the service, overall usage of the public Wi-Fi hotspots has "skyrocketed."

Google, which offers fast internet services via fiber lines in cities like Atlanta, Denver, Seattle and Salt Lake City, says it's currently offering free hotspots anywhere Google Fiber serves, even without being a customer.

Park your car near a hotspot

Your local Starbucks may not be welcoming you inside the store, but if you can park near the front, you can still access the Wi-Fi, which is provided by Google. Also try the parking lots of McDonald's and Panera Bread, two chains that offer free Wi-Fi for guests.

Head to the library

Indeed, the American Library Association has recommended that branches keep their Wi-Fi churning for accessfrom either in front of the building or parking lot.

"People depend on our libraries for access to a number of services, including free wireless internet, that they might not otherwise have," said Angela Craig, executive director of the Charleston County Public Library in South Carolina, said in a blog post. "Especially while children are asked to work on schoolwork from home, it's vital that we keep doing everything in our power to provide for everyone in our community during these challenging times, including those without access."

Park by a school

According to Inside Higher Ed, many schools are leaving on the Wi-Fi for students to continue working on their laptops in school parking lots. It points to several colleges, including Columbia Gorge Community College in Oregon that has made Wi-Fi more accessible to those who can study while parked.

Achieving the Dream, a nonprofit that works with community colleges, says many schools in its network "have spent limited resources on trying to help their students prepare for online learning, including faculty and staff innovation, designing creative ways to reach students where they are, and with what they need, including turning parking lots into Wi-Fi hotspots."

(c)2020 U.S. Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Travelling in vertical takeoff and landing craft (VTOL) could become commonplace in the future. Credit: Chesky/Shutterstock

Drones, personal flying vehicles and air taxis may be part of our everyday life in the very near future. Drones and air taxis will create new means of mobility and transport routes. Drones will be used for surveillance, delivery and in the construction sector as it moves towards automation.

The introduction of these aerial craft into cities will require the built environment to change dramatically. Drones and other new aerial vehicles will require landing pads, charging points, and drone ports. They could usher in new styles of building, and lead to more sustainable design.

My research explores the impact of aerial vehicles on urban design, mapping out possible future trajectories.

An aerial age

Already, civilian drones can vary widely in size and complexity. They can carry a range of items from high resolution cameras, delivery mechanisms and thermal image technology to speakers and scanners. In the public sector, drones are used in disaster response and by the fire service to tackle fires which could endanger firefighters.

During the coronavirus pandemic, drones have been used by the police to enforce lockdown. Drones normally used in agriculture have sprayed disinfectant over cities. In the UK, drone delivery trials are taking place to carry medical items to the Isle of Wight.

Alongside drones, our future cities could also be populated by vertical takeoff and landing craft (VTOL), used as private vehicles and air taxis.

Urban Droneport by Saul Ajuria.

These vehicles are familiar to sci-fi fansthe late Syd Mead's illustrations of the Spinner VTOL craft in the film Blade Runner captured the popular imagination, and the screens for the Spinners in Blade Runner 2049 created by Territory Studio provided a careful design fiction of the experience of piloting these types of vehicle.

Now, though, these flying vehicles are reality. A number of companies are developing eVTOL with electric multi-rotor jets, and a whole new motorsport is being established around them.

These aircraft have the potential to change our cities. However, they need to be tested extensively in urban airspace. A study conducted by Airbus found that public concerns about VTOL use focused on the safety of those on the ground and noise emissions.

New cities

The widespread adoption of drones and VTOL will lead to new architecture and infrastructure. Existing buildings will require adaptations: landing pads, solar photovoltaic panels for energy efficiency, charging points for delivery drones, and landscaping to mitigate noise emissions.

A number of companies are already trialling drone delivery services. Existing buildings will need to be adapted to accommodate these new networks, and new design principles will have to be implemented in future ones.

Drone Aviary by Superflux.

The architect Saul Ajuria Fernandez has developed a design for a delivery drone port hub. This drone port acts like a beehive where drones recharge and collect parcels for distribution. Architectural firm Humphreys & Partners' Pier 2, a design for a modular apartment building of the future, includes a cantilevered drone port for delivery services.

The Norman Foster Foundation has designed a drone port for delivery of medical supplies and other items for rural communities in Rwanda. The structure is also intended to function as a space for the public to congregate, as well as to receive training in robotics.

Drones may also help the urban environment become more sustainable. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have developed a re-configurable architectural roof canopy system deployed by drones. By adjusting to follow the direction of the sun, the canopy provides shade and reduces reliance on ventilation systems.

Demand for air taxis and personal flying vehicles will develop where failures in other transport systems take place. The Airbus research found that of the cities surveyed, highest demand for VTOLs was in Los Angeles and Mexico City, urban areas famous for traffic pollution. To accommodate these aerial vehicles, urban space will need to transform to include landing pads, airport-like infrastructure and recharge points.

Furthermore, this whole logistics system in lower airspace (below 500ft), or what I term "hover space", will need an urban traffic management system. One great example of how this hover space could work can be seen in a speculative project from design studio Superflux in their Drone Aviary project. A number of drones with different functions move around an urban area in a network, following different paths at varying heights.

We are at a critical period in urban history, faced by climatic breakdown and pandemic. Drones and aerial vehicles can be part of a profound rethink of the urban environment.

Explore further Singapore launches first drone delivery service

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Using the minimally invasive method developed by KIT, thousands of tons of lithium could be extracted from the German and French Upper Rhine trench every year. Credit: Amadeus Bramsiepe

Whether grid energy storage, electromobility or wearable electronicslithium-ion batteries have become an integral part of our lives. Millions of tons of lithium are mined in places far away from Germany to produce them every year. However, an invention made by scientists at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) might now also enable economic mining in this country. The plan is to extract lithium using a minimally invasive process from the deep waters in geothermal plants of the Upper Rhine Trench.

A mineral treasure is deeply hidden in rock formations below the Upper Rhine Trench: dissolved in salty thermal water reservoirs, considerable quantities of the element lithium are waiting to be exploited. "As far as we know, there can be up to 200 milligrams per liter," says geoscientist Dr. Jens Grimmer from the Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW) of KIT: "If we consistently use this potential, we could cover a considerable part of the demand in Germany." Currently, Germany is a net importer of the coveted resource that is mainly needed for the production of battery cells for electric vehicles and is thus of great importance for the climate protection program of the Federal Government. Imports are coming from the typical mining countries Chile, Argentina, and Australia, which account for more than 80 percent of global production.

Up to now, the exploitation of domestic reserves has been prevented by the lack of a suitable process to tap this resource in a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. Together with his research colleague Dr. Florencia Saravia from the research unit of the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water (DVGW) at the Engler-Bunte Institute (EBI) of KIT, Grimmer developed such a process and KIT now filed a patent application for it. "In a first step, the lithium ions are filtered out of the thermal water and in a second step, they are further concentrated until lithium can be precipitated as a salt," says Grimmer.

Minimum ecological damage in domestic lithium mining

Compared to traditional methods of lithium production from the South American salt lakes and Australian solid rock, the Grimmer-Saravia process offers some key advantages: The existing infrastructure of geothermal plants, through which up to two billion liters of thermal water flow every year, can be used. In contrast to classic mining, hardly any overburden is produced and the land consumption is minimal. Since the thermal water is returned to the underground after use, no harmful substances are released and geothermal electricity and heat production are not impaired. Lithium can be continuously extracted within hours in the thermal water cycle of the geothermal plant, whereas in the South American salt lakes, the enrichment process takes several months and is highly weather-dependent. Heavy rainfall can set back production there by weeks or even months. In addition, the process offers the possibility of extracting other rare and valuable elements such as rubidium or cesium from the thermal water. These are required in laser and vacuum technology, for example.

Since the process can use the technical and energetic infrastructure of a geothermal plant, its CO 2 balance also stands out very positively when compared to the traditional processes. "We export many environmental problems to third countries in order to maintain and improve our living standards. With this process, we can assume our responsibility and extract important raw materials for modern technologies in an environmentally friendly way right on our own doorstep," says Florencia Saravia. "We can also build up regional value chains, create jobs, and reduce geopolitical dependencies at the same time."

Hundreds of tons of lithium per year from a single plant

Together with industry partners, the two scientists are now in the process of developing a test facility for lithium extraction. In this first prototype facility, which is to be built in a geothermal plant in the Upper Rhine Trench, several kilograms of lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide will be extracted in a first step. If the tests are successful, the construction of a large-scale plant is planned. It would then be possible to produce several hundred tons of lithium hydroxide per year at each geothermal plant. According to current data, the potential in the Upper Rhine Trench on the German and French sides amounts to several thousand tons of recoverable lithium per year.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Hundreds of advertisers say they won't spend money on Facebook in July or beyond over concerns the social media company isn't doing enough to stop hate speech. But the exodus of spenders may not be enough to push CEO Mark Zuckerberg to make the level of change that critics are demanding.

Critics have an initial list of 10 recommendations that they say would help Facebook corral hate speech and make civil rights a priority when moderating content.

Zuckerberg and top executives, who have agreed to meet with the civil rights groups behind the Stop Hate for Profit boycott this week, plan to release the company's third civil rights audit, which Facebook says will address many of the activists' concerns, as well as other policy changes that were already under consideration.

The pressure on Facebook seems intense, but it may not be as powerful as the headlines make it appear.

Brands that are boycotting Facebook make up a small percentage of the company's revenue and they are pulling ad dollars at a time when many had already dialed back spending. And these advertisers are discovering that they can get better exposure right now from not advertising on Facebook than advertising on it.

For their part, investors have been largely unconcerned. Though the stock dipped when the boycott began attracting major consumer brands, it's bounced back with the expectation that this corporate boycott, like others before it, will peter out. Analysts even told investors that the short-lived drop presented a good opportunity to buy shares.

Facebook has another consideration in the run-up to the presidential election. Most of the engagement on its platform is from conservatives and much of the outrage fueling the boycott comes from controversial posts by President Donald Trump.

Add to that the fact that Facebook users, many of whom are older, have a tougher time quitting the social network and Zuckerberg may be right that he doesn't have much to worry about.

"Do I think that the current crisis is one that potentially dooms Facebook? The answer is no," says Harvard Business School professor David Yoffie.

But, says Yoffie, "the longer-term danger to Facebook is that Mark's position on content curation is ultimately going to seriously impact the brand."

Why Trump has sway over Facebook

The quandary for Facebook: Its platform reflects the political demographics and conflicts of the American electoratewith one important difference: the outsize influence of conservatives there.

"While the nation skews liberal in population size, conservative and liberal are even on Facebook," says Dennis Yu, CEO of social analytics company BlitzMetrics. "When you look at relative engagement, conservatives are significantly larger."

Of Facebook users' interactions with the top 10 political media outlets on the platform, conservative pages accounted for about 78% from June 23 to June 30, according to data from CrowdTangle, a public insights tool owned by Facebook. Conservative voices Ben Shapiro and Breitbart alone represented more than 70%.

Trump's presence on Facebook dwarfs that of his presumptive Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. In June, Trump's main Facebook page got nearly 11 times more interactions than Biden's, according to CrowdTangle data. Trump got more than seven times as many video views and added twice as many page likes during that period.

Zuckerberg fails at threading needle

Even in the face of growing pressure from the boycott, Zuckerberg says he is standing by his belief that everyone should be able to see what politicians say, even when their claims are false or inflammatory.

Last month, the Facebook CEO called out Twitter for fact-checking a Trump tweet, saying social media platforms should not police political speech. "I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online," he told Fox News.

That position when it comes to Trump's posts, the same ones that Twitter flagged as glorifying violence or misleading Americans, has wedged Zuckerberg between a rock and a hard place, Yoffie says.

"Mark is trying to thread a needle and he has continuously failed," Yoffie said. "He doesn't want to alienate Trump. He doesn't want to alienate the right wing. He also doesn't want to alienate his employees and Silicon Valley. But he can't make everybody happy."

Boycott represents fraction of ad sales

Zuckerberg may not have to. Facebook recently reported that it had more than 7 million active advertisers and more than 90 million business pages. The vast majority of them aren't going anywhere.

Th top 100 biggest ad spenders on Facebook accounted for less than 6% of its revenue, according to advertising analytics firm Pathmatics. Many of them, including Unilever, one of the world's largest advertisers that has joined the boycott, had already reduced spending because of COVID-19.

Of the advertisers that announced Facebook boycotts as of Tuesday, only 13 were in the top 1,000 spenders on Facebook ads in the U.S. for Jan. 1 through June 27, according to ad database and marketing analytics firm Pathmatics.

Those advertisersincluding Pfizer, Microsoft and Unileveraccounted for less than 3% of the more than $4 billion spent on Facebook U.S. ads during that period, according to a U.S. TODAY analysis of Pathmatics data.

Disney, which has not announced a boycott as of Friday, was the top advertiser on Facebook in the U.S. during that period. It spent $211 million, which was about $95 million more than the top 10 Facebook boycotters combined, according to Pathmatics.

Several advertisers that announced Facebook boycottsincluding Denny's, Eddie Bauer, Jansport and North Facedidn't register in the top 1,000 ad spenders on Facebook in the first half of the year.

Advertisers will return 'soon enough'

Facebook relies mostly on ad dollars from small and medium-sized businesses, which typically can't afford to buy ads on more expensive media with broad reach such a television, and direct response advertisers, who urge consumers to take action, such as make a purchase or install an app.

While major corporations grab the headlines, about one-third of Facebook's ad revenue comes from small and mid-sized businesses, according to Third Bridge.

The effectiveness of the Facebook platform, which allows marketers to narrowly target their spending based on specific demographic characteristics, is too compelling for many advertisers to give up.

"There definitely are alternatives, but some of the reasons seemingly that Facebook has been so successful is because they do provide very straightforward, easy-to-use solutions that frankly work for a lot of advertisers," Kessler said.

Internally, Zuckerberg has told employees he expects advertisers will return "soon enough" and pledged that Facebook would not yield to threats from advertisers who represent such a small share of Facebook's revenue, according to tech news service The Information.

Will the Facebook boycott fail?

Does that mean the Facebook boycott will fail? Not necessarily, says Maurice Schweitzer, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School who has studied boycotts.

When the Stop Hate for Profit campaign launched nearly three weeks ago, it hadn't lined up a single advertiser. Now it has more than 400.

Facebook has rushed to reassure advertisers that it takes these issues seriously, saying it spends billions to make its platforms safe and works with outside groups to review its policies. Facebook's vice president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, published an open letter Wednesday saying the company "does not profit from hate."

Most boycotts driven by consumers fail because "people don't persist in changing their behaviors," he said. This one is driven by corporations that may not back down because of pressure they're facing from their employees and customers to take a stand, he said.

"They can channel literally millions of dollars and have a direct and immediate impact," Schweitzer said. "This boycott is really putting a squeeze and is exerting much more pressure on Facebook than the average call for the boycott."

Schweitzer said Facebook could end up making concessions that at least partially satisfy critics. Or the pressure on Facebook may decline following the presidential election, particularly if Trump, the central figure driving much of the tension, loses to Biden.

Boycott worries some investors

Facebook has long been aware of the possibility that divisive and harmful content on its platform could hurt its financial prospects, particularly with the nation gripped by civil unrest and a deadly pandemic.

"We may be subject to negative publicity if we are not successful in our efforts to prevent misinformation or other illicit or objectionable use of our products or services in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 U.S. presidential election or other elections around the world," Facebook warned in a public filing in April. "Any such negative publicity could have an adverse effect on the size, engagement and loyalty of our user base and result in decreased revenue, which could adversely affect our business and financial results."

As more corporations join the boycott daily, investors have become increasingly concerned about the financial implications.

"I don't think there's any question that it is very quickly becoming a risk factor that people probably need to pay attention to," said Scott Kessler, global sector lead for technology, media and telecommunications at market research firm Third Bridge.

Saved by Instagram?

But Facebook is a habit that advertisers would have a hard time breaking for long. The company has more than 3 billion users on its apps including Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. And that user base is still growing.

The number of people who used Facebook services at least once per month in the first quarter of 2020 totaled 2.6 billion, up 10% from a year earlier. That's one-third of the world's population, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

Facebook's saving grace could be Instagram, which is driving growth. Many users and advertisers treat the photo-sharing social media app as distinct from Facebook, even though they're part of the same company.

"Most of the discussion seemingly has been around the Facebook platform, as opposed to the other platforms, including Instagram," Kessler said.

With such a tight hold on users, Facebook controls about a quarter of the U.S. digital advertising market, according to EMarketer.

It pulled in $70 billion in ad revenue last year, despite threats of government regulation and user defections. The company's first-quarter revenue rose 17.6% to $17.7 billion, while its net income more than doubled to $4.9 billion. And, even with the pandemic slowing ad sales, analysts say Facebook is on track to grow revenue this year, but not by as much.

Stock bounces back

So far the effort to punish Facebook hasn't had a big impact on its stock, despite some bumps.

Facebook shares closed at $235.53 on Wednesday, June 17, the day a coalition of groups, including Color Of Change, the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League called on advertisers to pause spending on the social network. The stock's price rose over the next four days, hitting a June high of $242.24 the following Tuesday, even after prominent brands like Ben & Jerry's, Patagonia and REI joined the boycott.

However, as more brands flocked to the protest, including giants like CVS, Coca-Cola and Unilever, the stock dropped 11% from its peak the prior week, closing at $216.08 on Friday, June 26. It has since cut those losses, rising to $233.42 on Thursday, as investors assessed the situation.

"Even if all the advertisers boycotted Facebook for a full year, it would be less than 1% of revenues by our math," said Colin Sebastian, senior research analyst with Baird Equity Research. "The stock is going to reflect that anticipated impact on revenue and profits as opposed to expressing any underlying view about whether Facebook is handling these issues properly from a broader social perspective."

(c)2020 U.S. Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Electromagnetic coils are widely used components in many applications and systems, including solenoids, motors and transformers. However, coil insulation systems are failure-prone, especially under excessive thermal stresses, leading to unexpected machine shutdown.

With the wide use of low-voltage (under 1kV) electrical rotating machines in new applications, especially in electric aircraft, the reliability of the low-voltage coil insulation systems in rotating machines has become a critical issue and requires technical-conditions-monitoring to avoid unexpected shutdown of machines that incorporate electromagnetic coils.

A team of researchers from Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Maryland recently provided a possible solution for better achieving the degradation monitoring of insulation systems used in low-voltage electromagnetic coils under thermal loading conditions. They investigated degradation monitoring of coil insulation systems under thermal loading conditions from a creep point of view. Their finding was published in Sensors.

Long-term thermal and compressive stresses placed on the insulation during coil operation create the necessary conditions for the occurrence of inter-turn insulation creep. Therefore, the researchers hypothesized a coil creep degradation mechanism during a coil incipient degradation phase. They also developed a mapping method from coil electrical parameters to inter-turn insulation creep deformation based on circuit theories and optimization methods.

To prove the developed method, the researchers performed thermally accelerated tests. Polymer creep curves obtained by outer radius measurement results of magnet wires and comparison between mapped and measured creep deformation during the thermally accelerated tests validates the proposed creep degradation mechanism and mapping method.

"This study bridges the gap between the micro-level and macro-level changes during the incipient insulation degradation process, and we established a knowledge base for insulation degradation monitoring by converting the electrical monitoring parameter to coil insulation health status," said Prof. Wang Kai, the corresponding author of the paper.

The finding helps to reveal the practical physical meaning of coil high-frequency electrical parameters and enhance the prognostic ability of existing high-frequency electrical parameter based insulation monitoring methods, which presents opportunities for predictive maintenance of machines that incorporate electromagnetic coils.

More information: Kai Wang et al. Degradation Monitoring of Insulation Systems Used in Low-Voltage Electromagnetic Coils under Thermal Loading Conditions from a Creep Point of View, Sensors (2020). Kai Wang et al. Degradation Monitoring of Insulation Systems Used in Low-Voltage Electromagnetic Coils under Thermal Loading Conditions from a Creep Point of View,(2020). DOI: 10.3390/s20133696
The actor congratulated the graduates of 2020, saying that that the finest steel must endure the hottest fires

As the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has been playing party pooper on all the graduation ceremonies this year, Hrithik Roshan has stepped up to boost the morale of the class of 2020.

In an address to this years graduates, the Jodha Akbar actor praised the efforts of the teachers and students to have stood determined in the face of the current testing times. Giving a glimpse of his message, the actor shared a part of his address on his social media website.

I almost feel envious of all of you because I truly feel that you guys are the chosen ones. So much of the world and what it's going to be depends on you, your choices, and your attitude during this time, said the Dhoom 2 actor. Adding further, Hrithik said, I always believed that the finest steel must go through the hottest fire, and that is what I have based my life on.

The actor, who was recently invited to become a member of the Academy, reminded the students to be hopeful.

He said, Dont feel disheartened. Life is more than what meets the eye, so believe. Some of us in times of disorder, chaos, and uncertainty can be fragile; some of us can be strong and stay unaffected. What I want you to be is the kind that improves in that chaos, discomfort, uncertainty, and disorder that for me is an adventure, beyond the intellect, it is really about the soul. If you can be that, you are going to see the magic happen.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam listens to reporters' questions during a press conference in Hong Kong, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. TikTok said Tuesday it will stop operations in Hong Kong, joining other social media companies in warily eyeing ramifications of a sweeping national security law that took effect last week.(AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

TikTok said Tuesday it will stop operations in Hong Kong, joining other social media companies in warily eyeing ramifications of a sweeping national security law that took effect last week.

The short-form video app's planned departure from Hong Kong comes as various social media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and Twitter balk at the possibility of providing user data to Hong Kong authorities.

The social media companies say they are assessing implications of the security law, which prohibits what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities or as foreign intervention in the city's internal affairs. In the communist-ruled mainland, the foreign social media platforms are blocked by China's "Great Firewall."

Critics see the law as Beijing's boldest step yet to erase the legal divide between the former British colony and the mainland's authoritarian Communist Party system.

TikTok said in a statement that it had decided to halt operations "in light of recent events." The company would not comment on the size of its operations in Hong Kong or any other matters.

Operated by Chinese internet giant Bytedance, TikTok has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots while striving for global appeal. It recently hired former Walt Disney executive Kevin Mayer to be its CEO.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam listens to reporters' questions during a press conference in Hong Kong, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. TikTok said Tuesday it will stop operations in Hong Kong, joining other social media companies in warily eyeing ramifications of a sweeping national security law that took effect last week. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

The company has said all its data is stored in servers in the U.S. and insisted it would not remove content even if asked to do so by the Chinese government. Even so, TikTok has still been regarded as a national security risk, with U.S. secretary of state Michael Pompeo saying Monday that it was looking at banning certain social media apps, including TikTok.

Facebook and its messaging app WhatsApp said in separate statements Monday that they would freeze the review of government requests for user data in Hong Kong, "pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts."

Hong Kong was convulsed with massive, sometimes violent anti-government protests for much of last year as the former British colony's residents reacted to proposed extradition legislation, since withdrawn, that might have led to some suspects facing trial in mainland Chinese courts.

The new law criminalizes some pro-democracy slogans like the widely used "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time," which the Hong Kong government says has separatist connotations.

The fear is that it erodes the special freedoms of the semi-autonomous city, which has operated under a "one country, two systems" framework since China took control in 1997. That arrangement has allowed Hong Kong's people freedoms not permitted in mainland China, such as public dissent and unrestricted internet access.

Telegram's platform has been used widely to spread pro-democracy messages and information about the protests. It understands "the importance of protecting the right to privacy of our Hong Kong users," said Mike Ravdonikas, a spokesperson for the company.

This Feb. 25, 2020, photo shows the icon for TikTok taken in New York. TikTok said Tuesday, July 7, 2020, it will stop operations in Hong Kong, joining other social media companies in warily eyeing ramifications of a sweeping national security law that took effect last week.(AP Photo, File)

"Telegram has never shared any data with the Hong Kong authorities in the past and does not intend to process any data requests related to its Hong Kong users until an international consensus is reached in relation to the ongoing political changes in the city," he said.

Twitter also paused all data and information requests from Hong Kong authorities after the security law went into effect last week, the company said, emphasizing that it was "committed to protecting the people using our service and their freedom of expression."

"Like many public interest organisations, civil society leaders and entities, and industry peers, we have grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law," the company said in a statement.

Google likewise said it had "paused production on any new data requests from Hong Kong authorities."

Though social platforms have yet to be blocked in Hong Kong, users have begun scrubbing their accounts and deleting pro-democracy posts out of fear of retribution. That retreat has extended to the streets: Many shops and stores that publicly stood in solidarity with protesters have removed the pro-democracy sticky notes and artwork that had adorned their walls.

Under implementation rules of Article 43 of the national security law, which give the city's police force sweeping powers in enforcing the legislation, platforms, publishers and internet service providers may be ordered to take down any electronic message published that is "likely to constitute an offence endangering national security or is likely to cause the occurrence of an offence endangering national security."

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam listens to reporters' questions during a press conference in Hong Kong, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. TikTok said Tuesday it will stop operations in Hong Kong, joining other social media companies in warily eyeing ramifications of a sweeping national security law that took effect last week.(AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Service providers who do not comply with such requests could face fines of up to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,903) and receive jail terms of up to six months.

Individuals who post such messages may also be asked to remove the message, or face similar fines and a jail term of one year.

Hong Kong authorities moved quickly to implement the law after it took effect on June 30, with police arresting about 370 people.

The rules allow Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to authorize police to intercept communications and conduct surveillance to "prevent and detect offences endangering national security."

Police can conduct searches for evidence without a warrant in "exceptional circumstances" and seek warrants requiring people suspected of violating the national security law to surrender their travel documents, preventing them from leaving Hong Kong.

Written notices or restraining orders also may be issued to freeze or confiscate property if there are "reasonable grounds" to suspect that the property is related to an offense endangering national security.

Explore further Facebook, others block requests on Hong Kong user data

 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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


remaining of

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Army sources said that Chinese soldiers were seen removing tents and structures at patrolling point 14 at Galwan Valley

India and China have started limited disengagement in Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra Post in Ladakh sector after two months of tense military standoff.

Disengagement with PLA has started as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders meeting, said senior army officials.

Army sources said that Chinese soldiers were seen removing tents and structures at patrolling point 14 at Galwan Valley where on June 15 Indian and PLA soldiers were engaged in brutal hand-to-hand fight resulting in casualties on both sides.

Rearward movement of vehicles of PLA seen at general area Galwan, Hot Springs and Gogra. Confirmation about distance of withdrawal will be only after verification, said government sources. According to sources as per the agreement between the Corps Commander a buffer zone of 1.5 kilometers on both sides of the LAC has to be created in these areas of stand-off.

Though Pangong Tso remains the most contentious issue between the two sides, sources said that even at finger 4 there was a marginal thinning of the Chinese troops.

The military commanders from both sides are in constant touch with each other and are reported to have spoken 3-4 times on Sunday.

Sources said that in Galwan Valley, the water level of the Galwan river has risen suddenly due to melting of snow, which could have forced Chinese to move from the area faster.

Indian army is reported to be using drone to verify Chinese movement as physical verification has been hindered by rising waters of Galwan river.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday both sides were taking effective measures to disengage and ease the situation on the border.

We hope India will meet China halfway and take concrete measures to carry out what both sides agreed to, continue to closely communicate through diplomatic and military channels, and work together to cool down the situation at the border, Zhao told a news conference.

However, India remains cautious and the army and air force are on a high alert.

Last week during the Corps Commanders meeting both sides had agreed that they would implement the June 6 agreement to move forces back at flash points in Galwan Valley, Hot-Springs and Gogra Post. In the first stage both sides will move 2-3 kilometers, to create a buffer zone. In the later stages, troops are planned to move further back and ultimately reduction of the troops from depth areas too. According to sources the new disengagement plan is a step-by step process where each step will be verified by India before taking the next. The dis-engagement will be a slow process which could take months.

China is reported to have deployed around 20,000 troops at the LAC on the Ladakh sector with additional 12,000 troops reserved in-depth areas which can reach LAC in 48 hours. India has also done mirror deployment of its troops in Ladakh to counter the Chinese. India has also deployed tanks, heavy artillery and air defence system in the Ladakh sector to counter any Chinese challenge.

It is to be noted that Chinese troops have started disengagement at a time when there has been an increase in China-US tensions. For the first time in six years, US Navys two aircraft carriersUSS Nimitz and USS Ronaldare carrying out exercises in the South China Sea in a show of its might and to push back Chinas claim on the contested region. Each US aircraft carrier has over 60 aircraft and are escorted by missile cruisers, submarines and destroyers. Even B-52 bombers participated in the exercise flying directly from their airbases.
There were also big declines in revenue from riverboat casinos and the state lottery, although there was nearly a 3 percent increase in liquor taxes.

The report also said June showed signs of improvement as the state gradually began to reopen its economy.

Personal income tax collections during the month were up $173 million, or 9.4%, as many people returned to work and began filing their 2019 tax returns. Corporate income and sales taxes remained below June 2019 levels but overall state tax collections were off by only 0.1%.

Giertz said he sees similar trends in his monthly Flash Index, a general measure of economic activity that shows whether the states economy is growing or contracting, and by how much.

A Flash Index value greater than 100 indicates a growing economy while a value less than 100 reflects economic contraction.

That index had been over 100 for 96 consecutive months, dating back to March 2012 when Illinois began pulling out of the Great Recession. It fell to 99.8 in March, 94.2 in April and 92.8 in May as effects of the economic lockdown began to be felt. But it ticked up slightly in June to 93.1, indicating the economy was still weak, but improved from May.
A person died in a fire at a Springfield home early Monday morning. Another occupant suffered minor injuries.

The fire completely destroyed the mobile home at 260 Heatherbrook Circle shortly after midnight.

"The cause of the fire is undetermined," Springfield Fire Department Chief Boyce "Bubba" Toole said.

According to an Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office incident report, a female said she was sitting in her living room when she spotted a red light shining through the front doors window.

The woman opened the door and fire and heat came through the door, causing burns on her right forearm.

The woman went to the back bedroom of the residence to wake up her friend. She said he woke up and sat down at the kitchen table as she was leaving the house, the report said.

The woman said she left the residence and then began to scream for her son, who lives behind her house, and others to help.

An attempt to reenter the house was unsuccessful due to the heat and smoke.
Just in 2014, as Black Lives Matter demonstrations spread across the country, more than 500 law enforcement agencies received MRAP armored personnel carriers, designed to withstand bomb blasts in war theaters like Afghanistan and Iraq. Police in North Little Rock, Arkansas (population: 62,000) got two MARCbots, armed robots designed for war in Afghanistan.

Local and state police departments across the country do not ordinarily include budget lines to buy armored personnel carriers. But under a once-invisible program known as 1033, the Pentagon offers surplus military equipment free to any police agency requesting it. And if the good people of North Little Rock dont really need armed robots, well, theyve got them anyway.

Does all that military gear make police officers more likely to act like occupying armies? We cant say for sure, but we do know the relatively small town had two officer-involved shooting cases during one two-week period this spring.

When the government equips police departments like theyre equipping the military, we undermine healthy relationships between the police and the community, explains Equal Justice Initiative director Bryan Stevenson. We have created a culture where police officers think of themselves as warriors, not guardians.

From the beginning, the Poor Peoples Campaign  a national mobilization of poor and working-class Americans  has made ending the 1033 program a centerpiece of its demands. Rather than tinkering around the margins, we need to end systemic racism and the militarism that makes it even deadlier  from Kabul to Atlanta and Baghdad to Minneapolis.

The Rev. Dr. William Barber II is the president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the "Poor Peoples Campaign: A Call for Moral Revival." Phyllis Bennis directs the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. They wrote this for InsideSources.com.

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India's coronavirus infections increased to 7,19,665, while the death toll climbed to 20,160.

A COVID-19 recovered patient and part of Murshidabad COVID-19 warriors club holds a rose as he volunteers for coronavirus awareness campaign, in collaboration with the state government, at a hospital in Kolkata. (PTI)

India recorded another grim milestone on Tuesday as the total number of coronavirus cases crossed the seven lakh mark after one crore samples were tested for COVID-19. Moreover, the death toll too breached the 20,000 barrier on the same day, the ministry of health and family welfare said.



In a significant development, the ICMR said that a cumulative total of 1,02,11,092 samples were tested up to July 6, with 2,41,430 samples being tested on Monday.

This means that over 10 million samples were tested so far across 1,100 testing centres in India. However, experts, as per media reports, were still unhappy with the number, suggesting that these ICMR-approved labs could perform at least 3.5 lakh tests in a single day.

It is important to test more because you cannot devise strategies for the remaining 99% of the population by looking at statistics coming from just 1% of the countrys population, Dr T Jacob John, former virology head at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, was quoted by a media report as saying.

India's coronavirus infections increased to 7,19,665, while the death toll climbed to 20,160 with 467 persons succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra reported the highest number of cases at 2,11,987, followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,14,978, Delhi at 1,00,823, Gujarat at 36,772, Uttar Pradesh at 28,636, Telangana at 25,733 and Karnataka at 25,317, according to the ministry data.

Of the total 20,160 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 9,026 fatalities, followed by Delhi with 3,115 deaths, Gujarat with 1,960, Tamil Nadu with 1,571, Uttar Pradesh with 809, West Bengal with 779, Madhya Pradesh with 617, Rajasthan with 461 and Karnataka with 401.

The number of recoveries stood at 4,39,947, while there are 2,59,557 active cases of COVID-19. Overall, 61.13 per cent of patients have recovered so far, the ministry said.

THE HUNT FOR VACCINE

Meanwhile, phase I human clinical trials for Indias first COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin is expected to start next week. Over 1,100 people are likely to be enrolled in the first two phases of trials.

Several scientists have also said that COVID-19 is an airborne infection and smaller particles in the air can infect people, urging WHO to revise its recommendations.
In 1839, China declared war on drugs by impounding over 1,000 tons of opium from British dealers in Canton (modern Guangzhou)

One of the myths that China has sedulously perpetrated about its current pugnaciousness with its neighbours is the century of humiliation that it ostensibly endured from the commencement of the First Opium War in 1839 till the establishment of the communist state in 1949.

Xi Jinping, while speaking at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in 2017 bemoaned the fact that Ancient China, once a great empire, was plumbed into the dimness of domestic turmoil by foreign aggression. Its prosperous people were reduced to penury, torn asunder, and compelled to subsist in destitution and despondency for over 100 years.

A bit of history may just be in order. Chinas Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) actively engaged the outside world. It dispatched huge maritime fleets on expeditions across Asia and right down to the coast of Africa.

However, Ming China later retreated into seclusion for two centuries. Consequently, it missed the great intellectual renaissance and industrialisation that swept Europe and later the Americas.

In 1839, China declared war on drugs by impounding over 1,000 tons of opium from British dealers in Canton (modern Guangzhou). The British drug cartels pressured London into demanding that Beijing recompense them the full street value of these narcotics.

The Chinese emperor naturally snubbed this egregious extortion attempt. In 1840, British warships laid many Chinese coastal towns to waste. British troops slaughtered even non-combatants along the coastline. Thus, commenced the First Opium War.

British traders were also flustered as a grave trade imbalance subsisted between the Qing China and Great Britain due to the latters astronomical demands for tea, porcelain, and silk. Tea import alone amounted to over 23 million pounds in 1800.

The annual tab was 3.6 million pounds paid in silver. To offset this imbalance, the British started pushing opium into China that they sourced from India. With their defeat in the First Opium War, the Chinese were compelled to cede Hong Kong to the British and open five other treaty ports to international trade.

They soon had to offer the same terms to the other western imperialists.

During the Second Opium War in 1860, the British chastened the Chinese by raising Beijing's Summer Palace to the ground.

The ruthless pillage of the palace that contained a gargantuan number of priceless artifacts was to psychologically bludgeon the Chinese into submission.

The decades that followed seared the Chinese ego further. China lost one third of of its territory to invasions and tens of millions Chinese perished in internal conflict. The second World War left another thirty-five million Chinese dead.

Many scholars hold that the Chinese Communist Party has cynically perpetuated the shame narrative to subserve its own ends.

However, the fact is that this ignominy was painfully felt even by the Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, who inscribed the words avenge humiliation on every page of his diary for twenty long years.

Therefore, a failure to discern how central the spectre of humiliation is to the whole idea of modern China would entail making strategic and tactical miscalculations.

However, no country can base its present on historical injustices and humiliations, howsoever traumatic they might have been. If China suffered one hundred years of humiliation at the hands of Western imperialists, India experienced 1300 years of dishonour at the hands of foreign invaders, beginning with Muhammad bin Qasim in 705 AD and ending with the British in 1947.

Can or should this become Indias raison d'etre in its dealings with its neighbours? The answer is no. India has not even been vociferous in demanding reparations from the British for 200 years of rapaciousness if you take the Battle of Plassey in 1957 as the inflection point.

China needs to come out of its persecution complex. There is another problem of how China perceives itself vis-a-vis India. From 1911 to 1949, China went through a murderous civil war and a brutal conflict with the Japanese before the Communist Shangri-La' could be established.

Subsequently, it went through the murderous experiments of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural revolution.

Conversely, the establishment of a liberal democracy in India was a relatively less bloody experience. It perhaps makes Chinese strategic planners wrongly assume that they are more resilient as a people in terms of their ability to take punishment as compared to us.

It often makes me wonder what would have been the trajectory of our liberation movement if our overlords were the Japanese rather than the British. Imperial Japan was the most tyrannical power in the first 45 years of the 20th century before two atom bombs tamed them. However, we shall leave that for another day.

Returning to the present: Are there any lessons that we need to draw from Chinas self-flagellation narrative to fine tune our border strategy? The foremost is that even a weak China did not except the British overtures in 1899 when C M McDonald attempted to delineate Indias northern and Chinas western border respectively.

In 1913, they refused to sign off on the McMahon Line at the Simla Conference. From the Chinese point of view, the borders have remained fuzzy for over a century now. They have the patience to play the long game. We must be tenacious enough to go toe to toe and nose to nose.

In 1993, an attempt was made in the Sino-Indian Peace and Tranquility agreement to establish the concept of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Its non-delineation on the map and non-demarcation on the ground, however, has rendered it virtually useless today.

How then would this impasse substantively end even if the Corps Commander-level talks are temporarily able to arrive at a modus vivendi? It would only recede when the Chinese are made to realize by a concert of Asian powers that there will be no Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century. China cannot rise alone.

The author is a lawyer, Member of Parliament and former Union information and broadcasting minister. The views expressed are personal. Twitter handle @manishtewari
A study whose results were published by the University of Luxembourg analysed the impact of the confinement on several countries. The results were surprisingly positive in Luxembourg.

The study investigated the impact of the lockdown (or similar measures) in Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden.

PDF: Study

Individuals in Luxembourg increased time spent for childrens care and for household chores. According to the report, "Luxembourg experienced the highest increase of 2.65 hours on average in childcare."

Luxembourg also showed the highest proportion of people working from home (around 60%). For France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, working time was reduced for 1520% of residents. In Luxembourg on the other hand, this figure only amounts to approximately 9%. 8% of the respondents in Luxembourg said they took leave for familial reasons, which is not the case in other countries.

Employees in Italy lost, on average, 13% of their salary during the lockdown. This decrease only amounted to 4% in Luxembourg. 80% of Luxembourgish households did not feel a financial sting due to the pandemic.

A more worrying finding is that more people seem to take prescription drugs since the lockdown took place. 4% of Luxembourgish respondents said they now take stronger prescription drugs, or take them more regularly now.

Almost 50% of the Luxembourgish respondents said they experienced symptoms of depression, lack of sleep and concentration, and stress during the first two weeks of the lockdown.

Most respondents nevertheless said they were satisfied despite the lockdown. Only German respondents complained less about the impact of the lockdown on their quality of life.

78% of Luxembourgish respondents welcomed the government's virus response measures. By comparison, only around 55% of French respondents felt the same.

According to the findings, Italian and Spanish residents respected the government restrictions the most.

In Luxembourg, 90% of residents said that they respected restrictions in the first two weeks of lockdown.
The tourism industry is still feeling the sting of the pandemic, Minister for Tourism Lex Delles told RTL Radio this Tuesday morning.

Luxembourg's tourism sector is running at 25% of its capacities compared to 2019. In other words, the number of tourists staying for in Luxembourg overnight has dropped 75% compared to last year.

The numbers are particularly low for business tourism.

According to Delles, tourism in Luxembourg's more rural areas and at the country's camping sites is on the mend.

The hospitality and events sectors are particularly affected as they were among the first victims to be significantly impacted by the lockdown. As you may remember, the government is trying to help the hospitality sector by offering free vouchers to residents and cross-border workers.

Delles excluded the possibility of the government buying and renting out hotels. This would be unfair competition, he explained.

The minister also said that it was, at this stage, impossible to tell whether or not a second wave of infections could trigger the closure of hotels and restaurants.

If a second wave occurs, health officials will first determine where the new infections took place, Delles said. In other words, it would not make sense to shut down a sector that does not record many new infections.
Three weeks ago, the Grand Duchy numbered just 37 active infections - the current number is 378.

RTL's Carine Lemmer analysed the daily figures published by the Ministry of Health to examine the evolution of the virus over the last three weeks.

In the first week of July around 277 new infections were announced, with 146 new infections in the previous week. On average 40 new cases are announced each day, compared to just 6 per day in June. On 1 July, the Ministry of Health announced 54 new infections - the highest daily figure since mid-April.

However, the rising number of cases are still far from the number of infections at the peak of the crisis. On 26 March 2020, 263 new cases were announced, with the number of active infections peaking at 2,330 on 1 April.

110 patients have died in Luxembourg following complications caused by the virus, although there have been no new deaths since 25 May.

The average age of those infected in the last fortnight lies at around 35 years of age. Compared to the first few weeks of the crisis, patients are mostly in the younger categories, aged between 20 and 35. There are very few active infections in those aged 60 or over.

Those aged between 45 and 49 represent the majority of current infections, at 13% of the total.

19 patients are currently hospitalised due to the virus, with 3 in intensive care - reassuring figures compared to early April, when 45 patients were in intensive care and 190 on the regular wards.

Prime Minister Xavier Bettel is expected to address the Chamber on Wednesday regarding the context for these figures.
Poaching ruled out as carcasses have tusks intact

Hundreds of elephants have died mysteriously in Botswana's famed Okavango Delta, the wildlife department said Thursday, ruling out poaching as the tusks were found intact.

The landlocked southern African country has the world's largest elephant population, estimated to be around 130,000.

"We have had a report of 356 dead elephants in the area north of the Okavango Delta and we have confirmed 275 so far," Cyril Taolo, the acting director of the department of Wildlife and National Parks, told AFP in a text message.

He said the cause of the deaths was yet to be established with anthrax having been ruled out.

"We do not suspect poaching since (the) animals were found with tusks," he said.

Samples have been collected and sent to specialised laboratories in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada for testing.

Similar deaths were first reported in May when authorities found 12 carcasses in just a week in two villages in the northwest of the country.

"It seems they were dying very suddenly in some cases," conservation biologist, Keith Lindsay told AFP, adding that the deaths were sudden.

"The carcases were animals that had fallen down while walking... right on their sternum which is very unusual," said Lindsay.

"Up to now there doesn't seem to be any clear sign of the reason for it. When something like this happens it is alarming."

- "All ages and sex" -

The latest discoveries were flagged by a wildlife conservation charity, Elephants Without Borders (EWB), whose confidential report referring to the 356 dead elephants, was leaked to the media on Wednesday.

EWB suspects the elephants have been dying in the area for about three months.

According to the report dated June 19, 2020, "70 percent of elephant carcasses were considered recent, having died about a month ago, and 30 percent of the carcasses appeared fresh, ranging from one day to two weeks old".

"There was good evidence to show elephants of all ages and sex appear to be dying," said the report penned by EWB director Mike Chase.

Several live elephants appeared to have been weak, lethargic and emaciated, with some showing signs of disorientation, difficulty in walking or limping, EWB said.

Map locating the Okovango Delta /  AFP

"One elephant was observed walking in circles, unable to change direction although being encouraged by other herd members," said the report.

For conservationist Neil Fritt the strange phenomenon is "tragic" but appears to be "more like a natural occurrence as opposed to direct human cause," he told AFP.

Botswana has an overpopulation of elephants which President Mokgweetsi Masisi has flagged as the source for much of the human-animal conflict in the country.

In February the southern African country held its first major auction for trophy elephant hunting quotas since controversially scrapping a hunting ban last year. But the hunting season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic
Bolivia's interim President Jeanine Anez on Thursday accused former leader Evo Morales and his supporters of fomenting violence to try to force a return to power.

Socialist Morales, who currently lives in exile in Argentina, fired back, accusing the government of training its military to suppress social movements.

Conservative Anez assumed the presidency in November after Morales fled the country following three weeks of protests over his controversial re-election to an unconstitutional fourth term.

But she is under pressure to ratify a bill to set a new date for elections postponed over the coronavirus pandemic, which Congress passed despite her party abstaining.

"Evo and his coca growers are trying to return to power," said Anez, adding that Morales's Movement for Socialism party (MAS) is putting forward "the path of division and violence between Bolivians like they did during 14 years" of his rule.

The right-wing government has accused MAS of being behind the vandalism of telecommunications masts in rural areas by locals who believe a conspiracy theory that coronavirus can be spread through 5G.

Morales responded with a tweet claiming that two weeks ago a military document was circulating "with instructions to practice shooting and anti-terrorist preparation."

The former trade union leader described it as a "return to the US National Security Doctrine that views social movements as the 'enemy'."

Last week, both chambers of Congress approved a new date of September 6 for elections originally due to take place in May.

But on Tuesday, Anez proposed "postponing probably for a month or two months," citing an expected peak in coronavirus infections that is yet to be reached as reason to do so.

On Wednesday, Senate President Eva Copa, a member of MAS, urged Anez to "comply with the only mandate entrusted to" her by ratifying the election date.

When she came to power, Anez herself said her only role was to guide the South American country to new elections.

In the latest polls, Anez was sitting third behind former president Carlos Mesa and MAS candidate Luis Arce.
Germany and Belgium have asked the UN Security Council to vote to extend authorization for cross-border humanitarian aid in Syria despite a likely Russian veto, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

The German-Belgian draft resolution would extend for a year an authorization for aid to move into Syria, free from the control of the Damascus government, across two points on the Turkish border.

A vote is expected at the end of the day.

"There is going to be a Russian veto," predicted a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity, an expectation shared by other diplomatic sources.

The current UN authorization, which has been in effect since 2014 with periodic extensions, expires on Friday.

Besides the western nations, which would like to see the authorization strengthened amid a spreading coronavirus epidemic in Syria, the UN secretariat has sought to have the aid operation continue with at least two crossing points on the Turkish border.

- Crossing points -

The draft resolution would maintain the two crossing points -- Bab al-Salaam and Bab al-Hawa -- and extend their use until July 10, 2021.

Russia wants the Bab al-Salaam border crossing point eliminated and only a six-month extension, according to diplomats.

The Bab al-Hawa crossing point allows for shipments of humanitarian aid to the three to four million people living in the opposition-held Idlib region.

In January, Moscow, Syria's closest ally, succeeded in having the crossing points reduced from four to two and in limiting the authorization to six months instead of a year, as had been done previously.

If Russia uses its veto -- with China probably following suit -- it would be the 15th time it has done so since the start of the Syrian war in 2011.

Russia, like China, argues that the UN authorization violates Syria's sovereignty and that the aid could be distributed by the Syrian authorities.

The western nations and the UN secretariat reject that argument, insisting that the cross-border aid is the only credible option, and that the flow of relief supplies would face multiple obstacles if it had to pass through Damascus' control.

In a report in late June, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a one-year extension of the use of the two crossing points.

Guterres said that since 2014, 4,774 trucks have used the Bab al-Salaam crossing and 28,574 have used Bab al-Hawa.

"We hope for consensus," said Germany's ambassador to the UN, Christoph Heusgen.

According to a report published by the UN in Geneva on Tuesday, the humanitarian situation in Idlib province is disastrous.

"Syria's economy is devastated," said Hanny Megally, one of the authors of the report. "The country has been in a nine-year conflict. People are suffering."
West Texas Intermediate crude oil spot prices fell to as low as $14.10 a barrel on March 30.

Between January and March, the rig count in Wyoming  a prime indicator of oil and gas activity levels  fell from 25 rigs at the beginning of the year to 19 by the end of March. The rig count in Wyoming has since been slashed to zero.

The history of the oil and natural gas industry is one of highs and lows, Ryan McConnaughey, communications director of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, wrote in response to the recent market conditions facing in Wyoming oil and gas operators. Industry will use these challenges as an opportunity to lean on the ingenuity and grit of its talented workforce to innovate. Companies will emerge stronger and more competitive in the global energy market. We have been here before, and I have no doubt the industry will survive.

Wyoming relies heavily on revenue from oil, gas and other natural resources. The collapse of energy prices, coupled with the onslaught of the pandemic, led state analysts to revise initial revenue forecasts this spring.

Mineral severance tax revenue collected during this years first quarter also slid to levels not seen since the second quarter of 2016, according to Lius analysis.

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I absolutely think its a good thing, Rep. Cyrus Western, R-Sheridan, said in response to the states decision Tuesday. If we are a pro-jobs, pro-economy state, I think projects like this deserve all the consideration.

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I have full faith that they are going to do what they say they are going to do and adhere to state statutes and reclamation standards just like everyone else, he added.

Meanwhile, Tongue River Valley residents living near the proposed mine site have long expressed alarm over the potential environmental impacts and future financial liabilities associated with the Brook Mine for the county and state.

Were disappointed that the permit has been issued, but we hope that the numerous conditions will protect our health, water, safety, and property, Anton Bocek, the nearest landowner to the mine boundary, stated. We also hope that Ramaco is going to be a good neighbor, that they listen to and respect the neighboring landowners.

The Powder River Basin Resource Council, a grassroots landowner group, said the revised permit application was still incomplete and deficient in public comments submitted earlier this year. The group outlined numerous concerns related to the projects impacts on surrounding land, water and air.
Jennings also said that under the intermediate scenario, the cuts couldnt be absorbed by trimming fat or eliminating vacant positions. There are also fewer schools that appear ripe for closing, as enrollment continues to grow and there are few small schools left.

Though the Natrona County school board is preparing for the worst, there are several unknowns. Its unclear, for instance, what the Legislature will do early next year to address the cuts. The Legislature is also spending the next several months studying how schools are funded, which could produce changes on its own. But even that process is tricky for cut-minded lawmakers: It was established after several Supreme Court decisions affirmed school funding as a primary duty of the state, rulings that make it much more difficult to unilaterally slash districts to the bone.

Theres also previous legislation to make the situation even more confusing. Currently, the states primary education piggy bank is running a deficit and is being supplemented by the Legislatures savings account. When that account begins to run low, a sales tax increase kicks in. Theres also a cap on special education spending  which otherwise chugs upward every year at a steady pace  that will expire soon.
The academician was charged with "soliciting prostitution ". He was suspended from teaching for an article against Xi's lifetime presidency. He was also critical of the regimes pandemic management. The Communist Party is leveraging the fight against coronavirus to crack down on dissident intellectuals.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Police yesterday arrested academician Xu Zhangrun, a well- known critic of President Xi Jinping.

The former law professor at Qinghua University professors friends and colleagues reported his arrest. The police took him away from his home in Changping, a suburb of Beijing, where he lived under surveillance.

According to reports, Xu is accused of "soliciting prostitution" during his visit to Chengdu (Sichuan) last summer.

The professor, suspended from teaching in 2019 for an article against Xi's lifetime presidency, has long been targeted by the Chinese authorities. People close to him said that he had been preparing for his inevitable arrest for quite some time.

In February, Xu published an article criticizing the leadership for failing to control the coronavirus. He accused the countrys leadership of putting politics ahead of the people and destroying the political system which was heading for reforms after the death of Mao Zedong.

Last May, on the eve of the annual session of the National People's Congress, Xu asked the Chinese leadership to reflect on its management of the pandemic and to apologize to the people for its mistakes.

The Professor of Law also observed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) repression of civil society and freedom of expression made it impossible for people to respond immediately to the alarm for Covid-19.

For many observers, the Chinese regime is using the fight against coronavirus to crack down on dissident and intellectuals. Xu Zhiyong, founder of the New Citizens Movement, was arrested on February 15 in Guangzhou (Guangdong) during a "health check".

Since February there has been no news of He Weifang, a Law Professor from the University of Beijing. He criticized the CCP, arguing that the lack of press freedom had favored the spread of lung disease.

Liang Yanping, a professor of language and literature at Hubei University, and Wang Xiaoni, a retired professor from Hainan University, were placed under investigation in April for expressing appreciation for the "Diary from Wuhan", in which the writer Fang Fang tells the story of life in the Hubei capital, the epicenter of the pandemic, in the days of the "lockdown".
CODY  Cody resident Kanye West announced Saturday on Twitter his intention to run for president.

We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future, West said. I am running for president of the United States.

Also in the post, West included the hashtag #2020VISION. On Sunday, West posted a photo of structures being built on his West Ranch property with the same #2020VISION description.

Multiple West representatives did not immediately respond for comment about details pertaining to Wests campaign. There has been no other public mention made from him or his staff regarding his run for presidency.

This is not the first time West has announced his candidacy for president.

In 2015, he said on multiple occasions he would run for president in 2020, but then reversed course to 2024.

When Donald Trump entered the fold as a legitimate candidate and later elected president, West appeared to have stepped back his 2020 intentions. West has voiced his support for and friendship with Trump on numerous occasions.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has voiced his support for Wests campaign.
COLONIAL Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) Ltd (CLICO) is solvent, yet it still owes the Government $2.09 billion as part of its 2009 bailout arrangement.

In addition, approximately $1.66 billion provided with respect to British American Insurance Company (Trinidad) Limited (BAT) remains unpaid.

This according to 38th quarterly report of the Central Bank, which was filed in the High Court pursuant to section 44E (7) of the Act, which reported on the period which ended March 31, 2021.

The report provides a snapshot of the progress of proposals to restructure CLICO, BAT and Clico Investment Bank (CIB)

In summary, of the approximately $18 billion (inclusive of preference interest due) provided by the Government in respect of CLICO, approximately $16.6 billion has been repaid by CLICO, leaving a balance of approximately $2.09 billion as at February 28, 2021, the report noted.

Payments for interest on the preference shares due to the Government have commenced. As at February 28, 2021, the remaining interest due to the Government on these preference shares amounted to approximately $32.8 million, it noted.

The report noted that by January 24, 2019 approximately $5 billion in cash payments were made to the Government in consideration for an appropriate reduction in CLICOs liabilities to GORTT.

A further cash payment of approximately $300 million (paid in tranches) was made to GORTT by CLICO between March 20 and 27, 2020. An additional $125 million was paid to GORTT on July 8, 2020. On September 17,2020, pursuant to another Ministerial direction, CLICO was directed to pay GORTT $600 million, in cash, in two tranches in exchange for an appropriate reduction in liabilities owed to GORTT.

The first tranche of approximately $300 million was paid to GORTT on September 30, 2020 and the second tranche of approximately $300.1 million was paid in two parts on October 24,2020 and October 30,2020, respectively, it said.

CLICOs most recent audited financial statement, for the 12 months ending December 31, 2020, indicate the company had positive net worth of $3.23 billion at the end of 2020.

That means the insurance company is in a position to pay off all of its liabilities, including the $2.09 billion it owes the Government.

The 2020 audit showed that CLICOs after tax profits plunged by 95 per cent for the year ending December 31, 2019.

CLICO recorded $119.23 million in after-tax profit in 2020, compared with $123.69 in 2019

Its total assets amounted to $13.55 billion in 2020, down from $14.90 billion at the end of 2019, while its total liabilities for 2020 were $10.31 billion.

CLICO has been under the control of the Central Bank since 2009, in accordance with Section 44D of the Central Bank Act.

In an interview earlier this year, Central Bank Governor Dr Alvin Hilaire said he is anxious for T&Ts regulator of financial institutions to close the book on this countrys largest bailout.

As I told you before, we want to get out of this thing yesterday. Right? We are not in the business of running insurance companies. Most of the conditions are no longer there in terms of the systemic issue. And in terms of the health of the financial system, so we dont have a systemic problem, he had said.

Ministerial directives

Despite CLICO being under the management of the Central Bank, the report noted that a number of transfers were made pursuant to ministerial directives over the course of the Central Banks management of CLICO.

Directives by the Minister of Finance to CLICO are allowed under section 44 F(5) of the Central Bank Act, which states: In the performance of its functions and in the exercise of its powers under section 44D the Bank shall comply with any general or special directions of the Minister and shall act only after due consultation with the Minister.

Among the ministerial directives recorded in the Central Bank document are:

1. In January 2017, in light of the unanticipated delay in the sale of MHIL shares and pursuant to directions from the Minister of Finance to the Central Bank, CLICO obtained an independent valuation of CLICOs 100 per cent shareholding in Occidental Investment Limited (OIL) and Oceanic Properties Limited (OPL) in preparation for the transfer of these shareholdings to the Government, thereby appropriately reducing CLICOs liabilities to the Government.

The valuation report was completed and the share sale and purchase agreement executed by the parties on March 28,2017. On May 8, 2017, the parties signed the necessary share transfer forms to facilitate the transfer of CLICOs 100 per cent shareholding in OIL and OPL to the State Enterprise, Golden Grove-Buccoo Limited.

2. In November 2017, pursuant to directions from the Minister of Finance to the Central Bank, arrangements were commenced to facilitate the purchase and cancellation of certain Government bonds held by CLICO in consideration for an appropriate reduction in liabilities owed by CLICO to the Government in order of priority. The relevant Sale and Purchase Agreement was executed on July 26, 2018 and a Variation Agreement which amended the value of binds to be transferred was executed on August 30,2019.

3. On April 11, 2018, approximately $107 million of a WASA loan facility together with a cash payment of $21 million were effectively transferred to the Government for an appropriate reduction in liabilities owed by CLICO to the Government in order of priority.

4. Pursuant to directions from the Minister of Finance, agreements were executed on March 29, 2018 for the transfer of CLICOs approximately 21 per cent shareholding in One Caribbean Media Limited (OCM) and approximately five per cent shareholding in West Indian Tobacco Company Limited to the Government based on an independent valuation, in consideration for an appropriate reduction in liabilities owed by CLICO to the Government in order of priority. These shares were transferred on April 25, 2018.

5. On April 30, 2018, CLICO received from the liquidator of CIB, the Deposit Insurance Corporation, an interim distribution of 27,619,219 Republic Bank Limited (RBL) shares and 848,564 OCM shares.

Pursuant to directions from the Minister of Finance, the Central Bank directed CLICO to transfer to the Government the RBL shares and the OCM shares based on the price determined by an independent valuation in consideration for an appropriate reduction in liabilities owned to the Government in order of priority. These shares were transferred to the Government on July 4, 2018.

6. On September 7, 2018 and April 4, 2019, bonds totally approximately $502 million (now valued at approximately $500 million pursuant to a Variation Agreement dated August 30, 2019) were transferred to the Government (for cancellation) in exchange for an appropriate reduction in liabilities owed by CLICO to the Government.

7. Further to directions to the Central Bank from the Minister of Finance, CLICO was directed to transfer one of its properties located in Chaguanas and one another located in Port of Spain to the Government, based on an up-to-date independent valuation, in consideration for an appropriate reduction in liabilities owed by CLICO to the Government.

For the property located on Chaguanas, the relevant sale and purchase agreement was executed on April 9, 2019 and the deed of assignment was registered on February 6, 2020.

The purchase agreement and the deed of lease for the property located in Port of Spain were executed on August 5,2020 in exchange for an appropriate reduction in liabilities.

Stalled sale

The report noted that progress on the sale of traditional insurance portfolios of CLICO and BAT has been impacted by ongoing court proceedings in the context of a challenge by one of the bidders of the portfolio. An injunction was granted to Maritime Life (Caribbean) Ltd in July 2020.

In the 2019 financial statement, it reclassified assets in preparation for sale to Sagicor.

CLICOs balance sheet showed the reclassification of over $7 billion in assets, in the form of Government bonds, from investment securities to assets held for sale.

In addition, it shifted all of its $6.43 billion in insurance contractsand all but $145.48 million of the $1.66 billion classified as investment contractsto $7.72 billion of liabilities directly associated with assets held for sale.

Note 18 of CLICOs financial statement indicates: The sales and purchase agreement allows for the parties to exit the contract by mutual agreement as well as by either party, if the other party fails to fulfil stipulated terms as outlined in the agreement.

But Note 18 adds: CLICO remains fully committed to the sale of the portfolio and the execution of the signed agreement.

Directives to sell the asset from the Central Bank as controller of CLICO under section 44D of the Central Bank Act have not changed.
A song that is truly an evergreen soul classic originally recorded by the Five Stairsteps, that has been covered by a host of artistes, among them the likes of Nina Simone, The Spinners, Mary Wilson, Kirk Franklin with Donnie McLurkin and Kelly Rowland, and even sampled by Janet Jackson in her song Truth, has now been covered by a Trinidadian artiste alongside his daughter, just in time for the Fathers Day weekend and to also bring some positive vibes in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Delivering what can only be summed up as the right message at the right time, local artist, Ziggy Rankin has released a major collaboration cover for the 70s single, O-o-h Child.
Three Opposition MPs are calling on the Government and the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) to have a heart and stop disconnecting the water supply of errant customers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Barataria/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein yesterday wrote to WASAs executive director Lennox Sealey urging him to suspend the drive and display humanity as people are suffering and strapped for cash in the pandemic given the lockdowns.
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.
THE Police Service Commission (PolSC) has the green light to proceed with a new shorter process to appoint a Police Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner.

Leader of Government Business Camille Robinson-Regis made this clear yesterday in response to a story in the Sunday Express which stated that the legal notice giving effect to the process was to be debated in the Parliament today.
BBR Music GroupLindsay Ell bravely tells her story as a survivor of sexual assault in her new song, "make you."

In an interview with People, Lindsay shares that the song is inspired by her experience of being raped by a man at her church in her native Calgary, Canada when she was 13. She says she was sexually assaulted again when she was 21.

After visiting with a group of teen girls at Youth For Tomorrow in 2017, an organization in Virginia that supports young women who've experienced sexual abuse, Lindsay felt compelled to tell her story to the girls and knew then it was time to share it publicly.

Co-written by Lindsay and Brandy Clark, "make you" explores the pain that Lindsay felt in the wake of the traumatic event, sharing in the lyrics that she felt "dirty" and built up walls that closed her off from others. Lindsay also shows how the effect of that experience followed her throughout her life and felt like a "new scar" years later.

"You'll feel angry/You'll feel sad/Once you see it's not your fault/And that canyon in your chest/Is the little girl you lost," she sings.

"Part of me talking about it now is liberating the little 13-year-old Lindsay and the 21-year-old Lindsay. Pain is something we can let control us if we don't deal with it, but the minute you put a voice to your story the shame has no power," Lindsay says.

"Make you" is featured on Lindsay's upcoming album, heart theory, that's set for release on August 14.

Coinciding with the song, Lindsay is also launching the Make You Movement, a charitable fund to aid organizations supporting at-risk youth who are domestic abuse and sexual violence survivors.

By Cillea Houghton

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
by Fady Noun

In his Sunday homily, Card al-Rahi laid out the bases for a new Lebanon that is sovereign and protected from foreign attacks. To this end, he addressed an appeal to the countrys political leaders, one that should not be seen as partisan. Lebanons foreign minister is in Rome today.

Beirut (AsiaNews)  What did the Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Bechara al-Rahi, have in mind when he delivered his homily last Sunday? According to a well-informed source close to the patriarch, he wants the Maronite Church to gradually promote the notion of Lebanon as a neutral state and that its neutrality be guaranteed internationally. To achieve such a goal, support must be sought in other communities. The Sunday homily, the source said, should not be considered as another complaint, but rather as a potentially foundational speech.

What are the four principles laid out by the head of the Maronite Church? In brief, Patriarch Al-Rahi asked the president of Lebanon to "break the siege (...) on the countrys ability to decide for itself. [Secondly,] the state should exercise its sovereignty fully rather than just nominally. To this end, he urged the United Nations, the international community and the Arab world to take note and guarantee Lebanons neutrality. Thirdly, the patriarch slammed the countrys leaders for Lebanons economic collapse and for failing to take responsibility in that collapse. Lastly, he wants the security services to stop harassing the activists involved in the 17 October protest movement.

For the first time, noted the source, the patriarchs words reflect a national aspiration for change. We must prevent this aspiration from being highjacked by one side or the other. Patriarch Al-Rahi is not asking for the fall of this government; he is going after the entire political establishment and is demanding that Hezbollah disarm, which is one detail in an overall vision.

One thing is certain, it is no longer a question of being silent," said a Maronite bishop who asked that his name be withheld. We have been asked for years to say, as clearly as possible, what we want. Now we have decided to do it, and if the patriarch goes to Rome, he will go there with a well-prepared file.

Contrary to what was reported yesterday, the patriarch is not planning a visit to Rome any time soon. For former lawmaker Fares Souaid, the Sunday homily marks "a great turning point in the life of the country and the Church. It marks the return to the front stage of a patriarch who had pulled back a bit to allow certain political leaders and Christian parties to prove themselves.

For Souaid, leader of Lady of the Mountain Rally[*] party, With such leaders and Christian parties losing popularity, the Church decided to resume her place as guarantor of Lebanons continuity. After all, she helped create it a century ago.

For the patriarch, legality has been mortgaged. He knows very well that Lebanon cannot continue to exist with state within a state, sucking the life out of it economically and politically, acting like a great policy maker in lieu of the president.

According to Church sources, it is purely coincidental that the patriarchs homily was delivered just as Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti was getting ready to visti Rome where today he met with Cardinal Paul Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States.

The two men are very likely to talk about the crises that hit Lebanon in 2019, as well as the impact within the country of the puzzling blasts at Iranian nuclear sites and the countdown to Israels annexation of parts of the West Bank.

[*] Rassemblement de Saydet el-Jabal.
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.
Bell intended to retire from Asarco after at least 20 years, but now itll take a really good contract for her to return to work at the mine, she says.

I actually had a pension, have a pension, and for them to try to take my pension away after 12 years of working is like a slap in the face, she said.

It took Bell seven months to find a new job and it became an especially difficult decision to make after COVID-19 shut down schools and businesses. Her son suddenly didnt go back to school so the family needed someone to stay home with him, she said. She also had to weigh the risk of contracting coronavirus if she went back to work.

Bell now drives a concrete mixer truck and works for Southwest Valley Constructors helping build the border wall in Naco, near Bisbee.

She said the pay and benefits of her new federal government job are better than what she was making at the mine, and refers to the mining job and her new job as going from a toxic relationship to a really good one.

Asarco operates the Mission Mine in Sahuarita; the Silver Bell Mine in Marana; the Ray Mine and Hayden smelter in Central Arizona; and a refinery in Amarillo, Texas.

About 85% of Asarcos hourly workers are union members.

Besides the Steelworkers and Teamsters, unions striking at Asarco include the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers.

The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
In the back of my mind, I was like, When are you going to do your art? When are you going to do your art?

When Chanda moved back to Arizona in 2014, she decided to become a full-time artist.

I had always wanted to be an artist and I was becoming more and more envious of those studio-based people that were painting and exhibiting their work, she says. Even if they were teaching, they were still painting.

Teaching art education was wonderful, but deep in my heart, I was like, I want to be one of those people over there.

From animals to landscapes, Chanda paints a wide range of stories. But her favorite to paint? People.

A lot of the images of people come from photographs that I have taken, she says, adding that sometimes shell see something interesting and do a quick sketch of it. There was one time I was walking around with a camera and I was just shooting anything I could find. From there, Chanda will take those sketches or photographs and alter the composition.

Im trying to pull away from the photographs to try to create more with my imagination, she says.
Instead of looking to the rainforests of South America or the mountains of Tibet for the next superfood, why not look to your backyard  or your local farmers market and grocery store? The superfoods youll find there arent new or the beneficiaries of a major marketing campaign, but theyre no less healthful.

Here are a few examples:

Berries

Blueberries are one of the few fruits native to North America, and they are the second most popular berry (after strawberries) in the United States. Blueberries contain more antioxidant nutrients than most fruits and vegetables and are particularly rich in a family of phytonutrients called flavonoids. One group of flavonoids, anthocyanins, provides much of the beneficial health effects, along with blueberries color. Strawberries also have high levels of flavonoids.

Cruciferous vegetables
Pompeo's remarks come during a time of heightened tensions between the United States and China, which have spilled over into several arenas including national security, trade and technology.

TikTok  which is owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance  has been repeatedly criticized by US politicians who accused the short-form video app of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China. They allege that the company could be compelled to "support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party."

TikTok has said previously that it operates separately from ByteDance. It says its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and that none of that data is subject to Chinese law. US user data is stored in the United States, with a backup in Singapore, according to TikTok. A spokesperson for the company told CNN Business in May that it thinks the national security concerns are "unfounded."
"It is time to raise our voices to tell the people that we cannot turn our eyes and ignore what is happening," Karina Ruiz, executive director of the coalition said. "They are letting us die, because (those centers) do not have the essential measures to be healthy or maintain social distance."

The coalition held an information session on Facebook Live Monday night telling the community abut the case and to launch a phone campaign at ICE.

The goal, the coalition says, is for Martinez to finish recovering from COVID-19 at the family's Tucson home.

As of June 21, ICE reported that 191 detainees and more than 100 employees at the privately-run detention facility have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ruiz said the group will focus this week on promoting calls to ICE to have Martinez and others there released.

Salvador Martinez, says his son recently spent 19 days isolated due to the spread of the coronavirus in the facility.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Bishop Emmanuel Kerketta of Jashpur had plans to expand a local mission, but everything is on hold because of Hindu opposition. A new parish priest is under quarantine because of COVID-19. The diocese has about 200,000 members, mostly farmers and farmworkers, poor but very generous.

Jashpur (AsiaNews)  Father Sarat Kumar Nayak is the new parish priest at St Vincent Pallotti Church in Bhanria. He arrived on 22 June but has been in "home quarantine" since then.

Bhanria is a missionary parish in the Diocese of Jashpur, Chhattisgarh. It is located 45 kilometres from the diocesan headquarters in Kunkuri and 90 kilometres from the district headquarters in Jashpur.

Last Sunday, Bishop Emmanuel Kerketta of Jashpur paid an informal visit to the parish to welcome and greet Fr Sarat Kuman Nayak.

The prelate told Father Sarat Nayak that "this is a very challenging mission and the extension of the mission is very difficult".

Fr Sarat Kumar Nayak, 39, is a Pallottine missionary who served as parish priest at a mission substation in Sundargarh district, Diocese of Rourkela, Odisha.

The clergyman is greatly devoted to Our Lady and has led his parishioners on many pilgrimages to Marian shrines across the country.

Bhanria is a tribal area, he explained. Our people are simple people, but they are strong in faith and very strong in their love for Jesus and Mother Mary. Most tribal people are farmers and farmworkers; some are teachers and nurses.

Overall, Jashpur has about 200,000 Catholics, mostly tribal. They are poor but very generous, Fr Sarat noted. They have a tradition that when they cook rice, a handful is kept aside for the Church, and they collect the rice daily and offer it to priests on Sunday.

Each week, every family offers a kilo of rice to the Church. This is a tradition followed by every Catholic household in Bhanria. They believe that by giving God rice, their own supply of rice grains will never end. They say: When we offer something to the Lord, the Lord gives back in abundance.

Meanwhile, the new mission is expanding. This parish is growing to better serve the pastoral needs of the people, Fr Sarat said. Archbishop Kerketta wants to split it and open a new mission.

To this end, The Diocese of Jashpur has purchased the land to build a church for this new missionary station, but the people of from the dominant religion oppose the construction of the church. Thus, In spite of all the legal provisions in force, the dominant group got a court order that stopped everything.

"This parish has a thousand families in 16 villages, and Bishop Kerketta wanted a new missionary station to benefit people and meet their pastoral needs, but this is a very difficult challenge."

Bhanria is a hilly area and rice fields abound along the road. Tribal people live in hamlets that are difficult to reach because of thick forests. People are economically poor; however, they have a genuine faith. They are pious and God fearing.

Generally, Bhanria is a challenging mission, and creating a new one is very difficult, said Archbishop Kerketta. I travelled to all 16 villages to meet the people who will be supported by us.

The goal is to make inroads in this new area through our social, medical and educational outreach to the poor, the marginalised and vulnerable people. We also want to serve women and especially the children of this remote rural area.

We bought the land in 2014 and completed all the legal formalities, but due to the challenges and mistrust of others, as well as court orders, everything is now suspended.

We started to put up some walls and built some small huts in 2017. We wanted to complete it by the end of last May. It appears now that it will take time to go through all the problems we face. There are a lot of anti-Christian activities here.

I spoke with local ministers. They told me they would do it, but the opposing forces are very strong. Once the building is completed, people will welcome it, but to get the work done we require a lot of approvals.

Our plan is to build rooms for priests and nuns, a kitchen and a chapel. Once approved, we will start the mission. However, this is taking time in the current situation, said the prelate. We hope that despite all this, one day we will succeed.

For now, Fr Sarat Nayak is still under home quarantine, but I am looking forward to visiting people, families, villages, personally seeing the situation in which they live and work.

My desire is to bring these people to Jesus, to share with them the Good News, to teach children and youth to love Jesus.

Last but not least, there is also a social dimension to my ministry, uplifting people. We have a school and a hostel for 150 students to achieve that goal.
When Wade McGee was diagnosed with COVID-19 at 3 a.m. Friday, there was nowhere in Tucson he could get treatment.

So the next morning the 63-year-old mining retiree and former paramedic was taken by ambulance from Northwest Medical Center, 6200 N. La Cholla Blvd., to a hospital in Phoenix.

McGees wife, Wendy McGee, is finding it hard to get information on her husband, who is not doing well.

She wishes hed been able to get treatment here, but also said shes glad he wasnt transferred out of state  which is the fate some patients are facing as the health-care crisis worsens.

Pima County residents with COVID-19 are being treated in San Diego, Albuquerque or Las Vegas when shortages in staffing, equipment or bed space make it impossible for hospitals close to home to take them.

Others are being sent around the state, like to Wickenburg or, in the case of McGee, Phoenix.

Its so disturbing, Wendy McGee said. At the beginning of this (pandemic), we were told thered be pop-up hospital facilities for the overflow, but thats never been done.

She would like some answers.

Why not, I want to ask. You knew this was going to happen, she said. We opened up the state and said have a ball and look where we are now.

Dr. Theresa Cullen, the Pima County health director, said referrals are initiated when the hospitals staffs feel they cannot adequately provide long-term care for patients, such as keeping someone on a ventilator longer than a day.
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
The United States did not provide sufficient "evidence" of threat of an impending attack. Agnes Callamard reports the operation violates the United Nations Charter, but the international community has remained largely silent. Soleimani did not pose a threat to the US and the rest of the world.

Geneva (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The attack launched by United States drones in early January near Baghdad airport, during which Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and nine other people were killed, constitutes a violation of law international.

This is what a senior United Nations official concludes, adding Washington has been unable to provide sufficient and convincing "evidence" of an imminent attack taking place against US objectives in the region.

The rumors of a possible attack were the pretext used by the White House to justify the assassination of the Qods Force commander, killed in a raid on January 3 in the Iraqi capital. Thousands of people attended a public ceremony first in Iraq, then in Iran where the burial took place. At the time, the Chaldean patriarch, Card Louis Raphael Sako, had also intervened, who asked not to transform the country into a "battlefield".

In her report on drone attacks and greater regulation of the weapon Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, she underlines that the military operation openly violates the United Nations Charter.

"The world is at a critical time, and possible tipping point, when it comes to the use of drones. ... The Security Council is missing in action; the international community, willingly or not, stands largely silent, Callamard said.

On 9 July, the expert will have to present the results of the investigation to the UN Human Rights Council, but the United States is not part of this forum having abandoned it two years ago by decision of President Donald Trump. According to Washington, General Soleimani was the mastermind of attacks by pro-Iranian militias and armed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, as well as being a major source of destabilization in the region.

In her report Callamard writes that the senior officer "was responsible for the Iranian military strategy" in Iraq and Syria but, in the absence of a real threat to life, the course of action taken by the United States was illegal". The episode was the first ever in which a nation invoked the right to self-defense, as a justification for an operation against a state actor on the territory of a third country.

Tehran recently issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump and 35 other people in connection with the killing of Soleimani. According to reports from Tehran's Attorney General Ali Alqasimeh, the Iranian government has also asked for help from Interpol.
Maryland Live Casino & Hotel reopened on June 19 to its members and to the public 10 days later, bringing in nearly half the states monthly total with almost $15.9 million. Meanwhile, Horseshoe Casino which reopened to members on June 26 and the public two days later, reported $2.6 million in June.
We obviously respect the tough position that the governor is in, Fann said. Its kind of a no-win situation for him.

But in some ways the effort to review the law is about Ducey, since he is the one who declared the emergency.

Fann said that, with the knowledge now of how all that works, that requires a new look at those laws and how they fit into the constitutional balance of power thats supposed to exist between the executive and legislative branches of government.

Ducey, for his part, isnt interested in any limit on either the breadth or the length of his powers. Whats happening now with the COVID-19 outbreak shows the law is working the way it was designed, said Daniel Scarpinato, Duceys chief of staff.

The virus is widespread and its spreading and the numbers are increasing, Scarpinato said.

So to have a date certain of when it would end would be really irresponsible because this is going to go on for some time, Scarpinato said. Therell be additional public health decisions that need to be made.

What that also means is that, under current law, Duceys power to make those without legislative input continues as long as he wants.
Other Opinions and Columnists from 'The Conversation'
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, announced on Monday it is providing a financing package of US$75 million to Phu My Hung Development Corporation to help sustain its property development operations, in the wake of COVID-19 impacts.

The investment is expected to allow the company to extend financial relief to clients, suppliers, and contractors along its property value chain, helping preserve jobs and contributing to a resilient local economy, IFC said in its press release.

The sister organization of the World Bank said that the bond is its first COVID-19 response project in Vietnam.

It comes under the Real Sector Crisis Response Facility, which will provide $2 billion globally for IFCs existing clients in healthcare, infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, and service industries to cope with the pandemic.

Overall, IFC will provide $8 billion COVID-19 fast-track financing to support the private sector and preserve jobs across the world.

The latest support comes after IFC helped Phu My Hung in 2019 expand its housing projects in Vietnams secondary provinces, aiming to improve local residents access to quality housing as well as education and healthcare services.

This funding will bolster Phu My Hungs ability to cope with the challenges emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic including demand and supply chain disruptions, said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

Phu My Hung, an established real estate developer in Vietnam, supplies housing mainly in Ho Chi Minh City and also leases office and retail space to more than 300 businesses, most of which are small and medium enterprises.

Business disruptions caused by the impact of COVID-19 have affected the real estate developers clients, including lessees, homebuyers, suppliers, and contractors, according to IFC.

Local businesses are the primary engines of job creation, which drive the national economy. With the COVID-19 situation, IFCs support will enable us to extend financial relief to our local clients, IFC quoted Gary Tseng, CEO of Phu My Hung, as saying.

Having successfully contained the pandemic, Vietnam is now addressing the impacts of COVID-19 on its economy, especially in trade, services, and construction, the three hardest hit sectors.

In February, IFC had increased trade finance limits for Vietnamese banks as a rapid response initiative to address, in advance, potential trade finance challenges triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Vivek Pathak, IFC regional director for East Asia and the Pacific, said that leveraging its experience from past shocks, the corporation aims to harness the private sector to limit economic damage.

The World Bank Groups member attaches a lot of importance to supporting local businesses in times of crisis, for they are the main drivers of employment in emerging economies, according to Pathak.

IFCs support, an effective response to help ensure resiliency, shows our confidence in local businesses as well as our commitment to restore Vietnams economy to a sustainable growth path post-pandemic, Pathak said.

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Vietnam will try out the commercial deployment of 5G networks in October this year as part of the countrys drive to transition to the digital era, officials said at a meeting this week.

Authorities will provide guidance on establishing new-age technology infrastructure to every city and province from now until the end of the year, Phan Tam, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, said in Hanoi on Monday.

His ministry will urge companies to churn out smartphones so every citizen can own one, Tam added.

Each household should be connected to fiber optic Internet in preparation for a transition to a digital economy, society, and government, he elaborated.

The ministry will allow firms to supply 5G services to industrial parks, research institutes, universities, and urban centers in the coming time.

In July 2020, the Ministry of Information and Communications will try out Vietnamese-made 5G devices, with a view to testing the commercial roll-out of 5G services using Vietnamese equipment in October, Deputy Minister Tam said.

Vietnam should make more investments in digital transformation given the current COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung remarked at the same meeting in Hanoi.

Its time for us to rise, invest heavily in the digital transition, and develop digital companies, Hung said.

Vietnam should also build a self-reliant economy in case extreme situations happen, leading to its isolation, he noted.

Some of the goals Vietnam is targeting include broadband infrastructure, cloud computing, tech applications, and information security, Hung said.

A Make in Vietnam strategy, which encourages companies to produce equipment in the Southeast Asian country, will induce aspiration and prosperity, he concluded.

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Major Nguyen Chi Thanh works as a rescue soldier in Ho Chi Minh City, but he is also the go-to consultant for rescue teams all over Vietnam because of his success in some of the most peculiar missions in the country.

Thanh is the deputy chief of the Fire Fighting and Rescue Unit under the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department of the southern metropolis.

Born in 1981, he has served for 19 years and has been lauded as a model public servant.

In late February 2020, Thanh was helping his daughter with her school assignments when he was called to provide support for a rescue team in the northern province of Ha Giang.

He responded to his wifes queries about the mission with a cheeky grin on his face, saying he was also kept in the dark about its nature.

This circumstance is all too familiar to Thanh and his family.

In Dong Van District of Ha Giang Province, a cave runs about 280 meters deep into the earth, but no one has ever discovered its deepest end or known of the availability of air in the abyss, including even the most experienced locals.

The only thing certain about the cave was the presence of the body of a person who fell down there 10 days back.

The downward path was steep, narrow, and dark and could only fit one person, with risks of oxygen deficiency and the accumulation of poisonous fumes.

This ominous terrain did not make Thanh waver; he volunteered to be the first to enter the cave.

Descending to the end of the cave, the smell of the corpse became stronger.

Taking account of the situation, Thanh returned to the ground level for directions from the mission chief, then came back to the cave floor with the equipment necessary to retrieve the corpse.

As he went down the cramped path, things took a turn for the worse: a sudden rain flushed an overflow of rocks and dirt down, causing the failure of his walkie-talkie, and then the pulley malfunctioned, leaving him dangling in mid-air for an hour.

I thought I was in danger. The oxygen was running out while the smell of the rotten corpse mingled with the raindrops, Thanh recounted.

As the rain abated, he got the walkie-talkie working again, helping him get through to the ground team and having himself pulled down to the cave floor using a fixed pulley system.

After he collected the remains in a bag and safely brought them to the ground, the mission was successfully completed.

This morbid affair is not new to Thanh.

In November 2019, he joined an effort to retrieve a body from a cave in Cao Bang, another northern province.

As the local rescue team was not capable of descending to the cave end, Thanh volunteered to take the job and was able to fetch the body remains.

The scene of a rescue mission in Ha Giang in February 2020. Photo: Van Ha

Sticking with career for life

After serving three years in military service, Thanh found himself trying to decide between three career paths: joining the mobile plice, the guard force or the fire prevention and fighting department.

The idea of being a firefighter called to him.

During his time at the fire brigade, he volunteered to be part of the rescue squad.

Knowing this is a risky position to take up, he had to conceal this choice from his parents to evade their disapproval.

Thanh was able to learn swimming and climbing from his childhood years in the outlying pastoral district of Cu Chi despite being a native of urban Ho Chi Minh City.

He grew up seeing people around him, including two of his cousins, drowning in the past.

Bodies of drowned victims take a few days to emerge from the water. By that time, the bodies are already bloated and deformed, even chipped away at by fish, causing tremendous suffering for the living. This is why rescue jobs exist and I want to do them, simply as a way to save lives or at least help bereaved families ease their suffering, Thanh confided.

Being a rescue soldier, Thanh has to maintain a rigorous stamina training regime on a daily basis, including running, stair climbing, pull-ups, push-ups, rope ladder climbing, swimming, and diving.

Newbies and apprentices in his department are put through some realistic training, including lifting stretchers and even working with corpses to get a glimpse of the job, according to Thanh.

Only those who develop both the skills and mentality can work on real rescue cases.

The precarious nature of the job calls for split-second decisions: "Should I stay or move? Should I return or continue?"

The ultimate choices depend on the evaluation of the lone rescuer on the mission, but for Thanh, giving up means the victims may stay forever in the dark, making it difficult for their loved ones to heal from the pain.

In his successful mission in Cao Bang, the family of the victim showered Thanh with gratitude, bowing in front of him.

It is these invaluable moments that give Thanh the strength and courage to continue his job.

In roughly 20 years serving on the force, Thanh has been a part of some grandiose feats, including his rescue work during the ITC Building fire in 2002 or the deadly sinking of the Din Ky floating restaurant in 2011.

But he is more proud of his participation in training new soldiers.

During his lessons, Thanh barely mentions his personal struggles or accomplishments.

I believe that a person with a chivalrous heart, one that was chosen by the rescue career would be stuck to it for the rest of their life," Thanh said as he broke into a smile, one that his comrades always get from him even in the darkest of circumstances.

"Take me as an example, despite all the danger and struggle faced, I would not choose anything else.

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For the past couple of years, a young man has been paying it forward by hosting tuition-free lessons for children of migrant workers in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City.

Danh Tuan Anhs classes, held in a 20-square-meter studio snuggled in a poor neighborhood at the foot of Rach Ong Bridge, is home to a soundtrack of children chanting every night.

Over the past four years, Anh, 25, has been pushing himself through adversity to keep the classes running, so that his young students, children of migrant working families, can grow well versed in words and numbers, as well as manners, and secure a brighter future ahead.

In the tiny room, the childrens faces brighten up at the young teachers words as he gives lessons on Vietnamese, math, and English on different days of the week.

The children also learn Korean with a native speaker.

The classes run for two hours starting at 6.30 on Monday through Friday nights.

The kids are bouncing with energy and naughty yet willing to obey rules, Anh said with a smile.

Danh Tuan Anh teaches one of his young students how to write in his tuition-free classes held in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Dieu Qui / Tuoi Tre

Not without setbacks

During his visit to the slum four years ago, his heart sank at the sight of most school-age children idling their days away or doing odd jobs around the ramshackle neighborhood, a far cry from the imposing, flashy buildings opposite their neighborhood, instead of going to school.

"I feel urged to do something to help," Anh shared.

The reality spurred Anh to seek permission from local authorities to run complimentary classes for the needy kids.

He was met with an enthusiastic "Yes!" and was also allowed the use of a warehouse which he later revamped into a classroom.

With monthly utility bills covered by the ward and the desks donated by an elementary school nearby, Anh's class was ready to welcome its first batch of students.

Admittedly the room didnt look much of a classroom from its opening until nearly one year later, when a philanthropist came over and the donation covered floor tiling and painting, which gave the venue a more kempt look, Anh recalled.

But even with the class running, stumbling blocks were far from over, as he faced objections from his own loved ones and potential students families.

My parents were worried I would burn myself out, Anh recounted.

The young man painstakingly went from door to door to talk the migrant workers in the neighborhood into letting their children join his classes.

Some were concerned Anh was an indecent man who would set a bad example to their children while others opposed the idea of education, considering it an unfruitful distraction from daily work.

As Anh befriended the local residents, he slowly pushed the importance of a proper education and was able to convince many of them to reconsider their childrens future by providing the students with free meals in the first few months.

However, things have not always been as easy as offering food.

A few weeks after the schools opening, many of Anhs students did not make it to class.

Again, Anh found himself knocking on every single door, only to find out that some students had moved to other places with their parents, while others were forced to quit as their parents were holding a misconception that being basically literate is enough for their children.

Anh did not give up, further stressing the need for a proper education to the parents.

The workload of running a small business at the same time to provide for his own family was also a big problem.

There were times when I shouldered the entire workload myself for several months, as my friends were too busy to help then, he said.

The challenges were so overwhelming that he was pushed to the point of giving up at times.

But I thought if I gave up on the kids, they and their own children would never see a brighter future, Anh stressed.

Undaunted, the young man bounced back from these setbacks, and his persistence finally paid off.

Marveling at their childrens progress in both literacy and manners, the parents became more willing to send their children to Anhs classes and even recommended the classes to other needy people.

A volunteer teaches a young girl life skills in Danh Tuan Anhs tuition-free classes held in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Dieu Qui / Tuoi Tre

Rewards

Around 30 students, compared to less than 20 at the start, attend his regular classes on average at any one time, the oldest being 14 and the youngest six years old.

Anh and his two friends began by teaching Vietnamese language and math to help with basic literacy before moving on to English and Korean later.

The young man shared that working with children has transformed him into a more patient, tolerant person.

The classes are packed with fun. The lessons are easily understandable. I feel free to ask the teachers to explain things again and again whenever Im at a loss, Le Thi Tuong Vy, 13, said.

Anh revealed part of his strategy is tailoring his lessons to the students different abilities and integration, boosting teacher-student interaction and being empathetic to any family issues they might have.

He conducts a test every two months to assess his students improvement, with weaker ones receiving one-on-one attention and tutoring to help them keep up with their peers.

Apart from the lessons, designed in accordance with the national elementary curriculum delivered by Anh, his friends and volunteering students, the children are also armed with necessary life skills to protect themselves from sex predators, drugs, and domestic violence. The children can get a realistic view of the issues and are trained in some tricks and skills by martial arts teachers.

His efforts have been highly appreciated and his students let him know.

Anh shared he was deeply moved when he was gifted a portrait drawn by one of his students on Vietnamese Teachers Day (November 20) last year.

After the extended break induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, most of my current students have got back to class. Some older newcomers, who are returnees from Cambodia, however, pose us a great challenge, as they are completely illiterate, Anh revealed.

Well give our best shot no matter how hard it is, he underlined.

The teachers here are really nice. Im thrilled at my childs progress and eagerness for learning. Without the classes, we could never afford to send her to school, Pham Thi Yen Nhi, mother of Le Ngoc Phuong Quyen, one of the students, remarked.

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Here are todays leading news stories:

Society

-- Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have quarantined a Chinese woman after she was discovered entering Vietnam illegally before paying a visit to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the southern Vietnamese metropolis on Monday.

-- A total of 53 diphtheria cases have been recorded in Vietnams Central Highlands as of Monday night, including 21 patients in Dak Nong Province, 22 in Kon Tum Province, and 10 in Gia Lai Province. Three patients have been killed by the disease.

-- Residents in Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City found a newborn baby that was abandoned on a bench in an alley on Do Doc Street on Monday evening. Police officers have examined CCTV in the area to verify the case.

-- A huge amount of garbage at the Cam Ly landfill in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat slid downhill again on Monday morning. A similar trash slide at the venue was triggered by heavy rain in August last year.

-- Authorities in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang have evacuated 11 households in Chau Phu District as their houses are at risk of sinking into the river due to subsidence.

-- Officials in Hanoi have imposed a VND17.5 million (US$756) fine upon Bui Xuan Huan, a.k.a. Huan Rose, a notorious gangster, for publishing two books without a permit.

Business

-- The number of people losing their jobs to the COVID-19 pandemic may reach 500,000 in Ho Chi Minh City in the coming months, Le Minh Tan, director of the municipal Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, said on Monday.

-- Ten bus operators in Ho Chi Minh City are facing a shutdown by August 15 because of heavy debts resulting from a low number of passengers.

-- Vietnam earned $1.71 billion from exporting nearly 3.5 million metric tons of rice in the first half of this year, up 17.9 percent in value and 4.4 percent in volume year-on-year.

World news

-- The coronavirus has infected almost 11.7 million people and killed more than 540,100 patients around the world as of Tuesday morning, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health's statistics. Over 6.6 million people have been cleared of the virus.

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Race data is not available for 18% of the states cases. Those who are white, about 60% of Marylands overall population, represent 24% of the states caseload and 43% of its victims, among those whose race was known. By comparison, those who are Hispanic, 10% of the states population, account for almost a third of Marylands infections where race was known, while 41% of those the virus has killed were Black, a group representing about 30% of the overall population.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Tuesday signed a decision to appoint an infectious disease expert who has played an important part in Vietnam's fight against COVID-19 as acting Minister of Health, eight months since his predecessor retired.

The acting minister, Nguyen Thanh Long, was born in 1966 in Nam Dinh Province.

Long has a doctorate in medicine and is an infectious disease expert.

He held senior positions in the preventive medicine and HIV/AIDS prevention departments at the health ministry in the past.

He was promoted to deputy health minister in 2012 before being named deputy chief of the Partys Central Committee for Propaganda and Education in 2018.

On January 31, he was re-appointed as deputy health minister and then standing deputy health minister.

Long has played a significant role in Vietnams response to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing professional advice to the government.

He once told local media that Vietnam was taking unprecedented measures like quarantining tens of thousands of people, locking down clusters, and implementing enhanced social distancing across the nation to fight off the virus.

His predecessor, former Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, retired in November 2019, according to government data.

A top epidemiologist, she was director of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City from 2002 to 2007.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has been in charge of the ministry since Tien stepped down as health minister.

The Ministry of Health currently has four deputy ministers, including Truong Quoc Cuong, Nguyen Truong Son, Do Xuan Tuyen, and Tran Van Thuan.

Vietnam has basically contained COVID-19, with 369 confirmed cases and zero deaths out of a population of nearly 100 million people, according to the health ministry's statistics.

The country has gone 82 days without any community spread of the disease.

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Another diphtheria patient in Vietnams Central Highlands has had his condition worsen, local authorities stated, after the disease has infected over 50 and killed three in the region this year.

The Department of Health in Gia Lai Province confirmed on Monday that one of the nine active diphtheria cases has shown an increase in toxins; however, the patient is still able to walk on his own.

He is being quarantined and treated in the tropical disease ward of the Gia Lai General Hospital.

All nine diphtheria patients in the province are receiving treatment at three local hospitals, while over 30 people are being quarantined after having close contact with the patients, the health department stated.

Local authorities are adopting certain measures to make sure all residents have taken sufficient vaccination.

A young girl is tested for diphtheria in Vietnams Central Highlands. Photo: Van Tien / Tuoi Tre

By Monday evening, 53 diphtheria cases had been recorded in the Central Highlands, including 21 patients in Dak Nong Province, 22 in Kon Tum Province, and 10 in Gia Lai Province.

The disease has killed a four-year-old boy in Gia Lai, a 13-year-old boy and nine-year-old girl in Dak Nong.

One patient was documented in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nearly 800 people in Dak Nong and 2,500 others in Kon Tum have been provided with preventive treatment after having contact with diphtheria patients.

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Ten bus operators in Ho Chi Minh City are facing a shutdown next month because of heavy debts resulting from a low number of passengers.

The bus operators said that they are trying to sustain their operations under the current difficult financial situation until July 30.

Unless the difficulties are solved by then, they will propose ceasing operations from August 15.

The Ho Chi Minh City Management Center of Public Transport (MCPT) has been subsidizing the public bus system, given the assigned targets of the passenger volume, on a yearly basis since 2002, according to news site VnExpress.

However, bus operators have complained that the MCPT has set the targets unrealistically high, making them unable to earn enough to pay their employees, cover fuel expenses, and timely pay interest on bank loans used to buy new buses.

At some critical points, some firms, such as Citranco Travel Company, had to take out loans from banks to pay staff salaries.

Particularly, SaigonBus Corporation is VND80 billion ($3.4 million) in debt, Citranco Travel Companys debts amount to VND56 billion ($2.4 million), and Quyet Thang Transport Cooperatives debts stand at VND5.2 bilion ($224,138).

As a consequence, there were periods of time when employees at the bus companies refused to work while a number of bus operators had to suspend several routes.

The bus operators said that they have just received the advance on this years subsidies and are urging the MCPT to sign binding agreements for the targets of 2020.

However, according to Cao Thanh Binh, deputy chairman of the municipal Division of Economic and Budget, annual subsidies were never meant to be the main financial income for public buses.

Binh said at a meeting on subsidies to public buses last year that the support is intended to help expand the number of buses and improve service quality to attract more passengers, which in turn will bring in more revenue and eventually have the system stand on its own feet, VnExpress reported.

The bus operators asking for bus subsidies every year goes against this original idea, he said.

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Three tourists drowned while swimming at a beach in Vietnam on Tuesday.

The drownings happened in Area 2, Ghenh Rang Ward, Quy Nhon City, south-central Binh Dinh Province, Vo Chi Thien, the wards chairman, told Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper on Tuesday evening.

A group of 33 tourists, buying their tour from Thinh Anh Travel Company based in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, checked in to Aurora Villar & Resort in Area 2, Ghenh Rang Ward at 5:00 pm the same day, reports said.

All but three of them then went to their room for a rest.

Bui Thi Luyen, 33, Le Thi Thi, 55, both from Hanoi, and Dau Hong Lac, 58, from Ho Chi Minh City, came to the beach for a swim.

The three were suddenly swept away by strong waves. Tour guide Ton That Tuong rushed to rescue them but it was too late.

Tuong managed to take the three to shore and performed CPR on them, all in vain.

Rescuers and local police officers quickly came to the scene but none could revive the three victims.

Local authorities are investigating the deaths at the time of writing before handing over the bodies to their families for funeral rites.

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Tyler, TX (75702)

Today

Light rain this morning. Breaks of sun this afternoon. High 86F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low near 70F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
All individuals who were in contact with the employee were notified, spokeswoman Nadine Maeser said in an email to The Baltimore Sun. Maeser declined to say what position the employee holds.
FILE PHOTO: Construction workers put the finishing touches to a new harbourside apartment building in Sydney

By Swati Pandey and Sam Holmes

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The hit to Australia's population growth from closing its international borders is quickly turning a long-running housing shortage into a glut, bringing an end to the apartment building boom behind much of the country's recent prosperity.

Since 2000, Australia has added about 6 million to its population, more than six times the growth seen in Germany, with most of that coming from immigration.

That fueled huge demand for housing construction, much of it smaller dwellings in larger, higher-density urban blocks, not just the bungalows on sprawling plots for which Australian suburbs are better known.

With Australia's borders likely to remain closed until the coronavirus pandemic is successfully contained, a heavy decline in construction, which accounts for roughly 10% of all jobs and economic activity, is set to push unemployment higher and hurt businesses both up and downstream.

Lindsay Partridge, managing director of Brickworks <BKW.AX>, a building materials company, sees the pipeline for big multi-unit housing developments drying up as immigration stalls and non-permanent residents depart.

"We are seeing quite high vacancy rates emerging," Partridge told Reuters. "A lot of the people who were renting apartments are going home."

Sydney, the biggest city, is experiencing the worst residential vacancy rate in the country at over 16% in May from between 4% and 5% late last year, according to SQM research.

Since 2014, higher density housing has accounted for about 43% of residential construction, more than double the proportion during the 1980s. Significant demand has come from the massive influx of foreign students who make up about 40% of Australia's immigration intake.

In May, the number of higher density homes approved for construction fell 34.9% to a near eight-year low, data showed last week. Economists see further declines ahead.

BIS Oxford expects construction starts for high rise apartments to fall to just 21,500 in the year to June 2021, down by two-thirds from five years ago.

Story continues

To head off the expected shock, the central bank has slashed borrowing rates to record lows. State and federal governments have brought forward massive public works spending and offered grants for home alterations.

There are also hopes that demand for houses in areas outside the major cities might pick up as employers increasingly embrace remote working arrangements.

Graphic: New construction in Australia plateaus - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/xklpyzbqlvg/construction.png

PIPELINE PLUNGE COMING

Compared with the thousands of deaths in other countries, Australia has managed to keep its outbreak well contained with just over 100 fatalities. While its economy has entered its first recession in three decades, the contraction is less acute than most of its rich world peers.

Unlike the services industry, where hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost, the hit to construction has so far been mild.

Still, policymakers are deeply worried about that changing as builders approach a plunge in the project pipeline over the next 12 months.

"Looking ahead, most contacts expect to continue to adjust their workforce in some format because of the uncertain outlook for construction activity," the central bank noted in an internal research released under FOI in late May.

Also darkening the outlook are Australia's increasingly strained ties with China, one of its biggest sources of immigration.

That has raised uncertainty over not only the timing of a recovery, but also whether the market will return to the heady demand of the past decade.

Morris Property Group last month shelved a 345-unit apartment development in Australia's capital, Canberra, due to the collapse in demand as borders closed.

Situated near the Australian National University, the project was geared to meet housing needs for international students, mainly Chinese and Indian, who would ordinarily populate the district.

Barry Morris, the group's director, says the cancellation means some 300 construction jobs will no longer be needed.

Even when construction becomes viable again, Morris does not expect demand to support a project of the scale planned and says it could end up being closer to 150 units.

"When we are ready, we will redesign it and it will probably need to be smaller," Morris said.

(Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
03 July 2020, Berlin: Peter Altmaier, Federal Minister of Economics and Energy, speaks in the plenary session of the German Bundestag. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images

Germanys federal economy minister Peter Altmaier expects Europes largest economy, which is currently mired in recession, to start growing again at the latest from October.

In an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper, Altmaier said he believed that the economic slide can be turned around after the summer break and that the German economy will be on an upswing from Autumn again.

All in all, the German economy will shrink by 6% in 2020, Altmaier said. For 2021, I expect growth of over 5%.

German industrial orders rose by rose by 10.4% in May, data from the economy ministry showed on Monday, as coronavirus lockdown measures began to ease. However, the ministry warned that the low level of orders also shows that the recovery process is far from over.

The important thing now for the resurgence of the economy is that the government needs to prevent companies from collapsing and jobs from being lost, Altmaier said, adding: The stimulus package must be implemented quickly.

The German government unveiled a 130bn (117bn, $146bn ) financial stimulus package in June that includes electric-car buyer incentives, lowering VAT from 19% to 16% through September, and 25bn in loans and grants to support small and medium-sized businesses over the next three months.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Berlin unveils 130bn package to reboot German economy

Altmaier said that while the nationwide lockdown in Germany in April and May has significantly hurt the economy, our vigorous action has resulted in thousands of lives being saved in Germany compared to our European neighbours, not least thanks to the great discipline of our citizens.

He expects the unemployment levels in Germany to peak through October and start improving from November onwards, adding: My goal is to reach pre-crisis employment levels by 2022 and then gradually full employment.

The economy minister said that he was very concerned about the increasing number of new infections in the USA, since the pandemic running out of control in the US has major consequences for the global economy.

READ MORE: German economic output to ramp up again after coronavirus slump
Global Alarm Monitoring Services Market to Reach US$60. 1 Billion by the Year 2027. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Alarm Monitoring Services estimated at US$45. 9 Billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of US$60.

New York, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Alarm Monitoring Services Industry" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p087370/?utm_source=GNW

1 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.9% over the period 2020-2027.Software, Services, & Solutions, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 4.3% CAGR to reach US$38 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After an early analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Systems & Hardware segment is readjusted to a revised 3.3% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 38.5% share of the global Alarm Monitoring Services market.



The U.S. Accounts for Over 27% of Global Market Size in 2020, While China is Forecast to Grow at a 7.1% CAGR for the Period of 2020-2027

The Alarm Monitoring Services market in the U.S. is estimated at US$12.4 Billion in the year 2020. The country currently accounts for a 26.96% share in the global market. China, the world second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$12.9 Billion in the year 2027 trailing a CAGR of 7.1% through 2027. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 1.2% and 3% respectively over the 2020-2027 period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 2% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$12.9 Billion by the year 2027.We bring years of research experience to this 19th edition of our report. The 610-page report presents concise insights into how the pandemic has impacted production and the buy side for 2020 and 2021. A short-term phased recovery by key geography is also addressed.



- Competitors identified in this market include, among others,

Story continues

Ademco (Far East) Pte Ltd.

ADT LLC

Bosch Security Systems

Chubb Community Care

G4S PLC

Global Security Solutions

Guardian Protection Services, Inc.

Honeywell Access

Honeywell International, Inc.

ISONAS

Johnson Controls International Plc

MONI Smart Security

Prosegur compania de Seguridad

Secom Co., Ltd.

Securitas AB

Slomin`s, Inc.

Stanley Convergent Security Solutions, Inc.

Swann Communications Pty. Ltd.

UTC Climate

Vector Security, Inc.

Verisure Holding AB

Vivint, Inc.







Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p087370/?utm_source=GNW



I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW

Alarm Monitoring Service - A Prelude

Recent Market Activity

Developing Markets to Turbo Charge Future Growth in the Market

Alarm Monitoring in Commercial Sector Gains Share

Fire Alarm Monitoring Services - A Key Segment

PERS - An Emerging Segment

Alarm Monitoring Lures IT and Telecom Companies

Growing Prominence of Private Security Drives Demand

Widespread Consumer Awareness: A Crucible for Success

Competitive Landscape

New Players Venture into PERS Market

Global Competitor Market Shares

Alarm Monitoring Services Competitor Market Share Scenario

Worldwide (in %): 2020 & 2029

Impact of Covid-19 and a Looming Global Recession



2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS

Ademco (Far East) Pte Ltd. (Singapore)

ADT LLC (USA)

Bosch Security Systems (Germany)

G4S PLC (UK)

Global Security Solutions (Canada)

Guardian Protection Services, Inc. (USA)

Honeywell International, Inc. (USA)

Honeywell Access (USA)

ISONAS (USA)

Johnson Controls International Plc (Ireland)

MONI Smart Security (USA)

Prosegur compania de Seguridad (Spain)

Secom Co., Ltd. (Japan)

Securitas AB (Sweden)

Slomins, Inc. (USA)

Sohgo Security Services Company Ltd. (Japan)

Stanley Convergent Security Solutions, Inc. (USA)

Swann Communications Pty. Ltd. (Australia)

UTC Climate, Controls & Security (USA)

Chubb Fire & Security Limited (UK)

Chubb Community Care (UK)

Vector Security, Inc. (USA)

Verisure Holding AB (Sweden)

Vivint, Inc. (USA)



3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

Surge in Crime Rates and Heightening Awareness of Safety and

Security - A Key Driver

Rising Adoption of Home Automation Systems Unveils New

Opportunities

Security in Smart Cities Receives Undivided Focus

Product Innovation Paves Way for Advanced and Sophisticated

Services

Cloud-Based Home Security Solutions Gain Demand

Remote Video Monitoring Services Grow in Demand

New Age Mobiles Devices Help Stay Connected

Wireless Alarm Monitoring Services for Vehicles Set to Grow

PERS to Become an Integral Part of Aging-in-Place Solutions

Advanced Technologies to Foster PERS Adoption

Outdoor Alarms Facilitate Mobility

Speech-Triggered Alarms: Simplify Usage

Reimbursement Scenario Calls for Attention

Stricter Enforcement of Building Codes and Feature Rich Models

Sustain Market Growth for Alarms

Downward Pressure on Selling Prices

False Alarms: A Challenge to Reckon With

Causes of False Alarms in Intruder Detection Systems

MACRO GROWTH DRIVERS

Recovery in Construction Activity Worldwide Offer Bright

Prospects for Security Systems and Services

Urbanization - A Mega Growth Driver

Burgeoning Middle Class Population Spurs Market Growth

Aging Population: The Fastest Growing Demographic

Demographic Stats - Unfurling the Market Potential



4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE

Table 1: Alarm Monitoring Services Global Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2020-2027



Table 2: Alarm Monitoring Services Global Retrospective Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2012-2019



Table 3: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Shift across

Key Geographies Worldwide: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 4: Software, Services, & Solutions (Offering) World

Market by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2020 to 2027



Table 5: Software, Services, & Solutions (Offering) Historic

Market Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2012 to 2019



Table 6: Software, Services, & Solutions (Offering) Market

Share Breakdown of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2012 VS

2020 VS 2027



Table 7: Systems & Hardware (Offering) Potential Growth Markets

Worldwide in US$ Million: 2020 to 2027



Table 8: Systems & Hardware (Offering) Historic Market

Perspective by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2012 to 2019



Table 9: Systems & Hardware (Offering) Market Sales Breakdown

by Region/Country in Percentage: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 10: Wired Telecommunication Network (Technology)

Geographic Market Spread Worldwide in US$ Million: 2020 to 2027



Table 11: Wired Telecommunication Network (Technology) Region

Wise Breakdown of Global Historic Demand in US$ Million: 2012

to 2019



Table 12: Wired Telecommunication Network (Technology) Market

Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2012 VS

2020 VS 2027



Table 13: Cellular Wireless Network (Technology) World Market

Estimates and Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2020

to 2027



Table 14: Cellular Wireless Network (Technology) Market

Historic Review by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2012 to 2019



Table 15: Cellular Wireless Network (Technology) Market Share

Breakdown by Region/Country: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 16: Wireless Radio Network (Technology) World Market by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2020 to 2027



Table 17: Wireless Radio Network (Technology) Historic Market

Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2012 to 2019



Table 18: Wireless Radio Network (Technology) Market Share

Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2012 VS 2020 VS

2027



Table 19: Building Alarm Monitoring (Application) Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country for

the Years 2020 through 2027



Table 20: Building Alarm Monitoring (Application) Analysis of

Historic Sales in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Years

2012 to 2019



Table 21: Building Alarm Monitoring (Application) Global Market

Share Distribution by Region/Country for 2012, 2020, and 2027



Table 22: Equipment Monitoring (Application) Global Opportunity

Assessment in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2020-2027



Table 23: Equipment Monitoring (Application) Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2012-2019



Table 24: Equipment Monitoring (Application) Percentage Share

Breakdown of Global Sales by Region/Country: 2012 VS 2020 VS

2027



Table 25: Vehicle Alarm Monitoring (Application) Worldwide

Sales in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2020-2027



Table 26: Vehicle Alarm Monitoring (Application) Historic

Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2012-2019



Table 27: Vehicle Alarm Monitoring (Application) Market Share

Shift across Key Geographies: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 28: Environmental Monitoring (Application) Global Market

Estimates & Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country:

2020-2027



Table 29: Environmental Monitoring (Application) Retrospective

Demand Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2012-2019



Table 30: Environmental Monitoring (Application) Market Share

Breakdown by Region/Country: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



III. MARKET ANALYSIS



GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS



UNITED STATES

Market Facts & Figures

US Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share (in %) by Company:

2020 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 31: United States Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Offering: 2020 to

2027



Table 32: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in the United States

by Offering: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2012-2019



Table 33: United States Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 34: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in US$ Million in

the United States by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 35: United States Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Retrospective Analysis in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 36: United States Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 37: United States Alarm Monitoring Services Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by Application: 2020 to 2027



Table 38: Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Demand Patterns in

the United States by Application in US$ Million for 2012-2019



Table 39: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Breakdown in

the United States by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



CANADA

Table 40: Canadian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Offering: 2020 to 2027



Table 41: Canadian Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market

Review by Offering in US$ Million: 2012-2019



Table 42: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Canada:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Offering for 2012, 2020,

and 2027



Table 43: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Analysis in Canada

in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 44: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Canada: Historic

Review in US$ Million by Technology for the Period 2012-2019



Table 45: Canadian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 46: Canadian Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Million by Application:

2020 to 2027



Table 47: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Canada:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by

Application for 2012-2019



Table 48: Canadian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



JAPAN

Table 49: Japanese Market for Alarm Monitoring Services: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Offering for

the Period 2020-2027



Table 50: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Japan: Historic

Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Offering for the Period

2012-2019



Table 51: Japanese Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 52: Japanese Medium & Long-Term Outlook for Alarm

Monitoring Services Market in US$ Million by Technology:

2020-2027



Table 53: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Japan in US$

Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 54: Japanese Alarm Monitoring Services Market Percentage

Share Distribution by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 55: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Alarm

Monitoring Services in US$ Million by Application: 2020 to 2027



Table 56: Japanese Alarm Monitoring Services Market in US$

Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 57: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Shift in Japan

by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



CHINA

Table 58: Chinese Alarm Monitoring Services Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Offering for the Period 2020-2027



Table 59: Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market Analysis in

China in US$ Million by Offering: 2012-2019



Table 60: Chinese Alarm Monitoring Services Market by Offering:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2012, 2020, and 2027



Table 61: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Estimates and

Forecasts in China in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 62: Chinese Alarm Monitoring Services Retrospective

Market Scenario in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 63: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in China: Percentage

Share Analysis by Technology for 2012, 2020, and 2027



Table 64: Chinese Demand for Alarm Monitoring Services in US$

Million by Application: 2020 to 2027



Table 65: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Review in China in

US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 66: Chinese Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Alarm Monitoring Services Market: Competitor Market

Share Scenario (in %) for 2020 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 67: European Alarm Monitoring Services Market Demand

Scenario in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2020-2027



Table 68: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Europe:

A Historic Market Perspective in US$ Million by Region/Country

for the Period 2012-2019



Table 69: European Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Shift

by Region/Country: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 70: European Alarm Monitoring Services Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Offering: 2020-2027



Table 71: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Europe in US$

Million by Offering: A Historic Review for the Period 2012-2019



Table 72: European Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 73: European Alarm Monitoring Services Market Assessment

in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 74: European Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market

Review in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 75: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Europe:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Technology for 2012, 2020, and

2027



Table 76: European Alarm Monitoring Services Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2020-2027



Table 77: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application

for the Period 2012-2019



Table 78: European Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



FRANCE

Table 79: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in France by

Offering: Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the

Period 2020-2027



Table 80: French Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Offering: 2012-2019



Table 81: French Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 82: French Alarm Monitoring Services Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 83: French Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 84: French Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 85: Alarm Monitoring Services Quantitative Demand

Analysis in France in US$ Million by Application: 2020-2027



Table 86: French Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market

Review in US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 87: French Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2012, 2020,

and 2027



GERMANY

Table 88: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Germany: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Offering

for the Period 2020-2027



Table 89: German Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Offering: 2012-2019



Table 90: German Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 91: German Alarm Monitoring Services Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 92: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Germany:

A Historic Perspective by Technology in US$ Million for the

Period 2012-2019



Table 93: German Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 94: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Germany: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for

the Period 2020-2027



Table 95: German Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Retrospect

in US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 96: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Distribution

in Germany by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



ITALY

Table 97: Italian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Offering for the Period 2020-2027



Table 98: Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market Analysis in

Italy in US$ Million by Offering: 2012-2019



Table 99: Italian Alarm Monitoring Services Market by Offering:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2012, 2020, and 2027



Table 100: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Estimates and

Forecasts in Italy in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 101: Italian Alarm Monitoring Services Retrospective

Market Scenario in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 102: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Italy:

Percentage Share Analysis by Technology for 2012, 2020, and

2027



Table 103: Italian Demand for Alarm Monitoring Services in US$

Million by Application: 2020 to 2027



Table 104: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Review in Italy in

US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 105: Italian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



UNITED KINGDOM

Table 106: United Kingdom Market for Alarm Monitoring Services:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by

Offering for the Period 2020-2027



Table 107: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in the United

Kingdom: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Offering for

the Period 2012-2019



Table 108: United Kingdom Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Share Analysis by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 109: United Kingdom Medium & Long-Term Outlook for Alarm

Monitoring Services Market in US$ Million by Technology:

2020-2027



Table 110: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in the United

Kingdom in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 111: United Kingdom Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Percentage Share Distribution by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS

2027



Table 112: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Alarm Monitoring Services in US$ Million by Application: 2020

to 2027



Table 113: United Kingdom Alarm Monitoring Services Market in

US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 114: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Shift in the

United Kingdom by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



SPAIN

Table 115: Spanish Alarm Monitoring Services Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Offering: 2020 to 2027



Table 116: Spanish Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market

Review by Offering in US$ Million: 2012-2019



Table 117: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Spain:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Offering for 2012, 2020,

and 2027



Table 118: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Analysis in Spain

in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 119: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Spain: Historic

Review in US$ Million by Technology for the Period 2012-2019



Table 120: Spanish Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 121: Spanish Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Million by Application:

2020 to 2027



Table 122: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Spain:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by

Application for 2012-2019



Table 123: Spanish Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



RUSSIA

Table 124: Russian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million by Offering: 2020 to 2027



Table 125: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Russia by

Offering: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2012-2019



Table 126: Russian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 127: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in US$ Million in

Russia by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 128: Russian Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Retrospective Analysis in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 129: Russian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 130: Russian Alarm Monitoring Services Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by Application: 2020 to 2027



Table 131: Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Demand Patterns

in Russia by Application in US$ Million for 2012-2019



Table 132: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Breakdown in

Russia by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



REST OF EUROPE

Table 133: Rest of Europe Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Offering: 2020-2027



Table 134: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Rest of Europe

in US$ Million by Offering: A Historic Review for the Period

2012-2019



Table 135: Rest of Europe Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Share Breakdown by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 136: Rest of Europe Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Assessment in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 137: Rest of Europe Alarm Monitoring Services Historic

Market Review in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 138: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Rest of Europe:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Technology for 2012, 2020, and

2027



Table 139: Rest of Europe Alarm Monitoring Services Addressable

Market Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2020-2027



Table 140: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Rest of Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application

for the Period 2012-2019



Table 141: Rest of Europe Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Share Analysis by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 142: Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country:

2020-2027



Table 143: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Asia-Pacific:

Historic Market Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country for

the Period 2012-2019



Table 144: Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis by Region/Country: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 145: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Asia-Pacific by

Offering: Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the

Period 2020-2027



Table 146: Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services Historic

Market Scenario in US$ Million by Offering: 2012-2019



Table 147: Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 148: Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Technology:

2020-2027



Table 149: Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 150: Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS

2027



Table 151: Alarm Monitoring Services Quantitative Demand

Analysis in Asia-Pacific in US$ Million by Application:

2020-2027



Table 152: Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services Historic

Market Review in US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 153: Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2012, 2020,

and 2027



AUSTRALIA

Table 154: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Australia:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by

Offering for the Period 2020-2027



Table 155: Australian Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Offering: 2012-2019



Table 156: Australian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 157: Australian Alarm Monitoring Services Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 158: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Australia:

A Historic Perspective by Technology in US$ Million for the

Period 2012-2019



Table 159: Australian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 160: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Australia:

Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by

Application for the Period 2020-2027



Table 161: Australian Alarm Monitoring Services Market in

Retrospect in US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 162: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Distribution

in Australia by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



INDIA

Table 163: Indian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Offering: 2020 to 2027



Table 164: Indian Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market

Review by Offering in US$ Million: 2012-2019



Table 165: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in India:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Offering for 2012, 2020,

and 2027



Table 166: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Analysis in India

in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 167: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in India: Historic

Review in US$ Million by Technology for the Period 2012-2019



Table 168: Indian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 169: Indian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2020 to 2027



Table 170: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in India:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by

Application for 2012-2019



Table 171: Indian Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Analysis by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



SOUTH KOREA

Table 172: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in South Korea:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by

Offering for the Period 2020-2027



Table 173: South Korean Alarm Monitoring Services Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Offering: 2012-2019



Table 174: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Distribution

in South Korea by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 175: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in South Korea:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by

Technology for the Period 2020-2027



Table 176: South Korean Alarm Monitoring Services Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 177: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Distribution

in South Korea by Technology: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 178: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in South Korea:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by

Application for the Period 2020-2027



Table 179: South Korean Alarm Monitoring Services Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 180: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Distribution

in South Korea by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 181: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Alarm Monitoring

Services: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million

by Offering for the Period 2020-2027



Table 182: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Rest of

Asia-Pacific: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by

Offering for the Period 2012-2019



Table 183: Rest of Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services

Market Share Analysis by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 184: Rest of Asia-Pacific Medium & Long-Term Outlook for

Alarm Monitoring Services Market in US$ Million by Technology:

2020-2027



Table 185: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Rest of

Asia-Pacific in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019



Table 186: Rest of Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services

Market Percentage Share Distribution by Technology: 2012 VS

2020 VS 2027



Table 187: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Alarm Monitoring Services in US$ Million by Application:

2020 to 2027



Table 188: Rest of Asia-Pacific Alarm Monitoring Services

Market in US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 189: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share Shift in Rest

of Asia-Pacific by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



LATIN AMERICA

Table 190: Latin American Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Trends by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2020-2027



Table 191: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Latin America in

US$ Million by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the

Period 2012-2019



Table 192: Latin American Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2012, 2020,

and 2027



Table 193: Latin American Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Growth Prospects in US$ Million by Offering for the Period

2020-2027



Table 194: Alarm Monitoring Services Historic Market Analysis

in Latin America in US$ Million by Offering: 2012-2019



Table 195: Latin American Alarm Monitoring Services Market by

Offering: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2012, 2020, and

2027



Table 196: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Estimates and

Forecasts in Latin America in US$ Million by Technology:

2020-2027



Table 197: Latin American Alarm Monitoring Services

Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Million by Technology:

2012-2019



Table 198: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Latin America :

Percentage Analysis by Technology for 2012, 2020, and 2027



Table 199: Latin American Demand for Alarm Monitoring Services

in US$ Million by Application: 2020 to 2027



Table 200: Alarm Monitoring Services Market Review in Latin

America in US$ Million by Application: 2012-2019



Table 201: Latin American Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Share Breakdown by Application: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



ARGENTINA

Table 202: Argentinean Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Offering: 2020-2027



Table 203: Alarm Monitoring Services Market in Argentina in US$

Million by Offering: A Historic Review for the Period 2012-2019



Table 204: Argentinean Alarm Monitoring Services Market Share

Breakdown by Offering: 2012 VS 2020 VS 2027



Table 205: Argentinean Alarm Monitoring Services Market

Assessment in US$ Million by Technology: 2020-2027



Table 206: Argentinean Alarm Monitoring Services Historic

Market Review in US$ Million by Technology: 2012-2019





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Press release

Paris, 7th July 2020

Orange appoints new CEOs in Poland and Belgium

Following Stephane Richards announcement on 12th June 2020 regarding the renewal of the Group Executive Committee, today we are announcing the nominations of two new CEOs in Orange Polska and Orange Belgium.

These changes will all take effect from 1st September 2020.

Julien Ducarroz to be appointed CEO of Orange Polska

Upon recommendation of the Supervisory Board of Orange Polska, Julien Ducarroz will replace Jean-Francois Fallacher as CEO of Orange Polska, who is moving to become the CEO of Orange Spain.

Julien Ducarroz, who is currently the CEO of Orange Moldova, has received the positive recommendation and support of both the Remuneration Committee and Orange Polskas Supervisory Board at its meeting held on 6th July 2020. The appointment will be fully ratified when the Supervisory Board is able to conduct the necessary formal voting, which should take place on the occasion of the planned Supervisory Board Meeting on 21st July 2020.

Xavier Pichon appointed CEO of Orange Belgium

The Board of Directors of Orange Belgium has decided to appoint Xavier Pichon to the position of CEO of Orange Belgium. He will succeed Michael Trabbia, who will join the Orange Executive Committee as Chief Technology and Innovation Officer for the Group, overseeing the Technology & Global Innovation division.

Xavier Pichon re-joins Orange from the Boston Consulting Group; prior to this, he was Deputy CEO at Orange France, leading its Finance, Strategy, Transformation and Development.

Mari-Noelle Jego-Laveissiere to lead Orange in Europe region

As announced by Stephane Richard on the 12th June 2020, Mari-Noelle Jego-Laveissiere will take over responsibility for the Europe region from Ramon Fernandez, Deputy CEO, Finance, Performance and Europe Director. From 1st September 2020, she will be leading the Europe perimeter of Orange, which will comprise seven countries covering Belgium, Luxembourg, Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Spain.

Story continues

The rest of the European Leadership team remains unchanged, with Jean-Marc Vignolles as Chief Operating Officer for Europe:

Liudmila Climoc as CEO of Orange Romania;

Federico Colom as CEO of Orange Slovakia;

Corinne Loze as CEO of Orange Luxembourg.

Orange is currently recruiting a new CEO for Orange Moldova, who will be announced in due course.

In Q1 2020, the Europe perimeter comprising Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova (Europe 6) and Spain generated together approximately 25% of the of the Groups consolidated revenues. Orange is also the undisputed leader in convergence in Europe. Regarding connected households, in Q1 2020, the seven European countries showed solid growth, with Spain accounting for 14.5 million connected households with fibre (+ 9% YoY) and Europe 6 counting 7.0 million connected households with fibre (a solid +18% growth YoY).

For more information on Julian Ducarroz and Orange Poland, click here .

For more information on Xavier Pichon and Orange Belgium, click here .

For more information on 12 June 2020 renewal of the Group Executive Committee, click here .

About Orange

Orange is one of the worlds leading telecommunications operators with sales of 42 billion euros in 2019 and 145,000 employees worldwide at 31 March 2020, including 85,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 253 million customers worldwide at 31 March 2020, including 208 million mobile customers and 21million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 26 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In December 2019, the Group presented its new "Engage 2025" strategic plan, which, guided by social and environmental accountability, aims to reinvent its operator model. While accelerating in growth areas and placing data and AI at the heart of its innovation model, the Group will be an attractive and responsible employer, adapted to emerging professions.

Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com , www.orange-business.com or to follow us on Twitter: @orangegrouppr.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.

Press contacts: +33 (0)1 44 44 93 93

Vanessa Clarke; vanessa.clarke@orange.com , +44 7818 848 848

Tom Wright; tom.wright@orange.com , +33 6 78 91 35 11

Attachment




TikTok will stop operations in Hong Kong 'within days'. Photo: David Talukdar/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Video-sharing app TikTok confirmed on Tuesday that it would cease operating within the Hong Kong market within days amid increasing furore over the regions new national security law.

The app, which is owned by Chinas ByteDance, joins Facebook (FB), WhatsApp, Twitter (TWTR), Google (GOOG), and messaging app Telegram on the list of companies who are making changes to their operations in the semi-autonomous city.

But, despite widespread criticism from social media giants, TikTok will become the first app to fully withdraw from the region.

In light of recent events, weve decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong, a spokesperson for TikTok said.

Although owned by a Chinese company, TikTok has previously insisted that it would not comply with requests from the Chinese government to censor content or for access to user data, noting that no such requests have ever been made.

READ MORE: TikTok downloaded more than Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram in 2019

The national security law, which was implemented by China despite widespread international protest and condemnation, is expected to curtail rights in Hong Kong, which has enjoyed significantly greater freedoms than mainland China since the region was handed over by the UK in 1997.

Most democracy activists within the city have already eschewed the use of pro-democracy slogans, such as the widely used Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time.

The Chinese government has criticised such slogans, arguing that they are often used by those who favour independence for the region.

Critics have said that the new law erodes the freedoms handed down to the city as part of the one country, two systems framework that was part of the 1997 transfer of control.

The departure of TikTok from Hong Kong comes after US secretary of state Mike Pompeo suggested that the US was considering banning Chinese social media apps.

In a Fox News interview, Pompeo said that the Trump administration was taking this very seriously.

Story continues

With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too, he said.

READ MORE: Chancellor to launch 3bn green jobs recovery package

I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at.

TikToks decision also comes amid the apps seemingly inexorable rise.

The short-form video app was the second most downloaded app in 2019, beating Facebook, and Facebook-owned Messenger and Instagram.

According to data firm Sensor Tower, TikTok got over 700 million downloads globally last year, while Facebook received just under 700 million downloads.

It was only beaten by Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which received over 850 million downloads due to its unbridled popularity in India.
In times of great uncertainty, stocks with solid yields and track records of consistent and well-financed dividend growth are like gold dust. For investors right across the market-cap range, decent dividends are a pointer to potentially good quality stocks - such as China Telecom (HKG:728).

The hard part is knowing what to look for. With so many variables to think about, choosing between dividend stocks can be hard work. But if you keep a few simple rules in mind, the hunt for reliable payouts can be a lot easier. Lets look at the China Telecom dividend as an example of how this works.

GET MORE DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS INTO HKG:728 

Rules for finding dividend shares

1. High (but not excessive) dividend yield

Yield is an important dividend metric because it tells you the percentage of how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price. That makes it easy to compare dividend payouts right across the market.

High yields are obviously appealing but be careful of excessively high yields (usually above 10%) because they can be a sign of problems. When the market suspects a company may be unable to sustain its dividend, the share price will fall and actually push the yield higher - and this can be a trap. So it pays to be wary of excessive yields.



China Telecom has a dividend yield of 5.12%.

2. Dividend growth



Another important marker for income investors is a track record of dividend growth - and evidence that the growth will continue. Consistent dividend growth can be a pointer to companies that are carefully managing their payout policies - and rewarding their shareholders over time. Rather than aggressively dishing out earnings, dividend growth companies tend to have more modest yields, but are better at sustaining their payouts.

China Telecom has increased its dividend payout 5 times over the past 10 years - and the dividend per share is forecast to grow by 2.05% in the coming year.

3. Dividend safety

Story continues

Attractively high yields obviously turn heads - but its important to know that a dividend is affordable. Dividend Cover (similar to the payout ratio) is a go-to measure of a company's net income over the dividend paid to shareholders. Its calculated as earnings per share divided by the dividend per share and helps to indicate how sustainable a dividend is.

Dividend cover of less than 1x suggests that the company cant fund the payout from its current year earnings - and might be relying on other sources of funds to pay it.

China Telecom has dividend cover of 2.26.

Next steps

With these important rules, you can track down shares that offer a reasonable yield, with a record of growth and safety. On this basis, China Telecom could be worth a closer look.

To find out more you might want to take a look at the China Telecom StockReport from the award-winning research platform, Stockopedia. StockReports contain a goldmine of information in a single page and can help to inform your investment decisions.

To find more stocks like China Telecom, you'll need to equip yourself with professional-grade data and screening tools. This kind of information has traditionally been closely guarded by professional fund managers. But our team of financial analysts have carefully constructed this screen - Stockopedias Dividend Stock Ideas - which gives you everything you need. So why not come and take a look?

Plus, if youd like to discover more about dividend investing, you can read our free ebook: How to Make Money in Dividend Stocks.
Vast numbers of locusts have been swarming across East Africa in recent months, devastating crops and threatening food security in the region. Now, authorities are hoping a new app could help them gain the upper hand in their battle against the pests.

Called E-Locusts, the app allows a team of locust scouts to track the swarms and provide real-time information on their size and location.

I go look for locusts where they are, I report, I take pictures, I upload videos of their movement and also advise them which kind of control can be used, Achilo Christopher, a locust scout in the Turkana region of northern Kenya, told Reuters.

The information is logged in a central database and analysed by technical teams who can then decide what action to take including whether to spray pesticides either by plane or with ground teams.

The app was launched by the UNs Food and Agriculture Organisation in response to growing fears the locust infestations are threatening food security in the region.

The current locust infestation is the worst that's been seen for three generations, with unseasonably wet weather helping them to breed in greater numbers than usual.

Since late 2019, billions of the insects have ravaged crops in countries including Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia and spread into India, Pakistan and the Red Sea region.

An average locust swarm of around 40 million insects can travel up to 150 km a day and consume enough food in that time to feed 35,000 people.
Australia has been among the worlds most successful countries in containing its coronavirus outbreak  with the exception of Melbourne.

The south-eastern state of Victoria had some of the nations toughest pandemic measures and was among the most reluctant to lift its restrictions when the worst of the outbreak seemed to have passed.

But as most of the country emerges from pandemic restrictions, the virus has resumed spreading at an alarming rate in Victorias capital, and the nations second-largest city.

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Melbourne is buckling down with more extreme and divisive measures that have ignited anger and arguments over who is to blame.

Victorias premier Daniel Andrews said the entire city and some of its surrounding areas will be locked down again from Wednesday night under tougher restrictions than were imposed during the first shutdown that started in March.

We are in many respects in a more precarious, challenging and potentially tragic position now than we were some months ago, Mr Andrews said.

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About 3,000 residents of nine public housing high-rise buildings were given just an hours notice at the weekend before being prohibited from leaving their apartments for at least five days.

The amount of police officers makes us feel like were criminals, said a resident of one of the buildings, Nada Osman. Its overwhelming. Its scary. Its like were caged in.

Forty suburbs that are virus hot spots have been locked down by postal code since last week, meaning that businesses and households in some areas face restrictions while ones across the street from them do not.

(PA Graphics)

New Zealands national carrier has put a temporary hold on new bookings for flights into the country while the government tries to find enough quarantined hotel rooms for people returning home.

Air New Zealand says the hold will last for three weeks and it is also trying to better align flights with the hotel locations.

Story continues

New Zealand has eliminated community transmission of the coronavirus but is still getting cases at the border. For the most part, only residents and citizens are able to fly into the country and must remain in a quarantined hotel room for 14 days.

Housing minister Megan Woods said the government is currently housing nearly 6,000 people in 28 quarantine facilities and is seeing rapid growth in the number of returning residents as the pandemic worsens globally.

In China, eight new confirmed cases were reported, all of them brought from outside the country, with no new deaths.

A student wearing a face mask to protect against the new coronavirus reacts as she leaves school after finishing the first day of Chinas national college entrance examinations (AP)

The news comes as almost 11 million students gathered to take the crucial national university entrance exam.

The National Health Council reported 403 people remained in treatment for Covid-19 while 121 people were in isolation being monitored as suspected cases or for testing positive for the virus without showing any symptoms.

China has reported a total of 4,634 deaths among 83,565 cases of Covid-19 since the virus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

The gruelling two-day university entrance exam can be a key determinant of a students future and was pushed back weeks as China worked to bring down infections.

It is believed to be the first mass gathering event since the virus outbreak and administrators are enforcing strict rules to prevent infections, including proof of wellness, social distancing and the wearing of masks.

A waiter waits for customers in protective gear amid the pandemic in Sao Paulo (AP)

In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro has said he will be tested for Covid-19 after having an X-ray of his lungs on Monday. He did not say whether he was showing symptoms of the coronavirus.

Mr Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly downplayed the risks of the disease, told supporters outside the presidential residence in Brasilia that he is feeling well.

Brazils supreme court published documents in May showing that Mr Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with US leader Donald Trump in Florida.

Mr Bolsonaro has repeatedly appeared in public without wearing a mask, shaking hands with supporters and mingling with crowds.

He has fiercely criticised local leaders restrictions on activity and said the economic impact of shutdowns would inflict more hardship than the virus.

Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (AP)

In the US, an outbreak in the California Legislature has indefinitely delayed the state Assemblys return to work from its scheduled summer recess.

Assembly speaker Anthony Rendons office confirmed five people who work in the Assembly have tested positive. They include assemblywoman Autumn Burke, who is believed to have contracted the virus while on the assembly floor last month.

Mr Rendon said the assembly will stay in recess until further notice. He said the decision is to protect legislators, staff and the public.

The Legislature shut down for nearly two months earlier this year during the pandemic.

In the state of Georgia, the mayor of Atlanta revealed she has tested positive for Covid-19.

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Keisha Lance Bottoms tweeted that she had no symptoms. The mayor has risen to prominence during the pandemic, having criticised state governor Brian Kemp on his slowness to order Georgians to shelter in place, and for lifting the order too quickly.

Ms Bottoms has also supported protests against police brutality and racial injustice that have been widespread in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the pandemic can provide new opportunities for the so-called Islamic State extremist group (IS), al-Qaida and their affiliates as well as neo-Nazis, white supremacists and hate groups.

The UN chief said it is too early to fully assess the implications of the coronavirus pandemic on terrorism but all these groups seek to exploit divisions, local conflicts, failures in governing, and other grievances to advance their aims.

Mr Guterres said that IS, which once controlled a vast area of Syria and Iraq, is trying to reassert itself in both countries.
Two non-governmental organisations that ran an investigation into Israeli businessman Dan Gertler say they have been targeted by a vexatious lawsuit in France. The joint investigation claimed mining magnate Gertler appeared to avoid US sanctions for corrupt mining and oil deals in the Democratic Republic of Congo by using a suspected money laundering network.

Global Witness and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) said they condemn a criminal complaint filed against them in France by Afriland First Bank, a Cameroonian financial institution named in the Undermining Sanctions investigation.

For two of the principal subjects of our report to threaten or file criminal complaints against PPLAAF and Global Witness for our investigation into possible sanctions evasion is beyond parody, Henri Thulliez, director of PPLAAF, said in a statement.

Dan Gertler, who is close to former Congolese president Joseph Kabila, was accused by the two NGOs of having created a number of shell companies so that he could continue to acquire Congolese mining permits at a low price.

The report points the finger at the Congolese subsidiary of Afriland bank, set up in 2006, for accepting tens of millions of US dollars in cash through accounts in the names of people close to Gertler.

Stolen documents?

Eric Moutet, a lawyer acting for Gertler as well as Afriland bank, told RFI that the documents in question used in the investigation are fraudulent.

A complaint has been filed in Paris, France against Global Witness and PPLAAF about the manner in which the evidence was gathered in this case, Moutet told RFIs Sonia Rolley, saying documents used in the investigation were stolen.

We have quite a bit of evidence to suggest that the stolen files have been tampered with, said Moutet. So an investigation will be opened - it is absolutely necessary to shed light on the way in which these NGOs work."

Billionaire businessman Gertler was hit by US sanctions in December 2017, accused by the US Treasury of having amassed his fortune through hundreds of millions of dollars worth of opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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US authorities said Gertler used his friendship with Kabila to act as a middleman for mining asset sales in the DRC, and purchased Congolese assets at knockdown prices before flipping them, selling them back to the government in Kinshasa at a premium.

International money laundering network

The report by Global Witness, a London-based NGO working on corruption, and PPLAAF, an organisation that supports whistleblowers, explained how Gertler allegedly circumvents US sanctions.

Gertler began creating a holding company and dozens of other companies in October 2017, a few weeks before the official announcement of US sanctions, the report said.

The names of people close to Gertler were used for these companies, enabling him to continue doing business in the DRC despite the sanctions, according to the NGOs. In fact, one of the companies signed a contract with Gecamines, a company managed by the Congolese state, just before Kabila stepped down as president.

PLAAFF and Global Witness, supported by a number of investigative journalists, discovered a network of companies, many based in countries considered as tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions, others domiciled in Hong Kong, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

Lots of transactions passed through the Congolese subsidiary of Afriland bank, effectively laundering millions of dollars in cash, according to the investigation.

The explosive revelations are unlikely to help Gertler and his business partners, such as Glencore, which is already facing judicial proceedings in Switzerland on suspicion of corruption in the DRC.

The two NGOs are calling on the Congolese government to seize or freeze all property belonging to Gertler, and want international mining companies to stop doing business with him.

Gertlers lawyer Moutet said his client had not sought to avoid US sanctions, pointing out that Global Witness and PPLAAF have not formally accused his client of any crime.
Direct Eurostar services from the Netherlands to London will be launched later this year following new agreements on border procedures.

The Home Office said UK Border Force officials will be deployed at stations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam to carry out checks before boarding, as already happens in France and Belgium.

This is possible due to existing agreements between the UK, France and Belgium signed in 1993 being modified to include the Netherlands.

Representatives from all four countries signed the treaties at a ceremony in Brussels on Tuesday.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: This important treaty shows that, while we have left the European Union, our links with Europe are stronger than ever.

It will enable vital security and immigration checks to be carried out in the Netherlands, protecting the UKs border and providing faster and more efficient journeys for passengers.

Direct trains began operating from London to the Netherlands in April 2018, but passengers travelling in the reverse direction have been forced to change trains in Brussels to complete passport checks and security screening.

The treaties were due to be signed ahead of direct trains from the Netherlands to London starting in April 2020, but the launch was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Outbound services from London will resume on Thursday, with direct trains to London beginning later this year.

The journey takes around four hours.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: As we begin to emerge from one of the greatest international challenges of our time, were working hard to support the recovery of international transport and tourism sectors.

Investment in modern, convenient and more environmentally friendly high-speed rail links between major European cities will help drive this recovery so these sectors can flourish once again.
The Applied Physics Laboratory will serve as a technical adviser to the county on the efficacy of serology testing  an antibody blood test that looks for signs of a previous COVID-19 infection  and the use of air filtration systems that use UV lights to neutralize bacteria and virus particles. Through the memorandum of agreement, APL will make recommendations as to how the county can mitigate the spread of infectious diseases.
Sky News

The UK's newest aircraft carrier is proving to be an object of curiosity for Russian military aircraft operating in the increasingly crowded Mediterranean. HMS Queen Elizabeth is on her first deployment and it is also the first time a UK aircraft carrier is supporting live military operations in more than two decades. Speaking from the 65,000-ton carrier, Commodore Steve Moorhouse said it was taking on a major share of operations against what is left of Islamic State in Iraq.
The death toll from severe flooding in Japan stood at 53 on July 7, a figure that was expected to rise with many residents still missing in areas hit by intense rain and landslides.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on July 6 that the heavy rain was likely to continue until July 8. He added: I urge the public  to pay close attention to information from local authorities and take actions to protect your own lives without letting their guard down.

NHK said that some parts of Japan were experiencing levels of rainfall not seen in several decades.

This video shows July 7 flooding in the streets of Omuta, located in Fukuoka Prefecture. According to local reports, 200 people in the area were stranded at two evacuation centers. Other footage showed Self-Defense Forces deployed in Omuta on July 7.

Authorities said at least one woman in Fukuoka Prefecture was confirmed dead from the flooding, while in Kumamoto Prefecture, at least 52 people have died and 11 people were missing, according to The Japan Times. Credit: @rummy61215086 via Storyful
Screenshot of Singapore Parliament. (PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore)

by Bertha Henson

I watch a lot of Chinese period dramas, so when I hear the word mandate, I think of mandate from Heaven. And the mandate takes the form of the imperial seal, that square chunk of jade that the Emperor uses to stamp on imperial decrees. Of course, now the mandate is from the people, to legitimise the authority of our representatives and those who will govern us.

But I have trouble deciphering what a strong or clear mandate (for the PAP) means. No one wants to put any numerical figure on strong or clear in terms of number of parliamentary seats or percentage of popular votes. Yet, the implication is that a weak mandate will make the job of governing more difficult and hobble policy implementation.

I think we can all agree that in GE2011, the PAP was not given a strong mandate. It took 60.1 per cent of the votes and 81 out of 87 seats in Parliament. (Note that this is uniquely Singapore, as political parties elsewhere would probably kill for that kind of election result.)

What happened post-GE2011? The PAP became a lot more consultative. It started the Our Singapore Conversation, moved unpopular ministers to the backbench, slowed down the inflow of foreign workers and ramped up the building of HDB flats.

In GE2015, we can all agree that the PAP was given a strong mandate, with 69.9 per cent of the vote. And what did it do with that mandate?

Of course, the PAP continued to govern. It was also confident enough to suggest constitutional changes right from the beginning of the term of Parliament in 2016.

The Prime Minister called for voting rights to be given to non-constituency MPs and a re-look of the qualifications and types of checks on an elected president. Half-way through its term, it broached the need for a law to prevent online falsehoods. There were other pieces of legislation, yes, but what stuck in my throat were those three above.

All three merited further discussion. Yes, there was discussion, of a unique kind.

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So there was a parliamentary select committee on POFMA, but this was about getting a consensus on the need for a law. We know some kind of legislation is needed but what kind. I tried hard to get people to lobby their MPs to call for another select committee to scrutinise the LEGISLATION instead. But it went through second and third reading and became law. Now, we can see the effects of POFMA, when we have trouble figuring out what some of the falsehoods which have been POFMAed are about.

Then you have the PAP-dominant Parliament voting to give their non-elected counterparts the right to vote in Parliament. I was astounded. They have no pride in their role or what? The next time I see a PAP candidate who tries to convince me to vote PAP because got NCMP, I will reply: So you will be my glorified contractor ah?

The constituency political broadcasts seem to confirm this contractor role of an MP. Except for a few opposition candidates, no PAP candidate seeking re-election saw it fit to talk about his or her contribution to lawmaking. Instead, we hear about fitness parks and covered linkways.

As for the changes to the elected presidency, yes, there was a constitutional commission which tightened up the qualifications and the checks on the presidents power as requested. It was also asked to see how to include a race component in the election - not to study whether this was needed. Okay, maybe the whip was firmly in place in Parliament and the PAP MPs couldnt do much about the race bit especially since the PM had set the agenda early, but the least they can do is question far more vigorously this strange timing of who the EP started with. The Government says its Wee Kim Wee, not Ong Teng Cheng, the man they had so much trouble with.

So, what does a clear and strong mandate mean? That the government will not be able to implement what it said it would? That would be the case if the PAP doesnt get half the seats in Parliament and therefore unable to form the government. But what if it gets 70 per cent of the seats? Lose another GRC or two? Is the PAP going to say that it will re-think its jobs policy? Put a couple of projects on hold in the GRC that did not vote for it?

The PAP shouldnt just throw around this need for strong and clear mandate. What does it mean by it?

Let me give it a shot.

Maybe, it is saying that having more opposition in Parliament means that it will have to spend time countering opposition views and cannot push legislation through quickly. PM Lee gave some examples of COVID-19 legislation that took just one day to get through - the result of a highly competent government. In my view, if the legislation is urgent, then the opposition looks real stupid to stymie its progress. But MOST times, legislation is not urgent, even if it is important.

Is the PAP saying that all its legislation is fully justified and full/fool-proof? That all soundings have been taken behind closed-doors? That Parliament cannot improve on Bills, because it isnt as smart as the executive? That second and third readings of the Bill are simply stages of a legislative process that has been a parliamentary tradition?

Has it asked itself whether it is better to get more buy-in from the people, rather than get legislation passed quickly. That greater acceptance trumps efficiency? That it may well be that other people have ideas that can be implemented to the nations advantage?

I would be more willing to countenance a dominant PAP in Parliament if its MPs had shown some gumption in questioning their political masters. But over the years, with the exception of a few, PAP MPs have become more and more subdued. They sound like frontbenchers, and sometimes ask questions that seem primed to give the frontbench a platform to expound on the governments point of view.

Yet in the late 80s and 90s, PAP MPs werent all cut from the same cloth. They took to heart their membership in the newly conceptualised government parliamentary committees, offering fierce critiques of policies and boasting of advisory panels with brand names. Now, the GPC is just a label attached to the MP, reminding him or her to speak up when the ministry he has been allocated to oversee is up for debate in the committee of supply.

Am I harsh? Probably. Thats because I take the institution of Parliament seriously, more seriously than the Members in the House who seem always to be on their hand-held devices rather than listening to speeches. So seriously that I will never pass up the chance to call for live-streaming of parliamentary proceedings.

If a strong mandate means business as usual, a strong government and a subdued Parliament, Im not sure I like the balance very much.

From what I have seen in Chinese period dramas, that imperial seal denoting the mandate from Heaven is so heavy that the Emperor can knock a person dead with it too.

Bertha Henson is a veteran Singapore journalist who now lectures at NUS. The views expressed are her own.

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By Octavio Jones

TAVARES, Florida (Reuters) - Officials of a central Florida county voted on Tuesday to rescind a decision last year to give a new home to a Confederate statue being removed from a gallery in the U.S. Capitol, saying the reversal would "bring the community together."

The Lake County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to ask the governor to find somewhere else to put a nine-foot-tall bronze statue of General Edmund Kirby Smith, who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War of 1861-65.

Lake County is the site of the notorious "Groveland Four" convictions of a group of Black men wrongfully accused of raping a white woman in 1949, considered by many as a glaring example of racial injustice.

"This decision will bring our community together," said Leslie Campione, the commission's chair. "This is the right decision."

The statue of Smith, a Ku Klux Klanman born in coastal St. Augustine, Florida, is being removed from the National Statuary Hall, housed in the U.S. Capitol. A statue of Mary McCleod Bethune, an African-American educator and civil rights pioneer from Florida, will replace it.

The office of Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed a pardon for the Groveland Four last year, had no immediate comment on the fate of the Smith statue.

Pressure to remove monuments honoring figures from the pro-slavery Confederacy has intensified since the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May. Numerous statues have come down in recent weeks, either toppled by protesters or by order of local or state officials.

Campione said the commission had heard from both sides of the issue before Tuesday's vote, and she believed that those in favor of the statue were "pure in their motives" to collect and display historical artifacts.

Opponents of putting such statues on public display believe they pay homage to the South's slavery legacy, while supporters say they honor tradition and history.

(Reporting by Octavio Jones in Tavares, Florida, writing and additional reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Frank McGurty and Bernadette Baum)
Dozens of elementary and junior high school students appeared enthusiastic to learn about activities around their settlements in the public grave area of Dadi, Makassar City in the South Sulawesi Province in Indonesia on Tuesday. (July 7) The students were not like other locals who are currently undergoing online learning processes with a sense of comfort in their respective homes. Economic limitations forced these students toward another route, even if they had to move forward with educational activities on a gravesite. Children who live in the public cemetery area are forced to study together on a tombstone in order to get free internet access provided by the Balla Online Emergency School. That way, they can still take lessons in their respective schools online. The online emergency school can be realized with the initiation of Bhabinkamtimas from Mamajang Aiptu Paleweri Sector Police together with local residents. Not only providing free Wi-Fi, schools in Kampung Tumpang, Jalan Anuang, Lorong 146, Maricaya Selatan Sub-district, Mamajang District are also assisted by outstanding teachers and students as a companion. Balla Online Emergency School also accommodates street children to continue getting a proper education. The support of the local government in helping educational facilities and infrastructure is clearly needed so that this educational solution can survive. Footage: Indra Abriyanto / Opn Images
Ghanas main opposition party on Tuesday chose a woman as vice presidential candidate for the first time, ahead of the countrys December elections.

Naana Opoku Agyemang was chosen as running mate for former president John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress party.

Opoku Agyeman said her nomination as vice presidential candidate recognises the towering role woman have played over the ages to achieve the progress we have made.

This historic nomination is not a personal achievement but a victory for an inclusive and participatory democracy, Opoku Agyeman said in a statement of acceptance.

She has a PhD in English literature from York University, Toronto, Canada, and spent 30 years teaching at Ghanas University of Cape Coast, where she became vice chancellor, according to Mahamas campaign website.

Opoku Agyeman has edited a collection of essays exploring the connection between the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the literary imagination. She has also delivered lectures on increasing female representation and participation in academia.

Mahama described her as God-fearing, a distinguished scholar, a conscientious public servant and a role model, in a tweet shortly after her endorsement.

She previously served as an education minister during Mahamas last administration.

Ghanas polls on 7 December are widely expected to be a hotly fought contest with incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo vying for a second term in office, and Mahama hoping to make a return to Flagstaff House.

Ten women were part of Ghanas first national assembly when the country became a republic, elected to fill specially created seats.
Iraqi mourners and relatives have been mourning a government adviser and media commentator who was shot dead in Baghdad after receiving threats from Iran-backed militias.

Hisham al-Hashimi, 47, was gunned down on Monday night outside his home in Baghdads Zeyouneh neighbourhood. His coffin, draped in the Iraqi flag, was taken to his family home before being driven to the burial site.

Mr Al-Hashimi, a leading expert on the so-called Islamic State group and other militant organisations, was a regular fixture on Iraqi television and his expertise was often sought by government officials, journalists and researchers.

Iraqi police officers investigate the scene of the shooting (AP/Hadi Mizban)

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killing, which comes weeks after he confided to close friends that he had received threats from militia groups.

The killing also coincides with a spate of rocket attacks targeting US interests that has been blamed on Iran-backed armed groups.

Authorities launched a raid last week in Baghdad, in which they detained 14 members of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah group, suspected of orchestrating the attacks. All but one detainees were released days later.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said Iraqi security forces would spare no effort in pursuing Mr al-Hashimis killers.

An Iraqi Federal Policeman stands guard while mourners load the flag-draped coffin of Hisham al-Hashimi during his funeral (AP/Khalid Mohammed)

Hours after Mr al-Hashimis killing, authorities fired the top police officer for Zeyouneh and launched an investigation into his activities, according to an order from the prime ministers office, seen by The Associated Press.

Condemnations from Iraqi officials poured in as shock reverberated across the country at the news of Mr al-Hashimis killing.

Nechirvan Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, said authorities must find the perpetrators of this terror act and bring them to justice, in a tweet on Tuesday.
Irish pub reopening could be delayed after 'worrying' crowds outside bars - PM FILE PHOTO: Pub doors are locked in Dublin, as bars across Ireland close voluntarily to curb the spread of coronavirus

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland could delay the full reopening of pubs after "very worrying" scenes of packed crowds of drinkers outside some bars over the weekend, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Monday.

Photos posted on social media on Saturday showed people outside a row of pubs in a part of central Dublin, in apparent violation of social distancing rules imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

They were gathered near bars serving food, which were allowed to reopen last week. The rest of the country's pubs were due to follow on July 20.

"It could be delayed. We will get advice from the public health officials. We are worried about it... People do need to behave," Martin, who took over as prime minister just over a week ago, told Cork's 96FM.

"Some of the scenes that we witnessed are very worrying."

The head of Ireland's police force, Drew Harris, said the crowds had been seen at one location in Dublin, and that inspections had shown that the vast majority of operators had complied with the regulations.

Ireland's acting chief medical officer said that he was very concerned by the packed crowds of drinkers.

"We're in a very good position in the country at the moment, an almost uniquely good position in Europe, but we're at a crossroads and we've choices to make," Ronan Glynn told a news conference, reporting that Ireland had fewer than three COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past 14 days.

"We're at a point now where we're asking people to do this for their friends and neighbours who are healthcare workers and are simply not ready for another wave, for their nieces and nephews who really need to get back to school and for the sick and the vulnerable who will be most at risk."

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Timothy Heritage)
A new Israeli spy satellite, called Ofek 16, is shot into space from a site in central Israel July 6, 2020. Israel Ministry of Defense Spokesperson's Office/Handout via REUTERS

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli official flagged a possible security risk on Monday following a U.S. move to allow American providers to sell clearer satellite images of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Under a 1997 U.S. regulation known as the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment, satellite images of Israel and the Palestinian territories used in services like Google Earth could show items no smaller than 2 metres (6.56 ft) across.

The curb, Israel had argued, would help prevent enemies using public-domain information to spy on its sensitive sites.

But the U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office said on June 25 it would allow enhanced resolutions of 0.4 metre. In a statement to Reuters, the agency said "a number of foreign sources" are already producing and disseminating sub-2 m. imagery of Israel.

Amnon Harari, head of space programmes at Israel's Defence Ministry, said he believed the move was designed to ease international competition for U.S. commercial satellites, adding: "I don't think they (Americans) asked us" in advance.

"We are in a process of studying what exactly is written there, what exactly the intentions are, what we can respond to, ultimately," Harari told Israel's public radio station Kan.

"We would always prefer to be photographed at the lowest resolution possible. It's always preferable to be seen blurred, rather than precisely."

Israel worries that Lebanon's Hezbollah and Gaza's Hamas militants could use commercial satellite images to plan rocket strikes on key civilian and military infrastructure.

Higher resolution images could also potentially help track the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank which opponents see as obstructing Palestinian statehood hopes.

Hagit Ofran of Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement monitor, welcomed the prospect of sharper images. With lower quality photos, she said, "it is difficult to know if what you are seeing is a new house or just a chicken coop".

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Google Earth referred Reuters to third-party providers when asked if the U.S. move would affect the satellite images it publishes of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

One such U.S. company, Planet, said in a statement: "When the policy change goes into effect, we will follow the new provisions for providing high resolution imagery of the region."

(Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by Jeffrey Heller, William Maclean)
The school system sent out a survey to families and will present the findings at the school board meeting. Another survey will also be sent out for input from school system employees. As a way to address the various needs, the school system also created 14 committees to cover issues like childcare, academics, equity, transportation and student services.
Italy on Sunday authorised charity vessel Ocean Viking to transfer 180 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to a ship in Sicily for quarantine, the ship's operator and the government said. Those on board exploded with joy at the announcement that their ordeal amid the cramped conditions on the Ocean Viking would soon be over, with migrants singing, appluading and taking selfies. "We have received instructions from the Italian maritime authorities to disembark those on board in Porto Empedocle," a spokesman for the charity SOS Mediterranee told AFP, which has a correspondent on board. "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 Rabiul, 27, from Bangladesh. The Ocean Viking is now heading for the port where the migrants will be transferred to government-chartered ship the Moby Zaza for 14 days of quarantine. "I can confirm that they're authorised to move to the Moby Zaza, likely tomorrow morning," Interior Ministry spokesman Dino Martirano told AFP. They have been on the Ocean Viking for over a week, with fights and suicide attempts on board prompting the charity to declare a state of emergency on Friday. The Ocean Viking, which has been in limbo in the Mediterranean south of Sicily, has been waiting for permission from Italy or Malta to offload the migrants at a safe port. - 'A second life' - Tensions have risen in the past week, as witnessed by an AFP reporter, with the migrants increasingly desperate to reach land. Others have become distraught at not being able to telephone their families to let them know they were safe. A member of the crew, Ludovic, told AFP he had never witnessed such violence on board a rescue vessel, after a spate of fights between migrants and threats of suicide. The migrants, who include Pakistanis, North Africans, Eritreans, Nigerians and others, were picked up after fleeing Libya in four separate rescues by the Ocean Viking on June 25 and 30. "Now, a second life is in front of us, after everything we went through in Libya. Thank you Italy for offering us a second life, and to SOS Mediteranee for saving the first," said Emmanuel, 32, from Ghana. The migrants include 25 children, most of whom are unaccompanied by adults, and two women, one of whom is pregnant. At times, all the members of the SOS Mediterranee rescue team have been on deck in order to calm tense situations. Some of the threats were directed at the rescuers themselves. Rumours abounded among the groups of migrants, including that the NGO is in cahoots with Italian authorities, earning money each day the migrants are kept on board. On Thursday, two migrants threw themselves into the Mediterranean, but were rescued. More than 100,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean last year with more than 1,200 dying in the attempt, according to the International Organization for Migration. The arrival of summer and more favourable conditions at sea may lead to an increase of attempts to cross the Mediterranean with the hope of arriving in Europe.
Russia has warned it will retaliate after Britain announced it was imposing sanctions on 25 Russian nationals linked to the death in custody of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow regretted the unfriendly actions of the UK Government and was ready to respond in kind.

We can only regret such unfriendly steps, Mr Peskov was quoted as saying by the Tass news agency.

Of course, the principle of reciprocity will be enforced to the extent that would fit the interests of the Russian Federation.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said 25 Russians face sanctions for human rights violations (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The move came after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced Britains first unilateral list of sanctions for human rights abuses since leaving the EU.

They include the head of Russias investigative committee, Alexander Bastrykin, deputy prosecutor general Viktor Grin and deputy interior minister Alexei Anichin.

Mr Raab told the Commons that the sanctions were targeted at those involved in the torture and murder of Mr Magnitsky, who died in 2009 after exposing massive corruption in the Interior Ministry.

Individuals on the list are now banned from travel to or doing business with the UK and will have any assets in the country frozen.

Downing Street suggested that any retaliation by Moscow would not be justified.

Those sanctions which we have imposed on individuals involve some of the most notorious human rights violations of recent years, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said.

The Foreign Secretary has made clear that this sanctions regime is not intended to target countries.

Its a smart tool allowing for the targeted sanctioning of individuals and entities involved in serious violations or abuses of human rights.

In addition to the Russians, sanctions have also been imposed on 20 Saudi nationals implicated in the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and two Burmese generals responsible for military operations against the countrys Rohingya minority.

North Koreas Ministry of State Security Bureau 7 and the Ministry of Peoples Security Correctional Bureau, which run prison camps linked to murder, torture and enslavement are also on the list.
Almost 200 migrants rescued by a humanitarian aid boat in the Mediterranean Sea began to leave the vessel in Sicily late on Monday after nine days stuck on the ship.

An AFP journalist aboard the Ocean Viking watched as the migrants, in single file and carrying backpacks, regained dry land at Porto Empedocle on the Italian island's western coast.

Police escorted them a short distance to another vessel, where they will be quarantined to prevent the possible spread of coronavirus.

The arrival of the boat chartered by charity group SOS Mediterranee capped a tense few days onboard marked by migrants jumping overboard, a suicide attempt and bouts of violence.

After being rescued in four separate operations on June 25 and 30, the migrants waiting on the ship became increasingly agitated, according to SOS Mediterranee, as the charity awaited the go-ahead from either Italy or Malta to dock at a safe port.

However, approval did not arrive until Sunday, after the group declared a state of emergency on board, adding it could no longer guarantee the safety of the migrants or the crew.

Soon after 8:00 pm (18:00 GMT), the Ocean Viking docked at the port directly in front of Italian ferry Moby Zaza, where the migrants will wait out a two-week quarantine period.

Tensions mount

Earlier on Monday, a separate group of 169 migrants disembarked from the Moby Zaza after a two-week quarantine.

Thirty of the group -- all of whom were rescued last month by Sea-Watch, another humanitarian group -- tested positive for coronavirus and will remain on the ferry in an isolated "red zone" area.

SOS Mediterranee spent most of Monday waiting roughly four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the coast before being allowed to dock, as it warned that tensions were rising and the long wait was "amplifying risks on board".

From the deck of the Ocean Viking, migrants who have waited for more than a week to disembark could make out both the Sicilian coast and the immense ferry, the Moby Zaza, according to an AFP reporter on board.

Story continues

The mayor of Porto Empedocle, Ida Carmina, told reporters that the migrants' arrival was too much for the economically suffering community to support.

"Now that we're coming back, starting tourism back up, this thing is an incredible blow for us," Carmina said, who noted the town had reported no cases of coronavirus during Italy's health crisis.

'Just incredible'

The 180 migrants -- from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Eritrea, Nigeria and North African countries -- include 25 minors and two women, one of whom is pregnant.

Rising tension culminated in fights between migrants frustrated by the long waiting period and their inability to call their families to let them know they were safe.

One migrant tried to hang himself and two others threw themselves overboard, said the charity.

However, the group was overjoyed when they finally saw the safe port.

"It was very difficult in Libya and I can't even explain the joy I'm feeling today, it's just incredible," Mohammad Irshad, a 22-year-old Pakistani, told AFP.

(AFP)
BERLIN (Reuters) - The brother of former Pope Benedict XVI lay in state in his hometown of Regensburg, Germany on Tuesday, visited by socially-distanced mourners wanting to pay respects to the cleric and choirmaster, who died last week at the age of 96.

Mourners, wearing facial protection to guard against spreading the coronavirus, filed into St. Johann's Church past the coffin of Georg Ratzinger, who for many years led the city cathedral's famed Domspatzen boys' choir.

In his later years, Ratzinger faced criticism for his leadership of the choir after allegations surfaced of children having been abused by other staff there. Ratzinger always denied knowledge of the abuse.

"I have never sung under a greater choir master," said Reinhard Kreuzinger, a former chorister. "He took the Domspatzen into the world. Whatever he's accused of - I can't really comprehend that because he was a child of his time."

Georg and Benedict entered a seminary where they both trained to be priests at the same time in January 1946, after both serving in the army before Nazi Germanys defeat at the end of World War Two.

The Pope Emeritus paid his brother a final visit in late June, leaving Italy for the first time in seven years.

Even following Benedict's elevation to the papacy in 2005, they remained in close touch, with Georg telling the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that his brother would regularly call him on a private phone whose number only the Pontiff knew.

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt, editing by Ed Osmond)
New Zealand has joined the Australian state of New South Wales in limiting the number of international passengers arriving at its airports.

The move is due to concern about the availability of hotel quarantine places, as more New Zealanders and Australians return home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Both countries are only open to citizens, residents and their families, and all arrivals must spend 14 days in isolation or quarantine - depending on whether or not they have COVID-19 symptoms - at a government-chosen hotel.

Sydney Airport in Australia said late last week that it was limiting the number of arriving passengers to 450 per day .

That move came amid growing pressure on quarantine facilities, made worse by Melbourne's temporary ban on international arrivals as it struggles to contain a resurgence of the virus there.

On Tuesday, New Zealand's government said it had asked Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines to "manage" international bookings for the next three weeks to make sure quarantine facilities were not overwhelmed.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said: "We have people showing up at airports, and by the time they close the doors that's when we'll get a heads-up that we have an extra 100 people coming than we had planned for."

Air New Zealand said it was not allowing any new bookings for the three-week period and that flights already booked could be subject to change.

Singapore Airlines spokesman Karl Schubert said they were monitoring passenger numbers and would make adjustments "to ensure we do not contribute to an overwhelming of facilities".

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According to the Board of Airline Representatives NZ, the country sees 40 international flights per week - three-quarters of them by Air New Zealand - a big drop from more than 800 per week before the coronavirus.

New Zealand closed its borders to tourists and brought in a strict quarantine system early in the pandemic and that system is one of the main reasons for its relative success: the country has seen just 22 deaths and around 1,500 cases of the disease.

Story continues

For many days the country was COVID-free but cases have started to emerge among international arrivals - 62 cases have been discovered at the border and the 22 that remain active are the only cases in the country. There is no community transmission.

But that success - as well as many New Zealanders overseas suffering job losses due to the pandemic - has seen a surge in the number of citizens wanting to return home.

New Zealand's health minister, Chris Hipkins, said on Tuesday that there were 6,378 beds in the country's 28 facilities and 5,787 were occupied. Another 750 places will be added in the coming weeks.

The taxpayer-funded quarantine system is also expensive - it is estimated at around $3,800 (1,985) per person, and the government had said it expected the cost to reach $81m (42m) by the end of June.

There have been calls to make New Zealanders pay for their quarantine costs and some have even called for them to be prevented from returning home completely, although the latter is an idea the government has repeatedly refused.
The world's longest-surviving conjoined twins - who once performed at carnivals across the US to earn money for their family - have died at the age of 68.

Ronnie and Donnie Galyon, from Beavercreek in Ohio, were joined at the abdomen since their birth in October 1951, when doctors deemed it too risky to separate them.

Following their 63rd birthday in 2014, Guinness World Records judged the pair to be oldest conjoined twins ever.

This was after they surpassed Giacomo and Giovanni Battista Tocci, who were born in Italy in 1875 and were widely reported to have lived to 63.

The Galyon brothers had previously surpassed their heroes, Chang and Eng Bunker, the world-famous 19th century conjoined twins who lived to be 62 years and 251 days old.

Ronnie and Donnie were said to have marked their calendar off each day until they reached that record and fulfilled their "dream".

WHIO, an Ohio broadcaster, reported the Galyon twins died on 4 July following a short spell in a hospice.

Their younger brother, Jim, thanked the local community for their help in allowing the twins to spend their last years in his home.

In 2010, more than 200 volunteers helped extend Jim and his wife Mary's home to allow Ronnie and Donnie to live comfortably - and navigate a custom wheelchair - as they suffered from health problems.

"I am grateful to the community for what they did to help Ronnie and Donnie move into their house," Jim told WHIO.

"This allowed them to live with their family for the last 10 years."

Jim had previously described how his brothers performed at carnivals across the US, with visitors paying to see the twins.

"That was the only income. They were the breadwinners," Jim told local media in 2014.

The Galyon twins retired from entertaining in 1991.
Wearing full protective gear including a white suit and plastic visor, Ukrainian doctor Marta Saiko checked on an elderly patient hooked up to a ventilator. The country has seen a surge of new COVID-19 cases following the lifting of nationwide lockdown measures. "We're overloaded. Over the last 24 hours we've admitted 18 patients with suspected coronavirus," said Saiko, head of primary care at Lviv Emergency Hospital. "It's like in a war, it's very hard. All our staff are exhausted," she said. Saiko's hospital, in one of the worst affected regions of Ukraine, is still treating ordinary emergency patients but for the first time since the pandemic began is also admitting suspected virus cases. The hospital has created 50 beds for such patients and all were full within three days, she said. "Their medical state is moderately serious or bordering on serious. One patient has died." Nataliya Matolinets, head of the intensive care unit, said the hospital had begun treating coronavirus patients because the city needs more beds. "Both the psychological and physical burden has grown significantly for the doctors and all the staff," she said. During the first wave of contagion earlier this year, the hospital admitted some patients who subsequently tested positive and infected medics, she said. Now, unlike in the first weeks of the outbreak, doctors have enough protective equipment, she said, remaining upbeat. "We're stress-resistant and understand how much hope is pinned on us." The facade of the hospital has a mural showing a doctor in white protective gear and the word "Dyakuyu", meaning thank you in Ukrainian. - 'People forgot lockdown' - In June, the World Health Organization listed Ukraine among two dozen European countries that have seen resurgences of the virus. At the highest point on June 26, Ukraine had a daily increase of 1,109 cases as authorities warned they might have to re-impose lockdown measures. The country has confirmed more than 49,000 cases and over 1,200 deaths. Over the past two weeks the western Lviv region has reported more new infections than any other. Nataliya Timko, a top epidemiologist at the Lviv regional health care department, told AFP that the region had expected to have more cases in the first wave but avoided this thanks to strict lockdown rules. But now "some people have forgotten about the lockdown", she lamented, saying the virus is spreading because some are ditching face masks and other protective measures. Andriy Sadovyi, mayor of Lviv, a picturesque city of one million that is a major tourism destination, told AFP that the region had carried out more tests than any other, detecting more cases. He urged residents to adhere to social distancing rules, stressing these were in place to prevent infections. "You can't have a coffee in a cafe in Lviv until they've taken your temperature and all the waiters wear masks," Sadovyi said of the city famed for its cafe culture. Ukraine eased its lockdown measures in late May and early June with the resumption of public transport and the reopening of parks, outdoor cafes and beauty salons. - 'Hard to see patients die' - The mayor praised the work of local medics. "It is reassuring that the medical system is coping with the number of patients, and we have up to 40 percent (of virus beds) occupied," Sadovyi said. If the surge in cases continues, all the city's hospitals will have to start treating coronavirus patients, he added, however. He urged the government to fulfil its promise to pay all the doctors who treat COVID-19 patients a bonus of three times their monthly salary. "It's important to give them decent pay," Sadovyi said. He acknowledged that it is "psychologically difficult for the doctors to reorganise how they work" as hospitals have to hastily adapt their systems to treat virus patients. The new caseload causes a lot of physical and emotional stress, agreed Timko. "It is hard to work in protective suits; it's hard to watch patients die."
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.

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 online.

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.

(AFP)
Photo credit: Cadbury

From Good Housekeeping

We hope youre feeling decisive today, because youve got a an important choice to make. Which one of these three new Cadbury flavours do you think deserves to stick around permanently?

Thats right  Cadburys Inventor competition is back for 2020, and three finalists have been picked to go head to head to head to find the nations favourite, and become part of the Dairy Milk permanent range.

Here are the three limited edition chocolate bars in the running:

Gillians Cadbury Dairy Milk Coconutty

Shannons Cadbury Dairy Milk Crunchy Honeycomb

Taylors Cadbury Dairy Milk Out Of The Blueberry

Photo credit: Cadbury's

Gillian from Northern Ireland created Cadbury Dairy Milk Coconutty after being inspired by her childrens love of fresh coconut and white chocolate. Gillian thought the delicious combination would be sure to tickle the taste buds of any coconut fanatic. Gillians bar includes milk chocolate with coconut crumble, studded with smooth white crisp pearls.

Gillian said: My children and I are big fans of white chocolate and coconut. After realising there arent that many white chocolate options in chocolate bars, the combination of coconut and white chocolate was formed to appeal to fresh coconut lovers who are dreaming of a tropical paradise this summer!

Photo credit: Cadbury

Shannon, a 19-year-old student from Nottingham, says she created her Cadbury Dairy Milk Crunchy Honeycomb after declaring her love for crunchy honeycomb and sweet caramel. Shannons bar combines milk chocolate and golden crunchy honeycomb pieces with tasty caramel flavoured fudge and chopped hazelnuts to add an extra crunch.

Shannon said: Ive always had a love for honeycomb and caramel, which are my two favourite flavours. The mix of golden honeycomb pieces and caramel flavoured fudge add that extra sweet flavour to the bar. Finally, with the addition of an extra crunch, chopped hazelnuts, I knew a winning bar was formed!

Photo credit: Cadbury

Taylor, a 24-year-old mother of two from Leeds, says she created Cadbury Dairy Milk Out Of The Blueberry after her son always had a love for blueberries. Taylors bar consists of milk chocolate with juicy blueberry flavoured nuggets with white crisp pearls.

Story continues

Taylor said: My eldest son is completely obsessed with blueberries and white chocolate  his love of the two inspired me to create the Out of the Blueberry bar. The blend of sweet white chocolate and mouth-watering blueberries complement the milk chocolate to make a yummy snack for all to enjoy.

Beatrice Berutti, Cadbury Tablets Brand Manager at Cadbury, said in a release: The Cadbury Inventor 2020 competition is back for its second year and we couldnt be more excited to share these new delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk flavours with the nation! Weve loved working with Gillian, Shannon and Taylor to make their bars a reality and opening our doors to bring them into Cadbury. We cant wait to see which bar wins and really want everyone to go out and vote for their favourite!

The three limited edition bars will be available in Tesco stores from 8 July, and then in all major retailers across the UK and Ireland and online at www.cadburyinventor.com from 22 July.

This is also where you can vote for your favourite until 6 September. The winner will be announced in September.

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To our team, friends, neighbors, and loyal supporters: I regret to inform you that we found out yesterday that a team member tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday 6/9. When we found out, we followed CDC guidelines on next steps, which was also the recommendation from the Citys health department. Even still, I understand that you want to know more, and Im sorry that we havent provided that sooner. We deeply value our community and want to address any concerns you may have. Through our conversation with the health department, they agree that there was no opportunity for prolonged 6 close-contact exposure, and therefore, it was an isolated case. As such, we acted quickly to mitigate the concern by sending home staff that had indirect contact to self-monitor and decided to move forward with normal business. At this time, while the health department is still in approval of our Take-out BBQ, weve decided to postpone the event. With regards to our COVID-postive team member, the person is currently doing well and is at home under a 14-day quarantine. The member is not a cook nor a front-of-house staff, and therefore had minimal contact with others, and certainly no prolonged close contact with another team member. By CDCs definition, no other team member would have been considered exposed. (continue in comments)
Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images

From Harper's BAZAAR

As advocates for racial justice and equality around the world, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have consistently made sure they that always speak up and help others be heard. Harry and Meghan continued that promise when they joined young leaders from around the world last week for an in-depth conversation about equal rights, justice, and fairness.

In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, the Queens Commonwealth Trust  which champions, funds, and connects young leaders around the world  has been running weekly discussions with youth from the network, and as president and vice president of the organisation (respectively), Harry and Meghan were eager to join their latest conversation.

During the 1 July virtual discussion, the couple connected with youth from the network to talk about the importance of ensuring this critical moment in time is used for advancing human rights and justice, the urgent need to push toward long-term and practical solutions for the future, and why it is essential to challenge unconscious bias and acknowledge mistakes of the past.

We cant deny or ignore the fact that all of us have been educated to see the world differently, Harry told the group. 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.

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Meghan expanded on the topic of unconscious bias, adding that it often manifests itself in covert and complicated ways. Its not even in the big moments, its in the quiet moments where racism and unconscious bias lies and thrives, she explained. It makes it confusing for a lot of people to understand the role that they play in that, either passively or actively.

The Sussexes were joined in the conversation by Chrisann Jarrett, a 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, leader of the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers network of emerging young leaders in Africa and the Middle East.

Story continues

Alim, who is based in Australia, has urged future leaders to learn from those who have tried to address systemic issues before, to value lived experience, and to remember that in any situation, it is always best to allow implicated groups to determine what they think the best course of action is. Meghan was quick to agree, adding that it is for people to know when to lead and know when to listen.

As the group went on to discuss the history of injustice and why we still face so many related problems around the world, Harry explained, 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 that 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, 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.

Wallace, whose Equality Bahamas initiative advocates for equality through education and promotes womens rights as human rights, spoke about the importance of harnessing this moment in time to take meaningful action. Right now is such a powerful moment because we can combine the things that we know already and the things that were learning with the raw emotion that were feeling right now. And its natural to feel grief and rage, but we actually need to change that and turn it into an energy that we can use for real, sustainable action, she said. We each need to ask [ourselves] what is it that Im willing to do right now, and how will I contribute to the change that we can no longer pretend is not necessary.

The group of six also discussed the importance of meaningful allyship. Omoniyi, whose crowd-funded Common Sense Network provides impartial and fact-based news and social commentary, said that allyship needs to go beyond social media. After pressing send online, people then have to roll up their sleeves and do the work, the U.K.-based founder explained. 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.

Nodding, Meghan added that they were hopeful about the QCTs ambitions to make a difference in driving systemic change for the better, which has been a cornerstone in the networks wider work on historic injustice since late 2019. Know that we are right there with you, standing in solidarity, she said. Were going to get there, and we have a lot of renewed faith and energy in that having had this conversation.

Harry enthusiastically 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.  This change is needed and its coming.

Watch the discussion in full and find out more about the Queens Commonwealth Trust here.

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The rosy future of the offshore East Mediterranean (East-Med) gas boom is in jeopardy. The current COVID-related economic downturn, combined with the dramatic drop in demand for oil and gas worldwide, has already led to several delays for major offshore gas projects in Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, and Greece. Offshore E&P budgets have been cut by all oil and gas companies, leaving no room for high-risk natural gas developments in the East Med in the coming years.

Oil Price reports in its article Turkeys Latest Geopolitical Gamble Could Result In Catastrophe that geopolitical and military tensions between Turkey and the other players in the region, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, and even Israel is rising fast. Ankaras unexpected but strong support for the Libyan Tripoli-based government which is fighting out a long-lasting conflict against East Libyan general Haftars LNA forces has not only tilted the power structure in Libya, but has also put Ankara, as a NATO member, on a collision course with Russia and the UAE.

At the same time, Turkish military moves in Libya, aiming to not only open up Africas largest oil reserves to Turkish companies but also to expand its sphere of influence in the East Med, have put a confrontation with Egypt and possibly France on the table. In 2020, a military confrontation between NATO members (Turkey-France) or allies of NATO (UAE, Egypt, Israel) in the Middle East is no longer unthinkable. Ankaras approach in Libya suggests an aggressive Turkish military strategy intended to set up military bases in the region.

On July 3, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler have visited Libya to review the activities carried out under a memorandum of understanding between the two countries. The main focus during the visit was the expansion of the Defense Security Cooperation and Training Assistance Advisory Command, which was created within the scope of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Turkey and Libya on November 27, 2019. In the same MOU, Turkey and Libya signed the highly contested EEZ agreement, that asserts Turkey's rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, putting Ankara on a full collision course with Cyprus, Egypt, and Greece. A military confrontation of some sort has been a distinct possibility since that moment.

Ankaras aggressive moves, however, may have reached a point of no return in the last few days.

On June 10, Turkish navy vessels conducted radar-targeting on a French warship trying to approach a Turkish civilian ship suspected of skirting a NATO arms embargo on Libya. French government sources have reported that Frances Courbet frigate was lit up three times by Turkish radar. The incident has led to the end of French support for the NATO naval mission, while officially requesting a NATO investigation.

France, and indirectly other NATO countries, such as Italy and Greece, are now openly discussing supporting the Eastern Libyan general Haftar, whose forces have come under pressure after his latest military assault on the GNA ruled region around Tripoli ended in an unexpected defeat. Egypt has also now openly warned Turkey and the GNA forces not to cross the Sirte line, a key threshold in the Libyan oil sector. If Ankara and Tripoli continue their military advance, Egyptian president Sisi has warned that the Egyptian armed forces will enter Libya to support Haftar.

The current crisis within NATO (and the EU), sparked by Turkish actions is a major concern.

A military conflict within the alliance will not only weaken its position with regards to Russias power projections, but also puts security in the (East) Mediterranean at risk. France at present lobbying to put sanctions on Turkey. On July 13, a council of EU foreign ministers will discuss EU-Turkish relations.

While all eyes are now on Libya, Turkeys military moves in the East Med are even more worrying. As some have indicated already, Turkeys Libya adventure falls within the strategy of squeezing the Middle East into submission. Ankaras military projects in Qatar, the Horn of Africa, Sudan, and now Libya, set up a circle of military power threatening Arab nations, at least in their views. East Med military moves, officially to support Turkish oil and gas companies to search for offshore reserves, are a direct threat to Greece and Cyprus. The so-called ultra-nationalist Blue Homeland military strategy adopted by Turkey is clear in its goals. Erdogans military doctrine targets the domination of the Aegean, most of the Mediterranean, and of the Black Sea. The ongoing provocations in the East Med, which doesnt only include Greece-Cyprus but also Egypt and Israel, are the evidence.

The current chaos in NATO and the EU could hamper a joint concerted action in case of unwanted Turkish action in the region. During the last couple of years, analysts have focused on perceived U.S./Washington support for East Med economic and energy integration via the East Med Gas Forum.

The U.S. Senate and Congress have even supported some anti-Turkish moves, such as the end of military sanctions on Cyprus. Washington, especially via its thinktanks, such as Atlantic Council, has been painting a positive pro-East Med (Greece, Cyprus, Egypt-Israel) picture of economic, political, and military support. This policy, as has been stated by some, needs to be taken with a truck-load of salt, as the Trump Administration is once again opening up to Ankara.

The East Med tinder box is not only a threat to its offshore gas future. A military conflict in the region, involving Turkey, will threaten several major commodity and trade chokepoints. A confrontation could lead to a major blockade of the Dardanelles (Istanbul), the Suez Canal (Egypt), and the route between Libya and the southern Italian islands. Ankaras regional power play is not only of concern to the littoral states of the East Med, but also to GCC oil and gas exporters and EU-Asian trade. Erdogans regional gamble could end up being a major catastrophe.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that the republic expects more serious, targeted and goal-oriented statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from the OSCE Minsk Group.

He added in an interview with local TV channel that Azerbaijan will not change its fair position over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in the same speech where he also said that the negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group are not yielding results.



"There is no change in our position, nor can there be any. That is because our position is the position of justice. Our position is based on both historical justice and the international law No change in our position is possible. The conflict must be resolved within the territorial integrity of our country," Aliyev said.



The president said that Azerbaijan expects the OSCE Minsk Group that negotiates the conflict to give "more serious and specific statements" with regards to the conflict and to respond to Armenias provocative actions.



"We are showing patience and trying to be constructive. However, today, in fact, the negotiation process is not going on. Video conferences between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers have no significance. This simply shows that the Minsk Group is allegedly active We will not carry out negotiations for the sake of imitation. We want to hold substantial talks," Aliyev said.



The president reminded that a number of provocative actions by Armenia that undermine the negotiations have gone unanswered by the OSCE Minsk Group.



"The Armenian Prime Minister [Nikol Pashinyan] says that Karabakh is Armenia Why doesnt Minsk Group responded to this? Why cannot they say that this statement is in fact destroying the essence of the negotiations that have been shaped by the Minsk Group? Armenia has been seeking to change the format of negotiations for two years now and has stated that Azerbaijan must negotiate with so-called leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. Has there been a relevant response to this? No! It is answered with abstract words and beating around the bush. But those times are over. We demand clarity," the president said.



The president also described as provocation the inauguration in occupied Shusha of the newly-elected so-called leader of separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh: "Why dont they say that this is a provocation and Armenia will be responsible for this provocation?"



The president also said that Armenia is illegally settling population in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group has neither issued a statement on this issue, nor sent a fact-finding mission to these occupied territories in the past ten years.



"Over the past few years, we have been urging them that a new mission must be sent. During these 10 years, Armenia has brought Armenians from Syria and other places and keeps them there by force. It [Armenia] changes the historical names of our cities and builds churches in the occupied territories," Ilham Aliyev said.
Children who grow up with a dog in their house tend to be better behaved and more considerate than children who dont, research has found.



Researchers from the University of Western Australia and the Telethon Kids Institute analysed questionnaire data from 1,646 households with children aged two to five.



Children from dog-owning households were 23% less likely to have difficulties with emotions and social interaction, and 30% less likely to indulge in antisocial behaviour.



The children were also 34% more likely to engage in considerate behaviour such as sharing toys.



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."



Joining the family dog on walks and playing with the dog also seemed to offer benefits, the researchers concluded.



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.



Professor 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."



The authors analysed data collected between 2015 and 2018 as part of the Play Spaces and Environments for Children's Physical Activity study. Out of the 1,646 households included in the study, 686 (42%) owned a dog, Yahoo News reported.
Dubai today opened its borders to tourists and business visitors for the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak.



The emirate will be following the guidance from the World Health Organisation in order to keep cases of the virus down to a minimum.



Ahead of landing in Dubai, visitors must take a PCR test up to four days prior to their date of travel, or if this has not been done, a PCR test will be carried out upon arrival at Dubai airports.



In addition to this, tourists are encouraged to check travel advisories from their home countries for guidance on outbound trips and to ensure the safety of all, Breaking Travel News reported.
Russia and the U.S. have established a regular dialogue on Afghanistan, which could have bothered certain political circles in Washington, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev opined in his interview for Argumenty i Fakty weekly, commenting on publications on the bounties on US servicemen that Russia allegedly offered to Afghan militants.

Patrushev noted that the U.S. Administration repeatedly imposed sanctions against Russia "based on fake news."

"Now their media has suddenly latched on to Afghanistan, which our countries have established a regular dialogue on; apparently, this fact bothered certain political circles," Patrushev said.

"Russian and American intelligence services cooperate on a wide array of fields. Countering terrorism is a field where we have concrete practical results," TASS cited Patrushev as saying.

In this regard, he continued, any allegations that Russia conspired with the Taliban militants, especially in a bid to assassinate U.S. servicemen, are baseless.

"I would like to believe that in the future, U.S. media would take their publications more responsibly and will not provoke additional tensions between Moscow and Washington. We can only hope that the U.S. political circles will settle their internal issues without trying to win electoral score at Russias expense," the secretary said.

"Such unfriendly lunge in our direction would barely facilitate the restoration of the atmosphere of trust, which both Moscow and Washington have been proclaiming for several years already," the secretary underscored.
The blast in Turkey's Sakarya at a fireworks factory last Friday that killed six people was not the result of sabotage or an attack, authorities announced.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident and detained three people, including the factory manager and two foremen.

Officials took samples from the blast site and investigated them at a criminal investigation laboratory of Gendarme General Command in Ankara. There was not any trace of explosives or any other material that would accelerate the fire, according to the investigation. Initial findings show the blast was "an accident."

The Interior Ministry had assigned a team of inspectors to the case, and a probe is still underway, Daily Sabah reported.
A Turkish citizen has been detained for the sale of counterfeit bills, says the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia.



The detainee sold 21 counterfeit $100 bills in Tbilisi. Law enforcers seized $2,100 in counterfeit bills, Agenda.ge reported.



The crime is punishable by seven to 10 years imprisonment.
The United Kingdom introduced personal sanctions against 25 Russian citizens which London considers involved in violation of human rights, according to UK government information website.



The list of sanctioned people includes Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin, Deputy Minister of the Interior Alexey Anichin. The people in the list have been barred from entering the UK, and their assets in the country, if they have any, will be frozen. They will be barred from conducting business both inside the UK and via UK citizens mediation.



The sanctions enter force from the moment of publication of the document. The sanctions were introduced within the framework of the so-called "Magnitsky amendment" to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill, adopted by the House of Commons in May 2018, and which was supposed to enter force immediately after the UKs withdrawal from the European Union.



"The [sanctions against] individuals and organizations are the first wave of designations under the new regime, with further sanctions expected in the coming months," the Foreign Office said in its statement.



Speaking in the UK Parliaments House of Commons, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Dominic Raab speculated that the sanctions may be extended to foreign citizens which, according to London, are involved in corruption, TASS reported.



Besides Russians, the list includes 20 citizens of Saudi Arabia whom London considers involved in 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, as well as two Myanmar military commanders, whom London considers involved in "systematic crimes" against the Rohingya people, and two North Korean agencies - the Ministry of Social Security and the Ministry of State Security. London considers the latter two to be involved in torture, the use of slave labor and assassinations. The document includes a total of 49 people and organizations.
With some of the projects normal supply chains impacted by the pandemic, donors, corporate partnerships and municipal assistance are more important than ever. Monetary donations or donations of ready-to-eat canned goods, granola bars and other snacks are welcomed (check out its Amazon Wish List!) and partners like Amazon, Five Below, Hungry Harvest and H&S Bakery are making a difference.
Workers at a plywood factory  PHOTO: VT

Speaking at a conference to promote Vietnams plywood and medium-density fiberboard industry in the context of Covid-19 that was held in HCMC on July 6, Hoai noted that Vietnam has attracted 53 foreign investment plywood projects worth a combined US$276.5 million.

In the first half of 2020 alone, the country attracted 35 foreign investment projects in the wood industry, including two plywood projects with a total investment of US$14 million.

Besides being the largest investor, China is also Vietnams largest plywood supplier, accounting for some 90% of the countrys plywood imports. In 2019, China exported plywood products worth more than US$188 million to Vietnam.

Increasing foreign investments, especially from China, have boosted Vietnams plywood exports in recent years.

However, several countries, including the United States and South Korea, have begun investigations into the evasion of antidumping duties on plywood products from Vietnam.

South Korea has imposed an anti-dumping duty of 9.18-10.65% on plywood imported from Vietnam, while the U.S. Department of Commerce on June 9 decided to conduct an investigation into whether Vietnam is dumping plywood products in the United States.

This affects not only plywood exporters but also Vietnamese forest growers and the countrys entire wood industry.

The Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association suggested that relevant agencies should increase inspections into and control over plywood producers, importers and exporters as well as seek an investment shift to help local businesses avoid future risks. Saigon Times
The Ngoc Son Temple, a tourist attraction in Hanoi, is sterilized as part of precautionary measures taken due to the novel coronavirus pandemic in May 2020. Vietnam is set to outperform Asias frontier sovereigns this year, largely thanks to its efforts in bringing the pandemic under control  PHOTO: VNA These factors should support Vietnams BB rating, which we affirmed in April 2020 while revising the Outlook to Stable from Positive, the agency said, noting that the Southeast Asian country still faces a number of challenges including contingent liability risks from State-owned enterprises and structural weaknesses in the banking sector. Vietnam is one of only four Fitch-rated sovereigns in the Asia Pacific that Fitch Ratings expects to post positive economic growth in 2020. Official data shows the economy expanded by 0.4% year-on-year in the second half of this year, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on tourism and export demand. The result is said to be in line with the countrys full-year 2.8% growth projection made by Fitch Ratings. The agency forecasts that the pace of expansion will accelerate next year, as external demand, including tourism exports, is poised to recover. The relative strength of Vietnams growth momentum owes much to its success in curbing the pandemic, according to Fitch Ratings. Vietnam had no reported deaths from Covid-19 as of end-June, Fitch Ratings cited the World Health Organization as saying, adding that this could reflect a variety of factors, including the effectiveness of the official health policy response. Vietnam has introduced a fiscal stimulus of some VND271 trillion, equivalent to 3.4% of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP), to help offset the effects of the pandemic. This includes tax deferrals, cuts and exemptions, as well as cash transfers to affected workers and households, the latter being worth 0.4% of the GDP. We expect the general government debt-to-GDP ratio to rise to some 42% in 2020 from 37% in 2019, based on Fitch estimates, but this is still below the 59% median for BB rated sovereigns, said Fitch Ratings. The State Bank of Vietnam has also loosened its monetary policy to support the economy, but the lower interest-rate environment and State pressure on banks to ease lending terms will weigh on bank profitability. Meanwhile, slower economic growth and loan forbearance will add to asset quality problems. These factors will, according to Fitch Ratings, aggravate the structural weaknesses in the banking sector, such as low capital buffers and under reporting of problem loans, which have already dragged on the sovereign rating. Slower credit growth may, however, provide some relief on capital. Vulnerable to shifts in external demand Vietnams economic outlook remains vulnerable to shifts in external demand, according to the credit rating agency. The country has benefitted from trade diversion associated with rising costs in China and the United States-China trade war, and early data suggests it made further gains as Chinas exports were disrupted by the coronavirus. Vietnams share of U.S. apparel and textile imports rose to 15.5% between January and April this year from 12.9% in the first four months of 2019, according to the U.S. Office of Textiles and Apparel. The country also attracted a healthy US$8.7 billion in realized capital investment from overseas in the first half of this year. Nonetheless, both textile and apparel exports to the United States and realized capital investments were lower than the previous year, illustrating Vietnams vulnerability to the evolution and impact of the pandemic, according to Fitch Ratings. As elsewhere, there are still restrictions on inbound tourism and remittances are declining. Tourism directly accounts for some 10% of GDP, with a higher contribution if indirect spillover effects are considered, while remittances were worth over 6% of GDP in 2019. Vietnam is also susceptible to policy action by its main trade partners, especially the U.S. and China. The Vietnamese law-making National Assembly ratified the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement on June 8, which should underpin stable trade relations with the bloc of 27 member states. Our base assumption is that trade ties with both countries will remain stable, said Fitch Ratings. SGT
Real estate firms have had to struggle to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused the loss of trillions of dong and job losses to 75-80 percent of workers in the field.

The deputy general director of a real estate group specializing in developing urban areas in provinces adjacent to HCM City said Covid-19 has upset the business plans and structure of the company.





To cut costs, the firm has laid off workers in large quantities. The number of workers has fell from 2,000 in 2019 to 500, which means 75 percent of sellers have been dismissed.



As for the remaining 25 percent of workers, he said the company has advanced them to to change jobs because there is low possibility of market recovery in 2020.



While the company sold thousands of land plots and street-front houses worth over VND3 trillion, it did not earn any money in the first five months of 2020.

The manager of a real estate firm in district 3, HCM City, said his firm had no new projects marketed in the first six months of the year, which was the worst period for the company in the last five years.

The manager of a real estate firm in district 3, HCM City, said his firm had no new projects marketed in the first six months of the year, which was the worst period for the company in the last five years.

To minimize the risks caused by the cash shortage, the firm cleared stocks by selling at a discount rate of 20 percent.



Real estate distributors and brokers have also been sitting idle since the Tet holiday.



According to the deputy chair of the Vietnam Real Estate Broker Association, there were 1,200 real estate trading floors as of the end of 2019, including 500 in HCM City and 300 in Hanoi. When the pandemic became more complicated, 80 percent of the trading floors suspended operation in February, March and April, while most of the remaining opened only online.



Nguyen Loc Hanh, CEO of Ngoc Chau A Real Estate Investment JSC, commented that real estate firms are at high financial risks because of Covid-19. The pressure on cash flow will still last until the end of the year, or even longer, depending on the health of businesses.



The CEO said Covid-19 has weakened the purchasing power in the market, which is the biggest concern.



If the pandemic had not broken out, customers would have made payment for products for which they had registered and banks would still have disbursed money as planned.



But COVId-19 has slowed the cash flow. Clients, investors, banks and brokerage companies all lost liquidity temporarily, and they gave priority to keeping cash.



According to Hanh, during the 2008-2009 crisis, the market collapsed just after one "knockout" . During Covid-19, a battle with many rounds, businesses are getting worn down.

Mai Lan

Real estate booms in HCMC's suburban areas The real estate market is picking up in the areas surrounding Ho Chi Minh City as inner-city options become limited and the infrastructure of these provinces is improving.
Through candid dialogue, mutual respect, and a strong commitment to succeed by the leadership of both countries, Vietnam and the United States created a comprehensive partnership that identifies areas for both countries to work together.

Adam Sitkoff - Executive director AmCham Hanoi

One of the relationships strengths is its multifaceted nature. Economically, the United States is a key trading partner and investor for Vietnam. Politically, Vietnam and the United States share the same interest: peace and stability in East Asia, and mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended lives, jeopardised employment for millions, and disrupted the global trading system on which both nations depend.

Our countries now have a strong friendship anchored in mutual respect and work closely in many areas including regional security, education, global health, food and energy security, disaster response, and more.

Of equal importance are cultural links. The United States has the largest population of Vietnamese people outside Vietnam. Americans of Vietnamese ancestry are playing a critical role in Vietnams development. Their investment, as well as their talent and entrepreneurship have helped drive Vietnams impressive economic growth.

Back in 1995, only 60,000 Americans visited Vietnam. Last years total was almost 700,000 visitors and we hope to accelerate that growth once international travel normalises after the pandemic. In addition, there are over 30,000 young Vietnamese people studying in the United States, where they are acquiring much-needed skills and knowledge.

Trade is the cornerstone of the bilateral relationship and great changes have taken place in the development of the American business community here.

Soon after the resumption of economic relations, a small group of Americans founded the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) at its first meeting at the Dragon Hotel near West Lake in 1994.

AmCham then began holding small monthly meetings on the top floor of the Army Hotel in Hanoi. AmCham organised many activities for members of the community in those early days including lunches with visiting government officials, softball games, a traditional Thanksgiving holiday dinner in the former conference hall of the Metropole Hotel, and the first American Independence Day celebration in over 40 years held in Hanoi.

AmCham members have contributed significantly to the transformation and growth of Vietnams economy and many of our longtime members were instrumental in helping normalise the bilateral relationship.

AmCham is an independent, non-political, and non-profit membership organisation that serves as the Voice of American Business in Vietnam. Our mission is to increase trade and investment between the United States and Vietnam and our diverse membership of agriculture, retail, education, manufacturing, services, and the not-for-profit sector, is unified by a common commitment to the principles of free trade, open markets, private enterprise, and the unrestricted flow of information.

We aim to support the success of our members by promoting a healthy business environment, strengthening bilateral commercial ties, and providing high-quality events and information for members. AmCham offers assistance and information pertaining to government, referrals, and business laws to members.

The chamber provides trade information and guidance for companies seeking new business contacts or for those wishing to establish operations in Vietnam or in the United States, as well as a forum where knowledge and experience can be exchanged among members and prominent guest speakers.

Together, AmCham members represent billions of dollars in foreign investment, tens of thousands of direct employees, hundreds of thousands of indirect employees, and a significant share of Vietnams exports and tax revenues. Business activity started slowly for Americans here but now we see US companies and investors active in almost every sector of Vietnams economy.

In 1995, bilateral trade was just $451 million. It is now almost $75 billion. US exports to Vietnam have more than quadrupled in the last decade, and the United States remains the largest export market for Vietnam, even during this terrible pandemic.

As we look towards the future, we hope both governments can begin efforts towards a bilateral free trade agreement. This would improve investment and trade flows, would assist sustainable supply chains, and would improve business conditions that strengthen the private sector, ensure sustainable economic and social development, and promote prosperity.

AmCham members bring high-quality products and state-of-the-art technologies, services, and business practices to Vietnam. We partner with Vietnam to develop high-tech, innovative industries. We commit to upholding Vietnams labour and environment laws, and to being good corporate citizens.

Our companies are leaders in promoting sustainability and innovation in Vietnam through global business practices that ensure responsible supply chains and combat climate change.

We want to partner to develop infrastructure that ensures energy security and facilitates sustainable growth. We share an interest in developing a globally competitive workforce, creating quality jobs, and investing in the professional development of our Vietnamese team members.

American investors are optimistic about business prospects in Vietnam. We support efforts to create a modern economy that will attract future investment and high-paying jobs for Vietnamese people.

For Vietnam to be successful, non-productive red tape must be controlled and the countrys regulatory framework must be stable and predictable.

AmCham members remain concerned with changes in policy and regulations which are not consistent with international best practices. We encourage continuous improvements in infrastructure development, protection of intellectual property, education reform, legal and tax policy certainty, and enhanced transparency in Vietnam.

Maybe most important is to enact smooth, fair, and consistent tax and audit procedures. Too often, US investors feel there is an arbitrary and unpredictable audit and tax system. Progress in these areas will not only help attract more foreign investment, but will also support Vietnams aspirations to propel itself to the next sphere of economic competitiveness.

With a growing trade imbalance, it is critical that our members encounter an equal, level, and predictable playing field as a foundation, not only to attract new investment, but also to maintain and grow the investment that is here.

In addition, we recommend that international investment limitations, an overly restrictive legal framework of laws, and burdensome administrative procedures should be carefully reviewed and selectively relaxed to encourage increased US investment.

As major investors here, American companies have an interest in Vietnams continued success. The issues raised above highlight our belief that the business climate can best be helped by actions that increase productivity and reduce the costs and risks of doing business in Vietnam.

More importantly, decreasing the cost and complication of doing business will benefit Vietnamese-owned businesses  many of which are small businesses  and will spur entrepreneurship which will ensure Vietnams future competitiveness and growth.

Our members see great opportunity and a bright future here. AmCham will continue to work on lowering barriers to trade, to help the Vietnamese government make it easier to do business, and to create a high-standard, transparent, and stable business environment. VIR

Adam Sitkoff
Foxconns rush expansion in Vietnam raise nosy that whether Apple will choose the country as the place to build nest.

Foxconn has issued the plan to build three accommodation projects for workers in Bac Giang, Bac Ninh and Vinh Phuc, showing clear signs that this group is expanding its operation in Vietnam.

These three projects are Golden Park social-housing project in Que Vo district of Bac Ninh worth VND2.9 trillion, VND3.4 trillion Van Trung project in Viet Yen district of Bac Giang and housing and public service project worth VND1.06 trillion in Binh Xuyen district of Vinh Phuc.

According to the company, these projects are to deal with the urgent demand on accommodation for its workers. At presents, the groups recruits approximately 50,000 workers.

However, there is opinion that this move is not to supply the accommodation for existing workers only, the main purpose is to prepare housing for upcoming recruitment for its expanded projects.

In reality, there are bases for this forecast because in the documents submitted to Vietnams authorities, Foxconn noted that it is proposing to develop 600-ha industrial zone (IZ) in Bac Giang, simultaneously implement the second phase of Binh Xuyen 2 IZ with the scale of 70 ha.

Previously, the group used to commit to invest $5 billion in Vietnam after having small-scale projects in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang. In February 2008, the group was granted the investment certificate to implement the mobile phone manufacturing project worth $200 million and 485  ha Binh Xuyen 2 IZ worth $25 million.

However, the mobile phone manufacturing project was failed and the scale of Binh Xuyen 2 was adjusted to 45.6 ha.

Apple will arrive to Vietnam?

In front of Foxconns move, there is a question that whether Apple will also establish manufacturing facility in Vietnam?

While mobile phone manufacturers namely Samsung, LG directly build plants in Vietnam, Apple selects a different way namely ordering from outsourcing companies and Foxconn is an example.

To date, there is no official information affirming that Apple with select Vietnam as the place to manufacture and assemble iPhone and iPad, excluding parts for these products. There is also information that Samsung Display in Bac Ninh investment technology line to produce screen for iPhone.

Deputy chairman of Apple in an online meeting with representative of Ministry of Planning and Investment at early this year shares plans to increase order volumes from outsourcing partners.

Previously, this group had plans to develop a data centre in Vietnam with the scale of $1 billion, but it has yet to mentioned about this plan so far. VIR

Nguyen Duc

What is Digiworld seeking from strategic cooperation with Apple? The Gioi Di Dong (Digiworld) has embarked on strategic cooperation with Apple, though purchasing power in Vietnam is showing signs of slowdown.
Ho Van Tai of Tan Phu Trung Commune in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap is considered the last artisan producing embossed fabric pictures in Vietnams southern region, after 68 years in the craft.

CREATIVE HANDS: Tai and his wife Thuy make embossed fabric pictures together. Photo tienphong.vn

Embossed fabric pictures were a popular form of 3D art from 1956 to 1965. A combination of painting and craft and influenced by the creativity of artisans, the vivid pictures resembled those produced by modern 3D technology.

According to 84-year-old Tai, the artform was founded by Tran Van Huy, a handicraft teacher in the city of Sa Dec, in 1948.

I was a 16-year-old student at his school, and one day, during a handicraft class, we ran out of glue so went to his workshop to find some, he recalled. There I saw beautiful landscape pictures Huy had made from fabric. I found them so wonderful I became determined to learn the craft.

There were many Chinese-Vietnamese living in Sa Dec at the time. During ritual ceremonies in pagodas or at funerals, they ordered many pieces of fabric around two metres in length and one metre wide, on which paper Chinese characters were attached. When customers ordered up to 300 pieces of fabric, apprentices at Huys workshop had to work day and night to finish them on time.

POPPING OUT: Fabric pictures have a 3D effect. Photo tienphong.vn

Seeing that such products were becoming repetitious, Huy came up with the idea of drawing words on thin paper and putting them on a cardboard backing. The words were then wrapped in fabric and stuffed with cotton, which made them come to life.

Applying the same method, he was able to create many pictures from fabric and extended the themes, from 3D words to animals and landscapes and portraits. Such creativity paved the way for a new artistic trend and a new artform that grew in popularity in the mid-20th century.

In 1956, Huys family moved to Sai Gon and Tai followed his teacher, with both working in a restaurant. The stable jobs gave them handy salaries but the passion for art burned bright in the two men from Sa Dec.

By chance, Huy learned about an evening class at the Painting and Sculpture Centre by painter Mai Lan and they decided to sign up. Both then worked at the restaurant during the day and studied at night.

After a year and a half, Tai graduated from the painting class and opened his own workshop. In 1960, his Truc Lam fabric picture workshop opened its doors.

According to Tai, a finished work is made from fabric, cotton, thin paper, and cardboard, with a white silk frame as a backdrop.

ON DISPLAY: An embossed fabric picture from Tai portraying three deities - Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity - was part of an exhibition at the Hanoi Museum four years ago. Photo baotanghanoi.com.vn

It takes much effort to create a single embossed fabric picture, he said, starting with sketches of the subject on paper, be it a person, an animal, or a landscape, then using cotton to make the shape.

The image is then wrapped in fabric like brocade or silk to create folds. Finally, the fabric images are glued to a canvas on which the background has already been painted.

Tai is fortunate to have his wife, Nguyen Thi Bach Thuy, who has always been an enthusiastic assistant.

Every step in this craft must be done slowly, she said while carefully tearing off pieces of cotton to shape an image of a buffalo. It requires great patience. Anyone who is quick-tempered or impulsive could not possibly pursue it.

Thuy didnt know how to make fabric pictures when they first met but it was the artform that bonded them together.

After they were married, their Truc Lam workshop became increasingly crowded and agents started to arrive from the north and the south. Seven or eight young people applied for apprenticeships at Tais workshop.

Pictures of Buddha used to be popular in the 1960s and both teacher and students had to work long hours to finish dozens of pictures.

The lights were on in the shop every night, Thuy recalled about those golden days. When the daily preparations in restaurant opposite began in the morning, we were just going to bed.

Then came the chaos of war, forcing Tai and his wife to return to Sa Dec. The artisan continued to make fabric pictures but on his own, without any apprentices or assistants.

I used to take care of the cooking and caring for the children, as I didnt know anything about the craft, Thuy added. But after watching my husband work by the light of an oil lamp every night, I began to study the craft and have been his assistant ever since.

Due to falling demand and the meticulousness required, few artisans pursue the craft these days and its sadly falling into obscurity. Tai and his wife are the only ones now involved in the craft.

The old artisan still has customers from Mekong Delta cities and provinces such as Can Tho, Vinh Long and Kien Giang.

He has created more than 3,000 embossed fabric pictures in his 68-year-career, which have been exhibited throughout the country.

His works were on display at the Hanoi Museum four years ago, which showcased 12 typical types of Vietnamese folk paintings, such as Dong Ho and Kim Hoang.

I think this craft will be lost, because there are few enthusiasts nowadays, Tai said sadly. It takes a great deal of time to become a skilled artisan, and Im already too old to teach others.

He now views making embossed fabric pictures as a way to enjoy his twilight years.

I still dream that, as long as my health allows, I could hold an exhibition of 70 or 80 of my fabric pictures, he added. I also dream that such an exhibition would be peoples final memory of me. VNS

Phuong Ha
The county has seen 526 community cases. Of those, 10 are younger than 10 years old; 30 are in the 10-19 range; 87 are 20-29 years old; 75 are 30-39; 83 are 40-49; 140 are 50-59; 68 are 60-69; 19 are 70-79; and 14 are 80-89. Women have accounted for 265 of the positive tests, men for 261. In cases where race is known, 87% of those testing positive have been white, 7% have been Black, 6% other. Where ethnicity is known, 17% are Hispanic. The number of community hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic rose by one, to 77.
Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy on July 6 expressed his expectation that the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) will further assist the regional states in responding to the COVID-19 and combating terrorism.

Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy represents Vietnam in a video conference held by the UN Security Council to discuss the operation of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA).

Quy, head of Vietnams Mission to the UN, made the statement during a video conference held by the UN Security Council to discuss the UNRCCAs operation.

He spoke highly of the role of the UNRCCA and Natalia Gherman, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia and the UNRCCAs Head, in fostering preventive diplomacy in Central Asia and the positive security, social and economic progress in this region.

He said he hopes the UNRCCA will continue supporting the five Central Asian countries, consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, in strengthening transboundary water management, fostering regional cooperation and empowering the youth and women.

Gherman briefed participants of the UNRCCAs activities since the last meeting in January which focused on providing help for the regional states to contain the spread of the coronavirus, promoting regional social-economic growth, and tackling non-conventional security challenges such as terrorism and extremism, as well as transnational crimes and climate change.

The centre has also helped these five countries in managing transboundary water issues and increasing the youth and womens participation in preventive diplomacy, she said./.VNA
Colonel Do Thanh Binh, deputy director of the Traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, talks to the media about paying traffic fines online via the national public service portal.

Traffic police stop vehicles to conduct inspections and handle violations of drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol.  VNA/VNS Photo Doan Tan

After three months of piloting online payment for traffic violations on the national public service portal in five localities, can you tell us about the results?

Traffic police officers nationwide posted 13,000 violations on the National Public Service Portal, of which 11,000 cases ended in sanctions.

Our mission is to provide people with the fastest relevant information such as violation records and penalty decisions so that violators can choose the payment methods.

However, the rate of payment of fines through the portal is limited. We have only received 97 cases.

We need people's phone numbers so we can provide them with information as quickly as possible. But in the administrative violation record, the phone number of the violator is not required.

We also need people's email address to send violation information in PDF format.

Another difficulty is that people must have an account and information technology knowledge to pay fines online.

It is necessary to enhance close co-ordination between relevant agencies to facilitate online payment.

The Traffic Police Department is co-operating with the State Treasury to identify and digitise the fine payment code to facilitate online payment.

What do you think about the workload of traffic police nationwide when people use this online service?

Using technology is an indispensable trend of modern life.

Digitisation will help greatly reduce the workload of police officers.

The department will update the information of violators on its database and link it with the national public services portal.

Each year, we punish nearly 5 million cases of violations. It could save money for the State budget if we do not have to print paper records.

The Ministry of Public Security is currently building many databases.

As for traffic police, we have had data for vehicle registrations since 2009.

Do you think paying fines online will actually contribute to preventing negative experiences and corruption?

On-the-spot and offline payment procedures are not only time-consuming and strenuous, but they also allow corruption and negative experiences.

Surveillance cameras and speed cameras have been installed along some highways and expressways to record violations.

Penalties will be imposed in accordance with violations documented on camera. And also through cameras, corruption and negative experiences can't be hidden.

Surveillance cameras and speed cameras installed along the Hanoi-Lao Cai Expressway have been put in use to start recording violations.

The images and data recorded are sent to an information centre and then transmitted to traffic police who are on duty along the route.

Traffic police officers only control at the toll booth.

We believe electronic data, electronic evidence and electronic penalties will show transparency and objectivity throughout the operation.

This is a mandatory requirement and the direction of the Minister of Public Security in implementing digital technology.

The difficulty now is making the synchronous connection between agencies.

People's compliance with traffic laws will also be improved.

What do you think about the feasibility of applying digital technology in traffic sanctions?

There are fewer violators completing their payment through the portal and they have not also strictly implemented this responsibility.

We have asked the Ministry of Justice to review the provisions of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations. Violations recorded from cameras should be considered as direct evidence to verify violations.

I think reforms and technology application aims to help detect and handle violations strictly and violators must be responsible for their violations. VNS

Online payments for traffic violations People who violate traffic laws will be able to pay their fines online starting from June 30.
It is an advantage to be able to go out there and, you know, not necessarily feel that you owe anyone or that you have to look out for particular people or any situation like that, McCoy said Monday. He said being relatively unknown was a strength for him when he was hired as fire chief in York, where he established Pennsylvanias first regional combination paid and volunteer fire department.
He said in hell there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. What if sobbing is a life thing used to express regret, despair or, we hope, repentance? It could be, but maybe not, saving repentance thats if we throw our aching soul toward Jesus, Jesuss death resurrection, His perfect love; and then he steps in.

Another suggestion for hell was the parable of the unjust steward. We should hedge our judgment of sinners in case we are put out with them.

Jesus says hell is encompassing hot, a lake of fire, living space for the godless ones. Jesus wishes no one to go there. He wants none of his creation lost.

Law and order

RANDY COOK

ELK RUN HEIGHTS -- Here we go again. Democrats have a candidate that cant win without ballot harvesting and mail-in ballots. So they turn to Russia again. The last time Trump made a decision to protect our troops in Iran and ordered an air strike to eliminate an Iranian general responsible for hundreds of U.S. soldiers' deaths, the Democratic response, along with the liberal press, was outrage and disgust.
Executing an Iowan found guilty of the deaths of five people, including two children, would contribute to a growing disrespect for the sacredness of all human life, Iowa Catholic bishops say in a letter asking President Donald Trump to commute the killers sentence.

We believe that state-sanctioned killing would not deter or end violence, but instead perpetuate a cycle of violence, the four Roman Catholic bishops wrote to the president. We oppose the death penalty to follow the example of Jesus, who both taught and practiced the forgiveness of injustice.

However, Trump often has spoken about capital punishment and his belief that executions serve as an effective deterrent and an appropriate punishment for some crimes, including mass shootings and the killings of police officers.

Acknowledging his horrific acts, the bishops are asking Trump to commute the sentence for Dustin Honken from death to life without the possibility of parole.

Honken, whose attorney described him as a deeply remorseful and devout Catholic and loving father of two children, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection July 17.

Location of the execution has not been released.
UI Physicians surpassed the $9 million cap on settlement payments and attorney fees for the first time since the state-UI cooperative program began decades ago. A dozen settlements involving the UI physicians group over the last budget year totaled $13.1 million, plus $1.2 million in attorney fees, totaling $14.3 million in payouts for the year, according to State Appeal Board documents.

Although the state is willing to pay back UI Physicians for the overage this year, Iowa Solicitor General Jeffrey Thompson on Monday said the state has amended its agreement with UI for the new budget year to  among other things  make UI Physicians responsible for its attorney fees and expenses. Weve negotiated enhanced limits and a new process going forward, which we think will save the state some risk and some money as well, Thompson said.

FRAUD FIGHTERS: State insurance officials are offering Iowa seniors information on combating fraudulent solicitations or offers.

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Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said Monday his division is offering an Iowa Fraud Fighters  Shield Your Savings public education webinar series this month.
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: 338 (-50)

Percent change in cases over 14 days: 47.1% (no change). National average: 81.1% (no change). (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. (Info: Rt.live)

Deaths: 725 (+4)

The total number of people whose deaths were attributable to the novel coronavirus since IDPH began tracking such deaths in March 2020.
When the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1787, it didnt guaranteed the rights of women or men as a class to be equal. The rights it affirmed were guaranteed equally only for certain white males. Two-hundred thirty-three years later, the Equal Rights Amendment is necessary, and heres why.

The ERA was first introduced to Congress in 1923 and passed 49 years later in 1972 as follows: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The ERA sought to end the distinctions between genders in matters of divorce, property, employment and other legal issues.

Just like it took 72 years (1848-1920) of men and women enduring arrests, beatings, imprisonment and derision for the 19th Amendment to become part of the Constitution giving women the right to vote, here we are 97 years after Congress first introduced the ERA seeking equal rights for all American citizens regardless of gender. Hard Won  Not Done is the theme of Iowas 19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration this year, and seeking passage of the ERA is a prime example of the Not Done element.
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Authorities said Varnum called the sponsor of the Vaccinate All Children Act, and in a transcript of the call, Varnum said he would travel to Miami to kill her. Wilson was the lead sponsor of the bill, and the only one of the sponsors who is from Miami.
July is a quiet month on the election calendar. Tuesday brings us the Delaware and New Jersey presidential primaries, rescheduled from April 28. There are also congressional primaries in New Jersey.

Looking ahead, Louisiana and Puerto Rico have scheduled presidential primaries this weekend. That wraps up the presidential primary calendar, except for Connecticut (August 11).

Next Tuesday, July 14, there are congressional primaries in Maine and primary runoff elections in Alabama and Texas.

14 states hold non-presidential primaries in August, with another four closing out the calendar in the first half of September.

While you are waiting for the results, try out our new 2020 presidential election simulator.

Polls Close (Eastern Time)

Your individual polling place may have different hours. Do not rely on this schedule to determine when to vote.

8:00 PM Delaware, New Jersey

Results by State

Delaware

President: There are 21 pledged delegates available in the Democratic presidential primary.

There's also a GOP primary.

Delaware's downballot primaries are scheduled for September 15.

Back to Top

New Jersey

President: There are 126 pledged delegates available in the Democratic presidential primary.

On the Republican ballot, Donald Trump is unopposed.

Senate: Cory Booker has drawn a nominal primary challenge. He should have little trouble winning both that and another six-year term in November.

House: On the way to taking control of the House, Democrats flipped four seats here in the 2018 midterms. That temporarily left the delegation with just a single GOP representative, Mike Smith (NJ-4). Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew switched parties in the wake of impeachment late last year, making the current count ten Democrats, 2 Republicans. There are several interesting races to watch, starting with Van Drew's 2nd district.

District 2: The district covers South Jersey and is the largest by land area in the state. Van Drew was elected (as a Democrat) by 8%, flipping a district Donald Trump won by about 5%. Although Van Drew has Trump's support, he has drawn a primary challenge from conservative Bob Patterson. It is worth noting that the last House Democrat to switch, Parker Griffith (AL-5) in 2009, lost the 2010 GOP primary and was unsuccessful in subsequent efforts to regain public office.

Van Drew's defection has created an opening on the Democratic side, with several vying for the nomination. The general election is seen as competitive, with a consensus rating of Leans Republican.

District 3: This district stretches across the south-central part of the state, including both Philadelphia suburbs and coastal areas. Another Democratic gain in 2018, Andy Kim won by just 1% over incumbent Republican Tom MacArthur. It was the closest House race in the state that year. Kim is unopposed for renomination. Two Republicans are looking to take him on in this district that Trump won by 6 points in 2016. One of them, David Richter, was originally going to run in District 2. He shifted to this race after Van Drew joined the GOP and earned Trump's support.

The general election is expected to be competitive with a consensus of Leans Democratic.

District 5: The Democratic primary in this far North Jersey district may be more interesting than the general election. In 2016, Democrat Josh Gottheimer ousted seven-term Republican Scott Garrett by 5 points; he won reelection in 2018 by about 14 points. A relatively conservative Democrat, Gottheimer has attracted a primary challenge from the left. That progressive challenger, Arati Kreibich, has been endorsed by Bernie Sanders. Gottheimer has a 10-1 fundraising advantage and is favored, but it is one to keep an eye on.

The general election is seen as Likely Democratic at this time.

District 7: Republicans have recruited a marquee name in an attempt to win back this district in the north-central portion of the state. Assuming he wins Tuesday's primary, Senate minority leader Tom Kean, Jr. will meet incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski in November. Kean is the son of former Gov. Tom Kean, and part of a political family that goes back many generations.

Malinowski defeated Republican Leonard Lance by 5% here in 2018. The general election consensus is Leans Democratic.

District 8: This oddly shaped, deep blue district runs along the Hudson River to points west including parts of Newark and Elizabeth. Albio Sires won his 8th term by a 60 point margin in 2018. This year, he's facing a primary challenge from progressive lawyer Hector Oseguera, whose campaign has picked up momentum in recent weeks. As in District 5, the incumbent is favored, but the race bears watching.

All New Jersey Results >>
Marin County is home to a plethora of outdoor adventure opportunities including hiking and biking trails, beaches, and lighthouses spread across the diverse public lands.

Though some of these areas can get crowded on weekends, there are also plenty trails that are comparatively less traveled. Here are a few of our favorites.

Chimney Rock



1.4 miles, 100 feet of elevation gain, moderate congestion, stunning Point Reyes vista

Part of the Point Reyes National Seashore, this short hike out to Chimney Rock provides an unparalleled perspective on the beauty of Drake's Bay and the surrounding swath of Pacific Ocean. The Chimney Rock trail traverses the exposed, bluff-lined peninsula that forms the eastern section of Point Reyes, heading out to the tip and an overlook of the ocean, Drakes' Bay, and Chimney Rock. Despite the trail's name, Chimney Rock itself might be the least exciting feature of the hike; rather, views of the unique coastline, marine life, Point Reyes' lifeboat history, and spring wildflowers steal the show.





Palomarin to Bass Lake



5.2 miles, 320 feet of elevation gain, moderate congestion, secluded summer swimming hole



The hike from Palomarin to Bass Lake along the Coast Trail is long enough to get your blood flowing, but it won't take a full day or all your energy to complete. A shorter there-and-back hike than Alamere Falls (by about 3 miles), Bass Lake is a destination unto itself that boasts a picturesque lake as a reward and a tucked away swimming hole for those warm summer and fall Marin days.





Palomarin to Alamere Falls



8.2 miles, 600 feet of elevation gain, moderate congestion, ends at a waterfall flowing into the ocean

The trip to Alamere Falls offers stunning coastal views of Point Reyes National Seashore and a wonderfully unique waterfall. The landscape is varied with coastal scrub pine and oak forests, and there are several lakes along the way. Alamere Falls pours from a rocky cliff onto a long, wide stretch of beach, and it is the perfect place to enjoy a lunch break or an afternoon stroll in the sand.





Coastal Trail, Pantoll to W. Ridgecrest Blvd



5.4 miles, 200 feet of elevation gain, low congestion, panoramic vistas from Mt. Tam State Park over the Pacific.

If panoramic ocean views are what you're after, the section of the Coastal Trail running between Pantoll Station and W Ridgecrest Blvd in Mount Tamalpais State Park might just be the perfect trail for you. Traversing approximately 2.5 miles along the upper flanks of Mount Tam's western slopes, this breathtaking section of California's Coastal Trail is relatively flat, allowing you to focus your energy on the surrounding scenery rather than catching your breath.





Coastal Trail, Rodeo Beach to Muir Beach



13.1 miles, 3,528 feet of elevation gain, high congestion, explores beaches, coves and rugged coastal bluffs

This section of the Coastal Trail begins not to far from Marin Mammals Center at Rodeo Beach, a unique beach with red and green pebbly chert grains. You'll quickly note the dilapidated military structures that are visible in the distance; in contrast to Rodeo Beach's Fort Barry and Fort Cronkhite, both of which serve as National Park Service facilities, all of the batteries and small gun emplacements on the ridge are empty and abandoned, their walls covered by graffiti.





Muir Woods via Deer Park Fire Road



4.3 miles, 860 feet of elevation gain, moderate congestion, backdoor trail into Muir Woods

With nearly one million annual visitors, Muir Woods National Monument can feel like a tourist zoo at times, particularly on weekends. Fortunately, there's a little known back-door entrance, that offers a pleasant hike with coastal views, ridges, and redwood stands via the Deer Park Fire Rd. that is a guaranteed way to avoid the crowds.





Sky Trail Loop, Bear Valley to Mount Wittenberg



7 miles, 1,291 feet of elevation gain, moderate congestion, a portal to Point Reyes lesser known country

Point Reyes National Seashore is a 70,000-acre outdoor playground about 30 miles north of San Francisco. With ample trails, campgrounds, and beaches, Point Reyes attracts outdoor and nature enthusiasts from around the world. The area has a resident tule elk herd, a huge variety of bird species, and it is a favorite mating spot for northern elephant seals.





Steep Ravine Trail to Dipsea Trail Loop



3.4 miles, 950 feet of elevation gain, moderate congestion, diverse loop with redwood-filled ravines and coastal views

Mount Tamalpais State Park's Steep Ravine Trail is a worthy hike by itself, but when you add the western stretch of the Dipsea Trail to make a loop out of the hike, this becomes one of Mount Tam's most spectacular jaunts. The Steep Ravine Trail follows Webb Creek through a cascading canyon under a canopy of lush redwoods and fern-filled gullies. Pass over a handful of wooden bridges that crisscross the creek, and even scramble up a 10-foot ladder surmounting moss covered boulders. This shaded, verdant oasis feels like Land Before Time territory, and thoughts of urban hustle and bustle float away with the creek's flow.





Loma Alta



5.7 miles, 1,177 feet of elevation gain, low congestion, solitude in Marin's hilltop interior

With no shortage of trails in Marin county, it's easy to overlook the Loma Alta Trail. Located just across from Big Rock Trail and off of the same parking lot, this hike is well worth exploring if you are searching for open space in the beautiful hills of Marin.





East Peak via Hogback + Fern Creek Trail



4 miles, 1,600 feet of elevation gain, moderate congestion, direct route to Marin's tallest peak

A moderate half-day hike, the Hogback Fire Road to Fern Creek Trail route provides some of the most direct access to East Peak, the true summit of Mount Tamalpais. Winding up Mount Tamalpias' south facing slopes, the route ascends open fire roads before splitting off on the Fern Creek trail en route to the summit. East Peak, and much of the trail itself, offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, the surrounding Marin hills, San Francisco Peninsula and San Pablo Bay.
Holz said some tools, which he believed were Riddles, and a shoe print, were found by the body. The print was collected, but Holz doesnt think they will find a match among the defendants because one of the CIs told him everyone involved burned their shoes. A partially burned latex glove was found on Riddles body, Holz said, and Merrell was known to carry such gloves with him for when he did tattooing. Holz testified those involved in Riddles death wore gloves to prevent DNA being spread.
Noah Fish

Forum News Service

The average dairy farm in Minnesota generates more than $1 million for the state economy, according to a newly issued report from the University of Minnesota Extension.

That was just one of the conclusions drawn by Extension educator Megan Roberts, economist Joleen Hadrich and senior economic impact analyst Brigid Tuck in The Role of Dairy Farmers in Minnesotas Economy.

Tuck said she and her colleagues were interested in understanding whats happening in the fast-changing dairy industry in Minnesota, and what the economic implications are for our communities.

The analysis showed, on average, 2019 was a much-needed turnaround for some Minnesota dairy farmers, while other operators experienced a sixth-year of consecutive losses.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture information showed that as of May of this year, Minnesota had 2,456 total dairy farms. Thats about 2,000 fewer than 10 years ago. But despite the reduction, the number of dairy cows has decreased just slightly, the report said.

The report shows how important dairy continues to be for the state of Minnesota, especially in areas like southeast Minnesota, Tuck said. As well as the importance of continuing to support our dairy farmers as they face these changes.

Economic boon

Stearns, Morrison and Winona counties were the highest in the state for dairy production. Tuck said local businesses near dairy farms, such as animal food manufacturers, grain farms and other crop farming operations are the top industries affected by the states dairy farms.

One thing that really drives economic impact from our farms is that they use a lot of local supplies, Tuck said. And Minnesota in particular, with a long history of dairying, has a good supply chain built up around it.

The report, which examined how dairy farms contribute to local economies, concluded that an average Minnesota dairy farm generates $1.6 million to the states economy, and nearly $48,000 in local and state taxes.

While dairy producers themselves see little profit or even losses, their spending to raise dairy cows and produce milk generates significant activity in Minnesotas economy, the report said.

Dairy products make up for almost 10% of the states entire agriculture product sales, and Minnesota exports nearly 5% of the total dairy exports in the U.S., with a value of $251 million, according to USDA Census of Ag information.

A new break-even mark

According to the report, Minnesota dairy farms  which were operating at a loss prior to 2019  needed to generate around $4,000 per cow to break even with their operations. The average dairy operation in Minnesota made $224 per cow in profit, or $396 when unpaid labor and management charges were removed from the equation.

It depends a lot on the farm and the management that goes into how well they can manage their herd and manage the markets as well, Tuck said.

On average, the report concluded that a Minnesota dairy farm spent $882,160 to produce milk last year, with $384,330 of that going to labor costs. The average dairy operation had 11 hired hands, the report said.

While many dairy operators planned for continued downward shifts, they were also unsure of how to recuperate from the considerable farm wealth lost in recent years, the report said.

Despite the grim scenario, the report said this was a welcome change from 2018, when the average Minnesota dairy farm generated a negative $191.55 per cow loss, and the average dairy operation in the state reported a positive profit for last year.

After several years of depressed milk prices, 2019 data shows that, pre-pandemic, many Minnesota farms were finally operating at a farm level breakeven, said the report. The second half of 2019 was financially positive for the dairy industry with improved farm gate milk prices received, in addition to state and federal government support payments, stated the analysis.

Milk still flowing despite COVID-19

Dairy farms in Minnesota produced a total of 9.8 billion pounds of milk last year which was valued around $2 billion, the report said. That milk continued to flow during the pandemic.

The dairy industry in the state was pretty steady through COVID-19, and we continued to produce milk at almost the same level, Tuck said. So we arent necessarily anticipating a big change in terms of economic impact.

The dairy industry in the state weathered the fallout from COVID-19 better than other states. While COVID-19 forced farmers in neighboring states to dump milk, Minnesota dairy operators avoided having to do that, according to the Minnesota Milk Producers Association.

Wed be writing a very different report if we were on the East Coast, said Megan Roberts, Extension educator. The industry there depends heavily on tourism and hospitality, and it has yet to recover.

As the dairy supply chain was disrupted by stay-at-home orders, Tuck said there was less demand for wholesale milk cartons, bulk milk bags, and boxed cheese. But there was more demand for dairy items packaged for retail settings, like jugs and bags of shredded cheese.

This mismatch of supply and demand caused temporary shortages for retail stores and price plunges for dairy farmers, said the report, which states that the price this year that dairy farmers got for milk was as high as $18.02 per hundredweight pre-pandemic but dropped as low as $10.68 per hundredweight in late April, which is a 40% reduction.

Minnesotas dairy industry is being propped up by school districts that continue summer nutrition programs, said Hadrich, keeping open a pipeline between farms and consumers.

For 2020, Tuck doesnt see the pandemic as a factor in changing the states economic impact from its dairy farms.

We really have a well-rounded industry, and so I think from an economic impact standpoint, that will remain stable, she said.
Elisa Sand

esand@aberdeennews.com

Jason Keeton was a high school sophomore and junior when his flag designs were selected as the winning entries for Exchange Club contests.

Those contests drew hundreds of entries, all hoping to be selected as the flag design for Brown County and Aberdeen.

According to American News archives, Keeton was selected first as the winner of the Brown County flag design contest in December 1987. His design was one of 500 entries. It featured a red, white and blue striped background with a central design depicting a train. He was 15 at the time and a sophomore at Central High School.

He chose the train as the central design element, he said, because of the railroads connection to Aberdeens history.

In January 1989, a Keeton design was again selected as the winning entry in a flag design contest  this time for the city. His design was among 300 entries and depicts four images  two hands shaking, symbolizing working together; wheat and a plow, representing agriculture; the courthouse dome to signify a city landmark; and a train because they were instrumental in the settlement of Aberdeen.

When the design was presented to the city commission, the mayor announced a proclamation declaring it the official flag of the city, according to Aberdeen News reports at the time.

Today, Keeton is 48 and living in Miami Beach, Fla. The 1990 Central graduate said he recalls both contests. Hes since had a career as a commercial pilot before recently starting his own media company producing commercials for the aerospace industry.

Id always been talented in art, Keeton said in a recent phone interview. I was kind of known as someone who would be an artists growing up.

He said both contests were open to students and adults. There was only one caveat. Those who entered had to be a resident or former resident of Brown County for the county flag contest or Aberdeen for the city flag contest.

Keeton said his city flag design depicts a crest because that style was popular at the time. Each of the four elements had special significance, he said. For example, he said, the courthouse tower was thought of as a unique and special feature in the community, so that was included in his final design.

The shaking hands, he said, were a symbol of business progress and moving forward together.

He also remembers his original county flag design featured more colors, but he ended up paring that down due to high printing costs.

At the time it was an honor to win a winning design that was going to fly above the courthouse, Keeton said. I felt really proud of myself. I knew my dad would feel proud.

Keetons dad was alive to see him win the county contest but died before the city flag contest.

In recent weeks, a new city flag design has been proposed. It was designed by Pinned Workshop as one component to the rebranding effort completed for the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce, Aberdeen Downtown Association, Aberdeen Convention & Visitors Bureau and Aberdeen Development Corp. The bid to design the new city slogan and brand was $13,000, with no additional cost going to the design of the flag.

The proposed design was unveiled to the city council, but officials knew little about the original city flag. When Keeton heard about the new design, he reached out to the American News.

Looking at the designs today, he said he knows theyre somewhat dated. He has no egoic attachment to them, he said and it was fun to see the city flag last as long as it did.

Keeton said he sees the merit in fresh designs and rebranding. If the city decides to go with a new flag design, hes OK with that.
One: I am not prejudiced. I will state that whenever appropriate. Why would I not deny a false charge of racism made by ignorant people? Two: I believe that most people in this country are not racist. Why would we not deny that this is a racist country when so many people of various colors continue to flood in  illegally or otherwise? Because I believe that, I will affirm it. Three: Of course, I understand that I am not Black and have not experienced many of the trials and tribulations experienced by Blacks. I can, however, try to set the best example of that I can by treating others with respect. Four: The writer claimed that the demonstrations are not about white people. Seriously? White people are taking the brunt of it all. It is whites who are blamed for past and present sins  all of us. I completely understand that it is not all about us (whites), but its clearly about all of us  Black, white and every shade in between.
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Movie fans have voiced concerns that the 'Fury' actor may have been cast to play a Latino character when he is not of Latin descent after the trailer for the David Ayer-directed film was released.

Jul 7, 2020

AceShowbiz - Shia LaBeouf has been accused of using "brownface" after the trailer for his new movie seemingly showed him portraying a man of Mexican descent.

The criticism was sparked when the trailer for the David Ayer directed film The "Tax Collector" was released, showing a heavily tattooed Shia playing a gangster working for a crime lord and speaking with an accent. And some movie fans took to social media to voice concerns he may have been cast to play a Latino character when he is not of Latin descent.

A Mexican TV writer and producer tweeted: "#brownfacing 2020 style," before adding: "Tell all the kids how you're Hollywood's top cholo auteur, and your pretzel reasons Shia Lebeouf (sic) is sort of kind of playing a weird movie cholo in a cop movie and how all of this isn't really."

A Mexican TV writer and producer accused Shia LaBeouf of using 'brownface' in 'Tax Collector'.

However, Ayer hit back at the claims and insisted Shia is playing a white man  although the character is heavily influenced by Latinx culture.

When another critic directly tweeted the filmmaker to ask: "Is Shia Lebouf (sic) playing a Latino character in Tax Collector? If so, why didn't you cast a Latin actor?"

The director, who helmed "Suicide Squad", responded: "Really important answer  Shia is playing a whiteboy who grew up in the hood. This is a Jewish dude playing a white character. Also the only white dude in the movie."

David Ayer clarified on Shia LaBeouf's character in 'Tax Collector'.

"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."

David Ayer further explained about chicano culture.

He also clarified, the film isn't a "cop movie", and "Shia is playing something very specific. Not brown face."

David Ayer stressed that Shia LaBeouf did not do 'brownface'.

The once-troubled actor, who starred in Ayer's film "Fury", has turned his career around in recent years, and garnered critical acclaim, particularly for his movie "Honey Boy", in which he starred as a fictionalised version of his own father.
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Cuban Link, the 'Power' creator's girlfriend, also tells her Instagram followers that she already 'knocked him upside his big a** head' following his controversial comment.

Jul 7, 2020

AceShowbiz - Considering how 50 Cent has insisted that he didn't feel sorry at all over what he said about black women during his chat with Lil Wayne, backlash continued to flood in for both him and his fellow rapper. One of the people who threw shade at the hip-hop stars was none other than Wayne's own daughter, Reginae Carter.

Reginae took to her Twitter account on Monday, July 6, "I'm black ! I'm beautiful ! I'm enough ! I'm exotic ! I'm amazing ! I'm one of my mf kind !!! Now where my beautiful queens at?" The social media star didn't name names in her tweet, but it was pretty clear that she was referring to Fiddy and Wayne's conversation.

Meanwhile, Fiddy's girlfriend Cuban Link told her followers that she already "knocked" the "Power" creator "upside his big a** head" while wishing the star a happy birthday.

Another public figure who jumped into the conversation was Torrei Hart. In the video she posted on social media, the ex-wife of Kevin Hart first made it clear that she doesn't care if a black man dates someone outside of his race. She also admitted to dating several "exotic" men in the past, but she never considered them better than black men or even boasted about it on air.

"Just because you have a preference doesn't mean you have to down your lineage or where you come from," Torrei said. "I'm so sick and tired of people tryin' to say that black women are angry. Black women are bitter. Ain't nothing bitter about me."

Both Fiddy and Wayne faced backlash after the former stated that black women are envious when black men date exotic women. "They get mad. They get angry. You see a lot of sisters go 'you f*** with this kind of girl and that kind of girl?' That s**t is exotic! That s**t look a lot different than the s**t you see in the neighborhood all of the time," he said at the time, prompting Wayne to laugh.

Despite the criticism, Fiddy didn't regret what he said in the slightest bit. "What I said is true now picture me, unaffected, unapologetic and unavailable for any other comments," he said in response to the critics.
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Two people were killed and eight others injured after someone allegedly attempted to steal a chain from the 27-year-old rapper, prompting someone onstage to fire a gun numerous times.

Jul 7, 2020

AceShowbiz - Gucci Mane's rap protege Foogiano was caught up in a fatal club shooting in South Carolina early on Sunday, July 5 after celebrating his birthday onstage.

Two people were killed and eight others injured at the Lavish Lounge venue in Greenville, where Foogiano, real name Kwame Brown, had performed to mark turning 27 and had been presented with a pricey piece of jewellery.

Reports suggest the violence erupted after someone attempted to steal a chain from the birthday boy, whose entourage apparently clashed with members of the crowd as they threw up different gang signs, according to the local Greenville News.

Video footage shared on social media appears to show someone onstage aim a gun at the audience and fire the weapon numerous times.

Sheriff Hobart Lewis reveals detectives are still trying to determine exactly who was involved in the shooting, although Foogiano himself is not thought to be among those responsible.

However, it's not clear if the MC, who is signed to Gucci's 1017 Records, was one of the people still being questioned by police late on Sunday.

The deceased victims were identified as 51-year-old club security guard Clarence Sterling Johnson, and 23-year-old mother-of-two Mykala Bell, while at least two of those also injured remain hospitalised in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, authorities are looking into whether club owners had obtained a special permit to hold the event, where there appeared to be little room for social distancing, as large gatherings are still banned in the state due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Representatives for Gucci have yet to comment on the incident.
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In a series of tweets, actress Arryn Zech claims that the husband of Eliza Taylor furiously told her that she would obviously never be enough for him after learning that she is bisexual.

Jul 7, 2020

AceShowbiz - "The 100" star Bob Morley has been accused of emotional and verbal abuse by an ex-girlfriend.

Actress Arryn Zech claims Morley was abusive towards her throughout their relationship in a series of tweets.

"I cannot count how often I was yelled at by him," she writes. "I was berated for things as silly as not knowing what Akira was when asked, after I'd said I knew anime once. For sharing a poem I wrote and having the audacity to think it's good. For sleeping in too much."

"When he found out that I am bisexual, he was furious. Saying things like I would obviously never be enough for him, that I wanted to be with women, or that I'd cheat on him. After that day, I never brought up my sexuality again. I was silenced and afraid it would just set him off."

"When I told him I was sexually assaulted at a convention, he got furious at me for 'cheating' on him. He isolated me from friends and family, claiming things like my best friend wasn't supportive enough of me or that my dad was jealous of him."

Zech also accuses Morley, who wed "The 100" castmate Eliza Taylor last summer (19), of cheating on her, adding, "I caught them on the cameras we'd set up to watch our dogs while I was in New Zealand with my mother, because he forgot to turn the cameras off when they got to our house together."

Morley has yet to respond to the allegations.
I miss each of them so very much. We were hoping that the closure of the ELC was only going to be for a short period of time, but we made the best of the situation the last three months and were able to give them a wonderful celebration with all the teachers there to wish them the best on their special day.
Paramount Television TV

During a SAG Foundation Conversations interview, the actor known for his portrayal of Captain Jean-Luc Picard explains why Commander Data's death scene was so emotional for him.

Jul 7, 2020

AceShowbiz - Sir Patrick Stewart still can't talk about his final scene with longtime "Star Trek" co-star Brent Spiner without getting choked up.

The actor admits he and his old friend had to do a lot of personal preparation before shooting Commander Data's death scene on "Star Trek: Picard", because it was so emotional.

"I get choked up talking about it," he said during a recent SAG Foundation Conversations interview. "Brent Spiner, who I love very much, and I have such a history going back 25 years... to be sitting quietly, just the two of us, for most of the day that scene took to shoot. We were talking about elements of our characters' lives, but they were huge overlaps with our personal lives as well."

"When the moment came to leave him I'd been asked to walk to the door, turn around and say, 'Goodbye Commander'. I couldn't do it because of all of the associations of Goodbye to Data, Goodbye to Brent Spiner, Goodbye to Star Trek; all of these things."

Stewart insisted on taking the chair he used in the scene home, adding, "I asked if I could buy it because that chair took on so much importance."

"This is sentimental trash but I can go and sit in that chair... and feel what I felt when I was alone on the set with Brent," he smiled.
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The NASCAR driver himself has responded with compassion to the president's tweet demanding that he apologizes for causing the drama and labeling it a 'hoax.'

Jul 8, 2020

AceShowbiz - Anderson Cooper has come to Bubba Wallace's defense and put Donald Trump to shame after the president attacked the professional car racing driver on social media. Taking to his show, the CNN news anchor called out POTUS for his "racist" tweet.

Opening his show, the journalist accused the president of "pointing to the only Black guy in a room full of white guys" and "making up things he definitely didn't do," in order to boost his sinking poll numbers. "It was racist, pure and simple," the silver fox said of the president's tweet.

The "Anderson Cooper 360" anchor also blasted Trump for trying to divert people's attention from the coronavirus crisis by "smearing a Black NASCAR driver, supporting the Confederate flag and statues of traitors, which he claims as part of our proud heritage."

"If divisive, inflammatory racist words could kill the coronavirus, then the President of the United States would be headed to Stockholm right now to pick up his Nobel prize in medicine," he sarcastically added.

Cooper's scathing comments on Trump were in response to the president's tweet, in which he weighed in on the noose found in Wallace's garage. Though the 26-year-old NASCAR driver wasn't the person who found or reported the rope to authorities, the president accused him of staging the incident and demanded an apology from Wallace.

"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?" he wrote on Monday, July 6. The president also slammed NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag from its properties, claiming, "That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!"

Wallace himself took the high road in his response to Trump's hate comment. "Your words and actions will always be held to a higher standard than others. You have to be prepared for that," he posted on his social media pages. "You don't learn these things in school. You learn them from trials and tribulations, the ups and downs this crazy world provides. You will always have people testing you. Seeing if you can knock you off your pedestal."

Sharing inspirational message, he told his followers, "I encourage you to keep your head held high and walk proudly on the path you have chosen. Never let anybody tell you can't do something! God put us all here for a reason. Find that reason and be proud of it and work your tails off every day towards it! All the haters are doing is elevating voice and platform to much greater heights!"

She signed off with a note that encouraged people to love instead of hating. "Last thing, always deal with the hate being thrown at you with LOVE! Love over hate every day. Love should come naturally as people are TAUGHT to hate. Even when it's HATE from the POTUS. Love wins," he concluded.
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The 'I May Destroy You' creator and actress opens up she decided to take her show somewhere else because Netflix refused to give her any of the copyright.

Jul 8, 2020

AceShowbiz - Michaela Cole turned down a $1 million deal from Netflix for her breakout show "I May Destroy You" because they wouldn't allow her to retain any of the copyright herself.

The 32-year-old actress, screenwriter, director, and producer is enjoying huge success with the series, which tells the tale of how a sexual assault turns a woman's life upside down. It's currently airing on BBC in the U.K. and HBO stateside, but Michaela told Vulture in a new interview that she originally pitched the series to Netflix.

However, when she asked to retain five per cent of the copyright of the series, which she wrote and starred in herself, Michaela told the outlet "there was just silence on the phone."

Remembering the call with a high-level female executive, Michaela shared, "And she said, 'It's not how we do things here. Nobody does that, it's not a big deal.' I said, 'If it's not a big deal, then I'd really like to have 5 per cent of my rights.' "

Netflix continued negotiating with Michaela, leading to her asking for just 0.5 per cent of the rights. When the woman said she'd have to ask her bosses, she added, "Michaela? I just want you to know I'm really proud of you. You're doing the right thing."

"I remember thinking, I've been going down rabbit holes in my head, like people thinking I'm paranoid, I'm acting sketchy, I'm killing off all my agents," Michaela added Vulture. "And then she said those words to me, and I finally realised - I'm not crazy. This is crazy."

Michaela had also fired her agency CAA after finding out they'd be making "an undisclosed amount on the back end" from the Netflix deal.

In the end, the British star signed a deal with the BBC, which gave her full creative control, the rights to her work and a seat at the table in the production process.
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The 'Normal People' star Daisy Edgar-Jones is pitted against the 'Killing Eve' actress Jodie Comer for the coveted titled of Best Actress at the upcoming television awards.

Jul 8, 2020

AceShowbiz - Jodie Comer better watch out - Daisy Edgar-Jones is coming for her Best Actress crown at this year's TV Choice Awards.

While the "Killing Eve" star is the reigning holder of the gong, Daisy looks set for success thanks to her hit show "Normal People" - which earned three nominations at the 2020 awards.

But in order to take home the prize, Daisy will also have to beat Michelle Keegan and "Vera" star Brenda Blethyn.

Her co-star Paul Mescal, who starred as her love interest Connell in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney's beloved book, is up for the Best Actor prize, but again faces tough competition - from David Tennant, Martin Clunes, and Stephen McGann.

In addition, "Normal People" has also been nominated for Best New Drama alongside "Gangs of London", "Gentleman Jack", and "White House Farm".

Elsewhere, Ricky Gervais' "After Life" is once again up for the Best Comedy Gong, but will have to beat "Friday Night Dinner", "Brassic", and "Still Open All Hours" to take home the prize.

And "Doctor Who" will battle it out for the Best Family Drama award against "Call the Midwife", "Doc Martin", and "Casualty".

The 2020 TV Choice Awards are set to take place on 9 September (20), and voting is open from now until 17 July, with viewers encouraged to visit TV Choice to pick their winners
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The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor, through his lawyer, attacks the 'Aquaman' actress, suggesting she fabricated the domestic violence story to cover up her own misconduct.

Jul 8, 2020

AceShowbiz - Johnny Depp has accused his ex-wife Amber Heard of inventing allegations of spousal abuse and starting fights during their marriage in evidence at Britain's High Court on Tuesday (07Jul20).

The actor is suing the tabloid's publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article which referred to him as a "wife-beater" in relation to domestic violence allegations made by Heard, which Depp has repeatedly denied.

According to The Guardian, an opening statement submitted to the court by the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star's barrister, David Sherborne, accused Heard of being "the abuser" in the marriage and claimed she orchestrated a May 2016 court appearance in which she appeared bruised and obtained a restraining order against the star, as they announced their divorce.

Depp's account, Sherborne said, is that "Ms Heard has invented these stories of serious violence. He is not and never has been a wife-beater. Indeed, he says that it was Ms Heard who was the one who started physical fights, who punched or hit him (and there was little he could really do to stop this); she was the abuser, not him. And the contemporaneous evidence fully supports that, as the court will hear."

The 57-year-old actor also entered the witness box after Sherborne's statement was submitted and answered questions in a quiet voice that resulted in him being asked to speak up.

He claimed he had tried to avoid confrontation when Heard, 34, instigated arguments, saying, "Whenever these situations would escalate, I would try and go to my own corner. I wanted to separate before things got out of hand."

Questioned about his drug use by Sasha Wass QC, acting for The Sun, Depp admitted he had begun taking his mother's "nerve pills" aged 11 and confirmed a previous interview stating he had used multiple drugs at age 14. However, he denied his drug use resulted in "destructive behaviour" and denied taking the drug Ketamine but admitted using cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms and cannabis.

Wass also accused him of "lying" when he claimed to have not done so for a long time. He was also questioned over his alleged "trashing" of hotel rooms, including one incident in which he was accused of inflicting $10,000 worth of damage. The actor admitted leaving a "few dents" in the room but denied he has an anger management problem.

Outside the court, a spokesperson for Heard, who is not a defendant in the trial, said she has "tried to moved on" but was being "dragged" through the U.K. courts to give evidence about "some of the most distressing moments of her life."

In their own opening statement, The Sun's lawyers said they would demonstrate, "the description of Mr Depp as a 'wife-beater' is entirely accurate and truthful." The trial is expected to last three weeks, with Depp's exes Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis prepared to give evidence in his defence.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A coronavirus outbreak in the California Legislature has indefinitely delayed the state Assemblys return to work from a scheduled summer recess.

Speaker Anthony Rendons office confirmed five people who work in the state Assembly have tested positive for the coronavirus. They include Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, who is believed to have contracted the virus while on the Assembly floor last month.

Rendon said Monday the Assembly will stay in recess until further notice. He said the decision is to protect lawmakers, staff and the public.

The Legislature shut down for nearly two months earlier this year during the pandemic.
BANGOR, Calif. - Cal Fire says one woman has been arrested for Bangor's 'Swedes Fire', one that burned less than an acre.

When crews arrived on scene, Cal Fire says 33-year-old Nicole Bunch was seen leaving the area. When investigators found her, she was dressed in a Cal Fire uniform and was gathering the personal belongings of firefighters.

Officials say Bunch gave officers several false names while she was being questioned. Eventually, she was taken to the county jail and officers were able to identify her.

Bunch was booked into the Butte County jail for arson to forest land, impersonating a firefighter, resisting or delaying arrest. She is being held on $90,000 bail.

On July 1, Butte County officials had said Bunch was one of the county's most wanted. Cal Fire said she was also booked on those outstanding warrants of child cruelty with the possibility of injury or death and failure to appear.

Cal Fire says further charges may come up as a result of the full investigation.
WASHINGTON - A draft policy being circulated by Pentagon leaders would ban the display of the Confederate flag in Defense Department workplaces or public areas by service members and civilian personnel.

The policy has not yet been finalized or signed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

It comes as President Donald Trump earlier in the day criticized NASCARs decision to ban the flag at its races and venues.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft. If approved, the draft Pentagon policy would bring the other military services in line with the Marine Corps, which banned Confederate displays on its bases in early June.
As India unlocks after almost three months of lockdown, the industry is gradually commencing operations, however, it will be a long time before things return to a semblance of normalcy  or perhaps things will never return to normal. Several companies are continuing with the Work From Home operations, while some are opening with minimal staff. The fear of infection is all pervasive and strict hygiene protocols are in place.

In the meantime, consumer behaviour has changed a lot during the lockdown period, how permanent these changes will be only time will tell. Brands have taken to digital in a significant way to create engagement with consumers even as they mostly stay at home. With print circulation limited during the lockdown, OOH almost at a halt during this period, Television and Digital have been the media platforms that brands have been leveraging the most.

Also read: #WomenDisruptors: Comfort is your enemy. Seek discomfort - Kavita Koserwal

While stating that the COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on every business, Dr Sanjay Arora, CEO, Shells Advertising, observed, We saw traditional media, viz. Print and Outdoors take a huge hit and were down nearly 90 per cent. But at the same time we had new digital clients come into our fold. Digital did see a sudden spurt, especially in categories such as healthcare apps, etc. All local brands had completely stopped promotions throughout April and most of May.

At the same time, he noted that the business seems to be slowly coming back. I dont think we will see any major activity very soon. Most of the activities are either highly need-based or some earlier contracts with media that need to be completed, he added.

Speaking about Shells Advertising, Arora said, We are a full service advertising and digital marketing agency. We had diversified into digital around 7-8 years ago, hence we could seamlessly shift into the work-from-home model and continue to service our clients.

For Kavita Koserwal, Co-Founder and CEO, Orcomm Advertising, business has not been so grim. She said, During the lockdown, weve got new businesses and also our regional clients became very active. The education wed given to them was to keep communicating with the TG in these times of crises. There was a strong shift to digital. This lockdown period has been extremely busy for us and most clients were ready to innovate and change the communication.

Consumer preferences and buying behaviour has changed during these times, with the demand for Food, FMCG and Healthcare products growing. Giving an insight into the changes in consumer behaviour, Khushboo Solanki Sharma, Founder, Zero Gravity Communication, said, A lot of things like books, electronics, non-urgent household goods, etc., that can be easily purchased online, will be preferred that way. Window shopping and leisurely mall trips are still far from happening.

She saw a subtle difference between the consumer behaviour in bigger cities and metros vis-a-vis smaller towns, that havent seen the large number of COVID-19 cases as the bigger cities. Almost all brands have turned their focus on the smaller towns to not lose out on the possible opportunities. Advertising has, for sure, pivoted to digital platforms. Challenge here is that regional players do not have the right tools to understand the whats and hows of digital. Smaller product portfolio brands are aggressively pushing themselves in these markets. While budgets are being curtailed to be more effective and measured, brands know that they will have to advertise to stay in touch and be relevant to consumers.
Britannia Good Day is all about spreading happiness. With this film, the brand centres on its proposition #KhushiyonKiZiddKaro and delivers a timely message, an ode to the human spirit and a rally for hope.

In these testing times, where the morale of the country has been low and the public discourse has been about flattening the curve, the film stands in solidarity with the people and instills a sense of optimism in them by reassuring them that some curves are better raised.

Also read: Wunderman Thompson wins CenturyPly account for Corporate & Panel division

The film conceptualized by Wunderman Thompson showcases people of different age-groups, ethnicities, and social-strata coming together to raise the spirit of the nation by raising the curve  their smiles. It brings alive the belief that a smile is that ray of hope, which if spread and shared makes the world a happier place.

Commenting on the campaign, Vinay Subramanyam  Head- Marketing, Britannia Industries Limited said, The core idea of Good Day has always been about happiness. The brand believes that when each of us stays positive, we create a chain that raises the curve of happiness. We need to seize the day and savour little moments of happiness in an otherwise trying time. Good Days #RaiseTheCurveOfHappiness film is our message of hope whereby we tell people Khushiyon ki zidd karo.

Commenting on the campaign, Priya Shivakumar National Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson India said, We wanted to rally hearts and spirits around a message of hope and positivity that these times need. To do that we decided to talk about a different curve from the one we have been hearing about, this one being the curve that can magically cause a rise in anothers spirits. Yes, the smile. That one curve that rewards the sharer and receiver both, spreading joy and forging that special connection of happiness. The film is a simple and seamless narrative of an ever-growing curve of a smile across different faces to create the one big curve of happiness for the nation. The music is an anthem of hope and belief. A rallying cry for people to find and share this curve of positivity and keep spirits up in these testing times.

Campaign Credits:

Creative Agency: Wunderman Thompson

National Creative Director: Priya Shivakumar

Creative Team: Ajay Menon, Abhijit Mallick, Anindita Das, Pradeep Ravindran, Ashwin Lingan, Shashank Deekonda

Account Management: Tiraz Balaporia, Sandeep Mathummal, Bharat Karanwal

Production house: Colonial Films

Music Director: Subhajit Mukherjee



Britannia Industries Limited Credits:

Head of Marketing: Vinay Subramanyam

Category Manager: Priyadarshini Kapoor

Group Product Manager: Dinesh Kumar S

Product Manager: Vivek Kataria
Howard County Restaurant Weeks could not come at a better time as restaurants are trying to recover from the loss of business during the pandemic, Marshal Weston Jr., president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Maryland, said in a statement. We encourage people to get out and support the restaurants that mean so much to our communities.
A diverse group of seven top global creative leaders will discuss how their agencies are adapting to new industry conditions at Advertising Around the World: New Business in a New Business, a special online panel from The One Club for Creativity on July 14, 2020 at 12:00 pm EDT.

COVID-19 infection levels and business conditions vary widely in different parts of the world. These creative leaders will reveal how their agencies have adapted so far, their plans for reopening offices, and how they are adjusting to critical challenges such as new business and recruiting.

The Advertising Around the World panel of creatives leaders will be led by Susan Credle, Global CCO, FCB Global and chairperson of The One Club Board of Directors.

Other participants include:

Ruth Chao , Founder/Creative Director, RCS Hong Kong

, Founder/Creative Director, RCS Hong Kong Xolisa Dyeshana , CCO/Partner, Joe Public United Johannesburg, One Club International Board member

, CCO/Partner, Joe Public United Johannesburg, One Club International Board member Margaret Johnson , CCO/Partner, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners San Francisco, One Club Board member

, CCO/Partner, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners San Francisco, One Club Board member Tommy Means , Partner, Mekanism Chicago

, Partner, Mekanism Chicago Anna Qvennerstedt , Creative Senior Partner/Chairman of the Board, Forsman & Bodenfors Gothenburg, One Club International Board member

, Creative Senior Partner/Chairman of the Board, Forsman & Bodenfors Gothenburg, One Club International Board member Jason Romeyko, Worldwide ECD, Serviceplan Munich

Advertising Around the World: New Business in a New Business will take place on Zoom on July 14, 2020 at 12:00 pm EDT, free for One Club members and $10. for nonmembers. Please go here to register.

The One Club for Creativity, producer of The One Show, ADC Annual Awards and Creative Week, is the world's foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the success of the global creative community. The One Show is a top global awards show for advertising, design and digital marketing, focusing on the creativity of ideas and quality of execution. The global ADC Annual Awards honors creative excellence in craft, design and innovation across all disciplines. Creative Week takes place in New York every May, and is the preeminent festival celebrating the intersection of art and commerce.
Bhonsle, currently streaming on SonyLIV, once again brings to light the plight of migrants who leave their hometowns in search of a better life and livelihood, but have to face numerous hurdles and threats. The mass exodus of migrants, covered extensively by all news channels over the last two months and the horrible conditions faced by them on their journey back home, shook the entire nation. Today, their condition seems to have been forgotten by the nation, which has moved on to Unlock Mode and is more concerned about the India-China LAC stand-off.

Based in the chawls of Mumbai, Bhonsle is the story of a world-weary, just-retired policeman, who befriends a North Indian girl and her brother amid growing resentment towards the migrant community.

Playing the title character is seasoned actor Manoj Bajpayee, who has delivered yet another stellar performance. Though made in 2018, the film has been released on this year direct to digital. Bajpayee has also co-produced the film.

The last few weeks have seen the release of quite a few offbeat films on OTT platforms, with more lined up for realise in the coming weeks, as there is no word yet on when cinema halls will be allowed to reopen, given the growing number of COVID-19 cases across the country.

Adgully spoke to Manoj Bajpayee and Sandip Kapur, Founder, Promodome, to know about 'Bhonsle', premiering the movie on an OTT platform, growth of the OTT space, marketing strategies in COVID-19 timesand more.

OTT primarily caters to a young male audience. Who is the TG for a film like Bhonsle?

Sandip Kapur: First of all, I would not agree that we get only a young audience base. Due to the lockdown and thanks to compelling content, I think OTT today targets all age groups. While the majority of viewers are youngsters, the TG base starts from 18 years and goes up to 60 years and even beyond.

Manoj Bajpayee: I would like to differ from Sandip. You see, the kind of content on OTT has been a concern for all parents as they wouldnt want to expose their children to some of the OTT content which they feel is not appropriate for their young age. Similarly, the elderly might also find some of the content not suitable for their tastes. Hence, I think that was not a right observation.

Bhonsle had made rounds in the festival circuit before being released on SonyLIV. What interested them about the film?

Manoj Bajpayee: You know why I was interested in this? It was definitely because of the script. It was written in such a way that attracted me and I also feel that nobody has made a film on an old man with the backdrop of only the old man, who is a retired cop. He is fighting with the monotony of his retired life and loneliness. In the backdrop there is violent and a local crisis going on. Amid the crisis, chaos and riots, this guy doesnt want to interact with the people outside. It has been put together so well, I dont think I have seen anything like this before. That was an interesting thing.

SonyLIV took it up because of the same reason. In fact, they were far more excited than anybody else. I have interacted with SonyLIV and the manner in which they responded to the trailer has been very encouraging. They themselves began the promotions of the film and getting out the PR of the film, it is such a massive response to the initial promotion. That has given us quite a positive feeling about the whole thing.

What is your marketing strategy for the film since the usual channels of marketing are not available right now? How will it be different from a cinema premiere?

Manoj Bajpayee: The cinema premiere is for people who are well known and celebrities, making to the red carpet and all of that. But it is not the same for Bhonsle. The film is going to be there forever on SonyLIV.

Sandip Kapur: Every day is like weekend for us!

Manoj Bajpayee: When you release a film or stream it on OTT platforms, people start spreading the word if they like the film. They take to social media and open forums to express their opinion immediately, which in turn generate a lot of buzz for the film. So, its a whole new world that is democratic and quite liberating and it offers a level playing field. Thats the best thing about OTT platforms.

You are known to play quite gritty characters, do you think the OTT platform is a good fit for your style?

Manoj Bajpayee: I dont know. I did Satyamev Jayate too; my next film with Zee Studio is a comedy that will be called Suraj Mangal Pali, which will be released in theatres because that is its main focus. I have done a webseries like Family Man for an OTT platform, I have done independent films like Bhonsle, which has also premiered on OTT platform. There are a few films that I have signed which will release in theatres. Every movie has its independent and different approach and grip.

Films that have an independent approach and stronger grip would prefer OTT platforms as OTT platforms guarantee far more audience than the theatres.
US President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order that will remove the legal immunity enjoyed by social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter for the content posted on their platforms by third party users.

Adgully spoke to a few digital experts to understand the implications of such an order and whether they carry any implications for these social media players in India.

Also read: People Turn To Dating Apps For Companionship During Lockdown

Has the time come for social media companies to take responsibility for the content posted on their platforms?

Kartik Srinivasan, a digital expert, agreed that social media companies needed to take responsibilities for the content posted on their platform. He remarked, For the longest time, social media platforms used the logic of the fact that they do not have any editorial control over who posts what (unlike say a newspaper that keeps a tight watch on who writes on their platform) to wash their hands off problems arising out of users posting something. He added that social media companies already monitored our usage on a massive scale for many other purposes  to show us ads, sell our usage data to advertisers and so on. So, theres no reason why they shouldnt be held responsible for incendiary content posted on their platform by bad actors that cause real-world damage. That is, if they havent acted upon such content themselves, either by adding context that could contextualise the falsehood or removing outright hate content, he added.

According to Manish Sinha, Founder & CEO, Studio 4, a digital marketing, branding & strategy consulting company, all news, information and content present on social media sites consist of significant parts of information that lack factual basis and relevant & logical arguments. He added, This is more so because there is no proper system in place that holds the users accountable. I think a more important question to ask at this point of time is to ask how this can be done.

Giving a different take, Nimesh Shah, Head Maven, Windchimes Communications, pointed out the algorithm that social media platforms use which decide which content is more visible to each individual. According to him, that has become the bone of contention. Adding further, he said, Had they simply played the neutral role of displaying to the user all of their connections content without any bias, they wouldnt be facing so much heat. They should have simply focussed on removing fake profiles, removing abusive content, adding fact-checker on fake posts and ended it there. Today, most governments are accusing them of partiality when it comes to displaying their ideological content. The only option they are left with is to build bigger teams that will remove irresponsible content out faster till the AI tools get better at doing it automatically.

Following President Trumps executive order on online regulations, do you think safe harbour available to social media in India can also be narrowed?

Given the widespread damage even a social networking platform (different from a social media platform) like WhatsApp has caused in India, Kartik Srinivasan felt that safe harbour available to social media in India can also be narrowed. However, it may not be the case. Srinivasan pointed out that many of the laws in the US do not have the same context in India. For example, the FTC in the US has detailed disclosure norms for online influencers using social media to promote products and services for a fee. In India, those are mere guidelines that nobody follows and there is no follow-up if they do not.

Manish Sinha countered with a question of his own, asking, How many Whatsapp forwards do you receive on a daily basis? 10, at least? And do we see any of them with factual information? They are written with a lot of conviction, no doubt, but do they have any concrete information? I think Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are along the same lines, although the numbers may differ.

He felt that narrowing the safe harbour at the cost of voices of dissent and marginalised communities was not the answer. When talking about India specifically, we must not forget that many media houses in our country are monopolised already. It really isnt a secret anymore. What needs to be narrowed down is promotion of false information. If this can be done without compromising the right to freedom of speech of citizens, then it really will be a win-win for all of us, he added.

To be fair to the social media platforms, till 2016, most of the attention and resources of every digital platform was used to deal with external attacks like virus, hackers, etc. Nobody visualised that people would create fake profiles and post malicious, abusive content and destroy the platform from inside, Nimesh Shah noted.

He pointed out that this trend became apparent in the last few years, and most SM platforms have started using tech + manual teams to weed out that type of content. According to Shah, What President Trump has done is remove the law that was protecting these companies from getting sued, which I doubt will be taken down lightly by these companies.

The Indian government is working closely with most of these platforms, which also are complying with most demands given the size and importance of the Indian market to them. WhatsApp is adding several features to stop bling forwarding of content on its platform. Also, Indias legal system operates in a different manner as that of the US, therefore, it is not clear whether similar legislation will bring in the same level of impact in India.

With Google, Facebook and Twitter transitioning into media companies, shouldnt they also be brought under the purview of the law of the land in the same way that media companies and publishers are?

Disagreeing with this, Kartik Srinivasan said that Google, Facebook or Twitter did not fall under the strict purview of media companies, since they called themselves differently for different purposes. For advertisers, they are media companies. For Governments, they are media intermediaries. The truth is, they cannot be defined by our existing definitions of how we define media. We need newer ways to dealing with such platforms because if they can make money from the users content by analysing them inside out, they should also be responsible for bad actors misusing their platforms massive reach to cause real-world damage, he said.

Manish Sinha, too, felt that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the like fall into the category of technology companies rather than media companies. According to him, this was ironic, considering most of the matters being reported on the news surfaced on platforms of social media first.

Sinha elaborated, In our free time, were scrolling through Instagram feeds or retweeting posts. Knowingly or unknowingly, every one of us falls prey to the freedom of social media to publish what they want because they arent held accountable for their content like media companies are. Therein lies the biggest issue of this day and age. Rumours begin to circulate, false news spreads. Peoples opinions are moulded and shaped even before the true events come to light. All this just because influencers on social media have taken a stand. Whats more harmful than incorrect information? Having only half the information. And such is the case with every social media platform. Theyre great carriers of half the information, half the facts and half the truth.

In light of this, he felt that if social media platforms were held more accountable for their posts and subject matter, such an issue would not exist. Every fact would have to be double checked. Any information that circulates would have to be accurate and any comment or action thus taken would be well informed rather than half informed. But one should also keep in mind that social media is also the place where several citizens can raise their voice and comment about whats right and whats wrong. Any policy that obstructs this would be seen as a threat to freedom of speech and expression.

Here, Nimesh Shah pointed out that in India, there are very few instances of media companies being taken to court and penalised for publishing disputable content. So, to that degree, bringing these tech companies directly under the purview is not going to solve the purpose we want it too. I feel that as long the dialogue route is working and they comply with the changes, then that is a better way forward than the official leg, he concluded.








I support the idea of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a taxpayer-supported public media enterprise which serves Canadians coast to coast to coast.

However, this noble ideal of the CBC is not a reality today.

Instead, what we as Canadians have been given is an organization which takes money from taxpayers and serves the egos of the cocktail circuit of baby boomers and yuppies which runs this organization.

The CBC's basic attitude to Canadians is "don't call us, we'll call you"  unless you happen to be the likes of Justin Trudeau, Margaret Atwood or a representative of some "in-group" which is linked to government interests.

Unfortunately, the CBC has become a Pravda-like state broadcaster which represents various entrenched interests and does not equitably represent the voices of average Canadians.

And TVOntario is just as bad, if not worse. TVOntario is just as politically incestuous as the CBC.

Let me give you an example of why both the CBC and TVOntario ought to be regarded as "anti-public" broadcasters.

So, we started a local festival which got a lot of support from artists and authors alike.

As you know, the success of any grassroots festival relies on publicity.

When we called Rogers TV, they called us back to get more information.

The local affiliate of CTV was also very interested in our new festival and interviewed us.

Even Public Broadcasting Service(PBS) affiliates from the United States immediately began to contact us to get more information on what we were doing.

Public Radio International in the U.S. called us within 20 minutes of receiving our email.

In sharp contrast, both the CBC and TVO, after having received detailed information about our festival, wouldn't even take the time to piss on us.

CBC and TVOntario to this day have totally ignored us because they apparently could not trace our festival to being controlled by the political in-group that they seek to support.

And have you ever tried visiting a CBC facility? You're more likely to get a better welcome from CSIS or a National Defence facility.

The CBC and TVOntario totally lack the system of public accountability and public participation found in PBS stations in the United States.Moreover,all private broadcasters in Canada welcome contact from Canadians in ways which far exceed both CBC and TVOntario, which seem to lack interest in having any contact with average Canadians.

If the CBC and TVOntario want to improve their ratings, they should start by listening to average Canadians at all levels of its broadcasting operations.

The only show that I watch on CBC that also has been my favourite is Murdoch Mysteries.

Ever since broadcaster Peter Mansbridge retired,the CBC program The National, along with the current drivel that CBC Radio calls "current affairs programming," has become the most visible representation of the sad egos which are running the CBC to the ground. CBC News, like the rest of that network and TVOntario, are failing in their supposed public broadcaster role miserably.

It is about time that CBC and TVO began to use taxpayer dollars to represent Canadians equitably  and that includes support for cultural activities and community initiatives.

CBC and TVO ought to be ashamed of themselves that American public broadcasting affiliates are more willing to publicize Canadian grassroots initiatives than both of these self-serving organizations. There's nothing public about the CBC and TVOntario except for where they get their money to spend.



If you are a Canadian author or artist who is seeking marketing support or even book self-publishing services, then I invite you to contact OttawaBookExpo.ca or TorontoBookExpo.ca.
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The fraud schemes included: an identity theft scheme in which stolen checks were deposited into various bank accounts and then the money was withdrawn by Olivero; a credit card fraud scheme in which Olivero impersonated American Express customers, ordered emergency replacement cards in those customers names, and had those cards mailed to her addresses; and while working at a criminal defense law firm, Olivero fraudulently posed as an attorney and convinced the law firms clients to send her money for services she could not and did not provide.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) issued its third rebuke of Democratic lawmakers in as many weeks over their repeated attempts to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from annexing significant portions of the West Bank.

The powerful lobby groups latest salvo takes aim at legislation introduced by Senate Democrats that would bar the close US ally from using American military aid in territories in the West Bank unilaterally annexed by Israel. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and 12 other Democrats  including Appropriations Committee top Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont  introduced the legislation as an amendment to the annual defense bill.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, AIPAC argued that Van Hollen seeks to ensure no US funds are used for annexation. But thats already law. Aid can only be used for internal security, for legitimate self-defense. This amendment goes far beyond current law in ways that jeopardize Israels security.

After contending that current law already bars Israel from using US military aid to annex Palestinian territory, AIPAC nonetheless went on to assert that the amendment undermines Israels security by prohibiting it from using US-made equipment to defend itself in a variety of foreseeable scenarios and that it restricts where Israel can place lifesaving missile defense systems like Iron Dome.

Van Hollen acknowledged in a statement upon introducing the legislation last week that no US funds are currently being expended on unilateral annexation, noting that his amendment would ensure that remains the case.

I am a strong supporter of robust security assistance to our friend and ally Israel, said Van Hollen. However, I oppose the use of any of these funds to support the unilateral annexation of Palestinian territories by Israel.

AIPACs major rival, J Street, tweeted that it supports this amendment, which reaffirms US support for Israels security [and] opposes annexation.

Why it matters: AIPAC has long prided itself on its ability to effectively work with both parties, but the annexation debate has further strained its history of bipartisanship, adding to the partisan stress it has accrued in recent years by lobbying against the Iran nuclear deal and in favor of anti-boycott legislation.

The groups lobbyists went to bat against an anti-annexation letter to Israeli leaders last month that was signed by the majority of the House Democratic caucus, including some of its closest allies such as Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Middle East panel Chairman Ted Deutch, D-Fla. That letter made no mention of US military assistance, but AIPAC also condemned a separate letter led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY., and 11 other progressive lawmakers that threatened to restrict a portion of Israels annual $3.8 billion in US military aid should it move ahead with annexation.

The lobby group maintains that it does not have a formal position on annexation, but in March AIPAC President Betsy Berns Korn praised President Donald Trumps peace proposal, which greenlights Israeli annexation of its West Bank settlements and the entire Jordan Valley.

Whats next: Van Hollens amendment is unlikely to advance at all in the Republican-held Senate. AIPAC has also started to highlight former Vice President Joe Bidens opposition to conditioning Israeli military assistance while pushing back against Democratic lawmakers  even as the rival lobby group J Street pushes for aid restrictions. Two of Bidens former left-wing rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination  Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts  co-sponsored the Van Hollen amendment.

Know more: Annexation is still on the table, but Netanyahu wasnt able to make it happen by July 1 as he had initially hoped. Mazal Mualem explains why.
The city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) began receiving tourists today for the first time since it shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The country is attempting to return to normal life and resume economic activity after lifting its virus-related curfew last month.

In a tweet posted by the Government of Dubai Media Office today on the resumption of tourism, the CEO of Dubais Department of Tourism, Issam Kazim, told the international community, We're ready when you are."

The decision follows the implementation of health guidelines at Dubai International Airport. Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed Rashid al-Maktoum visited the airport today to inspect the preparations for receiving tourists. A video of his visit shows employees wearing face masks, gloves and full-body coverings to protect from the coronavirus.

This month, the UAE also instituted a measure requiring people entering the country to test negative for COVID-19. Dubai can now receive tourists who do not have the virus, but the process of entering the country varies across the different emirates, including for permanent residents.

The UAE closed its airports to commercial traffic and instituted a series of lockdowns in March to stop the spread of the virus. Repatriation flights for foreigners in the country and Emirati citizens abroad continued, however. Dubai had one of the strictest lockdowns in the region, with police permission required to leave the house at one point.

In May, the Dubai-based airline Emirates resumed international connection flights via Dubai, as well as passenger flights out of the country. Emirati airlines have continually added destinations since then in a bid to rebuild their flight networks. The downturn in global travel hurt both Emirates and the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, with both cutting jobs.

Both tourists and residents entered Dubai today, according to Gulf News.

As the Emirates attempts to return to normal following months on lockdown, Abu Dhabi announced yesterday it would host the Fight Island international mixed martial arts event this month.

The country is still registering several hundred COVID-19 cased per day, according to the Ministry of Health and Prevention statistics.
Kite flying has helped Egyptians escape from the stress caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus. However, some believe that this fun pastime could pose a threat to the country's national security.

Khaled Abu Taleb, a member of the parliamentary Defense and National Security Committee, recently proposed a request to brief the prime minister about the danger of kites on the national security, as they may be equipped with surveillance cameras to photograph important installations.

Abu Taleb noted that kites in the past were just toys for children, but today with the technological development they have become a threat to the lives of children  and to the national security. Following his request, Abu Taleb has faced much criticism on social media with many people saying that he is making a mountain out of a molehill.

I faced an extraordinary attack on social media, but it's OK. My message is to warn people of the risks and I accept criticism, he told Al-Monitor. National security is not just about the army and the police. There is also food, health, educational and environmental security, and saving peoples lives is also a national security issue.

After the scorching sun has decreased in intensity, children and young men fly their kites on rooftops, in the streets or by the sea in cities all over Egypt. Recently, the sale of kites has become a profitable business, and street sellers around the country are now selling kites. Carpenters, who have been severely affected by the coronavirus outbreak, have started making and selling kites; workshops are available for those wanting to make their own kites.

In the upscale district of Nasr City in Cairo, Mahmoud Reda, a street seller, now offers for sale his handcrafted plastic and wooden kites. He used to sell children's toys, but due to the health crisis, he shifted to selling kites.

Many people stopped buying children's toys from the street because they fear it is not clean. So I decided to make and sell kites, which has been a great success, Reda told Al-Monitor. Every year sellers used to sell kites for only 45 days at the beginning of summer; however, due to the lockdown [which was imposed in Egypt in March and eased last week] and the coronavirus crisis, we have been selling kites for over three months now.

A kite costs between 30 Egyptian pounds ($1.85) to over 500 pounds ($31) depending on size and decorations. Small kites have a width of about 30 centimeters (12 inches) while the largest kites can reach up to 3 meters (10 feet). Some kites are equipped with led lights to make them light up at night, and others have famous figures or characters printed on them, which adds to their cost.

But according to local news outlets, the kites have caused deaths and fatal injuries in children in different cities, either through electrocution, falling from rooftops or drowning.

Flying kites is a very enjoyable pastime, but some kite flyers challenge each other and this may cause problems. They should be careful and children should be accompanied by older relatives, Magdy Maher, who is a carpenter turned kite maker for this season, told Al-Monitor. Bad things happen everywhere, but kites should not be banned just because it caused a few incidents. Car accidents kill hundreds of people every year, said Maher, who sells at least five kites per day.

However, Abu Talebs fears go further than that. He said that technology in kites could harm the country's national security. I dont want to criminalize kites; I want to warn people against some practices. Some people may attach modern and small-sized cameras to the kites to photograph vital installations, he noted. The issue is important even if some people ridicule it. We should think about every probability.

He said that some countries like Turkey and Pakistan have banned kite flying, and even the United Kingdom has some restrictions on kite flying. All those countries know the dangers of kite flying. Why do some people want us to forget about it, Abu Taleb added.

Disagreeing with Abu Taleb, Eman Nader, who recently bought two small kites for her two daughters, said kites should not be an issue that is discussed in the parliament. It is just fun and I have enjoyed flying them since I was young. Now that many other people are flying kites, it encouraged me to buy them for my two daughters; we fly them from our terrace, Nader told Al-Monitor. Of course, I keep an eye on them  this is common sense, she added.

But Abu Taleb said that while people see the issue as trivial, he is looking to the future. If today people see it as fun, in the future some people with evil intentions may use children or young people for illegal deeds by asking them to photograph special places, he noted.

He added, The government should take care of this and should raise awareness against the dangers of kites, by holding sessions and lectures at cultural centers and youth centers to help children and families understand the risks of kite flying."
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The Israeli governments discussions to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley in July have prompted mutual threats between Israel and the Palestinians. Most recently, on July 1 and 3, Hamas military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, fired 24 rockets and 20 large-caliber mortars toward the Gaza sea.

The rocket tests were heard across the Gaza Strip and lasted for several hours. Their ranges varied, extending to over 10 kilometers. This was the first time Hamas fired such a large number of rockets in the framework of testing.

The timing of the rocket test was no coincidence. Rather, it falls on the date that Israel had previously set to start annexing the Jordan Valley and parts of the West Bank. It has yet to do so in light of disagreements within the Israeli government and the objections of King Abdullah II of Jordan, with whom Israel has a peace treaty, and other regional and international leaders.

Prior to these tests, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubaida made a televised speech June 25 during which he considered the decision to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley a declaration of war and threatened that the Palestinian factions would make Israel bite its fingers with remorse if it implemented this decision.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened on July 2 to deliver a fatal blow to those trying to attack Israel. The security challenges we face require constant anticipation. We are ready to defend ourselves by sea, air and land, as well as by setting up a barrier against tunnels along the borders of the Gaza Strip.  Anyone that tries to challenge us by carrying out violent acts will suffer a fatal blow, Netanyahu said in a speech.

A Hamas military official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the rocket tests Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades carries out from time to time are aimed at improving military capabilities to counter any Israeli plan to attack the Palestinian people, in light of the difficulty of smuggling weapons from outside the Gaza Strip.

The official refused to comment on Israeli media statements claiming that the recent tests aim to send messages to Israel in case the annexation takes place. I will not comment on such statements. Our position in the event of implementing the annexation plan is clear, and we announced this in an official speech, he said.

We do not seek nor want war, but if Israel imposes it on us, we would not hesitate to fight back in defense of our people, the official added.

Meanwhile, Abu Ataya, spokesman for al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, told Al-Monitor that the rockets fired toward the sea are messages that the Israeli government needs to be aware of before proceeding to implement the annexation plan, warning that stronger messages could be coming across if Israel does not understand the message behind the recent rocket testing.

Ataya explained that the Palestinian resistance factions are united in the decision to respond militarily through the joint operations room  a military framework that includes all armed factions in the Gaza Strip established in 2018 to hold Israel responsible for any major war or military confrontation that may occur.

The Israeli media seems to have understood that Hamas' rocket tests are proof that the movement will implement its threats if the annexation plan is applied. Yedioth Ahronoths military reporter Elior Levy commented in a tweet on July 1, which he later deleted, saying, Unusually, Gazas armed wings  Hamas, apparently  are firing rockets toward the sea at night, and this is a sign of their intentions should Israel declare annexing parts of the West Bank. Meanwhile, the municipality of Ashkelon, in southern Israel, announced on July 1 its preparations to partially open shelters if rockets were launched from Gaza into the city.

On July 5, the Israeli army announced that two rockets launched from Gaza landed in an open field in southern Israel, while the Israeli Iron Dome intercepted a third rocket. The army responded by bombing what it described as underground infrastructure belonging to Hamas in eastern Gaza City. No casualties were reported.

Political analyst close to Hamas and former editor-in-chief of Felesteen newspaper Mustafa al-Sawaf told Al-Monitor that the rockets and mortars that Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades fired on July 1 and 3 were messages addressed to the political and military leaders in Israel should they make the mistake of implementing the decision to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.

The long-range rockets that were fired suggest that Hamas has rockets that can reach anywhere in Israel, Sawaf noted.

For his part, military expert and retired general Yusuf al-Sharqawi told Al-Monitor that Hamas firing rockets and mortars aims to show Israel that it will indeed act on its threats should the annexation plan be implemented, and it aims to reassure the Palestinian street that the Palestinian factions have what it takes to deter Israel from carrying out its plans.

Sharqawi explained that Hamas is well aware the Israeli homefront is Israels weak spot and rocket attacks in any future confrontation will allow the movement to achieve military progress, especially since the large Israeli fortifications along the borders with the Gaza Strip by land and sea can hinder any future operations it may have been planning.

The last military confrontation between Hamas and Israel was in May 2019, during which the movement fired approximately 700 rockets in just two days on Israeli cities and kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip, and destroyed some homes in Ashkelon in southern Israel, thus showing, in practice, how developed the rockets it possesses are.

In recent years, Hamas and the Palestinian factions have focused their rocket tests on precision and destructive power, as well as to try and disrupt the Israeli Iron Dome, all of which they have achieved in varying proportions. Meanwhile, last February, Israeli military sources estimated that Hamas and Islamic Jihad possessed over 20,000 rockets at the time.
The coronavirus daily mortality rate in Iran hit 200, the highest figure since the onset of the outbreak in late February. According to the latest statistics released by Health Ministry Spokeswoman Sima Sadat-Lari, the new rate pushed the total number of deaths close to the 12,000 mark.

The new record was announced as nine provinces remained "red spots" and nine others exhibited signs of an alarming status. While the official figure for the total confirmed cases stood below 246,000, a member of the National Committee to Combat Coronavirus said up to 18 million Iranians  around 20% of the entire population  are estimated to have already contracted the virus.

Against a relative respite from the outbreak in the past few weeks, the capital city of Tehran appeared to be witnessing a rapid resurgence. Head of the Tehran City Council Mohsen Hashemi told reporters the number of coronavirus victims buried in the citys main cemetery had more than tripled on July 6. Those alarming figures have now prompted calls for a reimposition of strict measures that were lifted to help reopen the mega city's economy.

The spike in new infections is also overstretching the leading medical centers. Worrisome pictures have gone viral showing the parking lot in one of those hospitals where new patients have to receive treatment until beds become available in the main wards. Similar reports of overwhelmed hospitals came from hard-hit and underdeveloped areas, including Kurdistan and Khuzestan provinces, while age groups between 20 and 40 are increasingly falling victim to the virus.

President Hassan Rouhani's administration has been under fire over a premature rollback of lockdowns in the hot spots, where mosques are hosting worshippers and the typically overcrowded public transportation lines have resumed normal operations. The president, who has been particularly underestimating the disease, made his first public appearance in a protective mask only last week after he agreed to the mandatory use four months into the outbreak.

As the first responders battling the pandemic on the frontlines, Iranian medical workers are also complaining louder than ever about the massive burden on their shoulders. From due salaries and layoffs to 72-hour nonstop working shifts, everything has only contributed to an accumulation of fatigue. Yet thats not where the grim situation ends. We are currently in our worst mental status. Many of us are grappling with depression, said one female nurse in an interview with Reformist daily Aftab-e-Yazd. She added, There is no moral support either, no therapy  nothing is being done to tackle the problem.
Hisham al-Hashimi, an internationally known Iraqi expert on extremist groups and militias in Iraq and Syria, was assassinated in front of his house in Baghdad's Ziyouna district in the early evening July 6. Hashimi was shot dead by two gunmen while he was leaving his house.

Hashimi was jailed as an opposition figure under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. After Hussein's overthrow in 2003, Hashimi led several research projects on the Islamic extremist groups, including the books History of al-Qaeda in Iraq and Organization of the Islamic State from Within. He was a valuable source of analysis on the extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, and Iraqi politics more broadly, for many leading media and research centers, including Al-Monitor, and had a reputation for honesty and integrity throughout Iraq.

Hashimi's assassination was widely condemned by various parties, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Nations, in addition to Iraqi and Iranian governments and Iraqi Kurdistan.

Hashimi had recently been researching militia activities in Iraq targeting US bases and state facilities and was himself threatened by the militias several times. However, he nonetheless had maintained a good relationship with the leaders of the Popular Mobilization Units, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was assassinated with Iran top commander Qasem Soleimani early this year.

The PMU have also denounced Hashimi's assassination, calling him a colleague who was assassinated by terrorist groups.

Immediately after the attack, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi pledged to pursue and bring Hashimi's killers to justice, and dismissed the commander of the First Division of the Federal Police, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Qassim, indicating possible police involvement in the attack.

Iraq's interior minister has formed a special investigation team to find the perpetrators.

The Iraqi president and parliament speaker were among many other Iraqi officials who condemned the incident, calling upon the government to stop the militias and extremist threats against Iraqi figures.

The Islamic States Amaq News Agency claimed responsibility for the killing. However, many Iraqis, including Hashimi's colleagues, are questioning the idea of IS involvement, pointing fingers at the militias that have attacked Hashimi over social media for his criticism of their activities against the Iraqi state and the foreign diplomatic missions in Iraq.

In a recent interview, Hashimi slammed PMU leaders and their political allies for protecting militants that must be prosecuted. Hashimi was also a supporter of the protests against corrupt Iraqi political parties.

The assassination comes amid a security decline in Baghdad, as anti-US militias are increasing rocket attacks against the US Embassy and US military bases.

A group of Kataib Hezbollah militants were arrested last June for preparing an attack against US bases, but they were soon released under pressure from the militia.

It seems that the militias are going on the offensive against the Iraqi prime minister to create obstacles to his reform plans, especially in the security field. Kadhimi has been replacing many security officials to enhance the state's efforts against the militias and their targeting of foreign diplomatic missions.

He replaced the head of security for the Green Zone after Kata'ib Hezbollah was able to penetrate the area and gather to demand the release of their members.

Kadhimi also dismissed Falih al-Fayyadh and replaced him with Qasem al-Araji as national security adviser. He also appointed the head of the state's Counter-Terrorism Service, Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, to head the National Security Apparatus.

Kadhimi's reform efforts have stirred the ire of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mehr News, an Iranian news outlet close to the IRGC, has blasted Kadhimi for his actions during the last two months against the PMU, calling his reform plans an anti-Iran agenda. Kadhimi is working to maintain a good relationship with the Iranians and is trying to build strong ties with all Iraq's neighboring countries, including Iran, to avert clashes on Iraqi territory.

He has launched a strategic dialogue with the United States, the first session of which took place in June. Kadhimi himself is supposed to lead the second round in his upcoming visit to the United States.

Kadhimi is trying to ease Iran-US tension to shield Iraq from a spillover of confrontation. Iraq has become a battleground between the United States and Iran after the Americans killed Iran's top commander early this year, followed by Iran bombing the US military base of Ain al-Asad in western Iraq.

However, the militias insist on the immediate expulsion of US troops from Iraq before engaging in any dialogue.
Zohar, a professor of marine biotechnology at UMBC, said the project could create a significant opportunity to reduce foreign imports of Atlantic salmon and instead establish a domestic hub for one of the worlds most popular seafood products. Commercial fishing for Atlantic salmon is prohibited in the United States, which imports about half a million tons of salmon every year.
Several days after the massive July 2 explosion that destroyed the upper level of Irans centrifuge upgrading and uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, reports emerged in Israel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked Mossad Director Yossi Cohen to stay on an additional year once his five-year term expires at the end of the year. However, "the head, as the spy agency director is known, only agreed to a six-month extension. Shortly after, in the pre-dawn hours of July 3, Israel launched its Ofek 16 spy satellite carried on a Shavit rocket from its Palmachim military base. The satellite significantly enhances Israels ability to track events around the world, in particular Iran. Its particularly sophisticated camera enables the identification of items as small as 50 centimeters (19.5 inches) from a height of up to 450 kilometers (280 miles). Ofek 16 joins six other Israeli reconnaissance satellites orbiting earth and transmitting real-time data on developments around the world.

Intelligence officials believe Iran is now reassessing what they dub its strategic patience policy. The Iranians themselves admit it. A commentary on Irans state-run IRNA news agency said, Iran so far has tried to prevent intensifying crises and the formation of unpredictable conditions and situations. However, it continued, the crossing of red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran by hostile countries, especially the Zionist regime and the United States, means that strategy  should be revised. It now appears that the Iranians are in discussions on recalibrating their course, indeed. They are no longer convinced that their famed patience serves their ongoing military nuclear ambitions and the tense wait for the results of the November US presidential elections.

The series of mysterious explosions in Iran began in late June with a blast at the weapons manufacturing facility in Parchin. It was followed by reported sabotage at a Tehran area hospital and then by the main event, the blast at Natanz that sparked a heavy fire and destroyed significant sections of the aboveground facility at which Iran was manufacturing sophisticated IR-6 and IR-8 enrichment centrifuges.

Israel is closely monitoring the Iranian dilemma. I have no doubt the Iranians are holding discussions these days about their patience policy, former Military Intelligence Director Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amos Yadlin told Al-Monitor. According to a report in Israel, the Iranians had recently tried to plan and carry out attacks against Israeli interests, such as embassies and other targets around the world, mostly in Europe, but the Mossad, along with its Western partners thwarted these attempts. Israel is preparing for every possible Iranian response, a senior Israeli security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. It could be carried out by one of Irans proxies, it could be carried out on an Israeli target abroad and it could also come in the shape of a cyberattack, the likes of which we already experienced in recent weeks.

However, even an overt Iranian response indicating that Tehran had run out of strategic patience will not sway Israel from its declared goal of foiling by all means possible Irans ongoing attempts to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Western intelligence sources assess that the blast at Natanz set back Irans nuclear weapons race by two years. They were about to complete the manufacture of the sophisticated centrifuges at Natanz, Yadlin, currently the director of the Institute for National Security Studies, told Al-Monitor. These centrifuges were supposed to greatly speed up Irans nuclear breakout time. They are six to eight times faster than the old centrifuges, which operate in the underground part of that same site. Whoever was behind the Natanz attack knew exactly what they were doing, he said. Yadlin declined to speculate on foreign reports attributing the sabotage to Israel.

Israel and Iran are engaged in what has become almost open warfare over the past two years. According to foreign reports, Israel and Iran traded cyber jabs in the past two months. Israel has indicated that Iran tried to sabotage a water distribution facility in April, but it has not assumed responsibility for the cyberattack that crippled operations at Irans Bandar Abbas port in May.

In the coming months, tensions are expected to rise, a Western diplomat who monitors these developments told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. It has to do with the fact that Israel and Iran both are preparing for November, for the possibility that President Donald Trump is reelected or that Joe Biden replaces him at the White House. The Iranians are praying for Biden, hoping a Democratic president would sign an amended nuclear agreement, which they would find more favorable. Israel is also gearing up for such a possibility.

Israel is concerned that Iran is constantly cutting its nuclear breakout time, meaning the time required to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for one nuclear weapon. Western intelligence sources told Al-Monitor that since Trump pulled the United States out of the world powers deal with Iran in May 2018, Iran has achieved significant progress toward its goal with the enhanced centrifuges that could speed up the enrichment of fissionable material by as much as six times. These sources add that taking out these faster centrifuges at Natanz significantly sets back the Iranian nuclear program.

Israel has not assumed responsibility for the Natanz explosion nor for the other incidents that took place in recent days in Iran, but a Middle Eastern security source told The New York Times that Israel planted the bomb. The report generated fury in Israel, as succinctly expressed by former Defense Minister and Chair of the hawkish Yisrael Beitenu party, Avigdor Liberman, who urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to to shut [the leakers] mouth. Liberman was apparently referring to Mossad chief Cohen. Nonetheless, Netanyahu is unlikely to silence Cohen and, in any case, even if there was a leak, Netanyahu himself might have authorized it.

The prime minister is under heavy siege given the deep economic crisis besetting Israel. Poll results this week indicate that public confidence in Netanyahus handling of the crisis, especially of the economy, has plunged sharply. The only card he has left to play is the security card, and he is going for broke. That means setting back the Iranian nuclear program in order to allow Israel and perhaps the United States to block an Iranian nuclear breakout should Iran abandon its strategic patience policy.
ISTANBUL  Tasked with addressing a growing list of grievances between European Union member states and Turkey, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell wrapped up a two-day visit to Ankara Tuesday.

From migration to the Libyan war and conflicting resource claims in the eastern Mediterranean, Borrell sought to mediate rising EU-Turkey tensions on multiple fronts as some European leaders have criticized Ankara for taking increasingly unilateral actions at the blocs expense.

Currently the situation is far from being ideal, Borrell said in a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Tuesday. There are many serious issues that require our immediate attention.

The visit comes ahead of two key debates next week by the European Parliament and the EU Foreign Affairs Council regarding Turkeys recent actions in the region after French officials voiced the possibility of imposing new sanctions on Ankara for its gas drilling activities near Cyprus.

Speaking Tuesday, Cavusoglu hit back at such threats, which have taken on a new urgency after a June 10 standoff between the French and Turkish ships in the Mediterranean Sea resulted in France pulling out of a naval exercise.

We observe that Turkey will be on the agenda of the EU in the coming days, Cavusoglu said at the press event. Taking decisions against Turkey will not resolve the existing problems; on the contrary, it will deepen them. If the EU takes additional measures against Turkey, well have to respond.

The row comes after weeks in which French and Turkish officials traded insults publicly and questioned each others commitments to the NATO alliance. The two nations back opposing sides in the Libyan war, where Turkish support helped turn the momentum in favor of the UN-recognized Tripoli government.

Now Borrell heads back to Europe to tend to the difficult task of mitigating EU-Turkey discord, though he does so without the aid of the blocs traditional platform for mitigating ties with Turkey: the EU accession process.

With membership talks stalled since at least 2016, analysts say Borrell and EU leaders must create a new negotiating table for Ankara and Brussels to address shared interests and sort out regional disputes.

It is very clear that Turkey-EU relations are in a stalemate and accession negotiations are frozen, Ilke Toygur, an analyst of European Affairs in Elcano Royal Institute, told Al-Monitor. This is a very fragile status quo, and any development in the eastern Mediterranean or any moves in Libya may have severe consequences, she added.

Since the collapse of membership talks, Toygur said Ankara has redefined bilateral relations mainly by leveraging border security and migration management.

Most prominently represented by a 2016 agreement established to support more than 3.7 million Syrian refugees in Turkey while reducing informal entries into Europe, the migration issue resurfaced in February when thousands of asylum-seekers streamed toward the Greek border as Ankara sought EU support for its Syria policy.

While the incident angered many European lawmakers, Turkish leaders have criticized the bloc for failing to upgrade the EU-Turkey customs union and follow through on a visa liberalization scheme for Turkish nationals as outlined in the 2016 deal.

With leaders on both sides working to update migration policies, Toygur said the EU has maintained its leverage on Turkey primarily through economic ties, which can provide avenues for redefining bilateral relations, particularly following the coronavirus outbreak.

The EU is by far Turkeys No. 1 imports and exports partner and a source of direct investments, Toygur told Al-Monitor, adding, At this time, theres a debate in the European Union on the repositioning of supply chains with the COVID-19 crisis. Theres a desire to bring supply chains and the production of goods closer to home, and Turkey is a good candidate for this.

A greater focus on economic ties fits the narrative analysts have voiced in recent years in which EU-Turkey relations are defined as increasingly transactional and strategic. Yet even within such a framework, Sinem Adar, an associate at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies in the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said Ankara and Brussels appear to disagree over how to approach the array of issues encompassing bilateral ties.

If you read between the lines, I think what Cavusoglu was saying was that Turkey is pushing for more compartmentalization, as in separating political issues from technical issues, i.e., separating the East Med from discussions of migration cooperation, Adar told Al-Monitor, regarding the Turkish foreign minister's comments on Tuesday.

She added, Borrell was responding in a way that [suggested] the EU was seeking more of a comprehensive approach. The EU cannot separate these issues from one another.

The pressure on Borrell is high, as Greek and Cypriot leaders have joined France in opposition to Turkish foreign policy, with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades defining Turkey Tuesday as an agitator thats seeking to dominate the entire eastern Mediterranean.

Still, Ankara maintains a number of more hospitable relations with EU member states, including Italy, whose defense minister is scheduled to visit Turkey in the coming week. Officials in Rome have expressed support for Ankaras intervention in Libya.

Regardless, Adar noted Turkish officials have taken a number of controversial stances over the years in their approach to EU relations, and while many serve domestic interests, their consequences on the international stage remain to be seen.

I think with Turkey, first with the opening of the border, then with the Hagia Sophia debate, its not just about unilateralism, but I think they are going against diplomatic norms, and I think they kind of do it purposefully to make the point that Turkeys an independent actor and isnt afraid of anyone or anything, Adar told Al-Monitor.
A top UN expert said the United States' assassination of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani violated the UN Charter and was not permitted by international law, according to a report released yesterday.

US President Donald Trump ordered the US military to kill Soleimani after reportedly being presented late last year with alternative options to respond to continuing provocations by Irans regional proxies in the region.

The strike killed Soleimani and one of his Iraqi proteges, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, as well as eight others outside Baghdad International Airport in January.

In a report released Monday, Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, called the US strike an arbitrary killing that threatens to undermine norms of military conflict between countries.

The Trump administration justified the strike citing self-defense, alleging Iran was planning imminent attacks directed at killing hundreds of Americans, senior State Department officials said at the time. The UN said the Trump administration provided no evidence that any such attacks were being planned.

Even at the most basic level, the US did not demonstrate that striking Soleimani was necessary, the report read.

The report said American officials statements appeared to show the Trump administration killed Soleimani in order to deter Iran from carrying out possible future attacks, or did so in retaliation for past attacks, both in breach of international norms.

Under the UN Charter, armed attacks for purposes of retaliation are never permissible, the report read.

The assassination of Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, marked a watershed change in targeted killings that could lead other governments to take similar action, according to the rapporteur.

The killing came months after the Trump administration designated the Quds Force a foreign terrorist organization, a move the UN report called unusual.

It is hard to imagine that a similar strike against a Western military leader would not be considered as an act of war, the report read.

The report also said the United States violated Iraqs sovereignty by carrying out the attack without Baghdads permission and that Iran was not justified in retaliating by launching ballistic missiles at Iraqi airbases where US forces were present.

Rockets believed to be launched by Iran-linked militias continue to target US positions in Iraq, although the top US military commander for forces in the Middle East has said Soleimanis killing has restored deterrence against Iran following attacks on international shipping and Saudi Arabian infrastructure last year.

The United States has been pushing the UN Security Council to renew an international arms embargo on Iran that is set to expire in October. Russia and China have expressed opposition to US threats to unilaterally trigger a return of international sanctions on Tehran if the vote fails.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany have said they will not support a US effort to reactivate the sanctions. Irans President Hassan Rouhani warned of a firm response if the United States deals a further blow to the 2015 nuclear deal.

The Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and began what it calls a maximum pressure campaign built around crippling economic sanctions to bring Iranian officials to the negotiating table.

The United States accuses Iran of exploiting the 2015 deal to take advantage of regional conflicts to arm militias in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, thus posing a threat to US allies.
A US Army soldier charged last month with conspiring with members of an occult neo-Nazi network to attack his own unit during an upcoming deployment to Turkey has pled not guilty, prosecutors said.

Twenty-two-year-old Ethan Melzer of Louisville, Kentucky, entered his plea on Monday.

Melzer allegedly used an encrypted messaging app to recruit other members of a self-proclaimed satanic network known as the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A) to help recruit local jihadists in Turkey to carry out an attack on a US military facility that Melzers unit would soon be guarding.

The soldier told O9A members that his unit would be lightly armed and that the facility they would be guarding could be easily overrun by a few dozen fighters attacking from nearby high ground, prosecutors said. Messages obtained by investigators and allegedly sent by Melzer suggested he was willing to die in the attack in hope of sparking a war in the Middle East.

The plan was thwarted in May and the Justice Department announced charges against Melzer in June. Prosecutors say Melzer confessed to the plot, waived his Miranda rights and described himself as a traitor in interviews.

O9A publications mix satanic references with white supremacist ideology and have praised Adolf Hitler. The group, which originated in the United Kingdom, claims Judeo-Christian culture has weakened Western civilization and members advocate the murder of public officials to subvert the social order. Its publications have also expressed admiration for Osama bin Laden and the groups founder once pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.

Prosecutors said in June that Melzer became involved in O9A sometime in 2019 after enlisting in the US Army the prior year. Melzers unit was deployed in Italy earlier this year when he learned they would be transferring to Turkey, prosecutors said. He then used an encrypted messaging service to leak sensitive information about his unit to other O9A members in a group chat labelled RapeWaffen Division, in apparent reference to the white supremacist militant group Atomwaffen Division.

Melzer faces life in prison on charges including conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder of US military personnel and attempting to provide material support for terrorism.
Beginning with July 1, The European Union opened its borders to visitors from 15 countries. The full list of the first 15 countries ranges from Algeria to Uruguay, from Georgia to South Korea, from Serbia and Montenegro to New Zealand, from Morocco to Canada. Europe will open its borders to China as well, provided China opens up to travelers from the EU.

European doors will remain closed to travelers from the United States, Brazil, and Russia, due to the rate of the spread of coronavirus. Turkey, a candidate member of the EU, which performed well above the EU average in the Covid-19 struggle, however, is among those countries that the travel ban from and to the EU will remain in effect.

Given the success of the Turkish Covid-19 strategy, the disappointment expressed by the spokesperson of the Turkish Foreign Ministry for the decision was not unexpected.

Indeed, Turkeys coronavirus statistics, for instance, in comparison to EU member Sweden, are much better. The Turkish population is almost nine times as much as Sweden, but the number of cases per 1 million is 2,370 in Turkey, while the figure stands at 6,777 in Sweden. The death rate in Turkey is 60.8 per 1 million in Turkey, and 528.1 in Sweden. Even in comparison to Germany, which has roughly the same population as Turkey and is lauded for a successful Covid-19 strategy, Turkey seems to be doing as well as Germany. The number of total confirmed cases in Germany is some 200,000 and in Turkey is some 195,000.

The reason for Turkeys exclusion from the EUs reopening can be explained by political reasons instead of public health concerns.

According to the New York Times, the EU is putting into effect a complex policy, by not opening its borders to some countries like the United States, Brazil, and Russia, sought to balance health concerns with politics, diplomacy, and the desperate need for tourism revenue. Although Turkey is not mentioned in the NYT story, the exclusion of it is the most striking example for the EUs political considerations.

The EU constitutes the main trading partner of Turkey. More than 50% of the Turkish trade is with the EU plus the United Kingdom.

Moreover, more than ever, Turkey needs tourism revenues during a period when its foreign exchange reserves are increasingly depleted, and the country is facing a looming catastrophic financial crisis. In the year 2019, in the first nine months, 41 million tourists visited Turkey, and the annual tourism revenue amounted to 34,5 billion dollars. The Russian, German, and British tourists constituted the first three far ahead of the rest that visited the country in 2019.

To be deprived of tourism revenue in 2020 may have a devastating effect on Turkeys economy, and it is unthinkable that the European leaders are not aware of this simple fact. Why then Turkeys exclusion?

French President Emmanuel Macrons statement a day before the decision provides a clue. In a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Macron bashed Turkey with vitriolic words.

Accusing Turkey of criminal responsibility in Libya, Macron questioned Turkeys association with NATO in an apparent reference to Ankaras Libya policies.

All the French media outlets highlighted the remarks of Macron flanked by Merkel and the presser came only 24 hours before Germany would take over the EU presidency.

In his statement, Macron described Turkey as a country that pretends to be a NATO member, in any case, it claims so.

Frances discomfort with Turkeys policies is not new. On June 22, Macron lamented Ankara 22 for playing a dangerous game in Libya and mentioned the brain death of NATO.

On June 10, French and Turkish frigates came dangerously close to an armed confrontation. The Turkish frigates escorting a cargo ship refused to let a French frigate under NATO command inspect the cargo.

Alleging Turkey's intervention in Libya increased the terrorist threat to Europe, Macron emphasized that Turkish drilling agreements signed with Libyas internationally recognized Government of National Accord in the Eastern Mediterranean threaten the integrity of EU member countries including Greece and Cyprus.

"I consider today Turkey does not respect any of the commitments made at the Berlin conference [January 2020], increased its military presence in Libya since then and massively reimported jihadist fighters from Syria," Macron said.

Apart from its strong wording, the symbolism of Macron remarks should not be missed. The remarks came at Schloss Meseberg, a German government guest house near Berlin, in the presence of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a day before she took over the EU presidency.

There is every reason to think Merkel, even if reluctantly, is on board with Macron vis-a-vis Turkey's policies in the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya.

Not letting the Europeans travel to Turkey and not allowing Turks into the EU, with the consideration it may inflict on the ailing Turkish economy, should be seen as issuing an expensive political bill to Ankara.

The list of safe countries will be reviewed every two weeks to reflect the changing realities of the coronavirus outbreaks in individual nations, the EU officials said, and countries could be added or removed from the list.

That is the best the Turks can hope at the moment.
Facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, Madison County has reopened large scale drive-through testing, cancelled elective surgeries that require overnight stays at its largest hospital and ordered masks be worn in public areas starting starting Tuesday night.

We havent reached a peak based on the data Im looking at on a day-to-day basis, Huntsville Hospital Vice President for Operations Tracy Doughty said today. As the community opened up, people spread the disease to their neighbors, and theyre going other places and theyre not being as careful as possible. Not wearing masks.

The mask issue isnt a matter of debate any longer. Beginning today at 5 p.m., almost everyone in Madison County is required to wear masks or facial coverings in public. The Alabama Department of Public Health issued that order late Monday at the request of the Madison County Board of Health.

Huntsville Hospital now has 72 people hospitalized with COVID-19, including 63 at its main hospital downtown and 9 in Madison. The youngest is 16 and the oldest is 94, Doughty said. The average age is about 56, the operations vice president said. Ninety percent of those have multiple co-morbidities. That means they suffer from conditions such as high-blood pressure and obesity.

Twenty-seven of the cases are in the Intensive Care Unit and 13 are on ventilators. The hospital has also converted three surgical floors to COVID care, and Doughty has adequate supplies and staffing for now. That includes ventilators, he said.

The hospital at this time of year is already full, Doughty said. Adding 72 patients on top of that causes a little stress in some areas. To relieve that stress, weve worked with some of our surgeons, whove been wonderful about it to delay those surgeries to free up beds and nurses to take care of COVID-19 patients.

The hospital also reopened its mobile testing site at John Hunt Park Monday. It will be open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m.

As of July 6, five of the top 10 days for new cases in Madison have come in July. Madison County reported a staggering 167 new cases last Thursday, the sixth highest single day case total for any county in Alabama since the start of the pandemic. Madison saw more new cases on Thursday than either Montgomery or Mobile saw in a day during the height of their outbreaks.

The 7-day average for new cases in Madison County now stands at 70.7.

Doughty said the hospital hasnt seen any hotbed of spreading, such as a particular location or event, but added that if people were spreading the disease at Fourth of July events, symptoms wont show up in attendees for 5 to 7 days later.

So far, theres no particular area we can pinpoint and say, hey, this neighborhood of this party or this gathering caused an influx, Doughty said.

The hospital has also changed its visitation policy as it deals with the COVID surge. Patients in the hospital for reasons other than COVID-19 can have a caregiver in their room if needed, such as a family member who can help with medication or food, but other visitors are not allowed for now.

From April 1 through June 30, Madison County recorded 921 coronavirus cases. During the six days of July so far, its seen 470 - more than half the total from the previous three months combined in just six days.

Al.com staff writer Ramsey Archibald contributed to this report.
Listen to Outbreak Alabama: Stories from a Pandemic, above.

Today, we hear from Kristen Brogan, a doctoral candidate at Auburn University and California native who moved to Alabama for school, with her parents following her to Opelika.

At 33-years-old, she is at high-risk because she has had asthma since she was a child and has rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that is chronic and progressive. She takes immunosuppressants to keep her disease from progressing and causing life threatening damage to her body.

According to the CDC, while everyone is at risk for getting COVID-19, some people are more likely than others to become severely ill, meaning they may require hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe, or they may even die. This includes older adults and people with underlying medical conditions.

People of any age are at increased risks for severe illness from COVID-19 if they have any of these conditions: Chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, serious heart conditions, sickle cell disease and type 2 diabetes. And others who might be at increased risk for severe illness are those with asthma, cystic fibrosis, hypertension, liver disease, pregnancy, type 1 diabetes and others.

So even if this doesn't apply to you, it's highly likely it does to someone in your family or circle of friends. We've seen a lot of data by now that shows most people will survive COVID-19, though the long-term effects remain unknown. Many consider the mortality rate a small number that makes them comfortable with their odds. But as experts emphasize, we want to reduce spread especially for those who are more vulnerable to this disease.

I spoke to Kristen about the anxiety the pandemic has created in her life, the fears she has about exposure and contracting the virus and why its important for people to understand that their actions affect others like her who are at higher risk.

Outbreak Alabama will release two or three episodes per week, chronicling the experiences of those directly impacted by COVID-19s spread, including health care professionals, business owners, city leaders, artists, AL.com reporters and many others.

If you or anyone you know is affected by coronavirus and want to share your story, please email bflanagan@al.com. For all of our coverage on the outbreak and how it continues to impact Alabama, visit AL.com/coronavirus.

Listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like the show, please rate it and write us a review. Thank you for listening.

More from Outbreak Alabama:

The death rate

Its on us, yall

The unemployment crisis

Trending the wrong direction

Do we even want a football season?

Where is God right now?

Are you ready for concerts again?

CNNs Kaitlan Collins on covering COVID-19 and Trump

Protesting during a pandemic

Cases are surging in Tuscaloosa

Nick Saban steps it up

Whats next for schools?

The spike in Montgomery

Astonishing disparities in the rural South

Where is the nursing home data?

Is it a mistake to reopen now?

Whiter Thomas on staying creative during the pandemic

Our successes and failures so far

The return of retail

A barbers dilemma

Is it really time to reopen Alabama?

A coronavirus survivors message to the rest of us

Ivey not ready to reopen just yet

Crime in the age of coronavirus

What role do our churches play?

The absence of sports

Learning from a distance

Walt Maddox on leading Tuscaloosa through coronavirus

Social distancing, or not

Coronavirus early impact on musicians

Alabama restaurants
Gov. Kay Ivey pledged to spend $18.27 million to test residents and staff in Alabama nursing homes for coronavirus, but an advocacy group said more resources are needed to protect those most likely to die from infection.

To date, approximately 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in Alabama have been residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, said Candi Williams, Alabama state director for the American Association of Retired Persons. While $18.27 million in funding is a good first step, it is a tiny fraction of the total $1.9 billion in funding provided to the state under the CARES Act. Families, residents and staff must be given the details of how this federal funding will be spent to address the pandemic.

About 23,000 people live in nursing homes in Alabama, and they have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus outbreak. More than 4,000 residents and staff members have tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported that 336 nursing home residents in Alabama had died from the virus as of June 21.

During the pandemic, it is critical we take care of our seniors and most vulnerable residents, Ivey said. Some of our largest outbreaks of COVID-19 were within nursing homes and we must do everything possible to contain the spread within their walls. Protecting these vital members of the community, as well as the dedicated staff who take care of them, is precisely the intent of the Coronavirus Relief Fund.

Although the state received $1.9 billion in CARES ACT Funding to address coronavirus, only $250 million can be used for the delivery of health care, according to the governors statement. In late June, Ivey announced plans to use $30 million to fund testing for college students. People between the ages of 5 and 24 accounted for .2 percent of Alabamas coronavirus deaths, compared to 78.4 percent for those aged 65 and older.

Several other states have rolled out plans for universal nursing home testing. Todays announcement said funding would provide a baseline of surveillance, but did not include information about how facilities should follow up on positive tests. Some nursing homes have already established universal testing programs, while others only test residents and staff with symptoms, potentially missing asymptomatic carriers who might spread disease to others.

In addition to testing, there are also efforts in the works to better care for those suffering from the virus. Last week, The University of Alabama at Birmingham announced a partnership with a nursing home company to create a special unit for residents diagnosed with COVID-19. The Jefferson County Commission voted to allocate $1.9 million to support that effort.

The AARP of Alabama is calling on the governor to provide regular testing to nursing home residents and staff, funding for personal protective equipment and daily updates about the number of confirmed cases in each facility. Nursing homes report cases to the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which publishes updates once every two weeks. Although many states have begun releasing more up-to-date data, Alabama health officials have refused.

The Alabama Nursing Home Association Education Foundation will administer the funds to nursing homes across the state.

I am extremely grateful to Governor Kay Ivey and her administration for supporting the ongoing testing of residents and staff in our facilities, said Brandon Farmer, president of the Alabama Nursing Home Association. This virus is not like anything weve ever seen and has hit our nursing homes and staff exceptionally hard. I am relieved to know we will have assistance to contain the spread of this virus and hopefully be able to eliminate it from our nursing homes.
By COLLIN BINKLEY, AP Education Writer

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday assailed plans by some local districts to offer in-person instruction only a few days a week and said schools must be "fully operational" even amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Anything less, she says, would fail students and taxpayers.

DeVos made the comments during a call with governors as the Trump administration launched an all-out effort to get schools and colleges to reopen. Audio of the call was obtained by The Associated Press.

"Ultimately, it's not a matter of if schools need to open, it's a matter of how. School must reopen, they must be fully operational. And how that happens is best left to education and community leaders," DeVos told governors.

President Donald Trump has insisted that schools and colleges return to in-person instruction as soon as possible. Trump said Monday on Twitter that Democrats want to keep schools closed "for political reasons, not for health reasons."

"They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!" Trump tweeted.

Trump scheduled a White House event for later Tuesday to press his case for reopening schools. Vice President Mike Pence and education and public health leaders were expected to attend.

Update: Here is what Trump said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out guidance for schools last month, including staggering schedules, spreading out desks, having meals in classrooms instead of the cafeteria, adding physical barriers between bathroom sinks and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.

In the call with governors, DeVos slammed districts that plan to offer in-person instruction only a few days a week. She called out Fairfax County Public Schools, which is asking families to decide between fully remote instruction or two days a week in the classroom.

"A choice of two days per week in the classroom is not a choice at all," DeVos said, noting that the district's distance learning last spring was a "disaster."

Her criticism of schools' distance education efforts extended across the country. DeVos said she was disappointed in schools that "didn't figure out how to serve students or who just gave up and didn't try." She said more than one state education chief told her that they also were disappointed in districts that did "next to nothing to serve their students."

The same thing can't happen again this fall, she said, urging governors to play a role in getting schools to reopen.

Students across the country have already fallen behind. We need to make sure that they catch up, DeVos said. Its expected that it will look different depending on where you are, but whats clear is that students and their families need more options.
A body was found in the Tennessee River near the Port of Decatur this morning, the authorities said.

A person working in the port area saw what appeared to be a body around 7:20 a.m. and called police, said Emme Long, a spokeswoman for the Decatur Police Department.

The circumstances of the persons death werent immediately clear. Long said police were still in the early stages of the investigation this morning. She said the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency was traveling to the scene.

Further information wasnt immediately available.
Christopher Columbus did not set out to prove that the world was round (educated people had proven the flat-Earthers wrong centuries earlier). He was not the first European to cross the Atlantic (that title goes to Norse Viking Leif Eriksson). And he never, ever  not once  set foot on what is today the United States of America; he didnt even make it to the North American continent. (He landed on a Bahamian island during his famous 1492 journey.) Even the story of his ship names is false: The Nina and the Pinta you were told about in school? Really the Santa Clara and the nobody-remembers-anymore, but definitely not Pinta, which was a nickname bestowed on the boat by salty sailors, according to History.com, that meant painted one or prostitute.
A new funding bill would prevent military construction funds from being used for projects on installations named after Confederate generals from the Civil War, the latest effort by House lawmakers to address the Confederacys legacy within the military.

The bill would prevent any funds to be obligated, expended, or used to construct a project located on a military installation bearing the name of a Confederate officer, except in the case that a process to replace such names has been initiated, according to a provision in the fiscal year 2021 appropriations bill from the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies subpanel of the House Appropriations Committee.

The issue of military bases named after Confederate generals reemerged amid anti-racism and police brutality protests following the death of a Black man, George Floyd, by Minneapolis police on May 25. Legislation introduced in the House and Senate have sought to create a process and timeline to remove Confederacy-related names from 10 Army bases as well as other military assets and property, including two Navy ships.

The 10 Army posts named in honor of Confederate generals are Camp Beauregard and Fort Polk in Louisiana; Fort Benning and Fort Gordon in Georgia; Fort Bragg in North Carolina; Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Lee and Fort Pickett in Virginia; Fort Rucker in Alabama; and Fort Hood in Texas.

The funding bill will be debated Monday evening by the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies subpanel.

The legislation is just the latest attempt by lawmakers to remove names and symbols related to the Confederacy. Last Wednesday, an amendment to rename military installations within a year was passed in the House Armed Services Committees version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which sets yearly policy and funding priorities for the Pentagon. Another amendment to ban the display of Confederate flags on all Defense Department property was also passed.

Thirty-five Senate Democrats also submitted a bill on June 24 to remove Confederate names from Defense Department property and assets within a year. The standalone bill submitted by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., followed an amendment to the Senate Armed Services Committees version of the 2021 NDAA that would set up a process to remove Confederacy names from military property and assets within three years.

2020 the Stars and Stripes

Visit the Stars and Stripes at www.stripes.com

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Mike Fitzhugh, wearing a face covering during his lunch stroll through downtown Mobile on Monday, noticed he wasnt alone.

All around him were faces covered by masks. In Mobile  like Birmingham, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Selma and Jefferson County  its now the law to wear a face covering in public places.

Unincorporated Mobile County also joined that list on Friday through a health order issued by Mobile County Health Officer Dr. Bert Eichold. But that order doesnt extend inside the city limits of the small towns of Mobile County, leaving Satsuma and Chickasaw and Prichard to decide their own requirements.

My view is that its uncomfortable and a hassle, but its a small price to pay to keep people alive and to get back to work, said Fitzhugh, a Daphne resident who works as a banker in downtown Mobile.

Two weeks

Indeed, the fine is $50 if someone violates Mobiles new mask ordinance. But the city isnt doling out tickets: Since the ordinance went into effect at 5 p.m. Friday, police have not written a citation, according to Mobile police. On Thursday, each police precinct was given 3,100 masks for patrol officers to distribute as needed over the weekend for those who might need one.

The ordinance expires on Aug. 2, but public health officials are hopeful to have an understanding on whether its been working after two weeks, according to Dr. Rendi Murphree, an epidemiologist who is the director of the Mobile County Health Departments Bureau of Disease Surveillance and Environmental Services.

Two weeks is the incubation period for (COVID-19), said Murphree. We saw a spike two weeks after some of the restrictions were lifted.

The numbers continue to spike in Mobile County, where Murphree said the county saw a 60% increase in cases last week compared to the week before. She also said the percentage of positive COVID-19 results have jumped to over 20%, representing a sizable increase that hasnt occurred since April 12.

Mobile County is one of 18 in Alabama that is labeled by the state as very high risk, which means the number of coronavirus cases are either remaining the same or rising.

We are hearing more thanks and kudos that mandatory mask wearing is being implemented in most of our county, said Murphree.

I wear a face covering because I want to protect others around me - including our first responders, health care workers and city employees. If we each do our part, we will slow the spread of COVID-19 and speed up the recovery process for our local businesses. #whyiwear pic.twitter.com/Zh553uWEk9  Mayor Sandy Stimpson (@MayorStimpson) July 6, 2020

Cities forgo mandates

But hopes that Mobiles mask mandate would filter to the smaller cities and prompt officials to approve something similar appears to be fleeting. As of Monday, only officials in Prichard have publicly expressed a desire to institute a similar mandate as Mobile.

Unlike Jefferson County  where Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson mandated face coverings for unincorporated areas and the cities  Eicholds order in Mobile County only covers unincorporated areas.

The Prichard City Council could vote on Tuesday on a similar ordinance that carries phased-in enforcement. Under the Prichard proposal, a first-time violator would be given a free mask to wear and a second offense would be a warning. A $50 fine would only be implemented upon a third offense, according to Councilman Lorenzo Martin.

We felt that $50 was high, but we didnt want it to appear that the health and safety of Prichard residents is less than Mobile, said Martin.

He added, The greatest concern is that most of our citizens shop in some form or fashion in neighboring Mobile. If Mobile has a cold or a flu, we should have to expect the same.

Prichard, with a population of 21,500, is 89% Black and has one of the highest poverty rates in Alabama. The exact number of COVID-19 infections are not counted for Prichard, but a map showing a breakdown of ZIP code data for infections shows Prichard behind the city of Mobile in the number of cases.

Novel coronavirus has disproportionately infected Black communities, and that is the situation as well in Mobile County. Mobile County is 59% white and 36% Black, but health records show that 46% of Black residents and 25% of white residents have been infected with the virus since the pandemic began.

Right now, we definitely want to make it mandatory, said Councilwoman Severia Campbell-Morris.

Mt. Vernon, a small town with a population around 1,500, became the first municipality in Mobile County to implement a mandatory mask ordinance in April. The ordinance carries fines of $50 to $500 for violators, and it will remain in effect until the governors state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic expires.

Other cities arent showing as much enthusiasm toward a mask mandate.

Chickasaw, which is immediately north of Prichard, has no plans for voting in a mandate. The Citronelle City Council meets Thursday, but there are no plans to vote on an agenda item requiring masks. In Semmes, city officials are just encouraging everyone to wear masks when in public, a city official said.

In Satsuma, city officials will vote on an agenda item Tuesday that instructs residents to follow the Unified Commands recommendations on wearing face masks when social distancing cannot occur. The Unified Command consists of Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood and Eichold.

Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier said there hasnt been any appetite among council members to require people to wear masks. He said he is concerned about enforcing a mask mandate with a small police force.

Its easy to make rules, said Collier. Its another to enforce it.

In Saraland, Mayor Howard Rubenstein wrote a lengthy Facebook post on June 29 in which he urged residents to wear masks and pleaded for them to be kind and respectful toward their neighbors and to resist the temptation to succumb to anger and fear.

There are no plans for the Saraland council to mandate mask wearing.

I understand there has been some controversy about use of masks, but from my review of the valid scientific information available, ask use does significantly lessen the transmission of the virus, said Rubenstein. Remember that 20% of all infected COVID-19 individuals are asymptomatic, especially younger people.

This story was updated to include Mt. Vernons mask ordinance that was adopted in April.

Alabama cities left to go it alone as governor urges, but doesnt require masks

Mobile releases FAQ sheet on mask ordinance

Alabama unmasked: Mask-wearing debates a microcosm of polarized issue

Many Alabama voters will need to wear masks to the polls this month

As Alabama reopens, will people wear masks?
A watchdog for childrens welfare claims that children are being abused by workers in psychiatric treatment facilities in Courtland, Owens Cross Roads, Tuskegee, and Montgomery.

In a public letter, the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program wrote they have grave concerns about the immediate safety and welfare of the nearly 100 children, aged 12 to 18, currently in facilities run by Sequel TSI of Alabama, a Huntsville-based provider.

The letter went to the heads of four Alabama agenciesPublic Health, Medicaid, Mental Health, and Human Resources.

ADAP, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center and Children's Rights, asked state agency heads to revoke Sequel's license to operate, suspend all Medicaid payments, and to relocate the children residing in Sequel facilities across the state.

Jason Scrivner, head of Sequels Courtland facility, referred AL.com to their national affiliate for comment. A spokesperson for Sequel and Family Services provided this statement to AL.com Tuesday evening:

We have received and are reviewing the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP) monitoring report of our Courtland facility. A corrective action plan is being prepared to immediately address the issues outlined in this report. We are committed to working with ADAP and all regulatory and licensing agencies to correct any deficiencies and concerns. Additionally, we will implement the necessary changes to ensure the living conditions, culture, and programmatic environment at Courtland better facilitate a trauma-informed, therapeutic approach to the behavioral health, emotional, and physical challenges experienced by the youth we serve.

The ADAP report for our Courtland facility does not reflect our organizational commitment to equip those we serve with the clinical and therapeutic services, as well as the tools, motivations, life skills, and education necessary to lead successful lives and reach their full potential. We must and will do better.

In interviews with ADAP over the past six months, children reported that in addition to suffering violence and verbal abuse at the hands of staff, they had been illegally restrained, kept in time-out rooms for days at a timeforced to urinate in the room because staff would not let them go to the bathroom---and had to sleep on thin plastic mattresses on the floor as punishment.

Over and over, the children told us that they dont feel safe, ADAP Associate Director Nancy Anderson told AL.com.

The letter and an accompanying 59-page monitoring report lists claims of multiple violent acts by Sequel staff against the children living there. The report states that living conditions are poor, and medical and dental care for children are allegedly inadequate as well.

"Staff violence against youth has resulted in serious injuries, including head trauma, lacerations, hematomas, and loss of consciousness, not to mention trauma to their mental well-being."

Children in these facilities are ones that have been removed from their homes by the Alabama Department of Human Resources because of abuse and neglect, Anderson said. While in the facility, children are supposed to receive psychiatric treatment, she said, but instead are being retraumatized.

"These facilities have demonstrated that they can't follow the very rules put in place to safeguard the health and welfare of the children that they were designed to serve," Anderson said.

Michigan recently revoked its contract with Sequel affiliates there after 16-year-old Cornelius Fredericks died in May after he was restrained by seven staff members for 12 minutes, according to a report from Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Fredericks was restrained for throwing a sandwich at another resident.

Three staff members there have been charged in Fredericks' death.

Alabama Department of Public Health Director Scott Harris, in a written response to AL.com, said, We are concerned about the health and safety of all of the children and young people involved. Harris added his department has begun internal discussions and is continuing to review the information ADAP provided.

Alabama Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar sent a similar comment, committing to reviewing the information ADAP provided.

On Wednesday morning, Mental Health Commissioner Lynn Beshear wrote to AL.com and said: We have sent staff to investigate. They didnt provide any further details.

Among the multiple examples of violent and unsafe living conditions for children in the facilities is the misplacement of two transgender girls at Courtland, an all-boys facility. "One of the girls reported that other Courtland residents are stalking her and that she does not feel safe," ADAP wrote.

At the Owens Cross Roads facility, for females only, girls said they have been dragged out of bed, slammed to the ground, and violently treated by staff there, according to ADAP. Multiple incidents are recounted in ADAP's report.

ADAP describes "chaos" at the Owens Cross Roads facility near Huntsville in early June. "Several girls damaged doors, including exterior doors. Residents broke out glass windows in the school. During this chaos, a girl tried to hang herself with a telephone cord." Police responded to the incident, according to ADAP's report.

The practice of group ignorance, which is described in the handbook and what ADAP refers to as shunning, is used on girls at the Montgomery facility. ADAP calls the practice emotionally abusive. Girls are isolated and ignored by other peers and by staff except during billable services like therapy.

In one instance in the report, a girl said after making a comment to a staff member in a Sequel facility, she was forced against a wall, picked up, slammed to the ground and a male staff member "placed his weight on her by putting his knee into her back, causing significant pain and trouble breathing. Though the girl complained she could not breathe, the staff member did not relent until forced off her back by other staff."

Boys reported equally violent treatment. The report says one child said he was beaten by a staff member, and ADAP attorneys saw the bruising. The resident suffered bruising to his eyes as a result, with ADAP attorneys observed on the video call.

Pictures of feces and blood smeared on the walls of children's sleeping and living areas are included in the Courtland facility's monitoring report attached to ADAP's letter. Dirty floors and broken doors are also pictured.

A Sequel facility was forced to close in 2019 after the Madison City Council revoked its business license. The revocation came after the facility, known locally as Three Springs, was given a second chance following the 2017 killing of a construction worker for which two residents of the facility were charged with murder. Also in 2017, an employee was accused of having sexual contact with students.

Sequel TSI of Alabama operates four facilities in Alabama. The Alabama Department of Youth Services also contracts with Sequel to house children placed into the department's custody by a juvenile court. ADAP did not interview those children for their report but recommended to state agency heads to investigate those units.

The Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources did not respond to AL.coms request for comment.

ADAP is based in Tuscaloosa and is part of the nation's federally-funded protection and advocacy system. ADAP provides legal services to Alabamians with disabilities.

These kids were dealt a really bad hand with abuse from their families and now the grownups who are supposed to be helping heal them, treat them, are literally raising their hands against them, said Anderson at ADAP.

Updated: 7:58 p.m. to include Sequel Youth and Family Services response. Also corrected the description of the beating of a boy as being prior to his interview with ADAP.

Updated: July 8, 10:30 a.m. to include Alabama Department of Mental Health Commissioner Lynn Beshears written response to AL.com.
The family of a little boy killed when he was caught in the crossfire of a gunfight inside the Riverchase Galleria wants his death to spark change and said they will never let him be forgotten.

I hear Black Lives Matter. How does it matter when youre killing your own race?' said Kesha Layfield, Royta Giles grandmother. When you think there is racism going on, youre out here protesting and marching for that but what about him?

He dont have a voice now'' Layfield said. He wont be able to speak but today, tomorrow, 2021, 2022, Im going to forever speak for him. Royta Giles Layfield, a name thats going to ring forever.

Royta, an 8-year-old who just finished the second grade at Bessemers Jonesboro Elementary School, died Friday, July 3, when gunfire erupted on the first floor of the states largest mall.

Royta was shot in the head while he, his mother Jesslyn Layfield, stepfather Anthony Jones, and little sisters Trinity, 5 and Marlee, 4, were waiting to get into the Childrens Place to buy new outfits for the Fourth of July.

According to Hoover police, a shootout that lasted only seconds long ended Roytas life and wounded three other innocent bystanders who are now recovering. A 22-year-old Birmingham man - Montez Moses Miracle Coleman  is charged with capital murder and three counts of second-degree assault. He remains jailed without bond.

Investigators are trying to identify five others who are sought for questioning in the horrific shooting. They released surveillance photos of them on Sunday and said they have received multiple tips from the community since the release of those images.

A child died because people to chose to settle a verbal argument by firing guns at each other in a crowded mall,' said Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis. Were not going to be satisfied until all of those responsible for this tragedy are held accountable.

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.

Roytas parents, grandmother, sisters and two dozen other family members and friends gathered Monday at Birminghams Avondale Park to talk about the boys life and legacy.

The Rev. David Miller of Chosen Ministries in Birmingham, accompanied by his wife, Intranet, said its vital that Roytas death not go unnoticed.

Our hearts all went out because of what happened to George Floyd. The whole world went crazy, standing up for the brutality of George Floyd and how he was taken,' Miller said. Everybody marched, everybody rioted, everybody tore up everything and we understand that.

But his life matters too. This baby boy will never, ever see the age of George Floyd and yet we want to make it known that a change has to happen now. Right now,' he said. Everybody wants to be on TV, everybody wants to get publicity for rioting, but nobody wants to stand up when our own takes our own. We are here to say enough is enough.

What happened to the baby was wrong. Its not going to end today. This is going to be a movement,' Miller said. This baby boy right here, this prince among kings, were going to scream his name in Jesus name some things are going to change.

Miller said he is calling on every pastor, every politician, and especially parents to take a stand. Parents, take control of your household. Stop, stop condoning the cute little stuff when your daughter or son is cursing at 2 or 3 years old,' he said. This baby liked to help clean up. He liked to play. He liked to laugh. Hes got two little sisters who dont understand. He didnt understand. But somebodys got to understand and thats why were here today.

Were asking everybody to honor and respect the family,' Miller said. This is not a fight against Black Lives Matters, were just saying his life matters too. Because we cant condone any white, blue, purple police officer killing anybody if were killing our own.

The Riverchase Galleria is paying for Roytas funeral. It is scheduled to be held at noon Saturday, July 11, at the Bessemer Civic Center. A memorial service will be held for him at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 8, at the Bessemer Recreation Center.

Roytas grandmother said the family is obviously heartbroken over his death. This is a baby well never see again,' Layfield said through tears. I have to comfort his mother and I dont even know how to begin. I can only imagine what shes feeling. Not only am I grieving for my daughter, but Im grieving the loss of my grandson.

She had a message for parents. Take control of your kids. Quit being their friends. When theyre wrong, theyre wrong,' she said. All those other guys who aint come forth, trust and believe justice is going to be served. Turn yourselves in. This is senseless. That was a family place. "

What made you wake up that morning and just want to destroy lives? she said. Im not getting it. I dont understand.

My grandbabies, they laid there and watched their brother,' she said. Come on now.

The civil rights organization the Birmingham Justice League echoed the familys call for someone to come forward with information.

When we march against police brutality in America we chant Black Lives Matter. When an 8-year-old black kid is killed inside of a mall for simply doing nothing, we should demand justice just as equitably, BJL president Carlos Chaverst said. His young black life matters, too. And we have to act as such. This isnt about a no-snitch street code policy, but its about #Justice4Royta. If you know something, say something.

Family members said Royta was a typical little boy  energetic and always smiling. He loved to help clean up and aspired to be a rapper.

Jonesboro principal Dr. Anjell Edwards and staff described him as a smart child who was a jewel with big dreams of someday entering the music industry. He was bright, articulate, and very convincing. We even tried to convince him to become a lawyer, says former assistant principal Mr. Van James.

Asked what the family wants Roytas legacy to be, his grandmother sang, Lets Get This Party Started.

Thats what he wanted. He wanted yall to live, live, live,' she said. This is his party.
The daughter of comedian and radio talk show host Rickey Smiley was shot multiple times late Sunday night in Houston.

Smiley, via social media, said his daughter Aaryn was injured when she was on her way to get food at Whataburger sometime around midnight. She was at a stop light and some guys got out of the car and were shooting at each other and she got hit twice,' Smiley said in one of several videos he posted Monday. My daughter didnt deserve to become a gunshot victim but thank God for protecting her.

Smiley announced the shooting on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, saying she had been shot at least twice and possibly three times. Im just so angry right now,' said Smiley. I woke up to text messages. Shes crying, shes scaredand I cant get to her.

Smiley, who is from Birmingham, was able to get on a flight to Houston later in the day, according to his manager. As of 3:30 p.m., he posted that his daughter was out of surgery and recovering.

Repeated efforts to reach Houston police officials for comment werent successful, but they told ABC13 in Houston that the shooting stemmed from an altercation. During the altercation, a black Infiniti was at a red light when the suspect pulled up to it and opened fire.

Three people inside the Infiniti drove to a hospital for help. A bystander was also injured. It wasnt immediately clear whether Smileys daughter was the bystander or inside the Infiniti.
A 61-year-old man was arrested and charged with assault Monday after he allegedly stabbed a Mobile fire captain, police and fire officials said.

Ronald Hurd, 61, was charged with second-degree assault, two counts of menacing and second-degree possession of marijuana in connection with the stabbing of the fire captain at the station at 57 South Lafayette St., police said.

Hurd allegedly pulled out a knife at the station around 3:20 a.m. Monday and threatened another firefighter. When the captain went to intervene, he was cut on the hand. Hurd then allegedly threatened another firefighter with the knife before fleeing.

A fire department spokesman said the captains name was not being publicly released.
One teen was killed and another critically injured Monday afternoon when their vehicle was struck by a man who is now under arrest for DUI, according to Alabama State Troopers.

The crash happened about 4 p.m. on U.S. 84 at the intersection of Alabama 123, eight miles west of Dothan. Troopers do not release the names of juvenile victims but said the fatality victim was a 15-year-old female from New Brockton.

Authorities said the those injured were passengers in a 2015 Nissan Altima that was struck from behind by a 2010 Ford F150 driven by 55-year-old Anthony Miquel Bishop of Enterprise. Two additional vehicles were damaged in the crash.

Three occupants of the Nissan were taken to Flowers Hospital in Dothan, as well as Bishop. Bishop was released from the hospital and now has been charged with DUI. Additional charges are pending.

The accident remains under investigation by troopers.
The ex-boyfriend of a Montgomery police detective charged in her shooting death had been ordered by a court to stay away from her.

Brandon Deshawn Webster, 24, is charged with capital murder during a burglary in Mondays killing of 27-year-old Det. Tanisha Pughsley. He is being held without bond in the Montgomery County Detention Facility. He is also charged with attempted murder for firing multiple shots Jeremy Terrell Walker at the same time.

Montgomery police and fire medics were dispatched about 2:15 a.m. to the 6700 block of Overview Drive on a report of a person shot. When they got to Pughsleys home, she was unresponsive and pronounced dead a short time later.

Webster was quickly identified as a suspect and taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Pughsley, a criminal justice graduate of Alabama State University, joined Montgomerys police force in 2016.

Court records show Pughsley in late May filed for a protection from abuse order against Webster, which a judge granted in June. In that request, Pughsley documented and incident that happened May 19 at her home. Brandon came to my residence and hit me in the side of my head with an open hand two times while I was holding my 5-month-old Godchild,' she wrote. His actions caused me to drop the infant.

Although Brandon has moved out of the residence, he continues to show up and physically assault me,' she wrote. He sends threatening text messages and once he is blocked, he continues to call my phone private.

The order issued by Family Court Judge Bob Bailey was set to expire Dec. 19, 2020. The judge wrote, The parties may have brief contact for the sole purchase of activities involve the sale of their jointly owned residence.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. Our entire community today mourns the death of one of our own, Tanisha Pughsley. Detective Pughsley answered the call to serve, defend and protect our city, said Montgomery Mayor Steve Reed. We stand today with her family, friends, colleagues and all who love her, praying for comfort, peace and healing during this tragic time.
A young man is dead, and a teen is behind bars after a weekend slaying in west Alabama.

Wilcox County Sheriffs deputies were dispatched early Sunday to a location on County Road 29 in Boykin, said District Attorney Michael Jackson. When they arrived on the scene, they found shell casings in the roadway and blood in the grass.

Investigators learned that there had been an altercation between 17-year-old Steven Etheridge and 22-year-old Markeesa Pettway, Jackson said. The shooting happened sometime between 11 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 a.m. Sunday, according to police reports.

Pettway was shot several times and taken to Selma Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Etheridge has been charged with murder. He is being held in the Prince Arnold Detention Center in Wilcox County.
We have been here before; the terrain is not new. The faces change, but the stories are hauntingly familiar: dramatic, devastating acts of racial injustice, followed by a desperate outcry borne of a deep-rooted pain.

The death of George Floyd is just the most recent instance of a centuries old narrative breaking once more into prominence. News headlines blare coverage, social media blossoms with outrage, politicians make grand promises.

And then, in a few weeks, we will go back to business as usual.

After some time has passed, another act of injustice will spark new reactions, and the cycle will begin again.

Collectively, we are aware that the protests erupting around the United States are not only about the death of George Floyd, or even of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and scores of others in the last few years alone. Rather, these protests are about the accumulation of grievances, reaching intolerable levels - about everyday bias becoming acute. Escalating protest is the outlet of last resort. People take to the streets, and the halls of power scramble to react.

Our reactive paradigm has failed. It is past time for a new, proactive paradigm. This paradigm must intentionally and comprehensively target the structures that enable and perpetuate bias in our public institutions.

As a medical doctor and researcher, I have dedicated over 30 years of my career to combating, through rigorous science, the disproportionate disease burden borne by racial minorities in the United States. I have witnessed on a personal level the impact that poverty, systemic bias, and crippling disadvantage have on both individuals and communities. Ive seen how unequal structures have robbed children of crucial opportunities before they were old enough to walk. This is not an accident. It is a symptom of chronic bias.

As we mourn the victims of violent injustice, we are also witnessing, in an unprecedented way, the fatal fruit of racial injustice in healthcare: the disproportionately high death rate of black men and women to COVID-19. The pandemic is killing black people at three times the rate of white people. These numbers are unsurprising, given the many factors which set minorities up for poor health outcomes  but they are deeply disturbing. Hundreds of thousands dying because of health disparities, of which COVID-19 is merely the latest example, is a national outrage.

These staggering realities tempt us to become discouraged. But in my work, I have also been privy to the power of proactive intervention. When black women in rural Alabama were disproportionately suffering, and dying from, breast and cervical cancer, we reversed the trend through meaningful and intentional interventions  ultimately completely eliminating the disparity. I know from experience that proactive, meaningful change is not only possible, it is imperative.

Yes, bias within police departments across the country must be addressed  but this is merely a single brick in what feels like an insurmountable wall impeding the opportunities of racial and ethnic minorities in this country. The wall also includes lack of access to safe, affordable daycare; overcrowded and underfunded schools; the school-to-prison pipeline for minority children; failed transportation infrastructures; lack of equitable access to housing; racial bias in lending, hiring, and sentencing practices; food deserts, which make access to healthy foods nearly impossible; low neighborhood walkability; and lack of access to healthcare.

We hear state and national leaders call for unity. But the unity we desperately need now is not a unity of complacence, it is a proactive unity. It is a unity in which business leaders come together to offer vocational and internship opportunities to local students, in which churches unite to offer free health screenings. It is a unity in which colleges and universities assume responsibility for boosting the educational outcomes of disadvantaged children, in which employers assume greater responsibility for the health of their employees. It is a unity in which state and local governments partner with nonprofit organizations to bolster community resources, realizing that a healthier, better educated populace helps everyone. It is a unity in which experts offer, and organizations solicit, the opportunity to be trained effectively on the impact of bias and on its prevention.

The path to a hopeful, promising future that includes all Americans starts here. This path is simple, but it will not be easy: it requires great political will and committed resources.

The situation may not be new. But if we are to chart a meaningful path forward, our response to the situation must be.

Mona Fouad, MD, MPH, Senior Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, School of Medicine, Director, Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center,University of Alabama at Birmingham
Myriam Borzee/iStockBy JACK ARNHOLZ, ABC News



(NEW YORK) -- Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's 65-year-old president who has consistently minimized the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, announced Tuesday that he tested positive for coronavirus.



Appearing on live television, the far-right president said he took a coronavirus test Monday after developing symptoms, including a high temperature.



"I didn't know what would be the result. But finally it was positive," Bolsonaro told reporters speaking from the presidential residence in Brasilia Tuesday.



"There is no reason for fear. That's life. Life goes on. I do thank God for my life and the role I have received to decide the future of this great nation that is called Brazil," he said.



Bolsonaro said in the announcement that while he feels better than he did the day before and wants to take a walk, he is respecting doctors' recommendations. He also confirmed he is taking hydroxychloroquine, which President Donald Trump has also touted as a treatment for COVID-19.



Brazil's leader has been criticized at home and abroad for his lax response to the coronavirus pandemic, dismissing it as a "little cold" at the onset of the crisis.



"I was not surprised [by the coronavirus test result]," Bolsonaro said Tuesday. "I am president of the Republic; I am at the front line of the combat."



In late June, a federal judge ordered the president of South America's largest country to wear a face covering while in public or receive a fine of nearly $400 a day. The decision came after the president repeatedly appeared in public without a mask.



Despite the court order, Bolsonaro has since attended several public events without a mask, appearing at a July 4th celebration at the American Embassy without a face covering this weekend. The president was also photographed with the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman at the event.

Na Embaixada dos EUA, celebrando o 4 de julho, dia da independencia americana. pic.twitter.com/CqtgUNxiSL  Ernesto Araujo (@ernestofaraujo) July 4, 2020

With coronavirus-related deaths topping 65,000 in Brazil, Bolsonaro has lost many high-profiles supporters and has faced governmental resignations since the outbreak worsened in the country.



The president fired one of the health ministers for supporting restrictions imposed by regional governors, as Bolsonaro publicly undermined them and rallied his supporters to disobey them.



A second health minister resigned after openly disagreeing with Bolsonaro over chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug related to hydroxychloroquine.



The president's diagnosis comes a day after his son accused those criticizing his father's response to COVID-19 of wishing Bolsonaro's death.



"The immense number of people rooting for the death of the head of the executive right now should trigger an immediate show of solidarity from other [political] leaders," Carlos Bolsonaro wrote in a tweet Monday night.



As of Tuesday, Brazil has over 1.6 million coronavirus cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.



The president has been tested three times before for COVID-19, all of which he said have come back negative.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Fortunately, the new state law establishes that certain components of the law  such as a ban on discriminating against people with preexisting health problems  would remain in place in Maryland, even if the ACA is overturned by a court. This was a bold step and Maryland is a leader among the states in protecting the ACAs incredibly important provisions. Even if, as we hope, the Supreme Court upholds the ACA, this new Maryland law will protect these health safeguards from the constant attempts by the Trump Administration to undermine them. We thank the lead sponsors Dels. Shane Pendergrass and Joseline Pena-Melnyk and Sen. Brian Feldman, and the bipartisan group of legislators who voted for this measure.
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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.
Across the country, conversations about alternatives to policing are unfolding in real time. As social workers in Baltimore, we believe there is an urgent need to change the way our society responds to individuals experiencing mental health crises. Rates of anxiety and depression are on the rise, especially in young people, and this issue cannot wait: One in four victims of police shootings, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center, is experiencing mental health crisis, with Black, Indigenous, and people of color disproportionately at risk of dying at the hands of law enforcement. For many of these people, police represent a threat of real harm. The presence of law enforcement is likely to escalate a psychiatric emergency.
Alexander City, AL (35010)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the morning. Cloudy skies this afternoon. High 81F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Some passing clouds. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable.
Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke introduced the resolution because she was embarrassed for Marcia Grant and her son, Dallas, who were turned away from Ouzo Bay in Harbor East two weeks ago. A manager informed Grant, who is Black, that the 9-year-old childs shorts violated the eaterys dress code. Meanwhile, in video Grant took at the scene, she pointed out that a similarly dressed white child and his family had been served.
Nearly 200 migrants and refugees rescued by a humanitarian aid boat in the Mediterranean Sea began to leave the vessel in Sicily late on Monday after spending nine days on the ship.

The migrants regained dry land at Porto Empedocle on the Italian islands western coast.

Police escorted them a short distance to another vessel, where they will be quarantined to prevent the possible spread of coronavirus.

The arrival of the rescue vessel chartered by charity group SOS Mediterranee capped a tense few days on board marked by migrants jumping overboard, a suicide attempt and bouts of violence.

After being rescued in four separate operations on June 25 and 30, the refugees and migrants waiting on the ship became increasingly agitated, according to SOS Mediterranee, as the charity awaited the go-ahead from either Italy or Malta to dock at a safe port.

However, approval did not arrive until Sunday, after the group declared a state of emergency on board, adding it could no longer guarantee the safety of the migrants or crew.

Rising tension culminated in fights between migrants frustrated by the long waiting period and their inability to call their families to let them know they were safe.

One migrant tried to hang himself and two others jumped overboard, the charity said.
Trump thought fulfilling campaign promises and peddling populism were enough for re-election. He thought wrong.

President Donald Trump is right to be mad.

Americans, who voted for him in 2016, are abandoning him in droves. Instead of rewarding him for fulfilling his campaign pledges, many are punishing him for it.

But he is wrong about the reasons why.

No, he is not a victim of a conspiracy by the Democrats, the treachery of the deep state, or a witch-hunt by the liberal media, though he did fall out with all three.

Nor is he the victim of the coronavirus. Republican strategists had warned of the impact of Trump toxicity on the future of the Republican Party well before the pandemic.

Rather, he is the casualty of simple and not so simple misunderstandings.

Faithful Trump

Unlike many of his predecessors, Trump has done or tried to do all he promised.

He lowered taxes, relaxed regulations, limited immigration, built a wall along the border with Mexico, renegotiated trade agreements, and even recognised Jerusalem as Israels capital and moved the US embassy there, among other campaign pledges.

He has also increased the Pentagons budget, shrunk US military commitments abroad, and bullied US allies to spend more on defence.

And he withdrew from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Iran nuclear deal and pulled out of UNESCO and the World Health Organization.

Trump boasted that these steps have helped make America great again, powerful, protected and prosperous.

He took the credit as the economy boomed, the stock market skyrocketed and unemployment nose-dived, until the Chinese pandemic was let loose on America and the radical left exploited the police killing of George Floyd to foment civil strife.

All of which begs the question, at least in Trumps mind, why on earth are Americans not uniting behind him to beat the presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden, and to defeat the leftist fascists besieging America?

Surely, he is not to blame for every Chinese virus and every police transgression!

This being an election year, Trump is not surprised that the Democrats, who tried and failed to indict him on collusion with Russia and abuse of power in dealing with Ukraine, blame him for the high rate of coronavirus infections and deaths and for fomenting racial hatred that encourages police brutality.

But why are seniors and suburban voters, two longtime pillars of the Republican coalition, defecting to Biden? Why are Republicans organising political action committees (PACs) against him? And why are the swing states swinging towards the Democrats?

In short, why are more Americans rejecting the messenger and his message after embracing him in 2016?

Why, why, why?

Some of the answers may be found in Trumps misinterpretation of his mandate and the role of the presidency, others  in his misunderstanding of America.

Overreaching, underperforming

From the very outset, Trumps invocation of the American carnage in his inauguration speech was an overreach that alienated many Americans. In the words of former Republican president, George W Bush, that was some weird sh*t.

To be clear, Trumps fear-mongering on Twitter cannot be compared to Bushs warmongering. He may have talked the big talk, but like President Ronald Reagan, he has not gotten America into any major war. Not yet.

But his America first policies have translated into America alone, allowing China and Russia to step in and fill the void. This mainstream Republicans consider the abandonment of Americas hard-earned global leadership.

By walking away from international agreements without reaching alternative agreements, with the exception of the North America Free Trade Agreement, Trump has weakened Americas influence abroad.

And by imposing his deal of the century on the Middle East, he caused a major breakdown in regional US diplomacy.

He also pursued a severe and inhumane immigration policy that led, among other human rights violations, to snatching children from their parents at the US-Mexico border.

All of which has undermined Americas long-nurtured brand as a benevolent superpower, and compromised its much-valued liberal principles.

Americans may be ambivalent about ends justifying the means abroad, but domestically, ends do not justify the means when those means are undemocratic.

So, when Trump imposed a national emergency for the sole purpose of circumventing Congress to extract funds from the Pentagon to build his border wall, Americans squirmed.

They also squirmed after he politicised the Justice Department to do his bidding and attacked judges and the courts for not doing his bidding.

Trump took advantage of his predecessors economic recovery to impose tax cuts, mostly for corporations and billionaires.

The stock market may have risen to new heights and unemployment fallen to new lows, but the real standard of living has remained stagnant for most Americans, as the gap between rich and poor has kept growing.

His tax cuts helped create more job opportunities for African Americans and Latinos, but Trump ignored problems of structural racism and treated people of colour like no more than tolerated guests in their own homeland.

Likewise, Trumps assault on Obamacare without reaching an alternative scheme left many poor and elderly confused and exposed to the high costs of healthcare.

And then came his terrible mismanagement of the pandemic, reacting rather slowly, half-heartedly and incompetently to the health crisis that has engulfed the nation and taken more lives than all of Americas wars since World War II.

And to top it all, he inflamed racial tensions instead of calming and healing the national divide, following the police killing of George Floyd.

In short, the state of the union has not been great; it has been dreadful.

The president of some

Trump has failed the basic test of politics: to create the broadest voter base possible.

He has been so laser-focused on appeasing his core right-wing and evangelical base, attacking journalists, bureaucrats and even generals and war heroes, that he has alienated mainstream Americans, who cherish their democratic institutions, independent media, and liberal values.

Americans may have tolerated his bullying, name-calling and outright viciousness during the campaign, but despite him winning and becoming the president of all Americans, he continues to lead like he campaigned, alienating everyone outside his hardcore followers.

His populist, racist, authoritarian tendencies have disaffected many traditional conservatives who believe in Republican values.

Trumps populism may still appeal to certain Americans, who want to have their cake and eat it too, but even they do not necessarily want to listen to populist precepts amplified from the White House and UN podiums.

White conservatives may want to maintain their privilege at home, and American domination abroad, but they want it done benevolently and cost-free. They are even OK with war, as long as no American soldiers die and no foreign civilians perish on live TV.

They may prefer limiting Muslim or Latino immigration, but they would like it done subtly and gently, not boastfully and maliciously, because it undermines their noble image of themselves.

Even hypocrites do not appreciate their president reminding them of their hypocrisy in every other tweet.

But Trump tweets too much, talks too much, boasts too much, and humiliates and degrades others too much.

And the more he does that, the more he and his administration become isolated.

Checkmate

In politics, like in chess, losing too many assets without strategy or compensation spells defeat.

And Trump has lost more than a few liberal and mainstream Republicans without winning over Democrats, Neocons or Independents.

He has also lost the swing states and the swing voters  the 10 percent of the electorate that makes the difference between winning and losing.

His populist strategy also failed when tested by the coronavirus pandemic that required less deception and more leadership.

His I am the outsider routine may have been appealing during his 2016 campaign, but his failure to transform the system as president  the ultimate insider  made his populism unsustainable in liberal America.

The country has witnessed and experienced Trumps greatness and changed its mind.

Americans may have grown accustomed to the lies and exaggerations, but more of them have become hostile to Trumps illiberal, cynical, and divisive vision for the country.

They looked in the mirror and did not like what they saw; they felt ashamed and insecure at home and abroad.

The king-president has been checkmated. It remains to be seen if he folds or tries to delay the inevitable, hoping for a major Biden blunder that paves the way for a repeat of the 2016 upset.

Long live the king
Consistent with nationwide figures, small businesses in Maryland received the majority of the states loan payments. Of the 81,315 loans approved to Maryland businesses and nonprofits, more than 68,000 were small loan recipients of less than $150,000. Thats approximately 83% of the loan payouts. In the United States, 86% of loans awarded were for less than $150,000, and the average award was $107,000. The federal government omitted the business names and addresses of borrowers who received less than $150,000.
PV Real Estate



Tropicasa Realty's July Hot Property in Puerto Vallarta

For more information, or to schedule your tour of this month's Hot Property in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Indah Condo 11B, contact Tropicasa's Wayne Franklin at franklin(at)tropicasa.com, or 322-292-3279. Indah Condo 11B, Amapas a Offered at: $850,000 USD



Thinking about buying property in Puerto Vallarta? Consider this sophisticated 11th floor home with breathtaking views! The design of this 3 bedroom, 3 bath condominium focuses the main living, dining and kitchen area on its signature feature - the Bay of Banderas and the Pacific Ocean beyond.



An open floorplan kitchen allows for entertaining while gourmet masterpieces are created. Vast storage, including under the oversized center island, which is a nice upgrade not found in many units.



The covered terrace has plenty of space for dining as well as lounging space, and features a marble BBQ area (with water connection for future wet bar).



All three bedrooms are spacious and bright, and comfortably fit king beds with large side tables. The bathrooms are en-suite (one doubling as a guest bath) and feature additional overhead vanity lighting, as well as insets and lighted niches inside the marble showers for your convenience.



Hardwood farm-style parota doors throughout the unit and 24" slip-resistant porcelain tile create warm textures and color variations. The large laundry center supports a full-size set of front-load machines, and has built-in cabinetry and storage.



Additional amenities of the condo are the recessed speakers in the living room and terrace, remote-controlled blinds in the living and dining rooms and Sheer Elegance blinds in both rear bedrooms, zoned Trane air conditioning system, as well as a digital entry system to the unit. Dual upgraded CAT6 internet cables are in each bedroom and living room.



The condominium is sold fully furnished in neutral tones providing the perfect palette to add your own personal touch. All appliances are included, as well as TVs, which are cleverly wood-frame encased concealing all the mechanics. And, of course, secure parking is included for one car.



Among the many features of the complex are 24-hour security with porte cochere, onsite administration, rooftop lounge/bar/restaurant, rooftop pool and daybed seating, oceanside pool with another lounge/bar/restaurant and Jacuzzi with deck seating and a fully-equipped gym with steam rooms.



There is even a boat and captain available for owners use at an additional charge and a free Indah car service to pick you up or take you to the airport in style.



HOA dues are approx $14,507.90 MXN/monthly (including a $1,318.90 MXN surcharge to build a reserve fund) and include: building insurance, 24-hour security, onsite staff, maintenance and cleaning of common areas, onsite HOA manager, WiFi in lobby and both pool areas. All utilities are separately metered.



For more information, or to schedule your tour of this month's Hot Property in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico,



Click HERE to see more of Tropicasa Realty's Hot Properties in Puerto Vallarta.

Since 1997, Wayne Franklin and his team at Tropicasa Realty have been a trusted name in Puerto Vallarta real estate. Tropicasa Realty is the region's representative for "The Leading Agents of the World" and with over 100 years of combined experience in real estate, all agents of the company are affiliated with AMPI. Wayne Franklin or any member of his knowledgeable team can be contacted in-person at their Romantic Zone Office - Pulpito 145-A at Olas Altas. While in PV they can be reached at (322) 222-6505 or by calling 866-978-5539 (Toll-Free) from the U.S.

Click HERE to learn more about Tropicasa Realty, or visit tropicasa.com. Thinking about buying property in Puerto Vallarta? Consider this sophisticated 11th floor home with breathtaking views! The design of this 3 bedroom, 3 bath condominium focuses the main living, dining and kitchen area on its signature feature - the Bay of Banderas and the Pacific Ocean beyond.An open floorplan kitchen allows for entertaining while gourmet masterpieces are created. Vast storage, including under the oversized center island, which is a nice upgrade not found in many units.The covered terrace has plenty of space for dining as well as lounging space, and features a marble BBQ area (with water connection for future wet bar).All three bedrooms are spacious and bright, and comfortably fit king beds with large side tables. The bathrooms are en-suite (one doubling as a guest bath) and feature additional overhead vanity lighting, as well as insets and lighted niches inside the marble showers for your convenience.Hardwood farm-style parota doors throughout the unit and 24" slip-resistant porcelain tile create warm textures and color variations. The large laundry center supports a full-size set of front-load machines, and has built-in cabinetry and storage.Additional amenities of the condo are the recessed speakers in the living room and terrace, remote-controlled blinds in the living and dining rooms and Sheer Elegance blinds in both rear bedrooms, zoned Trane air conditioning system, as well as a digital entry system to the unit. Dual upgraded CAT6 internet cables are in each bedroom and living room.The condominium is sold fully furnished in neutral tones providing the perfect palette to add your own personal touch. All appliances are included, as well as TVs, which are cleverly wood-frame encased concealing all the mechanics. And, of course, secure parking is included for one car.Among the many features of the complex are 24-hour security with porte cochere, onsite administration, rooftop lounge/bar/restaurant, rooftop pool and daybed seating, oceanside pool with another lounge/bar/restaurant and Jacuzzi with deck seating and a fully-equipped gym with steam rooms.There is even a boat and captain available for owners use at an additional charge and a free Indah car service to pick you up or take you to the airport in style.HOA dues are approx $14,507.90 MXN/monthly (including a $1,318.90 MXN surcharge to build a reserve fund) and include: building insurance, 24-hour security, onsite staff, maintenance and cleaning of common areas, onsite HOA manager, WiFi in lobby and both pool areas. All utilities are separately metered.For more information, or to schedule your tour of this month's Hot Property in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Indah Condo 11B, contact Tropicasa's Wayne Franklin at franklin(at)tropicasa.com, or 322-292-3279.



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Lake Charles, Louisiana (70615)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High 87F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 74F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
Some have rightly noted the double standard shown by numerous public health officials and politicians regarding social distancing. Were public health officials indicating that COVID-19 is not as dangerous as originally stated by their apparent approval of rioting throughout America?

Multiple statistics can be provided here to answer the question and show that SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, is not the threat to all Americans that it has been made out to be. One need not be an epidemiologist to arrive at this conclusion. The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others have provided criteria to determine the severity of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus. One needs only to evaluate the facts from the standpoint of the severity criteria.

The SARS in SARS-CoV-2 stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome (which is sometimes also referred to as acute respiratory distress syndrome or adult respiratory distress syndrome). When the virus was first reportedly discovered, the panic and hysteria propagated by public health officials was supposedly due to their belief that the SARS-CoV-2 virus would cause millions of people to experience pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and death. During the initial outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, the CDC was suggesting that the expected sequences of events leading to death in COVID-19 patients would be viral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

How does one determine the severity, danger, or threat to society that a SARS virus poses? In the past, the CDC determined the severity of a SARS virus by looking at evidence and incidence of pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. A SARS case was designated to be severe respiratory illness if a patient had the following:

Temperature higher than 100.4F (38C), AND

One or more clinical findings of lower respiratory illness (e.g., cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing) AND

Radiographic evidence of pneumonia , OR

Acute respiratory distress syndrome , OR

Autopsy findings consistent with pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome without an identifiable cause

[Emphasis added]

If the CDC and other public health officials were consistent, they would be determining the severity of the currently spreading SARS virus by looking at incidences of pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Calculating the number of people whose death certificates list them as having died from COVID-19 and pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome would provide a more accurate count of people who likely actually died from COVID-19 (rather than those who presumably died from COVID-19 or those who died with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test).

How many deaths involving COVID-19 have shown evidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome, then? According to the CDC, as of this writing, 15,243 death certificates out of 106,008 deaths involving COVID-19 included the contributing cause of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. The statistics are here, up to the week ending June 20, 2020.

That is a big deal. SARS-CoV-2 -- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 -- has reportedly resulted in less than 15,243 deaths due to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome.

One should not trivialize life and death; this article is not making light of those deaths. Instead, it is merely evaluating the statistics from the standpoint of the CDCs severity criteria to make the point that SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 are not as severe as many have stated.

One could also view the statistics of deaths involving COVID-19 and pneumonia to determine the severity of SARS-CoV-2. Before listing those statistics, it should be noted that the directors of the CDC and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, wrote about a case definition of COVID-19 requiring a diagnosis of pneumonia; such a definition of COVID-19 along with the potential that higher numbers of untested persons have been infected but unharmed by SARS-CoV-2, they explained, would suggest that the overall clinical consequences of COVID-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza or a pandemic influenza.

Considering the COVID-19 death rate from the standpoint of deaths certified as being caused by both pneumonia and COVID-19 may shed more light on the topic, then. Oddly, instead of listing pneumonia due to COVID-19 or viral pneumonia individually, the CDC obscures the pneumonia statistics by combining viral pneumonia with various types of influenza diagnoses (COVID-19 is not influenza) and various types of bacterial pneumonias. Combining those statistics is misleading. Even so, here are they are; as of June 20, 2020, 44,192 deaths involving COVID-19 also listed influenza or various types of pneumonia as an underlying cause of death or contributor to death.

This is also a big deal. Even after potentially inflating the pneumonia statistic by including various types of influenza and bacterial pneumonia, the total number is still less than half of what are listed as deaths involving COVID-19. If a true COVID-19 death required a diagnosis of pneumonia, and if less than 45,000 or so COVID-19 deaths include that pneumonia diagnosis, then the COVID-19 death count of 106,000 or more could be inflated by 60% or so.

Based on the SARS case severity criteria used by the CDC in the past, the data indicates that SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19 are much less dangerous than numerous persons have led Americans to believe.

After applying the CDCs SARS severity criteria, would COVID-19 death counts even be high enough to label COVID-19 as a public health emergency, epidemic, or pandemic? Maybe the above statistics are reasons why numerous public health officials and politicians were not concerned with the recent mass rioting and destruction throughout America?
BLM, Inc., Joe Biden and the DNC own the death and destruction of this past weekend, in cities like, Atlanta, New York and Cleveland!

Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) have surrendered to the Radical Left (Black Lives Matter, Inc., Antifa, etc.).

The Democratic Party(DNC) has had decades to fulfill its promises to black Americans, but all its delivered is crime-ridden cities bereft of economic opportunity. Its time to shake things up, show the extent of DNC failure and expose BLM, Inc. for the fraud it is.

For weeks Americans have watched radical leftist anarchists and Antifa thugs engage in extreme violence and murder that will haunt many people for the rest of their lives.

Dozens of innocent civilians and police officers have been killed, hundreds of civilians brutally beaten, and more than 700 police officers were injured nationwide. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property was destroyed as businesses and communities in more than 42 states were devastated by arson, looting, and mayhem that activists quickly followed with a call to defund the police.

The supposed justification for the rioting was the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, but in reality the rioters were just exploiting that cause for their own purposes.

Lost in all the lawlessness was the real life and memory of George Floyd.

With each passing day, both of us asked ourselves the same question: where are the governors and mayors of these cities who took an oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States and keep residents safe from harm? Instead of upholding law and order  also known as doing their jobs  they turned a blind eye to the violence while praising the demonstrations that the radicals were using as cover.

Is there truly systemic racism and brutality in our police departments? Are cops killing blacks at disproportionately higher rates than whites? One would have to think so based on the national outrage and calls for change by local, state and federal political leaders and cultural elites. Surely, the 250 U.S. Fortune 100 corporations that have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Black Lives Matter and other organizations to stop racial injustices must have real evidence of such widespread racial injustice? You would think so but they dont.

For clarity, we took a look at The Washington Post database that documents suspects shot and killed by the police. The database indicates that 1,003 people were shot and killed by the police in 2019. This occurred in a country of 328 million people, in a year during which police had approximately 30 million contacts with members of the public, and made approximately 10 million arrests  600,000 of which were for violent crimes.

Of the 1,003 people killed by police last year, 405 were white, 250 were black, 163 were Hispanic, and 185 were recorded as other/unknown ethnicity. Only 55 of those 1,003 individuals were unarmed  25 white suspects, 14 black suspects, 11 Hispanic suspects, and five others.

In another category that often gets a lot of attention from activist groups screaming about racial injustice, 29 of those killed by police in 2019 possessed a toy gun  14 of them were white, 6 were black, 4 were Hispanic, and 5 were of unknown ethnicity.

To be clear, whether they were armed, or unarmed, or in possession of a toy that looked like a real weapon, in every single category, blacks were not killed more often than whites. Given the numbers  14 unarmed blacks killed out of 10 million arrests, which equates to a rate of 0.00014 percent  this is NOT evidence of systemic racism.

The real systemic and deadly reality is that black men and women are being slaughtered in cities and communities of color around the country in numbers that can only compare to war zones in Iraq or Syria  and every single one of those cities has been run by Democrats, in some cases for as long as 40 years.

Recently in Chicago, 18 people were shot and killed within 24 hours, the deadliest day in the last 60 years. Another 21 people were shot dead in St. Louis over a recent weekend, and 7 people were shot and killed in Brooklyn in a matter of 10 minutes.

Between 2015 and 2018, Baltimore averaged 330 homicides per year in a city of 550,000. In 2019, there were 348 murders, and 2020 is already on pace to be equally deadly.

Many of the mayors and police chiefs in those cities are black, and their officers are representative of the communities they serve. However, the second that a black man dies in police custody, left-leaning activists and politicians begin calling for sweeping reforms to combat the bogeyman of racial inequality, even when they know perfectly well that the death does not reflect a systemic problem. If black lives truly mattered to liberals, they would be marching in Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, or any of the other cities with unacceptably high rates of violent crime and murder.

There are many pundits and politicians ignoring the glaring reality of mass black murders, because they are convinced its never going to change. However, we would urge them to look at the renaissance that took place in New York City under mayor Rudolph Giuliani, which taught us many lessons  the most important of which was that no one wants to go to school or live or work or visit a place where they do not feel safe.

When Giuliani took over New York City in 1994, it was the murder capital of the world. The streets were infested with filth and garbage, mothers put their babies to bed in bathtubs to protect them from random gunfire, and decent people lived in more or less constant fear.

Giulianis initial focus was not jobs, schools, or social welfare programs. His primary focus was crime reduction, but for every percentage point we reduced violent crime and murder in the city, we saw corresponding increases in economic development, real estate values, and tourism, along with encouraging reductions in the welfare rolls.

At the end of Giulianis eight years in office, we achieved a 63 percent reduction in violent crime and a 70 percent reduction in murder. In some of the most crime-infested areas of the city  many of which were communities of color  the murder rate dropped by close to 80 percent. Thousands of black lives were saved during those years, and that trend continued when Michael Bloomberg was mayor because Bloomberg maintained many of the most effective policies we had put in place.

So, the question today is, why are so many Democrat-run cities still facing rampant poverty, violent crime, and murder? Is it intentional, or is it incompetence? Either way, young black men and women are being killed and nobody seems to be doing anything about it  nobody even seems to care.

Americas mayors and governors are coddling criminals, villainizing cops, and victimizing the thugs  and in the meantime, black lives are being lost.

President Trump issued an executive order implementing common-sense policing reforms, the Republican-controlled Senate drafted legislation that followed suit, and Democrats failed to engage. The sad reality, however, is that until mayors and governors call out the thugs who are assaulting and attacking police officers, resisting arrest or interfering with an arrest, and committing acts of wanton violence and vandalism, the underlying problems in our cities will continue unabated. If the Democrats get their way and diminish or defund the police, then the ones who suffer most will be those who live in communities of color where the violent crime and murder rates are already out of control.

The Democrat Party has destroyed communities of color all over the country, and its long past time for new leadership. Its time to give Republicans a chance  after all, what do we have to lose?

Ken Blackwell is the former mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. Bernard Kerik is the former Commissioner of the New York Police Department.
That was Charlie Daniels's exhortation to the musicians and fans who attended his Volunteer Jams during the seventies and eighties. It was a fitting sentiment from a man who loved his country  and the South in particular  with a passion.

A North Carolina native, Daniels began playing guitar before he was in his teens. After graduating high school, he performed in several dance bands throughout the South, playing mostly country and Elvis-style rock-and-roll. He developed a good enough set of chops to become a Nashville session musician, playing bass, mandolin, and fiddle in addition to guitar. He worked on albums by several country artists and on two by Bob Dylan: Nashville Skyline and Self-Portrait. When he was not in the studio, he assembled a team of younger, rock-oriented musicians and began playing what one critic called "raunched-up country" to young Southerners.

Daniels's political outlook at this time was liberal, and his music reflected it. His first hit as a recording artist was "Uneasy Rider," a funny talking blues about a self-styled hippie who finds himself stuck in a redneck Mississippi town. Despite his liberalism, he was annoyed by the New Left and wanted as little to do with them as possible. He always considered himself an American first.

Daniels and his band caught on gradually, and by 1975, they were recognized as leaders of the Southern Rock movement, along with groups such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band, and Wet Willie. (The Allman Brothers Band, which had paved the way for other Southern acts, had by that time fallen into existential troubles and internal bickering.) Daniels's love of the South was reflected in songs such as "Sweet Louisiana" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," which was his biggest hit. The libertarian anthem "Long-Haired Country Boy" appealed to an even wider range of listeners. However, he was livid when the Ku Klux Klan began playing his song "The South's Gonna Do It Again" at rallies. "I'm damn proud of the South," he told Billboard magazine, "but I'm sure as hell not proud of the Ku Klux Klan."

The end of the 1970s found America in a threatened position. Concerned, Daniels recorded what seemed like an anachronism: a patriotic tune. "In America" was dismissed by left-wing music critics, but ordinary Americans appreciated the song and Daniels's unabashed affirmation of his country. He followed that with "Still in Saigon," a song about a troubled Vietnam veteran that drew praise from both the left and the right.

Southern rock was pretty much played out by the eighties, but Daniels continued to tour and record. He influenced several "new country" artists such as Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson, who paid tribute to him in her hit "Redneck Woman" ("I know all the words to every Charlie Daniels song"). He also recorded contemporary Christian music and defended its practitioners from the wrath of traditionalists: "The Bible says, 'Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.' It don't say, 'Make sure the choir director has a degree from Vanderbilt.'"

The events of 9/11 changed Daniels's politics for good. He became a voice of Hannity-style conservatism: tolerant of others' beliefs but firm in his opinions and his conviction that America was worth protecting. By the 2010s, he had settled into his position as an elder statesman and was a gracious if colorful presence. He enjoyed his retirement and the bounty of his hard work over a well-spent lifetime. He will be missed, but his music lives on.
The China Meteorological Administration issued a "No. 1 Flood" warning as a second month of rain and earthquakes risks collapse of Three Gorges Dam and the safety of 400 million.

Southern China in June suffered its worst flooding since 1940 with the overflowing of 250 rivers impacting 15 million residents and causing at least 121 people dead or missing. The world's largest hydroelectric dam, the 1.4-mile-wide and 630-foot-high Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtse River with a 5-trillion-gallon capacity, fully opened its seven massive outlets to begin discharging a record 28 acre-feet per second.

But after thirty-one days of rain, a record 16.8 inches falling between Sunday and Monday morning, and inflows running at 40 acre-feet per second after, CMA on July 4 issued an 80-percent risk of thundershowers for each of the next 11 days.

China's paramount leader, Xi Jinping, in his first public statement on the crisis, called on the country to "put people first and value people's lives most in the fight against the floods," according to the Xinhua official state news agency.

Human rights advocates complained as a record 1.2 million people from 13 cities, 140 towns, and 1,350 villages were displaced as Three Gorges Dam's reservoir filled. But some Chinese geologists also warned that impoundment water weight could create severe earthquake risk due to amplification of the region's historically low seismicity.

A 2013 academic study published in China's Geodesy and Geodynamics Journal found that a 2008 magnitude 4.1 tremblor, between the 2003 opening and the 2012 opening of the world's largest power station, revealed "the intensity and peak ground acceleration of reservoir-induced earthquakes are higher" than past tectonic earthquakes.

Later that year, Saint Louis University seismology professor Lupei Zhu, Ph.D., working with a group of scientists from the China University of Geoscience in Wuhan studying Three Gorges Dam, reported that a 5.1-magnitude "earthquake occurred almost right beneath one of our seismic stations." Data verified that the main quake and aftershocks occurred in a narrow band along a previously unidentified fault that is connected to the reservoir.

A subsequent field survey by SLU geology professor John Encarnacion, Ph.D. found evidence that the new fault was due to deformed and damaged rocks caused by higher water levels creating greater pressure on rock pore spaces below, a known trigger for faults under stress. Encarnacion stated: "You can feel this effect on your ears whenever you dive deeper in a swimming pool  deeper water, greater pressure."

Chinese officials have continually labeled fears that the dam could suffer a catastrophic collapse due to an overflow causing an earthquake as "nonsense," but China's internet lit up at 4:07 A.M. on July 2, when a magnitude 3.2 earthquake at an extremely shallow depth of five miles rattled Zoige County in Sichuan Province, raising concerns that embankment landslides could threaten the integrity of Three Gorges Dam.

With inflow of water to the Three Gorges Reservoir matching the peak rate of the horrific 1998 floods, the Changjiang Water Resources Commission at 10 A.M. issued an urgent warning that upper reaches of the Yangtze River would witness "No. 1 flood of 2020."

Previously, Xinhua state media claimed that rising water releases from Three Gorges, Gezhouba, Xiluodu, and Xiangjiaba dams were aimed at maximizing electrical generation. But Hong Kong newspapers alleged that "power generation" was the cover story to mask emergency flood discharges to prevent the threat of dam collapses.

The Radio Free Asia news agency spoke to a downstream resident of Hunan's Xiangyang City on June 30 who said Three Gorges Dam and Gezhou Dam were "currently in full flood relief mode." He ominously pointed out that flood season had yet to officially begin: "The main flood season in the Yangtze river basin is usually July and August."
Going for the wokester cred, Meghan Markle's husband, Prince Harry, would like you to apologize, or rather, 'reflect' on the colonial sins of his ancestors.

Here's how bad it was:

Prince Harry today faced criticism after he appeared to take a swipe at the British Empire by saying the history of the Commonwealth 'must be acknowledged', even if it's 'uncomfortable'. The Duke of Sussex, 35, made the comment as he joined wife Meghan Markle, 38, for a video call with young leaders from the Queen's Commonwealth Trust last week that was made public today. As part of the discussion on 'justice and equal rights', Harry said the Commonwealth needs to follow others who have 'acknowledged the past' and are 'trying to right their wrongs', and also admitted to having his own 'unconscious bias.'

Meghan joined in on the fun:

Meanwhile Meghan said it is also a time of 'reckoning' when individuals should be putting their hands up to 'own' their past wrongdoings. Speaking from his Los Angeles home, Harry, whose grandmother the Queen is head of the Commonwealth, 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.' The statement appears to be a swipe at the British Empire, which was ruled over by his ancestors and led to the creation of the Commonwealth, and goes against protocol of royals not wading into politics.

There was also this, from Meghan:

"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," Harry's biracial American wife told the group.

Who is this 'we' you speak of, Kemosabe?

As Americans, we don't have a dog in this fight, as we took care of business with Britain back in 1776.

But obviously, it's pretty unseemly to see Prince Harry, seventh in line to the British throne, go on an apology tour for his own ancestors - while he's still living off dad's money, at least for his pricey security. Does he really mean that? Because if he really means that, then it's time to cut ties to dad's cash and get a job as a dishwasher somewhere in Los Angeles like anyone. If it was all bad and now in need of an apology, what exactly was he doing risking his life for his country as a military man? Who'd want to die for a wicked empire that needs to apologize for its projection?

Once upon a time, Britain had a second empire, it spanned the globe, the sun never set on it, it served as a projection of Great Britain's power on the world stage, drawing in capital, resources, immigrants, and cultural power. And oh, yes, all this pith-helmet projection was done in the service of the queen, Harry's own great great grandmother, Queen Victoria. The only reason anyone still pays attention to Britain today instead of dismiss it as another Belgium, or Romania, or Denmark, or some other pea in the E.U. pod, is that powerful colonial heritage, for good and bad.

Intelligent people can discuss its pluses and minuses, what it brought compared to what it took, whether it was a 'racket' as George Orwell concluded, or a point of great pride as Rudyard Kipling saw it.

It can even be argued, as British propaganda, at least until recently, held that the states colonized by Britain, with its tradition of rule of law, and its useful lingua franca, the English language, are better off now than the places that never saw a colonizer from the West. (Just ask Afghanistan). While not a perfect thing for everyone, it certainly could be put forward as a certain amount of comparative perspective.

Here's one study, there have been many.

The authors also compare the experiences of separate Pacific islands with eight different colonizers: the United States, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Japan, Germany, and France. * Their verdict is that the islands that are best off, in terms of income growth, are the ones that were colonized by the United Statesas in Guam and Puerto Rico. Next best is time spent as a Dutch, British, or French colony. At the bottom are the countries colonized by the Spanish and especially the Portuguese.

And here's another thing: No Gandhi could do what Gandhi did in India, with his non-violent resistance movement for independence, if the colonial backdrop was, say, Russia, or China. (Just ask the Dalai Lama). The Brits could be appealed to for their better nature. Oh, and Gandhi, by the way, was an Anglophile, as was Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, also known as "Harry."

So now we have the sorry specter of Prince Harry wanting to go on an apology tour for his own ancestors, except that you're the one who's going to apologize, while still living off the fat of the British royal family. Somehow, we've got the makings of a hypocrite, no doubt driven by the wokester impulses of his hideous wife Meghan.

Not surprisingly, the Daily Mail reported that Harry looked 'trapped' and 'awkward' and 'like a hostage' in all that wokester self-made abasement, which isn't a good look for him. Socializing the apologies while privatizing the life-of-luxury goodies is no way to get anyone's respect, wokester or otherwise. Maybe he can grow up now and be a man. Stiff upper lip and all that, the pith-helmet thing he doesn't seem to know about.

Image credit: LNOF, via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0
It was a great weekend for President Trump and his re-election effort. He is on course now and should stick to the patriotic themes from the Mt. Rushmore speech.

It's obvious that the voters are done with the protesters and attacks on statues. According to Rasmussen, 75% of likely U.S. voters do not believe that Mount Rushmore should be closed or that statues to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson should be removed.

In other words, three out of four agree with President Trump.

The president should talk about this and stop tweeting about CNN. The network is averaging 1.19 million viewers per hour and 1.81 million in primetime. President Trump's tweets only give CNN the outreach it can't get on its own. Ignore those people, because they are not a factor.

The events on the ground are also confirming the terrible consequences of letting criminals burn your city or vandalize statues. Over the weekend, shootings were up in Atlanta, New York City, and of course Chicago. It's nice to hear the mayor of Atlanta call out the latest shooting, but she is a bit late. She backstabbed the police two weeks ago, and now her city is in a lawless state.

President Trump should remind the African-Americans, Hispanics, and immigrants in blue cities that their Democrat leaders did not defend them from the mobs. Instead, they were talking about removing statues or repeating slogans.

Last, but not least, force Joe Biden to address these issues. So far, he has danced around the issue because of divisions in the party.

I feel better about President Trump's re-election this morning. He can do it, but he has to stay on message because he has a better message, and the economic news was encouraging.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
At first glance, Iowa Sen. Tammy Duckworth seemingly blew it with her lunatic left remarks on President Trump and his manificent pro-America speech for the Fourth.

Here's The Hill's account:

The Illinois Democrat told CNNs State of the Union that the presidents Friday speech in South Dakota spent more time worried about honoring dead Confederates than discussing the number of Americans who died from COVID-19.

...and...

I mean his priorities are all wrong here, she said. He should be talking about what were gonna do to overcome this pandemic. What are we going to do to push Russia back? Instead, he had no time for that, she added. He spent all his time talking about dead traitors."

Duckworth is running for vice president after all, and is said to be a top contender. Asked today if Biden should pick a Black woman as his running mate, she demurred, signalling that yes, she'd like it to be her. And she is near the top of the list. Joe Biden is looking for a Midwesterner (of color) such as her - decorated, wounded war veteran, seemingly moderate - to assure ordinary Americans that the crazed left won't be running his Democratic presidency. For her to call the men on Mount Rushmore 'dead traitors' is frankly shocking. Antifa couldn't have come up with a better epithet. Welp, that blows her chance for vice president.

Except that it doesn't. What it does do is highlight that this kind of sick, crazed hatred of America has infected all levels of Democratic Party thinking. And she's riding the crest.

There's also a second interpretation to what she was saying and it's equally disturbing -- that she was, Charlie Cooke put it "flat out lying" rather than calling the men on Mount Rushmore "dead traitors." Here's what he noted in NR:

At Mount Rushmore, Trump made a speech about the Revolution, not about the Confederacy. I know this because I can read. Declaration of Independence appears in the speech three times. Revolution and Founders appear four times each. 1776 appears five times. The phrase all men are created equal is singled out as a set of immortal words that set in motion the unstoppable march of freedom. By contrast, Confederacy isnt there at all, nor are Stephens, Davis, Lee, or Forrest, and the sections on the Civil War are vehicles for the adulation of Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.

In other words, she and the media were spinning a JournoList-style lie that President Trump was defending dead Confederates, something he did not in that stellar speech. He defended the great founders, patriots, and people of excellence, he didn't talk about Confederates. So for Duckworth to be spouting that indeed would be a lie.

Which again, in a normal world, is a deal-breaker for the office of vice president. Except that this is not a normal candidate.

What better way to send a message to corrupt Joe Biden that she would gladly lie for him and cover for him than by brazenly lying for the cameras. That quality might be even more attractive to Old Joe, who has much corruption to hide, and much corruption to get done should he ever become president. Tammy Duckworth was sending the signal that she'll lie as handily as Susan Rice.

Trump spent his time talking about America, and its heroes. The heroes he focused on were the men of Mount Rushmore, four men no Democrat today can hold a candle to. Duckworth's lowly ethics in particular don't measure up. How disgusting that someone like this is even considered to be a worthy candidate for the White House.

Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of public domain image from U.S. Congress, modified.
On Monday, the conservative internet was rife with stories about a video of a Community Education Council meeting in New York City during which a white woman, Robin Broshi, screamed that it was racist for a white man to hold his friend's nephew, a young black child. However, there's much more to the meeting than the way Broshi exemplifies the hysterical white women powering the BLM movement. The meeting is a microcosm of the civil war between people genuinely concerned about improving conditions for minorities and virtue-signaling leftists who are useful idiots for the Marxists.

New York's Community Education Councils are parent advisory bodies. On June 11, a meeting revealed fissures in District 2. During the four-hour meeting, some people got offended by remarks about race and about a white man holding a black baby on his lap.

When the Council met again on June 29, the hysterical Broshi told the man who held the baby that what he did was racist:

It hurts people when they see a white man bouncing a brown baby on their lap, and they don't know the context! That is harmful! That makes people cry!

Broshi, a white Jewish Democrat, knew this because, as she said, she had educated herself by reading Ibram Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist and Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility. That whole thing was funny, but more important things happened earlier in the video.

Broshi attacked the council president for failing to respond to a letter from 100 minority parents offended by the previous meeting. Instead, she complained, the response came from the vice president, who just had "one vote," and who dared to brush off concerns about "violent harmful language" and the absence of a "safe space" by referring to "freedom of speech."

Broshi didn't realize that the vice president, Edward Irizarry, a lawyer, is also a Puerto Rican man who went to segregated public schools, lived in foster homes, and was homeless. Irizarry was outraged at Broshi's casual dismissal, and he went ballistic on her:

Briefly, Irizarry attacked Broshi and those like her because, when discussing integrating the high-end, lily-white school their children attend, they want to dumb down the curriculum for those minorities who enter the school. He accurately accused her of being condescending to Latinos and blacks and of making hollow proposals because these minority students "are not getting the education that they deserve." Moreover:

We want you to respect us. Do you understand that? We don't want handouts. We don't want to be said, 'Oh, come to Clinton. Come to Beacon with my child because you're inferior and perhaps some of ... our intelligence can rub off on you.' But I see through this nonsense, and I see through this racism. And I understand it and I am going to vote 'no' when I see all of these nonsensical diversity positions that lack substance, that lack ... that are really cosmetic in nature. Cosmetic diversity, that's what you're looking for. You're not looking for true change. You're not looking to really educate all of the people of this district. [snip] You don't want to teach Latinos and blacks fractions and decimals and how not to get ensnared in these, in these mortgages where, where they're adjustable rate and so. You don't want to teach them that because that's how you remain comfortable.

Irizarry also attacked her woke racism:

I support my president, Maud Maron, in what she's doing and what she's trying to do. Because leadership, you see, is about building coalitions with people that you disagree with. It's about reaching out to Maud, reaching out to Len, reaching out to Ben, and trying to make progress. It's not about showboating and white fragility and all this nonsense that doesn't make a child learn, that doesn't teach a poor kid anything, okay?

Broshi apologized, but the apology was as racist as her original position. She freely identified her "white privilege" and "white supremacy" and groveled for having "silence[d]" Irizarry's voice. She then explained, though, that she thought it was racist for the integration proposal to make incoming minority students meet academic metrics (starting around 24:50). Instead, she argued, they should just be treated as the special snowflakes that they are. That was precisely the racism that Irizarry attack her for because that is the attitude that leaves minority children uneducated.

Broshi is every woke white woman who screams at black police officers that they don't understand that black lives matter; she's every woke white woman who reads a couple of books and accuses every other white person of racism; and she's every woke white woman who secretly believes that black children aren't as smart as her little darlings but that they definitely deserve participation medals if they sit in the back of their children's classroom.

Image: YouTube screen grab.
The N.Y. Times called President Trump's Mt. Rushmore Independence Day address "leaning into the culture wars."

For once the Times got a story right, although its characterization wasn't intended to be a compliment. The Times believes that its Leninist/Maoist cultural revolution is just; any attempt at attenuating it is immoral.

At Mt. Rushmore, Trump surrounded the Democrats with a culture war siege that will rival Grant's siege of Vicksburg in 1863.



YouTube screen grab.

Trump let COVID-19 public health bullies paralyze the country, and cripple his presidency, but he knew that COVID-19 would pass soon enough. Trump is among us who believed that the majority of Americans would shake off the irrational anxiety over how the virus-phobia has interrupted their lives and livelihoods. We just didn't think their somnolence would be slapped awake by the Democrats' war against them, in the streets, in the corporate boardrooms, in college and university trustee enclaves, in Democrat state houses, and in the nation's capitol on the left side of the aisles.

Those same Americans in the past six weeks have seen, and many experienced firsthand, American cities attacked, firebombed, burned, and looted by ruthless leftist mobs, police neutered, law and order dismantled by Democrat elected officials  along with monuments to American history.

Six hundred Americans have been murdered as collateral victims, suburbia and small towns endangered as the next battleground for leftist anarchists once they secure inner cities as unlivable caliphates of Antifa and Black Lives Matter. Americans know that the left's assault on America is not an abstraction, nor a talking point, but real, bordering on unvarnished terror.

COVID-19, whatever its unwelcome toll, is a flyspeck compared to the destruction of this nation, being played out 24/7.

The destruction of this nation is frighteningly real, and Americans have been wary that Trump would not engage in the fight to rescue it, leaving them to the unmerciful whims of tyrannical mobs abetted by lawless Democrats. No longer.

The Democrats Hate America First agenda is forcibly, indeed violently, erasing and obliterating American literacy, intending to supplant American exceptionalism with a totalitarian socialist revolution. Trump calls this the existential threat to the Republic, eclipsing all other perils, overriding all other issues, which if not permanently disabled will extinguish all hopes and aspirations outlined in Thomas Jefferson's Declaration, which will not be defended anywhere else on the globe.

No one is inoculated or otherwise immune from this madness. Nearly everybody knows it. And everyone knows who the enemy is. Only Trump has the pulpit and the courage to speak for all of us whose voices, and freedoms have been marginalized, belittled, quashed, disrespected, disenfranchised, and forbidden.

Trump identified the Democrats as the enemy and itemized the consequences to our way of life, liberties, fortunes, and pathways to prosperity if that enemy wins.

The N.Y. Sun editorial put it this way:

"Mr. Trump reprised the logic of American liberty  rights given by God, and therefore inalienable. Then he warned of "a growing danger" that threatens the blessings "our ancestors fought so hard for." He called it a "merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children . . . " Here the audience started to boo such defamation. "Angry mobs," the president continued, "are trying to tear down statues of our Founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities." He reckoned that many of them "have no idea why they are doing this, but some know exactly what they are doing." They think, Mr Trump said, that the American people are "weak and soft and submissive." "His vow was that the American people "will not allow our country, and all of its values, history, and culture, to be taken from them." At this point the audience was chanting "USA!" Mr. Trump then laced into "cancel culture," which he called "driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees." He called it "completely alien to our culture and our values."

Trump knows that that his message about jobs, illegal immigration, America first economics, and fundamental liberties is being crushed by the Democrats' Hate America First platform.

Thus, the only re-election strategy that matters is for Trump to extinguish the Democrat inferno that threatens everything that is good, just, and enduring  jobs, liberty, dignity, prosperity.

And the N.Y. Sun aptly noted that Trump now has the winning message, while all of the Democrats have said nothing and must now be on the defensive for their collusion, and assent to destroying the nation:

It would be one thing were any of the major Democrats saying such things. The cat, though, has got their tongues. Not a peep of support from, say, Vice President Biden or Speaker Pelosi or even Governor Cuomo or Mayor de Blasio, nor such vice presidential contenders as Senators Harris and Warren. Five weeks into this uprising, and Mr. Trump has scooped them all  and marked that the Democrats are part of the problem[.]

Roger Kimball at American Greatness has an additional nugget about Trump's message on moral justice:

"The radical ideology attacking our country advances under the banner of Social Justice," he said. "But in truth, it would demolish both justice and society. It would transform justice into an instrument of division and vengeance, and it would turn our free and inclusive society into a place of repression, domination, and exclusion."

Trump must now stay the course, surgically excising the Democrat-inspired malignancies, reminding voters that neither Joe Biden nor anyone else with a D beside his name will make America safe and livable. Instead Dems will create a vast wasteland, formerly the greatest experiment in self-government the world has ever seen.

Trump made this campaign a choice. Between optimism and despair. Between dignity and dispossession. Between Trump's America  liberty, freedom, security, justice equitably applied, and prosperity  or the Democrats' reign of lawlessness, neo-segregation, poverty, and deprivation  the end of the American dream.
A friend of mine told me that her daughter, who attends UCLA, will be living at home and taking only online classes in the fall. While the family will be spared the cost of on-campus housing, there is no tuition deduction. On Monday, Harvard announced the same policy. Also on Monday, the Trump administration used the new academic reality as a way to eject Chinese nationals from America.

For several decades now, America's colleges and universities have been making bank by holding spaces open for foreign nationals, especially Chinese students who are the scions of powerful people in the Communist Party. The beauty of these students is that they pay full fare. With them, there are no grants, no in-state discounts, no pesky and inconvenient loans. Instead, it's cash all the way.

A year and a half ago, the New York Times wrote about academia's reliance on foreign students, especially Chinese ones:

It's no mere coincidence that Jeffrey R. Brown, the dean of the Gies College of Business, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is also a scholar of risk management. At his first faculty meeting four years ago, Brown fretted that his school had become, like many American universities, overly dependent on a single source of money  roughly a fifth of tuition revenue came from Chinese students. [snip] Over the past decade, the explosion in the number of international students has turned education, almost by stealth, into one of the most vital American exports. [snip] Nearly 1.1 million international students attended American colleges and universities in 2017. They generated $42.4 billion in export revenue. ...

This chart from a 2018 report on foreign students in America gives some idea of how beholden to the Chinese academia is:

Because foreign students, especially the Chinese, are an important funding source for academia, the Trump administration's announcement on Monday that, if classes go online, foreign students will be denied visas comes as a devastating blow:

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. The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. 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. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.

There are some exceptions for schools with hybrid models (partially online and partially in-person classes) but the above paragraph is the meat of the new policy.

In theory, foreign students should be in the same situation academically as my friend's child: they'll live in their home country and take the same classes they would have anyway. They'll lose the opportunity to perfect their English and mingle with (or spy on) Americans, but they'll still get the degree.

China's internet censorship, however, means that Chinese students probably won't be able to take those online classes. And without those classes, Chinese students will walk away and take their money with them.

A reader at Instapundit understands what Trump just did:

Trump has just kicked out all Chinese University students by hiding it in a sea of ejected international students. ... Universities can either help Trump get re-elected by returning to in-person classes or going bankrupt and cutting off money from the Democratic Party.

Put another way, if colleges and universities return to normal, that will be part of a general opening up of America, which is good for the economy. On the other hand, if the colleges and universities stick to their guns about online classes (and professors seem resistant to the idea of returning to crowded lecture halls), many struggling colleges will go broke.

Academia's indoctrination provides the foot soldiers for leftism, both on the street and in the boardroom, and because their faculty and staff are huge Democrat party funder, academia also helps fund the party. If these institutions of higher leftism go under, their demise can only help preserve an America dedicated to the traditional principles of individual liberty and the free market.

Image: Wikimedia.
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Telangana Government Releases The Proposed Design Of The New Secretariat:- The High Court of Telangana already granted permission for the demolition of the old Secretariat. Soon after the permission is granted, the government started the process of demolition today. JCBs are brought in to demolish the structures. The roads leading to the old secretariat are diverted and some of the roads are closed. The cops are deployed in huge numbers and the public is not allowed to enter into the premises. Telangana Chief Secretary, DGP and other officials are personally monitoring the demolition work. A bunch of PILs are filed in the High Court but the decision came in favor of the Telangana government.

Telangana Chief Minister's office today released the elevation design of the new Secretariat which is proposed to be constructed soon. The design may be improved said the Chief Minister's office. The estimated budget of the new Secretariat is said to be Rs 400 crores and the new complex would come up with state-of-the-art connectivity with all the new features and would be constructed in six floors. The opposition parties of Telangana protested against the government's decision. Some of the leaders made a statement that the Chief Minister is focused on the new Secretariat rather than on the rising number of coronavirus cases in the state. The government of Telangana is in plans to start the construction of the new Secretariat at the earliest.

(Video Source: TV9 Telugu Live)
USA Looking To Ban Chinese Apps Including Tik Tok:- China got a rude shock after India banned 59 apps that are operated and are from China. Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of the state said that the United States is looking at banning the Chinese social media apps and this will also include Tik Tok. Mike Pompeo said that he doesn't want to get out in front of President Donald Trump but it is something they are looking at. Mike Pompeo said this during his interview with Fox News. The lawmakers of USA raised national security concerns about Tik Tok and its user data. Tik Tok which has its roots from China is not available in the country to appeal to a global audience.

Ever since the coronavirus outbreak, there are tensed situations between USA and China. USA President Donald Trump slammed China and also for China's actions in Hong Kong. Tik Tok is owned by China's Byte Dance which gained immense popularity across the globe and it has millions of followers. Mike Pompeo preferred not to respond about the other Chinese apps that would be banned by China soon. As per the reports in Reuters, Tik Tok will exit after days in Hong Kong after China's establishment of sweeping a new national security law for Hong Kong.

(Video Source: NTV Telugu)
(Image source from: Businesstoday.in)

Union Home Ministry Allows Colleges To Conduct Degree, PG Examinations:- The Union Home Ministry allowed all the colleges and universities across the country to conduct examinations following all the government issued guidelines following social distancing. The Home Ministry said that there is no scraping of the final year or final semester examinations at the colleges and universities. The Union Home Ministry asked the universities or institutions to decide on conducting online or offline examinations as per their comfort. The Union Home Ministry penned a letter to the Higher Education Department saying that it has permitted them to follow the University Grants Commission (UGC) requirement for the examinations to be conducted.

With the arrival of coronavirus pandemic, most of the educational institutions remained closed since March. There are over 50,000 colleges and universities across the country and they have been waiting for the nod from the Centre to conduct the examinations. "Ministry of Home Affairs, in a letter to Union Higher Education Secretary, today permitted 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 & Family Welfare," said the Home Ministry in a statement.

Most of the universities felt that conducting the examinations in physical mode is quite difficult because of the coronavirus outbreak. Recently, JEE and NEET examinations are postponed.

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

(Video Source: TV9 Telugu Live)
(Image source from: Newindianexpress.com)

One Dead In AP Minister's Car Accident On ORR, Hyderabad:- Andhra Pradesh Minister for Energy, Forest, Environment, Science & Technology Balineni Srinivas Reddy's escort vehicle lost its control and overturned on Nehru Outer Ring Road, Hyderabad today and the incident took place at Abdullapurmet which is located at the outskirts of Hyderabad today. The incident took place after the vehicle's tyre burst out suddenly. A head constable who was in the escort vehicle suffered severe injuries and died on the spot. The driver and other two constables suffered injuries and they are admitted to the hospital.

The rear tyre on the left burst suddenly after which the vehicle overturned on the outer ring road. A case has been registered and the investigation is currently on. Minister Balineni Srinivas Reddy was in one more vehicle and is extremely safe. Balineni Srinivas Reddy rushed back after the mishap and overlooked the rescue operations. He visited the injured constables in the hospital and paid his condolences for the deceased Papa Rao's body.

(Video Source: AP24x7)
Google has now officially kicked off the launch of an Enterprise replacement for Google Plus dubbed Currents for both Android and iOS. The service had previously been rebranded as Google+ for G Suite. The move followed a series of bad decisions and breaches that ultimately led to its shutdown last April. Now, its reportedly been rebranded again, via a transitional re-release as Currents.

Because this is a rebranding, more than anything else, the company has kept most of the UI the same. That means it still relies on tabs and streams. And that users can still share text, links, images, and content from Google Drive as well as polls. Aside from the name change, Google has implemented a new icon for the app too, Thats a waveform that shifts across light and blue segments.

This Currents app is really meant for Enterprise users only

Now, the Currents branding here could be easily confused with another app Google had years ago that had nothing to do with Enterprise use. That was a social magazine app released in late 2011 that Google later killed off in 2013. This new app is very much like Google Plus that its replacing. But with some fairly substantial improvements in place. And it isnt intended for everyday users at all.

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Like Google+ for G Suite, Currents is focused on acting as a tool for internal communications and community. Namely, it acts as a way for enterprise customers with G Suite accounts to communicate with employees.

With the latest changes in place and the rebranding completed, Google is gearing the changes toward improvements in both content moderation and administrative privileges.

That includes a better way for ideas and documents to be exchanged with Enterprise colleagues. It also includes changes to how content is controlled.

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Specifically, users will be able to organize their home stream with relevance or time-based sorting. Like the social network that Currents is replacing, Google also touts the app as a way to connect with like-minded colleagues based on interests.

That, of course, means that users will be able to follow tags. But theyll also be able to see important happenings within a given Enterprise environment by sorting through trending tags. Moreover, posts from employees in leadership positions can be highlighted. Those appear with a sparkle-shaped icon to denote their importance.

Finally, Google has implemented a specialized variant of its search algorithm to help users locate the information and threads theyre looking for.

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This is available right now for those users who need it

For the bulk of Google+ for G Suite users, this app should already be available as an update in the Google Play Store.

Searching for that prior app actually seems to redirect to the new one. That change carries over to the backend of the service itself too. URLs associated with Google+ for G Suite are automatically redirected to the new Currents domain. That means theyll continue to function as normal.

Google expects finalization of the rollout, for those who arent seeing it yet, to take approximately five days.
A number of big social media companies in the US are suspending processing demands for user data from Hong Kong authorities. As reported by Tech Crunch the likes of Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp will no longer provide user data at the request of the Hong Kong government.

This is in response to the controversial Beijing national security imposed upon Hong Kong. The companies have said they will be pausing processing data demands whilst they figure out the implications of the new law.

Social media companies pause help for Hong Kong police

A spokesperson for Facebook had a statement to clarify the companys position on the matter. It pointed out that the company would pause processing demands until it had worked out the minutia of the law including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with human rights experts. This position also applies to WhatsApp.

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Android Central has reported that the vagueness of the law is what has compelled companies to take this stance. Such a murky understanding of the implications of the new law is what is concerning social media companies right now.

Twitter also had a statement on the topic which broadly echoes Facebooks position. It said, our teams are reviewing the law to assess its implications, particularly as some of the terms of the law are vague. Messaging app Telegram also said it would be pausing process data requests.

For a long time, Hong Kong has been seen as an approachable outpost in Asia for social media companies. Although, somewhat under the control of China, Hong Kong saw much greater freedoms compared to the mainland.

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However, this new national security law which followed mass protests in Hong Kong changes a lot of that. It undermines pretty much any protections Hong Kong nationals had. It also removes provisions for authorities to require a court order before it can demand data.

This is a strong stance from social media companies. Especially from Facebook given how much trouble it has found itself in with regards to data breaches. So much so that this month the company is having to respond to an advertiser boycott of its platform.

Companies may be forced to comply

However, it does look like social media companies may not have much choice but to comply with the new law. It is likely to further put these tech companies on notice with China and its security laws.

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However, if the companies want to continue operating in Hong Kong they may have to conform to the new standards.

Tech and social media companies relationship with China and other countries has been a problem for a while. These companies need to strike a fine balance between upholding their standards and continuing to operate globally.

How this plays out over the coming weeks and months could shape a lot of how this sector operates in the future.
Since President Trump took office in January 2017, the US and China relations have gone downhill pretty quickly. And now, according to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo the US is looking at a possible ban of TikTok among other Chinese apps.

This is a move that would be similar to what India did last week. India banned TikTok and nearly 60 other Chinese-made apps in the country, citing that they were collecting Indian data and storing it outside of India. Though its not hard to tell that the real reason for this is because of the rising tensions on the border of India and China.

Secretary Pompeo did not say for sure that TikTok would be banned

Its important to note that in his interview with Fox News, Pompeo did not say that they were going to be banning TikTok in the US. But rather it is something they are looking at. Adding that we have worked on this issue for a very long time.

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Pompeo used Huawei and ZTE as an example, stating that the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure weve gone all over the world and were making real progress getting that out. And said that with respect to Chinese apps on peoples cellphones, the United States will get this one right too.

The US recently declared Huawei and ZTE a danger to national security. Essentially killing any potential business that either company might have in the US. This was after Huawei was put on the entity list last year, forcing any American company with ties to Huawei, to cut them off.

Why is the US going after TikTok?

Its simple, really. TikTok is a pretty large Chinese app, in the US. In fact, its almost bigger in the US than it is in its home country of China. The top three markets for TikTok are India (by a very large margin), then China and the US. Which means that TikTok has a lot of data on Indians and Americans.

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Chinese companies are known for siphoning data through servers in China. Which makes sense, that is likely where their headquarters are, similar to how Google likely sends our data through Mountain View. But the thing here is what China does with this data. Many believe that what China does with this data is unethical and the US is finally starting to put its foot down about what data goes to China.

Since Trump took office, he has been pretty tough on China. And making it harder for them to run amuck around the world. China has taking many manufacturing jobs, and makes almost everything that is used in the world. And Trump wants that to stop. He has been working to renegotiate trade deals with China, and working to get American companies to bring manufacturing back home, or at least out of China. Like him or not, that is good for America.
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(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 7 - Health Minister Roberto Speranza on Tuesday suspended flights from Bangladesh after a spike in coronavirus cases among the Bangladeshi community in Rome caused by arrivals from their homeland.

Some 40 cases have now been detected in the Rome Bangladeshi community.

The number of cases on a flight from Dakha Monday has now risen to 21.

Flights have been suspended for a week, during which the minister said new precautionary measures for extra-Schengen and extra-EU arrivals would be drafted.

Speranza said quarantine from those countries had been confirmed but "after all the sacrifices we have made we cannot afford to import infections from abroad".

He said "it is better to continue to follow the line of maximum prudence".

He said the flights had been suspended after the "significant increase detected on yesterday's flight from Bangladesh".

(ANSA).


(ANSA) - GENOA, JUL 7 - Italian police on Tuesday busted one of Europe's biggest cybercrime gangs making 13 arrests in Italy and Romania.

The gang's leader was based in Genoa, they said.

Police seized tens of millions of euros in assets.

They said the gang had committed a "host of different cybercrimes" ranging from fake holiday homes to infiltrating firms' IT systems and phisging. (ANSA).




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One of the immediate consequences of the coronavirus crisis in Spain is the fact that the State has taken on a much more central role in the sense that more people than ever are dependant on it financially. In the coming months we are likely to witness the State getting even bigger, once we begin to suffer the consequences of a meagre holiday season following shifting expectations: while the lockdown was in place, it was said that the holiday season would be a complete failure, but once the measures were lifted, there was much talk of a positive outlook. As I said, eventually it looks as if the results will be meagre, considering what we have seen so far.
Turkeys TAV Airports has committed to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) charter to implement the operational guidelines to protect the health and safety of staff, crews and passengers in light of COVID-19.

TAV supports EASA aviation industry charter for COVID-19 pandemic. Image: TAV Airports: President & CEO Sani Sener

Nine airports in TAVs portfolio have signed the EASA charter and joined more than a dozen European airport operators in their commitment to implement, monitor and share the precautions against the spread of the pandemic.

The signatories are Izmir Adnan Menderes, Ankara Esenboga, Milas-Bodrum and Gazipasa-Alanya airports in Turkey, Skopje Airports in North Macedonia, Enfidha and Monastir airports in Tunisia and Tbilisi Airport in Georgia. Antalya Airport co-operated by Fraport and TAV also committed to the charter.

TAV Airports President&CEO Sani Sener said: As countries gradually open their borders and lift flight restrictions, the aviation industry is well-prepared to provide a safe travel experience to passengers and a healthy work environment for employees. All airports in our portfolio have complied with the local and international regulations and recommendations put forward by respective authorities. As part of these efforts, we are happy to commit to the EASA charter, which provides a common set of guidelines for airports and airlines. This charter will further strengthen our proposal for a safe travel experience and hopefully accelerate the recovery of international flights between signatory airports.
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Sagar, who is the MLA from Bilhaur, denied helping Dubey ever and said that the video was being circulated to malign his image

Police personnel at Bikhru village after encounter with criminals in Kanpur. PTI photo

Kanpur: Three more people including a close relative of gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the attack in which eight police personnel were killed have been arrested, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

According to the police, the total number of arrests in the case now stands at four.

Dubey's relative Shama, his neighbour Suresh Verma, and maid Rekha were arrested in the case, an official police spokesperson said here.

Rekha's husband, Daya Shankar Agnihotri, is a key member of the Dubey gang and was arrested in a pre-dawn encounter in Kalyanpur on Sunday.

Agnihotri, who was involved in the ambush, was carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 along with 17 others who continue to remain elusive.

Ten police constables have been sent to Chaubeypur Police Station from the reserve police lines, said SSP, Kanpur Dinesh Kumar P.

This is in replacement for the police personnel who were suspended for their alleged involvement in the encounter.

Station Officer (SO) Chaubeypur, Vinay Tiwari, sub-inspectors Kunwarpal and Krishna Kumar Sharma and constable Rajiv were suspended for their alleged involvement in passing on information to Dubey about police movement.

Meanwhile, a 2017 video of Dubey has gone viral on social media in which he suggested he was close to local politicians including some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs.

The video was allegedly shot while Dubey was being interrogated by the Uttar Pradesh STF in 2017 after his arrest from Krishna Nagar.

In the clip, Dubey claims to have close links with two local BJP MLAs, Bhagwati Sagar and Abhijeet Sanga and the chief of the Zila panchayat.

He also claims in the video that Sagar and Sanga had helped him in the past when he faced police action.

However, both the BJP leaders denied having any links with Dubey.

"My constituency is Bithoor in Kanpur and people from the adjoining village come to me for help, said Sanga, adding that on several occasions, he had recommended action supporting people who were against Dubey.

Sagar, who is the MLA from Bilhaur, denied helping Dubey ever and said that the video was being circulated to malign his image.

Both the BJP leaders alleged that Dubey usually associates himself with the leaders belonging to the ruling party in the state and demanded an inquiry into the matter.

The Uttar Pradesh Police said Dubey's photographs have been put all over the state mainly at toll plazas including those in Unnao, Kanpur Nagar, Auraiya, Fatehpur and areas near India-Nepal border so that people may tip off the police if they spot the gangster.

The reward on Dubey has already been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh, they said.

The border areas of Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich and Gorakhpur that lead towards Nepal have been alerted to prevent Dubey from fleeing to the neighbouring country to evade arrest, said a senior officer.

Police also suspect that he may be hiding in Madhya Pradesh's Chambal ravines, the officer added.

Dubey and his men killed eight policemen mostly in their 20s and 30s, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra (54) in an ambush at Bikru village in Chaubeypur area on July 3.

The others are Mahesh Kumar Yadav (42), Sub-Inspector Anoop Kumar Singh (32), Sub-Inspector Nebu Lal (48) and Constables Jitendra Pal (26), Sultan Singh (34), Bablu Kumar (23) and Rahul Kumar (24). P

Kanpur: Three more people including a close relative of gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the attack in which eight police personnel were killed have been arrested, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

According to the police, the total number of arrests in the case now stands at four.

Dubey's relative Shama, his neighbour Suresh Verma, and maid Rekha were arrested in the case, an official police spokesperson said here.

Rekha's husband, Daya Shankar Agnihotri, is a key member of the Dubey gang and was arrested in a pre-dawn encounter in Kalyanpur on Sunday.

Agnihotri, who was involved in the ambush, was carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 along with 17 others who continue to remain elusive.

Ten police constables have been sent to Chaubeypur Police Station from the reserve police lines, said SSP, Kanpur Dinesh Kumar P.

This is in replacement for the police personnel who were suspended for their alleged involvement in the encounter.

Station Officer (SO) Chaubeypur, Vinay Tiwari, sub-inspectors Kunwarpal and Krishna Kumar Sharma and constable Rajiv were suspended for their alleged involvement in passing on information to Dubey about police movement.

Meanwhile, a 2017 video of Dubey has gone viral on social media in which he suggested he was close to local politicians including some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs.

The video was allegedly shot while Dubey was being interrogated by the Uttar Pradesh STF in 2017 after his arrest from Krishna Nagar.

In the clip, Dubey claims to have close links with two local BJP MLAs, Bhagwati Sagar and Abhijeet Sanga and the chief of the Zila panchayat.

He also claims in the video that Sagar and Sanga had helped him in the past when he faced police action.

However, both the BJP leaders denied having any links with Dubey.

"My constituency is Bithoor in Kanpur and people from the adjoining village come to me for help, said Sanga, adding that on several occasions, he had recommended action supporting people who were against Dubey.

Sagar, who is the MLA from Bilhaur, denied helping Dubey ever and said that the video was being circulated to malign his image.

Both the BJP leaders alleged that Dubey usually associates himself with the leaders belonging to the ruling party in the state and demanded an inquiry into the matter.

The Uttar Pradesh Police said Dubey's photographs have been put all over the state mainly at toll plazas including those in Unnao, Kanpur Nagar, Auraiya, Fatehpur and areas near India-Nepal border so that people may tip off the police if they spot the gangster.

The reward on Dubey has already been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh, they said.

The border areas of Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich and Gorakhpur that lead towards Nepal have been alerted to prevent Dubey from fleeing to the neighbouring country to evade arrest, said a senior officer.

Police also suspect that he may be hiding in Madhya Pradesh's Chambal ravines, the officer added.

Dubey and his men killed eight policemen mostly in their 20s and 30s, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra (54) in an ambush at Bikru village in Chaubeypur area on July 3.

The others are Mahesh Kumar Yadav (42), Sub-Inspector Anoop Kumar Singh (32), Sub-Inspector Nebu Lal (48) and Constables Jitendra Pal (26), Sultan Singh (34), Bablu Kumar (23) and Rahul Kumar (24). P
The accused gangster Vikas Dubey is suspected to have fled to Nepal and he can turn out to be Dawood in Nepal for India, the Sena said

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena has slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the killing of eight policemen at Kanpur saying it has exposed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's claims of putting an end to gundagiri in the state.

The goondaism in UP has its effects on the national capital Delhi and the financial capital Mumbai and hence, the Kanpur killings is a serious matter. The accused gangster Vikas Dubey is suspected to have fled to Nepal and he can turn out to be Dawood in Nepal for India, the Sena said in its party mouthpiece Saamana on Monday.

Uttar Pradesh is often called Uttam Pradesh but it now stands soaked in the blood of policemen. The Kanpur police killings has exposed the encounter specialist government in Uttar Pradesh. The incident has revived the memories of killings of policemen by a gang in UPs Nathuapur four decades ago. So what has changed in Adityanaths regime if security personnel are getting killed even after 40 years? the party asked.

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.

Uttar Pradesh has faced ignominy for decades due to the gangs of goons there and their crimes. Claims have been made 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. During the three-year tenure of the Adityanath government in the state, more than 113 goons have been encountered, but how come Dubeys name was left out of it, the Shiv Sena asked.
When the disease spreads rapidly in places without urban healthcare, what will come is not difficult to imagine

For writers it has become difficult to pick which disaster to write about this week. There are so many. An embarrassment of riches, or actually whatever the opposite of it is.

Let us start with health. On Friday, 22,000 Indians tested Covid-19 positive and over 440 died of the disease.

We are registering 10 per cent of global cases now and are now the third highest in terms of the number of cases. By the end of July we will have 50,000 cases a day, the same number as the United States now does, and 1,000 daily deaths.

By the end of August, it will be one lakh cases a day. At that point, how many doctors will show up for work and how many will be able to is something to consider.

There is no point in thinking about September and October, but consider that the places that are going through the peaks now are Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, which have the best healthcare facilities in India. When the disease spreads rapidly in places without urban healthcare, what will come is not difficult to imagine.

Let us turn to the economy. India has few high frequency indicators that can tell us the current state of the economy and the change. The best such indicator we have is automobile sales, because at the beginning of each month manufacturers put out the number of units they have sold to dealers.

We can compare the number to the same month last year to see how things are going.

Passenger vehicle sales in January 2020 dropped to 2.6 lakh from 2.8 lakh in January 2019.

That was before Covid-19, and two months before the lockdown. Commercial vehicle sales, meaning trucks and other transport and cargo vehicles that industry requires, fell from 87,000 units in January 2019 to 75,000 in January this year.

Two-wheeler sales fell from 15 lakh to 13 lakh. Across the middle class, the lower middle class and industry, there is a decline.

In February commercial vehicle sales fell by 32 per cent, and passenger vehicle sales by seven per cent.

After zero sales in April, we should have had a huge bump in May and June, but both months are negative in substantial terms.

There is something that is hurting the Indian economy, and this pain began before the lockdown. The government has not admitted it, though the data is clear, and therefore the government is not doing anything to correct it. The pain will continue, and our economy will suffer.

As if these two problems were not substantial enough, we face the gravest strategic threat of the last two decades. China is bullying us and occupying parts of Ladakh that we used to patrol till March.

We do not know why China is doing this and we do not know what it wants. This government has a former spy as its national security adviser, a position that is usually taken by scholars.

We have a chief of defence staff whose focus has been on the counterinsurgency in Kashmir and was confident that the Line of Actual Control with China was settled. He was wrong. Now we are moving troops to the area from the Pakistan front and rushing to buy new warplanes.

Strategic affairs analyst Praveen Sawhney has reported the reason that the talks with China are taking so long and not progressing. It is that the Chinese want India to acknowledge the current positions that its Army is occupying, meaning a shift in the LAC.

Of course this cant be conceded by us, but it cannot even be discussed properly because the prime minister has said there is no intrusion, while the defence minister and the external affairs minister have conceded that China has violated the LAC and are on our side. Narendra Modi's visit to Ladakh on Friday was to correct that confusion.

His warlike speech was to confirm that the threat is real and the Chinese need to go back. He has still refused to name China, but perhaps that will come soon as it becomes obvious that we have a long and difficult road ahead to get the Chinese to vacate.

One must say here that we have lost valuable time because of our refusal to accept the reality for whatever reason, whether it is embarrassment or the PMs image. We could have mobilised support around the world if we had said openly and clearly that China was violating the LAC, but theres no point in crying over spilt milk.

We still have the opportunity when prime minister Modi goes to the G-7 summit in a few months, though it is not clear if China will have cemented its intrusion by then.

So we have a full-blown epidemic, an economic recession with the highest unemployment in Indian history, and a powerful enemy whose aggressive and offensive actions we did not anticipate.

At the beginning of the year I would have said that the biggest problem in our nation was the fact that the ruling party was trying to divide Indians.

In the long term that remains our primary self-induced worry. But for now, we have to unite to combat the immediate threat to our people and our nation.

The writer is a senior journalist and columnist
This year too, there have been reports of the Chinese trying to build another road that could pose a threat to Indias Siliguri Corridor

A convoy of Indian army trucks move towards the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, in the backdrop of the current stand-off with Chinese troops, in Leh. PTI Photo

Chinas recent discovery that it has a border dispute with tiny Bhutan, covering the eastern part of that country, soon after its Peoples Liberation Army troops intruded into eastern Ladakh and set up some posts there, is a clear attempt by Beijing to rachet up pressure on New Delhi even as the two Asian giants are engaged in discussions on how to defuse their ongoing crisis on the Line of Actual Control.

Over three decades, from 1984 to 2016, China and Bhutan have held over 24 rounds of boundary talks, where the two sides have tried to sort out their differences over areas in western and central Bhutan, but at no time had the Chinese raised any claims to territory in eastern Bhutan, and it had simply not figured in their bilateral negotiations.

This claim first emerged at a virtual meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) council in June as it was considering a Bhutanese application for a grant for its Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, located in eastern Bhutan, when the Chinese representative raised objections on the ground that it was a disputed territory, to which the Bhutanese naturally objected, saying the sanctuary, in its Trashigang province, was part of the integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan.

The GEF then voted to allow Bhutan the funding it sought, but the Chinese would not allow the matter to die down that easily.

It may be recalled, incidentally, that three years ago, in 2017, the Chinese PLA had intruded into the Doklam plateau, which is Bhutanese territory, and began building a road there, and it was only after Indian forces deployed in strength that the standoff could be defused after over two and a half months.

This year too, there have been reports of the Chinese trying to build another road that could pose a threat to Indias Siliguri Corridor.

The timing of Chinas raising the pitch over its claims to Bhutanese territory last weekend is significant too  coming just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modis high-profile visit to Indian troops deployed in the Ladakh sector, where he publicly warned China (though without naming any country) that the era of expansionism is over.

China, though quick to deny any expansionist ambitions, started ramping up the Bhutan border issue the very next day.

New Delhi needs to take this matter extremely seriously  it is not a threat to Bhutan alone, but a clear and present danger to our national security.

Eastern Bhutan abuts Arunachal Pradesh, in which lies a major chunk of the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control, and in any case China disputes Indias sovereignty over the state, which it refers to as Southern Tibet.

As part of its overall long-term strategy, China is systematically targeting all our smaller neighbours in a bid to deter them from developing friendly ties with India.

Bhutan has historically been extremely close to India, especially in the conduct of its foreign policy, and all its negotiations with Beijing, for example, are through the two countries embassies in New Delhi.

Similarly, amid an ongoing political crisis in Nepal, with its Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli facing flak from within his party for, among other things, mishandling relations with India, the Chinese ambassadors meddling in domestic issues is worth watching.
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Abiy Ahmed on Saturday, appearing on state TV.

The image of a Nobel Peace laureate in military fatigues encapsulates the moment in which Ethiopia finds itself  on the verge of a transition to democracy, a descent into violence or, perhaps, a precarious combination of the two.

Driving the news: At least 166 people were killed after an iconic musician, Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, was murdered last Monday in Addis Ababa, the capital. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed responded to the violence by sending in troops and shutting off the internet. High-profile opposition leaders were arrested, along with some 2,300 others.

Abiy claimed that "external forces" were "pulling the strings" in an effort to destabilize Ethiopia at a critical moment  a reference to the standoff with Egypt over access to the Nile.

Most of the deaths after Hundeessaa's killing came in intercommunal violence, however. Some of it was reportedly carried out by militant wings of hardline political factions.

"Considering who the dead and wounded are, there are clear indications that they were targeted for ethnic reasons," DW's Yoahannes Geberegziabeher reports from Addis Ababa.

Zoom in: The violence took place in Oromia state, also the site of the 20142017 uprising that swept Abiy, Ethiopia's first Oromo prime minister, to power.

Hundeessaa, 34, "basically provided the soundtrack to the uprising," says Murithi Mutiga, project director for the Horn of Africa for the International Crisis Group.

The Oromo people are Ethiopia's largest ethnic group but have faced decades of oppression and exclusion from power.

While Abiy's rise was initially viewed as a victory, some Oromo politicians have come to view him as another barrier to their demands, including greater autonomy for Oromia.

Abiy espouses a broader Ethiopian nationalism, not defined by ethnicity.

The big picture: "This is a hideously complex transition in a context where elites are divided on the very definition of the Ethiopian state," Mutiga says.

"Some want it to be much more decentralized. Others, like the prime minister, are very keen on a more centralized and coherent state."

"It's not surprising that amid such bitter divisions, occasional shocks  as we've seen repeatedly over the past couple of months  have brought a swell of grievance to the surface and resulted in significant casualties."

A rally in support of Abiy, in 2018. Photo: Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency via Getty

Those grievances had been forcefully suppressed before Abiy came to power. He permitted greater freedoms for the press and civil society, freed political prisoners and allowed dissidents to return.

"In a sense, it is a welcome step that he has opened up the political space, but on the other hand, this opening up has come with significant challenges," Mutiga says.

The tensions have forced Abiy into a difficult balancing act. He now faces accusations of heavy-handedness and even of authoritarian behavior, in particular for repeatedly resorting to internet blackouts.

His critics also contend his decision to move elections from August to next year was based not on the pandemic but a desire to maintain power.

Zoom out: Abiy was awarded the Nobel Prize and global acclaim for his efforts in the first year of his premiership toward peace with neighboring Eritrea and democracy at home.

Why it matters: This is a hinge moment for the prime minister and for his country, Africa's second-largest by population, on at least three fronts:

1. The dam: Ethiopia says it will begin filling the reservoir of its massive Grand Renaissance Dam this month even absent a deal with Egypt and Sudan, which rely on the flow of the Nile.

Some in Egypt have threatened war. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry appealed to the UN Security Council over what he called "a threat of potentially existential proportions."

War is unlikely and a deal is possible (the main sticking point involves how Ethiopia will handle droughts). But proceeding this month could unleash geopolitical tensions before it unlocks the dam's significant economic potential.

2. The economy: Ethiopia has been a shining light of global development. But what had been the world's fastest-growing economy over the last decade has now collided with the global COVID downturn.

The IMF expects growth to fall from 9% to 1.9% this year. That's the lowest rate since 2003, when the country saw severe famine.

3. The election: Abiy was selected by a committee in Norway, but he still hasn't been elected by the people of Ethiopia.
The longer the coronavirus pandemic lasts, the farther we're moving apart, according to our analysis of nearly four months of data from the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Why it matters: Ever since life in the U.S. as we knew it came to a screeching halt, we've been trying to get our heads around what a "new normal" will look like. But so far, the politicization of the virus  and our socioeconomic differences  are working against any notion of national unity in impact or response.

The big picture: Partisanship is the main driver of behavior when it comes to concern about the virus, or use of face masks to contain the spread.

Race and ethnicity are major predictors both of employment status and whether you know someone who's tested positive for  or died from  the virus.

Younger, working-class, Republican men take the pandemic the least seriously, the data shows.

What they're saying: "We know that America has failed to contain the coronavirus pandemic, and we can't get past partisanship," says pollster Chris Jackson, senior vice president for Ipsos Public Affairs.

"Looking forward the real question is going to be, does having first-hand experience get people past the partisanship?"

By the numbers: Since March, the overall share of Americans feeling extremely or very concerned about coronavirus climbed, peaked, fell, rose again and settled at 58%. But "overall" belies very different tracks.

Democrats who were extremely or very concerned grew from 72% to a peak of 81%, settling in at 77%.

Republicans never shared that intensity, and the share of those extremely or very concerned has only declined: from 49% in March, and a 54% peak in April, to 36% by the end of last month.

Independents are in between the two parties.

Women and 65+ Americans take the threat more seriously than men and younger people.

Employment trends continue to depend heavily on race and ethnicity  but one area where the gap may be narrowing is among those with the ability to work from home.

In late March, 14% of white Americans, 22% of Black Americans and 26% of Hispanic Americans were laid off or furloughed because of the virus. By June, only 8% of whites were out of work because of the virus, compared to 15% of Blacks and 12% of Hispanics.

By June, 16% of Black survey respondents, 18% of Hispanics and 21% of whites were able to work from home.

Black Americans are being hardest hit by sickness or death from the virus.

46% of Black Americans, 35% of whites and 36% of Hispanics know someone who's tested positive.

28% of Black Americans, 11% of whites and 17% of Hispanics know someone who died from it.

Be smart: Jackson saw a jarring pattern that's become clearer over time: the people least likely to wear masks also are the most likely to be interacting with others.

In late June, 47% of our overall sample said they wear a mask sometimes, occasionally or never when outside the home, while 53% said they always were masks outside the home.

Those who wear masks less often were about half as likely as the others to see it as risky to return to their pre-COVID-19 life. They were twice as likely to go out to eat.

Just 38% of the lax mask wearers practiced social distancing, compared with 62% of those who always wear masks.

Six in 10 of the less frequent mask-wearers were visiting family and friends outside their homes, compared with four in 10 who always wear masks.

Methodology: This analysis is from 15 waves of Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index survey data conducted between March 13 and June 29, 2020 by Ipsos using our KnowledgePanel. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 15,871 general population adults age 18 or older.
Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay the state of New York a $150 million penalty for "significant compliance failures" related to its dealings with now-dead convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the State Department of Financial Services announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: Deutsche Bank "failed to properly monitor account activity conducted on behalf of the registered sex offender despite ample" public information about Epstein's criminal history, according to regulators. It's the first time any financial institution has been penalized for its dealings with Epstein.

The big picture: The bank allowed Epstein to make "hundreds of transactions totaling millions of dollars that, at the very least, should have prompted additional scrutiny," according to regulators. Those include:

Payments to people who were publicly alleged to have been co-conspirators with Epstein in sexually abusing young women.

More than $7 million in settlements and more than $6 million in payments to law firms "for what appear to have been the legal expenses of Mr. Epstein and his co-conspirators."

More than $800,000 in "periodic suspicious cash withdrawals" over a four-year period.

Payments "to Russian models, payments for women's school tuition, hotel and rent expenses, and (consistent with public allegations of prior wrongdoing) payments directly to numerous women with Eastern European surnames."

Worth noting: The settlement was agreed to under a consent order which also acknowledges that Deutsche Bank "failed to properly monitor the activities" of its foreign banking clients, Danske Bank Estonia and FBME Bank.

Danske's "inherent control failures" led to money being transferred on behalf of Russian oligarchs, according to the regulatory agency.

Meanwhile, Deutsche failed "to act on red flags" related to its dealings with FBME Bank, which it considered to be a high-risk client.

What they're saying: "In each of the cases that are being resolved today, Deutsche Bank failed to adequately monitor the activity of customers that the Bank itself deemed to be high risk," said New York Financial Services superintendent Linda Lacewell.

"In the case of Jeffrey Epstein in particular, despite knowing Mr. Epstein's terrible criminal history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions."

The other side: "The DFS settlement reflects our unreserved and transparent cooperation with our regulator. It also shows how important it is for us to continue enhancing our anti-financial crime capabilities," Deutsche Bank wrote in a statement about the settlement.
Joe Biden's campaign released a three-part plan Tuesday to rebuild U.S. supply chains in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and it's centered around the idea that the country is more vulnerable to global disruptions in spite of President Trump's "America First" rhetoric.

Why it matters: Biden is proposing a way to make sure the U.S. doesn't rely on other countries for personal protective equipment (PPE) and other related medical supplies. That's another way of acknowledging that we're not getting over this health crisis anytime soon.

The campaign is also trying to use the plan as a way to argue that Trump's policies have weakened America's ability to produce supplies on its own for a public health emergency like the coronavirus.

The campaign said this is the first policy piece of a larger platform on manufacturing and innovation that they'll be releasing in the coming weeks.

The big picture: The plan addresses a shortage in medical supplies, but also calls for a broader reform of supply chains "across a range of critical products on which the U.S. is dangerously dependent on foreign suppliers," the policy paper says.

The plan calls for:

Increasing our domestic manufacturing capacity with a focus on supply chains for critical products and supplies.

Making the U.S. self-reliant on our own PPE so that we have what we need "for future crises and national security."

Working with global allies to expand U.S. exports and protect their supply chains.

What they're saying: The Biden plan argues that the president's policies have led to more offshoring and a manufacturing recession in the U.S.
TikTok said Monday night that it would pull its social video platform out of the Google and Apple app stores in Hong Kong amid a restrictive new law that went into effect last week.

Why it matters: TikTok's move comes as many large tech companies say they are still evaluating how to respond to the Hong Kong law.

What they're saying: "In light of recent events, we've decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong," a spokesperson told Axios on Monday night.

Observers have said the new law forces companies doing business in Hong Kong to provide user data to the Chinese government as well as to comply with censorship requests.

Between the lines: The move comes as TikTok parent ByteDance has looked to more clearly separate TikTok, which operates outside of China, from a similar app used within mainland China. The company has said that TikTok has not shared data with the Chinese government nor would it, a position that would be difficult  if not impossible  to maintain under the new law.

TikTok said last September it had 150,000 users in Hong Kong. While that number has probably since increased, it remains a small market and an unprofitable one, according to the company.
The Trump administration informed the United Nations and Congress on Tuesday that the U.S. is officially beginning the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization. The UN is now "in the process of verifying with the WHO whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met," according to a spokesperson.

Why it matters: President Trump's decision to formally withdraw from the UN's global health agency  which will take effect on July 6, 2021  comes as the pandemic continues to accelerate both in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S. is by far the largest donor to the WHO out of any country, contributing more than 14% of its total budget.

The move will impact international responses not only to the coronavirus pandemic, but also to diseases like polio.

For many countries that lack critical health infrastructure, the WHO functions as their Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What they're saying: "Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health," Joe Biden tweeted." On my first day as President, I will rejoin the @WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage.

"To call Trumps response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice," tweeted Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "This won't protect American lives or interestsit leaves Americans sick & America alone."

The backdrop: President Trump announced in April that his administration had halted funding to the WHO, accusing the agency of "mismanaging and covering up" the coronavirus crisis on behalf of China and claiming that the U.S. "has a duty to insist on full accountability."
Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has lambasted the U.S., Russian and French mediators trying to broker a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and said the most recent Armenian-Azerbaijani talks were fruitless.

In an interview with Azerbaijani television aired on Tuesday, Aliyev denounced the mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group for reiterating last week that there is no military solution to the conflict.

Their main point is that the problem cannot be solved militarily, he said. Who said that? We expect more serious, clear and targeted statements from the mediators.

In essence, no negotiations are held right now, claimed Aliyev. The video conferences of the [Armenian and Azerbaijani] foreign ministers are meaningless and are only leaving the impression that the Minsk Group exists.

As I have said before, we will not negotiate for the sake of negotiating and we want substantive negotiations without any change in their format. In that case, we will participate in them. Otherwise, I see no need for pointless negotiations.

Foreign Ministers Zohrab Mnatsakanian and Elmar Mammadyarov as well as the three mediators most recently talked via video link on June 30. They reported no progress towards a Karabakh settlement.

In a joint statement issued right after the talks, the Minsk Group co-chairs said they urged the conflicting parties to take additional steps to strengthen the ceasefire and to prepare the populations for peace. They also said the two ministers agreed to hold another video conference in July and to meet in person as soon as possible.

Yerevan and Baku traded bitter recriminations both before and during the latest round of peace talks. Speaking at a June 25 meeting with Azerbaijani army officers, Aliyev described Armenias post-Soviet history as shameful, saying that his countrys arch-foe was for decades ruled by criminals and thieves. He also said that the 2018 popular protests that brought Nikol Pashinian to power were not a democratic revolution.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry hit back at Aliyev, saying that he leads one of the worlds most corrupt and repressive regimes which feels threatened by democratic changes taking place in Armenia.
An Armenian company has started manufacturing advanced models of Russias famous Kalashnikov assault rifles which are due to be supplied to Armenias armed forces and sold abroad.

The Neitron company launched the production operations this month in line with an agreement reached by Russias Kalashnikov Concern and another Armenian-owned firm, Royalsys Engineering, two years ago.

A follow-up deal signed by the Russian small arms manufacturer and Neitron in May this year granted the latter a 10-year license to produce Kalashnikovs AK-103 models designed in 1994.

Neitron executives told Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Tuesday that their company will assemble 50,000 such guns annually as they showed him around their new production facility located near Abovian, a town 15 kilometers north of Yerevan.

One of those executives, Igor Gordienko, told the Sputnik news agency last month that Neitron will initially use rifle parts supplied by Kalashnikov but plans to manufacture them as well in the future.

An Armenian government statement cited Pashinian as welcoming the development and saying that it was made possible by Armenias close military ties with Russia. The Russian ambassador in Yerevan, Sergey Kopyrkin, was among officials who accompanied the prime minister during his visit to the new Neitron plant.

According to the statement, the AK-103 rifles will be delivered not only to the Armenian army but also foreign buyers.

Kalashnikovs older AK-74 rifles and PK machine guns have long been the armys principal light weapons. The launch of Neutrons new production operation suggests that the Armenian Defense Ministry plans to replace all AK-74s in its arsenal with the more modern AK-103 model.

The government statement also revealed that Neitron will pay $24 million to buy new Russian equipment for modernizing and expanding its separate production of Kalashnikov cartridges. In addition, it said, the company will start producing night-vision gun sights and surveillance devices for the Armenian military later this year.

Kalashnikov Concern opened an official representation in Yerevan in 2014 at a ceremony attended by then Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian. The latter stressed the importance of Russian-Armenian agreements allowing Armenian and Russian defense companies to supply each other with equipment, assembly parts and other materials needed for the production, modernization and repair of various weapons.
At least 55 elderly people living in a nursing home in Gyumri have been infected with the coronavirus following similar outbreaks of the disease reported at Armenias two other elderly care centers.

A spokeswoman for the state-funded institution, Nune Grigorian, said on Tuesday that 37 of them have been hospitalized.

We also have 12 infected personnel, one of whom was also taken to hospital, she told RFE/RLs Armenian service. The 18 other [infected residents] are asymptomatic and have been isolated along with the [infected] personnel.

Grigorian did not deny reports that one of the elderly persons has died. We dont yet know whether [the death] was connected with the coronavirus because the patient suffered from a severe pre-existing disease: cancer, she said.

The Gyumri nursing home has 160 residents and 66 employees looking after them. Grigorian insisted that its administration has followed anti-epidemic guidelines issued by the health authorities.

Armenia has only three nursing homes where a total of 580 retirees live and receive care and, if necessary, medical assistance. All of them were placed in strict lockdown in late February even before the authorities registered the first coronavirus case in the country.

One of these care centers located in Yerevan was the first to be hit by a COVID-19 outbreak in mid-May. At least ten of its residents infected with the disease reportedly died as of June 25. The Armenian Ministry of Health said on Monday that all others have already recovered and been discharged from hospital.

The other care home, also located in the Armenian capital, reported two dozen infections late last month.

Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Armenia rose by 349 to 29,285 on Tuesday morning. The Ministry of Health also reported that 17 more people infected with the virus died in the past day.

The ministry said COVID-19 was the primary cause of 12 of those deaths. The countrys official death toll from the epidemic thus rose to 503.
By Trend

Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF), through Kapital Bank and the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), paid compensation on insured deposits in the amount of 181.4 million manat ($106.7 million) to depositors of Amrahbank, AGbank, NBC Bank and Atabank, which are in the process of liquidation, Trend reports referring to the fund.

Issuance of compensations to depositors of Atabank and Amrahbank started from June 1, 2020, and is carried out in 35 branches through debit cards of Kapital Bank and the Khazri quick money transfer system.

Compensation payment to depositors of AGbank and NBC Bank began on June 16, 2020, and is carried out through debit cards of the IBA in 20 branches.

According to article 28.3 of the Law of Azerbaijan on deposit insurance, the Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund accepts applications of depositors within a year from the date of the first publication of the notification on compensation.

(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on July 7)

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By Trend

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) held a foreign exchange auction with the participation of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), during which Azerbaijani banks acquired $53.8 million, Trend reports on July 7 citing CBA.

According to CBA, demand from the banks at the auction increased by 1.3 percent or by $700,000 compared to the previous auction.

Considering the number of days remaining before the next scheduled auction, as well as with the aim of ensuring uninterrupted currency trading by the banks, the demand of banks at the auction will be fully provided during weekends.

The first foreign exchange auction in a long time was held with the participation of SOFAZ on March 10, 2020, during which Azerbaijani banks acquired $323.2 million.

The CBA began to hold foreign exchange auctions through unilateral sale of foreign currency in competitive conditions since mid-January 2017.

In March 2020, it was decided to hold extraordinary foreign exchange auctions in connection with the increased demand of the population for foreign currency amid the failed OPEC+ deal, which entailed a sharp decline in oil prices.

(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on July 7)

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Laman Ismayilova

Medeniyyet TV continues to delight its viewers with numerous programmers, promoting Azerbaijan's rich cultural heritage.

This time, the channel provided insight into the country's opera art as part of "Bizi birlsdirn mdniyyt" (United by Culture) project.

The show was timed to the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

The theater's chief director, Honored Artist of Azerbaijan Hafiz Guliyev as well as the soloists - Honored Artist Ilaha Efendieva, Jahangir Gurbanov and Farid Aliyev shared the history behind Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

The theatre was built at the request of magnate Daniel Mailov and funded by magnate Zeynalabdin Taghiyev.

The theater's building was erected in 1910-1911. On October 18, 1918, the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) decided to officially turn this building into a state theater.

Since 1920, Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater has been operating at the building.

The State Opera and Ballet Theater has played a major role in shaping the Azerbaijani opera art.

"Leyli and Majnun" by Uzeyir Hajibeyli, the first opera of the entire East, was first performed at the theater in 1908.

The opera laid the foundation of the new genre in musical culture of the world, which synthesizes oriental and European musical forms, resembling a dialogue of two musical cultures of East and West.

It was followed by multiple national operas such as "Sheikh Sanan" (1909), "Rustam and Zohrab" (1910), "Shah Abbas and Khurshid Banu" (1911), "Asli and Kerem"(1912), "Harun and Leyla" (1915), "Koroghlu " (1932).

Today, the theater continues to delight its guests with fascinating ballets, operas, and other theatrical performances.

Recently, Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theater has entered the TOP 10 opera houses in the CIS.

The list was prepared by TurStat Agency for the International Day of Culture to mark the adoption of the Roerich Pact "on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments (1935)".

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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By Aisha Jabbarova

President Ilham Aliyev has said that Azerbaijan will not change its fair position over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in the same speech where he also said that the negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group are not yielding results.

Aliyev made the remarks on July 6 in an interview with local TV channels, Azertag reported.

There is no change in our position, nor can there be any. That is because our position is the position of justice. Our position is based on both historical justice and the international law No change in our position is possible. The conflict must be resolved within the territorial integrity of our country, Aliyev said.

The president said that Azerbaijan expects the OSCE Minsk Group that negotiates the conflict to give more serious and specific statements with regards to the conflict and to respond to Armenias provocative actions.

We are showing patience and trying to be constructive. However, today, in fact, the negotiation process is not going on. Video conferences between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers have no significance. This simply shows that the Minsk Group is allegedly active We will not carry out negotiations for the sake of imitation. We want to hold substantial talks, Aliyev said.

The president reminded that a number of provocative actions by Armenia that undermine the negotiations have gone unanswered by the OSCE Minsk Group.

The Armenian Prime Minister [Nikol Pashinyan] says that Karabakh is Armenia Why hasn't Minsk Group responded to this? Why cannot they say that this statement is in fact destroying the essence of the negotiations that have been shaped by the Minsk Group?

Armenia has been seeking to change the format of negotiations for two years now and has stated that Azerbaijan must negotiate with so-called leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. Has there been a relevant response to this? No! It is answered with abstract words and beating around the bush. But those times are over. We demand clarity, the president said.

The president also described as provocation the inauguration in occupied Shusha of the newly-elected so-called leader of separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Why dont they say that this is a provocation and Armenia will be responsible for this provocation?

The president also said that Armenia is illegally settling population in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group has neither issued a statement on this issue, nor sent a fact-finding mission to these occupied territories in the past ten years.

Over the past few years, we have been urging them that a new mission must be sent. During these 10 years, Armenia has brought Armenians from Syria and other places and keeps them there by force. It [Armenia] changes the historical names of our cities and builds churches in the occupied territories, the president said.

Furthermore, the president spoke of Azerbaijanphobia in Armenia. He reminded that Armenia was the only country to vote against Azerbaijans recent initiative to host a special session of the UN General Assembly on COVID-19, describing it as an example of Armenias hatred towards the Azerbaijani people and the Azerbaijani government.

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By Ayya Lmahamad

The volume of social payments paid in Azerbaijan, including pensions and allowances, amounted to about AZN 3 billion ($1,7bn), in the first six months of 2020, local media reported with the reference to Labor and Social Protection Minister Sahil Babayev.

"This covers 48 percent of the population, who additionally received AZN 600 million ($352.9M) due to the coronavirus pandemic," the minister said in an interview to the local TV channel.

Moreover, the volume of pension financing in Azerbaijan in the first half of 2020 increased by 24 percent compared to the same period last year.

Babayev stated that AZN 436 million ($256.5M) were spent on the payment of pensions in the first quarter of 2020, which is 24 percent more compared to same period last year.

Furthermore, he noted that the targeted social assistance program has also expanded during the reporting period.

"If at the beginning of this year the number of families receiving targeted social assistance was 70,000, after the president's order during the pandemic procedures have been simplified, resulting in an increase in the number of families to 84,000, which is about 350,000 people," he said.

Likewise, he added that in period of May-June 2020, the Azerbaijani government provided 300 families of martyrs and participants of the Karabakh war with apartments, as well as with 100 cars.

Babayev emphasized that after the pandemic is over, it is planned to provide apartments to 200 more families, which in total results to providing 1,500 apartments and 400 cars in 2020.

Additionally, as part of the expansion of social infrastructure, eight rehabilitation centers for people with disabilities are planned to be commissioned by the end of the year.

---

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By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhely have discussed a new bilateral agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU), the ministry reported.

High on the agenda of the meeting was bilateral partnership between Azerbaijan and the EU, as well as Azerbaijan's participation in the Eastern Partnership.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on a new bilateral agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU, and both sides expressed interest in finalizing the agreement.

Moreover, the parties also discussed the Agreement on the Establishment of the Common Aviation Space, Partnership Priorities, Azerbaijan's participation in EU programs, the abolition of visas.

Azerbaijani and EU officials touched upon the cooperation in the fields of energy and transport, major projects in both directions and prospects for their future development.

During the meeting, Mammadyarov expressed his gratitude to the EU for its assistance in supporting the national efforts of Azerbaijan in the fight against the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and stressed the importance of continuing cooperation in practical areas.

Furthermore, the minister noted with satisfaction the shared values of the EU on rule-based world order, including the principled position on supporting the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of states. The sides also exchanged views on the Eastern Partnership summit to be held in 2021.

It was noted that the parties will resume negotiations on the new bilateral agreement in the near future and expressed hope for progress in the negotiations.

At the end of the meeting, the sides exchanged views on holding the next Azerbaijan-EU Cooperation Council.

Stressing the importance of online discussions in the current global pandemic, both sides agreed to hold direct contacts and meetings after the pandemic.

The head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to the EU and the head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan also attended the video-conference meeting.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) will carry out a charter flight on July 10 to return Azerbaijani citizens from Saudi Arabia, local media reported on July 6.

Some 100 citizens will be repatriated from Riyadh to Baku via this charter.

As was reported earlier, all passengers must submit the results of COVID-19 tests, passed 48 hours before departure.

AZAL charter flights are carried out in accordance with the plan defined by the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has so far repatriated over 25,000 citizens from different countries over COVID-19 pandemic. The citizens have been repatriated from Moscow, Istanbul, Kyiv, Minsk, Iran, Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Riga (Latvia), Warsaw (Poland), Berlin (Germany) among others.

Azerbaijan first introduced special quarantine regime on March 24 and the fourth stage of quarantine regime easing came into force May 31. However, the borders remain closed.

Likewise, 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 are also suspended until July 20. Azerbaijan mandated wearing face masks on May 31.

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By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijans Wages Fund grew by eight percent in the first six months of 2020, Labor and Social Protection Minister Sahil Babayev said in an interview to local channel on July 6.

This is important in terms of expanding the scope of formal employment, Babayev said. He stated that increase in salaries is derived from increase in labor contracts, and is also very important in terms of expanding formal employment.

Moreover, he noted that during the pandemic, 910,000 public sector jobs were retained, and was done to preserve jobs in private sector.

The number of employment contracts increased by 110,000 or 17 percent, compared to the beginning of current year.

Minister noted that currently 750,000 people with employment contracts work in the private sector, while the volume of public and private employment contracts increased by 7 percent.

Additionally, he stressed that the increase in labor contracts is linked to the reduction of the shadow economy and the legalization of informal employment.

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By Ayya Lmahamad

Some 1,482 citizens were fined on July 6 for violating the strict quarantine regime, the main traffic police department under the Ministry of Interior reported on July 7.

All 1,482 were fined according to Article 211.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences. Of them 1,332 were drivers who failed to follow the quarantine regime requirements and 149 were citizens not using facial masks in the public transport. One citizen was subjected to administrative liability.

In the meantime, 305 cars, which had sought to leave these territories were stopped, and returned back during the reporting period.

Earlier, it was reported that 23,970 citizens were fined in the period of June 21 and July 5 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.

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.

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By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijans Energy Ministry has discussed the development of "Long-term strategy of development of energy sector of Azerbaijan Republic", the ministrys press service reported on July 6.

During the meeting, attended by Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, the initial draft of the strategy was reviewed, the structure and separate sections were analyzed.

Moreover, the necessary points, which should be reflected in the project, were noted, comparisons with existing strategies of other countries in this area were made.

Furthermore, it was noted that the long-term energy sector development strategy should also take into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global energy sector, as well as its compliance with strategic documents related to the countrys economic development.

It should be noted that the strategy provides for long-term development in the energy sector based on the principle of supply security, economic efficiency and sustainable development.

Preparation of this document was entrusted to the Ministry of Energy by Presidential Decree  1209 of May 29, 2019 On accelerating reforms in the energy sector of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

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By Trend

Schools in Turkey will reopen at the end of August under strict rules laid out in a guide the countrys Health Ministry has released, Trend reports citing Hurriyet Daily News.

School buildings will be washed down thoroughly before the education term starts on August 31. The education facilities are required to have the necessary equipment to measure fever and masks or hand disinfectants as well as cologne, as part of the measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Schools need to make necessary arrangements to allow only one person in four square meters of space. In classes, study rooms and refectories, people will be required to stand one meter apart from each other.

Pupils with symptoms of fever, cough, runny nose, diarrhea and respiratory problems will not be allowed to go to school, according to the Health Ministrys guide.

Parents are required to strictly adhere to social distancing when they pick up and drop off pupils at schools. The Health Ministry advised that, if possible, the same parent should pick up drop off their children at schools every day and grandparents above the age of 65 should not accompany the students. Parents will not be allowed to enter the school premises.

All teachers, students, and other personnel are required to wear face masks and schools should provide masks to those who do not have one. Classrooms need to be ventilated regularly during the day.

In each school, one staff will be in charge of overseeing the implementation of the anti-virus measures and precautions taken will be announced on the schools websites and parents will be kept informed through emails.

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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.

---

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PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Typically right about now teachers are getting excited about the new school year, but as we know this year is unlike any other. The coronavirus is creating a lot of anxiety among Arizona teachers worried about the health and safety of their students and their own families.

President Trump chimed in Monday tweeting, "Schools must open in the fall!!!" But, many Arizona teachers and school districts say not so fast.

Mesa Public Schools announces remote learning plan to start school year Mesa Public Schools announced that remote classes will begin on Aug. 4 but it's unclear when students can return to the classroom.

Educators feel they are being put in a high-risk situation and they are wanting us to slow down and find a way to do this safely, said Joe Thomas, President of the Arizona Education Association.

Many Valley school districts have already announced their plans to start the new school year on time but also online.

I would predict that Arizona is looking at a good nine weeks where predominantly we will have our students in an online setting, said Thomas and social studies teacher, who doesn't see any way students can return to campus safely, at least not now.

No educator wants to put their students at risk, no one wants their students to take home the virus, impact or infect anyone at home and they don't want that to happen to their own family, said Thomas.

23 students, 8 staffers test positive for COVID-19 at boys' school in Queen Creek Canyon State Academy says the positive tests came last week, even though the school school "diligently followed best practices and CDC recommendations."

Contact tracing is easier to do in a school setting where students are always accounted for, but Thomas wonders what will happen when an entire class has to quarantine.

The state's not ready yet for in person education, it's just not, said Thomas.

What Arizonans need to put foremost is let's get rid of this virus, lets suppress it, lets adopt the behaviors to where we can open school safely and we can move back to the format that we know best.
PHOENIX ( 3TV/CBS 5 ) - In Arizona, we've seen not only trouble getting a COVID-19 test, but long wait times to get results back. It's a problem that's happening across the board, even contributing to our state's hospital staff shortage problem.

If you take one or two or five RNs out of that picture, youre running into a dangerous situation, said Arizona doctor Andrew Carroll.

With Arizona hospitals overwhelmed and COVID-19 cases soaring, hospital staff members are needed more than ever.

We may have beds, but we really dont have enough personnel to staff them, said Carroll.

Carroll, who's on the board of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said in Arizona, the wait times to get COVID test results back are only getting longer, even for medical staff on the frontlines of this pandemic.

Were looking at time lags of anywhere between three days and seven days and were telling them they cannot go back to work. They cannot do activity during that time, said Carroll.

He said that's leading to hospital shortages as physicians and nurses wait on their results, which can compromise care.

We may not have anybody to replace them, and its not safe to increase the ratios of nurses who are taking care of intensive care patients. We really need to keep them with one, maybe two, he said.

Dr. Carroll said this lag in results is putting service workers in a bind, with some going to work no matter how dangerous the circumstance.

Some people are making bad choices where they may have illness symptoms but because they cannot afford to be home waiting for test results, they continue to work, he said.

Dr. Carroll said had the United States prepared better and earlier for the pandemic, our labs would have been ready with the equipment they needed to process tests quicker. He said we're seeing the fallout from that and paying the price now.
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- A judge has denied a request by the CEO Mountainside Fitness to throw out Gov. Doug Ducey's executive order to close gyms.

Tom Hatten, founder and CEO of Mountainside Fitness announced last week that his company was planning to sue Arizona after Gov. Ducey ordered a one-month pause that will consist of the closures of businesses like gyms, bars and movie theaters. The executive order is an effort to slow down the spread of COVID-19.

Hatten's company filed a notice of claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, against Gov. Ducey. The court paperwork is seeking an injunction against Duceys closure order, calling it arbitrary and irrational.

Judge Timothy Thomason ruled Tuesday morning that Ducey's executive was not irrational.

"The EO [executive order] clearly had a rational basis," the ruling states.

The judge went on to say that Mountainside Fitness will not be irreparably harmed by the executive order and that Mountainside Fitness would "not likely prevail" in the lawsuit.

"The burden that Mountainside has is immense. The Governor does not have to prove that his decision was correct. This Court must give extreme deference to the EO [executive order]. The EO clearly had a rational basis. It is unlikely that Mountainside will prevail on the merits," the ruling states.

Read the full ruling here.

Hatten spoke at a press conference Tuesday afternoon following the court's ruling.

"I wouldnt say this was a runaway train. I think it ended up becoming a significant week certainly for Mountainside but really I think for the state of Arizona as we are disappointed with the ruling today for a lot of the obvious reasons for the first and foremost that our employees arent going to be working although still paid, members will not have a place to exercise for at least the next 20 or so days. That was certainly disappointing."

In a press conference last week, Hatten admitted the seriousness of coronavirus.

Hatten added that his company wasn't able to get any government assistance during the first shutdown because it has more than 500 employees. As a result, they had to find other ways to get help. Hatten said they depended on banking partners and landlords for assistance. He said they even started a funding program for employees who were suffering from the pandemic while they were out of work.

Hatten says that Mountainside Fitness has invited club members to wear masks if they so choose. He also stressed that his facilities have implemented social distancing. "From the workout facility to the cardio areas -- make sure that everybody could be safe and still function in this environment just like they would in Safeway or Home Depot," he said.

Hatten also emphasized his company understands how serious COVID-19 is and how he wants to partner strongly in fighting the virus, but doesn't think shutting down businesses is the answer. "If it is truly as bad as what we are being told, I don't think health clubs closing tomorrow will solve the problem. I don't think closing a movie theater that hasn't been open is going to solve the problem."

Mountainside Fitness said in a press release after the ruling that they will close at 2 p.m. today to comply with the court's decision, pending litigation.
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Police have released body worn camera video that shows the apparent moments after a man was shot and killed in Phoenix. The department did not release any footage that showed what led to the shooting.

Man dies following officer-involved shooting in west Phoenix According to Phoenix police, officers responded to the area of 59th Avenue and Indian School Road, and at some point, were involved in a shooting.

Along with the video, police announced 28-year-old James Porter Garcia was killed in the incident.

The shooting happened Saturday afternoon while officers were following up on an assault investigation at a home near 59th Avenue and Indian School Road. When police arrived, they found a man inside a car in the driveway of the home. Police say the man armed himself with a handgun and didn't listen to their commands. That's when shots were fired.

The video released on Monday does not show the actual shooting, Phoenix police has that footage but has not released that to the public. The video shows officers mentioning a gun is in Garcia's vehicle and clearing the scene.

Arizona's Family asked Phoenix police when they will release additional video from the incident. A police spokesperson said, "We work with investigators and include the facts of the case as it is completed. This process will include BWC (Body Worn Camera) of the officers who fired their weapons. We must respect the integrity of this case and the process is just beginning."

According to police, when the officers demanded the man to drop the gun, he allegedly began to lift it instead. That's when the officers shot inside the car, striking the man. The suspect was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Protesters gather outside Phoenix police station after officer-involved shooting PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- A group of protesters gathered outside a west Phoenix police station 

Protesters gathered outside a police station near 62nd Avenue and Encanto Boulevard Sunday night calling for police reform after this shooting.

"There was another innocent life that was taken by the Phoenix Police Department," said protester Jacob Raiford.

Police eventually came out and asked the protesters to disperse and they complied. No arrests were reported.

"As we continue to see, they're not hearing us, so we are going to be out here every day and we are going to utilize every disruptive, non-violent demonstration tactic that we have in order to make sure that they hear us loud and clear," Raiford said.

[2020 Officer-involved shootings]

Another rally is planned for Monday night.

This was the 28th officer-involved shooting so far this year in Maricopa County.
A test excavation for a potential mass grave from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre will begin next week
People walk through a shuttered business district in Brooklyn on May 12, 2020 in New York City.
Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump levels scathing criticism of the President in her forthcoming book, accusing him of "hubris and willful ignorance" dating back to his early days.
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Rain diminishing to a few showers this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 66F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

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Indian Army trucks depart towards Ladakh amid stand off between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh, at Manali-Leh highway in Kullu district, Monday, July 6, 2020. Photo: PTI.

NEW DELHI (PTI): In the first signs of tensions easing, the Chinese military on Monday began a limited pull-back from a number of friction points in eastern Ladakh, a day after NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed on completing the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC "expeditiously", government sources and officials said.



Doval and Wang, who are designated Special Representatives' on Sino-India boundary question, held a telephonic conversation on Sunday during which they had a "frank and in-depth exchange" of views and agreed that a "complete disengagement" of troops at the "earliest" was necessary for full restoration of peace in the border areas, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday.



Government sources said Chinese troops removed tents and are pulling back by up to 1.5 km from the area around patrolling point 14 in the Galwan Valley besides starting rearward movement of vehicles and troops in Hot Springs and Gogra.



There were reports that Chinese troops have also removed some tents from areas around Finger 4 in Pangong Tso. However, the sources said a clear picture will emerge only after a thorough verification is carried out.



Sources said the disengagement is taking place as per a decision arrived at during the military talks on June 30 that both sides will create a minimum buffer zone of 3 km in the area around Galwan river, and Indian troops are also moving accordingly.



The Indian Army will carry out a thorough verification of the Chinese pull back, said a source.



In the talks, Doval and Wang re-affirmed that both sides should "strictly respect" and observe the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo, the MEA said.



The two special representatives agreed to continue their conversations to ensure "full and enduring restoration" of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas.



They also emphasised on not allowing differences to become disputes between the two countries, government sources said.



In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry also issued a statement which said that Wang and Doval reached "positive common understandings" over easing the current border situation, and underlined the need to act promptly on the consensus reached by their military commanders to complete the disengagement of the front-line troops at the LAC as soon as possible.



It was the first time that Doval and Wang held talks during the ongoing stand-off. The conversation is learnt to have lasted for around two hours.



Government sources said India is strictly monitoring whether China was withdrawing its troops from the friction points, adding that global support to New Delhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong message during his visit to Ladakh last week may have had some impact on Beijing agreeing to move back its army.



In sync with the mutual understanding, India is also likely to bring down the number of troops from certain face-off areas, sources added.



The MEA said Doval and Wang agreed to "take guidance from the consensus of leaders" that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas was essential for the further development of bilateral ties 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," it said.



"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," the MEA added.



It was re-affirmed that both sides should "strictly respect and observe" the LAC and should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo, besides working together to avoid any incident in the future that could disturb peace and tranquillity in the border areas.



The MEA said the two special representatives agreed that the diplomatic and military officials should continue their discussions, including under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs, and implement the understandings reached in a timely manner.



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, the MEA said.



The Indian and Chinese armies have been locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last eight weeks. The tension escalated manifold after the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details.



Both sides have held several rounds of diplomatic and military talks in the last few weeks to ease tension in the region.



On June 30, the Indian and Chinese armies held the third round of Lt General-level talks during which both sides agreed on an "expeditious, phased and step wise" de-escalation as a "priority" to end the standoff.



In the talks on June 22, the two sides arrived at a "mutual consensus" to "disengage" from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh.



The first round of the Lt General talks were held on June 6 during which both sides finalised an agreement to disengage gradually from all the standoff points beginning with Galwan Valley.



However, the situation deteriorated following the Galwan Valley clashes as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC.



On Friday, Modi made a surprise visit to Ladakh during which he said the era of expansionism is over and that the history is proof that "expansionists" have either lost or perished.



The comments were seen as a clear message to China that India is not going to back off and would deal with the situation with a firm hand.



The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on May 5 and 6. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.


NC Department of Health and Human Services

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Raleigh, NC 27699-2001

Ph : (919) 855-4840

: (919) 855-4840 news@dhhs.nc.gov

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) is reporting the state's highest one-day number of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases with 2,099 cases reported.Hospitalizations are also at a record high with 951 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19.said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen, M.D.To slow the spread of COVID-19 everyone must practice the 3 Ws  wearing a face covering over your nose and mouth, waiting six feet apart and washing your hands often.Of today's newly reported cases, 11 percent were positive among labs that report both negative and positive tests into the state electronic reporting system  the highest percentage North Carolina has seen since late April when the state was doing more targeted testing.NCDHHS is responding to the pandemic on multiple fronts, including surging testing and contact tracing resources in communities and populations that have been hardest hit by COVID-19.Anyone with symptoms or anyone who thinks they have been exposed to COVID-19, whether or not they have symptoms, should be tested for COVID-19. If you think you may need to be tested and would like to find a nearby testing place, go to Check My Symptoms and Find My Testing Place . To find short-term testing events in your community, visit the Pop-Up Testing Sites webpage To find out more about the response to COVID-19 in NC, visit nc.gov/covid19 . Additional data is posted on the NC COVID-19 Dashboard at covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard Learn more about North Carolina's strategy to combat COVID-19.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the former madam of Jeffrey Epstein, allegedly broke down in court last week, according to sex abuse victim Virginia Roberts.She claimed that when Maxwell appeared in court last week, she could be through sobbing and saying, Daily Mail reported that Maxwell was arrested by the FBI on charges that accuse her of working to "identify, befriend and groom" multiple girls, including one as young as 14. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, reporters were only allowed to listen in on the court proceedings. Roberts claimed that during the proceedings, she could hear ain court.Roberts is the victim of Epstein who claims that Prince Andrew had sex with her on three separate occasions, including when she was a 17-year-old minor. The royal has long denied these claims.Roberts said.She went on to add that she feels Maxwell is finally getting what she deserves.Roberts said.Though Epstein committed suicide last August and Maxwell is now behind bars, Roberts feels that there are more people who still need to be held responsible.she said.This comes as authorities are becoming increasingly desperate to talk with Andrew about the allegations. He has previously claimed that he has offered twice to serve as a witness in the case.a source close to Andrew said.
SPRING CITY, Pa. - They wrapped the dead in body bags and raced back to treat the living, crammed into a nursing home that, day after day, played the somber sound of taps over the speaker system so the veterans who lived there had the chance to say goodbye.

The nurses and aides at the Southeastern Veterans' Center in the suburbs of Philadelphia had watched so much go wrong since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The communal dining that lasted into April, the nights that feverish patients were left to sleep beside roommates who weren't sick yet. "Merry Christmas," one nurse told another when they finally got N95 masks, weeks into the crisis and just before administrators stopped staffing the isolation rooms because too many people were feared infected.

But what worried some nurses most was what they called the "covid cocktail," the widespread, off-label use of one of the antimalarial drugs touted by President Donald Trump in March as a potentially game-changing treatment for covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

For more than two weeks in April, a drug regimen that included hydroxychloroquine was routinely dispensed at the struggling center, often for patients who had not been tested for covid-19 and for those who suffered from medical conditions known to raise the risk of dangerous side effects, interviews, emails and medical notes and records obtained by The Washington Post show.

Although precise estimates vary, the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs said about 30 residents received the drug. Several nursing home staff members placed the number higher. The Chester County coroner, who reviewed the medical records for some of those who died, said at least 11 residents who had received the hydroxychloroquine treatment had not been tested for covid-19.

The drug regimen appeared to conflict with guidance from the Food and Drug Administration, which issued an emergency-use authorization for the drugs in late March but stressed they should be administered only during clinical trials or in hospitals providing "careful heart monitoring" and only after detailed discussions with patients and families about the risks. At the 238-bed nursing home, the treatment was given over the objections of some nurses, at times with little knowledge among patients' families and largely hidden from lawmakers who have been probing the matter, according to interviews and emails.

"Started on the Covid Cocktail," the center's records noted for an 86-year-old resident with a history of arrhythmia, resulting in a pacemaker placement.

"Prophylactic," the records said in describing the preventive regimen of hydroxychloroquine for a woman in her 80s who had a cough and was running a fever of 100.4.

The home's interim commandant, Barbara Raymond, who took over after the treatment ended, declined to comment. Michele Shrikanthan, the center's medical director, and Rohan Blackwood, the home's commandant at the time, did not return calls.

State officials said health-care providers at the center had sole discretion on use of the drug. The medical director and another doctor, along with two nurse practitioners, write prescriptions at the home.

"Leadership was aware of [hydroxycholoroquine] being prescribed for residents," said Joseph Butera, deputy communications director for the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which operates Southeastern and five other state homes for veterans. "It was up to providers as to whether they felt comfortable."

In May, the state suspended Blackwood and the center's director of nursing after The Philadelphia Inquirer reported widespread breakdowns at the facility and the use of hydroxychloroquine at that home and others. Dozens of emails, reports, medical notes and records as well as interviews with 17 nurses, family members, doctors and others by The Post show how broadly the home turned to the unproven treatment and how a complex state bureaucracy went on to obscure critical decision-making in the midst of a pandemic.

The center and the two state agencies responsible for oversight have released little information about what transpired. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has confirmed the use of the drug but has not offered details about what led the doctors on site to decide to use it. The state Department of Health, which inspected the home on May 1 and did not cite a single deficiency in infection control or patient care, declined to say whether hydroxychloroquine was administered. The center has released no information about how patients were selected or monitored.

"I am absolutely gobsmacked about the events that have occurred there," said William Hunter, a Johns Hopkins-trained internist who served as the center's medical director until he retired in December. "It was an untried cocktail. The risks and potential benefits were completely unknown - no real scientific studies were conducted."

Hunter, who said he has been talking to staff members at the home for weeks, called the treatment "reckless."

"My sense," he said, "is that things were starting to spiral out of control and they were looking for a magic bullet. It was horrifying."

Nurses who had spent years caring for veterans and their spouses at Southeastern said they raised concerns. Without covid-19 testing, they said, potentially virus-free patients in their 80s and 90s were at risk of being dosed with an unproven drug they didn't need or, worse, could hurt them.

"Why are we giving this to them?" one nurse recalled asking Shrikanthan after several residents with heart problems were placed on the drug regimen. Like five other caregivers at the home, the nurse spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss what happened.

In response to the inquiry, the nurse said she was told, "This is the standard order."

"I felt like I was playing Ring Around the Rosie," she said. "Nobody wanted to sit and explain why. If that were my mom or dad, I would want answers."

Another staff member decided to keep a running list of residents who were administered the drugs and counted nearly three dozen. The Post did not have access to the records needed to independently corroborate the numbers.

The cocktail included azithromycin, commonly used to treat infections, and Plaquenil, a brand name for hydroxychloroquine, a sampling of medical records obtained by The Post show.

Doctors "would just give it without any parameters," the staff member who kept the tally said. "We weren't monitoring . . . as much as we needed to."

There is no way to know whether the treatment played a role in any of the deaths at the home, which has attributed 42 fatalities to covid-19. Chester County Coroner Christina VandePol, a board-certified internist trained at the University of Pennsylvania, said the center signed off on the death certificates of residents and, in many cases, sent the bodies to funeral homes outside the area.

Through medical records and reports from the home, VandePol said, she determined that at least 14 residents whose deaths were tied to covid-19 were never actually tested for the infection. Of those, 11 had been given hydroxychloroquine before they died, she said. VandePol is pressing to have all nursing home deaths reported to the state's coroners moving forward.

"In the case of hydroxychloroquine, as part of a covid cocktail, perhaps, knowing there would be outside scrutiny, the home would not have been as cavalier about routinely giving elderly debilitated people an unproven drug outside of a clinical trial," she said.

The center stopped administering the drug about April 22, according to an email obtained by The Post that was sent to more than a dozen staff members. Earlier that week, a nationwide study of 368 hospitalized Veterans Affairs patients with covid-19 reported that the death rate was higher for those treated with hydroxychloroquine.

"The providers have decided not to use this drug anymore," Deborah Mullane, then the center's director of nursing, wrote in the email. "All current Plaquenil orders have been discontinued."

Last month, the FDA reported that the antimalarial drugs had triggered cardiac problems and other adverse effects in covid-19 patients and revoked the emergency-use authorization, which had allowed the transfer of funds to the Strategic National Stockpile for distribution of the drugs to hospitals.

Families and staff members are still grasping for an explanation. In recent weeks, more than 40 people have reached out to state Sen. Katie Muth, a Democrat who lives two miles from the home and has been heading up an unofficial investigation. Answers have been hard to come by.

In response to an inquiry from Muth last month, Pennsylvania Health Department legislative director David Toth defended the use of hydroxychloroquine but declined to say whether it was used.

"In late March, numerous sources began highlighting a potential benefit of the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for covid-19," he said in an email written on behalf of Health Secretary Rachel Levine, whose agency is responsible for ensuring that the home meets federal health and safety standards. "Health care providers throughout the country began to use this medication to treat covid-19 patients based on that literature. At that time, the federal government also touted its potential benefit. This was an off-label use of the medication, but it is important to note that doctors can and do write off-label prescriptions for FDA-approved medications."

Without clarity from state agencies, Muth has called on the state attorney general to investigate.

"I sort of Forrest Gump-ed myself into finding out about the use of Plaquenil," the 36-year-old lawmaker said. "I knew a lot of really horrible stuff was happening there, all these deaths, but I didn't know this. . . . Did they die from the drug? Did they die from covid? What did they die from?"

- - -

Residents and their family members had no idea how many people were dying at the four-story veterans' home near the Schuylkill River when The Inquirer broke a story on April 25. The news was stunning: 26 residents had died in what had clearly become one of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks in the state.

Inside the home, staff members said they were pleading to wear personal protective equipment, isolate the sick and keep nurses and aides who had been exposed to the virus away from healthy patients. The sounds of coughing swept the hallways and the activity rooms, where residents shared colored pencils and dice. Those who grew too ill to eat sat listless over ham loaf alongside healthier residents in the dining hall.

"We were handing out Tylenol like crazy," one nurse said. "There were times when I would stand there peeing on myself because I had so many sick people and you just couldn't take the time to stop."

As staff members scrambled to control the rapid-fire spread of infection, the center turned to hydroxychloroquine.

Trump started talking about antimalarial drugs in mid-March, suggesting a potential, off-label treatment for covid-19, which has so far killed at least 42,000 nursing home residents nationwide. Public health experts urged extreme caution, saying the drugs were unproven and could trigger life-threatening side effects, particularly in cardiac patients.

"We do not know if it works for covid-19," the FDA wrote in March when it authorized the use of the drugs. "There is limited information known about the safety and effectiveness (whether this will make you better)."

The president pressed forward during a series of televised press briefings. "It's a very strong, powerful medicine, but it doesn't kill people," Trump declared in early April. "We have some very good results and some very good tests."

The FDA made clear that the treatment should be used only in hospitals, which can provide intense monitoring. Some have deployed teams that include cardiologists, electrophysiologists, infectious-disease physicians, pharmacists and nurses.

"It was a multidisciplinary effort to make sure that if this was used, everyone was making sure it was being used as safely as possible," said Barbara Santevecchi, an infectious-diseases clinical pharmacy specialist and professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research at the University of Florida. "You have to be able to watch for adverse effects."

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates the 15,000 nursing homes in the United States, has provided no guidance on the use of the drugs in nursing homes since Trump first touted the potential benefits. Local media have reported that nursing homes in Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina and Texas treated patients with the drugs.

The Southeastern center ordered hydroxychloroquine from a wholesale pharmacy in March and notified the state's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs when health-care workers started administering the drug in April, said Butera, the department's deputy communications director. Darryl Jackson, the department's chief medical officer, "ensured the medication was available in case the primary care providers at the homes felt that it was medically necessary," Butera said in an email.

"There were numerous [Department of Health]/medical reports about the use of this drug across Pennsylvania and throughout the United States," Butera said.

Muth, the state senator, said the home apparently focused more on the drug supply than masks and other protective equipment for front-line caregivers.

"Funny how they didn't have PPE stockpiled but they made it a priority of their treatment protocol to include a drug that wasn't proven to work and shouldn't be used in non-hospital settings," she said.

Nurses at Southeastern said they received little information about the new course of treatment.

"All they said was that they were starting these residents on Plaquenil. I started asking them, 'Well, what's Plaquenil for?' " one nurse recalled. "I started looking it up. We were always taught in nursing school that you're supposed to know what medications you are giving, what it's for and what the side effects are. I said, 'Well, I don't understand. Why are we giving it to the elderly?' "

"This is what's ordered. This is what you're supposed to give," the nurse recalled being told by Shrikanthan, the center's medical director.

In the past, nurses said, doctors at the center had provided explicit instructions for medications that could have adverse effects. In the case of hydroxychloroquine, nurses said they were given standard orders: five days of treatment, even for patients with heart problems. Hydroxychloroquine has been found to cause serious heart irregularities, such as life-threatening arrhythmia, in covid-19 patients.

"We all started looking it up and we found that this wreaks havoc on your system," another nurse said. "You're talking about people with pacemakers, people with [arrhythmia] . . . and we're giving it to them without any parameters. It was just like we were starting them on any other medication."

The nurses said they raised questions but did not push the doctors or top administrators further. In interviews with The Post and in emails to Muth, staff members said they feared for their jobs, especially since the center appeared to have unwavering support from Pennsylvania's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the state Department of Health.

Health Department inspectors gave the home an overall five-star rating, the highest mark, according to a federal government rating system that takes into account quality and staffing, among other measures, records show. An inspection on May 1, days after the hydroxychloroquine treatment ended, found no violations, records show.

"That so-called DOH [inspector] was just sitting in a room talking for a few hours and they didn't walk onto any floors nor did they speak to any staff," one staff member wrote in an email to Muth a week after the inspection.

Nate Wardle, spokesperson for the state's Department of Health, said in an email that the department "takes seriously our job of protecting the health and well-being of our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians."

It is unclear how patients were chosen for the drug regimen. Nurses said they were instructed to give the drugs to anyone with covid-19 symptoms, including those who had not been tested for the infection.

In emails to families and in discussions with nurses, the center attributed the lack of testing to guidance from county health authorities.

According to the center, the Chester County Health Department had ordered no further testing once two or more residents in the same unit tested positive. Instead, everyone else would be considered exposed and, if symptoms developed, presumed positive without laboratory confirmation.

"Chester County stated if we have a unit who has 2 or more people who have tested + that we should presume everyone to be positive and no one additional on that floor will be tested (we tested the 3 residents before we received this directive)," a social worker at the center wrote in an April 8 email to the daughter of a resident. "At this point, everyone including Dad is presumed positive."

A Chester County Health Department spokesperson acknowledged that in the early stages of the pandemic when supplies were limited, congregate care facilities "where some individuals tested positive could operate as if everyone who was symptomatic was also positive and should be treated as such." The county was taking direction from the state, spokesperson Becky Brain said.

"The Chester County Health Department was following guidance from the PA Department of Health - not just for [Southeastern], but for all congregate care settings," she said.

Wardle said the Health Department did not order nursing homes to consider patients presumed positive for covid-19 without testing. "The department encouraged testing of symptomatic residents once an outbreak was identified," he said.

One nurse at Southeastern said she grew particularly concerned about a resident with a low-grade fever who was presumed positive, moved into a room with two sick roommates and given Plaquenil. Before the pandemic, the man often had developed fevers from heart problems and blood clots in his legs. Suddenly, she said, he was placed near sick people and given a drug with potentially dangerous side effects.

"What if it's something totally different and you just put him in isolation with two positive people . . . not even testing him?" she said. "Then they start him on Plaquenil."

He later died, the nurse said.

A nursing assistant recalled the case of an elderly woman with bronchitis who was placed on the drug. Records from the home said the cocktail was given for prophylactic use.

She later died, the nursing assistant said.

"I just feel as though arrogance and ignorance came into play," she said. "Granted, nobody really knows anything about covid, but I feel like they were more trying to cover themselves than really helping our residents at the end of the day, and it's heartbreaking."

- - -

The relatives of several residents dosed with the drug say they were provided little information about the experimental course of treatment.

Long-standing federal rules on the rights of residents in nursing homes require doctors to inform patients in advance about medication changes and discuss the risks, benefits and treatment alternatives. If patients have dementia or other cognitive impairments, homes are supposed to reach out to a primary point of contact, such as a spouse or child.

Family members say the calls they received from the home about the drug treatment were brief and lacked critical details.

Before he fell ill in mid-April, 87-year-old Paul Ferko had known for days that something was very wrong at his home of nine months.

"He heard the taps," said his daughter, Chrissy Diaz. "He told us that the virus that was on TV was in the home."

Diaz said she received a call from the center on April 19, noting that her father was being placed on Plaquenil. She said she grew concerned because her father, a former steelworker who had serviced airplanes during the Korean War, had hypertension and other medical conditions.

"They weren't asking me in any way, shape or form," Diaz said. "I asked if Plaquenil was hydroxychloroquine. They said it was, and I asked about the side effects. I thought it was just used in hospitals. They said nursing homes could use it. They assured me that it was safe, that the side effects were minimal."

Diaz said her father had not been tested for covid-19 when the treatment began. Medical records show that he was running a fever of 99.2 and had a possible case of pneumonia. She saw him for the last time a few days later, propped up against a second-floor window by several aides. He died in a nearby hospital.

"They started using [hydroxychloroquine] on anyone who had symptoms," Diaz said. "It was in the news. It was like the next great thing. I feel like it was, 'Let's use this on our elderly patients and see what happens.' Maybe they thought they were going to die anyway. I don't know what was going through their heads. That's what's really scary."

Carol Lewis said her family received a similar call from the center and grew concerned about the course of treatment. Her father, a computer engineer who served in the Army, had a history of heart problems, she said.

Lewis said the family instructed the center not to use hydroxychloroquine. After her father died on April 13, Lewis requested the medical records and found a doctor's note indicating that a course of Plaquenil had been completed.

"It's just disgraceful," she said. "I want to know who ordered this, first of all. What happened, and where was the breakdown that this whole situation went up in flames like this?"

Nursing home experts say patients and their families should have been consulted before the drugs were used and should have been given detailed information about the potential risks and side effects.

"It's just not acceptable. Facilities aren't supposed to just give people drugs," said Toby Edelman, senior policy attorney for the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Connecticut and Washington. "Just because it's an emergency, facilities can't give residents drugs that are totally unknown, untested and unproven."

- - -

Lawmakers, staff members and relatives of the deceased say state regulators have frustrated efforts to probe what happened at the home. Dozens have reached out to Muth, who had been planning to run a bingo game at the center before it was locked down to visitors in March.

"I first heard about him receiving these drugs after they were prescribed and administered with no idea of the risks associated with other preexisting conditions," the widow of a retired Army officer emailed on May 5. "Why did this happen out of protocol and in this case only? Was this some type of clinical trial or practice test administered to someone that could not engage in his own decision-making, or were they just desperate or both?"

Muth called VandePol, the county coroner, who had not heard about the treatment. VandePol started researching the possibility that the residents had been part of an approved clinical trial. No trial existed. VandePol delved deeper, counting 14 residents whose deaths were categorized by the center as "presumed covid-19" because they had not been tested for the infection.

"I was very surprised to find [hydroxycholoroquine] was being used in an unmonitored way for very elderly people who in some cases had not been tested for covid-19," said VandePol, who spent more than 20 years conducting pharmaceutical trials.

Other nursing homes in the county allowed VandePol to do postmortem covid-19 tests. Bodies at the veterans' center, however, were in most cases already released to funeral homes outside the county.

"Their institution became a closed-loop system," VandePol said. "The people that are taking care of the patients are also certifying what the cause of death is."

Muth blames a state system that is "internally regulated with no guarantee of transparency," from the doctors and the director at the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to the inspectors and the secretary at the Department of the Health.

In late May, the governor's general counsel engaged outside lawyers to conduct an independent investigation of the outbreak at the center and the way the home and the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs addressed the crisis. No details have been released.

Amid the ongoing questions and calls for additional investigations, staff members say they are still reeling from all they saw and heard: The dead rolled into body bags with their names on toe tags and the ever-present, unwelcome sound of taps on the speaker system, notice of yet another death. Standing alongside their nurses and listening to the bugles play, residents with dementia who often could not remember what they had for dinner the night before would slowly remove their hats.

And then they would salute.

- - -

Mulcahy is a graduate student in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill Investigative Lab. The Washington Post's Alice Crites and Peter Whoriskey contributed to this report, as did Medill Investigative Lab graduate student Joel Jacobs.
Barely a month before school starts, students and teachers in the largest K-12 agriculture department in Texas are bracing for the lasting impact of disruptions caused by coronavirus shutdowns.

Ill be honest with you, it was probably one of the hardest things Ive ever had to do, to tell my students  that they were done, Beaumont ISD director of agriculture Stephanie Hoppe told The Enterprise.

Hoppe, who oversaw about 700 in the program last year, said the students lost thousands of dollars required to raise the animals destined to be shown and sold at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. The event was canceled as the virus first began to make its way across the country.

I was very concerned and I am still concerned about the impact (the coronavirus) is going to have on our program, Hoppe said. Because first off, our kids didnt recoup a fraction of what they put in, they got barely what they paid for the animal. And, second, we usually hold a district-wide meeting where we advertise our program.

Like all other school-related events, it was canceled.

Related: BISD closes due to coronavirus

When classes were closed, agricultural students had to change gears quickly. Some sold their animals to family members, local farms and even meat-packing plants.

It was my last year, and I wanted to have that full experience one more time, you know? student Mary Clark said. It was like all the work that I put toward my animal was a waste.

Clark, who sold her goat to a woman who decided to keep the animal alive, said she would still recommend the ag program to other students, including her younger siblings.

This virus isnt what is going to stop the program, she said.

On top of lost funds however, surging case numbers and lagging guidance from state and district officials makes it unclear what an agriculture program might look like in an era dominated by distanced learning and block schedules.

We have no clue when school starts back up what type of program we are going to have. The whole online things and some of those guidelines (being discussed) kind of go against everything that an ag teacher does  or any CTE class for that matter, Hoppe said, referencing career and technical courses.

Hoppe said she is waiting on district guidance before she plans too far into next year. The agriculture program expects to add new classes, including floral design, which will be offered for the first time.

It rattles around in my head all the time, Hoppe said. I am waiting to see exactly what they send down to us and then try to adapt at that point.

The district is set to discuss possible options at a board meeting later this month, and along with other districts across Texas, has been waiting for state guidance that has been delayed for several weeks.

Related: BISD to discuss reopening at public meeting

Students, including siblings Kelly and Javi Velazquez, have already returned to barns this summer. While adhering to social distancing guidelines, the students have been tending to animals for several hours a day.

Out here, we are like a big family, said Kelly Velazquez, who has been in the program for three years.

She was one of several students who were supposed to present both a steer and a pig this past school year.

Hoppe said the layout of the barns make it easy to adhere to social distancing.

Even when they go out together to walk them, they have the steer in between them acting as the natural spacer, so it really isnt that hard to maintain social distancing, she said.

Beyond the educational environment, Hoppe and the students are keeping an eye on the overall health of the agricultural industry, which was hard hit in the early days of the economic shutdowns, along with existing market pressures.

I know people throughout the state, actual farmers up in the panhandle that I speak to often, and I think that not only is this situation going to be in the history books in the future, but I think coming back to school, it will be referenced quite a bit, Hoppe said Especially in my classes. To be able to compare the devastation that these kids felt to a farmer that has lost everything, it is unreal, and absolutely an incredible learning tool.

Annabelle Benton, who will be returning to the program, said the episode also demonstrates the need for versatility in the field of agriculture.

I learned how difficult it can be when things like (the fair) fail to happen, she said. And how to find my way through and make sure that I can still continue on into the next year.

Students have received some assistance from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, including refunded entry fees, concert tickets and competition fees. The organization also plans to send each market entry a check of an undetermined amount to ease the burden.

The Young Mens Business League, which hosts the South Texas State Fair at Ford Park, has not yet shared information on whether it would refund entry fees to the students who were unable to show their animals.

The organization was not immediately available for comment.

Despite the uncertainties of next year, students and teachers are taking the obstacles in stride.

Mary Clark is not discouraged by the events of her final year in the program, and will continue her education next year at McNeese University in Louisiana. She plans to be a veterinarian.

Marys younger sister, Carson, will continue the familys agricultural traditions and tend to a steer in the coming school year. Carson said she is prepared for whatever obstacles may come.

Im prepared for anything, she said. Whatever happens, Ive got to roll with it because you never know what could happen.

Kim Brent contributed reporting to this report.

isaac.windes@hearstnp.com

twitter.com/isaacdwindes
NPA may sound like it could be an alien from another planet, or maybe a government agency, but it actually stands for No Party Affiliation, a term for those voters who choose not to register with a major political party. (Note: Florida has an Independent Party, so the term independent is not used here as it is in other states  although NPAs are actually, yes, independent.) In Lee County, voters registering as neither Republican nor Democrat number almost 140,000, second to the 198,000 registered as Republicans and ahead of 128,000 Democrats. Many NPAs choose not to register with a party either because they do not like what the political parties represent, or they vote based entirely on certain issues, or because they are not into politics; as a result, many sit out the primaries and vote in the general election for candidates selected by others.

Because Florida is a closed primary state, meaning you can vote only in a primary held by your party, many registered NPAs think they cannot vote at all in the upcoming Aug. 18 primary. In fact, if you are an NPA, there are two ways you can: You can vote in nonpartisan elections (if you reside in Cape Coral, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers), or temporarily change your registration to a party holding a partisan primary, (such as the countywide race for the Board of County Commissioners).

This election season, four of the eight seats on the Cape Coral City Council are up for a vote. With Jessica Cosden, the only incumbent, running for reelection, voters will have to carefully evaluate and compare the candidates for their experience and decision-making capability. Running the eighth largest city in Florida is a big job and takes vision, commitment and a passion to do right for its citizens, so getting good, qualified and experienced people in office is crucial.

That they can vote in the upcoming primary is certainly good news for NPA voters in Cape Coral and Women For a Better Lee encourages everyone to cast a ballot in the Aug. 18 primary, either by mail or in person  no matter their political leaning.

On the county level, however, its a different story and not very good news. NPAs cannot vote in critically important primaries to nominate candidates for the County Commission, the state legislature, or our Congressional seat in the U.S. Congress because these are partisan contests. Voting in these primaries is restricted to those who are registered in the Democrat or Republican Party by July 19, 2020, 29 days before the Aug. 18 primary.

Fortunately, you still have time to change your registration to vote in a partisan primary: with a couple of clicks on the website of the Supervisor of Elections (www.lee.vote; click on voter resources) or by calling the County Elections office (239-533-8683), you can change your registration to the party in whose primary you wish to vote. Then, following the primaries, you can switch your party affiliation back by taking the same easy steps and be an NPA again  and, of course, vote in the November election for candidates of your choice.

Is this not crazy? Confusing? Indeed, but it is what it is. Voting is the most important and solemn duty of a citizen and making it difficult or complicated flies in the face of the very premise of our Constitution. In Lee County, voting may take more time, require more action, and demand more commitment than elsewhere  but since our choices for political office have such an incredible impact on our daily lives, isnt the extra effort worth it?

 Charlotte Newton, Steering Committee, Women For a Better Lee
WASHINGTON - A number of recent legal defeats and business decisions have stymied three multibillion-dollar pipeline projects around the country, setting back President Donald Trump's 3 1/2-year effort to expand oil and gas development in the United States.

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.

In a surprise decision Monday, a federal judge ruled that the Dakota Access pipeline - which Trump approved within a month of taking office - must be shut down by Aug. 5, saying federal officials failed to carry out a complete analysis of its environmental impacts. The day before, two energy companies behind the controversial, 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline abandoned their six-year bid to build it, saying the $8 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.

"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 attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, in a phone interview. "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 Monday that his trade group was "deeply troubled by these setbacks for U.S. 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."

The window is closing for Trump to be able to shepherd through these proposals before the end of his first term. Former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee who is currently leading the president in several polls, has vowed to rescind Keystone XL's federal permit and says he would weigh any project's contribution to climate change before approving it. Burning oil and gas produces carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to global warming.

During a League of Conservation Voters virtual event last month, Biden said that if elected he would be "requiring that there must be a full review and accounting of the impacts on climate, local, and environmental health, and climate justice before any project can proceed."

The outcome of projects hanging in the balance could have major implications for climate change, because pipelines built today could be shipping oil and gas for decades.

In several instances, long-standing statutes such as the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to assess and disclose how their decisions might harm the environment, have tripped up the administration. In his ruling regarding the Dakota Access pipeline, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote that the federal government had not met all the requirements of the 50-year-old law, which the administration is seeking to rewrite.

The $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which opened in 2017, carries about half a million barrels of crude oil a day from North Dakota's Bakken shale basin across 1,100 miles to Illinois. The ruling means the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must conduct a more thorough analysis of how a leak in the Dakota pipeline could affect Lake Oahe, which collects water from the Missouri River and lies half a mile from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

Several tribes, including the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux, first challenged the pipeline in 2016. While the Obama administration slowed the pipeline's development as it consulted with the tribes, Trump expedited its construction immediately after taking office.

"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," said the tribe's chairman, Mike Faith, in a statement. "This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning."

Jan Hasselman, a lawyer with Earthjustice who has led the legal battle on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux, said in an interview, "I can't think of another example where a major piece of infrastructure was shut down after being in operation a couple of years."

Energy Transfer Partners, which owns the largest stake in the Dakota Access line, called the court order "an ill-thought-out decision" and said it would immediately seek a stay so that oil could continue to flow. If the stay is not granted, company officials said, they will file an expedited appeal.

The company said the court order would hurt state, local and tribal tax revenue and force oil producers to move oil by railroad, which Energy Transfer Partners said was more dangerous. Its shares plunged more than 12% Monday, closing at $6.17 a share.

Energy Transfer Partners has close ties to the Trump administration. Last month, the company's CEO, Kelcy Warren, held a fundraiser for the president in his home, and former energy secretary Rick Perry rejoined the company's board just months after stepping down from the Cabinet.

The company has been involved in other controversial projects, including the Rover natural gas pipeline that spilled drilling fluids in Ohio during construction and led to the demolition of a historic home, contrary to an order by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

During his first week in office, Trump tried to speed up work on the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines by issuing executive orders aimed at overcoming regulatory obstacles. But years later, the owners of both pipelines are still fighting in court against opponents.

Recently, Trump has sought to speed the development of pipelines and other infrastructure projects by executive order. He has tried to waive environmental permitting laws, citing the need to bolster the economy during the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency also proposed limiting the ability of states and tribes to block pipelines and other infrastructure projects that could pollute their waterways.

The White House is also expected to finalize within a matter of weeks a rule that would scale back the National Environmental Policy Act by limiting the extent to which climate change could be considered in federal approval for various projects.

Despite those efforts, major drilling, mining and pipeline projects continue to face stiff head winds. And activists of color have been leading the opposition at sites across the nation - from the Great Plains to the Southeast and Alaska.

In the case of the Atlantic Coast pipeline, African American leaders had joined with property rights advocates in the Appalachians to fight the pipeline project, which included a compressor station that would have been built in Union Hill, a historic African American community.

Another major project with environmental risks and long-running political battles is Pebble Mine, a project that if approved would tap a massive gold and copper deposit near the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery in Alaska's Bristol Bay. The Trump administration has worked to clear the way for the project, even as opponents argue that the mine poses grave environmental risks.

Bristol Bay Native Corporation CEO Jason Metrokin noted that documents his Alaska Native corporation obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that both state and federal wildlife agencies, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, have warned the mine could have major impacts. But the Trump administration has forged ahead, he said.

"It's been rushed, it's been closed door, and they haven't taken into account the number of concerns coming from both state and federal agencies, our congressional delegation and the public at large," Metrokin said of the permitting process.

Reynolds said that if Biden were elected, he would probably halt Pebble Mine. But he added that with that project, as with other major proposals, opponents have other avenues to pursue that go beyond the reach of any one administration.

"The opposition to this project is never going to stop," he said. "There are state-level permits, there are other federal agencies, there are financial issues. . . . There's only so much that even a president can do."

Oil and gas executives, meanwhile, have been appealing to the White House for help. On June 12, representatives from more than a dozen firms and the American Petroleum Institute met with officials from the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to discuss nationwide permitting rules, according to federal records.

An API official said in an email that the session was "a routine meeting" to discuss nationwide permits to be put up this year. But two individuals familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, said the executives voiced concern about the April court ruling halting Keystone XL.

- - -

The Washington Post's Jeff Stein contributed to this report.
Kim Brent / The Enterprise

Parkdale Mall owner CBL Properties has been given a slight reprieve from its debt problems as it enters an agreement with a few of its lenders, but the company is still painting a bleak picture of the future.

The company disclosed last week that it had reached an agreement with the holders of more than 50% of its senior notes due in 2023. The agreement will expire on July 15 but could be terminated before then.
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has begun the process of withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization, a move that could hurt the U.N. agency's response to the coronavirus pandemic and reshape public health diplomacy.

The notice of withdrawal, effective July 6, 2021, was sent Monday to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Under the terms of a joint resolution passed by Congress in 1948, the United States must give a year's notice and pay its debts to the agency to leave.

Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for Guterres, said the secretary general was "verifying with the World Health Organization whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met."

It is not clear whether the president can pull the United States out of the organization and withdraw funding without Congress. When Trump first threatened to withdraw, Democratic lawmakers argued that doing so would be illegal and vowed to push back.

Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted Tuesday that Congress had received notification of the withdrawal, which he said "leaves Americans sick & America alone."

Rep. James Comer of Tennessee, the ranking Republican of the House Oversight Committee, called the withdrawal "the right decision."

"Until the WHO undergoes some serious reforms, it doesn't deserve our money or our membership," he said in a statement.

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, said Tuesday that, if elected, he would immediately rejoin the organization and "restore our leadership on the world stage."

"Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health," he tweeted.

Trump's push to withdraw in the middle of a pandemic has alarmed health specialists and put the United States at odds with traditional allies.

A group of more than 700 experts on global public health and law on Tuesday called on Congress to push back against the plan, warning that "cutting funding to the WHO during a global pandemic would be a dangerous action for global health and U.S. national interests."

The letter, which was signed by former directors of the Centers for Disease Control, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, the president of the National Academy of Medicine, and university presidents and deans, said a U.S. pullout "will likely cost lives, American and foreign."

The United States helped shape the WHO and U.S. officials still fill key roles there. Pulling American expertise and money will diminish that influence. It could also hurt ongoing health initiatives, particularly in the developing world.

The United States makes mandatory payments to maintain its membership in the WHO in addition to larger voluntary donations. This funding makes up about 15% of the agency's budget.

The mandatory payment, known as the "assessed contribution," may prove difficult for Trump to cut without congressional approval.

At more immediate risk are the "voluntary contributions," money provided to U.S. agencies for health efforts and then given to WHO programs. The largest share of this money goes to polio eradication, with large chunks to fight vaccine-preventable disease, malaria, HIV/AIDS and the provision of basic health care.

The impact may also be felt at home. Without a seat at the table, the United States could be cut out of conversations about the coronavirus response, vaccine development, or the next emerging threat.

One irony is that the administration has in recent months pushed for Taiwan to gain membership or observer status at the WHO for its safety, noted Mara Pillinger, an associate in global health policy and governance at Georgetown University's O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.

"Now, by withdrawing U.S. membership, they are knowingly, deliberately, jeopardizing the health and safety of the American people," she said.

The U.S. plan to cut ties with the WHO is broadly unpopular among America's allies.

"We have a lot of allies on improving WHO, but we have no allies on abandoning WHO," said Jimmy Kolker, a former U.S. ambassador who served as assistant secretary for global affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services until 2017.

The withdrawal letter comes after months of criticism and threats from the U.S. president.

In the early days of the outbreak, Trump praised China and the World Health Organization for their handling of the crisis. But as the coronavirus took hold in the United States and he faced mounting criticism, Trump took aim at the agency's "China-centric" response.

In April, he announced that he was freezing all new funding to the organization. In May, he tweeted a four-page letter that laid out his case and warned that the United States would withdraw unless the organization changed. Less than 30 days later, he announced the pullout.

Elements of Trump's critique have resonated beyond the White House. Foreign governments and current WHO advisers have questioned why the WHO amplified false Chinese claims in the early days of the outbreak and repeatedly praised Beijing as the virus spread.

But it is not clear how pulling out of the organization challenges Beijing.

A State Department spokesperson said Tuesday that the process of scaling down engagement with the WHO is already underway but seemed to leave open the possibility of working with the organization in the future.

"The President has been clear that the WHO needs to get its act together," the spokesperson said, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with department rules. "The United States will continue efforts to reform the WHO and other international organizations to ensure they operate with transparency, fulfill their mandates, and hold governments accountable for their commitments under international law."

- - -

The Washington Post's John Hudson contributed to this report.
The above editorial was published July 3 by the Citizens Voice (Wilkes-Barre). Its views are its own.
The office of the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner has released its report on the death of Carsyn Davis, the 17-year-old honors student at Cypress Lake High School who passed away in Miami on June 23 from COVID-19 complications.

Davis had a complex medical history, including bronchial asthma, the report states.

According to the reports findings:

On June 13, three days after attending a church function for children, Davis developed a frontal headache, sinus pressure and a mild cough. The family thought she had a sinus infection and she was treated with azithromycin by her parents. Her mother is a nurse and her stepfather is a physicians assistant, according to the report.

On June 19, Carsyns mother supplied her with the teens grandfathers home oxygen and gave her a dose of hydroxychloroquine after she looked gray while sleeping. The parents took her to Lee Healths Gulf Coast Medical Center and she was transferred to the pediatric critical care unit at Golisano Hospital. Davis was found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) on the same day she was admitted to the hospital. The parents declined intubation, the process of putting her on a ventilator. Davis received convalescent plasma therapy on June 20 and 21.

Messages left with Lee Health spokespersons were not immediately returned.

On June 22, with her condition not improving, Davis was intubated. Her cardiorespiratory status continued to decline with her oxygen levels remaining low. Her mother requested heroic efforts despite knowing she had a low level of meaningful survival, the report states.

Carsyn then was transferred from Golisano Hospital to the Nicklaus Childrens Hospital in Miami for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a type of life support measure. Other life support measures were taken but failed. Her cause of death is listed as being from complications of COVID-19 pneumonia.

Contrary to some media reports, there is no active criminal investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the death of Davis. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement keeps track of COVID-19 deaths with records from the medical examiners report, according to spokesperson Jessica Cary.
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Ian Kelall, who has been appointed audit partner for professional services firm Deloitte in Belfast, said many businesses had used the pandemic as a time to restructure and improve governance

The challenges posted by the coronavirus pandemic could be a "catalyst for change" which could improve how many Northern Ireland businesses work, it's been claimed.

Ian Kelall, who has been appointed audit partner for professional services firm Deloitte in Belfast, said many businesses had used the pandemic as a time to restructure and improve governance. They were now hoping to thrive again, he said.

"The virus has been disruptive and difficult but it may be seen as a catalyst for change, with many using the time to refocus on processes which enable their business to operate more effectively, to plan better and to make more strategic decisions," he said.

"It is, undoubtedly, a time of uncertainty across the economy. But the difficulties thrown up by coronavirus serve as a reminder that an audit can have huge value and should be seen as more than a compliance exercise."

Mr Kelsall has joined Deloitte in Belfast from its office in Newcastle.
Northern Ireland pharma research company Fusion Antibodies has said sales for the year to the end of March will hit nearly 4m - nearly 80% higher than the year before.

A trading update from the company, which is listed on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM), said full year revenues will be 3.9m, up 79% from 2.2m a year earlier.

The business, which is based in Belfast, provides antibody engineering for the development of antibodies for therapeutic drugs and testing.

It has been carrying out research work into Covid-19 antigens - and confirmed that it's making proteins generated in the process available to diagnostic companies for potential commercial development.

The company said trading during the pandemic had been "satisfactory," with sales of 975,000 expected for the quarter to June.

"The company has continued to service its clients throughout the current environment," the trading update said.

"The introduction and subsequent relaxation of restrictions in different regions around the world has presented opportunities as well as challenges and, taking this into consideration, enquiry and order rates have continued to be satisfactory, with revenue for the quarter to June 2020 of approximately 0.975m."

And to broaden its international reach, the company said it had signed up two new distributors.

A-Frontier Co Ltd is now an exclusive distributor for South Korea, in a move to build the company's presence in Asia-Pacific.

BioTickle Pty Ltd has been appointed as exclusive distributor in India.

Paul Kerr, chief executive of Fusion Antibodies, said: "We're pleased to have been able to continue to service our clients during the ongoing pandemic and our distributor agreements will broaden our reach in two key markets."

The company announced a 3m London stock market share placing in April.

Fusion Antibodies recently announced it's now part of the Northern Ireland Coronavirus Antibody Development Alliance, set up to help in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

It's been working with specialists including Professor Ultan Power, of the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute of Experimental Medicine and Professor Chris Scott, in The Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, to prepare antibodies that will potentially neutralise the virus.

Along with First Derivatives and Diaceutics, it's one of three NI firms listed on the AIM.
Belfast International Airport has urged the NI Executive to announce a policy on air bridges after the UK government statement omitted the devolved nations.

The UKs Department for Transport last week announced which countries will benefit from so-called air bridges - which means people can fly back from them without having to quarantine for two weeks.

More than 70 countries and territories including Spain, France and Italy are on the list - but others which arent include Portugal, the US and Sweden.

But the Department for Transport in the UK has said its up to the devolved regions to set their own policy.

Graham Keddie, airport chief executive, said: The decision by the UK Government to omit Northern Ireland and other UK regions from its air bridges announcement was deeply disappointing and frustrating.

Unfortunately this has been further compounded by the silence from the NI Executive.

The simple truth is that Northern Irelands omission leaves hundreds of jobs at risk at a time when the travel and tourism industry needs to see leadership and support from Government.

This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency in order to save jobs and save our connectivity.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said its expecting a decision to be made in the coming days by the Executive.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 came into operation on June 8.

Amendments to the Regulations are currently being considered and will be for the Executive to agree.

The Health Minister expects a decision to be made in the coming days.

Belfast International Airport has announced a programme of voluntary redundancies due to the impact of coronavirus on air travel.

At the end of May Mr Keddie said they expect to lose up to 45 employees out of a total workforce of 195.

He blamed the devastating impact of the pandemic.
Ms ONeill has apologised for grieving families experiencing more hurt (Liam McBurney/PA)

A motion calling on deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Finance Minister Conor Murphy to apologise over their attendance at the funeral of veteran IRA man Bobby Storey last week has passed in the Assembly this evening.

Police are investigating whether any social distancing regulations were breached, while the DUP, SDLP, Alliance, UUP and Greens have called on Ms O'Neill to step aside while a probe takes place.

Expand Close Republicans line the streets of west Belfast for the funeral of Bobby Storey. Picture: Colm O'Reilly / Facebook

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Whatsapp Republicans line the streets of west Belfast for the funeral of Bobby Storey. Picture: Colm O'Reilly

Ms O'Neill has apologised "for grieving families experiencing more hurt", however she stated she will "never apologise" for attending the funeral of a friend.

The Assembly motion has been signed by the DUP, UUP, SDLP and Alliance Party and acknowledges the sacrifices made during the coronavirus emergency.

It comes after it was reported there have been no further coronavirus-related deaths in Northern Ireland in the last 24 hours for the fifth day in a row, the Department of Health has confirmed.

It is the longest stretch without a death reported since March.

Read More

The death toll in the region remains at 554.

Some 1,067 lab tests have been carried out on 806 people, resulting in a further five positive cases.

The total number of confirmed cases since the start of the outbreak is now 5,761.

There are currently no Covid patients in Intensive Care Units across Northern Ireland, while 20 care homes are dealing with outbreaks of the virus.

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Follow our live blog below for all the latest updates:
A staggering bill of almost 229m was racked up in just three years paying for locum doctors to help prop up Northern Ireland's broken health service, it has emerged.

Cash-strapped health chiefs paid out the eye-watering sum between the start of April 2016 and the end of March 2019, according to official figures.

The statistics have revealed that the financial cost of the doctor shortage here rose steadily over the three years, from 68.6m in 2016/17 to 86.7m in 2018/19.

At the same time, the most recent statistics show there were 180 vacant medical posts at the end of last year.

However, a leading doctor has said the figure is likely to be much higher as it only includes posts where health trusts are actively recruiting.

Dr Tom Black, chair of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, said: "It's difficult to estimate the number of real vacancies.

"The reality is there is a significant number of vacancies throughout all grades in Northern Ireland, which puts pressure on the system and obviously everyone is working as hard as they can to fill those vacancies, although it isn't easy.

"There can be a number of reasons why a trust isn't recruiting for a post; it could be because they have tried before and haven't filled it.

"They know there is no one going to apply for it, so they take the view there isn't any point trying to recruit.

"That means that vacancy isn't included in these figures."

According to the information, which was released by Health Minister Robin Swann, the Belfast Trust paid out the most money for locum doctors over the three-year period, accruing a bill of 59.7m.

The Western Trust paid out 54.4m, while the Northern Trust amassed a 46.3m bill.

At the same time, the Southern Trust paid 40.2m for locum doctors over the three years, while the South Eastern Trust paid 28.3m.

Dr Black said there are a number of reasons why health trusts are experiencing significant challenges in appointing doctors.

He said moving ahead with transformation of the health service will help address the situation, which is currently being exacerbated by the threat hanging over a range of services.

Rumours are swirling that a number of services have been earmarked for closure as part of ongoing plans to overhaul the local health service.

"Doctors don't want to uproot their families and have to buy a new house and have their children move schools if a job isn't sustainable," he explained. "If a doctor has reassurance that a service is going to remain open then they are more likely to make the move, so I think decisions on the transformation agenda would be helpful."

Dr Black said issues with attracting doctors to take up jobs can also make it even more difficult to encourage others to apply for a role on a team.

"Rota gaps, which happen when there aren't enough staff, mean that any staff on the team have to work longer hours, and perhaps unsociable hours, more often," he said.

"If a doctor knows that is the case, they are more likely to apply for a job in a different trust where there are fewer rota gaps and a better work life balance."

At the same time, rota gaps have been blamed for a number of high-profile service closures in recent years, including the shutting of the emergency department at Belfast City Hospital.

Dr Black said it is vital that health bosses work to address the shortage of doctors in Northern Ireland.

"Locum doctors work just as hard as staff but very often they don't know local conditions or ways of working," he said.

"You find in general practice that maybe a third of patients seen by a locum doctor contact the surgery again because they want things fully sorted.

"Having a rota that is fully staffed instead of filled with locums does improve efficiency and effectiveness."

The Department of Health was contacted for comment.
An Alliance councillor has vowed she will not be silenced after a row with a veteran DUP representative over comments he made about coronavirus.

John Carson said in March that Covid-19 was a "judgment from God", claiming the pandemic was God's wrath for abortion and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

He apologised, saying his comments were "misinterpreted".

However, he has since stressed he did not apologise for what he said, instead hitting out at the media for "blowing the matter out of proportion".

At a meeting last month of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Mr Carson clashed with Alliance's Patricia O'Lynn over the matter.

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Whatsapp Alliance councillor Patricia O'Lynn

After Mr Carson praised the community spirit shown during the pandemic, Ms O'Lynn said she was "delighted" that he accepted lessons had been learned from the experience.

"I would just like to reiterate that coronavirus did not discriminate among gender, race, religion or sexual lines and I hope that he is taking this opportunity to reflect on his comments made about attributing blame to certain members of our community," she said.

Ms O'Lynn said that she hoped Mr Carson would continue to meet the standards expected of a councillor in future.

However, Mr Carson rejected her comments, saying that he "made no apology for what he said".

Expand Close Controversy: John Carson Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye / Facebook

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"I am going to take no lessons from anyone that supports the murder of the unborn child and I want to make that very, very, clear," he told the council.

"I stand over what I said, but the media blew the whole thing out of proportion and took a statement that I said and made it out that I said something which I didn't say."

At Monday's full council meeting Ms O'Lynn attempted to query the accuracy of the minutes of the June meeting in reference to the exchange and asked for Mr Carson's comments on her stance on abortion to be included.

However, DUP mayor Peter Johnston said that as her request was made outside the 24-hour cut-off point for amendments, it could not be heard.

Following the meeting she said that while she would normally accept the decision of the mayor, she felt the need to speak out. She said that she would not be "silenced".

In response, Mr Johnston said: "Councillor O'Lynn's request was outside standing orders, therefore with a very busy agenda for a meeting which lasted more than four hours, it was my job as mayor to ensure business was completed.

"I stand by my decision."
The Assembly has passed a motion calling on Michelle ONeill to apologise after attending Bobby Storeys funeral (Liam McBurney/PA).

The Stormont Assembly has passed a motion urging deputy first minister Michelle ONeill to apologise for attending Bobby Storeys funeral during the pandemic.

Hundreds lined the route of the veteran republican and former IRA members cortege in west Belfast last week.

The Assemblys declaration passed without a vote on Tuesday evening.

I regret to say that the Deputy First Minister's credibility is shot to bits Christopher Stalford

DUP Assembly member Christopher Stalford said: I regret to say that the Deputy First Ministers credibility is shot to bits.

The resolution was backed by the DUP, UUP, SDLP and Alliance but does not have any practical legal effect.

DUP First Minister Arlene Foster has asked her powersharing partner to step aside while PSNI officers consider the matter.

Ms ONeill has apologised for grieving families experiencing more hurt.

Expand Close DUP First Minister Arlene Foster has asked her powersharing partner to step aside while officers consider the matter (Liam McBurney/PA). PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp DUP First Minister Arlene Foster has asked her powersharing partner to step aside while officers consider the matter (Liam McBurney/PA).

No new deaths have been recorded with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said on Tuesday, leaving the total number of people who have died at 554.

Another five positive cases have been notified since Monday, bringing the total confirmed cases to 5,761.

A group of around 30 walked in Mr Storeys cortege from St Agnes Church to Milltown Cemetery.

Police are investigating whether any social distancing breaches occurred.

It was not and would never be my intention to hurt anybody within society Michelle O'Neill

Ms ONeill has said she did everything she could to minimise numbers including encouraging thousands to watch it online while marshals kept the crowds away from the cortege during the journey through west Belfast.

On Tuesday she said: It was not and would never be my intention to hurt anybody within society.

She added: I am satisfied that I did act responsibly within the church, as part of the cortege and at Milltown Cemetery.

I take very seriously indeed my responsibility as a public office holder.

I have acted in accordance with those responsibilities.

Mr Storey was cremated at Roselawn cemetery in the east of the city where 30 people were allowed to attend an outdoor committal service.

The other eight cremations that took place on the same day were not allowed services at the site.

Belfast City Council has apologised to those families.

The Assembly is currently debating the breaches of COVID-19 regulations by Sinn Fein Ministers. Watch Christopher Stalford's speech as he proposed the motion. https://t.co/uTU84CVtmw  DUP (@duponline) July 7, 2020

Mr Stalford said social distancing breaches included:

 Hundreds of people following behind the cortege;

 Widespread advertising of the event online;

 Installation of a public address system at Milltown Cemetery;

 A mass rally at the cemetery;

 The Sinn Fein vice-president posing for a selfie.

Do as I say, not as I do Christopher Stalford

Mr Stalford, who represents South Belfast, said: These rules dont apply to a senior member of Sinn Fein who is being buried.

That is what really sticks in peoples craw.

That is what is at the core of this issue.

Do as I say, not as I do.

The Assembly motion also singled out finance minister Conor Murphys presence at the funeral.

It pays tribute to those who selflessly prioritised the need to keep each other safe above their own personal needs, particularly during times of trauma, loss and grief; expresses 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; implores members of the public to stay with us and to continue acting in accordance with the regulations in order to keep each other safe and prevent further deaths; recommits to upholding the spirit and the letter of the Covid-19 regulations and the related public health guidance; and calls on the Deputy First Minister and the minister of finance to apologise for their actions, which have caused immense hurt.

Expand Close TUV leader Jim Allister submitted a no-confidence motion in Ms ONeill, urging her to resign (Liam McBurney/PA). PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp TUV leader Jim Allister submitted a no-confidence motion in Ms ONeill, urging her to resign (Liam McBurney/PA).

Mrs Foster said the episode had damaged her partner in governments credibility in delivering coronavirus safety messages and has halted joint press conferences.
As the state reported the highest single-day increase of positive COVID-19 patients on Saturday, local health care officials spoke just 24 hours earlier of the worrisome number of COVID-19 patients in their care and urged the public to take proper precautions when in public areas.

We are seeing a trend in our hospitals that has me very concerned, said President and CEO of Lee Health Dr. Larry Antonucci, Friday afternoon. Between our hospitals and skilled nursing units we are treating 327 COVID-19 patients. Just a month ago we were treating around 100 COVID patients each day. In one month we went from 100 to over 300, triple the number of hospitalizations.

I am here to tell you today that we are at risk of hitting critical mass, and if, as a community, we do not take action we will run out of room in our hospitals. And that could happen as soon as the end of this month.

Antonucci said actions taken by residents in the early stages of the pandemic were successful in mitigating the virus, but that since the state reopened, many residents are taking a relaxed stance on the virus and disregarding guidelines. Cases are rising and hospitals in the area are in danger of not meeting the needs of the community.

We know how to stop this spread, we have done it before, and I am asking for our community to help us do it again, Antonucci said. At our current rate, Lee Health hospitals will be completely full by the end of the month. We must act now to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Three months ago, everyone joined in a shared goal of flattening the curve, which was temporarily accomplished. We stayed at home, we practiced hand hygiene and we began wearing masks. The curve is no longer flat. Instead we have a spike in cases and the spike is growing fast.

Antonucci said the time for action is now  that wearing a mask is scientifically proven to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Now is the time to take action. No one person, law or mandate can stop the spread of the virus, he said. The actions of each and every one of us can ensure the safety of our families, our neighbors and strangers alike. Limit leaving your home unless necessary, and when you do leave, wear a mask, keep a safe physical distance from others and make sure you wash your hands or use sanitizing gel.

Wearing a mask and distancing can be inconvenient and at times uncomfortable, but the science is clear, these actions help save lives by slowing the spread of the virus.

Antonucci said while currently they have the means to meet the needs of the community, things could change drastically if residents are not vigilant in their efforts to protect themselves and others.

I can tell you today that we still have the necessary capacity to meet every need of our community, but I cant promise that will still be true a month from now if we dont take action now, he said. Every one single person in Southwest Florida has the ability to help reverse this surge and ensure every patient needing health care has access to it.

I love Southwest Florida, and I believe in Southwest Florida. We will get through this together and we will grow stronger as a community together, but it is not possible without our entire region buying-in for the benefit of the friends and neighbors.

I wish everyone a happy Fourth of July, and ask you to please take action this holiday weekend and beyond to protect yourselves and your neighbors from this devastating virus so that Lee Health may continue to provide our community with the same exceptional care they have become accustomed to over the last 100 years.

By the Numbers

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, there are 213,794 cases of the new coronavirus confirmed in Florida, an increase of 7,347 since FDOHs last update Sunday morning.

Over the weekend, more than 21,000 positive cases were reported by the state, including Saturdays caseload that saw the state report the highest single-day increase in positive cases with 11,458.

More than 48,500 test results were reported to the Department of Health on Monday, July 6. Of those reported tests, 16.27 percent tested positive. The percentage of positive tests is the highest percent positivity in a single day. The number of tests reported on July 6 is below the average number of tests results processed by the state per day over the last two weeks, which is 59,363.

Since June 25, positivity rates have steadily remained between 12 and 15 percent despite the amount of tests reported.

On July 3, 85,080 tests were processed by the state  the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. On that day, 14.11 percent of those tested received positive results.

The death toll increased by 63 from 11 a.m. Monday to 11 a.m. Tuesday, reported among Lee, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Columbia, Dade, Duval, Escambia, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Madison, Manatee, Martin, Nassau, Okaloosa, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, St. Lucie and Volusia counties.

A total of 2,271,267 individuals have been tested: 2,055,400 have tested negative, 2,073 tests were inconclusive and 1,604 tests are pending results. Of those testing positive, 16,425 Florida residents have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. There have been 3,943 deaths.

The age groups of Florida residents that have yielded the most positive test results are 25-34 years old (21%), followed by 35-44 (16%), 15-24 (16%) and 45-54 (15%).

The highest hospitalization rate is found in patients 65-74 (19%), 75-84 (18%) and 55-64 (17%) years old.

In Lee County, 7,859 (+361) individuals have tested positive as of 11 a.m. Tuesday; 3,381 in Fort Myers (+71), 1,605 in Cape Coral (+56), 1,578 in Lehigh Acres (+32), 506 in Bonita Springs (+20), 250 in North Fort Myers (+3), 171 in Estero (+7), 40 on Fort Myers Beach (+2), 33 in Alva (+3), 20 in Sanibel (+1), 14 in Bokeelia (+2), six on Matlacha (+0), six in Saint James City (+0), three on Captiva (+0), three in Tice (+0), two in Miromar Lakes (+0), two in Boca Grande (+0), two in San Carlos Park (+0) and one in Buckingham (+0).

Ninety cases were not identified by community.

Positive COVID-19 cases in the county have ranged from infants to a 101-year-old. Lee County saw its first two cases on March 7, when a man and a woman, each 77, tested positive. They had traveled to the Dominican Republic.

There have been 172(+5) deaths in Lee County; 121 deaths were reported in residents or staff of long-term care facilities.

As of Tuesday, Lee Health had 301 COVID-19 patients isolated in system inpatient hospitals. A total of 1,108 patients who had tested positive have been discharged, including 28 on Monday. Lee Health had 286 patients isolated in hospitals on Monday.

The system has submitted a total of 32,081 specimens for testing, with 1,072 results currently pending.

Lee Healths mobile collection sites on Monday collected 228 specimens.

Bed capacity as of Tuesday is at 87 percent, with 22.4 percent of those being COVID-19 patients.

As of Tuesday, 61 percent of ventilators and 10 percent of ICU rooms are available for use across Lee Health facilities.

COVID-19 is a highly contagious viral disease. For most individuals, symptoms are mild. For a minority, the disease becomes a type of viral pneumonia with severe complications. Especially at risk are those who are older, those with underlying health conditions and the immune-compromised.

Officials strongly urge all members of the public who are at risk to remain at home so as to limit exposure. All others are urged to observe social distancing and to wear a mask for all public interactions.

For more detail on Florida resident cases, visit the live DOH Dashboard.

To find the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, visit the Department of Healths dedicated COVID-19 webpage. For information and advisories from the Centers for Disease Control, visit the CDC COVID-19 website. For more information about current travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State, visit the travel advisory website.

For any other questions related to COVID-19 in Florida, contact the Departments dedicated COVID-19 Call Center by calling 1-866-779-6121. The Call Center is available 24 hours per day. Inquiries may also be emailed to COVID-19@flhealth.gov.
The Public Health Agency has insisted there are no current coronavirus clusters in Northern Ireland.

The PHA issued a statement on Tuesday following speculation of clusters in Crossgar and Ballynahinch in Co Down, describing instead household-related infections.

A cafe and a care home in the area closed their doors as a precaution, citing an outbreak of Covid-19 in our area.

It is understood the virus was detected over three households and had been identified through contact tracing.

The Public Health Agency said: We are aware of current media speculation regarding an alleged cluster in Newry, Mourne and Down area.

The contact tracing process will identify any potential links between positive cases both within and outside households.

We have not identified any current clusters other than household-related infections in the Newry, Mourne and Down area.

With some ongoing community transmission of Covid-19, it is expected that there will be variation in the number of cases detected across geographical areas, and with small numbers of cases, we must be cautious about the significance of these variations.

PHA will continue to monitor all cases of Covid-19, look for trends and linked cases and where we need to advise or inform the public of any increased risk to public health we will do so in a timely manner.

In a post on social media, Crossgar business Cafe Q said it had taken the decision to close for sit-in customers for a few weeks.

No one on our staff has been affected and we want them that to stay this way and ensure that our customers also remain healthy, the business posted on its Facebook page.

SDLP South Down MLA Colin McGrath urged local people to remain vigilant.

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The virus has been a worrying development sweeping across the world and it is concerning to hear that it has spiked in the Crossgar and Ballynahinch area, he said.

This underscores the need for people to be vigilant and ensure that they are continuing to wash their hands and be observant of social distancing rules.

While we have had many easements to the regulations that were in place to guide us through this pandemic, it is apparent that it is still in our community and spikes can occur at any stage in any place.

I welcome that the department has moved quickly to isolate this outbreak and I would ask the community to be vigilant of further cases and to follow any official directions to try and contain this outbreak.

Contact tracing is an important element and if anyone is asked to isolate they should do so immediately.

It is through working together with the authorities that we will contain any spread. I wish all those who have contracted the virus a quick return to full health and hope they receive all the support from the health services to help return to full health.

Meanwhile, no additional deaths were recorded with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, according to data compiled by the Department of Health, leaving the total number of people who have died in the region at 554.

Another five positive cases have been recorded since Monday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the region to 5,761, according to the department.
The DUP in Belfast has said it will hold City Hall officials "to account for any unjustified disparity" in funeral arrangements at Roselawn Crematorium.

Belfast City Council yesterday apologised over its handling of the funeral of IRA veteran Bobby Storey.

BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show reported that guidance was sent by Belfast City Council to funeral directors last Monday night, the day before Mr Storey's funeral, stating that up to 30 people would not be allowed to attend cremations until Wednesday, July 1.

Cremations were cancelled and eight families were denied entry last Tuesday to the facility because of Mr Storey's funeral.

The council said this was an "error of judgment" and an exception was made for the loved ones of Mr Storey "for operational reasons".

City Hall officials have apologised to the other families affected. They said: "An operational decision was made that for cremations the new procedures would apply from the cremation of Bobby Storey onwards. We accept in hindsight that this was an error of judgment.

"This meant that only one of the nine cremation services on Tuesday 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 contacting these families and are deeply sorry for how this error will have affected them."

Last night the DUP group leader on Belfast City Council said the party was "distressed" that the local authority "should have done anything that would give the impression or effect of inconsistency".

He said that after concerns were raised the DUP met with council officers and were "reassured that at no time were council facilities, or entry and exit to the same, under the control of any external organisation".

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

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Councillor George Dorrian said: "We understand that the recent change in Executive guidelines regarding attendance came late, and that directors and their departments had to react hastily to those developments, but this does not fully explain the inconsistent application by the council. We continue to gather facts and will hold relevant directors to account for any unjustified disparity."

Veteran UUP councillor Jim Rodgers said he was concerned by the council's actions.

"It is absolutely disgraceful," he said. "There should be no hierarchy with regards to cremations or burials."

He said he was aware of the cremation of the IRA veteran before Tuesday, but what he had heard about the "special measures" for Mr Storey was "worrying and disturbing" and he would be seeking meetings with officials and the police about their actions on the day.
Police carried out a series of raids across Northern Ireland as part of Operation Venetic. Pic Pacemaker.

A 32-year-old man has been charged with a number of offences after being arrested as part of Operation Venetic.

He was arrested follows searches in the Crossmaglen area of Co Armagh earlier on Monday.

A number of items were seized including mobile phones, a quantity of cash and four vehicles.

The man was charged with a number of offences, including conspiracy to commit murder, and drugs offences.

He is due to appear before Newry MagistratesCourt on Tuesday.

As is usual procedure all charges will be reviewed by the PPS.

The operation, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA), has been described as the UKs biggest law enforcement operation against serious and organised crime.

As part of the operation police carried out a series of raids across Northern Ireland last week.

There was also work done in collaboration with law enforcement partners across Europe and internationally.

A number of people from across the UK have been arrested and charged as part of the operation.

Operation Venetic targets organised crime groups using encrypted technology in a bid to evade law enforcement.
A sixth man has appeared in court on Tuesday facing a raft of criminal conspiracy charges connected to the Europe-wide investigation Operation Venetic.

Appearing at Newry Magistrates' Court sitting in Lisburn, via videolink from police custody, 32-year-old Brendan OCallaghan confirmed that he understood the 10 charges against him.

OCallaghan, from the Monog Road in Crossmaglen, is accused of conspiring to murder persons unknown, entering an arrangement to acquire criminal property, conspiring to transfer criminal property and seven drugs charges alleging that he is was involved in conspiracies to supply cocaine, cannabis and diazepam, conspiracies to possess the class A, B and C drugs with intent.

All are alleged to have been committed on dates between March 25 and June 15 this year.

He also faces a charge of simple possession of diazepam on July 6.

Giving evidence to the court, a detective constable said he believed he could connect OCallaghan to each of the charges while prosecuting counsel Robin Steer said there were objections to the defendant being freed on bail due to concerns of him re-offending.

Claiming that OCallaghan is heavily involved in the large scale supply of drugs, Mr Steer outlined that when his home was initially searched on April 18, officers found an encrypted mobile phone just over the boundary wall, in a field.

That encrypted device was examined and using the IMEI number, officers were able to obtain a huge amount of messages between this defendant and his associates, we say, in relation to the transportation of drugs to NI and amounts to pay for those drugs".

The messages also spoke about the cost of drugs, how much profit can be made... changing sterling to Euro, matters of that sort, Mr Steer revealed, adding that during a further search on July 6, two iPhones were uncovered hidden under the cooker, around 2,000 in cash and a quantity of documents".

Police say that the messages show that the defendant is heavily involved in the large scale supply of illegal drugs, declared the lawyer who told the court that during police interviews, OCallaghan refused to answer officers questions.

Defence solicitor Tara Walsh argued that the evidence as it stands is tenuous given the fact that the encrypted phone wasnt found on his property or on his person and there were two other people in the house at the time of the initial search.

He denies that its his phone and he says that he doesnt have any connection to that phone, said Ms Walsh but Mr Steer told the court that in the encrypted messages, there were references to Brendan Cross and to B man".

District Judge Mark McGarrity said he had to take the prosecution case at its height at this stage and in doing so, a reasonable inference could be drawn that he is the person who had access and use of the device at issue".

Remanding OCallaghan into custody until August 4, he said the risk of further offences was such that I do not consider there are conditions that could meet that risk".
Northern Irelands omission from Westminsters announced air bridges plan places hundreds of jobs at risk, an airport boss has claimed.

On Friday, the UK Government published a list of 73 countries and territories where English holidaymakers can visit without self-isolating on their return.

It includes popular short-haul destinations such as Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, as well as long-haul locations including Australia, Barbados, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and Vietnam.

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However, the policy only applies to England as the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales had not signed off on the plan before it was made public.

In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the devolved Government will make a decision on the issue as soon as we can.

The managing director of Belfast International Airport Graham Keddie has criticised the Northern Ireland Executive for remaining silent on the matter, claiming hundreds of jobs are at risk.

Mr Keddie described the situation as deeply disappointing and frustrating.

Unfortunately this has been further compounded by the silence from the NI Executive, he said.

The simple truth is that Northern Irelands omission leaves hundreds of jobs at risk at a time when the travel and tourism industry needs to see leadership and support from Government.

This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency in order to save jobs and save our connectivity.

A spokesman for The Executive Office said: The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 came into operation on June 8.

Amendments to the Regulations are currently being considered and will be for the Executive to agree.
The funeral cortege of Bobby Storey in west Belfast last week

Five parties at Stormont are expected to show a rare display of unity on Tuesday by demanding that Sinn Fein ministers apologise over their attendance at Bobby Storey's funeral.

The motion, which will be debated in the Assembly around 6pm, is supported by the DUP, SDLP, Ulster Unionists, Alliance and Green Party.

Meanwhile, a nurse in Daisy Hill Hospital says that she has reported Sinn Fein MLAs to the police and the office of the Assembly Standards Commissioner for allegedly breaching coronavirus regulations.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said on Monday she hadn't been contacted by the PSNI following the Storey funeral.

But she stressed that she would be "more than happy to cooperate with any PSNI officer who may wish to speak to me".

Mrs O'Neill came under significant pressure over her funeral attendance from MLAs in all parties at Stormont on Monday.

The motion to be debated "expresses 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".

It asks the public to continue to uphold "the spirit and the letter of Covid-19 regulations and guidance".

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The resolution also calls on Mrs O'Neill and Finance Minister Conor Murphy, who both attended the funeral, "to apologise for their actions, which have caused immense hurt".

However, TUV leader Jim Allister described the resolution as "pathetically weak".

He said: "All it can muster is not condemnation, but an expression of 'disappointment' over Sinn Fein's actions.

"Then, it limply makes a plaintive call for apology, with the Deputy First Minister having defiantly said she will 'never apologise'.

"Well, I am not looking for apologies, I'm looking for resignations."

Mr Allister said that the cross-party motion was "designed to protect 'the process', rather than doing anything that underscores Sinn Fein's "demonstrable unfitness for government".

Mr Allister said that Sinn Fein would not be overly concerned about the motion because it was so weak.

"Sinn Fein knows it can stare down its Executive critics, and so it will, strengthened in the realisation it can do whatever it likes," he added.

The TUV leader has tabled an amendment condemning Sinn Fein and calling for resignations over the funeral.

Mrs O'Neill faced a barrage of questions from MLAs on Monday.

UUP leader Steve Aiken asked her if she would consider her position if there was an increase in Covid-19 cases.

The Deputy First Minister insisted that she took her responsibilities very seriously.

"I will continue to lead us through this pandemic no matter what comes at us in the future," she said. SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly said: "Sinn Fein seem to think of themselves as an elite party where the rules don't normally apply and have created a hierarchy of people who can flout the rules whenever they so choose.

"How exactly are you going to prevent people from having that perception and being able to stand in front of a podium telling me, and everybody here, and everybody outside of here what to do and that the rules don't apply to you?"

Mrs O'Neill replied: "All the public listening at home, it's really, really important.

"They have walked this journey with us and they need to continue to walk this journey with us. I will continue to walk with them."

DUP MLA Mervyn Storey quoted from Mrs O'Neill's response to the Black Lives Matter demonstration in Belfast last month. She had said that it was important to send a message very clearly that gathering in large crowds would spread the disease and kill people.

"Where we were in June and where we are today are two different spaces," the Deputy First Minister replied.

She said the Executive was lifting coronavirus restrictions at "break-neck speed" and the situation was constantly changing.

SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole asked if Mrs O'Neill agreed that republicanism's central tenet "is that all citizens are equal before the law".

She replied that she believed that "everyone is equal".

DUP MLA Christopher Stalford said that the Deputy First Minister's comments in defence of her actions at the Storey funeral demonstrated that she "really doesn't get it".

On her different attitude to coronavirus now, he added: "What changed? Was it a senior republican died and the rules that everyone else had to abide went out the window?"

Mrs O'Neill told the Assembly that she never intended to cause anyone pain by attending the funeral. "I distinguish between families that have lost, and their hurt, and then those charges that are levelled towards me that are about politics, not about the law," she said.

Mr Allister said that the law was clear that attendance at funerals was generally restricted to members of the same household or family.

He reminded her of her pledge of office, which had to be upheld in "word and deed". He asked her why she thought she was "above the law". "Is it because she has a higher loyalty to the republican movement?" he said.

Mrs O'Neill denied that she had done anything wrong and added that she took her ministerial responsibilities "very seriously".

Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong said she was speaking more in disappointment than anger. She said that her uncle had died during the pandemic and it had been a very difficult time.
Pallets have been gathered for bonfires in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)

A DUP MLA has urged that public safety must come first ahead of the traditional July 12 celebrations.

The date is historically marked by members of the unionist and loyalist communities in Northern Ireland with bonfires and parades to mark William IIIs victory at the Battle of the Boyne.

However, this year the Orange Order cancelled the large-scale parades amid the coronavirus pandemic, and instead encouraged supporters to celebrate at home.

Expand Close Preparations for an 11th night Bonfire in Orangefield Park area of east Belfast, as part of a loyalist tradition to mark the anniversary of the Protestant King Williams victory over the Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday July 07, 2020. See PA story ULSTER Coronavirus Bonfires. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Preparations for an 11th night Bonfire in Orangefield Park area of east Belfast, as part of a loyalist tradition to mark the anniversary of the Protestant King Williams victory over the Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday July 07, 2020. See PA story ULSTER Coronavirus Bonfires. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

DUP MLA Pam Cameron has called for safe celebrations within the coronavirus regulations, which state that no more than 30 people should gather outdoors.

The Twelfth period is a very important time for many of us as we celebrate our culture in a respectful manner, she said.

This year has presented an unprecedented challenge through Covid-19 and unfortunately this has meant parades and other cultural events have been cancelled due to public safety.

A number of bands across Northern Ireland have indicated that they will hold small localised short parades on their own and it is crucial that numbers are tightly restricted.

In the aftermath of the funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey, during which hundreds gathered in west Belfast, there was a flurry of applications to the Parades Commission for loyalist band parades.

Restrictions on outdoor gatherings should still be adhered to Pam Cameron, DUP MLA

Mrs Cameron praised the Ulster Bands Forum for working to spread the social distancing message.

Spectators should not follow bands around their short routes. Restrictions on outdoor gatherings should still be adhered to, she said.

I would strongly urge everyone to remain mindful of the Covid-19 restrictions and not let the unacceptable behaviour of many Sinn Fein representatives last week be an excuse to do otherwise.

Earlier, East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson appealed for those building loyalist bonfires to behave responsibly.

Work restarted at sites over the last week with quantities of wooden pallets being gathered.

Those sites include Pitt Park on the lower Newtownards Road, Lismore Street and Orangefield Park, all within Mr Robinsons constituency.

Last month a number of these sites were cleared following agreement between bonfire builders and Belfast City Council to call off the planned pyres.

Expand Close Car park at Bloomfield Walkway in east Belfast, where pallets had been seen over the past weekend stacked in preparations for an 11th night Bonfire, as part of a loyalist tradition to mark the anniversary of the Protestant King Williams victory over the Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday July 07, 2020. See PA story ULSTER Coronavirus Bonfires. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Car park at Bloomfield Walkway in east Belfast, where pallets had been seen over the past weekend stacked in preparations for an 11th night Bonfire, as part of a loyalist tradition to mark the anniversary of the Protestant King Williams victory over the Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday July 07, 2020. See PA story ULSTER Coronavirus Bonfires. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Pallets had also appeared at a former bonfire site at the Bloomfield Walkway over the weekend, but have since been removed.

Some within loyalism have issued guidance suggesting any bonfires should be small and localised.

But Mr Robinson warned that bonfires by their nature require people to congregate.

This cannot be ignored and anyone contemplating holding such a bonfire should be conscious their actions could put peoples health at risk but also put them at risk of being considered no different to those who flouted the rules previously, he said.

Expand Close Preparations for an 11th night Bonfire in the Lower Newtownards Road area of east Belfast. Pic Liam McBurney/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Preparations for an 11th night Bonfire in the Lower Newtownards Road area of east Belfast. Pic Liam McBurney/PA Wire

We must be clear that outdoor gatherings of more than 30 people are against the regulations and should not take place.

Celebrations can continue, but they must do only where they can take place safely and within both the regulations and guidance.

He added: Republicans will not be to blame should there be breaches of Covid-19 regulations during any July 12 celebration.

It will not be a defence or justification to say well they did it too. Indeed, having stood with the vast majority people from all shades of political opinion, in criticising the deputy First Minister (Michelle ONeill) and other Sinn Fein representatives, there is an even greater responsibility upon us now to demonstrate that two wrongs do not make a right.
Nearly 8m has been generated in hospital car parking fees by our five health trusts during 2019-20, latest figures have revealed.

Belfast Trust raised the highest amount at 3.2m followed in joint second place by the Northern Trust and South Eastern with 1.65m.

Both Southern and Western Trusts each generated 0.7m.

The total of 7.9m was disclosed by Health Minister Robin Swann in an Assembly question tabled by DUP MLA Alex Easton.

In January the Belfast Telegraph revealed Northern Ireland's five trusts raised 15m between 2016-17 and 2018-19.

Over 2.8m of that income related to three trusts who charge staff to park their vehicles. These latest figures has prompted calls for the costs to be reviewed.

In response, a number of trusts have stressed the revenue from the charges pays for the cost of maintaining and securing the facilities.

Paula Bradshaw, Alliance MLA for South Belfast, said the health authorities should consider making those who work for the health service exempt from car parking charges.

Three of our trusts - Belfast, South Eastern and Southern - charge staff for parking.

The Stormont health committee member said: "The pandemic has shown how much we rely on and must value people who work for our trusts and ultimately for us.

"Asking them to pay out of their wages, differential parking charges dependent essentially on the lottery of where they happen to work is only further penalising key workers who are already among the lower paid."

Ms Bradshaw continued: "Those who are on the frontline, doing work and providing services vital to our health and wellbeing, often working on shifts when other forms of transport are not viable, should not be further penalised.

"We should use this opportunity to provide free car parking to key workers at all times."

A spokesperson for the Southern Trust told the Belfast Telegraph the majority of its hospital sites are "free of charge for staff, patients and visitors", adding that during the pandemic parking charges have been exempt "for everyone using our hospitals".

"Income generated from car parking charges is used to pay for the significant costs associated with the maintenance and security of hospital car parks," he continued.

"Without this income, funding currently used to pay for the care and treatment of patients would have to be diverted to keep car parks operational.

"Concessionary parking is also available for those eligible, for example patients attending for chemotherapy or relatives of intensive care patients."

Belfast Trust also said parking income is used to meet the "operational and maintenance costs of the car parks where charges apply".

"Any remaining income contributes towards the cost of maintaining car parks for patients, visitors and staff on trust sites where charges are not currently applied," it said.

Meanwhile, the South Eastern Trust said other patients may qualify for exemptions through a process undertaken by ward managers. The Northern and Western Trusts had not responded to a request for comment at the time of going to press.
The alleged attack occurred at the complainant's home off the Antrim Road.

A Scottish woman allegedly inflicted knife wounds on a lover after moving to Belfast to live with her during lockdown, a court heard on Tuesday.

Police claimed Stephanie Brodley caused a "substantial" injury to the other woman's arm shortly after they formed a relationship.

Brodley, of no fixed abode, is charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon with intent.

The 29-year-old also faces two counts of criminal damage and assault on police.

The alleged attack occurred at the complainant's home off the Antrim Road on May 30.

Belfast Magistrates' Court previously heard claims that Brodley trailed the woman by the hair and threw her about the flat.

Brodley then slapped her while holding a knife, according to the police case, with the victim sustaining a stab wound which required 10 stitches as she tried to shield herself.

During her arrest the defendant allegedly kicked a police officer and caused damage to a PSNI car and a second vehicle.

Opposing bail on Tuesday, a police officer contended the accused may flee if released.

"They had only been together for a short time, and there is no suitable address in Northern Ireland," the constable said.

"The defendant only came over to move in with the victim during Covid-19. She is originally from Scotland."

District Judge George Conner was told the injured party has withdrawn her complaint.

"She has gone as far saying she wants the defendant coming back to live with her," the officer added.

Defence solicitor Eoghan McKenna accepted, however, that it was unrealistic for the couple to cohabitate at this stage.

Refusing bail, Mr Conner cited the risk of breaching any conditions.

Brodley was remanded in custody to appear again in two weeks time.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin during a media briefing following the first cabinet meeting at Dublin Castle (Julien Behal/PA)

Taoiseach Micheal Martin has described Sinn Feins calls for a border poll on a united Ireland as divisive and said he would favour a different approach.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said a referendum on Irish unity is imperative to growing the Irish economy.

Speaking in the Dail on Tuesday she said: A united Ireland is the best idea for the future of our country.

It is essential to the prosperity of all our people because growing our economy requires an all-Ireland approach.

Protecting our health service requires an all-Ireland approach.

Mr Martin said an all island unit has been set up in the Department of the Taoiseach but said Sinn Feins insistence on a border poll is divisive.

He said: I dont believe precipitating or organising a referendum like that is the way to go.

Expand Close An Irish unity march on the Lifford Bridge which marks the border between Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and Lifford in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp An Irish unity march on the Lifford Bridge which marks the border between Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and Lifford in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland (Niall Carson/PA)

That was the Sinn Fein position since Brexit happened and you have come back a bit from it.

I think the over focus on the border poll was too divisive, too partisan and would only run counter to what you wanted to achieve.

I would favour a different approach.

I would favour a stronger north-south relationship and the development of that.

He said: The agenda for the future of this island is how we engineer and develop an accommodation where we can all live in peace and harmony on the island and to not try to dictate to one tradition about what the solution is going to be which seems to be the agenda youre pursuing.

The Good Friday Agreement is the defining document because it is based on three sets of relationships, the British-Irish relationship, the north-south relationship and the two traditions within Northern Ireland itself.

Mr Martin said the focus of the all island unit is to see how the Government can develop a shared future.

Irrespective of what may emerge in the future, it is my view that these three sets of relationships will have to underpin any future arrangements.
The BSF has increased the deployment of night camera tractors and speed boats to prevent animal trafficking before Eid.

Kolkata: Apprehending a rise in cattle-smuggling across the India-Bangladesh border this month, the Border Security Force has deployed "additional" troops with weapons, gadgets and equipments in its South Bengal Frontier of West Bengal. The step comes after the BSF found 'Cattle Haats' near the border on the Bangladesh side.

The BSF (South Bengal Frontier) said that every year, incidents of animal trafficking increase along the Indo-Bangladesh international border before Eid-ul-Azha. This year, Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated in Bangladesh on 31 July.

"It has been learned from reliable sources that the process of licensing 'Cattle Haat' in the border area of Bangladesh is going to be completed soon. In these 'Cattle Haats', most of the cattle which are smuggled from India are brought in. They are traded. The price of cattle in Bangladesh has increased significantly during this time of the year. At present, a buffalo of large size which is available in India for Rs 50,000 is priced in Bangladesh at about Rs 1,50,000 and a bull of large size is worth about Rs 80,000," the BSF said.

In the most vulnerable Border Outposts such as Neem Teeta, Harudanga, Madanghat, Sovapur etc. in Malda and Murshidabad districts, additional troops and resources have been deployed.

Battalions deployed in Malda and Berhampore sectors, the BSF added, are prepared to thwart the cross-border smuggling of cattle.

The BSF has increased the deployment of night camera tractors and speed boats to prevent animal trafficking before Eid. It has allowed its soldiers to use non-lethal weapons but also effectively use force if needed.

So far in 2020, 16 personnel of BSF South Bengal Frontier have been injured in various scuffle with trans-border criminals.

Temporary fencing/blockages have been placed at the border which does not have proper fencing. Trenches have been dug at the usual places where there are attempts of forced smuggling of cattle in large numbers.

The Border Security Force has made arrangements for joint operation with the local police. Units of the BSF have set up temporary camps on both sides of the ghats, which are used for dropping cattle into the rivers near the border crossing.

"Trans-border crimes will be stopped at the border at any cost and if criminals take up the law into their hands, then strict action should be taken against them under the law. Where jawans will be required to fire for their life, suitable and effective firing will be done. Non-lethal weapons will be used as appropriately as per the law of the land," the BSF said.
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.
The funeral procession of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey following the funeral at St Agnes Church in west Belfast. (Liam McBurney/PA)

Trust between the Stormont Executive and the public cannot be rebuilt without an acknowledgement of damage caused by the attendance of ministers at a funeral where coronavirus regulations were breached, Northern Irelands justice minister has said.

Naomi Long said the response from Sinn Fein around the gathering of hundreds of people at a service for senior republican Bobby Storey doesnt respect peoples intelligence.

Ms Long was speaking hours before MLAs debate whether to urge Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill and finance minister Conor Murphy to apologise over their attendance.

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Ms Long said Ms ONeill has yet to acknowledge the harm that has been done to the reputation of the Executive and to her own standing, which she described as regrettable.

A group of 30 walked in the funeral cortege in west Belfast, while hundreds lined the route from St Agnes Church to Milltown Cemetery.

Police are investigating whether any social distancing breaches occurred.

It later emerged that Mr Storey had been cremated at Roselawn cemetery in the east of the city where 30 people were allowed to attend an outdoor committal service.

The other eight cremations that took place on the same day were not allowed services at the site.

Belfast City Council has apologised to those families.

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Ms Long described it as a very unfortunate situation, adding it is important that MLAs later have the opportunity to express their views.

She told the BBC: I believe the guidance was breached, I think that this was a large event, I think to use a technicality that there were only 30 people in the cortege  when there were clearly hundreds of people at an event that was not just happening while she was there but actually being stewarded by Sinn Fein  doesnt really respect peoples intelligence.

Its very clear that what happened at the Storey funeral was way above and beyond 30 people gathering, it exceeded what was permitted for a funeral and there is no question in my mind that the regulations were breached.

The Alliance leader also called for a start to rebuilding the trust that has been broken between the public and the Executive.

I think that the starting point for that is an acknowledgement that what happened has broken that trust, and I think that unless we have that, it is very difficult to see how you can start to rebuild the relationships that have been damaged, she added.

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DUP First Minister Arlene Foster has asked her powersharing partner to step aside while officers consider the matter.

Ms ONeill has apologised for grieving families experiencing more hurt.

An Assembly motion has been signed by the DUP, UUP, SDLP and Alliance Party and is due to be debated on Tuesday evening.

It acknowledges the sacrifices made during the coronavirus emergency.

The motion pays tribute to those who selflessly prioritised the need to keep each other safe above their own personal needs, particularly during times of trauma, loss and grief; expresses 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; implores members of the public to stay with us and to continue acting in accordance with the regulations in order to keep each other safe and prevent further deaths; recommits to upholding the spirit and the letter of the Covid-19 regulations and the related public health guidance; and calls on the Deputy First Minister and the minister of finance to apologise for their actions, which have caused immense hurt.

TUV leader Jim Allister submitted a no-confidence motion in Ms ONeill, urging her to resign.

Mrs Foster said the episode had damaged her partner in governments credibility in delivering coronavirus safety messages and has halted joint press conferences.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly launches the official Irish health service executive Covid Tracker contact tracing app at the Department of Health in Dublin (PA)

Irelands new Covid-19 tracker app has privacy at its core, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said.

It has been installed by more than half a million people since becoming available on Monday night.

Mr Donnelly said he understood peoples worries about data privacy.

Those concerns are very real and reasonable.

The app has been developed with privacy by design at its core.

HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid says itas a adream come truea for him as the latest figures now show the Covid-19 tracker app has been downloaded almost 250,000 times. pic.twitter.com/rndSxt9yDv  Aine McMahon (@AineMcMahon) July 7, 2020

The app informs people if they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

This morning weare launching the Covid Tracker App. Itas a powerful tool in our fight to suppress Covid19.



Iave just downloaded the app. Please take 2 minutes today and do the same. Every person who does helps protect us all. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/JFBZ2pOvh0  Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) July 7, 2020

Weve ensured that from the very first version, the app is available in English and in Irish, and we are very much open to incorporating other languages in future upgrades as we receive feedback.

Mr Donnelly said privacy is built into the app at every point in the process.

He said if someone tests positive for Covid-19, they will receive a phone call where they will receive advice.

If you have the tracker app, you will be asked your permission for your phone to share the close contact information.

You can say no at this point.

The app is opt in, no-one is being forced to download or use it.

HSE chief executive Paul Reid said: I can confirm that it isnt a dream, we have that many users.

It is a phenomenal achievement.

Mr Reid appealed to people to tell everyone in their networks to download it.

The Covid-19 tracker app is being launched at the Department of Health this morning.



It has been downloaded by more than 100,000 people since it became available overnight. #Covid19Ireland pic.twitter.com/CAIviwO3ef  Aine McMahon (@AineMcMahon) July 7, 2020

He said: If every one of us asks all of our network to download the app today, we will capture everyone we need.

If everyone asks everyone in their network to download this app, thats the level were looking for in uptake.

Mr Reid added the app is not a silver bullet and said the app will complement the existing contact tracing system.

He said the app has cost 850,000 euro to develop and that this is on the margins in terms of the overall health spending on coronavirus.

Acting chief medical officer Ronan Glynn said that until there is a vaccine against Covid-19, social distancing, hand hygiene, and mask wearing will be key to battling the virus.

He said: The Covid-19 tracker app will be a very important addition to this and will increase our capacity to combat the spread of the disease.

The COVID Tracker app is now available to download. It will help in the fight against coronavirus. Download the COVID Tracker app here: https://t.co/CUrWQ9QVvj



Weall protect your privacy, and youall help us protect everyone. Stay safe. Protect each other. #COVID19 #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/WVRFOUwAT7  HSE Ireland (@HSELive) July 7, 2020

Dr Glynn added: We realise that high uptake requires public trust and confidence This is why such attention has been paid to data protection and privacy.

He said research shows that a large majority of the Irish public said they would download the app, and he is confident people will get on board.

On Tuesday health authorities were told one more person had died with Covid-19 and disclosed that 24 more infections were detected.

Dr Glynn said the app had approximately 545,000 downloads.

He added: This is one more example of the solidarity and collective spirit that has characterised the Irish publics response to Covid-19 to date.

Mr Donnelly said the apps coverage is effectively all-island and that it will work everywhere in the country, regardless of internet access.

The app works with Bluetooth technology, it works phone-to-phone.

If two people meet on top of Carrauntoohil in Co Kerry for 15 minutes, the phones will log that.

The app is not active in the six counties (of Northern Ireland) right now.

We would very much like it to be across the entire island, but certainly for now, anyone who is crossing the border should absolutely download the app.
Sinn Fein has stood down the partys organisation in the Dublin South West constituency after controversial mixed martial arts fighter Paddy Holohan was nominated to be mayor of South Dublin County Council.

Sinn Fein members were told the partys Ard Comhairle met over the weekend and decided to suspend all party structures and party activity in the constituency pending a review of Mr Holohans nomination.

In a letter to members, Sinn Feins 26 county director Ken OConnell said the move followed recent political actions taken by some members in the constituency which the Ard Chomhairle views with deep concern.

Suspension of all activity means that there will be no meetings or political activity of any section of the party in the area until further notice, Mr OConnell said.

Elected Representatives should continue to represent their constituents fully and continue to work from their offices under covid rules, he added.

The Sinn Fein leadership will meet on July 11 to assess the situation and draft terms of reference for a full review of the constituency, which is home to long serving TD Sean Crowe.

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In January, during the Irish General Election campaign, Mr Holohan, who is a Sinn Fein councillor, was suspended after it emerged he made a string of offensive comments on a podcast.

He suggested loads of underage girls were having sex with men and blackmailing them for sums of money up to 10,000. He said some women were f*****g scum.

He was also accused of racism and homophobia after he said Leo Varadkars blood ran to India and insisted the person who is elected Taoiseach should be a family man.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said his comments were vile and offensive.

However, last month, it emerged he was reinstated by the party and his name had been put forward for lord mayor role on South Dublin County Council.

He lost the vote and Sinn Fein said they were not aware Mr Holohan had been nominated.

Recently elected Deputy Mayor of South Dublin County Council Councillor David McManus said Sinn Fein's decision "raises more questions".

"How can he be re-admitted as an official councillor representing the party but then can't be nominated for mayor," the Fine Gael councillor said.

"The Sinn Fein leadership are responsible for this and now they are trying to throw their local councillors under the bus. I would call for Mary Lou McDonald to make a full statement on this matter, it's time for answers, not reviews," he added.
Nearly 250 loyalist bands have now lodged notifications to parade over the Twelfth period.

The Parades Commission website yesterday listed around 248 submissions from bands marching between July 11 and July 13.

Around 60 notifications alone were submitted to the watchdog over last weekend.

All involve a single band with a maximum of 30 participants, in line with Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

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As July 12 falls on a Sunday this year, Monday would have been the day official Twelfth demonstrations - which were cancelled in April at the height of the pandemic - would have taken place.

The influx comes as demands from loyalists to celebrate Eleventh Night bonfires and the Twelfth deepens due to the fallout from the attendance of Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill at the funeral of republican Bobby Storey.

The commission has said it has witnessed a flurry of notifications after the Executive allowed up to 30 people to gather outside last week.

The Belfast Telegraph also reported last week that the Attorney General informed the commission it had no powers to prevent bands from parading.

There have also been calls for bands to ensure social distancing and restrictions are maintained, with Policing Board member and SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly urging supporters to heed the advice of Orange grand secretary Rev Mervyn Gibson.

Rev Gibson has urged loyalists not to follow the example of republicans at the Storey funeral.

"Because someone else does wrong doesn't mean we have to follow suit," he said recently.

The Orange Order yesterday ramped up its 'Twelfth at Home' campaign by launching a free app, which will provide access to Radio Boyne.

Deputy grand master Harold Henning, who is overseeing the campaign, said the new free app was a useful addition to the initiative.

"We are delighted to announce the launch of an app to accompany our Radio Boyne broadcasts," he said.

"This will allow members of the Orange family and others to access Radio Boyne on their phone or tablet device at the press of a button.

"We are very much looking forward to our Twelfth at Home celebrations and Radio Boyne is a big part of that.

"There will be a great variety of programmes across the four days, which I am sure will have a big appeal with our members, their family and friends."

The programme can be viewed via: www.goli.org.uk/radioboyne and the app is available to download from the Play Store and Apple Store
A total of 2,489 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for the virus, up one from 2,488 on Monday (Jane Barlow/PA)

Travel restrictions have been lifted in Dumfries and Galloway after a coronavirus outbreak was brought under control, according to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Speaking during her daily briefing in Edinburgh, she said all chains of infection in the area have been identified and controlled.

Restrictions lifted elsewhere in the country were retained in parts of the region on Friday after a cluster of Covid-19 cases was discovered, with 12 people infected.

 Watch live: First Minister @NicolaSturgeon holds a press conference on #coronavirus (#COVIDa19).



Joining the First Minister today is Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop and National Clinical Director Jason Leitch. https://t.co/bLFw4lozFZ  Scottish Government (@scotgov) July 7, 2020

Ms Sturgeon said no new cases in the cluster emerged on Monday.

The limited travel distance guidance in Annan and Gretna  restricting people to going no farther than five miles from their homes  will now be lifted to match the rest of the country, as well as allowing those in the area to visit care homes.

The First Minster thanked those affected by coronavirus in the area for their co-operation, including employers and the 23 contacts who were traced by officials for self-isolating, saying she is very grateful to all those involved.

Giving the latest Covid-19 figures, Ms Sturgeon said 2,489 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for the virus, up one from Monday.

A total of 18,302 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland, up two.

Expand Close First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said severe restrictions cannot continue indefinitely (Jeff J Mitchell/PA) PA / Facebook

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The First Minister said she hopes Scotland will be able to continue its emergence from lockdown later this week following the three-weekly review of the measures.

She said: We cannot, and this is a statement of the obvious, go on indefinitely with severe restrictions on our economy and on our way of life.

Thats why I hope we will be able to confirm on Thursday that we are moving to phase three of our route out of lockdown.

However, it is also why we are and must continue to be determined to ensure that our emergence from lockdown is both safe and sustainable.

She pointed to a number of areas where lockdown measures have been reimposed by Governments in Australia, Spain and Serbia.

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The First Minister also addressed the financial statement to be made on Wednesday by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Ms Sturgeon reiterated the Scottish Government position, including calling for an 80 billion recovery package  which would be in line with a similar package in Germany  a jobs guarantee and more powers for the Scottish Parliament on borrowing and other financial matters.

She said: We believe that the UKs programme should tackle inequality, support jobs and have a strong focus on investment in low carbon and digital infrastructure.

Its worth stressing again that the Scottish Government has on several occasions welcomed policies adopted by the Treasury during this pandemic  for example, the job retention scheme and this weeks support for the culture sector.

We hope that we will be able to give a welcome to tomorrows statement as well but for that to happen the scale of the policies put forward must meet the scale of the economic challenges that the UK faces and I very much hope that they will do.

The First Minister said proposals from the Scottish Government were put forward on a constructive basis and are ambitious, practical and sustainable.
The president of the Royal Society has said everyone should wear a face covering in public to help tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.

Professor Venki Ramakrishnan called for people to be required to wear a face covering when they leave their homes, particularly in enclosed indoor spaces.

Here is what you need to know about the current guidance on wearing masks and coverings:

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 What is a face covering?

Face coverings are not the same as face masks. The Government has stated that coverings can be made from scarves, bandanas or other fabric items, as long as they cover the mouth and nose.

They should allow the wearer to breathe comfortably and be tied behind the head to provide a snug fit.

 What about face masks?

People have been asked not to use medical-grade personal protective equipment (PPE) masks to ensure these remain available for frontline healthcare workers.

 When am I required to wear a face covering?

They are mandatory on public transport in England, although exemptions include young children, disabled people and those with breathing difficulties.

Find info about public transport on our website



ai Safer travel guidance

Changes to public transport



ai Face coverings

What you need to do



ai Busiest stations and times

Find out when itas quieterhttps://t.co/oizuyNlAJc pic.twitter.com/lw6ERvMGK8  Transport for London  (@TfL) July 3, 2020

All hospital visitors and outpatients in England must wear face coverings, while all hospital staff are required to wear surgical masks.

Official guidance says those in England should also wear a face covering in enclosed public spaces where social distancing is not possible.

 What are the rules for the rest of the UK?

In Scotland, face coverings are required on public transport, and it will be compulsory to wear them in shops from July 10.

Face coverings are advised in Wales in situations where social distancing is not possible  but have not been made mandatory.

Meanwhile, from July 10, they will be compulsory when travelling on public transport in Northern Ireland.

 Why are face coverings being recommended?

The Government states that, while wearing a face covering does not protect the wearer, it may protect others if people are infected but have not yet developed symptoms.

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 If I develop Covid-19 symptoms, can I still go out if I wear a mask or covering?

No. People with symptoms and their household should isolate at home.

 What is the science?

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) says evidence does not currently support the use of face masks to protect the wearer in the general population, although if someone is infectious with symptoms, they will reduce transmission.

The group found the evidence is marginally in favour of a small effect, but only in enclosed environments.

 What has the World Health Organisation said?

The WHO has concluded that the use of a medical mask could prevent the spread of droplets from an infected person.

It said, however, there is no evidence that wearing a mask  whether medical or other types  by healthy people in the wider community can protect them from infection with respiratory viruses, including Covid-19.

 Are there any downsides to using face coverings?

Sage says that some risks of transmission exist by people wearing masks, including people by putting them on incorrectly, touching their face more than normal while wearing one, reusing them, and not disposing of them properly.

People may be falsely reassured by wearing masks so do not wash their hands so much and may use ineffective homemade masks, the group adds.
Actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard arrive separately at the High Court in London for the first day of his libel case against The Sun (Steve Parsons/PA)

Johnny Depp has arrived at the High Court for the first day of his libel case against The Sun over allegations of domestic violence.

The 57-year-old actor is suing the tabloids publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over an article which called him a wife beater and referred to overwhelming evidence he attacked Amber Heard, 34, during their relationship, which he strenuously denies.

Mr Depp was wearing a face covering and sunglasses as walked into the main entrance of the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.

More than 30 photographers were waiting at the entrance as the Hollywood star arrived at 9.55am.

Mr Depps former wife, Amber Heard, has also arrived for the start of the three-week trial.

Wearing a red face covering, she walked in to court holding hands with two women.

Expand Close Actress Amber Heard has arrived at the High Court for the first day of the three-week trial (Aaron Chown/PA) PA / Facebook

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In an April 2018 column, The Suns executive editor Dan Wootton asked how Harry Potter author JK Rowling could be genuinely happy Mr Depp had been cast in the latest film in the Fantastic Beasts spin-off franchise despite the allegations by Ms Heard.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star denies ever having been violent to Ms Heard, and claims the article included quotes from alleged victims of disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein in order to finish his career by linking the allegations against him to the #MeToo and Times Up movements.

NGN is defending the article as true and says Mr Depp was controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs between early 2013 and May 2016, when the couple split.

The publisher relies on 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence, including what Ms Heard describes as a three-day hostage situation in Australia in March 2015 when Mr Depp lost the tip of his middle finger in disputed circumstances.

Mr Depp failed in a last-minute bid to stop his ex-wife attending until she is called to give evidence.

The court is expected to hear evidence by videolink from Mr Depps former partners actresses Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder, who both say he was never violent to them, as well as Ms Heards friends who claim they were present when Mr Depp was abusive.

Ms Heards former assistant Kate James, who claims she was asked to lie to the Australian authorities over the couple bringing their dogs into the country illegally in 2015, is also among the witnesses due to give evidence.

Expand Close Amber Heard and Johnny Depp married in Los Angeles in February 2015 (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Amber Heard and Johnny Depp married in Los Angeles in February 2015 (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Mr Depps case was almost thrown out of court last week after NGNs lawyers said they were not given texts between him and his assistant Nathan Holmes, which apparently showed the star asking for happy pills and whitey stuff, shortly before the 2015 trip to Australia.

The trial judge, Mr Justice Nicol, ruled Mr Depp was in breach of a court order to provide documents which have been disclosed in separate libel proceedings against Ms Heard in the US, but said the case should still go ahead.

The High Court has previously heard around 70,000 of Mr Depps texts were accidentally sent to NGN by his former lawyers, which included messages sent to actor Paul Bettany in November 2013 in which Mr Depp wrote: Lets burn Amber.

He also said: Lets drown her before we burn her!!! I will f**k her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she is dead.

Another text sent by Mr Depp  to his friend Christian Carino on August 15 2016, around the time he and Ms Heard broke up  said Ms Heard was begging for global humiliation and that she was going to get it.

The message added: I have no mercy, no fear and not an ounce of emotion or what I thought was love for this gold-digging, low-level, dime-a-dozen, mushy, pointless, dangling, overused flappy fish market.

Expand Close Johnny Depps former partner Winona Ryder is expected to give evidence (Yui Mok/PA) PA / Facebook

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Mr Depps lawyers claim Ms Heard was conducting two extra-martial affairs  with SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk and actor James Franco  at the time of the alleged abuse and say secret recordings of the couples conversations show she was the aggressor of the pair.

The trial was originally due to start in March but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and is now going to occupy five courtrooms, with the lawyers and judge in court, journalists in another courtroom and members of the public in three others to ensure social distancing.

The actors case against NGN and Mr Wootton arises out of the publication of an article on The Suns website on April 27 2018 with the headline Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be genuinely happy casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?

The words wife beater were removed from the headline the following morning and were not used in the print edition, but Mr Depp says the article still caused serious harm to his personal and professional reputation and significant distress and embarrassment.

Mr Depps libel claim against Ms Heard in Virginia  over a December 2018 column in the Washington Post which said the actress received the full force of our cultures wrath for women who speak out, but did not mention Mr Depp by name  is due to begin next January.

The pair met on the set of 2011 comedy-drama The Rum Diary  based on a novel by Mr Depps friend, Hunter S Thompson, who he played in the 1998 film Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas  and began living together in 2012 before marrying in Los Angeles in February 2015.

Ms Heard obtained a restraining order against Mr Depp in LA shortly after the couple split in 2016 and donated her seven million US dollars (5.5 million) divorce settlement to charity.
I have never read the Sinn Fein handbook for social media trolls, but I imagine it reads something like this. Don't defend, attack. Never admit to being wrong about anything. Never concede that the movement has ever made a mistake.

We no longer advertise the principle that we are the only legitimate government of Ireland, but we do conduct ourselves in all affairs with a respect for this fundamental truth. No one knows better than we do what the nature of conflict is here and where the arc of history - our destiny - is taking us.

The best way in which you can serve our inevitable destiny is to scoff at those who doubt it. Treat their opinions as unworthy. In fact, do not engage with their arguments. Treat them as fools, at best, and more likely as liars and propagandists.

Instead of discussing the self-evident truths that the nation is one and that the movement is the unwavering champion of that truth, attack their motives for denying it.

It is obvious why unionists cling to the fantasy that the Union with Britain can endure. They are colonial lackies, behaving like children squealing when their comfort blanket is ripped away from them.

When their ancestors went to other countries, they became nationals of those countries. They are now Americans and Australians and English.

But here they thought they could remain British and carved out a corner of the country for themselves at the expense of the rest of us.

Well, their time is running out.

But, ask yourself: why do some journalists and commentators sneer at republicans? These are professional lackies of the unionist system.

Remember, when they appear on the Nolan Show, or in the papers, they are getting paid to say what they say. These are not their genuine opinions you hear. Indeed, some of them are such spineless parrots that they don't have opinions. So, tell them what you think of them; that they are gutless hypocrites and - worse - they are traitors to the Republic.

The Republic is the ultimate destiny of a free Ireland. Pearse didn't invent the idea. He recognised it as a fundamental truth. Okay, don't get into that argument or they will think you are being a bit mystical, but remember: there is no alternative vision of Irish destiny that makes any sense.

In terms of tactics and approaches, there are devices you need to deploy.

First, hide your identity. Make up a pseudonym, or handle. The party can advise you if you can't think of one.

It is preferable to use a name that sounds cool and witty and at the same time Irish. Think modern Ireland. To be Gaelic is to be cool. But avoid the leprechaun, floppy green hat, Finn MacCool and shamrock stuff. Our project is not to be thought folksy, or chauvinistic.

You will need several of these names, because you will be setting up new accounts frequently. This is guerrilla warfare. We attack and retreat, re-group and attack again.

For example, if Jamie Bryson has said something outrageous on the Nolan show, use a new account to go after him. Just insult him. Don't offer him the thread of an argument he can come back on.

Your comrades will be alert to the new account and will come on board as followers.

If Bryson checks your followers and sees that you only have five or six, he will ignore it. Likewise, you should watch out for your comrades' new identities and get in behind them.

And the beauty of it is that, if Bryson then reacts, he will bring your tweet to the attention of the thousands who follow him.

Don't hold back, but remember: it is always better to tell him that he is a dumb squirt than to say anything which accords any dignity to his position.

If you say something like, for instance, "Jamie, how will you preserve the Union when the demographics are against you?" you are providing him with an opening.

He will say, "So, it is about ethnic conquest after all, is it?" And then you have to answer that and you have a debate going. And when there is a debate, you can lose.

You have to belittle him, not provide him with a platform. The objective is to make him tire of social media, to feel that it is always going to be a disheartening, uphill struggle to be taken seriously.

What you want is for him to wake up some morning feeling that it is no longer worth the trouble to go back on Twitter and face tons of abuse. That is our victory. And not just Jamie, but all the turncoats and lickspittles.

If you get someone to refuse Nolan because it is simply too wearisome and demoralising to face another day of derision and scorn, that is a victory.

Be alert to those who will accuse the republican family of past atrocities. Don't engage on their ground.

Suppose someone says, "What about all the children you sent out with bombs who blew themselves up?" The worst response would be: "'We were a young movement, finding our way and we made mistakes."

No, it's better to hit back with: "Have a bit more compassion for their grieving families. Anyway, what about the youngsters the Brits sent out with guns that were too big for them?" It is never to be about our failings, but about theirs.

Remember at all times that you are a party activist, deploying techniques of counter-propaganda that have been developed by professionals.

These techniques have been tested and they work. If you doubt that, then look at how inept the commentariat are. They have a simple weapon that they can use against you: all they need to do is block you.

But they are so befuddled by their notions of free speech and liberal discourse and other blather they picked up in sociology seminars that they think they have a duty to allow you to attack them. It's really quite funny, but they don't think strategically.

They are so full of themselves they don't see that they have made themselves Aunt Sallies for the movement, until one day they do and they give up.

First and foremost, comrades, enjoy your baiting of these fools, then go about your lives with pride and satisfaction in the knowledge that they could walk past you on the street and they wouldn't even know that you were the one that led the charge against them that morning.
Cops have applied for a court order against notorious double-rapist Brian Davey after he allegedly travelled to England and pestered a woman to meet up with him.

Davey (29), with an address in south Belfast but originally from Bangor, is alleged to have badgered a woman and left her "abusive messages" on dates between March 20 and March 23 last year.

The charge sheet alleges while in England, he met up with women via the dating app Tinder.

It is alleged that when one woman refused to meet up with him, he "telephoned and left her abusive messages".

The Public Prosecution Service is now seeking a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) against him to protect the public.

During a brief hearing at Laganside Courthouse last week, the matter was adjourned until later this summer.

On his various dating profiles and accounts Davey has previously described himself as "an easy-going guy looking for the same".

In January a woman approached by Davey in the Republic of Ireland said she believed the predator had tracked her down.

Davey, using the alias Stew B Dee, had been working in a meat factory in Co Louth during the day and delivering pizzas at night.

Despite working two jobs the rapist also found time to socialise in the town of Ashbourne, even attending Fogarty's Bar in the town.

Davey was later forced out of Ashbourne and was fired as a pizza delivery man before popping up in Glasgow a few months later.

He was again exposed trying to woo women before reportedly being banned from Tinder in May.

The Scottish Sun revealed he had relocated to Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, and set up an account on the dating app to try to meet women.

One apparently discovered who he was after chatting to him and blocked him immediately before reporting him to both the cops and Tinder.

The account he was using was under the alias 'Stew' this time and listed him as 29 years old.

In his bio Davey said he was an "Irishman stuck in quarantine" and claimed to have broken his leg, saying he needed a nurse to look after him.

It is understood the account has now been removed.

A spokesperson for Tinder insisted at the time that they will always protect their members and remove any dangerous profiles.

Davey was jailed for six years in 2013 for the double rape of a student in Belfast.

After he was released from prison in 2016, the policeman's son sexually assaulted a teenage girl.

He was returned to jail in 2017 after breaking conditions of his licence and was later found guilty and sentenced over the sexual assault on the teenager.

Davey, of Minnowburn Court, Belfast, has become notorious for trawling online dating sites looking for women.

He is due to have the application for a SOPO against him heard again at Laganside Courthouse on August 20.
Ghislaine Maxwell may be assassinated in jail like loyalist leader Billy Wright, a leading Northern Irish investigative journalist fears.

Disgraced British socialite Maxwell (58) faces being jailed at the same prison where her ex-lover Jeffrey Epstein was found dead from an apparent suicide.

Belfast-born writer Martin Dillon says she may be in danger of being bumped off behind bars to stop her spilling damning information on her network of rich, powerful and famous pals.

Dillon (70) is the author of a series of best-sellers on spy rings and the Troubles, including The Shankill Butchers: A Case Study Of Mass Murder, and The Dirty War, about British intelligence infiltrating the IRA.

He also wrote a book detailing evidence Ghislaine Maxwell's press baron father Robert Maxwell was a Mossad spy, called The Assassination Of Robert Maxwell: Israel's Superspy.



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Martin said: "Ghislaine has the potential to bring down some very important figures across the globe, but that kind of leverage is a two-edged sword.

"Some of those people and their associates have the capability to reach into the heart of government.

"While manipulating the US justice system today might not be easy given the notoriety of this case, reaching into the prison system is not beyond their capabilities.

"I am reminded of how Ghislaine's father and Epstein died and so, too, the terrorist leader, Billy Wright.

"If she met an untimely death, one narrative would be that she decided she could not serve a long prison sentence and sought the easy way out like her former lover, Epstein."



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LVF chief Billy Wright (37) - nicknamed King Rat - was shot dead in 1997 at the Maze Prison by three INLA members. The official inquiry into the murder found the killing was the result of serious failings by the prison service, not State collusion.

Conspiracy theories also continue to rage over the prison death of Ghislaine's former boyfriend Epstein (66).

The billionaire was found dead in August last year at his cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York, where he was meant to be under 24-hour monitoring and given daily psychiatric evaluations.

Many believe he was assassinated to stop him revealing secrets about his network of powerful friends. Ghislaine is accused of assisting Epstein's abuse of minors by helping to recruit and groom victims known to be underage.



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After being arrested last week in New Hampshire, she was brought to court and remanded in custody, for transfer to New York.

Many believe Epstein and Maxwell were international spies who took pictures and videos of powerful men and women having sex with underage girls to blackmail them as part of a global "honey-trap" operation.

Dillon said about the spy suspicion about the pair: "One cannot rule out that Epstein and Ghislaine were assets for one, or more than one intelligence agency. Epstein appears to have had a level of immunity throughout part of his life that could only have been conveyed on him by the intelligence world."

The writer added he believes Ghislaine will be being pressed by the FBI to hand over details on any high-powered co-conspirators to reduce the possibility of a long prison term.

He said: "How much time she'll spend behind bars will depend on how cooperative she is willing to be to bring down some high-powered abusers.



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"Either way, she faces a tough spell in a US penitentiary. Sacrificing bigger fish is what the Feds will have told her is her best option."

One of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was trafficked by the financier, alleges Prince Andrew had sex with her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17, still a minor under US law. The duke categorically denies he had any form of sexual contact or relationship with her.

Former investment banker Laura Goldman, who is a friend of Maxwell, said the British socialite regarded Andrew as a friend and was "never going to say anything" about him to investigators.

Ms Goldman said yesterday she would "have to" go for a plea deal with prosecutors.

Asked if Maxwell would speak about the duke as part of the investigation, she said: "She has always told me she would never, ever say anything about him.

"She felt in the 90s when her father died that Prince Andrew was there for her."
Ramos, of Laurel, pleaded guilty to the murders and all counts related to the June 28, 2018, mass shooting. All that remains to be determined is whether he was not criminally responsible by reason of insanity and will be remanded indefinitely to a psychiatric hospital or spend his life in a state prison.
An artist who painted schoolboy Noah Donohoe as one of his favourite Star Wars characters says the teenager was a talented illustrator and a promising young man.

Barry McGowan (43), who is also a daycare worker, met Noah and his mum Fiona when the teen began attending an after-school club in Omagh, Co Tyrone, in 2012.

Before the family moved to Belfast in 2013, Barry and other staff at The Hangout in Omagh threw a leaving party for Noah, who sadly was found dead in a north Belfast storm drain last weekend following a six-day search. Police have ruled out foul play in the St Malachy's College pupil's disappearance and death.

Having spent hours sitting and doodling with Noah during his time at the centre Barry felt compelled to present the talented youngster with an extra special gift based on Star Wars' Darth Vader.

He told Sunday Life: "He was a big Star Wars fan and we would talk away about that, we talked about games and stuff too. He would always be interested when I was talking about the stuff I enjoyed as a kid. He was just such a pleasant child.



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"When it was time for him to go to Belfast we were very concerned to see them go as they were away to the big city and you would worry about them there.

"Every child gets a wee parting gift if they go and have a wee leaving do but I had such a bond with him I felt I needed to do something more.

"I asked if I could have an extra couple of hours to get ready and took my art materials away with me.

"When his mum came to collect him I presented him with his painting of Darth Donohoe, when he saw it he just went completely quiet and didn't know what to say.

"He was all smiles after a wee moment though, he said how lovely it was and kept saying thank you.

"Fiona loved it too, she would just put it up on Facebook occasionally, they absolutely loved it.

"It was just because he loved Star Wars and I just thought I needed to do something really cool for him, I just really wanted to do something personal for him as a leaving gift. We had it framed and all for him.

"I felt he had a real aptitude for art and was a very promising wee artist, he took his time and had a good eye for detail, he just loved it.

"He showed a lot of interest and promise when he would sit and draw with me, it was a social thing, it was like adults sitting having a cup of tea, it was kinda something to do whilst talking."



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Mr McGowan said he and his ex-colleagues at The Hangout, formerly at the now closed Daycare Juniors on Derry Road, Omagh, were shocked when the 14-year-old went missing and grief-stricken when he was later found dead.

He added: "Hearing the news about what happened was awful, I can't even describe it, I haven't felt grief like that in a long time.

"The other staff from the hangout and I were texting each other back and forth a lot, we were desperate for news.

"On the day before he was found I put up the picture on Facebook in the hope he might still come home.

"Then on Saturday morning my phone was going mad and I was getting sent all these broken heart emojis and I just went to pieces.

"I spoke with his aunt Niamh before that just to ask how Fiona was doing and she said Fiona was very positive at the time and thought that he had just taken a wee notion and she was staying positive, then obviously the devastating news came through."
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People demand justice for Vanessa Guillen

Hillary Gavan People gathered at Riverside Park on Monday evening to demand justice for slain soldier Vanessa Guillen at the Justica Para Vanessa event. Similar events are cropping up around the country.

BELOIT  More than 60 people gathered in Riverside Park Monday evening to demand justice for slain soldier Vanessa Guillen at the Justica Para Vanessa event.

We want a Congressional investigation. Her disappearance and murder has been treated with negligence, said organizer Migdalia Rodriguez who hosted the event in cooperation with SURJ-Beloit: Showing Up for Racial Justice.

Army Spc. Vanessa Guillens remains were identified Sunday. The 20-year-old was last seen alive on April 22 at a military base at Fort Hood, Texas. The suspect in her disappearance has shot himself, and Guillens family said she was planning to file a harassment complaint prior to her death.

Following her death, people have been speaking out on social media about their experiences with sexual harassment in the military, and events advocating for justice have been held around the country.

Rodriguez said she has a lot of questions about the murder such as why there wasnt a greater search for Guillen. Shes concerned with the amount of people coming out on social media saying they have been humiliated or have endured sexual harassment from higher-ups in the military.

At Mondays event, School Board member Maria Delgado said Guillen was a young woman who lost her life for pursuing a dream.

Just like George Floyd, Vanessa Guillen didnt deserve to die, Delgado said.

Kimberly Marin spoke on behalf of U.S. Marine Maria Leon who encouraged everyone to come together in solidarity and to demand justice for women who are harassed.

Yusuf Adama said it broke his heart to know so many women have been sexually assaulted, so many kids are missing from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and minorities continue to suffer discrimination.

As we gather tonight, it is important to remember that while Vanessa Guillens murder did not happen here in Wisconsin, stories like hers are all too familiar, said Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit.

Spreitzer said soldiers should not need to fear retaliation and retribution for reporting sexual harassment.

Our country failed Vanessa Guillen. We cannot allow that failure to continue. We are here to add our voices to those who are demanding a full, independent Congressional investigation into the events that led to Vanessas murder. We are here to demand that more is done to end sexual harassment in the military. We are here to demand justice for Vanessa Guillen, he said.
Foreign workers wait in line for COVID-19 tests at the Pudu market in Kuala Lumpur, May 5, 2020.

Malaysian police said Tuesday they would question journalists behind an Al Jazeera report on treatment of undocumented migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of an investigation into potential sedition, defamation and misuse of network facilities.

Authorities called the report baseless and likely to tarnish Malaysias image, even as an advocate for migrant workers described it as accurate and human rights groups questioned increased use of abusive laws to prosecute speech critical of the government.

Yes, the media will be called up soon to answer some questions, Inspector General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador told reporters Tuesday, when asked about the Al Jazeera report.



Hamid Bador said it was the responsibility of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) to find out whether there are any elements of sedition or wrongdoing in the eyes of the law.

The 25-minute documentary, Locked up in Malaysias Lockdown depicts military-style round-ups to test foreign workers for COVID-19, and says those found to be without valid documents had been arrested and packed into detention centers that became infection hotspots.

It quotes a doctor saying the operations complicated efforts to screen migrant workers for disease, and that the pandemic exposed some xenophobia and racism in Malaysia.

The film, which aired last week under the Qatar-based news agencys 101 East program, featured Al Jazeera senior producer Drew Ambrose who reported on the ground and spoke to migrants. It also contained cell-phone footage of migrant round-ups.

Ambrose and Al Jazeera did not respond to BenarNews requests for comment. The network turned off the comment section on its YouTube channel in response to a public uproar over the documentary.

Baseless

Police reported receiving five complaints against Al Jazeera  four for the documentary and one for a related article posted on its website.

The baseless and biased report had created unease among the majority of Malaysians as it seems like the government is treating parties which broadcast falsities about the countrys success in battling the pandemic with kid gloves, said a statement issued Tuesday by Huzir Mohamed, director of the federal police criminal investigation department.

PDRM would like to stress that no one can escape the law if there is an attempt made to tarnish Malaysias image.

He said the investigation would consider whether the report violated the Sedition Act of 1948, the penal code for defamation, or the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998 for improper use of network facilities and network services.

Critics have long called for repeal of Malaysias sedition act, which bans speech or publications critical of the government or the nations royals. It also outlaws inciting hatred among races or religious groups.

The new government that took power in early March has been increasingly using such laws to investigate and prosecute speech critical of the government, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement issued in Bangkok last month.

Like flicking a light switch, Malaysian authorities have returned to rights-abusing practices of the past, calling journalists, activists, and opposition figures into police stations to be questioned about their writing and social media posts, said Phil Robertson, HRWs deputy Asia director.

Open apology sought



On Monday, senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is in charge of the security, called the documentary unfair to Malaysians.



He said the crackdowns were carried out to contain the spread of COVID-19, and that even locals in areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases were locked up under Malaysias Enhanced Movement Control Order.



It is also not true that the crackdown is racist in nature. All that was done was based on the law. The undocumented migrants were only picked up because they had no valid documents to be in the country, he said.

Ismail urged Al Jazeera to issue an apology to all Malaysians for spreading lies.



Police on Tuesday questioned migrants right activist Heidy Quah, over a post on Facebook alleging mistreatment of refugees at Malaysian detention centers.

The activist said she had to surrender her mobile phone as part of the probe and was told that she made a false allegation in her Facebook post. Quah said she told police she would fully cooperate.

In May, police questioned Tashny Sukumaran, a journalist with the South China Morning Post, after she tweeted about a roundup of migrants, over allegations she shared offensive and menacing content online.

Meanwhile, Glorene Das, executive director of migrant rights group Tenaganita, said Al Jazeeras reporting was supported by photos and videos her agency had provided.



I had shared many of the photos and videos with them which we got from the communities affected, she told BenarNews.



Das lambasted people who supported the crackdown, saying it did not reflect the sentiments of Malaysians in general.



From the recent work we have carried out, in providing food aid and relief, for example, it was an eye-opener how Malaysians are generally charitable to come forward to assist and give, she said.

At least 2 million foreign workers are legally employed in Malaysia, but estimates suggest another 4 million live and work in the country without proper documentation.



Hadi Azmi in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
U.N. Special Rapporteur Philip Alston (right) speaks to low-income families in Kuala Lumpur during his 11-day visit to Malaysia, Aug. 23, 2019

A move by Malaysias new government to drop the previous administrations pledge to correct misleadingly low assessments of poverty is worrisome because it will make eradication efforts more difficult in the Southeast Asian country, a United Nations expert said Monday.

Philip Alston, the outgoing U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, expressed his concerns while releasing his final report about poverty in Malaysia that stemmed from his visit to the country last year.

Malaysias new government has performed a backflip on its predecessors commitment to take poverty seriously, Alston said in a statement issued from New York on Monday. The governments reversal is deeply concerning because the current [poverty] line is inadequate and almost universally considered to be misleadingly low.

His successor in the role of U.N. rapporteur, Olivier De Schutter, is expected to present Alstons report on Malaysia to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday.

Key poverty-related data is often inaccessible or even non-existent, which is counterproductive and leaves policymakers and researchers essentially working in the dark. Unlike many comparable countries, Malaysia does not provide full access to household survey microdata, and does not collect information on the size of certain vulnerable populations, Alston said.

The offices of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Mohamed Azmin Ali, the international trade and industry minister, did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment from BenarNews. Azmin Alis ministry is responsible for poverty issues in Malaysia.

A smokescreen

Following his 11-day visit to Malaysia in August 2019, Alston challenged the then-governments claims that the poverty rate was 0.4 percent  saying it could be as much as 20 percent, based on independent analysis.

With its population of 31.5 million people, a poverty rate of 0.4 percent would represent 126,000 people, while a rate of 20 percent would represent 6.3 million.

On Monday, Alston said the national poverty line of 980 ringgit (U.S. $230) per household per month would see an urban family of four surviving on 8 ringgit (less than $2), per person per day.

The insistence that the line is derived from internationally accepted standards is a smokescreen and ignores the blatant mismatch between reality and statistics. Pretending that almost no one in the entire country lives in poverty doesnt change the reality that millions are poor, Alston said. Saving face is one thing, but distorting the facts is quite another.

Alstons final report, dated April 6, said then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had promised last August to study the poverty claims, adding that his administration had made good on that promise.

Although the Minister of Economic Affairs [Mohamed Azmin Ali] initially defended the poverty line, then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his economic adviser acknowledged that the poverty measure should be adjusted, while the president of the Peoples Justice Party, Anwar Ibrahim, called the current poverty rate inaccurate and said the special rapporteurs findings were only shocking to those who have a clear disconnect.

In October, the prime minister said that the government was ready to review the poverty line to provide a true picture of poverty in Malaysia and in December, the Ministry of Federal Territories announced it would formulate an urban poverty eradication master plan for Kuala Lumpur, including a redefinition of urban poverty, the report said, adding, That consensus makes the new governments response all the more shocking.

Muhyiddin takes power

Muhyiddin was sworn in as prime minister in March after Mahathir stepped down because his Pakatan Harapan coalition government began to crumble. The new prime minister had been a deputy in the Mahathir-led Bersatu party, but formed a new coalition to take control of the government.

Alstons statement praised Malaysia for progress against poverty over the past four decades.

[B]ut its continued use of an outdated and unrealistic poverty line obscures the troubling reality that millions scrape by on very low incomes, a situation only made worse by COVID-19, he said.

COVID-19 has demonstrated that anyone can lose a job through no fault of their own, and reinforced the absolute necessity of strong support programs.

The former special rapporteur also said Muhyiddins government must change before it could bring relief to the nations poor people.

Overall, while Malaysia has achieved progress against poverty, unless the new government takes a different approach, the job will remain painfully incomplete, Alston said.

The government has a real opportunity to become a true champion of poverty reduction by improving the lives of many facing hardship, providing those in poverty with the support they need and ensuring that the countrys economic growth is truly inclusive and benefits the entire population.
There are children standing in bus aisles while other buses are nearly empty. The purchase of new software has not helped because Transportation Services doesnt have personnel with expertise to use it to improve routing  it is that bad (see 2019 outside review of Transportation Services). If we ever hope to start schools later, an evidence-based public health intervention that helps all students, we need to modernize our school transportation system.
Murad Ebrahim (second from right), leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a former rebel group, meets with Maj. Gen. Macairog Alberto (second from left), then chief of the Philippine Army, at a military base in Zamboanga city, Philippines, June 11, 2019.

The leader of a former rebel group that governs an autonomous region in the militancy-riddled southern Philippines said Tuesday it was lobbying for a seat on a council, which will be formed to oversee enforcement of a new anti-terror law.

Murad Ebrahim, chief of the group formerly known as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and which heads the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said it respected President Rodrigo Dutertes decision to sign the Anti-Terrorism Act into law last week but was concerned about questions on its constitutionality.

The BARMM is open to engaging the national government on preparedness against this vicious phenomenon, as we collectively explore new potential approaches to holistically protect our people from the menace of terrorism, Murad told reporters in Cotabato. This engagement can start with the Bangsamoro having representation in the Anti-Terrorism Council.

Having a seat on the body would help allay fears of people throughout the region, particularly Muslim communities across the south, he said.

The law has a very vague definition of terrorism that opens it up to potential abuses by the police and military, Murad said.

The 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 were not tortured while in custody.

The Anti-Terrorism Act also creates a special anti-terrorism council, a high-level body to be made up of presidential aides instead of members of the judiciary.

Murad said he was worried about potential warrantless arrests and the use of wire-tapping against suspects.

I cannot help but be alarmed by the language and foreseeable consequences of the anti-terrorism bill, he said. This stems from the long history of  human rights violations and discrimination suffered by the Bangsamoro.

When agents of the state are given too much discretion, it often leads to abuses, he warned.

Several Philippine human rights and legal advocacy groups had petitioned the Supreme Court a day earlier to issue an injunction against the law. Critics of President Duterte have warned that it could be used to stifle legitimate political dissent against his administration.

On Tuesday, a senior leader of the Catholic Church in the Philippines added his voice to concerns raised about how the law could lead to human rights abuses.

In truth, the anti-terror law is not designed to fight terrorists. This is designed to strike fear among people protesting the governments incompetence, Broderick Pabillo, the auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Manila, said in a statement issued in Tagalog.

In his opinion, the Catholic-majority country needed to address social issues including poverty, joblessness and the lack of access to basic social services that are at the root causes of terrorism.

The anti-terror law does not address these issues, the bishop said.

Bangasmoro communities apprehensive about law

Naguib Sinarimbo, a spokesman for Murad and BAARMs interior minister, said it was too early to say how the new law would be implemented at the regional level.

But there is fear among the Bangsamoro (Muslim) communities that it could lead to abuses, he said.

Our hope is the government, especially our law enforcement agencies, will take extra measures to allay these fears, Sinarimbo told BenarNews.

According to him, BAARM will continue to engage with the national government via other channels to influence the council about serious provisions in the law.

If we can have a man in the council, we will have a better law, Sinarimbo said.

Already, the law has brought back bitter memories of conflict in the south, when many people were allegedly killed on mere suspicion of being Muslim rebels.

Attacks against Muslim communities had pushed the insurgency led by Murad to grow, with many of the men in affected communities joining the rebellion rather than be killed on mere suspicion, according to many accounts.

The central government in Manila eventually signed a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014. Implementation of the agreement, which paved the way for the BAARM, occurred only after Duterte took office as president and later signed a law granting regional autonomy to the rebels.

But many old members of the guerrilla group broke ranks with Murad and established their own faction, which proclaimed allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group.

The breakaway faction, known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, allied themselves with IS-linked fighters who seized the southern Philippine city of Marawi for five months in 2017, unleashing a battle with government forces that left the city in ruins.

Muslim angst

For people who lived through the long years of warfare in the south, Dutertes anti-terror law has rekindled a sense of dread and uncertainty.

Authorities can easily arrest and detain any individuals without warrants. That law is not the solution to address the problem, said Aima Kasan, a government worker.

With the new law, anyone could be picked up and "labelled as the enemy, Kasan, a 39-year-old mother of two children who is from Marawi, told BenarNews.

Like at a checkpoint, most of the time soldiers in Marawi treat us differently, even if we have done nothing wrong, she said. They always suspect we are supporting the militants.

Officials with the army were not readily available for comment, although the Department of Defense in Manila had earlier appealed to the public to give the new law a chance.

Murad said he still trusted Duterte even as he was waiting for Manila to give him assurances about the laws implementation.

We trust that the president will ensure that the concerns and apprehensions of the Bangsamoro people on some provisions of the law will not happen, Murad said.

Jason Gutierrez in Manila contributed to this report.
Less than a week after China sent a survey ship into Vietnamese waters, vessel-tracking software shows that the China Coast Guard has shown up at Vanguard Bank, a known flashpoint between Vietnam and China.

The Coast Guard ship came within 30 nautical miles of a Vietnamese oil rig, and its arrival may be related to energy exploration Vietnam is planning to undertake in the area. Its presence risks a repeat of a prolonged standoff between the two Asian powers that played out in this disputed southern section of the South China Sea in the second half of last year.

The China Coast Guard (CCG) ship 5402 left the port of Sanya in Chinas Hainan province on July 1. It stopped at Subi Reef, one of Chinas largest artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, on July 2. It subsequently sailed north of Vanguard Bank, within 200 nautical miles of Vietnams coast, on July 4, and is patrolling right on top of the bank, which is a completely submerged feature.

Andrew Scobell, a senior political scientist for the U.S.-based RAND Corp. and a professor at Marine Corps University, said this was likely another episode in Chinas long-running campaign to pressure other claimants in the South China Sea, without risking full-blown conflict.

Many Chinese Coast Guard vessels are a lot bigger than many of the ships in most Southeast Asian navies. Theyre pretty damn intimidating, they do ram fishing boats, and they act like naval vessels, he said in an interview.

This is all about, from a Chinese perspective, promoting their interests in the South China Sea, strengthening their claims, using all instruments of national power, and at the same time avoiding escalation, he said.

The Vanguard Bank is disputed between Vietnam and China, and lies off Vietnams southern coast. In July 2019, a CCG contingent accompanied a Chinese survey ship operating within Vietnams waters around the submerged feature, causing diplomatic outcry and a tense, months-long standoff between the Vietnamese and Chinese coast guards.

Prior to this new CCG deployment at Vanguard Bank, China sent a survey ship, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 4, into Vietnams exclusive economic zone on June 30  in a spot roughly 165 nautical miles northeast of where the CCG 5402 is now. That incursion prompted a response by the USS Gabrielle Giffords, and a Vietnamese Coast Guard ship. The U.S. Navy published a photo of both ships near the Hai Yang Di Zhi 4 on July 1. The U.S. and Vietnamese presence may have deterred the Chinese ship from commencing any survey within Vietnamese waters, as the Hai Yang Di Zhi 4 departed and is back in its home port in Chinas Guangdong province as of July 4.

But by sending the CCG ship into Vanguard Bank, China appears to be signaling its intent to keep challenging Vietnams control of the area. Although it is completely underwater, Vietnam has erected some outposts on top of Vanguard Bank, which lies within its continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.

China, however, claims it has historic rights to this and most other areas in the South China Sea, roughly demarcated by its so-called nine-dash line  a position unsupported under international law.

Vessel tracking software shows the 5402 on Monday came within less than 30 nautical miles of an oil rig Vietnam operates in the area as part of its energy exploration efforts. It is patrolling near block 06.01, a Vietnamese oil exploration block licensed to Russian oil company Rosneft. Vietnams planned exploration in that block prompted the standoff last year.

Vietnams government has yet to comment publicly on the presence of the 5402. Last week it criticized a Chinese military exercise farther north near the Paracel Islands, which it also disputes with China, and stated survey ships from other countries needed to seek permission before operating in Vietnamese waters  a reaction to the Hai Yang Di Zhi 4 incident.

China has maintained that any energy exploration in the South China Sea must be done with Chinese partners, and not any other international companies. China has brought this position into so-called Code of Conduct (CoC) negotiations between it and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Vietnam chairs.

The CoC is meant to govern behavior in the South China Sea between its claimants, and both China and ASEAN agreed to resume negotiations on July 2. However, provocative behavior from China has thrown the viability of those negotiations into doubt.

Chinas sweeping territorial claims overlap with those of ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Theyre using provocations, pressure, strong-arm tactics, but then at the same time the Chinese are also offering carrots and appearing reasonable in publicly seeking a negotiated solution, Scobell said, referring to the CoC. Its all part of a comprehensive approach to advancing Chinas interests in the South China Sea.
The school system must go deeper. It must seek out textbooks for all grade levels that both debunk the concept of race and accurately portray the roles of both our government and business/commerce/corporate America in perpetuating racism: 250 years of slavery; followed by 70 years of black codes with indentured servitude, convict leasing, and lynching; a continued 30 years of racial discrimination through Jim Crow laws and government-sanctioned red-lining resulting in the economic inequality and residential segregation with which we live today; followed by 50 years and counting of mass incarceration, growing the prison population by 600% since 1970 and creating a $182 billion prison industrial complex.
Hindi News

International

US Students | US To Ban Foreign Students To Remain In The Country If Their Classes Are Moved Online.

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Spearfish, SD (57783)

Today

A mainly sunny sky. High 88F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear early, then a few clouds later on. Low 66F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
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Clarkston, WA (99403)

Today

Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. Hot. High 99F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 69F. WSW winds shifting to SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Hogan made the right choice to set up mail-in voting for the primary, driven by public health concerns about spreading the virus. COVID-19 is at an ebb point this summer, but no one knows how the pandemic might affect Maryland by the time November rolls around. The signs of a resurgence in other parts of the country are worrisome.
LEWISTON - According to the Idaho North Central District of Public Health, Nez Perce County added six new confirmed Coronavirus cases over the weekend, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 91.

As a whole the numbers for the North Central District which includes Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce counties, went from 130 to 143 cases since Friday, July 3.

Clearwater County added one PROBABLE case to its total over the weekend, while positive cases in Idaho County nearly doubled, going from five to nine. Lewis County remains without a confirmed or probable case. Information on how many cases are recovered in the state have not been made available.
The new control set supports assays for HIV, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, HTLV and Syphilis

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, has announced the availability of the Thermo Scientific MAS Omni Infectious Disease quality control sets for monitoring serological assays for analytes such as HIV 1&2, Hepatitis B & C virus, Syphilis and HTLV I/II.

The Thermo Scientific MAS Omni Infectious positive and negative quality controls are third-party, independent external controls used to assess the performance of serological assays for infectious diseases.

The new control set supports assays for HIV, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, HTLV and Syphilis. As with all Thermo Scientific MAS Quality Controls users can efficiently monitor assay performance, streamline operations and potentially reduce your spending without sacrificing quality or throughput.

"We are expanding our quality control offering into a space which continues to increase each year as new pharma drugs are developed and enabling better identification and treatment for infectious diseases. Our team is committed to providing innovative solutions to support our customers productivity," said Fernando Beils, vice president and general manager, Thermo Fisher's niche diagnostics business. "The Thermo Scientific MAS Omni Infectious Controls are the first in a line of products we are continuing to develop to support the monitoring of in vitro diagnostic tests."
Last week, after some of their colleagues tested positive for Covid-19, teachers at a Cape Town school refused to return to work until the school had a "deep clean". This type of incident has played itself over and over across the country since the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, hit our shores.

Many companies are exploiting ignorance and fear and selling Covid-19 cleaning solutions that are unnecessary and expensive. Regular cleaning with household products is sufficient. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Proudly SA expands portal to include locally-made sanitisers and detergents Proudly South African has extended the product offering on its portal to include locally produced hand sanitisers, surface disinfectants and detergents...

NanoWorkss misleading claims

Companies fined for Covid-19 price gouging The Competition Tribunal has been clamping down on companies that have been hiking prices of sanitisers and masks since the Covid-19 outbreak...

Is it really safe?

And what about Covid-19?

Professor Francois Venter, an infectious disease doctor at Ezintsha, Wits University, explains: These so-called deep cleans after a work colleague tests positive are absolutely unnecessary. Regular, normal cleaning of surfaces using standard household products, like water and bleach, are sufficient. If you spend thousands of rands on a deep clean and someone with Covid-19 sneezes or coughs and touches things in the room a short while later, what was the point of it?Do not get distracted by endless angsting about catching it off a surface; it infects the vast majority of us through the air. So distance, masks, outdoors will keep you safe, not strong chemicals, he says.Even worse than deep cleans are disinfection tunnels.The Department of Health and the Minister of Health have warned against the use of sanitising tunnels, says Momeena Omarjee of the Law and Enforcement division of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA).And a recent article in the South African Medical Journal states: [T]o mitigate the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a concerning practice of spraying individuals with disinfectant via so-called disinfection tunnels has come to light. The Allergy Society of South Africa supports the World Health Organisation in strongly condemning all human spraying, owing to lack of efficacy and potential dangers, especially to patients with coexisting allergic conditions.A company that is marketing anti-Covid-19 cleaning products especially hard is NanoWorks, a division of JC Wholesalers. On its website theres a Covid-19 menu link. Clicking on it brings up various disinfectant products as well as Sanitizing Tunnels and liquids for protecting people in high traffic areas.has seen an order sheet for various NanoWorks products and services, for which they are charging many thousands of rands. But its claims are greatly exaggerated and the money could be better spent on standard cleaning services.Here are some examples of the companys misleading claims.It is selling an unproven electric fogger that it claims sanitises environments against Covid-19. But the company has failed to provide any compelling evidence that its product works better than standard cleaning.A video shows this fogger being used to spray food in a supermarket. The spray has a fancy name: Nano Deionized Aqua Solution containing Nanolyte 815.312 Ag T ion+ formulation. The evidence that it is safe to spray this product on fruit and vegetables, and into the environment, is lacking.Nanolyte 815.312 Ag T ion+ is described as a multi-purpose 3 in 1 sanitiser and disinfectant containing nano-silver complex to provide longer lasting biocidal surface protection after disinfection.The company claims its disinfectant protects against germs, including SARS-CoV-2 for 90 days. Covid-19 peace of mind: our nanotechnology revolutionize sanitizing and disinfectant world and Cant wait to lose your mask? Conquer Covid-19 with nanotechnology Sanitizers; Disinfectants; Anti-Bac coatings  . All our products offers anti-germ, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial solutions that eradicates 99.9999% of all disease causing organisms, for prolonged periods, even permanently! (language as in the original)The company also claims: Our anti-bactrial technology has scientifically been proven to achieve a 99.9999% (complete) kill against 660+ disease causing micro-organisms, with absolutely no side effects or adverse effects on positive bacteria (pro-biotica) or human or animal tissue and health. (language as in the original)The companys website does not display compelling evidence to support its claims, nor does it provide compelling evidence that its products have absolutely no side effects or adverse effects on positive bacteria (pro-biotica) or human or animal tissue and health.Bothand consumer activist Dr Harris Steinman asked the company for evidence of its claims. The company responded by emailing many documents but on close perusal, these dont change the picture.As Nanolyte 815.312 Ag T ion+ is marketed to protect against Covid-19, it has to comply with specific regulations. SAHPRA, South African Bureau of Standards and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) on 20 May 2020 released a statement titled: Regulatory Status of Equipment Being Used to Help Prevent Coronavirus (Covid-19).Omarjee of SAHPRA says: The product [Nanolyte 815.312 Ag T ion +] claims use as a hand and surface sanitiser. Therefore the regulation and compliance should be according to the various standards for surface and for human use, i.e. the NRCS standards and compulsory specifications.NanoWorks indeed holds an NRCS certification, dated 13 December 2011, for the product Eco-Lyte marketed as Nanolyte 815.312 Ag T ion +. But the NRCS product description is:sodium chloride disinfectant,strength 0.26%,perfume variant  slight chlorine smell.This is basically a standard household chlorine product. And, critically, as Steinman points out this product is not the nano-silver complex that NanoWorks claims in the name, but a sodium chlorite solution  chlorine in other words. Chlorine is used as a disinfectant but does not last for months on end. It is essentially just another chlorine bleach.Either nano-silver complex has nothing to do with silver and is just the companys misleading name for chlorine or the company is misleading the public and operating in direct conflict of its nine-year-old NRCS certification stipulation: No modifications shall be made to the disinfectant or detergent-disinfectant formulation itself, its composition and information that shall appear on each container or on a label securely attached to each container as required by the appropriate compulsory specification without prior notification of the NRCS.NanoWorks sent us documentation that claims that Nanolyte 815.312 Ag T ion+ is safe to use on children, babies and pets. This statement, however, is in direct contradiction to a statement on the companys Safety Data Material Sheet:Environmental stability: No specific data is available for this product; however, this product is expected to be readily biodegradable.Effect of Product on plant and animals: No evidence is currently available on this products effects on plants or animals.Effect of product to aquatic life: No evidence is currently available on this products effects on aquatic life.If the product does indeed contain silver nano-particles, its worth noting that the World Health Organisation has published an analysis that finds inconclusive evidence of the safety or efficacy of such products, at least when used in drinking water.Dr Jack Meintjes, Occupational Health Officer for Tygerberg Hospital, says, We know that some metals (including silver, copper, etc.) have antimicrobial action and these are used in a number of surface coatings. I would normally look at the clinical evidence of a product, and not just claims based on other research (or simple laboratory studies). I have not seen any clinical studies on these and would therefore be hesitant to recommend [these products].We asked for evidence that Nanolyte 815.312 Ag T ion + is specifically effective against Covid-19. Jaco Van der Merwe, general manager at NanoWorks, replied that Hypochlorous acid (HOCI) (formed when chlorine dissolves in water) has been proven by a USA laboratory to kill the Covid-19 virus within 2 minutes.But in fact the test was on a different coronavirus, not SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, while HOCI may kill microorganisms and pathogens, it is not the formulation referred to in NanoWorkss nine-year-old NRCS certificate.Nevertheless, its plausible, even probable, that NanoWorkss product does destroy SARS-CoV-2. But then almost any household cleaning agent does!We selected NanoWorks as an example because its marketing is especially aggressive and because of a video that circulated on social media promoting its product. But there are other companies making similar claims.Dont waste your money or put people who visit your institution at risk with untested methods. Just make sure surfaces are cleaned often using standard cleaning products.
This company article has been removed.
Riverbed, a marketing and communications agency, has officially launched its Ad Crashers initiative which will help small businesses affected by Covid-19 get back on their feet as South Africa gradually reopens its economy.

Monalisa Zwambila, Riverbed CEO

National media exposure

The agency will develop through-the-line advertising campaigns for hard-hit small businesses. By partnering with big media owners, Riverbed will be able to give these businesses the same level of national and regional media exposure as big brands, for free. Riverbeds investment alone is in excess of R1 million.The Ad Crashers campaign which is endorsed by the Small Business Institute of South Africa, seeks to support small business in two ways. Firstly, by providing big media exposure to stimulate demand for their products or services through access to a wider market and secondly, as a second phase of the initiative by leveraging and integrating big business programmes that can help support the small businesses that come to our website.To deliver on the scale needed to succeed, Riverbed has partnered with Mindshare to support the campaign as strategic partners. Riverbed has already received media inventory commitments from big out-of-home players that include JC Decaux and Provantage Media Group, Vodacom and Kaya FM. All partners have committed to providing access to their owned media platforms which will go a long way in generating much-needed exposure.Our experience as an award-winning full-service agency places us in a great position to offer marketing support to help small businesses, says Monalisa Zwambila, Riverbed CEO. As a business owner myself, this initiative is especially close to my heart. I understand the challenges that small businesses are facing and believe that solutions will come from knowing that our continued success as a business, is intimately linked to how we show up with support in times like this.The Ad Crashers Initiative will be executed nationally across various media inventory such as radio, out-of-home and digital platforms, with campaigns and media tailored to suit business needs. This will be especially crucial as lockdown levels are scaled back.The success of this campaign will be further amplified by public participation and part of its task will be to galvanise South Africans to deliberately support small businesses, and in so doing play their part in reducing what is likely to be a grave economic situation.Riverbed is calling for applications from entrepreneurs who feel they can make effective use of the Ad Crashers support mechanism.We have made a commitment to provide organisations with much-needed support. The real impact, however, will come from partnering with big business and society at large to rally around supporting small businesses, and in so doing, we can provide some relief in the aftermath of the Covid-19 economic crisis, concludes Zwambila.Follow @AdCrashers on Instagram Twitter or YouTube and use #SupportSmallBusiness to join the conversation.For more information, go to www.adcrashers.co.za
As the Independence Day holiday weekend approached last week, local health care officials spoke of the worrisome number of COVID-19 patients in their care and urged the public to take proper precautions when in public areas.

We are seeing a trend in our hospitals that has me very concerned, Lee Health President Dr. Larry Antonucci said on July 3. Between our hospitals and skilled nursing units we are treating 327 COVID-19 patients. Just a month ago we were treating around 100 COVID patients each day. In one month we went from 100 to over 300, triple the number of hospitalizations.

As we enter this holiday weekend, and we celebrate with friends and family, we must take the threat of this virus extremely seriously, he said. I am here to tell you today that we are at risk of hitting critical mass, and if, as a community, we do not take action we will run out of room in our hospitals. And that could happen as soon as the end of this month.

Antonucci said actions taken by residents in the early stages of the pandemic were successful in mitigating the virus, but that since the state reopened many residents are taking a relaxed stance on the virus and disregarding guidelines. Cases are rising and hospitals in the area are in danger of not meeting the needs of the community.

We know how to stop this spread, we have done it before, and I am asking for our community to help us do it again, Antonucci said. At our current rate, Lee Health hospitals will be completely full by the end of the month. We must act now to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Three months ago, everyone joined in a shared goal of flattening the curve, which was temporarily accomplished. We stayed at home, we practiced hand hygiene and we began wearing masks. The curve is no longer flat. Instead we have a spike in cases and the spike is growing fast.

Antonucci said the time for action is now  that wearing a mask is scientifically proven to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Now is the time to take action. No one person, law or mandate can stop the spread of the virus, he said. The actions of each and every one of us can ensure the safety of our families, our neighbors and strangers alike. Limit leaving your home unless necessary, and when you do leave, wear a mask, keep a safe physical distance from others and make sure you wash your hands or use sanitizing gel.

Wearing a mask and distancing can be inconvenient and at times uncomfortable, but the science is clear, these actions help save lives by slowing the spread of the virus, he added.

Antonucci said while currently they have the means to meet the needs of the community, things could change drastically if residents are not vigilant in their efforts to protect themselves and others.

I can tell you today that we still have the necessary capacity to meet every need of our community, but I cant promise that will still be true a month from now if we dont take action now, he said. Every one single person in Southwest Florida has the ability to help reverse this surge and ensure every patient needing health care has access to it.

I love Southwest Florida, and I believe in Southwest Florida. We will get through this together and we will grow stronger as a community together, but it is not possible without our entire region buying-in for the benefit of the friends and neighbors, Antonucci said. I wish everyone a happy Fourth of July, and ask you to please take action this holiday weekend and beyond to protect yourselves and your neighbors from this devastating virus so that Lee Health may continue to provide our community with the same exceptional care they have become accustomed to over the last 100 years.
Carsyn Davis, a 17-year-old student at Cypress Lake High School, became the youngest person in Lee County to die from the coronavirus on June 23.

According to a GoFundMe page organized by her friend Ashley Walters, Carsyn was a member of the high schools vocal department and bowling team.

In a statement attributed to her mother, Carsyn was also remembered as an honors student, an aide to the special needs classroom and a faithful volunteer for Special Olympics and the Be A Buddy program.

She was an avid photographer and loved her AP photography class at school. Carsyn loved visiting her grandparents on Sanibel and taking pictures at the beach at sunset. She loved going to coin shows with her stepfather and was a member of the Florida United Numismatists.

Carsyn was actively involved in youth church at the First Assembly of God in Fort Myers. She was involved with the Angel Tree ministry, buying and delivering gifts to underprivileged youth who had a parent serving time in prison. Carsyn also participated in the Operation Christmas Child program through Samaritans Purse, filling several Christmas boxes each year.

She also had a rare autoimmune disorder.

The GoFundMe page can be accessed at www.gofundme.com/f/fightingwithcarsyn.
Breeze Newspapers recently presented a $250 check to the Veterans Midpoint Memorial Charitable Trust, represented by Judy and Gary Bowler. The trust maintains the Iwo Jima statue at Four Mile Ecological Preserve in Cape Coral and other veterans memorials. The check represents a portion of the proceeds from the newspaper companys recent Veterans Salute magazine. The Breeze Newspapers publications include the Island Reporter and Sanibel-Captiva Islander.
Via: New York Post:

Gun violence exploded across the city after the NYPD disbanded its anti-crime unit of plainclothes cops on June 15, with three times as many shootings in the last two weeks of the month over the same period in 2019, police stats show.

And the shocking rise in gunfire  to 116 incidents from 38 between June 15 and July 2, a 205 percent increase  meant scores more victims were hurt or killed by bullets this year over last year.

Gunshot injuries skyrocketed to 157 from 47 in 2019, a 238 percent increase.

With a total of 205 shootings during the month, it was the bloodiest June in 24 years  going back to 1996, when the NYPD logged 236 incidents, the department said.

More:

Man shot dead in Bronx while walking with 6-year-old daughter

Disturbing video shows moment two men are fatally shot in the Bronx
Britain is to resume selling arms to Saudi Arabia despite assessing that the country could be using them to commit war crimes, the government has announced.

International trade secretary Liz Truss said on Tuesday that the government had completed a review of how arms export licences were granted in order to comply with an earlier court ruling suspending sales.

Ms Truss said that while some "credible incidents of concern" related to Saudi forces conduct had been classified as "possible" breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL), the UK government viewed these as "isolated incidents".

"The incidents which have been assessed to be possible violations of IHL occurred at different times, in different circumstances and for different reasons," the statement said.

The statement adds: "The undertaking that my predecessor gave to the Court  that we would not grant any new licences for the export of arms or military equipment to Saudi Arabia for possible use in Yemen  falls away."

The announcement from the international trade secretary comes just a day after the Foreign Secretary said the UK would introduce a "sanctions regime that will target people who have committed the gravest human rights violations" and that "Global Britain will be an even stronger force for good in the world, in the years ahead".
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has ordered National Guard troops to deploy in Atlanta, after rioters ransacked the state police headquarters. Shootings in the city have doubled in the wake of protests against police brutality.

Some 1,000 soldiers will be deployed to protect the state Capitol, the governors mansion, and the Department of Public Safety building that was vandalized over the weekend, Kemp announced Monday.

Peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous, destructive agenda. Now, innocent Georgians are being targeted, shot, and left for dead, Kemp said. This lawlessness must be stopped and order restored in our capital city.

This is a supervisors office at the command center of the @ga_dps HQ that was vandalized this weekend. Authorities say a homemade grenade was tossed into this room, where state @RepVernonJones tells reporters he backs @GovKemps pledge to track down those responsible. #gapolpic.twitter.com/bGA4jDW4mE  Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) July 6, 2020

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has yet to comment on the deployment. She announced on Monday afternoon that she had tested positive for the coronavirus. Earlier, however, she pleaded with the citizens to stop the violence that claimed the lives of four people over the weekend. One of them was Secoriea Turner, an 8-year-old girl.

This random wild, Wild West shoot-em-up because you can, has gotta stop. It has to stop, she said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Eric Joyce, a former shadow minister for the UK Labour Party, has pleaded guilty to a making an indecent image of children. The disgraced politician was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register and now faces prison time.

The former MP appeared in court on Tuesday and admitted making an indecent photograph in the form of a 51-second video. The clip depicts a number of children, Judge Emma Peters revealed.

Some are quite young, one is said to be 12 months old  clearly a Category A movie, she said.

Category A is the most severe class of indecent imagery, and can include penetrative sex, sadism, and sex with animals. Producing such material is punishable with imprisonment. The court stressed that it takes such incidents very seriously since they fuel the abuse of children.

According to the judge, the video was made at some point between 2013 and 2018, and Joyce claims that he accessed it via an email which he says was a spam email.

At the time he was drinking heavily and he has now undergone work with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and a psychotherapist, the judge added.

The case against Joyce has been running since late 2018, when he was charged under the Protection of Children Act. Its the latest scandal in the turbulent career of the former army major turned politician.

Joyce served as MP for Falkirk in Scotland from 2000 to 2015. For the first 12 years, he was with Labour, before switching to being an independent for his final three. During his time in parliament, Joyce was involved in several incidents, including a pub brawl with four fellow politicians in Westminster. He was also convicted of drunk driving and abusing airport workers on several occasions.
The Anti-Defamation League, a far-left group which advocates for online censorship in the name of "fighting antisemitism," received up to $10 million in Paycheck Protection Program bailout funds at a time when tens of millions of Americans are out of work and overwhelming our nation's food banks.



The ADL applied for and received a PPP loan "ranging from $5-10 million," The Wall Street Journal's Marcus Baram's reported Monday.





Some of the major NYC organizations and companies that got PPP loans ranging from $5-10 million:



Anti-Defamation League

Archdiocese of NY

Bluestone Lane

Chop't

Dig Inn

Jordache

Kasowitz Benson Torres (firm run by Trump's longtime personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz)  Marcus Baram (@mbaram) July 6, 2020



The ADL disclosed over $92 million in net assets on their latest financial report for 2018.







As I reported in March, the ADL lobbied congress for "emergency stimulus funding" citing the coronavirus and now we know they succeeded.



What has the ADL been doing while receiving millions from taxpayers?



Lobbying for censorship of Christians, conservatives, nationalists and gamers on the internet.



Their biggest project lately has been organizing megacorporations to launch an ad boycott of Facebook to demand they censor more First Amendment-protected speech.





Our campaign is working. Use your voice to tell Facebook that their policies and enforcement on hate speech, incitement to violence, and misinformation are not only weak, they disproportionately harm BIPOC and LGBTQ+ users. #StopHateForProfit https://t.co/i3U2RGPKDR pic.twitter.com/a2BvX9K5Kd  Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) July 5, 2020

#Holocaust denial is hate speech plain and simple  and it thrives on Facebook. We call on Facebook to #StopHateForProfit by taking steps once and for all to finally curb the spread of Holocaust denial on its platform. https://t.co/iEgi5XzfOi pic.twitter.com/3Gu4aRKTKW  Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) July 1, 2020



As ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said, the campaign "is working."





Tomorrow is Facebooks big meeting with organizers of the #StopHateForProfit ad boycott.



Zuckerberg, Sandberg, and Chris Cox meeting with @ADL @NAACP @ColorOfChange.  Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) July 6, 2020



While the ADL is organizing a boycott of Facebook, they're simultaneously pushing other efforts to make it illegal for Americans to boycott Israel.





The @ADL exercises its constitutional right to call for boycott of Facebook, even as it tramples the rights of those who call for a boycott of Israel over its crimes against Palestinians. https://t.co/N3GhQs5781  Electronic Intifada (@intifada) July 3, 2020



On Monday, two prominent Christians that were put on what many called an ADL "hit list" of 30 YouTube channels ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt demanded be banned for "anti-Semitism" were purged.





We all knew this day was coming...



YouTube has finally banned my account, deleting hundreds of videos, millions of views, and 60.7k subscribers... gone in an instant.



They can try to censor me, but nobody can censor Logos.



Jesus Christ did not need YouTube to spread the word. pic.twitter.com/jXajavg0wk  E. Michael Jones (@EMichaelJones1) July 6, 2020

YouTube deletes one of the most famous Baptist preachers, Pastor Steven Anderson, from YouTube (135k subs). More than a decade of preaching, sermons, and documentaries gone from their platform.



The censorship is out of control. pic.twitter.com/sFp8F22Pr3  Joe Leonard  (@maelfyn) July 7, 2020



Nearly everyone on the list has been systematically purged by YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki over the past 11 months.





Thank you @Youtube for removing these white supremacist accounts. These channels and the hate that lives on them have no place in our society. #stophateforprofit. https://t.co/PWe4QsfTfO https://t.co/GkX0TYVxjP  Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) June 30, 2020



In late April, the ADL threatened Valve Corporation's Steam for not censoring gamers' speech aggressively enough.





In a newly released report, the ADL defamed Valve Corporation's Steam as a platform full of violent "extremists" and pushed for gaming companies to sever ties because they're not doing enough to censor their users and suppress free speech. https://t.co/OqEoddnMkI  Chris Menahan  (@infolibnews) May 3, 2020



This is where our tax money is going in the name of "charity."



Over 40.8 million Americans have been put out of work (26% of the labor force) and over 140,000 businesses have been closed for good but the ADL was handed millions of dollars to aid their quest to undermine the First Amendment and suppress free speech.



[Header image by Gage Skidmore]



Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab and Minds.




Its true. America has a systemic problem.

Im not talking about racism. I am talking about social justice.

No, not the identity and group-centric justice demanded by the foundation and corporate funded so-called left.

Im talking about social justice for a population subject to the abuse of a ruling financial elite.

Point is, there will never be true liberty and justice, not until the corporate crony state and its bankster owned Federal Reserve  now with a branch office in the US Treasury  is thrown out and the billionaire perpetrators of the massive economic fraud imposed on the American people are rounded up, tried, convicted, and imprisoned.

This is not going to happen. Its not going to happen with crony capitalist Donald Trump and it certainly will not happen with a semi-demented Joe Biden.

In November, after the Summer of Hate, it is entirely possible Democrats will take both the White House and the Senate, they already own the House. It all depends on how the corporate media spins the riots, the escalating murder, arson, looting, and other property crimes.

If open warfare breaks out between opposing factions  as could have happened last week at Stone Mountain, Georgia  this will play into Trumps law and order spiel.

2020 is by far the most bizarre and dangerous election season Ive lived through.

It doesnt matter who the president is in January.

The winner will be beholden to the financial class. All the candidates put forward by the Republican and Democratic parties are owned by the mega-rich class, be they liberal or conservative. It really does not matter who wins the election, so long as that winner follows neoliberal directives. As Hillary Clinton famously quipped, she was right down the street from the Council on Foreign Relations when she was Secretary of State under the corporate media manufactured dream team of Obama and Biden.

It became impossible for Trump to do anything, so aggressive and unrelenting were the baseless investigations, fraudulent and often ludicrous evidence, and character assassination on an epic scale. In short, Democrats have engaged in treason against a duly elected president, voted into office by the very same system that put Obama, Clinton, Bush, and all the others in office.

So, either one of two things will happen. The corporate media will manage to inflate Trumps narcissistic and combative personality, continue to portray him as a lunatic (as he mostly is), and dwell on everything from his fumbling Covid response to stumbling missteps on foreign policy, largely directed by his son-in-law and the neocons, and including the input of Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate that has one political interest: Israel.

If Trump wins, were in for more of what we are experiencing now  escalating violence, armed confrontation, protesters mowed down by speeding cars, cops beating and pepper spraying peaceful protesters. Its the identity crowd, the refashioned cultural Marxists, and their politique obversion, the new right, alt-du-jour, nationalists, Hillary Clintons deplorables  these warring tribes of zealots and radicals are making life almost unbearable in America. The demonstrations and accompanying violence will continue and ultimately break out in open warfare if Trump is reelected.

If Biden wins, conservatives and those on the political right  including the establishment political right  will come under intense and withering fire. It will be a remarkable experience, something like Senator Joe McCarthy meets Spanish Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada.

Im exaggerating, but not much.

Now that the outlier political right, conservatives, libertarians, and other deplorables are considered terrorists  as specified by the establishments political police, the FBI  the Democrats will hold investigations and conduct show trials. Social media will be throughly sanitized, websites shut down, internet providers fined if they dare host alt-right or conservative sites deemed by the state and its corporate media to be irredeemably hate-filled and white nationalist or supremacist.

A note for the wokesters: the state will turn on you as well after the Democrats consolidate power. Antifa and other anarchists are presently useful in creating an atmosphere of faux revolutionary violence directed against Trump and and his dwindling MAGAites. Establishment Democrats are exploiting the outrageous claims of Black Lives Matter (all white people are blue-eyed devils) and its Marxist leadership. A reformatted and acceptable alternative will stand in its stead and obediently take its place in the bleachers with all the other cheerleaders of the state. There is no room at the top for communists. Marxists are only courted when they are useful and oblivious to being played.

Systemic crony capitalism, a corrupted political process, and the predatory rule of the financial and corporate elite will continue unabated after the election.

Finally, a prediction: Joe Biden will select Hillary Clinton as his running mate. I could be wrong about this, however it is more than obvious basement Biden is a creature of the Clinton-dominated DNC. Joes dementia will result in him stepping down, probably within the first year of his administration.

Hillary Clinton possesses the sort of psychopathic character attributes preferred by the elite  ruthless, able to order the murder of thousands of innocents without flinching, and trusted to resume the neoliberal game plan after the interloper in the White House is gone.


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by Shafique Khokhar

The project is funded by the government. Aournd three million Hindus live in the country; 3,000 in the capital. For some conservative Muslims, members of minority are third-class citizens and do not have the right to build new places of prayer. A High court justice has no objection to construction. For Hindu activist, new mosques built in non-Muslim countries are examples of harmony between the different faiths.

Islamabad (AsiaNews)  The construction of the first Hindu temple in Islamabad has sparked opposition from some of countrys more conservative Muslims.

Work on the Shri Krishna temple (mandir) began last Tuesday. The structure covers an area of more than 2,000 square metres. The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan is providing US$ 1.32 million in funding.

Pakistan is home to about three million Hindus out of a population of 204 million (97 per cent Muslims). The capitals 3,000 Hindus are currently forced to go out of town to take part in their religious ceremonies.

For Prime Minister Khan, the Hindu community has contributed to the prosperity and development of the country since it was founded, and so deserves public support. Some Muslim clerics disagree.

Maulana Zia-ul-Din Manseharvi, from Jamia-e-Ashrafia University in Lahore (Punjab), issued a fatwa (religious opinion) against building the Hindu temple.

He claims that non-Muslims can live and pray freely in the land of Islam, but sharia (Islamic law) prohibits them from building new places of prayer or renovating old temples.

Chaudhary Parvez Ilahi, speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, is also against the project.

For him, Pakistan belongs only to Muslims and Hindus are third-class citizens. "We respect the rights of minorities, and the temples that already exist should only be repaired.

The issue is now before the courts. In a statement, High Court Justice Amir Farooq stressed that the rights of minorities must be respected and that there can be no objection to the construction of a sacred place.

Parkash Heerani, a Hindu activist, member of the Alkhidmat Foundation, also rejects the objections to the construction of the temple.

In a comment on social media, he noted that when a mosque is built in a non-Muslim country, many in Pakistan consider it an example of harmony between different faiths. The same should apply in the case of the Hindu temple in Islamabad.
Buena Vista, CO (81211)

Today

Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High 84F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear skies. Low 54F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Thomas Barzilay Freund 20.

Freund shot and edited the film last fall for the Bowdoin class Filmmaking and Born-Digital Storytelling, taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Art and Digital and Computational Studies Erin Johnson.

"I wanted to do something that was unsettling to look at," Freund said. "I like the idea of conveying a strong emotion in a short window of time. You need to be concise with your work."

The first film Freund made for Johnson's filmmaking class, My Rifle, My Pony, and Me (inspired by a Dean Martin song), was also selected for a Maine film festival last fall hosted by the University of Maine. It came in second place.

Both films feature Freund's roommate Cirque Gammelin 20 as the main actor.

Freund majored in economics and environmental studies and minored in cinema studies. He will start a job in the fall doing digital marketingwith a lot of photography and videofor an outdoors company based in Williamstown, Massachusetts. In a few years he hopes to pursue a graduate degree in filmmaking.
Birgit Tautz

The key to its success, says department chair Birgit Tautz, lies as much with the motivated and inspired student body as it does with faculty. Students are real cocreators of our academic community. Already in their first year, they typically meet more advanced students coming back from studying abroad, giving them a newfound motivation to apply for these grants. And when they succeed with their application, first-years often see themselves in the same place a few years down the road.Even if these magical encounters do not happen in person this year, she adds, we are confident that the community among students at all levels remains strong and thriving. And we are committed to exploring new ways of fostering community.

Seven graduating seniors or recent graduates were offered Fulbright awards to study and teach in Germanythey were among twenty-three Bowdoin students or recent graduates to receive Fulbrights this year, enabling them to pursue research and teaching opportunities across the globe (although the start dates have been pushed back to next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.)
The big reveal! (Image via video still)

OMG.BLOG! (WORK UNFRIENDLY): Raul Pena, stage actor, gets naked onstage.

AP: So, months later, I don't have my government COVID-19 check! (I didn't think I was due one, but got a Trump letter promising me just under half the normal amount ... but no card or check; yes, I have since filed for it.) But hey, guess who did already get millions in PPP loans under the Trump Administration? Kanye West, the Girl Scouts, hedge funds, obscenely wealthy artist Jeff Koons (who was once married to Italy's porn-star politician Cicciolina), companies owned by West Virginia's billionaire Gov. Jim Justice ... the list goes on.

BOSGUY: This guy would tempt almost anyone. If he doesn't, get your head examined. But what about him?! Please offer your suggestions for guys who make you go HMMM.

NYT: Mary Trump, in her forthcoming book, states that her Uncle Donald has embraced cheating as a way of life, and says his sister said in 2015 of Trump's presidential ambitions:

Hes a clown  this will never happen ... The only time Donald went to church was when the cameras were there. Its mind-boggling. But thats all about his base. He has no principles. None!

Tell it, Sis. VANITY FAIR : Oh, there's a Melania Trump tell-all coming, too:

Melania and Me, published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, is due out on September 1, just a little more than two months before the election. A description of the book from the publisher says that it will start when Wolkoff met Melania and became friends, and weave through her help planning the 58th presidential inauguration, along with navigating the White House and East Wing.

INSTAGRAM: Madonna goes topless at 61 to show off her ... crutch. (And amazing boobs.) Haters pile on, most of whom are not exactly standing on firm aesthetic ground themselves. My thought is that like Lizzo, when Madonna posts a pic like this, it isn't just about look at me, it's also about get used to this and love yourself.

Appreciate you so much, @brokeymcpoverty. All the criticisms are valid. The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldnt get. Or wrestled with but cut. I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Did my best. Its all fair game. https://t.co/mjhU8sXS1U  Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 6, 2020

TWITTER: Lin-Manuel Miranda's response to criticism of his 2015 musical Hamilton is a great example of how to response without fragility and defensiveness:

Appreciate you so much, @brokeymcpoverty. All the criticisms are valid. The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn't get. Or wrestled with but cut. I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Did my best. It's all fair game.

THE HILL: Ghislaine Maxwell moved to Brooklyn jail.

FLORIDA COVID ACTION: As a follow-up to my post on Carsyn Leigh Davis, the 17-year-old with underlying conditions who died of COVID-19 after her mom took her to a party, I present to you a medical examiner's report backing up everything that was reported. She was a sickly girl, her mom took her to a party with 100 people, she became ill, she was ineffectively treated at home, her parents refused intubation at first. The news here, to me, is that her mom requested heroic efforts to save her even once it became clear she would not have a normal life (and after putting her in that position to begin with!) and ... her parents ARE BOTH IN THE MEDICAL FIELD.

NPR: Brazil's atrocious human being of a president Jair Bolsonaro, who is an avid COVID-19 denialist, has tested positive for the virus.

The one behind the wheel (GIF via GIPHY)

INDEPENDENT: Thandie Newton confesses that working with Tom Cruise was a less than pleasant experience in a long, vulnerable interview:

He was a very dominant individual. He tries super hard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot. And I think he has this sense that only he can do everything as best as it can be done.

GR8ERDAYS (FOLLOW HERE): Oh, Billy Campbell ...
The guest profile on typical cruise ship voyages matches those at greatest risk for severe illness which may require hospitalization and need for respiratory support, a CDC spokesperson said in an email. Moreover, the population density on cruise ships tends to be higher than most urban settings, and even when populations are reduced, we still observe ongoing spread of COVID-19 illness due to the congregated setting and greater chance of closer physical contact. Sailings without guest passengers and with a markedly reduced crew size since April has continued to prove how difficult it is to control and eradicate COVID infections and outbreaks in the maritime environment.
A video posted to social media of the workers at a Jimmy Johns restaurant in Woodstock shows one employee draping the bread dough noose over the neck of another and yanking it. The other workers watch and laugh. A Happy 4th of July banner appears across the bottom of the video. The workers who are shown in the video appear to be white.
As part of our commitment to an injury-free workplace, we are working with former OSHA officials to strengthen our current health and safety practices by enhancing our safety audits, trainings and education to keep our employees, contractors and visitors safe every day, she said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
The dam at Lake Wahtopanah in Rivers is holding up well enough that the bridge running along it on Highway 25 is being partially reopened to the public, RM of Riverdale Mayor Todd Gill told the Sun on Monday morning.

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This article was published 6/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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The dam at Lake Wahtopanah in Rivers is holding up well enough that the bridge running along it on Highway 25 is being partially reopened to the public, RM of Riverdale Mayor Todd Gill told the Sun on Monday morning.

Between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., vehicles can come and go over the bridge although they will not be permitted to stop on the structure. From 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., only emergency travel will be allowed across.

Gill said the water in the reservoir has receded about five feet since its peak a week ago and the flow of water through the dam's spillway continues to be in the 5,000 to 6,000 cubic feet per second range. At one point last week, 12,000 cubic feet of water were going through the spillway.

Evacuees from Rivers will not be allowed to return to their homes until Manitoba Infrastructure confirms to the municipality that the dam is going to hold for certain.

In another piece of good news for the municipality, the restrictions on domestic water usage were lifted for Riverdale on Monday morning, according to the RM's Facebook page.

A spokesperson for Manitoba Infrastructure said Monday that the situation at Rivers dam had changed "very little" since the last provincial update was issued on July 4. On that day, it was reported that the water levels at the dam remained at historic levels and was holding, but was being watched around the clock by provincial engineers.

In Brandon, the city's Twitter account announced that the water level in the Assiniboine River has fallen beneath the flood stage as measured at First Street.

As of 7:40 a.m. on Monday, the water level in the river at that measurement point was 1,170.86 feet above sea level well below the peak of 1,174.56 feet seen on July 2. It's also well below the height of the city's earthen dike system at 1,186 feet above sea level.

However, the clay dike plug laid out along 18th Street North and Grand Valley Road will remain in place until the risk of the Rivers dam breaking and causing a flash flood has completely passed.

The Sun has confirmed with the city that Queen Elizabeth Park and Dinsdale Park, which have both received some flooding, will remain closed for the next few days.

First Street from Maryland Avenue to Patricia Avenue, which had been closed to allow for drainage, has now reopened. City crews are still working on repairing and grading back lanes damaged in the heavy rains.

Also via Facebook on Monday morning, the Town of Neepawa was offering residents in the RMs of North Cypress-Langford and Rosedale the opportunity to pick up clean, unused sandbags from the town's public works shop at 124 Gill Street.

On the RM of Elton's Facebook page, municipal staff continue to post maps of impassable roads still washed out for the benefit of drivers in the area.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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A Brandon University professor is suing the university over a denied promotion.

Philosophy associate professor Henry Venema filed the lawsuit on June 24, naming Brandon University and the Brandon University Promotion Appeals Committee as defendants.

The first court date was held Monday morning after being delayed a week on June 26.

According to documents acquired by the Sun, Venema is applying for a judicial review of an arbitration panel, as is allowed under section 128(2) of Manitobas Labour Relations Act. Hes also looking for a decision made by the Brandon University Arbitration Panel that denied the appeal of a denied promotion to be quashed and remitted for redetermination.

"Im sure you understand that well have no comment on this matter," BU communications director Grant Hamilton told the Sun via email. Venema also declined comment via email.

The professor is also looking for his legal costs and costs associated with appealing a decision made by the schools promotions committee to be covered, as well as to be granted any other relief found to be just and equitable.

According to the application for the suit filed by Venemas lawyer, the arbitration board failed to observe a principle of natural justice or otherwise acted beyond or refused to exercise its jurisdiction.

"The arbitration board specifically failed to consider a material portion of the applicants evidence, properly submitted to the promotion committee, which led to a finding that the promotion committees decision to deny the promotion be upheld," the application filed by Venemas lawyer also stated.

Under section 128(1) of the Labour Relations Act, the only circumstances under which the findings of an arbitrator or arbitration panel can be challenged in court are if a principle of natural justice has failed to be upheld or if a decision was reached through fraud or perjured evidence.

A party has 30 days to file for a judicial review if the challenge is regarding natural justice failing to be upheld and no time limit if the challenge alleges a decision as made through fraud or perjured evidence.

Under the Brandon University Faculty Associations collective bargaining agreement with the university, a faculty member denied promotion must file an appeal within 10 days of receiving their decision.

A three-person appeals committee is then struck made up of a union member, a representative of school administration and a chairperson agreed upon by the two other members.

The appeals committee can overturn the promotion committees decision if its found that the promotion committee misapplied the rules for promotion, made a decision in bad faith, that the decision was discriminatory or the decision violated the facultys members academic freedom.

If the appeal was based on any other grounds, the committee cannot overturn the decision but can order certain procedures in the promotions process to be repeated if they had a material effect on the process.

According to the collective bargaining agreement, the university as employer must cover reasonable costs with promotion and promotion appeals procedures.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
TORONTO - A man accused of spearheading a scam operation that cost Americans hundreds of thousands of dollars lost his bid on Tuesday to stave off extradition to the United States.

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This article was published 7/7/2020 (349 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO - A man accused of spearheading a scam operation that cost Americans hundreds of thousands of dollars lost his bid on Tuesday to stave off extradition to the United States.

In upholding an earlier ruling, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected arguments from Harry Cole that his identity as the man wanted on fraud and money-laundering charges was not proven.

Superior Court Justice Nancy Spies had ordered Cole extradited to face trial in the U.S. in June 2019. Cole, who is known by other names including Akintomide Ayoola Bolu and John King, argued on appeal that Spies was wrong in finding American authorities had established he was the person in question.

The problem, the Appeal Court noted, was that Cole's own lawyer conceded more than once during the extradition hearing before Spies that identity was not an issue.

"Even if counsel had not conceded the point on behalf of the appellant, there would be no reason to interfere with the extradition judge's finding," the Appeal Court said.

Cole also questioned the evidence against him provided by the Americans, but the Appeal Court again found no errors with Spies' judgment. It noted three people intimately involved in the operation of the alleged scam had pointed the finger at the accused.

Among other things, the witnesses said they had met Cole, repeatedly taken instructions from him, and regarded him as the "prime mover" in the fraud that allegedly operated from 2012 and 2016.

"There is no reason to describe the identification evidence given by the three witnesses in this case as manifestly unreliable," the Appeal Court said. "They were describing a person whom they had met at a meeting for the purpose of joining and participating in the fraudulent scheme."

According to the American indictment, Cole and others would send letters to older victims indicating they had won millions of dollars in a sweepstakes or lottery. The letter included a bogus cheque for about US$8,000.

The letter instructed targets to deposit the cheque in a personal bank account, immediately withdraw thousands of dollars in cash or money orders, and send the money to a "sweepstakes representative" in the U.S. to collect on their prize. By the time the cheque bounced, the alleged scam artists would have received the cash or money order and would then send the ill-gotten gains to Canada or Nigeria.

A second alleged scam involved more than 1,000 phoney tax-refund claims using stolen identification information.

Documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division allege Cole acquired and distributed lists of potential victims, distributed scam letters and fraudulent cheques, and created a company in Canada to receive proceeds from the scheme.

"The hundreds of identified victims sustained more than US$900,000 in actual losses, and, if the scheme had been successful every time, the losses for all of the intended victims would have been in excess of US$250 million," according to the filed charges.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 7, 2020.
TORONTO - When Bobbi Jo Green booked a flight back in May for her, her husband, and her children to see two ailing family members, she was counting on the airline's physical distancing rules to still be in place.

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This article was published 7/7/2020 (349 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A WestJet flight from Calgary arrives at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Enfield, N.S. on Monday, July 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

TORONTO - When Bobbi Jo Green booked a flight back in May for her, her husband, and her children to see two ailing family members, she was counting on the airline's physical distancing rules to still be in place.

But just three weeks before Green and her family were set to fly from Edmonton to Sydney, N.S., on July 17, WestJet announced it was ending its policy of leaving the middle seats on its flights empty.

"I was devastated," Green said, noting her family spends every summer in Nova Scotia with her 93-year-old grandmother who is suffering from severe dementia and another family member with an incurable form of cancer.

"We all knew it could very well be the last summer we would spend with them.

When Green called WestJet to see if any accommodations could be made, she told the company she has a heart condition that puts her in the high-risk category for COVID-19.

Despite her pleas, Green said the airline told her it was unable to make any special accommodations, nor would it allow her to change the date of the flight to before July 1, when the rules were relaxed, without paying a fee.

And Green's not alone: as provinces begin to relax domestic travel restrictions, the cessation of physical distancing rules by two of Canada's biggest airlines  WestJet and Air Canada  is causing frustration and grief among some passengers.

Gabor Lukacs, head of the advocacy group Air Passenger Rights Canada, said he has fielded countless complaints from passengers during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which are related to the same issues: airlines refusing to offer refunds or accommodations amid the abolition of physical distancing rules.

While he acknowledges the effort to fill seats is due to airlines attempting to recoup billions in lost revenue, Lukacs argues the companies risk deterring customers from flying at all.

"The question is: do we allow economic considerations to override public health? We don't allow supermarkets to sell spoiled meat because it's cheaper. Are we going to allow doctors to skip disinfecting their tools to save the cost?

There's some evidence he's right: a new poll conducted by Leger and the Association of Canadian Studies found 72 per cent of respondents say they are not comfortable flying now that Air Canada and WestJet have culled their seat distancing policies.

Only 22 per cent said they would be OK with flying under the newly relaxed rules.

In response to criticisms, WestJet forwarded The Canadian Press a statement from a July 3 blog post regarding changes to its seat distancing policy.

"The blocked middle seat was introduced at the beginning of the pandemic before the myriad of safety measures were put in place and mandated on board," the statement reads.

"Seat distancing was never intended to be in place permanently or throughout the pandemic."

The post notes a number of measures WestJet has taken to help stop the spread of COVID-19 on its flights, including mandatory masking, pre-boarding questionnaires for all passengers, temperature screening, thorough cleaning of aircraft between flights, and the restriction of in-flight dining services.

However, the company has also denied it's putting passengers and staff at risk by filling flights up, pointing to other safety measures as mitigating the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Air Canada provided a similar statement, acknowledging the inconvenience the change may have caused to customers.

"While we would all like a single measure that reduces risk, we are left to use a combination of approaches to mitigate risk as far as practical," the airline said.

Yet some passengers report first-hand experiences in which masking protocols were not followed.

Maureen Isabel Green, 31, flew from Vancouver to Fredericton three weeks ago with Air Canada to visit her family, and said she was shocked by the lax use of masks by both airport employees and the passengers on her two connecting flights.

"I just think of all the people who are getting on a flight and risking their life, or risking the life of the people they're going to visit, because some people don't want to wear a mask for a few hours," she said.

Green, who is a health-care worker, said there were numerous instances on her flight from Vancouver to Montreal where a group of young, male passengers took off their masks when flight attendants were not present.

While at the Montreal airport, Green said a man was able to board a flight without wearing a mask, simply by telling attendants he had a medical condition that prevented him from doing so.

Air travel has been at the centre of several headline-grabbing incidents throughout the pandemic  particularly since travel restrictions have been eased in some regions.

On July 2, health authorities in B.C. warned the passengers of four separate flights that they may have been exposed to COVID-19.

Just a day before  on the exact day the airlines ended their social distancing policies  the Nova Scotia Health Authority warned passengers of a Toronto-to-Halifax WestJet flight from the previous week that they may have been exposed to COVID-19.

And on Sunday, a Halifax man reportedly walked off of a St. John's-bound flight after learning he was the only passenger travelling within the so-called "Atlantic bubble," sparking discussion about the effectiveness of airlines' COVID-prevention policies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 7, 2020.
TORONTO - The towns of Kingsville and Leamington, Ont., are joining the rest of the province in Stage 2 of the government's reopening plan.

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This article was published 7/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO - The towns of Kingsville and Leamington, Ont., are joining the rest of the province in Stage 2 of the government's reopening plan.

Premier Doug Ford announced Monday that the communities, which were the final two towns in Stage 1 of the process, would move up as of 12:01 a.m.

Ford says COVID-19 outbreaks on local farms are under control and community spread of the virus is low.

Most of the Windsor-Essex region, except for those two towns, moved to the second stage of reopening on June 25.

The government dispatched a team from Emergency Management Ontario to the region last week to help co-ordinate health care and housing for hundreds of agri-food workers who have tested positive for the virus.

Ford said Monday he will be visiting the region soon, and thanked people in Kingsville and Leamington for their patience in recent weeks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2020.
VANCOUVER - The First Nations Health Authority says 89 members of its community fatally overdosed from illicit drugs across British Columbia between January and May, an increase of 93 per cent compared with the same period last year.

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This article was published 6/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man prepares heroin he bought on the street to be injected at the Insite safe injection clinic in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday May 11, 2011. The First Nations Health Authority says 89 members of its community fatally overdosed from illicit drugs across British Columbia between January and May, an increase of 93 per cent compared with the same period last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER - The First Nations Health Authority says 89 members of its community fatally overdosed from illicit drugs across British Columbia between January and May, an increase of 93 per cent compared with the same period last year.

The authority's acting chief medical officer, Dr. Shannon McDonald, said Monday that measures to control the spread of COVID-19 have led to people overdosing alone as they are less likely to access harm-reduction services, whose operations have been limited by the pandemic.

Sixteen per cent of all overdose deaths in the province up to May of this year involved people from First Nations, which represent only 3.4 per cent of B.C.'s population, she said.

Overdose deaths among First Nations have been climbing steadily since 2016, when the province declared a public health emergency, compared with the general population.

"First Nations people had been experiencing overdose deaths 3.8 times more than other residents in 2019, and in 2020, First Nations have experienced overdose death 5.8 times more," McDonald said.

"We're hoping we can change that in the next few months," she said, adding 6,315 kits of the overdose-reversing medication naloxone have been delivered through First Nations sites and Aboriginal friendship centres.

Seven community health centres are delivering the opioids substitute suboxone and seven more are planned for this year and into 2021, McDonald said, adding that 98 new sites are providing mental health and addiction services.

Five Indigenous wellness educator positions are being established to facilitate community conversations about harm reduction, the First Nations Health Authority said.

"When people have attempted to access health care there have been many stories of systemic racism as a barrier to that access," McDonald said.

Stigma has also prevented First Nations from using health services, she told a teleconference call, a sentiment echoed by Chief Charlene Belleau, chair of the First Nations Health Council, as well as the chief coroner and provincial health officer.

Belleau said mental health issues among First Nations people who are experiencing addiction, including youth, require community-driven and culturally appropriate assessment and treatment.

"Throughout our work we've noted that self determination is a critical determinant of the overall health of our people," she said. "When our people have their authority and autonomy recognized and are supported with adequate services our health improves."

Both the First Nations Health Authority and the province each contributed $20 million in funding a year ago for treatment and support services for First Nations to build two new treatment centres and renovate others, Belleau said, adding the federal government has also been asked to provide the same share of money.

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said overdose deaths have increased overall in B.C. during the pandemic as increasingly toxic substances contaminated with fentanyl have hit the streets.

"So all of those who use substances are at risk now in this province, and it's quite frankly terrifying" Lapointe said.

The possibility of facing charges for small amounts of drugs for personal use hinders people from getting the medical help they need, Lapointe said.

"When we're asking people to seek support and to feel free to go to health-care facilities when there's a fear of being arrested or losing a child or losing a job, that is a very difficult thing to do. So we encourage governments to continue to adopt a comprehensive, evidence-based, non-stigmatizing approach."

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said she's concerned about the increase in overdose deaths among First Nations, noting the province had a record monthly death toll of 170 people in May.

"First Nations people are routinely differentially impacted by these deaths and we need to know how we can do better to support Indigenous people."

This report by Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2020.
CHARLOTTETOWN - Prince Edward Island's chief medical officer of health is strongly urging people to wear non-medical face masks indoors but so far isn't recommending they be mandatory.

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This article was published 7/7/2020 (349 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A motorist shows his identification to a provincial worker at the Confederation Bridge in Borden-Carleton, P.E.I., Friday, July 3, 2020. Prince Edward Island's chief medical officer of health is strongly urging people to wear non-medical face masks indoors but so far isn't recommending they be mandatory.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Brian McInnis

CHARLOTTETOWN - Prince Edward Island's chief medical officer of health is strongly urging people to wear non-medical face masks indoors but so far isn't recommending they be mandatory.

Dr. Heather Morrison said Tuesday she used to ask people to "consider" wearing a face mask indoors where a physical distance of two metres cannot be maintained. "At this point I am strengthening this recommendation," she told reporters.

And while she isn't recommending indoor mask-wearing be mandatory on the Island, she said public health officials will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and could change course.

"Wearing a mask alone will not prevent the spread of COVID-19," Morrison said. "You must consistently adhere to good hygiene and public health measures, and wearing a non-medical mask provides added protection."

There were no new cases of COVID-19 reported on the Island Tuesday.

Morrison said the five people identified as positive cases on the weekend are all self-isolating and recovering at home.

One of those five Islanders caught the virus after coming into contact with an infected traveller in Nova Scotia, who was en route from the United States to P.E.I. The Islander attempted to drive the traveller to P.E.I.

The U.S. traveller  who has a student visa to study in P.E.I.  was turned back from the Island at the Confederation Bridge. That person is now being quarantined in Nova Scotia.

The driver, however, returned to P.E.I. and spread the virus to three people including a woman who works at Whisperwood Villa, a seniors' residence in Charlottetown. Morrison said tests on residents, staff and visitors of the home have all come back negative.

She said there are a few visitors to the residence who still need to be tested. Residents and staff will be tested again Wednesday.

Morrison said the opening of the Atlantic Bubble has gone smoothly for P.E.I. Since July 3, residents of the four Atlantic Provinces have been able to travel within the region without having to self-isolate.

Between July 3-5, Morrison said 5,719 vehicles crossed the Confederation Bridge to the Island, while another 794 vehicles arrived by ferry and 164 people landed at the Charlottetown Airport.

Morrison said almost 1,000 people are currently self-isolating on the Island, while more than 5,500 others have completed the two-week quarantine.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2020.

 By Kevin Bissett in Fredericton.
OTTAWA - A new poll suggests turbulence ahead for airlines seeking public support for their current COVID-19 plans.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Westjet Boeing 737-800, left, taxis past an Air Canada Rouge Airbus A319 at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Monday, April 28, 2014. A new poll suggests turbulence ahead when it comes to the airlines winning public support for their current COVID-19 plans. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

OTTAWA - A new poll suggests turbulence ahead for airlines seeking public support for their current COVID-19 plans.

Seventy-two per cent of Canadians surveyed by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies say they're not comfortable flying since a decision by some airlines to relax their own in-flight physical distancing requirements.

As of July 1, Air Canada and WestJet both ended policies blocking the sale of adjacent seats.

The measure was seen to align with a guidance document for the aviation industry issued by Transport Canada in April to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Among other things, the department had suggested passengers should be widely spaced when possible, though they did not make it mandatory.

Airlines, however, are required to make passengers and air crews wear masks.

Only 22 per cent of those surveyed said they're comfortable getting aboard with no in-flight physical distancing and a requirement to wear masks.

There's more to it to keep flights safe, WestJet said in a statement last week after critics attacked its plan.

"What makes an airplane, and the entire journey, safe is the layers of enhanced cleaning, the wearing of masks and the hospital-grade HEPA filters that remove 99.999 per cent of all airborne particles," the airline said.

"The hygiene standards we have now are world-class and backed by industry experts."

Critics have also previously pounced on the airlines for another move: refusing to fully refund tickets for flights cancelled due to the pandemic.

Thousands of people have beseeched Transport Minister Marc Garneau to compel airlines to issue refunds, but he has refused, arguing that mandating reimbursements from a sector that's lost more than 90 per cent of its revenue would cripple the industry.

But 72 per cent of those polled say they totally oppose his decision.

In lieu of refunds, the airlines have offered vouchers but the poll suggests that it may take a while before people will rebook previously cancelled trips: 85 per cent of those surveyed told pollsters they have no plans to travel outside the country by the end of the year.

The survey polled 1,517 people and can't be assigned a margin of error because online polls are not considered truly random.

Pollsters were in the field between July 3 and 5, a historically popular few days for Canadians and Americans to be on the move between the two countries, given the July 1 Canada Day holiday and the U.S.'s July 4 Independence Day.

But the border remains closed to non-essential traffic, and the majority of Canadians surveyed said they feel it needs to stay that way. The current mutual closure agreement is due to expire July 21.

Of Canadians polled, 86 per cent said they totally disagreed with re-opening the border at the end of July, allowing Americans back into the country.

Americans seem more eager both to head north and to welcome Canadians south; 50 per cent agreed the border should re-open and 36 per cent disagreed.

The potential for cross-border transmission of the virus has been a key factor in the decision to keep the border closed. Currently, rates of COVID-19 infection in the U.S. continue to climb, while in Canada the curve appears to be on a downward trajectory nearly everywhere.

Still, the survey suggests Canadians don't feel they are out of the woods. Thirty-nine per cent believe the worst is yet to come, while 35 per cent believe the worst of the crisis has passed.

In the U.S., 42 per cent of those surveyed felt the darkest days are ahead, 25 per cent believe the U.S. is in the middle of the worst part now while 21 per cent think that's already passed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2020.
Its been more than three months since I last offered a list of the best quips on Twitter about the COVID-19 pandemic. It wasnt too soon then and its almost overdue now to shine a light again on some of the dark humor thats helping us get through our nations most difficult era since World War II, a nightmare that ended 75 years ago this September.
When I think about the people who have influenced me, from poets to political writers to folks doing biographies, their writing was able to do something that even mass protests arent able to do, Hopkins said. Its when youre sitting in the quiet of yourself  in your bed or out on the porch or on the sofa  reading someones words, they have a profound impact on your person. It makes you question the reality. It has a way of articulating something that you may very well be experiencing and most likely have experienced, but you havent been able to actually put it together in a way that actually makes sense. And when you read it in those quiet moments, theres a switch that goes on.
It would not be the first audacious project in Chicago to succumb to a case of bad economic timing. The most memorable is the 2,000-foot-tall, Santiago Calatrava-designed Chicago Spire, a project that fell apart after breaking ground and became a global cautionary tale about the fickleness of construction cycles.
As you shop around, you'll have your choice of two styles: standard or convertible. A standard crib, which is typically more affordable than a convertible, is one with four fixed sides that most little ones outgrow by the time they are 2 years old. However, parents are increasingly turning to convertible models to avoid paying extra for big-kid beds down the road. Though they initially cost more than a standard, convertibles can actually save you money in the long run, as they can be transformed into toddler beds, daybeds, and, in some cases, even full-size beds.
An ambulance took the woman  named Mejia, who asked that her last name not be used  to the hospital and an X-ray showed something cloudy on her lungs, leading to a COVID-19 diagnosis. When she returned home, she separated herself from her three children and mother in the house.
Australian banks have thrown a lifeline to pandemic-hit borrowers, saying mortgage holders who paused payments will be able to extend loan deferrals by up to four months if needed.

In an attempt to avoid what some fear is a looming financial "cliff", the banking industry is unveiling a support package for people who may struggle with repayments when the initial loan deferral scheme starts to wind down, from September.

CBA chief executive Matt Comyn: "We all want to avoid any form of a cliff." Credit:Louie Douvis

The banks have this year allowed customers to defer their mortgage payments for six months as a result of the pandemic, with payment "holidays" also granted on small business loans, personal loans and credit cards. More than 485,000 mortgages have been deferred across the country since March, latest figures from the Australian Bankers Association (ABA) show.

Under the latest phase of the crisis plan, the ABA said people who were able to start making payments on their loans once their six-month deferral had ended would be required to do so. However, borrowers still in financial strife may be able to extend their deferral by up to four months to buy more time to restructure their loan, including by switching to an interest-only mortgage, consolidating debt, or extending the term of the mortgage.
New York/Frankfurt: Deutsche Bank will pay a $US150 million ($215 million) fine from a New York regulator for allowing disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to make payments to Russian models and withdraw suspicious amounts of cash during five years as a client.

Tuesday's settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services is the first such action against a bank related to Epstein. The registered sex offender committed suicide in a Manhattan jail in August, a month after his arrest for allegedly sexually exploiting dozens of girls and women.

Jeffrey Epstein had more than 40 Deutsche Bank accounts.

The fine is also another blow to Deutsche Bank's reputation as it goes through a major restructuring, following five years of losses totaling more than 15 billion ($24 billion).

"For years, Mr Epstein's criminal, abusive behaviour was widely known, yet big institutions continued to excuse that history and lend their credibility or services for financial gain," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
Recently the short film, Mukbang, awarded best director via an all-white judging panel of Bryan Brown, George Miller and Sophie Hyde at the Sydney Film Festival, has been labelled racist and a piece of cultural appropriation by some prominent voices on social media. The festival itself has been described as racist and part of a white supremacist system.

Hang on a minute  that's the Sydney Film Festival, whose director is Nashen Moodley, a South African person of colour, who has in his programming career long championed the works of filmmakers from Africa and Asia in particular. Those close to him know his father was murdered in a racially motivated attack in South Africa. We share this very personal tragedy to underline the hurt caused by flagrant use of the label "white supremacist".

Festival director Nashen Moodley has had a long career championing filmmakers from diverse backgrounds. Credit:Vincenzo Amato

With Nashen at its helm, the festival has had a long partnership with the Indigenous Branch of Screen Australia and screens an annual program of films by Indigenous filmmakers, such as Warwick Thornton, Ivan Sen, Erica Glynn, Wayne Blair and many more. Darren Dale, an Indigenous man and one of our country's most important TV producers, is on its board. The festival also champions the work of diverse Australian filmmakers, including some of us, as well as a program for women filmmakers and for screen practitioners with disabilities.

This year, as well as awarding best director to 21-year-old Eliza Scanlen, a first-time filmmaker and an Anglo-Australian, the same so-called racist judges, awarded best short film to a Mandarin language film by Chinese-Australian filmmaker Alex Wu.
Manumission involved voluntary release by enslavers. Abolition was a more radical proposition, and Hamilton did not advocate it. And while he publicly criticised Thomas Jefferson's views on the biological inferiority of Black people, the Harvard historian Annette Gordon-Reed has noted that his record and his writings from the 1790s until his death in 1804 include little to nothing against slavery. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video As the show indicates, Hamilton did support John Laurens' 1779 plan to allow Black soldiers to fight in the Revolution (and many eventually did). But that's as far as he went. "OK, Hamilton did not write pamphlets against slavery with Laurens," Gordon-Reed tweeted during the #HATM watch party, adding: "I hate to be that historian." So which characters in the show owned slaves?

Most of them, actually. In one of the Cabinet rap battles, Jefferson extols the South's agrarian economy, and Hamilton slaps back. "Yeah, keep ranting. We know who's really doing the planting," he sneers, dismissing Jefferson's argument as "a civics lesson from a slaver." But slavery was hardly just a Southern affair. In 1790, about 40 per cent of households immediately around New York City included enslaved people. Most of Hamilton's associates who toast freedom early in the show were slaveowners, including Aaron Burr and Hercules Mulligan (whose enslaved servant Cato worked alongside him in an anti-British spy ring). The Schuylers, the prominent family Hamilton marries into, were major slaveholders. In fact, the mayor of Albany announced last month that the city would remove a statue of Philip Schuyler, Hamilton's father-in-law, who at various points owned as many as 27 slaves. Angelica Schuyler and her husband also owned slaves, and Hamilton, who was a lawyer, helped them with their slavery-related transactions, including the $225 purchase of a mother and child. Johnathan Groff in his show-stealing performance as King George III.

Wait. Did Hamilton himself own slaves? Possibly. When his mother died in 1768, she left Hamilton and his brother an enslaved boy but they were not able to inherit since they had been born out of wedlock. And there is some documentation suggesting that Hamilton may have owned slaves later, after his marriage to Elizabeth Schuyler. Historian Michelle DuRoss, in a 2010 paper, noted that Hamilton's grandson had said Hamilton owned slaves, citing references in family ledgers. But the evidence is ambiguous. Ankeet Ball, in a paper for the Columbia & Slavery research project, noted an 1804 letter from Angelica Schuyler regretting that Elizabeth and Alexander did not have any enslaved servants to help them with a party. Ball, echoing many other scholars, pointed out that Hamilton, however much he may have hated slavery, acquiesced to it. "Hamilton ultimately accepted protecting slavery in the Constitution to solidify the union of the North and the South, which was crucial to the financial growth that Hamilton envisioned," Ball wrote.

Was Hamilton pro-immigrant? "Immigrants, we get the job done," sung by Hamilton (who was born in Nevis) and the Marquis de Lafayette during the Battle of Yorktown, quickly emerged as one of the biggest applause lines in the show. And while Hamilton, as a subject of the British crown moving from one British colony to another, was not an immigrant in the contemporary sense, he did see himself (and was sometimes seen by others) as an outsider. But his views of immigrants and how they fit into America were complicated. As historian Joanne Freeman has pointed out, he wanted immigrant workers to fuel the manufacturing economy he envisioned, but he worried about their effect on the nation. In 1798, in the middle of naval hostilities with revolutionary France, Hamilton and other Federalists supported the Alien and Sedition Acts, which extended the length of time immigrants had to wait to apply for citizenship and allowed the president to deport immigrants deemed "enemies." Backlash against the laws, which were designed to weaken Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party, contributed to Jefferson's victory in 1800. After the election, when Jefferson proposed loosening citizenship requirements, Freeman wrote, "Hamilton protested, fretting about the corruption of national character." He even suggested that if only "native citizens" had been allowed to vote, Jefferson would not have become president.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Phillipa Soo as Alexander and Eliza Hamilton. But Hamilton, who started out as a penniless orphan, was a champion of the little guy, right? Even before the musical (and the Ron Chernow biography that inspired it), Hamilton had a resurgence of popularity, driven in part by conservatives and centrists who saw him as an avatar of capitalism and a strong national government. And Hamilton, many historians have pointed out, was hardly an up-by-the-bootstraps populist. He was an unabashed elitist who had proposed that senators serve for life and the president be an "elective monarch." He also had a sometimes iffy relationship with representative democracy. Hamil-sceptics point to episodes like the Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783, when forces within the Continental Army who were frustrated over lack of pay and other issues argued that the army should challenge the authority of Congress. In a confidential letter, Hamilton, then a congressman, urged George Washington to "take the direction of" the army's grievances, without appearing to  advice some scholars have interpreted as urging a military coup.

Later, Hamilton dreamed of invading Florida and Louisiana (which were still under the control of Spain). He even floated the idea of deploying the army to Virginia to crush political opposition. And then there's his (likely apocryphal) quotation, relayed by Henry Adams (the great-grandson of his nemesis John Adams): "Your people sir  your people is a great beast." Sheesh, chill out. Hamilton is a work of fiction, right? The renewed critical commentary on Hamilton the man has prompted no shortage of eye-rolling, including from some historians. "Guys, I don't think that's how the Battle of Yorktown really went," the historian Kevin Gannon tweeted during the #HATM watch. "I mean, I'm sure there was at least one more unit of dancers." Loading For some historians, one of the most thrilling things about the show is the way it plays with the tension between history and memory, the biases of sources and the importance of who tells the story. And Miranda's musical, for all its phenomenal success, may not have the last word.
In part one of this week's mid-year special of The Televisionaries podcast, TV experts from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald discuss their top shows of the year so far.

On that list is Amazon Prime's Tales from the Loop. While the show seems to have flown under the radar, Spectrum's deputy editor Kylie Northover says it deserves much more attention.

Amazon's Tales from the Loop is the most unique sci-fi in years. Credit:Amazon Prime

"It has blown me away, it's by far the best thing I've seen all year," she says. "It's unlike any sci-fi, really, that I've seen before  I don't even know if it is sci-fi. It's an unusual series and it's based on the art of Swedish artist Simon Stalenhag ... which is a strange starting point for a series.

"The Loop is a sort of underground, experimental physics laboratory  one of the things I like about [the show] is that there's not a lot of spoon-feeding in this. Nothing is certain, but this Loop affects the whole town. It's eight episodes and each episode focuses on one of the town's inhabitants, who is in either a small way or a large way affected by the strange goings-on in the Loop."
Should I make green investments a consideration for my investment portfolio? I get asked this question every day  and my answer is always "yes".

At the beginning of 2020, Australia was living through the worst bushfires in recent history. The fires placed an unprecedented spotlight on climate change and what we are doing about it.

Investors should consider hedging against climate change risk by targeting investments that benefit from the transition to a lower carbon economy. Credit:

It was a timely reminder that investors should ensure that their exposure to climate change risk is assessed, monitored, understood and addressed in their portfolios.

The financial risks associated with climate change have immediate implications for investment and will become more influential on strategy over time.
If it looks like it was going to be passed, many potential buyers would simply sit on their hands and await the new legislation before purchasing a property.

The legislation would be controversial, as it is unfair to often cash-strapped retirees and would be debated in Parliament over a long period and likely meet stiff opposition.

I don't think the Victorian government have got to that level of detail yet, but what you mention would be impractical.

In a recent column you highlighted the problems of replacing stamp duty with land tax. But my understanding of a universal land tax is a little different from yours. The Victorian government has indicated how they would implement the tax. From a set date, anyone who purchases a house would not pay stamp duty but would commence paying land tax. All existing homeowners who have already paid stamp duty would not pay land tax until they sold their home and purchased another. This would prevent double dipping.

Keep in mind that the stamp duty on an $800,000 home in Victoria would be $43,000 and nobody would spend that much money if they knew it would be repealed in a few months.

I agree that charging land tax only to people who have not paid stamp duty would be the most equitable way to go, but a major source of each state's income is stamp duty.

If the laws were changed in the way you suggest it would take years to make up the deficit in their receipts.

People who have been proposing the change have suggested the states could borrow from the federal government to make up the shortfall. However, that seems unlikely in the current COVID-19 economic environment, which has decimated government finances.

I read your column about a couple who wanted to retire at the age of 70 and you talked about the benefits of salary sacrificing. It would be good if people were made more aware of the pitfalls regarding the tax burden on salary sacrificed super when one dies, and the inability to draw down super and recontribute after age 70. I spoke to several financial advisers before I retired and not once was it mentioned that my estate would be hit with a large tax bill because of salary sacrifice, and I could not draw down and recontribute after age 70. Consequently, I was over 70 when I found this out and my kids are going to be hit with a large tax burden when I die.
Boe Pahari has made a huge splash in his first week on the job, which is an impressive effort given he inhabits the usually straight-laced world of infrastructure investment.

The newly appointed AMP Capital boss was given the job despite settling a workplace sexual harassment claim against him. An investigation into Paharis behaviour at a work dinner in London found he had committed low-level breaches against a colleague and he was given a $500,000-plus penalty.

Boe Pahari at his legendary Mayfair apartment. Credit:John Shakespeare

Pahari was hoping to have put it all behind him when he started work last Wednesday but the revelations - and AMPs ham-fisted attempts to control the scandal - have been reported extensively since The Australian Financial Review broke the story a week ago. How odd that a company whose directors include former CBA boss David Murray and ex-Treasury Secretary John Fraser would struggle to meet the expectations of the female proportion of its workforce.

On Tuesday, a company spokesperson confirmed Pahari would divide his time between Sydney and London, where he lists an apartment within a luxury Mayfair address. Like Pahari, the UK digs have also had their fair share of headlines.
Most Australians, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, are frustrated with the annual parliamentary ritual of lamenting the lack of progress on closing the gap. The adoption of targets and the tyranny of metrics has not served us well.

The undisputed sheer volume of financial and human effort utilised over the decade to address fundamental disadvantage but delivering only a lack of progress, lack of Aboriginal self-determination and failure to shift the wellbeing of our people is an indictment on the nation.

Last week another new, ostensibly "historic" agreement was unveiled, with four "priority reform areas" and 16 new targets. Originally among them, according to reports, was a ludicrous target on incarceration that set the year 2093 as the moment we could finally expect to see Aboriginal people jailed in the same proportional numbers as other Australians. Talk about hoisting the white flag on incarceration. No wonder Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt quickly disavowed it.

Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt with members of the Indigenous graduate program in Canberra this week. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

A feature the government was happier claiming was that the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap was a deal between it and the Coalition of Peaks, the many organisations that make up our Aboriginal service delivery sector, who would deliver on its aims. This innovation is ostensibly "self-determination". It is anything but.
These constituents are left feeling incredibly frustrated, with no confidence in state governments ability to provide the relief they are entitled to  and despite their best efforts, our staff are unable to help as there is no mechanism to allow them to coordinate with IDES claims services, leaving many issues unresolved, lawmakers said in a letter obtained by the Tribune.
Coronavirus infections could have soared to more than 3000 per day in Victoria by the end of July without a lockdown, but further deaths are already inevitable, experts and health authorities say.

With 772 active cases across the state and rising rates of hospital admissions, an attempt to contain the virus to a small number of suburban hotspots has been abandoned as it became clear it had continued to spread.

"The rest of the country has been put on notice," University of Sydney infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy said. "No state should gloat and say we have done so much better than Victoria. It only takes a handful of people to break the control of this virus."

Professor Booy blamed the dangerous surge of cases in Victoria on a "disturbing level of complacency" that had seen the state's infection cases start at three per day at the start of June, before soaring to 191 cases on Tuesday.
"It was with some nostalgia that I read your article on the last flight of the Boeing 747," writes Kerri Grant of Bathurst. "As a 21-year-old I was on that first flight, as my father, Alan Wharton, was the then director of flight operations for Qantas and, I understood, the host for the flight. He and my mother spent their time in the lounge mixing with the guests while I sat in the basically empty economy section having the time of my life. We were greeted in Perth by what seemed a huge crowd of people, there to see the Jumbo, then travelled on to Singapore, stayed overnight and returned the next day. My brother still calls me the chosen one. Flying economy is pretty good when you are one of 10 or so passengers."

Let's keep things airborne with another contribution from the precision brigade. "My favourite (or most worrying) lack of pedantry (C8) is to hear a pilot announce, before take-off, that 'we expect to be in the air momentarily'," thinks Nick Dorsch of Woolwich.

"Bought an oximeter to keep a check on my blood oxygen level and pulse as age actually does weary," says Richard Stewart of Pearl Beach. "When the meter completes its measure and my digit is extracted, the meter signals 'finger out'. A sure sign to take note and change any bad health habits."

Luke Wallace of Alexandria "read the headline: 'Economy to recover strongly, but wages and jobs will not' and wondered if this was an example of Schrodinger's economy. I guess Jobson Grothe will have to start looking for work." Lest he end up in a cat state.

Well, if Margaret Hamon (C8) is going to get snotty, Ill mention that a brand of natty (Japanese fermented soybeans) is Gorira no hanakuso, gorilla snot. And while finding the link, I learnt that its also a brand of hair gel, and a guitar pick grip-enhancer, informs Richard Murnane of Hornsby. Joe Goozeff of Leura adds: "When I was growing up in maritime Gosford, I was told that oysters were shark snot. I have never been able to comprehend why people eat them." And apologies to Margaret for calling her Margaret Ramon on Tuesday. We didnt mean to spoil the broth.
NSW residents returning home from Victoria are among those who need a permit to cross the 1000-kilometre border between the two states, which has been shut in a massive police, military and emergency services operation.

The permit system, details of which were published on the Service NSW website on Tuesday night, applies to everyone except emergency service workers and those entering NSW to avoid injury or a risk of harm.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller addresses the media before the large-scale border operation. Credit:Jessica Hromas

Adults and children alike are required to get a permit to travel from Victoria to NSW. The 14-day permits are valid from the date of issue and apply to all borders: land, air and sea, as well as river crossings.

From 11.59pm on Monday, 650 police officers and more than 100 Australia Defence Force personnel began taking up posts at 55 border crossings, as authorities scrambled to stem the growing Victorian outbreak of COVID-19.
A proposed multi-storey home next to a heritage-listed Brisbane park, used by early settlers as a graveyard, has sparked neighbourhood fears it could block spectacular views across the D'Aguilar Range and the CBD.

Francis Lookout, on Dewar Terrace in the south-west suburb of Corinda, is one of Brisbane's earliest parklands, originally set aside as a cemetery for the pioneering Francis family in the 1860s and listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

Francis Lookout in Brisbane's south-west is a heritage-listed park. Residents are concerned a new development could diminish its spectacular views. Credit:Lucy Stone

The little park, set high on a hill, is on land formerly owned by the family, who in 1862 bought 21 acres, rising from the Brisbane River to the top of the hill. The hilltop site became the family burial ground in 1863 and holds several graves, two unlocated.

The last burial was in 1966, and the site is now public parkland.
Her background and skill in the kitchen transformed her into one of Australia's foremost experts on Asian cuisines and ingredients and the author of 13books from The Food of India to Makan-Lah, her definitive guide to the food of her beloved Malaysia. Her first book, the Asian Microwave Cookbook, resulted in a television show in Malaysia which ran for five years. At the time, she was also teaching at St Marys Cathedral College in inner Sydney, and raising three children without her husband, Thambipilay Selvarajah (Selva). Each term break, she was flown to Kuala Lumpur to film episodes and live the life of a television personality before coming back to "a classroom full of sweaty teenagers". Carols parents, Sara and George Arumugam, were Methodist teachers, her grandfather a Methodist minister. The family home in Klang, Malaysia (then Malaya) was a large house filled with aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews and the family of her Amah Kim, who she described as her "other mother". In that house, they lived through the Japanese occupation and then the Emergency, a terrifying guerrilla war against both the British and the Malay Chinese by Communist Chinese. During the Emergency, the family hid a Chinese family, and Ah Peng, one of Amah Kims sons, in a secret room. The one constant throughout Carols life was food. Her school tuck shop provided Nonya food (Chinese Malay fusion food): laksa sauces, Thai-style mee siam, mee goreng and rojak, Carols favourite  spiced star fruit, green mango and pineapple in a dark soy chill-studded sauce.

On a teenage trip to Sri Lanka with her parents, she discovered Sri Lankan flavours and the Dutch Burgher (Eurasian) food of her fathers wealthy relatives. While living in Johor Bahru, she learnt to cook the distinctly different regional dishes of Malaysia. Carol Selva Rajah in her kitchen, 2004. Credit:Stephen Baccon Sent to Methodist Ladies College in Perth, she arrived with a box of Chinese salted plums and a copy of Gone with the Wind. At the University of Malaya in Singapore, she met her future husband, Selva. But there were problems: he was a Jaffna Tamil Hindu, and objections were raised by her Methodist family. They solved that problem by eloping and marrying in Singapore in 1960. After bearing three children, time spent in Malacca and Johor Bahru, a sojourn in Canada while Selva (a geneticist) gained his PhD, Carol arrived in Australia, taught briefly in Armadale and then jumped into the world of food in the deep end, taking over a cafe in Hornsby in 1979. Inheriting a menu of hamburgers, chips, supermarket rolls ("the noble spring roll debased into a cylinder of armour-plate dough and sour cabbage") she gradually and successfully introduced tempura-battered fish, a spiced-down chicken curry and standard Sydney fried rice bulked with chopped lap cheong sausage.

Her daughter, Anushiya, recalls her grandmother coming to the cafe and reprimanding Carol: I didnt make sure you had an education so you could end up washing up other peoples plates. Exhausted by the physical strain of cafe work, Carol moved to Lae in Papua New Guinea, where Selva had been offered a job, only for Carol to have a serious medical problem and have to leave. Now she was back in Australia for good, with Selva joining her later. The popularity of and the publicity engendered by the magazine article in 1990 encouraged Carol to set up a food business, Gourmet Asian Cuisine. This was financed by an unexpected bequest from an Australian friend. She was ready to start cooking and writing. Her Cabramatta trips also inspired another book, The Essential Guide to Buying and Using Authentic Asian Ingredients. She began regular appearances cooking on television, with Trish Goddard and Bert Newton. In 1993, after travelling through south-east and western Asia, meeting chefs and visiting fish markets, she launched The Best of Asian Seafood Cookbook at the Sydney Seafood School. Then tragedy struck.

Selva was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and died in 1996, not before seeing his younger son married. Before the news of his illness, she had begun work on Makan-Lah! It took her a year to begin working on it again. A year after Selvas death, she was invited to New York to cook at the James Beard Foundation, a distinction she shared with only four other Australians, one being Tetsuya Wakuda. She cooked a Nonya feast using Australian produce accompanied by Australian wines. Carol Selva Rajah: warm, generous, cultured and funny. Many cookbooks and gastronomic events followed, including re-creating a Day Trip To Asia on a steam train to publicise the 2000 Olympics, cooking Malaysian food on the QE2 and being crowned the Chilli Queen at the Noosa Chilli Festival. What is hard to convey is Carol's personality. She was warm, generous, cultured and very funny. She was also, as her dear friend, food writer Cherry Ripe, said, "one of the most vibrant, caring and inspirational individuals I have ever had the privilege to know".
A man linked to one of the worst industrial fires in Melbournes recent history has avoided court after being charged with amassing a huge illegal stockpile of chemical waste that sparked the blaze and the environmental contamination it caused.

Graham Leslie White, 59, did not attend a Melbourne Magistrates Court hearing on Tuesday morning in relation to criminal charges against him and his company Delacor Pty Ltd, having been excused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Graham White outside court in 2019. Credit:Chris J Hopkins

The 34 charges against Mr White include permitting the dumping of industrial waste at the factory in West Footscray, which caught fire in August 2018, causing or permitting the pollution of a local waterway and causing an environmental hazard.

The former truck driver and sandblaster was also charged by the Environment Protection Authority in June with aggravated pollution.
Long queues are expected to form on both sides of the border of Victoria and NSW after its closure, as authorities scramble to enact a permit system allowing residents to travel between border towns on either side.

The border between Australias two most populous states will close at midnight on Tuesday for the first time since the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1919. NSW Police and Australian Defence Force personnel will administer the shut-down.

Wodonga mayor Anna Speedie Credit:Justin McManus

Asked on Tuesday about long queues forming, Wodonga mayor Anna Speedie said there would be some pretty big challenges, adding that the border closure would cause a big disruption to the community and the economy.

I would expect some delays. So I guess the message is pretty strong from our police commissioners: if you dont have to travel, please stay home, Cr Speedie said. It is going to be uncomfortable until there is a better permit system sorted out.
Front-line staff and some visitors to Melbournes largest hospitals will now have to wear surgical masks at all times, as extra precautions are put in place to protect nurses and doctors from coronavirus as a record 191 new cases were announced on Tuesday.

Surgical masks like this one are now being worn by all front-line staff in many major hospitals in Melbourne, for their entire shift. Credit:Tanya Macheda

New advice for staff in all clinical areas to wear a mask now applies at The Royal Melbourne Hospital in Parkville, Northern Hospital in Epping, the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg and The Alfred in Melbourne.

Western Health has introduced even more stringent precautions for three of it's main hospitals, including Footscray, requiring all staff to wear masks and a face shield, even if they don't work with patients.

Visitors and outpatients at Sunshine Hospital and Joan Kirner Women's and Children's Hospital are also required to don masks on entry as the hospitals are located within the locked-down suburb of St Albans.
School holidays will be extended for one week for most students in Victoria's lockdown zones as the state weighs up a possible return to remote learning in term three to try to flatten the second wave of COVID-19.

The longer break will not apply to year 11 and 12 students or to students in specialist schools, all of whom will return to face-to-face classes on Monday.

Teachers will also return to work as scheduled, and schools will provide supervised holiday programs for the children of those who cannot work from home.

The school changes will apply to greater Melbourne and to Mitchell shire, north of Melbourne. The rest of the state will return to normal classes next week.
The Bureau of Meteorology said it would not rain yesterday. It did. The footy tipsters said there was no way Essendon could beat Collingwood. The Bombers won. Believe it or not even the bookies sometimes get it wrong, as do stockbrokers. My mechanic  who is a genius  replaced the wrong part and my old car still stalled at the lights and needed to be fixed twice.

It is an imperfect world. Not everything goes the way it should. Even experts get it wrong. The Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton has been at the forefront of criticism since the first days of the pandemic. His measures were too severe, said his critics. The business community were furious - his advice "ignored the commercial reality" was their complaint. For weeks he resisted their urging to relax the restrictions, and despite his "scaredy cat" approach, Victoria now has what suspiciously looks like a second wave, albeit not yet of Brazilian or Floridian proportions.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announces fresh restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Credit:Getty Images

Applying the blowtorch to him and his colleagues in the middle of this emergency is not just unhelpful but plain dangerous. He and the team must get on with their job and be provided with every support possible. Just as in the middle of a bushfire emergency, we put out the flames first, ask questions later.

The blame game will happen, and the judicial inquiry under Judge Jennifer Coate is the best forum to interrogate what has gone wrong. She will have the power to search for smoking guns within the bureaucracy, seeking internal memos of advice that were ignored or overlooked, and evidence of contract supervision that was lax, fraudulent or even non-existent. Her work has already started. The document survey and search within the public service and in private providers will deliver a mountain of evidence that will need to be carefully sifted. Anyone from any private security firms been seen buying shredders in large quantities lately? Witnesses will need to be proofed, independent analysis sought. Her $3 million budget may need to be increased even before any public hearings begin.
South Africa: Grand Renaissance Ethiopian Dam (GERD) negotiations resume

African Union Chairperson, President Cyril Ramaphosa, has welcomed the resumption of trilateral negotiations between the parties to the Grand Renaissance Ethiopian Dam (GERD).

The negotiations follow the meeting of the African Union (AU) Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government held on 26 June 2020, the ministerial delegations of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, supported by technical experts, reconvened on 3 July 2020 to discuss the outstanding legal and technical issues pertaining to the GERD matter.



The GERD is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the continent and has the potential to be a catalyst for integration and development in the sub-region.

The resumed trilateral negotiations is an indication of the commitment of all parties to the GERD to dialogue as a means toward a peaceful, amicable, and durable solution taking into consideration all the dimensions of the GERD matter.

By this act, the parties have demonstrated their commitment to an African-led process in the spirit of African solution to African problems, said President Ramaphosa.

He said he is sincerely encouraged by the initial report he received, which indicates focused attention by all parties to the GERD in finding solutions.

I wish to further implore the parties to proceed along this path in order to reach an agreement on all outstanding issues, said the President.



In accordance with the decision of the AU Bureau meeting of 26 June 2020, President Ramaphosa will be presented with a report on the outcomes of the trilateral negotiations, after which he will convene a meeting of the Bureau to consider the report.

In the meantime, the Presidents office said the AU Chairperson is maintaining, dynamic, regular contact with all the Heads of State and Government ahead of this meeting in order to lend further momentum to the ongoing negotiations.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Judged in absentia after Riyadh's refusal to extradite them, they include two close collaborators of the Saudi crown prince, who denies all involvement in the journalists murder. Turkish investigators: Eliminated for criticizing the al-Saud regime. United Nations labels Saudi process a sham trial.

Istanbul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The trial for the brutal assassination of the Saudi journalist and activist Jamal Khashoggi opened yesterday. Twenty Saudi citizens are charged but are all being tried in absentia after Riyadh refused to extradite them to Turkey. They include two close associates of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (also known as MBS), who denies all involvement.

On October 2, 2018, a Saudi death squad murdered Khashoggi inside the Riyadh consulate in Istanbul; his body was cut up into pieces, and the remains never found. The consular authorities had lured him to the building with the excuse of his having to fill out forms for his marriage to Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish citizen.

Investigators, like most observers, claim that the Washington Post columnist was eliminated for his repeated criticisms of the al-Saud regime, particularly MBS, believed to be the country's true leader. Ahmed al-Assiri, a former deputy head of Saudi intelligence, is considered the material organizer of the assassination.

A former Turkish consulate employee told the judges that on the day of Khashoggi's disappearance, he had been summoned to the consul's residence to turn on the barbecue oven. Returning to the building a few days later, Zekir Demir had found the marble around the grill had been cleaned with bleach.

Riyadh has always denied all knowledge of the murder. Last year, the Saudi authorities sentenced eight people - never identified - for the incident; five of them were executed, the other three are in prison. The United Nations called it a sham trial. According to Agnes Callamard, UN rapporteur for extrajudicial killings, Khashoggi was the victim of a deliberate and premeditated execution for which the Saudi government is responsible.

The next hearing in the Turkish trial will take place on 24 November. Given the lack of collaboration of the Saudis, for analysts this is a more political than judicial operation, to be included in the framework of the regional competition between Ankara and Riyadh.
On the other hand, when you look at whether bed counts are going up or down, Illinois is among those showing declines. But this measure by its nature is based in part on older data. (It compares the most recent average of hospital beds used with the average from a week prior.) And we know that, whatever Illinois past achievements, its hospitalizations appear to have leveled off.
The helicopter at the centre of a crash in Broome that killed pilot Troy Thomas and a young girl plunged out of the sky just moments after take-off as the pilots wife and youngest child watched on in horror.

Mr Thomas, his 12-year-old daughter Mia, her best friend of the same age and family friend Maddison Down, an education assistant from Mandurah, were on their way to a family holiday when tragedy struck.

Mr Thomas was killed instantly and his daughters friend died two hours later at Broome Hospital.

His daughter Mia is in a serious but stable condition at Perth Children's Hospital while Ms Down is still fighting for life at Royal Perth Hospital, according to Nine News Perth reporter Jacquelin Robson.
People dipping into their superannuation to ride through the coronavirus pandemic are being warned by the Tax Office they could face a major tax penalty if they breach eligibility rules.

A surge in the number of people withdrawing up to $10,000 from their super has prompted concerns within the sector that many applicants are using the current health crisis as an opportunity to access the cash tax-free despite not suffering economic hardship.

The ATO says people can face penalties if they withdraw money from superannuation but are ineligible to do so. Credit:Greg Newington

Announced as part of the Morrison government's second tranche of stimulus measures, people can make two separate withdrawals of $10,000 each without a tax penalty. At the time, the government said it expected about 1.5 million people to withdraw up to $27 billion between March and September.

By June 28, $18.1 billion had been withdrawn by 2.4 million people, with another surge expected from July 1, the start of the new financial year when people could start making their second $10,000 withdrawal.
He traced to the same political prejudice the attitude of the Commission towards what Mr Theodore was understood to construe as reluctance to offer him an opportunity to present himself as a witness and Mr Theodore gave as his own conclusion that the Commissioner deemed his evidence unimportant. E.G. Theodore ca. 1929 Credit:Staff photographer If one can regard the whole inquiry from Mr Theodore's viewpoint as nothing more than an

attempt at political "assassination" of himself his indignation and resentment will also be shared, but Mr Theodore's affected surprise that his own name could be involved from the nature of the Commission's terms of reference was not the most successful part of his statement yesterday. The Herald has refrained from comment upon the Commission's finding pending Mr Theodore's statement and we have no desire to prejudice any further action or legal proceedings as yet vaguely hinted at. On one point we are in entire agreement with Mr Theodore. That is that some definite action must be taken by the Queensland Government.

Mr. Theodore's own claim is - "I do not want any further Royal Commission. I ask for a fair trial, and I venture to say that that can only be afforded me by the Attorney-General of Queensland presenting an indictment against me. I demand that the Queensland Government formulate an indictment." The public will expect that State Government to take some further action, and indeed the Queensland Premier said last Friday that legal advice was being sought to that end. Mr. Theodore will probably on reflection regret, since he asks for impartial and unbiased trial, that he accompanied his demand with abuse of Mr. Justice Campbell as a political hireling. Nobody can know better than Mr Theodore that the party now in power in Queensland strove long and hard to secure an inquiry into the Labour Government's connection with Chillagoe mines and smelters, and that, despite the fact that this issue was of consuming local interest, the Labour party whilst in power repeatedly burked inquiry. At the last Queensland elections the present Government defeated Labour and came into power largely on this very issue, and the Moore Government was bound by the electors' decision to appoint a Royal Commission. Does Mr. Theodore's dissociation of himself with the acts of the Queensland Labour Ministry after his retirement from State politics imply also his censure of his party, whose attitude on the matter of granting an inquiry remained obstinately preventive? As for the difficulty of his attending the Campbell Commission last month, if, as Mr. Theodore has recognised, his personal honour was involved, was it quite impossible, even though the work of the Federal Cabinet were slightly inconvenienced, for Mr. Theodore to have postponed his Budget speech for a week until he could have appeared before the Commission?

Mr. Theodore has opened himself to the address of these questions because yesterday he at least

outlined his defence before the court of public opinion without waiting for any eventual legal proceedings. "I only wish to say at this stage with regard to these charges that all of them are damnably false." Credit:Staff photographer E.G. Theodore's address to Federal Parliament, on July 8, 1930 The recent report of a royal commission in Queensland has reflected so seriously upon my character, and has impugned my honesty so definitely, that I had no alternative but to hand in my resignation as a Minister of the Crown, and await an opportunity to vindicate my character. The Commissioner finds that Goddard, who was the manager of the Government smelters at Chillagoe, was dishonestly appointed by Mr Jones, the then Minister for Mines, [former Queensland Premier] Mr McCormack and myself; that the allocation of capital between the Chillagoe railway, the smelter enterprise, and certain mines that were purchased from the Chillagoe company - an allocation made by me when Treasurer of Queensland in 1918 - were illegally made. He finds that from the outset, presumably from 1917, when Reid acquired certain leases at Mungana, there was a corrupt intent to sell them to the Government, in which I am alleged to be implicated. He finds further that there was an improper and secret interest held by myself in mining concerns known as the Argentum and Fluorspar mines; that there was improper influence used by Mr McCormack and myself in connexion with certain contracts for the supply of timber to the Mount Mulligan mine; that the purchase of the Mungana leases was not justified; that the mines were worthless, and that the proceeds of the sale were shared, in some secret understanding arrived at, apparently years before, between Mr McCormack, Mr Goddard, Mr Reid and myself.
Doctors are calling on Australian and New Zealand governments to resist alcohol industry pressure and adopt the mandatory pregnancy warning labels they previously sent back for revision.

Royal Australasian College of Physicians President John Wilson has written to the state, territory, federal and New Zealand food ministers due to vote on Food Standards Australia and New Zealand's proposed new label on July 17, urging them to adopt the red, black and white label that said "HEALTH WARNING: Alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby".

Doctors are pushing for FSANZ's strongest pregnancy warning label to be mandated on alcohol bottles.

"Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder has lifelong health consequences with great economic and social costs, including spending on health, education, welfare and criminal justice, as well as untold losses in human potential," Professor Wilson wrote.

"Yet almost a quarter of Australians are not aware that drinking alcohol when pregnant is harmful to an unborn baby, resulting in around 75,000 alcohol-exposed pregnancies every year. In a recent NSW pregnancy cohort over 60 per cent of women drank alcohol during pregnancy."
Experts believe Australia has entered a dangerous new phase of the pandemic as soaring infection numbers in Melbourne forced the city back into lockdown and put NSW on high alert for new COVID-19 clusters.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it was "far too early to be definitive" about whether Victoria's surge would affect NSW but the lockdown and border closure should help significantly.

Firefighters in protective clothing prepare to distribute food to residents in Melbourne's locked-down towers. Credit:Jason South

"We now have the appropriate measures in place and we are managing well at the moment," he said.

Mr Hazzard said there was a "possibility but not a high probability" that NSW could be forced back into a lockdown but that could be avoided if high rates of testing continued.
The Department of Health and Human Services has apologised for delays in getting donated food and supplies to more than 3000 public housing residents in hardline lockdowns.

Three days after the lockdown was announced, Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp has moved to ensure donations will be delivered to tower residents on Tuesday afternoon.

A resident stuck in their flat at a locked down tower in Flemington. Credit:Justin McManus

The announcement on Saturday that nine public housing towers would be subjected to the country's toughest lockdown measures  with residents unable to leave their buildings for any reason and given no notice before the lockdown took effect  caught residents unaware.

Charities, religious and cultural groups and community organisations have launched massive donation drives and collected tonnes of food and goods.
Hong Kong: Security forces now have overriding authority to enter and search the properties of Hong Kong citizens for evidence of activity contravening a new security law, and will be able to stop people under investigation from leaving the city, it emerged on Monday.

China's new sweeping national security law to crack down on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, which passed last week, also allows authorities to confiscate proceeds related to any offence endangering national security, and will require foreign and Taiwan political organisations and agents to provide information on activities concerning Hong Kong.

Hong Kong citizens still had little detail on the specifics of the law when it was passed last week.

Critics say the law - which punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison - is aimed at crushing dissent and a long-running campaign for greater democracy which has drawn huge crowds on to the streets.
London: The "uncomfortable" history of the Commonwealth must be addressed, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, said, as they told young campaigners the world had to "right those wrongs" of the past.

The couple, president and vice-president of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust youth organisation, spoke to young people via video link from their home in Los Angeles, following their recent vocal campaign work on the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Queen is famously proud of the modern Commonwealth, which she has described as a "worldwide family" and "very special community" and is now made up of 54 countries, including Australia. The Commonwealth Day service was the final event attended by the Sussexes as working members of the British Royal family.

In a video discussion broadcast on Monday, Harry and Meghan joined the trust's conversation on its "historic injustice", including the transatlantic slave trade.
Baghdad: An Iraqi analyst who was a leading expert on the Islamic State and other armed groups has been shot dead in Baghdad after receiving threats from Iran-backed militias.

Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on Hisham al-Hashimi, 47, outside his home in the Zeyouneh area of Baghdad on Monday (Tuesday AEST), a family member said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The family member heard five shots fired.

Security officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said he was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Hashimi was a well-connected security analyst who appeared regularly on Iraqi television and whose expertise was sought out by government officials, journalists and researchers. He was a member of the Iraq Advisory Council and a fellow at US-based Centre for Global Policy's Non-state Actors and Geopolitics program, according to his Twitter profile.
Wellington: New Zealand police and security services were warned of a threat against another mosque for the same day that a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in 2019, an Islamic women's group told an inquiry into the shooting massacre.

The Islamic Womens Council of New Zealand said it warned police and security services repeatedly about threats from white supremacists, including when they received a Facebook message threatening to burn the Koran outside a mosque in Hamilton on March 15, the same day as the Christchurch attack.

A Muslim man walks past a makeshift memorial on the walls surrounding the Al Noor Mosque following the Christchurch attack. Credit:Jason South

Although the threat was not directly connected to the mass shooting, extra security measures could have been taken at all mosques, said the submission to the closed-door inquiry which was made public on Tuesday.

"The police had enough intelligence to warrant a coordinated national strategy," the group said in the 130-page submission.
The original cotillion date was April 25, but then we changed it to June 13, and then we changed it to the first weekend in August, and then we said this isnt going to be accomplishable, said 2020 Cotillion chair and The Links member Dr. Joy West. Originally scheduled to be held at the Fairmont Chicago under the theme of Diamonds and Pearls, the cotillion is now planned for May 1, 2021. This was devastating for us, basically because of the families. The senior families in particular.
Lansdale, PA (19446)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. Thunder possible. High 72F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 48F. Winds light and variable.
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India's Sovereign Pharma said it has dispatched the first batch of generic remdesivir for drugmaker Cipla Ltd, as the country recorded more than 22,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday. At current capacity, Sovereign can supply 50,000 to 95,000 vials per month of the injectable, the company said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. It did not disclose how many vials are there in the batch for Cipla. Privately held Sovereign Pharma is manufacturing and packaging Cipla's remdesivir version. Cipla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Gilead ...
An investigation into a deadly gas leak at a South Korean-owned chemical plant in Visakhapatnam that killed 12 people in May recommended the factory be moved away from inhabited areas, according to its full report released on Tuesday. The probe at the plant run by LG Polymers, owned by South Korea's LG Chem Ltd, found the company was negligent and warning systems were not working, the state government said on Monday. The investigation was set up after toxic styrene gas leaked from the chemical plant near Visakhapatnam in the early hours of May 7, choking many people who were ...
Numerous teachers across the country will soon be faced with the prospect of returning to the classroom this fall, even though they feel their health may be at risk. In many cases, teachers with compromised health or those who live with family members who may be especially at risk for infection will have to decide if school administrators and policies can protect them and their students from catching the coronavirus. Its something schools are going to have to be ready for, says Tom Lancaster, a former principal living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Lancaster led schools in Toledo, Ohio, and Seattle, Washington, before retiring in 2014. Ive heard from former colleagues who say theyve already talked to teachers who wont come into the classroom unless they feel completely safe. And I dont know if completely safe is going to be a reality for some time.
Four technology startups backed by SoftBank Group Corp's $100 billion Vision Fund were among the small companies approved for a U.S. pandemic aid program, according to data released by the Treasury Department on Monday. Car-sharing startup Getaround Inc., which raised $300 million in a round led by SoftBank in 2018, was listed as approved for a $5-10 million loan. The Treasury Department provided only ranges for loan amounts, and did not identify by name those recipients seeking loans of less than $150,000. In-car monitoring technology firm Nauto Inc. was approved for $2-5 ...
TikTok will exit the Hong Kong market within days, a spokesman told Reuters late on Monday, as other technology companies including Facebook Inc have suspended processing government requests for user data in the region. The short form video app owned by China-based ByteDance has made the decision to exit the region following China's establishment of a sweeping new national security law for the semi-autonomous city. "In light of recent events, we've decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong," a TikTok spokesman said in response to a Reuters question ...
Jewellery major Titan on Tuesday said that it had reopened 83 per cent stores across all its businesses as of end of June. The disclosure was made in its quarterly update for the April-June (Q1) period. Apart from jewellery, the company makes watches, eye wear and other accessories.

In Tanishq, Titan's jewellery division, stores reopened were higher, at 95 per cent, in Q1, the firm said, though revenue in May and June was below 20 per cent in the unit. Titan gets 80 per cent of its total revenue from the jewellery division. While sales recovery in June, at an overall level, was ...
About 49 per cent of Indian citizens say Chinese companies should be allowed to sell products in India only after they give an undertaking stating no personal or aggregate data of Indian customers would be shared with China and that all such information must reside in India, according to a new survey by LocalCircles.

In India, while personal data protection is to be governed by the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019, aggregate data is to be governed by the e-commerce policy which is still being drafted. However, a temporary undertaking solution could be implemented which prevents any ...
reported its



second COVID-19 fatality as a 40-year-old man died at the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences at Naharlagun, a senior health official said on Tuesday.

The man from Dirang in West Kameng district died in the states lone medical college and hospital on Monday, he said.

The man, suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), was under week-long dialysis at TRIHMS, State Surveillance Officer L Jampa said.

The body of the deceased was handed over to the relatives after full sanitisation, he added.

This is the second Covid-19 death in the Northeastern state. A 43-year-old woman, also a resident from Dirang, died on June 25 due to the infection.

Both the casualties have uncanny similarities -- they are from the same district, suffering from kidney ailments and recently returned from Delhi, Jampa said.

A fresh case of COVID-19 was reported from the Capital Complex, comprising of Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa, taking the states total infection count to 270, he said.

The patient recently returned to the state from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and was asymptomatic. He has been shifted to a Covid Care Centre, the official said.

On Monday, 14 persons from Changlang district were discharged after recovery, Jampa said, adding that they have been advised two weeks home quarantine and self-monitoring.

at present has 176 active cases, while 92 persons have been discharged.

Total 27,645 samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far.

Capital Complex has registered the maximum number of cases at 84, followed by Changlang district at 40, West Kameng at 20 and Namsai at 12.

The state government imposed a week-long total lockdown in the Capital Complex that began on Monday evening, amid the spurt in cases.

The shutdown which came into force from 5 pm on Monday would continue till 5 am on July 13.

The state, which remained coronavirus-free until May 23, witnessed a sudden rise in cases after people started returning from other parts of the country.

(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.)
Chinese military removed temporary infrastructure and continued gradual withdrawal of troops from face-off sites in Hot Springs and Gogra in eastern Ladakh for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, and the Indian Army is keeping a strict vigil on their rearward movement, government sources said.

Gogra and Hot Springs are among the key friction points where the two armies were in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation for the past eight weeks. The sources said the mutual disengagement of troops at the two friction points is likely to be completed within two days, and that there has been ...
After the countrys apex health research institute tried to allay concerns over setting a hurried deadline to find Indias indigenous vaccine, it is now up to clinical sites to ensure trials happen swiftly, albeit following due process.

Sites Business Standard spoke to say they might take their own time. This will largely depend on getting the logistics right before volunteer recruitments are set in motion.

There are 12 sites across India, including private and public hospitals, conducting Phase 1 and 2 human clinical trials for Bharat Biotechs Covaxin.

Based on an earlier letter by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to the 12 sites, volunteer recruitments for the clinical trials were to begin by July 7. At least three sites are yet to kick-start the process.

At Jeevan Rekha Hospital in Belgaum  one of the 12 clinical trial sites  investigators are awaiting further communication from the ICMR and Bharat Biotech, with volunteer screening and recruitment yet to begin any time soon.

The Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital in Bhubaneswar is awaiting a site initiation visit (SIV) by

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: WHO says peak yet to come; Europe deaths top 200,000



Another site in South India said it had not started screening patients. Its site initiation process is awaited. We will start recruiting in two-three days. We will follow a 28-day timeline for Phase 1. Once Phase 1 trials are completed and the data duly analysed, we will start Phase 2. The process may take 180 days, said a site lead.





Meanwhile, the Jaipur site said it was awaiting the vaccine samples. The SIV is conducted to check whether all safety protocols for the clinical trials are being met. This is yet to happen and should be completed in a day or two. It is only after the SIV will the site begin screening volunteers for clinical trials or even receive vaccine samples from the sponsor. The timeline for clinical trials is now site-specific, said Venkata Rao at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital.

Before the ICMR retracted the August 15 deadline, clinical trial sites were divided in their opinion on the timeline as well as the protocols to be followed. Some even said Phase 1 and 2 would be conducted together and the trials would end in a months time, while others felt it was impossible to adhere to the deadline.

Chandrasekhar Gillurkar of the Gillurkar Multispeciality Hospital & Research Centre in Nagpur  one of the 12 sites  had told Business Standard that after vaccine was given (counted as Day Zero), the site would wait for a fortnight. The second dose will be given before the 14th day. After the second dose, these volunteers will again be checked a fortnight later to see if they develop antibodies. The Phase 1 and 2 trials will be on 1,125 volunteers, of which 375 will be in Phase 1. Sources revealed that after Phase 2 ends, the countrys drug regulator is likely to take a call on whether to launch the vaccine on compassionate-use grounds, at least for health care workers.
India on Tuesday raised with the US its decision to withdraw US visas from foreign students if their universities switch to online-only classes, official sources said. The issue was raised by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla during an online meeting with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale.

The sources said the US side took note of it and said they will keep the best interests of the Indian students in mind and would try and mitigate the impact of the decision. It also conveyed to India that detailed guidelines for implementation of the decision are ...
Our current building is two floors, so restocking means going up and down narrow stairs, and the main shopping area is crowded, Ruhl says. We are excited for a bigger space. When you walk into the new building, youll see an area for knife sharpening and knife skills classes. It will have a different vibe, a little more of a boutique feel.
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh's and Shamli on Monday sealed the borders of the districts with neighbouring states of Uttarakhand and Haryana, respectively, in view of the cancellation of the annual Kanwar Yatra due to the pandemic, officials said.

Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage of devotees of Lord Shiva known as kanwariyas. The devotees visit Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand and Sultanganj in Bihar to fetch holy waters of river Ganga during the auspicious Hindu month of Shravan.

The borders of and



Shamli with Uttarakhand and Haryana, respectively, were sealed to prevent kanwariyas from entering the districts, the officials said.

Fifty-eight checkpoints have been set up on the Delhi-Haridwar highway and at other places along the Uttarakhand border to check the arrival of kanwariyas headed to Haridwar, Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar, Abhishek Yadav told reporters on Monday.

They will not be allowed to proceed to Haridwar, he said.

In Shamli, police have sealed the Yamuna bridge on the Panipat-Khatima highway, the officials said.

During a meeting between district magistrates of Shamli and Panipat earlier on Monday, it was decided not to allow kanwariyas coming from Haryana and Rajasthan to enter Shamli. Police officers from the two districts also attended the meeting, they said.

Last month, chief ministers of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana arrived at a consensus to cancel the Kanwar Yatra this year to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Despite authorities repeatedly asking people not to undertake the pilgrimage, there have been reports about kanwariyas trying to reach Haridwar.

(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.)
A day after Security Advisor (NSA) held talks with Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, Congress leader asked why "China allowed to justify the murder of 20 unarmed jawans in our territory."

" interest is paramount. GOI's duty is to protect it. Then, 1 - Why has Status Quo Ante not been insisted on? 2 - Why is China allowed to justify the murder of 20 unarmed jawans in our territory? 3 - Why is there no mention of the territorial sovereignty of Galwan valley?" Rahul tweeted.

The comments of the Congress leader came after India and China have agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest the complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity.

The Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question -- and Wang Yi--- had a 'frank and in-depth exchange' telephone conversation on Sunday during which they agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously, according to a statement by Ministry of External Affairs released on Monday.

They re-affirmed that both sides should strictly respect and observe the LAC 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.

The situation at the border became tense after 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in a violent face-off in the Galwan valley on June 15-16 when Chinese troops attempted to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation.

(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.)
Covid-19 drugs entre the black market: A BBC investigation has found that two life-saving drugs used to treat Covid-19 patients in India - remdesivir and tocilizumab - are in short supply and being sold for excessive rates on a thriving black market. The demand for remdesivir is driven by the fact that it has managed to cut the duration of Covid symptoms from 15 days down to 11 in clinical trial at hospitals around the world.

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.

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The government is not considering extending the deadline for payment of Equalisation Levy by non-resident e-commerce players, even though a majority of them are yet to deposit the first installment of the tax, an official said. The 2 per cent Equalisation Levy was introduced in the 2020-21 Budget and has come into effect from April 1, 2020.

The deadline for payment of first installment of tax for April-June is July 7. The tax would be levied on consideration received by e-commerce operators from online supply of goods or services. A government official aware of the development said ...
The most overwhelmingly popular title suggested in the thread was John Carney's 2016 rock musical "Sing Street," and I couldn't agree more. Set in 1980s Dublin, young Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) sets out to form a band to impress a girl (Lucy Boynton), using inspiration from his older brother, Brendan (Jack Reynor), and his epic collection of '80s pop and New Wave records. The songs, co-written by Carney and Gary Clark of '80s Scottish band Danny Wilson, are inspired by the popular groups of the era, and Clark and Carney demonstrate an incredible knack for writing earworm knockoffs of Duran Duran, The Cure and Hall & Oates hits that are genuinely great. Plus, it's a wonderful coming-of-age love story. There's nothing not to like about "Sing Street," so stream it for free (with ads) on Tubi, or rent it for $1.99 on Amazon or YouTube. Another fun music movie suggested was Tom Hanks' "That Thing You Do," available on HBO platforms and DirecTV.
Germany's Lufthansa airlines will cut 20% of its leadership positions and 1,000 administrative jobs in a restructuring plan that it announced on Tuesday to cope with fallout from the coronavirus crisis. Lufthansa Group, which employs about 138,000 people, said it would also halve its investment in new aircraft, although it said that meant it could still add up to 80 new planes by 2023. Shareholders backed a 9 billion euro ($10.2 billion) government bailout last month, securing the future of Germany's flagship carrier after it was brought to the brink of collapse by the ...
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 has said, after the navy deployed two aircraft carriers to the strategic South China Sea to boost its presence in the region. The message is clear.

Were not going to stand by and let China or anyone else take the reins in terms of being the most powerful, dominant force, whether its in that region or over here, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News on Monday. And the ...
Prominent academics and lawmakers have reacted sharply to the new US guideline on foreign students pursuing degrees in the country if their universities switch to online-only classes, calling it as "horrifying" and "cruel." The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday 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 referring to the September to December semester.

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.

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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.



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Shares of companies engaged in hotels and restaurants business rallied by up to 20 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday after the Maharashtra government allowed hotels to reopen from Wednesday. Kamat Hotels (India) shares were locked in upper circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 35.03 on the BSE while Royal Orchid Hotels, Speciality Restaurants, Chalet Hotels, EIH Associated Hotels, and Indian Hotels were up by more than 6 per cent on the BSE.

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.

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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.



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Theres sort of an ongoing physiological maintenance for your brain and for your body that weve been following through, Hanks says, speaking by video conference from his home in California. What can you do but try to bind up the hay in neat little bundles. Thats what weve been doing. Just going into the barn with the baling machine, saying, Well, we got all this hay. Lets at least stack it up and get it ready for the next day.
Canara Bank said that the meeting of the board of directors of the bank is scheduled on 10 July 2020 to consider the capital raising plan of the bank for the year 2020-21.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 6 July 2020. Shares of Canara Bank settled 1.8% higher at Rs 104.85 yesterday.

The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 296.5 on 05 July 2019. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 73.85 on 24 March 2020.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month, up 4.17% compared with 6.16% rise in the Sensex. The scrip underperformed the market in past one quarter, up 20.86% as against Sensex's 21.35% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one year, down 61.10% as against Sensex's 5.77% fall.

Canara Bank reported net loss of Rs 3,259.33 crore in Q4 March 2020 as against net loss of Rs 551.53 crore in Q4 March 2019. Total income rose 1.6% to Rs 14,222.39 crore.

Canara Bank is a state-owned commercial bank with headquarters in Bangalore. The Government of India held 78.52% stake in the bank as of 31 March 2020.

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Godrej Consumer Products on Monday (6 July) said that it expected to post mid single-digit sales growth in Q1 June 2020 in India, driven by higher volumes.

The FMCG company said the nationwide lockdown impacted its performance in the early part of the quarter. However, the firm ramped up the production and resolved logistics challenges. The demand trends were mixed for the categories and geographies of its operations.

In India, resurgence of household insecticide category continued with strong underlying consumer demand. The firm did witness strong momentum in the hygiene category, however saw muted demand in hair colour and air freshener, which were temporarily impacted by the lockdown. The company expects close to mid single-digit, volume driven sales growth in the quarter.

In Indonesia, the firm expects close to mid single digit constant currency sales growth. In GAUM (Godrej Africa, USA, Middle East), it expects sales decline in early twenties, in constant currency terms. The firm saw a strong recovery from mid May and June across most of its markets of operations.

Within the 'others' geographies, the performance in Latin America is expected to be steady in constant currency terms. However, in INR terms the performance is likely to be weak. Performance in SAARC countries continues to be steady.

At consolidated level, Godrej expects absolute sales to be marginally lower compared to the base quarter in INR terms.

Shares of Godrej Consumer Products fell 0.99% to Rs 700.60.

On a consolidated basis, the company reported a 75.42% drop in net profit to Rs 229.90 crore on a 12.2% fall in net sales to Rs 2,132.69 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019.

Godrej Consumer Products is an Indian consumer goods company. The company's products include soap, hair colourants, toiletries and liquid detergents.

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Shares of eight hotel companies rose by 0.85% to 13.24% after the Maharashtra government allowed hotels to reopen with 33% capacity from 8 July.

Kamat Hotels (up 13.24%), Chalet Hotels (up 8.69%), Lemon Tree Hotels (up 4.85%), TajGVK Hotels (up 4.32%), Indian Hotels Company (up 3.38%), HLV (up 2.25%), EIH (up 2.2%) and ITDC (up 0.85%) advanced.

The BSE Sensex was up 57.59 points, or 0.16% at 36,544.87.

Further easing the lockdown, the Maharashtra government on Monday (6 July) allowed hotels and other entities providing accommodation services outside containment zones to resume operations at 33% of their capacity from 8 July 2020. The government notification also covers lodges and guest houses. The permission has been granted on conditions of these entities adhering to social distancing norms and other protocols to avoid spread of the infection.

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Key benchmarks traded with small gains in morning trade. Profit booking was witnessed after a rally in the past four sessions. The Nifty held above 10,750 level and traded higher.

At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 54.88 points or 0.15% at 36,542.16. The Nifty 50 index was up 14.85 points or 0.14% at 10,778.50.

The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.4% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was added 0.79%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1151 shares rose and 1009 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index the breadth was negative with 20 stocks advancing and 30 stocks declining.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 348.35 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 263.47 crore in the Indian equity market on 6 July, provisional data showed.

Buzzing Segment:

Shares of hotel companies rose after the Maharashtra government allowed hotels to reopen with 33% capacity from 8 July. Kamat Hotels (up 13.24%), Chalet Hotels (up 8.69%), Lemon Tree Hotels (up 4.85%), TajGVK Hotels (up 4.32%), Indian Hotels Company (up 3.38%), HLV (up 2.25%), EIH (up 2.2%) and ITDC (up 0.85%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 1.59%), Indiabulls Housing Finance (up 1.04%), Vodafone Idea (down 1.53%), Steel Authority of India (up 2.83%) and BHEL (down 0.8%) are banned from trading in NSE's F&O segment for today after the securities crossed 95% of market wide position limit.

Bandhan Bank jumped 4.68% on reporting strong growth in advances and deposits in Q1 June 2020. The private lender's loans & advances (on book+off book+TLTRO investments) jumped 18% year-on-year to Rs 74,325 crore (merged) in Q1 June 2020 as against Rs 63,164 crore in Q1 June 2019.

Total deposits rose 35% to Rs 60,602 in Q1 June 2020 from Rs 44,796 crore in Q1 June 2018. Retail to total deposits were flat at 78% in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019. CASA deposits were reported at Rs 22,473 crore during the quarter, rising 47% from Rs 15,257 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. CASA ratio improved to 37.1% in Q1 June 2020 from 34.1% in the same quarter last year.

Bajaj Finance rose 2.71% after the company's asset under management (AUM) under moratorium reduced to about 15.5% as of 30 June from 27% as of end April. The company's customer franchise stood at 43 million as of 30 June 2020, up by 16.5% or 0.5 million from 36.9 million as on 30 June 2019. New loans booked during Q1 FY21 were down by 76.7% to 1.7 million as compared to 7.3 million in Q1 FY20. Assets under management (AUM) increased by 7.8% to approximately Rs 1.38 lakh crore as of 30 June 2020 as compared to approximately Rs 1.28 lakh crore as of 30 June 2019. The company continues to remain well capitalized with capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) of approximately 26.4% as of 30 June 2020, the NBFC said. With consolidated liquidity surplus of approximately Rs 17,600 crore as of 30 June 2020, the company's liquidity position remains very strong, it added. Bajaj Finance's deposit book grew 32.6% to Rs 20,000 crore in Q1 FY21 from Rs 15,084 crore in Q1 FY20.

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Maruti Suzuki India has collaborated with Axis Bank to offer easy financing options for the potential car buyers.

Axis Bank is one of the key partners of Maruti Suzuki for dealer inventory as well as retail financing solutions.

As a part of the tie-up, Axis Bank will offer attractive flexi EMI options to ease the liquidity and repayment stress of customers during these tough times. Axis Bank offers auto loans to a wide category of customer segments: salaried, self-employed and with or without income proof customers.

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Punjab National Bank (PNB) said that its board will meet on Thursday (9 July 2020) to consider a proposal to raise capital through a mix of both equity and debt.

The board will consider proposal for raising capital through issue of Basel-III-compliant tier-1 bonds, tier-2 bonds and equity shares by way of private placement, qualified institutions placement, follow-on public offering, rights issue or any other mode or through a combination, it said. Following the board approval, the resolution will be put for the shareholders' nod, the bank added.

Further, the board will clear opening balance sheet of the amalgamated bank as on 1 April, which is post amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank.

The scrip fell 1.08% to Rs 36.65 on the BSE. It traded in the range of Rs 36.45 and Rs 37.50 so far during the day.

The stock is currently trading below its 200-day simple moving average placed at 49.06.

On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, shares of PNB have fallen 43.12% while the benchmark Sensex has lost 11.46%.

The government-owned lender reported a net loss of Rs 697.20 crore in Q4 March 2020, lower than net loss of Rs 4749.64 crore in Q4 March 2019. Total income rose 11.3% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 16,388.32 crore in Q4 FY20.

Punjab National Bank is a public sector bank. The Government of India held 83.19% stake in the bank as on 31 March 2020.

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TCS rose 1.34% to Rs 2293.50 after JP Morgan Funds purchased 0.03% stake in the IT major worth approximately Rs 247 crore via block deal on Monday.

On Monday (6 July), JP Morgan Funds purchased 11.23 lakh equity shares, or 0.03% stake, of TCS at an average price of Rs 2,199 per share via block deal on the BSE.

JP Morgan Funds acquired the shares from Flagship Indian Investment Company (Mauritius).

The company's board will meet on 9 July 2020 to approve the financial results for June quarter. The board will also consider declaration of interim dividend to equity shareholders.

On a consolidated basis, TCS reported 0.85% fall in net profit to Rs 8,049 crore on 0.03% rise in total income to Rs 40,684 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Operating margin for the Q4 stood at 25.1%, and net margin reported was 20.2%.

TCS is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization.

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Twenty-one debutantes (14 high school seniors and seven juniors) spent a portion of their weekends from January until spring learning etiquette and things like how to waltz, how to tango, and how to curtsy. And when you add the young men who would be their escorts and backup escorts, that number more than doubles. All the work was intended to lead to The Links Inc. Chicago chapters 60th annual Debutante Cotillion, a formal ball where the debutantes are presented to society with the support of their escorts, family and friends. But just like proms, graduations and other milestones for young people, COVID-19 squashed this event.
Utilties stocks were trading in red, with the S&P BSE Utilities index decreasing 32.81 points or 2.06% at 1561.4 at 13:53 IST.

Among the components of the S&P BSE Utilities index, Indraprastha Gas Ltd (down 6.01%), Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (down 4.94%),A2Z Infra Engineering Ltd (down 4.87%),Reliance Power Ltd (down 4.87%),Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd (down 4.82%), were the top losers. Among the other losers were GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd (down 4.79%), Rattanindia Power Ltd (down 4.71%), Mahanagar Gas Ltd (down 3.81%), Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (down 3.23%), and Adani Transmission Ltd (down 2.88%).

On the other hand, Torrent Power Ltd (up 1.69%), Tata Power Company Ltd (up 0.99%), and GE T&D India Ltd (up 0.99%) turned up.

At 13:53 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 32.55 or 0.09% at 36519.83.

The Nifty 50 index was up 4.9 points or 0.05% at 10768.55.

The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 56.31 points or 0.44% at 12822.9.

The S&P BSE 150 Midcap Index index was up 11.24 points or 0.25% at 4465.56.

On BSE,1232 shares were trading in green, 1365 were trading in red and 144 were unchanged.

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The simultaneous announcement by New Delhi and Beijing of a decision to reduce military confrontation along the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh is to be welcomed.

This came after several rounds of talks  military-level, between the two foreign ministers, and finally, between the Special Representatives on the Boundary Question of both the countries. The disengagement of troops, whenever that is completed, will hopefully de-escalate tensions, avert a prolonged impasse, and allow both sides to return to the relative peace that had been nurtured through a series of ...
The World Health Organization (WHO) has long held that the novel coronavirus is spread primarily through small droplets from nose or mouth when a person infected with Covid-19 coughs, sneezes or speaks. But according to The New York Times, in an open letter to the WHO, more than 239 scientists from 32 countries have warned that airborne transmission of the virus indoors should be taken more seriously.

They have called on the WHO to revise its recommendations, which they say, underestimate the dangers of transmission indoors. Though the WHO did not immediately respond, Paul Hunter, ...
Centered around music, home-grown social-media app 'Panga' is ready to fill the vacuum created in India as a result of TikTok's recent ban. Within a week of its launch, Panga has gained over 100,000 active users.

It is about time for India to have its own social network, as the vast majority of Indian users interact only with other users within the country.

The hugely popular TikTok is officially banned on both Android and iOS platforms, along with numerous other Chinese apps, as it raised national security concerns.

Panga's founders believe it makes no sense to share valuable user data with a foreign country, especially one with contentious relationships. Not only is Panga designed & developed in India, but all the data is hosted within the country's local servers.

Although other Indian-made social networks are also available, Panga outshines all its competitors with its unique feature set. The distinctive collection of filters is sure to bring a smile on your face. Using the latest facing-recognition & augmented reality technology, these filters create some amusing distortions.

While other apps force content creators to make money by securing outside sponsorships, Panga offers its users an opportunity to make money through in-app competitions. One feature that stands out is "Contests", where Panga takes gamification to new heights.

Daily contests are launched on various hashtags & songs, offering cash prizes up to Rs 1 lakh. In doing so, Panga provides a direct monetization opportunity for content creators.

The company is planning to pay-out over Rs 1 crore in contest awards within the first month. Social networks inherently foster indirect competition amongst users for validation, approval & acceptance. Why not compete for money as well? Panga might be on-to-something.

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

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FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd's (HUL) has got a temporary relief from the Bombay High Court after Emami Ltd was told to give HUL seven days of advance notice before initiating legal proceedings on its trademark "Glow and Handsome".

HUL moved the court after Emami said it would take legal action against the company as it already owns "Emami Fair and Glow" brand. HUL had recently dropped the word "fair" from its skin cream, replacing it with "Glow" -- Glow & Lovely for women and Glow & Handsome for men.

Justice BP Colabwalla, while hearing the HUL application filed under the Trade Marks Act, said that it appeared prima facie that HUL had applied for the trademark application in September 2018 and later on June 20 this year.

HUL in its application said Emami should give the company seven days before issuing legal notice or claiming interim relief.

Also Read: Rebranding Fair & Lovely unlikely to impact demand for fairness creams

"The statements made by the defendant (Emami) do amount to a threat, however, whether they are unlawful or groundless, that is something that will have to be decided after hearing both the sides," the court said.

The court also directed Emami to grant seven days to HUL before starting legal proceedings. The matter was further scheduled to July 27. As per HUL, it launched "Fair & Lovely" brand in 1975, though it was made gender specific in 2006 when the company launched another similar product "Fair & Handsome" for men. As per the HUL application in the court, it coined and adopted the trademark "Glow & Lovely" and "Glow & Handsome".

However, Emami held a press conference on July 2, accusing HUL for violating the trademark law. The company also said it would take legal action against HUL as it already owns "Emami Glow and Handsome" skincare brand.

Also Read: HUL to drop 'Fair' from 'Fair & Lovely' to become more 'inclusive'
ICICI Bank plans to reward more than 80,000 of its employees for giving services during the coronavirus pandemic. The country's largest private sector bank has decided to give a salary hike of up to 8 per cent to more than 80,000 of its frontline staff, news agency PTI reported citing unidentified sources. It amounts to over 80 per cent of its total workforce. The hike is for FY21 and applicable from July onwards, it reported. The development comes at a time when companies are slashing employee salaries to contain costs amid coronavirus crisis.

The sources said these employees are from M1 and grades below, who are frontline staff mostly in customer-facing roles. They ensure the functioning of branches and other operations of the bank.

Different banks including ICICI Bank had worked for limited hours daily with limited staff throughout the coronavirus period.

Meanwhile, India's coronavirus case tally crossed 7 lakh mark on Tuesday. In the last 24-hour period, the country reported 22,252 new cases and 467 deaths. With this, the total positive cases stand at 7,19,665, including 2,59,557 active cases, 4,39,948 cured or discharged or migrated patients, and 20,160 deaths, according to the data by the Ministry of Health.

Yesterday, India became the third worst-affected country from coronavirus after the US and Brazil. According to John Hopkins University and Medicine, the US COVID-19 tally stands at 229,35,712 and Brazil's at 16,23, 284.

For the last two months, India has witnessed an exponential rise in coronavirus cases. Since June 2, more than 5 lakh people have been found COVID-19 positive in the country. In fact, in the first week of July, India has reported more than 2 lakh coronavirus cases.

Also read: TikTok ban kills love between brands and micro influencers, but 'picture abhi baaki hai'

Also read: Govt removes face masks, hand sanitisers from essential commodities list
Crowds of curiosity-seekers occasionally spooked Bruno, but he seemed to be on a determined search for a mate. Black bears vanished from Illinois and Iowa in the 19th century, so experts believe he was aiming for Missouri, which has a population of black bears, so much so the state is considering the legalization of hunting the species.
India's second-largest software developing firm Infosys has brought back over 200 of its employees and their families -- some of them whose visas were expired -- in a chartered flight from the United States in the wake of coronavirus crisis. The IT firm's chartered flight took off from San Francisco and landed in Bengaluru on Monday.

"COVID has impacted our lives in unimaginable ways. Some of the Infosys employees were stranded in the US because of their visa expiration. All international flights were suspended because of the pandemic," Sanjeev Bode, an Infosys senior executive wrote on his LinkedIn page.

Recently, the US administration extended the ban on immigration and non-immigrant worker visas, including H-1B and H-2B till the end of 2020. America has a cap of 85,000 total H-1B visas for each year, which is most popular among Indian IT companies

After the H1B visa ban, several Indian IT employees have stranded in the US. In fact, NASSCOM had requested the US administration for a 90-day grace period for professionals to depart the country due to the visa ban. However, the US government has not taken any initiative so far.

Infosys has 17,709 employees in the US, and many of its Indian employees continue to be based in the US on H1-B visas, The Times of India reported. Interestingly, the US market has contributed 61.6 per cent to the Infosys' revenue as of the quarter ended March. Last year, it opened a technology centre at Phoenix, Arizona, to accelerate innovation for its American enterprises.

Also read: Zomato struggles to get $100 million funding from Ant Financial amid India-China tension

Also read: Petrol, diesel price today: Diesel prices hiked in Delhi; check out latest fuel rates
Sequoia LP has announced a fresh commitment of $1.35 billion in two new Sequoia India funds to invest in India and South East Asia (SEA) - one is a $525 million venture fund and the other a $825 million growth fund. "The start-up ecosystem in both India and SEA has come a very long way in the last few years; the market gets deeper and the crop of founders, and their achievements, become more impressive each year," says Shailendra Singh, MD, Sequoia Capital in a blog post.

Sequoia India, which now operates seed, venture and growth funds, is betting on India and SEA to be home to a number of big technology companies in the next decade with combined GDP of the region expected to cross $14 trillion, and mobile internet users likely to cross 1.5 billion by 2030.

Acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about difficulties in the start-up ecosystem, Shailendra says this was a time for reflection. "During periods of exuberance, investors have rushed in to invest large amounts of capital into start-ups. This has, expectedly, resulted in short term over-funding and hyper competition amongst start-ups," he adds.

But this has been followed by down cycles, cost cutting and negative sentiment. "These cycles have enhanced start-up mortality and left many founders, investors and start-up employees scarred," he adds . While the current crisis has undoubtedly changed the course of start-ups, many founders have also become more prudent.

"The leadership teams inside our start-ups are more aligned, focused and determined than ever before," says Singh. Sequoia's announcement comes at a very critical time since the overall funding sentiment has not been upbeat with investors becoming more guarded. Also, the government's crackdown on Chinese apps and regulatory hurdle for Chinese investment have been a dampener.

Big Chinese players such Alibaba and Tencent have many investments in Indian startups. Alibaba has invested in Paytm, Zomato; Tencent in Swiggy, Byju's. Sequoia has invested in Decacorn, Byju's , BankBazaar, Citrus Pay, Grofers, Carz24, Car Dekho.

Also read: Sequoia Capital to invest $1.35 billion in Indian, Southeast Asian startups
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra in a money laundering case. The real estate firm promoter has been in jail for the past three years (since 2017) in connection with a case of duping home buyers through two housing projects in Gurugram. Chandra has been granted bail to take care of his aged parents who are currently hospitalised.

The apex court was informed that both his parents are coronavirus positive and are admitted in ICU, Bar & Bench tweeted. A bail of 1-month was granted to Chandra. However, his younger brother Ajay Chandra, who is also languishing in jail, has been refused bail by the top court.

Chandra and his younger brother were arrested by Delhi Police for not developing a project for which they had received money from investors.

The case was registered against the duo on July 31, 2015 in compliance with a July 27, 2015 order passed by a Delhi court on the complaint of two Delhi residents. They had alleged that they were induced by the firm to book a flat in August 2011 in the residential project named 'Wild Flowers Country' in Gurugram for a total of Rs 57.34 lakh.

They had also alleged that after passage of the given period, the builder had not delivered the possession, adding that the firm, in connivance with others, cheated the public at large. Later, 173 more complaints were received against the firm for the same project which were clubbed with the original first information report (FIR).

The police claimed that around Rs 363 crore was collected by the firm, out of which over Rs 35 crore was received from 91 complainants who are part of the present complaint.

Also read: TikTok ban kills love between brands and micro influencers, but 'picture abhi baaki hai'

Also read: Govt removes face masks, hand sanitisers from essential commodities list
Cement manufacturer UltraTech Cement has announced it will divesting its entire 92.5 percent stake in China's Shandong Binani Rongan Cement Co.

"Krishna Holdings Pte. Ltd, ("Krishna"), incorporated in Singapore and a subsidiary of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary UltraTech Nathdwara Cement Ltd. has informed that it has entered into a binding agreement for divesting its entire equity shareholding of 92.5 percent in Shandong Binani Rongan Cement Co. Ltd," the company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

"In terms of the agreement, Krishna will divest its entire shareholding at an enterprise value of RMB 845 Mn +/- working capital adjustments on closing, equivalent of approx. $ 120 Mn subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals in compliance with the local laws."

ALSO READ: India Cements share price gains 11% amid report RK Damani eyeing majority stake in firm

The Chinese firm was founded as a joint venture between India's Binani Cement and Rizhao Rongan Construction Materials Co in 2007 with a 70:30 equity structure. It has a 2 million tonne per annum clinker and a 0.3 million tonne per annum cement capacity in the Shandong province. The joint venture became part of UltraTech's portfolio after it acquired Binani Cement in November 2018 for Rs 7,950 crore.

UltraTech has an overall capacity of 102.5 million tonne per annum of grey cement with 20 integrated plants, 1 clinkerisation plant, 26 grinding units and 7 bulk materials. While the presence of Indian manufacturing companies in China is relatively small, UltraTech's operation was one of the biggest manufacturing footprints in China for an Indian firm.

ALSO READ: Amid coronavirus outbreak, bubonic plague grapples a Chinese city

The Indian cement major first shared plans to wrap up operations in China in its financial results for the quarter and fiscal ended March 31, 2019, released on April 24, 2019. The company is in the process of selling the non-core assets acquired in UAE/China, the sale proceeds of which will be used to deleverage the balance sheet, UltraTech had said in its statement back then.

During an earnings call on January 24, 2020, Atul Daga - Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, UltraTech Cement had revealed that the company will finalise the matter in March after the Chinese New Year.

"We have appointed merchant bankers for China and non-binding bids have been received. We will take action post Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year holidays begin from today and the country shuts down completely for 15 days. But now I will have to wait for this new virus issue which has come up. I don't want to travel to China. So we will look at the next steps on China in the month of March," Daga had said back then.

ALSO READ: Tata Consumer Products to become a full-fledged FMCG company: Chairman N Chandrasekaran
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 coronavirus outbreak. However, industry executives say a deterioration in bilateral relations since a clash along the countries' contested border last month, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, could further delay approvals.

"Various clearances are required. We are being a bit more cautious as one would imagine," said a senior Indian government official in New Delhi, when asked about the impact on investment applications since the border clash. The industries department under the commerce ministry, which drafted the new policy, did not respond to a request for comment. The sources declined to name the companies whose investments are pending approvals, due to confidentiality concerns.

The official, and two other sources, said about 40-50 applications involving funding from a Chinese investor have been filed since the rule change and are currently under review. One of the sources said that multiple Indian government agencies, including the Indian consulates in China, have been communicating with investors and their representatives to seek clarifications on the proposals.

Alok Sonker, a partner at Indian law firm Krishnamurthy & Co, said at least 10 Chinese clients had sought his advice in recent weeks for investing in India, but were waiting for more clarity on the policy outlook in India. "Uncertainty in timelines for the investment approval is dissuading parties, both Indian and Chinese, from proceeding with business as usual," Sonker said.

Last week India banned 59, mostly Chinese mobile apps including Bytedance's TikTok and Tencent's WeChat, in its strongest move yet targeting China in the online space since the border crisis erupted last month. The move has potentially dented big Chinese businesses' expansion plans for the South Asian market.

Chinese companies' existing and planned investments in India stand at more than $26 billion, research group Brookings said in March.

Also read: China pulls back at Galwan Valley a day after NSA Doval's phone call with Chinese foreign minister
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money laundering case against the GVK group, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) and others to probe alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs 705 crore in running the Mumbai airport, officials said on Tuesday.

The central probe agency has filed an enforcement case information report (equivalent of a police FIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after studying a recent CBI FIR filed against the same entities. The ED will probe if genuine funds were laundered to amass personal assets by illegal routing of funds, they said.

The CBI case pertains to the alleged siphoning off Rs 705 crore from the funds of the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), a joint venture under public-private partnership (PPP) between the GVK Airport Holdings Limited and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) besides other investors, by showing inflated expenditure, under-reporting of revenues, fudging of records among others

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked Gunupati, a director in MIAL, his son GV Sanjay Reddy, managing director in MIAL, the companies MIAL, GVK Airport Holdings Limited (a GVK group company) and nine other private companies allegedly used to camouflage the inflated figures through sham deals and unidentified AAI officials, they added.

On April 4, 2006, the AAI entered into an agreement with MIAL for the modernisation, upkeep, operation and maintenance of the Mumbai airport. It is alleged that the promoters of the GVK group in MIAL, in connivance with their executives and unidentified AAI officials, resorted to siphoning off funds using different ways, the CBI had said early this month.

The CBI had also carried out raids in Mumbai and Hyderabad after filing its FIR.

Also read: Mumbai airport scam: CBI books GVK Group chairman GVK Reddy, son; 5 key things to know

Also read: Mumbai airport fraud: CBI books GVK group chairman GVK Reddy, son for siphoning off Rs 705 crore
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make a major worldwide address, expected to focus on India's trade and foreign investment prospects, at India Global Week 2020 organised in the UK from Thursday.

Modi, who will connect remotely to the event pitched as one of the biggest international events on India's globalisation, is likely to lay out numerous investment and manufacturing opportunities that India has on offer as the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As the world battles to emerge out of the shadows of COVID-19, India with its immense talent pool, its technological prowess, and growing appetite for leadership has a central role to play in global affairs. I am sure the Indian Prime Minister's message to the world will resonate with the #BeTheRevival: India and a Better New World theme of India Global Week, said Manoj Ladwa, Chairman and CEO of the India Inc. Group, the UK-headquartered media house behind the annual event.

The three-day summit, being held on a virtual platform given the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, had earlier confirmed senior Cabinet ministers, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Railways and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Ccivil Aviation and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Skill Development Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey, among some of the prominent speakers from India.

On the UK side, Prince Charles will be making a special address at the event and the British government is lining up a high-profile set of speakers, including Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and International Trade Secretary Liz Truss.

Gaitri Kumar will also be addressing the event later this week, among her inaugural engagements as the new Indian High Commissioner to the UK.

Besides a focus of the India-UK bilateral ties and much-anticipated enhanced special relationship in a post-Brexit world, there are a series of country-specific sessions scheduled to cover India's ties with countries such as the US, Australia, Singapore and Japan.

The India Inc. Group said that the wide range of around 75 sessions during India Global Week 2020 between July 9 and 11 will cover subject areas such as geopolitics, business, emerging technologies, banking and finance, pharma, defence and security, and arts and culture.

The line-up will also include in-conversation segments, including between Indian-origin Hollywood actor Kunal Nayyar and Isha Foundation Founder Sadhguru, and journalist Barkha Dutt and Art of Living Foundation Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

The organisers expect an estimated 250 senior business and strategic expert speakers to attract a worldwide audience of over 5,000 people over the course of the summit.

Also Read: Rs 1.14 lakh crore sanctioned to MSMEs under credit guarantee scheme; SBI, HDFC Bank top lenders

Also Read: 'Boycott China' impact: UltraTech Cement divests entire equity in Chinese cement maker for $120 million
Amid a call for boycott of Chinese goods after the Ladakh face-off, a national trading body in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, it should be done in a calibrated way and not until alternatives are in place.

The trading body also sought fiscal support from the government to encourage traders to import goods from other countries instead of China.

The Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal (FAIVM) said, though they support stopping the import of Chinese goods for creating a roadmap to reduce dependence on Chinese products but any action should not endanger" the ongoing domestic business.

China exports products worth USD 74 billion to India annually.

Leaders in the trading community are of the opinion that our industries could be endangered due to non-availability of ready stock due to disrupted supply from China for industrial products such as machinery parts, bearings and other parts," FAIVM general secretary V K Bansal said in a letter to the Prime Minister.

The traders have also expressed apprehension about the landed cost of imports from other countries as normally Chinese products are cheaper by 30 per cent to 70 per cent as compared to other countries, he mentioned in the letter.

The FAIVM claimed to be active in 18 states across the country.

A trader dealing with chemicals said, currently the entire requirement of citric acid in the country is met through Chinese imports.

"We have written to the Prime Minister highlighting the reality even as we all support reduction of Chinese imports. But that should be in a calibrated way and not until alternatives are in place. Based on feedbacks from our members on July 4, we put forward some of the suggestions," Bansal told PTI.

Asked about the demand of some other national trade bodies seeking blanket ban, Bansal said, "we are not in favour of such a ban."

In view to reduce India's dependence on Chinese goods, the government should provide some financial support and incentives for imports from other countries instead of China.

"Financial support may include import duty exemption, cash subsidy on imports from other countries to maintain the level of cost of Chinese products," the FAIVM suggested in the letter.

President of the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Association Sushil Poddar said, "Our own manufacturing may take 1-2 years time to produce goods that can be a substitute for Chinese items. However, during the intervening period we need some other supply source."

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations had said, boycotting of Chinese products may not be feasible for India as domestic industry is dependent on input from there.

The JSW Group said the conglomerate would stop annual imports from China worth USD 400 million in the next 24 months.

Also Read: Rs 1.14 lakh crore sanctioned to MSMEs under credit guarantee scheme; SBI, HDFC Bank top lenders

Also Read: 'Boycott China' impact: UltraTech Cement divests entire equity in Chinese cement maker for $120 million
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday expressed concern over several industries sacking workers at a time when the government is allowing resumption of business activities in the state, and said it was not right. Thackeray made the remarks as he launched the state government's MahaJobs portal that aims to make available job opportunities to the 'sons of the soil' or domiciled persons.

The chief minister observed that migrant workers, who went to their native states due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, have started coming back to Maharashtra slowly after his government allowed resumption of business activities. Meanwhile, in a statement issued later, the government said more than 13,300 job seekers applied and 147 industrialists registered on the portal http://mahajobs.maharashtra.gov.in within four hours of its launch.

"Today, we have jobs available, but there are no workers. Though this is the factual position, I noticed a strange scenario yesterday. "Several industries have started slashing salaries of workers or are sacking them," Thackeray said. "The sons of the soil or the migrant workers, who had not returned to their states and were reporting at workplaces, are being sacked. This is not right," Thackeray said.

He said this issue needs to be discussed with industrialists as the state government is trying to resolve difficulties they are facing. The MahaJobs portal is the need of the hour, he said, adding the system works in a transparent manner. Thackeray asked the authorities to take a regular stock of how useful the portal turns out in terms of how many of the applicants actually get jobs using the online platform, which will be run by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).

The portal's launch was attended by state Industries Minister Subhash Desai, Labour Minister Dilip Walse Patil, Skill Development Minister Nawab Malik and Minister of State for Industries Aditi Tatkare via video conferencing. Desai said 17 sectors for which job seekers can apply through the portal include engineering, logistic, textile and pharmaceutical.

Skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled candidates can apply for jobs by uploading their details on the portal, which can be accessed by employers/industries also, the government said.

Also read: Mamata govt tells COVID-19 hospitals to issue death certificates as per ICMR guidelines
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late on Monday that the United States is "certainly looking at" banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok. "I don't want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it's something we're looking at," Pompeo said in an interview.

India has banned 59 apps with Chinese links for engaging in activities "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". The ban came in the wake of the ongoing stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh with Chinese troops.

All the 59 apps have now been removed from Apple Inc. and Google LLC's app stores for the Indian market. A media report in Beijing said Chinese tech giant unicorn ByteDance Ltd. Was anticipating a loss of over $6 billion after three of its apps, including TikTok, were banned by India.

The USD 6 billion amount is most likely more than the combined losses for all the other Chinese apps banned by India, China's Caixinglobal.com had reported.

Also read: TikTok to exit Hong Kong market soon over China's new security law
Secoriea Turner was riding in a car with her mother and another adult Saturday night near a Wendys that was burned after a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, was shot by a white police officer in the restaurant parking lot last month. When the car Secoriea was in tried to enter a parking lot, they were confronted by a group of armed individuals blocking the entrance, police said. The girls mother, Charmaine Turner, said shots were fired and Secoriea was hit before they could make a U-turn.
India's coronavirus case tally has crossed 7 lakh mark on Tuesday. In the last 24-hour, the country reported 22,252 new cases and 467 deaths. With this, the total positive cases stand at 7,19,665, including 2,59,557 active cases, 4,39,948 cured/discharged/migrated patients, and 20,160 deaths, according to the data by the Ministry of Health.

Yesterday, India became the third worst-affected country from coronavirus after the US and Brazil. According to John Hopkins University and Medicine, the US COVID-19 tally stands at 229,35,712 and Brazil's at 16,23, 284.

For the last two months, India has witnessed an exponential rise in coronavirus cases. Since June 2, more than 5 lakh people have been found COVID-19 positive in the country. In fact, in the first week of July, India has reported more than 2 lakh coronavirus cases.

Delhi has registered more than 1 lakh corona positive patients on Tuesday. Among 1,00,823 cases in the capital, 25,620 are active, 72,088 are cured and 3,115 are dead.

The central on Monday said in Delhi, the average number of samples being tested per day for COVID-19 has gone up to 18, 766 from 5,481 in just a month. In India, the total number of samples tested up to July 6 breached crore mark, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data suggests.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally has risen to 2,11,987 with 5,368 fresh cases. In the past one day, the state reported 204 new deaths, raising the tally to 9,206. Mumbai is the worst-hit city from coronavirus. According to Brihammumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) data, the financial capital reported 1,201 new COVID-19 cases and 39 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking case count to 85,326 and fatalities to 4,935.

Gujarat has reported the highest single-day spike of 735 COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 36,772 on Tuesday. The toll in the state has climbed to 1,960. Besides, with 183 new cases of coronavirus, Ahmedabad's coronavirus case tally has surged to 22,075, and the city has reported 1,491 death so far.

Tamil Nadu COVID-19 tally has touched nearly nearly 1.14 lakh with 3,827 fresh cases. In last one day, 193 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in Kerala, taking the tally to 5,622. Andhra Pradesh's COVID-19 tally has breached 20,000 marks with record 1,322 cases in a day. The coronavirus death toll in West Bengal has spiked to 779 with 22 more fatalities. The state's total cases have climbed to 22,987.

State-wise coronavirus cases

Andaman and Nicobar Islands -141

Andhra Pradesh- 20,019

Arunachal Pradesh -270

Assam- 12,160

Bihar-12,125

Chandigarh-489

Chhattisgarh-3,305

Dadar Nagar Haveli-297

Delhi-1,00,823

Goa-1,813

Gujarat- 36,772

Haryana- 17,504

Himachal Pradesh-1,077

Jammu and Kashmir-8,675

Jharkhand- 2,847

Karnataka-25,317

Kerala- 5,622

Ladakh-1,005

Madhya Pradesh-15,284

Maharashtra-2,11,987

Manipur-1,390

Meghalaya-80

Mizoram-197

Nagaland-625

Odisha-9,526

Puducherry-802

Punjab-6,491

Rajasthan-20,688

Sikkim-125

Tamil Nadu-1,14,978

Telengana-25,733

Tripura-1,680

Uttar Pradesh-28,636

Uttarakhand-3,161

West Bengal- 22,987

Also read: SBI's Northeast headquarter sealed; 30 employees test postive for COVID-19

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Mumbai-based Sahaj Shankar has just experienced the sweet intoxication of rising stock market. His investment of Rs 25,000 in options turned into Rs 4 lakh in 30-40 days. Working as a marketing researcher with a UK-based firm in Mumbai, 32-year old Shankar has some free time during the lockdown. He is excited about minting more money. "I had to cool him down saying, this doesn't happen every day. This is the market where Rs 1,000 payoff has become Rs 4,000. Speed at which the money is growing is drawing the people to stock trading, but if the direction of the speed changes, the rate of destruction will be speedier. This is what they must understand," says Sacchitanand Uttekar, DVP - Head-Technicals & Derivatives at Tradebulls Securities (P) and Shankar's client.

Shankar is not alone. A lot of millennials cooped up at home, even from tier-II and tier-III cities have turned to the Dalal Street for alternative source of income. In just two months of FY21, CDSL opened 11.5 lakh demat accounts compared to 38 lakh accounts in entire FY20. The number of active clients on NSE rose by 8.2 lakh to 1.16 crore in just two months. By comparison, the stock exchange had added 20 lakh active clients in entire FY20. Trading volumes of NSE and BSE combined have also grown 35 per cent between February-end and now, data from financial markets data provider Refinitiv showed.

"Normally when the market crashes retail investors run away. This is the first time I have seen that retail is coming towards capital market in a big way. New customers opening demat accounts have gone up more than 100 per cent. Even existing investors are investing more money and are more active now," says Prakarsh Gagdani, CEO, 5Paisa.com.

The worrying part, however, is most of them here are not for the long-term. The speculative trades with no connection to fundamentals are rife as is evident from sudden spike in penny stocks. Stocks like Sintex Plastics, Sintex Industries, JMT Auto, Cox & King and Reliance Power are up anywhere between 300-500 per cent since March lows. Meanwhile, inflows in equity mutual funds, which denote long-term investment, hit 46-month low in May 2020.

'Robinhood' traders in global markets

The trend is similar in the global markets. Data released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) shows that the number of unique clients has surged between February and April, and at the same time the average holding period has shortened. "The average stock holding period for retail accounts fell to less than one day, compared to more than two days previously, denoting more speculative transactions. Meanwhile, the new retail account creation during the same period grew 3.4x faster than the usual, prompting regulators to even issue a warning," says Kunal Sawhney, founder & CEO at Kalkine, a Sydney-based equity research firm.

Sawhney further points out that in the UK, according to the Individual Shareholders' Society (ShareSoc), during March-April 2020, about 20 per cent of the trading volume in the FTSE All Share index came from retail shareholders. "It is higher than the usual. The retail stockbrokers and investment platforms also reported a strong retail trading volume coupled with strong new customer addition".

The United States emerged as the poster boy of the surge of such 'Robinhood traders' and what destruction it may entail when a 20-year old student Alex Kearns died by suicide after he witnessed a negative balance of $0.75 million in his Robinhood account. This was the moment of reckoning for traders in the US, as it should be world over.

"Alex traded into complex option instruments which he never had any knowledge about. This was classic example of why one should be careful of investing in complex derivative instruments. Investment in these complex instruments should be left to the professionals or should be sought under the appropriate guidance; and retail investor should not try and explore these without adequate knowledge," says Sawhney.

If you have to trade in the stock market, we give you a basic understanding of dos and don'ts:

How to start trading in the stock market

Broadly, three types of trading happen in the stock market - intraday, delivery-based trading and trading in derivatives (future & options).

In intraday trading, you buy and sell the stock the same day, while in delivery-based trade you take the delivery of the stock keeping a relatively longer time horizon to earn returns. In future & options, you buy big lots on margin money to make the most of volatility in the cash market. Most brokerages give you up to 10-20 times margin (leverage) to play into F&Os. The Sebi in fact reduced the margin requirement for hedge positions, which is working in retail investors' favour.

"The interest of young investors in derivative segment especially in hedge strategies has grown after Sebi reduced the margin requirement by almost 70-80 per cent. It makes it very easy for small investors to try hedge strategies," says Gagdani of 5Paisa.com.

This easy availability of margin money, coupled with surge in technologically advanced discount broking firms, and lower transaction cost than the cash market is drawing investors to F&Os, even as they don't understand the concept of derivatives fully.

This is where the trouble begins. While it is enticing to invest more than what you have in the stock market on leverage, if the tide turns, you will lose much more than what you have deployed in the market. So, if you are a novice, it is advisable to stay away from intraday trading and F&Os and start with delivery-based trade.

"Stock market and especially price movement is really very exciting to see. Young investors often get carried away with thrill of volatility and take a lot of leverage to earn easy money but eventually lose all their capital. I strongly recommend young investors against this," says Gagdani.

If you have to take a crack at intraday and F&Os, then start small. "Focus on a maximum of one to two stocks during a session in the beginning, but stay away from penny stocks while looking for deals and low prices. Always think about the risk first and then about the returns," says Jashan Arora, Director Master Capital Services.

"Once you gain confidence about the nature and working of these instruments should you look to increase your ticket size. It's recommended to take expert advice in the initial phase of your trading journey".

Ghanisht Nagpal, convener of the Delhi Investors Association says leverage is not good for anyone with a portfolio size below Rs 25 lakh, but if someone still has to go for it, start with leveraged positions in the cash market. "Use a limited amount of total account size for leverage trading. It's good to start with leveraged cash trading than futures and options. Investors can also balance their leveraged positions by taking cash positions to lower risk. Secondly, always have a stop loss in mind before taking exposure to any position," he suggests.

Ultimately, it is about understanding risks and playing it safe. Avoid putting in your hard-earned money in the stock trading to earn income. Do it with the surplus amount which wouldn't hurt your survival if, god forbid, you lose it.

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RIL becomes first Indian firm to cross Rs 12 lakh crore market cap

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Monday became the first Indian company to cross Rs 12 lakh crore market capitalisation. The aggregate market capitalisation of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led RIL, thus, stands at Rs 12.16 lakh crore, or $163.1 billion, on account of surge in share value after the company bagged 12th foreign investment for its digital arm Jio Platforms on Friday.

Coronavirus impact: India's GDP may contract 6% in FY21, says Citi

India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to contract 6 per cent in financial year 2020-21 amid rising coronavirus cases, a brokerage said. The revision by Citigroup is mainly owing to a cut to the fiscal first-quarter forecast, with the economy seen falling 21 per cent during the period compared to 16 per cent estimated earlier. In its last projection the global brokerage had said that the GDP may see a 3.5 per cent decline.

Vistara in talks with planemakers, lessors to delay aircraft delivery

Indian airline Vistara is in talks with planemakers and leasing companies to delay taking delivery of some aircraft, the carrier's chief strategy officer said as COVID-19 hits demand for air travel. 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.

A peek inside the temporary COVID-19 hospital built by DRDO

Vizag gas leak: Panel blames LG Polymers' negligence, poor maintenance for mishap

A committee set up by the Andhra Pradesh government to probe the May 7 gas leak at LG Polymers plant on the outskirts of Vizag submitted its report to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The horrendous incident had claimed 11 lives and left hundreds hospitalised. The report summarised that slackness on part of the company was responsible for the incident. The panel discovered negligence by the company with regard to safety measures and also poor maintenance.

Coronavirus vaccine: Covaxin human trials on 375 people to begin next week

India's first coronavirus vaccine candidate Covaxin will be tested on more than 1,100 people in two phases, the first one scheduled to begin next week. The Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, the vaccine manufacturer, has planned to enroll 375 people in the first phase of trials, global news agency Bloomberg quoted an Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) spokesperson as saying. July 13 has been fixed as the last date of enrolment.

WHO reviews report seeking revised guidelines over airborne spread of COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) is reviewing a report urging it to update guidance on the novel coronavirus. This is after more than 200 scientists, in a letter to the health agency, outlined evidence the virus can spread in tiny airborne particles. The WHO says 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. 239 scientists in 32 countries outlined evidence that it is also airborne.

Petrol, diesel price today: Diesel prices hiked in Delhi; check out latest fuel rates
The fate of 2,100 industrial establishments, including Bajaj Auto, hangs in the balance as the Aurangabad district and municipal administration has decided to impose a lockdown from July 8 to July 18 in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases.

The Maharashtra government is likely to make an announcement regarding the same on Tuesday, stating clearly what would be permitted during the lockdown period, according to a report in the Financial Express.

The Aurangabad administration has taken the decision to impose a strict lockdown amid mounting coronavirus cases, insufficient hospital beds, and the risk of running low on capacity in the next two-three days.

Meanwhile, Aurangabad-based companies have urged the Maharashtra government not to shut down industries. Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj warned that the company will have to cut wages by 50% if the government imposes another lockdown.

Also read: Coronavirus: 'No work, no pay' inevitable if lockdown extends, says Rajiv Bajaj

Bajaj Auto has three plants in India -- one each at Waluj in Aurangabad, and Chakan in Pune (Maharashtra) and one at Pant Nagar in Uttarakhand.

As things currently stand, all industrial facilities have been included in the lockdown, Bajaj Auto Executive Director (ED) Rakesh Sharma told the daily.

The automaker's motorcycle and three-wheeler exports could be affected as production at its Waluj plant will get disrupted with the second phase of lockdown.

With an annual production capacity of over 3.3 million motorbikes and other vehicles, the Waluj plant accounts for over 50% of Bajaj's manufacturing volume in India.

Meanwhile, 250 employees of Bajaj Auto have been tested positive for coronavirus. The workers at the company are demanding temporary closure of its industrial facilities.

Also read: Bajaj Auto unions demand shutdown after 250 workers contract COVID-19

The automaker said in a letter to employees recently that those who do not show up for work will not be paid. "If an employee remains absent at office or plant due to any reason despite being asked by the company... then his/her salary would be deducted 100% during the period," Bajaj said in the letter to employees."People are scared to come to work. Some are still coming but some are taking leave," said Tangade Bajirao, president of the Bajaj Auto Workers' Union.He highlighted that the union had requested the company "to temporarily close the plant for 10-15 days to break the cycle but they said there is no point as people will continue to gather for social events outside of work."
Yamaha Motor India (YMI) group of companies on Tuesday announced a special finance scheme for frontline warriors of COVID-19 under which EMIs for the first three months are reduced by 50 per cent. The initiative is targeted towards providing exclusive and attractive finance schemes to help raise purchasing conveniences for the frontline warriors, YMI said in a statement.

The scheme can be availed of on new Yamaha two-wheeler purchase at all authorised dealerships of the company in India, it added. The company said its special finance scheme is announced in the context of its continuous efforts to support the frontline warriors of the pandemic in India.

In May, the company's permanent employees as well as some trainees based out of three plants -- Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), Surajpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Faridabad (Haryana), and employees at other offices donated a total of Rs 61.5 lakh from their pay for April to support the government's fight against the pandemic.

Also read: Bajaj auto, other units face uncertainty as Aurangabad plans new lockdown
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday extended the directives issued to the Mudhol Co-operative Bank last year for a further period of three months, from July 8, 2020 to October 7, 2020. The guidelines were issued under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The directives were last extended up to July 7, 2020. Meanwhile, other terms and conditions (of the directives) shall remain unchanged.

In April 2019, the apex bank had imposed certain restrictions on the Karnataka-based bank barring it from granting or renewing any loans and advances, accepting fresh deposits, or making any investments, without prior approval from the RBI in writing. The directives came into effect on April 8, 2019.

Also Read: RBI outlines norms for special liquidity scheme for NBFCs, HFCs

The regulator said the bank would continue with its banking business but with restrictions until its financial positive improves.

"In particular, a sum not exceeding Rs 1,000 of the total balance in every savings bank or current account or any other deposit account may be allowed to be withdrawn subject to conditions stated in the RBI directions," the RBI said in its notification.

The banking regulator, however, added that the directions issued to the co-operative bank should not, per se, be construed as cancellation of its banking licence, stating further that the bank will continue to undertake banking business with restrictions until its final position improves.
Highlights Last week a new security law was passed by China in Hong Kong which criminalises critical remarks for the government.

Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, and Google have said that they will not give user data to the authorities till the new law is reviewed.

These apps are banned in China but have extensive users in Hong Kong.

Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, and Google have said that they will not give access to user data to the police or the enforcement in Hong Kong.

The move comes shortly after China's new national security law in Hong Kong, which came into effect on July 1. The new security law gives China more control over Hong Kong's autonomous activities like protests or dissent against the communist party. It criminalises "secession, subversion, organization, and perpetration of terrorist activities and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security."

However, the tech giants have refused to comply with the authorities were handling the user data in Hong Kong is concerned, at least till the new law is further assessed.

Telegram, the messaging app that goes big on privacy, was the first company to announce that it would halt co-operation, the BBC stated. "We understand the right to privacy of Hong Kong users. Accordingly, Telegram does not intend to process any data requests related to its Hong Kong users until an international consensus is reached in relation to the ongoing political changes in the city," telegram told The Hong Kong Free press in a statement.

Facebook said that people should have the freedom of expression which is a fundamental right. It also said that it was pausing the review of government requests for user data from Hong Kong pending further assessment of National Security Law.

WhatsApp said that it "believes in the right for people to have a private conversation online" and that it will remain committed to providing private and secure messaging services to users in Hong Kong.

Twitter too suspended data requests from Hong Kong authorities when the new law came into effect last week. A Twitter spokesperson told The Hill that the New Security Law was passed at a rapid pace and that it was only published in its entirety for the first time last week. "Our teams are reviewing the law to assess its implications, particularly as some of the terms of the law are vague and without clear definition."

Google said it was reviewing the new laws until which it has paused the production of new data requests.

Signal, too, said that it never started handing the data to Hong Kong police in the first place.

These apps are banned from mainland China as part of the Great Firewall under which the government monitors and tracks online activity. However, a large number of people in Hong Kong use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram extensively. Apple and Microsoft are functional in China and it is to be seen if they comply with the authorities in the future.

The new National Security Law will criminalise pro-democracy slogans and protests. The crimes include conspiring with foreigners to provoke hatred of the Chinese government or Hong Kong authorities.

As per reports, since the new law was passed many pro-democracy leaders and activists have withdrawn from their positions.
Highlights Motorola Moto One Fusion+ price in India has been increased by Rs 500.

The Moto One Fusion+ now costs Rs 17,499, which is reflecting on Flipkart.

With the price hike, its potential to fend off rivals seems weakened.

Motorola Moto One Fusion+ has become dearer in India. The one-month-old smartphone is now selling for Rs 17,499, which is Rs 500 more than the launch price. Motorola has quietly increased the price of the Moto One Fusion+ on Flipkart right after its sale today at 12 pm. While the company did make the announcement for the sale earlier in the day, it did not specify any forthcoming changes to the price of the Moto One Fusion+. With the price hike, the "value for money" quotient of Moto One Fusion+ has dropped even further, considering the sub-Rs 20,000 market was recently shaken up by the Poco M2 Pro.

Motorola Moto One Fusion+ Price in India

The Moto One Fusion+ with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage now costs Rs 17,499, as opposed to its original price of Rs 16,999 that the company announced back in June. The new price is now reflecting on Flipkart with the "coming soon" banner for the next sale. This means the next batch of Moto One Fusion+ will be pricier than what the company has sold so far. If you managed to get yourself a Moto One Fusion+ unit in the sales that were held today and before that, you got the deal Rs 500 cheaper.

Motorola has not said why it has increased the price, but it could be related to the increase in taxes, which has also been the reason behind the price hikes of other smartphones.

Should you buy Moto One Fusion+ now?

For its original price of Rs 16,999, the Moto One Fusion+ had a few things in its favour and those that could entice a buyer amid options such as Realme 6, Redmi Note 9, and others. In our review, we found the Moto One Fusion+ did fairly well in certain departments, such as the performance, cameras, and battery, but it did not impress us with its iterative and rather boring design.

We felt that Motorola was somehow trying to fend off the competition by giving the Moto One Fusion+ its look but, instead, it ended up creating a device with a poor build that desperately tries to be upmarket in the sub-Rs 20,000 range.

But do not shrug off the device for just its looks. It emerged as a powerful device for its price in our review and we solemnly liked the cameras on the Moto One Fusion+. Its 5000mAh battery is one of the plus points while Motorola's affinity of stock-like Android won us over its counterparts that are either full of bloatware or have a poorly-crafted interface.

Whatever I said about the Moto One Fusion+ hitherto is based on the original price of Rs 16,999. But the new cost of Rs 17,499 makes it difficult for Moto One Fusion+ to brave the competition. We have the freshly-launch Poco M2 Pro for Rs 14,999 that has a Snapdragon 720G processor, which could theoretically be slightly less powerful than the Snapdragon 730G used on the Moto One Fusion+. For their real-world performance, there might not be any discernible differences between the two smartphones. You will go for Moto One Fusion+ for the sheer Android experience that it offers and, of course, its worthy cameras. But if you are searching for a looker in the category, you can skip Moto One Fusion+ and go for Poco M2 Pro.
Time and again, Samsung has proved its mettle with its flagship duo - the Galaxy S-series and Galaxy Note. The Galaxy S20 Ultra is the top-of-the-line Android smartphone in the market today, with a 108 MP camera sensor but the photography experience could have been a notch higher. What used to be the brand's best feature has held it back with this one. But the phone isn't just about the camera as it brings a lot to the table.

Design:

There used to be a design element in the keypad phones. But the touchscreen phones - today's smartphones - all look alike. There isn't anything unique about the design that makes a phone stand out. A huge touchscreen slab dominates the front and the huge camera bump at the rear is a little uninspiring.

That said, incorporating a huge screen in a device that is still operational as a phone is challenging. The Galaxy S20 Ultra feels big, heavy and is slippery. Yet, it is well balanced and the curved edges make it comfortable to hold. But it isn't designed for single-handed operation and I had to use both hands. Neither does it fit in the pocket easily. One good thing is that the IP68 rating makes it dust and water-resistant. There are the regular buttons for power, volume control, and thankfully no Bixby button this year. Headphone jack is missing but a Type-C headphone is bundled in the box.

ALSO READ: Apple iPhone SE 2nd Gen review: Meticulous performer in a compact size

Display:

The 6.9-inch AMOLED display is bright, crisp... mesmerising. The 120Hz refresh rate support makes everything look fluid and free-flowing but can be experienced only at full HD+ resolution. The 60Hz refresh rate has been turned on by default but I was able to switch to the higher setting from the display settings. Watching graphics, streaming content, playing games and even reading, everything was a delight on this massive screen. Especially, the Samsung Global Goals app pushed vibrant looking graphics on the lock screen. Samsung Global Goals app is a great way to contribute to global causes as every in-app ad viewed earns money to be donated. Coming back to the display, no one comes close to what Samsung offers in its flagship devices.

Camera:

Touted to be the biggest highlight of the S20 Ultra - its camera setup - is a mixed bag. The four-camera module camera setup at the rear has a 108MP wide-angle camera, 12MP ultra-wide camera, 48MP telephoto lens and a depth vision camera. The star - the 108MP - uses pixel binning to capture images at 12 MP resolution. There is an option to capture at 108 MP too but the file size is huge (35 MB or even more) and images were overexposed. However, it does give an option to zoom in the image and crop. Overall, the camera does a pretty good job in well-lit surroundings and even low lights by capturing sharp and vibrant images. However, I struggled with autofocus on this device and often ended up missing shots of fast-moving objects such as birds. The 100x zoom feels like a gimmck as the device stumbles even at 30x zoom, even when mounted on a tripod. This reminds me of how easily I captured some stunning shots using the HUAWEI P30 at 30x zoom. The ultra-wide camera and the telephoto lens are worthy of praise. The latter captured some impressive bokeh shots. The camera performance is incomplete without the neat user interface. Only a handful of options - single take, photo, video, and more are listed at the bottom. While I was able to switch between the 108MP from the photo mode itself, other modes including pro, panorama, food, night, live focus, pro video and others were accessible within the 'more' option.

ALSO READ: Review: Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro

Performance:

The flagship smartphone is powered by Exynos 990 processor paired with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. The overall performance was smooth while carrying out tasks such as browsing the web, using the camera, playing games, working on documents, emails, and more. The device tends to heat up after long sessions of camera usage and gaming. Samsung has added a 5,000mAh battery for this powerhouse that lasted me a day with heavy usage, which included a couple of hours of calling, web browsing, camera, gaming, emails, social network - and the brightness set to automatic. To get more juice, a reduced screen refresh rate will be helpful. A 25W adapter is bundled in the box that can fast charge the phone. While the phone also supports wireless charging, I was able to turn on fast wireless charging option from the phone's setting.

The most premium of the S20 flagship series, you do get some extras with the Ultra priced at Rs 97,999. While it is a great device, it isn't perfect with my biggest worry being the camera, which is erratic.

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy Buds+ review: A good buy
Top British and EU negotiators will dine at Number 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, kicking off the latest round of Brexit talks that have all but stalled amid differences, with the top EU official saying he wants an agreement, "but not at any price."

Last week's round was cut short with both sides saying that, while they wanted an agreement, they had yet to overcome the gulf in positions that could see Britain leaving a status-quo transition period at the end of this year without a trade deal.

After leaving the EU in January, Britain is keen to strike out alone, pursuing trade deals with other countries and setting up its own sanctions regime, and has insisted it should not have to sign up to the bloc's standards.

Brussels has also stood firm, with EU negotiator Michel Barnier posting a picture of himself and his team traveling on a train to London on Tuesday and saying: "The EU wants an agreement - and we are doing everything to succeed - but not at any price."

Brussels has said there can be no new economic partnership without robust guarantees to ensure fair competition.

"(UK negotiator) David Frost and Michel Barnier are having dinner at Number 10 this evening for informal talks," said a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"The dinner tonight kicks off the talks and then tomorrow there'll be teams of officials from the UK and from the EU sitting down having further discussions."

The pound shrugged off earlier weakness and climbed 0.3% on the day to $1.2529, with analysts terming the dinner as a sign of potential positive news for Brexit negotiations.

With a starter of asparagus and a dessert of summer fruits, Downing Street might be hoping to sweeten the talks, although the main course of filet of halibut might be a nod to another stumbling block in the talks over fisheries.

Asked whether Britain had new proposals, the spokesman said: "I am sure discussions will cover everything from what the EU calls the level playing field through to governance structures." (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Under the terms of the withdrawal, the U.S. must meet its financial obligations to the WHO before it can be finalized. The U.S., which is the agency's largest donor and provides it with more than $450 million per year, currently owes the WHO some $200 million in current and past dues.




Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for Covid-19 after continually downplaying the viruss severity. The U.S. is set to formally quit the WHO July 6, 2021. Hong Kong warns of a new resurgence after local cases spike. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. may ban some Chinese apps, including TikTok. AI chipmaker Cambricon aims to raise 2.58 billion yuan ($366.7 million) in its Shanghai IPO, just as a stock market benchmark enters a technical bull market.

 By Lu Yutong (yutonglu@caixin.com) and Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)

** TOP STORIES OF THE DAY

Brazils president tests positive for Covid-19

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for Covid-19 as the virus ravages Latin Americas largest economy. Bolsonaro, 65, confirmed the test result Tuesday and said he was perfectly well.

Bolsonaro has been widely criticized as his government has downplayed the severity of the pandemic since the beginning. Brazil, the world's sixth-most populous nation with more than 210 million people, recorded more than 65,000 deaths with more than 1.6 million infections as of Tuesday.

Trump administration sets 1 year target for U.S. to quit WHO

The United States formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, formalizing President Donald Trumps decision, American media reported Tuesday.

The administration has sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, making official the administrations plan to exit July 6, 2021. Trump faces reelection in November.

Hong Kong reports coronavirus resurgence

Hong Kong reported nine new locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 Tuesday, the most in almost three months, sparking fears of a new wave of resurgence. Authorities said they have yet to determine how five of the local cases were transmitted.

Hong Kong broke nearly a month of zero new infections July 5 with two local cases. The city has confirmed a total of 1,300 infections.

Evergrande gears up asset sale spree

Leading developer China Evergrande Group listed 200 commercial projects for sale in a major move to pare back assets, sparking concerns over its liquidity. The massive asset sale drew market attention amid rising concerns over Evergrandes debt overhang, though the company said the sales are normal business operations and part of its long-term business strategy.

France will discourage, not ban, use of Huawei 5G equipment: official

France will not impose an outright ban on Huawei 5G equipment but will avoid complete dependence on the Chinese companys technology, the head of the French cybersecurity agency ANSSI, Guillaume Poupard, said in an interview with local media.

What I can say is there will not be a total ban, but for operators that are not currently using Huawei gear, we are urging them not to, he said.

U.S. looking at banning Chinese apps including TikTok: Pompeo

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday the U.S. is certainly looking at banning Chinese social media apps including TikTok, Reuters reported.

I dont want to get out in front of the president, but its something were looking at, he said in an interview with Fox News.

AI chipmaker Cambricon to raise $366.7 million in Shanghai IPO

Chinese AI chipmaker Cambricon Technologies Corp. Ltd. aims to raise 2.58 billion yuan in its Shanghai IPO, pricing each share at 64.39 yuan, according to a filing to the bourse Monday. The fundraising figure is slightly lower than the 2.8 billion yuan target in its prospectus.

Electronics company Oppo and a subsidiary of technology company Lenovo will invest 101 million yuan and 80.04 million yuan respectively in Cambricon.

119 dead or missing in floods across southern China

Floods in southern China have left 119 people dead or missing in 26 provincial-level regions as of June 30 and caused direct economic losses of 39.31 billion yuan, Chinas Ministry of Emergency Management said on Monday.

The national government has earmarked 150 million yuan to aid flood relief work in three of the worst-affected provinces, Sichuan, Guizhou and Hunan.

Leading Sichuan coal miner pulled into bankruptcy

Sichuans largest coal miner, Sichuan Coal Industry Group Ltd. Liability Co., has been forced into bankruptcy reorganization by its creditors after a provincial court in the capital city of Chengdu determined the company lacked the ability to repay its debt. The move marked one of the sectors largest such cases to date as the industry suffers from prolonged overcapacity.





** OTHER STORIES MAKING THE HEADLINES

Finance & Economy

 Chinese chipmakers have already received 144 billion yuan from the equity market so far this year, including commitments. The figure is more than twice the figure for all of last year, with state-backed funds helping the nations effort to boost domestic output.

 The Hubei province city of Wuhan raised its flood alert level twice on Monday to level two on a four-tier scale in response to ongoing torrential rain that has devastated swathes of southern China.

 A former head of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd.s Shanghai branch took nearly 137 million yuan in bribes between 2008 and 2019, a Shanghai court said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Business & Tech

 Chinas Sinovac Biotech Ltd. plans to start large-scale human trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine in Brazil this month. A local medical research center will sponsor the phase 3 clinical trials on nearly 9,000 health care workers across 12 sites, the company said in a statement Monday.

 Popular Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, which is unavailable on the Chinese mainland, announced that it will exit the Hong Kong market. Douyin, the domestic version of TikTok, will remain accessible in Hong Kong.

 A Beijing court ruled in favor of a transsexual woman who was fired from e-commerce platform Beijing Dangdang Information Technology Co. Ltd. after she took two months of leave for sex reassignment surgery in 2018.

 Chinese mainland employees at several Hong Kong-based mainland companies have been busy paying (link in Chinese) the gap between how much individual income tax they should pay on the mainland for their offshore income and how much they have paid in Hong Kong, Caixin has learned.

 Chinese gaming giant Tencent Holding Ltd. hit a new milestone with its hugely popular battle royale title PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds by doubling its lifetime revenue to more than $3 billion in just over seven months.

** ON THE CORONAVIRUS

Beijing reports zero new Covid-19 cases

 The Chinese capital reported no new coronavirus cases (link in Chinese) on Monday, the first time since a cluster of infections emerged more than three weeks ago, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Commission. The city added one asymptomatic case on the same day.

 The Chinese mainland reported eight new Covid-19 infections (link in Chinese) and two asymptomatic cases for Monday, all imported, according to the National Health Commission.

 The number of global infections was approaching 11.6 million as of Tuesday afternoon, Beijing time, with fatalities surpassing 538,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

 Melbourne, Australia, has been placed under a six-week lockdown after the state of Victoria recorded 191 new cases, local media reported.

Read more

Caixins coverage of the new coronavirus

** FINALLY

The Louvre Museum reopened to visitors on Monday after a four-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

** LOOKING AHEAD

July 9: Release of Chinas CPI and PPI data

Contact reporter Lu Yutong (yutonglu@caixin.com) and editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)

Read more

China Business Digest: Chinese Mainland Enters Bull Market; Luckin Coffee Chairman Ousted
Regulators in China and the U.S. have taken aim at the likes of Ant Group and Google. So far, the crackdown hasnt broken up any of these companies, but we shouldnt rule out the possibility that one day it will

Jun 22, 2021 04:55 PM
Geely Auto completes 38% of annual sales target in first half of 2020

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Geely Automobile Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as the "Group") sold 110,129 new vehicles in June, a year-on-year jump of roughly 21% and a month-on-month increase of 1%, the automaker announced on July 6.

(Photo source: Geely Automobile)

During the same month, the Group's export volume dwindled 34% over a year ago to 4,109 units, while its domestic sales leapt around 25% to 106,020 units.

The automaker was still hit by a 19% year-over-year decrease in the first-half sales, versus 25% decline in Jan.-May sales. With 530,446 units sold as of June, the Group has completed 38% of its 1.41 million-unit annual sales target.

(Geometry A, photo source: Geometry)



Among the vehicles sold last month, 8,750 units were the so-called new energy and electrified vehicles (NEEVs), including the Geometry A, the Emgrand EV and the Emgrand GSe, which soared 43% compared to May.

Geometry, Geely's BEV-focused brand, unveiled its second mass-produced model the "Geometry C" at the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) International Auto Show 2020. The presale price starting at 139,800 yuan ($19,880) was announced at the same time.



(Geely Haoyue, photo source: Geely Holding's WeChat account)

In the meantime, the automaker sold 37,154 sedans, 70,167 SUVs and 2,808 MPVs respectively. On June 23, Geely put its all-new SUV Haoyue onto the market, thus enabling its SUV lineup to cover such powertrain types as fuel-powered, plug-in hybrid and all-electric versions.



(Lynk & Co 05, Geely Holding's WeChat account)



Lynk & Co brand saw its June sales soar around roughly 53% to 13,214 units, hitting a new-high level for the past seven months.


Growing up, me and my neighbors favorite game to play: Is it gang shots or fireworks? Doppelt said. If me and my family were hanging out on our front porch and we heard something, it was important for us to try and figure out if that was just a firework or if we had to be more concerned. When its all fireworks, all the time, it can be hard to tell the difference.
Here you'll find our latest collection of Caledonian-Record reports on the coronavirus outbreak and local response, from the beginning of April. Our January, February and March stories are here: https://www.caledonianrecord.com/news/local/our-coronavirus-coverage/collection_5885178c-692e-11e
July 7, 2020  Ottawa  National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

Today, Rear-Admiral Rebecca Patterson assumed command of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group (CF H Svcs Gp) from Major-General Andrew Downes during a private ceremony held at National Defence Headquarters (Carling) in Ottawa. During the same ceremony, Major-General Marc Bilodeau assumed the duties of Surgeon General for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) from Major-General Downes. Vice-Admiral Haydn C. Edmundson, Commander, Military Personnel Command presided over the ceremony.

CF H Svcs Gp provides health services across Canada and overseas to Canadian military personnel and to any other population as directed by the Minister of National Defence. The interim re-structure of the CF H Svcs Gp will assist with the execution of the groups complex multi-year Modernization Initiative, providing CF H Svcs Gp with increased senior representation at various strategic engagements to facilitate this project. CF H Svcs Groups Modernization Initiative will bring in new operational capabilities, an Integrated Governance Framework, and enhanced primary care delivery, providing improved health outcomes while enhancing the stewardship of its resources.

On July 31, 2020, Major-General Downes will retire from the Canadian Armed Forces after nearly 31 years of loyal and dedicated military service. He enrolled in the CAF while studying medicine at the University of Manitoba, where he subsequently completed a residency in family medicine. Over the course of his career, he gained extensive operational experience, including deployments to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan. Major-General Downes assumed the role of Commander and Surgeon General of Canadian Forces Health Services Group on July 5, 2017. His achievements during his tenure as Surgeon General included providing oversight on CF H Svcs Groups Modernization Initiative, developing new operational capabilities such as Aeromedical Evacuation, and instituting a new Integrated Governance Framework.



Most recently, Major-General Downes has been instrumental in providing expert advice during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep CAF members and their families safe. Throughout these extremely challenging circumstances, Major-General Downes worked tirelessly to lead his team of dedicated healthcare personnel combatting the pandemic as part of Op LASER in long-term care facilities. Thanks to Major-Downes leadership and the work of CAF care providers, some of the most vulnerable Canadians received the urgent care they needed and lives were saved.



Rear-Admiral Patterson enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces as a critical care Nursing Officer in 1989. During her distinguished career, she has acquired a wide range of Command experience including, Command of the Canadian Forces Health Services Centre (Atlantic), the Canadian Forces Health Services Training Centre, 1 Health Services Group and most notably, Deputy Commander of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group. Rear-Admiral Patterson deployed as a member of Op SCALPEL with 1 Canadian Field Hospital during the Persian Gulf Conflict in 1991 (Saudi Arabia), Op DELIVERANCE in support of the Canadian Airborne Regiment in 1993 (Somalia), and Op ATTENTION with the NATO Training Mission  Afghanistan (Kabul) 2011-2012. Most recently, Rear-Admiral Patterson served as Director General Professional Military Conduct  Operation HONOUR (DG PMC-OpH).



Before enrolling as a reservist in the Cadet Instructor Cadre in 1992, Major-General Bilodeau was an Army Cadet for six years. In 1995, during his third year in medical school, he enrolled in the Regular Force under the Medical Officer Training Program. He completed his residency in family medicine at Universite Laval, Quebec City, in the summer of 2000. Over the course of his distinguished career with the CAF, Major-General Bilodeau has served in numerous senior leadership roles, including as Commanding Officer of Canadian Forces Health Services Centre (Ottawa), Director of Medical Policy at Health Services Group Headquarters in Ottawa, and Commander of 1 Health Services Group in Edmonton. Since 2019, Major-General Bilodeau has served as the Deputy Surgeon General.


Police responded to a call about shots fired in the 3600 block of West Douglas Boulevard in the Lawndale neighborhood about 11 p.m. Monday, according to a police media notification. Officers found three people individuals wounded by gunshots, including a 30-year-old man, who the the Cook County medical examiners office identified as Martell Thomas, lying on the ground unresponsive with gunshot wounds to the back of the head and in the chest. Thomas was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police.
July 7, 2020



Ottawa, Ontario - Canadas marine ecosystems are vital to the livelihoods, wellbeing and culture of countless Indigenous and coastal communities. Scientific research and data is critical to conserving and protecting these ecosystems. The Government of Canada is proud to work together with non-government organizations and communities to collect the crucial data that informs how we manage and protect these ecosystems.

Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, announced that the Government of Canada is investing $1.2 million to support the development of a web-based scientific data management system for integrating and sharing ocean science data.

The project, led by the St. Lawrence Global Observatory, will organize, standardize, manage, and disseminate data from coastal environmental baseline projects conducted by Canadian organizations. The Observatory will work closely with 39 partners from British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador. The data to be collected from all three coasts will come from projects in six environments that are likely to be affected by increasing vessel traffic. This initiative will establish data management standards that will be useful to Canadas marine science community.

This project is part of the $50.8 million Coastal Environmental Baseline Program established under the Oceans Protection Plan. The Program supports advancing coastal data collection initiatives and relies on collaboration between Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists, Indigenous and coastal communities, non-governmental organizations, academia and other local partners. Participating groups are gathering wide-ranging scientific data that will help characterize Canadas coastal environment.

Collecting baseline data is crucial to our understanding of marine ecosystems and our capacity to protect species and their marine habitats for future generations. The data may also be used to inform decisions that impact sensitive marine environments.

-30-
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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.

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As for the subpoena and a separate filing that says Koellings murder conviction and long prison sentence raise questions about her credibility, she responded: I think its an act of desperation on behalf of the Lake County states attorneys office. Discrediting a person who has served their time, who has obviously made a comeback and who is struggling every day to start over, is the epitome of desperation.
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Gov. Roy Cooper answers a question during a briefing at the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh. (Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer via AP)
Protesters chant outside a Wendy's restaurant on Tuesday, June 23, 2020, in Atlanta after a funeral for Rayshard Brooks was held. Brooks died after being fatally shot by an Atlanta police officer. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Last week, a U.S. lawmaker introduced a bill that would allow insurers to voluntarily pay certain COVID-related business interruption claims and get reimbursed by the federal government, but insurance groups have rejected the idea.

Although the text of H.R. 7412, the Business Interruption Relief Act of 2020, sponsored by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., has not even been published to the congressional website yet, representatives of two insurance carrier groups, one reinsurance group and three agent/brokers groups who have seen the proposed language have already sent a letter to Thompson suggesting that the proposal actually works against the goal of aiding small businesses and individuals in the most efficient and effective manner possible.

According to a June 30, 2020 press statement from Thompsons office, the bill would allow insurers to voluntarily opt to pay claims under business interruption policies that include coverage for civil authority shutdowns but exclude virus-related damages. Text of a June 22 draft of the bill obtained by Carrier Management says that for insurers that voluntarily pay such claims, the secretary of the U.S. Treasury shall provide financial assistance to reimburse benefits they paid and for any expenses incurred by the participating insurer relating to the paying of the claims.

The proposed Business Interruption Relief Program (BIRP), which would be established if the bill is enacted, would not provide any benefit or reimbursement for claim payments or claim expenses paid under policies that do not expressly exclude virus coverage, the draft says.

The proposed Business Interruption Relief Program would not provide any benefit or reimbursement for claim payments or claim expenses paid under policies that do not expressly exclude virus coverage.

The letterwhich was signed by Jimi Grande, senior vice president of Government Affairs, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies; Charles E. Symington Jr., SVP of External, Industry & Government Affairs, Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America; Nathaniel F. Wienecke, SVP of Federal Government Relations, American Property Casualty Insurance Association; Nicole C. Austin, SVP and director of Federal Affairs, Reinsurance Association of America; Joel Wood, SVP of Government Affairs, Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers; and Keri Kish, Esq., director of Government Relations, Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Associationgoes on to say that the legislation amounts to little more than a signal to insurers that they would be well served to ignore explicit contractual language in order to avoid litigation brought by an overzealous trial barlitigation that would ultimately raise prices for all business owners and consumers.

The concept of Thompsons bill was described to Carrier Management in early June by John Houghtaling II, a lawyer for Gauthier Murphy & Houghtaling LLC in Louisiana, who represents the Business Interruption Group, a coalition of restaurants and other businesses impacted by pandemic shutdowns. Houghtaling, who said at the time that he was speaking with Thompsons office to get the bill introduced, also said lawmakers contacted early last month thought that this was a win-win solution. Ive heard that twice: Who would be against this? It seems great,' Houghtaling said, reporting what he said were bipartisan reactions on Capitol Hill.

We described who we thought would be against it, which would be the advisers of the insurance industry, the ones that make money if theres no solution, he added.

In particular, Houghtaling referred to the defense bar, explaining that the idea behind the BIRP is to eliminate battles over ambiguous coverage language that only serves to enrich plaintiffs lawyers and defense lawyers. We may be against the defense lawyers that will make lots and lots of money off of [coverage litigation] but I really find it interesting that theres any [other] opposition at all to this.

He said he believed that other opposition was a function of confusion over what his group was seeking with the proposal.

Among other misconceptions, he corrected the idea that the proposal would require insurers to opt in to pay all COVID-related business interruption claimson policies with or without virus exclusions. Actually, insurers that have clear language in their policies wouldnt be included in the proposed federal reimbursement program, Houghtaling said. If you use the word pandemic and you excluded it, its obvious. Youre out, he said, noting that such insurers dont need any assistance for coverage denials in these cases. Also, if you dont have any exclusion for viruses or pandemics or anything, youre not part of the program either.

Its the ones in the middle, where it may be ambiguous and theres going to be litigation, that the proposal attempts to address.

What the insurance industry should do is to pay the policies that they owe; they should deny the policies they dont owe. In between those extremes, if there are ones that they fight about, that we can have arguments on both sides [about], what were suggesting is lets solve this issue now, he said. The alternative is spending years in court and billions of dollars on legal fees, he said, suggesting that only insurance industry defense counsel sitting on the biggest payday theyve ever had in civil historystands to benefit from that alternative.

(Note: In spite of Houghtalings clarification and the language of Thompsons bill, there is still a document on BIGs website that describes the proposal as follows: Those that opt in must pay B.I. [business interruption] claims on policies without virus exclusions. If they do so, insurers can apply and receive reimbursement on B.I. claims and claims expense that are subject to virus exclusionemphasis added.)

It will be better for the insurance companies to have an outto have some subsidy for this, rather than turning it over to the expensive lawyers. Itll be better for the businesses to have the limited coverage, Houghtaling said in June.

The groups also suggest the enactment of H.R. 7412 would undermine the entire system of contracts in this country and that it would also artificially utilize the insurance mechanism to distribute what amounts to direct aid, a costly and inefficient distribution system for such an effort.

In exchange for the fiction of coverage created in the face of express language excluding viruses, insurers are to be promised financial assistance provided by the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to any regulations necessary to carry out the program. The bill appears to indicate that a participating insurer would be reimbursed based on the policy (other provisions of which are to be ignored), plus expenses,' the letter says.

In late May, NAMIC, APCIA and the Big I unveiled what they view as a more efficient alternative proposed federal program to help businesses that are shut down during future pandemicthe Business Continuity Protection Program, or BCPP. The BCPP would be run by FEMA, allowing businesses to purchase revenue replacement assistance for up to 80 percent of payroll and other expenses.

Our industry is also working with members of the House Financial Services Committee, who have a deep understanding of how insurance works, in developing a federal government model that would work to assist small businesses during future pandemics. We strongly encourage Congress to focus on the mission of assisting those in need as quickly as possible, insurance groups said in the letter to Thompson last week.

In mid-April, Thompson introduced a different bill, the Business Interruption Insurance Coverage Act of 2020, which would require insurers that offer business interruption insurance to cover pandemic interruptions, nullifying pre-existing exclusions unless insureds authorize reinstatements of exclusions in writing or fail to pay increased premiums charged for the coverage.

Neither the insurance groups reacting to Thompsons latest bill nor Houghtaling are fans of another idea thats gained some support from risk management and broker groupsthe Pandemic Risk Insurance Act introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., in late May, proposing to create a federal backstop for pandemic-related business interruption insurance modeled after the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. The insurance groups believe that pandemic risk is fundamentally different from a terrorist attack. Houghtaling says prospective plans like PRIA do nothing to help businesses that were already shut down by COVID that bought business interruption policies they thought would apply.

Among other proposals discussed in recent weeks is one for a Pandemic Reinsurance Corporation, described by RAA President Franklin Nutter during the Casualty Actuarial Societys Seminar on Reinsurance in early June. Nutter said this proposal, like PRIA, would involve a public-private partnership with insurers bearing some risk. But the risk-bearing role would differ by size of insured, with small businesses covered with a parametric product while large businesses would get a traditional indemnity cover. At the time, Nutter said that no member of Congress had introduced the Pandemic Reinsurance Corporation but that some advocacy groups were circulating such a proposal.
Photo: Contributed

Must the police be deterred from breaching our Charter rights? Are the Charter damages awarded by the courts a sufficient deterrent?

In the recent case of Joseph v. Meier, 2020 BCSC 778, the court awarded Charter damages of $5,000 to a 61-year old shopper whose rights had been breached.-A police officer, suspecting that Ms. Joseph had concealed an item, was intent on searching her bag.

He asked to talk to her, she refused and he forcibly arrested her and searched her bag.

He did not have the necessary grounds to arrest her. The arrest and search were breaches of Ms. Josephs rights not to be arbitrarily detained (section 9 of the Charter), and to be secure against unreasonable search (section 8).

I suspect that most people would have just taken it." If a police officer came up to me asking to look through my belongings, I think I would readily comply.

Ive got nothing to hide. I want to help, not hinder, police officers in their important work of enforcing our laws and protecting us from law breakers.

But Im a straight, middle-class, middle-aged white guy who dresses accordingly. I live in a middle-class neighbourhood. Ive never walked the earth under a cloud of unfair suspicion and mistrust.

I would be the last person stopped by the police during a street check. And if a store security person was going to follow someone around to ensure they didnt steal anything, they wouldnt choose me.

I dont carry a purse that contains all sorts of mysterious and personal things I wouldnt want rifled through. And Im not an incredibly private person who would be mortified by a breach of my personal privacy.

We want our police to enforce our laws and protect us from bad guys, but we want them to do so while conscientiously respecting our Charter rights.

Can we expect our police to conscientiously respect our rights without some mechanism that deters their breach?

Of course not. Police want to catch bad guys. Charter rights get in the way of that. Respecting Charter rights takes constant mindfulness. You cant expect constant mindfulness of anyone without some mechanism of deterrence if they dont meet up to that standard.

The most common deterrent for beach of Charter rights is exclusion of evidence.

Criminal law databases are full of cases where the police have successfully caught a bad guy, but the case has been thrown out because they got their hands on the incriminating evidence by trampling on the bad guys rights.

Police dont want the hard work theyve done catching bad guys to be tossed out, so they hopefully kick themselves when that happens and resolve to be more conscientious about respecting Charter rights in their future investigations.

If youve done nothing wrong, like Ms. Joseph, that deterrent does not exist. The only deterrent comes from section 24(1) of the Charter that allows you to apply to a court for a remedy.

The remedy is an award of Charter damages.

Ms. Joseph was awarded Charter damages of $5,000.

Alan Ward who had been properly arrested, but unnecessarily required to strip down to his underwear to be searched before being placed in cells, was also awarded $5,000. (Vancouver (City) v. Ward, 2010 SCC 27).

Randolph Fleming, whose freedom of expression was breached when he was prevented from attending a protest, was also awarded $5,000. (Fleming v. Ontario, 2019 SCC 45).

Michael Fong was awarded $2,000 for an unlawful arrest, brief detention and a search that involved only his wallet (Fong v. British Columbia (Minister of Justice), 2019 BCSC 263).

Luke Stewart was awarded only $500.00 for an improper backpack search that police had required in order to allow protesters to enter a park (Stewart v. Toronto (Police Services Board), 2020 ONCA 255)

Those amounts might make sense if you could have your complaint fairly assessed in an inexpensive manner. But that is not the case.

In each of those cases there were trials where the claims were vigorously defended. Two of the cases (Ward and Fleming) required appeals up to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Lawsuits are expensive. For example, after winning his token $500. Luke Stewart claimed partial indemnity (not completely covering his legal bill) costs of $48,000 for just the appeal and he was awarded only $20,000 of that. His costs for the trial were going to be separately assessed.

Will the threat of a $5,000 consequence, available only after spending tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills that are only partly reimbursed in costs, motivate the police to be conscientiously mindful of our rights? Heck no.

Perhaps courts will increase their awards to make them meaningful. And require 100 percent reimbursement of legal expense incurred pursuing them.

In the meantime, we are left with the incredible irony of hoping the bad guys will continue to look after us by giving police consequences (the exclusion of evidence) when they breach the bad guys rights.
A fundraiser aiming to save the life of a two-month old girl must raise $3 million.

Lucy Van Doormaal was born April 1 at the BC Children's Hospital. She suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy 1 (SMA1), a rare neuromuscular disorder, according to CTV News Vancouver.

If left untreated, she might not live past one year. However, when she was 10 weeks old an antibody test revealed she could receive a gene therapy. It is estimated that the therapy is the most expensive drug in the world, costing $3 million for a single dose. It is not covered under Canadian health care.

"It sounds pretty cruel that there could be something that could possibly save her life and we don't have access to it and can't imagine how we would be able to pay for that," says Lucy's mother Laura Van Doormaal.

According to the B.C. health ministry, one treatment of Spinraza for SMA is currently covered. But the treatment that the Van Doormaals are seeking is called Zolgensma, which was submitted on June 25 to the Common Drug Review.

Spinraza costs approximately $750,000 for the first year of treatment and $350,000 after that, according to Dr. Durhane Wong-Rieger with the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders.

"At this point we're not saying that the B.C. government is doing anything wrong. Typically governments do not fund for drugs that haven't been approved," she says.

"But we're asking them to do the right thing and be compassionate. At the end of the day it will pay off many times over for the government and also for the baby."

The B.C. health ministry said in an emailed statement: "We must allow this independent expert review to take place without interference. These reviews are thorough and do take some time.

"B.C. will continue to work proactively and collaboratively with all organizations, other governments and agencies within the national drug review process to ensure that British Columbians get better access to more affordable prescription drugs."

A GoFundMe campaign has been started for the Van Doormaals. It has raised more than $750,000 of the $3 million goal.

-With files from CTV News Vancouver
Photo: Vancouver Police Department Vancouver police are looking for a vehicle of interest in the double homicide overnight.

UPDATED: 2:55 p.m.

Police in Vancouver are looking for a "vehicle of interest" connected to the city's overnight double homicide.

Two men were fatally shot inside a home near Commercial Drive and East 11th Avenue just after midnight Monday night.

On Tuesday afternoon, Sgt. Aaron Roed of the VPD said police are searching for a grey 2005 Dodge Caravan with licence plate 175-LXR.

We are asking anyone who comes across this vehicle to immediately call 911, said Sgt. Roed. Please do not approach the vehicle or its occupants, as it is related to the two most recent homicides in Vancouver. Any information on the vehicles whereabouts will assist the investigation.

The killings were the city's sixth and seventh homicides of the year.

ORIGINAL: 9:15 a.m.

Vancouver Police are investigating a double homicide that happened overnight.

The murders are the citys sixth and seventh homicides of 2020.

Police were called to the scene near Commercial Drive and East 11th Avenue just before 12:30 a.m., where two males had been shot inside a residence, Sgt. Aaron Roed said in a press release.

BC Ambulance paramedics attended with Vancouver Police and confirmed that both males were deceased.

Detectives remain on scene and continue to investigate.

Anyone with information is asked to call VPD homicide detectives at 604-717-2500 or CrimeStoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
Photo: WestJet

When Bobbi Jo Green booked a flight back in May for her, her husband, and her children to see two ailing family members, she was counting on the airline's physical distancing rules to still be in place.

But just three weeks before Green and her family were set to fly from Edmonton to Sydney, N.S., on July 17, WestJet announced it was ending its policy of leaving the middle seats on its flights empty.

"I was devastated," Green said, noting her family spends every summer in Nova Scotia with her 93-year-old grandmother who is suffering from severe dementia and another family member with an incurable form of cancer.

"We all knew it could very well be the last summer we would spend with them.

When Green called WestJet to see if any accommodations could be made, she told the company she has a heart condition that puts her in the high-risk category for COVID-19.

Despite her pleas, Green said the airline told her it was unable to make any special accommodations, nor would it allow her to change the date of the flight to before July 1, when the rules were relaxed, without paying a fee.

And Green's not alone: as provinces begin to relax domestic travel restrictions, the cessation of physical distancing rules by two of Canada's biggest airlines  WestJet and Air Canada  is causing frustration and grief among some passengers.

Gabor Lukacs, head of the advocacy group Air Passenger Rights Canada, said he has fielded countless complaints from passengers during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which are related to the same issues: airlines refusing to offer refunds or accommodations amid the abolition of physical distancing rules.

While he acknowledges the effort to fill seats is due to airlines attempting to recoup billions in lost revenue, Lukacs argues the companies risk deterring customers from flying at all.

"The question is: do we allow economic considerations to override public health? We don't allow supermarkets to sell spoiled meat because it's cheaper. Are we going to allow doctors to skip disinfecting their tools to save the cost?

There's some evidence he's right: a new poll conducted by Leger and the Association of Canadian Studies found 72 per cent of respondents say they are not comfortable flying now that Air Canada and WestJet have culled their seat distancing policies.

Only 22 per cent said they would be OK with flying under the newly relaxed rules.

In response to criticisms, WestJet forwarded The Canadian Press a statement from a July 3 blog post regarding changes to its seat distancing policy.

"The blocked middle seat was introduced at the beginning of the pandemic before the myriad of safety measures were put in place and mandated on board," the statement reads.

"Seat distancing was never intended to be in place permanently or throughout the pandemic."

The post notes a number of measures WestJet has taken to help stop the spread of COVID-19 on its flights, including mandatory masking, pre-boarding questionnaires for all passengers, temperature screening, thorough cleaning of aircraft between flights, and the restriction of in-flight dining services.

Air Canada has also denied it's putting passengers and staff at risk by filling flights up, pointing to other safety measures as mitigating the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Yet some passengers report first-hand experiences in which masking protocols were not followed.

Maureen Isabel Green, 31, flew from Vancouver to Fredericton three weeks ago with Air Canada to visit her family, and said she was shocked by the lax use of masks by both airport employees and the passengers on her two connecting flights.

"I just think of all the people who are getting on a flight and risking their life, or risking the life of the people they're going to visit, because some people don't want to wear a mask for a few hours," she said.

Green, who is a health-care worker, said there were numerous instances on her flight from Vancouver to Montreal where a group of young, male passengers took off their masks when flight attendants were not present.
If you could see the inhumane manner in which these puppy mills operate, no Chicago pet owner that I know would want their money to go to support an industry like that, Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, said Monday. Its abhorrent, its offensive, and the only way it can exist is in the darkness.
Photo: CTV News Jamie Bacon

One of B.C.'s most notorious gangsters is expected to plead guilty this week for the role he played in a 2007 mass killing in Surrey.

The Crown has reached a plea deal with Jamie Bacon, who is expected to enter guilty pleas Thursday to conspiracy to commit murder and counselling a murder.

Bacon is currently charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the Surrey Six murders that saw six people executed in a Surrey highrise apartment in 2007. The killing was part of an escalating gang conflict in the region. Two innocent bystanders were also killed.

Bacon's charges were initially stayed in 2017, after a B.C. Supreme Court judge accepted an application from Bacon's lawyers. The reasoning for staying the charges was sealed by the court and never made public.

In May of this year, the BC Court of Appeal granted the Crown's appeal for a new trial, but with this new plea deal, that won't be necessary. The Crown is expected to stay Bacon's first-degree murder charge following his sentencing.

In 2014, Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston were convicted of six counts of first-degree murder relating to the Surrey Six killings.

As part of Bacon's plea deal, first reported by the Vancouver Sun and confirmed by the BC Prosecution Service, Bacon is expected to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit murder along with counselling a separate murder from 2008.

Bacon was charged with one count of counselling to commit murder in the Dec. 31, 2008, shooting of Dennis Karbovanec in Abbotsford, but his trial last year was declared a mistrial after the jury could not reach a unanimous decision. His new trial on that matter began in March.

The BC Prosecution Service says a sentencing date will follow Thursday's expected guilty pleas, but the Crown and defence sentencing positions are unknown at this time.

Jamie's brother, Jonathan Bacon, was murdered in Kelowna in 2011 in a high-profile midday shooting outside the Delta Grand Hotel. Jason McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun struck plea deals with the Crown after their trial dragged through the courts for more than a year. McBride was given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 18 years, while Jones and Khun-Khun received 18-year sentences.
Photo: BC gov. Flickr Dr. Bonnie Henry

Twelve more cases of COVID-19 have been identified in British Columbia over the past 24 hours, but active cases have dropped by four.

The new cases bring the total positive tests in the region to 2,990, but there remain 162 active cases province-wide. Interior Health saw no new cases, and there remain two active cases in the region.

Sixteen people in the province remain hospitalized with COVID-19, four of whom are in intensive care.

After six new virus-related deaths were announced Monday, from the prior three days, no new deaths have occurred over the past 24 hours. In total, 183 British Columbians have died from the virus.

No new outbreaks of the virus have been declared recently, and the outbreak at Abbotsford's Tabor Home has been officially declared over. There remains outbreaks at Vancouver's Holy Family Hospital long-term care facility and Langley's Maple Hill long-term care facility, along with one acute care facility in the province.

While no community outbreaks remain in B.C., Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says new cases and community exposure events continue to occur in the community.

A new community exposure event has been declared at Vancouver's Hotel Belmont bar and nightclub on June 27 and June 29.

"If you have been at one of these locations, monitor yourself for symptoms, limit your contact with others and contact 811 to arrange for testing if any symptoms develop, Dr. Henry said.
An Ohio couple say they were shocked and disappointed when they opened their ready-made pizza to see pepperonis arranged in the shape of a reverse swastika Saturday. (WEWS, Misty Laska via CNN Wire)
Both of the women who were stabbed were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to the police media notification. In an updated media notification, police said the younger womans age was 73, not 57.
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Chattanooga State's Economic & Workforce Development Division partnered with the Grundy County Sheriff's Office, Southeast Tennessee Development District and American Job Center to provide welder certification training to justice-involved individuals prior to their release.



Sheriff Clint Shrum of Grundy County identified seven individuals to participate in this first cohort.

Local Grundy County High School instructor Robin Dykes taught the 80-hour Introduction to Welding training through Chattanooga States Economic & Workforce Development Division. The training featured specific hands-on training to increase the employment opportunities for those in the class.

Mr. Dykes applauded the hard work and dedication of all the students who were able to learn basic welding skills for employment. This is probably the best welding class I have ever had, said Mr. Dykes.



Upon successful completion of the training, all seven of the individuals took the American Welding Society (AWS) Welder Certification Exam and earned their certification. These individuals will now be able to utilize their newly acquired skills and certification for work release opportunities and full-time employment upon being released.



Chattanooga States Division of Economic & Workforce Development (EWD) collaborates with business and industry to create and deploy customizable training solutions. For more information, call 423-697-3100 or visit chattanoogastate.edu/workforce-development.
The Epicurean restaurant in East Ridge has closed for a deep cleaning after an employee tested positive for coronavirus.

Management said:

To our beloved customers,

It has come to our attention, as a result of contact tracing, that we have had an employee test positive for COVID-19.

In response, we will temporarily be closing the restaurant. We plan to use this time to have all of our staff tested for COVID-19 and to professionally disinfect the interior of the building. We will work closely with the health department to implement the necessary steps needed to ensure a safe reopening in the near future.

This closure includes all dine-in and curbside business. We are taking this step out of an abundance of caution for our customers and employees.
An unlikely figure was present for the 29th day of demonstrations for divestment from law enforcement. In the far corner of Miller Park, away from the fray and commotion, sat former United States senator and Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker. He quietly observed what the organizers had to say, and then left the park once the march began.

No thank you. Im just here to listen, said the former senator when asked for a comment.

As is usually the case, I Cant Breath Chattanooga organizers Cameron C-Grimey Williams and Marie Mott spoke to the crowd of 50 or so people before they marched around and through downtown Chattanooga.

Today is day 29 of civil unrest, and many of us have been out here since day one practicing our first amendment right, said Mr. Williams. Its not many of us, but its plenty of us.

As he has many other times, Mr. Williams called for the resignation of the five sheriffs deputies who were involved in the arrest of Reginald Arrington. He demanded more accountability from Hamilton Countys most visible branch of law enforcement.

Weve seen how our sheriff has run his department like the mafia, and refuses to hold his deputies accountable, said Mr. Williams. We are demanding the firing, and that criminal charges be brought to the five deputies who beat our brother Mr. Reginald Arrington Jr.

We are demanding that our County Commissioners divest from the bulky sheriffs department and directly into our school system, public transportation, black and brown non-profits, and other initiatives that will help the black and brown community.

Marie Mott echoed what her fellow organizer said, expanding on what she saw as the benefits of further investing in the community and schools.

We have, I believe that is Mr. Bob Corker over there in the corner, who gentrified downtown and turned it into this bustling place for white people, said Ms. Mott. Yet he isnt one of the people who is trying to bring Kirkman Technical High School back to the city. Weve had mayors since Mr. Corker, and yet we still do not have a state-of-the-art facility that can connect us to the fastest Internet in the world to be able to code, participate in the future of manufacturing which is robotics, or be competitive citizens for a world economy.

Ms. Mott also said that if children in the high-crime areas have well-funded school and recreational centers, crime would go down.

If the statistics under several presidents show that when you invest in people, you lessen the outcome of crime and perpetual cycles of poverty, then I have a question, said Ms. Mott. If they know investing in people will solve the problem and they refuse to do that, it seems intentional that they want to subject certain populations to criminal activity and poverty.

After this speech, the crowd of 50 or so people gathered and began their march around Chattanooga.
Headlines and mouthpieces keep proclaiming that the U.S.A. leads the world in coronavirus cases, with the implication that it's somehow a shameful thing. The fact is, the U.S. has the highest number of known virus cases in the world merely because the U.S. is actively testing for the virus on a large scale. We may have been the most conscientious nation in both aspects - isolation and testing - and end up looking bad both ways. China, we know, quit counting almost as soon as the problem became apparent.We could stop the awful daily rise in numbers, and eventually get out of the Number One spot, just by stopping testing, but that wouldnt change anything.

I suspect the testing doesnt change much, either, but it gives the impression that something is being done about the Chinese plague. And, every day, those who claim to be in charge continue to tell us that it could have been worse, it is getting worse, and it might yet get even worse. Who really knows? (No, the WHO doesn't really know, either).Now, consider this: If the U.S.A. suddenly began to administer mandatory nationwide tests for ignorance and stupidity, we could immediately lead the world in those fields, too. But we don't actually have to do that. Most of the world already recognizes our global leadership in those areas, just from reading American news reports and watching American media broadcasts. You can see all of that for yourself - in isolation, of course.
Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) co-sponsored legislation "to restrict taxpayer funding from cities that allow jurisdictions to be ruled by anarchy while providing no basic services to their residents."

Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn has also signed onto the bill. She said, Anarchist jurisdictions  like sanctuary cities  encourage lawlessness and mob rule at the expense of law-abiding citizens. Cities that do not act to quell the anarchy we are seeing in places like Seattles CHAZ should not receive the same federal funding as cooperative cities that abide by the rule of law,

The Ending Taxpayer Funding of Anarchy Act, led by U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), would restrict federal funding for anarchist jurisdictions, or jurisdictions "that abdicate their constitutional duty to their citizens to uphold the rule of law and to provide police, fire, or emergency medical services. In the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone in Seattle, Washington, the police were forced out and a string of shootings have left two dead.

Recently, protesters in Atlanta have shut down roads in the area Rayshard Brooks was killed last month. Violence has persisted in the area, and over the weekend two were killed, including an eight-year-old girl.

Senator Loeffler said, In Atlanta, we have seen lawlessness escalate, resulting in heartbreaking violence once again over the weekend. We cannot allow our cities and communities to fall into a state of anarchy, and I applaud Governor Kemp for taking steps to ensure Atlanta does not resemble Seattle.

This commonsense legislation will restrict federal funding from municipalities that foster or turn a blind eye to chaos in their jurisdictions. We owe it to the American people to stand strong with the rule of law to help keep our country safe.

Senator Loeffler previously introduced the Protecting Public Safety and Supporting Law Enforcement Act, which would withhold federal highway safety funding "from states or local governments that reduce funding for law enforcement entities without a clear budgetary need."
The Special Investigations Section of the Tennessee Department of Revenue conducted an investigation that led to the indictment and arrest of Richard Tyler, Jr., former owner of Whitewater Grill in Ocoee, Tn.

The Polk County Sheriffs Office arrested Tyler, 63, Monday evening, and his bond was set at $30,000. Special agents from the Tennessee Department of Revenue assisted the Sheriffs Office.



On Monday, the Polk County Grand Jury indicted Tyler on one count of theft of property between $10,000 and $60,000 and one count of tax evasion.

The Department of Revenue has always been committed to making sure Tennessees tax laws and procedures are applied uniformly to ensure fairness, Revenue Commissioner David Gerregano said. We can never allow individuals engaged in fraudulent tax activity to have a competitive advantage over honest Tennesseans.

If convicted, Tyler could be sentenced to a maximum of six years in the state penitentiary and fined up to $10,000 for theft of property and up to two years and fined $3,000 for tax evasion.

The department is pursuing the criminal case in cooperation with District Attorney Stephen Crumps office. Citizens who suspect violations of Tennessee's revenue laws should call the toll-free tax fraud hot line at (800) FRAUDTX (372-8389).

The Department of Revenue is responsible for the administration of state tax laws and motor vehicle title and registration laws, as well as the collection of taxes and fees associated with those laws. The department collects around 87 percent of total state revenue. During the 2019 fiscal year, it collected $15.3 billion in state taxes and fees and more than $3 billion in taxes and fees for local government
Where I Stand and Why



1. What is the role of a School Board member?



There are three main responsibilities of the School Board



Pick the Superintendent

The Superintendent is the only employee the School Board has. (School Board also has an attorney.)

Set School Board Policies



Polices are the regulations for the school system and are reviewed and changed as situations in the school system change. For instance, the pandemic may force the School Board to make new policies about student attendance, transportation and employee attendance.



Vote on the Budget



The Superintendent and his administration set the budget. The budget is then presented to the Board. The Board can approve it, revise it, or vote it down.



2. Why do teachers not get raises when the state sends money for raises?



The state sends money to HCDE based on the funding formula in the Basic Education Program.

The BEP is a funding formula not a budget plan. The state sends money for raises based on the average teacher pay in Tennessee which is $48,330. Hamilton Countys average pay for its 3,226 teachers is $48,391. Based on the BEP formula, Hamilton County has 550-555 more teachers than the BEP says we need for a school system our size. For those 550-555 teachers, Hamilton County taxpayers pay 100 percent of their salary, benefits, and retirement. Also, the BEP does not provide any money for many of our assistant principals. For example, an elementary school has to have more than 880 students to qualify for one full time assistant principal. So, not many of our elementary schools qualify for BEP funding allocation for assistant principals. High schools with 650-999 students get one assistant principal in the BEP formula. Some of our high schools have three assistant principals. Dean of Students, many counselors, administrators and other support staff in HCDE, are not covered in the BEP. For each of those additional employees, HC pays 100 percent of their salary, benefits, retirement. So, therefore, when the state sends money for salary increases, there is not nearly enough to cover the raises for hundreds of additional employees not covered in the BEP.



The state gives school systems the authority to use the raise money to cover salaries of additional teachers and other HCDE employees not covered in the BEP. The money does not have to be used for raises as long it is used for salaries.



I do have an idea how teachers can get an extra $900 next year. Cancel your HCEA membership. It looks like HC United is working to push them out anyway.



3. Why are you against building CSLA a new school?



CSLA is currently a K-8 school. They want to become a K-12 school. At the present time, HCDE does not need another high school. As a matter of fact, the recent $500,000 MGT report said we have too many schools. It certainly did not indicate HCDE needed a new high school. A new high school would require an entire new staff of teachers, administrators, and support staff (adding yet again, more employees not covered in BEP), as well as added costs for utilities and maintenance. All of these additional costs add to the school systems budget year after year. CSLA is a magnet school. Therefore, a new high school would do nothing to help with overcrowding in East Brainerd or the downtown area.



I think instead of spending money to build a high school for CSLA, the money should be spent on a new Soddy Daisy Middle School which is a neighborhood school and desperately needs to be replaced.



4. Did you say that teachers were not necessary?



No, I did not.



At a School Board budget meeting a few months ago (when so many people had been out of work for weeks and the tornado had just destroyed hundreds of homes), some board members were pushing to put money back into the school budget for step increases for teachers. I said this was not the time to give an increase in pay to anyone for any reason. I said giving raises in this economic time made us look tone deaf to the public. Someone on the Board said that teachers deserved a raise because they were the backbone of the school system. I disagreed. I said that students were the backbone of the school system because without them, teachers are unnecessary. Hamilton County United continues to show a short video clip of me saying teachers are unnecessary yet, they omit the first part of my statement without them (students). This is deceit. They also say I said teachers should live within their means. I said the school system should live within their means. Like I said, deceit. HC United majors in it.



Everything HCDE does should be centered around educating students. Students, in my opinion, are the backbone of the school system and I will not apologize to HC United for saying it.



5. How do you arrive at your votes on the Board?



Before I make a vote on the School Board, I make sure I have all the facts. If I have questions, I make inquiries by text, email and phone calls to administrators for information. I read email, texts and answer phone calls from the citizens in District 1, and others, to hear their concerns. I seek advice from former teachers and administrators. I have one vote on the school board. I do not give into pressure from special interest groups, teachers organizations or radical groups whose purpose is to make people uncomfortable. I will not be intimidated. I will not go along to get along. I will not be a rubber stamp. Politicians are good for one thing - their vote. I have one vote on the school board and it belongs to students and citizens of District 1. Many times, I am the lone vote on the school board. I do not mind standing alone as long as I am standing in the right place.



6. How do you feel about the School Re-entry and Learning Plan?



I appreciate the work Lt. Col. Brooks and Keith Fogleman and their Task Force Team. It was a very daunting task to put this plan together. However, the part of the plan I have the most concern with is requiring students to wear masks.



I think whether a student wears a mask or not should be a parental responsibility.

During the School Boards discussion on Thursday, Dr. Adams said there was no direct evidence that masks stop Covid-19. He went on to say that students wearing masks was not so much to prevent students from infecting each other because a vast majority of children had little or no symptoms. However, he said masks are to keep students from taking the virus home to grandma and grandpa and the elderly with chronic illnesses. It is my opinion, that it is not the school systems job to protect me from my grandchildren. That is my responsibility.



I also have concerns about the stress wearing masks puts on children. The first thing doctors tell you to do to keep from getting viruses, is wash your hands and keep your hands away from your face. Masks will make children constantly put their hands up to their faces; whether it is to adjust them or remove them for recess and lunch. Then they will have to put them back on.



I also wonder where the masks will be placed during recess and lunch. Will they be hung up or placed in a pile? Who will be responsible for making sure everyone gets the right mask back or will they be issued a new one after lunch and recess? I also wonder about students with allergies who sneeze or have a runny nose. Will they be required to keep the mask on even when it is contaminated with mucus or will they get issued a new one? Dr. Woods did not see this as a problem. However, wearing a mask that has been sneezed in several times is problematic to me. How much additional classroom and principal time is it going to take to deal with mask duty?

If this is not about the students, like Dr. Adams said, then why not let the adults take the precautions they feel they need to make to keep themselves safe?



The plan states that face masks are not required for K-2. How is it that the virus is so smart that it knows when students are in grades 3-12?



Students are out all over the county. They are spending hours at the ball field, pool, lake and family get togethers. Why is it when grandma and grandpa get sick, it is because someone did not wear a mask at school?



I have spent a great deal of time reading doctor reports and listening to videos about the value of students wearing/not wearing masks. Doctors do not agree and are all over the map. The one thing they do agree on - they do not have enough evidence to say that masks prevent the spread of Covid-19. They also agree that children are not the super-spreaders they were made out to be in the beginning.



Dr. Johnson said he did not want to make not wearing masks punitive. So, how are teachers going to treat students who refuse to wear masks? Why not let parents sign a paper stating that they accept the responsibility of their childs health?



I am not trying to be a scofflaw. I just want the rules to promote education and make sense. Right now, some of these rules do not make sense to me.

Rhonda Thurman
The United States Greater Chattanooga Navy League Council a nonprofit civilian, educational and advocacy organization that supports Americas sea services, the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and U.S.-flag Merchant Marine, organized at the national level as the Navy League of the United Statesannounced on Tuesday that it has won annual council awards for its efforts in Sea Service Unit Adoptions and Communications for their Social Media avenue. Of the nearly 200 active councils that comprise the Navy League of the United States, the United States Greater Chattanooga Navy League Council was honored for its continued support of both local and out of state maritime services.

This includes the local Battery M, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marines, 4th Marine Division, Naval Operational Support Center Chattanooga, Navy; The USCGC OUACHITA homeported in Chattanooga; Howard High Schools NJROTC program; the United States Sea Cadet Corps, Chattanooga, Division; the USS TN USS TENNESSEE SSBN-734 (G); and the Southeast Tennessee Area Young Marines.



For the 2019 year, the United States Greater Chattanooga Navy League Council supported our youth councils with annual awards, visits to their units with guest speakers, monetary donations, reading materials, and leading several, national trainings.



A tour of The USS TN USS TENNESSEE SSBN-734 (G) in late May and early June of 2019 was supported by the United States Greater Chattanooga Navy League Council with a dinner for both the Blue and Gold Crews and a tour of their boat the following day. Many members and guests attended this event in Kings Bay, GA.



The local Navy, at the Naval Operational Support Center, were supported by fundraisers to sponsor the Navy Ball in October of 2019. At the end of the year, they also received a large donation of coffee from StarBucks. Our Council also purchased Navy Ball Caps for their annual family day.



Battery M, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marines, 4th Marine Division were supported throughout the 2019 year with donations for their Marine Ball and attendance; and donated formal gowns to their female personnel and spouses/friends.



The United States Greater Chattanooga Navy League Council supported and attended the Wreath of Honor Ceremony in October of 2019 to honor the Fallen 5. The Council has multiple members involved with the planning and implementation of the Annual Armed Forces Parade, Memorial and Veterans Day and also RiverBends Military Appreciation Night which encompasses all military branches and youth groups.



Our Council takes great pride in supporting our maritime services throughout our country and here, locally. Training and supporting our future leaders with our youth groups, and showing our appreciation for our adopted units. Our Council is enriched by the membership in being both veterans and civilians, said Council President Stacy Kehoe.



Support of the sea services at the grassroots level is the mission of each of the councils of the Navy League, said Navy League National President Bill Stevenson. This years council award winners represent the Navy League organizations that continue to enrich our mission each day to educate, advocate and support the Navy, Marine Corp, Coast Guard and U.S.-flag Merchant Marine.  Each year, the Navy League of the United States awards councils by issuing three separate awards. The Council Performance awards are awarded to councils that earn either outstanding, meritorious or honorable mention accolades for their work on overall council activities, youth support, sea service activities, public education activities and legislative accomplishments. The Sea Service United Adoption Excellence Award honors councils, sorted by size into small, medium and large councils, for their demonstrated strong commitment to direct support of sea service units through a robust adoption program. The award also includes the adoption of youth programs, like the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets Corps. The Donald M. Mackie awards recognize councils for their communications efforts in three categories, newsletter, website and social media. The award is named in honor of an instrumental founder of the Navy League of the United States Seapower magazine. To see a list of all of this years winners, go to https://www.navyleague.org/programs/awards/council-awards



The Navy League of the United States, founded in 1902 with the support of President Theodore Roosevelt, is a nonprofit civilian, educational and advocacy organization that supports Americas sea services: The Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and U.S.-flag Merchant Marine. Through national and local programs, the Navy League of the United States provides a powerful voice to educate the public and Congress on the importance of our sea services to our nations defense, well-being and economic prosperity. The Navy League provides support to our sea services personnel and their families and youth programs, such as the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Junior ROTC and Young Marines, that expose young people to the values of our sea services.

For more information, go to www.navyleague.org.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she wants all of us to feel this loss after another weekend of violence in Chicago yet again took a toll on the citys children, including the killing of a 7-year-old girl. The first charges were filed in that case Monday, a slaying police said was the result of gang violence.
The 22nd annual Chair-ries Jubilee benefit for arts programs in local schools will have a different look this year as they pivot to hold the event and allow all of their supporters to support the Arts in Education programs funded through this annual fundraiser.

This year there will be two days, Wednesday, Aug. 19 and Thursday, Aug. 20 from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., for supporters to come to the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce office, 225 Keith St. SW, and place their bids on their favorite items.

That evening, volunteers will notify purchasers of their winning bids on items to be picked up on Friday, Aug. 21 from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

This years event will feature a glimpse at life as seen through the eyes of area artists in support of the Whats YOUR Vision theme, said Nancy Casson, Chair-ries Jubilee committee chair.



Officials said, "Chair-ries Jubilee is a project of the Allied Arts Council of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce and is but one way the council serves as an arts education advocate and a means for promoting local artists. The Allied Arts Council has been committed over the past 26 years to promoting the local arts community by offering quality arts programming and providing arts in education activities to local schools."

Studies have proven that investing in arts education will pay significant dividends for students, stated Ms. Casson. We are grateful that Cleveland and Bradley County residents respond well to this event every year.



No advance tickets are necessary, however bidders must have a confirmed RSVP to attend. Register online through the Community Events Calendar at www.ClevelandChamber.com.

To learn more about sponsorships or artist participation opportunities, contact the Chamber office at 423-472-6587 or The Red Ribbon at 423-473-1114. Also, find and follow the Chair-ries Jubilee Facebook page .






The Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR honored thirteen businesses on the Fourth of July for their prominent display of the Flag of the United States. Certificates were accompanied by letters of recognition.



Tabitha Lanning, Flag of the United States Chairman, noted that looking across the Chattanoogas skyline and seeing our nations flag flying is a constant reminder of the promises outlined in our Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. As a republic, we are committed to self-government, liberty, justice and humanity and, while imperfect, we push toward those goals.



Local businesses honored include:



AD Tech Ceramics, 511 Manufacturers Road, Chattanooga

Blue Cross Blue Shield, 1 Cameron Circle, Chattanooga

Chattanooga Funeral Home, 7414 Old Lee Hwy., Chattanooga

The Dome Building, 735 Georgia Ave., Chattanooga

Erlanger Health Systems, 975 E. Third St., Chattanooga

Kindred Hospital, 709 Walnut St., Chattanooga

McKee Food Corporation, 10260 McKee Road, Chattanooga

Regions Bank, 601 Market St., Chattanooga

Southern Champion Tray, 220 Compress St., Chattanooga

U. S. Xpress, 4080 Jenkins Road, Chattanooga

Unum, 1 Fountain Square, Chattanooga

Valmont Industries, 1900 Industrial Blvd., Jasper

The Volunteer Building, 832 Georgia Ave., Chattanooga



Officials said, "In 1909, the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution established The Flag of the United States Committee to promoted a patriotic sense of respect for our flag. A national chairman was chosen and, working with other members of the Society, principle objectives were identified: to encourage citizens, businesses and others to fly the flag; to observe appropriate flag protocol as identified by U. S. Code Annotated; and to educate citizens regarding its correct usage.

"Today, NSDAR members across our nation and the world continue the mission of the Committee by volunteering in schools and conducting community workshops regarding protocol, including the proper disposal of U.S. flags."
Sidnah Josephine Conner passed away peacefully on Monday morning, July 6, 2020, at Dominion Senior Living of Hixson.



Jo, as she liked to be known, was a native of Chattanooga, and was born on Jan. 21, 1928, to Reba Ellis and Jesse P. Conner Sr. in the family home on their farm in the Tyner area. Farm life gave Jo an appreciation for hard work as well as a lifetime love of animals, especially dogs.



She was a graduate of Tyner High School, and received an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, then later in life a master's degree in Social Work from the University of South Carolina at Columbia.



Two years after graduation from UTK, Jo had the distinction of being selected as one of 22 girls chosen from the United States of America to work as Recreation Directors with the Civilian Department of the United States Army. She was stationed in Germany for three years.



Other favorite jobs over her work career included the YWCA in New Jersey; director of the USO (United Service Organization) in Columbia, S.C.; and as a social worker with the state of South Carolina, from which she retired.



She frequently referred to herself as "a mover and a shaker" and "a hiker and a biker". She loved traveling the world as well as the USA. She was a strong, independent, educated woman who encouraged equal rights for all. She loved the environment, and supported ways to keep the earth healthy. She considered it a personal accomplishment to have hiked part of the Appalachian Trail. Many a weekend in Columbia would find her biking with friends. Jo was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia.



Jo was preceded in death by her parents, and her brother, Jesse P. Conner Jr.

Survivors include her sister-in-law, Betty Jean Conner; two nieces, Rebecca Conner (Tyler) Overley, Marcia Conner (Tom) Smith; one great-nephew, Conner Thomas Smith; two great-nieces, Cara Jean Smith and Sarah Jane Overley, plus several cousins in Nashville.



Graveside services will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, July 10, at the Tyner Cemetery with Chaplain Rachel Erickson, Hospice of Chattanooga, officiating.



Memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Educational Society of Chattanooga, Tennessee; or PETSinc of West Columbia, S.C.



The family would like to thank Dominion Senior Living of Hixson for their daily loving care of Aunt JoJo plus The Weston Group (Physical Therapy), Guardian Home Health Care, National Seating and Mobility, and ComfortKeepers for their wonderful care of her over the years. Our grateful thanks to Hospice of Chattanooga, the Mountain View Team, for their compassionate care the last four months of her life. A special thank you to Sherry Glover of Grace Home Primary Care for being Aunt Jojo's amazing and dedicated Nurse Practitioner these past six and a half years.



Arrangements are by the East Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, 404 South Moore Road, East Ridge, Tn.



Please share your thoughts and memories at www.ChattanoogaEastChapel.com.
Kent Thomas Jones, a Cleveland, Tn., attorney licensed to practice law in Tennessee, received a Public Censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Mr. Jones received a $2,000 flat fee for the representation of a client on a DUI. The client signed a written fee agreement that said the fee was a flat fee. The fee agreement did not state that the fee was nonrefundable.

On the day of court, however, in September 2017, Mr. Jones appeared late, smelled of alcohol, and was acting erratically. Court personnel removed Mr. Jones from the courthouse, and he was later charged with public intoxication. By email later that day, Mr. Jones agreed to provide his client a full refund. The criminal charges against Mr. Jones were later dismissed.

In the two and a half years since then, Mr. Jones has made three partial reimbursement payments to his client amounting to $1,650. Mr. Jones did not keep the fee in his trust account.

By these acts, Mr. Jones has violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.15 (safekeeping funds), 8.4(b) (criminal conduct), 1.5 (fees) and 8.4(d) (prejudice to the administration of justice). He is hereby publicly censured for these violations with the condition that he refund $350 to his client within 60 days.

A Public Censure is a rebuke and warning to the attorney, but it does not affect the attorneys ability to practice law.
The League of Women Voters of Tennessee urges the State Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission to remove the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Capitol. The Capitol is the peoples building and should be a welcoming place for all Tennesseans. Nathan Bedford Forrest is a divisive figure and honoring him is not representative of the values of respect and inclusivity to which the state aspires.

As the League celebrates the centennial of our organization and passage of the 19th Amendment, we also honor the courage, persistence and vision of our founding members. We have to admit that the passage of the 19th Amendment only provided the right to vote to some women. It took many more years of activism to give women of color access to the voting booth.



The League believes in individual liberties, civil rights, human rights and voting rights. These liberties and rights are fundamental elements of a viable democracy. Tennessee should demonstrate our commitment to democracy by making our public buildings, especially our state Capitol, a welcoming place for all Tennesseans. To accomplish this goal, the Forrest bust must be removed.

Marian Ott, president of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee

* * *
Georgia state health officials reported on Tuesday there have been 100,470 confirmed cases of coronavirus - an increase of 3,406.There have been 2,899 people in the state who have died from the coronavirus - 21 more since Monday.Hospitalizations are at 12,226 - up 307 since Monday.Whitfield County has 98 new cases for a total of 1,464 and has had 15 deaths, up one since Monday. Officials said 70 have been hospitalized, up one from Monday.Walker County has three new case at 348 and remains at 12 deaths and 18 hospitalized.Dade County has one new case for a total of 76 cases and remains at one death.Four have been hospitalized.Catoosa County has none new cases for 333 cases and remains at eight deaths. Twenty-eight have been hospitalized.Chattooga County has six new cases for a total of 73 cases, and remains at two deaths. The county has had one additional hospitalization, for a total of five.Bartow County south of Chattanooga at Cartersville has 19 new cases, for a total of 807 cases and remains at 42 deaths from the virus.Floyd County (Rome) has 629 cases, up 35 from Monday, and remains at 15 deaths.Gordon County (Calhoun) added 11 cases since Monday, for a total of 457 cases and remains at 18 deaths from coronavirus. Forty-four have been hospitalized in Gordon County.The cases remain centered around the Atlanta area, with Fulton County with 9,066 cases and remains at 316 deaths. Cobb County has 6,082 cases and has 247 deaths, up one from Monday. There are now 7,158 cases in Dekalb County (Decatur) and it remains at 173 deaths. Gwinnett County has increased to 9,972 cases and remains at 174 deaths.Dougherty County (Albany) has 2,030 cases and remains at 155 deaths.
The Performing Arts League announces the recipients of their 2020 Grants and

Scholarships awards totaling $17,000 to support youth involvement in the performing arts. This

year, PAL received 11 applications from area organizations and awarded eight grants to

encourage the expansion and development of youth arts programs that recruit, develop or train

young students. Scholarships were awarded to 16 young performers to encourage their

further development and training.



Greg Miller, president of the Performing Arts League, said, The mission of the

Performing Arts League is to promote youth involvement in the Performing Arts. We do this by

supporting important projects and opportunities for young performing artists both individually

and as part of a group experience. Over the years, we have been blessed to witness how these

opportunities can change lives and impact our community in such positive ways. We consider

our support for these students essential to the growth and well-being of our community, and

we hope to continue this role in the future.



2020 Grant Recipients: Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Youth Orchestra, Central High School

Piano Lab, String Theory (Music); Chattanooga Boys Choir, East Lake Expression Engine Youth

Interns & Music Program, Alpine Crest Music Club (Vocal); Chattanooga Theatre Centre Youth

Theatre and Christian Family Theater Youth Theater(Theater).



2020 Scholarship Recipients: Louise Howard (Instrumental); Elisa Giles, Kelsey Holland, Karissa

Wells, Emily Sapere and Shelby Williams (Dance)



2019-20 Scholarships awarded to students in the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Youth

Orchestra for private music lessons: Jordan Austin, Olivia Buyno, Katie Gregory, Elise Hayen,

Parker Hayen, Melinda Jubea, Sreesha Kisambi, Elizabeth Lindley, Leah Tudor and Harrison Wells.



Between 2014 and May 2020, the Performing Arts League awarded over $150,000 in

Scholarships and Grants to individuals and to support youth arts programs in the greater

Chattanooga area. Among the individuals and organizations who have received funds from the

Performing Arts League are: Chattanooga Ballet, Chattanooga Theatre Centre (Youth Theatre),

Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Youth Orchestras, Ballet Tennessee, Chattanooga Girls Choir,

Chattanooga Boys Choir (Only Men Aloud), Chattanooga Clarinet Choir (Concerto Competition),

The Howard School Band, String Theory, East Lake Expression Engine, Unity Performing Arts,

Christian Family Theater and the Kiwanis Club of Chattanooga (Musical Playground).
U.S. Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) took issue with President Trumps decision to terminate the United States membership in the World Health Organization (WHO):

He said, I disagree with the presidents decision. Certainly there needs to be a good, hard look at mistakes the World Health Organization might have made in connection with coronavirus, but the time to do that is after the crisis has been dealt with, not in the middle of it.

"Withdrawing U.S. membership could, among other things, interfere with clinical trials that are essential to the development of vaccines, which citizens of the United States as well as others in the world need. And withdrawing could make it harder to work with other countries to stop viruses before they get to the United States.

"If the administration has specific recommendations for reforms of the WHO, it should submit those recommendations to Congress, and we can work together to make those happen.
Members of the City Council on Tuesday night approved a resolution by Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod "declaring racism as a public health crisis in the city of Chattanooga."

Voting in favor were Ms. Coonrod, Carol Berz, Jerry Mitchell, Erskine Oglesby, Anthony Byrd and Russell Gilbert.

Council members Ken Smith and Darrin Ledford said they approved the aims of the resolution, but objected to some of the "cut and paste" language. They said there should have been more discussion, including bringing in experts on racism to spell out the ties between racism and the health of some poorer populations.

Chairman Chip Henderson answered present. He said, "I'm not sure it would make any difference even if it did pass."

Councilwoman Coonrod said, "For 400 years we've had this conversation. For three years you have tabled it repeatedly. As always, this council refuses to do anything. This issue needs to be addressed sooner rather than later."

She said the resolution "won't change the hearts of some people," but she said it would be a start toward examining policies that she said perpetuate racism. She said, "It's a conversation that is very hard to have, but it's needed."

Vice Chairman Smith said, "I definitely recognize that racism is real," but he said he was searching "for a draft of the resolution that I could support." He said, "I'd love to have a full meeting to explain it more and hear where health issues have been tied to racism."

Councilman Oglesby said, "This is something we've been talking about for centuries. Talk and talk and talk and we're still where we are. This (delay) is not an option. We have to make sure we make headway in improving the lives of those in the black and brown communities."

Councilman Gilbert said, "African Americans have more diabetes and heart failure. So we need to start today to see what we can put in place to help."

Councilman Ledford said, "Racism is real. I get it, but I don't think this is the right start with this language. It's a bit divisive for our community as a whole."

He added, "I had hoped for a chance to provide additional context through conversation and for personal inclusion, but that opportunity was not afforded. I think it unwise for any body to adopt copy and paste legislation without a complete legislative process. I love my community and my vote doesn't change my commitment to my colleagues and to improving the lives of every resident of Chattanooga."

The resolution says:

A RESOLUTION DECLARING RACISM AS A PUBLIC

HEALTH CRISIS IN THE CITY OF CHATTANOOGA.

______________________________________________________



WHEREAS, the foundation of America is rooted in racism. The Black experience in

America was one of chattel slavery and Jim Crow Black labor formed the economic base for

American life yet Black America is still subject to hardships and disadvantages in every area of

life; and

WHEREAS, health disparities have existed in America since the birth of our nation. We

now are witnessing a pandemic where Black patients are dying at 2.4 times the rate of White

people. Black citizens are suffering in-part due to long standing, unaddressed health disparities

such as a lack of accessibility to quality health care; and

WHEREAS, current events of 2020 illustrate racism negatively impacts the lives of Black

people; COVID-19, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement have helped to

highlight how racism, not race, causes disproportionately higher rates of homelessness,

incarceration, and economic hardships for African Americans. Racism can be seen across both

institutional and interpersonal levels - operating over the course of time and across generations;

and

WHEREAS, the repercussions of historical racism cover every aspect of life, including,

but not limited to, discriminatory lending practices of the 20th Century known as redlining

inhibited the accumulation of familial wealth, limited access to quality food, reduced life

expectancy, increased rates of lead poisoning, limited access to clean water, higher rates of infant mortality, and bias in the medical professions towards black women demonstrate the current

impact of racism; and

WHEREAS, endemic racial bias within public institutions has been and continues to affect

Black Americans. This shows up in all aspects of social society where Black children are viewed

as older than their White counterparts, receive harsher punishments in both the education and

juvenile justice systems than their White counterparts, they are more often subject to punitive

methods versus therapeutic methods than their White counterparts regarding alleged behavioral

issues. This treatment follows Black Americans into adulthood through the court system via cash

bail, longer jail sentences, inadequate venues for voting, purging of voter rolls affecting Black

Americans in greater numbers than their White counterparts.

THEREFORE, the City of Chattanooga is engaging directly in a reform agenda for public

safety based on research and significant input from residents to fight racism wherever it is found

within our systems. This includes recommendations on reforming the Police Department, the

recommendation to push subpoena power for citizen oversight board to improve accountability

and transparency, in order to build trust between residents and our Police Department; and

THEREFORE, the City of Chattanooga also has recently proposed strategies to address

racial inequities in the Black Community by forming the Mayors Office of Community

Resilience. Office of Community Resilience is forming with the intent on recognizing that not

everyone in Chattanooga has the same opportunities to be healthy; recognizing the differences in

economics, housing, and health based upon race, ethnicity, sex, neighborhood, income, education,

sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors; recognizing national research which

demonstrates that the neighborhood one lives in directly impacts ones access to quality housing, a

good job, and a good education. Healthy neighbors have a greater impact on ones health than

genetics or access to care. The Office of Community Resilience also recognizes that Black people

are not thriving at the same rates as their White counterparts in these areas; and

THEREFORE, the City of Chattanooga recognizes the privileges other Americans

experience which inhibits them from fully understanding how racism impacts Black people in

America. Chattanooga recognizes Black citizens experience certain risks with the performance of

simple tasks such as driving, walking or jogging in neighborhoods. Chattanooga recognizes life

events such as getting a job, purchasing a home, buying a car, or raising a family which comes

with barriers other cultures do not experience; and

THEREFORE, the members of the Chattanooga City Council recognize racism is real.

As a community, we must work together to promote equity and eradicate racism. Moreover this

Council believes NOW is the time to declare racism a public health crisis. The aforementioned

disparities represent a public health crisis which affects us all, and we as a civil society have an

obligation to raise awareness and make sure every sector of our society works to reverse this crisis;

and

FURTHER, the members of the Chattanooga City Council urge our community to

immediately take steps to address, fund, and support areas to strategically reduce the long-term

impact of the social determinants of health by reducing and eliminating preferential treatment for

the majority while subjecting Black, Brown, and poor White people to increased hardships,



NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF

CHATTANOOGA, That this City Council does hereby declare racism as a public health crisis in

the City of Chattanooga and recommits our full attention to improving the quality of life and health

of our minority residents. The City of Chattanooga is committed to honestly and directly

addressing minority health inequities, including a systematic, data-driven focus on poverty,

economic mobility, and inequities other factors that may impact the social determinants of health.

Minorities are impacted more greatly by challenges and inequities in many areas, including but

not limited to, Crime, Social Capital, Education, Transportation, Employment, Food Access,

Health Behaviors, Socioeconomic Status, Environmental Exposure, Access to Health Services,

Housing, and Public Safety.

The council on July 14 is considering:

A RESOLUTION URGING THE TENNESSEE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO CONSIDER AMENDING THE DEFINITION OF DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES AS SET FORTH IN TENNESSEE CODE ANNOTATED  4-21-102(4) TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS: ANCESTRY,

DISABILITY, GENDER IDENTITY, MILITARY STATUS, AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION.

It is sponsored by Council members Mitchell and Carol Berz.

Still another resolution on the 14th is

A RESOLUTION CALLING FOR CHANGE IN VOTING PROCEDURES BY THE TENNESSEE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO GIVE EVERY ELIGIBLE VOTER THE OPPORTUNITY TO CAST THEIR BALLOT WITHOUT THE RISK OF CONTRACTING OR SPREADING COVID-19.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is one of the most popular members of the British royal family. Married to the future leader of the monarchy, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine is a working royal. A style icon, parent, amateur photographer, champion of causes, the Duchess of Cambridge is a modern royal.

One thing shes not? A leader. One royal expert says Catherine is more of a team player than a leader in the royal family. Keep reading to learn more about the Duchess of Cambridges role in the royal family.

Kate Middleton adjusts to life as a royal

Kate Middleton visits EACH Hospice | Joe Giddens/PA Wire

RELATED: Kate Middleton: 4 Times She Handled Meltdowns With Prince George and Princess Charlotte Like a Pro

Meeting William while attending college at the University of St. Andrews in 2001, Catherine spent years getting used to life in the royal spotlight. They spent their college years in a protective bubble but that all changed after graduation. Paparazzi wanted to know more about Williams girlfriend and as a result, Catherine had to accept people taking an interest in her life.

By the time of her and Williams 2010 engagement, Catherine had spent nearly a decade in the public eye. When she officially became the Duchess of Cambridge upon marrying William in 2011, Catherine had to learn the proper protocol and rules that go with royal life. And, of course, she had to deal with even more media attention seeing as shed officially joined the royal family.

Shes more of a team player than a leader, royal expert says

Today, Catherines a pro at handling the media. Supposedly, Queen Elizabeth II admires her for carrying herself with such grace in public. But, according to royal expert Victoria Murphy, Catherines not necessarily a leader in the royal family. The author told Yahoo Style U.K. that she focuses on doing her best in her own role.

Kate Middleton visits Queen Elizabeth Hospital | Joe Giddens  WPA Pool/Getty Images

RELATED: Kate Middleton: 5 Photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge With Her Siblings, Pippa and James

I think she still remains more of a team player than a leader though and perhaps more of a listener than a talker, Murphy said before adding, But I think these qualities are well-suited to her current and future roles.

However, that isnt to say Catherine isnt at the forefront of the royal family at all.

But gradually shes started to take the lead more and now it feels much more like she is a driving force when it comes to the types of causes she and William are taking on and the way they approach their work, Murphy said.

Kate Middletons already made her own mark on the royal family

There may always be comparisons between Princess Diana and Catherine, but theres no denying the Duchess of Cambridge has already brought changes of her own to the royal family. In that sense, shes already a leader. Like her late mother-in-law, Catherine is a style icon. But its the Duchess of Cambridge who has made it acceptable for royals to repeat outfits and shop at more affordable stores.

Her influence goes well beyond fashion. Catherines all about a hands-on approach to parenting. Shes does all sorts of activities with her and Williams kids, including reading, cooking, and playing outside.

RELATED: These Photos Show Just How Close Kate Middleton Is to Her Mom, Carole Middleton

The Duchess of Cambridge is known to crouch down to speak to children at eye level, a move even celebrities have copied after seeing her do it.

Today, the Duchess of Cambridge is back to in-person visits after self-isolating with the rest of the Cambridge family at Anmer Hall because of the coronavirus.

RELATED: Kate Middleton: 8 Photos of Her Being a Regular Parent
While known for his charismatic, whimsical storytelling about his wartime experiences, Compton was much more interested in what people are doing now than what he did a long time ago, said Major David Gillingham, commander of the Colonel Charles Compton Composite Squadron, who provided the details on Comptons war experiences.
As the craziness that is 2020 continues, Kylie Jenner is out with her friends hanging out in Utah.

The makeup mogul has been documenting some of the trip on Instagram, recently sharing a series of photos wearing a mesh dress as she spent time outdoors. Many fans immediately swooned over the posts, as is the case whenever Jenner posts a photo. But others criticized her for failing to credit the designer of the garment.

Amid the backlash, Jenner took to social media and clapped back at the haters. Heres a look at the drama and what she said about it.

Kylie Jenner at a party in February 2020 | Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

Kylie Jenners latest photos

On July 6, the Kylie Cosmetics star posted two photos donning an orange minidress designed by LoudBrand Studios. Its a form-fitting number with drawstring ruching and a plunging neckline that Jenner accessorized with a pair of sunglasses, gold jewelry, and Yeezy slides.

For one picture, she posed in front of a pool with the idyllic Utah landscape in the background, captioning it, I love it here.

The photos have amassed over 12 million likes, with fans and celebrities alike complimenting the reality star on her look. Model Sofia Richie sent Jenner a heart-eyed emoji while several fans left a string of adoring icons.

But other fans were more critical of Kylie Jenners post

In both comment sections, many fans called on Jenner to tag the brand, which was founded and created by London designer Jedidiah Duyile. Its website says Duyile created the company to produce pieces that reminded women of just how sexy they are. The main inspiration stems from an appreciation of the vintage casual inspired looks of the early 2000s with a modern day twist.

When Jenner failed to acknowledge the comments, someone took to Twitter and claimed, Kylie Jenner is refusing to tag the designer of the dress she just posted, which is a black owned brand, and now limiting her comments. @LoudBrndStudios is the designer!

The post quickly amassed over 90,000 likes, with hundreds of people calling out Jenner for not tagging LoudBrand Studios.

What is wrong with her?!? She doesnt want to pay the workers in Bangladesh and she cant even credit a black designer???, one fan said, referencing another one of Jenners latest controversies.

I will never understand how people still back this family. Theyre all culture vultures with no morals, said another.

Someone else didnt seem so surprised, writing, This is nothing new. She wore clothes by The K Label and Twiley some time ago and didnt tag them but made sure to tag Gucci and other top designers. I could understand if she has people to purchase clothes for her, but they always make sure she tags Dior of Givenchy.

But some felt that people were being too hard on Jenner and argued that she wasnt obligated to tag the brand given that she purchased the dress.

I dont love the Kardashians but seriously, I dont agree with you in this, said one defender. Kylie has no obligation to promote that designer/brand.she was not paid to advertise for them. It is not her business to do that and yall should stop this.

I dont understand how other people dont understand, another agreed. Do yall like working for free? She doesnt either. Social media promo is a big part of her job & she shouldnt be forced to do it without compensation.

Kylie Jenners response to the backlash

As the backlash mounted, Jenner hopped online to defend herself. Quote-tweeting the original message, she wrote, ok this is just a reach. why would i ever REFUSE to tag a brand and block comments. this is completely false. i think this brand is amazing and i wanted to show support and will continue to do so. everyone go check out.

ok this is just a reach. why would i ever REFUSE to tag a brand and block comments. this is completely false. i think this brand is amazing and i wanted to show support and will continue to do so. everyone go check out @LoudBrndStudios https://t.co/r7oWRMNwoK  Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) July 7, 2020

She also agreed in a follow-up tweet to credit more black businesses moving forward.

Read more: Khloe Kardashian Once Admitted to a Procedure That F*cked Up Her Face
At the beginning of the pandemic, Kylie Jenner was vocal about asking people to abide by Californias Stay-At-Home order. She posted videos and photos of herself spending quality time with her daughter, Stormi, and hanging out around the house.

Though the coronavirus (COVID-19) is still ragging in the United States, many citizens are no longer abiding by rules to help stop the spread. Unfortunately, celebrities with major platforms have also been carrying on with their lives as if nothing is happening while the cases surge in certain places like California and Florida.

Before the mandate was lifted, Jenner was spotted out and about at her best friend, Stassie Karanikolaous home. Since then, as orders in LA have eased and then become restricted once more, Jenner has been spotted at dinner, at a club, and now shes vacationing in Utah.

RELATED: Kylie Jenner Says Pregnancy Prepared Her For Quarantine

Kylie Jenner previously spoke out about why it is so important to quarantine

Quarantine has been challenging for everyone, but Jenner has spoken about how important it is in order to try and halt the spread and prevent others from getting sick. I hope everyone is feeling well! she shared back in March. Its so important right now to self-quarantine to ensure we arent endangering ourselves or anyone who cant handle the virus.

Jenner went on to explain that her pregnancy with her daughter Stormi helped prepare her for isolation. If you recall, Jenner was not photographed once during her pregnancy and she only announced Stormis arrival after she was born.

Another daily reminder to take this social distancing serious and self-quarantine, she shared on her Instagram on March 18. Im on day 8. My pregnancy prepared me for this, I didnt leave the house for months.

RELATED: Fans Are Convinced Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott Wont Ever Get Back Together Because of This Instagram Post

Kylie Jenner is currently vacationing at Amangiri in Utah

Despite her massive new $36.5 million mansion, outfitted with all of the bells and whistles, Jenner is no longer abiding by quarantining rules. She is currently vacationing at Amangiri, a five-star resort in Canyon Point, Utah.

The dessert-located resort has crystalline pools, raw concrete architecture, natural shrubs, rolling hills, rocks, dunes, and tons of other natural settings. The resort is located on the border between Utah and Arizona. It sits in the middle of the sacred Grand Staircase-Escalante and sits on 600 acres. Its close to Lake Powell and offers hiking and boating.

Jenner seems static to be there. She posted several photos of herself on the resort grounds. She captioned one of herself saying, I love it here. She posted another photo of Stormi with the caption, mi amor.

RELATED: Kim Kardashian West Is Now Worth More Than Kylie Jenner Following Kylies Billionaire Scandal

Fans are furious about Kylie Jenners Utah vacation

Fans are not pleased with Jenners vacation. As someone who placed for others to stay home, it seems very hypocritical for her to be traveling. Though Amangiri is secluded, cases of COVID-19 are surging in Utah, so much so that states like New York which have dramatically lowered their case require a 14-day quarantine for anyone coming from the state.

Furthermore, Amangiri sits rights next to the lands of the Navajo Nation, the largest Indigenous American reservation in the country. The reservation is currently battling a devastating coronavirus outbreak.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry left royal life months ago, but details continue to come out in regards to what their time was like behind palace doors. Weve heard nonstop rumors about a feud between the pair and the Cambridges. But no one has been able to confirm the start of it.

While some say it began when Prince William confronted his brother about the speed of his relationship with the former Suits star, others have argued that it kicked it off with a row between the duchesses. A new report supports the latter, detailing the incident and how it allegedly made Markle feel.

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle at an event in July 2019 | Karwai Tang/Getty Images

The alleged incident involving Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton

Royal author Tom Quinn detailed the alleged incident in his book Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir from Queen Mary to Meghan Markle. In excerpts published by The Daily Star, he claimed tension arose when Markle allegedly had a disagreement with one of Middletons staffers in front of the dutchess.

The reason she lost it with Kates member of staff was that she, Meghan, didnt feel that this person was giving her the sort of attention she deserved, he wrote. Meghan asked this person, I know who it was but I cant say because it will give away my source, who works for Kate who was basically asked to do something by Meghan and said, Im really sorry I cant do that because I work for Kate.'

The conversation plummeted into raised voices and foot-stomping, Quinn claims

Quinns purported source claimed the conversation quickly became uncomfortable as Markle just lost it with this person, noting there was raised voices and foot-stomping.

The scene horrified Middleton and marked the beginning of the fallout because it reminded Meghan that she was, as it were, second place or as the runner-up, according to Quinn.

It was almost as if in that one encounter, it encapsulated for Meghan the problem that she had, that shes a Princess and shes number two, Quinn continued.

He also noted: She was very successful, coming into this alien environment where people behave towards you according to where you are in the status of who becomes King or Queen next, thats just alien to her.

Quinn claimed that Markle and Prince Harry soon decided to move out of Kensington Palace and into Frogmore Cottage.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have since stepped back from their royal duties

Amid nonstop feud rumors, the couple announced in January that they were stepping away from their senior roles in the royal family. They officially wrapped up in March and relocated to Canada before settling in Markles native Los Angeles.

They are now staying in an $18 million mansion belonging to movie mogul Tyler Perry as they search for a home of their own.

Read more: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Reportedly Want to Find a House with Room for Doria Ragland
New court documents from Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs legal battle with British tabloids revealed that the duchess felt unprotected by the institution and unable to defend herself after being attacked by the media. Her fans are outraged by the lack of protection, taking aim at Queen Elizabeth and the royal family for their failure to do more for Meghan.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Karwai Tang/WireImage

Meghan voiced how she didnt feel supported

During the 2019 documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Meghan touched on how much of a blow it had been to face so much negative media attention, especially during her pregnancy.

When discussing the situation with ITVs Tom Bradby, Meghan shared her devastating experience. Any woman, especially when they are pregnant, you are really vulnerable, so that was made really challenging. And then when you have a newborn, and especially as a woman, it is a lot, she explained.

Meghan continued, So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed, its um Yeah, well, I guess and also thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I am OK. But its a very real thing to be going through behind-the-scenes.

ITV's @tombradby spoke to Meghan as he gained exclusive access to the royal couple as they toured Africa for 10 days with their son Archie.



The documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, airs on Sunday at 9pm on @ITV #HarryandMeghan https://t.co/Uy21iE6ozJ pic.twitter.com/XYlHVytiHF  ITV News (@itvnews) October 18, 2019

Court documents revealed Meghan felt unprotected

Court documents from Meghans legal action against Mail on Sunday and MailOnline were quite revealing about how the royal family didnt do enough to protect the duchess.

According to a report from ET, the documents state that Meghan had become the subject of a large number of false and damaging articles by the UK tabloid media, specifically by the Defendant [Associated Newspapers Limited], which caused tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health.

The documents also note that Meghans friends had never seen her in this state before and that they were rightly concerned for her welfare, specifically as she was pregnant, unprotected by the Institution, and prohibited from defending herself.

Its also claimed that it was mandated by the [Kensington Palace Communications Team] that all friends and family of [Meghan] should say no comment when approached by any media outlet, despite misinformation being provided to UK tabloids about [her].

This shared frustration amongst [her] friends left everyone feeling silenced, as it appeared that other so-called sources were able to disseminate false statements, its claimed in the documents. While the people who knew her best were told that they needed to remain silent.

RELATED: Meghan Markle Believed the Media Favored Kate Middleton More Than Her, According to Her Friend

Meghans fans attack the royal family

In response to the claims that the royal family didnt protect Meghan, her fans have been quite vocal.

Im glad Meghan Markle put it in writing that the British royal family did not protect her during her pregnancy, one fan tweeted. She owes those people nothing. They scapegoated her for Prince William and Prince Andrew. Its not right how she was treated by that vile firm and U.K. press.

Another fan agreed, tweeting, She was COMPLETELY unprotected. The silence from the royal family was deafening and we all watched it. I cant imagine the pain BOTH Harry and Meghan went through. How isolating during such a special time. What a family.'

Another Twitter user remarked how heartbreaking it was to hear that Meghan felt unprotected, noting, The royal family are cruel evil creatures. The queen is heartless. How she treated Diana after her death was sickening.

Unprotected by the Institution and prohibited from defending herself thats absolutely awful, another fan tweeted. The Institution aka her in laws abandoned her to the wolves, then undermined efforts to protect her.
Parks and Recreation is a quirky sitcom with memorable characters portrayed by a great cast. Since the show has ended, fans have a few theories about the workers in the parks department.

Some of these theories are far-fetched, but some could likely be true. Mental Floss has gathered some of these speculations, one of which being that Jerry Gergich, the bumbling worker who is the butt of everyones jokes, was once a cult leader. This theory may be one of the more realistic ones, and heres why.

What is Parks and Recreation about?

RELATED: Parks and Recreation: Amy Poehlers Leslie Knope Was Modified After Season 1 to Seem Less Ditzy

The show Parks and Recreation, created by Michael Schur and Greg Daniels, creator of The Office, aired on NBC in 2009 and ran for seven seasons. The award-winning show is about a variety of characters working in the parks department in Pawnee, Indiana, and their everyday antics.

It mostly centers around Leslie Knope, portrayed by Amy Poehler. Leslie is an optimistic and perky mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department and her co-workers, who are also her friends. Leslie often struggles with making the town a better place.

In the first episode, viewers see how much Leslie loves her city and what her job entails. During a town meeting, Leslie listens to the disgruntled townspeople and their sometimes obnoxious issues.

However, Leslies smile never falters. When nurse Anne Perkins steps up to the mic to complain about a construction pit behind her house, Leslie makes it her mission to fill in the pit and have a park built. Throughout the show, Leslie works to keep her promise.

Who is Jerry Gergich?

The character of Jerry Gergich, portrayed by Jim OHeir, is a calm mannered man who is often ridiculed by his co-workers. They always make fun of him and are dismissive of Jerry.

In the first few seasons, this mistreatment frustrates Jerry, however, as the show progresses, he becomes more forgiving and accepting of it. While at work, Jerry is clumsy and airheaded.

Throughout the show, the other characters change his name a few times, calling him Larry, Barry, and Garry. Season four reveals that his real name is Gerald.

On his first day of work, the old director got Jerrys name wrong, and he never corrected the director. However, He is also a lovable oaf who has a gorgeous wife and three daughters.

Nonetheless, his co-workers are often baffled at how Jerry was able to convince Gayle, his wife, to marry him. In season five, when Jerry retires, Leslie visits him at home. Leslie witnesses the real Jerry, a family man who is adored by his wife and daughters. Jerry isnt clumsy at all and is agile, as he catches a falling mug. He can also play the piano and is a fantastic painter.

In the final season, Jerry becomes mayor and is such a great mayor, that he was elected several more times.

Why fans think Jerry was a cult leader

Christie Brinkley as Gayle, and Jim OHeir as Jerry Gergich on NBCs Parks and Recreation. | Danny Feld/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

One fan on Reddit posted why Jerry may have been the original leader of the local cult, the Reasonabilists. They believe that Zorp, a lizard god that is coming to destroy the world.

The cult is introduced in season four, episode six, and every year they hold a vigil in a park for the end of the world. The cult was founded in the 1970s. During this time, Jerry would have been in his 20s and looking to start his government career.

Fans point out that in the episode in which Jerry retires, he mentions all the career goals he had in mind. Some of which include becoming friends with influential people and leaving a lasting impression on the town by having a building named after him. Perhaps Jerry thought the cult would help him achieve some of these goals.

Also, Jerrys clumsiness only happens while he is at work. Some speculate that this is to distract his co-workers from finding out who Jerry actually is. He has a way with people and is loved by the town since he is re-elected to be mayor multiple times. So, it is possible he was a cult leader.
One of the most hilarious, popular, and inspirational comedians in the world is Patton Oswalt. Oswalt began his stand-up career in the late 1980s and had the rare opportunity to make his first television appearance on the iconic sitcom Seinfeld.

Since then, Oswalts popularity has only risen both in the fields of acting and stand-up, and he recently released his seventh stand-up special Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything on Netflix. To promote the special, Oswalt was the guest on his friend Pete Holmes extremely popular podcast You Made It Weird, where Oswalt shared a hilarious story about performing comedy while high in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Who is comedian Patton Oswalt?

Patton Oswalt | Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

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Oswalt is one of the most well-know stand-ups in the world, with a number of acclaimed specials released in the past several decades.

Over the years, Oswalts comedic style has evolved as his life has changed. This includes a more serious turn following the tragic death of his first wife Michelle McNamara.

McNamara was known for her true-crime writing, which mostly concerned the infamous Golden State Killer. The two married in 2005 and had a child in 2009. McNamara passed away from an undiagnosed heart condition, which led to Oswalt finishing her book Ill Be Gone In The Dark, which is set to become an HBO docuseries.

McNamaras death was a major topic in Oswalts outstanding special Patton Oswalt: Annihilation which was released in 2017. During 2017, Oswalt married actress Meredith Salenger.

Besides his stand up comedy, Oswalt has had a number of appearances in some of the best comedy films and television shows including, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Ratatouille, The King of Queens, Parks and Recreation, Bojack Horseman, The Goldbergs, and many more.

Oswalts recent comedy special I Love Everything

Oswalt released his most recent stand-up special I Love Everything on Netflix on May 19, 2020. The special was shot over two nights at the Knight Theater in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The other comedy specials that Oswalt has released include Werewolves and Lollipops, Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time, Thank You For Clapping, and Annihilation, several of which were also released exclusively on Netflix.

Oswalts most recent special touched on topics such as reaching the age 50, buying a new house, and having an existential crisis at Dennys. The lovingly nerdy comedian also tells the hilarious story of how attending his daughters art show cost him a chance to tour a life-size replica of the Millennium Falcon.

The show received great reviews, as have most of his other specials. To promote his recently released show, Oswalt made an appearance on fellow stand-up Pete Holmes interview podcast You Made It Weird.

Oswalts story about performing high on the podcast You Made It Weird

As the shows title suggests, You Made It Weird is a podcast that gets into the stranger parts of the lives of both host Holmes and his guest. On Oswalts episode, the two comedians discussed a wide range of topics, including the time Oswalt got so high that he performed a set with his eyes closed.

The wild incident occurred while Oswalt was performing in Amsterdam, Norway, where the use of marijuana is famously extremely popular. According to the comedian, Oswalt bought and ate an edible Snickers bar, without realizing its potency, which caused the comedian some trouble seeing during his set.

Oswalt went on to explain that (he) didnt know you were supposed to take a couple of bites and it lasts you the week. I walked around and ate the whole Snickers bar. And I went on stage and heres whats weird: I could speak perfectly fine. I could form thoughts perfectly fine. I could not physically open my eyes.

This performance must have been a strange sight for those in attendance, but knowing Oswalt, everyone in the crowd laughed uproariously, even if Oswalt couldnt see it.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were the first celebrities to be diagnosed with the coronavirus (COVID-19). They were in Australia where Hanks was filming the untitled Elvis Presley movie in which he plays Presleys manager Colonel Tom Parker. Hanks and Wilson spent the required 14 days in quarantine until they recovered and returned to the United States.

Tom Hanks | Apple/Sony

RELATED: Tom Hanks in Greyhound Movie Review: Torpedo & Hooch

Hanks latest movie was also impacted by coronavirus. When movie theaters closed, Greyhound went from a summer blockbuster to a streaming premiere. Hanks spoke with The Guardian in an interview published July 6 in which he opened up about he and Wilsons struggles with coronavirus. Greyhound premieres July 10 on Apple TV+.

Even celebrities like Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have very different coronavirus symptoms

Hanks jokingly referred to himself and his wife as the celebrity canaries in the coalmine of all things Covid-19. They did bring a lot of awareness to the virus when news was just coming out early in 2020. Their social media posts from quarantine also kept people informed. Its not just either you die from the virus or you recover. It takes various forms.

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson | Amy Sussman/Getty Images

RELATED: What Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Are Eating In Australian Coronavirus Isolation

Were fine, Hanks says now. Our discomfort because of the virus was pretty much done in two weeks and we had very different reactions, and that was odd.

Rita Wilson wasnt all rap

One of Wilsons quarantine posts went viral. She rapped Rappers Delight and nailed it. However, Hanks informed The Guardian that Wilson had serious coronavirus symptoms the whole time.

My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, Hanks said. She had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did.

Tom Hanks was not as comfortable as he looked

Some of Hankss quarantine social media posts included an Instagram of his vegemite breakfast. Although he was able to host Saturday Night Live and give interviews upon his return, Hanks was in severe discomfort with coronavirus too.

I just had crippling body aches, Hanks said. I was very fatigued all the time and I couldnt concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes. That last bit is kinda like my natural state anyway.

Hanks had a bit of immunocompromisation when he contracted coronavirus. He was most concerned that the virus would exacerbate his pre-existing conditions.

Tom Hanks | Apple/Sony

RELATED: Tom Hanks Gets Brutally Honest About Greyhound Film Streaming  I Dont Mean to Make Angry My Apple Overlords

When we were in the hospital, I said, Im 63, I have type 2 diabetes, I had a stent in my heart  am I a red flag case? Hanks said. 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.

Its time for everyone to do their part

Part of Hanks and Wilsons motivation for sharing so much of their struggle with coronavirus was to let their fans know to take it seriously. Hanks has joked about having the antibodies, suggesting they use his blood to make the Hanksine. Getting serious, he just wants people to follow the social distancing guidelines.

Tom Hanks | Niko Tavernise/Sony Pictures/CTMG

RELATED: Tom Hanks Was Not in His Real Kitchen on Saturday Night Live: Where He Actually Hosted From

Theres really only three things everyone needs to do: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, Hanks said. I know societally its been politicised, but I dont get it, man. I dont understand how anyone can put their foot down and say: I dont have to do my part.

Tom Hanks in isolation

Hanks gave his interview to The Guardian via video chat. He updated The Guardian on how hes handling the isolation, and reminisced about industry events earlier this year.

I have all the benefits of my station, Hank said. Im able to see the kids and a few friends. Im not experiencing anything but the great question of, whats going to happen? Remember those carefree days of the Academy Awards? It was like, whats that place in Italy underneath the mountain that exploded? Here we are in Pompeii! Great day! Bit of smoke on the horizon but other than that
Acting legend Tom Hanks has played almost every role imaginable throughout his nearly forty-year career.

The iconic actor has portrayed countless real-life people throughout the years, including Congressman Charlie Wilson in 2007s Charlie Wilsons War; Walt Disney in the 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks; and former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee in 2017s The Post, to name only a few.

Captains in real life have been another big draw for the hugely beloved Hanks. Playing captains in the movies has served him well and here are the five the American actor has portrayed.

Tom Hanks | Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

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Hanks on meeting the real-life people he immortalizes in biopics

Portraying individuals who have, in one way or another, left their mark on history seems to appeal greatly to Hanks. Its a risky practice to play a real-life person as comparisons will be abundant, as in the case of Hanks characterization of Fred Rogers in 2019s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. However, its worked for Hanks.

Hanks, in an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, was asked by the host if he seeks out the individual hes portraying, to meet them or to chat. The actors answer humorously addressed the complexity of taking on the role of a living person.

RELATED: Ann Currys Adorable Tweet About Tom Hanks Coronavirus Diagnosis

Yes, and in fact, Ive said this to Richard Phillips and to Charlie Wilson and to Jim Lovell, Hanks said. I said, Now look, Im playing you, so for good or for bad, Im you, and youre gonna get that for a long time, Im you. I am you, deal with it. Now, as you, Im going to say things you never said, Im going to go places you never were, Im going to do things you never did. That being the case, Id like to be as authentic as possible. 

Hanks latest film, Greyhound

In Hanks new film, Greyhound, for which hes written the screenplay and plays US Navy Commander Ernest Krause, the actor isnt playing an actual living person. However, the film is inspired by the 1955 C.S. Forester novel, The Good Shepherd. Set in 1942 on the destroyer USS Keeling (with the call sign, Greyhound), Hanks Krause finds himself leading his men during a grueling five-day attack by Nazi submarines.

RELATED: Surprising Things You Probably Never Knew About Forrest Gump

The actor told Datebook in July 2020 about the thrill of shooting on an actual conserved US military craft.

We shot onboard the USS Kidd that is usually sitting on the Mississippi River there. . ., Hanks recalled, 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.

Greyhound is streaming on Apple TV+ starting on July 10, 2020.

The 5 biopics in which Tom Hanks has played captains

The father of four clearly enjoys playing real-life captains in his films and can now count on one hand the subjects he has had the honor of portraying.

As he told The Guardian in July 2020, what he enjoys most about the challenge of these roles is drawing out of these real-life heroes lessons audiences can take with them.

Tom Hanks at the Los Angeles premiere of Captain Phillips in 2013 | Amanda Edwards/WireImage

Look, Ive played a lot of captains, he says. Capt Jim Lovell [in Apollo 13]; Capt Richard Phillips [in Captain Phillips]; Capt Sully Sullenberger [in Sully]; and Capt Miller in Saving Private Ryan.

But I try to bring to any of these roles, and specifically to [Captain] Ernie Krause, the question anyone could ask: What would I do if I was in his shoes? Then it ends up being something more palpable than a museum piece of what it was like to be on this ship in the north Atlantic.

RELATED: Tom Hanks: The 1 Character He Played That He Would Want With Him On a Desert Island
With Unsolved Mysteries back on TV via Netflix, viewers genuinely want to help. The tragic story of Alonzo Brooks remains a cold case 16 years after his death, but his family and the FBI hope that renewed interest will prompt someone to come forward.

The Unsolved Mysteries episode No Ride Home centers on what happened to Brooks after friends left him alone at a party. Fans want to know more, and along with the FBI, are doing some sleuthing.

Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix | Netflix

Early investigations yielded nothing on Alonzo Brooks murder

Brooks never made it home from the farmhouse party he attended in La Cygne, Kansas, roughly 50 miles from his home. His body was found by family and friends one month after law enforcement agencies launched an unsuccessful search.

Between 2004 and 2008, local, state, and federal authorities investigated the Brooks case to search for clues about his death and what transpired the night he disappeared.

Because of the one-month gap between the investigators search and when the family found him, it was suspected that Brooks body was stored and later abandoned in a creek.

His murder was and is considered a racially-motivated hate crime, but witnesses didnt indicate specifically who Brooks encountered after his friends left the party.

According to a 2004 article from Lawrence-Journal World, Brooks was called derogatory names and threatened that he wouldnt make it out alive. In 2008, the case officially went cold when civil rights investigators couldnt gather enough evidence.

There are so many unanswered questions in the disappearance and death of Alonzo Brooks. You might be the key to solving this mystery. Help the FBI close the case and a $100K reward could be yours. "No Ride Home" is now streaming on Netflix. #unsolvedmysteries #fbi pic.twitter.com/tWJZVo5ZdX  Unsolved Mysteries (@Unsolved) July 4, 2020

The FBI reopened the Alonzo Brooks case, now offering reward

In 2019, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister and the FBI reopened Brooks murder investigation. Per KWCH, McAllister stated both agencies reviewed old and new evidence and met with witnesses, and there was enough to formally reignite their search for answers.

We are investigating whether Alonzo was murdered, he said. His death certainly was suspicious, and someone, likely multiple people, know(s) what happened that night in April 2004. It is past time for the truth to come out. The code of silence must be broken. Alonzos family deserves to know the truth, and it is time for justice to be served.

This year, McAllister announced the FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction. Hes hoping that someone is ready to come forward with the truth so the family can have closure.

Fans dug up a blog started in 2010

The Brooks family and law enforcement are aware of some of the rumors surrounding Alonzos death. Online, social media users decided to do some digging, and found a blog called Cold Case Kansas from 2010.

While the post about Alonzo Brooks story is thorough, its the comments section that has peoples attention.

Between 2010 and 2015, a number of anonymous commenters wrote that a certain family was probably involved with the murder, and that family had ties to law enforcement.

One person wrote:

The people who were there know. They know because they were told keep your mouth shut or well do the same to you. The one night I wasnt at a party this happened. From a town that small just a name can scare anyone to keep quietincluding the entire Prairie View District. Youd be surprised at what all is being covered upand why. But I have a very good feeling some things are about to turn upand this whole thing will be solvedjust trying to find the right authorities who dont have family in higher up spots

Some stated they are very familiar with Linn County, and it was always known for being hostile toward people of color. A few wrote they were at the party, but didnt see anything.

Others claim that those involved bragged about torturing Brooks in a barn and killing him. Mentions of a diner, auto shop, and freezer are scattered among the comments. People agree that someone in that town knows something  or everything.

U.S. Attorney McAllister said that they will utilize modern technology, including DNA tests, to further the current investigation and hopefully solve the case.

RELATED: Unsolved Mysteries: What Happened to Original Host Robert Stack?
This page is predisposed to looking skeptically at big federal programs for business, especially when they increase the federal debt. During the Great Recession, we opposed bailouts to General Motors and Chrysler because big, global companies and major industries should have the wherewithal to stand on their own two feet. When they need money, they should get it from private sources, including lenders and the markets, not taxpayers. When they cant, they should face the consequences. Investors and executives who get the rewards should bear the risks, without counting on a rescue from Uncle Sam.
Just after sunbreak, July 5th, about a mile north of the Bay Avenue beach approach: There was a group of five eagles poking through the seaweed at the high tide mark. The symbol of our country the day after Independence Day celebrations. In the background, firework trash left behind, carried by the wind or brought in with the tides.
A common term for adoption placements is forever family, indicating the child has now been legally and symbolically grafted into a new home. After being relinquished (voluntarily or not) from their birth family, some children stay with the first placement that follows. To their biological connections and culture, they might say, goodbye forever, family.

On the more extreme end: Some children in the Kansas foster care system navigated over 100 placements, according to a recent lawsuit. Its not uncommon for some children to say, Goodbye, forever family to multiple caregivers throughout their lifespan. Such was the case in a recent controversy regarding a transracially adopted child from China. Social media influencer Myka Stauffer posted an apology about rehoming Huxley to another family after recognizing he needed more care than her family could provide:

I apologize for being so naive when I started the adoption process, I was not selective or fully equipped or prepared. I received one day of watching at home online video training and gained my Hague adoption certification, which was required by my accredited adoption agency, Stauffer wrote on Instagram.

How do you measure the intent of someones message along with its impact? Sometimes, theyre different. Other times, the purpose was accomplished. I think adoption, as an institution and as an experience, can be like that.

I remember standing on the playground as a fourth grader. A boy walked up to me and taunted, Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these! Simultaneously slanting his eyes up and down with his fingers, he finished by lifting up his shirt so we could all see his chest.

I cant claim to know what that boy was intending on the playground. However, in that moment, as a transracial adoptee, I felt incredibly uncomfortable, foreign, inferior, embarrassed, ashamed, confused, and severely out of place. I didnt tell my parents about it because I couldnt imagine theyd understand; they were white, along with all the teachers. So, throughout my childhood I generally kept those incidents to myself. It wasnt healthy and I paid for it later on.

Perhaps adoption, as an institution in need of reform and redemption, doesnt intend to hurt us in that way. And yet it shapes lives profoundly, for better and worse.

But lets be careful not to let the Stauffers story distract us from the larger narrative. Internationally and domestically, same-race and transracial adoption is the original dissolution. There will be an impact. Therefore, we ought to expect needs related to mental health and actively prepare the way for something (and someone) better.

In her Ted Talk, adult adoptee Sara Jones recalls how, when she was adopted from Korea at age three, the experience overwhelmed her and she stopped speaking for six months. When she started speaking again, one of her first phrases in English was, Sara sad.

Not only does research show how mental health needs are intrinsically woven into the adoption experience, but youth and adult adoptees have pleaded with those in power to change the way they see and serve us (Ive posted a list at my blog for families interested in listening).

As Christians, we navigate the already and not yet reality of Jesus Christ who has freed us from the penalty of sin, rescues us from its power over our lives here and now, and sends us toward the complete absence of brokennessthere and beyond the grave. His work, not ours. And yet, were sent as his workers, his ambassadors.

What does that mean for us, individually, as we walk throughout a fallen world, institutionally? How are we called to participate in a way that represents the hands and feet of a suffering Savior? And what do we do when we see an institution (and individuals within it) hurting people, either intentionally or because of its collateral impact?

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For me, as a licensed clinician and adult adoptee, part of my professional calling is to take those kinds of questions into the foster and adoption community and serve in a way that moves the folks within it toward health and restoration.

The mental health of adoptees

To begin with, adoption-related needs are often comorbid with other mental healthrelated needs. This is not a personal heart-check for adoptive parents as much as its a community assessment of the system that uses their money, and, ultimately, a call to understand and serve the children who are impacted by the experience of birth, relinquishment, nonpermanency, and adoption.

Comorbid. Co means joint, mutual, or common. Morbid indicates disease. Comorbidity as a mental health term refers to the presence of two or more conditions in one person. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is used to classify symptoms into diagnoses (such as PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, Reactive Attachment Disorder). I put conditions in quotes because I recognize not all clinicians find value in ascribing DSM-5 labels to actual people, as if they were somehow problems to be fixed, reduced to a pathology of sorts. Can it help with insurance and gaining access to services? Sometimes. Can it also help put a name to a unique experience, a set of symptoms and struggles? Certainly.

However, as well-known psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk puts it, Before they reach their twenties, many patients have been given four, five, six, or more of these impressive but meaningless labels. If they receive treatment at all, they get whatever is being promulgated as the method of management du jour: medications, behavioral modification, or exposure therapy. These rarely work and often cause more damage.

I can see it from both sides. Here are some of the common DSM-5 labels foster children and adoptees might receive at some point in their narrative:

Anxiety Disorder Adjustment Disorder Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Childhood Obsessive Compulsive Disorders Conduct Disorders Oppositional Defiant Disorder Reactive Attachment Disorder Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

As an adoptee and clinician, my heart sinks when I imagine how many of us might be struggling to navigate any one of those sets of symptoms right now, let alone multiple layers of them.

Take just one of those diagnoses: Some research suggests ADHD is higher among adoptees than non-adopted peers. This could be due to the increased stress related to poor neonatal conditions, separation from caregivers, or neglect during the process of foster care/adoption. Theres also the added stressor of having to make sense of life events. If an infant or toddler is wrapped up in meaning-making, its possible thered be a delay in other milestones related to emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Because ADHD includes a genetic component, adoptive parents must also consider the generational impact of addiction, depression, abuse, and other factors.

In all diagnoses, an important takeaway here is that foster and adoptive placements can contribute to that stress or serve as a factor of protection. Sometimes, theyre both.

On top of the clinical diagnoses, some adoptees struggle to make sense of the death, or perceived death, of their biological/natural parents (see author and adoption activist Valerie Andrews, the executive director of Origins Canada, for a dialogue on language).

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Biological parents, the original attachment figure, remain psychologically present yet physically absent, an idea that social worker, professor, and adoptee JaeRan Kim unpacks in her article on ambiguous loss. And when an adoptee is not given social or cultural approval to mourn that loss, it becomes more challenging to heal from it. This invalidation is called disenfranchised grief. I would never ask the couple struggling with infertility, Why cant you just be thankful? We need to be just as sensitive with children navigating adoption and foster care; otherwise, we risk blocking them from such restoration.

On top of that, we must consider transracial adoption and the complexities bound within a white supremacist country, laws and policies (written or unwritten) that build or maintain inequity between racial groups, individual (internalized, interpersonal) and systemic (institutional, structural) racism, racial abuse (microaggressions), and other various forms of racialized oppression. How inconsistent is it for a country to facilitate its citizens to adopt babies into their homes but sustain walls and rules and attitudes against their peers and parents? Children notice this.

Comorbidity touches adoptees in many ways. Its important to affirm that not all adoptees experience mental health needs at a clinically significant level. We do not want to pathologize children navigating adoption and permanency. We do want to normalize our experiences and we do want to raise awareness about our stories. If the only adoptee voices you listen to are the ones who report, My parents were awesome and Im so grateful, then you miss out on rich and essential learning for your family.

Adoption disrupts many of us from the daily life experiences most take for granted, and that needs to be brought into the light. We can call it adoption, foster care, rehoming, dissolution, dissolved, disrupted  but whatever we call it, our actual lived experiences will hurt.

Where do we go from here?

Im not the judge of anyone who has adopted or has spoken out against adoption (or rehoming), or even over any particular agency. A friend recently shared, Its not our business. We werent there. Its between them and God.

I think theres a lot of truth to that.

My observations are not punitive; theyre meant to re-posture us as a community to consider how our current laws, policies, and beliefs around adoption dont serve the ones being adopted. If were concerned about the current and next generation of adoptees, we must have the courage to ask those in power, trusted leaders, policymakers, and arbitrators to do better.

They challenge us as Christians in two ways: our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationship with others.

In our relationship with God, where have we replaced God with something (or someone) else? In his book Parenting, author and theologian Paul Tripp explicitly names the tendency parents have to use their children as a means for self-serving purposes, robbing God of glory because they want it for themselves. Adoption is an occasion for those distorted desires to hijack our families and institutions for the worst of our humanity to flourish under the guise of our best humanitarian efforts.

We cant forget the transactional nature of adoption, according to social scientists. Anthropologist Eleana Kim writes that adoptees are vulnerable to commodification, quoting sociologist Sara Dorow: Transnationally adopted children are not bought and sold, but neither are they given and received freely and altruistically; the people and institutions around them enter into social relationships of exchange, meaning, and value that are both caring and consumptive.

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Kim adds, This close imbrication of commodification and care can make it difficult to distinguish between the caring-parent and the consumer-parent or between humanitarian and egocentric motivations.

In our relationship with others, how have we either sought to be a god or made children into gods, rather than seeking to serve as Gods ambassador? And when have adoptees seemed more like barriers between us and our desires rather than the very people weve been called to love?

Adoption agencies, in general, play a symbiotic role within a larger system of cultural and institutional forces, such as stigma of children born outside of marriage, lack of mental health awareness and training, barriers to education, shame-based family values, poverty, pride, nationalism, ableism, racism, religion, coercion, and sexual violence. Despite genuine progress in some post-adoption services, I believe many agencies themselves fall short of the kind of support and diligence that children and families need, and thus their practices should be reformed.

If in adoption we were seeking to be the hands and feet of Christ, were also called to embrace the idea that Christs hands and feet were nailed to a cross by those he came to rescue. He suffered. He faced tribulation. Adopters (not just adoptees) will suffer.

This is not because humans are actual saviors, but because, like any good work, caring for orphans and widows (James 1:27, NLT) will demand from us strength we dont have, pushing us to depend on the actual Savior, and will perhaps reorient our distorted motives along the way. This does not mean we cant outsource our needs to professionals skilled in a particular domain or discipline. There are times and situations when that step makes sense. What it means is we need to count the costs of adoption and hold institutions accountable when they hide the cost from us.

Parenting in general is a place where were meant to serve rather than be served. And, the more we embrace that message, the more well be a source of health and hope for the ones who truly need it.

Those who labor to be like Christ in this world will certainly feel the pain of his cross. Yes, for the joy set before us. Yes, toward a resurrection like his. And yes, for the keeping of many lives. And by his grace God keeps us. Even when we cant.

Cameron Lee Small has been working to raise consciousness about faith, child welfare, and mental health since 2012, after meeting his biological mother in Korea. He provides therapy services online from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he lives with his wife and family.

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Andrew "Rube" Foster, who had been a great pitcher, and then an astute manager for the Chicago American Giants, saw possibilities as more Black people moved north in the Great Migration to work in factories. He reached a handshake agreement with the son-in-law of the man who owned the Chicago White Sox to play in their old Southside ballpark. The park was enormous.

Rube Foster schooled his teams in the disciplined skills that thrill so many baseball fans: sharp pitching, fleet defense, bunts and stolen bases. The American Giants often drew more fans than the White Sox.

In 1920, Rube Foster brought together the owners of six other African American clubs to begin the Negro National League. There were white men and women who owned teams with Black players. But Rube Foster insisted on Black ownership in his league. He was a businessman, to be sure, who took a cut of the gate receipts from every club, but often reached into his own wallet to help teams.

The Negro National League expanded and inspired other leagues. For the next 25 years, hundreds of Black athletes made careers in Negro League baseball, enthralling crowds and crossing the country in private Pullman cars, even as they were not permitted in many hotels and restaurants of the cities where they played. Jackie Robinson was on the Kansas City Monarchs when the Brooklyn Dodgers called.

Rube Foster didn't live to see the integration of baseball, and the end of the Negro Leagues. He died in 1930  in an asylum  at the age of 51. On this day to celebrate American independence, Rube Foster and his teammates in the history of the Negro Leagues can be honored for their independence and ingenuity. They outplayed segregation, to create something extraordinary and beautiful.
Carlson showed only a short clip from her CNN interview and said, A national dialogue? Please. Theyre not looking for a colloquy. What they want is a soliloquy. We speak, you shut up and listen ... its long been considered out of bounds to question a persons patriotism. Its a very strong charge and we try not ever to make it. But in the face of all of this, the conclusion cant be avoided. These people actually hate America.
COGIC pastor sentenced to 5 life sentences for sexually abusing young girls

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A Texarkana pastor was sentenced to five life sentences and 11 separate 20-year terms by a jury that found him guilty last week of assaulting and raping children and teenagers years ago.

Pastor Logan Wesley III, who founded the Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ of Texarkana, Arkansas, in 1997, was sentenced Thursday after a Texas county court heard the testimonies of five women who claimed the pastor sexually assaulted them as minors.

Wesley denied the allegations but the jury returned a guilty verdict on 16 counts. According to court records, charges Wesley faced included sexual assault of a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child, and indecency with a child.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the accusers (now in their 30s and 40s) claimed in court last week that Wesley used his position as pastor of the church to abuse them when they were as young as 13, 9, and 4.

One of the accusers, who is a relative of Wesley, testified that she went to live with Wesley and his wife when she was 13 and he was in his 30s. The relative claimed Wesley would enter her bedroom at night and that he sexually assaulted her until she was about 20. She also accused Wesley of beating her when she spoke of the abuse in front of his wife.

According to an earlier report from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the relative and another witness testified that Wesley not only gave her a black eye but later alleged in front of the congregation that her black eye was a result of her attacking him.

Another victim claims she was abused by Wesley from the ages of 9 to 12. She explained that Wesley no longer had an interest in her after a father figure in her life made a phone call to Wesley.

A fourth woman, 43, claimed in her testimony that she was molested by Wesley when she was just 4 years old and he was a teenager in another legal jurisdiction, according to the newspaper.

A fifth accuser, who is 31, claimed that she was 17 when Wesley served as her pastor and began making sexual advances toward her. The woman claimed that Wesley even paid for her to have an abortion in Louisiana. She also said the pastor continued pursuing her even after she was married.

The Christian Post called Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ for comment on Wesleys sentencing and the allegations he used his position as the church pastor to prey on girls. But the phone line for the church is no longer in service.

When questioned in court, Wesley reportedly denied that he ever touched the girls and accused them of being liars, according to the Arkansas-Democrat, which reports that Wesley also claimed that a recorded phone conversation of him admitting to the abuse had been spliced and edited.

"During his testimony, Logan Wesley denied sexually assaulting any of the five women who testified he raped them as minors," First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp was quoted as saying. "Despite all of the evidence presented against him, Wesley continued to demonstrate extraordinary denial, which did not serve him well with the jury."

In addition to the life sentences, Wesley was also fined $30,000.

Allegations against the pastor came to light last year and was arrested in November, according to the Texarkana Police Department.

During the course of the investigation, Detective Tabitha Smith learned that the sexual abuse started when the girl was only 12 years old and continued on a regular basis for several years, the police department said in a statement at the time.
Pakistani Christian man shot for buying house in Muslim neighborhood dies

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A Pakistani Christian man who was shot by his neighbors in early June for buying a house in a Muslim neighborhood died last week despite multiple operations to save his life.

The U.K.-based charity Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement reports that 50-year-old Nadeem Joseph succumbed to his injuries on June 29, over three weeks after he was hospitalized following an attack against him and his family by Muslim neighbors.

On June 4, Joseph, his mother-in-law and brother-in-law were attacked by a man named Salman Khan and his sons in front of their home in the Sawati Phatak colony city of Peshawar in the Khybar Pakhtunkhawa province.

The family purchased the home in late May and said they faced days of harassment and threats before being attacked in early June.

Joseph suffered two shots to the stomach, while his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Masih, was shot in the shoulder in the attack.

According to The Express Tribune, Joseph underwent several surgeries at the Lady Reading Hospital for nearly a month before his death.

Nadeem Joseph succumbed to injuries today.His crime was that he purchased a house in the street where muslims were not ready to allow him to live as he was a christian. No coverage on media no outrage in society over this. This is collective hypocricy and bigotry of our society. pic.twitter.com/BBPY6d7Mpz  imad zafar (@rjimad) July 1, 2020

Joseph recorded a video message while he was in the hospital, according to the U.S.-based persecution advocacy group International Christian Concern.

In the video, Joseph said his Muslim neighbors had told him that his new neighborhood was meant for Muslim residents only. He was also allegedly told that "Christians and Jews are the opponents of Muslims."

It is unbelievable that in the 21st century, a Pakistani Christian family were shot for buying a house in a Muslim Area, CLAAS-UK Director Nasir Saeed said in a statement.

It is true that there are several areas in the country where non-Muslims are not allowed to buy a house and in some areas non-Muslims are not even allowed to rent a house," he added, stressing that "atrocities against Christians continue to rise in Pakistan."

[L]aw enforcement authorities hardly take any action while the government turns a blind eye to all these atrocities, Saeed said.

It was reported earlier that Khans four sons were arrested while he remained at large. It's not clear whether Khan has been arrested or what charges have been pressed against the suspects.

News of Josephs death has drawn responses from supporters on social media.

His only crime was that he purchased a home in a Muslim area, which cost him his life, stressed the nonprofit organization Voice of Pakistan Minority in a tweet on July 1. This is the value of minorities' life living in #Pakistan."

Nadeem Joseph succumbed to injuries today.His crime was that he purchased a house in the street where muslims were not ready to allow him to live as he was a christian. No coverage on media no outrage in society over this. This is collective hypocricy and bigotry of our society. pic.twitter.com/BBPY6d7Mpz  imad zafar (@rjimad) July 1, 2020
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Recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states and another 21 states permit the use of so-called medical marijuana. I say so-called because, as NYU drug policy expert Mark Kleinman has put it, the vast majority of patients buying medical marijuana arent doing so under any sort of active medical supervision . . . Many of them arent treating anything but their desire to get high . . .

In the push to legalize, America has been sold dangerous lies about marijuana  of financial windfalls with no accompanying social cost and of therapeutic benefits with no accompanying dangers. But marijuana is dangerous. In fact, for some, its potentially lethal.

Dr. Erik Messamore, a psychiatrist with a doctorate in psychopharmacology, recently brought attention to a study published by a branch of NIH about my state, which is ground zero of the marijuana push in the United States. The title of the study telegraphs the punchline: Legalized Cannabis in Colorado Emergency Departments: A Cautionary Review of Negative Health and Safety Effects.

This cautionary review begins rather bluntly: Cannabis legalization has led to significant health consequences, particularly to patients in emergency departments and hospitals in Colorado. The consequences that are, in their words, most concerning are psychosis, suicide, and other substance abuse, not to mention the impairment of a users complex decision making, which may be irreversible, even by subsequent abstinence.

In Colorado, cannabis-related emergency and urgent-care visits among teenagers and young adults increased nearly three-fold after legalization. Most of these visits required behavioral health evaluation.

To quote the G.I. Joe public service announcements of my youth, Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. Except, and this should disturb us all, the link between cannabis use and mental illness was already well-known before legalization.

In his book, No One Cares About Crazy People, Ron Powers (who co-wrote the World War II history Flags of Our Fathers) told the story of his two sons, both diagnosed with schizophrenia in their early twenties. Marijuana use, Powers learned, contributed to their diagnosis. Specifically, marijuana use increases the chances of schizophrenia for people who carry the genes AKT1 and COMT, which affect brain chemistry. Powers sons had these genes. One of them committed suicide, and the other attempted suicide but was saved through a timely intervention.

Again, all of this was known in 2014 when Colorado eagerly legalized cannabis. Its still known today, even as legal weed marches across the rest of the country.

By the way, do you know what is also known? The claim that you can somehow limit marijuana use to adults who are just looking to relax or get high, and keep it away from kids and schools, is, well, excrement. Even before legalization, teenagers had no problem getting marijuana. Are we supposed to believe that legalization has made it more difficult?

And, how are we supposed to keep those with the triggering genes from using? Unless theres a known family history of schizophrenia, chances are the first time someone knows they have AKT1 or COMT is after they land in the psych ward.

Despite what we know about the effects of marijuana use on teenage brains and the genetic-related danger to some, we are committed to playing Russian Roulette with young lives. And media outlets loudly proclaim legalization as inevitable and part of our expanding freedom, even while stories about the hazards go underreported.

By the way, this cautionary review was published a year ago. I only heard about it recently. It clearly escaped the attention of just about everyone, including those tasked with knowing.

Given all the talk of listening to scientists and experts about COVID-19, climate change, and all kinds of other subjects, why are we ignoring the clear data on this? If there are links (and there are) between cannabis, psychosis, and suicide, especially with teenagers and young adults, there should be no more discussion. Wanting to get high is no excuse for allowing others to be hurt.

The piece was originally published at BreakPoint
The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating wealth and racial inequalities around the world. Nowhere is that more apparent than in San Francisco.

While many low-income employees in the service sector have been laid off or risk getting sick if they do go to work, the city's high-paid tech workers have been mostly shielded. The engineers and product managers who helped push up the cost of living in the area over the last 15 years aren't nearly as affected by the pandemic, with companies like Alphabet Inc. and Facebook Inc. giving them cash bonuses to upgrade their home offices and organizing virtual yoga sessions to help them stay fit.

Most tech employees aren't worried about getting fired and the mostly-digital nature of software work means they can safely do their jobs from home. Many have even left the Bay Area completely.

To help staff cope while working remotely, companies are rolling out perks. Salesforce.com Inc. recently sponsored a virtual talent show and is running a week-long "adventurers club" to entertain workers' kids while they're stuck at home. Microsoft is offering parents extra leave time amid school and camp closings.

Meanwhile, service industry workers like Joe Grandov, who has a part-time security job at San Francisco International Airport, are struggling.

Grandov, 65, says his hours have been cut by up to 20 a week since the pandemic began because he hasn't been able to pick up overtime shifts. He also used to earn extra money driving for Lyft but said he had to stop because he was making as little as $35 a week, hardly enough to justify the health risks the gig posed. Business travel has come to a halt, which is hurting jobs like his that depend on a lively tech sector.

"It's not been easy," said Grandov, who is a member of the airport's local union. "We've been selling things we don't need because we need the money more."

This divide between the tech and service industry is compounding the income disparities that have plagued the Bay Area for years. Since January, earnings among low-income workers in San Francisco County have fallen 52.1%, among the highest in the state, according to data from Opportunity Insights, a Harvard University research lab.

"The service sector already had stagnating wages, then you introduce a pandemic, and it becomes not just an income gap but a stark divide between those who will survive versus those who can't," said Russell Hancock, chief executive officer of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit that analyzes the region's economy.

The changes cut across racial lines too, deepening inequalities between White and non-White workers in the area. More than 30% of the Bay Area is Black or Latino, according to the Bay Area Equity Atlas. Fewer than 10% of Facebook and Google staff are Black or Latino, according to the companies' latest diversity reports.

The inequalities extend to the virus impact: In San Francisco, Hispanic and Latino people make up 50% of cases and about 15% of the population. In Santa Clara County, Latinos are 47% of cases and 26% of the population.

The effects of low-income job losses are already weighing on workers, according to Mayor Richard Garbarino, R. While the city of about 68,000 hasn't had major food insecurity issues in the past, it recently partnered with a food bank to distribute 750 meal boxes a week. The pandemic has hit low income families the hardest because they often rely on multiple part-time jobs, Garbarino said.

Over 55% of leisure and hospitality jobs were cut between May 2019 and May 2020 in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties, the most of any industry in the area, according to data from California's Employment Development Department. Over the same period, professional and business services, which includes computer engineering and management, saw a 2% drop.

San Francisco's economy may face even more challenges the longer tech employees stay home. Google and Facebook have told their staff to prepare to work remotely until 2021. Twitter Inc. says anyone who wants to can work from home forever.

"Restaurant and service workers are currently paid really well because they're supported by big companies. When they take their work away, or those jobs away, that ripples through the rest of the economy," said Jay Cheng, public policy director at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. If that happens, "San Francisco is no longer going to be able to be the golden child of the United States economy."
Mustafa Nuur was born in Somalia but fled after terrorists killed his entrepreneurial father. He eventually settled in Lancaster, Pa., where he launched a startup called Bridge. It hosts cross-cultural experiences  dinners, gatherings, and so on  so that immigrants, refugees, and locals can better understand each other. Theres nothing that can replace sitting across from someone whos different from you and hearing their story, he tells me.

But something would have to replace it, of course. When COVID-19 swept through America, sitting across from someone wasnt an option. Nuur was scared. Then he had an idea. The immigrants and refugees he works with could become essential workers, helping homebound residents. For example, he has a Syrian refugee family who, just days before the lockdown, hosted a dinner in their home. One attendee was an elderly woman who lives alone. When the lockdown began, the family began delivering this womans groceries, running her errands, and calling daily at 6 p.m. to check in.

Related: 5 Tips to Leading Your Company Through the Chaos

It really made me think about how life should be every day, Nuur says. We should be having these relationships.

I agree. And I think we can get there.

I have the privilege of meeting many entrepreneurs, which means I also witness their great collective irony. Even during good times, entrepreneurship feels lonely. We have chosen a path of self-determination, which can be maddening and isolating. And yet, heres the crazy thing: We all deal with the same problems. Everyone has impostor syndrome. Everyone wrestles with management, or finances, or plans gone awry. We are alone together.

Now our barriers are coming down. We are all, for the first time in our lives, openly wrestling with the same problems at the same time. Confidence isnt expected; clarity is impossible. We felt isolation and then doubled down on connectivity. We came to share openly with others and rely more heavily on them, too.

Thats what we wanted to honor in this issue, which has been a long time in the making. To understand it, heres the backstory.

In March, as lockdowns began, the team here was preparing for our June issue. (We work months in advance.) Then June was canceled, a victim of uncertain economics. Our next issue would be in July  a time that seemed impossibly far away, in a world we couldnt envision. We didnt know where to begin, so we started with a question: Who should be on the cover? In normal times, our covers feature a celebritybut that seemed like the wrong tone.

Nobody wants to be the face of a pandemic, someone on our team said.

Related: How to Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed During the Coronavirus Pandemic

What could we predict about the future? We agreed on this: Entrepreneurs would not give up. Theyd join together and shift from panic to adaptation. By July, we figured, people would have plans. Theyd find opportunity. Theyd collectively carry the world forward.

So who should be on the cover? Entrepreneurs should be on the cover. Lets fit as many people as we can, I said, which turned out to be 137. We wanted them to be a representative sample of entrepreneurial ingenuity  people who work at every scale, at every experience level, running solo businesses to international powerhouses. Our sole filter: They had to have done something adaptive during the pandemic, whether it was helping their team, their community, their customers, or others. Wed include everyone who was quoted in the magazine, as well as people wed simply heard about and admired. One day, for example, I read a local news story about Maya Gilliam, who saw no future in the spa shed run for years  so she transformed it into a boutique farm and upscale hemp dispensary called Hempress Farms. I loved that. On the cover!

Does this sound messy and haphazard to you? I agree  but what else is there, really? Entrepreneurship is also messy and haphazard, the product of envisioning a destination and then improvising your way there. Wed all prefer perfection, but we must settle for this instead: When we have an idea, and join with others to make it happen, we have a chance to create something meaningful. On any given day, thats the best we can do.

Related: How to Make the Most of Your Ambition

The world we couldnt imagine in March has now come into focus. New businesses are launching. Old ones pivoted. Just as we are sending this issue to the printer, many people are leaving their homes and joining a movement for racial equality  another seismic event that could pull us apart or create togetherness and hope for a better future.

I do not know what comes next. But I sure know this: We wont get there without each other. We were never alone, even when we felt we were. Now we know it.

These 137 people represent the wide range of entrepreneurs adapting to COVID-19. Those interviewed in our July/August issue are linked to their corresponding stories; others are explained here, with more on Entrepreneur.com and @Entrepreneur on Instagram.

Row A

1/ Maghan Morin

2/ Jeanine Suah

3/ Eric Yuan, founder and CEO, Zoom

The videoconference platform became a social lifeline during the crisis, and Yuan formed a new advisory council to improve security and privacy.

4/ Tom Colicchio, chef/owner, Crafted Hospitality

The Top Chef judge and restaurateur helped found the Independent Restaurant Coalition to advocate for the industry.

5/ Rebecca Minkoff, founder, Female Founder Collective

The designer launched a virtual training program to help entrepreneurs prep to raise capital.

6/ Sean Diddy Combs, founder, Our Fair Share

The rapper created a platform to help minority entrepreneurs access relief capital during the pandemic.

7/ Adam Contos

8/ Pierre Laguerre, founder and CEO, Fleeting

Fleeting connects commercial drivers with on-demand jobs; once COVID-19 hit, it focused on getting supplies deployed, fast.

9/ Deepti Sharma, founder and CEO, FoodtoEat

The catering service helps minority-owned food vendors grow their businesses. Lately, Sharmas robust network has helped feed folks in need.

10/ Vanessa Braxton, CEO, Black Momma Brands

Braxton shifted her vodka distillery to produce hand sanitizer.

11/ Matthew Herman

12/ David Kien

13/ Afton Vechery and 14/ Carly Leahy, cofounders, Modern Fertility

The fertility startup collected and shared data on how the crisis is impacting womens plans to have children.

15/ Sara Blakely



Row B

1/ Rob Price

2/ Christina Perla, cofounder and CEO, Makelab

The 3D-printing company pivoted from consumer products to face shields and custom-fit PPE.

3/ Michael Lastoria, cofounder and CEO, &Pizza

The brand donated hero pies to local hospital workers and partnered with Citi to expand the program.

4/ Natalie Madeira Cofield, founder and CEO, Walkers Legacy

The entrepreneurship collective for women of color launched an emergency grant to help students displaced by the crisis.

5/ Javier Garcia Del Moral and 6/ Paco Vique, cofounders, The Wild Detectives

The Dallas bookstore said it was becoming a travel agency, but searches on its site for destinations returned related book suggestions. The prank saw sales jump 200 percent.

7/ Reshma Shetty, cofounder, Ginkgo Bioworks

The biotech company offered $25 million worth of no-cost work on its platform to projects fighting the virus.

8/ Andy Hunter

9/ Ben Parsa, CEO, Inside Weather

The furniture company shifted to make face shields and masks, and made their designs open-source.

10/ Marie Kondo

11/ Guy Fieri, chef, Knuckle Sandwich

Fieri raised more than $20 million for the struggling restaurant industry.

12/ Jasmine Crowe, founder and CEO, Goodr

The food-waste management company launched free grocery pop-ups in communities of need.

13/ Kent Yoshimura and 14/ Ryan Chen, cofounders, Neuro

The wellness-focused gum brand had relied on in-person fitness events to drum up business. To stay top of mind, the founders started creating at-home workouts to keep people healthy.

15/ Taraji P. Henson, founder, The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation

The actress launched a campaign to provide free tele-therapy to African American communities.



Row C

1/ Paul Carrick Brunson, founder, Knowledge Share

The serial entrepreneur has attracted thousands of viewers to his twice-weekly livestreams about navigating business challenges.

2/ Mariam Naficy, founder and CEO, Minted

The stationery and wedding invitation company launched Change the Date products.

3/ Eric Yaverbaum

4/ Magic Johnson, CEO, Magic Johnson Enterprises

He provided $100 million in loans to minority- and women-owned businesses.

5/ Rick Stollmeyer, cofounder and CEO, Mindbody

The management platform for fitness brands launched a free product to help clients easily shift to offer online classes.

6/ Cheryl Leung

7/ Ethan Bechtel, CEO, OhMD

The platform lets doctors send HIPAA-encrypted texts to patients, and it was made free during the crisis.

8/ Alexandra Fine

9/ Gregg Renfrew, founder and CEO, Beautycounter

The business saw a threefold increase in new independent makeup consultants at the brand, helping laid-off industry workers find new income.

10/ Pitbull, rapper

The Grammy-winning artist helped launch the Hispanic Small Business Center to provide support to Latino entrepreneurs.

11/ Ava Duvernay, founder, Array Alliance

The filmmaker launched Array Grants to help crisis-impacted festivals and screening series that focus on narrative change by people of color and women.

12/ Levi Fried

13/ Harmony Sage

14/ Ryan Roslansky, CEO, LinkedIn

The social network made job postings free for hospitals, disaster relief nonprofits, and medical device companies.

15/ Todd Heiser



Row D

1/ Achal Patel, cofounder and CEO, Cabinet

The medicine startup launched in March and quickly started offering a kit with hand cleansers and drugs to manage COVID symptoms.

2/ Sudheesh Nair

14/ Stan Khlevner

15/ Christina Stembel



Row E

1/ Shaan Sethi and 2/ Neela Sethi Young, cofounders, Jaanuu

The medical apparel brand pledged to donate 200,000 masks to Baby2Baby, a nonprofit that helps children in poverty.

14/ Mary Spio, founder and CEO, CEEK VR

The virtual reality company is working with entertainers to create live-performance experiences.

15/ Ross Kramer



Row F

1/ Ariela Safira

2/ Garry Cooper, CEO, Rheaply

The asset-sharing platform provided its technology to help Illinois medical facilities share ventilators and supplies.

14/ Frank Yang, founder and CEO, Simplehuman

Sales soared for the brands touch-free garbage cans and soap dispensers, and the company distributed free products to caregivers.

15/ Anna Whiteman



Row G

1/ Pasha Chikosh

2/ Miki Agrawal

14/ Jon Taffer

15/ Tommey Walker, founder, Detroit VS Everybody

Walker launched everybody vs covid-19 T-shirts; proceeds benefited Detroit businesses.



Row H

1/ Brian Smith

2/ Nate Checketts

14/ Lillian Chan

15/ Mike Whatley

Row I

1/ Katie Sturino, founder, Megababe

Demand for the brands hand sanitizer soared; the company prioritized donations to those most in need.

2/ Irina Logra

14/ John foley, founder and CEO, Peloton

Sales spiked when people panic-bought at-home bikes, and Peloton shifted production to its instructors homes.

15/ Jaime Schmidt, cofounder, Schmidts Naturals

Schmidt launched The Entrepreneurial Dream Project, a grant and mentorship program for new businesses building during the crisis.



Row J

1/ Jaqi Wright

2/ Nikki Howard

14/ Michelle Kennedy, cofounder and CEO, Peanut

The social app for women launched new features to help users with pandemic fatigue and anxiety avoid COVID-19 conversations.

15/ Raj Kapoor, chief strategy officer, Lyft

After recovering from COVID-19, Kapoor helped launch WorldWithoutCovid.org to connect interested citizens to clinical trials for vaccine discovery.



Row K

1/ Ken Giddon

2/ Leslie Voorhees Means

14/ Yancey Spruill, CEO, DigitalOcean

The cloud provider launched the Hub for Good to help developers share tools and build projects to aid the crisis.

15/ Troy Parker, CEO, Innovative Labor and Cleaning Services

Some people with criminal records, including Parker, are ineligible for relief loans. Now hes working with senators to advocate to the SBA.



Row L

1/ Jacquelyn De jesu Center, founder and CEO, Shhhowercap

The founder donated the brands waterproof, washable, antibacterial shower caps to labor and delivery units as PPE.

2/ Matt Ridley

14/ Muhssin El-Yacoubi

15/ Bary El-Yacoubi



Row M

1/ Jennifer Perkins

2/ Temie Giwa-Tubosun, founder and CEO, LifeBank

The medical-delivery company launched drive-through mobile COVID-19 testing centers in Nigeria.

14/ Michelle Ng, founder, Vancouver Foodie Tours

Ng pivoted to create a platform to help small businesses sell their products online, building a digital destination for artisanal goods.

15/ Randy Dewitt, founder, Front Burner Restaurants

DeWitt created Furlough Kitchen to distribute free meals out of his shut-down restaurants, and shared branding and operations info to encourage other restaurateurs to do the same.

Row N

1/ Dave Hunt

2/ Patty Clisham

14/ Lisa Price

15/ Mustafa Nuur, founder, Bridge

Bridge helps refugees and immigrants connect with local communities. During the crisis, theyre helping care for local senior citizens.



Row O

1/ Regal Patel

2/ Nishant Patel

3/ Sahil Patel

4/ Lori Coulter and 5/ Reshma Chamberlin, cofounders, Summersalt

The swimwear brand launched Joycast, a text hotline that sends heartwarming videos or funny memes to people.

6/ Heather Hopkins

7/ Shan-Lyn Ma, cofounder and CEO, Zola

The wedding-planning site helped users navigate postponements with guidance, expert advice, and support initiatives.

8/ Andrey Lunev

9/ Emily Lami

10/ Deepak Rao

11/ Siddharth Batra

12/ Romy Newman and 13/ Georgene Huang, cofounders, Fairygodboss

The online career community for women offered free resume reviews during the crisis.

14/ Jennifer Mazzanti

15/ Carl Mazzanti



Row P

5/ Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google

Google launched features to help small businesses easily communicate new hours and preferred delivery partners, and promote gift card sales.

6/ Meghana Patel

7/ Jerry Orans, founder, Hack the Pandemic

The 16-year-old created a network of makers to 3D-print face shields for hospitals.

8/ Hamza Mudassir

9/ Kelly Mcculloch, chief people officer, Taco Bell

The brand committed to hiring 30,000 new team members during the summer months.

10/ Mahi de Silva, cofounder and CEO, Amplify.ai

The AI chatbot was deployed pro bono to government health organizations to help them share vital information.

11/ Matt Higgins

12/ Daniel Lubetzky, founder, KIND

The snack-bar brand has committed $1 million and helped launch the Frontline Impact Project to donate food to frontline workers.

13/ Larry Connor

14/ Keba Konte, founder, Red Bay Coffee

When the coffee roaster closed its stores, its mobile coffee van grabbed attention  and helped boost e-com sales 350 percent.

15/ Francis Davidson



Row Q

5/ Pina Ciotoli and 6/ Adriano Ciotoli, co-owners, WindsorEats

The events business pivoted to create specialty deliveries (like boxes of local beer and wine) that support community businesses.

7/ Mike Ziegenbalg

8/ Alina Mikhaleva

9/ Peter Demarzo

10/ Alex Howland

11/ Aziz Hashim

12/ Karen Akunowicz

13/ Kulveer Taggar, CEO, Zeus

The company previously arranged long-term housing for business travelers; it pivoted to help displaced college students find housing.

14/ Chriselle Lim and 15/ Joan Nguyen, cofounders, Bumo

The education-based childcare center found a long-term opportunity as it shifted to digital amid the crisis. The interactive preschool now has a 2,000-person waitlist.



Row R

5/ Ashley Huffman

6/ Salomon Mishaan

7/ Laura Spaulding

8/ Danny Cattan

9/ James Vitrano

10/ Alexandre Lazarow

11/ Maya Gilliam, founder, Hempress Farms

When her spa had to close, Gilliam pivoted and rebranded to become a hemp dispensary and remain open for business.

12/ Tariq Farid, founder and CEO, Edible Arrangements

The company started offering fresh produce deliveries in addition to their signature bouquets and saw sales soar.

13/ Meena Harris

14/ Paul Wolfe

15/ Alfonso Olvera, cofounder, Aries

The organization helped redesign an anti-aerosol box to keep doctors safe from contaminated air during intubations.



Related:

Why We Put 137 People on Our Cover

Amplifying Goodwill: Why You Should Participate In The #UbuntuLoveChallenge

Taking The Right Steps Forward (As A Business Ecosystem)



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
This article, 'We'll be living with masks for years': COVID-19 through the eyes of a pandemic expert, originally appeared on CNET.com.

Eric Toner has been planning for a pandemic for years. He's briefed world leaders on outbreaks and how to best prepare entire nations for mass casualties. He's simulated epidemics in real time and studied the world's response to major global health emergencies like SARS and the 1918 influenza pandemic.

But nothing could've prepared him for how the COVID-19 pandemic would play out.

Toner is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a world leader in pandemic preparedness. The threat of a novel coronavirus is not new to him. In fact, in October 2019, Toner and the team at Johns Hopkins ran a coronavirus pandemic simulation in New York, months before COVID-19 started spreading across the world. As part of the half-day, tabletop exercise, Toner met with other health professionals to walk through a theoretical coronavirus outbreak and examine how governments and private businesses would respond.

Johns Hopkins has run these simulations for years, with Hollywood-sounding code names like Dark Winter (smallpox) and Clade X ("a biologically-engineered, intentionally-released airborne pathogen" which caused hundreds of millions of hypothetical deaths). The goal of the simulations is to help public health experts and policymakers better prepare for the eventual day a real pandemic arrives.

Now that day has come.

But simulating a pandemic is a far cry from watching the world handle an actual pandemic unfolding in real time. On that front, Toner says some countries are failing the test.

"The US response has been extraordinarily disappointing and wrongheaded," he told me via Zoom, at the end of June. "Whenever there's been an opportunity to do the right thing, we seem to have done the wrong thing. The US has to recognize that it is competing for first or second position of the worst affected country in the world."

Caught off guard

It's not the first time I've spoken to Toner about pandemics.

We first met in July 2019, when I traveled to the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore to interview him about how the world would prepare for a pandemic. The interview was for "Hacking the Apocalypse" -- CNET's new documentary series looking at the tech solutions that could save us from doomsday events. Naturally, a series about terrifying global disasters had to include an episode on pandemics, but for me (and the rest of the team working on the series), this all felt theoretical. A kind of thought experiment that might play out in your head while you watch Contagion on TV.

But then came 2020. The world started to enter lockdown and words like "pandemic," "social distancing" and "quarantine" began embedding themselves in the daily vernacular. Our entire documentary series needed to be rewritten and recut. Suddenly, none of this was theoretical. And as I rewatched my original interview with Toner (conducted in a small room! Without face masks!) I kept rewinding the same part to play over and over.

"Is there a chance that we could be caught off guard by some sort of horrible, mutant bat influenza?" I had asked him on that day, five months before cases of the novel coronavirus were first reported.

"Yes," Toner replied. "And we probably will be."

I've spoken to Toner a number of times since then. Back in April, his assessment was grim.

"I think one would have to be clueless not to be scared right now," he told me, over a Zoom call from his home office. "The current coronavirus pandemic is worse than many that we have anticipated in the past ... this is going to end up being a truly historically bad event."

Now, as the world enters the second half of an entire year dominated by the pandemic, the situation is still just as serious.

According to a July 1 update from Johns Hopkins (which has been tracking pandemic stats and providing regular situation reports), the pandemic has hit nearly every country across the world, with more than 10 million reported cases and more than half a million deaths. Of the more than 200 countries and territories reporting cases, 86 are reporting community transmission -- essentially, outbreaks that can't be traced to recent travel, other known cases or known clusters of the disease.

When I speak to Toner at the end of June, our mood has shifted. This is no longer an emerging threat. And unlike our previous conversations, I'm not expecting him to tell me about the quick fix that will end this crisis.

It's clear we're no longer in a sprint. We're in for a marathon.

'There will be no lull'

Many countries have seen success in the fight against the coronavirus, locking down early, moving quickly to adopt the World Health Organization's advice and ramping up diagnostic testing to identify and isolate localized outbreaks as they surfaced.

But as the northern hemisphere entered summer, hopes of flattening the curve in the US soon ran up against reports of cases continuing to rise as states reopened. Toner, though, is quick to talk down any mention of a "second wave."

"When you're underwater, it's really hard to tell how many waves are passing over you," Toner says. "I don't know whether it's a first wave or a second wave. I don't think it makes any difference. There is a resurgence of cases that, in some states, looks like just a continuation of their outbreaks. In other states, it'll look more like a second wave.

"I think what's important is that there's going to be no summertime lull with a big wave in the fall. It's clear that we are having a significant resurgence of cases in the summer, and they'll get bigger. And it'll keep going until we lock things down again."

Unlike the influenza virus, which was behind the 1918 pandemic that claimed as many as 50 million to 100 million lives around the world, Toner says there's no good evidence of seasonality with COVID-19. Until we have a vaccine, any rise or fall in cases will be based on social factors: communities locking down and families sheltering in place. And, as was the case back in 1918, individuals wearing masks.

There is some good news to come out of the first six months of the pandemic. Hospitals are getting better at managing symptoms and intervening before cases reach a point of no return, helping to reduce the death rate. He points to therapies like remdesivir, which has shown positive effects in trials and has been authorized for hospitalized COVID patients, and convalescent plasma therapy, which could be used as a way to transfer a level of immunity to sick patients.

But there's no silver bullet. Experts agree that it will be at least a year from now before we have a vaccine that's accessible to most people. Mass immunization likely won't come until 2022, and even then, Toner says vaccination may require a double dose to be effective.

And until then?

"I think that mask wearing and some degree of social distancing, we will be living with -- hopefully living with happily -- for several years," he says.

For many of us, this long timeline can lead to a feeling of hopelessness. But Toner says there's a way to control our future, and it's not all that different from the advice he's given in simulations, advice that dates back more than a century.

"It's actually pretty straightforward. If we cover our faces, and both you and anyone you're interacting with are wearing a mask, the risk of transmission goes way down. Being outside, having distance between you and other people reduces the risk of transmission dramatically.

"There are a lot of things you can do and maintain those conditions. If you spread out, if you maintain distance, if you avoid crowded places, you could go to a beach, you go to the mountains, you could go to a lake, you can do things outside without a problem."

As for those who refuse to wear a mask, Toner doesn't mince his words.

"They will get over it," he says. "It's just a question of how many people get sick and die before they get over it."
Mary Trump, who at 55 has long been estranged from Donald Trump, is the first member of the Trump clan to break ranks with her relatives by writing a book about their secrets. Since late June, her family  led by the presidents younger brother, Robert S. Trump  has been trying to stop the publication of the book, citing a confidentiality agreement that she signed nearly 20 years ago during a dispute over the will of the family patriarch, Fred Trump Sr., the presidents father. But a judge in New York has refused to enjoin Simon & Schuster from releasing the memoir and is expected to soon rule on whether Mary Trump herself violated the confidentiality agreement. Read the rest here.
Big Texas Spring, a popular dance hall and saloon north of Houston, has announced that its business will not survive a second round of Texas bar closings and will instead close for good after 15 years.

ACTIVITIES THAT PUT YOU MOST AT RISK FOR COVID: Going to gyms, salons? These activities put you most at risk for COVID-19

The dance hall tweeted a statement:

"Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been trying to figure out a way for our business to survive while keeping our staff and our guests safe. We did not re-open when we were allowed to because we did not feel confident that it would be sustainable if we did. With the Governor recently announcing that bars are again closed, we now know that it will not be possible to operate again."

On March 18, Big Texas created a GoFundMe page to raise money to support its staff. To date, the amount raised was $7,208.

The venue also held a silent auction in April to auction off memorabilia and raise funds for the staff.

Fans of Big Texas responded with heartbroken messages on Facebook.

"I proposed to my wife on that dance floor. I have been going there for twelve years. Made so many friends. Even had my wedding reception there. We need to have a big Texas reunion even if it's in the parking lot to say goodbye," said Tony Zizzo in a Facebook post.

Faye Riehl said: "Dance lessons on Wednesday nights was my mid-week stress relief. So sad you are closing. Thank you for the many great memories."

The venue hosted a multitude of musical acts, including Josh Abbott Band, Turnpike Troubadours, Kyle Park, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and Easton Corbin.

"We want to thank all the people that have been a part of our journey over the past 15 years. To our staff, you were what made Big Texas what it was. Were sorry we couldnt keep it going for you," said Big Texas Spring.

Big Texas Spring is located at 19959 Holzwarth Road, in Spring, TX.

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Laredo and Webb County officials confirmed three COVID-related deaths and 131 new positives in their daily update on Tuesday, making it one of the worst days locally as it pertains to the virus. As the city passes 2,000 cases, it also saw a teen die for the first time from COVID-19.

The three deaths reported Tuesday are the most confirmed by the City of Laredo in a single day. A total of 32 deaths have been recorded locally.

According to city officials, a Laredo male in his late teens confirmed positive with COVID-19 died at his home on Friday. He had underlying health conditions and was later confirmed as a COVID-related death by Webb County Medical Examiner Corinne Stern.

The 31st and 32nd death also occurred in a Laredo household. A female in her late 60s with underlying health conditions died at her home on Monday. She was confirmed positive postmortem by the medical examiner.

A female in her late 50s who was previously confirmed positive died on Friday at her home. She also reportedly had underlying health conditions.

Meanwhile, the city sailed past 2,000 deaths in one of the highest recorded days for positives as it now has a total of 2,091. Tuesday's 131 cases are the second-most in a single-day during the pandemic, coming on the heels of Monday's 92 which ranked fifth. The city has set a new weekly high for three consecutive weeks, coming off a total of 561. So far through this week, the city has 318 new cases with three days to go, as the city's weeks are measured from Saturday through Friday to account for the time period Laredo stopped updating weekend totals individually until announcing three days' worth on Mondays.

There are 1,278 active infections locally, a number that has absolutely skyrocketed in recent weeks. A little less than a month ago on June 12, that number was just 190.

A total of 110 people are hospitalized in Laredo with COVID-19 -- 10 more than Monday's previous high -- while 39 remain under intensive care -- tied with Monday's high.

As of noon Tuesday, 11,005 people have been tested for the novel coronavirus in Laredo with 7,727 returning negative.

Laredo's test positivity rate has risen to 21.3% -- its highest total since April 24.

A total of 1,187 tests are still pending results, though 452 are presumed negative due to being over 30 days old.

There have been 781 total recoveries in the area.
Laredo officials said in a news release Monday that positive COVID-19 residents who are not hospitalized will be issued a citation if they leave their homes.

According to the release, anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 is required to isolate themselves from others until they receive a negative result. This self-isolation also applies to those waiting for test results and for asymptomatic members of a household where someone has tested positive.
Civil rights and law enforcement leadership convened recently to discuss building more inroads between the community and police in Conroe.

The formation of a multicultural advisory committee was among the main points brought up in a June 22 meeting between Conroe Police Chief Jeff Christy and Montgomery County NAACP No. 6304 President Carl White.

Though the committee would have no oversight power in Conroe PDs affairs, it would be tasked with raising public awareness on policing matters. White was optimistic about Christys attitude toward NAACPs suggestions.

This is powerful  the multicultural advisory group, because that group could be like the bridge between the police department and the citizens of Conroe. Thats a huge step, White said.

The independent committee would be made up of Conroe citizens of varied backgrounds and would include an NAACP representative, White said. He expects discussions with Conroe Mayor Toby Powell on the issue.

Since the meeting, White said he has heard of five people interested in joining the committee.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chiefs Jerry Abbott and Lee Tipton, NAACP member Craig Follins and Maria Banos Jordan, president of advocacy group Texas Familias Council.

Some of the topics brought forth during the meeting related to police reform issues, such as the use of chokeholds during arrests, White said. The use of chokeholds by Conroe PD officers is forbidden unless deadly force is deemed necessary, according to department spokesman Sgt. Jeff Smith.

Implementation of policy recommendations during the informal meeting are not expected, Smith said. He noted that policy changes are contingent on recommendations made by the Texas Police Chiefs Association, which promotes best law enforcement practices statewide.

Future meetings with NAACP are expected, Smith added.

One point of interest the NAACP brought up was the departments recruitment of Black officers.

The department has six Black officers in its 143-member force, according to information from Conroe PD. This makes for roughly 4 percent of the force being Black. Conroes population identifies as Black or African American by 7.8 percent, according to U.S Census Bureau figures from 2010.

The meeting was prompted by a national police reform movement spurred by the death of Houston native George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in late May. White thinks closer communication between communities and the police department will allow for broader neighborly reporting on crime.

This is just a starting step, White said of the meeting. What were doing today will help the city of Conroe 15, 20 years down the road.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

twitter.com/jrgzztx
Last year, the heavy metal band Metallica awarded Lone Star College $100,000 to Lone Star College to help students in select career and technical fields complete their courses. The funding was so successful, the band is doing it again.

Earlier this week, LSC announced that the band was donating $50,000 to students interested in careers in Advanced Manufacturing/Mechatronics, Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA), Dental Assistant, and Truck Driving through its Metallica Scholars Program. The grant is made possible through Metallicas All Within My Hands Foundation, which is dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger and other critical local services, according to the foundation website.

Our 2019 Metallica Scholars have exceeded expectations and inspired us in more ways than we could have possibly imagined, said Metallicas Lars Ulrich in a release from LSC. Were really excited to be able to expand the initiative in its second year, assisting more students in achieving their dreams and transforming their lives in 2020.

Along with the grant from Metallica, the Lone Star College Foundation and Wolverine Boot Co. both donated $50,000 to The Metallica Scholars Grant, altogether totaling $150,000.

Metallica Scholars is a major workforce education initiative that provides direct support to community colleges to enhance their career and technical education programs, according to the foundation website. These programs provide skills and services to students who are looking to enter a traditional trade or other applied learning program.

This year, the grant will be covering practically everything that a student will need to succeed: tuition, transportation, books, child care, work clothes, etc. The funds last year were used for daycare and transportation.

We changed up the program because were following where the jobs are, said Linda Head, LSC senior associate vice chancellor, External and Employer Relations. We dont want to train people and then they find out theres no job in that field.

When the college presented to the All Within My Hands Foundation as part of the grant application process, Head said, 100 percent of the students in the program completed it, and all of them had found employment.

One of the big things that helps me is being able to receive something thats going to support me and better my life, so I appreciate every bit of it, said Chance Crowell, a student at LSC who has completed one year of the program.

Last year, the money from Metallica still went to students looking for careers in manufacturing, health care and transportation. Using market data, Head said the school added Dental Assisting to the programs being funded, and a COVID-19 tracer certificate program is set to start this month.

The funding will help at least 115 students, but Head said they are going to try and help closer to 200 students.

The bands scholar program has expanded this year to include five more community colleges in its funding. This year, the bands foundation will be donating $1.5 million to The Metallica Scholars program at 15 colleges.

The LSC system will keep applying for the funding as long as the foundation will allow them to, Head said.

jamie.swinnerton@chron.com
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- SAIC Motor sold 479,464 new vehicles in June, achieving a 2.77% year-on-year growth. This is also the first-time increase the Chinese biggest automaker gained in 2020.

Six of eleven subsidiaries recorded year-over-year sales growth last month, while the biggest two sales contributorsSAIC Volkswagen and SAIC-GMwere still mired in downturn. The two joint ventures saw their sales slide 6.97% and 6.79% over a year ago respectively.

Despite the continuous decline in monthly sales, the decrease in year-to-date sales further narrowed for both SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC-GM.

(New Baojun RS-5, photo source: SGMW)



The growth in SAIC's overall sales mainly stemmed from the rising performances made by SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) and SAIC Maxus.

SGMW boasted an impressive 24% year-on-year growth in June with 124,000 vehicles sold. According to the joint venture, the sales of Wuling-branded vehicles soared 49% over a year ago to 94,807 units in June. Notably, the volumes of mini trucks and mini buses shot up 91% and 32% from the previous year respectively.

Besides, the New Baojun saw its June sales leap 52.9% month on month to 12,120 units. The sales of Baojun-branded NEVs amounted to 3,259 units, vigorously growing 32.7% from a month earlier.

(New MG6, photo source: SAIC MG)



SAIC Motor's self-owned PV subsidiary logged a 3.48% decrease in June. The automaker is ready to put the MG 6's fuel-burning version onto the market on July 10 and kick off the presale of its PHEV version at the same time.

Regarding the performance for the first half of the year, SAIC Maxus, SAIC-IVECO Hongyan Commercial Vehicle and Shanghai Sunwin Bus Corporation all posted growth compared to the year-ago period. Nonetheless, they failed to offset the downturn delivered by other subsidiaries due to their relatively small scale.

As of June, SAIC Motor has completed only 34% of its 6 million-unit annual sales target by selling 2,049,116 vehicles.
It was very fun today to see our village vehicles taking the parade to the people around town when we could not all be together on Main Street for our traditional Fourth of July celebration, said Village President Karen Darch. The Fourth of July truly represents the best of what Barrington is all about: community spirit, family, friends, neighbors and being together in our wonderful town.
WASHINGTON - A tell-all book by President Donald Trump's niece describes a family riven by a series of traumas, exacerbated by a daunting patriarch who "destroyed" Donald Trump by short-circuiting his "ability to develop and experience the entire spectrum of human emotion," according to a copy of the forthcoming memoir obtained by The Washington Post.

President Trump's view of the world was shaped by his desire during childhood to avoid his father's disapproval, according to the niece, Mary L. Trump, whose book is by turns a family history and a psychological analysis of her uncle.

But she writes that as Donald matured, his father came to envy his son's "confidence and brazenness," as well as his seemingly insatiable desire to flout rules and conventions, traits that brought them closer together as Donald became the right-hand man in the family real estate business.

Mary L. Trump's father, Fred Jr. - the president's older brother - died of an alcohol-related illness in 1981, when she was 16 years old. President Trump told The Post last year that he and his father both pushed Fred Jr. to go into the family business, which Trump said he now regrets.

The book marks the first time that a member of Trump's family has published such a memoir, providing an often bitter and blistering insider account of the forces that shaped Donald Trump, and so alarming the family that the president's brother tried to block its publication in court. Mary L. Trump has long been estranged from the family after a dispute over her inheritance and other matters.

While the arc of Trump's life has been well-chronicled, Mary L. Trump, 55, provides new details of family fights and recriminations, and she infuses the volume with her background as a clinical psychologist to analyze her uncle. Ahead of the July 14 publication date, the book became an instant bestseller based on advance orders, underscoring the intense interest among the public in the forces that shaped the man who became president.

The book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," chronicles the fruitless efforts by Mary's father, Fred Jr., to earn his father's respect as an employee. His younger brother Donald reliably ridiculed him as a failure who spent too much time following his passion, aviation, and not enough on the family business, the book says.

Donald escaped his father's contempt, Mary L. Trump writes, because "his personality served his father's purpose. That's what sociopaths do: they co-opt others and use them toward their own ends - ruthlessly and efficiently, with no tolerance for dissent or resistance."

Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor, told reporters Tuesday that President Trump loved his late brother and always speaks favorably of him. Of the president and his niece, Conway said: "He's not her patient, he's her uncle. . . . As for books generally, obviously they're not fact-checked, nobody's under oath."

The president, Mary L. Trump says, is a product of his domineering father and was acutely aware of avoiding the scorn that Fred Sr. heaped on the older brother, called Freddy. "By limiting Donald's access to his own feelings and rendering many of them unacceptable, Fred perverted his son's perception of the world and damaged his ability to live in it."

From an early age, Mary L. Trump writes, the future president demonstrated a willingness to cheat and a penchant for ridicule, once telling a neighborhood girl how "disappointed" he was by where she attended boarding school.

After graduating from military school, then living at home with his parents and commuting to Fordham University, Donald decided to apply to the University of Pennsylvania, which he perceived as a more prestigious school, but worried that his grades alone wouldn't win him entry.

Mary L. Trump writes that Donald's sister Maryanne "had been doing his homework for him" but that she couldn't take standardized tests in his place. "To hedge his bets, he enlisted Joe Shapiro, a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker, to take his SATs for him. . . . Donald, who never lacked for funds, paid his buddy well."

Trump was friends with a young man named Joe Shapiro when he attended the University of Pennsylvania. If Mary L. Trump is referring to that person, he is deceased, according to Shapiro's sister, Beth Shapiro. She said in a telephone interview that her brother did not meet Trump until they both attended the Philadelphia school, and thus, she said, the timing the book describes does not make sense. "My brother never took a test for anybody else in his entire life," she said.

Reached by phone, Shapiro's wife, former tennis star Pam Shriver, said her late husband never said he had taken a test for Trump, nor did she believe he would. "He would never, ever take tests for someone," Shriver said. "He followed things to the letter. This is not my late husband."

For years, Donald Trump said his admittance to what was then called the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania was proof that he was a "super genius." The Post reported last year that the admissions officer who interviewed Trump was a close friend of Fred Jr., that many applicants to the school were admitted at that time and that the admissions officer did not see any evidence that Trump was a "super genius."

Mary L. Trump writes that her grandfather's children routinely lied to him, but for different reasons. For her father, "lying was defensive - not simply a way to circumvent his father's disapproval or to avoid punishment, as it was for the others, but a way to survive."

For her uncle Donald, however, "lying was primarily a mode of self-aggrandizement meant to convince other people he was better than he actually was," Mary L. Trump writes.

She wrote that her father had a "natural sense of humor, sense of adventure, and sensitivity," which he worked hard to hide from the family patriarch.

"Softness was unthinkable in his namesake," she writes.

"Fred [Sr.] hated it when his oldest son screwed up or failed to intuit what was required of him, but he hated it even more when, after being taken to task, Freddy apologized. 'Sorry, Dad,' " Mary writes of the way her grandfather treated her father. Fred Sr. "would mock him. Fred wanted his oldest son to be a 'killer.' "

Donald, 7 1/2 years younger than his brother, "had plenty of time to learn from watching Fred humiliate" his eldest son, Mary L. Trump writes. "The lesson he learned, at its simplest, was that it was wrong to be like Freddy: Fred didn't respect his oldest son, so neither would Donald."

This was not Mary L. Trump's first effort to write about her uncle. Decades ago, she writes, Donald Trump asked her to help write his book "The Art of the Comeback." She says she did research and tried to interview her uncle, but he kept putting her off, and the publisher eventually sought someone with more experience as a co-author. The anecdote underscores that Mary L. Trump's relationship with her uncle was, at times, a close one.

But the relationship fell apart when she learned that Donald and his siblings were trying to prevent her and her brother, Fred III, from receiving most of what they believed they would inherit from Fred Sr. If her father had lived, he would have expected to get 20 percent of the estate, she writes. Instead, she says, the Trump family intended to give her "less than a tenth of one percent of what my aunts and uncles inherited."

While Mary L. Trump says she and her brother challenged the will, she does not reveal how much she eventually received, which is covered by a confidentiality agreement. Robert Trump, the president's younger brother, filed a petition seeking to stop publication of the book by citing that agreement, but the New York Supreme Court last week lifted a temporary restraining order against publisher Simon & Schuster.

Mary L. Trump writes that when her uncle announced his candidacy for president in 2015, "I didn't take it seriously. I didn't think Donald took it seriously." The heir to the family business, she writes, "simply wanted free publicity for his brand."

She says that Trump's sister Maryanne, who served until last year as a federal judge, shared her assessment and that both women were incensed to see prominent religious figures embrace Trump and hold him out as a religious man. "The only time Donald went to church was when the cameras were there. It's mind boggling. He has no principles. None!" Maryanne Trump said, according to her niece.

During the fight over the inheritance, Mary L. Trump says, she was told that her grandfather's estate was worth $30 million. But after being contacted by a reporter for the New York Times in 2017, she retrieved boxes of financial papers that she says showed the estate was actually worth $1 billion. She writes that she became a key source for the newspaper's 2018 investigation of the family finances, which won a Pulitzer Prize.

She describes how one of the Times' reporters gave her a disposable cellphone to communicate securely. She says she loaded 19 boxes of Trump family financial material into a truck and shared the boxes with several Times reporters. She says she had a new mission: "I had to take down Donald Trump." The Times did not respond to a request for comment and previously has declined to comment.

Despite lauding the Times' effort, and acknowledging the work of a number of journalists who have written about her uncle and the family, Mary L. Trump writes at another point that there have been "few reporters" who have challenged the president on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Her analysis is that Donald Trump so far has relied on "lying, playing to the lowest common denominator, cheating and sowing division."

At the end of the book, Mary L. Trump concludes that it was inevitable that her uncle would rely on division to govern the country, replicating the way she says Fred Sr. "turned his children against each other." Donald Trump, she writes, "knows he has never been loved."

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Houston Police Department

A Fort Bend ISD police officer on Monday said he shot his wife at a south Houston home, according to the Houston police command center.

The woman was taken to the hospital in stable condition, police said. The man originally called police around 4 p.m. to the home in the 14200 block of Prosperity Ridge Drive.
A man was critically injured when he was shot outside a north Houston apartment late Monday night.

He was standing outside the Oxford Place apartments in the 600 block of Berry Road when someone opened fire, Houston police said. The man was struck several times, and the suspected shooter sped away before officers arrived.

DEPUTY SHOT: Cop injured, man dead in north Harris County

Paramedics rushed the man to a nearby hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, police said.

Investigators found several shell casings on the ground near the driveway leading to the apartments. What preceded the violence is unclear.

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
Despite opening his business in Houston five years ago, Pearland resident Jacob McCoy always knew hed eventually bring it home. Last month, thats just what he did when he relocated his Interim HealthCare franchise from near NRG Stadium to the Trinity Professional Building, 1920 Country Place Parkway in a move that he says will allow his business to expand in his own backyard.

McCoy, who serves as the chief executive officer and owner along with his mother and brother, said his company employs 30 to 40 field staff such as nurses, physical and occupational therapists among other healthcare workers as well as 15 office workers. With the move to a larger space in Pearland  his former office was 1,800 square feet compared to the 4,800 square feet he rents now  he will be able to expand to 20 in-house employees and move his services into hospice care.

He said the relocation to Pearland also accommodates many of his Pearland-based employees.

Weve been planning this move for a few years, he said, saying that employee recruitment efforts centered around eventually setting up shop in Pearland. Pearland is home and we really want to ingrain ourselves in the community.

Interim HealthCare, designated an essential service, is thriving and is poised to grow. As a regional company, healthcare workers with the company service the region area, from The Woodland and Kingwood to Friendswood, Sugar Land and, of course, Pearland.

Its nice to have a very targeted location and a very medically driven town, which makes it great for hiring, he said.

Recruitment process done via social distancing

Brian Malone, vice president of the Pearland Economic Development Corp., said recruitment efforts to bring InterimHealth to the city began at the beginning of the year. And although the coronavirus has not slowed the companys growth pattern, it did alter how he and McCoy did business.

We had no in-person meetings. Everything was done through phone, email or web-based means, he said.

Even though face-to-face communication is preferred, Malone said he said he suspects his interactions with McCoy are indicative of how he and his team will conduct business for a while.

Its to our advantage to know how to effectively operate these tools and use them well, as it allows us a lot of flexibility to do our job, he said.

McCoy agreed he worked well with Malone and the Pearland EDC despite the challenges, including Pearland not having a very large stock of office space to choose from.

The space we have really meets our needs, McCoy said. I think its one of the best (office spaces) here.

Malone said he and his team understand the citys needs when it comes to recruiting more industry.

The office sector is one of our target markets; so we continue to work with businesses that fit that (profile), he said, But we are still very young in terms of the office market for the Houston region and we are working to build in that area.

In a statement, Mayor Tom Reid said encouraging businesses like Interim HealthCare to move to Pearland is a key goal of the citys economic development plan.

Its been a long-established initiative to develop a broad spectrum of life science and healthcare-related organizations in our community, he said. Interim HealthCares decision to invest in Pearland is a testament to our efforts and a great addition to our emerging cluster of companies that are improving medical care.
The following items were taken from Buffalo Grove Police Department reports and releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt.

Outstanding Warrant

Ronald Erwin Kramer, 56, of the 4800 block of South 81st Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was arrested June 26 on an outstanding active out-of-state warrant for parole violation at Church Road and Raupp Boulevard. Kramer was scheduled to appear in court June 26.

Order of protection violation

Raymond Michael Lopiparo, 28, of the 1400 block of Rachel Lane, was charged June 26 with violating an order of protection in the 1400 block of Rachel Lane. Lopiparo was scheduled to appear in court June 27.

Speeding

Esteban Bahena, 22, of the 1300 block of Argonne Drive, North Chicago, was charged June 28 with driving on a suspended or revoked license and speeding more than 30 mph over the limit at Lake Cook Road and Milwaukee Avenue. Bahena is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 14.

Stacy Marie Leeper, 35, of the 400 block of East Dundee Road, Palatine, was charged June 30 with speeding and driving without a license at Arlington Heights Road and Beechwood Road. Leeper is scheduled to appear in court July 17.

Theft

An employee at a store in the first block of North McHenry Road reported June 26 that a male subject entered the store on June 15 and took eight cases, each filled with 24 bottles, of Absolut Vodka without paying.

Identity theft

A complainant in the 600 block of Caren Drive reported June 26 that someone used her personal information to file for unemployment and inquire about a small business loan.

A complainant in the 1300 block of Rose Court reported July 1 that she received a prepaid debit card in the mail from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, but she did not file for unemployment.

Deception

A complainant in the 200 block of Stonegate Road reported June 28 that someone claiming to be from Venmo called him and made thousands of dollars worth of purchases using his debit card and Venmo account.
The Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce has canceled Tomball Night, the Parade of Lights and the Health & Wellness Expo scheduled to be held Aug. 7.

Amy Mason, GTACC communications director, said the cancellation was due to coronavirus concerns.

School district project updates: Two of Tomball ISDs 2017 bond program projects set to open in August

Over health concerns and just not knowing what the state of the mandates will be at that point as well, Mason said.

Tomball Night is an annual Tomball event that has occurred for nearly 50 years.

It was started in 1972 as a way to promote businesses, supporting local businesses and letting them highlight themselves and stay open extra hours and have special sales during that weekend, Mason said, and then obviously its expanded into having vendors in the downtown area.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston restaurateurs make tough call to protect customers from COVID-19

Mason said the chamber is discussing other ways to support local businesses, since this event had to be cancelled.

Were coming up with ideas probably by mid-next week, see what we can do to really just help spread the word for businesses, Mason said. And our community has done such a good job supporting local businesses during this whole thing and we really just want people to continue doing that.

paul.wedding@hcnonline.com
Indiana authorities said Monday they are investigating a reported racist attack on a Bloomington black man, who said a group of white men pinned him to a tree, beat him and threatened to "get a noose" after accusing him and a friend of trespassing on private property on July 4.

Vauhxx Booker, a member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, shared partial video footage of the incident near Bloomington, Ind., in a viral post on Facebook on Sunday. The footage showed a man, apparently Booker, on all fours at the base of the tree, held down by a white man. Others off-camera yell, "Stop! Let him go!"

Booker said in the post he suffered a mild concussion and bruises, had patches of his hair pulled out, and had been called "choice slurs" during the beating.

"I don't want to recount this, but I was almost the victim of an attempted lynching," Booker, 36, said in the post. "I don't want this to have happened to me or anyone. It hurts my soul, and my pride, but there are multiple witnesses and it can't be hidden or avoided."

In a statement, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources confirmed it responded to a 911 call for service on private property near Lake Monroe to investigate a battery. No arrests were made at the scene, but the agency said it is continuing to review the evidence and conduct interviews. It said it would not be releasing any additional information for now.

More for you News Police reform won't work unless it involves federal and...

On Monday evening, hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the Monroe County courthouse in Bloomington to demand swift arrests in Booker's case.

"As a person of color in this community, this terrified me," protester Rosie Maharjan, 22, told The Washington Post. "I always felt safe in Bloomington because it's one of the more liberal areas of Indiana, and it just shows that it's absolutely not. There's dangerous white supremacists even here."

The protest was peaceful but turned frightening as it wrapped up, when a speeding car plowed into at least one protester, according to a spokesman for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. The spokesman referred comment on the incident to the Bloomington Police Department, which said late Monday it had no additional information to release.

Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton and City Clerk Nicole Bolden said in a joint statement Monday that they would be working with the Monroe County prosecutor to seek justice in Booker's case, although the city has no jurisdiction over the investigation. The city officials said Booker was "physically assaulted and denounced and threatened with racial epithets" on "Indiana state park land at Lake Monroe."

The incident, the officials said, exemplifies " the persistence of racism and bias in our country and our own community," deserving "nothing less than our collective condemnation."

According to Booker's account, he and a group of friends went to Lake Monroe to watch the lunar eclipse on the Fourth of July. On their way to the park, he said they encountered a man in a Confederate hat who warned them they were walking on private property. He said they apologized, but attempts to "smooth over" the dispute went awry. He said the men followed him and his group as they tried to leave.

Then, he said, the men "jumped me from behind."

"The five were able to easily overwhelm me and got me to the ground and dragged me pinning my body against a tree," he said, before they allegedly began hitting his head and pulling his hair. At one point, he said, he heard one man shout, "We're going to break his arms," while they were behind his back. He said he heard another yell, "Get a noose!"

He said some people started filming as more arrived to try to intervene. The full context and sequence of events is not captured in the videos posted to Facebook, which have been viewed more than 5 millions times as of early Tuesday.

"Please let him go," one man says to the group surrounding Booker.

"We're going to, as soon as you go," a white woman in the group responds.

A shirtless man tries swatting the camera out of the hands of the man filming, yelling expletives about "liberals."

In another video clip, apparently referring to Booker, one man screams, "You nappy-headed b----, you happy about this? You happy with your five white friends?"

Speaking at the protest Monday, Booker said he believed the white people who intervened, some of whom he did not know, "affirmed that black lives matter."

"I'm here alive today because folks stopped being bystanders. They didn't just film me," Booker said.

Caleb Poer, a 19-year-old local artist and community activist, said Monday's protest included a march and speeches outside the courthouse, demanding the Monroe County prosecutor bring charges against the men. But just as the protest ended, as people were leaving, he said he saw a red Toyota Corolla stopped in the middle of the nearby street because an electric scooter was blocking its path. A man got out of the car and threw the scooter out of the way, video shows.

Then, the driver hit the gas, striking a woman who then clung to the windshield, Poer said. Another man appeared to be clinging to the side of the car as it sped away.

"The car went 0 to 50 in about three seconds," Poer said.

The woman was thrown from the windshield a couple blocks later, Poer said. The protest organizers tended to the woman, whom Poer saw lay bleeding on the ground. He said the man who had apparently been clinging to the side of the car appeared to be okay. The condition of the protesters was not immediately clear.

Poer said this was the second time in Bloomington that protesters have been hit by a car in recent weeks. Violence involving vehicles at protests over racial injustice in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing has sent demonstrators running in cities across the country. A Seattle Black Lives Matter protester hit by a car that busted through a barrier died of her injuries Sunday.

"When we have a peaceful protest, when we kneel for the national anthem, all of a sudden it becomes about being anti-American," Poer said "When we up it a little bit, when we start marching and we get in the streets, what do we get? People trying to drive a car through us."
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Chinese public health authorities are taking precautions to prevent a bubonic plague outbreak in a remote northern region after a herder contracted the disease, although experts say the risk is low given the limited number of cases so far and the availability of modern medicine.

The health commission in Bayannur in Inner Mongolia raised its public health warning to its third-highest of four alert levels on Sunday and banned the hunting, skinning and transportation of rodents that might carry the bacteria, known as Yersinia pestis. The municipal government raised its alert level by one notch to "standard plague outbreak alert," which means humans have been infected.

"There is a risk of a human plague epidemic spreading in this city," Bayannur's health commission said in a statement.

Over the past year, China has reported five cases of the disease associated with some of the deadliest pandemics in human history. The plague caused the Black Death that devastated the population of medieval Europe and repeatedly afflicted Asia and more recently Africa, but it has largely been controlled since the mid-20th century.

World Health Organization spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the plague case count in China was low and the agency did not consider it high risk, but it was monitoring the situation with partners in China and Mongolia.

Officials at Inner Mongolia's regional center for disease control have warned that the plague may have long been circulating locally and that there is risk of human-to-human transmission, according to a statement posted online by the regional government last month.

Under the new measures announced in Bayannur, which will remain in effect until 2021, suspected cases of plague among human patients or sick and dead marmots must be reported immediately. The city of Beijing also urged residents on Monday not to go camping in Inner Mongolia, a vast strip of scenic grassland and desert that urban dwellers often visit.

The precautions against the plague are a reminder of the public health challenges facing Chinese authorities even as the country emerges from covid-19. Last week, Chinese state-affiliated researchers published a paper warning about a new type of swine flu discovered in pig farmers with the potential to cause a pandemic, causing yet another flurry of international concern.

The plague, which researchers generally believe originated from the Asian steppes, killed tens or hundreds of millions of people in several deadly waves throughout history. One particularly deadly wave in the 14th century traveled along the Mongol Empire's flourishing trading routes and killed one-third of the population in Europe.

Today, the disease continues to circulate regularly in many parts of the world but usually does not spark major epidemics or public health crises. Madagascar suffered several notable outbreaks in recent years that killed hundreds. The United States averages about seven cases a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Officials in China say they had about 30 cases in the last decade.

Carried by rats and fleas, plague is usually treatable with antibiotics in its "bubonic" form, which attacks lymph nodes and causes fevers and boils. But the disease can lead to quick death if the bacteria infect the respiratory system or bloodstream in rarer conditions known as pneumonic and septicemic plague.

China's National Health Commission said it found five plague diagnoses since last year; four patients came from Inner Mongolia and recovered normally while one man in Gansu province died. Chinese authorities have not released details about the causes or circumstances of the cases.

In the adjacent country of Mongolia, farther north, two herders died last year after eating marmot meat and contracting the disease.

Chen Zhengming, an epidemiologist and China program leader at Oxford University's population health school, said the plague has long existed in Inner Mongolia and posed limited risk.

"From time to time the sporadic outbreak does occur in remote areas and China, mainly through its C.D.C. systems, has good response systems and experience in containing them rapidly," he said.

The plague case, which was covered widely by the media in Beijing this week, was not the only health scare to emerge in recent weeks in China. The central government - and some international experts - called for calm after Chinese researchers reported that a new variation of the H1N1 swine flu, called G4, has "the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus" and has already been found in some pig farmers.

The paper was published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and written by a team of veterinary researchers and epidemiologists including George Gao, head of China's Center for Disease Control.

White House coronavirus adviser Anthony Fauci testified in the Senate that U.S. officials were "keeping an eye" on the newly reported G4 virus, but said he did not consider it an immediate threat.

- - -

The Washington Post's Wang Yuan and Lyric Li in Beijing contributed to this report.
We know people are looking at how remote learning was in the spring when we were thrust into that, superintendent Joylynn Pruitt-Adams said. We learned from that and this is an entirely different plan. The remote instruction we propose for this fall will be very different from the spring experience.
If numbers such as new cases of the coronavirus and hospital bed capacity show there hasnt been a spike in infections locally, Orland Parks plan would allow businesses to fully reopen. The Village Board would have to vote, which could come at its July 20 meeting, to move on to what the Back-to-Normal blueprint describes as Phase 3, according to Mayor Keith Pekau.
Infections brought from other states helped drive New Jersey's covid-19 transmission rate to the highest in 10 weeks, even as Northeastern governors try to prevent re-invasion by a virus that ravaged their citizens.

While case counts soar in the South and West, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are desperate to protect themselves, requiring travelers from 16 states to quarantine themselves or risk punishment. In New Jersey, the new cases are "an early warning sign," Gov. Phil Murphy, D, said Monday.

"We need to be smarter. We need to work harder," Murphy said. "This thing is brutal."

With President Donald Trump and his administration downplaying a pandemic that has killed more than 130,000 Americans amid a fitful federal response, states have largely been left on their own. After an initial economic lockdown, many with Republican governors hurried to reopen at Trump's urging, and now infections are skyrocketing in places like Florida, Texas and Arizona -- and the U.S. is an outlier among developed economies in its inability to contain the disease.

As many as 41 states have an R0 number above 1, according to the Rt.live website. That means each infected person infects at least one other, propagating the disease. Rt.live is a site created by the co-founders of Instagram and uses data derived from public health bodies.

On Monday, coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 2% as compared with the same time Sunday to 2.91 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. That topped the average daily increase of 1.8% over the past week.

"We're still knee-deep in the first wave" of the pandemic, Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-disease expert, said during a video conference Monday.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the "current situation is really not good" due to states opening in an uncoordinated way.

"Europe went up and came back down to baseline," Fauci said. "We went up, never came back to baseline, and now are surging back up."

On Monday, Florida's new cases reached 60,106 on a rolling seven-day basis, the highest ever. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez plans an emergency order to close restaurants, gyms and party venues, among other businesses. "We want to ensure that our hospitals continue to have the staffing necessary to save lives," Gimenez said.

In Texas, cases topped 200,000. Arizona cases increased by 3.4% to 101,441 -- still below the seven-day average of 4.1%. Most involve people under 44 years old, following a national trend of infections hitting a younger demographic.

Case counts have been on the rise as well in South Carolina, which is among the list of proscribed states in the Northeast -- and where many of New Jersey's new victims apparently picked up the disease.

New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Monday that "several cases" in Sussex and Warren counties, in northern New Jersey, were traced to a June wedding in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In Hoboken, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, 12 of 13 new cases were tied to out-of-state travel.

Murphy said the outbreak demonstrated the need for travelers to self-quarantine after arriving from 16 states where cases have spiked.

"Follow the recommended 14-day quarantine period," Murphy said. The self-isolation, he said, can prevent "the start of an outbreak in your local communities."

He reminded residents that "face coverings are how we slow the spread of covid-19," and said the state was considering an order to wear masks while outdoors.

New Jersey's measure of transmission, called Rt, stands at 1.03; a rate above 1 means the virus is spreading. With the state gradually reopening in the past few weeks, the rate had been slowly rising since it touched 0.62 on June 11. As the virus took hold in New Jersey in March, each virus-carrying person was passing it to at least five people.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D, said at a press briefing that Americans -- and New Yorkers -- are getting lax.

"The videos over the weekend from Fire Island, the East Village and elsewhere say it all - there is covid fatigue," he said. "The virus doesn't get tired or lazy and we can't either."

Cuomo said Trump must tell the nation it's time to face the disease collectively, and addressed the president directly: "Do one simple thing: acknowledge to the American people that covid exists, it is a major problem, it's going to continue until we admit it and each of us stands up to do our part."
As presented Monday to the citys Planning and Zoning Commission, the store will be located at the east end of the Town and Country Shopping Center, occupying the space where a multi-tenant commercial building stood until its demolition in 2014. Its the first development in that area since the Extreme Clean car wash opened across the street in 2017.
Emergency crews responded about 8:23 p.m. to a call of a person drowning at Clark Street Beach, 1811 Sheridan Road, according to a news release. When they arrived, officers found a person in the water trying to pull Quito out of the lake. Evanston firefighters also helped to pull Quito from Lake Michigan.
After an Odessa doctor said in recent media interviews he believes hes found the silver bullet for treating COVID-19, Midland Memorials chief medical officer disputed that claim, saying theres no evidence the treatment offers any benefit to coronavirus patients.

Dr. Richard Bartlett, a family medicine doctor in Odessa, has said in multiple interviews with broadcast and radio stations that hes treated dozens of COVID-19 patients with an inhaled form of budesonide, which is often used to treat asthma.

When asked about the treatment during a press conference last week, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Larry Wilson said there have been no studies showing a benefit in using inhaled steroids to treat COVID-19.

There is evidence that some steroids, including dexamethasone, may be effective in treating severe cases when given orally or intravenously, Wilson said. However, giving steroids to patients who are not severely ill may do more harm than good, he said.

The way that steroids work is to create an immune suppression, he said. And you want an immune response to fight the virus.

He said weighing the benefits of steroid treatment with the possibility of suppressing the immune system is a judgment call that should be made only on hospitalized patients.

Most recently, Bartlett was interviewed Friday for the YouTube show America, Can We Talk? In that interview, he said early intervention with budesonide was the key to surviving the coronavirus and likened the drug to a silver bullet.

Those who have shared the interview on Facebook are having it removed for violating the platforms policies regarding misinformation on coronavirus, according to commenters on the YouTube video.

Bartlett made several claims in the video which are demonstrably false, including that 20 percent of the worlds population is at risk of dying from COVID-19 and that Japan and other countries have low numbers of coronavirus infections because they are using inhaled steroids.

A series of case reports from Japan found patients improved on ciclesonide  a different inhaled steroid  but the reports are considered very low quality evidence, according to an article in the European Respiratory Journal, because the treatment was given to only three patients and its unknown whether those patients would have improved without intervention.

And while about 20 percent of people globally are considered at-risk for developing a severe case of COVID-19, the mortality rate is estimated to be about 1 to 3 percent.

Odessa Regional Medical Centers chief medical officer also addressed budesonide treatment in a report from KOSA-TV. Dr. Rohith Saravanan said blind, controlled studies, rather than anecdotal evidence, are needed to prove any effectiveness.

If they say, Oh, five cases, all solved. Magic pill. Silver bullet  well, thats not how science works, he said.
Although incoming college freshmen and upperclassmen will be able to be on their chosen Houston campuses, students won't have their ideal college semester in the fall. Universities in the city have all come up with plans for students to learn while protecting against COVID-19.

For the University of Houston, President Renu Khator has made it clear that students can anticipate in-person classes in the fall, with a few adjustments to follow social distancing guidelines. "The university will plan to move "large" classes mostly online. While no decision has become final for the university, 50 students is the proposed cut-off for in-person classes.

If the university does decide to follow through on in-person attendance on campus, major social distancing guidelines will be put into place for both students and faculty. Large events will be no longer, including events like homecoming. Even with the advanced precautionary measures being taken, some students are still very nervous about attending campuses in the fall.

DISTANCE LEARNING: Pandemic challenges part of San Jac nursing students virtual lessons

As for neighboring university Texas Southern, the school has now implemented a temporary admission standard--accepting any student who graduated within the top 25% of their class, which allows for important COVID-19 related exemptions for first-time incoming freshmen who meet the specific criteria. These students would not need to submit SAT neither ACT scores. The school's updated academic calendar is now a modified 13-week schedule. With this schedule in place, students will complete the entire semester prior to Thanksgiving break.

The university will offer in-person classes for the fall semester, along with hybrid (in-person and online) and online only formats. Social distancing measures will be put into place going into the new semester, along with "heightened cleaning protocols" as mentioned on their website.

"As much as I would love to attend my classes face to face and be on campus, I do worry about the safety of the students and the professors," said student Tatyana Gago.

Rice University intends to follow in similar fashion. The campus will open mid-August with the full population on campus. All classes will be delivered in a hybrid format, both in person and online. Class sessions will be recorded for students who opt out of attending in person.

K-12 PREPARING FOR THE FALL: Humble, Crosby ISDs prepare instruction options for new school year amid pandemic

According to the university President David Leebron, the process of equipping classrooms with the technological infrastructure for remote delivery is currently underway.

Rice will also include social distancing measures including contact tracing, precautionary isolation of individuals with possible exposure and protocols for testing.

As for Prairie View A&M, the school announced the schools plan for the fall in a recent memorandum. The notice stated that the campus would follow precautions similar to that of Texas A&M. The school is also going an extra mile, by having faculty attend mandatory training for fall online and hybrid coursework.

While all the universities will follow more strict guidelines for attendance in the fall, there are fewer details on what college will look like for students who rely on on-campus housing, and if distance learning is implemented, what it means for students with limited or no access to a computer of reliable WiFi. The virus has exposed students to a much larger educational gap.

Parnia Razi, graduate student at University of Houston, expressed her concerns in attending classes in the fall.

"I'm not comfortable going back to school in the fall," she said. "My partner who I live with is immunocompromised, so we've had to take the pandemic really seriously from the start. I know despite efforts of social distancing and masks, there are still issues like public bathrooms and eating meals, both of which make risk immediately higher."

The risks are high for on campus attendance in the fall, so more students are learning to adapt to completing assignments and tests online, but distance learning is not practical for everyone-- some students need the physical classroom to really understand what's being taught.

"I don't prefer online because I am accustomed to being in the room with my professor and peers. I feel that I learn better when I'm surrounded by my classmates while on campus rather than online," said Gago. "With my first experience in an online classroom, there was less engagement and it made the learning experience less exciting."

Human connection is a factor for some students in their learning experience. The classroom environment online isn't the same as in-person. Students learn in various ways and distance learning doesn't always allow for those opportunities.

"I struggled with online learning when COVID first broke back in March of the spring semester. I don't always pick things up quickly, so it's important that I can really internalize what I'm learning,"Mackenzie Ferguson said."Being at home learning was cool at first, but I realized very early that I need the physical classroom. I find myself even more easily distracted working at home versus on campus."

The fall semester will present challenges, and universities will adapt and develop more initiatives as time passes to ensure the safety of their staff and students.

Over the weekend, Harris County banned gatherings of 10 or more people until the end of August. As cases surge, universities will update the community on final plans for the fall semester.
In the new age of COVID-19, grocery stores across the country are tasked with rigorously disinfecting high-contact areas to comply with federal health guidelines. But the new measures are producing more than just strong, funky smells for shoppers, with some claiming they or their children have suffered severe reactions and even chemical burns after touching disinfected grocery carts.



Texas mother Kira Lugo experienced the negative side effects of strong store disinfectants firsthand and is urging other grocery shoppers to be wary of disinfected carts after she said in a viral Facebook post that her child allegedly suffered chemical burns after sitting in a cart at a Walmart store in El Paso.



Lugo, 23, brought her 18-month-old son shopping with her at the store on April 18. By the next day, she said her baby was covered with blisters and painful red markings that emergency room doctors diagnosed as chemical burns. Lugo believes the burns were caused by disinfectant used on the store's shopping carts and said she decided to post about the incident after seeing other parents make similar claims on social media.



In her viral post, which has reached more than 36,000 people since mid-June, Lugo urges other parents to use cart covers or some sort of protective covering to prevent what happened to her son from happening to another child.



Lugo said she reported the incident to Walmart but the company responded by saying there was no evidence it did anything wrong.



Honestly the least I would like to see [Walmart do] is either change the product or notify the people that are using these carts that something could happen, Lugo said. As well as train their staff on how to properly use chemicals.



Walmart told Chron.com it is looking into the issue and provided the following statement:



Customer safety is among our top priorities, especially during these unprecedented times. Were aware of the situation and are actively looking into the matter.



Other grocery store customers across the U.S. have posted similar complaints on social media.



Skin reactions from disinfected shopping carts have been reported at stores as far away as Canada, where three mothers reported their babies developed blisters and swelling after touching carts at a grocery store in May. A Florida mother reported her child appeared to have burns on her arms and legs after sitting in a Walmart shopping cart also in May, according to WFTS Tampa Bay. In mid-June, a Texoma mother said her 7-year-old son was diagnosed with second-degree chemical burns on his face after touching a disinfected grocery cart at a local Kroger there. A Kroger spokesperson told TV station KXII that the sanitizer being used by the store had not been diluted properly before using on carts.



According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 is most commonly spread through respiratory droplets but it can live on surfaces for several days. While the CDC recommends high-touch surfaces be routinely cleaned with EPA-approved disinfectants, it also states people should never come into direct contact with these products as they could cause serious harm. Staff that handle these products are advised to wear appropriate PPE and ensure they are instructed on how to properly use and apply the disinfectant.



Calls to poison centers across the country regarding exposures to cleaners and disinfectants spiked during the beginning of the pandemic, according to a recent study from the CDC. From January through March 2020, calls regarding exposure to cleaners and disinfectants jumped by more than 20 percent and more than 16 percent, respectively, compared to the same three-month period in 2019.



Chemical burns vs allergic reactions



Dr. John Griffin is a dermatologist at Kelsey-Seybold in Houston. He said the apparent rise of people claiming to have experienced burns or skin irritation from store disinfectants is not surprising. Rather, he anticipates seeing more patients with these problems as the pandemic wears on.



When we use them [disinfectants] more and more there are going to be some people that develop issues, Griffin said. [But] most surface disinfectants [and] things you use around the house are not intended to come into contact with the skin until they have actually dried.



Griffin said some disinfectants could cause severe reactions but that depends on a variety of factors including product ingredients, a persons skin or allergy conditions, and certain preservatives that are used in a product.



Griffin said he estimates that the burns shoppers say they have experienced are probably better classified as severe allergic reactions, although the two can be very similar in appearance.



Irritation is almost synonymous with chemical burns [but] a chemical burn is such intense inflammation of the skin that the skin dies, Griffin said. It does not take much of an allergen to create a pretty severe allergic reaction.



Chemical burns can develop within minutes to hours and result in redness, pain, peeling and a burning sensation, Griffin said, whereas allergic reactions can develop within 24 to 72 hours and result in redness, swelling, itching, and sometimes blistering.



Be reassured that stores arent reaching for things that are toxic, as long as they are used appropriately a great majority of people wont have problems, Griffin said. But if you have sensitive skin, or known allergies, I would take extra precautions and the number one precaution is to avoid exposure.

Parents that bring their young children with them to shop should use a cart cover, or an impermeable material such as plastic, to prevent direct contact with the chemicals used to disinfect a cart. Wearing gloves is also another alternative.
A man was killed and a rookie deputy constable injured early Tuesday when they exchanged gunfire as authorities were investigating a domestic disturbance call in north Harris County, authorities said.

The Harris County Precinct 4 Constables Office identified the deputy as Christopher Hendrix, a rookie with six months on the job. Hendrix was with his partner at the Cranbrook Forest Apartments in the 13800 block of Ella Boulevard shortly after midnight, the second time police were summoned for a disturbance in a matter of hours.

SHOOTING INVESTIGATION: Fort Bend ISD police officer shoots wife at south Houston home

Details of the disturbance were not immediately available.

The two deputies approached the door and spoke with a man inside the apartment, Harris County Sheriffs Office senior deputy Thomas Gilliland said.

That conversation devolved into a physical fight, which is when the man pulled a handgun and shot Hendrix in the stomach, Gilliland said.

I have a gunshot wound to the abdomen, Hendrix said, according to police radio traffic. Y'all need to get ... (an) ambulance here.

The two deputies returned fire as the man retreated into the apartment, Gilliland said. Paramedics took the wounded deputy to Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital, where he underwent surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.

Heavily armed SWAT officers surrounded the apartment as negotiators tried pleading with the man to come out. They eventually broke down the front door and sent in a special robot equipped with a camera, which found the man dead inside the apartment.

Investigators believe one of the deputies shot the man as they returned fire.

The man who died suffered from some mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, Gilliland said.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news for Chron.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
A Missouri man is accused of punching a Houston police dog Monday during a wild takedown caught on camera.

Officers were investigating an auto theft in the 2200 block of Airline Drive around noon when they spotted the suspect near a washateria, police said. As they tried to detain the man for questioning, he ran behind the building and jumped a fence into a small residential development.

Police surrounding the soon-to-be gated community and called for a special police K9 trained to sniff out and latch onto suspects. The dog sniffed the perimeter and found the man hiding in tall grass near a manufactured home inside the property.

DEADLY SHOOTING: Rookie deputy shot, gunman dead in north Harris County

Thats when he allegedly punched the dog, which then bit the man on his arm. Officers surrounded the man as the K9s handler worked to release the mans arm from the dogs grip, an effort which appeared to last about a minute, according to Chron.com footage.

Paramedics took the man to a nearby hospital. He was seen with a bloodied bandage on his arm as they loaded him into an ambulance.

Police identified the suspect as a 30-year-old Missouri man, Shannon Washington, who was charged with evading and attack on an assist animal. The K9, named 'Moxie,' is doing fine. Further details of the alleged attack were not made available.

The latter charge is rarely used in Harris County, according to the Harris County District Clerks Office. Washington is the sixth person to be charged with that crime here since 2005, which was the earliest record available.

Police tout their canine partners as effective tools in taking suspects into custody while keeping officers safe, although critics say police dogs can cause undue harm to suspects and innocent bystanders.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news for Chron.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
Two deaths were reported over the July 4 weekend in Ector County, according to a press release. These deaths bring the total to 11 Ector County residents who have died from coronavirus.

Medical Center Health System CEO and President Russell Tippin that a 76-year-old female resident at Focused Care of Odessa and a 61-year-old man and died at Medical Center Hospital on Saturday.

He said MCH was treating 38 patients at the hospital on Monday. Fifteen patients are being treated on the seventh-floor coronavirus unit; two of those patients are from Focused Care at Odessa, one is from Alpine and one is from Sienna Nursing and Rehabilitation. Nine patients are being treated on the eighth-floor unit, which was opened last week. Fourteen patients are being treated in the critical care unit; eight patients are on ventilators.

MCHS has taken 3,682 tests, with 532 positive results, 2,642 negative results and 508 pending tests. MCH chief nursing officer Christin Timmons said 38 staff members have been exposed and are currently quarantining at home.

Odessa Regional Medical Center CEO and President Stacey Brown said the hospital is treating 14 patients, with nine on ventilators. Of those patients, two are from The Courtyards Assisted Living and Memory Care, one is from Scenic Mountain Medical Center in Big Spring and one is from Pecos.

The hospital has taken 1,028 tests with 150 positive results, 767 negative results and 111 pending tests. She said the hospital had eight coronavirus discharges and seven new admissions over the weekend. The hospital has nine staff members who are currently quarantining at home.

Odessa mayor David Turner said Monday the Odessa Police Department will enforce Gov. Greg Abbotts mask mandate. He said there has to be a call similar to those made for a vehicle wreck. Once the call is made, they will go to the site and issue warnings that will add the persons name to a database. If a person is stopped again after the first warning, they will be issued a ticket.

Its not something we want to do, but unfortunately, when we have 1,392 case, plus what is pending it is getting to the point that we have to do something, Turner said. I know some people are saying that its taking away their freedom, but it is also protecting them and their families.

He said the reason the city has decided to enforce the mask mandate is because of the economic aspect of it.

Im very concerned about coronavirus but Im more concerned about closing these communities back down, he said. It may be unpopular but if it means keeping our businesses open then thats what we are going to do.

Turner said that 12 positive results have come back from the Sherwood Park testing site. He said 200 tests were taken on the south side of Odessa and he hopes the results will be back within eight to 10 days. The National Guard tested July 1-2 in Ector County and all tests are still pending. The National Guard tested a total of 347 people.

The county has 228 more confirmed cases since Thursday. The county reported 946 confirmed results and 446 probable results. The Ector County Health Department reported that 522 people have recovered and they have contact traced 3,331 people. The health department reported that 9,361 tests have been taken with 6,831 negative results and 1,138 pending results.
Gov. Ned Lamont may have more support than he knows.

Ever since the early days of the four-month pandemic  when masks, gloves and toilet paper were scarce  there has been no shortage of opinion about virtually every executive order the governor has issued.

Much of it came from political rivals urging Lamont to let Connecticut get back to business, summoning the weary cliche that the cure was worse than the disease.

Yet when Lamont announced he was indefinitely postponing Phase 3 of the states reopening plan Monday, it was met with a muted response.

No public outcries about keeping bars closed and maintaining a cap for private gatherings at 25 people indoors and 100 outdoors.

Were choosing to interpret this hush as a chorus of approval. Either way, it was the right call at the right time.

Ultimately, Connecticuts survival during this crisis will be determined by its residents. Lamont can issue all the mandates he wants, but his caution only has meaning if it is heeded.

The Fourth of July is notorious for misbehavior, evidenced by crowded emergency departments and drunken driving arrests.

But Connecticuts discipline in handling the pandemic was rewarded over a long holiday weekend during which hospitalizations resulting from COVID dropped to 69, the lowest it has been since March 23. Of the nearly 25,000 tests conducted from Friday through the weekend, only 259 people tested positive.

Lamont has not been reflexively cautious. He did allow 50-percent capacity indoor dining when our neighboring states did not.

But he considered the landscape  the complete United States landscape  and opted not to risk his goal of avoiding taking steps backward. So bars remain closed, and gyms and indoor dining will remain capped at 50 percent.

Even the most cynical Connecticut resident likely gasped at weekend images of crowded beaches in Florida, which has replaced the tri-state as a hot spot for the coronavirus.

There are other lessons to be learned from the errors of the Sunshine State, which seems to be brazenly plunging into reopening schools in August.

The clock is ticking toward the new school year. Lamont needs to proceed with the same spirit of vigilance.

He has pointed to this ever-murky crisis offering a single clear lesson: If we learned one thing, its how much safer it is outdoors than indoors.

Business owners appear to be following his example.

Summer offers an irresistible invitation to get outdoors, along with the perils of public gatherings. Its been telling that bar owners, anxious to draw back customers, responded to the delay with a measure of understanding.

State Rep. Vincent Candelora, a Republican from North Branford, opted to hold off on opening a gymnasium he owns, recognizing the problems arising in regions with more lax protocols.

Given what is happening in other states, Connecticut is taking a pause, Candelora said.

For the sake of one another, lets all take that pause together.
Never content with slow-playing his hand, poker legend Phil Hellmuth put his home in Las Vegas up for sale.

However, the 15-time World Series of Poker winner attempted to cash out in an unorthodox manner. Hellmuth posted a link to the property on Twitter, asking his 283,000-plus followers if they wanted dibs on it.

What followed was brutal.

Here's his original tweet, previewing the home with a $430,000 price tag and the hashtag #POSITIVITY.

Im selling my house in Las Vegas, its in the Las Vegas Country Club: 2909 Bel Air Drive. Im having an old friend, @KarinaJett, sell it for me. Before we list it on MLS, I thought I would give social media a shot. Reach out to Karina if youre interested: $430,000 #POSITIVITY pic.twitter.com/fiBLoOKXRQ  phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) June 30, 2020

Railbirds got a glimpse at the hand Hellmuth was playing and raised the stakes with a series of replies.

First, his followers criticized the house itself. Next, they wondered why the home was priced higher than online estimates. Finally, an intrepid investigator alleged the home might be in foreclosure.

Karina Jett, who also comes from the poker world, is Hellmuth's friend and the agent representing the home. She says she had no idea he was planning the Twitter announcement and tagging her in the process, but she wasn't surprised.

"That's very much his personality," says Jett, who wasn't prepared to deal with the trolls.

To set the record straight, the home isn't in foreclosure. She explains there's an ongoing HOA dispute over the placement of pool equipment, which caused the home to be labeled incorrectly.

The list price is also fair, says Jett, who plans to challenge online estimates of the home's value, which don't take recent sales in the neighborhood into account. The home was on the market for a bit last fall with an asking price of $375,000.

"It's funny because everyone is always so anti-bullying, but, boy, they go on Twitter and it's a different story," Jett says. "I've never had to deal with cybertrolls before. I guess people just like to troll celebrities."

The house, built in 1974, is a rare find near the Strip in a historic part of Vegas, she says. It has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and over 1,600 square feet of living space.

The home is part of the Las Vegas Country Club community, which has a reported initiation fee of $2,500.

Exterior realtor.com

Stairs realtor.com

Kitchen realtor.com

Second-level bedrooms realtor.com

Back patio realtor.com

Die-hard poker fans might also recognize the house as the backdrop of a classic Hellmuth promotional video explaining his process for winning. The clip is making the rounds once again, thanks to the home sale.

If you're looking for a 60 second escape from worrying about the Coronavirus - enjoy this video of Phil Hellmuth taking you through his morning routine pic.twitter.com/2uwFr8FhKl  Joey Ingram #passion (@Joeingram1) March 14, 2020

So whether you're in search of classic Vegas vibes or just a vacation home close to the action on the Strip, Hellmuth's home might fit the bill. Who knows? The poker champ might even be willing to throw in a couple of pointers to sweeten the pot.

The post Poker Pro Phil Hellmuth Attempts To Sell Vegas House on Twitter, Gets Roasted appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
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In a new article, two Canadian ministers write on the importance of immigration to the country's economy.

Mendicino: Immigration key to Canadas 21st century success In a new article, two Canadian ministers write on the importance of immigration to the country's economy.

Mendicino: Immigration key to Canadas 21st century success In a new article, two Canadian ministers write on the importance of immigration to the country's economy.

Mendicino: Immigration key to Canadas 21st century success In a new article, two Canadian ministers write on the importance of immigration to the country's economy. Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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The progressive immigration policies we continue to implement are laying the foundation for Canadas success in the 21st century.

These are the words of two Canadian ministers who recently wrote on the importance of immigration to the countrys economy.

Marco Mendicino is Canadas Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship while Navdeep Bains is the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

Mendicinos family arrived to Canada from Italy following the Second World War while Bains family arrived from India.

Today, the ministers represent two of countless immigrant success stories across Canada as they oversee portfolios which are critical to the countrys economic development.

In their article, Mendicino and Bains discuss that while starting off as new immigrants in Canada can be difficult at first, the country provides newcomers with many opportunities to succeed, which enriches Canada in the process.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

Today, the two ministers are responsible for enacting policies that help continue Canadas positive immigration cycle: Canada provides immigrants with opportunities, and immigrants repay Canada economically and socially.

Both ministers share the mandate of attracting immigrants, foreign workers, and international students to Canada.

To support this mandate, the federal government launched the Global Talent Stream in 2017, which has since attracted tens of thousands of tech workers to Canada, and also created tens of thousands of more jobs in the process.

Me and @NavdeepSBains on the doors and in our happy place! Happy birthday, my friend. Hope its a great one and that you get some time with the family!  pic.twitter.com/MlBovKlbZl  Marco Mendicino (@marcomendicino) June 16, 2020

Canada was set to welcome higher levels of global talent in 2020 following the strong year it had in 2019.

Earlier this year, Mendicino announced Canadas new Immigration Levels Plan which would support higher levels of newcomer attraction.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted these plans but Mendicino has consistently stated that immigration will remain a priority for Canada.

This was stressed once again by him in his recent article.

We know that our focus must remain on attracting top-tier talent to Canada, write Mendicino and Bains.

This is demonstrated by the fact that foreign workers are largely exempt from Canadas current COVID-19 travel restrictions.

In addition, Express Entry and Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws are still happening. In fact, Express Entry is off to its fastest start since 2017.

Once the pandemic has passed, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is expecting a surge in more global talent coming to Canada.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved
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The July 1 call to action had been rescheduled from the week before, after bad weather forced the date change. The event, officially called Hear POC (people of color), allowed some people to share their experiences with race and racism in the Deerfield, Highland Park, and North Shore communities, as well as a discussion on the history of racism in the area, organizer said in announcing
On Friday the thirteenth of March, Lourdes Torres, the senior vice president of political coverage at Univision News, traveled from Miami to Washington, DC. Her team was to cohost, along with CNN, the first virtual presidential debate in United States history. Nearly two thousand Americans had already tested positive for the novel coronavirus; more than forty had died. In a matter of days, the debates organizers had decided to move the event from a large theater in downtown Phoenix to a television studio in the nations capital. There would be no crowd in the roomno raucous cheers or applause, no in-person audience questions. The two Democratic candidates, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, would have to stand six feet from each other. The moderators would need to account for the publics sense of fear and doubt over the spread of covid-19. This was to be a defining event in the election, and a test with no precedent for everyone involved. I left Miami that day feeling as if a hurricane was coming our way, Torres said.

Florida was still weeks from a lockdown, but people were beginning to worry about stocking up their pantries and filling up their gas tanks. Having worked at Univision for nearly three decades, Torres soon realized that covid-19 would be the single most disruptive story of her career. Fifty-nine and born in Cuba, with shoulder-length auburn hair and a slight gap between her front teeth, she is a behind-the-camera person, but the decisions she makes on set are always visible. Her staff looks to her for everything from story planning to conflict resolution. When youre dealing with an emergency situation such as this one, youre not thinking about strategizing or about what needs to be done the following month, Torres said. You basically go into survival mode.

The week before the debate, Jorge Ramos, Univisions biggest star, had to drop out as hosthe was worried hed been exposed to someone with covid-19and Ilia Calderon, another anchor at the network, took his place. Univision banned all nonessential travel; in order to fly to Washington, Torres had to request a waiver from her supervisor for herself and four othersa small delegation compared to the multitude who awaited them at CNN. When she got in a taxi at Reagan National Airport, she asked her driver how he was coping with the crisis. He replied by saying she was his first customer in four hours. My mind was set on figuring out how to reflect that kind of hardship during the debate, Torres told me. And the conversations we were having with the team were all about translating those experiences into questions for the candidates.

Once they arrived, Torres and Calderon hunkered down to prepare with their staff. Typically, debate hosts have several weeks or more to familiarize themselves with the material they will be covering. In this case, Calderon, who is forty-eight, had only a few days. Univisions team compiled research on each candidates proposals for healthcare, the economy, immigration, and US foreign policy on Latin America. Long hours were spent at CNNs office, where Calderon joined Jake Tapper and Dana Bash for mock debates. Our priority was to bring up Latinos to the table, Calderon said. She wanted to ensure that the candidates would address the needs of Americas eleven million undocumented workersmany of whom were deemed essential but continued to live in fear of deportationand of all Latinos who have felt targeted by President Trumps derision. She wanted to remind everyone in the room that Latinos could be pivotal to the 2020 election.

By the time the event was held, that Sunday night, Biden and Sanders were moving their campaigns entirely to digital. El debate democrata began with the two men walking into an empty CNN studio and exchanging an awkward elbow bump. Welcome to this unique event, Tapper said. The three hosts sat straight backed, their hands resting on a high acrylic table. When Tapper introduced Calderon, who wore a V-necked pink dress, her eyes darted left and right; she flashed a bashful smile.

Calderon asked Biden and Sanders to explain how they would handle the economic ravages of the pandemica matter of urgent concern for the 84 percent of Latinos who are unable to work from home. The median household income of Hispanics is three-quarters that of whites; after Native Americans, they are the most likely of any group in the country to lack health insurance. Calderon pressed the candidates to speak about comprehensive immigration reform, deportation raids, and sanctuary cities. Each man offered a pitch to Latino viewers. Look, we are a nation of immigrantsour future rests upon the Latino community being fully integrated, Biden said. Twenty-four of every one hundred children in school today, from kindergarten through high school, is a Latino. Right now. Today. The idea that any American thinks it doesnt pay for us to significantly invest in their future is absolutely a bizarre notion.

In hindsight, Torres wishes the debate had been held a month later. By then, statistics made it evident that the virus disproportionately affected Latinos, who, because of their low incomes and immigration statuses, were all the more vulnerable. Within weeks, news surfaced of workers dying at meat-processing plants; millions of business owners grappling with bankruptcy; and many more losing their jobs. The coronavirus has exposed the cracks in society, Torres said. These cracks are never the focus of debatestheyre certainly not discussed as bluntly and openly as they are now. Torres had wanted the debate to reveal that the political interests of Latinos are inextricably linked to those of the entire American population. The question afterward, as the campaigns became overshadowed by the coronavirus, was how Univision could keep Latinos in focus.

She wanted to remind everyone in the room that Latinos could be pivotal to the 2020 election.

People depend on us, Ramos, who is sixty-two, told me recently from his office, in Miami. Univision is a lifeline to survive in the United States, and our audiences expect us to do much more than just deliver the news. The notion of a television network being a lifeline may seem an exaggeration, but in polls, Latinos have consistently ranked Univision as one of the most trusted institutions in the United States, second only to the Catholic Church. Its coverage, entirely in Spanish, reaches the homes of people who speak it as a first language. During its prime-time news hours, Univision has an audience of nearly two million.

Univision grew from the first Hispanic TV channel in the US, which went live in San Antonio in the summer of 1955. In the early sixties, a group of businessmen, including Emilio Azcarraga Vidaurreta, a Mexican communications tycoon, bought the channel and some others to create the Spanish International Network, now known as Univision. Among the groups purchases was KMEX-TV, a station based in Los Angeles, where Ramosfreshly arrived from Mexico Citybegan working as a reporter in the mid-eighties. KMEX, he realized, was not a typical newsroom. It hosted health and employment fairs for its audiences and offered advice on the best schools for Hispanic youth. The mission was not only to inform, but also to empower and serve Latinos

a mandate that Univision eventually made its own.

Since then, the Hispanic community in the United States has quadrupled in size, comprising some sixty million people. This year, for the first time, Latinos are the countrys largest minority voting group. Many of them see Ramos and his colleagues as the best large-scale advocates they have, and Univision as their main access point to politics. There is an absolute leadership vacuum at the national level, Torres told me. When Julian Castro dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, in January, he delivered a blunt message: It simply isnt our time. Congress now has the largest class of Latinos in historytotaling thirty-eightbut there are only four Latino members of the Senate. Ramos, the elder statesman of the Latino media elite, outranks them all.

Over the decades, if its been covered at all, the Latino demographic has typically been cast in the press as a sleeping gianta term meant to evoke its tremendous, yet dormant, potential. For a long time, everyone expected the sleeping giant to wake up, without anyone setting the alarm, Stephanie Valencia, a cofounder of a research group called Equis Labs, told me. Many Latinos felt disengaged from the political process because no one was speaking directly to them. News outlets repeated the failures of candidates, who for decades saw the Latino electorate as a monolith. It didnt matter whether politicians or journalists were addressing Mexicans, Central Americans, Puerto Ricans, or Dominicanstheir message remained the same. And, for the most part, it centered on immigration. As a corollary, Latino turnout has lagged compared to that of other voting groups. In 2008, the last time the country saw an economic crisis comparable to todays, participation rates among Latinos were dismal. In 2016, less than half of eligible Latino voters cast their ballots.

Only recently have campaign strategists begun to tap into Latino voters yearning to be part of the political process. And Univision has been uniquely positioned to cover the communitys political rise. During the 2016 election cycle, Ramos made headlines for being ousted from a press conference at which he grilled Trump about the wall and deportations. Ramos has been similarly tough on Democrats. Would you take responsibility for the three million people that were deported during the Obama-Biden administration? he asked Biden in February. Many people are expecting you to apologize for thatto say that it was wrong.

I think it was a big mistake, Biden responded. It took too long to get it right.

Biden, for lack of money or will, largely failed to engage with Latinos in the primaries. He lost to Sanders among these voters in all states with a sizable Hispanic population except Florida. Now that Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee, its unclear whether his campaign can win over the demographic in time for November. Laura Jimenez, Bidens Latino-engagement director, told me recently that it was crucial for the campaign to meet people where they are, but she wouldnt offer any specifics on the budget allocated for doing so, the plan she would follow, or even the lessons she had learned from the primaries. Events continue to be online only.

Univision sees its responsibility to educate Latino votersto be the bridge between candidates and voters, as Ramos told me. But ultimately, a news channelno matter how much trust it has earned from its audiencecannot compensate for the work of campaigns. You can give people the information they need to go out and vote, but they will need to have an incentive to do so, Torres said. That is where politicians have to come in and take Latinos seriously. Latinos will listen. They will know who is doing the work that needs to be doneand who isnt.

Like many other outlets, Univision had to frantically adapt its coverage to the fast-evolving nature of the pandemic. Although the network started reporting on the coronavirus from the time it surfaced, in Wuhan, China, anchors werent prepared to grant it their full attention until the crisis overwhelmed the United States.

Enrique Acevedo, forty-two and the anchor of Univisions nightly news show, was the first among the staff to ring the alarm. Early this year, hed attended the World Economic Forum, where he met Chinese leaders, including Hong Kongs chief executive, who warned him and others of the imminent risk of covid-19. Acevedo had covered the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Mexico, where hed witnessed the deadly effects of swine flu. The dispatches from his Chinese colleagues sounded frighteningly familiar. I came back from Davos in mid-January and told my team that we needed to be speaking much more about the topic, he said. I remember their response being, But why? We already put out two stories last week!  He kept insisting. In early February, he reached out to Daniel Coronell, Univision Newss president, urging him to allocate resources to the networks covid-19 response, including gear to protect employees. Acevedo asked about a contingency plan, in case the staff became infected. What would happen if the anchors fell ill? Where would they record daily news shows? His alarm went unheeded.

Then March rolled around. The number of covid-19 cases in the US rose significantly; many of Acevedos colleagues realized that the pandemic wasnt as distant as they had thought. One week we had a normal news show focused on politics, the economy, immigration, and all the other topics, Calderon said. And all of a sudden, we were plunged in a show where all that mattered was to inform people about what was happening around the coronavirus. Most staffers in Univisions news department were sent home. Only those deemed essentialroughly 10 percent of all five hundred employeeswere required to work from the studio, in Miami. Among them were engineers, sound technicians, and camera operators, whose labor was needed to keep the control room running. Everyone entering the studio was required to fill out a medical questionnaire before setting foot inside. A cleaning crew was on call; phones were sanitized constantly. All meetings, including twice-daily editorial check-ins, took place over the phone, and became subject to awkward silences, frozen images, and cumbersome exchanges.

In late March, two employees tested positive for covid-19. Univision temporarily closed its studio, and the evening news team had to record from a parking lot. Under a blazing sun, production hands set up folding tables, teleprompters, light stands, and cameras to film the program outside. The building was later sanitized, and no additional cases surfaced, but Univision continued taking precautions. Any journalists still leaving the house to cover the pandemic were required to wear N95 masks and gloves; they also carried long sticks for their microphones and kept a safe distance from people they interviewed. Those reporting from home set up makeshift studios, with the occasional intrusion of a child or pet. From one day to the next, on-air personalities turned into amateur makeup artists and hairstylists. The audience seemed to enjoy peeking into the homes of their favorite anchors, but producers had to cope with not being able to fix the lighting and frame the shots as they once did. We have little control over the quality of our productions, Torres said.

By then, Univision had realized that its viewers were seeking even more information about the pandemic. Coronell and Maria Antonieta Collins, another veteran Univision anchor, decided to put together a new show in the 3pm slotThe Coronavirus Diarywhich would be cohosted by Ramos and aired live on Univision and on Facebook. When the show started, Ramos was still in quarantine, so he joined the broadcast via Skype while Collins took the lead from the studio. Dr. Juan Rivera, Univisions chief medical correspondent, called in to answer questions from the audience: Is it safe to treat covid-19 symptoms with ibuprofen? Why is hydroxychloroquine in short supply? Does remdesivir really work? The program delved into practical concerns, including when to expect stimulus checks and whether undocumented workers qualified for federal aid. Ramos and Collins also showcased stories of Latinos on the front linesa Puerto Rican nurse spoke about conditions at the intensive-care unit of her hospital, in the Bronx; Collins wore a face shield made by a Colombian businessman who had repurposed his printing company. The Coronavirus Diary reached as many as 15.9 million viewers. Soon, Ramos returned to the studio, and the two anchors began presenting the news sitting six feet apart.

The shows second episode coincided with the March 17 Democratic primaries, which took place in Florida, Arizona, and Illinois. President Trump had just released his Fifteen days to slow the spread guidelines, and recommended avoiding gatherings of more than ten people, yet only Ohio decided to alter its original plans. Univision needed to find a way to cover the health story alongside the election news. A correspondent in Chicago said that, at the polling station where she was, only half the people who would typically have cast their ballots showed up. In Florida, Univision reported that election authorities expected just 20 percent of registered voters in Miami-Dade Countywhere a large majority of residents are Latinoto appear at the polls. That prediction had been made before covid-19 upended everything; now Latino turnout in Miami-Dade looked even bleaker. Ramos was troubled. I hope that Latinos wont make the same mistake they did in 2016, he told me. We just dont know how the pandemic will affect voter participation.

During the pandemic, Univisions ratings have skyrocketed. But to keep the numbers high, its leaders will need to strike the right balance between a crisis with no foreseeable end and an election scheduled for the fall. No topic can be dissociated from the pandemic at the moment, Torres told me. That applies to any topic you may be coveringincluding politics. Daniel Morcate, Univisions chief newsroom editor, agreed, but he wasnt sure how political stories would play with viewers. He felt an obligation to cover the campaigns, yet he knew that Latinos were relying on Univision to help them survive the coming months. I worry about what we can do to keep the topic of the election alive, given how important it is for the country, and for Hispanics in particular, he told me. I think that is our biggest challenge.

In mid-May, Torres sat on the balcony of her apartment in Doral, just inland of Miami, and waited for her colleagues to join her via Webex. She was hosting a virtual meeting with Univisions art department to review the motion graphics they will use on election night. Rosa Mosqueira, the only person calling from the studio, was in the control room; her role was to pull up the options and move the camera around to see the set from different angles.

The designers had been working on the graphics for more than two months. Mosqueira showed the group an image of Trump taking 57.5 percent of the vote in North Carolina, Biden 42.5 percent. It was adorned with blue stripes and 2020 in the background. A debate ensued. I dont know if I like the stripes clumped up, an art director said. Maybe some of those blue lines should be dimmed down a little. Someone spoke over him, in disagreement. They went in circles, voices crossing helplessly in the video chat. Torres cut in, asking for someone in the studio to stand onstage, so they could all see how the graphic looked. Maybe the final solution is a combination of both ideas? I dont know, Mosqueira said.

After everyone had their say, Torres ruled, asking for one more revision. Its like a puzzle, she told me after the call. Normally, they would all have been together in the control room; it would have been easier to make changes on the spot. The only upside of working remotely was that everyone was seeing the set from a small screen, as their audiences do. Still, Torres was hoping to delay her return to the office as much as possible. She recently recovered from gastrointestinal cancer, she explained, and her doctors had advised her to stay home as long as she could.

Until things got back to normal, she needed to figure out how to reintegrate campaign news into Univisions coverage. In conversations with senior producers and representatives of the networks local stations, not everyone agreed. We all share a sense of responsibility over keeping our viewers informed on the coronavirus, but that also applies to other topics, Torres said. There are those who think we should continue to focus on the pandemic; others, like myself, believe its important to cover more political news.

The responsibility to which Torres alluded came with a high level of scrutiny. After George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, was killed under the knee of a white officer, Univision (and its competitor, Telemundo) were accused of dedicating too much airtime to the looting and property damage that emerged from protests across the country; instead, critics said, the focus should have been on police brutality. Hispanic media like Univision & Telemundo are so selective on whats broadcasted in regards to the protests and riots going on knowing thats where the majority of our latin/hispanic parents depend on 4 info, a viewer wrote on Twitter. Some argued that Univision was falling into racial prejudices against Black people that pervade the Latino community. They called for broader representation of Afro-Latinos in the newsroom and held Hispanic outlets accountable for their power to sway public opinion. The controversy, which was largely stirred by young voices, made it clear that Univision had yet to figure out how to engage those viewersmany of whom get their news online and have a preference for English. Our audiences are much more fractured now and shared with many more outlets, Torres told me. Univision had spent heavily on its website and on its social media presence; the importance of that demographic was understood, at least. Young Latinos are the lifeblood of our community, she said. These are the ones that will help their parents exercise their right to vote.

In the immediate term, Univision was aiming to bring together voters and candidates through virtual town halls. In May, Torres joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (lulac) in arranging a conversation with Biden, members of Congress, activists, and the sons and daughters of Latino workers at meat plants. The event, held on Zoom and moderated by Acevedo, focused on how to protect essential workers. They designate them as essential workers, then treat them as disposable, Biden said. Domingo Garcia, the national president of lulac, reminded the audience that five thousand workers at meat plants had tested positive for covid-19 and twenty had died; until a few weeks before the town hall, employees were handling food without face masks. Relatives of these workers said that many in their families had caught the disease; they were determined to speak up on their behalf. Each panelist addressed the imperative to protect workers in the short term, to ensure that none lacked necessary protective gear, that none would be deported. As for the long term, some argued, the fate of essential workers would be determined on Election Day, and only Biden could upend the status quo. But he had yet to successfully make that case for himself, Torres observed. A lot will depend on what Biden does, on whether he prioritizes engaging with Latinos, she told me. (In June, Acevedo left Univision.)

Torres is still grappling with how to cover Trump. Univision initially aired his coronavirus briefings live but later decided to simply have anchors report on them. Its a very difficult predicament, Torres said, because we need to be constantly balancing peoples right to have full access to these briefings while also being mindful of what other outlets are doing. Reporting on Republican candidates had grown increasingly difficult since 2012, when the partys position on immigration hardened, Torres explained. They didnt want to answer our questions, because they knew we would get right at the topic. In 2016, she said, Trump only exacerbated the problem. It became toxic for candidates to be associated with Latinos. Three months ago, she reached out to the White House, asking for a prerecorded clip of the president to include in a special episode on the coronavirus. She has yet to hear back.

There are too many unknowns about the election for us to know exactly how well cover it, Torres said. But our sense of mission has become all the stronger because we are one of the few resources a lot of people in our community have. And they can trust well be there for them every day. In the coming months, Torres will have to determine how to cover primaries that have been postponed and whether party conventions have become obsolete. Shell come out of her seventh presidential election with Univision having learned how a political contest unfolds in the midst of a pandemic. She hopes that she will have elevated the profile of Latinos in the eyes of the campaigns. The stakes are higher than ever. Thirty-two million Latinos are eligible to vote this year. If they show up, their influence could be decisive.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Stephania Taladrid is a member of the editorial staff at The New Yorker. Before that, she served as a speechwriter for the Obama administration. She holds a masters in Latin American studies from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
In early March I was wondering, as many people were, if I should get a face mask. I remember standing in my kitchen watching cable news when a medical expert declared that there was little evidence a mask could prevent our catching covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. People should not wear one, the expert said, unless they were medical workers, were displaying covid-like symptoms, or were caring for someone who was sick. I relayed that advice to friends and family and repeated some variant of it in The Media Today, the daily newsletter I write for the Columbia Journalism Review.

What Id heard on cable news was typical of the time. As the coronavirus crisis intensified, many health authoritiesincluding the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionoffered similar advice. If members of the public rushed to buy hospital-grade masks, we were told, the supply for essential workers, who needed them, would be scarce. Some experts even argued that because the average person wasnt trained to wear one properly, a mask could heighten the risk of exposure to covid-19 by inducing a false sense of security.

News organizations repeated these claims. In late February, Forbes ran a piece with the headline No, You DO NOT Need Face Masks For CoronavirusThey Might Increase Your Infection Risk. The story has since been viewed more than 4.5 million times; it was also updated (including the headline) to reflect changing mask guidance. Jerome Adams, the surgeon general, tweeted to implore Americans to STOP BUYING MASKS, which drove a further round of coverage. On March 2, Adams appeared on Fox & Friends to hammer home the point; masks, he said, had not been proven to be effective in preventing the spread of coronavirus amongst the general public.

Then, in early April, officials reversed themselves: everyone, the CDC said, should have face coverings and wear them in enclosed spaces. Health officials explained that compelling new evidence had come to light regarding asymptomatic transmission of the virus, and that wider usage of masks could prevent unknowing carriers from spreading infection. Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human services, said the new guidance was the fruit of a science-based approach. On April 3, Adams appeared in a video in which he showed viewers how to fashion a mask from an old T-shirt. Fact-based media outlets, striving to follow the latest findings, scrambled to keep up as infectious-disease debates, normally consigned to journals and conferences, played out in public in real time.

The usual shortcuts to writing authoritative-sounding articles were not available on this story. People picked up on that, filling the air of uncertainty with political conviction. Conservatives adopted masks as symbols of fearmongering government overreach; liberals counter-adopted them as icons of Enlightenment values. Political reporters lapped it up, mindful that the pandemic had arrived in an election year. President Trump played the lightning rod; he declined repeatedly to wear a mask, even after the White House made them mandatory in the West Wing. (In May, Trump briefly wore one during a visit to a Ford factory in Michigan, but took it off before addressing reporters. I didnt want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it, he said.) On Fox News, Laura Ingraham suggested that masks were tools of fear and intimidation, designed to assert social control over large populations. Elsewhere, masks were described as a new tribal totem in the all-encompassing culture war. In late May, after a white police officer killed George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis, and protests convulsed the country, some right-wing commentators accused the mainstream media of a double standard, since journalists didnt chastise demonstrators who violated mask rules. (Reporters covering the protests typically wore masks, of both the medical and anti-tear-gas varieties.)

Theres conflicting evidence as to whether the mask culture war actually took hold. Some polling showed persistent differences between how Democrats and Republicansand consumers of different news outletsperceived aspects of the pandemic, including the threat it initially presented, the death toll, and masks. Other polls indicated that support for public health measuresincluding maskswas high across the board. Whats not in dispute is that a narrative of a mask culture war swept Americas media, nourished by egregious examples of anti-mask conduct, including lockdown protesters bearing anti-mask signs; Trump supporters harassing mask-clad journalists; and even the murder, at a store in Flint, Michigan, of a security guard who turned away an unmasked patron. Readers were told about Republicans in Congress failing to wear masks, unlike their Democratic colleagues. In May, Sen. Susan Collins, the famously flip-flopping Republican from Maine, began a congressional hearing without a mask, then put one on. James Poniewozik, TV critic at the New York Times, skewered her for trying to keep one lung in each camp.

Masks were described as a new tribal totem.

A hallmark of the recent wave of right-wing populism around the globe has been the denigration of expertise. Experts are cast as sneering, liberal elites who are out of touch with, and also hate, common folk. Whenever an expert changes his mind, doing so underscores his fallibility. Adjusting ones position upon learning of new evidence is not admired, but rather scorned as a sign of weakness.

The pandemic has rallied consumers of right-wing media against expertise, with mask-wearing a key target. In early April, as the mask advice shifted, Foxs Ingraham called it an example of experts (scare quotes hers) all but admitting to their spectacular record of failure. (Ironically, Ingraham previously advocated the wearing of masks. After the expert advice changed, so did her positionin the opposite direction.) Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio host, likewise bashed experts; in March, he said that unelected public health officials were part of the Deep State. In April, Tucker Carlson warned Fox viewers that the experts now have more power than ever before; he insisted he wasnt making an argument against expertise, then said, We cant allow experts to make the big decisions. Thats not their job. This is a democracy. It is our job.

Distrust of centralized authority is a foundational theme in the history of the United States, going back to its Constitution. In 1831, when Alexis de Tocqueville, a French nobleman, arrived to scope the country out, he observed that people seemed wary of experts: The intellectual superiority which any man whatsoever may acquire in relation to the rest of the community is soon overshadowed, he writes in Democracy in America. People in democracies are naturally strongly persuaded of the certainty of their opinions, or are unwavering in belief; they frequently entertain doubts which no one, in their eyes, can remove. As the years went by, others noticed the same thing. Anti-intellectualism was a key tenet of McCarthyism, and hardened amid the political and cultural battles of the sixties and seventies. The citizen cannot cease to need or to be at the mercy of experts, Richard Hofstadter, a historian at Columbia, wrote in 1963. But he can achieve a kind of revenge by ridiculing the wild-eyed professor, the irresponsible brain truster, or the mad scientist. Lately, anti-expert rage has appeared in the Tea Party and the rejection of climate science and the anti-vaccination movement; it helped elevate Trump, and vice versa. Tom Nichols, a professor at the US Naval War College and the author of The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters (2017), writes that, thanks in part to the balkanization of American media, A significant number of lay people now believe, for no reason but self-affirmation, that they know better than experts in almost every field.

The mainstream press, too, positions itself as possessing unique knowledge and authorityoften in tone, if not explicitly. But our authority only means something if we maintain a healthy skepticism of the people and institutions in power, by demanding corroboration for their claims, rather than accepting their edicts at face value. In the pandemic era, that essential function of journalism became fraught: because this is a novel threat, the evidence wed normally demand isnt availableor is hotly disputed by institutions that appear to be (or actually are) equally credible.

And so, with masks, much of the coverage parroted whatever the official guidance was at the time, with scant scrutiny. Expertise, many news organizations felt, was to be defended against bad-faith attacks. (See: Fauci, Dr. Anthony.) Though many good articles acknowledged that science is a process, not a ready-made consensus, plenty of others fixated on batting down whatever the right-wing position wasand, in doing so, accepted the premise that there are two sides in competition for truth.

American election stories are commonly about the conflict between sidesDemocrat versus Republican, mask-wearer versus barefaced resister. The Trump era has supercharged that dynamic. The resumption of full-bore campaign coverage will impose an even tighter partisan framing on the pandemic; Trump has already started politicizing science in the hopes of gaining an electoral edge. Theres no reason, however, for reporters to accept that story line.

Expertise, many news organizations felt, was to be defended against bad-faith attacks.

The press has got to slow down. Reporters need to accept ambiguity and uncertainty. Rather than rush toward facile answers or simplistic assertions, our stories must reveal the profound complexity of the problems at hand. We must be humble.

That may feel counterintuitive, given the immediacy of the pandemic, its centrality in all our lives, and our need to know much more about it before we can get back to normal. Its the presss job, in part, to bring a responsible sense of urgency to our collective quest for greater knowledgeincluding when and whether masks should be worn. But that work cannot be done responsibly if we dont take the time to ask essential questions and open every possible window into understanding. Our coverage of vital public health information will not be truthful unless its patient. As Ed Yong, the Atlantic science writer (and master of authorial humility), put it in April, science is less the parade of decisive blockbuster discoveries that the press often portrays, and more a slow, erratic stumble toward ever less uncertainty. The more we can convey that reality to readers, the more we will have earned their trust.

The same thinking should apply to coverage of the campaign. Political reporters and pundits ought to acknowledge that we dont know what the result will be ahead of time, rather than foreclose certain outcomes based on hunches, anecdotes, and biases. Discard sound bites and embrace the messiness of things. Submit candidates policy proposals to rigorous, evidence-driven interrogation, as if their plans held our lives in the balance. After all, they do.

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.
On Sunday, Richard A. Oppel Jr., Robert Gebeloff, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Will Wright, and Mitch Smith, of the New York Times, published the most comprehensive analysis weve yet seen of the racial disparities shaping the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The reporters analyzed 640,000 COVID cases across nearly 1,000 countiescounties that, taken together, comprise just over half of the total population of the USthrough the end of May. Their findings were horrifying: across the map, from rural towns to big cities to the suburbs, Black and Latino people have been three times as likely as white people to contract COVID-19, and nearly twice as likely to be killed by it. In some counties, especially in Arizona, Native Americans have faced a much higher likelihood of infection. Asian people, meanwhile, have been 1.3 times as likely as white people to catch COVID.

We now have these figures only because the Times sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their release. Eventually, the CDC handed over data on 1.45 million cases, though more than half of the cases lacked adequate accompanying data on race, ethnicity, and/or locationapparently due to discrepancies in the way state and local officials first reported the data to the CDCand so the Times left them out of its analysis. In other words, the best information we currently have about a problem of urgent national concern is incomplete, and wouldnt be public at all were it not for a major newspapers legal and reportorial muscle.

ICYMI: The mystery of Tucker Carlson

That last depressing fact reflects a longer-term problem: since the early days of the pandemic, officials across the US, often citing privacy considerations, have withheld granular data that would illuminate various facets of the viruss spread. As with the Times, many outletsincluding the Raleigh News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer, in North Carolina; the Arizona Republic and four local TV stations, in Arizona; and the Bay Area News Group, in Californiahave sued local officials for data related to the pandemic, including, prominently, details of outbreaks in nursing homes and prisons. After the Miami Herald sued the state of Florida for information on COVID deaths in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, officials pressured the papers law firm to drop the case; eventually, the Herald, in concert with different lawyers and other news organizations, won out. Florida won early plaudits for putting detailed COVID data online, but as the Heralds Ana Claudia Chacin and Mary Ellen Klas wrote last month, the states reporting has been incomplete and inconsistent. In May, Rebekah Jones, a state official responsible for maintaining the online data, alleged that she was fired for refusing to manipulate it; Ron DeSantis, Floridas governor, accused Jones of insubordination, and said that she faces cyber stalking charges. In Georgia, officials wrongly reported declining case rates three times in as many weeks. Various states and the CDC were accused of massaging testing data to make themselves look more aware of viral spread than they actually were. The list goes on.

In the absence of consistent, reliable official statistics, journalists and researchers have worked tirelessly to try and fill the gap; writers at The Atlantic, for example, founded the COVID Tracking Project to build a more unified national picture of viral spread and surveillance. (In March, Emily Sohn profiled the project for CJR.) Others have gotten creative. Last week, NPR, working with academics at Harvard and elsewhere, calculated how many COVID tests the US, and each individual state, would need to run in order to mitigate current outbreaks, and how many theyd need to run to start suppressing viral transmission altogethera more ambitious aim under which life could start to return to some semblance of normalcy. According to their figures, the country as a whole would need to run 1 million daily tests to achieve mitigation, and 4.3 million daily tests to achieve suppression. (Yesterday, 518,000 tests were run nationally.) Texas, to pick a state at random, would need to run 117,000 daily tests for mitigation and 431,000 for suppression. As of last week, it was falling far short of both metrics.

Even the data we can access is messy, and there are legitimate scientific disagreements about how best to interpret itfor instance, Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins, questioned the usefulness of NPR and Harvards calculations, and advocated a greater focus on the percentage of people testing positive, instead. But there are relatively simple ways in which the media can use the available data to keep our scrutiny as sharp as possible. One of those, as Nuzzo suggests, would be to focus more consistently on the percent-positive rate, which cuts through administration bluster about rising test counts. Another would be to take the figures from the NPR database and ask federal and state leadersrepeatedly, if neededwhat concrete steps theyre taking to hit at least the daily rate that would be needed for mitigation; the scientific-usefulness debate aside, more testing definitely leads to more data, which should enable more informed news coverage. As Ive written before, we would do well to conceive of testing as a freedom of information issue, as well as a scientific one. And we would do well to make officials answer to specific performance benchmarks, rather than generalized outrage. If those in charge say that more testing isnt the best approach, we should at least try and make them explain why; if they say that more testing would help, we should hold them to hard targets.

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And, as the Times and many other outlets have done already, we should keep pressuring the federal government and its state counterpartsbe it legally or through the moral authority of our coverageto release key COVID data, around racial disparities and so much more, that they are collecting but keeping private. As Andre M. Perry, of the Brookings Institution, told the Times for its recent data analysis story, You need all this information so that public health officials can make adequate decisions. If theyre not getting this information, then municipalities and neighborhoods and families are essentially operating in the dark. The same goes for the press.

Below, more on transparency and the pandemic:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Spies, Lies, and Stonewalling: What Its Like to Report on Facebook

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
A trial court judge in Lansing, Michigan handed a victory to insurers in what may be the nations first final ruling on the question of whether a property insurer is liable for financial damages caused by a coronavirus closure order.

Judge Joyce Draganchuk of Michigans 30th Circuit Court ruled verbally on July 1 that some tangible alteration to a property is required to trigger coverage. Whats more, a virus exclusion in the property insurance policy would have barred coverage even if the claimants had alleged the virus did cause physical damage, the judge said.

A one-two punch, the Hurwitz & Fine law firm, headquartered in Buffalo, New York, said in a blog post. All in all, a big win for the insurance industry.

The American Property and Casualty Insurance Association said the courts decision in Gavrilides Management Company et al. vs. Michigan Insurance Co. is believed to be the first dispositive motion ruling in a case seeking business interruption coverage for COVID-19 losses.

Michigan Insurance, a subsidiary of Donegal Group Inc., denied a $650,000 business interruption claims by chef Nick Gavrilides, owner of the Soup Spoon cafe in Lansing and The Bistro in nearby Williamston. The plaintiffs argued that coverage was due under the civil authority provision of the policy and that a virus exclusion in the policy was void because it was ambiguous.

Draganchuk granted the insurers motion to dismiss the lawsuit during a teleconference and asked the defense attorney on the case, Henry Emrich of Secrest Wardle in Grand Rapids, to provide a written order. She rejected the central argument made by plaintiffs attorney Matthew Heos of the Nichols law firm: that the government order that restricted business to dine-in only amounts to a physical loss because the order effectively blocks public entry to the property.

That argument is simply nonsense, she said.

The judge went on to repeat the terms of the policy, and noted that the complaint states that the virus was never even on the property.

There has to be something that physically alters the integrity of the property, she said. There has to be some tangible, i.e. physical, damage to the property.

Draganchuks comments can be viewed at time marker 23:24 here.

Defense attorneys for the insurance industry have been arguing for months in various blog posts that no coverage is owed under commercial property insurance policies for business income losses caused by COVID-19 closure orders. Draganchuk recited one of their main points during her oral ruling  that the virus harms people, not property.

While Draganchuks ruling interprets Michigan law, Hurwitz & Fine said the firm believes her interpretation is consistent with the approach of the majority of states.

Up until the Michigan decision, only one other U.S. judge has ruled the issue of business-interruption losses caused by COVID-19 issue. In Social Life Magazine v. Sentinel Ins. Co., U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni for the Southern District of New York denied a preliminary injunction requested by a magazine publisher to force its insurers to pay for financial losses caused by a coronavirus closure order.

It damages lungs. It doesnt damage printing presses, the judge reportedly said.

The ruling did not dispose of the case because Caproni found only that under U.S. law, the magazine was unlikely to prevail under New York state law.

But Hurwitz & Fine said strong language in early rulings on the physical damage issue bodes well for the insurance industry.

Photo of Soup Spoon Cafe courtesy of Yelp.
PASADENA, Md.  A large tree toppled onto a detached garage in a Maryland neighborhood 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 neighborhood 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 kilometers) southeast of Baltimore in the Midatlantic corridor stretching between Baltimore and the nations capital.

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 across California.

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.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to thousands of emergency calls Saturday and extinguished at least one large blaze that consumed half an apartment complex in the Northridge area, officials said.

Fireworks emit high levels of particulate matter and July 4 and 5 are typically among the regions worst days when it comes to poor air quality, the Los Angeles Times reported. Air quality throughout most of Los Angeles County ranged from unhealthy to very unhealthy as of Sunday morning, health officials said.

Fireworks are illegal in most areas. Many communities canceled traditional fireworks displays because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A brush fire Sunday that was unrelated to fireworks in Agua Dulce, a town north of Los Angeles, forced the temporary closure of a stretch of State Route 14, local media report.

The fire burned about 400 acres. Several homes were evacuated, local media report.

A fire that has burned more than 2.3 square miles (5.1 square kilometers) north of Gilroy was 15% contained, and a smaller fire east of Morgan Hill was 70% contained, KRON-TV reported.

Weather conditions in that region improved early in the morning, with increasing humidity, decreasing winds and cooling temperatures, the National Weather Service said. But the service warned that fuels remain very dry.

About the photo: Firefighter Daniel Abarado lights a backfire while working to contain the Crews Fire from near Gilroy, Calif., on Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

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
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohios casino and racino industry got off to a solid start in its return to business in mid-June, but three months of closings tied to the coronavirus has left the industry nearly $500 million in gambling revenue behind where it was at the same point last year, reports released Tuesday showed.

This translates to a loss of about $160 million in fees and taxes the facilities pay the state, much of which is forwarded to local governments and schools.

The 11 casinos and racinos were closed from March 14 through June 18 under the governors order to restrict mass gatherings.

Gambling revenue for the first half of the year - money kept by the house after paying out winnings - totaled $487.5 million, just half of the $970.9 million collected during the first six months of 2019. About a third of this money is turned over to the state in fees and taxes.

The industry had been off to a record start to the year before the closings.

The reports for June, however, show signs that business has been returning.

Despite just getting restarted after the mid-point of the month, revenue of $76.7 million was just under half of what it was ($161.4 million) for the entire month of June a year ago.

Revenue at the four casinos was down 52% to $34 million for the month, the Ohio Casino Control Commission reported. Revenue for the seven racinos fell 53% to $42.6 million, according to the Ohio Lottery Commission.

In the Cleveland-Akron market, however, the drop was bigger for the two largest operations - JACK Cleveland Casino and MGM Northfield Park:

* MGM Northfield Park had $8.5 million in revenue for the partial month of June, down 59% from $20.8 million for the full month in 2019.

* JACK Cleveland Casino had $6.6 million in June, down 62% from $17.6 million a year ago.

* JACK Thistledown Racino had $6.7 million June revenue, down 53% from $11.9 million.

Below are details for each Ohio casino and racino. Ohio casinos

Statewide June 2020 June 2019 Revenue $34.0 million $70.3 million Table games $8.4 million $21.7 million Slots $25.7 million $48.5 million Jack Cleveland Casino Revenue $6.6 million $17.5 million Table games $2.7 million $8.2 million Slots $3.9 million $9.4 million Slots payout 92.1% 91.9% Hard Rock Cincinnati Casino Revenue $7.1 million $16.5 million Table games $2.3 million $5.6 million Slots $4.8 million $10.9 million Slots payout 91.0% 91.9% Hollywood Toledo Revenue $11.8 million $16.7 million Table games $1.5 million $2.5 million Slots $10.3 million $14.3 million Slots payout 90.7% 90.9% Hollywood Columbus Revenue $8.6 million $19.5 million Table games $1.9 million $5.5 million Slots $6.7 million $14.0 million Slots payout 91.5% 91.7% Source: Ohio Casino Control Commission Ohio racinos Statewide June 2020 June 2019 Slots $42.6 million $91.1 million Pct. payout 90.2% 91.0% Jack ThistleDown Racino Slots $6.7 million $11.9 million Pct. payout 90.0% 90.6% MGM Northfield Park Slots $8.5 million $20.1 million Pct. payout 90.2% 90.4% Hollywood Mahoning Valley Slots $4.6 million $11.0 million Pct. payout 89.6% 90.2% Scioto Downs Slots $8.1 million $15.5 million Pct. payout 90.5% 90.9% Miami Valley Gaming Slots $6.5 million $14.7 million Pct. payout 90.6% 91.6% Belterra Park Slots $3.2million $7.5 million Pct. payout 90.1% 90.7% Hollywood Dayton Slots $5.1 million $9.7 million Pct. payout 90.2% 90.6% Source: Ohio Lottery Commission Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner . Follow casino coverage at cleveland.com/casino.

Previous coverage

Ohios casinos, racinos can reopen in 2 weeks, Gov. Mike DeWine announces

First look at JACK Cleveland Casino, Thistledown Racino before Fridays re-opening from coronavirus shutdown (photos, video)

While Ohio waits on sports gambling, Pennsylvania, Michigan head into sports and more online

Ohios casinos, racinos break another record with a big February

Ohio casinos, racinos hit jackpot in smashing January gambling record
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Cleveland Division of Water has lifted its boil alert, posted Sunday (July 5) as a result of a water main break on Dorsh Road in South Euclid.

Cleveland Water test results showed that there are no pathogens present in any of their samples, meaning the water is now safe to drink and use as normal. The break required water boiling in South Euclid, Lyndhurst, Richmond Heights and Highland Heights.

For the next couple of days, according to a Cleveland Water release, customers may see cloudy or milky water, possibly even air escaping from faucets. This is normal as Cleveland Water continues to evacuate air from the distribution system. The release states that the water is fully treated, disinfected and carries a chlorine residual and should be considered safe.

The boil advisory was issued early Sunday morning. Water pressure was restored to all customers later that morning.

Crews will continue to work on the main break. Dorsh Road will likely remain partially closed for the rest of the week.

Residents who have questions can call the Cleveland Water Quality Line at 216-664-2639. Those with an after-hours water emergency can call the 24-hour hotline at 216-664-3060.

See more Sun Messenger news here.
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- In addition to passing legislation Monday condemning ongoing police violence against Blacks -- up to and including murder -- City Council also got an update from Chief Annette Mecklenburg on policy changes already in the works for local law enforcement.

Along with council's resolution that declares racism a public health crisis, Mecklenburg said the Cleveland Heights Police Department will be putting together a "living document" of its own -- starting with amending its current "use of force" policy.

Some of the proposed changes will include:

-- A ban on all choking and strangleholds

-- Requiring de-escalation tactics be used

-- Reporting all instances of excessive force by fellow officers to an immediate supervisor

-- A "use of force" report being required any time an officer points a weapon

Mecklenburg said she has also reviewed the CHPDs bias-free policing doctrine that would additionally require officers to report -- and supervisors to monitor -- instances of bias-based policing or otherwise racially profiling.

This will include keeping records on race and gender in all self-initiated traffic stops and no retaliatory action against officers for reporting incidents involving fellow officers.

Mecklenburg said she just met with officials from the Ohio Collaborative Community Policing Advisory Board to further check on full compliance with the agency's bias-free policing standards.

Other areas of accountability will include both "complaint" and "compliment" forms for the public, which could either be sustained or deemed unfounded once the forms are returned and assigned for investigation.

Regarding transparency, Mecklenburg said the department is looking to add to five areas of "policies and practices" already posted on the city's website.

"We are also looking at the hiring and recruitment of diverse police candidates," Mecklenburg told council Monday (July 6). "I feel our process is fairly good but I will admit that it needs some improvement."

Mecklenburg added that the department will try to work more in Heights High to see if any students there may be interested in pursuing local law enforcement careers.

Councilwoman Davida Russell thanked Mecklenburg for meeting last week with organizers of a June 27 Young Adult Town Hall Meeting that led to a list of questions and concerns that were then brought to the police department.

"It is great seeing youth so involved in this," Mayor Jason Stein said Monday, adding that he was also very pleased with the "actionable items" included that were part of the resolution, drafted by Council members Melody Hart, Mike Ungar and Russell.

This includes the creation of a citizen task force to determine what must be done to combat racism in honor of community diversity.

"Some items the task force may consider are the establishment of a community police oversight body; requiring an annual or more often accountability analysis regarding use of force by our officers; and conducting more effective training in community policing, among others," the resolution states.

The resolution starts with the May 25 killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and goes on to name other recent victims, including Ahmaud Aubrey in Georgia; Breanna Taylor in Louisville; Tamir Rice in Cleveland; Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta and others across the country.

It goes on to note that Floyd's death has "set off an explosion of protests based on pent-up anger regarding brutal murders of many unarmed Blacks across the country and including 91 in Cleveland itself since records have been kept."

The resolution further condemns the systemic racism that dates back to the first African slave arriving in America in 1619, and the "symptoms that infests every sector of our society -- housing, employment, health care, education, politics, wealth creation and maintenance, socialization and others."

And with about a 50-50 split of Blacks and Caucasian Americans, "racial diversity and tolerance are historically woven into the fabric of our city," the resolution states.

"Yet we know that much more can and must be done to make the city a more inclusive community to ensure it is a place where racism does not exist in any place or form."

Read more from the Sun Press.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Masks are now required in public, indoor spaces in Beachwood.

The city joins a growing list of cities, including Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton, requiring masks be worn in public as officials try to slow another outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Ohio.

The latest list of reopenings and restrictions is below. Mondays list can be seen here.

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Ohioans who exhaust their regular unemployment benefits may be eligible for an additional 20 weeks worth of federal benefits.

Miller Boat Line and Jet Express are now requiring passengers aboard ferries to Put-in-Bay and Middle Bass Island to wear masks.

Recreation centers in Cleveland have reopened.

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium has reopened to the general public.

Brooklyns John M. Coyne Recreation Center has reopened its ice rink and indoor swimming pool.

The Memorial Tournament will not allow fans to attend this years event at Muirfield in Dublin, Ohio.
AKRON, Ohio  A 16-year-old male is facing an aggravated murder charge, while a 17-year-old male and 25-year-old man also are facing charges in connection with the shooting death of a 20-year-old woman on Friday, police say.

Janine Surgen died at a hospital after being shot at about 12:45 p.m. Friday in the area of West Waterloo Road and 27th Street SW in the Kenmore neighborhood. Police have not released additional details on the shooting.

The suspects were arrested about 30 minutes later after their vehicle was stopped by police in the area of East Market Street and Canton Road in the Ellet neighborhood.

Police say Jaleel Sojouner, 25, who was driving the vehicle, and the 17-year-old each are charged with complicity to commit aggravated murder.

More crime-related content on cleveland.com:

Federal agents arrest 2 suspects in homicides Cleveland, East Cleveland

At least 17 injured from fireworks accident over Fourth of July weekend, two Cleveland hospitals 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
AKRON, Ohio  Police have released the identity of a man found dead early Friday morning in the Sherbondy Hill neighborhood.

DiJon Robinson, 26, was found at about 4:30 a.m. Friday lying on the ground on Laurel Avenue and Blanche Street, police say. The cause of his death has not been released.

Officers say Robinson was bleeding from his head. Paramedics who also responded pronounced him dead at the scene.

Akron police Capt. David Laughlin said they believe a silver Ford Taurus with a shattered front passenger window might be connected to Robinsons death.

No arrests have been made and the incident remains under investigation.

Anyone with information about the case can call Akron police at 330-375-2490 or the Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS. Tips can also be submitted by text message by sending TIPSCO plus the tip to 274637. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- Strongsville police found an 8-year-old East Cleveland boy dead in the hotel pool after he went missing at the Strongsville Holiday Inn.

Christopher Johnson was found dead about 12:45 a.m. Tuesday after family and investigators searched for him for several hours, according to a statement from Strongsville police.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners Office has not yet ruled on the cause or manner of death.

***Update 12:45 am 7/7/20 - After many hours of searching by multiple agencies, our search has concluded. Christopher... Posted by Strongsville Police Department on Monday, July 6, 2020

Police received a call shortly before 3 p.m. Monday that the 8-year-old boy had gone missing about 25 minutes prior to the call, police said.

Several police agencies responded to assist in finding the boy and searched the whole hotel and surrounding area. Investigators found him dead several hours later in the hotels pool.

The incident remains under investigation and police say they are not releasing anymore information at this time.

Read more crime stories on cleveland.com:

Video from Clevelands George Floyd protest contains no mention of protesters throwing rocks before police used pepper spray, tear gas on crowd

Akron police identify man found dead in Sherbondy Hill neighborhood

Drunken man forces way behind Akron Subway counter, makes own sandwich, police say

Akron police arrest 2 juveniles, man in connection with fatal shooting of 20-year-old woman

Federal agents arrest 2 suspects in homicides Cleveland, East Cleveland
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Suspects in two recent shooting deaths in Cleveland and East Cleveland were taken into custody on Monday, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Kenneth Woods, 29, was arrested Monday afternoon at a hotel in Strongsville. Marshals say he was wanted by East Cleveland police on a charge of aggravated murder in connection with the June 24 shooting death of Jason Taylor, 40. Authorities say Woods shot Taylor during an argument at a residence on the 14300 block of Scioto Avenue.

Taylor was taken to University Hospitals but was dead on arrival, authorities say.

Also Monday, a suspect in the May 24 shooting death of Vernon Norman, 37, on Clevelands East Side was arrested by marshals in Indianapolis. Sean Hoskin, 38, was wanted on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and domestic violence. He also also was wanted by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority for being a violator-at-large.

Police say Hoskin broke broke into a home on East 161st Street, north of Villaview Road near the neighborhoods Waterloo Arts District, at about 6 a.m. on May 24.

Norman was visiting his son, who lives with a 37-year-old woman. Hoskin broke into the home through a second-floor window and attacked the woman, an ex-girlfriend, according to police.

Norman woke up, ran upstairs and tried to stop Hoskin from attacking the woman, according to police. The two fought and Hoskin shot Norman in the chest, killing him, police said. The woman suffered minor injuries from the attack.

Federal agents say they learned Hoskin had left Ohio to Indiana over the holiday weekend. Marshals in Indiana arrested Hoskin Monday evening. He is being held at Hendricks County Jail, where he will stay pending extradition back to Ohio.

More crime-related content on cleveland.com:

At least 17 injured from fireworks accident over Fourth of July weekend, two Cleveland hospitals 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
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Nearly 23,000 Ohio businesses and organizations received loans of at least $150,000 each under the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal program designed to help small businesses during the coronavirus crisis, data released this week shows.

This includes 200 businesses and 10 non-profits that that received loans in the $5 million to $10 million range, including 30 from Columbus, 24 from Cincinnati and 20 from Cleveland.

Another 972 loans were approved in the $2 million to $5 million range, and 2,028 for $1 million to $2 million.

Search the database below to find loan recipients of at least $150,000 by city, ZIP code, amount or name. Included is the number of jobs that were reported as being retained for each place of business. Others not listed received loans of smaller amounts.

Some mobile users may need to use this link instead to access the searchable form.

Read related coverage

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See coronavirus cases by day for each Ohio county, including per capita and cases in last seven days

2,022 Ohio nursing home patients have died with coronavirus

Coronavirus-related impact on your tax returns, including the new filing deadline of July 15

Taking college classes online this fall? Heres how students can save a lot of money  Thats Rich!
LONDON (AP)  Johnny Depp gave evidence in a London court on Tuesday, denying claims that he hit ex-wife Amber Heard and accusing her of assaulting him and depicting him as a monster.

Depp sat in the witness box in a wood-paneled High Court courtroom on the first day of his libel case against The Sun over an article that branded him a wife-beater. The Pirates of the Caribbean star began by taking the court oath and giving his full name: John Christopher Depp II.

Depp is suing the tabloid's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an 2018 story alleging he was violent and abusive to model-actress Heard during their short, tempestuous marriage. Depp strongly denies the claim.

Depp said Heard had said to the world that she was in fear of her life from me, and I had been this horrible monster if you will. Which was not the case.

Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, met on the set of the 2011 comedy The Rum Diary and married in Los Angeles in February 2015. They divorced in 2017, and now bitterly accuse one another of abuse.

Depp and Heard arrived by separate entrances at the neo-Gothic court building on the opening day of the three-week trial, one of the first to be held in person since Britain began to lift its coronavirus lockdown. Both wore face coverings over their noses and mouths. Proceedings have been spread over several courtrooms to allow for social distancing.

Witnesses are scheduled to include Depps former partners, Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder, both of whom have submitted statements supporting him.

Depps claim centers on an April 2018 story in The Sun headlined: Potty - How can JK Rowling be genuinely happy casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?

While Heard isn't on trial, the case is also a showdown between the former spouses, who accuse each other of being controlling, violent and untruthful.

Describing one incident in which Heard claims he hit her, Depp said the opposite was true.

As things tended to do, (it) escalated and got physical, ending with a bit of assault. Ms. Heard struck me, he said.

He painted himself as a peacemaker who tried to de-escalate things.

Whenever it would escalate I would try to go to my own corner, as it were ... before things got out of hand, he said.

The Sun's defense relies on Heard's allegations of 14 incidents of violence by Depp between 2013 and 2016, in locations including Los Angeles, Australia, Japan, the Bahamas and on a private jet. He denies them all and says Heard attacked him with items including a drink can and a cigarette. He also claims that on one occasion Heard or one of her friends defecated on his bed.

She was the abuser, not him, Depps lead lawyer, David Sherborne, said in a written statement.

She is a highly complex and aggressive individual who suffered extreme mood swings, would provoke endless circular arguments, and fly into violent rages.

The case is set to put the two performers' complex private lives under a microscope.

Under cross-examination by The Sun's lawyer, Sasha Wass, Depp acknowledged taking myriad drugs over the years, including marijuana, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and prescription pharmaceuticals.

He said his drug use began when he was an 11-year-old child with not a particularly stable or secure or safe home life. He said it was the only way that I found to numb the pain.

Wass also tried to depict Depp as someone with an anger management problem, bringing up an 1989 arrest for assault and a later incident in which he damaged a New York hotel room.

I was angry, but that doesnt mean I have an anger problem, Depp said.

In pre-trial wrangling, the Suns lawyers tried to have the suit thrown out on the grounds that Depp failed to disclose text messages he exchanged with an assistant showing that he tried to buy MDMA and other narcotics while he was in Australia with Heard in 2015.

Heard alleges that Depp subjected her to a three-day ordeal of physical assaults while they were in the country after drinking and taking drugs.

The newspapers lawyer, Adam Wolanski, said withholding the texts was a breach of a previous court order requiring Depp to provide all documents from separate libel proceedings against Heard in the United States. Depp is suing Heard for $50 million for allegedly defaming him in a Washington Post article about domestic abuse. That case is due to be heard next year.

Last week, judge Andrew Nicol ruled that Depp had breached the court order, but refused to throw out the actors claim.

He also rejected an attempt by Depp to force Heard to disclose evidence including communications with actor James Franco and Space-X founder Elon Musk, with whom she allegedly had affairs while involved with Depp.

The judge said the issue of Heards extramarital relations was irrelevant to the central issue in the case, which is whether Mr. Depp assaulted Ms. Heard.

Depps lawyer, Sherborne, said the actor had brought the case to clear his reputation.

This is not a case about money, he said. It is about vindication.
The pandemic map of the United States burned bright red Monday, with the number of new coronavirus infections during the first six days of July nearing 300,000 as more states and cities moved to reimpose shutdown orders.

After an Independence Day weekend that attracted large crowds to fireworks displays and produced scenes of Americans drinking and partying without masks, health officials warned of hospitals running out of space and infection spreading rampantly. The United States is still knee deep in the first wave of the pandemic, Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday.

Despite President Trumps claim that 99 percent of covid-19 cases are harmless, Arizona and Nevada have reported their highest numbers of coronavirus-related hospitalizations in recent days. The seven-day averages in 12 states hit new highs, with the biggest increases in West Virginia, Tennessee and Montana. The countrys rolling seven-day average of daily new cases hit a record high Monday  the 28th record-setting day in a row. (Washington Post)

Featured stories

Lobbyists, law firms and trade groups took small-business loans (New York Times)

How Chattanooga, Tennessee, became a coronavirus hot spot (NBC News)

Major U.S. cities, gripped with crisis, now face spike in deadly shootings, including of children (Washington Post)

Australia to seal off 6.6 million people in virus-hit state as outbreak worsens (CNN)

Trumps intel briefer breaks her silence (Politico)

National news

Trump assails NASCARs leading Black driver, knocks ban of Confederate flag (Reuters)

Roger Stone lawyers ask appeals court to delay start of his prison sentence (NBC News)

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff: Melania Trumps former aide to publish book (BBC)

Huntsman loses GOP primary in Utah (Politico)

NYPD commissioner warns officers of challenges following new regulations, budget reduction (ABC News)

Police release video from fatal police shooting in Maryvale; protests continue (Arizona Republic)

Citing violent crime in Atlanta, Georgia governor declares state of emergency and calls up National Guard (CNN)

Tensions high as campers evicted from Atlanta Wendys after child death (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Judge orders shutdown of controversial Dakota Access pipeline pending review (CBS News)

Amy Cooper charged in Central Park false report against Black bird watcher (ABC News)

World news

Signs increasingly point to sabotage in fiery explosion at Iranian nuclear complex (Washington Post)

Coronavirus: Indias big city outbreaks lead to record rise in cases (The Guardian)

China reports case of suspected bubonic plague (Associated Press)

U.S. Navy carriers conduct South China Sea drills as Chinese ships watch (Reuters)

TikTok says it will exit Hong Kong market within days (Reuters)

UK foreign secretary warns China cant be trusted as London passes Magnitsky-style sanctions law (CNN)

Coronavirus forces cancellation of Pamplona bull-running festival for the first time in decades (NBC News)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- New helicopter video and scanner audio from Clevelands May 30 protest at the Justice Center contradict the police version of the violence.

Were talking about when police fired pepper balls and whether protestors hurled rocks on This Week in the CLE.

Listen online here.

Editor Chris Quinn regularly hosts daily half-hour coronavirus news podcast, with help from editors Jane Kahoun, Kris Wernowsky and me. We answer many of the questions youve sent through our text message platform. And today were publishing after some technical difficulties -- hence the lateness and the original post saying we wouldnt have an episode today.

Youve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom account, in which he shares once or twice a day what were thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802.

And youve been offering all sorts of great perspective in our coronavirus alert account, which has 13,000-plus subscribers. You can sign up for free by texting 216-279-7784.

Here are the questions were answering today:

What does the latest video of the May 30 riot show, and do we have a single piece of evidence yet that supports the Cleveland Police version of what happened that day? No. Video shows no explicit reference to protesters throwing rocks at police and that a Cleveland police bike unit officer was the first to use force on the crowd by deploying pepper spray at 3:13 p.m.

What is President Donald Trumps logic for opposing any move to rename the Cleveland Indians? Trump says the name shows strength and a change would be politically correct.

With all the danger of the coronavirus out there, why is a prominent pediatricians group pushing to get the kids back into school buildings for the fall? The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending students return because its too difficult for young children to learn remotely.

How much are taxpayers spending to restock the Cuyahoga County Sheriffs Department with all the less-lethal ammunition it fired at the crowd during the May 30 protest that turned into a riot? The Cuyahoga County Board of Control is spending $41,000 on tear gas, pepper balls and other riot gear that was depleted in the May 30 riot in downtown Cleveland.

With numbers of coronavirus cases spiking for weeks in Ohio, weve been expecting a corresponding increase in hospitalizations, so are we seeing that? Hospitalizations are up, but at a slower pace than the increase in new cases.

Do I have to wear a coronavirus mask if I take a ferry to Put-in-Bay? Yes, on either Miller Ferry or Jet Express, since most passengers were ignoring the strong recommendation and spending their whole trip on the island without a mask.

How many people were injured by fireworks during the Fourth of July weekend? At least 17, with all sorts of burns and one amputation.

Want past episodes? You can find all our past episodes here. And check back Wednesday for a new episode.

Do you get your podcasts on Spotify. Find us here.

If you use Stitcher, we are here.

RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here.

On Google Podcasts, we are here.

On PodParadise, find us here.

And on PlayerFM, we are here.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- U.S. Coast Guard units throughout the Great Lakes reported their busiest Independence Day weekend in at least five years, conducting more than 100 search-and-rescue cases and saving or assisting more than 300 people throughout the region.

Two people drowned on the lakes between July 3 and July 5, according to the Coast Guard.

The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project has reported 21 drownings on the Great Lakes this year.

- Lake Michigan 10

-- Lake Superior 1

-- Lake Huron 0

-- Lake Erie 6

-- Lake Ontario 4

The Coast Guard rescued two swimmers clinging to the breakwater in Port Huron, Michigan. They assisted with boat collisions, capsizings and sinkings, according to a news release.

Karl Willis, a search and rescue specialist at the Coast Guards Ninth District Headquarters in Cleveland, said that over the weekend Coast Guard crews in the Great Lakes saved 45 lives, helped another 271 people and conducted at least two search-and-rescue cases with their Canadian partners.

Willis said the Coast Guard is approximately 200 search-and-rescue cases ahead of last years pace, and about 60 cases over the five-year average.

The Coast Guard recommends boaters file float plans, do not drink, wear lifejackets and make sure their vessels and all associated safety equipment, including a marine-band VHF radio, are well maintained.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Japanese automaker Toyota has been permitted to conduct roads tests for autonomous vehicles in Beijing, according to a list released by Beijing Innovation Center for Mobility Intelligent (BICMI).

(Photo source: Baidu Apollo)



The newly-issued list shows that the six companies qualified to carry out road tests in the capital of China in 2020 are Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (China) Co., Ltd. (TMEC), Beijing Baidu Netcom Science Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Pony.Ai Science and Technology Co., Ltd., Daimler Greater China Ltd. (DGRC), Audi (China) Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. and Beijing Sankuai Online Technology Co. Ltd.

By launching 200 roads spanning 699.58km, Beijing has been honored the No.1 city in China in term of the mileages of roads opened for autonomous driving road tests, according to BICMI. As of June, vehicles tests on the designated roads have traveled for over 1.58 million kilometers, and a total of 77 vehicles from 13 companies have been given the temporary licenses to have such kind of tests.



Toyota is granted the permission by Beijing for the first time. The Japanese automaker has poured billions into developing autonomous driving. It started in the 1990s developing autonomous driving technologies with an ultimate goal of reducing fatalities from traffic accidents to zero. In January 2016, it set up Toyota Research Institute (TRI), a U.S.-based R&D firm focusing on artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and robotics technologies, and announced it would invest $1 billion into TRI from 2016 to 2020.

Moreover, Toyota and SoftBank launched a joint venture, dubbed MONET, to provide on-demand mobility services eventually with self-driving buses.

The Japanese auto giant has also actively made outward investments into self-driving companies. In February 2020, the startup Pony.ai claimed it had raised $400 million from Toyota Motor Corporation to deepen and expand the two companies' collaboration in mobility services. The investment came as an extension of a business partnership that was formed between Pony.ai and Toyota in 2019.

In addition, Uber's autonomous vehicle unit said in April 2019 it had garnered $1 billion from a consortium of investors including Toyota and SoftBank.
Fleming said the exhibit looks at Mother Frances Cabrinis social justice and welfare work in the city of Chicago and around the world; Clara Barck Welles hiring of women and immigrants in her silver shop and what it meant to be a female entrepreneur in the early 1900s; Hannah Solomons leadership in Jewish womens issues and what female leadership looked like at the turn of the 20th Century, and how Hillary Rodham Clinton came of age in 1950s and 1960s America.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine expects to eventually spend down the states entire $2.7 billion rainy-day fund to offset revenue losses suffered during the coronavirus crisis, he said Tuesday.

Were certainly going to use a lot of the rainy-day fund, DeWine said during his daily coronavirus briefing. By the time we get completely through this, Im sure well use all the rainy-day fund. And Im thankful we have it.

DeWine inherited the rainy-day fund from former Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who filled the fund to its maximum level during his tenure, which occurred during a period of national economic expansion. As Kasich and his allies were fond of saying, the fund once contained 89 cents after Kasichs predecessor, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, spent it down during a different economic crisis, the Great Recession.

DeWine was asked about his plans for balancing the state budget Tuesday as Ohio enters its new fiscal year, which runs from July through June. DeWine in May ordered $775 million in cuts, primarily affecting education and state Medicaid funding, that took effect the previous fiscal year. DeWine has said the new, lower level for K-12 school funding is the new baseline, and that his goal is to avoid any further cuts for school districts.

A state budget hole emerged shortly after DeWine ordered widespread business closures in March in response to coronavirus. The slowdown in commerce quickly caused a sharp decline in state tax collections. But Ohios tax revenues are showing some signs of recovery as businesses have re-opened, new budget figures released Tuesday by the state show.

State tax receipts rebounded strongly in June, coming in only $50.5 million behind pre-pandemic estimates, compared to a $866.5 million shortfall in April, according to DeWines Office of Budget and Management.

DeWine said Tuesday the loss in state revenues currently looks like it might be not as bad as we thought it might have been.

But Kim Murnieks, DeWines budget director, in an interview cautioned the June totals may have been artificially inflated. She said strong auto sales particularly boosted monthly tax collections, which she said could reflect pent-up demand as people sat on their wallets in previous months. State budget analysts expect consumer spending will level off to recessionary levels.

What I have cautioned is not to be overly exuberant about the results we saw in June, she said, because we do think those were some one-time effects, and we do know that this economic rebound will be a long haul.

Future uncertainties include whether the U.S. Congress will authorize a second round of stimulus spending, including an extension of enhanced unemployment benefits or additional direct payments to taxpayers, and how the economy will respond if Congress doesnt act, she said.

Overall, Murnieks said state budget analysts are projecting a $2.3 billion shortfall over the next year.

So it will be necessary to close that gap through combined spending measures and of course potential use of that rainy-day fund, she said.

As part of the cost-cutting measures, DeWine has ordered a pay cut for more than 16,000 state workers and a hiring freeze for certain job categories. DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted have said they will donate 4% of their salaries to charity, an amount roughly equal to the pay cuts absorbed by state workers. And last week, state officials announced theyd saved $350 million in interest payments by re-financing their long-term debt.

Any significant reduction in state spending, though, likely will require reducing the states payroll. Murnieks said layoffs are a possibility, and didnt have a general timetable on when the state may decide.

We are looking at all of the options to control our costs, especially on the state employee cost side, she said.

Read recent cleveland.com coverage:

Gov. Mike DeWine, LG Jon Husted to return part of their salaries after ordering pay cuts for state workers

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announces $775m in state budget cuts to education, Medicaid and more

Gov. Mike DeWine, LG Jon Husted to return part of their salaries after ordering pay cuts for state workers
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The National Weather Service in Cleveland has issued a flash flood warning for southeastern Cuyahoga County and northeastern Summit County until 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Just before 2 p.m., meteorologists spotted thunderstorms on radar producing heavy rain across the warning area, where up to two inches of rain had already fallen over the course of an hour, NWS said.

Flash flooding in ongoing or expected to begin shortly, especially along small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses, and other areas with low elevation or poor drainage, according to the weather service.

The warning area includes Solon, Twinsburg, Macedonia, Broadview Heights, Brecksville, Bedford, Bedford Heights, Independence, Chagrin Falls, Northfield, Reminderville, Orange, Moreland Hills, Walton Hills, Valley View, Glenwillow and Bentleyville.
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
Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to bring criminals to justice. Their work is extraordinarily dangerous, and we are grateful for it. A law enforcement officer was shot and multiple lives were affected by reckless criminal actions that wont be tolerated and will be aggressively prosecuted, said U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch in the statement.
Town Attorney Joseph Svetanoff said the $110,750 figure is for the demolition of all three buildings. However, the town currently only holds the tax deeds for two of the parcels. Lake County government has indicated it would give the town the third tax deed, but has not done so as yet, according to Svetanoff.
We like seeing each other in person but more important we appreciate its others health, he said. As hard as it has been for us, we understand the necessity of doing this.
Amazon drivers begin their delivery routes as workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York prepare to walk off their jobs demanding stepped-up protection and pay after several workers at the facility were diagnosed with COVID-19.

Dozens of companies that handle last-mile delivery for Amazon received funds from the government's coronavirus relief program, according to data released Monday.

Peregrine Express, Rapid Logistics, Systemize Logistics, Sheffield Express and Valdivia Logistics each received at least $1 million in loans, while dozens of other delivery partners got $350,000 or less. Money from the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, was made available as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act, which President Trump signed earlier this year.

A representative from Rapid Logistics confirmed it received a PPP loan. Amazon, Peregrine, Systemize, Sheffield and Valdivia didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Amazon's Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program launched in 2018, is made up of small delivery companies across the country, each with networks of about 40 vans and sometimes hundreds of contracted drivers. The companies pick up packages from Amazon delivery stations and drop them off at doorsteps.

The program has allowed Amazon to quickly scale up its last-mile delivery capabilities and compete with shipping partners like UPS and FedEx. By outsourcing last-mile delivery to hundreds of small businesses, Amazon is able to avoid many of the costs associated with employment and vehicle upkeep, which is critical as it invests billions of dollars on one-day shipping.

The PPP was created so small businesses could stay afloat and continue to pay employees during the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus. The loans, doled out to 650,000 employers, can be forgiven if recipients spend most of the money on maintaining their payroll.
Robert De Niro (L) and chef Nobu Matsuhisa appear during a preview for the Nobu Restaurant and Lounge Caesars Palace on February 2, 2013 in Las Vegas.

Restaurants were among the biggest recipients of the Paycheck Protection Program , a key component of the government's response to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The news that big, well-funded chains like Shake Shack and Ruth's Hospitality Group had initially gotten loans set off a furor in April, prompting the administration to warn companies to make sure they qualified for the program.

The chain, founded by actor Robert De Niro, celebrity chef Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa and film producer Meir Teper, got funding for properties scattered across the country, from California to Texas and New York, according to data released Monday.

The Nobu group of luxury sushi restaurants and hotels took 14 loans from the U.S. small business relief program for as much as $28 million, according to government filings.

Specifically, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that the program wasn't for companies that could reasonably tap other forms of capital, from equity markets to bank credit lines.

The Nobu group appears to be one of the bigger beneficiaries of the program, getting at least $11 million and as much as $28 million. The disclosures give a range for the loan sizes, making a precise tally impossible. The New York Business Development Corporation was listed as the bank that processed the loans.

Emails to Nobu representatives weren't immediately returned.

The data release, which revealed the broad nature of the $660 billion PPP effort, comes after Mnuchin initially resisted calls to disclose recipients in the program, saying that the information was "proprietary." Since it began in April, the effort has drawn attention, first for technical issues amid a mad scramble for access, and later when it was revealed that big companies took advantage of the emergency aid.

The administration eventually relented, saying it would disclose the identities of companies that received at least $150,000 in the program. While those bigger loans account for the majority of total dollars in the program, more than 85% of the loan participants requested less than $150,000, effectively shielding those companies from scrutiny.

Other recipients of multimillion-dollar loans included franchisees of chains including P.F. Chang's and Five Guys hamburgers. Australian-inspired cafe business Bluestone Lane was awarded a loan worth between $5 million and $10 million.

Franchisees of McDonald's and Wendy's appeared throughout the massive list and in some cases secured loans north of $150,000. The Southern California Pizza Company, which operates 224 Pizza Hut locations on the West Coast, got $5 million to $10 million, despite being owned by private equity as of 2012.

Companies returned more than $30 billion in loans after Mnuchin chided organizations like the Los Angeles Lakers for tapping the program. But the government is also withholding the identities of companies that returned funds.




CNBC.com's MacKenzie Sigalos brings you the day's top business news headlines. On today's show, CNBC wealth editor Robert Frank digs into the Paycheck Protection Program's newly released data to find the billionaires who took small business loans from the federal government. Plus, after President Trump vows to put pressure on governors to open schools in the fall, CNBC's Ylan Mui breaks down how much it will cost to bring kids back into the classroom.

The billionaires and country clubs that received small business loans from the government

Billionaires, country clubs, private jet companies and Kanye West all received millions in government funding under the Paycheck Protection Program, according to the Small Business Administration. The PPP loans and grants were part of the $2 trillion CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law this spring. The loans were designed to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic to retain or rehire employees. Yet according to a list of individuals and companies that received loans or grants of more than $150,000, recipients included large companies and billionaires that had access to other sources of capital and have recovered quickly from the pandemic.

Trump vows to pressure governors to reopen schools in the fall

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the White House plans to pressure state governors and educators to reopen schools in the fall, despite a soaring rate of coronavirus infections in several states and an overall increase nationwide. "We're very much going to put pressure on the governors and the schools to reopen," Trump said at a White House event Tuesday on school reopenings. "Open your schools in the fall," the president told attendees, who were seated close together despite the fact that very few were wearing masks. The question of just how to reopen schools has become one of the thorniest issues of the entire national response to the deadly pandemic. More than 50 million children attend school in the United States, and the near blanket closures of schools this spring forced millions of parents to become teachers overnight, often on top of holding down their own full-time jobs.

U.S. is 'looking at' banning TikTok and Chinese social media apps, Pompeo says
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for the coronavirus Tuesday, shortly after the presidential palace said he had been displaying symptoms associated with the disease.

Bolsonaro announced his diagnosis to journalists, saying he had begun feeling ill on Sunday, multiple outlets reported.

The president reportedly also confirmed that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug touted by President Donald Trump as a possible preventive treatment for the disease, as well as azithromycin. Neither drug has been proven to be an effective prophylactic or treatment for Covid-19.

The right-wing leader, 65, has consistently downplayed the threat of the virus in recent months, describing it as nothing more than "a little flu." He also suggested that his past as an athlete would make him immune to the worst symptoms of the disease.

Brazil has suffered one of the world's worst outbreaks of the coronavirus, with more than 1.6 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and over 65,000 related deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

South America's largest country is second only to the U.S. for the highest number of confirmed cases.

The president's son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, tweeted his own confirmation of the diagnosis and said it is "without further complications," a translation of his post shows.

"But the president will come out of this," the younger Bolsonaro tweeted. "The treatment with chloroquine is very effective at the beginning of the disease."

Eduardo Bolsonaro TWEETS

The government confirmed to NBC News on Monday that Bolsonaro had been feeling unwell and was running a fever of 38 degrees Celsius (about 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Bolsonaro had been tested for the virus after his symptoms emerged, the presidential palace told NBC.

Last month, a judge ordered Bolsonaro to wear a face mask in public, something he has frequently failed to do. However, a separate court order later rescinded this ruling.

On Saturday, Bolsonaro was pictured alongside Todd Chapman, the U.S. ambassador to Brazil, and several others at the U.S. embassy in Brasilia.

Brazil's Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo posted a photo of the meeting on July 4, showing Bolsonaro, Chapman and others gathered around a table, not wearing face masks.

Araujo TWEET

The U.S. embassy in Brasilia did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Bolsonaro's diagnosis.

Bolsonaro has insisted throughout the pandemic that maintaining social distancing and avoiding public gatherings are unnecessary when it comes to tackling the spread of the virus. Instead, Bolsonaro has claimed that abiding by these guidelines will negatively impact the country's economic recovery.

In April, Bolsonaro fired his health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who supported social distancing restrictions and had reportedly received high marks from the Brazilian people for his handling of the pandemic.

The president had in March tested negative for Covid-19 after his press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, was diagnosed with the virus. Days earlier, Wajngarten, Bolsonaro and other Brazilian officials had traveled to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where an Instagram photo showed them dining in close proximity.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who also attended that gathering, were not immediately tested after Wajngarten's diagnosis was revealed. Trump said at the time that he was "not concerned" about his contact with the Brazilian delegation, and then-White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said that Trump and Pence did not require testing because they "had almost no interactions" with Wajngarten.

Trump and Pence have since repeatedly tested negative for the coronavirus, according to the White House.

Bolsonaro is not the first world leader to be infected with the virus: United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who tested positive in April, suffered symptoms so severe that he was transferred to an intensive care unit for multiple days.
A customer wearing a protective mask shops at a Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) clothing store at Westfield San Francisco Centre in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, June 18, 2020. Michael Short | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Desperate to keep their workers safe and their lights on, retailers reached out to the National Governors Association urging policymakers for their help in sending a strong and uniform message about social distancing and wearing a mask. The letter Monday from the Retail Industry Leaders Association comes amid a huge surge in coronavirus cases  with total cases in the U.S. doubling since mid-May  and an increasingly hostile backlash against facial coverings. Businesses, from retailers to movie theaters, have been faced with a patchwork of rules from state and local governments as they have reopened their businesses. With no other choice, they have been attempting to implement their own mandates for face masks and also enforce them. "Despite compliance from the majority of Americans, retailers are alarmed with the instances of hostility and violence front-line employees are experiencing by a vocal minority of customers who are under the misguided impression that wearing a mask is a violation of their civil liberties," the retail group, whose members include Best Buy, Dollar General and Home Depot, wrote, in the letter, which was made public Tuesday. "Wearing a mask is not about fear, and it certainly should not reflect one's politics." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of facial coverings such as masks when it's difficult to maintain a distance from other people, although there's no federal order requiring people to do so. Mask mandates, however, have increasingly become a debate, drawing criticism and in one instance, threats that led a top local health official in Southern California to resign. Even in states where masks are required when in public, workers are often called upon to enforce the policy in stores, bars and airplanes when customers arrive without them. Some instances have resulted in violence. In the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles in May, before California required masks be worn by all residents outside their homes, a Target employee was punched by a customer who refused to wear a mask. The employee fell and broke his left arm, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. At a Dollar Tree in Michigan, a customer wiped his nose on an employee's shirt after she advised him to wear a mask inside the store. And a security guard at a Family Dollar Store, also in Michigan, was fatally shot after a dispute broke out when he asked a customer who wasn't wearing a mask to leave the store. Many public health and infectious disease experts agree that masks have proven effective at preventing the spread of Covid-19. A statewide mandate is better than a local version because places where masks are required are controlling their outbreaks, and a statewide mandate unifies the messaging about their effectiveness, said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, a professor of infectious diseases at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston. "I'm completely baffled as to why masking became such a political issue and such an ideological issue," Ostrosky said. "We've never had a problem with no shoes, no shirt, no service. We've never had a problem with no smoking indoors."

Proven to prevent spread

Scientists say the virus can spread through respiratory droplets that pass when an infected person coughs or sneezes and studies suggest face masks may serve as a helpful barrier. "All politics aside, it's clear from scientific and safety perspectives that wearing a mask reduces the likelihood of transmission of disease. Whether you're Republican or Democrat, you breathe the same air and you exhale the same air," said Dr. Betty Chu, associate chief clinical officer and chief quality officer at Henry Ford Health System in Michigan. "I would say it's pretty clear from a scientific perspective that wearing a mask reduces the transmission," she said. At first, the CDC didn't advise the use of face masks, but that was before experts understood the extent at which people could spread the virus before the onset of symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. It also wasn't known that some people who have Covid-19 and show no symptoms could unknowingly spread the virus. "The evidence is conclusive that places that do better in masking have lower rates," Ostrosky said. "And I think we're experiencing the consequence of ambiguous, unclear messaging about masking."

Mask mandates vary

In some cases, states without widespread orders have left the debate for municipalities and businesses to decide, including areas where cases are spiking, like Arizona and Florida. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has maintained that wearing masks would help the state's economy remain open. He's urged residents to cover their faces to prevent the spread of Covid-19, even if they felt like it would be an "infringement of freedom." But until last week, when hospitals were starting to get hit with a wave of Covid-19 patients, he was reticent to require masks. Even when he did, the statewide mandate includes a large number of exceptions. Other states such as Kansas have joined Texas in recent days to issue their own orders. But there are numerous holdouts. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, for example, has strongly opposed such efforts. He told local governments in June that they would not receive any federal money to help fight the effects of the coronavirus pandemic if they implemented mandates. President Donald Trump's comments have helped to politicize the debate. In late June, he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that some Americans might wear face masks not as a way to prevent the spread of coronavirus but as a way to "signal disapproval of him." Last week, Trump said he would have "no problem" wearing a mask in some circumstances, but he continues to say it's not necessary to make masks mandatory throughout the U.S. And that's likely why businesses are looking to the states for action. Dr. Neal Jain, a clinical allergist and immunologist at San Tan Allergy and Asthma and director of research at Arizona Allergy and Immunology Research, was one of hundreds of doctors in Arizona who signed a petition sent to the governor urging him to sign a statewide mask mandate. Gov. Doug Ducey initially didn't allow local jurisdictions to implement their own face covering mandates but reversed that order on June 17. After the change, cities from Phoenix to Tucson adopted mask requirements. "I think it is a public health 101 mandate that should be in place to protect all of our citizens from the potential ramifications," said Jain, a member of the Committee to Protect Medicare.

An economic argument

Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, has also made an economic argument for face masks after his team examined the link between the use of face masks and controlling Covid-19 cases. Hatzius said a national mandate could prevent lockdown orders and save the economy from taking a hit if businesses shut down again. Tilman Fertitta, chairman and CEO of Houston-based restaurant giant Landry's, touched on this argument as well as he urged U.S. residents to wear masks, saying it's necessary to keep the economy open. Fertitta, whose business empire includes more than 600 restaurants and Golden Nugget casinos, said wearing a mask is, ultimately, about respect for others. "It is so important right now to wear a mask. Our only chance of staying open is the mask," Fertitta, who also owns the NBA's Houston Rockets, said on CNBC's "Power Lunch" in late June.

Some businesses have tried to stay neutral in the absence of government mandates with mixed results. Walmart, requires its employees to wear face coverings but says its optional for customers, although they strongly encourage people to wear them. The company will remind customers whether there are local or statewide mandates requiring masks before entering the store, a spokesperson said. Target instituted a similar policy, providing face coverings and gloves to employees on the job. The company has added signage and stationed team members outside stores to remind people to wear masks while shopping in areas where local governments are mandating residents to wear them, a spokesperson said. But AMC was forced to reverse course. Initially, the movie theater chain decided that masks would be optional, saying the decision not to require masks was made in an effort to avoid politics, but it was soon met with an "intense and immediate outcry" from customers, AMC CEO Adam Aron said in a statement. It now will require all moviegoers to wear face coverings.

Lack of federal rules in air travel
Angel investor Jason Calacanis told CNBC on Tuesday he hates President Trump, but praised the administration's small business loan program for saving many jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

Of the roughly 250 startups Calacanis invests in, he said in a "Squawk Alley" interview that around 20% saw their revenue drop to zero as the pandemic battered the economy.

"Thank goodness for the PPP loans and the unemployment [payments]. I hate Trump with every fiber of my being and he's the worst human being on the planet," said Calacnis. "You've got to give him credit for pouring money into the system, which saved a lot of jobs."

Calacanis also said around 30% of the startups in his portfolio saw revenues double or triple. "These are the ones that are used by with people with keyboards or who are staying home and have extra time."

Calacanis, an early investor in Uber, also told CNBC he still believes in the ridesharing company. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told "Squawk on the Street" earlier Tuesday he is "very confident" Uber will become profitable in 2021 thanks in part to its acquisition of the food delivery service Postmates. Calacanis, who called the deal a "sleeper acquisition," said both businesses have been losing money until now because they were in a "dog fight" but Uber "will easily be profitable" once the competition is reduced.

Calacanis, who founded newsletter provider Inside.com and a dot-com era newsletter called Silicon Alley Reporter, also commented on the recent disputes between technology investors and journalists. In recent weeks tech figures have complained on social media platforms such as Twitter and the new audio app Clubhouse about overly negative media coverage of their industry, particularly from the New York Times.

Calacanis said tech investors tired of such coverage are "just going to route around the press. We're now getting follower counts on Twitter that are greater than the journalists."

"All I'm asking for is a little balance," said Calacanis regarding media stories on technology companies. "If you want to beat us up, if you want to criticize us go for it. It only makes us better at what we do. But I would love if the New York Times would just cover one or two of the world-positive companies that I invest in."
Pedestrians ride an escalator near a Government National Security Law poster in a MTR Corp. train station in the Wan Chai district in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, July 2, 2020. Ivan Abreu | Bloomberg | Getty Images

China is paving the way for more money to flow into Hong Kong and shoring up its status as a financial hub. Investors and foreign companies have been wary that Hong Kong's status as a financial hub might be eroded, as China last week went ahead to implement a controversial national security law in the city despite criticism. That has caused friction with Washington, which has said it will revoke Hong Kong's special trading status with the U.S. Against that backdrop, China's central bank last week launched an initiative  the Wealth Management Connect  that analysts said will bring more inflows into Hong Kong, and attract foreign financial institutions to expand their business in the city. Hong Kong saw strong inflows last month, as two U.S.-listed tech giants Netease and JD.com launched mega secondary listings in the city.

If you thought Hong Kong's status as a financial hub is going away, think again. Are foreign firms going to pull out before the tidal wave of money comes to Hong Kong? I don't think so. Brendan Ahern CIO of KraneShares

Authorities have also stepped up to reassure investors that Hong Kong's financial hub status will remain intact. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam said last month the city should be transformed into a hub for private wealth. In addition, China said recently that it will support Hong Kong's growth as a global financial center.

'Tidal wave of money' into Hong Kong

Last week, the People's Bank of China announced an initiative  the Wealth Management Connect, which will allow mainland investors from the much-touted Greater Bay Area to buy financial products in Hong Kong and Macau, and vice versa. China's Greater Bay Area is a region comprising nine Chinese cities in Guangdong province and two special administrative territories  Hong Kong and Macau. That region accounts for 12% of China's gross domestic product. Lam said that it reflected "solid backing" from Beijing and that "Hong Kong continues to play a leading role in the country's economic development and opening up of financial markets," according to Reuters. Analysts said the move will likely bring much capital flows into the Asian financial hub. "If you thought Hong Kong's status as a financial hub is going away, think again. Are foreign firms going to pull out before the tidal wave of money comes to Hong Kong? I don't think so," Brendan Ahern, chief investment officer of investment firm KraneShares, told CNBC in an email.

He said the news reaffirms that Hong Kong's financial hub status "isn't in jeopardy" while "providing a strong rationale for financial firms to remain entrenched" in Hong Kong. Tommy Wu, lead economist at Oxford Economics, said: "This initiative should attract foreign financial institutions to expand their wealth management business in Hong Kong, especially given that the Greater Bay Area is one of the wealthiest regions in China." The Wealth Management Connect will not just serve mainland residents who have a "genuine need" to expand their investments, said Wu, but also reach foreign investors, who are able to purchase wealth products sold in the Greater Bay Area. In remarks earlier last month, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam spoke of proposals she made to China's central government, to turn Hong Kong to deepen its role as a gateway to China. "These proposals will revolve around this plan to make Hong Kong more international, to turn Hong Kong into a more prominent offshore Renminbi centre, to transform Hong Kong really into the hub for the management of private wealth," she said, according to a transcript of her remarks. "By so doing, we should also be promoting greater connectivity between the Hong Kong financial markets and the mainland financial markets," Lam added.

Hong Kong's role as gateway into China

China's decision to pass the national security law on Hong Kong has ramped up tensions with the U.S, which has a special trading relationship with the Asian city. Last week, Washington started to take additional actions  such as halting defense exports to Hong Kong and restricting its access to high technology products.

Inflows into Hong Kong have been very strong in recent months and will likely continue in the near term, given the IPO spree of Chinese companies in Hong Kong so far. Tommy Wu lead economist at Oxford Economics

"Despite the strong US rhetoric against the national security law, the US measures taken so far have been quite modest," Wu of Oxford Economics wrote in a report last week. In addition, China "has an incentive" to ensure the "one country two systems" arrangement survives, and to persuade the world that system is still in place, he wrote. Under that framework, Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is given some freedoms that citizens in the mainland do not have. That includes self-governing power, limited election rights, and a largely separate legal and economic framework from mainland China.
Hong Kong released additional details of China's new national security law for the former British colony on Monday, saying security forces had overriding authority to enter and search properties for evidence and stop people from leaving the city.

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.

But under China's new legislation, crimes of secession and sedition will be punishable by up to life in prison, stoking concerns of a much more authoritarian era in a city which has been racked by anti-China protests for the past year.

While Beijing and Hong Kong authorities have insisted the law will only target a minority of what they call "troublemakers", diplomats, business groups and rights activists have said it is the latest example of Beijing's tightening grip on the city.

Beijing imposed the legislation on Hong Kong, a major financial and trade hub, despite protests from Hong Kongers and Western nations.

The details of the new legislation stated that authorities will have the power to enter and search places for evidence. They can also restrict people under investigation from leaving Hong Kong.

It may also allow for confiscation of the proceeds related to any offence endangering national security. It will require foreign and Taiwan political organisations and agents to provide information on activities concerning Hong Kong.

Critics say the law  which punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison  is aimed at crushing dissent and a long-running campaign for greater democracy which has drawn huge crowds on to the streets.

Some protests have erupted into violence between police and demonstrators.

In London on Monday, the Chinese ambassador accused Britain of gross interference and making irresponsible remarks over Beijing's imposition of the legislation.

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.

Ambassador Liu Xiaoming said 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.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro looks on during ceremony to inaugurate the Main Spacial Operations Center (COPE-P) amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at the Comando de Operacoes Aeroespaciais on June 23, 2020 in Brasilia.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has scoffed at risks of the coronavirus, has undergone another test for Covid-19 shortly after the presidential palace said the right-wing leader had displayed symptoms consistent with the disease.

Bolsonaro, 65, told supporters gathered outside the presidential palace in Brasilia on Monday that he had taken a test for the virus and "everything is fine."

Speaking while wearing a face mask, he also said that a separate medical exam had shown his lungs were "clean," according to a video broadcast on a YouTube channel.

Brazilian news sources, including a CNN affiliate, have reported that Bolsonaro has tested positive for the virus, but this has not been verified by CNBC or officially confirmed.

A government spokesperson was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC on Tuesday morning.

On Monday, the presidential palace said Bolsonaro was currently in good health but told NBC News that he had been feeling unwell and was running a fever of 38 degrees Celsius (about 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Local media reported that Bolsonaro has canceled all his official activities until he gets the results of his test for Covid-19. The results are expected at around 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
The World Health Organization said it's worried about growing outbreaks in Latin America, indicating Brazil and the U.S. were big concerns.

"Not only Brazil, but the whole Latin America doesn't look good. Cases are on the rise. Deaths are on the rise. And even North America, Mesoamerica, except for Canada. Canada is doing better," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the United Nation's health agency.

Without mentioning the United States by name, WHO officials indicated that they are worried about the country's current surge in coronavirus cases.

Mesoamerica encompasses parts of Mexico and Central America. North America includes Mexico, Canada, Greenland and the United States. Greenland is the only nation out of those four that doesn't have any active Covid-19 infections. In fact, it had just 13 cases total, all of which have since recovered, according to WHO data.

Tedros said the WHO is concerned about the rise in number of confirmed cases and deaths. While the virus seems to be "leveling off" in some parts of the world outside the Americas, many countries are still seeing a rise in cases and deaths.

"No country is immune. No country is safe. No individual can be safe," he said. Jasmine Kim
Italian Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone died early Monday in Rome, local media reported.

The 91-year-old legendary author of Spaghetti Western movies -- which brought American actor Clint Eastwood to fame -- had been hospitalized last week, after suffering a broken femur, according to Ansa news agency.

His funeral will be held privately, "in accordance with the humility that has marked every action of his life," the composer's lawyer Giorgio Assumma wrote in a note to the media.

Morricone was awarded the Academy's Honorary Award in 2007 for his lifetime achievement.

He won his first Oscar in the main competition (after five nominations) in 2016 with Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight", which also received a Golden Globe.

In his long career, the Italian musician also won two other Golden Globes -- with "The Mission" in 1987 and "The Legend of 1900" in 2000 -- three Grammys, and the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1995, among other prizes.

His musical production included a long list of popular movies in the past 50 years, beginning with Italian director Sergio Leone's trilogy -- "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964), "For a Few Dollars More"(1965), and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1966) -- later known as Spaghetti Westerns.

These three movies helped shape the figure of Clint Eastwood -- little known at the time -- as the solitary and reserved gunman that will characterize the successful career of the American actor for a long time.

Morricone also composed the soundtrack for the famous "Once Upon a Time in the West"(1972).

Among other films, Morricone wrote music for Brian de Palma's "The Untouchables" (1987), Roman Polansky's "Frantic" (1988), Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore's "Cinema Paradiso" (Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990), Barry Levinson's "Disclosure" (1994), and, again, De Palma's "Mission to Mars" (2000) and Tornatore's "The Best Offer" (2013).

Overall, he composed music for more than 500 films, and was venerated in his hometown Rome and in Italy as "Maestro."
U.S. President Donald Trump hosts an event on reopening schools amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 7, 2020.

Multiple businesses with ties to President Donald Trump received millions of dollars in small business relief loans backed by the administration.

Trump is linked to the firms and their executives through business deals conducted with his company, the Trump Organization, as well as through financial support for his 2016 run for president, his inauguration and his 2020 reelection campaign.

The names of more than 660,000 businesses that were approved for Paycheck Protection Program loans were revealed on Monday by the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration. Loans went to companies both small and large as the coronavirus pandemic swept through the country.

Other businesses that are led by people with strong allegiances to the president received aid, as well. An analysis by the Associated Press shows that as much as $273 million was loaned to more than 100 companies that are owned or operated by donors to Trump.

G.H. Palmer Associates, a real estate firm run by longtime Trump backer Geoffrey Palmer, was approved for a loan. The company is listed as "G.H. Palmer Inc." on the list of loans that were distributed, but the address of the company matches that of Palmer's real estate firm in Beverly Hills, California. The company was approved for a loan worth $350,000 to $1 million.

Palmer has been close to Trump for years. He was one of many corporate leaders of Trump's coronavirus business advisory council and has combined to give at least $4 million to pro-Trump super PAC America First Action, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Dezer Development, a real estate company founded by Michael Dezer, says on its website that it has the same address as Trump International Beach Resort in Miami, Florida. The Dezer website says that its "branded real estate portfolio includes six-Trump branded towers." Dezer got between $350,000 and $1 million from PPP.

Then there's White Stallion Energy, a coal mining company out of Indiana, which is owned by Steven Chancellor. The coal executive reportedly met with former EPA chief Scott Pruitt to discuss the softening of a pollution law. White Stallion gave $175,000 to Trump's inaugural committee. Below, he is shown shaking Trump's hand, along with Indiana Sen. Mike Braun, when the president visited the state in 2018. White Stallion saw between $5 million and $10 million in PPP loans.

The business executives mentioned in this story did not respond to requests for comment.
Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line have hired a panel of top health advisors to help overcome the "rough patch" caused when coronavirus outbreaks on ships brought the industry to a standstill, Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio said Tuesday. The two cruise companies  and fierce rivals  created a joint panel of former public health officials and top epidemiologists to advise the companies on how to safely return to operations, they announced Monday. The recommendations will also be aimed at changing minds at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has previously identified cruising as a source of spread of the virus. On March 14, the CDC issued a no-sail order for cruise ships that it later extended until July 24. It currently advises people against taking a cruise and says passengers who return to the U.S. should quarantine at home for 14 days. "Because of the unprecedented nature of the novel coronavirus pandemic, and the increased risk of transmission of COVID-19 on cruise ships, the US government is advising US travelers to defer all cruise travel," the CDC says on its website. The agency said Covid-19 "appears to spread more easily between people in close quarters aboard ships and boats." The panel is co-chaired by former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb and former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, who served as secretary of Health and Human Services under former President George W. Bush. Other members of the panel include infectious disease specialist Dr. Michael Osterholm and former CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding. "We have been in contact with the CDC. The panel has been in contact with the CDC," Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain told CNBC's Seema Mody in an interview Tuesday on "Squawk on the Street." "They're well aware of it and they have reacted warmly to it, so I'm actually quite positive that we're doing exactly what we should do."

Richard Fain Royal Caribbean Cruises | Chairman & CEO Adam Jeffery | CNBC

The cruise companies are splitting the compensation costs for the "brain trust," as Fain called it, Royal Caribbean spokesman Jonathon Fishman told CNBC. The panel began meeting in June, the companies said Monday in a statement, and will present their recommendations by August. The cruise industry, which has been slammed by the coronavirus pandemic that's brought global travel to a near standstill, faces a challenging task: adding safety measures that will convince customers and regulators that companies can keep people safe. Experts say finding the right balance is tricky yet critical to the cruise lines winning the approval of the CDC and at the same time, retaining their loyal customer base. "We're looking to establish protocols that protect the health of our guests and crew and do so without undermining what makes the cruising so special," Fain said Tuesday. "It will be different." It's still unclear exactly how cruising might change and if sailing will be able to resume in mid-September, which the companies are currently targeting. The panel "has only just started on the process," Fain said. Norwegian's Del Rio said, "early on, some conclusions were jumped to that perhaps are not valid today." Fain said the buffet that so many vacationers have grown to love will likely not include self-serve options and instead rely on a crew member. According to industry experts, other changes being considered include face masks on board and doctor's notes for passengers above the age of 70.

Frank Del Rio, CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Scott Mlyn | CNBC
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Dubai opened its doors to tourists Tuesday after nearly four months of closed borders and grounded flights, the latest in the desert city's efforts to revive an economy slammed by the coronavirus pandemic and deflated oil prices.

The glittering commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, known for its high-end hotels, balmy beaches and superlative attractions like the world's largest mall and tallest building, is among the first Middle Eastern destinations to restart tourism. But it comes at a challenging time: air travel remains at multi-decade lows, many would-be travelers fear catching the virus, and the Gulf region's infamous summer temperatures are hitting scorching levels of 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Nevertheless, Dubai Corporation for Tourism CEO Issam Kazim is confident. The emirate has invested heavily in health and safety measures, he told CNBC, and is ready to welcome restless travelers who've been grounded in their homes for months.

"We're very excited about this because tourism is a key pillar for Dubai," Kazim told CNBC's Capital Connection. "We have been making sure that the public and visitors' health and safety is of utmost importance." Tourism accounts for 11.5% of Dubai's gross domestic product.

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Addressing challenges of the current climate  both in terms of health and weather  Kazim was prudent but hopeful.

"I think we have to be realistic. What happened on a global scale, it's not something any one of us would have imagined," he said. "We of course still are very confident, optimistic in a growth surge, and of course we've made sure that during this period of time... Dubai remains top of mind."

In an effort to achieve this, Dubai Tourism launched a series of marketing campaigns, one of which, from June, was called "We Will See You Soon" and promised to welcome visitors in the near future. Its latest rendition, "Ready When You Are," is a showcase of Dubai's most famous attractions and adrenaline-filled activities announcing that tourists are welcome once again.

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"This has helped us again to rise up on the search lists across different digital platforms, which means that this has been getting the positive impact that we were after, and we've worked with our friends and visitors, whether they're influencers or others," Kazim said.

Already, social media influencers are taking up the opportunity: Nas Daily, a travel vlogger with 1.8 million Instagram followers, has been posting Instagram Live videos this week from the Burj Khalifa and showcasing his visits to iconic Dubai landmarks. It's not clear whether his visit was sponsored; he did not reply to a CNBC request for comment.
Waiters work at the terrace of a cafe in Paris, on June 15, 2020, one day after French president announced the reopening of dining rooms of Parisian cafes and restaurants. PHILIPPE LOPEZ

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, slashed its 2020 and 2021 projections on Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll on the 27 member states. The Brussels-based institution expects the 27-member region to contract by 8.3% this year, followed by a rebound of 5.8% in 2021. In May, the Commission estimated a 7.4% contraction for total GDP across the region this year, with a rebound of 6.1% in 2021. "The economic impact of the lockdown is more severe than we initially expected. We continue to navigate in stormy waters and face many risks, including another major wave of infections," Valdis Dombrovskis, vice-president of the European Commission, said in a statement Tuesday. The outlook has worsened over the last two months irrespective of the steps that most European countries have taken to reopen their economies. The Commission said Tuesday that economic activity is expected to pick up in the second half of the year, though it will remain "incomplete" and "uneven" on the back of social-distancing measures.

In recent days, concerns have also emerged about regional outbreaks. The Spanish authorities have re-imposed restrictions in the region of Galicia, and Portugal reinstated some measures in Lisbon after a growing number of infections.

Italy to contract the most

The latest forecasts show that the Italian economy will contract the most among all EU members, by 11.2% this year. The country started easing its strict lockdown measures in May but expectations are that tourism and other consumer-related services will take time to recover. This is expected to limit any economic rebound for the remainder of 2020. Nonetheless, the Commission forecast a rebound of 6.1% in Italian GDP for 2021. France and Spain are also expected to face significant economic contractions this year. Brussels now projects a drop of 10.6% and 10.9%, respectively. In comparison, back in May, the European Commission estimated falls of 8.2% and 9.4% in GDP for the respective economies. The International Monetary Fund said in June that the euro area, the 19-member region that shares the euro, would contract by more than 10% in 2020. France, Italy and Spain could contract by about 12% this year, according to the IMF.

Germany, meanwhile, is the only country in the euro area that has seen its growth expectations revised upward. According to the Commission, the country will now contract by 6.3% in 2020, instead of 6.5%. This is due to further stimulus measures announced by the German government in June. "Since spring, the German government took further sizable measures to stabilize the economy in the wake of the outbreak of the pandemic. The initial response in March included vast liquidity support for companies in the form of public guarantees for loans, tax deferrals, grants for small businesses and extended and simplified access to short-time work schemes ... On top, in early June the government announced a fiscal stimulus package of about 130 billion euros," the Commission said Tuesday.

Recovery fund still in the making
European markets closed lower Tuesday as concerns over the threat to economic recovery of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. and weak German data put the brakes on Monday's rally.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed down by around 0.6% provisionally, with tech shares shedding 1.2% to lead losses as most sectors and major bourses slid into negative territory.

German industrial production data came in weaker than expected on Tuesday morning, rising by 7.8% in May, a more modest rebound than the 10% expected by analysts polled by Reuters following a -17.5% contraction in April.

The European Commission on Tuesday cut its economic forecasts, and now expects the 27-member region to contract by 8.3% this year, followed by a rebound of 5.8% in 2021. In May, the Commission estimated a 7.4% contraction for total GDP across the region this year, with a rebound of 6.1% in 2021.

Stateside, equities were mixed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indexes slipping into the red while the Nasdaq Composite rose, supported by a climb in tech stocks.

The Greater Miami area on Monday became the latest new Covid-19 hot spot to reverse some of its reopening efforts, as new cases continue to surge nationwide. There are now more than 2.9 million confirmed cases in the U.S. and more than 130,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, further alarm bells have been sounded over the possible airborne spread of the virus, with the World Health Organization now reviewing a request from over 200 scientists for renewed guidance.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said the U.S. economic recovery is in danger of stalling due to the recent spike in coronavirus cases across many American states.

High-frequency data had shown a "leveling off" of economic activity both in terms of business openings and mobility, he told the Financial Times newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

"There are a couple of things that we are seeing and some of them are troubling and might suggest that the trajectory of this recovery is going to be a bit bumpier than it might otherwise," he told the newspaper.

"And so we're watching this very closely, trying to understand exactly what's happening."

California, Texas and Florida are all among two dozen U.S. states reporting high infection rates as a percentage of diagnostic tests conducted over the past week, an alarming sign of a virus still spreading largely unchecked throughout much of the country.

The U.S. death toll from the virus has topped 130,000, Reuters calculations show.
In this article FORD

F

Ford released a teaser image of its new "family" of Bronco SUVs on July 6, 2020 -- a week ahead of when the vehicle's are expected to debut. Ford

Ford Motor expects the relaunch of its iconic Bronco SUV to boost both U.S. sales and profits, building off its cult following to attract new off-road buyers from the likes of Fiat Chrysler's Jeep brand. Ford is debuting its new "family" of vehicles, which will include two- and four-door Bronco SUVs as well as a smaller Bronco Sport SUV, on Monday. There's a lot of buzz around Ford's resurrection of the Bronco, a two-door SUV that developed a strong fan base after it was discontinued in 1996. "Combined there will be very substantial volume for the family of Broncos," Kumar Galhotra, Ford president of the Americas & International Markets Group, told CNBC. "It's such an emotional product, and we see a lot of value in that brand. That should in turn create significant value for the company." Ford expects the new Broncos will be profitable, although Galhotra declined to discuss any more details. The automaker projects it will sell hundreds of thousands of new Broncos a year, putting the three new SUVs among Ford's top-selling vehicles in the U.S., Galhotra said. The Bronco Sport is expected to begin arriving in dealerships by the end of this year, followed by the two- and four-door Broncos next spring.

Using the Bronco name on several vehicles is part of a larger plan by Ford CEO Jim Hackett to leverage the company's most recognized and iconic names to assist in an $11 billion restructuring of the automaker. Shares of the automaker are down about 40% in the past year. Wall Street analysts have criticized Hackett's lack of transparency and slow execution of his new strategy.

"They're going to add substantial volume to the company and they're going to be growth volume because none of the vehicles exist today," Galhotra said. "It is a net-add to the portfolio, net-add to volume and profitable volume." Ford's ad campaign for the new Bronco lineup, "Built Wild," plays on the company's current "Built Ford Proud" ad campaign. Ford's playbook for the Bronco family is to expand the reach of the previous two-door SUV with the new four-door model as well as the Bronco Sport, which will be built on a different vehicle platform than the other new versions.

Kumar Galhotra is president of the Americas and International Markets Group for Ford Motor. Ford

Ford also plans to capitalize on future customers who want to accessorize and personalize their Broncos, which helps boost profit margins. The company, Galhotra said, expects the Bronco to become the automaker's top-accessorized vehicle, surpassing the Ford F-150 pickup and Ford Mustang pony car. "We have a very significant accessorization program that we're going to launch with the vehicle," he said. "We're going to give them tons of opportunities to not just accessorize but personalize several attributes of the vehicle." Off-road enthusiasts, led by Jeep owners, are well-known for spending thousands of dollars to customize and accessorize their products. While such things would traditionally be done by third parties in the aftermarket industry, automakers have been attempting to cash in on the nearly $46 billion segment by offering their own factory- and dealer-installed products. Galhotra said the company expects a "very large part" of Bronco buyers to be new to the Ford brand. To assist in staying connected with new customers, Ford has launched "Bronco Nation," an independent online community that will allow Bronco owners and enthusiasts to share information, photos and events. It will also offer official apparel, according to the company.

Ford released a video of a prototype of the new Bronco SUV off-road testing in January. Ford

Ford said Monday it also plans to launch four "Off-Roadeo outdoor adventure playgrounds" in the U.S. that will allow owners and enthusiasts to test the new Bronco lineup in challenging terrain. They are expected to begin in four undisclosed cities next year. "We want to make sure that when we relaunch this brand again ... we wanted to do it in a big way," said Dave Pericak, Ford's director of icon vehicles. "To have all three of these vehicles available at the same time, we just feel is going to be the right approach to establish this brand early, and making an impact and letting everyone know that we're serious about this space."

'Unmistakably a Bronco'

That seriousness is partially what took the Bronco so long to come to market, according to Ford executives. They wanted to ensure the vehicles lived up to their namesake but also offered new technologies to attract new buyers. "You don't take something like the Bronco and rush it," Pericak said. "You have to make sure you do it the right way." Customers have been waiting years for the Bronco to return. Ford first confirmed the resurrection of the Bronco in January 2017.

Ford recently teased this image of the front of its new Ford Bronco on social media ahead of the vehicle's debut. Ford
In this article UBER

A Gojek driver, center, sits in traffic in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Monday, July 15, 2019. Dimas Ardian | Bloomberg via Getty Images

The biggest of rideshare platforms have been in a race to push beyond core transportation and create a dominant 'super app' that offers a range of services, but Covid-19 has quickly forced them to reevaluate what that revenue-generating lineup will look like. Uber's deal to acquire Postmates for $2.65 billion in stock shows how app-based food delivery has become an even more critical business focus in the coronavirus era as demand for core ride-sharing has plunged. In the first quarter, Uber's rides business bookings were down 80% year over year, while UberEats food delivery bookings were up more than 50%. But it's not just Uber or a U.S. market dynamic. Asia's rideshare leaders are also making changes to reflect a changed world. Indonesia's Gojek, valued at $12.5 billion, is trimming its staff and dropping a couple of offerings that had contributed to its ambitions of being known as a global "superapp." The company, which started as a dispatch service for motorcycle taxis, cut nine percent of its staff and is now focused on transportation, payments and food delivery as keys to post-pandemic recovery.

The "super app" concept

Gojek's "super app" strategy, offering up to 20 services within a single app, has been praised for creating "stickiness"  encouraging consumers to stay with the company for a range of services and that is a major evolution from the dispatch service for motorcycle taxi drivers, known as ojeks, for which the company was started. The two-wheeled taxis are the most efficient way to get through the dense traffic jams in Indonesia's cities. But drivers worked mostly in the informal economy, were viewed as unreliable and their mode of transportation was seen as a last resort. Founders Nadiem Makarim, Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Aluwi decided they could better connect the motor taxi drivers and customers. "The secret sauce that started the company was the trust that these people were honest, hardworking people who simply did not have the right opportunities," said Aluwi, co-CEO of Gojek. In 2015, Gojek launched its first app for transportation but as customers asked drivers to do more, the range of services the company offered began to expand. Its 20 services in Indonesia include Gobox (a parcel delivery service), GoCar (a private car service), GoFood, GoShop, and GoPay, among others, targeting what Andre Soelistyo, Gojek co-CEO, says is the opportunity to "removes life's daily friction." By its own estimate, the Asian unicorn handled $9.5 billion in transactions in 2018 (the latest year for which full data is available) and serves two million taxi drivers and 400,000 merchant partners through its super app. It has raised over $6 billion from investors including Visa, Google, Facebook, and Paypal and ranked No. 10 on the 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 list. But in announcing cutbacks, Gojek said it was pulling back on at least a few services: dropping GoLife, its massage on-demand service, and GoFood Festivals, which was tied to physical food events.

A CEO change before a global crisis

The rethink caused by an unforeseen global pandemic is occurring for Gojek after an unexpected management change. Gojek's dual CEO structure is the result of the departure last October of founder and CEO Nadiem Makarim, a Harvard Business School graduate, who quit to become Indonesia's minister of education and culture under President Joko Widodo. "The man has great ambition. He loves Indonesia as a country and obviously very gifted and very passionate, in terms of really supporting the country as a whole," says co-CEO Soelistyo, describing Makarim's departure as sudden but not a surprise. Alawi, the former chief information officer and Soelistyo, who was president, formalized the way they had been working together. "Kevin and I have been working together since day one," Soelistyo said. "Sometimes the word start-up means that it's super dependent on one individual, especially the founders." Shailendra Singh, a Singapore-based managing director at Sequoia Capital, a Gojek investor, says the team's "deep mission orientation" was among the reasons to initially invest, but he had no inkling of how large Gojek could become. "It's one of those things where sometimes we are doing something we don't realize how big it could be, right down the road," he said. "I always said that their leadership team is so strong that there are at least five to 10 people in the core team who can all be CEOs," he added.

Sequoia was an early investor in Gojek, putting up $10 million for 25% of the company. That stake has since been diluted by the flow of big money and big partners into the company. Soelistyo said Gojek has maintained its independence by having no single investor hold more than 10% of the company. "That means there's no agenda that's being prioritized other than the Gojek agenda," he said. Gojek has the benefit of being based in Southeast Asia's largest economy, with a population estimated by OECD at 255 million, but the Gojek agenda is crowded. The company has expanded into Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, offering an abridged menu of services tailored to each local market. Gojek competes on numerous fronts with Grab, a formidable Singapore-based start-up that has raised over $10 billion and ranked No. 16 on this year's CNBC Disruptor 50 list. Grab, which also started as a ride-sharing service, casts itself as truly international, offering more services in more countries than Gojek. In 2018, after a period of intense and expensive competition by Uber to dominate rideshare in many markets, it sold its Southeast Asia business to Grab in return for Uber receiving a stake in the company. Grab is in 351 cities across eight countries in Southeast Asia. Grab, which trimmed its staff by five percent in response to the pandemic, declined to make an official available for an interview. It said said in a statement to CNBC, "As Southeast Asia's only regional superapp, we offer a truly diversified range of services including transport, food delivery, financial services, groceries, last-mile delivery and merchant services to our over 187 million download base." Gojek's leaders have not been shy about exploring new areas. Last September, the company launched GoPlay, a video streaming service to compete with a similar offering from Grab, with a promise to focus on local production and on-demand delivery to mobile devices. But Grab's involvement in streaming already looks like a push that went too far too fast: in May, its partner Hooq, a five-year-old streaming service that had aimed to be a Netflix for Southeast Asia, shut down. Gojek has been more cautious about streaming. Goplay is funded as a separate entity from the rest of the company. Soelistyo said there is still plenty of room for Gojek to grow despite the competition. "The market is significantly big enough to allow two or three or four players to co-exist," he said.
Customers sit at tables socially distanced from each other at the outdoor terrace of a bar, operating at reduced capacity in Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain.

Covid-19 antibodies in Spain's population "are insufficient to provide herd immunity," a new study has claimed, despite the country being one of the worst-affected by the pandemic.

In a peer-reviewed paper published in the Lancet medical journal Monday, researchers from Harvard, MIT and several Spanish institutions analyzed findings from a widescale study on antibody prevalence in Spain.

More than 251,700 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Spain, while the virus has killed 28,388 people in the country to date, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. With 607 deaths per million people, Spain has the third-highest number of deaths relative to population in the world, according to Our World in Data.

Households all over Spain were invited at random by the research team to take part in the study, which aimed to determine the proportion of the population that had developed antibodies for the coronavirus.

A total of 61,075 people agreed to participate in the study, which was carried out between April 27 and May 11. Participants answered a questionnaire on coronavirus symptoms, were given a point-of-care finger prick test, and had the option to donate blood for further laboratory testing (which 51,958 of the people in the study did).

Just 5% of participants presented with antibodies from point-of-care tests, while antibodies were detected in 4.6% of the blood samples.

According to the findings, there was "substantial geographical variability," with antibodies found in 10% of samples from Madrid but just 3% of those taken from coastal areas.

Around a third of those who tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies had been asymptomatic while infected with the virus, the study found.
Giuseppe Conte, Italy's prime minister, gestures as he speaks during an interview at Chigi palace in Rome, Italy, on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018.

The Italian government approved a package of measures on Tuesday aimed at cutting the complicated red tape that has long been blamed for crimping growth in the euro zone's third-largest economy.

The "simplification decree," approved after weeks of fraught political negotiation, has been touted by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as "the mother of all reforms" to help relaunch an economy brought to its knees by the coronavirus.

It was approved in a preliminary version at a late night cabinet meeting, leaving some final details still to be hammered out.

The legislation, which runs to 174 pages in a draft seen by Reuters, covers a raft of sectors such as public tenders, digitalization, rules for corporate capital increases and the criminal responsibility of public officials.

There have been many attempts by previous Italian governments to reduce red tape. In 2010 the former Minister for Simplification Roberto Calderoli famously made a bonfire of 375,000 regulations he claimed to have abolished from the statute books.

Yet, ordinary Italians and companies see little progress.

The World Bank's 2020 Ease of Doing Business survey, which considers bureaucratic obstacles to things like starting a business, paying taxes and enforcing contracts, ranked Italy 58th, well behind most European countries and losing ground for the second year in a row.

Conte's decree allows public bodies to assign small-scale work projects without using the tortuous public tender process, and it drastically simplifies procedures required even for larger projects worth up to 5.2 million euros ($5.88 million). The changes are initially valid only for the next 12 months.

It also tightens the definition of abuse of office, making it harder for public officials to be investigated for one of Italy's most commonly prosecuted white-collar crimes.

Officials sometimes block projects rather than risk investigation by signing off on something that may later fall foul of the law.

"We want to overcome the so-called fear of the signature," Conte told lawmakers this month.

These reforms sparked friction in the majority, with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement concerned they may favor corruption.

Keen to improve Italy's digitalization, the decree streamlines procedures for the roll out of new fast broadband networks, and limits the current powers of mayors to oppose the installation of 5G mobile infrastructure, the draft aid.

On corporate governance, it abolishes until the end of this year the requirement that the votes of two-thirds of shareholders be needed to approve capital increases.
The concessional agreement of the 700.7-MW Azad Pattan Hydropower Project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been signed, a breakthrough for the implementation of the project, according to China Gezhouba Group.

The signing of the agreement between China Gezhouba Group, the investor of the project, and the Pakistani side was witnessed on Monday by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, ministers and representatives of the project partners.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Khan expressed pleasure over the progress of the project, adding that it would provide green and cheap energy and would help the country save the environment.

"I am happy because this project is under CPEC and it is not a loan but an investment which will benefit Pakistan from all sides," said the prime minister during the ceremony telecasted live at local TVs, adding that CPEC is a great project which would take Pakistan to progress.

According to China Gezhouba Group, the project on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis will be built at the Jhelum River. With a total investment of 1.54 billion U.S. dollars, the construction period of the project is expected to be 69 months and the hydropower plant will be generating some 3.265 billion units of clean energy per year and provide relief to the water shortage in the local areas once commissioned.

A large number of jobs will also be created during the construction period of the project, and the development of local transportation industry, building materials industry and other hydropower related industries will be promoted, said the Chinese company.
New York state financial regulators said Tuesday that they have slapped Deutsche Bank with a $150 million penalty "for significant compliance failures" in the bank's dealings with accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a now-dead investor, as well as with two client banks.

The New York State Department of Financial Services said that Deutsche Bank, which agreed to the payment under a consent order, "failed to properly monitor account activity conducted on behalf of the registered sex offender despite ample" public information about Mr. Epstein's earlier criminal misconduct.

The big settlement comes days after Epstein's alleged procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested on federal charges that accuse her of helping him get access to and groom underage girls so he could sexually abuse them.

The state said it was the first enforcement action by a regulator against a financial institution for dealings with Epstein.

The consent order covers Deutsche Bank's relationship with Epstein, and correspondent banking relationships with Danske Bank Estonia and FBME Bank.

Download Deutsche Bank's consent order here.

Deutsche Bank maintained a relationship Epstein, as well as with "related individuals and entities from August 2013 until December 2018," when the bank ended its dealings with him after the Miami Herald published a series of stories about a federal nonprosecution deal that Epstein obtained in 2008 in Florida. Over time, the German company handled more than 40 accounts related to Epstein and related people and entities.

The Financial Services Department said that because of the bank's oversight failure with Epstein, the "bank processed hundreds of transactions totaling millions of dollars that, at the very least, should have prompted additional scrutiny in light of Mr. Epstein's history."

Those transactions include payments to people who were publicly alleged to have been Epstein's co-conspirators in sexually abusing young women, and settlements totaling more than $7 million and payments to law firms of more than $6 million "for what appear to have been the legal expenses of Mr. Epstein and his co-conspirators," the department said.

Other payments were made "to Russian models, payments for women's school tuition, hotel and rent expenses, and (consistent with public allegations of prior wrongdoing) payments directly to numerous women with Eastern European surnames," according to the department.

Also noted were Epstein's "periodic suspicious cash withdrawals  in total, more than $800,000 over approximately four years," the department said.

All of these transactions occurred in the months and years after August 2013, when, in preparation for Epstein's accounts being shifted to Deutsche Bank, a junior relationship coordinator on the Epstein account prepared a memorandum for a relationship manager at the bank to be sent to the bank's then co-head of the wealth management Americas group and the chief operating officer of the wealth management Americas unit, the consent order notes.

That memo contained information about Epstein's prior state sex crime case in Florida, noting he was charged with soliciting an underage prostitute in 2007, that he served 13 months of his 18-month sentence, and that Epstein was accused of paying young women for massages in his Florida home, the consent order said.

"It also highlights that Mr. Epstein was involved in 17 out-of-court civil settlements related to his conduct in the 2007 conviction," the consent order said of the memo.

In an email to the two bank executives who included the memorandum as an attachment, the relationship manager "noted how lucrative the relationship could be, stating "[e]stimated flows of $100-300 [million] overtime [SIC] (possibly more)w/ revenue of $2-4 million annually over time," the consent order said.

"In the same email, [the bank's relationship manager] proposed that all Epstein-related accounts be for 'entities' affiliated with Mr. Epstein, 'not personal accounts,'" the consent order noted.
Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing conceded his firm should never have taken accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as a client in 2013, but said that it has since learned its lesson.

While Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell last year, the German bank has had to deal with the aftermath of its failure to monitor millions of dollars in suspicious payments made by the registered sex offender. New York financial regulators said earlier Tuesday that the bank agreed to pay a $150 million fine for its shortcomings.

"It was a critical mistake with it, there is no question Mr. Epstein should've never been onboarded, should've never been our client," Sewing told CNBC's Wilfred Frost. "This must not happen again."

The German bank, which has been embroiled in a number of controversies since the 2008 financial crisis, has invested "a lot into compliance functions" and hired people so it can "actually monitor this in a proper way," Sewing said.

"I think we learned our lesson," Sewing said. "It's a function of commitment to these items and I think Deutsche Bank has invested a lot into anti-financial crime and into compliance."

Sewing, who became Deutsche Bank's CEO in April 2018, declined to answer a question on whether senior bank officials were fired over the Epstein case.

When asked about another scandal, that of German payments processor Wirecard, Sewing said that the episode showed that the bank's controls worked because the fintech firm wasn't a major customer. Wirecard's CEO resigned last month after more than $2 billion went missing from the firm's balance sheet.

"I don't have now all the facts," Sewing said. "Unfortunately, sometimes fraud is happening. In case all this comes out that it was fraud, then it's not always easy to detect."
Microsoft executive Peggy Johnson will join Magic Leap as CEO in August, the start-up announced Tuesday.

Johnson joins the augmented reality start-up after leading Microsoft's M&A strategy and launching its venture fund as executive vice president of business development. She was hired by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in 2014 after a 24-year career at Qualcomm, where she worked in several roles, including running the internet services unit. At Microsoft, Johnson was a member of the company's senior leadership team and navigated Microsoft through major partnership deals and acquisitions, including its $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn in 2016.

Magic Leap's announcement comes weeks after founder Rony Abovitz announced in May he would step down as CEO, saying "it became clear to us that a change in my role was a natural next step."

Founded in 2011, Magic Leap was the subject of extensive hype in its early days, and managed to raise about $3 billion from Alphabet's Google and other investors. But the company's first product, released in 2018 for over $2,000, showed lowered ambitions since the company's early demonstrations and did not sell well. Magic Leap recently pivoted to focus on business scenarios. During the coronavirus pandemic, Magic Leap announced in April it would lay off staff as part of a structure overhaul. The New York Times reported that about 600 of its 1,900 workers were impacted.

Johnson told the Times she was driven to take the job because she wanted to be a chief executive. Her last day at Microsoft will be Tuesday, the company said in a filing.

Microsoft will look at internal and external candidates to replace Johnson, a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC, and in the meantime, finance chief Amy Hood will take on her direct reports.

In an email to Microsoft executives Tuesday morning, Nadella wrote, "I want to thank Peggy for her leadership and partnership these past six years. Her ability to connect people, drive consensus, and forge relationships has taught me a lot. Through the years, she has been a clear role model for women at Microsoft and in technology, and I know she'll continue to inspire young women in STEM in her new role."

-CNBC's Jordan Novet contributed to this report.

WATCH: After almost a decade and billions in outside investment, Magic Leap's first product is finally available  here's what it's like
Microsoft said on Tuesday it received court approval to stop cyberattacks that use concerns around the coronavirus to trick customers into providing hackers with access to information.

The announcement comes after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said earlier this month that Americans have lost over $77 million because of coronavirus-related fraud, with people reporting over 62,000 incidents since the start of the year.

Microsoft said that fraudsters have used phishing attacks in emails, trying to fool recipients by offering what appeared to be information on bonuses at a time when people were concerned about job cuts and a contracting economy. For instance, a victim received a fake email concerning a "Covid-19 bonus," Tom Burt, a corporate vice president at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post. After clicking on the link, the person would be asked to approve access to a web application, where hackers could gain access to information in the victims' Office 365 accounts, Burt wrote.

Microsoft was able to take down certain domains that were associated with the attacks, thanks to a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Burt wrote. Still, people should be on the lookout for illegitimate messages and enable two-factor authentication on their email accounts, he wrote.

Microsoft often talks about efforts to stop cybercriminals, including those affiliated with nation-states. The company said in April that the virus had only minimal impact on its own business in the first quarter.

WATCH: Tech companies partner with WHO for a coronavirus hackathon
When it comes to money management, everyone has a different style. After talking to a handful of millennials across the U.S. about how they earn, save and spend their money, CNBC Make It rounded up the mindsets and strategies that have helped them pay down debt, spend within their means and save thousands of dollars. Here's what works for five young people featured in CNBC Make It's "Millennial Money" series.

1. Treat your savings and debt like bills

Christine Hopkins in Berkeley, California. CNBC Make It

When Christine Hopkins started thinking about her savings and debt repayment like she does her rent or utilities  a fixed cost that she has to pay each month  she upped her savings rate tremendously. "I have more in savings than I've ever had in my life," says Hopkins, who used to have $33,700 in debt and lived paycheck to paycheck. In 2018, she started working with a financial advisor, who encouraged her to take a hard look at her spending. It wasn't until she actually went through her expenses that she realized she had "all this money that I was just letting go." Now, she pays herself first to prevent herself from spending it mindlessly. As of July 2019, she earned $88,000 a year as a marketing manager in the Bay Area and saved nearly $2,000 a month. She also put about $1,000 toward paying down her student loans and credit card debt each month.

2. Align your spending with your values

Leah Warwick outside her home in Sunnyside, Queens. CNBC Make It

Leah Warwick, a social worker in New York City who earned $70,000 per year and saved close to 20% of her income as of June 2019, believes that it's important to be intentional with how you use your money. When she buys products, she prefers to support companies and brands with missions that she believes in. For example, she likes to buy from places that are "run for women, by women," she says. If you support companies that take into account the betterment of society, and not just profit, "it creates a better world, a better environment, a better future," says Warwick. Thinking about her purchases through this lens helps ensure her that "the money I spend is well spent," she says.

3. Before buying something, think about the time you spent working for that money

Alex Sanchez outside his home in West Chicago. CNBC Make It

Alex Sanchez is interested in the FIRE  financial independence, retire early  movement, and he'd like to be a millionaire by 30. The 25-year-old is well on his way, saving nearly 50% of his six-figure income. His mindset is what helps him save so much. "Money to me represents your time," says the Chicago-based overhead lineman and real estate investor, who makes more than $200,000 a year. "Every time I see a dollar, I see that dollar as my time, and time is the most important thing to me. The reason I don't spend money on dumb things is because if I throw money away, I'm throwing my time, my life away  and it's just something I'm never going to get back." If he's going to splurge, it's going to be on something meaningful, like the tattoo he got in honor of one of his best friends, who died in 2018. It cost close to $1,500, but it's a purchase he can justify. "It's something that means a lot to me," he says. "I'm not going to penny pinch on something that's really important to me."

4. Track your finances

Bukola Ayodele. CNBC Make It

Bukola Ayodele, who makes $210,000 a year as a software engineer in New York City, saves and invests over $7,000 a month. She believes that in order to reach your goals, it's important to monitor your progress. "I'm actually obsessed with tracking things, I track my calories, I track my workouts and I also track my money," says Ayodele, who uses You Need a Budget to keep track of her spending, and Personal Capital as a way to measure her net worth and long-term goals. "I believe in this philosophy of what doesn't get measured, doesn't get managed." Her strategy has worked so far: Since graduating from Columbia University in 2016, she's paid off $7,000 worth of student loan debt and is working toward her goal of earning enough off of her investments that all of her monthly costs are covered.

5. Make everything automatic

Elena Haskins graduated from Ithaca College in 2018 Source: Elena Haskins
Roger Stone, former adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, center, arrives federal court in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020.

Faced with an order to report to prison next week, longtime Republican operative Roger Stone on Tuesday begged President Donald Trump for either a pardon or a commutation of his 40-month criminal sentence.

"I want the president to know that I have exhausted all my legal remedies and that only an act of clemency will provide justice in my case and save my life!" Stone said in a text message to Bloomberg reporters, according to a news story by the outlet.

That message came a day after The New York Times reported that Trump is likely to pardon Stone, or otherwise prevent his friend and political ally from having to go to prison by commuting his sentence.

Tweet

A White House spokesman declined to comment.

After this article was published, Stone, in a scathing Instagram post, disputed the idea that he "begged" Trump for clemency, and used an expletive to refer to one of the article's reporters.

"Anyone who reads my statement can clearly see I have not 'begged' the president for anything," Stone wrote. "I was so completely railroaded by brain-dead Robert Mueller's dirty cops that I have openly said that I am praying for clemency from the president."

Mueller, who is a former FBI director, as the special counsel tasked with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election lodged criminal charges against Stone.

Stone wrote in an email to CNBC, "I have a policy of only answering questions from real legitimate reporters of which you are not one. I am most familiar with your past 'reporting' on me."

"Not at all different than what I have said in dozens of radio, cable interviews, podcasts," Stone said, referring to his request for clemency from Trump. "Saw your story  point out the word 'BEG' in my statement?"

Trump tweeted in June that "Roger was a victim of a corrupt and illegal Witch Hunt, one which will go down as the greatest political crime in history. He can sleep well at night!"

That tweet came in response to conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who had written, "Never forget: Roger Stone will serve more time in prison than 99% of these rioters destroying America All because he supports Donald Trump. This isn't justice. RT for a full pardon of Roger Stone!"

Tweet

Two weeks ago, Trump retweeted a post that said, "IT'S TIME TO #PardonRogerStone."

Stone, 67, was convicted at a trial last fall in federal court in Washington, D.C., of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction.
Seattle's City Council has approved a new tax for the city's biggest businesses and their highest earners, such as Amazon.

Called the "JumpStart Seattle" tax, the bill passed late Monday on a 7-2 vote and is expected to go into effect in 2021. Money from the tax will initially be used to fund coronavirus relief but will eventually go toward addressing housing and homelessness in Seattle.

Under the measure, businesses with at least $7 million in annual payroll expenses will be taxed 0.7% to 2.4% on the amount they pay Seattle-based employees, with tiers based on individual salary amounts above $150,000. The highest bracket targets companies like Amazon with annual payroll expenses above $1 billion. Those companies will be taxed 2.4% for employees making more than $400,000.

The decision is a blow to Amazon, which fought the passage of a so-called head tax in 2018 via a well-financed referendum campaign alongside other Seattle businesses. After the head tax was repealed, councilmember Kshama Sawant pushed to revive discussions around a big business tax with her "Tax Amazon" campaign. The JumpStart tax is more aggressive than the "Tax Amazon" legislation, which sought to apply a flat 0.7% payroll tax on big businesses.

Amazon declined to comment on the JumpStart legislation.

Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who introduced the JumpStart legislation, said the tax's approval is a "big step towards creating a progressive tax system that works for all." The tax didn't garner support from Seattle's business community, however, with the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce saying the tax "pins Seattle's economic future on local businesses remaining strong, at a time when the depth and breadth of the crisis is still unfolding."

The passage of the JumpStart tax could further accelerate Amazon's move to secure office space outside of Seattle.

Amazon maintains an expansive Seattle footprint, but in recent years, it has moved to establish a presence in areas outside of the city. Amazon said last month it would lease 111,000 square feet of office space in Redmond for 600-plus employees. The company also has an office in suburban Bellevue, where it is building a 43-story tower, its largest yet.
In this article 981-HK

Semiconductor supplies to Huawei have been targeted by Washington as part of the broader U.S.-China trade war. Fuse | Getty Images

SMIC, China's biggest chipmaker, kicked off a major 46.28 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) share sale on Tuesday. That was more than double its initial target, amid a sharp rise in the price of its Hong Kong-listed shares as excitement built ahead of the Shanghai stock sale. In fact, Hong Kong-listed shares are up around 26% in the last five days and over 200% this year. The contract semiconductor manufacturer is seen as a key player in China's ambitions to become more self-sufficient when it comes to chips. The capital injection could help SMIC catch up with rivals TSMC and Samsung Electronics, two chipmakers with far more advanced capabilities.

SMIC is initially issuing 1,685,620,000 shares at 27.46 yuan per share. In case of high demand, the investment banks underwriting the offering can increase the total number of shares issued to 1,938,463,000. If that so-called over-allotment option is exercised, SMIC could raise up to 53.23 billion yuan or $7.59 billion. The share sale is the biggest on the mainland in a decade since Agricultural Bank of China's more than $22 billion dual Hong Kong-Shanghai listing in 2010, according to Dealogic data. SMIC said it will file to be part of China's Science and Technology Innovation Board, or STAR Board, a push by the world's second-largest economy to create a Nasdaq-style environment for publicly-listed tech firms.

SMIC bubble?
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., July 1, 2020.

Shares of Snap closed up 5.94% after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. was considering banning TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media platform.

"We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it," Pompeo said when asked in a Fox News interview Monday whether the U.S. should be looking at banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps.

India announced last week it was banning TikTok, along with dozens of other applications.

TikTok, operated by tech giant ByteDance, allows users to create short videos and overlay voices or music and has surged in popularity over the past year. In April, the app surpassed 2 billion downloads, according to Sensor Tower.

The banning of TikTok could provide some competitive relief to social media platforms, such as Snapchat and Facebook, Morgan Stanley's Sales team wrote Tuesday morning.

Shares of Facebook were up 0.24% Tuesday afternoon, while Twitter stock rose 2.01%.

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People line up outside of the Social Security Administration office in San Francisco.

Prospective retirees often face one big question: How long can my funds last?

Now, a mainstay for retirement  Social Security  is facing the very same question.

Social Security relies on the money in its trust funds, from which it pays a portion of its benefits.

And the money disbursed to Amercians every year is no small amount.

About 65 million people will receive approximately $1 trillion in benefits this year, according to the Social Security Administration. Retired workers account for 45 million of those people, for a total of $67.7 billion each month. Their average monthly benefit is $1,503.

More from Personal Finance:

What to know if you plan to claim Social Security during Covid-19

Here's how much Medicare could cost you in retirement

Here's an easy, low-cost way to build a retirement plan like the pros

How long Social Security's funds will last had been a nagging question even before the coronavirus pandemic.

But now researchers are saying that the virus and its economic aftereffects could reduce the pot of money more quickly.

In April, the SSA said the trust funds could be depleted in 2035. At that point, the system will be able to pay 79% of promised benefits. (The remainder comes from payroll taxes paid by employers and employees.)

However, as the pandemic has worn on, other research has been more pessimistic.

A May report from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that the trust funds could run dry as early as 2032.
The first direct container train, which left the central Chinese city of Wuhan on June 16, arrived in Kiev Monday, opening up new opportunities for China-Ukraine cooperation, said Ukrainian officials.

"Today's event has important symbolic significance for Sino-Ukrainian relations. It means that future cooperation between China and Ukraine within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative will become even closer," said Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Fan Xianrong during a ceremony to mark the train arrival here.

"Ukraine will show its advantages as a logistics center connecting Europe and Asia, and Sino-Ukrainian economic and trade cooperation will become even faster and more convenient. All this will bring even more benefits to the peoples of the two countries," he said.

Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii, who also attended the ceremony, said this is the first step of regular container transportation from China to Ukraine.

"This is the first time that Ukraine has not just been used as a transit platform for container transportation from China to Europe, but acted as the final destination," said Kryklii.

Ivan Yuryk, acting head of Ukrainian Railways, told Xinhua that his country plans to expand the route of the container train.

"We have big expectations as to this container route. We can receive (trains) not only in Kiev but also in Kharkiv, Odessa and other cities," said Yuryk.

"For now, we've made plans with our partners about one train per week. It's a reasonable volume for a start," said Oleksandr Polishchuk, first deputy head of Liski, a branch company of Ukrainian Railways that specializes in intermodal transportation.

"One time per week allows us to improve the technology, work out necessary procedures with customs and controlling authorities, as well as with our clients," Polishchuk said.

The official added that one train can transport up to 40-45 containers, which adds up to a total of 160 containers per month. Thus Ukraine will receive up to 1,000 containers till the end of this year.

"In 2019, China became Ukraine's most important trading partner," said Ukrainian economist Olga Drobotyuk in a recent interview with Xinhua. "The launch of such trains can help to further expand and strengthen trade, economic, political and cultural cooperation between the two countries."
Caterpillar excavators are displayed for sale at the Whayne Supply Co. dealership in Louisville, Kentucky, Jan. 27, 2020.

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With the 2020 presidential election just four months away, JPMorgan created a "Democrat Agenda Outperformers" basket for investors looking to bet on Joe Biden's victory over President Donald Trump and gains by Democrats in Congress.

Agenda items expected of a Biden presidency include a federal minimum wage hike, easing of some tariffs and trade war hostilities, and expanded infrastructure spending.

And though policy goals are often refined in the months leading up to the election, JPMorgan Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Dubravko Lakos-Bujas says the campaign has already signaled a sufficient number of priorities to start to positioning.
ByteDance has been boosting its gaming arm Nuverse through a hiring spree and in March acquired gaming studio Moonton.

TikTok users in the U.S. and Hong Kong are deeply concerned after realizing that political matters may have jeopardized their future on the app.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Monday that he is "looking at" banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Within hours of hearing that the U.S. could potentially block TikTok, users of the short video app were freaking out on the platform.

"I do not accept this," one user wrote. "Let's not U.S.," wrote another.

"Well then I really won't have a life," another said. "TikTok is literally my life," another user wrote.

A TikTok post about the potential ban received 17,000 likes and close to 6,000 comments within a minute of it being published.

Owned by Beijing-headquartered ByteDance, TikTok is one of several Chinese-owned technology companies being probed by the U.S.

Washington has expressed concerns that TikTok censors politically-sensitive content and that TikTok user data could be accessed by Beijing.

TikTok has been trying to distance itself from its Chinese parent company by setting up separate entities outside China. The company's biggest office is in Los Angeles, while London is its main hub in Europe. In May, it appointed Disney's streaming boss, Kevin Mayer, as its chief executive.

"TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product and public policy in the U.S.," a TikTok spokesperson told CNBC.

"We have no higher priority than providing a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked."

The Trump administration has been scrutinizing Chinese firms like Huawei for years amid concerns that they pose a threat to national security. The U.S. is concerned that these technology companies could pass data to the Communist Party of China. Huawei has repeatedly denied all allegations of espionage.

Pompeo's comments come just a week after India banned TikTok along with 58 other Chinese apps. The nation cited security concerns but there could be more to it than that. Two weeks earlier, a conflict on India's northern border with China left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
"We're deploying additional Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft, and helicopters; Coast Guard cutters and Air Force surveillance aircraft, doubling our capabilities in the region," he added, flanked by national security officials.

"In cooperation with the 22 partner nations, U.S. Southern Command will increase surveillance, disruption and seizures of drug shipments and provide additional support for eradication efforts which are going on right now at a record pace," Trump said during an April 1 White House briefing.

In April, the Trump administration announced expanded counternarcotics operations near Central America in order to disrupt the flow of drugs into the United States. The anti-drug operations, a Trump campaign promise, have also led to efforts to outfit the U.S.-Mexico border with a wall.

WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump will meet Friday with leaders of the U.S. military's Southern Command, the combatant command on the front lines of America's effort to curb drug trafficking, the White House confirmed Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions after announcing U.S. naval moves against Venezuela and narcotic traficking as National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper listen during the daily coronavirus response briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 1, 2020.

During June alone, U.S. Southern Command reported the interception of more than 35,014 pounds of suspected cocaine with an estimated value of $546 million.

The trip to Doral, Florida, comes as the Sunshine State reports a steady surge of coronavirus cases, a trend that challenges the Trump administration's push to reopen the U.S. economy.

On Saturday, Florida reported 11,445 coronavirus cases, the highest single-day total since the pandemic began in December, according to the state health department. And while the state is dealing with an uptick in cases, Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has previously said he will not close businesses again or issue a statewide mask mandate to slow the spread of the deadly virus.

The president's trip comes a week after Vice President Mike Pence met with and praised DeSantis for reopening the state and for implementing an "innovative" response to the unprecedented health pandemic.

"I want to thank you for your efforts to open up Florida again ... Florida being an economic engine for the United States, played a key role," Pence said during an event at the University of South Florida Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation in Tampa, Florida.

"I also want to say, Governor, that we fully support your prudent steps in working to slow the spread and the rise in cases that are impacting Florida today," Pence added.

The White House has repeatedly said that both Trump and Pence are tested on a daily basis for the coronavirus and have only produced negative results.
Uber's acquisition of food delivery service Postmates will help push the company to profitability in 2021, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC on Tuesday.

"We're very confident we're going to get to profitability next year and we have enough of a diversified portfolio to make that statement with quite a bit of confidence," Khosrowshahi said in a "Squawk on the Street" interview.

The company announced Monday its plans to buy Postmates for $2.65 billion in an all-stock deal.

Uber had said in January that it would turn a profit on an EBITDA basis by the fourth quarter of 2020, then withdrew its guidance in May as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to upend daily life. In the first quarter, the company had a loss of $2.94 billion on revenue of $3.54 billion.

But its bet on the food delivery business could push it forward.

The deal brings together Postmates, 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. Uber said it will also bolster its Uber Eats delivery unit, bringing in key markets like Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas, and 10 million active customers.

"We want to get bigger in the category, and really scale is how you bring the category into profitability," Khosrowshahi said.

While the company's food delivery business is thriving in the pandemic, its core Rides business has slowed down significantly from last year. But that slowdown is moderating -- Khosrowshahi said in a call with investors after the Postmates transaction that gross bookings in the Rides business were down 75% from last year in the second quarter, but are now down only 60%.
The U.S. is "looking at" banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Monday. His comments come amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China and as scrutiny on TikTok and Chinese technology firms continues to grow. When asked in a Fox News interview if the U.S. should be looking at banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, Pompeo said: "We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it." "We have worked on this very issue for a long time," he said. "Whether it was the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure we've gone all over the world and we're making real progress getting that out. We declared ZTE a danger to American national security," Pompeo added, citing the two Chinese teleommunications networking companies. "With respect to Chinese apps on peoples' cellphones, the United States will get this one right too." TikTok was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Washington has been on a campaign against Chinese technology firms. Huawei in particular has been in the crosshairs. The U.S. maintains that Huawei equipment could be used for espionage by Beijing, and that user data could be compromised. Huawei has repeatedly denied those allegations. But TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has also been on the radar since last year. Washington has been concerned that the platform censors content and that its data could be accessed by Beijing. TikTok has tried to distance itself from its Chinese parent company. The company hired former Disney executive, Kevin Mayer, to be TikTok's CEO earlier this year. His priority was seen as rebuilding trust with regulators.

But the Trump administration still appears skeptical of TikTok. When asked by Fox News if Americans should download the social media app, Pompeo said: "Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party." "TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked," a spokesperson told CNBC in response to Pompeo's comments. TikTok has previously said that U.S. user data is stored in the United States, with a backup in Singapore. The company also said that its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and none of their data is subject to Chinese law. TikTok has faced scrutiny around the world. In India, the app was recently blocked along with 58 others. Tensions between India and China have been rising over their disputed border in the Western Himalayas and a clash earlier this month left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

Hong Kong exit

Meanwhile, TikTok announced plans to pull out of the Hong Kong market on Monday amid uncertainty around the controversial national security law introduced by Beijing last week. Opponents of the legislation say that it undermines Hong Kong's relative autonomy from the Chinese mainland. Critics are also concerned the law grants the central government in Beijing sweeping powers to clamp down on dissent in the Chinese territory, which saw more than a year of protests that sometimes turned violent. "In light of recent events, we've decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong," a spokesperson for the app told CNBC. The TikTok app was meant for the international market, while ByteDance runs a separate app in China, called Douyin. Other technology firms have voiced concerns about the new national security law in Hong Kong. A number of major companies, mostly U.S. firms, have said they are pausing co-operation with Hong Kong authorities and their requests for data. "Last Wednesday, when the law took effect, we paused production on any new data requests from Hong Kong authorities, and we'll continue to review the details of the new law," a Google spokesperson told CNBC.

Facebook followed suit saying the company believes "freedom of expression is a fundamental human right" and that the company will "support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other repercussions." "We are pausing the review of government requests for user data from Hong Kong pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts," a spokesperson told CNBC.

Facebook's decision applies to its entire family of apps including WhatsApp and Instagram. Twitter, which has also paused processing data request from Hong Kong authorities, raised concerns about the fact that the national security law was passed but only published in its entirety for the first time last week. "Our teams are reviewing the law to assess its implications, particularly as some of the terms of the law are vague and without clear definition," a Twitter spokesperson told CNBC. "Like many public interest organizations, civil society leaders and entities, and industry peers, we have grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law." Telegram has also made similar moves, according to numerous media reports. The company was not immediately available for comment. All of these companies are blocked in mainland China but have enjoyed access to the Hong Kong market. Technology companies usually comply with requests for data from law enforcement when they are satisfied they meet the laws of the country that is requesting the information.
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World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference Tuesday to update the public on the coronavirus pandemic, which has now infected more than 11.6 million people across the globe, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

On Saturday, WHO released a situation report, which showed that the number of new Covid-19 cases worldwide reached a record high of 212,326 cases in the last 24 hours.

The biggest increase reported Saturday occurred in North and South America, which saw 129,772 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total in the region to nearly 5.6 million.

Brazil had the worst outbreak in the Americas with nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases so far, 48,105 of which were reported in the last 24 hours, according to WHO.

India also saw a large bump in new cases, with 22,771 new confirmed cases, for a total 648,315 cases in the country so far. At least 18,655 people have died in India with 442 of those fatalities reported in the last 24 hours.

"Some countries who have had success in suppressing transmission who are opening up now may have a setback, may have to implement interventions again, may have to implement these so-called lockdowns again," said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO's emerging diseases unit, at a news briefing last Wednesday in Geneva.

Amid the ongoing surge in coronavirus cases, health experts are speaking out about the role of the airborne spread of Covid-19. A group of 239 scientists from 32 different countries published an open letter to the WHO and other health agencies this week, calling for them to update their information on the coronavirus.

In an article entitled "It is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of COVID-19," scientists wrote that the WHO has not given enough weight to the role of the airborne spread of the virus.

"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," they wrote.

The organization's current guidance states that the coronavirus is transmitted primarily between people via these respiratory droplets and contact. However, the group of experts outlined evidence that smaller particles, which can travel much greater distances, can also infect people.

 CNBC's Megan Graham and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.

Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak.
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it is reviewing new evidence on whether the coronavirus can spread through particles in the air.

The WHO has long said the virus is generally transmitted through large respiratory droplets, often when someone sneezes or coughs. The United Nations health agency warned in March that such droplets could be kicked up into the air where they might become airborne and linger in certain environments.

"We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission, aerosol transmission, as one of the modes of transmission of Covid-19 as well as droplets," said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO's emerging diseases and zoonosis unit. "We will be issuing our brief in the coming weeks and that will outline everything that we have in this area."

The WHO's remarks come after 239 scientists from 32 different countries published an open letter to the organization calling for it to update its information on the coronavirus.

In an article entitled "It is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of COVID-19," the group of scientists contend 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 Saturday.
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it's worried about the rapidly worsening outbreaks in the Americas, as Brazil and the U.S. continue to face surges in coronavirus cases.

Without mentioning the United States by name, WHO officials indicated that they are worried about the country's current surge in coronavirus cases.

"Not only Brazil, but the whole Latin America doesn't look good. Cases are on the rise. Deaths are on the rise. And even North America, Mesoamerica, except for Canada. Canada is doing better," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the United Nation's health agency.

Mesoamerica encompasses parts of Mexico and Central America. North America includes Mexico, Canada, Greenland and the United States. Greenland is the only nation out of those four that doesn't have any active Covid-19 infections. In fact, it had just 13 cases total, all of which have since recovered, according to WHO data.

"We're concerned. In the rest of the world ... the virus is leveling off," Tedros continued, adding that some countries outside the Americas are showing progress in containing the pandemic. "But many countries are actually having more cases and deaths are on the rise."

Cases in the U.S. have more than doubled since mid-May, infecting more than 2.9 million people and killing at least 130,306 so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Several states including Florida, Texas and California have hit record highs in the daily number of new cases over the past weeks. The outbreaks continue to grow worse as the country grapples to reduce the infection rate.

The WHO's situation report from Tuesday shows that the United States reported 43,686 new confirmed cases over the previous 24 hours. More than 25% of the total number of new cases reported worldwide came from the U.S., according to the WHO's data. The U.S. also accounted for more than 46% of the 94,711 new cases reported in the Americas.

"We're concerned. In the rest of the world, although I say that deaths are leveling off because some countries are showing some progress, many countries are actually having more cases and deaths are on the rise. So it's very important to understand the seriousness of this virus and to be really serious," Tedros said during a news briefing at the agency's headquarters in Geneva.

"No country is immune. No country is safe. No individual can be safe," he said.

Globally, the number of new confirmed cases reached an all-time high last Saturday at 212,326, according to a situation report from the WHO. As of Tuesday, the organization confirmed 172,512 new positive Covid-19 cases worldwide in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 11.5 million cases.

The WHO's data differs slightly from that collected by Johns Hopkins University, which is also frequently used to track the pandemic.

Brazil continues to deal with one of the world' worst oubreaks of Covid-19, second only to the U.S for the most confirmed cases.

South America's largest country reported 26,051 new cases on Tuesday, which is the second-largest number of new cases in the Americas following the United States. The country has seen more than 1.6 million infected patients and 64,867 total deaths due to the virus, according to the WHO's data.

Earlier Tuesday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus, shortly after the presidential palace said he had been displaying symptoms associated with the disease.

Bolsonaro reportedly also confirmed that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug touted by President Donald Trump as a possible preventive treatment for the disease, as well as azithromycin. Neither drug has been proven to be an effective prophylactic or treatment for Covid-19, and the CDC has removed hyrdroxychloroquine's emergency use authorization to treat the virus.

Tedros wished the president a fast recovery during the news briefing. "I hope the symptoms will be mild and his excellence will be back to office as soon as possible to support his country," Tedros said.
"Some of this may be lag, we may see deaths start to climb again because we've only really experienced this rapid increase in cases over the last five to six weeks," Ryan said. "I don't think it should be a surprise if the deaths start to rise again. It will be very unfortunate, but it may happen."

However, WHO officials warn that there's a lag between rising cases and increasing deaths. It takes weeks after contracting the virus to fall seriously ill and potentially die from the coronavirus.

For the month of June, reported Covid-19 cases around the world have accelerated while the death toll has been falling, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's emergencies program, said at a news conference at the agency's Geneva headquarters.

It shouldn't "be a surprise" if the global death toll from the coronavirus begins to pick up pace again as the pandemic shows signs of accelerating across the globe, World Health Organization officials said Tuesday.

Workers in protective gear carry the coffin during the funeral of a deceased COVID-19 patient in Novoye Kolpinskoye Cemetery, during the pandemic of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The pandemic has shown signs of accelerating as thousands of additional cases are reported each day. Latin America "doesn't look good" and the WHO is "concerned" about North America, minus Canada, Ryan said. The coronavirus has killed more than 538,700 people across the globe and at least 130,300 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University data.

"If you imagine that somewhere in April and May we were dealing with 100,000 cases a day, today we're dealing with 200,000 cases a day, and that is not purely a result of testing," Ryan said.

He added, however, that there have been advancements in caring for coronavirus patients, which has allowed for those most at risk to receive treatment quickly. Some drugs, like dexamethasone, have been effective when treating those who are seriously ill and as testing increases, the number of fatalities has become a smaller proportion compared with cases.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while global deaths have shown signs of leveling off, it doesn't mean "it's been a success."

"The leveling of the number of deaths globally is because of some countries [have contained the virus], but in many countries it's on the rise," Tedros said.

There are many differences between countries and their reported death count and it can be difficult to compare them, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO's emerging diseases and zoonosis unit.

In some countries, the increase in deaths from the coronavirus could be related to outbreaks in places with vulnerable populations that tend to suffer higher fatality rates, such as nursing homes, she said. Other countries will also have to revise their death counts moving forward as more deaths are later attributed to Covid-19.

"It will take us some time to really understand mortality but, having said that, there are many things we can do now to prevent infections and by preventing infections we are ultimately preventing the opportunity for someone to advance to serious disease and death," Kerkhove said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) Climate activist Greta Thunberg has joined the list of international personalities backing calls to junk the newly-signed anti-terrorism law in the Philippines.

In a tweet on Monday, the Swedish environmentalist threw in support for Filipino climate activists who have been speaking up against the controversial measure.

Please support the climate activists in the Philippines! the 17-year-old wrote on her social media page, accompanying the post with the hashtag #JunkTerrorLaw.

Thunberg had quoted a tweet from international youth climate movement FridaysForFuture, which noted that the anti-terrorism law may also put climate activists and environmental defenders at risk of being tagged as terrorists.

Aside from Thunberg, youth climate groups from different countries including Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, Portugal, Taiwan, and France, among others, have also posted about the Philippines anti-terrorism law in response to the global movement.

Republic Act No. 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday will impose stiffer penalties for terrorists and those found to be helping or engaging in related acts. It also allows suspects to be arrested without warrant and detained without charges for up to 24 days.

Netizens and rights groups have 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.

However, a number of local security officials as well as lawmakers have repeatedly dismissed these claims, saying citizens have enough safeguards under the Constitution.

Thunberg captured the world's attention beginning in August 2018, when she started sitting alone outside the Swedish Parliament with a placard demanding a stronger response to climate change. She has since become a youth leader advocating for environmental policies all over the world.

The young activist was chosen by Time magazine as its person of the year in 2019.
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, Hong Kong, June 30. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) take effect on Tuesday, the HKSAR government said when the implementation rules were gazetted on Monday evening.

Article 43 of the national security law stipulates various measures that the department for safeguarding national security of the Police Force of the HKSAR may take when handling cases concerning offence endangering national security, and authorizes the HKSAR chief executive, in conjunction with the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR (National Security Committee) to make relevant implementation rules for the purpose of applying the measures stipulated under Article 43.

At the first meeting of the National Security Committee on Monday, the chief executive, in conjunction with the National Security Committee, exercised the power under Article 43 of the national security law to make relevant implementation rules for law enforcement agencies such as the department for safeguarding national security of the Hong Kong Police Force to implement the measures stipulated under Article 43, the HKSAR government said in a statement.

The implementation rules provide for rules that relevant officers should observe when carrying out the specific measures concerned to prevent, suppress and impose punishment for offences endangering national security, and relevant offences and penalties for the effective implementation of the measures, so as to improve the enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security.

An HKSAR government spokesman pointed out that the implementation rules, formulated for the exercise of various measures by relevant officers, clearly set out in detail the procedural requirements, circumstances that must be met and conditions for approval when implementing those measures.

The purpose is to ensure that when relevant officers exercise powers and apply measures under Article 43 of the national security law to enforce the law, the objectives of preventing, suppressing and imposing punishment for any acts and activities endangering national security can be achieved, while the requirement under the general principles of the national security law to respect and protect human rights, as well as the protection of various rights and freedom in accordance with the law can be complied with.

The implementation rules include search of places for evidence by law enforcement officers and related agencies; restriction on persons under investigation from leaving Hong Kong; freezing, restraint, confiscation and forfeiture of property related to offences endangering national security; removal of messages endangering national security and request for assistance; requiring political organizations and agents of foreign countries and China's Taiwan to provide information on activities concerning Hong Kong; application on authorization for interception of communications and covert surveillance; requirement to furnish information and produce materials.

The HKSAR government representatives will brief members of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR on the content of the national security law and the implementation rules.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) An opposition lawmaker on Tuesday refuted some government officials claims that the country would need a longer detention period to eliminate terrorist threats, as he argued that the three-day timeline under the old law should be more than enough jail time for suspects.

Speaking to CNN Philippines, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, one of those who filed petitions before the Supreme Court against the recently-signed anti-terrorism law, said law enforcers and intelligence officers should have already started the case buildup including gathering of evidence against suspected terrorists and groups way before they are apprehended.

The case of a terrorist should be even long before detention, it should have already been built up, Lagman said in an interview with The Source.

Under the old law, any arrest should be based on prior surveillance. Even before suspected terrorists (are) apprehended, the police, intelligence should already have a background of these terrorists. Three days would be more than sufficient, he stressed.

Security officials and lawmakers have defended the new measures highly contested detention period provision, which allows suspects to be arrested without warrant and detained without charges for up to 24 days.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano, in an earlier interview with CNN Philippines, said the new protocol would give way for a thorough probe on cases, citing that the country also has a shorter detention timeline compared to other nations.

Lagman pointed out that the government should have already come up with a wanted list for terrorist suspects, in order to speed up the hunt for the said individuals and groups.

He added that the provisions of the measure should be crafted in line with the current situation in the Philippines and not from experiences of other countries.

The standard should be our own Constitution not the policy of other countries. The standard should be based on our heritage of democratic institutions, not the experience of other countries, the Congressman said.

No assurance?

A number of government officials have repeatedly brushed off concerns over some provisions of the measure, saying that citizens have enough safeguards under the Constitution, and that their rights will be protected.

However, Lagman said these statements do not guarantee that the measure will not be abused in the future.

No amount of assurances that there will be a faithful implementation of the law will mitigate the incidence of abuses, Lagman argued.

The lawmaker was one of the many petitioners who brought their case to the high court on Monday, as they aim to challenge the legality of the anti-terrorism law.

Lagman said the measure is replete with constitutional infirmities, reiterating that it may be used to silence critics and suppress freedom of expression.

Atty. Howard Calleja, part of the group of lawyers who filed the first petition against the measure, likewise raised alarm over the broad definition of terrorism, noting that anybody can be tagged as a terrorist if the council says so.

READ: Defense chief: Give anti-terrorism law a chance
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  The Department of Health (DOH) issued an apology on Monday night over its wrong classification of four Metro Manila cities as COVID-19 hotspots.

Health Spokesperson Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire previously announced during the Health Departments daily COVID-19 press briefing on Monday afternoon that the four Metro Manila cities showed notable increase in infections over the past two weeks.

Vergeire mentioned the emerging hotspots as Marikina City (+51 cases and 43.47% growth rate), Muntinlupa City (+30 cases and 35.16% growth rate), Makati City (+135 cases and 30.18% growth rate), and Quezon City (+406 cases and 34.5% growth rate).

But on Monday night, the DOH issued a statement to stress that Marikina City, Muntinlupa City, and Makati City are not included in the list of emerging COVID-19 hotspots in the country.

The following cities were mistakenly classified as hotspots and was based on a report last month. We are thankful to report that as of July 5, the mentioned cities show a significant decline in case growth, the Health Department said in their statement.

The DOH corrected that as of July 5, Marikina City recorded a 68 percent decrease in COVID-19 cases. While Muntinlupa City tallied a 10 percent dip in their COVID-19 infections and Makati City had a four percent decrease in their cases.

However, the Health Department emphasized they are closely monitoring Quezon City but not yet labeled it as an emerging COVID-19 hotspot city. Their updated records show there is a 34 percent increase in the COVID-19 cases there over the past two weeks.

The country reported additional 2,099 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, hiking the total to 46,333 infections. In addition, there are 32,845 active COVID-19 cases according to the DOH.

Some 1,303 individuals died and 12,185 recovered from the virus.

A total of 11 hospitals in the metro have also reached full capacity of their intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients, the DOH noted.

Vergeire also added the national positivity rate  or the percentage of those who tested positive for the virus out of the total number of tests  rose to 10.53% on July 2, from 6.67% on June 29.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Tuesday the government can now test up to 11 million Filipinos for COVID-19, as he insisted anew that the country is winning against the coronavirus.

Roque added that there was nothing to fear, even with the total of COVID-19 cases spiking to more than a thousand daily in the past few days. The countrys total number of infections is now at 46,333, with 12,185 recoveries and 1,303 deaths.

"Habang hindi namamatay ang tao at habang may kapasidad tayong magbigay ng medikal na lunas sa mga nagkakasakit, hindi ko po matatanggap na tayo'y hindi nananalo sa sakit na ito [For as long as people are not dying and we have the capacity to provide medical attention to the sick, I cannot accept claims that we are not winning against this disease]," Roque said in a statement.

READ: 'Congratulations, Philippines': Roque says the country beat UP's COVID-19 forecast

When asked about the government's efforts to expand coronavirus testing, Roque said during his regular briefing that the country has an additional 10 million RT-PCR tests and about 250,000 more rapid test kits available. He said this is on top of the 800,000 individuals tested so far.

He added that local laboratories have a maximum capacity of 74,304 tests per day, although this has not been maximized.

"Talaga naman pong pinalawak na natin ang targeted testing natin [We have really expanded our targeted testing] to include 10 percent of our population," he added.

This would allow the government to surpass its original target of at least 2 percent of the population. Earlier, testing czar Vince Dizon said in interview last week that the country can start testing individuals even if they are not showing symptoms.

RELATED: Proposed IATF rules seek quarterly COVID-19 tests for returning workers

Both Roque and National Task Force chief implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. said last week that the government is "winning" against the pandemic, claiming that the situation is under control.

"The cases, pwede pong dumami sila pero habang pinoprotektahan po natin ang mga vulnerable, habang lahat po tayo ay nag-o-observe ng minimum health standards, at habang pinalalakwak natin ang T3 (test, trace, treat) natin, kakayanin po nating mabuhay amidst COVID-19," he added. "Some will say kinakailangan nating sayawan ang COVID-19 kasi sa Pilipino, when you have to live with something, 'sayawan mo na lang.' Pero 'yan po ang gagawin natin  sasayawan po natin, we have to deal with COVID-19."

[Translation: The cases can keep on rising but as long as we are protecting the vulnerable, as long as all of us are observing minimum health standards, and as we expand our testing, tracing, and treatment, we can live with COVID-19. Some will say we need to dance with COVID-19 because it's part of Filipino culture. When you have to live with something, just dance. That's what we'll do  we'll dance, we have to deal with COVID-19.]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  An official of human rights group Karapatan said a policeman wearing the uniform of a local courier company tried to serve her a warrant of arrest on Tuesday.

Is this the usual procedure now? Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said in a Facebook post.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Palabay recalled that she even found it funny at first that an LBC courier would serve her the warrant. The man was wearing a shirt and ID bearing the company's name, which later turned out to be a clear case of misrepresentation, she said.

She asked the man to wait for her to get the court order recalling her arrest warrant. When she returned, another man, wearing civilian clothes, introduced himself as a policeman from Camp Karingal, headquarters of the Quezon City Police District.

They later admitted that one of them masqueraded as an LBC courier to make sure she gets the warrant.

Palabay told them that the court had the warrant recalled on April 29 after she posted an 18,000 bail. This is in connection with the perjury complaint filed against her and other activists by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr.

Palabay said her legal counsel has already informed the court about the incident.

Palabay said the policemen were apologetic, saying they did not know about the recall. She also told them that they should read the Miranda rights before arresting someone, but the policemen said the suspects would escape if they do that.

Philippine National Police Spokesperson Bernard Banac told CNN Philippines he will refer Palabays report to Camp Karingal for their action and appropriate response.

Palabay called on the public to know and assert their rights, noting that these are "dangerous times" following signing of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The controversial measure allows the warrantless detention of suspected terrorists for up to 24 days.

READ: SC orders gov't officials to comment on petitions vs. Anti-Terrorism Act

Critics fear that the law can be used to go after red-tagged individuals and human rights defenders, while government officials say the measure has enough safeguards.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  More MRT-3 personnel have tested positive for the coronavirus disease, with latest confirmed infections climbing to 198, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) bared on Tuesday.

Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said of the recorded infections as of Monday noon, 15 were ticket sellers  eight from North Avenue Station, three from Araneta Center-Cubao Station, two from GMA Kamuning Station, one from Quezon Avenue, and one on reserved status.

"Meron tayong 15 [infected] ticket sellers...Naglalabas kami ng mga anunsyo upang ang mga pasahero na gumamit ng ticket sellers ay mag-obserba ng kanilang sintomas," Batan said during the Laging Handa briefing.

[Translation: We have 15 infected ticket sellers...we have already issued announcements to our passengers who have interacted with ticket sellers to be on the lookout for potential symptoms.]

In its advisory, the DOTr said that ticket sellers from North Avenue and Cubao stations have working shifts from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., those from Quezon Avenue were deployed from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., and those from GMA Kamuning were working from 4:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

In a separate interview with CNN Philippines' Balitaan, Batan said the first station personnel who tested positive was recorded on Saturday, July 4.

Batan also said that of the remaining cases, 177 are depot personnel, two are control center personnel, three are train drivers, and one nurse.

He also admitted that while their station personnel wear full personal protective equipment and hand gloves, the agency could not trace where the source of infection first originated.

"Hindi natin ma-identify kung saan nakuha ng personnel ang infection, maaaring nakuha from another passenger, o nakuha sa pag-commute sa bahay mula sa MRT-3," said Batan.

[Translation: We could not identify where the personnel acquired the infection, it could be from another passenger, or during his commute from the house to the MRT-3.]

Batan noted that all of the MRT-3 personnel are undergoing RT-PCR testing, with or without primary symptoms. Amid the suspension period, the agency will form a pool of personnel who tested negative for the virus.

The DOTr is targeting the resumption of MRT-3 operations on Sunday, July 12. Once they meet a sufficient number of COVID-free personnel, MRT-3 operations can resume even at an earlier date.

The MRT-3 management announced on Monday that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases decided to halt railway operations from July 7 to July 11 "following the increasing number of personnel who tested positive for COVID-19."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman on Tuesday hinted that the Palace is more inclined to take the virtual route for the State of the Nation Address on July 27.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said there are only two options for Duterte's fifth and penultimate SONA: To go online or the usual route of delivering the speech from the Batasang Pambansa in front of limited members of the Congress due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said they are considering delivering the speech from the Malago Clubhouse in Malacanang, similar to how Duterte gave his message at the 36th ASEAN Summit. He said taking the virtual route is the "safe fallback position."

"Either way, it does not matter. Ang importante lang naman mag-ulat sa Kongreso and the Constitution does not require from where he will make the report," Roque said in a media briefing.

[Translation: Either way, it does not matter. He only needs to report to the Congress.]

Under the Constitution, the President is mandated to deliver his SONA before a joint session of Congress every fourth Monday of July.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  Twenty rallyists who were arrested in a Pride protest, or the so-called Pride 20, have filed an official complaint Tuesday against Manila cops for alleged unlawful arrest.

The charges filed were unlawful arrest, slight physical injuries and maltreatment, and violations of the public assembly act against at least 10 Manila City cops. They were arrested on June 26.

Two of the respondents named in the complaint were Police District Director Rolando Miranda and Mobile Force Battalion Commander Ledon Monte.

The protesters were arrested for supposedly violating quarantine health safety protocols after staging a rally in Mendiola, Manila.

READ: 20 PH Pride protesters released, to file countercharges vs. Police

The arrested protesters were released on June 30.

CNN Philippines Correspondent AC Nicholls contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  Filipinos will soon be allowed to exit the country for non-essential travel, but tourism-related travel remains prohibited, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Tuesday.

Roque, who also serves as the spokesman of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, said the COVID-19 task force on Monday approved the lifting of travel restrictions.

IATF Resolution No. 52 will take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

"Lahat ng travel restrictions na may kinalaman sa outbound travel ng mga Pilipino ay inalis na rin. Bawal pa rin ang turismo pero ang mangyayari po ay pag bibiyahe may requirements na dapat ipakita sa Bureau of Immigration," he said in a media briefing.

[Translation: All outbound travel restrictions have been lifted. Travel for tourism is still not allowed. All travelers must submit requirements with the Bureau of Immigration.]

Travelers must present their confirmed round-trip tickets for those traveling on tourist visas and a declaration acknowledging risks of traveling during a global health pandemic. Roque said they must also have adequate travel health insurance to cover possible rebooking and extended accommodation expenses. The country of destination should also have no existing entry ban on Filipinos.

The returning travelers also need to undergo swab tests and mandatory quarantine once they return to the Philippines.

Despite the rising number of COVID-19 cases, the country is gradually relaxing travel restrictions and lockdown measures in a bid to restart the country's economy.

However, nurses looking to report to work abroad are still not allowed to leave the country even after the government relaxes restrictions on international travel.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has not yet processed documents of nurses intending to work abroad, Roque said.

RELATED: How the Philippines became the biggest supplier of nurses worldwide

POEA issued an order back in April that temporarily banned nurses, doctors, microbiologists, and other health workers from leaving to work abroad as the country grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that they must stay and serve here until the national state of emergency is lifted.

Hospitals in Cebu City have asked for additional nurses and protective gear as they grapple with the local outbreak, which the area now the epicenter of infections in the Visayas.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered members of the Anti-Terrorism Council and other government leaders to comment on petitions filed against the newly enacted Anti-Terrorism Act.

The four petitions seeking to challenge the legality of the widely criticized law that were filed by the Rep. Edcel Lagman, the Makabayan bloc, and the groups of Atty. Howard Calleja and FEU Law have been consolidated, according to sources.

The high court required the respondents to file their comments on the petition and application for temporary restraining order within 10 days from notice.

The officials named as respondents include Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and the eight other members of the Anti-Terrorism Council. The Makabayan bloc's petition included President Rodrigo Duterte as a respondent, while Lagman added the Congress in his petition.

The Supreme Court order comes a day after the petitions were filed. On Monday, they asked the high court to issue a writ of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order from implementing Republic Act No. 11479, which was signed into law by Duterte on July 3 amid appeals to veto the widely-opposed bill.

The law, which gives government forces more surveillance powers, takes effect on July 18. The Anti-Terrorism Council, chaired by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, is set to convene to review the law and draft its implementing rules and regulations.

The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 repeals the Human Security Act of 2007, giving more surveillance powers to government forces. Among its contentious features is a provision allowing suspected terrorists to be arrested without warrant and detained without charges for up to 24 days.

Critics said the measure relaxes safeguards on human rights and is open to abuse, but lawmakers who authored and sponsored the bill said it is at par with the laws of other countries and will not be used against law-abiding citizens.

CNN Philippines' justice correspondent Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) - The issuance of travel passes to locally stranded individuals in Metro Manila bound for Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Camiguin has been suspended until July 15, according to the Joint Task Force COVID Shield.

Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, said the decision was made after Defense Secretary and National Task Force Against COVID-19 head Delfin Lorenzana approved the request of the governors of the three provinces to suspend the return of the LSIs.

Eleazar said the suspension started last July 1.

The repatriation of LSIs bound for the Western and Eastern Visayas regions also remains suspended, as quarantine facilities in the local government units reach maximum capacity.

Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano to gather all LSIs camping in port and airports to a temporary shelter. He also promised them food and accommodation.

The country now has more than 47,000 COVID-19 infections, with 12,300 recoveries and 1,300 deaths.
China's civil aviation regulator said on Monday that a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, to China's Guangzhou would be suspended after five passengers had tested positive for COVID-19 on a June 28 flight.



The suspension of flight BS325 will last for one week, starting on July 6, and is the third of its kind ever to be imposed. It is also the first suspension of an overseas airline.

To further contain the spread of COVID-19, a reward and suspension mechanism by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) was introduced on June 4.

According to the CAAC policy, if all inbound passengers on an airline test negative for novel coronavirus for three weeks in a row, the operating airline will be allowed to increase its number of flights to two per week.

If the number of passengers testing positive reaches five, the airline's flights will be suspended for a week. The suspension will last for four weeks if the number of passengers testing positive reaches 10.

The CAAC also said that the company is not allowed to transfer the original quota of flight BS325 to other routes.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 8)  Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana assured there are no more backlogs in the governments efforts to receive overseas Filipino workers displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic who wish to return to their home provinces.

In the weekly Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night, Lorenzana mentioned that around 75,000 displaced OFWs have been sent back to their hometowns.

Sa ating mga overseas Filipinos na dumarating galing sa ibang bansa na wala nang trabaho, sa ngayon ay meron tayong naibalik sa mga probinsiya na 75,895. So wala na tayong backlog ngayon," said Lorenzana during the briefing which aired early Wednesday morning.

[Translation: For the overseas Filipinos who came from other countries and have lost their jobs, around 75,805 of them have been transported back to their provinces. So, we dont have a backlog now.]

Lorenzana added the government will repatriate around 5,000 Filipinos in Sabah, Malaysia for the next two weeks.

The first batch of 395 repatriated Filipinos returned to the country, the Defense Secretary reported.

As of July 4, the Department of Labor and Employment and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration recorded over 551,000 applications for assistance from land-based and sea-based workers.

The Labor Department is seeking more funds to for its program Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP), which provides OFWs displaced by the pandemic an emergency cash aid of $200 or 10,000 to help them cope with the crisis.

The government had given DOLE 2.5 billion for the AKAP program, that will be distributed to qualified beneficiaries in two tranches.

Over 188,000 out of the 250,000 expected beneficiaries of the program have already received financial assistance from DOLE as of July 4, amounting to some 1.927 billion.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 8)  President Rodrigo Duterte said law-abiding citizens should not fear the newly-signed Anti-Terrorism Act, but made it clear that communist rebels should be considered as terrorists under the controversial measure.

They would like to be treated with another set of law. When as a matter of fact, they are terrorist. They are terrorist because we  I finally declared them to be one, Duterte said in an address to the nation that aired on the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

The governments petition to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing New Peoples Army as terrorists is still pending before a local court.

I spent most of my days as a President trying to figure out and connect with them on how we can arrive at a peaceful solution, Duterte said.

Duterte reached out to the communist rebels upon assuming as President but walked away from the peace negotiations in November 2017 as both sides accused each other of ceasefire violations. Duterte and his security officials have since labeled the communist group as terrorists.

The rest of the citizens should not be afraid of the Anti-Terrorism Act as long as they refrain from terrorist acts, Duterte said.

[F]or the law-abiding citizen of this country, I am addressing you with all sincerity: Huwag ho kayong matakot kung hindi ka terorista. Kung hindi ka naman sisirain mo ang gobyerno, pasabugin mo ang simbahan, pasabugin mo iyong public utilities, he said.

[Translation: For the law-abiding citizen of this country, I am addressing you with all sincerity: Do not be afraid if youre not a terrorist, if you dont destroy the government, bomb churches or public utilities.]

Duterte stressed that the new law is a much-needed legal weapon against terrorism. He signed the law on Friday, and was immediately met with Supreme Court petitions challenging its constitutionality.

Among its contentious features is a provision allowing suspected terrorists to be arrested without warrant and detained without charges for up to 24 days.

Critics said the measure relaxes safeguards on human rights and is open to abuse, but lawmakers who authored and sponsored the bill said it is at par with the laws of other countries and will not be used against law-abiding citizens.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 8)  President Rodrigo Duterte said he preferred a more careful approach in reopening the Philippine economy amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the country and relapse of infections in other countries.

In his weekly address to the nation aired early Wednesday morning from Davao City, Duterte stressed the country needs to be cautious in reviving the countrys economy as it cannot afford a spike in COVID-19 infections.

So mga kababayan ko ginusto ko man --- ako, ako mismo personal gusto ko nang lumabas. Ayaw ko nang magpapigil. But we have to be very circumspect in reopening of the economy. Dahan-dahan lang, the President said.

[Translation: To my countrymen, I personally want to get out. I cannot wait to go out. But we have to be very circumspect in reopening of the economy. Lets reopen slowly.]

Duterte mentioned the countries of Japan, South Korea, China, and the United States, which reopened their economy but are now experiencing resurgence in their COVID-19 cases.

Now what really happened in these countries was that although they opened their economy for money to come in to the government coffers, what happened is there was a spike. They were having a problem of almost a relapse, like relapse in the totality of the number. That is the hard consequence of it, said Duterte.

The President emphasized he does not want to have a second wave of COVID-19 infections in the country as the government cannot afford its impact.

Because if you open the entire Philippines and thousands upon thousands of new cases would happen, then we are in deep s***. Talagang mahirapan tayo. Unang-una wala tayong pera. (We will suffer from it. First is because we dont have the money.), he explained.

Duterte also mentioned in his speech the country is still grappling with the first wave of COVID-19 infections, as the number of active cases now stands at 34,178.

Only Cebu City remains under enhanced community quarantine or ECQ, the strictest form of community quarantine that imposes limited movement restrictions and strict stay-at-home orders.

Health Sec. Francisco Duque III said in the meeting the below-standard case doubling time and high critical utilization rate in Cebu City are the reasons why it is still under ECQ at least until July 15.

Case doubling time is the term used to describe the doubling of COVID-19 cases in a short span of time. Duque said the case doubling time in Cebu City is below seven days, meaning the virus spreads faster and infects many in a short period.

While the high critical utilization rate in Cebu City means the health systems capacity in the area has been maximized already.

National Capital Region, Benguet, Cavite, Rizal, Lapu Lapu City, Mandaue City, Leyte, Ormoc, Southern Leyte, and the towns of Talisay City, Minglanilla, and Consolacion in Cebu province are under general community quarantine.

Places under the more relaxed modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), with strict local action, are in:

 CAR: Abra, Baguio City, Ifugao, Kalinga

 Region 1: Ilocos Norte, La Union, Pangasinan

 Region 2: Cagayan, Isabela

 Region 3: Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Angeles City

 Region 4A: Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Lucena City

 Region 4B: Palawan, Puerto Princesa City

 Region 5: Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Naga City

 Region 6: Capiz, Iloilo, Iloilo City, Negros Occidental, Bacolod City

 Region 7: Cebu Province, Bohol, Negros Oriental

 Region 8: Tacloban City, Western Samar

 Region 9: Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur

 Region 10: Bukidnon, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro

 Region 11: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao City, Davao de Oro

 Region 12: Cotabato, South Cotabato

 Region 13: Agusan del Norte, Butuan City

 BARMM: Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur

The rest of the country not mentioned in the three community quarantine settings will be on MGCQ of low risk classification.

To date, the country now has 47,873 confirmed COVID-19 cases along with 1,309 deaths and 12,386 recoveries.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 8)  The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Tuesday they have placed their respective head offices under lockdown as some of their employees tested positive of COVID-19.

In a statement, the MMDA said four of their personnel yielded positive results after a massive rapid testing and confirmatory swab tests.

Upon the recommendation of the MMDA COVID-19 Committee, we have decided to suspend the operations at all our offices for sanitation and disinfection to protect not only our personnel but also the transacting public against the virus, said MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim.

Due to this, work in the MMDA main headquarters in Makati City will be suspended from July 9 to 10 for the complete sanitation and disinfection of the area. The disinfection procedures of the office premises will last until July 12.

We assure the public that our offices will resume operations as soon as we have completed the sanitation and disinfection of our all offices by Monday, Lim added.

The MMDA also built a 800-sqm isolation facility in their parking area to accommodate employees with exposure to infected persons. The area was divided into two, one for suspects and the other for probable cases.

Meanwhile, the Energy Department also issued a statement announcing the full lockdown of the DOE Compound in Taguig City starting today until July 10. The full lockdown covers the DOE Main Building and Annex, Gymnasium, Motorpool, and Multi-Purpose Building.

The DOE said three of their employees were found positive of COVID-19 and several workers are under monitoring while on quarantine.

The DOE offices located at PNOC Building 5, such as the Oil Industry Management Bureau, the Renewable Energy Management Bureau, the Office of the Secretary, and some executive offices will operate with a minimum skeleton force.

"We are taking this as an added precaution to ensure the safety of both our personnel and guests," the Energy Department said in an advisory.

Last week, the central offices of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and the Civil Aeronautics Board were placed under lockdown due to their employees who contracted COVID-19.

While last month, several government agencies also closed their head offices due to workers afflicted with COVID-19. These were the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Securities and Exchange Commission, Makati Regional and Metropolitan Trial Courts, and Taguig City Hall of Justice.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7)  The left engine of a private plane bound for Dumaguete failed a few minutes after take-off, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in a coastal area off Zamboanga City on Tuesday, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.

PCG said in a statement that all three passengers (Filipino, Indian and Nepali) and the Indian pilot are all in good physical condition after being rescued by local residents of Barangay Sinunuc.

It added that PCG rescue teams brought them to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in Zamboanga City for investigation and further assistance.

The coast guard said the aircraft  Piper PA-34 Seneca  left Zamboanga Airport at around 9:30 a.m.

CAAP said separately the affected plane is a training aircraft from Dumaguete-based flying school Royhle Aviation Academy, Inc.
(CNN) -- A glacier in Italy is turning pink because of algae -- a development that will make the ice melt faster, a scientist studying the phenomenon says.

Pink snow has appeared at the Presena glacier in northern Italy, researcher Biagio Di Mauro, of the Institute of Polar Sciences at Italy's National Research Council, told CNN Monday.

While "watermelon snow," as it is sometimes known, is fairly common in the Alps in spring and summer, it has been more marked this year.

When Di Mauro went to the glacier on Saturday to investigate, "there was quite an impressive bloom of snow algae," he said.

He told CNN he believes an alga named Chlamydomonas nivalis is responsible for the change in color.

This spring and summer have seen low snowfall and high atmospheric temperatures, Di Mauro said, adding: "This creates the perfect environment for the algae to grow."

Algal blooms are bad news for the health of the glacier as darker snow absorbs more energy, meaning it melts faster.

"It is for sure bad for the glacier," Di Mauro said.

The phenomenon has been particularly common this year, said Di Mauro, who plans to study it in more detail to work out the concentration of the algae and map the blooms using satellite data.

Di Mauro has previously studied the Morteratsch glacier in Switzerland, where an alga called Ancylonema nordenskioeldii has turned the ice purple.

This alga has also been found in southwestern Greenland as well in as the Andes and Himalayas.

Glaciers around the world are melting as a result of climate change.

In October 2019, research revealed glaciers in Switzerland have shrunk 10% in the past five years, a rate that has never been seen before in more than a century of observations.

In Antarctica, the giant Denman Glacier has retreated almost three miles in the past 22 years, according to research published in March.

If it melts completely, sea levels will rise almost five feet, the researchers said.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "An Italian glacier is turning pink. And that's not good news
The Coastal Point is a local newspaper published each Friday and distributed in the Bethany Beach, South Bethany, Fenwick Island, Ocean View, Millville, Dagsboro, Frankford, Selbyville, Millsboro, Long Neck and Georgetown, Delaware areas.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program announced adjustments to its online study policy for international college students during the fall 2020 semester, which will prevent some students from living in the United States.

According to a press release from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, SEVP previously made adjustments to the online study policy for the spring and summer 2020 semesters.

Through these adjustments, "F" and "M" students were permitted to take more online classes than would typically be allowed so that they could maintain F-1 and M-1 non-immigrant status during the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, however, students attending universities and colleges that are operating completely online will not be permitted to take a full online course load and remain in the United States.

Because of this, the United States Department of State will not issue visas to students this applies to, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will prevent them from entering the country.

The release stated that students who are currently in the U.S. and enrolled in these types of programs should make arrangements to leave the country or take other measures  including transferring to a school with in-person instruction  in order to remain in lawful status.

If students do not adhere to these new regulations, the release said they may face immigration consequences, such as removal proceedings.

Additionally, the policy changes will require students attending schools that have adopted a hybrid model  a mixture of online and in-person instruction  will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online.

This, however, only applies to schools that are SEVP certified through the Form I-20 Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status. According to the release, this would ensure to SEVP that the program is only partially online, the student is taking some in-person courses, and the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make regular progress in their program.

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With this policy change, the designated school officials of each university in the country must issue new Forms I-20 to international students who wish to study in the U.S. in fall 2020 and indicate that their international students meet the above requirements in the Form I-20 remarks field.

Schools will also be required to update and reissue these Forms I-20 by Aug. 4. The release added schools should prioritize students who require new visas and are currently outside of the country when going about the process.

The release said that these exemptions will not apply to F-1 students in English language training programs or M-1 students, who are not allowed to take any online courses according to other previously determined regulations.

Any students attending schools operating under typical, in-person instruction are to follow existing federal regulations, according to the release.

F and M students who are already in the country will be able to remain in active status with SEVIS if they make typical progress in their program or if they are engaged in approved practical training  either as part of a program of study or following the completion of a program of study.

Students enrolled in schools that are only offering online instruction can keep their active status in SEVIS if they are taking online courses and are able to meet the regular course of study requirements or reduced course of study requirements.

According to the release, only students enrolled at a school that is only offering online instruction will be permitted to engage in remote learning from their home country. In order to allow for this, DSOs are instructed to annotate this situation on the students record.

Schools offering only online classes or not reopening in the fall must complete an operational change plan and submit it no later than Wednesday, July 15.

According to the release, certified schools that will not be completely online but are set to reopen in the fall using solely in-person class, delayed or shortened sessions, or a hybrid plan must update their operational plans by Aug. 1.

In doing so, the school must also specify which instruction option they are pursuing in the fall 2020 semester.


Speakers:



Hu Jianping, deputy director of the Department of Market System Development, Ministry of Commerce

Chen Xu, market inspector at the State Administration for Market Regulation

He Qinghua, class-I counsel of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control of the National Health Commission (NHC)

Zhang Zhiqiang, deputy director of the Department of Food Safety Standards, Monitoring and Evaluation, NHC

Chairperson:

Hu Qiangqiang, spokesperson and deputy director of the Department of Publicity of the NHC

Date:

July 3, 2020

Hu Qiangqiang:

Friends from the media, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference held by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.

Food is the most basic necessity of the people, while vegetables, grain and fruit concern people's livelihood. Farmers markets are one of the key locations for COVID-19 prevention and control. As such, COVID-19 prevention and regulation at these markets have gained great attention. In this press conference, we will introduce you to the epidemic prevention and regulation measures in place at farmers markets. Afterwards, the speakers will also take your questions.

We have with us today Ms. Hu Jianping, deputy director of the Department of Market System Development of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC); Mr. Chen Xu, market inspector at the State Administration for Market Regulation; Mr. He Qinghua, class-I counsel of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control of the National Health Commission (NHC); and Mr. Zhang Zhiqiang, deputy director of the Department of Food Safety Standards, Monitoring and Evaluation of the NHC.

First, I will report on the COVID-19 situation in China.

On July 2, 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, reported five new confirmed cases of infections  three inbound cases and two domestic ones  and one new suspected case in Beijing, but no deaths.

12 patients were discharged from hospital after recovering, and 453 people who had been in close contact with infected persons were deemed no longer in need of medical observation. The number of serious cases increased from that of the previous day by one.

A total of 69 inbound cases are being treated, and there remain one suspected case from abroad. As of July 2, the Chinese mainland reported a total of 1,923 inbound cases and no deaths. Among them, 1,854 patients had already been discharged from hospital after recovering.

According to the figures reported by 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland, as of 24:00 on July 2, there still remained 409 confirmed cases. In all, 78,499 patients had been discharged [since the start of the outbreak] after recovery, and 4,634 people had died of the disease. The accumulated confirmed cases on the mainland reached 83,542, while six suspected cases were still under observation. A total of 763,077 people had been identified as having had close contact with infected patients, and 5,589 were still undergoing medical observation.

On July 2, the 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported four new asymptomatic cases. None have become confirmed cases. Six people were removed from further medical observation. A total of 97 asymptomatic cases remained under medical observation.

A total of 1,736 confirmed cases so far have been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao SAR and Taiwan. The breakdown is 1,242 in Hong Kong, 46 in Macao, and 448 in Taiwan.

In the past week, 60 patients have been discharged after recovery, an increase of 46% from the previous week. It is necessary to continue to carefully implement regular prevention and control measures, strengthen medical treatment, and help more patients recover from the disease. Such is the current state of the epidemic.

Hu Qiangqiang:

Now, we will move on to your questions. Please only raise questions centering on the theme of today's press conference, and firstly identify your news outlet.
Robert Lee Alexander passed away in Florissant, Missouri on June 11, 2021, at the age of 90. He was a loving and devoted husband of 64 years to Jacqueline Lee (Blaine) Alexander, who preceded him in death in 2018, and a devoted and loving father to Cindy Sander, and Robert Alexander Jr., and
Software as a Service (SaaS) is reshaping the operations of enterprises across India, freeing them from the need to install and manage applications on servers and desktops and leaving them reliant only on internet access and a web browser.

This software distribution model offers a lot of agility, often at a lower cost. Forrester expects enterprise cloud spending will be dominated by larger public cloud platform providers and the maturing SaaS ecosystem over the next few years, growing globally at around 21 percent annually. NASSCOM, meanwhile, forecasts that the Indian SaaS market will grow at 36 percent a year, topping USD 3 billion by 2022.

India is not just a consumer of such services, but also a producer. A report by Google and Accel Partners forecast back in 2016 that Indian SaaS vendors would have annual revenue of USD 10 billion by 2025, serving around 8 percent of the global SaaS market for SMEs. They expect the biggest opportunities for Indian vendors to be in CRM, data visualization, HR, marketing, health care, and education.

Here are some of the home-grown SaaS companies that can help Indian enterprises move their businesses into the cloud.

Zoho

Founded: 1996

Categories: CRM, HR, Finance, Sales & Marketing, Analytics

Details: Zohos key offerings include Zoho CRM, Zoho Books (for accounting), Zoho Inventory and Zoho People (for HR). The company also offers access to all its tools as a bundled offering, Zoho One. Headquartered in Chennai, Zoho has over 50 million users globally, including Hyatt, KPMG, Mahindra, Tata Projects, Facebook, Apollo Hospitals, and Renault.

Freshworks

Founded: 2011, rebranded in 2017

Categories: Sales, CRM, HR, IT support

Details: Freshdesk, originally the name of the company, is now the name for its customer support software. Other products include freshchat for customer messaging, freshsales for tracking prospects and deals, freshservice for IT service management and freshteam for recruitment and onboarding.

The Chennai-based software company has over 150,000 customers globally, including Cisco Systems, Pearson, Hewlett-Packard, American Express, Honda, TeamViewer, Schneider, Henkel, and Decathlon.

Chargebee

Founded: 2011

Categories: Finance, Sales, HR

Details: Software is increasingly sold as a subscription-based service, but so are many other things, from transport to industrial machinery. Chennai-based cloud-based recurring billing system integrates with CRM systems, pament gateways and accounting software to automated billing and simplify revenue operations. Among its customers are Freshworks, Linux academy, Fujitsu, and study.com.

CRMNext

Founded: 2001

Categories: CRM

Details: CRMNext, based in Noida, is a CRM pure-player, offering cloud and on-premises versions of its software tailored for industries including banking, insurance, financial services, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and media. Its not just for small businesses: Its largest banking CRM implementation serves over 3,25,000 users in 5000 locations across 36 countries, and some of India's major banks are its customers  Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto Finance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Reliance Mutual Fund among them. Other customers include Tata AIA Life Insurance and Big FM.

Capillary Technologies

Founded: 2008

Categories: CRM, e-commerce

Details: Capillary Technologies customer-experience platform includes tools to personalize marketing (Engage+), e-commerce (Anywhere Commerce+), loyalty programs (Loyalty+) and in-store experiences (Smart Store+). It targets retail, fashion, restaurants and hypermarkets. Over 400 brands are using it for customer engagement today, including Aditya Birla and Kalyan Jewellers in India, and Walmart, Samsung, Puma, Giordano, and Aster Pharmacy elsewhere. Capillary grew up in Bangalore, and is now headquartered in Singapore.

Agile CRM

Founded: 2013

Categories: CRM, Sales, Marketing

Details: Agile CRM has a customer base of over 20,000. It helps businesses build customer relationships on the web with tools including landing page builders, mobile marketing, social media tools and marketing automation. The company started up in Hyderabad, where it maintains offices, and is now headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

TalView

Founded: 2012

Categories: Hiring

Details: Talviews Instahiring platform has one purpose: simplify the interviewing and assessing of prospective employees via an online video platform. It targets customers in retail, banking, financial services, healthcare, schools and ITeS with special tools including behavioural assessments and coding tests. Founded as Interview Master Technology Solutions in Bengaluru, Talview is now headquartered in San Mateo, California. Its customers include Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Digital in Indian customers, and Amazon, Cognizant, Walmart, HCL, and Whirlpool elsewhere.

WebEngage

Founded: 2011

Categories: Marketing

Details: Crafting contextual and personalised marketing campaigns is what WebEngage specialises in. Headquartered in Mumbai, the company offers a customer data platform along with full-stack marketing automation for consumer businesses. WebEngages solutions include multi-channel user engagement, tracking user behaviour and analytics, personalized communications, and journey designer. The company has over 300 enterprise customers including Flipkart, Shawacademy, Spykar, Goibibo, BajajCapital, Yatra, Edelweiss Tokyo and Lamba

BuildaBazaar

Founded: 2011

Categories: E-commerce solutions

Details: The Gujarat-based company has helped its customers build over 90,000 online stores. It also specializes in e-commerce consulting, payment gateways, and customer services. Crossword, Amul Online, Daikin, Hidesign are among its customers.
If you'd told me five years ago that I'd one day write another article about the importance of Google Voice, I'd have responded with a friendly but firm "fuhgeddaboudit."

Google Voice was once one of Google's greatest but most underappreciated services. When it launched way back in the prehistoric era of 2009, it promised to change the way we thought about our phones by taking over our primary numbers and then acting as the gatekeeper and controller of all our communications.

For years, Voice was a power-user's dream  especially on Android, where its simple system-level integration made it easy to have Google own your actual phone number and turn the phone itself into a mere node instead of letting it act as the nucleus of your mobile-tech universe. But then, well, Google...Googled. It let Voice languish for years, without any attention or updates, then awkwardly half-merged it into Hangouts and had it rot away unattended for years. And we all know how the whole Hangouts saga ended (or is still in the process of ending, I guess we should say).

A few years ago, though, something unexpected happened: Following years of neglect, Google suddenly brought Voice back to life. The company rolled out long overdue updates to its various Voice apps and began an ongoing process of adding new features into the mix. And soon after, it started subtly repositioning Voice as more of a professional tool  one with utility for both businesses and individuals but with a newly emphasized enterprise purpose at its core.

And that brings us to today.

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Google Voice in 2020

Let's start with a quick primer  in part because Google Voice is such an unusual service and in part because Google has approximately 7 gazillion messaging apps, each with a role that gets redefined once every four to 14 minutes. Even if you watch this stuff meticulously, it's damn-near impossible to keep track of what's what from one moment to the next.

So here's the simplest possible version of what Google Voice is all about in 2020: It's a service that lets you transfer your existing phone number into Google (or select a new number, if you'd rather) and then allow the app to serve as a virtual switchboard of sorts for all of your calls and messages (provided you're in the U.S, that is, which is unfortunately the only place where the service is presently available).

That means your phone number is no longer tied to any single specific phone and is instead just your number, existing in the cloud, and doing whatever you want. You can tell Google Voice to make your incoming calls ring on any number of devices, and you can make and receive calls using your regular ol' number from any phone you connect. You can even make and receive calls and access your text messages and voicemail (transcribed, of course) from any computer where you're signed in.

The hardware itself, as I said a moment ago, turns into a mere node instead of being the nucleus of your mobile-tech universe. And that opens up a lot of interesting possibilities.

For enterprises, where Google Voice is now an optional G Suite add-on (with rates ranging from $10 to $30 per user per month), businesses gain a simple system for assigning work numbers to employees and then letting said employees use whatever devices they want, whenever they want. All you've gotta do is set up the proper forwarding within the service, and someone's personal Android device or any company-provided handset can be "that phone"  regardless of what network it's using or what carrier-assigned number is actually connected to it.

When someone loses their phone or moves into a new phone, the number itself remains in the centralized Google Voice control panel and can be redirected wherever needed in a matter of seconds. If someone leaves the company altogether, their work-related calls could even be redirected to someone else's device without any compromises or complication.

Even in a small business, independent contractor, or strictly personal arrangement, Google Voice is packed with potential. You could move your number into the service and then have all of your incoming calls ring multiple phones simultaneously  your personal phone, your work phone, your home-office VoIP line, your actual office landline, or any combination  every time a call comes in. You just pick up wherever it's most convenient; the devices themselves are just interchangeable vessels.

And beyond the basics, Voice has other intriguing features  like the ability to record calls and switch between connected phones while in the midst of a call, for instance.

In addition to the mobile apps and website, Voice is also now available directly within Gmail for paying G Suite users  a form of integration added just over a month ago and a telling sign of Google's positioning of the service as a core company offering (which is quite a shift from the past, to say the very least). But it's another recent progression that really grabbed my attention and made me start looking at Voice with fresh eyes.

When Voice meets Fi

You'd be forgiven for failing to notice, but just before the holiday weekend here in the States, Google slipped out an intriguing little nugget of information: For the first time in the services' collective history, Google Voice and Google Fi can finally now play together nicely.

Fi, if you aren't familiar, is Google's wireless service. It uses the same underlying technology as Google Voice and incorporates many of the same features, including the optional call forwarding system. But it lacks other Voice elements and, perhaps most notably, lacks the central Voice ability to have your phone number connected only to the cloud and not parked on one specific device at a time.

From the get go, using Fi has essentially required you to give up Voice. You haven't even been able to forward calls from a Fi number to a Voice number or vice-versa. The two services have just always been strangely connected and basically incompatible.

Well, no more: You can now maintain a Fi phone number and a Voice phone number on the same Google account and even forward calls in either direction between the two. If you're already using Fi, you can transfer your existing number over to Voice and then get a separate, new number from Fi for your actual phone  or you can keep your existing number on Fi and get a new number (or a newly transferred-in number, from some other source) for Voice.

It's all a little confusing to talk about, but what that ultimately means is one of two things: In the first scenario, which we'll call "One Number, Multiple Phones," your actual phone number  the one you give out to people and use  will be controlled by Google Voice and independent of any individual phone. Your physical phone will have some other number assigned to it, but that almost won't matter because you'll configure the phone to make and receive calls using your regular, now-Google-Voice-connected number.

As a result of that, you'll be able to pick up any ol' Android phone, slap the Google Voice app onto it, and have it effectively be your phone in a matter of seconds. It'll make and receive calls using your regular number and give you easy access to your texts and voicemails. You could thus use an old Android device as a secondary phone that works the same exact way as your primary one  an "extension" of sorts. You could even connect an extra phone to your Voice account and give it to an associate, assistant, or pet parakeet so they could make and answer calls on your behalf as needed.

And you could set up any other kind of device, be it a computer or even a tablet, to act just like your phone and make and receive calls, texts, and voicemails via your regular number using its Wi-Fi connection. (Fi can technically do that part as well, but only if you want to commit to using the long-ago-abandoned and barely-hanging-on-by-a-thread-now Hangouts app, which has been on the brink of death for longer than I can remember and will go away entirely sooner or later.)

In the second scenario, which we'll call "Two Numbers, One Phone," you could maintain two totally separate numbers that you give out for different purposes and have them both be available on your same primary phone. So maybe your Fi number is already your personal number, and you then bring a work number into Voice and gain the ability to make and receive calls from either number (and send and receive texts as well as access voicemails from either number, too) on the same single device.

So in other words, you'd transform your phone into a two-in-one, all-purpose hub for all sides of your life. It's easy to see that sort of setup being advantageous in any number of professional situations  even one in which multiple devices or perhaps multiple people have access to the same Voice-based number simultaneously  and the Voice app makes the whole thing easy as can be to manage.

There's only one real downside to moving an existing number to Voice and using it to manage your communications  and it's almost a comically "classic Google" kind of limitation: Once your number is associated with Voice, you'll have to use the Google Voice Android app for texting. And the app, unlike Google's regular Android Messages app, doesn't support the next-gen RCS standard Google itself is aggressively pushing as the future of Android messaging.

Yeeeeeeeeeeah.

How much that actually matters is up to you. But if you use the regular Android Messages app now and see the read/unread indicators and typing status indicators while you're chatting with other Messages users, you'll lose out on those once you start using the Voice app for texting. For what it's worth, Google has been saying it's working to implement RCS in Voice for about three and a half years now. But as to if or when those alleged efforts will ever actually come to fruition, well, your guess is as good as mine.

That asterisk aside, though, Google Voice brings an impressive bit of power-user flexibility from the past back to the present for Fi users  and it makes that same feature set available to pretty much anyone, on either the enterprise or individual level, regardless of what carrier they're using. Now that it's back on Google's radar, it's a service well worth watching and mulling over. And with any luck, what we're seeing now is only just the beginning.

Here's hoping.

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In late June, Microsoft said it would permanently close its chain of 82 retail stores after temporarily shuttering them in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Its an ignominious end to a failed experiment and attempt by Microsoft to try and build some of same cachet as the Apple Store.

But Microsofts largely humdrum hardware never inspired the same devotion as Apples devices. And Microsoft could never outmarket Apple  the Microsoft Store never came up with the equivalent of the Genius Bar, and the stores were never destinations in and of themselves like Apple Stores have been.

Microsoft, in a ham-handed way, tried to portray closing the stores as a victory becausewell, its hard to know why the company considers it a victory. In an attempt at spin control, David Porter, Microsoft corporate vice president of the Microsoft Store, said in a blog post that the company had announced a strategic change in our retail operations, including closing Microsoft Store physical locations. Whats the big strategic change apart from closing the physical retail stores  and why is that better for consumers?

Porter didnt say.

As big a failure as the Microsoft Stores have been, the real store Microsoft should have axed is the one built into Windows for downloading software. You say you never used it? Join the club. The Microsoft Store in Windows has never had a solid collection of downloadable software  and is largely filled with underpowered apps that people simply dont want to use.

The problem was baked in from the beginning. Nearly eight years ago, when writing about the original store, I noted, that it ...seems as barren of goods as a Romanian grocery store during the depths of the Ceausescu regime."

There were many reasons for that. A primary one was that for most of the download stores life, the only apps allowed in were those built with what Microsoft calls the Universal Windows Platform (UWP). UWP was part of Windows 8, and in those days, Microsoft believed its Windows Phone would become the dominant mobile operating system. The idea was that developers would build apps using UWP, and the apps would run on both Windows 8 and Windows Phone. In Microsofts worldview, software written for the Windows Desktop, called Win32 apps, would slowly fade away, while UWP apps would conquer the world.

Things didnt turn out that way, of course. Windows Phone failed miserably. Developers stayed away from UWP apps in droves, and the store continued to have plenty of empty virtual shelves. Win32 apps still rule the world, and the apps Microsoft did develop for UWP were exceedingly underpowered. Though there were plans to release a UWP version of Office, that never happened. Microsoft wrote an app it called Office, but it wasnt Office. Instead, it was supposed to be a companion to Office. What did it do? Heres the description from the Microsoft Store: The Office app enables you to get the most out of Office by helping you find all your Office apps and files in one place so you can jump quickly into your work.

Not exactly groundbreaking  or particularly useful.

So few developers wrote UWP apps for the Microsoft Store that at one point Microsoft essentially bribed them to do so. In early 2013, it launched a promotion in which it paid $100 to developers to send UWP apps to the Windows Store. Each developer could get up to $200  $100 per app.

Microsoft was so hungry to stock those software shelves that it did a terrible job of vetting them for quality and safety. An investigation found in 2014 that "Microsofts Windows Store is a mess. Its full of apps that exist only to scam people and take their money. Why doesnt Microsoft care that their flagship app store is such a cesspool?"

Microsoft finally got around to removing 1,500 bad apps from the store. But that made it only seem like a lonelier place.

Eventually, Microsoft recognized that UWP was a failure. The original Microsoft Edge was written in UWP, and Microsoft abandoned it and developed a newer browser based on open-source Chromium. Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Microsofts experiences and devices division, explained the decision this way, Its not that UWP is bad, but UWP is not a 35-year-old mature platform that a ridiculously huge amount of apps have been written to.

These days, the Microsoft Store in Windows still offers mainly UWP apps, though you can occasionally find a Win32 app. But it doesnt have many of the best and most important Win32 apps. Want the most popular Windows browser, Chrome? You wont find it in the Microsoft Store. How about Adobe Reader? Nope, not there. How about the great cleanup utility CCleaner, the Dropbox cloud application or the excellent malware killer Malwarebytes? No, no and no. Want to videoconference using Zoom in Windows 10? Correct, youll have to find it somewhere else.

If Microsoft cant make its store in Windows truly useful, it should do away with it. Unless the company can improve it, its time to pull the plug.
23 community cases in 183 new COVID-19 infections in Singapore on July 6

The Ministry of Health has confirmed 183 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of 12 pm on July 6. This takes the national tally of infections to 44,983.

The vast majority of the new cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories. There are also 23 cases in the community, in which three are Singaporeans/Permanent Residents and 20 are Work Pass holders.

Photo courtesy: Facebook/Lawrence Wong

MOH said that of these 23 cases, five were close contacts of earlier cases, and had already been placed on quarantine. Another seven are migrant workers who reside together at a temporary accommodation arranged by their company.

These cases were identified from our periodic screening of workers in essential services who are living outside the dormitories, and some may be past infections. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing for the other cases, said the MOH.

Additionally there are three imported cases, two of which are Singaporeans who returned to Singapore from Yemen and India respectively. The remaining case is a Filipino who returned to Singapore from the Philippines. She is a Work Pass holder who is currently employed in Singapore. 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.
UK government to probe reports of slave labour in clothing factory with Indian workers

The United Kingdom's National Crime Agency has been tasked with investigating a clothing factory named Jaswal Fashions based in Leicester after an undercover reporter alleged the workers, many of them from India, were facing sweatshop-like conditions and below minimum wage payments.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel described the allegations as truly appalling and commended the undercover investigation. Photo courtesy: UK Parliament

The Sunday Times reporter allegedly found that workers were being paid as little as GBP 3.50 an hour as against the UKs legal minimum wage of GBP 8.72 an hour and was also operating last week during the localised coronavirus lockdown imposed on the city.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel described the allegations as truly appalling and commended the undercover investigation for its role in uncovering such abhorrent practices.

I will not tolerate sick criminals forcing innocent people into slave labour and a life of exploitation, said Patel. Let this be a warning to those who are exploiting people in sweatshops like these for their own commercial gain, she said.

Last week, the senior Cabinet minister had directed the UKs NCA to investigate modern slavery allegations in Leicesters clothing factories after alarm was raised that they were a key source of the spike in coronavirus infections in the region, which led to Englands first localised Covid-19 lockdown for the city.

Within the last few days NCA officers, along with Leicestershire police and other partner agencies, attended a number of business premises in the Leicester area to assess concerns of modern slavery and human trafficking, the NCA said.
The ninth ministerial conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) took place via video link on July 6, co-chaired by China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi. As a major dialogue mechanism for China and the Arab world as a whole, the CASCF has witnessed the growth of relations between the two sides, and continues to usher in a new chapter in bilateral relations.



Among the various institutions within the forum, the ministerial conference, which is held every two years, is the most important in terms of the overall development of relations between the two sides. During the conference, foreign ministers of the relevant countries exchanged their positions on major international issues and agreed on the directions for the future development of relations.

The CASCF has made numerous achievements over the last 16 years, the most important being the development of political coordination between both sides, particularly the mutual support in the face of unilateralism.

The establishment and development of the CASCF is the natural result of an evolution in the overall relations between China and the Arab world. In 2004, when the CASCF was founded, China and Arab states had already become key economic partners as China had become a major importer of energy from Arab countries, and businesspeople from Arab countries frequently travelled to China. The two sides are also major political partners as both have supported each other's core interests. Cultural exchanges have also increased greatly since 2003.

Given the current situation as the world faces the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more necessary than ever for China and Arab countries to increase cooperation and join hands to tackle difficulties.

The convening of the ninth ministerial conference of the CASCF meets just such a demand. It is expected that the conference will add new momentum to the development of relations between the two sides.

During the conference, China clearly expressed its commitment to the principles of justice and fairness in terms of Middle East issues. China's commitment and political support will undoubtedly enhance the standings of Arab states in protecting their own interests, particularly those regarding the legitimate rights of Palestine's nationhood and annexations of territories. Arab ministers also expressed their support for China's positions in maintaining its own national security and territorial integrity.

In addition, the conference will also facilitate cooperation between the two sides in building a community of shared future, particularly in the field of healthcare. Arab states have expressed their sympathy, political support and material assistance to China when it was facing difficulty fighting the coronavirus. China also provided material assistance and sent medical teams to Arab countries when they too experienced outbreaks of the disease.



The joint fight against COVID-19 has not only enhanced friendship between the two sides, but also reinforced the necessity of building a community of shared future for mankind, especially in terms of healthcare as pandemics respect no borders.

The CASCF has witnessed the development of China-Arab relations over the past decade and a half, served as a mechanism to promote growth, and will facilitate the ongoing development of relations between the two sides toward a better future.

Jin Liangxiang is Senior Research Fellow with the Center for West Asian and African Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/jinliangxiang.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.
Correction: July 8, 2020

An earlier version of this story was not clear about the location of the facility Dr. Patrick Coll was referring to when he mentioned staff members being tested for COVID-19 weekly. It is the Seabury Retirement Community in Bloomfield, not UConn Health where Coll also works.

A version of this article appears in the August 2020 issue of Connecticut Magazine. You can subscribe to Connecticut Magazine here, or find the current issue on sale here. Sign up for our newsletter to get our latest and greatest content delivered right to your inbox. Have a question or comment? Email editor@connecticutmag.com. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag.
A former reporter at The Boston Globe, Larry Tye has written eight books. His last was a biography of Bobby Kennedy, and his latest, just out from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy.

A version of this article appears in the August 2020 issue of Connecticut Magazine. You can subscribe to Connecticut Magazine here, or find the current issue on sale here. Sign up for our newsletter to get our latest and greatest content delivered right to your inbox. Have a question or comment? Email editor@connecticutmag.com. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag.
07/07/2020

Photo (c) SomeMeans - Getty Images Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 2,948,397 (2,897,613)

Total U.S. deaths: 130,430 (130,007)

Total global cases: 11,662,574 (11,495,412)

Total global deaths: 539,058 (535,185)

Feds increase funding for drug development

The U.S. government has opened its checkbook to support pharmaceutical companies working on coronavirus (COVID-19) treatments and vaccines, in hopes of reducing the time it will take to get them to market.

Novavax has received $1.6 billion from the government as part of Operation Warp Speed, a program created to accelerate drug development. Novavax currently has a vaccine candidate in late-stage clinical trials.

Under that same program, Regeneron has signed a $450 million contract with the government to ramp up production of its double-antibody cocktail designed to treat or prevent COVID-19. As we reported here yesterday, the drug is in late-stage clinical trials.

Fauci: vaccine may require booster

Health officials have long assumed that any vaccine approved to prevent the coronavirus would provide lasting immunity, much like the vaccine against measles. White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci is now calling that assumption into doubt.

In a public discussion at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Fauci said its unclear whether a vaccine would provide lasting protection or might require an occasional booster shot.

Spanish health officials, meanwhile, report that some early recovered patients no longer show evidence of antibodies in their blood, calling into question whether herd immunity will be able to slow the spread of the virus.

Emergency authorization for another test

As coronavirus cases continue to spike across the U.S., testing becomes an even more critical function. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for another COVID-19 antigen diagnostic test, the BD (Becton Dickinson) Veritor System for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2.

Its the second antigen test the FDA has authorized for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Under the EUA, it can be used in patient care settings operating under a CLIA Certificate of Waiver, Certificate of Compliance, or Certificate of Accreditation.

"Antigen tests play an important role in the overall response against COVID-19, including as a point-of-care test that can potentially scale up to test millions of Americans quickly," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn.

Problems with contact tracing

The spike in coronavirus cases in some southern states has been so sudden that at least one health expert says the surge is making it difficult to perform contact tracing. When someone tests positive for the virus, tracing the people with whom they have had recent contact may identify the source and prevent others from spreading the virus.

But Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, says the outbreaks are so numerous that many health officials have simply given up on tracing efforts.

"I don't see how it's possible to even do that," Hotez told CNN.

Survey: consumers ready to travel again

Hoping to shake off that cabin fever after weeks of being homebound? You arent alone.

New research from Oracle and Skift found that 51 percent of people surveyed in both North America and Latin America plan to book trips in the next six months. But with the coronavirus still very much a threat, nearly half said they want to stay fairly close to home.

The survey also found travelers will likely be highly selective about the hotels they choose, expressing a preference for those that advertise enhanced sanitation and offer contactless technology for check-in, food ordering, and concierge services.

Around the nation
07/07/2020

Photo (c) designer491 - Getty Images Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed a lawsuit against four timeshare exit companies, operated by a single individual.

The complaint alleges the timeshare exit companies, at the direction of the owner, solicited large payments from customers by promising to either transfer or terminate consumer timeshare interests within one year or the companies would buy out the interests themselves.

While many people love their timeshares purchases, a large number later have a case of buyers remorse. Unfortunately, some timeshare contracts make it difficult to sell or otherwise resolve the obligation. Timeshare exit companies have sprung up in recent years, offering help to timeshare owners who want to stop paying for their units.

Found themselves in arrears

The complaint names Vacation Consulting Services LLC, VCS Communications, LLC, The Transfer Group, LLC, and Real Travel L.L.C. The suit says after being paid large fees by timeshare owners, the companies failed to provide the result they promised.

The exit groups did not make those payments as promised, Schmitts office said in a press release. As a result, many customers have found themselves in arrears with their respective timeshare holding companies.

One reason timeshare contracts are so hard to reverse is that the transaction can be highly complex. In fact, there are two principal types of timeshares, both very different.

If it is a deeded contract timeshare, the buyer is one of 52 owners who is allowed to use the property one week out of the year. The transaction is a real property sale and the buyer is on the hook for a portion of real estate taxes, as well as maintenance fees.

Other timeshares are sold with right-to-use contracts. The buyer has no property ownership and they only have the right to use the property -- usually for a week each year. But at some point, the contract ends and all rights go back to the owner.

Complex contracts

Depending on the type of ownership, exiting the contract may carry different levels of complexity. Schmitt says owners who want out should talk to the timeshare operator first. Ask if the operator offers a deed-back or exit program. If talks are not successful, Schmitt says that may be the time to consult with an attorney.

If you are considering the purchase of a timeshare, buying from a reputable company that will explain all options could prevent future heartburn. ConsumerAffairs has collected thousands of reviews of some of the best timeshare companies here.
People visit a homestay about to open in Baiyun Village, Taibai County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, July 5, 2020. Baiyun Village, located in the deep of the Qinling Mountains, had long been a underdeveloped area with people living in poverty. In recent years, by promoting rural tourism and agricultural products, the village has lifted all of its people out of poverty. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)
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* Dave Ramsey is CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven best-selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 14 million listeners each week on 600 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on the web at daveramsey.com and on Twitter at @DaveRamsey.
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Hey, you know how celebs are each really good at one thing? And they could just stick with it if they wanted? Ho ho, but they won't, you see. Because they see beyond their trade a whole world of other money they can get, or of other ... fringe benefits. Occasionally, it's something nice enough like Paul Newman giving the world lemonade, but a lot of the time, it's a celeb offering up a giant serving of shit fondue.

5 Hannibal Buress Is A Crappy Landlord

Hannibal Buress seems like a nice kind of guy, based on his stand-up routines about liking apple juice and his occasionally having to point out, "Why are you booing me? I'm right!" So if you hear him in a podcast saying, "I got this building in Chicago, and there were tenants in it, and so I wanted to put the units on Airbnb, and so I asked all the tenants to leave" ... well, you'd hope he's joking. If he really did kick tenants out to flip apartments into Airbnb units, that would be pretty shitty, right? That landlord strategy screws renters over in every way and ends up ruining whole cities.

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But no, he's talking about something that really happened. And so, you might assume he's doing the other kind of joking -- he's telling a true story, and he wants you to laugh at his actions. Haha, aren't I an asshole? he seems to say, so maybe he did something greedy, but at least he's self-aware about it? Nope. When Hannibal tells this tale about what he did to his Chicago building in 2016, he makes himself out to be as kind as possible. He let the tenants stay the final two months for free, you see, and when one of them asked for an additional couple of weeks ... uh, Hannibal didn't give him those, but he did give him a couple extra days, generously.
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It's a nice ruling that fixes a long-lingering problem within the system. But maybe we should be focusing on how the Electoral College itself defies the will of the majority of voters? It's reducing presidential elections to a tabletop game, about 17th-century European farm management, that makes no sense, and while you were trying to figure out of the 40-page rule book, the winner won but they were actually the loser? Huh?

The Electoral College has given us five presidential candidates in U.S. history who won the hearts, minds, and, most importantly, votes of a majority of Americans, but they didn't win over the right people in the right places who count for more points than other people in other places (who are worth less), so therefore lost. Meanwhile, the loser, who convinced fewer people that they're fit for the job, goes on to rule a country that very loudly rejected them. The purpose of the Electoral College was to make sure the voice of smaller, lower populace states wasn't drowned out by bigger states. Or, at least, that was the idea.

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If the issue at the heart of this Supreme Court case was about maintaining the core tenet of fairness, then maybe cutting out the extremely obvious middle man here so the total number of votes overall decides a winner is a more direct path toward representation? The whole issue of electoral representation and the question of who, exactly, is being represented (more importantly, who isn't) is thrown out of whack when you consider that one of the foundational purposes for the Electoral College was to give slave states more power. The Electoral College, meant to include more voices, was built on a foundation of exclusion.
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China, India reach positive consensus on easing border situation - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Chinese Special Representative on the China-India Boundary Question, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone conversation on Sunday evening with Indian Special Representative, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, during which the two sides reached positive consensus on easing their border situation.



Noting that this year marks the 70th anniversary of China-India diplomatic ties, Wang said that bilateral relations have experienced ups and downs and today's development situation has not come easily.

For the incident that occurred not long ago at the Galwan Valley in the western section of the China-India boundary, the merits of what happened are very clear, Wang said, adding that China will continue to firmly defend its territorial sovereignty and safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas.

Wang stressed that achieving development and rejuvenation is the top priority for both China and India, and the two sides share long-term, common strategic interests in this general direction.

He urged the two sides to adhere to the strategic judgement that China and India pose no threat to each other and are each other's development opportunities, attach great importance to the current complex situation facing bilateral relations, and work together to overcome and reverse it as soon as possible.

Wang also expressed his hope that the Indian side will meet China halfway, guide public opinions in the right direction, safeguard and promote normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, avoid the moves that will expand and complicate disputes, and jointly safeguard the overall situation of China-India relations.

The two sides exchanged frank and in-depth views on easing their border situation and reached positive consensus.

Firstly, both sides agreed to abide by the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries. Both believed that maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential for the long-term development of bilateral relations, and agreed that the boundary question should be placed in an appropriate position in bilateral relations so as to avoid an escalation from differences to disputes.

Secondly, the two sides reiterated their adherence to a series of treaties and agreements signed by the two countries on border issues and making joint efforts to ease the situation in the border areas.

Thirdly, the two sides agreed to strengthen communication through the mechanism of the special representatives' meeting, hold meetings of the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on the China-India border affairs regularly without interruption, continuously fine-tune and strengthen the building of confidence measures in the border areas, and avoid the recurrence of incidents affecting the peace and tranquility in the border areas.

Fourthly, the two sides welcomed the progress made in the recent military and diplomatic meetings between the two countries, agreed to continue maintaining dialogue and consultation, and stressed that the consensus reached at the commander-level talks between the border troops of the two countries should be implemented as soon as possible, and that the two sides should complete the disengagement process of their frontline troops expeditiously.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, held Monday via video link.

Xi said that back in 2018, at the opening ceremony of the 8th ministerial meeting of the forum, his announcement of the establishment of the China-Arab strategic partnership, and the initiative of forging a China-Arab community with a shared future and jointly promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, were warmly received by Arab states.

Over the past two years, the two sides have strengthened strategic coordination and synergy of actions, and the Sino-Arab future-oriented strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and common development has been deepened, Xi said in the letter.

China and Arab states have offered mutual assistance and staunch support to each other, and engaged in close cooperation since the COVID-19 outbreak, Xi said, noting this is a vivid illustration of China and Arab states sharing weal and woe.

Xi said that under the current circumstances, it is more necessary than ever for the two sides to step up cooperation and join hands in tiding over difficulties.

"I hope China and Arab states can take the meeting as an opportunity to enhance strategic communication and coordination, steadily advance cooperation in various fields including pandemic response, promote the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future to continuously go deeper and more practical, so as to better benefit the peoples of the two sides," Xi added.
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
Perhaps the most remarkable statement I ever heard a man utter from the pulpit was: "He has a penurious epistemology, which tends to be myopic." I was seated in the balcony of the church when that statement was made, and I could not restrain myself from laughing aloud. I nudged my wife Vesta and said, "I just might be the only person in the church who understood what that man said." What is a penurious epistemology? A penurious epistemology is a theory of knowledge that is poverty-stricken or on the verge of bankruptcy. Such a view of knowledge, if it tends towards myopia, is simply suffering a bad case of near-sightedness. I'm afraid that the American church suffers from a similar sort of myopia.

Our vision tends to extend only to the borders of our own nation or at best across the Atlantic to western Europe. We tend to think that Christianity is fundamentally a Western religion. Such a view is penurious, indeed. The Bible, through the lips of Jesus, calls the church to extend the reach of the gospel to the corners of the earth  to every tribe, to every tongue, and to every nation. The whole world is the mission of the Christian faith. The strength of Christianity does not stand or fall with the strengths of the church in America or western Europe.

If in our ecclesiastical myopia we restricted our vision to the United States and Europe, it would be easy for us to become profoundly discouraged, particularly regarding Europe. The historians are saying that western Europe has now entered a post-Christian era where only a tiny fraction of the populace attends church regularly. The beautiful churches that dot the scene on the continent have become museums in many cases.

Though there still exists a vibrant Christianity in the United States, we have also seen serious decline in the substance of our faith and commitment. The discouragement that ensues from an evaluation of what's happening in America and in Europe is unwarranted, however, when we evaluate the church from a global perspective.

Though the Christian faith may be on the wane in certain sections of the West, there is a burgeoning vitality found in Korea, in Africa, in Latin America, and even now in China. The excitement of the discovery of the Reformed tradition in the Ukraine, for example, is contagious throughout the eastern part of Europe and into Russia. Sociologists and historians have predicted that by the year 2050 the strongest center for Christianity will be in Africa and Latin America.

The good news is that the inroads of the faith in these areas of the globe have been profound. The bad news is that there has been a lack of substantive doctrine feeding the people of these lands  as is often the case with fresh revivals and awakenings to Christianity. So often a syncretism exists in which superstitious elements of animistic religion are mingled and blended with the Christian faith. However, as these Christian churches mature, we can anticipate an increase of sound theology with a diminution of elements of pagan syncretism.

One of the strongest churches in the world is the church in Korea, which has enjoyed explosive growth over the last forty years. The contagion of that Asian form of Christianity is penetrating all parts of the world. It is not an unusual thing to now see missionaries being sent from the Third World countries into Europe and even into the United States, as the ebb and flow of Christian fervor moves from one geographical spot to another. Many times I have heard people lament the spiritual aridity of America's New England. The irony is that no part of our nation has ever had a more powerful visitation of the Holy Spirit than New England enjoyed in the Great Awakening during the middle of the eighteenth century. That Great Awakening, however, gave way to unitarianism and secularism. One wonders that if God pours out a profound blessing on a particular geographical region and that blessing is neglected or repudiated, does a kind of ichabod ensue in which God removes His lampstand from their midst, along with His glory (1 Sam. 4:20-22; Rev. 2:5)? We should take heed in this country that the profound spiritual benefits and blessings that we have enjoyed in our brief history may be removed and passed to other nations that are more receptive to the truths of God.

Here in the West, we have become immunized or inoculated against the deep things of God, living our Christian lives on a superficial plane of churchiness and religiosity. This type of Christianity will not do. It would be no surprise to me if we, in a very short time, will be looking to Africa, to eastern Europe, to Asia, and to Latin America to discover the real power of the Christian gospel.

Dr. R.C. Sproul is founder and president of Ligonier Ministries and he is author of Surprised by Suffering and Objections Answered.

 Tabletalk magazine. Used with permission.
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Rebutting U.S. politicians' slanderous remarks, China on Monday urged the United States to respect facts and stop political maneuvering over COVID-19.



Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing, refuting a U.S. politician's allegation that China has never reported the virus outbreak to the World Health Organization (WHO), following WHO's recent update on the timeline of its response to COVID-19.

The U.S. side's allegation totally goes against the facts, Zhao said.

China, as a State Party to the WHO's International Health Regulations, has conscientiously performed its duties and obligations under the regulations in an open, transparent and responsible manner, and timely shared COVID-19 information with the WHO, relevant countries and regional organizations, as well as China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

"The timelines published by both the Chinese government and the WHO have clearly shown that China has shared epidemic information with the international community in a timely and transparent manner," Zhao said.

On Dec. 31 last year, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission released a statement on the situation of pneumonia in the city on its official website, and China reported to the WHO at the earliest possible time, Zhao said, adding that this fact cannot be clearer.

"By distorting facts and telling lies, certain U.S. politicians aim to frame China and the WHO for their own political agenda," Zhao said. "We urge them to respect facts and stop political maneuvering."
I am in Los Angeles. My new friend Gregory issomewhere in France, I think? But together, our avatars are exploring a business conference on a virtual island. The day just ended, so we stroll to the beach and await a tour by motorboat. Then we realize no boat is necessary; the water is walkable. So off we go, two digital avatars wading into the digital blue.

As our professional lives become more digital, its worth wondering: Is this the future? Can human connection thrive in pixels? Virtual conference spaces seem to offer some insight, because while they were niche before COVID-19, theyre now in high demand. VirBela, which creates the virtual space Im in, recorded a 600 percent increase in sales since March. VR platform Hubs by Mozilla says its doubling users every few weeks. Augmented reality startup Spatial reported 1,000 percent growth.

Related: 5 Ways to Lead Effective Virtual Meetings With Your Remote Teams

Skeptics might say, Virtual spaces arent like real life! Thats true  though in my experience, some things are strangely the same. A conference room still looks like a conference room, and a panel still features a lineup of experts in chairs. (Their avatars can be just as boring as in real life, too.) At one session, other avatars heads even kept blocking my view  so realistic! But there were many digital upgrades too: Peoples bios and LinkedIn profiles are a click away, I could find anyone immediately without wandering around, and I never worried about forgetting someones name; its glowing over their head.

But reality isnt what these spaces are really going for anyway. Trying to fully replicate the offline experience in a digital world is like taking a horse carriage and replacing the horse with an engine, says Andrey Lunev, who produces virtual events with the company XR Crowd. Instead, developers seem to start with a different question: How can this new experience feel safely familiar? VirBelas environments look a little like Fortnite, and company president Alex Howland says thats on purpose. More realistic graphics require powerful hardware, and he wants people to have access regardless of whether theyre using an Oculus or an old PC.

In any case, users say the space isnt whats valuable. Its the real people who inhabit it.

Thats how Ashley Huffman felt. She lives in Toronto and leads marketing for the tech company Nano Magnetics, and recently attended the virtual version of a conference thats usually held in China. She was surprised at how human it felt. When youre inside an event 10 feet away from the chairman of HTC, Cher Wang, Huffman says, it feels like shes talking with you. Moscow-based VR developer Alina Mikhaleva loves to hear that; shes the founder of Less Media Group and hopes more people will now try the new technology. The crisis allows us to take a break, reflect on our old habits, and rethink what we want to build in the future, she says.

Related: 5 Ways to Beat Zoom Fatigue

But once COVID-19 is contained, will we abandon virtual spaces and return to the real world? It may not be that simple. The education industry offers a case study: Completion rates for online courses were averaging in the single digits, so a few years ago, some institutions adopted virtual spaces. Stanford University began using VirBela for parts of an executive online program called LEAD and saw great results. We could bring the community together in a way that you cant do in a videoconference, says Peter DeMarzo, the programs director. He plans to keep going.

Perhaps, then, the future will be a hybrid. For example, the event I attended was called Laval Virtual 2020; its the digital version of an annual event held in Laval, France. Organizers want people to come in person, but they loved that the digital version drew 6,600 people  many of whom may never get to France. So now theyre exploring how to offer both versions at once, like a gathering of humans with two planes of existence: the real and virtual worlds, both of which have their benefits.

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STAMFORD  The chief states attorneys office says the Appellate Court should deny Michelle Troconis request for preferential treatment.

But her defense attorney isnt buying the states contention that the coronavirus pandemic has hampered court functions and delayed a judge from hearing his request to remove Troconis electronic monitoring device.

When the state argues that the Appellate Court should ignore violations of the constitution because its rules don't anticipate pandemics, that should frighten us all, defense attorney Jon Schoenhorn said. I hope that the Appellate Court draws back the curtain, sees through the state's intransigence, and recognizes that where there is a right, there must also be a remedy.

Schoenhorn wants the Appellate Court to remove the stipulation that Troconis must wear electronic monitoring at all times as a condition of her release on $2.1 million bond while facing charges in the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos.

Schoenhorn has filed several motions in state Superior Court for the same request, but only priority matters have been heard since March due to the pandemic.

In his response to Schoenhorn on Monday, Senior States Attorney Ronald Weller, of the Appellate Unit of the Chief States Attorneys Office, said Troconis is seeking preferential treatment while others who are incarcerated have not been able to get a bond hearing.

The petitioner minimizes the enormity of the disruption to our court system that this global pandemic has wrought, Weller said. She has already had her day, and in fact several days, in court on her bond conditions.

Schoenhorn is arguing the electronic monitoring device is interfering with his clients right to a fair trial because prosecutors can see her movements as she helps prepare her defense.

Troconis has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the case and is next scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Aug. 6.

During her last court appearance on Feb. 5, Superior Court Judge Gary White lifted some restrictions by expanding the conditions for Troconis to leave her house, Weller pointed out in his response.

However, White said Troconis must continue to wear the electronic monitoring device at all times. Weller contends Schoenhorn should have filed an appeal with the Appellate Court within 10 days of Whites decision.

Schoenhorn also did not include the transcript of the court proceedings with the appellate review request, which was filed on June 17 so there is insufficient information to consider a ruling, Weller said.

The senior states attorney also contended that the Appellate Court has no jurisdiction over Schoenhorns request since the lower court has not yet heard his earlier motions on the same topic.

The Appellate Court can only modify or vacate an order by the trial court, Weller said.

The trial court, however, has not yet ruled on the March 17 motion to review bail conditions, and therefore, there is no trial court order for (the Appellate Court) to modify or vacate, Weller said in his response.

Many court operations, including bond hearings, have been conducted remotely in recent weeks, Judicial Branch officials told state legislators on Monday. It is unclear whether Troconis hearing in August will be held in person or by video and if the judge will consider Schoenhorns motions during that appearance.

The Appellate Court has not indicated whether a ruling on Schoenhorns request will be provided before Troconis next court appearance.

Her former boyfriend, Fotis Dulos, died from an apparent suicide on Jan. 30 while facing murder and other charges in the death and disappearance of his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, who vanished May 24, 2019. The 50-year-old mother of five is presumed dead by police based on blood evidence found in the garage of her New Canaan home where they believe she was attacked, according to arrest warrants.

Kent Mawhinney, a former attorney and friend of Fotis Dulos, has also been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Mawhinney is being held in lieu of $2 million bond and is scheduled to appear Wednesday in state Superior Court in Stamford.
Britain has stepped up its criticism of Beijing and Moscow as it seeks to establish a place for itself in the world after Brexit.

China's ambassador to London warned of "consequences" if Britain treats his country as a "hostile" power in its dealings over Hong Kong and Huawei Technologies Co., while Russian officials topped the list of people sanctioned for human rights abuses, sparking a threat of retaliation from the Kremlin.

"As we forge a dynamic new vision for a truly global Britain, this government are absolutely committed to the United Kingdom becoming an even stronger force for good in the world," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Parliament as he introduced the sanctions. He pledged "to keep the flame of freedom alive for those brave souls still suffering in the very darkest corners of the world."

The announcement of targeted sanctions on 49 individuals and organizations for human rights abuses immediately sparked calls from senior lawmakers in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party for similar curbs on China.

The demands highlight a tension for the U.K. as it seeks trade deals around the world after Brexit while trying to assert itself as a champion of freedom. The country is now free to set its own sanctions regime, after leaving the European Union in January. For Johnson, the difficulty is balancing his desire to crack down on international violations against the risk of exposing the U.K. to potential retaliation from sanctioned countries.

"Britain's future means balancing different interests and some tough choices," said Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative and chairman of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. "But to get through this we need to remember what really matters and hold on to core beliefs -- none more than the rule of law."

Tugendhat was joined by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith as senior MPs called for the sanctions, currently limited to Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea, to be extended to Chinese officials for the suppression of protests in Hong Kong and human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. Some said Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam should be added to the list.

Raab didn't rule out including Chinese nationals and said he is already working on the next round of sanctions, which he told MPs are "a forensic tool" and have to be legally watertight before they are applied.

The escalation of tensions came after it emerged Britain is preparing to phase Huawei out of plans for fifth-generation telecommunications networks, sparking a robust response from Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador in London.

He accused the U.K. of following the bidding of the U.S. over the Chinese technology giant and criticized its response to a crackdown on demonstrations in Hong Kong. Last week Johnson offered a fast-track to citizenship to almost 3 million residents of Britain's former colony.

"We want to be your friend, we want to be your partner, but if you want to make China a hostile partner you have to bear the consequences." Liu said on a video call with reporters Monday. "If you dance to the tune of other countries, how can you call yourself Great Britain?"

A report from the U.K.'s National Cybersecurity Centre concluded that new U.S. sanctions mean Huawei will have to use untrusted technology, making security risks impossible to control, a person familiar with the matter said.

Officials are drawing plans to speed up the removal of existing Huawei kit, although an exact timetable is yet to be set, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing unpublished proposals.

Johnson, who set a U.S. trade deal as the centerpiece of his international plans after Britain leaves the European Union, has been under heavy pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to drop Huawei from his plans. Washington warned future security cooperation could be under threat if London pressed on with the company after ministers cleared its participation in January.

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond warned the "alarming" rise in anti-Chinese attitudes in the Conservative Party could backfire.

"We are in a position where we need to build our trade relationships around the globe, and China is Britain's third largest trading partner," he told BBC Radio. "We have to find a way -- and I think we've done it in the past with many countries -- of continuing to trade, continuing to invest and welcome investment from countries with which we have frank disagreements about political issues."

Monday's sanctions were announced as Raab set out the British version of the U.S. Magnitsky Act. They included visa bans and assets freezes for 20 Saudi citizens suspected of involvement in the killing of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and two government entities in charge of North Korea's prison camps.

The action against Saudi nationals marks a change for the U.K., which has long regarded the kingdom as a crucial ally and trade partner in the Middle East. Raab was asked in Parliament if the sanctions would be extended to others in the Saudi regime and neighboring countries, including Bahrain and the UAE.

"It would be welcome if it marked the start of a more consistent approach from the Government toward Saudi Arabia, and in particular the arms sales from this country that are being used to harm innocent civilians in Yemen," Lisa Nandy, foreign affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Labour Party, told Parliament.

The Magnitsky Act is named for Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in jail in 2009 after alleging officials were involved in tax fraud, and the list includes individuals implicated in his case. Twenty-five Russians were named by the Foreign Office.

Raab, who compared Magnitsky to the Soviet-era dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn, said targeting individuals rather than states, will "allow us to continue to engage bilaterally with countries that, frankly, we need to."

That view was not shared by Russia, which said the U.K.'s targeting of judges and prosecutors was an "assault" on judicial independence.

"Russia reserves the right to respond to today's unfriendly decision by the U.K. on the basis of reciprocity," Russia's Embassy in London said in a statement. "It will not improve Russian-British relations."
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China and Arab countries on Monday agreed to jointly fight COVID-19, deepen cooperation in various fields, and embrace new prospects in building a China-Arab community with a shared future.

The agreements were reached during the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, which was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, via video-link. Foreign ministers and ministerial officials from all Arab League (AL) member states attended the meeting, along with AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

Commending China-Arab relations since the last meeting, Wang said the China-Arab community with a shared future is developing, and the two sides should grasp the trend of promoting bilateral relations with more urgent historical consciousness.

During the meeting, Wang called on the two sides to strengthen unity and coordination to fight COVID-19.

China is willing to continue to work with Arab countries to offer more anti-epidemic supplies, share experiences, and send medical teams, hold China-Arab health-cooperation forums as soon as possible, work on vaccine research and development, and also support the key role of the World Health Organization (WHO), said Wang. He called on the two sides to oppose politicizing and labeling practices regarding COVID-19, and oppose racial prejudice and ideological bias.

Wang called on the two sides to firmly support each other, and to safeguard fairness and justice. China firmly supports Arab countries in safeguarding their political security and social stability, and in choosing a path of independent development, he added.

China will continue to resolutely stand with the Palestinian people and Arab people, said Wang, hailing Arab countries' support of China's legitimate propositions on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan, and other domestic affairs.

On multilateralism and global governance, Wang called on the two sides to unequivocally support a UN-centered multilateral system and the international order based on international laws, and resolutely reject any unilateralism and power politics.

China and Arab countries can open up fast channels for necessary personnel exchanges, and deepen industrial and supply chain cooperation, Wang said. He urged both sides to push the Belt and Road construction forward in the direction of high quality, sustainable development, and improving people's livelihood.

The state councilor also called on the relevant sides to push forward political dialogue to promote security in the Middle East.

Twenty-one ministers attending the meeting along with the AL Secretary-General spoke highly of mutual trust and support between the two sides. They commended China's important achievements in fighting COVID-19.

They agreed to work with China to implement a plan outlining China-Arab relations in the next two years, accelerate Belt and Road cooperation, and deepen cooperation in trade, investment, energy, technology, tourism, and culture to achieve common development.

Noting that both sides uphold the basic norms of international relations, such as multilateralism and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, they said the Arab countries firmly support China in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity. They also firmly uphold the one-China principle, support China's legitimate position and propositions regarding Hong Kong and Xinjiang affairs, and oppose interference in China's domestic affairs.

During the meeting, the two sides released a joint declaration on fighting COVID-19 with solidarity, the Amman declaration, and an action plan for the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum 2020-2022.
Samoa might seem like a simple place to eradicate a disease. The Pacific island nation, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, has a land mass smaller than Rhode Island and a population of less than 200,000.

Effective vaccines against measles have existed for decades. Among them is the MMR vaccine, a single jab and booster that protects against measles, mumps and rubella. It has been administered in Samoa for more than a decade. Some 90% of infants in the country received the shot in 2013, according to the World Health Organization.

But last year, it became clear that, even in a small nation like Samoa, eradicating a preventable disease like measles was not simple at all. In less than four months, thousands of infants grew sick from measles and more than 80 people died, many of them very young.

The nation's health infrastructure was overwhelmed. "It happened so quick," said Fonoifafo Mcfarland-Seumanu, a public health nurse who joined the anti-measles campaign after winning the Miss Samoa pageant.

An array of local factors led to Samoa's outbreak. It was not, however, unique. Around the world, people die every year from outbreaks that vaccines could have quashed, from polio in Pakistan to human papillomavirus infections in Japan.

As the world grapples with the novel coronavirus pandemic and races to develop a vaccine to fight it, these outbreaks hold lessons for what lies head. Far from the end of the line, the discovery of a vaccine would mark the beginning of a new set of challenges in an era of fast-spreading misinformation and rampant public health policy missteps.

"Vaccines don't save lives," said Walter Orenstein, an associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center. "Vaccinations save lives. A vaccine dose that remains in a vial is zero-percent effective."

- - -

Measles spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Among those confirmed to be infected, the death rate is 1.46%, deadlier than most estimates for covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Before a vaccine became widely available in the 1960s, it caused millions of deaths worldwide annually.

Samoa has administered measles vaccines since 1982, according to national records, but it had not had an outbreak in years. "There was a false sense of security," said Sheldon Yetts, the UNICEF representative for Pacific island countries.

In July 2018, two infants died after receiving the vaccine. The Samoan government stopped its MMR program for nine months to investigate. A court later found the two nurses guilty of manslaughter - they had mixed a vaccine with muscle relaxant instead of water - and sentenced them to five years in prison.

"Everyone lost confidence," Mcfarland-Seumanu said. "Even some of the health-care professionals had doubts."

Anti-vaccination activists stoked a backlash, including Edwin Tamasese, a coconut farmer with no formal medical training, as well as Taylor Winterstein, the wife of an Australian rugby player.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and a controversial anti-vaccination activist, visited the islands in June 2019; he was photographed with Winterstein.

Vaccination rates, already lower than the roughly 95% required for herd immunity, plummeted to 31%. Experts cited a variety of reasons, including poor medical literacy and government inaction.

Then the outbreak began.

Samoa confirmed its first case of measles in September, probably imported from New Zealand. Within weeks, the outbreak was out of control. On Nov. 15, the government declared a state of emergency. Hospitals were as much as 300% past capacity.

The mother of the first child to die, 14-month-old Peter Von Heiderbrandt, begged families to get vaccinated. "These are our babies dying," she told a reporter. But the practical realities were immense.

"Most Samoans use traditional as well as scientific medicine and because of the confused response by the government to the measles epidemic, many were going to and fro in both systems," said Penelope Schoeffel, a sociologist at the National University of Samoa.

The government shut down the entire country on Dec. 5 and 6 for a sweeping door-to-door vaccination campaign. Unvaccinated families were asked to hang red flags outside their homes. Judith Esmay Ah Leong, a general practitioner in Apia, Samoa's capital, said doctors were shocked to discover "there were still people living off the grid and had no access to transport."

Tamasese was arrested on Dec. 5 after allegedly breaking a new law about spreading anti-vaccination views. Mcfarland-Seumanu said that even as the deaths racked up, she spoke to parents who were scared of vaccines, citing rumors they read on Facebook.

Only after 95% of eligible people were vaccinated on Dec. 29 did the government lift the state of emergency. "There wasn't a village that was not affected, one way or another, by the outbreak," Yetts said.

- - -

As a small island nation, Samoa may seem a unique case. But most countries have anti-vaccine activists, including the United States. Such views tend can take deep root in societies where distrust of authority is widespread.

A polio vaccine was first discovered 70 years ago. It has largely been successful: Cases worldwide have decreased by over 99% since 1988. Yet wild transmission still occurs in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. And last year, the number of cases in Pakistan surged to 147 - a five-year high that alarmed experts.

Experts say that the central problems in Pakistan are distrust and mismanagement. Among the Pashtun ethnic community, anti-vaccine sentiment was especially rife after the CIA used a door-to-door vaccination effort a decade ago to hunt for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

When rumors of vaccinated children falling sick in a village school spread last spring, it prompted a wave of violence against medical workers and their guards. Vaccination rates plummeted.

But vaccine hesitancy is not just the province of conspiracy theorists. Vaccines can be inconvenient. The oral vaccine that is prevalent in Pakistan (partly because it costs less) must be administered multiple times. Teams go door-to-door, leaving people jaded and skeptical of a formulation that involves a live virus.

"As a parent you're sick and tired of it, as a vaccinator you are sick and tired of it," said Babar bin Atta, the country's top anti-polio official until last year.

The Independent Monitoring Board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative also blames senior Pakistani officials, arguing in 2018 that there had been "divisive and dysfunctional working relationships" within Pakistan's anti-polio and U.N. teams.

Dysfunction and division are not limited to developing nations. There is an effective vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), but the Japanese government avoided promoting its use for years, putting the lives of thousands of women at risk.

HPV, which is passed on through sexual contact, is remarkably widespread. Some strains of HPV can eventually lead to cervical cancer - it caused an estimated 266,000 deaths globally in 2012.

Japan's multidose HPV vaccination rate was once around 70%. But just a few months after it was added to the country's official vaccination program in 2013, media reports alleged shocking side effects, and the government pulled its backing.

The evidence of adverse side effects is slim. Doctors cautioned that only a tiny fraction of recipients reported symptoms. But the government hesitated, in part due to fear of legal repercussions, and the vaccination rate dropped below 1%.

Following a lengthy political battle, the HPV vaccine is expected to return to the country's immunization program this year. But the cost of the seven-year pause is high: A study published by the Lancet this year estimated that the crisis could result in up to 5,700 deaths unless coverage increases.

- - -

Globally, more than a dozen covid-19 vaccines have reached clinical evaluation already, with more than 100 others in the works. President Donald Trump has bragged of a "warp-speed" U.S. process for developing a vaccine, while other nations are racing forward with their own programs.

Some experts hope covid-19 could go the way of smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980. "It's a hard time to be an anti-vaccination activist right now," said Riko Muranaka, a Japanese doctor and journalist who tracks HPV vaccine misinformation.

But vaccinating an entire planet is an enormous task. It took decades of work to eradicate smallpox. Similar efforts to quash measles and polio have yet to succeed. And the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting vaccination efforts, not aiding them. UNICEF warns that routine immunization services have been hindered in at least 68 countries.

Some advocates worry that the spread of coronavirus misinformation could fuel anti-vaccination sentiment. "Global narratives of vaccine development for covid-19 may contribute to an upsurge in anti-vax messages, including in Pakistan," said Rana Muhammad Safdar, coordinator for Pakistan's polio program.

"If and when we get a covid-19 vaccine, we will see claims about the vaccine being dangerous and ineffective join this story, regardless of what the evidence says," said Julie Leask, a professor at the University of Sydney and an expert on vaccinations.

Polls show a significant minority of Americans say they would not get a coronavirus vaccine.

In Samoa, that may seem unlikely. The country, having learned just how hard it is to stop an outbreak once it begins, went into lockdown early this time around. It has not reported a single confirmed coronavirus case.

But anti-vaccination sentiment lingers.

Tamasese, the businessman arrested last year over allegations that he spread misinformation, said in an email that neither the measles outbreak nor the coronavirus pandemic have changed his mind. "My position on vaccination has actually been reaffirmed," he wrote.
RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia's State Board of Elections on Tuesday granted Republican state Del. Nicholas Freitas and seven other congressional hopefuls more time to file candidate paperwork,sparing them from havingto run a costly write-in campaigns.

Freitas, a state lawmaker from Culpeper hoping to take on freshman Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, in November, missed the registration deadline this year - as he did last year when he ran for his third term in the General Assembly.

Last year's error forced him to run for the General Assembly as a write-in candidate, an effort bankrolled by GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein of Illinois, who donated $500,000. Freitas won his solidly red district by double digits.

Challenging Spanberger as a write-in would have been far more daunting in a swing congressial district that is anchored in the Richmond suburbs and has trended blue since President Donald Trump took office four years ago.

Freitas is one of six Republicans competing for his party's nomination, which will be decided at a convention on July 18.

The elections board voted 2-1 Tuesday to grant the extensions, with Chairman Robert Brink and Vice Chairman John O'Bannon in favor and Secretary Jamilah LeCruise opposed. Brink said he would urge the General Assembly to consider changing the law so the board could impose a sanction less draconian than the only one currently available: refusing to put the late filer's name on the ballot.

Among the other congressional hopefuls who had missed the deadline was Bob Good, a former Liberty University fundraiser who last month upset freshman Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., for the GOP nomination in central Virginia's 5th District.

Freitas's opponent in the Republican nominating convention are Del. John McGuire III (Henrico), a former Navy SEAL; Andrew Knaggs, a former Defense Department official in the Trump administration; Tina Ramirez, founder of an international nonprofit; Peter Greenwald, a retired Navy commander and high school teacher; and Jason Roberge, a Coast Guard veteran.

National parties are closely watching this fall's matchups in both the 7th and the 5th district in Virginia.

In the 5th District, Good will face Democratic nominee Cameron Webb, an African American physician, former White House fellow and health policy researcher who analysts say could energize a restive Democratic electorate.

In the 7th District, Spanberger, a former CIA officer, defeated Republican Dave Brat in the 2018 blue wave, helping Democrats win the House majority. But she is considered potentially vulnerable to a strong Republican challenger in November.
 Flash

Turkey on Monday vowed to retaliate the European Union if the bloc decides to impose new sanctions on Turkey due to disagreement over the Eastern Mediterranean.

"Taking decisions against Turkey will not resolve the existing problems, on the contrary, it will deepen them. If the EU takes additional measures against Turkey, we'll have to respond," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at a joint press conference with Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

"If EU further sanctions Turkey, we also have steps to take in the field, in the Eastern Mediterranean," the minister stated.

"EU should better be part of the solution instead of part of the problem," he added.

Borrell, for his part, said the current ties between Turkey and the EU are far from being idealistic and there are "immediate and serious problems" that need to be addressed.

"We have to change the dynamic of our relationship. We have to follow a more positive track so that we can avoid additional problems," he said.

France has called for an EU meeting to discuss further sanctions on Turkey due to the dispute in the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya.

Turkey signed military cooperation and maritime memoranda of understanding in November last year with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord of Libya led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.




On a day when Connecticut reported no new coronavirus fatalities for the first time since mid-March, the list of states from which travelers must quarantine in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut grew to 19 and expanded to the Northeast.

Delaware and two other states, Oklahoma and Kansas, were added Tuesday to a quarantine advisory for anyone visiting or returning from states with high COVID-19 infection rates.

No state was dropped from the previous list of 16 with high rates of infection growth, Gov. Ned Lamont and the governors of New York and New Jersey announced. Two weeks ago they ordered people coming from those states to isolate for 14 days or test negative for the illness.

The list of states in the quarantine advisory also includes Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Delaware, a popular weekend destination known for its beaches and tax advantages, is within a few hours drive from most of Connecticut, indicating the virus is creeping back toward the Northeast.

Hours after that news, the zero-death day brightened spirits in Connecticut, which has eyed the national COVID-19 surge warily as it reports low infection rates and declining hospitalizations and deaths in recent weeks.

On a very positive note, for the first time in months there were zero COVID-related fatalities in Connecticut, Lamont said in New Haven. Zero COVID-related fatalities. Thats really thanks to each and every one of you. The crowd, including Mayor Justin Elicker, state Rep. Toni Walker and officials from the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, applauded and cheered.

Since the first death on March 17,Connecticut has reported 4,338 COVID-19-related fatalities, most of them in nursing homes.

Tuesday did bring a net increase of 14 hospitalizations, for a total statewide of 83  a small warning for the state to continue the extensive social distancing and mask wearing that has made it a national leader in trying to squelch the virus.

Lamont recalled that on April 22, there were 1,972 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. The latest increase reflects the fact that Connecticut has reached a sort of floor below 100, and may see hspitalizations rise and fall within a narrow range.

About 20 to 30 people a day are admitted into hospitals for COVID-19 treatment, Lamont said, and the number discharged has been higher than that since the peak. Tuesdays uptick does not reflect an increase in admissions, he said.

Not that many people were discharged, he said Tuesday during a news conference outside the Community Foundation. And thats going to happen a lot. To me its a less-important metric today than it was two months ago, when I really worried that our ICUs could be overwhelmed.

The travel warning, implemented two weeks ago, is mostly voluntary in Connecticut. New Yorks Gov. Andrew Cuomo has threatened fines for noncompliance.

Lamont said this week that travel from out-of-state visitors has declined since the quarantine.

I did talk to a number of the airlines, and theyve had double the number of cancellations that they have anticipated, Lamont said. There are many fewer people coming from Florida, Arizona, South Carolina, now even California than there was before.

Lamont said the three states have pushed social media advertising about the advisory in infected states such as Florida, Arizona and Texas, garnering more than 1 million impressions. The advisory is announced in every airport in the region, and on every flight, and New Yorks John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports require visitors from covered states to sign a form stating their plans for quarantine.

I think people know that this region, not just Connecticut, is being very strict on the quarantining and it is discouraging a lot of out-of-state visitation from those states, Lamont said.

He said there is no plan to add a testing site at Bradley International Airport, though that had previously been discussed. There are more than 130 testing sites in the state.

Anyone who needs a test doesnt have to travel far to get one, said Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, who said hes not aware of any major airports with testing.

States are added to the list based on two criteria  a new daily positive test total higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a 10 percent or higher positive test rate over a 7-day rolling average.

Also Tuesday, Connecticut logged a 1 percent testing rate  57 positive tests out of 5,745  continuing a positive trend. A rate of 10 percent or more, the threshold for states to be on the quarantine list of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, is considered high.

The first reporting cycle without fatalities  from late Monday afternoon to late Tuesday afternoon  since the week of March 16 is testament to the seriousness with which state residents have tried to discourage the spread of the virus, Lamont said.
It's almost always an advantage to have a seat at the table.

In March, as Congress wrestled with the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic and debated the contours of what would soon become the largest economic bailout in U.S. history, four legislators pushed hard to make sure that franchise operators received special treatment.

They wrote a letter to the two senators steering the legislation toward the finish line, Mitch McConnell and Charles Schumer, asking them to increase the amount of taxpayer funding franchises could receive. While the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act didn't ultimately provide extra money for franchises, it arguably provided something far more valuable: It mandated that franchises -- regardless of how many stores or restaurants they operated or how many people they employed in those outlets -- would be eligible for federal small business aid.

Given that Paycheck Protection Program funds were initially supposed to go only to companies with 500 or fewer employees, this was a significant concession. It meant that large national operators, some of which employed thousands of people, could snare PPP funding by applying store by store. You know what happened after that. Big operators such as Shake Shack and Ruth's Hospitality received big loans; authentically small businesses were left out; and a healthy round of public criticism of the PPP program ensued. (Shake Shack and Ruth's Hospitality decided to return their loans.)

One of the four legislators who pushed for special bailout treatment for franchises in March was Representative Kevin Hern, a Republican from Oklahoma. Hern campaigned for his House seat in 2018 as a can-do businessman who has successfully operated a chain of McDonald's franchises in his home state. I wrote a column in April asking whether Hern had positioned his own businesses for a rescue on the taxpayers' dime.

Hern and his office declined to comment when I asked in April whether his franchises would apply for federal aid -- and whether doing so would be a financial conflict of interest. They also declined to comment on any discussions Hern may have had about the CARES Act with McDonald's, the fast-food giant that doles out franchises to entrepreneurs like Hern. On Monday, the Small Business Administration finally answered one of those questions. It released the names of some of the biggest recipients of PPP funds and, as it turns out, a Tulsa enterprise controlled by Hern, KTAK Corporation I, received $1 million to $2 million.

KTAK operates fast-food franchises the Hern family owns. I contacted Hern's office again on Monday and asked for information about any role he played in getting PPP funding for KTAK. I also asked whether his family's McDonald's franchises received PPP funding directly and, if so, how much they received. I also asked Hern's office to disclose any other businesses in which he has a financial or management interest that received PPP funding. Hern and his representatives didn't respond to any of those questions.

In a press release, Hern's chief of staff, Cameron Foster, said that his boss "has been open and transparent with members of the community about his family business' need of a Paycheck Protection Program Loan during the Covid-19 crisis." Foster also said that Hern was "happy to share that the family business was able to keep all employees either at their current level of employment or move part-time employees to full time."

If all of Hern's employees did, in fact, stay on his companies' payrolls, that's a good thing. But securing PPP funding also presumably meant that Hern and his family could keep their businesses operating - a direct financial benefit for the congressman himself. And Hern got that funding ahead of somebody else, possibly much smaller businesses that lacked his resources and connections.

Concerns that insiders would benefit from the PPP program have shadowed the bailout from the moment it was enacted in March. Schumer personally promised that no bailout money would go to businesses controlled by President Donald Trump or his family members. Language was added to the CARES Act to try to ensure that didn't happen. But Congress then exempted PPP -- one of the most heavily funded bailout programs -- from those provisions.

So far, it doesn't appear as if the Trumps have received public funds directly. But the Washington Post reported on Monday that dozens of businesses that operate in Trump-owned or Trump-controlled buildings obtained PPP funds. Bloomberg News reported that a business partner of the Trumps in Hawaii received a PPP loan. Corporate entities tied to the family of the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also pulled in some PPP funds.

The law firm founded by one of Trump's longstanding personal attorneys, Marc Kasowitz, received PPP funds of $5 million to $10 million. Companies linked to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue also received PPP loans, as did a company linked to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Bloomberg News reported. Two Democrats, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Susie Lee, as well as two Republicans, Vicky Hartzler and Roger Williams, are also linked to businesses that have snared PPP funds.

The SBA and the Treasury Department have been the primary administrators of the PPP program, and they've been unusually lax about properly overseeing and administering the hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money that they've handed over to small businesses thus far. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin resisted disclosing the identities of PPP borrowers for months until public hearings forced his hand. The SBA even waived conflict-of-interest and ethics guidelines that have traditionally prevented legislators from gaining access to the agency's loans.

So when public officials like Hern are the beneficiaries of taxpayer-funded programs like PPP, it winds up not being illegal or unethical simply because the federal government says it isn't.

Hern once owned as many as 18 McDonald's franchises in the Tulsa area that employed more than 1,000 people, though that has shrunk to just five franchises more recently. He continues to own his McDonald's franchises while serving in Congress because federal ethics and conflicts-of-interest guidelines allow him to. While the guidelines limit how much outside income legislators can earn while serving in Congress, they permit exceptions for performing some kinds of outside work -- including practicing medicine or advising a family-owned business.

Financial disclosures that Hern filed in 2018 said his restaurants contributed $25 million to $50 million of value to an overall portfolio of personal holdings worth between $38.7 million and $92.9 million at the time. An Oklahoma nonprofit news organization, The Frontier, nicknamed Hern "the McCongressman."

Hern seemed committed to altering that perception when he ran for Congress in 2018. "Kevin will use his experience and knowledge to focus on leading Congress by example, and put an end to the typical behaviors of career politicians," his campaign pledged at the time.

Maybe all that PPP money changed his mind.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Timothy L. O'Brien is a senior columnist for Bloomberg Opinion.
All around the country, states are using mail-based voting to conduct elections during the COVID pandemic.

We urge the Connecticut Legislature to support safe elections when they come in for special session by supporting safe, secure absentee voting in November as well as in the August primary. It just makes sense: voting by mail has a long history as a safe and secure way to cast a ballot. Every state in the union has some type of mail-based voting. Five states now conduct all their elections by mail. Another 34 states allow any voter to request an absentee ballot  no reason required  and vote by mail in any election.

Because of COVID-19, 80 percent of Americans want alternatives to in-person voting for this falls elections.

Other states are providing voters with a variety of options, including expanded early voting programs. Spreading in-person voting over multiple days  or weeks  reduces the number of voters at the polls at one time, so equipment can be sanitized and social distancing preserved.

But Connecticut is one of only 10 states that dont have early voting. Last year, we tried to get an early voting constitutional amendment on the ballot, but it was blocked by Senate Republicans. That limits the states options for reducing crowds at polling places on Election Day.

We applaud Gov. Ned Lamont who used his emergency authority to expand eligibility for absentee voting for the Aug. 11 elections. Under his executive order, any Connecticut voter may vote absentee by mail if, at the time he or she applies for or casts an absentee ballot for the August 11, 2020, primary election, there is no federally approved and widely available vaccine for prevention of COVID-19.

And we thank Secretary of the State Denise Merrill for her leadership to support safe elections by sending absentee ballot applications to every active Republican and Democrat for the primary elections in August.

Similar changes are happening in other states that usually require excuses to vote absentee. On March 19, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner announced that voters who did not wish to vote in-person because of COVID could vote absentee because of illness. On March 24, Delaware Gov. John Carney issued an executive order allowing all voters who are social distancing to use the I am sick, or physically disabled reason for voting absentee. On March 25, the Indiana Election Commission implemented emergency no excuse absentee voting. On April 8, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced that voters concerned about in-person voting could use the the physical disability excuse. On April 9, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order allowing the potential for contraction of the COVID-19 virus as a reason for voting absentee. On April 24, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issued an executive order allowing  and urging  all his states voters to vote by mail.

Gov. Lamonts executive order is probably the most narrowly drawn of all those that have been issued to date. But its still being questioned by the Senate Republican leader.

So, a little more context: Connecticuts constitution has been amended three times to allow absentee voting. In 1864, Civil War soldiers were allowed to vote absentee. And although that Constitutional provision was specifically limited to the Civil War, the Legislature later authorized absentee voting for soldiers in World War I. That 1918 act was never challenged in court.

Our Constitution was amended again, in 1932, to allow absentee voting when a voter is absent from town on Election Day or unable to go to the polls because of sickness or physical disability. It was amended again in 1964 to allow absentee voting for religious reasons.

But the law about the absentee voting process uses different words than our Constitution does. The statute provides absentee ballots if a voter cant get to a polling place because of his or her illness  while the Constitution just uses the general term sickness.

Clearly, the coronavirus is a sickness. It is also the reason why people should not be congregating at the polls on Election Day.

Connecticut has almost 460,000 active Republican voters, almost 800,000 active Democratic voters and about 34,000 active voters affiliated with other parties. All of these voters have the fundamental right to have their voices heard in their parties primaries on Aug. 11.

And without early voting, there arent many options for making in-person voting safer. As long as COVID is still a risk, Connecticut voters need to be able to vote by mail.

Its disheartening to hear a senator oppose Gov. Lamonts solution, yet not offer any ideas of his own. In both Massachusetts and South Carolina, state legislatures have passed bills to expand absentee voting  avoiding the need for an executive order.

We hope when the Connecticut Legislature comes into special session they will work together to pass legislation expanding mail-in voting though the November election. Including unaffiliated voters, there are more than 2 million active voters in Connecticut  and all of us deserve a safe way to vote.

Cheri Quickmire is executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut.
Apple products go hand in hand with dealseeking; nobody wants to pay full price for their new Apple toy, whether it's an iPhone, Macbook or iPad. With that in mind, we've done the legwork to find the best deals out there today on a brand new iPadthat way, you can spend more of your time doing important stuff, like actually using your iPad.

Apple manufactures a few different models of iPads: The Apple iPad 10.2, the Apple iPad Air, the Apple iPad Mini and the Apple iPad Pro.

Which one suits your needs will depend on how you plan on using it and the specs you require; Apple has a handy little comparison page to help you sort through that. Just know that the least expensive model is the iPad 10.2, with a base price of $329 through Apple, and the most expensive the iPad Pro, starting at $999 through Apple.

It's also worth noting that older models will often be significantly discounted. But for now, we'll stick to the newest models and the best deals on them.

Of these deals, the iPad Air on Amazon is worth notingthe price you pay in cart isn't what shows up in Google search results. As we've covered with the Apple Watch on Amazon, this deal includes an extra discount where the page says, "Save $39.01 at checkout." While the results come up with $469, you pay $429.99. That deal comes and goes, so if you're looking to snap up an iPad right now,

Additionally, if you're looking at the lowest-priced iPad, the iPad 10.2, it's hovering about $50 above the lowest price we've seenthought that price drop happened on Cyber Monday in 2019 when Target was selling them for $229.

Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.

Ryan Craggs is the Director of Content Marketing for Hearst Newspapers. Email him at ryan.craggs@hearst.com.
Jack Campise talks with his mother, Beverly Kearns, through her apartment window at the Kimberly Hall North nursing home, Thursday, May 14, 2020 in Windsor, Conn. The coronavirus has had no regard for health care quality or ratings as it has swept through nursing homes around the world, killing efficiently even in highly rated care centers. Preliminary research indicates the numbers of nursing home residents testing positive for the coronavirus and dying from COVID-19 are linked to location and population density  not care quality ratings. (AP Photo/Chris Ehrmann)
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 
STORY LINK Pound to New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) Exchange Rate Rises as Covid-19 Second Wave Fears Drag Down Kiwi

GBP/NZD Exchange Rate Edges Higher as Hopes Grow on Brexit Talks

New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Falls as Risk Sentiment Dips on Covid-19 Second Wave Fears

GBP/NZD Outlook: Could Post-Brexit Trade Progress Boost Sterling?

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The Pound to New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate rose by 0.4% today, with the pairing currently trading around NZ$1.91.Sterling rose today on rising hopes of a possible breakthrough in UK-EU trade negotiations after Monday saw reports that negotiations were preparing landing zones for more difficult aspects of post-Brexit talks.Meanwhile, markets are keeping a close eye on Chancellor Rishi Sunak ahead of tomorrows Treasurys Summer Economic Update. Any signs of fresh fiscal stimulus  which is highly likely  would further buoy the Pound on hopes for Britains economic recovery.Today also saw the release of the UKs Halifax house prices index for June, which beat forecasts and rose from -0.2% to -0.1%.Halifax managing director Russell Galley commented on the report:Though only a small decrease, it is notable as the first time since 2010  when the housing market was struggling to gain traction following the shock of the global financial crisis  that prices have fallen for four months in a row.The European Commission has also included a gloomy forecast for the UKs economy, with the EC saying that it expects Britains GDP to shrink by 10%. The EC also stated that the risks to the UK economy were predominantly to the downside.The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) failed to benefit from todays better-than-expected Global Dairy Trade (GDT) Price Index today. While the figure rose from 1.9% to 8.3%, investors have become more wary about New Zealands economic recovery.New Zealands Finance Minister Grant Robertson said that the economy is coming back quicker than people expected but it was not out of the woods yet.NZD traders have also been looking to Australia after it was announced that Melbourne would undergo a further six-week lockdown after an outbreak of new Covid-19 cases. As a result, Kiwi traders are feeling notably anxious about the possibility of a second wave hitting the New Zealand economy.Meanwhile, NZD investors have been keeping a close eye on Americas coronavirus cases. With the number of cases increasing in the worlds largest economy, Kiwi traders are remaining cautious.US-China tensions are also weighing on market risk-appetite today.Pound (GBP) investors will be looking ahead to tomorrows release of the RICS Housing Price Balance figure for June. Any signs of improvement could buoy the GBP/NZD exchange rate.NZD traders look be looking ahead to Thursdays release of New Zealands electronic card retail sales figures for June. Any increase in spending last month could benefit the Kiwi.Risk sentiment will also continue to drive the NZD/GBP exchange rate this week. Any signs of a possible second wave of coronavirus cases would prove NZD-negative.The GBP/NZD exchange rate could continue to edge higher this week if UK-EU post-Brexit negotiations show any signs of progress.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

TAGS: New Zealand Dollar Forecasts Pound New Zealand Dollar Forecasts
STORY LINK EUR to USD Exchange Rate Struggles as Eurozone Data and Safe Haven Demand Weigh

EUR Exchange Rates Struggle to Hold Best Levels as Eurozone Outlook Worsens

The broad direction of the blocs GDP revisions was sharply downwards. As a whole the European Union is now facing am 8.3% contraction in 2020, compared to the 7.4% estimate announced in May. France saw one of the more significant changes, the country looking at a 10.6% drop, far higher than the 8.2% decline initial forecast.



Spain and Italy were both dealt their own ugly numbers, heading for -11.2% and -10.9% respectively. Germany, on the other hand, saw a minor improvement, their typical Teutonic efficiency resulting in a move from -6.5% to -6.3%.

USD Exchange Rates Avoiding Deeper Losses as Safe Haven Demand Persists

After yesterdays strong risk rally - which also drove risky currencies higher - the reality of regional lockdowns in places like the US, UK, Spain and now Australia are a gentle reminder that the threat of a second coronavirus wave is one that investors should not be quick to price out,

EUR/USD Exchange Rate Forecast: Could Central Banker Comments Inspire Movement?

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The Euro remains broadly appealing versus the US Dollar, but the Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate is struggling to hold its best levels this week. Though the Euro continues it advance attempts, its gains are limited as the latest EU forecasts show the Eurozone being hit harder than expected by the coronavirus pandemic. The US outlook remains marred by coronavirus uncertainty as well.Last week saw EUR/USD continue its upside bias. After opening last week at the level of 1.1218, the pair edged higher throughout the week. EUR/USD ultimately closed the week slightly higher, in the region of 1.1248.This week, the Euro has been even stronger so far despite some Eurozone uncertainties. EUR/USD jumped to a high of 1.1343 yesterday  this was the best level for the pair in half a month.Since then, EUR/USD has seen more mixed movement. EUR/USD has struggled to hold its best levels, dipping this morning, but the pair still ultimately trends high in the region of 1.1296 at the time of writing.The Euro struggled to hold its best levels today. While the shared currency continues to benefit from hopes that the Eurozone economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic will be solid, some of the latest data from the Eurozone has been concerning.The European Commission (EC) released its latest EU growth forecasts today. The figures were gloomy, with the EC generally indicating that the Eurozone would be hit even harder by the pandemic than previously expected.According to Connor Campbell, Analyst at Spreadex:This mornings German industrial production results also dampened appetite for the Euro. Industrial production was expected to rebound to 10% but instead only rose to 7.8%.The US Dollar has been struggling to mount a solid recovery against the Euro lately. The EUs coronavirus outlook is generally seen as more positive than the US outlook, as the number of cases in the US surges.However, second wave fears are ultimately helping to boost the US Dollar as well, as the US Dollar is a safe haven currency.Investors have been gradually more eager to avoid risks and look for safer investments as coronavirus fears worsen again.According to Viraj Patel, Global FX and Macro Strategist at Arkera:Concerns about the health of the US economy, as well as coronavirus jitters, are ultimately preventing the US Dollar from capitalising on safe haven demand though.The latest US job vacancies data from JOLTs showed more job openings than expected, but analysts remain anxious about the health of the US job market.The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate continues to trend with an upside bias despite the EUs more gloomy forecasts today.However, if factors continue to weigh more on the Euro, the shared currency could come under further pressure and have a harder and harder time holding its ground.Investors have been anxious about potential disagreement among European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers. If tomorrows comments from ECB officials deepen these concerns they could lead to fresh Euro losses.Over in the US, Federal Reserve comments could impact the US Dollar tomorrow if they surprise investors. Tomorrows lack of notable Eurozone or US ecostats could leave central bank comments more influential.Of course, developments over the coronavirus pandemic could also cause movement in the Euro to US Dollar exchange rate.

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 Flash

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday announced that international students may have to leave the United States if their universities switch to online-only courses for the fall 2020 semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic.



Otherwise they will risk violating their visa status.

"Nonimmigrant students within the United States are not permitted to take a full course of study through online classes," said the ICE in a statement.

"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," said the statement.

Under the new guidelines modified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) run by the ICE, the U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester, nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States.

Active nonimmigrant students currently in the U.S. 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, said the statement.

"If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings," the statement said.

Meanwhile, nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools operating under normal in-person classes are bound by existing federal regulations. Eligible F students may take a maximum of one class or three credit hours online, according to the statement.

Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools adopting a hybrid model mixing online and in person classes, will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online, said the statement, noting these schools must certify to SEVP, through the Form I-20.

"The above exemptions do not apply to F-1 students in English language training programs or M-1 students pursing vocational degrees, who are not permitted to enroll in any online courses," said the statement.

Schools should update their information in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) within 10 days of the change if they begin the fall semester with in-person classes but are later required to switch to only online classes, or a nonimmigrant student changes their course selections, and as a result, ends up taking an entirely online course load, the statement added.

F-1 nonimmigrant students pursue academic coursework and M-1 nonimmigrant students pursue vocational coursework while studying in the United States.

The SEVP had allowed for foreign students to take their spring and summer 2020 courses online while remaining in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement came as numerous U.S. higher education institutions are beginning to make the decision to transition to online courses as a result of the pandemic. Harvard and Princeton said Monday they will allow some students back to campus for the fall term, but offer most instruction online even for those who return in person.

Brad Farnsworth, vice president of the American Council on Education, told CNN that the announcement caught him and many others by surprise.

"We think this is going to create more confusion and more uncertainty," said Farnsworth, questioning what would happen if the public health situation deteriorates in the fall and universities that had been offering in-person classes feel they have to shift all courses online to stay safe.

"The bigger issue is some of these countries have travel restrictions on and they can't go home, so what do they do then?" asked Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, "It's a conundrum for a lot of students."

International enrollment in the U.S. is down in every category, undergraduate, graduate and non-degree, with 269,383 enrolled in the 2018-2019 school year, compared with a high of 300,743 new students in 2015-2016, according to the Institute of International Education.

Data from the U.S. Commerce Department showed that international students contributed 45 billion U.S. dollars to the country in 2018.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to publish the procedures and responsibilities in the Federal Register as a Temporary Final Rule.
Coronvirus Phishing Campaign Targets Six Nations

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly instructed the hacker group, Lazarus, to use phishing scams to steal bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Singapore, Japan, and the US are amongst six nations reportedly targeted in a COVID-19 themed phishing campaign.

The Lazarus Group has committed some notable crimes, such as the WannaCry ransomware attacks, hacking Sony, and stealing $81 million through cyberspace from the Bangladesh Central Bank. Their latest scam is sending crypto executives an email about an open Chief Financial Officer position that contains an infected Microsoft Word document.

The North Korean state hacker group Lazarus are said to be ready to massively attack more than 5 million businesses and individuals who will receive phishing email messages from spoofed government accounts. This would include 8,000 organisations in Singapore where the business contacts highlighted in an email template were addressed to members of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), according to a report from cybersecurity vendor Cyfirma.

SBF is responsible for promoting Singapore businesses and currently represents 27,200 companies. The targeted Singapore businesses would reportedly receive phishing email messages, written in Chinese, from a fake Ministry of Manpower account, supposedly offering additional payouts for employees under the government's COVID-19 support packages.

Opening the document attachment would trigger malware that would enable access to the victims computer.

It noted that governments in the six targeted nations all had announced funding support for enterprises and citizens to help them ride out the global pandemic, including Singapore, which said it would set aside almost SG$100 billion, and Japan, which unveiled 234 trillion yen in stimulus funds.

Singapore's national cyber security agency SingCERT confirmed it received "information regarding a potential phishing campaign". It said there were "always" ongoing phishing attempts by various cyber-criminals that used different themes and baits and spoofed different entities.

This tactic remained a common and effective technique used to gain access to individuals' accounts, deliver malware, or trick victims into revealing confidential data.

Cyfirma said the phishing campaign was designed to impersonate government agencies and departments as well as trade associations that had been instructed to oversee the distribution of the COVID-19 financial aid. Their analysis identified seven email templates impersonating government agencies and business associations.

SingCERT: ZDNet: CoinOunce: Bitcoinist:

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North Korean Hackers Specialise In Financial Theft:
Staff reports

The Daily American

Secretary Russell Redding announced $1 million in Farm Vitality Grants awarded to 133 farms in 46 counties. The grants, which aim to enhance the long-term vitality of Pennsylvanias family farms, will be administered by the Ag Business Development Center created under the 2019 PA Farm Bill.

From Somerset County was Edward OBrien, Somerset Hillcrest Saylor Dairy Farms, LLC.

When Pennsylvania farm families succeed, Pennsylvania succeeds, Redding said. These grants will help farm families with all types and sizes of operations create sound plans for their future, and explore the feasibility, profitability and sustainability of those plans.

Grants fund professional services, including financial and tax planning, research, marketing and other consulting support to plan a farms future. The center partners with more than 50 service providers across the state to provide sound business planning for efficient ownership transitions, strategic expansion, diversified production, and financial or technical expertise. Grants will reimburse up to $7,500 of the cost of the funded service.

Grant recipients represent a broad spectrum of farm sizes and products including dairy, fruit, nuts, vegetables, livestock, poultry, Christmas trees, grains, flowers, honey, maple syrup and Pennsylvanias newest crop  hemp. Their proposed plans seek to conserve land and water resources, expand their capabilities to produce using organic or aquaponic methods, process dairy into yogurt, cheese or other products popular with consumers, or add direct-to-consumer sales to their business models.

Seventeen grant recipients will be involved in PASA Sustainable Agricultures Diversified Vegetable Financial Benchmarking Study, an opportunity to improve their bottom line, working with more than 40 peer Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic farms, and two consulting organizations. Insights from the report aim to give achievable targets for revenues, scale and profit margins. Meetings among participants will also connect them to a group of peers to help support them as they improve their long-term viability.

For more information about the PA Farm Bill, and investments in growing Pennsylvania agriculture for the future, visit agriculture.pa.gov/pafarmbill.

Whether supporting Somali Bantu farmers in the Pittsburgh region or vegetable farmers across the commonwealth, the Farm Vitality Grants program will make a tremendous difference in farmers being able to create plans for a more viable future, Pasa Executive Director Hannah Smith-Brubaker said. None of us could have anticipated the extreme demands that the current pandemic would have on farmers, and we all know that having a plan helps us weather unforeseen circumstances, so the timing for this program couldnt have been better.
JUDY D.J. ELLICH

judye@dailyamerican.com

Shawn Michael Prince of Chester was sentenced Monday to two to five years in prison for taking a blue 2015 Yamaha Viking side by side (UTV) and television from property along Bollinger Road in Addison Township on Nov. 17, 2018.

According to court documents, Prince was hired by the owner to help remodel the residence being fixed up for a vacation home. Prince knew where the key to the side-by-side was located on a hook and where the spare key to the residence was kept, police said.

There were no signs of forced entry into the residence when the items were reported stolen, according to state police.

Prince was on electronic tracking system from another case in Fayette County when the incident occurred and he cut the ankle bracelet and ran, police said.

He was ordered to pay $10,194 in restitution to Robert Davis.

Also sentenced Monday, Jamie Miller, 36, of Meyersdale, will serve four to 23 months in Somerset County Jail for recklessly endangering another person, an offense that evolved from an act of pointing a crossbow at two Children & Youth Service workers during an announced home visit on Oct. 11.

According to court documents, state police said Miller became agitated with the workers presence and asked them to leave. Then he retrieved a cocked and loaded crossbow from the kitchen and pointed it in the direction of the caseworkers.

Miller told police he did pick up the crossbow but denied pointing it at the caseworkers, police said.

At his sentencing, Miller apologized. He does not have credit for time served. He was charged Nov. 14. He pleaded guilty.

Both Prince and Miller were among those sentenced to misdemeanors and felonies before President Judge D. Gregory Geary in the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas Monday.

Christopher John Campbell, 40, Johnstown, was sentenced to an aggregate sentence of 70 days to 24 months in Somerset County Jail for driving under the influence, third offense, and driving with a suspended license.

According to court documents, Campbell drove with a blood-alcohol content of 0.246% along Franklin Street in Conemaugh Township on April 28, 2019. He was stopped for swerving, police said.
DAILY AMERICAN

The Daily American

U.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt reports that more than 1,900 local governments around the country will receive a portion of $514.7 million in payments in lieu of taxes funding for 2020.

Somerset County is set to get $9,655 for 3,172 acres of applicable land, according to a chart released by the agency.

This years distribution . . . will help small towns pay for critical needs like emergency response, public safety, public schools, housing, social services and infrastructure, Bernhardt said in a press release.

The payments are made annually for tax-exempt federal lands administered by U.S. Department of the Interior agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and for federal water projects and some military installations, among other agencies and land uses.

The annual payments to local governments are computed based on the number of acres of federal land within each county or jurisdiction and on the population of that county or jurisdiction. Census data is part of the calculation.

Since the payments began in 1977, the department has distributed more than $9.7 billion to states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The department collects more than $13.2 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on public lands, such as oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing and timber harvesting. A portion of these revenues are shared with states and counties. The balance is deposited in the U.S. Treasury, which in turn pays for a broad array of federal activities, including this programs funding.

Under the law, local officials retain the authority to allocate these funds.
MATTHEW TOTH

mtoth@dailyamerican.com

Somerset County residents continue to debate over the effectiveness of masks as officials state the order to wear them could last until there is a COVID-19 vaccine.

During a press conference Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf said models show that the infection rate has been lower in areas wearing face masks or coverings. When asked how long his mask order would be in place, Wolf said he was not sure about a specific time frame.

Im sort of thinking this is until we get a vaccine, but I dont have any formal goal there, he said.

On Wednesday, the Wolf administration expanded the mask wearing order to include anytime someone leaves their home. The original order signed in April only required mask-wearing in businesses.

Yet that didnt stop Robin Schalk, of Rockwood, to walk on North Center Avenue without a mask on.

That wack job (Wolf) cant tell me what to do, she said. If I dont want to wear one, I wont wear one.

Schalk said she believed that the COVID-19 was a government and media scare tactic, and believed that increased case counts were due to increased testing rather than an any type of surge.

If I get it I get it, she said. Doesnt matter because by November it wont be a thing anymore.

On Monday Somerset County added another case, having a total of 64 positive cases and one reported death.

The Department reported 450 new positive cases Sunday, bringing the statewide total to 90,304. There are 6,754 total deaths attributed to COVID-19, an increase of one new death Monday.

Out of the states total death count, 4,593 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities. No facilities in Somerset county have reported COVID-19 cases, according to the state Department of Health

Wolf said officials were increasingly concerned with Allegheny County, which added 218 cases overnight. Most of Pennsylvania is currently in the green, or least restrictive, of Wolfs reopening policy.

Overall Pennsylvania has shown an increase in cases, but keep in mind thats from a pretty low base, he said. We have been fairly successful. I think states are talking 10,000 new cases a day, were now at 500 over the weekend (for) new cases.

For Jennerstown resident Shelly Danley, Somersets reaction to handling COVID-19 makes it a potential hotspot if Alleghenys problems move further south.

Servers are either wearing masks incorrectly or even not at all, she said. You would think (they) would at least care since its at the turnpike entrance.

The Center for Disease Control lists on their website that face covering should be worn over the mouth and nose, to protect other people from getting the infection. Yet Danley said its upsetting to her to see local restaurant workers wearing face masks off their noses or pulled down completely.

Its like they dont care if their customers get sick or not, she said.

The Center for Disease Control states on its website that cloth face coverings, including masks, can reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Cloth face coverings may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others. The website states. Wearing a cloth face covering will help protect people around you, including those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and workers who frequently come into close contact with other people (e.g., in stores and restaurants).

For Somerset resident John Farren, wearing a mask has become a stigma when he walks out in public.

I go out and I get teased and harassed, he said. One guy though it would be funny just to tear it off my face. I was just walking with my groceries and he rips it off and laughs at me.

Farren added he wears a mask for his job, and continues to wear one for the health and safety of his family. Yet despite this, there are still people online and on the street that mock him for his decision.

I just want to be safe, he said. Why is that a problem for some people?
 Flash

The 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum was held on Monday via video link, highlighting China-Arab solidarity in fighting COVID-19 as well as their consensus on advancing relations.



In his congratulatory letter to the virtual meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and Arab states have offered mutual assistance and staunch support to each other, and engaged in close cooperation since the COVID-19 outbreak, while stressing that under the current circumstances, it is more necessary than ever for the two sides to step up cooperation and join hands in tiding over difficulties.

"I hope China and Arab states can take the meeting as an opportunity to enhance strategic communication and coordination, steadily advance cooperation in various fields including pandemic response, promote the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future to continuously go deeper and more practical, so as to better benefit the peoples of the two sides," Xi added.

Co-chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the meeting was attended by foreign ministers of the Arab League (AL) member states, along with AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

AL chief Aboul-Gheit said in a statement that holding the meeting amid ongoing world challenges reflects the keenness of the Middle East and China, voicing confidence that the Arab-China relations will be lifted to a new level following the meeting.

Friend in need

Two weeks ago, leaders of various political parties in the region attended the China-Arab States Political Parties Dialogue Extraordinary Meeting, during which a joint declaration was issued, hailing the mutual support in combating COVID-19 and envisioning brighter prospects for future cooperation.

Such a friendship was lauded again at Monday's ministerial meeting, during which Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said the friendly ties between Arab countries and China are exemplary, as recently shown in their joint combat against COVID-19.

Noting that the two sides commit themselves to fighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said at the meeting that Arab-China relations have been growing stronger over time and have made good progress in recent years.

Indeed, amid the raging pandemic, China and Arab states have been fighting side by side, a welcome move from people on both sides.

When China was in the depths of its own fight against COVID-19, Arab states showed solidarity with China by voicing support and donating medical supplies. Some famous landmarks, including ancient temples in Egypt and the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates, were lit up in the colors of China's national flag.

As the pandemic started to rage in the Arab world, China delivered much-needed supplies and shared its experience combatting the disease via video conferences with medical staff from 21 Arab states and sent medical experts to eight Arab states.

During their stay in Iraq, a group of seven Chinese medical experts built a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on Chinese donations of nucleic acid test kits and other equipment, and installed an advanced CT scanner at a quarantine center in a Baghdad hospital. The PCR lab has finished testing over 17,000 samples since its establishment at the end of March.

In Saudi Arabia, the worst-hit Arab country, a team of eight Chinese medical experts offered on-spot assistance. China and Saudi Arabia also signed a deal worth 265 million U.S. dollars to expand Saudi Arabia's COVID-19 testing capacity.

In its latest medical aid, the Chinese government delivered a batch of supplies to the AL on Sunday. Hossam Zaki, assistant secretary general of the AL, said the donation "reflects the depth of cooperation and friendship between the Arab League and China, especially in the light of the current circumstances and challenges the world faces."

"China has proven to be a true friend of the Arabs and all countries that have suffered from the danger of this pandemic, and I believe that the Arabs will not forget this great humanitarian stance from China," said Iraqi political expert Nadhum Abdullah.

Experts believed the ministerial meeting has shown again the willingness by China and the Arab world to strengthen cooperation in face of the pandemic.

The ministerial meeting was convened at "an important time under challenges that need further coordination and cooperation between China and the Arab states," said Ali Yousif, executive director of the Arab-Chinese Friendship Societies' League, an affiliate of the AL.

Lebanese expert Mahmoud Raya said against the background of jointly fighting COVID-19, the ministerial meeting has grown in importance, "as it brings Chinese and Arab officials in direct contact to discuss practical and effective plans to deepen cooperation in the face of this dangerous epidemic."

Brighter future

Braving the challenges of the pandemic, China and the Arab world have been working to maintain projects related to the Belt and Road.

At the Central Business District site, some 50 km east of Egypt's capital Cairo, Egyptian and Chinese engineers and workers are working tirelessly to advance construction while actively implementing pandemic prevention measures.

Undertaken by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), the project in Egypt's new administrative capital involves the construction of 20 towers, including a 385-meter-high skyscraper expected to be the tallest in Africa upon completion.

Ahmed al-Banna, Egyptian designer and consultant of the project, said the CSCEC not only ensured the project's continuous production, but also implemented effective anti-pandemic measures.

During the ministerial meeting, Aboul-Gheit said 19 Arab states have signed bilateral agreements with China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Calling for more cooperation along the Belt and Road, Wajdi Makhamreh, capital market and investment banking expert and independent economist in Jordan, said Belt and Road projects "will help the economies of the Arab world and Jordan recover in the aftermath of the losses in light of the coronavirus crisis."

Ahmed al-Deek, advisor to the Palestinian foreign minister, sees the BRI as a "lifeboat" for poor countries through "creating investment projects capable of eradicating poverty."

Arab officials and experts said the joint fight against COVID-19 and the unswerving efforts in promoting cooperation in various fields have laid a solid foundation for building a China-Arab community with a shared future.

At the ministerial meeting, Youssouf said Djibouti welcomes the call for jointly building a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era, adding that it is a timely proposal and that his country is willing to work with China to lift the China-Arab strategic partnership to a new level.

Nasser Bouchiba, president of the Africa-China Cooperation Association for Development in Morocco, said the joint fight against COVID-19 has given a new meaning to the China-Arab community with a shared future, and mutual help through the hard times will bring China and the Arab world closer.
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
File photo

Dalton City Hall remains open, but parts of it are going to be cleaned after a city employee tested positive for the new coronavirus (COVID-19). City officials suggest that anyone who needs to visit City Hall should call ahead to schedule an appointment.
Paul Kirby is a reporter for the Freeman, covering Kingston politics. He has been at the Freeman since August 1996.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The following items are based on information provided by officials in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Glo Stidham Whitt of South Charleston, WV, formerly of Catlettsburg KY passed away on June 19, 2021. She is survived by her children, Judson Whitt, Lee Jones, Daniel Whitt, and Robin Whitt, five grandchildren and four grandsons. As requested there will not be a public service.
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TIM KENYON ended his 30-year career with the Boy Scouts this spring. While serving as scoutmaster, he worked on recruitment and retention by planning annual trips. In 2005, on a hiking trip to Colorado, scouts climbed La Plata Peak which is 14,336 feet high.
UPDATED

The spending bill for the next fiscal year from House Democrats would increase spending on federal programs for low-income students, children with special needs, and for social-emotional learningbut the federal fund used to expand charter schools would lose nearly 10 percent of its money.

The fiscal 2021 appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Education was released Monday by the House appropriations committee. It aligns with previous Democratic pushes to increase funding for Title I education for the disadvantaged and Individuals with Disabilities Education state grants. However, theres a good chance that the annual appropriations process might not make real headway for several months; in fact, its possible that Congress will simply roll over current spending well beyond Sept. 30, when fiscal 2020 is due to end.

On Tuesday, the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees the departments budget advanced the bill to the full committee.

The legislation represents our critical work to defeat the coronavirus and builds upon previous plans to counter the virus, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the chairwoman of the House subcommittee. But the bill released Monday isnt really focused on providing emergency relief for schools. For more on what a coronavirus bailout for education might focus on, go here . The subcommittee responsible for the departments budget in the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, has yet to release an education appropriations bill for fiscal 20201.

The Education Departments current budget is $72.8 billion , a $1.3 billion increase from fiscal 2019. President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to cut the departments spending, to no avail.

Here are a few highlights from the House Democrats appropriations bill, according to a summary from the committee:



Title I grants to local school districts for disadvantaged children would receive $16.6 billion, an increase of $254 million.

an increase of $254 million. Special education would receive $14.1 billion, or $208 more than what it gets now. Included in that is a $194 million increase for state special education grants, taking total funding to $13 billion. And remember the drama over the Special Olympics ? That program would get $25 million, or $5 million above the current level.

? That program would get $25 million, or $5 million above the current level. Title II grants to support educator professional development would get $2.2 billion, a $23 million increase.

Title IV grants to back academic enrichment and students supportsknown in education wonk world as the big block grant"would get $1.2 billion, a $10 million increase

Federal after-school funding, through the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers , would get $1.3 billion, a $13 million increase. (Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., the chairwoman of the House appropriations committee, is retiring at the end of this Congress.)

would get $1.3 billion, a $13 million increase. (Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., the chairwoman of the House appropriations committee, is retiring at the end of this Congress.) Democrats sought to cut charter school expansion grants in their fiscal 2020 spending plans, and they want to try again this time. The Charter School Program grants would fall to $400 million in the new spending bill, a $40 million decline. (Ultimately, charter school grants stayed flat in the fiscal 2020 budget at $440 million.) The program once received bipartisan support without much drama, but Democrats have become more publicly skeptical of federal support for charter expansion recently.

A social-emotional learning program would receive $172 million, including $45 million in new spending within the Education Innovation and Research program.

Head Start, which is run by the Department of Health and Human Services, would receive $10.8 billion, a $150 million boost.

Preschool Development Grants, which are also administered by HHS, would receive $300 million, a $25 million increase.

State grants for career and technical education would receive $1.3 billion, an $18 million increase.

Trumps fiscal 2021 proposal for the Education Department , which the administration released in February, would merge 29 programs, including Title I and Title II, into a $19.4 billion block grant. That figure represents nearly an 8 percent cut from the combined spending on those programs. The proposed block grant includes most of whats authorized in the Every Student Succeeds Act, the main federal K-12 law.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said this new grant would allow states to gain greater control over how they spend federal funds. However, like presidential fiscal blueprints in general, the key elements of the pitch will likely be ignored on Capitol Hill.

Follow us on Twitter @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa .
Until the pandemic came along, The Archers seemed indestructible. Nearly 70 years old, Radio 4s everyday story of country folk is the worlds longest-running drama, and still draws several million listeners every week.

At any rate, it used to. Whether it will have such a large and happy audience when Covid-19 finally departs our shores may be doubted. Though no official figures are yet available, once-faithful fans are said to be deserting in droves.

According to a recent edition of Radio 4s Feedback programme, comments about the soap opera have been overwhelmingly negative. I stopped listening to it weeks ago. So has my wife. Mention The Archers to any erstwhile aficionado, and there will probably be a great deal of rolling of eyes and shaking of heads.

Pictured: Tim Bentinck and Felicity Finch as David and Ruth Archer. Though no official figures are yet available, once-faithful fans are said to be deserting in droves.

Actor Timothy Bentinck crouched under his stairs at home with a microphone to record the latest episode of The Archers

Even a recent editor of the drama has turned against it. Sean OConnor, who edited it from 2013 until 2016, says he can no longer bear the goings-on in the fictional village of his beloved Ambridge. Ive switched off, he says. I cant listen to it.

Now, it is perfectly true that we Archers devotees are perennially apt to grumble about new characters, unlikely plot twists, and other failings. We love to criticise it  and go on listening. But this time our despair runs deep.

What has happened is that, in response to the pandemic, the programme has ditched normal drama  you know, where one character addresses another, and he or she answers back  in favour of monologues of almost inconceivable dreariness.

The reasoning of clever clogs at the BBC was that, as it was no longer possible to get actors safely together in a studio (note that many of the cast are elderly, with June Spencer who plays Peggy Woolley clocking in at 101), they should operate from home.

Fair enough. But whereas other radio and television shows have contrived to maintain some interaction through the imaginative use of technological wizardry, the brainboxes behind The Archers plumped for the device of monologues.

You can imagine the scene. Some bright spark may have come up with the example of Alan Bennetts Talking Heads, where characters would speak engagingly and at length about their interior lives. Why not try the same thing on The Archers?

I can think of at least two answers. One is that Mr Bennett is a near genius who has taken years to perfect his craft. Another is that The Archers is a rough-and- ready drama whose characters do not necessarily have very interesting or developed interior lives.

An acquaintance who listens to the soap as she works at home puts it very well. She says that whereas with a moderate suspension of disbelief it was previously possible to accept that the characters were real people inhabiting Ambridge, now she can only think of actors spouting their dull lines alone in their bedrooms.

They are doing their best in trying circumstances, of course, and deserve full marks for pluck. The truth is that they have been set an impossible task by the misguided men and women in grey suits.

The Archers is a rough-and- ready drama whose characters do not necessarily have very interesting or developed interior lives

As I say, I gave up listening in late May, soon after the programme adopted its new format. But in service to my journalistic calling, I have forced myself to turn on the radio several times over the past week. Reader, it was an ordeal.

One recent storyline concerned a disputatious online quiz. First we had an account of it from the nosey Susan Carter (wife of long- suffering pig-man Neil) who now somewhat incredibly hosts a programme on Radio Borsetshire.

Then her feisty sister Tracy Horrobin, with whom she has fallen out, gave her version of the same uninteresting occasion. Finally, young Freddie Pargetter offered his own lengthy report of what sounds the worlds most uneventful quiz.

Sounds fascinating? Then please compare the self-obsessed soliloquy of fiftysomething Elizabeth Pargetter (mother of aforementioned Freddie) about an online dating encounter with a man who turns out to be a bore. Not nearly as boring as Elizabeth banging on about it.

One noteworthy aspect of the monologues is that characters are made to think thoughts that are far darker than their actions in that long-forgotten Ambridge where people actually spoke to one another. Thus the normally sunny Ed Grundy moans to himself about his friend Jazzer and his brother Will.

Enough. There are doubtless a handful of loyal fans who would continue to adore The Archers if it were broadcast in Serbo-Croat, but I believe I may speak for many listeners when I say that, my duty done, I cant listen to another word of the programme unless normal service is restored.

The tragedy is that it need not have been like this. Guests on the BBC1 panel show Have I Got News For You appear from home, while ITVs soap opera Emmerdale has socially distanced scenes.

Why werent the programmes makers more imaginative? After all, the London Philharmonic Orchestra recently performed online with numerous musicians playing individually from their own homes, synchronised perfectly. That was surely a far greater technical challenge that linking up a few actors.

This newspaper, let it be known, has for the past three-and-a-half months been written, edited and laid out nightly by hundreds of journalists working separately in their homes. Why cant The Archers accomplish a seemingly much less onerous task?

What scope there would have been for the show to reflect some of the sombre realities of Covid-19! If the purpose of a soap is to hold up a mirror to nature, here was an opportunity to dramatise the pandemics human consequences.

As it is, the characters have maundered on endlessly about themselves. The producers even had the nerve to jazz up the theme tune as they embarked on their mission to eviscerate the programme.

Does the weakening and conceivable demise of The Archers matter very much? Not perhaps in the great scheme of things, with so many lives lost, livelihoods threatened, companies destroyed and futures blighted.

But the programme is nonetheless a jewel in the BBCs crown. It has been around for longer than most of us can remember  entertaining tens of millions of people over the years, and giving enjoyment to succeeding generations.

Its a peculiarly British institution. I say that because, alth-ough Ambridge is situated in the English countryside, it is crammed with representatives of every corner of the kingdom  Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The vicar is even married to a Hindu.

The Archers is not so much a tale of everyday country folk as an attempt to tell a story about a village that may not be entirely plausible but contains a wide variety of characters to whom many of us can relate.

Will The Archers be another victim of the pandemic? If it is, it wont be because it was starved of cash. Licence payers money has been rolling in.

No, with more imagination and some enterprise, the BBC could have defended and strengthened its venerable soap opera. Instead of which, its most famous radio programme has been dealt what could turn out to be a fatal blow.
A US lawyer and ex-FBI agent are set to take 'one last roll of the dice' at solving the notorious cold case of American tourist Annie McCarrick who disappeared in Ireland in 1993.

Annie McCarrick, 26, from New York, was last seen taking a bus to Enniskerry on March 26, 1993 after telling a friend she planned to go to the Wicklow Mountains for the day.

Michael Griffith, a lawyer her father John hired in 1993, has now joined forces with Kenneth Strange, a former FBI agent, and Annie's uncle, John Covell, as well as an Irish private investigator, Brian McCarthy, to try to solve the mystery of what happened to her.

Investigators have previously worked off the theory that Annie visited Johnnie Fox's pub in the Dublin mountains where a woman matching her description was seen in the company of man wearing a waxed jacket, who has never been identfied.

But now Mr Griffith says the team have uncoveried a witness statement which places Annie in a cafe in Enniskerry rather than at the pub, and have identified 'one main suspect' as a result.

The lawyer, who has previously said the case 'haunts' him, told the Herald: '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.'

A US lawyer and ex-FBI agent are set to take 'one last roll of the dice' at solving the notorious cold case of American tourist Annie McCarrick, 26, who disappeared in Ireland in 1993 (pictured)

He explained: 'We plan to come later in the year and I'm confident that we can solve this.'

The private investigator believes the statement, which was given to gardai at the time, could put an entirely new timeline on the case.

Annie was born in Long Island but moved to Ireland in 1987 and began studying in Dublin.

She went back to America in 1990 to get a master's degree, but returned to Ireland in January 1993 to settle.

During an interview in 2016, her mother Nancy told RTEs Crimecall programme: 'When she found Ireland, her whole life really changed.'

Annie left her apartment in Dublin on March 26 to spend the day at Wicklow Mountains, going alone after inviting a friend to go with her.

After she was spotted that afternoon getting the bus to Glencullen, there was an alleged sighting of someone matching her description at Johnnie Fox's Pub.

The woman spoke with a man who was in his twenties and wearing a waxed jacket, who has never been identified.

After the alleged sighting at the pub, Annie was never heard or seen again, with many people believing she had been murdered - but the case has never been solved.

The alarm was raised when Annie did not show up at a part-time cafe job the following day to collect her wages, and failed to go to a dinner party.

The American team now believe Annie was not at Johnnie Fox's Pub, in the village of Glencullen, as previously believed.

Instead, they have identified a new 'prime suspect' after becoming aware of a witness statement given to gardai in 1993.

The US team believe they have identified a 'prime suspect' after uncovering a witness statement from someone alleging they saw Annie with a man in a cafe in Enniskerry

Mr McCarthy believes they have now identified a new suspect whom they think Annie was with in a cafe in Enniskerry.

The witness, who has since died, alleged that Annie had been in the cafe with a man who fit the description of a suspect McCarthy has identified.

Mr McCarthy called the sighting 'more crucial than initially thought'.

There have been several attempts to uncover the person behind Annie's disappearance.

In 2010, the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed sensational evidence linking freed rapist Larry Murphy to another disappearance in the area, that of college student Deirdre Jacob, who disappeared in July 1998.

Trainee teacher Deirdre was one of three women, along with Annie and 21-year-old Jo Jo Dullard, who went missing in the area before Murphy was convicted in 2000 of the abduction, rape and attempted murder of a woman in the Wicklow Mountains.

Gardai have carried out extensive investigations into the disappearances but so far have had no breakthrough in solving them.

In 2008, the Garda brought a team of FBI agents to Ireland to review the evidence they had accumulated.

These experienced profilers, who specialise in investigating serial killers in the United States, concluded that the unknown killers matched the Murphy profile.

Meanwhile in 2014, retired detective sergeant Alan Bailey claimed that a member of the Provisional IRA may have killed her.

At the time, he told RTE's Today with Sean O'Rourke programme that the American student met the IRA man, to whom he gave a fictional name Manus Dunne, at Johnnie Fox's pub in Glencullen in the Dublin mountains.

Mr Bailey said that he 'started bragging about different exploits', naming colleagues before 'realising the enormity of what he had done.'

The retired detective sergeant wrote that Manus offered a lift into town but 'drove her up the mountains where he killed her and concealed her body behind some bushes'.

He said the information from a 'very reliable source', was a story that 'needs to be checked out'.

Meanwhile in 2018, police in Ireland began investigating whether a married father-of-two shot dead after murdering a student had been involved in Annie's killing.

Mark Hennessy, 40, was killed by officers hunting for missing Jastine Valdez, 24, near Dublin on Sunday before her body was discovered.

Garda sources told the Irish Times that Hennessy's DNA profile would be checked against historic and recent disappearances to see if he is a serial killer.

As part of that review, officers reexamined the infamous Vanishing Triangle cases of the 1990s, where a series of young women disappeared without trace over the course of five years, to see if Hennnessy could be responsible.

The victims include Annie McCarrick alongside Fiona Pender, Deirdre Jacob, Jo Jo Dullard, Fiona Sinnott, Eva Brennan and Ciara Breen.

Hennessy would have been aged just 16 when Annie disappeared in 1993, but her case is still being included in the review.
A black medical student has created a handbook for future doctors to help them recognise conditions on darker skin after only being taught how to diagnose white patients.

Malone Mukwende, a second year student at St George's, University of London, wrote Mind the Gap, to help other medics recognise potentially life-threatening diseases on BAME people.

The book contains side-by-side images showing how illnesses appear on light and dark skin, as well as telling doctors language which is appropriate to use with patients.

Speaking to the British Medical Journal, Mr Mukwende said: 'On arrival at medical school I noticed a lack of teaching about darker skin.

A black medical student has created a handbook for future doctors to help them recognise conditions on darker skin after only being taught how to diagnose white patients

'We were often taught to look for symptoms, such as rashes, in a way that I knew wouldn't appear on my own skin.'

He added in a statement: 'The booklet addresses many issues that have been further exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as families being asked if potential Covid patients are pale or if their lips turned blue.

'These are not useful descriptors for a black patient and, as a result, their care is compromised from the first point of contact.

'It is essential we begin to educate others so they are aware of such differences and the power of the clinical language we currently use.'

Mr Mukwende's handbook, which will be released in the coming months, comes after more than 186,000 people signed a petition urging British medical schools to include BAME representation in clinical teaching . They point to Kawaskai disease, a rare condition that mainly affects children under the age of five. On white skin, this appears as a red blotchy rash, but it's much harder to spot on darker skin (pictured)

St George's has backed the project, and even partnered Mr Mukwende with a team of lecturers to help him publish the book.

The team includes Margot Turner, St George's has backed the project, teaming the pioneering student with Lecturer in Diversity and Medical Education, and Peter Tomony, a Clinical Lecturer in Clinical Skills.

The book, Mind the Gap, contains side-by-side images showing how illnesses appear on light and dark skin, as well as telling doctors language which is appropriate to use with patients. pictured is its cover

A university spokesperson said: 'It was agreed that this was a very important issue and an essential part of decolonizing the curriculum.'

Mr Mukwende's handbook, which will be released in the coming months, comes after more than 186,000 people signed a petition urging British medical schools to include BAME representation in clinical teaching.

They point to Kawasaki disease, a rare condition that mainly affects children under the age of five.

Around eight in every 100,000 children develop Kawasaki disease in the UK each year, and if untreated, complications can be fatal in about 2 to 3 per cent of cases.

It's characteristic symptoms include a rash, swollen glands, dry or cracked lips, red fingers or toes and red eyes.

On white skin, this appears as a red blotchy rash, but it's much harder to spot on darker skin.
An Australian food enthusiast has reviewed her five favourite chocolates from Aldi - one of which is said to be a near-identical version of Kinder Bueno for a quarter of the price.

TikTok star Merna shared a 25-second video where she revealed the 'dupe' was a 150g packet of Choceur Liviano Hazelnut Creme bars.

'I think it's like a little secret that Aldi has the best chocolate ever and this is a dupe for Bueno - yum!' Merna said in the video that has been viewed more than 71,000 times.

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A food enthusiast has reviewed her top chocolates from Aldi. Of the chocolates included the Choceur Liviano Hazelnut Creme bars, which is said to be a 'dupe' of Kinder Bueno (pictured right)

The product has a light cream filling, a crispy golden outer wafer layer and is topped with European milk chocolate.

In 2018 the hazelnut bar was featured in Aldi's Product of the Year list due to popularity among customers.

Similarly to Kinder Bueno, the Aldi dupe bars are individually packaged but shoppers can purchase a 150 gram packet of seven for $2.49.

Compared to Bueno that often sell their bars for $1 each, the Aldi replica comes to only 35 cents per bar.

Similarly to Kinder Bueno, the Aldi dupe bars are individually packaged but shoppers can purchase a 150 gram packet of seven for $2.49

Other TikTok users commented on the video and agreed Aldi's chocolate is underrated.

'Yes the chocolate at Aldi is a must! Literally the only chocolate we buy is from Aldi,' one fan said.

'It's the best chocolate ever!' another added, and a third said: 'I get that Liviano almost weekly, it's the best!'

In the video Merna also reviewed the Summer Delight ice cream, which is near identical to Australia's Golden Gaytime classic

In the video Merna also reviewed the Summer Delight ice cream, which is very similar to Australia's Golden Gaytime classic.

The Summer Delights ice cream comes in a 1.2 litre tub for added convenience and is priced at $3.99.

According to Australian Food News, the ice cream consists of 'caramel and vanilla flavoured ice cream which is dipped in chocolate and wrapped in biscuit pieces'.

Customers wanting to purchase the creamy ice cream should act swiftly as the product is only available for a limited time.
To celebrate World Chocolate Day M&M's are launching a new sweet and salty pretzel flavour in Australia.

The announcement was made on July 7 alongside news the chocolate treats will be made in the Mars Wrigley factory in Ballarat, Victoria.

This homegrown creation features the M&M signature milk chocolate exterior with a smoother milk chocolate filling, and tiny pretzel pieces right in the centre.

To celebrate World Chocolate Day M&M's are launching a new sweet and salty pretzel flavour in Australia

The announcement was made on July 7 - the annual day to celebrate all things cocoa - alongside news the famous chocolate balls will be made in the Mars Wrigley factory in Ballarat, Victoria

Poll Would you try the pretzel flavour? Yes No Would you try the pretzel flavour? Yes 9 votes

No 1 votes Now share your opinion





'It is very exciting that M&M'S Pretzel is produced locally, bringing the treat to Australia for the first time,' a spokesperson for Mars Wrigley said.

'Most people don't know but some of Australia's most beloved chocolate brands such as maltesers, milky way, mars and pods are actually made here by Aussies.

'Mars Wrigley Australia is investing in new equipment to make these new M&M's in regional Victoria and Ballarat is the only Mars Wrigley factory in the world that has the capability to manufacture pods - who would have thought.'

'It is very exciting that M&M'S Pretzel is produced locally, bringing the treat to Australia for the first time,' a spokesperson for Mars Wrigley said

M&M's have been made in Ballarat since 1986, with chocolate made here exported to over 17 countries.

In 2004 pods were invented there, and since then 1 billion pods pieces have been made a year - that's approximately 14 billion in total.

In 2018 the factory made enough Maltesers to fill over eight Olympic swimming pools.

While the United States have been enjoying the pretzel flavour since 2010, this will be the first time Australians can get their hands on the delectable packet.

They will be available in major supermarkets nationwide from next week, first in Coles on July 13 and then in Woolworths from July 28.
A mother-of-one's final interview before she died of bowel cancer last month - after her treatment was halted stopped because of the global Covid pandemic - has left viewers 'angry' and 'in floods of tears'.

In an interview broadcast during Panorama: Britain's Cancer Crisis, which aired on BBC 1 last night, Kelly Smith, 31, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, is seen telling hosts of the Radio 5 Live podcast 'You, me and the Big C' that she's 'terrified' of dying.

Kelly had restarted chemotherapy shortly before lockdown after discovering her bowel cancer had spread to her small intestine, her pancreas, lymph nodes, liver, spine, stomach and brain.

She died on June 13th after battling the disease for three-and-a-half years. The Covid crisis meant that only her mother, Mandy, could be at her bedside when she passed away.

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Panorama: Britain's Cancer Crisis aired on BBC One on Monday night at 7:30pm; it featured mother-of-one Kelly Smith, 31, from Macclesfield, who died of bowel cancer in June

Smith, pictured with her young son, is seen in her final interview telling BBC presenters Deborah James, Lauren Mahon and Steve Bland 'I don't want to die'

Viewers called Kelly's interview 'absolutely devastating viewing' with many tweeting that the government should better address the predicted cancer crisis

BBC presenter Deborah James, who has incurable stage four bowel cancer, revealed her friend Kelly missed out on having more time with her family after her treatment for the same disease was cancelled due to COVID-19

In her final interview, filmed with the hosts of the BBC podcast 'You, me and the Big C' , Kelly said: 'I'm angry at Covid and that I got put on this break because I don't think I should have.'

'I'm terrified  absolutely terrified. I don't want to die. I feel like I've got so much more to do.'

Viewers watching the programme, which investigated fears that the coronavirus pandemic has caused a crisis in cancer care that could mean many thousands will die, took to Twitter to say how Kelly's story had affected them.

@boweliekate wrote: 'Held it together right to the end, now Im in bits. Such a mixture of emotions, sad, angry, scared.... RIP Kelly you were such an inspiration.'

@SamClar71912098 added: '#Panorama absolutely heartbreaking to see how cancer patients treatment has been stopped during Covid19. I really hope your story makes a difference Kelly.'

@AshUmJo penned: 'I am broken. Tears are still falling. The delay/denial of cancer diagnosis/treatment during this lockdown is just heartbreaking. Sherwin, Kelly, Wendy you deserved so much better. The price you paid is just not right.'

Kelly (bottom left) pictured on Zoom in the interview with Lauren Mahon (top left), Steve Bland, (top right) and Deborah James (bottom right)

Kelly Smith, pictured in Instagram photos, had restarted chemotherapy shortly before lockdown after scans revealed the cancer, initially found in her bowel, had spread to her small intestine, her pancreas, lymph nodes, liver, spine, stomach and brain

Stopping treatment robbed Kelly of precious time with her son Finley, six, pictured together

Others vented their fury at the Health Secretary Matt Hancock over how cancer care has been affected since lockdown began in March.

@leannejones01 'Absolutely devastating viewing. I don't even have words right now. Government and NHS got this so very wrong didn't they? Rip Kelly you beautiful lady. Estimated 35k deaths- what have you got to say @MattHancock'

During the show presenter Deborah James, who has incurable stage four bowel cancer, said her friend Kelly had 'died too soon'.

Deborah James, aka the Bowel babe, is a former deputy head who documents her journey living with incurable stage four bowel cancer

Fronted by James, the Panorama programme heard how each year 165,000 people die of cancer - or 450 people a day - but that experts fear there could be an additional 35,000 cancer deaths due to the pandemic.

Some two million screening tests for breast, bowel and cervical cancer have been missed, according to the show, sparking fears that thousands will face a delayed start to crucial treatment as a result of the pandemic.

The documentary features an interview with Kelly, recorded shortly before her death, in which she admits she is afraid of dying. Pictured, in an interview shared on social media

Writing in the Sun earlier this week, James told how COVID-19 also robbed Kelly's family of the chance to be by her side in her final hours.

'Hours before Kelly died, her family were forced to make the agonising decision to move her into a local hospice,' she wrote. 'Coronavirus meant only [her mother] Mandy could be by her side as Kelly slipped away.

'First Covid stopped Kellys chemo  then it denied her family the right to be with her at the end.'

Fronted by Deborah, Panorama hears how each year 165,000 people die of cancer - or 450 people a day - but that experts fear there could be an additional 35,000 cancer deaths due to the pandemic. Pictured, Deborah on the programme this evening

However she added: 'Kellys heartbreaking story is not unique. Almost every day since lockdown, I have received messages from patients worried about tests and treatment being cancelled.'

Deborah explained she personally had been fortunate enough to receive treatment at the start of lockdown, undergoing targeted radiotherapy after her blood tests revealed her cancer markers were up.

In January, the former deputy headteacher announced that her most recent scans had shown 'no evidence of cancer' in her body for the first time since her diagnosis in 2016, but she still needs regular treatment.

Deborah, a former deputy head from South West London, has shared her journey with the disease including candid photos of herself undergoing treatment

A recent photo of Deborah receiving treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London

Panorama: Britain's Cancer Crisis is available on BBC iPlayer. Kelly's family has set up a JustGiving page in her name, with proceeds benefiting Cancer Research UK.
Queen Letizia of Spain put on a solemn display as she donned a protective facemask and black outfit to attend a funeral mass at La Almudena Cathedral in Madrid this week.

Letizia, 47, joined King Felipe, 52, Princess Leonor, 14, and Princess Sofia, 12, as they paid tributes to the victims of COVID-19 at the service by wearing black.

The mother-of-two wore a long -sleeved black blouse and knee-length skirt, which she teamed with matching court shoes and a clutch, as she posed outside the church alongside her family.

Queen Letizia of Spain put on a solemn display as she donned a protective facemask and black outfit to attend a funeral mass at La Almudena Cathedral in Madrid this week (left Princess Leonor, right Infanta Sofia)

Meanwhile Princess Leonor, 14, wore a simple black shift dress by Spanish brand Poete with pumps, while Infanta Sofia, 13, opted for a belted shirt dress by BOSS which she teamed with flat shoes.

Dressed in a navy suit, King Felipe joined the family in wearing facemasks, as the country slowly ease lockdown rules following the coronavirus pandemic.

The family made their way into the church, watched by hundreds, where they stood at the front to listen to the service marking the tragic events.

Felipe and Letizia have been attending a range of touristic and cultural engagements to help boost the country's economy following their stringent lockdown.

Letizia, 47, joined King Felipe, 52, Princess Leonor, 14, and Princess Sofia, 12, as they paid tributes to the victims of COVID-19 at the service by wearing black

The mother-of-two wore a long -sleeved black blouse and knee-length skirt, which she teamed with matching court shoes and a clutch, as she posed outside the church alongside her family

Last week they visited Benidorm and Valencia, joined by Ximo Puig, the President of the Valencian Government, to attend the 2019 Innovation and Design Awards ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, King Felipe said: 'Today more than ever, we need to undertakecreateon the basis of design and innovation. As we also need to increase the resources dedicated to research, which is the previous step to knowledge-based innovation.

'In this way, we will be able to build the future with much more solid foundations.'

He added: 'Spanish design and innovation are excellent letters of introduction of our countryof our creativity and our economyinternationally.

'These elements, the result of innovation and investment in R&D, are more necessary than ever because of their ability to drive our economic growth.

'A sector that is also truly necessary, because if we want to make our economic system also sustainable, we have to generate innovative products, create patents and promote exports. In this challenge, the design and the exploitation phase of the knowledge that innovation implies play an essential role.'

Dressed in a navy suit, King Felipe joined the family in wearing facemasks, as the country slowly ease lockdown rules following the coronavirus pandemic

Princess Leonor, 14, wore a simple black shift dress by Spanish brand Poete with pumps, while Infanta Sofia, 13, opted for a belted shirt dress by BOSS which she teamed with flat shoes

The family made their way into the church, watched by hundreds, where they stood at the front to listen to the service marking the tragic events

Felipe and Letizia (Right) have been attending a range of touristic and cultural engagements to help boost the country's economy following their stringent lockdown

King Felipe VI of Spain (L), Queen Letizia of Spain (2L), Princess Leonor of Spain (2R) and her sister Sofia attend a funeral mass for COVID-19 victims on July 6

In April Princess Leonor of Spain and sister Princess Sofia made a rare appearance via video link, to read a famous piece of Spanish literature from Zarzuela Palace in Madrid.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia's eldest daughter and first-in-line to the throne Leonor, 14, kicked off the story, as she joined sister Sofia, 12, on a plush cream sofa in their home.

Dressed in a pink and blue blouse and white and black jeans, the siblings - who haven't been seen since the coronavirus pandemic - were perfectly poised as they read an extract to camera.

The reading of the famous novel was organised by Circle of Fine Arts, to pay tribute to those at the frontline of Covid-19 and to the author Miguel de Cervantes and the most universal work written in Spanish.

Queen Letizia of Spain and King Felipe of Spain are seen during a visit to La Carrichosa fruit and vegetables cooperative today

Letizia wore a white sleeveless blouse and a floral skirt as she met with officials from a safe distance

Felipe looked summery in grey slacks and a denim shirt as the couple wore facemasks for the occasion
Prince Harry has spoken about the 'challenges of digging deep to find resilience' during the Covid-19 crisis in a new video message for his Sentebale charity filmed in the garden of the $18 million mansion where he lives.

The Duke of Sussex, 35, appeared to have been filmed the clip in the back garden of Tyler Perry's home in Los Angeles where he is currently living with Meghan Markle, 38, having stepped back from royal duty in March.

In the video, which was shared on Twitter today for the Opening Ceremony of the AIDS 2020 Conference, the royal said: 'This years theme is resilience, something all of us around the globe have understood, specifically in recent months. For many, digging deep to find that resilience has been a challenging experience.'

Despite stepping back from royal life, the Duke has been permitted to continue to work with his patronages and charities like Sentebale, which supports youngsters with HIV.

The new video comes after the royal faced criticism over appearing to take a swipe at the British Empire by saying the history of the Commonwealth 'must be acknowledged', even if it's 'uncomfortable'.

Prince Harry, 35, spoke about the 'challenges of digging deep to find resilience' over the last few months in a speech filmed from the $18 million mansion he has been living in since stepping back from royal duty in March

The Duke appeared to be speaking from the grounds of Tyler Perry's $18 million LA mansion (pictured), where he has been living with Meghan and their son Archie, one, since stepping back from royal duty in March

The video message was released on Sentebale's official Twitter page, alongside the caption: 'Watch Sentebale's Co-Founding Patron, Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, discuss what resilience means to him and the young people living with, or affected by HIV, he supports via Sentebale, during the Opening Ceremony of the AIDS 2020 Conference.'

In the clip, Prince Harry, who appeared to be standing in the grounds of Tyler Perry's LA mansion, revealed: 'For those who have been affected by HIV and AIDS, the examples of resilience within one's self and the community, have been felt and fostered for decades.

'At Sentebale we see the resilience of young people every single day, which is why I've been inspired each day, since founding the non-profit organisation with Prince Seesio in 2006.'

'As you're about to see, these young people are about to speak out, chasing justice, as role models to their peers, support HIV prevention and challenge limiting systems in the hope of a more inclusive and accepting environment for all.'

The Duke of Sussex has been permitted to continue to work with his patronages and charities like Sentebale, which he founded in 2004 with Prince Seeiso, and supports youngsters with HIV (pictured, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso in 2016)

He continued: 'And when they face set-backs, they not only push back, but bounce back.

'They are resilience personified. We all succeed when they are empowered.'

Prince Harry co-founded the charity Sentebale  meaning 'forget me not'  with Prince Seeiso in 2006 to improve prospects for the thousands of children and young people affected by HIV/Aids in the landlocked African country.

It has since delivered adolescent-friendly HIV testing and counselling services to more than 21,000 people.

The Duke, who appeared to be speaking from the grounds of Tyler Perry's $18 million mansion, praised youngsters who had 'not just pushed back, but bounced back'

Harry first visited Lesotho in 2004, while shadowed by broadcaster Tom Bradby.

He and Prince Seeiso have since appeared at numerous events together, including a concert held at Kensington Palace in 2016 on behalf of Sentebale.

In January, the Duke made an emotional speech during a formal private dinner at the Ivy in Chelsea for Sentebale about his decision to walk away from royal duty with Meghan Markle, 38.

The royal spoken of his 'great sadness' at leaving the Royal Family and said he and Meghan had 'no other option' than to quit senior royal duties - but vowed the couple are 'not just walking away'.

In January, the Duke made an emotional speech at a dinner for the charity about his decision to leave the royal family

Yesterday, Prince Harry faced criticism after appearing to take a swipe at the British Empire by saying the history of the Commonwealth 'must be acknowledged'.

The Duke made the comment as he joined wife Meghan for a video call with young leaders from the Queen's Commonwealth Trust last week that was made public yesterday.

As part of the discussion on 'justice and equal rights', Harry said the Commonwealth needs to follow others who have 'acknowledged the past' and are 'trying to right their wrongs', and also admitted to having his own 'unconscious bias'.

Meanwhile Meghan said it is also a time of 'reckoning' when individuals should be putting their hands up to 'own' their past wrongdoings.

The video comes after Prince Harry risked upsetting the royal family by insisting the Commonwealth 'must acknowledge the past' in a video call with Meghan Markle and young leaders from across the Commonwealth. Pictured, Chrisann Jarrett (UK) (top left), Mike Omoniyi (UK), (top right), Alicia Wallace (Bahamas) (bottom left) and Abdullahi Alim (Australia) (bottom right

Speaking from his Los Angeles home, Harry, whose grandmother the Queen is head of the Commonwealth, 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.'

The statement appears to be a swipe at the British Empire, which was ruled over by his ancestors and led to the creation of the Commonwealth, and goes against protocol of royals not wading into politics.

The intervention was criticised by Tory MP Andrew Rosindell, who told MailOnline Prince Harry's comments were 'disappointing' and would not 'please' the Queen.

The Duke made the comment as he joined wife Meghan for a video call with young leaders from the Queen's Commonwealth Trust last week

Mr Rosindell said: 'I understand that Harry and Meghan have taken a step out from being members of the Royal Family.

'Therefore I'm surprised that he would be making comments like that. I don't agree with what he is saying. We should look forward not back. As someone who has stepped out of the Royal Family he should focus on his own life and not get involved in politics.

'That is not the appropriate thing to do. I'm not sure his grandmother would be too pleased either.'

It is the latest in a series of public steps taken by Harry and Meghan as they shift the focus of their royal work towards racial equality and social justice.

Speaking from his Los Angeles home, Harry said: 'When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past

Harry last week publicly apologised for 'endemic' institutionalised racism, saying he is 'sorry' the world isn't in the place where young people 'deserve it to be'. The statement sparked calls for Harry to apologise for his own mistakes relating to racism.

In the most recent call Harry turned his attention to the Commonwealth, which emerged out of the decolonisation of the British Empire in the first half of the 20th century. Almost all of the 54 Commonwealth territories were once part of the Empire.

The Queen remains head of the Commonwealth and in 2018 Harry's father Prince Charles was announced as her successor.

The Queen is the head of the 54-nation Commonwealth. She is pictured here with Jamaica's Governor General Patrick Allen and his wife Patricia during a reception for Commonwealth Governors General at Buckingham Palace in 2012

However Harry insisted it will only be possible for the organisation to continue if more is done to 'acknowledge' the past.

Harry told the group of young people, which included young leaders from Australia, the Bahamas and the UK: '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.'

Meghan also touched on the Commonwealth's past, saying: 'In that self reflection, it's acknowledging whatever mistakes we've all made, right?'
The Norwegian royal family has given fans a glimpse into their fun-filled weekend after reuniting for Queen Sonja's 83rd birthday.

King Harald V, also 83, and his wife Sonja were joined by their son Crown Prince Haakon, 46, their daughter-in-law Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 46, and their daughter Princess Martha Louise, 48, for a wholesome lunch.

Also attending the get together at the monarch's private holiday home, Mager, situated in Tjme in southern Norway, were Prince Haakon's two children Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 16, Prince Sverre Magnus, 14.

They were joined by Princess Martha Louise's children Maud Angelica, 17, Leah Isadora, 14, and Emma Tallulah, 11, making it a near full-family gathering, apart from Princess Mette-Marit's son Marius, 23, from a previous relationship.

The Norwegian royal family have given fans a glimpse into their fun-filled weekend after reuniting for Queen Sonja's 83rd birthday. Pictured left to right: Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Martha Louise, Maud Angelica, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Queen Sonja, Prince Sverre Magnus, Leah Isadora, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and King Harald V

The royal family shared a sweet photograph of the loved ones sitting around a table together while enjoying the sunshine outside.

Taking to Instagram, the post, roughly translated into English, read: 'The royal family wishes everyone a really good summer!'

Queen Sonja sat at the top of the table, while Crown Prince Haakon sat opposite his father and was captured closets to the camera.

King Harald V was seated next to his daughter-in-law, who sat opposite her sister-in-law Princess Martha Louise.

It also comes after the royal household released a portrait of Queen Sonja (pictured) to mark her 83rd birthday

Maud Angelica, sporting a black and white polka dot dress, sat next to her mother and her cousin, Princess Ingrid Alexandra at the far end of the table close to their grandmother.

Seated on the opposite side was Prince Sverre Magnus and Leah Isadora, while Princess Martha Louise's youngest daughter, Emma Tallulah, appeared to be the one taking the photograph.

The dinner table was set elegantly with a blue tablecloth and white and blue matching crockery.

Three vases of flowers were dotted through the middle of the lavish set-up, while the idyllic grounds of the private property could be seen beyond the patio area.

The intimate family photograph appears to be the first public snap of the royals altogether since Norway significantly reduced its lockdown restrictions last month following the coronavirus pandemic.

It also comes after the royal household released a portrait of Queen Sonja to mark her 83rd birthday.

Shared to Instagram, the stunning photograph shows the royal wearing a white blouse with a vibrant red coat.

The image was shared with the caption: 'Happy birthday, Queen Sonja!'
A transgender woman who experienced shocking abuse as a 14-year-old says more needs to be done to help vulnerable LGBT teens.

Paris Lees, who writes for Vogue magazine and is an ambassador for beauty company Pantene, told her 81,000 followers on Twitter that the current debate about transgender people using public toilets should also focus on better protecting young people.

Referencing an interview with James O'Brien from 2018, in which she discussed the abuse she'd suffered as a teenager, Lees said: 'I tell @mrjamesob in this interview about having sex with grown men in public toilets when I was 14.

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Journalist Paris Lees, who's transgender, told her 81,000 followers on Twitter that more needs to be done to address vulnerable LGBT teens, referencing her own experience of having 'sex at 14 with grown men'

Discussing debate around transgender people using public toilets, Lees said: 'Why aren't we having a public debate about how to keep kids safe in toilets?'

'How is that anything other than abuse? Where was the public outrage? Why aren't people upset at something we KNOW is happening to vulnerable LGBT kids?'

In the same thread, Lees, who grew up in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, and transitioned in her late teens while studying in Brighton, added: 'Why aren't we having a public debate about how to keep kids safe in toilets? I'm not the 1st person to talk about this. We all know it's happening.

'Are we saying it's OK? For children to walk into toilets and be abused? We're going to ignore that to focus on hypothetical threats?'

Last month, Lees invited Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who's made a series of controversial comments about transgender people, to lunch, offering to introduce the writer to people from the trans community.

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

On Wednesday, Rowling published an open letter on her website, in which she defended her comments about transgender people, and also revealed she is a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor.

The Harry Potter author received a widespread backlash over the weekend after taking issue with a headline about people who menstruate and tweets that were accused of transphobia.

The Harry Potter creator yesterday likened hormone therapy and surgery for transgender young people to 'a new kind of conversion therapy'.

Transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf slammed Rowling as 'dangerous' and a 'threat to LGBT people' in a row over the author's latest controversial tweets.

The Harry Potter creator today likened hormone therapy and surgery for transgender young people to 'a new kind of conversion therapy'

Bergdorf was quick to slam the author's statement and wrote: 'Mark my words. JK Rowling is dangerous and poses threat to LGBT people

Bergdorf was quick to slam the author's statement and wrote: 'Mark my words. JK Rowling is dangerous and poses threat to LGBT people.

Rowling's 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'.

She added: 'Trans healthcare is not conversion therapy. This is INSANE.'

In a separate Tweet she wrote: '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.'
The Duchess of Cornwall has told how listening to the 'horrific' stories of survivors of domestic abuse motivated her to help tackle the 'taboo' around discussing the issue.

In a pre-recorded discussion for the Women Of The World (Wow) online festival, Camilla, 72, said she wanted to 'lift the shroud of silence'.

She told how she became particularly motivated to address the problem later in life after meeting and listening to women while on her official royal duties.

'I'm in my 70s now, so I grew up in a time, in the '50s and '60s, when the landscape and the attitudes were very different,' she said in the video that was streamed online on Saturday evening.

In a pre-recorded discussion for the Women Of The World (Wow) online festival, Camilla (pictured), 72, told how listening to the 'horrific' stories of survivors of domestic abuse motivated her to help tackle the 'taboo' around discussing the issue

'A huge amount has changed since then, particularly for women. I think then I didn't really notice it so much, because it was just part of the lifestyle.'

The duchess said she had since listened to 'countless women' all over the world.

'It made me see at first hand the inequalities that disproportionately still affect women and girls.

'And this was particularly apparent in the areas of domestic abuse and sexual assault, two issues that I care very deeply about.'

The duchess said she had known men and women who had also suffered, and speaking to them had left her 'more and more shocked by what was going on'.

Camilla said she was 'proud' to become patron at SafeLives, a domestic abuse charity which she has worked closely with in the last four years.

Gina Miller, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service Cressida Dick attend the Grand Opening of the WOW Women Of The World Festival at the Southbank Centre on March 6, 2020 in London

The royal at Swindon Fire Station Camilla Duchess of Cornwall visit to Swindon Fire Station and Swindon Borough Council on 6 July 2020

She recalled attending a charity meeting to listen to women's experiences of domestic abuse, after which 'there wasn't a dry eye in the place'.

'The experience was so moving,' the duchess said, adding: 'That was the moment when I thought 'goodness I've got to do something to help these people'.

'I remember talking to one of the mothers who'd lost her daughter in the most horrific circumstances and I said 'look, I don't know what I can do to help but I promise I'm going to do everything I can try and bring this out into the open'.'

She added: 'It can affect anybody... from any strata of society, it doesn't matter who you are.

'I just want all these people to know that they are not alone and that there is help there. There's help out there.'

The duchess also expressed fear that the coronavirus pandemic would have a 'horrific' impact on domestic abuse.

Also taking part in the discussion, Suzanne Jacob, chief executive at SafeLives, warned that the full impact of the pandemic was still unknown.

She said: 'The full picture is probably not going to emerge for quite some time to come.

The Duchess of Cornwall speaks as she attends the opening session of the WOW (Women of the World) Festival at the Southbank Centre in London on Friday March 6, 2020

'We know that people have slipped out of view even more than usual during lockdown, and that's children as well as adults, which is a really frightening prospect.'

The duchess said progress was being made and called for the issue of domestic abuse to be more openly discussed, with more training of volunteers and teaching of young people about 'healthy and loving relationships'.

'Whatever happens I'm going to keep banging the drum until people listen to me, until there's a hole in it,' she vowed. 'The more people, the more brave women I've seen, getting up and speaking about their experiences inspires others,' she also commented.

The duchess added: 'It's been a taboo subject for so long that people just haven't talked about it. As I've said before, silence is corrosive because it leaves the victims feeling both shame and blame.

'I wanted to lift the shroud of this silence, and get more women, children and men to talk about their experiences.'

A 24-hour online festival hosted by Wow, of which Camilla is president, was due to run from midday on Saturday, aiming to bring contributors together from around the world, including civil rights activist Angela Davis, campaigner Gina Miller and actor Sir Patrick Stewart.

They will discuss issues that have an impact on girls and women, including education, justice, climate, health, the economy and violence, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.
The speaking opportunities appear to be coming in thick and fast for Meghan Markle, as it was announced today that the Duchess will appear as a special guest at a summit for the Girl Up campaign next week.

The campaign organization, which has the motto 'uniting girls to change the world', revealed that the royal will appear at its virtual 2020 Global Leadership Summit, alongside other big-ticket names including Michelle Obama and Priyanka Chopra.

The 38-year-old royal is a keynote speaker at the online event, which is taking place from July 13 to 15, the Girl Up campaign announced in a post shared on its social media platforms.

It is the latest in a series of public steps taken by Prince Harry and Meghan as they shift the focus of their royal work towards racial equality and social justice.

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In demand! The flyer posted by the Girl Up campaign today on their social media platforms, which announced that the Duchess of Sussex will be a keynote speaker at their online leadership summit next week

Meghan, 38, is now more than used to speaking via meeting software having dialed into several events recently, including an address last month to her former high school, the Immaculate Heart in Los Angeles, where the royal spoke to leavers about the death of George Floyd

The post announcing the Duchess of Sussex's appearance read: 'The present is female! But dont take our word for it. 

'Hear from our keynote speaker Meghan Markle, The Duchess of Sussex, as she takes the stage at our 2020 Leadership Summit, happening virtually July 13-15!'

The campaign group said this year's summit promises to be 'unforgettable with interactive virtual workshops, panels with global leaders, and so much more'.

The colorful flyer saw the Duchess pictured centre against a shiny background, with the Girl Up campaign's yellow logo across the top.

Earlier this week, the campaign group announced that actor, producer and activist Priyanka Chopra would be taking part in a Q&A at next week's summit.

And a week ago, it was revealed that the former First Lady Michelle Obama would be offering a special message to delegates.

Girl Up shared: 'We have some BIG news!! Former U.S. First Lady @michelleobama will share a special message on behalf of @girlsopportunityalliance at our 2020 @GirlUpCampaign Leadership Summit!'

The Girl Up Global Leadership Summit is part of an initiative started by the UN, which is 'dedicated to securing equal opportunities for underprivileged adolescent girls in developing countries such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Guatemala, and India'.

In good company! Meghan joins a stellar line-up at the event, which will include a message from former First Lady Michelle Obama

Initially, the leadership summit was due to take place in Washington, D.C., however it was moved to an online format over fears about safety amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The summit boasts a host of big-name corporate sponsors, including P&G, while the organization itself has partnered with the likes of Google, BNY Mellon, H&M, Intel, and Penguin.

It is not known whether speakers at the summit are paid for their time, however it is likely that they take part on a volunteer basis.

However, experts have previously revealed that both Meghan and Prince Harry could stand to earn millions from public speaking engagements in the future - with one agency estimating that the couple could rake in up to $500,000 each from a single appearance.

In February, a PR expert told DailyMail.com that the couple may have earned 'up to $1 million' between them to speak at a star-studded JP Morgan summit in Miami, insisting that the couple will be the 'highest-paid speakers that exist on the corporate market'.

'I would not be shocked if they earned in excess of $1 million,' Ronn Torossian, CEO of New York-based firm 5W Public Relations, said of their JP Morgan engagement.

'Over the year their earning power could be unlimited.

Speaking from his Los Angeles home, Harry said: 'When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past

Prince Harry risked upsetting the royal family by insisting the Commonwealth 'must acknowledge the past' in a video call with Meghan and young leaders from across the Commonwealth. Pictured, Chrisann Jarrett (UK) (top left), Mike Omoniyi (UK), (top right), Alicia Wallace (Bahamas) (bottom left) and Abdullahi Alim (Australia) (bottom right)

The Duke of Sussex, 35, made the comment as he joined wife Meghan, 38, for a video call with young leaders from the Queen's Commonwealth Trust last week

Meanwhile, GDA Speakers, whose clients include Nicole Kidman and Diane Keaton, told TMZ that the Duke and Duchess will likely attract much higher fees than regular celebrities, even without their HRH titles.

The majority of big-name celebrities earn between $200,000 and $300,000 for a speaking engagement, however the agency estimates that Harry and Meghan could each earn close to double that amount thanks to their impressive global standing.

Earlier this week, Prince Harry faced criticism after he appeared to take a swipe at the British Empire by saying the history of the Commonwealth 'must be acknowledged', even if it's 'uncomfortable'.

The Duke of Sussex, 35, made the comment as he joined wife Meghan for a video call with young leaders from the Queen's Commonwealth Trust last week that was made public today.

As part of the discussion on 'justice and equal rights', Harry said the Commonwealth needs to follow others who have 'acknowledged the past' and are 'trying to right their wrongs', and also admitted to having his own 'unconscious bias'.

Meanwhile Meghan said it is also a time of 'reckoning' when individuals should be putting their hands up to 'own' their past wrongdoings.

Speaking from his Los Angeles home, Harry, whose grandmother the Queen is head of the Commonwealth, 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.'

The statement appears to be a swipe at the British Empire, which was ruled over by his ancestors and led to the creation of the Commonwealth, and goes against protocol of royals not wading into politics.

The intervention was criticized by Tory MP Andrew Rosindell, who told MailOnline Prince Harry's comments were 'disappointing' and would not 'please' the Queen.

Mr Rosindell said: 'I understand that Harry and Meghan have taken a step out from being members of the Royal Family.

'Therefore I'm surprised that he would be making comments like that. I don't agree with what he is saying. We should look forward not back. As someone who has stepped out of the Royal Family he should focus on his own life and not get involved in politics.

'That is not the appropriate thing to do. I'm not sure his grandmother would be too pleased either.'
A CNN clip is going viral after an ad for Applebee's followed a story about Broadway star Nick Cordero's death, making for a startling and disheartening juxtaposition.

On Monday, CNN aired a report on Cordero's death at age 41 from COVID-19 complications, sharing somber details of his 95-day battle with the virus.

After the report, CNN cut to a commercial break, immediately airing an ad for Abblebee's announcing a return to dine-in-service  something that, taken immediately after COVID death news, highlighted a shocking disconnect.

On TV: A CNN clip is going viral after an ad for Applebee's followed a story about Broadway star Nick Cordero's death, making for a startling and disheartening juxtaposition

Report: Nick's death was covered in the news broadcast before CNN cut to a commercial break

Switch: The first ad was an upbeat commercial advertising Applebee's return to dine-in service

Back to normal? Accompanied by the theme song to Welcome Back, Kotter, the upbeat ad ended with the words, 'Welcome back, America. It sure is good to see you'

In the report, the CNN anchor mentioned the complications Cordero faced during his battle with the virus, including a leg amputation.

She noted that his wife, Amanda Kloots, had documented his progress.

At the end of the report, the anchor said that she would also be interviewing a 37-year-old who has been battling the virus for months.

The report ended with a pause lasting for several seconds before the camera cut away and CNN transitioned to a commercial break.

The first commercial, remarkably, was for Abblebee's, advertising its return to dine-in service in some locations.

Tragic: Cordero, pictured with wife Amanda Kloots and their son Elvis, died at age 41 after three months of battling coronavirus

Accompanied by the theme song to Welcome Back, Kotter, the upbeat ad ended with the words, 'Welcome back, America. It sure is good to see you.'

Not long after, Twitter user Ryan Masri shared the video, writing: 'This transition entirely f***ed me up.'

Others agreed, noting how jarring it was to transition from a news story about a young man's death in a pandemic to a cheerful ad that seemed to present the pandemic as over and in the past.

'America is literally a living satire/farce of itself,' wrote one commenter.

'Imagine the first thing you do after getting out of quarantine is go to Applebees,' snarked another.

'Isn't capitalism during a pandemic great?' asked a third.

Yikes! Commenters were horrified, noting the jarring transition from a story about a young man's death in a pandemic to a cheerful ad that seemed to present the pandemic as over

'Damn thats brutal. I wouldnt wish Applebees on my worst enemy,' another quipped.

'Come to Applebee's and die,' wrote a more blunt commenter.

'Imagine dying for Applebees,' added yet another.

Others said that they couldn't believe the clip was real, calling reality 'hell' and 'the bad place.'

Several states that reopened restaurants for indoor dine-in service have seen huge spikes in COVID-19 cases.

Many places have gone on to re-close restaurants  including several counties in California, Florida, and Texas with New York and New Jersey postponing plans to return to dine-in eating.

As of this morning, the US has documented 2.89 million cases of COVID-19, more than any other country. Deaths are at 130,000.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc announced it has signed a $450 million contract with the US government for its potential coronavirus drug.

The cocktail, REGN-COV2, contains an antibody made by the company from mice and another isolated from a recovered COVID-19 patient.

It is being tested separately for both preventing and treating the virus, with a late-stage prevention trial being run jointly with the National Institutes of Health.

The agreement is the first by the Trump administration to support a therapy and comes under the government's 'Operation Warp Speed' program, aimed at faster distribution of vaccines and treatments to fight coronavirus when trials are successful.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc has signed a $450 million contract with the US government, which will now own its experimental coronavirus drug. Pictured: A lab worker at Regeneron headquarters in Tarrytown, New York

REGN-COV2 contains an antibody made by the company from genetically engineered mice and another isolated from a recovered COVID-19 patient and could be used as a treatment or preventative measure, Pictured: Healthcare workers move a patient in the COVID-19 Unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, July 2

If Phase III clinical trials are successful, between 70,000 and 300,000 treatment doses or 420,000 to 1,300,000 prevention doses will be available by fall 2020. Pictured: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. signage is displayed outside their headquarters in Tarrytown, NY, June 12

REGN-COV2 is in a class of drugs known as monoclonal antibodies, which are clones of antibody that attacks a specific antigen.

These groups of antibodies than neutralized pathogens such as viruses, bacteria or even cancerous tumors.

Regeneron signed the contract with the US Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Department of Defense.

Under the terms and conditions, the doses manufactured by the project will be owned by the federal government.

The agreement covers a fixed number of bulk lots intended to be completed in the fall of 2020, Regeneron said.

A range of 70,000 to 300,000 potential treatment doses or 420,000 to 1,300,000 prevention doses are expected to be available from these lots, with initial doses to be ready as early as end of summer

Upon news of the contract, shares of Regeneron were up 1.4 percent at $636.11 and have risen 67 percent so far this year.

It also comes as Regeneron announced it is starting later-stage studies of its experimental coronavirus drug.

The treatment portion, combining phases II and III, will look at how REGN-COV2 works in hospitalized and non hospitalized patients.

The company is planning to enroll 1,850 hospitalized volunteer and 1,050 non-hospitalized subjects across 150 sites in the US, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

For the prevention portion, researchers will test if the drug helps prevent coronavirus among those who have been closely exposed to people who've had the virus, such as people living in the same household.

This phase III bit is expected to be conducted at approximately 100 sites across the US and include 2,000 patients, according to a company press release.

Rivals Eli Lilly and AbbVie are also pursuing antibody therapies for the respiratory illness and also begun testing in humans.

Although antibody drugs would not provide as much protection as a vaccine, it could protect those at high-risk, such as healthcare workers and the elderly, until an inoculation is available.

The US is also funding manufacturing and several trials for potential vaccines and has rushed to secure billions of doses of the vaccines being tested by companies around the world.

Earlier in the day, Novavax Inc received a $1.6 billion grant, the biggest award yet from Operation Warp Speed, to cover testing, manufacturing and sale of a potential coronavirus vaccine.
Ineos Automotive could be set to ditch plans to build its first off-roader - revealed last week - in Britain, it has emerged today.

A state-of-the-art factory was due to be built in Bridgend, South Wales, for production of the new utilitarian Grenadier offroader, creating up to 500 jobs in the region.

However, bosses are now considering whether to manufacture the vehicle in France after carmaker Daimler announced plans to sell its factory there as pressures mount amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Proposed UK automotive jobs could be scrapped: Ineos Automotive had previously said it will build its new Grenadier 4X4 at a new 'state-of-the-art' facility in Bridgend, Wales, but today has admitted it could switch production to France

Petrochemicals firm Ineos, which is owned by the pro-Brexit billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe - named the fifth richest man in Britain by the Sunday Times this year - said last autumn that the 4X4 would come with a 'Made in Britain stamp' as it would be produced at a new 'state-of-the-art' factory in South Wales.

Not only that, it revealed computer-generated images of how the plant could look at the site close to the Ford engine factory, which is due to close in September this year.

However, the availability of a ready-made production facility in Hambach in north east France - close to the German border and near the German city of Saarbrucken in industrial Saar region - has resulted in plans to build in the UK being put on hold.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Ineos Automotive chief executive, Dirk Heilmann, said: 'Overcapacity has long been a major issue for the automotive sector.

'Of course we considered this route previously, but as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic some new options such as this one with the plant in Hambach have opened up that were simply not available to us previously.

'We are therefore having another look  and reviewing whether the addition of two new manufacturing facilities is the right thing to do in the current environment.'

The South Wales plant would have created 200 new jobs initially, expanding to 500 once production ramps up. Ford's due-to-close engine plant is the building you can see in the top left of this image

The Grenadier offroader was only unveiled in full last week, revealing a shape very similar to that of the previous-generation Land Rover Defender

Petrochemicals firm Ineos, which is owned by the pro-Brexit billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe (pictured) - named the fifth richest man in Britain by the Sunday Times this year - said last autumn that it would make the vehicle in Wales

Grenadier is designed to be s a hard-working, utilitarian 4X4 in the same ilk as the original Land Rover Series and aimed at farmers and off-road enthusiasts

He added: 'Covid has had an impact on our build schedules with ground clearing works and construction held up by the social distancing measures that have been required.

'Safety is of course paramount, but we also have an obligation to do what is right for the business  and so need to assess these new opportunities in order to maintain or improve on our timelines.'

Ineos Automotive chief executive, Dirk Heilmann

Ineos will review its options in the next few weeks, it said.

The company states: 'Specifically, Ineos Automotive has entered detailed discussions with Mercedes-Benz on the acquisition of its Hambach site in Moselle, France.

'We have therefore suspended the post-lockdown resumption of work at our sites in Wales and Portugal pending the outcome of this review.

'Further updates will follow in the coming weeks.'

Bosses had estimated that Ineos Automotive would build up to 25,000 4X4s a year, which would have created 200 jobs in Wales initially, rising to 500 in the longer term.

Around 100 staff are already with its engineering partner MBTech at its centre near Stuttgart in Germany - just 140 miles from Daimler's Hambach factory.

The engines used in Grenadier will be six-cylinder petrol and diesel BMW powerplants, which would also be easier and cost-effective to transport to a production facility on the French border rather than incurring import tariffs to ship to Wales post-Brexit.

A sub assembly plant in Estarreja, Portugal, had also originally been planned to produce chassis and body components.

It was said to also create up to 500 more jobs n the longer term, but is now also at risk.

German carmaker Daimler said on Friday it wanted to sell its factory in Hambach, France (pictured), near Metz and Saarbrucken, as it tries to cut costs

The site is currently the home of the Smart EQ ForTwo models - the compact electric-powered city cars

Speaking to This is Money, Ineos Automotive commercial director, Mark Tennant, said: 'Grenadier is absolutely going ahead. This is a re-affirmation of it going ahead. We are looking at something that was not previously available. It's not something we are taking lightly.'

The fall-out from the coronavirus has been a factor for the consideration to switch to the factory in France, but Brexit had not, he insisted - despite some industry sceptics seeing it as convenient cover for a hard-nosed financial move.

Mr Tennant claimed the opportunity of a ready-made site provided by Hambach was the driving factor, not Britain's decision to leave the EU.

Brexit was not an issue. Brexit has not played a role. We are looking to mitigate risk around timescale. There's a lot up in the air about a second wave of Covid. Mark Tennant - Ineos Automotive

'Brexit was not an issue,' he said. 'Brexit has not played a role.

'We are looking to mitigate risk around timescale. There's a lot up in the air about a second wave of Covid.'

Ineos owner, Ratcliffe, 67, has been a vocal supporter of Brexit, saying Britain would thrive outside of the EU.

In an interview with The Sunday Time in 2018 - shortly after he was knighted - he said: 'The Brits are perfectly capable of managing the Brits and don't need Brussels telling them how to manage things.

'I just don't believe in the concept of a United States of Europe. It's not viable.'

However, today's announcement could result in a public backlash against the petrochemicals mogul, similar to the one aimed at Britain's richest man, Sir James Dyson, when he announced his intention to move production of his ill-fated electric car from the UK to Singapore, despite intensely backing the Brexit decision.

The electric SUV project was eventually shelved late last year after the entrepreneur said it was 'not commercially viable'.

Sir James Dyson, Britain's richest man, was heavily criticised when he announced plans to shift production of the brand's electric car from the UK to Singapore in 2018, despite strongly backing the Brexit campaign. The zero-emission SUV project was eventually axed last year

The Hambach plant has been recently developed with a new dedicated SUV line, similar in size to the Grenadier

Ineos bosses said the adaptations already made to the production facility would be 'ideally suited' to build the new Grenadier 4X4

Although Ineos says the decision to look at Hambach had 'only just' been taken, Mr Tennant did confirm that the company had spoken to the Welsh government 'a few days earlier' to alert them to the fact that production in Britain may not go ahead.

Months of inactivity at the Bridgend site had also been the cause of some speculation. The firm said that this has been caused by the lockown, which has delayed ground clearance work there by three months.

However, the choreography of unveiling the good news of the vehicle last week then the blow to South Wales today suggests to some in the industry a longer and more directed strategy.

Mark Tennant, Ineos Automotive commercial director

Mr Tennant said; 'The Grenadier has got to be a strong commercial proposition. We have to look at existing capacity. We're still in negotiations.'

If the Hambach option is concluded, production in South Wales and Portugal will not go ahead, he confirmed. 'It's a binary decision,' he explained,

It was 'too early' to talk about any compensation or otherwise to the Welsh authorities who were developing the wider site for businesses, he added.

Mr Tenant said he was confident that, despite the delays caused by coronavirus, production at the end of 2021 and first sales in 2022 would remain on schedule.

'Our aspiration is still to start production at the end of 2021 and have the Grenadier on sale early 2022,' he told us.

The coronavirus pandemic has seen demand for new vehicles around the world slump and worsened problems affecting overcapacity, just as the sector pumps billions into electrifying its model line-ups to meet stringent emissions rules.

German carmaker Daimler said on Friday it wanted to sell its factory near Metz and Saarbrucken, as it tries to cut costs.

The site, which is the home of the smart EQ fortwo models, has been recently developed with a new dedicated SUV line, similar in size to the Grenadier.

Ineos bosses said this would be 'ideally suited' to the production of the 4X4, which is seen as the spiritual successor to the Land Rover Defender.

From launch, the Grenadier will be powered by 3.0-litre BMW petrol and diesel engines, though there's an electric hydrogen-powered version to follow

Ineos Automotive will launch two variants of their own off-roader  a classic 4X4 design (left) plus a double-cab pick-up (right) with an open load-lugging platform at the back.

Ineos bosses insisted they were not trying to exploit a grants merry-go-round by playing off one country against another, as other manufacturers have appeared to do in the past, but were looking to switch for purely commercial reasons.

Grants are not the main issue. We are not playing games in terms of who can give us most support,' Tennant explained.

Hambach has given us more options to minimise delays caused by Covid.

The main factor for Hambach is the opportunity to switch from a green field site to an existing factory with a trained workforce.

He accepted that the prospect of a trained workforce at Bridgend in South Wales had been a big draw initially.

He said Inoes had also looked at Hambach in the past, but ruled it out because at the time it did not have the capability to build 4X4s, Now it does, following a big investment in 2018.

It only come back into play in the last couple of weeks and specifically when Mercedes-Benz parent firm Daimler announced formally last Friday that they were putting the factory, which employs 1,600 people, up for sale: Its only last Friday they confirmed that, he said.

Last year Daimler announced it was selling 50 per cent of its stake in Smart to Chinese motor giant Geely, with future models to be built in China.

Whether any informal contacts  directly or indirectly - over a sale before last Fridays official announcement took place is not known.

Ineos said it has suspended the post-lockdown resumption of work at sites in Wales and Portugal pending a decision to take over the Hambach plant being sold by Daimler (pictured)

How does the Ineos Grenadier compare to the new Land Rover Defender? Here's a head-to-head

Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn used the grants merry go round tactic to great effect when negotiating state help for Sunderland, frequently threatening to shift production or deny a new model unless extra help were forthcoming.

State and grant aid for members of the European Union has to comply with strict competition rules to avoid member states unfairly bumping up inducements to companies to set up within their borders.

However, the rules can be deftly side-stepped with aid for roads and new infrasturucture which are not as tightly regulated.

With the UK leaving the EU formally at the end of the year, it is unlikely it would be bound by such rules, subject to any deal being negotiated or not.

David Leggett, automotive analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, said the decision could be a 'potentially big blow to the Welsh economy' and especially to the Bridgend area that is 'also losing a Ford engine factory that is set to close at the end of this year'.

'If Hambach has the capacity, it offers a simplified one-site manufacturing solution at a ready-made facility with good proximity to automotive suppliers and good transport links,' he added.

'Moreover, its position inside the EU means it would avoid any new import tariffs that could apply to UK-EU shipped parts and vehicles when the UK's Brexit transition period ends next year - a potential problem that came with the Wales plant.

'The timescale to conclude a transaction on the Hambach plant is inevitably tight if the schedule to launch the Grenadier in 2022 is to be met.'
Following the sudden death of my husband, Barclays Partner Finance has been by far the worst and most unsympathetic company I have had to deal with.

We had an interest-free loan in my late husband's name relating to a gas boiler. I wanted to settle the 2,252 balance but it took me more than a week, and more than eight hours' holding on the phone, to get to talk to someone.

I then received a letter addressed to my husband which asked him to complete, sign and return a form, following his recent call about nominating someone to act on his behalf regarding the account. This caused me great distress.

Heartless: Barclays Partner Finance left a grieving widow on hold hold for a total of eight hours following the sudden death of her husband

I sent a cheque for the balance in the middle of May, asking for a receipt and confirmation that the loan was paid in full. The cheque cleared on June 3.

On June 16, I received a further letter, dated June 11, threatening that unless I responded in 30 days the firm would require payment of the account including interest. This was an interest-free loan.

J. P., Gillingham, Kent.

Once again a major bank treats a bereaved person with callous indifference. At this appalling time you needed understanding and support. Instead, you were met with incompetence.

When you finally managed to speak to someone, after many attempts, it failed to act on your requests and  as your full letter details  tried to push you down an automatic route via a third-party company. Its actions were indefensible.

Barclays blames human error for the fact that your payment was not registered. This led to you being chased for money you did not owe. Your account has now been registered as settled and closed.

Barclays has sent you a bouquet of flowers as a gesture of goodwill and credited your bank account with 150.

A spokesman says: 'We have apologised to Mrs P for the level of service she experienced, which fell short of the high standards we strive for.'

Strive harder, Barclays. Much harder.

Straight to the point I Paid Ticketmaster 138.25 for tickets to see Rick Astley, but the concert was postponed due to the pandemic and I cant make the new date. A Ticketmaster employee told me I cant get a refund because I paid with an old debit card. Is this right? H. M., Lincolnshire. It sounds like there has been a misunderstanding here. Ticketmaster had been asking for your new debit card details and was waiting to hear back from you. The firm has since called and refunded you. *** When I closed my energy account, I was 83.58 in credit. Scottish Power sent a cheque to my old address but, by the time the new owner let me know, it was out of date. I sent the cheque back to the firm but had no response. G. J., North Caernarfon. Scottish Power says it never received the cheque but has issued another and sent it to your current address. *** After my husband died at the start of lockdown, I sent our cars log book to the DVLA so it could transfer the vehicle to my name. I enclosed a cheque for 235 to re-tax the car, but heard nothing back. B. W., Kent. DVLA says it had to limit the number of staff in its office due to social distancing rules, which caused delays. Your vehicle has now been taxed and the log book is updated. *** HMRC still owes me 528 in overpaid tax. When I applied for the refund more than three months ago, I was told it would appear in ten days. A. W., Perth. The taxman admits the refund was not processed properly and apologises. You have now been refunded.

My wife has received a bill from O2 which includes a call for 111.32 plus VAT. The number was 001877 4542507.

She is very careful when she uses her mobile and is adamant that she did not ring it.

O2 told us it is a U.S. number, but would not tell us the person or company it belongs to, and insisted we must sort it out. This looks like a scam.

P. B., Prenton, Merseyside.

Yes. It's a scam! Any number that starts 0018 is dodgy and returning the call will prove very expensive. The website Who Called Me ranks this prefix as 'dangerous'.

Callers from 0018 numbers may also try to steal your bank or credit card details, perhaps by pretending to be from a legitimate company. Do not answer, do not call them back, and block them if you can.

Your wife's phone was connected to this number for 44 minutes. It was made among a number of calls to international freephone numbers starting 00800. It is possible she hit the '1' by mistake when dialling  though I think this is unlikely.

O2 has kindly cleared the bill as a goodwill gesture.

However, this is a warning to be careful when dialling any numbers outside the usual UK codes. Some costly ones are far too similar to free ones  an issue the telecoms industry should address.

Calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers are included in phone contracts, 0800 and 0808 are free, but 084, 087, 118 and 09 can cost an arm and a leg. Call an 070 number (notice how close this is to a normal mobile number) and you can throw in the shirt off your back, too.

***

My wife and I are retired and over 70. We have more than 160,000 Avios points.

Due to health issues she can no longer fly. I have looked at transferring these points but there are limits and costs.

If I am reading the literature correctly, I believe I can only transfer a maximum of 27,000 in the year and will be charged 175 for this.

It would therefore take me six years and cost 1,050, if I am still alive.

P. W., Market Harborough, Leics.

I spoke with Avios, which offered some solutions.

Start by setting up an online account if you don't already have one. You tell me you are not too great with the internet.

Perhaps a family member or trusted friend can help  especially when you explain the potential benefits.

You can share your Avios points with family who live at the same address as you, including children, by setting up a household account. That wouldn't apply to you.

However, you can also set up a family and friends list. This will allow you to share Avios points with up to five people. I have used this option myself  and it doesn't cost anything.

However, you need not give all your points away. You can redeem them at approximately 20,000 hotels in the UK and more than 100,000 worldwide.

While your wife may not be able to fly, perhaps you could drive or take a train.

You can also use Avios points to buy wine, or rent a car. Experiences such as trips to the theatre will also become available again in the future.
Working parents are forfeiting 250 million in earnings every week as the continuing closure of schools and nurseries force them to cut down on work to look after their children, Money Mail can reveal.

Families are losing an average of 36 per week from their household income as they struggle to cope with increased childcare demands, while some parents are losing in excess of 300.

One in ten parents has had to voluntarily reduce their hours and take a pay cut, while 11 per cent have been furloughed because they can no longer keep up with their workload, according to exclusive research by Consumer Intelligence. A further 6 per cent have had to stop working completely.

School's out: Families are losing an average of 36 per week as they struggle to cope with increased childcare demands, while some parents are losing in excess of 300

There are 7,189,000 working families in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics, meaning millions of pounds are being lost every week.

Schools have been closed since March 23, so total household income losses could be nearly 4 billion.

A quarter of working parents have lost income due to school and nursery closures, according to the survey of 1,011 UK adults.

Of those, families are forfeiting an average of 584 of their normal monthly household income.

The shocking findings have prompted MPs to warn that the UK faces an 'epidemic' of unemployment among parents if schools don't reopen in September, as planned.

The Mail has led calls to restart children's education as soon as possible, but both the Government and teaching unions have come under fire after plans to reopen all primary schools for four weeks before the summer collapsed.

Our findings reveal the true financial toll of that failure for working parents  and warn of worse to come if targets are missed again.

Struggling with just one income

When lockdown halted Anete Baumeistar's work as a mystery shopper, it put a 'significant' strain on her family's finances.

The mother-of-three had hoped she could earn again when all shops reopened on June 15. But she's found it impossible to return to work because her children have been unable to attend school or nursery.

It means the 27-year-old is losing out on up to 300 per month. Her husband, David, 24, is keeping the family afloat thanks to his job as a delivery driver, but the drop in their income has made it harder for them to pay off debts. 'It might not be a significant amount for others, but it is for us,' says Anete.

The couple's eldest child, Marcus, ten, should have been back in class on June 1, under the Government's original targets, but the family are still awaiting confirmation of a restart date from his school.

Meanwhile, they cannot find a nursery or childcare for Shiloh, two, and three-month-old Shammah until August at the earliest.

Anete, from Corby, Northamptonshire, says she'd normally ask her mother to help out for a day or two, but she is working herself so cannot be on hand five days a week.

'The longer it takes for schools to reopen, the bigger impact it will have. If you don't have money for one month, you can get through. But if it goes on for two, three or six months, the consequences are vast.'

'My job has become impossible' Hands full: Lauren Drinkwater with her two children Elsie, two, and Theo,six Mother-of-two Lauren Drinkwater says she is forfeiting more than half her usual earnings as she struggles to work with her children at home. A personal trainer, she typically makes between 800 and 1,000 a month but has seen her income drop to as low as 300 a month as she cuts back on classes. Lauren has found it almost impossible to conduct her online one-to-ones while looking after Theo, six, and Elsie, two. Theo should have been back at school in June, while Elsie has lost her place with a childminder as the family couldn't afford to pay the 50 per cent fees during lockdown. Their father, Chris, works at a merchandise company. Lauren, 40, from Wallington, South London (pictured, with her children), says: 'I could have done personal training on Zoom, but I couldn't see a way of it working with the kids around. 'Having my income cut so much means the little things you want to get for your children, you just can't really afford, such as toys and any new clothes.' She is also forking out 25 per week on a private tutor for Theo. Lauren says she's been assured that he will be returning to class in September, adding: 'It's so important, I can't even tell you.'

Counting the cost of extra bills

Parents are also spending 137 more per month on food because their children are at home all day, every day, according to the survey.

Meanwhile, 15 per cent of working parents are having to pay more for alternative childcare, which is costing an average of 484 per month.

It comes as separate research from comparethemarket.com shows that 30 per cent of parents whose children have not yet gone back to school found it hard to pay their bills last week  the highest level since lockdown began.

More than a quarter of those families now think they won't be able to make ends meet over the coming weeks, the research says.

Meanwhile, half of parents are paying for extra educational support during lockdown at an average of 26 per month, according to research by Opinium on behalf of Royal London, published yesterday.

Nursery places are hard to find

Nurseries have been allowed to open to all children since June 1, but many parents have struggled to find a place.

The latest Government figures show that as of July 2, just 23 per cent of the number of children who normally attend early years schooling had returned.

Nurseries are prioritising key workers and many are not taking on new children until September.

The Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years says a quarter of its members are not open, while the Early Years Alliance say many nurseries, pre-school groups and childminders are facing losses due to the pandemic and could close.

Meanwhile, the Competition and Markets Authority is investigating nurseries that have kept charging hundreds of pounds in fees to parents while their children were not allowed to attend. (Part-time private nursery places cost an average of 6,600 per year).

For children under two, financial support for childcare is limited to tax rebates for those who work 16 hours a week and are not already receiving credits.

Lockdown lessons: Half of parents are paying for private tutoring during lockdown at an average of 26 per month

Mums face maternity trap

Women are most often in the firing line, as they continue to shoulder the majority of childcare.

In many cases, once maternity leave ends, new mothers are having to resort to taking unpaid leave due to a lack of support.

Nat Snook, 35, from Hinckley, Leicestershire, has had to extend her maternity leave from nine months to a year, but the final three months will be unpaid.

The mother-of-three, who works at a playgroup, says she felt she had no choice other than to take unpaid leave.

She has been unable to find care for her six-month-old, Lola, and Mason, 13, and Amelia, eight, are also yet to return to school.

Nat says she supports a petition, already signed by 228,000 people, calling for a three-month extension to the nine months' statutory maternity pay of 151 a week.

Emily Tredget, of parent and baby class website Happity, says some mothers are being forced to resign, because employers will not even allow an extension.

'I've heard stories of mums asking to extend maternity leave and are happy to take it unpaid, but the employer saying, 'I'm not willing to chat to you until you have a solution to the childcare'.'

More than half of working mums believe their career prospects have been damaged due to increased childcare demands during the pandemic, according to a survey by campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed.

Maike Currie, of Fidelity International, points out the situation is likely to widen the pension gap between men and women. She adds that reducing working hours, or giving up work to care for a child, 'can be extremely detrimental to future finances'.

September restart is vital

The latest Government figures show that just 17 per cent of pupils had returned to school by July 2.

The Prime Minister has vowed that all pupils will be back at school by September, but unions continue to cast doubt on a return.

The National Education Union has said Government plans are 'more based on hope than science'.

Tory MP Robert Halfon, chairman of the education committee, says Money Mail's findings are 'yet another reason why we need children learning again in September'.

He adds: 'Otherwise, we will face not just an epidemic of educational poverty, but high unemployment.'

Sarah Hesz, of childcare app Bubble, says parents face 'utter panic if schools don't reopen in September  I feel genuinely sick thinking about it. Financially, I can't imagine how parents will cope.'

Labour's shadow education secretary, Kate Green, says: 'These are very worrying figures, showing parents face acute financial pressure as a result of having to reduce hours or give up work to look after children.

'At the same time, thousands of childcare settings face closure as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. Getting children safely back to school in September, and providing wraparound care, must be urgent priorities for the Government.'

A Government spokesman says: 'This government has been doing everything it can to support workers. The swift action taken has protected millions of jobs.

'Schools and nurseries have been open for the children of critical workers throughout and, since June 1, they have been able to open more widely. Almost 1.6 million children have now returned to school.

'We are working to ensure all children are able to return to school in September.'

m.dilworth@dailymail.co.uk
Software giant Micro Focus shed a fifth of its value after a huge loss sent investors scrambling for the exit.

The struggling company swung to a loss of 820million between November and April, as it said 'economic uncertainty' triggered by the pandemic meant it had to write down the value of its assets by 730million.

By contrast, it made a healthy profit of 1.1billion in the same period of last year.

Software crash: Micro Focus swung to a loss of 820m between November and April, as it said 'economic uncertainty' meant it had to write down the value of its assets by 730m

Micro Focus specialises in wringing profit out of old computer systems it acquires by selling software and maintenance services to banks and retailers which use them.

But revenue dropped by more than 12 per cent over the first half of its financial year, as the pandemic led to a slowdown in customer sales in April.

Micro Focus had already had a turbulent start to 2020, when long-running boss Kevin Loosemore, who was credited with the company's rise, departed following a pay row and a slump in turnover last year.

Stock Watch - Sosandar Online womens fashion retailer Sosandar saw revenues rocket 54 per cent between April and June, the companys first quarter. Losses narrowed 70 per cent on the sales surge and by taking an axe to the marketing budget. The AIM-listed firm, which was set up by former fashion magazine directors in 2016, lured in new customers to buy loungewear clothing and summer dresses despite the drop in advertising. The shares rose 13.5 per cent, or 1.4p, to 11.75p.

And although it acted quickly to conserve cash in March  including by cancelling its dividend  the pandemic has interrupted a much-needed turnaround.

Yesterday almost 300million was wiped off the FTSE 250-listed company's value, as shares sank 19.6 per cent, or 85.9p, to 352.8p.

But others have managed to thrive amid the turmoil. Online trading platform Plus500 has come into its own since markets began going haywire in February.

It expects revenues in the first half of the year to be nearly four times what they were in 2019 after armchair traders raced to place bets and make a quick penny.

Plus500 estimates it will make 450million, compared with 120million in the first six months of 2019.

It specialises in selling 'contracts for difference'. These allow customers to bet on whether prices will move higher or lower on things like stocks, crypto-currencies and commodities, rather than traditional investing.

It attracted 198,176 new customers to sign up to its platform in the first half and has decided to make interim boss David Zruia its permanent chief executive.

Similar bumper trends have been echoed by rivals, though analysts are wondering how long this will be sustainable.

For the time being, investors are content with Plus500's gains, with shares rising 3.3 per cent, or 44p, to 1379p.

Things were less rosy across the market as a whole, as rising coronavirus cases in the US and Latin America alarmed traders and fuelled fears that a second wave could hit Europe and Asia.

David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets, said: 'Investors are getting back to the reality of rising coronavirus cases, which is causing some caution and fear to be back following Monday's rally.'

The FTSE 100 fell by 1.5 per cent, or 96.04 points, to 6189.9, while the FTSE 250 fell 1.1 per cent, or 199.99 points, to 17,350.04.

Ailing cruise operator Carnival lost another 2 per cent of its value, falling 19.8p to 962.8p, after it rescheduled and cancelled several cruises because one of its ships, the Mardi Gras, won't be ready in time to start sailing this year.

Shareholders in student accommodation provider Unite were unmoved by Peel Hunt analysts' positive review.

Brokers raised its rating to 'add' from 'hold' and bumped up its target price from 900p to 1000p, as it increasingly seems likely that students will be going back in September for the next academic year. It fell 1.1 per cent, or 10.5p to 924p.

Elsewhere, pipe maker Polypipe sank 6.7 per cent, or 30p, to 419p, after the Doncaster-based group warned the grim outlook for UK construction meant that it would have to axe 250 jobs.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announced a series of interventions to stimulate the economy and prevent job losses when he delivers his summer statement tomorrow.

Dubbed the 'mini-Budget', his coronavirus recovery package may pave the way for more detailed announcements in the official Autumn Budget later this year.

There's been speculation about what kind of measures will be in it - from a 'green homes' scheme to a possible stamp duty cut and even free vouchers to spend at retailers. More difficult areas, like adjustments to the state pension triple lock, are likely to be deferred until the Autumn Budget.

We look at what the mini-Budget could hold for British households emerging from lockdown.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver a summer statement on Wednesday after PMQs

'Green Homes' vouchers to insulate your home

Homeowners could be in line for vouchers of up to 5,000 to make energy-saving improvements to their homes as part of a 2billion 'green deal' scheme.

The poorest households will receive vouchers of up to 10,000, although renters are understood to be excluded from the grants.

Under the scheme, which will be launched in September, the Government will pay at least two-thirds of the cost of home improvements to save energy.

Homeowners will be able to spend the vouchers on things like home insulation, eco-friendly boilers, double or triple-glazed windows and low energy lighting. The Treasury estimates this will save families up to 600 a year on energy bills.

Stamp duty cut on properties below 500k

Rumours have been rife in recent days that the Chancellor could announce a stamp duty holiday for homes bought for less than 500,000.

Initially, it was reported that the stamp duty cut would not be implemented until autumn. But property experts have warned that announcing plans to cut the tax this week and delaying the reduction would put the housing market into deep freeze.

Today, sources told MailOnline that there would not be any delay in the implementation of a stamp duty cut, which could instead be implemented 'immediately'.

Stamp duty cut: A temporary stamp duty holiday for homes bought for less than 500,000 could be implemented 'immediately'

A temporary six-month increase in the stamp duty threshold from the current level of 125,000 to an amount between 300,000 and 500,000 to stimulate demand is reportedly being considered by the Treasury.

This would reduce the cost of buying a home and provide a boost to home buyers at a time when mortgage lenders are demanding bigger deposits.

High street vouchers for shoppers worth 500

It has been suggested that 500 should be given to adults and 250 to children to spend in shops that have been hit the worst by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The proposal, put forward by economic think-tank Resolution Foundation, involves the delivery of up to 30billion worth of vouchers for households to spend in stores, as well as on hospitality and leisure.

It is commonly described by economists as 'helicopter money': airlifting cash into the streets. The Resolution Foundation argues that this would be more effective than VAT cuts as it would target only the parts of the economy where the problems are.

High street vouchers: Britons could be handed vouchers of up to 500 to spend in stores

But critics say this would be only a short-term solution for a sector - retail - which has been struggling even before the coronavirus crisis.

Andy Barr, co-founder of online price tracking website Alertr, aid: 'As much as I hate to admit it, I would predict that as soon as vouchers run out, Britons would be back to scouring the internet for the very best deals possible, and the businesses the scheme is designed for would be back where they started, with dwindling customers and lowered sales.'

1,000 bonus for firms who hire young trainees

The Government is expected to pay cash bonuses to companies which will hire young people as part of a package worth more than 100million.

The scheme would be the first time firms will receive direct Government subsidies for taking on trainees.

The bonus is 1,000 per trainee, available for those aged 16 to 24 and will be capped at 10 jobs per employer, or 10,000.

Cut to National Insurance contributions for employers

Another immediate change could be a cut in employer National Insurance for employers to encourage them taking on new staff.

Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, says: 'A cut in employer NI would reduce costs for employers and prove a welcome boost to employment.

'There are some pension implications to consider because where an employer pays a contribution to an employees pension, they dont pay National Insurance.

This has led to some employers offering salary sacrifice arrangements where employees agree to a pay cut in return for a greater employer pension contribution, with the employer passing on their NI saving to the employee.

'If employer NI rates fall, theyll make less saving on their pension contributions making salary sacrifice arrangements less attractive for them.'

A VAT cut

Temporary cuts to VAT could be signalled as part of plans to help retailers and protect jobs.

The British Retail Consortium has been calling for a cut in VAT, with the trade body's chief executive Helen Dickinson, saying recently: 'The reopening of non-essential shops [...] is unlikely to deliver immediate relief.

'The government should consider options to stimulate demand, such as a short-term reduction in VAT or a temporary income tax cut for lower-income workers.'

Greener schools and hospitals

The Government is expected to announce a 1billion investment to make schools and hospitals greener.

There will also be a 50million pilot scheme to make social housing more environmentally friendly.
The Chancellor was last night urged to do 'whatever it takes' to support jobs as it emerged more than 2,000 workers at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) factories face the axe.

As Rishi Sunak unveils plans for a 'young jobs revolution', the Unite union yesterday said the jobs of 2,200 workers at DHL, who deliver components for Britain's biggest car maker, are under threat.

The planned cull will mean more than 200,000 job cuts have been announced by big firms since the coronavirus lockdown was introduced towards the end of March.

As Rishi Sunak unveils plans for a 'young jobs revolution', the Unite union yesterday said the jobs of 2,200 workers at DHL are under threat

Just under 40 per cent of the DHL workforce recruited by Britain's biggest car maker and based in its factories  have been told they could lose their jobs.

The cuts will fall in all of JLR's major plants in the North-West and the West Midlands including Castle Bromwich, Halewood, Hams Hall, Solihull and Tyrefort.

They will include full time, salaried workers and agency staff. It comes just a few weeks after JLR revealed plans to cut more than 1,000 agency workers on the production line as it announced it had lost 500million in just three months due to the pandemic.

Unite officer Matt Draper said: 'This is a massive, bitter blow for a dedicated workforce and on the eve of the Chancellor's speech underscores the urgency of need for jobs-saving action from the Government.'

In a sign of the devastating impact of the coronavirus, the owner of the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express warned around 550 people would lose their jobs after a slump in advertising venue.

Reach, which also owns regional newspapers, said the cuts would affect 12 per cent of its workforce.

It came as the Treasury revealed 9.4m workers were being supported by the Government's Job Retention Scheme, at a cost of 27.4billion  a rise of almost 2billion in a week.

Delivering his summer economic statement today the Chancellor is set to announce a 2billion 'Kickstart Scheme' to create hundreds of thousands of taxpayer-subsidised jobs for young people.

Employers will be able to offer a six-month placement for people aged between 16 and 24 who are on universal credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.

The Government will fund each job, covering 100 per cent of the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, and employers will be able to top up the wage.

But the National Institute of Economic Research wants the Job Retention Scheme extended beyond October, saying the Government should do 'whatever it takes' to preserve jobs and support economic growth.

However, Paris-based thinktank the OECD said ministers should start scaling back wage subsidies to encourage workers to move out of shrinking sectors.

High Street retailer River Island is thought to be planning to make 250 head office staff redundant amid falling sales.

Chief executive Will Kernan wrote to all staff saying that it has 'a requirement for some 250 fewer people in the business'.

The email added that this would not affect workers on shop floors, Retail Week and Drapers reported.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has postponed a rare meeting with backbench Tory MPs amid questions over the Bank's independence.

Bailey was due to the address the 1922 Committee today hours after Chancellor Rishi Sunak lays out the Government's plans to repair the economy.

Questions have been raised about the timing of the meeting, with some Tory backbenchers suggesting the Bank was acting with the Treasury.

Meeting postponed: Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey was due to the address the 1922 Committee today

But the Bank postponed it to a later date as it clashed with Sunak's statement. The decision was welcomed by Sir Bernard Jenkin, a senior Tory MP.

He said: 'I don't think there is any question about Mr Bailey's independence and I'm sure he accepted the invitation with the best of intentions.

But accepting could be misconstrued and it is right that he stepped back.'

Bailey had been due to explain the impact of the pandemic, but may have faced questions about the Bank's independence.

The meeting is believed to be the first between a Governor and the committee since Eddie George's reign between 1993 and 2003.
Approximately 230,000 of Britain's self-employed continue to be excluded from any Government support because they have had trading profits of 50,000 or more in the last three years.

Campaigners are calling on the Chancellor to step in and remove their exclusion from the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, when he makes a summer statement to the House of Commons tomorrow.

There are hundreds of thousands of sole traders that have not had any income since March, whereas employees on the furlough scheme can get up to 2,500 per month even if they earn more than 50,000 a year.

From plumbers to dentists, photographers to therapists, we spoke to some of those affected who have paid plenty of income tax in recent years, but now feel penalised while employees in a similar position are helped out.

Members of the ExcludedUK non-profit NGO are urging Chancellor Rishi Sunak to readdress the schemes currently available to support small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic

When the Government launched the Self Employment Income Support Scheme for the self-employed, its eligibility criteria excluded those earning more than 50,000.

While this purported to focus the help on those that need it most, those suffering have highlighted unfair disparities surrounding the cap and are urging Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reassess the scheme.

For example, a couple earning 49,500 each would be entitled to a SEISS grant of up to 7,500 each to cover three months lost earnings, while a single person earning 50,500 would not.

Anyone with more than 16,000 worth of savings is also unable to apply for Universal Credit, which would have been a potential option to help with financial aid towards living costs.

This means a sole trader keeping money aside in their bank account to pay their tax bill, could be unable to claim Universal Credit because of this. And while tax payments on accounts can be deferred, they are not cancelled and must be paid in the future.

'I'm anxious for my industry' Dimitri Kremmydas, 47, from London is a self-employed dentist who works for a private healthcare provider. Prior to lockdown, he earned around 4,000 per month but this has fallen to practically nothing as his working hours have fallen dramatically and he is unable to access SEISS because his annuals earnings are more than 50,000. Dimitri Kremmydas is living off his savings 'Luckily I have savings but these will eventually run out as I have inflexible and essential outgoings such as paying my rent, alimony and maintenance to my ex-wife and son and business expenses.' 'I have had to scale back everywhere I can but even so, I only have enough money to survive another four to five months.' Dimitri said healthcare is going through a period of lower earnings across the board with high PPE costs, fewer patients because of restrictions and their own fears and strained finances. He says dental practices are likely to be okay for another few months, but hes anxious that the industry will be in trouble if theres another lockdown as patients wont be coming in. 'I don't feel good about the way the Government has dealt with self-employed workers, with its "middle of the ground" approach to lockdown which has meant workers havent been supported in terms of their health and safety but they havent been supported financially either. 'Regardless of earnings, as tax payers, we deserve more support. We should be offered support similar to that which salaried employees are being offered through the furlough scheme.' Being 47, Dimitri doesnt see there being a lot of scope for him to find another job or make a career change, so should anything happen to his job, hes likely to be stuck.

Together with two other self-employed small business owners, Sonali Joshi launched ExcludedUK, a non-profit non-governmental organisation which serves as a support network for those entirely or largely excluded from any support measures.

Based on their own findings combined with Government and ONS data, the group believes there is close to three million people left behind by the Government - not to mention their dependents and others impacted by the knock-on effect.

Speaking to This is Money, Sonali said: 'We see ourselves as a grassroots organisation, not a campaign group but a support mechanism. Ultimately we are about raising awareness.'

Excluded UK has found around three million people have been excluded from Government support - with around 230,000 of that being sole traders earning more than 50,000

Commenting on the group of people excluded by the 50,000 cap on the SEISS grant, Sonali said it is 'an absolute cliff edge'.

'There is huge disparity there. Salary limits to do not exist in the furlough scheme. We would like the Government to acknowledge that there are gaps in its schemes and to address those gaps.

This is real hardship and livelihoods are at stake - Sonali Joshi, ExcludedUK

'It has been almost four months now. Time is pressing and the impact of exclusions are being felt deeply.

'We conducted a survey with over 2,200 responses and 72 per cent are now on less than 20 per cent of their pre-Covid income.

'These are people from all walks of life, employment status, background and industry. This is a real hardship and livelihoods are at stake.'

Many sole traders have been advised to apply for a Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan, however, amid so much uncertainty, it is understandable that many do not want to be saddled with debt that must in future be paid back, while others are being supported.

Raymond McClaren is a self-employed commission-only salesperson and does not qualify for SEISS because he has earned approximately 57,000 on average for the last three tax years.

His wife is still working but on a reduced salary and with her income he is not entitled to Universal Credit. He qualifies for a Bounce Back Loan but fears going into debt.

Sonali added: 'We know of some that have ended up applying for a Bounce Back Loan but they struggled while having to wait weeks and weeks and some are still waiting.'

Should the self-employed get help? More than nine million employees are having 80 per cent of their wages up to 2,500 a month paid by the taxpayer under the furlough scheme, with no limits barring high earners from help. In contrast, anyone who is self-employed and has made more than 50,000 in recent years gets no help whatsoever. Is that fair? On this podcast we discuss the issue and that of limited company directors who are also excluded from help. Press play above or listen (and please subscribe if you like the podcast) at Apple Podcasts, Acast, Spotify and Audioboom or visit our This is Money Podcast page.

'Hit by a perfect storm'

Steven Gray works in TV as a director of photography but has had no work since March. The 54-year-old says the 50,000 threshold is 'discriminatory'.

He said: 'The parts of TV that I work in (commercials/online content/documentaries) have been hit by a perfect storm of insurance issues, social distancing issues, foreign travel problems and the financial hit from lockdown.

'There is nothing in the diary. I think the best I can expect this year is a return to 10 per cent of normal activity and it will take much more than a year to get back to pre-Covid levels.

'I would have come under the SEISS grant if it wasnt for the divisive and discriminatory 50k cap. There is no cap in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Someone earning 200,000 still gets access to the maximum grant of 2,500.

'I am not eligible for Universal Credit or Jobseekers' Allowance and the Bounce Bank Loan does not apply for me as it is meant for business costs only and I dont have any purchases to make for the business.

Photographer Steven Gray compares the stress and pressure of the current situation to previous jobs he has had working on the frontline in Iraq and in the frozen wastes of Antarctica

Steven says he is currently using his savings to pay for his mortgage and is unable to find any other employment such as supermarket or delivery work as he is home schooling his two children.

'I have worked in some tough environments with my job, from the frontline of Iraq to the frozen wastes of Antarctica, and this situation is up there with those due to the massive uncertainty over finances.

'I am not looking for any special treatment that others arent getting. For me, it is all about parity with the Job Retention Scheme. The SEISS should be opened up to all sole traders.'

'Mentally, this is taking its toll'

45-year-old Anna Higo is a physiotherapist and runs Physiocure, a private clinic in North Leeds, with her business partner. She has already had to start making redundancies.

Anna Higo is a physiotherapist based in Leeds and is unable to access a SEISS grant

'Not only have we had to completely shut down but the future is going to be so very different as we are such a hands on profession,' she said.

'We were hoping to access some kind of grant but couldn't get anything as we rent the space in a Bannatyne Gym and I have earned between 50,000 and 60,000 over the last three years.

Anna believes the future of Physiocure is uncertain.

To cover costs the company needs to be at capacity but with new safety measures, appointments will need to be staggered and less people seen each day - and that's only when they eventually reopen.

'I have managed to get a six-month mortgage holiday but still have other bills. We have a five-year old son and my husband is also self-employed. He has managed to get a small SEISS grant but not enough to cover our outgoings.

'We have both accessed Bounce Back Loans but to go further and further into debt is frightening. Mentally, the injustice of this is taking its toll on me.
A doctor who has been studying lung disease for 15 years has warned of a looming health crisis that could overshadow the impact of COVID-19 in the long term.

Dr. Sassan Rafi, who has carried out extensive research into crippling pulmonary fibrosis, one of the conditions now linked to acute coronavirus patients, claims thousands of Americans hospitalized with the virus face a ticking time bomb even after they recover from the virus.

The research scientist says that those diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis after weeks on a ventilator face a shocking morbidity rate far worse than many cancers.

This comes as coronavirus infections across the US have been surging after trending down for over six weeks.

Dr. Sassan Rafi says that COVID-19 patients diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis after weeks on a ventilator face a shocking morbidity rate

Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung disease that occurs when lung tissue is damaged and scarred and is caused by aggressive viruses like COVID-19. A COVID-19 patient is pictured on a ventilator

The US has recorded more than 2.9 million coronavirus cases with 130,000 deaths

Currently, the US has recorded more than 2.9 million coronavirus cases and more than 130,000 Americans have died from the virus.

New cases and hospitalizations have been spiking to record levels in states like Arizona, Texas, California and Florida.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung disease that occurs when lung tissue is damaged and scarred and is caused by aggressive viruses like COVID-19.

This thickened, stiff tissue makes it more difficult for your lungs to work properly and exchange oxygen and can lead to respiratory failure.

Dr. Rafi, an anesthesiologist and founding Chief Medical Officer of Upright Pharmaceuticals, Inc, says that many hospitalized patients, even if they appear to make a full recovery from COVID-19 related illness, could still die due to fibrosis.

'Pulmonary fibrosis has a prognosis of three years, which is worse than many cancers, and currently there is no optimal treatment,' he explains.

Dr. Rafi says that even if a patient survives hospitalization and survives having fluid in their lungs for so many weeks, that can still lead to lingering effects such as fibrosis.

'So what we do is we scan the lungs and if we see fibrosis in the lungs that tells us that their lives may not come back. That's the point of no return,' he said.

'It's a progressive disease, meaning you may be feeling okay, but the fibrosis keeps getting worse and worse and that's one area, no one is addressing.'

The doctor says some patients may have to be dependent on a ventilator for the rest of their lives, while others may need a lung transplant.

Dr. Rafi has been studying pulmonary fibrosis since 2005 while completing his PhD in molecular, cellular and systemic physiology from the University of California at Davis.

Now the entrepreneur's early stage pharmaceutical company Upright Pharmaceuticals, Inc, is developing a compound to tackle the condition and they continue to study fibrosis via collaborations with UC Davis, the University of Michigan and others.

Dr. Rafi's partner, CEO of Upright Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Andrew Young (right) says the 'legacy' and potential magnitude of this looming problem is of great concern

New cases and hospitalizations have been spiking to record levels in states like Arizona, Texas, California and Florida

Dr. Rafi asserts that if the government doesn't pay attention to his work and the work of others, then there will be a looming health crisis on the horizon.

'It's not just about who is dying acutely from the virus, it's about what's going to come years and years from now, once the virus has gone,' he said.

Dr. Rafi's partner, CEO of Upright Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Andrew Young, agrees.

He says the 'legacy' and potential magnitude of this looming problem is of great concern.

Mr. Young says that 40% of acute coronavirus patients, according to the latest data, will experience an extreme immune response, known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which leads to pulmonary fibrosis

Mr. Young says that 40% of acute coronavirus patients, according to the latest data, will experience an extreme immune response, known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which leads to pulmonary fibrosis. At least 20% of ARDS cases are severe.

Data from the SARS-CoV outbreak in 2003 also revealed a high percentage of survivors experienced sustained pulmonary fibrosis and diminished lung function.

'It's almost the body's immune system is going nuclear and working to kill everything, which causes scarring and a variety of other problems, particularly very rampant inflammation,' he said.

'And at this point in the crisis, over a hundred thousand people have died of COVID and we believe that the acute patients are in the hundreds of thousands in the first wave.

'I think that the public is beginning to be more and more informed about exactly why COVID is so horrible and damaging and potentially fatal.

'And at the core of that, I think many would argue that fibrosis is really the short and the long term problem that will cause further death and disability.'

Mr Young said his partner's research is focused on a compound that has the potential to interrupt that fibrotic process.

'It can reverse the scarring such that someone can actually have potentially a full recovery,' he said.

Dr. Rafi believes his company is close to developing a wonder drug which will stop pulmonary fibrosis in its tracks - even reversing the damage.

'Our mission is developing medications that target fibrosis and specifically focused on pulmonary fibrosis, which is a devastating disease,' he said.

'The drug is a Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Inhibitor. Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase (sEH) is an enzyme in the cell that if we go and inhibit it, it has been shown to prevent fibrosis and is also a strong anti-inflammatory.'

The antifibrotic medication is not yet FDA approved, however, and hasn't been given a catchy name yet.

But D.r Rafi says his company has a lot of solid pre-clinical data and data from animal models to push forward.

The firm is also in the process of raising funds to develop the drug further and bring it to clinical trials as soon as possible.

Sadly to achieve FDA approval it will likely take another two to three years.

Upright Pharmaceuticals is in talks with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), however, and has applied for funding to fast track the medical trials for the drug.

Upright Pharmaceuticals has also partnered with EFFACE Aesthetics in Santa Monica to provide rapid COVID-19 anti-body testing to the community. EFFACE is run by beauty entrepreneur Roberta Moradfar (pictured)

A negative rapid COVID-19 test is pictured that was taken at EFFACE Aesthetics

'We're hoping that this pandemic can shine a spotlight into what we're doing with this research, because it's not just about COVID-19, what we're developing here has implications beyond COVID-19.,' Dr. Rafi said.

'I don't want to scare people, but I think that we need to get the government to pay attention to drug development and the drugs that can potentially treat a respiratory virus like COVID-19 and its complications. And that's what we were focusing on.

'Given the high numbers of individuals affected by COVID-19, even rare complications will have major health effects at the population level.

'Having a therapeutic may not only prevent long-term or terminal damage to the lungs by ARDS, but may help prolong life after these patients survive hospitalization.'

Upright Pharmaceuticals has also partnered with EFFACE Aesthetics in Santa Monica to provide rapid COVID-19 anti-body testing to the community.

Run by beauty entrepreneur Roberta Moradfar, an Advanced Aesthetics Nurse Practitioner and fiancee of Hollywood actor and Bad Boys star Martin Lawrence, the test takes just 15 minutes.

Roberta told DailyMail.com: 'The test will reinforce, I think, continuing to practice safe.

'Social distancing and wearing your mask and washing your hands.

'People should know their status, it's just good to know if you have the COVID antibody or not so that you know how to move along and be safe.'
Supermarket chain Aldi has vowed never to sell chlorinated chicken or hormone-treated beef in a blow to a possible post-Brexit trade deal with America.

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, has promised that his supermarket will only stock fresh chicken and beef supplied by British farmers.

In a statement he called UK food standards 'some of the highest... in the world' and promised to 'never compromise' the standards of Aldi products.

The declaration rules Aldi out from selling US chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef, even if Britain strikes a deal with America.

Aldi, the UK's fifth biggest supermarket chain, joins John Lewis-owned Waitrose in trying to prevent the weakening of UK food standards.

It comes amid growing fears that Boris Johnson will not protect the interests of UK farmers as he concludes a trade deal with Donald Trump.

Supermarket chain Aldi has vowed never to sell chlorinated chicken or hormone-treated beef in a blow to a possible post-Brexit trade deal with America (stock image)

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, has promised that his supermarket will only stock fresh chicken and beef supplied by British farmers

Mr Hurley said: 'Aldi is one of the biggest supporters of British suppliers and we want to make it clear that will always be the case.

'We are a signatory to the NFU Back British Farming Charter and our entire core range of fresh meat and milk is from Red Tractor-approved farms in the UK.

Mr Hurley said: 'Aldi is one of the biggest supporters of British suppliers and we want to make it clear that will always be the case'

'We will never compromise on the standards or specifications of our products, and that includes a commitment to never selling chlorinated chicken or hormone injected beef.'

He added: 'Britain has some of the highest food quality standards in the world, and our commitment to only source chicken and beef from this country means our customers know they are always buying high quality Aldi products at unbeatable value.'

The news was welcomed by campaigners, including Naomi Smith at Best for Britain. who said: 'This is an important statement that reassures consumers that the quality of food sold in Aldi's UK stores won't be sacrificed.

'We strongly encourage other supermarkets and food retailers to offer the same commitment to their consumers.'

The commitment comes as more than 110,000 UK supermarket customers signed an online petition calling on retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda to refuse to stock chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef.

There are growing concerns among British farmers that the Government will not protect their interests and will sacrifice UK food standards as it concludes negotiations with the US before the Brexit transition period ends this year.

The Conservative Party promised to protect UK farming and food standards at the 2019 General Election, but since coming to power have rejected amendments to the Agriculture Bill that would have protected British farmers.

It comes amid growing fears that Boris Johnson will not protect the interests of UK farmers as he concludes a trade deal with Donald Trump

The amendments would also have required imports to be produced to at least the same environmental and animal welfare standards as those required in the UK.

A new trade and agriculture commission has been created, which will exist prepare a report for the Government on UK agricultural trade policy.

Last month, Waitrose executive director James Bailey promised to 'never sell any Waitrose product that does not meet our own high standards... regardless of the outcome of any trade deal [with the US]'.

He said: 'While we must recognise the important and difficult task the Government has in securing our future trade relations, at the same time, we must point out that any regression from the standards we have pioneered for the last 30 years, both as a business and as a country, would be an unacceptable backwards step.

'It would be simply wrong to maintain high standards at home yet import food from overseas that has been produced to lower standards. We would be closing our eyes to a problem that exists in another part of the world and to animals who are out of our sight and our minds. I feel sure customers will share our view.

'But whatever happens, let me give you our commitment. We promise we will never sell any Waitrose product that does not meet our own high standards.

'This promise is regardless of the outcome of any trade deal. It is our promise to you. It is our promise to our farmers. It is our promise to the nation.'
Details have emerged of what Chelsea Franklin alleged her ex-boyfriend Ryan Phelan did to her

The girlfriend of former Channel Seven presenter Ryan Phelan has alleged that the TV star grabbed her around the neck and chest, dragged her across a room of their house and 'threw' her to the ground.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal the nature of the allegations ballet teacher Chelsea Franklin has levelled against the ex-Daily Edition host, 45, who has pleaded not guilty to two assault charges.

In an application to a court for an apprehended violence order, police allege Phelan and Ms Franklin had returned early from a holiday in the Hunter Valley on Saturday, June 20.

The pair had an argument with each other over the 'quality of their accommodation'.

When they got home, Ms Franklin claimed Phelan was in a 'cold' mood toward her and ignored her for the rest of the day.

Court documents said Ms Franklin then confronted Phelan in the downstairs area of their $2million Frenchs Forest home about 5.15pm. She began throwing records from his music collection on the floor.

The police AVO application said: '(Ms Franklin) picked up one of the defendant's music records from a shelf and said: "It seems like you care more about these records than me"'.

Ms Franklin (left) went to police claiming she was assaulted by her de facto partner Ryan Phelan (together on right) on June 20. Phelan has 'emphatically' denied assaulting Ms Franklin and pleaded not guilty to two offences

Phelan with his solicitor, Claudette Chua, during his first appearance at Manly Local Court a week ago

Sources claim Phelan was watching the football on TV at the time.

The AVO application alleged Ms Franklin then threw the 'records' on the ground and Phelan approached her.

This is my house, you f***ing get out What Ms Franklin alleges Phelan said to her in court documents

'(Ms Franklin) alleges the defendant grabbed her around the chest and neck area, placing her in a hold and dragged her across the room before throwing her to the ground.'

The court document alleges she felt 'immediate pain to her neck and collarbone area' and 'sustained bruising to the shoulder and chest area'.

'(Phelan) said to (Ms Franklin) "this is my house, you f***ing get out' before the defendant walked off to the kitchen,' the documents claim.

Ms Franklin allegedly then collected her belongings and went to police with her teenage daughter, where it is claimed she was seen 'visibly shaking and in tears'.

Phelan was later charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault. He 'emphatically' denies both charges.

The alleged assault came just two days after Phelan was told he was being made redundant by Seven and that the show he co-hosted with Sally Obermeder was being axed.

Phelan was granted conditional bail a week ago and an interim apprehended violence order is in place with standard conditions banning him from approaching her.

Phelan's lawyer Claudette Chau leads him into Manly Local Court a week ago - where he will return in a month

TIMELINE: RYAN PHELAN CHARGES June 19: Seven announce The Daily Edition will be axed, Phelan sacked June 20: Alleged incident occurs between 5.15pm and 5.25pm at Frenchs Forest home June 22: Phelan is charged by police June 29: Phelan lawyer issues statement saying he 'emphatically denies' assaulting Ms Franklin June 30: Phelan pleads not guilty to the charges August 11: Next court date Advertisement

Outside court last week, Phelan's solicitor Claudette Chau claimed the allegations against her client were 'false'.

She told a large crowd of reporters that her client had been cooperating with the police investigation.

'Mr Phelan has been cooperating with police,' she said.

'He respects and understands that the police, and the courts, have an obligation to take any allegation of domestic violence very seriously.

'False allegations of domestic violence are extremely serious, they result in the total unacceptable victimisation of the accused person, and they also are unhelpful to women everywhere.'

Daily Mail Australia understands one of the grounds Phelan's lawyers will use to argued he is not guilty in court will be self-defence.

Phelan is yet to respond fully to the allegations in court.

Court documents said he had no history of violence or criminal record.

He has been granted conditional bail to live with a friend.

Phelan has enlisted former Crown prosecutor and barrister Margaret Cunneen SC to represent him at a future hearing.

The case returns to court on August 11.
Boris Johnson has said driverless trains should be a condition of a future bailout of Transport for London (TfL).

The Government gave TfL a 1.6 billion package to continue running services after a collapse in revenue in May due to the coronavirus lockdown, but that funding will run out in September.

On a visit to a site in Goole, in the East Riding of Yorkshire  where Siemens will open a rail manufacturing facility in 2023, the Prime Minister told reporters: 'You can run these trains without the need for somebody to be sitting in the driver's cab the whole time.

'So what I will be saying to the London transport authority is let's take advantage of this technological leap forward, let's not be the prisoners of the unions any more, let's go to driverless trains, and let's make that a condition of the funding settlement for Transport for London this autumn.

'That's the way forward for this country and we want to make use of the fantastic technology we've got and provide a better service for people in the capital and take the whole economy forward.'

The factory is being built after TfL awarded Siemens a contract to build new trains for the Piccadilly line. Trains on the DLR are currently driverless, but still have an attendant who travel on the train.

Boris Johnson wants to see driverless trains on the TfL network (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Finn Brennan, organiser on London Underground for train drivers' union Aslef, accused Mr Johnson of 'talking nonsense' and claimed the lack of a regular Government grant towards TfL's operating costs means TfL 'cannot afford the signalling upgrade and other technology that would be needed for driverless trains'.

He added: 'The Prime Minister's policies are actually preventing any progress with transport in the capital.'

Mick Lynch, senior assistant general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said it was 'outrageous' for the Prime Minister to 'wheel out the dangerous nonsense of driverless trains as a condition of the emergency Covid-19 funding of Transport for London'.

He went on: 'This is the sort of cheap political stunt that was a hallmark of his time as mayor and we would have hoped he would have grown up by now.'

A spokeswoman for Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the current funding model for TfL 'simply does not work in this new reality'.

She continued: 'Ministers urgently need to agree a new funding model with either permanent funding from central Government or giving London more control over key taxes so we can pay for it ourselves, or a combination of both.'

During his time as mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, Mr Johnson was involved in a series of bitter disputes with trade unions in relation to London Underground services.

In 2011, Mr Johnson claimed that 'virtually anybody' could drive a Tube train as he gave his support for more automation, adding: 'I hope the unions will recognise that the patience of Londoners is not endless.'

There are currently no driverless trains on the Tube network.

Some trains are operated in semi-automatic mode, which means drivers still have to operate doors but they are not responsible for acceleration or braking unless problems occur.

TfL's Docklands Light Railway does not have drivers in cabs, but uses onboard attendants who control the doors.
Jonathan Sackler, one of the owners of Purdue Pharma which makes opioid painkiller OxyContin, has died from cancer at the age of 65.

Sackler died on June 30, the company revealed in a court filing. He was the son of Raymond Sackler, who bought the drug company with his two brothers in 1952, and had served on the executive board.

Purdue Pharma is facing thousands of lawsuits totaling billions of dollars in damages from states which claim prescription painkillers such as OxyContin left people with crippling addictions.

Jonathan Sackler, one of the owners of Purdue Pharma which made painkiller OxyContin which has been blamed for sparking America's opioid crisis, has died aged 65

The Sacklers' pharmaceutical efforts began with brothers Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond. Arthur's children were not actively involved in the business, but the sons, daughters and wives of Mortimer and Raymond carried on the family business; this family tree outlines the Sackler descendants and their connection with the business

In several lawsuits, the Sacklers are accused of withdrawing billions of dollars from company accounts as the crisis intensified.

America's opioid crisis Since 1999, more than 750,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses - with opioids deaths making up 400,000 of those. In 2018, two thirds of all drug overdoses involved an opioid - such as painkillers, heroin or fentanyl - totaling more than 130 people a day. The same year, studies found that 10.8million Americans were abusing prescription opioids, while 808,000 were using heroin - 81,000 of them for the first time. The crisis is thought to cost the US $504billion per year, including healthcare costs, policing and prison costs, loss of earnings and employment, damage to families caught up in the cycle of addiction, and fatality costs such as loss of future earnings. Advertisement

Jonathan was named in several of the suits, and in August last year was told by a judge in Rhode Island that he would have to testify in that state after being subpoenaed.

Like many of his family members, he had stepped away from the board of Purdue in recent years amid the scandal.

OxyContin was first marketed by the company in 1996 as a slow-release painkiller that lasted for 12 hours.

However, patients quickly began abusing it by crushing or dissolving the tablets to ingest the whole dose in one go.

That led to opioid addiction, with users sometimes turning to heroin when they could no longer get access to the pills.

More than 400,000 Americans have died from opioid overdose since 2000, while in 2018 alone some 2million were believed to be abusing some form of the drug.

Purdue Pharma has been front and centre of the crisis since at least 2007, when executives pleaded guilty to misleading regulators, doctors and patients about the potential for abuse of and addiction to the drug.

At the time, the company agreed to pay some $600million in damages.

But that did little to quell the outcry, and Purdue is now facing around 3,000 lawsuits brought by state and local governments over the harm they say painkillers such as OxyContin did to their citizens.

Members of the Sackler family are pictured are pictured at the Smilow Cancer Hospital, including Jonathan (standing, second right), Richard (second left), Raymond (seated left) and Beverly (seated right)

Purdue has sought bankruptcy protection in order to try and settle the lawsuits, for a sum that could total up to $12billion and include free drugs which treat opioid overdoses provided to states involved in the suits.

The settlement plan calls for the Sackler family, one of America's wealthiest, to pay at least $3billion and give up ownership of the company.

Purdue Pharma has earned more than $35billion from the sale of OxyContin, NBC reported, while the Sacklers themselves are thought to have earned $4billion from the sale of prescription drugs between 2008 and 2016.

According to Forbes, the clan has a total wealth of $13billion shared by an estimated 20 family members.

Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family has continued to deny any responsibility for the epidemic, with David Sackler saying the thought that his family personally oversaw the operation is 'just not true'.

However, lawyers for the company say that - in an attempt to head off years of litigation - they are willing to settle.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem traveled with President Trump aboard Air Force One, despite having been in close contact with Trump's son's girlfriend, who had tested positive for the coronavirus that same day.

Noem hopped aboard the president's airplane shortly after fireworks above Mount Rushmore disappeared into the night sky on Friday.

Noem didn't 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.

This was despite having interacted closely at a campaign fundraiser with Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the previous day. One photo on social media showed Noem and Guilfoyle, who is also a Trump campaign staff member, hugging.

Sen. John Thune (far left) and Gov. Kristi Noem (in red) are seen greeting President Trump (second left) and Melania Trump (far right) at South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base Friday

The Trump campaign announced that Guilfoyle had tested positive on Friday, the same day that Noem flew with Trump.

Noem had tested negative for COVID-19 shortly before welcoming Trump to South Dakota that day.

Guilfoyle's infection prompted some Republicans, such as Rep. Greg Gianforte of Montana, to take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus.

Gianforte 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 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.

Heres Kim Guilfoyle speaking at an indoor event in South Dakota, no masks in sight, that was also attended by Kristi Noem the day before it was announced Guilfoyle tested positive for Covid (video from Facebook) pic.twitter.com/UGafeRak2s  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 4, 2020

Noem (seated at right) had attended a fundraiser with Guilfoyle (in black) and was spotted hugging her Thursday. Guilfoyle tested positive for coronavirus Friday

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 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.'

The Secret Service referred questions to the White House press office, which provided no additional comment.

Ian Fury, a spokesperson for Noem, said Monday on Twitter that the governor had consulted with the White House doctor before she boarded Air Force One and was told it would be OK to fly.

He also reiterated the fact that she had tested negative 'right before meeting the president.'

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 didn't 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, you're going to see that this crowd isn't just from South Dakota, but it's 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 Trump's health from Noem's presence on Air Force One, she said, 'I dont understand why Gov. Noem now needs to manage the presidents medical care.'
A prominent jihadism expert was shot dead in a 'hail of bullets' in Baghdad last night after receiving threats from Iran-backed militias.

Footage showed a gunman firing through the window of Hisham al-Hashemi's car after pulling up on a motorcycle and ambushing him outside his home.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the killing, but Hashemi had confided to close friends only weeks earlier that he was under threat from militia groups.

Hashemi was an authoritative voice on jihadist factions including ISIS and had worked as an adviser to multiple Iraqi governments. Last year he voiced support for protests which criticised Iranian influence in the country.

Jihadism expert Hisham al-Hashemi (pictured) was repeatedly shot at close range outside his home in Baghdad and later died of his wounds, according to Iraqi officials

Footage showed a gunman firing through the window of Hisham al-Hashemi's car after pulling up on a motorcycle and ambushing him outside his home

Mourners carry Hashemi's coffin in Baghdad today after he was ambushed and killed outside his home in the Iraqi capital last night

The security footage showed four men apparently lying in wait for Hashemi on two motorcycles near his home.

As Hashemi's car approached, one of the men got off his motorbike, followed the vehicle and drew a firearm as it parked.

After the car came to a stop, the killer fired a barrage of shots through the window on the driver's side. A family member heard five shots fired.

The gunman then fled to one of the motorcycles, which both disappeared into the darkness with two riders on the back of each one.

The footage subsequently showed people dragging Hashemi's body out of the car in an apparent attempt to help him, but he was pronounced dead in hospital soon afterwards.

Investigators had earlier said that Hashemi had been getting into his car when gunmen fired at him from metres away, but this was not visible in the footage.

A medical source at the hospital confirmed that Hashemi had suffered 'a hail of bullet wounds in several body parts.'

'He passed away and his body is now in the hospital freezer,' said Saad Maan, head of the ministry's media relations department.

Hashemi was well connected with top decision-makers, including Iraqi president Barham Saleh, but was also used as a mediator by rival parties and armed groups.

He had worked as an adviser to former prime minister Haider al-Abadi and informally for current PM Mustafa al-Kadhemi, a government official said.

Hashemi was also an expert on the inner workings of ISIS and even advised the US-led coalition during its years-long battle with the extremists.

But after Iraq declared victory over ISIS in December 2017, he increasingly turned his attention to the Iran-backed militias that helped to defeat ISIS and now wield considerable power in the country with thousands of heavily armed fighters.

Friends had advised him to flee to the northern city of Irbil, in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, after receiving threats.

Kadhemi swore he would hold Hashemi's killers to account. 'We vow to his killers that we will pursue them so they are justly punished. We will not allow assassinations to return to Iraq for a single second,' he said.

Hisham al-Hashemi's brother is assisted by a man wearing a mask during a funeral procession in Baghdad today

Mourners transport the coffin of the slain jihadism expert, who had confided in friends that he had received threats from Iran-backed militias

The crime scene by day: Police tape surrounds the area where Hisham al-Hashemi was shot dead outside his Baghdad home on Monday night

Raised in Baghdad, Hashemi published several books on jihadism, then went on to work with top research centres including Chatham House in London and most recently the Center for Global Policy in Washington DC.

He had come out strongly in favour of the popular protests that erupted across Baghdad and Iraq's Shiite-majority south in October, which had slammed the government as corrupt, inefficient and beholden to neighbouring Iran.

More than 500 people lost their lives in protest-related violence, including several prominent activists who were gunned down in Baghdad, Basra in the south and other cities gripped by the rallies.

Hashemi was also frequently consulted by media and foreign governments on domestic Iraqi politics and Shiite armed groups.

High-profile political killings have otherwise been rare in recent years, but Hashemi was no stranger to threats.

In September, anonymous online accounts accused him and a dozen other Iraqi activists, researchers and journalists of 'collaborating with Israel.'

In April, he was threatened again by anonymous Twitter users who deemed him too close to the US government.

Mourners embrace each other in Baghdad's Zayouna district today, the day after Hashemi was killed by a gunman who fired shots through his car window

Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi (pictured left), for whom Hashemi had worked informally as an adviser, has vowed to bring the killers to justice. Right is foreign minister Fuad Hussein

'Cowards killed my friend and one of the brightest researchers in Iraq, Hisham al-Hashemi. I am shocked,' wrote Harith Hasan, who was an academic researcher before becoming an advisor to Iraq's current premier.

The UN's top official in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert slammed the killing as a 'despicable act of cowardice.'

'Our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones. I call on the government to quickly identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice,' she said.

Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, a state-sponsored network of armed factions including many who are close to Iran, published a statement mourning Hashemi's death.

'We demand security forces follow up on this crime and catch the terrorist group that assassinated Hashemi, considered one of the most prominent writers and experts on IS terrorist groups, and who had a huge role in uncovering their secrets,' it said.

It comes at a time of rising tension between Kadhemi's government and powerful Iran-backed militias and political parties who accuse him of siding with the US.

The United States wants the Iraqi government to put a stop to regular rocket attacks on US facilities, which Washington blames on Iran-backed militias.

Iran's allies in Iraq demand a withdrawal of US troops from the country, which the United States invaded in 2003.
A Pentagon policy proposal being circulated among officials would ban the display of the Confederate flag in US Department of Defense workplaces or public areas by service members and civilian personnel.

The policy, which has not yet been finalized or signed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, would bring the other military services in line with the Marine Corps, which banned Confederate displays on its bases in early June.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft.

It comes as President Donald Trump earlier in the day criticized NASCARs decision to ban the flag at its races and venues.

A Pentagon policy draft is being circulated among military service leaders regarding the proposal to ban displays of the Confederate flag in military work and public areas

Other military services had been poised to make similar decisions, but they were stalled when Esper said he wanted a review of the matter that would come up with a consistent department policy.

According to officials, the draft was sent out to service leaders for their input and response last week.

According to the draft, a ban would preserve 'the morale of our personnel, good order and discipline within the military ranks and unit cohesion.'

It notes that a 'significant' population of service members and their families are minorities and 'it is beyond doubt' that many 'take grave offense at such a display.'

If approved, the ban would come one month after the US Marine Corps banned displays of the Confederate flag and would be aimed at maintaining morale in the military branches

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has not yet signed or approved the Pentagon policy draft

The US Marine Corps tweeted that it was banning the Confederate flag in June 2020

Days later, the US Navy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday tweeted that he had asked his staff to work on an order to ban the Confederate flag within the branch

The Pentagon draft says the ban applies to public displays of the flag on installations and facilities that are under department control, and would not apply to things like license plates or monuments not governed by the Pentagon.

The White House had no comment.

Trump, in a tweet Monday, said that NASCAR's 'Flag decision' and the uproar over a noose found hanging in the garage of the sport's only full-time Black driver were driving the sports' ratings down.

Word of the policy draft comes just as President Trump tweeted that NASCAR's ban on displays of the Confederate flag at races is responsible for low viewership ratings

And he suggested that Bubba Wallace should apologize after the sport rallied around him after the noose was found in his assigned stall at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Federal authorities ruled last month the noose had been hanging since October and was not a hate crime. NASCAR and the FBI have exclusively referred to the rope - which was used to pull the garage door closed -- as a noose.
Australian work visa eligibility for international students is set to be expanded to counteract an anticipated loss of the fee-paying pupils due to coronavirus.

The two-year post-study work visa is a significant carrot in attracting lucrative Asian students to Australia, and the federal government was now expected to expand eligibility to overseas-based people studying online, and not just those within the country.

The policy shift was intended to boost Australian universities' ability to retain Asian students while borders remain closed, with North American and UK universities competing hard to lure them away.

Education minister Dan Tehan is yet to comment on the proposal but the visa changes were expected to be announced by the federal government in the coming weeks, The Australian reported.

The federal government is considering changes to its post-study work visa program to lure more international students to enrol in Australian courses. Pictured is a restaurant supervisor at the Golden Century Seafood Restaurant in Sydney's Chinatown

Changes were needed as both state and national border restrictions were tightened over the past week due to a flare-up in COVID-19 case numbers in Victoria.

That had set back plans to fly in international students in time for the second semester.

Universities in New South Wales had been liaising with the state government to fly 250 international students into Sydney every day for 100 days, with flights having been expected to start within weeks but that was now indefinitely delayed.

A similar proposal in Victoria to fly in 7000 international students was also scrapped.

Plans by the University of Canberra and Australian National University to organise two 350-passenger flights for arriving students were also being revised.

'We are continuing to work through the details of the pilot with the aim to return a small group of continuing international students safely back to their life in Canberra,' a University of Canberra spokeswoman said.

The existing visa program doesn't apply for overseas students unable to return to Australia due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Pictured are students at University of Sydney

Plans for international students to return to Australia in the coming weeks have been out on hold as Victoria struggles to control a second wave of new infections. Pictured are women in Sydney's Chinatown

The post-study visa extension comes amid growing concerns from universities they will lose Asian students to the UK and North American tertiary sector as those destinations ease border closures.

Modelling released by the Australian sector's peak body estimates revenues a $16billion drop in over the next three years.

Universities hope the work visa eligibility will allow them to compete with institutions in the UK and Canada, which are expect big numbers of international students to arrive for the upcoming start of the northern hemisphere academic year.

The federal government was also tipped to reduce or waive visa renewal fees for students who have had to extend their stay in Australia due to being unable to return home.
The January U.S. drone strike in Iraq that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and nine other people represented a violation of international law, a U.N. human rights investigator said on Monday.

The United States has failed to provide sufficient evidence of an ongoing or imminent attack against its interests to justify the strike on Soleimani's convoy as it left Baghdad airport, said Agnes Callamard, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

The attack violated the U.N. Charter, Callamard wrote in a report calling for accountability for targeted killings by armed drones and for greater regulation of the weapons.

A U.N. human rights investigator said the US failed to provide sufficient evidence of an ongoing or imminent attack against its interests to justify the deadly strike on the convoy Iranian general Qassem Soleimani (pictured in 2016) was traveling in on January 3

An image of a burning vehicle near Baghdad International Airport on the day of the drone strike that killed Soleimani and others in his convoy

'The world is at a critical time, and possible tipping point, when it comes to the use of drones. ... The Security Council is missing in action; the international community, willingly or not, stands largely silent,' Callamard, an independent investigator, told Reuters.

Callamard is due on Thursday to present her findings to the Human Rights Council, giving member states a chance to debate what action to pursue. The United States is not a member of the forum, having quit two years ago.

Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, was a pivotal figure in orchestrating Iran's campaign to drive U.S. forces out of Iraq, and built up Iran's network of proxy armies across the Middle East.

The Quds Force is known for supplying weapons and training to groups and insurgents in Iraq, including Kataib Hezbollah.

The 62-year-old was considered the mastermind behind Iran's fight for regional dominance and one of the most ruthless commanders in the area, who worked in the shadows for years, until emerging in the spotlight following the Arab Spring and the war with the Islamic State.

Soleimani (in an undated photo) was the leader of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force and a pivotal figure in orchestrating Iran's campaign to drive U.S. forces out of Iraq

U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard (left) said the Trump (right) authorized drone strike attack violated the U.N. charter

President Trump had authorized the strike against Soleimani months beforehand

Washington had accused Soleimani of being behind attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on U.S. forces in the region.

On December 31, 2019, when the US embassy in Baghdad was attacked by pro-Iran protesters, a top secret memo started to circulate among US defense officials signed by Robert C. O'Brien, Trump's national security adviser, listing out potential targets.

That memo's most provocative response option was to target specific Iranian officials for death by military strike. Named on that list was General Soleimani and Abdul Reza Shahlai, an Iranian commander in Yemen who helped finance armed groups in the region.

While Soleimani had been on the US radar for some time, surveillance on the shadowy general intensified in May 2019.

At that time tensions with Iran had escalated following attacks on four oil tankers.

Trump ultimately provided the authorization to take out Soleimani months before the attack was carried out, sources told various news organizations.

His reasoning for the order involved Soleimani's long-term role plotting attacks and backing Iranian proxies.

Soleimani was also said to have been responsible for the December 27, 2019, attack at a Iraqi military base near Kirkuk, durning which more than 30 rockets were fired at the base and a U.S. civilian contractor was killed, while four American and two Iraq servicemen were wounded.

There was also reported to be information on a looming attack against the US Embassy in Baghdad.

'Major General Soleimani was in charge of Iran military strategy, and actions, in Syria and Iraq. But absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the U.S. was unlawful,' Callamard wrote in the report.

The January 3 drone strike was the first known incident in which a nation invoked self-defense as a justification for an attack against a state actor in the territory of a third country, Callamard added.

Iran retaliated with a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base where U.S. forces were stationed. Hours later, Iranian forces on high alert mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran.

Iran has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump and 35 others over Soleimani's killing and has asked Interpol for help, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on June 29, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
A popular health supplement is leading people to falsely believing they have caught coronavirus - as its side effects mimic symptoms of the deadly virus.

Herbal supplement ArmaForce can make users lose their sense of taste and appetite, as well as bringing on vomiting and abdominal pain.

The supplement, designed to help with cold and flu symptoms, includes ingredients such as andrographis and olive leaf.

Andrographis can affect people's sense of taste, with some losing it all together - which is also a well-known symptom of the coronavirus.

The effects have lead some people to fear they have contracted the deadly respiratory disease, experts fear.

ArmaForce (pictured) is a herbal supplement which has very similar side effects to symptoms of the coronavirus

Pharmacists have reported a rise in people worried they have contracted the deadly respiratory infection because they have lost their sense of taste, according to Brisbane Times.

Company Blackmores, which makes ArmaForce under their BioCeuticals brand, admitted it had seen a rising number of people experiencing the side effect over recent months - which it says is down to more people taking it.

A spokeswoman for the company said investigations suggest ArmaForce is being purchased without professional healthcare advice and being used for too long at too high a dosage.

Since becoming aware of the issue Blackmores has moved to change labels in order to limit dosage and duration of use.

The company has also reached out to pharmacists to inform them in the increase of side effects being reported.

The spokeswoman said monitoring products and reporting trends is standard procedure.

Dr Nick Yim said anyone who suspects they had COVID-19 should be tested (pictured:, passengers on Melbourne to Sydney flight having health checks on July 6)

Dr Nick Yim, general practitioner and Australia Medical Association Queensland council member, said anyone who suspects they had COVID-19 should be tested.

He said this is regardless of what supplements and medications they are taking.

'Many GPs might not be aware that this is a side effect of ArmaForce, and also many people would not mention that they are taking a herbal supplement if they were speaking to their doctor,' Dr Kim said.

ArmaForce is typically sold at pharmacies but doesn't require a prescription.
A victim of child sexual abuse who admitted killing her newborn baby when she was a teenager in Western Australia, then leaving the infant's body in a caravan park toilet block, has been spared jail.

The woman cannot be named because she was just 14 when she suffocated the infant in Kambalda, in WA's Goldfields region, in July 1995.

Cold Case Homicide Squad detectives charged her with wilful murder last year after her DNA was linked to evidence collected from the scene 24 years earlier.

The wilful murder offence was discontinued and she instead pleaded guilty to infanticide.

The woman admitted to suffocating her newborn before dumping the body in a toilet block at Kambalda Caravan Park (pictured) in 1995 after she was impregnated by her step-father

In the Perth Children's Court on Monday, Judge Hylton Quail handed the woman a 16-month suspended prison sentence.

Prosecutors had not sought an immediate jail term, noting that the child's conception was the result of persistent sexual abuse at the hands of the accused's stepfather who has since been charged with historical child sex offences.

The court heard the then-teenager's actions had been an attempt to conceal her pregnancy and the birth of her child.

Acknowledging the pregnancy and seeking help would likely have exposed the crimes of her stepfather, a person she was 'willing to protect because of the corrupt relationship (he) had manufactured with her', prosecutors submitted.

The court heard the mother suffocated her baby to that would have exposed her step-father's abuse

Detectives last year travelled to regional Victoria to charge the woman, who has other children.

She was extradited to WA but was granted bail and allowed to return to Victoria.

The baby did not have a name, but others have referred to him as Rijul, meaning 'innocent' in Hindi.

Judge Gillian Braddock, who oversaw an earlier hearing, previously described the case as 'traumatic and tragic', saying the case was unlike anything she had come across before in this jurisdiction.
A Kiwi brother and sister who choked, bit and handcuffed a female police officer outside of a Queensland pub have narrowly avoided time behind bars.

Hylton Miharo King, 24, and Ariana Thirteen King, 30, were kicked out of the Brook Hotel in Brisbane's north after threatening staff during a drinking session with relatives.

When a policewoman arrived on the scene to arrest Hylton after the attack in May 2019, he told the officer to 'f**k off', the Queensland District Court heard.

Hylton Miharo King (pictured) repeatedly choked and then bit a female police officer outside a Queensland pub

Hylton's sister Ariana Thirteen King (pictured) took the policewoman's handcuffs and clasped them around the officer's wrist leaving her unable to fully defend herself

The heavily-built New Zealander then grabbed the officer by the throat and choked her.

While the policewoman was struggling to breath, mother-of-five Ariana took the officer's handcuffs and clasped them around the officer's wrist leaving her unable to fully defend herself.

She also 'pulled and pushed' another officer as he tried to help his partner.

When the policewoman finally managed to push Hylton away, he bit her fingers.

'You didn't stop at the first incident, you continued to inflict physical injury on and harm on someone who was protecting the community,' Judge Nathan Jarro.

'Your conduct was disgraceful ... Shame on you both.

'They are the very people you would turn to if something happened to you or your children.'

Judge Jarro said the officer has been left with long-lasting mental health issues after the traumatic seven-minute incident.

Hylton is pictured leaving the Queensland District Court with a family member. He is currently being held in immigration detention and will soon be deported back to New Zealand

'She was required to undergo disease testing (after the bite) ... she had to immediately stop breastfeeding in case you had infected her child,' he said.

The policewoman sought psychiatric treatment in the aftermath of the vile May 2019 attack and only returned to work this week.

Both pleaded guilty to seriously assaulting the officer.

Hylton was sentenced to 11 months in imprisonment but the term was wholly suspended for two and half years.

He is now being held in immigration detention and awaiting deportation back to New Zealand.

'Everybody goes to work and they hope that they come home safely. Unfortunately we know that is not always the case,' General Secretary of the Queensland Police Union Mick Barnes told reporters.

'Their brother is going home and it's always sad to split up a family, but in this case it is quite appropriate.'

Ariana was ordered to serve nine months in prison but the sentence was also suspended for two and a half years.
A disgraced doctor who drugged and inappropriately touched vulnerable patients while they slept claimed it was part of a 'tantric healing' ritual using his penis.

Ali Khorami, 49, has been found guilty of indecently assaulting five of his patients while working as a sleep technician at the Woolcock Institute in Glebe, in Sydney's Inner-West.

The Medical Council of New South Wales cancelled his registration after he was accused of masturbating in front of the sleeping patients and placing his penis on one woman.

One victim was a 16-year-old girl.

Ali Khorami, 49, (pictured) was on Monday found guilty of 22 charges including indecent assault and administering an intoxicating substance by a District Court jury

Khorami was convicted of 22 charges relating to five women, aged between 16 and 29, at the Downing Centre District court on Monday.

These included indecent assault and administering an intoxicating substance.

Khorami was working as a night-shift sleep technician at the time of the incidents from July to August, 2018.

His patients were involved in a study which required them to spend the night in the clinic connected to wires while being watched over by the Khorami.

However CCTV footage presented in court showed the doctor repeatedly entering the patient's rooms and unzipping his pants, appearing to rub his genitals, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.

During the two-and-a-half-week trial by jury, the doctor claimed he was using his penis for 'tantric healing' and the act was not sexual.

He admitted to putting his penis in the 16-year-old's hand but pleaded not guilty, claiming it was consensual.

The doctor (pictured on Monday) walked free from the Downing Centre court complex on Monday afternoon but faces a lengthy prison sentence

However under cross examination, the woman denied his claims, saying she did not believe in alternative therapy.

Khorami also admitted to taking out his penis next to a 29-year-old woman as she slept.

However he denied he had masturbated in front of her and gave evidence that it was a 'sacred' penis-rubbing ritual.

'If you search 'penis blessing' you can see a lot of blessing on YouTube,' he said.

'Penis is not just for sex, not for urination. It's to transfer tantra energy.'

He was also convicted of drugging another of his female patients after slipping a sleeping pill, Temazepam, into her orange juice without her knowledge.

In a statement, the Woolcock Clinic said it had instituted several additional patient security measures after learning of the allegations and had cooperated with the New South Wales Police investigation.

'We also implemented an external audit of sleep studies,' the clinic said in a statement.

'We also enhanced our protocols so that all sleep technicians must be monitored by another staff member if they enter a patient's room during a sleep study.'

The jury deliberated for just over two days before finding Khorami guilty on 22 of 25 charges.

Kohorami (pictured) will fight the application for him to be jailed immediately after being found guilty of indecently assaulting and drugging female patients

He walked free from the court complex on Monday afternoon despite the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence.

The crown prosecution will apply to revoke his bail on Tuesday ahead of his sentencing at a later date.

The court heard on Monday that his defence planned to oppose the bail application, claiming he wasn't a flight risk and was willing to post a $10,000 surety.

He is facing a maximum jail sentence of 25 years behind bars.
Witnesses said they heard a bang and saw a man with a gun and a garbage bag

The 28-year-old allegedly shot 44-year-old Robert Atkinson in the leg last week

Mohammad Eimal Zarshoy, 28, (pictured) has been charged with murder

A member of the notorious Brothers 4 Life gang who was wanted by police in relation to a deadly shooting has turned himself in.

Mohammad Eimal Zarshoy was on the run for a week following the murder of 44-year-old Robert Atkinson in Wentworthville, in Sydney's west, on June 29.

The 28-year-old allegedly shot Mr Atkinson in the leg at his home on Jones Street at 7pm and fled the scene.

Despite attempts by emergency services to save his life, he died at the scene.

The 28-year-old allegedly shot Mr Atkinson in the leg at his home on Jones Street (pictured) at 7pm and fled the scene

Officers attended the scene after they received a call from someone who was concerned for his welfare (pictured, paramedics at the scen)

On Monday, Zarshoy handed himself over to police in Granville where he was charged with murder.

He was refused bail and will appear in Parramatta Court on Tuesday.

'We're investigating two altercations  one being the gunshot going off and another when a male visitor at the home confronted the gunman, who fled the home and got into a white or grey utility driven by another person,' she added.
A Chinese delivery rider has been left without a tooth after he was randomly punched in the face on a busy city street in Adelaide.

The violent incident was filmed when the cyclist was seemingly stopped by two men on Gouger Street, near Adelaide's Chinatown, at 6:30pm on Saturday night.

One of the men punched the delivery rider in the mouth, causing one of his teeth to be knocked out.

Video footage of the incident was later uploaded to Facebook and Weibo, sparking outrage among the Chinese-Australian community.

A Chinese delivery rider (right) was punched so hard by a stranger (centre, left) that one of his teeth was knocked out on Gouger Street, near Adelaide's Chinatown, at 6:30pm on Saturday

The video begins with one man in a camouflage hoodie placing a hand on the handle bars of the delivery rider's bike, seemingly blocking him.

Another man in a red, white and blue Nike windbreaker is seen standing nearby holding a dog in his arms.

The men appear to exchange some words before the man in the camo hoodie randomly punches the delivery rider in the mouth.

The two unidentified men casually walked away as stunned onlookers stared in disbelief at the brazen attack.

After being punched, the delivery rider took off his face mask and a tooth fell out, bouncing off his bicycle.

'Are you alright, mate?' the person recording the video asked the delivery driver, filming from a nearby restaurant, before the clip cuts off.

The video begins with one man in a camouflage hoodie (left) placing a hand on the handle bars of the delivery rider's bike, seemingly blocking him

The two unidentified men casually walked away as stunned onlookers stared in disbelief at the brazen attack

A SA Police spokesman said they were immediately called to the scene.

'Police were called to Gouger Street, Adelaide just after 6.30pm on Saturday 4 July, after reports that a male delivery driver had received minor injuries after he was assaulted by a man not known to him,' the spokesman said.

No one has been charged over the incident so far and investigations are continuing.

SA Police are urging anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au.

Furious Chinese-Australians vowed to hunt down the men responsible for the attack, while others suggested staging a peaceful protest to address community concerns.

'I have had just about enough of this,' one user said on Chinese social media app WeChat, according to the South China Morning Post.

'Let's pray for this political stoush to stop. The local people don't understand our situation. We are vulnerable,' wrote another.

'The Australian government won't fix this  We have to stand up for each other,' added a third concerned viewer.

'They don't care about us, they care only about the power contest.
Young offenders will be forced to do farm work under a proposal to tackle increasing rates of Queensland youth crime.

Queensland Opposition leader Deb Frecklington on Tuesday outlined a crackdown on youth crime to combat increasing rates of offending, highlighted by the death of four teenagers last month in a stolen car.

The Liberal National Party plan included 24-hours-a-day monitoring of youth offenders and a three-strikes mandatory detention policy.

Queensland's Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington (pictured) on Tuesday announced a plan to crackdown on rising rates of youth crime ahead of the October election

Ms Frecklington said young offenders could be sent to one of five 'Community Payback Farms' (file image pictured) to learn new skills and take ownership of their actions.

The Opposition leader crime rates had skyrocketed in Queensland since 2015, with robbery jumping 94 per cent and the unlawful use of a motor vehicle increasing by 77 per cent.

'Businesses shouldn't have to count the cost of theft, families shouldn't have to replace stolen property and police shouldn't be stretched to breaking point,' Ms Frecklington said in a statement.

'Everyone has a right to feel safe in their home and out on the streets.

'The LNP will overhaul the failing youth justice system that has brought so much crime and misery to communities like Townsville, Cairns and the Gold Coast.'

The 'Community Payback Farms' proposal would see young offenders released from youth detention and sent to farms for manual labour and to learn new skills.

The plan suggested young offenders (underage gangs in Brisbane pictured) be monitored 24-hours a day by staff from the Youth Justice Department while they are out on bail

The plan would also amend the Youth Justice Act and force courts to sentence young offenders to detention once they are convicted of a third offence regardless of its severity.

Ms Frecklington's crackdown included requiring courts to take an adult's youth criminal history into consideration when sentencing, and the removal of youth bail houses.

She suggested that staff from the Youth Justice Department, rather than police, would monitoring the bail conditions of youth offenders 24 hours a day.

A Justice Reinvestment program trial was also suggested to improve the physical and emotional health of children in high risk communities.

'The LNP will give our police the tools, the laws, and the resources they need to do their job and protect the community,' Ms Frecklington said.

Ms Frecklington also detailed a three-strikes detention policy where young people (underage gangs in Brisbane pictured) are sentenced after their third offence

The crime crackdown was announced in the wake of a horror crash in June (pictured) where four teenagers died in Townsville after a 14-year-old driver clipped a roundabout

Ms Frecklington announced her plan ahead of Queensland's October election and in the wake of the fatal teen crash on June 7.

An unnamed 14-year-old boy allegedly drove a stolen Kia Sorrento on the wrong side of the road before hitting a roundabout and killing four of his mates.

Lucius Baira-Hill, 13, Cayenne Nona, 14, Rayveena Coolwell, 15, and Aaliyah Tappa Brown, 17, were found dead at the scene in Townsville.

The 14-year-old driver, and sole survivor, was charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death and was remanded in custody.

Queensland Police superintendent Glen Pointing said the crash involved a car stolen from Idalia, which was reportedly being driven dangerously in the moments before it crashed.

'There were some reports those vehicles were driving dangerously,' he told reporters.

'At no stage did police pursue that vehicle or try and stop that vehicle.'

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the loss of life was 'tragic beyond words'.
The wife of late Broadway star Nick Cordero broke down in tears as she mourned the loss of her husband in a moving musical tribute Monday, just one day after he died following a tumultuous 94-day battle with COVID-19.

Amanda Kloots took to Instagram Live earlier this afternoon to perform a heart-breaking rendition of Corderos original song, Live Your Life, for the final time.

Singing the song was a daily tradition shes upheld since the actor was first hospitalized in March.

In the weeks before his death, Kloots also urged her followers to singe along with her, in the hope her ailing husband would be able to feel their support from afar.

Though Kloots says she was unsure what Nick could see or understand, she always told him about the thousands of people sending love his way, and willing him to get better.

As part of Monday's broadcast, she also thanked her followers for their support during Corderos months-long hospitalization, crediting them for helping to make his ultimate dream of becoming a rock star a reality.

We played this song a lot yesterday in Nick's room with him and we were singing to him and I kept telling him that he had the whole world singing his song and knowing who he was and what kind of an amazing person he was, a tearful Kloots said, wiping away tears beneath her sunglasses.

I just wanted him to know that his dream of becoming a rock star happened. And sometimes your dreams happen and you don't get to fully embrace them, but Nick's dream of becoming a rock star definitely happened and it was because of you guys.

Fitness trainer Amanda Kloots took to Instagram Live earlier this afternoon to perform a heart-breaking rendition of 'Live Your Life', an original song by late husband Cordero (right) who passed away Sunday. Singing the song was a daily tradition shes upheld since the actor was first hospitalized in March.

Cordero is survived by his wife, Amanda (left) and their son one-year-old son, Elvis

Kloots, who married Cordero in 2017, added that the daily tradition always provided her with a sense of comfort too, helping her through her darkest of times.

There were days when I did not think I could get on social media and sing but I always felt better after I did.  It always made me feel better. Singing and dancing is an amazing way to have some therapy in your life, she said.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Kloots announced the tragic passing of Cordero, aged 41, on Instagram. Together they share a one-year-old son named Elvis.

In her emotional statement, she said she was still in a state of disbelief and called Cordero a bright light who she couldnt believe who no longer be in her or Elvis life.

Life throws so many things at you, Kloots reflected Monday. It could be this awful virus like Nick had, you could lose your job, you could fight with a family member  all these things in your life that could give you hell.  Keep fighting, keep singing, keep dancing, keep living.

Thank you so much for all your support. I really, really, really appreciate it, Kloots concluded, struggling to hold back tears.

Nick left this earth with people around him that he loved, listening to music. I dont think he would have wanted anything else, so I think we gave him a good send-off. Ill miss him every day of my life, thats for sure.

Cordero's death was announced by his wife Kloots in a heartbreaking post on Instagram

Lengthy battle: Nick Cordero has tragically passed away after spending more than 90 days in hospital fighting for his life due to COVID-19 related complications

Earlier Monday the mother-of-one opened up about her devastating loss, writing in a post: How do you get through the hardest time in your life? Family.'

'I woke up to this video my sister made for me. She titled it, The Silver Linings. I have always been lucky to have a family that loves to be together and to support each other.

'Im even luckier to have Nicks family and extended family that are the same. This video captures these last 95 days,' she added.

The video compilation captures snippets of each day from April 20 to June 28 showing Kloots' siblings, baby Elvis playing, workouts, dinners at the table, laughter and spontaneous dancing - all glimpses of how her family supported her through the difficult journey.

In one clip Kloots is seen lying on a bed at a hospital visiting Cordero.

'They did all of this for Nick, Elvis and I- selfless time from their lives to be with us. In times of trauma, look for the silver linings. Spend time with family. Smile through the tears. Have faith when things seem impossible. Love one another,' she shared.

Every day that Cordero was in the hospital Kloots hosted a sing and dance challenge on Instagram encouraging followers to join in using the hashtag #offthevent, encouraging Cordero to make it off a ventilator in the hospital and recover.

Cordero was first admitted to Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Hospital in late March after initially being diagnosed with pneumonia.

Kloots revealed on March 31 that her husband was in intensive care and was having a 'hard time breathing'. Days later, doctors confirmed Cordero was suffering from coronavirus after being tested three times, testing negative on the first two occasions.

Amanda Kloots has shared a video capturing how her family supported her over the last 95 days as her husband Nick Cordero fought for his life in the hospital. Cordero, 41, tragically passed away on Sunday from COVID-19 related complications

On Monday the theater actress and fitness trainer opened up on the devastating loss saying, 'How do you get through the hardest time in your life? Family'

She shared a 10 minute video showing small moments filmed from April 20 to June 28 showing how her family supported her. Kloots pictured laying in a bed in what appears to be a hospital in the video compilation

Kloots was unable to be at Cordero's side in the hospital at the time, due to coronavirus safety guidelines and visitor restrictions at the hospital.

Initially, Cordero's symptoms were intermittent. In an interview with Buzzfeed at the time, Kloots said the Broadway star 'could not get out of bed, so tired, no energy, that was really his only symptom.'

But his condition soon took a drastic turn for the worse, and shortly after being admitted to the hospital, Cordero was placed on a ventilator by doctors.

'He said, "I love you, they have decided to put me on a ventilator with a breathing tube and Im gonna go unconscious and I dont know when Ill wake up, and I dont know when Ill be able to talk to you again,' Kloots told the outlet.

Though his health initially stabilized, by April 10 Kloots saying he was 'fighting for his life'.

In the hours that followed, Kloots was told Cordero needed to immediately undergo emergency surgery after the ventilator he was placed on to support his heart and lungs was found to be obstructing blood flow to his right leg.

Cordero made it out of the surgery alive, however Kloots said at the time that he was 'struggling' and remained in a medically induced coma.

The following week, the star had to have his right leg amputated on April 18 after suffering from blood clots.

On April 24, Kloots shared that Cordero has tested negative for COVID-19, but within hours doctors were forced to install a temporary pacemaker after he began experiencing irregular heartbeats.

Baby Elvis was the star of the video where he was cared for by his mom and relatives

Kloots pictured (top) with her sister (left) and brother (bottom) posing with face masks

Family first: The clip included these sweet snaps of Kloots with her sister and parents

The father-of-one then contracted a lung infection that spread into his bloodstream, causing septic shock, Kloots said.

She was later told that her husband's lungs had been so severely damaged by the virus that it was 'almost like he's been a smoker for 50 years'.

'They're that damaged,' Kloots said of her husband's lungs on April 30. 'There are holes in his lungs where obviously you don't want holes to be.'

Cordero then underwent a tracheotomy procedure and, two weeks later, he awoke from his medically induced coma on May 12.

He was said to be 'extremely weak, so weak that he can't close his mouth.' However, Kloots says he was responding to instructions which suggested his 'mental status is coming back'.

But Cordero continued to suffer various issues in his lungs. Despite doctors 'cleaning out' his lungs daily, Kloots said her husband was 'not getting better'.

While admitted at hospital, Nick also endured numerous other complications, including two small strokes.

In June, Kloots was finally able to visit Cordero in hospital for the first time nearly 80 days after he was first admitted.

'He cant talk because of the ventilator and he cant move because hes so weak,' Kloots said in an Instagram post, sharing a photograph of her holding his hand. 'But hes awake and hes in there. He can answer questions with yes or no with his eyes.'

Kloots also revealed that Cordero had lost 65 lbs during his battle with COVID-19, after his muscles began to atrophy due to a lack of movement. Cordero's temporary pacemaker was then removed on July 2.

In a series of updates shared to Instagram this week, Amanda said that her husband was 'doing slightly better' after coming down from his blood pressure medication on Thursday.

Before Cordero got sick in March, the couple had recently moved from New York to Los Angeles so the Broadway actor could star in Rock of Ages Hollywood (pictured: Nick Cordero and the cast 'Bullets Over Broadway' perform onstage during the 68th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 8, 2014)

A GoFundMe set up in April by Amanda's friends has already reached $593,573 to help with medical costs which at the time 'had already started coming in' according to the description on the fundraising page.

She had also also revealed this week that she planned to refinance the couple's LA home to pay for medical bills.

Before Cordero got sick in March, the couple, who married in 2017, had recently moved from New York to Los Angeles so the Broadway actor could star in Rock of Ages Hollywood.

In the hours following the news of his death, tributes from fellow Broadway stars and other celebrities began pouring in on social media.

'Devastating. What a loss, what a light. Whole heart with Amanda and his family tonight,' Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote on Twitter.

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.

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 anyone who is feeling the loss of this giant heart. Rest In Peace dear Nick. We love you,' she captioned.

Unimaginable: Actress Viola Davis penned a touching tribute to Cordero and remarked on the actor's unimaginable battle on her Twitter page, as well

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

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

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'

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'
New South Wales faces going back into lockdown if widespread community transmission is detected in the state as Melbourne battles a huge coronavirus outbreak.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard this morning said re-introducing restrictions is a 'possibility' if the virus spreads from Victoria into New South Wales.

'If that advice comes to us that would be a possibility but hopefully we can keep the transmission to a bare minimum,' he told Sydney radio 2GB.

'We're in a pandemic so we have to expect that from time to time we will get cases in NSW, that's logical.

New South Wales faces going back into lockdown if widespread community transmission is detected in the state. Pictured: NSW police officers at Sydney Airport

Passengers arrive from a Qantas flight that flew from Melbourne at Sydney Airport to be met by health officials taking their temperature

'But what we don't want is broad scale transmission which is occurring in Victoria.

'We'll take advice as we move along.'

Mr Hazzard warned residents to not travel to Victoria where more than 300,000 residents in 12 Melbourne postcodes have been put back into lockdown.

'Do not travel to Victoria. You would have to have an extremely necessary reason to go,' he said.

Any resident returning from Victoria has to self-isolate at home for two weeks.

NSW Health on Monday evening said the two possible cases had returned positive results on preliminary testing in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District, with further testing underway.

One suspected case had recently been to Melbourne but returned before hotspot travel restrictions came into force.

Nine tower blocks in Melbourne have been placed into a hard lockdown where residents cannot leave for any reason

Residents look from a window at one of nine public housing estates locked down due a spike in COVID-19 coronavirus numbers in Melbourne

NSW Health is setting up a pop-up clinic in the border city of Albury from Tuesday, and is urging residents in the area with even the mildest symptoms to get tested.

It comes ahead of the Wednesday border closure, which was agreed to by the NSW and Victorian premiers and the prime minister.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard also announced that hotspot travel restrictions would be extended to include residents from Greater Melbourne from Tuesday.

It means they will only be able to enter NSW for limited reasons, such as getting medical care, or fulfilling a legal obligation.

Then on Wednesday at 12.01am, the whole border will be shut.

Victoria on Monday had recorded an additional 127 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths.

Former Labor leader and MP for Maribyrnong, Bill Shorten, delivers food to the Flemington Towers Government Housing on Monday

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

NSW reported 10 cases, all in hotel quarantine, from 11,500 tests.

The Department of Defence will help NSW Police in what Ms Berejiklian has labelled the 'mammoth task' of border enforcement.

On Monday NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said authorities would monitor border 55 crossings across five southern NSW police districts.

NSW residents who return from anywhere in Victoria will from Wednesday be required to self-isolate at home for 14 days.
The brother of a spearfisher mauled by a shark said he watched his 'best mate' die in his arms from horrific injuries.

Matthew Tratt, 36, was attacked by a by a suspected great white shark on Fraser Island on Saturday afternoon while spear fishing with his brother Rob Tratt.

Mr Tratt managed to drag his brother up onto rocks on the headland where bystanders and an off-duty doctor and nurse tried to revive him for nearly an hour.

Other fishermen helped pull him from the water and applied a tourniquet to his badly mauled left leg before paramedics arrived.

Mr Tratt watched his brother bleed to death, but said Matt died doing what he loved.

'My brother, he died in my arms, doing his favourite passion - spearfishing. And I don't think I could've been with a better person,' he told 9News.

Rob Tratt's (pictured) brother Matthew, 36, died in his arms after being mauled by a shark while spearfishing on Fraser Island on Saturday

Matthew Tratt (right), 36, was attacked by a by a suspected great white shark at Fraser Island on Saturday afternoon while spear fishing with his brother. Pictured with his wife Kayla

'He's an outdoors man and a family man ... he lived a good life and went out in spectacular style.'

Mr Tratt said he looked away for a split second before Matthew was attacked by the shark.

'I actually dived down ... and I couldn't dive down deep enough, I'm inexperienced, I can only hold my breath for about nine seconds or something,' he said.

'He was just laying on the bottom and I looked away for a second and next thing you know it's all happening.'

Mr Tratt said he didn't realise there had been a shark attacked until they surfaced and Matthew told him.

'He just said to me, 'there's been a shark attack' and I said 'are you okay?',' Mr Tratt said.

Before the attack, a fisherman asked the pair how they could get in knowing sharks were abundant in the area.

'If I thought about it, I'd probably just get too scared and not go in the water. We entered those waters fully knowing the risks, it's just part of life,' Mr Tratt said.

Mr Tratt, an air-conditioning contractor from Buderim, leaves behind two children and his wife Kayla (right)

Matthew Tratt and his brother Rob Tratt were spearfishing off Indian Head (pictured) on Fraser Island at about 2pm on Saturday

An ambulance emergency team was winched down by a rescue chopper, but Mr Tratt's injuries were too severe and he died at the scene

The brothers and their families were visiting Fraser Island after their holiday abroad was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

'We were supposed to do a holiday to Bali and all that, so when they opened up the doors to a bit of travel we decided we were going to hit Fraser Island as a family,' Mr Tratt said.

'Me and my brother and his two kids and our wives. We were out there just enjoying ourselves. Holiday of a lifetime ... Really was.'

Mr Tratt said despite the horrific incident, his brother wouldn't have supported shark culling.

'We entered those waters fully knowing the risks, it's just part of life,' he said.

Matthew, an air-conditioning contractor from Buderim on the Sunshine Coast, leaves behind two children and his wife Kayla.

Matthew's friend Wayne Stievano and fishing buddy said he wished he could have been there to save him.

'Still can't believe you're gone Matthew Tratt,' he posted on Facebook.

'You were taken way too early, you always had my back in the water, I only wish I could have been there today to have yours.

'We love you and miss you buddy, until we meet again, rest easy mate.'

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk described the death as 'brutal' and paid her condolences to his family.

Matthew Tratt, 36, was attacked by a shark off Indian Head at about 2pm on Saturday while spear fishing with his brother. Pictured with his widow Kayla

'It's once again a reminder that, especially around that Fraser Island area, it is home to a lot of sharks, and great whites,' she said in Sunday.

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour said the local community was deeply saddened by the tragedy.

'This a tremendously sad day for our community,' Mr Seymour wrote on Facebook.

'Our deepest condolences go to this young man's family and friends.

'The loss of a young life with his future before him is a tragedy beyond words and we share their sadness and grief.'

It is Australia's fourth fatal shark attack this year.

Last month, Gold Coast surfer Rob Pedretti, 60, died after he was mauled by the three-metre white shark at Salt Beach at South Kingscliff in northern NSW.

A shark also killed 23-year-old Queensland wildlife ranger Zachary Robba in April off North West Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef.

Experienced diver Gary Johnson, 57, was killed by a shark near Cull Island in Esperance on Western Australia's south coast in January.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.
A baby-faced Colombian student suspected of killing a sex worker 49 years his senior and fleeing Sydney to a small island in the Caribbean is awaiting extradition.

Hector Enrique Valencia, 20, was arrested by authorities of the Caribbean island of Aruba in late February for the death of Coogee identity Kimberley McRae.

The 69-year-old transgender woman was found dead inside her Mount Street apartment, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, on January 14.

Hector Enrique Valencia (pictured), 20, was arrested by authorities of the Caribbean island of Aruba in late February for the death of Coogee identity Kimberley McRae (pictured), 69

Police believe Valencia, who had been living in Sydney since mid-2019 on a student visa, met the sex worker for the purpose of sex - but it is not known whether he was a first time customer the day she died, or if they had met before.

Police allege Valencia returned to his homeland of Colombia the day after Ms McRae's death, before visiting a relative at Aruba.

The island is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Southern Courier reported police would not be able to charge Valencia until he arrived back in Australia.

A post-mortem indicated Kimberley McRae (pictured), 69, had been strangled to death

For five months, they have been working with Commonwealth authorities to have him extradited. However, it is proving to be a lengthy process.

Aruban officials have previously extradited a number of alleged criminals, but never an Australian.

'He is wanted for prosecution in Australia for murder,' an Attorney-General's Department spokesman said on Monday, the Southern Courier reported.

'Mr Valencia remains in extradition custody in Aruba pending consideration of Australia's extradition request.'

Valencia, who was believed to be living near Matraville, in Sydney's south-east, was studying at a business college in Surry Hills prior to McRae's death.

However, students told Daily Mail Australia in March the 'baby-faced' man only showed up for two days before suddenly disappearing.

The inside of Ms McRae's unit was thoroughly dusted for fingerprints in the days after her body was found. By this time her alleged killer had fled overseas

'He had such a young, baby face and was very quiet,' a former classmate told Daily Mail Australia in March.

'He wasn't here very long. I think he came to two classes and then disappeared, that was back in early January and we never saw him again.'

Ms McRae was believed to be deceased for up to four days before being found at her apartment in January.

She was found by a real estate agent when her Melbourne-based sister raised the alarm.

A post-mortem indicated she had been strangled to death.

Ms McRae had lived at the apartment block for six months, and prior to that in another building on the same street for almost 12 years
Australia's GST could be increased and broadened to include fresh fruit and vegetables with a compensation package for the poor as coronavirus erodes government revenue.

Professional services giant PwC has assessed how the federal government could raise extra revenue to pay for programs designed to offset the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns, including the $70billion JobKeeper wage subsidies scheme.

PwC said it could be achieved by raising the Goods and Services Tax, which has remained at ten per cent since it was introduced in July 2000.

Influential Liberal Party figures have advocated a GST increase.

Professional services giant PwC has calculated how the federal government could raise extra revenue by either just increasing the Goods and Services Tax or broadening the base as well

Raising it to 12.5 per cent would raise an additional $14.5billion a year.

PwC, previously known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, calculated that revenue would jump to $40billion if the GST base was broadened to include fresh fruit and vegetables, education and childcare, which have been exempt for two decades.

Broadening the GST base but keeping the tax at ten per cent would raise an extra $20.7billion.

PwC said any increase in the GST or inclusion of essential items would require compensation for the poor.

'Broadening the GST base and/or increasing the rate of GST will affect low-income households the most, in that more of their income would be required to pay the increased GST,' PwC said.

'The critical issue for implementation of any reform of Australia's GST will be an accurate understanding of the impact on low-income earners and designing robust compensation for that.'

The consumption tax increase would also have to include compensation for low-income earners, who already spend a higher proportion of their income on the GST. Pictured is a Sikh volunteer distributing vegetarian meals at Kensington in Melbourne's inner north-west following the lockdown of housing commission flats

The PwC report also noted Australia's existing tax system was ill-equipped to deal with crises like COVID-19 which has 'resulted in ballooning government expenditure and shrinking government revenue'.

GST rates globally SINGAPORE: 7 per cent AUSTRALIA: 10 per cent NEW ZEALAND: 15 per cent CANADA: 5 per cent federal GST plus provincial retail sales taxes of six to ten per cent UNITED KINGDOM: 20 per cent (Value Added Tax) Advertisement

PwC chief economist Jeremy Thorpe said Australia one of the lowest GST rates in the developed world.

'Australia's GST collections have also not kept pace with the overall rate of growth in the economy, in part because people are spending a higher proportion of their income on areas that are currently exempt, including housing, health care and education,' he said.

'Our GST rate of ten per cent is one of the lowest among developed economies, and even at 12.5 per cent, would still be well below the OECD average of 19.3 per cent.'

New Zealand, Australia's nearest neighbour, has a 15 per cent GST, with the rate rising from 12.5 per cent in October 2010.

The United Kingdom has an even heftier 20 per cent Value Added Tax with exemptions for food and children's clothes, with the rate increasing from 17.5 per cent in January 2011.

Singapore has a much lower seven per cent GST.

Canada has a five per cent GST at a federal level plus provincial retail sales taxes that range from six per cent to ten per cent.

Raising it to 12.5 per cent would raise $14.5billion a year. PwC, previously known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, calculated that revenue would jump to $40billion if the GST base was broadened to include fresh fruit and vegetables, education and childcare

The United States doesn't have a national sales tax, with states, cities and counties charging their own taxes.

Foods that are GST free Bread and bread rolls without a sweet coating (such as icing) or filling Flour, sugar, pre-mixes and cake mixes Cooking oil Unflavoured milk, cream, cheese and eggs Spices, sauces and condiments Bottled drinking water Fruit or vegetable juice Tea and coffee (unless ready-to-drink) Baby food and infant formula (for children under 12 months of age) All meats but not pet food Fruit, vegetables, fish and soup (fresh, frozen, dried, canned or packaged) Honey, jam and peanut butter Breakfast cereals Source: Australian Taxation Office Advertisement

New South Wales Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has called for the GST to either be increased or broadened so the states and territories can abolish inefficient payroll and property stamp duty taxes.

The Liberal Party's federal president Nick Greiner, a former NSW premier, wants the GST broadened so the states have more money.

The federal government collects the GST and distributes it to the state and territories via the Commonwealth Grants Commission.

In 1999, the Australian Democrats led by Meg Lees only agreed to pass then Liberal prime minister John Howard's GST package through the Senate if fresh food and a range of other items were exempted.

Labor was opposed to the GST, campaigning against it at the 1998 election, while the Australian Democrats were divided over the issue before conditionally backing it - precipitating the virtual collapse of the party.

Mr Thorpe said that even before the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's tax system wasn't well equipped to support economic growth with GST collections in the 2018-19 financial year - the lowest since the tax was introduced two decades ago.

'In a properly structured reform package, GST expansion should lead to higher economic growth,' he said.

Mr Thorpe estimated that a revenue-neutral switch from reducing income taxes while increasing the GST would boost gross domestic product by one per cent in the long-run.

Since March, the federal government has spent $153.7billion on three stimulus programs to combat the coronavirus downturn. The JobSeeker unemployment benefit has also been temporarily increased by $550 a fortnight, on top of the usual $565.70 rate for singles, as part of a $66billion program. Pictured is a Centrelink queue at Norwood in Adelaide in April

'The full effect on economic growth will depend significantly on how GST reform is incorporated as part of a package of reform,' he said.

Since March, the federal government has spent $153.7billion on three stimulus welfare programs to combat the coronavirus downturn.

The bulk of that has gone towards the $70billion JobKeeper program which until the end of September is funding $1,500 fortnightly wage subsidies.

The JobSeeker unemployment benefit has also been temporarily increased by $550 a fortnight, on top of the usual $565.70 rate for singles, as part of a separate $66billion program.

Westpac, Australia's second biggest bank, is forecasting a $230billion deficit for 2020-21 that would comprise 11.7 per cent of GDP - by far the highest since World War II.
Elizabeth Jo Shirley from West Virginia woman who previously served in the Air Force allegedly planned to offer top-secret information from the NSA to Russia

A West Virginia woman who served in the Air Force planned to offer top-secret information from the National Security Agency to the Russian government, prosecutors said Monday.

Elizabeth Jo Shirley pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement to one count each of willful retention of national defense information and international parental kidnapping, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Shirley, 46, of Hedgesville, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the national security charge and up to three years and a $250,000 fine on the kidnapping charge.

Shirley was arrested in Mexico in July 2019 and accused of kidnapping her six-year-old daughter Josephine after she failed to return the child to the girl's custodial father, the primary residential parent, and his wife in West Virginia.

In the same month, authorities found an NSA document in a storage locker she had rented, and more classified material and messages Shirley had drafted to Russian government officials were found on her electronic devices.

'Federal government employees and contractors with high level security clearances pledge to protect classified information from foreign adversaries. It's an essential responsibility in guarding our country's national security,' said Michael Christmas, the FBI's special agent in charge in Pittsburgh.

'Ms. Shirley had a duty to safeguard classified information. Instead, she chose to break the law and trust placed in her and made plans to pass national defense information to Russian officials, which could have put our citizens at risk.'

Last July was accused of kidnapping her six-year-old daughter after she failed to return the child on the agreed-upon date to the girl's custodial father

Prosecutors said Shirley leased a storage unit and kept a document - without authorization - relating to national defense that outlines intelligence information regarding a foreign government's military and political issues.

Shirley worked on assignments with the National Security Agency while serving in the Air Force.

From 2001 to 2012, Shirley held various positions with the Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence, the departments of Defense and Energy, the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force and at least five different cleared defense contractors. She also held top-level security clearances at various times, the statement said.

Shirley also admitted to taking her child, Josephine, to Mexico without the permission of the girl's father

On the count of her alleged kidnapping charge, Shirley reported that she was having car trouble and promised to make the drop-off the following day, but instead headed toward the airport and ultimately left the country, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Shirley went to Mexico along with her daughter, with the intent of contacting Russian government representatives to request resettlement in a country that would not extradite her back to the United States.

While in Mexico, Shirley prepared a written message that referenced an 'urgent need' to have items shipped from the United States related to her 'life's work before they are seized and destroyed,' prosecutors said.

Shirley was arrested last August at a hotel in Mexico City and the girl was returned to her father.

Authorities said the NSA document was located that month in a storage locker in Martinsburg, while messages Shirley had drafted to Russian government officials along with other classified information were found on her electronic devices.

'Given Shirley's troubling conduct after fleeing the United States, the damage to national security could have been far greater had law enforcement not acted swiftly,' said John C. Demers, an assistant attorney general for national security. 'Shirley will now be held accountable for betraying the trust of the American people.'
Atlanta mayor and potential Democrat vice-president pick Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Monday that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

Bottoms revealed that she, her husband, and one of her four children have tested positive for the virus, but she hasn't suffered serious symptoms.

She told MSNBC that she decided her family members should get tested again because her husband 'literally has been sleeping since Thursday,' but she noted that his highest fever at this point has been around 99F.

'COVID-19 has literally hit home. I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive,' Bottoms, 50, tweeted.

The diagnosis came a day after Bottoms held a press conference about a wave of gun violence in Atlanta over the Fourth of July weekend, which left five people dead, including an 8-year-old girl.

She appeared alongside the family of Secoriea Turner, who was killed when at least two gunmen opened fire on her mother's car when she drove past a protesters' barricade in the city.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said on Monday that she has tested positive for COVID-19, but has not shown symptoms of the respiratory illness

'COVID-19 has literally hit home,' the mayor of Georgia's state capital tweeted

The Atlanta mayor thought something might be going on with her husband, Derek W. Bottoms, after he appeared to be sleeping for most of the day since Thursday of last week. (File photo)

Mayor Bottoms called for justice in Secoriea's death during an emotional news conference Sunday with the girl's grief-stricken mother, Charmaine. A $10,000 reward for information has been offered as authorities seek the gunmen.

Secoriea 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 sparking further protests against police brutality.

Secoriea was killed after her mother Charmaine drove through an illegal barricade that had been set up by activists around the fast-food chain.

'You can't blame this on a police officer,' the mayor said at the press conference. 'You cant 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 announcement came after a weekend of violence that saw an eight-year-old girl, Secoriea Turner, killed. The mayor (right) spoke about the killing during a press conference Sunday with the girl's grief-stricken mother Charmaine (seated)

8-year-old Secoriea Turner was shot to death in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday night, July 4, while sitting in a car

A day after the press conference, Bottoms announced her COVID diagnosis.

She said the only other symptoms she and her husband have been experienced are those similar to allergies they have.

The Mayor also said she had a dry cough and headache.

'It leaves me for a loss for words because I think it really speaks to how contagious this virus is,' Bottoms told MSNBC.

'We've taken all of the precautions that you can possibly take. We wear masks, we're very thoughtful about washing our hands, I have no idea when and where we were exposed.'

Two of her four children, who have asthma, were tested, with one diagnosed positive and the other negative for COVID-19. The other two children will be tested soon according to CNN.

Bottoms' national profile has risen in recent months both as a mayor handling the coronavirus pandemic and amid the national reckoning on race that has followed a white Minneapolis police officer's killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on May 25.

Bottoms aid she and her family wear masks in public and are thoughtful about maintaining social distancing and washing hands but decided to get retested after her husband had been 'sleeping since Thursday'. The family all tested positive

A first-term mayor, Bottoms issued a firm plea for peaceful protest as demonstrators gathered on downtown streets after Floyd's killing - and urged the protesters to get tested for COVID-19.

She invoked Atlanta's civil rights history and her personal experience as the mother of Black sons.

She won plaudits from progressives after firing Atlanta officers for using excessive force during the protests.

She has also been noted for earlier criticizing Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on his slowness to order Georgians to shelter in place and his quickness to lift that order.

Bottoms, a Democrat is among the women named as a potential vice-presidential running mate for presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden

The Democrat is among the women named as a potential vice-presidential running mate for presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Bottoms was an early and vocal supporter of Biden, who has been considering Bottoms as his possible vice presidential running mate in his own presidential bid.

Violence in the city has grown worse since protesters burned down a fast food restaurant where a white officer fatally shot Rayshard Brooks after he seized a stun gun and ran.

Armed people have been manning roadblocks at the site and an 8-year-old girl was shot dead near the site on Saturday.

At the same time, some police officers have been refusing to answer calls, angry that the district attorney has charged officers in the Brooks shooting.

Atlanta police again broke up the roadblocks at the site Monday, but that wasn't enough for Kemp, who said he was mobilizing up to 1,000 National Guard troops after a spike in shootings in Atlanta.
The officer-involved shooting death of an armed man who was sitting inside a parked car in Phoenix has prompted protests to erupt across the city.

In video recorded by witnesses, police are heard yelling at the man: 'Hey, stop f**king moving. I will f**king shoot you!' before opening fire.

The man in the vehicle has been identified as James Porter Garcia, 28.

Phoenix police released a statement and bodycam footage of the incident that occurred around 1pm on Saturday.

Authorities said they responded to a residence after a caller reported that a man who tried to kill him a week ago had returned with a knife and was threatening him again.

In video recorded by witnesses, police are heard yelling at the man: 'Hey, stop f**king moving. I will f**king shoot you!' Moments later, a cracking sounds is heard followed by about 10 gunshots

Video from bystanders shows the officers shouting at the man in the vehicle.

Moments later, a cracking sounds is heard followed by about 10 gunshots. Witnesses are heard screaming that the man inside the vehicle is dead.

'That's f**ked up man!' one bystander is heard yelling at the officers who are seen in the video surrounding the vehicle.

Shortly after the shooting footage went viral, police released bodycam video from responding officers.

The police video does not show the actual shooting, but does show the aftermath as another officer is seen removing a gun from the front seat of Garcia's vehicle.

Officers then removed Garcia from the vehicle and Phoenix Fire personnel transported him to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

According to a police statement, two officers arrived at the scene and saw the suspect sitting in a parked car in a driveway.

Officers approached the car to let the man know they were investigating an aggravated assault.

Police said when the officers asked the man to get out of the car, he rolled up the window and showed a gun.

Shortly after the shooting went viral, police released bodycam footage from responding officers that shows a different angle

In that footage, officers are seen removing a gun from the front seat of Garcia's vehicle

Officers demanded the man drop the gun, but say he raised the weapon and allegedly pointed it toward the officers.

Police said one officer broke the side window of the car to distract the man and two other officers opened fire.

Following the man's death, protests erupted across the city, with dozens of demonstrators marching to the Maryvale Estrella Mountain police station.

No justice! No peace! protesters chanted. About 30 protesters have stayed behind after the James Garcia vigil to march to the Maryvale Precinct to demand they release the body camera footage for the second night in a row. pic.twitter.com/Fs59nBkerI  Alana Minkler (@alana_minkler) July 7, 2020

Other people left flowers and candles in the driveway of the home where the shooting occurred.

Phoenix City Councilman Carlos Garcia shared the video on his Facebook page, saying: 'It does not shock us that despite all the scrutiny from community Phoenix PD continues to respond violently to calls.

'But, we must all continue to ask for transparency and accountability. The department also issued a premature statement leaving out facts about the case.

'We cannot allow for dishonest narratives to be built by violent departments. we will continue to call for independent investigations into officer involved shootings.'

The police department has also urged witnesses to send in any video of the officer-involved shooting.
West Australians have rallied behind suggestions the state should 'divorce' the rest of the country to reap the benefits of its multi-billion dollar export industry.

While former foreign minister Julie Bishop and Premier Mark McGowan agreed it would be near impossible, they said locals are fed up with being underappreciated.

The state closed its borders to interstate travellers on April 6 to limit the spread of COVID-19, but Ms Bishop said most people aren't excited for that decision to be reversed.

'Ninety per cent of people surveyed said they want the borders to remain shut,' she told Today. 'I think they mean forever.'

'West Australians have long complained that we supply so much of the export income to the rest of Australia.'

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West Australians have rallied behind suggestions the state should 'divorce' the rest of the country to reap the benefits of its multi-billion dollar export industry

Premier Mark McGowan laughed off the suggestion, but said he was proud of the 'healthy patriotism' within his state

Ms Bishop represented WA in Canberra for two decades and said she understands the frustration, but admitted a 'WA-exit' would be too hard to achieve.

'You would need a Defence Force with our coastline, and customs, quarantine, immigration, citizenship.

'Then you would need a foreign affairs department with embassies throughout the world. We would then have to sign up to international treaties on governance and trade deals,' she explained.

In spite of the logistical impossibilities, Ms Bishop acknowledged WA would be a 'resource rich country' on its own.

The quokka (pictured) was suggested as the new country's national animal

Musicians Eskimo Joe were suggested to help create a new national anthem for the new country

The state is known for producing large quantities of gold and iron ore, wheat and coal.

Poll Should WA 'divorce' the rest of Australia to become its own country? Yes No Should WA 'divorce' the rest of Australia to become its own country? Yes 337 votes

No 260 votes Now share your opinion





When the public was asked their opinions, most people interviewed agreed and said they'd like to become a separate nation.

They elected Ms Bishop or Premier Mark McGowan to run the nation, and tasked Eskimo Joe with creating the national anthem.

The quokka would be on the flag and the national animal.

Mr McGowan laughed off the suggestion, but said he was proud of the 'healthy patriotism' within his state.

'People here are rightfully unhappy that the other states don't seem to appreciate us,' he said.

West Australians represent about 10 per cent of the population, but contribute four times more than New South Wales and 31 times more than Victoria to the economy per person.

Back in 1933, 66 per cent of the state voted to leave Australia during a referendum, but the decision was quickly shut down by British parliament.

In a previous press conference when discussing the initial border closure, Mr McGowan made reference to Brexit.

Julie Bishop was pegged as a potential prime minister after representing WA in Canberra for two decades

'Brexit has taken four years, and we put borders in place in the span of one week,' he said at the time.

Borders were closed on April 6 and WA's last case of community transmission of coronavirus was on April 11.

Mr McGowan is yet to confirm a date for reopening his state to the rest of the nation.

'Every other state appears to have jumped around in terms of their border arrangement, we haven't we've just had a straightforward, reasonable, sensible arrangement and that's what's going to continue.

'Western Australians have been enjoying a new level of normality in recent weeks, our economy is recovering and people are returning to work. I don't want to see all our hard work go to waste.'

Following months of success, WA will drop all of its coronavirus related restrictions - aside from the hard border closure - from July 18.
Airline giant Emirates has pulled out of its popular Dubai to Adelaide routes, becoming the latest to pull international flights because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Emirates has cancelled all flights in and out of South Australia - meaning they will no longer operate a direct route from Adelaide to the Middle East, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.

The move signals further concern for the struggling aviation industry as international travel remains suspended and new domestic travel bans come in place.

Travellers will be unable to enter NSW from Victoria from midnight on Tuesday (pictured, passengers arrive at Sydney on Tuesday after flying out of Melbourne before the border closure)

Emirates has cancelled all flights in and out of Adelaide Airport - meaning they will no longer operate a direct route to Dubai in the Middle East (stock image)

A spokesperson for Emirates told Daily Mail Australia they will continue operating international routes across the rest of the country.

Health officials take the temperature of a young girl at Sydney Airport after she arrived from Melbourne on Monday July 6

'Emirates remains committed to serving our customers in Adelaide via our codeshare partner Qantas, and our customers in Australia through our other stations in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney,' the spokesperson said.

'We hope to restart our operations in Adelaide when it is commercially and operationally feasible to do so in the future.'

The number of local job losses associated with the flight cancellation is still unknown.

Flight Center's Global Media & Investor Relations Manager Hayden Long told Daily Mail Australia it's not a permanent decision.

A spokesperson for Emirates told Daily Mail Australia they will continue operating international routes across the rest of the country (pictured, Qantas and Emirates hostesses pose together)

'The government restrictions that are in place at the moment mean it is very difficult to travel internationally and, in some cases, even domestically,' Mr Long said.

'It's sad to see any airline leave a market, but Emirates has made it clear in this instance that it hopes to be back in Adelaide when the situation improves.'

The move comes as Australian airlines struggle to stay afloat, with Qantas and Jetstar bracing for a wave of flight cancellations linked to the new domestic border closures.

New South Wales will close its border to Victoria at midnight on Tuesday, prompted by a second wave of COVID-19 cases across Melbourne.

The state recorded 191 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday - a record high of daily cases for the state since the pandemic began.

Victorians will also be forced to quarantine for 14 days if they try to travel to the Australian Capital Territory by air.

NSW will close its border to Victoria at midnight on Tuesday, prompted by a second wave of COVID-19 cases across Melbourne (pictured, the border town of Albury on Tuesday)

International travel may not return to normal levels until at least July 2021 (pictured, the Qantas terminal in Melbourne on Tuesday)

But Qantas and Virgin Australia have been ramping up their domestic flight offering across Australia in recent weeks since confirming international travel may not return to normal levels until July 2021.

The national carrier announced it was planning to bring its capacity back up to 40 per cent of pre-COVID flight frequency by the end of July.

This resulted in the introduction of a raft of cheap flights on offer between cities like Melbourne and Sydney, Perth and Brisbane.

Residents who have purchased these flights out of the nation's new coronavirus capital will no longer be allowed to leave after July 7 because of the new lockdown measures.

However both Qantas and Virgin Australia have confirmed they will be allowing one complimentary change to their flights, reported Executive Traveller.

Passengers may be rushing to cancel or change their flights with Qantas (pictured, a woman arriving into Sydney Airport on Tuesday)

Passengers arrive at Sydney Airport on Tuesday morning from Melbourne (pictured) ahead of the planned border closure

This will apply to all travel between June 12 and October 31 2020 across the entire domestic flight network.

While Virgin Australia will allow passengers to make an unlimited number of changes to domestic bookings on travel until September 30 for both their travel dates and destinations.

Both airlines are facing uncertain futures after Prime Minister Scott Morrison's confirmation international travel could be off the cards until July next year.

Qantas announced a further 6,000 job losses at the end of last month as a result of reduced flights due to COVID-19.

While Virgin Australia is preparing for its takeover by Bain Capital after crumbling into bankruptcy as a result of global pandemic.

The airline has $7billion in outstanding debt to more than 12,000 creditors.


One of Australia's most distinguished chefs, Nick Perry, has announced his retirement after 40 years feeding hungry diners at his celebrated restaurants.

Perry, 63, is stepping down from his role as the culinary director of Rockpool Dining Group, which owns Sydney stalwarts such as The Argyle, Rockpool and El Camino Cantina.

Perry opened his first restaurant, Blue Water Grill, on Sydney's famous Bondi Beach in 1986 and immediately made a name for himself in the culinary world.

The company revealed Perry would remain as a major shareholder but wants to focus on his charity, Hope Delivery initiative, which delivers meals for vulnerable people.

One of Australia's most famous chefs Neil Perry (pictured) has announced his retirement after 40 years in order to build on his charitable pursuits

Perry is stepping down from his role as the culinary director of Rockpool Dining Group, which owns establishments such as Argyle, Rockpool (pictured) and El Camino Cantina

His retirement comes as several of the group's restaurants reopened following the flattening of the coronavirus pandemic in New South Wales.

'As the business now needs to embark on a new chapter it is time for a fresh start,' Perry said.

'It will never be easy to move on from the restaurants I founded, and I do so with a heavy heart.

'But as the business and the sector set their sights on new beginnings, it is the right time for the next generation to have the opportunity afforded to me over 40 years ago.'

'The Group has embarked on an amazing post-COVID recovery with fabulous re-opening results.

'For now, I will throw my passion and effort into Hope Delivery, which supports those in need, as well as my other commitments.'

Several high-profile chefs and celebrities wished Perry the best on his new career and congratulated him on his 40-year success.

His retirement comes as several of the group's restaurants reopen following the flattening of the coronavirus pandemic in New South Wales (pictured, The Argyle)

Several high-profile chefs and celebrities wished Perry (pictured) the best on his new endeavour and congratulated him on his 40-year career

Veteran chef Mark Best tweeted: 'Bravo Chef. One of the greats. Australian cuisine wouldn't be where it is without your prodigious talent and energy.'

Author Ros Reines said: 'Congrats to Neil Perry on an outstanding career.

'I still remember the excitement of going to Bluewater Grill at North Bondi and the sense of wonder and gratitude for the original Rockpool.

'It was a new world of taste sensations with the space between the tables a runway.'

Restaurateur Luke Mangan called Perry 'one of the best in the industry', according to Good Food.

Thomas Pash, Rockpool Dining Group's CEO, thanked Perry for his service and commitment to the company.

Thomas Pash, Rockpool Dining Group's CEO, thanked Perry for his service and commitment to the company (pictured, El Camino Cantina)

'Neil has been a driving force in the industry and has been key to the successful re-opening of our venues,' Mr Pash said.

He said he was excited for the next chapter of Rockpool Dining Group's future.

Good Food reported in 2018 that the Rockpool Dining Group had discovered staff were underpaid $1.6million.

The inconsistency was apparently uncovered after a review of the payroll.

The group said they would repay staff who were shorted.
Channel 7 is copping backlash over its new comedy series 'Housos vs Virus: The Lockdown' for being 'tone deaf' given the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

The network's upcoming show hasn't aired yet, but ads for the spin-off of 'Housos' are already being slammed by viewers amid the worsening virus crisis in Melbourne.

'To be fair, they'd have made all of this before the towers were locked down. Still airing it though is as tone deaf as it gets,' one social media user commented, referring to ten of the city's housing commission buildings now in lockdown.

'Channel Seven what are you doing,' said another. 'Sadly, playing to their audience.'

'When they say comedy is all about timing, I don't think they mean this,' read another comment.

Channel 7 is copping backlash over its new series 'Housos vs the virus: The Lockdown'. Pictured: a scene shows Vanessa running out of toilet paper due to panic buying

The program, which will air on 7mate, promises to be the 'most bonkers, kick ass, adults only Aussie comedy hour of all time'

The program, which will air on 7mate, promises to be the 'most bonkers, kick ass, adults only Aussie comedy hour of all time'.

The advertisement for the fictional comedy program shows popular character Franky spruiking a 'big corona hot tub virus party'.

'It's created a global meltdown to create the most bonkers Aussie comedy hour of all time,' the ad said.

'Bringing you the most adults only kick ass television for all the wrong reasons. Only Housos would go up against the virus in lockdown.'

Another scene shows a character named Vanessa sitting on the toilet and screaming that she has run out of toilet paper, a nod to panic buying that has swept the nation in recent months.

A sign was erected on the front lawn of Franky's house which read: 'COVID-19 quarantine zone. Visitors are prohibited. Occupants must not leave.'

But the show's promotional ads were also met with excitement from some viewers, who said the timing is appropriate.

The network's upcoming show hasn't aired yet, but ads for the spin-off of 'Housos' are already being slammed by viewers as 'tone deaf' given the escalating COVID-19 crisis

'With whats going on right now I think this is the perfect time for them to come back!,' someone wrote.

'Looking forward to new episodes,' said another.

Housos, which first aired in 2011, takes aim at Australians who live in housing commission, swear too much and know how to rort the welfare system.

It follows the mundane lives of Shazza, Dazza, Franky and Kylie - four best mates who live in the fictional town of Sunnyville.

The show's creator, Paul Fenech, who was also the brains behind Fat Pizza, said the show was his best work at the time.

'There are so many bogans in Australia a show had to be made about them,' he said ahead of its official release in 2011.

The low-budget production was about as far from politically correct as it could get.

It took aim at the poor, the uneducated, drug-addicted and the downright dumb members of society.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel 7 for comment.

The timing of the program's release comes amid an outbreak of new coronavirus cases in Melbourne.

Victoria now has 645 active cases, an increase of 585 in four weeks, while other states have remained stable.

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.

Seven emergency department staff at Northern Hospital Epping tested positive to COVID-19 over the past five days, a spokeswoman said.

The emergency department is open with a temporary reduction in non-urgent elective surgery and outpatient appointments to keep it in action.

Twelve Victorian postcodes have stay-at-home orders in place.

Nine public housing towers at Flemington and North Melbourne are in complete lockdown with 53 confirmed cases among them.

Case numbers are expected to rise as the 3000 residents are tested.
Seven emergency department staff at one of Melbourne's busiest hospitals have tested positive to coronavirus.

The new cases at the Northern Hospital in Epping come as Victoria scrambles to contain its latest outbreak.

As of Monday night, Victoria had 645 active cases, which makes up more than 97 per cent of Australia's total 668 active cases.

The hospital's emergency department is undergoing a deep clean and patients are being urged to stay away and go to other hospitals for treatment while staff are tested.

The new cases at the Northern Hospital in Epping (pictured) come as Victoria scrambles to contain its latest outbreak

The state is to be shut off from the rest of the country after case numbers surged (pictured, police at Sydney airport on Monday)

'To free up capacity across the hospital there will be a temporary reduction in non-urgent elective surgery and outpatient appointments,' a Northern Health spokesperson said.

'This will allow for resources to be diverted to the emergency department and allow it to keep operating.'

The hospital has restricted visitor numbers as a precaution.

The new cases were confirmed over the past five days and contact tracing is underway.

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.

Nine towers in Flemington and North Melbourne were locked down on Saturday in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus (pictured on Tuesday, a tower in North Melbourne)

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

Melbourne passengers arriving at Sydney Airport on Monday were met by health officials who took their temperature (pictured)

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.

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.

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.

Passengers from Melbourne were met by health officials on landing at Sydney Airport on Monday who took temperature (pictured)
Late-night pubs and bars selling takeaway alcohol will escalate violence that has seen police injuries at illegal street and block parties, ministers have been warned.

The danger was highlighted during a Westminster debate by Liberal Democrat Lord Paddick, a former Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner.

He was among a number of peers to raise concerns that the temporary relaxation of the licensing laws, aimed at helping businesses recover from the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, could fuel street drinking and anti-social behaviour.

They are calling for further Government safeguards to tackle the 'unintended consequences' of steps being taken to help kick-start the economy as it moves out of lockdown.

Reforms contained in the the Business and Planning Bill, aimed at boosting the hospitality sector, include allowing pubs and bars, currently barred from doing so, to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises.

The measure is designed to help trade in the face of social distancing rules.

Former home secretary Lord Blunkett told the Telegraph the move would do nothing 'other than fuel already worrying concerns about activity late at night, particularly in the major cities'.

The scene at Riverton Close, Maida Vale in West London where police were dealing with an illegal street party on June 26

Other provisions in the legislation include streamlining the application process to enable pubs and restaurants to get permission for on-street dining more quickly.

Opening the debate on the Bill at second reading, communities and home office minister Lord Greenhalgh pointed out it would make it easier for licensed premises to sell alcohol to customers for consumption off the premises.

But he said: 'We recognise the need to strike a balance between supporting businesses and ensuring safety and amenity for our communities.'

In the event of the licensing arrangements causing problems, a local review could be triggered leading to off-sales permission being suspended or withdrawn.

In his speech, the minister stressed the importance of the Bill to the country's economic recovery.

The legislation also seeks to reduce the planning appeal process from almost a year to around six months, extend the hours construction sites can operate to stagger working times, and allow bus and lorry drivers to extend their driving licences for a year without the requirement for a medical review to free up time for GPs to deal with Covid-19.

Lord Greenhalgh said: 'These measures are necessary to alleviate some of the current challenges that businesses face and help the economy bounce back as we emerge from this pandemic.'

Lord Paddick said: 'There is much to commend this Bill but we must eradicate the unintended consequences.'

He added: 'The unintended consequence of the provisions that allow licensed premises to act like off licences is that they would enable those who have already had enough to drink to buy alcohol to take away with them that they then consume on the street with the potential for disorder and disruption to local residents.

Two men are seen vandalising a police car after a party in Brixton erupted into violence earlier in lockdown

'If revellers in such locations are allowed to buy alcohol to take away when these late-night premises are about to close, there is a real danger that the disorder we have seen recently caused by illegal street and block parties in which many police officers have been injured could potentially increase.

'If revellers are allowed to take alcohol with them when they leave when the party closes inside these late-licensed premises, they are likely to continue the party outside on the street.'

People walking down the street with a glass of alcohol was 'a recipe for disorder and potential violence', warned Lord Paddick.

He argued that off-sales should not be available in open containers and should be limited to normal licensing hours.

This suggestion was also made by Conservative peer Lord Randall of Uxbridge, who shared concerns over the move to relax licensing rules.

He said: 'I worry that this will encourage drinking in the street into the early hours.

'I fear that that would increase anti-social behaviour in town and city centres in the late evening and early morning.'

Following the further easing of lockdown restrictions on Saturday, which saw drinkers flock to popular areas, including London's Soho, Lord Randall said: 'The images from the weekend where in some places social distancing reduced as the alcohol intake increased gives me real concern.

Reforms contained in the the Business and Planning Bill, aimed at boosting the hospitality sector, include allowing pubs and bars, currently barred from doing so, to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises (pictured: The Kilted Kangaroo in Dundee, July 6)

'Sadly drunken and anti-social behaviour is not unusual in some city centres.'

Labour former home secretary Lord Blunkett revealed he was 'bemused' by the measure.

He said: 'While I am totally in favour of kick-starting elements of the economy that have been so badly damaged by the lockdown, I cannot see for the life of me that licensed premises selling alcohol off-premises... will actually do very much, other than fuel the already worrying concerns about activity late at night, particularly in the major cities.'

The peer, who is blind, added: 'Eating and drinking outside in an orderly and sensible fashion linked to the premises not detached from them is in my view very sensible... but it needs to be done in a way that doesn't damage the interests of those who are going to be vulnerable to unplanned and unrestricted obstacles on pavements.'

While pleased to see the reopening of the hospitality sector, former Tory leader in the Lords Baroness Stowell of Beeston shared concerns about 'the threat of anti-social behaviour, especially as a result of off-sales in open containers'.

Opposition spokesman Lord Kennedy of Southwark said the alcohol off-sales proposal threatened to make the nuisance suffered by residents even worse.

He said: 'The problem is not just noise, it is people urinating in the street, defecating in bushes and behaving disgustingly.'

The Government needed to restrict takeaway sales to 11pm at night, he said, arguing this was 'more than reasonable'.

Tory frontbencher Earl Howe said safeguards were in place in the event of problems caused by the change to the rules, including the ability of police to issue a closure notice if there was trouble linked to a pub or bar.

A review could also lead to the tightening up of a premises' licence. The Bill received its second reading and now goes forward for detailed line-by-line scrutiny.
Australia's major political parties are brazenly snapping up huge sums in Job Keeper payments as the coronavirus lockdown led to a drop in donations and membership dues.

The scheme, designed to tide over employees who lost their jobs or were furloughed due to forced business closures, had now attracted claims from South Australia's Liberal and Labor divisions.

The parties are expected to pocket over $200,000 during the life of the scheme that will end in September, according to The Advertiser.

South Australia's Liberal and Labor divisions have made claims for JobKeeper payments that are expected to reach a total of over $200,000 by September. Pictured are people lining up at Centrelink in Melbourne

A drop in donations, memberships and union affiliation fees was cited as the reason the parties turned to the $1,500 a fortnight per-worker scheme to pay their staff.

SA Labor is expected to receive almost $130,000 in funds with SA Labor Secretary Reggie Martin saying the taxpayer-funded payouts had allowed the party to maintain its staffing levels throughout the pandemic.

'Like so many organisations, Labor's administration office was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,' Mr Martin said.

'Applying for JobKeeper meant that we did not need to lay off staff even though we had to shut our doors for almost three months.'

SA Liberal declined to say how much they would receive but a source said the party had collected $30,000 in JobKeeper payments and is expected to receive $80,000 by the end of the scheme.

'Like other employers, the Liberal Party qualified for the JobKeeper program to preserve the jobs of our staff,' SA Liberal state director Sascha Meldrum said.

SA Labor is expected to receive almost $130,000 in funds that it said prevented them from laying off head office staff during the pandemic. Pictured is federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese

A spokesperson from the federal division of the Liberal party confirmed that they had also applied for JobKeeper.

'Like over 900,000 other employers across Australia, the Liberal Party Federal Secretariat has applied, and been assessed by the ATO as eligible, for JobKeeper,' they said.

In order to receive the JobKeeper payment small businesses are required to prove they have lost at least 30 per cent of their expected turnover for the year.

The influx of taxpayer-funded payments comes just after the 2019 federal election when party donations are typically at their peak.

It comes as the federal government receives continual pressure to extend the JobKeeper scheme beyond September.

The federal government has received pressure to extend the JobKeeper payments from the current end date of September

On Friday, economists from Westpac said up to 724,418 Australians could join the dole queue when the payments end; representing around a fifth of those on JobKeeper.

Almost half of those expected to remain unemployed beyond September will come from the hospitality sector, while the arts and recreation sectors were also expected to be hard hit.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured on Monday) hired KPMG 'covid consultants'

The Victorian government shelled out millions of taxpayers' dollars to COVID-19 management consultants, only to see the number of infections skyrocket.

Premier Daniel Andrews hired outside contractors from KPMG in May to assist public servants coordinating the state's coronavirus response operations.

It is understood the Victorian government hired up to 35 KPMG consultants at a cost of nearly $3.5million to help it tackle the outbreak.

Neither Mr Andrews nor the big-four accounting firm have answered whether these consultants were involved in the bungled hotel quarantine program which led to a surge in cases and the subsequent lockdowns which followed.

Medical staff prepare to perform coronavirus tests on residents at a public housing tower under lockdown in North Melbourne (pictured on Tuesday)

Staff inside the Stamford Hotel in Melbourne are seen moving luggage for guests in quarantine (pictured on June 25)

Premier Daniel Andrews hired outside contractors from KPMG in May to assist public servants coordinating the state's coronavirus response (pictured, KPMG offices in Melbourne)

Almost $35million is being spent on up to 35 contractors from May 1 to August 8, according to documents available on the Victorian government's tenders website.

With a total bill of $3,403,243, that means Victorian taxpayers were handing over $97,235 on average to each consultant for just a four month period.

'To fight this pandemic, the government has employed a range of people, including professionals seconded from private companies and purchased the personal protective equipment our communities need to fight the virus,' a Victorian government spokesman said in a statement.

'KPMG secondees have been working in operational and forward project planning involving contract tracing, call centre operations, forecasting, case management, outbreak and cluster investigation, data entry and analysis.'

Victoria's case numbers soared on Monday for the 20th straight day of double-digit gains. The outbreak state now has more than 97 per cent of Australia's active cases

A staff member at the Stamford Hotel in Melbourne is pictured wearing a protective facemask (pictured on June 25)

Medical staff in Melbourne wearing PPE walk into the Flemington public housing flats which have been placed into mandatory lockdown (pictured on Sunday)

When asked by Daily Mail Australia if KPMG consultants were involved in the planning and operations of the bungled quarantine hotel program, the spokesperson refused to answer.

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 judicial inquiry is being carried out at arm's length of the government - it would be inappropriate to comment while that process is underway,' the spokesperson said.

Premier Andrews ordered an investigation into the state's hotel quarantine 'failure' after it was revealed there were extensive breaches in infection protocol by private security staff hired to guard returned travellers.

Among the accusations are that some staff took the returned travellers to 7-Eleven, McDonald's and KFC on shopping trips while they were supposed to be enforcing their self-isolation.

It has also been claimed some guards and travellers had sexual relations during the mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

More than 60 coronavirus cases have been linked to the state's quarantine hotel 'failure'.

In just the past seven days Victoria has recorded 550 new infections, and two patients have died.

On Tuesday, another 191 cases were recorded - sparking fears of a state-wide lockdown.

The surge in cases has already sent dozens of Melbourne suburbs back into lockdown, including almost 3,000 residents at ten public housing towers.

Victorians will also be banned from travelling outside the state.

New South Wales will shut its border to Victorians at midnight on Wednesday, in line with other Australian states.

KPMG has been contacted for comment.

HOW WILL THE NSW-VIC BORDER SHUTDOWN 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

Melbourne police are seen helping with the delivery of crates of bread and 'budget boxes' to the residents at 12 Holland Court Commission flat housing in Flemington (pictured on Monday)
A train passenger from locked-down Melbourne has been led away by police after he tried to escape from authorities upon his arrival at Sydney's Central Station.

The man was among 75 passengers on board the overnight train service from Melbourne which arrived in Sydney around 7am Tuesday.

The 11 hour journey was the final inbound XPT service from Melbourne before the New South Wales-Victoria border is closed as the southern state struggles to contain a coronavirus outbreak.

A XPT passenger leaves Central Station accompanied by officers after he tried to dodge authorities when he alighted from the train

Upon alighting at Central Station, XPT passengers were escorted by transport and health authorities into a cordoned off waiting area for screening, temperature checks and to have their details recorded for contract tracing purposes.

One man tried to dodge the time-consuming and strict procedures but was quickly stopped in his tracks by transport officials.

The passenger spoke to police officers outside Central Station before he was escorted away unrestrained.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Police for more details.

A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said it was unable to comment on the incident.

The passenger spoke with police officers outside the train station before being led away

The passenger tried to do the bolt but was soon caught by transport officials (pictured)

The train was at full capacity within social distancing limits as travellers scrambled to their destinations before interstate lockdowns were enforced.

The XPT service is expected to only operate between Albury and Sydney for at least the next month.

'We've imposed an extra restriction on Melburnians so nobody from Melbourne or its surrounds can cross the border today,' NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told Channel Nine's Today Show on Tuesday.

'Today will just allow regional Victorians to cross the border and we appreciate there are people who might live on either side who want to get back home and base themselves in their home state.'
The nine public housing towers where 3,000 Melburnians are in lockdown are incubators for coronavirus, experts warn.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly compared the high-rise buildings to cruise ships, as the virus can easily spread due to a large number of people crammed together.

'There are people living in large concentrations,' he said.

'These are vertical cruise ships, we need to take particular notice and pay particular attention to make sure the spread is minimised.'

Members of Victoria Police wear masks as they patrol the grounds around the Flemington Towers Government Housing complex on Monday

The Ruby Princess docks at Port Kembla, Wollongong, south of Sydney, in April. There are 22 coronavirus deaths connected to the cruise ship

Professor's Kelly's comments seemingly refer to the Ruby Princess outbreak.

Australia's coronavirus infections jumped rapidly in March and April as thousands of holidaymakers disembarked from the Diamond Princess, Ruby Princess and Ovation of the Seas cruise ships.

The Ruby Princess, which docked in Sydney on March 19, was the source of more than 600 coronavirus cases and 22 deaths.

More than 2,700 guests were controversially allowed to disembark without adequate health checks.

The Victorian government moved to lock down nine inner-city towers in Flemington and North Melbourne with immediate effect on Saturday.

The 3,000 residents are not allowed to leave their apartments for any reason for at least five days.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly compared the high-rise buildings to cruise ships, as the virus can easily spread due to a large number of people crammed together. Pictured: A resident looks out the window of her apartment at the North Melbourne Public housing flats on Sunday

Pictured: The Ruby Princess cruise ship departs Port Kembla in Wollongong in April

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the towers have almost doubled, from 27 on Sunday to 53 on Monday from about 400 tests.

Infectious diseases expert Sharon Lewin told ABC Radio Melbourne that overcrowded apartment blocks could be a 'recipe for transmission'.

'When you get very dense housing, it becomes very hard to physically distance and stop any spread,' she said.

There are typically nine units on each floor of the towers and the units are small in size.

A large number of residents are also required to share laundries and lifts.

UNSW epidemiology professor Marylouise McLaws said residents who test positive to COVID-19 should be removed from the towers for their quarantine.

'Absolutely everyone should be tested and everyone who is positive should be removed from those towers,' she told AFR.

'This needs to be done ethically and sensitively with a full explanation to those who are infected why they should be isolated.'

Professor McLaws said infected people in high-rise towers in China and Singapore were removed and isolated elsewhere.

Police stand guard at one of nine public housing estates locked down due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in Melbourne

The Melbourne Public Tenants Association, on behalf of the 3,000 residents in the Flemington and North Melbourne estates, say residents have been left in the dark since the state government's hard lockdown was enforced.

In a letter addressed to the Acting Chief Medical Officer, the Department of Health and Human Services, Premier Daniel Andrews and Victoria Police, the association describes how residents were forced to wait 24 hours for food and other essentials like baby formula, nappies and medication.

When food arrived they said it was 'at best, questionable pre-packaged meat-like food items that does not look suitable for human consumption'.

'Furthermore, the delivery of the food was tossed to the floor on a single piece of paper in front of the residents' apartment doors in small portions of one food item per household,' the letter read.

Residents say much of the government-provided food is out-of-date, insufficient or culturally inappropriate, such as pork being provided to Muslim families.
Hundreds of royal staff could lose their jobs this month amid doubts over the Queen's return to London, as Buckingham Palace feels the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

As many as 250 workers have reportedly been offered voluntary redundancy after Covid-19 created an 18 million black hole in Her Majesty's finances.

And the monarch herself is expected to head not to the palace, but back to Windsor Castle, where she has spent the entirety of the lockdown, after her summer holiday in Balmoral, according to the Telegraph.

It raises questions over whether she may ever return to the capital, though royal aides insist she will resume duties there 'when appropriate in accordance with the Government advice'.

The monarch, pictured, is expected to head not to the palace, but back to Windsor Castle, where she has spent the lockdown, after her summer holiday in Balmoral

Buckingham Palace traditions the Queen may no longer take part in The palace is home to a number of events State banquets - The Queen holds dinner events with world leaders to celebrate diplomatic ties

- The Queen holds dinner events with world leaders to celebrate diplomatic ties Investitures - Her Majesty personally awards honours recognising outstanding achievements, personal bravery and services to the UK

- Her Majesty personally awards honours recognising outstanding achievements, personal bravery and services to the UK Flypasts - The Queen regularly watches on as aircraft take to the skies and fly over the palace, often to celebrate key anniversaries

- The Queen regularly watches on as aircraft take to the skies and fly over the palace, often to celebrate key anniversaries Garden Parties - Over the course of each year, 30,000 guests are invited to the palace to enjoy a relaxed summer afternoon where thousands of cups of tea and slices of cake are consumed Advertisement

The Queen, 94, and Prince Philip, 99, have been cared for at Windsor since lockdown started in mid-March by a devoted team of staff who provide a protective shield - dubbed 'HMS Bubble' - around them.

The staff are split into two groups of 12 who work away from their families on a 'three weeks on, three weeks off' basis, the Sun reported.

Royal staff, including chefs, cleaners and officials, spend two weeks at home and a third week in quarantine during their time away from Windsor, it was said.

Under strict measures to protect the monarch, each employee is then tested for Covid-19 and has their temperature taken before they can begin another three-week rotation.

Those involved in the Queen's security operation include her favourite page Paul Whybrew  with whom she is so comfortable that they often watch TV together, and who co-starred in her James Bond skit for the London Olympics Opening Ceremony.

From Windsor Castle, the Queen delivered two rare televised addresses to the nation just weeks apart.

She reassured some 23 million viewers in early April that the virus would be overcome, telling those in isolation: 'We will meet again.'

In another speech to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, she told how the message at the end of the war in Europe was 'never give up, never despair'.

However, suggestions of her not returning to the palace has coincided with reports that up to 250 royal staff could face the axe, with tourism income well down this year as a result of the global pandemic.

Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment on the Queen's future.

The Queen has been in self-isolation at Windsor Castle, pictured during a ceremony for her birthday last month, since lockdown began in March

A royal lockdown Mid-March: The Queen and Prince Philip go into self-isolation at Windsor Castle, Prince Charles and Camilla stay at their Scottish home of Birkhall, while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge reside at their Norfolk home Anmer Hall March 25: Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus after experiencing mild symptoms April 5: The Queen reassures some 23 million viewers that the virus would be overcome, telling those in isolation: 'We will meet again' in a rousing speech April 24: William, Kate and family wear blue in Clap for our Carers tribute May 8: In another speech to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the Queen told how the message at the end of the war in Europe was 'never give up, never despair' June 18: Prince Charles is the first senior royal to return to London as he met French President Emmanuel Macron to mark the 80th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's rallying cry July 4: Prince William enjoys a pint at his reopened local pub Mid-July: The Queen plans to make her usual summer trip to Balmoral, but questions remain over whether she will return to London Advertisement

And even though some royal sites will open during the summer months, the number of 2020 visitors is still set to be lower than other years.

This is likely to lead to a scaling down of operations within the Royal Household over the coming months.

And The Sun reports that between 175 and 250 royal staff will be initially offered voluntary redundancies to make up for the lack of money coming in from royal tourism.

The same report also states that there are doubts over whether the Queen will ever return to Buckingham Palace, which is likely to remain closed until 2021.

Vice Admiral Tony Johnstone-Burt, master of the household, announced in a statement: 'We may not be fully operational across all of our various activities until 2021.

'As a result we have had to start considering some very difficult decisions.'

Furthermore, the Royal Collection Trust has deferred its annual fee to the Royal Household as there is no income from tourism.

It is therefore predicted that the Trust is set to lose 30million by the end of the 2020/21 period due to the virus.

As a result, the Trust will also offer voluntary redundancies to up to 650 staff, including caterers, office staff and wardens, with their wages paid in full.

A Royal Collection Trust spokesperson said: 'The Covid-19 pandemic has posed by far the greatest challenge to Royal Collection Trust in the charity's history.

'The closure to the public has had a very significant and serious impact on our finances, as we are entirely funded by visitor income from admissions and related retail sales.'

Royal residences Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace have been closed for 15 weeks during the lockdown period, though the former is expected to open when the Queen travels up to Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

Buckingham Palace could open at a similar time, with a reduction of exhibitions during the summer months.

Up to 250 royal staff could be made redundant this month as the Royal Household looks to be scale down on operations due to the coronavrius pandemic

The Royal Collection Trust, managed by the Queen (pictured), is set to face a loss of 30million by the end of the 2020/21 period due to the global pandemic

The Queen is currently residing in Windsor Castle (pictured) which could be made open to the public in July when she travels up to Balmoral Castle in Scotland for the summer months

A spokesperson said: 'Although we hope to reopen the Palaces and Galleries to the public in late July, visitor numbers are expected to be significantly below their usual levels.

'We believe that, for the foreseeable future, lower visitor numbers can be accommodated within a five-day-week opening at all sites, with Tuesday and Wednesday as our closed days, but we will keep this arrangement under review.

'Looking ahead, we believe that the longer-term impact of Covid-19 on tourism means we have to plan ahead to ensure we are well placed to survive in the coming years.'
1. Dmitry Borisovich Kratov

Chief medical officer/deputy head - Butyrka Prison

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Kratov, who was the chief medical officer and deputy head of Butyrka Prison where Magnitsky was detained until shortly before his death on 16 November 2009, was responsible for the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky, including by failing to ensure the proper administration of medical care, which contributed significantly to his death.

2. Aleksey Vasilyevich Anichin

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Anichin, as a deputy Minister in the Russian Interior Ministry and the head of the Investigative Committee, was involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky whilst in detention, which contributed significantly to his death on 16 November 2009. Anichin oversaw a team of investigators who failed to investigate complaints made by Magnitsky about his mistreatment and concealed evidence of Magnitskys deteriorating medical condition.

3. Primary Name: Oleg F. Silchenko

Investigator in the Investigative Committee

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Silchenko was an investigator in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Interior Ministry and was directly involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky whilst in detention, which contributed significantly to his death on 16 November 2009. Silchenko made six applications to extend Magnitskys detention period (despite his deteriorating medical condition), refused Magnitsky access to his family and engaged in the oppressive questioning and other mistreatment of Magnitsky to pressurise him to retract his allegations of corruption against Interior Ministry officials.

4. Gennady Vyacheslavovich Karlov

Head of Department of Ownership and Financial Crimes in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Interior Ministry

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Karlov, as the Head of the Department of Ownership and Financial Crimes in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Ministry of Interior, was involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky whilst in detention, which contributed significantly to his death. Karlov was part of a team of investigators who failed to investigate complaints made by Magnitsky about his mistreatment and approved actions to conceal evidence relating to subordinates who were directly involved in that conduct.

5. Natalya Vinogradova

Deputy Head of Department of Ownership and Financial Crimes in the Investigative Committee in Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs

Vinogradova, as the Deputy Head of the Ownership and Financial Crimes Department in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Interior Ministry, was involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky, which contributed significantly to his death on 16 November 2009. Vinogradova was part of a team of investigators, who failed to investigate complaints made by Magnitsky about his mistreatment and provided support to subordinates who were directly involved in that conduct.

6. Fikret Tagiyev

Head of Matrosskaya Tishina Detention Facility

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Tagiyev was the head of the Matrosskaya Tishina detention centre where Sergei Magnitsky died on 16 November 2009. He was responsible for the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky whilst in detention, which contributed significantly to his death including by failing to ensure the provision of adequate medical treatment, ordering the handcuffing and beating of Magnitsky shortly before his death and denying, or failing to provide, timely access for emergency services to provide treatment. Tagiyev was also involved in the concealment of evidence regarding the circumstances relating to Magnitskys death.

7. Alexandra Viktorovna Gauss

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Gauss was a doctor at Matrosskaya Tishina detention centre where Sergei Magnitsky was detained during the final hours of his life on 16 November 2009. She failed to provide or ensure the proper administration of medical care which contributed to his death; she also facilitated the mistreatment of Magnitsky after his transfer to Matrosskaya Tishina, including beating by a security team.

8. Dmitriy Komnov

Former head of Butyrka Detention Centre

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Lieutenant Colonel Dmitriy Komnov was the head of Butyrka detention centre where Sergei Magnitsky was detained between 25 July and 16 November 2009. He was responsible for Magnitskys mistreatment in detention including poor conditions of detention and the denial of, or failure to provide, adequate medical care, which contributed significantly to his death. Komnov was also involved in concealing evidence of that mistreatment, including providing false or misleading information to the Public Oversight Commission for Human Rights Observance in Moscow Detention Centres.

9.Ivan Pavlovitch Prokopenko

Head of Russian Penitentiary Service at Matrosskaya Tishina Detention Facility

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Prokopenko was the Head of the Russian Penitentiary Service (FSIN) at Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention centre where Magnitsky was detained from 28 November 2008 to 25 July 2009. The FSIN is a federal law enforcement body responsible for the supervision of sentences. Heading the FSIN service at Matrosskaya Tishina, Prokopenko was responsible for the supervision of Magnitskys sentence. In this role, Prokopenko facilitated the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky by transferring him from Matrosskaya Tishina detention centre to Butyrka Prison, ignoring Magnitskys medical needs which could have been provided for at Matrosskaya Tishina, and depriving Magnitsky of important medical care. This unreasonably put Magnitskys life in danger and contributed to his death.

10. Larisa Anatolievna Litvinova

Medical Officer - Butyrka Prison

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Litvinova was head of the therapeutic ward at Butyrka Prison where Sergei Magnitsky was detained between 25 July and 16 November 2009. She was involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky by failing to ensure the proper administration of medical care to him during this period causing him considerable suffering and contributing significantly to his death.

11. Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin

Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Went to university with Vladimir Putin. Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin was appointed First Deputy Prosecutor General and Head of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutors Office on 22 June 2007; he continued as Chairman of the Investigative Committee after it became an independent body in January 2011. In this role Bastrykin was responsible for the investigation of the mistreatment and death of Sergei Magnitsky in detention and intentionally or recklessly failed to fulfil that responsibility.

12. Boris Borisovich Kibis

Investigator in Russias Ministry of the Interior

Kibis was an investigator at the Russian Interior Ministry in 2012, at the time of the posthumous trial of Sergei Magnitsky. In this role, he concealed evidence relating to the mistreatment of Magnitsky, which contributed significantly to his death on 16 November 2009, by supporting the actions of his predecessor Oleg Silchenko and the team of investigators who were involved in that conduct.

13. Oleg Logunov

Former Deputy Head of the Investigative Committee, Russian Ministry of the Interior

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK Statement of Reasons: Oleg Logunov, as the Deputy Head of the Investigate Committee of the Russian Interior Ministry, was involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky, which contributed significantly to his death on 16 November 2009. Lugunov was part of a team of investigators who failed to investigate complaints made by Magnitsky about his mistreatment and provided support to subordinates who were directly involved in that conduct.

14. Andrei Alexandrovich Strizhov

Investigator of the Investigation Committee until 2017 and then Acting Head of Investigations on Moscows Investigative Committee

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Andrei Alexandrovich Strizhov, as the acting Head of the Investigative Committee in the Russian Ministry of the Interior after the death of Sergei Magnitsky on 16 November 2009, failed to properly investigate his mistreatment in detention, which contributed significantly to his death and concealed evidence in relation to that conduct.

15. Elena Anatolievna Trikuyla

Investigator in the Russian Investigative Committee

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Elena Anatolievna Trikulya, as an investigator for the Investigative Committee in the Russian Ministry of the Interior after the death of Sergei Magnitsky on 16 November 2009, failed to properly investigate those responsible for his mistreatment in detention, which contributed significantly to his death, and concealed evidence in relation to that conduct.

16. Victor Yakovlevich Grin

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Victor Yakovlevich Grin was Deputy General Prosecutor of the Prosecutor Generals Office of the Russian Federation. In that role he was responsible for overseeing the case of Sergei Magnitsky during his detention, as well as responsible for investigating the claims of mistreatment of Magnitsky and his subsequent death on 16 November 2009. He intentionally or recklessly failed to fulfil that responsibility, including by issuing conclusions stating that there had been no violation of law by Interior Ministry investigators whilst Magnitsky was in detention which were then used to justify not prosecuting those alleged to be responsible for his mistreatment and death.

17. Primary Name: Andrey Ivanovich Pechegin

Deputy Division Head in Prosecutors Office

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Andrey Pechegin was Deputy Head of the Division of Supervision of Investigations of the Prosecutors Office and he was responsible for the investigation of complaints about the ill-treatment of Sergei Magnitsky in detention. The evidence suggests that Pechegin intentionally or recklessly failed to fulfil that responsibility in that he ignored and denied complaints about the ill-treatment of Magnitsky.

18. Andrei Alexandrovich Krechetov

Officer in the Tax Crimes Department of the Moscow Directorate of the Interior Ministry

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Andrei Aleksandrovich Krechetov was an officer in the Tax Crimes Department in the Moscow directorate of the Interior Ministry and was involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky whilst in detention, which contributed significantly to his death. Krechetov was part of the team of investigators, led by Artem Kuznetsov, the Deputy Head of the Tax Crimes Department, who were allegedly involved in the initial fraud exposed by Sergei Magnitsky and who falsified evidence to justify his arrest and detention. As part of this investigation team, Andrei Krechetov facilitated the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky in custody which was designed to force Magnitsky to retract his earlier testimony.

19. Dmitri Tolchinsky

Employee of the Office for Combating Tax Crimes of the Moscow Central Internal Affairs Directorate (Interior Ministry)

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Dmitri Tolchinskiy was an officer in the Tax Crimes Department in the Moscow directorate of the Interior Ministry and was involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky whilst in detention, which contributed significantly to his death. Tolchinskiy was part of the team of investigators, led by Artem Kuznetsov, the Deputy Head of the Tax Crimes Department, who were alleged to be involved in the initial fraud exposed by Sergei Magnitsky and who falsified evidence to justify his arrest and detention. As part of this investigation team, Dmitri Tolchinskiy facilitated the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky in custody which was designed to force Magnitsky to retract his earlier testimony.

20. Aleksei Droganov

Operative of Tax Crimes Department in the Moscow directorate of the Interior Ministry

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK Statement of Reasons: Aleksei Droganov was an officer in the Tax Crimes Department in the Moscow directorate of the Interior Ministry and was involved in the detention and mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky, which contributed significantly to his death. Droganov was part of the team of investigators, led by Artem Kuznetsov, the Deputy Head of the Tax Crimes Department, who were allegedly involved in the initial fraud exposed by Sergei Magnitsky and who falsified evidence to justify his arrest and detention. As part of this investigation team Aleksei Droganov facilitated the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky whilst in detention which was designed to force Magnitsky to retract his earlier testimony.

21. Sergei Podoprigorov

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Sergei Podoprigorov was a judge at Moscows Tverskoi district court. He made two rulings in relation to Sergei Magnitsky: in November 2008 to approve Magnitskys arrest and in March 2009 to prolong his detention. In this capacity, Podoprigorov authorised Magnitskys detention, prolonging his detention without trial without subjecting to challenge the evidence originally provided to justify Magnitskys detention or exploring other factors relevant to the decision. Podoprigorov therefore facilitated the mistreatment and death of Magnitsky by authorising the extension of his detention.

22. Yelena Stashina

Former Judge at Tverskoi District Court

Stashina, as a Judge at Moscows Tverskoi District Court, was involved in decisions to extend the detention of Sergei Magnitsky, and in particular on 12 November 2009, four days before his death. In this capacity, Stashina facilitated the mistreatment / denial of medical care to Sergei Magnitsky which contributed significantly to his death.

23. Pavel lAPSHOV

Head of the Organised Crime and Corruption Directorate in the Investigative Committee in the Ministry of the Interior in Russia

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Lapshov was the Head of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in December 2011 after Sergei Magnitskys death in detention on 16 November 2009. In this role, Lapshov was responsible for the investigation into the mistreatment and death of Sergei Magnitsky in detention and intentionally or recklessly failed to fulfil that responsibility, in particular by concealing evidence of the circumstances surrounding his death.

24. Aleksey Krivoruchko

Judge at Tverskoi District Court

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Krivoruchko, as a Judge at Moscows Tverskoi District Court, was involved in decisions to extend the detention of Sergei Magnitsky, and in particular on 14 September 2009, shortly before his death. In this capacity, Krivoruchko facilitated the mistreatment / denial of medical care to Sergei Magnitsky, which contributed significantly to his death.

25. Svetlana Ukhnalyova

Judge at Moscows Tverskoi district court

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Svetlana Ukhnalyova, as a Judge at Moscows Tverskoi District Court, was involved in decisions to extend the detention of Sergei Magnitsky, and in particular on 15 June 2009. In this capacity, Ukhnalyova facilitated the mistreatment / denial of medical care to Sergei Magnitsky which contributed significantly to his death on 16 November 2009.

26. Fahad Shabib A. Al Balawi

Member of the Royal Guard

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Shabib A. Albalawi was a Royal Guard in Saudi Arabia. He was directly involved in carrying out the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, as part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities.

27. Primary Name: Thaar Ghaleb T. Alharbi

Lieutenant

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Thaar Ghaleb T. Alharbi held the rank of Lieutenant, though it is not clear in which part of the Saudi forces this was and his official role is not clear. He was present during the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, and played an active part in the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities.

28. Mansour Othman M Abahussain

Major General, Intelligence Officer. Worked in the Office of the Crown Prince.

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK Statement of Reasons: Mansour Othman M Abahussain held the position of Major General and worked in the office of the Crown Prince. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, as part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities. He was involved in the concealment of evidence at the Saudi Consul Generals residence following the killing.

29 Naif Hassan S. Alarifi

First Lieutenant, External Intelligence, worked in the Office of the Crown Prince.

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Naif Hassan S Alarifi held the position of First Lieutenant, External Intelligence, and worked in the Office of the Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, as part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities. In particular, he was involved in the concealment of evidence at the Saudi Consul Generals residence following the killing.

30. Abdulaziz Mohammed Al Hawsawi

Former security official for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Abdulaziz Mohammed Al Hawsawi was a security official for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, as part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities. He was involved in the concealment of evidence at the Saudi Consul Generals residence following the killing.

31. Mustafa Mohammed Al Madani

Brigadier General, Intelligence Officer employed at the Royal Palace

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Mustafa Mohammed Al Madani held the position of Brigadier General and Intelligence Officer in Saudi Arabia. He was present during the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, and played an active part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities, including through the concealment of evidence relating to the killing.

32 Waleed Abdullah M. Al Sehri

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Waleed Abdullah M. Alsehri held the positions of Royal Guard and Major in Saudi Arabia. He was directly involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, as part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities.

33. Salah Muhammed Tubaigy

Head of Forensics- Ministry of Interior.

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Dr Salah Muhammed Tubaigy held the position of Forensic doctor with the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia and Professor in the Department of Criminal Evidence at Naif Arab University. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 as part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities. Dr Tubaigy was present at the time of Jamal Khashoggis death and held a direct role in Jamal Khashoggis killing and in the concealment of evidence relating to his death.

34. Turki Muserref M. Al Sehri

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Turki Muserref M. Alsehri was an Intelligence Officer in Saudi Arabia. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi on the 2 October 2018 as part of the 15 man team sent to Istanbul, Turkey, by Saudi authorities.

35. Khalid Aedh G. Al Otaibi

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Khalid Aedh G Alotaibi was a Royal Guard in Saudi Arabia. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, as part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities. He was involved in the concealment of evidence at the Saudi General Consuls residence following the killing.

36. Meshal Saad Al Bostani

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Meshal Saad Al Bostani was First Lieutenant in the Saudi Air Force. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, as part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities. He was involved in the concealment of evidence at the Saudi General Consuls residence following the killing.

37. Mohammad Al Otaibi

Consul General in the Saudi Arabia Consulate, Istanbul

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Mohammad Al-Otaibi was the Saudi Consul General in Istanbul. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi, in particular in facilitating the killing and in the concealment of evidence.

38. Saif Saad Q. Al Qahtani

Training Officer, Saudi Air Force

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Saif Saad Q. Alqahtani was a training officer in the Saudi Air Force who worked in the Office of the Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia. He was in the Consulate during the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, and played an active part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities, including through the concealment of evidence relating to the killing.

39 Ahmed Abdullah Al Muzaini

Military Attache

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Ahmad Abdullah Al Muzaini held the position of Military Attache at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He was a senior official who facilitated the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on 2 October 2018.

40. Primary Name: Badr Lafi M Al Otaibi

Major, External Intelligence

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Badr Lafi M Al Otaibi held the rank of Major and was involved in External Intelligence in Saudi Arabia. He was part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities and was present during the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018.

41. Mohammad Saad H. Al Zahrani

Intelligence Officer

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Mohammad Saad H. Alzahrani held the position of Intelligence Officer in Saudi Arabia. He was present during the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, and played an active part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities, including through the concealment of evidence relating to the killing.

42. Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb

Intelligence Officer

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Assigned to Saudi Embassy in London in 2007. Worked with Saud Alqahtani, the Crown Princes advisor. Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb held the position of Intelligence Officer in Saudi Arabia. He was directly involved in carrying out the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, as part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities.

43. Ahmad Hassan Mohammed Al Asiri

Deputy Head of Saudi Intelligence Services

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Ahmad Hassan Mohammed Al Asiri held the position of Deputy Head of the Saudi Intelligence services (General Intelligence Presidency, GIP) in Saudi Arabia. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi. He was a senior official involved in commissioning the 15 man team sent to Turkey to kill Jamal Khashoggi.

44.Saud Abdullah Al Qahtani

Former Advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Royal Advisor

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban UK

Saud Al Qahtani held the position of advisor to the Crown Prince in the royal court. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on 2 October 2018. He was a senior official who planned and directed the killing using a 15 man team.

45. Primary Name: Mufleh Al Musleh

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Mufleh Al Musleh was a member of staff in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He was involved in the unlawful killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, in that he provided support to the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities.

46. Min Aung Lang

Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw)

e Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is Commander in Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw). In this role, he was responsible for military operations carried out in Rakhine State in 2017 and in 2019 and is responsible for atrocities and serious human rights violations committed against the Rohingya population in Rakhine state by the Tatmadaw. These include unlawful killings, including through systematic burning of Rohingya houses and buildings, massacre, torture, forced labour, systematic rape and other forms of targeted sexual violence, and enforced labour.

47. Soe Win

Second in Command of the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw)

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze and travel ban

Vice Senior General Soe Win, as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) and Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Army, had responsibility for the Tatmadaw troops who carried out serious human rights violations against the Rohingya population in Rakhine State in 2017 and 2019 including unlawful killings, torture, forced labour, systematic rape and other forms of targeted sexual violence. As Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Tatmadaw and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Soe Win also has responsibility for the serious human rights violations by the Tatmadaw in connection with its business interests in the extractive industries in Myanmar. Soe Win was also involved in the financing of the Tatmadaw military operations in Rakhine State during which these violations took place, knowing that this financing would contribute to the commission of these violations.

48. Ministry of State Security (MSS) Bureau

Sanctions Imposed: Asset freeze

No details regarding the Head of MSS Bureau 7 are available. The Minister of State Security, who we understand to have been Jong Kyong Thaek since 2017 (although DPRK sources have not confirmed he still holds that position), is assumed to have responsibility for MSS Bureau 7. UK Statement of Reasons: As the entity responsible for running the DPRK's political prison camps, MSS Bureau 7 is involved in the widespread serious human rights violations committed against prisoners in those camps by camp guards and other DPRK officials. These violations include murder, torture and enslavement.

49. Ministry of Peoples Security (MPS) Correctional Bureau a.k.a: MPS Prison Bureau, MPS Correctional Management Bureau

No details regarding the Head of MPS Correctional Bureau are available. The Minister of Peoples Security, who we understand to have been Kim Jong Ho since December 2019 (although DPRK sources have not confirmed he still holds that position), is assumed to have responsibility for MPS Correctional Bureau

As the entity responsible for running prison camps in the DPRK, the Ministry of Peoples Security Correctional Bureau is involved in the murder, torture and subjection to forced labour of people held in those camps.
Rishi Sunak was under growing pressure to make an immediate cut in stamp duty last night after warnings that a delay could wreck the housing market for months.

The Chancellor is considering a six-month stamp-duty holiday on most homes later this year to kick start Britains dormant market.

Reports suggest he may signpost the plan in his mini-Budget tomorrow but delay the start until the full autumn Budget.

Economists and property experts last night warned that dithering over stamp duty changes could put the housing market into the deep freeze [File photo]

Treasury officials have been looking at a temporary six-month increase in the stamp duty threshold from the current level of 125,000 to an amount between 300,000 and 500,000 to stimulate demand.

But economists and property experts last night warned that dithering over stamp duty changes could put the housing market into the deep freeze.

Paul Johnson, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said any uncertainty about a potential change would distort the housing market by encouraging people to delay their decisions.

The Chancellor is considering a six-month stamp-duty holiday on most homes later this year to kick start Britains dormant market

He said Mr Sunak must launch any duty holiday tomorrow or decisively rule it out.

To do otherwise could ruin the housing market for months to come, said Mr Johnson. His comments were echoed by buying agent Henry Pryor, who said: Either announce that you are changing stamp duty or announce that you are not.

Economist Julian Jessop urged the Treasury to stop flying kites over potential cuts in both stamp duty and VAT.

He said: The announcement of a stamp duty holiday, but not until the autumn, could kill the housing market in the meantime. There has been similar speculation of an across-the-board VAT cut, which could delay spending on other big ticket items too.
A woman in her 50s died after going into the sea in Wirral to rescue a struggling dog on Monday.

At around 12.20pm, the woman was walking the dog with a man in his 20s at the New Brighton seaside resort in Merseyside when the animal ventured into the sea and began to encounter some difficulty in the water.

The pair both rushed into the sea to rescue the dog and emergency services were called when all three fell foul to the treacherous conditions.

A woman in her 50s died on Monday after trying to rescue a dog who got into some difficulty in the sea at New Brighton, Wirral (pictured). A man in his 20s also went into help the dog and is in a stable condition after being taken to hospital

They were all dragged out of the water but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, with the man is a stable condition after being taken to hospital. The dog is also safe and well.

A spokesperson from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution said: 'Two walkers were on the promenade by Portland slipway when their dog entered the water and got into difficulty.

'One of the walkers, a man, entered the water to help the dog but also got into difficulty.

'The second walker, a female, then entered the water to help the man but also got into difficulty.'

The woman's next of kin has been informed but no formal identification process has begun yet. Police also say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident.

Detective Inspector Tara Denn said: 'Inquiries are ongoing establish the full circumstances of what led to this tragic incident.

The man, woman and dog struggled in the treacherous conditions and emergency services were called at around 12.30pm on Monday. All three were dragged out of the water but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics

'We know there were a number of people in the area at the time who would have witnessed all or part of this incident.

'While we have spoken to some witnesses, we are keen to speak to others who can help us piece together what happened.

'If you were in the area at the time, please contact us - every bit of information, however small it may seem, could prove crucial.'

Anyone with information about the incident should contact Merseyside Police through their social media sites on Twitter (@@MerPolCC) or the Merseyside Police Contact Centre page on Facebook.

They could also call the force on 101 quoting incident reference 341 of July 6.
A crumbling shack that was 'barely standing' has been transformed into a multi-million dollar home after undergoing a $1.3million makeover.

The dilapidated property, in one of the most exclusive streets in Brisbane, was once an eyesore, with rubbish filling each room and paint peeling from the walls.

But builder Julian Zullo saw potential in the 'hoarder house' in Coorparoo.

And after countless man hours shovelling garbage out of the home it has now become a family's dream.

A crumbling shack that was 'barely standing' has been transformed into a multi-million dollar home (pictured) after undergoing a $1.3million makeover

The dilapidated property in one of the best streets in Brisbane was once an eyesore (pictured), with rubbish filling each room and paint peeling from the walls

'It really was the worst house in the best street,' owner Julian Zullo told Domain.

'A lot of people knew this place as the crazy hoarder house that a little old lady lived in for 60 years.

'And, everyone knew about her because of all the weeds and how dilapidated the home was and that deterred the rest from buying it.

'But I could see the potential. There was just so much character.'

He said it was 'so rewarding' to drive down the street and remember it for what it was and see it for what it is now.

It took a year of planning and another 12 months of building to transform the property.

Builder Julian Zullo saw potential in the 'hoarder house', which was covered in overgrown weeds (pictured, before the transformation)

It took a year of planning and another 12 months of building to transform the property, which now boasts a swimming pool and al-fresco dining

The old late-1800s cottage in Coorparoo was falling apart before the redesign.

But the five-bedroom family home now boasts a combination of heritage elegance and modern design.

The stylish two-storey home also feature an al-fresco living area and a swimming pool.

With open-plan living and dining area and a kitchen complete with a butlers pantry, it is now on the market and attracting eager buyers, who can bid for the home from July 10.
A cafe owner has pleaded not guilty to the alleged indecent assault of a nine-year-old girl only metres from his business.

Police allege Canberra cafe owner Diego Andres Barragan Quintero, 32, waited for the young girl in an underpass before forcing himself on her on March 31, 2019.

Mr Quintero allegedly grabbed the girl as she entered the underpass and put his hands down the back of her pants and rubbed her bottom, ACT Magistrates Court heard.

After allegedly screaming for the Colombian national to stop, the young girl fled the scene, the Canberra Times reported.

Canberra cafe owner Diego Andres Barragan Quintero, 32, (pictured) is accused of grabbing a nine-year-old girl from behind and putting his hands down the back of her pants

Mr Quintero was arrested on Monday after an 'extensive' investigation by police.

CCTV footage tendered to the court shows Mr Quintero returning to his business, Cafe Bolivar, in a hooded jumper moments after the alleged incident.

He told the court he had heard a young girl screaming 'get away' near his cafe and had gone out to check but found no one outside.

However police allege a forensic examination of the jumper Mr Quintero was wearing that day and the victim's top proved the two garments came into contact.

Defence lawyer Andrew Fraser petitioned the court to keep Mr Quintero's name suppressed but Magistrate Beth Campbell denied the application.

Mr Quintero allegedly grabbed the girl in an underpass near his business before she screamed for him to stop and was able to get away (stock image)

'This is one jurisdiction in particular that prides itself on the openness of the information that is able to be provided to the community,' she said.

Instead Magistrate Campbell granted the cafe owner bail saying she was 'satisfied' Mr Quintero would appear in court when required.

A host of bail conditions were also imposed on Mr Quintero including the surrender of his passports and entering into a $5,000 self-surety agreement.

His partner is also required to deposit a $2,000 cash surety with the court.

Mr Quintero was charged with committing an act of indecency on a child and will reappear in court in August.
Almost 200 migrants rescued by a humanitarian aid boat in the Mediterranean Sea began to leave the vessel in Sicily late on Monday after nine days stuck on the ship which saw some attempt suicide and others threaten the crew.

A journalist aboard the Ocean Viking watched as the migrants, in single file and carrying backpacks, docked at Porto Empedocle on the Italian island's western coast.

Police escorted them a short distance to another vessel, where they will be quarantined to prevent the possible spread of coronavirus.

The arrival of the boat chartered by charity group SOS Mediterranee capped a tense few days onboard marked by migrants jumping overboard, a suicide attempt and bouts of violence.

After being rescued in four separate operations on June 25 and 30, the migrants were forced to wait on the Ocean Viking

The Ocean Viking rescue ship approaches Porto Empedocle harbor, southern Italy

After being rescued in four separate operations on June 25 and 30, the migrants waiting on the ship became increasingly agitated, according to SOS Mediterranee, as the charity awaited the go-ahead from either Italy or Malta to dock at a safe port.

However, approval did not arrive until Sunday, after the group declared a state of emergency on board, adding it could no longer guarantee the safety of the migrants or the crew.

Soon after 6pm, the Ocean Viking docked at the port directly in front of Italian ferry Moby Zaza, where the migrants will wait out a two-week quarantine period.

Earlier on Monday, a separate group of 169 migrants disembarked from the Moby Zaza after a two-week quarantine.

Thirty of the group - all of whom were rescued last month by Sea-Watch, another humanitarian group - tested positive for coronavirus and will remain on the ferry in an isolated 'red zone' area.

SOS Mediterranee spent most of Monday waiting roughly four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the coast before being allowed to dock, as it warned that tensions were rising and the long wait was 'amplifying risks on board'.

From the deck of the Ocean Viking, migrants who have waited for more than a week to disembark could make out both the Sicilian coast and the immense ferry, the Moby Zaza, according to an AFP reporter on board.

The mayor of Porto Empedocle, Ida Carmina, told reporters that the migrants' arrival was too much for the economically suffering community to support.

From the deck of the Ocean Viking, migrants who have waited for more than a week to disembark could make out both the Sicilian coast and the immense ferry

Migrants disembark the humanitarian aid boat Ocean Viking, chartered by charity group SOS Mediterranee, before being transferred to the Italian ferry Moby Zaza

'Now that we're coming back, starting tourism back up, this thing is an incredible blow for us,' Carmina said, who noted the town had reported no cases of coronavirus during Italy's health crisis.

The 180 migrants - from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Eritrea, Nigeria and North African countries - include 25 minors and two women, one of whom is pregnant.

Rising tension culminated in fights between migrants frustrated by the long waiting period and their inability to call their families to let them know they were safe.

One migrant tried to hang himself and two others threw themselves overboard, said the charity.

However, the group was overjoyed when they finally saw the safe port.

'It was very difficult in Libya and I can't even explain the joy I'm feeling today, it's just incredible,' Mohammad Irshad, a 22-year-old Pakistani, told AFP.
Long before she complained that a monthly spending allowance of $24,000 was the equivalent of financial abuse, Emma Steel boasted about enjoying cleaning up horse manure.

The then-19-year-old had been a hostess on the once-popular quiz show, Sale of the Century, and modelled for some famous fashion brands - but said she was most comfortable getting her hands dirty.

'I'm at the stables every morning, mucking out, strapping - the whole bit,' she said in a newspaper interview in 1998.

At the time she was dating Damien Williams - the brother of champion jockey Craig - and was an on-course presenter at Melbourne's Moonee Valley racecourse.

Fast forward 20 years, and a Sydney court last week rejected Mrs Steel's accusations of domestic and financial abuse at the hands of her husband Dr Timothy Steel, with magistrate Vivien Swain finding inconsistencies in her evidence.

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Long before she complained a monthly spending allowance of $24,000 was the equivalent of financial abuse, Emma Steel (pictured) worked as a hostess on Sale of the Century but boasted about being happy to clean up horse manure and how she felt at home at the races

Mrs Steel (left) and her husband Timothy (right) made headlines last week when details of their marriage breakdown were aired in court as part of a hearing into allegations he had abused her

Mrs Steel was once a rising star of the modelling industry who worked as a Sale of the Century hostess, before marrying millionaire brain surgeon Dr Steel

Years before she began her relationship with Dr Steel, Emma-Kate Sullivan was a rising modelling star.

At just 15 she was a finalist in a national model hunt competing to represent Australia overseas and receive more than $1 million in modelling contracts.

That year she would also land a hostess role on Sale of the Century.

While she was making occasional appearances on the news, it was after she began a relationship with jockey Shane Dye that she really made headlines.

At the time of their relationship, Dye was one of the most famous jockeys in Australia, and had just left his wife of 17 years, Karla.

He was also 13 years her senior.

The couple had a son, Jack, who last week told Downing Centre Local Court she had regularly complained Dr Steel did not give her enough funds, despite being paid an allowance for personal and household expenses of up to $24,000 a month.

'She was abusive with Tim and demanding more money and basically saying she didn't have enough money to feed the kids,' he said.

At the time, a teenage Mrs Steel - then Emma-Kate Sullivan - was dating the brother of leading jockey Craig Williams (pictured after winning last year's Melbourne Cup on Vow and Declare)

Mrs Steel is pictured centre alongside Roxy Jacenko (left) and Kristy Mirzikinian, (right) wife of professional poker player Warwick Mirzikinian

Following her relationship with Damien Williams, Mrs Steel married Shane Dye and the couple had a son Jack (pictured)

Jack Dye (pictured) who lives with his mother and stepfather Dr Steel, last week told Downing Centre Local Court she regularly 'demanded more money' from her husband

The week before the alleged assault Dr Steel had taken Jack to Dubai to attend the races as a reward for his hard work leading up to sitting the HSC.

Dr Steel had also paid for Jack's best friend to accompany them as the boy's father had committed suicide and his mother was working three jobs to support him.

Jack said when his mother found out about the arrangement she was livid.

'She was continually angry,' he said. 'She was continually ripping in about [Jack's friend].'

The 19-year-old said two days before their departure Mrs Steel had called his friend's mother and accused her of 'stealing from our family'.

Mrs Steel had even confronted his friend in their home and abused him, Jack said.

'My mum called [his friend] a leech and said him and his family were never welcome here,' he said.

'She was yelling at the top of her lungs and forced him out of the house.'

Mrs Steel had accused Dr Steel of having sex with Angie Turner at a Christmas party the night before the couple had a domestic dispute in their Bellevue Hill mansion.

Dr Steel categorically denied ever having an affair with the secretary - or anyone else - during his 11-year marriage to Mrs Steel.

Mrs Steel (centre) had accused Dr Steel of having sex with his receptionist Angie Turner, a claim the brain surgeon strongly denied

The week before the alleged assault Dr Steel had taken Jack to Dubai to attend the races as a reward for his hard work leading up to sitting the HSC. He had also paid for one of Jack's best friends to attend after a difficult few years personally, much to the annoyance of Mrs Steel

Last Thursday, Mrs Steel's evidence about domestic and financial abuse was rejected by magistrate Vivien Swain, who found inconsistencies in her evidence.

Dr Steel had faced charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and damaging property, all of which were dismissed.

The 56-year-old surgeon told Downing Centre Local Court that on December 13 he had organised a Christmas party at Woolloomooloo's Ovolo hotel for 50 to 60 guests.

Among those invited were friends, colleagues, nurses, radiographers, theatre staff and employees including Ms Turner and practice manager Stephanie Jobson.

Dr Steel said that morning his 41-year-old wife had been in a bad mood and while in the shower she had thrown a wet fake tanning mitt across the bathroom at him.

'I hate you,' Mrs Steel allegedly said. 'Why don't you just leave. Get out.'

Dr Steel said he performed surgery that day and then attended the Ovolo hotel where he had paid for drinks and canapes to be served from 6 to 9pm.

Dr Steel was accused of punching, slapping and kicking his wife inside the couple's sprawling home (pictured) at Bellevue in Sydney's eastern suburbs last December

Dr Steel leaves the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday after all charges were dismissed against him. An AVO taken out against him by police was also shot down by the same court

Mrs Steel arrived at the gathering with the couple's children, sat in an area separate from the main party and stayed about an hour and a half.

'She was aggressive, angry and hostile to me,' Dr Steel told the court. 'She would not speak to me and she told me to stay away.

'She did not come anywhere near me. She was rude to my staff.'

Dr Steel said he left the party, which had run much later than planned, shortly after his wife tried to call Ms Turner about 4.20am.

He had been sound asleep, face down in bed, when his wife woke him up by scratching his back and head about 8.45am.

'I was awoken by severe pain in my back and behind my ears,' Dr Steel told the court. 'I was hit about three or four times.'

Dr Steel said his wife screamed at him with accusations he had been having an affair with Ms Turner.

He said she told him: 'You're a f***ing disgrace. It's disgusting. You've been with Angie.

Dr Steel, a senior neurosurgeon at St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst, has been unable to practise due to the charges against him

Within hours of Dr Steel being cleared of punching, slapping and kicking his wife at the couple's home, Mrs Steel allegedly called Ms Turner and accused her of having an affair with her husband.

A source said Mrs Steel told Ms Turner words to the effect of, 'I know you f***ed my husband. Watch your back.'

A New South Wales Police Force spokesman confirmed officers were investigating the alleged phone call.

'About 3.30pm yesterday, a 35-year-old woman reported a threatening phone call to officers from Kings Cross Police Area Command,' the spokesman said. 'Inquiries are continuing.'

Daily Mail Australia put the words alleged to have been said in the phone call to Mrs Steel's solicitor but has not received a response.
Global private membership club Soho House, which is valued at $2 billion, received as much as $22 million in six different loans intended for small businesses as part of the Trump Administrations coronavirus bailout program, new records show.

Sanctioned under the Payment Protection Program (PPP), the loans went to six of the companys US locations, situated in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and New York, for between $350,000 and $10 million each.

The loans came as part of a rush to inject billions into the economy as the coronavirus pandemic hit.

PPP funding was intended to help small and medium-sized businesses weather the economic storm posed by subsequent lockdown orders.

Following mounting pressure to disclose specifically which businesses received loans through PPP - established by President Trump's CARES Act - the Small Business Administration released records on Monday listing every recipient.

According to those records, Soho House & Co saved 1,996 jobs across all of its US locations thanks to the government funding.

Sanctioned under the Payment Protection Program (PPP), the loans went to each of the companys six US locations in Los Angeles, Chicago (above), Miami and New York, and were for between $350,000 and $10 million each

The loans came as part of a rush to inject billions into the economy as the coronavirus pandemic hit. PPP funding was intended to help small and medium-sized businesses weather the economic storm posed by subsequent lockdown orders (Soho houses Miami and Manhattan locations above)

The loans were approved on April 11 and paid out by Centric Bank, public records show.

Separately, the company, which is backed by billionaire Ron Burkle, also secured a $100 million investment from new and existing shareholders last month.

In a statement to Bloomberg, the company said it is participating in government loan and furloughing programs all over the world.

We are, like so many businesses, racking up losses every day, a company spokesperson told the network. Banks and landlords have deferred payments, shareholders have injected money, suppliers have been flexible, our senior team has taken pay cuts that have been invested into a Soho Impact Support Fund and, crucially, our incredible members have stayed loyal to our Houses and the teams that work there.

The hospitality industry has been one of the hardest hit throughout the pandemic, with travel restrictions and operational restrictions suffocating capital.

However, Soho House, a familiar haunt for celebrities, movie stars and billionaires, has continued to collect membership fees from its clientele.

The company said it's also pushing ahead with its plans for global expansion by cutting executive pay and employee hours.

The companys founder and CEO, Nick Jones, told the Financial Times last week that nothing has stopped because of the pandemic, and Soho House will move forward with plans to open new locations in Greece, Tel Aviv, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines this year.

Jones said Soho House still has an 18 month waiting list for new members and said that, thanks to new fundraising and cost cuts, the company has managed to keep its head above water. The CEO didnt however mention the use of the PPP.

Soho House & Co saved 1,996 jobs across all of the locations thanks to the some $22 million government funding (pictured Soho House's Meatpacking District location in NYC)

Soho House, a familiar haunt for celebrities, movie stars and billionaires, has continued to collect membership fees from its clientele throughout the pandemic (Soho House, Miami Beach above)

Separately the company, which is backed by billionaire Ron Burkle (left, with founder Nick Jones, right), also secured a $100 million investment from new and existing shareholders last month

Under the PPP scheme, hospitality companies such as Soho House were permitted to apply for loans so long as they had fewer than 500 employees at each of its locations.

However, the companys use of the scheme, considering its value and billionaire backers, may still attract scrutiny.

In April, Shake Shack was one of several large restaurant chains criticized for receiving federal loans under the PPP scheme. The company later announced it would return the $10 million it received from the government in light of the mounting scrutiny.

In an open letter, Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti and Chairman Danny Meyer said the NYSE-listed company no longer needed the money because they are fortunate to now have access to capital that others do not.

Soho House has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for comment. In its statement to Bloomberg, the company said it would be using the loans to cover payroll expenses, and said it is still providing full medical insurance for its US workers.

Other high-profile recipients named on the list released by the Trump Administration Monday included Kanye Wests Yeezy apparel brand, which landed more than $5 million from the scheme.

Other high-profile recipients named on the list released by the Trump Administration Monday included Kanye Wests Yeezy apparel brand, which landed more than $5 million from the scheme

Following mounting pressure to disclose specifically which businesses received loans through PPP - established by President Trump's CARES Act (signing above) - the the Small Business Administration released records on Monday listing every recipient

Yeezy, which is described as a Black business on the form, saved 106 jobs with the loan that was approved on April 13.

West's sister-in-law, Khloe Kardashian, was also a recipient of the scheme with her denim brand Good American receiving between $1 million and $2 million.

It's reported that Good American, which Khloe co-owns with Emma Grede, saved 57 jobs using that loan.

Neither Kardashian nor Grede has taken a paycheck since the coronavirus pandemic began, the company said in a statement.

'Due to the dramatic global impacts of COVID-19, the Good American business took a significant hit,' a company spokesperson told PEOPLE. 'We have a large wholesale footprint and all of our partners were forced to close their stores, with many shutting down warehouses and canceling orders.

'Applying for and receiving the PPP loan was a necessary step we had to take to ensure the long-term survival of our brand and business,' the spokesperson continued. 'We are incredibly grateful to have received the loan as it has allowed us to maintain our employees' salaries and support our team.'

Gay dating app Grindr also received between $1 million to $2 million in loans, the Treasury revealed. The company, which was recently sold by Beijing-based Kulun Tech, said the loans prevented 69 jobs being lost.

Salad chain Chopt received at least $5 million and coffee property Gregorys received at least $2 million in bail outs.

Another high-profile recipient of the scheme was West's sister-in-law, Khloe Kardashian, whose denim brand Good American received between $1 million and $2 million. It's reported that Good American, which Khloe co-owns with Emma Grede, saved 57 jobs using that loan

President Donald Trump's attorney Marc Kasowitz leaves New York state appellate court, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, in New York, as Trump's team sought to dismiss or delay Summer Zervos' claim that he defamed her by calling her a liar after she accused him of unwanted kissing and groping. Kasowitz' law firm also got a PPP loan, documents reveal

Another recipient was the law firm of Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, which was founded by longtime Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz, who advised the president during his impeachment hearings among other matters.

The data underlined that in addition to mom-and-pop shops, the funds went to several well-heeled and politically connected companies, some of which got between $5 million and $10 million.

Those include firms which lobby in Washington such as Wiley Rein LLP and APCO Worldwide. Another big firm getting a loan was Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.

Sidwell Friends School, an exclusive private school which educated former President Barack Obama's daughters, took out a loan for between $5 million and $10 million, as did Saint Anns School in Brooklyn, which - with tuition exceeding $50,000 per year - is attended by the children of hedge fund managers and celebrities.

The St. Andrew's Episcopal School attended by Barron Trump, son of the president and first lady Melania Trump, got a loan valued at between $2 million and $5 million.

The prestigious Sidwell Friends school attended by the Obama children got a PPP loan

Some investment firms, such as those that run hedge funds for wealthy clients, also received checks.

That included Advent Capital Management LLC, a New York-based debt investor with $9 billion in assets; Metacapital Management LP, a New York-based fixed income investor with more than $1 billion in assets; and Semper Capital Management LP, which invests nearly $4 billion in mortgage-backed securities.

None of those companies or schools immediately responded to a request for comment.

John Arensmeyer, CEO of the Small Business Majority, lauded the release of the data Monday, but said that it was still a far cry from an accurate picture of the program.

Serious questions remain about whether PPP funds were equitably distributed to minority-owned businesses, and there is an alarming rate of small-dollar loans, he said.

Moving forward, SBA must revise the information to include the amount requested by a borrower and the amount received, and publicly commit to reporting revised data on a rolling basis now, and through the forgiveness process, he added.
Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro today revealed he has tested positive for coronavirus - but dismissively removed his mask as he told reporters he felt 'perfectly well'.

Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly played down the severity of the virus and mingled with crowds of supporters in spite of social distancing rules, said his fourth coronavirus test had come back positive but insisted he had only mild symptoms.

'I'm well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations,' the 65-year-old told reporters outside the presidential palace in Brasilia.

He also revealed he has been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug championed by Donald Trump with unproven effectiveness against Covid-19.

The president told supporters yesterday that he had been tested at a hospital and that an X-ray showed his lungs were 'clean'.

Brazil has suffered one of the world's worst outbreaks with more than 1.6million cases and 65,487 deaths, both figures second only to the United States.

Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro today revealed he has tested positive for coronavirus - but dismissively removed his mask as he told reporters he felt 'perfectly well'

'I'm well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations,' said Bolsonaro, 65 (pictured: removing his mask today)

Bolsonaro has previously referred to the coronavirus as a 'little flu' and railed against the WHO's advice

Bolsonaro's downplaying of 'the 'little flu' and accusations of media 'fear-mongering' Bolsonaro, known as 'the Trump of the tropics,' has sparked controversy for his brash dismissals of coronavirus. At the end of March he referred to the lockdowns being imposed by regional governors and mayors as a 'scorched earth' policy. 'Our lives have to go on. Jobs must be kept... We must, yes, get back to normal,' he said in a speech which sparked furious protests. At the time Brazil had recorded 2,200 infections and 46 deaths. Today, the country has 1.6million cases and 65,487 deaths. The 60-year-old president - who has called the virus 'the sniffles' - has continued to head out to rallies and greet supporters by shaking their hands. Asked on one occasion about the high death toll, Bolsonaro said: 'So what? I'm sorry, but what do you want me to do?' Over Easter he contradicted his own health ministry's advice by going out to buy doughnuts. 'No one will hinder my right to come and go,' Bolsonaro said. The president has claimed that younger people have nothing to fear from the disease and that even older people - such as himself - have nothing to worry about. 'With my history as an athlete, if I were infected with the virus I would have no reason to worry. I would feel nothing, or it would be at most just a little flu.' Bolsonaro said. Bolsonaro has sacked two health ministers during the pandemic and repeatedly called for the country to reopen despite local administrations committing to keep their lockdowns in place. The president has argued that the economic hardship caused by locking down the country is far graver than the disease itself. 'People are going to die, I'm sorry,' the president said in March. 'But we can't stop a car factory because there are traffic accidents.' In June he announced that he was considering whether to pull Brazil out of the World Health Organisation, calling it a 'partisan political organisation.' Advertisement

Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with US president Donald Trump in Florida.

Multiple members of his delegation to the United States were later reported to be infected with the virus, but neither Bolsonaro nor Trump tested positive.

On Monday, Bolsonaro told supporters in Brasilia that he underwent an X-ray of his lungs that showed they were clean, and that he would be tested for Covid-19.

'I can't get very close,' he said in comments recorded by Foco do Brasil. 'I came from the hospital. I underwent a lung scan. The lung's clean.'

The president's office said in a statement that the president is at his home and is 'in good health.' Today he said his fever had subsided despite his positive test result.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has previously said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a 'little flu'.

The populist leader has often defied local guidelines to wear a mask in public, even after a judge ordered him to do so in late June.

Over the weekend, the Brazilian leader celebrated America's Independence Day with the US ambassador, standing close to him alongside ministers and aides.

The US embassy said that Ambassador Todd Chapman is not showing any Covid-19 symptoms but would be tested.

The president's official events on Tuesday have been cancelled, Brazilian media says.

Bolsonaro is among the most high-profile leaders to have tested positive for the virus, following Boris Johnson who spent three nights in intensive care in April.

World Health Organisation expert Mike Ryan today said the WHO 'wished [Bolsonaro] a full and speedy recovery from this disease'.

Bolsonaro has come under severe criticism after downplaying the virus as a 'little flu' and continuing to ignore social distancing advice even as the crisis escalates.

The president has lambasted regional governors for imposing lockdown measures against his wishes which he says will be more damaging than the virus itself.

Asked on one occasion about the high death toll, Bolsonaro said: 'So what? I'm sorry, but what do you want me to do?'.

Like Donald Trump, he has also touted the drug hydroxychloroquine as a Covid-19 treatment despite doubts about its effectiveness.

In recent days he has watered down a law that would require citizens to wear face masks in public.

On Friday he vetoed several articles of the bill such as those requiring employers to supply masks for their staff and another mandating that authorities should provide masks for 'economically vulnerable people'.

Bolsonaro took a few steps back from reporters before removing his mask at the impromptu press conference

Bolsonaro stepped back from the reporters and removed his lapel microphone before taking his mask off

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has previously said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a 'little flu'

Bolsonaro in Brasilia on Tuesday speaking to reporters about testing positive for the virus

Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for coronavirus, he revealed today

Yesterday Bolsonaro also vetoed sections 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.

Since Bolsonaro was in a private residence at the meeting with the US ambassador, 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.

Bolsonaro's government also tried to remove the majority of virus statistics from its official website, before a judge ordered him to reinstate them.

The latest figures show 1,623,284 confirmed cases and 65,487 deaths in Brazil, the second-highest tallies in the world.

The last seven days alone have seen more than 250,000 new cases and 7,173 deaths, more than many countries have suffered in total.

Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the severity of the virus and ignored social distancing rules - seen here waving to supporters on Sunday

Bolsonaro attending a rally on horseback with his supporters outside the presidential palace in Brasilia at the end of May

Bolsonaro has frequently made light of the virus and ignored social distancing etiquette (pictured: on horseback during a rally on May 31)

Demonstrators take part in a protest against Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro as they hold images of people who died from the coronavirus disease

Demonstrators take part in a protest against Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro at Paulista avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil July 4

It is also feared that the true toll is far higher because of a lack of widespread testing in Latin America's largest country.

Brazil, however, is the sixth most populous country in the world and its per capita deaths are nowhere near as bad as many European countries.

Belgium has the worst coronavirus deaths per million people, followed by the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Sweden and France.

Brazil comes tenth on the list of the worst per capita deaths in the world.
A small business owner says he will lose thousands while stuck in a quarantined Melbourne public housing block.

Steve Pat, who runs a cleaning business, is unable to leave his one-bedroom flat in Flemington Towers with 3,000 others while the building is locked down.

Residents of 10 towers in Flemington, North Melbourne, and Kensington were banned from even setting foot outside their door on Saturday.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the drastic measure would last at least five days as a renewed coronavirus outbreak rips through those suburbs.

Steve Pat is unable to leave his one-bedroom flat in Flemington Towers in Melbourne due to coronavirus lockdown and has to cancel all his jobs for the next two weeks

Residents of 10 towers in Flemington (pictured), North Melbourne, and Kensington were banned from even setting foot outside their door on Saturday

But Mr Pat said he feared the lockdown would last a full two weeks if any of his fellow residents refused tests, according to his detention directions.

He said if that was the case he would lose about $4,000 in jobs for his carpet cleaning business, far more than any government compensation.

The hardworking Turkish-Australian said he had to cancel all jobs booked for this week and turn down numerous calls requesting his services.

Mr Andrews promised free rent for the next two weeks and $1,500 for anyone unable to work due to being stuck in the locked down suburbs.

'I appreciate that, but I usually make a lot more than that,' Mr Pat, who is a sole trader, told Daily Mail Australia.

'People think we're whingers and that we shouldn't complain as we get a free rent, but I'd rather pay my rent and not get any money and be out there doing my job.

'Most people think everyone who lives here is a bum or a drug user, but it's nowhere near that.'

Mr Pat said he had to cancel all jobs booked for this week and turn down numerous calls requesting his services

Mr Pat and his neighbours had to walk to the lobby to collect a box of essential groceries despite being ordered not to leave their rooms. Pictured is supplies being delivered to the bottom of the public housing block

He said much of his earnings went to support his two sons, aged six and nine, who live with his ex-wife in Turkey and had to cancel a trip to visit him.

Mr Pat said less than 500 people had been tested so far and he had not received any communication from health authorities.

He and his neighbours had to walk to the lobby to collect a box of essential groceries despite being ordered not to leave their rooms.

'I haven't been told anything by anyone, no authority has knocked on my door other than the police to give me the detention directions,' he said.

'We can test 20,000 people in Melbourne in 24 hours, why couldn't they test us yet?'

'This in my opinion is worse than prison as we don't even get a hour outside to go for a walk and get some fresh air.

'This is not just a loss of income but a loss of freedom, our everyday human rights.'

Mr Pat said he called a hotline for residents asking for cat litter two days ago and was told someone would call him back, but no one did.

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

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

The state government said it distributed 3,000 meals, 1,000 food hampers and 250 personal care packs to residents, while the charity FareShare has provided more than 3,000 prepared meals and 4,500 pastries.

Other public housing residents have also said no one brought supplies to their doors, which they weren't allowed to leave, so they were missed.

Donations supplied by members of the public have been left in the corridors and eventually turns rotten.

After being caught by surprise when the no-warning lockdown came in, many of those in the buildings are furious at a lack of food and information from authorities.

A resident in Flemington named Omar said he received a box of Weetbix for the week but did not have any milk.

'People are going to die of starvation. Pregnant ladies are knocking on doors for milk,' he said.

After being caught by surprise when the no-warning lockdown came in, many of those in the buildings are furious at a lack of food and information from authorities

Residents shared images on social media of out-of-date meals, food left on the floor, and Muslim families given pork.

Debbie Harrison, who is caring for her 83-year-old mother, Ivy, at a housing unit in North Melbourne said they were only given four sausage rolls to eat in 48 hours.

Ms Harrison tried to get her daughter to deliver groceries, but she was turned away by police guarding the public housing tower.

Victoria's outbreak added another 191 patients on Tuesday, the state's highest daily increase since the pandemic arrived in Australia.

The border with NSW was shut for the first time since the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 and more than 300,000 people are under virtual house arrest.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has warned Victoria could be placed into total lockdown again if a COVID-19 outbreak can't be contained in Melbourne housing commission towers.

Residents are being stopped from leaving their homes in more than 40 suburbs in Melbourne's north and west.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to announce 191 new cases overnight, which would be Australia's highest rate of local transmission since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Should the outbreak worsen, the state's 6.6million residents could be locked down again, reversing the easing of restrictions that began in late May.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt (right with Today host Karl Stefanovic) has warned Victoria could be placed into total lockdown again if an outbreak can't be contained in Melbourne housing commission towers

Mr Hunt, a Victorian from the Mornington Peninsula south-east of Melbourne, said a total, state-wide lockdown was an option.

'I don't think that anybody can rule out that if the disease continues to spread, there could be further restrictions,' he told Today show host Karl Stefanovic on Tuesday.

'It's very important to be open and honest about that.

'At this stage, it appears primarily urban Victoria but we actually have to respond to the facts as they occur and we've always identified this notion of rings of containment of isolating the hot spots.'

Infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy, a senior fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, agreed that Victoria would be locked down again if the outbreak in inner north-west Melbourne was not contained by the end of this week.

Residents are being stopped from leaving their homes in more than 40 suburbs in Melbourne's north and west. Pictured are health workers outside a public housing tower in North Melbourne

'Because the incubation period of the virus is a minimum of five days, the impact of what happened on Saturday and Sunday wont be known until the end of the week,' he told Melbourne radio 3AW broadcaster Neil Mitchell.

'If, at the end of the week, were still seeing surges and increases in numbers there will be a response to that.'

Mr Andrews called a meeting of the COVID-19 Crisis Council of Cabinet on Tuesday which was discussing further measures to combat the second wave.

Since May 25, Victorians have been allowed to host 20 people at a house gathering, including those who live there.

On July 1, however, 37 suburbs in Melbourne's north and west were placed into lockdown with a further four added on Saturday.
A trial ban on cash transactions in selected Woolworths stores has sparked outrage from angry shoppers who have threatened to boycott the supermarket giant.

The retailer introduced the trial system in 11 Metro stores across Sydney and Melbourne this week, saying it provides a faster and more convenient payment method for busy shoppers.

'We have made some changes to the way you can pay in this store,' the new policy sign reads.

'Payments can now only be made by card. We no longer accept cash payments or offer cash-out facilities. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.'

Shoppers were quick to voice their disapproval after noticing the new signs.

Woolworths Metro Manly (pictured) on Sydney's northern beaches is one of 11 stores trialling the new cashless payment system

Some have threatened to boycott the retailer over the trial policy.

'Personally I wouldn't shop there. I'd take my money elsewhere,' a woman posted on Woolworths' Facebook page.

Another added: 'Cash is still legal tender in Australia as far as I know. Don't accept cash. Don't expect my business!'

Other shoppers demanded an explanation.

'Can you explain why this is necessary? And don't say the virus - we all know that isn't the reason,' one wrote.

The new trial launched this week sparked uproar from shoppers, who threatened to boycott

Many shoppers questioned if the trial policy was legal.

'Are they even allowed to do that? Im pretty sure you cant deny someone wanting to pay with cash as its legal tender,' one wrote.

A Woolworths spokesman assured shoppers there are no plans to expand the cash-free trial to bigger supermarkets.

'Cash remains an important payment option for many of our customers and will continue to be offered as a payment form in all Woolworths supermarkets and the majority of our Metro stores,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

Woolworths assured the cashless payment trial won't be implemented in bigger supermarkets, including Sydney's Town Hall store (pictured)

'To help make shopping as seamless as possible for busy inner-city customers we're trialling card only transactions in a small number of Metro stores in CBD locations. These stores have very few cash transactions.'

Affected Metro stores in the Sydney CBD include York and George Streets, along with Strawberry Hills, North Sydney and Manly.

Melbourne CBD Metro store involved include Bourke St, Melbourne Central, Swanston St, Elizabeth St, Collins Square, Little Collins.

Payment options include mobile app Scan&Go, EFTPOS and credit card transactions.
Queensland has broken its 10-day coronavirus-free streak after a returning Australian Defence Force member tested positive.

The first recorded case since June 26 was recorded on Monday, after the ADF officer tested positive while in quarantine after returning from overseas.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was the only positive test overnight after 2700 tests were conducted on Monday.

It takes the state's total to 1068, with just two cases still active.

The first recorded case since June 26 was recorded on Monday, after an ADF officer tested positive while in quarantine after returning from overseas

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was the only positive test overnight after 2700 tests were conducted on Monday

The news comes as pressure mounts on Queensland to accept more international flights to help Victoria and NSW where the bulk of returning passengers are placed in isolation.

Hotel quarantine has been a source of outbreaks in Melbourne.

But Ms Palaszczuk said Australia needs to reduce the influx of international flights to ease the pressure on state governments having to quarantine passengers.

'I think we need to minimise the amount of international flights coming into Australia,' Ms Palaszczuk said.

'I think we need to be very cautious and I think slowing down flights will be a good thing at this stage.'

However, she said the state was prepared to receive more international passengers if required.

Four international flights are expected to arrive in Brisbane on Tuesday with more than 400 passengers.

'Of course, we're prepared to help out,' Ms Palaszczuk said.

Ms Palaszczuk said accommodation bookings were on par with the same time last year ahead of the borders reopening on Friday in time for the second week of the NSW school holidays.

Queensland cases as of Tuesday, July 7 - 1 new confirmed cases - 2 active cases - 1,068 total confirmed cases - 395,027 tests conducted - Six Queenslanders dead - 1,055 patients recovered Advertisement

'My information is that Gold Coast bookings are the basically the same as this time last year,' she said.

She warned of long delays at border crossings, urging travellers to factor that into their plans.

Before the new case was announced, Queensland's only active coronavirus case was an 81-year-old man who spent almost four months in hospital battling the illness

He's recovering in Gold Coast University Hospital where he was transferred out of ICU on June 18.

In Victoria, up to 200 new cases are expected to be added to the state's rapidly escalating coronavirus total.

The number has yet to be confirmed.

Victoria recorded 127 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, its 20th consecutive day of new cases in the double-digits.

Victoria has 645 active cases, an increase of 585 in four weeks, while other states have remained stable.

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.

NSW reported seven new cases on Tuesday from 9746 tests, including a man who tested negative in hotel quarantine before returning home to Newcastle on Sunday and developing respiratory symptoms.

He and his close contacts have been placed into isolation.
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Victoria has recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure yet - as the government prepares to lock down the entire state for a month.

Sources have told The Australian that Premier Daniel Andrews is considering stay-at-home orders for 6.5million Victorians as the outbreak spirals out of control with 35 people in hospital and nine fighting for their lives.

Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton confirmed 37 new cases are linked to outbreaks and 154 are under investigation, bringing the state's total to 2,824 cases.

Thirteen new cases are linked to nine Melbourne tower blocks which have suffered 69 cases and been placed under hard lockdown since Saturday, meaning residents cannot leave for any reason without special approval.

Pictures from the housing commission blocks today show firefighters dressed in hazmat suits preparing to enter the buildings to deliver milk and bread while dozens of police stand guard outside.

It comes as 650 police and 350 soldiers set up road blocks and drones along the 1,000km-long New South Wales-Victoria border before it is shut down at midnight tonight for the first time since Spanish Flu struck in 1919.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott said Victoria should help pay for border closure because it was 'caused by a situation in Melbourne' as he called the shutdown a 'sad situation for Australia'.

Precautions: Firefighters dressed in personal protective equipment prepare to distribute food throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

Police presence: Nine public housing towers blocks including 3,000 residents have been put under hard lockdown, meaning they cannot leave for any reason. Pictured: Police at a housing block in North Melbourne

Delivery: The Melbourne Public Tenants Association, on behalf of the 3000 residents in the Flemington and North Melbourne estates, say residents have been left in the dark over enforced hard lockdown. Pictured: Firemen deliver bread

Locked down: A resident of a housing commission block in north Melbourne presses against the window as police patrol outside

Under pressure: Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) held a meeting of the COVID-19 Crisis Council of Cabinet to discuss further lockdowns

Victoria's new case total is the second-highest of any state after New South Wales recorded 212 new cases on 28 March during the peak of the pandemic in Australia.

But many of those were returned travellers and their close contacts, meaning the Victoria outbreak is far more dangerous and a 'threat to the nation' because the cases are transmitting rapidly among the local community.

Earlier today federal health minister Greg Hunt said broadening the lockdown in Victoria was on the table.

'I don't think that anybody can rule out that if the disease continues to spread, there could be further restrictions,' he told the Nine's Today show.

'I think it's very important to be open and honest about that. At this stage, again, it appears primarily urban Victoria.

'But we actually have to respond to the facts as they occur and we've always identified this notion of rings of containment, of isolating the hotspots and then working out from there.'

This graph shows how community transmission has soared

His comments came as:

New South Wales recorded seven new virus cases, including a Newcastle man released from quarantine

Queensland reported its first case in more than two weeks, a returned solider in hotel quarantine

The federal government agreed to cap numbers flying into Western Australia at 525 a week

WA, the ACT and the NT recorded zero new cases

SA increased border measures to ban Victorians by removing the two-week quarantine option

Four of Victoria's new cases related to an outbreak among emergency department staff at Northern Hospital Epping, which now totals eight staff and one household contact.

The emergency department remains open with a temporary reduction in non-urgent elective surgery and outpatient appointments.

A new case has also been confirmed in a staff member at the Assisi aged care facility in Rosanna, in Melbourne's northeast.

The staff member did not work while infectious and widespread testing of staff and residents at the facility will begin on Tuesday.

Staff undertaking contact tracing in north Melbourne are finding that some patients are reluctant to share their close contacts, according to the Herald-Sun.

The newspaper reports that in some cases residents have been told by officials they are a close contact as long as five days after they met a confirmed patient.

Meanwhile, residents of the nine locked-down towers said they feel let down by a lack of communication, food and supplies. Some have complained they have had to go hungry because officials have not brought them enough to eat.

The Melbourne Public Tenants Association, on behalf of the residents in the Flemington and North Melbourne estates, say residents have been left in the dark since the state government's hard lockdown was enforced on Saturday.

Victoria's new case total is the second-highest of any state after New South Wales recorded 212 new cases on 28 March. Pictured: Firefighters distribute milk and bread to tower block residents

Earlier today federal health minister Greg Hunt said broadening the lockdown in Victoria was on the table. Pictured: Firefighers in hazmat suits and police at a north Melbourne tower block

Helpers arrive with food in shopping trollies which will be distributed by firefighters throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

A firefighter is seen wearing personal protective equipment prior to distributing food throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

Workers unload food and provisions from the back of a ute which will be distributed by firefighters throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

Where are Victoria's new coronavirus cases? * 13 infections relate to the North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers, with the total now 69 * 12 new cases are linked to the Al-Taqwa College outbreak, bringing that total to 90 * Four new cases have been linked to the Northern Hospital in Epping, with the total now nine. * One case linked to Aitken Hill Primary School in Craigieburn with that outbreak now at 10 * The remaining new cases are linked to existing family clusters in Truganina, Patterson Lakes/Lysterfield, Fawkner and Sunshine West * One new case has also been confirmed in a staff member at the Assisi Aged Care facility in Rosanna, who did not work while infectious Advertisement

In a letter to the federal Acting Chief Medical Officer, Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services, Premier Andrews and Victoria Police, the association describes how residents were forced to wait 24 hours for food and other essentials like baby formula, nappies and medication.

When the food arrived it was 'at best, questionable pre-packaged meat-like food items that do not look suitable for human consumption'.

'Furthermore, the delivery of the food was tossed to the floor on a single piece of paper in front of the residents' apartment doors in small portions of one food item per household,' the letter said.

One carpet-cleaner described the conditions as 'worse than prison' because residents are not allowed outside.

Dozens of cases from the Melbourne outbreak have been traced back to breaches in the hotel quarantine system after private security guards interacted with patients and took the virus home to their families.

As Victoria battles a snowballing outbreak, NSW reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday from 9,746 tests, including a man who tested negative in hotel quarantine before returning home to Newcastle on Sunday and developing respiratory symptoms. He and his close contacts have been placed into isolation.

The other six cases were in travellers in hotel quarantine. Two probable coronavirus cases are being investigated in the Albury area after returning positive results on preliminary testing in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District.

Health officials said the two cases were undergoing further testing but had not yet been included in the state's confirmed case load.

One suspected case had recently been to Melbourne but returned before hotspot travel restrictions came into force.

NSW Health is setting up a pop-up clinic in Albury from Tuesday and is urging residents in the area with even mild symptoms to get tested.

Workers in full hazmat suits are seen preparing food and care packages for residents of 12 Sutton Street in North Melbourne

A police officer looks up at apartment building windows through his binoculors at 120 Racecourse Road in Flemington

Minister says Victoria should pay for border closure NSW Police Minister said the Victorian government should help pay for the shut down from Tuesday night. 'I would think that would be the decent thing to do, given this is an outbreak that's caused by a situation in Melbourne,' he said. 'But we can't rely on other governments to do the right thing all the time. 'So as far as the New South Wales Government is concerned, we'll be providing the financial support that's necessary. 'Obviously with the defence aid, that comes within each individual agreement, the application that's made.' Mr Elliot expressed sympathy for people in Melbourne, saying: 'It is a sad situation for Australia. I mean, it's the second largest city, it's the second strongest metropolitan economy. 'I feel for the people of Melbourne who have certainly tried to do the right thing. But they've been let down by a number of circumstances.' Advertisement

Queensland recorded its first case of the virus in two weeks on Tuesday, a soldier who returned from overseas and tested positive in hotel quarantine.

South Australia recorded zero new cases and announced that it was ramping up border measures to completely ban Victorians by removing the option for them to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival from midnight tomorrow.

Since last Monday Victoria has detected 823 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.

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.

Since last Monday Victoria has detected 823 new infections, only 14 of whom are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine. Pictured: Covid testers in Melbourne on Tuesday

8 Fire trucks are seen parked on Mount Alexander Road out the front of the commission flats at 130 Racecourse Road.

Thirteen new cases are linked to nine Melbourne tower blocks which have suffered 69 cases and been placed under hard lockdown since Saturday. Pictured: A policeman on Tuesday at the north Melbourne towers

One carpet-cleaner described the conditions as 'worse than prison' because residents are not allowed outside. Pictured: Workers help deliver food to residents

'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.

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.'

There are 55 NSW-Victoria border crossings over more than 1,000 kilometres and they will be manned by police and soldiers with drones and road blocks when the border is shut from 12.01am tonight.

Anyone entering NSW from Victoria without a permit will be fined $11,000 and could face six months in jail.
Debbie Harrison and her 83-year-old mum Ivy are down to their last roll of toilet paper and wonder when they might get some more food.

Directly below her North Melbourne flat, Lawrence Caruana prepares to take his dog outside for a walk.

He is free to go while his elderly neighbours just above him remain trapped in full lockdown - unable to leave or even accept much needed groceries from worried loved ones.

The reason is simple - Mr Caruana's flat on the ground floor has no common areas and it's own front door - whereas the Harrisons are on the first floor with only a common entrance and facilities.

Debbie Harrison (top) remains trapped upstairs with her mum at their North Melbourne flat while Lawrence Caruana (below) is free to come and go

Debbie Harrison and her mum are down to their last roll of toilet paper and have little food left after being forced into lockdown

Firefighters dressed in personal protective equipment prepare to distribute food throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne just down the road from Ms Harrison

A large white tent has been erected outside their block of flats on Pampas Street, which sit almost in the shadow of the housing commission towers down the road which are also in lockdown.

Police in protected gear patrol the outside of the flats and stop anyone who tries to get out.

Ms Harrison said on Monday that despite being locked down since on Saturday, their first delivery of food didnt come until Monday.

On Tuesday, her situation hadn't got much better.

Her elderly mum's condition had deteriorated overnight as the pair worried about how long they might be imprisoned within their small unit.

'She's not too good,' Ms Harrison told Daily Mail Australia from her balcony above Mr Caruana's.

'We're not sure how long we're going to be kept here. It's supposed to be five days but who knows.'

The pair were to undergo a COVID-19 test this afternoon.

On Monday morning, the pair were given four sausage rolls in a plastic bag, which Ms Harrison said went straight in the bin.

Staples such as bread and milk arrived last night about 10.30pm, but there was no toilet paper.

Worried police at a Flemington housing commission tower look into rooms above on Tuesday morning

'We're down to our last roll. My daughter came over yesterday with about $200 worth of shopping. She wasn't allowed in. She had to take it back home,' Ms Harrison said.

The pair, who appeared on national television last night revealing their plight, said on Tuesday that no-one had told them when they might be resupplied.

'No-one has said anything. We haven't heard anything from anyone,' Ms Harrison said.

Just down the road, at the high rise commission housing towers, health officials in full hazardous materials suits were preparing to take in bags of groceries, including toilet paper.

'I hope they come here. We got bread and milk. We got tin soup, pasta and rice. But we already had pasta and rice. We don't have anything to go with it. No meat at all. It's horrible,' Ms Harrison said.

'Hopefully we find out a bit more today or at least before Thursday.'

Firefighters dress in personal protective equipment as they prepare to distribute food throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

Most residents on Pampas Street in North Melbourne have been placed into strict lockdown. Police on Tuesday remained outside the units

Lawrence Caruana is free to come and go while his neighbours remain caged above

Ms Harrison said she didn't know who the Department of Health and Human Services liaison person even was.

'And I don't think anyone else here knows either,' she said.

Mr Caruana - a Maltese immigrant who has called Australia home for 45 years - said he felt terrible for his neighbours.

His mate at the top of the building has been desperate for a cigarette for days, but they won't allow anyone to bring them in.

'I thought maybe if he throws a rope down from his balcony I can try and tie them on,' Mr Caruana said.

Unlike his trapped neighbours, his unit on the ground floor is self-contained and does not share any communal entrances.

Although he was locked up yesterday, he was told by police he was free to come and go as he pleased today.

He was just about to take his dog to the park when Daily Mail Australia arrived.

'My dog won't go to the toilet here, so he's been desperate to get out to the park,' Mr Caruana said.

As he posed for a photograph outside his fence, a police officer demanded he move back inside.

'But I'm free,' Mr Caruana said.

With country music blasting from his flat, the former Navy serviceman politely asked the officer to check with his boss.

Back behind his fence, Mr Caruana told Daily Mail Australia of his neighbours' hardships while in lockdown.

Residents inside a North Melbourne housing complex wait on bags of groceries, which sat outside the towers for hours on Tuesday

Officials in protective gear prepare to move groceries into high rise towers in North Melbourne. Just down the road, residents trapped in their homes claim they are running low on supplies

People unload food and provisions from the back of a ute which will be distributed by firefighters throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

'It's a beautiful street. They're all nice people here,' he said. 'I spoke to my mate upstairs and it's very stressful for him. He is so upset.'

Mr Caruana said his friend was not coping well without a smoke.

'Can you imagine. I'd stay without food, but not a cigarette,' he said. 'I asked the police if I could give them some to pass on and they said they can't do that.'

Mr Caruana said he had pleaded with authorities to help his friend.

'It's stressful that he can't go out and even worse he's got no cigarettes. Somebody has to help this man. They can't go out themselves. The shop is just across the road and that's annoying him. It's like you're seeing the land, you're drowning but you can't get there.'

Daily Mail Australia approached a policeman in the hope of helping the residents, but he said it was out of his hands.

'This is a DHHS operation. They're supposed to be helping these people,' he said.

A woman who appeared to be a social worker, told Daily Mail Australia the residents had been given a DHHS phone number to ring for all their concerns.

Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to confine all 6.5million Victorians to their homes as the outbreak spirals out of control with 35 people in hospital and nine fighting for their lives.

Thirteen of the new cases are linked to nine tower blocks which have been placed under hard lockdown since Saturday, meaning residents cannot leave for any reason without approval.

At the Flemington towers on Racecourse Road on Tuesday morning, police could be seen looking through binoculars into the rooms of trapped residents above.

Police dressed in full medical garb were milling about outside as COVID testers prepared to enter the building.

Around the corner, fire engines sat in wait preparing for an inferno.

Back in North Melbourne, police finally allowed Mr Caruana outside to freedom.

For now.

A sign posted in a North Melbourne commission tower warns residents not to eat the food that was being delivered on Tuesday

Fire trucks are seen parked on Mount Alexander Road out the front of the commission flat at 130 Racecourse Road on Tuesday
A popular baby carrier has been urgently recalled over fears it children could fall out and bash their heads because of 'missing bolts'.

The recall for high end outdoor company Kathmandu's Karinjo Baby Carrier was issued by the ACCC's Product Safety Australia on Monday.

The backpack-style child carrier, which cost $400, 'may be missing one or two bolts' from the stand, causing it to become unstable.

The recall for Kathmandu's Karinjo Baby Carrier was issued by the ACCC's Product Safety Australia on Monday (pictured)

This could result in the child falling or the carrier tipping over.

The mistake 'increases risk of serious injury to the child', according to Product Safety Australia.

The product was sold between January 5, 2015, and June 4, 2020.

Customers are advised to inspect the stand to determine whether it is missing bolts.

'If the carrier requires repair, cease using the carrier immediately and contact your nearest Kathmandu store to organise replacement,' the recall states.

'For further information, consumers can contact Kathmandu via email at recall@kathmandu.co.nz or phone 1800 333 484.'
The Atlanta Police Department caught a murder suspect after an officer commandeered a bike from a passerby and used it to chase down the man in an intense four-minute ride.

The APD tweeted out the unnamed officer's body cam footage from the arrest of murder suspect Nicholas Fonseca, 21, which took place at about 6pm on June 30 on Atlanta's BeltLine trail.

Fonseca was wanted in connection with the shooting death of Andrew Scott Callahan, 37, who was found at Atlanta's Historic Fourth Ward Skatepark on June 28.

Atlanta police started chasing after a suspect on foot (left), before one officer borrowed a cyclist's bike (right) and used it to chase after the fleeing suspect who was biking away

The officer's body cam captured the intense four-minute long ride through the Atlanta streets as the officer zigzagged through traffic, while keeping tabs on the fleeing suspect

Two days later, police were canvassing the area near where the shooting occurred when they spotted Fonseca, a department spokesperson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Authorities said that when Fonseca saw the two officers, he rode away from them on a bicycle, prompting the officers to chase after him while still on foot.

Murder suspect Nicholas Fonseca, 21, was arrested at the end of the bike chase

In the body cam footage that was released, the officers can be seen running on the rain-soaked trail, chasing Fonseca who is out of the camera's view. About 30 seconds into the video, the unnamed officer wearing the body cam can be seen putting a hand out as a cyclist approaches.

'Hey, let me borrow your bike, man,' the officer says. The cyclist quickly hops off the bike, removes his bag and says, 'Okay.'

The officer then wheels the bike around and jumps on it, consults with his partner, who has stopped running, about what direction Fonseca rode off in, and pedals off in pursuit.

What follows is an intense, three-and-a-half minute ride through the trail and Atlanta streets, set to a soundtrack of position updates and dispatcher instructions.

At various points during the ride, the officer skids on wet pavement, dodges oncoming cars and sprints through empty streets, all while providing radio updates about the color of Fonseca's bike and what direction he's traveling in.

The officer is seen here riding up to Fonseca, who is in the process of being arrested by a fellow cop who intercepted him first. Fonseca's yellow bike is seen on the sidewalk

The bike-riding officer was backup during Fonseca's (pictured) arrest at the end of the video

As the officer makes one final right turn, patrol car sirens can be heard going off and flashing lights are seen several dozen feet away.

'We got him, we got him,' the officer says into his radio, before pulling up the curb and dumping the bike so he can provide backup to the officer who had gotten Fonseca down on the ground.

The distance between where the chase began and where Fonseca was eventually arrested - near Ponce City Market - is about one mile.

Jail records indicate that Fonseca is being held on one count of murder and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Fonseca was arrested in connection with the shooting death of Andrew Scott Callahan, 37 (pictured), who was found in a skate park on June 28

Callahan was found with multiple gunshot wounds in Atlanta's Historic Fourth Ward Skatepark

He was booked on July 1 and does not appear to have a bond or bail amount set yet.

Police said that after Fonseca's arrest, the officer's commandeered bike was returned to its owner.

'We are proud of the work our investigators put into this case and proud of the efforts made by our officers in pursuing and apprehending this dangerous suspect,' the police spokesperson said, adding that the department is 'grateful' to the passerby who gave up his bike for the chase.

During the month of June, Atlanta police said that murders have gone up 86 per cent over 28 days, as compared to the same time in 2019, according to WSBTV.

There was also a 22 per cent increase in aggravated assaults and a 14 per cent increase in burglaries in the city during the month.

Data showed that in the weeks prior to Callahan's shooting death - from May 31 to June 20 - police had invested 75 shootings, including 17 homicides.
Australians have been issued a stern warning about the risk of faking their tax returns as a man is jailed for committing fraud.

Joseph Kanowski, from Queensland, was sentenced to five years behind bars for his $13,000 tax refund scam.

He used stolen identities to get fraudulent tax refunds and social security payments by taking over their myGov accounts and changing the payment destination details to his own.

Kanowski was ordered to repay the money as well as his stint behind bars, as the ATO launches a crack down on fraudsters this tax season.

Joseph Kanowski, from Queensland, was sentenced to five years behind bars for his $13,000 refund scam (stock image pictured)

He also made false Centrelink claims and even impersonated other customers to have their payments be redirected to his account.

'We always do everything we can to help people comply, but as this case highlights, those who deliberately set out to cheat the system will be held to account,' the ATO said.

Anyone caught breaking the law could face massive fines or jail time.

The ATO revealed it has uncovered intelligence about a number of dodgy tactics, including people withdrawing super and redepositing it to receive a tax deduction.

Others are fudging their personal finances to apply for the hardship program.

The ATO is also carefully monitoring employers manipulating their turnovers to receive JobKeeper wage subsidies, along with businesses pulling shifty tricks to maximise cash flow injections.

Australians have been issued a stern warning about the risk of fudging their tax returns as a man is jailed for committing tax fraud (stock image pictured)

Deputy Commissioner Will Day said the ATO generally worked on the assumption people acted honestly, but would conduct checks later.

'If you've received a benefit as part of the COVID-19 stimulus measures and we discover you are ineligible, you can expect to hear from us,' he said.

'It is much better to come forward to make a voluntary disclosure than waiting to be audited.'

Tax returns are due in by Saturday, October 31.

It comes after the Australian Tax Office sent out chilling text messages warning millions of people it would be cross-checking all details that are lodged in your next tax return.

In texts sent out on June 23, the ATO reminded people it could cross-check all lodged information with outside sources including your employer and bank.

Additionally, the watchdog said it would pre-fill tax returns with information obtained from various sources to make completing the application easier.

'Tax time starts soon. We make it easier by pre-filling your tax return with information from employers, banks, health funds, and government agencies,' it said.

'We'll send a message to your myGov Inbox when your pre-fill information is ready.

'If you are lodging your own return you have until 31 October to lodge.'

It is understood the ATO has been automatically cross-checking information lodged in tax returns with other agencies for over a decade.
Donald Trump's CIA intelligence briefer, Beth Sanner (pictured), made rare public comments on Monday as she spoke about the challenges she faces while delivering intelligence to the president

Donald Trump's CIA intelligence briefer made rare public comments on Monday as she spoke about the challenges she faces while delivering intelligence to the president.

According to Politico, Beth Sanner, who is a senior official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, spoke during an event hosted by the Intelligence & National Security Alliance.

During the briefing, she never referred to the president by name, but gave advice on dealing with a 'customer'.

Sanner said it's important to understand if this 'is someone who reads? Someone who likes a story? Operates on visuals?'

'You figure out before you go in what that person needs from you.'

She then said: 'Be calm in your confidence, do your homework, and have that first briefing be where you hit the things they need from you.'

'Watch your audience and pivotwhen theyre done, youre done. Ultimately, its about listening to be heard. You have to really hear people and then adjust yourself,' she added.

Sanner's mention of being able to 'pivot' during such briefings could explain why the president wasn't verbally told about intelligence which claimed Russia was paying bounties to Taliban fighters to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Sanner never made any reference to the Russia controversy during her remarks on Monday.

But the White House has said that the reason he wasn't briefed on the Russia bounty intelligence was that 'a career CIA officer with more than 30 years of tenure' had chosen not to tell him - presumably a reference to Sanner.

According to Politico, Trumps resistance to hearing anything negative about Russia has forced his most senior officials to tiptoe around issues related to the country.

The New York Times reported in May that the president has a short attention span, rarely reads his daily brief except for graphs and photos he likes to look at, and tends to get his information from conservative news outlets.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president wasn't angry about not being briefed because he has 'great faith' in his staff.

'The president believes that and has great faith and Ambassador O'Brien and the others who made the decision that this shouldn't be risen to his desk. It was a career CIA officer with more than 30 years of tenure who made the decision not to brief it up and the National Security Adviser agreed with that decision. She's an excellent officer and does great work,' she said Wednesday at her press briefing. 'But this is unverified still at this very moment,' she added.

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On Wednesday, Trump claimed that many in the intelligence community didn't believe that the Russian government was paying a bounty on American troops in Afghanistan

On Wednesday, Trump claimed that many in the intelligence community didn't believe that the Russian government was paying a bounty on American troops in Afghanistan.

He continued to claim he had never been briefed on the matter, saying it didn't rise to the level of president, and called the report a 'hoax'.

'We never heard about it because intelligence never found it to be of that level, where it would rise to that,' Trump told Fox Business in an interview.

'When you bring something into a president and I see many, many things and I'm sure I don't see many things that they don't think rose to the occasion. This didn't rise to the occasion.'

It was his second time that day referring to the matter as a 'hoax'.

'The Russia Bounty story is just another made up by Fake News tale that is told only to damage me and the Republican Party. The secret source probably does not even exist, just like the story itself. If the discredited @nytimes has a source, reveal it. Just another HOAX!,' Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

The White House has struggled to do damage control and contain the fallout from Friday's report in The New York Times on the allegation against Russia. The administration has focused its counterattack on the argument that Trump was never briefed on the matter.

In his interview with Fox Business, Trump argued the intelligence community didn't even buy it.

'From what I hear, and I hear it pretty good, the intelligence people didn't even - many of them didn't believe it happened at all. I think it's a hoax. I think it's a hoax by the newspapers and the Democrats,' Trump said.

But the president declined to detail what he would do if the report turned out to be true, simply saying: 'If it did happen, the Russians would hear about it. And anybody else would hear about it that was involved.'

Officials in the administration have not disputed the existence of the intelligence report but have said it was not verified and that was why it was not presented to Trump.

National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told 'Fox & Friends' on Wednesday morning the president wasn't briefed because the allegation against Russia was 'uncorroborated'.

But he also acknowledged the allegation was in Trump's briefing material - but the briefer didn't verbally tell the president about it.

'The president's career CIA briefer decided not to brief him because it was unverified intelligence and, by the way, she's an outstanding officer and - in knowing all the facts I know - I certainly support her decision,' he said.

Trump's National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told 'Fox & Friends' the president wasn't briefed because the allegation was 'uncorroborated'. O'Brien admitted the information was in the president's daily briefing - it just wasn't given to him orally by the CIA officer

O'Brien, after his appearance on Fox News, was asked by reporters at the White House if the information about Russia was in the president's daily brief but he declined to say either way.

While Trump and his staff have argued he was not briefed on the matter, reports indicated the information was in the president's daily brief - a compilation of intelligence reports given to the commander in chief and top administration officials.

Trump is said not to read it carefully and is, instead, orally briefed on the matters at hand.

O'Brien seems to confirm this with his account.

'The person who decided early on whether the president should be briefed on this in the Oval ... was a senior career civil servant, at a CIA officer,' he told reporters at the White House.

'And she made that decision because she didn't have confidence in the intelligence that came up. We get raw intelligence and tactical intelligence, every day, hundreds of pieces of intelligence coming every day, thousands of pieces of intelligence come in a week. She made that call,' he said.

McEnany said on Tuesday the president does read his briefing reports.

'The President does read and he also consumes intelligence verbally. This president I will tell you is the most informed person on planet earth when it comes to the threats that we face,' McEnany said.

As the administration has struggled to down play the shocking report, Democrats have piled onto the president, accusing him of a 'dereliction of duty' in the words of Joe Biden, the presumptive nominee who spoke in Wilmington on Tuesday.

'If these allegations are true and he did nothing about any of this, then, in fact, I think the public should - unrelated to my running - conclude this man is not fit to be the president of the United States of America,' Biden said of Trump.

Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (left with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, right) said 'there may be a reluctance to brief the president on things he doesn't want to hear'

Hillary Clinton, Trump's 2016 Democratic rival, criticized the president for not knowing about the intelligence.

'Either he knew and chose to do nothing, or he didn't know because he couldn't be bothered to do his job,' she wrote on Twitter.

Biden also slammed Trump for reports he does not read his daily briefing, noting he and President Barack Obama read theirs every day when they were in office.

'The president brief was something I read every day as vice president. The president read it every day. I was briefed every morning before I got to the White House, and then again. The idea that somehow he didn't know or isn't being briefed, it's a dereliction of duty if that's the case. If he was briefed, and nothing was done about this, that is a dereliction of duty,' Biden said of Trump.

Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said 'there may be a reluctance to brief the president on things he doesn't want to hear.'

Schiff made his comments after eight House Democrats received a briefing at the White House on Tuesday morning.

'You briefed the president in the manner in which he or she receives information. If the president doesn't read the briefs, it makes it doesn't doesn't work to give him written product, and not tell him what's in it,' Schiff said.

'So, I don't want to comment on this particular case but I just say it's not a justification to say that the president should have read whatever materials he has. If he doesn't read, he doesn't read. They should know that by now,' he noted.
The man accusing reality The Block star and former Penthouse cover girl Suzi Taylor of assault and extortion after a late-night rendezvous may have been a sex client who refused to pay, a court has been told.

The complaint was made against reality TV contestant after the man was allegedly bashed and unlawfully detained at Taylor's home in October last year following a Tinder hook-up.

Taylor, whose real name is Suellen Jan Taylor, allegedly demanded money from the man during the date, then attacked him when he refused to hand it over.

The Block star and former Penthouse Pet model Suzi Taylor (pictured) is accused of extortion after a late-night rendezvous in October last year

The man, then 33, was punched and kicked in the face before being forced to make an online transaction and withdrew money, police said at the time.

But on Tuesday, Brisbane Magistrate Court was told the man may not have been on a date with Taylor, 49, but instead hired her for sex, then refused to leave her home when asked.

It was also alleged the man deleted evidence from his phone before making a complaint to the police the morning after the alleged attack.

'It is remarkable that these issues have not been explored by investigating police,' Taylor's lawyer, Michael Gatenby, told the court at an application hearing to cross-examine the man at her committal hearing about the nature of his relationship with Taylor.

'The inferences that arise from that (are) issues as to the complainant's credibility.'

Deputy Chief Magistrate Janelle Brassington approved the application, saying it was in the interests of justice.

The complaint was made against reality TV contestant after the man was allegedly bashed and unlawfully detained at Taylor's home in October last year following a Tinder hook-up. Pictured: Suzi Taylor

Ms Brassington also ordered that Mr Gatenby be allowed to question police over Taylor's phone, which investigators held as evidence.

'There seems to be an indication that there were applications relating to what is called 'Escorts and Babes' and 'Scarlet Blue' on the phone,' she said.

Outside court, Mr Gatenby said there were problems with the Crown case.

'We want to explore those and see whether there is a case for (Taylor) to answer,' he said.

'We are very hopeful the committal hearing will see an end to (these) matters.'

A committal hearing has been scheduled for July 29.
The coroner investigating the disappearance of William Tyrrell has released an extraordinary trove of evidence, including never-before-seen photos, transcripts of a recent person of interest's phone conversations and another's diary entries.

The bombshell documents released by the coroner on Tuesday largely relate to two elderly men who have at times been persons-of-interest in the case: Paul Savage, a neighbour of William's foster grandmother, and convicted paedophile Frank Abbott.

Savage is the local man from Kendall, in northern New South Wales, who former investigation chief Gary Jubelin was found by a magistrate to have illegally wiretapped. Mr Savage has denied any role in the little boy's sudden disappearance.

Abbott, 79, is a convicted paedophile who was arrested in jail for questioning over the three-year-old's disappearance last November. He was never charged, but has increasingly been in the sights of investigators.

The evidence released today includes lengthy transcripts of phone conversations Abbott had with his priest friend, Martin Parish, while on the phone from prison.

New photo: The fact William Tyrrell had a white spider on the back of his suit came to light when details of police investigations were aired in court over the past year or so

Phone conversations between person of interest Frank Abbott (above) and his friend Martin Parish were among the trove of information released on Tuesday. Evidence about one-time person of interest Paul Savage (right) was also released in response to an application from the media

A bush area close to where Abbott lived in 2014, in Herons Creek, was combed through by police investigators during a search just last month.

In Abbott's conversations contained in the coronial documents, he was quoted telling his friend police had hauled him from his cell last November and told him 'they said they found a umm ... Spiderman suit and kids clothes or something'.

Abbott said the suit claim was 'garbage' and claimed it was just police trying to 'frighten' him into making a confession.

'They said we got all this evidence and all that,' Abbott told his friend in recorded calls over the next few days.

'And I said "well if you got it why aren't you charging me instead of coming to question me all the time.'

Other evidence that can be shared with the public today includes:

An investigator's note written by police this year, which claimed William Tyrrell's foster father had 'ignored advice' from police to remain at William's foster grandmother's house during the search for the boy. The foster dad was seen by Senior Constable Rowley on the nearby fire trail, the note alleged

A detective expressed concerns that Ron Chapman, a witness who made headlines by claiming to have seen a woman driving away with William Tyrrell on the day he vanished, could not recall he had family staying with him the night before and morning William disappeared. Despite these concerns, the detective said his evidence could not necessarily be discounted

Diary entries have been released where Paul Savage recalls discovering a Spiderman suit on his morning walk. The suit was not William's and had been planted there in a police operation

In Savage's diary entry for July 27 2017, he apparently wrote in block letters: 'Went for my walk again but I found a Spiderman outfit as I walked up the hill. It was about the right size for William. Hope it helps the police find the little bloke.'

The next week, on August 3, he writes about ringing police and reports that they turned up within an hour to speak to him.

The court has previously heard how police hid in bushes to track how Savage, who joined the initial search for William, responded to his find (pictured below).

During their investigation into Paul Savage, police placed a Spiderman suit (above) on the Kendall local's walking track. It was not William's, as it had a black spider on the back. William's was white - a clue that detectives were previously keeping to themselves

This is a diary entry Paul Savage wrote about finding a Spiderman outfit on his morning walk in 2017

The Frank Abbott transcripts

In the transcripts released of Abbott's conversations while in prison, the prisoner is quoted telling his friend Martin Parish the police 'talked to me for 10 minutes asking me questions like if you plead guilty and that now we can help you and all that and Martin (Parish) will forgive you now.

'I said what, for something I didn't do?'

Transcripts of Abbott's conversations with Martin Parish (above) were released

His friend Parish fumed, 'so it's okay for them to lie to you and tell you lies?' and accused police of trying to 'trick' Abbott.

The transcripts were released on Tuesday after police last month dug up bushland near where Abbott lived in 2014, in Herons Creek, on the state's mid-north coast.

The inquest has heard that prior to his death, a friend of Abbott's, Ray Porter, tearfully confessed to an aged care nurse prior to his death that he had given William and his 'best mate' a lift.

According to a statement lodged with police by Kirston Okpegbue, Mr Porter said: 'I didn't do anything wrong, all I did was give my best mate and the boy a lift.'

'Who?' Ms Okpegbue asked.

'The boy that went missing down in Kendall?' he replied.

She asked: 'Are you talking about William Tyrrell?'

He said: 'Yes'.

The documents revealed police have taken the claims seriously, investigating the movements of Porter's car around the time of William's disappearance.

There are 'hundreds' of persons of interest in the Tyrrell investigation and counsel assisting the inquest, Gerard Craddock, has said the fact someone is a person of interest does not necessarily make them a suspect.

William's foster and biological parents have previously been ruled out as suspects in the police investigation.

The inquest resumes later this year. If he is still alive, William Tyrrell would have turned nine-years-old last month.
A tradesman has fought off a deadly snake using a knife and a seat belt as he drove along a highway - surviving the hair-raising experience he feared would be his last.

Police bodycam footage released on Tuesday showed the moment an officer pulled over the man known as Jimmy.

He was in a panic, believing he had been bitten by the poisonous eastern brown snake as it attempted to attack him - even biting the seat between his leg.

Jimmy, 27, was travelling along the Dawson Highway west of Calliope, six hours north of Brisbane, when the snake slithered up his legs.

Police pulled over a man who was speeding to hospital after he fought off an eastern brown snake with a knife and a seatbelt

'I'm driving along at 100, and I just started to brake,' Jimmy told the officer.

'And the more I moved my legs it just started to wrap around me. Its head just started striking at the (driver's seat) chair, between my legs.

'I think it has bitten me, it was with me in the car.'

Jimmy feared he had been bitten by the snake and decided his only option was to kill the snake with his work knife and seatbelt.

After killing the snake he threw it in the back of his ute and was speeding to hospital, believing he only had minutes to live, when he got pulled over by police for driving at 123km/h.

Once pulled over, the officer called for an ambulance who quickly arrived and found that Jimmy had not been bitten and was just in shock.

The man, known as Jimmy, thought he had been bitten so he threw the dead snake in the back of his ute and drove to the hospital

'It was pretty terrifying,' Jimmy said.

'I've never been so happy to see red and blue lights,' Jimmy said.

Brown snakes are known as one of the most venomous snakes in the world and are the leading cause of snake bite deaths in Australia.

Queensland Police said while this was a 'particularly unique situation' it issued a reminder that it was illegal to kill or capture snakes
Residents in Melbourne are refusing to tell health officials who their close contacts are despite a huge surge in coronavirus cases.

Those living in the west and north western suburbs have hampered contact tracing by not sharing information about where they have been and who their close contacts are.

Some people have been told they could have coronavirus up to five days after they came into contact with a known case, the Herald Sun reported.

It means they could have infected dozens of people before they have been told to self-isolate.

Victoria saw a frightening climb in cases on Tuesday recording 191 new infections - its worst number yet.

The whole state is now facing a total lockdown as the border between NSW and Victoria closes from midnight on Tuesday for the first time in 100 years.

Contact tracers are now desperately working to identify those who may have been in touch with new cases but are finding many Victorians aren't doing the right thing. Pictured people line up for COVID-19 testing clinic in Albury on NSW/Victoria border

Victoria saw a jump in cases on Tuesday recording 191 new infections. Pictured firefighters in hazmat suits deliver food to public housing towers locked down in Melbourne on Tuesday

Some Melbourne residents living in west and north-west suburbs are delaying telling authorities where they have travelled and who they've seen. Pictured residents locked down in housing commission flats in Flemington, Melbourne

Those seeking a COVID-19 test are being urged to visit the drive through testing clinics at Melbourne Airport.

Nine tower blocks were placed under a strict lockdown on Saturday and residents are only able to leave with approval.

Suburbs in 12 postcodes have already been placed in lockdown and Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to confine all 6.5million Victorians to their homes as the outbreak leaves 35 people in hospital and nine fighting for their lives.

Pictures from the locked down towers on Tuesday show firefighters dressed in hazmat suits preparing to enter the buildings and deliver milk and bread while dozens of police stand guard outside.

Precautions: Firefighters dressed in personal protective equipment prepare to distribute food throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

Delivery: The Melbourne Public Tenants Association, on behalf of the 3000 residents in the Flemington and North Melbourne estates, say residents have been left in the dark over enforced hard lockdown. Pictured: Firemen deliver bread

Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) is currently in a meeting of the COVID-19 Crisis Council of Cabinet which is discussing further lockdown measures

It comes as New South Wales Police and ADF soldiers set up road blocks and drones along the 1,000km-long NSW-VIC border before it is shut down at midnight for the first time since Spanish Flu struck in 1919.

Victoria's new case total is the second-highest of any state after New South Wales recorded 212 new cases on 28 March.

This graph shows how community transmission has soared

Earlier on Tuesday federal health minister Greg Hunt said broadening the lockdown in Victoria was on the table.

'I don't think that anybody can rule out that if the disease continues to spread, there could be further restrictions,' he told the Nine's Today show.

'I think it's very important to be open and honest about that. At this stage, again, it appears primarily urban Victoria.

'But we actually have to respond to the facts as they occur and we've always identified this notion of rings of containment, of isolating the hotspots and then working out from there.'

Residents of the nine locked-down towers said they feel let down by a lack of communication, food and supplies.

The Melbourne Public Tenants Association, on behalf of the residents in the Flemington and North Melbourne estates, say residents have been left in the dark since the state government's hard lockdown was enforced on Saturday.

In a letter to the federal Acting Chief Medical Officer, Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services, Premier Daniel Andrews and Victoria Police, the association describes how residents were forced to wait 24 hours for food and other essentials like baby formula, nappies and medication.

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

Residents look from a window at one of nine public housing estates locked down due a spike in COVID-19 coronavirus numbers in Melbourne

Victoria's staggering rise in locally acquired coronavirus cases is unprecedented. Pictured: Covid testing in Melbourne on Monday

When the food arrived it was 'at best, questionable pre-packaged meat-like food items that do not look suitable for human consumption'.

'Furthermore, the delivery of the food was tossed to the floor on a single piece of paper in front of the residents' apartment doors in small portions of one food item per household,' the letter said.

NSW reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday from 9,746 tests, including a man who tested negative in hotel quarantine before returning home to Newcastle on Sunday and developing respiratory symptoms. He and his close contacts have been placed into isolation.

The other six cases were in travellers in hotel quarantine.

It comes ahead of Wednesday's NSW-Victoria border closure, which was agreed to by the state's premiers and the prime minister.

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

Healthcare workers carry boxes to high rise housing commission on Sunday during lockdown

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

Since last Monday Victoria has detected 823 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.

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.

Police have been patrolling the commission flats at 120 Racecourse Road in Flemington as 3,000 residents are in hard lockdown

Former Labor leader and MP for Maribyrnong, Bill Shorten, delivers food to the Flemington Towers Government Housing on Monday

There are 55 NSW-Victoria border crossings over more than 1,000 kilometres and they will be manned by police and soldiers with drones and road blocks.

Two probable coronavirus cases are being investigated in the Albury area. NSW Health on Monday evening said the two cases had returned positive results on preliminary testing in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District.

The department on Tuesday said the two cases were undergoing further testing but had not yet been included in the state's confirmed case load.

One suspected case had recently been to Melbourne but returned before hotspot travel restrictions came into force.

NSW Health is setting up a pop-up clinic in Albury from Tuesday and is urging residents in the area with even mild symptoms to get tested.

Queensland recorded its first case of the virus in two weeks on Tuesday, a soldier who returned from overseas and tested positive in hotel quarantine.
When $6,000 mysteriously landed in a Western Australian man's bank account, he couldn't believe his luck.

But in the days that followed, the full-time worker in Perth discovered the Centrelink money was nothing but a curse - and means he may be forced to pay even more tax.

Unable to keep the money and with Centrelink refusing to take it back until October thanks to an obscure rule, he will have to hold onto the lump sum and declare it in his 2019-20 tax return - even though he is not allowed to spend it.

Ryan, who asked for his surname to be withheld, told 9News Centrelink dropped the money in his bank account on June 17.

Centrelink have mistakenly paid a full-time worker a $6000 lump sum payment and will not take back the money until October due to a ban on debt recovery due to the coronavirus

He said he was very surprised by the unexpected windfall because he had not received a payment in more than two years.

Eager to find out if he was eligible for the money, he called Centrelink immediately.

The operator told him it was a 'computer error' and that the $6,000 was the total sum of payments he had received while he was on government benefits.

Ryan was advised he would be required by law to give the money back, but would have to keep it in his account until October due to a freeze on debt recovery activities due to the coronavirus crisis.

'Unfortunately, this means that when I do my tax I will need to declare this money on my tax return. Centrelink will even send this information to the ATO without my permission,' he said.

The lump sum payment pictured in Ryan's bank account will have to be declared to the tax office even though he is not allowed to spend it

He was expecting a much-needed tax refund this financial year but due to the mix up, it now appears he will owe the tax office a hefty fee.

'You might think it's great to have this money  but I just don't want it. I'll get it out of the bank and take it into their offices if that helps,' he said.

'I've spent 30-35 hours in total trying to get a handle on all of this and now I'm going to have to pay for my own accountant, which Centrelink is refusing to foot the bill for.'

Services Australia denied the payment was a 'computer glitch' and blamed the issue on 'human error.'

'We sincerely apologise for any distress this has caused. We'll continue to work with (Ryan) to address his concerns and resolve the issue,' Services Australia General Manager Hank Jongen said in a statement.

'In situations like these we can work with customers to find a suitable arrangement for recouping the over-payment.'

The embarrassing blunder comes of the heels of the 'robo-debt' scandal that saw welfare recipients hounded for debt which in many cases they did not owe.

Over 169,000 letters were sent out from July to December in 2016 in an automated process aimed at recovering over-payments and money obtained from the government fraudulently.

In many instances struggling welfare recipients were forced to make the 'repayments' while contesting their debts.

Data by the Department of Human Services found more than 2000 died after receiving a Centrelink debt notice. Hundreds of these deaths are believed to have been suicide.

The embarrassing blunder comes of the heels of the 'robo-debt' scandal that saw welfare recipients hounded for debt which in many cases they did not owe

A senate committee inquiry was launched into the bungled debt-recovery scheme in 2017 and the Federal Court eventually declared the program 'unlawful'.

Law firm Gordon Legal have since logged a class action suit on behalf of the those who were wrongly targeted.

'The prime minister owes the Australian people an apology for this extraordinary program that - I will say it again - it is extorting money, making false demands of Australian citizens,' Labor's shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus told ABC News.

Labor says the government should now look at every case where the robo-debt system was used.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing mental health issues contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
A popular Bondi beach identity has vowed to fight charges of resisting arrest as his lawyer argues police used 'unlawful force' during the incident.

Dimitri Moskovich, known as 'Mr Bondi' appeared in the Waverley Local Court on Tuesday and vowed to fight charges relating to the April 19 arrest.

Mr Moskovich, 54, is accused of walking through a fenced-off area near Ben Buckler Point, North Bondi, and ignoring signs saying the area was closed due to social distancing.

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Sydney man Dimitri Moskovich (pictured) has vowed to fight charges of resisting arrest after he was arrested at Bondi Beach for allegedly breaching social distancing

His lawyer Nick Hanna said he is confident the evidence will prove officers used 'unlawful force' when arresting Mr Moskovich, Nine News reported.

Dozens of shocked locals watched on and filmed Mr Moskovich - wearing nothing but his signature red budgie smugglers - being arrested by two police officers.

In the dramatic footage, Mr Moskovich was held down on the grass while the officers attempted to handcuff him.

Locals pleaded with police not to use handcuffs and let Mr Moskovich keep his 'dignity'.

'Just cooperate with us okay?' the female officers told Mr Moskovich, who called out to onlookers to film the incident.

Mr Moskovich's arrest (pictured) made headlines after he was filmed in a struggle with two New South Wales Police officers and now his lawyer argues the arrest involved 'unlawful force'

Dozens of shocked locals watched on and filmed Mr Moskovich (pictured), wearing nothing but his signature red budgie smugglers, being arrested by police officers

He begged police to allow him to go with them without being handcuffed first.

'Please guys, just stop. I'm not doing anything wrong. You started harassing me. You started with me about nothing,' he is heard saying.

'I'll come with you to the police station but I'm not giving you my arms.'

Police eventually handcuffed Mr Moskovich before putting him in the back of a police car.

He was then charged with resisting arrest and failing to comply with a notice in a public place.

At the time of his arrest Bondi Beach had been closed for more than two weeks after the coronavirus outbreak forced social distancing.

Mr Moskovich is famous among the Bondi community, and is often seen working out on the famous promenade's outdoor gym.

The Bondi Beach man is set to appear in the Waverley Local Court again in August.
The United States is 'looking into' banning TikTok amid concerns the social media platform poses a threat to national security, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late Monday.

Pompeo told Fox News' Laura Ingram that he and President Trump are taking claims that the app collects users' cellphone data and then shares the information directly with Beijing 'very seriously'.

The comments were made by Pompeo when quizzed about whether the United States should be considering a ban on Chinese social media apps, 'especially TikTok.'

'With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right,' Pompeo said. 'I don't want to get out in front of the President [Donald Trump], but it's something we're looking at.'

The top Washington diplomat added that Americans should only download the app 'if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.'

Pompeo told Fox News' Laura Ingram that he and President Trump are taking reports that users' cellphone data may be being shared directly with Beijing 'very seriously'

TikTok, a short-form video app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has been repeatedly criticized by US politicians who say they're worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies 'to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party'

Pompeo's remarks come amid heightened tensions between the US and China over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, China's actions in Hong Kong and a near two-year trade war.

TikTok, a short-form video app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has been repeatedly criticized by US politicians who say they're worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies 'to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.'

The app, which is not available for download in China, has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots to appeal to a global audience.

TikTok has said previously that it operates separately from ByteDance and claimed its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and that none of that data is therefore subject to Chinese law.

The app, which has been downloaded more than 175 million times in the US, says data of its American users is stored on servers in the US, and backed up in Singapore.

TikTok has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for comment on Pompeo's remarks. A spokesperson for the company told CNN in May that it thinks the national security concerns are 'unfounded.'

'I don't want to get out in front of the President [Donald Trump], but it's something we're looking at,' Pompeo said

TikTok has said previously that it operates separately from ByteDance and claimed its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and that none of that data is subject to Chinese law.

TikTok has already been banned by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security, as well as on government-issued mobile devices used by the US Army and US Navy.

New York senator Chuck Schumer wrote to TSA administrator David Pekoske raising concerns about the way the China-owned app handles user data in February.

The TSA responded to Schumer's letter by announcing that employees will no longer use the app as part of the agency's social media strategy.

'TSA has never published any content to TikTok nor has it ever directed viewers to TikTok,' the agency said in a statement.

'A small number of TSA employees have previously used TikTok on their personal devices to create videos for use in TSA's social media outreach, but that practice has since been discontinued.'

A class action lawsuit filed in the US late last year also claimed that TikTok came pre-loaded with Chinese surveillance software.

'TikTok clandestinely has vacuumed up and transferred to servers in China vast quantities of private and personally-identifiable user data that can be employed to identify, profile, and track the location and activities of users in the United States now and in the future,' the lawsuit read.

'TikTok also has surreptitiously taken user content, such as draft videos never intended for publication, without user knowledge or consent. In short, TikTok's lighthearted fun comes at a heavy cost.'

The app was also recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps after a border clash between the two nations in which 20 Indian soldiers died (Members of the Working Journalist of India (WJI) hold placards urging citizens to remove Chinese apps and stop using Chinese products during a demonstration against the Chinese newspaper Global Times)

The app was also recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps after a border clash between the two nations in which 20 Indian soldiers died.

The Indian government said the apps are 'prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order', the Ministry of Information Technology said.

The department added that some of the apps had also been found to be 'stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India', though failed to specify the apps allegedly responsible.

TikTok has denied sharing Indian users' data with the Chinese government.

'TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government,' TikTok India chief Nikhil Gandhi said last month.

'Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity,' he said.

The Australian government is also said to be considering banning TikTok. Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Fergus Ryan said TikTok was full of mass surveillance and propaganda.

The app also censored all anti-China opinions and had the ability to feed information straight to Beijing, Mr Ryan said.

He said it was 'no question' the Chinese Communist Party had a hold of the data as there are members of the party within the company.

Reuters reported late on Monday that TikTok would exit the Hong Kong market within days, deciding to do so after China's establishment of a sweeping new national security law for the semi-autonomous city.
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Two US Navy aircraft carriers have been pictured for the first time together on operations in the contested South China Sea just two days after Beijing threatened to blow them up.

The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan came together along with their attendant strike groups, carrier-launched F-18 fighters and a B-52 bomber for military exercises.

The US Navy hasn't brought carriers together for such shows of force in the region since 2014 when the USS George Washington and USS Carl Vinson sailed there side by side.

But this year's drill comes amid heightened tension in the region, as the US continues to criticize China over its novel coronavirus response, and after Donald Trump threatened the country with a trade war.

The US has accuses China of taking advantage of the pandemic to push territorial claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan (both pictured Monday) are conducting exercises in the contested South China Sea within sight of Chinese naval vessels spotted near the flotilla just a day after Beijing threatened to destroy the strike group

The US Navy hasn't brought carriers together for such shows of force in the region since 2014 when the USS George Washington and USS Carl Vinson sailed there side by side. The USS Ronald Reagan (front) and the USS Nimitz (rear) sail together in formation in the South China Sea on Monday

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the USS Ralph Johnson, and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton steam in formation as part of the USS Nimitz carrier strike group

The vessels were in sight of Chinese naval vessels, which were spotted near the flotilla.

'They have seen us and we have seen them,' Rear Admiral James Kirk said in a telephone interview from the Nimitz, which has been conducting flight drills in the waterway with the Seventh Fleet carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, that began on July 4.

Images of the exercises, which were first released on Monday, show a B-52 bomber flying in formation with the two strike groups over the South China Sea.

The bomber flew from Louisiana on July 4 and participated in a maritime integration exercise with the two strike groups before landing at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.

This year's drill with the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan comes amid heightened tension as the US continues to criticize China over its novel coronavirus response and accuses it of taking advantage of the pandemic to push territorial claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere

China's foreign ministry said the US had deliberately sent its ships to the South China Sea to flex its muscles and accused it of trying to drive a wedge between countries in the region

The Pentagon, when it announced the dual carrier exercise, said it wanted to 'stand up for the right of all nations to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows', describing its 100,000-ton ships and the 90 or so aircraft they each carry as a 'symbol of resolve'

The US show of force comes after Chinese state media said the double US aircraft carrier deployment to the South China Sea is 'at their pleasure'.

In a tweet The Global Times also warned: 'China has a wide selection of anti-aircraft carrier weapons like DF-21D and DF-26 'aircraft carrier killer' #missiles.'

The state run Global Times said analysts noted that they could destroy the carriers at any moment with missiles in a chilling threat.

The paper wrote: 'The South China Sea is fully within the grasp of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), and any US aircraft carrier movement in the region is solely at the pleasure of the PLA, which has a wide selection of anti-aircraft carrier weapons like the DF-21D and DF-26 'aircraft carrier killer' missiles.'

In response, the Navy Chief of Information shared on Twitter: 'And yet, there they are. Two @USNavy aircraft carriers operating in the international waters of the South China Sea. #USSNimitz & #USSRonaldReagan are not intimidated.'

China's foreign ministry said Monday the US had deliberately sent its ships to the South China Sea to flex its muscles and accused it of trying to drive a wedge between countries in the region.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the exercises were performed 'totally out of ulterior motives' and undermined stability in the area.

'Against such a backdrop, the US deliberately dispatched massive forces to conduct large-scale military exercises in the relevant waters of the South China Sea to flex its military muscle,' Zhao said at a daily briefing.

The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan strike groups conduct dual carrier operations in the South China Sea

A B-52 bomber is seen flying out in front of the two strike groups during exercises over the South China Sea

Sailors observe the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan from the USS Nimitz as the Nimitz and Ronald Reagan carrier strike groups steam in formation on Monday

The Pentagon, when it announced the dual carrier exercise, said it wanted to 'stand up for the right of all nations to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows', describing its 100,000-ton ships and the 90 or so aircraft they each carry as a 'symbol of resolve'.

Over the weekend, the Navy said the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan along with their accompanying vessels and aircraft conducted exercises 'designed to maximize air defense capabilities, and extend the reach of long-range precision maritime strikes from carrier-based aircraft in a rapidly evolving area of operations'.

About 12,000 sailors are on ships in the combined carrier strike groups.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, through which some $3trillion of trade passes a year. China routinely objects to any action by the US military in the region. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims.

China has sought to shore up its claim to the sea by building military bases on coral atolls, leading the U.S. to sail warships through the region in what it calls freedom of operation missions.

Contact with Chinese ships had been without incident, Kirk said.

'We have the expectation that we will always have interactions that are professional and safe,' he said. 'We are operating in some pretty congested waters, lots of maritime traffic of all sorts.'

Over the weekend, the Navy said the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan along with their accompanying vessels and aircraft conducted exercises 'designed to maximize air defense capabilities, and extend the reach of long-range precision maritime strikes from carrier-based aircraft in a rapidly evolving area of operations'

The USS Nimitz is seen steaming alongside the Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea on Monday

An F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to the Eagles of Strike Fighter Squadron 115 takes off from the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan on Monday

This B-52 bomber from Louisiana took off from its home station on July 4th and participated in a maritime integration exercise with two aircraft carrier strike groups in the South China Sea before landing at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam

About 12,000 sailors are on ships in the combined carrier strike groups. This B-52 bomber is seen after landing at the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam

The B-52 bomber is seen in formation with two strike groups over the South China Sea

This image shows the strike group flying in formation over the South China Sea during drills over the weekend

This image captured two aircraft from the strike groups flying over one of the aircraft carriers during exercises over the South China Sea

Washington does not officially take a stand on the rival territorial claims in the region, but is closely allied with several of the claimants and insists that the waters and the airspace above be free to all countries.

Rear Admiral George M. Wikoff said of the exercises: 'The purpose is to show an unambiguous signal to our partners and allies that we are committed to regional security and stability.'

Wikoff, commander of the strike group led by the Ronald Reagan, said the exercises were not a response to those being conducted by China, which the Pentagon criticized this week as 'counter-productive to efforts at easing tensions and maintaining stability'.

China dismissed the US criticism of its drills on Friday and suggested the United States was to blame for increasing tensions.

China announced last week it had scheduled five days of drills starting July 1 near the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by both Vietnam and China.

Vietnam and the Philippines have also criticized the Chinese drills, warning they could create tension in the region and impact Beijing's relationship with its neighbors.

The US accuses China of trying to intimidate Asian neighbors who might want to exploit its extensive oil and gas reserves.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, through which some $3trillion of trade passes a year. China routinely objects to any action by the US military in the region. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims

Chinese state media shared these images Saturday and said the double US aircraft carrier deployment to the South China Sea is 'at their pleasure'

The state run Global Times said analysts noted that they could destroy the carriers at any moment with missiles in a chilling threat, posting these images

And while the US show of force is strong this week, in recent months, the Navy has taken some hard hits amid the pandemic.

The spread of the coronavirus aboard the carrier while on deployment in the Pacific in March exploded into one of the biggest military leadership crises of recent years.

In response, the Navy Chief of Information shared on Twitter: 'And yet, there they are. Two @USNavy aircraft carriers operating in the international waters of the South China Sea'

More than 1,000 members of the crew eventually became infected, and one sailor died. The ship was sidelined for weeks at Guam but recently returned to duty.

The outbreak led to the firing of then captain Brett Crozier after he sent a letter to Navy leaders asking that most of the crew be taken ashore.

That letter was subsequently leaked to the press. Last month, after a two-month investigation, the Navy decided that Crozier would not return to the Roosevelt and not be eligible to captain another ship.

The COVID-19 outbreak on the Roosevelt was the most extensive and concentrated spread of the virus across the US military.

It eventually sent all of the 4,800 crew members ashore for weeks of quarantine, in a systematic progression that kept enough sailors on the ship to keep it secure and running.

More broadly, it put out of commission a massive warship vital to the Navys mission of countering China's power in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Roosevelt spent weeks in port in Guam, as crew members rotated ashore for quarantine and isolation at the military base and in hotels around the island.

After about two weeks of training at sea, the carrier returned to operations at sea with a reduced crew on June 4.

Sailors have continued to fly back to the ship from Guam after they have recovered from the virus or completed two-weeks of quarantine.

Meanwhile, tensions between China have remained, partly due to President Donald Trump claiming that China may have spread the coronavirus intentionally.

Last month, the president made the claim in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. 'There's a chance it was intentional,' Trump said of the coronavirus spread that started in Wuhan and traveled around the globe earlier this year.

Without providing any evidence, the president speculated China may have had economic motivations letting the virus escape.

President Donald Trump has also caused tensions between the two countries with claims that China may have spread the coronavirus intentionally

More recently, China (the country's president, Xi Jinping is pictured) demanded Washington stop 'oppressing Chinese companies' after US regulators declared telecom equipment suppliers Huawei and ZTE to be national security threats

He said he didn't have intelligence reports to back up the claim, adding that there was a better chance it was Chinese incompetence or a mistake.

'I don't think they would do that,' Trump then said. 'But you never know. But it has had an impact.'

More recently, China demanded Washington stop 'oppressing Chinese companies' after US regulators declared telecom equipment suppliers Huawei and ZTE to be national security threats.

Last Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission blocked the Chinese vendors from receiving subsidies from a government fund, stepping up efforts to limit their access to the US market.

A foreign ministry spokesman accused Washington of 'abusing state power' to hurt Chinese companies 'without any evidence'.

'We once again urge the United States to stop abusing the concept of national security, deliberately discrediting China and unreasonably oppressing Chinese companies,' said the spokesman, Zhao Lijian.

US regulators say Huawei, the biggest global maker of telecom switching equipment, and its smaller Chinese rival ZTE Corp are controlled by the ruling Communist Party and say they might facilitate Chinese spying.

Huawei and ZTE deny the US accusations. Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, said last year he would refuse official demands to reveal its customers' secrets despite a law that obliges Chinese companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies.

The FCC said money from its $8.3billion-a-year Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes equipment purchases for some carriers, may no longer be used to purchase Huawei or ZTE equipment.

The FCC 'has designated Huawei and ZTE as national security risks,' said the agencys chairman, Ajit Pai, in a statement. He said the companies 'threaten our national security'.

The decision affects mostly small, rural carriers because major U.S. phone companies dont use Chinese equipment.

The FCC had previously barred Huawei and ZTE from receiving other government subsidies. Congress enacted a law in March that will provide up to $1billion for carriers to replace Chinese-made equipment.
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The whole of Melbourne and Mitchell Shire north of the city will be placed back into lock down for six weeks from 11.59pm on Wednesday after Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure yet.

Residents will be only allowed to leave their homes for work and study, giving or receiving care, shopping for essentials and daily exercise near where they live.

Police will stop Victorians leaving or entering Melbourne with roadblocks and booze bus-style vehicle checks, effectively sealing 5million people inside the city.

Gatherings of more than two people who do not live together will be banned; beauty services and entertainment venues will shut; and cafes, restaurants and pubs will be able to offer takeaway only.

Year 11 and 12 pupils and special schools will go back to class but holidays will be extended by a week for students up to year 10, with remote learning a possibility after that.

Restrictions for the rest of Victoria remain the same - but residents can only enter Melbourne for caregiving, essential shopping and work or study.

Under-pressure premier Daniel Andrews said the new lockdown was essential to avoid 'thousands and thousands' of cases and 'many, many people in hospital.'

'This is a pandemic and it will kill thousands of people if it gets completely away from us,' he said.

The whole of Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire north of the city will be placed back into lock down for six weeks from 11.59pm on Wednesday after Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure yet. Pictured: A map showing the suburbs in lockdown

New lockdown: Victoria has recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure yet. Pictured: Police and nurses wearing protective equipment outside tower blocks in north Melbourne

Enforcement: Police will stop people leaving Melbourne with roadblocks and booze bus-style vehicle checks, effectively sealing 5million people inside the city. Pictured: Officers outside public housing estates in Melbourne

Workers carrying boxes of protection supplies help keen key workers safe outside locked-down tower blocks in north Melbourne. Premier Daniel Andrews said the new lockdown was essential to avoid 'thousands and thousands' of cases and 'many, many people in hospital.'

Volunteers have been delivering food to public housing residents. Pictured: A stack of food and supplies stored before distribution

One carpet-cleaner described the conditions in the towers as 'worse than prison' because residents are not allowed outside. Pictured: Workers help deliver food to residents

Preparing for duty: Police Officers congregate outside Sydney Domestic Terminal before being transported to various parts of the NSW border where they will stop Victorians entering the state

Mr Andrews said case numbers will 'get worse before they get better'. He has told Prime Minster Scott Morrison about the new lockdown and requested hundreds of ADF troops to help with enforcement.

The Premier also said he has spoken to Mr Morrison about the possibility of extending JobKeeper and the increased JobSeeker payment, which are due to expire in September, for Victorians who are locked down until 19 August.

'I am confident that the Prime Minister knows and understands that there will be different forms of hardship in different parts of the country, different industry, different sectors,' he said.

After Mr Andrews announced the new lockdown, Victorian Opposition leader Michael O'Brien savaged him for 'failing to accept responsibility for his own mistakes'.

Dozens of cases from the Melbourne outbreak have been traced back to breaches in the hotel quarantine system after private security guards used by the government instead of the police interacted with patients and took the virus home to their families.

He said: 'Daniel Andrews let the Covid-19 genie out of the bottle with hotel quarantine bungles and now everyone's paying the price for it. This is going to be devastating for so many families, so many small businesses, so many jobs that just may not be there in six weeks' time.'

Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton confirmed 37 new cases are linked to outbreaks and 154 are under investigation, bringing the state's total to 2,824 cases.

Thirteen new cases are linked to nine Melbourne tower blocks which have suffered 69 cases and been placed under hard lockdown since Saturday, meaning residents cannot leave for any reason without special approval.

Pictures from the housing commission blocks today show firefighters dressed in hazmat suits preparing to enter the buildings to deliver milk and bread while dozens of police stand guard outside.

Precautions: Firefighters dressed in personal protective equipment prepare to distribute food throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

Testing: Residents wait in line to be tested for COVID-19 at a pop-up clinic in Albury on the border with Victoria in southern NSW. In Melbourne Gatherings of more than two people who not not live together will be banned; beauty services and entertainment venues will shut

Police presence: Nine public housing towers blocks including 3,000 residents have been put under hard lockdown, meaning they cannot leave for any reason. Pictured: Police at a housing block in North Melbourne

Delivery: The Melbourne Public Tenants Association, on behalf of the 3000 residents in the Flemington and North Melbourne estates, say residents have been left in the dark over enforced hard lockdown. Pictured: Firemen deliver bread

Locked down: A resident of a housing commission block in north Melbourne presses against the window as police patrol outside

Under presser: Premier Daniel Andrews announced a fresh lock down for Melbourne today. Residents were only allowed out of their homes for five weeks before being told to stay inside once more

Victoria's new case total is the second-highest of any state after New South Wales recorded 212 new cases on 28 March during the peak of the pandemic in Australia.

But many of those were returned travellers and their close contacts, meaning the Victoria outbreak is far more dangerous and a 'threat to the nation' because the cases are transmitting rapidly among the local community.

Earlier on Tuesday 650 police and 350 soldiers set up road blocks and drones along the 1,000km-long New South Wales-Victoria border before it is shut down at midnight tonight for the first time since Spanish Flu struck in 1919.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott said Victoria should help pay for border closure because it was 'caused by a situation in Melbourne' as he called the shutdown a 'sad situation for Australia'.

This graph shows how community transmission has soared

The border shut-down comes as:

New South Wales recorded seven new virus cases, including a Newcastle man released from quarantine

Queensland reported its first case in more than two weeks, a returned solider in hotel quarantine

The federal government agreed to cap numbers flying into Western Australia at 525 a week

WA, the ACT and the NT recorded zero new cases

SA increased border measures to ban Victorians by removing the two-week quarantine option

Four of Victoria's new cases related to an outbreak among emergency department staff at Northern Hospital Epping, which now totals eight staff and one household contact.

The emergency department remains open with a temporary reduction in non-urgent elective surgery and outpatient appointments.

A new case has also been confirmed in a staff member at the Assisi aged care facility in Rosanna, in Melbourne's northeast.

The staff member did not work while infectious and widespread testing of staff and residents at the facility will begin on Tuesday.

Staff undertaking contact tracing in north Melbourne are finding that some patients are reluctant to share their close contacts, according to the Herald-Sun.

The newspaper reports that in some cases residents have been told by officials they are a close contact as long as five days after they met a confirmed patient.

Meanwhile, residents of the nine locked-down towers said they feel let down by a lack of communication, food and supplies. Some have complained they have had to go hungry because officials have not brought them enough to eat.

The Melbourne Public Tenants Association, on behalf of the residents in the Flemington and North Melbourne estates, say residents have been left in the dark since the state government's hard lockdown was enforced on Saturday.

Victoria's new case total is the second-highest of any state after New South Wales recorded 212 new cases on 28 March. Pictured: Firefighters distribute milk and bread to tower block residents

Earlier today federal health minister Greg Hunt said broadening the lockdown in Victoria was on the table. Pictured: Firefighers in hazmat suits and police at a north Melbourne tower block

Helpers arrive with food in shopping trollies which will be distributed by firefighters throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

A firefighter is seen wearing personal protective equipment prior to distributing food throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

Workers unload food and provisions from the back of a ute which will be distributed by firefighters throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

Ready for action: Police officers congregate outside the Domestic Terminal before being transported to various parts of the NSW border

Where are Victoria's new coronavirus cases? * 13 infections relate to the North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers, with the total now 69 * 12 new cases are linked to the Al-Taqwa College outbreak, bringing that total to 90 * Four new cases have been linked to the Northern Hospital in Epping, with the total now nine. * One case linked to Aitken Hill Primary School in Craigieburn with that outbreak now at 10 * The remaining new cases are linked to existing family clusters in Truganina, Patterson Lakes/Lysterfield, Fawkner and Sunshine West * One new case has also been confirmed in a staff member at the Assisi Aged Care facility in Rosanna, who did not work while infectious Advertisement

In a letter to the federal Acting Chief Medical Officer, Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services, Premier Andrews and Victoria Police, the association describes how residents were forced to wait 24 hours for food and other essentials like baby formula, nappies and medication.

When the food arrived it was 'at best, questionable pre-packaged meat-like food items that do not look suitable for human consumption'.

'Furthermore, the delivery of the food was tossed to the floor on a single piece of paper in front of the residents' apartment doors in small portions of one food item per household,' the letter said.

One carpet-cleaner described the conditions as 'worse than prison' because residents are not allowed outside.

As Victoria battles a snowballing outbreak, NSW reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday from 9,746 tests, including a man who tested negative in hotel quarantine before returning home to Newcastle on Sunday and developing respiratory symptoms. He and his close contacts have been placed into isolation.

The other six cases were in travellers in hotel quarantine. Two probable coronavirus cases are being investigated in the Albury area after returning positive results on preliminary testing in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District.

Health officials said the two cases were undergoing further testing but had not yet been included in the state's confirmed case load.

One suspected case had recently been to Melbourne but returned before hotspot travel restrictions came into force.

NSW Health is setting up a pop-up clinic in Albury from Tuesday and is urging residents in the area with even mild symptoms to get tested.

Workers in full hazmat suits are seen preparing food and care packages for residents of 12 Sutton Street in North Melbourne

A police officer looks up at apartment building windows through his binoculors at 120 Racecourse Road in Flemington

Minister says Victoria should pay for border closure NSW Police Minister said the Victorian government should help pay for the shut down from Tuesday night. 'I would think that would be the decent thing to do, given this is an outbreak that's caused by a situation in Melbourne,' he said. 'But we can't rely on other governments to do the right thing all the time. 'So as far as the New South Wales Government is concerned, we'll be providing the financial support that's necessary. 'Obviously with the defence aid, that comes within each individual agreement, the application that's made.' Mr Elliot expressed sympathy for people in Melbourne, saying: 'It is a sad situation for Australia. I mean, it's the second largest city, it's the second strongest metropolitan economy. 'I feel for the people of Melbourne who have certainly tried to do the right thing. But they've been let down by a number of circumstances.' Advertisement

Queensland recorded its first case of the virus in two weeks on Tuesday, a soldier who returned from overseas and tested positive in hotel quarantine.

South Australia recorded zero new cases and announced that it was ramping up border measures to completely ban Victorians by removing the option for them to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival from midnight tomorrow.

Since last Monday Victoria has detected 823 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.

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.

Since last Monday Victoria has detected 823 new infections, only 14 of whom are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine. Pictured: Covid testers in Melbourne on Tuesday

8 Fire trucks are seen parked on Mount Alexander Road out the front of the commission flats at 130 Racecourse Road.

Thirteen new cases are linked to nine Melbourne tower blocks which have suffered 69 cases and been placed under hard lockdown since Saturday. Pictured: A policeman on Tuesday at the north Melbourne towers

Victoria Opposition leader's statement in full You have been let down by a Government that has not done the right thing by you. This failure, this lockdown, is as a result of problems in hotel quarantine. Daniel Andrews let the COVID-19 genie out of the bottle with hotel quarantine bungles and now everyone's paying the price for it. This is going to be devastating for so many families, so many small businesses, so many jobs that just may not be there in six weeks' time. The Premier's tone today was really disappointing. He was looking to blame Victorian, point the finger at Victorians instead of looking at the mirror and accepting responsibility for his Government's mistakes that have led to where we are today. We need to get on top of this virus. The Premier keeps saying we are all in this together, it would be great if he acted like it. It would be great if he admitted responsibility where he has got things wrong and he has let this virus spread into the community. It would be great if the Premier tried to bring in other people to help with this situation. Clearly the Premier is under pressure. He is looking stressed. He is looking rattled. He needs help, he needs help from the Federal Government and frankly I think it is time for the Premier to invite other parties around Victoria to work with him and the Government to fix this mess. While I'm disappointed the Premier has got us to this position I'm willing to extend an offer of bipartisan support for trying to fix the problems that we are now in because I think that's what Victorians want to see. It's a tough day for Victorians. My heart goes out to every one whose lives are going to be turned upside-down by being put back into lockdown for another six weeks. We will do the best we can to get through this but we need to work together and frankly the Premier needs to accept responsibility for the mistakes that have been made that have led to where we are today. Advertisement

'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.

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.'

There are 55 NSW-Victoria border crossings over more than 1,000 kilometres and they will be manned by police and soldiers with drones and road blocks when the border is shut from 12.01am tonight.

Anyone entering NSW from Victoria without a permit will be fined $11,000 and could face six months in jail.
Hong Kong nationals studying in Australia have grave concerns for their safety, claiming they've been intimidated, spied upon and received deaths threats from Chinese nationals.

Two students active in Perth's pro-Hong Kong democracy movement said they had been subject to intimidation for criticising China's strict new security laws in their homeland.

The new laws have banned all expression of political views, slogans and signs advocating Hong Kong's independence or liberation.

Hong Kong national 'Mary', 25, claimed she received death threats after her address and personal details were widely shared on Chinese social platform WeChat by those wanting to silence her.

She recalled being followed home by Chinese nationals after she attended an activist rally in Perth last year.

Pro-Hong Kong democracy activists living in Australia say they can't return home following the new security laws imposed by China. Pictured is a riot police officer searching a woman during a demonstration in a mall in Hong Kong

'The police  told them to leave and then they just waited in their car and followed us to my apartment building,' Mary told the ABC.

'Later that day when I went downstairs to pick up my delivery, I saw that car still there. It's just not safe for us to even be in such a free country.'

Fellow Pro-Hong Kong democracy activist 'John', 24, also claimed he has been followed, had his personal details widely shared and photographed by Chinese nationals in Perth.

'After the protest I ran back to my accommodation and when I was doing exercise in the gym room some Chinese were taking photos of me,' he recalled.

Despite the harassment, the students intend to stay in Australia for the time being.

One student believes she would be arrested if she returned to Hong Kong. Pictured is a Hong Kong mall being heavily patrolled by riot police this week

John returned to Hong Kong for several months last year when he took part in protests where he said he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper bullets.

He supports the idea of special visa for pro-Hong Kong democracy protesters so they can remain in Australia and would prefer to live here than his homeland.

Mary believes she would be arrested if she returned to Hong Kong and has closed any bank accounts linked to her parents who still live there.

She has spent the past six months considering seeking asylum in Australia but remains torn about whether to cut her ties to her home country.

'Once we accept that [asylum] offer we can't go home forever and that is my main concern, even though I know returning home is very risky at the moment I still don't want to know that I actually can't go home forever,' Mary said.
Victoria should foot the bill for the 1,000 New South Wales officers and soldiers deployed to close the state border, NSW's Police Minister has said.

Around 650 police officers and 350 members from the Australian Defence Force will set up road blocks and drones along the 1,000km-long New South Wales-Victoria border before it's closed at midnight on Tuesday.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott called on Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to cover the cost of the policing, as it was Melbourne's second wave of COVID-19 cases that sparked the border shutdown.

'I would think that would be the decent thing to do, given this is an outbreak that's caused by a situation in Melbourne,' he said on Tuesday.

Around 650 police officers and 350 members from the Australian Defence Force will help close the border between NSW and Victoria - which comes into effect from midnight on Tuesday. Pictured sign warning of fines for those entering NSW from Victoria

NSW Police Minister David Elliott (pictured) called on Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to do the 'decent' thing and help cover the cost after Melbourne's explosion in COVID-19 cases

'But we can't rely on other governments to do the right thing all the time.

'As far as the New South Wales government is concerned, we'll be providing the financial support that's necessary.'

But Premier Andrews hit back saying he doesn't know the NSW Police Minister and 'simply' has no time to argue with him.

'I will speak with [NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian] with that issue and she hasn't raised that with me,' he said.

Victoria recorded its largest spike in cases on Tuesday recording 191 new infections, and the whole of Melbourne has been placed into lockdown once more.

Lockdown had been introduced in 12 hotspot postcodes last week, but now that has been expanded to the entire metropolis as infection numbers continued to escalate.

The border between NSW and Victoria will close from midnight for the first time since the Spanish Flu crisis 100 years ago.

Anyone caught crossing the border without a permit could find themselves in jail for up to six months and be hit with an $11,000 fine.

Mr Elliott said some Melbourne residents had been 'let down'.

'It is a sad situation for Australia. I mean, it's the second largest city, it's the second strongest metropolitan economy,' he said.

Anyone caught crossing the border without a permit could find themselves in jail for up to six months and be hit with an $11,000 fine. Pictured NSW police at Sydney Airport on Monday

Firefighters in hazmat suit deliver food to those locked down in Melbourne housing commission towers on Tuesday

'I feel for the people of Melbourne who have certainly tried to do the right thing.'

Roads into NSW have been categorised into three tiers, A, B and C.

There will be checkpoints at five main highways between the two states including the Wodonga Place and the Hume, Cobb, Stuart and Princes highways.

In the B tier, 29 roads will be monitored by police around the clock.

The last C category which includes 20 dirt tracks and less populated roads, will be monitored through drone surveillance.

'This isn't a punishment,' Mr Elliott said.

'Don't think we'll have police, military personnel with big black sticks trying to punish people for doing something.'
David 'Kochie' Koch has shared his best financial tips for individuals and small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sunrise host warned against making big property investments, but said banks will soon be willing to give out helpful small business loans and people should consider investing in gold.

He went live on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon to answer Australians' burning questions about navigating the economy amidst the health crisis.

Koch spoke about buying and renting property, accessing small business loans and shifting sales online during the 30-minute live stream.

Here, Daily Mail Australia breaks down the presenter's top tips for maximising your finances during the pandemic.

David 'Kochie' Koch (pictured) has shared his top financial tips, saying Australians should be trying to negotiate a reduction in the price of their rent

BUYING AN APARTMENT

Koch said renters should be saving money on their rent, while prospective buyers looking for an apartment should hold off at least a year.

'Apartment property market, particularly in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne, is just awash with stock at the moment,' he said.

Referring to data from CoreLogic, Koch explained that 52 per cent of off-plan apartments in Sydney are settling with a valuation less than when they were bought.

'That's a really worrying trend in terms of the apartment market,' he said.

Koch said rent is coming down 'quite substantially' in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne.

'So if you're a renter, negotiate your rent down when it comes up and you'll get big discounts,' he said.

'If you're a buyer of residential apartments, maybe wait for 12 to 18 months because valuations are really starting to trend down now.'

Koch spoke about buying and renting property, accessing small business loans and shifting business online during the 30-minute live stream (stock image)

SMALL BUSINESS LOANS

Koch said there isn't much competition with small business loans at the moment.

'Banks are pretty careful because of the uncertainty of the economy going forward,' he said.

'But once there's some stability in the economy, and we come out of this, then I think you will see the banks start to hone in on small business loans after that.'

PUTTING A BUSINESS ONLINE

One viewer, who owns a yoga studio in Melbourne, asked Koch whether she should offer classes online.

Melbourne will re-enter a stage-three lockdown from 11.59pm on Wednesday, as the city continues to grapple with a spike in coronavirus cases. \

This means fitness studios will be forced to shut their doors once again.

'Definitely,' he said.

David 'Kochie' Koch (pictured) went live on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon to answer Australians burning questions about navigating the economy amidst the health crisis

'You should be looking at how to do it online through Zoom or whatever. Give it a go.

'Everyone's getting used to do everything on Zoom, Skype at the moment and it's a good way of keeping connections with your customers.'

Koch referred to a case study where a business owner in Brisbane offered workout classes online during the peak of the country's COVID-19 crisis.

The presenter said the woman found she was able to maintain relationships with her clients by using the medium and has decided to continue to offer the online service as coronavirus restrictions are eased.

Koch said renters should be saving money on their rent, while prospective buyers looking for an apartment should hold off at least a year (stock image)

INVESTING IN METAL

Koch was asked whether metal resources are a 'good place to invest' during the coronavirus pandemic.

Koch said it was a question that was increasingly being asked.

'The gold price has had a bit of a run up in the last week or so, it's been high for a while,' he said.

'With the low Australian dollar, in Australian dollar terms, the gold price has been well above $2,000 an ounce.

'Now the Australian dollar, in US dollar terms has been rising, that gaps come down a bit.'

Koch said it's still 'pretty attractive' in Australian dollars.

SELLING THE FAMILY HOME

Another viewer asked about selling the family home, while a parent is in aged care, to pay the facility deposit.

Koch recommended seeking financial advice to get the job done properly and to 'be a comfort to your elderly parents'.

'I don't know about you but that responsibility of looking after your elderly parent's resources, particularly when it has to fund them into say a retirement village or nursing home, which can be for a few years, can be quite tricky,' he said.

Koch also recommended looking at advisorratings.com.au - which he compared to TripAdvisor - to find a financial advisor best suited to the task.
A serial killer and rapist has been named as the murderer of a 95-year-old grandmother inside a nursing home.

Kathleen Downes was stabbed and had her throat sliced at her aged-care home in Brunswick, in Melbourne's inner north-west, on New Year's Eve in 1997.

It can be reported for the first time that in 2015, the then-state coroner Ian Gray found that the grandmother's death was caused by Peter Dupas.

'I am satisfied that the death of Mrs Kathleen Gladwyn Downes was a result of the actions of Mr Peter Dupas,' Mr Gray said at the time.

The findings were released on Monday after Coroner Paresa Spanos lifted a long-standing gag order.

Kathleen Downes (pictured) was brutally murdered in a Brunswick nursing home by serial killer Peter Dupas

Peter Dupas (pictured centre) is already serving life behind bars without the chance of parole

The original order aimed to prevent the findings being published to allow the now 67-year-old a fair trial.

Mr Dupas represented himself over video link from prison to the Coroner's Court to ask for the suppression order to stay in place.

'I'm not a very good public speaker. I'll do my best,' Dupas said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

He claimed he could change his ways 'tomorrow, next week, next month' and the release of information could hurt his chances at a fair trial, but officials saw no reason for the order not to lift.

'The public have a right to know what the findings were into the tragic death of Kathleen Downes,' lawyer for the Director of Public Prosecutions Raymond Gibson submitted.

Dupas' trial collapsed last year when star witness and disgraced lawyer Andrew Fraser became too ill with cancer to testify.

Fraser spent time with the killer in prison after he was jailed for trafficking cocaine and said in an inquest that Dupas made references to 'the old sheila, Downes'.

Former solicitor Andrew Fraser (pictured) is seen as he leaves the Supreme Court after giving evidence at the trial of Peter Dupas in Melbourne in 2007. He has since become too ill to give evidence

He also claimed Dupas boasted about how he left no forensic evidence behind with the 'old sheila'.

Mrs Downes' body was found by a staff member on her bedroom floor in a pool of blood after she had been repeatedly stabbed and her throat had been cut.

It is believed the killer sneaked into the home through a kitchen window.

Prosecutors believed Dupas was motivated to kill Ms Downes because she resembled his overbearing mother, whom he resented, the report claimed.

Ms Downes was described as 'a dear old lady with a wonderful nature' and the matriarch of the nursing home.

Dupas was interviewed over the murder in 2001, but refused to comment, and again in 2013.

Sergeant David Dimsey told the the Coroners Court Dupas was the prime suspect due to his lengthy history of violence against women, especially with knives.

Margaret Maher (pictured) had been strangled, and her left breast cut off and placed in her mouth. Peter Dupas was later convicted of her horrific murder

Dupas had stabbed his next door neighbor without warning as a teenager in 1968, while wearing his school uniform.

In 1972 he was caught peeking through the windows of a woman as a 19-year old.

He was charged with rape later that year.

His victim was a married woman he asked for help after claiming his car had broken down outside her Mitcham home.

He hid in the house while she was looking for a screwdriver, then threatened her and her 18-month-old baby with a knife before raping her.

Dupas was just 21 when he was sentenced to nine years' jail with a non-parole period of five years.

He was released from jail on September 4, 1979 and immediately attacked four women in ten days.

Dupas would rape and stab multiple women, later telling police he had 'the urge'.

Dupas stabbed to death young female psychotherapist Nicole Patterson (pictured) and mutilated her body

'It just comes over me ... I can't help myself,' he told detectives.

Dupas was sentenced to just six and a half years in prison with a five-year minimum.

Four days after his release he raped another woman.

This time he copped 12 years' jail, with a minimum of ten years before parole.

While inside, he married a nurse and claimed to be reformed.

But he was back at it again shortly after and sentenced yet again to more jail time after being caught with a rape kit after another attack.

He was released in 1996 and by October 1997 had murdered sex worker Margaret Maher.

Mersina Helvagis was stabbed to death as she tendered to her grandmother's grave

She had been strangled, and her left breast cut off and placed in her mouth.

Less than a month later, he murdered Mersina Halvagis as she was tidying her grandmother's grave at Fawkner Cemetery.

Dupas stabbed her more than 30 times.

He killed Mrs Downes less than two months later.

Dupas is serving three life sentences with no parole for the murders of Mersina Halvagis, Margaret Maher and Nicola Patterson.
South Australia will cap the number of repatriated Australians to be quarantined in local hotels at 1,200.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens says while SA is working with the rest of the nation to help Aussies come home, the state is mindful of the operational logistics involved.

'We do have a cap in South Australia in terms of the number of people we can accommodate and we won't accept flights if we exceed that cap,' he told reporters on Tuesday.

'(We're) looking around a 1,200 person cap but that is subject to if they are individuals or families.'

South Australia will cap the number of repatriated Australians to be quarantined in local hotels at about 1,200 (pictured, police direct travellers to a bus to take them to mandatory isolation after touching down at Adelaide Airport in April)

There are currently 527 people in supervised quarantine in Adelaide.

With international flights redirected out of Victoria as it deals with its COVID-19 outbreak, the SA opposition called for similar limits to those in Western Australia.

WA Premier Mark McGowan urged flights into Perth be limited to one every three days.

A limit has also been introduced in New South Wales with only 50 people on each flight, or 450 a day, permitted to land at Sydney airport.

The limit will be imposed from midnight on Saturday until July 17. However, it could be extended.

The total cost of the mandatory quarantine process was estimated to have reached $118million across the country by the middle of last month.

Travellers trying to return to Adelaide airport could be turned away if hotel quarantine facilities exceed 1200 people (pictured, passengers observe social distancing while waiting for a flight at Adelaide airport)

Of that figure, New South Wales had picked up almost half the entire bill - at around $50million in hotel stays for returned travellers.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it's time for some of the other states to shoulder the burden.

'It's reasonable to say to other states, who've been able to live in their bubbles because we've borne the burden of these overseas travellers,' she said.

'Please share in that burden, we've already done 30-odd thousand.'

SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the state did not intend to place any restrictions on the number of flights coming in.

However Health Minister Stephen Wade said the state government had a tried and tested procedure in managing returned passengers safely and would not push it beyond sensible limits.

'It is common sense that the state government will not be accepting any flights which we could not manage appropriately,' he said.

'South Australia has not received one flight of repatriated Australians diverted from Victoria and to suggest there is some risk we will become overwhelmed is bare-faced fear-mongering.'

Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton said SA should not have to 'pick up the load' from other states if they chose to cap their numbers.

International arrivals will be capped at Adelaide Airport amid fears the state government will have to bear the brunt of the hotel quarantine bill (pictured, the SA airport in April)

'SA is already doing its share,' he said.

'To continue to provide hotel quarantine at a high standard and safely, we need to manage the number of arrivals into Adelaide.'

On Tuesday, almost 50 people arrived on a Singapore Airlines flight and were placed in quarantine.

That came after 120 touched down on a flight from Kuala Lumpur on Saturday

In June more than 250 people arrived from India and about 100 defence force personnel came from Malaysia.

In May about 680 Aussies flew into Adelaide on two separate flights from India.
Tensions have reached boiling point outside a high rise commission housing tower where residents have been under lockdown since Saturday.

As Melburnians were about to learn they would be placed into a six-week nightmare, police on horseback moved into re-enforce officers positioned outside towers in Flemington.

Trouble has been brewing for days with more and more protesters gathering outside the towers on Racecourse Road, just outside of the city.

Police drag a young mum away from the Flemington housing commission towers on Tuesday

A policeman wearing a mask stands guards as his colleagues wrestle a young mum to the ground outside the Flemington COVID towers

A woman being detained by police takes an officer's photograph outside the Flemington towers on Tuesday

Things kicked-off on Tuesday afternoon just as Premier Daniel Andrews was about to deliver more grim news to those living in the metropolitan area.

It began when a woman appeared to try and gain access to the towers, where she claimed her children were being kept.

The verbal altercation quickly escalated, with dozens of officers converging on the scene.

People were seen falling to the ground as police made several arrests.

It is a scene police have been dreading since they turned up on a moment's notice on Saturday.

Earlier, worried police appeared to be gazing high into the tower with binoculars.

Police will be on high alert over the coming night and days as restless residents continue to wallow in their crowded flats with doubts about any end in sight.

Even if they are released after five days in isolation, they face more pain on the outside.

The whole of Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire north of the city will be placed back into lock down for six weeks from 11.59pm on Wednesday after Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure yet.

Residents will be only allowed to leave their homes for work and study, giving or receiving care, shopping for essentials and daily exercise near where they live.

Police will stop people leaving Melbourne with roadblocks and booze bus-style vehicle checks, effectively sealing 5 million people inside the city.

Gatherings of more than two people who not not live together will be banned and cafes, restaurants and pubs can offer takeaway only.

Older pupils and special schools will go back to class but schools holidays will be extended by a week for students up to year 10, with remote learning a possibility after that.

Premier Andrews said the new lockdown was essential to avoid 'thousands and thousands' of cases and 'many, many people in hospital.'

'This is a pandemic and it will kill thousands of people if it gets completely away from us,' he said.

Police converged on the Flemington towers on horseback just as Daniel Andrews was about to make his announcement that Victorians would be locked up for six more weeks

Police on horseback in Flemington on Tuesday

Tensions finally reached boiling point outside the towers in Flemington

Mr Andrews said case numbers will 'get worse before they get better'. He has told the Prime Minster about the new lockdown and requested hundreds of ADF troops to help with enforcement.

Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton confirmed 37 new cases are linked to outbreaks and 154 are under investigation, bringing the state's total to 2,824 cases.

Thirteen new cases are linked to nine Melbourne tower blocks which have suffered 69 cases and been placed under hard lockdown since Saturday, meaning residents cannot leave for any reason without special approval.

Pictures from the housing commission blocks today show firefighters dressed in hazmat suits preparing to enter the buildings to deliver milk and bread while dozens of police stand guard outside.

Police rush to help their colleagues as they go to ground with a young mum in Flemington on Tuesday

Police grapple with a woman in Flemington after she tried to gain access to the tower

The young mum sits on the ground and talks to police after she was arrested on Tuesday outside the towers in Flemington

Locked down: A resident of a housing commission block in north Melbourne presses against the window as police patrol outside

Residents of the nine locked-down towers said they feel let down by a lack of communication, food and supplies. Some have complained they have had to go hungry because officials have not brought them enough to eat.

The Melbourne Public Tenants Association, on behalf of the residents in the Flemington and North Melbourne estates, say residents have been left in the dark since the state government's hard lockdown was enforced on Saturday.

Police grapple with the young mum in Flemington on Tuesday

The woman was dragged away by police

Ugly scenes erupted at Flemington just as Premier Daniel Andrews addressed the country

Earlier today federal health minister Greg Hunt said broadening the lockdown in Victoria was on the table. Pictured: Firefighters in hazmat suits and police at a north Melbourne tower block

Helpers arrive with food in shopping trolleys which will be distributed by firefighters throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

In a letter to the federal Acting Chief Medical Officer, Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services, Premier Andrews and Victoria Police, the association describes how residents were forced to wait 24 hours for food and other essentials like baby formula, nappies and medication.

When the food arrived it was 'at best, questionable pre-packaged meat-like food items that do not look suitable for human consumption'.

'Furthermore, the delivery of the food was tossed to the floor on a single piece of paper in front of the residents' apartment doors in small portions of one food item per household,' the letter said.

One carpet-cleaner described the conditions as 'worse than prison' because residents are not allowed outside.

Dozens of cases from the Melbourne outbreak have been traced back to breaches in the hotel quarantine system after private security guards interacted with patients and took the virus home to their families.

Workers in full hazmat suits are seen preparing food and care packages for residents of 12 Sutton Street in North Melbourne

A police officer looks up at apartment building windows at 120 Racecourse Road in Flemington

A protester confronts police on Tuesday outside the commission housing towers in Flemington

The woman, who wore camo pants, was taken away by police on Tuesday

A young mum screams as police tackle her outside the commission towers in Flemington

Thirteen new cases are linked to nine Melbourne tower blocks which have suffered 69 cases and been placed under hard lockdown since Saturday. Pictured: A policeman on Tuesday at the North Melbourne towers

Residents are now three days into their 'hard lockdown'.

They spent the first two days relying on deliveries of food and supplies from the state government, some of which was out-of-date, insufficient or culturally inappropriate, such as pork being provided to Muslim families.

Voices from the Blocks, a coalition of residents and community members, said they were horrified to see donated items confiscated by authorities.

'(We) watched in horror last night as food, medicine, and essentials like nappies and baby formula were suddenly confiscated by Authorised Officers,' the group said on Tuesday.

'This was after more than 48 hours of needing these essential items, and having to rely on grassroots, community lead efforts.'

Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged there were 'some delays with accepting donations and deliveries, which caused confusion at some housing estates that are in lockdown'.

'We are currently working with the parties involved to make sure food and other supplies are being provided without further interruption,' a spokeswoman said.

'We apologise for the inconvenience and frustration caused and thank the residents for their co-operation and patience.'

Police detain a protester on Tuesday in Flemington

Police stand guard outside a tower in Flemington
TikTok will switch off its app in Hong Kong within days, the platform said last night following Beijing's security crackdown in the city.

The video app said it was was 'stopping operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong' in light of 'recent events' - referring to a new security law which critics say will allow the mainland's Communist Party-controlled courts to punish dissent in Hong Kong.

The move by TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, came as Facebook, Google and Twitter put a hold on requests by Hong Kong authorities for user data.

TikTok has sought to distance itself from Beijing and consistently denied sharing any user data with authorities in China, and is adamant that it will not start doing so in the future.

Nonetheless, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo says that Washington is 'certainly looking at' banning China-based apps including TikTok.

The app has already been banned in India - potentially costing it up to $1billion in lost revenue - despite TikTok's protests that China had never requested data on Indian users.

TikTok's announcement comes after a security crackdown in Hong Kong (pictured, a protester is pinned down by riot police in the city last week)

TikTok has consistently denied sharing any user data with authorities in China , and is adamant that it does not intend to start agreeing to such requests

TikTok has also said previously that it would not comply with any requests made by the Chinese government to censor content, nor has it ever been asked to do so.

The company, now run by former Walt Disney Co executive Kevin Mayer, has said in the past that the app's user data is not stored in China.

Hong Kong is a small, loss-making market for the company, one source familiar with the matter said. Last August, TikTok reported it had attracted 150,000 users in the former British colony.

Globally, TikTok has been downloaded more than two billion times through the Apple and Google app stores after the first quarter this year, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower.

The source said the move was made because it was not clear if Hong Kong would now fall entirely under Beijing's jurisdiction in light of the new law.

TikTok was designed so it could not be accessed by mainland China. Its equivalent on the mainland is called Douyin.

In the Communist-ruled mainland, foreign social media platforms are blocked by China's 'Great Firewall'.

There are no plans currently to introduce Douyin to the Hong Kong market, a ByteDance spokesman said.

Although Douyin is not available on overseas app stores, it has gathered more users than TikTok in Hong Kong, according to a second source familiar with the situation. Users can download the app while in the mainland or by switching accounts.

'Douyin has lots of users in Hong Kong and will continue to serve the users there,' ByteDance China CEO Zhang Nan said in a statement.

Fang Kecheng, an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said TikTok's move highlighted the dilemma faced by Chinese companies trying to internationalise, adding that it was 'inevitable'.

'You have to follow local policies and try not to offend the Chinese government and the public. ByteDance's separation of TikTok (from Douyin) was the same strategy.'

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo (pictured) says that Washington is 'certainly looking at' banning China-based apps including TikTok

The app was also recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps after a border clash between the two nations in which 20 Indian soldiers died (pictured, people holding up placards demanding boycotts of Chinese apps)

Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 under a formula called 'one country, two systems' which granted freedoms to Hong Kong that are unknown in the mainland.

China promised to preserve the city's way of life for 50 years, but 23 of those have passed and critics say that 'one country, two systems' is already out of the window.

Facebook and WhatsApp say they will freeze the review of government requests for user data in Hong Kong, 'pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts'.

Twitter and Google also said they would not comply with information requests by Hong Kong authorities in the immediate future.

Twitter said it had 'grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law'.

US lawmakers have also raised concerns, saying they were worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies 'to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.'

Mike Pompeo's suggestion of a possible ban comes amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over trade and coronavirus.

'I don't want to get out in front of the President, but it's something we're looking at,' Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News.

India banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in the wake of a deadly Himalayan border clash in which 20 Indian soldiers died.

The ban, which upset Indias growing legion of TikTok stars, has also given a lift to local rivals such as Roposo, which added 22 million new users in the 48 hours after the ban took effect.

TikTok has become a global sensation with users sharing 15 to 60-second video clips on everything from hair dye tutorials to dance routines and gags about daily life.

It joined the EU's disinformation code of conduct last week as tech giants seek to persuade Europe to back away from setting laws against harmful content online.
The closure of the Victoria and New South Wales border has led to confusion over what it means for people who already held travel plans or live close to the edge of the two states.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the strict closure on Monday morning in a bid to stop the second wave of COVID-19 spreading from Victoria into her state.

A total of 1,000 police officers and defence personnel will patrol the border to check all cars crossing between the states.

The closure - the first in 100 years - is particularly significant for several reasons.

Firstly, the Melbourne to Sydney flight route is the second most travelled in the world and secondly, the fact border towns Albury and Wodonga operate as a community.

A permit system providing exemptions to allow people across the border will be put in place, but the hastiness with which Premier Berejiklian implemented the shutdown means they can not yet be accessed - leaving many stranded and unsure what to do.

The sudden closure of the Victoria and New South Wales border has led to confusion over what it means for people who already held travel plans or live close to the edge of the two states

A permit system providing exemptions to allow people across the border will be put in place, but the hastiness with which Premier Berejiklian implemented the shutdown means they can not yet be accessed - leaving many to hurriedly rush back to their home state before deadline

NSW residents returning from a Melbourne hotspot were already required to go into self-isolation for 14 days.

But from Wednesday this will now apply to anyone returning from Victoria. Only NSW residents returning home or Victorians with an exemption can cross the border.

Thousands of desperate passengers booked tickets into and out of Melbourne ahead of the midnight deadline.

Australia's major airlines will still run flights into Victoria, but at a reduced rate.

'Qantas and Jetstar are significantly reducing flights to and from Melbourne following the decision to close the New South Wales border,' a statement from the sister companies said.

'We'll continue to operate limited flights for essential travel only.'

Embattled airline Virgin will be flying just one plane between the capital cities daily.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian previously criticised the premiers of other states for their refusal to open up their borders when the COVID-19 threat began to diminish.

But she said on Monday that this situation with Victoria is different because of a high rate of community-based transmissions.

Ms Berejiklian reiterated that she hoped the border closure would be brief.



'As I have said before, it is in our national interest for borders to be open,' she said.

CAN YOU STILL TRAVEL BETWEEN VICTORIA & NEW SOUTH WALES? CAN YOU STILL TRAVEL ACROSS THE NSW AND VICTORIAN BORDER? - Yes, but only with an exemption. An online application must be filled out on the Service NSW website. It is thought they will be available from Wednesday. - Exemptions will be prioritised for work, health, school and personal reasons. ARE FLIGHTS STILL RUNNING BETWEEN MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY? - All major airlines are still operating flights, but at a greatly reduced rate. WILL ALL TRAVELLERS ENTERING NSW BE QUARANTINING FOR 14 DAYS? - NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller said all returning travellers into NSW will be required to self-isolate in their homes for 14 days. - There will be exemptions for people living in the Albury and Wodonga area, who regularly cross the border for work or family reason. Those exemptions will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and individually assessed. HOW LONG WILL THE BORDER CLOSURE LAST? - Gladys Berejiklian refused to put a timeframe on the border closure, noting the situation with COVID-19 outbreaks in Victoria is still fluid. - Daniel Andrews returned Melbourne to lockdown for six weeks on Tuesday afternoon, with it unlikely the borders will be reopened until those restrictions are lifted. Advertisement

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews returned Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, to the north of the city, to stage three lockdown on Tuesday

A total of 1,000 police officers and defence personnel will patrol the border to check all cars crossing between the states. Sydney police officers began flying south on Tuesday afternoon

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard admitted the decision was made with the view it is unlikely to be the last spike in COVID-19 cases in Victoria.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

'We must remain flexible throughout this ongoing pandemic and adjust our strategies as the threat grows and recedes,'

'This is not the first spike and it is unlikely to be the last.'

More than 350 defence personnell and 650 police officers will arrive at the NSW and Victoria border in the coming days.

They will patrol not only major freeways but also small roads, bridges and even be on the lookout for people trying to swim across the Murray River.

'We know there are four road crossings, 33 bridges, two waterway crossings and multiple smaller roads,' Commissioner Fuller said.

'The task is not lost on me, in terms of the enormity of the logistics.'

Anyone caught moving between the states without an exemption will face fines of up to $1000 and even six months jail.
Alexandra Dougokenski later confessed that she had strangled him

A mother who appeared to be the perfect parent strangled her 11-year-old son to death because she was fed up with him playing on his cell phone late into the night.

Police in Brazil said they charged Alexandra Dougokenski with Rafael's murder on Thursday, July 2 after she confessed to the shocking crime.

It comes just weeks after Rafael recorded a poem in which he expressed how much he loved his mother.

In the poem, Rafael thanked his mother for looking after him and his brother and said that her smile meant 'everything' to him.

Police in Brazil said they charged Alexandra Dougokenski with Rafael's murder on Thursday, July 2 after she confessed to the shocking crime. Above, mother and son pictured together

The 33-year-old divorced mum of two initially tried to divert attention away from herself by claiming the child had run away from home following an argument over his behaviour.

Investigators launched an extensive search, with the help of sniffer dogs and anxious family and friends, in the forest close to the family's house in Planato, Rio Grande do Sul state.

When the search failed to find the boy, she broke down and confessed that she had strangled him with a clothes line in a rage.

The suspect claimed she 'couldn't live with the lie anymore' and needed to offload the 'burden' on her conscience.

The body was found on May 25 in a large cardboard box in the garage of a neighbour's house (above) just six yards from the family's property

Ten days after he disappeared, she revealed where the schoolboy's remains had been hidden.

The body was found on May 25 in a large cardboard box in the garage of a neighbour's house just six yards from the family's property.

The badly decomposing corpse was wrapped in a sheet with a plastic bag placed over the head.
The comedian Rickey Smiley's daughter has been shot twice and hospitalised during a shootout in Houston.

The radio personality, 51, broke the news on his morning show that his youngest daughter Aaryn, 19, had been shot on her way to Whataburger.

The teenager was stopped at a traffic light on the feeder road of Highway 288 near Holcombe when she was hit by bullets fired by someone in a passing vehicle.

Authorities revealed that three other people in another car were also injured in the crossfire, and the shooter remains at large, ABC13 said.

Father of five Smiley said: 'I'm just so angry right now', adding that 'I been sitting here all morning with butterflies in my stomach trying to do a show'

The teenager was stopped at a traffic light on the feeder road of Highway 288 near Holcoombe when she was shot by someone in a passing vehicle

An abandoned vehicle was later discovered on the freeway and the victims' car was seen at hospital with bullet holes that had ripped through the glass and front door, Khou11 reported.

Aaryn later told the news site that she was shot in the legs in what she said was the most terrifying ordeal she has ever been through.

During the interview on his morning show mere hours after the shooting, father of five Smiley said: 'I'm just so angry right now', adding that 'I been sitting here all morning with butterflies in my stomach trying to do a show'.

He said that he had gone to bed at around 9pm when he woke up to a flurry of text messages and said that Aaryn was rushed to hospital for treatment for her injuries.

'The fact that she's laying up in the hospital and probably going to have to go into surgery ... She's just crying, she's scared, and I just hate it.'

After the radio show Smiley posted a series of heartfelt photos of Aaryn online and revealed that his daughter was still in surgery as he asked for 'prayers and support'.

Some hours later he announced that his daughter had 'made it out of her operation' and was 'doing great'.

The comedian posted a tearful video online pleading for an end to gun violence as he packed a bag and prepared to fly to Houston.

'All the parents that have to bury their kids... just make sure you pray for them.

'We've got to stop gun violence. My daughter ain't in no gangs. She don't bother anybody.

'If I feel the way I feel, just imagine somebody that's got to go to the cemetery. Imagine how they feel. I'm so mad right now, I don't know what to do.'

Smiley explained how he had tried to find direct flights to Houston but was unable to because of travel restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, he planned to drive to Dallas before catching a connecting flight.

'I want you to see what parents have to deal with when their children become victims of gun violence.'
Australians have been warned they could face 'arbitrary detention' in China if they travel to the communist nation.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released a travel advice update on Tuesday featuring a chilling message for travellers planning to head to mainland China.

Australians have already been told not to travel overseas during the coronavirus pandemic.

But the update went further and stated the Chinese government has detained foreigners who it accused of 'endangering national security'.

'China will not allow most foreigners to enter China due to COVID-19,' the DFAT update reads. 'Direct flights between China and Australia have significantly reduced.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Australians are at risk of 'arbitrary detention' if they travel to China. Pictured: a man carries a Chinese flag during Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in Harbour City shopping mall in Hong Kong in December 2019

'If despite our advice you travel to China, you'll be subject to 14 days mandatory quarantine. Quarantine requirements may change at short notice.

'If you're already in China, and wish to return to Australia, we recommend you do so as soon as possible by commercial means.

'Authorities have detained foreigners because they're "endangering national security". Australians may also be at risk of arbitrary detention.'

A 2019 Amnesty International report said China had 'legalised arbitrary and secret detention', allowing for prolonged periods of no contact with detainees, and an increased risk of torture and other ill-treatment and forced 'confessions'.

The DFAT warning said Chinese authorities had detained foreigners for 'endangering national security'. Pictured: Democratic Party politician Hui Chi-fung is detained by riot police during a protest in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong on June 12

The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances continues to seek permission to visit China to get a first-hand account of the situation.

It comes amid growing tensions between the two nations after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an inquiry into China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

China responded by calling Australia 'chronically racist' with accusations of spying on nationals and spreading fake news, while boycotting local industries and urging its students and citizens to study and travel elsewhere.

Controversial Chinese national security laws have been implemented in Hong Kong which threaten life imprisonment for conspiring against the Communist government rule.

Mr Morrison said Australia is 'actively considering' offering a safe haven for Hong Kong residents to provide support in the face of the sanctions.

Scott Morrison said Australia would consider offering a safe haven for Hong Kong residents after controversial Chinese national security laws were implemented in Hong Kong. Pictured: riot police hold a banner during a protest in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong on June 12

China said it is 'not afraid' of Australia's plans to bolster its military after Mr Morrison unveiled a $270billion boost to the nation's defence forces last week.

The Prime Minister announced Australia will spend $75billion on the navy, $65billion on the air force, $55billion on the army, $15billion on cyber security, and $7billion on space.

China's state-owned media responded on Friday saying the communist nation won't back down to the 'provocations' and could counter by upgrading its forces.

'These weapon procurement plans have widely been interpreted as being aimed at China,' an article that appeared in The Global Times on Friday stated.

The English language newspaper is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and has recently run another article that alleges Australia is sending spies to China.

The Global Times article titled 'China prepared against military provocation from Australia' quoted 'Chinese experts' who said Australia is a 'follower of the US'.

'Chinese experts said on Thursday that while the Chinese military has no intention of provoking Australia, it is also not afraid of Australian provocations.' the report reads.
David Lammy today called for the police watchdog to investigate the 'shocking' stop-and-search of black team GB sprinter Bianca Williams after she and her partner were pulled over in their Mercedes and handcuffed by the Met during a hunt for weapons.

The shadow Justice Secretary said Ms Williams, 26, and Portuguese 400m sprinter Ricardo dos Santos, 25, would have been 'frightened' by the officers' forceful tactics in the company of their three-year-old son.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I found it shocking as I imagine anybody who's seen it would have done. Shocking because anyone who's a parent  they had a three-month-old child in the back  would instantly be frightened at being stopped and commanded out of a car in that manner.

He added that incidents like this were 'diminishing trust among black populations in the criminal justice system'.

'This follows in a long line of things that are being captured on film that are causing huge concern with this Black Lives Matter movement. So I hope the Met will look again, think again, and perhaps this is a case for the Independent Police Complaints Commission to look at.'

Scotland Yard has insisted there is no evidence of misconduct on the part of its officers, and justified Saturday's 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.

Nothing was found in the search, which the Met said was carried out by officers patrolling the area in response to an increase in violence involving weapons.

David Lammy today said the incident was 'frightening' and urged the police watchdog to get involved. He is pictured here at a Labour rally

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

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

Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos were returning home with their son, Zuri-Li, when a van from the Met's Territorial Support Group began to follow them.

They had intended to leave Zuri-Li with a relative before going to a restaurant near their West London home.

The Met said a car with 'blacked-out windows' made off 'at speed' on the wrong side of the road - although the stretch where they were stopped is only a single width.

After they were stopped, Ms Williams could be heard saying 'he didn't do anything' and adding that her son was in the car before officers told her to calm down.

The video, shared on Saturday, was captioned by Mr Christie with the note 'racist police aren't just in America'.

Yesterday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the footage 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 video 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 response, Scotland Yard 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.'

Ms Williams told the Times: 'It's always the same thing with Ricardo [her partner]. They think he's driving a stolen vehicle, or he's been smoking cannabis.'

She added: 'It's racial profiling. The way they spoke to Ricardo, like he was scum, dirt on their shoe, was shocking. It was awful to watch.'

Ms Williams has since threatened to sue the Met and urged its boss Cressida Dick to quit. In response, the force asked her and Mr Dos Santos to get in touch to 'discuss what happened and the concerns they have'.

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

Linford Christie 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'

In a message addressed to the Met Police when the video first went viral, Mr Christie 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.

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.

MailOnline has contacted the IOPC for comment.

Linford Christie, pictured, questioned whether the car was stopped in such a manner because there was a young black family inside the vehicle
Hong Kong police have been granted permission to carry out warrant-less home searches under China's new national security law after the city's government unveiled vastly expanded powers authorised by Beijing.

Officers now also have the right to ban suspects from leaving the city, confiscate their assets, conduct secret surveillance and intercept communications, according to a clause of the law that went into effect today.

Protesters who were arrested under the legislation last week for allegedly carrying pro-independence flags and banners had to have their DNA samples taken, in a move that sparked debate on the necessity of the police's practice.

Hong Kong police have been given permission to search people's homes without a warrant in 'exceptional circumstances' under China's new national security law for the city. Pictured, a riot officer points at a woman after searching her during a protest in Hong Kong on July 6

Officers now also have the right to ban suspects from leaving the city, confiscate their assets, conduct secret surveillance and intercept communications, according to the law. Pictured, a riot police officer checks a man's bag near the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong on July 4

Hong Kong's Beijing-backed Chief Executive Carrie Lam (pictured) on Tuesday defended China's new security law for the financial hub, saying it would restore stability and confidence

Chinese leader Xi Jinping pushes a button to vote on the new national security law for Hong Kong on May 28. Critics say the law will destroy the autonomy of the former British colony

China to station hundreds of armed police in Hong Kong, a report says China will send 200 to 300 paramilitary police to Hong Kong to enforce the national security law, according to a report. Sources claimed that the armed mainland officers would remain in the financial hub as 'observers' on a long-term basis, reported Japanese outlet Kyodo News. The People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) is under the dual leadership of the Chinese State Council and Central Military Commission, according to public government information. The force consists of the internal security force, various police forces, border public security, firefighting and security guard forces. A Hong Kong government spokesman declined to comment on speculative reports, local media The Standard said while reporting the news. Last August, China mobilised hundreds of armoured vehicles and paramilitary forces to Shenzhen, a city that borders Hong Kong. Chinese military also declared it would take them just 10 minutes to reach Hong Kong to warn anti-government protesters. Advertisement

The news comes as Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader vowed to 'vigorously implement' the controversial legislation. The city's Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday defended China's new security law for the financial hub, saying it would restore stability and confidence.

It also comes as a report suggests that China could send hundreds of paramilitary police officers to the former British colony as 'observers'.

Lam's government last night issued the details of Article 43 in the law, which outlines the measures that the police force can take to implement the legislation in the city.

According to the rules, the police may be authorised to conduct searches for evidence without a warrant in 'exceptional circumstances'.

Police may also apply for an authorisation that requires a person suspected of violating the national security law to surrender their travel documents, thus restricting them from leaving Hong Kong.

Additionally, under the rules, written notices or restraining orders may be issued to freeze or confiscate property if there are 'reasonable grounds' to suspect that the property is related to an offence endangering national security.

Platforms and publishers, as well as internet service providers, may also be ordered to take down electronic messages published that are 'likely to constitute an offence endangering national security or is likely to cause the occurrence of an offence endangering national security'.

Service providers who do not comply with such requests could face fines of up to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars (10,338, $12,903) and receive jail terms of six months.

Individuals who post such messages may also be asked to remove the message or face similar fines and a jail term of one year.

The Hong Kong government has made clear advocating independence or greater autonomy for the city is now illegal, and at least 10 arrests have already been made under the new law

Hong Kong police have made at least 10 official arrests under the controversial new security law since it kicked in at 23:00 local time on 30 June.

Police collected DNA samples from them and searched their homes, according to Janet Pang, a lawyer for several of the protesters, who called officers' practice 'unnecessary, intrusive and disproportionate'.

Ms Pang told Bloomberg: 'I don't know why they had to take DNA samples. We don't know what kind of database they're trying to build which might be sent back to the central government in Beijing.'

Police confirmed that they had collected DNA samples from the 10 people arrested over the new national security law on July 1, reported South China Morning Post.

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

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

Speaking at a press conference a week after China imposed the law on the semi-autonomous city, Chief Executive Lam today combined warnings with assurances to Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents.

TikTok to leave Hong Kong as security law raises questions TikTok said Tuesday it would stop operations in Hong Kong, joining other social media companies in warily eyeing ramifications of a sweeping national security law that took effect last week. The short-form video app's planned departure from Hong Kong comes as various social media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and Twitter balk at the possibility of providing user data to Hong Kong authorities. The social media companies say they are assessing implications of the security law, which prohibits what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities or as foreign intervention in the city's internal affairs. In the communist-ruled mainland, the foreign social media platforms are blocked by China's 'Great Firewall'. Critics see the law as Beijing's boldest step yet to erase the legal divide between the former British colony and the mainlands authoritarian Communist Party system. TikTok said in a statement that it had decided to halt operations 'in light of recent events'. The company would not comment on the size of its operations in Hong Kong or any other matters. Operated by Chinese internet giant Bytedance, TikTok has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots while striving for global appeal. It recently hired former Walt Disney executive Kevin Mayer to be its CEO. Advertisement

'The Hong Kong government will vigorously implement this law,' she said. 'And I forewarn those radicals not to attempt to violate this law, or cross the red line, because the consequences of breaching this law are very serious.'

She denied allegations the law would stifle freedoms and hit out at what she said were 'fallacies' written about its impact.

'Surely this is not doom and gloom for Hong Kong,' Lam said.

'I'm sure with the passage of time... confidence will grow in "One Country, Two Systems" and in Hong Kong's future,' she added, naming the model that allows Hong Kong to keep certain liberties and autonomy from the mainland.

The national security law is the most radical shift in how Hong Kong is run since the city was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

The content was kept secret from Hong Kongers until the moment it was imposed one week ago, bypassing the city's legislature.

It targets crimes under four categories: subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces and gives China jurisdiction in some especially serious cases.

Legal analysts, critics and many western nations warn the broadly-worded categories could criminalise many peaceful dissenting opinions.

Hong Kongers have scrubbed social media accounts, businesses have taken down protest displays while libraries and schools have removed certain books from their shelves.

Lam rejected suggestions the law had alarmed residents and said the legislation was designed to protect the freedoms of the majority.

'I have not seen widespread fears amongst Hong Kong people in the last week,' she said.

'This national security law is actually relatively mild.'

Her press conference came hours after the government unveiled vastly expanded powers to conduct warrantless raids and surveillance -- as well as issue internet takedown notices -- under the law.

These rules were announced in a document released after the inaugural meeting on Monday of a new national security commission, which is headed by Beijing's top envoy to the city.

On Tuesday Lam said all future workings of the committee would be kept secret.
Several states have announced a legal challenge to overturn a recently published rule from U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos about how much federal coronavirus relief public school districts must set aside for private school students.

The suit has been filed by the state attorneys general for California and Michigan along with other three states and the District of Columbia.The suit seeks to have the courts declare DeVos rule unlawful and to prevent the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing the rule. The rule thats the subject of the suit says districts that share CARES Act with all their schools, including those that didnt get federal aid for low-income students in the last school year, must reserve money to provide certain services to all local private school students. The rule adds another option for districts, although it might be unpalatable for many local school leaders. (More on that in a bit.)

In remarks announcing the lawsuit Tuesday, the top legal officers for California and Michigan stressed that the Education Departments rule takes resources away from needy students and improperly provides it to private school students, including those from affluent backgrounds.

In addition to California and Michigan, attorneys general for D.C., Maine, New Mexico, and Wisconsin also filed suit in the U.S. District of Court for the Northern District of California against DeVos and the Education Department.

Secretary DeVos rule and guidance ignore the plain language of the CARES Act, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said during a Tuesday press conference announcing the suit.

In a separate press conference, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that the rule issued by the Education Department earlier this month will siphon CARES Act relief funds away from our K-12 public schools.

The Trump administration is undermining the rule of law and defying Congress, Becerra said. Tens of millions of dollars are at stake for California, he said. Its not just sinful. Its against the law. ... Ultimately, its a shakedown of public schools across the country, Becerra also said.

A False Choice for the CARES Act

The lawsuit, which is not unexpected, deals with how the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) Act handles equitable services.

In April, DeVos released nonbinding guidance that said school districts should reserve a portion of CARES Act funding to provide equitable services (like tutoring and technology licenses) to all private school students. But critics argued that the law only directed districts to provide equitable services to low-income students, which is the rule under the main federal K-12 law, the Every Student Succeeds Act.

To justify the guidance, the Education Department said that Congress intended the CARES Act to help all students regardless of what type of school they attend given the sweeping affects of the pandemic. Opponents charged DeVos with flouting the law in order to give indirect but potentially critical support for private schools during the pandemic. Dozens of private schools have shut down as the coronavirus has spread.

Officials for several states like Indiana and Maine indicated that they would not follow DeVos guidance, although other states indicated they would.



On July 1, the department published an interim final rule that gave districts two choices for equitable services. In one scenario, they could limit equitable services just for low-income private school students, but then theyd have to send CARES aid only to schools that got Title I aid for disadvantaged students in the last school year. In the other, they could provide equitable services to private school students in general, and then have the freedom to provide CARES relief to schools regardless of their Title I status.

Yet opponents to the guidance were unsatisfied with this revision, and budgetary restrictions attached to the first choice could discourage many districts from opting for it. Becerra said Tuesday the new rule represents a false choice and said Congress never intended for schools to have to go through such regulatory barriers to make decisions about equitable services. And Nessel said neither of these options actually exist in the CARES Act.

Heres a key portion of the suit:

The discrepancy between the plain language of the CARES Act and the Departments inaccurate interpretations has led to widespread confusion for State Education Agencies (SEAs), LEAs, and private schools across the Nation. The Rule strips funds Congress specifically directed to public schools to support their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and requires that those funds be reallocated, including to affluent private schools, with consideration neither of the private schools needs or available resources nor the harms these reallocations cause to public schools.

The Education Department has estimated that its interim final rule would affect roughly 6 to 8 percent of the $13 billion CARES aid for districts. Jim Blew, the departments assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development, said during a conference call with reporters last month when the department shared the rule publicly that the department expected to be sued over it.

A report from Congress research arm published earlier this month said the evidence suggests that DeVos approach to equitable services does not match the law .

Read the lawsuit here:

Photo: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifies before a Senate spending committee. --Susan Walsh/AP

Follow us on Twitter @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa .
A barbershop in Sydney's inner west has been gutted by flames as police hunt for two mystery men believed to have orchestrated the arson attack.

A car reversed into the glass front doors of Fadez Hair Studio, in Burwood, in the early hours of Tuesday morning before a man jumped out of the vehicle and ran inside.

He returned to the car and drove away as the store was engulfed by flames.

A second vehicle was also seen fleeing the scene at the time.

Fadez Hair Studio (pictured), in Burwood, was completely destroyed by flames in the early hours of Tuesday morning

Emergency services were called to George Street around 1.25am to reports of a fire in the building. More than 20 firefighters battled to extinguish the blaze for over an hour, but the shop was completely destroyed.

Police are urging anyone who witnessed the incident or has CCTV or dashcam footage to come forward.

Superintendent Paul Devaney said it was a 'clearly targeted attack' and called on those in the area at the time to contact police.

'I know there were members of the public in the vicinity at the time,' he said on Tuesday.

Fire and Rescue NSW Inspector Graeme Moore said fire investigators had been using accelerant-detection dogs at the scene.

The fire rapidly enveloped the building, tearing through the roof into an office above, causing an estimated $500,000 worth of damage.

'Crews finally handed the scene over (to police) at about four in the morning because they had to go into the building and extinguish the fire in spots,' Mr Moore said.

Neighbouring shop owners said the barbershop had been sold 'two or three months ago'.

Several firefighting crews (pictured) spent over an hour fighting the blaze but the store could not be saved

Arun Theagesan, who owns an accounting firm on the top floor, told Newscorp he believes the attack must have been deliberate as 'its not a place you can go accidentally'.

Mr Theagesan said the new owner, who he sees everyday, 'seems like a good guy.'

Officers remained at the scene until midday collecting evidence.

The vehicles are described as silver or grey sedans. One vehicle drove west on George Street, before turning into Park Road and the second drove east.

George Street between Elsie Street and John Street has been closed as investigations continue.
A roll call of 49 foreign nationals and groups put under sanction by Britain over appalling human rights violations feature doctors, spies, politicians and military officers.

They all span the globe from different backgrounds but have one chilling thing in common: appalling abuse against other people.

Over half of the list is made up of Russians involved in the murder and torture of whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, a tax adviser who reported a massive fraud by officials and police officers,

But Saudi nationals totalling 20 are also named in the documents after being inmplicated or convicted for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Joining them two Burmese generals disgraced over their role in the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.

The final two names are of groups responsible for running prison camps in North Korea carrying out murder, torture and enslavement.

Now all of them are barred from entering Britain, putting their money through British banks or holding any assets in Britain or any of its overseas territories.

Their assets will be frozen and they are banned from doing any business here or with any homegrown companies.

The MailOnline investigates the truth behind the high-profile countries and names on the list:

RUSSIA: Alexander Bastrykin, 66, Head of the Investigative Committee, mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky

Alexander Bastrykin, 66, Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, is on the list

Bastrykin is the most profile name on the list and went to university with Russian president Vladimir Putin and reports directly to him in his investigative role. He has had a dazzling legal career and was appointed the First Deputy Prosecutor General in 2007.

In 2009 he was hurt by remote-control bomb detonated when he arrived at the scene of another explosion on elite passenger train the Nevsky Express, which had killed 27 people.

Three years later he was forced to deny threatening a journalist and joking about investigating his death.

He is understood to have a background as a poet and is said to use site Stihi.ru in the guise of a made-up Polish writer called Stanislav Strunevsky,

In 2018 he was appointed professor at St. Petersburg State University and as a scholar has had over 100 written woks published.

He is on the list over his investigation into the mistreatment and death of whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, a tax adviser who reported a massive fraud by officials and police officers. The FCO say he intentionally or recklessly failed to fulfill that responsibility.

RUSSIA: Aleksey Vasilyevich Anichin, 70, Deputy Minister in the Interior Ministry, mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky

Aleksey Vasilyevich Anichin, 70, Deputy Minister in the Russian Interior Ministry

The Ukranian-born politician was involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky whilst he was detention, which contributed significantly to his death in 2009.

He is on the list over his team of investigators who did not investigate complaints made by Magnitsky about his mistreatment.

He is also said to have concealed evidence of Magnitskys deteriorating medical condition.

In 2011 he seemed unconcerned at the idea he could face sanctions or be refused entry anywhere after being told he faced EU sanctions.

He told reporters: I dont have any immediate plans to go abroad.

But if I do go and they dont let me in, it wont be a big tragedy for me.

Oleg Silchenko, 43, Investigator in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Interior Ministry, directly involved in the mistreatment of Sergei Magnitsky

Oleg Silchenko, 43, Investigator in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Interior Ministry

Silchenko was an investigator who was cleared of his death in court but who the UK say treated him in an appalling way.

When he was in prison, he made six applications to extend his spell behind bars to make his life worse.

And he refused to see his family, putting pressure on him to retract his statement about the massive fraud he said he had uncovered.

He was put on US sanctions list seven years ago, but seemed unbothered by any restrictions.

Silchenko insisted at the time: I dont even have a foreign passport, let alone any property in the US or even outside Russia.

SAUDI ARABIA: Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al-Asiri, 68, former deputy head of Saudi Arabia military intelligence, hiring team to kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al-Asiri, 68, former deputy head of Saudi Arabia military intelligence

Ahmed al-Asiri is a close confidant and adviser to Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He is the former deputy military chief was cleared of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi but it is linked to the killing.

The FCO have put him on the list because they say he was involved in the unlawful killing of the writer.

They assert he was a senior official involved in hiring the 15 man team sent to Turkey to kill Mr Khashoggi.

SAUDI ARABIA: Saud Abdullah Al Qahtani, 46, Saudi Air Force training officer, planning operation to kill Jamal Khashoggi

Saud Abdullah Al Qahtani, 46, Saudi Air Force training officer

Prince Mohammed's most trusted adviser at the time, Al Qahtani is said to have planned and directed the operation to kill Mr Khashoggi.

He was in the Consulate during the unlawful killing of of the journalist in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.

The FCO list also declares he played an 'active part' of the 15-man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities.

He is also known to have worked in the Office of the Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia

SAUDI ARABIA: Dr Salah al-Tubaigy, 48, Head of Forensics at Saudi Ministry of Interior, murder and cover-up of Jamal Khashoggi

Dr Salah al-Tubaigy, 48, Head of Forensics at the Saudi Ministry of Interior

The former scientist was born in Jazan and holds a Professor role in the Department of Criminal Evidence at Naif Arab University

He is accused of dismembering Khashoggi then directing a clean-up and cover-up

Dr al-Tubaigy is said to have been part of the 15 man team sent to Turkey by Saudi authorities.

The FCO describe him as being 'present at the time of Jamal Khashoggis death and held a direct role in Jamal Khashoggis killing and in the concealment of evidence relating to his death'

SAUDI ARABIA: Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, 49, Saudi Intelligence Officer, murder of Jamal Khashoggi

Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, 49, Saudi Intelligence Officer, is banned from the UK

Mutreb is currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia after being given the death sentence over the killing of Mr Khashoggi

He had previously worked in the UK after being assigned to Saudi Embassy in London in 2007.

Mutreb also worked with Saud Alqahtani, the Crown Princes adviser.

He is on the list for his part in killing Mr Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Turkeys Daily Sabah newspaper published details of a recording of before the murder.

Mutreb can be heard asking whether the "animal to be sacrificed" has arrived.

BURMA: Min Aung Hlaing, 64, Commander in Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, Rohingya Muslim population genocide

Min Aung Hlaing, 64, Commander in Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces

He was the top military commander responsible for the 2017 genocide against the country's Rohingya Muslim population.

Hlaing was accused of 'serious human rights violations' by the Foreign Office.

It said he and his deputy Soe Win were responsible for military operations against the Rohingya in Rakhine state between 2017 and 2019.

They sparked human rights violations that included unlawful killings as well as burning of Rohingya houses and buildings.

Torture, forced labour, systematic rape and other forms of targeted sexual violence were also inflicted during the operations.

NORTH KOREA: Ministry of State Security Bureau, runs North Korea prison camps, scenes of terrible abuse and atrocities

Ministry of State Security Bureau in North Korea also known as Bureau 7

This organisation is also known as Bureau 7 and the Farming Bureau but hides a terrible secret.

It is one of only two groups on the list and the head of the unit is a mystery to investigators.

The FCO included it because it is actually the organisation in charge of running North Koreas political prison camps.

They say there are terrible human right atrocities inflicted against prisoners held there by guards and officials.

Murder, torture and enslavement is said to be part of the routine in the bureau.

World of sanctions: names on the list in Russia, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and Myanmar
Dr Anthony Fauci has warned that America is still 'knee deep in the first wave' of coronavirus as daily case totals continue to push the 50,000 mark as states reopen.

The recent surge in infections has led many to fear that the US is experiencing a 'second wave' of the virus, but Fauci said that is far from the case because the first wave never ended.

'If you look at the graphs from Europe, the European Union as an entity, [the case total] went up and then came down to baseline,' he said.

'Now they're having little blips, as you might expect, as they try to reopen. We went up, never came down to baseline, and now we're surging back up, so it's a serious situation that we have to address immediately.'

The US recorded 47,126 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, bringing the overall total to more than 2.9million as Dr Fauci warns the first wave isn't over

While cases have surged deaths have continued to fall - though a rise in deaths typically lags behind a rise in cases because of the time it takes someone to get sick enough to die

There were more than 47,000 new cases reported across the country Monday along with 337 new deaths, bringing the totals to 2,935,712 infections and 130,284 fatalities - the highest totals of any country in the world.

Fauci continued to urge people to wash their hands, wear masks and socially distance in public in order to avoid catching the virus.

He also warned younger people that they are not 'invulnerable' to getting serious infections, as crowds flock back to bars and other public places amid the reopening.

Even if they escape a serious infection themselves, then they risk passing the disease on to someone who might not survive it, he added.

Fourteen states have now hit record-high numbers of new daily infections since the start of July, with hospitals in two Texas counties hitting capacity over the weekend.

The number of people dying from the virus has remained stable or has declined, though deaths tend to lag behind cases because of the time it takes for someone to get sick enough to die.

Florida has now surpassed Arizona with the steepest and most alarming rise in cases in the US.

Despite fears that the recent surge is part of a 'second wave' of coronavirus, Fauci said the US has never left the first wave since cases never went into sustained decline

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.

Despite the spike in cases, falling death rates prompted White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to claim on Monday that the world is looking to the US as a 'leader' on coronavirus.

'It's because of the extraordinary work that we've done on therapeutics and getting PPE and leading on ventilators and having excess ventilators that we were able to deploy around the world and help other countries,' she added.

'So that's what I would have to say on COVID.'

Meanwhile Donald Trump tweeted insisting that schools must reopen in the fall, and accused Joe Biden of wanting to keep them close 'for political reasons'.

Hospitals in two Texas counties hit capacity over the weekend as the number of cases in the state soars (pictured, a patient is admitted to hospital in Houston)

The number of cases has ballooned as states have attempted to reopen following partial closures (pictured, Miami beach in Florida which has been one of the hardest-hit states)

There are fears that July 4 celebrations will now drive a surge in new cases even in states that did beat their first wave, such as New York (pictured, bars open in the West Village)

Biden hasn't advocated for keeping schools indefinitly closed, though on Friday he indicated that might be a reality because of recent spikes in COVID-19 cases.

Trump also has limited powers to keep schools open, since their operation mostly falls under the remit of state governors and local politicians.

Educators have struggled with decisions over opening schools considering the risk of infection to both students and faculty.

Some municipalities have pitched that students have a rotating schedule where they would have in-class learning part-time.

It will be largely up to the status of the outbreak and the physical size of the schools, so social distancing measures can be kept in place.

With the school year fast approaching, some governors have decided to prioritize school reopening over other businesses.

Last week, for instance, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer again ordered bars in the lower peninsula not serve patrons indoors, following several COVID-19 outbreaks.

'If we want to be in a strong position to reopen schools for in-person classroom instruction this fall, then we need to take aggressive action right now to ensure we dont wipe out all the progress we have made,' Whitmer said.

Colleges and universities have announced a number of plans for the fall semester, including changing the calendars and holding some courses online.

Harvard University announced earlier on Monday that all of its courses would be held online for the upcoming academic year.
Shocking footage shows the moment beachgoers pelted stones at a baby seal after the curious animal approached them in Kazakhstan.

The brutal incident was filmed in the city of Aktau, located on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and shared to social media yesterday.

In the video a playful grey seal pup can be seen swimming near one of the city's beaches, coming close to the shore before being showered with boulders and stones.

An unnamed local resident captured the video of the perpetrators, believed to be tourists, laughing as they thoughtlessly aimed rocks at the pup.

The brutal incident was filmed in the city of Aktau located on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, and shared to social media yesterday

Kazakh model Yevgeniya Mukasheva then shared the video to her followers with the caption: 'If an animal comes close to you, it means it trusts you.

'How could you throw stones at the defenceless pup and laugh? Have you lost your mind?!'

Commenting on the incident, Kazakh authorities expressed their disapproval and urged everyone to show respect to the environment.

Saken Dildakhmet, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources told: 'The way people acted in the video is outrageous and wild.

In the video a playful grey seal pup can be seen swimming near one of the city beaches, coming close to the shore before being showered with boulders and stones

A man can be seen holding a rock before pelting it towards the small seal pup, who has curiously approached the shore

'Such an attitude can cause a great damage to the fauna of the Caspian Sea and adversely affect the behaviour of these animals who may become aggressive and attack people.

'We ask you to show respect to nature.'

The seals are curious animals and they often approach people, say the environment authorities.

The frantic pup doesn't know which way to turn as rocks are thrown at speed from the beach, with one appearing to hit the seal

Mr Dildakhmet added: 'The seal in the clip is young and playful. The seals are mostly very friendly and curious marine mammals. We should admire them.'

Reports of the animals biting swimmers in the same Mangistau region in June could have sparked the violent reaction from the people in the video, reports NURKZ.

Several children and an adult were reportedly taken to hospital for a rabies shot after being bitten by the seals in the incidents last month.
A woman has been fired from her job after yelling racial slurs at Black Lives Matter protesters during a Tennessee rally.

Sonya Holt is no longer an employee at the Keith Family Vision Clinic in Johnson City, her ex-bosses have confirmed.

Holt was stripped of her job after video footage went viral over the weekend that shows her repeatedly chanting: 'White lives matter, white lives are better'.

She can also be heard saying: 'White lives matter you black crazy twisted person'.

Demonstrators for the New Panther Initiative, a Black Lives Matter group, had gathered at Covered Bright Park in Elizabethton to protest against racial inequality and police brutality over the weekend.

Sonya Holt, above, is no longer employed at the Keith Family Vision Clinic in Johnson City

Johnson was filmed shouting 'White lives matter, white lives are better' at protesters during the rally

It is also alleged that Holt made a series of homophobic slurs and told protesters they would 'burn in hell'

But counter-protesters, including Holt, flocked to the scene to jeer at demonstrators as they entered the park.

It is also alleged that Holt made a series of homophobic slurs and told protesters they would 'burn in hell'.

Teenager and activist Sierra Gilmer, who shot the footage, said she wasn't surprised at Holt's behaviour.

'The biggest thing to take away from this is just to realize that racism is in your community however much you think it might not be,' she told News WCYB5.

'There are a lot of people that reached out to me saying that they didn't realize that this was happening in Elizabethton and they didn't realize there were people there like that.'

The rally is just one that has taken place in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed when a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in May.

Despite the jeers demonstrators tried to engage in dialogue with counter-protesters throughout the rally, which lasted around three hours.
At least 21 people have died and another 15 have been hospitalised after a bus carrying dozens of passengers fell off a bridge and sank into a reservoir in China, according to officials.

Surveillance footage shows the blue vehicle veering off course into opposite traffic lanes before plunging off a busy road in the south-western city of Anshun.

The local fire brigade said they had found 36 passengers in the wrecked bus, of whom 21 had been pronounced dead. The cause of the incident remains unclear amid ongoing investigations.

Surveillance footage released by state media People's Daily shows the blue bus initially driving at a slow speed on the bridge before suddenly swerving into the ongoing traffic on Tuesday

Pictures above capture the terrifying moment a bus packed with passengers crashing into a reservoir after suddenly veering off a bridge in Guizhou province, south-western China

The total number of casualties is yet confirmed by Chinese authorities. The cause of the incident also remains unclear. Pictured, firefighters look for survivors in the damaged bus

The deepest point of the reservoir is about 15 metres (50 feet) below the ground, a lead rescuer told The Beijing News. The water where the bus plunged into is around 10 metres (33 feet) deep.

The bus is said to have carried final year high school students who were on their way to sit the nationwide college entry exams.

Surveillance footage released by People's Daily shows the blue bus initially driving at a slow speed on the bridge before suddenly swerving into the ongoing traffic.

The large vehicle then crashed through the bridge's barriers and plunged into the Hongshanhu reservoir next to the structure.

At least two people have died and 16 are being treated at a hospital after the incident which took place at around 12pm local time Tuesday in Guizhou provinces Anshun, southwest China

The large vehicle crashed through the bridges barriers and plunged into the Hongshanhu reservoir next to the structure. Pictured, firefighters continue their search for survivors

As of 5:30pm local time, a total of 36 people had been rescued, according to the local fire brigade.

Twenty-one of them had died. Fifteen were injured and rushed to hospital.

Dozens of firefighters are pictured searching for passengers in the water. A total of 141 firefighters including 19 divers have participated in the rescue.

Other images show local officers inspecting the damaged bus after it was salvaged from the reservoir.

The news comes as nearly 11million Chinese students across the country started their two-day college exams today.

Weather authorities have warned parents to heed forecasts and prepare school journeys carefully as days of torrential rain triggered flood warnings across large parts of the country.

Local firefighters are continuing their search for remaining survivors in the water. The picture shows the large blue bus being salvaged from the reservoir after it plunged off a bridge

At least 18 people have been rescued and rushed to the hospital, according to the local fire brigade. Pictured, the bus being towed onto the bridge after it plunged into a reservoir

Local officers are pictured inspecting the damaged bus after it was salvaged from the water

The news comes as China has seen another similar tragic accident, in which a bus plunged over 160 feet off a bridge into the Yangtze River in south-western Chinese city Chongqing.

The bus lost control after the passenger attacked the bus driver and tried to snatch the vehicle's steering wheel.

Thirteen people were found dead, and two were missing during the 2018 incident.
Ministers suggested China's role in the UK's nuclear power plants is under review today as tensions escalated again.

Despite Beijing threatening 'consequences', the government is set to U-turn on allowing Huawei be involved in the new 5G network after intelligence agencies warned US sanctions had raised doubts about security.

Conservative MPs are now pushing for the company's technology to be removed from telecoms infrastructure altogether by 2024.

They have broadened their demands to cover China's involvement in other core parts of the economy, including nuclear plants. There are also calls for the government to expand its new post-Brexit sanctions regime to cover Chinese figures linked to human rights abuses in Hong Kong.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma appeared to confirm this morning that a review will be carried out into the nuclear projects.

But he played down fears over the mounting clashes, insisting: 'I don't think there is any inconsistency in welcoming inward investment and at the same time standing up for the UK's values and interests and our security.'

However, former chancellor Philip Hammond voiced concern about an 'alarming' outbreak of 'anti-China sentiment' in the Tory party.

The furious international wrangling came as:

A controversial dossier compiled by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele accused China of trying to manipulate key Establishment figures in the UK;

The Chinese authorities lashed out at 'conspiracy theories' against Huawei as it took an increasingly aggressive stance;

Ministers are facing demands to include Chinese figures linked to human rights abuses in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the new post-Brexit UK sanctions regime.

The government is set to U-turn on allowing Huawei a role in the 5G project after intelligence agencies warned US sanctions had raised doubts about security

Former chancellor Philip Hammond (left) has voiced alarm about an 'alarming' outbreak of 'anti-China sentiment' in the Tory party. Business Secretary Alok Sharma (right) played down fears over the mounting tensions with Beijing this morning

Ex-chancellor Philip Hammond warns on 'anti-China sentiment' in Tory party Former chancellor Philip Hammond has voiced alarm about an 'alarming' outbreak of 'anti-China sentiment' in the Tory party. Mr Hammond said the UK should not be distancing itself from China while 'loosening ties' with Europe. He told Today: 'Right now, the UK is in the process of loosening its ties with trade partners in Europe in the name of expanding its global reach. 'It seems to me this is not a time to be wanting to weaken our trade links with the world's second largest economy. 'We have to find a way, and I think we have done it in the past with many countries, of continuing to trade, continuing to invest and welcome investment from countries with which we have frank disagreements about political issues.' The ex-foreign secretary said he is 'concerned about the outbreak of anti-Chinese sentiment within the Conservative Party' and called its rise 'alarming'. Advertisement

China warned of 'consequences' and accused the UK of bowing to US pressure yesterday amid signs Huawei will be dropped from 5G.

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.'

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said yesterday he had received the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) assessment, and the US decision to levy sanctions on Huawei would 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.

State-owned China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) has invested billions of pounds in the Hinkley Point C plant, being built in Somerset.

The firm is also seeking approval to construct a nuclear reactor at Bradwell in Essex.

Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme whether the Government would be reviewing China's investment in UK nuclear power, Mr Sharma said: 'We will be looking at all of this in the round.

'The key thing I just want to say is ... we will look at all investments that are made in the UK, we will look at that against the criteria we have set out in the Enterprise Act, that will be set out in the National Security Investment Bill, and that will be for all investments that are made rather than picking and choosing individual countries.'

On the fate of Huawei, Mr Sharma said: 'I don't want to go into the details of a particular country but you will know that, as a result of the initial sanctions that the US has put in place against Huawei specifically, we are having a look to see what the impact would be on UK networks.

'There is a process ongoing, we will see what that review comes to and we will set out our next steps.'

The PM's spokesman said the UK 'already has significant safeguards which are in place and that will remain the case'.

'There is a particular issue in relation to Huawei and the US sanctions which have been put in place on the company. The National Cyber Security Centre have been looking at that and if there is an update to be provided to Parliament we will do so before recess,' the spokesman said.

Asked whether Chinese investment is still welcome, the spokesman said: 'We have a hard won reputation as one of the most open economies in the world

'The National Security and Investment Bill which we are bringing forward will help protect our national security by strengthening powers to scrutinise and intervene while ensuring the UK remains a champion of free trade and investment.'

Mr Hammond said the UK should not be distancing itself from China while 'loosening ties' with Europe.

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

Ministers face calls for UK sanctions regime to target Chinese figures Ministers are facing calls to extend the UK's new sanctions regime to Chinese figures. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab unveiled measures being taken against Russian and Saudi individuals yesterday, when the post-Brexit system was announced. But Tories are urging the government to add Chinese suspects linked to human rights abuses in Hong Kong and elsewhere to the list. Foreign Affairs Committee chair Tom Tugendhat told the Commons: 'There has been a remarkable silence on human rights violations in China. 'As yet, there is no announcement on any sanctions against those who are either exploiting or abusing the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, or repressing democracy activists in Hong Kong. 'I wonder whether that is merely because this is the first stage of sanctions and the Foreign Office has not quite yet caught up with it.' Advertisement

He told Today: 'Right now, the UK is in the process of loosening its ties with trade partners in Europe in the name of expanding its global reach.

'It seems to me this is not a time to be wanting to weaken our trade links with the world's second largest economy.

'We have to find a way, and I think we have done it in the past with many countries, of continuing to trade, continuing to invest and welcome investment from countries with which we have frank disagreements about political issues.'

The ex-foreign secretary said he is 'concerned about the outbreak of anti-Chinese sentiment within the Conservative Party' and called its rise 'alarming'.

The diplomatic war over Huawei took an extraordinary twist today after a controversial dossier accused China of trying to manipulate key Establishment figures in the UK.

Entitled China's Elite Capture, the 86-page report details an alleged campaign by Beijing to persuade influential individuals to back Huawei and its strategic aims.

Among a string of incendiary claims, the dossier described the Chinese telecoms firm as 'Beijing's strategic asset' and cited fears it could be used for state spying. It said politicians, academics and other 'elites' in the UK had been targeted by China in an attempt to secure their support for Huawei's integration into Britain's technology infrastructure.

China's Elite Capture was compiled with the help of former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, among others. Mr Steele is known for his role in drawing up a 'dirty dossier' about Russia and Donald Trump.

A spokesman for the Chinese telecoms giant described the allegations as 'unfounded', and said they were part of a 'long-running US campaign' against the company.

But Dr Huiyao Wang, president of the Centre for China and Globalisation and an adviser to the Chinese government, urged ministers not to indulge in a 'conspiracy theory' about Huawei.

He told the Today programme: 'The UK is a country that invented a lot of trade formats and now it is getting more independent, has a lot of soft power.

'It should really take a lead on safeguarding the multilateral trading system, including technology usage around the world, rather than going back to conspiracy theory, and really has no hard evidence and no proof to deny a company of the most advanced technology in the world.'

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative leader, told The Times he supported 'a campaign for zero' participation by Chinese companies in critical UK energy infrastructure.

'We've got to rethink our whole energy strategy now. We don't need them to come and build thundering great energy plants,' he said.

'China right now is not a diplomatic country with a tolerance of fair, reason-able sense of justice. They are an unreasonable government hell-bent on domination,' Sir Iain added.

Tory MP Bob Seely added: 'We cannot have China in our critical national infrastructure.'

Trump dirty dossier spy reveals how China 'targets British VIPs': Former MI6 spy Christopher Steele accuses Beijing of grooming UK establishment figures to be 'full-time agents' or 'useful idiots'

The diplomatic war over Huawei took an extraordinary twist last night after a controversial dossier accused China of trying to manipulate key Establishment figures in the UK.

Entitled China's Elite Capture, the 86-page report details an alleged campaign by Beijing to persuade influential individuals to back Huawei and its strategic aims.

Among a string of incendiary claims, the dossier described the Chinese telecoms firm as 'Beijing's strategic asset' and cited fears it could be used for state spying. It said politicians, academics and other 'elites' in the UK had been targeted by China in an attempt to secure their support for Huawei's integration into Britain's technology infrastructure.

China's Elite Capture was compiled with the help of former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, among others. Mr Steele is known for his role in drawing up a 'dirty dossier' about Russia and Donald Trump.

The British figures targeted, the dossier claims, included Sir Kenneth Olisa, the Lord Lieutenant of London, pictured above with the Duchess of Cambridge

The latest dossier names several prominent individuals it alleged had been targeted as part of the pro-Huawei campaign, claiming the aim had been to make them China's 'useful idiots'. Last night, those identified in the report issued statements strenuously denying the claims, dismissing them as 'bizarre' and like a 'conspiracy theory'. Huawei categorically dismissed the dossier, saying its findings had 'no basis in fact'.

Ex-MI6 man behind 'dirty dossier' on Donald Trump The bold claim is reportedly made in a dossier made in part by the firm co-founded by ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele Former British spy Christopher Steele was behind the Donald Trump 'dirty dossier' which alleged he had cosied up to Russian president Vladimir Putin and cavorted with prostitutes. The US President, who was President-elect when the dossier came out in January 2017, dismissed the report as 'false and fictitious'. Mr Steele, 56, left MI6 in 2009 before setting up private firm Orbis Business Intelligence, which has contributed to the Huawei report. He was once MI6's top spy on Russian affairs and lived in the shadows until being unmasked as the author of the Trump dossier. Mr Steele joined MI6 after graduating from Cambridge where he was described as a 'confirmed socialist'. As a young intelligence officer in Moscow, he was frequently harassed by the KGB. He went on to become head of MI6's Russia desk  meaning he was one of the Secret Intelligence Service's most senior spies. When Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko was murdered in London in 2006, the then head of MI6, Sir John Scarlett, turned to Mr Steele, who handled the case with 'expert professionalism', it was said. Mr Steele concluded that Mr Litvinenko had been poisoned in a Kremlin-sponsored 'hit'. Mr Steele co-founded Orbis Business Intelligence with another former MI6 officer, Christopher Burrows. It has earned huge sums over the years and was instrumental in exposing corruption at world football body Fifa. But it was Mr Steele's gold-plated contacts in Moscow that led wealthy opponents of Mr Trump to the door of Orbis's discreet Belgravia office. They commissioned him to research Mr Trump's dealings in Russia. The sensational results included claims that the Kremlin kept a blackmail file on the President-elect which was said to contain a video of Mr Trump with Moscow prostitutes who are engaging in a 'sexually perverted' act. Mr Steele was born in 1964 in Aden  his father was in the military  and grew up in Surrey before attending Girton College, Cambridge. He was president of the Cambridge Union debating society in 1986  the same year Boris Johnson was president of the Oxford Union. Contemporaries recalled an 'avowedly Left-wing student'. In 2017, Mr Trump lashed out during a press conference and called the dossier 'fake news'. Advertisement

The telecoms giant also said the report  which was commissioned and funded by an American-Scottish film producer who has spoken out against the firm  was part of a US attempt to discredit it.

The dossier's extraordinary claims are likely to intensify the diplomatic row over Huawei, which presents a serious threat to Britain-China relations.

China's ambassador to Britain warned that trade between the two countries could be at risk if the Government changed its mind about Huawei's involvement in the 5G network.

Boris Johnson is thought to be on the brink of a change of heart on the issue amid concerns about Huawei from British security officials. At the same time, a powerful alliance of at least 60 Tory MPs, including a string of former ministers, is threatening to vote down any attempt to allow Huawei into the system.

The dossier also alleged: 'The origins of China's elite capture of the UK come from the David Cameron era: George Osborne, Cameron's finance minister, spearheaded a drive to encourage Chinese investment into the UK and minimise any UK criticism of China's human rights record.'

The dossier, seen by the Daily Mail, is not being formally published, and does not contain corroborating evidence of some of its claims. It allegations include:

 Politicians, academics, and other 'elites' were targeted by the Chinese Communist Party with the intention of making them either 'useful idiots' or 'full-time agents';

 A covert 'manipulation' campaign was co-ordinated by Chinese authorities on the 'dark web' for more than two years;

 Britain's spies fear a cell set up in the UK to monitor Huawei will not prevent the Chinese from spying on communications;

 There is evidence that a 'state actor' sought to hack the cell's activities by offering up 600,000 to 'guns for hire' on the dark web.

 Huawei is 'closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party and is instrumental in its plans to gain a greater say in global affairs';

 China's 'main objectives' are to establish a presence in the UK's critical national infrastructure, including power  such as the nuclear power station at Hinkley Point  and telecoms with Huawei.

There is growing hostility on the Tory benches towards China. As well as the Huawei controversy, MPs are pushing ministers to take a robust stand against Beijing over both Hong Kong and China's apparent attempt to cover up the initial coronavirus epidemic.

Ministers are privately thought to accept that Beijing's increasingly aggressive global stance  and Tory antipathy to it  means that the 'Golden Age' of relations trumpeted by Mr Cameron is all but over. Mr Steele and former diplomat Arthur Snell, both of Orbis Business Intelligence, contributed to the new dossier, which alleges Huawei is a 'front for Chinese intelligence' and part of its ambitions is to establish a presence in Britain's critical infrastructure.

A covert influence campaign allegedly included Truman Show-style fake radio shows, which were invented to persuade participants to support the firm, along with phishing emails and other techniques. The report  which also includes input from an ex-government official  claims the campaign was run on behalf of Huawei.

The British figures targeted, the dossier claims, included Sir Kenneth Olisa, the Lord Lieutenant of London, and Sir Mike Rake, the former chairman of BT  both now on its non-executive UK board.

The report alleges that Lord Clement Jones, a Lib Dem peer and spokesman for the digital economy and former Huawei adviser, and Dr Sarah Wollaston, then chairman of the liaison committee  which is made up of the chairmen of the 32 Commons select committees  were also allegedly singled out. John Suffolk, the former Government chief information officer turned Huawei's head of global security, was another named by the report.

However, last night four of those five figures all strenuously denied the claims. The other, Dr Wollaston, said she was not aware of any emails and in any event did not have any relationship with Huawei, nor would she.

There was no supporting evidence to back the claims up in the report and Huawei also denied all the allegations. A spokesman said: '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.'

Other sections of the dossier cast doubt on UK claims that the security risks of Huawei can be mitigated. The dossier claims that Britain's spies fear that a 'cell' set up here to monitor the work of Huawei cannot prevent the Chinese from spying on communications.
Israeli spy agency Mossad claims it has recently thwarted a series of planned Iranian attacks on Israeli embassies around the world.

The intelligence bureau has halted 'terrorist' plans in Europe and elsewhere, according to a report by Hebrew-language broadcaster Channel 12 which said that Israel's arch-enemy Iran was behind the plots.

'Frustration is growing fast in Iran,' the report said, according to the Times of Israel.

Iran has suggested that Israel was behind a mysterious fire at one of its nuclear facilities last Thursday, a claim which Israel has not fully denied.

Israel's spy agency Mossad claims it has thwarted attacks on Israeli embassies, according to a report which hinted at Iranian involvement - amid rising tensions over a reputed Israeli link to a fire at a nuclear facility in Iran (pictured, an aerial view of the Natanz plant after the fire)

The countries on the alleged hit-list were not identified but sources said that co-operation with the host governments had helped to prevent disaster.

Israel has previously blamed Iran for actual and planned attacks on its diplomatic missions, including a bomb attack at its embassy in India in 2012.

The following year an Iranian man was arrested over an alleged plot to attack the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan.

Tensions have risen again in recent days after the fire at the Natanz nuclear complex in central Iran which caused 'significant' damage.

Nuclear officials in Iran say the fire could slow down the development and production' of advanced centrifuges which are needed to enrich uranium.

The Islamic republic's nuclear body said there were no casualties and no release of radiation.

Tehran has vowed to ramp up nuclear production after ripping up large parts of its 2015 deal with Western powers - although it denies seeking nuclear weapons.

Nuclear officials in Iran say the fire could slow down the development and production' of advanced centrifuges which are needed to enrich uranium

Some Iranian officials have suggested that Israel was behind the fire and suggested it was caused by a cyber attack, although without providing evidence.

'Responding to cyber attacks is part of the country's defence might. If it is proven that our country has been targeted by a cyber attack, we will respond,' civil defence chief Gholamreza Jalali told state TV.

An article by Iran's state news agency IRNA addressed what it called the possibility of sabotage by enemies such as Israel and the United States, although it stopped short of accusing either directly.

Israel has neither confirmed nor fully denied involvement. Defence minister Benny Gantz played down the link on Sunday, saying that 'not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with us'.

Gantz suggested that Iran might have blundered in its handling of 'complex' systems, saying 'I'm not sure they always know how to maintain them'.

The same day, foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi said Israel's long-term strategy was to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon - saying Israel takes 'actions that are better left unsaid', without mentioning the fire.

Israel has previously uncovered what it called Iran's 'nuclear archive,' a collection of thousands of documents seized by Mossad agents from a Tehran warehouse in 2018.

Israel claims the documents prove that Iran intended to develop nuclear weapons and hid its efforts from the international community.

The Natanz facility, shown on this map, is one of Iran's major nuclear facilities - although Tehran denies that any of them are intended to be used for nuclear weapons

Separately, Israel launched a new spy satellite yesterday which is thought to be intended to monitor Iran's nuclear activities.

The satellite launch did not appear to be directly connected to the developments in Natanz, given the lengthy preparations involved.

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 Israel's 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.'

Defence minister Gantz said the Ofek-16 satellite 'is yet another extraordinary achievement' for Israel's defence sector.

'Technological superiority and intelligence capabilities are essential to the security of the State of Israel ... We will continue to strengthen and maintain Israel's capabilities on every front, in every place,' he said.

Gantz was Netanyahu's rival in three elections in the space of a year in 2019 and 2020 before they finally reached a power-sharing agreement after all three polls ended in stalemate.

Under the agreement, Netanyahu is due to remain PM until the autumn of 2021 before handing over to Gantz.

Netanyahu is under criminal indictment in three corruption cases, on charges including bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies wrongdoing.
Mark Brown donned a long, silver wig and black dress before he ran out of his flat to assault a teenager who jogged past his home, a court heard

A 'dangerous sexual predator' donned a long, silver wig and black dress before he ran out of his flat to assault a teenager who jogged past his home, a court heard.

Mark Brown was caught on CCTV dashing out of his flat, wearing the get-up, before stalking the girl and ambushing her, a jury was told.

The 30-year-old convicted sex attacker, of Newington Green, north London, followed her for about 500 metres before attacking her.

Wood Green Crown Court heard that shortly before 3.55am on September 20, the victim jogged past Brown's home address.

Brown spotted her go by and put on a dress and leather jacket before dashing out of his flat in a mad rush to catch her - putting on a long silver wig as he ran.

He caught up with her after following her for about 500m. The girl, in her late teens, was unaware of anyone behind her until Brown placed his hand on her shoulder.

Before she had a chance to turn around to see who it was, she was sexually assaulted.

He was caught on CCTV dashing out of his flat, wearing the get-up, before stalking the girl and ambushing her, a jury was told

She tried to push him away and shouted at her attacker, but was pushed to the down on the ground.

She continued kicking and screaming but she had her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes, the suspect had fled and she only saw them running off in the distance, noticing they had long, silver hair.

After reporting the horrific incident to police, detectives found chilling CCTV footage showing Brown sprint from his home address after her, before following her - staying a few feet behind her until the attack.

The footage also showed Brown without the wig on. Brown was arrested and charged on October 5.

During his police interview, he was shown the CCTV footage and a still of him without the wig on - but he denied it was him and said he believed it was a woman.

When asked about the wig, Brown initially responded with 'no comment,' before telling officers that he had bought it for a fancy dress party but he 'threw it out ages ago'.

The court heard Brown has previously been convicted of seven counts of sexual touching and is on the Sex Offender's Register.

After reporting the horrific incident to police, detectives found chilling CCTV footage showing Brown sprint from his home address after her, before following her - staying a few feet behind her until the attack

Brown also breached his licence conditions of not being allowed out between 10pm and 8am.

Detective Constable Giash Uddin, the investigating officer from Central East's Safeguarding team, said: 'Brown is a dangerous, sexual predator and I am pleased that the jury agreed with the overwhelming evidence we gathered against him.

'Brown was lying in wait, in disguise, ready to pounce on his unsuspecting victim. He has refused to admit his guilt throughout and forced his victim to re-live her traumatic ordeal by going to trial.

'I'd like to praise the victim for her courage and cooperation throughout our investigation.

'I hope that Brown being brought to justice will give her a small measure of comfort and closure.

'I'd also like to thank Islington Council for their help with the extensive CCTV enquiries we carried out which identified Brown as the suspect and ultimately saw him get convicted for this heinous crime.'

He will be sentenced next month.
Sam Newman says he was an 'innocent bystander' when it was claimed on his podcast Nicky Winmar's iconic jersey lifting photo wasn't about racism.

Newman, Hawthorn great Don Scott and journalist Mike Sheahan questioned the meaning behind Winmar pointing to his skin during a match for St Kilda against Collingwood in 1993 on an episode of the You Cannot Be Serious podcast in June.

Winmar pursued legal action against Newman, Scott and Sheahan following the conversation, accusing the group of racially vilifying him, tarnishing his legacy and attempting to rewrite Indigenous history.

The group met for a six-hour mediation session on Friday, with Newman telling The Herald Sun the meeting was successful.

Sam Newman has claimed he was an 'innocent bystander' in the Nicky Winmar saga

Nicky Winmar claimed Newman's You Cannot Be Serious podcast tarnished his legacy

'He (Winmar) said he felt racially vilified by the fact we were discussing it and didnt take what he said as the facts,' Newman said.

The former Geelong veteran said the group accepted Winmar's perspective in their mediation, but claimed he didn't start the conversation in the first place.

'Im just saying I didnt bring any of that discussion up. You (Scott) and him over there (Sheahan) whos not here, who jumped ship, you brought that all up and I was just an innocent bystander for once,' he said.

Newman was vocal to naysayers who criticised his opinions and again called out Sheahan for quitting the podcast in the wake of the saga.

'These people who are the moral arbiters of what is wrong and right in the community and think they can tell me (or) anyone who else who has an opinion, just because you have an opinion about someone from another race, doesnt make you racist,' he said.

Each of the men signed a formal apology on Friday admitting the podcast had 'damaged Nicky's reputation' and confirming that the picture did in fact capture Winmar standing up against discrimination.

Winmar and photographer Wayne Ludbey who captured the iconic moment after a Collingwood versus St Kilda game in 1993, were outraged by the comments made by the three men

A letter of apology, seen by Daily Mail Australia, said: 'During our 23 June 2020 podcast, we talked about Nicky lifting his jumper and pointing to his skin at the end of the 1993 Collingwood and St Kilda match during which he had been racially abused.

'We acknowledge what Nicky did was an act of Indigenous pride and defiance. It was also a powerful statement of solidarity for Indigenous Australians who are subjected to racism and vilification.

'Any suggestion otherwise was wrong. We have reflected deeply on the issues.

'We accept what was said during the podcast has damaged Nicky's reputation. We understand many people would regard what we said as racially discriminatory of Nicky and Indigenous Australians.

'For all these reasons, we sincerely apologise to Nicky Winmar and to Indigenous Australians generally.'

Newman, Sheahan and Scott attended a six-hour mediation session with Winmar in Melbourne on Friday and signed an official apology and admitted the comments made during the podcast 'had damaged Nicky's reputation'

Sam Newman (left), Mike Sheahan (centre) and Don Scott (right) cast doubt on Winmar's stance against racism in which he was captured lifting his jumper and pointing at his dark skin - declaring it was really about the club having 'guts'

Their apology has been rumoured to include a $100,000 donation to an Indigenous charity.

The group said they will remove the podcast episode where the comments were made and promised to make another a formal apology during their next episode.

Winmar said he was happy the issue was resolved but believed there was more work to be done.

'I just wanna say I'm black and I'm proud and I want to thank the rest of Australia for supporting this,' Winmar told The Age.

'I was very disappointed [with the comments]. It's been a very emotional last few weeks. I believe in what I said.'
A tourist is pleading to be rescued after spending more than 100 days living in a Philippine airport during the coronavirus crisis.

Roman Tromifov has been stuck in the departures hall of Manila International Airport since he arrived from Bangkok on March 20.

He was denied entry to the country after the Philippines suspended entry visas because of the virus pandemic, but he could not get out either because AirAsia cancelled its entire schedule and there are no flights back to his home in Estonia.

His ordeal echoes the 2004 film The Terminal in which Tom Hanks plays an Eastern European tourist left stranded in JFK Airport after a coup in his home country.

The film was loosely based on the true story of Iranian refugee Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who lived in limbo at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport from 1988 to 2006.

Stranded: Roman Tromifov (pictured) has been stuck in the departures hall of Manila International Airport since he arrived from Bangkok on March 20

Roman Trofimov's case has echoes of the 2004 film The Terminal, in which Tom Hanks (pictured) plays a tourist who gets stuck at JFK Airport in New York

Trofimov took an AirAsia flight from Bangkok to Manila on March 20, just as the world was becoming engulfed by the pandemic.

The Eastern European tourist had been travelling in south-east Asia but his schedule was thrown into chaos when the Philippines shut its borders.

When he arrived in Manila he was told that the Philippines was no longer issuing tourist visas, meaning he was unable to enter the country.

He had an onward flight to Cebu province booked for the same day on March 20 and a return flight to Bangkok for April 2, but both were cancelled.

According to Estonian broadcaster ERR, Trofimov was travelling on a so-called 'grey passport' for people of unclear citizenship.

Estonian authorities say the document - also known as an 'alien's passport' - is issued to people with Estonian residence rights who cannot get another passport.

Trofimov claims that AirAsia took the passport when he arrived at the airport, meaning that only AirAsia can fly him back.

However the airline cancelled all its flights in the Philippines in March because of the virus pandemic, and has yet to resume its international schedule.

Roman Trofimov (pictured) was denied entry to the country after the Philippines suspended entry visas because of the virus pandemic, but he could not get out either because AirAsia cancelled its entire schedule and there are no flights back to his home in Estonia

Trofimov's makeshift accommodation at the airport where he has been stranded for more than three months after the Philippines denied him entry

Trofimov says the Estonian embassy was unable to arrange for his repatriation, although officials claim he declined an evacuation flight.

'It is important to note that he flew to the Philippines during a time when countries had announced emergency situations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had given a travel warning,' a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Trofimov says the embassy offered him a flight to Amsterdam but claims he was asked to pay for the 1,500 ticket from his own pocket, which he could not afford.

He has now been living in the airport for 110 days, from March 20 to July 7.

The tourist likened his situation to being a prisoner. He said: 'I've been stuck here for more than 100 days. I need help getting out.'

'The airline said I need to wait for Enhanced Community Quarantine to be over before I am allowed to fly,' he said, referring to the Philippine lockdown order.

Trofimov has been sleeping in an airport departures hotel room and surviving on food and snacks donated by staff.

He added: 'I am a person with disability, my health is getting worse because of malnutrition, lack of sun, and fresh air. I have no other choice, but to go public.'

The Tom Hanks film was inspired by the story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who spent almost two decades at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

After being denied entry to Britain in 1988, he was sent back to France where authorities ruled he could not enter the country nor be deported from the airport.
Two Victorian paramedics have tested positive for coronavirus as the state confirmed a record-high of new cases on Tuesday.

The paramedics are in isolation and contact tracing is currently underway, Ambulance Victoria said in a statement.

A total of four Ambulance Victoria paramedics have now tested positive for COVID-19.

Victoria notched a second day of record infections with 191 new cases on Tuesday, lifting its active cases to 772, and increase of 710 in four weeks.

A paramedic at one of the nine public housing estates that are in mandatory lockdown in Melbourne

Medical staff wearing PPE holding material about to walk into the Flemington Public housing flats on July 05

From 11.59pm on Wednesday, residents of metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, north of the city, can only leave home to buy food and supplies, and for exercise, medical care or work.

This means the state still may not be able to accept any more returned travellers after the temporary diversion of international flights to other states ends next week.

Premier Daniel Andrews says he's focused on tackling the surge of coronavirus cases in the community and enforcing a return to stage three restrictions.

'Our focus is, appropriately, on dealing with extra cases, on dealing with outbreaks, and doing everything we can to enforce these lockdowns and make sure they work,' he said.

'We may not be in a position to resume (taking returned travellers) at the end of this two-week pause.'

Medical workers are being told to wear face masks to help curb the spread of the virus in Victoria.

Premier Daniel Andrews says he's focused on tackling the surge of coronavirus cases in the community and enforcing a return to stage three restrictions

Pictured: Workers help deliver food to residents to a locked-down housing tower in North Melbourne

The state's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says it is a reasonable measure for workers in health settings to wear face masks.

'Where community transmission isn't negligible ... masks are a reasonable thing to wear where you can't physically distance. But we're working up some communication materials and I'll have more to say on that in coming days,' he said on Tuesday.

Professor Sutton said the advice was in line with statements made by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

Western Health has taken extra precautions, making all staff wear personal protective equipment whether or not they are on the front line.

The whole of Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire north of the city will be placed back into lock down for six weeks from 11.59pm on Wednesday after Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure yet. Pictured: A map showing the suburbs in lockdown

A passenger wearing a protective masks arrives on a flight from Melbourne into Sydney on Tuesday. The federal government is due to review JobKeeper later this month

Workers must wear a surgical mask, face shield or eye protections, a spokeswoman told AAP.

The measures have been in place since July 1 at its main facilities in COVID-19 hot spots, including Footscray and Joan Kirner Women's and Children's hospitals.

This was extended to Williamstown and Sunbury Day hospitals on Tuesday.

Since the end of June, visitors and outpatients must wear a supplied surgical mask too.

It comes after Northern Hospital confirmed on Monday that seven emergency department workers tested positive to the virus in five days.

The Rail, Bus and Tram Union has called for masks to be mandatory on Victoria's public transport.
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Black and Asian Britons are up to four times more likely to have had already fought off the coronavirus, official data today suggested.

A government-run Covid-19 surveillance scheme, which has tested 36,000 people across England, revealed 4.5 per cent of white people had developed antibodies  substances created by the immune system in response to specific pathogens.

In comparison, the rate was 12.2 per cent for Asian Brits, 7.7 per cent for black people and as high as 16.7 per cent for other ethnic groups, according to the report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Results of swab tests  which tell if someone is currently infected and not if they have had it in the past  showed a similar discrepancy between ethnicity, with between 0.64 and 0.69 per cent of black and Asian people ever testing positive for the coronavirus.

Just 0.30 per cent of white people swabbed between April 26 and June 27 tested positive for the disease, which has already killed 55,000 Brits since the outbreak spiralled out of control in February.

Results also showed that the risk was nine times higher (2.69 per cent) for people of other ethnic groups, which included Arabs.

The ONS report also revealed just 33 per cent of people had any of the tell-tale Covid-19 symptoms, a cough, fever or loss of taste and smell, on the day they received their test results.

Statisticians today warned the findings do not prove for certain that people of BAME backgrounds are at greater risk of being infected.

But they add to mountain of evidence that has found people of BAME backgrounds are more likely to catch Covid-19 and become seriously ill or die from it than white people.

WHY ARE SO MANY CORONAVIRUS VICTIMS FROM BAME BACKGROUNDS? Experts say there is unlikely to be one sole reason as to why ethnic minorities are more likely to become severely ill or die from the virus. People from ethnic minority backgrounds make up a large amount of the NHS workforce. This exposes them to bigger loads of the virus more often because they come into face-to-face contact with gravely ill patients. Having a high viral load - the number of particles of the virus someone is first infected with - gives the bug a 'jump start', scientists say. Members of ethnic minority communities are twice as likely to be affected by poverty, and are often hit the hardest by chronic diseases. Those living in poverty smoke and drink alcohol more and are more likely to be obese - all of which increase the likelihood of chronic health conditions. Patients with pre-existing health troubles struggle to fight off COVID-19 before it causes deadly complications such as pneumonia. People from poorer backgrounds are also more likely to use public transport more often and live in crowded houses - driving up their chance of catching and spreading the virus. They could also be more at risk because of their professions, according to Shaomeng Jia, an economics professor at Alabama State University's College of Business Administration. Those working in retail, in supermarkets and in construction - who cannot work from home - were still mingling and risking infection even when the outbreak peaked, she said. Advertisement

Scientists have yet to pin down exactly why minority groups are at a greater risk, which health chiefs last month claimed could be partly blamed on 'historic racism'.

But they say it may be partly explained by the minority groups being more likely to live in deprived areas, work in low-paid jobs or use public transport, where they interact with more potential carriers of the disease.

However, academics say this cannot explain the whole story and increased rates of vitamin D deficiency among minorities are also being investigated as a possible risk factor.

The ONS wrote: 'It is too early to say whether Covid-19 infection rates differ between ethnic groups because the number of people testing positive in groups other than the white ethnic group are very small.

'Although antibody test results provide an indication that individuals identifying as white are less likely to have had Covid-19 in the past than non-white ethnic groups.'

It added that most of the tests were carried out in May, when the disease was 'highly concentrated' in London and other urban areas, which tend to have higher rates of BAME populations living there.

The ONS gave a large range around the estimates because they were based on small samples, meaning the actual rate could be much higher or much lower.

For example, nearly 33,000 of the people tested were white. Only six of 944 Asians who were swabbed had Covid-19, and only two out of 288 black Britons had the disease.

Results also showed no difference in Covid-19 infection rates between genders or ages, suggesting that everyone is fundamentally at the same risk of being struck down.

However, data did reveal that people who had to leave their home to go to work were almost four times more likely to get infected with the virus, scientifically known as SARS-CoV-2.

Only 0.15 per cent of people in England who were able to work from home during the peak of the outbreak tested positive. By comparison, the rate was 0.56 per cent for people who didn't.

'Elementary occupations'  such as cleaners, labourers and shelf-fillers  had the highest risk, with 1 per cent of such workers testing positive.

Around 0.82 per cent of process, plant and machine operatives tested positive, followed by 0.79 per cent of carers and 0.65 per cent of workers employed in sales and customer services.

The ONS report also revealed a huge discrepancy in the rates of infection between NHS and social care workers, compared to the general population.

Just 0.27 per cent of non-healthcare workers swabbed positive for Covid-19. But the rate was six times higher (1.58 per cent) among medics and carers.

'HISTORIC RACISM' TO BLAME FOR BAME BRITS BEING MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM COVID-19 Historic racism and hostility towards immigrants could be partly to blame for black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) people being more likely to die from Covid-19, officials claimed last month. Public Health England (PHE) published the long-awaited second part of its report into how the coronavirus has hit BAME communities harder. It said 'hostile environments' towards immigrants may have affected settled BAME communities through 'heightened prejudice' and 'societal tensions'  but did not explain how this has directly raised the risk of Covid-19. The report also claimed a lack of trust in the NHS may have left some BAME groups reluctant to seek help early on, potentially making their disease harder to treat. It said some people were 'fearful of being deported' if they presented to hospital. And it claimed that BAME NHS staff may be less likely to speak up when they have concerns about personal protective equipment (PPE) or their risk. The report - based on discussions with 4,000 people - noted that historic racism has meant non-white communities are generally poorer so have worse health, putting them at higher risk if they catch Covid-19. Ethnic minority people  in particular those from black, Bangladeshi or Pakistani backgrounds  have for decades been more likely to have lower-paid jobs, leaving them with less money to live healthy lifestyles. Advertisement

Inadequate PPE, not enough testing to curb outbreaks, not separating patients well enough and staff not following social distancing may all have been behind the spread in NHS settings, experts say.

Data also showed infection rates are lower in one- and two-person households, which experts say is likely because they come into contact with less people  cutting their risk of being infected.

The ONS report also revealed just 33 per cent of people had any of the tell-tale Covid-19 symptoms, a cough, fever or loss of taste and smell, on the day they received their test results.

The ONS report is not the first to find Britons of BAME backgrounds are twice as likely to get infected with Covid-19.

Oxford University researchers last week revealed 14.7 per cent of NHS workers from ethnic minority backgrounds tested positive for the disease, compared to just 8.7 per cent who were white.

It comes after a government review last month confirmed that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people are more likely to die from Covid-19.

The Public Health England (PHE) report revealed that Britons of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of white Brits of dying with the coronavirus.

And it showed black people, as well as those of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, other Asian, or Caribbean backgrounds had between a 10 and 50 per cent higher risk of death.

The analysis did not take into account higher rates of long-term health conditions among these people, which experts say probably account for some of the differences.

Evidence compiled in the report also revealed that age is the single biggest risk factor that determines how likely people are to die with the virus - those over the age of 80 are 70 times more likely to be killed than under-40s.
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Harrowing footage taken from inside a fur farm in Asia reveals how foxes and raccoon dogs are beaten with a metal bar and some of them are skinned alive in what has been described as 'like a scene from hell'.

Thousands of dead foxes were tossed into piles after they were clubbed to death and skinned for their fur, aerial footage captured by investigators from animal rights charity Humane Society International has revealed.

The fur is then fashioned into expensive high street coats and exported to other countries.

Thousands of dead foxes were tossed into piles after they were clubbed to death and skinned for their fur, aerial footage captured by investigators from animal rights charity Humane Society International has revealed

Footage taken at fur farm in Asia shows thousands of dead foxes and raccoon dogs piled in a heap

The harrowing footage taken at a fur farm in Asia has been described as 'like a scene from hell' by TV presenter Chris Packham

Investigators for Humane Society International filmed at eleven randomly selected fur farms in one of the top countries in Asia exporting fur to the United Kingdom.

The charity has not revealed the exact location of the fur farm for safety reasons.

The foxes are kept outside in rows of cages covered in faeces and so small that most of the animals can move only a few inches.

The foxes' water bowls were often left empty, according to HSI investigators.

Some of the animals were exhibiting repetitive stereotypical behaviour typical of mental decline including swaying and repetitively pacing.

A raccoon dog is shown being clubbed to death with a metal bar in footage taken by animal rights charity Humane Society International

A raccoon dog is shown being clubbed to death with a metal bar at a fur farm in Asia in harrowing footage

The foxes are kept outside in rows of cages covered in faeces and so small that most of the animals can move only a few inches. The foxes' water bowls were often left empty, according to HSI investigators

Some of the animals were exhibiting repetitive stereotypical behaviour typical of mental decline including swaying and repetitively pacing

When the foxes are a year old, they are repeatedly hit over the head with a metal bar to kill them, which according to Humane Society International causes immense pain and injury but not instant death. Rows of cages pictured above

When the foxes are a year old, they are repeatedly hit over the head with a metal bar to kill them, which according to Humane Society International causes immense pain and injury but not instant death.

Their winter coats are then stripped from them.

Some of the foxes were cut and skinned while still alive and clearly moving, HSI investigators claimed.

One of the team described the scene is a 'mountain of dead bodies'.

'I've never seen so much death in one place. It really shocked me and I had to steady myself to keep filming,' they said.

Harrowing footage taken from inside a fur farm in Asia reveals how foxes and raccoon dogs are beaten with a metal bar and some of them are skinned alive. Above, a fox kept in a small cage

The harrowing footage was captured by investigators from animal rights charity Humane Society International

The foxes are kept outside in rows of cages covered in faeces and so small that most of the animals can move only a few inches

'There was a mountain of dead bodies, there must have been tens of thousands of animals discarded like rubbish, like their lives meant nothing.'

TV wildlife presenter and campaigner Chris Packham, who viewed HSI's video, said: 'I am astonished at the depravity of the fur trade. This investigation is like a scene from hell and anyone who knowingly wears fur should not turn away from watching it.

'Aside from the unbelievable cruelty of their deaths, these foxes and raccoon dogs will have endured utterly miserable lives.'

Some of the foxes were cut and skinned while still alive and clearly moving, HSI investigators claimed. Above, a raccoon dog kept in a small cage

TV wildlife presenter and campaigner Chris Packham, who viewed HSI's video, said: 'I am astonished at the depravity of the fur trade'

Commenting on the footage, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Luke Pollard said: 'The animal suffering revealed in HSI's investigation is truly sickening'

Commenting on the footage, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Luke Pollard MP said: 'The animal suffering revealed in HSI's investigation is truly sickening.

'This outdated and unnecessary trade should have no place in the UK's fashion industry.'

Fur farming was banned in the UK in 2003. Millions of pounds of fur is still imported into the UK every year from countries including Finland, Italy, Poland, China, Hong Kong, India and Thailand.

Humane Society International is calling for a blanket ban on fur sales in the UK.

No country has banned the sale of fur completely. In 2019, California became the first US state to ban fur sales following similar bans in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley and West Hollywood.
Prince Harry has reignited the row over Britain's colonial history as it emerged today he wanted the organisation to 'acknowledge the past', even if it's 'uncomfortable'.

It is likely to cause a ruckus in the Royal household, with his grandmother the Queen being head of the 54-nation group, and his father Prince Charles to succeed her when she dies.

His claims have touched on a delicate subject which Britons have mixed views, with some supporting the Commonwealth and noting its differences from the British Empire, while others detest them both.

The Queen is the head of the 54-nation Commonwealth. She is pictured here with Jamaica's Governor General Patrick Allen and his wife Patricia during a reception for Commonwealth Governors General at Buckingham Palace in 2012

The Commonwealth consists of 54 independent countries, the vast majority of which were at one point controlled by Britain.

The UK is one of the member states in the Commonwealth of Nations, as are Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.

Other member states include India, Pakistan, Singapore, Barbados, Namibia and Papua New Guinea and others from across Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Association in the Commonwealth of Nations, which is based at Marlborough House on Pall Mall in central London, is voluntary.

The Queen heads the organisation, with her son and Harry's father Prince Charles set to take over when she dies.

It is designed to promote peace, human rights, democracy and other core values among its member nations.

Association in the Commonwealth of Nations, which is based at Marlborough House on Pall Mall (pictured) in central London , is voluntary

The Commonwealth is still seen by many as relevant, with its 2.4billion-strong membership making up a third of the world's population.

It is often a platform for smaller nation members to be heard on the world stage, when otherwise they would be ignored.

Commonwealth leaders drop by Marlborough House when they are in London and have the chance to raise concerns to the British, who sit on the United Nations Security Council and have a louder voice than places such as the small Pacific island of Nauru.

On a more direct level, the Commonwealth connects people, with one example being deploying doctors or vets or lawyers from one member state to another which has a shortage.

It also helps out financially, which with the current pandemic still raging across the world is a saviour for many of the poorer nations.

Some less economically developed countries in Africa and Asia see the organisation as a lifeline to help boost sectors such as business - with at least 1.039billion being spent since 2015.

The importance of the association was made abundantly clear at a meeting in April 2018, where principles were drawn up to protect journalists working in hostile countries to the trade.

Some reporters had been facing death threats in rural parts of India, while others were physically attacked in Rwanda - both member nations - but the meeting agreed to make sure 'journalists can work without fear of attack, intimidation or interference, and to take prompt measures to protect them when they face a serious threat of harm or are subject to attack'.

The power of the Commonwealth, sometimes referred to as a 'family of nations' was also on show more recently during Theresa May's premiership, with the organisation playing a part in exposing the Windrush Scandal.

World leaders from the organisation were gathered in London in 2018 when the story broke, heaping pressure on the government to U-turn in policy and issue an apology.

The Balfour Declaration, named after Lord President of the Council and former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, enshrined equality and autonomy to the Dominions of the British Empire

The Commonwealth has only been a recognised organisation since 1931, but its origins can be traced back further to the Balfour Declaration in 1926.

The document, named after Lord President of the Council and former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, enshrined equality and autonomy to the Dominions of the British Empire.

The 1931 Statue of Westminster codified the independence of the Empire's Dominions and officially established the Commonwealth.

After a wave of decolonisation swept across the world after the Second World War, the Commonwealth of Nations was officially declared by the London Declaration on April 28, 1949.

Over the years, a number of countries have either voluntarily left or joined the Commonwealth, while others have recognised their own Heads of State in lieu of the British Monarchy.

Some feel strongly today that the Commonwealth is just a second British Empire masking as something else, despite efforts by the organisation to move away from its colonial past.

One writer pointed to the control Britain still has over vast areas of the world thanks to the organisation.

Afua Hirsch said in the Guardian that UK companies rule of over $1trillion resources in Africa - including gold, diamonds and oil - shows the continent is still under the power of the Empire.

Some people continue this link between the Commonwealth and Empire, pointing to atrocities the British oversaw in its territories.

Colonialism had many benefits for smaller overseas territories, such as economic development and greater transport systems - including the building of India's railway network, which helped transform the country.

So-called 'Whig' historians, such as 19th century historian Thomas Babington Macaulay, argued the British Empire led to greater liberty, the spread of democracy and scientific progress in its colonies.

Maccaulay played a major role in the introduction of English and western concepts to the education system in India - including replacing Persian with the English language.

But there were a number of atrocities involving the British Empire - including the concentration camps in the Second Boer War, the Amritsar massacre in 1919, the aftermath of the partition of India, the Mau Mau Uprising and famines in India - that people criticise Britain for and question its right to have any power over these countries today.

Coils of barbed wire form a makeshift compound during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya by rebels against the British Colonial Administration in the 1950s

In the Boer War, between 1899 and 1902, Britain fought with two Boer republics in South Africa.

Though the cause of the dispute is debated by historians, some suggest it was an attempt by Britain to take control of the world's largest cold mining complex.

The vastly superior British army, of around nearly 500,000 soldiers, fought the much smaller 88,000 strong force of Boers - who used the hostile terrain of their land to their advantage.

Frustrated by the guerrilla warfare tactics, Britain turned to a scorched-earth policy, destroying Boer farms and rounding-up inhabitants into concentration camps - many years before their infamous use by the Nazis.

Thousands of women and children captives died due to to poor conditions - causing protests in Britain and damaging the country's reputation worldwide.

Less than two decades later, in 1919, British troops slaughtered 379 Indian civilians in the bloody Amritsar massacre.

A painting of the Amritsar massacre in which at least 379 died

The killings took place when soldiers fired on a group of unarmed Punjabi civilians in Jallianwala Bagh public garden as they protested the British government's forced conscription of Indians to join the armed forces and also the war tax which threatened to cripple the Indian economy.

The Amritsar massacre remains a flashpoint between the UK and the Commonwealth country to this day. Last year, then-Prime Minister Theresa May expressed the UK's 'deep regret' over the massacre.

Another contentious issue, which has more prominence today due to the Black Lives Matter movement, is the calls for Britain to pay reparations to people descending from slaves.

There were 14 countries in the Caribbean alone aiming for this, but Hirsch claimed the UK government was using using jurisdiction problems to manoeuvre around any payments.

This argument came to a head when former Prime Minister David Cameron ruled out slavery reparations during a trip to Jamaica.

He admitted 'these wounds run very deep', but said Britain's role in ending the slave trade should be remembered and called for people to 'move on'.

The Old Etonian was asked to personally atone for his family's slave owning past and for the country to pay back billions, which he refused.

But perhaps the most famous scandal involving the Commonwealth was the treatment of the Windrush generation, whose parents had been invited here in the 1960s but the country tried to deport them over the last decade.

The Windrush generation was named after the ship that brought over one of the first groups of West Indian migrants invited to the UK in 1948 to help rebuild post-war Britain.

The Windrush generation was named after the ship that brought over one of the first groups of West Indian migrants invited to the UK in 1948 to help rebuild post-war Britain

Over the next 25 years thousands followed, taking jobs to fill shortages, particularly in the nascent NHS.

When the scandal blew up in 2018, the then Home Secretary Amber Rudd was forced to resign after misleading parliament about how many people had been affected.

The forgotten victims were the hundreds who had their lives turned upside down by the policy. They lost their jobs and their rights, were incarcerated and even deported.

The Winsrush Scandal was seen as a product of the British attitude to the Commonwealth, buried deep in racism.

Some trace the scandal back to the laws on immigration to the UK from the Commonwealth in the 1960s, while others point to the 'working holidaymaker rules' in the 1970s.

Regardless of how others see the Commonwealth, Prince Harry made a huge gamble by wading into the debate, with the rest of the Royal Family and their involvement in the organisation unlikely to leave them impressed with his comments.
A Russian billionaire has offered to buy two historical US statues that BLM protesters want removed from public view due to their links to racism and colonialism.

Businessman Andrey Filatov, 48, who runs the Art Russe Foundation - focusing on the preservation of soviet-era art - has made an offer to purchase two statues that US officials have backed for removal.

Former President Theodore Roosevelt's statue outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and a depiction of the first governor of Russian colonies in Alaska, Alexander Baranov, found in Sitka, Alaska, have both been marked for uprooting.

And now it appears the banished statues may not remain in the US, with potential Russian buyer Mr Filatov stating that he would export them to St. Petersburg, Russia, where they would be celebrated for the 'positive mark' both men left on Russia, reports CNN.

New York's Museum of Natural History announced last month that its statue of President Theodore Roosevelt, which has stood at the entrance since 1940, is set to be removed

An Art Russe Foundation spokesperson told the broadcaster: 'We have deep respect and appreciation for individuals who contributed to the development of Russia and were associated with the history of our country.

'Both the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, and the governor of Russian settlements in North America, Alexander Baranov, were statesmen who left their positive mark in Russia's history. We therefore see the need to preserve their memory for future generations.'

The statues are just two of hundreds sparking controversy in the US as Black Lives Matter protesters call for the nation to face its problematic history, with many confederate monuments torn down in the south.

New York's Museum of Natural History announced last month that its statue of President Theodore Roosevelt, which has stood at the entrance since 1940, is set to be removed after gaining approval from mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio and governor Andrew Cuomo.

Alexander Baranov established and acted as a governor for the first Russian colonies in Alaska and was the general manager of the Russian-American Company. His statue in in Sitka, Alaska

The statue features Roosevelt being flanked by a Native American man and an African man while riding on horse back, suggesting they are 'subjugated and racially inferior', de Blasio said in a statement.

The Republican and 26th president of the United States, whose face is depicted on Mount Rushmore alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, is credited with laying the groundwork for the modern Democratic party.

His progressive policies leveled the playing field between rich and poor, a mantle which was carried forward in the modern liberalism of his cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency.

Ellen V. Futter, the museum's president, said the removal was more about the statue's 'hierarchical composition' than a reflection on Roosevelt.

In Russian history Roosevelt is remembered as a peacemaker - brokering the Treaty of Portsmouth to end the 18-month-long war between Japan and Russia in 1904. He was given the Nobel Peace Prize for his actions two years later.

Businessman Andrey Filatov, 48, who runs the Art Russe Foundation - focusing on the preservation of soviet-era art - has made an offer to purchase two US statues

Alexander Baranov (1747 - 1819), is a lesser known figure in US history who established and acted as a governor for the first Russian colonies in Alaska and was the general manager of the Russian-American Company.

A bronze statue of the leader sits in front of Harrigan Centennial Hall on an island named after him, Baranov Island, in Sitka, Alaska, where it was erected in 1989 to celebrate the role of commerce in Sitka's past.

Under the statue a plaque reads: 'That we may dwell in amity and peace forever in this region.'

A petition for the statue to be taken down, signed by 2,500, said Baranov's role in promoting commerce in the city was synonymous with the oppression of Alaskan natives and colonization.

It states: 'Alexander Baranof (Baranov) was a Russian colonist who came to Sitka, Alaska, without an invitation, to enrich himself, his company and his country.

'In 1804 he led the armed assault on the local Tlingit people who have lived in this area for over 10,000 years.'

Writing to Sitka's City Hall and the American Museum of Natural History the Art Russe Foundation said it had offered to purchase both for an undisclosed sum stating: 'monetary value is subject to negotiation.'

Ukrainian-born Filatov, who is a master chess player and president of Russia's chess federation earned his fortune in transport and ports industries and has an estimated worth of $1.1 billion, reports CNN.

Filatov founded the Art Russe Foundation in 2012 to collect and preserve art from the Soviet era, between 1917 to 1991. The art is offered on loan to museums and galleries.

He co-owns Globaltrans, a private railway operator, and founded Tuloma, an investment company, in 2013.
The body of an Australian stock market trader has been found in an apartment in Thailand, with police treating the death as suicide.

Andrew George Tomlinson, 59, was discovered by a shocked maid in the four-storey building in Pattaya on Thailand's eastern Gulf coast on Saturday afternoon.

Police checked CCTV but claimed there was no sign of anyone else entering the room.

A notepad was on his desk containing a list of songs - including Linkin Park's In The End, Rihanna's Don't Stop The Music and KT Tunstall's Suddenly I See.

The body of Australian stock market trader Andrew George Tomlinson, 59, (pictured) has been found in an apartment in Thailand

Pictured: The seven computer screens set up on Mr Tomlinson's desk staff at the hotel said he used to trade stocks

The maid who called the emergency services said Mr Tomlinson had been living there for almost three years.

He had seven computer screens set up on a desk which the staff at the hotel said he used to trade stocks.

She said: 'I never thought that he had any problems. He worked in his room so he was very quiet.'

Police Lieutenant Col Nithat Waewpradab, deputy superintendent of Pattaya city police, said Mr Tomlinson was wearing a green t-shirt and underwear.

There were no signs of a struggle and officers had been unable to see anyone acting suspiciously or entering the room, he added.

The police chief said: 'Forensic officers have examined the scene and sent the body of the dead man to hospital.

A notepad was found on his desk containing a list of songs including Linkin Park's In The End

Authorities are pictured moving Mr Tomlinson's body from the apartment after it was found on Saturday

'We will know the cause of death from a post-mortem examination.

'We believe the man committed suicide and we are not looking for anybody else.

'I could not see any evidence of a disturbance in the room.'

For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14.

For further support contact Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 and MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.
High street footfall was down 50 per cent year on year in the third week of non-essential shops reopening in England and Northern Ireland, prompting serious concerns about the long term future of town and city centres.

Official ShopperTrak data released today by the British Retail Consortium showed the return of customers to the nation's high streets and shopping centres has been sluggish.

Non-essential shops in England reopened on June 15, in Northern Ireland on June 12 and in Wales on June 22 and in Scotland, mostly, on June 29.

But the latest data showed in the week covering June 28 to July 4 - the third week of reopening for much of the nation - UK footfall was down 49.6 per cent year on year.

That compares to a decrease of 53.4 per cent year on year in the previous week.

The BRC said the numbers showed that 'many shoppers are still reluctant to visit physical shopping locations' because of coronavirus fears.

The numbers have accelerated calls for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to use his mini-Budget tomorrow to announce fresh support for the retail sector amid warnings of mass closures and massive job losses.

British Retail Consortium data published today showed the return of shoppers to the high street has been sluggish. Camden High Street in London is pictured on July 4

Retail chiefs are urging Chancellor Rishi Sunak, pictured in Downing Street on May 4, to use his mini-Budget tomorrow to announce fresh financial support for the sector

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:'It remains a long way back to normality for the retail industry; two weeks after most shops reopened in England, footfall is still only half what it was a year ago.

'The reopening of pubs, cafes and other hospitality businesses this Saturday does not appear to have benefited shops much, with the Saturday showing more modest growth than the days prior to these locations reopening.

'By European standards, the UK's recovery remains slow, and while safety measures introduced by retailers have been well received by customers, many shoppers are still reluctant to visit physical shopping locations.

'On Wednesday, the Chancellor should announce measures to boost consumer demand - without it, the UK risks becoming an economic laggard in its coronavirus recovery.

'With the first shop closures being announced, the Government must act fast to protect the three million retail jobs, as well as millions more throughout the supply chain.'

The BRC's statistics showed that high streets recorded footfall 55.7 per cent lower year on year last week, compared to a decrease of 58.1 per cent year on year for the previous week.

Retail parks saw footfall down 24.6 per cent year on year, compared to 28.4 per cent year on year on the previous week.

For shopping centres footfall was down 56.1 per cent year on year, compared to 60.7 per cent year on year for the previous week.

Total retail footfall for last week increased 15.3 per cent week on week with high streets and shopping centres doing better than retail parks.

The reopening of pubs, restaurants and hairdressers on Saturday saw UK footfall increase by 9.2 per cent on the previous week.

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant at ShopperTrak, said:'Last week saw one of the last pieces of the retail recovery puzzle fall into place as England opened up its hospitality sector.

'Understandably there is a lot of noise around pubs opening their doors, but retailers and property owners will be far more interested in seeing an uplift in traffic as a consequence of cafes and restaurants reopening.

'This didn't really happen on Saturday, with a modest week on week gain of 9.2 per cent, against an overall week gain of 15.3 per cent.

'The UK's recovery rate is still trending behind that of its European peers, with last weeks footfall being around half of what it was in 2019.'
Disgraced former shadow Labour minister Eric Joyce has been warned he could face at least a year in jail after admitting to having child pornography on a computer.

The ex-Labour MP for Falkirk, Scotland, had a 51-second clip depicting 'a number of children' including a 12-month-old baby. The oldest was seven years old.

It was classed as a Category A offence - the most serious kind of indecent image, which involve either penetrative sex, sadism or animals.

The father-of-two, 59, told Ipswich Crown court that he had searched for indecent images of children while he was having issues with alcohol abuse.

He claimed the footage arrived on his computer in a spam email, but admitted that he had knowledge of it.

The former shadow minister for Northern Ireland was a Labour MP from 2000 to 2012, before becoming an independent and stepping down in 2015. He spent 21 years in the army, and rose through the ranks to become a major.

He stepped back from Labour following a fight in the Commons Strangers bar where he headbutted two Conservatives and punched a Labour whip in the face.

Former Labour shadow minister for Northern Ireland Eric Joyce has pleaded guilty to making child porn images.He is pictured above today outside Ipswich Crown court

The court heard that the single 51-second movie, found on the device, 'depicts a number of children' including a 12-month-old baby. Joyce is pictured above today outside court

From drink driving, to a brawl in Westminster and child pornography: The six times Joyce has been hauled before the courts November 2010: The MP for Falkirk was stripped of his licence for a year and fined 400 after he admitted failing to provide a breath test. Police were called by Ineos petrochemical refinery in Grangemouth after he arrived there smelling of alcohol and they heard what 'sounded like heavy metal rubbing very loudly', suggesting he had hit something. March 2012: Joyce was arrested by police and spent the night in cells after brawling with fellow politicians at the Strangers bar in Westminster. He was fined 3,000 and given a 12-month community order by Westminster magistrates' court after he admitted drunkenly assaulting four politicians in the Commons Strangers' bar. In the fight he headbutted Conservative MP Stuart Andrew, giving him a bloody nose and concussion, punched Tory councillor Luke Mackenzie, splitting his lip, and headbutted Tory councillor Ben Maney. He also turned on Labour whip Phillip Wilson, punching him in the face. August 2012: Joyce was called back to court after using scissors to remove the electronic tag that had been fitted to his leg as part of a community order. He was fined 600. May 2013: Joyce was arrested at Edinburgh airport after he had an argument with airline staff. He had become abusive towards them when they asked for flight details as he tried to get back onto the plane, which had arrived from Heathrow, to get his mobile phone. He admitted one charge of breaching the peace at Edinburgh Sheriff court and was fined 1,000. He was also ordered to pay 100 to an airport worker and 50 to a police officer. March 2014: Joyce was arrested for a disturbance at a karaoke event in the sports and social bar of the House of Commons, where he was seen wrestling with two police officers and holding one in a headlock. The Office of the speaker decided to ban him from purchasing or being served alcoholic beverages in the Palace of Westminster, including its eight bars. October 2014: Police charged Joyce with two charges of common assault following an 'unjustified and unprovoked' attack on two boys, aged 14 and 15, in a food store in north London. Westminster magistrates' court heard how one boy had been trying to pass Joyce in a narrow aisle and after an exchange of words was knocked to the floor. He was found guilty of the charges and sentenced to ten weeks in jail, suspended for two years. Joyce was also ordered to pay a 1,080 fine and attend a rehabilitation course which aims to reduce violent behaviour. November 2018: Joyce is arrested over child pornography. He has pleaded guilty to one charge of making an indecent image of a child between August 7, 2013, and November 6, 2018, at Ipswich Crown court. Advertisement

The ex-MP was engaged to Sunday Times columnist India Knight in 2015.

Joyce's address was given as the country home of Ms Knight in Worlingworth, Suffolk.

Nobody was this afternoon answering the door of the secluded property, which sits at the end of a 300-yard driveway.

Joyce was previously married to childhood sweetheart Christina, who died. His second wife Rosemary was the headmistress of Tonbridge Grammar School.

In court he pleaded guilty to one count of making an indecent photograph of a child between August 7, 2013, and November 6, 2018.

Judge Peters warned that the offence crosses the custody threshold, with the starting point for Category A being one year in jail.

'It's going to be a question of whether it's immediate or suspended,' she said.

'You will be required to sign paperwork today acknowledging that you are immediately on the sex offenders register.

'The court takes (making an indecent image of a child) very seriously because such images fuel the abuse of children.'

Defence barrister Mark Shelley said Joyce had shared the file between his devices when he 'synced' his new Macbook Air and a number of old emails.

'He was unfortunately aware of it and the other searches,' he said.

Joyce will be sentenced on August 7, after a pre-sentence report is prepared. He has undergone work with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and a psychotherapist.

Joyce was fined 3,000 and given a 12-month community order in 2012 by Westminster magistrates' court after he admitted drunkenly assaulting four politicians in the Commons Strangers' bar.

He headbutted Conservative MP Stuart Andrew during the brawl, giving him a bloody nose and concussion, punched Tory councillor Luke Mackenzie, splitting his lip, and headbutted Tory councillor Ben Maney. Joyce also turned on Labour whip Phillip Wilson, punting him in the face.

He was ordered to pay 1,400 to each of his victims, following the fight on February 22 after 10.30pm.

He 'went beserk' after Conservatives at a neighbouring table glanced over when his friend Stuart Niven - an amateur opera singer - started singing loudly in the bar.

Witnesses said Joyce, who had drunk a bottle of red wine, had 'glazed over' eyes.

Eight police officers arrived to find Joyce smelling 'strongly of alcohol'. They tried to restrain him as he swore at them and furiously kicked doors, breaking a glass pane.

As he was dragged away by officers he shouted: 'You can't touch me, I'm an MP!'

The MP even managed to snatch a constable's notebook and scrawl: 'We are a Tory nation, that cannot be forever good cops uniteIt's surely to hate the Tories.'

He claimed at Belgravia police station that someone else had started the fight, telling officers: 'I think he was a silly fat Tory MP.

'He was pushing like a girl and giving me a bear-hug. I nutted a guy. It was a wee scuffly thing*If people said I was hammered, that was probably true.'

The former MP also has a conviction from 2010, for refusing to give police a urine sample.

A statement published on his website last month said: 'I will make no comment from now until all legal processes are at a close. At that point, I will make a full statement.'

Joyce, of Worlingworth, Suffolk, has been granted bail ahead of his sentencing on August 7

Joyce was first arrested in November, 2018, and granted unconditional bail before the hearing. He is pictured above outside Ipswich Crown court before the pre-trial hearing
A Florida county has voted against displaying a statue honoring a controversial Confederate general who was a part of the Ku Klux Klan.

Lake County commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday against a decision made last year to become the new home of a nine-foot-tall bronze monument honoring Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, who was born in Florida.

That statue currently stands at the National Statuary Hall in Washington DC but is being removed due to its controversial nature.

It is replaced with a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune, an African-American educator and civil rights pioneer from Florida.

Officials on Tuesday asked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to select a different county to claim the Confederate monument, which is owned by the state.

'This decision will bring our community together. This is the right decision,' Leslie Campione, the commissions chair, said Tuesday.

Lake County Florida voted 4-1 on Tuesday against accepting and displaying a nine-foot bronze statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith. It was a dramatic reversal of a decision made last year to accept the statue

A small crowd practiced social distancing as the Lake County Commissioners prepared their meeting to vote on relocating the statue of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith

General Smith was born in St. Augustine, about 100 miles northeast of the Lake county seat, Tavares, but grew up in Tennessee.

General Smith served in the Confederate Army in the American Civil War of 1861 to 65

He served in the Confederate Army in the American Civil War of 1861 to 65 and was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Campione said the commission had heard from both sides of the issue before Tuesdays vote, and she believed that those in favor of the statue were 'pure in their motives' to collect and display historical artifacts.

Opponents of putting such statues on public display believe they pay homage to the Souths slavery legacy, while supporters say they honor tradition and history.

Now state legislators are working to find a new home for the statue.

'I have spoken with Sen. Dennis Baxley, and we have talked about working to find a suitable location in a bipartisan manner for the statue of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, and I believe that we will be able to do that,' State Rep. Geraldine Thompson said to Fox35.

Lake County Commissioner Chair Leslie Campione speaks with fellow commissioners after they voted no to relocate the statue from the US Capitol to their county

A view of the Zoom meeting for Tuesday's vote above

Frank Woods, Martha Taylor, Reverend Michael Watkins, and Mae Hazelton talk during a break in the Lake County Commissioners meeting

State lawmakers voted back in 2016 to replace the Smith statue at the National Statuary Hall during national backlash over Confederate symbols. The outrage was sparked by the 2015 massacre of nine black worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

County commissioners said that the anticipated arrival of the Smith statue has created tension and division among the community.

In their reversal they said that Smith actually had no ties to Lake County itself and that the courthouse-turned-museum that was supposed to house the statue has a 'tragic history' with the Groveland Four case.

In the notorious 'Groveland Four' case a group of black men who were wrongfully accused and convicted of raping a white woman in 1949. One was killed and the US Supreme Court overturned the convictions of the other three.

Gov. DeSantis signed a pardon for the Groveland Four last year.

'I think that weve learned a lot. And well take those lessons and well build on them,' Campione said. She voted in favor of accepting the statue last July.

At Tuesdays meeting no one spoke up in support of the statue.

A statue of Mary McLeod Bethune, an African-American educator and civil rights pioneer from Florida, will replace Gen Smith on Capitol Hill

Last year protests took place against the placement of a Confederate statue honoring Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith in the Lake County Historical Museum

In their reversal they said that Smith actually had no ties to Lake County itself and that the courthouse-turned-museum that was supposed to house the statue has a 'tragic history' with the Groveland Four case. A protest against the statue pictured last year

A view of demonstrations against Lake County displaying Gen. Smith above

A monument of the 'Groveland Four' is pictured in front of the Lake County Historical Society Museum above

Reverend Mike Watkins, 60, who is Black, said putting the statue of Smith in the county court house calls attention to the building's racist past.

'That's where the jail was and where the 'Groveland Four' happened,' he said from the meeting room where the vote took place.

The debate over Confederate monuments has been a long-simmering battle between those demanding the removal of symbols seen as pro-slavery and the controversy has only been reignited by the Black Lives Matter movement.

DeSantis is an ally of President Donald Trump, who has said 'mobs' are trying to erase history with efforts to remove or rethink monuments.
Vandals have defaced a statue of Admiral Lord Nelson, Britain's foremost naval hero, in an act thought to have been inspired by Black Lives Matter.

The Grade II-listed monument, which stands in the grounds of Norwich Cathedral, was sprayed with a black 'V' in the middle of a circle - an anarchist symbol.

Nelson became famous for his major successes against France during the Napoleonic Wars and has been long regarded as a heroic figure.

He also has a memorial in London's Trafalgar Square, which is named after the famous 1805 battle, and a statue in Great Yarmouth.

But his monuments have appeared on the Topple The Racists website, which describe the captain as a 'white supremacist, who benefited from racism'.

Nelson believed Britain's colonies in the Caribbean relied heavily on the slave trade and was opposed to the UK abolitionist movement.

It comes as police identify seven of 18 people believed to have been involved in the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol.

Vandals have defaced a Grade II-listed statue of Admiral Lord Nelson, Britain's foremost naval hero, in an act thought to have been inspired by Black Lives Matter (left, before; right, after)

It comes as police identify seven of 18 people believed to have been involved in the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol on June 7

A 'hit list' of memorials to some of Britain's most famous figures has been created by an anti-racism group and uploaded to the website Topple The Racists

Police have said that they received reports of the incident yesterday morning and are still at the early stages of their enquiries.

Norwich Cathedral said the damage was done in The Close on Saturday night, and added it was 'committed to reviewing the place of historical figures memorialised'.

A statement said: 'The dean and chapter regret the damage done to the statue of Admiral Lord Nelson on Saturday night. The damage has been reported to the police and to Norwich City Council, which owns and maintains the statue.

'As previously stated, Admiral Lord Nelson, although a national hero, was also like all of us flawed in some ways.

'The Dean and Chapter are committed to reviewing the place of historical figures memorialised in the Cathedral and in our grounds and to hosting conversations about what we have to learn from past wrongs.

Nelson became famous for his major successes against France during the Napoleonic Wars and has been long regarded as a heroic figure

But Nelson has been criticised by anti-racism protesters as a 'white supremacist'

A paint-spattered statue of Nelson at Deptford Town Hall in south-east London on June 11

The statue of Edward Colston is pulled out of the harbour by Bristol City Council on June 11

'Recognising that we as human beings are all created in the image of God and of equal value, we are absolutely committed to making sure that all people in our society are treated with dignity and respect.

'We need to pay attention to the wrongs of the past and we need to work together to put right the many wrongs in our world today.'

Admiral Lord Nelson: Britain's greatest naval hero, or a racist? PROS - Horatio Nelson's single greatest achievement was his contribution to the defeat of France in the Napoleonic War during the early 19th century. During the war, he: Defeated France at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, which stopped Napoleon from ever attempting to invade Britain again and gave the UK naval supremacy for 100 years;

Destroyed the Prusso-Danish-Russo 'Armed Neutrality' alliance which sought to protect neutral shipping from the Royal Navy by attacking the Danish fleet in 1801;

Prevented Napoleonic France from conquering the Middle East and threatening India during the 1798 Mediterranean naval operations;

Re-wrote the rules of naval warfare by capturing all but two of the French fleet at the Nile, forever shattering the belief that a naval battle was won if four enemy ships were captured;

Shared his tactical ideas with his captains before naval battle, unlike other admirals of the time. CONS - Nelson was rewarded with a seat in the House of Lords for his successes. However, he has since been criticised by historians for attempting to use his political influence to thwart William Wilberforce's abolitionist campaign. Nelson believed the economies of Britain's colonies in the Caribbean were heavily reliant on the slave trade. While in the West Indies, he became acquainted with slave owners there, including Simon Taylor. Nelson later responded to a request from Taylor to intervene in the public debate on abolitionism by writing in 1805 that while he had a tongue he would 'launch my voice against the damnable and cursed doctrine of Wilberforce and his hypocritical allies'. Advertisement

Norwich City Council said its contractors were assessing the damage to the monument to see what options were available.

His statue at Deptford Town Hall in south-east London had red paint thrown on either side of it in June, as anti-racism protesters targeted the naval hero.

The bronze Colston memorial was pulled down during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 7 before being dumped in Bristol Harbour.

No arrests were made at the time but officers reviewed CCTV footage and other digital media to isolate images of 18 people they wanted to speak to.

Three of the 18 were identified before Avon and Somerset Police launched a public appeal - publishing an online gallery of 15 images - two weeks ago.

The gallery has since been viewed 22,515 times, with 59 calls received from members of the public providing information and 19 anonymous reports via Crimestoppers.

As a result of the reports and other inquiries, officers have identified four more people - leaving 11 of the 18 still to be traced.

Six of those identified voluntarily attended a police station to be interviewed, while a 24-year-old man, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, was arrested last week and later released under investigation.

A 27-year-old man was also arrested last week and was released with no further action taken after co-operating with officers, police said.

Detective Superintendent Liz Hughes, of Avon and Somerset Police, described the public's response as 'fantastic'.

'We fully appreciate the incident continues to divide public opinion and we'd like to once again reassure everyone we're carrying out a thorough, fair and proportionate investigation, and the whole range of criminal justice outcomes remain available to us in relation to those responsible for causing the damage,' she said.

'We continue to liaise regularly with our partners in the Crown Prosecution Service and Bristol City Council, which has provided an evidential statement at our request.'

Officers have continued to analyse the 'large amount of digital evidence available' and have found better quality images, she said.

'We're now seeking the public's help once more to identify the remaining 11 people we'd like to speak to and have added the clearer images to our website.

'We'd ask people to take a look at the gallery and contact us if they recognise any of those pictured,' Ms Hughes added.

Scores of statues and memorials, as well as public buildings, pubs and streets have been targeted by anti-racism demonstrators for removal or renaming.

Protests broke out in the UK after the death of black man George Floyd while he was being held in police custody in Minnesota on May 25.

Campaigners linked to the anti-racism movement have called for statues, roads or other monuments which they deem racist to be toppled - with a full list being compiled on the website www.toppletheracists.org.
A statue of British colonial explorer Francis Light has been vandalised with red paint in a city he founded in Malaysia.

The monument in George Town, the capital of the former British possession of Penang, is the latest symbol of imperialism to come under attack amid global anti-racism protests triggered by the death of George Floyd.

Pictures of the Penang protest were shared by an anonymous sympathiser who branded Light as a 'coloniser and slave owner' and said his statue would meet a 'similar fate to other monuments of its kind around the world'.

Light, a former Royal Navy officer who worked with the East India company, acquired Penang as a British naval base in the 18th century and died and is buried there. He left slaves to his partner Martina Rozells in his will.

A statue of British colonial explorer Francis Light was vandalised in Malaysia (seen right after the protest, and right beforehand) amid global anti-racism protests

Sailor, colonist and slave owner: The life of Francis Light Born in 1740 and described as 'something of an imperial adventurer', Francis Light served in the Royal Navy for four years before switching to merchant shipping and sailing to India in 1765. By 1771 he had taken command of a merchant vessel and sailed to what is now Malaysia. The following year, he wrote to British colonial rulers in Bengal and recommended the Malay kingdom of Kedah as a trading base for the East India Company. The local sultan, Abdullah, agreed to the British presence in exchange for English support against his regional rivals Siam and Myanmar, the forerunners of Thailand and Burma. Penang was formally occupied in 1786, providing British forces with a naval base to the east of India. The colonists built Fort Cornwallis to defend against French ships at the height of Britain's imperial rivalry with France. Light himself was made superintendent of Penang, which became a prosperous trading centre and a regular port of call for merchant shipping on its way from India to China. The capital city was named George Town after King George III and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the third-most populous city in Malaysia. Part of the state is on Penang Island which was then known as Prince of Wales Island. Light is known to have owned slaves, some of which he would leave to his partner Martina Rozells when he died. According to his last will and testament, his slaves included 'Caffree' people of African origin and 'Batta' people who may have originated from an island off the coast of Sumatra. Others were described as being in 'bondage or servitude'. Martina's background is shrouded in mystery, but she is thought to have had both European and Asian heritage, possibly including Portuguese descent. She was not married to Light - he referred only to the woman 'with whom I have long cohabited' - but their son William Light later achieved his own colonial fame as the first surveyor-general of South Australia and has his own statue in Adelaide. They had four other children. Light also corresponded with local rulers about the purchase and sale and slaves along with other commodities such as opium and ammunition. By 1791, relations with the local sultan had deteriorated and Light was forced to send for reinforcements from Bengal to put down a rebellion. Light died of malaria in 1794 and is buried in a Christian cemetery in Penang. Advertisement

Malaysian media said the statue was found defaced last Tuesday morning and has subsequently been cleaned and remains in place.

'I was here until Monday about 7pm and it was fine. We came the next day and found it splashed with red paint,' a local worker told the New Straits Times.

Local media says red paint is sometimes used as a symbolic warning to debtors, but the vandalism of Light's statue is thought to have been a political protest.

The vandals could face up to five years in prison if they are found and convicted, with police investigating the crime of 'committing mischief'.

The monument stands at Fort Cornwallis, a site in George Town which was founded by the East India Company and is now billed as a tourist attraction.

The head of a tourist industry group in Penang criticised the protest, saying statues should not be vandalised any more than road signs.

The statue has 'historical significance' and is a piece of 'state heritage', Vergis Mathews of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents told local media.

George Town includes hundreds of historic buildings from the colonial era after Penang was occupied by British settlers in 1786.

However, the statue of Light was not put in place until 1936 - some 142 years after he died of malaria and was buried in George Town.

Light was the first Superintendent of Penang after it was occupied by the British in 1786, who named part of the territory as Prince of Wales Island and the capital city after King George III.

The British sailor had lobbied for the East India Company to take possession of Penang, which was used as a trading post and defensive fort against the French at the height of Britain's imperial rivalry with France.

Penang became a prosperous trading centre, although the colony's success angered the local sultan who launched a failed rebellion against Light's rule in 1791.

Light's last will and testament are in a Penang museum and show that he owned a number of slaves, some of which he left to his partner Martina Rozells.

According to his last will and testament, his slaves included 'Caffree' people of African origin and 'Batta' people who may have originated from an island off the coast of Sumatra.

In 1826, British possessions on the region including Penang and Singapore were consolidated into the Straits Settlements, initially with George Town as its capital.

The Settlements were brought under the control of the India Office in 1858 and were established as a formal Crown Colony in 1867.

After a period of Japanese occupation during World War II, Penang was eventually merged into the Federation of Malaya which gained independence in 1957.

The modern state of Malaysia was formed in 1963 when Malaya merged with neighbouring Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore.

Singapore quit the federation in 1965 after a disagreement with the leaders of other Malaysian states.

Statues of imperialist figures have been toppled around the world in recent weeks amid the global reckoning on racism unleashed by the death of George Floyd.

Pictures of the Penang protest were shared by an anonymous sympathiser who branded Light as a 'coloniser and slave owner' and said his statue would meet a 'similar fate to other monuments of its kind around the world'

In Australia, a statue of Captain James Cook was defaced last month while a similar monument was vandalised in New Zealand.

The Topple the Racists website describes Cook, who charted the east coast of Australia 250 years ago, as 'a colonialist who murdered Maori people in their homeland'.

In Britain, Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston said it would be a 'travesty' if statues of Cook were removed from display in places such as Great Ayton and Whitby.

Preston called on local politicians to say they would 'not support the whitewashing of Cook's name from the history books', arguing he was a 'hero'.

Statues of Christopher Columbus have also been targeted in the United States, where the debate has also focused on Confederate generals of the Civil War era.

In Britain, a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was torn down and thrown into a harbour in Bristol last month.

Meanwhile in Belgium, a statue of King Leopold II was taken down in Antwerp amid anger at his brutal rule in the Congo which led to millions of deaths.

In an unprecedented statement, Belgium's King Philippe expressed deep regret on for the 'suffering and humiliation' inflicted on the Congo during its 75 years under Belgian rule.
A man lashed out at an elderly woman who asked him to wear a mask in a heated confrontation at a Costco store.

In video taken at the scene, the man screams an expletive-laden tirade at the customer in the Gulf Coast Town Center store in Fort Myers, Florida.

Costco has required its customers to wear a mask while shopping since May, becoming one of the first stores in the US to do so.

The man, wearing a red 'Running the World Since 1776' shirt - a reference to the American Revolutionary War - approaches the elderly lady and a man believed to be defending her.

He says: 'You're harassing me?' as he clenches his fists, to which the man replies: 'I'm not harassing you, you're coming close to me.'

The unidentified man spun around as customers asked why he was not wearing a face mask

The man continues to approach the pair as he yells: 'I feel threatened, I feel threatened! Back up! Threaten me again! Back the f*** up, put your f***ing phone down.'

He was later escorted out of the store, according to Twitter reports.

One of the customers who was targeted said: 'To give Costco the credit, they escorted him out and made me wait inside and monitored him until he left and then they sent someone with me to the car to make sure I'm okay.'

The man angrily approaches the elderly woman as he clenches his fists before issuing a foul-mouth tirade screaming: 'Back the f*** up, put your f***ing phone down'

The video has since been viewed more than 518,000 times, leaving users horrified at the man's behavior.

One said: 'He kept saying "back off". No one was coming toward him.'

Another wrote: 'Shame on the managers at this Costco. Never should have let him in without a mask. Here in Hawaii you have to wear it, or they'll make you leave the store.'

One Twitter user said that no one in the Costco was approaching the man despite him telling customers to 'back off'

Meanwhile, one added: 'He seems to feel threatened over nothing. He seems more threatening.'

Although Gov. Ron DeSantis said he has no plans to issue a statewide mask requirement at this time, some counties do have them in place, including Orange County, Miami-Dade County, and Palm Beach County.

And Fort Myers' city council members have been calling for the city to discuss a mask mandate amid escalating coronavirus cases.

An emergency meeting is being set up and is expected to take place this week, Fox4 reported.
A driver has been arrested after his vehicle ran over two Black Lives Matter protesters in Long Island.

Anthony Cambareri, 36, was driving a Toyota Rav4 on Broadway at approximately 6.45pm on Monday which hit protesters who were 'standing in the roadway', according to police.

Cops added that Cambareri 'fled the scene' before being arrested a short time later.

A video of the aftermath shows one of the people hit by Cambareri's car being tended to by police. Cops were then seen surrounding the car as Cambareri sat in the driver's seat.

A driver has been arrested after his vehicle ran over two Black Lives Matter protesters in Long Island. Pictured: A grab from a video showing the aftermath of the incident

The pedestrians were left with non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to Huntingdon Hospital, police said.

According to witnesses speaking to Newsday, between 25 and 30 demonstrators were marching when they were hit by the gray Toyota.

'In my head, I thought he's going to stop, but he didn't stop at all,' said Chris McCain, 29, from Freeport. 'For this to happen on Long Island is crazy.'

Another protester, Tiandre Tuosto, 25, said he jumped out of the way when the Toyota hit a fellow demonstrator, sending him to the ground.

The victim has trouble walking afterwards and was taken to hospital, Mr Tuosto said.

The second injured man was hit in the knee and also taken away in an ambulance.

Anthony Cambareri, 36, was driving a Toyota Rav4 on Broadway at approximately 6.45pm on Monday when he hit protesters who were 'standing in the roadway', according to police. Pictured: Video shows the moment of the man's arrest

Cambareri was charged with third-degree assault and was issued a desk appearance.

Cops added that the man will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date.

Cambareri was not injured and his Toyota car has been impounded.

A video filmed shortly afterwards shows one of the injured protesters sitting on the sidewalk.

Surrounding him are cops and other demonstrators who are shouting at officers.

The demonstrators appeared to be upset at other footage which showed cops talking to Cambareri after his car allegedly hit protesters.

A video of the aftermath of the incident showed other demonstrators confronting cops. They appeared to be upset at other footage which showed cops talking to Cambareri after his car allegedly hit protesters. One of them (right), said through a megaphone, 'this is what we are talking about. The disparity between how police treat white people and black people'

One of them said, 'you saw him, you observed him [the arresting officer] having a casual conversation before you ripped him out of the car.'

The man then said through a megaphone, 'this is what we are talking about. The disparity between how police treat white people and black people.

'This is what I am talking about. They had a three to five minute conversation with the guy before they gently got him out of the car and nicely put him into the police cruiser.

The person filming then said, 'he slammed on the gas just to hit us.'

A third video shows the injured man leaving hospital. He is seen being embraced by fellow demonstrators and his arm and hand is covered in a bandage.

A third video shows the injured man leaving hospital. He is seen being embraced by fellow demonstrators and his arm and hand is covered in a bandage

Suffolk County police said in a statement: 'Suffolk County Police today arrested a man after he struck two Black Lives Matter protesters in Huntington Station this evening.

'Anthony Cambareri was operating a 2018 Toyota RAV4 westbound on Broadway when he struck two protesters who were standing in the roadway at approximately 6:45 p.m.

'The pedestrians were transported to Huntington Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

'Cambareri was not injured and the vehicle was impounded for a safety check.

'Cambareri, 36, of 24 Gabon Lane, Coram, was charged with Assault 3rd Degree. He was issued a Desk Appearance Ticket and will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date.'
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday it was 'carefully' monitoring a case of bubonic plague in China after being notified by the authorities in Beijing.

A WHO official claimed today that the situation was being 'well managed' by China and not considered to represent a high risk.

A herdsman in China's northern Inner Mongolia region was confirmed at the weekend to have bubonic plague, known as the 'Black Death' in the Middle Ages.

Officials at China's northern Inner Mongolia confirmed on Sunday that a herdsman had contracted bubonic plague, known as the 'Black Death' in the Middle Ages. The above picture shows people visiting a night market in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, on June 26

Health officials in the city of Bayan Nur issued the third-level alert on Sunday, the second lowest in a four-level system. The picture shows the geographical location of the city

Bubonic plague is one of the most devastating diseases in history, having killed around 100million people in the 14th century.

Chinese officials 'found plague-carrying dead rats in mid-June' Authorities in northern China's Inner Mongolia have claimed that they found four dead rats carrying plague on June 18 - more than two weeks before a herdsman in the area was diagnosed with bubonic plague. Officials said on Tuesday that the responsible bacterium, Yersinia pestis, had been detected in three epidemic spots in Urad Middle Banner, where the patient had been residing and herding before falling ill, amid fears of a plague outbreak. The four dead rodents were discovered in one of the epidemic spots, Wengeng Town, and were believed to have died on their own, according to Fu Ruifeng, the deputy director of the Inner Mongolian Health Commission. Mr Fu said at a press conference today that the patient, who remains unnamed, had not come into contact with other plague or fever patients in the 10 days leading up to their diagnosis. Nor had he peeled or eaten any wild animals, or touching dead animals or rats, the official said. Authorities have quarantined 15 people who had come into close contact with the individual and the epidemic spots, covering a total of 3.6 square kilometres (1.9 square miles), were being disinfected, according to a government statement regarding the press briefing. Advertisement

The news comes after the WHO also publicly praised China for what it called a speedy response to the new coronavirus throughout January.

The agency repeatedly thanked the Chinese government for sharing the genetic map of the virus 'immediately,' and said its work and commitment to transparency were 'very impressive, and beyond words'.

But in March, the WHO declared a pandemic caused by the coronavirus after it had spread to dozens of countries. The disease has so far killed more than 538,000 people worldwide.

The government of Bayan Nur, the Chinese city that reported the bubonic plague case, on Sunday issued an early epidemic warning after identifying the herdsman as a suspected patient. The city is also known as Bayannur.

The individual was confirmed to have the disease on the same day, sparking fears of a new disease outbreak amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Bayan Nur's Party secretary Chang Zhigang on Monday ordered the city's officials to ensure that all plague-prevention measures would be carried out thoroughly.

According to an official notice, Mr Chang demanded officials quarantine the patient's close contacts and set up checkpoints outside their residential compounds.

The local leader also instructed relevant residential compounds to 'closely monitor' visitors to prevent the disease from erupting.

Health workers were also set to carry out door-to-door checks on residents in plague-hit areas, the statement said.

Two other cases were confirmed in Khovd province in neighbouring Mongolia last week involving brothers who had eaten marmot meat, China's state news agency Xinhua said.

'Bubonic plague has been with us and is always with us, for centuries,' WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters at a virtual briefing.

'We are looking at the case numbers in China. It's being well managed.

'At the moment, we are not considering it high-risk but we're watching it, monitoring it carefully.'

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris (seen in a news programme in May) commented on the bubonic plague case: 'We are looking at the case numbers in China. It's being well managed'

Two other cases were confirmed in Khovd province in neighbouring Mongolia last week involving brothers who had eaten marmot meat, China's state media said (file photo)

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

She said the WHO was working in partnership with the Chinese and Mongolian authorities.

The UN health agency said it was notified by China on July 6 of a case of bubonic plague in Inner Mongolia.

'Plague is rare, typically found in selected geographical areas across the globe where it is still endemic,' the agency said, adding that sporadic cases of plague have been reported in China over the last decade.

'Bubonic plague is the most common form and is transmitted between animals and humans through the bite of infected fleas and direct contact with carcases of infected small animals. It is not easily transmitted between people.'

Though the highly-contagious plague is rare in China and can be treated, at least five people have died from it since 2014, according to China's National Health Commission.

The man infected in Inner Mongolia was in stable condition at a hospital in Bayan Nur, the city health commission said in a statement.

The statement also claimed that local officials had imposed relevant epidemic-control measures.

Xinhua said that in neighbouring Mongolia, another suspected case, involving a 15-year-old boy who had a fever after eating a marmot hunted by a dog, was reported on Monday.

The Bayan Nur city authority on Sunday issued a citywide level-three warning for epidemic control, the second-lowest in a four-level system, after a resident contracted the disease.

Level three warning is announced in China when a city has detected between one to 20 cases of an infectious disease.

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.

Officials of Bayan Nur have ordered all close contacts of the patient to be quarantined and checkpoints set up outside their residential compounds for the monitoring of residents and visitors. The above file photo shows herdsmen lassoing horses at a traditional fair Bayan Nur

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

British 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.

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.
I've seen less disconcerting hostage videos.

That was my thought this morning as I watched Prince Harry staring blankly into a camera and lecturing the world  yet again - on our need to face up to our privilege.

As he spoke about why we all have to right the wrongs of the past, his wife Meghan stared intently at him, boring her eyes into his skull as if she was virtually transporting her own pre-programmed thought processes into his brain.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but at one stage it looked like his lips were moving in sync with her blinking eyes.

'We're going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now,' said Meghan when she herself spoke.

No s***.

She continued: '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.'

This sounded very profound.

Then I remembered where I'd heard it before.

President John F. Kennedy famously said the words 'a rising tide lifts all boats' in a 1963 speech.

Meghan just forgot to credit him.

I've seen less disconcerting hostage videos. That was my thought this morning as I watched Prince Harry staring blankly into a camera and lecturing the world  yet again - on our need to face up to our privilege. As he spoke about why we all have to right the wrongs of the past, his wife Meghan stared intently at him, boring her eyes into his skull as if she was virtually transporting her own pre-programmed thought processes into his brain

The couple have been spotted only a handful of times since their move to Los Angeles, first volunteering for a local charity dropping off food to locals who are more at-risk of catching coronavirus (pictured left ), as well as taking their beloved dogs out for a walk; pictured right on their royal tour of South Africa in September 2019

An easy mistake, perhaps, when you're desperate to impress everyone with the power of your own world-changing rhetoric.

What was even less palatable than her linguistic plagiarism was Meghan's next claim: 'Equality does not put anyone on the back foot, it puts us all on the same footing - which is a fundamental human right.'

The essence of this assertion is entirely correct.

But there's something quite breathtakingly unedifying about a very rich deeply privileged Duchess banging on about equality from her $20 million borrowed mansion in Hollywood.

One of the few benefits of the coronavirus crisis has been that fame-hungry attention-seeking narcissistic celebrities have been put firmly back in their boxes.

From Madonna sitting naked in the rose-petalled bath of her lavish home as she told us COVID-19 was 'the great equaliser', to Gal Gadot's grotesquely tone-deaf annihilation of Imagine with a bunch of other tuneless virtue-signalling stars, the pandemic has exposed the utter irrelevance of celebrity culture when there's a killer virus on the loose.

As the threat of lockdown loomed, the Sussexes faced a dilemma: should they return to the UK from their vast Canadian riverside hideaway so Harry could help his family support the British people in our darkest hour since World War II? Or should they hop on a private jet to Los Angeles? They chose the latter, decamping to the sprawling $20 million Hollywood home of American actor Tyler Perry

Harry and Meghan stayed at a vast Canadian hideaway when they first left the UK

For Meghan and Harry, this moment of reckoning has come at a particularly awkward time.

Six months ago, they quit the Royal Family and Britain in a blaze of aggrieved self-righteous glory - and announced big plans to be newly liberated global superstars, trading off their royal titles to make themselves enormously rich.

We were informed that they had 'never been happier' and were 'very excited' about their new lives of freedom from control by evil racist palace courtiers and the even more evil racist UK media.

It was a spectacular two-fingered snub to the Queen and the Monarchy, and to all the British taxpayers who had funded their lavish lifestyle.

And for a few weeks they were one of the most discussed and debated news stories in the world, dominating newspaper headlines and TV bulletins  all fuelling their superstar status.

But then came the biggest health crisis for a century, and suddenly we all forgot about them with the same speed that all their big plans for global domination got cancelled.

Meghan and Harry's terrible 'struggle' that they'd spent months moaning about was now put sharply into perspective by horrendous, chaotic scenes at hospitals around the world as heroic health workers risked their lives to save people infected by the disease.

Frankly, as Rhett Butler might say, we didn't give a damn about them or any other self-absorbed celebrities.

The REAL stars were the doctors and nurses on the Covid frontline.

As the threat of lockdown loomed, the Sussexes faced a dilemma: should they return to the UK from their vast Canadian riverside hideaway so Harry could help his family support the British people in our darkest hour since World War II?

Or should they hop on a private jet to Los Angeles?

They chose the latter, decamping to the sprawling $20 million Hollywood home of American actor Tyler Perry.

And that is where they have stayed ever since.

Tyler Perry custom built the 24,000 square foot Beverly Hills mansion from scratch after buying the 22 acres of land it is on for $4.3 million in 2004. In June of 2015, he hosted a fundraiser for Barack Obama at the stunning property. He posted an image of himself with Obama inside his house last year (right). Harry and Meghan have been living there since coronavirus pandemic hit

Perry posted a glimpse of his kitchen which shows marble countertops and a double stove

Perry has posted photos of his luxury home which show a sunken bath with marble features

The house is an eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom Tuscan-style villa, which sits on 22 acres on the top of a hill in the ultra-exclusive Beverly Ridge Estates guard-gated community, offering sweeping views of the city from the backyard and with a massive swimming pool as its centrepiece feature.

It's hard to imagine a more luxurious or spacious place to spend lockdown.

Or a more incongruous place from which to lecture the world on equality.

'It's not going to be easy,' said Harry, 'and in some cases it's not going to be comfortable - but it needs to be done, because guess what, everybody benefits.'

Hmmm.

Again, there's nothing inaccurate about that statement, especially when applied to racism.

(Though his direct attack on the Commonwealth for its racist colonial wrongs suggests a poor grasp of history given it was formed in 1932 to bring an end to the British Empire and make amends for all the racist colonial wrongs with the British Empire.)

But there's something horribly inappropriate about it coming from a jobless prince sitting in a Hollywood mansion, living off his father's money and still reportedly using British taxpayer cash to fund his family's very expensive security costs.

In fact, it's hard to think of a more privileged, elitist life than the one they're now currently living  one that has all the luxury and glamour of royal life without the need to perform any of the duty.

I really didn't want to write about Meghan and Harry today.

I've managed to avoid it for four months and know there genuinely are far more important things to worry about.

But by making such overtly controversial political pronouncements, they are deliberately forcing themselves back into the news cycle and that makes it impossible to ignore them.

Their latest outburst follows last week's extraordinary revelations by Meghan in court documents filed in her privacy case against the Mail On Sunday.

She claimed, with zero evidence and quite staggering delusion, that her wedding to Harry made $1.2 billion in tourism cash so more than paid for itself.

She said she was 'unprotected' by the 'institution' of the Royal Family and was unhappy she couldn't take paid work like minor royals including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - who don't carry out public duties, so the comparison is completely irrelevant.

It's hard to think of a more privileged, elitist life than the one Harry and Meghan are now currently living  one that has all the luxury and glamour of royal life without the need to perform any of the duty

The last thing people want to hear right now is yet more whining from Meghan and Harry about how badly they've been treated, yet more digs at the Queen and other members of the Royal Family like William and Kate who have stepped up so commendably to comfort the British people during the pandemic, and yet more of their haughty, patronising, hypocritical sermons about equality

She complained that the Palace didn't correct 'hundreds of thousands of inaccurate articles' about her, which is a laughably exaggeration and, as Palace sources responded, the Duchess didn't seem to understand the difference between untrue stories and negative critical ones that were true.

But honestly, who cares about any of this trivial first world bleating when so many people are losing their lives and livelihoods?

In several weeks, a new biography of the couple, written by friends to 'correct' all the supposed myths about them, will be published and doubtless spray more dirt at the Royal Family, causing further embarrassment and upset for the Queen in her 94th year.

None of this sits well with Meghan and Harry's claim when they quit the Royals that they were doing so for the sake of privacy.

It's now clear that this pair of royal renegades have no intention of remaining 'private' and every intention of continuing to lecture us how to think and behave from behind the protected walls of their gilded new Hollywood life.

This wouldn't matter so much if people weren't suffering so badly from the terrible impact of the coronavirus and the horrific economic fallout as a consequence.

The last thing people want to hear right now is yet more whining from Meghan and Harry about how badly they've been treated, yet more digs at the Queen and other members of the Royal Family like William and Kate who have stepped up so commendably to comfort the British people during the pandemic, and yet more of their haughty, patronising, hypocritical sermons about equality.

So, before I return to more important things, three final words of advice for the Duke and Duchess: please shut up.
The son of two Rwandan refugees has raised 70,000 to study law at Cambridge University - 40 years after his father turned down a place.

Aspiring barrister Dylan Kawende, 23, had to defer his offer from Oxbridge in October 2018 because he couldn't afford the fees and living costs.

But he now expects to begin studying at Cambridge's St Edmund's College this October after using GoFundMe to gather 70,000 in donations.

It comes almost four decades after his father Dieu-Donne, 60, was offered a place to study electrical engineering at the same university but was too poor to take it up.

Mr Kawende said he felt what happened 40 years ago 'was an unfair outcome on the part of my father' and he wanted 'to turn the tables.'

He said: 'It's a huge, huge relief. It's been a year in the making and I'm just really excited by the next chapter.

Aspiring barrister Dylan Kawende, 23, had to defer his offer from Oxbridge in October 2018 because he couldn't afford the fees and living costs

'I'm committed to a career at the bar. I want to be a barrister and I felt the conversion course would give me the appropriate level of learning and the quality of education that I need to be successful.

'Cambridge at present is the highest ranking law school in the country. That was very attractive to me. There is a lot of emphasis on research at Cambridge and I'm quite keen to do further studies to get a better understanding of academic law.'

Mr Kawende added: 'Dad was offered a place in electrical engineering when he'd just completed his undergraduate degree in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

'He just couldn't afford the fees. It was very disappointing. He met the academic requirements, the only thing that was missing was the money and so the fact that I was faced with the same predicament and have overcome it gives him a sense of joy.

'He's living vicariously through me and is so proud of me.'

Mr Kawende, from west London, is passionate about human rights law.

He was inspired to study law as a sixth former when he learned about the case of Stephen Lawrence, the black teenager killed in Eltham in 1993.

His father and mother fled the Rwandan genocide in December 1994, where up to a million people were slaughtered by Hutu extremists

He took his undergraduate degree in history and philosophy at University College London.

Mr Kawende - a recipient of the Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship and Gray's Inn David Karmel Scholarship - applied to do a law conversion course at Cambridge but was shocked by the cost.

He estimated that the two-year Senior Status (SSL) programme, a law course that allows those with degrees in other subjects to become lawyers, would cost at least 60,000 in tuition fees and living costs.

Unfortunately student finance for that course was not available, meaning anyone taking it has to find the fees themselves.

But he managed to secure a 6,000 scholarship from Cambridge.

His father and mother, Senga Seraphine Apatenao, 60, fled the Rwandan genocide in December 1994, where up to a million people were slaughtered by Hutu extremists.

They settled on the Harrow Road where Dylan was born three years later, but he makes no secret of the fact he grew up in a low income household.

It comes almost four decades after his father Dieu-Donne Kawende, 60, was offered a place to study electrical engineering at the same university but was too poor to take it up

He now hopes to inspire more young black men to set their sights on Britain's best universities.

'I am incredibly grateful to the people who supported my campaign and saw my potential and believe that my career will have a positive impact on the lives of those in the communities that I want to serve,' Mr Kawende said.

'I was shocked by just how much funding was required and I think it sheds light on some of the structural inequalities that exist at elite institutions like Cambridge.

'I think a conversation needs to be had across the entire university spectrum - the buck doesn't just stop with Cambridge.

'This conversation needs to be had way before admissions because there are so many ways to tackle this.

'Scholarships are fantastic but given their competitive nature I don't think they're sufficient. The absence of loans for postgraduate study is a nationwide problem.

'I don't want to play down the significance of the contribution made by Cambridge but realistically it wasn't enough and that's why I had to turn to crowdfunding as a last resort.'

Last year, Cambridge saw its highest admission of black students with the group making up three per cent of new undergraduates.

This increase was largely attributed to the 'Stormzy effect' after the rapper introduced a scholarship scheme.
A Chinese passenger plane has safely returned to the ground after the pilot had to drop its altitude by 18,300 feet within minutes to make an emergency landing.

The crew were forced carry out the drastic response after a windscreen cracked nearly half an hour after take-off.

The aircraft successfully landed just past midnight. All 178 passengers and nine aircrew members are unhurt, according to the carrier.

The Boeing 738 was forced to make an emergency landing after the pilot noticed the damaged windshield caused by failed heating system nearly half an hour after take-off

The domestic flight operated by Chinese budget carrier Ruili Airlines, DR6558, departed at 10:16pm local time Monday from central Chinese city Xi'an.

The Boeing 738 plane was scheduled to arrive in China's southern city Kunming at 00:25am Tuesday.

Over half an hour into the two-hour flight, the crew members spotted cracks on one of the plane's windscreens due to a failure in its heating system, according to the airlines.

An aircraft's windscreen is usually layered with an electrically heated filament to prevent ice from frosting on the surface while flying at high altitudes with cold environments.

An image shared by an aviation enthusiast shows the damaged plane windshield with multiple cracks on the surface.

The domestic carrier immediately activated an emergency response after receiving the report from the flight crew.

The picture shows the passenger jet landing safely at 11:35pm Monday in south-western Chinese city of Chongqing, which is located almost halfway between Xi'an and Kunming

The pilot then prepared an emergency landing as they dropped the plane nearly 5,600 metres (18,373 feet) within six minutes.

Information released by a flight-tracking website shows that the plane was travelling at an altitude of around 9,400 metres (30,840 feet) with a speed of over 840 kilometres per hour (522 miles per hour) at 10:50pm.

This means that the aircraft was dropping 13 kilometres per minute (eight miles per minute). The average speed of a plane before landing is 4.4 kilometres per minute (2.7 miles per minute), or 257 kilometres per hour (160 miles per hour).

The aircraft suddenly dropped to about 3,800 metres (12,467 feet) high at 10:56pm.

The crew also reset their transponder code to the code 7700, which alerts all air traffic control facilities in the area that the aircraft has an emergency.

The plane landed safely at 11:35pm in the city of Chongqing, which is located almost halfway between Xi'an and Kunming.

The screenshot shows that the plane was travelling at an altitude of around 9,400 metres (30,840 feet) with a speed of over 840 kilometres per hour (522 miles per hour) at 10:50pm

The Boeing 738 plane suddenly dropped to about 3,800 metres (12,467 feet) high at 10:56pm

Footage shows the aircraft arriving at the Jiangbei International Airport in Chongqing on Monday night.

All the passengers arrived in Kunming on the early morning today after the airlines chartered another plane to Chongqing to pick them up.

The maintenance staff at the Chongqing airport are further inspecting the plane to determine the cause of the damaged windscreen, said the domestic carrier.

In 2018, another Chinese passenger jet was forced to make an emergency landing after the co-pilot was 'sucked halfway out' of the cockpit after the windscreen shattered in mid-air.
Donald Trump is looking to target China for its human rights violations in Hong Kong with a round of financial and trade-related executive orders, including banning Chinese-created social media app TikTok.

One executive order being floated by the administration would end special exceptions for Chinese businesses operating within the U.S.

Another would specifically target trade with Hong Kong as China continues to fight back against the city's most recent push to declare autonomy and Beijing issued harsh new security rules on the region.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the administration is also 'looking into' banning TikTok, a popular short-video platform, amid concerns the social media app poses a threat to U.S. national security.

The app is owned and operated by Chinese technology giant ByteDance Inc., which announced Tuesday morning that it is pulling TikTok from the Google and Apple stores in Hong Kong within a week due to 'recent developments.'

Other social media platforms and tech giants  Facebook, Google, Twitter, Zoom and others  have announced they are suspending requests for user data from Hong Kong while the new security regulations are studied.

Donald Trump and his administration are looking at a round of executive orders aimed at China as a two-year trade war continues and Beijing continues to violate human rights as it imposed new security laws in Hong Kong

The report of executive orders comes after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) said the administration is 'looking at' banning Chinese-owned and operate app TikTok (right) over national security concerns

Apple said Hong Kong does not directly request user content from the tech company, instead submitting any requests through the Department of Justice under a legal assistance treaty.

'We're assessing the new law, which went into effect less than a week ago, and we have not received any content requests since the law went into effect,' Apple said in a statement.

While U.S. social media platforms are usually banned in China due to Beijing's 'great firewall,' they have generally operated in Hong Kong, known as a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, up until now  as the new rules are forcing tech giants to reevaluate.

Pompeo told Fox News' Laura Ingram on Monday night that the Trump administration is considering the claims that TikTok collects users' cellphone data and then shares the information directly with Beijing and is taking the matter 'very seriously.'

Ingraham asked Pompeo about whether the U.S. should consider a ban on Chinese social media apps, 'especially TikTok.'

'With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right,' Pompeo said. 'I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at.'

The top Washington diplomat warned Americans they should only download TikTok 'if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.'

Pompeo's remarks come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, China's actions in Hong Kong and a near two-year trade war.

Pompeo told Fox News' Laura Ingram Tuesday night that he and President Trump are taking reports that users' cellphone data may be being shared directly with Beijing 'very seriously'

TikTok is a short-form video app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance  and the social media platform has been repeatedly criticized by U.S. politicians who say they're worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies 'to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party'

TikTok has been repeatedly criticized by U.S. politicians who say they're worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies 'to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.'

The app, which is not available for download in China, has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots to appeal to a global audience.

Previously, TikTok assured that it operates separately from ByteDance and claimed its data centers are located entirely outside of China  insisting none of that data is subject to Chinese law.

The app has been downloaded more than 175 million times in the U.S., and it claims American users' data is stored on servers in the U.S. that are then backed up in Singapore.

TikTok has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for comment on Pompeo's remarks. A spokesperson for the company told CNN in May that it thinks the national security concerns are 'unfounded.'

India has already banned TikTok and Australia in considering taking action against the app.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security, as well as on government-issued mobile devices used by the Army and Navy have also prohibited any downloads of the app.

TikTok has said previously that it operates separately from ByteDance and claimed its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and that none of that data is subject to Chinese law

New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer wrote to TSA administrator David Pekoske in February raising concerns about the way the China-owned app handles user data.

TSA responded to Schumer's letter by announcing that employees will no longer use the app as part of the agency's social media strategy.

'TSA has never published any content to TikTok nor has it ever directed viewers to TikTok,' the agency said in a statement.

'A small number of TSA employees have previously used TikTok on their personal devices to create videos for use in TSA's social media outreach, but that practice has since been discontinued.'

A class action lawsuit filed in the US late last year also claimed that TikTok came pre-loaded with Chinese surveillance software.

'TikTok clandestinely has vacuumed up and transferred to servers in China vast quantities of private and personally-identifiable user data that can be employed to identify, profile, and track the location and activities of users in the United States now and in the future,' the lawsuit read.

'TikTok also has surreptitiously taken user content, such as draft videos never intended for publication, without user knowledge or consent. In short, TikTok's lighthearted fun comes at a heavy cost.'

The app was also recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps after a border clash between the two nations in which 20 Indian soldiers died (Members of the Working Journalist of India (WJI) hold placards urging citizens to remove Chinese apps and stop using Chinese products during a demonstration against the Chinese newspaper Global Times)

The app was also recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps after a border clash between the two nations in which 20 Indian soldiers died.

The Indian government said the apps are 'prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order', the Ministry of Information Technology said.

The department added that some of the apps had also been found to be 'stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India', though failed to specify the apps allegedly responsible.

TikTok has denied sharing Indian users' data with the Chinese government.

'TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government,' TikTok India chief Nikhil Gandhi said last month.

'Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity,' he said.

The Australian government is also said to be considering banning TikTok. Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Fergus Ryan said TikTok was full of mass surveillance and propaganda.

The app also censored all anti-China opinions and had the ability to feed information straight to Beijing, Mr Ryan said.

He said it was 'no question' the Chinese Communist Party had a hold of the data as there are members of the party within the company.

Reuters reported late on Monday that TikTok would exit the Hong Kong market within days, deciding to do so after China's establishment of a sweeping new national security law for the semi-autonomous city.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms, who has been touted as a potential running mate for Joe Biden, said on Tuesday that she will not let testing positive for COVID-19 stop her from handling the escalating crisis in her city and that she got a 'low positive' result for the virus.

Atlanta has seen a spike in gun violence in recent days, along with other cities in the US, and coronavirus cases continue to rise.

Bottoms - who advocated for stricter rules and says she was ignored by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp - on Monday announced that she had tested positive for the virus despite not showing any symptoms.

She had been holding press conferences as recently as Sunday to plead with residents of her city to stop the violence.

During an appearance on Good Morning America on Tuesday, Bottoms insisted she would still be able to work, despite having to quarantine for two weeks, and said she'd received a 'low positive' result.

'My symptoms won't get any worse. they told me I have a low positive which means I'm on the way up or down. They told me to treat it like I'm positive, in terms of quarantining,' she said.

Mayor Keisha Bottoms on Good Morning America on Tuesday talking about her COVID-19 diagnosis

The National Guard (shown in Atlanta in June to handle the protests) have been redeployed because the governor has declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus

Studies have shown that some infected people carry different viral loads than others and that those testing positive now having lower viral loads than many who tested positive at the start of the year, leading researchers to ask if the virus is becoming weaker.

It's unclear if that is what Bottoms was referring to with her 'low positive' test result but she insisted she was following the same protocol as anyone else who tests positive.

Bottoms says the rhetoric coming from the White House 'doesn't give people much hope'

Bottoms went on to blame the escalating chaos across the country on the White House and said a 'perfect storm of distress' had created it.

'People are obviously anxious and even angry about COVID-19, loved ones are dying, people are losing jobs, there's a lot of frustration, a lot of angst. The rhetoric that comes out of the White House doesn't help, it doesn't give people much hope.

'We're seeing it spill out onto the streets,' she said.

She also complained that Gov. Brian Kemp had brought the National Guard in to her city without asking her first if she needed it after telling her she was not allowed to mandate masks.

'I asked Gov Kemp to allow us to mandate masks in Atlanta and he said no but he's called in the National Guard without asking if we need it.

'I understand if he wants to protect state buildings. We provide assistance to them, they provide assistance to us - at no time did anyone feel there was a need for the National Guard to come in,' she said.

On Monday, Bottoms announced her diagnosis on Twitter.

'COVID-19 has literally hit home. I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive,' she wrote.

The diagnosis came a day after Bottoms held a press conference about a wave of gun violence in Atlanta over the Fourth of July weekend, which left five people dead, including an 8-year-old girl.

She appeared alongside the family of Secoriea Turner, who was killed when at least two gunmen opened fire on her mother's car when she drove past a protesters' barricade in the city.

'COVID-19 has literally hit home,' the mayor of Georgia's state capital tweeted

The Atlanta mayor thought something might be going on with her husband, Derek W. Bottoms, after he appeared to be sleeping for most of the day since Thursday of last week. (File photo)

The announcement came after a weekend of violence that saw an eight-year-old girl, Secoriea Turner, killed. The mayor (right) spoke about the killing during a press conference Sunday with the girl's grief-stricken mother Charmaine (seated)

Mayor Bottoms called for justice in Secoriea's death during an emotional news conference Sunday with the girl's grief-stricken mother, Charmaine. A $10,000 reward for information has been offered as authorities seek the gunmen.

Secoriea 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 sparking further protests against police brutality.

Secoriea was killed after her mother Charmaine drove through an illegal barricade that had been set up by activists around the fast-food chain.

'You can't blame this on a police officer,' the mayor said at the press conference. 'You cant 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.'

Two of Bottoms' children, who have asthma, were tested, with one diagnosed positive and the other negative for COVID-19. The other two children will be tested soon according to CNN.

Bottoms' national profile has risen in recent months both as a mayor handling the coronavirus pandemic and amid the national reckoning on race that has followed a white Minneapolis police officer's killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on May 25.

A first-term mayor, Bottoms issued a firm plea for peaceful protest as demonstrators gathered on downtown streets after Floyd's killing - and urged the protesters to get tested for COVID-19.

She invoked Atlanta's civil rights history and her personal experience as the mother of Black sons.

She won plaudits from progressives after firing Atlanta officers for using excessive force during the protests.

She has also been noted for earlier criticizing Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on his slowness to order Georgians to shelter in place and his quickness to lift that order.

The Democrat is among the women named as a potential vice-presidential running mate for presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Bottoms was an early and vocal supporter of Biden, who has been considering Bottoms as his possible vice presidential running mate in his own presidential bid.

Violence in the city has grown worse since protesters burned down a fast food restaurant where a white officer fatally shot Rayshard Brooks after he seized a stun gun and ran.

Armed people have been manning roadblocks at the site and an 8-year-old girl was shot dead near the site on Saturday.

At the same time, some police officers have been refusing to answer calls, angry that the district attorney has charged officers in the Brooks shooting.

Atlanta police again broke up the roadblocks at the site Monday, but that wasn't enough for Kemp, who said he was mobilizing up to 1,000 National Guard troops after a spike in shootings in Atlanta.
Leicester's coronavirus infection rate is continuing to fall  but the local lockdown there must run for another 11 days before officials consider lifting it, Matt Hancock today revealed.

The Health Secretary said in the House of Commons today that the seven-day rate of infection in the East Midlands city has dropped from around 135 to 117 new cases per 100,000 people.

He said the 13 per cent decline was 'good news' but the city must remain in its local lockdown  which began last week  until at least July 18, when health chiefs first promised it would be re-evaluated.

Leicester was the first place in Britain to have local restrictions enforced to tackle a surge in Covid-19 cases, now thought to be linked to working conditions in clothes factories.

Schools and non-essential shops were ordered to close again last week and people prevented from meeting up in groups or going to others' houses, despite the rest of the nation finally being allowed to celebrate the relaxation of lockdown.

Mr Hancock said: 'We took, last week, difficult but vital decisions about Leicester.

'Since then we've been working with Leicester and Leicestershire and I'm pleased to say that, together, we have brought down the seven-day infection rate from 135 to 117 cases per 100,0000 people.

'What we said when we took the measures just over a week ago is that we needed to see 14 days of data, so we propose to make announcements on the next steps on the 18th of July.

'Of course, if further measures are needed in the meantime to tighten up then we will take them immediately, but... the good news is that the data are currently moving in the right direction.'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in Parliament today that the seven-day rate of infection in the East Midlands city has dropped from 135 to 117 per 100,000 people

Mr Hancock said he would not put a number on how far the infection rate had to fall before the lockdown would be lifted.

His counterpart, Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth, said in Germany officials use a benchmark of 50 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000.

Mr Hancock replied: 'We're not going to use or give a specific figure because both the level and the rate of change matters.

WHICH LOCAL AUTHORITIES HAVE HIGHEST RATES OF COVID-19 INFECTION? (Data from June 28) Leicester 141.3 cases per 100,000 people Bradford 45.8 Barnsley 35.1 Rochdale 35.0 Oldham 30.1 Kirklees 26.2 Rotherham 26.1 Sheffield 24.4 Bolton 23.5 Doncaster 21.3 Blackburn with Darwen 20.8 Knowsley 20.1 Peterborough 18.9 Bedford 18.1 Manchester 17.5 Leicestershire 17.3 Tameside 16.9 Luton 15.0 Calderdale 14.8 Stoke-on-Trent 14.1 Blackpool 13.6 Derby 12.8 Hammersmith & Fulham 12.4 Leeds 11.7 Cheshire East 11.3 Advertisement

'If the level were lower but it was going up, that could be a worse situation than a higher level that is under control and falling. So you've got to look at both the level and the rate of change.'

Leicester went into lockdown when figures from July 2 showed it had an infection rate of 141 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people  three times higher than the next highest local area.

As well as police and Public Health England medical officials, a team of behavioural scientists have been deployed to provide advice if social distancing is not adhered to.

A blame game between local and central government has been raging for the past fortnight, with the mayor of the city, Sir Peter Soulsby, complaining that figures for both positive and negative test results, along with ethnicity and workplace, broken down by postcode, were not coming through.

'Weve asked repeatedly but have just been told were being given all we need,' he said.

A PHE report into the spike revealed it could be partly due to the growth in the availability of testing.

In his speech in the Commons today Mr Hancock also praised the actions of three pubs in England which closed after customers tested positive after 'Super Saturday'.

The Lighthouse in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset; the Fox and Hounds in Batley, West Yorkshire; and The Village Home in Gosport, Hampshire, were 'doing the right thing by their customers and by their communities', he said.

Mr Hancock said: 'This is NHS Test and

Trace working precisely as intended. Three pubs shut so that others can be open.'

He had opened his speech by saying: 'We are bringing this virus under control'.

In his remarks to fellow MPs the Health Secretary deflected calls for an apology from people lashing out at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's remarks about care homes yesterday.

Mr Johnson said there had been 'too many' homes that didn't follow procedures properly and appeared to blame them for the thousands of residents who have died during the pandemic.

Care home bosses branded the claim 'despicable' and 'cowardly', instead pointing blame squarely at the Government, which failed to offer adequate testing and PPE, and discharged hospital patients into homes without testing them.

Mr Hancock defended the PM's comments and said his admiration for carers was 'second to none'.

He added: 'Throughout this crisis care homes have done amazing work and the Prime Minister was explaining that, because asymptomatic transmission was not known about, the correct procedures were therefore not known.

'We've been constantly learning about this virus from the start and improving procedures all the way through, and I pay tribute to the care homes of this country who have done so much to care for the most vulnerable throughout this crisis.'

Mr Hancock also refused to rule out asking people who can't wear face masks because of medical conditions, such as asthma, to wear badges explaining this.

Masks - or coverings - are still not mandatory in England except on public transport, but are becoming significantly more common in public places in the face of growing evidence they can reduce transmission.

It comes after it was revealed yesterday that a historic market town 15 miles south of Leicester was turned into a 'war zone' after it was invaded by hundreds of people from the locked down city desperate for a night out with friends.

Leicestershire Police were forced to impose an urgent dispersal order on Market Harborough when alcohol-fuelled disorder erupted on Saturday night.

Police had already feared being overrun by out-of-town drinkers when pubs reopened on Saturday after Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby claimed that Leicester pub fans in search of a pint 'could drive to Market Harborough'.
An Arkansas man who was arrested for kidnapping two children has been identified as the Little Rock Mayors brother.

On Monday Darrell Lamont Scott, 31, reportedly stole a vehicle with two children inside then called the victims' parents using from one of the children's phones saying 'Dont worry, Im the mayors brother.'

He jumped into the car as the engine was still running in the parking lot outside Baptist Hospital, according to KATV.

Scott is the brother of Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.

Arkansas man Darrell Lamont Scott, 31 (left), the brother of Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr (right), was arrested and charged with kidnapping and theft on Monday

After stealing the vehicle Scott drove with the kids to McCain Mall in North Little Rock, where he was found by police and arrested in the parking lot.

He was charged with kidnapping and theft of property.

The children were found safe.

Mayor Scott released a statement confirming that the kidnapper was his brother, adding hes going through a crisis.

Mayor Scott released a statement confirming that the kidnapper was his brother, adding hes going through a crisis

'This is an extremely difficult season in the life of my younger brother. My family cares deeply about him, and we are seeking medical and professional help as he manages this crisis,' the Mayor said

'This is an extremely difficult season in the life of my younger brother. My family cares deeply about him, and we are seeking medical and professional help as he manages this crisis,' the Mayor said.

'My heart goes out to the children who were involved. While my life, in many regards, is public, my family members remain private individuals. I ask that you respect my family's privacy and pray that my brother gets the treatment he needs and that justice is served,' he added.

Scott is expected to appear in court on July 13.
A California man has been arrested after he allegedly pulled a gun on a white activist who was guarding a Black Lives Matter mural.

The incident occurred Sunday in Martinez, northeast of San Francisco, when Joseph Osuna, 30, drove past the mural, which had been painted outside the city courthouse with government approval.

According to reports, Osuna wound down the window of his Jeep and yelled 'All lives matter', before he made an obscene gesture and sped off.

The white activist who was threatened told ABC7 that he decided to chase after Osuna on his skateboard in order to obtain his license plate and report him to police.

'He [Osuna] then made a U-turn, came back at me and pointed the gun in my face,' the activist - who did not wish to be named - claimed.

'Immediately a cop was behind him and pulled him over. Thank God!'

Dramatic vision screened on ABC7 showed police ordering Osuna out of his vehicle with his hands in the air.

Scroll down for video

Joseph Osuna, 30, was arrested Sunday after he allegedly pulled a gun on a white activist who was guarding a Black Lives Matter mural

He was arrested without incident, and has been charged with brandishing a weapon, NBC reports.

One bystander told the news network: 'This is horrible. He exacerbated the situation. He knew what he was doing. He knew people were over here just protesting. And he came over here with that mentality. With a gun! Who left the house today with a gun? None of us did.'

The white activist who was threatened was guarding the Black Lives Matter mural after it been partially painted over the previous day by a pair of Trump supporters.

During that incident, the couple - who were clad in Trump 2020 merchandise - attempted to conceal the mural's bright yellow lettering with black paint.

Osuna (pictured) was arrested at the scene. He has reportedly been charged with brandishing a weapon

The white activist who was threatened (pictured) recalled the incident to ABC7. He did not wish to be named

The Martinez Police Department is still looking for the couple, who were filmed in the act.

In one video of the incident, a bystander asks the woman painting over the mural 'What's wrong with you?', before 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 paint over the mural.

'There is no oppression. There is no racism,' the man says. 'It's a leftist lie...from the media.'

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 Martinez Police Department are looking for an unidentified male and female (pictured) who partially painted over 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 Washington Post opinion editor who said white women are lucky black people aren't looking for revenge has hit back at criticism blasting America as a 'racist and patriarchal society'.

Karen Attiah, 34, has shared images of threats she has received from white men that have accused her of being racist following her tweet that white women should be lucky black people are 'just calling them Karens'.

She also tweeted about the nickname 'Karen' being retired for 'dangerous white women' and said that the 'toxic ideas of white men' made them believe they needed to protect 'their women from black people'.

'America is a racist *and* patriarchal society,' she wrote.

The Washington Post's opinion editor Karen Attiah, 34, has said that the 'toxic ideas of white masculinity' is linked with America's racism and must be dismantled

Attiah, 34, tweeted white men have the 'notion of "protecting" their women from Black people'

'We cannot dismantle the full range of oppression in this society without addressing how toxic ideas of white masculinity interplay with the notion of protecting their women from Black people.'

On July 4, she also shared an article entitled 'Yeah, It's Time to Bury the Cutesy 'Karen' Nickname for Dangerous White Women'.

'I agree with this,' she added.

Attiah later shared a post retiring 'Karen' as a nickname for 'dangerous white women'

She later added to the her argument of white men threatening 'aggressions against us'

Attiah commented the following day on the idea that she was 'aggressive' reposting a tweet that read: 'If we do anything in this society other than smile & go along to get along we have to brace for accusations of being angry, aggressive Black women.

'Meanwhile we have to constantly navigate ppls misogynoirist aggressions against us & the social fixation ppl have w/ degrading BW,' continued.

She later hit out at a Twitter user who accused her of 'racist views' and said 'every day I see and talk to a black person without incident'.

'You want a gold medal for that? Lol,' she responded.

Attiah posted the first controversial tweet that sparked backlash and threats on June 28, saying: 'The lies and tears of white women hath wrought; the 1921 Tulsa massacre, murder of Emmett Till, exclusion of black women from feminist movements, 53% of white women voting for Trump.

'White women are lucky that we are just calling them Karens. And not calling for revenge.'

It has since been deleted.

Later, in her comments section, she doubled down on the remark, saying: 'I'm just saying. Be happy we are calling for equality. And not actual revenge.'

Washington Post opinions editor Karen Attiah tweeted on Sunday that white women were 'lucky' black people were calling them 'Karen's and not calling for revenge'

Shortly afterward, Attiah shared the apparent threats she has received from white men as a result of the tweet.

She posted a tweet on July 1 showing a text from an unknown number which told her to 'be careful with hate' and that 'revenge only begets revenge'.

It warned Attiah that her comments would 'wake white men who will protect their women'.

Another email she shared referred to Attiah as a 'monkey' and an 'ape', telling her she was angry 'because white women are beautiful'.

'I explicitly said Black people *ARE NOT* calling for this [revenge],' she wrote, as she shared a screenshot of the message she received, which she claims is from a white man.

'A good amount the threats and hate mail Ive been getting are white men threatening me with violence to *checks notes* protect their white women.

'Exactly the point Ive been making about Karen behavior all along.

The message Attiah shared appeared to have been sent to her on June 29.

The Washington Post opinion editor shared screenshots of the texts and emails she says she has been receiving since she posted a controversial tweet about white women on June 28

The text told Attiah to 'be careful with hate' and that 'revenge only begets revenge'

'Be careful with hate. It is a very dangerous and thankless master,' it began.

'Calling for revenge only begets revenge. You don't want to wake white men who will protect women, and come after you and yours.

'We are all human beings with souls. Some of us, have the training, experience, and background to find you and yours in an effort to make an example of racists like you'.

On June 29, Attiah had shared another email in which the writer asked 'Did the monkey actually speak?'

'Did the white-woman-wannabe n***** speak?' it continued. 'You're just angry because white women are beautiful. ALL men agree on that. White men, black men, Hispanic men, Asian men ... all agree that white women are much more desirable than some low IQ'd, low rent, hood rat n*****.

'And that would be you. All black women do is appropriate white culture and try to mimic beautiful white women. And you know it. Revenge? lol you're a** is about to be grass you ugly ape.'

Attiah shared a further screenshot of an email that called her a 'monkey'

The email told her she is 'just angry because white woman are beautiful'

Attiah later retweeted further responses agreeing with her tweet

She reposted this tweet that responded to the text screenshot she had shared

'Them: "Karen is a racist, dehumanizing slur!"' Attiah wrote with the screenshot. 'My inbox, after challenging racism.'

'"Karen" = naming and shaming the *choice* to engage entitled, aggressive and racist behavior. But the N-word? I didn't choose my skin. The two will NEVER be the same.'

Later that day, Attiah retweeted other users who had responded to the tweet.

'There were serious arguments by white men in the 1860s that Black men should not get the vote bc then they would have the power to access white women,' one read.

'Denying the suffrage to Black men was a way for white men to protect their women.'

'Honestly, women (including those who happen to be white) don't need white men treating them as property. Especially because those white men "protecting their women" often are the same violent ones who will beat/kill them,' another said.

Attiah was born in Texas to Ghanaian immigrants. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, before going on to study in Accra, Ghana on a Fullbright Scholarship.

She later obtained a Master's degree from Columbia University before joining The Washington Post.

Attiah has become a prominent media figure in recent years, and famously recruited slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi to The Post prior to his death.

She has also appeared on CNN and has spoken at a Glamor magazine Women's Summit. Her Instagram shows her cozying up to a number of celebrities for selfies.

After widespread outrage, Attiah deleted her tweet from June 28 - but she appeared to insinuate that it was not because she regretted her remarks with further posts. She is pictured speaking on stage at Glamour magazine's 2018 Women Of The Year Summit

Attiah's Instagram shows her posing for selfies with a number of prominent celebrities. She giddily posted this snap with Josh Groban, writing:'Omg. It happened. I have no words'

Her 'revenge' tweet sparked outrage from users who called for her to be fired.

'Oh so insulting generalizations based on race and gender are okay now? Or are they only okay for you? Just trying to understand the rules,' conservative writer Matt Walsh replied to Attia.

'You threaten white women with violence. WashPo what is your response? The world is watching and waiting,' another tweeted.

Soon after, the hashtag #fireKarenAttiah began circulating on Twitter.

In recent weeks, a number of prominent people have been fired - or 'cancelled' - for their controversial social media posts but The Washington Post has not publicly commented on Attiah's incendiary tweet.

DailyMail.com has contacted the newspaper's managing editors for a statement.

After widespread outrage, Attiah deleted her tweet - but she insinuated that it was not because she regretted her remarks.

She retweeted another user who stated: 'When I tweet something and then delete it, it's not because I regret it. It's almost never that. I just want to say some s**t real quick and then leave.'

'Same. Lol,' Attiah wrote above that message.

It is unclear whether she was privately reprimanded by The Washington Post and forced to take down her message.

Later June 29, Attiah appeared to tire of the backlash, writing: 'Adding another shot to my drink'.

It later seemed as if she wanted to shift conservation away from her controversial remarks, tweeting: 'Anyway...'

However, social media users continued to blast the editor and piled on pressure for The Washington Post to make a public response.

'Last night @KarenAttiah of @thewashingtonpost posted this incredibly racist screed where she condemns all white women and makes an implied threat of violence. Has The Washington Post condemned this? Has anyone on the Left?' Matt Walsh wrote.

Another predicted that Attiah would not be terminated by The Washington Post.

'There is no greater privilege than getting to be wrong about everything and paying zero price for it. Congrats,' the person sarcastically remarked.

Another described Attiah's tweet as 'hateful', while other asked why Twitter hadn't flagged it for inciting violence.

Attiah's post sparked widespread backlash. Several asked whether Attiah would be fired from The Washington Post for her remarks but the publication has not commented

Attiah is seen backstage at a show with comedian Patton Oswalt in 2018

Attiah with Andre Leon Talley in another of her Instagram posts

One of Attiah's recent opinion pieces in The Washington Post

In her tweet, Attia reference the derogatory term 'Karen' - a new nickname being given to entitled, white women who are caught on camera trying to assert themselves over people of color in social situations.

In the past month several months the 'Karen' nickname has taken off, after multiple videos of white women throwing tantrums in public.

While many of the exchanges are undoubted examples of bigotry, others are less clear cut.

In June, an unidentified woman in Seattle was filmed sobbing in her driveway and pleading not to be filmed, saying she had a 'black husband'.

Karlos Dillard filmed the video, saying the woman had called him the N-word during a road rage dispute.

He then started selling t-shirts online with the words 'I have a black husband' printed on them and defended it by saying that 'white people 'profit off of everything black people do in this country' and calling it his 'prerogative' if he wanted to sell the t-shirts.

The woman in the video denied flipping him off and he did not accuse her of using a racial slur against him when they were together.

That accusation was in a different piece of footage when she was not there.

An unidentified white woman in Seattle was filmed sobbing and insisting she was not a Karen after being accused of flipping the bird at a black man at a light stop. Karlos Dillard, the man, followed her home to film her and post the footage online. In another video, he said she'd called him the N-word. That was not caught on tape

Conversely, one of the original 'Karen' videos involved white woman Amy Cooper calling the police on Christian Cooper, a black birdwatcher in Central Park, claiming he was threatening her when he had simply asked her to put her dog on a leash.

Christian Cooper was never charged but he has since described the footage as proof of how quickly a white person can be to make a false or overzealous accusation against a black person to law enforcement.

In light of police brutality and systemic racism within law enforcement, such false accusations, he said, can be particularly dangerous.

Amy Cooper was charged with filing a false report on Monday.
Three people, among them a 13-year-old girl from Florida, were shot dead on Sunday after an apparent neighbors' dispute over a dangerous dog that led offices to exchange gunfire with an armed suspect.

The victims include a man and the teenage girl, according to Port St. Lucie police and the St. Lucie County Sheriffs Office. The shooting suspect also was dead, but officials didnt know whether he was killed by police in the gunfire or took his own life.

Authorities rushed to a home in the 2500 block of of SE Morningside Boulevard in Port St. Lucie shortly at around 12.30pm when a girl called 911 and said someone was shooting at her parents.

A Florida man and a 13-year-old girl were shot dead on Sunday after a dispute with a neighbor over his dangerous dog

Police rushed to the scene in the 2500 block of of SE Morningside Boulevard in Port St. Lucie after the girl called 911 and said someone was shooting at her parents

'If you heard this 911 call it would make the hairs on your neck stand up. A little girl calls 911 and says theres someone shooting in our house, I think our parents are dead. I think our family is dead,' said St Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara.

He said officers found the adult male victim already dead in the garage, and added the 13-year-old girl was critically wounded and later died at a hospital.

The shooting appeared to stem from a dispute over a dog, Port St. Lucie Police Department Assistant Chief Richard Del Toro said.

'The dog was declared dangerous today in court, and he owned the dog and he went over there to confront his neighbors and this is what happened,' Del Toro said, according to Treasure Coast Newspapers.

At least two other victims managed to escape the house and were transported to the hospital. Their conditions are unknown.

Authorities said a Port St. Lucie police officer also suffered a gunshot wound to his arm in the shooting. He is expected to recover.

Port St. Lucie Police Department Assistant Chief Richard Del Toro said the gunman's dog was declared dangerous by a judge in court on Sunday morning

'Our officers encountered the suspect inside the victims home,' Del Toro said. 'Our officers and a deputy, actually, who was working at the school across the street responded to the scene immediately and exchanged gunfire with the suspect.'

According to police, the gunman barricaded himself inside the victims' house for two hours before a SWAT team entered the residence and found him dead in a second-floor bedroom, reported CBS12.

Officials didnt immediately identify the victims, the alleged shooter or the officers.

'Its shocking and tragic. Its not characteristic for this neighborhood or the city, but we are going to do everything we can to find all the reasons why,' Del Toro said.
White House officials are on the hunt for the person or persons who leaked the intelligence about the Russian bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan to The New York Times.

Administration officials have interviewed people who had access to the intelligence and has the list of suspects narrowed down to less than 10 people, Politico's Playbook reported.

The White House reacted with fury when the Times first revealed the intelligence report that the Russian government was paying the Taliban to kill U.S. service members. Officials denied President Donald Trump knew about it and claimed the intelligence was 'unverified.'

President Donald Trump has tried to find leakers in his administration on previous occasions and failed to do so

White House officials are on the hunt for the person or persons who leaked the intelligence about the Russian bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan

This isn't the first time the White House has been on the hunt for a leaker.

The administration vowed to find 'anonymous' - the person who wrote the resistance op-ed in The New York Times nearly two years ago and followed that up with a book 'A Warning.' The person claimed the many of the White House senior staff were working from within to counter Trump and 'his worst inclinations.'

That person has not been found.

The White House struggled to do damage control and contain the fallout from The June 28 report in The New York Times on the allegation against Russia. The administration has focused its counterattack on the argument that Trump was never briefed on the matter.

In his interview with Fox Business last week, Trump argued the intelligence community didn't even buy it.

'From what I hear, and I hear it pretty good, the intelligence people didn't even - many of them didn't believe it happened at all. I think it's a hoax. I think it's a hoax by the newspapers and the Democrats,' Trump said.

But the president declined to detail what he would do if the report turned out to be true, simply saying: 'If it did happen, the Russians would hear about it. And anybody else would hear about it that was involved.'

Officials in the administration have not disputed the existence of the intelligence report but have said it was not verified and that was why it was not presented to President Trump.

National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told 'Fox & Friends' last week the president wasn't briefed because the allegation against Russia was 'uncorroborated.'

But he also acknowledged the allegation was in Trump's briefing material - but the briefer didn't tell the president about it.

'The president's career CIA briefer decided not to brief him because it was unverified intelligence and, by the way, she's an outstanding officer and - in knowing all the facts I know - I certainly support her decision,' he said.

President Donald Trump said many in the intelligence community didn't believe a report that the Russian government was paying a bounty on American troops

Trump's National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told 'Fox & Friends' the president wasn't briefed because the allegation was 'uncorroborated' but O'Brien admitted information was in president's daily briefing - it just wasn't given to him by the CIA officer doing the briefing

O'Brien, after his appearance on Fox News, was asked by reporters at the White House if the information about Russia was in the president's daily brief but he declined to say either way.

'We don't get into to written classified documents. Unfortunately that that's something that there's been spent a little too much that in Washington lately,' he said.

While Trump and his staff have argued he was not briefed on the matter, reports indicated the information was in the president's daily brief - a compilation of intelligence reports given to the commander in chief and top administration officials. Trump is said not to read it carefully and is, instead, orally briefed on the matters at hand.

President's Daily Brief The President's Daily Brief (PDB) is a daily a multi-source intelligence digest of high-level information and analysis on national security issues produced for the president and key cabinet members and advisers. It has been presented in some form to the president since 1946, when President Harry Truman received the Daily Summary. In 2014, the PDB transitioned from a print product to electronic delivery at the request of President Barack Obama. Given the sensitive nature of the information, most PDBs - even those from many years past - remain classified. Source: Intelligence.gov Advertisement

O'Brien seems to confirm this with his account.

'The person who decided early on whether the president should be briefed on this in the Oval ... was a senior career civil servant, at a CIA officer,' he told reporters at the White House.

'And she made that decision because she didn't have confidence in the intelligence that came up. We get raw intelligence and tactical intelligence, every day, hundreds of pieces of intelligence coming every day, thousands of pieces of intelligence come in a week. She made that call,' he said.

The New York Times reported in May that Trump's CIA briefer is Beth Sanner, who has three decades of experience. The piece also detailed how the president has a short attention span, rarely reads his daily brief (except for graphs and photos he likes to look at) and tends to get his information from conservative news outlets.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president wasn't angry about not being briefed because he has 'great faith' in his staff.

'The president believes that and has great faith and Ambassador O'Brien and the others who made the decision that this shouldn't be risen to his desk. It was a career CIA officer with more than 30 years of tenure who made the decision not to brief it up and the National Security Adviser agreed with that decision. She's an excellent officer and does great work,' she said last week at her press briefing.

'But this is unverified still at this very moment,' she added.

McEnany also has said the president does read his briefing reports.

'The President does read and he also consumes intelligence verbally. This president I will tell you is the most informed person on planet earth when it comes to the threats that we face,' she claimed.

As the administration has struggled to down play the shocking report, Democrats have piled onto the president, accusing him of a 'dereliction of duty' in the words of Joe Biden, the presumptive nominee who spoke in Wilmington last week.

'If these allegations are true and he did nothing about any of this, then, in fact, I think the public should - unrelated to my running - conclude this man is not fit to be the president of the United States of America,' Biden said of Trump.

Joe Biden said of Donald Trump that 'this man is not fit to be the president of the United States of America' during remarks in Wilmington on Tuesday

Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (left with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on the right) said 'there may be a reluctance to brief the president on things he doesn't want to hear'; Schiff and Hoyer were among the eight House Democrats briefed by the White House on Tuesday morning

Speaker Nancy Pelosi charged the White House with perpetuating a con when officials claimed the president wasn't briefed because the information was not 'verified'

Hillary Clinton, Trump's 2016 Democratic rival, criticized the president for not knowing about the intelligence.

'Either he knew and chose to do nothing, or he didn't know because he couldn't be bothered to do his job,' she wrote on Twitter.

Biden also slammed Trump for reports he does not read his daily briefing, noting he and President Barack Obama read theirs every day when they were in office.

'The president brief was something I read every day as vice president. The president read it every day. I was briefed every morning before I got to the White House, and then again. The idea that somehow he didn't know or isn't being briefed, it's a dereliction of duty if that's the case. If he was briefed, and nothing was done about this, that is a dereliction of duty,' Biden said of Trump.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week that Trump should have been briefed on the intelligence.

'Of course, the president should have been briefed. This is of the highest priority force protection, a threat to our men and women in uniform,' she said at her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill.

She charged the White House with perpetuating a con when officials claimed the president wasn't briefed because the information was not 'verified.'

'The White House put on a con - that if you don't have 100% consensus on intelligence that it shouldn't rise to a certain level. Well we would practically be investigating nothing if you had to start off 100%. So don't buy into that. And neither does the intelligence community. It's gathering intelligence and they have enough intelligence to know where we have to go next with it,' she said.

Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said 'there may be a reluctance to brief the president on things he doesn't want to hear.'

Schiff made his comments last week after eight House Democrats received a briefing at the White House on the matter.

'You briefed the president in the manner in which he or she receives information. If the president doesn't read the briefs, it makes it doesn't doesn't work to give him written product, and not tell him what's in it,' Schiff said.

'So, I don't want to comment on this particular case but I just say it's not a justification to say that the president should have read whatever materials he has. If he doesn't read, he doesn't read. They should know that by now,' he noted.

Some Republicans have jumped to the president's defense.

'This morning I attended a long briefing at @WhiteHouse on reports about Putin putting bounties on our troops in Afghanistan. I'm confident @RealDonaldTrump didn't know about the report, and it's clear our intelligence agencies aren't in complete agreement on this,' wrote Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, the chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee, on Twitter last week after his briefing.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson is being accused of anti-Semitism after sharing quotes attributed to Adolph Hitler on social media and voicing support for preacher Louis Farrakhan.

The 33-year-old former All-Pro posted pictures of highlighted selections from an unidentified book on Instagram.

'Hitler said, "because the white Jews knows (sic) that the Negros are the real Children of Israel and to keep Americas secret the Jews will black mail America,' read the passage.

'"The (sic) will extort America, their pan to world domination won't work if the Negroes know who they were.

'"The white citizens of America will be terrified to know that all this time they've been mistreating and discriminating and lynching Children of Israel."'

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Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson is being accused of anti-Semitism after sharing quotes attributed to Hitler on Instagram and voicing support for Louis Farrakhan. On Tuesday he posted video of himself on Instagram in which he apologized for his previous post

DeSean Jackson posted pictures of highlighted selections from the book ' Jerusalem ' on Instagram. The Philly Voice traced the quotes back to 'The Nazis World War II,' which was published in 1980. However, it is not certain that Hitler said any of these things

The Philly Voice traced the quotes back to 'The Nazis World War II,' which was published in 1980. However, Snopes.com reported in 2017 that the Hitler quotes are actually a fabrication.

In any case, many viewed Jackson's post as anti-Semitic.

'DeSean's comments were highly inappropriate, offensive and divisive and stand in stark contrast to the NFL's values of respect, equality and inclusion,' read a statement from a league spokesperson. 'We have been in contact with the team which is addressing the matter with DeSean.'

'We have spoken to DeSean Jackson about his social media posts,' read a team statement. 'Regardless of his intentions, the messages he shared were offensive, harmful, and absolutely appalling. They have no place in our society, and are not condoned or supported in any way by the organization.

'We are disappointed and we reiterated to DeSean the importance of not only apologizing, but also using his platform to take action and promote unity, equality, and respect,' the statement continued. 'We are continuing to evaluate the circumstances and will take appropriate action.'

'We take these matters very seriously and are committed to continuing to have productive and meaningful conversations with DeSean, as well as all of our players and staff, in order to educate, learn, and grow.'

Former Eagles president Joe Banner warned of a double standard after Jackson's post

Jackson responded to the criticism on social media, writing: 'Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way I have no hatred in my heart towards no one!! Equality Equality.' Strangely, Jackson's message was posted alongside another picture of the aforementioned quotes, which are mistakenly attributed to Hitler

DeSean Jackson drew criticism for praising Louis Farrakhan (pictured) on social media

Former Eagles president Joe Banner warned of a double standard after Jackson's post.

'If a white player said anything about [African Americans] as outrageous as what Desean Jackson said about Jews tonight there would at least be a serious conversation about cutting him and a need for a team meeting to [discuss, which] would be totally appropriate,' Banner wrote on Twitter. 'Absolutely indefensible.'

Jackson responded to the criticism on social media, writing: 'Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way I have no hatred in my heart towards no one!! Equality Equality.'

Strangely, Jackson's message was posted alongside another picture of the aforementioned quotes, which are mistakenly attributed to Hitler.

He later offered another apology in a video he posted on Twitter: 'I want to extend an apology. ...I never want to be a race down or any people down. My post was definitely not intended for anybody of any race to feel any type of way, especially the Jewish community.'

'Hitler has caused terrible pain to Jewish people like the pain African-Americans have suffered. We should be together fighting anti-Semitism and racism. This was a mistake to post this and I truly apologize for posting it and sorry for any hurt I have caused.

Jackson also posted a video of Bill and Melina Gates discussing vaccines, titled 'Farrakhan warns against vaccines.' In the clip, Melinda Gates said that the most vulnerable populations should get any potential coronavirus vaccine first, adding that America's black population would fit into that category. Jackson apparently shares Farrakhan's distrust of vaccines

Many Philadelphians reacted with disgust, including Temple professor Marc Lamont Hill

'What I posted, I definitely didn't mean it to the extent that you guys took it, and I just want to let you guys know I'm very apologetic,' he continued.

'I just probably should have never posted anything that Hitler did because Hitler was a bad person and I know that, and I was just trying to uplift African Americans in slavery, and just enlighten my people, so on behalf of myself, I just want you to know I apologize. I didn't intend any harm or hatred toward any people.

'I hope that everybody respects my platform and my opinions to try to just enlighten my people, and just let everybody know that theres no hatred involved.'

While Jackson appeared to be apologizing for the supposed Hitler quotes, he did not address his other recent Instagram posts, which included praise for Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who has been accused of anti-Semitism in the past.

Jackson, 33, has two years left on his current contract, totaling $14.4 million

'This man powerful I hope everyone got a chance to watch this !!' Jackson wrote in the caption of a post that pictured Farrakhan. 'Don't be blinded. Know what's going on.'

Jackson also posted a video of Bill and Melina Gates discussing vaccines, titled 'Farrakhan warns against vaccines.'

In the clip, Melinda Gates said that the most vulnerable populations should get any potential coronavirus vaccine first, adding that America's black population would fit into that category.

Jackson, who apparently shares Farrakhan's distrust of vaccines, responded by writing: DISGUSTING ASS PPL !! YOU GET THE VACCINATION FIRST.. DUMB BROAD !!'

Many Eagles fans and Philadelphians reacted with disgust on Monday.

'This Desean Jackson story is wild,' Temple professor Marc Lamont Hill wrote on Twitter. 'Apparently he posted a quote that he believed to be from Hitler. This is disappointing and disturbing. There's no defending it.'

Phillies blogger Alex Carr wrote that he could not let these comments 'slide.'

'As a Jewish man and an Eagles fan, I am unfathomably appalled at what I saw on DeSean Jackson's Instagram story today,' he wrote. 'What pushes a person to read, digest, and POST that, I'll never know.

'Despicable.'

Jackson, 33, has two years left on his current contract, totaling $14.4 million.
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Coronavirus infections are now on the rise in 40 states across the US as Sunbelt states including Texas, Arizona and California continue to report record hospitalizations and cases.

The number of cases across the United States has now surpassed 2.9 million and more than 130,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.

Sixteen states have posted record daily case counts this month alone and new COVID-19 cases have risen nationally every week for five straight weeks, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project.

The US has seen a 27 percent increase in new COVID-19 cases in the last week compared to the previous seven days. New cases per day nationwide have hit record levels of well over 50,000.

Deaths continued to fall nationally in the week ending July 5, according to the analysis.

A handful of states, however, have reported weekly increases in deaths for at least two straight weeks compared to the previous seven days, including Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee.

Health experts say deaths are a lagging indicator because it takes time for people to get sick and die. The current death rates likely represent cases that were diagnosed about a month ago.

Officials say the current downward trend reflects advances in treatment and prevention, as well as the large share of cases among young adults, who are more likely than older patients to survive COVID-19.

Coronavirus infections are now on the rise in 40 states across the US. The US has seen a 27 percent increase in new COVID-19 cases in the last week compared to the previous seven days. New cases per day nationwide have hit record levels of well over 50,000

The number of cases across the United States has now surpassed 2.9 million and more than 130,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. New cases per day nationwide have hit record levels of well over 50,000 but deaths, which health experts say are a lagging indicator, continue to fall nationally

Officials have warned the current trend of younger adults making up the majority of new cases could possibly cause the death rate to spike in the coming weeks given they could be spreading the virus to older, more vulnerable people.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has forecast that the death toll could reach 160,000 later this month.

California, Texas and Florida are among two dozen states reporting high infection rates as a percentage of diagnostic tests conducted over the past week - an alarming sign of a virus still spreading largely unchecked throughout much of the country.

In California, COVID-19 hospitalizations have jumped 50 percent over the past two weeks.

Texas also registered an all-time high in the number of people hospitalized with coronavirus and officials say hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed.

Hospitalizations in Texas surged past 8,000 for the first time over the weekend, a more than fourfold increase in the past month. Houston officials said intensive care units there have exceeded capacity.

Hospitalizations across Florida have also been ticking upward, with nearly 1,700 patients admitted in the past seven days compared with 1,200 the previous week. Five hospitals in the St. Petersburg area were out of intensive care unit beds, officials said. Miami's Baptist Hospital had only four of its 88 ICU beds available.

While cases have been surging across the country in recent weeks, deaths, which health experts say are a lagging indicator because it takes time for people to get sick and die, continue to fall nationally. Experts say this downward trend reflects advances in treatment and prevention, as well as the large share of cases among young adults, who are more likely than older ones to survive COVID-19

Health experts say the downward trend in deaths across the US is partly due to the large share of new cases among young adults who are more likely than older ones to survive COVID-19. The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 aged between 18-49 is increasing, according to CDC data from commerical laboratories

Three more states added to New York governor's quarantine order New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday ordered people arriving from an additional three states to quarantine for 14 days amid the coronavirus pandemic. The three additional states are Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma. Travelers arriving to New York from a total of 19 U.S. states are now required to quarantine for 14 days. The other states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Advertisement

In Arizona, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 topped 3,200, a new high, and hospitals statewide were at 89 percent capacity.

As the US emerged from a July 4 weekend of picnics, pool parties and beach outing that health officials fear could fuel the worsening outbreak, more states are reporting a troubling increase in the percentage of COVID-19 diagnostic tests that come back positive - a key indicator of community spread that experts refer to as the rate of 'positivity'.

Two dozen states, mostly in the South and West, have averaged positivity rates over the past week exceeding 5 percent - a level the World Health Organization considers to be concerning.

Officials say that if a positivity rate is too high - above 5 percent - it could indicate that the state is only testing the sickest patients and not casting a wide enough net to see how much the virus is spreading.

Several states were averaging double-digit rates and climbing, including Arizona at 26 percent, Florida at 19 percent and Mississippi at 17 percent.

Nationally, 7.5 percent of diagnostic tests came back positive last week, up from 7 percent the prior week and 5 percent two weeks ago, according to an analysis.

Testing rose by 7.5 percent last week and set a new record high with over 721,000 tests performed on July 3.

Health officials in South Carolina reported over 1,500 new cases Monday. If the numbers keep rising at their current rates, hospitals will probably have to adopt an emergency plan to add 3,000 more beds in places such as hotels and gyms, authorities said.

Alabama has been averaging about 1,000 new cases a day, two or three times what it was seeing in late April, when its stay-at-home order was lifted.

'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, Alabama's health officer.

TEXAS HOSPITAL: Hospitalizations in Texas surged past 8,000 for the first time over the weekend, a more than fourfold increase in the past month

TEXAS CASES: The number of daily infections in Texas have been surging with more than 3,449 cases reported Sunday and a record-setting 8,258 new cases reported Saturday

TEXAS DEATHS: Fatalities in Texas surged last week to near-record highs. Officials reported 18 new deaths on Monday

CALIFORNIA: The state reported a record high of 11,500 new cases over the holiday weekend but only six deaths

CALIFORNIA HOSPITAL: In California, COVID-19 hospitalizations have jumped 50 percent over the past two weeks

In West Virginia, Republican Gov. Jim Justice reversed course and ordered the wearing of face masks indoors, joining other state leaders around the country.

'I'm telling you, West Virginia, if we don't do that and do this now, we're going to be in a world of hurt,' he said, adding: 'It's not much of an inconvenience.'

The disquieting surge in new cases has prompted many local leaders to slow down or roll back business reopenings in hopes of curbing infection rates that have started to overwhelm hospitals in some areas.

Florida's greater Miami area became the latest hot spot to roll back its reopening with Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordering restaurant dining to close on Monday.

'We can tamp down the spread if everyone follows the rules, wears masks and stays at least six feet (2 m) apart from others,' the Miami mayor said in a statement announcing his emergency order, which also closed ballrooms, banquet halls, fitness centers and short-term housing rentals.

Restaurants also were targeted for a July 4 weekend crackdown on coronavirus enforcement in California.

Governor Gavin Newsom said state regulators visited nearly 6,000 bars and restaurants over the weekend to ensure compliance with rules barring indoor seating or the reopening of any establishment that serves alcohol without food.

FLORIDA: Hot spot Florida reported 7,361 new coronavirus cases on Monday and seven deaths. Daily fatalities appear to be declining across the state

ARIZONA CASES: The state recorded 3,352 new cases on Monday, down from the record 4,448 on June 25

ARIZONA DEATHS: Deaths across Arizona have been declining with one new death reported on Monday, according to state health data
A former Conservative MP accused of sexually assaulting a woman while singing 'I'm a naughty Tory' texted her days later to say that he had 'enjoyed the other night' and wanted to meet again, a court has heard.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke down as she claimed Charlie Elphicke had chased her around his home after he had groped her while his children slept upstairs.

She told Southwark crown court that a day later, he texted her to say 'something like, "I enjoyed the other night, we should do it again". I was like "my God, no". I was like 100 per cent no.'

The woman said it felt like Elphicke was 'racing' her around his home in central London, in 2007, trying to grab her bottom.

The alleged victim had rejected Elphicke's advances moments earlier as they shared a 40 bottle of wine, with the politician's children asleep upstairs and his wife, Natalie Elphicke, away on business, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Giving evidence via video-link, the woman said she thought of Elphicke - who did not become an MP until three years later - as 'asexual', so found it 'odd' when he began asking her about her sexual preferences.

Former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke (pictured alongside wife and current Dover MP Natalie Elphicke outside Southwark Crown Court on Monday)

She said: 'He started talking about what we (the alleged victim and her boyfriend) liked in a sexual way.

'I sort of wagged my finger at him and said 'We don't need to talk about that kind of thing'.

'He was like a totally asexual person, to me.

'He started saying 'Do you like silk and leather?' and bondage.

'He was jovial, jokey, excited maybe, in an animated way.

'I was just thinking 'Oh god, how embarrassing'.'

She said the conversation continued for 'a couple of sentences' before he 'basically jumped' on her, the court heard.

She said: 'He tried to kiss me and I moved my head, he pushed me down by my shoulders, he had his knee between my legs and he was groping my breast.'

The witness said she told Elphicke to 'get off' and she ran away.

'I just thought 'I've got to get out of here',' she told the jury. My adrenaline was going. I was just shocked - really, really shocked.

'I never thought in a million years that he was that kind of person, that he would do anything like that.'

She said Elphicke then 'pursued' her around his home as she moved away.

She said: 'He was saying really bizarre things that are embarrassing like "I'm a naughty Tory".

'He was trying to grope me and trying to grab my bum. He was following me, it was like a race,' she said.

'I couldn't understand what was happening.'

The former MP's wife Natalie Elphicke (pictured) replaced him as MP for Dover last November

The witness told jurors she managed to get away from Elphicke and got into a taxi.

She said: 'I was scared. I was feeling really shocked and scared ... the whole thing was really embarrassing and odd and scary.'

Defence counsel Ian Winter QC accused the witness of inconsistencies in her evidence to friends at the time, and said the phrase 'naughty Tory' had 'crept' into her account after reading press reports a decade later of a so-called 'naughty Tory list'.

He said: 'The very first time that anybody recalls you saying Mr Elphicke has said he was a naughty Tory comes after the publication in the media of the "naughty Tory list", wasnt it?'

Elphicke denies three counts of sexual assault against two women, between 2007 and 2016. Pictured: Mr Elphicke with Boris Johnson on his Conservative Party leadership campaign tour in Dover in 2019.

The witness replied: 'I think its a very common phrase. I think its excruciating that he used it but he said it.'

She also denied Mr Winters suggestion that Elphicke 'immediately stopped' kissing the witness when she said so, and that the incident ended there.

The witness said: 'Mr Elphicke chased me down the hall. He wasnt stopping, was he?'

Elphicke denies three counts of sexual assault against two women, between 2007 and 2016.

Jurors have been told of a second woman who said she found herself in Elphicke's company, sharing a bottle of champagne in Westminster, when he allegedly assaulted her.

The young woman, a parliamentary worker, said he tried to kiss her before groping her.

Jurors have been told of a second woman who said she found herself in Elphicke's company, sharing a bottle of champagne in Westminster, when he allegedly assaulted her

'He had his mouth open, continually trying to kiss me,' she said.

'It was like a disgusting slobbery mess.'

The prosecutor said the woman 'clearly rejected' Elphicke, told him he was married, and that there was a large age gap.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall told jurors he also said to the woman: 'Oh, I'm naughty sometimes, aren't I? I can be so badly behaved, but I can't help it.'

Elphicke was elected as MP for Dover in 2010 and held the seat until standing down at the general election in December 2019. His wife, Natalie, succeeded him.

The trial continues.
Long has admitted Pc Harper's manslaughter, but denied intending to harm him

Long is on trial with Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole for murder at the Old Bailey

Henry Long, 19, was allegedly trying to evade arrest after attempting to steal a 10,000 quad bike from a house in Stanford Dingley, Berkshire last year

A teenage driver who dragged Pc Andrew Harper to his death has told jurors he feels 'disgraceful' about what happened.

Henry Long, 19, was allegedly trying to evade arrest after attempting to steal a 10,000 quad bike from a house in Stanford Dingley, Berkshire, on the evening of August 15 last year.

Pc Harper, 28, had got out of his patrol car to chase after a suspect when his ankles got entangled in a tow strap attached to Long's Seat Toledo.

He was pulled along winding country lanes for more than a mile before he became disentangled, having suffered catastrophic injuries.

Within hours of Pc Harper's death, Long and his two passengers Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, were arrested.

Long initially denied involvement in the incident and told police in a prepared statement that he had been watching The Goonies and Fast And Furious DVDs.

Long, Bowers and Cole, from near Reading, have denied Pc Harper's murder but admitted conspiracy to steal the quad bike.

Long has also admitted Pc Harper's manslaughter, but denied intending to harm him.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, he accepted that he had killed Pc Harper.

Defence barrister Rossano Scamardella QC said: 'You pleaded guilty to manslaughter - why?

Henry Long, 19, who dragged Pc Andrew Harper to his death has told jurors he feels 'disgraceful' about what happened

Long initially denied involvement in the incident and told police in a prepared statement that he had been watching The Goonies and Fast And Furious DVDs (court sketch)

Long replied: 'Because I accept that I killed him from what I was doing, the way I was driving.'

The lawyer asked: 'How do you feel?'

The defendant said: 'Disgraceful.'

Long told jurors he could not sleep and thought about Pc Harper's family and how they feel.

He said he was unaware Pc Harper was attached to his car, adding: 'If I was aware I would have stopped the vehicle, tried to save him.'

Mr Scamardella said: 'Did you ever have any intention to hurt him? Or kill him?'

Long said: 'Not in any way.'

Jurors in the PC Andrew Harper murder case have been shown the alleged quad bike thieves' battered SEAT with a tow rope that dragged the officer to his death in Stanford Dingley, Berkshire, on the night of August 15 last year

Mr Scamardella said: 'Did you care about what happened?'

Long said: 'The fact he died, yes.'

The defendant said he had been the passenger in cars chased by police before, but this was the first time he was the driver.

Asked what the atmosphere was like inside a car being pursued by police, he said it was 'chaotic'.

Asked about his attempts to avoid police by driving off in his car, Long said: 'I was getting annoyed because I was trying to concentrate on driving and getting away and I had people telling me how to drive.

'I told them to "shut the f**k up. Let me drive. Put some music on".'

Long said he was unaware of anything dragging behind the car.

PC Harper had been trying to apprehend teenagers who had stolen a quad bike (pictured) when he became entangled in a tow strap behind their SEAT Toledo

He recalled how Cole leapt into the SEAT Toledo from outside through Bowers' window when the police arrived.

'I would never leave anybody behind,' he said.

'I was about to leave. I could not hear him, next thing I knew he jumped in the window. I was driving and he has jumped in. Jumped all over us, basically trying to get to the back of the car.'

Ms Scamardella asked: 'Were you aware of anything going on in back of the car at this point?'

'No,' replied Long.

'Were you aware that PC Harper had become caught up in the rope at the back?'.

'No,' answered Long.

'When Mr Cole jumped in I revved the throttle and just went. I was already in gear,' he continued.

Henry Long, 19, has admitted the manslaughter of PC Andrew Harper, but has denied intending to kill him. He is on trial for murder, along with Jessie Cole (left) and Albert Bowers (right), both 18, who were his passengers

'Mr Cole went in the back so I had full leverage. I was driving fast. There was shouting. "Go this way, go that way. Slow down."

'Mr Bowers shouted: "Slow down". Mr Bowers had experience on these roads and he knew where the bends where.'

According to Long, Bowers was shouting: 'You are going to crash. You are going to kill us.'

Long told jurors he lived with his parents and five siblings and was part of the travelling community.

Like his father and grandfather, he was a 'thief', he said, stealing quad bikes and mechanical equipment.

On his father and grandfather's occupation, he said: 'It's not a proud thing to admit.'

Long had been taken out of school by his father in year eight after being given a detention, the court heard.
Donald Trump suffered 'child abuse' at the hands of his father,' the President's niece has claimed in her explosive memoir, which DailyMail.com has obtained ahead of its release.

Mary Trump says 'love meant nothing' to Fred Trump Sr and he only wanted obedience, which the President was forced to give him.

Donald's mother became ill when he was two years old, leaving him with 'total dependence on a caregiver (Fred Sr) who also caused him terror,' Mary writes in Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man.

Neglected by his workaholic father, Mary claims the President 'suffered deprivations that would scar him for life' and describes Donald as Frankenstein's monster.

The 55-year-old psychologist writes that she believes her uncle is not only a narcissist, but 'meets the criteria for antisocial personality disorder, which in its most severe form is generally considered sociopathy'.

She also alleges Donald paid a friend to take his SATs for him in order to attend the University of Pennsylvania for its famous Wharton School of Business.

And in another chapter, Mary claims her uncle ogled her when she was 29 years old and in a swimsuit at Mar-a-Lago, with Donald allegedly saying: 'Holy s**t, Mary, you're stacked!'

Donald Trump suffered 'child abuse' at the hands of his father Fred Trump Sr, the President's niece Mary Trump will claim in her explosive memoir

The 55-year-old will write that 'love meant nothing' to Fred Sr and he only wanted obedience which Donald was forced to give him The book claims Fred Sr 'caused [Donald] terror' and he 'suffered deprivations that would scar him for life'. Pictured: Donald Trump as a child

Simon & Schuster released the back cover as it announced they are releasing Mary's (left) memoir Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man (right) two weeks early

Simon & Schuster announced this week that Mary's memoir would be released two weeks early. It will now come out on July 14 instead of July 28 due to 'high demand and extraordinary interest' that has pushed it to No. 1 on the Amazon best seller list.

The memoir is still the subject of a legal dispute between Mary and the Trump family and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday before a judge in Dutchess County, north of New York City.

In her book, Mary states she received a PhD in clinical psychology from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies and spent a year working on the admissions ward of a psychiatric center in Manhattan.

She says she has no problem calling Donald a narcissist, as many pundits have described him.

Mary says he meets all nine criteria as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the standard text for defining mental illness.

But Mary writes that a case could be made that Donald meets the criteria for antisocial personality disorder, which in its most severe form is generally considered sociopathy, but can also refer to chronic criminality, arrogance, and disregard for others.

She writes Donald may also meet some of the criteria for dependent personality disorder as well.

The hallmarks are: inability to take responsibility, discomfort when being alone and going to extreme lengths to obtain support from others.

Mary writes: He is alleged to drink upward of 12 Diet Cokes a day and sleeps very little. Does he suffer from substance (in this case caffeine) induced sleep disorder?

'He has a horrible diet and does not exercise, which may contribute to or exacerbate his other possible disorders.'

In another section of the bombshell book, Mary reveals Donald's eldest sister Maryanne, a now retired federal judge, scoffed at his presidential run, calling him 'a clown' and poked fun at his 'five bankruptcies'.

Mary also believes her uncle is not only a narcissist, but writes he 'meets the criteria for antisocial personality disorder, which in its most severe form is generally considered sociopathy'

In another section of the bombshell book, Mary reveals Donald's eldest sister Maryanne, a now retired federal judge, scoffed at his presidential run, calling him 'a clown' and poked fun at his 'five bankruptcies'.

She writes: 'When Donald announced his run for the presidency on June 16, 2015 I didn't take it seriously.

'I didn't think Donald took it seriously. He simply wanted the free publicity for his brand.

'When his poll numbers started to rise he may have received tacit assurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia would do everything it could to swing the election in his favor, the appeal of winning grew.

'He's a clown', my aunt Maryanne said during one of our regular lunches at the time. ''This will never happen''. I agreed.

''Does anybody even believe the bulls*** that he's a self-made man?'' I asked ''Well,'' Maryanne said, dry as the Saharan, ''he has had five bankruptcies''.'

Maryanne also became enraged when Donald began to receive endorsements from evangelical pastors such as Jerry Falwell Jr.

Mary is the child of Fred Trump Jr, the President's older brother who died in 1981 after struggling with alcoholism

Maryanne, who is a Catholic since her conversion 50 years ago, allegedly raged to Mary: What the f*** is wrong with them? The only time Donald went to church is when the cameras were there. Its mind boggling. He has no principles. None!

Maryanne was also angered by Donald using his late brother Fred Jr's death for 'political purposes' when talking about the opioid crisis.

Fred Jr, Mary's father, died in 1981 after struggling with alcoholism his whole life.

According to Mary, Maryanne said: Hes using your fathers memory for political purposes, and thats a sin, especially since Freddy should have been the star of the family.'

Mary claims that as Donald rose through the family business and superseded his brother Fred Jr, who wanted to be a pilot instead, he wanted to attend University of Pennsylvania for its famous Wharton School of Business.

Mary claims that even though Maryanne had been doing Donalds homework - she couldnt turn up to do his tests, which was a problem.

Donalds grade point average was far from the top of the class and he worried he wouldnt get in.

So Donald allegedly enlisted the help of a friend called Joe Shapiro, who Mary calls a 'smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker'.

Mary claims that as Donald rose through the family business and superseded his brother Fred Jr, who wanted to be a pilot instead, he wanted to attend University of Pennsylvania for its famous Wharton School of Business. She claims Donald had someone else take a test for him and got in contact with Fred Jr's friend who worked in the admissions office. Donald got his way and in 1966 he transferred from Fordham University in New York where he was studying to University of Pennsylvania. Pictured: Trump at graduating from Wharton in 1968

From left to right Robert, Elizabeth, Fred Jr, Donald and Maryanne Trump

With no ID checks in those days, Shapiro took the test and Donald 'paid his buddy well'.

He also asked Fred Jr to speak to James Nolan, a friend of his from school who worked in the admissions office of the university.

Donald got his way and in 1966 he transferred from Fordham University in New York where he was studying to University of Pennsylvania.

Mary calls Fred Sr a high functioning sociopath, marked by a lack of empathy, a facility for lying and a lack of interest in others.

The greater Donald and Roberts distress, the more Fred Sr rebuffed them, Mary claims.

As a result needing became equated with humiliation and despair in Donalds mind.

Mary describes how when Donald was a boy he used to hide Roberts favorite Tonka trucks and pretended he had no idea where they were.

The last time he did it Robert had a tantrum and Donald threatened to pull them apart if he didnt shut up.

Their mother responded by hiding the trucks in the attic, effectively punishing Robert for something that Donald did.

The memoir is still the subject of a legal dispute between Mary and the Trump family and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday before a judge in Dutchess County, north of New York City

Mary calls Fred Sr a high functioning sociopath, marked by a lack of empathy, a facility for lying and a lack of interest in others

The back of the book reads that 'child abuse is, in some sense, a matter of 'too much' or 'not enough'.

It reads: 'Donald's mother became ill when he was two and a half, suddenly depriving him of his main source of comfort and human contact. His father, Fred, became his only available parent.'

'But Fred firmly believed that dealing with young children was not his duty, and kept to his twelve-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week job at Trump Management, as if his children could look after themselves.

'From the beginning, Fred's self-interest skewed his priorities and his care of children reflected his own needs, not theirs. He could not empathize with Donald's plight, so his son's fears and longings went unsoothed.

'Love meant nothing to Fred; he expected obedience, that was all. Over time, Donald became afraid that asking for comfort or attention would provoke his father's anger or indifference when Donald was most vulnerable.

'That Fred would become the primary source of Donald's solace when he was much more likely to be a source of fear or rejection put Donald in an intolerable position: total dependence on a caregiver who also caused him terror. Donald suffered deprivations that would scar him for life.'

Mary, 55, is a psychologist and her publishers say she has a unique insight into what makes the Trumps tick.

She spent much of her youth in her grandparents' house in Queens, New York, and had a front row seat to her 'toxic' family.

The back cover (pictured) of her book will read: 'Today, Donald Trump 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'

The book is also expected to reveal that Mary was the primary source of the New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into the President's tax history.

That report, published in October 2018, found the president received more than $400 million 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 Sr.

The Trumps argue this prevents her from writing a memoir, but she disagrees.

Simon & Schuster have already revealed other details from the book, including 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 such as empathy, kindness, and expertise are punished.

According to Mary, among the Trump family 'taking responsibility for your failures is discouraged' and 'cheating as a way of life'.

In an affidavit filed last week, Mary claimed she relied on 'false valuations' from the rest of her family to determine the amount she got from Fred Sr's will.

Mary has previously alleged in a lawsuit 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.
Dutch police have discovered a make-shift torture chamber, nicknamed the 'treatment room' by criminals, while investigating the drug trade in the Netherlands.

The sound-proofed shipping container, which held a dentist chair equipped with restraints, was discovered in a warehouse in Wouwse Plantage, a village south of Rotterdam in southwestern Netherlands, close to the border with Belgium.

Authorities raided the warehouse last month after the worldwide underground criminal phone system EncroChat was cracked, leading to the arrest of 746 underworld kingpins in Britain alone.

The torture chamber had not yet been used, said police, who alerted potential victims to go into hiding after messages revealed the existence of such a room.

Inside the container they found tools including pliers, scalpels and handcuffs ready for use.

Six other containers were set up to hold prisoners, all lined with foil in an effort to deter the victims being spotted on thermal imaging cameras and some equipped with a chemical toilet.

Threatening messages found on the infiltrated communications network, run by a mysterious Dutch firm, found that gang members had refereed to the container as the 'treatment room'.

The 'dentist chair', where prisoners would have been strapped in and tortured

The chair had belts attached to the arm and foot supports. Police saw photos of the 'treatment room' on encrypted chats before the raid

Hammers, wire cutters, pliers and even a hedge trimmer were set up for use on victims

A video of the raid taken by Dutch authorities shows a container with handcuffs and a single chemical toilet

Another container appears to have police uniforms and a chemical toilet

What is the 'EncroChat' smartphone system? EncroChat was a secret platform where users were able to communicate privately between specially-designed handsets - often to run drugs, traffick people and even order murders. These devices, costing 1,500, are usually Android-based smartphones that had their GPS sensors, microphones, and cameras stripped out, encrypted chat apps installed by default to allow people to sent private messages. It is now emerging that criminal syndicates across the world had one - with one in six of the 60,000 users in the UK. Marketed as the electronic equivalent of two people having a conversation in an empty room, it enabled users to send written messages or make voice calls through an encrypted system. There were thought to be 60,000 users internationally, including 10,000 in the UK, with prices at 1,500 for a six-month contract. Investigators say that the platform, which was not in itself illegal, was designed to be secure against unwanted outside access, and in the UK was used purely for criminal purposes. Since the breach, the Encrochat platform has shut down. According to the Encrochat website, customers had access to features such as self-destructing messages, that deleted from the recipient's device after a certain length of time. There was also panic wipe, where all the data on the device could be deleted by entering a four-digit code from the lock-screen. The National Crime Agency said the handset could also be wiped remotely. Advertisement

A series of messages referenced the torture room and prisons, with one criminal stating: 'If I have him on the chair more will come', then adding 'but that dog is missing'.

Police were able to conduct the raid after the French police cracked their communications network and encrypted criminals' phones to read millions of messages in a mass investigation named 26Lemont.

The messages from an EncroChat phone tipped police off about warehouse, called the 'treatment room' and the 'ebi,' a reference to a top security Dutch prison.

After putting the warehouse under surveillance police spotted several men working to kit out the prison cells from mid-April, who they were able to identify from the messages - a 44-year-old man from Nieuwegein, a prime suspect from The Hague and his 43-year-old accomplice from Rotterdam.

Dutch authorities arrested six men on June 22 on suspicion of crimes including preparing kidnappings and serious assault.

Another armed team detained a suspect in Rotterdam.

The messages, which were being intercepted live, also included photos of the container and dentist's chair with belts attached to the arm and foot supports.

Video released by the police showed a heavily armed arrest team blasting open a door at the warehouse and discovering the improvised prison.

'Six of the containers were intended as cells in which people could be tied up and one container was intended as a torture chamber,' Andy Kraag, head of the police's National Investigation Service, said in a video released by police.

A search of the containers uncovered bags containing tools including hedge cutters, scalpels and pliers.

The tools 'were likely intended to torture victims or at least put them under pressure,' the police statement said.

The whole investigation has lead to more than 100 suspects, seized more than 8,000 kilograms of cocaine, seized over 1,200 kilograms of crystal meth, dismantled 19 synthetic drug labs and seized dozens of firearms.

Andy Kraag said that the police operation 'prevented a number of violent crimes.'

In searches of other properties, including what police described as a base for the criminals near the port city of Rotterdam, officers found police uniforms and body armour, stolen vehicles, 25 firearms and drugs.

A court in Amsterdam ordered the six suspects held for 90 days as investigations continue.

'This is a great result of the 26Lemont investigation,' Kraag said. 'And, take it from me, many more results will follow.'

The company EncroChat is shrouded in mystery, but is based in the Netherlands, and says it has addresses there as well as in Turkey and Latin America.

British police found that the handsets, bought by criminals for 1,500 each, had also been central to the planning of two gangland hits in Manchester.

Dutch police use explosives to enter a building where a torture chamber is hidden in a shipping container in Wouwse Plantage, Netherlands

A heavily armes arrest team blasted open a door at the warehouse and arrested over 100 suspects

When they searched the containers they found tools including ncluding hedge cutters, scalpels and pliers

Gangland boss Mark Fellows used the secret network when he assassinated rivals, Salford's 'Mr Big' Paul Massey and another underworld rival, John Kinsella.

Fellows, nicknamed 'Iceman' for his ruthlessness, executed Massey with an Uzi machine gun, hitting him five times on the doorstep of his Salford home in July 2015.

Three years later he executed mob enforcer and fixer Kinsella was in a hail of bullets.

During his trial it emerged that Fellows had been tipped off by an accomplice via the encrypted phone service when Kinsella was coming into range.

When he was questioned about the unusual handset, he flippantly declared 'No one even owns a normal phone these days'.
Prince Andrew's accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has called on staff who worked in Jeffrey Epstein's home to come forward with anything they know of his abuse of young girls in the wake of Ghislaine Maxwell's arrest on child sex trafficking charges.

Maxwell, 58, is currently in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn awaiting her first appearance. She is accused of procuring and grooming three underage girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 1997, and prosecutors say she also had sex with the girls herself.

Roberts Giuffre has long alleged that Maxwell groomed her. She is not one of the women in the recent indictment but she sued Maxwell in 2015 alleging that she groomed her and abused her after picking her up in Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Floridian club, in the late 1990s.

Roberts Giuffre also claims that Maxwell set up a night out in 2001 in London where she says she slept with Prince Andrew - a claim the royal vehemently denies.

On Monday night, as prosecutors continued to piece together their case against Maxwell, Giuffre Roberts urged anyone with knowledge of Epstein's crimes to come forward.

'Now is the time- more crucial than ever for Epsteins staff at his homes to come forward to help put the pieces of this tangled spider web in order.

Virginia Roberts, then 17, with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001. She claims she slept with Andrew that night. He denies it

Maxwell is now in custody awaiting her first court appearance on child sex trafficking charges. Epstein died in jail last August

'Same goes towards associates and more importantly their victims. The time of being shamed is passing- let your voice be heard,' she tweeted.

Epstein died in jail last August. He was found hanging in his cell while awaiting trial on child sex abuse charges.

His attorneys claim he was murdered, potentially to stop him from revealing damning information about other high profile people who might have also abused the girls he and Maxwell found.

Roberts Giuffre, pictured more recently, was the first to speak out publicly against Epstein and Maxwell

Maxwell was arrested on Thursday in New Hampshire. She has not yet been seen.

The last photograph of her emerged last August, days after Epstein's arrest, and was taken at an In-N-Out Burger in L.A.

Since then, the FBI says she has been hiding out in New England, moving between properties and trying to evade law enforcement and the media.

She is due to appear in court on Friday via videolink.

If convicted, Maxwell faces up to 35 years behind bars.

Former staff of Epstein's have spoken out about his crimes in the past. Some participated in a recent Netflix documentary about the late pedophile.

Others were deposed as part of lawsuits or were interviewed by police as part of their 2007 investigation into Epstein in Palm Beach.

They largely claimed that there were always young girls around but that they themselves never saw sexual abuse happening.
A convicted sex offender who assaulted boys in a bathroom while pretending to be a police officer has been allowed to move into a home across the road from a primary school.

Shannon Norgate, 22, is living just 30 metres from Yeronga State Primary School in Brisbane, with a clear view of the children's playground from his home.

He was convicted of sexually assaulting two young boys in a school bathroom in Gladstone while disguised as a police officer in 2019.

Norgate was sentenced three years probation and issued with a three-year good behaviour bond.

Shannon Norgate was previously convicted of sexually assaulting two young boys in a school bathroom in Gladstone in 2019

He told Nine News the home he was living in was the only vacancy he could find.

'This is the only address I could come to, this is the only place that had a vacancy, so that's not my problem,' he said.

Norgate explained his probation conditions did not restrict him from living near schools, but said corrective services had recently demanded he move from the home.

Norgate was disguised as a police officer when he sexually assaulted two young boys last year

'They've pretty much said that it's not just for my safety but for other people's safety because I'm pretty much known as a very violent and dangerous person,' he said.

While corrective services work on finding Norgate a new home, he said he was on 'controlled medication' and wasn't a threat to the community.

During his interrogation by Channel Nine, he received a phone call from corrective services informing him that they had found him a new place to stay.

'I've found somewhere to relocate to, Yamanto,' he said.

'I'm just going to go there because pretty much I just need a place right now, anyway I don't really like this area anyway, I'm just getting to the point that I want to drop a nuclear bomb on top of it.'

Corrective Services Minister Mark Ryan did not comment about Norgate's case but said no convicted sex offender should be allowed to live next to a school.
Two men have been killed in yet another Iran explosion, as officials blamed 'human error' for the blast.

The explosion rocked the Sepahan Boresh factory in the city of Baqershahr, south of Tehran, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, according to state media.

It was caused by 'workers being negligent whilst filling oxygen tanks', the town's governor Amin Babai was quoted as saying.

Three people were also injured in the blast, two of them suffering injuries so severe they required hospital treatment.

The blast is the latest in a string of explosions to have swept across Iran over the past two weeks, amid suspicions that Israel may have been behind at least one of them.

The explosion, which happened in the early hours of this morning, is the latest to have rocked Iran in recent weeks

'The explosion... was so powerful that the walls of the Saipapress factory nearby were also totally destroyed,' Babai said.

He added that 'firefighters had been on the scene' since shortly after the explosion,

Babai also said that firefighters had 'prevented further fires and explosions' from rocking the area.

The facility was destroyed by a fire, with Israel suspected of being behind the cyber-attack

On July 2, the country's atomic energy agency reported that an 'accident' had damaged warehouses under construction at the Natanz nuclear site, around 150 miles south of Tehran.

The organisation released a photo of a building apparently damaged by fire, with doors hanging off hinges after they appeared to have been blown outwards.

On Friday, Iran's Supreme National Security Council announced that the 'cause of the accident' at Natanz had been 'accurately determined' and declined to give further details, citing security reasons.

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

But the lack of detail over the incident sparked speculation over the cause, with many Iranians suspecting covert Israeli operations were responsible.

Agency spokesman Kamalvandi acknowledged to the IRNA state news agency that the incident had caused 'significant financial damage', but did not elaborate further.

He said the damaged building had been designed to produce 'advanced centrifuges', hinting that their assembly had begun prior to the 'accident'.

On the evening of July 2, IRNA published an editorial that warned Iran's arch-foes against hostile action.

Iran confirmed that serious damage occurred at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility (pictured), which could put back the country's nuclear enrichment programme back by two months

It said that unnamed Israeli social media accounts had claimed the Jewish state was behind the incident.

The editorial warned Israel and the US against any attack on Iran's 'security' and 'interests'.

A Twitter account linked to an Israeli analyst had claimed in Arabic on July 1 that Israel had attacked an Iranian uranium enrichment plant.

The BBC's Persian service, which Iranian authorities consider hostile, said it received a statement 'hours before' the incident from a group called the 'Homeland Cheetahs' who claimed responsibility.

They claimed to be 'dissidents present in Iran's security apparatus' and said the location was targeted as it was not 'underground' and that therefore the alleged attack could not be denied.

Iran's civil defence chief, Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali, told state TV on Thursday night that any proven cyberattack against Iran would elicit 'a response'.

Israel's Defence Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz said: 'Iran is aiming for nuclear [weapons], we can't let it get there.

He however added that 'not every event taking place in Iran is necessarily connected to us'.

On June 30, a powerful explosion hit the Sina At'har health centre in the upmarket northern Tehran neighbourhood of Tajrish, killing 19 people and damaging nearby buildings.

Authorities said it was caused by a fire that had set light to gas canisters in the clinic's basement.

Tehran's fire department spokesman Jalal Maleki told state TV that some victims 'were in upper floors in operation rooms, who were either patients being operated on or those with them.

'They unfortunately lost their lives due to the heat and thick smoke'.

That blast came just days after a gas tank explosion near a military complex east of the capital in Parchin on June 26, though there were no casualties in that incident.

Parchin is a site suspected of having hosted conventional explosion tests applicable to nuclear power, which the Islamic republic denies.

It had come under scrutiny from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency in 2015.

Iran had refused the IAEA access to the site because of the nature of its work, but the agency's then chief, the late Yukiya Amano, paid a visit there.
Walt Disney World cast members will play the role of guests to test out Disneys coronavirus safety features ahead of reopening this week.

On Tuesday and Wednesday Disney is holding a cast member preview at the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom for thousands of staffers to test run the new features themselves.

On Thursday and Friday annual passholders will get the chance to visit the parks before those Disney World attractions officially open on Saturday. Disneys Hollywood studios and Epcot will reopen on July 15.

All Disney parks were shuttered in mid-March.

Disney World will host cast preview days on Tuesday and Wednesday for staff to test out the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom's new coronavirus safety measures ahead of reopening Saturday. A view of Magic Kingdom above

The Animal Kingdom and Magical Kingdom, which have been closed since March, will officially reopen to the public on Saturday

However, the Actors Equality Association, a union that represents hundreds of actors at the park, is arguing that its too early to open up as coronavirus cases surge in the sunshine state and is demanding regular testing for actors, according to Click Orlando.

According to latest park statistics, Disney World employs nearly 70,000 cast members.

They shared a petition, which has over 18,000 signatures, calling for Walt Disney World Resort to postpone the reopening until further notice as coronavirus cases in the state continue to surge.

'Because of the increase in cases suddenly, it is clear that theme parks  a non-essential business  should not be planning to operate until the cases have gone down again. The recent spike of COVID-19 cases is concerning due to our proposed opening in July,' the petition says.

'Re-opening the theme parks is only putting our guests, employees, and families at higher risk for contracting COVID-19...People are more important than making a profit,' the petition adds.

Disney parks published a video on July 3 showing employees in masks heading back to work, with staffers beaming excitedly about returning to the park.

Disney released a video on July 3 welcoming cast members back to the park and filming their enthusiastic reactions. This employee named Michael said in the clip: 'I'm really happy to be wearing this again!'

This cast member gushed: 'I love being here and it's so nice to finally come home'

The park has initiated new safety measures including limited capacity, required reservation, masks for employees and guests and temperature checks

The Actors Equality Association, a union that represents hundreds actors at the park, is calling for the reopning to be delayed as coronavirus cases surge in the state. 'People are more important than making a profit,' the petition, which has over 18,000 signatures, says

'Im really happy to be wearing this again,' one employee says in the video.

The Disney Springs part of the park opened in May giving a glimpse of the new measures in place, where guests are required to wear a face mask and go through temperature screenings and capacity will be limited.

Walt Disney World's coronavirus safety measures Limited capacity and required reservations using the Disney Park Pass Face coverings required for Guests ages 2 and up Temperature checks required for all Guests Social distancing enforced with signage as well as the Incredi-Crew Hand washing and sanitation stations throughout the parks Mask-free relaxation zones Advertisement

In late May, Disney submitted its reopening plan to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force outlining new precautions including masks, temperature checks, social distancing measures, and reduced capacity.

Although the guest cap wasnt announced, its assumed to be no greater than 30 percent, which is the capacity Shanghai Disneyland is using for their reopening.

On Monday Gov. Ron DeSantis supported the reopening saying he's not concerned that the theme park wil contribute to an increase in COVID-19 cases.

'Disney, I have no doubt, its going to be a safe environment,' DeSantis said.

'The folks who put a premium on safety, thats showing you that, you know, were able to handle this, have society function still when people go into work, but do it in a way that you take some basic precautions and so were really impressed with what Universal has done, and Ive looked at Disneys plan ... its very very thorough,' he added.

As of Tuesday there are 206,447 cases of COVID-19 in the state and there are 3,778 deaths.

Over the month of June the number of new coronavirus cases has steadily increased after the state initially reopened and saw thousands of people flock to beaches and bars.

Over the weekend Florida set a record for the most new coronavirus cases in the US in a single day with 11,458 new infections, according to data by Johns Hopkins University.

The alarming spike prompted the mayor of Miami-Dade to issue an emergency order clllosing gyms, short-term vacation rentals and restaurant dining rooms.
Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced Tuesday that he had tested negative for COVID-19 hours before he boarded a commercial flight to Washington to meet with his United States counterpart, Donald Trump.

'I did the test,' Lopez Obrador said during his daily briefing with the press at the National Palace in Mexico City. 'I've got my certificate.'

The leftist leader revealed his negative test shortly before Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro announced that he had tested positive for the ravaging virus that placed his country second behind the United States with 65,487 deaths and 1,623,284 confirmed cases.

#LoUltimo El Presidente @lopezobrador_ abordo al vuelo Delta Airlines que lo llevara a Washington, DC, con escala en Atlanta, por la pista.



 Isabella Gonzalez pic.twitter.com/aGZIMpwFyk  REFORMA (@Reforma) July 7, 2020

Mexico Secretary of Foreign Affairs Mauricio Ebrard (left) and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (right) on a Tuesday afternoon Delta Airlines commercial flight to Washington for the Mexican leaders meeting with his United States counterpart, Donald Trump. Lopez Obrador said he tested negative for COVID-19

President Andres Manuel Lopez (left) said Tuesday he tested negative for the coronavirus ahead of his summit meeting with Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday to celebrate the new North American trade agreement

Lopez Obrador said that if the White House asks him to repeat the test upon arrival, he will do so. As of Tuesday, the U.S. ranked atop the globe with 130,902 deaths and 2,966,409.

For months, the Mexican resident has given conflicting messages about the danger of the global pandemic, which is responsible 261,750 confirmed cases and 31,119 deaths.

He frequently urges people to be cautious, but almost never wears a face mask himself and has pushed to reactivate the economy.

Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is making his first foreign trip since entering office in December 2019 and will be in Washington to meet with his United States counterpart Donald Trump

However, Lopez Obrador appeared in a video seated near the emergency exit door and wearing a face mask on a Delta Airlines flight scheduled to connect in Atlanta before continuing to Washington. The middle seat was not occupied while Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard sat on the isle seat.

He is making his first foreign trip as president to celebrate the start United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement [USMCA] trade deal that went into effect last week.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau skipped the summit meeting with Lopez Obrador and Trump after Canada raised concerns over potential U.S. aluminum tariffs.

Lopez Obrador is scheduled to meet Trump on Wednesday and Thursday, and is expected to visit the Lincoln Memorial and the Benito Juarez statute in the U.S. capital.
Longtime Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone is asking a U.S. appeals court to keep him from reporting to a Georgia prison, citing COVID-19 and seeking clemency from the president.

Stone filed a motion with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to avoid a court order to begin his July 14 sentence at a prison. He is currently in home confinement on order of Judge Amy Berman Jackson following his conviction of charges of witness tampering and lying to Congress.

Stone, 67, cites the dangers of COVID-19, and seeks to put off the start of his 40-month sentence until September.

Longtime Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone is asking a U.S. appeals court to overrule a judge's order for him to report to a Georgia prison July 14

Stone posted on his Instagram page that he is seeking the delay because of 'the dangers of Covid-19 and ordering me to prison on July 14 because it is wrong on the law, the precedents in the DC Circuit and in all cases for compassionate release since the pandemic began.'

He said his lawyers challenge Judge Jackson's 'false assertion that the prison she wants to send me to has NO confirmed cases of COVID 19,' in reference to the federal prison in Jesup, Georgia where he is ordered to begin his sentence.

Stone's lawyers invoked his health and said the prison where he is ordered to appear has confirmed cases of COVID-19

Stone wrote that only an act of presidential clemency will 'provide justice in my case.'

Judge Amy Berman Jackson

'I recognize that the chances are overwhelming that the appeals court will remand the matter back to Judge Jackson but it is vitally important that the American people see all of the false claims in her most recent ruling and I want the president to know that I have, in good faith ,exhausted all of my legal remedies and that an only an act of clemency by the Presideny [sic] will provide Justice in my case where I was charged on politically motivated ,fabricated charges and was denied a fair trial with an unbiased judge, an honest jury and uncorrupted and non political prosecutors,' he wrote.

Stone made another public appeal for Donald Trump's intervention last month. Stone told host Lou Dobbs in June that if Trump were to pardon him, it would make him a more effective advocate for Trump's campaign.

'"The greatest thing here that bothers me, beyond the danger, is that I may not be free to do everything within my power to reelect this president,' he said, adding: "I want to be free to make sure Donald Trump is reelected.'

Stone was a longtime informal advisor to Trump. He was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering.

Stone's lawyers complain that Judge Jackson made 'no allowance for the fact that it may not be possible for Stones medical conditions, which require close monitoring and strict compliance with the directions of his physician, to remain controlled within a [Bureau of Prisons] facility,' the Hill reported. There are three infected prisoners in Jesup, according to a Bureau of Prisons tracker.
A fuel tanker explosion on a highway in Colombia left 11 people dead and injured 52 after they were captured on video attempting to steal oil.

The incident occurred Monday morning in Magdalena, Colombia, after Manuel Catano lost control of his truck, which had 5,000 gallons of oil, when a giant caiman blocked his path. The tanker overturned and landed on the side in a grass field.

Catano told Colombian news outlet Noticias RCN that he was able to climb out of the cabin without any assistance before a man arrived on his motorcycle and checked on his well-being.

Residents Tasajera, a city in the northern Colombian department of Magdalena, gathered at accident site Monday to steal gasoline moments before the fuel tanker exploded. So far, 11 people have died and 52 are being treated for injuries

A truck with 5,000 gallons of gasoline exploded in Colombia on Monday. Authorities said 11 have died

Firefighter stands near the charred fuel tanker that exploded near a highway in Magdalena, Colombia on Monday. The driver told Colombian news outlet Noticias RCN that he tried to avoid running over a large caiman when he lost control of the truck, which overturned

Within minutes, residents from the nearby town of Tasajera showed up with large containers to extract oil from the tank while he was waiting for the cops to arrive.

'I told them, it's premium, premium gasoline, that thing could catch fire,' said Catano, who initially thought the large crowd was there to help him.

However, he was shouted down and told 'not to get involved' while they were banging on a valve with a pipe to extract the gasoline.

Catano then met with police officers who arrived at the site, but were overwhelmed by the amount of people who had rushed to the truck.

Residents try to flee the burning fuel tanker after it exploded while they were trying to extract oil after the truck crashed on the side of a road in Colombia on Monday

Police officers set up a perimeter control following the explosion of a fuel tanker in Colombia

The National Police said at least 120 people were present at the scene.

He recalled turning his back away from the truck and felt the impact of the explosion.

The video footage showed several individuals running for help while their bodies were engulfed in flames.

At least 19 patients who were severely burned were transferred to the capital Bogota for treatment while the rest were hospitalized in the cities of Cienaga, Santa Marta, Barranquilla and Valledupar.
A Florida teenager died of complications from coronavirus after attending a church party with 100 children where she did not wear a mask or maintain social distancing, a medical examiner's report revealed.

Carsyn Davis, 17, of Fort Myers, had previous medical problems and her health quickly deteriorated when she contracted coronavirus in early June.

Her parents attempted to treat her with Trump-touted malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, despite warnings about its use as a treatment from the FDA, before eventually taking her to hospital.

Her mother Carole Brunton Davis, a nurse, also administered antibiotics and oxygen via her grandfather's portable machine.

The teen remained sick at home for a week before Brunton Davis and her father, a physician's assistant, took her to be tested for coronavirus.

Carsyn Davis, 17, attended a church party with 100 other children on June 10 with no social distancing and without wearing a mask. She died of coronavirus complications on June 23

According to a GoFundMe page, Davis was admitted to Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida, in Fort Myers, on June 19.

Two days later, on June 21 - which was her 17th birthday - the teenager was transferred to the ICU in critical condition.

Davis was placed on a ventilator but, the very next day, she was airlifted to another hospital for cardiac and respiratory support, the GoFundMe page says.

She was hooked up to an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which pumps and oxygenates a patient's blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest.

On June 23, she died of complications from the virus.

Davis' death sent shockwaves through the community as the second Florida teenager to die of coronavirus, which has killed more than 3,800 people in the state.

The teen had already battled off a host of health issues including cancer and a rare autoimmune disorder and was at high risk of serious illness if she contracted coronavirus.

Yet the release of the medical examiner's report on her death has raised questions after it revealed that the immunocompromised teen went to a church party with 100 others with no restrictions in place and that she remained at home sick for a week before being taken to hospital.

Carsyn Davis, 17, of Fort Myers, Florida, was admitted to Golisano Children's Hospital on June 19 and was placed in the ICU on June 21. Pictured: Davis (right) with her mother

The next day, Davis (left and right) was transferred to a different hospital for cardiac and respiratory support. On June 23, she died, making her the second teenager to die in the state

According to the report, on June 10 Davis attended a church function at First Youth Church with 100 other children.

The event was billed as a 'release party' on social media and promised 'games, free food, a DJ and music'.

'She did not wear a mask. Social distancing was not followed,' the report said of Davis at the party.

First Youth Church have since taken down their Facebook page.

Her parents gave her azithromycin as a preventive measure from June 10 to 15, a drug President Trump has also claimed as a potential coronavirus treatment when used with hydroxychloroquine.

Yet the reports says that three days after the church party, Davis developed frontal headache, sinus pressure, and a mild cough which her family claimed were a sinus infection.

By June 19, Brunson Davis believed her daughter looked 'gray' while she was sleeping and borrowed her grandfather's home oxygen before giving her a dose of hydroxychloroquine.

First Youth Church, who have since taken down their Facebook page, billed he event as a 'release party' and around 100 children attended on June 10

It remains unclear whether Davis had a prescription for hydroxychloroquine.

Several large-scale studies have found no benefit to the malaria drug as a coronavirus treatment, despite it being pushed by the president, which prompted the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke its emergency use authorization.

Last week, the FDA renewed its warning that hydroxychloroquine should not be used to treat coronavirus outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to the risk of heart rhythm problems.

That same day they took Davis to Gulf Coast Medical Center where she was transferred to Golisano Children's Hospital and tested positive for coronavirus.

While there, her parents initially declined intubation and Davis was treated with plasma therapy.

She was eventually intubated on June 22 after her condition failed to improve.

While in the hospital her mother Brunton Davis allegedly attempted to have medical staff treat her daughter with hydroxychloroquine but they refused as the FDA has revoked its approval.

'This is very upsetting to me,' Brunton Davis wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post.

In another Facebook post, just a day before her daughter's death, Brunton Davis shared a website called 'Don't Mask Our Kids' which offered legal advice on how to fight against mandates requiring that masks be worn to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The high school student has been described as a 'giving heart' and a 'blessing' to those who met her.

'While her time here ended far too soon, many can attest that she was beyond her 17 years of age,' another GoFundMe page says.

'Her kindness, giving heart, and sweet laughter has been a blessing to each person she has met.

'Throughout her life, she has endured battles for her health with strength and grace. Her family is sound in that where she is now, she no longer has to fight and can live the heavenly life she has always deserved.'

Davis, who was a student at Cypress Lake High School, was a member of the school's orchestra and the vocal department.

'We are heartbroken for the loss of a young lady who brought so much light into the world,' the orchestra said in a post on Facebook.

Florida has reported weekly increases in coronavirus deaths for at least two straight weeks compared to the previous seven days.

It is also among two dozen states reporting high infection rates as a percentage of diagnostic tests conducted over the past week - an alarming sign of a virus still spreading largely unchecked throughout much of the country.

Hospitalizations across Florida have also been ticking upward, with nearly 1,700 patients admitted in the past seven days compared with 1,200 the previous week.

Five hospitals in the St. Petersburg area were out of intensive care unit beds, officials said. Miami's Baptist Hospital had only four of its 88 ICU beds available.

On Monday, Florida's greater Miami area became the latest hot spot to roll back its reopening with Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordering restaurant dining to close.

As of Tuesday morning, there were 213,794 coronavirus deaths in Florida and the death toll stood at 3,8412.
The government website set up for people to apply for a permit to cross the Victoria-New South Wales border crashed just 45 minutes after launching.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the strict closure from 12.01am Wednesday in a bid to stop the second wave of COVID-19 spreading from Victoria.

Some 1,000 police officers and defence personnel will patrol the border to check all cars crossing between the states.

The only way to travel between states is by acquiring a permit, but people rushed to the website when it went live at 7.30pm on Tuesday only to be left waiting for hours.

The government website to apply for a permit to cross the Victorian and New South Wales border crashed just 45 minutes after launching

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the strict closure from 12.01am Wednesday in a bid to stop the second wave of COVID-19 spreading from Victoria

The only way to get between states is by having a permit but people rushed to the website when it went live at 7.30pm Tuesday only to be left waiting for hours

Workers are desperately trying to get their permits before trying to cross the border to get to work on Wednesday, otherwise they risk being fined $11,000.

Multiple people took to social media on Tuesday night to report the website had been crashing.

By 8.15pm users were not able to apply for a permit with the 'apply online' button disappearing completely.

An error appeared on the page saying: 'The transaction will be available soon'.

Others were told: 'This transaction is not available at this time. Try again later'.

One Twitter user said he had been trying to apply for a permit so he could cross the border to get to work on Wednesday morning but the 'site keeps crashing'.

'So does this mean your site has already crashed? Just trying to get a cross border permit because I have a shift in Victoria at 10am,' another said.

'Am I doing something wrong? Why is the permit not available for me but the apply now button shows up for others?' another woman questioned.

By 8.15pm users were not able to apply for a permit with the 'apply online' button disappearing completely

NSW Police officers speak to drivers crossing the border between NSW and Victoria in the NSW-Victoria border town of Albury

'Only 4.5 hours before the border closes the permit site FINALLY live... except it can't handle the volume and is crashing before able to submit! Absolute joke,' one woman wrote.

The bug seemed to have been fixed shortly before 11pm, just an hour before the border closures came into effect.

'The permit application system is experiencing high levels of demand. You may experience delays in securing a permit,' the website read.

'You can still demonstrate your eligibility to cross the border to Police by carrying relevant documentation based on your category of exemption.'

A total of 1,000 police officers and defence personnel will patrol the border to check all cars crossing between the states

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 July 06

Locals and mayors in Albury-Wodonga say they have been left in the dark after the move to close the border.

The border between the towns will shut, with exemptions for essential crossings, including for medical care, and for locals in towns such as Albury and Wodonga.

Albury Mayor Kevin Mack argues the boundary for permits should be extended by up to 100km because of the number of people in regional areas that travel across the border for work.

'It should extend more than just beyond the perimeter of our cities because we have a strong local regional population,' he said on Tuesday.

He also flagged he'd like to see people with local permits go through a transit lane while other cars are stopped to minimise the disruption to the 9000 people who travel between Albury and Wodonga for work.

Mr Mack said they were still yet to confirm a permit system for locals to travel across the river that divides the two towns.

'We have been bereft of information,' he said.

Wodonga mayor Anna Speedie said fear and anxiety had only been growing as midnight loomed.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the strict closure from 12.01am Wednesday in a bid to stop the second wave of COVID-19 spreading from Victoria

NSW Police officers speak to drivers crossing the border between NSW and Victoria in the NSW-Victoria border town of Albury on Tuesday

'The last 24 hours have been pretty nerve-racking,' she said.

Local health officials said there were two confirmed cases in Albury, both from the same family.

Albury-Wodonga Health chief executive Michael Kalimnios urged locals to keep their regular medical appointments on either side of the border.

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

Pregnant women in Albury would be allowed to cross the border to access the region's maternity services based in Wodonga.

The Hume Highway was rampant with Victorian licence plates as people headed south to get home before the borders shut.

One of them was Melburnian Sue Corcoran, who was taking a break from driving home after visiting Canberra with her family.

She had sold her father's home in Eden after his health deteriorated due to the summer bushfires.

'Dad stayed down in Eden (over summer) then he got stuck in the fires,' Dr Corcoran said.

She was helping her father settle into a nursing home in Canberra with her mum when she heard the borders were closing.

Dr Corcoran said the Eden home still needed to be cleaned out of her father's belongings before settlement, but with no certainty on when borders would reopen she wasn't sure when she'd be able to get back.

NSW Police warned the first 72 hours of the closure would be challenging and asked that people avoid crossing the border if they didn't need to.

NSW Nationals leader and Deputy Premier John Barilaro admitted he was concerned about the wellbeing of regional communities and demanded greater clarity around the Victorian border's reopening.

He also suggested the government may consider 'ring-fencing' Albury-Wodonga by enforcing the border north of Albury or south of Wodonga.

A permit system providing exemptions to allow people across the border will be put in place, but the hastiness with which Premier Berejiklian implemented the shutdown means they can not yet be accessed - leaving many to hurriedly rush back to their home state before deadline

A passenger wearing a protective masks arrives on a flight from Melbourne into Sydney on Tuesday

'We also have to have a plan when we will reopen, what will be the trigger to reopen the borders, because that community will suffer,' Mr Barilaro said on Tuesday.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott flagged the border closure, which impacts 55 crossings over more than 1000km, may last weeks rather than days.

About 650 police officers and 350 Australian Defence Force personnel will help fortify the closed border with police granted powers to turn people away and issue on-the-spot fines.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller warned the standard penalty for people who fail to comply is a $1000 fine but some could be slapped with a maximum fine of up to $11,000 or six months in jail.

He warned there will also be significant fines for people who falsify information to enter NSW.

Police Officers congregate outside the Domestic Terminal before being transported to various parts of the NSW border at Sydney Airport on Tuesday

Locals and mayors in Albury-Wodonga say they have been left in the dark after the move to close the border

'Police will have powers to demand details of people, powers to turn people around, and powers to issue on-the-spot fines and charge people,' Mr Fuller said on Tuesday.

NSW residents who want to leave Victoria after midnight on Tuesday will need to fill out an exemption form and self-isolate at home for 14 days.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian had previously repeatedly criticised interstate travel restrictions as a handbrake on economic recovery and insisted she wouldn't agree to border closures with neighbouring states.

But Ms Berejiklian said the rate of COVID-19 community transmission in parts of Melbourne gave NSW health officials no choice but to close the border.

NSW reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday from 9746 tests, including a man who tested negative in hotel quarantine before returning home to Newcastle on Sunday and developing respiratory symptoms.

He and his close contacts have been placed into isolation. The other six cases were travellers in hotel quarantine.

Victoria on Tuesday recorded an additional 191 new COVID-19 cases.
More than 200,000 people have now died from coronavirus in Europe, according to official sources as of this afternoon.

Britain, Italy, France and Spain account for more than two thirds of the 200,005 deaths now registered from a total of 2,751,606 cases across the continent.

As a continent Europe has seen the highest number of deaths during the pandemic so far, which has killed 538,418 people across the world.

Britain, which has officially recorded 44,236 deaths, and Italy 34,869 fatalities, have so far suffered the worst in Europe.

Europe is so far the continent that has been hardest hit by the pandemic, which has killed 538,418 people across the world. United States is the hardest-hit country with 130,306 deaths

France's death toll has reached 29,920 while Spain has recorded 28,388 fatalities.

Britain today announced 155 more Covid-19 deaths as separate promising figures revealed no excess deaths were recorded in England and Wales for the second week in a row.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused of trying to rewrite history for appearing to blame the deadly spread of the virus in care homes on the institutions themselves.

In an interview yesterday Johnson said: 'We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have.'

Scenes in the Soho area of London, England, where revellers gathered to celebrate on July 4 as lockdown restrictions were eased and pubs and bars were opened across the country

Celebrating the easing of the lockdown on July 4 customers queue for food and drink at the Peterboat pub at Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, England

Britain today announced 155 more Covid-19 deaths as separate promising figures revealed no excess deaths were recorded in England and Wales for the second week in a row

The comments cause outrage among care providers, with one accusing Johnson of an 'appalling' attempt to deflect from 'an absolute travesty of leadership from the government'.

The pandemic has killed at least 538,418 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according to official sources as of this afternoon.

At least 11.6 million cases have been registered in 196 countries.

The United States is the hardest-hit country with 130,306 deaths. It is followed by Brazil with 65,487, Britain with 44,236, Italy with 34,869 and Mexico with 31,119 fatalities.
A New York cop knelt on a black man's neck until he passed out as the victim's distraught dad begged the officer to stop, fearing his son 'was going to die just like George Floyd'.

Shocking footage surfaced on social media Monday of an unnamed officer kneeling on the neck of Yugeshwar Gaindarpersaud, 31, during an arrest in Schenectady, New York, that morning.

Gaindarpersaud said he lost consciousness and later woke up in hospital - and claimed 'five minutes more... I would've been gone'.

The shocking encounter comes just weeks after the state and city banned cops using controversial knee-to-neck holds - the same tactic used by a white Minneapolis cop to kill Floyd when he knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

Around 100 protesters gathered outside the Schenectady Police Department Monday evening to call for the officer to be fired.

Shocking footage surfaced on social media Monday of an unnamed officer kneeling on the neck of Yugeshwar Gaindarpersaud, 31, during an arrest in Schenectady, New York, that morning

In the 22-second video shot by Gaindarpersaud's father Jaindra Gaindarpersaud, the cop is seen pinning the man to the floor with his knee on his neck.

The victim's father is heard begging him to stop and asking: 'What has he done to you?'

He then cries: 'You got the foot on his head. You've got the foot on his head.'

The cop looks up at him and shouts at him to 'go back inside now' and to 'back up.'

Gaindarpersaud, who said he was charged with resisting arrest, said the violent altercation started when officers confronted him outside his home over reports his neighbor's tires had been slashed.

He claimed he then turned to walk away from the officer, telling him to provide evidence of his involvement, when the cop threw him to the floor and knelt on his neck.

'His whole body weight was smashing my head into the concrete,' Gaindarpersaud told the crowds gathered at Monday evening's rally.

'I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move.'

Gaindarpersaud said he pleaded with him to stop, saying 'I can't breathe' - the same final words uttered by Floyd before he passed out and died in shockingly similar circumstances.

Gaindarpersaud (pictured) said he lost consciousness and later woke up in hospital, as he warned that 'five minutes more... I would've been gone'

The victim said he lost consciousness after being put in the patrol car and woke up in Ellis Hospital, reported CBS Albany.

'If he had me five minutes more later... I would've been gone,' he added.

Calls are mounting for the officer to be fired over the incident, with Gaindarpersaud saying he 'need[s] justice'.

The victim and his distressed father joined protesters in holding a peaceful rally outside the police headquarters, where demonstrators chanted 'get your knees off our necks.'

Jaindra told crowds how he feared his son was dying as 'he was not moving anymore'.

'George Floyd formed in my mind,' he said.

'I thought in my mind 'he's going to die just like George Floyd'.'

In the 22-second video shot by Gaindarpersaud's father Jaindra Gaindarpersaud, the cop is seen pinning the man to the floor using his knee on his neck (pictured)

The victim's father is heard begging him to stop asking: 'What has he done to you?' He then cries: 'You got the foot on his head. You've got the foot on his head'

Police said the officer had responded at 9:38 a.m. Monday to reports of vehicle tires being slashed as part of an ongoing neighbor dispute.

When the cop tried to detain a male suspect, he fled on foot and a brief chase ensued, they said.

A struggle then allegedly broke out and the cop lost his radio and had to ask witnesses to call for back-up.

'A brief foot chase and struggle ensued during which the officer lost his radio and asked a nearby witness to call police,' police said in a statement.

'Additional responding officers arrived on scene and were able to assist the original officer and ultimately place the male into handcuffs.'

The police department's Office of Professional Standards has launched an investigation into the incident.

'The Department has been made aware of a video circulating on social media partially depicting the incident,' police said in a statement.

'The incident in its entirety is currently being reviewed by the Schenectady Police Department's Office of Professional Standards. We ask that anyone who witnessed the incident or has video footage to contact the Office of Professional Standards.'

The Schenectady Police Department did not immediately return DailyMail.com's request for comment.

The Schenectady NAACP has voiced 'grave concern' over the video and demanded a full investigation and review of body camera footage.

Gaindarpersaud spoke to protesters Monday evening and called for the cop to be fired

Around 100 protesters gathered outside the Schenectady Police Department Monday evening, demanding the officer in the video be fired from the force

New York state and city have banned cops using controversial knee-to-neck holds - the same tactic used by a white cop to 'murder' black man George Floyd

'The Schenectady NAACP stands against the use of excessive force and tactics that cause extreme physical harm or death by the Schenectady Police Department and all law enforcement,' said Schenectady NAACP President Dr. Odo Butler.

'We demand that all citizens be treated equally regardless of their race or ethnicity. We are in a critical time, and any inexcusable behavior by law enforcement must be addressed immediately.'

The shocking encounter comes just weeks after the controversial knee-to-neck tactic was banned by both New York state and the city of Schenectady as part of sweeping police reforms to combat systemic racism and police brutality in the wake of the Memorial Day 'murder' of Floyd.

Governor Cuomo signed into law a series of major police reform bills on June 12 including a ban police chokeholds, and also issued an executive order mandating reforms to local police departments and warning that if such steps are not taken, departments will lose state funding.

Schenectady's executive order also included banning 'knee-to-neck' holds.

Police Chief Eric Clifford has previously slammed the use of the tactic following Floyd's death, saying 'I haven't seen one person watch that video and reach a different conclusion than I've reached.'
Michel Barnier has hinted the EU is prepared to compromise on the crunch issue of fishing rights as he and his UK counterpart David Frost meet in Downing Street for Brexit trade talks this evening.

Mr Frost, the UK's chief Brexit negotiator, will welcome Mr Barnier for a private dinner which will see fish on the menu in more ways than one.

The pair are expected to dine on chargrilled asparagus, followed by a fillet of halibut and then a terrine of summer fruits.

Post-Brexit access to UK waters for EU fishermen is likely to dominate discussions with the issue viewed as one of the main hurdles to agreeing an overall trade deal.

The meeting comes after it emerged Mr Barnier had told a House of Lords Select Committee last month that the bloc could water down its stance on fishing if the UK also agrees to compromise.

David Frost will welcome the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to Downing Street for a private Brexit dinner this evening. The pair are pictured together in Brussels on March 2

Mr Barnier said the EU 'wants an agreement - and we are doing everything to succeed - but not at any price'

What are the sticking points between the EU and the UK on fishing? The UK Government has insisted that once Britain formally splits from Brussels at the end of the transition period this year then it will become a fully independent coastal state. That means it will have the power to grant and restrict access to its waters. Downing Street has repeatedly said that British fishing boats will be given priority treatment over their EU counterparts. But the EU has been adamant that for an overall Brexit trade deal to be agreed then the existing arrangements on fishing will need to continue. In broad terms that would mean the UK effectively remaining subject to the main parts of the Common Fisheries Policy and would see EU fishing boats keep their current level of access to British waters. The EU wants something like the status quo to continue while the UK wants to take a completely new approach - hence the struggle to reach an agreement. Advertisement

Brussels has been adamant throughout the Brexit talks that it wants current fishing arrangements, underpinned by the Common Fisheries Policy, to continue, with EU fishermen allowed to access UK waters in the same way they do now.

But the UK Government is insistent British fishing boats will be given priority as it pushes for a new scientific approach based on how many fish are in domestic waters.

Mr Barnier suggested to the Lords Select Committee on the European Union on June 23 that the EU is willing to compromise.

According to a newly published transcript of the meeting, Mr Barnier told peers: 'I recall that, for the European Union, things are simple and clear.

'The fisheries agreement that we want with the United Kingdom would be an indissociable part of the economic agreement on trade and the level playing fieldor, to make it even more clear, there will be no trade agreement with the UK if there is no balanced agreement on fisheries.

'Is this balanced agreement the British position as it is? Certainly not. Is it the European position as it is today? Clearly not.'

He added: 'If we both dig our heels in on those positions, there will be no discussion or agreement on fisheries and therefore no agreement on trade. That is not what we want.'

Fishing is one of two main stumbling blocks to a deal. The other is the 'level playing field' - conditions Brussels demands to ensure fair competition by keeping the UK closely tied to EU standards on workers' rights, the environment and state subsidies.

Mr Barnier tweeted as he travelled to London today that the EU 'wants an agreement - and we are doing everything to succeed - but not at any price'.

'We are engaging constructively and I look forward to equivalent engagement from the UK this week,' he said.

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said while the talks this evening are 'informal', discussions are likely to 'cover everything from what the EU calls the level playing field through to governance structures'.

No ministers will be present at the dinner but 'one or two' officials from each side may attend. Downing Street said social distancing rules would be obeyed.

The two negotiators will be joined by their teams for further talks on Wednesday.

Last week, discussions between the two sides on a post-Brexit trade deal broke up early with 'significant differences' remaining.

It had been hoped that the face-to-face meetings - agreed following a high-level conference call last month between Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen - would inject new momentum into the process.

The Prime Minister has been adamant that he will not allow the discussions to drag on into the autumn, arguing that British businesses and citizens need certainty on the way forward before then.

If the two sides are unable to reach a deal by the end of the current Brexit transition period at the end of the year, it will mean Britain leaving the single market and the customs union without any agreement on future access.
A British soldier has died from a 'non-battle' injury while off-duty in Estonia.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed the death of fusilier Sam Brownridge in a statement on Tuesday.

Brownridge was found dead during his deployment on Operation Cabrit on July 5. It is not clear what injury he was suffering from.

Sam Brownridge (pictured) of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers First Battalion was found dead during his deployment in Estonia on July 5

'It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce the death of a soldier from The First Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers,' the statement read.

'Fusilier Sam Brownridge died of a non-battle injury while deployed on Operation Cabrit in Estonia on Sunday 05 July 2020.

'Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this tragic time.'

'It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce the death of a soldier from The First Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers,' the statement read. Sam Brownridge pictured above

Brownridge was among 1,000 soldiers involved in the UK Armed Forces' operational deployment to Estonia, which is part of a wider NATO operation known as the Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP).

The EFP has seen the deployment of 'combat-ready' soldiers to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland on a rotation basis.

The First Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is based in Tidworth in Wiltshire.

The soldier's next of kin have been informed of his death.
Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg says the social media giant has to 'get better' at removing hate speech from its platform in the wake of an advertiser boycott.

In a lengthy Facebook post on Tuesday, Sandberg said the social media company has made progress in removing hateful content but has a 'big responsibility' to get better.

It marks her first public comments since hundreds of businesses, including Coca-Cola and Starbucks, started pulling advertising last month as part of a boycott over hate speech on the site.

'Facebook stands firmly against hate. Being a platform where everyone can make their voice heard is core to our mission, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable for people to spread hate. It's not,' Sandberg wrote.

'We have clear policies against hate - and we strive constantly to get better and faster at enforcing them. We have made real progress over the years, but this work is never finished and we know what a big responsibility Facebook has to get better at finding and removing hateful content.'

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg says the social media giant has to 'get better' at removing hate speech from its platform in the wake of an advertiser boycott

Sandberg's statement came just hours before she and CEO Mark Zuckerberg were scheduled to meet virtually with organizers of the Stop Hate For Profit boycott that is being run by leaders from the NAACP and Anti-Defamation League.

Facebook has been facing increasing pressure in recent weeks to clamp down in content that promotes racism and violence.

More than 650 advertisers have since joined the boycott that calls for the tech giant to do more to prevent racist and hate-filled posts on its site.

Zuckerberg has previously said he will not change the company's policy based on 'a threat' to revenue but based on 'the right things' for the Facebook community.

Meanwhile in her post, Sandberg said that in addition to meeting with the boycott organizers, Facebook was also due on Wednesday to release its civil rights audit, which is a review of the company's policies that was initiated two years ago.

'We are making changes - not for financial reasons or advertiser pressure, but because it is the right thing to do. We have worked for years to try to minimize the presence of hate on our platform. That's why we agreed to undertake the civil rights audit two years ago,' she said.

'Over many years, we've spent billions of dollars on teams and technology to find and remove hate - as well as protect the integrity of our platform more generally - and have become a pioneer in using artificial intelligence technology to remove hateful content at scale. We are working hard every day to enforce our policies with ever greater precision and speed.

In a lengthy Facebook post on Tuesday, Sandberg said the social media company has made progress in removing hateful content but has a 'big responsibility' to get better

Sandberg's statement came just hours before she and CEO Mark Zuckerberg were scheduled to meet virtually with organizers of the Stop Hate For Profit boycott that is being run by leaders from the NAACP and Anti-Defamation League

'We are never going to be perfect, but we care about this deeply. We will continue to listen and learn and work in the weeks, months and years ahead.'

Sandberg's comments come a week after Zuckerberg told Facebook employees that the company was 'not gonna change' its policies on 'hate speech' - despite the company's share price dropping $60 billion and more than $7 billion being wiped from his personal wealth.

'We're not gonna change our policies or approach on anything because of a threat to a small per cent of our revenue, or to any percent of our revenue,' said Zuckerberg, according to The Information.

'My guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough.'

Coca-Cola, Ford, Starbucks, Verizon, Adidas, Dunkin Donuts, LEGO, Consumer Reports, Target, Best Buy and Clorox are among those who have joined the boycott.

The boycott was started by civil-rights groups including the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and Color of Change on June 17.

In response to the boycott, a Facebook spokeswoman said last week that the company invests billions each year to ensure safety and continuously works with outside experts to review and update its policies.

The company has banned 250 white supremacist organizations from Facebook and Instagram, she said, adding that the companys substantial investment artificial intelligence technology allows Facebook to find nearly 90 per cent of hate speech before users report it.

We know we have more work to do, and well continue to work with civil rights groups, GARM, and other experts to develop even more tools, technology and policies to continue this fight, the spokesperson said.
Deutsche Bank has been fined $150million by the state of New York for failing to intervene for years as Jeffrey Epstein paid women's tuition and gave suspicious payments to Russian models and women with Eastern European names.

New York's superintendent of financial services Linda Lacewell brought the fine this week as Epstein's long-time 'partner', Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested on child sex trafficking charges.

All of the payments were made between August 2013 and December 2018, after Epstein's 2008 conviction for solicitation of an underage prostitute in Palm Beach.

Because he was a registered sex offender, the bank had a responsibility to monitor his accounts, according to the NY Department of Financial Services.

But executives there decided to take him on as a client because he had so much money .

Not only should the bank have noticed transactions in which he paid the victims, but Lacewell says it should also have stopped payments to 'co-conspirators'.

Jeffrey Epstein killed himself last August in jail while awaiting trial on child sex abuse charges

It's unclear if Ghislaine Maxwell is among them. She was given $20million by Epstein between 2007 and 2011, according to court documents in her criminal case.

According to the Department of Financial Services, the suspicious activity included;

'payments to individuals who were publicly alleged to have been Mr. Epsteins co-conspirators in sexually abusing young women;

'settlement payments totaling over $7 million, as well as dozens of payments to law firms totaling over $6 million for what appear to have been the legal expenses of Mr. Epstein and his co-conspirators;

'payments to Russian models, payments for womens school tuition, hotel and rent expenses, and (consistent with public allegations of prior wrongdoing) payments directly to numerous women with Eastern European surnames; and

'periodic suspicious cash withdrawals  in total, more than $800,000 over approximately four years'

The fine is the first by a financial regulator in the case involving Epstein or any of his alleged co-conspirators.

'Banks are the first line of defense with respect to preventing the facilitation of crime through the financial system, and it is fundamental that banks tailor the monitoring of their customers activity based upon the types of risk that are posed by a particular customer.

'In each of the cases that are being resolved today, Deutsche Bank failed to adequately monitor the activity of customers that the Bank itself deemed to be high risk.

'In the case of Jeffrey Epstein in particular, despite knowing Mr. Epsteins terrible criminal history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions,' Lacewell said in a statement.

The fine is also punishment for Deutsche's dealings with FBME Bank and Danske Estonia

Danske Estonia was at the heart of a money laundering scandal whereby Russian oligarchs funneled 200 billion through accounts

FBME - now defunct- also required a higher level of scrutiny which Deutsche failed to apply.

Deutsche Bank allowed Epstein to have accounts with them until 2018.

They then cut ties with him as 'negative press' surrounding his 2018, giving him six months to leave the bank.

At the time, the bank said it 'regretted' its association with him.
Democrats tucked a provision in an appropriations bill that would rid Capitol Hill of more Confederates.

On Monday, the House Appropriations Committee put out a draft of the 2021 fiscal year funding bill for the legislative branch and it gives the Architect of the Capitol 45 days to remove 'all Confederate statues and Confederate bust from any area of the United States Capitol, which is accessible to the public.'

It also calls for the removal of statues of individuals who have 'unambiguous records of racial intolerance,' specifically targeting four pieces that need to go: a bust of Roger Brooke Taney, a statue of Charles Brantley Aycock, a statue of John Caldwell Calhoun and a statue of James Paul Clarke.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been trying to rid the Capitol of Confederate monuments. On Monday, House Democrats tucked a provision into an appropriations bill that would remove Confederate statues and those who practiced 'racial intolerance'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during her first tenure as speaker, had Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's statue moved to the Capitol's basement Crypt

Other figures targeted by the bill include John Caldwell Calhoun (left), who argued the 'positive good' of slavery and James Paul Clarke (right), who held racist beliefs

The bust of Roger B. Taney is also on the list. Taney was the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court and wrote the majority opinion in the 1857 Dred Scott case, ruling African-Americans couldn't be considered citizens

Taney was the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court and wrote the majority opinion in the 1857 Dred Scott case, ruling African-Americans couldn't be considered citizens.

Aycock was a child during the Civil War, but was a prominent voice in the 'white supremacy' campaigns during the turn of the century as he campaigned to become governor of North Carolina. He advocated not only against black office holders, but also against black voting.

Calhoun was the nation's seventh vice president serving under both Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Prior to that, he led the pro-slavery faction in the U.S. Senate, arguing it was a 'positive good' for both slaves and owners.

Clarke served as both a U.S. senator and the governor of Arkansas and was described in The Washington Post as having 'racist beliefs.'

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced in April 2019 that the state would be swapping out Clarke's statue - and that of attorney Uriah Milton Rose, who had sided with the Confederatcy - with music legend Johnny Cash and civil rights icon Daisy Bates.

Hutchinson didn't bring up Clarke and Rose's racist past, but instead said the state needed 'representatives of our more recent history' in the Statuary Hall collection, which includes two offerings from every state.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on June 11 - hours after President Trump announced he was against renaming military bases still named for Confederates - that she wanted the last 11 Confederate statues in the Statuary Hall collection to be sent packing.

Trump has made protecting monuments part of his re-election theme after a number of statues - mostly Confederates - were targeted by 'Black Lives Matter' activists.

He's railed against removing them in tweets and speeches.

'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 during his Friday speech at Mount Rushmore.

At the other end of Pennsylvania Ave., Pelosi has worked to rid the Capitol complex of figures with racist pasts.

She recently had the paintings of four former House speakers removed from the speakers' lobby for their ties to the Confederacy.

During her first term as speaker, Pelosi had moved Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's statue down to the Capitol's basement Crypt, since Virginia wouldn't remove him.

The current writing of the law allows Pelosi to move the statues, but not remove them - as they were donated to the collection by the states.

Rep. Barbara Lee offered a stand-along bill last month that would give the remaining Confederate statues to the Smithsonian.

States could also pay to have them shipped back.

Putting the language into a bill that has to eventually pass, might be an easier route to take for Democrats to get some Republicans on board.

Then again, Trump has already threatened to veto a major defense spending bill because of an amendment Sen. Elizabeth Warren attached to that would follow through with renaming military bases named for Confederates.
A 61-year-old woman was found living in 'slavery-like' conditions at a mansion in Brazil where she slept in a shed and used a bucket for a toilet.

The woman rescued by authorities in a wealthy area of Sao Paulo last month had worked for the same family since 1998 without a single day's holiday.

Court documents said she slept on a couch, had not been allowed into the mansion for months and depended on a neighbour for food and other basics.

The couple who live in the house, Mariah Corazza Barreto Ustundag and her husband Dora Ustandag, and Mariah's mother Sonia Regina Corazza who owns the property, could face charges of keeping a worker in slave-like conditions.

'Slavery-like': A 61-year-old woman was found living in these conditions at a mansion in a wealthy area of Sao Paulo where authorities rescued her

Court documents said the woman living here had slept on a couch, had not been allowed into the mansion for months and depended on a neighbour for food and other basics

Mariah Ustundag has been identified as an executive for Avon and was fired by the beauty company on June 26 after the woman's ordeal came to light.

'The Avon Institute [has] decided to provide support to the victim, with psychological assistance, payment of one year's rent in a location chosen by her and the purchase of household items,' the company said.

Brazilian authorities have asked for the name of the 61-year-old woman to not be shared, in a case which has shocked the country.

'What is astonishing is that even after more than 20 years of work, the defendants developed no empathy' towards the woman, labour inspector Alline Pedrosa Oishi Delena and federal lawyer Joao Paulo Dorini said in a statement.

'They had the courage to put her in that abject room, without any conditions, after 22 years of domestic work.'

Inspectors found the woman 'sleeping on an old sofa' and living 'without access to the bathroom' when they searched the property after a tip-off.

After starting work for the family in 1998, the woman had moved to the house in 2011 and 'only sporadically' received a salary for her work.

Mariah Ustundag told authorities the woman had been living in the storage shed in 2017, where inspectors said she had been using a bucket as a toilet.

The woman had been denied access to the house during the coronavirus pandemic, a statement said.

Last year Brazilian labour inspectors found 1,054 workers living in 'slavery-like' conditions. In the past 25 years there have been more than 54,000 such people.

Slavery is defined as forced labour, but this also covers debt bondage, degrading conditions, long hours that pose a health risk, and work that violates human dignity.

The couple who live in the house, Mariah Corazza Barreto Ustundag (pictured left) and her husband Dora Ustandag, and Mariah's mother Sonia Regina Corazza who owns the property, could face charges of keeping a worker in slave-like conditions

Inspectors found the woman 'sleeping on an old sofa' and living 'without access to the bathroom' when they searched the property after a tip-off

In their opening statement, Delena and Dorini made a case for one million reals (150,000) in damages.

The claim was described as an unusually large amount for a single rescued worker - reflecting the degrading conditions the woman was subjected to.

Authorities also asked for 300,000 reals (45,000) in damages to be paid to the Brazilian state.

The family may also face criminal charges that carry up to eight years in prison.

According to prosecutors, the woman had received no pay since February. Before that, she was paid about 300 reals (45) a month, less than the minimum wage.

After years of mistreatment, the employers abandoned the victim in the mansion without telling her they were moving out, the lawyers said.

'[She had] no alternative in life other than serving the defendants, as a way of ensuring survival. In fact, a survival that was constantly under threat,' they said.

Dorini said it was shocking that modern slavery was still being discovered at a time when the world is discussing the disastrous effects of historical slavery.

'It is inconceivable that there are still absolutely degrading situations like this,' he said.

'Contemporary slavery is a real, serious problem, and much bigger than its supposed invisibility can make us believe.

'It is the duty of the Brazilian State to face all these new forms of slavery, which constitute very serious violations of human rights.'
An Oklahoma city councilor has suggested that two cops posting her address online after she proposed police budget cuts may have led to her neighbor being raped.

Alexandra Scott said a woman living in the same Norman duplex as her was attacked in the early hours of June 27, days after the Democrat's location was shared.

Scott had earlier proposed reducing the police department's budget by $4.5 million before two officers are said to have shared her personal details. She said her neighbor was told: 'Maybe next time youll learn your lesson' as she was assaulted.

Following the alleged rape Scott wrote in a now deleted Facebook post: 'People were passing around my address on social media (and wherever else) for 2 weeks...They got the wrong woman. We are not okay.'

Norman police on July 2 confirmed to News9 they were investigating the allegations.

The two police officers said to have shared Scott's address have been named as John Barbour and Michael Lauderback.

Democrat Alexandra Scott, pictured, said a woman living in the same Norman duplex as her was attacked in the early hours of June 27, days after her address was shared

Police Capt. Brent Barbour, no relation to John, told the outlet: 'We have become aware of concerns regarding some of our employee's social media activity, and we are reviewing that situation to determine if there's policy violations or matters we need to address regarding that.'

'The majority we have seen is information that is publicly available by open records acts.

'So, there has been some concern of our employees accessing internal databases or other material; to my knowledge, we have not seen any of that', he added.

Scott last month won the Democratic nomination for her state Senate seat and has been called 'another AOC' by her critics in reference to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She was arrested last month during a Trump rally for strapping herself to a flagpole.

Scott said of the cops: 'They definitely shared my information...these officers endangered me and are accessories to crime.'

Scott was arrested last month during a Trump rally for strapping herself to a flagpole

In her now deleted post she added: 'She [her neighbor] was raped by [a] stranger who broke into her side of our duplex last night. She had been out with her father, he dropped her off around Midnight and left. Then she was assaulted in her hallway.

'Her rapist dug his elbow into her neck, pushed her into the wall, and told her "Maybe next time youll learn your lesson". He threw her on the ground and raped her.'

DailyMail.com has contacted Norman police and Scott for their latest comment.

The Norman City Council voted last month to slash $865,000 from the police budget after mounting calls from protesters to defund the police.
A Delta flight from Florida has been forced to make an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York after a bird strike damaged the front of the aircraft.

The Airbus A319, which was carrying 43 passengers, was en route to nearby LaGuardia Airport from Palm Beach on Monday evening when the incident occurred.

The front cone of the aircraft, which protects the plane's radar equipment, was bent out of shape when it was hit by a flock of birds, prompting pilots to make the emergency landing.

The Airbus managed to touch down safely at JFK around 7pm. No passengers or crew were injured in the incident.

A Delta flight from Florida was forced to make an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York after a bird strike damaged the front of the aircraft

Pilots initially believed that heavy hail may have been responsible for the damage, before they determined that birds were the likely cause.

After the safe landing, ABC7 filmed the plane on the tarmac, which showed its front cone completely pushed in.

The Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating the accident.

Bird strikes are uncommon in the New York City area - but they cause serious damage to planes flying in midair.

After the safe landing, ABC7 filmed vision of the plane on the tarmac, which showed its front cone completely pushed in.

The aircraft was a Delta Airlines Airbus A319 - identical to the one pictured above. All 43 passengers were uninjured during the incident

Back in 2009, a US Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing in the waters along the Hudson River after the plane lost engine power after being struck by a flock of Canada Geese following take-off from LaGuardia.

All 155 people on board the aircraft were safely evacuated onto boats, prompting the event to be dubbed 'The Miracle on the Hudson'.

The National Transportation Safety Board dubbed the landing the 'most successful ditching in aviation history', and hailed pilot - Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger - a hero.

A feature film based on the event was released in 2016. The blockbuster, which was directed by Clint Eastwood, featured Tom Hanks in the lead role.
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A group of angry brides wearing wedding dressed staged a furious protest in Rome as they rallied against the postponement of their marriages because of coronavirus lockdown.

Around 15 women posed in front of the Trevi fountain as they held white parasols and wore matching white face masks.

They also staged protests outside parliamentary buildings along with other industry businesses affected by lockdown, such as caterers, venue owners and musicians.

The event, organised by an Italian wedding association, was dubbed the 'flashmob of the singles or unmarried ones'.

Women held signs that translated as 'weddings without restrictions', 'you broke our marriages' and 'church doors closed to weddings' before marching through the city in white stilettos.

All non-essential business and activities - including marriage ceremonies - had been banned in Italy for around two months as the country attempted to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Officials at Rome's City Hall made an exception, however, for anyone who booked a civil wedding ceremony - not held in a Church - before lockdown began.

They did, however, limit the number of guests to just two.

Although religious ceremonies have since been given the green light to resume, social distancing measures and the wearing of face masks and gloves must be worn by congregations.

Sanitizing gels must also be placed at church entrances, and at the end of every mass the entire church is sanitized.

Around 15 women posed in front of the Trevi fountain as they held white parasols and wore matching white face masks

The women stood posed in front of the Trevi fountain - designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini and several others

The women held banners with angry words written in red, some saying 'A dream limited by restrictions'. Although religious ceremonies have since been given the green light to resume, social distancing measures and the wearing of face masks and gloves must be worn by congregations

One woman holds a placard in the air in front of the Trevi fountain in frustration at the forced postponement of her weddiong

A bride holds a sign reading 'You broke our marriages' as part of the protests

The women placed their white parasols on the floor as they held banners throughout the staged protest

Three women pose with their white parasols in front of the fountain, rallying against the postponement of their marriages due to the coronavirus outbreak

The sign on the left translates to 'weddings without restrictions' while the one held by a woman wearing a black face mask on the right reads 'you broke our marriages'

The event, organised by an Italian wedding association, was dubbed the 'flashmob of the singles or unmarried ones'

The women marched with their parasols to other key parliamentary buildings to protest

One bride to be holds a sign that translates as 'Church doors closed to weddings'

The women laugh as they toss their white parasols into the air and pose for cameras

The women wore white and silver stilettos as they marched throughout the city

A prospective bridge is interviewed by local media after taking part in the protest outside the Trevi fountain

A woman wearing a white wedding dress with her black face mask pulled down scowls in anger

Two women wear their wedding dresses as they take part in the flashmob, organised by an Italian wedding association
For 58 years it has been one of the bitterest splits in music history  the day Pete Best was fired from The Beatles on the eve of the big-time.

But today the cast-off drummer appeared to finally bury the hatchet to extend an olive branch to his replacement, who became a multi-millionaire with the band.

Writing online, Best, 78, showed a touch of class as he wished Sir Ringo Starr his best wished for his milestone birthday.

He said: Thought about it and thought why not. Happy Birthday Ringo. It's a special one. Have a good day.

Pete Best, 78, has extended an olive branch to his replacement Sir Ringo Starr on his birthday

Pete Best behind the drums in Hamburg, Germany, back in August 1960 before his sacking

It was an extraordinary act of good spirits from a musician who is known as one of the industrys greatest nearly men.

Best had been first invited to join The Beatles in August 1960 on the eve of their first season of club dates in Hamburg, Germany.

But two years later Beatles manager Brian Epstein fired Best and replaced him with Sir Ringo.

At the height of Beatlemania Best tried to kill himself but had always denied it was over depression from his former bands success.

Sir Ringo Starr turned 80 today and was sent a message from Best, who he had replaced

He had gone on to play in a string of unsuccessful groups before leaving the industry to work as a civil servant for 20 years.

As recently as two years ago he had spoken about how he felt the rest of The Beatles should have told him he was out face to face.

He added he had not spoken to any of them since his sacking all those years ago.

"I'm not saying I'd change the outcome, but at least give me the decency of being there and confront them," he told Financial Review.

After Best was sacked The Beatles went on to enjoy incredible success with Ringo on drums

The group, known as the Fab Four, are regularly voted the best band in British music

He told the Late Late Show earlier this year he felt like they had gone too far after he had been fired.

Close but no cigar: Music's nearly-men Drummer Chad Channing is one of rocks unlucky musicians, who left Nirvana after they had released their debut Bleach. He was replaced by Dave Grohl and the grunge band went on to become one of the most influential of the era. Tony Chapman was the first drummer in the Rolling Stones and played in their debut performance in 1962. But he felt unhappy about their musical direction so left, to be replaced by Charlie Watt, who has kept the beat with them for the past 57 years Tracii Guns  also known as Tracy Richard Irving Ulrich  also missed out on being in one of musics most notorious rock bans. He had been a founding member of Guns n Roses but left after a row with Axl Rose, only to be replaced by Slash Advertisement

Best explained: In interviews after I was kicked out, they initially said I wasnt a good enough drummer, then all of a sudden I was anti-social, didnt talk, moody, slow-witted.

Come on, guys, gimme a break. Youve already kicked me out of the band. Lay off me, just let me get on with my own life."

John Lennon had previously admitted they had been cowards not to tell him themselves.

In 1995, The Beatles released Anthology 1, which featured early tracks with Best as drummer, including songs from their auditions for the Decca and Parlophone labels, which saw Best get a substantial payout sales.

Fans praised his tribute to Sir Ringo as proving he was a "class act" and said his comments proved "time obviously does heal wounds".

Yoko Ono was among those sending birthday wishes to Sir Ringo.

The widow of John Lennon said: "Happy, Happy Birthday Ringo! lots of peace and love, yoko."

The famous Abbey Road Studios, where The Beatles recorded much of their music, also celebrated the milestone on its Twitter page.

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth tweeted: "Happy birthday Ringo! In the 1980s I hosted a charity party to salute icons from the 1960s.

"Ringo's the one on the left. And amazingly in 2020 he can still fit into that suit & his Sergeant Pepper uniform. He's a Starr!"

Former Formula One world champion Damon Hill said: "Happy Birthday Ringo. And thanks for putting the Beat into the Beatles!"
Australia's 'sexiest' suburbs during the coronavirus lockdown have been revealed.

British adult website Lovehoney published a list of Australia's raunchiest suburbs following an increase in sales sex toys or lingerie between March and May 2020.

Coming out on top was Wentworth Point in New South Wales, which saw a massive 680 per cent increase in sales of vibrators, lingerie and other sex toys in that time period.

British adult website Lovehoney has published a list of Australia's raunchiest suburbs following an increase in sales sex toys or lingerie between March and May 2020

Topping the list is Wentworth Point in New South Wales with results showing a massive 680 per cent increase in sales of vibrators, lingerie and other sex toys (stock)

At second spot was St Mary's in NSW, followed by West Hobart in Tasmania and Sydney's Rosebery.

North Bondi rounded out the top five.

The state deemed the sexiest was Victoria, which has faced some of the toughest lockdown laws in the country.

Preston in Melbourne, was crowned the most adventurous with bondage purchases such as handcuffs, blindfolds and spankers seeing the huge sale increases.

New South Wales came in second as the sexiest state, followed by Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory.

Five cities in Queensland ranked in the top 10 least sexy places during lockdown including, Cairns, Ipswich, Townsville, Eagle Farm and Rockhampton.

There were only two NSW cities in the top 10 least sexy places, with one in the ACT, Tasmania and South Australia.

Lovehoney also produced the lease sexiest cities in Australia with most in Queensland

Alice Springs ranked first for the number of strap-ons purchased during lockdown.

Residents in Busselton, Western Australia, preferred to purchase dildos with the average length of 7.22 inches (18.33cm).

In Adelaide, residents stocked up on anal toys as well as bondage items during lockdown.

Lovehoney director Rob Godwin explained the rankings represented the increase of sales during lockdown when residents were not permitted outdoors for many reasons.

'It's great to see that when Australians have had to spend time indoors, they have focused on their wellbeing, reconnecting with themselves and their partners to explore new and exciting ways to fulfil their sexual happiness,' he said.
All 2,000 students and 300 teachers at Victoria's largest Islamic school which is at the centre of a horror coronavirus cluster are being treating as close contacts.

Al-Taqwa College, in the outer western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, recorded its 90th case of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said all staff and pupils have been ordered to quarantine.

'There seems to have been transmission in the school that was quite substantial,' he said on Tuesday.

Al-Taqwa College in Truganina (pictured) recorded its 90th case of COVID-19 on Tuesday

Professor Sutton said it was possible some infections could have occurred before authorities knew of the first case, which spread through older kids at the school.

'They tend to have more transmission thats akin to adults, if theyre not doing physical distancing appropriately, so thats been a big cluster in terms of schools,' he said.

A teacher at the school was first diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 29.

Three more were infected the next day and eight the day after that.

The cluster reached 15 cases on July 2, with students among the 23 infections on July 3.

There were 33 cases recorded on Saturday, 59 on Sunday, 77 on Monday and 90 in the cluster on Tuesday.

The only larger coronavirus cluster in the state was at the Cedar Meats abattoir, which recorded 111 infections.

Medical staff conduct coronavirus tests at the Keilor community hub mobile testing site on Monday

Al-Taqwa College principal Omar Hallak released an update on Facebook on Sunday.

'All staff and students have been asked to get tested immediately and have been placed in quarantine while DHHS continues their tracing and the College undergoes a deep clean,' the post reads.

'We are working closely with DHHS to support their efforts to trace the origin of the virus and to trace all the contacts of the affected people.

'We know this news will add to anxiety in the community. We pray that our state overcomes this pandemic and we wish every affected person a speedy recovery.

Mr Hallak ensured the school had taken ever precaution to protect staff and students with safety measures implemented on site.

'Temperature checks on a daily basis were conducted for all staff, students and anyone needing to visit the school. Any staff or student that presented with even the mildest cold and flu symptoms were sent back home as a safety precaution,' the post continues.

Al-Taqwa College principal Omar Hallak ensured the school had taken ever precaution to protect staff and students. Pictured: a paramedic with a test sample in Brunswick West on Saturday

'Staff were directed to abide by the guidelines of the Premier and the Chief Health Minister at all times. Good hygiene posters were placed all around the school as were hand sanitizers to ensure everyone was practicing good hygiene and told to social distance.

'We have taken additional measures since the outbreak, including spending over $100,000 on additional cleaning and hygiene measures, involving an organisation approved by DHHS.

'We have tried our utmost best to prevent having any cases in our school, however, unfortunately, this is out of our hands as it is with quite a few other schools around Victoria, around the nation and around the world, which is quite saddening.'

Stage three lockdown restrictions will be implemented in Victoria on Wednesday night, with Year 11 and 12 pupils and special schools set to go back to class.

Holidays will be extended by a week for students up to year 10, with remote learning a possibility after that.

Under-pressure premier Daniel Andrews said the new lockdown was essential to avoid 'thousands and thousands' of cases and 'many, many people in hospital.'

'This is a pandemic and it will kill thousands of people if it gets completely away from us,' he said.
The number of smokers in the UK has continued to fall, with fewer than one in seven still keeping the habit, data released today has shown.

A study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that 6.9 million people in the UK, 14.1 per cent of the population over 18, smoked cigarettes last year, down from 14.7 in 2018.

The proportion of tobacco users has declined fast since 2011, when more than one in five people were cigarette smokers.

The amount of smokers who have quit, all persons aged 16 years and above, has overtaken the number of current smokers.

Pictured: A graph illustrating the proportion of smokers who have quit overtaking the proportion of current smokers

Martin Dockrell, Tobacco Control Lead at PHE told MailOnline: 'It is encouraging to see that the number of smokers continues to fall, a step closer to making smoking obsolete.

'Since the start of the pandemic we have also seen a sharp increase in smokers trying to quit.

'Unfortunately the biggest increase has been in people trying to quit "cold turkey", which is the least effective way.

'Smokers are much more likely to quit successfully if they get behavioural support and use effective nicotine replacement products'

Smokers who have quit first overtook current smokers in 1982 after a large amount of anti-smoking evidence and campaigning in the early 70s that has continued and contributed to the decline in smokers.

During the 80s and the 90s more evidence kept emerging that linked smoking to poor health including heart disease.

Smoking in the workplace and in enclosed public places was banned in 2006 and 2007 before smoking in the car with children under the age of 18 was banned in 2015.

Most recently plain packaging was introduced and the minimum package size was changed to 20.

Pictured: Stock photo of a man smoking a cigarette. The proportion of smokers who have quit, all persons aged 16 years and above, has overtaken the proportion of current smokers

Of the 14.1 per cent of adults that smoked in 2019 unemployed people smoked more than employed or economically inactive people.

Single people smoked more than people in relationships and people with degrees had the lowest proportion of current smokers (7.3 per cent).

For both men and women the ethnic group with the most amount of smokers was mixed while big differences between men and women within ethnic groups.

More Chinese men, 12.6 per cent, smoked than Chinese women and more black men, 12.9 per cent, smoked than black women.

The most recent data for which sexual orientation has a larger proportion of smokers is from 2018 which says that more LQBTQ+ people, 22.2 per cent, smoked than heterosexual people, 15.5 per cent.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has been urged to be 'on the right side of history' and not to 'gloss over' the impact of poverty and race on the disaster which killed 72 people.

Leslie Thomas QC, representing a group of survivors and bereaved families, opened Tuesday's proceedings with a statement on how the issue of race was the 'elephant in the room'.

He said: 'The Grenfell fire did not happen in a vacuum... A majority of the Grenfell residents who died were people of colour.

'Grenfell is inextricably linked with race. It is the elephant in the room.

'This disaster happened in a pocket of one of the smallest yet richest boroughs in London.

'Yet the community affected was predominantly working class. That is the stark reality that cannot be ignored. The impact of race and poverty on this disaster this inquiry must not ignore.'

Grenfell Tower Inquiry has been urged to investigate the extent to which 'institutional racism' was a factor in the tragedy in June 2017

The Grenfell Next of Kin group has called for the inquiry to 'investigate the extent of institutional racism as a factor' in the tragedy June 2017.

According to legal submissions to the inquiry: 'Four of the 72 people who lost their lives were visiting the Tower.

'Baby Logan Gomes was stillborn. Of the remaining 67, 57 were from BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities.

'In the English Housing Survey 2017-2018, it was found that 40% of those living in high rise buildings in the social rented sector are black, Asian or other. This, compared to the percent of the population (14%), is high.'

Mr Thomas told the inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick: 'I place this charge to this inquiry. You, sir and your panel, this is your time of action to break the cycle of disengagement with the issue of race and inequality.

'What will this inquiry be remembered for? You will undoubtedly want it to be on the right side of history.

'Our client's perception is that the inquiry is deaf to their concerns.'

Leslie Thomas QC, who represents a group of survivors and bereaved families, said racism was the 'elephant in the room'

Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy earlier told the PA news agency: 'I do think issues of structural discrimination and disadvantage play a role.

'I would have thought that they should be central to the framework in which Moore-Bick is looking at the issues.'

Mr Lammy was launching a public artwork display in Notting Hill featuring pieces by his friend Khadija Saye, 24, a Gambian-British artist who died in the fire.

He remembered the 'tender, beautiful and creative soul' whose work 'reflects that deep sensibility that was part of her personality'.

Mr Lammy added: 'This exhibition reminds us of the dignity and humanity with which we remember those who lost their lives.'

Nine large prints of the artist's most celebrated works have been installed on the facade of 236 Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill, about a mile from Grenfell Tower.

The Khadija Saye IntoArts Programme, founded in her memory, aims to 'address the lack of diversity in the UK arts sector' by giving opportunities to youngsters from deprived and ethnic minority backgrounds.

The inquiry is now due to hear from witness Terrence Ashton, of fire engineers Exova.
A drama teacher who had an illicit lesbian affair with a teenage pupil after they bonded over their joint love of live music and the theatre was jailed for nine months today.

Kim Connor, 46, began grooming the youngster at a time when the victim was just 13 and struggling to come to terms with her sexuality.

During their affair, Connor treated the youngster to tickets for West End shows including Cabaret and a gig by songwriter KT Tunstall and invited her sign in a choir with her on a stage at a Sir Rod Stewart concert in Manchester.

The girl became 'enthralled and besotted' with Connor whilst the victim's unsuspecting parents mistakenly assumed the teacher was mentoring their daughter. The pair went on holiday together to Portugal had meals out at restaurants and nights away in hotels.

The forbidden romance ran for almost six years and ended when the victim discovered her older lover had been secretly undergoing IVF treatment to have a baby.

The youngster was said to have been 'in thrall' to Kim Connor, 46, pictured, who began teaching her at stage school when she was aged just nine.

She kept their liaisons a secret until 2018 when the spread of the #MeToo movement led her go to police.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, the victim, now 31, broke down in tears in the public gallery as Connor who at the time of her arrest was Head of Performing Arts at a Manchester school, was led away by prison guards.

Earlier in an emotion charged statement the victim said she had been left suicidal following her secret affair with her former drama teacher as it affected her relationship with her parents who were said to be 'heartbroken' by the revelations.

The victim sobbed as she said: 'From the age of 14 my life has been based around secrets and lies and this was down to Kim's manipulation and control of me for six years.

'She instructed me to keep our relationship a secret, not through excitement of it - but because it was wrong. Even though she has not been present in my life for the last ten years, she has still destroyed the love, trust and attachment a child should have with their parents.

Minshull Street Crown Court, pictured, heard Kim Connor, 46, groomed the girl, who was aged 14 at the time in 2004

'My dreams and aspirations for the theatre have been tarnished. Kim took the best years of my life away from me. She made me lose my family. She doesn't understand the hold she had over me for so many years.'

The pair met in 1998 when the girl enrolled at another arts school where Connor had just joined the drama department and where fellow teachers described her as 'trustworthy, truthful and an honest person of morals and integrity.'

The court heard the two later became close and when she turned 13, Connor began to offer the teenager weekly private tuition at her home in Kersal, Salford.

Mr Darren Preston prosecuting said: 'When in her mid-teens the complainant had difficulty coming to terms with her sexuality and was not sure if she was gay. But during a lesson Connor kissed the girl on the lips when she was 14 in a chaste way and the situation began to develop and the two began to regularly meet and text each other.

'The relationship began to become sexual and stopped being just pecks on the cheek and the girl would stay overnight at the defendant's home when she was 14. It was with the full knowledge of her parents but they trusted the teacher.

'As far as the younger girl was concerned she thought they were in a relationship and would go out to restaurants together as well as attending concerts and going shopping at the Trafford Centre. However, when they were out in public, the defendant would warn the complainant she could not tell anyone they were together and that there should be no overt signs of affection.

'If asked, she was to say she was 21 and the defendant warned her that she might have to push her away. She knew full well what she was doing was wrong. The complainant was besotted with the defendant but was never allowed to show affection.

'They became friendly. They became affectionate. It was a relationship which was unequal - but one which was exploitative. While the defendant never did anything the complainant did not consent to, the reality is that this was an abusive relationship. The complainant was vulnerable and the defendant exploited the fact she was only 14 when the relationship started.'

By October 2004, the court heard Connor would 'test the boundaries' and when she the girl turned 15, the relationship became 'more intense and sexual' following the death of the victim's grandmother, the court heard.

It was claimed the pair began to kiss more and and they would swap texts and she would sign off saying: 'your Kim.' It was claimed at one point Connor was said to have showed the teenager a safe in her wardrobe containing various sex toys.

The girl left the school when she was 16 but the relationship continued until she was 20 when she started a university degree. She became 'upset' after finding out that Connor had been undergoing IVF treatment behind her back, and they later split.

Connor, a single mother of twin daughters was found guilty of three offences of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust and a further three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity by a person in a position of trust.

She denied wrongdoing claiming the relationship only began when the girl was 18 and said they grew close following the Rod Stewart concert. She said: 'At first I was fond of her as a student and a friend.

'She was talented and I wanted to nature that talent as when I was growing up I never had anyone pushing me to attain my goals. But she was a friend - no more than that. We then grew close and I had feelings for her but I wasn't breaking any laws.'

But Judge John Edwards told her: 'You were an inspirational teacher devoting yourself for 25 years to the betterment of others and opening the eyes of young people to the arts - a skill much derided and underestimated. But that said the complainant's enjoyment of drama has been irrevocably tarnished and has affected her for years.

'You crossed a boundary and by doing so jeopardized your career and her innocence. It was utterly selfish and potentially very damaging to a young woman who was both confused and in your thrall in equal measure. She was groomed and manipulated during an extremely impressionable time in her life.'

Connor was also ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register for ten years.
President Donald Trump jumped into an angry clash between Tucker Carlson and Sen. Tammy Duckworth Tuesday after the Fox News host questioned the patriotism of the Iraq War vet who is a double amputee.

Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, fired back at Carlson Monday night after the Fox News host excoriated her for comments calling for study and dialogue about whether statues of George Washington should be taken down.

Duckworth is a leading contender to join former Vice President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket.

'Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?' Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill) asked on Twitter Monday

'Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?' she asked on Twitter.

Duckworth, a former Army pilot who flew missions in Iraq, committed what many analysts consider a political flub when she entertained the idea of taking down statues of the nation's first president, who also owned slaves.

'You're not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military,' Carlson said on his show Monday night. 'Most people just ignore her. But when Duckworth does speak in public, you're reminded what a deeply silly and unimpressive person she is,' he continued.

'It's long been considered out of bounds to question a person's patriotism. It's a very strong charge, and we try not ever to make it. But in the face of all of this, the conclusion can't be avoided. These people actually hate America. There's no longer a question about that,' he continued.

'These people actually hate America,' Fox News host Tucker Carlson said in a monologue where he blasted Sen. Duckworth, a double amputee injured in the Iraq War

Then a captain in the Illinois Army National Guard, Tammy Duckworth stands by her UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. Now a U.S. senator, Duckworth would spend 23 years in the Illinois Army National Guard retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade on Nov. 12, 2004. Duckworth lost both legs and partial use of her right arm in the explosion and received a Purple Heart for her combat injuries

Duckworth hit back at Carlson Monday night for his comments

Duckworth is on a list of potential Joe Biden vice presidential running mates

President Trump tweeted out clips of Carlson's show without adding further comment

President Trump tweeted out an extended clip including Carlson's Monday night monologue about the subject, which followed Trump's speech at Mt. Rushmore, where he inveighed against 'far-left fascism' and 'left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution.'

Appearing on CNN's 'State of the Union' Sunday, Duckworth hedged when asked whether statues from founders like Washington and Jefferson who owned slaves should come down.

She has already called for renaming Army bases that bear the names of confederate generals  a sharp contrast with President Trump, who has called out what he says are attempts destroying the nation's heritage, and who even criticized NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag.

'Well let me just say that we should start off by having a national dialogue on it at some point, but right now we're in the middle of a global pandemic,' Duckworth said, 'and one of our countries who are opposed to us, Russia, has put a bounty on American troops' heads,' she said. 'What really struck me about the speech that the president gave at Mount Rushmore was that he spent more time worried about honoring dead Confederates than he did talking about the lives of 130,000 Americans who lost their lives to COVID-19 or by warning Russia off of the bounty they're putting on Americans' heads.'

'He spent all his time talking about dead traitors,' the Illinois senator said.

Pressed by CNN's Dana Bash on whether taking down statues of Washington was a good idea, she responded: 'I think we should listen to everybody,' she said. 'I think we should listen to the argument there,' before turnign back to Trump's comments at Mt. Rushmore, which she said was on land that was 'stolen from Native Americans.'

Trump did not append any of his own comments to the clip of Carlson. His tweet came after a day when White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany refused repeated questions about whether Trump supports displays of the Confederate flag after Trump used Twitter to criticize NASCAR's decision to ban the flag from its events.

Trump also tweeted Monday about preserving the names of the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins.
More than 50 survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing were not treated with importance until 'they put their hand up' and asked for a formal role at the forthcoming public inquiry, a court has heard.

Lawyers for the survivors are bidding to overturn a decision made by inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders not to grant them core participant status at the hearing due to start in Manchester on September 7.

If successful, it would have allowed them to obtain disclosure of evidence in advance, challenge evidence and participate in lines of inquiry.

The survivors, who include a father who was left in a wheelchair and another who was blinded in one eye, say they are 'living witnesses' to the 2017 terror attack.

They want to be able to ask questions at the public inquiry which is due to examine the intelligence background and the emergency response on the day.

The survivors include doctors, retired police officers and members of the public who 'plugged a gap' in the emergency response as they waited hours for help to arrive, their lawyers say.

Lawyers for the survivors are bidding to overturn a decision made by inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders not to grant them core participant status at the hearing due to start in Manchester on September 7 (pictured, police at the scene of the May 2017 attack)

Sir John explained his April ruling 'does not mean that the survivors will not have a voice in this inquiry' as he said their evidence would be 'important' and he would aim to ensure any questions are answered.

However, in an application for a judicial review of the decision, Brenda Campbell QC, on behalf of the group of survivors, told the High Court: 'The survivors have not been important or treated with importance at any point until they put their hand up and asked for core participant status.

Sir John Saunders, the chairman of the public inquiry, ruled not to grant the survivors core participant status at the public inquiry

'In fact they have not even been contacted, their accounts have not been taken, they have not been interviewed and, we infer from that, in addition experts have been briefed with limited reference to the survivors' experiences.

'For example, in relation to the emergency medical response that for a great number of those who unfortunately died, and perhaps mercifully, survivability was not an issue, but these survivors - these claimants - were there. They experienced, they saw, they felt, they heard and they have not been contacted.

'With the greatest respect, telling someone that they are important witnesses does not make it so in practice.

'The reality is that they are treated at the very best as very important spectators.'

The mother of a teenager - who was 14 at the time of the blast and was not expected to survive her injuries - said in a witness statement they believed they had been 'forgotten and ignored', the court heard.

One young survivor was allegedly covered with a sheet and left for dead, and another spent three and a half hours waiting for emergency services to rescue her while bleeding from her injuries.

The 22 victims of the terror attack during the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017. (top row left to right) Off-duty police officer Elaine McIver, 43, Saffie Roussos, 8, Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, (second row left to right) Nell Jones, 14, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, Megan Hurley, 15, Georgina Callander, 18, (third row left to right), Chloe Rutherford,17, Liam Curry, 19, Courtney Boyle, 19, and Philip Tron, 32, (fourth row left to right) John Atkinson, 26, Martyn Hett, 29, Kelly Brewster, 32, Angelika Klis, 39, (fifth row left to right) Marcin Klis, 42, Michelle Kiss, 45, Alison Howe, 45, and Lisa Lees, 43 (fifth row left to right) Wendy Fawell, 50 and Jane Tweddle, 51

Salman Abedi, responsible for the Manchester terror attack, detonated a nail bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017. The suicide attack killed 22 people

Some remained in hospital for months, many were discharged to round the clock care and others were 'learning to cope in world they never previously conceived of,' Brenda Campbell QC, told a hearing this month.

In total, 65 people were seriously injured and another 28 very seriously injured in the suicide bomb attack in the City Room foyer in May 2017, along with the 22 fatalities.

A group of 56 of the survivors was seeking to appear as 'core participants' in the inquiry, which has been delayed until September due to coronavirus.

The application is being heard by Dame Victoria Sharp, the President of the Queen's Bench Division, and Mr Justice Garnham.
Protesters have gathered outside Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's home in Washington DC to decry Israeli occupation of the West Bank, but the First Daughter and her family were not there.

President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner, who is Jewish, has been leading talks with Israel and debating whether to support Israel's move to annex the disputed territory.

The Trump administration remains undecided on Israeli annexation.

Demonstrators with IfNotNow, a progressive American Jewish group that opposes Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, wore masks as they rallied outside the couple's lavish home Kalorama on Tuesday afternoon.

'This morning we are going to his house to wake him up. Were protesting the governments plan to annex the West Bank,' a protester said in video of the event.

However, Ivanka, 38, Kushner, 39, and their children Arabella, eight, Joseph, six, and Theodore, four, were not home.

The family had celebrated Fourth of July weekend in an unknown secluded location in the US.

Protesters gathered outside Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's home in Washington DC on Tuesday to denounce Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

The demonstrators were with IfNotNow, a progressive American Jewish group that opposes Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner, who is Jewish, has been leading talks with Israel and debating whether to support Israel's move to annex the disputed territory. The Trump administration remains undecided on Israeli annexation

Protesters held signs in black and orange that said 'Jared Kushner Enables Aparthied' and 'End the Blank Check' and 'American Jews say Defund Annexation'

Ivanka Trump, 38, spent the weekend in a secluded location in the US with her husband Jared Kushner, 39, and their children Arabella (second left), eight, Joseph (second right), six, and Theodore (left), four

Signs in black and orange said 'Jared Kushner Enables Aparthied' and 'End the Blank Check' and 'American Jews say Defund Annexation'.

Speakers were seen leading chants through megaphones as several dozen people supported the cause.

'We are demanding that Jared Kushner wake up to the harmful policies that are perpetuating annexation, permanent occupation and continued violation of Palestinian human rights,' a protester said in live video of the demonstration shared to Facebook.

The group walked down the street singing songs as they held up their signs and demanded change.

'Did you know the US provides $3.8billion a year to Israel, no conditions. Its time to put our money where our mouth is. If you oppose annexation, there must be consequences. Its time to leverage those dollars to prevent the continuing and deepening of the occupation,' one speaker said in a megaphone at the protest.

Ivanka, a senior adviser to her father President Donald Trump, shared photographs of her family enjoying fishing and horseriding during their weekend adventure. Pictured with her three children on Sunday evening

In another loved-up image Ivanka cosied up to her husband of 11 years, who went for a casual look in jeans and a grey jumper

The mother-of-three pictured riding a horse during Fourth of July weekend

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed to annex a significant portion of the West Bank, a disputed territory that Israeli people and Palestinians assert claims to.

The West Bank is land west of the Jordan River that was occupied by Israel in 1967 after the Six-Day War. Tens of thousands of Palestinians, who have a historical presence there, have been displaced from their homes following Israeli occupation.

Netanyahu set the deadline to start the process as July 1, but it has been delayed. Members of his own government oppose annexing any areas that house Palestinian residents.

In late June US envoys were sent to Israel but the Trump administration remained undecided on whetehr to support annexation or not.

Netanyahu is hoping for President Donald Trump and his administrations approval before going ahead with his plans to avoid criticism from the international community, according to the New York Times.

Many believe taking the land would violate international law and deem Jewish settlements on the West Bank as illegal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed to annex a significant portion of the West Bank by July 1, but hasn't. Netanyahu is hoping for President Donald Trump and his administrations approval before going ahead with his plans to avoid criticism from the international community.

Demonstrators wore masks as they chanted together hoping to catch Kushner's attention

'Did you know the US provides $3.8billion a year to Israel, no conditions. Its time to put our money where our mouth is. If you oppose annexation, there must be consequences. Its time to leverage those dollars to prevent the continuing and deepening of the occupation,' one speaker said in a megaphone at the protest

However, the Kushners weren't home during Tuesday's protest outside their home

The group denounced the influence of AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies in government

A cop car pictured near the protest in front of the First Daugther's Kalorama home

Four progressive House Democrats, Reps Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Betty McCollum of Minnesota, have written to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cut aid to Israel if it proceeds to annex parts of the West Bank.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont also co-signed the letter.

'Should the Israeli government continue down this path, we will work to ensure non-recognition of annexed territories as well as pursue legislation that conditions the $3.8billion in US military funding to Israel to ensure that U.S. taxpayers are not supporting annexation in any way,' the letter states.

'We will include human rights conditions and the withholding of funds for the offshore procurement of Israeli weapons equal to or exceeding the amount the Israeli government spends annually to fund settlements, as well as the policies and practices that sustain and enable them,' it added.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies in government, opposed that letter.

In June 191 of 233 Democrats in the House signed a latter wearning that Israeli annexation would endanger peace.
Gauteng police have launched an investigation into the alleged rape

A two-year-old girl was allegedly raped while in a Covid-19 isolation ward at a hospital in South Africa.

The child was sexually abused while in isolation at the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Pretoria, it has been claimed.

The allegations are being investigated by police and by the hospital.

A two-year-old girl was allegedly raped while in a Covid-19 isolation ward at a hospital in South Africa (Stock image)

The toddler's aunt, who remains anonymous to protect the identity of the child, said that the girl was admitted to hospital after developing symptoms of Covid-19.

The victim's mother was informed by the hospital that she needed to be placed on an isolation ward.

The mother went home but was contacted that evening and told the child was crying and appeared to be in pain, News24 reported.

'The mother and child were referred to the George Mukhari Hospital by the KT Motubatse clinic in Soshanguve on June 15,' the aunt said.

'The nurses at the clinic said since the child was struggling to breathe, she should be taken to George Mukhari Hospital to be tested for coronavirus.

'The hospital called in the evening and told the mother that the child was crying and in pain. They later called around 11pm and said the child was now sleeping. The hospital staff called again in the morning and told my sister to come and pick up her child because she had been discharged. The hospital said the child had tested negative for Covid-19.'

The child was sexually abused while in isolation at the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Pretoria, it has been claimed. Hospital pictured above

The aunt said that after the child had been picked up from hospital, she appeared to be struggling to walk.

'I saw that there was something wrong with the child. As the mother was changing the nappy, she discovered some white fluid on her private parts.

'She initially thought it was medication as the child had been in hospital. But the following day, that same whitish fluid was still coming out,' the aunt told local media.

When the mother closely inspected her child she could see that there had been 'penetration', according to the aunt.

The girl was taken back to hospital where a nurse said there was indication that the child had been raped.

Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters told News24 that a rape case has been opened.

The hospital is also conducting its own investigation into the incident.
China has recorded a new case of dengue fever on the same day the country confirmed a bubonic plague infection, according to officials.

A resident in the eastern Chinese city Guangde was diagnosed on Sunday with dengue fever, a deadly virus spread by infected mosquitos, the local health authorities said.

It comes after a herdsman in China's northern Inner Mongolia region has been detected to have bubonic plague over the weekend, known as the 'Black Death' in the Middle Ages.

A resident in the eastern Chinese city Guangde, Anhui province, was diagnosed with dengue fever on Sunday, according to the local health authorities on Tuesday. The file picture taken on September 16, 2019, shows a street in the city of Bozhou in China's eastern province Anhui

China has reported a new case of dengue fever, a deadly virus spread by infected mosquitos, while the disease is erupting Singapore with a record-high number of infections

A resident in the eastern Chinese city Guangde, Anhui province was diagnosed on Sunday with dengue fever, a deadly virus spread by infected mosquitos, the local health authorities said

Guangde government released a notice today on its social media account about the new case, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The patient is said to have been receiving treatment at a local hospital since being diagnosed with dengue fever on June 5.

The resident has previously travelled to other Asian countries including India, Myanmar and Pakistan.

Health officials said that they are carrying out anti-virus efforts in nearby neighbourhoods following the new case.

The online post, however, appears to have been deleted from the governments social media page.

It comes after Singapore is battling the worst outbreak in history caused by the infectious disease.

As of Monday, a total of 15,273 dengue fever infections have been reported in the city-state this year, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Last week, Singapore reported 1,454 cases of the virus, the fourth consecutive week that cases have exceeded 1,000 and the largest weekly total ever recorded in Singapore.

At least sixteen people have died of the virus, Singapore reports, compared to 26 who have died from coronavirus. Singapore has 45,140 cases of coronavirus.

As of Monday, a total of 15,273 dengue fever infections have been reported in the city-state this year. The file picture shows a man walking past the promenade at Marina Bay in Singapore

Those figures are expected to get progressively higher as the state moves deeper into mosquito breeding season, which began in June and lasts until October.

The officials believe that number is almost certain to exceed the 22,170 cases reported in 2013, the previous-worst outbreak, by the end of the year.

Starting from July 15, the Singaporean government will increase fines for people who fail to properly remove stagnant water, which the mosquitos use to breed.

Dengue fever is transmitted by the bite of the Aedes mosquito, which is commonly found in regions with humid, tropical climates.

People infected with the virus can experience high fever and muscle pains. Other symptoms include vomiting and headache, particularly behind the eyes.

At least sixteen people have died of the dengue fever, Singapore reports, compared to 26 who have died from coronavirus. Singapore has 45,140 cases of coronavirus. The picture taken on June 26 shows people having their temperatures taken before entering a mosque in Singapore

A small number of cases develop severe symptoms, which include vomiting blood, rapid breathing, severe abdominal pain and fatigue.

But only around 25 per cent of patients would show symptoms. The disease has an incubation period of between five and ten days after a person is bitten, with symptoms lasting around a week.

Chinas new infection of dengue fever comes after the country has seen a herdsman in Chinese northern Inner Mongolia region being diagnosed with bubonic plague, known as the 'Black Death' in the Middle Ages.

Bubonic plague is one of the most devastating diseases in history, having killed around 100million people in the 14th century.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday it was 'carefully' monitoring a case of bubonic plague in China after being notified by the authorities in Beijing.

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

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

A WHO official claimed today that the situation was being 'well managed' by China and not considered to represent a high risk.

The government of Bayan Nur, the Chinese city that reported the bubonic plague case, on Sunday issued an early epidemic warning after identifying the herdsman as a suspected patient. The city is also known as Bayannur.

The individual was confirmed to have the disease on the same day, sparking fears of a new disease outbreak amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Bayan Nur's Party secretary Chang Zhigang on Monday ordered the city's officials to ensure that all plague-prevention measures would be carried out thoroughly.
Award-winning journalist Virginia Trioli has taken a brutal swipe at hotel security guards being investigated for allegedly sleeping with isolated guests at quarantine hotels in Melbourne.

The 54-year-old posted to social media on Tuesday night and appeared to blame security guards for sending Melbourne into lockdown for the coming six weeks.

'Well I sure hope those security guards had their fun, because they utterly f***ed us too,' she wrote alongside a glass of red wine.

'Here's to lockdown number two.'

Ms Trioli was seemingly referencing claims security guards at quarantine hotels in Melbourne were sexually active with guests in isolation.

Award-winning journalist Virginia Trioli has taken a brutal swipe at hotel security guards being investigated for allegedly sleeping with isolated guests at quarantine hotels in Melbourne

The 54-year-old took to social media on Tuesday blaming the security guards for sending Melbourne into lockdown for the coming six weeks

The claims are currently being investigated as part of a probe into the state's bungled quarantine program.

Premier Daniel Andrews launched an inquiry into hotel quarantine breaches which may have contributed to the state's spike in community transmission cases.

As a result of the outbreak, the premier announced he was sending Melbourne back into lockdown for six weeks from 11.59pm Wednesday.

Mitchell Shire to the north of the state capital will also re-enter stage three social distancing restrictions after Victoria confirmed a record 191 cases of the virus on Tuesday.

To ensure people only leave their home for essential reasons - work and study, giving or receiving care, shopping for essentials and daily exercise near where they live - police will be deploying number-plate recognition software to trace drivers.

The return to strict social distancing rules comes as the border between Victoria and New South Wales was closed for the first time in 100 years.

Ms Trioli appeared to be referencing claims that security guards at quarantine hotels in Melbourne were sexually active with guests in isolation

The whole of Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire north of the city will be placed back into lock down for six weeks from 11.59pm on Wednesday after Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure yet. Pictured: A map showing the suburbs in lockdown

Premier Andrews said while Melbourne's outer border wouldn't act like a 'hard checkpoint' with checks for every vehicles, police will be tracking registrations to tell where a car is coming from.

Mr Andrews said there was 'no alternative' to bans on two people or more gathering who don't live together - and limiting pubs, cafes and restaurants to takeaway only.

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

Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed on Tuesday afternoon to a request from Premier Andrews for another 260 ADF personnel to help close roads across Melbourne.

Shortly after Mr Andrews' announcement, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt suggested Victoria's second wave could have been avoided, while an infectious disease expert said the outbreak could 'definitely' spread to other parts of the country.

Despite being allowed to shop during lockdown, large queues of customers were seen outside Melbourne's supermarkets on Tuesday night as residents stocked up on supplies before six weeks of home confinement.

Meanwhile, Mr Hunt told A Current Affair on Tuesday night the impact of the Victorian second wave is 'more significant than anybody had anticipated'.

'What we are facing now, the response we had planned for, unfortunately, is on a scale that is greater than was expected,' he said.

Mr Hunt said the outbreak may have been avoided had it not been for significant quarantine breaches throughout the state.

'A hotel quarantine breach is an avoidable breach,' he said. 'We have been able to successfully implement that in seven out of eight states and territories, they have done a remarkable job right around the country.

New lockdown: Victoria has recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure for the state yet. Pictured: Police and nurses wearing protective equipment outside tower blocks in north Melbourne

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the impact of the Victorian second wave is 'more significant than anybody had anticipated'

'The Victorian government has acknowledged this was a breach that could and should have been prevented.

'There have been standards, and what we have seen is that they have been maintained and protected across the country. Unfortunately, there have been real and significant breaches within Victoria with major consequences, enormous consequences, and that is why there is a judicial enquiry.

'Right across the country, the combination of border control, testing, tracing, and distancing has allowed us to fly to the curve.

'In Victoria those breaches show how dangerous and deadly the disease is and how contagious it is, but we're going to get there. We know how to do it.'

The future of Victoria's troubled hotel quarantine program is in question amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and the looming lockdown for metropolitan Melbourne.

Nearly a dozen NSW Police officers are pictured speaking to drivers crossing from Victoria into New South Wales as the border was closed from 11.59pm on Tuesday

Frontline health care workers wearing full personal protective equipment in Flemington on Sunday during Victoria's second wave surge in coronavirus infections

It means Victoria still may not be able to accept any more returned travellers after the temporary diversion of international flights to other states ends next week.

Premier Daniel Andrews said he's focused on tackling the surge of coronavirus cases in the community and enforcing a return to stage three restrictions.

'Our focus is, appropriately, on dealing with extra cases, on dealing with outbreaks, and doing everything we can to enforce these lockdowns and make sure they work,' he said.

'We may not be in a position to resume (taking returned travellers) at the end of this two-week pause.'

International flights into Victoria were diverted for two weeks on June 30 and a judicial inquiry was announced into the state's hotel quarantine system following widespread claims of infection control breaches.

The premier on Tuesday stressed no decision had been made about whether Victoria would keep accepting international flights and he needed to speak to Prime Minister Scott Morrison about it.
People traveling to New York from three additional states have been ordered to quarantine for 14 days as the state that was once the epicenter of the US COVID-19 outbreak aims to keep its infections under control.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said that Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma were being added to the list of states that are now required to quarantine for two weeks.

There are now 19 states that are on the New York travel advisory list.

The other states on the list are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said that Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma were being added to the list of states that are now required to quarantine for two weeks

LIST OF STATES TO QUARANTINE Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Delaware Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Kansas Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina Nevada Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Advertisement

Cuomo said the three latest additions were seeing 'significant' community spread of COVID-19.

In Delaware, cases have been surging since early June. There are currently just over 12,200 cases and 512 deaths from COVID-19.

Kansas currently has 16,900 cases and 280 deaths, while Oklahoma has 16,300 infections and nearly 400 deaths.

The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

'As states around the country experience increasing community spread, New York is taking action to ensure the continued safety of our phased reopening. Our entire response to this pandemic has been by the numbers, and we've set metrics for community spread just as we set metrics for everything,' Gov Cuomo said in a statement.

'Three more states have now reached the level of spread required to qualify for New York's travel advisory. We will now require individuals coming from Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma to quarantine for 14 days.

'New Yorkers did the impossible - we went from the worst infection rate in the United States to one of the best - and the last thing we need is to see another spike of COVID-19.'

It comes as New York recorded 588 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the state total to just over 398,200. Ten new deaths were also recorded, bringing the death toll to 24,924.

Nail salons and dog runs were back in business on Monday in New York City as it entered a new phase in the easing of coronavirus restrictions, but indoor restaurant dining will be postponed indefinitely in order to prevent a spike in new infections.

The number of cases across the United States has now surpassed 2.9 million and more than 130,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.

Sixteen states have posted record daily case counts this month alone and new COVID-19 cases have risen nationally every week for five straight weeks, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project.

The US has seen a 27 percent increase in new COVID-19 cases in the last week compared to the previous seven days. New cases per day nationwide have hit record levels of well over 50,000.

Deaths continued to fall nationally in the week ending July 5, according to the analysis.

A handful of states, however, have reported weekly increases in deaths for at least two straight weeks compared to the previous seven days, including Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee.

Health experts say deaths are a lagging indicator because it takes time for people to get sick and die. They say the current downward trend reflects advances in treatment and prevention, as well as the large share of cases among young adults, who are more likely than older patients to survive COVID-19.

Officials have warned the current trend of younger adults making up the majority of new cases could possibly cause the death rate to spike in the coming weeks given they could be spreading the virus to older, more vulnerable people.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has forecast that the death toll could reach 160,000 later this month.

KANSAS: Kansas currently has 16,900 cases and 280 deaths

DELAWARE: In Delaware, cases have been surging since early June. There are currently just over 12,200 cases and 512 deaths from COVID-19
This is the moment the Mexican military opened fire on a cartel hit squad who had been sent to kill them, from atop an armored truck during a high speed chase.

The incident took place last Friday morning when a convoy of the 16th Motorized Cavalry was attacked in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, by the notorious Tropa del Infierno (Gang from Hell) - a hit squad tied to the Cartel del Noreste (Northeast Cartel).

At least 16 gang member were killed in the conflict, while the military said none of their members were hurt.

The Army said it was monitoring the neighborhood of Fresnos, a 10-mile drive from the JuarezLincoln International Bridge, which connects the United States and Mexico over the Rio Grande, when the troops were met with fire from gang members using military weapons.

A camera mounted on a Mexican military vehicle recorded the moment Army soldiers responded with fire during the pursuit of gang members tied to the Northeast Cartel in the northern state of Tamaulipas last Friday. The military said 16 members of Tropa del Infierno, an enforcer unit of the cartel, were killed during the war-like battle

The troops responded with an assault of their own during the high-speed pursuit of the gang's pickup truck as other vehicles transited through the road.

An assault rifle placed in between two metal protective panels unleashes a hail of bullets. At one point, Tropa del Infierno members made a u-turn in the highway before the soldier repositioned his weapon and struck the side of the fleeing gang members vehicle.

A photo that was filtered on social media showed several dead Tropa del Infierno members lying on the floor of an unknown location and wearing military uniforms.

Additional images leaked on social media showed the bodies of the first 12 cartel members who died. A few of them were found lying on the back of a pickup truck.

Several other Tropa del Infierno henchmen were photographed lying on the side of the road.

The Mexican military killed 16 members of the Tropa del Infierno, a gang tied to the Northeast Cartel, Friday in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. The incident occurred in a neighborhood in Nuevo Leon, a city located 10 miles from the border with Texas

Army officials did not report any casualties or injuries on their part following the war-like battle. At least three military vehicles were damaged in the attack.

Soldiers recovered 12 assault rifles, including two Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifles and eight AR-15 rifles.

The Cartel del Noreste was founded in 2014 as a sub-division under the then-powerful Los Zetas criminal organization and is led by Juan Gerardo 'El Huevo' Trevino Chavez.

The criminal organization has a presence in the northeast states of Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and the north-central states of San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas.

The Tamaulipa's prosecutor's offices is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Pictured: members of the Tropa del Infierno, who died after they launched a war-like assault with military weapons against a convoy of the Mexican Army on Friday in Tamaulipas, Mexico. The Army did not report any casualties or injuries following a battle that left 16 cartel members dead
Florida homicide detectives are investigating the horrific discovery of a decomposed human head found by a jogger along a road in St. Petersburg on Tuesday morning.

The woman made the gruesome find at around 7am as she jogged along 38th Avenue by the Interstate 275 overpass, police said.

The decapitated head is so badly decomposed that the investigators can not initially tell the gender or the race.

Police are now searching a nearby wooded area for any further remains or for further clues but have said they believe the person may not have died there because it was not yet a skeleton.

A tent had been constructed around the patch of grass where the head was found on Tuesday morning as police continued their search of the wooded area nearby

The head was found on a grassy area between the sidewalk and the edge of the road.

It is unclear how long it had been there.

The jogger had run the same path on Sunday but had not seen the head. She did not pass by the same area on Monday but told police she runs the same route almost every day.

Investigators are asking people in the area if they saw anything that may establish a timeline of when and how the head came to be by the side of the road.

Police said that the area is not heavily traveled because of the surrounding woods and that businesses in the area are currently closed.

They added that it is sometimes used as a traffic cut-through.

'The head is too badly decomposed to determine sex,' police spokeswoman Yolanda told Patch.

'But it is a decomposing head, it's not like a skeleton. So our detectives feel like the person didn't die there, so they're going into the woods to see if they can find any other remains.

St. Petersburg police said Tuesday that they had launched an investigation after a decomposed human head was found at the side of a road by a jogger that morning

Homicide detectives had kept the area closed as they continue their search for further remains but do not believe that the person died here. It is uncertain how long the head was there for

'A lot of people might have thought it was just an animal but she perceived it really did look like a human,' Fernandez added to the Tampa Bay Times.

A section of 38th Avenue remains closed to traffic as the investigation continues.

The head will be given to the Medical Examiner for further investigation.

Investigators asked anyone who might have information about the case to call St. Petersburg police at (727) 893-7780.
Soaring numbers of people with suspected cancer were not referred to specialist doctors when they should have been during the UK's Covid-19 crisis, doctors warn.

A survey of GPs in the UK found that a quarter of them were worried patients had suffered more 'inappropriate refusals' and not got the scans or tests they needed.

Hospital capacity was slashed during the height of Britain's crisis because wards were emptied and staff reassigned to make space for coronavirus patients.

Cancer Research fears potential cancer patients are 'slipping through the net' if they don't receive rapid follow-ups.

The charity has previously warned 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.

People with suspected cancer were inappropriately refused referrals during the Covid-19 pandemic, research has shown, amid concerns about the millions of cancer patients impacted by delays in care. Pictured: stock of a CT scan

Over 1,000 GPs across the UK were surveyed in June and asked to compare how the past month had differed to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

When a GP refers on a patient to secondary care, a consultant can choose to downgrade the referral for various reasons.

For example, they may not think their symptoms warrant an urgent cancer investigation.

Sometimes a GP may disagree with the decision and consider it an 'inappropriate rejection'.

AN EXTRA 35,000 CANCER PATIENTS COULD DIE IN A YEAR 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 Data-Can, which collects figures on cancer treatments and is linked to leading universities. It 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 on Sunday night in an episode of Panorama on BBC, called Britain's Cancer Crisis. 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?' Advertisement

Around 25 per cent of GPs said they felt this was happening more regularly than before the pandemic, with rates of rejections varying across the country and reaching 40 per cent in some places.

Cancer Research say the finding is likely to be because of lack of capacity and reduced access to diagnostic tests within hospitals.

It's also possible hospitals could have been trying to reduce exposure to COVID-19 that could occur if patients came to a hospital.

It's understood that in some areas, cancer referrals have dropped by 75 per cent at the peak of the pandemic.

This was expected to mainly because people weren't coming forward with symptoms and staying home to protect the NHS.

But this survey shows that this wasn't the sole reason, and that referrals may be rejected too often.

Nearly 40 per cent of all the GPs surveyed said that when a referral was rejected, they did not feel that adequate safety-netting had been put in place, which is arranged between the GP and hospital.

It could leave patients in limbo between the GP practice and the next stage of care, which can have an impact on the success of treatment.

Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: 'It's deeply concerning that suspected cancer patients are being refused hospital appointments despite being referred by their doctor. And even more worrying that they may be slipping through the net.

'The NHS says it's open for business, which remains a really important message to encourage people to come forward with symptoms.

'So, we need to be confident that patients will receive the care they need and able to reassure people that they won't be lost in the system that is also facing a mounting backlog.

'The Government needs to work with the NHS, to ensure there is the capacity in place so that people can get the tests that they need, when they need them.'

Ms Mitchell said it was encouraging that two Nightingale hospitals will be converted to cancer testing centres.

The hospitals, originally built for Covid patients in the event intensive care wards were overwhelmed, will help clear the list of thousands needing tests for suspected cancer.

The chief executive of NHS England Sir Simon Stevens revealed at the end of June that the 200-bed Exeter Nightingale site will screen multiple patients a day to help cope with the growing number of people waiting for tests.

It followed the 500-bed Nightingale in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, which started offering CT scans for suspected cancer sufferers on June 4.

Dr Richard Roope, Cancer Research UK GP, said: 'GPs are doing all they can during these difficult times and it's alarming that referrals are being turned away.

'Waiting for further tests can be an extremely worrying time for patients. And in most cases, it won't be cancer.

'But for those people who may be missing out on a potential cancer diagnosis, this is not OK. Those appointments that have been rejected need to be followed up.'

In normal times, around 233,000 people are sent for further investigation under the urgent suspected cancer referral pathway each month.

Of these, an estimated 16,300 would turn out to have cancer.

But since the start of the lockdown, its estimated that there have been 300,000 fewer urgent suspected cancer referrals than normal.

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.

And this week, it was warned another 35,000 cancer patients could die in a year due to treatment delays caused by Covid-19.

A spokesperson for the NHS said: 'NHS staff worked incredibly hard to ensure that, alongside treating 100,000 people for severe problems related to Covid-19, essential and urgent cancer treatment was able to go ahead safely  even during the height of Covid 340,000 people were referred urgently with suspected cancer symptoms and 90 per cent saw a doctor within two weeks.

'While for some people expert clinicians will have assessed that it was safer for them to wait for certain tests or treatments, we know that the main concern for doctors is the reduction in people coming forward for cancer checks, and we would urge anyone worried about symptoms to get in touch with their GP like they usually would.'
China has demanded Downing Street ask the British people if they would welcome three million Hong Kong immigrants before allowing some citizens from the former colony to work and settle in the UK.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on No. 10 to 'think twice' before making a final call on an offer to help British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders relocate from the Far East.

Boris Johnson last week unveiled firm plans for the country to take in up to three million Hong Kong residents in defiance of China's draconian new clampdown on Hong Kong protesters.

Zhao Lijian (left), a spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called on Boris Johnson (right) and the British government to 'think twice' before making a final call on an offer to help British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders in Hong Kong relocate to the UK

Hong Kongers could register for the British National Overseas status before the 1997 handover. They get a UK passport (right) but no automatic right to live and work in the UK

Q&A on Hong Kong's British Nationals Overseas (BNOs) What is a British National (overseas)? Hong Kongers could register for this special status before the 1997 handover. They get a UK passport but no automatic right to live and work in the UK. You cannot apply to become a BNO. How many of them are there? As of February, there were 349,881 BNO passport holders. The Government estimates that there are around 2.9million in Hong Kong who are eligible for a BNO passport. What is Britain offering them? A path to citizenship. BNOs will get five years 'limited leave to remain'. They can then apply for 'settled status'. After 12 months with settled status, they can apply for citizenship. Their close family will also be eligible. Advertisement

Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson from the Chinese foreign ministry, said at a press briefing today that the UK had better think twice and seek opinions from the British people.

He stated: 'According to public reports, around three million Chinese citizens possess or can apply for a BNO passport.'

He then warned: 'Before the British side makes a decision, it had better think - if all of these people arrive in the UK, they will enjoy equal rights to the British citizens in work, medical resources and social welfare.

'Before it makes a final decision, the British government had better seek opinions from the British people, and find out what they think.'

It remains unclear whether or not BNO passport holders from Hong Kong would be able to resort to public funds or the NHS without restrictions should the Government give the green light to the proposal.

'Hundreds of thousands of people' from Hong Kong might take advantage of the scheme and come to the UK, said a former British consulate worker who alleged to have been tortured in China.

Simon Cheng is the first person to have been granted political asylum by the Home Office in response to China's crackdown on the Hong Kong anti-government movement after he was allegedly shackled, beaten, forced to stand for long hours in secret detention in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Mr Cheng, a British overseas national, announced last Wednesday that his immigration application had been approved by the British government, possibly heralding a new wave of immigrants from the Asian financial hub.

'Hundreds of thousands of people' from Hong Kong might come to the UK after the Government offered an escape route to around three million British National Overseas passport holders in the former colony, according to an activist who has been granted asylum

Eunice Wong, who has just finished her Master's degree in the UK, said the escape route provided by No. 10 was 'the only option' for her out of fears that she could be persecuted back home. Pictured, a man is detained by riot police during a demonstration on July 1 in Hong Kong

A London-based Hong Kong student said she was keen to take up the Government's offer after China launched a brutal crackdown on the city's pro-democracy protesters with its new national security law.

Eunice Wong, who has just finished her Master's degree in the UK, said the so-called 'lifeboat' scheme was 'the only option' for her because it would no longer be safe for her to go back home.

'This lifeboat scheme will help these British Nationals and their dependents to come to the UK if they need to.

'BNOs are given the chance to work and contribute into society and work towards citizenship which was previously restricted with visas,' Ms Wong told MailOnline.

Simon Cheng (pictured) is the first person to have been granted political asylum by the Home Office in relation to China's crackdown on the Hong Kong anti-government movement after he was allegedly shackled, beaten, forced to stand for long hours in secret detention in China

The file picture taken on November 29, 2019 shows Hong Kong protesters wearing masks depicting Simon Cheng old banners as they attend a rally outside the British Consulate General in Hong Kong after he was allegedly tortured for long hours in Shenzhen, China

The Imperial College London graduate, who is in her 20s, said that because she had spoken to media in the UK, she would be deemed an offender of the security law and persecuted by Hong Kong authorities.

But she noted that it was hard to estimate how many people in Hong Kong would move to the UK through the route at present.

'It depends on the details released from the Home Office [before we can make] such a big decision, as Hong Kong is where our roots are and leaving our home is a big change,' she added.

'Furthermore, there is no access to public funds so BNOs who come will have to be financially well off in order to support themselves and are able to come and get a job.

'Some people who are eligible for a BNO might already have a different nationality, therefore, they might not want to come to the UK.'

Police officers are seen in front of a water cannon during a march against the national security law at the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China from Britain, in Hong Kong on July 1

Police officers detain protesters during a rally against a new national security law on the 23rd anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on July 1

Thousands of Hong Kong citizens have already expressed their desire to move to Britain on social media platforms.

A Facebook group named the 'Official Group for BNO Equality Movement' has seen nearly 3,000 new members in the past month.

Numerous Hong Kong websites have published articles explaining the process of applying for a BNO, including one titled 'Things you must know before immigration'.

Hong Kongers have also flocked to voice their plan to escape to the UK on Twitter.

One wrote: 'Unlike most Chinese, we will contribute and maintain the value of freedom and democracy in UK.'

As of February, there were nearly 350,000 BNO passport holders, while the Government estimates there are around 2.9million people in Hong Kong who are eligible for the passport.

Thank you for the support. Unlike most Chinese, we will contribute and maintain the value of freedom and democracy in UK.  Alex  (@alexhk2019) July 1, 2020

Hong Kong is where I live and the police are hurting hk and so is China and our chief executive is doing nothing because she is working with China and the only one whos doing anything is borris Johnson he is giving a chance for hkers to move to the uk so I might just go there  alexander pritchard (@alexanderprit13) July 2, 2020

Conservatives are proud for you to set a precedent and have millions of freedom loving HKers join you.https://t.co/C461IQAS1h  justin vung (@852852hk) July 1, 2020

Simon Cheng is a former British consulate worker in Hong Kong who was kidnapped & tortured by the Chinese security services. He was granted asylum in the UK. He says "hundreds of thousands of people" from Hong Kong may choose to come to the UK #R4Todayhttps://t.co/dADKrvUM2h  BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) July 2, 2020

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs last week the 'bespoke' new arrangement to be implemented in the coming months would grant BNOs five years' limited leave to remain in the UK with the ability to live and work.

They would then be eligible to apply for settled status and would be able to apply for citizenship after 12 months with that status.

However, the Foreign Secretary later said 'only a proportion' would be likely to take up the new status.

He also said that if Beijing tried to stop people with British National (Overseas) status from leaving Hong Kong, there would be little that could be done by the UK.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (pictured in the House of Commons on July 1) has offered three million British Nationals Overseas (BNO) passport holders to relocate to the UK after China imposed draconian new national security law in the Asian financial hub

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons in London on July 1

In response, China threatened to punish Britain for extending the offer and warned that the UK would 'bear the consequences'.

Hours after Britain accused China of manoeuvring to 'strangle' Hong Kong's freedoms with a 'grave and deeply disturbing' new security law, Beijing's embassy in London called the offer a breach of international law and warned: 'We firmly oppose this and reserve the right to take corresponding measures.'

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters that 'the UK should bear any consequences caused by this... Hong Kong matters are China's domestic affairs, and no countries have any right to intervene.'
A sand artist from Wales died while swimming in the sea near a beach he loved in Cornwall last week.

Father-of-two Marc Treanor, 57, created large artworks from sand and often used beaches and shorelines to show off his masterpieces.

Mr Treanor, who lived in Pembrokeshire, fell ill while swimming near Tintagel beach in Cornwall.

Marc Treanor, 57, (pictured) a sand artist from Pembrokeshire, died at Tintagel beach in Cornwall on Thursday

Mr Treavon was known for creating large artworks using only sand and used beaches and large shorelines to show off his work

Police are not treating his death as suspicious.

A Devon and Cornwall police spokesperson said: 'Police were notified [on Thursday, July 2] at around 8.45am to reports of a concern of welfare of a person on Tintagel beach.

'A male casualty was declared deceased at the scene by paramedics. The man, who was in his 50s, has been identified and his next of kin have been informed.

'Officers are not currently treating the incident as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.'

Mr Treanor began sand drawing after playing around on a family holiday in Cornwall and started of by creating simple crop circles.

His abilities developed and began creating more complex designs, including a David Bowie art tribute following the singer's death in 2016.

He was then commissioned to do sand works for marriage proposals, birthdays and wedding anniversaries.

The artists also took just two hours to create a 120ft high artwork of the statue of 6th century saint Caranog in 2018.

Speaking about that particular work, Mr Treanor added: 'I found the stained glass window in the church and thought it was a beautiful image to recreate.

Mr Treanor passed away in the sea near Tintagel beach in Cornwall, a place where he loved to spend time with his family

He began his career in sand artistry by playing around with his family on holiday. He then created crop circles (pictured) to help improve

'So I began at midday and finished at around two, meaning there was around three hours until finished product got washed away by the tide.

'The unexpected heatwave made it slightly harder for me to work as the sand is so dry - it's not normally a problem in Wales!

'I often take photos of my work but I enjoy the lack of permanence the pieces have. It's for people to enjoy in the moment, and they can react however they'd like to.'

Mr Treanor was known as a 'wonderful friend' and a pleasure to work and collaborate with.

Tributes have poured in to remember the sand artist's life, with close friend Andy Desmond describing him as a 'wonderful friend'.

Green Campaign Group Pembrokeshire Eco Champions, who Mr Desmond created a piece of work for during his career, said: 'Today we learned of the huge loss of our wonderful friend, sand artist Marc Treanor.

'Rest well mate. It was a great pleasure knowing and collaborating with you x'
An Indiana man has been charged with shooting and critically injuring his newly-estranged wife's lover after finding the amorous pair in bed together.

On Thursday night, officers with the Marion Police Department responded to a home in the 500 block of East Highland Avenue, where they were met by 34-year-old Robert Beck.

According to police, Beck informed the officers that he had shot someone and was the one who called 911 to report the shooting.

Upon entering the house, police found the victim, identified as 51-year-old Brian Eccles, suffering from gunshot wounds to his chest and left arm.

Robert Beck has been charged with aggravated battery for allegedly shooting Brian Eccles after finding the man in bed with his wife at the couple's home in the 500 block of East Highland Avenue in Marion, Indiana (block pictured)

Beck's wife, Jodi Beck, 35, and the couple's two children, ages 7 and 11, were also present inside the home at the time of the incident.

Responding officers administered first aid to Eccles until paramedics arrived and transported him to Marion General Hospital. He was later airlifted to a hospital in Fort Wayne in critical condition.

During the investigation, police learned that Robert and Jodi Beck had separated earlier in the day.

The jilted husband had left the couple's home, then returned later to find Eccles in the bedroom with his estranged wife.

'A confrontation occurred and Beck shot Eccles with a .380 caliber handgun,' according to a press release from the police.

Officers on the scene recovered the weapon and arrested Beck on a charge of felony aggravated battery. His bond was set at $30,005.
The head of the FBI said Tuesday that China is pushing its preferences in the U.S. election as part of broad intelligence operations, whose economic impact he called unprecedented.

Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, did not say whether China backed either President Donald Trump or his presumptive Democratic rival Joe Biden, both of whom have harshly criticized Beijing.

'China's malign foreign influence campaign targets our policies, our positions, 24/7, 365 days a year,' Wray said at the Hudson Institute.

'China's malign foreign influence campaign targets our policies, our positions, 24/7,' said FBI Director Chris Wray in a speech Tuesday

'So it's not an election-specific threat; it's really more of an all-year, all-the-time threat. But certainly that has implications for elections and they certainly have preferences that go along with that.'

U.S. intelligence concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 election, in part by manipulating social media, in an effort to elect Trump.

Wrays comments come as the Trump Administration ratchets up political and public pressure on on China in an election year.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been in a war of words with Beijing, announced new U.S. sanctions on Chinese officials Tuesday over Tibet.

In this file photo taken on June 28, 2019, China's President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with US President Donald Trump before a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka

The Trump campaign has accused former Vice President Joe Biden of being in China's 'pocket'

Wray's boss, President Donald Trump, called out China in a July 4 speech at the White House filled with scathing comments.

'China's secrecy, deceptions and cover-up allowed it to spread all over the world [in] 189 countries and China must be held fully accountable,' Trump said.

Trump has has repeatedly criticized the 2016 finding and his administration has shown irritation over intelligence briefings that Russia is similarly interfering this year.

Wray was answering questions after a speech focused mostly on China's alleged economic espionage, cases of which he said have soared by 1,300 percent over the past decade.

'It's the people of the United States who are the victims of Chinese theft on a scale so massive that it represents one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history,' Wray said.

'If you're an American adult, it is more likely than not that China has stolen your personal data,' he said, pointing to the massive 2017 data breach at credit reporting agency Equifax.

Wray said that China accounted for nearly half of the 5,000 ongoing counter-intelligence cases being pursued by the FBI.

'We've now reached the point where the FBI is opening a new China-related counterintelligence case about every 10 hours,' he said.

Wray also said that China works 'relentlessly' to identify 'middlemen' to pressure U.S. governors and other officials who take actions it opposes -- notably traveling to Taiwan, which is claimed by Beijing.

The Trump administration has taken an increasingly hawkish tone on China, including blaming the communist power for not stopping the coronavirus pandemic -- on which the president's own record has been criticized.

The Trump campaign has rolled out TV ads trying to link rival Joe Biden to China, focusing in part on business Biden's son Hunter did in China. One online ad in May accused Biden of being 'China's puppet.' Some ads made use of a Biden statement during the Obama administration that 'China is not our enemy.'

Biden in turn has accused Trump of abandoning Hong Kong, where China has clamped down on expression, in his bid to secure a trade deal.
Extreme heat will bake the US for the rest of July with health officials warning of heat strokes as meteorologists predict temperatures between 90 and 110 degrees until the end of the month.

Much of the country will see temperatures top the 90s, with a staggering 270 million Americans - around 84 percent of the population - experiencing such heat at least one day this week.

People in Western Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas will bear the brunt of the heat, with areas reaching a feel-like temperature of around 110 degrees Fahrenheit by next week.

Meteorologists warned the heat is here to stay throughout July and that Americans should brace for higher-than-normal temperatures even throughout the rest of the year.

Extreme heat will bake the US for the rest of July with health officials warning of heat strokes as meteorologists predict temperatures between 90 and 110 degrees until the end of the month

'It's very widespread and it's going to be very long lasting,' said Jeff Masters, founder of Weather Underground and now a meteorologist at Yale Climate Connections.

'It's not a record-breaking heat wave, but it is notable for its persistence.'

Simulations show the weather will be hotter-than-normal for every month from July until November, he added.

'It does not give us any false hope,' Masters said.

'False hope or real hope is hard to come by.'

The National Weather Service warned of excessive heat on Tuesday for 18 million people, but that's nothing compared to what's coming up.

For the first half of the week, the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic regions will feel the heat more than most, with Detroit, Indianapolis and Washington DC hitting the low- to mid-90s.

By the end of this week, much of the nation will likely be passing the 90s and it will feel even hotter in the South.

Much of the country will see temperatures top the 90s, with a staggering 84 percent of the population experiencing such heat at least one day this week while some areas will reach temperatures in the 100s

It will be a dangerous type of heat and people are being urged to be careful about heat stroke, stay indoors and drink plenty of water

Charleston, South Carolina, is forecast to feel temperatures of 105 degrees Friday followed by 108 Saturday, while Little Rock is expected to feel like 107 and 109 on Friday and Saturday.

Over in Houston, Texas, it should feel like 109 Friday through Sunday and for Phoenix, Arizona, feel-like temperatures - which factors in humidity - will top 108 on Friday and 110 on Saturday and Sunday.

Temperatures will soar higher into next week, with close to two-thirds of the country expected to be warmer than normal.

Climate Prediction Center meteorologist Matthew Rosencrans warned that around 40 percent of the Lower 48 states have a moderate risk of extreme and dangerous heat.

Hundreds of Las Vegas residents spent the Fourth of July on the rocky beaches of Lake Mead National Recreation Area as temperatures rose

Firefighters douse hot spots along Agua Dulce Canyon road in Agua Dulce, California, Monday as emergency personnel work to contain the Soledad fire in Southern California

Wisconsin in particular could be battling it out with the Southeast for the nation's hottest feels-like temperature - which factors in humidity - with heat indices pushing past 100, Rosencrans said.

The worst prolonged heat looks to be around western Nebraska, Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle, where temperatures approach 110, but without the sticky humidity.

The entire Lower 48 states and Alaska are also likely to be warmer than normal for the last two weeks of July, traditionally the hottest time of year, according to the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center.

Meteorologists are warning Americans this is a dangerous type of heat and urging people to be careful about heat stroke, stay indoors and drink plenty of water.

The soaring temperatures are the result of a giant ridge of high pressure, parking hot air stuck in the Southwest that has extended farther east than usual and blocked cold fronts from moving in, Rosencrans said.

And the jet stream, a river of air that keeps weather moving, has retreated to Canada, so nothing is pushing the heat along.

California wildfires this weekend. Temperatures are soaring across the states as a result of a giant ridge of high pressure blocking cold fronts from moving in

People flock to Brighton Beach in Coney Island, New York City, over July 4 weekend as temperatures rise. Experts said higher-than-normal heat will be felt for the rest of the year

On top of that, dry weather feeds the heat in a 'vicious feedback cycle,' he said.

In Miami, which has experienced its hottest stretch on record, an unusually hot Atlantic Ocean is adding to the problem, not allowing it to cool below 80 at night, said Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist for BAM forecasts.

Masters said there's 'very toasty water pretty much everywhere' except near Greenland.

Scientists have long warned that climate change will send temperatures soaring across the nation, but Rosencrans stopped short of laying the blame on this.

Without extensive statistical and scientific analysis, meteorologists can't say for sure that the heat is due to global warming, he said.

However, he said he has never before seen temperature forecast maps covered in blood red, dark brown and purple - colors signifying much hotter than normal temperatures - like this at the hottest time of the year.
A Chicago man who fired a gun into a murder victim's coffin during his burial service has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Elston Stevenson, 57, was sentenced last week over the November 2017 incident at Evergreen Cemetery in Chicago's Evergreen Park neighborhood.

Authorities say Stevenson drew his gun as mourners were gathered around the grave site for 39-year-old Murad Talib during his burial service.

Talib had been shot dead outside his home just two days earlier.

Elston Stevenson, 57, was sentenced last week to 15 years in prison for firing a gun into a murder victim's coffin during his burial service at a Chicago cemetery in November 2017

Mourners at Talib's burial service told authorities they saw Stevenson approach the grave, pull out a gun and fire a single shot into the coffin.

Authorities say Stevenson drew his gun as mourners were gathered around the grave site for 39-year-old Murad Talib during his burial service. Talib had been shot dead outside his home just two days earlier

He yelled 'You ain't sh*t. You got what you deserved' as fired the gun.

Stevenson then waved the gun at mourners as he fled the burial service, according to prosecutors.

He was arrested a short time later near the entrance of the cemetery.

Authorities initially investigated Stevenson for Talib's murder but later ruled him out.

At the time, investigators said Talib was likely shot dead on his driveway in a targeted attack and that he knew his killer.

They say Talib's murder investigation is still open.

'When a felon brings a loaded gun to a populated area and uses the gun to threaten and endanger strangers, this conduct will not be tolerated,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Cornelius A. Vandenberg argued in the government's sentencing memorandum.

Stevenson, 57, was sentenced last week over the November 2017 incident at Evergreen Cemetery in Chicago's Evergreen Park neighborhood

'The mourners were all in the immediate vicinity of the defendant when he produced the loaded weapon and were placed in danger by the defendant's reckless firing of the weapon into the gravesite.'

Stevenson's defense attorney previously argued that he was a heroin addict and was mostly likely high the day of Talib's funeral.

Prosecutors, at the time, suggested that Stevenson had been paid to send a message to Talib's family.

Stevenson, whose criminal history dates back to the 1970s, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison on July 1.
Johnny Depp released a photo of his severed finger after Amber Heard allegedly threw a vodka bottle at him in a bid to back up claims the actress attacked him throughout their marriage.

The Hollywood legend, 57, is suing The Sun for labeling him a 'wife beater' and today branded those accusations 'sick and completely untrue' at a long-awaited blockbuster libel trial at the High Court in London.

Depp's defence reeled off a string of incidents in which she had allegedly attacked him including claims she threw a vodka bottle at him, severing his finger, in Australia in 2015.

This photo released by Johnny Depp's lawyers shows him with a severed finger after he was allegedly attacked by Amber Heard

Depp released a photo of his severed finger (pictured) after Amber Heard allegedly threw a vodka bottle at him in a bid to back up claims the actress attacked him throughout their marriage

His lawyers released a picture of Depp lying on a hospital bed after the alleged incident.

They also shared a gory photo of the severed finger itself, which Heard says came about after he smashed a telephone into a wall.

Depp today took to the stand and told the court: 'Amber severed my finger with the second of two thrown vodka bottles at me in the early afternoon of Sunday March 8.

'Amber claims this was on the second day of a 'three-day hostage situation.'

Depp added: 'Amber claims that during these three days, I subjected her to a variety of what sounds like torture and other abuse. These sick claims are completely untrue.'

Depp seen in an image drawn by a court artist as he was giving evidence from a witness box at the High Court in London today

Depp said Heard did not sustain any injuries at all that weekend, while he meanwhile sustained 'grievous' injuries including the severed finger 'and a cigarette stubbed out on my cheek'.

He said that at some point after she threw the bottle that cut off his finger tip, she put a lit cigarette out on his cheek.

'The severity of these injuries brought about the personal realisation of the severity of the abuse that Ms Heard had inflicted upon me for so long. I couldn't believe that we had come to this. I wondered what more she could do to me.'

In other developments during the dramatic opening session -

Depp accused Heard of being a calculating, narcissistic sociopath who married him to progress own career;

Said Heard once told his former head of security, Mr Jerry Judge, that the actor was a 'fat old man' and 'she did not know why she married me';

Star insisted he was never violent, but admitted to trying 'every kind of drug known to man very young age';

He spoke about the abuse he had suffered during his childhood, and said drugs helped deal with 'pain';

Admitted to taking drugs with Marilyn Manson 'twice' and another time with Avengers star Paul Bettany;

Recalled how friend River Phoenix tragically died of a heroin overdose at his nightclub in West Hollywood;

Remembered 'trashing' hotel where he was staying with Kate Moss in 1994, landing him with a $10,000 bill;

In 1999, Depp said he assaulted photographers to protect then-partner, Vanessa Paradis, who was pregnant;

Claimed to spend 'much' more than 24,000 a month on wine but said Elton John helped him to go straight;

Referred to Vanessa Paradis as the 'pain the a**e French ex albatross';

Depp's lawyer alleged that Heard had 'two extra-marital affairs' or 'extra-relationship affairs' with Elon Musk and James Franco;

Meanwhile, Heard's lawyer revealed messages in which he called himself 'the monster' - which she claimed was his 'drunken alter-ego';

Denied 'any physical altercation' with a crew member he was accused of attacking in 2017 on the set of his film, City Of Lies.

Depp denied ever hitting Heard - as a series of newspaper stories alleged - and said it was 'inconceivable' that he would ever hit a woman, citing his Southern American upbringing and saying he considers chivalry 'very important'.

He said: 'It is a strong and central part of my moral code that I would never strike a woman, under any circumstances, at any time. I find it simply inconceivable and it would never happen.'

While denying physically harming Heard he also launched a blistering attack on her, accusing her of being a 'calculating, narcissistic sociopath' who married him to further her career.

Johnny Depp leaving the High Court this afternoon after a dramatic day of giving evidence in a libel case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard

Amber Heard leaving the High Court after today's hearing. She was wearing a red polka dot face covering due to Covid restrictions

Amber Heard walked arm in arm with her sister, Whitney, (left) and lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, (right) as she arrived at the High Court today for the start of a three-week libel trial. In the white coat is her US attorney, Elaine Bredehoft

According to Depp's statement, Heard 'continuously belittled' him and called him a 'fat old man'.

He said he found it 'devastating and heartbreaking' to hear Heard call him a 'horrible father'.

In one of his witness statements filed as part of his libel case against The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), the actor said 'rage-filled violent incidents on planes were common with Amber'.

Depp said the pair were on a private chartered flight in late 2014 or early 2015 when Heard became 'verbally aggressive'. He said she called him a 'pussy' and 'spineless' for 'running away' from fights with her.

Heard pictured with her entourage outside the entrance of the Royal Courts of Justice, which will host the momentous trial

Heard's lawyers submitted this photo to Los Angeles Superior County Court in 2016 and claimed Depp had caused the injuries. Speaking at the High Court today, Depp denied ever being violent towards Heard and said any claims he hit her were 'lies'

'Then she became physically violent and repeatedly punched me in the face. As I moved towards the back of the plane to get away from her, she followed me into the plane's bedroom and punched me again in the face and the head.

'I pushed her away from me, onto the bed. I then grabbed a pillow and locked myself in the bathroom, where I slept for the duration of the flight,' he wrote in his statement.

The court also heard of an incident where Heard shouted at Depp in 2015.

Depp's barrister David Sherborne read an extract from a tape in which Heard said to her husband: 'You got hit... but I did not punch you. I did not f****** deck you. I f****** was hitting you'.

Heard then went on to say 'you are a f****** baby', to which 57-year-old Depp said: 'Because you start physical fights.' Heard replied: 'You are such a baby. Grow the f*** up.'

Depp explained that both he and Heard recorded conversations during their relationship.

In her witness statement, Heard had said that she recorded their conversations 'to remind Johnny of what he would do when using drugs and alcohol because he wouldn't remember, or deny what he had said'.

Lawyers for The Sun allege that Depp's violent outbursts were driven by alcohol and drugs, which left Heard with injuries and in fear for her life. They maintain that this justifies their article.
Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez has changed his mind and decided to allow restaurants and gyms to remain open just one day after ordering them to shut as coronavirus cases continue to climb in the city.

Gimenez announced in a tweet on Tuesday that he had agreed to keep gyms and fitness centers open after meeting with medical experts and the county's wellness group.

He called the decision a 'compromise', explaining that anyone training indoors must wear a mask. If training outdoors, people do no have to wear a mask but must remain 10 feet apart.

The mayor also decided to allow 'some' outdoor dining at restaurants after discussing the issue with medical experts and members of the restaurant industry.

Under the amended rules, no more than four customers can be seated at a table, social distancing will be enforced and music will not be played loudly to ensure people are not shouting, Gimenez said.

The updates were met with mixed reactions from Miami residents. Some accused Gimenez of caving to industry leaders in spite of health concerns, while others praised him for relieving local businesses.

Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez has changed his mind and decided to allow restaurants and gyms to remain open just one day after ordering them to shut as coronavirus cases continue to climb in the city

Gimenez (pictured in June) said he amended the planned closures after meeting with medical experts and industry leaders

Miami is introducing new business restrictions two months after rolling earlier ones back as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to spike in the county and across the state. The graphic above shows how Florida's case and death counts have risen since March

Gimenez's order will go into effect on Wednesday, forcing all restaurants in Miami to suspend indoor dining and closing ballrooms, banquet halls, party venues and short-term rentals.

Most of the affected businesses had been reopened since Florida joined several other states in aggressively rolling back lockdowns about two months ago.

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, were reopened on Tuesday, but Gimenez warned that he will shut them down too if crowds do not practice proper social distancing.

Just north of Miami in Broward County, officials met on Monday to discuss rolling back businesses. A decision could come by Wednesday. Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner said Monday there has not been a decision to close businesses in his county.

Under a revised order from Monday, gyms can stay open if patrons wear masks inside and social distance outside. Patrons are seen without masks at a gym on Tuesday

Gimenez allowed beaches in Miami-Dade County to reopen on Tuesday but threatened to shut them down again if people fail to practice social distancing. Miami Beach is seen packed with unmasked visitors in June

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, the state's most populous county with 2.8 million residents, reported 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 Tuesday that an additional 4,047 had been reported over Sunday and Monday, bringing the county's total to 51,058 with 1,051 deaths.

Across the state, a total of 213,794 cases and 3,841 deaths have been reported as of Tuesday.

Coronavirus cases are now on the rise in 40 states across the US, which has reported nearly 2.95 million infections and 130,430 deaths to date.

Coronavirus cases are now on the rise in 40 states across the US, which has reported nearly 2.95 million infections and 130,430 deaths to date

As the number of COVID-19 cases rises in Florida, hospitals in Miami-Dade and neighboring Broward County are 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 county's 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 original Monday order to close up restaurants for 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.

Crowds of visitors walk past restaurants on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach on Friday as the Fourth of July weekend kicked off

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 in South Beach

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.

'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.
Amber Heard and her team swept out of the High Court in a plush people carrier with insiders claiming that they were delighted at the way the first day of Johnny Depps libel claim against the Sun had gone.

Heard arrived in Britain two weeks ago from the US with her support group, which is made up of her sister Whitney, girlfriend Bianca Butti and American attorney Elaine Bredehoft.

Once in the UK, they were joined by Heards British legal advisor Jennifer Robinson, a high-flying barrister who also represents Julian Assange, who is also acting as their chaperone.

Amber Heard arrives at the High Court ahead of the first day of Johny Depp's libel trial against The Sun newspaper. She is pictured with sister Whitney Heard (left), lawyer Jennifer Robinson (next to her right) and girlfriend Bianca Butti (right)

Ms Robinson held Heards hand as they arrived at the High Court, where Depp is suing the Sun over allegations that he was violent towards his ex-wife.

Since arriving in the UK, Heard, 34 and her group of confidants have been spending most of their time at a secret location in the countryside.

They arrived in London over the weekend for the start of the hearing, which is expected to last three-weeks.

They are staying at a central London location close to the High Court, but her spokesman has refused to reveal if it is a hotel or privately rented accommodation.

Amber Heard (pictured) and her team swept out of the High Court in a plush people carrier

All the women agreed to wear almost matching, dark colours in an attempt to create the image of a team Heard that is 100% rooting for the former Aquaman actress.

Whitney was sharply dressed in black blazer and trousers, clutching a classic leather bag and wearing smart loafers. She was pictured holding Heards hand. The actress was wearing a black skirt and top and looked elegant in red polka dot face mask.

Ms Robinson was also pictured holding Heards hand wearing an olive coloured dress while Bianca looked sharp in dark designer sunglasses, black mask and blazer. As they arrived at the High Court heads turned with the women dressed to impress.

Leading the way was Ms Bredehoft, a veteran lawyer who is considered one of the leading legal brains in the US.

The decision of the fellowship of women to support Heard during the course of the trial and sit out two weeks before that in quarantine is being seen as a significant statement in their commitment to the actress.

Depp, 57, is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun and executive editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article which referred to him as a 'wife beater' - a claim he strenuously denies.

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?'

A source close to Heards team told MailOnline: The first day has gone very well for them and Amber and her support group are delighted. The focus of it was on Depps drug use and how this made him violent and controlling.

Depp (pictured outside the High Court today), 57, is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun and executive editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article which referred to him as a 'wife beater'

'Heards team feel that the Suns lawyer has done a really good job of exposing his true character.

Heard watched the days proceedings in court 13 from the public gallery, accompanied by her team.

They were all required to maintain social distance while media and members of the public had to watch the hearing via video from a separate court.

The source added: There is a very strong group of women around Amber and she would not be able to get through this without any of them. Not only does she have some impressive legal brains in her team, but her partner and her sister are there to support her emotionally.

Theyve been holding her hand, keeping her busy and theyve actually all been having a nice time. Theyre determined to make themselves visible during this trial so that Depp knows what hes up against.

Heard and her team have vowed to attend each day of the trial and she will take the stand to give evidence next week.

She is expected to be in the witness box for three days to relive what she claims was physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Depp during their stormy four-year relationship.
A grandfather has turned an old airfield he owns in Wales into an international standard airport.

Winston Thomas, 82, bought an ex-military airstrip in Pembrey, West Wales 26 years ago and transformed it into his own personal airport offering private, commercial, and charter flights that he runs by himself.

Mr Thomas, from Machynys near Llanelli, acts as the chief air traffic controller, customs officer, petrol pump attendant and even weeds the runway at Pembrey Airport.

Winston Thomas (pictured), an 82-year-old grandfather from Wales, has turned an old military airstrip in Pembrey, West Wales, into an airport hoping to accept international flights

Mr Thomas, who runs the airport all by himself despite his old age, says that talks with budget airline Ryanair (pictured) have begun

He says the next step is to extend the runway to allow international flights to land at his airport and a deal with budget airline Ryanair is believed to be close.

Despite his old age, Mr Thomas wants to carry on being the head of the airport, saying: 'Why on earth would I want to retire? The airport takes up about 90 per cent of my time. I get here at about 7am and get on with it.

'Ryanair and many other airline companies have approached us.

'Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair boss, knows his business. He asked me to do an extension so he could fly into Pembrey. Because Pembrey is far enough away from Bristol he could operate here.'

Mr Thomas acts as the chief air traffic controller, customs officer, petrol pump attendant and even weeds the runway at Pembrey Airport.

The runway at Pembrey Airport is set around the same size in length as the one at London City Airport, with the Queen, Prince William and Prince Harry have all landed at Mr Thomas' airport.

The airstrip, which has the same width as the runway at London Heathrow and Gatwick Airports, is normally used by military staff at the Castlemartin military range nearby.

Mr Thomas also confirmed the runway can support 90 tonnes in weight, the same as a Boeing 747 aircraft.

He added: 'It's going to cost quite a bit of money [to get the extension to allow Ryanair international flights]. I've done most of the work already.

The 82-year-old has spent 4.5million turning the airfield into an international standard airport since buying the land in 1994

'I've dug topsoil down one metre deep and put clean stone down. The only thing left to do is lay the concrete on the 350m extension.'

Mr Thomas has been a fan of flying ever since he was a teenager, going into the National Service at the age of 18 and working in Germany as a radio operator.

He took up flying lessons at Swansea Airport and then gave lessons to keen learners when he obtained his licence.

Mr Thomas then became a millionaire due to his work in engineering in the United States and decided to invest his fortune in the airstrip back home in Wales.

Since purchasing the airstrip in 1994, he has spent 4.5million transforming the former Royal Air Force Airport into a thriving facility.
The University of Southern California is continuing with a plan to raise tuition fees to around $59,000 despite an announcement last week that the majority of undergraduate classes are to remain online in the Fall.

Tuition costs are being raised by 3.5 percent for the upcoming 2020/21 academic year, costing $59,260 for two semesters.

Yet last week USC announced that undergraduate students will be taking most, if not all, of their classes online come September due to the 'alarming spike in coronavirus cases' in the Los Angeles area.

Just a month earlier, the school had announced it would invite students back for in- person classes in the Fall semester but was forced to reverse its decision and cancel in-person classes once more due to the spiking cases.

Some are now criticizing USC's decision to continue charging full tuition for the coming year and for continuing with the fee increase.

The University of Southern California is being criticized for continuing to raise their tuition fees for the coming year despite moving the majority of its classes online for the Fall semester

The rise in undergraduate tuition fees in USC over the past ten years

Junior Jaya Hinton, co-director of USCs Black Student Assembly, told the Los Angeles Times that she believed the transition to online was the safest thing to do but it left her concerned it may cause a further struggles for low-income students.

As well as the tuition hike, they could have to grapple with limited internet access at home.

'Charging full tuition seems ridiculous,' she said. 'This just puts our most vulnerable populations in a tough spot.'

Hinton herself was forced to study from home alongside two other siblings in school and her parents working from home in March.

'Our internet just couldnt sustain everyone that had to be online at the same time,' she said. 'It was just a difficult experience for all of us.'

USC first made the announcement about the increase in tuition in May, stating that would happen whether in-person classes returned in the Fall or not.

College publication Annenberg Media confirmed with the university that annual tuition fees would increase by $2,004 from the previous year.

Once housing, transportation and other fees are taken into consideration, this would mean total costs clock in at more than $79,000 for one year.

A university spokesperson told them that the increase had been planned and approved before the coronavirus pandemic but it was later reviewed by the board once the outbreak hit the U.S.

The board decided to continue with the increase, however, after reviewing financial ramifications from the coronavirus impact.

'Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the USC Board of Trustees approved a 3.5% increase in undergraduate tuition, which will be implemented for the 2020-2021 academic year. It mirrors last years change in tuition, which was among the smallest percentage increases in 50 years,' a university statement to Annenberg Media read.

Once housing, transportation and other fees are taken into consideration, the tuition increase would mean total costs clock in at more than $79,000 for one year as an undergraduate

USC has been closed since March and announced last week the majority of its classes will remain online as Los Angeles County sees a troubling spike of coronavirus cases

'This increase, which is in line with our peer universities, will help fund the high-quality education, broad range of outstanding academic programs and important research activities that are the hallmarks of USC.'

The statement added that the increase was needed irregardless of the return of in-person classes because of the cost of new health and safety measures, among other expenses.

'The reality is that the costs of running a university continue to rise each year, and tuition only covers a portion of the cost of a student education. In the 2020-2021 academic year, in particular, we expect to incur significant new expenditures to ensure the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff, as well as an increase in our investment in technology and new programs,' the statement continued.

'At the same time, we anticipate an even greater need for financial assistance in the coming year, and we remain firm in our commitment to meet the financial needs of our students and their families.'

Student tuition and fees cover about 30 percent of the universitys operating revenues, according to 2019 financial statements.

USC does have a $5.7 billion endowment but President Carol Folt has said it was awarded through gifts that require it be used for particular purposes.

DailyMail.com reached out to the University of California for comment on the tuition fee increase but a representative was not yet available.

On July 1, Charles F. Zukoski, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, said in a letter to students that the high number of new cases was 'making it clear we need to dramatically reduce our on-campus density and all indoor activities for the fall semester'.

The university was forced to step back plans to hold in-person classes from August

'Given the continuing safety restrictions and limited densities permissible on campus, our undergraduate students primarily or exclusively will be taking their courses online in the fall term, and on-campus housing and activities will be limited,' senior administrators continued.

'While not what we hoped, we are now recommending all undergraduates take their courses online,' the letter added, 'and reconsider living on or close to campus this semester.'

The university is expected to release a revised class schedule on Wednesday, according to CNN, showing only 10 to 20 percent of classes to be held in person.

The in-person classes with involve courses that include labs, studios and performance classes and research studies that require hands-on work.

The letter added that classes for graduate students will be decided and announced by the individual schools and programs.

President Folt said the university had previously warned that the reopening of the university in August would rely on local authorities and the spread of coronavirus.

The decision to pull back the changes came the same day that California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced tougher restrictions on indoor activities.

USC has already faced half a dozen lawsuits from students over the refusal to return fees for the spring semester, when classes were forced suddenly to switch online at the start of the pandemic.

One complaint filed in June by Los Angeles undergraduate student Justin Kerendian asks for class-action status on behalf of all USC students who paid spring fees, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Kerendian said he had paid $30,000 for spring semester tuition and fees but had not attended in-person classes since March 10.

The suit claimed that USC has engaged in 'fraudulent business practices that are harmful and injurious' to students and that it has been 'unjustly enriched by retaining the tuition and fees without providing the same high-quality education and experience that plaintiff and the class members' were promised.

The university said it was 'disappointed by the lawsuit, but believe the evidence will show that USC took extraordinary steps to ensure continuity of the educational experience for its students'.

USC is based in Los Angeles, where coronavirus cases among young people are surging.

Case among those aged 18 to 40 climbed from 27,455 on June 15 to 47,424 Sunday, KTLA reported. That is nearly a 73 percent increase in just three weeks.

There are 116,570 cases confirmed in the county and the death toll is at 3,534 as of Tuesday morning.

USC is not the only school that has already made the decision to remain online this Fall.

According to the Star Advertiser, the California State University system  the largest four-year university system in the nation  and the Los Angeles Community College District have also moved the vast majority of their classes online for September.

Harvard University announced Monday that all learning for the next academic year will be done remotely - but says tuition will remain at nearly $50,000.

In a statement released by the university, officials said 'all course instruction (undergraduate and graduate) for the 2020-21 academic year will be delivered online'.

Harvard said it will invite first-year students to live on campus, but classes will stay online.

The announcement came as federal immigration authorities say international students will be forced to leave the US if their schools offer classes entirely online this fall.

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 the guidance.

The guidelines, issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), provide additional pressure for universities to reopen even amid growing concerns about the recent spread of COVID-19 among young adults.
This is the moment an 82-year-old former lorry driver is confronted by police and paedophile hunters after he boasted about sexually assaulting children as young as six during online chats.

Joseph Lennard, 82, bragged that he had imported illegal immigrants into the UK during his career and claimed he had engaged in sex acts with children.

The pensioner, who lives in sheltered accommodation, made the shocking confessions during sex chats he thought he was having with a 13-year-old girl called Amy over the internet.

But Newcastle Crown Court heard the pervert had been duped by paedophile hunters Dark Justice, who were behind the fake profile he was chatting with and turned up at his door with police.

Pictured: Joseph Lennard, 82, as he is confronted by paedophile hunters and police officers for boasting about committing sex offences to who he thought was a 13-year-old girl. Duped by paedophile hunters Dark Justice, Lennard detailed a sex offence against a six-year-old girl in India

Lennard, whose own profile on dating app Meet4U was named Wendy13F, claimed he was a 31-year-old woman called Wendy.

During the online chats, which started just before Christmas 2018 and involved 'hundreds' of messages being exchanged over a three-week period, Lennard admitted he was male but never revealed his true age.

Prosecutor Michael Bunch said much of the conversation was 'mundane' chat about food and Lennard's car repairs.

But he added: 'He disclosed his attraction to Amy and suggested he would like to meet with Amy and would wish to engage in sexual activity with her.

'They discussed many sexual aspects and activities over the course of the messages.'

The court heard Lennard sent a graphic picture of a penis to the teen's profile.

Mr Bunch added: 'He also discussed, during the course of the exchanges between the two, the suggestion he had, while working as a lorry driver, been responsible for the importation of illegal immigrants into this country.

'Perhaps more pertinently, he said he had been responsible for a child sex offence which took place in India with a child as young as six.

'The implication from the context of the messages he exchanged implied he had engaged in sexual activity with other children in the past.'

Lennard is pictured in a series of Whatsapp messages sent to the Dark Justice paedophile hunter group

The court heard members of Dark Justice passed Lennard's address to the police and his home was raided.

Police found an extreme pornography image, containing a one hour video featuring bestiality, on his computer.

Lennard, of Low Fell, Gateshead, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and possessing an extreme pornographic image.

Judge Julie Clemitson said the conversation exchange was 'fairly stomach churning' and told Lennard: 'You tried to impress her with accounts of having exploited vulnerable children abroad and those desperate enough to try and travel illegally into this country.

'You discussed sexual activity with a six-year-old girl.

'Whether true or not, the fact you fantasised about such a matter and described it to a child is disgusting.'

Lennard, who has never been in trouble before and is in poor health, was sentenced to a community order for three years with rehabilitation requirements.

He must sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for five years and pay 400 costs.

Vic Laffey, defending, said Lennard had been leading an isolated existence which led him to explore social media.

Mr Laffey said Lennard acknowledges he needs to confront and overcome his problems which led to the offending.

He added: 'He has significant health problems. He is clearly very elderly now.

'He is ashamed he has lost his good character now, at 82.

'He has been very foolish.

'He will not appear in front of a court again.'
Officials in a Mississippi county unanimously voted to keep a Confederate monument where it stands, saying moving the statue wouldn't fix racial tensions.

On Monday, the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to reject a proposal to relocate the statue, which stands in downtown Oxford.

The tall marble statue, which depicts a Confederate soldier with his head held high, has stood in place at Oxford Square for decades.

Several members of the board - which is composed entirely of white males - said they did not believe that moving the statue would bring unity to the community.

Officials in a Mississippi county unanimously voted to keep a Confederate monument where it stands, saying moving the statue wouldn't fix racial tensions

The tall marble statue, which depicts a Confederate soldier with his head held high, has stood in place at Oxford Square for decades

Supervisor Chad McLarty said his African Americans friends and constituents have not told him 'the monument was an issue.'

'I myself have been a victim of racism due to the color of my skin,' McLarty said. 'I've also been a victim of police brutality. What I do know is there are a lot of bad people in this world, and no matter how many statues, flags or pancake boxes you take down, they will still exist.'

Supervisor Larry Gillespie said he doesn't 'understand how things like statues and street names can be offensive to some.'

Meanwhile, Supervisor David Rikard told The Daily Journal that he consulted with African American constituents ahead of the vote.

'I will say that I believe the majority of our community is standing together. I think there's a lot of outside pressure, but I'm optimistic in Lafayette County and the city of Oxford,' he stated after voting to keep the monument in place.

Supervisor Chad McLarty (left) said his African Americans friends and constituents have not told him 'the monument was an issue'. Supervisor Larry Gillespie (right) said he doesn't 'understand how things like statues and street names can be offensive to some'

Mike Roberts (left), David Rikard (center), and Brent Larson (right) also voted to keep the Confederate statue in place

The relocation vote comes after officials allowed residents to voice their opinion on relocating the monument.

One vocal proponent of removing the statue, former University of Mississippi administrator Don Cole, said he was disappointed with the decision.

'History will prove them to be on the wrong side and this particular battle will continue,' he told The Daily Journal.

He said he believes the supervisors but to keep the statue in place to 'maintain' their positions on the board.

Last Wednesday, three flags flying at the Capitol were lowered as dozens of people watched on the lawn or from open windows inside the building

Those watching on applauded after honor guard members from the National Guard and the Mississippi Highway Patrol folded the flag and presented it to officials

It comes as many communities in Mississippi debate whether to remove Confederate statues from their public spaces amid a nationwide reckoning on race, sparked by the death of unarmed black man George Floyd.

Supervisors in Bolivar and Lowndes Counties voted Monday to relocate Civil War monuments located within their jurisdictions.

And just last week, Mississippi's Republican Governor Tate Reeves signed a new law removing the Confederate symbol from its state flag.

Last Tuesday, Gov. Reeves signed the historic bill immediately removing official status for the 126-year-old banner that has been a source of division for generations.

The following day, three flags flying at the Capitol were lowered as dozens of people watched on the lawn or from open windows inside the building.

Police cars with flashing blue lights escorted a vehicle that took House Speaker Philip Gunn, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and state Department of Archives and History director Katie Blount, and the flags, to the nearby Museum of Mississippi History

Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signs the bill retiring the last state flag in the United States with the Confederate battle emblem, at the Governor's Mansion in Jackson Tuesday

Mississippi voters chose to keep the flag in a 2001 statewide election, with supporters saying they saw it as a symbol of Southern heritage.

Since then, a growing number of cities and all the state's public universities have abandoned it.

Now, voters will be asked to approve a new design in the November 3 election. If they reject it, the commission will draft a different design using the same guidelines, to be sent to voters later.
Terrified puppies were found drenched in oil in the back of a van as a charity revealed 43 dogs being smuggled to unsuspecting UK buyers have been rescued during lockdown.

Dogs Trust has warned the public about the dangers of buying pets via online adverts, saying demand has spiked while people have been working from home.

The animal welfare charity rescued dozens of puppies being illegally imported into the UK from central and eastern Europe with a street value of around 80,000 since 23 March.

Three Maltese puppies who were found drenched in oil in the back of a van in Dover as they were being smuggled, pictured after their rescue

In their latest bust, a group of six puppies were found covered in sticky old engine oil and seized at the port of Dover, after being smuggled from Romania in a journey that would have taken over 24 hours.

The three Maltese, two Havanese and one Bichon Frise pups were found in an appalling condition, suffering from diarrhoea, and had to be shaved due to the oil spill, which is thought to have occurred from unsafe travelling conditions.

They are now being taken care of by the charity and will be rehomed when 'fit and able'.

Dogs Trust said the incident is the 'tip of the iceberg' and called for the Government to 'act now to end this cruel trade'.

It also reported a huge spike in demand for puppies while millions work from home, citing a 120 per cent increase in Google searches for 'buy a puppy' when lockdown was announced, according to data from Propellernet.

Paula Boyden, Dogs Trust's Veterinary Director, said: 'It is absolutely heart-breaking that we continue to see dogs being illegally imported into the country, often in terrible conditions to make huge profits for cruel puppy smugglers.

One of the puppies pictured being washed, after it was found drenched in engine oil. Dogs Trust said the incident is the 'tip of the iceberg'

Three of the smuggled dogs pictured in a cage, after their rescue. The animal welfare charity has rescued dozens of puppies being illegally imported into the UK since 23 March

One of the puppies smuggled from Romania, left, and a Maltese who was also seized in the bust, right. They are now being taken care of by the charity and will be rehomed when able

'We might be in the midst of a pandemic, but these devious sellers will still use every trick in the book to scam unsuspecting dog lovers.

'Sadly, it's all too easy to be Dogfished and it can be very difficult to know if you are buying a puppy that has been smuggled. We would advise you to always see a puppy with and interacting with their mum and go and see it more than once.'

The charity has also saved 12 heavily pregnant mothers, who have given birth to 53 puppies worth around an additional 100,000 to smugglers.

Ms Boyden added: 'Ask lots of questions, and ask to see vital paperwork, such as a puppy contract.

A puppy smuggled from Romania. The charity has also saved 12 heavily pregnant mothers, who have given birth to 53 puppies, worth around an additional 100,000 to smugglers

Two of the puppies seized in the operation. They were found in an appalling condition, suffering from diarrhoea, and had to be shaved due to the oil spill

'If you have any doubts or it feels too good to be true, as hard as it may be, walk away and report the seller.'

The charity is demanding every dog have a rabies test before entering the UK and an incubation period, in order to increase the minimum age for importing dogs.

Dogs Trust is also calling for visual checks at ports and stronger penalties for puppy smugglers caught illegally importing dogs into the country.

On how to avoid being 'Dogfished', where potential owners are scammed into buying smuggled dogs online, the trust advised to always see the puppy and their mother at home, ask lots of questions and view all the paperwork.

The Dogs Trust's Puppy Pilot scheme has rescued 1,167 dogs since it began in December 2015, with the most popular breeds including dachshunds, French bulldogs, Maltese and even larger breeds such as chow chows.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the recent surge in coronavirus cases in the state is down to testing as he cautioned people against fretting over the rising numbers and said the average patient age was decreasing, making it less deadly.

Florida schools will reopen in August, despite ICUs in more than 50 hospitals reaching capacity and doctors pleading for more staff from other states.

The number of coronavirus cases in Florida doubled from 100,000 to 200,000 in the last two weeks and hospitalizations are also increasing but deaths are decreasing.

It ties in with what President Trump said on Tuesday afternoon - that while the number of new cases is rising, deaths are decreasing, which ought to give the country some long overdue hope.

Health experts have slammed the president's remarks and say the rhetoric from the White House is dangerous and could put vulnerable people at risk.

Data has shown that despite an increase in new cases in recent weeks, the number of people dying across the country is lowering.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said the rise in coronavirus cases in his state was down to increased testing and that most of the new cases were young people

FLORIDA: Hot spot Florida reported 7,361 new coronavirus cases on Monday and seven deaths. Daily fatalities are declining across the state

Hospitalizations in Florida continue to increase but the death rate appears to be dropping which suggests doctors are now better equipped to care for the sick than they were before or in other states

The number of cases across the United States has now surpassed 2.9 million and more than 130,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. New cases per day nationwide have hit record levels of well over 50,000 but deaths, which health experts say are a lagging indicator, continue to fall nationally

It suggests that the country is now better equipped to handle the virus because treatments in hospitals are more readily available, as is equipment.

DeSantis clung to that logic on Monday as he spoke about the situation in Florida.

'We started to see an increase the second week in June. Some of that was driven by some hot spots but some of it was driven by a lot of community transmission, particularly from the younger demographic.

'We're seeing more case, we're doing more test. If you have a stable positivity rate- the more tests you do, the more cases you'll discover.

'Higher positivity, more number of tests - probably the most significant change we've seen is a radical change in the median age of people who are testing positive. The median age was in their 60s.

Miami mayor changes his mind and says gyms and restaurants with outdoor dining CAN remain ope Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez has changed his mind and decided to allow restaurants and gyms to remain open just one day after ordering them to shut as coronavirus cases continue to climb in the city. Gimenez announced in a tweet on Tuesday that he had agreed to keep gyms and fitness centers open after meeting with medical experts and the county's wellness group. He called the decision a 'compromise', explaining that anyone training indoors must wear a mask. If training outdoors, people do no have to wear a mask but must remain 10 feet apart. The mayor also decided to allow 'some' outdoor dining at restaurants after discussing the issue with medical experts and members of the restaurant industry. Under the amended rules, no more than four customers can be seated at a table, social distancing will be enforced and music will not be played loudly to ensure people are not shouting, Gimenez said. The updates were met with mixed reactions from Miami residents. Some accused Gimenez of caving to industry leaders in spite of health concerns, while others praised him for relieving local businesses. Advertisement

'In the last two to three weeks, you've seen a dramatic decline. Now it consistently is 33, 34, 35. You're talking about a lot of people in their thirties.

'Those groups, by and large, are much less at risk for really serious consequences. In the state of Florida, 86% of all the fatalities have been over the age of 86,' he said.

He stressed that young people should be aware that they can spread the virus to more vulnerable.

Hospital ICUs were full at 54 hospitals across 25 of Florida's 67 counties, according to data published on Tuesday morning by the state's Agency for Health Care Administration. More than 300 hospitals were included in the report, but not all had adult ICUs.

Thirty hospitals reported that their ICUs were more than 90% full. Statewide, only 17% of the total 6,010 adult ICU beds were available on Tuesday, down from 20% three days ago, according to the agency's website.

Florida's coronavirus cases have soared in the last month, with the state's daily count topping 10,000 three times in the last week. The death rate from COVID-19 rose nearly 19% in the last week from the week prior, bringing the state's death toll to more than 3,800.

All ICU beds are filled at the three hospitals in Clay County, where the population is around 220,000.

DeSantis however says hospitals are fully equipped to handle not only the crisis, but other patients too.

'Hospitals are safe and Floridians in need of treatment shouldnt avoid seeking care,' Desantis wrote on Twitter.

In Miami-Dade - the state's most populous county - eight hospitals reported their intensive care units were filled to capacity, including North Shore Hospital with 56 ICU beds. The hospital with the most ICU capacity in the county, Jackson Memorial, reported that its ICU was 91% full.

Carlos Migoya, the CEO of Jackson Health CEO, Miami-Dade Countys public hospital network, wrote to the Governor asking him for 100 nurses from out-of-state on Monday.

Martha Baker, a trauma nurse and president of the labor union, told The Miami Herald they would need another 100 next week.

'The caregivers inside are stressed to the max. Usually, you have a charge nurse whos free of assignments. If I take care of two ICU patients and somebody stops breathing or their heart stops and I need help, the charge nurse is available to help.

'Now charge nurses are getting patients, so theres nobody free to help in an emergency,' she said.

Miami-Dade County's mayor rolled back reopening plans on Monday in light of the climbing case count, halting indoor dining at restaurants that had resumed business after an initial shutdown aimed at containing the virus' spread. He then changed his mind.

People visit Jacksonville Beach on July 04, 2020 in Jacksonville Beach, Florida
The Trump Administration has told Congress the nation has formally withdrawn from the World Health Organization, which is seeking to organize an international response to the coronavirus pandemic.

News of the move broke on a day U.S. deaths to the virus topped 130,000 and the country was on the cusp of 3 million infections.

President Trump announced the move in May after repeatedly accusing the international group of catering to China and failing to protect other nations from the outbreak.

The Trump Administration has formally told Congress that the U.S. is withdrawing from the World Health Organization

Senator Robert Mendendez (D-N.J.), who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, announced the notification on Twitter, while blasting the decision as shortsighted and risky.

'Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the @WHO in the midst of a pandemic. To call Trumps response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice. This won't protect American lives or interestsit leaves Americans sick & America alone,' he wrote.

The administration also told the UN Secretary General, an administration official told Fox News. The move would take effect July 2021  which in theory would give Trump or Democrat Joe Biden, who is leading in the polls, the chance to roll it back.

In this Jan. 28, 2020, file photo, Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing

A nurse puts medication or water into the feeding tube of a COVID-19 patient at the Medical Intensive Care Unit floor, MICU, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center April 24, 2020 in the Manhattan borough of New York City

U.S. infections approached 3 million Tuesday

U.S. infections have continued to rise since the outbreak in China

Trump blasted the WHO this spring as he shocked U.S. and world officials when he announced the move. He said the WHO had failed to make 'greatly needed reforms,' and said the U.S. would divert funds to other global health organizations.

The move drew pushback even from prominent Republicans, who have called out some missteps by the WHO but nevertheless saw the benefit in having a global health group tending to issues like COVID-19, Malaria, and Ebola.

U.S. officials have hammered WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for praising China for its 'transparency' early in the outbreak.

Trump once again referred to the coronavirus as the 'horrible China virus' on Tuesday.
The top U.S. general for the Middle East said on Tuesday that he is skeptical over reported intelligence that suggested Russia may have paid Taliban militants to kill American troops in Afghanistan.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, agreed that the findings were cause for concern but he stressed that he he was not convinced that any bounties resulted in U.S. military deaths.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command said in a telephone interview with a small group of reporters that the U.S. did not increase force protection measures in Afghanistan as a result of the information, although he asked his intelligence staff to dig into the matter more.

US Marine Corps Gen. David Berger told ABC News' Martha Raddatz he was not aware while in Afghanistan, of intelligence on Russia allegedly paying the Taliban to kill US service members

'I found it very worrisome. I didn't find that there was a causative link there,' said McKenzie, who is the first Pentagon official to speak publicly at length about the issue. He warned, however, that Russia has long been a threat in Afghanistan, where there have been many reports that it has backed Taliban fighters over the years with resources and weapons.

According to U.S. intelligence officials, information that Russia offered bounties to Taliban militants for killing American troops was included in an intelligence brief for President Donald Trump in late February. The White House, however, has denied Trump was briefed at that time, arguing that the intelligence was not credible enough to bring to his attention.

McKenzie said that while he could draw no direct link between any potential payments and U.S. casualties, it's common that intelligence is not definitive.

Last month it was reported that Russian intelligence allegedly promised militant Islamists in Afghanistan rewards for killing foreign soldiers. The New York Times had reported that this was intended to promote attacks by the Taliban and other militias. File photo shows the remains of a fallen soldier believed to have been killed by the Taliban being returned to the US in 2017

President Donald Trump has denied that he was made aware of an intelligence report that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill American troops in Afghanistan

In one instance, officials said the intelligence community had been investigating the April 2019 attack on an American convoy that killed three US Marines to see if it could be potentially linked to the Russian bounties. The site of the car bomb above on April 9, 2019, is pictured

'We should always remember, the Russians are not our friends,' said McKenzie, who is traveling in the Middle East. 'They are not our friends in Afghanistan. And they do not wish us well, and we just need to remember that at all times when we evaluate that intelligence.'

He said there was no need to beef up security for troops there because the U.S. already takes 'extreme force protections measures' in Afghanistan. 'Whether the Russians are paying the Taliban or not, over the past several years, the Taliban have done their level best to carry out operations against us.'

Just days after the February intelligence briefing, the U.S. signed an agreement with the Taliban, mapping out the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan by May 2021. That date would be nearly 20 years after American forces invaded the country after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. by al-Qaida militants.

The U.S. did not increase protection measures as a result of the information. File photo, US soldiers attend a training session for the Afghan Army in Herat, Afghanistan in February 2019

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany last week said President Donald Trump was never briefed on reports that Russia offered to pay members of the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan because the intelligence was not 'verified' and there was 'dissent' in the intelligence community over its accuracy

Trump had repeatedly said he wants to have all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan. His call in May for a quick exit, fueled speculation that he wants troops out by the November election, as part of his vow to end U.S. involvement in what he calls 'endless wars'.

The U.S. pulled several thousand troops out this year, and now has about 8,600 there. Additional troop withdrawal is contingent on the Taliban's commitment that extremist groups, such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, not be able to use the country as a base to carry out attacks on the U.S.

Asked about the potential for pulling more U.S. troops out, McKenzie said he still does not believe the conditions allow for a significant reduction yet.
Michael Lofthouse, the British founder of tech company Solid8, was identified as the man racially attacking the family

A Silicon Valley entrepreneur was kicked out of a California restaurant on July 4 for hurling racist abuse at an Asian family and yelling 'Trump is going to f*** you'.

Michael Lofthouse, the British founder of tech company Solid8, was caught on camera racially attacking Jordan Chan and her family when they were out celebrating a birthday at Bernardus Lodge and Spa's Lucia restaurant in Carmel Valley on Saturday.

Despite his victims living in the US for almost three decades, shocking footage shows Lofthouse, who has lived in the country for ten years, shouting racist abuse at the diners from the table opposite.

He calls the family a 'f***ing Asian piece of s**t' before an outraged restaurant worker steps in and tells him to 'get out'. The video was posted by Ms Chan on social media Sunday and went viral after it was shared by pop star Kelly Clarkson.

Mr Lofthouse's firm Solid8 is based in San Francisco, California, has a low-budget website saying it offers industry-leading cloud storage and online security for companies. It has between two and ten employees, according to LinkedIn.

A Silicon Valley entrepreneur was kicked out of a California restaurant on July 4 for hurling racist abuse at an Asian family and yelling 'Trump is going to f*** you'. He is pictured flipping the bird at the family (above)

Michael Lofthouse was caught on camera racially attacking Jordan Chan and her family when they were out celebrating a birthday at Bernardus Lodge and Spa's Lucia restaurant in Carmel Valley on Saturday

Ms Chan had been at the restaurant with her family to celebrate her aunt Mari Orosa's birthday. Mari was accompanied at the restaurant by her husband, Raymond, a sales rep for a Mercedes car dealership in California.

The footage begins after Lofthouse has already apparently started on his unprovoked, racist tirade, with the person filming him telling him to 'say that again'.

'Oh, now you're shy,' the person behind the camera is heard saying.

'Say it one more time.'

The man responds by flipping them the bird and saying 'that's what I'm saying now'.

'Trump's going to f*** you!' he then yells, as he gets up to leave the restaurant.

Jenny Chan (back left) posted the footage on Instagram. The family were celebrating the birthday of Jenny's aunt Mari Orosa (back right with Mari's husband Raymond front right)

Lofthouse calls the family a 'f***ing Asian piece of s**t' before an outraged restaurant worker steps in and tells him to 'get out'

'Racist' boss's tech firm Lofthouse's Solid8 is a cloud tech services firm launched in 2017. The companys offices are based near the financial district of San Francisco, California. Solid8 aims to improve their clients computer systems and reduce their IT costs by offering network services, infrastructure or business services that store and access data and programs over the Internet rather than a computer hard drive. On its website, the company, which also offers cyber security advice, boasts of having 38 years of collective experience and says: Our team are decisive problem-solvers, our breadth and depth of experience means weve dealt with most situations before  which means we move quickly from analysis to action, working as an agile team for each project, quickly drawing upon talent from across our global network of over 100 leading Cloud Providers. Solid8s CEO is Briton Michael Lofthouse, who according to his now-deleted LinkedIn page, graduated from Newcastle Business School, associated with Northumbria University, in 2005 and emigrated to America in 2010. Advertisement

'You f***ers need to leave.' A waitress is then heard telling him 'to leave now'.

'Get out of here,' she shouts. 'You are not allowed here. You do not talk to our guests like that.'

Lofthouse continues with his vile attack on the family.

'You f***ing Asian piece of s**t,' he shouts at the group, before turning to the waitress and saying: 'Who are these f***ers?'

'They are valued guests,' the waitress responds.

Lofthouse replies: 'Are they? They are valued guests in America?'

The waitress continues to tell him to 'get out' and says: 'You are not allowed here ever again.'

Chan wrote on Instagram that the 'white supremacist' businessman had begun harassing her family soon after they sang happy birthday to her aunt.

Aside from the racist comments caught on camera, she said he also told them to 'go back to whatever f******* Asian country you're from' and that 'you don't belong here'.

She added on the post that he 'had a LOT more to say after I stopped recording'.

Lofthouse later issued a grovelling apology, telling DailyMail.com: 'My behavior in the video is appalling. This was clearly a moment where I lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments.

'I would like to deeply apologize to the Chan family. I can only imagine the stress and pain they feel. I was taught to respect people of all races, and I will take the time to reflect on my actions and work to better understand the inequality that so many of those around me face every day.'

The Bernardus Lodge said they were sorry about the experience their guests endured at the restaurant but they were 'proud' of how their staff handled it.

'This is an extremely unfortunate situation, however, we are proud of our staff at Lucia in keeping with Bernardus Lodge's core values,' said Sean Damery, the lodge's vice president and general manager, in a statement to KION.

'This incident was handled swiftly and the diner was escorted off property without further escalation.

Jordan Chan (left) posted her thanks to those who have supported the family since the incident. She was celebrating her aunt Mari Orosa's birthday (right with husband Raymond)

The Bernardus Lodge (pictured) said they were sorry about the experience their guests had at the restaurant and they were 'proud' of how their staff handled it

The family had been celebrating a birthday at the restaurant when the horrific abuse occurred

'We provide guests with a safe environment for lodging and dining, and extend our sincere apologies to the guests enjoying a birthday celebration on a holiday weekend.'

Lofthouse appears to have disabled his LinkedIn and Twitter accounts following the incident.
Donald Trump's mother Mary Anne was 'never the same' after she had an emergency hysterectomy, with her absence creating a 'void in the lives of her children', the President's niece claims in her tell-all book.

The impact was 'especially dire' for her youngest sons Donald and Robert, who were two-and-a-half years old and nine months old at the time, according to the memoir obtained by DailyMail.com.

Donald's sister Maryanne had found their mother unconscious nine months after Robert's birth in 1948. She was rushed to a hospital to have a hysterectomy due to complications from the delivery. A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus and may also include the removal of the cervix and ovaries.

Matriarch Mary's absence caused a schism in the Trump family and led to Donald becoming the man he is, writes the President's niece Mary in her new book Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man.

Mary, 55, is the daughter of Trump's late older brother Fred Jr, who died in 1981 due to alcoholism, and her explosive tell-all memoir about her uncle will be out July 14.

Donald Trump's mother Mary Anne was 'never the same' after she had to have an emergency hysterectomy, with her absence creating a 'void in the lives of her children', the President's niece claims in her tell-all book. President Trump with his mother in 1977; Mary Anne died in 2000 before he became president but after he was a celebrity businessman

The impact was 'especially dire' for her youngest sons Donald (far left) and Robert (center), who were at the time two and a half years old and nine months old, respectively. Donald's sister Maryanne (second from right) had found their mother unconscious. She was rushed to a hospital to have a hysterectomy due to complications from Robert's birth

Mary, 55, is the daughter of Trump's deceased older brother Fred Jr, who died in 1981 due to alcoholism and is releasing the damning tell-all memoir about her uncle. In the bombshell book, Mary offers insight into Donald's childhood and compares the relationship between Fred Sr and Donald to Dr Frankenstein and Dr Frankenstein's monster

In the bombshell book, Mary offers insight into Donald's childhood and compares the relationship between Fred Sr and Donald to Dr Frankenstein and Dr Frankenstein's monster.

Mary writes that Donalds mother and father were problematic parents from the very beginning.

Her grandmother rarely spoke about her own upbringing in Scotland but she was the youngest of 10 children, as Mary suspects she did not get enough attention.

Mary writes she was the kind of mother who used her children to comfort herself rather than comforting them.

The book states: She attended to them when it was convenient for her, not when they needed her to. Often unstable and needy, prone to self-pity and flights of martyrdom, she often put herself first.

'Especially when it came to her sons, she acted as if there was nothing she could do for them.

When matriarch Mary Anne withdrew from the family after her surgery, workaholic Fred Sr became the children's main caretaker, but refused to cut back his hours.

Neglected, Mary claims Donald 'suffered deprivations that would scar him for life.'

Mary calls Fred Sr a high functioning sociopath, marked by a lack of empathy, a facility for lying and a lack of interest in others.

The greater Donald and Roberts distress, the more Fred Sr rebuffed them, Mary claims.

As a result needing became equated with humiliation and despair in Donalds mind.

Mary writes that Donalds mother and father were problematic parents from the very beginning. Pictured: Donald with his mother and father in 1992

Mary wrote that her grandmother complained that Donald was a 'slob' and Fred Sr let him 'get away with murder. She wrote in her book that her grandmother complained that Donald 'was such a slob. At school he got medals for neatness then when he came home he was still such a slob!' Pictured: Donald in his military uniform with his parents

Mary describes how when Donald was a boy he used to hide Roberts favorite Tonka trucks and pretended he had no idea where they were.

The last time he did it, Robert had a tantrum and Donald threatened to pull them apart if he didnt stop making noise.

Their mother responded by hiding the trucks in the attic, effectively punishing Robert for something that Donald did.

As the years went on, Donald's mother Mary Anne believed it was Fred Sr's fault for his behavior, saying he could 'get away with murder'.

The matriarch was reflecting with her granddaughter Mary while recovering in a hospital after she was brutally mugged while loading her shopping into her Rolls Royce in 1991.

With a fractured pelvis and several broken bones, she reflected on Donald's childhood with consternation.

Around this time, Donalds casino empire in New Jersey had collapsed and his first marriage to Ivana was crumbling.

Around this time, Donalds casino empire in New Jersey had collapsed and his first marriage to Ivana was crumbling. Pictured: Donald with Ivana and his parents in 1987

Mary Anne told her granddaughter Mary: 'Poor Donald. He was always like this.

'When he went to the military academy I was so relieved. He didn't listen to anyone, especially me and he tormented Robert.

'He was such a slob. At school he got medals for neatness then when he came home he was still such a slob!'

She shook her head as she went on: 'He never listened to me. And your grandfather (Fred Sr) didn't care. Donald got away with murder'.

Mary writes that Fred Sr did not handle his wifes illnesses well and he never missed a day of work, even when she was near death.

Mary is the child of Fred Trump Jr, the President's older brother who died in 1981 after struggling with alcoholism

Whenever she was suffering he would tell her: Everythings great. Right Toots? You just have to think positive and then walk out.

Sometimes Mary, his wife, would say: Yes Fred and clench her jaw to stop herself from crying.

Mary reveals that her grandmother turned against her when she sued for more of her grandfathers estate after Fred Sr died in 1999.

She received a call from her grandmother who told her 'you'd better not' file a lawsuit. The elderly grandmother added: 'Do you know what your father was worth when he died? A whole lot of nothing', referring to her eldest son Fred Jr.

Then she hung up.

Other bombshells from Mary's book include that she believes her uncle is not only a narcissist, but 'meets the criteria for antisocial personality disorder, which in its most severe form is generally considered sociopathy'.

She also alleges Donald paid a friend to take his SATs for him in order to attend the University of Pennsylvania for its famous Wharton School of Business.

And in another chapter, Mary claims her uncle ogled her when she was 29 years old and in a swimsuit at Mar-a-Lago, with Donald allegedly saying: 'Holy s**t, Mary, you're stacked!'
The family of a Colorado man are demanding answers more than three months after a National Park ranger shot and killed the unarmed 25-year-old during a traffic stop at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.

Authorities say Ranger Robert Mitchell stopped Charles 'Gage' Lorentz for erratic driving on March 21.

Lorentz's relatives say the oil field worker was unarmed and was not under the influence of any drugs of alcohol when Mitchell shot him in the heart.

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Charles 'Gage' Lorentz, 25 (left), was driving from Texas to Colorado when he stopped at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and was killed by National Park Ranger Robert Mitchell (right)

This screenshot from Mitchell's body camera video shows the moment the ranger opened fire, shooting Lorentz once in the thigh and once in the heart

Three minutes after opening fire, Mitchell is seen placing handcuffs on the dying man

They also claim the ranger, who is certified as an EMT, waited 16 minutes before rendering any significant first aid to the mortally wounded Lorentz, and later left his body in the desert overnight.

Lorentz had been traveling from Peco, Texas, where he worked as an equipment operator for an oil and gas company, back to his home near Montrose, Colorado, to see his family. Authorities say he had stopped in Carlsbad to meet a friend.

Mitchell was responding to an unrelated call when he reportedly observed Lorentz speeding and driving erratically.

Lorentz, an oil field worker, was stopped for speeding and driving erratically on a country road

Recently released body camera video, which has 26 seconds missing, shows Lorentz outside of his vehicle and initially complying with Mitchell's commands, reported KOB.

But then when ordered to turn around, Lorentz, who appears in high spirits and is seen chewing gum, starts dancing to upbeat pop music from another car.

Mitchell commands Lorentz to take his hands out of his pockets and  without warning  deploys his Taser.

The video goes to black, then resumes 26 second later showing the ranger on top of Lorentz. Mitchell then fires his service weapon twice, striking the man once in the leg and once in the chest at a close range.

A little over three minutes later, he places handcuffs on Lorentz, who is seen laying face down on the ground.

'You're under arrest,' the ranger tells the dying man.

Mitchell reportedly waited eight minutes before fetching his first aid kit out of his car. It took an additional eight minutes for the ranger to put an oxygen mask over Lorentz's face, according to CBS Denver.

Later in the video, Mitchell is heard talking to a responding sheriff's deputy and tells him that during the missing part of the recording, the barbs of his Taser had failed to penetrate Lorentz's jacket, and that the driver hit the ranger on the head and grabbed him around the neck.

Lorentz stopped off at Carlsbad Caverns to meet a friend on his way to Colorado

Lorentz' family, including mom Kim Beck (far right), said he was unarmed and had no drugs or alcohol in his system

Lorentz' parents and siblings have said that the 25-year-old was unarmed, and a toxicology report showed that he had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the incident.

According to Lorentz's autopsy, the first round missed all major arteries in his thigh and could have been survivable, but the second round penetrated his heart.

Travis Lorentz, Gage's father, said that since his son's death more than three months ago, no one from the National Parks Service has reached out to him.

'It makes me think they are trying to cover something up,' he told KOB.

Shannon Kennedy, an attorney representing Lorentzs family, last month took the first legal step toward filing a civil lawsuit against the US Interior Department and the National Park Service, alleging negligence, assault and battery and false imprisonment, reported Carlsbad Current Argus.

Kennedy said Mitchell shot Lorentz with the Taser without any provocation and made no attempt to de-escalate the situation before resorting to deadly force.

'The park ranger is insane, he's put of his mind,' the attorney told KOB in late June. 'What is he arresting him for? For driving too fast on a country road? And he takes his life over that? It's a citation, it's a warning, it's not a death sentence.'

The family are planning to sue the US Interior Department and the National Park Service, alleging negligence, assault and battery and false imprisonment

The Eddy County Sheriff's Department investigated the fatal shooting and turned over its findings to the Eddy County District Attorney's Office.

Because of the crucial 26 seconds missing from the body camera video, the agency so far has been unable to rule on whether the use of force was justified.

District Attorney Dianna Luce told the station she wants to have every piece of evidence available before making a final determination.

The US Attorneys Office is also looking into the case to see if Lorentzs constitutional rights were violated when Mitchell shot him.

Mitchell, who has been with the National Parks Service since 2002, is now on administrative assignment pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

A GoFundMe page that was launched in June by Lorentz's mother, Kim Beck, described her son as 'a genuine, country raised young man that had a heart of gold. He was hardworking and dedicated. His world was his family and the Colorado landscape where we raised him on the Western Slope.'

Lorentz is survived by his parents and two sisters.

'Our son should still be alive,' Beck wrote. 'Gage tried to defend himself when he was brutally shot - not once, but twice, which resulted in his death. This ranger had absolutely no reason to use deadly force on Gage - he cold-heartedly murdered our son.'
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A Ukrainian artist has exhibited a stunning collection of linen threaded icons made using a brand new patented type of macrame.

Vladimir Denshchikov's Russian Orthodox icons were put on display at the Simferopol Art Museum in the Crimea on Tuesday.

Denshchikov has patented the new style of 'macrame collage' to make the gorgeous designs which have been given the blessing of the church.

Each of the retired actor's intricate collages takes between three and nine months to make and incorporates millions of knots.

Macrame is a style of knot weaving which was historically the preserve of sailors who made elaborate covers for anything from knife handles to bottles of rum.

Vladimir Denshchikov's Orthodox icons were put on display at the Simferopol Art Museum in the Crimea on Tuesday (pictured: a fragment from the composition The Holy Linen)

A fragment of Our Lady of Vladimir on display at the Simferopol Art Museum during an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Denshchikov who uses linen thread to make Orthodox icons. Formerly an actor of the Crimean Academic Russian Drama Theatre, Vladimir invented and patented a brand new macrame technique coined as "macrame collage". His icons are made in full compliance with original Orthodox guidelines and with blessing from the Russian Orthodox Church

Denshchikov has patented the new style of 'macrame collage' to make the stunning designs which have been given the blessing of the church. Each of the retired actor's intricate collages takes between three and nine months to make and incorporates millions of knots. Macrame is a style of knot weaving which was historically the preserve of sailors who made elaborate covers for anything from knife handles to bottles of rum.

Workers of the Simferol Art Museum prepare to open an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Denshchikov from the village of Kizilovoye, central Crimea, who uses linen thread to make Orthodox icons

A fragment of the Holy Trinity on display at the Simferopol Art Museum during an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Denshchikov

A fragment of St Sergius of Radonezh on display at the Simferopol Art Museum during an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Denshchikov who uses linen thread to make Orthodox icons

SIMFEROPOL, CRIMEA- JULY 7, 2020: A fragment of the Holy Martyr Natalia on display at the Simferopol Art Museum during an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Denshchikov who uses linen thread to make Orthodox icons

SIMFEROPOL, CRIMEA - JULY 7, 2020: A fragment of Our Lady of Uryupinsk on display at the Simferopol Art Museum during an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Denshchikov

A fragment of St Olga on display at the Simferopol Art Museum during an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Denshchikov who uses linen thread to make Orthodox icons

SIMFEROPOL, CRIMEA - JULY 7, 2020: A fragment of the Saint Faithful Prince Alexander Nevsky on display at the Simferopol Art Museum during an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Denshchikov

SIMFEROPOL, CRIMEA - JULY 7, 2020: A fragment of St Helena on display at the Simferopol Art Museum

A fragment of Sts Peter and Paul on display at the Simferopol Art Museum

A fragment of Our Lady of Vladimir on display at the Simferopol Art Museum

A fragment of Our Lady of Kazan on display at the Simferopol Art Museum during an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Denshchikov
A 19-year-old has been charged with the murder of a 'brilliant' jazz trumpeter who was stabbed 20 times before his arms and legs were removed.

The head and torso of William Algar, 53, was discovered wrapped up in sheets with both his arms and legs missing in his flat in Barnes, south west London, on January 3.

A post-mortem examination found he died from a wound to the chest.

Police later found human remains, thought to be part of Mr Algar's body, seven miles away near Edgar Road, close to Hounslow Heath.

A 19-year-old has been charged with the murder of 'brilliant' jazz trumpeter William Algar, 53, (pictured) who was stabbed 20 times before his arms and legs were removed

The head and torso of Mr Algar, 53, (pictured) was discovered wrapped up in sheets with both his arms and legs missing in his flat in Barnes, south west London, on January 3

Emeka Dawuda-Wodu, 19, has been charged with Mr Algar's murder. Dawuda-Wodu, of no fixed address, had previously been charged with perverting the course of justice.

Janayo Lucima, 18, had a charge of murder discontinued at court and is charged with perverting the course of justice amid accusations that he helped dispose of the body.

His identity was previously protected by a court order - but this was waved when he turned 18. Lucima, of Earl's Court, London, remains in custody.

Mark Harding, 44, of Isleworth, and Simon Emmons, 40, of no fixed address, both face a charge of perverting the course of justice. Harding and Emmons also remain in custody.

Emeka Dawuda-Wodu, 19, has been charged with Mr Algar's murder. Dawuda-Wodu, of no fixed address, had previously been charged with perverting the course of justice. Pictured: Forensics at scene in January

A 17-year-old boy was arrested on June 3 on suspicion of murder and has been released under investigation.

A 19-year-old man was arrested on January 31 on suspicion of murder and preventing the lawful burial of a body. He was released under investigation pending further inquiries.

Detectives continue to appeal for information and are especially keen to hear from anyone who had contact with Mr Algar in December last year.

Detectives continue to appeal for information and are especially keen to hear from anyone who had contact with Mr Algar in December last year. Pictured: Police at the scene in January

Mr Algar was known to friends and family as Blaise and speaking after his death his grieving relatives said in a tribute: We are utterly horrified to lose our son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, friend in such tragic circumstances.

William Algar, also known as Blaise, was an incredibly talented musician and a gentle man. He was a brilliant jazz trumpeter and his playing brought joy to so many people.

He was also a very vulnerable man.

We hope that someone, anyone, can provide vital information to ensure those responsible for his death are brought to justice as swiftly as possible.
Six leading movie theater chains are suing New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy over his decision to keep the venues closed as other public places are allowed to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in federal court in Trenton, alleges that the theaters should be allowed to reopen due to First Amendment rights.

AMC, Cinemark and Regal are among those named in the lawsuit.

They argue that the Democratic Gov's decision to keep cinemas closed while houses of worship and other public entities are allowed to reopen constitutes a violation of the theaters' rights to free speech, equal protection and due process.

Six leading movie theater chains, including AMC, are suing New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy over his decision to keep the venues closed as other public places are allowed to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic

The theaters named in the lawsuit are seeking a restraining order to allow them to reopen.

The cinemas argue that the Democratic Gov's decision to keep cinemas closed while houses of worship and other public entities are allowed to reopen constitutes a violation of the theaters' rights to free speech

A spokesman for the National Association of Theatre Owners, also a plaintiff in the suit, said it is the first such court action brought as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Places of worship were allowed to resume indoor gatherings in New Jersey last month, with restrictions on capacity and guidelines including the wearing of face coverings and maintaining social distancing.

Other venues including casinos, libraries, museums, aquariums and public and private social clubs were allowed to reopen this month.

Meanwhile, movie theaters, performing arts centers, gyms and fitness centers and indoor amusement and water parks continued to be barred from opening their indoor spaces, according to the suit.

The theater groups claim they have presented detailed safety plans to the state specifying how they would ensure the safety of patrons and employees.

Places of worship were allowed to resume indoor gatherings in New Jersey last month, with restrictions on capacity and guidelines including the wearing of face coverings and maintaining social distancing

Other venues including casinos, libraries, museums, aquariums and public and private social clubs were allowed to reopen this month

'Rather than address these comprehensive safety proposals in any meaningful way, defendants have chosen to continue to discriminate against movie theatres and to continue to require the closure of indoor movie theatres,' the suit claims.

'The ostensible reason offered by defendants is that there are other and virtual ways to watch movies. Defendants have not applied this rationale to the other places of public assembly that defendants have permitted to reopen.'

New Jersey, which was initially among one of the hardest hit states from COVID-19, has had a downward trajectory of both deaths and new cases in recent weeks.

Although New Jersey's hospitalization rate is down drastically from a peak a few months ago, officials fear hospitalizations for the virus will rise again if people become lax about taking precautions.

As of Monday, the state had 173,611 infections, 15,229 deaths and 20,237 currently hospitalized.
The family of Breonna Taylor, pictured, claim the officers carried out a fatal no-knock warrant on her home despite the search being called off earlier that night

Louisville police went through with a warrant search on Breonna Taylor's apartment despite it being previously called off, her family says in a new court filing.

The family of the 26-year-old EMT, who was fatally shot in her home by police operating on a no-knock warrant, has alleged that the drug suspect linked with Taylor had been located elsewhere earlier that night, resulting in the end of the need for the warrant.

They claim, however, that officers continued to carry out the deadly raid, looking for suspects who had no connection to Taylor.

National civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, said that the officers involved 'exhibited outrageous, RECKLESS, willful, wanton & UNLAWFUL conduct' and that they 'should NEVER have been at Breonna Taylors home in the first place'.

Taylor was killed on March 13 when officers burst into her apartment in the early morning hours. She had been asleep moments before her death.

The shooting set off weeks of protests, policy changes and a call for the officers who shot Taylor to be criminally charged.

National civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, announced the new allegations that Taylor's family has added to their civil lawsuit over her shooting

'Connecting the dots, it's clear that these officers should never have been at Breonna Taylor's home in the first place, and that they invaded the residence with no probable cause,' Crump said in a statement.

Crump and other Louisville attorneys are representing Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, in a civil lawsuit, which was amended this week to include new allegations about the night of the shooting.

'The officers who ROBBED Bre of her LIFE  and Tamika of her daughter  exhibited outrageous, RECKLESS, willful, wanton & UNLAWFUL conduct,' Crump added in a tweet.

'The city lost one of its most precious essential frontline workers, who risked her life daily to save her fellow residents in a pandemic.

'This is a grievous offense against Breonna, her family, and the greater Louisville community.'

Louisville police have declined to comment on the investigation, and an internal probe of the officer's actions has been turned over to the Kentucky attorney general for review.

Taylor - who had no criminal record and worked for two local hospitals - was killed after police fired at least 20 rounds into the home, according to a lawsuit filed by her family

The suit, filed by Taylor's mother Tamika Palmer (pictured), suggests that her daughter's slaying was a result of a warrant search that had already been called off that night

The FBI is also investigating potential civil rights violations by the police.

The warrant used to enter Taylor's home just after midnight was secured by police observing an alleged drug dealer, identified in the complaint as 'JG,' at Taylor's home two months earlier.

Taylor and the man had a prior relationship, the family's suit said.

But that man, Jamarcus Glover, was arrested that night more than ten miles away, though two other suspects the police were looking for were not with Glover, the suit said.

Those suspects, identified in the suit as 'AW' and 'DC' never had a relationship with Taylor and neither looked like Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend who was with her the night she was shot, the court filing said.

Police had been searching for Jamarcus Glover, pictured, who was arrested that night more than ten miles away and with whom Taylor had a previous relationship

The suit said 'AW' lived at a separate address that police also had a warrant for, but they proceeded to search Taylor's house to see if he or the other man were there.

An ambulance that had been stationed near Taylor's apartment in anticipation of the initial search had been called off, the suit said.

It said the EMS unit was cleared because police 'had never actually intended to raid Breonna's home unless (Glover) was there.'

'As such, it does indeed appear that the (police) "hit the wrong house" when they went to Springfield (Taylor's apartment), rather than actually hitting the house in which the target was actually located,' the 31-page complaint added.

Police arrived at Taylor's apartment about 12:40 a.m. and banged on the door but did not say they were police officers, the suit said.

Louisville police have said they knocked and announced their presence at the apartment.

Taylor's neighbors and her family dispute this.

After the door was knocked down by a battering ram, Officer Jonathan Mattingly went inside and was shot in the leg by Walker, who has said he didn't know who was entering the apartment and was firing a warning shot.

Mattingly and the other officers serving the warrant, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, then began shooting 'erratically, recklessly, willfully, wantonly and maliciously from inside the home, outside the home, outside a neighbor's home, outside Breonna's patio door and outside the window to Breonna's sisters room,' the suit said.

Taylor was struck by bullets in the hallway and suffered eight gunshot wounds.

The three officers in the case - from left, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detectives Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove - have not been charged in the shooting despite protests

Walker was arrested and charged with first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer after Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was shot in the leg during the raid.

The attempted murder charge against Walker was later dropped.

Hankison, 44, was later fired after it was found he violated department policies by 'blindly' firing 10 rounds into Taylor's home during the incident. The two other cops have been placed on administrative reassignment.

The family's suit, which named the three officers as defendants, said Taylor lived for another five or six minutes after she was shot but an ambulance was not on the scene.

The complaint also said police conducted a concerted effort to remove Glover and other alleged drug dealers from a residential area near downtown to make way for a new development with federal funding.

The family claims the botched raid was linked to a plan to clear out Louisville neighborhoods so a $30 million gentrification project could move forward.

Glover was one of the 'primary roadblocks' to the area's redevelopment, according to the lawsuit published in The Courier Journal.

Jean Porter, a spokeswoman for Mayor Greg Fischer, called the allegations 'outrageous' and 'without foundation or supporting facts.'

Other advocates of the project, including Mary Ellen Weiderwohl, who leads the city community development group Louisville Forward, said those allegations in the suit are a 'gross mischaracterization' of a plan to build new affordable housing in low-income areas.

The warrant, which was approved the day before Taylor died, had been based on a detective's belief that Glover used Taylor's residence to receive mail, keep drugs, or stash money from the sale of drugs.

Detective Joshua Jaynes wrote in an affidavit seeking the no-knock search warrant that he spotted Glover leave Taylor's apartment in January with a US Postal Service package before driving to a 'known drug house.'

Jaynes claimed that he had verified Glover was receiving mail at Taylor's address, 'through a US Postal Inspector'.

However, a Louisville postal inspector told WDRB that a different agency had reached out about Glover receiving suspicious mail at the home, a claim that was determined unfounded.

Jaynes now is on administrative reassignment as the department looks into how the search warrant was approved, interim Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert Schroeder said last month.

'When the layers are peeled back, the origin of Breonna's 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,' the family's attorneys claim.

'Breonna's death was the culmination of radical political and police conduct.'

The redevelopment plan includes a revitalized Beecher Terrace public housing development component. Pictured is a rendering of the new buildings

A page from the family's lawsuit highlights renderings that show homes on Elliott Avenue 'to be demolished' is part of the $30million redevelopment plan of the area

The Place-Based Investigations squad, which executed the search warrant, was formed to go after criminals in 'systemically violent locations' and support other law enforcement activities, according to the department's organizational structure.

'PBI focuses on identifying and disrupting crime place networks,' said the department on its website.

'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.'

Jaynes, according to court records, obtained five warrants, including one for Taylor's apartment on Elliott Avenue, on March 12. Warrants also were obtained for two vacant homes nearby, also on Elliott Avenue, and an alleged stash house on West Muhammad Ali Boulevard.

Glover and a second suspect named Adrian Walker were in all five warrants.

'The reality was that the occupants were not anywhere close to Louisville's versions of Pablo Escobar or Scarface,' the family's lawsuit 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.'
A Muslim teenager is voicing her outrage after a Starbucks barista allegedly wrote 'ISIS' on her coffee cup.

Aishah, who only released her first name for safety reasons, said she ordered a drink at a Starbucks inside a Target in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 1 when she received the shocking phrase on her order.

The 19-year-old said she was wearing a hijab when she made her order and repeated her name multiple times.

But she was appalled when she received her beverage and saw 'ISIS', which stands for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, scrawled on it. ISIS is a terrorist organization associated with radicalized people of the Muslim faith on it.

'When I first received the drink I was in shock that in this day and age something like this could be written,' the shaken college student said during a press conference on Monday with a civil rights attorney, slamming the incident as Islamaphobic.

Minnesota student Aishah, 19, says a Starbucks barista wrote 'ISIS' on her cup at a St. Paul location inside a Target store on July 1. She said she was wearing a hijab and repeated her name several times

Aishah said at a press conference Monday: 'When I first received the drink I was in shock that in this day and age something like this could be written.' She's calling for the barista and manager to be fired

She said she felt humiliated, enraged and belittled by the incident.

Aishah said she asked to speak with the manager, but they ended up defending the barista, calling the incident a mistake.

The manager told Aishah, 'Whats the issue? People get their names wrong all the time,' according to Jaylani Hussein, the executive director for the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which held the press conference.

Starbucks gav Aishah a new drink and a $25 gift card before she left the store.

Target released a statement saying that the barista misheard Aishahs name and issued an apology.

'We have investigated the matter and believe that it was not a deliberate act but an unfortunate mistake that could have been avoided with more clarification,' the statement said.

The incident took place at a Starbucks location inside a Target store in Midway in St. Paul

'Were taking appropriate actions with the team member, including additional training, to ensure this does not occur again,'Target added.

In a Target statement cited by CAIR, the store said the barista 'has never heard of ISIS.'

CAIR said it is planning on filing discrimination charges with the US Department of Human Rights, Hussein said Monday.

'When we talk about this word ISIS and the weight that it has in the Muslim community, unfortunately with Islamophobia  the number one thing discriminatory identified is "terrorist,"' Hussein said.

CAIR said it is planning on filing discrimination charges with the US Department of Human Rights, Jaylani Hussein, the executive director for the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Monday

'And the fact of the matter here is that using this word for us would be the same as a Black man today, being used the N-word, or anything else that would be offensive,' he added.

Aishah is calling for the barista and manager to be fired. They are both Target employees as the Starbucks location is a licensee store operated by Target.

'We call on Brian Cornell and Target to make the same commitment to stand against Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination and hate,' Alec Shaw, a civil rights attorney for CAIR, said Monday.

Target CEO Brian Cornell released a statement in May saying his company is committed to standing against racism.
A man who was placed in a chokehold by a cop on a Queens boardwalk June 21 was arrested himself on Tuesday in The Bronx - charged with a hate crime after he allegedly harassed two gay men, hurling anti-gay slurs at them as he tried to steal their Louis Vuitton bag with a box cutter, police sources told DailyMail.com.

Ricky Bellevue, 35, and another man allegedly approached a gay couple, aged 27 and 30, on the sidewalk at East 149th Street and 3rd Avenue in the South Bronx at about noon on Tuesday, sources said.

Bellevue followed the couple up the street, while calling them 'fa**ot' and 'Ba**man,' a Jamaican slur for gay man. He then brandished a box cutter and tried to grab one of their designer bags. The men resisted, and a fight broke out.

The 27-year-old man was cut in the face and both hands with Bellevue's box cutter and treated for minor injuries.

Bellevue was charged with robbery as a hate crime, a felony. He was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where he was put on suicide watch, a source said.

Ricky Bellevue, seen in a Brooklyn jersey, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with a hate crime. The other man in this video is unidentified

Bellevue, 35, made headlines last month when an NYPD cop put him in a chokehold during arrest eight days after the move was banned in the state

Bellevue was thrown to the floor after confronting officers on Rockaway Beach in New York

Just two weeks ago the New York Police Department suspended the officer for slamming a Bellevue to the ground and putting him in a chokehold - eight days after Governor Andrew Cuomo banned the tactic.

Bellevue, was standing with two white men on the boardwalk at Rockaway Beach at 8.45am last month.

The two white men were filming the officers, jeering at them and encircling them.

When Bellevue gets close to the officer, bodycamera footage shows him being flung to the floor.

In his left hand he held a white plastic bag, but a policeman said he grabbed something, perhaps with his right hand, and approached the officers. The footage is unclear.

Bellevue then tells a cop: 'You scared, you scared?'

As he approaches the officer, one of the white men turns to Bellevue and says: 'Yo, n***** what the f***?'

One of the belligerent men tries to hold Bellevue back, but the officer lunges forward and grabs him, taking him down. A scuffle then ensues.

Photos from the scene appear to show Bellevue being held in a chokehold.

As four uniformed officers restrained the man  who was face-down on the ground  a bystander yelled: 'Yo, he's choking 'em, let 'em go!'

Dermot Shea, commissioner of NYPD, said the officer involved had been suspended.

'Accountability in policing is essential,' he said.

'After a swift investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau, a police officer involved in a disturbing apparent chokehold incident in Queens has been suspended without pay.

'While a full investigation is still underway, there is no question in my mind that this immediate action is necessary.

'We are committed to transparency as this process continues.'

The NYPD Commissioner swiftly suspended the officer and said an investigation is underway

The New York Daily News named the suspended officer as David Afanador.

Bellevue, who lives with his twin brother in Rockaway, is overheard telling the officers he is bipolar and asthmatic.

'This is what you do to a black man on Father's Day?' he says after he is led to an ambulance.

'This is what you do in America? I'm born in America.

'You're not here to help us. You're here to kill us. I always get beat up by the police.'

Standing by an EMT vehicle, he complains about his neck.

'Sir, there is no pressure on your neck,' one officer is overheard saying.

Bellevue keeps on repeating that he is asthmatic.

A person says: 'Sir, I am EMS, do you mind if I take a look at your lungs?'

He replies: 'Get the f*** away from me. You put me on my head. You smacked me, n*****.'

The officer tells him he needs to stop spitting.

'I'm going to sue y'all,' he says. 'I want all your badges.'

Two white men are seen in bodycam footage jeering at the police as Green looks on

A tussle ensues and Bellevue is wrestled to the floor and handcuffed

At least five officers are on the scene at Rockaway Beach

Bellevue is then helped to his feet and, in handcuffs, led towards an awaiting ambulance

While he is being looked at by the EMT, a woman yells: 'Do you not see that they are mentally ill, as well as he is? This is foolish.'

An officer approaches him and says: 'Ma'am. They were all acting crazy, right.'

She replies: 'So how are they not all being detained?'

He says: 'Let me finish. They are all obviously intoxicated. We know he has a mental history, past. We know he's bipolar. They were all talking all types of crazy stuff to us, we did nothing, I don't care - anybody can say whatever they want to us.

'What changed everything is when he grabbed something and squared up and was going to hit my officer, who's standing over there. That's when everything changed.

'The minute I saw him flex on him, that's when he goes down. Because we don't get hurt and we're not going to leave somebody violent out here who might do that to one of you, or another innocent person.

'And that's why he's in cuffs, and why he's going to the hospital, because we know he's ill.

'The other two were being loud, aggressive, and we don't like the way they are acting. But they are not acting like they were going to hurt anybody.

She suggests that he was arrested for calling the officers 'a white piece of s***.'

He continues: 'If we arrested every person who called me a white piece of s*** I'd have to lock up half the beach.

'Somebody who is not being violent, we'll allow you to have your First Amendment rights and go home.

'Somebody who acts differently towards us or the public, that's it and we'll have to take you into custody.'

The NYPD swiftly released bodycamera footage from the incident

Bellevue's lawyer, Lori Zeno of the Queens Defenders, said recovered at Jamaica Hospital.

'I want the officer who put him in a chokehold to be in the cell next to him,' she said at the time. 'This guy should be charged criminally, and fired.'

Mayor de Blasio called the video 'very concerning.'

'We're glad the NYPD is immediately launching an investigation to get to the bottom of what happened,' the mayor said.

Letitia James, the New York attorney general, said individuals who use chokeholds could be found guilty of a C felony.

'It is a very troubling video,' she said.

She said people had gathered in front of the 100th Precinct to 'demand justice and accountability'.
Wednesday's mini-Budget will see the Chancellor put jobs at the heart of his 2billion scheme to prevent a surge in youth unemployment.

Rishi Sunak will unveil a radical plan designed to keep up to 300,000 young people off the dole as the Covid-19 recession bites.

The Kickstart initiative will see the Treasury pay the wages of thousands of youngsters if firms agree to hire them for six months.

Mr Sunak's mini-budget is set to reveal how Britain will attempt to steady its economy as it comes out of lockdown forced by the pandemic

Businesses will have to agree to provide an element of training and ministers hope that some of the youngsters will be kept on at the end of their stint.

In return, firms will receive what Treasury sources acknowledged amounts to free labour.

The scheme is the centrepiece in a financial statement that will focus on jobs.

But No 10 moved to allay tax rise fears by saying the Government would stick to its manifesto commitment for a triple lock, meaning no increases in the headline rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT before the election.

Ministers fear the lockdown will spark redundancies and last night the Chancellor said: Young people bear the brunt of most economic crises but they are at particular risk this time because they work in the sectors disproportionately hit.

So weve got a bold plan to protect, support and create jobs.

Todays mini-Budget is designed to steady the economy as it emerges from lockdown. There will be no attempt to balance the books, which have been plunged deep into the red by the pandemic.

Mr Sunak is not even expected to publish a forecast for the public finances, which economists fear could show a budget deficit of more than 300billion  twice the level seen at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

Instead, the Chancellor will focus on a package of spending measures and tax cuts designed to prop up jobs and spark an economic recovery.

The Chancellor is set to announce his mini-budget which is believed to put jobs at the heart of his 2billion scheme to prevent unemployment in young people

But yesterday there were signs that Mr Sunaks big-spending instincts are alarming some Tories.

Sir Edward Leigh, a former chairman of the Common public accounts committee, told Mr Sunak he wanted to hear less about high-spending lefties like President Roosevelt and more about good Conservatives like Margaret Thatcher.

In a separate report, six former No 10 advisers called for sweeping reform of the tax system and warned excessive government debt could halt recovery.

The Kickstart scheme, which will run until at least the end of 2021, is to be open to people aged 16 to 24 who are claiming Universal Credit.

They will receive the minimum wage, paid by the state, to work 25 hours a week. Their employers national insurance and pension contributions will also be paid.

And firms will receive an administration fee of around 1,000 per employee for arranging the placement.

It will start getting under way next month, with the first placements expected to begin in the autumn.

A number of large employers, including BT and Sainsburys, have already signed up.

A Treasury source said business had a moral responsibility to do what it could to help youngsters avoid unemployment.

The scheme is likely to revive memories of the Youth Opportunities Programme and its successor Youth Training Scheme in the 1980s, which critics said were used as dumping grounds to keep unemployment down.

But Treasury sources last night insisted that businesses would be expected to offer good quality training to those they decide to take on.

Mr Sunak is also expected to expand the apprenticeships programme, where more dedicated training is expected.

The British Chambers of Commerce last night welcomed the Kickstart scheme, saying firms were ready to work with government in order to help youngsters entering the world of work at this challenging time.

Rishi Sunak is set to axe stamp duty on most homes on Wednesday in a temporary move designed to boost the flagging housing market.

Whitehall sources said the Chancellor was ready to introduce a six-month stamp duty holiday as part of his mini-Budget designed to boost growth and jobs.

Mr Sunak is understood to be considering raising the starting threshold for paying stamp duty from 125,000 to at least 300,000, and possibly as much as 500,000.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) will scrap the stamp duty in a bid to boost growth and jobs

On a property worth the national average of 248,000, the reduction would save a buyer 2,460. If the stamp duty threshold is raised as high as 500,000, this would be worth 15,000 to the home buyer.

Today Mr Sunak is expected to announce:

Stamp duty's threshold will increase from 125,000 to between 300,000 and 500,000 for six months to boost housing market;

The Treasury confirmed that a 2billion scheme to install home insulation could support more than 100,000 jobs when details are released today;

Schools, hospitals and other public buildings to get 1bn to make them greener and more energy efficient;

Some 50m to fund retrofitting of social housing with insulation, double glazing and heat pumps;

Nature conservation schemes given 40m to plant trees, clean up rivers and create new green spaces.

It will also contribute towards a Government target of planting 75,000 acres of trees a year by 2025.

Rishi Sunak will unveil a radical plan designed to keep up to 300,000 young people off the dole as the Covid-19 recession bites.

Mr Sunak played down hopes of an immediate cut in air passenger duty;

Labour has called for a 'flexible' furlough scheme during local lockdowns

There are hopes it will prevent 'avoid additional floods of redundancy notices'

The Chancellor finalised plans for a temporary cut in VAT which is expected to be focused on struggling sectors like hospitality.

Mr Sunak acted on stamp duty after leaked reports revealed he was considering making a cut in his main Budget this autumn.

Economists and property experts warned the delay could freeze the housing market, with buyers putting off purchases until the autumn to avoid a tax bill running into thousands of pounds.

The revelation about the Chancellor's plans has sparked anger in the Treasury and Downing Street, and a leak inquiry is underway. Exact details of Mr Sunak's plan will only be revealed on Wednesday.

The move could save buyers thousands of pounds though exact details of Mr Sunak's plans will be revealed on Wednesday

Mini-budget includes new energy saving improvements Homeowners are set to get 5,000 for insulation and energy saving improvements as part of Rishi Sunak's mini-Budget. 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. 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. Advertisement

On Tuesday it remained unclear whether the exemption would apply to all properties or whether it would be restricted to the residential sector or even just so-called 'affordable homes'.

First-time buyers are already exempt on the first 300,000 of a purchase. Raising this to 500,000 would save them up to an additional 10,000.

The Treasury declined to comment on the impact on higher rates of stamp duty, which are currently two per cent on the cost above 125,000, five per cent above 250,000, ten per cent on the value above 925,000 and 12 per cent above 1.5million.

Landlords and those buying second homes pay an additional three per cent. The temporary cut in duty is designed to help revive the market, which remains in a fragile state after being shut down at the height of the lockdown.

Treasury officials believe it could spark a much wider economic recovery, with many expected to use the tax savings to invest in their new home.

Stuart Adam, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said history showed that temporary cuts in stamp duty could provide an 'effective fiscal stimulus' to the economy.

He added: 'If the holiday is explicitly temporary then it can persuade people to bring forward moves that they might otherwise have delayed. If you get people buying houses again then it can pull a lot of other economic activity with it, such as spending on refurbishment, curtains, carpets, furniture, DIY and so on.

'It doesn't target the sectors hardest hit by the lockdown, such as the hospitality sector. But it might help the wider economy. If you want to do a fiscal stimulus via tax cuts then a temporary cut in stamp duty is fairly effective.'

In 2018-19, properties costing up to 500,000 accounted for 925,000 residential sales, or roughly 90 per cent of all transactions.

Those purchases raised 3.2billion for the Treasury, suggesting a six-month tax break would cost about 1.6billion.

However the timing is likely to spark a debate. Treasury officials acknowledge they have limited data about the state of the housing market, which was only allowed to start trading again in mid-May.

Former chancellor Philip Hammond warned that a temporary cut in stamp duty would only bring forward economic activity, rather than increase it overall.

Rightmove property expert Miles Shipside urged the Chancellor to also act on the mortgage drought hitting first-time buyers.

The move is also set to act as a boost for the housing and property market, which has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic

Everything you need to know about stamp duty - What is stamp duty? The Stamp Duty Land Tax was introduced in its current form in December 2013 and applies to people who buy a property or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland. The current threshold means property costing over 125,000 is liable for the tax, although the 2017 Budget abolished stamp duty for first-time home buyers in England and Wales purchasing homes up to 300,000. - What is the case elsewhere in the UK? Wales and Scotland have their own arrangements. In Scotland, the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax is applicable when purchasing residential property or land for more than 145,000, while in Wales the Land Transaction Tax starts for transactions over 180,000. - What are the current stamp duty rates? For first-time buyers, there is no tax on places costing up to 300,000 and 5% on the portion from 300,001 to 500,000. For those who have purchased a house before, it is a sliding scale and people pay on the portion of the property price which falls within each band. The bands are: 2% on properties costing 125,001-250,000, 5% on 250,001-925,000, 10% on 925,001-1.5 million, and 12% on any value above 1.5 million. Buyers of second homes - whether buy-to-let or holiday homes - pay a 3% surcharge over the standard rate. - How much does it add to the cost of buying a house? The House Price Index from Halifax suggested the average UK property cost 237,616 in May. A property at this price would lead to a stamp duty obligation of around 2,250. - What could change following the expected announcement? If the Government temporarily increased the threshold to 500,000, that could save people up to 15,000 in stamp duty, while an increase to 300,000 would save 5,000. Analysis by Rightmove suggested that buyers in England's Home Counties areas clustered around London could be particularly likely to make big savings, in the event of an uplift in the stamp duty threshold to 500,000. It also found areas where the average price tag on a home is close to 500,000 include Dorking in Surrey (498,422), Lewes in East Sussex (491,304), Oxford (479,099), Chesham in Buckinghamshire (462,210), Borehamwood in Hertfordshire (476,791) and Bath (464,617). - What could the impact be on the housing market? Richard Donnell, research and insight director at Zoopla, said it would 'provide a further boost to demand for housing'. He said: 'The Government would hope that the savings feed into additional spending in the real economy, with more cash spent on home improvements and white goods rather than enabling buyers to spend that bit more on their next home.' It is hoped the temporary nature of the expected announcement will encourage people thinking about buying a house to enter the market. Advertisement

He said: 'There's currently record housing demand but the market also needs the ability for lenders to extend the availability of low-deposit mortgages, vital to healthy first-time buyer volumes that help drive the rest of the market.

'A stamp duty holiday without better mortgage availability isn't really helpful for potential first-time buyers who are already mainly exempt from it anyway.'

Labour is set to urge the Chancellor to develop a 'flexible' furlough scheme to support businesses that are forced to close during local lockdowns

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds will also press Mr Sunak to spell out how he will fund his coronavirus recovery package without hiking taxes or slashing public services.

Mr Sunak will on Wednesday unveil a 2 billion scheme to subside six-month work placements for under-25s among the measures in his Covid-19 recovery package.

But the job retention scheme that has seen the Government pay up to 80% of furloughed workers' salaries will be wound up and is due to come to an end in October.

Anneliese Dodds, seen speaking to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, has suggested a 'flexible' furlough scheme could 'avoid additional floods of redundancy notices'

Ms Dodds is expected to tell Mr Sunak that the at least 27.4 billion spent to support 9.4 million jobs 'must not have merely served to postpone unemployment'.

'The scheme must now live up to its name, supporting employment in industries which are viable in the long term,' the Labour MP is likely to add during their House of Commons exchange.

'And we need a strategy for the scheme to become more flexible, so it can support those businesses forced to close again because of additional localised lockdowns.

'There is still time to avoid additional floods of redundancy notices.'

Ms Dodds is also set to warn that increasing taxes during the recovery and cutting back on public services 'will damage demand and inhibit our recovery'.

'The Tory manifesto committed to no rises in income tax, National Insurance or VAT and therefore it is for them to set out how any additional spending will be paid for,' she should add.

'It's the Chancellor's job to make sure the economy bounces back from this crisis so there is money in the coffers to protect the public finances.'
Rishi Sunak is set to axe stamp duty on most homes on Wednesday in a temporary move designed to boost the flagging housing market.

Whitehall sources said the Chancellor was ready to introduce a six-month stamp duty holiday as part of his mini-Budget designed to boost growth and jobs.

Mr Sunak is understood to be considering raising the starting threshold for paying stamp duty from 125,000 to at least 300,000, and possibly as much as 500,000.

The stamp duty holiday could save people up to 15,000 if they are paying 500,000

Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) will scrap the stamp duty in a bid to boost growth and jobs

The IMF has warned the UK is on track for a 10.2 per cent recession this year

The IMF estimates that the UK's fiscal response to the crisis is bigger as a percentage of GDP than some other major countries - but not as big as Italy, Germany or Japan

The public sector debt pile has reached the 2trillion mark as the crisis causes chaos

The OECD has warned that the unemployment rate could be nearly 15 per cent if there is a second peak of coroanvirus

On a property worth the national average of 248,000, the reduction would save a buyer 2,460. If the stamp duty threshold is raised as high as 500,000, this would be worth 15,000 to the home buyer.

Today Mr Sunak is expected to announce:

Stamp duty's threshold will increase from 125,000 to between 300,000 and 500,000 for six months to boost housing market;

The Treasury confirmed that a 2billion scheme to install home insulation could support more than 100,000 jobs when details are released today;

Schools, hospitals and other public buildings to get 1bn to make them greener and more energy efficient;

Some 50m to fund retrofitting of social housing with insulation, double glazing and heat pumps;

Nature conservation schemes given 40m to plant trees, clean up rivers and create new green spaces.

It will also contribute towards a Government target of planting 75,000 acres of trees a year by 2025.

Rishi Sunak will unveil a radical plan designed to keep up to 300,000 young people off the dole as the Covid-19 recession bites.

Mr Sunak played down hopes of an immediate cut in air passenger duty;

Labour has called for a 'flexible' furlough scheme during local lockdowns

There are hopes it will prevent 'avoid additional floods of redundancy notices'

The Chancellor finalised plans for a temporary cut in VAT which is expected to be focused on struggling sectors like hospitality.

Mr Sunak acted on stamp duty after leaked reports revealed he was considering making a cut in his main Budget this autumn.

Economists and property experts warned the delay could freeze the housing market, with buyers putting off purchases until the autumn to avoid a tax bill running into thousands of pounds.

The revelation about the Chancellor's plans has sparked anger in the Treasury and Downing Street, and a leak inquiry is underway. Exact details of Mr Sunak's plan will only be revealed on Wednesday.

The move could save buyers thousands of pounds though exact details of Mr Sunak's plans will be revealed on Wednesday

Mini-budget includes new energy saving improvements Homeowners are set to get 5,000 for insulation and energy saving improvements as part of Rishi Sunak's mini-Budget. 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. 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. Advertisement

On Tuesday it remained unclear whether the exemption would apply to all properties or whether it would be restricted to the residential sector or even just so-called 'affordable homes'.

First-time buyers are already exempt on the first 300,000 of a purchase. Raising this to 500,000 would save them up to an additional 10,000.

The Treasury declined to comment on the impact on higher rates of stamp duty, which are currently two per cent on the cost above 125,000, five per cent above 250,000, ten per cent on the value above 925,000 and 12 per cent above 1.5million.

Landlords and those buying second homes pay an additional three per cent. The temporary cut in duty is designed to help revive the market, which remains in a fragile state after being shut down at the height of the lockdown.

Treasury officials believe it could spark a much wider economic recovery, with many expected to use the tax savings to invest in their new home.

Stuart Adam, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said history showed that temporary cuts in stamp duty could provide an 'effective fiscal stimulus' to the economy.

He added: 'If the holiday is explicitly temporary then it can persuade people to bring forward moves that they might otherwise have delayed. If you get people buying houses again then it can pull a lot of other economic activity with it, such as spending on refurbishment, curtains, carpets, furniture, DIY and so on.

'It doesn't target the sectors hardest hit by the lockdown, such as the hospitality sector. But it might help the wider economy. If you want to do a fiscal stimulus via tax cuts then a temporary cut in stamp duty is fairly effective.'

In 2018-19, properties costing up to 500,000 accounted for 925,000 residential sales, or roughly 90 per cent of all transactions.

Those purchases raised 3.2billion for the Treasury, suggesting a six-month tax break would cost about 1.6billion.

However the timing is likely to spark a debate. Treasury officials acknowledge they have limited data about the state of the housing market, which was only allowed to start trading again in mid-May.

Former chancellor Philip Hammond warned that a temporary cut in stamp duty would only bring forward economic activity, rather than increase it overall.

Rightmove property expert Miles Shipside urged the Chancellor to also act on the mortgage drought hitting first-time buyers.

The move is also set to act as a boost for the housing and property market, which has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic

He said: 'There's currently record housing demand but the market also needs the ability for lenders to extend the availability of low-deposit mortgages, vital to healthy first-time buyer volumes that help drive the rest of the market.

'A stamp duty holiday without better mortgage availability isn't really helpful for potential first-time buyers who are already mainly exempt from it anyway.'

Labour is set to urge the Chancellor to develop a 'flexible' furlough scheme to support businesses that are forced to close during local lockdowns

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds will also press Mr Sunak to spell out how he will fund his coronavirus recovery package without hiking taxes or slashing public services.

Mr Sunak will on Wednesday unveil a 2 billion scheme to subside six-month work placements for under-25s among the measures in his Covid-19 recovery package.

But the job retention scheme that has seen the Government pay up to 80% of furloughed workers' salaries will be wound up and is due to come to an end in October.

Anneliese Dodds, seen speaking to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, has suggested a 'flexible' furlough scheme could 'avoid additional floods of redundancy notices'

Ms Dodds is expected to tell Mr Sunak that the at least 27.4 billion spent to support 9.4 million jobs 'must not have merely served to postpone unemployment'.

'The scheme must now live up to its name, supporting employment in industries which are viable in the long term,' the Labour MP is likely to add during their House of Commons exchange.

'And we need a strategy for the scheme to become more flexible, so it can support those businesses forced to close again because of additional localised lockdowns.

'There is still time to avoid additional floods of redundancy notices.'

Ms Dodds is also set to warn that increasing taxes during the recovery and cutting back on public services 'will damage demand and inhibit our recovery'.

'The Tory manifesto committed to no rises in income tax, National Insurance or VAT and therefore it is for them to set out how any additional spending will be paid for,' she should add.

'It's the Chancellor's job to make sure the economy bounces back from this crisis so there is money in the coffers to protect the public finances.'

Everything you need to know about stamp duty - What is stamp duty? The Stamp Duty Land Tax was introduced in its current form in December 2013 and applies to people who buy a property or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland. The current threshold means property costing over 125,000 is liable for the tax, although the 2017 Budget abolished stamp duty for first-time home buyers in England and Wales purchasing homes up to 300,000. - What is the case elsewhere in the UK? Wales and Scotland have their own arrangements. In Scotland, the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax is applicable when purchasing residential property or land for more than 145,000, while in Wales the Land Transaction Tax starts for transactions over 180,000. - What are the current stamp duty rates? For first-time buyers, there is no tax on places costing up to 300,000 and 5% on the portion from 300,001 to 500,000. For those who have purchased a house before, it is a sliding scale and people pay on the portion of the property price which falls within each band. The bands are: 2% on properties costing 125,001-250,000, 5% on 250,001-925,000, 10% on 925,001-1.5 million, and 12% on any value above 1.5 million. Buyers of second homes - whether buy-to-let or holiday homes - pay a 3% surcharge over the standard rate. - How much does it add to the cost of buying a house? The House Price Index from Halifax suggested the average UK property cost 237,616 in May. A property at this price would lead to a stamp duty obligation of around 2,250. - What could change following the expected announcement? If the Government temporarily increased the threshold to 500,000, that could save people up to 15,000 in stamp duty, while an increase to 300,000 would save 5,000. Analysis by Rightmove suggested that buyers in England's Home Counties areas clustered around London could be particularly likely to make big savings, in the event of an uplift in the stamp duty threshold to 500,000. It also found areas where the average price tag on a home is close to 500,000 include Dorking in Surrey (498,422), Lewes in East Sussex (491,304), Oxford (479,099), Chesham in Buckinghamshire (462,210), Borehamwood in Hertfordshire (476,791) and Bath (464,617). - What could the impact be on the housing market? Richard Donnell, research and insight director at Zoopla, said it would 'provide a further boost to demand for housing'. He said: 'The Government would hope that the savings feed into additional spending in the real economy, with more cash spent on home improvements and white goods rather than enabling buyers to spend that bit more on their next home.' It is hoped the temporary nature of the expected announcement will encourage people thinking about buying a house to enter the market. Advertisement

Government will pay 2bn in wages for 300,000 16-24-year-olds to keep them off the dole as Rishi Sunak puts jobs at the heart of his mini-Budget today

Wednesday's mini-Budget will see the Chancellor put jobs at the heart of his 2billion scheme to prevent a surge in youth unemployment.

Rishi Sunak will unveil a radical plan designed to keep up to 300,000 young people off the dole as the Covid-19 recession bites.

The Kickstart initiative will see the Treasury pay the wages of thousands of youngsters if firms agree to hire them for six months.

The Chancellor is set to announce his mini-budget which is believed to put jobs at the heart of his 2billion scheme to prevent unemployment in young people

Businesses will have to agree to provide an element of training and ministers hope that some of the youngsters will be kept on at the end of their stint.

In return, firms will receive what Treasury sources acknowledged amounts to 'free labour'.

The scheme is the centrepiece in a financial statement that will focus on jobs.

But No 10 moved to allay tax rise fears by saying the Government would stick to its manifesto commitment for a 'triple lock', meaning no increases in the headline rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT before the election.

Ministers fear the lockdown will spark redundancies and last night the Chancellor said: 'Young people bear the brunt of most economic crises but they are at particular risk this time because they work in the sectors disproportionately hit.

'So we've got a bold plan to protect, support and create jobs.'

Today's mini-Budget is designed to steady the economy as it emerges from lockdown. There will be no attempt to balance the books, which have been plunged deep into the red by the pandemic.

Mr Sunak is not even expected to publish a forecast for the public finances, which economists fear could show a budget deficit of more than 300billion  twice the level seen at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

Instead, the Chancellor will focus on a package of spending measures and tax cuts designed to prop up jobs and spark an economic recovery.

Mr Sunak's mini-budget is set to reveal how Britain will attempt to steady its economy as it comes out of lockdown forced by the pandemic

But yesterday there were signs that Mr Sunak's big-spending instincts are alarming some Tories.

Sir Edward Leigh, a former chairman of the Common public accounts committee, told Mr Sunak he wanted to hear 'less about high-spending lefties like President Roosevelt and more about good Conservatives like Margaret Thatcher'.

In a separate report, six former No 10 advisers called for 'sweeping reform' of the tax system and warned excessive government debt could halt recovery.

The Kickstart scheme, which will run until at least the end of 2021, is to be open to people aged 16 to 24 who are claiming Universal Credit.

They will receive the minimum wage, paid by the state, to work 25 hours a week. Their employers' national insurance and pension contributions will also be paid.

And firms will receive an 'administration fee' of around 1,000 per employee for arranging the placement.

It will start getting under way next month, with the first placements expected to begin in the autumn.

The Treasury announced it has a moral responsibility to do whatever it takes to prevent young people facing unemployment during this crisis

A number of large employers, including BT and Sainsbury's, have already signed up.

A Treasury source said business had a 'moral responsibility' to do what it could to help youngsters avoid unemployment.

The scheme is likely to revive memories of the Youth Opportunities Programme and its successor Youth Training Scheme in the 1980s, which critics said were used as dumping grounds to keep unemployment down.

But Treasury sources last night insisted that businesses would be expected to offer 'good quality' training to those they decide to take on.

Mr Sunak is also expected to expand the apprenticeships programme, where more dedicated training is expected.

The British Chambers of Commerce last night welcomed the Kickstart scheme, saying firms were 'ready to work with government' in order to help youngsters entering the world of work at this 'challenging time'.
With their 250 year tradition at risk, the circuses knew what they had to do: send in the clowns. And the acrobats, trapeze artists and even a human cannonball.

More than 50 performers from some of the UKs top circuses made Downing Street resemble a Big Top on Tuesday as they delivered a letter to Boris Johnson calling for urgent action.

They want the government either to include circuses in its arts rescue plan or give them the right to reopen - and warned that circuses could collapse in a fortnight without support.

The protest included a human cannonball called Eddie and the cannon from which he is propelled through the air during performances.

The protest included a human cannonball called Eddie and the cannon from which he is propelled through the air during performances

He held a banner that said: I am a human cannonball please dont let me get fired.

Sabina Najimusdnova performed the splits while balancing on one hand on a pole on top of a suitcase.

Tightrope walker Ksenia Archer stood on top of a large ball holding a banner that read 2 weeks to save the circus.

There are around 30 circuses in the UK which attract annual audiences of 20 million people.

Since lockdown began, the Association of Circus Proprietors (ACP) - the body for professional circus producers and performers which organised yesterdays march - estimates around 3,900 circus shows have had to be cancelled.

The letter, from the ACPs chairman Martin Burton and supported by 18 member circuses from around the country representing over 500 circus professionals, said: Sadly, circuses seem to have fallen through the cracks of all the rescue package schemes - we pay rent to individual landowners as we tour - and do not have business rateable properties.

In addition no commercial circuses have qualified for the any of the 160m emergency Arts Council funding despite generating significant income to the economy through the 30-plus UK circuses and internationally visiting shows such as Cirque du Soleil which combined are seen by around 20 million people a year.

Its greatest slogan The Show Must Go On could well become a thing of the past if urgent assistance is not forthcoming.

'Please save the Circus - we have two weeks before the end of the road.

Sabina Najimusdnova performed the splits while balancing on one hand on a pole on top of a suitcase

Tightrope walker Ksenia Archer stood on top of a large ball holding a banner that read 2 weeks to save the circus

It added that circuses perform in mobile Big Tops which unlike theatre buildings have excellent ventilation via their flexible and airy design which can be further enhanced by raising the tent sidewalls and easily reconfigured mobile seating, all ideal for social distancing.

Among those on the peaceful protest yesterday was Doc Haze, ringmaster of the Circus of Horrors which also usually performs at major festivals including Glastonbury, said: Weve been left behind.

'The circus is many young peoples introduction to live performance art and then they go on to see other things, but we have been forgotten about.

The protest also included performers from other circuses including Zippos, Planet Circus, Circus Fantasia, Circus Berlin and Circus Wonderland.

One performer held a banner that said: I am a trapeze artist please catch me before I fall, while anothers read: I am an illusionist please dont let me vanish.
Care bosses have demanded Boris Johnson retract comments blaming homes for failing to follow coronavirus rules.

The Prime Minister triggered a furious reaction after he said: Too many care homes didnt really follow the procedures in the way that they could have.

The Independent Care Group described the comments as a real slap in the face and the Community Integrated Care charity said his words were clumsy and cowardly.

Downing Street yesterday declined to apologise  and instead claimed Mr Johnson had been pointing out that nobody knew what the correct procedures were because the extent of asymptomatic transmission was not known at the time.

But Nadra Ahmed, chairman of the National Care Association, said Mr Johnsons remarks were a huge insult, adding: When you think of some of the mistakes that have been made, I am absolutely stunned that he has made those comments and he should retract them.

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'. Pictured during a visit to the Siemens Rail factory construction site in Goole on Monday

Nadra Ahmed (pictured in 2017), chairman of the National Care Association, said Mr Johnsons remarks were a huge insult, adding: When you think of some of the mistakes that have been made, I am absolutely stunned that he has made those comments and he should retract them

The row has increased pressure on Mr Johnson to announce long-awaited reforms to social care funding. He pledged to make changes on his first day in the job last July  a promise repeated in the Conservative manifesto before last years election.

The coronavirus pandemic delayed the publication of the plans, but the huge virus death toll in care homes has shone a fresh spotlight on the failings of the system.

Fiona Carragher, director of research at the Alzheimers Society, said the time for reform is long overdue. Coronavirus has exposed just how dreadfully threadbare social care is, on which people with dementia almost totally rely for vital support, she said. Its never been more important to solve the social care crisis.

Mr Johnsons official spokesman was yesterday asked in a Westminster briefing what the Prime Minister had meant by the remarks. he said: The Prime Minister was pointing out that nobody knew what the correct procedures were because the extent of asymptomatic transmission was not known at the time.

Pictured: A stock image shows an elderly lady wearing a face mask during the coronavirus outbreak in the UK

Asked if Mr Johnson would like to apologise or retract the comments, his spokesman said the Prime Minister thinks that throughout the pandemic, care homes have done a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances.

It comes as MPs prepare to warn ministers they do not have a coherent plan to deliver protective equipment to hospitals and care homes ahead of a second wave of the virus.

The Public Accounts Committee will today say it is extremely concerned about ongoing shortages of PPE and will accuse the Government of not treating the issue with sufficient urgency.

A Department of Health spokesman said it did not accept the findings and promised to give the NHS whatever it needs for the future.

Vic Rayner, executive director of the National Care Forum, told the BBC: 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.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock was also forced to defend Mr Johnsons remarks after Labour demanded an apology in the Commons.
A mum holed up in lockdown in a Melbourne public housing tower is frantic with worry after being separated from her sick premature baby in hospital.

Hannah Mohamed is one of 3,000 tenants in nine public housing towers who are banned from leaving their homes in a desperate bid to quell a coronavirus cluster.

Officials confirmed 191 new cases on Tuesday, 13 more linked to the North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers, bringing their total to 69.

The outbreak means Ms Mohamed is forced to stay away from her baby daughter Hanen's hospital bedside after she was born premature.

'Because I've been locked down, I am not able to see my daughter,' Ms Mohamed told Seven News.

Premature baby Hanen (pictured) has been ripped apart from her mum due to the lockdown

'And also I am not able to give her my milk.'

Baby Hanen's health has worsened while her worried mum has been stuck in lockdown for the past five days.

'(The hospital) says, 'your daughter, she has been sick and she gets a runny nose and cough and we do the COVID test for her',' Ms Mohamed said.

'I really want to see my daughter, especially now she is sick.'

The hard lockdown came into force without warning on Saturday, forcing residents to stay indoors as 500 police guard the towers.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Victorian Department of Health for comment.

Hannah Mohamed (pictured) is holed up in lockdown, unable to be with her sick newborn baby

Ms Mohamed could be apart from her baby for up to a fortnight as authorities work to test every resident in the nine virus-stricken public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington.

There are now growing calls for Premier Daniel Andrews and the Victorian government to make an exemption for Ms Mohamed so she can be with her newborn.

'Hannah Mohamed is currently being detained in a Melbourne tower against her human rights as a mother while her premature baby remains sick and alone in a Melbourne hospital,' a Change.org petition states.

'This is cruel, callous and insensitive. As a premature baby, the mother's milk is vital. The mother's presence is a human right.

Nine public housing towers in Melbourne remained in lockdown for a fifth day on Tuesday (pictured, one of the affected towers in Flemington on Tuesday)

'We call on Daniel Andrews to immediately provide accommodation for Hannah Mohamed in a hospital room at the same hospital her child is in.'

Tensions boiled over between family members and police outside one of the public housing towers on Tuesday, which resulted in four arrests.

The rest of Melbourne will go back into lockdown from midnight Wednesday but will be able to leave home for essential purposes.

'Once that testing is complete, those nine towers will be moved to the same footing as the rest of Melbourne will move to,' Premier Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.
Karl Stefanovic had a heated clash with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews about the state of affairs in Melbourne following the announcement of a second coronavirus lockdown.

The Today show host described Victoria's COVID-19 second wave as 'a mess' before pressing the Premier on whether further disappointing announcements would be made today.

Victoria recorded 191 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday - the biggest daily increase since the outbreak began - plunging 5.2million people in greater Melbourne back into lockdown for six weeks effective from 11.59pm on Wednesday.

The second outbreak has been linked to a bungled operation at mandatory hotel quarantine facilities.

Karl Stefanovic had a heated clash with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews about the state of affairs in Melbourne following the announcement of a second coronavirus lockdown

Local cases of community transmission have soared in the last three weeks within Melbourne

Staff inside one of the quarantine hotels transporting luggage through the corridors

'It's difficult to recall a bigger political bungle than this,' Stefanovic said on air, before asking if Mr Andrews would resign.

The Premier said he was committed to seeing out the crisis and continuing to make the 'tough calls' to 'keep Victorian's safe'.

'How could you blame Victorians yesterday for the outbreak when it was your government's decision to employ an incompetent private security force to guard those in quarantine?' Stefanovic asked. 'That's an unbelievably catastrophic bungle right at the front door.

'Why don't you explain. Why don't you just level with the people about what happened in quarantine? What exactly went wrong there. Why don't you just tell the people?' Stefanovic asked.

Mr Andrews managed to skirt around the questions by reminding the Today show host that an independent inquiry was underway to determine the failings of the quarantine process.

Victoria's decision to hire private security firms to manage the mandatory quarantines rather than the police or military - which is what other states did - has been heavily criticised.

Victoria recorded 191 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday - the biggest daily increase since the outbreak began - plunging 5.2million people in greater Melbourne back into lockdown for six weeks effective from 11.59pm on Wednesday

Firefighters dressed in personal protective equipment prepare to distribute food throughout a public housing tower in North Melbourne

A resident seen in the window of her housing commission flat, which is now in lockdown

A man wearing a suit and face masks moves from a quarantine hotel and into a taxi on June 25

'There will be accountability. As I said, I'm the leader of the government and I accept responsibility for everything that happens right across our state,' Mr Andrews said.

'Part of the responsibility I have is to make the tough calls. This is not about popularity, this is a pandemic'.

Still, Stefanovic pressed on, demanding to know whether the issues within the system had been fixed and insisting the state government 'knew the answers already' without a lengthy inquiry.

'Karl, I haven't come on your program to have an argument with you. The key point is we know we need an independent process. I think people will be rightly critical if we didn't have an independent process,' Mr Andrews said.

The Premier said private firms were no longer contracted to provide security for quarantine hotels, and said there are no flights coming into Melbourne temporarily in an attempt to deal with the problem.

Three people were arrested out the front of the flats in Melbourne on Tuesday

Specialist public order police stand guard at the entrance of some of the locked down housing commission flats

There have been 106 deaths relating to coronavirus in Australia since the outbreak began

'How this started, I can't change that. I can only make the decisions now to set us up for the future and to keep us safe,' he said.

When told critics were calling him 'stubborn', the Premier was quick to shut down the notion.

'Hang on a minute. Now that's just simply wrong,' he said.

Later during an appearance on Sunrise, Mr Andrews was asked whether he thinks the Black Lives Matter protests in Melbourne contributed to the catastrophe.

'No one gave the go-ahead. Logic tells you, you shouldn't do that,' he said. 'I was clear they should not be protesting.

'The influence that had is for other people to judge. A small number have come from that.'

Premier Daniel Andrews said he accepts responsibility for the second outbreak and will work tirelessly to get it back under control

General view of a public housing tower in North Melbourne which is currently under lockdown orders

Mr Andrews also admitted no cases were contracted directly from attending the rally, and from what they know, just four people who were there had the deadly respiratory infection.

The Premier said it was vital the second outbreak was slowed before the infection rate spiraled out of control.

'If this gets right away from us, we will see some very ugly scenes. Great tragedy,' he said.

'We will see thousands of people in hospital and many, many dying. That's the reality.'

Widespread testing is currently under way in the 10 housing commission towers which are under strict lockdown orders.

Mr Andrews said once that testing is completed, he hopes to ease the lockdown to the same conditions as the rest of Metropolitan Melbourne, which means people can leave the house for four reasons.

The Victorian local government areas subject to restrictions are:

Bayside Banyule Boroondara Brimbank

Cardinia Casey Darebin Frankston

Glen Eira Greater Dandenong Hobsons Bay Hume

Kingston Knox Manningham Maribyrnong

Maroondah Melbourne Melton Mitchell Shire

Monash Mornington Peninsula Moonee Valley Monash

Nillumbik Port Phillip Stonnington Whitehorse

Whittlesea Wyndham Yarra Yarra Ranges
Colorado AG Threatens to Stop Bible Conference

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Liberty Counsel

July 7, 2020



WOODLAND PARK, Colo., July 7, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Colorado State attorney general attempted to ban Andrew Wommack Ministries from holding in-person gatherings of more than 175 people in accordance with the governor's draconian orders, while permitting mass protests with no social distancing or other health precautions.

AG Kuhn sent a cease and desist letter to the ministry in an attempt to shut down its Bible conference held at Charis Bible College on the last day, as well as any future conferences. Liberty Counsel is representing Andrew Wommack Ministries.

The attorney general stated that the ministry must cancel the remainder of the conference that ended on July 3 in addition to the July 4 celebration. However, on June 26, 2020, Andrew Wommack and his executive team met with Teller County and Woodland Park public health and law enforcement officials to review and discuss the hosting of a safe and large faith-based gathering. As a result, the ministry submitted an updated plan which the county offered further recommendations that was acceptable to the ministry. Then ministry officials received a cease and desist order from the state while working closely with Teller County Public Health in order to hold the Bible conference and July 4 events while keeping the ministry's guests and the community as safe as possible. The ministry limited the number of attendees to 800-1000, far less than 50 percent of its occupancy in the 3,200-seat worship center, while following social distancing, personal protective equipment, signage, traffic, and sanitization protocols.

Liberty Counsel sent a letter to the attorney general detailing the exemplary efforts undertaken by the ministry to protect the health and safety of attendees and pointing out that Governor Polis has permitted thousands of people to gather in mass protests. In fact, Gov. Polis said that he understands for many, even under the safer-at-home Coronavirus restrictions, "it is not possible to stay home, it is not possible to stay silent. I urge anyone who is demonstrating to do their best to keep their distance between themselves and others and wear a face covering." However, pictures of the recent protests show otherwise with large crowds gathered.



Photo Credit: DenverChannel.com



Photo Credit: Greeley Tribune

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, "Religious gatherings have a Constitutional right to exist, and the Colorado attorney general has clearly discriminated against Andrew Wommack Ministries while encouraging mass protests of people that are not taking health precautions. There is neither a pandemic pause button to the Constitution nor an exception for religious gatherings."

Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.

SOURCE Liberty Counsel



CONTACT: Mat Staver, 407-875-1776, Liberty@LC.org



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Running towards her father, this is the moment a four-year-old finally embraces him  after 12 weeks apart in lockdown.

Care home owner Christopher Dando had a heart warming reunion with wife Alison, and daughter Edith  three months after going into isolation with residents and staff at Court House Retirement Home in Cheddar, Somerset.

Speaking after hugging his wife and daughter yesterday, Mr Dando said: Weve all been looking forward to this for so long. Its so lovely.

Mrs Dando added: It feels about 100 weeks. Im not sure how well cope with him home  weve had it to ourselves for such a long time. Its been extremely lonely.

Ahead of the reunion, Mr Dando, who also has daughter Chloe, 22, wrote on social media: On April 14, we realised that the only way we could keep our residents safe from the spread of coronavirus was for the staff to move in to our care home for a couple of weeks!

Well that was 12 weeks ago! Or 84 days ago!! Now that the landscape is a lot safer... we have decided it is time to go home and see our families.

Emotional care home owner Christopher Dando (left) has been reunited with his family for the first time since Easter after going into lockdown isolation with his residents and staff

Speaking after hugging his wife and daughter yesterday, Mr Dando said: Weve all been looking forward to this for so long. Its so lovely

Mr Dando lifts his four-year-old daughter Edith up for a hug after 12 weeks of lockdown at the Court House Retirement Home in Cheddar, Somerset, where Mr Dando lives

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

Mr Dando kisses his wife Alison after spending 12 weeks apart to keep residents at his care home safe
Facebook's stock hit a record high of $247.65 per share early Tuesday morning despite hundreds of businesses pulling advertisement as part of a boycott over hate speech on the site.

By 5pm the social media giant's shares had dropped down to around the $240 mark.

The surge occurred on the same day Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in a lengthy Facebook post that the company has to 'get better' at removing hate speech from its platform.

Sandberg said the social media company has made progress in removing hateful content but has a 'big responsibility' to get better.

It marks her first public comments since company's like Coca-Cola and Starbucks, started pulling advertising last month.

Sandberg's statement came just hours before she and CEO Mark Zuckerberg met virtually with organizers of the Stop Hate For Profit boycott that is being run by leaders from the NAACP and Anti-Defamation League.

Facebook's stock hit a record high of $247.65 per share early Tuesday morning despite hundreds of businesses pulling advertisement as part of a boycott over hate speech on the site. By 5pm the social media giant's shares had dropped down to around $240 (pictured)

'Facebook stands firmly against hate. Being a platform where everyone can make their voice heard is core to our mission, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable for people to spread hate. It's not,' Sandberg wrote.

'We have clear policies against hate - and we strive constantly to get better and faster at enforcing them. We have made real progress over the years, but this work is never finished and we know what a big responsibility Facebook has to get better at finding and removing hateful content.'

Facebook has been facing increasing pressure in recent weeks to clamp down in content that promotes racism and violence.

More than 650 advertisers have since joined the boycott that calls for the tech giant to do more to prevent racist and hate-filled posts on its site.

Zuckerberg has previously said he will not change the company's policy based on 'a threat' to revenue but based on 'the right things' for the Facebook community.

Meanwhile in her post, Sandberg said that in addition to meeting with the boycott organizers, Facebook was also due on Wednesday to release its civil rights audit, which is a review of the company's policies that was initiated two years ago.

'We are making changes - not for financial reasons or advertiser pressure, but because it is the right thing to do. We have worked for years to try to minimize the presence of hate on our platform. That's why we agreed to undertake the civil rights audit two years ago,' she said.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg says the social media giant has to 'get better' at removing hate speech from its platform in the wake of an advertiser boycott

In a lengthy Facebook post on Tuesday, Sandberg said the social media company has made progress in removing hateful content but has a 'big responsibility' to get better

'Over many years, we've spent billions of dollars on teams and technology to find and remove hate - as well as protect the integrity of our platform more generally - and have become a pioneer in using artificial intelligence technology to remove hateful content at scale.

'We are working hard every day to enforce our policies with ever greater precision and speed.

'We are never going to be perfect, but we care about this deeply. We will continue to listen and learn and work in the weeks, months and years ahead.'

Sandberg's comments come a week after Zuckerberg told Facebook employees that the company was 'not gonna change' its policies on 'hate speech' - despite the company's share price dropping $60billion and more than $7billion being wiped from his personal wealth.

'We're not gonna change our policies or approach on anything because of a threat to a small per cent of our revenue, or to any percent of our revenue,' said Zuckerberg, according to The Information.

'My guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough.'

Sandberg's statement came just hours before she and CEO Mark Zuckerberg were scheduled to meet virtually with organizers of the Stop Hate For Profit boycott that is being run by leaders from the NAACP and Anti-Defamation League

Coca-Cola, Ford, Starbucks, Verizon, Adidas, Dunkin Donuts, LEGO, Consumer Reports, Target, Best Buy and Clorox are among those who have joined the boycott.

The boycott was started by civil-rights groups including the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and Color of Change on June 17.

In response to the boycott, a Facebook spokeswoman said last week that the company invests billions each year to ensure safety and continuously works with outside experts to review and update its policies.

The company has banned 250 white supremacist organizations from Facebook and Instagram, she said, adding that the companys substantial investment artificial intelligence technology allows Facebook to find nearly 90 per cent of hate speech before users report it.

We know we have more work to do, and well continue to work with civil rights groups, GARM, and other experts to develop even more tools, technology and policies to continue this fight, the spokesperson said.
They are persons of considerable influence  City grandees, royal representatives and major charity heads.

Among them are a life peer and three knights of the realm.

Another was a top Whitehall mandarin. All have impeccable CVs, barring one scandal.

The British individuals gathered up by the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei to work for the company over the years could not be of higher calibre.

Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Kenneth Olisa, left, in 2018, and Prince Charles and Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation Lord John Browne, right, in 2019

Among the four non-executive board members of Huawei UK are the former boss of the blue-chip energy firm BP; the Queens representative in London; the former chairman of our own telecoms leviathan BT; and a man who spent five years in charge of UK Trade & Investment, the Government department which promotes exports and attracts foreign investments.

They are the cream of the British Establishment and could hardly have been better chosen to provide a respectable face for Huawei.

But it is not just the board where Britons pull levers in the company.

The firms head of global security was once the Governments chief information officer and centrally involved in its technology strategy.

Patience Wheatcroft, a former Fleet Street editor who had once sat on Huaweis UK advisory board

Another former adviser happens to have been the Lib Dems spokesman for the digital economy.

Their involvement in the firm is proof of the way Huawei has managed to woo  and win  the influential Britons with expertise in its key areas of interest.

But now, there are calls for the four non-executive board members to cut their ties with the firm, while British employees not on the board are under scrutiny.

The growing outcry over Huawei comes after bombshell claims that the company has been involved in spying and covert manipulation  claims that it strongly denies.

As revealed by the Mail yesterday, a dossier compiled by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele and others alleges some of these influential Britons  but not all were targeted by the Chinese Communist Party, through Huawei.

The intention was to turn them into either useful idiots or full-time agents.

The dossier, seen by the Mail, is not being formally published and does not contain corroborating evidence for some of its claims.

Its allegations have also been dismissed as bizarre and like a conspiracy theory by those it names.

Huawei, meanwhile, says the dossiers findings have no basis in fact.

But the revelation of its existence comes as intelligence agencies in Britain review the advice they gave to Boris Johnson on Huawei, and as Mr Johnson is expected to announce that the UK will phase out Huawei from its 5G network over the coming years.

Pictured: UK Offices of Huawei, Global Information and Communications Technology company in Reading, Berkshire

The diplomatic row and possible trade war this will cause has been prefigured by the furious Chinese reaction to the Steele dossier claims.

The 86-page report titled Chinas Elite Capture alleges that a campaign to boost Huawei was launched on the dark web two years ago.

It claims that between 2017-19 three teams of guns for hire were each paid 24,000 a month to carry out targeted manipulation of Britons for the benefit of Huawei and therefore the Chinese state which controls the company.

Fake foreign radio shows were reportedly staged, on to which the targeted individuals were invited, in order both to influence their views and improve Huaweis public image.

Social media, bespoke emails and other covert techniques were also deployed.

Five individuals are named in the report.

And three of those targets are on the board of its UK arm or work for the Chinese firm.

A fourth is a former adviser.

However, true or not, the allegations shine a spotlight on the influential Britons who continue to sit as directors on Huaweis UK board or hold roles in a firm that allegedly threatens our security.

So who are these pillars of the Establishment?

Perhaps the most prominent is Lord Browne of Madingley.

Since February 2015 he has been chairman, in a non-executive capacity, of Huawei UK.

Pictured: Lord Browne of Madingley speaking during the award ceremony for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering at Buckingham Palace in 2019

Before that he had a long and colourful history as a big beast in the City.

He attained prominence as the Sun King of energy giant BP, where he worked for 41 years and which he ran from 1995 until 2007 when he resigned.

This followed his admission that he had lied in court over his private life.

In his BP role, he met frequently with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The 72-year-old is also executive chairman of L1 Energy, a large independent oil and gas company, co-founded by London-based Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman.

A City insider told the Mail Lord Browne is drawing huge sums for his role as the public face of Huawei in the UK.

Last year it was suggested by Baroness Wheatcroft, a former Fleet Street editor who had once sat on Huaweis UK advisory board, that Lord Browne was little more than a well-salaried figurehead  or window dressing  as far as the Chinese were concerned.

At Huawei it would be astonishing if John Browne had any hire-or-fire power, she said.

Huawei, like the Chinese government, believes in centralised control and that sits firmly in Shenzhen (Huaweis HQ).

There may be not an iota of truth in the various allegations against Huawei but Browne has been keeping a discreet silence on the subject.

Lord Browne is mentioned in the Steele dossier, but not as a target of the dark web campaign.

Another prominent and very well-connected public figure who sits as a non-executive director on the Huawei UK board is Sir Kenneth Olisa.

A venture capitalist by profession, Sir Kenneth is also Her Majestys Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, or the Queens representative in the capital.

Described as the most influential black man in Britain, he has rubbed shoulders with Prince Charles, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Queen herself.

His official duties include upholding the dignity of the Crown in the promotion of civic, commercial, voluntary and social activities across 32 boroughs. He was appointed to the board of Huawei in 2018.

Sir Kenneth is one of the five Britons named in the Steele dossier as targets for the dark web campaign and is alleged to have appeared as a guest on a fake radio show.

The dossier said: The targets did not know that the radio stations were fake and thought they were participating in interviews with online radio stations from Hong Kong, Belgium, India and Austria.

Sir Kenneth rejects the claims, telling the Mail: I was surprised to discover I turned up on radio shows in India and Id love to hear the recording.

But former Cabinet Minister David Davis said last night of Sir Kenneths position on the Huawei board: It strikes me as entirely inappropriate for the Queens representative to serve on the board of a company like Huawei, which is widely accepted, if not to be the arm of a foreign power, then heavily influenced by the Communist party of China.

The only service he can provide to Huawei is to give them some added respectability which is not what the Queens representative should be doing.

Another knight of the realm with a stellar contacts list who is on the board of Huawei UK and named in the dossier as a manipulation target is Sir Michael Rake, former head of the CBI.

Pictured: Sir Michael Rake, former head of the CBI, who is on the board of Huawei UK and named in the dossier as a manipulation target

A trustee of The Prince of Waless Charitable Foundation and Chairman of Great Ormond Street Hospital, for 32 years Sir Michael worked at accounting giant KPMG.

When he stepped down as chairman in 2007  taking home more than 4million that year  he took up the same role at telecoms leviathan BT.

Two years earlier BT had struck up a landmark partnership agreement with Huawei. During Sir Michaels ten years in charge that partnership blossomed.

At the beginning of last year when the political storm was growing, Huawei appointed him as an adviser  he had previously advised David Cameron.

This April the relationship was further cemented when Sir Michael became the latest addition to its UK board.

Sir Michael said of the allegations that he had been targeted by a sinister campaign of influence: I have had no contact with any third-party organisation or social media purporting to support Huawei.

In an appearance on the Today programme in January, the other British non-executive director, Sir Andrew Cahn, defended the firm as being the John Lewis of China.

Sir Andrew has had a long relationship with Huawei, having served on its advisory board from 2011-2014.

Prior to that he had spent five years in charge of the Government department which promotes exports and attracts foreign investment.

In 2015 he was appointed to the Huawei board when Lord Browne became chair. Sir Andrew is not mentioned in the Steele dossier.

John Suffolk is another former very senior civil servant who is now in the Huawei camp and was allegedly targeted by the dark web campaign.

He joined the firm in 2011 and is now head of global security.

Before that he was the UK Governments chief information officer.

Last year at a conference at Huaweis Chinese HQ, which took place shortly after the UKs National Cyber Security Centre had criticised the firm, Mr Suffolk said it was not in the companys nature to be aggressive.

He has described as nonsense the allegations that he had been targeted in some way.

Another of those allegedly targeted by operatives working for Huawei was Sarah Wollaston.

At the time she was MP for Totnes and, perhaps more significantly, the chair of the influential House of Commons Liaison Committee. This is made up of all 32 chairs of the select committees.

Another of those allegedly targeted by operatives working for Huawei was Sarah Wollaston (pictured)

But having left the Tories to join the Liberal Democrats via Change UK because of Brexit, she lost her seat at the last General Election.

She said she had turned down a plan for Huawei to sponsor an event at Parliament last year.

The fifth alleged target was Liberal Democrat peer and party spokesman for the digital economy Lord Clement-Jones.

The peer had been an adviser to Huawei but is no longer on the payroll. He refuted claims that he had appeared on fake radio shows to boost the firm, saying there was no need for elaborate clandestine methods because he had sat on Huaweis international advisory board. His connection to the company is well known.

The executive summary of the dossier claims that the covert Huawei campaign arose as a result of the drive by former Chancellor George Osborne to encourage Chinese investment in the UK.

The dossiers allegations will only intensify the diplomatic row over Huawei, which presents a serious threat to Britain-China relations.

Tory MP Bob Seely, co-ordinator of the Huawei Interest Group of 60 Tory MPs, said of the four British non-executive directors: I dont doubt that these people have all done impressive things with their lives which is why I think it is bizarre that they knowingly damage their reputations by allowing their names to be used to effectively launder the reparation of Huawei.

Mr Seely (pictured), who also sits on the foreign affairs select committee, called for transparency from Huawei in terms of what the board members are paid and the exact nature of their work

Mr Seely, who also sits on the foreign affairs select committee, called for transparency from Huawei in terms of what the board members are paid and the exact nature of their work.

He added: How do they feel now about having their names attached to a company which is to all intents and purposes part and parcel of the Chinese state?

If I were them, frankly I would consider resigning from the board.
Brothers say the council was negligent in not applying for their citizenship

Their mother and uncle died when they were 13 and they went into social care

His brother Darren said prison guards told him he was to be sent to Grenada

He believes this is erroneous as his father is from Dominica - a different island

Twins born in London and who have never left the UK are facing deportation to different countries in the Caribbean after they finish jail terms for grievous bodily harm.

Darrell Roberts, 24, has been issued a deportation notice by the Home Office informing him that he is to be sent to the Dominican Republic following his release.

He believes this must have been made in error because his father was born in Dominica - a separate island.

Meanwhile his twin brother Darren has been told by prison staff he will likely be dispatched to Grenada following the conclusion of his sentence.

Darrell told The Guardian he and Darren entered social care aged 13 when their mother, from Grenada, and uncle died in quick succession.

He claims that Ealing social services was negligent for not applying for citizenship on behalf of himself and his brother.

Darrell Roberts, 24, has been issued a deportation notice by the Home Office informing him that he is to be sent to the Dominican Republic following his release. Meanwhile his twin brother Darren has been told by prison staff he will likely be dispatched to Grenada following the conclusion of his sentence (pictured: Darrell, left, with Darren as children)

Darrell will soon be released from a six-year sentence for grievous bodily harm after he beat a 35-year-old man over the head with a metal pole in Willesden in 2013.

Darrell, then 19, hurled bricks at the man's car and committed the attack while the victim's wife was watching on.

The circumstances of his brother's grievous bodily harm conviction are unknown, but stem from a separate incident.

Darrell said he was horrified to receive the deportation notice and his lawyer has argued that he is a vulnerable person due to his turbulent childhood.

From behind bars, Darrell told The Guardian: 'It was heartbreaking. I've finished my sentence; I was expecting to be released ...

'It is mentally draining; the stress is unnecessary. I've got grey hairs and I'm only 24 years old.'

He claims that when he told prison officers that he was born in the UK they simply laughed and wouldn't believe him.

The deportation notice says: 'Our records show you have no legal status in the United Kingdom.'

According to the document, the home secretary has deemed 'deportation to be conducive to the public good and accordingly it is in the public interest that you be removed from the United Kingdom without delay.'

Darrell was offered a reintegration package worth 1,500 to 'return home' if he agrees to repatriation.

'I told them I was born here that I'd been in primary school and secondary school here. They weren't sympathetic. When I've tried talking to officers they say it is out of their control,' he told The Guardian.

The Home Office issues deportation notices to anyone without citizenship who is convicted of a serious offence with a custodial sentence longer than 12 months.

Furthermore, British citizenship applicants are required to be of good character - a lengthy prison conviction precluding this even if they are born in the country.

Darrell's brother Darren is also coming to the end of his sentence. His partner, who was not identified, said he'd spoken to her about his deportation concerns.

Darren told her that prison staff had told him six months ago that he would likely be sent to Grenada upon release.

The couple have a five-year-old son together.

A spokesperson for Ealing council told The Guardian: 'Ealing council's children's services have repeatedly engaged with both Darren and Darrell, their solicitors and the prison services to provide all documentation to allow them to apply for immigration status, in Darrell's case as recently as May 2020, but neither of the young men signed the documentation to allow it to be progressed.'

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Prisoners who are served with a deportation notice are given the opportunity to provide reasons why they should be exempt from deportation. All representations made will be carefully considered before any action is taken.'
Melbourne's new lockdowns have caused the share market to slip amid fears a new coronavirus outbreak will delay Australia's economy recovery.

The Australian Securities Exchange was on track to finish Tuesday in a stronger position until the last hour of trade, when Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced more than five million residents in greater Melbourne and the Mitchell shire to the north would be locked down for six weeks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 went from being 0.7 firmer very late in the afternoon to finishing the day 0.03 per cent weaker, as it lost 1.7 points to end the day at 6,012.9.

On Wednesday morning, the losses continued with the market opening 0.11 per cent weaker, falling another 6.7 points to 6,006.2.

New South Wales, as of Wednesday, has closed the border to Victoria for the first time since the Spanish flu in 1919.

Melbourne 's new lockdowns have caused the share market to slip amid fears a new coronavirus outbreak will delay Australia's economy recovery. Pictured is a police patrol outside a housing commission block in Melbourne's inner north

CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the Melbourne lockdowns spooked investors, who fear it will jeopardise Australia's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

'While the support of the government and the Reserve Bank have been important, the secondary lockdown leaves them with a lot less options in terms of supporting the economy,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's very likely this will be very costly, not just for Victoria but all of Australia.'

IFM chief economist Alex Joiner estimated the Melbourne lockdowns would cost the Victorian economy more than $1billion a week, further delaying the national economic recovery.

'It's small businesses, who employ so many people, that will need ongoing support most as Victoria locks down and it will be incumbent on the federal government to support those that become dislocated from the labour market,' he tweeted on Wednesday.

The big four banks have announced six-month repayment holidays for borrowers, that were due to end in September, would be extended by at least four months.

New South Wales, as of Wednesday, has closed the border to Victoria for the first time since the Spanish flu in 1919. Pictured are police at Albury on the New South Wales-Victorian border ensuring Victorians didn't cross the Murray River

Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh said borrowers in genuine need would have to ask their bank for an extension rather than assume it would be automatic.

Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh said borrowers in genuine need would have to ask their bank for an extension rather than assuming it would be automatic

'This next phase of bank support will avoid a "cliff" for customers in September and give them the breathing space they need to work with their bank and get back on their feet financially,' she said.

'Australia's banks supported their customers as the country entered the COVID-19 crisis and they are determined to support their customers on the way out of the crisis.'

The ABA estimates that since March 800,000 loans, collectively worth $260million, have been deferred.

National Australia Bank chief executive Ross McEwan said home and business borrowers would be able to extend the pause on their repayments until March 31, 2021.

'While a significant portion of businesses and homeowners that we have spoken to have started their repayments again, there are clearly still many customers who may need support for a bit longer,' he said.

National Australia Bank chief executive Ross McEwan said home and business borrowers would be able to extend the pause on their repayments until March 31, 2021

'Bankers will speak with customers about their individual circumstances and the options appropriate for them which may include loan restructure, determining alternative fund sources, hardship assistance or further deferral for up to four months.'

The federal government spent $153.7billion on three stimulus package to tackle the coronavirus downturn, including the $70billion JobKeeper scheme which is providing $1,500 fortnightly wage subsidies to 3.3million workers.

The Reserve Bank pumped in another $90billion to provide funding to banks to provide cheap small business loans.

An hour before the new Melbourne lockdowns were announced, the central bank on Tuesday afternoon left interest rates on hold at a record-low of 0.25 per cent.

Governor Philip Lowe acknowledged the economic outlook 'remains uncertain and the recovery is expected to be bumpy and will depend upon containment of the coronavirus'.
An ex-engineer at Yahoo will avoid jail time after hacking into more than 6,000 email accounts in search of sexually explicit images.

According to court documents obtained by ZDNet, Reyes Daniel Ruiz of Tracy, California will be put on five years' probation and be subject to a home confinement order after a ruling last week.

Ruiz will also be required to pay a $5,000 fine and $118,456 to Yahoo, which is now called Oath, as part of the ruling.

Over a period of 10 years, Reyes David Ruiz used his access to Yahoo's backend to hack the email accounts of friends and coworkers in search of sexually explicit photos and video (stock)

ZDNet reports that the light sentence was given as a result of Ruiz's cooperation in the investigation and the fact that he didn't publish the images online.

Ruiz accessed the accounts during a tenure at Yahoo from 2009 to 2019, when he worked as a 'reliability engineer' among other roles.

Using his access to Yahoo's backend he was abled to steal 'hashed' passwords which he then cracked and used to illegally log into accounts of women, including some personal friends and coworkers.

Ruiz was estimated to have stolen between 2 terabytes of data for a total of between 1,000 to 4,000 images and videos.

Court documents say that Ruiz downloaded photos and videos and then stored them on a hard drive in his home.

Ruiz also used the stolen credentials to compromise accounts of victims at other service like Apple iCloud, Gmail, Hotmail, Dropbox, and Photobucket.

According to court documents, Ruiz's activity was noticed by other Yahoo engineers in 2018 and was later reported to police.

Once Ruiz became aware that the company and police were alerted of his activity he destroyed the hard drive.

AS a result, US prosecutors were only able to identify 3,137 of the estimated 6,000 total victims according to ZDNet.
Many children are bullied as a result of their sexuality, and boys are twice as lucky to suffer as girls, according to a new study of Brazilian teenagers.

Researchers from Brazil's national cancer institute studied health survey data submitted by 101,646 students in the country aged between 13 and 15.

They were asked about their sleeping habits, if they'd experienced bullying and the reason given for the bullying - including their perceived sexual orientation.

Students were not asked if they were LGBTQ+ as part of the study, so the 0.8 per cent reporting being bullied as a result of sexual orientation covers all students.

The team say that parental support and help from friends and family 'acted as a protective factor' and could help moderate the consequences of bullying.

Students were not asked if they were LGBTQ+ as part of the study, so the 0.8 per cent reporting being bullied as a result of sexual orientation covers all students. Stock image

Boys experienced this kind of victimisation twice as much as girls, according to the researchers, with 1.1 per cent of boys and 0.6 per cent of girls saying they suffered.

Bullying between students is found in most schools and it seems to happen regardless of a students' social, cultural, and economic characteristics.

A different study of schoolchildren over 40 countries found up to 45.2 per cent of boys were bullied in one form or another and up to 35.8 per cent of girls suffered.

This new study set out to investigate how rife bullying, and particularly sexual orientation bullying, was among teenager in Brazil.

The team examined survey data completed by students in their ninth year of education - between the ages of 13 and 15 to find bullying links.

They can't give information on the percentage of LGBTQ+ students who suffer bullying as data wasn't collected on the sexual orientation of the students.

Instead it highlights the likelihood of someone experiencing some degree of bullying as a result of their perceived sexual orientation.

Until this study there had been no estimate of the prevalence of sexual orientation bullying in schools in Brazil, according to the research team.

Researchers found that of the more than 100,000 pupils that completed the survey on their phones, 1.1 per cent of boys and 0.6 per cent of girls reported being bullied in the past month due to their sexual orientation.

While the overall numbers are low, the researchers say the impact is significant.

'As shown by a growing body of research, bullying that takes place in schools is commonly motivated by bias or prejudice, and the negative consequences of such forms of bullying appear to be worse than others,' they wrote.

Previous research found that boys who were bullied in high school by being called gay had greater psychological distress and more negative attitudes about the school climate compared with boys who were bullied for other reasons.

An earlier study of 200,000 students around the world found that rates of poor grades, substance abuse and depression were higher when someone was bullied 'because you are gay or lesbian' or someone thought they were.

The Brazilian team say sexual orientation alone doesn't necessary cause signs of psychological distress, but rather the victimisation experienced.

The National Survey of School Health, used for this study, is an ongoing school-based survey conducted by the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

It is designed to monitor the health of children and adolescents enrolled in the ninth grade in public and private schools.

Variables related to mental health were collected for the first time in 2015 and included information on feelings of loneliness, sleeping difficulty, and friendship.

This information was used by the present study in order to understand whether sexual orientation-based bullying has a significant impact on the mental health and well-being of students.

'The hypothesis was that victimization by sexual orientation-based bullying is associated with reporting higher levels of feelings of loneliness and sleeping difficulties among Brazilian middle school students,' the authors wrote.

They also wanted to find out the extent to which sexual orientation bullying alone impacted on the loneliness and sleep habits of the children.

The final sample included 101,646 students aged between 13 and 15 years old - 48.7 per cent were male, and 51.3 per cent were female.

The bullying variable was assessed using the question, 'In the last 30 days, how often did some of your schoolmates belittle, mock, scorn, or intimidate you to the point that you felt hurt, bothered, annoyed, offended, or humiliated?'

Boys experienced victimisation twice as much as girls, according to the researchers, with 1.1 per cent of boys and 0.6 per cent of girls saying they suffered. Stock image

They were also asked what the cause of the bullying was - including the option 'because of my sexual orientation'.

If the questions had been more diverse than the rates may have been similar to other countries, according to the researchers.

Overall, 0.8 per cent of the 101,646 students in the sample reported having experienced sexual orientation-based bullying by schoolmates.

The team say this was relatively low compared to findings from other countries - likely because of a fault with the survey questions that asked them to choose only one option that described the cause of bullying.

When you break the figures down further, 1.1 per cent of boys and 0.6 per cent of girls reported being bullied as a result of their sexual orientation by schoolmates.

Teenagers with more than three close friends were less likely to be bullied due to their sexual orientation - dropping to 0.7 per cent, however it increased to 1.3 per cent if they have zero or one close friend.

Figures increased slightly when they removed anyone from the dataset who had never experienced bullying - dropping the number of pupils down to 44,495.

Of those 1.9 per cent reported the bullying was a result of their sexual orientation - going up to 2.6 per cent for boys and 1.3 per cent for girls.

'The results show that sexual orientation-based bullying is a predictor of signs of psychological distress, as observed in previous longitudinal studies,' they wrote.

'Previous research has already pointed to sexual orientation-based bullying as being the most serious bullying practice in school because it is usually more discredited than bullying from other causes.'

Authors say work is needed to promote tolerance of sexual diversity in Brazilian schools to 'deconstruct stereotypes that support prejudice against those who do not conform to socially and culturally imposed heteronormativity patterns'.

A major limitation of this study is that it didn't actually consider the sexual orientation of the students - just the prevalence of bullying based on orientation.

So it is impossible to give a figure showing the percentage of LGBTQ+ students who suffered bullying - just an overall percentage of all students.

'Thus, the results should not be interpreted for LGBTQ+ students only, since sexual orientation-based bullying has also been considered as experienced among heterosexual youth,' the team wrote.

The findings have been published in the Jornal de Pediatria.
Almost 90 per cent of couples trying to have a baby through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) overestimate their chances of conceiving, a new study reveals.

Researchers found 85 per cent of women and 88 per cent of men undergoing their second course of IVF overestimated their chances of success.

Official statistics state that only 30 per cent of IVF treatments result in a successful pregnancy, with live birth rates a little lower.

Scientists say many couples believe the average success rate does not apply to them and that they will be more successful than other people.

The new study is 'a reminder' for clinics to set realistic success estimates for IVF couples undergoing treatment

Researchers caution that over-optimism may be a source of distress to many hopefuls, potentially resulting in the discontinuation of the IVF treatment.

Inflated expectations stem from reports of success stories in the media and on social media, researchers say.

Embryologist Johanna Devroe, from the University Hospital of Leuven, Belgium, said: 'Clinics do share average success rates on their websites but these are often only relevant to a reference population of younger patients and many patients do not think that average success rates apply to them.

'They expect greater success, thinking of their healthy lifestyle or their experienced doctors.

'So the message to clinics is, work on setting realistic expectations.

'We are now investigating this, to see if disclosing an individual's predicted success rate rather than a clinic's average success rate helps to set realistic expectations.'

WHAT IS IVF? In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a technique to help people with fertility problems have a baby. It is the process of sperm fertilising an egg outside the body. During IVF, an egg is removed from the woman's ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, called an embryo, is then returned to the woman's womb to grow and develop. It can be carried out using your eggs and your partner's sperm, or eggs and sperm from donors. Source: NHS Advertisement

During IVF, an egg is removed from the woman's ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory.

Previous reports have suggested that couples usually have some degree of optimism when embarking on IVF treatment.

This is despite a success rate ranging from 29 per cent for women under 35 and just 2 per cent for women aged 40 to 42, according to the NHS.

Private clinics typically refuse to treat women aged 45 and over, while NHS clinical commissioning groups do not generally allow women a second round of IVF after they turn 40.

The scientists at the University Hospital of Leuven, who led the recent study, conducted a prospective study of 69 couples having at least their second IVF treatment attempt.

The team measured a couple's individual expectations about their treatment and their natural disposition to optimism through a questionnaire.

In addition, the study used a mathematical model to calculate each couple's realistic chances of the IVF being successful.

This allowed the study to calculate the degrees of what they called 'mis-estimation' for both the male and female partner of each couple.

The mathematical prediction stated that only around 32 per cent of the participants would be successful.

During in vitro fertilisation (IVF), an egg is removed from the woman's ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. Private clinics typically refuse to treat women aged 45 and over, while NHS clinical commissioning groups do not generally allow a second round of IVF after women turn 40

However, the vast majority of women (85 per cent) gave themselves a better chance than this figure.

On average, female partners estimated a 66 per cent chance of success, an overestimate of 34 per cent.

Men were even more prone to overestimating their chances of success.

Eighty-eight per cent of men in the study overestimated their outcomes.

More than half of men (54 per cent) thought the odds of their success was more twice the actual figure.

Over-optimism may be a source of distress or even a reason to discontinue their IVF treatment

The study, the researchers say, is a reminder for treatment clinics and the media to set realistic estimates of positive outcomes for both female and male partners.

'We are currently following up the couples from our study group to correlate levels of unrealistic expectations with levels of disappointment and uptake of another IVF cycle,' said Dr Devroe.

'To the best of our knowledge, the live birth rates expected by patients during their IVF cycle have yet to be studied and compared to their individual prognosis.

It is not known whether the expected birth rates, as revealed in this study, are affected by factors like gender and an individual's general level of optimism, Devroe said.

The results of the study was being presented today by Devroe at the 36th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
A Brazilian man in his mid-30s with HIV has gone into long-term remission after treatment with drugs alone, boosting hope of a cure for millions living with the virus.

It is thought to be the first case of a HIV patient going into remission following pharmaceutical treatment.

Doctors report that the patient, dubbed the 'Sao Paolo patient', was prescribed an intense cocktail of AIDS medicines, including antiretroviral therapy, or ART.

It was also supplemented with additional antiretrovirals, plus a drug called nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3.

Two other people are believed to have been cured of HIV, but they both underwent high-risk bone marrow transplants.

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Experts hope the breakthrough could offer hope for the 37million people living across the world who are known to have the virus (stock image)

The unnamed individual was diagnosed with HIV in 2012 and was on the pioneering course of medication for 48 weeks.

Just over a year later his DNA and cells were assessed and tests for HIV came back negative.

Dr Ricardo Diaz of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, who co-led the study, told The Telegraph: 'We can't search the entire body, but by the best evidence, we do not have infected cells.

'I think it's very promising. This patient might be cured.'

Coronavirus lockdowns seen increasing HIV risk to women and girls Coronavirus lockdowns have hindered the fight against HIV infection in women and girls globally by limiting their access to education and protection from sexual violence, the United Nations warned on Monday. Governments' focus on tackling the pandemic has also shifted attention and resources away from protecting vulnerable populations from HIV, according to a study by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS). 'This pandemic thrives on inequalities and COVID-19 is threatening to throw us off course,' said Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, in a press briefing. Advertisement

'This case is extremely interesting, and I really hope that it may boost further research into an HIV cure,' Andrea Savarino, a doctor at Italy's Institute of Health who co-led the trial, said in an interview with the UK charity NAM AIDSmap.

The researchers do caution, however, that four other HIV-positive patients treated in the trial with the same intensified drug cocktail saw no positive effect.

'The result is highly likely not to be reproducible,' said Dr Savarino. 'This a very first (preliminary) experiment, and I wouldn't foresee beyond that.'

As scientists race to develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, the struggle goes on to find a cure for HIV.

HIV has infected more than 75 million people and killed almost 33 million since the AIDS epidemic began in the 1980s.

Patients who have access to AIDS drugs are able to control the virus and keep the disease in check, and there are many ways to stop it spreading.

However, despite this, there are around 37 million people in the world currently living with HIV. The majority (25million) of infected people live in Africa.

Dr Jonathan Stoye, head of the Retrovirus-Host Interactions Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, who was not involved with the research, said: 'This report describes a man from Brazil who seemingly is free of HIV-1 following treatment with multiple antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) in combination with Vitamin B3.

'If true, this would be the first solely drug induced AIDS cure. However, previous studies of ARV intensification have not suggested a route to a cure.

'Further, it must be noted that although an extensive period without HIV rebound in patients who interrupt therapy is rare, it is not unprecedented.

'Altogether, this is a remarkable claim, but exceedingly frustrating given the lack of detail about the virological status of the Sao Paulo Patient or a plausible model for effect of vitamin B3. I am not convinced.'

Hopes of a cure for AIDS have been boosted in recent years by two separate cases of remission in men who are described by HIV doctors as 'functionally cured'.

Pictured, Adam Castillejo, 40, the second person in the world to be cured of HIV, has revealed his identity almost a year after he was cleared of the AIDS-causing virus with a bone marrow transplant. The Brazilian patient believed to have been cured using drugs remains anonymous

These patients were treated with highly risky and complex bone marrow transplants.

One of these individuals, previously known as 'London patient, recently ditched anonymity and revealed himself to be Adam Castillejo, 40.

He remained unnamed until he decided he wanted to be seen as an 'ambassador of hope' after struggling with his health for almost two decades.

Mr Castillejo, who was born in Venezuela, was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2012, having already lived with HIV since 2003.

His last hope of cancer survival was a bone marrow transplant from a donor with HIV-resistant genes that could wipe out his cancer and virus in one fell swoop.

The procedure in May 2016 meant Mr Castillejo, whose mental health had spiralled drastically over the years and even led him to consider ending his life, was cleared of both cancer and HIV.

The only other person to have survived the life-threatening technique, and come out of it HIV-free, was so-called 'Berlin patient' Timothy Ray Brown, a US man treated in Germany 12 years ago.

Speaking with the New York Times in March, Mr Castillejo said: 'This is a unique position to be in, a unique and very humbling position. I want to be an ambassador of hope.

'I don't want people to think, "Oh, you've been chosen," he said. No, it just happened. I was in the right place, probably at the right time, when it happened.'
Populations of some uncommon and small-bodied birds in Britain, such as meadow pipits and lapwings, suffer disproportionately when near a road, a study has found.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge say this may be caused by a dislike of grass verges as they prefer arable land.

Another factor could be heightened sensitivity to road noise and air pollution.

However, common species such as robins, blackbirds and bullfinches benefit from increased asphalt because they don't mind the raucous.

Grass verges also provide warmth, ample food and habitat for the birds, scientists say.

Conservationists warn that Britain could see a less diverse range of avians as rarer species struggle to cope with Britain's sprawling road network.

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Pictured, a meadow pipit . This species is one of the birds struggling to adapt to encroaching roads. A study found a 31 per cent decrease in abundance of this bird due to increased roads in the UK

Increased asphalt brings with it an increase in verges, which provide heat, food sources and habitat for birds, and some common species ar thriving, such as the Eurasian bullfinch (pictured) which experienced a 28 per cent increase when road exposure was taken into account

'In general, nationally common species are found in higher relative abundance around roads, while nationally rarer species are found in relatively low abundance around roads,' said Sophia Cooke at the University of Cambridge.

'Around roads it isn't just individual bird populations that differ but entire communities.

'This could be leading to something called simplification, or homogenisation of bird communities, where although high numbers of some species are maintained, diversity decreases.

'We see this in urban areas  you aren't likely to spot many rare species in cities, but you will find lots of pigeons and corvids.'

Britain has one of the densest road networks in the world, with 80 per cent of land found within a kilometre of a road.

In the past 50 years, traffic on British roads has increased by more than 160 per cent and over the same period there have been large declines in many bird species.

As a result, Ms Cooke says it 'makes sense to question whether there could be a link between the two'.

Using data from the UK Breeding Bird Survey, Cooke and colleagues assessed the abundance of 75 bird species in relation to roads across Britain.

The authors found 58 species affected by the presence of roads, with 33 types of birds being negatively impacted.

A common blackbird. The study suggests that road networks create environmental conditions that benefit common bird species (including rooks, blackbirds and robins) at the expense of others

Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) immature at the water's edge in Cley Marshes Nature Reserve, Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, UK August

A stunning male Blackbird (Turdus merula) perched on a fence. The 'compression' of vulnerable species into areas of low road density may lead to declines and extinctions in countries with high road densities in the future

As exposure to roads increased, rarer species decreased in numbers. The opposite trend was seen in common species.

For example, the meadow pipit experienced a 31 per cent decrease in abundance, whereas the Eurasian bullfinch experienced a 28 per cent increase when road exposure was taken into account.

The compression of vulnerable species into areas of low road density may lead to declines and extinctions in countries with high road densities in the future, researchers warn.

Cooke said more research is needed on the severity of the effect of roads on species, not just in the UK, but globally.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) told MailOnline that the research shows how Britain's infrastructure network forces nature into 'smaller and smaller spaces or expecting it to fit in with our needs'.

'In planning a new road we can look at the loss of habitat and damage to existing wildlife, and assess whether this cost to nature of this is too high before any concrete is poured,' said an RSPB spokesperson.

'Once a road is constructed many of us will be familiar with the sad sight of hedgehogs, badgers and other mammals that have been injured or killed by traffic.

'Smaller animals like birds are less easy to see, which makes this report really valuable in highlighting the impact a new road might have on local wildlife and how we might solve this.'

The study has been published in Nature.

Carrion crow perches on a wooden fence. Species with smaller national populations generally have lower relative abundance with increasing road exposure, whereas the opposite is true for more common species

A tree pipit stands proudly on the trunk of a tree. The study found the meadow pipit experienced a 31 per cent decrease in abundance near roads

Photograph taken off Great Cross Avenue in Blackheath, South East London, in the London Borough of Greenwich. Here we see a European robin (Erithacus rubecula), also known as the Robin,

A Close up of a juvenile Rook (Corvus frugilegus) asking its parent for food. Picture taken in Swindon, Wiltshire, England in June this year

A Skylark (Alauda arvensis) perched on a fence post singing. Picture taken at Swindon, Wiltshire, England in June last year
Ala. church moves back to online only services after spike in COVID-19 cases among members

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A large Alabama congregation has returned to online only worship services following what its pastor described as a spike in COVID-19 cases among the membership.

First Baptist Church of Tillmans Corner, a Mobile-based congregation with approximately 1,500 members, had recently reopened with socially-distanced worship services of about 350 people.

However, in an announcement posted on Facebook Wednesday, the church's pastor explained that they were canceling in-person services as well as their Kids Camp, which was going to begin next week.

In the Facebook message, Pastor Derek Allen said the decision came because of a spike in COVID-19 cases among our faith family.

Regardless of what is happening nationally or statewide, there has been a significant increase in cases among FBTC members in the past two weeks. We need to move quickly and decisively to stop the virus before it spreads any further, he wrote.

We dont want to see any of our faith family members suffer through a COVID-19 infection, and we want to do our part to contain this spike as much as possible.

Allen added that several of those who've contracted coronavirus have experienced severe illness and he was committed to leading us through this in a way that makes us stronger and more focused on advancing the Kingdom of God.

I know this is disappointing to all of us. It felt like we were inching our way back to a full schedule, and now we are taking a step backward, he said.

As states ease lockdown restrictions that were put into place over two months ago to ensure hospitals were not overwhelmed with patients all at once when the virus was said to be at its peak, a large number of churches have begun to return to in-person worship, while following the CDC's social distancing guidelines.

Some congregations have decided to close down their in-person worship services for a second time following a resurgence of COVID-19 cases among their members.

Last month, St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church of Omaha, Nebraska, temporarily halted in-person services after one of their priests, Father Toby Letak, tested positive for COVID-19.

Father Ralph ODonnell of St. Margaret Mary sent a letter out to the congregation at the time, explaining that Letak was not symptomatic at this time and has not had a fever.

He arranged for testing this week only after experiencing a brief bout of nausea. Father Toby plans to quarantine at the rectory and appreciates your prayers, wrote ODonnell.

I am not experiencing any symptoms, nor is anyone in our office. However, out of an abundance of caution, those who have worked closely with Fr. Toby will self-quarantine for the next two weeks and be tested as well.
A volcanic island some 600 miles south of Japan is experiencing a vigorous growth spurt.

Nishinoshima, which first emerged from the sea in the 1970s, has expanded an additional 500 feet from June 19 through July 3.

The Japan Coast Guard note that activity of the young volcano appeared to started late May and by June, ash has detected as high as 27,200 feet that contributed to the expansion.

Nishinoshiman has grown 12 times its initial size since 2015 when it merged with a smaller island created by an underwater volcano.

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A volcanic island some 600 miles south of Japan is experiencing a vigorous growth spurt. Nishinoshima, which first emerged from the sea in the 1970s, has expanded an additional 500 feet from June 19 through July 3

For more than a month in 2015 an underwater volcano in the Pacific Ocean spewed ash and magma to the surface, and high into the air.

The dramatic build-up created a new island, just off the coast of Tonga, in a region known as the Ring of Fire. The island, called Hunga Tonga, was found to be around 0.6 miles wide and composed mostly of ash.

But due to its weak structure, experts had believed the small island would deteriorate into the water.

However, the small islet merged with Nishinoshima  resulting in the larger island growing 12 times its initial size.

NASA released a satellite image from July 4 that shows heat signature of erupting lava and cooling of the dark plume ash blowing to the north.

NASAs Aqua satellite acquired the natural-color image above on July 6, when the volcanic plume stretched hundreds of miles to the north and rose several thousand miles into the sky

Now, Nishinoshima seems to be more awake and has had multiple eruptions over the past few months that have added land to its surface.

The Japan Coast Guard reported a powerful explosion on July 1 that generated a dense dark ash plume that rose approximately 11,482 feet into the air.

NASA released a satellite image from July 4 that shows heat signature of erupting lava and cooling of the dark plume ash blowing to the north.

Nishinoshima seems to be more awake and has had multiple eruptions over the past few months that have added land to its surface

Japan officials say the activity began around late May and on July 3 the volcanic plume rose as high as 15,400 feet and the next day ash was detected at 27,200 feet- the highest plume on record since 2013.

Tokyo Institute of Technology Professor Nogami Kenji told Japans NHK news agency that the volcano appears to be the most active now and is being fueled by massive supplies of underground magma.

According to Japan's NHK news agency, researchers from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan say the southern part of the island has expanded by almost 500 feet from June 19 to July 3.
Comet Neowise, discovered in late March by a space telescope, is going to be visible with the naked eye from anywhere in the UK for the rest of July, astronomers say.

Formally named C/2020 F3 , the comet was first spotted by the NEOWISE space telescope on March 27 and will reach its closest point to Earth on July 23.

To view the comet in the UK you'll need to stay up late as it is best viewed at about 02.30 BST in the north-east sky anywhere in the country.

The comet Neowise over Lebanon in an image shared by Nasa as their picture of the day today

The comet Neowise viewed from Brancaster beach, in Norfolk, on July 6. Formally named C/2020 F3 , the comet was discovered by the NEOWISE space telescope on March 27 and reached its closest point to the Sun on July 3

It won't be a particularly bright comet compared to the likes of Hale-Bopp, widely seen in 1997, but it will look 'spectacular' with binoculars.

It reached its closest point to the Sun on July 3, when it was a similar distance to the star as Mercury,

It appears to have survived that close approach, something many comets don't manage - including recent comet ATLAS that broke up.

During its closest approach to Earth the comet will be about 64 million miles away - or about 400 times further away than the Moon.

NASA said: 'The interplanetary iceberg survived solar heating, so far, and is now becoming closer to Earth as it starts its long trek back to the outer solar system.'

As it gets closer to Earth over the next few weeks it will hopefully become more visible, with its tail appearing longer and brighter and making it easier to spot.

The comet is already visible over most of the northern hemisphere during the night but it is very low - just above the horizon.

For the best chance of seeing it you should find a relatively clear area with low light pollution and few buildings or trees blocking the view.

It is currently showing just below and to the lower left of the bright star Capella in the constellation of Auriga - moving westwards.

'Comet NEOWISE has brightened to magnitude 1 taking it easily in to the realms of naked eye visibility,' according to CometWatch.

'C/2020 F3 is now certainly one to watch as it slowly heads north out of twilight through the constellations of Auriga, Lynx and Ursa Major through July; ideally placed for northern hemisphere observation.'

It is best spotted at about 02.30 BST but will be visible just before and until just before sunset and just after sunrise.

The comet C2020 F3 NEOWISE is seen above the horizon from Brancaster beach, Norfolk UK, July 6 2020. To view the comet in the UK you'll need to stay up late or get up early as it is best viewed at about 02:30 BST in the north-east sky anywhere in the country

By the end of the month the comet will move into Ursa Major and if it remains as bright as it is now then you should see its tail pointing into the Big Dipper.

The tail is a main distinguishing features of a comet - it is caused by ice turning to gas as it reaches the inner solar system from the reaches of the Kuiper belt.

Comets are made of ice, gas and rock - often described as giant space icebergs - that tend to originate in the outer solar system and move in on a long orbit.

The other major type of space rock, the asteroid, tend to be made of metal or rock and can come from anywhere in the system - including a large grouping of asteroids situated between Mars and Jupiter.

Comets are essentially asteroids that are heavy on the ice, a Nasa expert said.

According to astronomers this is the brightest and first real 'naked eye' comet visible in the northern hemisphere in about seven years.
Extreme waves in the Arctic typically occur every 20 years, but as climate change continues to plague the region these events could happen every two to five years, a new study reveals.

Much of this area is frozen for a majority of the year, but rising temperatures have increased periods of open water that could result in catastrophic waves.

Using computer models, researchers found the area hit the hardest was in the Greenland Sea, which could experience maximum annual wave heights of more than 19 feet.

The team also warns coastal flooding might increase by a factor of four to 10 by the end of this century.

Scroll down for video

Extreme waves in the Arctic typically occur every 20 years, but as climate change continues to plague the region these events could happen every two to five years, a new study reveals. Much of this area is frozen for a majority of the year, but rising temperatures have increased periods of open water that could result in catastrophic waves

Merce Casas-Prat, a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) Climate Research Division and the lead author of the new study, said: 'It increases the risk of flooding and erosion. It increases drastically almost everywhere.'

'This can have a direct impact to the communities that live close to the shoreline.'

The Arctic, the northernmost regions on Earth, have been hit hard with climate change over the years.

Most recently, areas have seen record high temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The team also warns coastal flooding might increase by a factor of four to 10 by the end of this century. All of which is caused by open waters and melting ice caps

Casa-Prate noted that some areas are experiencing warming three times higher than the rest of the globe.

And the warm weather has started thawing the once frozen solid waters.

Casa-Prate and her co-author Xiaolan Wang, also with the ECCC, set out to understand how global warming might impact extreme ocean surface waves in the Arctic.

The team received reports that some of the northern regions have observed an uptick in erosion, along with an increase in structural damage due to extreme waves.

The Arctic, the northernmost regions on Earth, have been hit hard with climate change over the years. Most recently, areas have seen record high temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit

For the study, the team collected five sets of multi-model simulations of oceanic and atmospheric conditions, such as surface winds that generated waves, and sea ice.

Then they ran simulations of wave conditions for two periods that are historical (1979 to 2005) and future predictions from 2081 to 2100.

Using the ensemble of multi-model simulations, the team was able to assess the uncertainty in the changes in the extreme Arctic waves due to the uncertainty present in the five climate models used.

Wave height increase was the most notable finding from the simulations and the hardest hit areas were along the Greenland Sea that sits between Greenland and Norway.

The study found maximum annual wave heights there could increase by as much as 19.7 feet.

The models do not provide much weight behind how much the waves might change, but Casa-Prat said she is confident that there will be an increase.

And she and her co-author suggest that by the end of the century, the timing of the highest waves may also change.

'At the end of the century, the maximum will on average come later in the year and also be more extreme,' Casas-Prat said.

Judah Cohen, a climatologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved in Casas-Prat's research, said these waves could be particularly devastating to coastal areas that have never previously experienced open water.

'We are already seeing these increased risks along Arctic coastlines with damage to coastline structures that previously were never damaged,' he said.

'As more and more ice melts and more of the Arctic ocean surface becomes exposed to the wind, waves will increase in height because wave height is dependent on the distance the wind blows over open waters.'
The German government has approved a new set of bills that will transition the country's energy infrastructure toward renewable sources and close its last coal power plant in 2038.

The bills passed both houses in the German parliament and will also include $45billion to fund transition to other forms of energy production.

The plan is part of Chancellor Angela Merkel's goal of making Germany the first country in Europe to stop emitting greenhouse gases, currently targeted for 2050.

Germany's parliament has approved a new plan to phase out coal-burning power plants in the country by 2038

'The days of coal are numbered in Germany,' the country's Environment Minister Svenja Schulze told ABC.

'Germany is the first industrialized country that leaves behind both nuclear energy and coal.'

The new bills come after the country stopped all black coal mining in 2018, though it continues to import coal from other countries to run its power plants.

The country also operates a significant number of mines that extract lignite, a soft form of coal that's also burned to generate electricity.

In 2019, around 20% of the Germany's total energy capacity came from coal, or around 43.9 gigwatts of its 210.2 gigawatt capacity.

The bills also include $45billion in funding to help workers in the coal industry transition to other sectors

The majority of the country's power comes from renewable sources including wind and solar power, which accounted for more than 50 percent of the country's energy capacity in 2019.

Over the same period, Germany has cut its nuclear energy generation by more than half, reducing its capacity from 20.4 gigawatts in 2009 to 9.5 gigawatts in 2019, and hopes to end all nuclear power generation by 2022.

Some have criticized the new plan to eliminate coal-powered energy as a threat to the economic welfare of people who work in the country's lignite mines.

Germany has previously said it will eliminate nuclear power generation in the country by 2022 and work toward eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

However, the head of German Industrial Union for Mining, Chemicals and Energy, the country's largest miner's union, Michael Vassiliadis, welcomed the new bill, describing it as a 'historic milestone.'

The bills include provisions to provide additional assistance to miners and other energy sector workers affected by the closures, as well as training and assistance finding work in other industries.

The government is also working on plans to transform the site of lignite mines in western Germany into tourist resorts and nature resorts.
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It really didn't need to be this excruciating for Chelsea. They won in the end, Tammy Abraham plundering the decisive goal as the Blues strengthened their grip on Champions League qualification.

But gosh they made life extremely hard for themselves. Crystal Palace deserve credit for making a fist of a game that at times looked certain to see Chelsea canter home.

Equally, Chelsea deserve their fair share of blame for turning what should have been a cruise into a heart-stopping crisis.

Christian Pulisic's face was a picture of relief at full-time as Chelsea held off a late onslaught from Crystal Palace

The Palace players were devastated in contrast after coming so close to picking up a point in a back-and-forth game

Olivier Giroud scored the opener in fortuitous circumstances after Gary Cahill pulled up with a hamstring injury

Crystal Palace players claimed Chelsea should have stopped but the play continued and the Blues scored

MATCH FACTS, RATINGS AND MATCHZONE ANALYSIS CRYSTAL PALACE (4-3-3): Guaita 6; Ward 6, Dann 6.5, Cahill 5 (Sakho 9min, 6), Van Aanholt 6.5; McArthur 6.5 (McCarthy 80), Milivojevic 7 (Meyer 89), Kouyate 7; Ayew 6.5 (Townsend 80), Benteke 6.5, Zaha 7. Subs not used: Hennessey, Woods, Mitchell, Pierrick, Riedewald. Scorers: Zaha 34, Benteke 72. Booked: Milivojevic. Manager: Roy Hodgson 7. CHELSEA (4-3-3): Kepa 6.5; James 6.5, Zouma 7, Christensen 6.5, Azpilicueta 6.5; Gilmour 7.5 (Jorginho 80), Barkley 6.5 (Loftus-Cheek 65, 7), Mount 7.5; Willian 8, Giroud 7 (Abraham 65, 7), Pulisic 7. Subs not used: Rudiger, Alonso, Rodriguez, Caballero, Hudson-Odoi, Batshuayi. Scorers: Giroud 6, Pulisic 27, Abraham 71. Manager: Frank Lampard 7.5. Referee: David Coote 6.5. Wilfried Zaha scored a thunderous effort that beat Kepa Arrizabalaga high into the net despite the central positioning. Advertisement

'It was nerve-wracking. Maybe we were fortunate in the final five minutes, but we should have had the game under much more control at that point,' said manager Frank Lampard.

At this stage of the season, however, victories are all that matter.

That would have been Lampard's exact sentiments when Kepa Arrizabalaga brilliantly tipped Scott Dann's header on to the post deep into stoppage time.

This was an uncomfortable night for Lampard and Chelsea when it really didn't have to be.

Indeed, there was a certain unease about Chelsea's opener when it arrived in the sixth minute.

Cahill went down as he was tracking Willian who carried on going before cutting in back to his team-mate to slot home

Christian Pulisic scored the second for Chelsea to double their advantage with a powerful shot past Vicente Guaita

The American winger worked the ball onto his left foot before slamming his effort high past the near post in the first half

Gary Cahill looked to have the situation in hand as he chased down Willian. But then came two pops. The first was the sound of Cahill's hamstring, the second the sound of Olivier Giroud tapping Willian's pass home from close range.

This was awkward for Chelsea. Should Willian have put the ball out of play? Should Chelsea let their opponents score?

By the look of Cheikhou Kouyate's animated expression during an intense discussion with Giroud, you got the impression Palace would answer yes to both.

The anguished look on Lampard's face suggested even he was in inner conflict, though Palace boss Roy Hodgson absolved Chelsea of any wrongdoing.

'It would be asking a lot for Chelsea to stop, people react instinctively,' said Hodgson. 'It would be unrealistic of me to suggest they would put their foot on the ball and see how Gary is  but in the end it cost us a point.'

Frank Lampard's side celebrated together after taking a firm grip of the contest at Selhurst Park on Tuesday evening

Wilfried Zaha took the Chelsea defence by surprise when he smashed one from long range but he caught it flush

The ball flew past Kepa Arrizabalaga who arguably might have done better but the pace was too hot to handle

On 42 points, Palace are safe and know it  the perfect recipe for a season to tamely peter out. Four defeats in succession is testament to that.

But for a couple of sporadic Palace forays forward, it was a matter of when, not if, Chelsea would extend their advantage.

That moment arrived in the 27th minute, Christian Pulisic continuing his excellent start to Project Restart with a powerful drive from another Willian assist that beat Vicente Guaita at his near post. But the Blues have discovered an unwanted knack of making things difficult for themselves.

So it was, perhaps, no surprise to Lampard when Wilfried Zaha's 30-yard effort evaded Kepa in the 34th minute to give the Eagles a lifeline.

By the end of the first half, Chelsea were clinging on for dear life  Christian Benteke squandering a good headed chance on the stroke of half-time.

The break stemmed the momentum Palace had built but as the minutes ticked by, anxiety began to seep back into Chelsea's game.

Lampard rolled the dice, introducing top scorer Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek from the bench in the 65th minute. The changes paid instant dividends, Loftus-Cheek playing through Abraham, who fired past Guaita within six minutes of coming on.

Zaha pulled Palace back into the game with his incredible goal and the hosts had the better of the game just before the break

Tammy Abraham came off the bench to score after latching on to a through ball from Ruben Loftus-Cheek

But once again, Chelsea recklessly shot themselves in the foot, as Jordan Ayew squared to Benteke two minutes later, who had the simplest tasks of poking home from close range.

Lampard immediately looked back at his bench with disdain. Perhaps he knew what was coming.

Palace thought they'd grabbed an equaliser in the last of five minutes of stoppage time when Dann, via a brilliant save from Kepa, cannoned a header off the inside of the post.

There was even time for a last chance for Palace as Benteke raced clear, only for Kurt Zouma to produce an outstanding last-ditch tackle to save his team.

Abraham had only just come off the bench for Lampard when he slotted a neat side-footed finish past Guaita

Christian Benteke replied for Palace straight away to reduce the deficit to one goal once again at Selhurst Park

Benteke tapped into an empty net after the cross along the six-yard box went past the helpless Arrizabalaga

To relive the minute-by-minute action, scroll down to read Sportsmail's live coverage of the match
Kamaru Usman insists he is going to 'ragdoll' late replacement Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 on Saturday night.

Usman was slated in to take on Gilbert Burns in the main event on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night, but the Brazilian tested positive for coronavirus last Friday.

Masvidal, who was originally in line to take on Usman - the Nigerian Nightmare - before negotiations broke down over pay, swiftly declared himself available to replace Burns at short notice.

Kamaru Usman has already thrown down the gauntlet ahead of his fight this weekend

Jorge Masvidal stepped in late to face Usman, after Gilbert Burns tested positive for Covid-19

However, 'Gamebred' Masvidal himself is already looking ahead to a potential bout against Nate Diaz or Stephen Thompson after this weekend's fight.

The 35-year-old, who claimed the 'Baddest Mother F*****' belt (BMF) against Diaz in November, has even posted images of himself on Instagram 'negotiating' on the phone and taking a coronavirus test.

Masvidal claimed the money he was originally offered for fighting Usman was only half of what he got for the Diaz fight.

That purse was then matched, but Masvidal wanted more, as well as a higher cut of the pay-per-view revenue but despite the disagreement, Masvidal has saved Dana White's show this weekend by stepping in.

Masvidal captured the BMF title against Nate Diaz, and was originally in line to face Usman

Responding to the BMF title potentially being up for grabs at UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, Usman told TMZ Sports: 'That's my (expletive), absolutely.

'They're saying it's a "BMF"  they're really considering this a real title, kind of an interim thing or whatever.

'They're really considering this a title. So you know, yes  after I go out there and beat his a** and ragdoll him, that (expletive) is coming home with me so I can throw it in my closet.'

UFC president White has not actually yet confirmed whether the 'BMF' title will be up for grabs when the pair meet on Saturday night (Sunday morning, UK time).
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A chocolate-box village known for its half-timbered historical houses has been named the most beautiful in France for 2020.

It has scooped the title of France's favourite village in the annual TV contest Le Village Prefere des Francais (The Favourite Village of the French).

The show describes it as a 'marvel'.

It has seen off competition from 13 other charming shortlisted villages ranked after TV viewers voted for their favourite.

The shortlist includes a famous wine-region hamlet and the former home of an impressionist painter.

Scroll down to see the shortlist in reverse order, with the winner at the bottom

14th - Cargese on Corsica. According to Le Village Prefere des Francais, it is a 'charming village' and has architecture on 'every street corner, which recalls its history'

13th - Giverny in Normandy. The impressionist Claude Monet lived and worked here from 1883 until his death in 1926. This picture shows the village pond that he owned and the bridge in it that he painted multiple times

12th - Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges in Haute-Garonne in south-western France. It is famous for its former Roman Catholic cathedral, pictured, and is in a 'majestic setting at the foot of the Pyrenees', says the show

11th - Aubeterre-sur-Dronne in south-west France's Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It has a population of just 386. The show says the 'real treasure' in the village is its 'impressive monolithic church'

10th - the famous wine village of Chablis. 'The Golden Gate of Burgundy', as it's known, is the cradle of an ancient and prestigious vineyard, the show explains, which covers 4,500 hectares. And the surrounding terrain is 'a real playground for hikers'

9th - the village of Montfort-l'Amaury, which dates back to the 11th century. The show describes it as 'rich in numerous historical monuments'

8th - medieval Montpeyroux in Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, south-east France. The show says it is 'one of the most beautiful villages in France' and highly recommends taking in the views from the top of its old tower (pictured)

7th - Troo in the Loire Valley, an 'ancient troglodyte city... built in the heart of the rocks from medieval times'

6th - Batz-sur-Mer on the Guerande Peninsula of western France. This village sits by an expanse of salt marshes and 'conceals real treasures, both architectural and natural... such as the Saint-Guenole church and beaches dedicated to board sports'

5th - Pierrefonds, a village in northern France best known for its castle, which 'overlooks the whole village from its rocky plateau'

4th - Pont-Aven in Brittany. This village was popular in the 19th century with painters including Paul Gauguin. The show says the village is also well-known for its stone footbridges

3rd - Menerbes in the Vaucluse department of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur. The show says many artists have been 'seduced by the authenticity of this village', including Picasso

2nd - Les Anses-d'Arlet on the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean. The show says it has 'sublime white sand beaches' and 'colourful Creole houses'
17 months after he finished shooting his last film role, Brad Pitt has signed-on to star in the Sony Pictures action-thriller, Bullet Train.

Director David Leitch - known for Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw - will helm the movie that was written by Zak Olkewicz.

The film is based on the Japanese novel - Maria Beetle - by best-selling author Kotaro Isaka, according to a report by Deadline.

He's back! Brad Pitt is set to star in the action-thriller film Bullet Train

In the novel, five assassins find themselves on a fast moving bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with only a few stops in between. They eventually discover their missions are not unrelated to each other.

As the drama and action unfold, a huge question arises: who will make it off the train alive and what awaits them at the terminal station?

Antoine Fuqua and Kat Samick developed the project originally for Fuqua Films. They will also serve as producers along with Leitch and Kelly McCormick, who worked in recent years on Atomic Blonde.

Long break: The legendary leading man's last film role came in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which wrapped shooting in November 2018

This will be Pitt's first film role since his performance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which he won an Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor.

Writer and director Quentin Tarantino started shooting the comedy-drama in June 2018 and eventually wrapped by November of that year.

Pitt's follow-up film was supposed to be a starring role in the Paramount and Damian Chazelle movie Babylon, alongside Emma Stone, but production was pushed back to 2021, giving Pitt the opening to book Bullet Train.

Acclaimed: Pitt won an Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor for his role of Cliff Booth in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood at the 92nd Oscars in February 2020

Chazelle is best-known for directing Whiplash, La La Land and First Man.

Pitt was last seen in science fiction psychological-drama Ad Astra, which made its widespread premiere in September 2019, but principal shooting went from August to October of 2017, six months before Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

The legendary leading man has also made a name for himself as a producer, whose credits include The Departed, 12 Years A Slave, The Tree Of Life, Moneyball and The Big Short.
Former Real Housewives Of Orange County star Kara Keough Bosworth gave birth to her second child, a son, McCoy on April 6 and on April 12 he died from birth complications.

She penned a heartbreaking tribute for McCoy on Monday, the day he would have been three months old.

Alongside a somber black and white photo with her husband Kyle Bosworth, who she married in 2014, and their baby boy before his untimely passing, the 31-year-old reflected on her grief and milestones her son should have been reaching.

Heartbreak: Kara Keough Bosworth penned a heartbreaking tribute for McCoy on Monday, the day he would have been three months old, alongside a somber black and white photo before his death at six days old

'You would have been three months old today,' Kara wrote. 'But instead, Im three months into the deepest pain Ive ever felt.'

In the lengthy post she opened up about her continued grief, and the difficulties she is facing.

'Ive survived three months when I didnt think Id live another three second,' she continued. 'How has it been so long since I smelled you and felt your weight?'

The former reality TV star wrote 'each day' since McCoy's birth 'has felt like the longest day, a summer solstice of suffering.'

Pain: 'You would have been three months old today,' Kara wrote. 'But instead, Im three months into the deepest pain Ive ever felt.' In the lengthy post she opened up about her continued grief, and the difficulties she is facing

Despite her world coming to a halt, life is going on.

'And yet, somehow, time is passing. Time is pushing on, moving my body begrudgingly into another day,' she wrote. 'Another day further away from the last time I held you in my arms.'

Kara went on to share the questions she has about the little person her son would have been becoming, the memories she, Kyle and their daughter Decker, aged four, would have been making.

'Who would you be today? Would you be blonde still, or bald,' she questioned. 'Would you smile bigger for mommys singing or with daddys beard tickling your belly?'

Big sister: Kara went on to share the questions she has about the little person her son would have been becoming, the memories she, Kyle and their daughter Decker, aged four, would have been making

Of the relationship she expected Decker to be forming with her little brother she asked: 'Would your sister be sneaking into your room and trying to lift you out of your crib even though weve told her not to three times already? Would she even be able to lift you by now?'

She even though of how McCoy would be learning to love the family's fur babies.

'Would you track the dogs with your eyes, discovering your love for them already,' she wrote. 'Would you swipe your hands at all your new best friends, reaching out to pull hats and bows off their heads?'

Kara imagined her family would be introducing McCoy to other babies he would know for life.

Missed moments: 'Would we be FaceTiming with Caden, visiting Charlie, and taking pictures with Duke,' she wrote. 'Would your Uncle Korey be as obsessed with you as he is with your sister'

'Would we be FaceTiming with Caden, visiting Charlie, and taking pictures with Duke,' she wrote. 'Would your Uncle Korey be as obsessed with you as he is with your sister?'

As she is grieving for the loss of her son, it is not the only loss she is grieving.

In May, just weeks after losing McCoy, her father Matt Keough also died, at the time she wrote 'You're on grandpa duty in heaven now.'

'Would missing grandpa be easier with you here,' she wondered.

To remember: Since the family's tragic loss, Kara has been open about her grief, finding comfort in a doll that is weighted to McCoy's at birth, and a small tattoo she got in his honor

She opened up about how she and her family continue to feel the loss of McCoy every day, but never let moments pass without him in mind.

'What would our days look like with you in them,' she asked. 'Were still making room for you in everything we do.'

'We kiss you goodnight, we say hi baby when we see signs of you, we feel you everywhere,' she wrote. 'Theres a space where you should be, but each day its feeling less like a gaping hole and more like an invisible fullness. We love you, McCoy.'

Double grief: As she is grieving for the loss of her son, it is not the only loss she is grieving. In May, just weeks after losing McCoy, her father Matt Keough also died. ' 'Would missing grandpa be easier with you here,' she wondered

Memory: 'We kiss you goodnight, we say hi baby when we see signs of you, we feel you everywhere,' she wrote. 'Theres a space where you should be, but each day its feeling less like a gaping hole and more like an invisible fullness. We love you, McCoy'

Since the family's tragic loss, Kara has been open about her grief, finding comfort in a doll that is weighted to McCoy's at birth, and a small tattoo she got in his honor.

Last month, posting an update, Kara showed off the design, an M, made with traditional tattoo ink and some of McCoy's ashes, while holding a teddy bear with a ribbon bearing her son's name.

Talking to Good Morning America , Kara said she was 'literally begging God to save my baby' as she fought 'a Herculean effort' for nine minutes to push out her son with the help of a licensed midwife.

She had committed to an unmedicated delivery and entered a birthing pool during labor with her husband Kyle by her side.

Loss: Kara gave birth at home on April 6, the baby suffered from complications and was not breathing and was then rushed to the hospital

When it came time to push, the baby got stuck after his head was delivered, a condition known as shoulder dystocia, and it caused his umbilical cord to be compressed, cutting off his oxygen supply and causing devastating brain damage.

The midwife called 911 when it became apparent the infant was not breathing and he was rushed to hospital.

Although medics managed to get his heart beating again, the newborn suffered traumatic brain damage and couldn't be saved.

Kara is the daughter of Jeana Keough who was a housewife on RHOC from season one to five and continued to make friend or guest appearances on the Bravo show up until season 12.
She recently paid heartfelt tribute to a Broadway actor Nick Cordero who passed away from complications due to COVID-19 on Sunday, and is making sure to stay protected herself.

Sarah Michelle Gellar was seen on Monday in Brentwood, California, masked up as she took her daughter Charlotte to a friend's house.

The Buffy The Vampire Slayer star, 43, wore a turquoise gingham plaid face mask, along with an adorable denim jumper set that made her look youthful.

Protected: Sarah Michelle Gellar was seen on Monday in Brentwood, masked up as she took her daughter Charlotte to a friend's house

She rolled up the sleeves and legs of her jumper, and wore weathered white trainers.

The Cruel Intentions actress completed her ensemble with chic gold-rimmed aviator sunglasses.

Sarah Michelle also wore her blond hair up in a causal top knot.

Her daughter Charlotte wore a face mask like mom, and also rocked super-cute zebra print shorts.

Cute day look: The Buffy The Vampire Slayer star, 43, wore a turquoise gingham plaid face mask, along with an adorable denim jumper set that made her look youthful

The day before Sarah's outing, the Long Island, NY-native penned a heartfelt tribute to Nick Cordero, the famed New York City-based actor who lost his months-long battle against COVID-19 on Sunday.

Taking to her Instagram, she shared a stunning photo of Cordero, 41, his wife Amanda Kloots, 38, and their son Elvis, who celebrated his first birthday in June.

'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,' Gellar wrote in the caption.

'Nick leaves behind a beautiful wife @amandakloots and the most precious son, who just celebrated his first birthday without his father,' she continued.

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.'

The day before: The actress penned a heartfelt tribute to Nick Cordero, the famed New York City-based actor who lost his months-long battle against COVID-19 on Sunday; seen on IG

'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 Scooby-Doo actress concluded her compassionate post with the quote: 'Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal.'

And on Monday, Sarah uploaded another snippet for Kloots honor, screen-capturing the grieving fitness instructor's live broadcast of her last song in Nick's honor.

In the caption, Sarah Michelle called Amanda 'a rock star and a super hero.'

Star mom: Gellar is mom to Charlotte Grace, 10, and son Rocky James, seven, whom she shares with her husband of 18 years Freddie Prinze Jr.

'Thank you for showing up all how to #liveyourlife' she continued, referencing the now-famous song Amanda sang, which was written by her late husband.

'You are just simply an inspiration,' she concluded.

Gellar is mom to Charlotte Grace, 10, and son Rocky James, seven.

The actress shares her children with her husband of 18 years, Freddie Prinze Jr., who she met on the set of their 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Cornerstone Church Atlanta votes to leave SBC: We should've done it sooner, black pastor says

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Pastor John Onwuchekwa, lead pastor of the diverse but predominantly black Cornerstone Church Atlanta, announced Friday that his congregation has voted to leave the Southern Baptist Convention.

On Sunday we voted as a church to leave the SBC. I don't say this for applause (there's nothing particularly commendable about our decision). I only mention it to bring clarity surrounding where (and with whom) we stand in days like this. Frankly, we should've done it sooner, Onwuchekwa wrote in a series of tweets last Friday.

Onwuchekwa, Richard Mullen, Moe Hafeez and rapper Trip Lee planted Cornerstone Church Atlanta after they moved to the citys historic West End neighborhood in 2015. In a 2016 interview with The Christian Post, Lee, who is no longer listed on the churchs website, said the church at the time attracted about 200 predominantly young worshipers weekly who were about 60% black and about 40% white. It is unclear what the current composition of the church is as Onwuchekwa did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CP.

The pastor, who authored Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church, said in his post that sometime in the coming weeks he would elaborate on the reasons for his congregations vote.

An official with the SBCs Executive Committee confirmed Tuesday that the church was planted with the help of the conventions North American Mission Board and referred questions about the vote to them. A response from NAMB is pending.

In Fridays announcement and a number of public statements on social media leading up to it, Onwuchekwa hinted that among the reasons his church is severing ties with the SBC is that he did not want to send the wrong message to particularly other Christian leaders of color that the organization is healthy for them.

Often when you find yourself with people you dearly love and want the best for, you end up staying around longer than you should. That was us. In the coming weeks, I'll be more vocal and comprehensive as to our reasons why. But for the time being, I'll say this much, he continued. Whenever you swim in certain streams, you implicitly hold up a sign that says Come on in, the water's fine. We don't want to hold up that sign. Instead, if I'm going to hold up any signit's going to be one on the outside of the pool that says Enter at Your Own Risk!

Just over a week before Cornerstone Atlanta Churchs decision to leave the SBC, Onwuchekwa, noted that he was suddenly being asked by apparently white church leaders to "talk" about racial reconciliation and "catch" up in the wake of social unrest over racial inequality and police brutality.

Ive often found that making progress in conversations like these are difficult because we start from two different places, Onwuchekwa said in his proposed response to white leaders seeking to talk and catch up.

Id say the best way to enter into conversations is do your homework beforehand. One part is understanding that even the concept of racial reconciliation is often a majority culture concept. Aimed at reconciling the races. While reconciliation is the ultimate goal, so many people treat reconciliation as the pathway as if the solution is as simple as reconciling two people that have an argument, he continued.

While the majority culture is often concerned with racial reconciliation, minorities (who already have a ton of reconciled majority culture relationships) are concerned with something different  namely racial equality and justice. The gospel in action is needed to address these issues. And in order to understand how the gospel needs to be applied, there needs to be understanding as to what exactly is the problem. A proper diagnosis is needed, he insisted. In other words, (as stated above) before any conversation is helpful its important that both parties that come to the table are able to define the problem the same way.

Studies show significant gaps in the way people from different ethnic groups view racism. A 2016 Barna study showed, for example, that while 59% of black U.S. adults disagreed that racism is a problem of the past, only 39% of white adults strongly disagreed. There was also confusion on whether the Church specifically contributed to that problem. And while six in 10 U.S. adults somewhat or strongly disagreed, black Americans were nearly twice as likely as white Americans to view Christian churches as complicit.

Responding to Onwuchekwas announcement, popular Bible teacher and author Beth Moore invoked the words of John Dollard, a psychologist and social scientist best known for his studies on race relations in America, in a statement on Twitter.

Thinking about this quote. Oftentimes, just to go away is one of the most aggressive things that another person can do...it is one of the few ways in which pressure can be put. John Dollard, 1937 Blessings to you & your church in this glorious journey of faith. He awaits, Moore wrote.

Last month, during his SBC presidential address J.D. Greear, endorsed the black lives matter movement as a Gospel issue to members but denounced the Black Lives Matter organization that sparked the movement in 2013.

Greear, who leads The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area and has long been a champion of intentional diversity in the SBC, explained how the denomination started 175 years ago by founding members who supported slavery. The denomination has, over the years since then, rejected and repented of its racist past to become one of the most ethnically diverse religious groups in the United States.

A lot of people dont know that, but nearly 20% of all Southern Baptist churches are majority non-white and the North America Mission Board tells us that more than 60% of new churches planted recently have been planted and led by people of color, Greear said.

He noted, however, that the organization still struggled with expanding that diversity into its leadership ranks.

Rolland Slade, the black 62-year-old senior pastor of Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon, California, was elected last month as the first black chair of the SBCs Executive Committee.
Emmy winner Christina Applegate revealed why it's 'best' that Netflix renewed her dark dramedy series Dead to Me for the third and final season on Monday.

'I will miss these ladies. But we felt this was the best way to tie up the story of these women,' the 48-year-old actress and executive producer tweeted.

'Thank you to all the fans. We will be getting back to work when it is safe to do so. Much love.'

It's time: Emmy winner Christina Applegate (L) revealed why it's 'best' that Netflix renewed her dark dramedy series Dead to Me for the third and final season on Monday (pictured in 2019)

The 48-year-old actress and executive producer tweeted: 'I will miss these ladies. But we felt this was the best way to tie up the story of these women. Thank you to all the fans. We will be getting back to work when it is safe to do so'

Christina was referring to the COVID-19 crisis, which has postponed or shut down countless TV and film projects.

In the plot-twisting show, Applegate stars as mother-of-two and realtor Jen Harding - who bonds with assisted-living staffer Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini) after her car accident results in the death of Jen's husband Ted.

For her performance, the Hollywood-born blonde has garnered nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, SAG Award, and Critics' Choice TV Award.

Excited? In the plot-twisting show, Christina stars as mother-of-two and realtor Jen Harding - who bonds with assisted-living staffer Judy Hale (R, Linda Cardellini) after her car accident results in the death of Jen's husband Ted

Creator Liz Feldman gushed: 'Thrilled to keep working with @1capplegate & @lindacardellini and our amazing writers, cast & crew for one more season!'

The 43-year-old showrunner (R) added via Instastory: 'I love making Dead to Me so deeply. I love these two ladies with my whole heart. It's bittersweet and thrilling. So many things at once' (pictured December 17)

'Thrilled to keep working with @1capplegate & @lindacardellini and our amazing writers, cast & crew for one more season!' creator Liz Feldman gushed via Twitter.

'@deadtome has been and continues to be the most creatively & personally fulfilling experience of my life. Profoundly grateful for all of it.'

The 43-year-old showrunner added via Instastory: 'I love making Dead to Me so deeply. I love these two ladies with my whole heart. It's bittersweet and thrilling. So many things at once.'

Cool cameo: The first season of Dead to Me was rated fourth most streamed show for the streaming giant, and the second season featured Christina's Married With Children mother Katey Sagal (pictured) as the incarcerated mother of Judy (Cardellini)

2019 cast and crew pic: The binge-watching favorite also features James Marsden in a double role, Max Jenkins, Sam McCarthy, Luke Roessler, and Natalie Morales

The first season of Dead to Me was rated fourth most streamed show for the streaming giant.

The second season featured Christina's Married With Children mother Katey Sagal as the incarcerated mother of Judy (Cardellini).

The binge-watching favorite also features James Marsden in a double role, Max Jenkins, Sam McCarthy, Luke Roessler, and Natalie Morales.
Lin-Manuel Miranda took to social media Monday to respond to critics calling for Hamilton to be canceled for its glorification of slave owners.

The 40-year-old playwright responded on Twitter in a thread debating critiques of the musical that debuted Friday on the Disney+ streaming service.

Tracy Clayton tweeted that Hamilton the play that debuted in Broadway in 2015 and the movie version 'were given to us in two different worlds & our willingness to interrogate things in this way feels like a clear sign of change'.

Online response: Lin-Manuel Miranda, shown in February in Beverly Hills, California took to social media Monday to respond to critics calling for Hamilton to be canceled for its glorification of slave owners

The host of the weekly Netflix podcast Strong Black Legends also posted that Hamilton is a 'flawed play' while additionally noting that it gave her 'flawed and imperfect little life a big boost when i needed it most'.

Miranda took the criticism in stride.

'Appreciate you so much, @brokeymcpoverty. All the criticisms are valid. The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn't get. Or wrestled with but cut. I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Did my best. It's all fair game,' he tweeted..

Hamilton was a US Founding Father and first Secretary of the Treasury who also promoted the abolition of the international slave trade in New York City.

American statesman: Alexander Hamilton shown in a portrait circa 1790 was a Founding Father of the United States and the first Secretary of the Treasury

Fair game: Miranda tweeted that 'All the criticism are valid' and said it was 'all fair game'

The musical and film version portray Hamilton as a 'young, scrappy, and hungry' immigrant and someone who was passionate about the abolition of slavery.

The production in light of recent Black Lives Matter protests has come under increased scrutiny with some pointing out that Hamilton was a slave trader.

The Founding Father married into a prominent New York slave-holding 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.

Hit play: Phillipa Soo is shown as Eliza Hamilton and Miranda as Alexander Hamilton in a still from the filmed version of the Broadway production of Hamilton that debuted Friday on Disney+

It does not appear, however, that Hamilton ever directly owned any slaves himself.

The Hamilton musical, which won 11 Tony Awards for its Broadway run and has grossed $1 billion worldwide, cast many non-white actors in roles as historical white figures.

The production mostly glossed over the issue of slavery, making few references about the profits that some Founding Fathers made from it.

Political benefactor: George Washington, played by Chris Jackson, is shown with Miranda

The true story behind the Hamilton show saw the hashtag 'CancelHamilton' grow on Twitter.

'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.

There were other such calls though some were tongue-in-cheek responses to the emergence of 'cancel culture' on social media.

Slave owner: Daveed Diggs is shown portraying Thomas Jefferson, who owned more than 600 slaves, in a still from Hamilton on Disney+
ABC host Julia Zemiro has slammed Channel Nine's Today show and Seven's Sunrise for giving right wing politician Pauline Hanson a platform.

The presenter lashed out at the breakfast shows on Twitter for inviting Hanson - who was banned from Today on Monday for describing residents of Melbourne's public housing towers as 'drug addicts and alcoholics' - to appear as a regular guest.

But while publicly boycotting the programs, Julia, 53, made an embarrassing gaffe by getting the names of the Sunrise hosts wrong.

Boycott: ABC star Julia Zemiro (pictured) publicly boycotted the Today show and Sunrise on Monday for giving Pauline Hanson a platform - but she made an embarrassing gaffe

'I have long said no to going on Sunrise to promote anything because they continue to invite Hanson on regularly. The Today show has been added to the list,' Julia tweeted.

Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell hit back, claiming Julia had in fact been on his show last year but hadn't been invited to appear as a guest recently.

'Well that's just not true. You came on Sunrise last year. Plus, we don't continue to invite Pauline on regularly. You're incorrect. It's also incorrect to say we have even asked you on in 2020. You can't decline when you haven't been invited,' he wrote.

Julia responded: '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.'

This was where she made the gaffe; Melissa Doyle hasn't hosted Sunrise since 2013, when she was replaced by Samantha Armytage.

Gaffe: After being questioned on Twitter by Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell, Julia claimed she had specifically requested no interviews with 'Kochie and Mel' last year.

Whoops: Melissa Doyle hasn't hosted Sunrise since 2013, when she was replaced by Samantha Armytage. Pell pointed out Julia's error, tweeting: 'Julia, with respect, you don't even know who the hosts of @sunriseon7 are... Your stance seems meaningless and just for show'

Pell called out the RocKwiz host on her error, tweeting: 'Julia, with respect, you don't even know who the hosts of @sunriseon7 are.'

He added: 'We didn't ask you to come into the studio to promote the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and never would. Plus, Pauline hasn't been a regular for near 18 months. Your stance seems meaningless and just for show.'

Julia's comments come after Pauline was banned from the Today show for branding residents of Melbourne's public housing towers 'drug addicts and alcoholics'.

Error: Julia referred to the Sunrise hosts as 'Kochie and Mel', but Melissa Doyle left the show in 2013 after 14 years and was replaced by Samantha Armytage (left, with David Koch)

The One Nation senator said refugees living inside the towers should learn English during a controversial interview with co-hosts Allison Langdon and Karl Stefanovic on Monday morning's show.

Her rant led to widespread outrage on social media and within hours Channel Nine announced she would no longer be a regular contributor on the Today show.

The end of Pauline's year-long role at the Today show comes after she parted ways with Sunrise over a clash with host David Koch about the Christchurch massacre.
Fans of the legendary hit sitcom Friends were crushed when they found out the one-off unscripted special, with all six cast members reuniting, had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But actor David Schwimmer - famous for playing the character Ross Gellar - is assuring fans it will be worth the wait, and has spoken of his excitement over getting back with the gang on Sound-Stage 24 at Warner Studios Hollywood, which they shared during the show's run from 1994 to 2004.

'I guess what I'm honestly most looking forward to is just being in the room with those other five actors. It's five, right? That was a joke,' Schwimmer said of his former castmates Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and Matthew Perry in an interview with E! News.

Friendly anticipation: David Schwimmer, 53, gushed about his excitement for the one-off, unscripted Friends reunion special that's set to be shot in August

Schwimmer got a bit nostalgic when he got to thinking about returning to the Warner Bros. studio, where all the magic happened.

'Being on the actual sound stage on the actual set for the first time in 10 years, the set that we shot on for 10 years, that to me is going to be a really meaningful experience,' the actor, 53, confessed with obvious emotion.

HBO first announced plans for the unscripted special - which will look back on the iconic show - back in February, but plans to launch it in May were thrown into jeopardy due to the coronavirus crisis.

The show has been rescheduled to shoot in August, with the cast needing to undergo tests for the virus before they are allowed on set.

Friends for life: All six stars of Friends will return to the studio sound-stage they shared from 1994 to 2004 for the reunion special; pictured are Courteney Cox Arquette as Monica Geller, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing and Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green

'Everyone is really hoping production and filming can resume next month,' an insider revealed.

'It's full steam ahead right now, but there are going to be very strict guidelines and that includes no live audiences,' which was a big blow to the atmosphere because those behind the production were really hoping to create an authentic atmosphere.

'All of the cast will be tested for COVID-19, and asked to quarantine in isolation after they've had the tests,' the source added.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Aniston recently gushed about the reunion show and how much she's really looking forward to seeing all of he cast together in one room.

'I think it's gonna be really fun, if we ever get out of quarantine [and] get to do our reunion show,' she said.

Post COVID-19 world: All of the cast will be tested for COVID-19, and then go into quarantine before they shoot the reunion special; they are pictured in 1996

Like her Friends co-stars, Lisa Kudrow has also been open about her excited anticipation of reuniting 16-years after the show's finale aired May 6, 2004.

'Yes, that will be really great. I can't wait to do that. I really can't wait to do that,' she said recently.

'Yeah, we don't know everything about it, we need to say. I think we're meant to be surprised by some things as well.'

During a chat with Kevin Nealon on his podcast Hiking With Kevin in February, Courteney Cox revealed that all six cast members have had two closed-doors reunions since the end of the show: one dinner happened at Cox's home and the other at Aniston's house.
Tom Hanks has returned to Australian screens, months after he and his wife Rita Wilson were diagnosed with COVID-19 during an ill-fated trip Down Under.

Speaking to the Today show via video chat on Tuesday, the Hollywood superstar, 63, graciously thanked those who helped him and Rita endure their health battle back in March.

'Thanks to our friends Down Under who guaranteed our safety and saw us through,' Tom told Channel Nine's Ally Langdon, after she jokingly called him 'Australia's most famous COVID patient'.

'Thanks to our friends Down Under': Tom Hanks, 63, appeared on the Tuesday's episode of Nine's Today show to thank Australia for taking care of him and wife Rita Wilson, 63 while they had COVID-19

Tom went on to describe how the pandemic had wreaked havoc upon his new WWII drama movie Greyhound.

The film, for which he also penned the screenplay, had been due for release in movie theatres in May but was pushed back due to COVID-19.

When it became evident that cinemas would remain closed indefinitely, Apple purchased the film for streaming release on its premium subscription service Apple TV+.

Health battle: Tom and his wife Rita, 63, (pictured) both contracted COVID-19 in early March while he was filming Baz Lurhmann's Elvis Presley biopic in Australia

Not as intended: Ally Langdon (pictured) told Tom that she enjoyed watching the film from the comfort of her own home, but Tom couldn't help but air his disappointment at the fact Greyhound isn't being screened in cinemas as intended

Ally told Tom that she enjoyed watching the film from the comfort of her own home, but Tom couldn't help but air his disappointment at the fact Greyhound isn't being screened in cinemas as intended.

'On one hand, I'm happy to hear that and on the other hand, you're breaking my heart,' he lamented.

'We shot [Greyhound] for the big screen. It was mixed, it was edited, everything about it looks fantastic,' he continued, telling Ally: 'I wish that there had been 160 other people in their PJs, in your room, watching it with you at the same time.'

'We shot it for the big screen': Tom went on to describe how the pandemic had wreaked havoc upon his new WWII drama movie Greyhound, which was meant for cinemas but is now being released on Apple TV+. Tom is pictured in Greyhound trailer

Greyhound stars Tom 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.

Tom and his wife Rita, 63, both contracted COVID-19 in early March while he was filming Baz Lurhmann's Elvis Presley biopic in Australia.

The couple were hospitalised for several days and then continued their recovery in quarantine, before flying home to Los Angeles where they continued to self-isolate.
While the new MasterChef Australia hosts have been largely praised by viewers, there has been some criticism aimed at judge Andy Allen.

In recent weeks, fans have taken to social media to slam the 32-year-old for everything from his fashion to his feedback.

And since Poh Ling Yeow's elimination on Sunday night's episode, there have been fresh calls for the 47-year-old cook to replace Andy on the panel.

MasterChef's new judge? Ever since Poh Ling Yeow's (left) elimination on Sunday, there have been fresh calls for the 47-year-old cook to replace Andy Allen (right) as a judge on MasterChef

In a Facebook group dedicated to Channel 10's cooking show, one viewer wrote: 'Poh should have been one of the judges instead of Andy.'

The post was met with a flood of agreements from other members of the group.

'I've been saying this from the start! I was surprised she wasn't cast as a judge!' an enthusiastic fan commented.

A call to action: In a Facebook group dedicated to Channel 10's cooking show, one viewer wrote: 'Poh should have been one of the judges instead of Andy'

Mixed responses: The post was met with a flood of agreements from other members of the group, but others disagreed and said Andy was doing just fine

However, there were some fans who came to Andy's defense, one of whom commented: 'Definitely not, Andy is fine.'

It comes after Andy received criticism from viewers over his style of critique.

'Mel and Jock are so articulate that it's jarring when Andy speaks,' one fan tweeted recently.

'Jarring': It comes after Andy received criticism from viewers over his style of critique

Another wrote: 'MELISSA: This dish is evocative. With just a single bite, it transports me to a place and time, to experience it's scent and taste anew. You astound me. You impress me. What is your critique, Andy? ANDY: Bloody hell! Big tick.'

Despite the criticism, Andy and his fellow MasterChef judges, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo, have been a hit with viewers this season.

One fan recently said on Facebook that the new hosts were 'the freshness the show needed'.
Despite being the oldest housemate in the Big Brother house, evicted star Marissa Rancan was the fiercest competitor during the show's tough challenges.

And in pursuit of the enviable right to nominate, the 80s aerobics icon suffered a nasty hit to the head.

Now she has revealed that the accident nearly landed her in hospital.

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Big Brother EXCLUSIVE: Evicted star Marissa Rancan, 62, was treated for a suspected concussion by medics after tough challenge went wrong

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday, Marissa, 62, said: 'They [Big Brother's medical team] thought I had a concussion.'

Marissa explained that after hitting her head twice during a challenge fall, she was observed for a suspected concussion.

'They've got beautiful medics and doctors on duty 24/7. If you ever need a doctor or something, everyone is on call all the time,' she explained.

Marissa said the medics eventually deemed the injury OK and gave her some ice and medication.

'We were lucky there was no injuries, just sore muscles and everything like that,' she said of the housemates so far.

Ouch! Marissa fell back and hit her head twice during an endurance challenge, which aired on June 29 (pictured)

Lucky! Marissa said the medics eventually deemed the injury fine and gave her some ice and medication

The challenge, which aired on June 29, saw the contestants compete in an endurance task with their feet pushed up against a disc as they sat on a workout bench.

Once 45-minutes had passed, Marissa attempted to readjust herself on her seat by leaning back.

She fell backwards and shocked her co-stars, telling them: 'Sorry! I was trying something.'

Big Brother joked at the time: 'Perhaps lying back isn't the safest position.'

Gone! Marissa was sent home with a unanimous 5-0 vote on Monday night in an eviction with Kieran Davidson

Meanwhile, Marissa was sent home with a unanimous 5-0 vote on Monday night in an eviction with Kieran Davidson.

There are now only nine housemates left vying for the $250,000 cash prize.

Australia will vote for a winner later this month during a live finale when there are only three contestants remaining.

Big Brother Australia continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10
OnlyFans star and model Jem Wolfie has hit back at unrealistic beauty standards in a raw post on the social media platform.

Over the weekend, the 28-year-old shared an unedited photo of her cellulite so she could highlight 'real' beauty on Instagram.

Posing in a swimsuit with her dimpled thigh facing the camera, Jem wrote: 'I'm so f***in sick of seeing FAKE s**t.

Natural: Instagram sensation Jem Wolfie has hit back at unrealistic beauty standards by sharing a photo of her cellulite (pictured above)

'This trend of lips so full of filler they look like swollen sausages, skin edited so smooth you dont see pores or texture.'

She added: 'This is why girls have been brainwashed to a certain standard of "beauty" instead of accepting and loving themselves the way they are.'

Jem called the pressure to look perfect on the social media site was 'unhealthy' and leads to unrealistic and unattainable beauty standards for young people.

'This trend of lips so full of filler they look like swollen sausages, skin edited so smooth you dont see pores or texture,' she wrote

'People follow me coz Im real, to the rolls to the dimples to the mark on my shirt to the acne scars on my face,' she wrote.

'I love motivating and inspiring people to be healthy but also to accept your "flaws".'

She finished: 'I want to remind you this is NORMAL and REAL and its ok if you think its disgusting but thats all good with me Ill continue to send this message as long as I have an audience to do so.'

'People follow me coz Im real, to the rolls to the dimples to the mark on my shirt to the acne scars on my face,' she told her 2.7 million followers

Jem also added the hashtags '#stretchmarks #cellulite #curves #women #girls #beauty #beautiful.'

The Perth-based model is one of the Australia's most popular social media stars.

Not only does she boast 2.7 million followers on Instagram, she's also one of the biggest creators on OnlyFans.

Success! Not only does she boast 2.7 million followers on Instagram, she's also one of the biggest creators on OnlyFans

She previously told Perth Now that she can sometimes earn up to $30,000 a day selling racy photos on the subscription-based platform.

Last April, OnlyFans founder and CEO Tim Stokely confirmed that Jem had the 'highest number of fans' on OnlyFans out of all the creators on the site.

'Because the content is exclusive compared to that on her Instagram, Jem has earned over $2,000,000 since joining OnlyFans in August,' he said.
Pauline Hanson was banned from Channel Nine's Today show for branding residents of Melbourne's public housing towers 'drug addicts and alcoholics' on Monday.

And former TV executive Rob McKnight has revealed the reason why it was only a matter of time before the One Nation senator 'blew up' on live TV.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday, McKnight said: 'The axing of Pauline Hanson has been a long time coming.'

Today's bad gamble: Former TV executive Rob McKnight has revealed why it was only a matter of time before Pauline Hanson (pictured) 'blew up' on Channel Nine's Today show

He added: 'While there's certainly a case to have an elected representative on the breakfast shows, there's no doubt Pauline has used the breakfast shows as much as they have used her to generate ratings... it will be interesting to see where she goes from here.'

McKnight, the former executive producer of Studio 10, went on to say he 'didn't feel comfortable' with Today inviting Pauline to appear on their show after her clash with Sunrise host David Koch about the Christchurch massacre in 2019, which led to her parting ways with Seven.

'I didn't feel comfortable with the Today show picking her up after she had that big fight with Kochie on Sunrise, but each to their own. It was just a matter of time before it blew up,' he said.

Axing: McKnight (pictured) said it was only 'a matter of time' before Hanson 'blew up' on Today, after she parted ways with Channel Seven's Sunrise on bad terms in 2019

'Ultimately the breakfast shows will do what they need to do to get ratings, but this is a clear sign outrageous opinions are not drawing viewers like they once possibly did.'

On Monday, Pauline was banned from Nine's Today show for branding residents of Melbourne's public housing towers 'drug addicts and alcoholics'.

The One Nation senator said refugees living inside the towers should learn English during a controversial interview with co-hosts Allison Langdon and Karl Stefanovic.

Controversial: On Monday, Pauline (left) was banned from Nine's Today show for branding residents of Melbourne's public housing towers 'drug addicts and alcoholics'. Pictured right is Today co-host Allison Langdon

Her rant led to widespread outrage on social media and within hours Channel Nine announced she would no longer be a regular contributor on the Today show.

'The Today show has advised Pauline Hanson that she will no longer be appearing on our program as a regular contributor,' a Nine spokesperson said.

'We don't shy away from diverse opinions and robust debate on the Today show. But this morning's accusations from Pauline Hanson were ill-informed and divisive.

'At a time of uncertainty in this national and global health crisis, Australians have to be united and supportive of one another. We need to get through this together.'
She recently said the 'scary' coronavirus pandemic is a reminder that 'we're all together'.

But on Monday, hotel heiress Paris Hilton was very much by herself as she sashayed through a strip mall in Malibu with only her dyed pink pup for company.

The socialite flashed skin in a crop top with spaghetti straps and a maxi skirt with a split at the front.

Ready for her close-up: Paris Hilton looked more like she belonged on a catwalk than an almost deserted shopping center in Malibu on Monday

The black lacy top showed off her taut abs and trim waist while the navy and white patterned skirt displayed her bare legs.

She stepped out in platform-soled silver shoes and donned a black peak cap and white statement sunglasses.

Paris carried her pink pup in one hand and a discarded white shirt in the other.

Unmissable: The hotel heiress flashed skin in a black crop top with spaghetti straps. She brought along her dyed pink pup that she carried in one hand as she walked

Retail trip: The blonde socialite stepped out in platform-soled silver shoes and donned a black peak cap and white statement sunglasses

Fashionable: Paris had on a navy and white patterned maxi skirt with a split at the front and carried a discarded white shirt and her phone

In an interview in May on Barkha Beauty founder Barkha Shewakramani's YouTube channel, Paris explained how she's thinking about self-isolation during the coronavirus crisis as a sort of 'reset for the world'.

She suggested that it's reminding people 'we're all together and this is something that's affecting everyone.'

The heiress added: '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.'
JK Rowling raises concerns over trans hormones, calls it 'new form of gay conversion therapy'

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Author J.K. Rowling has continued to raise concerns about transgender activism, particularly the promotion of experimental puberty blockers prescribed to minors, for which she was recently accused of attacking people who take medication to aid their mental health.

The bestselling writer voiced her frustrations on Twitter Sunday, where she said she's "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," she added, referring to accusations that she described people who take medication for their mental health as "lazy."

The online harassment Rowling has endured in recent days stems from her criticisms of transgender ideology.

"When you lie about what I believe about mental health medication and when you misrepresent the views of a trans woman for whom I feel nothing but admiration and solidarity, you cross a line," Rowling added in the tweet-thread on Tuesday.

"Ive written and spoken about my own mental health challenges, which include OCD, depression and anxiety. I did so recently in my essay TERF Wars. Ive taken anti-depressants in the past and they helped me."

Rowling's 4,000-word essay "TERF Wars" was published on June 10 on her website where she articulated her perspective on the dangers transgenderism poses to women and their rights. TERF stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist and is considered a derogatory slur.

The author further explained in her posts that she believes modern gender-transitioning amounts to a new kind of gay conversion therapy that might cause sterility and the loss of their full sexual function, pointing to a recent BBC documentary scrutinizing the Tavistock clinic in London where whistleblowers spoke about how such transitions were driven by homophobia.

"The long-term health risks of cross-sex hormones have now been tracked over a lengthy period. These side-effects are often minimized or denied by trans activists," Rowling continued, linking to a February 2019 News-Medical.net article about an American Heart Association study on hormone use that revealed an elevated risk of cardiac problems such as heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots.

Rowling also highlighted the words of Oxford University professor of medicine Carl Henegan who has called the off-label use of puberty-blocking drugs on minors an "unregulated live experiment on children."

In response to Benjamin Cohen, CEO of the LGBT media outlet Pink News, who dismissed her concerns as uninformed on Sunday, Rowling added Tuesday: "I'm a world expert on being talked over, lied about and defined by misogynists, on being instructed to centre everyone but my own demographic in my activism and on being denied credit for my own achievements by envious men. In other words, I'm a woman."

The renowned British author has faced an intense media backlash in recent weeks due to her comments, including from "Harry Potter" film stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.

Her words about the controversial medical practices come as England's National Health Service updated its guidelines on the medicalization of gender dysphoria, shifting away from having previously claimed that puberty blockers were reversible. The revised NHS guidelines now say that the long-term side effects of the drugs remain unknown and also lists several risk factors.

Meanwhile, an ongoing lawsuit against the Tavistock clinic, in which detransitioner (a formerly trans-identified person) Keira Bell is a claimant, alleges that gender-confused children were being rushed into hormonal and surgical transitions without an adequate explanation of the permanent effects on their bodies.
Halle Berry has pulled out of playing a transgender male in an upcoming movie, after becoming the target of online outrage last week.

Speaking in an Instagram Live, the Monster Ball actress, 53, revealed she 'might' be playing the role, leading to mass backlash.

Taking to Twitter on Monday evening, Halle apologised for her 'remarks' and admitted that she should have not 'considered this role' in the first place.

Her statement read: 'As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories'.

Backlash: Halle Berry has pulled out of playing a transgender male in an upcoming movie, after becoming the target of online outrage last week

'I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and I will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake.

'I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera,' concluded the Catwoman star.

In the controversial Instagram Live chat uploaded on Friday, Halle revealed to host Christin Brown that she was being considered for 'a character where the woman is a trans character, so she's a woman that transitioned into a man.'

'She's a character in a project I love that I might be doing.'

Apology: Taking to Twitter on Monday evening, Halle apologised for her 'remarks' and admitted that she should have not 'considered this role' in the first place

Just might: '[The role is] a character where the woman is a trans character, so she's a woman that transitioned into a man. She's a character in a project I love that I might be doing,' explained the 53-year-old actress on Friday

Berry's admission came about after she was asked by Brown whether or not she would return to her iconic pixie cut anytime in the near future.

Halle said that she wants to 'deep dive' into the role because 'who this woman was is so interesting to [her] and 'will probably be [her] next project'. She added: 'And that will require me cutting all of my hair off.'

Although she insisted that she wants to 'experience that world' and 'understand that world,' Halle failed to use the correct gender pronouns when describing the potential character.

Um no: Transgender Activist, Serena Dianari, openly criticized Berry on Twitter for incorrectly categorizing the transgender male character's story as a 'female' one

'That's what I want to experience and understand and study and explore it's really important to me to tell stories, and that's a woman, that's a female story  it changes to a man, but I want to understand the why and how of that. I want to get into it,' said Berry.

Transgender Activist, Serena Dianari, openly criticized Berry on Twitter for incorrectly categorizing the transgender male character's story as a 'female' one.

'It absolutely is NOT a female story, it is a story about a man. And why is the aspect of physical transition the focal point for her?' tweeted Dianari, who implied that being transgender is more than just a change of haircut.

'Cis peoples' understanding of trans issues is really myopic. Girl watch Disclosure on Netflix.'

Return to short hair: Berry's admission came about after she was asked by host Christin Brown whether or not she would return to her iconic pixie cut anytime in the near future

According to Berry, the now controversial project was pitched to her, while she was 'on the brink of making [the film] Bruised,' which happens to be the actress' directorial debut.

In Bruised - which is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September - Halle plays a female MMA fighter.

'This project got pitched to me right when I was the brink of making Bruised, but I so was in the mindset of getting in the body to play that, and I don't know how long I can play an MMA character, so I had to get that out,' she explained.

'But this got pitched to me, and I thought, after I do [Bruised], that's the character I'm going to play,' concluded the Academy Award-winner.
Karlie Kloss bared her midriff at the beach while practicing a breathing exercise Monday and shared the mindful moment on social media.

The 27-year-old model wore a black Adidas crop top and matching leggings while sitting cross-legged on a beach.

Karlie completed her sporty outfit with white trainers and had her blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun.

Breathing exercise: Karlie Kloss bared her midriff on Monday while practicing a breathing exercise at the beach in a video shared on her social media

The Project Runway star at one point rested her hands on her knees while making a small circle with her thumb and forefinger.

She also was seen with her hands together in front of her chest in the namaste or prayer position.

'Inhale, exhale,' Karlie wrote in the caption for her roughly 8.7 million followers on Instagram and 5.7 million on Twitter.

Karlie in her Instagram Stories indicated that her picturesque breathing video was taken while she was exercising as part of her Klossy Run Club.

Prayer position: The 27-year-old model had her hands in front of her chest in the namaste or prayer position

Small circles: Karlie also rested her hands on her knees while making small circles with her thumbs and forefingers

Easy breathing: 'Inhale, exhale,' Karlie wrote in the caption for her roughly 8.7 million followers on Instagram

The model in May posted on social media that she was 'Ready for run club again' in partnership with Adidas.

Karlie in 2016 became the face of the Adidas by Stella McCartney campaign.

The Midwest native was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2013 until 2015.

Adidas face: Karlie, shown in March in New York City, became the face in 2016 of the Adidas by Stella McCartney campaign

She founded the Kode With Klossy effort in 2015 to teach young girls computer science and software engineering.

Karlie has been married since 2018 to Joshua Kushner, 35.

Joshua is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, 39, who is the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, 74, and a senior advisor in the White House.
She was last reported to be dating American actor and Step It Up star, Glenn Powell.

But Renee Bargh's The Voice co-host Darren McMullen confirmed that the blonde beauty is 'single' on Monday.

Darren, 38, took fans behind-the-scenes on the set during rehearsals with Renee, 33.

He's telling everyone! The Voice's Darren McMullen said that his co-host Renee Bargh is 'hot, single and horny' and that he would be taking applicants looking to date her on Instagram on Monday evening

'Here with my lil hot co-host, hot single and horny,' he joked in a video of the pair.

'Wow... thanks for that,' she replied, clearly embarrassed at his remark.

The Scottish-born TV presenter clarified that he meant to say that she was 'thirsty' - a slang term that means to show a strong desire for something.

'No one is as thirsty as you,' Renee joked right back, to which he said was 'true.'

How embarrassing! Darren, 38, took fans behind-the-scenes on the set during rehearsals with Renee, 33. 'Here with my lil hot co-host, hot single and horny,' he joked in a video of the pair

Fun on set: The Scottish-born TV presenter clarified that he meant to say she was 'thirsty' - a slang term that means to show a strong desire for something. 'No one is as thirsty as you,' Renee joked right back

Later in his story, Darren revealed that Renee had been 'inundated' with messages since he first advertised that she was single.

Offering a solution to the deluge of DMs in her inbox, he told potential love interests: 'send your applications to me, with all your statistics and what you are bringing to the table.'

'I will sift through the applicants and pass on the best ones,' he added.

Darren said he thought of himself as Renee's 'jealous older brother' and that a potential boyfriend would have to impress before they could date.

But he corrected his Freudian slip by clarifying that he meant 'over protective' older brother - adding that his original analogy 'would be weird'.

Back to the applicants he wished them luck and added 'you're going to need it.'

Matchmaker: Later in his story, Darren revealed that Renee had been 'inundated' with messages since he first advertised that she was single. Offering a solution to the deluge of DMs in her inbox, he told potential love interests to: 'send your applications to me'

Renee was last reported to be dating American actor and Step It Up star, Glenn Powell.

But in November last year she revealed she was single and looking for a love with a 'good Aussie boy'.

'I am currently single. A good Aussie boy would be great, so if you know anyone throw them my way,' she laughed while speaking with Daily Mail Australia at the Melbourne Cup.

It was first reported in November 2018 that Renee was dating American actor Glen, but the relationship fizzled.

A source at the time told Us Weekly the couple had been together 'for six months', and they enjoyed a romantic holiday together in Mexico.
Sunrise host Samantha Armytage has lashed out at ABC star Julia Zemiro after she publicly boycotted the Channel Seven breakfast show for having Pauline Hanson as a guest.

Julia, 53, had slammed Sunrise as well as Nine's Today show on Twitter on Monday for giving the One Nation senator a platform to share her right wing views.

But Samantha hit back on Tuesday, accusing Julia of hypocrisy by pointing out that she was 'happy to take money' from commercial networks when it suited her.

Hitting back: Sunrise host Sam Armytage (pictured) has lashed out at ABC star Julia Zemiro after she publicly boycotted Seven's breakfast show for having Pauline Hanson as a guest

'Ladies and 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, and host its upfronts,' Sam tweeted.

She added: 'I was happy to stay out of this (factually incorrect) conversation, but this BS is just too much.'

Sam's clapback tweet came after Julia, 53, found herself in a Twitter stoush with Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell, who is also Sam's close friend.

She had drawn the ire of Pell, who is known in the industry for his acid tongue, by publicly boycotting the commercial breakfast shows in response to Hanson describing residents of Melbourne's public housing towers as 'drug addicts and alcoholics' on the Today show. (Hanson has since been banned from Today.)

Boycott: Julia (pictured) had slammed Sunrise as well as Nine's Today show on Twitter on Monday for giving the One Nation senator a platform to share her right wing views

'I have long said no to going on Sunrise to promote anything because they continue to invite Hanson on regularly. The Today show has been added to the list,' Julia tweeted.

Pell snapped back, claiming Julia had in fact been on his show last year but hadn't been invited to appear as a guest recently.

'Well that's just not true. You came on Sunrise last year. Plus, we don't continue to invite Pauline on regularly. You're incorrect. It's also incorrect to say we have even asked you on in 2020. You can't decline when you haven't been invited,' he wrote.

Response: Samantha accused Julia of hypocrisy by pointing out that she was 'happy to take money' from commercial networks in the past

Julia responded: '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.'

This was where she made a gaffe, however; Melissa Doyle hasn't hosted Sunrise since 2013, when she was replaced by Samantha.

Gaffe: Sam's clapback tweet came after Julia, 53, found herself in a Twitter stoush with Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell, who is also Sam's close friend

Whoops: Pell pointed out that Julia didn't even know the names of the Sunrise hosts, after she erroneously said Melissa Doyle was still one of the presenters

Pell called out the RocKwiz host on her error, tweeting: 'Julia, with respect, you don't even know who the hosts of @sunriseon7 are.'

He added: 'We didn't ask you to come into the studio to promote the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and never would. Plus, Pauline hasn't been a regular for near 18 months. Your stance seems meaningless and just for show.'

Julia's comments come after Pauline was banned from the Today show for branding residents of Melbourne's public housing towers 'drug addicts and alcoholics'.

Error: Julia referred to the Sunrise hosts as 'Kochie and Mel', but Melissa Doyle left the show in 2013 after 14 years and was replaced by Samantha Armytage (left, with David Koch)

The One Nation senator said refugees living inside the towers should learn English during a controversial interview with co-hosts Allison Langdon and Karl Stefanovic on Monday morning's show.

Her rant led to widespread outrage on social media and within hours Channel Nine announced she would no longer be a regular contributor on the Today show.

The end of Pauline's year-long role at the Today show comes after she parted ways with Sunrise over a clash with host David Koch about the Christchurch massacre.
Comedian Rickey Smiley is giving thanks for all of the outpouring of support, and expressing his anger, over the shooting of his 19-year-old daughter Aaryn Smiley in Houston Sunday night.

The Baylor University student was reportedly a passenger in a car when she was caught in the middle of an alleged road rage incident, involving two other vehicles, while waiting at a red light and was hit three times.

After some extremely tense and terrifying hours, Smiley took to Instagram Monday afternoon to reveal his 'daughter made it out of her operation' and that 'she's doing great!! Thank you for your prayers!!!!'

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Tragic: Comedian Rickey Smiley revealed his 19-year-old daughter Aaryn was shot three times in an alleged road rage incident in Houston Sunday night

The stand-up comedian and actor, 51, revealed on his radio show early Monday that Aaryn was on her way to a Whataburger location when she was caught in the crossfire.

'I'm just so angry right now,' he shared on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, adding, 'I go to bed around 8:30 or 9 o'clock, and I woke up to text messages.'

To make matters worse, Aaryn's family could not be with her due to patients being isolated in the wake of the still raging COVID-19 pandemic.

Gruesome: The stand-up comedian's daughter shared a picture of the bloodied car she was riding in when she got caught in the crossfire while at a red light

Terrifying: Aaryn Smiley, a student at Baylor University, revealed she was struck in the legs with 'armored rifle bullets' which are designed to penetrate ballistic armor

'This is the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me. I won't be out of the hospital for a while nor will I be able to walk for a while due to nerve damage,' the teenager captioned an Instagram Story photo showing the inside of the car she was riding in covered in blood.

'The scariest part of this is that I'm alone. They won't let me see my parents or let anyone come in because of covid. I'm terrified.'

In another post, Aaryn revealed that her legs were struck by 'armored rifle bullets' designed to penetrate ballistic armor.

'The [bullet] that would have hit me in the head was not that kind and ended up lodged in the car. God. Words can't describe how grateful I am to be alive right now,' she added.

All alone: Aaryn, 19, shared about how scary its been not having her family by her side due to the isolation protocols in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Recovering: Smiley revealed that his 'daughter made it out of her operation' and that 'she's doing great!!' later on Monday in a social media post

Later in the day, Smiley uploaded a video to YouTube, where he expressed his frustrations about gun violence and how he 'can't think straight' since learning of the violent ordeal.

'I can't imagine what parents have to go through whose child has been killed,' he could be heard saying in the selfie video.

According to the Houston Police Department, the occupant(s) in one of the vehicles shot three men who were at that same stop light. They all suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

At last check police do not have any suspects in custody, according to USA Today.

Heartbreaking: Smiley uploaded a video to YouTube, where he expressed his frustrations about gun violence and how he 'can't think straight' since learning of the violent ordeal
In even the most casual of outfits, she manages to exude a certain sense of elegance and inimitable style.

Dakota Johnson was seen Monday in Studio City, California heading to her friend's house in a flirty dark crop top which gave a peek at her midriff.

The Fifty Shades Of Grey star, 30, paired the top with retro-style high waisted denim bell-bottoms that ended just above her ankles.

Chic, always: Dakota Johnson was seen Monday in Studio City, heading to her friend's house in a flirty dark crop top which gave a peek at her midriff

Dakota, daughter of Hollywood stars Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, placed a hand on her lower abdomen as she walked along, keeping her face protected per city ordinance with a red bandanna.

The Suspiria actress let her shaggy long brown hair and hangs hang down and forward in her face as well.

Johnson wore dark wayfarer sunglasses.

Retro cool: The Fifty Shades Of Grey star, 30, paired her top with retro-style high waisted denim bellbottoms that ended just above her ankles

And on her feet, she donned white loafers with no socks.

She shouldered a large off-white tote bag, and her manicure was dark red.

The sighting comes one week after Dakota was spotted sporting the same red face covering while out with her partner, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

Hollywood royalty: Dakota is the daughter of Hollywood actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson; seen here in January in Los Angeles

Johnson and Martin, 43, have been dating since

The couple have been spending lockdown with Chris's kids with ex Gwyneth Paltrow, Apple and Moses.

The teenagers have been moving between their parent's houses throughout.

It'll be back to work for Dakota soon though as Deadline recently reported that the in-demand actress has signed on to star in and serve as executive producer of a new mockumentary-style TV series called Rodeo Queens for Amazon Studios.

It'll be back to work for Dakota soon: The in-demand actress has signed on to star in and serve as executive producer of a new series called Rodeo Queens; seen here in October 2019

The series will be a mockumentary style show like The Office that will follow a group of hopeful rodeo queens 'as they compete for the coveted crown.'

There is no word yet on what specific character Johnson will play in the series, which was picked up in a competitive situation with other networks/streamers vying for it.

Dakota is also attached to two buzzy new feature films currently in pre-production.

In-demand actress: Dakota is also attached to two buzzy new feature films currently in pre-production, and can currently be seen on demand in The High Note opposite Tracee Ellis Ross

One is called The Lost Daughter, a drama that will serve as the directorial debut of acclaimed actress Maggie Gyllenhaal which will follow a woman on vacation who begins to confront the troubles of her past.

That film will costar Best Actress Oscar winner Olivia Colman.

Johnson's other in-development title is Don't Worry, Darling, a 1950s-style psychological thriller revolving around an unhappy housewife, to be directed by Booksmart helmer (and actress) Olivia Wilde.
Kim Kardashian-West is known for her bold style and flawless fashion choices.

And it appears Australian influencer Tammy Hembrow, 25, likes what she sees going by her latest series of raunchy selfies.

Tammy shared a slew of racy images on Monday, with her blonde tresses in a long braid which looked strikingly similar to Kim's latest look.

Keeping up with Ms Kardashian? Instagram star Tammy Hembrow, 25, (L) has flaunted a VERY similar look to Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner in her latest series of bikini selfies on Monday(R) Kim Kardashian West

Tammy flaunted her own famous derriere in the photos, while wearing a tiny canary yellow string bikini bottom.

The statuesque blonde opted to go braless in a tight white singlet emblazoned with a butterfly. She finished the outfit with white sneakers.

Tammy made no reference to the Kardashian-Jenner clan in the caption, instead promoting her popular training app, TammyFit.

Raunchy: Statuesque blonde Tammy opted to go braless in a tight white singlet emblazoned with a butterfly. She finished the outfit with white sneakers

Global star Kim was seen with her own famous brunette tresses in the style three days earlier, which she shared to her Instagram account.

Kim rocked the hairstyle in her own set of raunchy photos while holidaying in a skimpy bronze monokini while in Mexico in January this year.

Interesting, cosmetics queen sister Kylie Jenner has also been rocking the hairstyle in her most recent racy selfies.

Taking inspiration? Interesting, cosmetics queen Kylie Jenner, 22, (pictured) has also been rocking the hairstyle in her most recent racy selfies

Tammy has had a fraught relationship with the Kardashian-Jenner clan since she famously was stretchered out of Kylie's 21st birthday party in August, 2018.

She was pictured being carried out of Kylie's party in West Hollywood face-down on a stretcher making headlines across the world.

She later claimed she was suffering from exhaustion when she collapsed on the dance floor.

Tammy rocked the trend-setting hairstyle a number of times after the Kardashian-Jenner clan

Tammy was also linked to with Kylie's ex, Tyga on his Australian tour.

Tammy's sister Amy Hembrow later claimed the pair were just friends.

After the scandals, Tammy has continued to work for sister Khloe's Good American label.
50 Cent has reportedly been dating fitness trainer Cuban Link since last August, but in recent weeks they have been shrouded in break-up rumors.

Much of that talk was put to rest when the two celebrated his 45th birthday together inside a heavily decorated storage facility in the Bronx, New York on Monday.

And among all the festive food, drinks and party favors, the loved-up couple got in a number of games of beer pong with some of their exclusive guests.

B-Day bash: 50 Cent got in some fun games of beer pong when he and his girlfriend Cuban Link celebrated his 45th birthday with exclisive guests in the Bronx, New York on Sunday

Looking elegant in a black suit and shirt, the rapper and entrepreneur (born Curtis Jackson III) showed off his skills on a customized beer pong table with a big 50 scrolled on it.

A number of people joined in on the popular drinking game, which included his ladylove.

Link (born Jamira Haines), 24, could be seen giving it a go in tight green-patterned jeans and a black off-the-shoulder top as the Get Rich Or Die Tryin' star looked on with a big beaming smile.

The rapper and entrepreneur watched with pride as Link gave it a go at beer pong

Syln' set-up: 50 and his guest got to play on a customized beer pong table

Glowing: Link (born Jamira Haines), 24, was beaming with anticipation dressed in tight green-patterned jeans and a black off-the-shoulder top

Always fashionable: 50 showed off his fashion sense in an elegant black suit

There has been a number of reports about the rumored demise of their relationship when many of the photos of the pair were deleted from Link's Instagram account in June.

The move led many fans and followers speculating about whether they were still together or if they had split, according to Capital Xtra, among other publications.

There was also a recent photo of Link posing at her old apartment that also had people wondering if she had been kicked out of his mansion.

Going strong: The couple looked to be loved-up at the birthday party, following rumors of their relationship's demise in recent weeks

Say cheese: The In Da Club rapper stopped to pose for some photos during the bash

NY state of mind: 50 Cent was born and raise in nearby Queens, New York

50 has found himself in some hot water with some people, especially the ladies, when he described the Black women that he dates as 'exotic'.

Link appeared to respond to the controversy by posting a happy birthday photo of 50

'dont worry ladies , I already knocked him upside his big ass head,' she wrote in the caption before adding, 'Happy Birthday My Love.'

Festive: The 45th birthday bash was held at a heavily decorated storage facility in the Bronx
She's the daughter of rock and reality royalty and is used to making a splashy entrance.

But Kelly Osbourne kept an uber-low profile on Monday, as she dropped by a CVS in Los Angeles, California for a few essential items.

The Talk star, 35, covered up in a black hoodie which said 'Live fast, Die last', and a white surgical mask in accordance with LA County requirements to keep faces covered in public.

Casual: Kelly Osbourne kept an uber-low profile on Monday, as she dropped by a CVS in Los Angeles for a few essential items

A standout element in Osbourne's outfit, however, was her bright lilac sweatpants, which called to mind the exact shade of her trademark purple locks.

She completed her look with Adidas slides and white socks, and carried a phone holster cross-body style.

Kelly's bangs peeked out from her hood, but were otherwise tucked away under her hood as she made her way, plastic shopping bag in hand.

A standout element in Osbourne's outfit: Her bright lilac sweatpants, which called to mind the exact shade of her trademark purple locks

Kelly is the daughter of Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy Osbourne, 71, and television personality Sharon Osbourne, 67.

For Father's Day last month, Kelly honored her 'Prince of Darkness' father with a vintage photo of the pair.

'I know everyone thinks their dad is the best dad in the world,' she wrote in the caption.

For Father's Day last month: Kelly honored her 'Prince of Darkness' father Ozzy Osbourne with a vintage photo of the pair

Famous: Kelly is the daughter of Black Sabbath rocker Osbourne, 71, and television personality Sharon Osbourne, 67; seen last month in West Hollywood

'The only difference is mine really is. Dad you truly are my best friend and I love you more then anything in the world.'

And more recently, on Saturday, Kelly's parents celebrated a huge milestone of their own: their 38th wedding anniversary.

Below a throwback video of the couple's landmark moments posted to her Instagram, Sharon wrote in the caption:

'40 years together, 38 years of marriage, why did it go so quickly? Wasnt it yesterday our kids were babies, we were young and thought we knew everything. Your love makes me feel safe and brave, you are a part of me, youre in my soul forever my darling. Always, your Sharon '
HBO's I May Destroy You is one of this summer's most critically-acclaimed shows, though star/creator/writer/director Michaela Coel reveals how she turned down a lucrative $1 million deal to bring the show to Netflix.

The 32-year-old London native first made waves with her U.K. series Chewing Gum, which was picked up by Netflix and gave her a bigger following in the U.S.

When she started pitching I May Destroy You, Netflix offered $1 million, in the spring of 2017, but she revealed to Vulture that she turned it down because they wouldn't let her retain any ownership rights to the series she created.

Turned down: HBO's I May Destroy You is one of this summer's most critically-acclaimed shows, though star/creator/writer/director Michaela Coel reveals how she turned down a lucrative $1 million deal to bring the show to Netflix

She even fired Creative Artists Agency (CAA), her representation in the United States, because she learned they pushed for her to take the Netflix deal because the agency would make an undisclosed amount on the back end of the show.

Coel recalled a moment speaking with a Netflix development executive on the phone, asking if she could retain just 5% of the copyright to her show.

'There was just silence on the phone. And she said, 'Its not how we do things here. Nobody does that, its not a big deal,"' Coel recalled.

Fired: She even fired Creative Artists Agency (CAA), her representation in the United States, because she learned they pushed for her to take the Netflix deal because the agency would make an undisclosed amount on the back end of the show

'I said, "If its not a big deal, then Id really like to have 5 percent of my rights,"' Coel added, stating that she even went down to 2%, 1% and even 0.5%.

Coel added that the woman said she would have to run it by her superiors, before adding, 'Michaela? I just want you to know Im really proud of you. Youre doing the right thing.'

'I remember thinking, Ive been going down rabbit holes in my head, like people thinking Im paranoid, Im acting sketchy, Im killing off all my agents, Coel says.

No big deal: 'I said, "If its not a big deal, then Id really like to have 5 percent of my rights,"' Coel added, stating that she even went down to 2%, 1% and even 0.5%

Sketchy: 'I remember thinking, Ive been going down rabbit holes in my head, like people thinking Im paranoid, Im acting sketchy, Im killing off all my agents, Coel says

'And then she said those words to me, and I finally realized  Im not crazy. This is crazy,' she added.

Coel then pitched the show to BBC in the fall of 2017, and they responded by giving her everything she wanted - full creative control, the rights to her work and input into the production side.

She received all of that in an email from Piers Wenger, the controller of BBC's drama commisioning, and Coel didn't believe it right away.

Full control: Coel then pitched the show to BBC in the fall of 2017, and they responded by giving her everything she wanted - full creative control, the rights to her work and input into the production side

'Id been so untrustworthy of the industry that I looked at the email and I thought, I need a day. I wasnt happy,' she said, before taking a beat and adding, 'Its an amazing email.'

I May Destroyed you debuted on HBO in June, with the first season coming to a close on August 24.

Coel not only stars in the show as Arabella, but she also wrote all 12 episodes, and co-directed the last eight episodes with Sam Miller, who directed the first four solo.
Pakistan: Christian family shot by radical mob for buying house in Muslim neighborhood

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A Christian family in Pakistan was shot last week for buying a house in a Muslim neighborhood.

On Sunday, police in the city of Peshawar in the Khybar Pakhtunkhawa province arrested the sons of a man accused of shooting two members of the Christian family after they purchased a home in late May in the Sawati Phatak colony, Asia News reports.

The alleged perpetrator, Salman Khan, is still at large.

After Khan found out that his new neighbors were Christian, the Catholic press agency reports Khan told the family they had to leave the neighborhood immediately because Christians are seen as the enemy of Islam.

What followed was days of alleged harassment against Nadeem Joseph and his family.

The family was said to have been threatened with consequences if they did not leave their new home.

Khan is accused of giving the family a 24-hour ultimatum on Sunday. But Joseph refused to leave his home. He tried to call the police once he noticed that Khan and his sons had returned with weapons.

That's when Joseph was shot in the stomach by his attackers who also shot his mother-in-law in the shoulder.

Joseph and his mother-in-law were taken to a nearby hospital and their injuries do not appear to be life-threatening.

Joseph recorded a video message from his hospital bed, according to International Christian Concern, a U.S.-based Christian persecution watchdog group. From there, Joseph said that at one point, he was told that his new neighborhood was "meant for Muslim residents only" and that "Christians and Jews are the opponents of Muslims."

Christian activist Khalid Shahzad, who is in touch with the family, told Asia News that the shooting is an example of the religious intolerance found in Pakistan.

"The main offender is still at large," Shahzad was quoted as saying in an article Monday. "Law enforcement agencies must do everything possible to capture him and bring him to justice."

Open Doors USA ranks Pakistan as the fifth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution and notes that Christians are generally "regarded as second-class citizens."

There are various forms of Christian persecution in Pakistan, including laws that criminalize blasphemy that are often abused by Muslims to take advantage of religious minorities.

Christians in Pakistan have been killed by societal mob violence ever since the country's founding. Additionally, there have been several occasions in which Muslim radicals have attacked churches in Pakistan.

In 2018, the U.S. State Department added Pakistan to its list of "countries of particular concern" that tolerate or engage in systemic and egregious violations of religious freedom.

At the time, U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, told reporters that Pakistan is home to half of the world's blasphemy law cases. Christians and other religious minorities have languished in Pakistani prisons for years after Muslims falsely accused them of insulting Islam or its prophet, Muhammad.

Christian couple Shagufta Kausar and her husband, Shafqat Emmanuel, have been on death row for over six years over false blasphemy charges of sending a text message insulting the Islamic prophet. Last week, their final hearing before the Lahore High Court was delayed.

Christian mother Asia Bibi spent nearly a decade languishing in a Pakistani prison after Muslim field workers accused her of insulting their prophet. She was acquitted by Pakistan's Supreme Court in October 2018, which sparked national unrest and protests by radical Muslims.
Big Brother's Sophie Budack has denied claims her flirty romance with housemate Chad Hurst is over.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday, Sophie insisted the pair 'are still close' and talk to each other daily, despite her former housemate Angela Clancy telling media otherwise.

Sophie, 25, added that she was looking forward to reuniting with Chad later this month, when she flies back to Sydney to film the show's reunion episode.

'We talk every day': Big Brother's Sophie Budack has DENIED claims her romance with her co-star Chad Hurst is over - after former housemate Angela Clancy told media afterwards

The Darwin-based beauty said she couldn't understand why Angela, 38, was talking to the media on the couple's behalf.

Sophie added: 'I'm not to sure why Angela is making comments to be honest'.

'We haven't spoke to her since the show finished,' she concluded.

Going strong! Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday, Sophie insisted the pair 'are still close' and talk to each other almost daily

It comes as the outspoken Perth-based reality star told Perth Now that the reality star couple never stood a chance, amid reports their relationship has fizzled.

'(They are) not together, how can you be together when you are in different cities?' Angela told the publication.

She continued: 'Sophie got on a flight and they made sure because they booked the flights, straight for Darwin, same for Chad straight to Sydney.'

Excited! Sophie, 25, added that she was looking forward to reuniting with Chad later this month when she flies back to Sydney to film the show's reunion episode

'Even in the hotel, they had somebody in between them so there was no contact,' she added.

Previously speaking to Daily Mail Australia, a friend of the couple said the reason Sophie and Chad haven't seen each other was due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Chad is curled up at his Bondi apartment while Sophie has been unable to return to Sydney due to Australian government regulations.

'She is still very invested in the relationship and feels like they're a team,' the source said.
Oscar winner Jon Voight protected himself by wearing a cloth mask to grab groceries from Jayde's Market in LA's Bel-Air neighborhood on Sunday.

The 81-year-old grandfather-of-six - who's high risk - was abiding Governor Gavin Newsom's June 18 mandate that all Californians wear masks in public.

As of Monday, there have been over 116K confirmed COVID-19 cases in LA County, which has led to 3,534 deaths - according to Johns Hopkins University.

Safety first: Oscar winner Jon Voight protected himself by wearing a cloth mask to grab groceries from Jayde's Market in LA's Bel-Air neighborhood on Sunday

High risk: The 81-year-old grandfather-of-six was abiding Governor Gavin Newsom's June 18 mandate that all Californians wear masks in public

Jon's street sighting came five days after his latest Twitter rant, this time over 'uneducated' marching 'children' tearing down unspecified monuments.

'They have become a disaster, a disgrace, with no respect,' Voight - who boasts 711K Twitter/Facebook followers - blasted on June 30.

'Donald Trump, he who has been sworn into presidency, has held this nation strong...He is the only man who will save this nation's pride so our children will remember what our country truly is - that our ancestors fought a great war for freedom and love. And with that truce, we became a union of in God we trust.'

On November 21, the Ray Donovan star was awarded the National Medal of Arts by the 74-year-old politician, who called his 1969 gay hustler film Midnight Cowboy 'a great movie.'

'Donald Trump is the only man who will save this nation's pride': Jon's street sighting came five days after his latest Twitter rant, this time over 'uneducated' marching 'children' tearing down unspecified monuments (pictured June 30)

Dancing in the White House: On November 21, Voight was awarded the National Medal of Arts by the 74-year-old politician (R), who called his 1969 gay hustler film Midnight Cowboy 'a great movie'

These days, Jon is best known as the father of Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, who mentioned him in her Mother's Day essay in the New York Times.

'When my father had an affair, it changed my life. It set [my late mother Marcheline Bertrand's] dream of family life ablaze,' the 45-year-old actress-humanitarian wrote.

'But she still loved being a mother. Her dreams of being an actor faded as she found herself, at the age of 26, raising two children with a famous ex who would cast a long shadow on her life.'

'When my father had an affair, it changed my life': These days, the Ray Donovan star is best known as the father of Oscar winner Angelina Jolie (L), who mentioned him in her Mother's Day essay in the New York Times (pictured in 2011)

'Raising two children with a famous ex': The 45-year-old actress-humanitarian was less than a year old when her late mother Marcheline Bertrand (L) separated from Jon over adultery allegations (pictured in 2001)

Angie was less than a year old when Marcheline separated from Voight over adultery allegations, and the father-daughter duo have had a fractured on/off relationship ever since.

The Catholic University grad will next reprise his role as rancher and ex-sheriff John Landsburg in Sean McNamara's 2020 sequel, JL Family Ranch 2.

The Hallmark Movies & Mysteries western also features James Caan, Teri Polo, and Bo Derek.

'On set': Voight will next reprise his role as rancher and ex-sheriff John Landsburg in Sean McNamara's 2020 sequel, JL Family Ranch 2, for Hallmark (pictured in 2019)

Action! The Catholic University grad will also play Judge Warren E. Burger in Nick Loeb and Cathy Allyn's long-delayed directorial debut Roe v. Wade (pictured in 2018)

Custody war: Loeb (L) is best known for his five-year legal battle against ex-fiance Sofia Vergara (R) over their two female frozen embryos, which has failed thus far (pictured in 2014)

Jon will also play Judge Warren E. Burger in Nick Loeb and Cathy Allyn's long-delayed directorial debut Roe v. Wade.

44-year-old Loeb is best known for his five-year legal battle against ex-fiance Sofia Vergara over their two female frozen embryos, which has failed thus far.

The anti-abortion drama also features Stacey Dash, Jamie Kennedy, Steve Guttenberg, Joey Lawrence, Greer Grammer, and Tomi Lahren.
Pia Miller is still going strong with her Hollywood agent boyfriend Patrick Whitesell, despite international border closures keeping them apart.

In a post on Instagram on Tuesday, the 36-year-old former Home and Away actress shared a photo of a giant bouquet of white roses she'd received from her beau.

She captioned the photo, 'P', the couple nickname they've given themselves, and reposted the photo on Instagram Stories adding, 'He just knows.'

Together but apart: Pia Miller is still going strong with her Hollywood agent boyfriend Patrick Whitesell, despite international border closures keeping them apart. Both pictured

With the coronavirus pandemic prompting international border closures, Pia has been in Sydney while Patrick, 55, has been based in Los Angeles.

As evidenced by her Instagram, they were last together in February, when Pia visited her beau at his home in LA.

In March, she shared a throwback photo of the two of them together during a romantic holiday in Italy.

Coming up roses: In a post on Instagram on Tuesday, the 36-year-old former Home and Away actress shared a photo of a giant bouquet of white roses she'd received from her beau

Loved-up: In March, she shared a throwback photo of the two of them together during a romantic holiday in Italy

'Repost PW: #Throw back better times. Italy, we will be back!' she captioned the moonlight photo.

She added: 'Yes we will! #happytimesthrowback'.

Pia was first linked to the Hollywood power agent in August last year, following her split with her longtime fiance, Tyson Mullane, 31, in April.

Stepping out: The couple made their red carpet debut when they attended the Oscars together in February this year in Los Angeles

The couple made their public debut at a Halloween party in Los Angeles in October, amid reports they'd started dating back in May.

She finally made their relationship Instagram official on Christmas Eve, sharing a loved-up photo with him outside of the Louvre in Paris, and captioning it 'P'.

The couple made their red carpet debut when they attended the Oscars together in February this year in Los Angeles.
The Voice Australia aired its most dramatic episode ever on Tuesday night.

Contestant Soma Sutton blasted the judges after her mentor, Guy Sebastian, failed to pick her in the playoff round.

Soma, who had performed the Brandy & Monica track The Boy Is Mine, complete with a rap segment, was told by Guy: 'I feel like I've unlocked something that you need to work on but you need time to work on it.

Anger: The Voice Australia aired its most dramatic episode ever on Tuesday night. Contestant Soma Sutton (pictured) blasted the judges after her mentor, Guy Sebastian, failed to pick her in the playoff round

'But I just don't think this particular time in your life on this particular show is right for you right now.'

Appearing shocked and angered, a shaken Soma shot back: 'OK, well, the thing about that is that I didn't really want to come on the show in the first place!

'I was convinced to come here, to be here, to stand here and do this in front of you. And, like, it is disheartening.'

Soma was told by Guy: 'I just don't think this particular time in your life on this particular show is right for you right now'

Appearing shocked and angered, a shaken Soma shot back: 'OK, well, the thing about that is that I didn't really want to come on the show in the first place! 'I was convinced to come here, to be here, to stand here and do this in front of you. And, like, it is disheartening.'

She continued her rant, lashing out at the judges and suggesting that their advice for her was not genuine.

'Your advice that you guys all give, it's like, is that genuine? I would just like to know, you know, what you really think. Do I actually have what it takes to be a musician?' she asked.

Kelly Rowland stepped in to try and calm her down while Guy looked absolutely aghast.

She continued her rant, lashing out at the judges: 'Your advice that you guys all give, it's like, is that genuine? I would just like to know, you know, what you really think. Do I actually have what it takes to be a musician?' she asked

Not impressed! The judges looked shocked and angry included Delta Goodrem (pictured)

'Take a deep breath in, no one's going to waste their time and just tell you something because it sounds good,' Kelly said.

But Soma could not be stopped, she went on: 'I think the disheartening thing about it is that you don't have enough time to get to know me. You don't know why I am in my shell.'

Guy responded carefully, telling her: 'We can only dive in to our artists as much as they let us dive in.

Issues: He added to Soma, who has said she suffered 'traumatic experiences' in her past, that she had to be open in order to overcome them

'If you don't tell me what stops you from being the artist you need to be, what can I do?'

He added to Soma, who has said she suffered 'traumatic experiences' in her past, that she had to be open in order to overcome them.

Guy told her: 'I think you've got something very special but you have to trust and you have to deal with the things that are holding you back.'

The final insult came when Guy failed to pick Soma as his wildcard, picking Matt Gresham instead and eliminating Soma from The Voice altogether.
With Melbourne heading back into lockdown due to a resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic, Melissa Leong thinks she has a solution.

The MasterChef Australia: Back To Win judge suggested that fans listen to a Dolly Parton podcast to soothe themselves.

Called Dolly Parton's America, it's a nine-part non-fiction series based on Dolly Parton's career and legacy.

Chill out: With Melbourne heading back into lockdown due to a resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic, MasterChef Australia: Back To Win judge Melissa Leong (pictured) suggested that fans listen to a Dolly Parton podcast to soothe themselves

Melissa wrote at length in an Instagram post: 'Here in Victoria, we're back to stage 3 restrictions for 6 weeks.

'It is safe to say as a community, we are all feeling more than a bit on edge at the uncertainty of what this means for ourselves, our jobs, our families and our businesses. 

'I'm no spokesperson for anyone other than myself, but if I could share anything with you right now, it's this: Try and remain calm.

Tune in! In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Melissa recommended Dolly Parton's America, a nine-part non-fiction series based on Dolly Parton's career and legacy

'Stick to the rules in place, now that we're back in a more structured setting. Remember kindness and generosity to others when you're out in the wild and please keep those mitts clean. 

'Lastly, if in doubt, I highly recommend you look to Dolly Parton, patron saint of badassery and getting the job done.

'No matter what you think or how you live your life, we can all find joy and love in this magnificent creature (also, this podcast is amazing, and will make you happy, even for just a moment).'

Melissa wrote: 'I highly recommend you look to Dolly Parton, patron saint of badassery and getting the job done. No matter what you think or how you live your life, we can all find joy and love in this magnificent creature'. Pictured: Dolly Parton

The whole of Melbourne and Mitchell Shire north of the city will be placed back into lock down for six weeks from midnight on Wednesday after Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure yet.

Residents will be only allowed to leave their homes for work and study, giving or receiving care, shopping for essentials and daily exercise near where they live.

Police will stop Victorians leaving or entering Melbourne with roadblocks and booze bus-style vehicle checks, effectively sealing 5million people inside the city.
Paddy Colliar has paid a touching tribute to his grandfather following his death.

On Monday evening, the former Bachelorette star shared a moving collection of photos and videos of his late granddad while commending him for 'putting up one hell of a fight'.

Revealing that his grandfather was his 'idol', the 28-year-old also said he 'couldn't wait to talk about him to his future wife'.

'My idol': Paddy Colliar has paid a touching tribute to his grandfather following his death

Paddy wrote: 'Youre at peace now Granda  Sitting here in tears trying to find the words to say for the greatest grandad that we lost yesterday.

'Youre an amazing man that shined so bright, and we all know you put up one hell of a fight. An idol that I looked up to for all my life. And an idol Ill talk about when I finally find a wife.'

'The impact you had on me words cant explain, hearing you on the sideline yelling my name. The laughs we had and the jokes you told, will stay with me to the day Im old.'

'Shined so bright': On Monday, the ex-Bachelorette star shared a moving collection of photos and videos of his late granddad while commending him for 'putting up one hell of a fight'

'You can finally see the woman above, the one we miss and the one we will always love.

'Grandad it pains me to say goodbye but I know youll always look down on me from the sky. Love you so much and Ill see you soon. Up your kilt,' he concluded.

It has been a tough few months for Paddy, after confirming to Daily Mail Australia that he'd lost his job as a personal trainer after the government closed Australia's gyms as part of the coronavirus lockdown.

Inspiration: Revealing that his grandfather was his 'idol', the 28-year-old also said he 'couldn't wait to talk about him to his future wife'

'The gyms have all closed,' he said. 'I was given a huge opportunity in Melbourne and had it crumble due to this crisis.'

Paddy added that he's also continuing to model and work with clothing brands, in addition to building his following on OnlyFans.

The Irish hunk shot to fame on Ali Oetjen's season of The Bachelorette back in 2018 before returning for Bachelor In Paradise, last year.
Reality star Sarah McDougal has returned to her her day job.

The Big Brother housemate was spotted at Bunnings in Melbourne by a fan, who shared a photo to Twitter on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old was all smiles in the photo and appeared happy to be behind the register.

Work: Sarah McDougal (pictured) has returned to her day job. The Big Brother housemate was spotted at Bunnings in Melbourne by a fan, who shared a photo to Twitter on Tuesday

She was dressed in the classic green and red Bunnings uniform and had her hair pulled back, but was nonetheless recognisable from her stint on TV.

It comes after Sarah revealed the heartbreaking reason why she wants to win the $250,000 prize money.

Speaking to TV Week on Monday, the Victorian student said she hopes to win the show to pay off the debt from her late father James' funeral.

Reasons: It comes after Sarah revealed the heartbreaking reason why she wants to win the $250,000 prize money

'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.

'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.

Tragic: 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

'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'

'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.

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.
Jacqueline Jossa has blasted High Street clothing brand Zara for its 'offensive' sizing, claiming being forced to wear an 'extra large' caused her to have a 'mental breakdown'.

The former EastEnders star, 27, took to Instagram on Monday night to criticise the retailer after she was left unable to fit into a pair of large shorts, despite being a size 12.

The mother-of-two shared her excitement over the weekend when she went on a post-lockdown shopping spree, asking her followers if they wanted to see what she had bought.

'Offensive': Jacqueline Jossa has blasted High Street clothing brand Zara for its 'offensive' sizing, claiming being forced to wear an 'extra large' caused her to have a 'mental breakdown'

A day later, the Queen of the Jungle explained she was unable to comfortably fit into her new purchases.

Speaking from her bed to her 2.8million followers, Jacqueline said: 'Loads of people asked me about my Zara haul because I went shopping the other night.

'To be honest, I had a mental breakdown yesterday basically because the sizing in Zara is offensive. Just not having it really. So I had to take a whole load of stuff back.'

Jacqueline gave In The Style - the brand she recently launched a collection with - a plug and claimed it was much better at offering inclusive sizes, ranging from a 6 to a 24.

Speaking out: The former EastEnders star, 27, took to Instagram on Monday night to criticise the retailer after she was left unable to fit into a pair of large shorts, despite being a size 12

The video continued: 'Do you know what? I haven't shopped in for so long for anything but in the sale and it just goes to show me really that the sizing for InTheStyle is so good. That is what it is meant to be.'

With the average dress size for women in the UK a size 16, the TV personality said she was worried about the impact on people shopping at the store who are over size 12.

Jacqueline said: 'I was shocked when I got home yesterday honestly. I'm a size 12 and the large wouldn't fit me from Zara.

'I had to get the extra large which is not a problem but you know people who are over a size 14, size 16, size 18, do they just not shop in Zara?

'I didn't know that, I wasn't aware of that and I haven't shopped in Zara for years. So I kind of remember why I don't shop in there anymore.

Furious: Speaking from her bed to her 2.8million followers, the mother-of-two said: 'To be honest, I had a mental breakdown yesterday basically because the sizing in Zara is offensive'

'I love it but I think the sizing is really off. I did get some nice bits which I will show you.

'But you should have seen me yesterday trying to squeeze into a pair of shorts and stuff. Should have filmed it but it wasn't a pretty sight.'

After sharing her thoughts on her Instagram story, the actress revealed other women had reached out to her saying they had experienced the same issues with the brand.

She later said: 'So I've been through my DMs. It's made me feel a lot better and apparently no one fits into Zara and the sizing is all off.

'Someone said they're a size 10 to 12 and they couldn't fit into the medium or large, which is just ridiculous. How could a 10 to a 12 be a large? I'm sorry but what?! Anyway, don't feel bad about it.

'I really like this skirt so I've got it in an extra large and I mean, it's not the most amazing feeling in the world but at the end of the day - I ain't an extra large. Size ain't nothing but a number, baby.'

The actress parents two daughters, Ella, five, and Mia, two, with her husband, former TOWIE star Dan Osborne, 29.

Jacqueline recently told MailOnline she refuses to put pressure on herself to look a certain way, but was hoping to follow in Dan's footsteps and get more into fitness.

Gorgeous: Jacqueline gave In The Style - the brand she recently launched a collection with - a plug and claimed it was much better at offering inclusive sizes

She said: 'Fitness wise I just like to watch Daniel in the gym and that's about it really. I'll be honest with you I'm just sat here eating a packet of Monster Munch. I'm good at making excuses.

'I don't ever put pressure on myself but I do want to start doing stuff purely for fitness and not for vanity.

'Daniel is in more of a routine for sure. He trains pretty much every day or goes for a run but the thing is his is mental.

'If he doesn't work out he's like "I don't feel right"  it's just one of those things, he feels like he needs to do it for his brain.'
She spent lockdown with her family at her idyllic retreat in Cornwall.

But it was back to work for Tana Ramsay on Monday as she headed to her London beauty salon All About The Girl.

The wife of top chef Gordon was spotted strolling through South London with her youngest child, Oscar, 14 months, in his buggy.

Back to reality: It was back to work for Tana Ramsay on Monday as she headed to her London beauty salon All About The Girl with her youngest son Oscar, 14 months

Mum of five Tana, 45, dressed down in loose black trousers, a grey t-shirt and a green jacket for her outing.

She pushed little Oscar in his buggy, with the tot dressed for the warm weather in shorts.

The two stopped by Tana's salon, which she opened in 2012 offering a wide range of beauty treatments, but while she was inside her Range Rover was slapped with a parking ticket.

Just the two of us: Mum of five Tana, 45, dressed down in loose black trousers, a grey t-shirt and a green jacket for her outing, pushing little Oscar in his buggy

Oops: While she was out Tana's Range Rover was slapped with a parking ticket

The salon remains closed as government restrictions to stop the spread of COVID019 do not currently permit beauty treatments to take place, although hair salons were allowed to repopen from July 4.

While Tana waits for her business to open its doors again, her husband Gordan is back at work, reopening his restaurants, meaning the family are now back in London after spending three months in Cornwall.

The chef, 53, took to Instagram over the weekend to share adorable clips and videos of Oscar as he prepared to get back to business after a 'testing time.'

Gordon told his fans 'Let me introduce you to our senior sous-chef' as he posed with the tot outside his eponymous flagship restaurant in London's Chelsea, which boasts three Michelin stars.

New recruit: While Tana waits for her business to open its doors again, her husband Gordan is back at work, taking Oscar along to his eponymous flagship restaurant in London on Saturday

The Hells Kitchen star began his clip with a look around his eatery's state-of-the art kitchen, before introducing little Oscar.

Gordon balanced the tot on the stainless steel worktop as he said to the camera: 'The calm before the storm; let me introduce you to our senior sous-chef, Oscar J Ramsay. Dude, are you ready?'

As Oscar tried to say a reply, Gordon added: 'Yes daddy, I'm ready Can you say "yes chef"? Hello?'

So cute: The chef, 53, took to Instagram over the weekend to share adorable clips and videos of the youngster, 14 months, as he prepared to get back to business after a 'testing time'

The father-of-five then went on to share a series of images of himself and Oscar, as he wrote: 'First day at work with dad.'

He also shared the same snaps on his son's Instagram account, penning the caption: 'Had the best day with Dad back at work! So good to be back. Thank you for having me @chef.mattabe.'

Gordon also took the opportunity to share a video in which he spoke about their big reopening and touched on how 'testing' times had been as the industry was 'brought to its knees' amid the coronavirus lockdown.'

Speaking into the camera, he said: 'Today's the day! Today is a significant day where we kickstart this amazing industry once again.

'105 days days ago we were brought to our knees and it was a huge shock, and some of the first times in two and half decades across my career that we got told to stop.'

Biggest fan: Gordon told his fans 'Let me introduce you to our senior sous-chef' as he posed with the tot, who supported his dad by wearing a top emblazoned with the restaurant's logo

He went on to say: 'I've always been an optimistic individual with my glass half full, but this has been a testing time.

He added that the last three and a half ,months had been testing for the chefs, waiters and their families, and went on to say how 'important' the hospitality sector is.

Discussing the excitement amongst his team that they are finally getting back to work, he said: 'Last night I had a meeting with all the teams and the energy in the room was like a packed Wembley Stadium.

Adorable: Little Oscar seemed to enjoy seeing his dad at work as they posed for the sweet snaps

'I can't wait to get those grills fired up and bums on seat, but most importantly smiles on faces.'

Gordon concluded by saying that they've 'taken all the measures necessary' to keep everyone safe, and finished up by saying: 'Can't wait to see you - thank God we're back!'

Last Saturday, dubbed 'super Saturday' saw the reopening of England's restaurants and pubs after almost four months of closure due to lockdown.
She's proven there's no rest for the wicked as she's been keeping busy for her new show Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer.

And Maya Jama beamed as she headed to work for another day of filming at Riverside Studios in west London on Tuesday afternoon.

The TV and radio presenter, 25, nailed casual chic as she paired a white T-shirt by Brandy Melville with classic skinny jeans.

Cheery: Maya Jama beamed as she headed to work for another day of filming at Riverside Studios in west London on Tuesday afternoon

Adding a touch of pizzazz into her appearance, the host strolled along the streets of the English capital in fluffy brown loafers.

The TV star accessorised with cat-eye sunglasses as she held onto a Dior shopping bag while arriving at the studios.

With her brunette locks worn in a straight fashion, Maya complemented her beauty with dewy foundation and winged eyeliner.

Radiant: The TV and radio presenter, 25, nailed casual chic as she paired a white T-shirt by Brandy Melville with classic skinny jeans

Strutting her stuff: Adding a touch of pizzazz into her appearance, the host strolled along the streets of the English capital in fluffy brown loafers

As well as scoring big name campaigns for brands such as Adidas and Aussie, the Bristol native is set to up her bank balance further with a massive new TV deal.

After she stepped down from her Radio 1 show earlier this year, BBC bosses are reportedly keen to offer the brunette a big money deal to keep her from going to a rival network, believing she can be as 'big as Holly Willoughby'.

A source told The Sun: 'Maya is seen as one of the biggest stars on the box right now and could easily go on to be as big as Holly Willoughby.

'At the moment shes tied to the BBC with her Saturday night show and the door remains open for her to return to Radio 1.

All in the details: The TV star accessorised with cat-eye sunglasses as she held onto a Dior shopping bag while arriving at the studios

Glowing: With her brunette locks worn in a straight fashion, Maya complemented her beauty with dewy foundation and winged eyeliner

Impressive: She's proven there's no rest for the wicked as she's been keeping busy for her new show Peter Crouch : Save Our Summer

'But other major channels would also love to have her so the BBC know they need to make sure they dont lose her, she appeals to a younger audience and has a massive following on social media too so she ticks a lot of boxes for the BBC.'

Last month, BBC Radio 1 confirmed the DJ had 'made the difficult decision not to continue her contract' after two years due to other commitments.

And just a few days ago, Maya signed off social media to take a detox because she was 'feeling overwhelmed'.

She has since returned to her online platforms, with the TV star documenting a make-up session in the studios.

MailOnline has contacted the BBC and Maya's representatives for comment at the time of publication.
Pakistani Christian couple's death row appeal delayed after 6 years in prison for blasphemy

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A Pakistani Christian couple who've been imprisoned for six years and sentenced to death on false blasphemy charges of sending a text message insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad continue to have their conviction appeal delayed.

Shagufta Kausar and her husband, Shafqat Emmanuel, who is partially paralyzed, were accused by a local imam of committing blasphemy by sending him an offensive text message in 2013.

Maulvi Mohammed Hussain, a leader at a mosque in the town of Gojra in Punjab province, claimed that Emmanuel used his wife's cellphone to send an anti-Islamic text message. He later claimed other messages followed.

Hussain said he was praying when he received the offensive text message from an unknown number.

The Muslim cleric reportedly showed the text message to two other imams before approaching his counsel for legal proceedings. He and his lawyer later claimed they both received subsequent blasphemous messages.

Police registered the blasphemy case following the imam's complaint, and the couple were arrested on July 21, 2013. They were charged with "insulting the Quran" and "insulting the prophet."

They were sentenced to separate prisons in 2014.

According to some reports, "[Kauser] is being held in the same prison cell Asia Bibi was held in before her release," Will Stark, regional manager for South Asia at International Christian Concern, told The Christian Post on Wednesday.

"In regards to Shafqat, his medical condition has deteriorated significantly during his imprisonment," Stark added. "This is because the jail does not provide facilities for him, as someone partially paralyzed. Bedsores and lack of nutrition are definitely issues I have seen reported specifically in regards to Shafqats case."

According to the BBC, a final hearing before the Lahore High Court was scheduled for Wednesday. However, the hearing was delayed and a new hearing date will be announced.

Kausar's brother, Joseph, told the BBC that his sister and her husband are not only innocent, but he believes they aren't even literate enough to have written the text messages.

Joseph also said his brother-in-law had been tortured and forced to make a false confession.

"He told me the policeman hit [him] so hard that his leg was broken," Joseph was quoted as saying.

The text messages were also alleged to have been written in English. Aside from being illiterate, Shafqat and Shagufta are not familiar with the English language  written or spoken.

The couple's lawyer, Saif ul Malook, who also assisted in the appeal of Asia Bibi's blasphemy case, said the charges against Kausar and Emmanuel are "deeply flawed" and "weaker" than those levied against Bibi.

Although the phone was registered in Kausar's name, Malook told the BBC that "in their trial, they suggested a Christian neighbor they had argued with might have purchased a SIM card in Kausar's name and sent the messages in order to frame them."

In 2014, Nadeem Hassan, who's also representing the couple at the high court, said the offending messages were sent from a phone that had been lost. He further explained that a "bogus SIM card" had been presented as evidence against the couple, The Telegraph reported.

Hassan told ICC last year that the allegation is "based on religious hatred and is being used to settle personal grudges.

Before her arrest, Kausar worked as a cleaner at a Christian school. Emmanuel has been paralyzed from the waist down since 2004, following an accident that fractured his spine. At the time of the accident, they were living with their four young children in a church compound.

The children continue to remain in hiding as their parents case continues, Stark said.

Like many relatives of Christians accused of blasphemy, they live in fear that their parents blasphemy accusation may cause extremists to attack them, he added.

Malook said the couple needs the same international support that Bibi received during the years she waited for her appeal to be heard. And if they're acquitted, he said they will also need to be granted asylum.

While no one has yet been executed on blasphemy charges, people who've been accused of the crime have been killed by retaliatory mob violence. Allegations of blasphemy are frequently lodged to settle personal disputes and to discriminate against religious minorities.

Christians make up just 1.6% of the country's population.

Last year, Asia Bible was acquitted by Pakistan's Supreme Court of blasphemy charges after she languished on death row for more than eight years. Bibi has since written a book about her ordeal.

Pakistan, a 96% Muslim-majority country, ranks as the fifth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA's 2020 World Watch List. In 2018, Pakistan was also named by the U.S. State Department as a "country of particular concern" for religious freedom violations.

The couple's appeal hearing has been rescheduled for June 22.
She's one of the world's most renowned models and has shot campaigns globally.

And Kate Moss' latest shoot took her to Saudi Arabia, at AlUla, the world's largest living open air museum and an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The supermodel, 46, put on a sizzling display for MONOT in a black floor-length dress with a daringly high thigh slit, which highlighted her endless toned pins.

Wow! Kate Moss' latest shoot took her to Saudi Arabia, at AlUla, the world's largest living open air museum and an UNESCO World Heritage Site

The show-stopping dress featured T-shirt sleeves and an asymmetric hemline, while flaunting Kate's svelte figure with its form-fitting style.

The mother-of-one wore her beachy blonde locks in loose tousled waves, while sporting a glamorous coat of make-up including a metallic smokey-eye.

Kate was puffing away on a cigarette during the sexy shoot, after previously admitting she wished to cut down on smoking.

Two years ago, she said: 'I take care of myself now, I'm a good girl. 'I go to bed, I drink lots of water, not too much coffee, and I'm trying to cut down on cigarettes.'

Sultry: Kate was puffing away on a cigarette during the sexy shoot, after previously admitting she wished to cut down on smoking

Breathtaking: Candice Swanepoel looked incredible in a satin ivory gown as she posed dramatically beside a white horse

Kate, who has shed her party girl reputation, was first on set in the morning at 5am and was also the last to leave when the shoot wrapped.

Lebanese designer Eli Mizrahi, said: 'I didn't have a million bucks for this campaign. But you never know until you try. 'I convinced the talent they would look back on this moment  24 hours in Al Ula  as something special.

'Kate Moss not only came, but she was the first one on set at 5am and also she was the last to leave', reports the Express.

Bold: Amber Valletta cut a fierce figure in a white version of the gown Kate wore for her shots

Stunning: Alek Wek wowed in a turtleneck and thigh slit skirt as she posed beside the rock

Beautiful: Xiao Wen Ju masked her face with a black and wore an elegant velvet jacket

After putting her boozy benders behind her years ago, Kate recently refers that she now prefers to balance her life with yoga and enjoys watching Netflix before bed.

Kate was joined on the fashion shoot by other household names including; Jourdan Dunn, Candice Swanepoel, Mariacarla Boscono, Amber Valletta, Xiao Wen Ju, and Alek Wek, who all flew in from the four corners of the globe.

The 24-hours campaign shoot that took place in January was shot in AlUla, the world's largest living open air museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that the Designer got the opportunity to visit and was instantly drawn to.

Feathered fantasy: Mariacarla Boscono laid down in the rubble wearing an incredible feathered dress

Sultry: Amber struck a pose while lay in the sand during one element of the shoot

Shot by famed photography duo Luigi & Iango near Maraya, the largest mirrored building in the world, the campaign used the Kingdom's breathtaking backdrop to reflect the iconic beauty of the models.

'When I saw Maraya I knew that was where I wanted to shoot my first campaign. Maraya is Arabic for mirror. For me it symbolized self-reflection.

'And I know that right now the world is in the process of its own sort of self-reflection', said Mizrahi about the message behind the campaign
Model Bar Refaeli was enjoying a bit of 'me-time' on Instagram on Tuesday when she indulged in a spot of yoga amid her personal woes.

The 35-year-old wore a navy crop and matching leggings as she took part in showed off a few of her moves, captioning her snaps with the words: 'Soul massage.'

Her post comes after it emerged she will be undertaking nine months of community service and $4.8m in fines as part of a plea bargain following a long-running tax evasion case against her.

'Soul massage': Bar Refaeli wore a crop top and leggings for a yoga session on Instagram on Tuesday after being given nine months community service for tax evasion case in Israel

Bar, who is estimated to have a net worth of $25 million, will pay a $750,000 fine along with $2.8million in back taxes on top of her community service.

Her mother Tzipi Refaeli - who acts as her agent - was also fined $750,000 and will go to jail for 16 months.

The pair had been accused of lying about Bar's country of residence between 2009 and 2012 in order to avoid paying taxes on some $7.2million in income, plus gifts and discounts she received.

Flexible fitness: The 35-year-old wore a navy crop and matching leggings as she took part in showed off a few of her moves

Punishment: Bar, who is estimated to have a net worth of $25 million, will pay a $750,000 fine along with $2.8million in back taxes on top of her community service

The case dates back to 2016 when Tzipi was arrested and accused of failing to report her daughter's full income during the years in question and obscuring evidence of where she was living from tax collections.

Lawyers for the pair had argued that, during the years in question, Bar had been in a romantic relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio - meaning her 'life centre', a term used in Israeli tax law referring to where a person spends most of their time - was in the US.

But the state argued that she was actually resident in Tel Aviv during much of this time, in apartments rented under the names of her relatives.

The media personality told a previous court hearing that her relationship with the actor, 45, was close enough to be considered a 'family unit', meaning she could pay taxes overseas. But the court overruled her, saying their romance did not count.

Prosecutors also uncovered medical records that showed the host had been prescribed medication and received treatment in Israel paid for out of the national health fund during that period.

A previous ruling stated The X Factor Israel presenter had lived in Israel for 185 days in 2009 and 135 days the following year. She also told US tax authorities she was a resident of Israel.

The broadcaster had attempted to block the release of her earnings, but the court revealed she had earned 1.8 million in 2009 and 1.7 million in 2010.
Millie Mackintosh and her husband Hugo Taylor were pictured arriving back in London with their baby Sienna on Tuesday after taking her to visit her grandparents.

The family had been visiting Millie's mum and dad in Bath and had travelled back via train to Paddington, making sure to wear mandatory face masks.

It was Millie, 30, and 34-year-old Hugo's first big trip out as a family since welcoming their baby girl on May 1.

'First trip to stay with granny and grandpa': Millie Mackintosh arrived back in Paddington with husband Hugo Taylor and baby Sienna on Tuesday after visiting her parents in Bath

Adventure: It was Millie, 30, and 34-year-old Hugo's first big trip out as a family since welcoming their baby girl on May 1

And while Millie's mother came to visit shortly after Sienna's birth, it was the family's first trip to go and visit her and no doubt they were glad of the break.

Millie looked casual yet trendy wearing black leggings with a khaki jacket and trainers as she pushed her daughter's pram.

Hugo walked a little ahead of her wearing all black and colourful trainers and wheeled two large suitcases and lunch-to-go from Pret.

He also gave Millie a hand with the bags and the pram as they got into a waiting black cab.

Sweet: Earlier that day, Millie had shared a happy snap of herself cuddling Sienna, writing: 'First trip to stay with granny and grandpa'

Earlier that day, Millie had shared a happy snap of herself cuddling Sienna, writing: 'First trip to stay with granny and grandpa.'

Last week, Millie shared details of her birth experience and posted an image from her daughter Sienna's very first moments.

The former Made In Chelsea took to Instagram to post a sweet snap, in which she lay on the operating table while her husband Hugo Taylor gazed upon their daughter following her arrival on May 1.

Comfort is key: Millie looked casual yet trendy wearing black leggings with a khaki jacket and trainers as she pushed her daughter's pram

Alongside the image, Millie shared a lengthy caption in which she revealed that while she was 'nervous and terrified' about giving birth in the midst of a pandemic yet delighted in her 'smooth and positive' birthing experience.

Millie explained that she had undergone a C-section due to Sienna being in a breech position and she lauded the staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for helping make the experience 'hugely positive'.

She detailed her fears at having a baby in the midst of a global pandemic and insisted to other mothers that their anxieties are natural.

Doing his thing: Hugo walked a little ahead of her wearing all black and colourful trainers and wheeled two large suitcases and lunch-to-go from Pret

Returning home: He also gave Millie a hand with the bags and the pram as they got into a waiting black cab

In the post, Millie wrote: 'My Birth Experience - Despite my final trimester landing smack bang in the middle of a global pandemic, I feel very lucky that Siennas arrival into the world was a hugely positive experience for me...

'The usual fears around the birth of my daughter were magnified by not knowing if Hugo could be there to hold my hand, I was terrified about potentially catching the virus and I had no idea what to expect in Hospital with the UK in the throes of this pandemic...

'Sienna was breech so there was no choice but to have a C-section. I was nervous about the surgery, so I did Hypnobirthing tailored around a Caesarean delivery...

Chilled: Millie looked lovely and was no doubt thrilled to get out of London for a few days

Happy: She recently spoke about how Sienna's birth was a positive experience for her

'I listened to a track by @themindfulbirthgroup every night before bed to mentally prepare myself for what was to come, and I listened to the same track before I went into theatre which immediately got me into a good head space...

'Siennas arrival couldnt have gone more smoothly thanks to the amazing doctors, nurses and midwives at Chelsea and Westminster hospital...

'Hugo was by my side, I had classical music playing, and before I knew it my daughter was being placed on my chest for skin to skin cuddles...

'I found pregnancy to be such a surreal experience, it was only in that moment in theatre that it hit me how real this all was. I was now a mother, Hugo a father and our daughter was safely here, breathing gently on my chest...

Her love: Millie shared detail and a picture of her first moment with her baby

'Because I was lying flat on the operating table I couldnt quite see Siennas face, so I asked Hugo to hold her. That image of him holding her for the first time will stay etched in my memory forever...

'All ten fingers, all ten toes and curious little eyes blinking back at us. Any new mothers anxieties are valid, especially when the worlds in some form of lock down, but Ive really looked to the positives...

'As a result, Ive treasured the time Ive had with Sienna, for the three of us to navigate our new life together without interruptions and using it as an opportunity to enjoy every precious moment of this very special new chapter of our lives'.

When Millie and Hugo announced their baby news they released a statement to Hello! reading: 'We are delighted to announce the arrival of our darling girl who arrived on Friday 1 May at 1:21pm, weighing a very healthy seven pounds

'We are eternally grateful to the doctors, nurses and midwives for taking such good care of us. Mum and baby are both doing incredibly well and we are looking forward to bringing our daughter home and spending time together as a family.'

Millie and Hugo tied the knot in June 2018 at his uncle's country estate, Whithurst Park in West Sussex, one year after he proposed during a holiday to the Greek island of Mykonos.

The couple briefly dated during their Made In Chelsea days back in 2011 and reunited in May 2016 shortly after Millie's split from her first husband, rapper Professor Green, 36.

Millie was married to the musician, real name Stephen Manderson, for two-and-a-half years before they announced their split in February 2016.
Rebecca Judd has shared her opinion on Melbourne heading back into lockdown due to a resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, the 37-year-old model shared a meme to Instagram Stories, showing a map of Australia which showed different states stamped with the words 'thank you for doing the right thing'.

Only Victoria was left out of the praise, with the words 'not you' written across the state instead.

Opinions: Rebecca Judd (pictured) has shared her opinion on Melbourne heading back into lockdown due to a resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, the 37-year-old model shared a meme to Instagram Stories that suggested Victoria had not done 'the right thing'

She wrote along the bottom of the meme: 'This gave me the laugh I needed tonight' but added some sombre thoughts on the topic.

'But seriously, thinking of all Melburnians. Especially the millions of us who have been doing the right thing since March,' she wrote.

'It's so disappointing we find ourselves in this position because of a very small minority.

She wrote along the bottom of the meme: 'This gave me the laugh I needed tonight' but added some sombre thoughts on the topic

'Melbourne is still the best city in the world, just not for the next 6 weeks! Look after each other,' Bec concluded.

The whole of Melbourne and Mitchell Shire north of the city will be placed back into lockdown for six weeks from midnight on Wednesday after Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus - its worst figure yet.

Residents will be only allowed to leave their homes for work and study, giving or receiving care, shopping for essentials and daily exercise near where they live.

Unhappy: 'It's so disappointing we find ourselves in this position because of a very small minority,' Rebecca wrote

Police will stop Victorians leaving or entering Melbourne with roadblocks and booze bus-style vehicle checks, effectively sealing 5million people inside the city.

Panic-buying customers flocked to Coles and Woolworths supermarkets in Melbourne before the lockdown measures came into play.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt suggested Victoria's horror second wave could have been avoided, while an infectious disease expert said the outbreak could 'definitely' spread to other parts of the country.
He hasn't been shy in expressing just how homesick he is after being forced to go into lockdown in coronavirus ravaged New York.

And Hugh Jackman offered a friendly reminder of the social-distancing rules to his fans in a new snap shared to his Instagram platform on Tuesday.

'Use me to measure your social distance #6FeetPlus,' the Australian actor, 51, added to a picture of him stretching out his arms.

'Wear a mask': Hugh Jackman offered a friendly reminder of the social-distancing rules to his fans in a new snap shared to his Instagram platform on Tuesday

Also adding the hashtag #wearamask, Hugh led by example as he sported a white mask across his face in the snap.

Hugh is currently on holiday in the Hamptons after a lengthy lockdown in coronavirus ravaged New York.

It appears the actor is missing his homeland however, as on Sunday, Hugh attempted to finish a puzzle showing the Sydney Opera House.

In a video shared to Instagram, Hugh showed off his puzzle and sang a little song which went: 'My city of Sydney. I miss the warmth of you!'

Missing home? Hugh is in New York but appears the actor is missing his homeland, as on Sunday he attempted to finish a puzzle showing the Sydney Opera House

He then showed the lid of the 500-piece puzzle and said: 'I miss you Sydney. What I am missing more is this piece' - before pointing to an empty slot on the puzzle.

'I've lost it!' the Wolverine actor said with a moan, before adding, 'I've lost a piece of my heart'.

In apparent frustration, Hugh then smashed up the entire finished puzzle while letting out an animalistic groan.

Homesick: In a video shared to Instagram, Hugh showed off his puzzle and sang a little song which went: 'My city of Sydney. I miss the warmth of you!'

Puzzle: He then showed the lid of the 500-piece puzzle and said: 'I miss you Sydney. What I am missing more is this piece' - before pointing to an empty slot on the puzzle

Angry! In apparent frustration, Hugh then smashed up the entire finished puzzle while letting out an animalistic groan

Hugh has recently been using his time self-isolating in New York to help others in need.

After becoming an ambassador of mental health organisation Gotcha4Life in 2017, the actor has been hosting secret web seminars to promote 'messages of connection and conversation' through the charity.

'I've learned so much from being on the board and we are planning on more of those talks,' Hugh told News Corp Australia of his passion to help people.

Helpful: After becoming an ambassador of mental health organisation Gotcha4Life in 2017, the actor has been hosting secret web seminars to promote 'messages of connection'

Break: Hugh is currently on holiday in the Hamptons after a lengthy lockdown in coronavirus ravaged New York

'Our need to look after each other, not just financially and physically, but mentally is a priority. There's a lot of loneliness out there and this only adds to that,' he said.

Hugh, wife Deborra-Lee Furness and their children, Oscar and Ava, were in Melbourne when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March.

They initially flew there from New York on a work trip as Deborra-Lee directed several episodes of Neighbours. They then returned to America after just four days.

'No one really knew what was going on it was all a bit of a shock,' said Hugh after being advised to return to his American home before the borders closed.
Thandie Newton has given a candid insight into the dramatic nature of working with Tom Cruise on Mission: Impossible II in 2000.

The British actress, 47, played Tom's character Ethan Hunt's love interest Nyah NordoffHall in the movie two decades ago, and in an interview with Vulture she has shed light on feeling 'terrified and insecure' on-set of the movie.

In an anecdote about filming a scene in Spain, the Westworld actress boldly admitted: 'I was so scared of Tom. He was a very dominant individual. He tries super hard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot.'

Tough times: Thandie Newton has given a candid insight into the dramatic nature of working with Tom Cruise on Mission: Impossible II in 2000 (pictured at the London premiere in July 2000)

Thandie detailed how they struggled with filming a scene in Spain, in which they battled top get the perfect take of the - as she described - poorly-written scene.

She explained: 'So this scene was happening, and Tom was not happy with what I was doing because I had the s**ttiest lines, and he gets so frustrated'.

After Tom attempted to align and improve the scene by getting them each to switch roles to practice, Thandie confessed the method made her suffer more.

She went on: 'It just pushed me further into a place of terror and insecurity. It was a real shame. And bless him. And I really do mean bless him, because he was trying his damnedest... He wasn't horrible. It was just  he was really stressed'.

Way back when: The British actress, 47, played Tom's character Ethan Hunt's love interest Nyah NordoffHall in the movie two decades ago, and in an interview with Vulture she has shed light on feeling 'terrified and insecure' on-set of the movie

Thandie revealed she then called late director Jonathan Demme, who she worked with on Beloved and The Truth About Charlie, to seek advice after which he scolded her for not 'backing herself' and made her realise Tom wanted a 'apha b***h'.

She also revealed that Tom's then-wife Nicole Kidman scooped her the role.

Tom's on-set behaviour has frequently been up for discussion, with Cabin In The Woods director Drew Goddard, describing their 2009 meeting as: 'That was definitely one of those surreal experiences...

Difficult: After Tom attempted to align and improve the scene by getting them each to switch roles to practice, Thandie confessed the method made her suffer more (pictured in 2013)

'It was wonderful. I mean, Tom  at least in my experience with him  I've never met a more enthusiastic, creative, and supportive person. He has that energy and to feel that energy directed towards you about you, it's like a drug. It's wonderful.

'He was so excited about the script and so complimentary and really just pointed out scenes in the movie that he felt we should bring out more. And he was totally right.'

Her comments about her co-star come after Thandie revealed she is finally enjoying the kind of career boost she expected to have in her twenties.

Who? Tom's on-set behaviour has frequently been up for discussion, with Cabin In The Woods director Drew Goddard, describing their 2009 meeting as: 'That was definitely one of those surreal experiences' (Tom pictured in 2000)

The actress has become a household name thanks to the success of HBO's sci-fi drama Westworld, with her character Maeve taking on a pivotal role in season three. She divulged: 'Thanks to Westworld, I've become an action hero  at my age!...

'I'm flabbergasted! I feel like I'm in my prime, and my 40s are great, man, but why didn't this happen in my 20s? It's the complete reverse of what it should be'.

Thandie, who is also known for her role in 2004's Crash, went on to describe the physical requirements of playing her character in Westworld.

'Why didn't this happen in my 20s?' Her comments about her co-star come after Thandie revealed she is finally enjoying the kind of career boost she expected to have in her twenties

Likening the experience to being in the military, the brunette explained that she has to remain as fit as possible throughout filming.

Thandie's character Maeve began the series as a robotic 'host' brothel-owner within the Westworld theme park.

Thanks to a glitch in her programming, the sassy saloon-owner begins to gain consciousness and eventually realises she's part of a scripted storyline.
Georgia Steel and Francesca Allen helped Elma Pazar celebrate her 27th birthday on the sandy shores of Ibiza on Tuesday afternoon.

The Love Island 2018 contestant, 22, commanded attention as she slipped into an orange strapless bikini while soaking up the sun for her first holiday in months amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The former drama student appeared in great spirits as she, the clothing store manager, 24, and the beautician enjoyed tea and biscuits on the beach and joked: 'Can take the girl out of Yorkshire but can't take Yorkshire out of the girl.'

Bikini babe: Georgia Steel (pictured) and Francesca Allen helped Elma Pazar celebrate her 27th birthday on the sandy shores of Ibiza on Tuesday afternoon

Flaunting her sensational figure, Georgia appeared delighted to be on holiday as she frolicked in the tiny two-piece.

The birthday girl stunned in similar swimwear, while social media influencer Francesca stood out in a leaf print set.

The pals couldn't hide their excitement as they brought home to them with some warm tea and snacks.

Having fun: The former drama student appeared in great spirits as she, the clothing store manager, 24, and the beautician enjoyed tea and biscuits on the beach

'Nice to be back': The Love Island 2018 contestant, 22, commanded attention as she slipped into an orange strapless bikini while soaking up the sun for her first holiday in months

Toned: The birthday girl stunned in similar swimwear, while social media influencer Francesca stood out in a leaf print set

Tasty: The pals couldn't hide their excitement as they brought home to them with some warm tea and snacks (Georgia's personalised bag pictured right)

Oops! Georgia was left in hysterics as her sunglasses were caught in her tresses

Earlier in the day, fashionista Francesca revealed she had 'blocked' Elma, who starred alongside the brunette in the fifth season of Love Island last year, from her Instagram stories for a surprise.

Francesca told how she nearly 'missed' her flight after her suitcase weighed in 3kg over the limit.

Speaking on her platform, she said: 'Although, obviously, I only booked my case on for 20kg and I was 23 for five days.'

Sneaky! Earlier in the day, fashionista Francesca revealed she had 'blocked' Elma from her Instagram stories for a surprise (pictured at Luton airport earlier in the day)

Georgia's posts come after she broke her silence on the breakdown of her relationship with Callum Izzard.

In a recent interview on FUBAR Radio, she revealed she's in no rush to jump into a new relationship.

The former barmaid said: 'Im a good believer in everything happens for a reason and Im just rolling with it to be fair.'

Callum and Georgia's whirlwind romance began in August 2019 when they met during the filming of Ex on the Beach: Peak Of Love, with the couple becoming engaged just a month later.

But despite her fast-paced courtship, the TV star admitted she's in no hurry to dive headfirst into a new romance.

When asked if she's had many guys sliding into her DMs, she explained: 'I just want some time now to just focus on myself and Im not really wanting to rush into anything. Im just wanting to take every day as it comes!'
Kim Kardashian was back to her roots on Monday as she showed off her freshly colored locks.

The 39-year-old put on a show-stopping display in Calabasas as she stopped to fill the tank of her Range Rover and revealed long brunette locks again after a brief stint as a redhead.

Kim put her cleavage on display in a plunging leather jumpsuit, cut off at the knee along with some knee-high suede boots.

Dark side: Kim Kardashian went back to brunette on Monday as she stopped for gas in Calabasas in an eye-catching outfit

Safety first: Kim finally wore a face mask after forgoing it during her most recent public outing

She strut her stuff across the forecourt carrying a matching green mini Hermes Kelly clutch.

The mother-of-four also finally wore a face mask after choosing to go without one on a recent public outing with husband Kanye West to Nobu in Malibu.

Kim was pictured asking her security guard to break a $100 bill as she entered the store to pay for her gas.

The KKW Beauty mogul is the queen of quick transformations.

Brunette bombshell: The 39-year-old put on a traffic-stopping display in a plunging teal leather jumpsuit

It was just a day ago that the reality star - who showed off bright red locks last week - revealed to fans she was considering going brunette again.

She shared a throwback snap of her with long brown hair and wrote, 'Found this pic in my phone, I think Im going back dark!'.

For the past week or so Kim had been rocking fire red tresses, which her colorist revealed was not a wig.

Show stopper: Kim strut her stuff across the forecourt in suede knee-high boots and carried a matching mini green Hermes Kelly clutch bag

Running errands: Kim stopped to fill up her Range Rover in her local neighborhood on Monday

'Kim was really into the red,' her colorist Chris Appleton told Us Weekly.

'And I think she liked how unexpected it would be as most people think of her going blonde when making a drastic change.'

He explained the process, which took two hours, included bleaching her strands and then going over it with a red dye.

'We left about an inch of the root and lightened the rest of the hair,' he explained. 'Then went over it with the vibrant red.'

First lady wave: The E! personality flashed a wave as she stepped out for the first time after husband Kanye announced his bid to run for president

Meanwhile, Kanye shocked the world by announcing last week that he was running for president.

He has since been endorsed by his wife Kim and Elon Musk, but is yet to reveal a campaign plan or any events, leading some to believe it's nothing more than a publicity stunt.

It's not likely the hip hop star will be able to get on the ballot in November because he's already missed deadlines to add his name 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.

Help: The TV star was seen asking her security guard for change for a $100 bill

I got you: It looked like she was in luck as her security rummaged around in his pocket

Monday morning Kim shared this photo and said she was missing her dark locks, writing 'I think Im going back dark!'

The 43-year-old rapper announced Saturday night he was running for president in November.

'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.

Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia all have July deadlines.

Style chameleon: For the past week the mother-of-four was rocking fire red tresses

Kim's colorist revealed that it was not a wig. He explained the process, which took two hours, included bleaching her strands and then going over it with a red dye

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.

Kim showed her support of her husband's ambitions as she retweeted his message along with an American flag, as well as Elon Musk, who tweeted in response 'You have my full support!'.

Power couple: Kim's husband Kanye West shocked the world by announcing last week that he was running for president

For real? He has since been endorsed by his wife Kim and Elon Musk, but is yet to reveal a campaign plan or any events, leading some to believe it's nothing more than a publicity stunt

Meanwhile, Kanye has another big project on the go as he is planning to build a 10 bedroom mansion that will span 52,000 feet in Wyoming.

The Yeezy founder submitted plans to build a lakeside abode on his ranch in the western United States and now planners have given it the go ahead.

And the Stronger rapper has also had plans approved to build two underground garages at the property, which are 10,000 square feet each, TMZ reports.

It comes after Kanye revealed Los Angeles feels 'a bit cramped' for his mind and he would love to move to Wyoming.
She's currently enjoying a holiday in Mexico with her husband John Legend and their two children Luna and Miles.

And on Monday, Chrissy Teigen took a break from the beach to share a topless snap of herself, before dropping her skincare routine in a separate Instagram video.

The 34-year-old model clapped back at a troll in the comments section that wondered aloud if she 'dropped 50 lbs overnight or has cancer.'

Stunner: Chrissy Teigen took a break from the beach to share a topless snap of herself, before dropping her skincare routine in a separate Instagram video

For her topless snap, Chrissy posed on a lounge chair with the stunning scenery behind her.

She wore her green sarong around her waist with one one covering up her chest; she had her long locks half up, half down while she posed for a selfie.

She wrote in the caption 'BTS,' with a cheeky reference to the band BTS by adding in parenthesis 'I like Jin and V).'

In the selfie video, Chrissy shows off her orange eye liner with her hair half up, half down - while sporting a black and white embroidered robe.

The latest: The 34-year-old model clapped back at a troll in the comments section that wondered aloud if she 'dropped 50 lbs overnight or has cancer'

Wow: However, a social media troll took penned a rude comment beneath the video, which Chrissy and her fans slammed

She says in the clip: 'I'm feeling the colorful eyeliner trend that I'm very late on.'

In the caption, Chrissy provides a detailed explanation of her skincare regimen.

However, a social media troll penned a rude comment beneath the video, which Chrissy and her fans slammed.

The woman said: 'Ok... this isn't her or some app that changed her face. I had to look back and forth like 4 times... either she dropped 50 lbs overnight or has cancer.'

Chrissy shot back to the troll: 'What would you prefer?'

The commentator wrote back, doubling down on her claims about Chrissy's face.

She wrote: '@chrissyteigen Your bone structure is prominent and recognizable... this shot, looks like a completely different person. Did 2-3 double takes. How did you do it?'

Closer look: In the caption, Chrissy provides a detailed explanation of her skincare regimen

Vibes: In the selfie video, Chrissy shows off her orange eye liner with her hair half up, half down - while sporting a black and white embroidered robe

Thoughts: She says in the clip: 'I'm feeling the colorful eyeliner trend that I'm very late on'

She added in a separate comment: @chrissyteigen apologies for the lack of tact fullness... should have thought ahead. But, why did I have to go back and forth 3-4 x to make sure it was you? Is it an app? It's not about skincare, but bone structure is completely different... you're unrecognizable.'

Chrissy wrote back one final time to the troll: 'Why are you carrying on with this?? Why do you think I owe you anything especially after what you've said? You know you don't actually know me in real life, right? thank god.'

In June, Chrissy had surgery to remove her breast implants, which had originally got in 2006.

The beauty is currently in Mexico with her family; she shared a cheeky video of herself in her floral bikini as she rolled out pizza dough with a bottle of wine.

The comments: The troll wrote two more comments before Chrissy responded back and shut her down

Smart idea! The beauty is currently in Mexico with her family; she shared a cheeky video of herself in her floral bikini as she rolled out pizza dough with a bottle of wine

Good times: She's currently enjoying a holiday in Mexico with her husband John Legend and their two children Luna and Miles

Gorgeous: Chrissy posted a video of her finished makeup look featuring the bold eye makeup
Thandie Newton is sharing some of her experiences with stereotyping in Hollywood.

The English actress, in a new interview with Vulture, claims she turned down a role in 2000 movie Charlie's Angels after an alleged awkward interaction with Amy Pascal, who was Sony Pictures co-chairman at the time.

'I had a meeting with her, and she said, "Look, I don't mean to be politically incorrect, but the character as written and you playing the role, I just feel like we've got to make sure that it's believable." I was like, "What do you mean? What changes would you have to make?"' Thandie said.

In a new interview Thandie Newton recalls turning down Charlie's Angels after a disturbing interaction with Sony exec Amy Pascal

'She's like, "Well, you know, the character, as written, she's been to university and is educated."'

Scandal: Pascal was fired from Sony Pictures in 2015 after an email hack released numerous emails and exchanges making racist joke

The 47-year-old continued, 'I'm like, "I've been to university. I went to Cambridge."

'She went, "Yeah, but youre different." Shes like, "Maybe there could be a scene where you"re in a bar and she gets up on a table and starts shaking her booty."

'She's basically reeling off these stereotypes of how to be more convincing as a Black character.'

Thandie said she rejected all the suggestions Pascal made.

'Everything she said, I was like, "Nah, I wouldn't do that." She's like, "Yeah, but you're different. You're different."

'That was Amy Pascal. That's not really a surprise, is it? Let's face it: I didn't do the movie as a a result.' Thandie said.

Pascal was fired from Sony Pictures in 2015 after an email hack released numerous emails and exchanges with fellow producer Scott Rudin where they would make racist jokes, including joking about President Barrack Obama's taste in movies.

The 62-year-old movie executive said in a statement to Vulture that she was 'horrified to hear' of Thandie's recollection of their meeting.

'While I take her words seriously, I have no recollection of the events she describes, nor do any of her representatives who were present at that casting session,

'I've long considered Thandie a friend; I'm thankful that I've had the chance to make movies with her; and I hope to work with her again in the future.'

Thandie told Vulture that the other reason she didn't do Charlie's Angels was because the director wanted to objectify her in the opening scene.

'The director said to me, "I can't wait for this. The first shot is going to be Youre going to think it's like yellow lines down a road, and you pull back and you realize it's the stitching, because the denim is so tight on your ass it's going to look like tarmac.' I was like, "Oh, I don't think we're going to go down this road together.'

Interaction: Thandie recalled meeting she had with Pascal where she was 'reeling off these stereotypes of how to be more convincing as a Black character.' Pascal is pictured here with Greta Gerwig in January

Thandie recalled to Vulture the other reason she didn't do Charlie's Angels was because the director wanted to objectify her in the opening scene. Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu are seen here in a promotional shot for the 2000 movie

The actress explained that suffering sexual abuse at the hands of a director early in her career shaped the sort of roles she went for.

Thandie was allegedly groomed and sexually abused when she was 16 by director John Duigan while working on the 1991 movie Flirting. He was 39 at the time.

She recalls the press referring to it as an 'affair' which she says left her re-traumatized.

'If someone brought it up  and of course theyre going to bring it up in a f***ing interview, man  if they spoke about it in a way thats not sympathetic or they called it an affair, it was insult to injury. Its like re-abuse,' she said.

'I think the reason I talked about it a lot, too, is Im trying to find someone who understands. Im looking for help. Its so f***ing obvious to me. What is the point if we dont expose what needs to be exposed?'
Pope omits comments in speech about China's security law in Hong Kong; Christians raise concerns

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Pope Francis omitted comments expressing concern over China's national security law for Hong Kong in a recent speech, according to Italian journalist Marco Tosatti, raising alarm for many Christians.

In a post on his website, Tosatti reported that the Holy See handed out a bulletin with prepared remarks by the pontiff that included his prepared speech.

The prepared remarks included comments on the China legislature's recently passed national security law that broadens Beijings direct control over Hong Kong and which many believe erodes the citys human rights and freedoms. Pastors who support the pro-democracy movement have also feared that under the new laws they could be extradited and tried in mainland China.

I have followed with particular attention and not without concern the development of the complex situation in Hong Kong, and I wish to show above all my heartfelt closeness to all the inhabitants of that territory, the pope's original comments stated before they were changed, according to Tosatti.

It added, I hope therefore that all the people involved will know how to face the various problems with a spirit of far-sighted wisdom and authentic dialogue. This requires courage, humility, non-violence, and respect for the dignity and rights of all.

The prepared statement also included a call for societal freedom, and especially religious freedom to be expressed in full and true liberty, as indeed various international documents provide for it.

However, according to Tosatti, when Francis gave his remarks at the window of St. Peters Square, the journalists were informed that the comments pertaining to China and Hong Kong had been omitted from the speech.

What is not known  is what sort of pressure Beijing put on the pope so that he would not speak on world television about the drama of the former British colony, even in the most delicate and peaceful tones possible, wrote Tosatti.

In 2018, the Vatican and Beijing approved a provisional deal in which the Vatican would recognize as legitimate bishops appointed by the communist regime.

Chris Altieri, Rome Bureau Chief with The Catholic Herald, wrote in an analysis that the pope's recent omission has made many question the deal between the Vatican and China.

The critics of the Vaticans deal with China say it puts the Vatican in a supine position: it gives away the store. A more cautious view of the business would have it that the Vaticans objectives are not to usher in a golden age of religious liberty on the mainland, but to stave off full-fledged, Diocletian-level persecution, wrote Altieri.

The unexplained omission makes it harder to defend the deal, and measurably more difficult to defend the Vaticanas this journalist has doneagainst accusations theyve bent the knee to Beijing.

Last month, communist Chinese President Xi Jinping signed the new national security law for Hong Kong, which aims to crack down on subversive activity in the semi-autonomous region.

Many human rights groups, including Amnesty International, oppose the law, saying it undermines the status of Hong Kong and curbs civil liberties.

Joshua Rosenzweig, the head of Amnestys China Team, released a statement in advance of the law being passed, saying that the measures were of great concern.

Hong Kong stands at the cliff-edge of an uncertain and unsettling future, its freedoms threatened by national security legislation that could override the laws currently protecting the citys inhabitants from the worst excesses of state-sponsored repression, stated Rosenzweig.

The Chinese government must abandon plans to pass a national security law for Hong Kong unless it can provide water-tight guarantees that the legislation conforms with human rights in all aspects.
Christina Ricci was seen running errands alone in Los Angeles on Monday.

The 40-year-old Mermaids actress went bra-free in a black top with matching slacks as she did not wear her wedding ring.

Last week the former child star, who played Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family movies, filed for divorce from her husband of seven years, James Heerdegen, with whom she has one child.

The no-stress look: Christina Ricci was seen running errands alone in Los Angeles on Monday. The 40-year-old Mermaids actress went bra-free in a black top

The movie icon seemed to be in good spirits as she smiled while exiting a black SUV.

Ricci wore her black hair slicked back as she modeled dark cat-eye sunglasses with no makeup on.

The Casper star had on a short-sleeved black T-shirt that was tight across the chest revealing she was bra free. A gold necklace could also be spied.

Christina also had on baggy dark gray sweatpants that hid her slender figure.

The wedding ring is off: The Black Snake Moan star did not wear her wedding ring

Laceless black sneakers with a wide white sole rounded out her sporty but nondescript look.

Ricci was seen getting out of the back of the car suggesting she had a driver in front.

The actress seems to be in for a difficult divorce as she was granted a emergency protective order last week against Heerdegen after he allegedly spat at her, TMZ reports.

In top shape: Ricci wore her black hair slicked back as she modeled dark cat-eye sunglasses with no makeup on. The Casper star had on a short-sleeved black T-shirt that was tight across the chest revealing she was bra free. A gold necklace could also be spied

The order, which prohibits any contact between the couple, comes after the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call of domestic battery at their Woodland Hills home, Us Weekly reported on Wednesday.

The former child star cited irreconcilable differences as the reason why she wants to end the marriage and is asking for sole legal and physical custody of their five-year-old son, Freddie.

The report adds that Ricci filed in L.A. County Superior Court Thursday morning to divorce film producer Heerdegen.

The end: Last week the former child star, who played Wednesday Adams in The Adams Family movies, filed for divorce from her husband of seven years, James Heerdegen, with whom she has one child; seen in February 2019

The Hollywood staple is being represented by divorce attorney Samantha Spector who is also currently handling Nicole Young's divorce from Dr Dre.

Ricci and Heerdegen married in 2013 after starting a relationship in 2011 after meeting on set of ABC's Pan Am.

Dailymail.com has reached out to the actress rep for comment.

Neither Ricci or Heerdegen, who also works as a camera technician and dolly grip, were arrested, though LAPD did complete a report, the outlet also noted.

'On 06/25/20, around 9:20 a.m., officers responded to a domestic battery radio call,' the LAPD PIO confirmed to the outlet.

Heerdegen has most recently worked on Birdman in 2014 and After Earth in 2013.

Family: Ricci is asking for sole legal and physical custody of their 5-year-old son, Freddie

The actress posted in honor of her husband on June 21, for Father's Day.

Sharing handmade cards that appeared to be made by their son, she wrote 'We [love] you, Daddy.'

The other most recent post with her husband was a sweet snap of James with their son on Father's Day 2019.

'Happy Father's Day' she wrote. '#loveofourlives.'

Timeline: Ricci, 40, and Heerdegen married in 2013 after starting a relationship in 2011 after meeting on set of ABC's Pan Am, they share a son Freddie, age five

She previously spoke about how marriage and motherhood changed her.

'Marriage shows you your flaws in how you deal with things and having a child forces you to grow up at the speed of light,' she told The Edit 2017. 'Im a completely different person than I was before I had my child.'

Adding: 'Because I was so celebrated for being a child, I think I held onto that immaturity for a very long time. It was the thing that made me special. Then at a certain point, like 35, its not so special to be immature.'

Ricci and Heerdegen announced their engagement in February 2013 and married that October.

They exchanged vows in front of their nearest and dearest family and friends at Harold Pratt House And Peterson Hall on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
It's been one year since Wells Adams proposed to his love during their vacation to Fiji.

And Sarah Hyland took to social media to commemorate their engagement anniversary on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old actress shared a series of shots from their special day and said she was in no rush to get married and was 'grateful' to be engaged to her 'best friend.'

Future Mrs Adams! Sarah Hyland took to social media on Tuesday to celebrate the one-year since fiance Wells Adams proposed to her

'One year engaged to my best friend,' she penned.

'So grateful to be quarantined with the love of my life. One day well get married, but for now, Ill take eating junk food and Netflix all day every day.'

She ended the sweet note with: 'I love you to Pluto and back baby.'

Love: 'So grateful to be quarantined with the love of my life. One day well get married, but for now, Ill take eating junk food and Netflix all day every day'

She said YES! Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams announced their engagement with their fans in July 2019 after two years of dating

Together forever: 'A year ago today I asked my best friend to marry me. Best decision of my life. Happy engagement anniversary @sarahhyland, I love you +1 anything you say,' he wrote

Wells also shared a sweet message to Sarah on the special day.

'A year ago today I asked my best friend to marry me. Best decision of my life. Happy engagement anniversary @sarahhyland, I love you +1 anything you say,' he wrote.

The former Bachelor contestant proposed to Sarah while they were in Fiji and used a hidden camera to capture the moment.

The Modern Family actress recently announced that they had been forced to postpone their wedding plans due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Standby: The Modern Family actress recently announced that they had been forced to postpone their wedding plans due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Going strong: Sarah and Wells have been dating since October 2017

'There are no wedding plans. The thought was that we'd start thinking about that around this time, but now this is happening. What's the point of even trying to get something solidified with everything being so up in the air?' he told Access Hollywood last month.

Attempting to see the bright side of quarantine, Wells admitted that it has allowed him and Sarah to 'spend a lot of quality time together.'

Access then asked Wells if he and Sarah would ever consider having a 'Zoom wedding.'

'No. I would not do that. If [the pandemic] lasts really, really long then I think we might do like a really small backyard thing, but that's probably not going to happen.'

The pair began dating in October 2017 after flirting on Twitter.
Zach Braff paid tribute to his best friend Nick Cordero on Tuesday, two days after the Broadway star died following a long battle with complications from the COVID-19 virus.

Zach dedicated the latest episode of his Fake Doctors, Real Friends podcast with co-host Donald Faison, to Nick, who died aged 41 and leaves behind wife Amanda Kloots and one-year-old son Elvis.

The 45-year-old actor praised Amanda for her strength and positivity over the last three months, noting that she never saw Nick conscious again after he was admitted to Cedars Sinai hospital in March.

Zach Braff paid tribute to his best friend Nick Cordero on Tuesday after the Broadway actor

The Scrubs alum said it was tough to not be by Amanda's side to support her because of social distancing protocols.

'We would literally stand 10 feet away from her and watch our friend sobbing,' he said.

'Can you imagine how tragic this is? Your partners in the hospital, you cant even be there? You cant be by their side, you cant hug them, you cant kiss them, you cant cheer them on. You have to do it over a FaceTime that a generous nurse has arranged.'

Zach revealed the final text message he received from Nick when he was still conscious at the start of his health battle.

'The last thing Nick texted me before he went unconscious was, I said, "Is there anything I can do?" And he said, "Please look out for Amanda and Elvis," he recalled.

'The last thing Nick texted me before he went unconscious was, "Please look out for Amanda and Elvis," Zach recalled

'I promised that I'm going to do that for the rest of my life,' the actor said. 'And I want to make him proud.' Zach said of looking after Amanda and one-year-old son Elvis

'And I promised that I'm going to do that for the rest of my life,' the actor said. 'And I want to make him proud.'

The Wish I Was Here director continued, 'There's so many people that love Amanda and Elvis and we're all going to be doing our part to help give this child an extraordinary life. He just started walking and he's just the cutest kid ever. He's so cute.'

Zach went on to give more details of Nick's health decline after he was diagnosed with coronavirus.

'Just for claritys sake, he didnt have COVID-19 anymore,' the actor explained.

'What COVID did to Nick is what it does to a lot of people, it comes in and wreaks havoc on your body. Then it leaves and you don't have it anymore, but youre left with what the doctors called 'lungs that look like Swiss cheese."'

The 45-year-old actor praised Amanda for her strength and positivity over the last three months, noting that she never saw Nick conscious again after he was admitted to Cedars Sinai hospital in March

Zach recalled of Nick's health battle, 'He just deteriorated, deteriorated, deteriorated, until the point where they put him on the ventilator and then he never came back,'

He added, 'He just deteriorated, deteriorated, deteriorated, until the point where they put him on the ventilator and then he never came back,

'He kind of woke up for a little bit and there was some exciting moments where they would say, "Nick if you can hear us look up," and he would do that, but he wouldnt do it all the time. It was only occasionally.'

Amanda, 38, documented Nick's health battle on social media throughout the 90 plus days he was in hospital, giving regular updates on his progress and set backs but always remaining positive.

The actress even starting a daily singalong encouraging well-wishers to belt out Nick's track Live Your Life and post clips to Instagram.

Long health battle: Amanda revealed at the start of April that Nick had been wrongly diagnosed with pneumonia in March and had been hospitalized because he was struggling to breathe. He then tested positive for COVID-19

During his hospitalization he suffered numerous complications including blood clots which led to his left leg being amputated, septic shock, fungus on his lungs, mini strokes and also had a temporary pacemaker fitted to keep his heartbeat regular

She revealed at the start of April that Nick had been hospitalized after being wrongly diagnosed with pneumonia in March. He was struggling to breathe so they admitted him to Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. Shortly after he tested positive for COVID-19.

He was immediately sedated and never properly regained consciousness.

During his hospitalization he suffered numerous complications including blood clots which led to his left leg being amputated, septic shock, fungus on his lungs, mini strokes and also had a temporary pacemaker fitted to keep his heartbeat regular.

By the end of his life, Zach said 'his blood pressure wasnt strong enough,' meaning that he would have had to lose his fingers and toes 'had he lived.'

The actor said that there were some moments of hope, but his friend 'never came back' fully.
Food delivery service Menulog launched its latest advertising campaign with American hip hop star Snoop Dogg last month.

The lighthearted ad shows the Drop It Like It's Hot hitmaker, 48, rapping about ordering 'tacos to the chateau' and 'chicken wings to the crib' on the Menulog app.

While the public response has been mostly positive, some viewers have been left baffled by a bizarre detail in the commercial.

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Did you notice it? Australian viewers have gone wild over a bizarre detail in the Menulog advert starring rapper Snoop Dogg

Menulog included a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen clarifying that Snoop Dogg was a 'paid actor', despite the fact the TV spot was clearly tongue in cheek.

Presumably, the purpose of this was to clarify that the musician was paid by Menulog to appear in the advert and wasn't offering a genuine testimonial.

Ad Standards, the Australian advertising watchdog, sometimes makes companies include these disclaimers, even when it's clear the celebrity endorsement isn't meant to be taken seriously.

'Paid actor': Menulog included a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen clarifying that Snoop Dogg was a 'paid actor', despite the fact the TV spot was clearly tongue in cheek

Not a customer: Presumably, the purpose of this was to clarify that Snoop Dogg was paid by Menulog to appear in the advert and wasn't offering a genuine testimonial

Self evident? Many viewers felt the disclaimer was unnecessary because the advert was obviously meant to be a humourous parody of Snoop Dogg's extravagant lifestyle

Many viewers felt the disclaimer was unnecessary because the advert was obviously meant to be a humourous parody of Snoop Dogg's extravagant lifestyle.

The disclaimer also confused some people, who thought it meant the person in the advert was a Snoop Dogg impersonator.

One fan wrote on Twitter: 'I love that Menulog had to point out that Snoop Dog is a "paid actor" and not a real life customer.'

Another added: 'So Snoop Dogg is on a Menulog commercial on Aussie TV and there's a disclaimer at the bottom saying "paid actor". Here I was thinking he was doing a pro bono food drive.'

Having a laugh: 'I love that Menulog had to point out that Snoop Dog is a "paid actor" and not a real life customer,' one viewer tweeted

Hilarious: Another added, 'Snoop Dogg is on a Menulog commercial and there's a disclaimer at the bottom saying "paid actor". Here I was thinking he was doing a pro bono food drive'

'Favourite part': One stunned Twitter user joked, 'I was really hoping Snoop was volunteering to tell us how great Menulog is'

Phew! 'Thank goodness for the "Paid Actor" subtitle, otherwise I might believe that Snoop Dogg actually uses Menulog and then spontaneously raps about it,' one Twitter user wrote

'Side hustle': This social media user joked that the disclaimer was useful because it clarified that Snoop Dogg wasn't actually a Menulog delivery driver

Thanks for clarifying! One fan joked that Snoop would never do a TV advert for free, so it was self-evident that he was a 'paid actor'

'Thank goodness for the "Paid Actor" subtitle, otherwise I might believe that Snoop Dogg actually uses Menulog and then spontaneously raps about it of a Monday evening,' a third viewer commented.

A similar tweet read: 'My favourite part is the small text at the bottom: "Paid Actor." I was really hoping Snoop was volunteering to tell us how great Menulog is.'

A Menulog spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday: 'Snoop really was passionate about upgrading the Did Somebody Say Menulog jingle and creating his own track for our brand.

'Given how impressive it turned out, the good people at ClearADs wanted to make sure people knew we had actually paid Snoop to do it - hence "Paid Actor" became the finishing touch on what people are calling the greatest ad on Australian TV.'
Theirs was a partnership made in TV detective heaven.

And in a new interview, Christopher Meloni is promising that when his Law & Order: SVU character Elliot Stabler returns to TV this fall, he will reunite with Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson.

Meloni, 59, told the NY Post Tuesday: 'It just has to be. Benson and Stabler are inextricably linked, locked and connected.'

Back: Christopher Meloni is promising that when his Law & Order: SVU character Elliot Stabler returns to TV this fall in a new spin-off, he will reunite with Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson

Meloni walked away from the Dick Wolf procedural in 2011 after 12 seasons on the hit NBC show.

His exit was explained as his character retiring after a deadly self-defense shooting and loyal fans of the series mourned his departure.

'How my character left was really unsatisfying, I think,' the actor told the Post.

Exited: Meloni, pictured with Hargitay on season 5 of the hit drama in 2003, walked away from the Dick Wolf procedural in 2011 after 12 seasons on the NBC show

'It just has to be,' Meloni, 59, said of a reunion. 'Benson and Stabler are inextricably linked, locked and connected.' He's pictured with Hargitay and Law & Order creator Dick Wolf in 2003

He suggested the eagerness of fans to see Stabler and Benson back together will lead to multiple crossovers between Law & Order: SVU, which is going into its 22nd season with Hargitay in the lead role, and the upcoming new spin-off Law & order: Organized Crime.

'I think there is truly and deeply a worthwhile, inherent drama in exploring that relationship and the complexity of how Stabler left  the unresolved emotions both characters feel and how the fans feel,' Meloni said.

In Law & Order: Organized Crime, Detective Stabler returns to head up an elite squad tasked with taking down New York's City's most powerful crime syndicates.

He's back on the job comes 'after a devastating personal loss', according to NBC, and the series follows him as he aims 'to find absolution and rebuild his life'.

The new show is scheduled to premiere in the fall on Thursdays at 10 p.m. right after Law & Order: SVU. Production, however, has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking on the mob: Meloni returns this fall as Detective Stabler In Law & Order: Organized Crime in which he heads up an elite squad tasked with taking down NYC's crime syndicates
actor Johnny Depp (57) and his former wife and actress Amber Heard arrived on Tuesday at the start of a process in London. Depp is suing the publisher of the tabloid newspaper "The Sun" because of an article in which it was alleged that he had is Heard (34) physically abused. The actor ("Pirates of the Caribbean") denies it. The process should take three weeks.

Specifically, Depp has been referred to in the article in the "Sun" as a "wife-beater". In previous hearings for the proceedings the legal representatives of Heard and Depp signed each of different pictures of marriage. Heard accuses Depp of 14 cases of violence, including physical attacks over three days, as he was in 2015, with your in Australia and there drank alcohol, and drugs have taken. He denies the allegations and in turn accuses Heard, to have him with a water bottle and a cigarette attacked.

Depp and Heard entered separately in the court building. Heard wore as a mouth-nose cover, a large red cloth with white dots. She was accompanied by her lawyers, and her sister. Depp came in a dark blue suit. He was wearing sunglasses and a dark cloth.

Updated Date: 07 July 2020, 12:19
animal rights activists have been fighting for years to ban mink farms in the Netherlands. The Supreme court of the country decided in 2013 that the breeding of fur-bearing animals by the end of 2023 must stop. But now everything is much faster  due to the Coronavirus. On Monday of 19,000 Minks had to be culled on the orders of the competent ministries, because the Virus had been detected in two farms in Gemert, the center of the Dutch production in the province of North Brabant. It was already the twentieth Farm, on which animals had been infected.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, Nato and the Benelux countries, based in Brussels.

F. A. Z.

While the authorities had only acted hesitant, have been killed in the past few weeks, now more than 600,000 animals. The Parliament decided at the end of June, that due to the Virus closed businesses are not allowed to open, and the entire breeding should be set to the end of the year. The government should compensate the total of 128 farms, which by 2018 will still be 4.5 million Minks were bred, financially. The Cabinet is now working on a scheme for entrepreneurs who close down their Farm voluntarily, and if she is not yet affected. The competent ministries banned the transportation of mink and ordered strict hygiene measures.

The first infections of fur-bearing animals with Sars-CoV-2 were found to be at the end of April in two Farms. The Minks had difficulty Breathing. It was said that the Virus had jumped from workers to you. The authorities came after an initial investigation in mid-may to the conclusion that the risk of Transmission from animals to humans is equal to zero. Then an exclusion zone was lifted around the farms again  what appears in retrospect as a fatal error. Since then, more and more companies are reported in the two places Gemert-Bakel and Laarbeek, where most of the producers are sitting, infections.

Updated Date: 06 July 2020, 22:19
The white American woman, Amy Cooper, who dropped in a dispute with a black bird-watchers because of their non-leashed dog to an emergency call, must answer in court. The Prosecutor's office in Manhattan rose on Monday on charges of false accusations against the forty-one-year-old. During the altercation in Central Park, she had reported to the police of the alleged threats by the African-American Christian Cooper.

a Video showed the bird-watchers during the confrontation at the end of may, he had offered to Cooper's dog, however, only treats, as the Banker refused, the animal in the Park rules required to take on the leash. "We live in a time in which black men because of the prejudices against black men are shot and killed. I will not have it, said the editor of a medical journal, the TV station NBC on the question as to the reason for the video recording.

As of Cooper in your emergency demands, were on the Morning of the 25. May is actually a number of officials of the New York Police Department in the Central Park. Not to arrest it. As a sister of the bird observer was the Video of the contest later online, was obtained from the Banker in social media racism allegations. The investment company Franklin Templeton, the Cooper, worked, sent her a notice of termination. "I have to stop responding emotionally and false conclusions about Chris Cooper's intentions pulled", she asked for apology. According to the prosecution for up to twelve months in prison to threaten her.

Cooper's accusations against African Americans also fuelled the debates about racism and the role of the police. The death of the black Doorman George Floyd, died some hours after the fight in Central Park in about 2000 kilometers away in Minneapolis (Minnesota) in the case of the arrest by a white officer, had thrown in the past few weeks, country-wide protests.

Updated Date: 07 July 2020, 09:19
The Brazilian radio station Band reported on Monday evening that the first Test of President Jair Bolsonaro on the Coronavirus had shown a positive result. The message has been neither confirmed nor denied. Previously, the Brazilian media had reported that Bolsonaro taking a Test, because he's complaining of a fever. The result of the examination in the military hospital in the capital, Brasilia, is expected on Tuesday. A Test of the lungs of Bolsonaro showed no special features.

Tjerk Bruhwiller

Free Rapporteur for Latin America with headquarters in Sao Paulo.

F. A. Z. Twitter

Bolsonaro even confirmed the return to the presidential Palace that he was feeling fine. Nevertheless, all appointments have been canceled Bolsonaros for the Rest of the week. More government employees will undergo Tests. Only on Saturday Bolsonaro had had a meeting with the American Ambassador, as well as several Ministers for lunch. This Bolsonaro should have  as on numerous other occasions, too  no mask is worn. In the past few days, Bolsonaro put several vetoes against passages of the Congress approved a law to govern the country-wide mask duty.

two health Ministers, worn out

Bolsonaro had attracted in the past weeks due to his numerous appearances without a face mask, and some Expressions of negative attention. Designated for the beginning of the pandemic, the Coronavirus as a "Grippchen". Later, he would die eventually said. At the same time he made with the governors of the country, the Federal States, strict isolation measures imposed. Two health Ministers have left the government during the pandemic already. Bolsonaro had in the past few months, is already three Times on the Coronavirus test. In may, he was forced by the Supreme court, the results of these Tests disclose. They turned out to be negative.

Updated Date: 07 July 2020, 03:19
An Assault on a bus driver in the southwest of the country, is currently in France for horror. The man had been critically injured and have suffered in the hospital for brain death. The police launched an appeal for witnesses, to determine the exact sequence of events. First Reports indicate the driver had been rejected in the close to the border with Spain, situated Bayonne, on Sunday evening around 19 o'clock, four people at a bus stop. They wanted to get in, despite the mask of duty without the protection of masks, and valid tickets in the Bus. Therefore, a man struck the bus from behind violently on the head.

The news Agency AFP reported that the bus driver had denied a man without a mask who wanted to get on with a dog, access. Then he asked, therefore, several persons, who were already without a mask in the Bus, to get Off. Out of the group he was attacked according to the report, then. Five people have been arrested after the fact, he told the radio station France Bleu, relying on the competent public Prosecutor's office. The victim was 59 years old.

For the wife of the deceased, it was a premeditated murder. The radio station "RTL-France" she said, "you wanted to kill my husband." And further: "man can not take away the life of a Person for a Ticket."

Updated Date: 07 July 2020, 12:19
SBC elects Pastor Rolland Slade as first black chair of its executive committee

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Rolland Slade, the 62-year-old senior pastor of Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon, California, called his historic election as the first black chair of the Southern Baptist Conventions executive committee on Tuesday, Gods plan.

"I don't think there was ever a plan for me to be in this position," Slade told Baptist Press. "I think it's what God has done.  I believe God loves diversity; He created us and we are all diverse. I think for us to not embrace it is saying that, 'We've got a better idea than You [God].'"

Slades election to lead the executive committee comes just eight years after the 175 year old former pro-slavery denomination elected Fred Luter Jr. as the denominations first black president. His nomination for the post was unopposed and he was unanimously elected by ballot vote, BP said.

"Rolland is certainly deserving of this historical honor not just because of the color of his skin but because of his knowledge, skills, and leadership as a member of the Executive Committee through the years," Luter told BP of Slades election. "I am proud of Rolland and proud of the men and women of this committee for making this such a historic moment in the Southern Baptist Convention. To God be the glory for the things He has done!"

Mike Stone, the outgoing chair who called for the ballot vote to mark the historic moment, said Slades election at a time when the U.S. is grappling with major civil unrest over racial inequality and instances of police brutality is Gods providence.

"I think we all realize by what is going on in this country as well as in our convention, this timing is in many ways the providence of our Lord," Stone, who leads the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Georgia, said.

The SBCs President J.D. Greear called Slade's election an "exciting day for our convention."

"Rolland Slade's election demonstrates we are moving in the right direction," Greear, said. "During my two years as SBC president, I have worked alongside Rolland and seen his leadership and character to lead this body at this time.

Greear recently endorsed the black lives matter movement as a Gospel issue to members of the world's largest Baptist denomination in the wake of ongoing protests over multiple officer-involved killings, including the death of George Floyd on May 25 at the hands Minneapolis police officers.

We realize that especially in a moment like this one, we need our brothers and sisters of color. We need the wisdom of leadership that God has written in their community. We know that many in our country, particularly our brothers and sisters of color, right now are hurting, Greear said while noting how the SBC had evolved from its racist past to become one of the most ethnically diverse religious groups in the United States.

A lot of people dont know that, but nearly 20% of all Southern Baptist churches are majority non-white and the North America Mission Board tells us that more than 60% of new churches planted recently have been planted and led by people of color, Greear said.

Marshal Ausberry, SBC first vice president who is also president of the National African American Fellowship of the SBC and pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax Station, Virginia, told BP that Slade's election shows how far the denomination has come.

"His election shows the positive transformation that is occurring in the Convention," Ausberry said. "When you think of the founding of the SBC in 1845, largely over the issue concerning the ownership of enslaved persons by missionaries, to the election of Rolland Slade in the 175th year, this is a seminal moment for the Convention and all Southern Baptists."
In the course of a Demonstration in Frankfurt, has set itself critically with the politics of Israel apart, it seems to be anti-Semitic Utterances. The Representative of the Hesse state government for the Jewish life and the fight against anti-Semitism, Uwe Becker, has condemned the event from last Wednesday.

Catherine Iskandar

editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

F. A. Z.

"If on German roads for the destruction of Israel is propagated by a loud 'From the River to the Sea' is chanted, the obliteration of the Jewish state from the Jordan to the Mediterranean formulate sea as the destination, then this is totally unacceptable," said the CDU politician. He therefore asked the law enforcement authorities, "these bad incidents".

"the destruction of propaganda against Israel"

Becker continues: "In particular, the right to be critical of the policies of the Israeli government and may publicly protest against it, is the destruction of propaganda against Israel is nothing more than anti-Semitic incitement and must be punished as such".

The police confirmed on Tuesday to request that there has been such an incident.170 part nehmerder Demonstration had gathered in the evening zunachstvor American generalkonsu Latin Frankfurt, a spokesman said. From there they were moved to the main guard.

Updated Date: 07 July 2020, 12:19
At a time when the government forces launched a major offensive against the militants in Kashmir this summer, the sudden resignation of veteran separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has added to the heat.

While 118 militants have been killed in the first six months of 2020, June proved to be bloodier with 48 such killings. According to Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir range, 107 of those killed were local militants and only 11 were foreigners. A majority of the slain militants were from Hizbul Mujahideen, the outfit which was traditionally seen as inclined towards Geelani.

From the sudden rise in the number of local militants killed, to Geelanis resignation, the apparent change in Pakistans policy towards Kashmir seems to be a majorly contributing factor in this. After 30 years of romance, Pakistan seems to have dumped both Hizbul and Hurriyat alike.

Among all the Hurriyat leaders, hardliner Geelani always had an edge. (Photo: Twitter)

On June 29, in a surprise move, Geelani resigned as chief of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, saying that constituents of the amalgam failed to lead the people after the abrogation of Jammu & Kashmir's special status, overstepped the limits, and tried to create a parallel structure. He also took a dig at the Hurriyat leadership in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, calling it just a representative forum with no power to take any decision and using its influence to get close to power corridors. Unwilling to take responsibility for the errors of his colleagues, Geelani said, It is beyond my capacity to be answerable to the faults and errors of my colleagues besides my own. You are free to make a decision for yourself... In view of the present circumstances, after pondering over the entire issue, I have decided to dissociate from the Hurriyat Conference.

But then, much before the abrogation of J&Ks special status last August, the separatist politics was already losing the ground. Barring Geelani, most of the other top Hurriyat leaders were looking irrelevant.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads the parallel faction of the Hurriyat, had been largely silent after being questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in April 2019. Moderate Mirwaiz had become so feeble that by August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated, he wasnt even seen as a potential threat by New Delhi anymore. And thus, while hundreds, including three former Chief Ministers, and even some schoolchildren were reportedly taken into custody, Mirwaiz was allowed to stay back at his home.

The third faction of the Hurriyat, jointly led by Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khan, on the other hand, has been a mess since 2017. In fact, it was after their differences with the other two Hurriyat factions, that both  Shah and Khan  landed up in Tihar jail on charges of money laundering that year.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq wasnt even seen as a potential threat by New Delhi anymore when Article 370 was abrogated. (Photo: Reuters)

Among all the Hurriyat leaders, hardliner Geelani always had an edge  love him or hate him, you cannot ignore him, because of his influence on a considerable section of Kashmir society, especially the youth.

So, if Geelani has left the Hurriyat, the amalgam is now void of the crowd-pulling attraction. In other words, the Hurriyat factions have been reduced to a dirty banner, worthy of a probe for financial and other irregularities, as endorsed by Geelani in his two-page resignation.

But then, if pro-Pak Geelani had grievances with Pakistan, why were the same not addressed? Well, it means that Pakistan is no longer interested in pampering the aged leader or the Hurriyat factions.

Separatist politics, however, is not the only thing facing cold response from across the bloodied fence. On May 25, Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) chief Syed Salahuddin was reportedly hurt in an attack in Islamabad as a result of the widening differences between him and the Pakistan state.

Call it fate or coincidence, while Salahuddin was attacked, HM cadres in his native Kashmir were getting killed in encounters more rapidly than before. According to a recent news report in India Today, Hizbul Mujahideen, the separatist militant outfit active in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989, maybe in terminal retreat.

The strikes in Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama, considered the epicentres of homegrown militancy, have shaken the three-decade-old outfit to the core... For the Hizb, the losses have really mounted since their longest-serving leader Riyaz Naikoo was killed on May 6 in a joint operation of the police, army and the CRPF in Beighpora village of Pulwama, the report said.

While Indian Army Chief, Gen MM Naravane, credits the cooperation and coordination between security forces for the militants killing, he also endorses tip-offs from locals, who he believes, are fed up of militancy.

Here, a tip-off from the neighbouring country through its proxies cannot be ruled out. After all, in 2017, Qayoom Najar, the longest surviving militant in Kashmir then, was killed based on a similar tip-off. According to a news report from September 2017, The tip-off about Qayoom Najar, the longest surviving militant in Kashmir, crossing over the LoC from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) was 'leaked' to Indian security agencies from across the border by the slain commander's rivals in Hizbul Mujahideen.

But then, why would Pakistan suddenly behave in this manner?

Well, after the abrogation of the special status of J&K, The Resistance Front or TRF, a new militant outfit has surfaced in Kashmir and owned up to some of the deadliest attacks on security forces since then. TRF is seen as a shadow of Lashkar.

In May, the Hizbul and TRF quibbled over the credit for the deadly attack in Handwara town. Apart from two killed militants, one Colonel, one Major, two soldiers of 21 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) unit of the Indian Army and one sub-inspector of J&K Police lost their lives in that gunfight.

As per reports, the TRF mainly comprises heavily trained foreign militants. All this suggests that Pakistan doesnt look ahead to rely on any homegrown leadership in militant or separatist cadres.

But will such a move benefit Pakistan? Or, will the Modi government translate it into an even dominant position in Kashmir? Well, only time will decide.

Also Read: With Geelani in back seat, will the Professor now drive Hurriyat?
Long ago when Jews were being massacred in thousands and the Jewish state was all but a dream, father of modern political Zionism, Theodor Herzl, wrote, The Jewish state would form a part of a wall of defense for Europe in Asia, an outpost of civilisation against barbarism.

On November 2, 1917, British secretary of state for foreign affairs, Arthur Jamesh Bulfour, put out a 67-word, single-sentence statement, known as Bulfour Declaration, turning Herzls dream into reality:

His Majestys Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

In 2020, Rashid Khalidis book The Hundred Years War on Palestine, draws attention to how the Bulfour Declaration and subsequent statements, declarations and treaties deliberately omitted the use of the word Palestinians, presenting Palestine as a land without people which rightfully belonged to the Jews.

The Hundred Years War on Palestine, Rashid Khalidi, pages 305, Profile Books

There were Jewish people, there are non-Jewish communities, but no Palestinians staying on this land. This was a project, Khalidi says, to dispossess a people of their land. Khalidi argues that creation of Israel was not a project aimed at giving Jews a homeland they could call their own, but a sinister plan to turn the entire state of Palestine into Israel.

Khalidi tells the tale of this dispossession through the time span of six declaration of wars, from 1917 to 2014. Each of them helped Israel expand further, forcing Palestinians into ghettos and pigeon holes. The accounts of all undeclared wars and killings flow through the narrative.

Many books and movies, sometimes adaptations of books and at other times original ideas, have won awards and accolades raising enough awareness about the persecution of Jews in European countries. Such a book or movie on the plight of the Palestinians in their own homeland is still to be written.

Leon Uris's novel Exodus went on to be the biggest bestseller after Gone With the Wind. When the novel was adapted into a movie in 1960, it went on to win an Academy Award. The story of the Palestinian nakba (exodus), which began in 1948, is also a story of memory against forgetting. More than 7,00,000 Palestinians became homeless during the nakba.

Khalidi, an American-Palestinian, partakes in that storytelling process while also trying to explain why the story has been struggling to be told. Most people see the Israel-Palestine conflict purely as an Isreal-Arab conflict, which again obliterates the presence of Palestinians, who to begin with, were victims of their own Arab neighbours desire to rule them as the British began leaving their colonies in the late 1940s.

By the time the Arabs decided to unite against the atrocities committed against Palestinians, local Palestinian terrorists had taken to an armed struggle against Israeli expansionist policies, and thus beyond the Arab world, Palestinians began to lose global support. Khalidi etches out the lines between when the Palestinian struggle, as a fight of a people for survival, blurs with the struggle being seen as a terrorist armed struggle.

Khalidis father worked for the United Nations and he was at the UN office on June 9, 1967, the fifth day of Israels war on Arab countries.

The UN Security Council passed Resolution 235 demanding an immediate ceasefire. The UNSC set a two-hour deadline asking the Secretary-General to report back within the time limit on the resolutions enforcement.

Palestine has been amid war ever since the British left the country in turmoil. (Photo: Reuters)

When the deadline ended with Israel still not complying, UNSC adjourned for another two hours. A confused Khalidi asked his father what the delay was about, to which his father responded, Dont you understand? The Americans are giving the Israelis a little more time. The little more time was for Israel to consolidate its hold on the territory it had come to occupy.

If the Israeli occupation project in Palestine was ambitious, Khalidis book is unrelenting in exposing both that ambition and Israels collaborators who made the realisation of the project possible.

From Herzls voicing of the plan of a Jewish state to US President Donald Trumps move to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital in 2017, Khalidi gives a point-by-point account of how this project gained global legitimacy.

History reading can be boring for those who arent history buffs, but the addition of anecdotes in the book make it a book both for lovers of history and those who find dates and years daunting to take note of.

When Israel launches a major operation to target Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) men who had taken refuge in Lebanon and were using it as a launchpad to strike Israeli civilians and military, Khalidi was in Lebanon. With two daughters and wife Mona, pregnant with their child, Khalidi had to escape the city which was fast coming down to rubble as bombs and mortars exploded all around. His son born shortly after the escape, Khalidi says, remained particularly sensitive to loud sounds for a long time.

Khalidi's family suffered a great deal because of the conflict, like all Palestinians did. The book thus is not an unbiased account. But in sticking to facts and by quoting facts and declassified documents, Khalidi does a fine job in documenting a Palestinian perspective of the conflict where Palestinians have been the forgotten people.

Also Read: Why nations must unite to take China on
RICHMOND  Gov. Ralph Northam wants school systems across Virginia to change the names of schools honoring Confederate leaders.

In a July 6 letter to the heads of school boards in the state, Northam says the names and mascots have a traumatizing impact on students, families, teachers and staff of all backgrounds.

When our public schools are named after individuals who advanced slavery and systemic racism, and we allow those names to remain on school property, we tacitly endorse their values as our own, Northam wrote. This is no longer acceptable.

The names have come under increased scrutiny during ongoing civil unrest spurred by the May killing of Minnesota man George Floyd. Protesters have highlighted racial disparities in education, including the disproportionate rates at which students of color graduate and face discipline in school, with the names, opponents say, being symbols of a racially unjust system school leaders are tasked with fixing.

Now is the time to change them to reflect the inclusive, diverse, and welcoming school community every child deserves, and that we, as leaders of the Commonwealth, have a civic duty to foster, Northam said.
The editorial shared by The Daily Progress on June 20 told the story of a Pennsylvania community that did not have broadband access. Concerned citizens banded together and essentially built their own internet system, including a 120-foot tower. Very admirable!

Our community also has an access issue, made starker by having our children quarantined at home from COVID-19. Many students in our area do not have internet access to be able to do their schoolwork online. Nor do their parents. Nor do some of their teachers. It is an equity issue that cuts across socio-economic, racial, and residential lines.

The Albemarle Broadband Authority, in partnership with Century Link, has received a $291,300 state grant to pursue this goal (Albemarle broadband project receives state funding, The Daily Progress, Jan. 22 online). Will we help them make it a reality?

We will begin another school year this fall, and our students are likely to be at home at least part of the time, working online  if they are able. Will we make online learning possible for all?

Its a solvable problem, and we firmly believe the resources exist in this community to make it happen. We need a two-pronged approach.
Nacogdoches, TX (75965)

Today

Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low around 70F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
Vietnam: 6-year-old Christian girl beaten into coma for faith in Jesus

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A 6-year-old Christian girl and her parents were brutally beaten and dragged out of their village in Northern Vietnam because of their conversion to Christianity, Open Doors UK reports.

The family of three was forced out of their home and dragged over rocks to the entrance of the village after sustaining beatings that left the young girl in a coma for a month.

Open Doors, an organization that serves persecuted Christians worldwide, said earlier this week that the 6-year-old girl has regained consciousness but doesn't recall what happened to her and isn't able to recognize her parents.

The family had stopped participating in their village's practice of worshiping their ancestors and received Christ, which angered the villagers and local authorities.

Not long after, they were mocked, tied with ropes and severely beaten while being dragged over rocky ground toward the entrance of the village, forcing them to leave, Open Doors reports.

Members of their church later transported them to a hospital where they were treated for three days.

Although they were allowed to return to the village after their pastor spoke with local authorities, the villagers continued to threaten and curse them on account of their newfound faith.

Open Doors' World Watch List ranks the southeast Asian country as the 20th most dangerous nation for Christians. The Communist government monitors Christians' activities and exerts a high level of pressure on them.

"Both non-traditional Protestants and converts from indigenous religions are persecuted intensively. Estimates indicate that approximately 80 percent of the countrys Christians belong to the countrys ethnic minorities, like the Hmong, and face social exclusion, discrimination and attacks. Ethnic minority Christian children are discriminated against in schools; their medical needs also are often neglected. Some are not even allowed to attend school," the Open Doors profile of Vietnam explains.

"Non-Christian relatives of Christians are also strong persecutors, cutting family ties and denying any family inheritance. In some cases, relatives force a Christian spouse to divorce and then withhold custody of their children. Believers homes are sometimes destroyed, forcing them to leave their village."

Last year, Vietnam sentenced and jailed a number of Catholic activists, bloggers and Protestant pastors.

Teacher and school administrators reportedly encourage Christians to give up their faith, telling them their employment opportunities will be damaged.

In August, Pastor Le Dinh Luong, who is also an environment and democracy activist, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on trumped up charges of attempting to overthrow the government."

Although his trial was supposed to be open to the public, only his wife and younger brother were permitted to be in the courtroom. Foreign diplomats who tried to attend were barred, according to Human Rights Watch. Human rights advocates have been calling for his immediate release.
Vietnam: Christian released after 16 torturous years in prison; future uncertain amid failing health

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A Vietnamese Christian jailed for almost 16 years for demanding land rights and religious freedom has been released. Yet his future remains uncertain as he battles health issues stemming from his time in prison.

According to Radio Free Asia, Y Ngun Knul was released from prison last week after spending nearly two decades in Nam Ha and Thanh Chuong prisons in Nghe An province.

He was first arrested and imprisoned on April 20, 2004, for launching protests calling for a Protestant church shut down by authorities to be reopened and for the members of his community to be allowed to live according to their traditions. Knul was initially issued an 18-year sentence which was later reduced.

As those rights were being taken away, people were becoming upset, and so I called on everyone to take part in the protests. As a result, I was arrested and sentenced to 18 years in prison, Knul said, speaking to RFAs Vietnamese Service.

The Christian was visited by his family only four times during his time behind bars, notes RFA, and he and his family have suffered in the past decade. Knul's family lost their house and land, and he now struggles with poor health due to years of incarceration.

I have kidney failure and high blood pressure and had a gastrointestinal hemorrhage, he told RFA. Now I can eat only a bowl of rice per day because I have stomach problems that make it hard for me to breathe.

My foot is swelling, too, making it hard for me to move ... I would like to go to a hospital for treatment, but I have no money now.

Nguyen Van Hai, a U.S.-based blogger held for a time with Knul at the Thanh Chuong prison, told RFA that prisoners from Vietnams Central Highlands see their families only rarely and that many who suffer ill health in prison live for only a few weeks after their release.

Nguyen told the outlet that Knul was beaten by guards, who kicked him in the stomach, and his body bore many scars.

Following his release, Knul was sent to Saigon for a medical check with the support of the Vietnamese human rights organization Defend the Defenders.

Knuls release was applauded by rights groups, including Gina Goh, International Christian Concerns Regional Manager for Southeast Asia.

Unfortunately, Knul is just one of the many prisoners of conscience in Vietnam imprisoned for their religion, political views, or ethnicity, she said. While we celebrate Knuls release after many agonizing years, we know that dozens of Christians are still incarcerated and should be released unconditionally by the Vietnamese authorities.

Open Doors' World Watch List ranks the southeast Asian country as the 21st most dangerous nation for Christians.

According to Open Doors, the countrys Communist government monitors Christians' activities and exerts a high level of pressure on them. In recent years, Vietnam has sentenced and jailed a number of Catholic activists, bloggers and Protestant pastors.

The government has some level of tolerance for Christian groups, particularly Catholics, but if any believers are deemed to be politically active, they can be imprisoned. In places where religion and ethnic identity are closely tied, Christians who convert from traditional religions are often the victims of pressure and violence from their families and communities, notes Open Doors.

The group estimates that approximately 80 percent of the countrys Christians belong to the countrys ethnic minorities, like the Hmong, and face social exclusion, discrimination, and attacks.

Since the reelection of Vietnams leader, Nguyen Phu Trong, in 2016, the party has also intensified a crackdown on political dissidents and tightened regulations on online communication.

In November, Vietnam jailed three people for anti-government posts on Facebook deemed to defame the ruling Communist Party and the government.

In August, Pastor Le Dinh Luong, who is also an environment and democracy activist, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on trumped-up charges of attempting to overthrow the government." The charges were later dropped.
Voice of the Martyrs releases prayer guide to help Christians pray for persecuted believers

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Voice of the Martyrs has released a detailed prayer resource to help Christians in the U.S. support the growing number of Christians being attacked for their faith abroad.

The Oklahoma-based Christian persecution watchdog groups 2020 Global Prayer Guide was created with the goal of helping American Christians better understand and pray for Christians living in intolerant countries.

VOM spokesman Todd Nettleton, who also hosts the organizations radio program, told The Christian Post that the guide on various nations was based off extensive research by the groups staff and regional Christian communities.

A great deal of work and effort has gone into making sure that the 2020 Global Prayer Guide is accurate and up-to-date so that people can use it to pray knowledgably for Christians in nations where they are persecuted, Nettleton explained.

The guide divides countries that are intolerant of Christianity into two categories: Restricted Nations and Hostile Areas.

A Restricted Nation would be a country that engages in government-sponsored repression of Christians, with examples including China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Vietnam.

By contrast, a Hostile Area is a region where Christianity is technically legal, but persecution occurs through families or factions, with examples including Colombia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka.

Nettleton told CP that he believed a reason for the rise in persecution was due to the growth of the church in hostile and restricted nations.

Part of the reason we see more persecution in some of the nations where VOM works is because the church is growing so fast, said Nettleton.

More Christians  whether in China, in India or in the Muslim countries of the Middle East  means there are more targets for potential persecution.

Nettleton hopes the guide will be a valuable tool for American Christians to pray in more detail for those suffering persecution for their faith.

My hope is American Christians will put it next to their Bible and use it throughout the year to guide their prayers for our persecuted brothers and sisters, he added.

This guide gives people information about how to pray and what to ask God to do for our brothers and sisters facing persecution.

The release of the guide comes as the Communist Chinese government is expected to implement harsher measures against religious groups.

The Vatican news outlet Asia News recently reported that, starting Feb. 1, religious groups will be expected to seek government approval for more aspects of their lives and will be required to promote the Communist Party.

Religious organizations must spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as national laws, regulations, rules to religious personnel and religious citizens, educating religious personnel and religious citizens to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, supporting the socialist system, adhering to and following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, read the news rules, in part.
Was Jesus silence violence?

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If I really want to make myself ill, I imagine Jesus being alive today and think about how hed be treated during this time of intense personal viciousness and social media insanity.

As it is now, I can barely stand reading the parts in Jesus biographies that chronicle how He was hounded, maligned, used and abused, conspired against, falsely accused, and murdered  and thats just in His small geographic locale in the first century where things spread on foot and by personal word of mouth.

But today? The social media smear machines (especially most cable news networks), Twitter mobs, and the other venomous groups of our cancel culture that literally live to slander and ruin lives would make what we read in the gospels look like kid-gloves treatment.

Given the recent Silence is Violence media push, I wonder what our current crop of social justice warriors would say about Jesus perceived silence in the gospels on the wrongs they passionately decry today?

The violence that silences

Let me first say there certainly is something to be said for making your voice heard when you see wrongs committed. The American essayist Henry David Thoreau once spent a night in jail because he refused to pay six years of a delinquent poll tax at a time when America was involved in the Mexican war and slavery was still practiced. Ralph Waldo Emerson is said to have visited Thoreau in jail and asked, Henry, what are you doing in there? Thoreau replied, Waldo, the question is what are you doing out there?[1]

However, were seeing a markedly different and hostile cultural spirit at work today that refuses to let you choose when and what to speak out against. Now we have totalitarian mob-driven crusades that forcefully compel anyone and everyone to say and do things exactly as they prescribe them. Failure to comply results in immediate and ugly consequences.

Their tactics include suppression of free speech and violent intolerance to any viewpoint that is contrary to their own. Colleges and universities, seemingly devoid of all adult supervision and authority, were the first to block Christian and conservatives from speaking on their campus because the anxiety-ridden student body mob labeled it hate speech. In those and current cases, "silence is compliance."

But as novelist George R.R. Martin put it, When you tear out a mans tongue, you are not proving him a liar, youre only telling the world that you fear what he might say.[2]

Graduates of those institutions now hold positions in corporate America where they utilize the same tactics to prevent opinions they dont care for from seeing the light of day. Columnist Liz Peek challenges the prevailing notion that these individuals are meek and frail when she says, These are the same students who adore gory video games and profanity-laced music. They are the same students who hurl obscenities and insults at professors who cross them. They are not fragile, they are intolerant.[3]

Not only must you agree with them, but you must use the exact terms they choose for you to express yourself. Just ask talk show host Ellen DeGeneres who didnt word her first black lives matters tweet the way the Twitter mob thought she should, and thus she was publicly excoriated for it.[4]

And now we have the Silence is Violence mindset where failure to add your voice to a particular protest equates to you siding with the enemy and being guilty of whatever charges the protest throws at you. I can only imagine what this spirit would do with Jesus supposed silence on first-century evils:

Jesus silent on Roman oppression of Jewish people; He must agree with it! #freeallnow

Womens inequalities mean nothing to Jesus; wont speak up. #womenarehumanstoo

Jesus endorses slavery with his silence. #endslaverynow

Better to change the law or the lawbreaker?

So why didnt Jesus (and the disciples later on) wage public crusades against the evils of slavery, the discrimination of women, and Romes brutality against the Jewish people? Was His silence violence?

Not at all. His strategy was a far more effective one than publicly speaking out against the injustices of the first century and bringing down the immediate wrath of the strong-arm government.

Jesus was well aware of the evil that exists in all human beings (cf. Matt. 7:9-11, John 2:24) and how it manifests in the moral wrongdoings we see every day. He also knew that simply telling bad people to do good is an exercise in futility because, the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised (Rom. 8:6-8; 1 Cor. 2:14).

Left on our own, Jesus knew we only live out the works of our fallen nature which are listed in Gal. 5:19-21. But once a person is born again, theyre now equipped with the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), able to break free of their personal evil and instead love God and their neighbor as themselves.

Railing publicly against societys evils and demanding governmental and personal change from people who can no more change their nature than a leopard its spots. Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil (Jer. 13:23), wasnt Jesus plan. Not speaking publicly about many of the injustices of His day was certainly not violence.

He knew that when you change people from the inside out, pretty soon the wrongs that exist in that culture are eradicated in de facto fashion as those people live out their faith. That being true, the most important thing we can do to fight injustice and change the world as Christians is to go beyond just speaking out against evils like abortion, human trafficking, etc., and follow the same strategy as Jesus.

Nothing beats the power of the gospel.

[1] https://bookhaven.stanford.edu/tag/ralph-waldo-emerson/

[2] https://tinyurl.com/ybt8lgwb

[3] https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/intolerance-threatens-us-cancel-culture-blame-liz-peek

[4] https://www.insider.com/ellen-degeneres-twitter-backlash-black-lives-matter-2020-6
Supreme Court vacates ruling against Ind. abortion laws on ultrasound images, parental notification for underage girls

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The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated rulings against two Indiana abortion laws, sending the cases back to the appeals court level for review.

In orders issued Thursday, the high court tossed out rulings against Indiana laws requiring abortion clinic staff to show mothers an ultrasound image of their baby before an abortion is scheduled to be performed, and another requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on 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 high court cited their recent 5-4 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 such as a hemorrhage or a ruptured uterus caused by an abortion.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, which was represented in part by the ACLU, expressed disappointment in response to the Supreme Court's order.

These laws are only meant to do one thing, restrict abortion access. Indiana ranks second in the nation for restrictions, and Indiana politicians insist on putting every barrier possible between a pregnant person and their legal health care, Planned Parenthood Indiana and Kentucky CEO Chris Charbonneau argued. These laws and others like them have nothing to do with the health and well-being of the patient, and everything to do with the politicization of abortion care.

Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter said in a statement released Thursday that he was cautiously optimistic that the ultrasound and parental notification appeals will find success in the Seventh Circuit.

We are very thankful for the relentless effort Attorney General Curtis Hill has given to defending Indianas pro-life laws in the courts, he added.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in June Medical Services v. Russo that abortion clinics in Louisiana should not be held to the same basic health and safety standards as ambulatory surgical standards.

Authored by Justice Stephen Breyer, the majority opinion cited the 2016 decision Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt, which struck down a similar Texas law.

In this case, we consider the constitutionality of a Louisiana statute, Act 620, that is almost word-for-word identical to Texas admitting-privileges law, wrote Breyer.

Those findings mirror those made in Whole Womans Health in every relevant respect and require the same result. We consequently hold that the Louisiana statute is unconstitutional.

Justices Clarence Thomas authored one of the dissents to the court decision, saying that the majority was enjoining a perfectly legitimate state law and doing so without jurisdiction.

The Constitution does not constrain the States ability to regulate or even prohibit abortion. This Court created the right to abortion based on an amorphous, unwritten right to privacy, which it grounded in the legal fiction of substantive due process, stated Thomas.

As the origins of this jurisprudence readily demonstrate, the putative right to abortion is a creation that should be undone.

In the same order list from Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to hear appeals in two cases regarding ordinances over buffer zones around abortion clinic entrances.

Both cases, one in Chicago, Illinois, and the other in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, involved pro-life activists suing to have the restrictions lifted, only to have courts rule against their efforts.
To the Editor:

Come down to Upper Crust Bagel & Cafe to learn about the Action Network of Darien Democrats and how you can be a part of the action! Election Day is only 4 months away. It will take all of us working together to win the White House, flip the Senate and hold the House. Learn about what you can do to help. We will have a table outside with important resource material as well as ANDD hats, pins, and bumper stickers.

The Action Network of Darien Democrats formed in November of 2019. We are a passionate group of Darien voters who have rolled up our sleeves and are doing the hard work to ensure we take back our democracy and protect our institutions.

Our mission is to elect Democrats to local, state and national office.

Our accomplishments to date include:

 Called more than 8,000 voters in Darien, Arizona, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Maine

 Participated in campaign activities at the Iowa caucus and in New Hampshire for the primary

 Traveled to Pennsylvania to register voters

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 Sent out 2,000 post cards to Darien voters

 Wrote dozens of letters to the editor to give voice to our party and ideas

 Donated to Democratic Town Committees and Democratic PACS

Raised funding to support all these initiatives and more. We will be continuing many of these activities and more in the coming months.

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday at Upper Crust Bakery & Cafe, 980 Post Road, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Please wear a mask and we will be maintaining a safe physical distance.

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After her impressive debut in Telugu in the role of an antagonist in Tenali Ramakrishna B.A., B.L, last year, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar will next be seen as a lawyer in the upcoming Naandi, directed by Vijay Kanakamedala.

The Maari 2 star says the role of a lawyer has challenged her as an actor.

Usually I dont prepare for roles, but for this character it was like going back to school. I had several lines in pure Telugu, so, to get a hang of it, I had to practise my lines a lot in advance; in fact, there are lengthy dialogues worth six pages, so it was difficult, explains Varalaxmi, adding that she is well-versed in colloquial Telugu.

The actress is on a signing spree. Krack will be her third in Telugu. So, has the actress who has worked in many Tamil films, turned her focus to Tollywood?

I havent planned anything but I believe everything happens at the right moment. I look at the versatility and substance my role can bring to the story, and I have been getting some interesting projects, explains the Pandem Kodi 2 star who has also played antagonist roles in her earlier films.

I dont like to be typecast; I always like to surprise the audience with new roles, and that attitude sort of pushes me to greater heights as an actor, explains Varalaxmi, who describes her eight years in showbiz as, Good Bad and Ugly.

I have seen ups and downs, success and failures. What I have realised is that it is difficult to plan, as things never go that way. So I take things as they come, she says.

Daughter of senior actor Sarathkumar, Varalaxmi clarifies that she doesnt discuss scripts with him. I read the script and take a final call; I take my own decisions, she stresses.
For Shraddha, the lockdown has been quite an eye-opener

Krishna and his Leela was supposed to be Shraddha Srinaths debut film in Telugu, but for the Kannada actress, the delay in the films release has been a blessing in disguise  her Jersey starring Nani was released before Krishna, and now her name has become a household one in the Telugu States.

I was definitely bothered about the delay in the release, and I was wondering whether it would be released at all, but now I dont have any regrets. Im happy that the film was released in a private channel during the lockdown, says the U-Turn actress.

Shraddha has now signed Chakra, a multi-lingual film in which she plays a cop. She took inputs from her father, who is in the Army, about things like holding a gun, reveals the actress.

I got a good response after the recent release of the trailer. I have a lot of action scenes in the film and people can see me in a completely new avatar, she says, adding, Action scenes are very new to me, and I am quite excited about this film.

For Shraddha, the lockdown has been quite an eye-opener.

My maid has not been coming in to work, so I am helping my mother in cleaning the house. Its a very humbling experience. I have realised that I am in a privileged position. I realise that I can do a lot to help society, including working to create awareness about various issues, she says.

Shraddha has done Tamil, films and a Hindi film too.

My strategy is always to pick good films. I strike a balance among all the industries, she says.
Police conduct checking near Bikhru village after an encounter with the criminals in Kanpur. PTI photo

Kanpur: Three more people including a close relative of gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the attack in which eight police personnel were killed have been arrested, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

According to the police, the total number of arrests in the case now stands at four.

Dubey's relative Shama, his neighbour Suresh Verma, and maid Rekha were arrested in the case, an official police spokesperson said here.

Rekha's husband, Daya Shankar Agnihotri, is a key member of the Dubey gang and was arrested in a pre-dawn encounter in Kalyanpur on Sunday.

Agnihotri, who was involved in the ambush, was carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 along with 17 others who continue to remain elusive.

Ten police constables have been sent to Chaubeypur Police Station from the reserve police lines, said SSP, Kanpur Dinesh Kumar P.

This is in replacement for the police personnel who were suspended for their alleged involvement in the encounter.

Station Officer (SO) Chaubeypur, Vinay Tiwari, sub-inspectors Kunwarpal and Krishna Kumar Sharma and constable Rajiv were suspended for their alleged involvement in passing on information to Dubey about police movement.

Meanwhile, a 2017 video of Dubey has gone viral on social media in which he suggested he was close to local politicians including some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs.

The video was allegedly shot while Dubey was being interrogated by the Uttar Pradesh STF in 2017 after his arrest from Krishna Nagar.

In the clip, Dubey claims to have close links with two local BJP MLAs, Bhagwati Sagar and Abhijeet Sanga and the chief of the Zila panchayat.

He also claims in the video that Sagar and Sanga had helped him in the past when he faced police action.

However, both the BJP leaders denied having any links with Dubey.

"My constituency is Bithoor in Kanpur and people from the adjoining village come to me for help, said Sanga, adding that on several occasions, he had recommended action supporting people who were against Dubey.

Sagar, who is the MLA from Bilhaur, denied helping Dubey ever and said that the video was being circulated to malign his image.

Both the BJP leaders alleged that Dubey usually associates himself with the leaders belonging to the ruling party in the state and demanded an inquiry into the matter.

The Uttar Pradesh Police said Dubey's photographs have been put all over the state mainly at toll plazas including those in Unnao, Kanpur Nagar, Auraiya, Fatehpur and areas near India-Nepal border so that people may tip off the police if they spot the gangster.

The reward on Dubey has already been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh, they said.

The border areas of Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich and Gorakhpur that lead towards Nepal have been alerted to prevent Dubey from fleeing to the neighbouring country to evade arrest, said a senior officer.

Police also suspect that he may be hiding in Madhya Pradesh's Chambal ravines, the officer added.

Dubey and his men killed eight policemen mostly in their 20s and 30s, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra (54) in an ambush at Bikru village in Chaubeypur area on July 3.

The others are Mahesh Kumar Yadav (42), Sub-Inspector Anoop Kumar Singh (32), Sub-Inspector Nebu Lal (48) and Constables Jitendra Pal (26), Sultan Singh (34), Bablu Kumar (23) and Rahul Kumar (24). P
Earth movers lie idle at a coal mine in Dhanbad as India's coal workers began a strike on July 2, 2020, to oppose the central government's decision to open up the country's coal sector to privatisation. Prime minister Narendra Modi recently launched the auction process to hawk 41 coal mines for commercial mining. (PTI)

Dhanbad/Ramgarh (Jharkhand): Away from the notice of middle class India, more than half a million coal workers began their three-day strike from the 6 am shift Thursday. They will stay away from work for three days.

They are opposed to privatization of the coal sector, which the Union government threw open last month with a decision to auction 41 coal blocks, mainly in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Maharashtra.

Eleventh hour talks were held, by way of a video conference, on Wednesday between coal worker unions and coal minister Pralhad Joshi. Both sides stuck to their position, and the strike went through.

At the end of the first day of the strike, state-run coal companies said there was minimal impact, and the unions said the strike was total and its impact substantial.

Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) put out a communique in the evening stating that all its miners marked their attendance and worked as usual. Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) said mining work outsourced to private contractors was not unaffected.

From regional centres, however, it could be learnt that there was impact. The general manager of CCL's Barka-Sayal command area, Amresh Singh, was quoted by PTI as saying "dispatch of coal has been affected due to the strike, but coal mining via outsourcing private companies remained unaffected".

In Madhya Pradesh, the local arm of Coal India, SECL, hired temp miners, which union leaders said was an "extraordinary situation" that had never happened before.

Union leaders said around 5.3 lakh permanent and contract employees are participating in the strike. The Rashtriya Colliery Mazdoor Sanghs (RCMSs) general secretary A K Jha said workers turned up at work as usual at dawn but did not pick up their tools.

"Production has been hampered in all collieries of BCCL and the Eastern Coalfields Limited," he claimed. Other union sources told PTI that work in all the mines of Coal India and Singareni Collieries (part owned by the government of Telangana) has been suspended.

"The strike is total," B K Rai, a union leader affiliated to Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) was quoted as saying.

The All India Coal Workers Federations general secretary B B Ramanandan said all coal mining, dispatch, transport everything are totally stopped in the first shift.

No violence has been reported from anywhere. Colliery managements have deployed CISF personnel in large numbers. Paramilitary troopers are patrolling to deter any attempt by union leaders to stop miners from joining duty.

About 4 million tonnes of coal output could be lost due to the three-day strike, according to Nathulal Pandey, president of HMS-affiliated Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation. Coal India, an umbrella entity that holds together all coal fields, produces 1.3 MT of coal every day; so loss due to a three-day strike would be around 4 MT. Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of Indias coal output.
Kolkata: Apprehending a rise in cattle-smuggling across the India-Bangladesh border this month, the Border Security Force has deployed "additional" troops with weapons, gadgets and equipments in its South Bengal Frontier of West Bengal. The step comes after the BSF found 'Cattle Haats' near the border on the Bangladesh side.

The BSF (South Bengal Frontier) said that every year, incidents of animal trafficking increase along the Indo-Bangladesh international border before Eid-ul-Azha. This year, Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated in Bangladesh on 31 July.

"It has been learned from reliable sources that the process of licensing 'Cattle Haat' in the border area of Bangladesh is going to be completed soon. In these 'Cattle Haats', most of the cattle which are smuggled from India are brought in. They are traded. The price of cattle in Bangladesh has increased significantly during this time of the year. At present, a buffalo of large size which is available in India for Rs 50,000 is priced in Bangladesh at about Rs 1,50,000 and a bull of large size is worth about Rs 80,000," the BSF said.

In the most vulnerable Border Outposts such as Neem Teeta, Harudanga, Madanghat, Sovapur etc. in Malda and Murshidabad districts, additional troops and resources have been deployed.

Battalions deployed in Malda and Berhampore sectors, the BSF added, are prepared to thwart the cross-border smuggling of cattle.

The BSF has increased the deployment of night camera tractors and speed boats to prevent animal trafficking before Eid. It has allowed its soldiers to use non-lethal weapons but also effectively use force if needed.

So far in 2020, 16 personnel of BSF South Bengal Frontier have been injured in various scuffle with trans-border criminals.

Temporary fencing/blockages have been placed at the border which does not have proper fencing. Trenches have been dug at the usual places where there are attempts of forced smuggling of cattle in large numbers.

The Border Security Force has made arrangements for joint operation with the local police. Units of the BSF have set up temporary camps on both sides of the ghats, which are used for dropping cattle into the rivers near the border crossing.

"Trans-border crimes will be stopped at the border at any cost and if criminals take up the law into their hands, then strict action should be taken against them under the law. Where jawans will be required to fire for their life, suitable and effective firing will be done. Non-lethal weapons will be used as appropriately as per the law of the land," the BSF said.
Father of 19-y-o killed in CHOP says Trump is the only public leader whos called him

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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.
Hyderabad: One hundred and six doctors have died in India due to Covid-19 till April 15, when data was last compiled. The case fatality rate is 6.1 per cent due to the high viral load because of repeated exposure while treating patients. Twenty-five nurses and other healthcare providers have succumbed to the disease.

Two nurses and two doctors died in road accidents due to mental and physical fatigue of infection. Five nurses and one doctor committee suicide due to stress and the stigma of contracting Covid 19.

Some of them died after taking care of their family members. There are two instances where doctors and their spouses died after getting infected and they were below 60 years of age.

The gaps in following precautions and misunderstanding the seriousness of the illness have also caused to lapses, leading to death.

During the initial stages of pandemic, doctors were exposed to the virus while not having access to personal protection equipment, gloves, face shields and other secondary protective gears.

These deaths also include those have been sudden and without any underlying illness. The deaths in those below 40 years of age are 21 per cent, below 50 years of age 29.6 per cent and below 60 years of age 55.5 per cent.

Indian Medical Association data till April 29 showed that 927 doctors were infected with Covid-19, of whom 57 died. This data does not include small private hospitals and nursing homes, general physicians and those in the periphery of cities. The extensive work of compiling data with the help of colleagues and medical associations was carried out by Dr Rajeev Jayadevan.

The data showed that young doctors too succumbed to Covid-19. Why they suffered from severe Covid-19 is not clear.

Dr K.K. Aggarwal, past president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), said The high viral load in doctors could lead to clotting of blood which is not understood. After noting the cases of rapid deterioration, oxygen levels are being checked. This is helping identify those who need to be isolated in case the oxygen levels are low.

The highest risk factor has been noted in operation theatres and it requires extensive management in terms of limited healthcare professionals.

Dr Narsinga Reddy, national vice-president of IMA, explained, The mild cases of non-Covid have to be managed online for some more time. The rotational duty system for doctors and healthcare workers is giving them time to rest. This has helped in controlling the numbers. Despite that the infection rate in doctors is a cause of concern.

It has been noted that aerosols in hospital the set-up apart from a suspected and positive Covid-19 patient could also be transmitted from an asymptomatic doctor who is not aware of the condition.
Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government has once again postponed the launch of chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddys dream welfare scheme Pedalandariki Illu (houses for the poor) scheduled for July 8.

The launch had been twice aborted previously and was finally fixed for July 8 to commemorate the birth anniversary of the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, former chief minister and Jagan Mohan Reddy's father. However, it had to be put off again. Sources said the government has not got any relief from the Supreme Court so far on a special leave petition seeking suspension of an interim stay granted by the AP High Court against a Government Order pertaining to the scheme.

The state government issued GO Ms 44 in which it directed the revenue authorities to register conveyance deeds in favour of beneficiaries, thereby ending the previous practice of granting D Pattas. The deed will facilitate sale of property by the beneficiary after five years. The High Court, however, stayed the GO along with another order relating to allotting house sites to the poor in the Amaravati capital region.

Neerab Kumar Prasad, chief commissioner land administration (CCLA), on Monday morning informed district collectors that the SLP may come up in the Supreme Court this week. Stating that the distribution programme was postponed, the CCLA said it would be held soon based on the apex courts orders.

Botsa Satyanarayana, minister for municipal administration, however, announced that the chief minister was determined to provide house sites to the poor and would launch the scheme on August 15 by which time the government was hopeful of clearing the legal hurdles. The government has identified 30 lakh beneficiaries and kept sites ready in about 22,068 acres, he said.

The minister accused the TDP of creating legal hurdles to the welfare scheme just like demons in the Puranas trying to disrupt the homam performed by the rishis.
Jammu: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed the charge-sheet against Jammu and Kashmir police officer Davinder Singh, who was arrested over his alleged links with separatist militants in January this year, and six others, including Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu, a senior commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfit, in a special court in Jammu.

Singh, then posted as Deputy Superintendent of Police at the Anti-Hijacking Squad at the Srinagar International Airport, was arrested along with Naveed Babu and his associate Asif Ahmed Rather by the Jammu and Kashmir police in southern Kulgam district on January 11.

The police officer, who was soon placed under suspension, and the militant duo were travelling in a Hyundai i20 car along the highway connecting J-Ks twin capitals- Srinagar and Jammu- and were reportedly on their way to Chandigarh.

The car was being driven allegedly by Kashmiri lawyer Irfan Shafi Mir. Later, Naveed Babus brother Syed Irfan Ahmed was also taken into custody by the police and both he and Mir were accused of being the Hizbuls Over Ground Workers (OWGs).

Apart from these five persons, Tanveer Ahmad Wani, a local resident enlisted as a trader with now defunct cross-LoC trade, too, has been shown as an accused in the charge-sheet filed under Sections 120B, 121, 121A and 122 of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 17, 18, 18B, 19, 20, 23, 38, 39 and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 25 (1) (a) and 35 of Arms Act and Section 4 and 5 of Explosive Substances Act.

The case was initially investigated by the J-K police which had claimed that Singh had accompanied militants or helped them in relocating to various parts of the country on different occasions in lieu of money and other considerations. The police had claimed one AK-47 rifle, three pistols and a cache of ammunition and explosives were recovered from the car and in subsequent raids at various places in the Valley. However, the Centre later asked the NIA to probe the case.

The NIA which took over the investigation of the case on January 17 said that during the course of investigation it put the four main accused, who were caught by the police while travelling out of the Valley, under sustained interrogation and also conducted searches at fifteen places in the Valley.

Three more persons Irfan Ahmad, Tanveer Ahmad Wani and Tariq Ahmad Mir were arrested subsequently on charges of being part of the conspiracy to extend support to the banned militant organization Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) by way of raising and transferring funds to the HM militants, harbouring them and supplying them arms, ammunition and explosives to carry out subversive activities.

It claimed that the investigation revealed that the accused were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan-based Hizbul and Pakistans state agencies to commit violent acts and to wage war against the Union of India.

The investigation has revealed that Pakistan based leadership of the HM namely Sayed Salahuddin (Chief), 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 Hizbul based in Jammu & Kashmir, the NIA statement said.

It added, The investigation also revealed that accused Irfan Shafi Mir not only met HM leadership in Pakistan but also Umar Cheema, Ahshan Chaudhary, Sohail Abbas and others of Pakistans Inter-Service-Intelligence (ISI) and was tasked to identify and activate the new hawala channels for transfer of money for sustaining militant activities in Kashmir Valley. Investigation also revealed that certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were in constant touch with Mir who was provided with funds to organize seminars in J-K to mobilize the masses against the Government of India.

The NIA further alleged that Mir also received instructions and money from the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and facilitated the visa applications for a number of Kashmiris for their visit to Pakistan.

It said that accused Singh also was in touch with certain officials of Pakistan mission through secure social media platforms. Investigation revealed that he was being groomed by Pakistani officials for obtaining sensitive information, it said.

The charge-sheet said that Naveed Babu, a former constable, had deserted J-K Police force along with certain weapons and was responsible for various killings, including incidents of terror in which labourers and truck drivers were killed after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

Naveed Babu had made efforts to recruit gullible Muslim youths to join as 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 PoK," the charge-sheet read.

It further said that investigation also revealed that the accused were obtaining weapons and ammunition from across the border with the help of arms smugglers and accused police officer Singh. These weapons were later used for terrorist activities, it said.

According to the NIA, it was revealed during the investigation that Singh in order to shield Naveed Babu from the heightened surveillance of security agencies, had in February 2019 together with Mir and Syed Irfan arranged safe shelter for him and his associate in Jammu. Accused Devender Singh used his own vehicle for the movement of Hizbul militants and also assured them help in procuring weapons, the charge-sheet alleged.

The NIA claimed that the investigation in the cases further brought on record that the Pakistani establishment has been devising all possible ways and means to fund, arm and sustain the militant activities of the banned militant organization HM. It added that further investigation into the involvement of Tariq Ahmad Mir and others in the case is underway.
Hyderabad: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Monday said she will be meeting the managements of private hospitals Tuesday morning to "resolve" public grievances such as billing, availability of beds, and COVID-19 testing.

The governor said cordial private-public participation was required for successful eradication of COVID-19.

Soundararajan, who has previously expressed her disappointment with the state government over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, on Monday took to Twitter and interacted with people on the management of the disease in the state. She said she called the chief secretary and the special chief secretary (health) to discuss the COVID-19 situation.

Replying to a suggestion that she issue strict rules for everyone to follow, the governor said she had been continuously on this job at various levels in the past three months.

She said she gave suggestions to the state government, visited NIMS and had discussions with the Health University vice-chancellor and member of the TS COVID-19 team. She said she discussed the situation with superintendents of COVID-dedicated government hospitals recently.

Noted the present situation and working on it, the governor tweeted.

Many who reacted to the governors tweets complained to her about the COVID-19 situation in the Greater Hyderabad area and said the scene in Hyderabad was really bad, that there was a lack of adequate testing and absence of contact tracing by the government, and excessive billing and fleecing of patients by private hospitals.
Around 1,498 fresh Corona positive cases were recorded in Karnataka on Tuesday. Bengaluru contributed 800 positive cases, while the other districts had less than 100 fresh cases. The total virus tally in Karnataka stands at 26,815. On a positive note, there were 571 people who recovered from the disease.

The number of cases indicating community outbreak continues to show its impact in the health bulletin. There were more than 800 cases in which the source of infection is yet to be traced, all strongly indicating community spread, which the government is yet to acknowledge, or pull up its socks and work in that direction.

Also, the health bulletin reveals that the cases of SARI and ILI testing positive for the Coronavirus is also painting a grim picture with more than 100 such cases being recorded on Tuesday. There were more than 30 cases of interstate returnees from Maharashtra testing positive.

There are 15, 297 active cases in Karnataka and 9,395 active cases from Bengaluru. Other districts have less than 700 active cases.

As things are getting out of control, sources claimed that the Yediyurappa led state government will soon come up with strict norms to handle this pandemic.

It should be noted that those who are leaving Bengaluru due to various reasons have been not beenaccepted in their villages and the government might impose a quarantine rule for people from Bengaluru entering different parts of Karnataka.

The government may also ban entry of people from other districts and states to Bengaluru.
Impaired access to medical attention during the coronavirus lockdown worsened the illnesses of many non-corona patients as well. (File Photo: AFP)

Hyderabad: The 80-day coronavirus lockdown has left permanent scars on many families. For many, life has never recovered.

The life of Sarala (name changed), 58, from Piduguralla in Andhra Pradesh, has changed for the worse due to the lack of medical attention in April and May. During this time, her lung infection worsened into a life-threatening condition, which required difficult and expensive treatment. Though she has recovered, her lungs have been damaged and she will have to depend on an oxygen concentrator and BiPAP machine for the rest of her life. A BiPAP or Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure delivers pressurised air through a mask.

Sarala had developed the infection in early April. She had trouble breathing, and was always tired. She would sleep much more than usual. Her daughter Anuradha (name changed) said, There were days when she would sleep for 20 hours in a day.

Saralas family tried consulting with a local doctor in Piduguralla but he was in home quarantine after having recently returned from abroad. A local hospital was sealed off after a COVID-19 case was reported there. For over a month, the family had no doctor or hospital available.

By the end of May, the Andhra Pradesh government eased some restrictions on intra-state movement. The couples son, who lived in Uppal, Hyderabad, tried to get an e-pass to go home. His request was denied by the Telangana police. Some relatives helped Sarala get to Guntur, but hospitals there wouldnt admit her without a COVID-19 test.

On May 27, Sarala underwent a test at the Government General Hospital at Guntur and it retuned negative. The hospital said she would have to give a swab again since the testing machine had malfunctioned. She tested negative a second time on May 30.

By this time, Saralas condition had worsened so much that she started experiencing delirium. Her blood oxygen level, according to the family, was less than 40 mmHg (values under 90 are considered low) and carbon dioxide levels were dangerously high. The family hired an ambulance to Hyderabad. The negative COVID-19 test secured her a bed at a corporate hospital in Secunderabad.

Srikanth (name changed), Saralas son-in-law, said, The doctors told us that we had delayed too long. They told us she had less than a 50 per cent chance of survival. Saralas lung had to be drained of fluid. She was in the ICU for over two weeks.

Saralas husband, while waiting on her at the hospital, suffered a stroke. A surgery was performed on him in the same hospital to place a coronary stent. They were discharged by June 13. The cost of hospitalisation was around Rs 8 lakh, most of it uninsured.

Living with her son in Uppal now, Sarala is forced to use an oxygen concentrator or BiPAP machine at all times, both of which are expensive to rent or buy. Anuradha said, She can take them off for just a couple of hours a day. If she doesnt use them, her oxygen levels fall. She can no longer play with her grandchildren or even walk without getting tired.

Saralas family has no complaints against the hospitals and doctors but they believe that had there been more coordination during the lockdown and less confusion, Sarala might have been in a better shape. Srikanth said, It was a systemic failure. All the organs of the state that were supposed to help us stopped working.
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."
India is not among countries collaborating on research into the airborne transmission of the coronavirus. (AFP)

Hyderabad: Two hundred and thirty-nine scientists from 32 countries have come out in support of research into the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV2, the virus which causes COVID-19. The initiative is meant to persuade the World Health Organisation (WHO) to consider the virus as an airborne vector. Missing from this action are India and its scientists.

That is because research into communicable diseases is poor in India, according to a top virology researcher. If you see 50 research papers in top journals on the topic, you will see about 35 from the USA, about 10 from Europe and the rest from other countries including China, said Dr Syed E Hasnain, former head of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) and currently vice-chancellor of Jamia Hamdard University,.

There has been no research in India into how COVID-19 spreads and there is none that is likely to happen, he told Deccan Chronicle. India is heavily dependent on the rest of the world when it comes to understanding how Covid-19 spreads or how to control the virus.

The initiative for research on the airborne nature of the coronavirus was taken up by Lidia Morawska and Donald K. Milton of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Heath, Queensland University of Technology, Australia, and the University of Maryland School of Public Health, USA.

Among the countries from where scientists put down their names in support of Morawska and Miltons research are Estonia, Lithuania, Madagascar, apart from with academic research giants such as the USA. The other countries include the UK, Australia, Germany, Israel, France, Italy, the Netherlands, China, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Republic of Korea, Portugal, Norway, Taiwan, Lebanon, Poland, Jordan, Finland, New Zealand, Greece, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain and Brazil.

Morawskas research essentially says that it is time to revisit the theory that coronavirus spreads through droplets. The research, first reported by the New York Times, says virus particles can glide across a room for several metres and that it is time for WHO to call it a disease that is more communicable through air than previously believed.

I am not surprised that this could be the case, said Dr Hasnain.

There is so much being learnt about the virus every day and never before have we seen such a breadth of research into a pathogen. What we know tells us it is going to be more dangerous in the days, weeks, and months to come. The WHO will have to take a call on the latest research, he said.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Ohio Catholic priest indicted on charges of juvenile sex trafficking, child porn, exploitation

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Former Ohio Catholic priest Robert McWilliams was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on several charges of child sexual abuse.

McWilliams, 40, a Strongsville priest and former seminarian at St. Helens Catholic Church in Newbury Township, allegedly pretended to be a woman on his social media accounts, including Grinder, to lure male victims into exploitation and has been charged with juvenile sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of children, and transportation of child porn, among other charges, according to a news release from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

"Posing as a female, McWilliams allegedly enticed the minor male victims to send sexually explicit photographs and videos, sometimes threatening to expose embarrassing information McWilliams already knew about the victims if they did not send such images," the news release adds.

"At times, McWilliams is alleged to have threatened to send those photographs to family and friends if the minor male victims did not send additional photographs and videos," the release continues, noting that he followed through with the threats by sending sexually explicit images of his underage male victims to their mothers.

Some of the victims were young boys the priest knew from his work in parishes, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

In addition to those crimes, the "affidavit also alleges that McWilliams was in possession of, received or distributed approximately 1,700 images and videos of child pornography and approximately 150 files of child pornography in a Dropbox cloud storage account."

The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland said in a statement that it was "grateful to those in law enforcement who have worked diligently to investigate this matter."

"As the criminal case against McWilliams proceeds, let us continue to pray for justice to be served and healing for those who have been harmed by sexual abuse."

McWilliams had been previously arrested in December for allegedly possessing child pornography and the diocese reportedly "immediately" placed him on leave after learning of his arrest.

"Today's indictment reflects the serious and elaborate nature of the acts allegedly taken by the defendant to traffic and exploit local area children," U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said in a statement. "The alleged acts committed in this case are a disturbing and strong reminder for parents to be vigilant about who their children talk to and what they do online."

McWilliams had served at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Pearl Road in Strongsville, Ohio, at the time of his arrest Dec. 5, according to Cleveland.com. He is being held without bond.

"The case unfolded when Geauga County authorities looked into allegations by children who said someone had used extortion to get them to send nude photographs online, court records show," Cleveland.com reports.

"Authorities later linked the messages to McWilliams, and they found that he was the person seeking the photos, as he had worked at St. Helens Catholic Church in Newbury Township."
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Author's Note: This is the first of a series of articles on Trump, evangelicals, and the 2020 elections written in conjunction with the release of my new book,Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test?

Things are not looking good right now for President Trump. He is trailing Joe Biden in the polls by double digits. He is losing ground in states he won in 2016. And there are a host of seemingly insurmountable obstacles standing against him. Can he win again in 2020 without divine intervention?

Thinking back to 2016, things also looked dire for Donald Trump, right up to election day. There was no way he was going to win.

In his book, The Case for Trump, history professor Victor David Hanson notes that, Respected polls such as the Princeton Election Consortium on election eve put Trumps chances of victory at 1 percent. In the last twenty-four hours of the campaign, the New York Times, tracking various pollsters models, concluded to its reassured readers that Trumps chances of winning in such surveys were respectively 15 percent, 8 percent, 2 percent, and less than 1 percent.

Do you recall the shock of the newscasters that election night as it became apparent Trump was about to become the next president of the United States? The whole thing seemed so impossible that I actually wrote an article that night titled, Donald Trump, President of the United States by the Sovereign Intervention of God.

I saw no other viable explanation, especially given the fact there had been a number of Christian prophecies over a period of years predicting this very thing.

Of course, that doesnt mean God endorses everything Trump says or does. It simply means that there seemed to be an unusual divine intervention in Trumps election, for better or for worse.

Now, in the summer of 2020, it appears that Trumps reelection might also require divine intervention.

Not only has Trump been attacked incessantly by the leftwing media for the last four years, but some of his stalwart supporters of the past do not seem to be on his side, including the super-influential Drudge Report (see here and here and here.) Ann Coulter has been another defector, while even Fox News has incurred the presidents wrath.

Can Trump still win without all these former allies in his corner?

The president has also been subject to massive criticism for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the death toll now over 130,000 and no end in sight. Not only so, but the previously booming economy, which was Trumps strongest hope for reelection, has been severely undercut by the shutdown.

Another byproduct of the virus is that its much harder for Trump to ignite his base with big rallies in city after city. How can Trump possibly win without these? Its as if his hands are partially tied.

This has also played well into Joe Bidens hands, since Biden has not been exposed to the rigors of a grinding campaign nor has he been tested by live events and debates. Any decline in his cognitive abilities has been relatively hidden from public sight. This, too, works against Trump.

There is even the recent announcement that Kanye West, an influential Trump supporter, will run for president, drawing immediate support from Elon Musk, another major Trump supporter. (Between them, they have more than 65 million Twitter followers.)

If West is serious, this could also draw Black votes away from Trump (although the same could happen with Bidens Black supporters), since he is such an iconic figure.

There are also the frequent Trump failings, including his bizarre statements and needless attacks, causing some of his loyal supporters to shake their heads. And should I mention the many bestselling, anti-Trump books, including the latest bombshell from John Bolton?

All in all, Trump will have to navigate a very difficult path to reelection, and at this moment in time, without divine intervention from the Lord for His sovereign purposes, his chances do not look good.

But what if God does have a special plan? What if this is yet another setup to underscore the impossibility of Trumps presidency by natural means alone?

In my new book Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test?, I devote an entire chapter to the question, Did God uniquely raise up Donald Trump?

In the chapter, I state the case against divine intervention, offering naturalistic explanations or even noting that, according to some, any president is divinely chosen by God. I then lay out the case for divine intervention, explaining the meaning of the King Cyrus parallel, which means something different than many think. (Ill cover the Cyrus question in another article.)

In the end, I believe a good case can be made for sovereign intervention in Trumps 2016 election, as I explain in the book. (Again, this doesnt vindicate everything Trump does; it simply underscores a divine purpose. If anyone can play 4D Chess  or 4,000 D Chess  it is the Lord!)

Some of my Never Trump friends have seriously differed with me, offering other explanations for his victory and saying, Theres no way God specially raised up Trump!

Now, however, they have said, If Trump wins this time around, then you will have my attention.

We shall see!

Again, even if there was or will be unique sovereign intervention on behalf of Trump, some would argue that God did this to judge America rather than bless America. Thats another subject entirely.

This article simply paints a picture of how bleak things look as of early July 2020, with the November elections still four months away.

To repeat: we shall see!
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The news cycle moves quickly its easy to forget. On 25 May, George Floyd - a black man  was surrounded by four white men in police uniforms, all with guns. Three of them stood by while one literally squeezed the life out of him  all the time knowing they were being filmed.

We watched this video  like many others globally - and imagined it was our son, our husband, our brother, our friend. It was traumatic. The familiarity and the horror of these images demanded that we raise our voices and demonstrate our anger and pain.

But that is the US you might think - it is not like that here. There are not so many black people in Northern Ireland, so it is less visible but systemic racism is pervasive. The qualifications of many black nurses working in the NHS are not recognised for further post-graduate study. This is discriminatory and obstructs career development and promotion. While around 40% of nurses and 30% of doctors in the NHS are from ethnic minorities, none are senior managers.

The fact that we dont actually know how many black people there are in NI is a symptom of this institutional blindness. We are so unimportant we arent even counted. We have been calling for ethnic monitoring for years as part of the Racial Equality Strategy but are yet to see concrete action.

On 6 June, we peacefully protested  to show solidarity with George Floyd but also to raise awareness about racism here. Unlike other large public gatherings during the pandemic, all participants wore masks. Hand sanitizer was available and social distancing was enforced. The messaging about the events stressed public health.

But when we arrived at the Guildhall what happened to us? We were intimidated. There were armoured vehicles everywhere. I was surrounded by three white men, all in police uniforms, all with guns. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where the police are routinely armed. It is also the only part of the UK where organizers and participants in BLM rallies have been prosecuted and fined.

We are hurt and disappointed that the PSNI cannot see this. They seem to be sorry that we are upset but incapable of understanding why were upset. In their statement on the protest they describe George Floyds death as avoidable and unnecessary. It was intentional murder.

One week after our events, another protest to protect statues was organized in Belfast. There were no fines and no prosecutions. When we have challenged the PSNI and the Justice Minister on this blatant double standard we have received confused, contradictory, and inaccurate information. Last week there was another prominent large public gathering. The PSNI have said they are reviewing evidence. The policing style at both these events was markedly different  we will raise this with the Equality Commission for possible breach of our human rights.

What made our events distinct? There are no elected black politicians in Northern Ireland. Our community is not represented in power sharing institutions. The PSNI demonstrated that they can show understanding of context and nuance when policing majority groups amid this pandemic. Yet the one visible event organized by black people was criminalized from the outset  with additional enforcement powers added to the Coronavirus Regulations rushed into force at 11pm on 5 June.

The PSNI have said they support our aims  but do they? The protests were about police violence and impunity. Have they thought about the way black people have historically been criminalized; how they are disproportionately stopped and searched; why young black men are perceived as dangerous and young women sexually harassed?

We have made three demands to the PSNI:

- Rescind the fines

- Drop the prosecutions

- Issue a public apology

The PSNI tell us there is nothing they can do. They are hiding behind process arguing that while there is a review by the Police Ombudsman their hands are tied. They want to move forward but after the way we were treated on 6 June there is no trust.

Cressida Dick of the Metropolitan police did not hesitate to apologise for the behaviour of her officers who shared selfies of two murdered black women  if it is as it appears to be  even though there is an ongoing investigation. She apologized because she knew it was wrong and how damaging such behaviour by police officers is to public trust and community safety.

We truly want to work with the police  it is vital we can feel safe, protected, and equal before the law. But we need actions not words. We need the PSNI to demonstrate they can treat us with the same sensitivity and understanding they treat majority communities.
In a statement to the Derry News, chairperson of Derry Trades Union Council Niall McCarroll has criticised the main political parties in Northern Ireland for their non-attendance at Black Lives Matter rallies and for 'serving the interests' of big business.

Mr McCarroll says: "Radical change is possible, we just need to believe that change is possible, believe in ourselves and stop believing that the political classes, the current political system will deliver for all citizens.

"Stormont collapsed in January 2017, remaining closed until January 2020. During this period workers and communities were repeatedly told nothing could be done without ministerial approval. No pay rises, no new projects, no additional funding, nothing could be done.

"How then in June 2020 (even with Stormont open again to business) can we have a change in regulations without ministerial approval, changes which subsequently led to fines being handed out to Black Lives Matter activists.

"These actions provided further enlightenment on the political system at Stormont and our own political classes.

"Amnesty International and the Committee on the Administration of Justice both raised concerns around the implementation of these new enforcement powers.

"Interestingly, none of the main political parties supported (by their non attendance) the BLM rallies in Belfast or Derry. No support, even after the huge effort made by the organisers to inform those attending of social distancing guidelines and other measures being put in place to ensure safety and collective purpose.

"These actions do nothing to garner public support in an already diminished political system, a system which delivers plenty of grind and hardship with pleasures and good times at a premium.

"These same politicians had no problems supporting the New Decade, New Approach Agreement, which overloads in size, details little and strengthens privatised capital.

"It seems our very own political classes are open for business but not open to fighting inequality and racism. The wait goes on to agree a Bill of Rights, here in the North of Ireland, whilst attempts to gentrify the masses continue.

"Just as they would from any other capitalist government, working class communities will gain no tangible benefits from Stormont.

"All politics is class politics, it's just a matter of working out which class the politics is working for.

"Institutionalised politics are as welcome as institutionalised inequality and racism.

"Be under no illusions - Stormont serves the interests of big business, the corporations. To believe that having a seat at this table will make any difference is delusional.

"By joining a trade union and beginning to organise against this system, collectively we can build our own table and we decide who gets a seat and on what terms.

"Workers need to believe that the power for change is in their hands, their labour. An awakened reckoning.

"In Derry we also saw the re-emergence of the self-absorbed group known as Unity of Purpose. This group usually emerges when grandiose events are happening to stand for photos, to attract relevance.

"Unity of Purpose was nowhere to be seen when the Low Pay Commission visited Derry and remain silent on issues like rising pension age, childcare costs and falling household incomes.

"People can decide whose purpose this outfit serves.

"You simply cant take the soup one day and still remain a legitimate participant in any fight against the establishment the next day.

"People are fed up with doublespeak and empty commitments.

"The time has come for communities and workers to take on the ruling classes, our elected representatives need to do the same.

"Drop the fines and persecution of all BLM activists, drop capitalism - rise up through the only mechanism that has ever delivered  people power through radical trade union resistance."
The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Brian Tierney, is inviting registrations for a special reception next month where pupils who finished primary seven in June can celebrate and say goodbye to their former classmates.

With schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, pupils completing their primary school journey this year were unable to properly mark the occasion, and Mayor Tierney said he wanted to give them a platform to do just that.

"Primary school is such an important stage of every child's life and they all deserve an opportunity to look back on that time with the friends they have made along the way before they start a new chapter.

"Unfortunately, it wasn't possible for the 'Class of 2020' leavers across our district to celebrate at the end of the school year, but I am delighted to be hosting this event in August  open to all pupils across the Council area who finished primary seven this year  so that our young people can all come together one last time in a safe way.

"The children have been so brave over the last few months and taken everything in their stride, and I am so looking forward to welcoming them all and hearing everything they loved about their time in primary school. I'm sure there are a few funny stories to be told!"

To register for the event please contact the Mayor's Office on 02871376508 or email mayor@derrystrabane.com before 31st July 2020.

Full details of the event will be provided at a later date.
Sushant Singh Rajputs Dil Bechara Trailer Beats Avengers: Endgame; Gets More Likes In Less Than 24 Hours

One of the most awaited films of the year, Dil Bechara is not only Sanjana Sanghis Bollywood debut but also marks late actor Sushant Singh Rajputs final performance. The exceptionally talented and very natural Sushant left the nation in shock when he breathed his last on 14th June. While heartbroken fans and the film fraternity are still devastated by the loss, we are all eagerly waiting to see the superstar smile and shine on our screens again. The incredible trailer of the coming-of-age romantic drama was shared yesterday and it has successfully managed to win the audiences hearts.

#DilBechara was trending all day yesterday on social media as fans waited for makers to release the trailer. When it was finally out, we couldnt believe our eyes. Sushant and Sanjanas chemistry left us in awe and their powerful performances moved us to tears. Almost every celebrity shared the trailer on their official handles and many requested their fans to watch the film when it releases. Thats not all! Sushants Dil Bechara trailer, which was shared less than 24 hours ago, has garnered over 5.6 million likes so far. It ended up beating Hollywood blockbuster Avengers: Endgame trailer, which was out on 14th March 2019 and has received 2.9 million likes in the past one year.

Directed by Mukesh Chhabra, Dil Bechara is based on John Green's 2012 novel The Fault in Our Stars. The film also features Saif Ali Khan in an important role and was scheduled to hit theatres on 8th May. However, due to the coronavirus lockdown its date got pushed. Makers decided to go ahead with an OTT release and Dil Bechara will now be available for streaming on Disney+Hotstar from 24th July.
Sidharth Shukla Slams News Channels Showcasing Scouts Training In Ladakh, Asks: For TRPs We Can Risk National Security?

The tension between India and China has been a cause of worry for the entire nation. After the Galwan Valley clash where 20 Indian soldiers were martyred the entire nation has been in mourning for the lives lost and all eyes are on the situation at the LAC (Line of Actual Control).

The border clashes have been a subject all prime time news channels as both nations mobilize their troops even as the diplomatic conversation continues. TV actor Sidharth Shukla has now questioned the motivation of news channels that show the training of Indian troops in Ladakh.

The Bigg Boss 13 winner in a tweet asks if TRPs have become more important for the news channels than national security.

Its so unfortunate to see newz channels show the training of Ladakh scouts ...... for trps we can risk national security ?  Sidharth Shukla (@sidharth_shukla) July 7, 2020

Sidharth who has been busy keeping in touch with his fans during the lockdown after his Bigg Boss 13 victory found support in hundreds of fans who replied stating how news has become a business and TRPs are all anyone cares about.

Someone said it.

This is how a idol should be ,Who just don't only care about his career but for him nation comes first and raise his voice whenever anything is going wrong.

U called out news channels and it was the need of the hour.

India media have lost it completely.

Respect  ProFessoR (@ProfessorSays__) July 7, 2020

This is so true and unethical.

The Safety and Security should remain priority irrespective of everything happening around.

Thanks for raising this out Sidharth.

No doubt, your views are reflection of our thoughts.

Proud to be your fan.#SidharthShukla  SIDHARTH SHUKLA FC  (@SidShukla_1) July 7, 2020

Agree nothing is above nation & national security.#SaveJournalism#SidharthShukla  Gaurav Mishra (@Imkgauravmishra) July 7, 2020

Among other celebs you are the first one to put across your opinion on this !!



It takes courage to call spade a spade



Admire this thing about you that you never hesitate to speak the truth, state blunt facts regardless of any situations !!#SidharthShukla  Naqiya  (@SidxNaqiya) July 7, 2020

The TV actor was also hailed for voicing his opinion against such a practice.

On the work front, Sidharth is yet to confirm his next venture. He was last seen in the music video Bhula Donga opposite Shehnaaz Gill who has been linked with him since his Bigg Boss stint and the duo has fanbase on social media that runs into millions.
Sanjay Mishra Starrer Bahut Hua Sammaan To Release Soon On A Leading OTT Platform: Director Ashish Shukla

Director Ashish R. Shukla, whose most talked about web series Undekhi is releasing this month, was also creative head on Dev.D and has directed films like Prague and his upcoming Sanjay Mishra, Ram Kapoor and Raghav Juyal starrer Bahut Hua Sammaan. The Varanasi-set film is produced by Yoodlee films.

On talking about the film, "Bahut hua Sammaan is a satirical comedy about two Mechanical engineering students, played by Raghav Juyal and Abhishek Chauhan, whom you've seen in TVFs series 'Cubicles'. Both are small-time Con Men who decide to Rob a bank as per a masterplan by been-there, know-it-all soul in their college 'Baba' Sanjay Mishra. Both students are all set to get their hands dirty and rich before their paper perfect plan falls spaer, opening a Pandora's box and awakening the beast, played by Ram Kapoor. I hope it'll release on a leading platform as soon as possible. It was supposed to come by summer itself but then the lockdown happened."

On talking about working experience with Sanjay Mishra and Raghav Juyal, "It never felt like just working together, we had immense fun on the sets where we kept playing, experimenting, improvising scenes. Both the actors are masters of their comic timings, that's what the film needed, especially wherever we improvised or created something onset. In-fact the whole ensemble, including Ram Kapoor, Abhishek, Nidhi Singh, Namit Das, Flora, Rohit Chaowdhary, Bhupesh, Sharat, all were chosen for their timings, so that it becomes easy to improvise and play along."
Telekom Srbija reportedly has at least seven competitors in its bid to acquire Kosovar service provider IPKO.

According to TeleGeography, all of the bidders are seeking a 100% stake in IPKO. Last month, Telekom Srbija bid 155 million for the unit, and local outlet Blic reports that the operator is now through to the second round of the tender process. Another local paper, the Kosova Press, alleged that ten offers had been received for IPKO, although it did not provide sources.

Telekom Srbija, which delivers services using MTS branding, has not confirmed the reports but Blic quoted Vladimir Lucic, coordinator of internet and multimedia at the operator, as saying that its bid for IPKO is not political but economic and very important for us in the realisation of our goal to become a telecommunications leader.

In December 2016, the EU orchestrated a deal that granted Telekom Srbija an operating licence in Kosovo, and it launched MTS Kosovo the following year. Its plans for regional expansion have previously been met with resistance; since the Serbian government owns the unit, other countries have been reluctant to allow it access to key infrastructure.

This was demonstrated in 2018 when Telekom Srbija attempted to acquire Telekom Albania. While Albanias government did not own this unit, its security concerns seemingly played a part in the bid ultimately being rejected, and observers have speculated that a similar fate could await Telekom Srbija in Kosovo.

Responding to this, Lucic said: I do not understand those who compare our offer with the offer we made in Albania two years ago. We already operate in Kosovo and Metohija as a fixed and mobile operator, and I dont see why anyone would be against our additional investment, because it is primarily good for users and the economy in this area.
Telia Estonia is planning to build a solar plant to cut costs at one of its data centres.

The Estonian subsidiary of the Nordic telecommunications giant Telia is building the solar power plant to power its data centre in Laagri, Estonia, an undertaking that the company estimates will pay back its investment over the next six to seven years. Laagri is a suburb near the capital city Tallinn.

The construction job was entrusted to local solar projects developer Pro-Solar, which will build the plant next to Telia's data centre in Harju County, northern Estonia. The new solar power plant is expected to be operational by the end of the summer.

The new plant will not cover all of the data centres power consumption needs, but, the project partners say, it will help to reduce electricity costs. It appears that during summer periods, data centres tend to use more electricity on cooling; power coming from the solar park will make up for this.

Of course cost reduction is only part of the story. Given the continuing growth in power consumption by data centres, there is also the challenge of keeping power clean, a challenge this project may help Telia Estonia to meet.
Local press reports indicate that the installation of a new submarine fibre optic cable system from Montserrat to a branching unit between Guadeloupe and Antigua has been successfully completed.

The project aim, for which expressions of interest were first solicited in 2013, was to reinstall a cable lost after volcanic eruptions on the island in 1995.

The cable-laying ship IT Intrepid successfully completed the laying of the cable and integration of the branching unit, which started on 29 June and finished on 2 July. The cable ship returned to Bunkum Bay in Montserrat on 3 July. It then completed the end-to-end testing of the submarine cable system to certify connectivity from the beach manhole to Antigua and Guadeloupe.

Focus will now shift back to the completion of the terrestrial components of the project.

An end-of-August ready for service (RFS) date is predicted for the new Montserrat Submarine Cable System.

As a popular tourist destination, the island hopes that enhanced connectivity will make it better equipped to target digital nomads who can work from anywhere. Indeed, improved connectivity is said to be one of the medium-to-long-term strategies in the countrys 2019-2022 Strategic Plan for Tourism.

The finishing of the project is timely, following on from the lifting of the coronavirus-inspired late-night curfew on 1 July and an end to a number of restrictions on people and businesses, albeit precautionary measures remain in place and Montserrats borders remain closed.
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California has issued a ban on corporate singing. How should churches proceed? Thankfully, there are biblical and historical precedents that help inform Christian leaders.

The Apostle Paul commands every person to be subject to governing authorities (Romans 13:1). What are Christians to do when governing authorities at local, state, and national levels issue conflicting directives and send mixed messages? Such is the predicament of evangelicals in many locations in America today.

In his Letters from the Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that Christians not only have a moral obligation to obey just laws, but an equally compelling obligation to disobey unjust laws.[1] This line of reasoning has deep roots in the Christian tradition. It reflects both Catholic instruction in the Catechism (Article 2, Participation in Social Life), goes back to Augustine (An unjust law is no law at all)[2] and Thomas Aquinas. Protestants agree on the matter of unjust laws. Martin Luther may evidence this best in Temporal Authority when he says that it is no ones duty to do wrong; we must obey God rather than men.[3]

Christian history makes a compelling case for the invalidity and dismissiveness of unjust laws. It was reasonable for Christian churches to stop meeting while medical professionals assessed the threat and learned about the virus. However, as the goals of quarantine evolve from the immediate (flattening the curve) to the indefinite (finding a vaccine) it is no longer reasonable for churches to comply with directives against corporate worship. Such open ended prohibitions against worship are unjust.

The Bible helps Christians to appreciate the invalidity of unjust laws. For example, the Israelites who refused to worship false gods in the book of Daniel are commended for their courageous faith (Hebrews 11:33-34).

Biblical theology as a whole attests that Gods law is above human law. Anglican bishop and philosopher George Berkeley (1685-1753) wrote in his essay A Discourse addressed to Magistrates and Men in Authority that, And it is wise, although at the risk of liberty or life, to obey God rather than man.

Scripture makes it clear that there is a time for Christians to assert their legal rights in obedience to God.

In Acts 16, the Apostle Paul demonstrates a willingness to assert his earthly citizenship in service to the mission of Gods kingdom:

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, Let those men go. 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace. 37 But Paul said to them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out. 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.[4]

Paul models reasonable obedience to earthly authorities (verse 40), a willingness to decry injustice (verse 37), and an ultimate concern for the ongoing work of ministry (verse 40).

Christians today are confronted with a dilemma which Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and King have all addressed in a consistently biblical manner: A government does not have the right to forbid that which Christ has commanded. When human laws conflict divine laws, Christians must be loyal to Christ.

Thankfully, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Freedom of religion is the first freedom, upon which the logic and proper functions of a well ordered society may be established and thrive.

The Christian religion prohibits Christians from neglecting to meet together (i.e. , meaning to physically gather, as in 2 Thessalonians 2:1) in obedience to Christ (Hebrews 10:25) and God commands us to sing (Colossians 3:16). Gathered worship on Sunday for both preaching and singing is essential to the faithful practice and public witness of the Christian faith.

It is a hill on which to die.

Overwhelmingly, Christians have (wisely) demonstrated deference to governing authorities during the COVID-19 crisis as well as care for congregants and neighborly love for their communities at large. We have no doubt that churches will employ wisdom in following general guidelines on social distancing and other reasonable accommodations as they re-gather for worship. That said, the constitution affords citizens freedom of religion, and the President has now encouraged churches to meet.

Obedience to Christ is always the churchs best witness and surest indication of genuine neighborly love. Sacrificing obedience for the sake of witness is compromise masquerading as piety.

Based upon the clear teaching of Scripture, the theological foundation of the primacy of divine law over unjust (and conflicting) human laws, and the witness of Christians down through the ages, we can say with both humility and confidence that now is the time for churches to gather and worship as God has commanded.

[1] James Gilman, Fidelity of Heart: An Ethic of Christian Virtue (Oxford University Press), 75.

[2] Augustine of Hippo, On Free Choice of the Will, Book 1, section 5.

[3] Martin Luther, Temporal Authority in Luthers Works, 45:125

[4]Acts 16:35-40 (ESV)
According to TeleGeography's CommsUpdate and local news reports, two of Saudi Arabias leading mobile operators are hoping to establish a joint tower company.

Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily) to form a joint committee.

According to filings by the two companies, the committee will be tasked with preparing a request for proposal (RFP) to buy the telecommunications towers owned by the two companies and merge them into one company with other investors, or operate them on their behalf.

The offer of RFP is to be completed within 30 days from the MoU signing date, which was 2 July. Even if an agreement is reached it will still be subject to regulatory approvals and conditions as well as internal approvals from both parties.

The reason given for the collaboration is said to be to achieve maximum efficiency while improving the communication and information technology system. However, while it is not explicitly stated in any of the reports, the prospect of two more operators joining the drive towards infrastructure sharing seems likely as 5G costs in particular drive a rethink of existing business models.

Last month for example, the Philippines Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) overhauled the countrys rules on tower sharing in a bid to improve coverage. The Indian regulator TRAI has called for tower firms to share active infrastructure such as RANs in order to reduce expenditure.

Meanwhile, in late 2019, Malaysian operators Celcom Axiata and Maxis agreed to share infrastructure. Zimbabwe and China can also be added to a growing list of countries where providers are being incentivised to share infrastructure or have done so where permitted.
TikTok might face stand to lose yet another country after the Indian government banned the app along with 58 other Chinese apps on grounds of engaging in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India. The app was also found to be copying contents of the clipboard which was discovered via the new iOS 14 update on Apple devices.

In March, researchers discovered some troubling vulnerabilities in the TikTok app which includes reading text stored in the clipboard which is used by computers to store data that are copied or cut from things like passwords, emails and others. The claim was later verified by the beta release of iOS 14 which comes with a feature of notifying users every time clipboard content is accessed by an app.

Which is what might have prompted the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to state on national television that the US is certainly looking at banning TikTok. as reported by Reuters. Like in India, theres a growing concern that the app could be used by the Chinese government as a tool of surveillance and propaganda.

TikTok exits Hong Kong after China starts censoring content

And while the US is yet to take a concrete step towards banning the popular short video app, TikTok announced it would be pulling out of Hong Kong, a region thats facing massive uprising against the Beijing government over a controversial national security law that was recently passed. And since the law came into effect, the Beijing government has been censoring anti-China content from social media.

A 116-page government document was released on Monday night in Hong Kong that revealed the censorship plans. This has put pressure on global social networks like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, Google and TikTok to comply with censorship requests. And according to reports by agencies, all of them except TikTok has refused to comply. TikTok chose to exit the market.

TikTok cited in light of recent events as reasons for pulling out of Hong Kong, without going into details. Being based out of Beijing, the app is frequently cited as a surveillance tool of the Chinese government by country leaders, including Donald Trump. And the new clipboardgate is certainly not helping TikToks image right now.

A global backlash against TikTok

TikTok has been trying to position itself as a global app, distanced from the Chinese ownership and origin. It has also denied censoring content for the Chinese government on the platform. But its the companys response to the events in Hong Kong that will be crucial.

Internet companies from China routinely face scrutiny because of the countrys intelligence laws, which vaguely mandates every organisation to comply with Beijings intelligence needs. They simply have no choice but to comply.

Yet, the appeal of the app has made it a global phenomenon. The app has been downloaded more than 2 billion times, commanding more downloads than the social media juggernauts owned by Facebook. Users have been taken in by the simplistic UI, and the ability to make content viral and command a large follower base by posting short, creative videos.

TikTok now has three options ahead of it, in response to the Hong Kong  Complying with Beijings request and censor data, refuse to do so, or just exit voluntarily and avoid controversy.
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Erdogan signals support to turn Hagia Sophia, 6th century seat of Eastern Christianity, back into mosque

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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.
Youve more chances of dating an influencer than jetting off internationally right now.

The only way to escape Australia is via seeking an exemption to bounce on essential and unavoidable personal business, to seek medical treatment, or to leave due to humanitarian or compassionate grounds.

In other words: sipping mojitos while listening to house music in an infinity pool is not a human right.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by MRS SIPPY BALI  POOL CLUB (@mrssippybali) on May 25, 2020 at 7:00pm PDT

However: if you were to fake a family emergency and jump on a Qatar Airways flight out of here (its barely crossed our minds, honest) and get to Qatar, as of Wednesday the 3rd of July, from Doha, you can fly to Bali (and 40 other destinations).

As The Bali Sun reports, Qatar Airways resumed daily flights to Bali from Doha [last] Wednesday.

The daily flights depart from Dohas Hamad International Airport (HIA) at 12:45 a.m. and arrive at Balis Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar at 3:45 p.m. Meanwhile its QR961 flight will take off from Bali at 10 p.m. and land in Doha at 2:35 a.m. the day after.

Qatar Airways has also announced the flights will be on a Boeing 787-8 with space for 22 business class and 232 economy class passengers.

The Doha-based carrier has also revealed plans to increase flights to Jakarta from Doha with 11-weekly services starting on July 7th.

Qatar Airways has shown to be a responsible and reliable airline during this COVID-19 pandemic and we are delighted to resume services to Bali, one of the most visited tourist destinations, along with an increased flight frequency to Jakarta. We would very much like to support the recovery of tourism in Indonesia and look forward to the return of international leisure travel, said Qatar Airways VP for Southeast Asia Jared Lee.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by   | Trv  (@_cocolilie) on Jul 5, 2020 at 9:45am PDT

As DMARGE reported in May, Qatar Airways is taking its role as one of the only carriers to continue significant operations throughout this time seriously. Qatar Airways has introduced full body personal protective equipment (PPE) for its cabin crew, which includes gloves, face masks, safety glasses and protective gowns fitted over their uniforms (in a move reminiscent of Naomie Campbell).

It is also providing complimentary protective kits for all passengers (think: face mask, gloves and hand sanitizer) as well as distributing disposable face shields for adults and children at the check-in counters at Hamad International Airport or at the boarding gates in other destinations.

All that said, before you get your togs out (or before you joing a charity and find a humanitarian reason to leave the country), The Bali Sun reports that although flights have resumed, Bali has not made any announcements on when tourists will be able to visit the island again.

Visa on arrivals were suspended by the Indonesian government when it banned all tourism do to the pandemic.

This clashes somewhat spectacularly with previous announcements, which suggested Indonesian officials were all hands on deck making plans to entice tourists back to the island.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Bali Bible #thebalibible (@thebalibible) on May 28, 2019 at 4:13pm PDT

Heres hoping the situation for Bali  and the world over  takes a turn for the better soon. That cocktail awaits.

Read Next
ArrestsJULY 1

Montreon Terrezes Paige, 29, of Eufaula was arrested and charged with burglary (no force), burglary (forced), larceny/theft of article from auto, auto theft, and unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle.

JULY 3

Carl Marcus Smith, 42, of Clayton was arrested and charged with resisting arrest, carrying brass knuckles/sling shot, and disorderly conduct.

James Todd Mehaffey, 20, of Troy was arrested and charged with driving under the influence (alcohol).

JULY 4

William Kyle Melton, 29, of Panama City Beach, Florida was arrested and charged with public intoxication.

Kenny Johnson, 53, of Eufaula was arrested and charged with domestic violence.

Incident/offense reports

JULY 2

Burglary (forced) third degree and larceny/theft first degree were filed from Hunters Inlet Road. $8,000 in cash and one cash register ($500) were reported stolen.
WICKSBURG - A four-vehicle accident claimed the life of a 15-year-old New Brockton girl Monday afternoon, and left a 17-year-old boy, critically injured. The crash occurred on U.S. 84 at the intersection of Alabama 123, eight miles west of Dothan.

The driver of one vehicle involved in the crash was arrested and charged with DUI.

According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), the 15-year-old was killed when the 2015 Nissan Altima she was a passenger in was struck from behind by a F150 driven by Anthony Miquel Bishop, 55, of Enterprise, around 4 p.m.

ALEA said two additional vehicles were damaged in the crash. Three occupants traveling in the Nissan Altima were transported to Flowers Hospital. One remains in critical condition. Bishop was also transported to the hospital, and was charged with DUI. Additional charges are pending.

No further information is available at the time. Troopers continue to investigate.

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In elementary schools, breakfast will be served in the classrooms; at Dothan Preparatory Academy and Dothan High, breakfast will be a grab-and-go option only.

For lunch, roughly half the student body will be able to eat in the cafeteria to adhere to social distancing recommendations while the other half will be served in the classroom.

At Dothan High, a plan is being developed to create an outdoor seating area for meals. Edwards said she is hoping the area will be ready in time for students return to school. Principal Bill Singleton has been charged with making a rotating schedule to allow groups of students to eat in the designated area at one time.

Contingency plans

While menus will remain basically the same. Edwards said some wet foods like grits or soups will be eliminated from the menu to reduce spills.

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Dothan City Schools has been careful to create a plan to reopen schools with an eye toward flexibility, officials said. Our intent is the reopening of school in a traditional fashion. Naturally, any plan is contingent on the track that the coronavirus takes and also on complying with any executive or statewide orders.
Police arrested a fugitive wanted for carjacking in Newark, New Jersey, during a routine traffic stop in the 1000 block of Lake Street Monday.

Maurice Paul Williams, 38, is charged with using false name to obstruct justice by the Dothan police, and he is awaiting extradition to Newark, New Jersey, on a charge of felony carjacking.

According to police, when officers asked for Williams' name and personal information he gave officers a fake name. Williams later provided his correct name and officers ran his information through a system that revealed his out-of-state charges, prompting officers to apprehand him.

Iit is unclear why Mr. Williams was in the Dothan area, Dothan Police Lt. Scott Owens said. His identification still states he resides in Newark, New Jersey.

Williams is being held without bond.

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Hed drag the woman into another room and rape her repeatedly, sometimes witnessed by her children. He threatened to cut the ears off one little girl if she screamed. Meanwhile, he ransacked the house and helped himself to refrigerator snacks.

In the end, DeAngelo would kill the couple anyway by shooting or bludgeoning them  with a pipe wrench or a sprinkler head or a fireplace log.

Whats so frustrating, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told me, referring to the prosecutors and defendants agreed-upon sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole, is that if anyone is the poster child for the death penalty, its DeAngelo.

Opponents of capital punishment argue that its administered unfairly and sometimes against people who may be innocent. They also point out that people of color, the poor and those with mental illness are disproportionately executed.

But none of that applies to DeAngelo. Theres no question of his guilt, not just because he confessed, but because DNA linked him to the crimes unequivocally. Moreover, hes white, middle class and college educated  a former policeman fired for shoplifting. DeAngelo had plenty of opportunity.

His life was spared not out of mercy, but because of practicalities.
The latest report on tax receipts underscores the importance of our areas diversified economy, showing that despite a COVID 19-related shutdown in the spring, tax receipts took a slight dip before rebounding in June.

In a time of uncertainty, thats refreshing news.

While receipts were down more than $400,000 in May, Junes tax revenue exceeded anticipated intake by more than $600,000, more than covering the previous shortfall.

Thats not to suggest that our area has had an easy time of it. Several businesses did not survive the mandated shutdown and subsequent restrictions meant to slow the growth of COVID 19 infection in the area. Neither are we at the end of the challenge; the rate of infection in the area has not waned, and Houston County is considered a high-risk area based on coronavirus-related statistics.

However, this particular benchmark suggests our lot is not as bad as it could be. For that, Dothan residents should be thankful.
Since the moment Georgians exited their polling places on June 9, they have been casting their ballots on one issue.

Who is to blame for the election debacle?

In-person voting was a fiasco. Voters struggled to find relocated polls. Poll workers couldnt get the new voting machines to power up. Technicians were scarce. Provisional ballots werent available.

Then came results reporting. Here in Chatham County, 60% of votes were cast absentee. Thats nearly 31,000 ballots, all of which must be processed and scanned by hand. The process took more than a week.

That meant that when the public visited the election reporting page on Chatham County Board of Elections website the morning of June 10, what they interpreted as definitive results  with all precincts reporting and a percentage counted number above 80% were far from it. Those reports didnt include the absentee ballots, which where the bulk of votes cast.

As a result, those who thought incumbent Chatham County Commissioner Tabitha Odell had finished third in her primary and missed a runoff later learned otherwise. Odell had enough votes in the absentee pile to finish second and earn a runoff spot against Tanya Milton.
NASA scientist detained in Turkey for 4 years returns home

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A NASA scientist who was imprisoned and detained on house arrest for over four years in Turkey has returned to the United States with his family.

Serkan Golge, who was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison on trumped-up terrorism charges in a verdict condemned by the U.S. government, arrived in Washington, D.C., on a commercial flight early Tuesday morning, according to The New York Times.

Golges return comes almost eight months after President Donald Trump announced at a press briefing with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House that Golge had been released and would be home soon. However, Golge remained under judicial control for months thereafter, and his family was barred from leaving Turkey.

The judicial controls were lifted in April, but it wasnt until recently that international flights resumed following the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Golge, a 40-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who served as a contractor on a proposed mission to Mars and lived near Houston, Texas, was among many Americans imprisoned by Turkish authorities that U.S. officials believe were held captive for political reasons in the wake of the 2016 coup attempt against the Erdogan government.

Another one of those hostages, North Carolina missionary Andrew Brunson, spent over two years in a Turkish prison and house arrest on similar charges before his return to the U.S. in 2018. Brunsons imprisonment inspired an international prayer and awareness effort that drew the attention of U.S. evangelicals and Trump.

At the height of the international advocacy effort for Brunson, activists called for Golges case not to be lost in the equation.

The imprisonment of Americans had sewn division between the U.S. and Turkey, NATO allies, leading the Trump administration to place sanctions on Turkey. Last November, after a meeting at the White House, Trump thanked Erdogan for releasing Golge and declared that he would be coming back at some point in the not-too-distant future.

According to an earlier New York Times report, at least 20 U.S. citizens have been imprisoned or prevented from leaving Turkey in the wake of the 2016 coup attempt. Additionally, over 100,000 people have been detained, many on Trumped-up charges of being affiliated with a movement blamed for masterminding the coup attempt.

Golge was arrested in July 2016 while visiting his family in Southern Turkey. Like Brunson, Golge was accused of being involved in the Gulen movement, a movement named after U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Many have surmised that the American prisoners served as a ransom to pressure the U.S. to extradite Gulen.

Although Golge and his family have returned to the U.S., all of whom are U.S. citizens, the NY Times reports that Golges case is still pending a final appeal at Turkeys Supreme Court.

Brunson, who served as a missionary in Turkey for over two decades before his arrest, raised an alarm last year during a hearing before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C., about an increase in deportations of foreign pastors and their families from Turkey. He warned that most pastors being deported in the wake of the coup attempt are leaders in their respective churches.

Bruson explained that with Christians being a small minority in Muslim-majority Turkey, Turkish churches rely on foreign leadership. He said the Turkish government doesn't allow Christians to set up training programs to develop leaders in the country.

Deutsche Welle reported last weekend that Protestant pastors and their families in Turkey are living under increased fear of deportation as some Christians are being deemed threats to national security.

Timur Topuz, the president of the Istanbul Protestant Church Foundation, told the German news outlet that Protestant pastors are facing growing hostility.

"Since the Brunson incident, all Protestant pastors are treated with suspicion," Topuz explained. "Thirty-five pastors of the Turkish-Protestant community are experiencing problems of this kind.

With family members included, Topuz said that as many as 100 members of his Protestant community are facing difficulties with immigration issues like visa renewals. One example, Topuz said, is Pastor Carlos Madrigal from Spain who has led his church for 19 years without any problems getting his residence status renewed until recently.
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Local Senator John McGahon has urged people in County Louth to download the Covid tracking App to help confront the challenge of the coronavirus.

Speaking on the launch of the tracking app, Senator McGahon said: To help the Country through this crisis the Covid response app has three functions, contact tracing, symptom tracking and news and information. In terms of Contact Tracing, the app records if users are in close contact with another app user. If an App user tests positive for Covid-19 the app will alert other app users that have been closer than 2 metres for more than 15 minutes.

In terms of Symptom Tracking, there is a Daily Health check-in were users can help slow the spread of COVID-19 by telling the HSE how they are feeling every day. If users do have symptoms, then the app will give them advice on what to do.

The HSE say the App will also act as a definitive source of news and information, it will provide users with the latest facts and figures about Covid-19 in Ireland and signpost them to information that will help them care for themselves if they are sick.

Senator McGahon added: Within just a few hours of launching, already 100,000 people had downloaded the app, it only takes two minutes and will greatly help the country stay as safe as possible as we face in a potential second wave of the virus."
Perhaps, after everything the country has gone through together, theres a certain feeling of, actually, we are all in this together after all.

By and large, we seem, as a people, to be taking just a moment extra these days to put ourselves in other peoples shoes and consider their situation. Mostly.

Paudie McFadden, general manager at Fitzpatricks Bar and Restaurant in Rockmarshall, which reopened its doors for the first time since March 15 last Monday, has seen it firsthand for himself over the last few days.

Its in the small things, he believes. The things that, when added up, make someones working day that little bit easier during an admittedly very stressful period. Paudie proffers the example of the 105 minute guideline for patrons visiting a pub right now.

Its a delicate one to approach when you think about it in the context of any social setting. Its not as simple as telling someone to get up as soon as 105 minutes has elapsed.

To be honest, I just tell all my staff that we just have to try and use common sense, explains Paudie, speaking to the Democrat this week. If you have a table of six people and theyre just after spending say, for instance, 200-250, youre not going to say after looking at your watch and its 105 minutes gone - right you have to get up. You have to look at the hospitality side of it as well. Customer service is our main thing.

Understanding

But, the customer understanding seems to be there already, Paudie says, with hope.

At the same time, I have to say the majority of our customers understand things before they even go into the place. People are nearly saying to you aw listen, were nearly finished up here and well get up and get out of your hair. In terms of that, it has worked.

As ever though, theres always a few bad apples there, ready to be an exception to the rule. Paudie says its a very small number though.

There has been a small minority, where people are thinking, I dont care, were paying to be here and we want to stay and thats it. It has been very, very small though - two customers between Monday and Friday, Paudie recalls.

A lot of people seem to be very understanding and theyre (guidelines) saying you're only allowed to drink if you get a substantial meal worth 9. A lot of people are understanding of that as well.

Paudie is, it would appear, a born optimist. He was, he says, a mixture of excited and anxious on the morning Fitzpatricks was allowed to reopen last Monday. But it took effort and sweat to even get to that point.

First of all we had to assess the whole place to get a look at how things were. Then we had to look at what sort of numbers we could hold. Then, how we were going to socially distance everybody and then after that we had to start removing tables from the restaurant. We removed close to 25 tables. We have every table in the whole restaurant spaced-out. We have perspex up at reception and all along the bar. We had to remove all our bar stools. We have hand sanitizers at every doorway in the entire building.

Even these measures dont seem to have exhausted Paudies chipper nature. But how was he the morning of the reopening?

On Monday I got up at half seven. Myself and the head chef met up and we went through different things. We were a wee bit anxious, but as it came closer to the time of opening our doors, I was very excited. To get the doors open, to get people back working and the place back turning a few quid. We have a massive local hub out here who would have celebrated Communions, Confirmations, birthdays, the day after wedding parties, it was great to see those faces back in the door as well.

That community feeling cannot be underestimated, Paudie adds. Pubs and restaurants such as Fitzpatricks mean a lot to the people of the area.

There was a couple that were in with us, Paudie begins, by way of an example to highlight this. They rang me. They didnt go through the website. They rang me two days after we announced we were reopening and they said Paudie, were going to get down Monday evening if possible, or Tuesday evening and we were chatting away and she said they loved the place and she was telling me this is where they had met and they had the day after their wedding here too. They had their kids Christening here too and Communions here. Its great to hear stories like that.

While welcoming the local community back is great, an ability to pay the overheads is what will keep the lights on. Its no mean feat right now. But Paudie says its working so far.

We had a bistro menu that was so big and at the minute, just for the next couple of weeks until things pick up a bit more, were looking at a reduced menu and that will save costs straight away.

He continues: Were also running a reduced drinks menu, whereas before we had so many options on draft - we had 13 options on draft - and I cut it down to seven so we dont have stock lying in fridges.

March 15th was a tough day for everyone at Fitzpatricks. Paudie remembers calling all the staff together when the doors closed.

I called them all in and I said that obviously with the current situation going on weve no choice but to close and every member of staff was very understanding. Even before the Government announced a payment scheme, everyone of them said they understood.

At the start of it everyone thought it was just going to be for two weeks, but obviously it ended up a lot longer than that. Even the customers were understanding. Everyone was messaging us saying they cant wait to see you open again and well come back and give you business.

As the weeks passed, rumours and fear crept in. The idea of perhaps never being able to reopen did creep into his head, Paudie reflects.

There was that much uncertainty and there were that many stories going round. There were people saying that whenever you reopen, youre only going to be able to have half of what you had before. There were people saying youll only be allowed three people in the kitchen and all that and I was saying to myself, is it sustainable for us to go on the way they were going? But then guidelines came in, which thankfully worked out for us.

While large corporations usually come in for bad press when it comes to dealing with small businesses, the likes of Diageo and Heineken, and even Coca Cola showed understanding and support, Paudie adds.

Within two weeks of closing, Diageo contacted to see what was the story with the kegs and they came and took all the kegs away and credited us back whatever the value of the kegs was there, even kegs that were half used.

Coca Cola said theres a bit of a balance there, but dont worry, itll be the end of July before you have to worry about anything.

But, even local suppliers showed empathy and did what they could.

Hugh Murphy of Carnmore Meats got in contact. We were expecting a very busy weekend coming into Paddys weekend, you had the Six Nations and stuff like that there and Paddys Day was falling on a Tuesday, so it was almost a bumper week for everyone. He came back in first thing on Monday morning and took all his meat and credited us back everything and the same with Country Fresh, and everyone else came back and took all their supplies back.

And they were the first ones to come back and say look well come back and supply yous, but theres a bit of leeway there, were not going to come banging on your doors straight away, just get over it. Thats the main thing.

So, how has business been since Monday?

Were just not running at full numbers as we normally would, but as things are going at the minute, were still that busy, we havent laid off one person. Were able to retain everybody. Now, the part-timers mightnt just be able to get as many hours as they were getting, but hopefully with changing regulations we can get them back in and get them a few hours.

Monday through Thursday was very busy, Paudie says and the weekend just gone was looking the same. Whats the next step?

We havent opened our wee bar yet. Were going to hold off for another couple of weeks before we open it. Its like a local bar, in fairness all our locals have been very understanding about everything and now that the restaurant is open thats the first step in getting back to the way it was.

Continuing to help local businesses is something Paudie is now passionate about - hes seen how it helped Fitzpatricks at a difficult moment.

Now, more than any time else, everyone needs to support local shops and local business and especially people will go on holidays in Ireland more often and tour Ireland a bit more and bring in a bit more tourism.
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Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith visits Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage Co., Ltd. in Dien Nam - Dien Ngoc Industrial Park. (Photo: VGP)

During his two-day visit to Vietnam, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith on July 6th visited Dien Nam - Dien Ngoc Industrial Park and Hoi An Ancient Town in the central province of Quang Nam to study Vietnams experience in recovering production, tourism and services after successfully controlling COVID-19.

He said that the visit also aimed to learn about Quang Nam's experience in attracting investment in industrial and service development over the past 20 years.

From one of the poorest provinces in the country with a budget collection of only about VND100 billion, thanks to the determination of generations of leaders for the development of industry, services and tourism exploiting the two world heritage sites, along with the motto of developing coastal localities to get resources to develop mountainous districts, Quang Nam is now a province of relatively comprehensive development, one of the 17 provinces and cities with the largest budget collection to the central budget. Dien Nam - Dien Ngoc Industrial Park, established in 1996, and Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, established in 2003, becoming the most successful industrial parks in Vietnam, are outstanding examples for development.

By inviting big investors and simplifying investment licensing procedures, since the late 1990s, Nam - Dien Ngoc Industrial Park attracted large European and American investors. Currently, it contributes one fifth of the provinces industrial value and 40% of the province's export turnover.

Appreciating Quang Nam provinces remarkable development over the years, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith expressed his wish that after the successful control of COVID-19 in both countries, Vietnamese businesses will increase investment to Laos. Local authorities and the Lao Government are willing to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to invest and do business successfully, he said.

On the same day, Quang Nam provinces leaders and some businesses shared with Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith their experience in COVID-19 prevention, in which they highlighted the Government's consistent policy of "fighting the pandemic like fighting the enemy" and "Willing to sacrifice certain economic benefits in the short term to protect the health and lives of the people". By carrying out measures to deal with businesses tax and loan difficulties as well as social welfare packages, the Vietnamese Government has helped businesses and those who have suffered deeply reduced income to gradually recover production and business.

Since June 1st, all tourist destinations in Hoi An have reopened, attracting an increasing number of domestic visitors. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith emphasized that his visit to Vietnam conveyed a strong message that the two countries have been able to control the COVID-19 pandemic. This is also a message to the world about the two countries moving towards reopening normally after the pandemic.

Earlier, at talks, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith agreed that Vietnam and Laos need to promote goods, services and people-to-people exchanges while considering resumption of travel, especially reopening flight routes between the two countries in the earliest time./.
The imposition of a draconian national security law in Hong Kong this week has given rise to fears over the fate of Christians.

Andrew Boyd, spokesperson for Release International, which supports persecuted Christians worldwide, said he was "deeply concerned" by events unfolding in Hong Kong.

He said the implementation of the new security law raised important questions about the rights of churches in Hong Kong, as he voiced concerns that the situation could quickly mirror mainland China, where Christians are persecuted.

"In China, the Communist Party is demolishing churches, tearing down crosses and imprisoning human rights lawyers who defend religious freedom in the courts," he said.

"The fundamental issue for Christians in China  and in the days to come in Hong Kong  is who governs the church.

"In China, the atheist Communist Party demands total allegiance and exercises complete control over the church.

"Christians in mainland China who assert that most basic of human rights  freedom of worship  are increasingly finding themselves accused of subversion and being a threat to national security.

"The Christians of Hong Kong are now facing the same threat to their religious freedom."

The sweeping new laws are aimed at cracking down on dissent and snuffing out pro-democracy protests that have challenged Beijing's increasing grip of Hong Kong over the last year.

The new laws criminalise secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security, effectively ending the 'One country, two systems' principle on which Hong Kong was handed over to China by the British in 1997.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded by offering up to three million Hong Kong residents the chance to settle in the UK and eventually apply for citizenship.

In the US, Congress on Thursday backed sanctions on banks that do business with Chinese officials that violate Hong Kong's autonomy.

Evangelist and commentator David Robertson said the Church in the West has a responsibility to defend Christians in Hong Kong.

"When banks supported the apartheid regime in South Africa, churches and other campaigners led a disinvestment campaign. Will the Church now do the same for HSBC and Chartered?" he said.

"The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] hates the Christian church and we can only fear for what the Christians in Hong Kong will face in the coming years.

"I have a number of contacts in Hong Kong as well as some people in my church who have relatives in the city. They are deeply concerned.

"In one sense the situation in Hong Kong is a real test for the Church in the West, as indeed it is for the countries of the West.

"If we only have voices for the politically approved causes of our own culture, but no time for situations in a land far away, how are we reflecting the command of Christ to be salt and light in the whole world? Do we truly care or are we just interested in signalling our virtue in our own culture?"

Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Rev Nick Baines, and the Bishop of Coventry, the Rt Rev Christopher Cocksworth, are among the signatories of a recent letter expressing "grave concern" about the implications of the national security law.

The letter, also signed by Lord Patten, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and hundreds of other parliamentarians and dignitaries around the world, calls for joined up action by the international community to defend Hong Kong's autonomy.

"This is a comprehensive assault on the city's autonomy, rule of law, and fundamental freedoms. The integrity of one-country, two-systems hangs by a thread," it reads.

"It is the genuine grievances of ordinary Hong Kongers that are driving protests. Draconian laws will only escalate the situation further, jeopardising Hong Kong's future as an open Chinese international city.

"If the international community cannot trust Beijing to keep its word when it comes to Hong Kong, people will be reluctant to take its word on other matters.

"Sympathetic governments must unite to say that this flagrant breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration cannot be tolerated."

Reposted with permission from Christian Today
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Two separate teams of academic researchers on Wednesday published papers describing flaws in Intel's Software Guard Extensions (SGX).

SGX, a set of instructions, enhances application security by letting developers partition sensitive information into enclaves -- areas of execution in memory with hardware-assisted enhanced security protection. The aim is to protect application code and data from disclosure or modification.

Attestation services let users verify the identity of an application enclave before launching the application.

The recently uncovered flaws can prevent SGX from achieving its goal, the research teams showed. SGAxe: How SGX Fails in Practice describes compromises to long-term storage. CrossTalk: Speculative Data Leaks Across Cores Are Real describes cross-core attacks that could allow attackers to control data leakage.

Broken Trust, Broken Code

"SGAxe effectively breaks the most appealing feature of SGX, which is the ability on an enclave to prove its trustworthiness over the network," wrote researchers Stephan van Schaik, Andrew Kwong and Daniel Genkin, all of the University of Michigan, and researcher Yuval Yarom of the University of Adelaide.

The researchers attacked SGX architectural enclaves that were provided and signed by Intel, and retrieved the secret attestation key used for cryptographically proving the enclaves are genuine over a network, which let them pass off fake enclaves as genuine.

The CrossTalk researchers found that some instructions read data from a staging buffer shared among all CPU cores involved. They presented the first cross-core attack using transient execution and showed it could be used to attack SGX enclaves running on a completely different core, letting an attacker control leakage using practical performance degradation attacks and discovering enclave private keys.

"We have demonstrated that this is a realistic attack," wrote Hany Ragab, Alyssa Milburn, Herbert Bos and Cristiano Giuffrida of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in The Netherlands and Kaveh Razavi of ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

"We have also seen that, yet again, it is almost trivial to apply these attacks to break code running in Intel's secure SGX enclaves," they added.

The researchers built a profiler, dubbed "CrossTalk," using performance counters, to examine the number and nature of complex microcoded instructions that perform offcore requests. When combined with transient execution vulnerabilities such as Microarchitectural Data Sampling (MDS), these operations can reveal the internal state of a CPU.

"Even recent Intel CPUs -- including those used by public cloud providers to support SGX enclaves -- are vulnerable to these attacks," the researchers wrote.

Intel CPUs vulnerable to the latest attacks are listed here.

Flawed Design

In both cases, the research teams employed side-channel attacks to exploit the vulnerabilities.

SGX doesn't protect against microarchitectural side-channel attacks because doing so is a matter for the enclave developer, according to Intel.

Four CPU flaws, including Zombieload and Fallout, affected Intel core CPUs last year.

"It's beginning to look like SGX was a flawed design," said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Intel "really needs to rethink its security methods," he told TechNewsWorld. The company "has been putting more resources into security, but the work is not over."

Perhaps security "should be offloaded onto a more secure coprocessor on die that's not in the critical application performance path," Krewell remarked.

On the other hand, an application that uses Intel SGX for added protection "is always more secure than if it doesn't," noted Ambuj Kumar, CEO of Fortanix, the first company to bring an Intel SGX-based workload to production, in 2016.

Hardware-based security is new, and "just as software codes can be buggy, hardware can be buggy too," Kumar told TechNewsWorld "There is such a thing as a hardware zero-day exploit. Our goal should be to accelerate the cycle of finding these vulnerabilities and fixing them."

Further, side-channel "is a general problem that affects both hardware and software systems," he noted. Some can only be mitigated at the application level and others at the CPU level, "so there is not one solution."

Keeping a Tight Lid on Vulnerabilities

SGX is one of a number of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). ARM, AMD and Intel have proposed TEEs, but Intel SGX is currently the leader.

Intel SGX "has gotten its fair share of researchers' attention," which leads to several vulnerabilities having been discovered, Kumar said.

"We should welcome these. It's only when a bug is found that it can be fixed," he noted.

Intel has "been pretty collaborative" in rolling out updates to fix vulnerabilities, and it works tightly with partners such as Fortanix to minimize the probability of attacks, Kumar noted. "We have no reason to believe any of the Intel SGX vulnerabilities ever reported have ever been exploited."

Microsoft Azure, IBM and Alibaba are among the large organizations using Fortanix's Intel SGX-based solutions. IBM has at least 10 corporate customers on its Fortanix-powered IBM Cloud Data Shield depending on SGX for security.

No Harm, No Foul

The SGAxe team notified Intel of its findings in October and Intel indicated it would publish a fix June 9, which it did.

The delay likely was due to testing, Tirias' Krewell suggested. "Every fix could have its own problems and could introduce new vulnerabilities or software incompabiities."

Updated systems from Fortanix and others "are not susceptible to these vulnerabilities," Kumar said.

Microsoft "deployed the security update from Intel to our affected services prior to public disclosure," a spokesperson said in a statement provided to TechNewsWorld by company rep Emily Chounlamany.

"Our cloud customers were not impacted by these vulnerabilities," the spokesperson added.

While CPU manufacturers focus on finding and fixing vulnerabilities, companies like Fortanix "exist to mitigate them," said Kumar. "Standard techniques such as defense in depth can go a long way to provide a more usable and secure system, even in the presence of zero-day vulnerabilities."

On the whole, hardware-based security is preferable to a software-based solution, Kumar observed. "The unfortunate reality of software-only security is that even if your code is bug-free, your data may be stolen because of a vulnerability in someone else's code."

Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard.


One of the things that annoys me most in the whole world is when people spend their lives glued to their phone with no other reason than to scroll (insert social media network here).

You probably know the kind of person Im talking about. Those friends who, when you agree to go somewhere together, hardly ever look up from the phone unless its to order their food or to give a short response to whatever conversation point youve thrown out there.

Those friends who, when you agree to watch a movie, must ask you to rewind or pause and explain something because they just couldnt watch the screen for more than one minute.

If you read between the lines here, youll probably notice I have friends who do this, and I take great umbrage with it. But instead of a few hundred words on how much it annoys me, Id rather share some ideas about the benefits of not doing it. Trust me, I am guilty of doing it too.

We will be more connected

Practicing active engagement will lead to us being closer to our friends. When our friends invite us out, its because they want to spend time with US. They want to have discussions with our thoughts involved, they want to experience new and interesting things with us experiencing the same things right there with them.

I once had a friend who was watching a movie with me, and they barely looked up once. I mentioned it to them, and they asked me why it upset me, to which I replied, because I could replace you with a wall and likely have a better experience.

When someone wants to do things with us, its unequivocally our identity and our company they are seeking, so next time were attending a social gathering, we could try and see how differently it might go if we spend it engaging with the agreed upon activity. Our friends will be happier around us, they will trust us more, and we will feel more whole as a result.

We will be more fulfilled

There have been many studies which discuss the dopamine release and how potent our phones are at activating it. Think about it, Im bored, better just open my phone and scroll until something makes me happy. Yay, Im happy. I like that feeling. Better just scroll until I experience it again. Rinse and repeat.

One might argue that if we feel happy, then were doing it right, but I promise you this is not a fulfilling happiness. Unfortunately, each and every human being alive has other things that must be done not just for the overall betterment of their own lives, but the betterment of the lives around them.

The simple act of making sure youre fed well, or taking some time to exercise in the day, or spending a few minutes socialising, or, this might be hard to believe, but even talking to God, will lead to such a fulfilled day and, if followed regularly, a more fulfilled life.

We will be better people

A friend of mine said something that really stuck with me Our phones can be powerful servants, and wicked masters.

I may have come across through this article as some silly, anti-phone crackpot, but I feel I should iterate that I use my phone (along with plenty of other technology) every day, and I am constantly struggling with catching myself, realising that Im not doing anything but scrolling social media and tricking myself into thinking all is well.

God has simply not created us to do this, though. We are not designed to pursue simple pleasures, but to worship God and pursue relationships. To reflect his Glory and to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. None of these things are achieved when we are enslaved to anything.

I was reading up a bit on Stoicism this week and this passage stood out to me.

It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by deaths final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it Life is long if you know how to use it. - Seneca

It is always an interesting thought to me when I remember literally everyone on the planet has the exact same amount of hours in a day, and that there are people who have achieved great things and people who are yet to realize their goals (Im not in any way suggesting that great things is gaining all the money, just that people have done great things).

When I think of the purpose for which I believe God has made me, and I take a look at all the practices and habits I currently act out, it is easy for me to realise that God hasnt given me some kind of impossible task, but if I leave it to my own devices, its likely that I will fail. But how much sweeter is life when we succeed?


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I'm a member of what is likely a reasonably sizable informal group of people who trained to be a CEO but declined the job -- in my case, several times. So I don't envy the position that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is in as he tries to figure out a way to do the right thing concerning the spread of false information and defend his company against an attack by the designated leader of the free world.

I've been receiving email and social media queries asking me to use my influence to get Jack to do the "right thing." There are two issues with this: 1) I don't know Dorsey personally, and 2) I understand and appreciate that the guy is between a rock and a hard place concerning doing what is right and ensuring the survival of Twitter.

I'll delve into some of the challenges he faces and then close with my product of the week -- AMD and Dell's fascinating joint effort that resulted in one of the best values in gaming notebooks, the Dell G5.

The Duties of a CEO

Most people who never have studied to be or served as a CEO think it is a dream job. You can do what you want, you don't have any bosses to keep happy, and you can just sit around and give orders. I've seen new CEOs try to operate with this theory, and I've never seen that end well.

As the CEO of a public company, you don't have one boss -- you have a lot of them. You report to a board that represents your investors, and on that board are people who hold or control a lot of the firm's stock. These people often don't have the same agendas, but they collectively have the power to fire you.

Also, you have to contend with the actual stockholders. If they don't like you they will sell their stock, driving down the value of the company and prompting those who are on your board to fire you. You have your large customers and pools of smaller customers who control your income, and if enough of them don't like what you are doing, they can stop buying so your firm's revenue dries up -- and yes, once again, you get fired.

You have the SEC. If the commissioners don't like what you say, or they think you are misbehaving, they can have you removed from office and incarcerated. You have your CFO who reports to you and the board. A CFO who doesn't like you can move behind your back to get you removed from office (I'm running out of creative ways to say "fired").

Yes, the job pays well, and those who fail generally get a golden parachute that makes anyone else's severance package look incredibly anemic. Still, once you've served as a CEO, you are usually thought to be overly qualified for any other job, and failed CEOs who then succeed as advisors, board members, or consultants are rare. You are pretty much done, and since most CEOs value status highly, the massive loss of status can be personally catastrophic.

As CEO of a large public firm, thousands are dependent on your doing the job well. If you don't, you could face strikes -- or in extreme situations, attacks. When at NCR, Mark Hurd had his tires slashed. When one of the CEOs I worked for was burned over most of his body in a plane crash, there was speculation that the collision wasn't accidental (though that was never proven).

You are the face of the company, so if people get pissed off at your firm, they may take their anger out on you. Further, given your income, you and your family could be targeted by blackmailers or kidnappers.

Finally, you tend to be a minor celebrity, so if you decide to have dinner with a subordinate, customer or stockholder of the opposite sex, there is a high probability you'll be accused of having an affair. Should you actually have an affair, it may cost you your job and make you unemployable.

Far from enjoying the ultimate freedom, CEOs generally find themselves bound by rules they don't understand full. Their responsibilities may far exceed their capabilities, and they might face internal and external threats that aren't associated with any other job in the private sector. Oh, and I should point out that when done right, the job requires a level of commitment that has a history of destroying families. At the end, CEOs may have a ton of money and a lot of personal regrets.

Twitter Chief Jack Dorsey

Jack Dorsey is CEO of not one company but two. In addition to Twitter, he runs Square, the leading mobile payments company. If you are buying services, you probably are paying for them over Square (it probably should merge with PayPal). Currently, one of the most powerful investors in Twitter is moving to have Dorsey fired, so he is also at personal risk.

With Twitter's ad revenue falling broadly, thanks to the pandemic, the firm is at financial risk. In short, Dorsey isn't Steve Jobs at Apple. (And though it seemed Jobs could do most anything, even he got fired once.)

Dorsey's exposure means he can't afford a war with anyone, let alone the president of the United States, given that Twitter is an unlimited company. In terms of power, even the most powerful company tends to be overmatched when fighting a government. Even Google was forced out of China, and Google is nearly as powerful as a small country. It now is at risk of being broken up by the U.S. or the EU.

So if Twitter goes to war with the U.S. government, it will be overmatched, and Dorsey currently is at risk as to its CEO.

Dorsey could cut President Trump from Twitter, as some have suggested. However, it's likely he wouldn't survive as CEO, and his successor's first act of self-preservation likely would be to reverse that decision -- assuming Twitter survived as a company.

As a result, there is little Dorsey can do that won't result in his termination and the likely reversal of anything he might do that would materially impact the president's ability to post falsehoods on the site.

The Recommended Fix

This problem -- the inability to ensure the validity of content from the very powerful -- is something that surrounds all of the social media players. If it doesn't get addressed, there is a high likelihood that one or more of them will get nationalized, broken up, over-regulated or shut down.

The firms most at risk are Facebook, Google and Twitter. Now I'm an analyst, and my job isn't to complain about things but to analyze the problem and suggest a fix that will stand in the face of the threat.

I think the closest model is Underwriters Laboratories, which is a third-party industry-funded quality assurance organization. The organization is one of the strongest providers of proactive protection against liability for unsafe products.

It isn't perfect, and there have been products that passed UL tests but performed poorly. Still, it has been far more successful over time than internal quality control when it comes to protecting companies from liability. UL does have a positive impact on overall quality.

It is a science-based organization focused on quality, suggesting its mission might be broad enough to assume responsibility for ensuring the quality of social media posts. It would be a considerable stretch, though, and staffing would be more connected with fact-checkers than systematic hardware and software testing. So you might start with them for the general model but then move to create another fact organization mainly focused on the veracity of information.

Funded by social media companies, the organization's goal would be to provide a remedy to the spread of false information and protect the firms supporting it from excessive government interference, liability and extreme penalties.

It would need not only fact-checking elements but defensive litigation elements, so that it could both ensure and protect the decisions it makes concerning content and banning users. Bans could cross all social media platforms. Its efforts could include identity solutions that would monitor behavior to identify banned users who tried to reenter using new IDs.

Instead of going after the social media companies individually, governments would be forced to challenge an organization explicitly designed to weather these kinds of attacks. For example, if the president were banned, he likely would be banned on all major platforms.

His recourse would be to attack the regulatory body that already would be ramped for defense. Further, it would have access to both the major news organizations and social media platforms, along with the courts, for to mount itd defense.

If set up properly, it could call on the resources of the combined social media companies to defend their decision and protect their mission.

This group could be focused on addressing other problems, like illegal or illicit behavior on the platforms, with a high probability of mitigating or preventing that behavior before traditional law enforcement got involved, avoiding damage to the related brand image and significantly reducing harmful behavior.

Wrapping Up

We have a plague of false information, and it costs lives. There is little doubt that once this pandemic settles down, the amount of civil litigation that will result will be unprecedented, and networks that have been promoting false information, as well as the social media networks that have spread it, may face unprecedented liability.

News organizations do have protections that social media companies don't. Still, I doubt they'll hold given the massive number of deaths. At an estimated liability of $10M per case, there aren't a lot of countries -- let alone companies -- that could bear the economic burden. Creating a collective firewall against that eventuality now could reduce liability significantly. More importantly, by ensuring that information provided is accurate, a significant number of lives could be saved.

What I'm suggesting is adoption of the Underwriters Labs model for information accuracy, with enhanced enforcement and the ability to requisition resources from participating companies to form a defense against powerful politicians who compromise the platforms and put them at risk. The organization's mission would include the identification and elimination of illegal activity on the platforms as well.

We refer to the Internet as the Wild West. To address crimes in that era, marshals were established as a locally funded law enforcement agency that reduced the need for government-funded law enforcement.

Jack Dorsey and Twitter can't fight off the president alone, but the technology industry collectively could. It is past time for it to step up to this responsibility, because this pandemic has showcased that the effective use of fake news has put the industry and the nation at mortal risk.

Currently, AMD is unique in the market. Like Qualcomm does for smartphones, AMD provides both high-performance CPU and GPU technology to the platform. As a result, it can create synergy between core elements to provide extra performance. However, this advantage works only if the total solution is implemented. Sadly, that is rarely the case.

I'm into cars, and I just received a reminder of why it is essential to have a single entity undertake the solution. In my case, instead of using an engine builder to create a high-performance engine, I had my mechanic slap together a bunch of high-performance parts, and the result is that I'm around 125 HP off from where I should have been.

Now, this isn't a typical mistake for me, but it resulted from finding out too late that my existing engine was crap, and I didn't want to toss out the work we'd done and start over, even though in hindsight, that is what should have happened. In my defense, I'd wanted to do that, but my mechanic convinced me it would be a waste of money. I now have a new mechanic.

The Dell G5 15E is one of the rare exceptions in which the performance components were specified mainly by AMD against a Dell requirement. The result is a gaming laptop that performs in line with other gaming laptops, costing half-again as much.

Dell G5 15 Special Edition Gaming Laptop

Should you ever make it back into an office, this laptop looks like a business machine, so it doesn't carry the stigma that bringing a more traditional gaming laptop into the office might create. What also makes this laptop unique is that Frank Azor, known for Dell's highly successful Alienware and XPS efforts, left Dell and joined AMD during the development of this product and formed a powerful bridge between the firms.

I think efforts like this are critical to returning excitement to this segment. Much like the Corvette C8 is making supercars affordable, for example, it will help make PCs exciting again. Oh, and it is a bargain, so it is a natural candidate for my product of the week.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network.

Rob Enderle has been an ECT News Network columnist since 2003. His areas of interest include AI, autonomous driving, drones, personal technology, emerging technology, regulation, litigation, M&E, and technology in politics. He has an MBA in human resources, marketing and computer science. He is also a certified management accountant. Enderle currently is president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, a consultancy that serves the technology industry. He formerly served as a senior research fellow at Giga Information Group and Forrester. Email Rob.




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Being able to pick up the phone and order food -- and not just pizza -- used to be one of the little luxuries of life. These days, as the pandemic ravages the U.S., it's become almost routine.

"Contactless commerce and delivery have skyrocketed over 70 percent," Ray Wang, a principal analyst at Constellation Research, told the E-Commerce Times. "Most consumers are enjoying the convenience of not having to ever walk into a store or pick up a takeout."

Food delivery is a US$120 billion market, Wang said. "The food delivery apps market is worth about $20 billion in 2020."

Uber is looking to food delivery for rescue from falling revenues caused by people staying at home because of the pandemic.

Gross bookings for Uber Rides fell three percent year over year, Uber noted in its Q1 2020 financial report.

In response, it is reducing its customer support and recruiting teams by about 3,700 full-time people. In addition, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will waive his base salary until December 31, 2020.

The company also recently exited eight unprofitable markets for its Uber Eats food delivery service. Nevertheless, belt tightening is not necessarily enough to keep a company afloat. Better business opportunities are a vital part of the equation.

On July 6, Uber announced that it's acquiring on-demand food delivery service PostMates in a $2.65 billion all-stock transaction. Uber will issue about 84 million shares of common stock for 100 percent of Postmates' fully diluted equity.

Gross bookings for Uber Eats grew 54 percent year over year during the first quarter, and Khosrowshahi said the company is focusing additional resources on the service.

"As more people and more restaurants have come to use our services, Q2 bookings on Uber Eats are up more than 100 percent year on year," Khosrowshahi disclosed in the announcement.

Uber's acquisition of Postmates has been approved by both companies' boards of directors and received a commitment of support from stockholders representing a majority of Postmates' outstanding shares.

The deal is expected to close in Q1 2021, subject to the approval of Postmates stockholders, regulatory approval, and other customary closing conditions.

Postmates' Proven Presence

Postmates "has shown particular strength in communities where Uber Eats has not been as strong, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Orange County (Calif.), San Diego, and Phoenix," Canaccord Genuity analysts Maria Ripps and Michael Graham wrote in a note to investors July 7. This foothold comes as a result of Postmates' partnerships with popular local brands.

"Two factors -- population density of its markets and popular restaurants -- have led to an industry-leading three trips per hour for its couriers," Ripps and Graham stated.

The acquisition "is about gaining scale and giving drivers more work and creating more loyalty," Constellation Research's Wang remarked.

Postmates offers pickup and delivery service from more than 600,000 restaurants and retailers, with 41 percent of those exclusive to its platform. It is the market leader in Los Angeles and operates in all 50 states.

Postmates had eight percent of meal delivery sales in the United States, according to Second Measure, a technology company that says it analyzes billions of anonymized purchases.

The market leader is Door Dash, with 44 percent. Uber Eats placed second with just over 23 percent, excluding purchases made with Uber Cash and purchases made by corporate customers. GrubHub was a close third, with just under 23 percent.

The Postmates acquisition will help Uber "gain the number two spot overall in the U.S., and help them gain the number one or number two spot in cities such as Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta," Wang observed.

"Uber Eats will be battling GrubHub to be the number one or two player in each market as they all go after Door Dash," Wang said. "We see continued growth amidst the post-pandemic environment."

Uber said it will keep the consumer-facing Postmates app running separately, supported by a more efficient combined merchant-and-delivery network.

Competing With Lyft

In the long run, the acquisition will be good for Uber because "its goal is to make sure every driver has a passenger or order," Wang said. "The company that can do this the most efficiently, and frequently, wins."

That should help Uber fend off Lyft.

Nearly 75 percent of ride sharing consumers in the United States will use Uber this year, and 54 percent will use Lyft, eMarketer predicts.

However, Lyft will grow its share faster than Uber over the next three years and will account for 59 percent of ride sharing consumers by 2023.

Criticisms and Antitrust Concerns

Uber's acquisition of Postmates is "one failed company buying another," Global Equities Research told clients in a note about the deal. Uber Eats "will never be profitable," the business is not durable, and it will decline steeply as the pandemic fades away.

Concerns have also been voiced that the purchase might breach antitrust laws.

The Open Markets Institute said the major delivery apps' business model relies on monopolization and warned that the acquisition would violate the Clayton Act and result in an oligopoly that controls 99 percent of the market.

In April, three consumers filed a class action lawsuit alleging GrubHub, Door Dash, Postmates and Uber Eats use their dominance in restaurant meal deliveries to impose exorbitant fees that are passed on to consumers.

Antitrust concerns helped scuttle Uber's previous attempt to purchase GrubHub. Opponents included Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and three colleagues, who urged the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation if the companies agreed to merge.

However, opposition to the Uber-Postmates deal may not prevent the inevitable.

"The food delivery space is consolidating," Ray Wang noted. "These are the newest digital giants in the age of duopolies in the post-pandemic model. Less ride hailing, more food delivery."

Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard.


PETER HANCOCK can be reached at phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Charles Mills can be reached at charles.mills@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 217-347-7151 ext. 126.

Charles Mills can be reached at charles.mills@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 217-347-7151 ext. 126.
JERRY NOWICKI can be reached at jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com .

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

JERRY NOWICKI can be reached at jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com .

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
A secret document dating from March 2011 directly implicates Spain's king emeritus Juan Carlos I in the financial structures which allowed him to hide about 65 million euros which he had allegedly received from Saudi Arabia.

Spanish digital newspaper El Confidencial has had access to this document in which the then-king's signature can be seen on the statutes of the Panamanian entity, the Lucum Foundation, which was used to control these huge sums. The document has Juan Carlos I's signature on its three pages and refers to him as the "first beneficiary of the funds."

The son of the emeritus king, that is, current Spanish king Felipe VI, also appears as an involved party, referred to in the statutes document as the "second beneficiary" of the fortune.

Lucum Foundation

The document sighted by the Spanish newspaper explains that the Lucum Foundation was created to act as a proxy for a Switzerland-based account in the Mirabaud bank, numbered 505523. A few weeks after the creation of Lucum, this bank account was used to deposit "a donation of 64,884,405 euros made by the King of Saudi Arabia in favour of the King of Spain."

A lawyer specialising in fund management for large fortunes, Dante Canonica, was the sole person responsible for the administration of the funds and the company until 2011. However, in March of that year a formal document recorded who the true beneficiaries of the company were.

The real beneficiary

El Confidencial explains that the new statutes of March 2011 admitted that the real owner of the foundation and the 65 million euros deposited in Geneva was "His Majesty Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (Juan Carlos Alfonso Victor Maria de Borbon y Borbon), born January 5th, 1938 in Rome, Italy".

This document accredits Juan Carlos, at that time Spanish head of state, with the capacity to "freely dispose of the assets of the foundation without any limitation, throughout his life."

The role of Felipe VI

The Lucum Foundation document also reveals that if Juan Carlos were to die, the funds would then be controlled by the "second beneficiary". The second beneficiary, according to the secret document, is "HRH Prince Felipe de Borbon y Grecia, Prince of Asturias, born on January 30th, 1968 in Madrid."

"From the death of the first beneficiary onwards, the second beneficiary will have the right to dispose of all the assets of the foundation, without any limitation," states the document.

Conditions for accessing the funds

However, if the king emeritus were to die and Felipe VI wanted access to the funds in the foundation, Spain's current monarch would have to meet a number of conditions such as ensuring that the money is used for the maintenance of all members of the Spanish Royal Family, in particular of HM Queen Sofia of Spain, of HRH Infanta Elena of Borbon y Grecia, Duchess of Lugo, and of her children born or yet to be born, of Infanta Cristina of Borbon y Grecia, Duchess of Palma, and of their children born or yet to be born."

That is, the entire royal family and the current and future children of Felipe's sisters all came to be listed as beneficiaries of the Swiss bank account.
Spanish public prosecutors have asked the Supreme Court to declare itself competent to review the granting of work leave to the Catalan political prisoners under article 100.2 of the penitentiary regulations. In a new initiative which could bring the Spanish high court - the court which convicted the pro-independence leaders - into the decisions on the type of prison regime they must follow, the prosecutors submitted to the judges that the type of leave which the nine have had over recent months is a "covert" open prison regime.

In a report, obtained this Tuesday by the daily El Mundo, the prosecutors who made the cases for rebellion and sedition against the Catalan pro-independence leaders - Jaime Moreno, Javier Zaragoza, Consuelo Madrigal and Fidel Cadena - argue that the permission to leave prison granted to the Catalan leaders "is similar to the granting of a covert third level (open) prison regime, since the effects derived from the application of this precept are not different from those that entail the application of the third level".

Asserting the impropriety of the granting of these leave permissions for a series of reasons - "some of them have even expressed their willingness to do it again", says the submission - the prosecutors conclude that there are sufficient reasons to intervene in prison policy directly with the aim of altering the sentences decided in the verdicts and their effective enforcement..

"Unifying doctrine"

As the Supreme Court has made no ruling on this issue up till now, the question of work leave under article 100.2 has been resolved by Spain's provincial courts. However, the prosecutors now call on the Supreme Court to establish a "unifying doctrine" in the face of the wide range of criteria among the penitentiary judges of Catalonia.

The position of the prosecutors acting for the Supreme Court is opposed to that of the prosecutors in Catalonia, which have always directed appeals against the relaxation of the pro-independence leaders' prison regimes to the provincial court. However, in the recent case of an appeal against Carme Forcadell's work leave, a Lleida judge decided that the sentencing court should rule on the matter, and thus sent the case to the Supreme Court for its consideration. The high Spanish court, before ruling, called on the prosecutors to give their opinion, and this is the document which El Mundo has obtained.

This is the first time that prosecutors have directly asked the Supreme Court to assume jurisdiction over the flexibilization of the prison regime for the nine Catalan political prisoners.
Running away isnt the same as being free  Juliana Crain speaking as she flees from the Nazi and Japanese victory in World War 2. It stands as a reminder to us today that we should not be accustomed to the norms of this fallen world.

Events of recent years appear to many as having grown closer to that of fascism and the entrance into a period where yearning grows for an alternate universe where freedom can be found.

The film

The filmic adaptation of The Man in the High Castle (on Amazon Prime) from Phillip K. Dicks 1962 novel has withstood the test of time not only from the geo-political environment from the twentieth to the twenty-first century but is a testament to our humanitys innate metaphysical desires.

Having been enlightened by the alternate reality of a land of the free being the home of the brave, the lead protagonist Juliana Crain, inspired by her sisters sacrifice for the cause of liberty, seeks to revive hope and passion as an escape from the doldrums of living in occupied territories of the former United States of America.

In seeing through the melancholy of whether accepting begrudgingly or not Nazism, anarchy or any other human ideologies, The Man in the High Castle speaks to our deeper consciousness as we all have to face up to the reality of choosing the way we want to live not just in our current world but into eternity.

As part of the Resistance movement, Juliana Crain traverses both current time and alternate spaces. The questions of life and death are all the more pertinent with the existence of oneself in a different world resulting in that realitys history being altered.

She taps into the desire for an ultimate escape or crossover within all of us which can never be crushed no matter the social or political ideologies that attempt to overload us.

Juliana Crain chooses to not let her sisters sacrificial death for the Resistance be in vain. She begins a new chapter in her life not for vengeance but to transfigure into the cause of making a real difference for a better world.

Eventually both Reichsmarschall John Smith and Chief Inspector Takeshi Kido see the need for a way out of the corruption of the human condition.

Both Nazis and Japanese have culpability in the death of Jews, the persecution of African Americans, and discrimination against homosexuals among a host of atrocities led by Reichsmarschall Smith and Inspector Kido.

Reichsmarschall Smith is forced to confront not only his loss of favour with the German Reich but the unravelling of his family after the forced euthanasia of his firstborn son as part of the Nazi eugenics programs.

Having surveilled Juliana Smith, the Reichsmarschall discovers access to the alternate world of an American victory where his son is very much alive and subsequently formulates a plan (which turns fatal for himself) to kidnap his alternate son into the current world to atone for the loss of his child.

Also, towards the end of the show, Inspector Kido reeling in mental anguish from years of brutally executing opponents and their families without trial, seeks to atone for his actions in forfeiting his place to return to the Japanese homeland to his son.

In remaining behind in servitude with the Yakuza which has aligned itself with the Black Communist Rebellion, Kido seeks to atone for his misdeeds by cooperating with the rebuilding of the new world order including a state led by African-Americans on the west coast of America.

Reality

The struggle to find the true meaning and purpose of our existence is the unescapable reality that confronts us all, but it is through our choice to seek the eternal kingdom that is free from the human corruption of this world that our hope is found.

No matter how hard we try to run away from corruption or seek to find or make peace with ourselves and our surrounds using our own human strengths, we will fail as the choice to live our lives our own way without Jesus Christ leads to nothing but death and eternal destruction.

No matter the riches, power, ability to see into other worlds or their lack of that we possess in this world, all is meaningless without true salvation which is found in no one else but Jesus Christ.

No matter how hard we try to atone for our sins, there is nothing that we can humanly do to cross over from our wrath of death into life in a new world unless we have accepted the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is best put in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 5 when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.

Reading this verse in its context, the writer reminds us of the importance to hold fast to Gods teachings from a young age instead of living as a rebellious teenager by doing anything and everything possible under the sun.

And in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 8, we learn that everything that we can achieve, acquire, or reckon with our minds is Meaningless, Meaningless, hence every character in The Man in the High Castle has misplaced their hope of salvation and redemption.

Even though Reichsmarschall Smith may be able to find a better world with his son, Inspector Kido having the chance to rebuild a country, and even Juliana Crain taking on the risky task of spreading anti-fascist films to spur hope for renewal, none will be saved without Jesus Christ.

Juliana Crain may have found the maker of the anti-fascist films as The Man in the High Castle but her adventures should ultimately be a reminder for us not to forsake the metaphysical realities and the finite question of how do we want to live our life for the eternal future.

The real Man in the High Castle is not an American film maker but our Father in heaven with the risen Jesus at His side.
Passed away Saturday, June 20, at Athens-Limestone Hospital. Visitation will be from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 22, with a chapel service to follow at McConnell Funeral Home. Burial will be in Roselawn Cemetery.
About ten years after starting its high speed internet quest, Google Fiber is expanding again. Availability in the city of West Des Moines, IA adds its first new market in four years. It will be a tenant, leasing space in an open conduit network that the city is building, with plans to offer service throughout the entire network. A blog post by director of corporate development David Finn noted some mistakes made in the projects history, but reaffirmed a commitment to increasing broadband access.

Since Google Fiber first launched, gigabit internet speeds (at least down) have become available in more places from more providers, but theres still many underserved areas of the country, or places that could use some competition. Initial hopes that Google would be the one to push giants like Comcast and Verizon (the owner of Engadgets parent company) may have been too ambitious, but theyre apparently not done yet.

Residents can sign up for updates on availability via the Google Fiber website here.
The services celebrating and honoring the life of Loretta Ball, 91, of Enid are pending under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home. Condolences and special memories may be shared with the family online at WWW.Brown-Cummings.com.
2020-07-07

Maeci

Leggere attraverso limmagine. A tribute to Gianni Rodari is the new project of the Italian Cultural Institute of Copenhagen, realized together with the A Library. Baldini di Santarcangelo di Romagna, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous Italian writer and pedagogist. It is a virtual exhibition of illustrations inspired by one of his fairy tales, La pianta Paolino, taken from the collection Fiabe lunghe un sorriso, published posthumously in 1987.

The initiative consists of 15 appointments, from 30 June to 18 August. Every Tuesday and Thursday on the Institute's Facebook and Instagram channels, a new illustrated table will be published, for a total of 15 illustrations aimed at three age groups. Three Italian artists will be involved; Maria Gabriella Gasparri will address children aged 4-6 years, Manuela Mapelli will address children aged 7-10 years, and finally, Barbara Savini will address readers aged 10-12 years. In addition to some passages from the fairy tale and the description of the style of the three artists, illustrations will also be accompanied by a Rodari method presentation.

Rodari, born in Omegna in 1920, was one of the most famous and prestigious Italian pedagogues and writers of children's literature. His fairy tales have been translated into many languages, including Danish, Russian, English, Spanish and German. Among the best known are Le Avventure di Cipollino (1951), Fiabe lunghe un sorriso (1949-1969), Favole al telefono (1962). Rodari was also the only Italian author to have received the prestigious international Hans Christian Andersen Prize (1970), considered the Nobel prize for children's literature.

Rodari's pedagogical method has proved to be useful as well as innovative. It aims to bring up free children by stimulating their critical sense. It is a method that has at its core the element of fantasy, understood as a means of research and personal knowledge. Rodari's literature relates objects and aspects of reality that, in common logic, apparently have no connection. By listening to or reading these fairy tales, the child can expand his or her imagination, having fun. Moreover, Rodari's fairy tales contain an innovative aspect that concerns attention to social issues in the choice of characters, often taken from everyday life. Rodari's literature always aims to raise children according to the logic of inclusiveness and peace, values that are more relevant today than ever.
WASHINGTON--Extreme ocean surface waves with a devastating impact on coastal communities and infrastructure in the Arctic may become larger due to climate change, according to a new study.

The new research projects the annual maximum wave height will get up to two to three times higher than it is now along coastlines in areas of the Arctic such as along the Beaufort Sea. The new study in AGU's Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans suggests waves could get up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) higher than current wave heights by the end of the century.

In addition, extreme wave events that used to occur once every 20 years might increase to occur once every two to five years on average, according to the study. In other words, the frequency of such extreme coastal flooding might increase by a factor of 4 to 10 by the end of this century.

"It increases the risk of flooding and erosion. It increases drastically almost everywhere," said Merce Casas-Prat, a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) Climate Research Division and the lead author of the new study. "This can have a direct impact to the communities that live close to the shoreline."

Climate change in the Arctic

Earth's northernmost regions are a global warming hotspot, with some areas experiencing up to three times the warming of the rest of the world, Casas-Prat said. But researchers lack information on how the impacts may play out.

Casas-Prat and her co-author Xiaolan Wang, also with the ECCC, wanted to examine how global warming might impact extreme ocean surface waves in the Arctic. Casas-Prat said some northern communities are already reporting accelerated erosion in some areas and increased building damage due to extreme waves. A worsening of these ocean conditions will have a direct impact on coastal communities, energy infrastructure, shipping, and even ecosystems and wildlife.

Much of the Arctic is frozen for most of the year, but the warming climate is contributing to increasing periods of open water, which can become an issue when extreme waves are factored into the equation.

In the new study, the scientists gathered five sets of multi-model simulations of oceanic and atmospheric conditions like surface winds, which generate waves, as well as sea ice for the RCP8.5 scenario, a future scenario commonly used in climate change projections that assumes low efforts to curb emissions. Then they ran simulations of wave conditions for two periods, from 1979 to 2005 (historical), then from 2081 to 2100 (future). Using the ensemble of multi-model simulations, they were able to assess the uncertainty in the changes in the extreme Arctic waves due to the uncertainty present in the five climate models used.

One of their main findings was a projected notable wave height increase between these two periods in almost every place in the Arctic.

Among the hardest-hit areas was in the Greenland Sea, which lies between Greenland and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. The study found maximum annual wave heights there could increase by as much as 6 meters (19.7 feet).

Casas-Prat said the models present a degree of uncertainty about how much waves heights might change, but she is confident there is going to be an increase. The researchers' predictions also showed that by the end of the century, the timing of the highest waves may also change.

"At the end of the century, the maximum will on average come later in the year and also be more extreme," Casas-Prat said.

Impact on communities

Judah Cohen, a climatologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved in Casas-Prat's research, said these waves could be particularly devastating to coastal areas that have never previously experienced open water.

"The main conclusions of the paper are that waves will increase in height in the Arctic region and that Arctic coastlines are at greater risk to erosion and flooding are fairly straightforward," he said. "We are already seeing these increased risks along Arctic coastlines with damage to coastline structures that previously were never damaged."

The researchers examined one area of coastline along the Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska and Canada, which holds a number of communities as well as energy infrastructure, and also found notable wave height increases there.

Since larger waves can lead to increased risks of flooding and damage to coastal infrastructure, communities and development in this area might be affected by these waves. Flooding can also impact the availability of fresh water in some areas, as storm and wave surges can get into freshwater lagoons that communities rely on.

"As more and more ice melts and more of the Arctic ocean surface becomes exposed to the wind, waves will increase in height because wave height is dependent on the distance the wind blows over open waters," Cohen said.

In another recent study published in AGU's journal Geophysical Research Letters, Casas-Prat and Wang examined the contribution of sea ice retreat on the projected increases in extreme wave heights in the Arctic. They found that surface winds alone cannot explain the changes in the regional maximum wave heights.

"Sea ice retreat plays an important role, not just by increasing the distance over which wind can blow and generate waves but also by increasing the chance of strong winds to occur over widening ice-free waters," Casas-Prat said.

Increased waves could also increase the speed of ice breakup. The loss of ice due to waves could affect animals like polar bears which hunt seals on polar ice as well as a number of other creatures that rely on ice. It could also affect shipping routes in the future.

"Waves definitely have to be taken into account as an important factor to ensure those routes are safe," Casas-Prat said.

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This press release and accompanying images are available online at: http://news. agu. org/ press-release/ climate-change-may-cause-extreme-waves-in-arctic/

AGU press contact:

Lauren Lipuma

+1 (202) 777-7396

news@agu.org

Contact information for the researchers:

Merce Casas-Prat, Environment and Climate Change Canada

merce.casasprat@canada.ca

AGU is an international association of more than 60,000 advocates and experts in Earth and space science. Through our initiatives, such as mentoring, professional development and awards, AGU members uphold and foster an inclusive and diverse scientific community. AGU also hosts numerous conferences, including the largest international Earth and space science meeting as well as serving as the leading publisher of the highest quality journals. Fundamental to our mission since our founding in 1919 is to live our values, which we do through our net zero energy building in Washington, D.C. and making the scientific discoveries and research accessible and engaging to all to help protect society and prepare global citizens for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Notes for Journalists

This paper is freely available through August 15. Download a PDF copy of the article here.

Journalists may also request a copy of the final paper by emailing Lauren Lipuma at news@agu.org. Please provide your name, the name of your publication, and your phone number.

Neither the paper nor this press release is under embargo.

Paper title:

"Projections of extreme ocean waves in the Arctic and potential implications for coastal inundation and erosion"

Authors:

Merce Casas-Prat, Xiaolan L. Wang: Climate Research Division, Science and Technology Directorate, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Additional press contacts:

Environment and Climate Change Canada media team

+1 (819) 938-3338

Toll-free: +1 (844) 836-7799

Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET

ec.media.ec@canada.ca
Posted Tuesday, July 7, 2020 11:34 am

Businesses across the state won't be allowed to serve customers who aren't wearing a facial covering starting Tuesday, July 6. Some say it will make it easier to enforce mask policies they already have in place.

"This is not an optional plan for businesses," Gov. Jay Inslee said last week. "This is a legal requirement."

For many businesses across the state it will be business as usual -- with the law behind them.

The vast majority of people who have been shopping at Mecca Mercantile have been wearing masks while in the home decor store on Tacoma's Antique Row.

A few haven't.

"I've been saying up to this point, 'Where's your mask?' " said co-owner Linda Morrison.

"We're responsible for you wearing a mask," Morrison tells customers. "Not just for us, but for our other customers."

She's not worried about push back from shoppers who don't want to wear masks but have no medical reason not to.

"I'll ask them to leave," she said. "If we're ever going to get this thing under control, everyone needs to wear a mask."

People who have a medical condition that makes wearing a mask difficult are exempt. They don't have to specify what that condition is, Inslee said.

Katie Downs restaurant on Tacoma's waterfront has been requiring customers to wear masks since the restaurant reopened for Phase 2 in June. Customers need to wear them while entering or leaving the restaurant and anytime they leave their table, said manager Anna Lyons.

"There's been a little bit of push back," Lyons said. "I think for the most part, people understand that's going to be the expectation."

A sandwich board outside the bar/restaurant informs customers of the policy. Inslee's order makes it easier to enforce, Lyons said.

"It's always easier to refer them to the mandate," Lyons said. "This is what we're expected to do."

Businesses that don't comply with Inslee's order could face measures such as fines and potential closure.

There will be no changes in policy at Scott Funeral Home, said owner Coretta Harwood.

She's been requiring masks and checking for fevers of all people who attend services or conduct business at the home.

She makes no exceptions. Recently, she denied entry to a mourner with a high fever. There was a scene, she said.

The mandatory order decreases the pressure of her enforcement role, she said.

"This is what our state is doing and there is no wiggle room," Harwood said. "Because it's coming from our leadership, it takes the guess work out."
BINGHAMTON, NY -- Students tend to be more engaged in activism if the school that they attend emphasizes social and political issues, according to new research featuring faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

A research team including Binghamton University Assistant Professor of Student Affairs Administration John Zilvinskis examined survey responses to an experimental itemset of the National Survey of Student Engagement measuring behaviors related to student activism. The sample included 3,257 seniors from 22 four-year institutions.

The survey items had respondents measure, "How much does your institution emphasize the following?"

- Discussing social or political issues, causes, campaigns or organizations - Participating in activities focused on social or political issues, causes, campaigns or organizations - Organizing activities focused on social or political issues, causes, campaigns or organizations - Being an informed and active citizen focused on social or political issues, causes, campaigns or organizations

For administrators and educators in higher education, the researchers found that institutions with higher averages of emphasized activism had students who were more likely to participate in these behaviors.

"The higher institutional averages could indicate that a culture of emphasizing activism leads to more student engagement in activism; however, there also may be a self-selection effect in that activists choose to attend institutions that hold these values," said Zilvinskis.

The researchers also found that Black students and queer students were significantly more likely than other respondents to participate in activism.

"Our country has a history of marginalizing people from these groups, so I suspect they are more motivated to engage in activism behaviors to create more equitable experiences," said Zilvinskis. "The disappointing counter-finding is that their straight and White peers are not as engaged in activism."

Zilvinskis is now researching student participation in high-impact practices at community colleges and the engagement of students with disabilities at these institutions.

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The paper, "Measuring Institutional Effects on Student Activism," was published in the Journal of College Student Development.
WACO, Texas (July 7, 2020) - Perceived pregnancy discrimination indirectly relates to increased levels of postpartum depressive symptoms for mothers and lower birth weights, lower gestational ages and increased numbers of doctor visits for babies, according to a management study led by Baylor University.

The study - "Examining the Effects of Perceived Pregnancy Discrimination on Mother and Baby Health" - is published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

"Despite being illegal, pregnancy discrimination still takes place in the workplace," said lead author Kaylee Hackney, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business. "Obviously, this is troublesome. Our research highlights the negative impact that perceived pregnancy discrimination can have on both the mother's and the baby's health."

The researchers surveyed 252 pregnant employees over the course of two studies. They measured perceived pregnancy discrimination, perceived stress, demographics and postpartum depressive symptoms. The second study included the measurements of the babies' health outcomes, including gestational age (number of weeks of pregnancy when the baby was delivered), Apgar score (heart rate, respiration, muscle tone, reflex response and color), birth weight and visits to the doctor.

Sample survey statements and questions used to measure perceived discrimination, perceived stress and postpartum depressive symptoms included: "Prejudice toward pregnant workers exists where I work," "In the last month, how often have you felt nervous or stressed?" and "I am so unhappy that I cry." Mothers also logged their babies' health outcomes.

"I think the biggest surprise from this research is that pregnancy discrimination not only negatively impacted the mother, but also negatively impacted the baby she was carrying while experiencing the discrimination," Hackney said. "This just shows the far-reaching implications of workplace discrimination and highlights the importance of addressing it."

More than 50,000 discrimination claims in a decade

The study noted that over the last decade, more than 50,000 pregnancy discrimination claims were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Fair Employment Practices Agencies in the United States.

Pregnancy discrimination is defined as unfavorable treatment of women at work due to pregnancy, childbirth or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, Hackney said. Pregnant women perceive discrimination when they experience subtly hostile behaviors such as social isolation, negative stereotyping and negative or rude interpersonal treatment.

Examples might include lower performance expectations, transferring the pregnant employee to less-desirable shifts or assignments or inappropriate jokes and intrusive comments.

Practical steps for managers

Given that pregnancy discrimination led to adverse health outcomes through increased stress, the researchers believe managers are in a unique position to provide the support that pregnant employees need to reduce stress.

Some steps managers might take include:

Providing flexible schedules

Keeping information channels open and the employee in the loop, specifically with regards to work-family benefits and expectations leading up to leave/returning from leave

Accommodating prenatal appointments

Helping to plan maternity leave arrangements

Normalizing breastfeeding in the workplace

"Overall, I would suggest that managers 1) strive to create a workplace culture where discrimination does not take place and 2) not make assumptions about what pregnant employees want," Hackney said. "The best approach would be to have an open dialogue with their employees about what types of support are needed and desired."

Healthcare partnerships

In addition, Hackney said the findings suggest that healthcare organizations may find opportunities to provide guidance and outreach to workplaces to help pregnant workers reduce stress via reduced pregnancy discrimination and enhanced work-family support for pregnant women.

Some steps may include training managers to be more family supportive and less biased against expectant mothers, she said.

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ABOUT THE STUDY

"Examining the Effects of Perceived Pregnancy Discrimination on Mother and Baby Health" is published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Authors are Kaylee Hackney, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business; Shanna R. Daniels, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, Florida State University; Samantha Paustian-Underdahl, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, Florida State University; Pamela Perrewe, the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor and Haywood and Betty Taylor Eminent Scholar of Business Administration, Florida State University; Ashley Mandeville, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, Florida Gulf Coast University; and Asia Eaton, Ph.D., associate professor of Psychology, Florida International University.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 18,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

At Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, top-ranked programs combine rigorous classroom learning, hands-on experience in the real world, a solid foundation in Christian values and a global outlook. Making up approximately 25 percent of the University's total enrollment, undergraduate students choose from 16 major areas of study. Graduate students choose from full-time, executive or online MBA or other specialized master's programs, and Ph.D. programs in Information Systems, Entrepreneurship or Health Services Research. The Business School also has campuses located in Austin and Dallas, Texas. Visit baylor.edu/business for more information.
Amid news that the United States has bought up virtually the entire global supply of remdesivir, a new Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study outlines how the drug could save lives in countries with less hospital capacity, such as South Africa, where COVID-19 is beginning to overwhelm intensive care units (ICUs).

Recent research has suggested that remdesivir can reduce deaths from COVID-19 by as much as 30%, but has a more significant effect on how long patients need intensive care, from an average of 15 days down to an average of 11 days.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, estimates that remdesivir's ability to shorten ICU stays could increase the number of patients treated in South Africa's ICUs by more than 50%. This increased capacity could save as many as 6,862 lives per month as the country's cases peak. Add to that the potential lives saved directly from remdesivir treatment, and the drug could prevent the deaths of as many as 13,647 South Africans by December.

"There are many countries with limited ICU capacity that could benefit from this double impact on mortality," says study lead author Dr. Brooke Nichols, assistant professor of global health at BUSPH.

"Why would you use a drug--that has limited availability--to save one life when that same drug could be used to save two lives?"

Nichols says she is worried by the news that the U.S. has bought up the remdesivir supply, especially if the government doesn't even make sure that priority goes to overwhelmed U.S. locations.

"Because more lives can be saved per person treated when using remdesivir in places where ICU resources are breached, using remdesivir when ICU resources are not breached would be a misallocation of scarce resources," she says.

Nichols and study co-authors in Boston and South Africa have been modeling South Africa's COVID epidemic to help the country's government make informed decisions, and previously predicted that the country's ICU capacity could be overwhelmed as early as this month. The hardest-hit province, the Western Cape, exceeded ICU capacity in June.

For the remdesivir study, the researchers used their South African National COVID-19 Epidemiology model to look at the estimated three to six months when severe cases will exceed the country's 3,450 available ICU beds. If every one of South Africa's ICU patients with COVID received remdesivir, reducing the average ICU stay, the researchers estimated that the number of patients treated in ICUs from June to December would increase from between 23,443 and 32,284 patients to between 36,383 and 47,820.

The mortality rate for COVID-19 in ICUs varies from country to country and hospital to hospital, so the number of lives saved from increased ICU capacity would also vary. The researchers modeled several different scenarios, finding increased ICU capacity in South Africa could save 685 lives per month if a patient who needed intensive care was just as likely to die in an ICU than outside of one. At the other extreme, the researchers estimated that the increased ICU capacity from remdesivir could save as many as 6,682 lives per month if almost all patients who required but didn't receive ICU care died, but those who did receive ICU care had a 50-50 change of surviving.

If direct treatment with remdesivir also saved the lives of an additional 30 percent of patients--the current estimate for the drug--then the researchers estimated that remdesivir's "double impact" could save as many as 13,647 lives in South Africa by December.

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About the Boston University School of Public Health

Founded in 1976, the Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top five ranked private schools of public health in the world. It offers master's- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations--especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable--locally and globally.
NEW YORK, July 7, 2020--TARA Biosystems today reported study results demonstrating the ability of TARA's in vitro human cardiac models to reproduce drug responses similar to those observed in humans. Appearing in the Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods, these findings further support the use of TARA's in vitro human cardiac models as a robust, translational platform for the evaluation of new medicines. The study was done in collaboration with Amgen, Inc.

The paper describes a validation study in which TARA's in vitro human cardiac tissues were treated, in a blinded fashion, with eight drugs from several classes of therapeutic agents known to increase the strength of cardiac muscle contraction i.e. inotropes. The results demonstrated that the contractile response of the treated tissues were consistent with the response observed in humans. The diverse mechanisms by which the agents studied improve cardiac contractility, showcase the broad-based applicability of TARA's in vitro human cardiac models for cardiac drug discovery and development.

One of the major challenges of cardiac drug development has been the lack of predictive high throughput models for compound testing. In vivo animal-based disease models often cannot recapitulate the human phenotype due to substantial species differences. Primary cells from patients are also limited, particularly for hard-to-access cells, such as those from human cardiac tissue. And, while induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a promising strategy to address scalability, their utility has been limited by their functional immaturity and coincident lack of response to many drugs in clinical use. TARA's human cardiac tissues, engineered utilizing TARA's Biowire II platform, faithfully exhibit key aspects of human cardiac physiology.

"This study demonstrates the translational utility of TARA's human-based platform in evaluating the safety and efficacy of new therapies early in discovery," said Michael P. Graziano, PhD, chief scientific officer of TARA Biosystems.

Building on the work published today, TARA continues to extend its capabilities across a range of genetic and drug induced disease models and increasing the number of integrated endpoint measurements. More than 30 pharmaceutical and biotech companies are working with TARA to assess cardiac risk and investigate novel cardiac disease models for heart failure drug discovery.

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About TARA Biosystems

Headquartered in New York City, TARA Biosystems harnesses innovations in stem cell biology and tissue engineering to generate in vitro biology that recapitulates human physiology with unprecedented fidelity. Our highly versatile and robust platform captures integrated physiologic endpoints of human cardiac function across a wide repertoire of cardiac disease phenotypes. Our data facilitates decisive evaluation of the efficacy and risk of novel medicines, increasing the probability of success and decreasing long timeframes associated with traditional drug discovery efforts. Safer and more effective new medicines that rapidly make it to market means better health and longer lives, and we believe that benefits people everywhere.
Scientists have filled a gaping hole in the world's climate records by reconstructing 600 years of soil-moisture swings across southern and central South America. Along with documenting the mechanisms behind natural changes, the new South American Drought Atlas reveals that unprecedented widespread, intense droughts and unusually wet periods have been on the rise since the mid-20th century. It suggests that the increased volatility could be due in part to global warming, along with earlier pollution of the atmosphere by ozone-depleting chemicals. The atlas was published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Recent droughts have battered agriculture in wide areas of the continent, trends the study calls "alarming." Lead author Mariano Morales of the Argentine Institute of Snow, Glacier and Environmental Sciences at the National Research Council for Science and Technology, said, "Increasingly extreme hydroclimate events are consistent with the effects of human activities, but the atlas alone does not provide evidence of how much of the observed changes are due to natural climate variability versus human-induced warming." The new long-term record "highlights the acute vulnerability of South America to extreme climate events," he said.

Coauthor Edward Cook, head of the Tree Ring Lab at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said, "We don't want to jump off the cliff and say this is all climate change. There is a lot of natural variability that could mimic human-induced climate change." However, he said, armed with the new 600-year record, scientists are better equipped to sort things out.

The South American Drought Atlas is the latest in a series of drought atlases assembled by Cook and colleagues, covering many centuries of year-by-year climate conditions in North America; Asia; Europe and the Mediterranean; and New Zealand and eastern Australia. Subsequent studies building on the atlases have yielded new insights into how droughts may have adversely affected past civilizations, and the increasingly apparent role of human-induced warming on modern climate. Most recently, followup analyses of North America have suggested that warming is driving what may be the worst-ever known drought in the U.S. West.

The new atlas covers Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, most of Bolivia, and southern Brazil and Peru. It is the result of years of field collections of thousands of tree-ring records, and subsequent analyses by South American researchers, along with colleagues in Europe, Canada, Russia and the United States. Ring widths generally reflect yearly changes in soil moisture, and the researchers showed that collected rings correlate well with droughts and floods recorded starting in the early Spanish colonial period, as well as with modern instrumental measurements. This gave them confidence to extend the soil-moisture reconstruction back before written records.

The authors say that periodic natural shifts in precipitation are driven by complex, interlocking patterns of atmospheric circulation on land and at sea. One key factor: low-level westerly winds that blow moisture onto the continent from the Pacific. These are controlled in part by periodic cyclic changes in sea-surface temperatures over both the Pacific and the Atlantic, which can bring both droughts and wet periods. The authors say greenhouse-gas-driven shifts in these patterns appear linked to a still continuing 10-year drought over central Chile and western Argentina that has caused severe water shortages, along with heavier than normal rains in eastern regions.

Precipitation is also controlled in part by the Southern Annular Mode, a belt of westerly winds that circles Antarctica. This belt periodically contracts southward or expands northward, and when it contracts, it weakens the westerly winds that bring rain to South America. In recent decades, it has been stuck in the south -- largely a result of ozone-depleting chemicals used in 20th-century refrigerants that destroyed atmospheric ozone over Antarctica, scientists believe. The chemicals were banned in the 1980s, but their effects have persisted.

The third major factor is the so-called Hadley cell, a global phenomenon that lofts warm, moist air from near the equator and sends it further north and south, dropping precipitation as it goes. The air settles near the surface at predictable latitudes, by which time the moisture has been largely wrung out; this creates the permanently dry zones of the subtropics, including those in South America. During recent decades, the Hadley cell has expanded towards the poles, likely in response to human-induced climate changes; this has shifted rainfall patterns and broadened the subtropical dry zones, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.

The atlas indicates that there has been a steady increase in the frequency of widespread droughts since 1930, with the highest return times, about 10 years, occurring since the 1960s. Severe water shortages have affected central Chile and western Argentina from 1968-1969, 1976-1977, and 1996-1997. Currently, the drylands of central Chile and western Argentina are locked in one of the most severe decade-long droughts in the record. In some areas, up to two-thirds of some cereal and vegetable crops have been lost in some years. This threatens "the potential collapse of food systems," says Morales.

At the same time, southeastern parts of the continent are seeing heavier than normal rains. Walter Baethgen, who leads Latin American agricultural research for Columbia University's International Research Institute for Climate and Society, says his own studies show that the La Plata basin of Uruguay has seen more frequent extremely wet summers since 1970, with corresponding increases in crop and livestock production. But the frequency of very dry summers has remained the same, which translates to bigger losses of expected yields when they do come along, he said.

"Everything is consistent with the idea that you'll be intensifying both wet and dry events with global warming," said Jason Smerdon, a climate scientist at Lamont-Doherty and a coauthor of the study.

Using newly developed tree-ring records from Peru, Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia, the group is now working to expand the atlas to cover the entire continent, and extend the climate reconstruction back 1,000 years or more, said Morales.

The authors wish to dedicate the study to the memory of the late Maria del Rosario Prieto, their coauthor, and active promoter of environmental history studies in South America.

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The paper, 'Six hundred years of South American tree rings reveal an increase in severe hydroclimatic events since mid-20th century,' can be obtained by contacting pnasnews@nas.edu or 202-334-1310

Scientist contacts:

Mariano Morales: mmorales@mendoza-conicet.gob.ar

Edward Cook: drdendro@ldeo.columbia.edu

Jason Smerdon: jsmerdon@ldeo.columbia.edu

More information: Kevin Krajick, Senior editor, science news, The Earth Institute

kkrajick@ei.columbia.edu 212-854-9729

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is Columbia University's home for Earth science research. Its scientists develop fundamental knowledge about the origin, evolution and future of the natural world, from the planet's deepest interior to the outer reaches of its atmosphere, on every continent and in every ocean, providing a rational basis for the difficult choices facing humanity. http://www. ldeo. columbia. edu | @LamontEarth
Professors Anna Davies from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, Kontantinos Nikolopoulos from the University of Birmingham, UK, and Erik Van Sebille from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands, have been awarded the ERC Public Engagement with Research Awards 2020. This is the first award of its kind, which the European Research Council (ERC) has launched to put the spotlight on how its grantees inspire the public with their research.

On this occasion, Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: "Excellent research demands excellent engagement with the public. This is especially important nowadays when science must often compete with misinformation. We need the strong storytellers and creative communicators out there. I'm glad that many EU-funded researchers have gone the extra mile to communicate their amazing discoveries and interact with the public. I hope more scientist and scholars will be inspired and follow in their footsteps. Congratulations to all the laureates!"

Vice President of the European Research Council, Professor Fabio Zwirner commented: "The ERC trusts researchers to identify the path to scientific breakthroughs. The winners of our Public Engagement with Research Award all show that this bottom-up approach also works for communication. I was impressed by the number and quality of the entries in this new ERC contest. I would like to congratulate the laureates, thank all those who took part in the competition, and encourage all ERC grantees to keep sharing their passion for research."

The purpose of the ERC Public Engagement with Research Award is to recognise ERC grantees who make the effort to engage with audiences beyond the scientific community and do so in effective and original ways. The 2020 Award has three categories: Public Outreach, Press and Media Relations, and Online and Social Media.

The competition opened on 24 September 2019 and closed on 10 January 2020. Contestants submitted 138 entries. The Jury of the Award is composed of renowned researchers, science communicators, science journalists and science policy makers. The winners receive a trophy and a tailored communication training session In addition, the winning entries will be featured prominently on the ERC communication channels, expanding the visibility of the laureates' research. The award competition is envisaged to be held every two years.

MORE ABOUT THE LAUREATES

Category: Online and Social Media

Anna Davies, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

ERC project: SHARECITY

The winner in the online and social media category is Prof. Anna Davies with SHARECITY, an ERC-funded project studying urban food-sharing practices. The project developed a comprehensive online and social media communication and engagement strategy, the central pillar of which is an interactive website, a blog and social media accounts.

As part of their public engagement with research effort, the project engaged with a range of online and social media platforms, networks and initiatives, in order to collaborate, crowdsource experiences and disseminate their findings. This visibly enriched their research and was particularly important when crowdsourcing data for the first publicly accessible and searchable empirical database about food sharing activities within cities.

The Jury commended the high quality of their public engagement with research effort, which was global in scope, supported by a clear strategy, and which animated a real online community. Additionally, what really stood out was the creation of the food-sharing database with public engagement all the way from the design to its implementation.

The aim of the SHARECITY project was identify, document and analyse urban food-sharing practices that harness information and communication technologies (ICT) to administer schemes or raise awareness in local communities. Working collaboratively with others, the project has generated an unprecedented volume of unique data.

Category: Public outreach

Kontantinos Nikolopoulos, University of Birmingham, UK

ERC project: ExclusiveHiggs

The winner in the public outreach category, Kontantinos Nikolopoulos's ERC-funded project ExclusiveHiggs, explored the interface between science and art to inform, educate and inspire the public. This public engagement with research activity included art exhibitions, dance performances and workshops with students.

The scope of the effort was to engage audiences that are traditionally challenging to reach: artists, as well as citizens and students interested in art, but not necessarily in science. Engaging with artists was crucial, as they were the ones producing the means, i.e. the art, to approach the public.

One very distinct feature of the activities was that the artists did not make art 'inspired' by science, but art that communicated scientific concepts. In the process, the artists became the ambassadors of particle physics, which facilitated the engagement of the other two target audiences. The student workshops were also innovative in the sense that the students involved in the workshops first learnt and discussed about particle physics concepts, and subsequently created art that aspired to communicate some of these concepts.

The Jury commended the project for having a real impact on people that are not the regular audience for frontier science. It also praised its innovative methods to communicate about a very abstract topic.

The ExclusiveHiggs project experimentally explores the interactions of elementary matter particles with the Higgs boson at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator.

Category: Press and media relations

Erik Van Sebille, University of Utrecht, Netherlands

ERC project: TOPIOS

The problem of plastic pollution in the oceans has received extensive media attention. However, there are a number of pervading myths, which could lead to ineffective policies. The winner in the press and media category, ERC-funded TOPIOS project led by Erik Van Sebille, has actively engaged with journalists, policymakers and the public to bust some of these myths with the aim of improving the quality of the public discourse on solutions to plastic pollution.

The centrepiece of this public outreach effort was the creation of a website that provides concise answers to the seven common misconceptions about plastic pollution in oceans. To ensure dissemination and wide reach, the project approached a range of international media with a single and clear message: debunking these myths. The effort resulted in impressive media coverage,, including prominent media outlets such as Le Monde, Science and National Geographic. The Jury commended TOPIOS' approach of having a single, clear message, which not only had a considerable impact in the media but also engaged policymakers at the international level.

Marine plastic pollution is a major environmental problem, however, only about 1 % of all plastic that has ever gone into the ocean has been mapped. The other 99% is 'missing'. Having a better understanding of the whereabouts of this missing plastic is important for making effective policies to tackle this problem. The main aim of the TOPIOS project is to create the first three-dimensional map of all the plastic in our oceans.

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About the ERC

The European Research Council, set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premiere European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. Every year, it selects and funds the very best, creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based in Europe. The ERC offers four core grant schemes: Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and Synergy Grants. With its additional Proof of Concept grant scheme, the ERC helps grantees to bridge the gap between their pioneering research and early phases of its commercialisation.

To date, the ERC has funded over 9,000 top researchers at various stages of their careers, and over 50,000 postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and other staff working in their research teams. The ERC strives to attract top researchers from anywhere in the world to come to Europe. Key global research funding bodies, in the United States, China, Japan, Brazil and other countries, have concluded special agreements to provide their researchers with opportunities to temporarily join ERC grantees' teams.

The ERC is led by an independent governing body, the Scientific Council. The overall ERC budget from 2014 to 2020 is more than 13 billion, as part of the Horizon 2020 programme, for which the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel is responsible.
7 July 2020: Fifteen years ago a large population study from Denmark found a significantly increased risk of cerebral palsy in infants born as a result of assisted reproduction.(1) Although the absolute risk was small, such studies at this time made cerebral palsy the greatest developmental birth defect risk associated with IVF, and a concern in its overall safety profile.

Now, another large-scale population study, using data from birth cohorts in Denmark, Finland and Sweden, has found that the risk of cerebral palsy in IVF children has declined by more than 50% over the past two decades, largely, say the researchers, because of the reduction in the rate of twin births in IVF. The results of the study are presented today by Dr Anne Lrke Spangmose from Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital at the online Annual Meeting of ESHRE.

The study included three national IVF birth cohorts, the first born in the years 1990 to 2010 in Denmark, the second from 1990 to 2010 in Finland, and the third from 1990 to 2014 in Sweden, in total 111,844 children. These births were then stratified into six groups: those born 1990-1993, 1994-1998, 1999-2002, 2003-2006, 2007-2010 and 2011-2014. The national health records of these children were followed up until 2014 for Denmark and Finland and until 2018 for Sweden, and compared with the records of almost 5 million naturally conceived children.

The risk of cerebral palsy was still evident in the results of the study, but the overall prevalence was found to decline consistently over the six time-periods - from 12.5 cases per 1000 live born in 1990-1993 to 3.4 per 1000 in 2011-2014. By contrast, throughout the study period the prevalence dropped only slightly in the children conceived naturally - from 4.3 o 2.1 per 1000. However, among the singletons born from IVF, the prevalence of cerebral palsy decreased from 8.5 per 1000 (1990-1993) to the background population rate of 2.8 (2011-2014), but remained stable for IVF twins at 10.9 per 1000.

The results, says Dr Spangmose, provide strong evidence that reducing the number of twins born after IVF treatment has lowered the risk of cerebral palsy in the IVF population - indeed to a level comparable with those naturally conceived. "Multiple embryo transfer is still standard care in many countries," she warns. "Our findings emphasise that single embryo transfer and singleton births should be encouraged worldwide."(2)

She notes that over the past two decades there has been considerable reduction in twin birth rates after IVF treatment, particularly in Europe and especially the Nordic countries, where IVF twin rates have declined from almost 25% in the 1990s to less than 5% today, not much different from the 2% twin rate seen in the background population of naturally conceived pregnancies.

This reduction in the rate of multiple deliveries in IVF has also brought about a reduction in rates of preterm birth (the greatest obstetric risk of multiplicity), which is also known to increases the risk of cerebral palsy. Thus, while the precise cause of cerebral palsy is largely unknown, preterm birth, low birth weight and twin births are known to be major risk factors. The prevalence of cerebral palsy increases exponentially with the number of fetuses in a pregnancy, thought primarily as a result of an increased risk of preterm birth and low birth weight.

Large registry studies have now shown that the risk of cerebral palsy has virtually disappeared in IVF children born in the Nordic countries after a policy of single embryo transfer was introduced in the early 2000s.

The strength of this study, says Dr Spangmose, lies in its large sample size - with almost 112,000 IVF children born over 24 years in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. "The inclusion of complete IVF and naturally conceived birth cohorts makes our data robust," she adds, "and has allowed assessment of the true risk of cerebral palsy in IVF and its decline over time."

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Abstract 0-144, Tuesday 7 July 2020

The risk of cerebral palsy in ART children has more than halved over two decades - a Nordic collaborative study on 55,233 liveborn children

Multiple pregnancy and the safety of IVF

1. See Lidegaard O, Pinborg A, Andersen AN. Imprinting diseases and IVF: Danish National IVF cohort study. Hum Reprod 2005; 20: 950-954. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder affecting movement and coordination. Its cause is not fully understood but is thought a result of abnormal brain development during or soon after birth. Around one in 400 children may be affected. Early studies in IVF - such as cited above - suggested that this risk may be increased by 80%.

2. The surest way to singleton delivery in IVF is by the transfer of a single embryo. In the early days of IVF multiple embryo transfer was favoured to increase the chance of success, but later studies in Belgium and the Nordic countries proved that single embryo transfer did not compromise the chance of delivery and avoided the risks of multiples. Multiple pregnancy is still recognised as the greatest risk of IVF and ICSI, associated with obstetric (such as preterm birth and low birth weight) and neonatal complications. The latest figures from ESHRE on IVF activity in Europe in 2016 show that the rate of twin pregnancy continues to decline in Europe, in 2016 to around 15%. Similarly, the rate of single embryo transfers continues to rise - from 11% in 1997 to above 40% in 2016. Twin rates are much lower in some countries (Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands) and many countries (such as UK) have set targets of around 10%. The latest data from the USA (for 2016) indicates a gradual fall in the rates of multiple pregnancy, but still at a level (about 20%) higher than Europe.

* When obtaining outside comment, journalists are requested to ensure that their contacts are aware of the embargo on this release.

For further information on the details of this press release, contact:

Christine Bauquis at ESHRE

Mobile: +32 (0)499 25 80 46

Email: christine@eshre.eu
DURHAM, N.C. - Researchers from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) announced today that the HPTN 083 clinical trial showed that a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimen containing long-acting cabotegravir (CAB LA) injected once every 8 weeks was superior to daily oral tenofovir/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) for HIV prevention among cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men. The results were reported at the 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020: Virtual). HPTN 083 is a randomized, controlled, double-blind study comparing the safety and efficacy of a regimen including CAB LA to daily TDF/FTC at 43 sites around the world.

An independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) that reviewed interim study data in May 2020 found that the PrEP regimen including CAB LA injected once every 8 weeks safely and effectively prevented HIV acquisition in the study population. Consequently, the DSMB recommended stopping the blinded comparison, offering CAB to all study participants, and disseminating the results. The final analysis of these data demonstrates the superiority of CAB compared to TDF/FTC for PrEP in the HPTN 083 study population.

"The HPTN 083 results demonstrating the superiority of CAB to TDF/FTC have the potential to transform the landscape of HIV prevention for cisgender MSM and transgender women," said HPTN 083 protocol chair Dr. Raphael J. Landovitz. "We know that some people have difficulty with or prefer not to take pills, and an injectable product such as long-acting CAB could be a very important option for them. We want to thank the study participants and research staff, as this study would not have been possible without their dedication and commitment." Dr. Landovitz is a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and co-director of the UCLA Center for Clinical AIDS Research & Education (CARE).

Overall, HPTN 083 enrolled 4,570 cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men at research sites in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, South Africa, Thailand, the U.S., and Vietnam. Two-thirds of study participants were under 30 years of age, and 12% were transgender women. Half of the participants in the United States identified as Black or African American.

A total of 52 HIV infections occurred during follow-up, with 13 infections in the CAB arm (incidence rate 0.41%) and 39 infections in the TDF/FTC arm (incidence rate 1.22%). The hazard ratio in the CAB versus TDF/FTC arms was 0.34 (95% CI 0.18-0.62), corresponding to a 66% reduction in incident HIV infections in study participants given CAB compared to TDF/FTC. These results meet the statistical criteria for superiority of the regimen containing CAB compared to TDF/FTC in the HPTN 083 study population. The consistent adherence to TDF/FTC throughout the study and low incidence rate in both arms of the study clearly demonstrates both agents were effective at preventing HIV acquisition.

"Adding long-acting injectable CAB to the HIV prevention toolbox could go a long to lowering HIV incidence among cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men worldwide and, eventually, toward ending the epidemic," said HPTN 083 protocol co-chair Dr. Beatriz Grinsztejn, director of the Instituto de Pesquisa Clinica Evandro Chagas HIV/AIDS Clinical Research Centre of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation-Fiocruz in Rio de Janeiro.

"It is heartening that HPTN 083 showed that both the regimen containing CAB and oral TDF/FTC demonstrated high efficacy for prevention of HIV acquisition in the study, offering people options that best fit their lifestyle," said Dr. Myron Cohen, HPTN co-principal investigator and director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

An ongoing study, HPTN 084, is comparing the safety and efficacy of CAB LA to oral TDF/FTC for PrEP among cisgender women in sub-Saharan Africa. This study began approximately a year after the launch of HPTN 083 and was also reviewed in May 2020 by the DSMB, which recommended that the study continue as planned.

"We look forward to the results from HPTN 084, a critically important sister study among women at risk for HIV in sub-Saharan Africa," said Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, HPTN co-principal investigator, director of ICAP and professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University in New York. "Offering various HIV prevention options to women is critically important for control of the global HIV epidemic."

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The HPTN 083 study is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and jointly funded by NIAID and ViiV Healthcare. Study product is provided by ViiV Healthcare and Gilead Sciences, Inc.

About HPTN

The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) is a worldwide collaborative clinical trials network that brings together investigators, ethicists, community members and other partners to develop and test the safety and efficacy of interventions designed to prevent the acquisition and transmission of HIV. NIAID, NIMH, Office of The Director, and NIDA, all part of NIH, co-fund the HPTN. The HPTN has collaborated with more than 85 clinical research sites in 19 countries to evaluate new HIV prevention interventions and strategies in populations that bear a disproportionate burden of infection. The HPTN research agenda - more than 50 trials ongoing or completed with over 161,000 participants enrolled and evaluated - is focused primarily on the use of integrated strategies: use of antiretroviral drugs (antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis); interventions for substance abuse, particularly injection drug use; behavioral risk reduction interventions and structural interventions. For more information, visit hptn.org.

Media Contact

Kevin Bokoch

kbokoch@fhi360.org

(440) 376-1901
ATLANTA--Dr. Richard Plemper, Distinguished University Professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, has been awarded a five-year, $3.65 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections.

RSV is highly contagious and is a major cause of infant hospitalization from infectious diseases. RSV is responsible worldwide for more than three million hospitalizations and 60,000 deaths in children under 5 years of age annually. In addition to young children, older adults and patients with preexisting health conditions are at risk of severe RSV pneumonia. No vaccine protection or safe and effective antiviral treatments are available.

"Recognizing the urgent unmet clinical need for efficacious, cost-effective and well-tolerated RSV therapeutics, my lab has launched an anti-RSV drug development program," Plemper said.

In their previous studies, the researchers have discovered two orally efficacious RSV drug candidates that target the viral polymerase, a virus-specific protein complex essential for replication of the viral genome and expression of viral proteins.

"With the support of this award, we can subject the lead inhibitor classes to a preclinical characterization and de-risking program that will identify a therapeutic candidate suitable for clinical trials," Plemper said. "Pursuing chemically different types of inhibitors simultaneously in this project allows us to proactively mitigate the risk of early-stage failure or lay the foundation for future application as companion drugs."

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View an abstract of the grant, R01 AI153400-01, at the NIH's Project ReRORTer website.
Toddlers who were obese or overweight show concerning signs of cardiovascular disease at 11-12 years of age, according to a new study led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI).

The study, published in Pediatrics, found Australian children who were obese or overweight very early in life already show evidence by age 11-12 years of stiffer arteries, thickened arterial lining and are a high risk of later developing metabolic syndrome. This worsened the longer these young children were overweight or obese.

MCRI Professor Melissa Wake said the study highlighted the silent effects of obesity in childhood and the need to intervene early.

"Public health efforts are needed in the very early years to prevent problems with obesity and being overweight, to avoid the risk of adolescent and adult cardiovascular disease," she said.

"Our findings are in line with the World Health Organization's calls for urgent collaborative action to address the matter through systems-based approaches and policy implementation.

"Such policies include increasing taxes on processed foods high in fat and sugar, safer and improved public transport and walking to school pathways and making community-based sporting activities more affordable and accessible."

MCRI Dr Kate Lycett said until now little was known about when and how early life BMI impacted heart health in childhood and most studies have previously just looked at standard risk factors such as blood pressure alone.

"Previous studies have tended to rely on a single BMI measurement in childhood and then examined subsequent heart health outcomes in adulthood," she said.

"This overlooks the considerable BMI changes as part of normal childhood growth."

The study involved 1811 children from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children whose weight and height were measured every two years (age 0-1 to 9-10 years) to determine cardiovascular disease risk scores. At age 11-12, the participants underwent further health checks looking at blood pressure, blood vessel health, cholesterol and glucose levels.

Dr Lycett said the obesity epidemic was a major threat to public health.

"This public health crisis threatens the modest decline in cardiovascular deaths in developed countries, which has largely been achieved through preventive efforts focused on cardiovascular risk factors," she said.

"Policy changes to reign in this epidemic require strong support from the clinical community if they are to be realised."

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Researchers from Deakin University, The Royal Children's Hospital, the University of Melbourne, Turku University Hospital in Finland, University of Turku, Menzies Institute for Medical Research in Hobart, Australian National University, University of South Australia, The University of Sydney, University of Oxford in the UK and Monash University also contributed to the findings.

Publication: Kate Lycett, Markus Juonala, Costan G Magnussen, David Norrish, Fiona K Mensah, Richard Liu, Susan A Clifford, John B Carlin, Tim Olds, Richard Saffery, Jessica A Kerr, Sarath Ranganathan, Louise A Baur, Matthew A Sabin, Michael Cheung, Terence Dwyer, Mengjiao Liu, David Burgner and Melissa Wake. 'Body mass index from early to late childhood and cardiometabolic measurements at 11-12 years,' Pediatrics. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2019-3666

*The content of this communication is the sole responsibility of MCRI and does not reflect the views of the NHMRC.

Available for interview:

Dr Kate Lycett

Professor Melissa Wake

The study was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC; 1041352, 1109355), The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation (2014-241), Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The University of Melbourne, National Heart Foundation of Australia (NHF; 100660), Financial Markets Foundation for Children (2014-055; 2016-310) and Victorian Deaf Education Institute. KL is supported by NHMRC Early Career Fellowship 1091124 and Honorary NHF Postdoctoral Fellowship 101239. MJ is supported by the Federal Research Grant of Finland to Turku University Hospital, Finnish Cardiovascular Foundation, Juho Vainio Foundation, Sigrid Juselius Foundation, Maud Kuistila Foundation, the Paulo Foundation, and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Fellowship). CGM is supported by NHF Australia Future Leader Fellowship (100849). The NHRMC supported FM (Career Development Fellowship 1111160), RL (Postgraduate Scholarship 1114567, DB (Senior Research Fellowship 1064629, also NHF Honorary Future Leader Fellowship 100369), and MW (Principal Research Fellowship 1160906). Research at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute is supported by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Program.
Posted Tuesday, July 7, 2020 11:42 am

BASIN CITY, Wa.  As the Mid-Columbia woke up Friday morning to a new phase in stay-home orders after more than three months, hundreds of people headed to a Basin City park for a two-day rodeo event.

Participants, spectators and vendors celebrated their independence at the Basin City 4th of July Parade and Freedom Rodeo.

Pictures shared on Facebook by both organizers and attendees show few people wearing face masks or practicing social distancing to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.

Social media posts show a handful of Washington state and local political candidates also participated, like: Dr. Raul Garcia for governor; nurse practitioner Sarena Sloot for the 4th Congressional District; Dave Petersen for Benton-Franklin Superior Court; Donnie Landsman for Benton County Commission, District 1; Terry Cissne for Franklin County Commission; and Casey Cochrane for Franklin PUD.

Sheriff Jim Raymond also was seen in pictures blocking traffic for the parade and cheering on the participants.

While Franklin and Benton counties finally advanced to a modified Phase 1.5 of Gov. Jay Inslee's business reopening plan, gatherings of nonhousehold groups remain prohibited. The only exception is counseling or other behavioral health groups of five or fewer.

Inslee agreed to open up the counties if public officials encouraged people to keep safe.

Event organizer Clay Berry, responding Sunday to a critic on Facebook who questioned why law enforcement of health department officials didn't shut it down, pointed out that Inslee has said protests are legal in these times.

"That's exactly what it was, a cowboy style peaceful protest," she wrote.

Organizers had spent the past month at Basin City Memorial Park leveling the rodeo grounds, installing bleachers and putting in grass in the town about a half hour north of Pasco in Franklin County.

That arena had not been used in almost 40 years, retired bullfighter Rowdy Barry said before the event.

Calls for annual event

In addition to the rodeo slack competitions and performances on Friday and Saturday, there was a dance both nights and a parade and firework show on the holiday.

The parade, which passed crowds of people in town, included everything from quadrunners and horses to large farm equipment and semi trucks.

Many people took to the Facebook event page Sunday to share their appreciation for the organizers and participants, and express their hope that the rodeo becomes an annual tradition.

"Thank you for putting on an incredible weekend," wrote Ann-Erica Whitemarsh, founder of Rascal Rodeo. "I think I can speak for more than just my son and I, that we needed this."

"We needed this for a mental health boost, we needed this to see old friends and meet new, we needed this to remind us how great our country is," she continued. "We needed the reminder of who the American people are and stand for. Thank you for standing up and pouring yourselves into this event."
A low-pressure area strengthened quickly and became Tropical Storm Cristina in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and infrared imagery from NASA revealed the powerful thunderstorms fueling that intensification.

Cristina developed by 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, July 6, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. Six hours later it strengthened into a tropical storm and was renamed Cristina.

On July 7 at 4:10 a.m. EDT (0810 UTC), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite used infrared light to analyze the strength of storms within Cristina. NASA researches these storms to determine how they rapidly intensify, develop and behave.

Tropical cyclones are made of up hundreds of thunderstorms, and infrared data can show where the strongest storms are located. That is because infrared data provides temperature information, and the strongest thunderstorms that reach highest into the atmosphere have the coldest cloud top temperatures.

MODIS found those strongest storms in two areas around Cristina's center of circulation where cloud top temperatures were as cold as minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62.2 Celsius). NASA research has found that cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 7, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the center of Tropical Storm Cristina was located near latitude 12.2 degrees north and longitude 102.8 degrees west. Cristina is centered about 480 miles (770 km) south-southeast of Manzanillo, Mexico. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1005 millibars. Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph (65 kph) with higher gusts.

Cristina was moving toward the west-northwest near 13 mph (20 kph), and the NHC expects that general motion to continue for the next few days, keeping the cyclone well away from the coast of Mexico.

NHC forecaster David Zelinsky noted in the July 7 Discussion, "The [vertical wind] shear and some nearby dry air that appear to have inhibited Cristina's organization so far are not expected to persist as negative factors for much longer. All of the models still forecast strengthening, and given the very favorable environment that the cyclone will encounter in a day or two, a period of rapid intensification at some point would not be surprising."

Strengthening is anticipated and Cristina is forecast to become a hurricane in a day or two.

Typhoons/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA's expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts, visit: http://www. nhc. noaa. gov

By Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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HOUSTON -- (July 7, 2020) -- Rice University chemical engineers found an efficient catalyst for destroying PFAS "forever" chemicals where they least expected.

"It was the control," said Rice Professor Michael Wong, referring to the part of a scientific experiment where researchers don't expect surprises. The control group is the yardstick of experimental science, the baseline by which variables are measured.

"We haven't yet tested this at a full scale, but in our benchtop tests in the lab, we could get rid of 99% of PFOA in four hours," Wong said of boron nitride, the light-activated catalyst he and his students stumbled upon and spent more than a year testing.

Their study, which is available online in the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, found boron nitride destroyed PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) at a faster clip than any previously reported photocatalyst. PFOA is one of the most prevalent PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a family of more than 4,000 compounds developed in the 20th century to make coatings for waterproof clothing, food packaging, nonstick pans and countless other uses. PFAS have been dubbed forever chemicals for their tendency to linger in the environment, and scientists have found them in the blood of virtually all Americans, including newborns.

Catalysts are Wong's specialty. They are compounds that bring about chemical reactions without taking part or being consumed in those reactions. His lab has created catalysts for destroying a number of pollutants, including TCE and nitrates, and he said he tasked his team with finding new catalysts to address PFAS about 18 months ago.

"We tried a lot of things," said Wong, chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Rice's Brown School of Engineering. "We tried several materials that I thought were going to work. None of them did. This wasn't supposed to work, and it did."

The catalyst, boron nitride powder, or BN, is a commercially available synthetic mineral that's widely used in makeup, skin care products, thermal pastes that cool computer chips and other consumer and industrial products.

The discovery began with dozens of failed experiments on more likely PFAS catalysts. Wong said he asked two members of his lab, visiting graduate student Lijie Duan of China's Tsinghua University and Rice graduate student Bo Wang, to do final experiments on one set of candidate compounds before moving on to others.

"There was literature that suggested one of them might be a photocatalyst, meaning it would be activated by light of a particular wavelength," Wong said. "We don't use light very often in our group, but I said, 'Let's go ahead and doodle around with it.' The sun is free energy. Let's see what we can do with light."

As before, none of the experimental groups performed well, but Duan noticed something unusual with the boron nitride control. She and Wang repeated the experiments numerous times to rule out unexpected errors, problems with sample preparation and other explanations for the strange result. They kept seeing the same thing.

"Here's the observation," Wong said. "You take a flask of water that contains some PFOA, you throw in your BN powder, and you seal it up. That's it. You don't need to add any hydrogen or purge it with oxygen. It's just the air we breathe, the contaminated water and the BN powder. You expose that to ultraviolet light, specifically to UV-C light with a wavelength of 254 nanometers, come back in four hours, and 99% of the PFOA has been transformed into fluoride, carbon dioxide and hydrogen."

The problem was the light. The 254-nanometer wavelength, which is commonly used in germicidal lamps, is too small to activate the bandgap in boron nitride. While that was unquestionably true, the experiments suggested it could not be.

"If you take away the light, you don't get catalysis," Wong said. "If you leave out the BN powder and only use the light, you don't get a reaction."

So boron nitride was clearly absorbing the light and catalyzing a reaction that destroyed PFOA, despite that fact that it should have been optically impossible for boron nitride to absorb 254-nanometer UV-C light.

"It's not supposed to work," Wong said. "That's why no one ever thought to look for this, and that's why it took so long for us to publish the results. We needed some sort of explanation for this contradiction."

Wong said he, Duan, Wang and co-authors offered a plausible explanation in the study.

"We concluded that our material does absorb the 254-nanometer light, and it's because of atomic defects in our powder," he said. "The defects change the bandgap. They shrink it enough for the powder to absorb just enough light to create the reactive oxidizing species that chew up the PFOA."

Wong said more experimental evidence will be needed to confirm the explanation. But in light of the results with PFOA, he wondered if the boron nitride catalyst might also work on other PFAS compounds.

"So I asked my students to do one more thing," Wong said. "I had them replace PFOA in the tests with GenX."

GenX is also a forever chemical. When PFOA was banned, GenX was one of the most widely used chemicals to replace it. And a growing body of evidence suggests that GenX could be just as big an environmental problem as its predecessor.

"It's a similar story to PFOA," Wong said. "They're finding GenX everywhere now. But one difference between the two is that people have previously reported some success with catalysts for degrading PFOA. They haven't for GenX."

Wong and colleagues found that boron nitride powder also destroys GenX. The results weren't as good as with PFOA: With two hours exposure to 254-nanometer light, BN destroyed about 20% of the GenX in water samples. But Wong said the team has ideas about how to improve the catalyst for GenX.

He said the project has already attracted the attention of several industrial partners in the Rice-based Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT). NEWT is an interdisciplinary engineering research center funded by the National Science Foundation to develop off-grid water treatment systems that both protect human lives and support sustainable economic development.

"The research has been fun, a true team effort," Wong said. "We've filed patents on this, and NEWT's interest in further testing and development of the technology is a big vote of confidence."

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Additional study co-authors include Kimberly Heck, Sujin Guo, Chelsea Clark, Jacob Arredondo and Thomas Senftle, all of Rice; Minghao Wang, Xianghua Wen and Yonghui Song, all of Tsinghua University; and Paul Westerhoff of Arizona State University.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (EEC-1449500) and the China Scholarship Council.

Links and resources:

The DOI of the study is: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00434

A copy of the Environmental Science and Technology Letters study is available at: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1021/ acs. estlett. 0c00434

IMAGES available for download:

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0706_PHOTOCAT-fig2-lg. jpg

CAPTION: An illustration of the boron nitride photocatalysis that destroys the pollutant PFOA in water. (Image courtesy of M. Wong/Rice University)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0706_PHOTOCAT-mw1-lg. jpg

CAPTION: Michael Wong

This release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
HOUSTON -- (July 7, 2020) -- Climate change will intensify winds that steer hurricanes north over Texas in the final 25 years of this century, increasing the odds for fast-moving storms like 2008's Ike compared with slow-movers like 2017's Harvey, according to new research.

The study published online July 3 in Nature Communications examined regional atmospheric wind patterns that are likely to exist over Texas from 2075-2100 as Earth's climate changes due to increased greenhouse emissions.

The research began in Houston as Harvey deluged the city with 30-40 inches of rain over five days. Rice University researchers riding out the storm began collaborating with colleagues from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and Harvard University to explore whether climate change would increase the likelihood of slow-moving rainmakers like Harvey.

"We find that the probability of having strong northward steering winds will increase with climate change, meaning hurricanes over Texas will be more likely to move like Ike than Harvey," said study lead author Pedram Hassanzadeh of Rice.

Harvey caused an estimated $125 billion in damage, matching 2005's Katrina as the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Ike was marked by coastal flooding and high winds that caused $38 billion damage across several states. It was the second-costliest U.S. hurricane at the time and has since moved to sixth. Ike struck Galveston around 2 a.m. Sept. 13, 2008, crossed Texas in less than one day and caused record power outages from Arkansas to Ohio on Sept. 14.

Hassanzadeh, a fluid dynamicist, atmospheric modeler and assistant professor of both mechanical engineering and Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, said the findings don't suggest that slow-moving storms like Harvey won't happen in late 21st century. Rather, they suggest that storms during the period will be more likely to be fast-moving than slow-moving. The study found the chances that a Texas hurricane will be fast-moving as opposed to slow-moving will rise by about 50% in the last quarter of the 21st century compared with the final quarter of the 20th century.

"These results are very interesting, given that a previous study that considered the Atlantic basin as a whole noticed a trend for slower-moving storms in the past 30 years," said study co-author Suzana Camargo, LDEO's Marie Tharp Lamont Research Professor. "By contrast, our study focused on changes at the end of the 21st century and shows that we need to consider much smaller regional scales, as their trends might differ from the average across much larger regions."

Hassanzadeh said the researchers used more than a dozen different computer models to produce several hundred simulations and found that "all of them agreed on an increase in northward steering winds over Texas."

Steering winds are strong currents in the lower 10 kilometers of the atmosphere that move hurricanes.

"It doesn't happen a lot, in studying the climate system, that you get such a robust regional signal in wind patterns," he said.

Harvey was the first hurricane Hassanzadeh experienced. He'd moved to Houston the previous year and was stunned by the slow-motion destruction that played out as bayous, creeks and rivers in and around the city topped their banks.

"I was sitting at home watching, just looking at the rain when (study co-author) Laurence (Yeung) emailed a bunch of us, asking 'What's going on? Why is this thing not moving?'" Hassanzadeh recalled. "That got things going. People started replying. That's the good thing about being surrounded by smart people. Laurence got us started, and things took off."

Yeung, an atmospheric chemist, Hassanzadeh and two other Rice professors on the original email, atmospheric scientist Dan Cohan and flooding expert Phil Bedient, won one of the first grants from Rice's Houston Engagement and Recovery Effort (HERE), a research fund Rice established in response to Harvey.

"Without that, we couldn't have done this work," Hassanzadeh said. The HERE grant allowed Rice co-author Ebrahim Nabizadeh, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, to work for several months, analyzing the first of hundreds of computer simulations based on large-scale climate models.

The day Harvey made landfall, Hassanzadeh also had reached out to Columbia's Chia-Ying Lee, an expert in both tropical storms and climate downscaling, procedures that use known information at large scales to make projections at local scales. Lee and Camargo used information from the large-scale simulations to make a regional model that simulated storms' tracks over Texas in a warming climate.

"One challenge of studying the impact of climate change on hurricanes at a regional level is the lack of data," said Lee, a Lamont Assistant Research Professor at LDEO. "At Columbia University, we have developed a downscaling model that uses physics-based statistics to connect large-scale atmospheric conditions to the formation, movement and intensity of hurricanes. The model's physical basis allowed us to account for the impact of climate change, and its statistical features allowed us to simulate a sufficient number of Texas storms."

Hassanzadeh said, "Once we found that robust signal, where all the models agreed, we thought, 'There should be a robust mechanism that's causing this.'"

He reached out to tropical climate dynamicist Ding Ma of Harvard to get another perspective.

"We were able to show that changes in two important processes were joining forces and resulting in the strong signal from the models," said Ma, a postdoctoral researcher in Earth and planetary sciences.

One of the processes was the Atlantic subtropical high, or Bermuda high, a semipermanent area of high pressure that forms over the Atlantic Ocean during the summer, and the other was the North American monsoon, an uptick in rainfall and thunderstorms over the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico that typically occurs between July and September. Hassanzadeh said recent studies have shown that each of these are projected to change as Earth's climate warms.

"The subtropical high is a clockwise circulation to the east that is projected to intensify and shift westward, producing more northward winds over Texas," he said. "The North American monsoon, to the west, produces a clockwise circulation high in the troposphere. That circulation is expected to weaken, resulting in increased, high-level northward winds over Texas."

Hassanzadeh said the increased northward winds from both east and west "gives you a strong reinforcing effect over the whole troposphere, up to about 10 kilometers, over Texas. This has important implications for the movement of future Texas hurricanes."

Models showed that the effect extended into western Louisiana, but the picture became murkier as the researchers looked further east, he said.

"You don't have the robust signal like you do over Texas," Hassanzadeh said. "If you look at Florida, for instance, there's a lot of variation in the models. This shows how important it is to conduct studies that focus on climate impacts in specific regions. If we had looked at all of North America, for example, and tried to average over the whole region, we would have missed this localized mechanism over Texas."

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Bedient is the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering and department chair of civil and environmental engineering and director of Rice's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center. Cohan is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. Yeung is the Maurice Ewing Career Development Assistant Professor in Earth Systems Science in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (AGS-1921413), NASA (80NSSC17K0266), the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's Early-Career Research Fellowship Program, Rice's Houston Engagement and Recovery Effort Fund, Columbia's Center for Climate and Life Fellows Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NA16OAR4310079, NA18OAR4310277) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA 103862). Computational resources were provided by the National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (ATM170020), the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Computational and Information Systems Lab (URIC0004) and Rice's Center for Research Computing.

Links and resources:

The DOI of the Nature Communications paper is: 10.1038/s41467-020-17130-7

A copy of the paper is available at: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1038/ s41467-020-17130-7

High-resolution IMAGES are available for download at:

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0703_TEXASSTORMS-harveyISS-lg. jpg

CAPTION: Hurricane Harvey as seen from the International Space Station on Aug. 28, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Randy Bresnik/NASA)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0703_TEXASSTORMS-IkeRain-med. jpg

CAPTION: Map depicting total rainfall from 2008's Hurricane Ike. (Image by Hal Pierce/SSAI/NASA)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0703_TEXASSTORMS-harveyrain-lg. jpg

CAPTION: Map depicting total rainfall from 2017's Hurricane Harvey. (Image courtesy of NOAA)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 07/ 0703_TEXASSTORMS-pedram-lg. jpg

CAPTION: Pedram Hassanzadeh

This release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

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Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
LA JOLLA--(July 7, 2020) The human immune system is a finely-tuned machine, balancing when to release a cellular army to deal with pathogens, with when to rein in that army, stopping an onslaught from attacking the body itself. Now, Salk researchers have discovered a way to control regulatory T cells, immune cells that act as a cease-fire signal, telling the immune system when to stand down.

"Our ultimate goal is to be able to use these genes that modulate regulatory T cells to interfere with autoimmune diseases and cancers," says Ye Zheng, an associate professor in Salk's NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis.

"The idea of manipulating this cell type for therapeutic purposes is very exciting," says Assistant Professor Diana Hargreaves, holder of the Richard Heyman and Anne Daigle Endowed Developmental Chair and the co-corresponding author of the new paper with Zheng. Their study appeared in the journal Immunity on July 7, 2020.

Regulatory T cells are responsible for reining in the activity of other cells in the immune system. They prevent the immune system from attacking the body's own tissues, and tell the immune response to fade when it is no longer needed, acting like an all-clear signal. Underactive regulatory T cells are associated with autoimmune diseases where the immune system attacks the body, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease and lupus. Some cancers, on the other hand, have higher-than-usual regulatory T cell activity, preventing the immune system from attacking a tumor and allowing its growth.

Researchers already knew that the gene called Foxp3 is a key player in the development and function of regulatory T cells. If regulatory T cells are like the lead peacekeepers, Foxp3 is like the UN, encouraging the peacekeeping force to organize. Without Foxp3, the body doesn't form regulatory T cells. So Zheng's group set out to find other genes that impacted levels of Foxp3. They used CRISPR gene-editing technology to test which genes throughout the genome affected Foxp3. This screen turned up hundreds of genes, including a handful that encoded different subunits of the SWI/SNF complex, a group of proteins that plays a role in turning many other genes on and off by physically making DNA accessible to cellular machinery.

Hargreaves and her group were already studying a number of genes in the SWI/SNF complex, including a new variant that the lab identified in 2018 called the ncBAF complex, so the two labs teamed up to uncover the role of the complex in regulatory T cells.

"There was already data to show how the SWI/SNF complex is important for the development of cells, but not much data in regulatory T cells specifically," says Salk postdoctoral researcher Jovylyn Gatchalian, co-first author of the new work.

The researchers used CRISPR to selectively remove the SWI/SNF complex genes from regulatory T cells. They found that the deletion of one gene in the ncBAF complex, called Brd9, had a particularly strong effect on the immune cells; regulatory T cells without Brd9 had lower levels of Foxp3 and weakened function.

"Until now, it's been very hard to fine-tune regulatory T cell activity in the body," says Eric Chin-San Loo, a graduate student and co-first author of the new paper. "This complex allows us to do just that--turn up or down the activity of the immune cells but not enough to cause other forms of disease."

In mice with cancer, treatment with the weakened immune cells without Brd9 enabled other immune cells--the fighters and soldiers of the immune system--normally blocked by the regulatory T cells to infiltrate the tumors and shrink them. In mice with inflammatory bowel disease, however, the weakened regulatory T cells left the immune system attacking the digestive tract unchecked. These results suggest that controlling the strength of regulatory T cells has potential for treating both cancer and autoimmune diseases.

In the future, the researchers say they'd like to dive deeper into the molecular mechanisms by which Brd9 is controlling Foxp3 expression and how the ncBAF complex might change the tumor environment in other ways.

Hargreaves adds that future studies could look at whether small molecules can control the activity of the ncBAF complex; these would be more relevant for human therapeutics than genetic methods of altering the proteins. Such molecules might one day be able to turn down the activity of regulatory T cells to treat cancer, or turn up their activity to treat autoimmune disease.

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Other authors were Yuqiong Liang, Mathias Leblanc, Mingjun Xie, Josephine Ho and Bhargav Venkatraghavan, all of the Salk Institute.

The work was supported by the NOMIS Foundation as well as grants from the Albert G. and Olive H. Schlink Foundation, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Cancer Institute, the V Foundation for Cancer Research, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America.

About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:

Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk's mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer's, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin. Learn more at: salk.edu.
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 Saint Thomas Becket, the most important pilgrimage destination in medieval England - visited for hundreds of years by pilgrims seeking miraculous healing - has been digitally reconstructed for the public, according to how experts believe it appeared before its destruction.

In the 1530s, the Reformation in England saw the ornaments and riches of thousands of Catholic churches destroyed in a vast Protestant movement. In 1538, at Canterbury Cathedral, the revered shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, the hugely influential former Archbishop of Canterbury and martyr, succumbed to this fate.

Becket was one of the most important figures in medieval Europe. He was believed to have died valiantly as a martyr, 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, but, following its destruction, its appearance has long been the subject of debate among historians.

Today on the 7th July 2020, 800 years since the very first jubilee of Saint Thomas' death - a date still marked at Canterbury Cathedral - new findings published in a special volume of the Journal of the British Archaeological Association describe how a recently made, freely viewable, stunning video digitalisation establishes the most accurate recreation of the shrine to-date.

"Unfortunately," Dr John Jenkins, historical researcher on the reconstruction team, says, "there are no contemporary comparators for it; the closest are the shrine bases of St Edward the Confessor at Westminster and St Etheldreda at Ely, both of mid- to late-13th-century date.

"So, therefore, our CGI reconstruction uses all currently available evidence including eye-witness accounts; theories from past historians for potential usage of the shrine; date of construction; materials used; specific features; accessibility and location with the church; similar examples elsewhere; as well as those who created it; to reconstruct how the shrine could have looked."

Crucially, the team's design is the first to be based upon surviving fragments of the shrine discovered in and around Canterbury Cathedral since the nineteenth century.

Historians have debated whether these fragments came from the shrine. However, "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," explains Dr Jenkins, from the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture, at the University of York, "within the cathedral this marble is only found in the Trinity Chapel, which surely indicates that these fragments come from St Thomas' shrine rather than any others."

The team's model is based upon how the shrine would have looked in 1408, a time when the cult at Canterbury was visited by up to 100,000 pilgrims a year. The reconstruction argues that the shrine was created much earlier, between 1180 and 1220, and would have likely taken more than thirty years to build and ornament.

"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," states Dr Jenkins.

The team's model includes many other features, such as a "major finding" of iron grilles (not featured in previous reconstructions) that enclosed the shrine, and "would serve to enhance a sense of mystery" for visitors to the candle-lit shrine. 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".

The reconstruction is free to view via a video and forms part of a wider 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, whilst additionally functioning as a research tool for researchers to complete further investigation to study the look, feel, and nature of the site.

Concluding, Dr Jenkins said: "The murder of Thomas Becket stunned the whole of Christendom. All across Europe he was acclaimed as a martyr. Within ten 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."

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Quantum information scientists have introduced a new method for machine learning classifications in quantum computing. The non-linear quantum kernels in a quantum binary classifier provide new insights for improving the accuracy of quantum machine learning, deemed able to outperform the current AI technology.

The research team led by Professor June-Koo Kevin Rhee from the School of Electrical Engineering, proposed a quantum classifier based on quantum state fidelity by using a different initial state and replacing the Hadamard classification with a swap test. Unlike the conventional approach, this method is expected to significantly enhance the classification tasks when the training dataset is small, by exploiting the quantum advantage in finding non-linear features in a large feature space.

Quantum machine learning holds promise as one of the imperative applications for quantum computing. In machine learning, one fundamental problem for a wide range of applications is classification, a task needed for recognizing patterns in labeled training data in order to assign a label to new, previously unseen data; and the kernel method has been an invaluable classification tool for identifying non-linear relationships in complex data.

More recently, the kernel method has been introduced in quantum machine learning with great success. The ability of quantum computers to efficiently access and manipulate data in the quantum feature space can open opportunities for quantum techniques to enhance various existing machine learning methods.

The idea of the classification algorithm with a nonlinear kernel is that given a quantum test state, the protocol calculates the weighted power sum of the fidelities of quantum data in quantum parallel via a swap-test circuit followed by two single-qubit measurements (see Figure 1). This requires only a small number of quantum data operations regardless of the size of data. The novelty of this approach lies in the fact that labeled training data can be densely packed into a quantum state and then compared to the test data.

The KAIST team, in collaboration with researchers from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa and Data Cybernetics in Germany, has further advanced the rapidly evolving field of quantum machine learning by introducing quantum classifiers with tailored quantum kernels.

The input data is either represented by classical data via a quantum feature map or intrinsic quantum data, and the classification is based on the kernel function that measures the closeness of the test data to training data.

Dr. Daniel Park at KAIST, one of the lead authors of this research, said that the quantum kernel can be tailored systematically to an arbitrary power sum, which makes it an excellent candidate for real-world applications.

Professor Rhee said that quantum forking, a technique that was invented by the team previously, makes it possible to start the protocol from scratch, even when all the labeled training data and the test data are independently encoded in separate qubits.

Professor Francesco Petruccione from UKZN explained, "The state fidelity of two quantum states includes the imaginary parts of the probability amplitudes, which enables use of the full quantum feature space."

To demonstrate the usefulness of the classification protocol, Carsten Blank from Data Cybernetics implemented the classifier and compared classical simulations using the five-qubit IBM quantum computer that is freely available to public users via cloud service. "This is a promising sign that the field is progressing," Blank noted.

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-About KAIST

KAIST is the first and top science and technology university in Korea. KAIST was established in 1971 by the Korean government to educate scientists and engineers committed to industrialization and economic growth in Korea.

Since then, KAIST and its 64,739 graduates have been the gateway to advanced science and technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. KAIST has emerged as one of the most innovative universities with more than 10,000 students enrolled in five colleges and seven schools including 1,039 international students from 90 countries.

On the precipice of semi-centennial anniversary in 2021, KAIST continues to strive to make the world better through the pursuit in education, research, entrepreneurship, and globalization.
Together with other internationally renowned European scientists, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) has accepted the molecular biologist Professor Dr Thorsten Hoppe from the Institute of Genetics and the Cluster of Excellence for Ageing Research CECAD at the University of Cologne as a new member.

In its decision to admit new members, EMBO looks for scientific excellence and ground-breaking research achievements. Hoppe is being honoured for his pioneering work on unravelling the molecular mechanisms of protein homeostasis, which are important for understanding age-related diseases. The Cologne-based scientist published one of the first studies on the ubiquitin-dependent regulation of the ageing process (Nature Cell Biology 2011). Through his research on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, fruit flies, and human cells, he showed how ubiquitin-dependent degradation of the conserved insulin receptor affects protein homeostasis and age (Cell 2017). In a study published in 2019, Hoppe investigated how the smell of food affects the dynamic balance between the synthesis and degradation of proteins and showed how this affects cell regeneration and the ageing process of multicellular organisms (Nature Metabolism 2019).

Thorsten Hoppe was born in 1969. He studied biology at the University of Heidelberg and received his doctoral degree from the Centre for Molecular Biology in 2000. After a period as a postdoctoral researcher at LMU Munich, he worked as a research group leader at the Centre for Molecular Neurobiology (ZMNH) at the University of Hamburg from 2003 to 2008. Since 2008, he has been a professor at the Institute of Genetics at the University of Cologne. Moreover, he serves as Managing Director of the CECAD Research Centre and as Co-Coordinator of the CECAD Cluster of Excellence. He is also a reviewer for international scientific organisations and research journals.

Thorsten Hoppe has received numerous awards and funding for his research, including the EMBO Young Investigator Award in 2007 (member from 2008 to 2010), the Walther Flemming Medal of the German Society for Cell Biology in 2008, the ERC Consolidator Grant in 2013 and the Max Delbruck Prize for Life Sciences of the University of Cologne in 2016.

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) was officially founded in 1964. Its members include more than 1,800 internationally renowned scientists from the life sciences. In total 88 Nobel Laureates have been elected to EMBO's membership. EMBO supports outstanding early-career researchers and promotes scientific exchange in the life sciences.

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Look deep inside our cells, and you'll find that each has an identical genome -a complete set of genes that provides the instructions for our cells' form and function.

But if each blueprint is identical, why does an eye cell look and act differently than a skin cell or brain cell? How does a stem cell - the raw material with which our organ and tissue cells are made - know what to become?

In a study published July 8, University of Colorado Boulder researchers come one step closer to answering that fundamental question, concluding that the molecular messenger RNA (ribonucleic acid) plays an indispensable role in cell differentiation, serving as a bridge between our genes and the so-called "epigenetic" machinery that turns them on and off.

When that bridge is missing or flawed, the researchers report in the journal Nature Genetics, a stem cell on the path to becoming a heart cell never learns how to beat.

The paper comes at a time when pharmaceutical companies are taking unprecedented interest in RNA. And, while the research is young, it could ultimately inform development of new RNA-targeted therapies, from cancer treatments to therapies for cardiac abnormalities.

"All genes are not expressed all the time in all cells. Instead, each tissue type has its own epigenetic program that determines which genes get turned on or off at any moment," said co-senior author Thomas Cech, a Nobel laureate and distinguished professor of biochemistry. "We determined in great detail that RNA is a master regulator of this epigenetic silencing and that in the absence of RNA, this system cannot work. It is critical for life."

Scientists have known for decades that while each cell has identical genes, cells in different organs and tissues express them differently. Epigenetics, or the machinery that switches genes on or off, makes this possible.

But just how that machinery works has remained unclear.

In 2006, John Rinn, now a professor of biochemistry at CU Boulder and co-senior-author on the new paper, proposed for the first time that RNA - the oft-overlooked sibling of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) - might be key.

In a landmark paper in Cell, Rinn showed that inside the nucleus, RNA attaches itself to a folded cluster of proteins called polycomb repressive complex (PRC2), which is believed to regulate gene expression. Numerous other studies have since found the same and added that different RNAs also bind to different protein complexes.

The hotly debated question: Does this actually matter in determining a cell's fate?

No fewer than 502 papers have been published since. Some determined RNA is key in epigenetics; others dismissed its role as tangential at best.

So, in 2015, Yicheng Long, a biochemist and postdoctoral researcher in Cech's lab, set out to ask the question again using the latest available tools. After a chance meeting in a breakroom at the BioFrontiers Institute where both their labs are housed, Long bumped into Taeyoung Hwang, a computational biologist in Rinn's lab.

A unique partnership was born.

"We were able to use data science approaches and high-powered computing to understand molecular patterns and evaluate RNA's role in a novel, quantitative way," said Hwang, who along with Long is co-first-author on the new paper.

In the lab, the team then used a simple enzyme to remove all RNA in cells to understand whether the epigenetic machinery still found its way to DNA to silence genes. The answer was 'no.'

"RNA seemed to be playing the role of air traffic controller, guiding the plane - or protein complex - to the right spot on the DNA to land and silence genes," said Long.

For a third step, they used the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR to develop a line of stem cells destined to become human heart muscle cells but in which the protein complex, PRC2, was incapable of binding to RNA. In essence, the plane couldn't connect with air-traffic control and lost its way, and the process fell apart.

By day 7, the normal stem cells had begun to look and act like heart cells. But the mutant cells didn't beat. Notably, when normal PRC2 was restored, they began to behave more normally.

"We can now say, unequivocally, that RNA is critical in this process of cell differentiation," said Long.

Previous research has already shown that genetic mutations in humans that disrupt RNA's ability to bind to these proteins boost risk of certain cancers and fetal heart abnormalities. Ultimately, the researchers envision a day when RNA-targeted therapies could be used to address such problems.

"These findings will set a new scientific stage showing an inextricable link between epigenetics and RNA biology," said Rinn. "They could have broad implications for understanding, and addressing, human disease going forward."

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The outermost reaches of our solar system are a strange place--filled with dark and icy bodies with nicknames like Sedna, Biden and The Goblin, each of which span several hundred miles across.

Two new studies by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder may help to solve one of the biggest mysteries about these far away worlds: why so many of them don't circle the sun the way they should.

The orbits of these planetary oddities, which scientists call "detached objects," tilt and buckle out of the plane of the solar system, among other unusual behaviors.

"This region of space, which is so much closer to us than stars in our galaxy and other things that we can observe just fine, is just so unknown to us," said Ann-Marie Madigan, an assistant professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS) at CU Boulder.

Some researchers have suggested that something big could be to blame--like an undiscovered planet, dubbed "Planet 9," that scatters objects in its wake.

But Madigan and graduate student Alexander Zderic prefer to think smaller. Drawing on exhaustive computer simulations, the duo makes the case that these detached objects may have disrupted their own orbits--through tiny gravitational nudges that added up over millions of years.

The findings, Madigan said, provide a tantalizing hint to what may be going on in this mysterious region of space.

"We're the first team to be able to reproduce everything, all the weird orbital anomalies that scientists have seen over the years," said Madigan, also a fellow at JILA. "It's crazy to think that there's still so much we need to do."

The team published its results July 2 in the Astronomical Journal and last month in the Astronomical Journal Letters.

Power to the asteroids

The problem with studying the outer solar system, Madigan added, is that it's just so dark.

"Ordinarily, the only way to observe these objects is to have the sun's rays smack off their surface and come back to our telescopes on Earth," she said. "Because it's so difficult to learn anything about it, there was this assumption that it was empty."

She's one of a growing number of scientists who argue that this region of space is far from empty--but that doesn't make it any easier to understand.

Just look at the detached objects. While most bodies in the solar system tend to circle the sun in a flat disk, the orbits of these icy worlds can tilt like a seesaw. Many also tend to cluster in just one slice of the night sky, a bit similar to a compass that only points north.

Madigan and Zderic wanted to find out why. To do that, they turned to supercomputers to recreate, or model, the dynamics of the outer solar system in greater detail than ever before.

"We modeled something that may have once existed in the outer solar system and also added in the gravitational influence of the giant planets like Jupiter," said Zderic, also of APS.

In the process, they discovered something unusual: the icy objects in their simulations started off orbiting the sun like normal. But then, over time, they began to pull and push on each other. As a result, their orbits grew wonkier until they eventually resembled the real thing. What was most remarkable was that they did it all on their own--the asteroids and minor planets didn't need a big planet to throw them for a loop.

"Individually, all of the gravitational interactions between these small bodies are weak," Madigan said. "But if you have enough of them, that becomes important."

Earth times 20

Madigan and Zderic had seen hints of similar patterns in earlier research, but their latest results provide the most exhaustive evidence yet.

The findings also come with a big caveat. In order to make Madigan and Zderic's theory of "collective gravity" work, the outer solar system once needed to contain a huge amount of stuff.

"You needed objects that added up to something on the order of 20 Earth masses," Madigan said. "That's theoretically possible, but it's definitely going to be bumping up against people's beliefs."

One way or another, scientists should find out soon. A new telescope called the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is scheduled to come online in Chile in 2022 and will begin to shine a new light on this unknown stretch of space.

"A lot of the recent fascination with the outer solar system is related to technological advances," Zderic said. "You really need the newest generation of telescopes to observe these bodies."

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Federal and state policies to expand access to birth control have included increasing access to preventative and emergency hormonal contraception at retail pharmacies for women and girls of all ages without a physician's prescription.

A new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago investigated the impact of these policies in Los Angeles County, California.

"We focus on Los Angeles County because it consistently has among the highest number of unintended pregnancies and teen births in the U.S., disproportionately affecting women and girls in low-income, minority neighborhoods," said corresponding author of the study Dima Qato, associate professor of pharmacy systems, outcomes and policy at the UIC College of Pharmacy.

The UIC researchers found that more than one year after California law granted pharmacists prescriptive authority for contraceptives without any age restrictions, only 10.1% of Los Angeles County pharmacies provided this service and 77.4% imposed age-restrictions at 18 years or older, including in neighborhoods with the highest rates of unintended pregnancies and teen births.

The findings of the study, which was conducted via a mystery shopper telephone survey of all pharmacies located in Los Angeles County, are published in the journal Health Affairs.

To obtain information on birth control access at these pharmacies, a young woman trained as an interviewer posed as a patient seeking both oral hormonal contraceptives without a prescription from a physician and over the counter emergency contraception, commonly known as Plan-B, or a generic. The interviewer asked to speak with a pharmacist, followed a standardized script and documented the responses provided.

Of the 1,611 eligible pharmacies in LA County, 1,482 participated in the survey.

The study findings also indicate that more than five years after the Food and Drug Administration removed age restrictions for Plan-B in 2013, nearly half of Los Angeles County pharmacies that carried emergency contraceptives did not dispense it to people younger than 18 years of age.

Qato says, "The findings from this study suggest that regulations that authorize pharmacists to prescribe contraceptives are not enough. Regulations that mandate they dispense birth control regardless of age may also be necessary. Without a dispensing mandate, these restrictive practices are likely to persist and adolescents will continue to encounter additional barriers in accessing birth control, including at retail pharmacies."

The authors also offer several policy recommendations to better increase pharmacy access to birth control, particularly in neighborhoods most in need.

"Expanding the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, contraceptive coverage mandate to include pharmacy reimbursement for pharmacist-prescribed contraception services may increase its availability at retail pharmacies," Qato said. "Expanding eligibility for Title X funding to include pharmacies, which are often more accessible than health centers, including family planning clinics, may also provide financial incentives for pharmacies to implement contraceptive services as well as increase access to birth control to uninsured women and girls at no-cost."

Findings from this study also indicate many low-income, minority neighborhoods in Los Angeles County lack pharmacies, including those neighborhoods with the highest unintended pregnancy and teen birth rates.

Qato and her colleagues found that 1,292,437 (61.1%) women and girls ages 15-44 years live in neighborhoods with no pharmacy and nearly half of these individuals live in neighborhoods with very high teen birth rates.

The data showed that among predominantly minority neighborhoods only 29.8% had at least one pharmacy. Of those neighborhoods, only 3.5% had a pharmacy that offers pharmacist-prescribed contraception. In other neighborhoods, 43.9% had at least one pharmacy and 7.9% had a pharmacy that provided pharmacists-prescribed contraception.

"Women and girls most in need of, and most likely to benefit from, policies aimed at expanding access to birth control lack pharmacies in their neighborhoods -- policies focusing solely on expanding pharmacy access are not sufficient for addressing disparities in contraceptive use," Qato said.

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Co-authors of the Health Affairs study are Jenny Guadamuz and Sun Choi of UIC, Stacy Lindau of the University of Chicago, Rebecca Trotzky-Sirr of the University of Southern California, and G. Caleb Alexander of Johns Hopkins University.
Posted Tuesday, July 7, 2020 11:29 am

Bail was set Monday for the driver suspected of hitting two protesters, killing one, on Interstate 5 in Seattle over the weekend, while a King County sheriff's deputy was put on leave over a social media post that mocked the demonstrators' death and injuries.

The driver, who the Washington State Patrol identified as 27-year-old Dawit Kelete, is being held on $1.2 million bail, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

At an initial hearing Saturday for Kelete, who is Black, a judge found probable cause for vehicular assault against two victims. Charges are expected to be filed Wednesday afternoon.

John Henry Browne, an attorney for Kelete, told The Associated Press the crash was a "horrible, horrible accident" and was not intentional.

"There's absolutely nothing political about this case whatsoever," Browne said. "My client is in tears. He's very remorseful. He feels tremendous guilt."

The victims of the hit-and-run, who both use they/them pronouns, were part of a daily march led by Black women, protesters outside the King County Courthouse said Monday.

Summer Taylor, a 24-year-old from Seattle, died from their injuries Saturday night at Harborview Medical Center. Taylor's official cause of death is pending an investigation by the State Patrol, the King County Medical Examiner's Office reported Monday.

As of 12:45 p.m. Monday, 32-year-old Diaz Love remained in serious condition with multiple injuries at Harborview Medical Center, a hospital spokesperson said.

Love posted on Facebook on Sunday night that they are "alive and stable. In a lot of pain."

"If they thought this murder would make us back down, they are very wrong," they wrote. "Very wrong."

According to a statement outlining the State Patrol's case against him, Kelete was arrested around 1:30 a.m. Saturday on I-5 near the Interstate 90 interchange after he allegedly drove the wrong direction onto the Stewart Street offramp toward the highway.

At the time, I-5 was closed between I-90 and Highway 520 because a group of protesters had marched onto the freeway, the document said.

Kelete turned onto I-5, sped past vehicles parked on the freeway to protect protesters and hit the two demonstrators before continuing south, according to the State Patrol.

Meanwhile, a King County Sheriff's Office deputy was placed on administrative leave after making what the Sheriff's Office described as "concerning posts" on social media over the weekend.

Screenshots shared on social media showed a post under the name Mike Brown; the Sheriff's Office confirmed Brown is a detective. The screenshots captured a Facebook post with an image that read "All lives splatter" -- accompanied by a graphic of a vehicle running people over. "Keep your (expletive) off the road," the graphic continued.

"We value all members of our community and are committed to serving everyone equally, with dignity and respect," Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht wrote in a statement Monday. "I will take swift action to thoroughly investigate when the conduct of Sheriff's Office members fails to reflect our core values and violates Sheriff's Office policy."

The office is also investigating other employees who "may have participated via reactions or comments on the post," the statement said.

The King County Sheriff's Office Guild didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the State Patrol announced over the weekend that it would no longer allow protesters on the interstate. Capt. Ron Mead said Monday troopers are "not planning to shut down I-5 anymore if we don't have to ... (But) we will always err on the side of safety, so we will if we need to."

"We're only going to close it if we absolutely have to for public safety, whereas before we were closing proactively," Mead said.

During a City Council briefing Monday morning, some council members addressed the hit-and-run on I-5.

"It is another Monday, and we have more to mourn this week," Councilmember Lisa Herbold said, citing Taylor's death, in addition to the earlier deaths of Horace Lorenzo Anderson Jr. and Antonio Mays Jr. at the CHOP.

Herbold said the city should help provide "support and resources" related to traumatized protesters.

State Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, told The Seattle Times he requested a meeting with WSP officials about "the general approach State Patrol has taken in temporarily closing the freeway" Monday afternoon, but he hadn't heard back yet.

Goodman, who's the chair of the House Public Safety Committee, said he wants to learn more about "what happened, what went wrong and the mixed messaging ... I've also heard about some blaming of protesters for being victims. There's a careful balance of protecting public safety and also protecting the right to free speech."
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Students who struggle with reading comprehension often perform poorly in classes like social studies because they have difficulty understanding the material. To solve this problem, educational researchers have been searching for the most effective interventions to help increase reading comprehension for struggling students.

Now, a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education will allow University of Missouri College of Education professor Matthew Burns and Kathryn Drummond with the American Institutes for Research to examine the effects of an intervention known as PACT, or Promotion of Acceleration of Comprehension Through Text, on middle school students in social studies classes.

"Throughout the American education system, we have a large group of students who are struggling in school; one of the best things you can do as an educator is teach them how to read," Burns said. "Much of the current research on reading interventions is done with younger kids in kindergarten or elementary school. By middle school, many think it's too late to reach those kids. I could not disagree more."

Over a 5-year period, Burns and Drummond will help implement an eighth-grade social studies curriculum in 150 schools throughout Missouri, Michigan, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. The curriculum focuses on improving students' reading comprehension and knowledge of American history by using overarching questions to stimulate motivation, vocabulary lessons, educational videos and team-based activities.

"The students who I think can benefit the most from this intervention are the ones that can decode and read words well but don't have a great understanding of what the words mean," said Burns. "If you ask them to read a page of a textbook, they can read it no problem, but if you ask them questions about what they read, they can't answer."

Burns added that there is a higher level of individual differences in reading skills for students throughout American classrooms than ever before, and this has heightened the need for more individualized approaches to address the needs of all learners.

"Our long-term goal is to create better citizens who are engaged civically," Burns said. "This is a time now where we need civically-engaged adults, and we can start building that early in middle school."

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Funding for the grant was provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
New network to be introduced at 13th Textile Bioengineering and Information Symposium

A world-leading materials expert from The University of Manchester is helping to launch a new global task force to drive innovation in digital health to combat pandemics like COVID-19 - and ambitious outputs could eventually include building 'smart cities' that feature anti-virus defences.

Professor Henry Yi Li, Chair of Textile Science and Engineering at The University of Manchester, is a co-founder of the International Digital Health and Intelligent Fibre Science and Technology Innovation Organization (IDH-IF-STIO) to be spotlighted at a global summit this week (July 10).

The group is looking to fast-track developments in ground-breaking areas like advanced PPEs, smart materials and wearable technologies that could potentially be plugged into wider health and bio-security systems as part of digitally connected 'smart cities' to help safeguard communities of the future.

"The purpose of this new group is to promote international collaboration in science and technology innovations for combating global pandemics such as COVID-19," explained Professor Yi Li.

"Specifically, we would be looking to address global health challenges that have been identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the fields of intelligent fibres, textile functional materials, electronic textile materials and wearable devices, as well as digital health technology that can be applied to disease prevention."

Professor Yi Li added that the new research and innovation group will focus on key, interrelated themes, including:

smart materials (ie electronic fibre/yarn/fabric), micro/nano electronic technology, bio-security technology (ie hazard perception) and smart wearables

applications to support smart homes and smart cities, including the promotion of healthy lifestyles and the prevention of infectious and non-communicable diseases.

research and development of disease prevention and control system, public health systems, and pandemic emergency mechanism systems in medical and health institutions.

To progress research in these exciting areas the IDH-IF-STIO is planning to organise a range of international activities, including hosting regular scientific and technological cooperation forums and platforms, running international academic conferences, as well as setting up international committees for academic and technical professionals.

The proposed new network will be introduced at the 13th Textile Bioengineering and Information Symposium on Friday, July 10 which will have the theme 'Combating COVID-19 Pandemic with Science and Technology Innovations'. Professor Yi Li will also be a keynote speaker at the online symposium and his talk will be entitled 'Combating COVID-19 pandemic with science and technology innovations'.

Professor Yi Li is an expert across the biomaterials field - including smart functional fibres, nano functional textile materials, wearable devices, tissue engineering and nanoscale drug delivery systems - and has led on innovation to develop and produce PPE equipment in response to pandemics.

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The International Digital Health and Intelligent Fibre Science and Technology Innovation Organization (IDH-IF-STIO) is supported by over 20 universities, organisations and enterprises across Europe and Asia, including State Key Laboratory of Fiber Material Modification, Donghua University, China; State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Textile Materials and Products, Department of Materials, University of Manchester, United Kingdom; Xi'an Polytechnic University, China; ENSAIT, France; Textile Bioengineering and Informatics Society (TBIS), United Kingdom.
A team of engineers may be one step closer to cleaning up heavily contaminated industrial wastewater streams.

Researchers from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering developed an electrochemical oxidation process with the aim of cleaning up complex wastewater that contained a toxic cocktail of chemical pollutants.

"Our study, published in Algal Research, involved industrial wastewater that had been heavily contaminated with a cocktail of organic and inorganic species during a biofuel production process", said Julia Ciarlini Jungers Soares, who is completing a PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering under the supervision of Dr Alejandro Montoya.

The wastewater, which contained carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, was generated in a pilot plant, designed by the team for the production of biofuels using naturally abundant microalgae.

The process involved treating wastewater with electricity using specialised electrodes. They discharged electricity, then drove oxidation reactions near the electrode surfaces, transforming the organic contaminants into harmless gasses, ions or minerals.

The water before, during and after treatment. Photo credit: Julia Ciarlini Jungers Soares, University of Sydney

"We have employed an incredibly powerful process that eliminates even the most persistent non-biodegradable pollutants, such as pharmaceuticals and pesticides, as well as various classes of organic compounds that can be found in many industrial effluents," she said.

"The process is relatively simple, does not require the addition of chemicals or severe operation conditions, and does not produce additional waste streams."

"Wastewater is a significant issue for our environment, as well as for many industries who use substantial volumes of water in their processes, such as in reactions, transport, and washing and cooling. Finding suitable solutions for reuse or disposal is often very challenging and costly.

"The electrochemical method that we used can be readily applied to industries that must comply with strict regulations for wastewater disposal, such as pulp and paper processing, wineries, as well as pharmaceutical production facilities.

"Worldwide, researchers are investigating methods for the development of biofuels from algae. Developing alternatives for the treatment and reuse of this industrial effluent is a hot research topic and can bring opportunities for energy and resource recovery within a circular bio-economy framework."

The team will soon carry out research focused on specific contaminants to better understand the chemical transformations that take place during electrochemical oxidation and will upscale the process.

A 2017 UNESCO report found that the opportunities from exploiting wastewater as a resource were vast, and that safely managed wastewater is an affordable and sustainable source of water, energy, nutrients and other recoverable materials.

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DISCLOSURE:

The researchers have no conflicts of interest to declare. The research was supported by a University of Sydney Engineering and Information Technology Research Scholarship.

THE RESEARCH:

Please contact Luisa Low for a PDF copy of the research.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Luisa Low, Media and PR Adviser (Engineering), University of Sydney

+61 438 021 390

luisa.low@sydney.edu.au
Discrimination against people thought to be infected with coronavirus was experienced by a rising number of United States residents, particularly racial minorities, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

From March to April 2020, the overall percentage of U.S. residents who experienced COVID-related discrimination more than doubled from 4% to 10%, according to researchers. The sharpest increase was among Asians and African Americans, who were most likely to report experiences of discrimination based on the perception they were infected with COVID-19.

In March, during the early stage of the pandemic in the U.S., 11% of Asians and 9% of African Americans had experienced discrimination by someone who perceived them as having the coronavirus, compared to 4% of whites. In April, this increased to 16% of Asians and 15% of African Americans, compared to 9% of whites, according to the study, which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Researchers analyzed responses from the Understanding Coronavirus in America tracking survey conducted by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) to evaluate the contribution of various risk factors for discrimination--including race/ethnicity and wearing a face mask--during in-person and social media encounters when discriminatory acts might occur. They also looked at how such discrimination was related to mental distress among U.S. adults in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April 2020.

Mask-wearing was a risk factor for discrimination

Survey participants consisted of a probability-based, nationally representative sample of 3,665 U.S. residents aged 18 years or older who completed COVID-19-related surveys online in March and April. To measure incidents of discrimination, respondents were asked if "people thinking they might have the coronavirus" acted as if they were afraid of them, threatened or harassed them, treated them with less courtesy and respect, or gave them poorer service at restaurants or stores.

"The early spike in the percentage of people who experienced COVID-related discrimination was attributable - in part - to discriminatory reactions to the growing number of people wearing masks or face coverings at the early stage of the pandemic," said Ying Liu, a research scientist with CESR.

The researchers found Asian Americans were the first racial/ethnic group to experience substantial discrimination, followed by African Americans, and that the higher degree of discrimination experienced by Asians in March was partially explained by their immigration status and mask-wearing.

African Americans' risk of experiencing discrimination was higher than other non-Asian groups and also increased faster between March and April than other groups, according to the study.

"This increase may in part be attributable to the spike in media coverage we saw during this time regarding African Americans' disproportionate vulnerability to COVID-19," said Kyla Thomas, a sociologist at CESR.

Mask-wearing was a persistent risk factor for discrimination associated with COVID-19, although it varied from March to April. The study found other groups, including frontline workers who didn't wear masks, people who worked partially or fully from home, and those who did not work experienced less discrimination.

"In March, before widespread stay-at-home orders and when mask-wearing was rare, people wearing masks were more likely to experience discrimination," said Brian Karl Finch, research professor of sociology and spatial sciences with CESR. "In April, only the frontline workers who wore masks had higher risks of experiencing discrimination."

The research team found that in some earlier weeks of the pandemic, people who were heavy users of social media were more likely to report an experience of discrimination. They also found that experiences of discrimination were associated with increased anxiety and depression, consistent with literature associating general discrimination with poorer mental health especially among racial/ethnic minorities.

"The relationship between COVID-related discrimination and worsening anxiety and depression is particularly pertinent during this pandemic, as it compounds mental health distress attributable to concerns of disease spread, social restrictions, and financial stress," said PhuongThao Le, a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Stigma can undermine public health efforts

Discrimination toward people who share social or behavioral characteristics with COVID-19 patients, but may not carry the novel virus, was first seen in heightened anti-Chinese rhetoric online. Social media analyses showed a nearly 10-fold increase in the use of offensive language, and reports on in-person racist acts against Asians increased during the early stages of the pandemic.

"In mid-March, President Donald Trump referred to a 'China virus' or 'Chinese virus,' which coincided with an increase of online and in-person crimes including robbery and harassment of Asian Americans," said Savannah Brenneke, a pre-doctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Researchers say this disease-associated stigma toward people, regardless of infection status, has been observed in previous outbreaks of novel viruses. For example, Mexicans and other Latinos were shunned during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic owing to the virus' link to hog farms where migrants worked.

The United Nations and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called for increased attention to preventing stigma associated with COVID-19, which could undermine disease control efforts, worsen mental health outcomes and exacerbate disparities.

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About the study

The UAS coronavirus surveys referred in this paper were initiated and financed by USC and funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The parent study protocol was approved by the USC IRB, and data access was granted by UAS' data user agreement.

Ms. Brenneke's work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (T32DA007292) and Dr. Le's work was supported by a training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH103210).

The Understanding Coronavirus in America Study regularly surveys a panel of more than 7,000 people throughout the country to learn how COVID-19 impacts their attitudes, lives and behaviors. Data from the study, supported in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USC, is updated daily and available to researchers and the public at: covid19pulse.usc.edu.
The research was presented at the 2020 Great Lakes Virtual Conference, which is hosted by the International Association of Great Lakes Research.

Every summer millions of people visit parks and protected areas along the shorelines of the Great Lakes to camp, hike, swim and explore nature's beauty.

While COVID-19 has impacted staffing, operations and budgets at the parks, tourists this year also may notice changes if recent record-high water levels persist on Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Superior.

A new study by a graduate student at The University of Toledo zeroes in on how coastal flooding and erosion in 2019 damaged park facilities and roads and interrupted visitor experiences, as well as examines the financial cost of the high water levels.

The research presented at the 2020 Great Lakes Virtual Conference, which is hosted by the International Association of Great Lakes Research, was completed by Eric Kostecky, a graduate student earning his master's degree in geography, as part of a course in environmental planning he took last fall while completing his undergraduate degree in geography and planning.

"A humbling statistic is that 75% of the parks indicated that continued higher lake levels in 2020 and beyond would further impact park operations and infrastructure," Kostecky said. "Future management actions would be to improve parking lots and roads and to move hiking trails, campgrounds and public access locations."

To gather information, Kostecky surveyed 50 parks along the Great Lakes, both federal and state parks in the United States and provincial parks in Canada. Twenty-nine responded.

"Even though Great Lakes parks and protected areas have experienced impacts from shoreline erosion and flooding during previous high water-level events in 1972-73 and 1985-86, this study is the first comprehensive attempt to catalogue those impacts," said Dr. Patrick Lawrence, professor and chair of the UToledo Department of Geography and Planning and Kostecky's faculty advisor.

The study shows 50% of the responding parks were impacted by both shoreline erosion and flooding, with the most common type of damage being to boat launches and building structures that were flooded, and roads near dunes washed away by waves.

Total cost of damage for 55% of the parks was $50,000 or less.

As a result of the damage, parks implemented a variety of changes for public safety last year: sections of the park were closed, select park operations were canceled, and some visitor education programs were suspended.

Great Lakes water levels peaked in July 2019, with increases varying between 14 and 31 inches above their long-term averages; Lake Superior was at 14 inches above its average, while Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario were at 31 inches above average, Lawrence said.

"The water levels in the Great Lakes fluctuate, but they don't fluctuate rapidly, so it's hard to say if we're still in the upswing or on the downswing," Kostecky said. "We won't know if we're continuing to rise or if waters have started to recede for the next couple of years."

The Great Lakes shoreline stretches 10,000 miles around eight U.S. states and Canada.

"Many parks and protected areas in the Great Lakes have struggled with the economic costs and interruptions of their operations, including services and programs for their visitors, and are concerned that as this period of high water levels continues this summer, they will face ongoing challenges in delivering the levels of public access and services to their visitors so eager to explore the parks and enjoy the nature and environment provided by these special spaces," Lawrence said.

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From movies to museum exhibits, the dinosaur Dilophosaurus is no stranger to pop culture. Many probably remember it best from the movie "Jurassic Park," where it's depicted as a venom-spitting beast with a rattling frill around its neck and two paddle-like crests on its head.

The dinosaur in the movie is mostly imagination, but a new comprehensive analysis of Dilophosaurus fossils is helping to set the record straight. Far from the small lizard-like dinosaur in the movies, the actual Dilophosaurus was the largest land animal of its time, reaching up to 20 feet in length, and it had much in common with modern birds.

The analysis was published open access in the Journal of Paleontology on July 7.

Dilophosaurus lived 183 million years ago during the Early Jurassic. Despite big-screen fame, scientists knew surprisingly little about how the dinosaur looked or fit into the family tree, until now.

"It's pretty much the best, worst-known dinosaur," said lead author Adam Marsh. "Until this study, nobody knew what Dilophosaurus looked like or how it evolved."

Seeking answers to these questions, Marsh conducted an analysis of the five most-complete Dilophosaurus specimens while earning his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences. He is now the lead paleontologist at Petrified Forest National Park.

The analysis is co-authored by Jackson School Professor Timothy Rowe, who discovered two of the five Dilophosaurus specimens that were studied.

The study adds clarity to a muddled research record that reaches back to the first Dilophosaurus fossil to be discovered, the specimen that set the standard for all following Dilophosaurus discoveries. That fossil was rebuilt with plaster, but the 1954 paper describing the find isn't clear about what was reconstructed - a fact that makes it difficult to determine how much of the early work was based on the actual fossil record, Marsh said.

Early descriptions characterize the dinosaur as having a fragile crest and weak jaws, a description that influenced the depiction of Dilophosaurus in the "Jurassic Park" book and movie as a svelte dinosaur that subdued its prey with venom.

But Marsh found the opposite. The jawbones show signs of serving as scaffolding for powerful muscles. He also found that some bones were mottled with air pockets, which would have helped reinforce the skeleton, including its dual crest.

"They're kind of like bubble wrap - the bone is protected and strengthened," Marsh said.

These air sacs are not unique to Dilophosaurus. Modern birds and the world's most massive dinosaurs also have bones filled with air. In both cases, the air sacs lighten the load, which helped big dinosaurs manage their bulky bodies and birds take to the skies.

Many birds use the air sacs to perform other functions, from inflating stretchy areas of skin during mating rituals, to creating booming calls and dispersing heat. The intricate array of air pockets and ducts that extend from Dilophosaurus' sinus cavity into its crests means that the dinosaur may have been able to perform similar feats with its headgear.

All the specimens Marsh examined came from the Kayenta Formation in Arizona and belong to the Navajo Nation. The University of California Museum of Paleontology holds in trust three of the specimens. The Jackson School Museum of Earth History holds the two discovered by Rowe.

"One of the most important responsibilities of our museum is curation," said Matthew Brown, director of the Vertebrate Paleontology Collections. "We are very excited to help share these iconic Navajo Nation fossils with the world through research and educational outreach, as well as preserve them for future generations."

To learn more about how the fossils compared with one another, Marsh recorded hundreds of anatomical characteristics of each fossil. He then used an algorithm to see how the specimens compared with the first fossil - which confirmed that they were indeed all Dilophosaurus.

The algorithm also revealed that there's a significant evolutionary gap between Dilophosaurus and its closest dinosaur relatives, which indicates there are probably many other relatives yet to be discovered.

The revised Dilophosaurus record will help paleontologists better identify specimens going forward. Marsh said that the research is already being put into action. In the midst of his analysis, he discovered that a small braincase in the Jackson School's collections belonged to a Dilophosaurus.

"We realized that it wasn't a new type of dinosaur, but a juvenile Dilophosaurus, which is really cool," Marsh said.

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The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Jackson School and the University of California Museum of Paleontology.

Field work on the Navajo Nation was conducted under a permit from the Navajo Nation Minerals Department. Any persons wishing to conduct geological investigations on the Navajo Nation must first apply for and receive a permit from the Navajo Nation Minerals Department, P.O. Box 1910, Window Rock, Arizona 86515 and Telephone No. (928) 871-6587.
A new space race is underway throughout the globe and the renewed interest in space exploration is trickling down to the Robotic Technology Center at West Virginia University in a big way.

Maxar Technologies, a trusted partner and innovator in earth intelligence and space infrastructure, has announced over $2 million in funding for the Robotic Technology Center, from the $142 million NASA funded project, to assist them in performing the first in-space assembly demonstration of a satellite using a lightweight robotic arm.

Giacomo Marani, program manager and research engineer at the robotic technology center, explained that in this new Maxar project, known as SPIDER (Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot), the robotic arm will be attached to the satellite servicing spacecraft bus being built by Maxar for NASA's OSAM-1 mission (On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing Mission 1).

SPIDER will assemble multiple antenna reflector elements into one large antenna reflector. This revolutionary process allows satellites, telescopes and other systems to use larger and more powerful components that might not fit into a standard rocket fairing when fully assembled.

Over the past decade, the Robotic Technology Center, operated by the West Virginia University Research Corporation, in collaboration withNASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Maxar, have been developing techniques to robotically capture and refuel a satellite in low Earth orbit.

"Together, we are developing a system that will rendezvous with, grasp, refuel and relocate a government owned satellite for the purpose of extending its life," Marani said. "Most satellites were not designed to be serviced, so you need sensing solutions and complex robotic control algorithms that allow you to service and interact with something that was not made to do so."

The robotic technology center will establish an independent verification of SPIDER's capabilities through performance studies to increase the reliability of in-space assembly tasks as part of the project.

The technologies developed under SPIDER could ultimately enable entirely new architectures and space assembly infrastructure for a wide range of government and commercial missions, including self-assembling commercial satellites, human space exploration to the Moon and onto Mars under the Artemis program and in-space telescope assembly.

"We hope that if we are widely successful in our piece of this exciting effort, it will bring new opportunities for entrepreneurial and economic expansion here in the state of West Virginia and the continued growth of business and government facilities for related high-tech space activities in north central West Virginia. This is a great place for company expansion," said Gene Cilento, principal investigator and research professor of chemical engineering in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

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Irish Foreign Minister Coveney has warned that a full trade agreement with the UK is unrealistic in the time available and further delays in making headway will make the final outcome less attractive for the UK.

UK/EU trade talks resumed in London on Monday following last weeks talks which ended a day earlier than scheduled after a planned meeting between EU Chief Negotiator Barnier and UK counterpart Frost were cancelled.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Irish Foreign Minister Coveney has emphasised difficulties in reaching an agreement and reiterated points made by Barnier throughout the past few weeks. In particular, Coveney claims that the UK government is not sticking to the political declaration agreed last year.

Until the British side actually approaches the negotiation in a way that's consistent with what they committed to doing at the start of this negotiation when the when the political declaration was signed, it's hard to see how we make progress.

Coveney also echoed Barnier with comments that the UK is looking to secure a basic deal and smaller deals in other sectors while the EU is continuing to insist on an overall package agreed at the same time

What the EU is insisting on is that there'll be a package of things that are all agreed and prioritised and at the same time. Because if you don't have a level playing field - it is not fair competition between businesses in the EU single market and in the UK - well then you cannot have contact barrier-free trade between the two, he said.

Coveney also warned that time is running out and he was candid in what could and what could not be agreed in the timeframe available.

There are 11 different areas where there are negotiations taking place, all in parallel with each other. The idea we can get agreement on all 11 is totally unrealistic, he says candidly.

What is possible, though, is a basic trade deal that avoids the introduction of tariffs and quotas, which is very important in an Irish perspective, which is what WTO trading rules would probably result in if there was no deal."

Status quo not an option even with a deal

It is often the case, that trade talks are portrayed as a binary situation  either there will be an agreement or there wont be.

It is, however, important to note that there will be important changes to the UK/EU trade relationship even if agreement is reached. This is particularly important given that the land border between the EU single market and UK will be on the Republic of Ireland/Northern Ireland border.

Coveney commented; And no matter what happens here we're going to require customs checks in Irish ports and in our airports, and we're going to have to have other checks as well on live animals, and on standards checks and so on goods coming from the UK."

A basic free-trade deal would remove the threat of wide-ranging tariffs, but there will still be an element of friction in trade for goods and trade in services will inevitably be more complex.

The most likely outcome is that the worst-case outcome is avoided, but the UK will still face a less favourable short-term trade environment which will lessen the potential for a Sterling recovery. Fears of only a very basic agreement will also intensify if talks continue to make little headway.

Credit Suisse maintains a bullish outlook on EUR/GBP as long as long as the pair holds above 0.9000.

Resistance is seen at 0.9082 initially, then 0.9146/48, above which can see a retest of 0.9178/84. Beyond here in due course can see resistance next at 0.9277, then the 78.6% retracement at 0.9323. Beyond here can eventually expose the 0.9501 high for the year from March.

EUR/GBP advanced to 0.9050 in early New York on Tuesday with the pair driven by a EUR/USD advance to 2-week highs above 1.1320.
AUD/USD is the worst performer on exchange rate markets for a variety of reasons.

Melbourne is to enter a stage 3 lockdown for six weeks and the RBA eyes growth downgrades next year.

Medium-term the trend remains up and the pair is in a sideways consolidation.

Markets are pulling back slightly in early Tuesday trading, but there is a wide divergence between US and European stock markets which are underperforming. Even in the US, sectors are trading very different paths and highs flyers such as tesla (TSLA), and Amazon (AMZN) have made huge gains while banks, airlines and other sectors are treading water.

Currencies meanwhile are more uniform and it is no surprise to see the USD higher as stocks and oil are declining. Tuesdays worst performer is the AUDUSD as not only is it reacting to risk off sentiment, but the RBA meeting on Tuesday morning sent a dovish message and some areas of Australia have had to lockdown again.

Ozzie Stalling

Logically, every trend must eventually end. Is the post-march uptrend in AUDUSD finally over? A new high hasnt been made since the 9th June and there is big resistance at the early 2020 highs around 0.7. Certainly, the backdrop does not seem to support more gains just yet. The RBA meeting on Tuesday morning outlined some of the challenges ahead and made clear that it will keep rates at 0.25% for some time. The statement described the outlook as highly uncertain and this is will adversely affect consumption and investment plans. Yet on the whole the statement leaned on the positive side and there was again a reference to the crisis not being bad as first thought with a slight change in language. As Westpac point out,

The assessment in July confirms the theme in the June Board meeting (it is possible that the depth of the downturn will be less than earlier expected) with, Conditions have stabilised recently and the downturn has been less severe than earlier expected.

The statement makes no reference to the very recent lockdown of Melbourne which will enter stage 3 lockdown for six weeks and will be a drag to the economy. The state of Victoria recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus, a new record.

Premier Daniel Andrews said,

We have to be realistic about the circumstances we confront. We have to be clear with each other that this is not over. And pretending that it is over is not the answer.

The Melbourne outbreak may turn out to be localized and no further lockdowns needed. This seems to be the way governments are handling the crisis and entire countries are unlikely to need the same restrictions. Even so, outbreaks such as Melbourne are likely to crop up again and make it hard for economies to bounce back fully.

Revisions Higher and Lower

How much further lockdowns could hurt the economy is still an unknown. But assuming they are localized and brief, then the economic projections from the RBA for 2020 are likely to be revised higher. Tuesdays statement made reference to this, as Westpac point out:

Growth through to December 2020 is also likely to be revised up from minus six per cent to nearer Westpacs forecast of around minus four per cent.

This was already expected given the optimism shown in Junes statement about the severity of the downturn, but what was perhaps not expected, and could be contributing to the AUDs underperformance on Tuesday, is the potential downgrade in growth for 2021.

[the revision higher] will be largely offset by a considerable reduction in the 2021 growth forecast of six per cent (Westpacs forecast is three per cent).

Overall, there was good and bad in the statement and this could be why the AUD is consolidating a sideways range in the medium-term.
Pound Sterling Rallies as EU concession on fishing injects fresh hope into UK/EU Brexit trade talks, chief negotiators to dine with PM Johnson

EU and UK chief trade negotiators will have dinner at Downing Street on Tuesday with the opportunity to build on the EU fishing concession. Sterling has regained ground and markets will be watching the rhetoric after todays meeting very closely.

Chief Negotiator Barnier has confirmed that the EU is willing to make concessions on fishing policy, a key stumbling block in wider EU/UK trade talks.

According to Barnier, the EU could agree to the use of zonal attachment provided that it was coupled with other factors such as considering economic damage on coastal communities.

The UK has persistently argued for zonal attachment as it would benefit UK fisherman given climate changes. Since the Common Fisheries Policy catch shares were set in the 1970s and 1980s, there has been an increase in fish in UK waters due to changes in water temperatures.

Under zonal attachment, British catches will be determined by scientific evidence on stock levels in UK waters.

The EU side has conceded that the policy requirement that EU boats be given the same access to UK waters was clearly not balanced.

According to Barnier, "We must take account of that, but of other parameters as well: historic fishing rights, sometimes dating back many centuries; the economic interests of coastal fishing communities in the EU and the UK; and international rules from the UN on biodiversity.

He also stated in the transcript that Brussels was willing to be more creative in other areas to keep negotiations moving forward.

The fishing concession was made on June 23rd, although the transcript has only been released this week. According to Barnier, I am waiting with much patience for a reply from the British side.

There was also a warning that; If there is no response, there will be no agreement on fisheries and no agreement on trade.

He added: You can discuss fishing stocks regularly every year in the light of the scientific advice, so that we can protect resources and biodiversity, but negotiating access to waters and the fish in those waters every year would be impossible for 100-odd species.

According to a UK government spokesman, Barnier and UK counterpart Frost will have dinner at Downing Street on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Johnson has called for an injection of urgency into the talks and this will be a key opportunity to look at areas of potential compromise.

Negotiators during May and June complained that virtual negotiations were difficult and the more informal face-to-face talks will be a crucial forum for finding a way forward, especially as Johnson will be keen to gain kudos for any breakthrough.

It was his personal meeting with Irish Prime Minister Varadkar last year that triggered the Brexit agreement compromise.

Sterling lost ground in early Europe as risk appetite deteriorated with Sterling/dollar retreating to near 1.2460.

The UK currency has, however, gained ground ahead of the New York open with Sterling/dollar challenging resistance above 1.2525 after breaking back above 1.2500 while Euro/Sterling has retreated to 0.9015 from 0.9040.

According to Commerzbanks Axel Rudolph; GBP/USD has recovered from the 1.2251 late June low and targets the 1.2643/88 resistance area which constitutes the April highs and the 200-day moving average. According to Rudolph, gains are liable to stall at this area.
Posted Tuesday, July 7, 2020 11:41 am

International students going to college in the United States may have to leave the country or transfer to another college if their schools decide to teach all classes online, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Monday.

If the coronavirus worsens and causes more schools to close campuses and move online, as they did in spring, the decision could affect thousands of college students in Washington.

But so far, only one public state institution -- Eastern Washington University -- has announced plans to teach all of its fall classes online. The rest of the state's two- and four-year colleges and universities plan to teach using a hybrid model, with some classes online and some classes in-person.

Washington colleges and universities play host to thousands of international students who come here to earn a degree. In fall 2018, the latest year for which figures are available, there were more than 27,000 international students studying in Washington, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE).

Among all states, Washington ranks 11th for the number of international students who study here. The University of Washington is the largest draw, with 9,311 international students studying there in fall 2018, according to IIE.

Several Puget Sound-area community colleges also hosted more than a thousand international students each, including Green River, Seattle Central and Edmonds community colleges, in 2018. International students typically pay significantly more than in-state students and provide a major source of revenue for the institutions.

The policy, described as a temporary exemption for the fall 2020 semester, says the U.S. Department of State "will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States." Students now in the United States will have to leave the country, or transfer to a school with in-person instruction, if their school teaches all classes online.

According to the release, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to publish the procedures and responsibilities in the Federal Register as a temporary final rule.

___
GBP/ZAR Exchange Rate Rises as the SARB is Dovish About South Africas Economic Recovery

The Pound to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange rate soared today, with the pairing currently trading around R21.45.

The South African Rand (ZAR) has continued to struggle from fears over the coronavirus doubling rate in South Africa. As a result, ZAR traders are becoming increasingly concerned that the nations economic recovery could be much slower than previously forecast.

South Africa currently has the highest percentage daily increase  or doubly rate  in the world.

Meanwhile, South African Reserve Bank (SARB) deputy governor Kuben Naidoo has been critical of the nations ability to afford the supplementary coronavirus budget. Consequently, this has escalated fears of a harder recession for South Africa in the months ahead.

Mr Naidoo commented:

Unless we demonstrate that we can repay our debts, at a point in future we will be unable to raise the amounts we need to tackle the devastating economic consequences of Covid-19.

Would we like to spend more? Of course, yes. Would we like to have the luxury of more time in which to reduce the deficit? Of course, yes. But because we have mismanaged our finances over the past decade; we do not have such luxuries.

However, fears over a resurgence in the coronavirus has weighed on appetite for risky assets like the South African Rand today. As a result, we expected to see the ZAR/GBP exchange rate to remain subdued throughout the course of Tuesdays session.

Pound (GBP) Rises as UK Mortgage Applications Rise in June

The Pound (GBP) soared against the weaker South African Rand (ZAR) today despite a dip in house prices. Instead, investors were more optimistic after British mortgage applications had increased in June.

Halifax managing director Russell Galley commented that UK house prices would likely continue to dip, adding:

The near-term outlook points to a continuation of the recent modest downward trend in prices through the third quarter of the year.

However, concerns are beginning to return for the British economy after the European Commission (EC) included the UK in its new Summer Forecasts, predicting a deeper recession for the UK this year.

The Commission commented:

Business investment, however, is expected to catch up more gradually, due to pressure on balance sheets as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the continued uncertainty about future of EU-UK trading relations. Net exports are expected to negatively contribute to growth, while government consumption is expected to make a positive contribution.

GBP/ZAR Outlook: Could Risk-Off Markets Continue to Drag Down ZAR?

The South African Rand (ZAR) will remain sensitive to risk-appetite this week. Any signs of a possible vaccine for Covid-19  or a slump in the number of cases  would prove ZAR-positive.

Pound (GBP) investors will be looking ahead to tomorrows release of the RICS Housing Price Balance figure for June. If this remains in negative territory, then we could see GBP begin to shed some of its gains.

The GBP/ZAR exchange rate will likely continue to edge higher this week, with investors becoming increasingly concerned over a possible second wave of coronavirus cases. As a result, markets will likely remain wary over the risk-sensitive South African Rand.
Tuesday, July 7, 2020

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France's Emmanuel Macron reshuffled his government Monday, setting his new team the mission of rescuing an economy wrecked by the coronavirus.

Back in February, before the pandemic struck, France was boasting newfound control of public finances, faster growth than the euro-area average, the lowest unemployment in more than a decade, and a best-in-class record for luring foreign investors.

Four months on, the country is staring into the abyss. Output collapsed during the lockdown, debt has surged to dangerous levels, and job destruction has been massive.

After naming little-known Jean Castex as prime minister last week, Macron retained his trusted finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, for the task of rebuilding. Le Maire gets added responsibility for "recovery" in his portfolio and will be backed by three junior ministers focusing on public finances, industry and small companies. Jean-Yves Le Drian, a veteran socialist, stays on as foreign affairs minister.

"I am aware of the crushing task at a time when France is confronting the most serious economic crisis since 1929," Le Maire said Tuesday at a ceremony to mark his reappointment. "My roadmap is clear and simple: it will be recovery -- morning, noon and night."

The first step for Macron and Le Maire will be to deliver on a pledge for far-reaching stimulus this summer, in addition to a series of targeted plans for the aircraft, auto and tourism sectors.

"The president needs to explain his plans quickly," said Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux, head of France's business federation, Medef, at the annual Rencontres Economiques conference this weekend. "Every day that goes by costs money in terms of public finances, and above all economic agents need confidence."

A central problem for Macron, however, is how to deliver a boost to the economy without adding to the country's debt burden. The 42-year-old president never managed to reduce France's public borrowing before the crisis, leaving him at a disadvantage compared with Germany and other countries in northern Europe.

"Germany has become Keynesian, with a countercyclical fiscal policy of rebuilding margins for maneuver when things are going well and bringing down debt," Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said at the same conference just before the government reshuffle. "Germany managed to do that, France didn't."

To clean up the country's finances, Le Maire has said his administration is working on separating extra public debt built up during crisis from the existing stock.

"There is a real question about public finances and debt levels in France -- we will address that," Le Maire said Tuesday. "It is out of the question that the economic recovery will come at the expense of French public finances in the long term."

But the vehicle he has sketched out, which would delay paying the debt, has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers who say it's just a way to avoid addressing France's problems of high public spending and low productivity.

"It's a funny way of saying I don't want to look -- shut your eyes, cover your ears and get back to life like it was before," said Eric Woerth, the head of the finance committee at France's National Assembly. "We never repair things, we are just plugging holes all the time."

The president has repeatedly promised voters that he will "reinvent" himself following the crisis and has already announced a massive investment in public hospitals and made a plea to green voters. So far, he's pledged an extra 15 billion euros ($17 billion) over the next two years to speed up the shift toward a greener economy.

To deliver on a greener agenda, Macron appointed Barbara Pompili as minister for an ecological transition. Pompili was previously president of the sustainable development committee at the National Assembly and served in the government of Macron's predecessor, Francois Hollande.

Greenpeace welcomed Macron's pick, but said she would probably have little impact on policies and the structure of the promised stimulus plan.

"To be credible, Emmanuel Macron will have to change his policy more than his government," the group said by email. "Macron's 'new path' looks like another dead-end for the environment."

Since taking office in 2017, Macron had pushed through a flurry of pro-business measures, cutting taxes on capital to spur investment, rewriting laws to make labor more flexible, and overhauling training to tailor skills to employers' needs.

But the agenda was half complete, and in the crisis Macron has further lost support for his plans, including an overhaul of pensions to create a universal pension system.

"There's such opposition to this in the country," said Laurent Berger, Secretary-General of the reformist CFDT union that had previously backed the plans. "We don't want to see this blowing up in our faces over the summer or in the fall."

The crisis has also forced Macron to delay changes to jobless benefits that would have pared back welfare for some. With unemployment set to rise sharply, unions are calling for the changes to be permanently scrapped.

"These shock absorbers are useful in a crisis," said Philippe Martinez, leader of the leftist CGT union. "Sticking with the reform of unemployment welfare is living in yesterday's world."
(Bloomberg) -- Novavax Inc., one of the front-runners in the race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, will receive $1.6 billion from the U.S. government, the biggest contribution yet from the Operation Warp Speed program.

The funds will allow the company to conduct advanced human studies and establish manufacturing to deliver 100 million doses as soon as late 2020, Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Novavax said in a statement.

Shares of Novavax rose as much as 41%, the highest since September 2016, in Tuesday trading.

Novavax is among companies striving to develop an inoculation against the novel coronavirus thats spreading quickly in countries including the U.S., India and Mexico. President Donald Trumps Warp Speed program has backed efforts at a number of companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc, to get doses as early as possible.

Operation Warp Speed seeks to compress a process that is typically years long into a matter of months. The drive is being led by General Gustave Perna, who directs the U.S. Army Materiel Command, and former GlaxoSmithKline Plc executive Moncef Slaoui.

Spike Protein

The funds will help Novavax begin a final-stage study of its vaccine candidate as early as this fall, with as many as 30,000 subjects, according to the statement.

The biotech company earlier secured as much as $388 million in May from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the single largest contribution from the organization at the time. The companys vaccine candidate is meant to provoke the production of antibodies that block the spike protein the coronavirus uses to infect host cells.

Separately, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. secured a $450 million award from the program under the auspices of the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA. The Tarrytown, N.Y.-based company will use the funds to scale up production of an antibody cocktail to prevent infection.

Analysts are expecting results from Regenerons antibody program sometime in the third quarter. Novavax, which has yet to commercialize a medicine or vaccine, plans to report a first look at its results in patients later this month.

Drug companies and university researchers are investigating more than 140 experimental inoculations, according to the World Health Organization. Moderna, Pfizer and the University of Oxford, working with AstraZeneca, are among the companies and institutions that have started studies of their vaccines in healthy patients.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Make Russia Great Again

By Christopher Buckley

Simon & Schuster. 275 pp. $28

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Until now, President Donald Trump has avoided being fully captured by novelists simply by behaving worse than any of them could fathom. But the great fiction writers who stormed the White House over the past few years share some of the blame, too. Howard Jacobson, Salman Rushdie and Dave Eggers all took steady aim at the bloated target, but in their satirical novels, anger curdled their humor and ultimately blunted their barbs.

Christopher Buckley is not angry about Donald Trump. He sounds instead as delighted as a fly discovering the world's largest pile of manure. The comic genius behind such classics as "Thank You for Smoking" has given us an outrageously funny novel equal to the absurdity roiling Washington. The explosion of topical gags in "Make Russia Great Again" will - one hopes - someday require a host of footnotes to explain, but let the future worry about that. Typically, comedy is tragedy plus time. For now, we'll have to make do with tragedy plus Buckley.

A brief Author's Note states, "Any person finding any resemblance between themselves and persons depicted herein should probably be ashamed." There is no index to "Make Russia Great Again," so power players in D.C. will have to direct their secretaries to scan the pages to see whether they've been cursed with a cameo. Some characters appear under slight corruptions of their real names, like Ivunka and Jored, who "looked like his own Madame Tussauds waxwork." Others are thinly disguised, such as Trump's "vice prevaricator" Katie Borgia-O'Reilly, whose husband is constantly disparaging the president, or Trump's chief speechwriter, Stefan Nacht von Nebel, author of the "thought-provoking essay, 'The Final Solution to the Mexican Problem.' " And still others get deliciously Dickensian names, like the beloved Fox commentator Mr. Corky Fartmartin and Trump's most obsequious supporter, South Carolina Sen. Squigg Lee Biskitt, whose "ability to adapt was beyond even Darwin's imagination."

Silly? Bigly.

Our narrator through this thicket of zaniness is Herb Nutterman, Donald Trump's "favorite Jew." At the start of the story, Herb is comfortably retired after working 27 years in hospitality for Trump resorts. Then he gets a phone call: The Very Stable Genius wants him to come back and be his White House chief of staff. Loyal but not political, Herb is the perfect wide-eyed guide over the next several months of international intrigue and bonkers incompetence. The work is exhausting but exhilarating. "I was at ground zero," Herb tells us from prison where he's composing this memoir, like so many other members of the Trump White House Alumni Felon Association.

The madcap plot reads like Nancy Pelosi's birthday wish. U.S. Cyber Command discovers that one of its artificial intelligence programs called Placid Reflux has gone rogue. Noticing that the United States never responded to Russian interference in our 2016 election, Placid Reflux secretly retaliates by interfering in the Russian election. The U.S. intelligence community is terrified that Trump will find out and shut them down, or that Putin will find out and reveal what he has on Trump. (Spoiler alert: The "grabbing" was videotaped. Eighteen times.)

As the president's most dedicated servant, Herb is charged with placating Putin by secretly negotiating with Oleg Pishinsky, a Russian oligarch who dispatches his enemies with a nerve agent the CIA calls "Oil of Oleg." Herb has little training in high-level espionage, but his years in the hospitality field have prepared him to deal courteously with murderous personalities.

There's much to choose from here, but perhaps the funniest aspect of "Make Russia Great Again" is how calmly Herb conveys the craziness of the Trump administration. With the unruffled decorum of a five-star resort manager, he describes all the complicated maneuvers needed to entertain a president who does not read, who cannot concentrate for more than a few minutes and who will not listen to anything but soliloquies comparing him to "Napoleon, or God." The big rally that Trump wants in Testicle, Ohio, may strain the staff's organizational expertise, but Herb is never anything less than brightly complimentary as he watches his boss strong-arm Sen. Biskitt into attending. "I marveled at the president's powers of persuasion," he says. "Come with me to Testicle, Squiggly, is up there with 'I have seen the promised land.' I got goose bumps."

"Make Russia Great Again" usually stays cloistered within the padded cell that has become our executive branch, but periodically Buckley peers out at the red-capped zealots cheering on the president across the country. Herb notes that "the Ever Trumpers started showing up on Fifth Avenue with their bull's-eye shirts saying, 'Shoot me, Mr. Trump!' . . . Politics is supposed to be a cynical business, but it warmed my heart to see such devotion."

There's a Twain-like quality to this loyal naif who skewers without intending to. While "Make Russia Great Again" rushes along from one folly to the next, Herb's increasingly pained efforts to see only the bright side of Trump's reign is the joke that keeps on winning. Amid the twin economic and health catastrophes of our era, Buckley has done the impossible: Made Politics Funny Again. Laughter may not be the best medicine for covid-19, but it's a heck of a lot better than bleach.

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Charles writes about books for The Washington Post and hosts TotallyHipVideoBookReview.com.
Amy Bearce tries to inject a little magic into all her books, which are aimed at middle schoolers.

Escapism is always welcome, but it may be even more enticing during these trying times.

We need some hope, so I want people to feel good and hopeful when they read my books, said Bearce, 46, who lives in Schertz. We definitely need books that deal with hard issues for young people. Im happy to write the ones we can have fun with.

Bearce, whose work includes the World of Aluvia series, which takes place in a reality with fairies and merfolk, has set her latest novel squarely in the real world.

In Paris on Repeat ($11.99, North Star Editions), which goes on sale July 14, 14-year-old Eve Hollis finds herself stuck in a Groundhog Day-type loop, trapped in the day in which she reveals her feelings to her big crush. (Spoiler alert: She does not get the kind of response anyone would want to relive.)

On ExpressNews.com: S.A. writers buzzy Cinderella is Dead updates the fairy tale

Much of the action takes place during a school trip to Paris. The magical aspect of the story started percolating when Bearce visited the City of Love with her family. She and her younger daughter, Keira, were chatting about the famed love locks, padlocks bearing the names of the lovers who attach them to the bridges across the Seine as an expression of their passion.

My kid actually said, What would happen if you broke one of those? And I thought, what would happen? Bearce said. Thats what happens in the book  she does break a love lock.

Bearce often seeks the advice of both of her daughters  Keira, 14, and Julia, 16  to make sure the details in her books ring true for young readers.

Each also helps in other ways. Bearce chats about stories with Keira  She is a wonderful writer herself  and gets advice from Julia on social media posts.

Im fortunate to have such a supportive family, she said.

In addition to the perspectives of her daughters, Bearce draws on her time as a reading teacher, including working with seventh-graders at Kirby Junior High School, and as a school librarian at Millers Point Elementary School.

She is particularly fond of middle schoolers  I love that age; theyre figuring out who they are, and they have a funny sense of humor  and likes writing for them, though when she was getting started, her first few books were initially built around 16-year-olds and aimed at slightly older readers.

With my first publisher, the editor was like, This has a sweetness to it, and were wondering how youd feel if we aged it down to 14 or 15, she said. Its a fantasy world, so you can do that. That book was my first experience with aging down a story.

She was asked to do the same for Shortcuts, a book featuring characters with psychic powers. Paris on Repeat was always written with a 14-year-old protagonist.

Bearce has some things in common with Eve and other characters in Paris on Repeat, including a military family. Her own youthful travels included time in Stuttgart, Germany, where she lived during her last two years of high school and where she met her husband, Jonathan, who is with the Air Force civil service.

Those experiences  as well as the traveling she has done as an adult, including a few years living in and exploring Europe  helped her add dimension to the characters.

Theyre military kids living overseas, said Bearce, the daughter of a soldier who served for 30 years. They all understand this idea of not having a lot of time in one place, so youve got to make the most of it while youre there.

Making the characters military kids felt like a natural part of the story, since it was going to be set in Paris, and average kids dont get to fly to Paris, she added.

The School Library Journal noted the military family angle in a write-up about the book, describing it as a great read for military children, kids of divorce, or any middle grade reader who needs encouragement and a reminder that they are capable of more than they realize.

Bearce started writing as a child, though that had fallen by the wayside by the time she got to high school. She didnt take it up again until she had children. While staying at home with them, she started writing short passages for school reading assessments as a freelancer.

I discovered that I really liked doing that. I enjoyed telling these stories, she said.

There were some restrictions on those stories, though: I could not use magic, because it was a state test, and I couldnt really have romance in there.

On ExpressNews.com: SA museums have beefed up their online content for parents, educators

So she started writing stories for herself that included those elements. As she got more serious about her writing, she joined the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators, a professional organization devoted to those who create books for young readers. The group helped her sharpen her skills and figure out how to get her work published.

She now writes full time.

I love the world of education, but what Ive learned about myself is that Im such an introvert, teaching regularly takes too much out of me to leave much energy for anything else, she said. I might return to library work later on. I do miss it, but writing full time has been the best fit for me and my family right now.

She has published three World of Aluvia books  Fairy Keeper, Mer-Charmer and Dragon Redeemer  and enjoyed working on a series in which she could continue exploring a world she had created.

A sequel to Paris on Repeat, titled Rome Reframed, is slated for release in February. Theres a possibility for a third book in the series as well.

As her daughters grow up, she might start writing for older readers, she said.

Its a possibility, because they are so much my frame of reference, she said. Im working on a ghost story, and its solidly middle grade.

Im not sure what the future will hold.

Deborah Martin is an arts writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Deborah, become a subscriber. dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
Posted Tuesday, July 7, 2020 11:37 am

Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis is introducing legislation to divert police funding into creating a new mental health and substance addiction first-responder program, where unarmed medics and crisis workers would respond to reports of people in mental health crisis.

In the middle of continuing protests in Seattle and around the country where protesters have called for defunding police, Lewis sees this new response replacing police in these situations and lowering police caseloads.

"We need a new leg of the stool," Lewis said. "When there's a building on fire, we don't send the police, we send the fire department... when someone has a stroke, we send an ambulance."

Lewis wants the council to consider cutting SPD's funding to pay for such a program this summer.

In his announcement, Lewis cited a program from Eugene, Oregon, called Crisis Assistance Helping Out On the Streets, or CAHOOTS, which is privately run by a local nonprofit and has taken on almost a fifth of 911 calls to law enforcement, only a tiny fraction of which require them to then call the police, according to the organization.

Following George Floyd's death in Minnesota, CAHOOTS has been covered extensively by national media, and programs like it have been proposed or stood up in Portland, Oregon, Oakland, California, and Denver, Colorado.

King County already has a similar program, called the Mobile Crisis Team and run by shelter and housing provider Downtown Emergency Services Center (DESC), but it's not hardwired into the 911 system -- most of the referrals come from police who show up and then call the team, according to Dan Malone, executive director of DESC.

That team has only 38 members and already responds to around a dozen calls a day, Malone said.

"It's busy as it is in the current configuration, so if you create a more direct way for them to be dispatched to crisis events, you're probably going to need to increase the size," Malone said.

Other referrals come from fire, EMS or the county's 24-hour crisis line, 866-4CRISIS, which anyone can call.

Last year, Mayor Jenny Durkan also piloted a similar program out of the Fire Department, a team of social workers and firefighters called Health One. This team is part of 911 response, but responds to nonemergencies: As of February, the team had helped 275 people but the number of calls they responded to was not immediately available; another team was added this summer.

Some critics in Oregon have pointed out that simply taking the responsibility away from police is not enough, that nonprofits can still discriminate against Black and Indigenous people, and that a response should be designed and developed with input from the community. Lane County, which CAHOOTS services, is almost 90 percent white according to the census.

Council President Lorena Gonzalez said in a council briefing that the city shouldn't just look at the CAHOOTS model, but should also survey other cities and engage the community in what the response should look like.

"I hope in the conversation moving forward we can not get fixated on just one particular model but have a thoughtful conversation about what model might be best for the city of Seattle," Gonzalez said.

Lewis' legislation is still in early stages and he said he's very open to input on how the new program should look. But he also said that "every day we delay puts our neighbors at risk."

"There are friends in mind who I have lost to suicide who could still be here today if there had been a service like this," Lewis said.

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The Zoom calls last as long as four hours. They link two Democrats and two Republicans assigned to craft a bipartisan police accountability bill in the midst of the pandemic that forced Connecticut lawmakers from the State Capitol in March.

A member of the quartet tracks the status of the various provisions on a color-coded spread sheet: Consensus items are marked green; yellow signifies issues unresolved, but not unsolvable; red is reserved for ideas at a stop.

Later this week, their colleagues are expected to get a first look at the draft of the bill they produced in response to the police killing of George Floyd for consideration in a special session expected to begin as soon as July 15 under circumstances that are still evolving.

Only two things are clear: there will be a substantive police accountability bill, and a separate measure clarifying in statute the ability of voters to use absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic if they are uncomfortable going to the polls in November.

Uncertain is whether the agenda will grow to address broader social and economic justice issues, COVIDs impact on state finances, or any of the many items in progress when the regular session was suspended and then ultimately adjourned without further action.

Its going to be a short session in the middle of a COVID crisis, said Gov. Ned Lamont, who has urged lawmakers to stay focused. But well see what we can get done.

Reinventing the legislature

A more fundamental question: How will the legislature function?

House and Senate leaders are contemplating changing the rules to allow limited remote voting, at least for the 151-member House, whose computerizing voting system and tally board were updated in the previous term.

The new technology allows the lower chambers members to cast votes from their offices in the adjacent Legislative Office Building. The Senate system was not updated, and voting most likely will be done by every senator pushing a button in the chamber.

House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said debates and votes most likely would be choreographed to limit the number of legislators in the chamber at any one time, holding the legislature to same COVID-19 restrictions as faced by businesses.

Were looking at models of what other states have done. Members may come in and vote in shifts, said Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven.

Another possibility is to have the 36 senators meet in the larger House chamber, Looney said. Whatever is decided, the plan is not to have the two chambers meet on the same day, with the exception of the opening day when new rules must be adopted.

Getting the rules right is crucial. Passage of rules for any session requires a simple majority, but no amendments are possible without a more difficult two-thirds vote.

There are many ways we can manage this, said House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby.

A detailed bill on police accountability

The quartet at the center of the effort to produce a bipartisan police bill are the leaders of the legislatures Judiciary Committee: the Democratic co-chairs, Sen. Gary Winfield

of New Haven and Rep. Steve Stafstrom of Bridgeport; and the ranking Republicans, Sen. John Kissel of Enfield and Rep. Rosa Rebimbas of Naugatuck.

There is a lot of mutual respect and even friendship among the four of us, said Stafstrom, the lawmaker who devised the spread sheet with the stoplight marking system. Im a firm believer that when all parties are at the table, the end product is a better product  whether that means everybody votes for a bill or not.

Leadership told them to be prepared for a special session on July 15 or 22, and they already have delivered a proposal that is now being drafted as formal legislation. They have logged 23 hours or so Zoom.

Weve been encouraged to act very quickly, Kissel said.

None of the four were willing in interviews last week to identify the items marked green or red, but they readily outlined the parameters of the bill: Use of force policies, such as a likely ban on the use of chokeholds; training and accreditation of police; investigating use of deadly force; and recruitment of a more diverse police force.

Some of the more controversial measures discussed include revisiting when police should enjoy immunity from being personally sued for official actions and whether the legislature should bar the ability of police unions to negotiate contracts limiting the disclosure of complaints or ability to terminate officers.

Legislators say a bipartisan vote would make a strong statement to the police and public about the political commitment behind any reforms. And there is a political desire among most lawmakers to go on record in support of these reforms.

Given the political winds right now, I think everybody wants to have their hands on this, if possible, Winfield said.

Weve been entrusted and directed to attempt to reach a bipartisan proposal, and thats exactly what were doing, Rebimbas said. I think the thing that makes this work among the four of us is the mutual respect we have.

But there are tensions. There is a political divide, a general sense that Democrats want a bill that goes deeper than what might be acceptable to many Republicans. Winfield and Looney said separately that a bipartisan vote is preferable, but not necessary.

The substances takes precedence, Looney said. I would like to see a bipartisan bill, but not if it had to be watered down to get it to be bipartisan.

I hold the same opinion Ive always held on any of these bills: The primary thing is the policy, Winfield said. If we can make it bipartisan, thats great. But the policy remains primary to me.

Winfield added, however, that there is a limit to what the legislature can undertake in a special session during a pandemic.

People think we can fix every part of this, and thats not true. You dont get to tackle everything, Winfield said.

Klarides and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said it is possible to produce a substantive policy on police accountability that would attract significant GOP support.

As of now, they are in a good place, Klarides said.

Weve done a lot of controversial things in the past that were bipartisan, Fasano said. I dont see this as any different.
For the upcoming school year, San Antonio parents will need to decide between keeping their kids learning at home or sending them back to classrooms  where the older ones will have to wear masks.

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Moraths latest guidance on how to reopen schools in the coronavirus era Tuesday brought the state in line with a Trump administration call for classrooms to stay open five days a week. Educators said they still dont know how many parents will embrace that option.

Morath had already decided how to fund school districts that continue to teach students at home, while warning them in recent weeks that they must also offer in-person classroom learning to families that choose it. Tuesdays guidance closed off one option districts were considering: a hybrid approach that would combine remote and classroom learning on different days of the week.

That essentially reduces Texas schools and families to two options, said Brian Woods, the superintendent of Northside Independent School District, which a month ago contemplated rotating groups of students on campus for certain days of the week.

The new guidance reduces flexibility, and because we cant predict the future of the virus, I think giving schools the maximum amount of flexibility is the better way to go, Woods added.

President Donald Trump, at a White House event Tuesday, pressed for American schools to forge ahead with a full reopening of classroom learning and said, Were very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to reopen the schools.

Yuri Gripas /Bloomberg

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, in a conference call with governors earlier in the day, assailed plans by some districts to offer in-person instruction only a few days a week and said schools must be fully operational. Anything less, she said, would fail students and taxpayers.

Ultimately, its not a matter of if schools need to open, its a matter of how.  And how that happens is best left to education and community leaders, DeVos said.

Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox

The White House event was still going on when Morath, on his regular conference call with superintendents, briefed them on the Texas Education Agencys standards for reopening classrooms. In a briefing two weeks ago, he outlined a funding system that would allow school districts to offer families the option of having their kids learn online at home, but postponed specific guidance about classrooms.

Chip Somodevilla /Getty Images

The anticipated guidance offers a glimpse of what daily campus life will look like. Adults and students age 10 and older will wear masks, so long as that provision of Gov. Greg Abbotts recent executive order is in effect, Morath said.

The order will be modified over time, and as it does, our guidance will be modified, Morath said.

Teachers and staff will be required to self-screen daily for the virus by taking their temperatures and answering evaluations before entering the campus. Schools may also screen children, although Morath noted that health experts have said children are far less symptomatic and taking their temperatures is largely ineffective.

Schools must publicly post plans for mitigating the virus at least one week prior to school opening. Parents and staff must be notified if someone on campus tests positive for the virus and schools may close for up to five days to clean in response.

On ExpressNews.com: Texas will administer STAAR test next year, education commissioner says

San Antonio area school leaders have said as many as half of parents in some school districts indicated a preference for online learning, in surveys conducted before the current surge in coronavirus cases. Districts are continuing to poll parents and staff.

The mandate of five days a week for on-campus learning means districts will have to find enough teachers and staff who are comfortable working with groups of students in person.

Northside ISD, the largest in San Antonio with nearly 106,000 students, will survey parents and staff next week and in the week of July 20 will again gauge parents at the campus level. That still leaves a month before the districts first day of school, Aug. 24, and the progress of the pandemic  or of efforts to fight it  could cause parents to change their plans.

The Texas State Teachers Association and its largest local affiliate, the San Antonio Independent School Districts teachers union, said Tuesday it will not be safe to work in schools until the pandemic starts to subside.

Chip Somodevilla /Getty Images

We should not be physically reporting to school unless it is safe and its not safe until cases are declining, said Alejandra Lopez, president of SAISDs union, the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel. While cases continue to rise, it is not safe for us to physically report.

San Antonio has become a virus hot spot on a global scale, and it seems like everyone has been infected or knows someone who has, Lopez said. While children are at relatively low risk, opening schools puts their adult family members, and teachers, in danger of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, she said.

The politicization of this is something that we see through TEA, she said. We see the education commissioner and the governors political interests at play.

On ExpressNews.com: TEA spells out funding for distance learning

Some advocates and education leaders have said school shutdowns harm students who lack the stability or resources to learn from home, but Lopez said teachers and community members should not have to risk their lives to pay for the racism that caused years of underinvestment in those students neighborhoods.

A local parent-led coalition MindshiftEd, meanwhile, has called on schools to, among other things, develop individual learning plans for students who are expected to be months behind academically as a result of the pandemic.

SAISD had been developing possible academic models for the fall that included fully remote learning and in-school options, said Leslie Price, school district spokeswoman. She said the school district is now determining how to balance the student and staff safety requirements.

In Edgewood ISD, Superintendent Eduardo Hernandez said parent feedback has consistently showed the majority of families plan to keep their children at home. The district of about 10,000 students has been communicating with families through surveys and virtual town halls, and plans to invite parents to visit the schools this month to give them a feel for what the schools will be like.

The district would not be able to comply with spacing guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control, especially in older buildings which have small classrooms, if every student returned to school, Hernandez said. But based on parent feedback, he anticipates having only about 11 students per class. The district has been responding to parents requests for training to support their kids at-home learning, he said.

Hernandez said he would still return his child, now in college, to school.

Educators, every day, do the best they can to keep kids safe, Hernandez said. We all go into this profession because we love kids, so I trust that every adult in the building ... will do whats best.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Krista Torralva covers several school districts and public universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Krista, become a subscriber. Krista.Torralva@express-news.net | Twitter: @KMTorralva
Pastor Ron Arbaugh of Calvary Chapel said he followed the letter of the law when he reopened his church in Universal City in May.

Now, more than 50 staff and parishioners in his evangelical congregation have tested positive for COVID-19, an eruption the pastor blames on his loosening of a rule against hugging last month.

If I could go back and do something different, I would have kept the prohibition on hugging inside the church, he said. Thats my responsibility. Im the one who gave permission.

The coronavirus outbreak at Calvary Chapel serves as a cautionary tale to those who would gather too closely in the time of the virus  be it to praise God, toss back tequila shots or visit with relatives.

The states recent reopening  now partially reversed by Gov. Greg Abbott  had prompted some to let down their guard, in the false belief the the virus has disappeared. In fact, it was lurking and waiting for people to come together, on a mission to colonize nostrils and mucous membranes.

Arbaugh oversees a congregation of some 1,200 adults in a 10,000-square-foot meeting hall in a shopping center. He reopened the church right after Abbott gave the green light for such gatherings May 1.

On ExpressNews.com: Abbott reopens churches, businesses, libraries

At first, Arbaugh said, the church was about 40 percent full, necessitated by the governors social distancing mandates. Everyone had to wear masks. Seating was every other row.

After several weeks, and the loosening of some restrictions, church attendance grew to about 80 percent, he said.

Their church has a tradition of a five-minute meet and greet during its three Sunday services, when parishioners turn to one another for sometimes full-on embraces.

We kept doing the greeting, but we stopped the hugging altogether, he said.

But in mid-June, after about six weeks of church members being back together, the no-hugging rule felt sort of weird, Arbaugh said. People kept asking him why they couldnt hug.

So I told people, Look, Im not your parent. Go ahead and hug, but make sure the person youre hugging is OK with it, he said.

On June 24, a night Arbaugh was preparing to go to the church for Bible study, a text came in: Someone in the congregation had tested positive. Then four people tested positive. By the time he arrived, the number had grown to six.

Arbaugh immediately shut the church again and subjected it to a major cleaning.

So far, more than 50 people have tested positive, a mixture of staff and congregants, he said. That includes Arbaugh and his wife.

I didnt have any symptoms, except I lost my sense of smell and taste, said Arbaugh, who has been in quarantine for two weeks and three days with his wife.

He said no church members he knows of have had to be hospitalized. Most have had body aches, headaches and such. Hes stayed in constant communication with his flock.

On ExpressNews.com: Opinion: Abbott puts politics above science

The only member to be hospitalized was an elderly parishioner who hadnt been at church for some time and tested positive while in the hospital for other health problems, he said.

A free medical clinic the church helps run also has been closed but will soon reopen.

Arbaugh plans to resume church in person Sunday, with only one live service, which will be streamed on the churchs webpage twice later that day.

Again, he will follow the letter of the law, in hopes a second outbreak can be avoided.

Honestly, I dont expect much but a trickle of people for the next several Sundays, Arbaugh said.

Everyone will have to wear a mask, though churches are exempt from the state mandate, and sit apart from one another.

Hugging once again will be prohibited.

Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news, cultural trends and interesting people and goings-on around San Antonio and Bexar County, as well as all across South Texas. To read more from Melissa , become a subscriber. mstoeltje@express-news.net | Twitter: @mstoeltje
The San Antonio Water System board approved a $167.7 million construction contract Tuesday for what officials said is the mostly costly, complex sewer pipeline project in the citys history.

More than five miles of 104-inch-diameter sewer main will be installed at depths up to 140 feet, with eight vertical shafts providing access to the new sewer pipeline on San Antonios West Side, officials said.

The project known as the Upper Segment W-6, which runs from U.S. 90 to Southwest Military Drive, has been planned for 13 years, and is crucial to the utilitys efforts to prevent sewer overflows.

On ExpressNews.com: Required sewer improvements, new water source boost SA water bill

North-to-south movement of sewage across the West Side is a particular obstacle SAWS has to overcome to meet mandates set in a federal consent decree. The utility selected SAK Construction, the second-lowest among six companies that bid for the contract, as the best value for the project.

The plan is to replace a part of the system that has proven inadequate with a new high-volume main, to be installed in natural clay well below the surface.

We know this critical part of our system really needs improvement, said Steve Clouse, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer.

One of the critical issues was a realignment of the original pipeline to route it around the former Kelly AFB, through an agreement forged with Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland, in order to avoid potential environmental and military security issues.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg said San Antonios congressional delegate helped move the agreement forward by securing support from the Department of Defense.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2023, well ahead of a July 2025 deadline set under the EPA consent decree.

SAWS Trustee Eduardo Parra, a civil engineer, said he has closely studied the W-6 project since his appointment to the board in 2018 and has been impressed with its complexity and importance.

Unless we fix that line, the whole system wont work, Parra said.

Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Scott, become a subscriber. shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA
The number of diagnosed coronavirus cases in Bexar County continued to lurch upward at an alarming rate Monday, with 351 new infections and two more deaths reported.

That brings the total number of local residents who have tested positive for the virus since mid-March to 15,102. Little more than a third  5,830  have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, while 1,168 patients are hospitalized here, the highest number yet.

Thats up from 881 patients in local hospitals a week ago, leaving only 12 percent of staffed hospital beds still available as of Monday night, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said.

We are days away from overrunning our hospital system if people dont continue to work together and slow down the infection, he warned.

The total number of people testing positive across Texas throughout the course of the pandemic shot past 200,000 on Monday and now stands at 200,557.

Of those hospitalized in Bexar County, 382 were in intensive care units and 213 were on ventilators to help them breathe  also the highest levels recorded since the pandemic started.

The local health care system is feeling the strain, but the situation would be much more dire without the additional nurses, respiratory therapists and ventilators sent by the state and federal governments, said Dr. Ken Davis, chief medical officer of the Christus Santa Rosa Health System.

About 250 of them were to arrive this week and most will be sent to work in hospitals intensive care units, he said. Davis said he expects their numbers will eventually total more than 350.

Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News

Were tight, Davis said. Were holding people in the emergency rooms - all of our (health care) systems are. And if you have a heart attack or youre coming in (from) a car wreck or something, we want to make sure weve got the capacity to manage you as well.

The local death toll stands at 132. The latest victims are a Hispanic man in his 40s and a Hispanic woman in her 60s.

The acceleration in newly identified cases appears to be slowing down, Nirenberg said, which he attributed to more people wearing masks.

On ExpressNews.com: Officials mourn death of San Antonio area emergency management chief who died of coronavirus

But Bexar County now ranks third among Texas counties in reported cases since the pandemic began, having surpassed Tarrant County, which has dropped to fourth place.

The Texas total includes 5,318 new cases reported on Monday alone. The statewide death toll rose to 2,655, including 18 new fatalities.

Slightly more than half of the statewide cases  nearly 104,000 people  have recovered so far, according to the latest estimates posted on a website updated by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services and the Texas Department of State Health Services. More than 94,000 Texans still have active COVID cases, those agencies estimate.

The number of COVID patients hospitalized across the state rose Monday to 8,698  a new record, up by nearly 2,800 from a week ago. Nearly 13,000 hospital beds and 5,300 ventilators are still available statewide but only 1,226 ICU beds are still vacant, according to the state agencies.

Harris County continues to lead the state in both the volume of diagnosed cases and number of deaths. Nearly 37,000 people have tested positive for COVID there, while 400 have died. Dallas County ranks second, with nearly 26,000 confirmed cases and 395 deaths.

Though in third place for total cases, Bexar County ranks sixth among Texas counties for number of deaths resulting from the virus. Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Travis and El Paso counties each had higher death tolls, according to the state health departments website.

At Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, hundreds of combat medics in training have been placed on restriction-of-movement status after being exposed to the coronavirus, the Army said Monday.

The soldiers in two medical training companies were isolated Friday after suspected contact with a COVID-19 positive individual, and all have been tested, said Letitia Williamson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence at Fort Sam.

Soldiers who tested positive were further isolated from the training population and given medical care; they displayed mild or no symptoms at all, and none have required hospitalization, Williamson said.

Bexar County began losing ground in the coronavirus battle in recent weeks as more people started going out without face masks to protect themselves, said County Judge Nelson Wolff.

Youve got to remember what blew this apart - people became very, very careless, Wolff said. Mixed signals were given out by the president of the United States, by the governor. And young people flocked to the bars and brought it back home.

And so now I think people understand what were talking about. Now its bipartisan support for the mask when the governor changed his position, which were delighted that he did.

State and local officials are sending out a consistent message now, Wolff said.

On ExpressNews.com: When were full, were full  COVID-19 pushes San Antonio hospitals to capacity limits

In Comal County, the home of New Braunfels, 907 cases of COVID have been reported since the pandemic began. That number includes 690 confirmed cases and 217 probable. Comal County public health officials reported 36 of them remain hospitalized.

The countys death toll stands at nine. So far, 301 people have recovered from the virus in Comal County  about a third of all cases reported there.

In Guadalupe County, where Seguin is the county seat, 381 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak started, but only 47 are currently active. Another 584 potential cases are pending investigation, according to data posted Monday on the county emergency management offices Facebook page.

So far, 333 people have recovered from the virus in Guadalupe County, while 43 patients remained hospitalized there Monday. Two patients have died.

In Atascosa County, which includes the cities of Pleasanton and Jourdanton, 165 cases of COVID have been reported. Nearly half of those  71  are active cases, while 92 people have recovered.

Officials there reported two people have died, but that doesnt include Atascosa County Emergency Management Coordinator David Prasifka, 58, who died Saturday from COVID-19 in a San Antonio hospital. He had been leading Atascosa Countys response to the pandemic before he was sickened by the virus.

Staff writer Sig Christenson contributed to this report. Peggy OHare covers demographics, the census and occasionally crime and general assignment stories in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Peggy, become a subscriber. pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: @Peggy_OHare
A 39-year-old man was arrested in connection with a deadly shooting during a child exchange Monday on the Northeast Side.

San Antonio police said Andres Vega showed up in the 1800 block of Rogers Avenue just after 9 p.m. with his wife to pick up her child from Alejandro Vargas, who is the father of the woman's child.
When the actions of a school board member overshadow the district that person serves, its time to resign.

Edgewood Independent School District trustee Dina Serrano needs to give up her seat in the best interest of the community she serves and the schoolchildren in the district.

Serrano has come under fire for a June 21 Facebook post that included a photo showing her husband jokingly posing with a noose around his neck, along with their two daughters, a laughing emoji and the message Happy Fathers Day babe! Look what you helped create.

Not funny.

Although Serrano, 36, was elected in November 2018, she did not take her seat on the board until May 26 because the Texas Education Agency had taken over the district and appointed a board of managers. Serrano was one of the board members sworn in a few weeks ago to complete the beleaguered districts transition back to an elected board.

Now there is a petition drive seeking her resignation, and a number of local leaders have asked her to step down. State Sen. Jose Menendez and State Board of Education board member Marisa B. Perez-Diaz have both called on her to resign. Meanwhile, some of the districts partners are reconsidering their relationship. Edgewood ISD does not need this kind of attention after working so hard to get back on track.

The immediate public outcry over Serranos disturbing post resulted in it being quickly taken down  and prompted Serrano to issue an apology via Twitter.

My naivety in thinking this was an innocent, fun picture was interpreted as malicious, insensitive, and racist, she said. I get it, being a Latina woman from the barrio, I understand how hurtful my actions were. I am sorry.

But does she get it? And shouldnt she have known better? Texas has a long history of lynchings, with 493 occurring between 1882 and 1968. How can Serrano credibly speak to the best interests of all students if she cant reflect this painful history with the depth, sensitivity and understanding it deserves?

Last week Serranos school board colleagues approved a resolution condemning her actions, publicly censured her and encouraged her to resign. She was also removed as board vice president.

The board action came after trustees heard from nearly 50 community members, most of them seeking Serranos removal. Serrano did not make a public comment at that board meeting, but she has told the Express-News she has no plans to resign.

Her refusal to step down is placing Edgewood in a bad light and could have far-reaching consequences.

Martha Castilla, president of the Edgewood board, said some of the districts donors and partners, which include several universities, have said they might rethink their relationship with the district if Serrano remains on the board.

Castilla did not elaborate on which partners, but she did say the district had heard from representatives of Yale, Georgetown and Massachusetts Institute of Technology about Serranos post.

As a former teachers aide, community activist, past vice president of her neighborhood association and an active member of the Parent Teacher Association with a masters degree in early childhood education, Serrano should have known better.

Serrano has two years left on her term, and voters could show her the door at that time. She needs to save them the trouble.
Posted Tuesday, July 7, 2020 11:32 am

A humpback whale may have been struck by a Washington State Ferries vessel near Mukilteo on Monday.

It is unlikely the whale survived the collision with the ferry Tokitae, said Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, communications director for the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA), which shared video and photos of the animal struggling near the water's surface.

Washington State Ferries said it is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to review photos and videos of the incident.

The PWWA said it expects the whale carcass to surface in the days or weeks to come.

According to the PWWA, the whale watching vessel Saratoga was nearby and tried to alert the Tokitae's crew to the whale's presence as the ferry traveled toward it at a speed of 13 knots, or about 15 miles per hour, near the Mukilteo ferry terminal shortly after noon Monday.

Ian Sterling, a spokesman for Washington State Ferries, said the Tokitae was nearing the terminal when it received a report of whales in the area and slowed down.

Sterling said the crew did not see the vessel strike a whale, but added it was "highly possible." He said it's "very rare" for a Washington ferry to strike a whale.

"Obviously it's upsetting to the crew when these sorts of things happen," Sterling said.
WASHINGTON  Theres often not much agreement on news out of Washington, but Arizona business leaders were hard-pressed this week to come up with negatives about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that took effect Wednesday.

The deal, which has been several years in the making, replaces the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement that created the three-country trading zone that economists say has been worth billions in trade and thousands of jobs in Arizona alone.

USMCA cements this trilateral alliance  its really historic, said Julie Pastrick, president and CEO of the Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Arizona-Mexico Commission board.

And NAFTA was good for Arizona: A Business Roundtable fact sheet on the USMCA claims that trade with Canada and Mexico supported 228,300 Arizona jobs in 2017. The Arizona Chamber of Commerce estimated that 19,000 of those trade-related jobs were in manufacturing.

The numbers are similarly stunning when it comes to trade, with exports and imports between Arizona, Canada and Mexico topping $20 billion in 2017.

A U.S. Trade Representative fact sheet said exports alone totaled $9.7 billion, with $2.2 billion in goods to Canada and $7.5 billion to Mexico, the states largest trading partner. When services are added in, total exports from the state were $11.3 billion, according to the Business Roundtable.

Business leaders have similar high hopes for the new USMCA, which some are calling NAFTA 2.0.

Studies anticipate the new agreement will add $68.2 billion to the U.S. economy and create 176,000 new jobs at a critical time, which Arizona stands to benefit from, said Chris Camacho, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

Juan Ciscomani, Gov. Doug Duceys senior adviser for regional and international affairs, said the benefits to Arizona are not surprising, given its location.

Arizona being a border state is a huge asset and advantage for trade, he said.

Some Arizona industries do particularly well with their North American trading partners, according to the Business Roundtable. Canada and Mexico bought 96% of Arizonas $338 million in vegetables and melon exports, 90% of its $1.1 billion in metal ores and 84% of the $262 million in engines and turbines exported in 2017.

The deal touches industries as varied as Lucid Motors, a new electric car manufacturer in Pinal County, according to Ciscomani, and Joy Cone, an ice cream cone maker with a plant outside Flagstaff, according to Pastrick.

Not all small and medium-sized businesses are aware of the potential benefits of the USMCA, according to a survey by DHL Express U.S., which found that 23% of respondents did not know how they would be impacted by the trade deal.

Eugene Laney Jr., DHLs head of international government affairs, said one problem was that some small businesses felt that NAFTA was complicated, which may have led to reservations about the USMCA. But he said the new deal should help.

Arizona businesses will benefit from the customs simplification, goods will move into Mexico without as much paperwork, seamless, Laney said.

While the basis of the new deal preserves the free-trade foundation of NAFTA, there are several changes, including new protections for intellectual property, relaxed restrictions on e-commerce and new environmental standards. It also requires that some Mexican businesses pay at least $16 an hour to workers in some parts of the auto manufacturing supply chain.

The pay requirement sets the stage for more manufacturing to move from Mexico to U.S, said Usha Haley, a professor of management at Wichita State Universitys Barton School of Business,

But Haley, who also directs the schools Center of International Business Advancement, said there are question marks regarding the enforcement of environmental obligations in the USMCA. She said Mexican infrastructure may have trouble handling strict guidelines set forth in the deal.

Tamara Kay, an associate professor of global affairs and sociology at the University of Notre Dame, said one key to the new deal is how its provisions are enforced.

Its not perfect, but in key ways it is better than the original NAFTA, Kay said. The test is whether the enforcement mechanisms work on the ground, and whether they are enforced.

While the deal may not be perfect, Pastrick said its still a good deal for the state, which is extremely well positioned to add jobs.

Its the best trade agreement we could have dreamed of, she said.

For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.
Rose Dunn

Forum News Service

Where do you like to grab a cold beer? Big games, concerts, bars and restaurants are popular places to tip back a bottle or a draft. But since March, venues where people typically drink beer have been either closed or have seen major changes to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Thats pushed many beer drinkers back home, sending off-sale beer sales soaring.

Those changes have disrupted the brewing industry and the outlook for barley growers.

Essentially, all the on-premises business went to zero, says Doug Restemayer, president of D-S Beverages in Moorhead, Minn. So all of our draft business pretty much dried up literally overnight.

Craft beer sales across the country dropped as much as 80% since the pandemic started. But Restemayer says canned beer sales skyrocketed, especially larger packages of lower-priced beers. Thats good news for malting barley growers, although questions remain about the future.

Were in territory that we just are not exactly sure where were going here. Things are changing daily and were just not sure where were going, says barley farmer Greg Kessel.

Kessel farms in Belfield, N.D., and also is the chair of the North Dakota Barley Council. He says all of North Dakotas 640,000 contracted barley acres were planted, representing a 10% increase from 2019. But some growers in Montana and Wyoming canceled contracts and didnt plant this season.

Short-term, no, I dont see any shortages. My concern would be maybe a year down the road because this stuff didnt get planted, Kessel says.

Barley not used for the malting industry is used for pet food and livestock feed.

While at least one malting plant halted production during the pandemic, the Anheuser-Busch plant in Moorhead did not. Nikki Zahradka-Bylin, Anheuser-Buschs Midwest regional agronomy manager, says so far they havent seen a lot of effects on their barley contracting.

We still need barley for Moorhead in our malt plant, so we are still continuing to hold to our contracts and our delivery schedule, she says.

No barley, no beer. And I know everyone likes their beer, Kessel says.
The government has been urged to protect farmers' high standards as the House of Lords prepares to vote on crucial amendments to the agriculture bill today.

Peers are today (7 July) considering a number of amendments which would ensure British food and animal welfare standards were protected in any trade deal.

The key post-Brexit legislation has reached the House of Lords committee stage, which means peers will examine the bill line-by-line.

Critically, farming groups are backing an amendment to enshrine in law the governments manifesto commitment that they would not accept imports of food products produced to lower welfare standards.

The industry was left disappointed when MPs in the House of Commons voted to reject this amendment in May, despite the government's earlier commitments.

It comes at a time when the UK is negotiating new trade deals with the US, Australia and Japan, all of whom have lower food and farming legal requirements than the UK.

Speaking ahead of the vote, the RSPCA said if standards weren't protected in trade deals, then 'lower welfare, cheaper-to-produce products' would enter the market.

Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the charity said: If these amendments fail it sends an important message to the US that our own farmers can be undercut and spark a race to the bottom for animal welfare.

"And it isnt only about the USA either - many other countries well be negotiating with will have lower standards than the UK too."

Although the government has made promises in their manifesto that they will not negotiate animal welfare standards, this is not legally binding.

The UK inherits laws from the EU banning chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-fed beef but there is nothing to stop this legislation being amended in future.

This is despite RSPCA polling which shows that 67% of people are opposed to the import of food products produced to standards unlawful in the UK.

Mr Sherwood said: A legally binding guarantee which protects our animal standards needs to be explicit in the agriculture bill.

"Ministers have repeatedly promised they will not sell out on our standards so there should be no reason not to commit this to law.

The Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) added that farmers found the House of Commons amendment rejection 'completely unacceptable'.

"The principle of maintaining UK standards and protecting consumers, farmers and food producers from sub-standard imports has cross-party support," it said.

"If the public wants to help - a good way is to join our campaign to stop this madness.

The government has, however, recently agreed to establish a trade standards commission to help inform post-Brexit agri trade policy.

The group, which could be made up of government officials, industry representatives, civil society groups and experts in food and farming, would issue recommendations on the UKs future food trade policy.
Exports of UK red meat have seen strong global demand despite the disruption caused by coronavirus lockdowns across the world.

Latest trade figures from HMRC show that there continues to be an export market for British beef and sheepmeat amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Exports were down in April 2020 compared with the same month in 2019, however the total comparison for the first four months of the year show more modest changes.

Beef exports were up 2.8% by volume as against the first four months of 2019, although the value was down slightly from 144m to 131m.

The volume of sheepmeat exports from the UK were down 18% as compared with the bumper export year of 2019, however the figures were broadly in line with the previous year.

The value of exports in the first four months of 2020 was 121.7m, as opposed to 120.2m in 2018 and 127.9m in 2019.

Pork exports climbed due to the demand from China as African swine fever (ASF) continues to impact the domestic pig industry.

The trade figures also show that imports into the UK in April, notably of Irish beef and New Zealand lamb, have experienced a modest fall on previous years.

According to Hybu Cig Cymru  Meat Promotion Wales (HCC), the figures show that demand was still there for UK red meat, despite the disruption caused.

HCC data analyst Glesni Phillips said: Figures for April mark the height of lockdowns, and reflect a period when many restaurants and hotels  important markets for beef and lamb from Wales  were closed.

However, although export volumes are down somewhat against last year due to the disruption, producers have adapted to changing demand.

Lamb and beef from Wales is still being exported into retail and other sectors, she explained.

However, Hybu Cig Cymru emphasised that the outlook for the rest of the year for UK red meat was one of 'great uncertainty'.

"Lockdowns are being lifted gradually in numerous countries, which should help the foodservice trade which is valuable for the red meat sector.

"However, its impossible to predict how quickly levels of hotel and restaurant demand will return to normal, Ms Phillips explained.

She warned that the UK was still facing uncertainty if a trade agreement between the UK and the EU was not agreed, potentially leading to high tariffs on European exports.

These figures also highlight that over 90 percent of the UKs beef and lamb exports go to the EU, Ms Phillips added.
Police have issued an image appeal following the theft of agricultural equipment from a farm in West Dorset.

Between 5pm on Saturday 27 June and 8am on Sunday 28 June, a burglary occurred at a farm in the Tincleton area.

A tri-axle flatbed trailer, an IEA cattle crush, a trailer lock and a chain and padlock were stolen.

Police Community Support Investigator Paul Bosley, of Dorset Police, said: As the cattle crush was not secured properly to the trailer, it would have made a lot of loud banging noises if driven away.

I am appealing to anyone who may have seen or heard any suspicious activity in the area to please get in touch.

I would also urge anyone who recognises the stolen items and has seen them for sale in unusual circumstances to get in contact, he said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55200093240.

Alternatively, to stay anonymous, contact the charity Crimestoppers online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or call freephone 0800 555 111.

Last week, the police made an appeal to the public after thieves rammed a farm gate in Hampshire and stole machinery from an outbuilding.

Claims figures from NFU Mutual reveal that rural crime cost the UK 50 million last year, an increase of 12% on the previous year.
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Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours will become overcast in the afternoon. Hot. High 104F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph..

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A while ago, it was announced that the Oscar winning sound designer turned producer Resul Pookutty is working on his debut venture. A report in a leading daily has now revealed that the film is inspired from the current tensions of India and China at the border and will feature Alia Bhatt in the lead role.

The film is a story of an Indian soldier named Baba Harbhajhan Singh. The report revealed that it will also include Prime Minister Narendra Modis recent visit to the army camp in Ladakh. The film is a love saga set at the backdrop of Indo-China war that took place in 1967 at Nathula. The makers plan to portray the storyline in todays times and the film will be set in 2021. Talking about the project, Resul Pookutty said, The current tension between India and China is already a part of our film. It's bizarre that we had already written it and it just happened. I believe that Baba is there guarding our border. Our script is almost ready. We will take it to Army officials and get their feedback.

Watch this space for more updates on the project.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Searchlight Resources Inc.("Searchlight" or the "Company") (TSXV:SCLT)(OTC:CYNCF) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with New Moon Minerals Corp ("New Moon") to amend the previously announced Bootleg Lake Gold Project Option Agreement, highlights of which are set out below, with respect to certain payments required to increase its interest from 51% to 75% in the Bootleg Property, located near Creighton, Saskatchewan, five kilometres southwest of the city of Flin Flon, Manitoba.

As previously announced (see Press Release of Nov 20, 2018) the Company has earned a 51% interest in the project and on the June 30th, 2020 made the first of the two payments to earn a 75% interest.

The June 30, 2020 payment obligation described in Section 4 (a) below was originally agreed between the parties to be a cash payment of $50,000 and 166,667 common shares of Searchlight, which has been amended to a cash payment of $30,000 and 473,859 common shares of Searchlight. The payment by Searchlight of 473,859 of its common shares represents the original 166,667 common shares payment plus an additional 307,192 common shares, which represents the number of Searchlight common shares equal to $20,000 issued at a price of $0.065, being the closing price of the Searchlight common shares on June 25, 2020.

Stephen Wallace, President and CEO of Searchlight stated, "This amendment and payment is the next step to Searchlight earning its 75% interest the Bootleg Lake Gold project, and by his time next year, Searchlight expects to hold 75% of the project.

The amendment agreement is subject to acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV").

Original Option Agreement Terms Announced May 11, 2017



Under the original terms of the Option Agreement, Searchlight has the option to acquire up to a 75% interest in Bootleg Lake project by making the following cash payments, share issuances and exploration expenditures shown below.



1) Cash payment of $5,000 upon signing of agreement



2) Cash payment of $5,000 and issuing 250,000 shares within 5 days of the date of TSXV acceptance.



3) Searchlight will earn a 51% upon completing the following

a) Cash payment of $40,000 and issuing 250,000 shares before June 30th, 2018;

b) Cash payment of $50,000 and issuing 500,000 shares before June 30th, 2019;

c) Incurring initial exploration expenditures of $100,000 before December 31, 2018, and incurring further exploration expenditures of $150,000 before December 31, 2019, for a cumulative total of $250,000 of exploration expenditures.

4) Searchlight will earn a 75% upon completing the following

a) Cash payment of $50,000 and issuing 500,000 shares before June 30th, 2020;

b) Cash payment of $100,000 and issuing 500,000 shares before June 30th, 2021;

c) Incurring additional exploration expenditures of $200,000 before December 31, 2020, and incurring further exploration expenditures of $300,000 before December 31, 2021, for a cumulative total of $750,000 of exploration expenditures.

Searchlight can at its option accelerate the cash payments and common shares issuances described above. Any excess exploration expenditures incurred on the Property within an earn-in time period will be credited to successive earn-in time periods. All common share issuances by Searchlight will be subject to a 4-month hold period as per Canadian securities law.



Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Searchlight will pay a 1.0 % Net Smelter Return royalty (the "NSR") to New Moon on commencement of commercial production. Searchlight will have the right, at any time, to purchase 0.5 % of the 1.0% NSR for $500,000. There is an existing 1.0% NSR in favour of the underlying vendor.

[Note: Searchlight consolidated its issued and outstanding common shares at a ratio of three (3) pre-consolidation common shares to one (1) post-consolidation common share on August 16, 2017. This reduces the number of shares in sections (2), (3) and (4) to one-third (1/3) the original number.]

About Searchlight Resources Inc.

Searchlight Resources Inc. (TSX.V:SCLT; US:CYNCF) is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company focused on Saskatchewan, Canada, which ranked as the top location for mining investment in Canada by the Fraser Institute. Searchlight is currently advancing its English Bay high grade gold project located 10 km from LaRonge, and its Bootleg Lake Project located in Saskatchewan less than 10 km from Flin Flon, Manitoba, hosting multiple past producing high-grade gold mines.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Stephen Wallace"

SEARCHLIGHT RESOURCES INC.

Stephen Wallace, President, CEO and Director

For further information, visit the Company's website at www.searchlightresources.com or contact:

Searchlight Resources Inc.

Alf Stewart, VP Corporate Development

(604) 331-9326

info@searchlightresources.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE: Searchlight Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596478/Searchlight-Resources-and-New-Moon-Minerals-Amend-Bootleg-Lake-Gold-Option
South Africa: Home Affairs welcomes arrest of former employee

Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, has welcomed the arrest of a former departmental employee who appeared in court on charges of fraud and corruption.

Kedibone Serumula, a former administrative clerk in Lephalale, Limpopo, was arrested on 30 June 2020.

The arrest followed police investigations into allegations that she, alongside another suspect, assisted in fraudulently registering a child using the details of another person.

Further investigation revealed Serumula also allegedly received R4 500 from the same suspect on a different occasion.

She appeared at the Lephalale Magistrates Court and was released on a R3 000 bail.

Serumula who resigned in 2016, is scheduled to reappear in court on 13 August 2020.

In a statement on Monday, Motsoaledi commended the police for their dedication in ensuring that perpetrators are brought to book.

I wont allow corruption and malfeasance in the Department of Home Affairs to rob citizens and other qualifying people access to important enabling documents. Corruption and malfeasance strip-off the dignity of our citizens because they end up being unable to access other government services, Motsoaledi said.

Justice said the Minister is being served despite Serumulas resignation.

This case pleases me because it shows that the long arm of the law will follow you for crimes committed while in the employ of the Department long after you have left. I commend the police for their dedication in ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to book, said Motsoaledi.

The Minister encouraged anyone who may have any information on such corrupt activities or any other criminal activities to contact the South African Police Service.

People with information can also contact the National Anti-Corruption Hotline on 0800 701 701 and the Home Affairs Counter Corruption Unit on 012 406 4318.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith during the Lao PM's visit to Vietnam on July 5th. (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 5th 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 6th./.
HOUSTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Physician-investigators at Johns Hopkins University Hospital report on the promising data of treatment of COVID-19 induced acute respiratory distress syndrome with allogeneic, cord blood derived T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapy (manufactured by Cellenkos), published in peer reviewed journal of Annals of Internal Medicine. Both patients were critically ill and intubated (one on ECMO). Both had failed Tociluzimab (Actemra, Roche) and had multiorgan failure. Patients received cell therapy under FDA Emergency Use IND for up to 3 doses. Clinical improvement was evident within 48 hours of first infusion and correlated with concurrent dampening of the cytokine storm as demonstrated by a rapid decline in peripheral biomarkers including lactate, C-reactive protein, and Ferritin as well as decreased blood levels of inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IFN? and TNFa .

"We are excited by these early data in very sick patients suffering from COVID-19 ARDS. We recognize that there are several factors at play but believe that the temporal relationship between Treg infusions and patient recovery cannot be ignored," said Dr. Douglas Gladstone, principal investigator at Johns Hopkins. "We look forward to evaluating this promising therapy in the FDA-approved randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of cryopreserved, allogeneic, off-the-shelf, cord blood derived T-regulatory cells (CK0802) in intubated patients suffering from COVID-19 ARDS. Planned correlative assays during this trial will provide insights into the mechanism of action of CK0802 and its relation to clinical outcomes."

The multicenter clinical trial is set to launch in Q3 2020, with patients assigned to treatment with multiple doses of CK0802 or placebo, with two co-primary outcomes of safety (no severe toxicity) and efficacy (alive and extubated at day 28). CK0802 will be manufactured by Cellenkos and shipped to the clinical site to be infused at the patient's bedside.

"We are very encouraged by these early clinical observations and remain fully committed to bring forward this promising, potentially life-saving therapy into market. We believe that our product will materially change the fatal outcome of COVID-19, allowing for the needed (necessary) time to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine," said Tara Sadeghi, VP, Clinical Operations at Cellenkos. "Our company-owned clean room facility allows us to have full control of the manufacturing processes, supply chain, and distribution logistics. We are confident that we can deliver on this multicenter clinical trial."

Since 2017, the company has owned and operated an independent ISO-7 cleanroom manufacturing facility in Houston, engaged in process development and manufacture of clinical cell therapy products, including testing and quality control. Staffed with experienced personnel, the facility is equipped to support product supply for the clinical trials. Cellenkos already holds two FDA INDs for inflammatory bone marrow failure syndromes and demyelinating polyneuropathy. Cellenkos' CK0801 cell therapy product has demonstrated a high degree of safety in bone marrow failure syndromes, in the first two dose level cohorts completed to date at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (NCT03773393).

About Cellenkos Treg platform

Cellenkos Treg platform aims to develop tailored T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapeutics for various underserved inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders. The technology allows for varying degrees of immune responses against antigens of choice as well as immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases.

About CK0802

CK0802 is a novel allogenic, off the shelf, cell therapy product consisting of Treg cells derived from clinical-grade umbilical cord blood units and manufactured using Cellenkos' proprietary process. The product is cryopreserved and readily available off-the-shelf, without any requirement for HLA matching, and is infused intravenously. One manufacturing campaign can generate multiple doses for infusion into several different patients. The multi-center trial of CK0802 will examine safety and efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19 ARDS. It is a cryopreserved product that will be manufactured by Cellenkos and shipped to the participating clinical site, where it can be thawed and infused at patient's bedside.

Treg cells in CK0802 express lung homing markers on their cell surfaces. Once the cells reach the tissue, Treg cells are believed to disarm and dampen the cytokine storm by engaging with antigen-presenting cells including the pneumocytes that line the alveolar epithelium and drive the inflammatory reaction. Rather than indiscriminate therapy with a drug such as an inhibitor of single cytokine such as IL-6, the T-regulatory cells can potentially calm inflammation exactly where it is most active, without causing a more general "global" immunosuppression that would be harmful in a virally infected patient.

About Cellenkos, Inc.

Cellenkos is founded on technologies arising from the laboratory investigations of Simrit Parmar, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at the University of Texas at MD Anderson Cancer Center and funded by Golden Meditech.

About COVID-19

There were a total of 11,565,414 COVID-19 cases confirmed globally with 536,649 deaths (July 6, 2020), according to Johns Hopkins University data. Gilead's antiviral Remdesivir is the only therapeutic agent specifically approved for the treatment of COVID-19. Although recent reports have suggested that dexamethasone has a beneficial effect on mortality in COVID-19 patients on ventilation, its' role among treatment modalities remains unclear.

For more information, please visit www.cellenkosinc.com.

CONTACT: bd@cellenkosinc.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/703732/Cellenkos_logo.jpg
PANAMA (dpa-AFX) - Carnival Cruise Line said that it has revised the delivery of its newest ship, Mardi Gras, as well as the transformed Carnival Radiance, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has also revised new itineraries for Carnival Breeze and Carnival Magic that are all part of an updated deployment plan from November 2020 to May 2021. The company noted that Mardi Gras, the first LNG-powered ship to operate in the Western Hemisphere and featuring the first roller coaster at sea, will now enter into service from Port Canaveral, Fla. on February 6, 2021. Itineraries out of Port Canaveral for departures from November 14, 2020 to January 30, 2021 have been cancelled. Carnival Radiance's $200 million dry dock at the Cadiz, Spain shipyard was suspended this spring when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a nationwide lockdown. Carnival said it is now evaluating shipyard options to complete the transformation, but the ship is likely not going to be completed until the spring. As a result of the delayed arrival of Carnival Radiance, Carnival Breeze will be redeployed from Fort Lauderdale to Port Canaveral and will assume the itineraries for Carnival Radiance from November 8, 2020 to April 24, 2021. Consequently, guests on 18 Carnival Breeze sailings from Fort Lauderdale scheduled to operate from November 7, 2020 to March 7, 2021 are being notified that their cruises have been cancelled. Carnival Magic's transatlantic and European itineraries from March 13, 2021 to May 3, 2021 have been cancelled. Seven sailings previously scheduled for Carnival Breeze from Fort. Lauderdale from March 13 to April 24, 2021 will move to Miami and those guests will sail on the same itinerary, but on Carnival Magic operating from PortMiami. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The recognitions highlight Tata Communications' unmatched service delivery in India

MUMBAI, India, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tata Communications, a digital ecosystem enabler, received top honors at Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards, with eight wins in the 'Company of the Year' category. All the awards were for excellence in service provision, underlining the company's dominance in the Indian service provider market.

Applauding Tata Communications' feat, Benoy CS, Vice President, Digital Transformation Practice, Frost & Sullivan, said, "Tata Communications' services are aligned with industry best practices and address vertical-specific needs. It is an ideal example of a service provider that has the best-in-class people, processes and technologies to offer customer-focused solutions and services."

In its 19th edition, the 2020 India ICT Awards celebrated the achievements of the IT industry's best innovators, disruptors and leaders. The event honored industry professionals and corporates that created breakthrough business models and strategies through the innovative use of transformative technologies.

"We are thrilled that our continued focus on delivering superior customer experiences has resulted in another year of wins at the prestigious Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards," said Sumeet Walia, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Tata Communications. "To have won eight awards, especially the 'Enterprise Data Service Provider of the Year' for the eleventh time, is a strong validation of our efforts and expertise. The economic disruption triggered by the pandemic has resulted in an accelerated shift towards a digital-first world, creating an essential need for every industry to align to the new models of working. Our large suite of solutions, services and partnerships have helped unlock infinite possibilities to enable a seamless digital transition for our customers. These awards are a testament to the customers' confidence in us as their trusted advisor. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our customers and enabling secure connected digital experiences for them."

Accolades Won by Tata Communications at Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards:

Enterprise Data Service Provider of the Year

Tata Communications has demonstrated tremendous innovation in product launches and strategies along with strong service delivery and support. It has enhanced the IZO cloud enablement platform, which integrates IZO Internet WAN with Global MPLS VPN, to form IZO Hybrid WAN. This is fully linked to its security services, such as DDoS mitigation, virtual proxy secure web gateway and Unified Threat Management. The company's unique IZO SD-WAN service is available in 150+ countries globally and is continuously gaining traction among Indian enterprises.

Tata Communications follows a multi-pronged strategy and has the vision to enable faster service delivery through automation and self-servicing/provisioning capabilities implemented through APIs and virtual platforms. Furthermore, it aims to enable automation and virtualisation to expedite customers' business transformation journeys.

Enterprise Telecom Service Provider of the Year - Large Enterprise Segment

Bolstered by its global network infrastructure and leadership in emerging markets, Tata Communications is continuously developing its service portfolio to include new technologies and innovations that simplify their enterprise customers' operations and help promote a competitive enterprise telecoms services business.

The company has a vast portfolio of solutions and services aligned to the needs of large enterprise customers. Its focus on staying agile and delivering superior customer experiences has helped it position itself as a digital ecosystem enabler. Its international network coverage and partnerships help it serve Indian companies with a global footprint and global companies with India presence.

Managed Multi Cloud Service Provider of the Year

Tata Communications has developed an integrated value proposition by combining its managed service prowess with multi-cloud capabilities. This is helping it tap newer opportunities in the emerging multi-cloud space.

Its broad multi cloud portfolio enables digital transformation for enterprises by bringing together all enterprise workloads on a single pane, yet giving each workload a choice of platforms to run on multiple models such as public clouds, managed hosting, private cloud and cloud container services. It helps the organisations balance investments in on-premise private cloud technologies with effective utilisation of off-premise public cloud services to achieve an optimised total cost of ownership (TCO).

SDWAN Service Provider of the Year

Tata Communications has been the frontrunner for efficiently leveraging and building innovative solutions using cutting-edge technologies such as Software Defined Networking/ Network-Function Virtualization and IoT. It has exhibited exceptional go-to-market strategies and service innovations by providing two different deployment models so customers can pick the one that best aligns with their SD-WAN deployment strategy.

Tata Communications has maintained its SD-WAN leadership in India on the back of its customised SD-WAN solution suite, continuous addition of innovative features in SD-WAN service, strong R&D capabilities and collaborative business with customers.

Unified Communications Service Provider of the Year

India's Unified Communications & Collaboration (UCC) market is becoming increasingly cloud-oriented as more businesses are willing to shift to the hosted/cloud model as long as they have a strong service provider that can manage their UCC requirements end-to-end. Tata Communications has been a clear leader in identifying these changing preferences of Indian businesses and continues to build technology partnerships to provide best-in-class UCC experiences to its business customers.

Managed Security Service Provider of the Year - Telecom

As enterprises aim to build a 360-degree cyber security posture, the number of security tools within the IT ecosystem has increased at a rapid pace. Organisations are not only focused on perimeter security, but are extending the security elements beyond the enterprise network; notably to the cloud and mobile devices. They need service providers that have a broad range of capabilities to manage and monitor security concerns around these areas. Tata Communications has expanded its cyber security offerings in response to this and significantly improved its threat detection and response capabilities. It leverages next-generation technologies and security frameworks that are industry-compliant and dependable.

Cloud Interconnect Service Provider of the Year

A trendsetter in the cloud interconnect space in India, the company has a robust roadmap to further enhance its cloud interconnect offerings and improve customer experiences. It plans to develop expansive multi-cloud connectivity capabilities involving customer use cases such as distributed applications in multiple clouds. Additionally, Tata Communications is developing cost-effective approaches wherein a customer can connect to multiple cloud service providers through a single physical connection. This would be significantly more efficient than building multiple dedicated physical connections to different cloud service providers.

Tata Communications intends to integrate its managed security services capabilities with cloud interconnect services. Moreover, it hopes to increase its existing interconnect capacity with cloud providers to address the rising demand for bandwidth.

Video Managed Services Provider of the Year

As the video managed services segment continues evolving due to the rapid advancement of technologies, service providers are being challenged to address customer demand on-the-go to remain relevant. The video managed services segment has, as a result, undergone a significant transformation in terms of the introduction of customised solutions by various players. The declining infrastructure cost of cloud-solutions and the rising demand for a wider range of video solutions at low costs are key issues that need to be addressed.

Tata Communications provides managed video services to enterprises leveraging its flagship product, Video Connect, as a core service for live and file-based contribution and global distribution to broadcasters and aggregators. It has the largest dedicated fiber-based Video Connect managed service, which offers unprecedented reach, flexibility and reliability. With a focus on constant innovation, the company has become the managed service provider of choice for broadcasting solutions such as Live 4K, 8K, and 360-degree video.

About the Awards

Frost & Sullivan's India ICT Awards contenders were judged on a variety of parameters including revenue, market share, product diversity, vertical and horizontal diversity, major customer acquisitions, the efficacy of the innovation process, product service, and positioning. The judging process involved in-depth primary interviews with various industry participants and secondary research conducted by Frost & Sullivan analysts. An elite panel of jury members comprising some of the most prominent CIOs/CTOs from the industry evaluated the compiled data and incorporated the end-user perspective. Frost & Sullivan then presented the awards to the companies that received the number one industry rank in each category.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

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Tata Communications is a digital ecosystem enabler that powers today's fast-growing digital economy.

The company enables the digital transformation of enterprises globally, including 300 of the Fortune 500 - unlocking opportunities for businesses by enabling borderless growth, boosting product innovation and customer experience, improving productivity and efficiency, building agility and managing risk.

With its solutions orientated approach and proven managed service capabilities and cutting-edge infrastructure, Tata Communications drives the next level of intelligence powered by cloud, mobility, Internet of Things (IoT), collaboration, security, and network services.

Tata Communications carries around 30% of the world's internet routes and connects businesses to 60% of the world's cloud giants and 4 out of 5 mobile subscribers.

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Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Since 2017, Amber Group has been building the crypto finance rails for the institutional market. The Hong-Kong based crypto finance platform has traded over $200bn through its voice and electronic price streaming services and become one of the predominant OTC venues servicing a global client base. Sitting at the heart of the Asia crypto finance ecosystem, Amber Group is an active market participant and continuously innovates institutional-grade infrastructure to drive forward market professionalization.

Over the years, Amber Group has expanded its platform offerings into a suite of crypto finance tools, from trading to longer-term investing and financing solutions. By providing investors with a seamless trading experience, Amber Group enables greater access to yield-capture opportunities in both the centralized and decentralized markets.

With Amber Group's international expansion to Seoul, Taipei, and Vancouver, it is advancing institutional and mainstream crypto adoption on a global scale with 24/7 dedicated client coverage. "The crypto industry is seeing increasing interest and participation from investors at all experience levels," says CEO Michael Wu. "We are re-engineering the crypto finance experience for institutional and sophisticated individual investors to position ourselves to lead the next generation of crypto users."

Amber Group's mission is to accelerate the democratization of crypto finance with highly-accessible crypto finance tools. Through crypto market booms and busts, Amber Group realized that institutional and individual investors share a core expectation: capital efficiency and flexibility. In other words, being able to do more with your capital. Gone are the days of locking assets away in cold storage while missing out on yield-generating opportunities. On the Amber platform, investors are already able to leverage their capital by borrowing funds against their collateral deposits. Investors can also earn interest on crypto and stablecoin deposits while using those assets to margin trade or trade options. Amber Group is now bringing forward these advanced features to a new product that will be accessible to a vastly larger audience. The same competitive pricing, bundled in an all-in-one app. Stay tuned!

Amber Group, previously known as Amber AI, is a major participant on more than 60+ electronic exchanges and alternative trading venues in over 15 countries around the world, with an average daily trading volume between $100mm to $200mm in cash, futures, swaps, options and other derivatives. Founded in 2017, Amber Group is committed to streamlining the crypto finance experience from trading cryptocurrency to earning yield and accessing liquidity. In 2019, Amber Group raised $28 million in a Series A funding round led by global crypto heavyweights Paradigm and Pantera, with participation from Polychain Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Blockchain.com, Fenbushi Capital, and Coinbase Ventures.

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European Commission approves once-daily Enerzair Breezhaler (QVM149; IND/GLY/MF) in the EU, the first-in-class LABA/LAMA/ICS fixed-dose combination for patients whose asthma is uncontrolled with LABA/ICS 1 *



Breezhaler (QVM149; IND/GLY/MF) in the EU, the first-in-class LABA/LAMA/ICS fixed-dose combination for patients whose asthma is uncontrolled with LABA/ICS * Optional digital companion with sensor and app that provide inhalation confirmation, medication reminders and access to objective data to better support therapeutic decisions also covered by EC approval



Approval based on robust efficacy and safety data from the Phase III IRIDIUM study, in which once-daily EnerzairBreezhaler was superior to once-daily Atectura Breezhaler (IND/MF) in improving the lung function of patients whose asthma is uncontrolled with LABA/ICS standard-of-care treatment 2



Breezhaler (IND/MF) in improving the lung function of patients whose asthma is uncontrolled with LABA/ICS standard-of-care treatment Asthma affects an estimated 358 million people worldwide and can cause a significant personal, health and financial burden when not adequately controlled3,4

Basel, July 7, 2020 - Novartis today announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved Enerzair Breezhaler (QVM149; indacaterol acetate, glycopyrronium bromide and mometasone furoate [IND/GLY/MF]) as a maintenance treatment of asthma in adult patients not adequately controlled with a maintenance combination of a long-acting beta 2 -agonist (LABA) and a high-dose of an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) who experienced one or more asthma exacerbations in the previous year. Once-daily Enerzair Breezhaler is the first LABA/long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA)/ICS fixed-dose combination available in the EU for these patients. The approval also includes an optional digital companion with sensor and app that provides inhalation confirmation, medication reminders and access to objective data to better support therapeutic decisions. The EC decision is applicable to all 27 European Union member states as well as the UK, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

"Novartis is working to reimagine medicine for people with uncontrolled asthma, who find it a challenge to achieve effective symptom and exacerbation control," said Rod Wooten, Head of Global Marketing, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "The approval of Enerzair Breezhaler with sensor and app in the EU is an example of our commitment to utilize data and digital offerings to make asthma control an achievable goal for patients and physicians."

Enerzair Breezhaler is provided in a transparent capsule that allows patients to see that they have taken their medication and will be administered via the dose-confirming Breezhaler device, which enables once-daily inhalation using a single inhaler. The digital companion includes a sensor that attaches to the Breezhaler device and can be linked to the Propeller Health smartphone app, providing patients with inhalation confirmation, medication reminders and access to objective data that can be shared with their physician in order to help them make better therapeutic decisions.

"Today, over 45% of asthma patients at GINA Steps 4 and 5 remain uncontrolled, demonstrating the need for new treatments, delivery approaches and patient support to ensure that medication is taken correctly and treatment goals are reached," said Professor David Price, Chair of Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, University of Aberdeen. "Once-daily Enerzair Breezhaler plus a digital companion could help to facilitate greater collaborative disease management between physicians and patients in the EU whose asthma remains uncontrolled, despite LABA/ICS treatment."

The EC approval is based on robust efficacy and safety data from over 3,000 asthma patients in the Phase III IRIDIUM study, in which once-daily Enerzair Breezhaler was superior to once-daily Atectura Breezhaler (QMF149; IND/MF) in improving the lung function of patients whose asthma is uncontrolled with LABA/ICS standard-of-care treatment2. In the IRIDIUM study, the key secondary endpoint was improvement in the Asthma Control Questionnaire score (ACQ-7) for Enerzair Breezhaler versus Atectura Breezhaler2. Both treatments delivered clinically meaningful improvements in this measure of symptoms from baseline at Week 26, but the key secondary endpoint was not met2. Among other secondary analyses, IRIDIUM explored asthma exacerbation rates, where statistically significant reductions were observed in moderate-to-severe and severe asthma exacerbation rates with Enerzair Breezhaler compared with an established LABA/ICS standard-of-care (twice-daily salmeterol xinafoate/fluticasone propionate [Sal/Flu])2. Safety findings were consistent with the known safety profiles of the monocomponents2.

Once-daily Enerzair Breezhaler has been approved in Japan and Canada. Once-daily Atectura Breezhaler has been approved in the EU as a maintenance treatment of asthma for adults and adolescents 12 years of age and older not adequately controlled with ICS and inhaled short-acting beta 2 -agonists (SABA)5, and in Canada and Japan. Further regulatory reviews for Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler are currently underway in multiple countries including Switzerland.

In keeping with the Novartis commitment to reduce the environmental impact of our asthma combinations, Enerzair Breezhaler and Atectura Breezhaler will both be available in the hydrofluoroalkane/chlorofluorocarbon (HFA/CFC)-free Breezhaler device. Novartis aims to drive sustainability and has set ambitious targets to minimize its impact on climate, waste and water, including targets to become carbon neutral in company operations by 2025.

About Uncontrolled Asthma

Asthma affects an estimated 358 million people worldwide and can cause a significant personal, health and financial burden when not adequately controlled3,4. Despite current therapy, over 40% of patients with asthma at Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Step 3, and over 45% at GINA Steps 4 and 5 remain uncontrolled6,7. Patients with uncontrolled asthma may downplay or underestimate the severity of their disease and are at a higher risk of exacerbation, hospitalization or death8-10. Barriers, such as less than optimal adherence, incorrect inhaler technique, treatment mismatch, safety issues with oral corticosteroids and ineligibility for biologics, have created an unmet medical need in asthma11-14.

*About Enerzair Breezhaler (IND/GLY/MF) in the EU

The EC approved high-dose Enerzair Breezhaler (IND/GLY/MF) 150/50/160 g once-daily as a maintenance treatment of asthma in adult patients not adequately controlled with a maintenance combination of a long-acting beta 2 -agonist (LABA) and a high-dose of an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) who experienced one or more asthma exacerbations in the previous year1. This formulation combines the bronchodilation of indacaterol acetate (a LABA) and glycopyrronium bromide (a LAMA) with mometasone furoate (ICS) in a precise once-daily formulation, delivered via the dose-confirming Breezhaler device. Glycopyrronium bromide certain use and formulation intellectual property were exclusively licensed to Novartis in April 2005 by Sosei Heptares and Vectura. Mometasone furoate is exclusively licensed to Novartis from a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc, Kenilworth, NJ, USA, for use in IND/GLY/MF (worldwide excluding the US).

Novartis developed the optional digital companion in collaboration with Propeller Health, which includes the Propeller Health app and sensor custom-built for the Breezhaler device. The sensor is a CE marked Medical Device, designed and licensed to Novartis for use with the Breezhaler inhaler worldwide. The sensor includes a microchip, a microphone, Bluetooth capabilities, an antenna and a battery. The sensor does not alter the drug delivery characteristics of the Breezhaler inhaler itself but produces a recording of each administered dose. Based on the patient's recorded medication usage, personalized content is presented within the app to help the patient better self-manage their asthma.

About the PLATINUM Clinical Development Program

The PLATINUM program, having enrolled over 7,500 patients worldwide, is the Novartis Phase III/IIIb clinical development program supporting the development of Enerzair Breezhaler (IND/GLY/MF) and Atectura Breezhaler (IND/MF). It includes four studies: the QUARTZ study, which compared a low-dose of Atectura Breezhaler with MF alone; the PALLADIUM study, which compared Atectura Breezhaler with MF and salmeterol xinafoate/fluticasone propionate (Sal/Flu); the IRIDIUM study, which compared Enerzair Breezhaler with Atectura Breezhaler and Sal/Flu; and the ARGON study, which compared Enerzair Breezhaler with a free combination of Sal/Flu plus tiotropium (Tio).

About the IRIDIUM study2

IRIDIUM was a Phase III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study, designed to compare the efficacy and safety of Enerzair Breezhaler (IND/GLY/MF) with Atectura Breezhaler (IND/MF) in patients with asthma.

The purpose of the trial was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two different doses of Enerzair Breezhaler (high: 150/50/160 g and medium:150/50/80 g), versus two corresponding Atectura Breezhaler doses (high: 150/320 g and medium: 150/160 g) in patients with uncontrolled asthma, as determined by pulmonary function testing and effects on asthma control.

All patients were required to be symptomatic at screening and to have one or more exacerbations in the previous year, despite being on treatment with medium or high stable doses of LABA/ICS. Approximately 3,092 male and female adult patients with asthma were randomized 1:1:1:1:1 (approximately 618 patients in each of the treatment groups) to receive either:

Enerzair Breezhaler 150/50/80 g (once-daily)

Enerzair Breezhaler 150/50/160 g (once-daily)

Atectura Breezhaler 150/160 g (once-daily)

Atectura Breezhaler 150/320 g (once-daily)

Sal/Flu 50/500 g (twice-daily)

The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate superiority of both high-dose Enerzair Breezhaler versus high-dose Atectura Breezhaler and medium-dose Enerzair Breezhaler versus medium-dose Atectura Breezhaler, all delivered once-daily, in improving trough FEV 1 (volume of air that can be forced out in the first second of expiration approximately 24 hours post-administration of study drug) after 26 weeks of treatment in patients with asthma.

The key secondary objective was to demonstrate the superiority of both doses of Enerzair Breezhaler versus respective doses of Atectura Breezhaler, in improving Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ-7) score after 26 weeks of treatment in patients with asthma. Other secondary analyses also included reduction of exacerbation rate, comparing high-dose Enerzair Breezhaler with high-dose Atectura Breezhaler and medium-dose Enerzair Breezhaler with medium-dose Atectura Breezhaler. Secondary analyses included efficacy comparisons for both doses of Enerzair Breezhaler compared with Sal/Flu (50/500 g).

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "may," "could," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "seek," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis

Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 109,000 people of more than 145 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at https://www.novartis.com (https://www.novartis.com).

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References

1 Enerzair Breezhaler (indacaterol acetate, glycopyrronium bromide and mometasone furoate [IND/GLY/MF]) SmPC.

2 Data on file

3 GBD Chronic Respiratory Disease Collaborators. Global, regional, and national deaths, prevalence, disability-adjusted life years, and years lived with disability for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Lancet Resp Med; 2017;5(9)691-706.

4 AAFA. My Life With Asthma Survey Findings Report. Available at: https://www.aafa.org/media/1684/my-life-with-asthma-in-2017-survey-findings-report.pdf. Last accessed July 2020 (https://www.aafa.org/media/1684/my-life-with-asthma-in-2017-survey-findings-report.pdf.%20Last%20accessed%20July%202020).

5 European Commission. Union Register of medicinal products for human use - Atectura Breezhaler. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/health/documents/community-register/html/h1439.htm (https://ec.europa.eu/health/documents/community-register/html/h1439.htm). Last accessed July 2020.

6 Chung KF et al. International ERS/ATS guidelines on definition, evaluation and treatment of severe asthma. Eur Respir J 2014;43(2):343-73.

7 Fang J et al. Demographic, clinical characteristics and control status of pediatric, adolescent, and adult asthma patients by GINA Step in a US longitudinal cohort. Am J Resp Crit Care Med 2018;197:A1903

8 Peters SP et al. Uncontrolled asthma: a review of the prevalence, disease burden and options for treatment. Respir Med 2006;100(7):1139-1151.

9 Katsaounou P et al. Still Fighting for Breath: a patient survey of the challenges and impact of severe asthma. ERJ Open Res 2018;4(4):00076-2018.

10 Price D et al. Asthma control and management in 8,000 European patients: the REcognise Asthma and LInk to Symptoms and Experience (REALISE) survey. NPJ Prim Care Respir Med 2014;24:14009.

11 Price D, et al. Adverse outcomes from initiation of systemic corticosteroids for asthma: long-term observational study. J Asthma Allergy 2018;11:193-204.

12 Albers FC et al. Biologic treatment eligibility for real-world patients with severe asthma: The IDEAL study. J Asthma 2018;55(2):152-160.

13 Bourdin A, Halimi L. et al. Adherence in Severe Asthma. Clin Exp Allergy 2012;42(11):1566-74.

14 Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Pocket guide for asthma management and prevention. Available at: https://ginasthma.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GINA-2019-main-Pocket-Guide-wms.pdf Last accessed July 2020.

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Renewables are the best way for Europe to decarbonize, the Choose Renewable Hydrogen coalition said this week, prior to the upcoming release of its hydrogen and energy-system integration plan.Europe must position renewables as the most efficient, sustainable, scalable and cost-effective way to decarbonize the economy, the Choose Renewable Hydrogen initiative said in a letter to the European Commission this week. The coalition - which includes companies and organizations such as First Solar, Iberdrola, Enel, BayWa r.e., and SolarPower Europe - sent the letter to mark the upcoming release of its ...

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.
SOITEC ANNOUNCES POI SUBSTRATES BUSINESS AGREEMENT WITH QUALCOMM TECHNOLOGIES FOR 5G RF FILTERS

Bernin (Grenoble), France, July 7th, 2020 - Soitec (Euronext Paris), an industry leader in designing and manufacturing innovative semiconductor materials, announced today a business agreement with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. on the supply of piezoelectric-on-insulator (POI) engineered substrates for 4G and 5G RF filters. Soitec's piezoelectric-on-insulator substrate brings strong value proposition to smartphones' 5G filters for mass markets.

An agreement to secure supply for Qualcomm Technologies' new generation of RF filters

After multiple years of collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Soitec has concluded an agreement to bring POI wafers production to high volume manufacturing to be used for Qualcomm Technologies' RF filters going to smartphones RF front end modules.

"With our game-changing thin-film technology and innovation in the Qualcomm ultraSAW RF filter products, we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in mobile technology", said Christian Block, senior vice president and general manager, RFFE, Qualcomm Germany RFFE GmbH. "This agreement with Soitec is key to ensure the supply of high-performance POI substrates from Soitec,and to securely support the demand from our OEM customers for high-performance Qualcomm ultraSAW RF filter products. The combination of SoitecSmart CutTM based Piezoelectric-On-Insulator substrates and Qualcomm Technologies' filter design and system expertise leads to high-yield multiplexers with multiple filter functions per die."

Soitec's POI substrate chosen for its unique value for RF filters

POI is an innovative substrate manufactured thanks to Soitec's proprietary Smart CutTM technology in 150 mm. At its foundation lies a high resistivity silicon substrate, complemented by a buried oxide layer and a very thin and uniform layer of a mono-crystal piezo material on top. Soitec's POI engineered substrates have been designed to build the latest generation of 4G/5G Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters. They offer performance with built-in temperature compensation.

"This business agreement is the outcome of a collaboration between Soitec and Qualcomm Technologies. We are very pleased that Soitec POI substrates are now an important part of Qualcomm Technologies' 5G offering for mobile devices", said Dr. Bernard Aspar, Senior Executive Vice President of Soitec's Global Business Units. "Soitec has a long experience in serving RF markets notably with large RF-SOI volumes. We are confident in our ability to handle high-volume production for POI to become a standard in materials for 5G RF filters, thanks to our robust and proven Smart CutTM technology".





Qualcomm is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries.

Qualcomm ultraSAW is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

About Soitec

Soitec (Euronext, Tech 40 Paris) is a world leader in designing and manufacturing innovative semiconductor materials. The company uses its unique technologies and semiconductor expertise to serve the electronics markets. With more than 3,500 patents worldwide, Soitec's strategy is based on disruptive innovation to answer its customers' needs for high performance, energy efficiency and cost competitiveness. Soitec has manufacturing facilities, R&D centers and offices in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.

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For more information, please visit www.soitec.comand follow us on Twitter: @Soitec_EN

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Soitec is a French joint-stock corporation with a Board of Directors (Societe Anonyme a Conseil d'administration) with a share capital of  66 557 802,00, having its registered office located at Parc Technologique des Fontaines - Chemin des Franques - 38190 Bernin (France), and registered with the Grenoble Trade and Companies Register under number 384 711 909.

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Attachment
Press release

Brussels, July 7, 2020

Xavier Pichon appointed CEO of Orange Belgium

The Board of Directors of Orange Belgium has decided to appoint Xavier Pichon to the position of CEO of Orange Belgium as from September 1st, 2020.

Xavier Pichon has 20 years' experience as an ExCom member in large corporations. He started his career in 1990 as Head of Finance of Bouygues' affiliates, followed by an Audit & Consulting position at Calan Ramolino/Salustro Reydel before joining Orange in 1998 where he took up various positions, such as Chief Financial Officer of Orange France and Group Head of Investor Relations. His last role was Deputy CEO at Orange France, leading Finance, Strategy, Transformation and Development. There, he co-led one of the most successful transformations of an incumbent telco to date. He was President and Board member of different Orange affiliates. He joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in October 2018 in Paris, then Sydney in Australia and was a core member of the TMT Practice focusing globally on large scale transformations. Xavier is recognized for his strong management skills, his deep business strategic expertise and extensive experience in investor and stakeholder relations.

Johan Deschuyffeleer, President of the Board of Directors of Orange Belgium declared:  We are very happy to welcome Xavier Pichon as our new CEO. With his 20 years of experience in telco and a strong focus on finance, advanced tech and transformation, Xavier has an excellent understanding of the telecom sector and its operating model. Going through a digital transformation in Belgium, Xavier will bring his whole experience at the top level of the Group to successfully lead Orange Belgium towards a more digital and agile operator that keeps its customers in the center of its strategy."

Commenting on the announcement, Ramon Fernandez, Deputy CEO of Orange, Finance, Performance and Europe Director, said: "Xavier's extensive expertise and skills will be key to continuing the successful path Orange Belgium had under the leadership of Michael Trabbia, who has just been appointed Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at the Orange Group. I would like to thank again Michael for his key contribution to Orange Belgium's growth, defined notably by its 'Bold challenger' strategy; and welcome Xavier in our team."

After his nomination, Xavier Pichon stated: It is a great honor to take over from Michael Trabbia, whose work, with the Executive Committee, is an example of a particularly successful transformation of a challenging operator in a tensed and highly competitive market. This success has enabled Orange Belgium to carry out its essential missions of connectivity and service during the unprecedented crisis we are currently experiencing. I would like to thank the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Johan Deschuyffeleer, the members of the Board of Directors, Stephane Richard, Gervais Pellissier and Ramon Fernandez for their confidence in me. Our priority, with the support of the Board of Directors and Mari-Noelle Jego-Laveissiere, will be to pursue this "Bold Challenger" strategy, which has been very successful and has proven to be effective for years now".

Xavier Pichon is 53 years old, French and graduated of 'Ecole de la Chambre de Commerce et de l'Industrie de Paris'. He is married and father of 5 children.

About Orange Belgium

Orange Belgium is a leading telecommunications operator on the Belgian market with over 3 million customers; Orange is also active in Luxembourg through its subsidiary Orange Communications Luxembourg.

As a convergent actor, we provide mobile telecommunications services, internet and TV to private clients as well as innovative mobile and fixed-line services to businesses. Our high-performance mobile network supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 4G+ technology and is the subject of ongoing investment.

Orange Belgium is a subsidiary of the Orange Group, one of the leading European and African operators for mobile telephony and internet access, as well as one of the world leaders in telecommunications services for enterprises.

Orange Belgium is listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange (OBEL).

More information on: corporate.orange.be, www.orange.be or follow us on Twitter: @pressOrangeBe.

Press contact

Younes Al Bouchouari - younes.albouchouari@orange.com - +32 477 69 87 73

Annelore Marynissen - Annelore.marynissen@orange.com - +32 479 016 058

press@orange.be

Attachment
STOCKHOLM, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AfterPay Insights' end of June research - now covering more than 7.600 interviews with Dutch online shoppers - indicates that Dutch consumers will reduce their overall purchases in July (i.e. both online and offline purchases). At the same time, Dutch consumers say that they will continue to shift purchases to online channels in July.

This is a continuation of the trend that AfterPay Insights saw in June, when Dutch online purchases picked up to +40% by mid-June (compared to early March) - after a period of stabilized and even decreased growth in May. Even though Dutch society has opened up, consumers' return to brick-and-mortar stores is - so far - not happening very fast. Only 8% of Dutch consumers say they shopped more in physical stores in June, compared to 24% who say they shopped more online. So even though Dutch online shoppers say they will consume less overall, a larger share of their purchases will be made online in July, coming at the expense of sales in brick-and-mortar stores.

Dutch consumers are less worried and have a positive outlook on their personal financial situation in July

Dutch online shoppers' worries have decreased continuously since end of March. Worries about personal health have decreased the most, from 53% at the second half of March to 36% by the second half of June. In that same period, worries about the personal financial situation also decreased, from 36% to 30%.

However, AfterPay Insights' research also shows that 16% of Dutch online shoppers say that their financial situation has become more stressed. This has led consumers to purchase less overall; AfterPay Insights' survey responses indicate that the most important reason for fewer purchases is the need to save money, especially evident in the younger age groups. Secondary motivations are the intention to change lifestyle by reducing overall consumption, along with having general worries about the future. And third tier motivations include the risk of becoming unemployed, as well as wanting to pay off mortgages and loans.

But even though consumers' overall financial situation has deteriorated since mid-March, 9% of Dutch consumers say that their financial situation is better in June, and 12% say they expect their financial situation to further improve in July. Dutch consumers are relatively optimistic about their short-term financial situation.

Fashion leads Dutch e-commerce purchases in July

AfterPay Insights finds that Fashion stands out in The Netherlands, as it is the leading category in acquiring new consumers: in the second half of March, 18% of Dutch shoppers made at least one purchase in online Fashion, and this share has grown to 28% by the second half of June.

Price and convenience increase in importance for Dutch consumers

Finding cheaper prices online has become increasingly important for Dutch consumers over time, along with the fact that online shopping offers more convenience. It looks like the functional benefits of online shopping increase in impact. AfterPay Insights will monitor Dutch consumer behavior over the summer to discover a possible lasting effect.

Read the full article here: "Dutch shoppers say they will reduce their overall purchases in July but continue to shift purchases to online channels"

View the interactive dashboard with e-commerce behavior and attitudes from more than 19.000 consumers.

About AfterPay Insights

AfterPay Insights is a knowledge platform for e-commerce professionals. From mid March, AfterPay Insights has researched consumers' e-commerce behavior during the corona outbreak and intend to continue this study through out the pandemic. This article is an abstract.

About AfterPay

AfterPay, developed by Arvato Financial Solutions is the biggest payment-after-delivery service in The Netherlands and Belgium, and is also available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark.

About Arvato Financial Solutions

As part of Bertelsmann, Arvato Financial Solutions provides professional credit management solutions across all segments of the customer lifecycle in around 20 countries. By revealing the advantages of predictive analytics, leading-edge platforms and big data, provided solutions result in optimized financial performance and empower clients to fully concentrate on their core business.

For more information, please contact:

Aida Beelaerts van Blokland

a.beelaertsvanblokland@afterpay.nl

+31657321095

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

The following files are available for download:
Secures Strategic Piece of Value-Chain for Continued European Expansion

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - EuroLife Brands (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CMA) (OTC Pink: EURPF) ("EuroLife" or the "Company"), a vertically integrated enterprise focused on the pan-European health and wellness sector today announced that, further to the news release of November 22, 2019, it is proceeding with the close of an initial equity ownership position (the "Transaction") in Farmhus GmbH, a state-of-the-art outdoor hemp facility located near Dresden, Germany.

Farmhus GmbH boasts the following list of assets that collectively comprise one of the largest fully operational outdoor hemp cultivation projects in Europe:

More than 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of prime agricultural land available for hemp cultivation near Dresden, Germany;

Scalability via option agreement to approximately 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres);

Approximately 110,000 kilograms of existing hemp biomass currently in storage inventory that has been harvested and processed from the latest harvest cycle;

Existing off-take agreements and purchase orders;

Specialized harvesting machinery capable of efficient commercial harvest at a rate of 50 hectares (123 acres) per day;

Specialized cleaning machinery utilized to extract and separate seeds from stems using a mechanically induced vacuum process with negative pressure;

Specialized drying machinery;

Drying rooms and warehouse space to be utilized for excess capacity, storage, cleaning and drying.

According to the Farmhus GmbH 2020 two-year business plan, the outdoor hemp operation is expected to generate more than 3 million from the sale of hemp oil, cosmetics, and pet food in its first season of operation. The operation is projected to have 200 hectares of hemp under cultivation and generate margins related to the sale of retail products in the range of 30-40%.

After an unforeseen delay due to the COVID pandemic, EuroLife is pleased to have completed its acquisition for the first equity tranche of ownership, representing an additional forward step in EuroLife's European Business Model for end-to-end supply chain ownership. The complex will provide cost efficient raw product supply towards EuroLife's pending acquisition of the HANF Hemp Retail Stores in Germany and Luxembourg. A total of seven (7) retail store fronts will have the opportunity to benefit from EuroLife's umbrella ownership for direct-to-supply ownership of raw materials.

"Our goal to buildout a vertically integrated enterprise in the health of wellness sector took a monumental and logistically significant step forward today. With the investment into a hemp supply chain operation run by the experienced team at Farmhus, EuroLife gains a stake in a key physical asset in Europe for the growing health and wellness markets," said Shawn Moniz, CEO of EuroLife. "EuroLife now has an equity ownership of a highly tactical asset located in Germany. We will leverage our position to ensure a supply of affordable and consistent quality raw materials for many hemp-based products sold online and through potentially owned or related physical retail locations. We look forward to work alongside the other notable stakeholders of the project in order to establish EuroLife's leadership position in the European health and wellness business while capturing additional value-add downstream opportunities for the Company."

In consideration for an initial five (5) per-cent ownership stake in Farmhus GmbH, EuroLife shall issue 500,000 common shares (the "Shares") at a deemed price of $0.50 per Share for a deemed value of $250,000, and make payment of $35,000 in cash. EuroLife maintains the right to increase its ownership in Farmhus GmbH up to twenty (20) percent. Closing of the Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Strategy and Downstream Value Creation



This operation will serve as a key strategic asset for EuroLife as it continues executing on its roadmap of creating a vertically integrated and diversified enterprise operating within the EU. Through sustained strategic deployment of capital and unification of synergistic assets EuroLife aims to become amongst the largest health and wellness companies in Europe.

On April 20, 2020 EuroLife announced it had entered into Letter of Intent (the "LOI") to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding securities of CWE, a Canadian Corporation, which owns and operates six retail locations in Germany and one in Luxembourg. CWE is seeking to become one of the largest hemp retail and online retailers, building controlled access to Central European customers by opening retail locations in Germany, Austria and Luxembourg.

HANF Hemp promotes an organic, health conscious lifestyle based mainly on hemp products. Physical store locations are known for their clean and safe profile, with friendly knowledgeable staff and an open and drug free atmosphere emphasizing fairness towards producers, suppliers and customers. HANF takes a holistic, comprehensive approach to the universe of Health and Wellness, offering a range of over 300+ products from the world of hemp including oils, edibles and cosmetics.

European Hemp Market

Boasting a population of over 700 Million citizens, with over 500 Million in the EU alone, the European opportunity afforded within the hemp and cannabidiol marketplace is growing at a substantial pace. EuroLife is of the opinion that as the industry matures and normalization takes hold, organizations equipped with low cost production combined with tactical downstream capability will prevail.

Currently there is a robust hemp market in the EU, with production in most member nations. In 2018, European cultivation grew by over 40% from 2015 to more than 40,000 hectares of production. Hemp production is centered in France, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Romania, with France being largest producer, accounting for almost 50% of Europe's total production.

The demand for hemp continues to grow fueled by the increasingly diverse use of this crop including the production of cannabidiol (CBD), which can be extracted for use in an array of food supplements, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The legal cannabis market in Europe remains strictly medical, however the consumption of hemp-derived CBD infused products for recreational purposes is legally permitted across much of the continent.

With health and wellness taking hold of the global market the opportunity is staggering. It is suggested that the CBD products market could account for over 0.15% of the health and wellness market value by 2028. According to the latest research by the Global Wellness Institute, the worldwide wellness market grew 12.9% from $3.72 trillion in 2017 to $4.2 trillion in 2018. The European CBD market alone is projected to be worth at least 1.5 billion by 2023.



About Farmhus GmbH

Farmhus is the owner and operator of a state-of-the-art industrial hemp cultivation operation located near Dresden, Germany. Our vision is to revitalize the hemp markets and promote the versatile use of hemp from a single source. It processes the entire plant to allow for as many areas product applications as possible. Farmhus follows sustainable cultivation and holistic utilization of hemp, through environmentally friendly operation paving the way for future generations.

Farmhus guarantees cannabinoid-rich products in the food and pharmaceutical sector from certified cultivation with the highest quality. It also supplys high-quality fibers from hemp for the manufacture of textiles and materials making the region the origin of clothing, upholstery and plastic substitutes the new reality of German and European industry. For more information visit: www.farmhus.de.

About EuroLife Brands Inc.

EuroLife Brands (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CMA) (OTC Pink: EURPF) is a leading global markets cannabis brand empowering the medical, recreational and CPG cannabis industry worldwide through a data-driven CBD marketplace supported by exclusive and unbiased physician-backed cannabis education and detailed consumer analytics.

For additional information:

Contact: ir@eurolifebrands.com or visit EuroLifeBrands.com

No stock exchange or securities regulatory authority has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the business plans for EuroLife Brands described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59235
MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - Deutsche Bank (DB) and Google Cloud have agreed to form a strategic partnership which will enable Deutsche Bank to accelerate its cloud transition. With Google Cloud, Deutsche Bank will transform its IT architecture. Through the partnership, Deutsche Bank will also gain direct access to world-class data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning to better serve customers. 'The partnership with Google Cloud will be an important driver of our strategic transformation,' said Christian Sewing, CEO, Deutsche Bank. In February 2020, Deutsche Bank invited a number of cloud service providers to propose a partnership as part of its multi-vendor cloud strategy. 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.
NewB, the Belgian ethical bankhas selected Wolters Kluwer's OneSumX for Risk Management to manage its Asset and Liability Management (ALM) requirements as well as its liquidity risk.

The ALM component of OneSumX for Risk Management is based on Wolters Kluwer's integrated platform, enabling balance sheet modeling, stress testing and dynamic planning. OneSumX Liquidity Risk Management, meanwhile, introduces a risk management, stress engine and regulatory reporting platform to help firms monitor, manage and report on liquidity risk. To achieve this, financial instruments are mapped into the solution, and strategies and stress scenarios can be performed to identify the impact to both market and funding liquidity.

"The goal of NewB is to offer simple and transparent banking services which follow the principles of sustainability and ethics. As such we require highly reliable and intuitive technology to ensure we manage our risk profile," commented Jean-Christophe Vanhuysse, Executive Director at NewB. "Wolters Kluwer has an excellent reputation in the ALM and liquidity areas and so the company's award-winning technology offers an excellent fit for us."

"We continue to attract a range of clients across Benelux and beyond not just for our risk offerings, but across all finance, risk and reporting areas," said Kris Van Bavel, Managing Director of Wolters Kluwer's Finance, Risk Reporting (FRR) business in EMEA. "We are very much looking forward to working with NewB's talented team on the implementation."

Wolters Kluwer FRR, which is part of Wolters Kluwer's Governance, Risk Compliance (GRC) division, is a global market leader in the provision of integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions. It supports regulated financial institutions in meeting their obligations to external regulators and their own board of directors.

Wolters Kluwer FRR receives frequent independent recognition of its excellence and innovation, celebrating a record year for award wins in 2019. Risk magazine recently awarded the company its coveted Regulatory Reporting System of The Year Award for the third year running and Wolters Kluwer FRR is the #1 provider in both Regulatory Reporting and Liquidity Risk according to the RiskTech100, as compiled by Chartis Research.

Wolters Kluwer's GRC division offers a range of expert solutions to help the financial services industry respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its Compliance Solutions business, for example, offers Paycheck Protection Program Supported by TSoftPlus to support stimulus loan applications and loan forgiveness processes under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or U.S. CARES Act. Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions, meanwhile, has also recently established a technology solution specifically designed to help U.S. lenders navigate Paycheck Protection Program loan applications, and associated compliance and risk mitigation requirements, resulting from the CARES Act. The Business Entity Search for CARES Act solution conducts bulk/batch corporate identity searches to verify the business status of potential borrowers.

About Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk Compliance

Governance, Risk Compliance (GRC) is a division of Wolters Kluwer, which provides legal and banking professionals with solutions to ensure compliance with ever-changing regulatory and legal obligations, manage risk, increase efficiency, stay competitive and produce better business outcomes. GRC offers a portfolio of technology-enabled expert services and solutions focused on legal entity compliance, legal operations management, banking product compliance, and banking regulatory compliance.

Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL) is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. Wolters Kluwer reported 2019 annual revenues of 4.6 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen an den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005277/en/

Contacts:

Paul Lyon

Director of Global Corporate Communications, Banking Regulatory Compliance

Governance, Risk Compliance

Wolters Kluwer

Mobile: +44 77 6539 1824

Paul.Lyon@wolterskluwer.com
Mogrify Ltd (Mogrify), a UK biotechnology company aiming to transform the development of cell therapies by the systematic discovery of novel cell conversions, today announced the appointment of Lorenz Mayr, PhD, to the Board of Directors and the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Dr. Mayr will initially join the Board of Directors as an observer, providing valuable insights into the development and manufacture of ex vivo cell therapies and in vivo reprogramming therapies and advising on the Company's therapeutic program selections, before assuming full board member status later this year.

Dr. Mayr has over 30 years' experience in biopharma research, development and commercialization. He joins the Mogrify Board having most recently been Chief Technical Officer at GE Healthcare Life Sciences, where he was responsible for all global R&D activities, talent development and company growth strategy across all business areas including cell therapy manufacturing. His previous industry roles include Vice President Global Head at AstraZeneca, where he oversaw the generation of biological reagents and assay development activities across all therapeutic areas, and Executive Director at Novartis Pharma AG. He is a Biochemistry lecturer at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and has published over 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Bayreuth. Dr. Mayr currently serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Syncona Ltd.

Darrin M. Disley, PhD, CEO, Mogrify, said: "We are excited to welcome Dr. Mayr to both the Board of Directors and the Scientific Advisory Board. His appointment further strengthens our senior team, which includes industry leaders in platform technologies, drug development and biotech company building. Lorenz's expansive knowledge of pre-clinical R&D, clinical drug development and manufacture and his global biotech and pharma network will be invaluable in our mission to transform the development of lifesaving therapies in disease areas including hematology, immunology and ophthalmology."

Lorenz Mayr, PhD, Board and SAB member, Mogrify, added: "Mogrify has developed an innovative direct cellular conversion technology that has a great potential for diseases with a high unmet clinical need. The Company is well-positioned to address shortcomings in the cell therapy space as well as pioneer in vivo reprogramming therapies, and I am pleased to be joining at such an exciting stage in its growth. I am looking forward to working with a team with proven world-class scientific and commercial expertise."

For further information about Mogrify's team, please visit: www.mogrify.co.uk/board-of-directors

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005370/en/

Contacts:

Zyme Communications (media enquiries)

Dr. Michelle Ricketts

Tel: +44 (0)7789 053 885

E-mail: michelle.ricketts@zymecommunications.com
New Round Spotlights SaaS Backup and Recovery Momentum as Global Crisis Puts Business Continuity Top of Mind

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., July 07, 2020, a leading cloud-to-cloud business continuity platform, today announced $50 million in new funding led by Insight Partners , with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Vertex Ventures less than one year after raising Series C financing. Existing investor Innovation Endeavors also participated in the follow-on round, which brings the company's total funding to over $100 million. The additional capital will be used to accelerate product development and scale go-to-market functions in support of OwnBackup's vision to give enterprise CIOs one pane of glass where they can backup, protect, and analyze their mission-critical and increasingly complex software-as-a-service (SaaS) data.

"This oversubscribed round signifies investors' recognition of our early dominance in a huge addressable market," said Sam Gutmann, CEO of OwnBackup. "In today's uncertain climate, more CIOs and CEOs realize the importance of building greater resiliency into their business. We're committed to keeping their operations running around the clock with enterprise-grade, set-it-and-forget-it monitoring and recovery-both during the COVID-19 pandemic and over the long term."

"OwnBackup provides automated and fast data protection so customers can feel confident that their business data is always protected," said Matt Garratt, managing partner at Salesforce Ventures. "OwnBackup has been a long standing Salesforce partner on AppExchange, and we are pleased to continue to support their growth with this new investment to drive further innovation for customers."

Recent highlights of OwnBackup's market leadership

Achieved approximately 100 percent year-over-year revenue growth for two years running

Earned 98 percent five-star reviews in the Salesforce AppExchange (https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=a0N30000007p6RYEAY)

Supports over 2,000 customers-such as AECOM, athenahealth, Michigan State University, and Navy Federal Credit Union-securing 60 trillion SaaS and PaaS records

Employs more than 220 people globally, with headcount growth of 200% over the past two years

Recently expanded the company's leadership bench with the addition of Salesforce veteran Jamie Grenney (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiegrenney/) as chief marketing officer, and data security expert Roi Dover (https://www.linkedin.com/in/roidover/) as vice president of research and development

as chief marketing officer, and data security expert as vice president of research and development Ranked twenty-fifth on the 2020 Financial Times Americas' Fastest Growing Companies (https://blog.ownbackup.com/ft-fastest-growing-companies) list and number 102 on the 2019 Inc. 5000 (https://blog.ownbackup.com/inc-5000-2019)

"OwnBackup is the business continuity partner of choice for forward-thinking enterprise CIOs, and has achieved incredible growth and customer success in the five years since it was founded," said Nikitas Koutoupes, managing director at Insight Partners. "With the backup and recovery market expected to surpass $18 billion by 20261, there's massive untapped potential for OwnBackup's stellar team and proven solutions. We believe demand for the company's products will continue to soar, both within the Salesforce ecosystem and beyond."

Enabling holistic oversight and continuity for all mission-critical SaaS data

OwnBackup's award-winning data recovery solutions make it painless to backup data, metadata, and attachments stored in Salesforce. The platform's real-time monitoring and alerts help enterprises recover faster from data loss, ensure business continuity, speed up operations, and meet compliance mandates. During the COVID-19 crisis, governments and businesses need to manage potentially life-saving data sets-including contact tracing, health checks, testing, medical research, and pandemic response details-all of which require maximum protection. With the new funds raised today, OwnBackup plans to meet this demand and expand its backup, recovery, archiving, and sandbox seeding services into a unified solution for all corporate data across a variety of SaaS apps.

"OwnBackup is a lifesaver, because not only does it give us peace-of-mind with a single pane of glass for our valuable SaaS data, it lets our team jump faster into new projects, since we know we can always roll back if needed," said Matthew McGarry, senior principal Salesforce technologist at Medtronic. "As we become more sophisticated in how we leverage and build out our Salesforce environments, OwnBackup ensures that we minimize the risk of any data loss, reduce our storage costs, eliminate regulatory compliance headaches, and have the tools to properly govern all of our crucial enterprise data."

For more details on OwnBackup's products, click here or read its five-star reviews on Salesforce AppExchange and G2 Crowd .

About OwnBackup

OwnBackup, the leading cloud-to-cloud backup and restore vendor, provides secure, automated, daily backups of SaaS and PaaS data, as well as sophisticated data compare and restore tools for disaster recovery. Helping more than 2,000 businesses worldwide protect critical cloud data, OwnBackup covers data loss and corruption caused by human errors, malicious intent, integration errors and rogue applications. Built for security and privacy, OwnBackup exceeds the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements for backed-up data. Co-founded by seasoned data-recovery, data-protection and information-security experts, OwnBackup is a top-rated backup and restore ISV on Salesforce AppExchange and was awarded the Salesforce Appy Award in 2018. OwnBackup ranks number 25 on the 2020 Financial Times Americas' Fastest Growing Companies list and number 102 on the 2019 Inc. 5000 list. Headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., with R&D, support and other functions in Tel Aviv and London, OwnBackup is the vendor of choice for some of the world's largest users of SaaS applications.

For more information, visit ownbackup.com .

Media Contact:

Joe Gerace

Antenna | Spaces

201-465-8028

joe.gerace@antennagroup.com

1 Stratistics MRC, " Data Backup and Recovery - Global Market Outlook ," March 2018



Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eaf98ad2-c2a5-418e-99f6-e84e83500411

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3e8ef133-44b2-488f-8f85-721c7352ef25
ROME (dpa-AFX) - Eni (E) said the company remains committed to its decarbonization strategy. The company is also assessing how to speed up its plans. It believes the ongoing evolution will allow the company to achieve a better balanced portfolio. Eni now foresees a long-term price of the marker Brent of $60/barrel in 2023 real terms compared to the previous assumption of $70/barrel. For the years 2020-2022, Brent prices are expected respectively at 40, 48 and 55 $/barrel compared to the previous assumptions of 45, 55 and 70 $/barrel. Eni said its impairment assessments are in progress and it is not possible at this time to precisely determine the impact of the revised impairment testing price assumptions on the group's financial statements. Eni currently expects to record in the results of the second quarter estimated non-cash, post-tax impairment charges against non-current assets, including a devaluation of tax credits recorded in connection with tax-losses carryforwards, of 3.5 billion euros, plus/minus 20%. 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.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - INCA ONE GOLD CORP. (TSXV: IO) (OTC Pink: INCAF) (FSE: SU9.F) ("Inca One" or the "Company"), a gold producer operating two fully permitted, mineral processing facilities in Peru, is pleased to announce it has launched a new project named XplorTracker ("Xplor") aimed at advancing its mineral buying and securing future supplies of gold bearing mineral for processing.

Drawing on the prior 6 years of actively testing and buying mineral consisting of more than 20,000 samples from across the country, Inca One has accumulated an extensive database of samples from gold bearing mineral, including grade, type, quality and concession coordinates. Furthermore, through positive and transparent business ethics and by employing best practices, Inca One has built extensive relationships with the Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners ("ASM") enabling the 'mapping' of these mines throughout Peru. Through systematic analysis and plotting of data within Xplor, the Company will look to engage further with titleholders to create additional and mutually beneficial business arrangements.

In the first phase of this project, Inca One will look to secure mineral rights for district-scale land positions within the Peruvian Gold Belts (PGB) by analyzing the results from the ASM that are actively mining gold and currently bringing their mineral to either the Kori One or Chala One plants. Peru is famous for these Gold Belts and the three dominant Gold Belts that contribute to Peru's gold production stretch from over a few hundred kilometres in length up to 1,700 km. Peru has been actively mining for several centuries, is the largest Latin American gold producer and was ranked the 6th largest gold producer in the world for 2018. Once these land positions are secured by Inca One, the Company will carry out limited exploration programs to determine suitable projects that can be optioned out for future work programs and ultimately define economic gold resources on these gold properties.

The Company's objective with this program is to deploy strategies that will allow for the direct purchase, investment, or other partnership arrangements to help advance these mining projects or concessions. Additional opportunities for Inca One may be to act as a facilitator assisting in the formalization of miners or titleholders and their environmental improvements and geological information. The end goal with Xplor will be to guarantee additional future supplies of mineral to Inca One processing facilities fueling the Company's growth.

"It has been just over 6 years since we officially transitioned from an exploration stage company and entered the gold mineral processing business, building our brand as the ASM gold mineral processor of choice in Peru," commented Edward Kelly, President and CEO of Inca One. We believe the time is right to launch the XplorTracker gold project and realize a Company initiative by filling our remaining excess capacity through the acquisition of these concessions and securing long-term gold mineral feed for both Inca One plants."

About Inca One

Inca One Gold Corp is a TSXV listed, gold producer operating two, fully permitted, gold mineral processing facilities in Peru. The Company produced nearly 25,000 ounces of gold from its operations in 2019 and has generated over US$100 million in revenue over the last five years. Inca One, now in its sixth year of commercial production, is led by an experienced and capable management team that has established the Company as a trusted leader in servicing government permitted, small scale miners in Peru. Peru is the world's sixth-largest producer of gold and its small-scale mining sector is estimated by government officials to be valued in the billions of dollars annually. Inca One possesses a combined 450 tonnes per day permitted operating capacity at its two fully integrated plants, Chala One and Kori One, and is targeting a fourth consecutive year of increased production and sales growth. To learn more visit www.incaone.com.







Figure 1: Inca One's gold processing facilities in Peru (left: Chala One facility; right: Kori One facility)

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2645/59214_177c0457c40f7a11_001full.jpg

On behalf of the Board,

Edward Kelly

President and CEO

INCA ONE GOLD CORP.

For More Information Contact:

Konstantine Tsakumis

Inca One Gold Corp.

ktsakumis@incaone.com

604-568-4877

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

Statements regarding the Company which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements due to factors such as: (i) fluctuation of mineral prices; (ii) a change in market conditions; and (iii) the fact that future operational results may not be accurately predicted based on this limited information to date. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update any changes to such statements. Inca One believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included herein should not be unduly relied upon.

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 in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59214
VC-backed Clara setting out to remake the world of startup legals

LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clara, the London-based legaltech company, today announced that it has secured the rights to incorporate companies in two of the world's most popular jurisdictions for raising venture capital: the Cayman Islands and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Clara's capacity to form Cayman and ADGM companies is a result of its acquisition of Foundra Corporate Services, a leading provider of company formation services in ADGM and its partnership with an affiliate in the Cayman Islands. With these deals, Clara takes another step towards providing startups with an automated, online solution for many of their legal needs.

"Startups are looking for a new approach to help them overcome the pain and complexity of dealing with legal matters," said Patrick Rogers, CEO and Co-Founder of Clara. "These transactions will allow us to completely streamline the customer experience of incorporating Cayman and ADGM companies - adding further value to the Clara platform, which digitizes and automates startup legals."

These developments will enable Clara to further enhance its offering to startups, creating a value chain of incorporation and ongoing management of companies. Clara's digital formations module, which has already been integrated with both DocuSign and Checkout.com, will be launched in August and will initially focus on Cayman and ADGM.

Under the terms of the transactions, Foundra and its Cayman affiliate will be re-branded as "Clara Formations".

Clara is led by a team of seasoned lawyers and technologists who have worked at some of the top companies within their sectors. The company's platform automates many of the tasks currently performed by startup lawyers including: forming companies, drafting agreements, building cap tables, structuring data rooms and predictively educating founders on legal concepts. The company has raised US$3 million in seed financing from institutional investors, including 500 Startups and Techstars.

Foundra was established in 2018 and quickly became the leading provider of incorporation services for ADGM, which is one of the world's leading financial centers. To date the company has established more than 400 companies. "Clara is an ideal partner to advance our mission," said Kathryn Burke, Managing Director of Foundra. "With Clara's tech resources and global platform, we will be able to accelerate innovation in the company formation space. I could not be more excited for what lies ahead."

Clara plans to add to the list of jurisdictions where they will be able to incorporate companies. They are currently considering: Delaware, Singapore, and the UK.

About Clara

Clara is a legal operating system that digitises and automates startup legal expertise. Clara educates and empowers founders to address many of the tasks currently performed by lawyers, including incorporating companies, drafting agreements, building cap tables and structuring data rooms. At the same time, Clara acts as a collaboration and information sharing tool for founders, investors and lawyers so that the key players in the global startup ecosystem can work together more efficiently.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1201181/Clara_Founding_Team.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1201182/Clara_logo.jpg


BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks fell in cautious trade on Tuesday amid concerns that the economic recovery in the U.S. may be 'leveling off' amid a recent surge in coronavirus infections.



U.S. Federal Reserve official Raphael Bostic told the Financial Times in an interview that there are signs that the American recovery is 'levelling off'.



The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.1 percent to 367.24 after climbing 1.6 percent in the previous session.



The German DAX gave up 1.4 percent, France's CAC 40 index declined 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 1.3 percent.



HeidelbergCement lost about 1 percent. The building materials company said that it will record a 3.4 billion euros of asset impairment in the second quarter, due to Brexit and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business.



French catering and food services group Sodexo plunged 5.6 percent. The company warned that its fourth-quarter and half-year sales will fall more sharply than previously expected.



Geoscience technology company CGG fell 1.5 percent. The company announced that Sercel has acquired a 34 percent shareholding in start-up AMBPR.



Telecommunications operator Orange SA was down 1.7 percent after announcing the appointment of Julien Ducarroz as CEO of Orange Polska, and Xavier Pichon as CEO of Orange Belgium.



BP Plc fell over 1 percent and Royal Dutch Shell shed 0.6 percent as oil prices slid on concerns over a recovery in fuel demand.



Micro Focus International plunged 8.7 percent. The technology company swung to a loss after writing off $922 million because of Covid-19 uncertainty.



Whitbread tumbled 4.2 percent after the hotel and restaurant group unveiled a significant slump in first-quarter sales.



Derwent London lost 2.5 percent. The property investment and development company said that for the June quarter so far it had collected 75 percent of office rents due and 70 percent from the portfolio in its entirety.



Ferrexpo, a Swiss iron ore company with assets in Ukraine, was little changed after reporting an increase in its first-half pellet production.



In economic releases, German industrial production recovered in May, helped by an easing of lockdown measures, Destatis reported.



Industrial output grew 7.8 percent on a monthly basis in May, in contrast to a revised 17.5 percent fall in April. Production was forecast to grow 10 percent in May.



On a yearly basis, industrial production declined 19.3 percent versus a revised 25 percent decrease in April.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wine investment often conjures up images of tweedy connoisseurs with dusty cellars full of the finest Bordeaux. But these days, wine is just as likely to be something young entrepreneurs, small business owners or retirees looking to boost their savings.

An article for Business Reporter focuses on this growing marketplace, where companies such as OenoFuture, Europe's fastest-growing wine investment company, are highlighting the benefits of growing a cellar. Wine is a far more stable and safe investment than you might think - Liv-Ex's Burgundy 150, for example, grew by 76.95 per cent over the past five years, a period in which the FTSE 100 dropped by 14.3 per cent.

"Fine wine is an accessible market open to both new and experienced investors alike, thanks to fine wine investment companies like OenoFuture," said OenoFuture's Daniel Walker. "Our investors can enter the market with initial investments that vary from as little as 5,000 to six or seven figures, making it truly an opportunity everyone can benefit from."

Both traditional stocks and shares and newer alternatives have been vulnerable to today's volatile environment. Amazon's value plunged by $31 billion after Tweets from Donald Trump criticising its tax arrangements, while Bitcoin dropped 37 per cent within a 24 hour period in March. The value of wine, on the other hand, is governed by simple supply and demand - and the demand for fine wine is rising as developing countries develop a taste for luxury products. It is an artisanal product, which limits its supply, and every time a bottle is drunk, the value of the remaining vintages only increases.

As with any investment, those planning on putting their money into wine should do their homework, says Walker. But, he adds, one of the things that makes OenoFuture different to other wine investment companies is that it is "centred around making money with our clients, not from our clients." OenoFuture retains a dedicated team of wine experts, whose insider knowledge enables them to source rare bottles directly from wineries, and its unique business model lets investors sell their wines directly to restaurants.

"In seasons of intense fragility, wine offers welcome stability," says Walker. "For new or experienced investors buffeted by current market uncertainties, fine wine can offer a very simple and profitable solution."

To find out more about how OenoFuture is revolutionising wine investment, click 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 OenoFuture

Against a backdrop of market turbulence and uncertainty, the fine wine market has performed exceptionally in recent years. Since 2005 fine wine has seen growth of 198%, making it a very attractive safe haven for investors keen to diversify their portfolio. OenoFuture's expert consultants can help you to discover the benefits of investing in this exciting market. We are true pioneers in fine wine investment, trailblazing a path through under-the-radar fine wine regions and revolutionising the way collectors interact with this unique market. OenoFuture provides a personalised advisory service for both newcomers and experienced fine wine collectors. Clients can choose to rely on our expertise to guide them all the way or, alternatively, take a more active role in their fine wine journey with our exceptional tasting events and winery tours.
Innovative MedTech Developer's Headsets Now Provide the Technology Needed by Patients, Physicians and Surgeons for Medical Diagnosis, Treatment and Procedures

IRVINE, Calif., July 07, 2020, a California-based technology company developing state-of-the-art augmented reality (AR) headset devices, today announced plans to deliver the first AR headsets specific for medical applications providing connectivity from AT&T and using 5G products from Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.



Ocutrx is building its AR/XR medical device, the first headset, the Oculenz, for patient use and a second headset, the ORLenz, is designed for physicians and surgeons. Both will be built upon the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Platform, which features the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System.

AT&T, a global Internet of Things (IoT) leader, will provide IoT solutions, including AT&T Control Center and cellular connectivity for Ocutrx devices - allowing highly secure, near real-time access to data. The cellular connectivity within the headset, also provides the ARWear to function as a smartphone.

About Ocutrx ARwear

Ocutrx makes AR/XR headsets for both the patient and healthcare provider. For patients, the Oculenz AMD provides ground-breaking technology to offer a solution for advanced macular degeneration and other central visual deficits in patients with retinal disease. The Oculenz RMP Remote Medical Presence model is for the remote telemedicine and contains various patient vital sensors including visual-field test, blood pressure, heart rate and blood oxygenation. The Oculenz LVP is for low-vision patients to maneuver around in their environment using SLAM supported by the Snapdragon XR2 Platform. SLAM in the Oculenz headset works much like how autonomous cars drive and can direct someone on a path and audibly advise them when dangers, such as curbs, stop signs or stairs, are near their path. The Oculenz EyAlinz is a device which can help diagnose and treat younger patients with amblyopia (lazy eye) and provide a binocular recovery solution. For the physician, Ocutrx has developed the ORLenz for surgery visualization, providing a surgery video feed with virtual information superimposed in the view of a surgeon, assistant or students/fellows. There is also an ORLenz version for those who practice interactive radiology to see both the body and a probe at the same time in an AR/XR overlay. These surgery AR/XR headsets are also featured in the Ocutrx OR-Bot Surgery Visualization Theatre, which spotlight three fully 4k viewing methods for surgeons to see ophthalmic, spinal, EMT, vascular, neural or coronary surgeries.

Dr. Daniel Ting, M.D., Ph.D., a Chief Medical AI Advisor to Ocutrx and a leading global ophthalmology AI expert is working with Ocutrx to develop an Ophthalmology AI platform for ophthalmic surgeries. The ORLenz AI will access a HIPAA-secured cloud and can analyze thousands of surgeries. It will notify the surgeon of optimal scenarios and times during surgery for where to perform membrane peeling, laser, injections or other actions to prevent injury to the operating tissue and to improve patient outcomes. "The ORLenz AI engine will enhance surgeries with information presented as virtual markers on the ORLenz headset lens," says Dr. Ting, "In addition to the surgery video feed, there will be blinking cursors, menus and text shown during the surgery viewable virtually by the surgeon on the AR headset."

Dr. Linda Lam, M.D., M.B.A. the Ocutrx Chief Medical Officer, highlighted that the results can be accessed remotely for later review and analysis by the healthcare provider, allowing for tele-monitoring and telemedicine capabilities and services."

Ocutrx Vision Technologies may not yet be a household name, but most of the world benefits from the company's founders. Developed by Michael and Mitchael Freeman, these brothers are responsible for developing some of the foundational technology now recognized as IEEE 802.11(n) MIMO standards, which is the same technology used today when we send videos from our cell phones After Freeman brothers' father was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), they made it their mission to correct the effects of this devastating disease. The Freeman's assembled the team who helped them develop streaming mobile video in the 1990s, and their prototype, the Oculenz AMD, is being touted as the next best thing in Ophthalmology for macular degeneration and low vision. Additional applications include military, drones, gaming, commercial, industrial, and more. Ocutrx Vision Technologies' AR/XR headsets will showcase the newest and greatest abilities of the Snapdragon XR2 Platform and AT&T's network including 5G.

"By merging these communication and virtual technologies, we have the potential to unleash a tidal wave of innovative AR/XR applications that could totally revamp the healthcare industry and promote telemedicine," said Michael Freeman, JD, founder and CEO/CTO of Ocutrx. "Better outcomes mean shorter surgeries, shorter patient downtimes as well as quicker turn-arounds and fewer readmissions for facilities, resulting in increased healthcare efficiencies across the board."

About Ocutrx

With corporate headquarters in Irvine, Calif., and a research and development labs in Colorado Springs, CO and Tulsa, OK, and a new office in London, England, Ocutrx is a new breed of Augmented/Extended Reality manufacturing company focusing on the best-connected, lightest-weight, highest-resolution AR headset, housing the largest field-of-vision in the market. The Ocutrx AR headsets boast 60 pixel-per-degree resolution, which is the highest resolution the human eye can see at 20/20. Ocutrx is focused on AR/XR as a medical device for surgeons and patients alike to deliver an extended reality experience to both. At a time when worldwide applications for easy-to-wear and easy-to-use AR solutions are being touted as the "next big thing after smartphones," Ocutrx is creating impactful, revolutionary ARWear for the medical sector. To learn more about Ocutrx and its ground-breaking technology, please visit the company website at www.oculenz.com.

Qualcomm and Snapdragon are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries. Qualcomm Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Ocutrx products mentioned within this press release are offered by Ocutrx Vision Technologies, LLC and/or its subsidiaries.

Media Contact:

Brenlyn D'Amore

Bastion Elevate (for Ocutrx Vision Technologies)

949.899.3135

brenlyn@bastionelevate.com
Pilar Mine Achieves New Record Production

Strong Free Cash Flow and Liquidity

Operational Update on COVID-19 Action Plan

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX:JAG) today announced interim gold production results for the second quarter of 2020 ("Q2 2020"). The Company is pleased to announce that it continues to show consistent quarter-over-quarter operational improvement at the Pilar Gold Mine ("Pilar") and Turmalina Gold Mine ("Turmalina") located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Financial results for Q2 2020 will be reported and filed on SEDAR on or before August 10, 2020. All figures are in US Dollars, unless otherwise expressed.

Vern Baker, CEO, commented: "We are pleased to be able to announce our continued progress toward our goal of sustainable production of 25,000 ounces per quarter. Our teams at Pilar and Turmalina continue to make steady strides to build the foundation of a strong company. Jaguar's gold production of 23,483 ounces combined with 2,445 development metres and 14,278 Diamond Drilling meters demonstrate a strong performance on all key aspects of our plan. I personally would like to thank all our team members for their continuing commitment to building a strong company during a quarter with COVID-19 issues."

Q2 2020 Operating Highlights

Consolidated gold production increased 28% with 23,483 ounces compared to 18,366 ounces in Q2 2019, demonstrating the fifth consecutive quarter of increase in sustainable production. Grade also increased to 4.00 g/t compared to 3.48 g/t in Q2 2019;

Pilar gold production increased 28% and set a new production record with 13,452 ounces compared to 10,543 ounces in Q2 2019;

Turmalina gold production increased 28% with 10,031 ounces, compared to 7,823 ounces in Q2 2019;

Total development metres increased 22% to 2,445 metres compared to 2,009 metres in Q2 2019. Primary development meters increased 30% to 1,707 metres compared to 1,310 metres in Q2 2019. Secondary development meters increased 6% to 738 metres compared to 699 metres in Q2 2019.

Total definition, infill and exploration drilling increased 74% to 14,278 metres compared to 8,189 metres in Q2 2019. The additional drilling is expected to allow Jaguar to continue expanding Mineral Resources in 2020;

Strong treasury as of June 30, 2020, with cash of $30.1 million compared to cash of $12.1 million on March 31, 2020, demonstrating significant generation of pre-tax free cash flow. Brazilian Bank debt of $1 million was also paid down and $0.7 million of common shares were bought back through the Normal Course Issuer Bid program.

Vern continued; "Pilar has continued to demonstrate improved mine performance at a pace that meets our goal of 50,000 ounces per year. As all underground mines, Pilar has ongoing challenges, however our strong team shows a commitment for developing consistency and new opportunities as we move forward. With development meters and diamond drilling meters being completed; Pilar can sustain a 50,000 ounce per year production base. Turmalina continues to strengthen and is driving development that will underpin the next step up in production. The next two quarters should see increases in production at Turmalina as a new panel in C-zone is brought online. Improvements in Q2 operating performance, coupled with the tail winds of strong gold prices and a positive change in the exchange rate are reflected in the company's cash flow."

The table below summarizes Q2 2020 operating results compared to Q2 2019:

Quarterly Summary Q2 2020 Q2 2019 Turmalina Pilar Total Turmalina Pilar Total Tonnes milled (t) 104,000 104,000 208,000 75,000 109,000 184,000 Average head grade (g/t) 3.41 4.59 4.00 3.55 3.44 3.48 Recovery % 88.3% 87.1% 87.7% 90.6% 87.3% 88.6% Gold ounces Produced (oz) 10,031 13,452 23,483 7,823 10,543 18,366 Sold (oz) 10,836 14,134 24,970 7,999 10,599 18,598 Development Primary (m) 1,086 621 1,707 783 527 1,310 Secondary (m) 415 323 738 330 369 699 Definition, infill, and exploration drilling (m) 8,270 6,008 14,278 4,963 3,226 8,189



The following graph demonstrate Jaguar's consistent growth in production to sustainable levels:

Vern also commented on the current issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the Company's COVID-19 Action Plan, which was Initiated on March 14, 2020; "During the ongoing COVID-19 issues, our people at all levels have stepped up to keep our company strong and moving forward. We continue to monitor the situation daily, while maximizing communications, and we have a fluid plan in place. Thanks are due to our operating teams who have kept our mines working and have continued to advance on our production goals. Management and staff teams are also due thanks as they have remained engaged and focused on maintaining the service levels critical to our operating teams while adapting to the "home office" work environment. A disappointment for our teams did occur in June when one of our people twisted an ankle dismounting a vehicle and incurred the first lost-time accident in 10 months. In these trying times of COVID-19, it reminds us of the need to be continually reinforcing our efforts of safety and quality control of our processes."

Risks and Mitigating Factors

Jaguar is maintaining its social licenses to operate in all sites throughout Brazil and continues to deliver on its ethical and collaborative partnerships with employees, suppliers, local communities and unions. During this COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has formulated a formal COVID-19 Action Plan which has been adopted company-wide. The Action Plan is committed to sustainability while implementing increased health and safety initiatives with all stakeholders, including the protection of employees and their employment.

COVID-19 remains the largest question mark for all companies. At any time, state and federal government mandates may change and any mandate that would result in the shutdown of operations will affect the Company's production. As well, the pandemic may impact the availability of our workforce or supplies. Jaguar is not able to predict the consequences of the pandemic over the next several months and hence is unable to project the impact on production at the current time.

Qualified Persons

Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Jonathan Victor Hill, BSc (Hons) (Economic Geology - UCT), FAUSIMM, Senior Expert Advisor Geology and Exploration to the Jaguar Mining Management Committee, who is also an employee of Jaguar Mining Inc., and is a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

The Iron Quadrangle

The Iron Quadrangle has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 17th century. The discovery in 1699-1701 of gold contaminated with iron and platinum-group metals in the southeastern corner of the Iron Quadrangle gave rise to the name of the town Ouro Preto (Black Gold). The Iron Quadrangle contains world-class multi-million-ounce gold deposits such as Morro Velho, Cuiaba, and Sao Bento. Jaguar holds the second largest gold land position in the Iron Quadrangle with just over 25,000 hectares.

About Jaguar Mining Inc.

Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with two gold mining complexes and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims covering an area of approximately 64,000 hectares. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caete Mining Complex (Pilar Mine and Caete Plant). The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. The Roca Grande Mine has been on care and maintenance since April 2018. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com.

For further information, please contact:

Vern Baker Chief Executive Officer vernon.baker@jaguarmining.com 416-847-1854 Hashim Ahmed Chief Financial Officer hashim.ahmed@jaguarmining.com 416-847-1854



Forward-Looking Statements and Cautionary Notes

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. All of the forward-looking information made in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements below and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators in Canada. Forward-looking information contained in forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "are expected," "is forecast," "is targeted," "approximately," "plans," "anticipates," "projects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "believe" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might," or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, may be considered to be or include forward-looking information. This news release contains forward-looking information regarding, among other things, expected sales, production statistics, ore grades, tonnes milled, recovery rates, cash operating costs, definition/delineation drilling, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of projects and new deposits, success of exploration, development and mining activities, currency fluctuations, capital requirements, project studies, mine life extensions, restarting suspended or disrupted operations, continuous improvement initiatives, and resolution of pending litigation. The Company has made numerous assumptions with respect to forward-looking information contained herein, including, among other things, assumptions about the estimated timeline for the development of its mineral properties; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which the reserve and resource estimates are based; the receipt of necessary permits; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities; political and legal developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations including, without limitation, the impact of any potential power rationing, tailings facility regulation, exploration and mine operating licenses and permits being obtained and renewed and/or there being adverse amendments to mining or other laws in Brazil and any changes to general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking information involves a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including among others: the risk of Jaguar not meeting the forecast plans regarding its operations and financial performance; uncertainties with respect to the price of gold, labour disruptions, mechanical failures, increase in costs, environmental compliance and change in environmental legislation and regulation, weather delays and increased costs or production delays due to natural disasters, power disruptions, procurement and delivery of parts and supplies to the operations; uncertainties inherent to capital markets in general (including the sometimes volatile valuation of securities and an uncertain ability to raise new capital) and other risks inherent to the gold exploration, development and production industry, which, if incorrect, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described herein. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development, mining and production, including environmental hazards, tailings dam failures, industrial accidents and workplace safety problems, unusual or unexpected geological formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, chemical spills, procurement fraud and gold bullion thefts and losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). In addition, the Company's principal operations and mineral properties are located in Brazil and there are additional business and financial risks inherent in doing business in Brazil as compared to the United States or Canada. In Brazil, corruption represents a challenge requiring extra attention by those who conduct business there. Corruption does not only occur with the misuse of public, government or regulatory powers, it also can occur in a business's supplies, inputs and procurement functions (such as illicit rebates, kickbacks and dubious vendor relationships) as well as the inventory and product sales functions (such as inventory shrinkage or skimming). Employees as well as external parties (such as suppliers, distributors and contractors) have opportunities to commit theft, procurement fraud and other wrongs against the Company. While corruption, bribery and fraud and theft risks can never be fully eliminated, the Company reviews and implements controls to reduce the likelihood of these events occurring. The Company's present and future business operations face these risks. Accordingly, for all of the reasons above, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking information made in this news release, see the Company's most recent Annual Information Form and Management's Discussion and Analysis, as well as other public disclosure documents that can be accessed under the issuer profile of "Jaguar Mining Inc." on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects the Company's reasonable expectations as at the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE: Jaguar Mining Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596446/Jaguar-Mining-Reports-23483-Ounces-Produced-in-Second-Quarter
SCOTTSDALE, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / CBD Life Sciences Inc. (OTC PINK:CBDL) through its wholly owned subsidiary, LBC Bioscience Inc. is pleased to announce the following company updates. LBC Bioscience Inc. has a current total of 38 CBD products, the top selling products are our CBD Pain Relief Creams, CBD Gummies and our CBD Drops. The company is looking to expand its marketing department through hiring CBD marketing and advertising specialists. By the end of the year, LBC Bioscience Inc. will release around 10 new CBD products and the company is looking to purchase a hemp farm located in Arizona in the near future. Arizona is one of the best states to grow hemp due to the abundance of land, the climate and that it is legal to grow due to the Arizona Hemp Program. The CBD market is a billion-dollar industry that will continue to expand.

The CBD "(cannabidiol) market is rapidly growing and has shown promising indication for the health & wellness industry. Widespread use is increasing throughout the public. Follow our social media accounts at www.instagram.com/lbcbioscience, www.facebook.com/lbcbioscience, www.linkedin.com/company/lbcbioscienceinc & www.twitter.com/lbcbioscience for updating information.

Lisa Nelson, President/CEO of CBD Life Sciences, Inc. commented "I am pleased with how the company has shown so much growth since we first began. I'm proud of our team for building it from the ground up. We couldn't have done it without our consumers and shareholders, the company thanks you all." Lisa Nelson continued "By hiring a marketing team to help promote our business, it will aid to more revenue and awareness of our products. We are also currently seeking opportunities to purchase a hemp farm in Arizona." Lisa ended with "As always, the Company will continue to update the public about new product releases, trades shows, events and any updated information regarding LBC Bioscience Inc."

About LBC Bioscience Inc.

LBC Bioscience Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CBD Life Sciences Inc. LBC has developed and is retailing/wholesale a full line of cannabidiol based organic products including: CBD Drops, Pain Relief Creams, Anxiety & Sleep Supplements, Edibles, Coffee, Skincare Line, Pet Line, Tablets. LBC's products can be viewed and purchased on the Company's website at www.lbcbioscienceinc.com.

Ten Associates LLC

Contact: Thomas E. Nelson

Telephone: (480) 326-8577

Email: tenassociates33@gmail.com

Website: www.tenassociatesllc.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties. See CBD Life Sciences, Inc's, Inc.'s filings with OTC Markets, which may identify specific factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release includes forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and reflects management's current expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Some of these factors include: general global economic conditions; general industry and market conditions, sector changes and growth rates; uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; increasing competition; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of services; changes in the economy; changes in laws and regulations, including codes and standards, intellectual property rights, and tax matters; or other matters not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking.

SOURCE: CBD Life Sciences Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596513/CBD-Life-Sciences-Inc-Shareholder-Letter-Update
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Makara Mining Corp. (CSE:MAKA)(FSE:MKO)(OTC PINK:MAKAF) ("Maraka" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed its Phase 1 exploration program at the Rude Creek gold project ("Rude Creek") in the White Gold region of the Yukon, Canada.

Rude Creek is well situated the Dawson Range gold district, located 15 km southeast of Western Copper and Gold's Casino copper-gold-molybdenum deposit, 45 km southeast of Newmont Goldcorp Inc.'s Coffee gold deposit, 72 km southeast of White Gold's Golden Saddle gold deposit and 80 km south-southeast of White Gold's recent Vertigo discovery.

Details on the Rude Creek Exploration Program

Field crews were mobilized to the Rude Creek project area on June 19th. Work included the collection of 171 soil samples (in the C-horizon) over a close-spaced grid measuring 750 metres by 250 meters (along five lines 750 metres long, spaced 50 metres apart and sampled every 25 metres along each line; plus a sixth line 750 metres long and sampled every 50 metres).

After soil sampling was completed, a ground geophysical survey consisting of induced polarization and resistivity ("IP/resistivity") was conducted over the same grid. IP/resistivity is a tool commonly used in mineral exploration to detect electrical chargeability and conductivity in the sub-surface.

At the Northeast anomaly, it is hoped that anomalous levels of gold in the soil will be detected and those anomalies will coincide with areas of conductivity or resistivity, suggesting the presence of gold-related faults.

A drone-based lidar (a laser-based tool used for generating very detailed topographic maps) survey may also be conducted later this summer. This tool could also greatly aid in the detection of potentially gold-bearing fault structures.

For reference, the entire Northeast soil anomaly (defined as greater than or equal to 10 ppb gold in soil) currently measures 1,600 metres east-west by 1,000 metres north-south. Therefore, the detailed grid completed in June represents approximately 10% of the entire Northeast soil anomaly. Sample spacing, however, was tighter (25-metre centres along lines 50 metres apart; versus 50-metre centres, 200 meters apart), enhancing the Company's ability to position drill holes in the most prospective locations.

GroundTruth Exploration

Soil sampling and ground geophysics described above was conducted by GroundTruth Exploration Inc. ("GroundTruth"), under the direction of 0890763 B.C. Ltd., the operator and vendor of the Rude Creek Project.

For background, GroundTruth (and its predecessor) was one of the key pioneers of the concept that soil samples should be collected from the C-horizon (as opposed to the shallower B-horizon) in order to most effectively explore for gold in the unglaciated terranes of the Yukon. Sampling of the C-horizon was pivotal in the success of gold exploration in the Yukon since the late 1990s, especially at the Coffee Creek and White Gold (Golden Saddle) discoveries where the GroundTruth team used C-horizon soils as a prime targeting tool.

To be effective, every part of the sampling operation must be meticulously planned, executed and monitored. Through years of experience, GroundTruth has mastered this process and has successfully scaled out to some of the largest soil sampling programs in the world. GroundTruth has standardized every part of the sampling process, from barcode scanned sample identification tags, to geo-referenced photos of every sample and sample site.

"We are very pleased the first phase of exploration at Rude Creek was completed safely and efficiently. We look forward to receiving assays from the soil samples in due course and coupling these with the geophysical data. The aim will be to get a much clearer picture of suspected gold-bearing structures in the area," stated Grant Hendrickson, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The White Gold region is a very active gold exploration area of the Yukon, hosting Western Copper's Casino project, Newmont's Coffee Creek project and White Gold's Golden Saddle and Vertigo discoveries. Rude Creek is approximately 45 kilometres on-trend from the Coffee Creek deposit and hosts Coffee Creek style gold mineralization."

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Grant Hendrickson, P.Geo. and 'Qualified Person' as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About the Company

Makara Mining Corp. (CSE:MAKA)(FSE:MKO)(OTC PINK:MAKAF) is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of gold properties. The Company is based in Vancouver, B.C and holds an option over the Rude Creek Property located in the Yukon and the Kenora Gold Property located in Northwestern Ontario. Additional information about the Company is available at www.makaramining.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Grant Hendrickson

Director and Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: 604-372-3707

Email: grant@makaramining.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, and statements respecting the Company's anticipated exploration program at Rude Creek are "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Makara Mining Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596231/Makara-Completes-Phase-One-Field-Work-at-Rude-Creek-Gold-Project-Yukon
Technavio has been monitoring the baby toiletries market and it is poised to grow by USD 5.55 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 5% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005073/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Baby Toiletries Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Beiersdorf AG, Johnson Johnson Services Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corp., The Procter Gamble Co., and Unilever Group are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Awareness about baby health and hygiene has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Baby Toiletries Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Baby Toiletries Market is segmented as below:

Distribution Channel Offline Online

Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31792

Baby Toiletries 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 baby toiletries market report covers the following areas:

Baby Toiletries Market Size

Baby Toiletries Market Trends

Baby Toiletries Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies product portfolio extension and innovation leading to product premiumization as one of the prime reasons driving the baby toiletries market growth during the next few years.

Baby Toiletries Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the baby toiletries market, including some of the vendors such as Beiersdorf AG, Johnson Johnson Services Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corp., The Procter Gamble Co., and Unilever Group. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the baby toiletries market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Baby Toiletries Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist baby toiletries market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the baby toiletries market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the baby toiletries market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of baby toiletries 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 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 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023

North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

MEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023

South America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Increased offering of multipurpose baby toiletry products

Growing demand for natural and organic products

Increase in R&D investment

Other trends

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Beiersdorf AG

Johnson Johnson Services Inc.

Kimberly-Clark Corp.

The Procter Gamble Co.

Unilever Group

PART 14: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

Definition of market positioning of vendors

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide 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/20200707005073/en/

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CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar strengthened against its major counterparts in the European session on Tuesday amid safe-haven status, as a spike in coronavirus cases in some U.S. states and other parts of the world sparked concerns about the pace of economic recovery.



The United States reported more than 2.9 million new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the total number of infections to 2,910,023.



The U.S. death toll from the virus climbed past 130,000, as per Johns Hopkins University's latest update on Monday.



The mayor of Miami-Dade County has ordered a rollback of some reopening measures as Florida continues to see a surge in Covid-19 cases.



The United States is still 'knee-deep' in the first wave of the illnesses, having never gotten the case number as low as planned, U.S. health official Anthony Fauci said.



U.S. economic recovery may be 'leveling off' as activity could be dampened amid a recent surge in coronavirus infections, Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said in an interview to the Financial Times.



The greenback reversed from its early lows of 1.1333 against the euro, 1.2518 against the pound and 0.9410 against the franc, edging up to 1.1259, 1.2463 and 0.9453, respectively. The next possible resistance for the greenback is seen around 1.10 against the euro, 1.22 against the pound and 0.97 against the franc.



The greenback moved up to a 6-day high of 107.79 versus the yen, from a 1-week low of 107.25 seen in the Asian session. Should the greenback continues its rise, 110.00 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.



Data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed that Japan household spending tumbled 16.2 percent on year in May - coming in at 252,017 yen.



That missed expectations for a drop of 12.2 percent following the 11.1 percent decline in April.



The greenback appreciated to a 5-day high of 1.3589 against the loonie and a 4-day high of 0.6922 against the aussie, off its early low of 1.3525 and near a 4-week low of 0.6998, respectively. The greenback is seen finding resistance around 1.37 against the loonie and 0.65 against the aussie.



After falling to near a 4-week low of 0.6580 at 8:30 pm ET, the greenback turned higher against the kiwi and was trading at 0.6520. On the upside, 0.63 is possibly seen as the next resistance level for the greenback.



Looking ahead, Canada Ivey PMI for June is slated for release in the New York session.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX:AUG)(NYSE American:AUG) ("Auryn" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the conversion of the 2019 bridge loan by the loan holder (the "Lender") into common shares, thereby leaving Auryn debt-free.

The Company will issue a total of 1,952,084 common shares (the "Shares") to the Lender at a price of CAD $1.60 per Share in accordance with the loan amendment that was completed on February 6th, 2020. From the total, 1,875,000 Shares will be issued for the $3 million principal loan and 77,084 Shares will be for $123,334 of interest that accrued at a rate of 10% per annum up to the date of the loan amendment. The balance of the interest on the loan, that accrued at a rate of 5% per annum, will be paid to the Lender in cash.

A Message from Ivan Bebek, Executive Chairman & Director:

"We are pleased with the Lender's decision to convert the loan to equity. It demonstrates confidence in our ability to continue to improve shareholder value going forward. The Company is now debt-free, actively exploring again in Peru and looking forward to a busy second half of 2020."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF AURYN RESOURCES INC.

Ivan Bebek

Executive Chairman

For further information on Auryn Resources Inc., please contact Natasha Frakes, Manager of Corporate Communications at (778) 729-0600 or info@aurynresources.com.

About Auryn

Auryn Resources is a technically-driven, well-financed junior exploration company focused on finding and advancing globally significant precious and base metal deposits. The Company has a portfolio approach to asset acquisition and has seven projects, including two flagships: the Committee Bay high-grade gold project in Nunavut and the Sombrero copper-gold project in southern Peru. Auryn's technical and management teams have an impressive track record of successfully monetizing assets for all stakeholders and local communities in which it operates. Auryn conducts itself to the highest standards of corporate governance and sustainability.

Forward Looking Information and Additional Cautionary Language

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking information is information that includes implied future performance and/or forecast information including information relating to or associated with the acquisition and title to mineral concessions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different (either positively or negatively) from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to the risks discussed in the Company's Annual Information Form and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2019 and subsequent continuous disclosure filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators available at www.sedar.com and the Company's registration statement on Form 40-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Auryn Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596538/Auryn-Loan-Holder-Converts-3-Million-Bridge-Loan-into-Equity
ENDEAVOUR INCREASES RESOURCES AT ITS

ITY MINE AS LE PLAQUE CONTINUES TO GROW

Resource based on only 35% of holes drilled < $20/oz discovery cost  7 nearby targets confirmed

HIGHLIGHTS:

Le Plaque's Indicated resource increased by 43%, ranking the deposit as Ity's second largest and the highest grade

Indicated resource has grown to 7.9Mt at 2.66 g/t Au for 689koz while Inferred resource stands at 0.8Mt at 2.10 g/t Au for 52koz

Low discovery cost of

Metallurgical tests indicate a gold recovery rate of at least 90%

93% of resources are in the Indicated category

Resource estimate is expected to continue to increase as the deposit remains open at depth and in multiple directions with mineralization confirmed by step-out drilling

Potential for the Le Plaque area to be similar to the Ity Mine Complex and host multiple deposits

It is now estimated that the Le Plaque deposit represents only 30% of the area covered by the anomaly as reconnaissance drilling confirmed mineralization for at least seven other targets

Further deposits are expected to be delineated as the current Le Plaque resource only incorporates 35% of the holes drilled to date

Further exploration is scheduled for H2-2020 with 15,000 meters of drilling planned

Mining permit for the Le Plaque deposit is targeted for Q3-2020 and an updated Le Plaque reserve estimate is expected to be published in Q3-2020

Abidjan, July 7, 2020 - Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV)(OTCQX:EDVMF) is pleased to announce further success from its ongoing exploration program at the La Plaque discovery, part of its flagship Ity mine in Cote d'Ivoire, with a 43% increase in Le Plaque's Indicated resource and the confirmation of mineralization for seven additional nearby targets.

In H1-2020, exploration efforts continued to be focused on the Floleu license, located only 6km south of the processing plant, which hosts the Le Plaque discovery, with a total of 67,195 meters drilled. This amounts to 188,600 meters drilled on the license since the discovery was made in early 2018.

To date, an important part of the drilling campaign has focused on gaining a better understanding of the area's potential. As such, 65% of the holes drilled since 2018 were for reconnaissance, which has confirmed mineralization for at least seven targets, thereby boosting confidence in delineating further deposits. The Le Plaque deposit was the first target to be delineated and is now estimated to represent only 30% of the whole anomaly.

Drilling has resulted in a 43% increase in Le Plaque's Indicated resource estimate to 689koz, since the last resource was published in June 2019, as shown in Table 1 below. Drilling has confirmed the Le Plaque deposit remains open at depth and in multiple directions and further resources are expected to be delineated.

At least 15,000 meters of drilling are planned for the remainder of 2020. Following these resource additions, the Le Plaque reserve estimate is expected to be published in Q3-2020 and integrated into the Ity mine plan. The permitting process is well underway, with a mining permit expected to be received in Q3-2020.

Patrick Bouisset, Executive Vice President Exploration and Growth, said: "We are very pleased with the results of the exploration program at La Plaque, as it continues to confirm its potential to be another significant discovery.

We are leveraging the same strategy of intensive reconnaissance drilling to improve our understanding of the area before ramping up to resource delineation through infill drilling that we applied to the Ity Complex prior to 2018. At that time, the priority was to quickly delineate resources to justify the construction of the CIL plant and so we focused on infill drilling to leverage the knowledge that had been acquired through previous reconnaissance drilling. This strategy resulted in the discovery of 1.6Moz of Indicated resources in 2016 and 2017 at $15/oz.

On the Floleu license, to date 65% of drill holes have been aimed at defining the global potential and making new discoveries which has led to several targets being identified, and only 35% of the drilling has been to delineate resources at Le Plaque. So far, our results have been outstanding, both in terms of the high grade nature and mineralization extension.

Looking ahead, we are excited by the upside potential of the Le Plaque deposit, which remains open at depth and in several directions, and by its neighbouring targets. We expect to continue to delineate resources and remain on track to achieve the 5-year exploration target which we set in 2016.

In the near-term, we expect the higher-grade material from Le Plaque to displace the lower-grade reserve material in the mining sequence, helping to improve the mine's cash flow generation, whilst supporting our goal of locking in a 10-plus year mine life at Ity, with annual production of 250kozpa."

ABOUT LE PLAQUE AREA

Le Plaque, located only 6km south of the processing plant, is a high-grade discovery made on the northern part of the wholly-owned Floleu exploration license, as shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Ity Mine Gold-in-Soil Map and Simplified Map with Exploration Targets

Given the high grade nature of the Le Plaque area, it has been the primary exploration target in the greater Ity area since March 2018. A strong focus has also been placed on understanding the potential of the wider Le Plaque area as 65% of the holes drilled (representing 40% of total meters drilled) on the license were dedicated to discovering additional targets.

During H1-2020, in addition to the Le Plaque resource definition program, a total of 543 Air Core ("AC") holes totalling 23,186 meters were drilled on a more regional scale on the northern part of the Floleu license on a 200-meter by 50-meter northwest-southeast oriented grid. This reconnaissance drilling outlined that Le Plaque represents only 30% of the large Northern Floleu anomalous area where at least seven other targets were confirmed, as shown in Figure 2 below. Drilling on these targets is expected to start in Q4-2020, with the aim of delineating additional maiden resources in 2021.

Figure 2: Nearby Le Plaque Targets

Intercepts in the figure above are based on a minimum 2-meter length, a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off, and 1.0-meter internal dilution.

ABOUT THE LE PLAQUE DEPOSIT

As shown in Table 1 below, a maiden resource was published as part of the year-end 2018 estimate and was subsequently increased on July 8, 2019. Since this previously announced estimate, the Le Plaque resource has increased by 43%. Due to the intensive in-fill drill program completed, 93% of the maiden resource has been classified in the Indicated category. As the mineralization starts at surface, it is amenable to open pit mining.

Table 1: Le Plaque Mineral Resource Evolution

AS AT DECEMBER 31, 2018 AS AT JUNE 30, 2019 AS AT JUNE 30, 2020 ? AU CONTENT 2020 vs. 2019 On a 100% basis Tonnage Tonnage Tonnage Tonnage Grade Content Tonnage Grade Content (Mt) (Mt) (Mt) (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) Measured Resource - - - - - - - - - n.a. Indicated Resources 974 2.7 85 4.63 3.2 476 7.94 2.66 689 43% M&I Resources 974 2.7 85 4.63 3.2 476 7.94 2.66 689 43% Inferred Resources 553 2.4 43 0.5 3.08 50 0.77 2.1 52 4%

Mineral Reserve estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definitions standards for mineral resources and reserves and have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Reported tonnage and grade figures have been rounded from raw estimates to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Resources were constrained by MII $1,500/oz Pit Shell and based on a cut-off of 0.5 g/t Au. For the notes related to the December 31, 2018 resource estimate, please consult the February 23, 2018 press release available on the Company's website. For the notes related to the June 30, 2019 resource estimate, please consult the July 8, 2019 press release available on the Company's website.For the notes related to the June 30, 2020 resource estimate, please consult the below section entitled Le Plaque Resource Modelling.

A sensitivity analysis performed at gold prices between $1,300 and $1,700/oz demonstrates the robustness of the Le Plaque resources model due to its high grade mineralization, as shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Le Plaque June 2019 Mineral Resource Estimate

Tonnage Grade Content (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) INDICATED RESOURCE Based on a gold price of $1,300/oz 7.37 2.71 642 Based on a gold price of $1,500/oz 7.94 2.66 689 Based on a gold price of $1,700/oz 8.28 2.65 705 INFERRED RESOURCE Based on a gold price of $1,300/oz 0.66 2.14 56 Based on a gold price of $1,500/oz 0.77 2.10 52 Based on a gold price of $1,700/oz 0.82 2.10 52

No Measured resources have been estimated. Mineral Reserve estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definitions standards for mineral resources and reserves and have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Reported tonnage and grade figures have been rounded from raw estimates to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Resources were constrained by MII $1,500/oz Pit Shell and for sensitivity purpose by MII $1,250/oz pit shell and based on a cut-off of 0.5 g/t Au.

A total of 51 Diamond Drilling ("DD"), 144 Reverse Circulation ("RC") and 1 RC/DD holes totaling 25,695 meters were drilled in H2-2019 with the main results published on February 24, 2020. Additional resource infill and resource drilling down to a 25mx25m grid was conducted in H1-2020 to address the continuity of high grade mineralization. In H1-2020, a total of 34,559 meters were drilled consisting of 381 holes, comprised of 88 DD holes totaling 14,883 meters and 193 RC holes totaling 19,676 meters. The drill programs were very successful as over 72% of the drilled RC and DD Resource and extension drilled holes encountered at least one interval of mineralization of 0.5g/t Au with a minimum true width of more than two meters.

As shown in Figure 3 below, the Le Plaque deposit is now composed of four main zones (Le Plaque Main, Epsilon, Le Plaque South (Delta) and Delta Extension), all of which are open in various directions with mineralization already confirmed by step-out drilling.

Figure 3: Le Plaque Drill Map and Selected H1-2020 Intercepts (true width/grade) Per Area

Intercepts in the figure above are based on a minimum 2 meter length, a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off, and 1.0 meter internal dilution.

The Le Plaque updated resource stretches over at least 1.2km long and 0.2km wide for the Le Plaque Main and Epsilon areas, over 0.6km long and 0.3km wide for the Le Plaque South/Delta area and at least over 0.5km and 0.25km wide for Delta extension. The Le Plaque Main area remains open at depth and towards the East (Flat), the Epsilon area at depth and towards the north/northeast (Epsilon North), Le Plaque South/Delta area at depth and towards East and Delta Extension towards Southwest (Delta Extension south).

In light of the high grade (over 3 g/t Au), and sometimes very high grade (over 30 g/t Au), nature of the mineralization and its related structural complexity, including numerous mineralized intervals, an intensive RC/DD in-fill drill program was completed based on 25-meter spaced sections with 33-meter nominal spacing, generally with an angle of 50 towards the SE (N135E), except for the Plaque Main area where drilling was orientated towards the SW (N225E). The Le Plaque South/Delta and Delta Extension area were also covered by a 25-meter by 25-meter grid to validate the continuity of the steeply dipping high grade mineralization.

Selected best intercepts of H1-2020 include (true width uncapped):

Le Plaque Main (Flat) and South area: FL20-1227: 3.5m at 17.7 g/t Au, including 1.8m at 31.64 g/t Au FL20-1233: 4.6m at 4.13 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 11.74 g/t Au FL20-1236: 7.0m at 7.13 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 41.4 g/t Au FL20-1232: 3.5m at 30.44 g/t Au, including 1.7m at 55.96 g/t Au FL20-1238: 16.0m at 6.05 g/t Au, including 2.1m at 29.72 g/t Au and including 0.9m at 10.56 g/t Au FL20-1295: 3.5m at 7.83 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 29.35 g/t Au FL20-1301: 8.6m at 4.18 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 16.8 g/t Au FL20-1375: 3.5m at 11.69 g/t Au, including 2.6m at 15.33 g/t Au FL20-1398: 6.0m at 9.46 g/t Au, including 3.5m at 14.8 g/t Au FL20-1465: 6.0m at 6.98 g/t Au, including 3.5m at 11.49 g/t Au FL20-1498: 8.6m at 11.27 g/t Au, including 1.7m at 51.7 g/t Au FL20-1519: 6.0m at 9.67 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 52.1 g/t Au FL20-1530: 16.4m at 11.87 g/t Au, including 2.6m at 66.62 g/t Au

Delta Extension area: FL20-1246: 5.2m at 7.15 g/t Au, including 1.0m at 32.2 g/t Au FL20-1248: 6.9m at 3.93 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 13.44 g/t Au FL20-1255: 4.3m at 4.01 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 12.72 g/t Au; 13m at 3.55 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 15.56 g/t Au FL20-1260: 7.8m at 5.7 g/t Au, including 2.6m at 10.18 g/t Au FL20-1261: 6.0m at 18.42 g/t Au, including 1.7m at 59.56 g/t Au FL20-1263: 9.4m at 5.94 g/t Au, including 2.3m at 15.8 g/t Au FL20-1269: 18.1m at 1.16 g/t Au; 12.1m at 4.2 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 11.16 g/t Au, and including 0.9m at 18.59 g/t Au FL20-1294: 2.5m at 15.04 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 40 g/t Au FL20-1299: 6.5m at 11.56 g/t Au, including 1.7m at 30.95 g/t Au FL20-1308: 5.2m at 11.83 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 60.5 g/t Au FL20-1318: 6.0m at 16.1 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 27.18 g/t Au, and including 1.7m at 39.4 g/t Au FL20-1368: 7.8m at 3.69 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 10.96 g/t Au FL20-1385: 12.9m at 19.18 g/t Au, including 0.9m at 10.01 g/t Au, and including 1.7m at 79.4 g/t Au, and including 2.2m at 39.14 g/t Au FL20-1408: 7.4m at 21.96 g/t Au, including 4.1m at 37.15 g/t Au FL20-1509: 6.9m at 4.64 g/t Au, including 1.7m at 14.99 g/t Au FL20-1537: 3.8m at 14.53 g/t Au, including 1.1m at 47.9 g/t Au



Le Plaque's geology consists of a granodiorite batholith intruded into a sequence of Birimian skarn altered metasediments (impure marbles, metasiltstones and sandstones) and dioritic intrusions. The mineralization is structurally controlled and associated with deformation corridors displaying few meters-thick ductile and brittle-ductile shears with silica-sericite alteration, quartz veining and sulfides (pyrite, with lesser sphalerite and chalcopyrite and local trace galena or pyrrhotite), mostly within the granodiorite, and along contacts between lithological units.

The previous mineral resource estimate released on July 8, 2019 was centred on the WNW-ESE trending Le Plaque Main and the NNE-SSW trending Epsilon contact zones between the granodiorite and skarn domains and in the granodiorite-hosted NNE-SSW trending shears in Le Plaque South area (Delta structural corridor). Following positive results obtained in late 2019, the H1-2020 drilling has been targeting additional mineralized splays in the granodiorite in Le Plaque South/Delta and Le Plaque Flat areas as well as strike extensions, most notably a 500-meter long extension of the mineralization in the granodiorite domain toward the south (Delta Extension), as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Delta Extension H1-2020 Best selected Intercepts Map

As shown in Figure 5 and 6 below, the Northern part of Delta Extension mineralization is associated with a set of en-echelon north-northeast-trending, steeply west-northwest-dipping shearing structures entirely hosted within the granodiorite, while in its central part, it can be very high grade and closely associated with a blind and thick dioritic intrusive. Delta Extension remains clearly open at depth and towards south, and should extend at least a further 400 meters as demonstrated by positive step out drilling recently performed.

Figure 5: Section A - Delta Extension Northern Part

Figure 6: Section B - Delta Extension Central Part

Drilling will resume in the Le Plaque area with at least 15,000 meters of additional drilling expected to be completed before year-end. The aim is to extend its mineralization and delineate additional resources.

UPDATED ITY MINE RESOURCES

The updated Le Plaque resource estimate has increased Ity's Measured and Indicated resources by 6%, as presented in Table 3 below, while adding higher-grade material.

Table 3: Ity Mine Mineral Resource Evolution

ITY MINE ITY MINE INCLUSIVE

OF LE PLAQUE ADDITIONS ?

AU CONTENT (As at Dec. 31, 2019) (Current as at Dec. 31, 2019) On a 100% basis. Resources shown inclusive of Reserves Tonnage Grade Content Tonnage Grade Content (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) Measured Resource 10.3 1.02 337 10.3 1.02 337 n.a. Indicated Resources 68.1 1.61 3,514 71.4 1.62 3,727 6% M&I Resources 78.4 1.53 3,851 81.7 1.55 4,064 6% Inferred Resources 18.0 1.35 780 18.3 1.33 782 0%

Mineral Reserve estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definitions standards for mineral resources and reserves and have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Reported tonnage and grade figures have been rounded from raw estimates to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Resources were constrained by MII $1,500/oz Pit Shell and based on a cut-off of 0.5 g/t Au. For the notes related to the December 31, 2019 resource estimate, please consult the March 9, 2020 press release available on the Company's website. For the notes related to the June 30, 2020 resource estimate, please consult the below section entitled Le Plaque Resource Modelling. The Ity Mine Mineral Resource is inclusive of Ity Mine depletion since December 31, 2019. The updated Mineral Resource is current as of December 31, 2019.

NEXT STEPS

An Ity mine reserve update, inclusive of the updated Le Plaque resource, is expected to be published in

Q3-2020

Q3-2020 Due to the success achieved, and as the Le Plaque deposit still remains open at depth and in various directions, a follow-up 15,000-meter drilling campaign is expected to begin after the rainy season with the aim of further resource delineation and is expected to be continued into 2021

Exploration is also ongoing on other targets within the Ity mining permit, for which an update will be published later in the year

Mining permit for the Le Plaque area is expected to be received in Q3-2020

LE PLAQUE RESOURCE MODELLING

The statistical analysis, geological modelling and resource estimation were prepared by Kevin Harris, CPG. Mr. Harris is Endeavour Mining's V.P. Resource Manager and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

The Le Plaque resource model was developed in Geovia's Surpac software. A total of 49 mineralized zones were defined from the current drilling data and geologic interpretations across La Plaque. The gold assays from the drill holes were composited to 1.0 meter intervals within the mineralized wireframes and capped at from 10 to 40 g/t Au based on the statistics of each mineralized zone. Spatial analysis of the gold distribution within the mineralized zone using variograms indicated a good continuity of the grades along strike and down dip of the mineralized zones and were used to establish ordinary kriging parameters.

The density was measured in 5,069 core samples within the various rock types then averaged within the model by the weathered zones. The laterite density is 1.55, the saprolite is 1.50, the transition is 2.40, and the fresh rock is 2.80.

The gold grade was estimated with the ordinary kriging method constrained within the mineralized domains. The grade was estimated in multiple passes to define the higher confidence areas and extend the grade to the interpreted mineralized zone extents. The grade estimation was validated with visual analysis by comparison with the drilling data on sections, comparing with inverse distance squared estimation, and with swath plots comparing the block grades with the composites.

The mineralized domains were classified as indicated and inferred resource classifications depending on the sample spacing, number samples, confidence in mineralized zone continuity, and geostatistical analysis. Indicated classification was generally applied to blocks within the mineralized zoned defined by a minimum of seven samples from at least three drill holes with a 50-meter search. Inferred classification is defined by a minimum of three samples within a 75-meter search from two drill holes.

The resource was constrained by a $1,500 pit shell and 0.50 g/t cut-off grade. A $1,300/oz and $1,700 was also created to determine price sensitivity. The Whittle pit shell optimization assumed a base mining cost of $2.67 per tonne, and an adjusted ore mining cost of $3.20/tonne for oxide, $3.74/tonne for transition, and $4.01/tonne for fresh rock, mining recovery of 95%, mining dilution of 10%, pit slope of 40o, gold recovery of 94.6% in oxide, 93.2% in transition and 81% in fresh rock, and processing and G&A cost of $15.85 per tonne in oxide, $16.79 in transition and $17.61 in fresh.

ASSAYS AND QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL / DRILLING AND ASSAY PROCEDURES

The RC and AC drill program samples were collected on a 1-meter interval using dual tube, a percussion hammer. The material passes through a cyclone which is thoroughly cleaned after every sample by flushing the hole. Samples were split at the drill site using a single chute riffle splitter with both bulk and laboratory sample weights and moisture recorded. Representative samples for each interval were collected with a spear, sieved into chip trays and retained for reference.

Drill core (PQ, HQ and NQ size) samples are selected by Endeavour geologists and sawn in half with a diamond blade at the project site. Half of the core is retained at the site for reference purposes. Sample intervals are generally 1 meter in length.

All samples are transported by road to Bureau Veritas in Abidjan or to SGS. Each laboratory sample is secured in poly-woven bags ensuring that there is a clear record of the chain of custody. On arrival samples are weighed and crushed to 2mm (70% passing), pulverize entire sample to 75m (85% passing). Samples are analysed for gold using standard fire assay technique with a 50-gram charge and an Atomic Absorption (AA) finish. Blanks, field duplicates and certified reference material (CRM's) are inserted by Endeavour geologists in the sample sequence for quality control and to ensure there are a suite of QC samples in each fire assay batch.

The sampling and assaying are monitored through the implementation of a quality assurance - quality control (QA-QC) program. This QA-QC program was audited by International consultant, independent from Endeavour Mining, in 2019 and consequently designed to follow industry best practices.

Full drill results are available by clicking here .

QUALIFIED PERSONS

The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed, verified and compiled by Silvia Bottero, Professional Natural Scientist l, VP Exploration Cote d'Ivoire for Endeavour Mining. Silvia Bottero has more than 18 years of mineral exploration and mining experience and is a "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The resource estimation was completed by Kevin Harris, CPG, VP Resources for Endeavour Mining and "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Martino De Ciccio



VP - Strategy & Investor Relations

+44 203 640 8665

mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com Brunswick Group LLP in London



Carole Cable, Partner

+44 7974 982 458

ccable@brunswickgroup.com (mailto:ccable@brunswickgroup.com)







Vincic Advisors in Toronto



John Vincic, Principal



(647) 402 6375

john@vincicadvisors.com

ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING CORPORATION

Endeavour Mining is a TSX listed intermediate African gold producer with a solid track record of operational excellence, project development and exploration in the highly prospective Birimian greenstone belt in West Africa. Endeavour is focused on offering both near-term and long-term growth opportunities with its project pipeline and its exploration strategy, while generating immediate cash flow from its operations.

For more information, please visit www.endeavourmining.com .

Corporate Office: 5 Young St, Kensington, London W8 5EH, UK

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" including but not limited to, statements with respect to Endeavour's plans and operating performance, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of future production, future capital expenditures, and the success of exploration activities. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts", and "anticipates". Forward-looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the successful integration of acquisitions; risks related to international operations; risks related to general economic conditions and credit availability, actual results of current exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations in prices of metals including gold; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, increases in market prices of mining consumables, possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; delays in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and political and economic developments in countries in which Endeavour operates. Although Endeavour has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Please refer to Endeavour's most recent Annual Information Form filed under its profile at www.sedar.com for further information respecting the risks affecting Endeavour and its business. AISC, all-in sustaining costs at the mine level, cash costs, operating EBITDA, all-in sustaining margin, free cash flow, net free cash flow, free cash flow per share, net debt, and adjusted earnings are non-GAAP financial performance measures with no standard meaning under IFRS, further discussed in the section Non-GAAP Measures in the most recently filed Management Discussion and Analysis.

Attachments
BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The United States is looking at banning TikTok, the China-based short form video app, which has been banned recently by India citing threat to national security. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, has decided to exit Hong Kong market after China established a new national security law for the semi-autonomous city. According to TikTok, the decision was because it was not clear if Hong Kong would now fall entirely under China. As part of its strategy to appeal to wider global audience, the app's design doesn't allow access by mainland China. For China, ByteDance operates a short short video sharing app called Douyin. The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during an interview with Fox News, said the country is very seriously looking at banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps. Pompeo added that people should only download the app if they want their private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. Responding to Pompeo's comments, a TikTok spokesperson reportedly said, 'TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the US. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.' Former Walt Disney Co. executive Kevin Mayer is the Chief Operating Officer of ByteDance and Chief Executive Officer of TikTok. ByteDance's mobile video app has said earlier that it would not comply with any of Chinese government's requests to censor its content or access user data. TikTok recently entered the Top 100 ranking in the world's most valuable brand for the first time and was ranked seventy ninth, according to an annual survey by consultancy firm Kantar. Concerned about national security, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week banned 59 Chinese mobile applications like TikTok, SHAREiT, UC Browser and WeChat, after a border stand-off with the neighboring country. 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.


BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - After lockdown restrictions were eased, Germany's industrial production grew for the first time in three months in May, suggesting that the economy started to recover from the unprecedented downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.



Industrial output grew 7.8 percent on a monthly basis in May, in contrast to a revised 17.5 percent fall in April, data released by Destatis revealed Tuesday. Production was forecast to grow 10 percent in May.



On a yearly basis, industrial production declined 19.3 percent versus a revised 25 percent decrease in April.



The economy ministry said industrial production is likely to have bottomed out, but despite the recovery in May, capacities remain underutilized.



The increase in incoming orders indicates a further increase in production in the coming months. However, the development of foreign demand remains a risk for the further recovery, the ministry observed.



Carsten Brzeski, an ING economist said data suggests that the return to normality will not be easy. Monthly economic data will surge but it will need more than one or two surges to bring economies back to their pre-crisis levels, he added.



Excluding energy and construction, industrial production was up 10.3 percent in May.



Energy production gained 1.7 percent in May and construction output grew 0.5 percent.



Within industry, intermediate goods output dropped 0.1 percent, while consumer goods and capital goods production advanced 1.4 percent and 27.6 percent, respectively.



Destatis said the production in the automotive industry increased markedly in May, after a very low level in April 2020. However, it was still by just under 50 percent lower than in February 2020.



Data released on Monday showed that factory orders advanced 10.4 percent month-on-month in May, which was the first increase in four months.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Hungary's industrial production declined for the third consecutive month in May, but at a slower pace, data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office showed on Tuesday. Industrial production declined a working-day adjusted 27.6 percent year-on-year in May, following a 36.6 percent decrease in April. The effects of the economic processes altered by the coronavirus epidemic were significant in this period, the agency said. On a non-adjusted basis, industrial production decreased 30.7 percent annually in May, following a 36.8 percent fall in the preceding month. An outstanding fall was observed in the manufacture of transport equipment, while the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, and food products, beverages and tobacco products declined to a lesser degree, the agency said. On a seasonally adjusted basis, industrial production rose 15.6 percent monthly in May, after 30.5 percent decrease in the prior month. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
TORONTO, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Quantum Minerals Ltd. ("FQM" or the "Company") (TSX: FM) announces that Cobre Panama can resume full production. The Company has received notice of Resolution No. 1651, dated July 03, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Panama ("MINSA") lifting the temporary suspensions at its Panamanian subsidiary, Minera Panama, S.A. Cobre Panama has been in Preservation and Safe Maintenance mode since April 6, 2020. The Company will implement a reopening plan which provides for a phased increase of onsite personnel while production is ramped up to an 85 million tonnes per annum annualized throughput rate.



As the priority for Cobre Panama remains the health and safety of the workforce and surrounding communities, the strict protocols and sanitary vigilance will remain in place. There are currently approximately 800 personnel onsite, which will be gradually increased in compliance with Cobre Panama's reopening plan and in line with MINSA guidelines. The operation is expected to ramp up to full production by mid-August, depending on successful implementation of the reopening plan. No cases of COVID-19 have been detected on the Cobre Panama site since April 30, 2020.

"We continue to work very closely with MINSA throughout the current COVID-19 pandemic, and we are confident that we can adhere to our health protocols which are at the highest international standards" said Gordon White, General Manager, Cobre Panama. "I am immensely proud of the efforts of the Cobre Panama team during this challenging time. The lifting of the suspension order is testament to the hard work from each and every person on the site, working away from their families over the past weeks." Mr. White added: "Cobre Panama has received support from the employee union UTRAMIPA, the local business community, and from the Government of Panama to reach this milestone. We are especially grateful to the dedicated health professionals in the country who have been working to resolve the wider pandemic in Panama whose efforts we will continue to support."

The Company will provide updated 2020 production guidance for Cobre Panama with the second quarter results in late July.

For more detail on the Company's COVID-19 plan, please visit:

https://www.first-quantum.com/English/sustainability/programs/covid-19-global-response/default.aspx (https://www.first-quantum.com/English/sustainability/programs/covid-19-global-response/default.aspx)

For further information, visit our website at www.first-quantum.com (http://www.first-quantum.com)

North American contact: Lisa Doddridge, Director, Investor Relations

Tel: (416) 361-6400 Toll-free: 1 (888) 688-6577

UK contact: Clive Newall, President

Tel: +44 7802 721663

E-Mail: info@fqml.com
Former UK Government Drug TSAR Appointed as Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - AWAKN Life Sciences Inc. ("AWAKN") is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor David Nutt as Chairman of its newly formed Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

Professor David Nutt is a world renowned neuroscientist, leading global authority on drug policy reform and former chief drug advisor to the UK government. He serves as the Edmond J. Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit in the Division of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London, and Founding Chair of Drug Science (formerly the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs).

AWAKN's SAB will provide strategic scientific counsel as the company implements its vision and strategy across three business lines of clinical research, therapeutic clinics and healthcare training.

Dr. Ben Sessa, AWAKN Chief Medical Officer, stated: "David has always been a trailblazer and supporter of innovative psychopharmacology. He is a prolific promoter of drug reform policies and an internationally respected scientific researcher. I have had the pleasure of working alongside David on numerous psychedelic studies over the last 10 years, and we know the time is right and the time is now. David shares AWAKN's vision of how clinical psychedelics in combination with psychotherapy can cure mental health conditions. This is a new way of doing psychiatry. This is the medicine of the future."

Prof. David Nutt, AWAKN Scientific Advisory Board Chair, stated: "I am delighted to be able to support this exciting initiative. I believe psychedelic treatments have the opportunity to change psychiatry in the way immunotherapies are changing medicine. The sooner we can start using these the better it will be for patients, and I am pleased AWAKN are taking the lead in this."

Anthony Tennyson, AWAKN CEO, stated: "What a time this is for psychedelic medicine. An era of scientific and therapeutic innovation with real potential to move the dial on mental health care. Professor Nutt encapsulates the essence of scientific change, and we are honored to welcome such global pedigree to the mix alongside his longtime friend and collaborator, our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ben Sessa."

About Professor David Nutt

Prof. David Nutt is currently the Edmond J. Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and Director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Division of Brain Sciences.

After 11+ entry to Bristol Grammar School David was awarded an Open Scholarship to Downing College Cambridge and then completed his medical training at Guy's Hospital London, continuing in neurology to MRCP. After completing his psychiatric training in Oxford, he continued there as a lecturer and then later as a Wellcome Senior Fellow in psychiatry. He then spent two years as Chief of the Section of Clinical Science in the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in NIH, Bethesda, USA. On returning to England in 1988 he set up the Psychopharmacology Unit in Bristol University, an interdisciplinary research grouping spanning the departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology before moving to Imperial College London in December 2008 where he leads a similar group with a particular focus on brain imaging especially PET.

David is currently Chair of DrugScience (formally the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD)). He was previously President of the European Brain Council, the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) and the British Association of Psychopharmacology (BAP). He is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Psychiatrists and of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He is also the UK Director of the European Certificate and Masters in Affective Disorders Courses and a member of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy. He has edited the Journal of Psychopharmacology for over two decades and acts as the psychiatry drugs advisor to the British National Formulary. He has published over 500 original research papers, a similar number of reviews and books chapters, eight government reports on drugs and 33 books.

Previously he has been a member and then Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD - 1998-2009), a member of the HEFCE/NHS Senior Lecturer Selection Panel and of the MRC Neuroscience Board. Other previous national contributions include serving as the medical expert on the Independent Inquiry into the Misuse of Drugs Act (2000 Runciman report), and membership of the Committee on Safety of Medicines, the Committee on NHS drugs and the Ministry of Defence Science Advisory Board. He was the clinical scientific lead on the 2004/5 UK Government Foresight initiative "Brain science, addiction and drugs" that provided a 25-year vision for this area of science and public policy.

David broadcasts widely to the general public both on radio and television including BBC science and public affairs programmes on therapeutic as well as illicit drugs, their harms and their classification. He also lectures widely to the public as well as to the scientific and medical communities; for instance has presented three times at the Cheltenham Science Festival and several times for Cafe Scientifiques. In 2010 The Times Eureka science magazine included him in the 100 most important figures in British Science, and the only psychiatrist.

About AWAKN Life Sciences

AWAKN Life Sciences Inc. provides evidence-based Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy solutions to heal mental health conditions. We work across three business lines of clinical research, therapeutic clinics and healthcare training. Our focus is ensuring optimal patient safety, while delivering efficacy through transformative patient care, in conjunction with scientifically validating long-term mental health.

More Information

Anthony Tennyson | CEO

anthony@awaknlifesciences.com

Dr. Ben Sessa | CMO

ben@awaknlifesciences.com

awaknlifesciences.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59264
COEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / New Jersey Mining Company (OTCQB:NJMC) ("NJMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the expansion of its strategic land holdings to include the Roberts Rare Earth Element (REE) Project in Lemhi County, Idaho.

The Roberts REE Project is comprised of 12 unpatented mining claims covering an area of approximately 89 hectares (219 acres). This Project is located within the Mineral Hill Mining district, approximately 48 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the town of Salmon, Idaho. Recent sampling by Company geologists returned grades in excess of 12% combined rare earths elements.

NJMC's VP of Exploration, Rob Morgan commented, "I consider 1% to be the threshold of REE ore grade mineralization, so to see grades exceeding 12% is extraordinary. As with many higher-grade project's, if our initial sampling holds true as we advance the property, an economic ore deposit could be defined within a relatively small footprint.

In Idaho, most of the lode REE occurrences lie along a northwest trending line from Lemhi Pass, through Diamond Creek, to the Mineral Hill district, before crossing the Idaho-Montana state line. This lineament stretches at least 100 miles across central Idaho and the Roberts Project (and Diamond Creek) are on this trend. In our opinion the Roberts is the next best REE mineralized occurrence along this trend and lies northwest of NJMC's Diamond Creek Project."

The mineralization at the Roberts Project belongs to a unique group of mineral deposits known as Carbonatites. Carbonatites are carbonate rocks sourced from magmatic origins, with primary carbonate compositions exceeding 50%. These Carbonatite-type deposits are almost exclusively associated with continental rift-related tectonic settings. Out of the eight known carbonatite occurrences within the Mineral Hill District, the Roberts Project covers what NJMC geologists consider the two best occurrences.

At the Roberts, one carbonatite occurrence can be found in a northwest trending seam, which measures approximately 400 meters (1,300 feet) long and 90 meters (300 feet) wide; the second occurrence is a small carbonatite plug, measuring about 200 meters in diameter. Studies conducted by A.T. Abbott (1954) and A.L. Anderson (1958) from the Idaho Geological Survey (IGS), and E.P. Kaiser (1956) with the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) pioneered recognition of these unusual deposit types in the Mineral Hill District. Abbott reported cutting a 2.5 foot sample across the Roberts lode which returned 21.5 per cent combined rare earth oxides and thoria.

The unusual carbonatite seam and intrusive plug occurring on the Roberts property are characterized by an exceptional REE concentration. REEs like; neodymium, praseodymium and samarium occur on the property in abundance. Similarly, as with NJMC's Diamond Creek project, REE's are not the only valuable commodities found on the properties; gold and niobium are also present according to historic information and NJMC sampling, and both may prove to be desirable by-products should these properties advance to production. Recently collected samples from the Roberts property show assays with gold values up to 8.8 grams per tonne (0.25 ounce per ton) and niobium as high as 0.50 %.

Mr. Morgan further commented, "Grade is king in our industry, and the grades of the combined total rare earth elements at our Roberts prospect equals and/or surpasses the grades found at many other world-class REE ore deposits. The commercial potential of these types of REE deposits was first recognized in the 1950's, however clean energy, battery and defense-related technologies had not matured, with negligible demand until decades later."

NJMC President and CEO John Swallow stated, "With one asset already in production and preparing for the next stage of its expansion/development, we are in the unique situation of utilizing our existing skillsets and expertise to secure a position in REE's that we have long considered for their potential to add to the growth of the Company (should opportunity and timing converge). Furthermore, the rigorous assault on the U.S.'s supply chains during the COVID pandemic has shown the general public the strategic importance of developing domestic supplies of all resources needed by the United States.

Supporting our point of view are some of the following key factors:

A low-carbon future is not possible without a tremendous amount of critical minerals.

Defensive readiness is subject to reliable sources of critical minerals and domestic supply chains.

An actionable U.S. "supply chain stress test" does not exist.

China currently supplies and largely controls the world's supply of critical minerals.

The U.S. is 100% reliant on China for many of its critical minerals.

China, as part of its national "going out" strategy, has invested heavily across the world to control foreign deposits and processing - while essentially outsourcing substandard environmental practices.

Idaho is ranked the #7 most favorable mining jurisdiction in the world in a current survey of the world's best regions for mining investment by the Fraser Institute.

The USGS and the IGS have recognized and published our "national inventory" of critical mineral resources, with two of the most promising prospects located in Idaho.

(Idaho-based) New Jersey Mining Company is a proven mine developer, producer and processor.

New Jersey Mining controls two of the most promising critical mineral occurrences in Idaho.

Mr. Swallow concluded, "Our approach with regard to Diamond Creek and Roberts is to seek collaborations, partnerships and other approaches toward the funding of Research & Development programs to advance these properties into reliable sources of raw materials. We feel these properties have the potential to provide some of the important raw materials required by our country's technology and defense sectors. The advancement of our Idaho rare earth properties is similar to that of a tech company possessing a promising patent, technological edge or other valuable advantage over domestic upstarts and foreign competitors.

I understand that it took us 192 years to amass $1 trillion in debt and that we are adding almost that amount each month due to ramifications from the virus (and other policies). In addition to "whatever it takes" money creation and our immediate need for PPE, food and energy, many folks have now realized just how reliant we are on China for our defensive readiness and control of our own low-carbon future. In my opinion, the debate is no longer about why any of this is happening, it is about the consequences of it happening and not falling victim to the monetary and critical minerals uncertainty that lies ahead."

Qualified person

NJMC's Vice President of Exploration, Robert John Morgan, PG, PLS is a qualified person and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this press release.

About New Jersey Mining Company

Headquartered in North Idaho, New Jersey Mining Company is the rare example of a vertically integrated operating junior mining company. NJMC produces gold at the Golden Chest Mine and recently consolidated the Murray Gold Belt (MGB) for the first time in over 100-years. The MGB is an overlooked gold producing region within the Coeur d'Alene Mining District, located north of the prolific Silver Valley. In addition to gold, the Company maintains a presence in the Critical Minerals sector and is focused on identifying and exploring for Critical Minerals (Rare Earth Minerals) important to our country's defensive readiness and a low-carbon future.

New Jersey Mining Company possesses the in-house skillsets of a much larger company while enjoying the flexibility of a smaller and more entrepreneurial corporate structure. Its production-based strategy, by design, provides the flexibility to advance the Murray Gold Belt and/or its Critical Minerals holdings on its own or with a strategic partner in a manner that is consistent with its existing philosophy and culture. NJMC has established a high-quality, early to advanced-stage asset base in four historic mining districts of Idaho and Montana, which includes the currently producing Golden Chest Mine. Management is stakeholder focused and owns more than 15-percent of NJMC stock.

The Company's common stock trades on the OTC-QB under the symbol "NJMC."

For more information on New Jersey Mining Company go to www.newjerseymining.com or call:

Monique Hayes, Corporate Secretary/Investor Relations

Email: monique@newjerseymining.com

(208) 625-9001

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that New Jersey Mining Company believes are reasonable, but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the Company's ability to identify additional resource or expand development at the Golden Chest Mine, the risk that the mentioned rare earth minerals can be further defined or developed into an economic reserve or resource, or that gold or other valuable minerals can be identified as a byproduct of these potential resources, an increased risk associated with production activities occurring without completion of a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including risks inherent in developing mining projects, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold and silver and the potential impact on revenues from changes in the market price of gold and cash costs, a sustained lower price environment, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. NJMC disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: New Jersey Mining Company

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596542/New-Jersey-Mining-Company-Acquires-Roberts-Rare-Earth-Element-Prospect-in-Idaho
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Klondike Gold Corp. (TSXV:KG)(FRA:LBDP)(OTC PINK:KDKGF) ("Klondike Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the completion of Phases 1,2 and 3 diamond drilling (described in News Release June 1, 2020) on the Company's wholly owned 586 square kilometer Klondike District Property, Yukon Territory.

SUMMARY:

The Phase 1 diamond drilling program targeting the Lone Star Zone is complete. A total of 13 holes on four sections were drilled versus 9 holes planned. All drill samples have been submitted for analysis with assay and drill section results expected in July.

The Phase 2 drill program targeting the Stander Zone is complete. A total of 5 holes were drilled as planned. The Phase 3 program targeting Stander Zone extensions with 4 holes is also complete as planned. Logging and sampling drill holes is complete. Assay and section results are expected to follow the release of Lone Star Phase 1 results.

Detailed mapping, prospecting and trenching programs targeting the areas of Phase 1, 2 and 3 drilling are still ongoing. Results from these are anticipated to be released with the respective Phase drill assays.

The drill remains on the property pending decisions on targets and scope of planned 2020 follow-up drilling.

This program of drilling will provide information to help evaluate and consider potential open pit configurations at both the Lone Star and Stander Zones. This program will also help provide information regarding the structural relationship with high gold grades to assist targeting further planned 2020 drilling.

Peter Tallman, President and CEO of Klondike Gold stated "The entirety of the phased drill programs went very smoothly and quickly considering the Company began exploration early and with comprehensive health protocols to prevent infection and transmission of the covid virus, and I want to commend our staff and our contractors for embracing the diligence and patience required. I am optimistic the results of this drilling will help point towards more of the higher grades of gold our shareholders want to see in addition to providing information on Lone Star and Stander Zones."

PHASE 1 LONE STAR ZONE DRILLING IS COMPLETE:

Phase 1 drilling is complete. Thirteen infill drill holes tested a sub-area at the western end of the Lone Star Zone where gold mineralization outcrops over a 200 meter by 50 meter area, shown in Figure 1. In most cases an additional hole from the same drill pad was completed resulting in thirteen holes drilled versus nine holes planned. Results from the Phase 1 program are anticipated to provide data to allow consideration of a resource volume leading to evaluation as a potential 'starter open pit'.

Figure 1: Plan Map of Updated Phase 1 Drilling at Lone Star Zone.

PHASE 2 AND 3 STANDER ZONE IS COMPLETE:

The Phase 2 diamond drilling program targeting Stander Zone and Phase 3 program targeting Stander Zone extensions is complete with 5 holes and 4 holes drilled as planned in the respective Phases. In conjunction with drilling, a program of mapping, prospecting and trenching programs continues. Results from these areas will become available following release and discussion of Phase 1 results.

Figure 2: Location Map of Three Phases of 2020 Drilling

QUALIFIED PERSONS REVIEW

The technical and scientific information contained within this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ian Perry, P.Geo., Vice-President Exploration of Klondike Gold Corp. and Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 policy.

COVID-19 UPDATE

Regarding COVID-19, importantly the Yukon has remained virus-free since April 20 and has recently relaxed civil and travel restrictions, however the Company is continuing protocols and measures to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection and transmission that protects our local host community, our contractors and our employees.

ABOUT KLONDIKE GOLD CORP.

Klondike Gold Corp. is a Vancouver based gold exploration company advancing its 100%-owned Klondike District Gold Project located at Dawson City, Yukon Territory, one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world. The Klondike District Gold Project targets gold associated with district scale orogenic faults along the 55-kilometer length of the famous Klondike Goldfields placer district. To date, multi-kilometer gold mineralization has been identified at both the Lone Star Zone and Stander Zone, among other targets. The Company is focused on exploration and development of its 586 square kilometer property accessible by scheduled airline and government-maintained roads located on the outskirts of Dawson City, YT within the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation traditional territory.

ON BEHALF OF KLONDIKE GOLD CORP.

"Peter Tallman"

President and CEO

(604) 609-6138

E-mail: info@klondikegoldcorp.com

Website: www.klondikegoldcorp.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

"This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This information and statements address future activities, events, plans, developments and projections. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information and statements are frequently identified by words such as "may," "will," "should," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "believe," "estimate," "intend" and similar terminology, and reflect assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis made by management of Klondike in light of its experience, current conditions, expectations of future developments and other factors which it believes to be reasonable and relevant. Forward-looking information and statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Klondike's actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information and statements and accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed thereon.

Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary include but are not limited to the availability of financing; fluctuations in commodity prices; changes to and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including environmental laws and obtaining requisite permits; political, economic and other risks; as well as other risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in our annual and quarterly Management's Discussion and Analysis and in other filings made by us with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com. Klondike disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements except as may be required."

SOURCE: Klondike Gold Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596509/Klondike-Gold-2020-Drilling-Update
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Estonia's consumer prices declined for the third straight month in June, data from Statistics Estonia showed on Tuesday. The consumer price index fell 1.0 percent year-on-year in June, following a 1.7 percent decrease in May. The consumer price index was affected the most by 13.2 percent more expensive electricity that reached homes, the agency said. 'Another significant contributor was the index for education and child care institutions, which increased due to the decision of municipalities to reinstate kindergarten place fees after the emergency situation,' Statistics Estonia analyst Viktoria Trasanov said. 'Also subsidies for local transport introduced during the emergency situation ended, which, coupled with 3.2 percent more expensive petrol, resulted in a more significant impact of transport on the index.' Consumer prices were affected the most by a price decrease in motor fuel. Petrol prices decreased 12.5 percent and diesel fuel was 25.0 percent cheaper. Electricity and energy prices declined by 7.6 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages grew 2.7 percent and education rose 4.0 percent. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.9 percent in June, after a 0.7 percent decline in the previous month. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Bullfrog Gold Corp. (OTCQB: BFGC) ("the Company"), a Delaware corporation that controls the commanding land and mineral positions in the Bullfrog Mine area where Barrick produced 2.3 million ounces of gold by conventional milling beginning in 1989 and ending in 1999. CEO of the Company, David Beling, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

Jolly began the interview by asking Beling about the Company's recent projects. "In January, we had raised $2 million Canadian, which is about $1.4 million US, and as soon as we got those funds in we started immediately making final arrangements to do a drill program and we assembled and mobilized contractors and personnel," shared Beling. "We started drilling on May 31st, in spite of Coronavirus, and by June 6th we completed a 25-hole program," said Beling, sharing that the Company received positive results and are awaiting the remaining assays.

"Everything is going our way and we're quite pleased with what we've accomplished with this program," said Beling.

Jolly then commented on the Company's recent press release detailing their intention to drill an additional nine holes. "Are you doing assays on these or are you actually doing a 43-101?" asked Jolly. "These drill samples that we collect, we send them to a commercial lab in Reno to get the gold and silver assays. We're not doing anything on a 43-101," explained Beling. "We did a 43-101 resource estimate in August of 2017, but nothing has changed until we get the assays on the 25 holes," he added, noting that once the Company receives the final analytics the next step will be a preliminary economic analysis. He then explained that this would allow the Company to fully define and optimize the Bullfrog and Montgomery-Shoshone pits, which would be followed by feasibility studies.

"Currently, we're also pursuing drilling our exploration targets because we want to find out how many more ounces can be added to the development projects that we have," said Beling. "That's what our concurrent plans are and what our focus is."

"Where do we go from here?" asked Jolly. "As soon as we get all of these assays, we're going to study those and begin designing and laying out the next drill program," shared Beling, adding that this process will also include environmental permitting. "We will be seeking funding later this year," he added. "We will also be pursuing a preliminary economic analysis and more drilling," said Beling.

"We've got very good results on metallurgy, we're picking up strong intervals that will add to the resources in both of these pits," said Beling. "In this regard, we achieved an average 85% gold recovery from four bulk samples and 91% from the Mystery Hill area where most of our holes were drilled. We just need to get the assays on the balance of these holes and then estimate updated resources. That will advance this project quite well."

To close the interview, Beling encouraged interested investors to consider the potential of the Company and its project, especially considering their low stock price. "There is the opportunity for advancing this and our plans are to continue to add value and have the market recognize what our value is," closed Beling.

To hear David Beling's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7625141-bullfrog-gold-corporation-discusses-progress-of-their-2020-drill-program-with-the-stock-day-podcast

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/

About Bullfrog Gold Corp.

Bullfrog Gold Corp. is a Delaware corporation that controls the commanding land and mineral positions in the Bullfrog Mine area where Barrick produced 2.3 million ounces of gold by conventional milling beginning in 1989 and ending in 1999. Measured and indicated 43-101 compliant resources were estimated in mid-2017 by Tetra Tech Inc. at 525,000 ounces of gold, averaging 1.02 gold g/t in base case pit plans. Most of these resources are in the north extension to the Bullfrog pit. Inferred resources within these pit plans were estimated at 110,000 ounces of gold averaging 1.2 g/t. It is noted that the 3-year trailing average gold prices are now more than $160 higher than the $1,200 price used in the mid-2017 Canadian NI 43-101 resource estimates, which were also based on a heap leach gold recovery of 72% compared to the average 85% leach test recoveries recently achieved on four bulk samples.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including those with respect to the objectives, plans and strategies of the Company and those preceded by or that include the words "believes," "expects," "given," "targets," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "projects," "forecasts" or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties.

Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, the Company's ability to successfully maintain its listings, the stability of industry and market costs and trends and the Company's ability to obtain all regulatory approvals required for its planned objectives. Furthermore, by their very nature, forward-looking information involves a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation, those related to: (a) adverse regulatory or legislative changes (b) market conditions, volatility and global economic conditions (c) industry-wide risks (d) the Company's inability to maintain or improve its competitive position and (e) the ability to obtain financing needed to fund the continued development of the Company's business. The Company is presently an exploration stage company. Exploration is highly speculative in nature, involves many risks, requires substantial expenditures, and may not result in the discovery of mineral deposits that can be mined profitably. Furthermore, the Company currently has no reserves on any of its properties. As a result, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Additional information regarding important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations is disclosed in the Company's documents filed with the United States Securities & Exchange Commission or on www.sedar.com. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures in our Form 10-K and other SEC filings, which can be obtained from the SEC's website at https://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Additional technical and corporate information may also be sourced at www.bullfroggold.com.

About The "Stock Day" Podcast

Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona.

SOURCE:

Stock Day Media

(602) 821-1102

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59267
HealthCare Royalty Partners ("HCR"), a global healthcare investment firm, today announced the appointment of two life sciences industry veterans, William M. Burns and Mardi C. Dier, to the firm's Senior Advisor Board.

"We are pleased to welcome Bill and Mardi to our Senior Advisor Board," said Clarke B. Futch, Managing Partner and Chairman at HCR. "Both are accomplished and seasoned leaders in the biopharmaceutical industry which will benefit HCR in sourcing and evaluating potential products of interest, particularly in Europe and on the West Coast."

William M. Burns has more than 40 years of industry experience, including 23 years at Roche Pharmaceuticals, culminating in his tenure as chief executive officer from 2001 to 2009. During his time with Roche, Mr. Burns had significant involvement in the privatization of Genentech, the integration of Boehringer Mannheim and the negotiations that resulted in Roche becoming a majority owner of Chugai in Japan. Over the past decade, Mr. Burns has held numerous non-executive board positions including F. Hoffmann La Roche, Chugai Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, Shire PLC and Biotie. Mr. Burns retired from the board of Wellcome Trust in 2020 and continues as a trustee of the Institute of Cancer Research, London. Mr. Burns currently serves as the non-executive chairman of the board of directors for both Molecular Partners and Vestergaard Holding, and the non-executive vice chairman of Mesoblast. Mr. Burns is a member of the Novo Holdings Advisory Group and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Center for Integrated Oncology of the University of Cologne/Bonn. Mr. Burns holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

Mardi C. Dier most recently served as chief financial officer and chief business officer of Portola Pharmaceuticals, after joining the company in August 2006. During her tenure, Ms. Dier oversaw the development of the finance and operations functions. Ms. Dier was responsible for raising over $1.8 billion, including two non-dilutive financings, to fund the development and launch of two hematologic products. Ms. Dier also led the merger process for Portola when it combined with Alexion in 2020. Previously, Ms. Dier served as vice president of Investor Relations at Chiron Corporation from 2003 until its acquisition by Novartis Pharmaceuticals in April 2006. Prior to joining Chiron, she served as a director in the West Coast investment banking practice at Prudential Securities, where she focused on biotechnology and other life sciences companies. Ms. Dier serves on the board of directors of Adamas Pharmaceuticals and ORIC Pharmaceuticals, where she serves as chair of the audit committee. Ms. Dier holds a B.S. in biology from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from The Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2013 and 2019, Ms. Dier was recognized as one of the most influential Bay Area business women by the San Francisco Business Times and was a finalist for its Bay Area CFO of the Year Award, respectively.

About HealthCare Royalty Partners

HCR is a private investment firm that purchases royalties and uses debt-like structures to invest in commercial or near-commercial stage biopharmaceutical assets. HCR has raised $5.6 billion in cumulative capital commitments with offices in Stamford (CT), San Francisco, Boston and London For more information, visit www.healthcareroyalty.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005165/en/

Contacts:

HealthCare Royalty Partners

Carlos Almodovar, 203-487-8300

bd@hcroyalty.com
- Japan House London, the contemporary home for Japanese culture in the UK, will reopen its Ground Floor on Thursday, 9 July

- Japan House London is one of the first cultural destinations in the UK to reopen to the public

- Guests will be able to enjoy an in-depth cultural experience, from art installations and displays of quality craftsmanship to travel advice and uniquely Japanese refreshments

- Guests are required to book a ticket in advance at www.japanhouselondon.uk

- Inspired by Japanese social etiquette called omotenashi, all staff will be wearing face coverings designed by acclaimed Tokyo textile designer Takahashi Hiroko as part of their uniform

- The designer face coverings will also be sold in The Shop exclusive to Japan House London in the UK

LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Japan House London is pleased to announce that it will reopen its doors from Thursday 9 July. Locals and Londoners will be welcomed back to explore the Ground Floor, the first space of the cultural destination to reopen in accordance with Government guidelines, with a newly introduced booking system and raft of safety measures in place.

Since opening two years ago, the Japanese social etiquette known as omotenashi, which roughly translates as 'hospitality and care to guests', has been central to the ethos of Japan House London. As an extension of this, all staff will be wearing face coverings, for the protection of guests as well as each other. Japan House London has collaborated with acclaimed Tokyo textile designer, Takahashi Hiroko, whose kimono designs are on display at the V&A as well as Japan House, to provide all staff with stunning face coverings as part of their uniform.

Exclusive to Japan House London in the UK, the collection of four designs are also available for guests to purchase in The Shop, priced at 20 each.

Michael Houlihan, Director General Japan House London, said:

"During lockdown, we successfully moved our activities online so that everyone could continue to discover Japanese culture in new and creative ways. The public response was overwhelming. Now, we are looking forward to welcoming back our local visitors, and proud to be one of the first cultural destinations in the country to reopen its doors. To mark the event - and the times - we are launching an exclusive range of face coverings in collaboration with acclaimed Japanese textile designer Takahashi Hiroko. Soon, we will also be revealing details of an intriguing and unusual exhibition for autumn; so, stay in touch."

As well as being able to purchase the face coverings, guests are invited to get creative at home and download a free worksheet and template to make their own face covering at home, and to join an exclusive 'step-by-step' face covering workshop with Takahashi Hiroko herself on 27 July.

What to expect from your visit

A journey through the Ground Floor of Japan House gives guests the opportunity to immerse themselves in Japanese culture, discovering artists, designers, craftspeople and regional materials and skills. The line between a gallery and a retail space is somewhat blurred with most items on display being available to purchase. A new QR code series allows guests to discover even more about the people behind the products and designs.

With wanderlust at an all-time high, guests keen to plan a future holiday to Japan can book a consultation in the Travel Zone with Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) staff who can bring to life the diverse regions of the country for visitors to discover.

The whole experience can be rounded off with a uniquely Japanese drink from The Stand, with iced matcha latte being a particularly popular choice.

During lockdown, Japan House London launched its first virtual exhibition of the work of prolific illustrator and storyteller Anno Mitsumasa, shared unique perspectives and ideas on windows from Japan'sWindow Research Institute and hosted exclusive events in partnership with the V&A and National Geographic.

Japan House London will shortly be announcing plans for its next exhibition set to open in Autumn 2020. AKIRA restaurant plans to reopen in July.

Safety measures

The cultural destination has received Visit Britain's 'We're Good To Go' Standard, to reassure guests that they can visit Japan House London safely, with clear processes in place that adhere to Government and public health guidance.

In addition to a one-way visitor route, Japan House London has installed a raft of new measures to ensure visitor safety, published at www.japanhouselondon.uk/covid.

The measures include:

All staff will be wearing face coverings designed by Takahashi Hiroko

Hand sanitiser will be provided on entry and exit

One-way system in place on the Ground Floor

2 metre social distancing

No public access to toilet facilities

How to plan a visit

Booking in advance is required: www.japanhouselondon.uk

New opening hours

Monday-Friday: 11:00-16:00

Saturday: 11:00-18:00

Sunday: 12:00-18:00

Last entry: Monday-Friday: 15:15 and Saturday-Sunday: 17:15

Notes to Editors:

Visit our media centre: https://www.japanhouselondon.uk/media-centre/

Find out more: www.japanhouselondon.uk

Sign-up to our newsletter: www.japanhouselondon.uk

Follow us on social media @japanhouseldn

About Japan House London

Japan House London is a cultural centre offering visitors an experience of the best and latest from Japan. Located on London'sKensington High Street, the experience is an authentic encounter with Japan, engaging and surprising even the most knowledgeable guests. Presenting the very best of Japanese art, design, gastronomy, innovation, and technology, it deepens our appreciation of all that Japan has to offer. Part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are two other Japan Houses in Los Angeles and Sao Paulo.
Bipartisan Support Accelerates Hyperloop Industry in the US and Assigns NETT Council to Establish Regulatory Framework over the Next Six Months

WASHINGTON, July 07, 2020, passed the US House of Representatives, with multiple provisions moving the hyperloop industry forward at a rapid pace within the United States.



"We applaud hyperloop's bipartisan supporters for their forward-leaning stance on advanced technologies, including several innovative provisions that will support America's transportation sector in the 21st century and beyond," said Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group.

This type of recognition from the US government of hyperloop is the first of its kind, further proving that the US intends to be the leader in this industry. This provision not only acknowledges hyperloop in US Code, but it also directs the Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technologyto issue guidance within 6 months on a clear regulatory framework for the safe deployment of a hyperloop system.

"The inclusion of hyperloop transportation in this legislation is historic and once again establishes the US as an innovation leader, giving us an opportunity not just to rebuild but evolve using transformative and innovative technologies," said Jay Walder, CEO of Virgin Hyperloop.

Included in the surface reauthorization portion of H.R. 2 is the codification of the Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology over the last year and a half to advance its technology and ensure that they are able to deploy hyperloop safely and quickly .

When the NETT Council was announced Sir Richard added "I want to thank Secretary Chao for her leadership in setting up this forward-thinking council at DOT. Virgin Hyperloop is eager to continue working with the Secretary and her teamit is clear she wants to be at the forefront of exploring innovative technologies to improve transportation in the United States."

Bipartisan support from Members of Congress and the Administration has been crucial in the forward progression of the hyperloop industry. The inclusion of the hyperloop provision shows support from Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), but also Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.

"Codifying [Secretary] Chao's order establishing the NETT Council and the provision encouraging the development of hyperloops offer a glimpse of [.] innovation and public-private sector collaboration," said Congressman Rick Crawford (R-AR) during the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's markup.

About Virgin Hyperloop

Virgin Hyperloop is the only company in the world that has successfully tested hyperloop technology at scale, launching the first new mode of mass transportation in over 100 years. The company successfully operated a full-scale hyperloop vehicle using electric propulsion and electromagnetic levitation under near-vacuum conditions, realizing a fundamentally new form of transportation that is faster, safer, cheaper, and more sustainable than existing modes. The company is now working with governments, partners, and investors around the world to make hyperloop a reality in years, not decades. Learn more about Virgin Hyperloop's technology, vision, and ongoing projects here .

Media Contacts

Virgin Hyperloop

Ryan Kelly

Vice President of Marketing and Communications

press@virginhyperloop.com

+1 (610) 442-1896
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / MGX Minerals Inc. ("MGX" or the "Company") (CSE:XMG)(FKT:1MG)(OTC PINK:MGXMF) is pleased to announce a Technical Report (the "SRK Report") by SRK Consulting Canada ("SRK") has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") for the Heino Gold Deposit and Tillicum Claims. The complete report is available on SEDAR. See British Columbia MINFILE 082FNW234 for detailed information regarding the deposit and claims.

Initial 3D Modelling of significant mineralization as represented in Fig 8.2 of the SRK Report:

Figure 8-2: SRK preliminary lithology model showing intrusive rocks (pink) and country rock (brown). A) Oblique view onto Tillicum Mountain. B) East-West section looking North showing East

Ridge Zone mineralization (assays above 3.0 gpt shown in red). C) and D) Sections showing East Ridge Zone and Heino-Money Zone mineralization

Referenced in whole from the report section 10-1 Table of Recorded Drilling, 6.1 Historical Exploration Work and 6.2 Historical Underground Development and Bulk Sampling:

Table 10-1: Summary of recorded drilling

Year(s) Mineral Zone Surface Drilling Underground Drilling No. of Holes Meterage No. of Holes Meterage 1981-1987 Heino-Money 100 7,060 9 177 1988 92 3,079 1993 8 284 1981-1984 East Ridge 26 1,586 1988 75 13,149 14 610 1989 10 1,446 1984 Silver Queen 12 ? 1984 Grizzly 4 615 1984 Arnie Flats 5 292 Totals 232 24,148 123 4,150

6.1 Historical Exploration Work

The following summary of exploration activities has been compiled from all available in-house and assessment reports available to SRK. A timeline of exploration activities on the Heino Gold Project is summarized in Table 6-2.

Table 6-2: Summary of exploration activities on the Heino Gold Project

Year(s) Mining Company Activities 1980 Arnie & Elaine Gustafson Discovered Money Zone while prospecting 1982 Esperanza Explorations Ltd. Prospecting, geological mapping, soil sampling, trenching and diamond drilling. Extension of the previously discovered Money Pit now called the Heino-Money Zone. 1982 Airborne VLF-EM and Mag Survey 1982 Petrographic and environmental report 1983 Geological mapping, trenching, road building, diamond drilling, underground development; East Ridge Zone discovered; baseline environmental study 1985 227 tonne bulk sample from the Heino-Money Zone sent to Dankoe mill at Keremeos 1986 Surface and underground drilling; underground development (155 m drifting; 131 m slashing, 225 m test hole drilling) 1987 Preliminary engineering and environmental Report (Knight and Piesold, 1987) 1989 Esperanza Explorations Ltd. (renamed to Columbia Gold Mines Ltd.) Diamond drilling on East Ridge Zone 1993 Bethlehem Resources Corporation & Goldney Resources Inc. Bulk sampling commenced in mid-August and completed in late-October. Rock sample analysis and report 1994 Columbia Gold Mines Ltd. Commissioned Ross Glanville & Associates to carry out a valuation of the Tillicum Mountain Project 1996 AMT Resources Ltd. Surface and underground geological evaluations and sampling, geophysical survey work, limited road rehabilitation, data review; VLF EM-16 and limited Self-Potential surveys 2001 1330275 Ontario Limited (wholly owned subsidiary of Mustang Minerals Corp.) Exhaustive re-examination of the historical database; stream sediment sampling, soil and rock chip samples; survey of the access road; camp and equipment inspections 2002 1330275 Ontario Limited Site inspection of on-site facilities and underground workings, brief examination of mineralization and geology of the area 2009 AMT Tillicum Holdings Inc. Soil sampling grid, VLF-EM Survey

Between 1982 and 1993, when Esperanza Explorations Ltd. held the property, the Heino Gold Project was taken from a grassroots prospect through to an advanced stage exploration project including limited underground exploration development. Over the 11 years, Esperanza Explorations Ltd. built roads, geologically mapped and prospected the area, collected and assayed rock samples, and conducted limited geochemical soil surveys. Surface and underground diamond drilling programs were undertaken almost continuously throughout those years (see Section 10). Gold mineralization discoveries outside of the Heino-Money and East Ridge Zones were also made.

In 1982 exploration work included geological mapping at a scale of 1:1,000 by Dr. J. Crawford, which concentrated on the north side of Tillicum Mountain, and over the area of the Heino-Money Zone. In addition, Dr. Ken Northcote, under the contract of Vancouver Petrographics Ltd., carried out a preliminary petrographic and mineralographic study on 34 thin sections collected from drill core and hand specimens. Geochemical soil surveys on the Tillicum Property during 1982 were restricted to four lines across the south end of Grizzly Valley and to 'reconnaissance contour-type' sampling in Sue Valley to the northwest of Tillicum Peak. Other short soil sample traverses were conducted in conjunction with prospecting on Hailstorm Ridge (Guild, 1983).

During 1982, Western Geophysical Aero Data Ltd. conducted a regional, low level airborne magnetometer and VLF-electromagnetometer survey across the Tillicum Mountain Gold prospect area. The purpose of the survey was to delineate any variations in magnetic intensity and near surface conductivity that assisted in the search for gold or massive sulphide mineralization (Guild, 1983).

Exploration in 1983 consisted of geological mapping at a scale of 1:300, surface rock chip sampling, bulldozer trenching, and 325 m of road building. In addition, 61 m of underground development was completed into the East Ridge Zone (Roberts and McClintock, 1983).

The Esperanza Explorations Ltd. exploration programs between 1985 and 1989 were focused on delineating "reserves" within the Heino-money Zone, as well as determining metallurgical qualities of mineralization; details of which are presented in Section 6.3 of this report. In addition to historical preliminary "ore reserve" estimates, the exploration programs included 1,518 m of underground development on the Heino-Money Zone and 410 m of drifting on the East Ridge Zone; all of which were conducted by Nemo Resources of New Denver, B.C. The underground development and bulk sampling program defined continuous gold bearing skarn along 37 m of drift length

(Dewonck, McClintock and Roberts, 1986). Small-scale mining occurred in the summer of 1993.

After a hiatus of 5 years, exploration resumed on the property in 2001. Principal work included a partial survey of the access roads, an inspection and inventory of existing on-site facilities and equipment, and the collection of 79 stream sediment, soil and rock samples from selected parts of the property. Timberland Consultants of Nelson B.C. were contracted to collect Differentially Corrected Global Positioning System survey data along the access road to the mineralized area on the Tillicum property to confirm the location of the road in NAD83 coordinates to a precision of +/-1 m. In addition to the road, the survey was also designed to locate the position of the warehouse, the Heino-Money 2050, 2130 and 2160 level portals, the East Ridge 2060 level portal and other claim boundaries (Campbell, 2014).

In 2013 and 2014, significant physical improvements to the property were made, including the installation of a new 12-man sleeper, a new septic system and 100 kilo watt generator, and 10 m x 22 m workshop. In addition, the access road was refurbished with new culverts and ditches installed for erosion control (Campbell, 2014).

6.2 Historical Underground Development and Bulk Sampling

Underground development on the Heino-Money Zone totaled 1,518 m along with an additional 410 m of development on the East Ridge Zone (Addie, 1997). Table 6-3 summarizes the meterage of underground development per year of exploration.

Table 6-3: Summary of underground development within the Heino-Money and East Ridge Zones

Year(s) Mineral Zone Underground Development 1981-1987 Heino-Money 955 m on 4 levels 1988 442 m 1993 121 m 1981-1984 East Ridge 60 m on cross-section 2118 1988 350 m on drive 2062 Totals HHeino-Money 1,518m (on 5 levels) East Ridge 410 m

Small scale production occurred in 1981, 1984, and 1993 from the Heino-Money Zone. Table 6-4 summarizes tonnages and metal content recovered per year of extraction.

Table 6-4: Summary of bulk sampling conducted on the Heino-Money Zone

Year Mined Tonnes Milled Tonnes Au Grams Recovered Au Ounces Recovered Ag Grams Recovered Ag Ounces Recovered 1981 58 58 4,570 145 3,259 105 1984 227 168 48,351 1,554 51,570 1,658 1985/1986 2,972 2,972 98,910 3,180 1993 6,800 5,503 102,455 3,294 164,071 5,275 Total 10.057 8,701 254,286 8,173 218,900 7,038

In 1981 a bulk sample of 58 tonnes was extracted from the Heino-Money pit, which averaged 78.8 g/t Au and 56.2 g/t Ag.

In 1984, a 227-tonne bulk sample was extracted from an underground adit driven into the upper part of the Heino-Money zone. This material was shipped to the Dankoe mill located in Keremeos, BC, in 1985, where 168 tonnes was milled. The average recovered Au grade was reported at 287.8 g/t.

In 1985 and 1986, a bulk sample of 2,972 tonnes of material was extracted from underground development and surface trenching on the Heino-Money Zone. This material was collected for metallurgical testwork that was conducted at a custom mill. It is reported that this material was found to be free-milling and standard crushing, grinding and gravity and flotation circuits yielded 92% gold recovery. A total of 3,180 oz of gold was recovered from this testwork, and it is reported that two-thirds of the gold was found to be associated with sulphide minerals. Results of this historical testwork have not been reviewed by SRK.

In May 1993, a total of 6,800 tonnes of material was mined from four underground levels within the Heino-Money zone and 5,503 tonnes were shipped to Bethlehem's Goldstream mill located north of Revelstoke, BC. Recovered average grades from this bulk sample were reported at 18.62 g/t Au and 29.81 g/t Ag.

End of citation

All work completed prior to the issuance of NI 43-101 has been completed by qualified professionals of their day but is not NI 43-101 compliant.

SRK Recommendation

SRK has recommended a $525,000 work program primarily to be spent on confirmation drilling in support of a Resource Estimate that is being prepared in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. From Section 18 of the SRK Report quoted in whole:

In reviewing the compiled database and historical reports pertaining to the Heino Gold Project, SRK makes the following recommendations:

Relogging and resampling of historical drill core will be required to validate the existing project drill hole and assay database for future use in estimating mineral resources. This should be conducted prior to any additional drilling on the property. Channel sampling of exposed mineralization within existing underground development should be considered for data validation purposes. Twin drilling of a small sub-set of historical drill holes (6 holes in total, estimated 1,800m of drilling) should be completed for validation purposes, as well as to collect oriented drill core for structural analysis. A LiDAR survey (or equivalent survey) should be conducted to obtain accurate topography of the project site; Existing underground workings should be re-surveyed to confirm positioning and obtain accurate volume estimates. Establish a chain of custody process, and quality assurance and quality control process for future drilling programs; and Perform an in-depth structural review whereby a detailed litho-structural model is produced because mineralization is strongly structurally controlled. This includes the steeply dipping Heino-Money type mineralization as well as the shallower dipping conformable or stratabound East Ridge Zone type mineralization. A structural understanding of these zones is necessary to help develop structural targets in the area and to provide confidence to the resource estimation. To develop a structural model, good coverage of structural data is necessary. This can be obtained from detailed structural surface and underground mapping and structural logging of orientated drill core. These data are most effective when used in combination with a structural interpretation of high-resolution LiDAR, and if available high-resolution geophysical data sets.

End of citation

Notice of Work and First Nations

A Notice of Work ("NOW") has been filed following the recommendations of the SRK Report. First Nations Consultation is underway and the Company believes that there are no significant objections to confirmatory exploration and immediate employment of significant local labour. The Company has engaged Crescent Bay Construction of Naksup, BC for mine access road maintenance and security. The road is in good condition for exploration purposes, washouts have been repaired and access to the main mine haulage 2050 level is near complete. MGX has a history of mineral exploration in the Kootenays including the Driftwood Creek Magnesium Oxide deposit north of Cranbrook, BC inclusive of Resource Estimate and Preliminary Economic Assessment.

COVID_19

The Company does not foresee COVID_19 impacting initial confirmatory exploration as recommended by the SRK Report or impairing the asset value of Tillicum Claims and Heino Gold Deposit at this time. Exploration and construction teams will be limited to 3-6 personnel. At such time that significant labor is needed MGX will prepare a comprehensive COVID_19 plan and will rely on distancing, hand washing, and symptom monitoring to control the spread. As required by Transport Canada, masks will be required on all flight operations, which will be limited to 6 personnel including pilot. The West Kootenays is not an area of significant COVID_19 outbreak at this time and it is not expected COVID _19 would not be transferred from local population to miners as long as basic hygiene protocol is maintained.

Qualified Person

Andris Kikauka (P. Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for MGX Minerals, has prepared, reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release. Mr. Kikauka is a non-independent Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101.

Advisors

Kingsdale Advisors is acting as strategic shareholder and communications advisor and Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP is acting as legal advisor to MGX Minerals Inc.

About MGX Minerals Inc.

MGX Minerals Inc. invests in commodity and technology companies and projects focusing on battery and energy mass storage technology, extraction of minerals from fluids, and exploration for industrial minerals and precious metals.

Contact Information

Neil Foran

Chief Financial Officer

neil@mgxminerals.com

Web: www.mgxminerals.com

Andy Radia

Director, Communications and Marketing

Kingsdale Advisors

Ph: 416-867-2357

aradia@kingsdaleadvisors.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to plans for assessment and other activities conducted and proposed to be conducted at the Heino-Money Deposit and Tillicum Claims, the preparation and filing of the Technical Report, and the preparation for structural engineering review for the purpose of underground bulk sampling. Forward-looking information is generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "in the event", "if", "believes", "asserts", "position", "intends", "envisages", "assumes", "recommends", "estimates", "approximate", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur.

The Company's forward-looking information are based on the applicable assumptions and factors the Company considers reasonable as of the date hereof, based on the information available to the Company at such time, including without limitation, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals, and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various risk factors. These factors include, among others, geological and environmental factors, operating or technical difficulties in connection with the activities contemplated in this press release, general economic conditions, or conditions in the financial markets. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors, and their potential effects, which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Except as required by securities law, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise.

SOURCE: MGX Minerals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596559/MGX-Minerals-Announces-NI-43-101-Technical-Report-for-Tillicum-Claims-and-Heino-Gold-Deposit
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Emgold Mining Corporation (TSXV:EMR)(OTC PINK:EGMCF)(FRA:EMLM)(BSE:EMLM) ("Emgold" or the "Company") announces the following update on its New York Canyon and East-West Properties.

New York Canyon Property, Nevada

Emgold has completed the transfer of 21 patented claims and 60 unpatented claims from Searchlight Resources Corporation (SCLT) ("Searchlight") into Emgold's Nevada subsidiary, Golden Arrow Mining Corporation. Total claims owned by Emgold at New York Canyon, through its subsidiary, now include 21 patented claims and 152 unpatented claims. Emgold is in the process of transferring a reclamation bond from Searchlight to Emgold's subsidiary, which is the final step in its acquisition of the core claims of the New York Canyon Property from Searchlight.

Emgold's claims, combined with 265 unpatented claims staked by Kennecott Exploration Company ("Kennecott"), a subsidiary of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO), now total 21 patented claims and 417 unpatented claims encompassing about 8,700 acres that make up the current New York Canyon Property. Kennecott and Emgold signed an Earn-in with Option to Joint Venture Agreement (the "Agreement") whereby Kennecott can earn up to a 75% interest in the Property by completing up to US$22.5 million in exploration expenditures (see press releases dated Feb. 11, 2020 and Mar. 30, 2020). Kennecott is committed to spending US$1.0 million in exploration expenditures at New York Canyon within 18 months of the signing of the Agreement.

East-West Property, Quebec

As announced by press release on December 11, 2019, Emgold is in the process of acquiring a 50% interest in the East-West Property in Quebec, with an option of acquiring an additional 5% interest. The East-West Property is situated in the Val d'Or Mining Camp between Wesdome Mining Corporation's (WDO) ("Wesdome") Kiena Mine and O3 Mining Corporation (OIII) ("O3 Mining") Marban Block Property.

On June 25, 2020, Wesdome announced the filing of an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Kiena Mine, which was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mining Projects ("NI 43-101"). The Technical Report, titled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Kiena Mine Complex Project" was prepared by BBA Inc. The PEA showed positive economics with an After Tax Internal Rate of Return of 102%. The Kiena Complex is a fully permitted former mine with a 930 meter shaft and a 2,000 tonne per day mill. The Technical Report can be found under Wesdome's corporate filings under www.sedar.com.

On May 22, 2020, O3 Mining announced that it had appointed Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. as the lead consultant to prepare a PEA in accordance NI 43-101 for its 100% owned Marban Property. According to the press release, "The Marban Project contains three past-producing mines (Marban, Norlartic and Kierens), which collectively produced 585,000 ounces of gold between 1959 and 1992. The land package owned by O3 Mining in the heart of the Cadillac, Malartic, and Val D'Or gold mining camps covers 125 square kilometres and is located 15 kilometres from the Canadian Malartic Mine, and lies along the same shear structure as Wesdome's Kiena deposit. To date, there has been a total of 4,577 holes drilled on the Malartic Property for a total of 600,369 metres. The current mineral resource estimate on the Marban, Norlartic and Kierens deposits is 38.2Mt at a grade of 1.29 g/t Au for 1.59 Moz in the measured and indicated mineral resource categories and 4.1 Mt at a grade of 1.47 g/t Au for 195,000 oz in the inferred mineral resource category (see "Updated Mineral Resource Technical Report, Marban Block Property, Quebec, Canada", dated July 28, 2016 (effective date of June 13, 2016) and filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under the issuer profile of Osisko Mining Inc.)".

Note that no mineral resources or reserves have been defined on the East-West Property. The location of the East-West Property adjacent to the Kiena Property or Marban Property is no guarantee of exploration success or that mineral resources or reserves will be defined on the East-West Property.

Emgold is in the process of reviewing historic information it has received on the East-West Property with the goal of delineating a drill program to be conducted in 2020, subject to financing and the Company's ability to conduct exploration on the Property due to Covid-19 restrictions.

About Emgold

Emgold is a gold and base metal exploration company focused on Nevada and Quebec. The Company's strategy is to look for quality acquisitions, add value to these assets through exploration, and monetize them through sale, joint ventures, option, royalty, and other transactions to create value for our shareholders.

In Nevada, Emgold's Golden Arrow Property, the core asset of the Company, is an advanced stage gold and silver property with a well-defined measured and indicated resource. New York Canyon is a base metal property subject to an Earn-in with Option to Joint Venture Agreement with Kennecott Exploration, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Plc (RIO). Buckskin Rawhide East is a gold and silver property leased to Rawhide Mining LLC, who operate the adjacent Rawhide Mine and therefore represents a royalty opportunity for the Company.

In Quebec, the Casa South Property, is an early stage gold property adjacent to Hecla Mining Corporation's (HL) operating Casa Berardi Mine. The East-West Property is a gold property adjacent to and on strike with Wesdome Gold Mine Ltd.'s (WDO) Kiena Complex and O3 Mining Corporation's (OIII) Marban Property. Emgold also has a 1% NSR in the Troilus North Property, part of the Troilus Mine Property being explored by Troilus Gold Corporation (TLG). Note that the location of Emgold's properties adjacent to producing or past producing mines does not guarantee exploration success at Emgold's properties or that mineral resources or reserves will be delineated. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's website at www.emgold.com or view the Company's filings available at www.sedar.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

David G. Watkinson, P.Eng.

President & CEO



For further information, please contact:

David G. Watkinson, P.Eng.

Tel: 530-271-0679 Ext 101

Email: info@emgold.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made and information contained herein may constitute "forward looking information" and "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. These statements and information are based on facts currently available to the Company and there is no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements and information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "targets", "estimates", "plans", "expects", "may", "will", "could" or "would". Forward-looking statements and information contained herein are based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and other matters. While the Company considers its assumptions to be reasonable as of the date hereof, forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue importance on such statements as actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or information except as may be required by applicable securities laws. The Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including any technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

SOURCE: Emgold Mining Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596523/Emgold-Provides-Property-Update
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Seven Aces Limited (the "Company" or "Seven Aces") (TSXV:ACES)(OTC PINK:ACEXF) is pleased to provide the following updates in connection with its previously-announced arrangement whereby, among other things, an affiliate of Trive Capital Management LLC ("Trive Capital") has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Seven Aces (the "Shares") other than those Shares owned by Ascendant Group Holdings Inc., a company controlled by Mr. Manu Sekhri (CEO of Seven Aces) (the "Rollover Shareholder"), in exchange for cash consideration of CDN $2.15 per Share (the "Arrangement"), subject to customary closing conditions:

Interim Order : On June 29, 2020 the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) granted an interim order authorizing, among other things, the holding of a special meeting (the " Meeting ") of Seven Aces shareholders (the " Shareholders ") to consider the Arrangement.

On June 29, 2020 the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) granted an interim order authorizing, among other things, the holding of a special meeting (the " ") of Seven Aces shareholders (the " ") to consider the Arrangement. Meeting Materials : The Company will be mailing a management information circular dated June 29, 2020 (the " Circular "), together with the notice of special meeting, a letter of transmittal and a form of proxy (collectively, the " Meeting Materials "), to the Shareholders of record as of June 29, 2020. The Meeting Materials are also available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Seven Aces' issuer profile.

The Company will be mailing a management information circular dated June 29, 2020 (the " "), together with the notice of special meeting, a letter of transmittal and a form of proxy (collectively, the " "), to the Shareholders of record as of June 29, 2020. The Meeting Materials are also available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Seven Aces' issuer profile. Hart-Scott-Rodino Clearance : On June 30, 2020, the United States of America Federal Trade Commission (Bureau of Competition Premerger Notification Office) granted the Company's request for early termination of the HSR waiting period with respect to the Arrangement.

On June 30, 2020, the United States of America Federal Trade Commission (Bureau of Competition Premerger Notification Office) granted the Company's request for early termination of the HSR waiting period with respect to the Arrangement. TSX Venture Exchange Conditional Acceptance : On June 30, 2020, the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") conditionally accepted the Company's notice with respect to the Arrangement. Upon closing of the Arrangement, the Shares will be delisted from the Exchange. The Company must not close the Arrangement until it has received final acceptance of the Arrangement from the Exchange.

At the Meeting, Shareholders will be asked to consider and, if deemed advisable, approve a special resolution in respect of the Arrangement (the "Arrangement Resolution"). Further details on the Arrangement can be found in the Circular.

The Meeting will be held on August 5, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. (Toronto time) at the offices of Seven Aces located at 79 Wellington Street West, Suite 1630, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5K 1H1. In light of the ongoing public health concerns related to COVID-19 and in order to comply with the measures imposed by the federal and provincial governments, the Company is encouraging Shareholders and others not to attend the Meeting in person. Seven Aces is offering Company Shareholders the option to listen and participate (but not vote) at the Meeting in real time by conference call at the following coordinates:

Telephone: 416-477-3400, Option 7, Passcode 3410#

In order to minimize group sizes and respect social distancing regulations, all Shareholders are urged to vote on the matters before the Meeting by proxy which can be submitted electronically, by mail, or by phone as further described in the Circular, by no later than 9:00 a.m. (Toronto time) on July 31, 2020. If you have any questions or if you require assistance with voting, please contact the Company's proxy solicitation agent, Kingsdale Advisors, by telephone at 1-877-659-1825 (toll-free) or 1-416-867-2272 (collect) or by email at contactus@kingsdaleadvisors.com.

Certain supporting Shareholders, which include the Rollover Shareholder and certain directors and officers of the Company, have entered into voting support agreements with affiliates of Trive Capital, pursuant to which such supporting Shareholders have agreed, on the terms and conditions specified therein, to vote their Shares in favour of the Arrangement Resolution. As of June 11, 2020, the supporting Shareholders beneficially owned, or exercised control or direction over, an aggregate of 19,510,598 Shares, representing approximately 26.7% of the issued and outstanding Shares as of the date thereof on a non-diluted basis.

Completion of the Arrangement is subject to certain conditions, including receipt of the requisite approval by Shareholders at the Meeting, the final acceptance of the Exchange and the final order of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List), which is scheduled for August 7, 2020. If all necessary approvals are obtained and the conditions to the completion of the Arrangement are satisfied or waived, it is currently anticipated that the Arrangement will become effective in mid-August 2020.

About Seven Aces Limited

Seven Aces Limited is a gaming company, with a vision of building a diversified portfolio of world class gaming operations. The Company looks to enhance shareholder value by growing organically and through acquisitions. Currently, the Company is the largest route operator of skill-based gaming machines in the State of Georgia, United States of America.

More information about the Company is available on Seven Aces' website (www.sevenaces.com).

About Trive Capital

Trive Capital is a Dallas, Texas based private equity firm managing approximately US$2 billion in aggregate capital commitments. Trive focuses on investing equity and debt in what it sees as strategically viable middle-market companies with the potential for transformational upside through operational improvement. Trive seeks to maximize returns through a hands-on partnership that calls for identifying and implementing value creation ideas.

For further information about Seven Aces, please contact:

Ryan Bouskill

Chief Financial Officer

Tel. (647) 228-8668

ryan@sevenaces.com

Stephanie Lippa

Office Manager

Tel. (416) 477-3411

stephanie@sevenaces.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release may contain forward-looking statements or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Often, forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the industry and markets in which Seven Aces operates, and beliefs of and assumptions made by Seven Aces' management, involve risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and are not guarantees of future performance, that could significantly affect the financial results, performance or expectations of Seven Aces. The arrangement agreement contains conditions to closing and there is no assurance that these conditions will be satisfied or waived prior to the outside date provided therein or at all, and there are no assurances that the Arrangement will be completed. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that are presented herein, or in response to questions or otherwise, that address activities, events or developments that may occur in the future, including such matters as activities related to Seven Aces' financial or operational projections, projected synergy, development or operation of new innovative software solutions, and the growth of Seven Aces' businesses and operations (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases, or the negative variations of those words or other comparable words of a future or forward- looking nature, including, but not limited to, "intends," "plans," "will likely," "unlikely," "believe," "expect," "seek," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "will," "shall," "should," "could," "may," "might," "predict," "project," "forecast," "target," "potential," "forecast," "goal," "objective," "guidance" and "outlook"), are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although Seven Aces believes that in making any such forward-looking statement, Seven Aces' expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such forward-looking statement involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in or implied by any such forward-looking statement, including but not limited to adverse changes in general economic or market conditions or changes in political conditions or federal, provincial or state laws and regulations and the ability of the parties to achieve all of the conditions to the closing in order to consummate the Arrangement (including obtaining any necessary shareholder, court and regulatory approvals for the Arrangement). Any forward-looking statement speaks only at the date on which it is made, and except as may be required by law, Seven Aces does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect new events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Seven Aces to predict all of them, or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Any forward-looking statement contained in this news release is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement.

Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

SOURCE: Seven Aces Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596481/Seven-Aces-Announces-Receipt-of-Interim-Court-Order-HSR-Approval-Exchange-Conditional-Approval-and-Mailing-of-Meeting-Materials-for-Go-Private-Transaction
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Core One Labs Inc. (CSE:COOL)(OTCQX:CLABF)(Frankfurt:LD6, WKN:A14XHT) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that its common shares will begin trading on a post-consolidated basis at the opening of markets on July 9, 2020 under the existing ticker symbol "COOL".

As previously announced, the Company will be consolidating (the "Consolidation") its outstanding common share capital on the basis of two (2) pre-Consolidation shares for every one (1) post-Consolidation share. As of the date of this news release, the Company has 79,081,741 common shares issued and outstanding. Following completion of the Consolidation, it is anticipated that the Company will have approximately 39,540,871 common shares issued and outstanding, not including rounding adjustments for any fractional amounts resulting from the Consolidation. The exercise price and number of common shares issuable upon the exercise of the Company's outstanding options and warrants will be proportionally adjusted upon completion of the Consolidation in accordance with the terms thereof.

The Consolidation will be completed by way of "pushout", without a letter of transmittal. Upon completion of the Consolidation, all pre-Consolidation share certificates will be considered null and void and the Company's shareholders of record will receive Direct Registration Advice (DRS) statements with respect to the number of post-Consolidation shares held by such shareholders of record. Shareholders holding shares through brokers, banks or other intermediaries should consult with their broker, bank or other intermediary with respect to their post-Consolidation shareholdings.

The Company also announces that upon completion of the Consolidation it will grant a series of 2,100,000 incentive stock options (each, an "Option") to certain consultants and employees of the Company. Each Option will vest immediately upon grant, and will be exercisable to acquire a post-Consolidation common share of the Company, at a price of $0.67 per share, for a period of sixty months.

About Core One Labs Inc.

Core One Labs Inc. is a technology company that licenses its technology to a state-of-the-art production and packaging facility located in Southern California. The Company's technology produces infused strips (like breath strips) that are not only a safer, healthier option to other forms of delivery but also superior bioavailability of cannabis constituents. Some strips will also include supplemental co-active ingredients such as nutraceuticals, vitamins and peptides. The technology provides a new way to accurately meter the dosage and assure the purity of selected product.

Core One Labs Inc.

Joel Shacker

Chief Executive Officer

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

InvestorRelations@coreonelabs.ca

1-866-347-5058

Cautionary Disclaimer Statement:

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. In addition, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Although Congress has prohibited the US Justice Department from spending federal funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws, this prohibition must be renewed each year to remain in effect. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

SOURCE: Core One Labs Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596504/Core-One-Labs-Announces-Effective-Date-of-Share-Consolidation
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / World High Life Plc (AQSE:LIFE)(OTCQB:WRHLF) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, London-based CBD brand, Love Hemp Limited ("Love Hemp") has successfully been awarded the ISO 9001:2015 certification.

ISO 9001:2015 is an international quality management system standard of efficiency and customer satisfaction. To achieve certification, a rigorous and comprehensive company-wide audit is performed by a recognised certification agency. Love Hemp's audit was carried out by Centre for Assessment.

The audit ensured that Love Hemp is consistently delivering products that meet both customer and regulatory requirements. Love Hemp began preparation for the certification in June 2019, by evaluating its existing procedures and aligning them with the requirements of the ISO 9001:2015 quality management system certification. The on-site audit completed successfully under the standard ISO 9001:2015 on 16 April 2020.

The ISO 9001:2015 certification is key for Love Hemp, as in order to improve overall performance, it is important to maintain a high level of quality and customer service, and to provide a basis for sustainable innovation.

"The successful completion of our ISO 9001:2015 certification demonstrates our commitment to ensuring we are providing our customers with high quality CBD products, from oils to edibles and cosmetics to e-liquids. As a UK leading supplier of CBD products, we believe it is imperative to continuously improve our internal process to meet our commitment to our customers," says Tony Calamita, CEO.

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.

SOURCE: World High Life PLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596500/Love-Hemp-Achieves-ISO-Certification
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Alt 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms, provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).

Real-Time Market Data is available at www.alt5pro.com and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available at www.alt5sigma.com

Market Summary

Digital Asset Pair Price 24hr Chg 7d Chg 24/hr Volume MarketCap Bitcoin BTC/USD $9,267.71 0.520322% 1.30216% $16,374 M $170,766 M Ethereum ETH/USD $237.42 0.930888% 4.59809% $7,835 M $26,510 M XRP XRP/USD $0.18 -0.269242% 4.36657% $1,282 M $8,178 M Bitcoin Cash BCH/USD $236.44 2.57903% 5.96902% $1,561 M $4,364 M Bitcoin SV BSV/USD $185.25 10.1325% 16.8869% $2,060 M $3,419 M Litecoin LTC/USD $43.55 1.7702% 5.23422% $1,647 M $2,830 M EOS EOS/USD $2.55 1.29549% 7.9424% $1,576 M $2,379 M Stellar XLM/USD $0.07 3.40424% 9.21569% $273 M $1,469 M Monero XMR/USD $64.25 0.558269% 0.612453% $61 M $1,132 M Dash DASH/USD $70.14 1.97962% 2.62114% $234 M $672 M

About Alt 5 Sigma Inc.

Alt 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.

Alt 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. Alt 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.

Alt 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.

For more information, visit www.alt5sigma.com.

Contact:

Andre Beauchesne

Tel. 1-800-204-6203

info@alt5sigma.com

For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visit www.alt5pay.com

For more information on ALT 5 Pro, visit www.alt5pro.com

SOURCE: ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (NYSE: RGA) (RGA) today announced that it has agreed to sell its Dutch life insurance company, Leidsche Verzekering Maatschappij N.V. (Leidsche), to De Goudse N.V. (De Goudse). Leidsche has liabilities of approximately $0.5bn at year end 2019.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005320/en/

"RGA remains highly committed to serving its clients in its reinsurance business in the Netherlands," said Johan Tuijp, Managing Director, Netherlands and Nordics, RGA. "We believe the sale of Leidsche supports their long-term growth strategy in the protection market, which could not be supported directly under RGA ownership, and we are confident De Goudse is aligned with Leidsche's vision and will be an excellent new home for the policyholders and employees of Leidsche."

"We initiated the sale process in a pre-COVID-19 environment, and even during these unprecedented times we were able to achieve an optimal transaction outcome," added Olav Cuiper, Executive Vice President, EMEA Markets, RGA. "We are immensely proud of the team who supported the deal and we believe our longstanding relationship with De Goudse was a key to making this process as smooth and efficient as possible."

"For many years, life insurance has been one of the most important pillars of De Goudse," said Geert Bouwmeester, Chief Executive Officer, De Goudse. "In 2018, our company introduced its 'New-life' strategy, which encompasses a focus on new product development and production as well as the acquisition of life portfolios and companies that fit in with the strategy of De Goudse. At the end of 2019, we acquired a portfolio from BNP Cardif."

"The acquisition of Leidsche and the subsequent combining of our life businesses is a significant step in the realization of our 'New-life' strategy," added Robbert Prins, De Goudse Board Member. "Acquiring Leidsche will help us execute on our new business ambitions given Leidsche's position in term life and annuities. In addition, we see a strong cultural fit between our companies and are very happy to combine the strengths of both our companies."

In accordance with the agreement, terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. The purchase is subject to approval of the Competition Authority, De Nederlandsche Bank and the Bermuda Monetary Authority, in addition to the completion of the advice procedure with the works council of De Goudse.

Emendo Capital acted as financial advisor and Allen Overy as legal advisor to RGA on the transaction. In connection with the transaction, Aperghis Co acted as financial advisor and NautaDutilh as legal advisor to De Goudse.

About RGA

Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA), a Fortune 500 company, is among the leading global providers of life reinsurance and financial solutions, with approximately $3.4 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $75.7 billion as of March 31, 2020. Founded in 1973, RGA is recognized for its deep technical expertise in risk and capital management, innovative solutions, and commitment to serving its clients. With headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, and operations around the world, RGA delivers expert solutions in individual life reinsurance, individual living benefits reinsurance, group reinsurance, health reinsurance, facultative underwriting, product development, and financial solutions. To learn more about RGA and its businesses, visit the company's website at www.rgare.com.

About De Goudse

De Goudse is an all-round insurance company with a total annual turnover of 685 million and 820 employees. Ever since the company was founded in 1924 it has been a family business and Geert Bouwmeester the grandson of the founder is now CEO. De Goudse has a strong entrepreneurial focus. For years now the company has specialized in insurance solutions for businesses as well as life, expat and travel insurance. De Goudse believes in the strength of independent advice and works with a national network of independent consultants who are in a unique position to provide the best possible advice to their clients. To learn more about De Goudse and its businesses, visit the company's website at www.goudse.nl.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005320/en/

Contacts:

Lynn Phillips

Vice President, Corporate Communications

RGA

636-736-2351

lphillips@rgare.com

Lizzie Curry

Director, Public Relations

RGA

636-736-8521

lizzie.curry@rgare.com

Jeff Hopson

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

RGA

636-736-2068

jhopson@rgare.com

Robbert Prins

Board Member

De Goudse

+31-614419650

rprins@goudse.com

Carien Vleeskruijer

Teammanager, Corporate Marketing Communications

De Goudse

+31-621544631

cvleeskruijer@goudse.com
Final data analysis from HPTN 083 study at AIDS 2020 shows investigational, long-acting injectable cabotegravir administered every two months is 66% more effective than daily pills in preventing HIV-1 acquisition

ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GSK, with Pfizer Inc. and Shionogi Limited as shareholders, today announced that data presented from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 083 study demonstrated the superior efficacy of investigational, long-acting, injectable cabotegravir administered every two months when compared to daily oral emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 200 mg and 300 mg (FTC/TDF) tablets for HIV prevention.

HPTN 083 is a Phase IIb/III randomised, multicentre, double-blind, clinical trial that is evaluating the safety and efficacy of long-acting, injectable cabotegravir for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women who have sex with men. The blinded phase of the study was stopped early in May 2020 following a pre-planned independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board review, which showed that long-acting cabotegravir was highly effective at preventing HIV in the study population. Final analysis has since confirmed the superiority of long-acting cabotegravir, which was 66% more effective at preventing HIV when compared to daily oral FTC/TDF tablets. Study results were announced today at a press conference at the virtual 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020) and will be presented at the conference on 8 July.

Kimberly Smith, M.D., MPH, Head of Research Development at ViiV Healthcare, said: "These data are truly ground-breaking, demonstrating that long-acting injectable cabotegravir dosed every two months is superior to daily oral FTC/TDF at preventing HIV in at-risk men and transgender women who have sex with men. This advancement has the potential to be a game-changer for HIV prevention, offering an option with very high rates of effectiveness and the convenience of reduced dosing from daily to just six times per year. We are thrilled with the results not only because of the high effectiveness of cabotegravir but also because this study adequately represents some of the populations most disproportionately impacted by HIV -- black MSM in the US, young MSM globally and transgender women."

In the final data analysis, 52 documented cases of HIV were observed in the HPTN 083 trial, with 13 cases occurring in the long-acting cabotegravir arm and 39 cases occurring in the daily, oral FTC/TDF arm. This translated to an HIV incidence rate of 0.41% in the cabotegravir group (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.22%-0.69%) and 1.22% in the FTC/TDF group (95% CI 0.87%-1.67%). Preliminary assessment of adherence to oral FTC/TDF was high, based on a random subset of 372 FTC/TDF participants that measured any detectable ( 0.31 ng/ml) tenofovir in 87% of participants and concentrations consistent with daily dosing levels ( 40 ng/ml) in 75% of all samples tested. Despite this high level of adherence to oral therapy, long-acting cabotegravir demonstrated superiority in the primary efficacy endpoint of documented HIV incident infections, and was 66% (95% CI 38%-82%) more effective than FTC/TDF in preventing HIV acquisition in the study population.

Long-acting cabotegravir and FTC/TDF tablets were both well tolerated throughout the study, with most adverse events being mild or moderate in nature and balanced between both treatment arms. Injection site reactions, pyrexia, and hypertension were more common in the cabotegravir arm while nausea was more common in the FTC/TDF arm. Most participants in the cabotegravir group (80%) reported pain or tenderness at the injection site, compared to 31% of those in the FTC/TDF arm, who received placebo injections. Discontinuation due to injection site reactions or injection intolerance in the cabotegravir arm of the study was 2.2% and there were no discontinuations due to ISRs in the FTC/TDF arm.

The HPTN 083 study enrolled HIV-negative men and transgender women who have sex with men, participants considered at increased risk for HIV acquisition. Two-thirds of study participants were under 30 years of age (median age of 26 years), and 12% were transgender women (n=567). Half of the participants in the United States identified as Black or African American (n=844).

Myron S. Cohen, M.D., Co-Principal Investigator of the HPTN and the Yeargan-Bate Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology and Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, said: "Medicines that help prevent new HIV incidence are essential to our ongoing global fight to end the HIV epidemic. It's exciting to discover that with injectable, long-acting cabotegravir, we now have compelling clinical evidence of another effective PrEP option that could play a critical role in helping to reduce HIV transmission that will ultimately save lives."

HPTN 083 was jointly funded by the U.S. NIAID, part of the NIH, and ViiV Healthcare, and was conducted by the HPTN. Study product was provided by ViiV Healthcare and Gilead Sciences.

In addition to the findings of HPTN 083, an additional study evaluating the safety and efficacy of long-acting cabotegravir for HIV prevention is being conducted in sexually active women (HPTN 084). To date, more than 3,000 sexually active women in seven African countries have enrolled in HPTN 084, which is co-funded by NIAID, ViiV Healthcare and the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation.

ViiV Healthcare plans to use the data from HPTN 083 for future regulatory submissions. Cabotegravir has not yet been approved for the treatment or prevention of HIV as a single agent by regulatory authorities anywhere in the world.

About HPTN 083 (NCT02720094)

The HPTN 083 study is a phase IIb/III double-blind study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of long-acting injectable cabotegravir for HIV prevention administered every eight weeks compared to daily oral FTC/TDF tablets (200 mg/300 mg). Each participant was to receive a maximum of three years of blinded study medication. The study opened to enrolment in November 2016. HPTN 083 was conducted in approximately 4,566 men who have sex with men and transgender women who have sex with men at research centres in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, United States, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam.

For further information on HPTN 083 please visit https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02720094.

About HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN)

The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) is a worldwide collaborative clinical trials network that brings together investigators, ethicists, community members and other partners to develop and test the safety and efficacy of interventions designed to prevent the acquisition and transmission of HIV. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) co-fund the HPTN. The HPTN has collaborated with more than 85 clinical research sites in 19 countries to evaluate new HIV prevention interventions and strategies in populations that bear a disproportionate burden of infection. The HPTN research agenda more than 50 trials ongoing or completed with over 161,000 participants enrolled and evaluated is focused primarily on the use of antiretroviral drugs (antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis); and integrated strategies including interventions for substance abuse, particularly injection drug use; behavioural risk reduction interventions and structural interventions. For more information, visit hptn.org.

About ViiV Healthcare

ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV and for people who are at risk of becoming infected with HIV. Shionogi joined in October 2012. The company's aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and innovative medicines for HIV treatment and prevention, as well as support communities affected by HIV.

For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline and commitment, please visit www.viivhealthcare.com.

About GSK

GSK is a science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com/about-us.

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described under Item 3.D "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2019 and any impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005511/en/

Contacts:

ViiV Healthcare Media enquiries:

Melinda Stubbee, +1 919 491 0831

Audrey Abernathy, +1 919 605 4521

GSK Global Media enquiries:

Simon Steel, +44 (0) 20 8047 5502

Kristen Neese, +1 804 217 8147

Analyst/Investor enquiries:

Sarah Elton-Farr, +44 (0) 20 8047 5194

Danielle Smith, +44 (0) 20 8047 0932

James Dodwell, +44 (0) 20 8047 2406

Jeff McLaughlin, +1 215 751 7002

Frannie DeFranco, +1 215 751 4855
--Cloud-based services offer IT hassle-free hosted infrastructure and a choice of print management features--

BRNO, Czech Republic and DALLAS, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Y Soft, the leading enterprise workflow solutions provider, today announced YSoft SAFEQ CloudTM, a new family of cloud print management and hosted infrastructure services. YSoft SAFEQ Cloud is comprised of YSoft SAFEQ CloudProTM and YSoft SAFEQ BreezeTM. The new services remove the need for locally managed print infrastructure, like servers, and dramatically reduces the cost of providing and running robust print services-all delivered by the world's preferred print management provider.

SAFEQ CloudPro offers robust print management features with a reserved infrastructure ideal for the enterprise. Additionally, SAFEQ CloudPro is offered with a choice of resiliency levels, Core, Ultra, and Elite, each providing increasingly higher resiliency and performance. A Custom level further enables Y Soft to meet the special infrastructure requirements on an individual customer basis, including hosting using a customer's/partner's own cloud provider. SAFEQ CloudPro can be used with or without a Y Soft Edge device.

SAFEQ Breeze is designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that do not have or do not want to hire IT staff to manage their print services. With core print management features and a shared hosted infrastructure, SAFEQ Breeze can also be used with or without a Y Soft Edge device.

Both SAFEQ CloudPro and SAFEQ Breeze securely and effortlessly manage an organization's print infrastructure. The Y Soft Edge device offers businesses additional document security as job processing is done within the business' own private and secure network, and only metadata travels securely to the cloud. It is also well suited for remote locations with low bandwidth or latency issues.

"Companies of every size are leveraging the cloud to help lower IT costs, reduce IT burden, and speed up their digital transformation initiatives," said Robert Palmer, research vice president, IDC Imaging, Printing, and Document Solutions. "However, each company has different requirements, and the YSoft SAFEQ Cloud family offers businesses the versatility and flexibility needed to assist organizations no matter where they are on their cloud journey."

"With YSoft SAFEQ CloudPro and YSoft SAFEQ Breeze, we are delivering on our mission to help businesses run smarter," said Vaclav Muchna, Y Soft CEO and co-founder. "We significantly invested in our product development to introduce a native cloud solution that efficiently scales in the cloud as businesses' needs grow. We will continue to add to our cloud family of services and functionalities to meet the needs of our partners and customers.

Y Soft's future is firmly rooted in the cloud," he added.

YSoft SAFEQ Cloud family availability

Both new cloud-based services are typically less expensive than on-premise solutions and come with a budget-friendly monthly or annual subscription. The YSoft SAFEQ Cloud family of services are hosted on Microsoft Azure and is managed by Y Soft. Updates, maintenance, and a premium service level are included.

SAFEQ Breeze with the Y Soft Edge Device is now available as a customer beta program. Both SAFEQ Breeze (Edge enabled and non-Edge) and YSoft SAFEQ CloudPro will be generally available in Fall 2020.





Customers can learn more at (http://www.ysoft.com/cloudfamily).

About Y Soft

Y Soft develops intelligent Digital Transformation office solutions for enterprise, SMB, and Education that empower employees to be more productive and creative. Our YSoft SAFEQ workflow solutions platform in the cloud or on-premise enables businesses to manage, optimize and secure their print and digital processes and workflows. Our 3D print solutions are focused in the Education sector where they provide unique ease of use and safety benefits, while utilizing YSoft SAFEQ software for seamless 3D print management.

Founded in 2000, the company is headquartered in Brno, Czech Republic, with offices in North and Latin America, Europe and Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and the Asia Pacific region (APAC). For more information, please visit www.ysoft.com.

Y Soft, YSoft SAFEQ, YSoft SAFEQ Cloud, YSoft SAFEQ Breeze and YSoft SAFEQ CloudPro are trademarks or registered trademarks of Y Soft Corporation a.s. in the European Union and other countries. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Media contacts:

Global:

Steven Knuff

Global PR and Analyst Relations

steven.knuff@ysoft.com

+1 512 810-3207

Czech Republic:

Jiri Kocourek

jiri@parco.cz

+420 775 630 41

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/699629/YSOFT_A_color_rgb_Logo.jpg


Powerhouse Energy Group plc

("Powerhouse" or the "Company")

Issue of Equity

Powerhouse Energy Group plc (AIM: PHE), the UK technology company commercialising hydrogen production from waste plastic, announces that the Company is issuing 5,300,000 ordinary shares of 0.5p each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") further to the exercise of warrants at 0.5p per Ordinary Share.

Application has been made for the admission of 5,300,000 Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission") and it is expected that this will occur on or around 10 July 2020. These shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing issued Ordinary Shares.

Subsequent to the issue of Ordinary Shares, the Company will have 2,077,660,416 Ordinary Shares in issue. Powerhouse has no shares in Treasury, therefore this figure may be used by shareholders, from Admission, as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

For more information, contact:

Powerhouse Energy Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 203 368 6399 David Ryan, Chief Executive Officer WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser) Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666 James Joyce / Lydia Zychowska Turner Pope Investments Ltd (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 203 657 0050 Andrew Thacker / Zoe Alexander Ikon Associates (Media enquiries) Tel: +44 (0) 1483 271291 Adrian Shaw Mob: +44 (0) 7979 900733

About Powerhouse Energy Group plc

Powerhouse has developed a proprietary process technology - DMG - which can utilise waste, unrecycleable plastic, end-of-life-tyres, and other waste streams to efficiently and economically convert them into syngas from which valuable products such as hydrogen, chemical precursors, electricity and other industrial products may be derived. The Powerhouse technology is one of the world's first proven, modular, hydrogen from waste (HfW) process.

The Powerhouse DMG process can generate up to 2 tonnes of road-fuel quality H2, and more than 58MWh of exportable electricity per day.

The Powerhouse process produces low levels of safe residues and requires a small operating footprint, making it suitable for deployment at enterprise and community level.

Powerhouse is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM Market under the ticker: PHE, and is incorporated in the United Kingdom.

For more information see www.powerhouseenergy.net
NEW YORK, NY, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a leading global, independent infrastructure investor, announced today that its credit funds, Global Infrastructure Partners Capital Solutions Funds I and II ("GIP CAPS") closed on a $110 million secured holding company term loan investment in Puerto Antioquia Holdings S.A.S. Puerto Antioquia is a greenfield multipurpose port terminal to be strategically located in the Northern coast of the Department of Antioquia, Colombia. Astris Finance, financial advisor to the Sponsors, has coordinated project development and financing.

The Project is owned by a consortium consisting of CMA Terminal Holdings S.A.S, the port operations arm of CMA CGM S.A., the third largest shipping line in the world, Eiffage S.A, a top tier construction company, Puertos Inversiones y Obras S.A.S., an experienced Colombian port owner and operator, and a private consortium of banana producers and exporters (together, the "Sponsors").

Proceeds from the GIP CAPS' holding company investment, together with senior debt provided by a group of multilateral banks and equity capital from the Sponsors, will be utilized to fund construction of an approximately $725 million port facilities project.

The Project is underpinned by long term volume commitments with the consortium and will be strategically located as Colombia's closest port to the Atlantic Coast. It is geographically positioned to capture a large share of dry containers traffic originated from important economic regions of Colombia, including Medellin, Bogota, the Coffee Axis and other hinterland regions.

Puerto Antioquia represents GIP CAPS II's inaugural investment and GIP Credit's second capital commitment to Latin America. The CAPS strategy provides customized credit financings for infrastructure issuers in GIP's core sectors of midstream energy, power, renewables and transport, while leveraging GIP's significant operating expertise.

"We are very pleased to have entered into this transaction with Puerto Antioquia and its Sponsors," said Jennifer Powers, GIP Partner and Chair of GIP Credit. "Puerto Antioquia is a landmark project for Colombia and is expected to change the dynamics of trade in the country given its strategic location. It is expected to capture immediate cargo and create a significant positive impact in the Uraba region. The Port will provide significant socio-economic impact to the region, as evidenced by multilateral financing support from its senior lender, one of the most important banks in Latin America.

"This investment exemplifies GIP CAPS' ability to provide unique credit solutions for high quality, essential infrastructure projects, and our commitment to Latin America where we see unique core infrastructure opportunities. "

Laurent Martens, Head of CMA Terminal said: "We are very happy with this continuing partnership with GIP. They have been a resourceful and proactive partner throughout development. We very much appreciate GIP's unabated support in spite of current market conditions to close the financing of this ambitious project."

About Global Infrastructure Partners

Global Infrastructure Partners
COPENHAGEN (dpa-AFX) - Denmark's industrial production declined at a softer pace in May due to the Covid-19 pandemic, figures from Statistics Denmark showed on Tuesday. Industrial production fell a seasonally adjusted 3.0 percent month-on-month in May, following a downwardly revised 5.2 percent decline in April. A similar rate of decline was last seen in September 2017. The pharmaceutical industry with a 5.3 percent production decline contributed the most to the latest fall in output. The production in wood and paper industry declined 15.6 percent fall in May and production in electronic industry decreased 9.7 percent. Meanwhile, production of transport equipment rose 31.5 percent, and chemical industry and oil refineries increased by 4.9 percent. The industrial turnover rose 1.8 percent monthly in May. 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.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2020 / Alt 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms, is pleased to announce the appointment of Veronique Laberge as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Ms. Laberge is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Auditor with more than 13 years of experience in professional practice. Ms. Laberge received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in accounting in 2005 and began her career in a Canadian accounting firm where she participated in various certification mandates for private companies. Ms. Laberge then chose to pursue a career in professional services and took a management position that allowed her to develop wide reaching expertise in the business world.

In 2018, Ms. Laberge returned to professional practice as a self-employed practitioner specializing in certification mandates, general accounting, and as a business consultant for private and public companies. Ms. Laberge has provided CFO services to various publicly traded companies spanning natural resources, services, technologies and eBusiness sectors, assisting them with financial reporting and controls, governance, operations, financing, regulatory compliance, and taxation.

"We are incredibly pleased to have Veronique Laberge join our executive team at Alt 5 Sigma. She is Rigorous and efficient, known for her unparalleled analytical skills, and offers deep and diversified accounting knowledge, along with her personalized approach", stated Mr. Andre Beauchesne, President & CEO of Alt 5 Sigma Inc. "As we enter the next phase of our development, such as the Reg A offering of $50 Million, Ms. Laberge's leadership will a great asset" further added Mr. Beauchesne.

About Alt 5 Sigma Inc.

Alt 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital instruments trading, order management platform, digital instrument gateway, and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital instrument economy with security, accessibility, transparency, and compliance.

Alt 5's digital instrument custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services, physical and specialized security solutions and the dissemination of vetted information related to international security.

For more information, visit www.alt5sigma.com

www.alt5pro.com

www.alt5pay.com

Contact: Andre Beauchesne, President & CEO

Alt 5 Sigma: 1 (800) 204-6203

SOURCE: Alt 5 Sigma Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596574/Alt-5-Sigma-Appoints-Vronique-Laberge-as-Chief-Financial-Officer-CFO
HOUSTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Beecher Reagan, a global search and leadership firm specializing exclusively in senior professional services and the consulting talent market, announced the appointment of Georgina Pawley as partner of the EMEA's.

Pawley brings a wealth of expertise in human capital strategy and recruitment in the digital transformation space to Beecher Reagan's Consulting Practice. She works with professional services and Private Equity firms to build their C-Suite and Partner level placements.

"Georgina brings great experience that will bolster our professional services, private equity and EMEA search and leadership capabilities," says Clark Beecher, Managing Partner and Co-Founder. "She also represents a continued investment in diverse leaders in our firm. We are honored to have her join our dynamic team."

Previously, Pawley was a Partner at a US based executive search firm where she was instrumental in setting-up and building offices in Atlanta and New York. This included hiring internal teams across both offices, in addition to a heavy focus on new business development and existing client expansion.

Pawley possesses more than 15 years of experience including leadership level hires such as Global and Divisional C-Level positions as well as Advisory, Partner and Managing Director level hires within Professional Services and Private Equity organizations. Pawley brings a deep industry focus across Fintech and Insurtech, Life Sciences, Consumer Products, Retail and Travel.

"After 4 years working in the USA, I'm very excited to be returning to London as a partner with Beecher Reagan," says Pawley. "I look forward to working alongside John Wittorf in building and growing the organizations' European presence."

About Beecher Reagan

Founded in 2009 by Clark Beecher and Tim Reagan, Beecher Reagan, LLC is a global retained executive search and leadership advisory firm focused exclusively on senior professional services and the consulting talent market. The firm brings more than 100 years of combined experience to help professional services, Fortune 500, and alternative investment companies align search strategies to organizational goals. The partners at Beecher Reagan have long standing relationships within the consulting, professional services and private equity space. The Beecher Reagan team consists of strategic search professionals, global talent acquisition leaders and former consultants with first-hand experience and knowledge of the talent and industries we serve. www.beecherreagan.com

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New CEO to drive the next phase of NOVA Chemicals' development; 30-year veteran of BP will take up role on August 1, 2020

PITTSBURGH, PA , July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOVA Chemicals Corporation ("NOVA Chemicals") today announced that the company's Board of Directors has appointed Luis Sierra as President and Chief Executive Officer effective August 1, 2020. He will succeed Todd Karran, who previously announced his retirement (https://www.novachem.com/media-center/news-releases/todd-karran-to-retire-as-president-ceo-and-board-member-of-nova-chemicals/).

"We are delighted to welcome Luis Sierra to NOVA Chemicals. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from a strong and successful career with BP. Over the last 10 years, NOVA Chemicals has grown substantially to become a leading player in the North American petrochemicals market. The board believes that Todd's retirement provides the opportunity to introduce new leadership with the external perspective and renewed impetus required to drive the next phase of the company's development."

"We look forward to working with Luis and his team in successfully tackling the challenges presented by the current economic situation, and also embracing greater circularity in the petrochemicals sector," said Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Chairman of the Board of Directors."

Luis Sierra joins NOVA Chemicals after a distinguished 30-year career at BP, where most recently he was CEO of BP's aromatic chemicals business, leading a successful global petrochemicals business with operations in the United States, China, Belgium, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Commenting on his appointment, Luis said, "It's an honor to assume leadership of such an outstanding organization and I appreciate the confidence the Chairman and the Board have placed in me. NOVA Chemicals has a rich, proud history with a strong foundation and a bright future. I'm incredibly excited to work alongside our employees, customers, suppliers, governments and local community leaders to help shape a world where the plastic products vital to our lives are even better tomorrow than they are today."

##

About NOVA Chemicals

NOVA Chemicals develops and manufactures chemicals and plastic resins that make everyday life safer, healthier and easier. Our employees work to ensure health, safety, security and environmental stewardship through our commitment to sustainability and Responsible Care. NOVA Chemicals, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is wholly owned, ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Visit NOVA Chemicals on the Internet at www.novachem.com (http://www.novachem.com/).

About Luis Sierra

Luis joins NOVA Chemicals after a distinguished 30-year career at BP, where most recently he was CEO of BP's aromatic chemicals business, leading a successful global petrochemicals business with operations in the United States, China, Belgium, Indonesia and Taiwan.

His career started with Amoco Corporation in business development where he progressively assumed responsibility within the company, including leadership roles in London, after the merger of BP and Amoco in 1998. In 2001, he returned to Chicago and was promoted to several executive roles, culminating in his appointment to CEO of BP global aromatics in 2016.

Luis holds engineering degrees from the University of Florida and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Luis has served on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Chicago for over a decade. He led its 2019 Major Gifts fundraising campaign and has taught the financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship curriculum in Spanish to elementary students.

Download headshot (https://www.novachem.com/wp-content/uploads/LuisSierra-scaled.jpg)

##

NOVA ChemicalsMedia Contact

Jennifer Nanz, Director, Corporate Communications

e-mail: Jennifer.Nanz@novachem.com (mailto:Jennifer.Nanz@novachem.com)



NOVA Chemicals Investor Relations

Patty Masry, Leader, Financial Reporting & Investor Relations

E-mail: Patty.Masry@novachem.com (mailto:Patty.Masry@novachem.com)





NOVA Chemicals' logo is a registered trademark of NOVA Brands Ltd.; authorized use.

Responsible Care is a registered trademark of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.




LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- By the age of 35, 66% of men will have experienced some hair loss, in fact it is the biggest health worry for this age group according to Mintel. Women are affected too in increasing numbers. 90% of women post-pregnancy suffer, as do one in five women under the age of 65 when it rises to 50% of all women. Fay Afghahi, the founder of Kerahealth was one such sufferer who determined to make a clinically proven difference and set out to create a supercharged range of nutraceutical supplements for men and for women and a care range comprising of a shampoo, conditioner and scalp massager that stops hair shedding, helps it regrow and restores hair to the very best version of itself.

The founder of Kerahealth conducted extensive research into the clinical issues surrounding hair loss which led her to a laboratory in France which had recently discovered how to create a compound that contained all the 18 amino acids found in hair, in an absorbable form - KerCysteine which helps to regenerate brightness, strength and hair loss formed the basis of her formulation.

Clinical trials on the care range showed that after 90 days, 100% of participants saw an increase in anagen (hair growth stage), after 30 days, 92% saw a reduction in hair loss.

KERAHEALTH HAIR NUTRACEUTICALS FOR MEN AND WOMEN

Key Ingredients for women: Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) - essential metalloproteinase for the body's first defence, French Maritime Bark Extract - helps protect against free radicals, Vitamin B6, Biotin, Panthothenic, Zinc and Copper.

Key Ingredients for men: Grape Seed Extract - provides the defence to combat hair loss, Pine Trunk Extract, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Biotin, Panthothenic, Zinc and Copper.

FOLLICLE HERO SHAMPOO

Follicle Hero Shampoo cleanses, nourishes, stimulates, revitalises and strengthens hair starting from the scalp through to the ends.

FOLLICLE HERO CONDITIONER

Follicle Hero Conditioner will nourish, strengthen, volumize and revitalise hair starting from the scalp and follicles through the hair shafts down to the ends.

The shampoo and conditioner improve hair texture from the first wash with clinical results at 3 months usage, showing 73% reduction in hair loss, 86% increase in hair volume, 86% increase in hair brightness, health and moisture and a 19% increase in hair protein content.

THE KERA HEALTH SCALP ENERGISER

This clever hair tool is vital for the best hair health. Made using soft hypo-allergenic silicon teeth, the Energiser gives an incredible scalp massage to the head with numerous health benefits and increases the blood micro-circulation and oxygen supply, help remove dead skin cells, removes excess sebum from the scalp and strengthen the roots the hair promoting new hair growth.

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Available from www.uk.kerahealth.com

For further information contact Ellie at Chalk PR

ellie@chalkpr.co.uk| 020 7622 5560

Stockists: www.kerahealth.com | www.net-a-porter.com

@kerahealth
CHICAGO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Electrophysiology Market by Product (Lab Devices (3D Mapping, Recording), Ablation Catheters (Cryoablation, RF), Diagnostic Catheters (Conventional, Advanced, Ultrasound)), Indication (AF, AVNRT, WPW), End User (Hospitals, ASCs) - Global Forecasts to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Electrophysiology Market is projected to reach USD 10.6 billion by 2025 from USD 6.8 billion in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2020 to 2025.

Download PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=200003281

The growth of the global Electrophysiology Market can be attributed to factors such as technological advancements; new entrants in the market; growing investments, funds, and grants; and increasing incidence of target diseases and procedures. Emerging markets are also expected to offer high growth opportunities for players operating in this market. However, factors such as high cost of electrophysiology products and inadequate reimbursement, unfavorable healthcare reforms in the US, and cost-intensive requirement for clinical data for new product launches along with availability of alternative technologies are expected to restrain the growth of this market in the coming years. The reuse and reprocessing of devices and lack of skilled and experienced electrophysiologists are some of the challenges in this market. The growth of the market is also expected to slow temporarily during the forecast period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The EP laboratory devices segment accounted for the largest share of the market, by product, in 2019

Based on product, the Electrophysiology Market is segmented into EP laboratory devices, EP ablation catheters, EP diagnostic catheters, access devices, and other products. The EP laboratory devices segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2019. The large share of this segment can be attributed to the increasing public private funding for the development of novel electrophysiology recording systems, rising number of RF ablation procedures, growing focus of market players on the launch of technologically advanced 3D mapping systems, cost effectiveness of RF ablation procedures as compared to other ablation techniques, and increasing availability of these products in major markets.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Electrophysiology Market"

157 - Tables

34 - Figures

211 - Pages

The atrial fibrillation segment is anticipated to hold major share of the global market, by indication

Based on indication, the market is segmented into atrial fibrillation, atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT), Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, atrial flutter, and other indications. The atrial fibrillation segment accounted for a larger share of the market in 2019. The growing number of ablation procedures related to atrial fibrillation, rapid growth in the aging population across the globe, increasing prevalence of atrial fibrillation, and the development of advanced electrophysiology products for early diagnosis of atrial fibrillation are expected to drive the growth of this market segment in the coming years.

Hospitals & cardiac centers segment is anticipated to hold major share of the global Electrophysiology Market in terms of type

Based on end user, the global market has been segmented into hospitals & cardiac centers and ambulatory surgery centers. The hospitals & cardiac centers segment accounted for largest share of the market in 2019 due to the rising prevalence of CVDs, presence of big cath labs and electrophysiology labs in hospitals, and increasing ablation procedures. Technological advancements, coupled with government funding, are also encouraging the installation of new tools and devices in hospitals.

Get 10% Customization on this Research Report:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=200003281

North America to hold a significant share of the Electrophysiology Market during the forecast period

The market is segmented into five regional segments, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. The North American region accounted for the largest share of the market in 2019. Factors such as the high burden of CVDs, an increasing number of clinical trials validating electrophysiology devices, the growing number of approvals for electrophysiology devices, and the presence of key players are driving the growth of the market in the region.

The major players operating in the Electrophysiology Market are are Johnson & Johnson (US), Abbott Laboratories (US), Medtronic (Ireland), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands), GE Healthcare (US), Boston Scientific (US), Japan Lifeline (Japan), Stereotaxis (US), MicroPort Scientific (China), BIOTRONIK (Germany), Acutus Medical (US), Baylis Medical (Canada), EP Solutions (Switzerland), APN Health (US), OSYPKA (Germany), Epmap-System (Germany), CathRx (Australia), Merit Medical Systems (US), Cook Medical (US), CathVision (Denmark), TZ Medical (US), Teleflex (US), Lepu Medical (China), CardioFocus (US), Schwarzer Cardiotek GmbH (Germany), and Imricor Medical Systems (US).

Browse Adjacent Markets: Medical Devices Market Research Reports & Consulting

Browse Related Reports:

Cardiac Mapping Market by Product (Contact Mapping Systems (Electroanatomical Mapping, Basket Catheter Mapping), Non-contact Mapping Systems), Indication (Atrial Fibrillation, Atrial Flutter, AVNRT), Region - Global Forecast to 2024

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cardiac-mapping-market-89853405.html

Catheters Market by Type (Cardiovascular (IVUS Catheter, Guiding Catheter, Balloon Catheter), Urology catheter (Dialysis, Foley, Intermittent Catheter), Intravenous Catheter (Central Venous Catheter)), & End User (Hospital) - Global Forecast to 2025

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/catheters-market-6247803.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's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - Generic Gold Corp. (CSE: GGC) (FSE: 1WD) ("Generic Gold" or the "Company") announces the acquisition of three blocks of claims (the "Project") in the Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec, proximal and to the east of the town of Normetal. The Project is comprised of 169 mineral claims covering approximately 8,148 hectares of prospective Archean stratigraphy of felsic through to mafic volcanic rocks, sediments, and numerous intrusions of varying age and compositions. The Project has been explored sporadically over the years following the discovery and mining of the Normetal polymetallic mine, which was discovered in 1929 and mined until 1975, reaching a depth of 2,400 metres below surface.

Transaction Terms

In order to acquire a 100% interest in the Project, Generic Gold will grant to the vendors (the "Vendors"), who are arms-length parties to the Company, $300,000 cash and 4.5 million shares issued in several tranches. In addition to the cash and common share consideration, Generic Gold must complete a minimum of $300,000 of exploration work on the Project within the first 12 months, and grant to the Vendors a 3% net smelter returns royalty in respect of the Project (the "Transaction"). The completion of the Transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

About Generic Gold

Generic Gold is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on gold projects in the Tintina Gold Belt in the Yukon Territory of Canada and the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Quebec, Canada. The Company's Yukon exploration portfolio consists of several projects with a total land position of greater than 35,000 hectares, all of which are 100% owned by Generic Gold. Several of these projects are in close proximity to significant gold deposits, including Goldcorp's Coffee project, Victoria Gold's Eagle Gold project, White Gold's Golden Saddle project, and Western Copper & Gold's Casino project. The Company's Quebec exploration portfolio consists of three properties covering 8,148 hectares proximal to the town of Normetal. Generic Gold's board of directors and management team is led by experienced mining industry professionals, with expertise in exploration, finance, capital markets, and mine development. For information on the Company's property portfolio, visit the Company's website at genericgold.ca.

For further information contact:

Kelly Malcolm, President and CEO

Tel: 647-299-1153

kmalcolm@genericgold.ca

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR THEIR REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDERS ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon the current belief, opinions and expectations of management that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and other contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. We seek safe harbour.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59277
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - Palamina Corp. (TSXV: PA) reports further significant channel sampling results from its Coasa Gold Project in south eastern Peru. In mid-December 2019, Palamina completed a comprehensive channel sampling program in the newly discovered Cayos Zone designed to better define mineralized structures and expand known mineralization. The Cayos Zone is located southwest of the Veta Zone, the Company's first proposed drilling target in the Coasa Gold Project. These samples were due to be submitted in mid-January but delayed until June of 2020 due to the Covid 19 shut down.

"Palamina's newly discovered Cayos Zone at the Coasa Gold Project continues to deliver substantive gold values at surface." said President Andrew Thomson "Palamina's in-country Peruvian geological team will resume exploration in July following Covid-19 guidance. The focus will be on expanding our understanding of the known vein hosting structures slated for drilling in the Veta Zone and new expansion work at surface in the Cayos Zone."

To date 524 samples have been collected in the Cayos Zone. Of the 239 channel samples collected during the most recent exploration phase in the Cayos zone, 76 were over intervals of 1.0 m to 1.2 m in length and returned the following:

Selected Sample Highlights - Cayos Zone - Coasa Project 2020

Sample ID* Sample Interval Assay g/t Au 005179 1.20 23.11 005210 1.00 15.51 005114 1.00 11.14 005185 1.00 9.17 005137 1.00 8.29 005140 1.00 6.11 005142 1.00 5.13 005196 1.00 4.91 005176 1.00 4.15 005141 1.00 3.89 005138 1.00 3.30 005177 1.00 3.27 005184 1.00 3.14

*Select values in table are for recent sampling returning > 3.0 g/t Au over their reported interval.

Composite channel samples ranging from 2.0 m to 19.0 m in length intervals, with values > 0.40 g/t Au, are presented in the table below:

Selected Channel Sample Results - Cayos Zone - Coasa Project 2020

CHANNEL

SAMPLE SAMPLE INTERVAL

ASSAY INCLUDING

INTERVAL ID* Length (m) Au g/t Length (m) Au g/t CA-01 7.7 2.36 1.0 15.2 CA-02 3.5 0.70 CA-03 5.3 5.46 1.0 27.3 CA-04 6.45 3.04 1.2 12.9 CA-07 10.7 1.35 1.0 4.70 CA-08 5.8 3.44 1.0 18.1 CA-09 7.1 2.89 1.0 15.9 CA-10 6.6 1.57 1.0 5.20 CA-12 3.2 12.0 1.2 30.9 CA-16 2.0 1.28 1.0 2.50 CA-18 2.2 1.22 1.2 2.21 CA-21 2.4 0.40 CA-29 5.2 0.42 1.0 1.67 CA-31 2.0 1.79 1.0 3.51 CA-32 2.1 2.11 1.1 4.01 CA-33 3.8 0.37 CA-34 3.0 3.91 1.0 11.3 CA-35 3.2 0.82 1.0 2.49 CA-36 4.4 0.87 1.3 2.68 CA-43 2.2 2.92 1,1 4.80 CA-44 2.0 3.35 1.0 6.45 CA-45 2.0 11.8 1.0 23.2 CA-46 2.0 0.39 CA-47 2.0 1.83 1.0 3.44

*Values in table are for composite channel samples returning > 0.4 g/t Au over their reported interval. 20 composite channels report average values of < 0.4 g/t Au

At Cayos composite channel sampling has defined 7 mineralized trends ranging from 100 m to 200 in length within a 300 m x 500 m area (See Figure 1 showing location of select highlighted red values above). The Cayos Zone is underlain by fine grained sediments; organic-rich black shales and slates of the Ananea Formation with a general strike of 095 and a 65 southerly dip. The sedimentary sequence is intruded by small (0.05 m - 1.0 m) metamorphosed sills and dikes. Lithological, structural and mineralization characteristics at Coasa are similar to those identified at the Ollachea Gold project, located 60 km to the northwest.

Gold mineralized structures composed of weak to moderately sheared slates hosting vein-veinlet sets of 1.0 m to 1.5 m thickness have two predominant orientations: 155/70 SW structures represent early gold mineralization and later130/70 SW structures. The latter crosscutting vein event is strongly anomalous in arsenic (arsenopyrite) and is interpreted a remobilizing event. Geochemical analyses show a poor association between gold and other pathfinder elements such as arsenic , antimony and silver. Further study of these elements may help determine depth of emplacement of mineralization across the Coasa Property particularly in the Cayos and Veta zones.

Palamina has completed airborne geophysics, prospecting, geological mapping and rock and channel sampling to date. Further mapping, channel sampling and a ground magnetic survey at the Veta and Cayos Zones are anticipated prior to drilling in order to refine targets. Palamina is awaiting its drill permit for the Veta Zone after which a modification allotting drill pads to the Cayos Zone will be submitted.

In May of 2020, Peru stated it is prioritizing advancing gold projects and introducing reforms to allow exploration companies to advance projects more efficiently. In June, Palamina has resumed its drill permitting process for the Coasa gold project which was suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Peruvian authorities.

Technical Information

Channel samples are taken from exposed outcrops and cut to capture the best available angle to the orientation of the sampled structure. Samples collected in the field are transported by Palamina personnel to the Certimin S.A laboratory in Juliaca, Peru. Samples are processed by Certimin S.A in Juliaca and prepared sample splits are transported for assay to the CERTIMIN SA Laboratory in Lima, Peru. Samples are assayed for gold using a 30-gram fire assay charge with an AA finish. Samples are also analysed using a multi-element ICP-OES package. Prior to delivery of field exploration samples to the laboratory, Palamina staff insert coarse blank samples, field duplicates and certified gold analytical standards into the sample stream to provide controls over the quality of sampling and analytical procedures. No standards are inserted for the multi-element suite. All samples are returned to the Company and stored at a secure facility in Juliaca.

This press release was compiled and reviewed by Mr. William McGuinty, P. Geo., Palamina's VP Exploration. He is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has supervised the preparation of the technical contents of this press release.

About Palamina Corp.

Palamina has first mover advantage on 4 district scale titled gold projects in south eastern Peru in the Puno Orogenic Gold Belt (POGB). The Company also has rights to a silver-copper project in the Santa Lucia district and two copper-gold projects in Southern Peru. In September of 2019, Palamina concluded the sale of the Gaban gold and Tinka I.O.C.G Projects for 10,000,000 shares of Winshear Gold Corp. (formerly Helio Resource Corp.) and a 2% NSR per project. Palamina has 45,134,836 shares outstanding and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Andrew Thomson, President

Phone: (416) 987-0722 or visit www.palamina.com

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are 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. 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. A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company appears in the Company's continuous disclosure filings, which are available under the company's profile at www.SEDAR.com and on the Palamina webpage.

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.



Figure 1: Select Composite Channel Samples in the Cayos Zone released July 7, 2020 - Coasa Gold Project

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Figure 2: Coasa Project Sample Distribution (recently released assays highlighted in yellow)

Top ten select channel and rock samples for the Veta and Cayos Zones July 7, 2020

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SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) said that it plans to open its first fulfillment center in Little Rock, Arkansas. The new fulfillment center, which is anticipated to launch in 2021, will create over 1,000 new full-time jobs. The City of Little Rock's Board of Directors gave final approval for a sale of 80 acres at the Port of Little Rock to Amazon.com, Inc. during its meeting on April 7, 2020. In the new 825,000 square-foot fulfillment center, Amazon employees will work alongside Amazon robotics to pick, pack and ship small items to customers such as books, electronics and toys. The site will create over 1,000 new full-time jobs. The site is anticipated to launch in 2021. Amazon also plans a new 85,000 square-foot delivery station which is anticipated to launch in late 2020. Packages are transported to delivery stations from Amazon fulfillment and sortation centers, and then loaded into vehicles for delivery to customers. The delivery station will create hundreds of permanent, full-time and part-time jobs, the company said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Inhalation of the Unique Nasal Saline Reduced Exhalation of Bioaerosol by 99% in a Human Volunteer Study for up to Six Hours

Testing to Begin in High Risk Covid-19 Environments

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Sensory Cloud, a technology startup that designs solutions to problems of human well-being and healthcare through pioneering discoveries at the frontiers of olfaction and respiratory biology, announced the publication of a new peer-reviewed paper in QRB Discovery, an interdisciplinary medical journal of biological function, structure and mechanism. The paper establishes the foundation for understanding the hygienic properties of unique combinations of physiological salts, and particularly the ability of these salts to substantially mitigate expiration of the very small particles humans exhale during natural breathing and that are not captured by conventional masks.

"Airborne infectious disease transmits through the air by particles we exhale during natural breathing," said the lead author, Dr. David Edwards of Harvard University and Founder of Sensory Cloud. "Most of these particles are less than a single micron in size, and not effectively filtered by conventional face masks. Cleaning our airways of these particles is a hygienic measure that complements the wearing of face masks, the washing of hands, and social distancing, and can be of particular value in our current COVID-19 pandemic."

In "A New Natural Defense Against Airborne Pathogens," the authors, including Edwards and Dr. Robert Langer (MIT), and several authors from Pulmatrix and Sensory Cloud, Boston-based healthcare companies co-founded by Edwards, conducted a study of 10 human volunteers to determine the efficacy of a nasal delivery of calcium and sodium salts, each present in sea water, to diminish exhaled particles of 300 nanometers to 5 microns in diameter from human airways. Based on previous research pointing to the roles of age and other factors in the spread of airborne pathogens, the researchers selected five volunteers older than 65, and five younger than 65.

The researchers set out to determine whether nasal delivery of the calcium and sodium salts in a formulation called FEND (Fast Emergency Nasal Defense) by Sensory Cloud's Nimbus, could substantially suppress exhalation of bioaerosols without targeting the entire lungs. The authors found a strong correlation between high numbers of exhaled particles and age, with the group older than 65 exhaling on average 6,641 particles per liter of air, while the group younger than 65 exhaled on average 440 particles per liter. Delivery of FEND by nasal inspiration of the Nimbus cloud reduced exhalation of bioaerosol by 99% for the entire group, for up to 6 hours. Most of the suppressed airborne particles were smaller in size than those effectively filtered by conventional face masks.

Summarizing research conducted over the last 15 years at Pulmatrix, with animal and human studies performed at labs in the UK, US and Canada, the authors document how an aerosol comprised of unique combinations of calcium and sodium salts improves the barrier function of the mucus lining to protect against infection and promotes natural innate immune disinfectant properties suited to defense against a range of bacterial and viral infections, including Influenza A, Influenza B and parainfluenza strains.

The paper also documented, in the case of an influenza swine model, the complete blockage of airborne transmission of the disease through the administration of the saline compound.

For immediate human use as a new purely hygienic intervention, the authors proposed the Nimbus, a hand-held nasal mister developed by Edwards' company Sensory Cloud, given its ability to generate FEND aerosols of approximately 10 microns in diameter, ideally suited for distribution of the FEND composition to the upper airways where bioaerosol is largely generated.

"With today's healthcare crisis we believe a nasal cleanser to be the best and fastest approach as a defensive measure against the rapid spread of COVID-19," the authors wrote in QRB Discovery. "Beyond diminishing viral bioaerosol expulsion into the environment, these particular combinations of calcium and sodium salts delivered to the nose are likely to decrease the same bioaerosols from reaching the lungs via inhaled air, the only route for virus to reach this organ."

Dr. Edwards further explained that the human results suggest that a purely hygienic FEND nasal saline solution, based on salts that have been administered to the nose for centuries while with uniquely high calcium content, can be introduced immediately as a nasal cleansing agent for clearing exhaled air of the very small particles that conventional face masks fail to filter.

"We are very encouraged by these findings and the prospect of providing an additional level of safety for healthcare workers and everyone heading back to work and to school," Dr. Edwards said. "The ease and safety with which FEND can be administered nasally, as demonstrated by the results of our articles, suggests a practical pathway to significantly clean airborne infection from interior air environments where airborne pathogens can accumulate. FEND can be an effective complement to the proper use of face masks, suppressing from the air the airborne particles that conventional face masks do not filter."

About Sensory Cloud

Sensory Cloud is a Boston-based technology startup company that designs solutions to problems of human wellbeing and healthcare through pioneering discoveries at the frontiers of olfaction and respiratory biology. Sensory Cloud is developing a proprietary line of consumer products based on its proprietary olfaction and calcium-salt platforms for human health and wellbeing. The Company will launch FEND in the fall 2020 for use as a new hygienic protection against COVID-19 and other airborne infectious diseases, like influenza.

About Pulmatrix

Pulmatrix is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative inhaled therapies to address serious pulmonary and non-pulmonary disease using its patented iSPERSE technology. The Company's proprietary product pipeline is initially focused on advancing treatments for serious lung diseases, including Pulmazole, an inhaled anti-fungal for patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis ("ABPA"), and PUR1800, a narrow spectrum kinase inhibitor in lung cancer. Pulmatrix's product candidates are based on iSPERSE, its proprietary engineered dry powder delivery platform, which seeks to improve therapeutic delivery to the lungs by maximizing local concentrations and reducing systemic side effects to improve patient outcomes.
Air Liquide has signed a long-term agreement with Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI), one of the largest steel producers and metals recyclers in the United States, to supply gaseous oxygen, nitrogen, and argon to SDI's new Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steel mill in Sinton, Texas. To support the new agreement, Air Liquide plans to invest over 100 million U.S. dollars to install an Air Separation Unit (ASU) on its Gulf Coast pipeline network in Ingleside, Texas, and extend its pipeline network to SDI's site.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005230/en/

Air Liquide signs long-term supply agreement with Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI) in the U.S. (Photo: Business Wire)

The state-of-the art, energy efficient ASU will have the capacity to produce over 770 tons per day of oxygen, as well as nitrogen and argon to supply SDI's planned 3 million tons per year steel mill starting up in 2021. Air Liquide will also add 45 kilometers of pipeline connecting SDI to its proprietary Gulf Coast Pipeline System, strengthening Air Liquide's position in the U.S. Gulf Coast region and in the growing industrial basin of Corpus Christi where it has been present since the mid-1930s.

Air Liquide's ability to provide large volumes of oxygen and nitrogen from Corpus Christi, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana via its integrated production and supply pipeline network provides Air Liquide customers with an enhanced competitiveness over the long-term. The robust reliability and enhanced flexibility provided by Air Liquide's pipeline network allows for efficient gas production and delivery that support SDI's focus towards sustainability while contributing to meet Air Liquide's climate objectives.

Air Liquide's growth in the key industrial basin via its pipeline network will be supported by Air Liquide's Smart Innovative Operations Center and leverage predictive analytics and digital technologies to optimize its operations and production units throughout the U.S.

Michael J. Graff, Executive Vice President and Executive Committee Member, Air Liquide Group, said: "Air Liquide is proud to support the growth of Steel Dynamics Inc. and to collaborate on this project, which will strengthen the U.S. steel industry through the establishment of the largest steel mill in Texas. The investment in this ASU and pipeline infrastructure will further enhance Air Liquide's network capabilities and leadership position in the Gulf Coast, allowing us to meet the growing industrial gas demands of our customers in the region safely, sustainably and reliably."

Air Liquide Large Industries activity

Air Liquide Large Industries offers gas and energy solutions that improve process efficiency and help achieve greater respect for the environment, mainly in the refining and natural gas, chemicals, metals and energy markets. In 2019, revenues were 5,629 million.

Air Liquide in the United States

Air Liquide employs more than 20,000 people in the U.S. in more than 1,500 locations and plant facilities including a world-class R&D center. The company offers industrial and medical gases, technologies and related services to a wide range of customers in energy, petrochemical, industrial, electronics and healthcare markets. www.airliquide.com/USA

A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 80 countries with approximately 67,000 employees and serves more than 3.7 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide's scientific territory and have been at the core of the company's activities since its creation in 1902.

Air Liquide's ambition is to be a leader in its industry, deliver long-term performance and contribute to sustainability. The company's customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable, regular and responsible growth over the long-term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organization implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages energy and environment transition, changes in healthcare and digitization, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders.

Air Liquide's revenue amounted to 22 billion euros in 2019 and its solutions that protect life and the environment represented more than 40% of sales. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE4Good indexes.

www.airliquide.com

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005230/en/

Contacts:

Corporate Communications

media@airliquide.com

Investor Relations

IRTeam@airliquide.com

Air Liquide Corporate Communications, Americas

Cassandra Mauel

+713 548-6056
Covid-19 impact primarily felt over a 2-month period in Q2 2020

Encouraging upturn in activity confirmed in June, notably in France and direct sales

Regulatory News:

IMPLANET (Euronext Growth: ALIMP, FR0013470168, eligible for PEA-PME equity savings plans) (Paris:ALIMP), a medical technology company specializing in vertebral and knee-surgery implants, today announces its revenue for the first half of 2020.

In thousands IFRS* 2020 2019 Total 1st quarter revenue 1,567 1,904 -18% 2nd quarter Spine (JAZZ) 782 1,244 -37% Knee 246 670 -63% Total 2nd quarter revenue 1,029 1,915 -46% 1st half Spine (JAZZ) 1,510 2,384 -37% Knee 1,085 1,434 -24% Total 1st half revenue 2,595 3,818 -32%

* Unaudited data

Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic:

To provide greater clarity regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Implanet has chosen to indicate the percentage of 2019 monthly revenue achieved in each of the first six months of 2020.

January February March April May June Percentage

of 2019 revenue 111% 115% 42% 11% 37% 80%

Ludovic Lastennet, CEO of Implanet, says: "In recent months, activity has understandably been affected by the public health emergency associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. It is encouraging that June saw a significant upturn in our sales momentum. This trend is in line with the performance recorded last year over the same period, and direct Spine activity even exceeded forecast in France. This leads us to believe that the gradual resumption in activity should continue over the coming months. We remain cautious, of course, and are closely monitoring the health situation in the countries in which we operate. However, our confidence remains high given the quality of our product ranges and our long-term regulatory strategy. During this unprecedented period, Implanet has shown agility by adapting its cost structure and by being pragmatic in the way it has managed its operations. Our cash position is secure thanks to the measures taken and the assistance received to date, we are positioned to make the most of the recovery as it progresses

In the second quarter of 2020, Implanet recorded revenue of 1.03 million, a decrease of 46% on the figure of 1.91 million recorded in Q2 2019. JAZZ activity generated sales of 0.78 million, down 37% (vs. 1.24 million in Q2 2019), and Knee activity sales totaled 0.24 million, down 63% (vs. 0.67 million in Q2 2019). Monthly revenue makes it easier to understand the direct impact of the pandemic associated with the suspension of all non-urgent operations following the adoption of emergency measures: April saw almost no sales, May saw revenue approximately one third of its usual level, while June's sales were just 20% below normal at 0.80 million.

Over the first six months of 2020, Implanet generated sales of 2.59 million, down 32% on the H1 2019 figure of 3.82 million. Spine sales totaled 1.51 million (vs. 2.38 million in H1 2019), while Knee activity decreased by 24% compared with the first half of 2019, totaling 1.08 million.

First-half revenue was obviously heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly the Export segment. The uncertainty of an eventual resumption in overseas orders and on surgery schedules in France did not stop the Company from recording an increase in activity in June, notably thanks to JAZZ activity in France, which was up 10%.

Regarding its cash position, Implanet had cash and financial investments of 0.97 million as of June 30, 2020 (versus 0.68 million at December 31, 2019). The Company has been able to benefit from State support, notably via a State-guaranteed loan in France. Employment measures were implemented within the Company and continued until June 30.

Regarding 2020 activity as a whole, the Company still does not have sufficient visibility: it will depend on how the pandemic develops and when and how fast surgical operations resume, but if the trend observed at the end of June continues then Implanet, thanks to its fundamentals, should be able to make up part of the shortfall in activity seen over the first half of the year, although it is unlikely it will be able to make up all of the deficit compared with 2019.

Lastly, the Company today announces that it is ending the exclusive negotiations to sell its "MADISONTM" knee prosthesis activities.

Upcoming financial events:

H1 2020 results, September 15, 2020 after market close

- Q3 2020 revenue, October 13, 2020 after market close

About Implanet

Founded in 2007, Implanet is a medical technology company that manufactures high-quality implants for orthopedic surgery. Its activity revolves around two product ranges, the latest generation JAZZ implant, designed to improve the treatment of spinal pathologies requiring vertebral fusion surgery, and the MADISON implant designed for first-line prosthetic knee surgery. Implanet's tried-and-tested orthopedic platform is based on product traceability. Protected by four families of international patents, JAZZ and MADISON have obtained 510(k) regulatory clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States, the CE mark as well as the ANVISA authorization in Brazil. Implanet employs 36 staff and recorded 2019 sales of 7.4 million. For further information, please visit www.implanet.com. Based near Bordeaux in France, Implanet established a US subsidiary in Boston in 2013. Implanet is listed on Euronext Growth market in Paris.

The Company would like to remind that the table for monitoring the equity line (OCA, OCAPI, BSA) and the number of shares outstanding, is available on its website: http://www.implanet-invest.com/suivi-des-actions-80

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005585/en/

Contacts:

IMPLANET

Ludovic Lastennet, CEO

David Dieumegard, CFO

Tel.: +33(0)5 57 99 55 55

investors@Implanet.com

NewCap

Investor Relations

Sandrine Boussard-Gallien

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

implanet@newcap.eu

NewCap

Media Relations

Nicolas Merigeau

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

implanet@newcap.eu
Venissieux, 7 July 2020

"Efficiency 2022" [1] , a three-part action plan that involves adjusting its workforce and structures to reach positive EBITDA [2] by 2022

First meeting of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) to present this strategic plan

BOOSTHEAT (FR0011814938 / BOOST), a French energy efficiency manufacturer that designs, develops, and markets a new generation of economical, eco-friendly boilers, has drawn lessons from the first half of 2020 and presents the measures taken to adapt its cost structure to the suspension of mass production and revised business strategy in France and Germany.

I First half 2020 rich in lessons and key decisions



As expected, the first half of 2020 was marked by the usual low-season effect characterized by sluggish sales. This effect was amplified by the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, leading to the freezing of orders.

At the time of the last press release dated 9 June 2020, BOOSTHEAT initiated a plan to optimize the performance and reliability of its boilers by focusing resources on an upgraded version - the BOOSTHEAT.20 Connect.

In this press release, the Company stated that production of the BOOSTHEAT.20 Origin would be suspended and sales put on standby, keeping production limited to what is necessary for the purpose of validation.

Furthermore, after the feedback received from the first sales campaign initiated in 2019, the Group decided to adapt its sales policy by focusing on an indirect B2B2C and B2B sales model more effective for increasing volumes and more profitable for the Company.

I Most orders confirmed

As of 30 June 2020, BOOSTHEAT had a total order backlog of 305 BOOSTHEAT.20 boilers. This includes orders placed in 2019 and during the first half of 2020, as well as cancellations following the postponement of installations; at this date, a total of 50 BOOSTHEAT.20 boilers had been installed, including 20 pilot projects.

All of BOOSTHEAT's partners continue to support the Company and remain committed to the success of the BOOSTHEAT.20 Connect. In Switzerland, NOVOGAZ, a subsidiary of the HOLDIGAZ group, confirmed its intention to order 250 BOOSTHEAT.20 boilers, as announced at the time of the initial public offering, and brought its order schedule into line with BOOSTHEAT's.

I BOOSTHEAT presents the "Efficiency 2022" plan

Enriched by these lessons, BOOSTHEAT decided to implement a strategic action plan named "Efficiency 2022".

A meeting was held with CSE representatives on 7 July 2020 to present the strategic plan designed to tackle the new challenges facing the Company. This plan includes restructuring measures and the postponement of some operations that are not essential in the short term.

Part 1: consolidation of R&D and production facilities

The first part of the action plan involves optimizing the performance and reliability of the BOOSTHEAT.20, which are key priorities for BOOSTHEAT. In order to create stronger synergies and accelerate these processes, BOOSTHEAT plans to consolidate all R&D, production, marketing and customer service operations at the Venissieux facility[3]. Accordingly, current and future projects using employees currently based at two distant facilities - 23 at Ramonville-Saint-Agne (Toulouse) and 46 at Venissieux (Lyon) - will benefit from increased agility with regard to production facilities, allowing the engineering and development phases to be conducted almost simultaneously. The consolidation of these technical operations at a single facility will allow more responsive and efficient organization. The current site in Venissieux has the facilities and space needed to meet the Company's requirements.

BOOSTHEAT is already drawing on external expertise to accelerate its action plan.

At the current stage of progress, BOOSTHEAT aims to market the upgraded BOOSTHEAT.20 Connect as early as the second half of 2021. With the recent measures, BOOSTHEAT will aim to bring forward this deadline in order to resume sales operations during the first half of 2021.

Part 2: sales restructuring

The second part of the action plan involves refocusing the Company's business model on indirect B2B2C and B2B sales.

In France, this decision led to the restructuring of the sales subsidiary BOOSTHEAT France leading to 9 lay-offs, mostly employees responsible for B2C sales. The workforce has been redeployed in the Customer Relations Center (support for current and future customers), Business Development (growing the B2B2C model) and partner relations (installers and customer service). This strengthened team of 6 people adapted to the Company's new needs is already operational.

In Germany, the current organizational structure with 5 employees has not been changed. This team will be a key driver of BOOSTHEAT's development in a market that is receptive to the properties of the BOOSTHEAT.20.

Part 3: lower the breakeven point

In this part, BOOSTHEAT is reviewing all the possibilities that would allow it to lower its breakeven point and extend its financial horizon. As mentioned in the 9 June 2020 press release, the Group has adopted cost-cutting measures including a plan rolled out towards the end of 2019 and an accelerated Design2cost plan to decrease the BOM[4]. As a reminder, BOOSTHEAT has received 7.3 million in new funding (6 million state-guaranteed loan, 1 million innovation loan, 0.3 million balance of Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region grant). The cash balance as of 30 June 2020 is estimated at 17.1 million[5]. The timing of expenditure under the "Efficiency 2022" plan should allow the Company to fund its operations until September 2021. BOOSTHEAT is continuing its efforts and implementing further measures in order to adjust its cost structure to the Company's current circumstances.

As part of the measures envisaged in the "Efficiency 2022" plan, the Group's workforce will be adapted to business volumes. As of 30 June 2020 BOOSTHEAT employed 89 people[6]. This means that, across the Group, the plan could lead to around 40 lay-offs, mostly in industrial operations and R&D, including the recent restructuring of BOOSTHEAT France. In addition, the Group will offer individual support to each employee affected by the project.

This project, which was unanimously adopted by the Board of Directors on 30 June 2020, falls within an Employment Safeguard Plan (PSE) and will be subject to a mandatory consultation process involving the CSE and all staff representatives, which is expected to last until the end of 2020. Documents concerning the restructuring plan were presented to staff representatives at today's CSE meeting. Future meetings will involve discussions on the organization of the Employment Safeguard Plan with the goal of reaching an agreement. Given regulatory requirements, no information revealing the CSE's prerogatives can be published, as management seeks to foster dialog with its social partners.

BOOSTHEAT CEO and co-founder Luc Jacquet said:

"Under these circumstances which I know are difficult for everyone, I wish to thank all of our employees, customers and partners for their continued confidence, primarily HOLDIGAZ, which has confirmed its wish to support us and maintain its order intentions. This sign of confidence shows that our product is the first choice in a market seeking efficient and sustainable solutions. We are now more determined than ever before to go the extra mile to make BOOSTHEAT.20 Connect available as soon as possible."

I Positive EBITDA[7] by 2022

Between 2020 and 2022, the Company aims to generate total savings of over 5 million in operating costs and over 5 million in staff costs.

Through all of the measures implemented under the "Efficiency 2022" plan, BOOSTHEAT aims to generate positive EBITDA by 2022 by selling at least 2,000 boilers[8].

Read more about BOOSTHEAT at

www.boostheat-group.com

ABOUT BOOSTHEAT

Founded in 2011, BOOSTHEAT designs, develops, produces and markets heating solutions that are technologically advanced, energy-efficient and sustainable. BOOSTHEAT's new-generation boilers feature a patented thermal compressor, enabling them to achieve efficiency of up to 200% and reducing energy consumption by up to half. They are more environmentally friendly and economical, giving all users the opportunity to achieve an immediate and significant reduction in their environmental impact.

The Company's mission is to accelerate energy transition through its products by making them affordable to the widest possible spectrum of the population. BOOSTHEAT has its head office and manufacturing plant in Venissieux, near Lyon (historically an HVAC* industrial zone). The Company holds the Innovative Company (BpiFrance) and French Fab labels. BOOSTHEAT is listed on Euronext Paris, Compartment C (ISIN: FR0011814938).

*Heating, ventilation and air conditioning

I CONTACTS



ACTUS finance & communication - Anne-Pauline Petureaux

Investor Relations

Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 72 / boostheat@actus.fr

ACTUS finance & communication - Serena Boni

Press Relations

Tel.: +33 (0)4 72 18 04 92 / sboni@actus.fr

BOOSTHEAT - Sabrina Ferre

Tel.: +33 (0)9 82 99 16 13 / sabrina.ferre@boostheat.com

[1]The implementation of this project is subject to a prior information and consultation process with the Social and Economic Committee (CSE), the staff's representative body.

[2]EBITDA = Recurring operating income before net depreciation, amortization and provision.

[3]At 30 June 2020, BOOSTHEAT SA had 69 permanent employees out of a total Group headcount of 89.

[4]Bill Of Materials.

[5]Cash as of 1 January 2020 stood at 18.2 million.

[6]As of 30 June 2020: BOOSTHEAT Group employed 69 people at BOOSTHEAT SA, 15 at BOOSTHEAT France and 5 at BOOSTHEAT Germany (excluding apprenticeship and work-study contracts).

[7]EBITDA = Recurring operating income before net depreciation, amortization and provision.

[8]As a reminder, revenues are recognized after the boilers are installed.

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LANCASHIRE HOLDINGS LIMITED - Notice of Q2 2020 Results and Conference Call

LANCASHIRE HOLDINGS LIMITED

7 July 2020

Hamilton, Bermuda

Notice of Q2 2020 Results and Conference Call

Lancashire Holdings Limited ("Lancashire" or "the Company") will be announcing its 2020 second quarter results at 7:00am UK time on Wednesday 29 July 2020 and hosting an analyst and investor conference call at 1:00pm UK time / 8:00am EDT on Wednesday29 July 2020. The conference call will be hosted by Lancashire management.

Participant Access:

Dial in 5-10 minutes prior to the start time using the number / confirmation code below:

United Kingdom Toll-Free: 08003589473

United Kingdom Toll: +44 3333000804

United States Toll-Free: +1 855 85 70686

United States Toll: +1 6319131422

PIN code: 46831254#

URL for additional international dial in numbers:

https://events-ftp.arkadin.com/ev/docs/NE_W2_TF_Events_International_Access_List.pdf

The call can also be accessed via webcast, for registration and access: https://onlinexperiences.com/Launch/QReg/ShowUUID=548AF467-7210-41FE-83C0-4FC47E9F9DFA

A webcast replay facility will be available for 12 months and accessible at: https://www.lancashiregroup.com/en/investors/results-reports-and-presentations.html





For further information, please contact:

Lancashire Holdings Limited

Christopher Head

+44 20 7264 4145

chris.head@lancashiregroup.com Jelena Bjelanovic +44 20 7264 4066

jelena.bjelanovic@lancashiregroup.com FTI Consulting +44 20 37271046 Edward Berry Edward.Berry@FTIConsulting.com Tom Blackwell Tom.Blackwell@FTIConsulting.com

About Lancashire

Lancashire, through its UK and Bermuda-based operating subsidiaries, is a provider of global specialty insurance and reinsurance products.

Lancashire has capital of approximately $1.8 billion and its common shares trade on the premium segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LRE. Lancashire has its head office and registered office at Power House, 7 Par-la-Ville Road, Hamilton HM 11, Bermuda.

The Bermuda Monetary Authority is the Group Supervisor of the Lancashire Group.

For more information, please visit Lancashire's website at www.lancashiregroup.com.

This release contains information, which may be of a price sensitive nature that Lancashire is making public in a manner consistent with the EU Market Abuse Regulation and other regulatory obligations. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 17:30 BST on 7 July 2020.

NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

ALL FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OR OTHERWISE SPEAK ONLY AS AT THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. LANCASHIRE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY OBLIGATION OR UNDERTAKING (SAVE AS REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH ANY LEGAL OR REGULATORY OBLIGATIONS INCLUDING THE RULES OF THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE) TO DISSEMINATE ANY UPDATES OR REVISIONS TO ANY FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT TO REFLECT ANY CHANGES IN THE GROUP'S EXPECTATIONS OR CIRCUMSTANCES ON WHICH ANY SUCH STATEMENT IS BASED. ALL SUBSEQUENT WRITTEN AND ORAL FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE GROUP OR INDIVIDUALS ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP ARE EXPRESSLY QUALIFIED IN THEIR ENTIRETY BY THIS NOTE.


BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European markets drifted lower on Tuesday, weighed down by reports showing continued spikes in coronavirus cases in several states across America, and disappointing industrial production data from Germany.



Lowering of economic forecasts by the European Commission contributed as well to the weakness in European markets.



Continued surge in new cases of coronavirus across the globe has raised fears that economies may be forced to resort to another lockdown. Already, there is growing uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery despite all the massive relief measures and stimulus packages announced by global central banks and governments.



U.S. Federal Reserve official Raphael Bostic told the Financial Times in an interview that there are signs that the American recovery is 'levelling off'.



The pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 0.61%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 1.53%, Germany's DAX slid 0.92% and France's CAC 40 shed 0.74%, while Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.44%.



Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended notably lower.



Czech Republic and Norway edged down marginally, while Iceland, Ireland, Portugal and Turkey closed higher.



In the U.K. market, TUI declined more than 6.5%. Whitbread shed about 5.1% after the hotel and restaurant group unveiled a significant slump in first-quarter sales.



Smurfit Kappa Group, Informa, Compass Group, British Land Company, Associated British Foods, HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered and IAG lost 3 to 4.2%.



Royal Bank, Imperial Brands, GlaxoSmithKline, 3i Group, Mondi, Vodafone and EasyJet also declined sharply, while Evraz, Coca-Cola, Smiths, Polymetal International and Antofagasta closed notably higher.



In the German market, Bayer lost nearly 5%. Adidas shed about 2.8%. Beiersdorf, Vonovia, SAP and Infineon Technologies also posted notable losses.



Wirecard shares climbed up nearly 23%. Merck and Lufthansa posted moderate gains.



In the French market, Sodexo lost more than 4%, while Unibail Rodamco and Technip lost about 3% each. Societe Generale, Orange, Dassault Systemes Group, Accor, Safran and Saint Gobain declined 1.3 to 2%.



On the other hand, Worldline and Bouygues gained 1.85% and 1.4%, respectively. ArcelorMittal and Carrefour also closed higher.



Eurozone is set to undergo an even deeper recession due to the coronavirus pandemic despite measures taken at both EU and national levels, the European Commission said in its Summer Forecast released today.



The currency bloc is forecast to contract 8.7% in 2020 instead of 7.7% projected in the Spring Forecast. Nonetheless, the region is forecast to grow 6.1% in 2021, which was slightly less robust than the 6.3% expansion projected previously.



Among the largest euro area countries, above-average GDP contractions were reported in France, Italy and Spain, while Germany and the Netherlands saw smaller hits.



The EU region is forecast to shrink 8.3% this year but to grow 5.8 percent next year. The rate for 2020 was revised from -7.4% and that for 2021 from 6.1%.



Germany's industrial production recovered in May, helped by an easing of lockdown measures, Destatis reported Tuesday. Industrial output grew 7.8% on a monthly basis in May, in contrast to a revised 17.5% fall in April. Production was forecast to grow 10% in May. On a yearly basis, industrial production declined 19.3% versus a revised 25% decrease in April.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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LaunchPad Medical Receives Approval to Start a Clinical Trial in the United Kingdom to Study its Bone Adhesive Biomaterial in the Field of Implant Dentistry

LOWELL, Massachusetts, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LaunchPad Medical, Inc. announced that it has received approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom to start a 15-patient pilot clinical study to examine the safety and efficacy of Tetranite, the company's bone adhesive biomaterial, to immediately stabilize dental implants following tooth extractions.

This study will focus specifically on anterior teeth located in the aesthetic or "smile" region where the loss of a tooth is highly visible. Unlike the company's ongoing clinical study in the United States, patients in this study will receive temporary crowns at the time their implants are placed. The use of Tetranite will obviate a costly, complex, and lengthy bone grafting process for many patients, greatly accelerating the overall treatment timeframe.

Dr. Michael R. Norton, BDS, FDS, RCS(Ed), a London-based oral surgeon, noted lecturer, and former President of the international Academy of Osseointegration, will serve as the chief investigator for this study. "I am thrilled to be the first clinician outside the United States to use this ground-breaking technology to improve the care of my patients and accelerate the restoration of their dentition," said Dr. Norton. "I believe this technology will revolutionize the way we place dental implants."

"We are extremely excited to initiate our first study outside the United States," said Brian Hess, CEO of LaunchPad Medical, "and we are very pleased to be working with Dr. Norton who is a thought leader in advancing clinical practice in the field of implant dentistry."

About LaunchPad Medical, Inc.

LaunchPad Medical, Inc. is a medical device company engaged in the development and commercialization of a patented, synthetic, injectable, self-setting, and osteoconductive bone adhesive biomaterial called Tetranite. The company is initially developing this technology for use in the dental market. The company is also working to develop adhesive applications for the broader orthopedics market. LaunchPad Medical's Tetranite technology is not yet approved for commercial use.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1201446/LaunchPad_Medical_European_Clinical_Study.jpg
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled flat on Tuesday as traders weighed the prospects for energy demand amid reports showing a surge in coronavirus infections in several parts across the world, against current and near-term supply positions in the market. Although the major oil producers are in compliance with agreed production cuts and crude production in the U.S. is coming down, it is feared that another lockdown might result in huge crude inventories and push down prices once again. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August settled at $40.62 a barrel, down just a penny from previous close. Brent crude futures shed about $0.25 or nearly 0.6% at $42.86 a barrel. The United States is 'still knee deep in the first wave' of the coronavirus outbreak, Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said as 16 U.S. states reported record increases in the new Covid-19 cases, in the first five days of July, according to a Reuters tally. Florida is again closing its restaurants to indoor dining, gyms and other indoor venues just weeks after they reopened. U.S. Federal Reserve official Raphael Bostic told the Financial Times in an interview that there are signs that the American recovery is 'levelling off'. Meanwhile, traders looked ahead to the data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and Energy Information Administration (EIA). While API's data is due out later in the day, the EIA will release its inventory report Wednesday morning. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After a relatively lackluster start, treasuries moved notably higher over the course of the trading session on Tuesday.



Bond prices climbed more firmly into positive territory in afternoon trading and seeing only modest strength in the morning. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.4 basis points to 0.650 percent.



The afternoon strength among treasuries came as stocks on Wall Street came under pressure amid resurfacing concerns about the coronavirus.



The renewed coronavirus concerns came as World Health Organization officials warned that the death toll from the pandemic may start to climb again.



The death toll has fallen in recent weeks despite the spike in new coronavirus cases in certain areas, but the WHO officials noted there is a lag between when a person contracts the disease and when they become seriously ill and potentially die.



'I don't think it should be a surprise if the deaths start to rise again. It will be very unfortunate, but it may happen,' said Dr. Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme.



Adding to the concerns, New York and New Jersey have added Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma to the list of states from which travelers are required to self-quarantine for 14 days.



Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic also warned that the spike in coronavirus cases in southern and western states could slow the U.S. economic recovery.



Bostic noted in an interview with the Financial Times that high-frequency data had shown a 'leveling off' of economic activity both in terms of business openings and mobility.



'There are a couple of things that we are seeing and some of them are troubling and might suggest that the trajectory of this recovery is going to be a bit bumpier than it might otherwise,' Bostic said.



Meanwhile, the Treasury Department revealed that is auction of $46 billion worth three-year notes attracted average demand.



The three-year note auction drew a high yield of 0.190 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.44, while the ten previous three-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.46.



The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.



Amid another quiet day on the U.S. economic front, trading on Wednesday may be impacted by reaction to the results of the Treasury's auction of $29 billion worth of ten-year notes.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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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: 7 July 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 39,232 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,926 pence 24.24 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,896 pence 23.87 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,911 pence 24.05 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 7 July 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 10,866 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 24.05 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 24.05 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 24.05 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 7 July 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 32,844 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 24.05 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 23.80 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 23.97 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 195,215,526 Public Shares outstanding, or 201,147,812 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 15,741,224 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/20200707005819/en/

Contacts:

Media

Camarco

Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2020) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (the "Company" or "Aires") is pleased to announce record sales during the first half of 2020.

For the six months of 2020, Aires had record sales of $874,262.54 CAD (unaudited) compared to sales of $328,854.07 CAD (unaudited) in March 2020, a 166% increase from 2019 to 2020.

Aires is also pleased to announce it sold 7,152 units, representing a 162% increase in units sold over the comparative month ended June 30, 2019. Units sold include the Aires Shield Pro, Aires Defender Pro and Aires Guardian.

It is noteworthy that these increased sales figures were achieved mainly organically with little marketing spent.

"We are pleased with our numbers and regard them as an early indicator of proof of concept. We have a technology which we have commercialized into the first of many products which have global appeal", commented Dimitry Serov, President and CEO.

"Our business model is ecommerce based operating 24-7 around the globe. With this, as we move the second half of the year, we look to the next phase of our growth which will include the sales and marketing of our 5G product offering for people and pets with a focus in North America and Europe", added Serov.

About American Aires Inc.

American Aires is an Ontario based technology company that is focused on the research, development and implementation of innovative technology solutions to allow consumers to safely engage with electronic products of the 21st century. The Company is currently engaged in the business of production, distribution and sales of products intended to protect persons from the harmful effects of electromagnetic emissions, which is produced from electronic devices such as cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, tablets and electric cars to name a few. The Company has developed a technology that restructures and transforms electromagnetic field haze into a more biologically-compatible form to reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation. The Company's current principal products are the Shield Pro, Aires Defender Pro and Aires Guardian.

For more information please visit: www.airestech.com

On behalf of the board of directors

Dimitry Serov, President & Chief Executive Officer

Email: dimitry@airestech.com

Phone: (905) 482-4667

Investor Relations:

Samina Deen, Head of Partnerships

Email: samina@airestech.com

Phone: (416) 320-1634

wifi@airestech.com

Neil Simon, Investor Cubed Inc

Email: info@investor3.ca

Phone: (647) 258-3310

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59294
NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Hoc Ecuador Bondholder Group (the "Ad Hoc Group") is pleased to confirm it has reached an agreement in principle with the Republic of Ecuador ("Ecuador") on the commercial terms for the restructuring of all ten series of Ecuador's c.$17.4 billion in outstanding sovereign bonds. The Ad Hoc Group comprises major institutional holders of Ecuador's external sovereign debt including, among others, funds managed or advised by AllianceBernstein, Ashmore Investment Management Limited and Ashmore Investment Advisors Limited, BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. and its affiliates, BlueBay Asset Management LLP, and Wellington Management Company LLP. The Ad Hoc Group is supported by its international legal counsel, White & Case LLP. Funds managed or advised by members of the Ad Hoc Group holding approximately 45% of Ecuador's outstanding bonds are supportive of the agreement in principle, and additional support from group members is expected in the coming days as internal processes are completed.

The agreement in principle will provide Ecuador with significant, front-loaded debt relief in the coming years to help the country recover from the COVID crisis. It will also make a substantial contribution to ensuring the sustainability of Ecuador's external debt in the medium term, paving the way for the country to achieve strong, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth.

The formal launch of the restructuring process is expected to occur in the coming weeks, subject to agreement on definitive documentation and the preparation of an Invitation Memorandum by Ecuador.

The Ad Hoc Group is particularly gratified that following a collaborative and productive negotiation process, a consensus on the best way forward for Ecuador and its creditors has been found within a matter of weeks. The current restructuring process sets an important precedent for post-COVID emerging market sovereign debt resolutions, and demonstrates how a debtor-creditor relationship founded on principles of good faith and mutual understanding can lead to a positive outcome for all parties.

Contact: Erin Hershkowitz, +1 646 885 2200, erin.hershkowitz@whitecase.com
By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank AG admitted it made a 'critical mistake' taking on the registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a client, and agreed to pay a $150 million fine to settle New York charges over its dealings with the late financier and two other banks.

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank AG admitted it made a "critical mistake" taking on the registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a client, and agreed to pay a $150 million fine to settle New York charges over its dealings with the late financier and two other banks.

Tuesday's settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services is the first regulatory enforcement action against a bank related to Epstein, who committed suicide last August in a Manhattan jail, a month after his arrest for allegedly sexually exploiting dozens of girls and women.

"For years, Mr. Epstein's criminal, abusive behavior was widely known, yet big institutions continued to excuse that history and lend their credibility or services for financial gain," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

New York faulted Deutsche Bank's "significant compliance failures" in its dealings with Epstein, as well as with Danske Bank's Estonia branch, which is embroiled in a money laundering scandal, and the Federal Bank of the Middle East.

It said Deutsche Bank considered Epstein "high-risk" and knew of his history of sex trafficking and abuse, including his 2007 guilty plea to state prostitution charges, yet processed hundreds of transactions "obviously implicated" by his past.

These included payments to alleged accomplices, lawyers, victims, Russian models and women with Eastern European surnames.

Epstein was a Deutsche Bank client from August 2013 to December 2018, when the relationship ended following additional negative press about his misconduct.

The New York settlement reflected Deutsche Bank's cooperation over several years.

"Onboarding (Epstein) as a client in 2013 was a critical mistake and should never have happened," Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Christian Sewing told staff in a memo on Tuesday.

The bank also acknowledged deficiencies in its monitoring of Danske Estonia and FBME.

"We all have to help ensure that this kind of thing does not happen again," Sewing said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Tom Sims in Frankfurt; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Will Dunham and Marguerita Choy)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Jonathan Stempel, Tom Sims and John O'Donnell NEW YORK/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank will pay a $150 million fine from a New York regulator for allowing disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to make payments to Russian models and withdraw suspicious amounts of cash during five years as a client. Tuesday's settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services is the first such action against a bank related to Epstein. The registered sex offender committed suicide in a Manhattan jail in August, a month after his arrest for allegedly sexually exploiting dozens of girls and women

By Jonathan Stempel, Tom Sims and John O'Donnell

NEW YORK/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank will pay a $150 million fine from a New York regulator for allowing disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to make payments to Russian models and withdraw suspicious amounts of cash during five years as a client.

Tuesday's settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services is the first such action against a bank related to Epstein. The registered sex offender committed suicide in a Manhattan jail in August, a month after his arrest for allegedly sexually exploiting dozens of girls and women.

The fine is also another blow to Deutsche Bank's reputation as it goes through a major restructuring, following five years of losses totaling more than 15 billion euros ($17 billion).

"For years, Mr. Epstein's criminal, abusive behavior was widely known, yet big institutions continued to excuse that history and lend their credibility or services for financial gain," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

New York found "significant compliance failures" in Deutsche Bank's dealings with Epstein, who the bank had considered "high-risk". It also knew of Epstein's history of sex trafficking and abuse, including his 2007 guilty plea to state prostitution charges, yet ignored these "red flags" and processed hundreds of transactions "obviously implicated" by his past.

In its statement New York also criticized unrelated dealings by Germany's largest bank with Danske Bank's Estonia branch, which is embroiled in a massive money laundering scandal, and the Federal Bank of the Middle East.

Epstein was a Deutsche Bank client from August 2013 to December 2018, when the relationship ended after further negative press surfaced about his misconduct.

The transactions processed by the German bank included payments to alleged accomplices, lawyers, victims, Russian models and women with Eastern European surnames, and "suspicious" cash withdrawals averaging $200,000 a year.

'NOT SUSPICIOUS'

Email traffic showed that Deutsche Bank weighed the risks of retaining Epstein as a client but put them aside, enticed by the millions of dollars in annual revenue he might generate.

According to a consent order, two Deutsche Bank employees visited Epstein in his New York home in early 2015 and asked about new allegations of sex with underage girls.

But they appeared "satisfied" by Epstein's response and did nothing to verify the allegations, the consent order said.

The bank also chose in 2017 not to scrutinize payments to a Russian model and a Russian publicity agent. "[S]ince this type of activity is normal for this client it is not deemed suspicious," a compliance monitor said in an email.

New York said Epstein had more than 40 Deutsche Bank accounts, some of which were for the "Butterfly Trust", whose beneficiaries included co-conspirators in alleged sexual abuse.

This created a risk that payments could be used to "further or coverup criminal activity and perhaps even to endanger more young women," the New York settlement, which reflected Deutsche Bank's cooperation over several years, revealed.

Accepting Epstein as a client "was a critical mistake and should never have happened," Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Christian Sewing told staff in a memo.

The New York regulator said Deutsche Bank was also sanctioned for ignoring warning signs while processing billions of euros of payments for Danske Bank, which it ranked as "high-risk" in 2007, before shortly afterwards identifying alerts on its foreign customers with Russian or Latvian connections.

The German bank ignored internal warnings of the risks until late 2015, transferring at least $150 billion from Russia and other former Soviet states during that time.

Deutsche Bank also acknowledged deficiencies in its monitoring of Danske Estonia and FBME.

"We all have to help ensure that this kind of thing does not happen again," Sewing said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by John O'Donnell and Tom Sims in Frankfurt; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Will Dunham, Marguerita Choy and Alexander Smith)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Christopher Walljasper CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S.

By Christopher Walljasper

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. government delivered far less food aid than it had pledged by the end of June, according to food bank managers and data from the agriculture department sent to Reuters, after it hired inexperienced companies to box food during the pandemic.

The Farmers to Families Food Box program, one of several new government efforts to relieve struggling Americans, aimed to take food from farmers typically produced for restaurants and deliver it to the millions of people who lost their jobs or were otherwise hit by the coronavirus lockdown.

But the program has drawn criticism from food banks, analysts and some U.S. senators for awarding contracts to often inexperienced vendors that were unable to source the food and deliver it in a timely manner.

Data sent to Reuters shows the program fell short of its target to deliver $1.2 billion worth of food to food banks, churches, and other organizations in need by June 30, a goal announced when food box contracts were awarded to private venders on May 8.

As of July 1, the agency verified a total of 27.5 million food boxes delivered from the first round of the program, a USDA representative said in an email. That is equivalent to $755.5 million, according to calculations by Reuters based on the average cost of food boxes provided by USDA, or 63% of the $1.2 billion pledged.

Invoices are still being submitted to the USDA, the representative said, and final numbers of deliveries will be determined after all invoices have been collected and tabulated.

As of July 7, some 32 million food boxes had been verified delivered by the program, the USDA representative said in an email.

Overburdened food banks across the country were optimistic that the program would bring ready-to-deliver food to families in need.

The program, championed by the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, sought to build a bridge between people unable to buy enough food and farmers who were dumping milk, euthanizing hogs and destroying lettuce fields as demand from shuttered restaurants fell off.

But deliveries were slow to start and have amounted to less than promised as some of the companies involved had never worked with food banks or even wholesale food distribution.

"We're getting about 60% of what we were told we would get," said Brian Greene, CEO of the Houston Food Bank, in an email. "Some of it was vendors couldn't do what they said they would do."

The USDA representative, who asked not to be named, said the agency is continuing to review food deliveries to ensure quality and safety standards. USDA canceled two contracts within the first few weeks of the program, and did not renew 16 others. The agency representative did not comment on the June 30 delivery shortfall, but said that unused funds from the programs initial contract period would be available for future purchases.

The Trump administration announced up to $3 billion for the Food Box program in April as part of a broader aid initiative for farmers.

Last week, the USDA said it was renewing $1.2 billion in food box contracts from more than 185 food distributors to be delivered by the end of August. The agency is also offering new contracts to 16 new food distributors totaling $180 million.

'SUPPOSED TO EASE THE BURDEN'

With vendors falling short on deliveries, food banks have reassigned employees to manage the program and volunteered their own trucks to get the food into the hands of those who need it.

"We're dedicating significant staff time to coordinate these deliveries - in some case we have to do the deliveries ourselves," said Greg Trotter, senior manager of public relations for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. "It was supposed to ease some burden from food banks. That has not been the case here for us."

When the deliveries come through, Trotter said the program has provided high-quality food to a rising number of out-of-work Americans. The Greater Chicago Food Depository has seen a 90% increase in people served since January.

By early June, the number of Americans facing food insecurity doubled compared with pre-coronavirus, according to data from U.S. Census Bureau's weekly Household Pulse Survey.

Among the vendors not renewed in the second round was event planner Texas-based CRE8AD8 LLC. The company, pronounced "Create a Date," had to hire people for every role needed to fulfill its $39.13 million contract.

According to the Houston Food Bank's Greene, CRE8AD8 delivered just 17 of its 90 promised food box loads.

(Reporting by Christopher Walljasper in Chicago; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Matthew Lewis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
India decided in April that all investments by entities in neighbouring countries need to be approved by the government  a policy Chinese investors called discriminatory.

New Delhi: The Indian 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 coronavirus outbreak. However, industry executives say a deterioration in bilateral relations since a clash along the countries contested border last month, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, could further delay approvals.

Various clearances are required. We are being a bit more cautious as one would imagine, said a senior Indian government official in New Delhi, when asked about the impact on investment applications since the border clash.

Indias industries department under the commerce ministry, which drafted the new policy, did not respond to a request for comment.

The sources declined to name the companies whose investments are pending approvals, due to confidentiality concerns.

The official, and two other sources, said about 40-50 applications involving funding from Chinese investors have been filed since the rule change and are currently under review.

One of the sources said that multiple Indian government agencies, including the Indian consulates in China, have been communicating with investors and their representatives to seek clarifications on the proposals.

Alok Sonker, a partner at Indian law firm Krishnamurthy & Co, said at least 10 Chinese clients had sought his advice in recent weeks for investing in India, but were waiting for more clarity on the policy outlook in India.

Uncertainty in timelines for the investment approval is dissuading parties, both Indian and Chinese, from proceeding with business as usual, Sonker said.

Last week India banned 59, mostly Chinese, mobile apps including Bytedances TikTok and Tencents WeChat, in its strongest move yet targeting China in the online space since the border crisis erupted last month. The move has potentially dented big Chinese businesses expansion plans for the South Asian market.

Chinese companies existing and planned investments in India stand at more than $26 billion, research group Brookings said in March.
By Tracy Rucinski CHICAGO (Reuters) - The largest U.S. air carriers have all signed letters of intent on federal loans to help them weather the novel coronavirus, with United Airlines warning employees that a surge in outbreaks was hitting bookings, threatening a travel rebound. U.S

COVID-19 surge" src="https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/reuters/07-2020/08/2020-07-07T144326Z_1_LYNXMPEG66172_RTROPTP_2_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-UNITED-ARLNS.jpg" alt="Largest US airlines move towards federal loans United warns about COVID19 surge" width="300" height="225" />

By Tracy Rucinski

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The largest U.S. air carriers have all signed letters of intent on federal loans to help them weather the novel coronavirus , with United Airlines warning employees that a surge in outbreaks was hitting bookings, threatening a travel rebound.

U.S. airline shares lost 3.8% in midday trade .

Airlines have already received $25 billion in payroll aid under the coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress in March, and are eligible for another $25 billion loan program.

United was among five carriers - along with Alaska Airlines , Delta Air Lines , JetBlue Airways , and Southwest Airlines - that the U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday had signed letters regarding the loan terms, which would include the issue of warrants and restrictions on executive compensation and share buybacks.

"We look forward to working with the airlines to finalize agreements and provide the airlines the ability to access these loans if they so choose," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

Last week, the department said it had agreed on the terms for government loans under with five other airlines including American Airlines .

U.S. carriers, suffering the industry's worst crisis as the coronavirus pandemic crushes demand, have until Sept. 30 to decide whether to take the loan. They can furlough or eliminate jobs starting Oct. 1.

Travel has picked up in some areas over the past two months as economies open up and travel restrictions loosen, though a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in some U.S. states has triggered more restrictions and started to weigh on bookings again.

In an internal presentation on Monday, United said reservations for travel within the coming month quickly began to slide after New York, New Jersey and Connecticut said they would require people arriving from hot-spot states to quarantine for 14 days, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The slump was most pronounced at United's Newark hub, where near-term net bookings were just about 16% of year-ago levels as of July 1.

United told employees to prepare to receive notifications of potential furloughs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as the WARN Act, as soon as this week, the person said.

Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth said in an investor note that the bookings trend was likely much broader than the New York area, noting that at least 14 states are requiring out-of-state visitors to undergo a 14-day quarantine.

Delta, which kicks off second quarter airline results on July 14, said last week that it may scale back the number of flights it had planned to add in August due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.

U.S. airlines have already drastically reduced their flight capacity and rushed to shore up capital while warning that tens of thousands of jobs could be at risk in the fall as the industry braces for a slow recovery.

In an effort to avoid forced job reductions, they are encouraging employees to accept early departure packages.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Nick Zieminski and Marguerita Choy)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
MEXICO CITY/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not visit Washington with Mexico's president this week to celebrate a new North American trade deal, his office said Monday, after Canada raised concerns over potential U.S. aluminum tariffs.

MEXICO CITY/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not visit Washington with Mexico's president this week to celebrate a new North American trade deal, his office said Monday, after Canada raised concerns over potential U.S. aluminum tariffs.

In a Monday morning phone call, Trudeau told Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador he hoped the talks with U.S. President Donald Trump would be successful.

Lopez Obrador, who had urged Trudeau to join him, is due to meet Trump at the White House on Wednesday on his first trip outside of Mexico since taking office 19 months ago.

Trudeau will be attending Cabinet meetings and a sitting of parliament in Ottawa, his office said in a statement on Monday.

"We wish the United States and Mexico well at Wednesday's meeting," the statement said.

Trudeau last week said he was not sure about attending, citing tensions over possible U.S. tariffs on Canadian aluminum. Trudeau also flagged concerns over the novel coronavirus .

In their call, Trudeau "expressed regret" to Lopez Obrador that he could not go to Washington, Trudeau's office said.

Their discussion also touched on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal that went into effect last week, efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, and investment in renewable energy infrastructure.

The two leaders expressed interest in meeting in person, Trudeau's office said, without providing further detail.

Lopez Obrador said Trudeau was invited to Mexico, and after their call announced that the Canadian prime minister had agreed to visit the country "as soon as possible."

Lopez Obrador said he will undergo a coronavirus test before leaving Mexico on Tuesday, and was prepared to have another in the United States if necessary. Lopez Obrador said he plans to return to Mexico from Washington on Thursday.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Jonathan Oatis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
BERLIN (Reuters) - The administrator of collapsed German payments firm Wirecard said on Tuesday that more than 100 investors have expressed interest in buying the company's core business and its holdings.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The administrator of collapsed German payments firm Wirecard said on Tuesday that more than 100 investors have expressed interest in buying the company's core business and its holdings.

"The aim is to find timely investor solutions in the interest of creditors, employees and customers," Michael Jaffe said in a statement after a meeting of creditors.

Jaffe added that the sale of Wirecard North America's assets was most advanced, with investment bank Moelis & Company already mandated to support such a sale.

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.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Edward Taylor)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Halle Berry later tweeted that she was no longer considering the role.

Hollywood star Halle Berry has apologised and pulled out from playing a transgender character in a movie following criticism on social media.

The 53-year-old actor had spoken about the role during an Instagram Live interview.

"(The film is about) a character where the woman is a trans character, so she's a woman that transitioned into a man," Berry said in the interview with hairstylist Christin Brown.

"She's a character in a project I love that I might be doing."

The announcement was followed by severe social media backlash with many people highlighting the issue of cisgender actors playing transgender roles in Hollywood.

Berry apologised on Monday night and tweeted that she was no longer considering the role.

Here is her tweet

Hollywood is waking up to criticism when it comes to trans representation onscreen. In the past, cisgender actors have played trans characters be it Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club or Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl.

In 2018, Scarlett Johansson was cast to play Dante Tex Gill, a transgender man, in Rupert Sanders' Rub and Tug. She dropped out from the role after owing to severe backlash from the LGBTQ+ community.

(With inputs from Press Trust of India)
In his statement, Johnny Depp painted himself as a peacemaker who tried to de-escalate things.

Johnny Depp gave evidence in a London court on Tuesday, denying claims that he hit ex-wife Amber Heard and accusing her of assaulting him and depicting him as a monster.

Depp sat in the witness box in a wood-paneled High Court courtroom on the first day of his libel case against The Sun over an article that branded him a wife-beater. The Pirates of the Caribbean star began by taking the court oath and giving his full name: John Christopher Depp II.

Depp is suing the tabloids publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an 2018 story alleging he was violent and abusive to model-actress Heard during their short, tempestuous marriage. Depp strongly denies the claim.

Depp said Heard had said to the world that she was in fear of her life from me, and I had been this horrible monster if you will. Which was not the case.

Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, met on the set of the 2011 comedy The Rum Diary and married in Los Angeles in February 2015. They divorced in 2017, and now bitterly accuse one another of abuse.

Depp and Heard arrived by separate entrances at the neo-Gothic court building on the opening day of the three-week trial, one of the first to be held in person since Britain began to lift its coronavirus lockdown. Both wore face coverings over their noses and mouths. Proceedings have been spread over several courtrooms to allow for social distancing.

Witnesses are scheduled to include Depps former partners, Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder, both of whom have submitted statements supporting him.

Depps claim centers on an April 2018 story in The Sun headlined: Potty - How can JK Rowling be genuinely happy casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?

While Heard isnt on trial, the case is also a showdown between the former spouses, who accuse each other of being controlling, violent and untruthful.

Describing one incident in which Heard claims he hit her, Depp said the opposite was true.

As things tended to do, (it) escalated and got physical, ending with a bit of assault. Ms Heard struck me, he said.

He painted himself as a peacemaker who tried to de-escalate things.

Whenever it would escalate I would try to go to my own corner, as it were...before things got out of hand, he said.

The Suns defense relies on Heards allegations of 14 incidents of violence by Depp between 2013 and 2016, in locations including Los Angeles, Australia, Japan, the Bahamas and on a private jet. He denies them all and says Heard attacked him with items including a drink can and a cigarette. He also claims that on one occasion Heard or one of her friends defecated on his bed.

She was the abuser, not him, Depps lead lawyer, David Sherborne, said in a written statement.

She is a highly complex and aggressive individual who suffered extreme mood swings, would provoke endless circular arguments, and fly into violent rages.

The case is set to put the two performers complex private lives under a microscope.

Under cross-examination by The Suns lawyer, Sasha Wass, Depp acknowledged taking myriad drugs over the years, including marijuana, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and prescription pharmaceuticals.

He said his drug use began when he was an 11-year-old child with not a particularly stable or secure or safe home life. He said it was the only way that I found to numb the pain.

Wass also tried to depict Depp as someone with an anger management problem, bringing up an 1989 arrest for assault and a later incident in which he damaged a New York hotel room.

I was angry, but that doesnt mean I have an anger problem, Depp said.

In pre-trial wrangling, The Suns lawyers tried to have the suit thrown out on the grounds that Depp failed to disclose text messages he exchanged with an assistant showing that he tried to buy MDMA and other narcotics while he was in Australia with Heard in 2015.

Heard alleges that Depp subjected her to a three-day ordeal of physical assaults while they were in the country after drinking and taking drugs.

The newspapers lawyer, Adam Wolanski, said withholding the texts was a breach of a previous court order requiring Depp to provide all documents from separate libel proceedings against Heard in the United States. Depp is suing Heard for $50 million for allegedly defaming him in a Washington Post article about domestic abuse. That case is due to be heard next year.

Last week, judge Andrew Nicol ruled that Depp had breached the court order, but refused to throw out the actors claim.

He also rejected an attempt by Depp to force Heard to disclose evidence including communications with actor James Franco and Space-X founder Elon Musk, with whom she allegedly had affairs while involved with Depp.

The judge said the issue of Heards extramarital relations was irrelevant to the central issue in the case, which is whether Mr. Depp assaulted Ms Heard.

Depps lawyer, Sherborne, said the actor had brought the case to clear his reputation.

This is not a case about money, he said. It is about vindication.
Tom Hanks speaks about safety precautions during coronavirus and how Greyhound mirrors the themes of a pandemic-stricken world

Since contracting COVID-19 in March, Tom Hanks has been, by most measures, busy. He and his wife, Rita Wilson, flew home after recuperating in Australia, where he had been shooting Baz Luhrmanns Elvis Presley film. He hosted a from-home episode of Saturday Night Live, an already distant enough memory that it takes a beat for him to remember it. And he saw his new World War II naval drama Greyhound steered from theatrical release by Sony Pictures to Apple TV+  the streaming services biggest movie yet.

Theres sort of an ongoing physiological maintenance for your brain and for your body that weve been following through, Hanks says, speaking by video conference from his home in California. What can you do but try to bind up the hay in neat little bundles. Thats what weve been doing. Just going into the barn with the baling machine, saying, Well, we got all this hay. Lets at least stack it up and get it ready for the next day.

On going public with diagnosis of coronavirus

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For many, Hanks contraction of COVID-19 was the first loud alarm bell that went off in the early days of the pandemic. If Americas Dad could get it, so could anyone. The decision to go public with their diagnoses, Hanks said, was twofold. He didnt want any rumours about why the production was shut down. And if he was going to serve as an overdue public service announcement, so be it.

Why hide from the facts? he says. These were the facts.

The ordeal, one experienced with varying severity and symptoms between Hanks and Wilson, gave him a perspective on differing national responses to the coronavirus . The comparison with Australia, Hanks grants, isnt a favourable one for the United States. But he says, theres no need for another dump truck to unload all the things that have gone wrong in the US.

The US leads the world in coronavirus deaths and infections.

(Click here for LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak)

On following safety precautions

At the very least, three tiny things (are) in everybodys wheelhouse, if you choose to do them, Hanks says. Wear a mask, wash your hands, social distance. If you cant do that, I dont have much respect for you.

Here we are. And lets just all do our part, eh? says Hanks. Can we not all just wear a mask and social distance and wash our hands? It sounds pretty simple to me, and if you have a problem with that, I certainly wouldnt trust you with a drivers license. Chances are youll drive as fast as you want to, never use your turn signal and aim for pedestrians.

On Greyhound and its themes mirroring post- Coronavirus reality

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Before the pandemic, Greyhound was going to hit theaters in early June, smack in between Wonder Woman 1984 and Top Gun 2. We were going to fight like the scrappy runt of a litter in order to get somebody to pay attention to us, says Hanks.

Greyhound was made for a big, massive, immersive experience that can really only come out when youre in a movie theater with at least 100 other people. But with the pandemic, weve got to roll with these punches and put it online for home viewing, he said.

Now, Greyhound will head straight into homes as a marquee event with little competition of similar scale or star power. A Tom Hanks-led, special effects-laden WWII movie is a weight class above most straight-to-streaming options in this strange summer movie season.

When everything went kablooey, we began to imagine, Well, we have this movie about the stasis of characters in the middle of something of which they have no idea how long its going to last, says Hanks. We didnt expect a worldwide pandemic to mirror the theme and the action of the movie.

This is just about yesterday, today and tomorrow, Hanks says. Those three days are pretty much all humanity has.

Greyhound has long been a pet project for the 63-year-old actor. He wrote the script, adapted from CS Foresters 1955 novel The Good Shepherd, a book first given to him by his late friend and Sleepless in Seattle director Nora Ephron.

It just stuck with him, says Gary Goetzman, Hanks producing partner and co-founder of their company, Playtone. As happens with him, hell ruminate about a certain idea, it goes in his blender, and one day he just put a script on my desk and very much wanted to make it.

Hanks had approached others to write it and met with other filmmakers. But they tended to envision a grander version of the film.

I said, I love you so much but thats not the point of what were trying to do, Hanks says. Were trying to condense this. Were trying to get as much coffee in the can.

Instead, he found a director in Aaron Schneider, a veteran cinematographer who last helmed 2010s Get Low, with Robert Duvall.

Tom always called it the perfect little 90-minute movie, Schneider says. From the beginning, his point of entry was about maintaining this almost hyper-subjective point of view in terms of this captains experience. You would throw the audience into his world, sticking to over his shoulder.

Hanks, of course, has been in similar worlds before. Hes been a captain four times previously, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, Sully and  his last time manning the bridge  Captain Phillips. A voracious reader of history, hes returned frequently to WWII. With Steven Spielberg, Hanks is currently developing for Apple a third miniseries, following The Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

For Hanks, whose father served in the Navy, his attachment to the era goes deeper than DNA. Its about connecting to the wartime mentality of survival and sacrifice.

On working on projects related to World War II

Im asked by every journalist, Why do you keep going back to World War II? says Hanks. The answer is because I come back to that position of the stress upon a human beings psyche. It doesnt have to be a captain, necessarily, on board a destroyer in the middle of the North Atlantic. It can be on an 8-year-old kid or a 24-year-old woman or even a 54-year-old man back in the United States wondering, Are we going to live or die? Are we going to be free or not? How long is it going to go on? To me, thats the human condition in every circumstance, even in today in 2020.

(With inputs from agencies)
Some experts told Firstpost that the government is willing to fast-track regulation, which is a risk they are willing to take, after completing 'due protocols to check the safety of the drug'

Global scientists and researchers are on the hunt for a safe and effective vaccine for the novel coronavirus , as countries ease restrictions, in an attempt to up-lift economies.

With the virus spreading over 180 countries, the race to find a vaccine has been fast-tracked with UK's Oxford-AstraZeneca candidate the clear frontrunner, which is now already on large-scale, late-stage trials.

World Health Organisations (WHO) chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, has dubbed the Oxford-AstraZeneca experimental vaccine as the worlds leading candidate and most advanced in terms of development.

Another contender, not far behind, is the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna Inc, with their experimental trials for a vaccine underway in collaboration with American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and European biotechnology company BioNTech.

As per The Wall Street Journal, researchers have said that the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech SE have shown promising signs of working in an early-stage study.

While global biotech and pharmaceutical giants are already showing progress with their vaccine trials, India is not far behind, with at least seven Indian companies  Zydus Cadila, Serum Institute, Biological E, Bharat Biotech, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Panacea Biotec  all working on a vaccine.

Where does India stand in the global vaccine race?

COVAXIN, which has recently made headlines, is Indias first indigenous candidate vaccine, developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International (BBIL). It is all set to start human trials from this month.

Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila Healthcare has recently also received the go-ahead from the DCGI for human clinical trials, according to PTI.

Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer in terms of dosage, is one of the partner firms for AstraZenecas and Oxfords COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The vaccine has now entered its final phase of human trials.

India seems to have made good progress and is already working with other countries in developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus . But what makes India an ideal partner for global pharmaceutical companies?

How has India emerged as the top choice for global players?

According to a report by the Indian Brand Equity Foundation, the pharmaceutical sector in India supplies over 50 percent of the global demand for various vaccines, 40 percent of the generic demand for the US, and 25 percent of all medicines for the UK.

India currently enjoys one of the top positions in the global pharmaceuticals market, with over 80 percent of the antiretroviral drugs used to combat AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) being supplied by Indian pharmaceutical firms.

This makes India an ideal choice for manufacturing vaccines as historically, the needed for lower health costs have contributed to countries like the US, UK to shift their manufacturing to overseas sites like India. Currently, according to the WHO, about 140 vaccines are in different stages of trials around the world, with 16 vaccines candidates have entered late-stage trials-clinical trials. Of these 16, five are being studied in China, three in the US, two in the UK, and one each in Australia, Germany, and Russia.

In the early days, when India started its vaccine programmes in the 1960s, it had partnered with global bodies like WHO, which allowed international technology to be supplied to developing countries free of cost, said Dr Kuppusamy Mosuvan, Managing Director of Hyderabad-based firm Tergene Biotech.

Dr Vincent Dammai, president, Biosimilars & Biologics Inc who is currently based in the US told Firstpost that India was always seen as a global partner and with the Indian government protecting Indian manufacturers, by discouraging international companies from setting up a manufacturing base in the country, this helped the industry grow in the country.

As it stands today, India has skilled labour, sophisticated manufacturing infrastructure, and is connected to the global distribution network to attract large investments. A combination of all these features makes Indian biotech companies highly attractive said the US-based doctor, Dammai.

But there's a hitch.

ICMR's ambitious 15 August deadline

Recently, the ICMR had said that it wanted to launch, COVAXIN, developed by Bharat Biotech, for public health use latest by 15 August.

According to a study by scientific journal PLOS One, vaccine development, on an average, takes 10.71 years from the preclinical phase, and has a success rate of six percent.

Some experts that Firstpost spoke to said that the government is willing to fast-track regulation, which is a risk they are willing to take, after completing "due protocols to check the safety of the drug".

The government can speed-up regulation if it feels the drug is safe for consumption after evaluation of the data, said Dr Naveen Thacker, Executive Director of the International Pediatric Association.

But to evaluate if a vaccine is safe, data should be ready, which can only be done if Phase 1, 2, and 3 trials are done, which according to most experts takes about four months to complete.

Dr Anant Bhan, a researcher in global health, bioethics, and health policy, spoke to Firstpost in this article about the extreme urgency of the situation. Its understandable for a pandemic of this scale. But we cant compromise on the safety and the efficacy aspects. Collapsing the entire process to just 45 days is unlikely, and almost impossible, he said.

While some have raised alarm bells over the deadline given by the ICMR, others explain how this is a path that can be used by the government for emergency purposes for restricted use'.

Emergency-use authorisation for restricted use only

The ICMR has defended the 15 August deadline, saying that it is important to expedite the clinical trials for a promising indigenous vaccine in the larger public interest. All other vaccine candidates across the globe have been similarly fast-tracked, it said.

Although most say that the deadline given is almost impossible for public use, the government can allow emergency-use authorisation of vaccines, but with restrictions in place.

For example, only certain age groups with no comorbid conditions can be given a dosage. The government, on its discretion, can allow the emergency authorisation of the vaccine, for vulnerable groups, said Dr Vikram Paradkar, senior vice-president, Technical Operations of Biological E.

India is not the only country to make use of such emergency powers. Recently, Chinas military has received the green light to use a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by its research unit and CanSino Biologics after clinical trials proved it was safe and showed some efficacy, reports Reuters. Chinas Central Military Commission has approved the use of the vaccine by the military on 25 June for a period of one year.

Mosuvan told Firstpost, It is in my 40 years of experience that the government will likely allow restricted licensing to be given to vulnerable groups like military, hospital staff workers, while the company will continue to test the drug in Phase 3 trials."

Once Phase 3 is over, then the company (in this case, Bharat Biotech) will be allowed to approach the government for mass-production for the common public after there is enough data to prove that the vaccine is safe. That is my prediction, for now, we can only wait and see what actually happens. Mosuvan added.

"Ultimately, this is all a trial and error method, which works purely on data. Without data, it is hard to say for sure which vaccine will work. Data is collected through these trials. So without trials, there is no data for us to say for sure if a vaccine is ready for use." noted Paradkar

Most experts remain optimistic, saying they trust Indias scientists and researchers and predict the vaccine will hit the markets by year-end or at most, mid-2021.
While five repatriation trips were done by ships to Male in Maldives, two were done by ships to Bandar Abbas in Iran and one to Colombo in Sri Lanka

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The US has accused the WHO of siding with China on the outbreak of the virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, alleging the health body misled the world resulting in deaths of over half a million people globally, including over 130,000 in America.

The Trump administration has formally notified the United Nations of its decision to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization, officials said, breaking off ties with the global health body amid the expanding coronavirus pandemic, reports PTI.

A statement on Tuesday by the chief secretary for President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the removal of Obediah Moyo.

Zimbabwe's health minister has been fired for inappropriate conduct after he was accused of illegally awarding a multi-million-dollar contract for COVID-19 medical supplies to a shadowy company that sold the government 28 face masks and other materials at inflated prices, reports AP.

The US coronavirus outbreak crossed a grim milestone of over 30 lakh confirmed cases on Tuesday as more states reported record numbers of new infections, and Florida faced an impending shortage of intensive care unit hospital beds.

Kolkata city has 33 containment zones, while in neighbouring South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal, there are 155 and 219 such zones, respectively, according to an official data, reports PTI.

The containment zones and buffer zones around them will be clubbed together and constitute a "broad-based" containment zone where a total lockdown will be imposed from 5 pm on Thursday, a government order signed by Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Alapan Bandyopadhyay, said.

Battling a surge in COVID-19 cases, the West Bengal government Tuesday decided to clamp a "total" lockdown in containment and buffer zones after merging them together, and impose tough restrictions on public mobility and trade from 9 July, reports PTI.

The use of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients has become highly politicized in the US but it is used widely in India, a top White House official has said, asserting latest research showed the malaria drug is highly effective in early stages of COVID-19, reports PTI.

International students will still have to obtain an appropriate visa and may still be subject to other visa processing or travel restrictions due to COVID19, it further said, adding students should check with the local US embassy or consulate for information specific to their country

The state department said that this temporary accommodation provides greater flexibility for nonimmigrant students to continue their education in the United States, while also allowing for proper social distancing on open and operating campuses across America.

The US Department of Homeland Security has announced its plan for temporary modifications to F-1&M-1 nonimmigrant visa requirements for the fall 2020 semester, reports ANI. This will allow a mixture of both in-person and some online coursework to meet requirements for nonimmigrant student status, said the US Department of State.

The World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the coronavirus pandemic still has not reached its peak globally. The outbreak is accelerating and weve clearly not reached the peak of the pandemic, he adds.

A total of 1,04,73,771 samples tested for COVID19 till date. Of these, 2,62,679 samples were tested yesterday, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Indias coronavirus total rose to 7,42,417, with 22,752 new cases in 24 hours reported on Wednesday morning. The toll increases by 482 to 20,642. More than 4.56 lakh people have recovered.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asks the health secretary to share a detailed analysis of factors behind all Covid-19 deaths in the Capital in the last two weeks, reports ANI.

With 2,17,121 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far, Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu (1,18,594) and Delhi (1,02,831).

"Everybody wants it. The moms want it. The dads want it. The kids want it. It's time to do it," he said. "We want to get our schools open, we want to get them open quickly, beautifully, in the fall" the president added.

US President Donald Trump lashed out at Harvard University calling its decision to move all its courses online in the fall due to the coronavirus pandemic "ridiculous, reports AFP.

Karnataka Chief Minsiter BS Yediyurappa holds an emergency meeting with Deputy Chief Minister A Narayan over the COVID-19 situation in the state.

With the death of seven more patients, the COVID-19 toll in Odisha climbed to 49 on Wednesday. While six died because of the viral infection, one patient succumbed due to comorbidities, said the state health department.

The PIL was filed by advocate Srikishan Sharma seeking a direction to the stateg overnment to take action against the private hospitals for charging exorbitantly and issue guidelines for maintaining transparency in the matter of treatment and billing against all the patients.

The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to file a report on a petition alleging that private hospitals were charging excessively from COVID-19 patients beyond the limit prescribed by the government.

"The total number of positive cases in the state rises to 21,577 including 478 deaths, 16,583 recovered and 16,208 discharged," said Rajasthan Health Department.

After 173 more individuals tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Rajasthan, the total number of cases jumped to 21,577 on Wednesday. The COVID-19 toll stood at 478 with six more deaths, said the state health department.

Behera had come in contact with BJP's Nilgiri MLA Sukanta Kumar Nayak, who tested positive for the infection on Monday, and has been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Balasore, the official said. Behera's personal security officer and driver have also contracted the disease, he said.

Ruling BJD MLA Prasant Behera has tested positive for COVID-19, the second legislator in Odisha to have contracted the disease, an official said on Wednesday. The lawmaker from Salipur in Cuttack district was admitted to a COVID-19 hospital, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday wished Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro a speedy recovery from COVID-19. Bolsonaro had on Tuesday said that he has tested positive for coronavirus.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday inaugurated a Plasma Therapy Unit for treating COVID-19 patients at the Seven Hills Hospital in suburban Andheri and urged those who have recovered from the deadly infection to help save lives by donating blood plasma.

A 40-year-old Delhi Police constable who was undergoing treatment for liver-related complications at a hospital here has passed away, 12 days after testing positive for COVID-19, officials said on Wednesday, reports PTI.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan said the petition does not point out any instance where testing for COVID-19 has been denied in such zones and asked the petitioner, a lawyer, to either withdraw the plea or face costs.

The Delhi High Court Wednesday declined to entertain a PIL which alleged lack of access to testing facility in "non-containment or de-containment zones" and sought house-to-house survey and testing in such areas to identify cases of COVID-19 infection, reports PTI.

The BJP MLA from Valsad district is the first state minister to have contracted the viral infection.

A Gujarat minister has tested positive for coronavirus, state Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on Wednesday. "The minister has been admitted to a hospital in Ahmedabad after he tested positive for coronavirus," Patel, who holds charge of the health department, said ahead of the state cabinet meeting in Gandhinagar.

Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar says the surge in the number of cases in Bengaluru was expected but the extent was not known, reports PTI. In Bengaluru we were aware that there would be a surge in the number of infections when we relaxed the lockdown, but the information that came to us did not show that it will be to this extent, he adds.

The chief minister had recently come in contact with Drinking and Sanitation Minister Mithilesh Thakur who has tested positive for COVID-19. Soren has also urged staff members of the Chief Minister's Office to go into home quarantine, it said.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has quarantined himself at his Ranchi residence after a cabinet minister whom he had met recently tested positive for COVID-19, an official statement said on Wednesday.

He will also be interacting with representatives from Varanasi-based NGOs tomorrow; efforts of these organizations towards food distribution and other assistance measures during lockdown to be discussed.

During the lockdown, over 100 organisations in Varanasi distributed almost 20 lakh food packets and 2 lakh dry ration kits via food cell of District Administration through individual efforts, reports ANI, quoting the Prime Minister's office. Narendra Modi will interact with representatives of such organisations tomorrow via video conferencing to discuss their experience.

Bengaluru Mayor M Gautham Kumar is under home quarantine after his Personal Assistant tested positive for COVID-19, a city civic body official told PTI on Wednesday.

India may record about 2.87 lakh projected cases of the novel coronavirus per day by the end of winter 2021 in the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine or drug interventions, according to a modeling study by the researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

"He participated in a couple of events on Tuesday at the secretariat with Chief Minister Edappadi and other officials. The total number of MLAs who have tested #COVID19 positive in the state has risen to 11," the report said.

He said, "In view of the need for continuous support to the poor and needy, Cabinet approves extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana  allocation of additional foodgrain for further five months from July to November 2020. So far, about 74.3 crore beneficiaries have been covered in April, 74.75 crore in May and about 64.72 crore in June 2020."

"During the last 24 hours, a total of 16,883 COVID-19 patients have been cured, taking the cumulative figure of recovered cases to 4,56,830 so far. The rate of recovery among COVID-19 patients continues to increase over the days. It has touched 61.53 percent today," the statement said.

The Union health ministry said that the COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 61.53 percent on Wednesday.

The Union health ministry is likely to hold a briefing on the coronavirus situation in the country on Thursday at 4 pm, ThePrint reported . Thursday's briefing will be the first in a month.

Congress MP from Silchar Sushmita Dev reportedly tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. Barak Bulletin quoted her as saying that, "I am asymptomatic and will follow the protocol."

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

A total of 301 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Kerala on Wednesday: Of this 99 from abroad, 95 from other states and 90 through contacts. The tally includes 107 recovered/cured and 2,605 active cases.

Yes, we are panicked because no shops will be open from tomorrow in my area. I came to Spencer's to buy daily essentials for at least one month. The situation is very concerning as children are unable to attend their classes in schools, office-goers cant go to their respective workplaces, traders are crying, patients will be having a harrowing time...God knows what is in store for us, Gurmeet, an interior designer, who stays in Rajarhat was quoted by the report as saying.

People rushed to essential goods shops and ATMs in the containment zones in West Bengal ahead of a strict lockdown being imposed by the state government from Thursday, News18 reported.

Reports said 6,603 new coronavirus cases and 198 deaths were reported in Maharashtra on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections to 2,23,724 and death toll to 9,448. Of the total new cases, 1,347 cases were from Mumbai.

Private hospitals have agreed to provide 3,500 beds for COVID-19 treatment. Together with beds and COVID care centres, private hospitals will add 6,000 to 7,000 beds in coming days, said Karnataka medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar.

Delhi Education Minister has expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9th to12th for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). pic.twitter.com/Mi9QmCNdiC

Delhi education minister on Wednesday expressed 'reservations and concern over the manner and content of the syllabus reduction' of classes 9 to12 for the academic session 2020-21 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

A total of 301 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Kerala on Wednesday: Of this 99 from abroad, 95 from other states and 90 through contacts. The tally includes 107 recovered/cured and 2,605 active cases.

Yes, we are panicked because no shops will be open from tomorrow in my area. I came to Spencer's to buy daily essentials for at least one month. The situation is very concerning as children are unable to attend their classes in schools, office-goers cant go to their respective workplaces, traders are crying, patients will be having a harrowing time...God knows what is in store for us, Gurmeet, an interior designer, who stays in Rajarhat was quoted by the report as saying.

People rushed to essential goods shops and ATMs in the containment zones in West Bengal ahead of a strict lockdown being imposed by the state government from Thursday, News18 reported.

Reports said 6,603 new coronavirus cases and 198 deaths were reported in Maharashtra on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections to 2,23,724 and death toll to 9,448. Of the total new cases, 1,347 cases were from Mumbai.

Private hospitals have agreed to provide 3,500 beds for COVID-19 treatment. Together with beds and COVID care centres, private hospitals will add 6,000 to 7,000 beds in coming days, said Karnataka medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar.

1,381 new coronavirus cases and 62 deaths were reported in Mumbai today. Total number of cases in the city is now at 87,513, including 59,238 recovered, 23,214 active cases and 5,061 deaths, reports ANI quoting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Goa on Wednesday recorded the highest single-day rise of 136 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total count to 2,039, state Health department said. With 51 people being discharged in the day, the number of the recovered cases in the state has risen to 1,207, it said, adding that the number of active cases now stands at 824. The death toll so far stood at 8.

The Indian Navy on Wednesday said it has completed Operation Samudra Setu, which began on May 5, by bringing nearly 4,000 Indians back home from three countries amid the coronavirus pandemic. "Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa (Landing Platform Dock), and Airavat, Shardul and Magar (Landing Ship Tanks) participated in this operation which lasted over 55 days and involved traversing more than 23,000 kilometers by sea," the Navy said in a statement. While five repatriation trips were done by ships to Male in Maldives, two were done to Bandar Abbas in Iran and one was done to Colombo in Sri Lanka under this operation. "The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on ships and seafarers due to the compact environment and forced ventilation systems on board ships," the statement noted. The greatest challenge for the Indian Navy was to avoid any incident of outbreak of the infection on board the ships during the evacuation operation, itsaid.

The new facility is equipped with CCTV cameras, mental health counsellors, specialist and arrangements for food to ensure proper care of patients. Out of the total 500 beds, 350 have been reserved for men, 100 for women and 50 for high-dependency patients. The NGO has deployed a team of 80 doctors and 150 nurses for the treatment of patients at the facility.

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday inaugurated a 500-bed COVID care centre at the Commonwealth Games Village, with the latter saying there is no shortage of beds for coronavirus patients in the city now. Doctors For You, a not-for-profit organisation, supported the Delhi government in setting up the facility which is attached to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital.

COVID-19 cases continued to surge in Telangana with a single day highest of 1,924 being added and 11 deaths reported on Wednesday, taking the infection tally to 29,536 and toll to 324. Of the fresh cases, 1,590 were reported from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area, followed by Ranga Reddy and Medchal districts with 99 and 43 cases respectively.

Coronavirus LATEST Updates: The Indian Navy on Wednesday said it has completed Operation Samudra Setu, which began on 5 May, by bringing nearly 4,000 Indians back home from three countries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Private hospitals have agreed to provide 3,500 beds for COVID-19 treatment. Together with beds and COVID care centres, private hospitals will add 6,000 to 7,000 beds in coming days, said Karnataka medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar.

People rushed to essential goods shops and ATMs in the containment zones in West Bengal ahead of a strict lockdown being imposed by the state government from Thursday, News18 reported.

Yes, we are panicked because no shops will be open from tomorrow in my area. I came to Spencer's to buy daily essentials for at least one month. The situation is very concerning as children are unable to attend their classes in schools, office-goers cant go to their respective workplaces, traders are crying, patients will be having a harrowing time...God knows what is in store for us, Gurmeet, an interior designer, who stays in Rajarhat was quoted by the report as saying.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan is scheduled to chair a meeting of Group of ministers (GoM) on the coronavirus situation in the country on Thursday morning.

Congress MP from Silchar Sushmita Dev reportedly tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. Barak Bulletin quoted her as saying that, "I am asymptomatic and will follow the protocol."

The Tripura government is likely to start "phase-wise door-to-door" rapid COVID-19 antigen testing from Monday, NDTV reported.

"The announcement comes a day after the Assam government adopted a similar strategy in view of rising coronavirus cases," the report said.

Tamil Nadu electricity minister P Thangamani on Wednesday has tested positive for COVID-19 , The Indian Express reported.

"He participated in a couple of events on Tuesday at the secretariat with Chief Minister Edappadi and other officials. The total number of MLAs who have tested #COVID19 positive in the state has risen to 11," the report said.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday addressed the media after the Union Cabinet's meeting. He said that the Cabinet had approved the extension of the scheme that provides additional food grains to ration card holders till November 2020.

He said, "In view of the need for continuous support to the poor and needy, Cabinet approves extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana  allocation of additional foodgrain for further five months from July to November 2020. So far, about 74.3 crore beneficiaries have been covered in April, 74.75 crore in May and about 64.72 crore in June 2020."

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has quarantined himself after a cabinet minister, whom he had met recently, tested positive for COVID-19 . Meanwhile, Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar and Narendra Singh Tomar will be addressing a Cabinet briefing at 3.30 pm today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday wished Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro a speedy recovery from COVID-19 . Bolsonaro had on Tuesday said that he has tested positive for coronavirus .

India reported a spike of 22,752 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the overall count to 7,42,417 on Wednesday, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Of the total cases reported, 4,56,830 patients have been cured/discharged while one patient has been migrated, the Health Ministry informed.

The US Department of Homeland Security has announced its plan for temporary modifications to F-1&M-1 nonimmigrant visa requirements for the fall 2020 semester. This will allow a mixture of both in-person&some online coursework to meet requirements for nonimmigrant student status, said the US Department of State.

Coronavirus cases in India crossed 7 lakh on Tuesday, with a single-day spike of 22,252 cases, only five days after it crossed the six lakh-mark. The toll crossed 20,000 with 467 new deaths, the Union health ministry said.

It took 110 days for coronavirus infections in the country to reach the one lakh, while just 49 days to go past the seven lakh-mark. This is the fifth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 20,000.

The country's coronavirus infection case load increased to 7,19,665 on Tuesday, while the toll climbed to 20,160. The number of recoveries stands at 4,39,947, while there are 2,59,557 active cases of coronavirus infection presently in the country.

"Thus, around 61.13 percent of patients have recovered so far," an official said. The total number of confirmed cases included foreigners.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 1,02,11,092 samples have been tested up to 6 July with 2,41,430 samples being tested on Monday.

The health ministry also said that Indias total number of coronavirus cases and fatalities per million population is one of the lowest in the world.

Referring to the WHO Situation Report-168', dated 6 July, the ministry said India's COVID-19 cases per million population is 505.37 as against the global average of 1,453.25.

"The WHO Situation Report also shows that India has one of the lowest deaths (due to COVID-19 ) per million population. India's cases of death per million population is 14.27 while the global average is more than its four times, at 68.29," the ministry said.

BMC to permit COVID-19 testing without prescription

People can test themselves for coronavirus infection at designated private laboratories in Mumbai without a doctor's prescription, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

The civic body also informed that those kept in institutional quarantine will be discharged only when they test negative for the virus.

Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal took the decision to allow testing without medical prescription in view of increase in the number of private laboratories and their capacity, it said in a release.

It will help people get treatment for coronavirus quicker, it added. Earlier, a doctor's prescription was needed for a test.

"If the test comes out positive, a (hospital) bed will be allotted through ward-level 'War Rooms' of the municipal corporation," the BMC release said.

CBSE reduces syllabus for classes 9- 12

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has reduced the syllabus for classes 9 to 12 for the academic year 2020-21 by up to 30 percent to make up for academic loss caused due to COVID-19 , Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal announced on Tuesday.

"Looking at the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and the world, CBSE was advised to revise the curriculum and reduce course load for the students of classes 9 to 12.

"To aid the decision, a few weeks ago I also invited suggestions from all educationists on the reduction of syllabus for students and I am glad to share that we received more than 1.5K suggestions. Thank you, everyone, for the overwhelming response," Nishank tweeted.

Ventilator-equipped hospital to be set up at Nitish Kumar's residence

A ventilator equipped hospital will be set up at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's home in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Six doctors and three nurses from the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), which is incidentally the only COVID-19 hospital in the state, will work in three shifts at the chief minister's residence to assure round the clock duty.

The medical equipment for the hospital too will come from PMCH, as per an order by the PMCH after the health secretary directed the hospital to do so as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 .

This comes after test reports of the niece of the Chief Minister returned positive for COVID-19 . According to sources, she has been taken to the isolation ward at a hospital here for treatment and the official residence of the chief minister is being sanitised.

Jair Bolsonaro tests COVID-19 positive

Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus' severity.

Bolsonaro confirmed the test results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in capital Brasilia."I'm well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations," Bolsonaro said.

The president has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a "little flu" were he to contract it.

He has also repeatedly said that there is no way to prevent 70 percent of the population falling ill with COVID-19 , and that local authorities' measures to shut down economic activity would ultimately cause more hardship than allowing the virus to run its course.

State-wise COVID-19 numbers

Of the 467 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 204 are from Maharashtra, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 48 from Delhi, 29 from Karnataka, 24 from Uttar Pradesh, 22 from West Bengal, 17 from Gujarat, 11 each from Telangana and Haryana, nine from Madhya Pradesh, seven from Andhra Pradesh, six from Jammu and Kashmir, five each from Rajasthan and Punjab, two each from Bihar, Kerala and Odisha and one each from Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.

Of the total 20,160 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 9,026 fatalities followed by Delhi with 3,115 deaths, Gujarat with 1,960, Tamil Nadu with 1,571, Uttar Pradesh with 809, West Bengal with 779, Madhya Pradesh with 617, Rajasthan with 461 and Karnataka with 401.

More than 70 per cent deaths took place due to comorbidities, the health ministry said.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 2,11,987 followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,14,978, Delhi at 1,00,823, Gujarat at 36,772, Uttar Pradesh at 28,636,Telangana at 25,733 and Karnataka at 25,317, according to the ministry data.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 22,987 in West Bengal, 20,688 in Rajasthan, 20,019 in Andhra Pradesh,17,504 in Haryana and 15,284 in Madhya Pradesh.

It has risen to 12,160 in Assam, 12,125 in Bihar, 9,526 in Odisha and8,675 in Jammu and Kashmir. Punjab has reported 6,491 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 5,622 cases.

A total of 3,305 people have been infected by the virus in Chhattisgarh, 3,161 in Uttarakhand, 2,847 in Jharkhand,1,813 in Goa,1,680 in Tripura,1,390 in Manipur,1,077 in Himachal Pradesh and1,005 in Ladakh.

Puducherry has recorded 802 COVID-19 cases, Nagaland 625,Chandigarh 489 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 297 cases.

Arunachal Pradesh reported 270 cases, Mizoram has 197 cases,Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 141, Sikkim has registered 125 infections so far, while Meghalaya has recorded 80 cases.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said, adding that 5,034 cases are being reassigned to states.

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.

International students in US could be deported if universities move online

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.

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.

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.

With inputs from agencies
Gilead 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

Bengaluru: Mylan NV said on Monday it would launch a generic version of Gilead Sciences Incs COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir in India at Rs 4,800 ($64.31), about 80 percent 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 Rs 5,000, while Hetero has priced Covifor at Rs 5,400.

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.

Mylans 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 Mylans 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 worlds third worst hit nation, with the number of coronavirus cases surging to 697,413 on Monday.
The Bihar chief minister had sent his sample for testing on Saturday after BJP leader Awadhesh Narayan Singh tested positive. He was, later, said to be safe.

Patna: A close relative of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had been staying at his official residence in Patna, has tested positive for COVID-19 , unnamed sources told PTI on Tuesday.

They said test reports of the relative, niece of the chief minister, came out on Monday after which she was taken to the isolation ward at a hospital in Patna for treatment.

The sprawling 1, Anney Marg premises were, meanwhile, being sanitised thoroughly, they added.

Notably, samples of the chief minister besides those who were in regular touch with him had been collected over the weekend after Acting Chairman of the state legislative council Awadhesh Narayan Singh tested positive for coronavirus .

Follow Latest updates on coronavirus outbreak here

Kumar had interacted with Singh on 1 July at a ceremony where nine MLCs, elected recently, were administered the oath of office. One of the newly-elected legislators, Ghulam Ghous of the JD(U) headed by Kumar, has also tested positive.

The chief minister's test reports had come out on Saturday night and he was said to be safe from the coronavirus infection.
My thoughts are always with the country, veteran banker KV Kamath tells Network 18, Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi in an exclusive interview.

Former ICICI Bank chairman and veteran Banker KV Kamath on Tuesday dismissed talk that he may be joining the government in a senior role, during an exclusive interview to Network 18, Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi.

The 72-year old Kamath, who also helmed the New Development Bank founded by BRICS countries until recently, is being spoken of as someone whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi may tap for a senior role in government.

An engineer by training and an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Kamath has the expertise and contacts that Modi could use as he tries to rebuild an economy battered by the COVID pandemic.

"Absolutely no," Kamath said in an interview with CNBC-TV18. "Twice earlier, I have said that I need time. I am getting older as well and I need time to be with family, I need time to be with my grandkids, and every time I say this and few years pass and they get bigger and I get older."

The veteran banker also said that his thoughts were "always with the country".

"My thoughts are always with the country. Somebody like you talks to me and I get energised to share my 50 years of experience and that is what I will continue; put my thoughts on the table," Kamath said.
India is a land of opportunities and so there is going to be no shortage of things to do which is unlike several other countries, veteran banker KV Kamath tells Network18, Group Editor-in-Chief, Rahul Joshi in an exclusive interview.

In an exclusive interview to Network 18, Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi on Tuesday, veteran banker KV Kamath said that Atmanirbhar Bharat was the call of the day and today it was possible to implement the plan, unlike in the past when the execution would have been a challenge in the absence of scale.

Having served at the helm of ICICI Bank and the New Development Bank, Kamath, 72, a mechanical engineer and an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad, is being spoken of as someone whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi may tap for a senior role in government. He has a resume that few other possess, as well the skills and contacts that the prime minister may need if India has to quickly aim for double-digit growth.

Kamath said that Indian companies needed to see if some of their requirements could be met locally instead of through imports. He said a larger market place would accelerate the road to the country becoming self-reliant.

Kamath said that the financial health of small businesses would be key in the success of Atmanirbhar Bharat and that credit flow to these firms had to be smooth. He said that funding to MSMEs is backed by government guarantee under the stimulus, and banks must ensure that the chain of credit flow is unhindered. Edited excerpts below:

Let me come to the recent reforms that the government has announced even in the pandemic. If you look at trade, agriculture...in agriculture, commodities have been freed up considerably, coal mining even railways have been opened up. How do you see this in the backdrop of a clarion call by the Prime Minister for an Atmanirbhar Bharat?

I think absolutely spot on, I think Atmanirbhar is the call of the day. I believe today the Indian entrepreneur has a new spirit in it to battle this challenge that they have. I think it is the right time to look at a larger context of Atmanirbhar. My own suggestion in this to operate India in terms of policy would be to see what are the challenges that really corporate India faces in terms of executing on Atmanirbhar. I think we should now look at - this is executable for sure, what are the challenges that are you facing in executing.

My own view is in a historical context, if I look at 10-15 years back maybe 15 years back is a good call, if you were to execute Atmanirbhar, you had a challenge because you did not have the scale. You had industries which were coming out of problems of the 90s, trying to gear up for a new scale as it were, new quality connotation, new cost connotation, and so on, new competitiveness all that was gained. But still we did not become truly Atmanirbhar in the wider context that the prime minister indicated. Now what we need to really look at is what are those constituents or support that we would need to provide to corporate India and the entire system to make this work.

In one phrase if I were to put it, ease of doing business, can we revisit this whole platform of ease of doing business in a soft sense, not the hard sense, not the sense where you have to set up new capacities or you have to learn how to do business, how you become competitive and so on, but the day-to-day operations and how you get them to be seamless.

I think this I am sure government will do, I am sure industry leaders will work with the government on this front and that will truly be a big step towards Atmanirbhar; that is my view sitting at home, not having my hands into the business, but I can well feel what business is trying to tell and what they are trying to say.

A large part of Atmanirbhar Bharat is also about easing the credit flow to MSMEs, something that you touched upon. How do you think this will play out?

I think there are three components to this in terms of credit. I think one is the cost of credit, the second is the flow of credit, and the third is the momentum of credit  making sure the velocity of money is maintained. I think all three have to be in sync. By lending a large package in terms of guarantee support, honestly, the government has done its bit. We now need to make sure that the banks truly are able to lend this out.

Again, if I look at it, this is government guaranteed money, so can the banks provide it to the business at an even more affordable rate because at the bottom this is government-guaranteed credit. Yes, you must recover your cost of operations and have a reasonable spread, but virtually your risk is coming down. However, at the base, this is government money that the government is standing at your back as it were. So low-cost credit, quick disbursement of credit, and making sure that the chain of credit flow goes unimpaired and unhindered I think is what business and the banks will have to work towards.

On the one hand we are talking about a self-reliant India and on the other we talk about opening up the economy. Some critics argue that this self-reliance could also lead to some kind of isolationism in the Indian economy when it comes to trade with other countries. How do you react to this?

Not at all; I do not think that is true at all I think from several counts. If I look at markets, India is a very large market and as we head towards the $5 trillion economy, and I am clear this country is going to head towards the $5 trillion economy, the domestic market is going to get bigger and bigger which means that domestic companies will have a large space to operate in. Now in terms of how they balance domestic production and domestic supply with access to global markets is something that they will have to carefully work on.

If the feeling is that they have taken it slightly easy, I am not saying they have, this is an assessment they have to do -- they will then have to see whether this particular item could be indigenised rather than relied on imports always. This is the first step we need to take. I am again hearing on news shows, they talk about APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients), they talk about components for certain manufacturing industries and so on  I think a relook will be taken.

But I think Atmanirbhar to me also means that at the end of the day with all these things, your own strength and leveraging global strength, how do you look at the global market and how do you stand as a player in the global market because that accelerates your path to the $5 trillion economy. Of course, there are several other drivers for the $5 trillion economy, but in the context of Atmanirbhar Bharat, I think that accelerates a larger marketplace.

Other parts about Atmanirbhar as I can see clearly are getting your infrastructure in place. Again, rapid progress has been made, but we could look at the same thing that we probably could do in the manufacturing side -- what are the soft issues that are a challenge on the infrastructure front, how do we address them. This is something that we could do apart from rolling out infrastructure.

I see one challenge -- you talked about deficit and funding, I think one challenge that we will hear increasingly in the next one year is how do we meet our infrastructure aspirations given the challenges that we will have on the fiscal front. This is something that the government will need to think through. As I said, maybe it is time for a new normal, not look at old concepts of deficit financing and so on as long as we are sure that we can keep the fabric intact.

So, there are I would think of many aspects to Atmanirbhar Bharat. India is a land of opportunities and so there is going to be no shortage of things to do which is unlike several other countries. They are searching for what is it that you can do to drive growth, we do not have to do that. We have unfinished agendas in almost all areas that we look at whether it is providing housing to our masses, whether it is providing robust infrastructure, whether it is keeping up the infrastructure chain, whether it is manufacturing, whether it is food products, I think we have enough to do to grow at a rapid rate -- by rapid rates I would think double-digit growth for a very long period of time. By a very long period of time I mean upwards of 10-15 years for a minimum but upwards of 15 years. So, that is what you will need to truly transform this country.
The ACB had recently raided the office and residence of former CEO Vasudeva Maiya and a few other executives of the bank in connection with a fraud case

Bengaluru: A former CEO of a co-operative bank, which was being probed for alleged financial fraud, was found dead in his car in Bengaluru, police said on Tuesday.

Police suspect that Vasudeva Maiya may have died by suicide after consuming poison but they hastened to add that the exact cause of death would be known only after a detailed investigation.

The 70-year-old was found dead in his car which was parked by the roadside near Subramanyapura on Monday night, they said.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau recently raided the office and residence of Maiya and a few other executives of the Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank in connection with the alleged fraud.

The co-operative bank's alleged irregularities came to light in January this year when the Reserve Bank of India stopped all its businesses and imposed restrictions on withdrawal by its customers.

Following the restrictions, scores of its customers thronged the bank, which was reminiscent of the plight of the depositors in the scam-tainted PMC Bank in Mumbai.

The Bengaluru South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya recently appeared in the Karnataka High Court on behalf of the depositors, who are fighting to recover their money through legal battle.

Subsequently, the ACB has reportedly speeded up its investigation into the alleged irregularities.
Court accepted prosecution's argument that there was prime facie evidence against the deposed Bishop and directed him to stand for trial.

Kochi: In a set back to rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to discharge him from the sexual assault case filed against him by a nun.

Justice V Shircy directed the deposed Bishop of Jalandhar diocese to stand for trial in the rape case, which was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a nun of same diocese in Kerala.

The court dismissed the plea by the bishop, admitting the prosecution argument that there was prima facie evidence against Mulakkal in the rape case, which was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a nun of Jalandhar diocese.

The senior priest of the Roman Catholic Church filed the revision petition following the dismissal of his discharge plea by a trial court in March this year.

The rape case against the Bishop was registered by police in Kottayam district.

In his plea filed before the High Court, the priest argued that he was implicated after he questioned the financial dealings of the nun. The bishop had filed the discharge plea in the trial court just ahead of the commencement of the preliminary hearing on charges against him.

In her complaint to the police in June, 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by the bishop during the period between 2014 and 2016.

The bishop, who was arrested by the Special Investigation team which probed the case, has been charged with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.
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The BJP leader said that government officials and ministers must be fully prepared to brief the counsel during the Supreme Court hearing on quotas in education and jobs for Marathas

Thane: Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the state government must go fully prepared for the Supreme Court hearing .

The apex court which was to hear a petition against the quota for admissions to post-graduate medical courses as well as another challenging the quota in jobs and education on Tuesday, which has now been deferred to 15 July.

"Government officials and ministers must be at hand fully prepared to brief the counsel during the hearing. The BJP will provide full support," Fadnavis told reporters.

In the city to take stock of the COVID-19 situation, the former chief minister said the idea of staggered office timings could be looked into to bring the situation back to normal amid the coronavirus -induced lockdown.

On the issue of the state government reversing the transfer of DCP-rank officials of Mumbai police, Fadnavis said the state home minister should have briefed Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray properly.

The transfer order was reversed due to "confusion or lack of confidence" and may be a lapse on the part of the home minister, Fadnavis said.

A home department order issued on Thursday to transfer 10 DCPs currently posted in Mumbai was reversed on Sunday, leading to speculation on lack of coordination between the Shiv Sena and the NCP which holds the home portfolio.
While driving the Congress party to dust, Rahul is leading by example on how not to lead it.

In our schools, there is usually a boy with rich and powerful parents who doesnt attend classes, skips his homework, picks on those who work hard, and gets away with all that because he was born that way.

Congress dynast Rahul Gandhi works pretty hard to live up to that trope.

It has recently come to light that he has not attended a single meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence since its formation last year.

The committee has met 11 times since September, with the last meeting happening on 12 March. The Lok Sabha website shows Rahul, a member of the committee, did not deign to attend even one of these meetings.

The departmentally related standing committee (DRSC) has 31 members, 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. It looks into bills related to the defence ministry and other defence-related issues.

But this rather determined absence has not stopped Rahul from launching uninformed and politically suicidal attacks on the government during the military and diplomatic face-off with China. He asked on Twitter, for instance, why were our soldiers sent unarmed to martyrdom.

Poor homework and reckless bluster is an explosive cocktail. Rahul could have avoided setting it off upon himself if he genuinely took interest in defence matters and studied about his own previous Congress governments signing contracts with China restricting the use of arms on border patrol to avoid escalation.

The BJP was quick to pretend sadness on his self-goal.

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

But Rahul Gandhi is no one-trick pony. He has been permanent in both class and form when it comes to playing bunking work.

Data collated by non-profit PRS Legislative Research shows that between 1 June, 2014, and 13 February, 2019, Rahuls attendance in Parliament was only 52 percent when the national average among other MPs was 80 percent. Even his ailing mother Sonia Gandhi did better with 60 percent. He participated in just 14 parliamentary debates while an MP on an average participated in 67.

Rahul did not raise a single question in Parliament in these five years. The national average was 293 questions per MP. He also brought no private member Bills.

He spent only Rs 19.6 crore of the Rs 25 crore available to him under the MPLADS scheme for his constituency. Amethi thanked him with a spectacular 55,120-vote defeat at the hands of BJPs Smriti Irani in the 2019 general elections.

While driving the Congress party to dust, Rahul is leading by example on how not to lead it. He is ceding further nationalistic space for the Congress with his baroque, ill-timed outbursts during a national security crisis and his infantile obsession with Narendra Modi. He exemplifies what young India seems to abhor: a dynastic brat who doesnt value merit, work hard, or do his homework, but will not settle for anything but the top prize. In short, the perfect stereotype of entitlement over merit.

Views are personal.
A three-judge bench also extended the interim order that no coercive actions should be taken against the senior journalist in the matter until the next date of hearing on 15 July

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Himachal Pradesh Police to file its investigation report pertaining to a sedition case filed against journalist Vinod Dua in a sealed cover.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Uday Umesh Lalit also extended the interim order that no coercive actions should be taken against Dua in the matter until the next date of and fixed it for final hearing on 15 July.

The bench said that it may dispose of the petition on that day. Dua does not have to answer the supplementary questionnaire, the apex court said.

Senior lawyer and former Additional Solicitor General Vikas Singh, appearing for Dua, submitted that the journalist has the freedom of speech and the right to criticise the government.

Singh also said, "Where is the sedition? Sedition is when you incite violence. When you incite public disorder, but where it is in my case?"

He added, "The police has refused to give us the details on the nature of the complaint. Even though the apex court had asked for a status report, then they could not do anything, they invoked the Disaster Management Act."

He also said that Dua has answered a questionnaire sent by the police in the matter. "But again, one more came. It is an endless thing, it's nothing but harassment. If this continues it will lead to a lot of harassment," Singh said.

In a special hearing, the top court had granted interim relief to Dua with a condition that he will have to join the investigation and there shall be no stay on the ongoing probe in the sedition case over his YouTube show.

Dua is accused of making certain statements in his YouTube programme, the Vinod Dua show, which were allegedly of the nature to incite communal hatred and may lead to a breach of peace and communal disharmony.
In a depressing continuation of the widespread practice of custodial torture, P Jayaraj, 59, and J Fenix, 31, died gruesome deaths in Thoothukudi last month

The outrage and debates around the chilling custodial deaths of a father-son duo in Tamil Nadu sound a bit too familiar to Sayyad Khwaja Hussain, 50. It has been happening for years. But nobody seems to care, he says.

Hussain has seen it up close. He has even been at the centre of this discourse. He is the elder brother of Sayyad Khwaja Yunus, an engineer, who allegedly died in the custody of Mumbai Police in January 2003 at the age of 27. We keep having the same debates after a case but nothing changes on the ground, says Hussain, And if the families want justice, the legal formalities take up your life.

Seventeen years after Yunus death, Hussain and his 72-year old mother, Asiya Begum, still await justice. It has been a painful and troubling journey, recalls Hussain in a telephonic interview from his hometown of Parbhani  500 kilometers from Mumbai. My brother was an innocent man. He studied hard, became an engineer and managed to get a job in Dubai. He had come back for a month on a break. That is when he was picked up.

In the first week of December 2002, a bomb went off in Mumbais Ghatkopar area in which two people died and around 40 were injured. In the last week of December, the Mumbai Police arrested Yunus in connection with the bomb blast. A few days later, he died allegedly as a result of police torture in custody.

Yunus was among the 18 the Mumbai Police had arrested. In 2004, nine of them were discharged for lack of evidence, and eight others were acquitted. The real culprits of the blast, therefore, are still unknown.

My son would have been a free man along with the others had he been alive today, says Asiya, Ever since his death, our lives have never been the same.

A year after Yunus died, his father, Sayyed Khwaja Ayyub, a retired government servant, had a heart attack and passed away. We had been running from pillar to post to seek justice for my brother, notes Hussain, My father had been anxious. He was under a lot of stress. From the day my brother died, my fathers health continued to deteriorate. The entire thing destroyed our family. And we still havent received closure.

Far from closure, the four police officers  suspended in March 2004  accused in the custodial death of Yunus were reinstated at work in the first week of June 2020. They still remain accused of his murder and destruction of evidence.

The main accused, Sachin Waze, an encounter specialist, had even joined the Shiv Sena  the party currently leading the coalition government in Maharashtra  in 2007. The other three accused in the case are constables Rajendra Tiwari, Sunil Desai and Rajaram Nikam.

While the police maintains that Yunus tried to escape, one of his then co-accused testified in front of the trial court that he was severely tortured in prison. In 2003, investigations by the state CID had found the polices escape claim to be false, and Yunus had indeed died in police custody. The trial has been dragging its feet since 2009.

Soon after their reinstatement, the Mumbai Police commissioner got a contempt notice on behalf of Asiya for reinstating the cops without a disciplinary enquiry as directed by the Bombay High Court in 2004. The High Court has sought a reply from the Maharashtra government.

This is not what justice looks like, Asiya says, To reinstate them is unfair. They have not faced any serious consequences. It is a cruel joke on us.

Yunus family has thrown everything they could at pursuing their court cases since 2003. There is a matter pending in the trial court. There are two cases in the high court and there is one in the Supreme Court. We dont come from a rich family, admits Hussain, We used up my fathers savings on the case. We have made incessant trips from Parbhani to Mumbai. We have incurred the expenses of train tickets. Besides, we dont have any relatives in Mumbai. So we have had to spend money for our stay and food every time we were in Mumbai.

But the system has tested their patience at every juncture. If the authorities were serious, the case would have concluded by now, declares Hussain, But they dont want justice to be done. This is why the custodial deaths keep happening in India.

In the last week of June, The National Campaign Against Torture (NCAT) in its report noted that India recorded a staggering five deaths in custody per day in 2019. According to the report, 1,731 persons died in custody during 2019, and 1,606 deaths happened in judicial custody while 125 deaths took place in police custody.

Among some of the ghastliest methods used to torture inmates in 2019, were hammering iron nails in the body, applying roller on legs and burning, hitting in private parts, electric shock, pouring petrol and applying chilly power in private parts, forcing to perform oral sex, stated Paritosh Chakma, Director of the NCAT, in the press release.

According to Yunus then co-accused, who was an eyewitness, Yunus was stripped, beaten with a belt and assaulted until he vomited blood. Seventeen years after that, in a depressing continuation of the widespread, and often glorified, practice of custodial torture, P Jayaraj, 59, and J Fenix, 31, died an equally gruesome death. In Tamil Nadus Thoothukudi, the father and son were arrested for violating the lockdown rules by keeping their mobile accessories shop open beyond permissible hours. Reports suggested that they were sodomised and sexually assaulted before they died.

According to the NCAT report, Of the 125 deaths in police custody, 75 persons or 60 percent belonged to the poor and marginalised communities.

Hussain said it is one of those things that make people lose their faith in the system. Those who are supposed to protect our rights are violating it, he says. Everyday, somebody dies of custodial torture in India and we still do nothing about it. It is simple. If the police works honestly, it will find genuine culprits. If it wants to target the poor and minorities, this will go on.

The Khwaja Yunus case, many say, remains a blot on the Mumbai Police. But his family hasnt lost hope. There is one court above every other court, said Hussain. That court always stands up for the people. We have faith in god. Bhagwaan ke ghar der hai magar andher nahi.
Supreme Court on Maratha reservation today | Petitioners argue that HC decision is incorrect as the State law has breached the 50% cap on reservation fixed by a Constitution Bench in the Indira Sawhney judgment.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear and pass interim orders on petitioners challenging Maratha reservation next Wednesday, on 15 July, reports have said.

The Supreme Court bench, led by Justice L Nageswara Rao, initially had said that the court will hear the pleas on a day-to-day basis from next month but later relented to lawyers' apprehensions that a virtual court hearing will not be able to encompass the complicated matter at hand.

The petitioners challenging Maratha reservation said that the matter could not be adjudicated through virtual hearing. They demanded a physical hearing.

J Rao requests counsels to not press for an immediate date. "A five judge bench cannot sit now, " observes court. Case now posted to next Wednesday for interim orders.  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) July 7, 2020

The petitioners were challenging the Bombay High Court's decision to uphold the law by which the Maratha community would get reservation in education and jobs in Maharashtra.

The plea said the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, which provided a 12 percent and a 13 percent quota to the Maratha community in education and jobs respectively, breached the 50 percent ceiling on reservation fixed by the apex court in its landmark judgment in the Indira Sawhney case, also known as the "Mandal verdict".

On Monday, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had said that the Maharashtra government must "go fully prepared" for the Supreme Court hearing on the move to provide reservations in education and jobs to the Maratha community. He further added that the BJP "will provide full support".

With inputs from agencies
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.
States including Haryana and Maharashtra had cancelled all exams and had announced that students will be deemed pass on the basis of their past performances.

The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has said that the terminal semesters/final year examinations in the universities will be held by the end of September.

The end semester examinations were postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

The revised guidelines on examinations and academic calendar for Universities in view of COVID-19 pandemic were shared by Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Twitter.

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

The terminal semester will be conducted by the universities by the end of September, 2020 in offline (pen and paper) or online or blended (online + offline) mode," UGC said in its letter.

According to a report by Livemint, the decision came after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said it has sent a letter to the Union higher education Secretary allowing universities and institutions to conduct examinations.

As per the new guidelines, the final university exams can be held online and offline. In case a student cannot appear for the exams in September, provisions will be made so that he/she can take the exams later.

A report by NDTV mentions that the end-of-term examinations in the colleges and education institutions have been pending since March due to the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown imposed by the government to contain the spread of virus.

The exams will be conducted maintaining all the safety measures.

As per a report by DNA, states including Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh had earlier cancelled all higher education exams and instead announced that students will be promoted on the basis of their prior performances in exams.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the UGC held a meeting on Monday to revisit its indicative alternate calendar at the behest of the HRD Ministry.

On 24 June, the government had asked the UGC to reconsider its guidelines on examinations and academic calendar for the universities in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

The UGC constituted an Expert Committee to deliberate as well as make recommendations related to the issues of examinations and academic calendar. The first guidelines were issued on 4 April.
Due to COVID-19, the Maharashtra govt had canceled final year papers and decided to issue degrees on the basis of students' performance in earlier semesters.

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed that the University Grants Commission (UGC) be made a party to a PIL challenging the Maharashtra government's decision to issue degrees without holding final year exams.

Owing to coronavirus and lockdown, the government canceled final year examinations and decided to issue degrees on the basis of students' performance in earlier semesters. Dhananjay Kulkarni, a retired teacher and former university senate member from Pune, has filed a public interest litigation against the decision.

The PIL challenged the June 19, 2020 government resolution (GR). Under the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016, the Chancellor has the jurisdiction and the state has no power to take a decision about exams, Kulkarni said.

The UGC, on April 27, directed all the universities to conduct exams, but after a student organisation wrote to the state Minister of Higher and Technical Education, the exams in Maharashtra were postponed and later canceled, the PIL said.

As per the GR, there are 7,34,516 students enrolled in final years of non-professional courses and 2,83,937 students in final years of professional courses in Maharashtra. The students who have cleared all previous semesters and do not want to appear for the last semester exam should give in writing that they do not want to appear for final exams, the GR said.

Such students will be awarded final year scores based on the average of marks of previous semesters, it said. Students can take optional exam later (if they wish to improve their score), the GR added. Advocate Uday Warunjikar, petitioner's lawyer, argued that this dual assessment method had no logic and it can not be adopted while granting degrees.

After hearing brief arguments, a division bench of Justices AA Sayed and MS Karnik said the UGC should be made a respondent, and adjourned the hearing on 17 July.
The ministry had on 1 July cancelled the allotment of the bungalow to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, saying that she was not entitled to the facility following the withdrawal of her SPG security cover.

New Delhi: The government has allotted a Lutyens' Delhi bungalow, currently occupied by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, to the BJP's national media head and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni, an official of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said on Sunday.

The ministry had on 1 July cancelled the allotment of the bungalow to Gandhi, saying that she was not entitled to the facility following the withdrawal of her SPG security cover.

The government has asked the Congress general secretary to vacate the 35 Lodhi Estate bungalow by 1 August.

"Priyanka Gandhi's bungalow has been allotted to Anil Baluni following his request. He will get possession of the bungalow once the Congress leader vacates it," the official said.

Sources said Baluni had made a request for a change of his residence on health grounds. He was treated for cancer some time ago.

Though he has recovered, he has been advised to follow a number of precautions. His current residence was deemed not fully suitable for him, they said.

The government had in November last year replaced the Special Protection Group (SPG) cover of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, with Z-plus security by the CRPF.

The ministry official had said that the Congress general secretary, who is in-charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, had been allotted the bungalow on 21 February, 1997 as she was an SPG protectee.

The Z-plus security does not entail such a facility and she has to vacate the bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi.
Vietnam assists Laos many health centers in the different localities. (Photo: Vietnamese Consulate General in Luang Prabang)

The signing ceremony was part of the working meeting between Mr. Phetthavone Philavanh and Mr. Nguyen Dang Hung to discuss some measures to promote cooperation between the Lao northern province and Vietnam, and attend the signing ceremony of some non-refundable projects by Vietnams Phu Tho province to Luang Namtha province.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed a number of measures to promote and encourage Vietnamese enterprises to continue investing in Laos and Luang Namtha province; and seeking measures to continue creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese investors, businesses and overseas Vietnamese in Luang Namtha in business and living activities. On this occasion, the Lao side also suggested Vietnam consider increasing educational scholarships for Luang Namtha province.

The malaria prevention and treatment center in Luang Namtha is a non-refundable aid project of Phu Tho province worth USD433,819 and is being built by Sompasom Bridge and Road Construction Company within 12 months. The project consists of a two-storey building with 18 working rooms, a hall and all interior equipment. Once completed, Luang Namtha province will have more spacious and modern medical facilities to better ensure peoples healthcare.

Phu Tho and Luang Namtha provinces have set up a twinned relationship. Previously, Phu Tho province assisted Luang Namtha province with a number of projects serving economic, social and educational development.

The consular area of the Vietnamese Consulate General in Luang Prabang is located in 8 Lao northern provinces among 18 Lao provinces and cities, including Bokeo, Luang Namtha, Oudomxay, Xayaburi, Phongsaly, Houaphanh, Xiengkhouang and Luang Prabang. These are provinces with friendly and twinning relationships with many border provinces of Vietnam./.
Vinton, IA (52349)

Today

Partly cloudy in the morning followed by scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 81F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms in the evening, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
FP Staff

At a time when social media giant Facebook is drawing flak for its alleged inaction against hate messages propagated on its platform, the company's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said that she and Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg will meet with civil rights activists protesting against the company's policies on hate speech.

Sandberg said: "Mark and I, alongside our team, are meeting with the organizers of the Stop Hate for Profit campaign followed by a meeting with other civil rights leaders who have worked closely with us on our efforts to address civil rights... We meet in the context of what may be the largest social movement in US history, and our nations best and latest chance to act against the racism that has pervaded our country since before our independence."

Stop Hate for Profit Campaign is a civil rights movement that asked businesses to pause their advertisement on Facebook and Instagram to pressure these platforms into addressing problems in their content moderation practices. The movement now has a website that criticises Facebook's policies on filtering out hateful content and asks businesses to rally behind it for support. "We know what Facebook did. They allowed incitement to violence against protesters fighting for racial justice in America in the wake of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and so many others," their website states. They list out businesses like Unilever, Upwork and Volkwagen among those standing behind their movement.

However, Sandberg says Facebook is having a relook at its policies "not for financial reasons or advertiser pressure, but because it is the right thing to do"

Here is the full statement

Facebook stands firmly against hate. Being a platform where everyone can make their voice heard is core to our mission, but that doesnt mean its acceptable for people to spread hate. Its not. We have clear policies against hate  and we strive constantly to get better and faster at enforcing them. We have made real progress over the years, but this work is never finished and we know what a big responsibility Facebook has to get better at finding and removing hateful content.

Later this morning, Mark and I, alongside our team, are meeting with the organizers of the Stop Hate for Profit campaign followed by a meeting with other civil rights leaders who have worked closely with us on our efforts to address civil rights including Vanita Gupta from the Leadership Conference on Civil Human Rights, Sherrilyn I fill from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Laura W Murphy, our Civil Rights Auditor. We meet in the context of what may be the largest social movement in US history, and our nations best and latest chance to act against the racism that has pervaded our country since before our independence. Its a big moment for all of us, especially now. Much more than words, people, organizations and companies need to take action  and we at Facebook know what a big responsibility we have.

Tomorrow, the final report of our independent civil rights audit will be published  a two-year review of our policies and practices led by noted civil liberties and civil rights expert Laura W. Murphy and Megan Cacace, partner in the civil rights law firm Relman Colfax, PLLC. We are the first social media company to undertake an audit of this kind. This two-year journey has had a profound effect on our culture and the way we think about our impact on the world. While the audit was planned and most of it carried out long before recent events, its release couldnt come at a more important time. It has helped us learn a lot about what we could do better, and we have put many recommendations from the auditors and the wider civil rights community into practice. While we wont be making every change they call for, we will put more of their proposals into practice soon. We will also publish our Diversity and Inclusion report soon after  an update on how we are making our workforce more representative of the global community we serve. This is another area where we have made progress but where there is clearly more to do.

We are making changes  not for financial reasons or advertiser pressure, but because it is the right thing to do. We have worked for years to try to minimize the presence of hate on our platform. Thats why we agreed to undertake the civil rights audit two years ago. Over many years, weve spent billions of dollars on teams and technology to find and remove hate  as well as protect the integrity of our platform more generally  and have become a pioneer in using artificial intelligence technology to remove hateful content at scale. We are working hard every day to enforce our policies with ever greater precision and speed.

We are never going to be perfect, but we care about this deeply. We will continue to listen and learn and work in the weeks, months and years ahead.
FP Trending

NASA has tweeted that the structural tests on an identical test version of Orion spacecraft has been completed. The NASA Orion is the spacecraft that will take astronauts to the Moon and back on Artemis I.

According to a statement issued by NASA, before it actually allowed astronauts to fly the Orion on the Artemis missions, engineers needed to make sure that the spacecraft would be able to withstand the stresses of launch, climb to orbit, harsh conditions of deep space transit, and return to Earth.

The statement mentions that in June 2020, engineers were able to complete testing a duplicate of Orion called the Structural Test Article, or STA.

Artemis programme will see the first woman on the moon. It will also see the next man to set foot on the moon as part of the programme to explore as much of the moon's surface as possible and create sustainable missions to the Earth's satellite by 2028.

NASA called Artemis the first step to begin the next era of exploration.

Structural tests are now complete on an identical test version of @NASA_Orion, our spacecraft that will take astronauts to the Moon and back on #Artemis I. Heres how we pushed it to its physical limits: https://t.co/IGoIOykiqM pic.twitter.com/iD7JUBBtzm  NASA (@NASA) July 2, 2020

According to the Forbes report, the programme is a revival of the American space mission and aims to establish a human presence on the moon by 2028.

It also says that the name Artemis was chosen because she is the twin sister of Apollo and thus, helps to tie the new programme back to NASA's moon mission of the 1960s.

First, the programme will launch Artemis I, an uncrewed flight to test the Space Rocket and Orion spacecraft. This will be followed by Artemis II, containing the crew aimed at a test flight. And finally, it will be Artemis III which will fly the crew to the Moon by 2024, the report said.
tech2 News Staff

World-renowned clinical scientist and vaccine researcher Dr Gagandeep Kang has reportedly resigned as the executive director of the Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute, based in Faridabad. She let the autonomous health research institute under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). Dr Kang is also the first woman from India to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Dr Kangs tenure was reportedly to end in August 2021, according to a report in the Indian Express, but the 57-year-old scientist requested the Department of Biotechnology to let her go by the end of August.

THSTI was permitted to test for COVID-19 in an extension of the capabilities of Faridabads ESIC Medical College and Hospital, the report adds. Researchers at the institute had been working to develop antigen tests to check for SARS-CoV-2 more efficiently, under the guidance of Dr Kang.

A huge statement on the way science is being bureaucratised and mismanaged in India . A big shame, a huge loss.

Indias most formidable virologist Gagandeep Kang quits Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad - The Hindu https://t.co/4busFvr4mt  Amitabh Mattoo (@amitabhmattoo) July 6, 2020

Can't help but be sad that @GKangInd is stepping back. Valued the role of scientific evidence in decision making, a much needed voice. https://t.co/wa5WrmuNJa  Sandhya Koushika Lab (@WormlockHolmes) July 6, 2020

Kangs achievements are many. She is the first Indian woman to have been elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London.

Gagandeep Kang Quits as Director of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute https://t.co/OsgpEatZvH via @TheWireScience  Neha Sinha (@nehaa_sinha) July 7, 2020

This is so very worrying that a widely respected vaccine scientist whose integrity and commitment is an inspiration to so many, has resigned as head of top-research institute. CMC Vellore Prof Gagandeep Kang headed translational science institute (THSTI)https://t.co/2wKhHhX5sW  Bobby Ramakant (@bobbyramakant) July 7, 2020

Dr Kang is a medical scientist who has worked on diarrhoea diseases and public health in India since the early 1990s. She is a key contributor to the study of rotavirus epidemiology and the development of a WHO-licensed vaccine against the infection. Kang is known world over for her inter-disciplinary research in transmission, development and prevention of enteric infections, with a special focus on their pathology in children in India.

In 2016, she was awarded the Infosys Prize in life sciences, for her pioneering contributions to understanding the natural history of rotavirus and other infectious diseases that are important in the Indian and global context.

Dr Kang currently serves as vice-chairperson of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations, a global consortium facilitating promising vaccine candidates for COVID-19. She was also head of a group constituted by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and the National COVID-19 taskforce to look at prospective indigenous vaccine candidates out of India. However, this group was disbanded in under two months of its formation, the Hindu reported previously.

Dr Kang is also a Professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences at Christian Medical College in Vellore.
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Exoplanets are worlds beyond our solar system that scientists have started tracking down and locating only in the last two decades. In a recent breakthrough, an unusual planetary system has been discovered that too directly from the ground of the extrasolar system.

Researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) acted under an international collaboration and detected star WASP 148 using a French instrument called SOPHIE at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence.

CNRS stated that the unprecedented ground-based discovery of two strongly interacting exoplanets.

Scientists found that WASP 148 was host to two planets WASP 148b and WASP 148c. While the first world, WASP 148b, orbits its star in about nine days; WASP 148c takes four times longer. According to the location and gravitational pull of the exoplanets, a strong interaction between the two was noticed.

While a single planet, uninfluenced by a second one, would move with a constant period, WASP-148b and WASP-148c undergo acceleration and deceleration that provides evidence of their interaction, the CNRS said in its press release.

Both the planets orbits also showed eccentric behavior and they were detected to have a mutual inclination below 35 degrees.

Researchers have based the characterization and discovery of WASP 148 on the photometric and spectroscopic observations and their Keplerian and Newtonian analyses taken over a period of 10 years. The study has been published in the latest issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

When WASP 148 is compared with other solar systems that are the most alike such as Kepler-9, Kepler-277, or TOI-216, it is seen that their transiting planets behave very differently as compared to 148b and 148c.

A significant difference between WASP-148 and the three systems above is the eccentricity of its planets, which here are significantly different from zero. This is also a significant difference of WASP-148b to other hot Jupiters, most of whose orbits are circular, the study said.
PARIS (Reuters) - Seeking to recast his presidency two years out from elections, President Emmanuel Macron and his new prime minister, Jean Castex, on Monday unveiled a reshuffled cabinet. Here are some of the key ministers in the new cabinet: FINANCE MINISTER: BRUNO LE MAIRE, 51 Le Maire, who has overseen reforms to liberalise the economy and spent big to keep companies like Air France and Renault afloat during the crisis, keeps his job. A reform-minded conservative whose expertise on Europe and staunch defence of the Franco-German relationship has proved valuable as Macron pushes for closer EU integration

PARIS (Reuters) - Seeking to recast his presidency two years out from elections, President Emmanuel Macron and his new prime minister, Jean Castex, on Monday unveiled a reshuffled cabinet.

Here are some of the key ministers in the new cabinet:

FINANCE MINISTER: BRUNO LE MAIRE, 51

Le Maire, who has overseen reforms to liberalise the economy and spent big to keep companies like Air France and Renault afloat during the crisis, keeps his job.

A reform-minded conservative whose expertise on Europe and staunch defence of the Franco-German relationship has proved valuable as Macron pushes for closer EU integration.

INTERIOR MINISTER: GERALD DARMANIN, 37

Drawn from the ranks of the conservative Republicains, 37-year-old Darmanin helped implement Macron's main tax reforms as his budget minister and oversaw an overhaul of tax collection.

Under his watch, the public deficit was kept within an EU limit of 3% of GDP while France's high level of public spending was brought lower.

He was re-elected mayor of his political fiefdom of Tourcoing in northern France this year.

Last month, an appeals court ordered the reopening of an investigation into a rape allegation against Darmanin, which he denies.

MINISTER FOR HEALTH: OLIVIER VERAN, 40

Veran holds on to his job as health minister. He was parachuted into the role in February when, in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, his predecessor Agnes Buzyn stepped down to run for mayor of Paris.

A trained neurologist, he was a lawmaker for the Socialists and then Macron.

He is tasked with preparing a plan for French hospitals and boosting the wages of exhausted health workers who have been on the frontline in the fight against the coronavirus .

FOREIGN MINISTER: JEAN-YVES LE DRIAN, 73

Le Drian remains at the foreign ministry, a post he has held since 2017.

He backed Macron early and took over the foreign affairs portfolio after holding the defense post for five years under former president Francois Hollande.

Le Drian is seen as the driving force behind France's counter-terrorism operations in West Africa and the Middle East and has kept extensive contacts with leaders in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

ECOLOGY MINISTER: BARBARA POMPILI, 45

Pompili was a longtime member of the Green party before joining Macron's La Republique en Marche in 2017.

As chairwoman of parliament's Committee on Sustainable Development she led a 2018 inquiry that delivered strong criticism of nuclear power safety in France.

Pompili served as a junior environment minister in the socialist government during the presidency of socialist Francois Hollande.

LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS: ELISABETH BORNE, 59

Borne, a former civil servant before joining Macron's government, takes over a beefed-up Labour and Social Affairs Ministry whose priority will be finding a way to create jobs as France tries to escape deep economic turmoil.

Macron's first three years in power were mired in social unrest as he pushed through pro-business reforms unpopular with many voters. Borne, who successfully pushed through changes to French railways in the face of union opposition, will be tasked with reforming pensions and quelling the discontent.

She was the chief executive officer of Paris public transport group RATP from 2015-2017.

EDUCATION MINISTER: JEAN-MICHEL BLANQUER, 55

Blanquer is reappointed as education minister.

He overhauled the French baccalaureate and introduced free breakfasts for school children in poor neighbouroods.

Previously Blanquer, a conservative, served as the education ministry's top civil servant under former president Jacques Chirac before becoming the dean of the elite ESSEC business school.

(Compiled by Paris bureau; Editing by Toby Chopra)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
KYIV (Reuters) - Four people died and nine were hospitalised as a forest fire swept through villages in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, Ukraine's emergency services said. The fire has destroyed 80 dacha holiday cottages and 30 houses in two villages, the service said in a statement.

KYIV (Reuters) - Four people died and nine were hospitalised as a forest fire swept through villages in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, Ukraine's emergency services said.

The fire has destroyed 80 dacha holiday cottages and 30 houses in two villages, the service said in a statement.

This spring, forest fires around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant in the north of the country and elsewhere pushed pollution levels in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to the worst in the world.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Alison Williams)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Those attending American schools that are staying online must 'depart the country or transfer to a school with in-person instruction', according to the guidelines issued by ICE.

Washington: International students will be forced to leave the US or transfer to another college if their schools offer classes entirely online this fall, under new guidelines issued Monday by federal immigration authorities.

The guidelines, issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, provide additional pressure for universities to reopen even amid growing concerns about the recent spread of COVID-19 among young adults. Colleges received the guidance the same day that some institutions, including Harvard University, announced that all instruction will be offered remotely.

President Donald Trump has insisted that schools and colleges return to in-person instruction as soon as possible. Soon after the guidance was released, Trump repeated on Twitter that schools must reopen this fall, adding that Democrats want to keep schools closed "for political reasons, not for health reasons."

"They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!" Trump wrote.

Under the updated rules, international students must take at least some of their classes in person. New visas will not be issued to students at schools or programs that are entirely online. And even at colleges offering a mix of in-person and online courses this fall, international students will be barred from taking all their classes online.

It creates an urgent dilemma for thousands of international students who were left stranded in the US last spring after the coronavirus forced their schools to move online. 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 the guidance.

The American Council on Education, which represents university presidents, said the guidelines are "horrifying" and will result in confusion as schools look for ways to reopen safely.

Of particular concern is a stipulation saying students won't be exempted from the rules even if an outbreak forces their schools online during the fall term. It's unclear what would happen if a student ended up in that scenario but faced travel restrictions from their home country, said Terry Hartle, the council's senior vice president.

"It's going to cause enormous confusion and uncertainty," Hartle said. "ICE is clearly creating an incentive for institutions to reopen, regardless of whether or not the circumstances of the pandemic warrant it."

The international education group NAFSA blasted the rules and said schools should be given the authority to make decisions that are right for their own campuses. It said the guidance "is harmful to international students and puts their health and well-being and that of the entire higher education community at risk."

Nearly 400,000 foreigners received student visas in the 12-month period that ended 30 September, down more than 40 percent from four years earlier. School administrations partly blame visa processing delay.

Colleges across the US were already expecting sharp decreases in international enrollment this fall, but losing all international students could be disastrous for some. Many depend on tuition revenue from international students, who typically pay higher tuition rates. Last year, universities in the US attracted nearly 1.1 million students from abroad.

Trump's critics were quick to attack the new guidelines. Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said the "cruelty of this White House knows no bounds."

"Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported," Sanders said in a tweet. "We must stand up to Trumps bigotry. We must keep all our students safe."

Dozens of colleges have said they plan to offer at least some classes in person this fall, but some say it's too risky. The University of Southern California last week reversed course on a plan to bring students to campus, saying classes will be hosted primarily or exclusively online. Harvard on Monday said it will invite first-year students to live on campus, but classes will stay online.

Immigration authorities suspended certain requirements for international students early in the pandemic, but colleges were awaiting guidance on what would happen this fall. ICE notified schools of the changes Monday and said a formal rule would be forthcoming.

The announcement was the Trump administration's latest pandemic-related strike against legal immigration. Last month, authorities extended a ban on new green cards to many people outside the United States and expanded the freeze to include many on temporary work permits, including at high-tech companies, multinational corporations and seasonal employers.

The administration has long sought deep cuts to legal immigration, but the goal was elusive before the coronavirus .
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it has no intention to sit down with the United States and urged South Korea to 'stop meddling in other's affairs,' a senior diplomat said. Kwon Jong Gun, director general for U.S. affairs at Pyongyang's foreign ministry, issued a statement in state media KCNA criticising South Korea for 'talking in their own favour' about 'untimely rumour' about another summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it has no intention to sit down with the United States and urged South Korea to "stop meddling in other's affairs," a senior diplomat said.

Kwon Jong Gun, director general for U.S. affairs at Pyongyang's foreign ministry, issued a statement in state media KCNA criticising South Korea for "talking in their own favour" about "untimely rumour" about another summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith; Editing by Chris Reese)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Alexandra Alper and Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is pushing for schools to reopen in the fall and is hosting White House events on the topic on Tuesday, despite a steady increase in coronavirus infections across the country led by younger Americans and rising hospitalizations in many states. Trump, a Republican seeking re-election in November, on Monday tweeted 'SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!', as local officials across the country began pausing or scaling back their reopenings due to the surge in infections. On Tuesday, he will hold a discussion at the White House on re-opening schools, while Vice President Mike Pence speaks with governors on the topic, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters.

coronavirus surge" src="https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/reuters/07-2020/08/2020-07-07T171335Z_1_LYNXMPEG661H2_RTROPTP_2_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-USA-TRUMP.jpg" alt="Trump administration to encourage schools to safely reopen amid coronavirus surge" width="300" height="225" />

By Alexandra Alper and Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is pushing for schools to reopen in the fall and is hosting White House events on the topic on Tuesday, despite a steady increase in coronavirus infections across the country led by younger Americans and rising hospitalizations in many states.

Trump, a Republican seeking re-election in November, on Monday tweeted "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!", as local officials across the country began pausing or scaling back their reopenings due to the surge in infections.

On Tuesday, he will hold a discussion at the White House on re-opening schools, while Vice President Mike Pence speaks with governors on the topic, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters.

"It is really ... critically important to get our schools open," the official said, highlighting the role schools play in communities. "There are a variety of different strategies that schools can adopt that really minimize the risk and can open these schools quite safely."

The call comes as state and local governments, which largely control schools for kindergarten through 12th grade, grapple with how to handle the upcoming school year, seeking to balance the need for education with the risk of spreading the highly contagious disease.

Educators say socialization and other benefits such as school food programs are critically important. Experts have also shown online learning exacerbates the divide between poorer and more wealthy Americans, who have greater access to technology.

Most working parents of school-age children also depend on in-person instruction to allow them to work.

But an alarming surge in cases in the United States, especially among younger people, has raised concerns about the increased risk of spread by children to vulnerable adults at home as well as to older teachers and school staff.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "encourages school districts to make reopening plans that anticipate COVID-19 cases, minimize risk of spread and then limit the need for the potential of school closures," the official said.

Florida, a Republican-led state, on Monday issued a sweeping executive order for children to return to school this fall, despite sharply rising new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations there.

Asked about Florida, the senior administration official stressed that "these are state and local decisions at the end of the day and we are confident that state and local leaders across the country are taking these decisions very seriously."

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said it was too soon to decide on schools given the nature of the resurgent outbreak.

If Trump wants schools to re-open, he should call for masks to be worn nationwide, she told CNN, calling mask wearing "a simple, cost effective" solution to mitigate virus spread.

Colleges and universities are also weighing plans to resume this autumn, including calendar changes on online classes.

The Trump administration on Monday said foreign students must leave the country if their schools move to fully online classes, which could choke off revenue for those schools.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The two Uighur groups that filed the complaint against China are the East Turkistan Government in Exile and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement

Uighur exiles urged the International Criminal Court on Monday to investigate Beijing for genocide and crimes against humanity, the first 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.

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 a million ethnic Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities have been held in internment camps in the region, drawing growing global condemnation.

The courts mandate is to seek justice for victims of genocide, war crimes and other atrocities. But China does not recognise its jurisdiction, raising the question of how far the case will go.

Rodney Dixon, a British lawyer leading the case, said it circumvented the issue of jurisdiction over Beijing by focusing on claims of unlawful acts by China in Cambodia and Tajikistan, two countries that are members of the court.

This can become a critical case because for so long it has been assumed that nothing could be done to hold China accountable at an international court, Dixon said by telephone from London before travelling to The Hague.

Citing a 2018 ruling by the court, Dixon said, The court has said it has jurisdiction when crimes start or end in a member state, and that is the case here.

The 2018 ruling was applied to Myanmar, which has also not signed on to the courts treaty. The court ruled that it could prosecute Myanmar for deportation and associated crimes against Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh, which is a member.

The two Uighur groups that filed the complaint against China are the East Turkistan Government in Exile and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement. The groups advocate independence for Xinjiang, a region they refer to not by its official Chinese name but as East Turkestan, the name of two short-lived Uighur republics.

Their complaint also broadly takes aim at Chinas policies in Xinjiang over the past decade and the imposition of increasingly harsh security measures following a spate of violent unrest. The Uighurs have long resented the tight controls imposed by authorities on their religion and culture and the influx of Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in China, into Xinjiang.

Under Xi, the Xinjiang government expanded efforts to cajole, pressure or force Uighurs to return from abroad, and also established the internment camps intended to indoctrinate Uighurs to turn away from religion and embrace Chinese rule. It has imposed programs pushing minorities into jobs as factory workers and street cleaners.

Authorities are also pursuing an expansive and troubling campaign to drastically reduce the birthrate among minority groups in Xinjiang using forced sterilisation and abortions, according to an investigation by The Associated Press and Adrian Zenz, a German researcher.

Dixon, the British lawyer, said the complaint against Beijing included evidence of forced deportations and extraterritorial arrests by Chinese agents, gathered from witnesses and victims, reports from the United Nations and organizations such as Amnesty International and exile groups.

The prosecutor needs to investigate genocide, Dixon said. If you capture people, and you have a campaign to suppress them and you sterilise them, it is a campaign which intends to dilute and destroy their identity as a group.

It may take months before the international courts chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda of Gambia, issues a formal response to the lawyers filing.

Chinas foreign ministry had no immediate comment on the complaint. But the Chinese government has repeatedly rejected the evidence of widespread repression of minorities in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang fully implements the policy of freedom of religious belief, the ministry said last week in a long rebuttal to recent criticism of Chinas human rights record. Xinjiang has never curtailed the freedom of travel of Uighur people or people of any other ethnic groups.

Chinas response to the filing may mirror that of the Trump administration in cases that have involved Americans. The administration has fiercely attacked the international court for initiating an investigation of possible war crimes by US and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described it as a kangaroo court, and President Donald Trump called for economic penalties and travel restrictions to be imposed on court employees participating in investigations of Americans.

Marlise Simons c.2020 The New York Times Company
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Yes, it's the right time

No, the state should have waited a while longer

The economy should have been reopened a long time ago

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After the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorized COVID-19 stimulus money for most Americans, the IRS sent out or scheduled around 159 million payments worth more than $267 billion in total.

But while the majority of Americans received some stimulus funds, some groups of people residing in the U.S. were left out. One of those groups could soon get money: U.S. citizens in families with mixed immigration status. Here's why.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle want to provide funding to Americans who were left out

The CARES Act that authorized the first COVID-19-related stimulus payment included a rule that prevented payments from going to citizens with Social Security numbers who filed jointly with someone who had an Individual Taxpayer ID Number (ITIN). ITINs are commonly used by non-citizens.

That meant if a citizen was married to someone who filed with an ITIN, they'd have a choice between getting no stimulus money or filing as married filing separately (which comes with a host of tax consequences).

Now, there's bipartisan support to change that rule and make sure citizens who are entitled to stimulus money get it, even if their spouses don't have Social Security numbers.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives addressed the ITIN issue in the HEROES Act, which passed along party lines and authorized a second stimulus check. Under the HEROES Act, not only would all ITIN filers receive the second stimulus payment, but it also retroactively makes the CARES Act payments available too. As many as 4.3 million U.S. adults and 3.5 million children would benefit from this change, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Individuals affected would actually get two stimulus checks if the HEROES Act passes -- the first one and the second.

Two Republicans -- Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Thom Tillis of North Carolina -- also want to retroactively change the CARES Act rule that excluded millions of mixed-immigration status families. Their bill, the American Citizen Coronavirus Relief Act, is far narrower than the HEROES Act and doesn't propose a second stimulus check. However, it would allow U.S. citizens who file jointly with non-citizen spouses to get the first stimulus payment. And it would make stimulus funds available to dependent children under 17 who are citizens, as long as at least one of their parents is also a citizen.

While the introduction of this bill doesn't necessarily mean there's majority support for this proposal, the fact that some prominent Republicans are on board with offering COVID-19 money to families with mixed immigration status does mean there's a chance this group could get some funding if lawmakers can reach a compromise to provide it. It also makes it much more likely they'd be included if a second payment is authorized.

There's no guarantee anyone will get more stimulus money

While it's a good sign some lawmakers on both the right and left want to provide stimulus funds to those who were left out in the CARES Act, there's no guarantee this will happen -- or that any proposal to provide additional direct payments to Americans will actually gain majority support.

Since there may be no more coronavirus relief money even with the country in a recession, it might be better to explore other aid available if you need it. Expanded unemployment benefits provide an extra $600 per week through the end of July, for example, and the government is also providing some tax credits for small businesses to encourage them to assist struggling employees.

The CARES Act also provided for expanded paid sick leave and family leave, as well as putting some protections into place against foreclosure and eviction. Checking into these other provisions of the coronavirus relief legislation could benefit you even if you were left out of the CARES Act's stimulus checks the first time around.
When you're envisioning retirement, chances are you imagine spending your money on trips around the world or spoiling your grandkids.

But while that may be the dream, it's not the reality for millions of retirees. Instead, much of their retirement nest egg is spent on an unavoidable expense that isn't nearly as much fun.

That expense: healthcare costs. Sadly, far too few people plan for it, and failing to do so could be a major mistake.

Most Americans don't factor healthcare into their retirement goals, and that's a big problem

Although Medicare covers some healthcare costs for seniors, the gaps in this popular program are huge. That means retirees can expect large out-of-pocket expenses.

A recent report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found a senior couple could need as much $325,000 to have a 90% chance of covering their out-of-pocket costs including Medicare premiums and prescription drugs.

Most people planning for retirement don't know that or haven't prepared for it. A different EBRI study found less than a third of Americans have planned for covering healthcare costs in retirement.

If you don't take into account this huge expense, you could end up quickly draining your nest egg.

How to save for retirement healthcare costs

Saving for the healthcare you need in retirement isn't something that can wait. You need to begin preparing for your future medical needs as early as possible.

The best way is a health savings account (HSA). These special tax-advantaged accounts enable you to invest with pre-tax dollars and make tax-free withdrawals (as long as the money is used for qualifying medical care). By contrast, retirement savings accounts, such as 401(k)s and IRAs, don't offer tax breaks on both ends. You either get to invest with pre-tax dollars but pay taxes on withdrawals in traditional retirement accounts or invest with after-tax money and benefit from tax-free withdrawals in Roths.

Unfortunately, not everyone can save in an HSA because these accounts are only open to people with qualifying high-deductible health plans. If you aren't eligible, you'll have to save more in your other accounts to fund your future care.

To make sure you have enough, you could use your 401(k) to save for other retirement costs and open a dedicated IRA earmarked for medical needs. That way, you ensure you can cover healthcare without quickly draining the account you need to provide for your other expenses.

Don't leave yourself unprepared for your future medical needs

Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on healthcare throughout retirement isn't something anyone wants to do. But if that's your reality, the last things you need are financial issues compounding your health concerns.

By saving for medical care throughout your career, you can be prepared so your nest egg will cover any medical services you need.
Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo closing its gates Monday after an employee tests positive for COVID-19.

Were told the employee told supervisors immediately and is now quarantined.

All employees who may have had contact have been alerted and are taking proper precautions.

Out of caution the zoo is closed for the day for a deep cleaning of all indoor and common areas in the park.

The zoo says they will continue to take all necessary precautions to keep employees, guests, and animals safe and healthy.

This means continuing to take temperatures of all keepers as they arrive for their shift, wear masks as needed and keeping up a strict disinfectant schedule.

The zoo will open back up Tuesday at 9 am.
A study that was set to begin this week on a vaccine developed by the drug company Moderna has been delayed, providing an indication of how many things can temper optimism over the rapid development of a vaccination.

Dr. Paul Goepfert, director of the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said he believes January is a plausible target. But he added that testing and evaluation are crucial prerequisites that cannot be skipped.

We have vaccines now. You can start vaccinating people. But you dont know if they work, he told FOX10 News. More importantly, you dont know if they make the disease worse. And there are situations where vaccines during development, we found out that, you know, Oh no, its actually making you more susceptible to infection. Or, its making the disease worse if you get infected.

Goepfert is not part of the Moderna research. But he is working with two other drug companies, one beginning this month to test the immune responses to a potential vaccine under development by Pfizer and a clinical trial set to start next month that will test whether a version from AstraZeneca is effective.

The site in Birmingham, one of 150 across the country, will be recruiting volunteers. Goepfert said they likely will come from the Birmingham region, although he added that the final geographic area has not yet been determined.

Goepfert said researchers will look for volunteers with a high risk of contracting the virus, either because they live in a COVID-19 hotspot or because they have the kind of job that increases susceptibility.

So, those are the kinds of people who we would like to enroll, he said.

Goepfert said the process is moving at a much faster pace than typically would be the case for vaccine development under a government program called Operation Warp Speed, which aims to deliver vaccines as fast as possible.

Thats sort of the whole premise of Operation Warp Speed, because that kind of stuff doesnt impact the safety of a vaccine.

As part of that effort, the federal government has put up massive amounts of money for drug companies to begin production even before the vaccines have passed the preliminary hurdles. Ordinarily, it can take another whole year to actually manufacture vaccines have been proven safe and effective.

Goepfert noted that a vaccine likely would require two doses, which translates to 660 million if every man, woman and child in America were to get one.

To make that amount of vaccine takes a lot of time, he said.

By manufacturing the vaccines simultaneously with the testing  and the taxpayers assuming risk if they fail  the government aims to cut many months off the timeline.

Thats sort of the whole premise of Operation Warp Speed, because that kind of stuff doesnt impact the safety of a vaccine, Goepfert said. So you can still test the safety to make sure its safe and speed things along without impacting the safety analysis, which obviously is extremely important.

Thats where Goepfert and UAB comes in. He is protocol co-chairman of one of the efficacy studies.

Beyond the mechanics of determining whether a coronavirus works and does not have negative side effects, Goepfert said there are a couple of other challenges. For one, he said, researchers cannot say for sure how long someone might have protection form the virus. People need annual flu shots because of the constant mutations and emerging variations of the disease.

He said the early indications are that the novel coronavirus, although it does mutate, likely will not require annual treatments. But nothing is guaranteed, he added, noting that he has helped in the search of a vaccine for the disease that causes AIDS since 1994.

We still dont have an HIV vaccine.  Everything takes a lot longer than you think it should take, he said.

Scientists also face a social challenge  convincing people that a vaccine, once developed, is safe.

If the population is distrustful of the safety of the vaccine, were gonna have a very hard time to get herd immunity, Goepfert said.

Even under the best-case scenario, the UAB researcher said, it will take some time before everyone get vaccinated.

Its gonna still be staged in terms of who gets vaccine, he said. So itll be people at risk at first, and people at risk of not only getting infected but those getting a bad disease from the infection.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the slope of the COVID-19 curve in Alabama is concerning, but there's still time to take action.

Fauci spoke in a Facebook presentation Tuesday morning along with U.S. Senator Doug Jones.

Fauci hit on a number of subjects that people in Mobile may be especially interested in: what can we do particularly in Alabama to keep from getting sick, and what may have to happen with schools.

Fauci says the curve in Alabama is still going up and is rather steep.

He said, "But what's alarming is the slope of the curve. When you see a slope that goes up like that, you've got to be careful that you don't get into what's called an exponential phase where, every day, it can even double or more. You're not there yet, so you have an opportunity, a window, to get your arms around this and prevent it from getting worse."

Fauci says the average age of people getting infected today is fifteen years younger than what we saw months ago, and there are multiple examples of young people getting hospitalized, some requiring intensive care.

And he says when it comes to opening schools, some counties might have enough viral activity that they might want to modify scheduling.

Fauci said, "Things like masks at all times, things like alternating morning/ afternoon, decreasing the size and space between desks."

Fauci also says if governors mandate the use of masks when there's an outbreak, that would be important.

He also mentioned bars.

Fauci said, "When you are indoor in a bar, in the crowded situation in a bar, that's a perfect set up for the spread of infection. So, simple things, fundamental things, like masking, distancing, washing hands, closing bars."

Fauci also said the idea that the virus is mutating, and that's why deaths have not increased around the country, has not been proven.

His strongest advice: wear a mask, period.
MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - According to the Mobile Police Department, a 15-year-old girl was transported to the hospital after a confrontation over stolen fake eyelashes led to her suffering a cut to the head.

Authorities say officers responded to Peppertree Apartments at 6070 Sperry Road on Monday at approximately 10:37 p.m. for a complaint involving, "a female stabbed in the head."

They say once officers arrived on the scene, it was revealed that a 16-year-old female and the victim went to the apartment complex where they started a fight with a 20-year-old female and 14-year-old female over stolen fake eyelashes.

The 16-year-old was transported to Strickland Youth Center and the 15-year-old victim was taken to the hospital. They say she will also be transported to Strickland following her recovery.

This is a part of the daily crime report distributed by the Mobile Police Department. Other crimes reported that day are listed below:

Receiving Stolen Property, Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

On Monday, July 6, 2020 at approximately 4 p.m., police spotted a stolen vehicle traveling east on Halls Mall Road. Officers got behind the vehicle and the driver pulled over onto Fleetwood Drive. The driver was found to be in possession of a controlled substance and a digital scale with residue. Robert McCants, 36, was arrested. McCants also had an active felony warrant for assault second out of DeKalb County, Georgia.

Burglary 2nd

On Monday, July 6, 2020 at approximately 10:22 a.m., police responded to the 1400 block of McLaughlin Drive in reference to an assault. The victim stated the subject unlawfully entered her residence early in the morning and when confronted a verbal altercation become physical. Officers went to the hospital to speak with the subject, who had minor injuries on his head. He stated he did not remember going to the victims residence due to being intoxicated. Kenneth Sims, 41, was arrested.

Domestic Violence 2nd

On Monday, July 6, 2020 at approximately 11 a.m., police responded to the 1300 block of Dauphin Street in reference to a domestic altercation. The victim stated the subject left the scene in her vehicle with her 7-month-old child and when she attempted to stop him from leaving, he struck her in the head with a handgun and when she tried to stop him again he backed the vehicle into her leg and left the scene. The subject was located and taken into custody. Jerome Bartholomew, 29, was arrested.

Assault 2nd

On Monday, July 6, 2020 at approximately 10:38 p.m., police were dispatched to Mobile Infirmary for one shot at Newhouse Park, 2960 Alston Drive. It was reported that the victim was sitting alone in the park smoking with he was shot to his knee. The victim did not give much information on what really happened. Further investigation is being conducted on this incident.

Medical Emergency - Drowning

On Monday, July 6, 2020 at approximately 1 p.m., police were called to the 1700 block of Winston Road in reference to a medical emergency call. The mother told the officers that her 2-year-old boy, along with other children, was playing in the front yard of the residence. The children ran to the back of the residence. A short time later, one of the children came running to the front yard and told the mother that her son was in the pool. The mother found him unconscious. MFRD responded and revived the boy. He was transported to the hospital for further treatment.
DAPHNE, Ala. (WALA)-- New video shows the moments two thieves broke into The Puppy Den in Daphne with their eyes set on some very valuable designer puppies.

Surveillance cameras captured them ransacking the store early Saturday morning.

Daphne police say they used a chair from another business to bust out the glass door.

Either they had been in the store or they had been in contact with somebody who had been in the store because it's obvious they knew what they were going after, said Sgt. Jason Vannoy with the Daphne Police Department.

In the video you can see one of the masked bandits come straight to the cash register using socks as gloves, pulling the entire drawer out as his accomplice stuffs a white dog into a large black bag right behind him.

In less than two minutes the thieves snatched four dogs, $200 in cash and even took envelopes filled with documents.

A 15-year-old chihuahua boarding there was one of the dogs taken.

She was abandoned hundreds of miles away, found wandering the streets in Columbus, Georgia, miraculously reunited with her owner a day later.

So incredibly shocked. I never ever dreamed that she would be found so far away so fast and I just, I burst into tears, said owner, Donna Lowe.

Three stolen Maltipoo puppies are still missing as of Monday evening.

The thieves attempted to steal four other adult dogs, two of them bit back.

It is very strange, it's not very common, but they are a very valuable a thing that could be sold.

A quick google search shows just how valuable the designer dogs are.

Price tags range up to $4,5000.

Daphne police say they have found someone in the Columbus area who may have had them at some point.

Police are working to figure out how that person in Columbus is connected to the thieves.

The Puppy Den owners did not want to go on camera.

The store is closed for now.

The owners say their focus right now is getting their babies back.

Anyone with information should call Daphne police at (251) 620-0911 or message them here on Facebook.
(CNN) -- Harvard and Princeton universities will bring back students to campus this fall, but not everyone will return at the same time.

The pandemic has forced universities to formulate plans to keep educators and students safe from Covid-19. From online learning to limiting the amount of people on campus, here's how Harvard and Princeton plan to go forward with the fall semester.

Harvard University plans to bring up to 40% of undergraduates back to campus for the fall semester, including all first-year students, the school announced on Monday. In addition to first-year students, Harvard will allow students who need to be on campus "to progress academically" to return as well.

Princeton University will welcome undergraduate students back to campus in the fall with a reduced capacity, the school announced on Monday. First-year students and juniors will be allowed to return to campus for the fall semester, while sophomores and seniors will be welcomed back in the spring semester.

Princeton is also offering 10% discounted tuition for the school year.

Both universities will emphasize online instructions. At Harvard, all course instruction will be delivered online, including for students living on campus. Princeton said that most academic instruction will remain online.

"Over the last two months, my colleagues and I have been studying the pandemic and identifying measures we can take to accommodate students on campus," Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber said in his message to the university community. "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."

Testing will be required for everyone returning to campus, both universities announced, with regular testing throughout the semester.

Harvard will implement social distancing and dedicated quarantine space in dorms. Every person on Princeton's campus, including visitors, will be required to wear a face covering when inside, except in a dormitory or apartment.

Princeton undergraduate students returning to campus must sign what the university is calling a "social contract" -- which outlines their commitment to following the health and safety protocols designed by the school.

Harvard said that if the school maintains it 40% capacity for the spring semester, first-year students would return home and the priority is to allow the senior class to return to campus. The school anticipates making a final decision about that in December.

Last week, Yale University announced a similar plan to limit the number of people on campus. Yale will reopen in the fall without sophomores living on campus and then will be open in the spring without freshmen living on campus.

As coronavirus cases are steadily rising in the Los Angeles region, the University of Southern California announced last week that it is dropping plans to have undergraduate students back in the classroom and instead will offer most classes online.

CNN's Eric Levenson, Dakin Andone and Stella Chan contributed to this report.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -- With COVID-19 cases increasing across the Las Vegas Valley, many people wonder what the protocol is if a staff member at a
Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump over the drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, in January 2020.
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.
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.
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The Hershey Company will invest $135 million and create 110 new jobs through a planned expansion to its manufacturing plant in Augusta County.

The company will increase production by 90,000-square-feet at its Stuarts Draft facility as part of the project, according to a recent news release from Gov. Ralph Northam.

This major expansion is the companys second in just over a year, and is a strong testament to the Shenandoah Valleys ability to attract and retain high-caliber manufacturers, the governor said in a statement. We thank Hershey for its continued confidence in Virginia and its people.

The Hershey Company, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2019, is the leading North American chocolate producer and global snacks company. Headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the company has approximately 16,500 employees around the world.

Hershey has more than 80 brands that drive $8 billion in annual revenues, including Hersheys, Reeses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, IceBreakers, SkinnyPop and Pirates Booty, according to the release.

Hershey Chocolate of Virginia, Inc. has operated in Augusta County for more than 30 years and employs more than 1,000 people. The Virginia facility is the companys second-largest plant in the United States.
People who havent registered for free community testing for COVID-19 today in Stafford County can still attend, but should arrive between noon and 1 p.m.

Theres been substantially more interest in this event, planned near Stafford Hospital, than for three other similar testings offered by the Rappahannock Area Health District, said health district spokesperson Allison BalmesJohn. By Monday morning, 400 people had pre-registered, and thats as many tests as are available for the screening, she said.

However, because health officials expect some no-shows, they will offer tests to those who havent registered in advance, but not until after noon.

The health district is partnering with Stafford County Fire and Rescue, the Virginia National Guard and Mary Washington Healthcare to hold the event in the parking lot at the intersection of Hospital Center Boulevard and U.S. 1. Signs will direct participants to the drive-thru location.

Other community events are planned in the region, and staff at the health districts call center, 540/899-4797, can help residents find other free testing locations.
Most Fredericksburg students are expected to head back to classrooms once the citys schools reopen Aug. 10, but they will only be there two days per week.

Instruction would be online for the rest of the week, according to a plan drafted by a task force that includes school officials, teachers and parents. It divides students equally into four groups for the fall semester, and alternates schedules for in-school and online instruction so that only two groups are in school buildings at a time.

Each group will represent 25 percent of the student population of the school, Mike George, the school systems chief operations/information officer, told the School Board Monday.

We did this on purpose, that we have different tracks based off of the guidance from the CDC, the Virginia Department of Education, the governor and the Rappahannock Area Health District. If we have to change course in the plan, based on whatever is going on at that point, we have students pre-identified into groups, and we could then subdivide again to bring the capacity down if we had to.

If Gov. Ralph Northam orders schools to close again, as he did last spring to slow the spread of COVID-19, all instruction would be online, George said.
We must come together to continue to address this crisis and support our most vulnerable population and those who are caring for our loved ones.

No one is immune from the potential impact of COVID-19, which has the ability to spread even with the strictest containment measures. Long-term care facilities have seen progress in their ability to combat the virus, which is a testament to the relentless commitment of these caregivers and staff.

However, without additional support, residents remain vulnerable to the threats posed by COVID-19. We ask the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to prioritize these residents by providing additional emergency relief funding to all long-term care facilities, including assisted living communities.

In March, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act established a mechanism to distribute what now amounts to $175 billion to support health care providers. These funds provided immediate relief to our overwhelmed hospitals at the height of this crisisa necessary step to ensure our health care system was not overrun.




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Future Market Insight's recent study on the global mining lubricants market predicts a CAGR of 3.3% across the forecast period 2020-2030. This growth is primarily being driven by burgeoning investments in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the coal and iron-ore markets.

As mining operations have compounded in recent years, the demand for sophisticated and heavy mining equipment have also surged. Equipment such as rock drills and hydraulic shovels require high maintenance due to their extensive usage which leads to wear and tear. Therefore, to increase their working lives, mining lubricants have become an important area of investment for major companies.

However, the recent coronavirus pandemic has induced a great deal of sluggishness in the mining industry. Since the pandemic's onset, mining operations have ceased in favor of mandatory social distancing measures imposed due to nationwide lockdowns. Since early March, the metals and mining industry's average share prices declined by 10%, while industrial production losses amounted to 20%. Such downturns have led to a fall in the mining lubricants market shares.

Fortunately, leading mining lubricant manufacturers have been building up their inventories which is allowing them to offset negative economies of scale by liquidating the surplus stock and converting them into cash reserves. This trend is expected to keep the mining lubricants market afloat throughout the pandemic's duration.

Download a Sample Report with Table of Contents and Figures: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-6505

"The global mining lubricants market is actively pursuing opportunities in the lubricants space, enabling vendors to overcome challenges in the near future. As government regulations over the nature of lubricants become stricter, market players are developing more sustainable and environmental-friendly alternatives, generating an entirely new ecosystem to flourish," concludes an FMI analyst.

Key Takeaways from the Mining Lubricants Market Study

The global mining lubricants markets shall be valued at nearly US$ 3 Bn by 2030.

Water-based lubricant additives shall surpass conventional variants, owing to the need for ensuring environmental sustainability.

Coal mining shall account for more than half of the mining lubricants market share throughout the forecast period.

Bio-based lubricants are acquiring immense traction over synthetic lubricants, being touted as a permanent long-term solution.

Open-pit mining expected to find immense application of mining lubricants due to the high volume of machinery usage.

Asia-Pacific is anticipated to garner firm footing in the mining lubricants market due to the high number of mining operations.

Mining Lubricants Market- Key Trends

High savings potential is increasing the usage of mining lubricants. For instance, proper utilization of lubricants enables the North American mining industry to save up to US$ 30 million every year.

Alternative lubricants derived from renewable natural resources are being explored on a larger scale, due to rising concerns about environmental sustainability.

Iron-ore mining has acquired major traction due to the rising demand for steel across various industries. As a result, the application of mining lubricants in this sector is proliferation on a large scale.

Mining Lubricants Market- Region-wise Analysis

Mushrooming industrial and infrastructural operations in the Asia-Pacific region has increased demand for raw materials and consequently mining operations. Thus, uptake of mining lubricants is high in this region.

Europe and North America were the market hegemons across the historical period, accounting for nearly 30% of the global mining lubricants market.

At present, Europe accounts for a minor share in the production of mining lubricants. It does, however, consist of a diversified mineral portfolio, with Germany being the largest supplier of mining equipment.

Coal mining lubricants constitute the maximum share across the BRICS nations.

Our advisory services are aimed at helping you with specific, customized insights that are relevant to your specific challenges. Let us know about your challenges and our trusted advisors will connect with you: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-6505

Mining Lubricants Market- Competitive Landscape

The mining lubricants industry is moderately fragmented, comprising of the following market players: Chevron Corporation, Total S.A, Schaeffer Manufacturing Co., Kluber Lubrication and Exxon Mobil Corporation. Technological advancements in lubricant applications is stimulating mining lubricant market players to ascend the value-chain ladder.

The abovementioned players are working in conjunction with major mining companies to help them strategize and upgrade their lubricant management processes and save costs. Additionally, they are expanding their operational capabilities to leverage regional market dynamics. For instance, in 2019, Exxon Mobil expanded its Singapore refinery for better upgradation of Group II lubricants stock and remain competitive in the market.

Also, Shell dispatched its technical experts to Zhenzhua Zhungeer coal mine in China to audit six BE395 shovels and replaced faulty injectors with the appropriate lubrication technology in compliance with original equipment manufacturing recommendations.

Mining Lubricants Market Taxonomy:

Product Type

Oils

Greases

Source

Synthetic

Bio-based

Application

Coal Mining

Iron Ore Mining

Bauxite Mining

Precious Metal & Rare Earth Mineral Mining

Industrial Minerals Mining

Others

Region & Country

North America

U.S

Canada

Latin America

Mexico

Brazil

Peru

Others

Europe

EU-5

Nordic countries

BENELUX

Poland

Russia

East Asia

China

Japan

South Asia

India

ASEAN

Oceania

Australia

New Zealand

Middle East & Africa

GCC

Southern Africa

North Africa

More Insights on the Mining Lubricants Market

Future Market Insights has published a market research report on the Mining lubricants market that contains global industry analysis for 20152019 and opportunity assessment for 20202030. The report provides insightful analysis of the Mining lubricants market through four different segments- product type, source, application, and region. The Mining lubricants market report also provides demand trends of different types across industry verticals, a comprehensive list of service providers in the market, various projects around the world, along with a detailed overview of the parent market.

Explore Extensive Coverage of FMI's Chemicals & Materials Reports

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and take critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.

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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.
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Workers in Galveston County finding hospitality industry inhospitable during pandemic

STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Eric Walker, head brewer and founder of Devil and the Deep Brewery, bottles beer for to-go sales at the brewery in Galveston on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. The brewerys taproom is closed because of coronavirus regulations. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Victoria Lewis tends bar at several Galveston establishments. Although frustrated by coronavirus shutdowns, she remains optimistic about the future. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Hotel worker Carly Rowland lost her job in Houston as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. She is still searching for a new job. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Dan Torres, chief of operations at Devil and the Deep Brewery, cleans bottles at the brewery in Galveston on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. The brewerys taproom is currently closed because of coronavirus regulations. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Bar workers, from left, Charlie Green, Tiffanni Seelbach, Victoria Lewis, Mike Snover, Natasha Harrison and Jen Schweizer have all been affected by recent business shutdowns due to coronavirus regulations. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News A sign on the door at Devil and the Deep Brewery notifies the public that the brewerys taproom is currently closed because of coronavirus regulations.

GALVESTON COUNTY

Islander Carly Rowland has been looking for a job for months.

Rowland, 42, a 20-year veteran of the hotel industry, had been director of group sales at the JW Marriott Houston until COVID-19 came along.

Because companies arent traveling for conferences, Rowlands job is gone, she said.

Theres nothing to go back to, Rowland said.

Pandemic closures have hit thousands of Galveston County hospitality and service industry workers especially hard as they attempt to manage on-and-off closures, layoffs and a constantly changing work environment that comes with new rules and sometimes unfriendly customers.

Although many workers remain hopeful, the coronavirus shutdowns, uncertainty and financial pressures have led some to consider changing industries.

Rowland in her job search has gotten a few offers, but those were rescinded, she said.

In April, she thought about waiting tables again, which she hasnt done in years, but even those jobs arent hiring new people, she said.

The jobs arent there, Rowland said. Ive been interviewing with jobs just for something to do.

Across Texas, the number of people working in leisure or hospitality industry jobs dropped from 1.42 million in February to 1.37 million in March and to 837,000 in April before rebounding a little to 1.01 million in May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. More recent data wasnt available at the time of publication.

In the Houston region, which includes Galveston County, people employed by leisure or hospitality dropped from 339,600 in February to 250,500 in May, a decline of more than 26 percent, according to the data.

Victoria Lewis has seen the ups and downs.

Lewis, 34, was furloughed from her bartending jobs at Albatross, 815 21st St., Mollys Pub & Old Cellar Bar, 2013 Postoffice St., and OMalleys Stage Door, 2022 Postoffice St., among others, she said.

She used money shed been saving for a surgery to make it through the first shutdown, has found some work recently and was scrimping in anticipation of another shutdown, she said.

We knew this was going to happen, Lewis said. We saved our pennies.

When Lewis was working, it was stressful to navigate a new set of laws on top of the standards she already must practice to serve alcohol, Lewis said.

Bartenders are accustomed to wiping down surfaces constantly, but ensuring patrons were practicing social distancing and wearing masks was new and harder, she said.

Some people got angry when they couldnt enter without a mask, she said.

That was really different because we had to turn people away, Lewis said.

People should try to be a little more patient these days with those in service or hospitality industries, said Coco Hogue, manager at Craft 96 Draft House + Kitchen in League City, 2575 E. League City Parkway.

Since Gov. Greg Abbott implemented a statewide masking order Friday, many people havent wanted to comply with the new rule.

Its been a struggle, Hogue said. People get really nasty.

Business at the draft house has been pretty good, but the past few months have been tough, Hogue said. The changes in capacity and dine-in rules have caused scheduling challenges, making it difficult for workers to plan their family life, she said.

Everyone is going through this, Hogue said. Everyone is suffering.

The back and forth of both state and local regulations is posing a significant challenge to workers, said Daniel Torres, co-owner of Devil and the Deep Brewery, 2425 Postoffice St. in Galveston.

It is very surreal, Torres said.

The brewery had been offering outdoor seating but went back to only to-go when Abbott ordered bars closed two weeks ago, he said.

Something is better than nothing but something is not enough, Torres said.

It has been a struggle to figure out how to pay the bills, and the situation has gotten beyond frustrating, he said.

Its very numbing, Torres said. Everythings been very uncertain for four months now.

Rowland has started looking for jobs outside the hospitality industry, she said.

Sometimes, people dont realize how many people the shutdowns are touching, she said.

Its not just your servers and bartenders, Rowland said.

And the people who do have jobs often arent doing what their original title entailed, she said.

Theyre working at a 50 percent salary, Rowland said. Youre stripping rooms for housekeeping.

Whats really tough is just not knowing anything about the future, she said.

No ones sitting at home glad they dont have a job to go to, Rowland said.
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms, especially during the morning. High 88F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low 82F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Ubisoft vice president of editorial Maxime Beland has resigned from his role after being accused of sexual harassment and assault.

The company also revealed that Beland's fellow editorial vice president, Tommy Francois, has been placed on disciplinary leave pending the outcome of an investigation -- although it's worth noting that Francois had reportedly already been suspended.

Meanwhile, another unnamed individual from Ubisoft Toronto has been fired for "engaging in behaviours that do not align with what is expected of Ubisoft employees."

Beland's departure, described as a "resignation," follows a stream of allegations posted on social media accusing the Ubisoft exec of choking a female employee at a Far Cry party and several forms of sexual harassment. Ubisoft was reportedly aware of those allegations but chose not to act.

Earlier this week, we spoke to multiple Ubisoft employees who told us how the company has enabled a culture of abuse and control that has allowed sexual harassment, abuse, racism, and homophobia to take root and flourish.

Ubisoft chief exec Yves Guillemot has since outlined a number of changes the company intends to make in a letter titled 'Change starts today,' including a shake-up of the editorial department, previously overseen by Beland and Francois, and the appointment of a Head of Diversity and Inclusion.

You can find the company's latest statement, sent to Gamasutra by Ubisoft's senior director of corporate communications Michael Burk, posted below.




[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.]

Hamburg, July 7, 2020  Danger lurks around every corner of the famed cave systems of gamigo's voxel MMO Trove. In the action-packed pixel world of Delves, an all-new game mode awaits fearsome Candy Barbarians and skilled Gunslingers where they can battle dangerous foes and gather precious items in the procedurally generated cave worlds. Trove is filled to the brim with exciting content, new friends to meet, and quests to fulfil. Players can join their friends games at any time to adventure in player-created dungeons, fight mighty foes, and collect awesome new weapons and equipment. Thanks to an extensive terraforming mechanic, crafty builders can reshape the entire world and create brand new landmasses. They can create their own dungeons and even submit new mounts and costumes through Trovesaurus, the special fansite dedicated to the players. Trove is unlike any other game on the market and its constantly evolving. Whether players just want to dip their toes in for an hour or dive deep into the darkest dungeons, build, or go adventuring with their friends, Troves got something for everyone. Utilizing a powerful AI, built by gamigo for the Delves update, players are teleported into the depths of Geode in groups of up to eight players or solo, tailored to match their personal power level. Each of the three Delves modes is unique and offers a variety of challenges for daring players. After solving them, brave adventurers and their friends can fight fearsome bosses and venture deeper and deeper into the mysterious caves. They can queue up for a Public Delve in the Geode and Trove Hubs or create their own portal to jump into with their friends. Challenge Delves offer timed events in which mighty heroes compete for the first place on the Delves leaderboard. Delves also packs in some new class reworks including the Tomb Raiser that has been enhanced and overhauled for pure soul-summoning combat power. All this and more is now available for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. More information about the Voxel MMO Trove and the Delves update can be found on the official website. About gamigo group The gamigo group is one of the leading publishers of online and mobile games in Europe and North America. The companys diverse game portfolio includes free-to-play titles such as ArcheAge, RIFT, Trove, Defiance 2050, Ironsight and Aura Kingdom, as well as the recently launched buy-to-play game ArcheAge: Unchained. Counting more than 400 employees, gamigo is one of the largest german companies in the gaming industry. Besides its 5 german locations in Hamburg (HQ), Berlin, Cologne, Munster and Darmstadt, the gamigo group also has branches in Warsaw (Poland), Istanbul (Turkey), New York, Redwood City, Austin, Bellevue (US), and Seoul (South Korea). In addition to gamigo AG, the group includes the subsidiaries WildTangent, Aeria Games, adspree media, and Mediakraft Networks as well as the brands GameSpree, Infernum, Intenium, Looki, and Poged. The company strives to grow not only organically, but also through acquisitions. Since 2013, it has made more than 25 acquisitions, including titles, gaming and technology companies as well as individual game assets.
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The Essential Oil Isolates Market research report provides the latest industry data, growth, key segments and future trends on the basis of the detailed study. Moreover, this market report also allowing you to identify the opportunity and growth rate of the leading segment, revenue growth and profitability.

The entire essential oil isolates market has been sub-categorized into product type and end-use. The report provides an analysis of these subsets with respect to the geographical segmentation. This research study will keep marketer informed and helps to identify the target demographics for a product or service.

Request a FREE Sample Copy of Global Essential Oil Isolates Market Report with Full TOC At: https://www.valuemarketresearch.com/contact/essential-oil-isolates-market/download-sample

By Product Type

 Orange oil

 Tea Tree oil

 Eucalyptus oil

 Clove oil

 Rosemary oil

 Lemon oil

 Corn Mint oil

 Citronella oil

 Peppermint oil

 Geranium oil

 Jasmine oil

 Spearmint oil

 Lavender oil

 Others

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 Pharmaceuticals

 Food & Beverages Industry

 Aromatherapy

 Cosmetics & Personal Care Industry

 Toiletries

 Others

The research report also covers the comprehensive profiles of the key players in the market and an in-depth view of the competitive landscape worldwide. The major players in the essential oil isolates market include Plant Therapy, Advanced Biotech, Hermitage Oils, Soap & Salve Company, Aromatic Natural Skin Care, Perfumers Apprentice, Aftelier Perfumes, The Lebermuth Company, Cedarome, India Essential Oils and Others. This section includes a holistic view of the competitive landscape that includes various strategic developments such as key mergers & acquisitions, future capacities, partnerships, financial overviews, collaborations, new product developments, new product launches, and other developments.

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Oregons universities arent free from institutional racism, as we were reminded in June 2018 when two campus police officers killed Jason Washington, an African-American man who was trying to break up a fight outside a sports bar near Portland State University. What punishments did these officers receive following the killing? They were placed on paid administrative leave and, when they could have been brought to court, a grand jury decided not to indict them. This scandal shouldve had a major impact on how Oregons universities viewed on-campus policing. It didnt.

While the city of Corvallis is making attempts to ameliorate racial bias in policing by unanimously approving to spend up to $150,000 on a bias response program, no such efforts have been announced by OSU since the Board of Trustees voted earlier this year to hire a police force. It shouldnt go unmentioned that students didnt have much of a say in this decision and will likely be the ones suffering the consequences if something were to go wrong. Like back in October of 2019, when an African-American student was arrested after a police officer stopped her for riding her bicycle down the wrong side of the road not far from OSUs campus. Given that more and more people are finally being made aware of the prevalence of racist police practices and police brutality, the university needs to be taking steps to eliminate the chances of this being carried out by OSU police.
The Corvallis City Council unanimously passed a resolution of support for Black Lives Matter at its Monday meeting.

The 9-0 vote builds on an earlier statement of support for Black Lives Matter, its work and goals, from the Benton County Board of Commissioners.

This is an important resolution and I will be supporting it and I want to encourage my fellow councilors to do the same, said Ward 8 Councilor Ed Junkins, the lone Black member of the council. Not all communities will be putting out this sort of resolution.

Ward 5s Charlyn Ellis, who worked on the resolution with Andrew Struthers of Ward 9, said she had researched other resolutions on the matter and I didnt find any as broad as Benton Countys. Councilor Junkins is right that we are one of the few communities who have taken this step and Im proud that we are doing so.
MILTON

Milton police are investigating the thefts of three vehiclestwo reported stolen from Milton and found in Illinois and a third stolen in Illinois and found in Milton.

A vehicle reported stolen from Bolingbrook, Illinois, was found in Milton on June 30. At about 3:34 a.m., a police officer saw a gray SUV driving on Parkview Drive without its taillights turned on. The officer activated his emergency lights, and the vehicle fled from the officer and could not be located, according to Milton police news release.

A few minutes later, what possibly was the same vehicle struck a house on Plumb Street, according to the release. No one was in the car when police arrived.

At 6:30 a.m. and 7:03 a.m. that day, vehicles were reported stolen on Brown and Parkview drives, according to the release.

One of the vehicles was found significantly damaged July 3 in Rockford, Illinois. The second vehicle was found significantly damaged July 5 in Freeport, Illinois.

These were crimes of opportunity, Milton Police Chief Scott Marquardt said in the news release. Both vehicles stolen in the city of Milton were parked and unlocked with keys inside. The police department reminds residents to use sound crime prevention techniques and keep vehicles and property secured.
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Market Reports on India Provides the Trending Market Research Report India Hot Drinks Market Assessment and Forecasts to 2024under Food & Beverage Category. The report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, competitive intelligence and Market reports.

Indian Hot Drinks Sector was led by hot tea category in both value and volume terms in 2019. However, the other hot drinks category is forecast to register fastest value & volume growth during 2019-2024. Convenience stores accounted for the leading share in the distribution of hot drinks in the country. Paper & board was the most commonly used pack material in the country. Consumption of hot drinks products was higher among males than females in the country. Unilever, Tata Sons Limited and GlaxoSmithKline are the top three companies in the Indian hot drinks sector.

This report on the hot drinks sector in India provides insights on high growth markets to target, trends in the usage of packaging materials, types and closures category level distribution data and companies market shares.

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What else is contained?

 Sector data: Overall sector value and volume data with growth analysis for 2014-2024

 Category coverage: Value and growth analysis for hot coffee, hot tea, other hot drinks with inputs on individual segment share within each category and the change in their market share forecast for 2019-2024

 Leading players: Market share of compaines (in value terms) and private labels (in value terms) in 2019

 Distribution data: Percentage of sales within each category through distribution channels such as cash & carries & warehouse clubs, convenience stores, department stores, food & drinks specialists, hypermarkets & supermarkets, e-retailers, dollar stores, variety stores & general merchandise retailers other general retailers.

 Packaging data: consumption breakdown for package materials and pack types in each category, in terms of percentage share of number of units sold. Pack material data for glass, flexible packaging, rigid plastics, paper & board and rigid metal; pack type for: jar, bag/sachet, tub, speciality container, stand up pouch, carton  folding, can, pod and other pack type, closure type for: flip/snap top, screw top, prize off, twist off, plastic tie and other closure types, primary outer types for: carton  folding, bag, sleeve and shrink wrap.

Scope:

 Value share of India is expected to increase in both the global and regional hot drinks market in the next five years

 Both per capita consumption and per capita expenditure of hot drinks was lower in India than both the global and regional levels in 2019

 Indian consumers prefer premium products in the hot drinks sector

 The per capita consumption of hot tea was higher than other hot drinks categories in 2019

 Private labels are growing at a higher CAGR than brands in the Indian hot drinks sector

 Paper & board is the commonly used pack material in the Indian hot drinks sector

 Hot tea was the most used category across leading cities in India

 Amongst top ten cities, Mumbai is projected to contribute the most towards the volume growth of Indian hot drinks sector during 2018-2023

 Kids & babies account for the leading share in the consumption of hot drinks in India

 Global trade slowdown, internal headwinds leads to pulls down Indias Real GDP growth in 2019

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 Identify high potential categories and explore further market opportunities based on detailed value and volume analysis

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 Our team of analysts have placed a significant emphasis on changes expected in the market that will provide a clear picture of the opportunities that can be tapped over the next five years, resulting in revenue expansion

 The packaging analysis report helps manufacturers, in identifying the most commonly used packaging materials in the sector

 Analysis on key macro-economic indicators such as real GDP, nominal GDP, consumer price index, household consumption expenditure, population (by age group, gender, rural-urban split, and employed people and unemployment rate.

 It also includes economic summary of the country along with labor market and demographic trends.

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Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.


Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Award-winning author Katrina Shawver is back at the Glendale Public Library as the Writer in Residence for the summer.
US Intelligence, Accusing Russia of Shady Deal With Taliban, Is Involved in Drug Trade, Envoy Says

Sputnik News

16:53 GMT 04.07.2020(updated 17:01 GMT 04.07.2020)

YAKUTSK (Sputnik) - US intelligence is deeply involved in the Afghan drug trade at the same time as it accuses Russia of conspiring with the Taliban, Special Presidential Envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said on Saturday.

"Their [US intelligence's] planes fly from Kandahar or Bagram to any destination - like Germany or Romania - without any checks. No wonder, such is their business. Any Afghan citizen, anyone, in Kabul could tell you about it. It's an open secret and everyone is sick and tired of it and dismisses it as a given", Kabulov said.

Late last month, The New York Times, citing anonymous US intelligence sources, published an article claiming that Russian military intelligence offered rewards to Taliban-linked militants for attacks on American soldiers in Afghanistan and that US President Donald Trump had been informed about this.

Trump said that neither he nor Vice President Mike Pence were briefed on the issue, because the US Intelligence Community said the allegations were not verified or substantiated. Trump called the article another attempt at a Russia hoax to make Republicans look bad in an election year.

Russian officials have denied the allegations as false and characterised them as being part of the internal political infighting in the United States.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the Russian and US governments had not been in contact regarding the US media allegations.

A Sputnik
USS McCambell Departs Yokosuka, Celebrates Success while Forward-Deployed

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200704-01

Release Date: 7/4/2020 7:50:00 PM

By Lieutenant Junior Grade Lauren Larar, USS McCampbell Public Affairs Officer

PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- USS McCampbell (DDG 85) departed Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, July 2, 2020, following 13 years of service forward-deployed to U.S. Seventh Fleet.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer is en route to Portland, Oregon, where she will undergo her midlife modernization. Following routine maintenance and system upgrades, McCampbell will proceed to Naval Station Everett, Washington where she will be homeported.

McCampbell operated in the Indo-Pacific while assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy's largest forward deployed DESRON and the U.S. Seventh Fleet's principal surface force.

"It has been an honor and privilege for the McCampbell crew to serve alongside the advanced warfighters in the most challenging operational environment. We also cherish the relationship we have developed with the Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Japan community and our JMSDF neighbors," said Cmdr. Patrick Sullivan, McCampbell's commanding officer. "We are very appreciative for all of the support for McCampbell and our families during the last 13 years."

McCampbell arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, in July of 2007 while under the command of Cmdr. William M. Triplett to take the place of USS Gary and operated alongside the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) as part of the Kitty Hawk Strike Group.

"The Yokosuka community was very welcoming when we arrived in July of 2007," said Capt. (ret) William Triplett. "We had 50% of the crew coming over from GARY that had only done independent operations. So, our task was to quickly integrate this new blended crew and make them ready for Strike Group operations along with getting the rest of the crew settled in their new home. That first year was memorable and the crew came together quickly and made a great first impression on our new community, DESRON 15, and Task Force 70."

McCampbell's service in Seventh Fleet contributed to providing security and stability throughout the region by working alongside allies and partners. She conducted a multitude of humanitarian operations, strengthening the bonds with allied nations. In 2008, the ship supported disaster relief efforts off the coast of Indonesia following a series of Earthquakes that caused significant damage to the region. In 2011, McCampbell was an active contributor in Operation Tomodachi to provide relief to Japanese citizens affected by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. In 2012, the ship rescued five Filipino fishermen off the coast of the Philippines after their boat had capsized.

"In her 12 years with DESRON 15, McCampbell made lasting positive impacts to our allies, regional partners, and to the security of the Indo-Pacific region," said Capt. Steven DeMoss, commander, Destroyer Squadron 15. "McCampbell has been a workhorse for the theater commanders ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. In particular, this last year the crew spent more days at sea than any other ship in theater. As they return to the U.S. for modernization and upgrades, McCampbell and her crew have established a proud legacy of service and excellence in SEVENTH Fleet."

McCampbell routinely participated in several multinational exercises including, Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT), with regional navies in Southeast Asia. The ship also conducted Ship Anti-submarine Warfare Readiness and Evaluation Measurement (SHAREM) as well as multiple cooperative deployments with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). McCampbell was also a regular participant in exercises TALISMAN SABRE and MALABAR, hosted by Australia and India, respectively.

McCampbell is scheduled to join U.S. Third Fleet, which leads naval forces in the Indo-Pacific and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy. U.S. 3rd Fleet works consistently with U.S. Seventh Fleet to complement one another and provide commanders capable, ready assets across the spectrum of military operations in the Pacific.
India's Modi rallies troops at China border after deadly clash

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 04 July 2020 7:37 AM

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rallied the country's troops near a disputed frontier with China, amid heightened tensions in the area following a deadly clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers.

Modi, who flew on Friday into the northern Himalayan region of Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a stand-off, underlined that the Indian military stood ready to defend the country.

Last month, twenty Indian soldiers were killed in a fighting in the Galwan Valley, a precipitous and rocky border area that lies between China's Tibet and India's Ladakh regions. There were no confirmed reports of Chinese casualties, with each side blaming the other for breaching the border and the subsequent incident.

The clash was the first such deadly fighting between the two nuclear-armed neighbors on the disputed border since 1967.

During the surprise visit on Friday, Modi accused China of "expansionism," saying his country's commitment to peace should not be seen as a sign of weakness.

"The era of expansionism is over... History has shown how expansionism pushed humanity towards destruction," the Indian premier told the soldiers, without naming China.

"India has always pursued the path of peace in the world but at the same time, those who are weak can never initiate steps for peace. Bravery and courage is a prerequisite for peace," he added.

On the other side, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, however, assumed a conciliatory tone at a daily news briefing in Beijing on Friday and said the two countries were holding talks to reduce tensions.

Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, responding to a question about Modi's visit to the border region, said both sides were in communications through diplomatic and military channels to ease the situation.

"In these circumstances, neither side should take actions that might complicate the border situation," Zhao said at the briefing.

An editorial in China's Global Times recently suggested that India's tough stance on border issues may, in part, be because of the US wooing India to formulate a joint Indo-Pacific strategy.

The editorial also said that the US wanted to use India to serve "Washington's interests"  to contain China.

Under the government of Modi, the basic elements of closer military cooperation with the US have developed further than under previous governments of India.

Modi's latest rhetoric against China echoes words used by the administration in Washington which has invariably been turning countries in the Indo-Pacific region against China to curb Beijing's influence and economic power.

Washington has long played a key role in fanning the flames of hostility between China's rivals in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, which is also claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei.

The United States, which sides with Beijing's rival claimants in the maritime dispute, routinely sends warships and warplanes to the South China Sea to assert what it calls its "right" to "freedom of navigation," ratcheting up tensions with China.

Moreover, the United States has also been propagating the fear of expansionism among the citizens of Taiwan and Hong Kong, backing anti-Beijing riots that usually erupt to contest China's sovereignty over its territory.

US sends carriers to South China Sea during Chinese drills

In another development on Saturday, the US navy conducted military drills with two of its aircraft carriers in the disputed South China Sea at a time that China is also performing exercises in the strategic waterway.

The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan were carrying out operations and exercises in the South China Sea "to support a free and open Indo-Pacific," the navy said in a statement.

Rear Admiral George M. Wikoff was quoted as claiming by the Wall Street Journal that, "The purpose is to show an unambiguous signal to our partners and allies that we are committed to regional security and stability."

China announced last week it had scheduled five days of drills starting July 1 near the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by both Vietnam and China.

The US Defense Department expressed concern about Beijing's military exercises in the disputed South China Sea, which was met with a rejection from China saying the maneuvers are within the scope of the Asian country's sovereignty.

Beijing has constantly warned the US against its military activities in the sea, saying that potential close military encounters by the air and naval forces of the two countries in the region could easily trigger accidents.

The exercises are taking place amid rising tensions between the United States and China over the new coronavirus pandemic.
Only 2 Weeks to Go? Ethiopia About to Strike Final Deal on Its Renaissance Dam With Egypt and Sudan

Sputnik News

06:04 GMT 04.07.2020

Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have agreed to draft a final version of the agreement about filling the Ethiopian Renaissance dam in two weeks, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office said.

The press secretary of the head of Egypt, Bassam Rada, earlier said that Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan had agreed to establish a technical committee to draft the final agreement on the Ethiopian Renaissance dam. Addis Ababa pledged not to start filling the dam without such an agreement. Sputnik has spoken to experts to discuss what the conditions for signing the agreement are, as well as what role supranational players, like the UN and the African Union, will play in drafting the agreement.

Ali Al-Ghatit, ex-president of the Egyptian Branch of the International Law Association, believes that due to Ethiopia's behaviour, Cairo needs to take urgent measures, since the dam addresses freshwater issues vital for Egypt.

"The Nile's waters, questions of its overflow or shallowing have historically been a matter of life and death for Egyptians. Unfortunately, despite our repeated warnings over the past decades, the issue of the Ethiopian dam has been left to ministries, who, in turn, didn't pay due attention to it. And now we've got a crisis that we have to deal with", he said.

Together with the African Union, Egypt now has to work out a mechanism to overcome the crisis.

"Within a short period of time, agreed upon with the African Union, Egypt has to prepare a sufficient number of documents and plans that will allow us not to yield ground to Ethiopia. But, in fact, we should have done this in previous years", he said.

Agreeing on a Roadmap

In turn, Samir Ghattas, member of the House of Representatives of Egypt, believes that most of the international negotiations will nevertheless be held under the mediation of the UN and not the African Union. Moreover, nobody is going to discuss filling the dam, the inadmissibility of such a step is obvious to everyone except the Ethiopian side.

"It's obvious that the African Union is just a platform for attesting and agreeing on the provisions that will be developed under the auspices of the UN. Since it is the UN where Egypt has filed a complaint against the Ethiopian side. Therefore, over the next two weeks, the conflicting parties will have a chance to draft at least some of the most basic points of the agreement on dam operation, which Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia will have to strictly observe. Of course, it's impossible to work out any serious and lengthy agreement in such a short period of time", he said.

Ethiopia has been implementing a large-scale project to construct the Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile since 2012. The dam's launch is expected to cause water shortages in Sudan and Egypt, located downstream.

Since the start of construction, the three countries have held more than a dozen meetings to resolve issues regarding water distribution and the launch of the new facility, however, there are still disagreements. The parties have two weeks to settle them.

 Sputnik
2 US Aircraft Carriers Conduct Exercises in South China Sea

By VOA News July 04, 2020

The U.S. Navy says the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier groups are conducting exercises in South China Sea on Saturday "to support a free and open Indo-Pacific."

China has also conduced military drills in the sea, which the Pentagon criticized this week as "counter-productive to efforts at easing tensions and maintaining stability," accusing China of trying to intimidate its Asian neighbors.

Rear Admiral George M. Wikoff, commander of Carrier Strike Group 5, has said the exercises were not in response to China's drills.

"We aggressively seek out every opportunity to advance and strengthen our capabilities and proficiency at conducting all-domain warfighting operations," Wikoff said.

"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."

China dismissed the U.S. criticism Friday, accusing the United States of increasing tensions in the Western Pacific, including in the South China Sea.

Vietnam and the Philippines have also criticized the Chinese drills in the disputed waters.

U.S. naval ships have long conducted exercises in the South China Sea and at one point recently, there were three American aircraft carriers in the region, according to the Navy.
Cameroon Government Says it Stepped Up Security After Bombings in Capital City

By Moki Edwin Kindzeka July 04, 2020

Cameroon says it has deployed more troops in the capital Yaounde after yet another bomb exploded, leaving at least 20 people severely wounded. No one has claimed responsibility, but it is suspected that separatists fighting for the creation of an English-speaking state in Cameroon and people who escaped from prison a month ago are responsible.

Naseri Paul Bea, governor of the Central Region, where Yaounde is located, says he convened a security meeting Friday night because there has been mounting insecurity in the capital city. He says he is calling on the clergy and traditional rulers to help bring peace back to the city.

"I instructed them to control those who sell arms, to include the traditional rulers to be able to know the new people who come into their quarters so that if there is any person who looks strange, they can be able to inform the forces of law and order{military}," said Bea.

The government said on Thursday night, yet another bomb exploded in the Damas neighborhood, severely wounding five people. 15 others with wounds were later discovered in their houses.

Bea says he has information that some prisoners were organizing the attacks from their detention centers.

"Some of the organizers are in the prisons and they have people outside who are doing it {planting the bombs} for them," said Bea. "I instructed the penitentiary administration to put their ears to the ground to be able to get those information and sensitize the population to know that the security of the country is their own security."

Bea said the bombs were locally made. It was the third locally made bomb to explode in a popular neighborhood in Yaounde within two weeks. At least 37 people were wounded in the three explosions. No one has claimed responsibility.

Rights activist Edwin Ayuk of the Cameroon Human Right Center says it is imperative for the government to open negotiations with English speaking separatist leaders who are detained at the Yaounde-Kondengui prison if they want peace to return. Speaking via a messaging application from the English-speaking northwestern town of Bamenda, he said the government should also investigate the activities of former ministers arrested and detained at the Kondengui prison by Cameroon president Paul Biya for corrupt activities.

"We have been calling on the government to call these individuals, sit with them on the table and let them discuss their differences so that the atrocities that have been going on can come to an end," said Ayuk.

Innocent Ngono, a peace and development lecturer at the university of Yaounde says Cameroon should handle the insecurity in its capital city with care since it already has many security challenges.He says if Cameroon has been able to resist the security challenges it has been facing since 2013, it is because the population has supported the military through information sharing. He says he is afraid Cameroonians may now be reluctant to assist the military because the government is not showing serious signs of wanting to solve the crisis the country is facing.

Since 2013 Cameroon's eastern border has suffered a spillover of the carnage in the Central African Republic with regular intrusions of rebels. Boko Haram terrorism on Cameroons northern border with Nigeria has entered its 10th year with at least 3,000 people killed. A separatist crisis in the English-speaking western regions of the French majority state has left at least 3,000 people dead and 500,000 displaced. The Cameroon military has been deployed to handle border disputes with Equatorial Guinea.

Many civilians say if the attacks on the capital city Yaounde are not stopped, the military may be overstretched.
6 Killed, 15 Injured in Somalia Bombings

By Mohamed Olad Hassan July 04, 2020

At least five people were killed and more than eight others wounded when a government security checkpoint was bombed in Baidoa, Somalia's administrative capital of Southwest State, on Saturday, witnesses and security officials said.

Officials in Baidoa, about 250 kilometers west of Mogadishu, told VOA Somali that the blast apparently came from a remote-controlled landmine planted at a government tax collection point in the southern part of the town.

"Four civilians and a government solider have died in the blast and eight others were wounded," said Baidoa District Commissioner Hassan Mo'alim Bikole. "The wounded are being treated at hospitals."

Bikole said most of the victims were civilians.

In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a suicide bomber driving a vehicle blew himself up in front of the government revenue headquarters, injuring seven people, including security guards.

"The security forces suspected the vehicle as it sped towards the revenue headquarters building. The police officers guarding the place prevented it from reaching its target and the driver rammed the vehicle into a nearby perimeter wall before he blew himself up," said Sidiiq Dodishe, a police spokesman." Five police officers were injured in the blast, he added.

Witnesses said two civilian passersby also sustained minor injuries.

No group has claimed responsibility for either attack, but al-Qaida-affiliated militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for such incidents in Somalia over the years.

The Somali government has condemned both attacks, saying such incidents will not deter its efforts to stabilize the country.

Government spokesman Ismael Mukhtar Omar said al-Shabab was behind both bombings.

Residents in Mogadishu said the blast was the biggest they had heard since last December.

Steps taken by Somali security forces in the city, including setting up roadblocks leading to government offices and major installations, are believed to have minimized attacks targeting military bases, hotels, restaurants and other public places.
Shorty before 2pm Monday, Jesse Angelotti, of Bridgeport, snapped a cell phone photo of the Christopher Columbus statue at Seaside Park, in Bridgeport, Conn. July 6, 2020. The City of Bridgeport quietly removed the statue from the memorial later Monday afternoon. (Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media) User Upload Caption: Shortly before 2 p.m. Monday, Jesse Angelotti, of Bridgeport, snapped a cell phone photo of the Christopher Columbus statue at Seaside Park, in Bridgeport, Conn. on July 6, 2020. The City of Bridgeport quietly removed the statue from the memorial later Monday afternoon. (Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media) Hearst Connecticut Media (Ned Gerard / HANDOUT)
U.K. includes Taiwan among its safe travel corridors

ROC Central News Agency

07/04/2020 01:58 PM

London/Taipei, July 4 (CNA) Taiwan has been included by the United Kingdom in its safe travel corridors from which travelers to England will no longer need to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival beginning July 10, according to a notice posted on the U.K.'s government portal.

Including Taiwan on the list of 59 countries or regions makes the U.K. the first major country to allow Taiwanese travelers to enter without a need to conduct self-isolation.

This comes as the European country gradually relaxes its travel restrictions, which have been in place since March.

Aside from Taiwan, other Asian countries or regions on the list includes: Japan, Hong Kong, Macao, South Korea and Vietnam.

However, for now, the travel corridor exemption is only good for England. Travelers arriving to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are still subjected to the U.K.'s 14-day self-isolation rule and face penalties if they do not comply.

In addition, travelers who have been to or have stopped in a country that is not on the travel corridors exemption list still need to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival.

Meanwhile, the British Office Taipei, the de facto British embassy in Taiwan due to the absence of formal diplomatic relations, also announced late Friday that the U.K. will lift its ban on non-essential travel to Taiwan for British nationals.

The decision was taken after considering Taiwan's successful handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the office.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Saturday welcomed the British government's decision to include Taiwan into its travel corridor exemption list and thanked it for recognizing Taiwan's accomplishments in the battle against the coronavirus.

"Such open border measures are expected to spur economic growth and help increase trade and investment between Taiwan and the U.K.," the MOFA said in a statement.

Taiwan's airline industry players, meanwhile, are planning to increase flights between London and Taipei, the MOFA said.

According to a report from the Vietnam News Agency, Taiwan is also one of the destinations with which Vietnam is considering resuming international flight operations beginning the end of July.

The MOFA, however, clarified that Hanoi has not issued concrete details regarding the reported plan and Taiwan's representative office in Vietnam is closely coordinating with the Vietnamese side on the matter.

(By Tai Ya-chen and Emerson Lim)

Enditem/cs


Influenza virus in pigs not an immediate pandemic threat: CDC

Global Times

Source:Global Times Published: 2020/7/4 0:02:12

The pig influenza virus bearing the genotype 4 (G4) does not constitute an immediate threat of a pandemic outbreak, according to the latest research by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The risk of pandemic influenza caused by the G4 genotype virus has not increased, the CDC said in the research and analysis published on its website on Friday.

The Eurasian avian-like H1N1 (EA-H1N1) swine influenza viruses including the G4 genotype virus can infect humans, but they do not yet have the ability to pass from person to person, said the CDC.

The probability of the general public being infected is extremely low, the CDC said, while suggesting that attention should be paid to maintaining good personal and environmental hygiene in daily life and minimizing contact with livestock, poultry and wild animals.

It was found that the G4 genotype virus can bind to the human influenza virus receptor of the human upper respiratory tract and can be transmitted through the droplets between ferrets via in vitro experiments and animal experiments.

The CDC research followed a paper published on Monday by Chinese scientists on prevalent EA-H1N1 swine influenza viruses with 2009 pandemic viral genes facilitating human infection.

The study detected a pig influenza virus bearing G4, which is contagious among pigs and has the possibility of jumping to humans, as the G4 virus is able to bind with human cells.

Based on the collection of samples between 2011 and 2018 among pigs in 10 Chinese provinces and regions, the study found that the virus was prevalent in pigs since 2016. Some 10.4 percent (35/338) of pig farm workers tested positive for antibodies against the virus, according to the paper.

The findings soon triggered public concerns over another pandemic like COVID-19 and whether the virus would exert an impact on the hog industry, which has only recently seen signs of recovery after African swine fever (ASF), which was prevalent in 2018-19.
Hubei reports two imported cases from Russia, as Chinese Embassy warns of risk of transfer in Moscow

Global Times

By Yin Yeping Source:Global Times Published: 2020/7/4 15:55:39

After days of zero new reported cases in Central China's Hubei Province, three asymptomatic COVID-19 infections were reported Friday, including two passengers on board a flight from Russia.

Experts said occasional imported cases from abroad can be expected and there is no cause for alarm as containment measures are well in place.

The two asymptomatic passengers are Chinese nationals who arrived at Wuhan Tianhe Airport onboard flight CA602 from Moscow, according to Wuhan Health Commission on Saturday. Their final destination was to be Beijing.

The two passengers, aged 18 and 19, are students at universities in Moscow. Their temperatures were normal when they boarded the plane and no symptoms were mentioned in their health declaration upon arrival.

After passing customs, they were transferred to a local medical observation facility, where they tested positive for the coronavirus, the commission said.

The Chinese Embassy in Russia on Saturday advised caution choosing transit routes from Moscow to China, as the local COVID-19 epidemic situation is still severe, and closed public places such as airports are high-risk areas, the embassy said in its WeChat public account.

Hubei had reported zero new cases of asymptomatic infection in the province for 10 consecutive days before the latest cases.

Authorities and experts reassured the public that sound prevention and control measures are in place and there is no need for concern about a new outbreak of COVID-19.

All crew members and passengers on flight CA602 have been quarantined and tested for the virus, the Global Times learned.

Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told the Global Times on Saturday that as long as the spread of the virus is contained to those on board an aircraft the public should not worry and imported cases can be expected from time to time.

Yang encouraged people not to panic since China's epidemic prevention and control measures, including quarantine upon arrival, are comprehensive and strict.

Xiangyang in Hubei Province also reported on Friday a person returning from elsewhere tested positive for COVID-19 and was diagnosed as asymptomatic.

The infected person is now in isolation at a hospital, and all close contacts have been quarantined for observation. The Xiangyang government reported that tests of the person's close contacts and samples taken from their living quarters were negative.

The reason why there are more asymptomatic cases and fewer people getting sick is because "the virus is weak" during the summer, Yang said, adding that people should live normally but follow preventative measures.


EU authorizes remdesivir for COVID-19 treatment

Global Times

Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/7/4 1:59:40

The European Commission has authorized anti-viral drug remdesivir for the treatment against coronavirus on Friday, making it the first drug authorized at the European Union level for the treatment of COVID-19.

"Today, the European Commission granted a conditional marketing authorization for the medicine remdesivir," the European Commission said in a press release.

Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: "Today's authorisation of a first medicine to treat COVID-19 is an important step forward in the fight against this virus... We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to secure efficient treatments or vaccine against the coronavirus."

The EU expedited the authorization, approving the drug in an exceptionally short timeframe, but not before the news that the US has already locked down a large supply of remdesivir, made by Gilead Sciences, in the coming months.

The US Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Monday that it had secured all of the Gilead's production for July and 90 percent of that for August and September for US hospitals, raising concerns in Europe.

A spokesman for the European Commission told a press conference on Thursday that Brussels heard of the US move from media reports, meaning Washington didn't bother to inform its allies beforehand. The EU was in ongoing talks with Gilead Sciences to reserve a "sufficient number of doses", reporters were told.




Iran tightens COVID-19 restrictions as of Sunday

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 4, IRNA -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that wearing mask will become mandatory in the crowded and public places as of Sunday (July 5).

Speaking in a meeting of the national headquarters of the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the president said that the people will receive services from different organizations, the state ones in particular, only if they observe protective and health protocols and wear masks.

The employees of the organizations can also be able to go to work only if they wear masks and obey different health protocols, the president said.

Underlining the significance of protecting the health of the people, Rouhani said that the manufacturing units should continue to work while the health protocols are observed at the same time.

On the consequences of the COVID-19, the president said that world economic growth has slashed to -3% from 2.9% since the outbreak of the disease. He added that some 2.7 billion people have been affected by the virus globally in terms of social and economic standing.

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US records 53,000 new cases, Brazil passes 1.5m, Russia nears 675,000

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 04 July 2020 10:39 AM

Cases of the coronavirus are surging worldwide with far reaching effects from South Africa to Brazil and India.

There have now been more than 11 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide with the US only reporting a daily global record of more than 55,000 new cases on Thursday.

Infections rose in the majority of states and America's top public health expert spoke of a "very disturbing week". Thursday's US tally smashed the previous single-day record of 54,771 set by Brazil on 19 June.

The US will be on a "red list" of high-risk countries that people in England are advised not to visit for non-essential reasons because of its continued high level of coronavirus cases.

England is to relax travel restrictions for more than 50 countries including nearly all EU countries, British territories, and Australia and New Zealand.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has, as promised, permitted pubs, bars and restaurants to reopen in England on Saturday despite concerns from the public that it could overwhelm the police and the health service. In a radio interview, the prime minister suggested that the day of the week for reopening would not make a difference.

Cases of coronavirus are surging in South Africa, a month after the country lifted most of the restrictions brought in with one of the world's strictest lockdowns. The country's biggest single-day jump in the number of cases, adding 8,728 confirmed infections and taking the total count to 168,061, took place on Thursday.

Confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iraq increased sevenfold in June, the International Rescue Committee said as it urged a redoubling of efforts to contain the spread of the disease in the country. By 1 July, there had been 53,708 infections detected in the country, up from 6,868 on 1 June. The ministry of health said that hospitals are almost at full capacity.

Once again, a state of emergency was declared in Belgrade, with some restrictions restored after a new increase in coronavirus cases in the Serbian capital. Local authorities had already declared emergencies in several other municipalities where a rise in the infections had threatened to disrupt the functioning of the health system.

Russia has reported 6,632 new cases, raising the nationwide tally of infections to 674,515. The authorities said that 168 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 10,027.

India has reported as many as 442 deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours taking the number of patients succumbing to the deadly virus across the country to 18,655.

The European commission has granted conditional approval for the use of antiviral remdesivir in severe Covid-19 patients following an accelerated review process, making it the region's first therapy to be authorized to treat the virus. The move comes just a week after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its go-ahead for the drug, produced by Gilead Sciences.
Coronavirus Infected 20 Percent In Iran, Random Serology Tests Show

Radio Farda July 04, 2020

A member of the national Coronavirus Combat Taskforce of Iran on Saturday said based on random serologic test findings 20 percent of Iranians must have had been infected with the coronavirus so far.

"This test is done to find out what percentage of the population in an area have been infected with the coronavirus. Random tests we carried out has shown that the virus has infected 18 million Iranians, that is 20 percent of the population," Dr. Masoud Mardani was quoted by the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) as saying.

The estimated number resulting from random serologic tests is 75 times more than the official number of cases since February which is nearly 238,000.

According to the latest official announcement on Saturday, Iran's total death toll has now reached 11,408 with 148 more deaths since Friday.

Serologic tests are blood tests that look for antibodies  proteins (antibodies) made by the immune system to destroy viruses, bacteria, etc. -- in blood. They can involve a number of laboratory techniques. Antibody test results are especially important for detecting previous infections in people who had few or no symptoms.

Different types of serologic tests are used to diagnose various disease conditions. Serologic tests are now extensively used to help estimate how many people in a certain country have been affected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. For COVID-19 the tests look for immunoglobins (IgG), the most common antibody which is present in the blood of those with bacterial and viral infections.

It is yet not clear if the antibodies that the human body makes to fight SARS-CoV-2 will provide immunity from being infected again or if it does, how long the immunity will last. Extensive research is underway in different countries on the subject.

Health authorities are very concerned about the spike in the number of new cases and deaths in the past three weeks. From July 5 wearing masks will be compulsory in all public places. Health officials, however, say most of the new patients have been infected at gatherings of families and friends including weddings and funerals.

Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/estimated-20- percent-of-iranians-got-covid-19-based-on-random-serology- test-fingdings-official-says/30705906.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.
US Continues to Lead in COVID Cases

By VOA News July 04, 2020

The United States has more COVID-19 infections than anywhere else, with nearly 2.8 million of the globe's more than 11 million cases. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.

A recent surge in infections caused several governors to reinstate lockdown requirements that had been eased just as many Americans were poised to attend July 4 Independence Day celebrations.

As the U.S. struggles to contain the virus, President Donald Trump addressed a largely unmasked crowd Friday at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota as he kicked off the country's observance of Independence Day. There were also no social distancing measures in place.

Public health officials had expressed concern that the South Dakota event would be the source of super spreading of the virus.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of one of the president's sons, Donald Trump, Jr., has tested positive for the coronavirus. One of the president's senior campaign officials, Sergio Gor, said she is asymptomatic and will be retested to make sure the diagnosis is correct. He also says the younger Trump has tested negative.

In Britain, a study by the National Health Service indicated that cleaners, porters and office staff have been super spreaders of the virus within hospitals. "If you think about it, these were the people moving around the hospital," Sir John Bell, the head of the government's antibody program, told The Telegraph newspaper.

Separately, bars and restaurants are reopening in Britain amid an easing of restrictions, but with safety measures in place.

Brazil said Friday it has approved clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine by China's Sinovac.

Brazil follows the U.S. with an infection count of 1.5 million.

On Friday, Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, approved a law requiring people to wear facemasks on streets and public transportation. However, he vetoed clauses that would have required wearing a facemask in enclosed spaces, including churches, schools and shops. The president, who has been widely criticized by health experts for downplaying the severity of the virus, says such a move could violate property rights.

In another development, the World Health Organization updated an account of how it learned of the coronavirus outbreak. The WHO said it was alerted by its own office in China, and not by Chinese government officials. The agency had earlier said that the first report of the virus had come from China without further specifying its source.

The Trump administration has strongly criticized the World Health Organization for its early handling of the pandemic and dealings with China and said it would withdraw from the group.
NATO Steps In Amid Reports Of COVID-19 Hitting Afghan Forces

By Ayaz Gul July 04, 2020

NATO's non-combatant military alliance in Afghanistan said Saturday it has arranged its "largest supply ever" of personal protective medical equipment to help Afghan security forces fight the coronavirus.



The announcement by the 38-nation Resolute Support mission came just days after news reports said the pandemic was sweeping through Afghan security forces, undermining their ability to counter increased battlefield attacks by Taliban insurgents.

"More than 1.4 million masks, 500,000 gloves, 460,000 gowns & surgical supplies are on their way to ANA (Afghan National Army) and ANP (Afghan National Police) across Afghanistan," the alliance tweeted.

It reiterated NATO's commitment to support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in their efforts to secure peace in the country.

A recent Washington Post article quoted unnamed Afghan security officials in four provinces as reporting suspected infection rates of 60 to 90 percent among personnel.

The outbreak has reportedly reduced the number of Afghan forces available to conduct counter-Taliban operations and other vital tasks, including taking up duty at security outposts.

The Afghan Defense Ministry rejected reports of large-scale infections among security forces, saying all necessary measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus at military bases and outposts.

As of Saturday, the public health ministry said that confirmed COVID-19 infections in Afghanistan, a country of 37 million, have risen to nearly 33,000. It noted that 826 patients have died. COVID-19 is caused by the coronavirus.

Public health officials have warned that the actual numbers are much higher, citing limited testing capacity, among other challenges facing the war-hit health care system, and that up to 26 million people in the country could become infected in the coming months.

There are also reports the outbreak is circulating among top Taliban commanders and fighters, although insurgent officials have denied them.

Afghan authorities acknowledge stepped up insurgent attacks in recent weeks have killed and injured hundreds of security forces. The fighting has also killed scores of civilians.

The violence comes as Afghan rivals prepare to hold peace talks to negotiate a cease-fire and a power-sharing arrangement.

The proposed dialogue is stipulated in a landmark pact the United States signed with the Islamist Taliban in February to end nearly two decades of hostilities in Afghanistan.

The commencement of long-awaited intra-Afghan peace talks, however, is tied to the conclusion of an ongoing prisoner swap between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Kabul still has to free about 1,000 Taliban prisoners out of 5,000 it is required to release. The insurgents have released about 740 Afghan out of a promised 1,000.

The U.S.-Taliban deal requires all American and allied troops to leave Afghanistan by July 2021, subject to assurances the insurgent group will prevent transnational terrorists from using the country for international attacks and engage in a political reconciliation process to end violence.

Meanwhile, the NATO senior civilian representative to Afghanistan, Stefano Pontecorvo, has cautioned Taliban violence is hampering efforts to jumpstart intra-Afghan peace talks.

Pontecorvo released the statement via Twitter after updating NATO members in Brussels on the situation in Afghanistan.

"We also discussed the situation on the ground -- Taliban violence has to go down, it is simply unacceptable and it is creating an issue, a problem for getting to the peace talks," he said.
Mexico Now Has Fifth-Largest COVID-19 Death Toll, 500 New Deaths Reported, Health Ministry Says

Sputnik News

01:07 GMT 05.07.2020

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Mexico confirmed nearly 7,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and over 500 new coronavirus-related deaths, with the country's total COVID-19 death toll now being the fifth largest in the world, according to Health Ministry data.

"As of today, 30,366 fatalities among patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 have been confirmed," Jose Luis Alomia, the director of epidemiology at Mexico's Ministry of Health, said during a Saturday press conference, broadcast on Twitter.

According to Alomia, Mexico registered 6,914 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and 523 new COVID-19 fatalities.

Thus, Mexico has become the country with the fifth-largest coronavirus death toll, surpassing France, which has 29,896 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest COVID-19 death toll of over 129,600; it is followed by Brazil, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Mexico has a total of 252,165 confirmed coronavirus cases. Some media reports have suggested that the Mexican government could be downplaying the coronavirus figures with Mexican health authorities only reporting cases and deaths confirmed in labs.

 Sputnik
Photo for illustration (Source: kinhtedothi.vn)

The special flight, co-organized by the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia in collaboration with the Consulates General of Vietnamese in Sydney, Perth and national carrier Vietnam Airlines from Sydne, aims to meet the desire of a large number of Vietnamese citizens stuck in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Citizens who board the flight will have to bear the expense of the ticket and will be asked to quarantine for 14 days after arriving in Vietnam.



The flight gives priority to those who are under 18 years old, elderly and sick people, workers with expired visas and labor contracts, stranded tourists and students who do not have accommodations due to dormitory closures.

Vietnamese representative agencies in Australia recorded about 1,350 registered applications for flight on July 3rd but their desires have not met and they will be prioritized for the third flight. Those who registered for the flight on July 3rd dont need to re-register.

The Vietnamese embassy and Consulates General will continue to provide updated information about the flight in the coming time.

For further information and assistance, Vietnamese citizens in ACT, Victoria and Tasmania may contact the embassy: 0466 401 665 (hotline); (02) 616 94915; (02) 61694917; (02) 61694916 or email: baohocongdancanberra@gmail.com

Citizens in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, please contact the Consulate General of Vietnam in Sydney at: (02) 93271912; (02) 93272539; (02)93261129; (02)93261202; 0452468168 or email: vnconsul@iinet.net.au.

Citizens from West Australia and North Australia, please contact the Consulate General of Vietnam in Perth at: (08) 93253642; (08) 92211158; 0470111668 or email: vnconsulate.perth@gmail.com

The embassy and Consulates General of Vietnam will continue to provide updated information on the flight in the coming time./.
This is the person to whom we turn, at least now, when theres an allegation of misconduct, Councilman Joshua Michtom said. This is the person we trust to sift through the record and find if theres wrongdoing and act. And he seems to be operating as if the law works differently for him than everybody else.
North Korea rejects talks with US as 'political tool' for Washington

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 04 July 2020 10:19 AM

North Korea has dismissed the possibility of fresh talks with the US on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, saying the negotiations would only serve as "a political tool" for Washington.

North Korea's vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said the resumption of stalled nuclear talks would not work out between Washington and Pyongyang and that there will be no change in North Korea's policy toward the United States.

"We do not feel any need to sit face to face with the US, as it does not consider the DPRK-US dialogue as nothing more than a tool for grappling its political crisis," Choe said in a statement carried by state-run KCNA news agency on Saturday, using an abbreviation for the country's official name  the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

This comes as US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun is scheduled to visit South Korea next week to discuss the stalled nuclear talks with North Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in suggested on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un should hold another meeting ahead of the US elections in November as the move would pave the way for the resumption of the negotiations.

John Bolton, a former US national security adviser, said in an interview in New York on Thursday that Trump might seek another summit with Kim as an "October Surprise" before the US election race.

Washington has imposed rounds of unilateral sanctions and spearheaded multilateral ones against Pyongyang since 2006 over its nuclear and missile programs.

Trump has attempted to court Pyongyang, and although he has met with Kim three times, he has refused to relieve any of the sanctions on the North. That has in turn hampered efforts to demilitarize the Korean Peninsula.

The Singapore summit in June 2018 marked the first time a sitting American president met with a North Korean leader but produced no substantial results except for four general commitments.

During the next summit in February 2019 in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, the two leaders again failed to reach an agreement, reportedly mainly because of US calls for North Korea to abandon its nuclear arsenal, and North Korean demands for sanctions relief.

The third meeting was held in last June, when Trump made an unannounced visit to the North and met with Kim, becoming the first American president to take several steps beyond the Demilitarization Zone into the country.

North Korea's hardening of stance comes amid reports that the US is preparing to conduct its first full-fledged nuclear test since 1992.

Last December, Kim ended a moratorium on the country's missile tests and said North Korea would soon develop a "new strategic weapon."
North Korean Diplomat Says Pyongyang Not Interested in US Talks

Sputnik News

09:33 GMT 04.07.2020

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A high-ranking North Korean diplomat said Pyongyang has no interest in restarting negotiations with the United States and is shocked at the suggestion that talks can be held under present strain in bilateral relations.

"Now is a very sensitive time when even the slightest misjudgment and misstep would incur fatal and irrevocable consequences. We can not but be shocked at the story about the summit indifferent to the present situation of the DPRK-U.S. relations", according to a statement from Choe Son Hui, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea).

According to the statement, published in state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), rumors circulating in Washington that US-DPRK must be renewed before the presidential election are little more than political pipe dreams.

The statement went on to dismiss the possibility of renewal in talks due to US "hostile policy" and disregard of agreements made in past summits.

"It is clear to us, even without meeting, with what shallow trick the U.S. will approach us as it has neither intention nor will to go back to the drawing board", Choe added in the statement.

The US considers dialogue with the DPRK as a tool for grappling with its internal political crisis, the statement went on to say.

North Korea has been engaged in denuclearisation talks with the United States since 2018. The country's leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump expressed their commitment to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula during talks in Singapore in June 2018.

However, the next negotiations between the two leaders collapsed due to disagreements over the timing of sanctions relief.

A Sputnik
North Korea Says it Has No Immediate Plans to Resume Nuclear Negotiations with US

By VOA News July 04, 2020

North Korea said Saturday it has no plans to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States in near future if Washington does not abandon what the communist country terms "hostile" polices toward Pyongyang.

North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui made the statement following former national security adviser John Bolton's comments to reporters in New York earlier this week that President Donald Trump might hold another summit with the country's leader Kim Jong Un as an "October surprise" shortly before the presidential election in November.

"Is it possible to hold dialogue or have any dealings with the U.S. which persists in the hostile policy toward the DPRK in disregard of the agreements already made at the past summit?" Choe said.

President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, who has worked intensively to revive the negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, expressed optimism in a video conference with European leaders, also this week, that Trump and Kim would meet again before the election.

Trump and Kim have met three times since 2018 for discussing on denuclearization of North Korea, but negotiations stalled after their second summit in Vietnam in February 2019, in which the U.S. rejected North Korean demands for substantial sanctions relief as a condition to partially give up its nuclear ambitions.
French president appoints Jean Castex as new prime minister

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 10:14, July 04, 2020

Jean Castex, a 55-year-old top civil servant not known to the French general public, was appointed new prime minister by President Emmanuel Macron to replace Edouard Philippe, the French presidential palace announced on Friday.

Castex, a member of the Republicans and former adviser of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, had been charged by Macron in April to oversee the country's gradual exit from the coronavirus lockdown.

"Accustomed to complex files", "unanimously praised for his interpersonal skills and his efficiency," Castex is dubbed as "Swiss knife" with multiple networks, according to French media.

The new prime minister has never been a minister before but is familiar with several ministries. He was director of hospitalization and organization of care at the Ministry of Solidarity and Social Cohesion in 2005-2006, then director of the cabinet for Xavier Bertrand twice -- first at the Ministry of Health (2006-2007) and then at the Ministry of Labor (2007-2008).

Sarkozy made him his social affairs adviser in 2010, then assistant general secretary (the second highest ranking official) of the Elysee Palace between 2011 and 2012.

Philippe, who had tendered his resignation earlier on Friday after heading President Macron's government for three years, won the race for mayor in the northern port city of Le Havre following the municipal polls last Sunday.

A wider cabinet reshuffle was expected to follow soon as Macron had announced that he would ensure a new phase of his presidency with a refreshed cabinet.

In an interview published late on Thursday, Macron said: "The new phase entails new goals of independence, reconstruction, reconciliation and new methods. Behind that, there will be a new team."

It is also common practice for a French president to replace a prime minister during the five-year term in office, French media reported.

Macron's La Republique en Marche (LREM) party -- which he created in 2016 -- emerged from Sunday's municipal elections without winning a single major city, failing to gain a strong foothold at local level.

An Odoxa poll published on Thursday showed 75 percent of French citizens thought that Macron has to change policy, with two-thirds claiming a shift to a more ecological and social approach.
Iranian team to visit Natanz Nuclear site following recent incident

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 4, IRNA -- A team comprising members of Iranian Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission is to visit Shahid Ahmadi Roshan Natanz Nuclear Complex following an incident that has taken place recently, a senior Iranian lawmaker Yaghoub Rezazadeh said on Saturday.

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.

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Russia says dispute mechanism for JCPOA lacks "clear procedure"

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 4, IRNA -- Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov wrote on Saturday that dispute resolution mechanism to solve issues related to the July 2015 nuclear deal "lacks clear and agreed procedure."

Ulyanov made the remarks through a Twitter message.

"#Iran requested the Joint Commission of #JCPOA to address Tehran's concerns regarding implementation of the deal by France, Germany and UK through Dispute Resolution Mechanism. This is the third time when JCPOA participants try to launch DRM which lacks clear and agreed procedure," Ulyanov wrote.

High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell announced on Friday (July 3) that he has received a letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif regarding Tehran's concerns over issues related to implementation of the international nuclear deal, aka Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), through dispute resolution mechanism (DRM).

"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," Borrell said in a statement on Friday.

Via his statement, Borrell also recalled "the importance of the agreement."

"I remain determined to continue working with the participants of the JCPOA and the international community to preserve it."

Iran had already referred the unfaithfulness of the US and three European states- UK, France and Germany- to the JCPOA based on the Article 36 to the Joint Commission two times.

As the dispute did not solve, it led to fifth step of Iran's move to reduce commitments to the JCPOA based on Article 26 and 36.

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Borrel terms JCPOA historic achievement for global non-proliferation

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 4, IRNA -- EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrel has said he believes the JCPOA is an historic achievement for global nuclear non-proliferation contributing to regional and global peace and security.

Borrel made the remarks in a statement issued on Friday in response to a letter by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier in the day.

The full text of Borrel's statement follows:

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.

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.

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the JCPOA, I should like to take this opportunity to recall the importance of the agreement. The JCPOA is an historic achievement for global nuclear non-proliferation contributing to regional and global security. I remain determined to continue working with the participants of the JCPOA and the international community to preserve it.

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JCPOA partners must solve all issues through Joint Commission: Russian diplomat

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 04 July 2020 4:57 PM

A senior Russian diplomat says Moscow's principled stance is to support the settlement of all issues pertaining to the implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers through the deal's Joint Commission.

"The principled position of the Russian side is that all #JCPOA implementation issues must be settled within the framework of the Joint Commission," Mikhail Ulyanov, Permanent Representative of Russia to International Organizations in Vienna, said in a post on his official Twitter account on Saturday.

He called on the remaining parties to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), "not to lose these guidelines."

The international nuclear deal had been 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 pulled his country out of the JCPOA and later re-imposed the sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran and began unleashing the "toughest ever" fresh sanctions.

The Russian diplomat's remarks come in the wake of a recent resolution passed by the UN nuclear agency against Iran.

On June 19, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed the anti-Iran resolution, put forward by Britain, France and Germany.

The resolution, the first of its kind since 2012, urges Iran to provide the IAEA inspectors with access to two sites that the trio claims may have been used for undeclared nuclear activities in the early 2000s.

The Islamic Republic rejects any allegations of non-cooperation with the IAEA, insisting that it is prepared to resolve potentially outstanding differences with the UN nuclear agency.

Iran's permanent representative to Vienna-based international organizations, Kazem Gharibabadi, deplored the resolution, saying the Islamic Republic would take "appropriate action" where the sponsors of the move would stand responsible for any "repercussions."

"Adoption of this resolution will neither encourage Iran to grant access to the Agency based on fabricated and unfounded allegations, nor will it force Iran to come down from its principal positions," Gharibabadi said.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova censured the European signatories to the JCPOA for putting pressure on Iran over its nuclear program in spite of claiming they remain committed to the accord, saying such problems are rooted in "destructive" measures adopted by the United States against the accord.

"Reassurances of the British, German and French colleagues that they are committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program and are looking for ways to minimize negative effects of American sanctions against Iran run counter to their actions to heighten tensions surrounding the Iranian nuclear program in the IAEA," Zakharova said.
Gen. Soleimani's assassination, US biggest gift to Takfiri terrorism: Top Iran security official

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 04 July 2020 1:13 PM

Iran's top security official says Washington's assassination of senior Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani was the biggest gift from the US to Takfiri terrorism and its supporters.

US terrorists assassinated General Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq's Hashd al-Sha'abi, and their companions by targeting their vehicles outside Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

The act of terror was carried out under the direction of US President Donald Trump, with the Pentagon taking responsibility for the strike.

Addressing a session on Saturday, Shamkhani said, "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."

He added that the world must appreciate the two commanders' genuine battle against terrorism because their wise command and sincere efforts prevented the spread of Takfiri terrorism across the world.

A senior Iranian judge said on Monday that Interpol Red Notices have been issued for the prosecution of dozens of military and political officials of the United States, including President Donald Trump, on charges of planning and implementing the terrorist attack against General Soleimani and his companions.

"Thirty-six people who were involved in the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani have been identified, including political and military officials from the United States and other governments," Tehran Prosecutor Ali Alqasi-Mehr said.

NBC News has revealed the details of the assassination, saying the terrorist operation used Israeli intelligence and was run from the US Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters in Qatar.

Trump has doubled down on the insanity of General Soleimani's assassination, saying he should have been killed "many years ago."

In a series of tweets, he accused the top Iranian military commander of killing and wounding thousands of Americans over an extended period of time and "plotting to kill many more."

General Soleimani is viewed by the world's freedom-seeking people as the key figure in defeating Daesh, the world's most notorious terrorist group, in the Middle East battles.

Several million people attended the funeral processions held for the commanders in the Iraqi cities of Kadhimiya, Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf as well as the Iranian cities of Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tehran, Qom and Kerman.
EU's Borrell: Iran triggers dispute mechanism in nuclear deal

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 04 July 2020 8:14 AM

The EU foreign policy chief says he has received a letter from Iran that demands triggering the dispute resolution mechanism of the 2015 nuclear deal over the failure of the three European signatories to the agreement to honor their commitments.

In a statement released on Friday, Josep Borrell said the letter written by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underlined Iran's concerns regarding implementation issues on the part of France, Germany and Britain to the Joint Commission of the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for resolution through the dispute process set out in the agreement's paragraph 36.

"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," he said.

Borrell also stressed the significance of the JCPOA and threw his weight behind the historic nuclear pact.

"As we approach the fifth anniversary of the JCPOA, I should like to take this opportunity to recall the importance of the agreement. The JCPOA is an historic achievement for global nuclear non-proliferation contributing to regional and global security. I remain determined to continue working with the participants of the JCPOA and the international community to preserve it," he said.

Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov also confirmed that the Islamic Republic had requested the Joint Commission of the JCPOA to address Tehran's concerns regarding implementation of the deal by the European trio through the dispute resolution mechanism.

"This is the third time when JCPOA participants try to launch DRM which lacks clear and agreed procedure," he tweeted early on Saturday.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Zarif's letter came after France, Germany and the UK introduced the anti-Iran resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s Board of Governors last month.

"Following the irresponsible and illegal measure by the three European states ... to initiate a draft resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors and also the continuation of non-compliance with the international commitments under the JCPOA ..., the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran yesterday sent a letter to Mr. Borrell ... and once again referred the cases of the European countries' non-compliance according to Article 36 of the JCPOA to the Joint Commission for settlement," Mousavi said on Friday.

Passed by a 25-2 margin with seven abstentions on June 19, the IAEA resolution called on the Islamic Republic to "fully cooperate" with the IAEA and "satisfy the Agency's requests without any further delay," including by providing "prompt" access to two nuclear sites.

Iran said the document is based on anti-Iran allegations raised by Israel and serves American goals.

In May 2018, the US unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA and re-imposed anti-Iran sanctions.

Verified by the IAEA, Iran remained fully compliant with the JCPOA for an entire year, waiting for the co-signatories to honor their commitments.

As the European parties continued to renege on their obligations, the Islamic Republic moved in May 2019 to suspend its JCPOA commitments under Articles 26 and 36 of the deal covering Tehran's legal rights.
It was not until last Thursday afternoon that a boater found the partial remains of an adult man floating in the water near Fire Island, Suffolk County police said in a short statement. Detectives determined those remains were from the same body that was discovered early the morning of May 27 after it was struck by the propeller of a tugboat, police said.
Iran Allowed Commercial Flights To Conceal Plans To Strike US Military Bases

Radio Farda July 04, 2020

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on Friday said it has obtained an audio recording that suggests Iranian authorities did not close the airspace over Tehran on January 8 to conceal their plans to strike U.S. military bases in Iraq, leading to the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner.

The Kyiv-bound Ukraine International Airlines aircraft was shot down by two missiles fired by the Revolutionary Guard air defense. The crash killed all 176 passengers and crew members on board. Only after three days did the Guard take responsibility for the tragedy.

According to CBC, the recording contains a 91-minutethe conversation between a victim's family member in Canada and Hassan Rezaeifar, the head of Iran's investigation into the incident on March 7.

Rezaeifar has apparently been removed from his position on Thursday as the families of the British victims have been notified that another person has been appointed to lead the investigation. Iranian authorities have not officially announced or commented on the removal of Rezaeifar, who is also the director-general of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) from the investigation or appointment of another person.

CBC says they had emailed Rezaeifar a copy of the recording and requested him to comment on it less than 24 hours before his removal.

According to CBC, Rezaeifar in the recording said closing the airspace over Tehran could have exposed Iran's pending ballistic missile attack on U.S. air bases in Iraq. The attack was in retaliation for the killing of Qasem Soleimani by a U.S. drone attack a few days earlier.

But there was more than four hours between the attack on U.S. bases and when the plane was shot down and civilian flights could have been halted right after the Iranian missiles were launched.

The Iranian attack did not kill any U.S. soldiers but dozens sustained brain injuries which was revealed by the Pentagon later.

Flight 752 was shut down four hours later shortly after takeoff from Imam Khomeini International Airport when the authorities were apparently still expecting U.S. retaliation for the attack.

Rezaeifar says in the recording that he called the military five minutes after the plane crashed to ask if there had been a missile attack and Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Aerospace Force of the Revolutionary Guard admitted to him that the military had been ordered to shoot missiles due to national security concerns.

The audio recording proves that the investigation is not independent as Iran claims, CBC quoted Thomas Juneau, an associate professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa and former analyst of Middle East affairs.

"Having the lead investigator saying those things on that phone call really damages that fiction," said Juneau. "By removing him, they're trying to protect that facade."

The contents of the recording reveal that Iran may have used commercial flights as human shields on the night of the incident when there was intense military activity.

"The senior leadership of the government willingly and knowingly disregarded these risks," Payam Akhavan, a Canadian-Iranian international law professor at McGill University and former UN prosecutor at The Hague was quoted by CBC as saying. "This is not just a question of human error or mistake. It's a question of criminal recklessness," he said.

According to Akhavan, knowingly putting civilian aircraft in harm's way and using civilian airliners in effect as human shields, clearly implicates criminal responsibility.

Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-allowed- commercial-flights-to-conceal-plans-to-strike -us-military-bases/30705747.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Iran Has Triggered Nuclear Accord Dispute Mechanism, EU Says

Radio Farda July 04, 2020

The European Union's top diplomat disclosed Friday that he has received a letter from Iran's foreign minister that triggers a dispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear agreement, complaining that Britain, France and Germany are not living up to their side of the deal.

The accord, which Iran signed with the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia, has been unraveling since President Donald Trump pulled Washington out in 2018, unleashing sanctions designed to cripple the Islamic Republic's economy.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that in the letter Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif seeks redress under "the dispute resolution mechanism, as set out in paragraph 36 of the agreement."

No details about the nature of Iran's "implementation issues" with Britain, France and Germany were provided. The dispute mechanism provides for a period of about one month, which can be prolonged if all parties agree, to resolve any disagreement.

In a tweet on June 19, Zarif said the three countries "must stop public face-saving and muster the courage to state publicly what they admit privately: their failure to fulfill even (their) own JCPOA duties due to total impotence in resisting U.S. bullying."

Europe has been trying to walk a tightrope between Iran and the United States to save the nuclear agreement. The most difficult issue has been Iran's demand that Europe should ignore U.S. sanctions and maintain economic relations. Europe has promised to conduct limited trade but nothing substantial has happened.

Zarif's letter to Borrell was sent a day after a mysterious fire broke out at the Natanz underground facility where Iran enriches uranium.

On Jan. 15, they reluctantly triggered the accord's dispute resolution mechanism themselves to force Iran into discussions on possible violations of the deal, as Tehran appeared to backslide and refused to be bound by its uranium enrichment limits. They later suspended the action.

Borrell said the dispute process "requires intensive efforts in good faith by all."

He underlined his support for the agreement, saying that it "is an historic achievement for global nuclear non-proliferation contributing to regional and global security" and that he remains determined to preserve it.

Tehran was irritated by a resolution adopted by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency demanding access to the sites. The resolution was proposed by Britain, France and Germany. Russia and China voted against it. Iran has dismissed allegations of nuclear activities at the sites in question.

Reporting by AP

Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-has- triggered-nuclear-accord-dispute -mechanism-eu-says/30705629.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.
UN Nuclear Watchdog Says Inspections Will Continue After Iran Nuclear Site Incident

Radio Farda July 04, 2020

In a statement on Friday the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, said that although its inspectors were not present at the time of a fire/explosion at Iranian nuclear facility in Natanz, the Islamic Republic authorities had informed the U.N. nuclear watchdog of the incident.

"Iran also informed the IAEA late on Thursday that the fire was quickly extinguished and that there had been no nuclear material or other radioactive material in the building. Iran said the cause was not yet known, adding there were no injuries or radioactive contamination," IAEA reiterated in its statement.

Furthermore, the global nuclear watchdog tweeted on Thursday evening that it was "aware of the reported incident" in Natanz.

IAEA "is in contact with the relevant safeguards authorities in Iran to confirm that the agency can continue all its safeguards verification activities at the uranium enrichment facility" the tweet asserted.

Earlier, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) had shared an image of the damaged building, which appeared to show a charred roof, broken doors, and blown-out windows.

Part of Iran's nuclear facilities in the city of Natanz was damaged in an explosion or fire in early Thursday, July 2. The Islamic Republic Supreme National Security Council says the cause of the accident has been determined, but for "security reasons" it would not be revealed for the moment.

"The Natanz site is under IAEA safeguards, including both safeguards verification and JCPOA verification and monitoring," the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.

IAEA was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, or Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Britain, China, France, Russia, and the U.S., as well as Germany.

After four times extending the deal by Barak Obama and Donald Trump's administrations, the White House withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018.

After the incident, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi, said there were "no nuclear and radioactive contaminating material" at the shed. The "rumors" about the "contamination" were "absolutely untrue," the spokesman insisted.

At the same time, the head of the Islamic Republic Civilian Defense cautioned that Tehran would retaliate against any country that carries out cyberattacks on its nuclear sites.

Three Iranian officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said they believed the fire was the result of a cyberattack but did not cite any evidence.

One of the officials said the attack had targeted a centrifuge assembly building, referring to the delicate cylindrical machines that enrich uranium, and said Iran's enemies had carried out similar acts in the past.

Two of the officials said Israel could have been behind the Natanz incident but offered no evidence.

Asked on Thursday evening about recent incidents reported at strategic Iranian sites, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters, "Clearly, we can't get into that."

The Israeli military and Netanyahu's office, which oversees Israel's foreign intelligence service Mossad, did not immediately respond to Reuters queries on Friday.

In 2010, the Stuxnet computer virus, which is widely believed to have been developed by the United States and Israel, was discovered after it was used to attack the Natanz facility.

Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/un-nuclear -watchdog-says-inspections-will-continue-after- iran-nuclear-site-incident/30705072.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.
Breaking: Explosion At Power Plant And Chlorine Leak At Petrochemical Plant In Iran

Radio Farda July 04, 2020

Iranian news agencies on Saturday reported an explosion at Zargan power plant and a chlorine leak at Karoun Petrochemical Industries Plant, but possible casualties and the scope of damages remain unclear.

According to media reports, the Fire Department of Ahwaz Municipality has said that the fire resulting from an explosion at 15:30 local time (11:00 GMT) was extinguished after two hours. The power plant is central to the 230-kilo-volt grid in Khuzestan Province. A fire department official was quoted by IRNA as saying that an explosion in a transformer caused the fire which was contained after two hours but firefighters are still working to bring down the temperature at the site.

Fire at Zargan Power Plant

Firefighters and rescue units have been dispatched to a petrochemical plant where a chlorine leak was reported at shortly after the explosion at the power plant at 16:45 local time. The plant which was built in 2002 produces isocyanates and is the first of its kind in the Middle East. Authorities say several have been poisoned by the gas leak but no serious damages have been reported.

Several other "accidents" in recently have been reported in various Iranian cities. On May 11 disruptions of computer servers were reported at Shahid Rajaee Port which caused interruptions in the operations at the port while on June 26 a fire at a power station in Shiraz caused an extensive blackout in the city.

On the same day as the power station explosion in Shiraz an explosion at Khojir region in the east of the capital close to Parchin military facilities where Iran's ballistic missiles are produced was reported. This was followed by another explosion or fire in what the authorities claimed to be an "industrial shed" at that Natanz uranium enrichment facility two days ago.

Some foreign media outlets have quoted informed sources as saying that the "accidents" were caused by sabotage but Iranian authorities have not confirmed this. On Saturday Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) announced that the cause of the incident at Natanz facilities has been determined but will not yet be made public due to "security considerations".

Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/explosion-at- power-plant-chlorine-leak-at-petrochemical -plant-in-iran/30706130.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.
Are US Sanctions An Obstacle To China's Domination Of Iran?

Behrouz Turani July 04, 2020

Beijing's increasing political influence in Tehran during the past five years, and the unusual growth in military cooperation and trade between the two have turned China into the biggest winner of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, says Iranian analyst Reza Taghizadeh.

On 29 June the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi called the document about this cooperation "a source for pride" while former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described it as another Treaty of Turkmenchai; the 1828 agreement between Iran and Russia based on which Iran (then called Persia) ceded large parts of its territory to the expansionist northern power.

Ahmadinejad referring to the vague reports on the long-term cooperation agreement with China also said, "The Iranian nation will not recognize a new secret 25-year agreement between Iran and China," and warned that any contract signed with a foreign country without the people knowing about it will be void.

The Iranian public has a historic sensitivity to economic domination by any big power, as Britain found out in the 20th century. Now, many Iranians are raising the alarm on social media about a possible Chinese domination.

Based on a 2013 plan, China has been furthering a project to revive the Silk Road and also open a sea route to import raw materials and expand its market in underdeveloped countries.

According to Taghizadeh, the seemingly charitable plan aims at developing the infrastructure in 70 countries, but in fact, what China is seeking is a monopoly on the natural resources of these countries.

Meanwhile, another Iranian analyst, Reza Haqiqatnezhad has said in a tweet that Iran's idea to boost relations with China is an old plan engineered by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that dates back to 2005, however, as Trump came to power, Khamenei's plans did not go any further. The reintroduction of sanctions blocked plans for Chinese investments and also brought Iran's economy to a standstill.

Other authors have also noted how trade between the two countries has hit a an all-time low in 2020, after continuing declines since 2019.

Haqiqatnezhad quoted Iran's former Central Bank Governor as having said that Iran signed $35 billion worth of finance contracts with China immediately after the 2015 nuclear deal also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But those contracts were halted after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the multilateral nuclear accord.

According to Haqiqatnezhad, the document for cooperation with China was first mentioned in 2015. However, Trump's policies prevented more economic interaction between Tehran and Beijing.

In an article on Radio Farda's Persian website Taghizadeh explains what Iran means for China. "Thanks to its sensitive political geography, its huge energy resources and mines, as well as its 85 million strong consumer market, Iran can be the grand prize in China's colonial plan, the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative."

The simultaneous launch of Tehran's Looking East policy and Beijing's OBOR, paved the way for a quick boost to Cino-Iranian relations, he added, noting that it was Iran's fragile ties with Europe as a result of U.S. sanctions, and EU's accord with Washington's Iran policy that pushed Tehran to embrace the idea of Looking East.

Now, Iran seems ever-more eager to herald its desire to rely on China, without a clear signal from the other side which is reluctant to get into a game of violating Trump's sanctions and further complicating its relations with Moscow.

Khamenei on several occasions, while looking for a way out of Iran's economic crisis, suggested that Tehran should get closer to the China and Russia. Former Majles Speaker Ali Larijani played an instrumental role in trying to make the plan popular with other Iranian politicians. However, he did not have such a tough job as, the conservative figures around him and the powerful IRGC already supported the idea.

In one perspective, both analysts are right. Left alone, economic relations between China and Tehran would have expanded and China's domination of Iran's resources would have become a reality. But U.S. sanctions have made Tehran even more desperate to rely on China.

James Calabrese noted recently that Washington's tough stance toward Iran has created both an opportunity and a challenge for Beijing. In an article titled The Not-So-Special "Special Relationship, argued that it is tough for China to take advantage of American-Iranian tensions without "further fueling Sino-American tensions".

Haqiqatnezhad wrote in another series of tweets: "During the JCPOA talks which took place at the peak of the Looking West era, Khamenei insisted on Looking East and criticized negotiators for their frequent visits to the West."

Taghizadeh noted Iran's dire economic situation last year, when Iran asked for a five billion dollar loan from Russia and the International Monetary Fund. None of them gave the cash to Iran. In such a situation, China which has the biggest cash reserve in the world could be Iran's savior. Or that is what some Iranian officials think.

According o Taghizadeh, Zarif has acknowledged that that the deployment of Chinese forces to Iran's ports on the Persian Gulf, using the Kish Island and fishing rights in the Persian Gulf waters for 25 years are part of the concessions Iran has offered to China against a $400 billion Chinese investment in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemical projects.

Iran appears to be looking forward to China's assistance in furthering major industrial and economic projects while past experiences have not been encouraging. A previous Iran- China project to construct just a 110-Kilometer road between Tehran and the Caspian Sea region has not been completed in 23 years and the Chinese company in charge was kicked out.

Meanwhile, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman calls the Iran - China deal a source for pride, but the Iranian government is not even prepared to publish the contract. More likely, there is no signed document. It is Iran's wishful thinking at the moment.

Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/are -us-sanctions-an-obstacle-to-china-s- domination-of-iran-/30706115.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.
Russia says expanded G7 summit without China a 'flawed idea'

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 04 July 2020 2:57 PM

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says Moscow is not in talks with the United States about its potential role at a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) scheduled to be held this summer.

Ryabkov made the comments during an interview with TASS news agency on Saturday, stressing that China should also be included in the expanded G7 summit initiative.

Back in May, US President Donald Trump proposed that the current format of the group of seven advanced economies in the world is "outdated" and that it should be expanded so that it could include other countries, such as India, Australia, South Korea and Russia.

On Friday, John Sullivan, the US Ambassador to Russia, also said in an interview with RBC TV that Washington had been "engaged with the Russian Foreign Ministry and with the other G7 governments about whether there is an appropriate role for Russia at the G7."

Ryabkov's comments were apparently made in response to those of the US envoy.

Russia had been part of the group, then known as the G8, since 1997. However, in March 2014, it was suspended by G7 member states from the group after people in the Crimean Peninsula overwhelmingly voted in favor of the territory's rejoining the Russian Federation.

Ukraine and the Western countries accused Moscow of annexing Crimea, an allegation rejected by the Kremlin.

After the suspension, Moscow in January 2017 decided to permanently exit the G8. It was confirmed in June 2018.

Other G7 member states, including Canada and France, have already expressed their opposition to Russia's return, however.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ryabkov said leaving China out of an expanded G7 summit would make it impossible to discuss international issues.

"The idea of this so-called extended G7 is flawed because it's not clear how the authors of this initiative to address the Chinese factor," he said. "Without China it's simply impossible to discuss any issues in the modern world."

The US and China are at odds over a number of issues, including human rights, trade, and the origin and response to the new coronavirus.
Russia Denies It Is In Talks With U.S. About Expanded G7

By RFE/RL July 04, 2020

Russia is not in talks with the United States about its potential role at an expanded Group of Seven (G7) summit later this year, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on July 4.

"We have not had negotiations of this kind and are not having any," Ryabkov told TASS.

Ryabkov's comments countered those of John Sullivan, U.S. ambassador to Russia, who told RBC TV on July 3 that Washington was "engaged with the Russian Foreign Ministry and with the other G7 governments about whether there is an appropriate role for Russia at the G7."

U.S. President Donald Trump raised the prospect of Russia's return to the group of leading economic powers in May when he announced plans to postpone the meeting until September because of the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time he said he would expand the list of invitees to include Australia, Russia, South Korea, and India.

Russia was formerly in the group but was expelled in the wake of its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Trump said it was "common sense" to invite President Vladimir Putin to rejoin the group, but other G7 countries, including Canada and France, have objected to the idea.

Ryabkov also said an expanded G7 meeting should include China.

"The idea of the so-called expanded G7 summit is flawed, because it is unclear to us how the authors of that initiative plan to consider the Chinese factor. Without China, it is just impossible to discuss certain issues in the modern world," he said, according to TASS.

Ryabkov also noted that Russia has proposed holding a summit of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

"This is a completely different format. We believe that work in that format, including on the most pressing current issues, is optimal," Ryabkov said.

Ryabkov said Moscow has continued diplomatic efforts to draw up the agenda of a summit.

"We have submitted appropriate proposals to other partners in the P5 (permanent members of the Security Council), and we are waiting for their reaction," he said.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-denies -it-is-in-talks-with-u-s-about- expanded-g7/30706125.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.
Moscow Warns Open Skies Treaty to Crumble in 'Domino Effect' if More Nations Follow US Suit

Sputnik News

08:39 GMT 04.07.2020(updated 09:09 GMT 04.07.2020)

In May, the US announced its intention to pull out of the 2002 treaty, allowing reconnaissance flights over some 34 participating countries, unless Russia adheres to its terms. Moscow has repeatedly denied breaching the agreement.

The Treaty on Open Skies may follow a "domino effect" and fall apart if other countries follow the US lead and withdraw from the agreement under pressure from Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Saturday.

"I would not want the [Open Skies] Agreement to fall apart. We admit that a 'domino effect' is possible and that the countries most zealously supporting the United States, on various issues, may consider such a possibility under pressure from Washington. We would not like this, because then the agreement will inevitably come collapse", Ryabkov said.

The diplomat added that Moscow did not expect Washington to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty at an upcoming conference involving participating countries. He stressed that Russia will not allow the conference to turn into a forum for throwing around unfounded accusations, particularly in Moscow's direction.

"I want to draw attention to one important point. The theme of the conference, as has been stated and approved, is the fallout of the US decision to withdraw from the treaty. If someone starts blaming Russia for something, it will, strictly speaking, deviate from the topic ... We will not be afraid to give our verdict on those who try to use this platform to raise something completely contrived, or in some cases, make stupid accusations against Russia", Ryabkov remarked.

The Open Skies Treaty was initially signed in 1992 and entered into force ten years later. The agreement allows countries to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over one another, and 34 nations will remain part of the treaty following Washington's exit.

US President Donald Trump said in May that Washington was quitting the treaty and alleged that Russia was not in compliance with the agreement.

Russia has repeatedly refuted US accusations of breaching the treaty. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow would only work with the United States on a mutual basis and would not accept any ultimatums.

A Sputnik
Asked the same question as Gara about the possibility of property owners not reporting enhancements that would hike their tax bills, John Filchak, executive director of the Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, said, I believe that is a concern  but given the reality of the situation  they really have to depend on the goodwill and honesty of the people responding.
Gloucester, MA (01930)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to cloudy skies and rain during the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 79F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Cloudy. Periods of rain early. Low 54F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Mosquitoes in Manchester

The Northeast Massachusetts Mosquito Control and Wetlands Management District (NEMMC) conducts weekly mosquito surveillance testing for EEE and West Nile virus in Manchester from June through October. The organization also conducts spraying in town and treats catch basins to prevent mosquito larvae from maturing.

More information on the town's 2020 Mosquito Control Program is available at https://bit.ly/2ZL5io2

Information and the application to exclude property from mosquito control spraying can be found at https://bit.ly/31STrH3. Exclusions go into effect fourteen days from the date the request is made. All exclusion requests expire on Dec. 31st of the calendar year in which they are made.

Manchester is the only member of the NEMMC on Cape Ann.

Questions may be directed to Ellen Lufkin in the Board of Health office at lufkine@manchester.ma.us.
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
Under the updated rules, international students must take at least some of their classes in person. New visas will not be issued to students at schools or programs that are entirely online. And even at colleges offering a mix of in-person and online courses this fall, international students will be barred from taking all their classes online.
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Urgent and Ongoing Resident Communications: In a recent survey of over 1,000 people across the U.S., respondents identified government communications as equally trustworthy as information from family and friends during COVID-19. Not only do governments have a special obligation to communicate the facts in a timely and consistent way, but engagement with these communications has skyrocketed  further supporting the case that now is the time for robust, consistent communications efforts from local governments. As the pandemic continues to evolve, governments must adopt tools that support rapid response, delivering messages directly to residents via email, text, and social channels  enabling local leaders to reach as many of their constituents as possible, and quickly.

Modern Web Properties for All Audiences: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the average local government website saw an increase in its Web traffic by 25 percent. Still, many government websites are not mobile-friendly or fully accessible. Now is the time for citizen-centric design  one that uses data, analytics, and real-time user experiences to drive the information shared. And while hundreds of local governments created central COVID-19 resource hubs on their websites that are updated regularly, this is just the first step. Public information officers must consider the needs of all citizens, support ADA requirements, ensure mobile accessibility, and create a destination for citizens to accomplish critical requests for service.

Digital Service Delivery for All: Now that in-person transactions are no longer an option, many leaders switched their service delivery methods to lengthy and manual processes including snail mail of forms and documents. While the federal government gave some relief, delaying the deadline for Real ID as one example, many social services such as unemployment benefit distribution or license renewals are delivered by states and local communities. States like Oklahoma proved it is possible to pivot quickly  bringing their application processes for unemployment benefits online in just 48 hours.

Public Meetings in a Remote Environment: The new normal of the legislative process is that it must allow for secure, reliable access to virtual public meetings for both local leaders and residents. Gone are the days of closed-door council sessions; the public is eager for transparency and demands greater involvement. Despite relaxed Sunshine laws, many community clerks have ensured public access and comments to critical decisions with technology. Now, as governments livestream their meetings and make their agenda and supporting materials more readily available digitally, cities are seeing an increase in civic engagement, in some cases doubling or tripling public attendance.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, the ways in which governments engage with constituents evolve on a daily basis. To help contain the virus and keep people safe, the pandemic drove an urgent need for consistent and trustworthy information from government leaders. Thirsty for critical information, citizens flocked to government websites and opted into government-issued news and information. While recent surveys show these efforts built trust with citizens, governments now face unprecedented demand and simultaneously must battle the spread of misinformation.At the same time, government teams are working frantically to provide service delivery for everything from drivers license renewals, business permit applications, and unemployment benefit distribution. Social distance requirements have accelerated pressure on governments to move these necessary services from in-person to online, but with no additional budget. Unfortunately, for communities that have not been able to pivot quickly, residents have experienced delays in their services and little transparency  adding to mounting frustration levels.For better or for worse, the pandemic has brought digital transformation to the doorstep of public agencies at all levels. The good news is that rapid deployment of technology has lasting benefits beyond the current crisis including increased citizen engagement, enhanced quality of service delivery, and more transparency throughout each citizen-government interaction.And fortunately for state and local governments, these shifts toward rapid technology deployment come with federal support. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, is providing a minimum of $1.25 billion to every state and can be applied to technologies that support and protect the public in response to COVID-19. Ensuring rapid information sharing, resource availability, and distribution of aid squarely falls in the purview of CARES funding. The only challenge is that governments must use these funds before Dec. 30, 2020.Many states have already begun distributing these dollars to cities and counties based on population, which means that local governments must act quickly to secure the best path for use of these funds. While several agencies have already begun their move to digital using CARES funding, its not too late for others.In addition to aid and relief for the most urgent response efforts, public agencies have the opportunity to fund critical technology needs, including:Using CARES funding to digitize the most critical services not only works during COVID-19 response but benefits citizens and agencies alike. The COVID-19 pandemic was unexpected and has led to many changes in how governments and citizens connect. With the CARES Act, local governments have greater flexibility to fund a wide variety of programs that address the fallout of the pandemic  and also invest in their long-term digital transformation.For more information on how to use CARES Act funding to support digital transformation, please see Granicuss FAQs on need-to-know information for governments.
The surge in spending on Medicaid and other COVID-19-related health-care services, coupled with the collapse in revenues, is already devastating state governments' finances. It's likely to be years before revenues return to pre-pandemic levels. But the recovery will also provide an opportunity for states to rethink the way they tax their citizens and deliver services to them, and to replace existing policies with those that focus on reducing income inequality. States have far more policy levers than any other level of government, and it is time for them to provide the leadership on this issue.It seems clear now that the greatest long-term threat to our nation and to our democracy is the growing disparities in income and wealth. According to recent statistics, the top 1 percent receives 22 percent of the nation's income and holds 40 percent of its wealth. The COVID-19 downturn is worsening these disparities: More than 20 million individuals are now unemployed, at the same time that the stock market's performance has preserved or increased billionaires' wealth.In the rebuilding of state governments, it is critical to make changes in spending priorities, tax systems, the organization of government and the way services are delivered. While just about every policy area has an impact on inequality, the three most important are education, health care and taxes.Virtually all studies indicate that universal pre-K has a high rate of return on investment, including reducing later school dropouts and even incarceration. Yet nationally, only 50 percent of low-income 4-year-olds are eligible for a program. States should start by covering all 4-year-olds with family incomes below 200 percent of poverty and then moving to universal pre-K over time.Funding for elementary and secondary education is shared roughly equally by state and local governments: 47 percent from states and 44.8 percent from localities. But the funding is upside-down, as high-income school districts average 22 percent above low-income districts on a spending-per-student basis. States need to redo their formulas to equalize the per-student spending across all of their school districts.You find a similar problem in higher education, as states generally provide their flagship universities, with mostly higher-income students, more than double the per-enrollee contribution that they provide to community colleges, with mostly lower-income students. States need to flip this so that community colleges receive the higher contribution. This should allow lower-income students to have free community college in many states.In 2018, 27.5 million Americans, or 8.5 percent, did not have health insurance. By some estimates, the COVID-19 pandemic has likely doubled that number, to 55 million individuals. The first step is for the 14 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid to do it. Second, it is critical that all states aggressively find those individuals who are eligible for Medicaid and assist them in enrolling. All states should ensure that they have presumptive eligibility, so that providers can sign up individuals with incomes below 140 percent of the poverty level when they seek medical services. For individuals between 140 and 400 percent of poverty, states should assist them in signing up through the Affordable Care Act exchanges so they can receive the federal subsidies.State tax systems were built for a manufacturing economy of the 1950s, not for our 21st-century high-technology service economy. Not only are tax systems out of sync with individual state economies, since few tax services, but they are highly discriminatory against low-income individuals. Sales taxes, which represent 15 percent of general revenues, are highly regressive, with the lowest 20 percent in income paying 7.1 percent of their income in sales taxes while the top 1 percent pay 0.9 percent.Individual income taxes, which represent 18 percent of general fund revenues, are not much better. Seven states have no income tax, and two states tax only interest and dividends. All other states have either flat or slightly progressive taxes.States need to include services in the sales tax to make it less regressive. And they need to make their individual income taxes much more progressive to offset the regressive sales taxes. This can be done by adding tax brackets with higher tax rates for higher-income individuals.More than any other level of government, states have an opportunity to reverse longstanding practices and policies that exacerbate inequity in America. Governors and state legislators need to start developing their visions now so they are ready to operationalize them when the COVID-19 threat begins to retreat.GoverningGoverning
Reinventing the Legislature in the Time of the Coronavirus

A Detailed Bill on Police Accountability

Absentee Ballots and the Potential Broader Agenda

(TNS)  The Zoom calls last as long as four hours. They link two Democrats and two Republicans assigned to craft a bipartisan police accountability bill in the midst of the pandemic that forced Connecticut lawmakers from the State Capitol in March.A member of the quartet tracks the status of the various provisions on a color-coded spread sheet: Consensus items are marked green; yellow signifies issues unresolved, but not unsolvable; red is reserved for ideas at a stop.Later this week, their colleagues are expected to get a first look at the draft of the bill they produced in response to the police killing of George Floyd for consideration in a special session expected to begin as soon as July 15 under circumstances that are still evolving.Only two things are clear: there will be a substantive police accountability bill, and a separate measure clarifying in statute the ability of voters to use absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic if they are uncomfortable going to the polls in November.Uncertain is whether the agenda will grow to address broader social and economic justice issues, COVIDs impact on state finances, or any of the many items in progress when the regular session was suspended and then ultimately adjourned without further action.Its going to be a short session in the middle of a COVID crisis, said Gov. Ned Lamont, who has urged lawmakers to stay focused. But well see what we can get done.A more fundamental question: How will the legislature function?House and Senate leaders are contemplating changing the rules to allow limited remote voting, at least for the 151-member House, whose computerizing voting system and tally board were updated in the previous term.The new technology allows the lower chambers members to cast votes from their offices in the adjacent Legislative Office Building. The Senate system was not updated, and voting most likely will be done by every senator pushing a button in the chamber.House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said debates and votes most likely would be choreographed to limit the number of legislators in the chamber at any one time, holding the legislature to same COVID-19 restrictions as faced by businesses.Were looking at models of what other states have done. Members may come in and vote in shifts, said Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven.Another possibility is to have the 36 senators meet in the larger House chamber, Looney said. Whatever is decided, the plan is not to have the two chambers meet on the same day, with the exception of the opening day when new rules must be adopted.Getting the rules right is crucial. Passage of rules for any session requires a simple majority, but no amendments are possible without a more difficult two-thirds vote.There are many ways we can manage this, said House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby.The quartet at the center of the effort to produce a bipartisan police bill are the leaders of the legislatures Judiciary Committee: the Democratic co-chairs, Sen. Gary Winfield of New Haven and Rep. Steve Stafstrom of Bridgeport; and the ranking Republicans, Sen. John Kissel of Enfield and Rep. Rosa Rebimbas of Naugatuck.There is a lot of mutual respect and even friendship among the four of us, said Stafstrom, the lawmaker who devised the spread sheet with the stoplight marking system. Im a firm believer that when all parties are at the table, the end product is a better product  whether that means everybody votes for a bill or not.Leadership told them to be prepared for a special session on July 15 or 22, and they already have delivered a proposal that is now being drafted as formal legislation. They have logged 23 hours or so Zoom.Weve been encouraged to act very quickly, Kissel said.None of the four were willing in interviews last week to identify the items marked green or red, but they readily outlined the parameters of the bill: Use of force policies, such as a likely ban on the use of chokeholds; training and accreditation of police; investigating use of deadly force; and recruitment of a more diverse police force.Some of the more controversial measures discussed include revisiting when police should enjoy immunity from being personally sued for official actions and whether the legislature should bar the ability of police unions to negotiate contracts limiting the disclosure of complaints or ability to terminate officers.Legislators say a bipartisan vote would make a strong statement to the police and public about the political commitment behind any reforms. And there is a political desire among most lawmakers to go on record in support of these reforms.Given the political winds right now, I think everybody wants to have their hands on this, if possible, Winfield said.Weve been entrusted and directed to attempt to reach a bipartisan proposal, and thats exactly what were doing, Rebimbas said. I think the thing that makes this work among the four of us is the mutual respect we have.But there are tensions. There is a political divide, a general sense that Democrats want a bill that goes deeper than what might be acceptable to many Republicans. Winfield and Looney said separately that a bipartisan vote is preferable, but not necessary.The substances takes precedence, Looney said. I would like to see a bipartisan bill, but not if it had to be watered down to get it to be bipartisan.I hold the same opinion Ive always held on any of these bills: The primary thing is the policy, Winfield said. If we can make it bipartisan, thats great. But the policy remains primary to me.Winfield added, however, that there is a limit to what the legislature can undertake in a special session during a pandemic.People think we can fix every part of this, and thats not true. You dont get to tackle everything, Winfield said.Klarides and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said it is possible to produce a substantive policy on police accountability that would attract significant GOP support.As of now, they are in a good place, Klarides said.Weve done a lot of controversial things in the past that were bipartisan, Fasano said. I dont see this as any different.Another element of the special session agenda is a bill that effectively would extend through November an executive order by Lamont that permits the use of absentee ballots in the August primary by anyone reluctant to go to the polls during the pandemic.The state of emergency granting Lamont sweeping executive powers expires on Sept. 9, so the governor says a state law is necessary for easier absentee voting in November. Passage of a law also would render moot a lawsuit challenging the use of the ballots and another trying to force the state to allow their use in November.Represented by the ACLU, the Connecticut NAACP and the League of Women Voters sued Connecticut in federal court last week, saying that the failure to allow the use of absentee ballots by voters deemed at risk essentially denies them a right to vote.One of the plaintiffs is an 88-year-old woman who does not meet any of the limited statutory criteria for obtaining an absentee ballot.Republicans are also ready to discuss the budget ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, Klarides said.Whether you like it or not, there is nobody who can disagreee that we have a serious budget problem, Klarides said.Some Democrats are eager to discuss other issues, including whether there should be a presumption for some workers that a COVID-19 diagnosis is work-related and should be covered by workers compensation. And there is a push to widen the session to cover a broad range of social justice issues.Senate Democrats outlined a Juneteenth Agenda two weeks ago that would tackle housing segregation, disparities in health and education, and the lack of economic opportunity in many urban neighborhoods. Forty House Democrats in the Progressive Caucus have endorsed the agenda.
(TNS)  When a mysterious virus began racing around the globe early this year, scientists at the University of Washington states newly created Center for an Informed Public described it as the perfect storm for bogus information, both innocent and malicious.So whats the situation six months later, now that the coronavirus pandemic is playing out in tandem with a passionate push for racial justice and the opening volleys of the presidential race? The perfect superstorm?Pretty much, says Kate Starbird, a co-founder of the center.As time goes on, what were seeing is the convergence between COVID-19 and election 2020, she said. And that means the flood of half-truths, distortions and flat-out lies the World Health Organization calls an infodemic is only going to intensify. Things are becoming more politicized, Starbird said.The UW center was launched in December to study the ways misinformation spreads and the best methods to combat it. The team was gearing up for the census and the presidential contest, which they expected to be their first test cases.Then the pandemic hit and everything was crazy, said director Jevin West, who also co-teaches the UWs popular Calling Bullshit class where students learn to distinguish truth from spin. This is like nothing Ive ever seen in terms of the volume, and its growing massively every day, he said.A lot of coronavirus misinformation began as honest attempts to share knowledge and help others, Starbird said. When emotions and uncertainty are high, people are particularly vulnerable to seizing on simple solutions like home remedies or the oft-repeated, but baseless, claim that its possible to diagnose yourself by holding your breath. One widely shared tweet, purportedly from a scientist, falsely warned that hand sanitizer cant kill viruses. In the Black community, rumors spread that dark skin protects people from infection.Even Starbird shared what turned out to be misguided tips for families trying to protect relatives in senior living facilities, because she was so worried about her own parents.When we dont have the information we need and feel anxious about making decisions about our health, our families and our livelihoods, people come together and try to make sense of whats going on, she said.West and his colleagues have already amassed a data set that includes more than a billion Twitter messages about the novel coronavirus. People will be digging into this data for decades to come, he said.While the emergence of a new virus was a surprise, the proliferation of misinformation wasnt. It happens during every crisis, as people desperate to figure out whats going on share rumors and scraps of information  some useful, some dangerously wrong, Starbird said.In most crises, like earthquakes or hurricanes, the period of uncertainty  when people engage in whats called collective sense-making  is short. But a pandemic is a slow-moving process with high stakes. And because this pathogen is new, even basic information, like how people become infected, was initially unknown. With our understanding changing so quickly, what seemed true yesterday may not hold up tomorrow.Social media is the perfect platform for lightning-fast communication  and manipulation by people seeking to profit, sow discord or promote a political agenda. Factor in societys preexisting fault lines, and youve got those perfect storm, conditions.We can be equally vulnerable to misinformation when our political identities are engaged, which makes us more likely to pass on without critical consideration posts that align with our views, Starbird said. As the coronavirus pandemic quickly became as much a political debate as a public health crisis, partisan players increasingly began amplifying messages to serve their own agendas.Starbird and her colleagues analyzed the spread of an initially obscure post on Medium, a blogging platform that doesnt fact-check most content, that was quickly elevated by conservative commentators. Authored by a Silicon Valley marketer, the post was packed with data and graphs and argued that the epidemic wasnt serious enough to warrant shutdowns.Experts including UW biology professor Carl Bergstrom  who studies pandemic response and teaches the Calling B.S. class with West  pointed out multiple flaws in the reasoning, including a mistaken assumption the pandemic would follow a bell-shaped curve. Medium deleted the post within 32 hours. But the piece had already gone viral by then, thanks largely to being highlighted by several Fox News personalities, Starbird found. Some of them later acknowledged the problems with the post, but those corrections were not widely circulated.The pandemic has also fostered conspiracy theories, though many of them arent actually new, said Mike Caulfield, a digital literacy expert at Washington State University, Vancouver. The pandemic is only the latest of many ills blamed on 5G networks, though perhaps the first to inspire people to burn dozens of cell towers in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands. Bill Gates is a perennial target. An old, discredited video now circulating again purports to show the Microsoft co-founder briefing the CIA about a plan to use vaccination to inject people with microchips.A video called Plandemic pins the viral outbreak on a cabal that includes Gates, the World Health Organization, big pharma and military labs that supposedly manipulated the virus. Starbird and her colleagues traced the way the video blazed across the twitter-verse, amplified by anti-vaccination groups among others, before it was deleted by YouTube and other platforms.But the damage lingers, Caulfield said. One of the videos more outrageous claims is that wearing a mask can activate viruses and sicken people  an argument now being raised by citizens furious about local mask mandates. Wearing masks, a staple of infection-control in hospitals, has now become a badge of political identity, with many conservative politicians until recently scoffing at the idea.Tropes that circulated during previous Black Lives Matter demonstrations are also surfacing again, like claims that liberal billionaire George Soros is funding protest marches. False claims about busloads of Antifa activists inspired armed citizens to take to the streets to defend their communities, including the town of Snohomish north of Seattle. Protesters in Washington, D.C., were duped by the viral #DCblackout hashtag warning that police were blocking cellphone communications.Some of the rumors may have originated organically, while others were deliberate misinformation, Starbird said. But so far, she hasnt seen evidence of the type of international meddling documented during 2016, when Russian trolls masqueraded both as BLM protesters and critics, with the likely goal of deepening divisions among Americans.Automated bots, programmed to churn out tweets and retweets, almost certainly are playing a role in spreading coronavirus disinformation, but how much is still not known, West said. Researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University recently estimated that nearly half of Twitter accounts posting about coronavirus may not be actual people. But the groups research hasnt been published yet and is being questioned by other experts.Its really hard to determine whether somethings a bot or not, West said.Perhaps the most corrosive effect of pervasive misinformation and disinformation is the way it undermines confidence in the very institutions we all rely on, especially during crises, he added. The thing that scares me the most is that were getting to the point where some people dont trust anything.As the election approaches, the pandemic and its human and economic impacts are certain to become even more entwined with politics and other disinformation efforts, Caulfield said. I think what were looking at now makes what we were facing in 2016 look almost quaint, he said, referring to organized networks intent on creating confusion and swaying the outcome.With in-person campaigning on hold, political groups are increasingly creating internet sites that often mimic legitimate news sites and conceal their partisan roots, according to NewsGuard, a startup that tracks internet misinformation and identifies the top purveyors.A headline on one such partisan site, linked to a Democratic super PAC, chides Republican lawmakers for leaving nursing homes defenseless against COVID-19. A similar site, associated with the Republican Governors Association, features a story praising GOP states reopening efforts.  Watch out for more news sites like these that are directly tied to political campaigns, NewsGuard warns.Part of the UW centers mission is to look for solutions. One surprisingly effective way to combat misinformation is to simply correct yourself  and others  without assuming the worst, Starbird said. People share misinformation. It happens, she said. I dont think we should be judging ourselves or others as bad people.Fact-checking individual tweets or posts and labeling some as false or questionable  as Twitter recently started to do  can also make others less likely to pass on bad information, West said.While theres a lot individuals can do to identify misinformation and reduce their role in spreading it, the main culprits are Twitter, Facebook and other platforms engineered to maximize speed, engagement  and corporate profits, said UW associate law professor Ryan Calo.All of the platforms have taken steps to tamp down the spread of dangerous health misinformation during the pandemic, by highlighting reputable sources or being quicker to delete bogus material, he pointed out. That shows they can do it  if they are motivated.I think these platforms need to take the lions share of responsibility for whats going on, because their business practices and their platforms are what is enabling these lies to get halfway around the world before the truth puts its shoes on, Calo said, paraphrasing an old saying.With many advertisers boycotting Facebook over its role in the proliferation of hate speech, damaging content and misinformation, the company announced last week it will start putting warning labels and links to reliable information on some posts  including those from President Trump  that break the platforms rules.
Commendation for Brave Conduct

On the morning of 17 February 2018, Mr Roberto Serola rescued an injured surfer at Burleigh Beach in Queensland.

Mr Serola was surfing at Burleigh Beach when he noticed a surfer get knocked off her board by the large swell. The young woman was submerged for a short time before resurfacing and floating close to some rocks.

He quickly paddled over to her. As he got closer, he could hear her screaming for help, and he noticed that she had a significant leg injury. He got off his surfboard but kept it strapped to his leg. Holding onto the young woman, he swam her towards a safer area.

Large waves continued to pound the pair, directly hitting the young woman's injured leg and causing her further pain. Mr Serola positioned his body to prevent the waves directly hitting the injured leg, and continued to reassure her that she would be alright.

After approximately 20 minutes, they reached shallower water and Mr Serola carried the injured young woman ashore where surf lifesavers attended to her until emergency services arrived.

For his actions, Mr Serola is commended for brave conduct.
In May, a company in Austin, Texas, announced new versions of its technology to help cities recover lost revenue by detecting faulty water meters. It has now launched a new program to cover the cost of installation until money starts coming in.According to a news release on the companys website, Olea Edge Analytics debuted on June 25 the Meter Health Analytics (MHA) Revenue Recovery Program, offering to install its hardware units on 100 city water meters at no up-front cost. The units contain visual, rotational and vibrational sensors that connect to Oleas back-end software, which in turn uses AI and machine learning algorithms  the edge computing component  to identify how a meter is inaccurate, and how it might be fixed.The monetary discount of the new program depends on a 30-day window for MHA units to discover under-billing issues. Whatever issues the units identify in that time, if the city or water utility commits to repairing them within 30 days of identification, that customer wont have to start paying Olea back for the units until after the repairs are made and money starts flowing back into the budget, according to the news release.The MHA program guarantees that installing 100 units will identify at least $200,000 of annualized revenue recovery, or else the company will remove them with no further obligation. The news release said the program has a pay-as-you-go structure which stipulates that, for every dollar of unbilled revenue recovered beyond the cost of Oleas units in the first year, the customer agrees to subscribe to additional units to find more revenue.We want to offer a low cost-of-entry program for cities to see fast revenue recovery, said the companys CEO, Dave Mackie, in a statement. The faster we get going, the faster the net revenue will accrue to the benefit of the utility. We strongly believe we will deliver an exceptional first-year benefit and more than 200% return every additional year.When Mackie spoke within May, he said his company is focused on commercial as opposed to private water meters, because those account for 40-80 percent of a citys total water revenue. He said some meters are based on technology thats more than 70 years old, and while some meters can last decades, others dont work as soon as theyre put in the ground, and theres no reliable way to predict when theyll go bad.Mackie said in May that the American Water Works Association estimates that 10 percent of meters go bad every year, and his companys news release said up to 40% of all high-volume commercial water meters are underbilling and need repair. The company is pitching the program as a way for local governments to generate revenue in the face of impending budget cuts due to shutdowns from COVID-19, without pinching residents who may already be struggling.In May, the company had enlisted four local government customers: the cities of Austin and Irving in Texas, the city of Atlanta and Gwinnett County, Ga.
(TNS) - The wave started in early March. The novel coronavirus was spreading across Los Angeles County, and local hospitals were unprepared.Public health officials feared the worst. The news from Italy and New York  the mass graves and morgue trucks  was clear. They needed more beds.So they planned.The hospital ship Mercy sailed to San Pedro to treat the uninfected sick or injured. The Los Angeles Convention Center was prepped as a field hospital, and the St. Vincent Medical Center reopened.The facility had closed in January, a victim of Verity Health System's long bankruptcy. Lying just west of downtown Los Angeles, the sprawling campus was deserted, doors locked, 366 beds empty, with the virus creeping through the city.On March 19, Dr. Jamie Taylor got a phone call.The state was negotiating with Verity to lease the property, and her longtime colleague Dr. Anand Annamalai was putting together "a SEAL team dedicated to COVID."St. Vincent was to be known as the Los Angeles Surge Hospital, or LASH. Would she be interested in opening an intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients?Taylor, 43 and a veteran of ICUs in California, New Jersey and New York, had experience treating severely ill COVID-19 patients at a hospital in Culver City. But that wasn't the only reason she was being asked.She and Annamalai had worked together at St. Vincent for almost two years starting a liver transplant and oncology program, which ended in November when Verity decided to sell the property. (Five months later, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong purchased the medical center from Verity for $135 million."Our swan song [at St. Vincent] had a bitter taste," Taylor said. "It left all of us with a big hole in our stomachs about what was happening."She now had an opportunity to chase that bitterness with something sweeter. The hospital that could not pay its bills had carte blanche to fight this new disease.Within days of Annamalai's call, the state and Verity signed a six-month, $16-million lease. Kaiser Permanente and Dignity Health would help set up the facility and offer oversight and guidance once it was up and running. VEP Healthcare would provide physician services, and Annamalai, Taylor and nearly 35 other doctors signed up.By the time LASH closed on May 22, it would serve some of the poorest, sickest people in Los Angeles County and shore up the county's patchy hospital system. It would cost millions, last 39 days and treat 64 patients.Created from scratch, this pop-up hospital brought hope to patients and families, and for its doctors and medical staff, it represented a rare opportunity to create their own healthcare system and practice medicine unconstrained by medical corporations and insurance companies."LASH," Annamalai said, "was a clinically led socialistic system."::Taylor's first day back on campus was April 2.Walking empty corridors, she imagined St. Vincent's final week as Verity shut it down: patients transferred to other facilities, staff emptying rooms and filling boxes with supplies.Now those boxes had to be unpacked and the equipment inventoried, a triage of what could and couldn't be used. There was no better place for them to begin, Annamalai said, than "rolling up their sleeves and grabbing a mop."To create his SEAL team, Annamalai, 41, turned to friends and friends of friends. They had less than two weeks to get ready. Working late into the night, the doctors and specialists lived on pizza and one another's encouragement. Their motto: "Just get it done."Staff from Kaiser and Dignity joined them stringing ducts for an air-filtration system and rewiring telephone lines. They sealed ICU rooms with plastic sheeting, rolled in beds and laid out mattresses.They tested monitors and ventilators, and they sorted supplies: bottles of sodium chloride, Foley catheters, endotracheal tubes, disposable stethoscopes.They practiced donning and doffing personal protective equipment and created protocols for disinfecting themselves, containing outbreaks, and eventually, for helping families visit dying patients."There was not enough time to see the forest for the trees," Taylor said, "because we were in the thick of it, chipping away at six tasks at a time."Annamalai, a specialist in transplant and cancer surgeries, had worked in Central and South America helping under-financed hospitals build patient capacity. He applied those lessons to LASH.The surge hospital would not have an operating room, which required a more complex level of care. Instead, there would just be the ICU and units for patients under observation and in recovery. Medical staff set up shop on the fourth floor, and they began with 31 beds.As the opening drew near, Taylor felt a pang for what St. Vincent could have been. The stairwells had never seemed so clean.More than 400 positions  from intensive care specialists to security guards, nutritionists to chaplains  needed to be filled. Applications came from as far away as Florida, Texas and Arkansas. For hires from local hospitals, LASH was a double shift.Ryan Barnette, 37, signed on early. An ICU doctor at County-USC Medical Center, he was drawn not just by the urgency of the pandemic, but also by the challenge of opening a closed facility and mobilizing a staff to care for patients who might otherwise die.Working at both hospitals, he put in 70 hours some weeks. Sleep became a luxury for the doctor who liked to think of himself as a guy not afraid of "running into a burning building."::Every time the county's Medical Alert Center wanted to refer a patient to St. Vincent, Taylor's cellphone rang with Thievery Corporation's "Lebanese Blonde."She listened to the assessment. If a patient had COVID-19 but was pregnant or had a heart condition or any diagnosis other than respiratory distress, they were turned down. She had to be sure they could provide proper care.Decisions were made within 24 hours, and before long Taylor was accepting up to five patients a day.The first was a young woman who arrived intubated, wide awake and terrified."Respiri despacio," Taylor said in broken Spanish, trying to reassure her. Breathe slowly.The woman cried. Taylor held her hand."Todo esta bien." Everything is fine. (The patient was later discharged.)From the beginning, the work was relentless.Walking the ICU, covered head to toe, front to back, double gloved, masked and shielded, Taylor rediscovered something she had learned long ago."Medicine is not just about giving pills or doing a procedure or following a prescribed therapy," she said. "Medicine is about human beings interacting at a vulnerable point in someone's life. It is the acknowledgement that a patient is more than the culmination of their disease process."Often, in a patient's room, away from the steady drone of air-filtration units, Taylor found a calm and an intimacy that seemed all the more precious for how menacing this disease was. With families following precautions and staying away from patients, medical staff became family by proxy.Never was this more evident than when patients were discharged. LASH personnel lined the ramp to the ambulance bay and cheered as the patients made the sign of the cross, blessed the staff and whispered thank yous, one tear-filled goodbye after another.Taylor estimates that 90% of their patients were Latino and that diabetes was the most common preexisting condition."LASH was a representation of how COVID disproportionately affects Latino communities," Barnette said, "and a representation of how health care in these communities is struggling."The hospital eventually added 32 beds outside the ICU, bringing its total to 63. The daily census, however, averaged about 22 patients.Taylor attributed the low enrollment to a number of factors. Getting the word out  that LASH was open and taking patients with specific criteria  was difficult at first, and some doctors and hospitals were reluctant to transfer patients with whom they had a relationship.Money also played a role. Hospitals experiencing a decline in revenue due to the postponement of elective surgeries, Taylor believes, were reluctant to give up patients with insurance plans that guaranteed reimbursement commensurate with the cost of treatment.Only three of LASH's patients had private insurance, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. Twenty-eight were uninsured, and 33 were covered by either Medi-Cal or Medicare, which typically reimburse at rates lower than private plans.::Barnette said he was confident that LASH had saved "many, many lives.""That was the goal, right? Create an environment that could save lives. A lot of our patients, if they stayed at their admitting hospital, they might not have had a shot," Barnette said, calling his time at LASH one of the most amazing experiences of his life.Annamalai said LASH had essentially eliminated "the Goliaths of healthcare"  insurance companies and hospital administration  and for a brief, bright moment in the midst of a pandemic, doctors had a chance to deliver care on their own terms.Taylor welcomed this change. Over the years, she had felt her idealism wane in the face of increasing bureaucratic and financial pressures.She had watched what happened when coverage was denied or slowly deliberated. She knew who benefited when hospitals advocated invasive procedures over end-of-life care, or when doctors received a percentage of income from patients in nursing homes."LASH was agnostic to all that," she said. "There was no administration saying you had to go to six committees to get a policy approved. We could write our own treatment plan and implement it in 24 hours."LASH was expensive, but other hospitals throughout Southern California spent millions of dollars preparing for the surge, according to John Romley, a USC expert in health economics, and their critical care infrastructure was already in place.Operating costs for the surge hospital through May 31, according to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, were $21.5 million which covered medical treatments and physician salaries, as well as food services and the lease on the property.Kaiser Permanente and Dignity Health received $500,000 apiece for the salaries of their employees who were reassigned to LASH.Those costs, the emergency services office said, were "expected to be eligible for federal reimbursement."Each day, Taylor said, they talked about how to work efficiently and save money, but she was also pragmatic."What would the cost have been if we needed LASH and didn't have it?" she said.::In time, the initial COVID-19 surge in Los Angeles County became more manageable.Taylor had expected the hospital to be open into the summer but by mid-May, there were rumors that LASH was closing.The decision by state officials came abruptly. She was scheduled to work a night shift on May 22 when she got a text at home. EMTs were transferring the last patient to Good Samaritan Hospital.She hurried. Traffic was light. She checked in with security, put on her N95 mask and took the elevator to the ICU.The unit was deserted. As quickly as it had begun, the Los Angeles Surge Hospital had ended.LASH, Taylor said, had "reaffirmed my faith in medicine."Of the 64 patients treated there, 55 were discharged to other hospitals, rehabilitation facilities or their homes. Nine died.Given the hospital's unique nature and its selection of patients, a 14% mortality rate is hard to compare with other medical facilities. One hospital system in New York City recently reported a 21% mortality rate among its COVID-19 patients.The care that LASH provided the patients was often underestimated, said Taylor. "People thought we were pitching tents and bagging patients. That was not what it was at all."Before leaving, Taylor stopped on the 9th floor, where a break room had been set up for staff.She didn't know what the future for St. Vincent would be, and she didn't believe a new surge hospital would open on the campus. That decision lies with the state, which would once again have to take on the cost.From the county's point of view, Los Angeles' public and private hospitals have the ability to meet current projections, especially if the public continues to take precautions. Hospitals, as well, can increase capacity  up to 20%  by canceling elective admissions, rapidly discharging patients who no longer need acute care, changing the designation of hospital beds, and opening up non-traditional spaces for care, said a spokesperson with the Office of Emergency Management.Taylor walked out on a balcony, which had always felt like a portal to another world, a place to escape when there was a lull downstairs.In the late afternoon sunlight, the city was quiet.No one knows what happened here, she thought, in this least likely of places.As she stared across the patchwork of homes and streets to the 101 Freeway and the Hollywood sign, she knew the virus was not done with Los Angeles.A month later, a thousand more people had died in L.A. County, cases of the disease had doubled, and the numbers continue to rise.2020 the Los Angeles TimesVisit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS)  The nearly $1.7 billion information technology bond bill the Massachusetts Senate passed last week funds upgrades to software, equipment and databases in agencies across the state, along with setting aside money to improve remote learning and replacing state police cruisers.The latest iteration of the bill also allots $10 million to cell service.At a glance, the amendment to study and ultimately expand cell service in rural communities may seem low-tech compared to the other provisions. Yet Western Massachusetts lawmakers say the lack of cell service between towns  and often between two neighborhoods within a town  is a technology problem others within the state would consider unthinkable in 2020.I literally cant have a phone call or conversation right now if Im traveling, and I cant get from here to the north side of Pittsfield without dropping a call, said Sen. Adam Hinds from his home in Pittsfield.Calls drop when the Pittsfield Democrat drives south to Lenox or ventures up into New Ashford, North Adams or Williamstown. It happens so often that he doesnt bother making calls in some areas because he knows he wont get service.Hinds introduced the cell service amendment last week as the Senate took up the information technology bill that stemmed from a $1.15 billion bond bill Gov. Charlie Baker filed in April 2019. The provision authorizes the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security to study the current state of cell phone service coverage in counties with low population density: counties where most of the communities have under 500 people per square mile. No less than $10 million must be spent to improve coverage in these areas.The amendment gained support from Sens. Jo Comerford of Northampton, Eric Lesser of Longmeadow, James Welch of West Springfield and Sen. Patrick OConnor of Weymouth. The cell service amendment made it into the bond bill passed Thursday , alongside provisions to upgrade cybersecurity and software in colleges and the courts.Hinds saw it as a move toward regional equity, proposing a solution to a problem some colleagues didnt even know existed.To me it falls in the category of when you dont experience it firsthand, and in downtown Boston, the infrastructure needs look very different, Hinds said. That was all the more reason why Senator Comerford and I felt the urgency to make sure this was not ignored.As the coronavirus pandemic exposed the digital divide within the state, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute and KCST USA, Inc. worked with local internet service providers to launch 25 WiFi hotspots in unserved towns . A 26th site is expected to launch this week. But the hot spots are a short-term fix to problems dragging well into the 21st century.The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the divide for residents who had to work from home, far from offices and other workplaces with cell service and internet access. Even as offices get cleared to return, several companies plan to continue having employees work from home without cell reception or broadband internet for the next several months.We see for better or worse in a post-COVID world a desire to be very deliberate about choosing where you live and possibly work remotely, Hinds said. The more that we have options throughout the commonwealth for people to live and work, the better off were all going to be in terms of congestion and traffic and housing costs. So regional equity is in the interest of everyone.Earlier this year, the institute estimated that 29,000 residents across three dozen Massachusetts towns lacked broadband access. With the latest grant announced in early June, the institute was able to help 52 of the 53 programs covered under the Last Mile program get grants for broadband expansion projects.Twenty-one communities have completed projects under the Last Mile program, delivering broadband to about 18,000 residents. Broadband construction is nearing completion in another 11 communities with services being rolled out to homes and businesses by the end of the year.The number of communities that partially or entirely lack cell service, however, is unclear. MassLive could not find estimates on cell service by town. Comerford, a Northampton Democrat, said she couldnt find any either, but the analysis of cell phone service should help the state take stock of how widespread the connectivity issues truly are.Comerford said she hopes the cell service expansion in EOTSS follows a similar process as the broadband expansion campaign under the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.There is a similar apples-to-apples in that we need this kind of focused state push, and this is what we hope will be the beginning of this, Comerford said.The Last Mile program took multiple infusions of funds to get as far as it has. The final portion of the Last Mile program has cost more than $40 million in state funding, and the Last Mile communities rely on MassBroadband 123 , a nearly $90 million middle-mile network.While the programs involve completely different startup costs and equipment, the proposed cell service expansion would likely need multiple investments beyond the first $10 million.I think its a down payment, Comerford said of the amendment.The bill isnt heading to the governors desk just yet. The differences have to be reconciled with a version of the bill the House passed in May.Comerford said filling the reception gaps has become even more crucial during the pandemic, from teachers who try to call students parents to the person shifting to remote work to someone who may have been exposed to COVID-19 potentially missing a call from the Massachusetts Contact Tracing Collaborative.How are we to reach people in a public health crisis if they are disproportionately living in an area where we get no cell coverage and they cant get a phone call? she said.
Heres a look at the Connecticut companies that received funds over $150,000 and how much they received:
Chicago officials say they hope a program that was launched recently to get students Internet access at home will be the first phase of a broader effort that ultimately bridges the citys digital divide.The program, dubbed Chicago Connected, was announced last month, billed by the citys press release as a groundbreaking initiative to provide free Internet. City officials report that the program  which was a collaborative effort across sectors  will connect 100,000 students, giving them Internet at home for a minimum of four years. The effort comes as the COVID-19 crisis has emphasized the importance of home connectivity, sparking similar programs across the country, from Detroit to San Rafael, Calif. Essentially, what has happened in the nations cities is that the pandemic has made clear the importance of having Internet at home, be it for children doing schoolwork, adults looking for jobs or seniors benefiting from telehealth programs. As a result, cities have found greater interest from community groups, philanthropic organizations and private-sector entities in collaborating on programs that bridge the digital divide. Chicago Connected is one such example.To make it happen, the city worked with community groups, the Internet service providers and Chicago Public Schools. They also received millions in donor funding from a list of 10 entities, including philanthropist Ken Griffin , Crown Family Philanthropies and the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund, which is paid for through the Chicago Community Trust and United Way of Metro Chicago. Also on the donation list was a $750,000 boost from President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. The donors will pay for the first two years of the program, while the school district will fund years three and four.And its that four-year scope that really sets the program apart from those found in other parts of the country, most of which havent locked down commitments that span that far into the future. Moreover, city officials in Chicago say this is just the first phase of a long-term plan that will eventually get an Internet connection into the homes of the entire city.Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Bennett said bridging the digital divide has always been part of Mayor Lori Lightfoots platform for improving equity in the city, and that the advent of COVID-19 accelerated the need, necessitating decisive action.This is really just phase one of what were trying to do, Bennett said. The [Chicago Public School] student need was critical because of COVID, but we know theres a broader need across the city.The city in its role was able to act in part as a convener, facilitating the donations from the disparate actors, working with the ISPs, and bringing in the school district. Community groups were also instrumental in conceptualizing the nature of the group.Daniel Anello is the CEO of Kids First Chicago, a community group that works to ensure high-quality public schools are accessible to all families. Anellos group helped facilitate and give shape to Chicago Connected as well. Anello said the expectation is that by the time the first four years of the plan is up, there will be new funding or potentially legislation that will help it continue indefinitely.What the quarantine and coronavirus did was really elevate how significant an issue this has been for a very long time, Anello said. Weve always thought of the Internet as a luxury, and the truth is coronavirus made us realize its a necessity.
(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)  On the heels of daily rallies for racial justice in town and across the state and country, the Board of Directors in Manchester, Conn., on Tuesday is expected to discuss several items related to policing, including body cameras.The Board of Directors is set to meet digitally at 7 p.m. to act on a loaded agenda that includes a possible $165,000 allocation for police body cameras. The funds would come out of the towns reserves, according to meeting documents.In a letter to the directors, General Manager Scott Shanley said town staff last October solicited a bid from the current provider of the police departments car cameras for the pricing of equipment and details on cloud storage and retrieval fees for body cameras.After significant review, Shanley said, it was decided that it was most financially prudent to go with this same vendor for the cloud storage of data from the body cameras as well. If approved Tuesday, the $165,000 in funding will be combined with $100,000 from another account to allow the town to move forward with purchasing the cameras and related technology.Shanley said there has been some discussion at the state and federal levels about providing funding for body cameras for local police agencies, but nothing has materialized yet.The Manchester Police Department, leadership and union, are prepared to move forward now, he wrote in a letter dated July 1. The Board should discuss timing to determine if it is prudent to wait to see if federal (or state) funding will be available, or, to proceed with local funding for immediate purchase.In addition to body cameras, the Board of Directors is scheduled to receive a briefing from the Manchester Police Department regarding 8 Cant Wait, a campaign that aims to reform police departments by enacting eight specific policing changes.The eight policies are: banning chokeholds and strangleholds; requiring officers to try and deescalate situations; requiring officers to give a warning before firing a weapon; requiring police to exhaust all alternatives before shooting; requiring officers to intervene if they see excessive force being used; banning shooting at moving vehicles; establishing a use of force continuum that restricts severe uses of force to extreme situations; and requiring more comprehensive reporting any time an officer uses force or threatens to use force on a citizen.
(TNS)  Not long after protesters rallied outside the Frederick County, Md., Law Enforcement Center June 8 to demand police accountability and transparency, a petition appeared on Change.org calling for the sheriff's office to begin using body-worn cameras.Launched by 16-year-old Alex Cumber, the petition  which had more than 3,800 signatures as of Monday  calls on Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner to include body-worn cameras for sheriff's deputies in the budget for fiscal year 2022. Citing data from the Police Executive Research Forum, an independent law enforcement research group, Cumber's petition covers a basic cost analysis for the equipment, and emphasizes the need for body cameras to ensure the safety and equal treatment of county residents and especially people of color, according to the website."I want, eventually, [the petition] to be brought to the sheriff's attention that, even if this is something that [he] may not want implemented, the majority of the Frederick community would like to see it happen," Cumber said in an interview June 28.Jenkins said his agency looked into purchasing body-worn cameras in 2016. The agency ran several training scenarios, including use-of-force situations, to allow the sheriff and his command staff to evaluate the cameras, Jenkins said.We found many deficiencies in what the cameras actually captured. In force situations we were not getting the video we expected to get. Actions taken by deputies were not captured on video that you would expect would be captured, Jenkins said. That reinforces my belief that it is a mistake to rely on [the] technology.  The video did not capture entire sequences of events which is critical in investigating and reviewing uses of force.Jenkins also said body cameras can fall or be knocked off of officers and will sometimes fail to record. Jenkins said he determined that the cost of buying the cameras, the equipment to store data and potentially hire new staff to maintain the database outweighed "the very limited benefit" of the devices."The other part of the equation is the fact that we do not experience the types and numbers of situations in Frederick County that necessitate the implementation of body-worn cameras," Jenkins concluded.Cumber acknowledged some camera footage, particularly during a physical struggle, can be unreliable. But with careful policy writing, an agency could ensure the cameras are used to put police interactions with members of the public into context, she said. For example, if an agency dictates that cameras be turned on before an officer makes contact with someone on a call, the information captured could be very useful."Every part of an incident, even leading up to a use of force is important to understand the situation and maybe the escalation of that situation, she said. Even words exchanged between an officer and a civilian can be incredibly important to finding out how that incident occurred and how the use of force started.Frederick city officials, including commanders of Frederick Police Department, also differ with the sheriff when it comes to the benefits of body-worn cameras. City police rolled out the technology in 2016, the same year the sheriff's office completed its assessment.While not all of the department's hopes for the technology came true  agency commanders originally predicted the cameras would help reduce use-of-force numbers, which have actually increased each year since 2016  the department stands by it decision to implement the technology. In fact, by the end of the summer, police commanders plan to add close to 60 new cameras to its initial compliment of 18 chest-mounted devices.Moving beyond the data captured by the cameras, acting Chief Patrick Grossman said the cameras provide other important benefits to police agencies, especially at a time when tensions are high and law enforcement is under intense scrutiny."There are so many facets to a body camera program. It provides a multitude of things, from an evidentiary standpoint to providing proof beyond a reasonable doubt in court," Grossman said. "It also provides a level of transparency for a public agency like the police department. [The cameras] can help us build and maintain credibility within the community, and that's incredibly important."Jenkins was not alone in his opposition to body cameras, however. Frederick County States Attorney Charlie Smith has argued against adding more body-worn cameras to area police agencies.Smiths conclusion weighs the cost of implementing the technology, along with the cost of storing the data and the expense to review the footage prior to its use in court against the marginal benefit the cameras provide, he said.Yes, they have benefit, especially to dispel or confirm reports of police use of force. But what looks to be millions of dollars in the long term to primarily aid in a handful of cases does not make sense to me, especially with the proliferation of camera phones, Smith said.As a direct result of the Frederick Police Department adding new cameras, Smith said he was forced to request $353,512 be added to the states attorneys offices budget. A total of $7,205 was needed for new technology to review and store the footage and $346,307 was to hire an additional assistant states attorney and four investigators, according to data provided by the states attorneys office.On the other hand, the Montgomery County States Attorneys Office accepts the expense of county police using body cameras, said Ramon V. Korionoff, that offices public affairs director.The Montgomery County SAO supports the use of [body-worn cameras] by law enforcement. The benefits do outweigh the costs: the public is protected, the police have a record of how well their officers have interacted with the public and we often have video evidence in our prosecutions," Korionoff said in an email.Rather than resisting county elected officials' decision to fund cameras for police officers, Montgomery County prosecutors tried to work as closely as possible with police to prepare their budgets and determine what additional expenses would be reasonable for the implementation and continued use of the technology, Korionoff said.As of 2020, approximately 950 Montgomery County police officers were trained and equipped with body cameras, according to Sgt. Rebecca Innocenti, a department spokeswoman. Each officer is equipped with two cameras, one of which is worn while the other is left charging at a district station. The department also has spare cameras, bringing the total number of cameras to 2,096, Innocenti said.Montgomery County police also employ one full-time quality assurance professional, a sworn officer and four additional civilian staff in its body-worn camera program, according to Innocentis data.The departments set-up was designed to ensure the maximum possible number of camera-equipped officers were assigned to a given shift.Forward-facing officers that are in uniform and interact with the public on a daily basis wear a camera. This includes every patrol officer who is on a shift in a police district. So, every officer on a shift wears a camera, Innocenti wrote in an email.Cumber said she would like to see such complete coverage in Frederick County. But even taking steps toward implementing a program, like Frederick Police Department did in 2016, would be a positive step for the sheriff's office, she said.Body cameras aren't the only solution, Cumber said. But, until more holistic solutions arise to decrease use-of-force incidents and police violence they're a beneficial tool, she said."Body cameras are necessary to hold not only the police accountable with the amount of power they have, but just to make sure that they're staying safe with the community," Cumber said.
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

A few clouds. Low around 55F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
None of the four were willing in interviews last week to identify the items marked green or red, but they readily outlined the parameters of the bill: Use of force policies, such as a likely ban on the use of chokeholds; training and accreditation of police; investigating use of deadly force; and recruitment of a more diverse police force.
Bernie Ecclestone says he advised Sebastian Vettel to go public about the way he was axed by Ferrari.

Before last weekend, the official story was that the quadruple world champion and the Maranello team had decided mutually to part ways after 2020.

But Vettel shattered that narrative in Austria, revealing that he was given his marching hours before any contract negotiations took place.

Continuing to explain on Monday to Servus TV, Vettel revealed: "The money did not matter at all and would not have been a problem."

Former F1 supremo Ecclestone, known to be a close Vettel confidante, told Sport1 that he advised Vettel to go public with the information.

"It was important for him," the 89-year-old said.

"Sebastian is an extremely talented driver with a strong will but he is very sensitive when he has to live with unfairness. He has now freed himself of that," added Ecclestone.

"I have spoken to Sebastian a lot lately. I advised him that the truth needs to be put on the table."

Ecclestone rejects Ross Brawn's claim that Vettel was obviously "distracted" by his uncertain future when he clashed with Carlos Sainz on Sunday.

"That had nothing to do with it," Ecclestone said. "Lewis Hamilton also didn't have the best weekend in Austria."

Fascinatingly, it emerges that Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko also advised Vettel to plant the bombshell about the shock phone call from Mattia Binotto.

"I called him right after I split up with Ferrari," Vettel confirms. "Firstly just to ask for advice because we have known each other for so long."

Marko told Servus TV: "The fact that Sebastian waited so long to tell the truth shows what a great team player he is."

It all means that persistent rumours about Vettel perhaps finding refuge at Red Bull next year will continue for now.

When asked about his next move, Vettel said: "I haven't made a decision yet and I don't know anything.

"But it is important to find an environment that fits me. Racing is my life and I feel comfortable and motivated in Formula 1."

As for his current team, Vettel said: "I really enjoyed my time at Ferrari. But it also took a lot of energy from me."

(GMM)
Tensions are heating up between title contenders Mercedes and Red Bull.

In Austria, it became clear that the fight this year would not just be between their respective drivers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

On Friday, Red Bull launched a protest against Mercedes' innovative 'DAS' steering system.

And on Sunday, the energy drink owned outfit provided new camera evidence to the FIA that led to Hamilton losing his front row grid position over a yellow flag violation.

"Saturday was the only day that Red Bull didn't protest against us," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said.

"I think the protest on Friday was fair play, but not the one on Sunday. If you come back on Sunday morning to reverse a decision from yesterday with new evidence, that is allowed under the rules.

"But it is clear that the gloves are off," the Austrian is quoted by Speed Week.

Wolff's Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner was also critical of Hamilton's driving, when asked if Alex Albon could have been more cautious in trying to pass the six-time world champion last Sunday.

"Maybe you should ask Lewis what he can do differently," he said, reminding reporters that Hamilton and Albon have clashed in two of the last three races.

"Ultimately it was just a misjudgement by Lewis, but it would be good if he apologised."

(GMM)
The program called for borrowers to apply for their loans through banks and other lenders. But in Connecticut and across the country, the program got off to a rocky start in early April. Borrowers rushed to make applications even while the U.S. Small Business Administration, which was administering the program, was still smoothing out the final rules. Online application systems were overwhelmed at various points early on and, in some cases, simply shut down.
Ennio Morricone, the Oscar-winning composer of more than 500 film scores, has died at the age of 91.

The Italian musician leaves behind an extraordinary body of work that includes collaborations with notable filmmakers from the late Sergio Leone to Quentin Tarantino.

Morricone famously crafted a blend of music and sound effects to create stirring scores for Leone's classic spaghetti Westerns such as "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "A Fistful of Dollars."

Leone, who died in 1989, described Morricone's music as "indispensable," saying it "underlines actions and feelings more than the dialogue."

"I've had him write the music before shooting, really as a part of the screenplay itself," he said.

In honor of one of cinema's greatest names, here are five Morricone tracks you need to hear:

'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' main theme
GREENSBORO Two people were injured in a shooting in Greensboro on Monday evening, according to a news release from Greensboro police.

Officers were at the scene in the 500 block of Andrew Street investigating the aggravated assault. The investigation is ongoing and no further information is available at this time.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000. Citizens can also download the mobile P3tips app for Apple or Android phones to submit a mobile tip, or go to P3tips.com to submit a web tip. All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.
Boaters flag down authorities to a crashed seaplane near Powderhorn Bay on Lake Coeur d'Alene on Sunday, July 5, 2020, south of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The downed plane can be seen in the right side of the image. Two people died in a plane crash Sunday over Lake Coeur dAlene Sunday, the Kootenai County Sheriffs Office told the Spokane Spokesman-Review. Investigators are checking initial reports that there were a total of eight passengers and crew on the two planes, the sheriff's office said in a statement Sunday night. (Stephanie Hammett/The Spokesman-Review via AP) (Stephanie Hammett/The Spokesman-Review/AP)
WINSTON-SALEM  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 in June 1984, 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 man's cause of death was from multiple blunt force injuries to his head, and the man's death was ruled a homicide.

Despite efforts by authorities in Alabama, the victim's identity remained unknown.

In 1986, investigators with the Chilton County Sheriffs Office arrested James Cleckler, who was 32 at the time, in connection with the case. Cleckler pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 1987 and was sentenced to life in prison.
HIGH POINT  Officers arrested a man Thursday accused of stealing a car and robbing a person at an ATM, police said in a news release.

About 11:30 a.m., police said officers responded to a report of an assault and a car being stolen at the Food Lion on East Fairfield Road in High Point.

Police said the victim told officers he gave a stranger a ride to Food Lion in his Ford Expedition, but when they were in the parking lot, the passenger pulled out a knife and held it to the driver's throat.

The driver grabbed the knife and pushed it away, cutting his hand, according to police. The driver fled from his car and the assailant moved into the driver's seat and stole the car.

The victim's hand injury was treated on scene. While officers were investigating the incident, they received an alert about an armed robbery at an ATM involving a Ford Expedition in Thomasville.

Officers used software on the vehicle to track it to Beddington Street, police said. The suspect was gone, but surveillance footage from a nearby business showed the man park and get into a second vehicle driven by someone else.

Officers found the second vehicle and stopped it on South Main Street a short time later.
Update 2:51 p.m.

GREENSBORO  Police are now investigating a shooting this morning as a homicide after the victim died.

Police said 24-year-old Darien Antonio McIntyre, who was found shot earlier today on North O. Henry Boulevard, had died.

GREENSBORO  One person injured in a shooting was found in the 3200 block of North O. Henry Boulevard early this morning, police said in a news release.

About 2:30 a.m., police said officers were investigating an aggravated assault in the 3200 block of North O. Henry Boulevard and found one person with injuries.

No further details were available.

Anyone with information can contact Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000. People can also download the mobile P3tips app to submit a mobile tip, or go to P3tips.org to submit a web tip. All tips to Crime Stoppers are completely anonymous.

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Updated 12:08 p.m.

GREENSBORO  A 16-year-old has died and another teen is injured after a shooting early this morning, according to a news release from Greensboro police.

Cincere Graves of Greensboro succumbed to his injuries, police said. The second victim, a 15-year-old boy, received injuries that were not life-threatening in the shooting.

At about 2 a.m., officers were called to the 1000 block of West Barton Street regarding an aggravated assault involving the two victims.

Anyone with information can contact Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000. People can also download the mobile P3tips app to submit a mobile tip, or go to P3tips.com to submit a web tip. All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.

Posted 10:16 a.m.

GREENSBORO  Police are investigating after finding two people early today who had been shot.

In a news release about 2 a.m., police said officers were in the 1000 block of West Barton Street investigating an aggravated assault involving two victims.
GREENSBORO  North Carolina has approved Guilford County Schools application to create two new virtual schools, a district administrator said Monday.

The district had sought state permission to start the schools to offer an online option for families and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, even if schools end up being open for in-person classes this August.

The schools would be the Guilford eLearning Virtual Academy for grades K-5 and Guilford eLearning University Prep Academy for grades 6-12. Eboni Chillis, the districts interim chief innovation officer, is taking the lead on the virtual schools project.

School board members are set to discuss the reopening of school for the upcoming school year during an online work session Thursday.

Guilford County Schools formed a task force of more than 150 people to help them plan for next year, according to a news release the district shared last week. The district also joined with several other large urban school districts in North Carolina for another task force to share ideas and options for the upcoming school year.

Chief of Staff Nora Carr stressed that even as they try to plan, a lot is still up in the air.
Simon, who attended with her husband, said she brought her 7-year-old son to show him what being a member of the community means. She said her family has followed the Smith case since 2018 and believes there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

The police need to be more open, more transparent, Simon said. In general, there are a lot of things that need to change. I think its a good time to stand with people and help make that change.

Floyds death sparked a national outcry for a systemic review of police departments and their policies. Proponents for change would like to see department budgets reduced and the money reallocated to other community services that could help reduce crime.

Many have argued that Smith was suffering from a mental health crisis when police encountered him on the night of Sept. 8, 2018. They contend events could have played out differently had a mental health professional responded either on their own or with the accompaniment of police.

Spoma Jovanovic, a communication studies professor at UNCG, said she hopes the national discussion will reach Greensboro.

Its a hopeful moment that enough attention is being focused on this issue that we can get the change that weve been long asking for, she said.
Guilford County commissioner Carolyn Coleman, who worked with Dorsett during her tenure in the Hunt administration, said she always found time to help others.

"She was sort of a mentor to many of the staffers, whether they were white or black," Coleman said.

Later, Dorsett would serve in the state Senate from 2003 to 2010, sponsoring bills to support and promote the High Point Market, the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Historic Site in Sedalia and the International Civil Rights Center & Museum.

Guilford County commissioner Melvin Skip Alston said Dorsett was responsible for him remaining active in the NAACP after he lost his bid to lead the Greensboro branch in 1989.

"The very next day I heard from her," Alston recalled Tuesday. "She told me, 'Skip, you didnt get it this time ... but you have to try it again.' Because of her and her encouragement, thats the only reason I stayed with the NAACP."

And Alston won the position two years later.

The youngest of eight children born to a Mississippi farmer and his schoolteacher wife, Dorsett and her siblings would all go to college thanks to their parents' sacrifice.
The contentious debate over whether Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper should have to get Council of State approval before issuing and extending emergency executive orders resumes today.

The Council, which is comprised of six Republicans and four Democrats, is scheduled to hold its monthly meeting at 9 a.m.

State Treasurer Dale Folwell has invited the members to meet in his office, rather than remotely. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is expected to attend remotely, according to a spokeswoman.

All six GOP council members have said they want to fully reopen the states businesses sooner than Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, the states health secretary, have planned.

Cooper extended Phase Two restrictions to July 17 after the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continued to increase. As of noon Monday, those totals were at 74,529 cases, 1,398 deaths and 982 hospitalizations.

Its not clear whether the governor requires the approval of the Council on executive orders, particularly during a declared emergency. Cooper has said his executive orders adhere to state law.
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.
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Hear Startup Story Live speaker Sean Cannell, founder of Think Media, share about the reach and power of YouTube  the second-most popular search engine on the planet  and how Google prioritizes YouTube videos in their search results. With the #1 and #2 search engines synced, its obvious why it is critical to consider posting video content as part of your business strategy.

Cannell explains how leveraging video content on YouTube is not just for global businesses. Video content on YouTube can positively impact local businesses, from the local restaurant to the local counter installer.
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
GREENWICH  Two arrests have been made in connection with a drug overdose in town last month, police said Monday.

Officers responded to an emergency call June 13 for a drug overdose in Old Greenwich, police said. The drug involved in the overdose was fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, based on a preliminary test by officers on the scene, according to the police.

Greenwich paramedics were able to successfully revive the 40-year-old woman who had overdosed and passed out, according to the arrest report.

An arrest warrant was later issued, and the woman was booked on a charge of illegal possession of a controlled substance on July 2, police said. She was released on $2,500 bond.

In addition, a 38-year-old woman at the same address was found to be in possession of a narcotic substance, the police report stated. She was also cited on a charge of illegal possession of a controlled substance. Police did not say what the relationship is between the two women. She posted $1,000 bond on that charge.



Officers responded to a collision at about 12:20 a.m. Friday at Sound Beach Avenue and the Post Road, according to police.

A 24-year-old man from Riverside was charged with driving while intoxicated, police said. Bail was set at $250.



A 36-year-old man from Greenwich was picked up on a bench warrant June 29, police said, accusing him of allegedly missing court dates from previous criminal cases.

He was earlier charged with breach of peace and groping, and was also accused of assault in 2016, police said. Bail was set at $50,000.



A 56-year-old man from Greenwich was charged with criminal trespass on July 1, police said. He allegedly went to a property in April where he had been forbidden from entering, according to the arrest report.

He was also accused of violating a protective order, police said. Bail was set at $50,000.
It may not be July 1st, but today is the first Monday of the month, and that means one thing: Google is ready to send out a new batch of monthly security patches to its still supported Pixels. This time around there's no feature drop like last month, so all you're getting are security fixes - but hey, those are important too, so your phone isn't exposed to nasty vulnerabilities.

As usual with Google rollouts, it may be a few days (or even weeks) before all supported Pixel units out there get the update, but it is finally on the way. The build number for all devices is QQ3A.200705.002.

Samsung is also rolling out the July patches to the members of its flagship Galaxy S20 family, having even preceded Google's rollout by a few days in some markets. Over in the US, you're getting build number G98xU1UES1ATFB (where "x" is a different digit based on which member of the S20 line you own). Over in Europe, the company is rolling out build G98xxXXU3ATFG (where the lowercase "xx" once again varies by specific model).

There's no changelog out yet for the US models, but for the EU Exynos-based devices, aside from the new security fixes, you're also promised improved camera performance, at least on the S20 Ultra 5G.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3 | Via
Huawei and Samsung have so far diverged on what the best design would be for a phone that can turn into a tablet through the magic of folding screens. While Samsung's Galaxy Fold folds inwards, Huawei's Mate X and Mate Xs both fold outwards.

While Samsung has been rumored to stick with its previous design for the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 2, and improve upon the formula, Huawei may just give up on its unique path and actually join Samsung in the inward-folding realm for the next device.

This has been referred to in rumors as Mate X2, but Huawei has recently filed for a new trademark in the EU that hints at something different. The mark in question is Mate V, and that name implies a different design than the Mate X and Mate Xs.

A V might stand for 'folding like a book', hence, inwards. It's also interesting that back in April Huawei filed for a design patent proposing just such a departure from its former antics.

With the next Huawei foldable expected to become official around October, we should start seeing some leaks about it soon, so hang tight and we'll let you know which way it will go.

Via (in Dutch)
In the chaotic scene at the State Armory following the fire, it is likely other people, like Erickson, were misidentified. One possibility is that the unidentified bodies are the relatives of people who thought theyd made an accurate identification in 1944. In that scenario, it is possible that some victims thought of as missing may have been wrongly claimed by another family.
We've recently seen Android device makers become much better at issuing updates to new OS versions, especially for mid-range and lower-end models. Things still aren't perfect, but there are advancements that should be praised, especially from the likes of Samsung and Nokia.

Speaking of the latter, it's just started to push out the update to Android 10 (Go Edition) to the Nokia 1 from 2018. The Nokia 1 launched with Android Oreo (Go Edition), the stripped-down version of the OS meant to run on incredibly affordable hardware. And now it's receiving the latest iteration of the OS, once again in Go Edition form, with the system taking less space and being more optimized for the specs in question. The apps should be smaller and more efficient too.

The Android 10 (Go Edition) update for our affordability champ, Nokia 1 (2018) is now rolling! Get ready to upgrade your entry-level smartphone experience to a new level. Head over to our community for full details and availability by countryhttps://t.co/vwI7r3tSaN #Android10 pic.twitter.com/JUYa7Rwf2V  Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) July 7, 2020

The rollout is currently on its way to Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. As usual, it's being staged, so it will arrive in waves in these countries. 10% of the users will receive it today, 50% by the end of July 10, and 100% by July 12.

Source
The latest news about the Samsung Galaxy Note20 shows a Black Galaxy Note20 captured in live images by Samsung leaker @JimmyIsPromo. The images come just a few days after Samsung accidentally posted renders of the Note20 on its own website.

The phone shot was a plain black model with a glossy finish. We are expecting other colors to come with a matte finish  akin to the one on some of the Samsung Galaxy S20 models.

Here, we also get a good look at the triple camera setup that we saw in the leaked renders. The third camera (from top to bottom) is a periscope zoom camera and we dont see any Space Zoom 100X branding like the S20 Ultra had.



Source: @JimmyIsPromo Via: Twitter

@JimmyIsPromo also mentions that the S Pen and downward-firing loudspeaker will be on the left side of the USB-C port, which aligns with decision of putting the volume and power keys back on the right side (the Note10 and Note10+ had the power and volume keys on the left side).

Note users, don't get use to the S Pen location. It'll move to the other side. So will the speaker. Both now Left of the Charge Port. #Note20 #GalaxyNote20Ultra  Jimmy Is Promo (@jimmyispromo) July 6, 2020

On a similar note, the Samsung Galaxy Note20+ was spotted going through the FCC. The model number SM-N986U has been referenced in three different reports that we covered (1,2,3).

Samsung Galaxy Note 20+ is Now FCC Certified. pic.twitter.com/t3umRVl0Fu  Abhishek Yadav (@yabhishekhd) July 7, 2020

The phones FCCID number is A3LSMN986U and with Samsungs event reportedly taking place in August, this certification is arriving right on schedule.

Source  Via Twitter  Via 2
JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- On June 7, there had been 321 cases of COVID-19 reported in Jackson County since the first case of the coronavirus was reported in Mississippi 89 days earlier, on March 11.

In the past 30 days, that number has nearly doubled, with 317 cases reported in the last month for a total of 638 as of Mondays update from the Mississippi Department of Health.

The average number of cases per day has more than tripled -- from 3.6 per day through June 7, to 10.9 per day in the 30 days since. The number of deaths in the county has also more than doubled, from 7 as of June 7 to the current total of 16.

Coastwide, the number of cases has ballooned from 695 on June 7, to 1,006 as of Monday, with the average per day growing from 7.8 per day during the first 89 days of the outbreak to 34.7 over the last 30.

Until June 15, Harrison County for the first time equaled the number of reported cases in Jackson County, with both sitting at a total of 367 on that date In the 22 days since, Harrison County cases have exploded by another 566 -- an average of 21 per day.

Those disturbing local numbers follow the state trend, which has seen the number of cases in Mississippi grow from 17,270 on June 7 to 31,257, as the per day average went from 194 per day through June 7 to 482.3 per day over the past month.

And no one is immune. Several state lawmakers -- including Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Philip Gunn -- have tested positive for the virus. Gov. Tate Reeves was tested after acknowledging contact with at least one lawmaker who tested positive, but Reeves announced Monday he and his daughters had tested negative.

Locally, the City of Pascagoula reported Monday several staffers had tested positive, including a police officer. The City said in a statement those who had come in contact with the officer had been notified and the police department was closed Monday for a deep cleaning.

As a result, Pascagoula is now requiring masks for both employees and residents inside all City buildings.

In an effort to keep employees and the public safe, face masks will now be required inside all City of Pascagoula buildings, the City announced. If a person is not wearing a face mask, he/she will not be allowed to enter the building.

Additional testing of City employees is ongoing. In the meantime, residents are encouraged to avoid City buildings unless absolutely necessary. Wednesdays municipal court session has been canceled and residents were also encouraged to view city council meetings through the Citys YouTube channel, rather than attend in person.

Pascagoula Mayor Steve Demetropoulos, a physician with Singing River Health System, addressed the mask issue in a video posted to the City Facebook page Tuesday.

Demetropoulos said there were three essential tools to curb the further spread of the virus while keeping businesses open: social distancing, washing hands/no face touching and masks.

Of those three, the mask is the most effective, Demetropoulos said. Why is that? Look, when people talk, they have a normal amount of secretions that they secrete from their mouth with their saliva. What happens is the virus is transmitted on that. For the 40 percent of people who are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic  they have the virus before really having symptoms  the mask prevents the secretions from coming out.

So if youre in a social setting, the mask is going to give the person who potentially has the virus protection and it will also protect you, as well, because the virus is absorbed through your mucus membranes  your nose and mouth.

Other than Pascagoula now requiring masks in City buildings, no other restrictions have been altered, either statewide or locally. Reeves has kept in place restrictions on capacities inside businesses, as well as mandates for social distancing.
BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, held Monday via video link.

Xi said that back in 2018, at the opening ceremony of the 8th ministerial meeting of the forum, his announcement of the establishment of the China-Arab strategic partnership, and the initiative of forging a China-Arab community with a shared future and jointly promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, were warmly received by Arab states.

Over the past two years, the two sides have strengthened strategic coordination and synergy of actions, and the Sino-Arab future-oriented strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and common development has been deepened, Xi said in the letter.

China and Arab states have offered mutual assistance and staunch support to each other, and engaged in close cooperation since the COVID-19 outbreak, Xi said, noting this is a vivid illustration of China and Arab states sharing weal and woe.

Xi said that under the current circumstances, it is more necessary than ever for the two sides to step up cooperation and join hands in tiding over difficulties.

"I hope China and Arab states can take the meeting as an opportunity to enhance strategic communication and coordination, steadily advance cooperation in various fields including pandemic response, promote the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future to continuously go deeper and more practical, so as to better benefit the peoples of the two sides," Xi added.

[ Editor: WXY ]
On July 16 and 17, members can come back. On July 18  a Saturday, which is always free  the general public is welcome. Visitors will see the delayed Anni Albers exhibit, and the extended run of the Kara Walker exhibit. Visitors also will notice that a lot of artworks previously hung in the galleries have been replaced with other artworks, as part of the museums 2020/20+ Women @ NBMAA series of female-centric exhibits, which celebrate the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote.




Haiti - FLASH : All the details on the resumption of school activities





Monday July 6, at a press conference, Pierre Josue Agenor Cadet, Minister of National Education, provided an update on the resumption of school activities on August 10 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31195-haiti-flash-dates-of-resumption-of-school-and-university-activities.html and the actions programmed by the Ministry in order to complete the academic year 2019-2020.



He recalled that according to the calendar established by the ministry, the resumption of school activities will be done only for the students expected in the State exams of 9th fundamental and final year (Secondary 4 and philosophy), on Monday, August 10. The other classes will resume on August 17. The end of the courses for the academic year is scheduled for October 9, 2020 and the academic year 2020-2021 will officially start on November 9.



The official exams will take place from October 12 to October 22, 2020 :



Examinations of the 9th AF, Ecoles normales dinstituteurs (ENI) and the family education centers (CEF): October 12 to 14, 2020;



Secondary school leaving exams: October 19 to 22, 2020.



Minister Cadet stressed that preschools are not affected by these provisions nor schools for the fundamental and secondary levels which have been able to complete their academic course online with all of their students. Exceptionally, these schools will be authorized to restart their courses for the new academic year, starting next September.



The Minister invited parents of the 3rd year (preschool centers) to contact the management of these establishments in order to ensure follow-up procedures for the transition to the other level of their children.



With regard to the schools which have taught online and which have not been able to reach all their pupils due to certain constraints, Cadet invites them to take the measures in order to also open their doors in order to supervise the pupils who have had failures to avoid avoiding penalizing students who have had problems with continuing online learning activities.



The Minister also recommends that remedial courses be organized for students going to state exams to give more opportunities for the success of these students.



In addition, regarding the resumption of school activities, the Cadet Minister mentioned the health protocol that schools must respect in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.



According to him, "we will have to live with the disease", but we can mitigate the effects by continuing to apply the barrier gestures, from entry to exit from school. Hand washing and wearing a mask will be compulsory in schools. As well as respecting the physical distance of at least 1 m inside the school, for students and teaching and administrative staff.



Regarding overcrowded classrooms, Cadet recommends a rotation in the operation of the public or non-public schools concerned with work periods of three to four days including weekends and alternating small groups to respect physical distance.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Bellamy assassination, BRH clarification

The BRH wishes to clarify for public opinion that Emmanuel Elgin, whose name is cited in the assassination of Norvella Bellamy and his wife https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-31142-icihaiti-society-a-political-meeting-goes-wrong-3-dead.html, is a former BRH security officer, dismissed in September 2019.



Monitoring of work on the La Tannerie irrigation system

Patrix Severe, the Minister of Agriculture met the executors of the work undertaken for several months on the irrigation system of La Tannerie. The Minister makes this work one of his main priorities for him, the important thing "is that the work progresses and that they finish on time, because it is a very important system for farmers and breeders in the communities of Grande Riviere du Nord, Milot and Quartier Morin."



Moise congratulates the new Dominican President

President Jovenel Moise, congratulated by telephone the new President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader. On his account twiter Moise wrote "I have just had a telephone conversation with Mr. Luis Abinader, President-elect of the Dominican Republic. I wished him success in his new role, while reassuring him of my willingness to work to strengthen the bonds of friendship between our two countries." https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31214-haiti-news-zapping.html



3rd distribution of medical materials and equipment

The third national distribution of medical materials and equipment ordered from the Haitian state in China continued on Monday, July 6. 3 departments benefited from this distribution: Sud, Nippes and GrandAnse.



Meeting on the Criminal Code at the PM

Sunday at the official residence of Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe was held a working meeting led by the Prime Minister on the current situation of the penal code. Pradel Henriquez, Minister of Culture, Renald Luberice Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Jude Charles Faustin, Secretary General of the Prime Minister's Office, the Special Advisers to President Guichard Dore and Patrick Chrispin and legal professionals and other executives from the State were among others present at this meeting. Regarding debates and consultations capable of helping the population, researchers, academics and users of the right to better access the penal code that is making the headlines, these days, all doors are open, said the Prime Minister.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2020/07/07 | Source

Korean movie opening today 2020/07/07 in Korea: "Killerswell: Our Space" (2019)

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Directed by Kim Hye-sil

With Oh Dong-min, Kim Min-ha-I, Park In-ji, Ahn Dae-hyun,...

Synopsis

That woman, "I'm here to find the money!"

VS that man, "Are you really here for the money?"

Yu-jin suddenly appears at a surf shop run by Dong-min after three years of separation. Yu-jin boldly asks 15 million won from Dong-min. She wants to get paid for the branding "Killer Swell".

Dong-min is confused by Yu-jin's sudden visit after thinking he already forgot all about her. Yu-jin who visited Dong-min is also confused. She left him first because she was unhappy with their relationship, but now, she doesn't know what she wants.

After their parting, can their romance begin again?
A dispenser for mesh waterway cleanup bags was recently installed at Ingram Dam through a partnership between UGRA and Kerr County. Pictured L to R: Don Harris, Kerr County Commissioner, Precinct 4; Aaron Bulkley, UGRA Board Secretary; Shane Evans, Kerr County Maintenance Department Supervisor; Tara Bushnoe, UGRA Natural Resources Coordinator.
Local NAACP chapter opposes defunding police

The local chapter of the NAACP said in a statement Monday that while it supports law enforcement reforms in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, it opposes defunding law enforcement agencies.

"Disavowing the defunding of police recognizes our continuing need for public safety provided by the Hendersonville Police Department and the Henderson County Sheriffs Department," the chapter said in a statement. The statement was supported by the Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearmen, president of the North Carolina NAACP, and Melinda Lowrance, a Hendersonville cleaning service owner who is the Hendersonville chapter president and the Western North Carolina NAACP District supervisor.

"We speak to the recent and continuing protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis that have generally been labeled as protest rallies under the banner of Black Lives Matter," they said. "While generally peaceful demonstrations, we can all deplore the level of violence that has occurred in some instances and we can be proud of local demonstrations that have taken place without incident. ... Our local NAACP favors reforming where necessary and stands against defunding.

"A review of reforming is essentially a review of tactics that recognizes the life and organization lesson of 'When we stop getting better, we stop being good.' We support efforts aimed at demilitarization, recruiting practices that focus on mental suitability and further efforts aimed at de-escalation training.

The purpose of the statement, they added, was to notify the Hendersonville City Council and Henderson County Board of Commissioners of the NAACP's "continuing support of our two local law enforcement agencies and our lack of support for defunding their work."
The risk calculus behind this EV Roadmap is all wrong. Our true risk lies not in the prospect of misguided actions, but rather in the disastrous outcomes that will be caused by inaction. In its insistence on the need for further analysis, the EV Roadmap represents a classic case of analysis paralysis  akin to pulling back the reins on a horse when the barn is on fire. The time for studies and analysis is long past. We need bold, systemic changes. Not business as usual, but rather the opposite.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News)  His childhood was as difficult as anyone you will ever meet or hear about and that is part of the reason why Noe
Hundreds of gardai have been involved in a massive search operation against one of the gangs driving the vicious Longford feud.

The operation, planned for weeks, kicked off shortly before 7am yesterday and led to the seizure of 110,000 and 14,000 (15,400) in cash, 11 vehicles, three caravans and designer watches, handbags and clothing.

Specialist armed garda units were backed up by local officers as they raided 12 homes, three professional premises and a business premises.

"Financial accounts in excess of 80,000 were frozen by way of orders under Section 17 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010," a garda spokesman said.

The targeted mob are members of the Hannifin organised crime gang, which is among the main protagonists in the bitter Longford feud.

Investigations have established the gang has bought at least four properties on the same road in a housing estate and a large parcel of development land in Co Longford.

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It is estimated one property raided yesterday has around 500,000 worth of upgrades - including "marble on every internal surface and pure granite pillars and fittings."

Violent

Last month, three members of the gang walked free from court after receiving suspended sentences in relation to a violent fracas that inflamed the feud. The incident happened at the Texaco Service Station, on the Dublin Road, in Longford, at 5pm on June 2 last year.

The Longford feud has resulted in numerous violent incidents, including shootings, arson attacks, assaults and death threats which have led armed gardai to carry out dozens of major operations.

Willie Hannifin (32), of Knockashaw, Dublin Road, Longford; Thomas Hannifin (40), of Dublin Road, Longford; and Denis Hannifin (39) of Curry, Athlone Road, Longford, as well as two male juvenile defendants, all appeared before Judge Keenan Johnson at Longford Circuit Court last month.

Thomas and Willie pleaded guilty to violent disorder and were each given a three-year suspended jail sentence which was backdated to April 7 when they were first remanded in custody by the local district court.

Denis Hannifin was given a one-year suspended sentence, also backdated to when he was remanded in custody for possession of weapons in the fracas.

Clemency

There was controversy after the court hearing, when it emerged local Fianna Fail TD Joe Flaherty wrote a letter on behalf of the accused men to the court, which he later explained was not a character reference or a plea for clemency.

Senior gardai have become increasingly concerned the Hannifin gang - who have been involved in a feud with members of the Stokes family in Co Longford - have been building up a "property and business empire" in the midlands county.

"They have been getting bigger all the time and these raids will hurt this gang severely, with so many assets being seized," a senior source told the Herald.

Apart from drug dealing, the gang is also suspected of involvement in organised prostitution and ordering violent feud attacks. There were no arrests in yesterday's raids.

Among the items seized, which have a total value of around 500,000, were vehicles including a Mercedes, Skoda Kodiaq, Isuzu D-MAX, Ford Ranger, Toyota Land Cruiser and assorted light commercial vehicles - none were found to be stolen.
A major player in the Kinahan cartel and two of his closest Dublin associates yesterday pleaded guilty to a series of serious drug and firearms offences at a court in England.

The trio face lengthy sentences at Ipswich Crown Court on October 26.

They were busted after a four-year investigation by the British National Crime Agency (NCA), which worked closely with the garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB), with the police agency paying tribute to gardai yesterday.

The NCA announced Dubliners Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh (52) and Gary Vickery (37,) both of Tamworth, and Daniel Canning (41), from Walkinstown, all admitted conspiring to import class A and B drugs and money laundering.

Fortified

Canning also admitted possessing a firearm and ammunition.

Kavanagh is one of the most senior players in the Kinahan cartel and his conviction was welcomed by senior gardai who have been investigating him for decades.

He 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 the standard 50pc remission in the English prison system for so-called minor offences, Kavanagh would have expected to be a free man by next March.

However he is now facing years behind bars after pleading guilty to the organised crime charges. The Herald previously revealed Bomber's close associates Vickery and Canning had been using top-of-the-range encrypted phones as part of their drugs trafficking but "got sloppy", allowing law enforcement agencies to pounce.

"These individuals were operating a number of front companies in the UK similar to the companies 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 Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has previously described Kavanagh as directing a wider organised crime network in Birmingham.

As well as operating in the British Midlands, gardai suspect 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) 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 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 Kavanagh had a lengthy criminal record in the UK and Ireland for offences including possession of a firearm, making threats to kill, assault, 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.

Untouchable

NCA deputy director of investigations Matt Horne yesterday welcomed the conviction of 'Bomber' and his pals.

"Today's 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 with our colleagues at An Garda Siochana and I hope these convictions send out a strong message to others who may think themselves untouchable."
The only use for a loaded pistol found in a car on a Dublin estate was to endanger life, a prosecution barrister told a trial yesterday.

Edward McDonnell (55), of Waterside Apartments, New Ross, Co Wexford, is accused of being in unlawful possession of the semi-automatic Grand Power G9 and having it with intent to endanger life at Lein Park, Harmonstown, in September last year.

The court heard a number of items were seized during the garda operation, including an encrypted phone.

At the non-jury Special Criminal Court, Mr McDonnell pleaded not guilty.

Surveillance

Prosecuting, Sean Gillane SC told the three-judge court a garda surveillance operation covering the Coolock area of north Dublin started on September 11, 2019, under the direction of Detective Inspector Noel Browne of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

Counsel said a Toyota Avensis was seen being driven by Stephen Little and an unknown male in Harmonstown that day at 9.35pm.

Last month, Little (46), of Kilbarron Avenue, Kilmore, Dublin 5, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a Grand Power G9 at Lein Park.

Mr Gillane said that on September 12, Det Insp Browne became concerned a navy-coloured Audi might be used in a criminal operation and a search for it started. The Audi aroused suspicion when it was parked at Lein Park in Harmonstown, said Mr Gillane - it appeared to be falsely registered.

On September 13, gardai decided to search it.

Detective Garda Jonathan O'Leary found a loaded handgun under a seat and made it safe by removing the magazine, said Mr Gillane.

He put the gun back and surveillance continued.

A Toyota Avensis was seen being driven by Little and another person not before the court arriving at Hanover Street East at 3pm on September 14, said Mr Gillane.

Mr McDonnell got out and went toward the Pearse House complex, he said. He returned five minutes later, got back in and was driven off by Mr Little.

The Avensis was seen crossing the Liffey on to the North Strand and going toward Lein Park in Harmonstown.

At this point, the Avensis stopped and parked near the Audi, said Mr Gillane.

There would be evidence, the court heard, that Mr McDonnell got out of the Avensis, approached the Audi and got in.

The court heard Mr McDonnell was removed from the Audi and arrested.

Balaclava

Mr Gillane said a number of items fell to the ground, including two balaclavas, two black caps and two pairs of gloves, he said. The firearm was also recovered.

More items of clothing were on the passenger seat, as well as a red petrol can, he said.

The Avensis was also intercepted after a short pursuit and Little was arrested, along with another man not before the court.

The firearm, magazine and magazine spring were examined, he said.

"The pistol was operational and capable of semi or fully automatic fire," he added.

Mr Gillane said the court would be satisfied the Audi was parked at Lein Park for criminal enterprise and the only use for the firearm was to endanger life.

The trial, expected to last two weeks, resumes today.
Emma Deans was granted bail after being charged

A Dublin mother has been charged with threatening to kill or cause serious harm to another woman at a shopping centre.

Emma Deans (39) was granted bail on condition she stays away from the alleged victim.

Ms Deans, of Redmond's Court, Kilbarrack, is charged with threatening to kill or cause serious harm to a woman at Donaghmede Shopping Centre.

The charge is under Section 5 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against The Person Act and is alleged to have happened last February 12.

The prosecuting garda told Dublin District Court he arrested the accused before the court sitting and charged her at 9.25am that morning.

She made no reply to the charge after caution and was handed a copy of the charge sheet, the garda said.

Conditions

The DPP had directed summary disposal of the case at District Court level, the garda said.

He had no objection to bail being granted, under strict conditions.

Judge Colin Daly granted bail in Ms Deans' own bond of 100, with no cash lodgment required. Under conditions of bail, the accused is to have no contact directly or indirectly with the alleged injured party.

Making a disclosure order, Judge Daly asked the garda what material the prosecution had. The garda replied that there was a statement by the complainant and a camera still.

Judge Daly said these should be furnished to the defence by September 1.

He adjourned the case to a date in October, for the accused to decide on how she intends to plead to the charge.

The judge also granted legal aid after an application by the defence, which said Ms Deans was on disability benefit.

The accused was not required to address the court.
More than 50 water- treatment plants supplying drinking water to 1.1 million people are "vulnerable to failure", the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned.

It says there is a health risk and criticises Irish Water for "unacceptable" delays in dealing with it.

The EPA said completion dates for planned works to tackle issues such as cryptosporidium, e-coli and chemical contamination had moved suddenly over the past year from a target of 2021 to 2024 or to dates unknown.

Lead

It also said a slowdown in lead pipe replacement meant Irish Water's plan to remove all lead from public supplies by 2026 could take 60 years.

EPA director general Laura Burke was highly critical of the way the water company was addressing the deficiencies in treatment plants.

"The growing uncertainty in Irish Water's planning and delivery of critical improvements to water-treatment plants is undermining confidence in the security of supply of safe drinking water," she said.

"Irish Water needs to urgently address the underlying causes for the delays and shortcomings and prioritise investment to ensure public supplies are safe and secure and that public health is protected."

The EPA's annual assessment of public drinking water reviewed 120,000 test results provided by Irish Water.

The fact 99.9pc of them were within limits for bacteria and 99.6pc within chemical limits did not ease the EPA's overall concerns about the condition of many plants.

"Regardless of how safe our water is, EPA currently cannot say it is secure," the report says.

Major issues at the Leixlip water-treatment plant, which serves more than 600,000 people in Dublin, Kildare and Meath, were responsible for a surge in the number of people affected by water-quality problems in 2019.

There were three separate incidents at the Leixlip plant last year.

In March, a treatment chemical dosing pump failed. In October, a blockage occurred in a chemical dosing line.

In November, heavy rain led to a significant deterioration in quality of the water coming from the Liffey and the plant was unable to cope.

For four days in October and nine in November, consumers had to boil their water because it could not be guaranteed it was fully treated.

"These incidents highlighted serious issues at Leixlip water-treatment plant," the EPA said.

Irish Water has said it will have the problems fixed by December this year.

Upgrade

Residents in Dun Laoghaire served by the Vartry treatment plant at Roundwood are also waiting for a major upgrade to be completed.

The work is expected to be finished by next spring.

However, the EPA found issues with supplies in almost every county and by the end of the year 52 water-treatment plants serving 1.1 million people required significant upgrade or improvements.

The number increased to 53 last April.

Irish Water general manager Eamon Gallen stressed the EPA had found that water quality was high.

"Given the size and scale of the legacy issues and condition of some water-treatment plants, Irish Water is pleased this is a solid base from which to build," he said.

"The report is clear, however, that much more remains to be done."
But Stewart had little name recognition outside of central Connecticut when she got into the 2018 race many months after her opponents. With little financing or statewide political experience, she made no inroads with the GOPs conservative wing. She dropped out just before the convention, and lost a primary when she tried to get on the ticket as lieutenant governor.
February 23, 2011, seemed like an ordinary Wednesday for the Uyrun family in Clondalkin.

Esra (37) had apparently nipped out to the shops early that morning, telling her husband Ozgur she would be home in a few minutes so he could use the car to go to work.

The car was found later that night in Bray, but Esra hasn't been seen since.

Now, nearly 10 years later, Esra's sister Berna still thinks about the time it would have taken to travel between her sister's home in Clondalkin, and where the car was found in Bray.

The car, a Renault Twingo with the registration 08D23067, was spotted at the Power City roundabout in Clondalkin around a half hour after she is believed to have left her house.

However, it should only have taken her four or five minutes to get there. Gardai trying to piece together the last known movements of mother-of-one Esra have two locations to consider.

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First there was her home in Collinstown Grove, Clondalkin, and then the coastal town of Bray on the Dublin and Wicklow border.

What gardai have been told is that at around 7.15am that day, Esra told husband Ozgur that she was just stepping out to the shops for a bit, and would be back soon.

But Esra did not return and at 11pm that night the car was found parked at the seafront in Bray. Her purse, with cash and credit cards, was found locked in the boot.

Questions

CCTV footage would later show the car being driven erratically to the spot where it was parked, and a near collision with another car.

There were obvious questions for the investigators: Did Esra drive to Bray and take her own life? Did she drive to Bray to make it look like she took her own life, but then vanish to start a new life? Or did something sinister happen to Esra - did a killer or abductor drive the car to Bray to make it look like she took her own life?

The grey Renault Twingo was picked up on CCTV at the Power City roundabout in Clondalkin at around 8am and was seen being driven erratically in Bray at 8.30am.

The car entered and left a car park near the Star Amusements on the seafront and re-entered the car park moments later, having almost collided with a silver Skoda Octavia.

None of the CCTV footage showed the driver, so gardai do not know if it was a man or a woman behind the wheel.

The car was found in the car park that night but it was in a position not covered by CCTV.

Every year, Esra's older sister Berna Fidan comes back to Bray to appeal for help in finding out what happened to her.

Talking about her disappearance now, Berna's main suspicions focus on the time it took for her car to be spotted at the Power City roundabout.

"Esra is supposed to have left the house around 7.15am to go to one of the two local shops that would have been open at the time. But the car was spotted at the Power City roundabout around a half an hour later even though it is just a four or five minute drive away from the house," she said.

"Enquiries at the local shops, where everyone knew Esra, show she did not go to either of them. Did something happen before the roundabout?"

Another mystery to Berna is why Esra's small purse, containing her bank cards and around 60 in cash, was found locked into the boot of the car.

"It's a small purse. It seems odd that she would not put it into the glovebox or one of the storage areas," she said.

Esra's passport was left at home, and there has been no traffic on her bank account. She has vanished without a trace.

"People ask me did Esra take her own life in the sea at Bray, but if she did we would expect her body to be found, or some clothing or footwear, but we have nothing. We searched the entire cliffs area to Greystones and back. We had local volunteers help us, and paragliders looking at coves and inlets," said Berna.

"There were very few people in Bray at that hour of the morning, and Esra was different looking - being from Turkey, she would have stood out.

"People who walk their dogs and exercise there at that hour have said to me that they think they would have noticed her.

Driver

"We have made numerous appeals for the driver of the Skoda Octavia that Esra's car almost collided with to come forward to tell us about it, and see if they can say who was driving the car. It could be a huge help."

She also said that Esra had shown no signs of depression, gave no hints that she planned to take her life or flee in the days before she vanished.

"She was busy organising a visit of our mother and her mother-in-law the next day. She had asked me to bring things from London," said Berna.

"She had been cleaning the house and really looking forward to having them visit."

She also spoke of the pain and frustration of not knowing whether Esra is alive or dead.

"I'd hate to think she has been taken and has been suffering all this time. If she is dead and we could find her then at least we could put her to rest."

One other mystery plays on Berna's mind.

While posting flyers in Bray in the days before the first anniversary of Esra's disappearance, Berna's daughter Ayda went into a local retail business in Neilstown where Esra had been a regular customer.

Ayda handed in a new poster of Esra. After she walked out, a staff member came running out and handed Berna a set of car keys, telling her they must have belonged to Esra.

There were photos on the keyring showing Esra, husband Ozgur and little Emin. The staff member said the bunch of keys were found on a counter in the shop a few months earlier after she had disappeared.

It was explained that no one had identified the Esra photo at the time the keys were found.

It was only weeks later, but by that time there was no CCTV of who left them on the counter.

"I remember I was shaking after being handed the keys. It was so disappointing that nothing came of it," said Berna.

"Esra had lost one set of keys months before she disappeared, but if she had lost them in the shop, surely she would have retraced her steps until she found them.

"Esra and Ozgur shared the last set of keys after that, and I think the keys found in the shop could be the keys used to take the car to Bray."

Berna still travels to Dublin and Bray every year to keep the campaign to find Esra going.

"It will be 10 years next February. Esra loved fashion and art. She was a talented and creative person who could make friends very quickly," she said.

"I go from talking about her in the past to talking about her in the present. It's the not knowing that is the worst part."

Gardai say that the file is still open and being investigated as a missing persons case.

As time passed, Ozgur moved back to London with son Emin, who is now 12.

"Back then he was told mammy went to the shops and got lost. But he's older now and will be asking questions," said Berna. "We know somebody is out there who knows something."

Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to contact Ronanstown Garda Station at 01 666 7700, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any garda station.
The new Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman has said youngsters under 16 should be able to change their gender, with the consent of their parents or guardians and GP.

He also hit out at what he called "toxic" and "homophobic" attacks against him in recent days.

Laws to make it easier for 16 and 17-year-olds to legally change their gender will be introduced by the new coalition.

A new document also commits to examining the arrangements for children under 16 who may wish to change their gender.

Mr O'Gorman said a review group carried out detailed work on the Gender Recognition Act.

"They brought forward proposals for children under 16," he said.

Expert

"If they want to initiate a gender change they have to get high-level medical consultants to sign off on that. Whereas the recommendation is to make that easier to allow a GP basically to sign off to say yes."

He said he supported implementing the review findings.

"In an area like this you should be led by expert advice," he said.

Mr O'Gorman also responded to online attacks against him in recent days.

He has been under fire over a photograph of him posing with leading British LGBT activist Peter Tatchell at a Dublin Pride march two years ago.

The Dublin West TD said he would not have posed for the picture had he known about Mr Tatchell's previously expressed views on consent.

Mr Tatchell wrote a letter to The Guardian in 1997 saying that some friends made a "conscious choice" to have sex with an adult when they were under 13.

Mr Tatchell has since said his letter was edited and has clarified in recent days that he condemns and opposes adults having sex with children.

Acceptable

Mr O'Gorman said the Pride march was the only time he met Mr Tatchell.

"I feel there's been a kind of a pile-on from some of the fairly right-wing groups on social media," the minister said.

The Green Party TD also said: "There are no circumstances in which sex between an adult and a child is acceptable."
The planned reopening of all pubs in a fortnight is now in jeopardy after hundreds of people were seen flouting Covid-19 social distancing restrictions in Dublin at the weekend, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has warned.

Scores of people were photographed drinking as they gathered in large crowds outside pubs in the city centre on Saturday night.

Because of those scenes, the planned reopening of all pubs on July 20 is now under review.

"We have reports from the gardai because on Friday we asked [them] to do a major weekend operation" the Taoiseach said yesterday.

"Operation Navigation kicked in that evening and about five-and-a-half thousand pubs were inspected by the guards.

Irresponsible

"The majority were compliant, but there were breaches of the regulations and social distancing clearly was not being observed in a number of cases.

"So we're going to have to review that, as pubs in general were due to open on July 20," he added.

"I think all of us have to behave responsibly in relation to this.

"The majority of publicans did, but quite a number didn't, and we are concerned about it. We'll be looking at this very, very carefully."

Donall O'Keeffe, chief executive of the Licensed Vintners Association, said the behaviour by irresponsible drinkers who put their own desire to have a good time ahead of the public health risk is not only inexcusable, it is now threatening the already precarious pub trade.

"It's disgraceful. We think it's really damaging for the pub trade and the image of the Dublin city centre," he told The Herald.

However, he said the issue of pubs reopening last weekend under Covid-19 restrictions is not to be confused with the problem of on-street drinking by people who are buying drinks from pub hatches and consuming them on the street or buying alcohol from off-licences and supermarkets.

"This has been with us for a long time," he said of revellers drinking in the street, in laneways or other public places.

He said it would be "grossly unfair" if pubs are not allowed to reopen as planned on July 20.

He said the majority of the 3,500 Dublin pubs that re-opened under strict new Covid-19 guidelines last week are complying with regulations.

He reiterated that he has no sympathy for those who flout the law.

"We think there is broad compliance with the restrictions and we feel that where businesses are flouting the law, the authorities need to come down hard on them," he said.

He added that the only way to tackle street drinking is to enact legislation making it illegal.

However, in the meantime he is urging young people to "cop on" so they don't ruin it for everyone else.

Actions

"Individuals must take responsibility for their actions. It's simply unacceptable," he said, adding that many pubs are already facing an uncertain future as a result of the pandemic.

While only those pubs serving food were allowed to reopen last week, all pubs can open from July 20.

However, Mr O'Keeffe said being forced to delay reopening would be "catastrophic" for some publicans.

"They would be closed for 18 weeks now and it would be grossly unfair if they weren't able to open due to people drinking on the street," Mr O'Keeffe said.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee yesterday urged "self-control" by those who gathered on the street to drink despite the pandemic.

She made the comment following a meeting with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on the issue yesterday.

She also hinted at implementing "further measures" against publicans who disregard the reopening guidelines.

Mr Harris said the vast majority of the 6,000 pubs that were visited by gardai at the weekend were in compliance with the regulations.

Meanwhile, Dublin City Council chief executive Owen Keegan last night said patrols will be stepped to prevent such street gatherings in the future.
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Hundreds of local residents gathered last month on the steps of the Hunt County Courthouse to protest the death of George Floyd. The death is expected to be one of the major issues facing candidates in this years elections.
The issue is going to be how much are we going to actually do in July, how much are we going to do in September, and how much are we going to do next year? said McCrory, a legislative veteran who was first elected in 2004. I know how this place works. If you dont get stuff done now, in two or three weeks were on to another topic and everybody forgot about it.
From left Riley Adams with Texas Alarm Pros, Brittany Peters Sims with Coker-Mathews Funeral Home and Wally Jeffers with Hunt County Shared Ministries/FISH look over some of the donations which have already been made toward the Meals For At Risk Kids (M.A.R.K.) program.
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
Biography

How it started

The idea started with a YouTube video posted by Texas activist Calvin Martyr on May 8, the day after father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael were charged with the murder of Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia .

According to Martyrs video, a one-day shift of greenback by Black Americans and their allies away from non-Black businesses would have an impact similar to the civil rights-era bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.

Since then, the idea has come to fruition through social media, including the Blackout Coalition Facebook page.
One economic impact study completed in 2015, for example, found a $16 million economic impact from that years festival.

But ultimately, the health of fans, staff and the community was the priority in making the decision, Ross said.

She also said social distancing guidelines and other restrictions would have created a drastically different festival experience than the one fans have become accustomed to over the years.

Weve created an event where people sing and dance together, they hold each other close, and celebrate our regions music with freedom and joy  and thats the spirit we aim to capture each and every year, she said.

Bristol Virginia City Manager Randy Eads attended Mondays announcement at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.

Its going to have a significant impact on local downtown businesses and hotels -- theyve come to rely on this festival every year for the past 20 years, he said. As far as the citys budget goes, we had anticipated this decision so we had already factored in the potential of not having the festival this year in our budget.
BRISTOL, Tenn.  Four residents at the Christian Care Center of Bristol tested positive for COVID-19 after an employee there tested positive, according to Jennifer Skaggs, the Bristol, Tennessee nursing homes executive director.

Two of the residents are being quarantined and two are being hospitalized, according to a Monday statement from Skaggs. The employee received a positive test result June 25.

Skaggs said the facilitys medical director, Dr. Vivian Clark, is working closely with the Sullivan County Regional Health Department and following strict Joint Commission, Department of Health and CDC precautions and guidelines.

We remain vigilant against this wicked virus afflicting our nation and local community, Skaggs said. We covet your prayers and support as we all face this worldwide pandemic.
In other matters, the board reviewed but made no comment on its written policy for renaming schools. The city has two elementary schools named for Confederate generals  Stonewall Jackson and Washington-Lee. Perrigan presented the policy amid a national discussion over the removal of Confederate statues and the naming of buildings and entities that honor them.

Board member Tyrone Foster asked if there had been any public input, and Perrigan said he had received one phone call and one email, both indicating the names shouldnt be changed.

No one from the public spoke on the issue, and the one person who signed up left the meeting prior to the public comment segment.

All we had on the agenda was [to] review a policy that was written in 2015. We had no intent of discussing name changes of schools. With our meeting tonight, weve got a lot of more important, pressing issues, Fletcher said. The only feedback Ive gotten is there is no reason to change them.

Perrigan said Mondays process was to remind the board and inform the public how a renaming process would work.

If were going to receive input, our board needs to be very aware of the policy, Perrigan said. Its not just an arbitrary event to name a new school or change the name of an existing school.  I think our board understands the importance of naming a building and that it rests with the community. I think theyre anxious to hear the input that may come from our meeting tonight.

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BRISTOL, Tenn. --The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is investigating an apparent bear attack on an Abingdon man that occurred last weekend.

Matt Marvin of Abingdon told officers he was camping in an undeveloped campsite on South Holston Lake near the 421 access area July 5. Marvin said he was asleep in a hammock and woke up when a bear was biting his foot, according to a statement.

Marvin reported he defended himself by shooting at the bear.

"Around 10 p.m., Mr. Marvin reported the incident to Washington County Virginia 911 and contacted TWRA on July 6 at approximately 4 p.m. to report this incident," according to the statement. "Mr. Marvin provided a picture of the injury showing a small wound to the heel of his foot. TWRA has investigated the campsite and has not located a dead or injured bear or any sign of a dead or injured bear. Wildlife officers did however document a lot of human foods left behind at the campsite. TVA is posting a warning about bear activity in the area."

The incident remains under investigation by TWRA.

Campers are urged to take special precautions to reduce bear encounters, including:

 Do not store food in your tent.

 Cook 100 yards from your tent.
As the group notes on its websites home page:

The Southwest Virginia 4-H Educational Center is an independent non-profit organization located in Abingdon, Virginia, whose mission is to empower youth and adults through experiential skills building programs, day and residential camping programs, and educational and cultural outreach partnerships. It has provided transformative experiences for youth and adults from throughout the region and beyond since 1960.

To ensure that the 4-H centers important programs can continue, the fundraising campaign was launched in partnership with Virginia Tech and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Advancement Teams to support all six of the 4-H Centers across the commonwealth, the group said.

In a recent story in the Washington County News, the center said:

While it is a disappointing year to celebrate such a significant anniversary, the Southwest Virginia 4-H Educational Center is doing its best to continue serving the regions youth and mark the occasion appropriately  starting with the appointment of a new center director, Jeanette Reynolds, who started on March 25 and has been working to keep the organization engaged in the community throughout challenges related to the global pandemic.
The White House is desperate. President Trumps poll numbers are sinking faster than a millstone. Even my diehard neighbor temporarily took down her Trump 2020 sign in the wake of the Lafayette Square teargassing incident.

The latest GOP talking points attempt to change the subject by demeaning Joe Bidens age or by squealing endlessly about Nancy Pelosi. It wont work. Even Republicans are abandoning the corruption and incompetence of the Trump White House. You cannot scare people into voting for more of the same.

The old saying people who live in glass houses should not throw stones is worth remembering. It was Trump who looked old and weak, gingerly stepped down a ramp at West Point last month. Earlier in the day, he needed both hands to lift a water bottle. And let us not forget the midnight ride to Walter Reed Hospital last year for an undisclosed medical condition.

And now we learn that Russia sought to reward killings of U.S. troops in Afghanistan while the White House did nothing. Either the president is still in cahoots with Putin, or else he slept through the intelligence briefing on Feb. 27  which is most likely. Trumps flaws (honesty, integrity, knowledge) leave him unfit to lead and incapable of upholding his oath of office.

Americans are dying (126,000) as the COVID-19 infection rate ticks ever upward (over 2.5 million). The situation is so dire that the European Union has banned U.S. nationals from entering. At long last, Donald Trump got a border wall.
Dave McMillion

davem@herald-mail.com

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va.  To the relief of tourists and town merchants here, a pedestrian footbridge across the Potomac River that was damaged in a CSX train derailment last year is open.

In a Facebook post, the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park proclaimed "The Goodloe E. Byron Memorial Pedestrian Walkway (footbridge) across the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry is open!"

It was music to the ears of Joyce McRae, who was crossing the rebuilt structure on her bike Monday afternoon with her husband, Roger.

"Hallelujah. That's all I can say," said McRae, of Williamsport, Pa.

Harpers Ferry is a popular tourist destination, and the footbridge, which is connected to a CSX span across the river, is considered an integral part of it. Not only does the bridge carry the Appalachian Trail across the river, but it connects hikers and bicyclists to the C&O Canal and Maryland Heights on the Maryland side of the river.

A section of the bridge was ripped away on Dec. 21 when seven CSX freight cars derailed on the railroad bridge. Two of them slid into the river.

It left tourists without their familiar path across the river at Harpers Ferry.

In May, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park officials said repairs to the footbridge could begin in late spring. They saidprogress was being made on meeting requirements for a permit in coordination with CSX.

National Park Service officials could not be reached for comment Monday about the new bridge, which was sporting a new weather-proof deck Monday.

The completion comes as the summer tourist season gets underway in the town, which is rich with Civil War and U.S. industrial history, not to mention natural history like the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers.

Tourists flocked to the town Monday, some taking to the new footbridge like the McRaes.

The couple said the Harpers Ferry area is one of their favorite places to visit. They were scheduled to take a trip out west, but when that was canceled, they came back to enjoy the spot again.

When they checked in to the Light Horse Inn in Harpers Ferry, the innkeeper seemed to hint that something special might be in store for the footbridge, the couple said.

Ian Bird works at Harpers Ferry Outfitters, one of many tourist-related shops nearby. Bird said Monday that everyone in town is happy that the footbridge is open again.

"We get dozens of visitors every day asking how to get to Maryland Heights. Now it's a very simple answer," Bird said.
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Sherry Greenfield

sgreenfield@herald-mail.com

COVID-19 precautions greeted the children attending the first day of summer camp at the Boys & Girls Club of Washington County on Monday.

Children were given club-themed masks, bottles of hand sanitizer and specially designed kits, all an attempt to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.

We want to be safe, Executive Director Addie Nardi said. We didnt take the decision to open lightly, but were moving forward.

This is kind of the new reality, but we had to be able to open. Its summertime for our kids.

The Boys & Girls Club of Washington County runs after-school programs and summer camps throughout the area for youths ages 6 through 18. The organizations mission is to enable youths to reach their full potential.

Nardi said the organization typically starts planning the summer camps in January of each year. COVID-19 changed the way the organization operates during the summer.

The program at the clubs 805 Pennsylvania Ave. location in Hagerstown is running all day.

But the clubs at the Noland unit, Elgin unit and the Frederick Manor unit, all in Hagerstown, are operating in two-hour blocks. This allows a smaller number of children and teens to attend in shifts.

The two-hour blocks of time allow for all our groups to come, Nardi said.

The Noland, Elgin and Frederick Manor units are not large enough for all the campers to attend at one time while following COVID-19-related guidelines.

Its just not conducive to social distancing, she said.

Because the hours are shortened, families are not being charged for their children to attend camps at the three sites.

The Pennsylvania Avenue building is large enough that the children can be divided into different rooms.

Currently, 20 children are enrolled at the Pennsylvania Avenue location, down from 50 during a typical summer.

The club is accepting more children at its locations, but with new requirements.

We cant run an open site, where kids come in and out, Nardi said. They have to come with an application and immunization record.

New COVID-19 safety measures are also in place.

We have staff taking temperatures at the door, Nardi said. Everybody who comes in the door gets their temperature checked. ... We have hand sanitizer everywhere.

The club also received $4,000 from the United Way of Washington County and the Community Foundation of Washington Countys joint Washington County COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund, established by the two agencies at the end of March. The fund is being used to help county nonprofit groups and organizations that serve families impacted economically by the coronavirus.

The Boys & Girls Club received $4,000 to assemble kits for each child. The kits contain items that are difficult for club staff to disinfect daily. Kits include crayons, lotion and individual hand sanitizer.

The outside of the kits are made of hard plastic, which is easy to keep sanitized, Nardi said.

Field trips and swimming have been canceled this summer.

Most summers we swim a couple days a week, Nardi said. But we cant intermingle members now.

Summer camp ends Aug. 14. COVID-19 planning is already underway for fall.
Jenni Vincent

jvincent@herald-mail.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va.  Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday an executive order requiring West Virginians to wear a face covering in all indoor places where 6 feet of social distancing cant be maintained.

The order takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and applies to anyone 9 years old or older, Justice said during a news conference.

It does not apply to anyone who has trouble breathing. People with medical issues are asked to instead wear a face shield, he said.

If you go to work in a building, I expect you to wear a mask as you enter work and if youre working in an area that is completely socially distanced, take your mask off, he said.

If you go to a drinking fountain, put your mask on," Justice said. "If you go into a retail business, then I expect you to wear a mask."

However, the order doesnt include any criminal sanctions and depends on people doing the right thing, according to Justice.

It is not a criminal offense if you choose not to wear one, were not going to haul you off to jail," Justice said. "But we are asking you to do this as West Virginians.

Ive also got all the confidence in the world that our businesses will encourage enforcement."

Another state shutdown could be possible if the virus is not brought under control soon, and the benefits of face coverings far outweigh any personal inconvenience, he said.

What can it hurt to wear a mask for two or three months? The killer is with us and the killer is growing," Justice said. "But West Virginia, you have to respond and you have to respond right now."

West Virginia had 3,356 total positive cases and 95 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to the state Department of Health and Human Resources.

That compared to a statewide total of 2,131 positive cases on June 6  an increase of 1,225 cases since then. The state logged 11 COVID-19-related deaths in the past month.

Dr. Clay Marsh, the states coronavirus czar, providednumbers to explain how much the situation has deteriorated in recent weeks.

West Virginia previously had one of the best scores nationally in terms of its R-naught number, a measure which shows how fast the virus was spreading. But that is no longer the case, Marsh said.

At one time we were around 0.6, which means the virus was diminishing, because anything under one means it is diminishing," Marsh said. "Today we have the seventh highest level in the country at 1.27, and over the last week or 10 days it has really taken a sharp increase."

There has also been a significant increase in the number of positive cases in the state.

Over the last two weeks or so, weve seen about a 234% increase in the number of positive cases,Marsh said. And over the last four or five days weve seen a 46% increase in the number of positive cases on a daily basis."

Berkeley County continues to lead the state with 464 positive cases, and that number has increased by 136 cases in the last month, according to DHHR data.

Jefferson County now has 239 positive cases, which represents an increase of 40 in the last month, and Morgan County has increased by one  from 18 to 19 positive cases  during the last month, according to state DHHR data.

Bill Kearns, executive director of the Berkeley-Morgan County Board of Health, agreed that the importance of wearing a face covering cant be stressed enough.

Its not a new message, but is now more important than ever as local and state numbers continue to climb, Kearns said.

Weve been saying since day one of this pandemic how important it is for people to wear a face mask," he said. "When youre out in the community it just needs to be done, because it is our first line of defense in protecting others."

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has ordered masks to be worn in indoor public areas, retail stores and on public transportation.

Face masks are mandatory in Pennsylvania and must be worn whenever anyone leaves their home, according to an order signed by state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine earlier this month.

Under the Pennsylvania order, face coverings are required when people are:

 outdoors and unable to consistently maintain a distance of 6 feet from individuals who are not members of their households;

in any indoor location where members of the public are generally permitted;

waiting for or riding public transportation;

obtaining services from the health care sector in settings including, but not limited to a hospital, pharmacy, medical clinic, laboratory, physician or dental office, veterinary clinic, or blood bank; or

 engaged in work, whether at the workplace or performing work offsite, when interacting in-person with any member of the public, working in any space visited by members of the public, working in any space where food is prepared or packaged for sale or distribution to others, working in or walking through common areas, or in any room or enclosed area where other people, except for members of the persons own household or residence, are present when unable to physically distance.

Children under 2 and people who cannot wear a mask because of medical conditions (respiratory issues the impede breathing, mental health condition or disability) are among those who are exempt from wearing masks.
Lincoln, NE (68508)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Shawn Hardy

Greencastle Echo-Pilot

GREENCASTLE, Pa.  Greencastle-Antrim High School students were able to resume their regular studies online after schools were closed due to COVID-19 thanks to the iPads they each received in January under the first part of the districts Equal Technology Opportunities initiative.

District officials are hoping a coronavirus-related grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency will put the same technology in the hands of middle school students.

Members of the school board supported including iPads for middle-schoolers in the application for a School Health and Safety Grant through the commission at last weeks meeting.

Purchasing educational technology for distance learning to ensure the continuity of education is one way the grant money can be spent, according to the website of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

The federal CARES Act funding also covers expenses associated with cleaning, training, equipment and other health and safety needs related to COVID-19.

The district is applying for $236,000.

Caroline Royer, chief financial officer, said the district will need $55,000 to $56,000 for things like masks, hand sanitizer and cleaning. The remainder would be available for online learning.

A four-year lease program for middle school iPads would cost $178,000 in the first year and $57,462 in each of the three remaining years, Dwight Bard, director of technology, explained. If the grant is received, it will cover the first year. The district will be responsible for the ensuing three years.

No official vote was taken, but school board members supported including the middle school technology in the grant application, which had to be submitted by June 30.

The middle school iPad rollout was scheduled for this fall, but funding was not included in the 2020-21 budget.

Dr. Carter Davidson said the grant could provide free money for something we cant afford.

Schools closed in March, and Greencastle-Antrim High School studentsresumed coursework in regular classes online on April 6. Teachers were only able to provide guidance in several subject areas for younger students, who do not all have the same access to technology.

Davidson, who has five children, said, It was a much bigger struggle for the younger kids than the older kids.

Its not the device ... it's the technology and actions that go with it, said Scott Hart, who has four children in the district. He added that this gives our kids a better shotif schools have to be closed again.

Shannon Blanchard, with two children in the school system, said individual iPads provide consistent curriculum across grade levels.

We dont know what the fall will look like, said Dr. Kendra Trail, superintendent. Will there be another round of COVID?

Its an absolute need, said board member Mark Chimel. Were not going to be able to use paper forever.
Matthew Umstead

mumstead@herald-mail.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va.  The planned public sale of the historic Martinsburg post office/federal building has been delayed until this fall due to the coronavirus outbreak, the federal government has advised Berkeley County officials.

Although there has been some delay, due to the pandemic with the sale of the building, the Government is still moving forward with marketing the building for a competitive public sale this fall, Vitaliya Dashevskaya of the General Services Administration Public Building Service wrote in an email to the county on Monday.

Though a sales brochure has yet to be finalized for the property at 300 W. King St., Dashevskaya welcomed the county to forward any information about potential investors interested in the property.

If there is a way to cross-advertise with the county, we would love the additional exposure, Dashevskaya said.

A GSA spokesman said in March that the government would establish a minimum bid price for the 125-year-old landmark.

Completed in 1895, the towering Richardson Romanesque-style federal building was deeded in 2001 to Boarman Arts Center Inc. at no cost, but with conditions that the structure be maintained and used solely and continuously for educational purposes for a 30-year period.

The nonprofit arts organization changed its name to The Arts Centre in 2004, but largely has been inactive in recent years due, at least in part, to financial struggles. The building itself also has incurred costly storm- and earthquake-related damage in the last two decades.

Dashevskaya separately welcomed the countys move to find a new home for the World War I doughboy monument next to the federal building.

The Berkeley County Council has authorized the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks and Recreation Board to move the monument to War Memorial Park. The county recreation board has agreed to allow the statue to be placed in the park at 500 N. Tennessee Ave., where there are existing tributes to the communitys war veterans.

Funds are expected to be raised to pay for the cost of refurbishment of the statue and plaques.

An inspection of the doughboy in 2012 found there were multiple indicators of deterioration, according to a report submitted to the Berkeley County Historic Landmarks Commission.

Unveiled on Memorial Day in 1925, the doughboy was hand-wrought by Cleveland sculptor Walter A. Sinz, who made two other doughboy sculptures that are in Curwensville, Pa., and Ironwood, Mich., according to county documents.
Matthew Umstead

mumstead@herald-mail.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va.  A Hedgesville, W.Va., woman accused of seeking to offer her services to the Russian government has admitted that she unlawfully retained a document containing national defense information and that she also committed international parental kidnapping.

Elizabeth Jo Shirley, 46, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Martinsburg to single counts of willful retention of national defense information and international parental kidnapping, according to court records and U.S. Attorney Bill Powell.

Shirley was being held in Eastern Regional Jail on Monday without bond, records said.Shirley faces a total of 13 years in prison for the convictions and up to $500,000 in fines, according to Powell.

The National Security Agency document unlawfully retained byShirley contained information classified at the level of "Top Secret/Secret Compartmented Information" related to the national defense that outlines intelligence information regarding a foreign government's military and political issues, Powell said in a news release.

Shirley also admitted to taking her child, of whom she was the noncustodial parent, to Mexico with the intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of the custodial fathers parental rights.

When Shirley took classified information from her work with the Intelligence Community and later fled to Mexico, she violated the confidence placed in her by the American people, said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers in Monday's announcement.

She doubled down on this betrayal when she sought to offer classified information to the Russian government. We are grateful for our law enforcement partners timely work to locate and arrest the defendant in Mexico. Given Shirleys troubling conduct after fleeing the United States, the damage to national security could have been far greater had law enforcement not acted swiftly. Shirley will now be held accountable for betraying the trust of the American people.

From March 1994 to March 2000, Shirley served on active duty with the U.S. Air Force, and beginning in the 1990s the defendant removed classified paper and digital documents, including "top secret" information relating to national defense, without authorization, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court.

"She retained those documents in her residences, on her person, in her electronic devices, and in a storage unit she rented in Berkeley County ... in May 2016," the plea agreement states.

Shirley was first granted top-secret/sensitive compartmented information security clearance in August 1994 and continued to hold similar security clearances at various times while serving in the U.S. Navy Reserves after leaving active duty, according to court records.

"In November 2003, Ms. Shirley was granted a Q security clearance for her work with the Department of Energy, which permitted her to access classified information related to nuclear weapons and related materials," the plea agreement states.

While serving in the Air Force, Shirley worked on assignments with the National Security Agency and from May 2001 to August 2012, she held various positions with the U.S. Navys Office of Naval Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, and at least five different cleared defense contractors, Powell said.

"While in Mexico, Shirley prepared a written message to Russian Government officials, referencing 'an urgent need' to have 'items shipped from the USA related to (her) lifes work before they are seized and destroyed,'" Powell said.

"In one message ... which Ms. Shirley printed, she stated, 'Read Me First. For the Rezident," the plea agreement states. "You have a virtual walk-in. Please consider my request seriously. Americans would never dangle their top Intelligence Community ... Cyber expert and her child. I think that after reviewing my credentials ... you will be pleasantly surprised. You can polygraph (box) me and debrief me at length."

Rezident is a Russian intelligence term for a representative of one nations intelligence service who resides in another nation and directs intelligence operations, according to court records.

In July 2019, Shirley traveled to Mexico with her 6-year-old daughter with the intent to make contact with representatives of the Russian government to request resettlement in a country that would not extradite her to the U.S., and Shirley took some of the national defense information she had retained with her to Mexico, according to court records. Shirley was supposed to return the child to her father on July 19, 2019, in accordance with a Webster County (W.Va.) family court order, court records said.

On Aug. 13, the U.S. Marshals Service and Mexican law enforcement found Shirley and her daughter at a hotel in Mexico City. Mexican authorities arrested Shirley pursuant to an arrest warrant that the West Virginia State Police had obtained on a charge of concealment of a minor from a custodian, Powell said.

The FBI subsequently executed search warrants on several of Shirleys electronic devices, including devices she took to Mexico and devices the FBI seized from her Martinsburg storage unit in August 2019, Powell said.

Upon searching the storage unit, the FBI located the National Security Agency document that is subject to the pending criminal case, but the FBI also found an Office of Naval Intelligence PowerPoint presentation containing information classified at the "Secret" level and messages that Shirley had drafted to Russian Government officials while in Mexico. The latter was determined by the Central Intelligence Agency to include information classified at the Secret level, Powell said.

High level security clearance requires a commensurate level of trust. Shirley breached that trust and attempted to put our country at risk. National security is one of our highest priorities and always will be. Shirley will now face the consequences of her actions, Powell said in Monday's announcement.

Due to an editor's error, the original headline and the original version of this story inaccurately described an allegation against Elizabeth Jo Shirley.

She was accused of seeking to offer information to Russia and drafting messages to representatives of the Russian government, but court documents and a Justice Department press release do not indicate that she actually sent the messages or offered the information.

The Herald-Mail apologizes for the mistake.
Tim Rowland

timr@herald-mail.com

The most pathetic person in the world has to be the twisted cat who keeps duping the white nationalists into believing internet hoaxes warning of a pending antifa attack. Come on, guy, how much sport can that be? Its like getting a toddler on the same knock-knock joke 17 times in a row.

I have never seen an antifa and Im pretty sure you have not seen an antifa either. I am, however, anti-fascist, so maybe I am one. Its hard to tell. But the pro-fascists see anti-fascists everywhere, and are always charging off to do battle with them much the way Don Quixote went after windmills.

It happened again over the Fourth, this time at Gettysburg, where the above-mentioned prankster convinced an astonishing number of people that the antifa was going to show up and start burning American flags. At 3 p.m. sharp, dont be late. And (I swear I am not joking) the Facebook page announcing the atrocity added that for the kids there would be antifa face painting and small American flags would be passed out to youngsters to toss into the conflagration.

Antifa presents: 4th of July Flag Burning To Peacefully Protest For Abolishing Police Nationwide, it said. No Bikers, Militias Or Other So-Called Patriots. Children Welcome.

You might think that there would be one skinhead out there with enough neural circuits firing to say: I dont know, guys, this one sounds a little fishy to me. You dont suppose that its going to be like the last time and the time before that and the time before that where the antifa didnt show.

But no. Instead, The Washington Post reported, self-proclaimed militias, bikers, skinheads and far-right groups  flooded in by the hundreds  heavily armed and unaware, it seemed, that the mysterious Internet poster was not who the person claimed to be.

With no one at Gettysburg to go to war with, the militia-types just kind of milled around until descending on some poor hapless tourist in a Black Lives Matter T-shirt. You can imagine their keen disappointment when he turned out just to be visiting the grave of an ancestor who was killed in the real battle.

So if Im a militia, next time someone purporting to be antifa announces a rumble, Im asking for references.

This wasnt even the first time right-wingers were conned into coming to Gettysburg. According to the Post, In 2017, rumors of an antifa event at the national park prompted a large group of armed militia members to show up. They encountered no one from antifa, but one of the armed militia members accidentally shot himself in the leg with a revolver. Classic.

But I smell a rat. These militias cant be this gullible. Theres got to be more to it, like maybe antifa was something they cooked up to get out of household chores.

Honey, are you going to stain the deck this weekend like you promised?

Oh, Id love to, sugar, but the antifa are coming to Gettysburg and I have to defend the United States of America.

Well, then maybe next week you would have time to 

Oops  antifa.

And I suppose you cant go with me to visit my mother because the antifa are coming.

Wha  How did  Wait, have they gotten to you, too?

If so, this makes the potential for highjinks even greater. Just wait till the kids from K-pop get ahold of it. You will be seeing ads for antifa ice cream socials, antifa chamber mixers and antifa yard sales and antifa flame-thrower raffles, proceeds to benefit the Antifa Local 4722 Benevolent Fund.

But in the end, as long as militias dont shoot anything besides their own legs, theres probably no harm in it. Its not like wild-eyed conspiracy theorists are running the country. Oh wait.

Tim Rowland is a Herald-Mail columnist.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DoD) today announced an agreement with Regeneron, Inc. of Tarrytown, New York, to demonstrate commercial-scale manufacturing of the companys COVID-19 investigational anti-viral antibody treatment, REGN-COV2. By funding this manufacturing effort, the federal government will own the doses expected to result from the demonstration project.

The ongoing REGN-COV2 clinical studies are evaluating multiple dosages to help establish the exact number of potential treatment doses. The company estimates between 70,000 and 300,000 treatment doses could be available from this project, with the initial doses ready as early as end of summer and completed this fall. If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) or approves the treatment, the federal government would allocate these doses to treat COVID-19 patients.

This agreement with Regeneron is the first of a number of Operation Warp Speed awards to support potential therapeutics all the way through to manufacturing, allowing faster distribution if trials are successful, said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. More good news about COVID-19 therapeutics is constantly emerging, and President Trumps commitment to supporting lifesaving therapeutics will help deliver these products to American patients without a days delay.

This manufacturing demonstration project will take place while clinical trials are underway. Working in parallel this way shaves months off the traditional product development timeline and supports the Trump Administrations Operation Warp Speed goal of making safe and effective medicine available as quickly as possible to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, collaborated with the DoD Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense and Army Contracting Command, to provide $450 million to Regeneron for large-scale manufacturing demonstration project in the United States.

As part of the manufacturing demonstration project, the doses of the medicine will be packaged and ready to ship immediately if clinical trials are successful and FDA grants an EUA or approves the medicine. If these government-funded doses become available under EUA or FDA approval, the medicine would be available to the American people at no cost and would be allocated similarly to drugs that other companies have donated during the pandemic response. As is customary with such government-purchased products, healthcare professionals could charge insurers for the cost of administering the medicine.

An EUA can be issued to facilitate the availability of an unapproved product only after several statutory requirements are met. For investigational treatments being developed to treat or prevent COVID-19, FDA will make an assessment on a case-by-case basis depending on the products characteristics, preclinical and human clinical study data, and the totality of relevant available scientific evidence. The issuance of an EUA is different than FDA approval.

The REGN-COV2 investigational antibody therapeutic treatment was discovered and developed by Regeneron using the companys VelociSuite technologies. The medicine combines two monoclonal antibodies, informally known as an antibody cocktail, that bind to the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and may be able to treat infected patients or prevent infection.

Monoclonal antibodies are produced outside of the body by a single clone of cells or a cell line with identical antibody molecules and then delivered to patients by injection or infusion. The antibodies bind to certain proteins of a virus, reducing the ability of the virus to infect human cells.

Preclinical and clinical development for this therapeutic treatment have been supported in part through a long-standing flexible agreement between BARDA and Regeneron. Regeneron used the same proprietary technology platforms and cocktail approach to develop a novel triple antibody treatment for Ebola that is now under regulatory review by the FDA.

About HHS, ASPR, and BARDA:

HHS works to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans, providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. The mission of ASPR is to save lives and protect Americans from 21st century health security threats. Within ASPR, BARDA invests in the innovation, advanced research and development, acquisition, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures  vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products needed to combat health security threats. To date, 55 BARDA-supported products have achieved FDA approval, licensure or clearance. For more on BARDAs portfolio for COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccines and treatments and about partnering with BARDA, visit medicalcountermeasures.gov. To learn more about federal support for the all-of-America COVID-19 response, visit coronavirus.gov.

About the JPEO-CBRND:

The Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) protects the Joint Force by providing medical countermeasures and defense equipment against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. As an effective DoD acquisition program, the JPEO-CBRNDs vision is a resilient Joint Force enabled to fight and win unencumbered by a CBRN environment; championed by innovative, agile, results-oriented acquisition professionals. The Joint Project Manager for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Medical (JPM CBRN Medical) facilitates the advanced development and acquisition of medical solutions to combat CBRN and emerging threats. JPM CBRN Medical works with JPEO-CBRNDs Joint Project Lead for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense - Enabling Biotechnologies to provide new and improved medical countermeasures to enable a single treatment for many threats, rapid medical countermeasure responses, genomic sequencing and the capability to diagnose CBRN threats before the onset of symptoms. To learn more about JPEO-CBRNDs COVID-19 response, visit https://www.jpeocbrnd.osd.mil/coronavirus.
In a significant development, sleuths of Delhi Police have made a major revelation about the alleged foreign funding into the violent anti-Hindu riots that rocked the national capital in the last week of February. The Delhi Police in its investigation into the Delhi riots found that funds were received from the United Kingdom, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) just before the flare-up in the northeast Delhi.

According to the sources, the Delhi police personnel are in possession of a register that bears that secrets of Delhi riots funding. The register was made ahead of the violent riots and has the complete bookkeeping of how the funds were utilised and distributed with the aim to gin up the riots in Delhi, the sources and the beneficiaries of the funds, a senior officer privy to details said.

Register bearing secrets of funding recovered from Jamia Coordination Committee member

The Special Cell team probing the riots had arrested Miran Haider, a member of Jamia Coordination Committee, and a register consisting the details of violence was recovered from him. Haider was arrested in April and was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a case related to the violence.

The police team were startled to find that the register retrieved from Haider carried the details of the alleged funding received for instigating the riots in Delhi centred on the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA). The funding received into the riots from countries such as Oman, the UK and UAE took the probing team by surprise. Sources claim, right before the riots, Rs 5 lakhs were transferred to Haiders account.

Register sent to Forensic Laboratory (FSL) for handwriting analysis

The Delhi police officials claim that the recovery of the register proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the conspiracy to foment violence in Delhi was pre-planned and the money that came from the foreign countries almost confirms that the money transfers were made to fuel the riots in the national capital. The retrieved documents have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for handwriting analysis.

Foreign funding link vindicates Delhi Polices claim that riots were a pre-planned

The retrieval of a register containing details of funding received allegedly to stoke riots in northeast Delhi vindicates Delhi polices stand, which had argued in the court that the Northeast riots in the national capital were a part of a larger conspiracy that was hatched during the Jamia riots between December 13-December 15, 2019. The report said that the Jamia coordination committee was not an official body representing the Jamia University but it was still receiving funds in the name of the university, including from suspicious organisations such as PFI, which is also accused of funding the anti-CAA riots in the country.

The revelation of the involvement of funding foreign countries comes on the heels of the polices recent statement that the funding had also been received from Malaysia through a Meerut based NGO after another accused Khalid Saifi met with the fugitive hate speaker Zakir Naik.
If youre gonna be two-faced, at least make one of them pretty, Marilyn Monroe once said. She was speaking about hypocrites but she could have been referring to Indias education establishment. Our hypocrisy is rooted in many myths which will be challenged in the post- Covid-19 world where only the efficient, the nimble and the innovative will survive. Unfortunately, the latest National Education Policy, soon to come up for Cabinet approval, has not faced up to this reality.

One of our myths is that education must only be delivered by the government if it is to serve the public good. Hence, private schools are tolerated based on, one, a hypocritical lie which forbids them from making a profit, when everyone knows that most, in fact, do and, two, that the State will shackle them in a licence raj to ensure that they behave. One myth is based on the mistaken belief that education in advanced countries is provided by the State. The truth is that recent education reforms in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and even socialist Scandinavian countries have encouraged private initiatives. Many schools there are moving to a privately-run/publicly-funded model.

In pursuit of the myth, India made huge investments in government schools.But the outcome has been pitiable. Indias children ranked 73rd out of 74 countries in the Programme for International Student Assessment test, just ahead of Kyrgyzstan. Between 2010-11 and 2017-18, 24 million children have abandoned State schools in favour of private schools, according to the governments Unified District Information System for Education data. Today 47% of Indias children are in private schools, making our private schooling system, with 120 million children, the third-largest in the world. In this system, 70% of parents pay a monthly fee of less than Rs 1,000 per month and 45% parents pay less than Rs 500  busting another myth that private schools are for the elite.

Based on the speed at which government schools are emptying out, another 130,000 more private schools are needed. It is a heartbreaking sight to see long lines of parents waiting to get their child into a decent school. There are three reasons for the scarcity of good private schools. One is the licence raj. It is very difficult for an honest person to start a school. At least 35 to 125 permissions are required, depending on the state, and most require running around and bribery. The most expensive bribes are for an Essentiality Certificate (to prove that a school is needed) and Recognition. This can take up to five years.

A second reason is financial. Running a school is no longer lucrative. The problem began with the Right to Education Act, when government commanded private schools to reserve 25% seats for the poor. It was a good idea, but poorly executed. Since state governments did not compensate private schools properly for reserved students, the fees for the 75% fee-paying students went up. This led to a clamour from parents and many states imposed a control on fees, which has gradually weakened the financial health of schools. To survive, schools have had to economise, leading to a decline in quality. Some schools have shut down. More will, after the pandemic.

A third reason why an honest person wont open a school is national hypocrisy. The law forbids a private school from making a profit but most schools do. Nine out of the top 10 economies in the world allow for-profit education. India is the only one that does not. It is high time we dropped this pretence. This single change from a non-profit to profit sector could create a revolution. Investments would flow into education, improving choice and quality. Principals would not have to lie or be called thieves. Black money will be curbed. After 1991, parents value choice and competition. Just as they pay for water, electricity and the Internet, they will pay for a superior education.

This revolution will require other steps. Opening up honest private school education will require removing the licence raj. Second, schools will need the sort of autonomy that exists in advanced countries. Today, barring a few exceptions, most Indian private schools are mediocre. Schools will only invest in post-Covid-19 technologies if there is predictable regulation and freedom of salaries, fees, and curriculum. A vibrant private school sector will deliver better outcomes for India and it will do so at one-third the cost of government schools. The principal reason is teachers salaries  the starting salary of a junior teacher in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in 2017-18 was Rs 48,918/ pm, or 11 times the per capita income of UP.

The latest education policy, like the previous ones, is likely to miss the mark. Reform of Indias education should have two objectives: One, improve the quality of government schools, and, two, give autonomy to private schools. To this end, the government must also separate its own functions of regulating education and running government schools. Today, there is a conflict of interest which results in bad outcomes for all. Finally, opening up the private sector will make us more honest  schools will no longer have to lie about making a profit and the establishment will not have to preach the virtue of government schools while sending its own children to private schools.

Gurcharan Das is a former corporate leader and author

The views expressed are personal
The chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, Mukesh Ambani, recently announced a video-conferencing tool, JioMeet, that looks just like Zoom. On social media, Indian entrepreneurs are panning him for copying; one person tweeted that he should have called it Jhoom because that is how it would be pronounced locally. It isnt Ambani that is out of touch with the way the tech industry works, it is Ambanis critics. They dont understand how tech innovation works.

Although this may sound strange, copying is good for innovation. This is how Chinese technology companies got started  by adapting Silicon Valleys technologies for Chinese use and improving on them. The Chinese routinely monitor what app is achieving success elsewhere, and duplicate it before they start adding features and innovating; they learn from the best and improve.

Its how Silicon Valley works too and even Zoom is a knock-off of the technologies it is competing with: WebEx, Skype, and BlueJeans.

Steve Jobs built the Macintosh by copying the windowing interface from the Palo Alto Research Center. As he admitted in 1994, Picasso had a saying, Good artists copy, great artists steal; and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas. Almost every Apple product has features that were first developed by others; rarely do its technologies wholly originate within the company.

The iPod, for example, was created by British inventor Kane Kramer; iTunes was built on a technology purchased from Soundjam; and the iPhone frequently copies Samsungs mobile technologies  while Samsung copies Apples.

Mark Zuckerberg also built Facebook by copying from MySpace and Friendster, and he continues to copy products. Facebook Places is a replica of Foursquare; Messenger video imitates Skype; Facebook Stories is a clone of Snapchat; and Facebook Live combines the best features of Meerkat and Periscope.

Now, Zuckerberg is trying to copy WeChat by integrating private messaging, groups and payments. This is why he is so focused on getting WhatsApp Payments approved by the Indian regulators. Before purchasing the company, he desperately tried to copy WhatsApp, but repeatedly failed. So he ended up purchasing the company, which had almost no revenue, for an astonishing $20 billion or so, which was about 10% of Facebooks market cap.

This is another one of Silicon Valleys secrets: If stealing doesnt work, then buy the company.

By the way, they dont call this copying or stealing; it is called knowledge-sharing. Silicon Valley has very high rates of job-hopping, and top engineers rarely work at any one company for more than three years. They routinely join their competitors or start their own companies. As long as engineers dont steal computer codes or designs, they can build on the work they did before. Silicon Valley firms understand that collaborating and competing at the same time leads to success. This is even reflected in Californias unusual laws, which bar non-competition agreements.

In most places, entrepreneurs hesitate to tell others what they are doing. Yet, in Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs know that when they share an idea, they get important feedback. Both sides learn by exchanging ideas and developing new ones. So when you walk into a coffee shop in Palo Alto, those you ask will not hesitate to tell you their product-development plans.

Neither companies nor countries can succeed, however, merely by copying. They must move very fast and keep improving themselves and adapting to changing markets and technologies.

Apple became the most valuable company in the world because it didnt hesitate to cannibalise its own technologies. Jobs didnt worry that the iPad would hurt the sales of its laptops or that the music player in the iPhone would eliminate the need to buy an iPod. The company moved forward quickly as competitors copied its designs. I expect Jio will do this as well; learn from what works best in the Indian market, and come out with better technologies.

There is a line here that should never be crossed, however, and that is intellectual property theft. Chinas Huawei was sued by Cisco for its systematic and wholesale infringement of Ciscos intellectual property, for example. Its 5G technologies were likely stolen from Nokia and others. The core of many of Chinas most advanced technologies is based on such theft. This is never good for innovation and leads to even more destructive habits and the types of blowback that Huawei is seeing all over the world as countries rightfully ban its technologies.

My simple message to Indian entrepreneurs is to imitate before they innovate  but dont cross any ethical lines.

Vivek Wadhwa is a distinguished fellow at Harvard Law Schools Labor and Worklife Program and co-author of From Incremental to Exponential: How Large Companies Can See the Future and Rethink Innovation, to be published in September

The views expressed are personal
Actor Aamir Khan made a rare public appearance on Tuesday, when he took his dog to the vet. Aamir gave fans a clearer look at his grey hair, which he has refrained from colouring during the coronavirus lockdown.

The actor was photographed, wearing a black T-shirt and grey pants, as he held his dog in his hands and posed for the paparazzi. The actor was seen at the clinic, speaking with a man outside the door, before entering. He was accompanied by a policeman.

Aamirs wife, film producer Kiran Rao was also spotted, out grocery shopping. Even Kiran seems to have embraced her grey hair during the lockdown. The couple was previously spotted outdoors at the funeral of Aamirs longtime assistant, Amos, in May.

Aamir showed of his grey hair in a picture posted by his daughter Ira, on the occasion of Fathers Day. Happy Fathers Day! Thanks for being you, she captioned her post.

Also read: Aamir Khan crashes daughter Iras workout video, she promises to force him to join next time. Watch

The actors upcoming film, Laal Singh Chaddha, remains incomplete due to the lockdown. It is an official remake of Hollywood classic, Forrest Gump, with Aamir playing the role made famous by actor Tom Hanks. The film, directed by Advait Chandan and co-starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, was due for a December release. But with filming still left unfinished the film is expected to be delayed to 2021.

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Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited reacted sharply to Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi over his tweet concerning allegedly inflated bills and the actor later said that there was a quick response from the company and the problem was solved.

CEO of AEML, Kandarp Patel, told reporters that the actors comment was derogatory and targeted a corporate leader. Warsi had mentioned highway robbery in his earlier tweet.

Light at the end of the tunnel which I have paid for  https://t.co/CadQcVnWVP  Arshad Warsi (@ArshadWarsi) July 5, 2020

And yes there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Quick response from @Adani_Elec_Mum problem solved. All you have to do is contact them.... thank you  ...  Arshad Warsi (@ArshadWarsi) July 5, 2020

Arshad Warsis statement was derogatory and was of a personal nature against a corporate leader. We connected to him immediately after it surfaced and requested him to revoke that tweet and he made another tweet after that and was convinced about his billing. But he is an influencer and he should not have used such language, Patel told reporters through teleconferencing.

Earlier, Warsi had tweeted about over Rs 1.03 lakh being deducted from his account for electricity bill payment. He later also tweeted about offering to sell his painting so that he can pay his electricity bills for this month and save his kidney for payment of next months bill.

The company also slammed Arshad for selectively targetting Adani Electricity. According to AEML, Arshad had only shown billing of his domestic connections and not revealed his commercial connection bills.

According to Adani Electricity, Arshad has four connections, two each commercial and domestic. It said that it is a common observation that commercial and industrial connections are having lesser bills than previous years for the same period and domestic bills are high due to lockdown.

People spent comparatively more time at their homes in this period as they were working from home, and the summer season has also been a reason for high bills in domestic connections during the lockdown period. The same is the case with Arshad, his commercial connections bills are comparatively reduced, the details of which he did not share, the AEML CEO said.

Arshad Warsi had on Sunday tweeted about the response from AEML, saying there is light at the end of the tunnel.

And yes there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Quick response from Adani Electricity Mumbai, problem solved. All you have to do is contact them.... thank you, Warsis tweet read. (ANI)
A 20-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh has complained to the police after actor Sushant Singh Rajputs fans inundated him with phone calls. The man works as a labourer in Indore.

Investigation conducted by the cyber cell has revealed that a page created on Facebook in the name of Rajputs former girlfriend Ankita Lokhande mentioned the mans number in the about section.

After Sushants suicide, the labourer is getting many calls daily. While some disconnect the call after realising that it was the wrong number, others express their anguish over Sushants death, superintendent of police Jitendra Singh said. Singh said more than 40,000 people are following this particular page on Facebook.

To find out more, police have forwarded a message on the messenger to the operator of the page, but yielded no response so far, he said. Police are trying to find out the person who has set up the page.

Sushant Singh Rajput died on June 14 in Mumbai and police believe he was suffering from depression.
On Tuesday, actor Priyanka Chopra took to Twitter to recommend late Sushant Singh Rajputs last film Dilm Becharas trailer to her fans. She mentioned how it was a celebration of love, friendship and life.

She wrote: #SushantSinghRajput one last time... #DilBechara, a celebration of love, friendship and life.Red heart Watch the trailer. Many of her fans wrote in to appreciate the gesture; one user said: Actors and actresses staying in India didnt promote the movie..only few genuine stars did including you.. Thank you for being supportive.. Wish people could learn this from you! Another fan said: Thanks pri...youre a so kind hearted..love from #SushantSinghRajput fan #DilBechara A third person said: This is such a lovely gesture Priyanka. Love you.

Actor Anil Kapoor too took to Instagram to appreciate the trailer. Sharing it, he wrote: A reminder to all of us to live each and every moment to the fullest... A beautiful trailer and tribute to the star we lost too soon but get to see him shine on screen one last time and be immortalised through his work forever in millions of hearts... #DilBechara.

After online video streaming service Disney+ Hotstar dropped the much-awaited trailer of Dil Bechara on Monday, netizens showered their love on films dialogues, which speaks volumes about seizing the day.

Anil Kapoors message on the trailer.

Adapted from John Greens famous novel The Fault In Our Stars, the heartwarming trailer has several power-packed dialogues that beautifully define love and life. Fans of the late actor were seen going gaga over a particular scene from the trailer where Sushant delivers an important message about living the life to the fullest.

Janm kab lena hai aur marna kab hai hum decide nahi kar sakte, par kaise jeena hai vo hum decide kar sakte hain, Rajput delivers the dialogue right in the middle of the trailer. Terming the dialogue as their favourite, several social media users have posted screengrabs of the dialogue lauding Sushant for his dialogue delivery.

Also read: Arshad Warsi asks fans to buy his paintings so he could pay his Rs 1 lakh electricity bill, reserves his kidneys for next month

While the trailer introduces late actor as a chirpy, cheerful college student, full of zeal to live life, his co-star Sanjana Sanghis character is introduced as a shy, and quiet girl battling cancer. As the trailer proceeds, the duo is seen drawing closer, sharing light-hearted banter before finally falling in love and deciding to live the remaining part of Sanjanas life to the fullest. Besides the heart-melting visuals, the trailer hints at an equally mesmerising soundtrack of the film.

Directed by Mukesh Chhabra and bankrolled by Fox Star Studios the film is set to release on the streaming platform on July 24.

(WIth ANI inputs)

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story posted online the morning of July 7 relied on data provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury and U.S. Small Business Administration that indicated it represented the number and amount of loans granted to thousands of borrowers as part of its Paycheck Protection Program relief, accompanied by a press release that said: This disclosure covers each of the 4.9 million PPP loans that have been made. What wasnt noted by the federal agencies is that the data referred solely to the amount the borrower was approved to receive, not what they actually borrowed. A bank and borrower could have agreed on a smaller loan, and a borrower could have used less or given back the loan in its entirety. That information isnt available in the data. In the earlier story, Zel Technologies LLC of Hampton was listed as being among the 17 Hampton Roads firms to have received a loan worth $5 million to $10 million. Instead, Zel officials say it was approved for a $6 million loan but ultimately borrowed only $500,000 because the company decided it didnt need the larger amount. The story below has been corrected to note that the information refers to approved amounts.
Sushant Singh Rajputs Dil Bechara trailer released on Monday amid much anticipation and left many of his fans in tears. His one dialogue in a poignant scene, Janm kab lena hai aur marna kab hai hum decide nahi kar sakte, par kaise jeena hai vo hum decide kar sakte hain (We cannot decide the time of our birth or death but we can decide how to live life ) especially appealed to the viewers. This was enough to leave people in tears as they paid tribute to the actor who died earlier in June.

A fan shared a collage of three film stills, with the climax scene from Titanic captioned as where girls cried and late Paul Walkers last ride scene from Furious 7 captioned as where boys cried. The third picture in the collage is a still of Sushant from Dil Bechara trailer with the caption, where everyone cried.

This is how I watched the whole #DilBecharaTrailer

(We miss uh Sushant !) pic.twitter.com/sjWE6Oo23X  Miss Bubblish (@_nakhrewali_) July 6, 2020

A Twitter user shared a random picture to express his grief and captioned it I am sad and happy both together. There is also a Zakir Khan meme saying, aankho se aansuo ki ganga nahi ruk rahi (the river of tears cant stop flowing from my eyes).

goodbyes are hard

they come with sorrow

and tear you apart

wish as much as you may

they leave you shattered

in their own ways



i miss you sush



|#DilBecharaTrailer | pic.twitter.com/CdlR4duZ6V   (@the_wisegirl) July 6, 2020

The heartwarming trailer shows Sushant as a lively man and a a survivor of Osteosarcoma, who makes it his lifes mission to make his friend Kizie (Sanjana Sanghi), also battling cancer, live life to the fullest. Peppered with humour nd a stoic aplomb, the trailer beautifully captures the soulful love story between the two leads.

Director Mukesh Chhabra shared a touching note after the release of the film trailer and wrote in Sushants memory Rajput. Finally after such a long wait, two 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.

Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput, one last time: Priyanka Chopra watches Dil Bechara trailer

Making an emotional appeal, he added, 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.

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Japans SoftBank Group Corp. is in separate talks with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Mubadala Investment Co. and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. to sell its entire 80% stake in Indian green energy firm SBG Cleantech, two people aware of the development said.

Bank of America (BofA) and Barclays have been appointed to run the stake sale process as well as raise around $500 million through a dollar bond, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.

Softbanks plan to sell its entire stake comes after a previous attempt where it hired Mizuho Bank to find a significant minority investor. SBG Cleantech is a joint venture between SoftBank and Bharti Enterprises.

A SoftBank spokesperson in an emailed response said, SB Energy is exploring potential co-investment partnerships to accelerate the growth of its leading renewable energy platform. Given recent and growing interest in ESG (environmental, social and governance) investments at scale, SoftBank decided to take further steps towards identifying a growth partner. SoftBank is committed to the long-term success of SB Energy. SB Energy Corp. is owned by Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank.

SBG Cleantech has invested around $800 million for its 7.7 GW Indian solar portfolio. The Economic Times on July 1 reported SBG Cleantech has approached Brookfield for $500-600 million.

Spokespersons for CPPIB and Bank of America declined comment. Queries emailed to spokespersons for Bharti Enterprises, Mubadala, Brookfield, Barclays and Mizuho on Friday remained unanswered.

Analysts say Indias solar space has been plagued by execution-related issues in land acquisition, regulation and financial closure.

The domestic solar capacity addition in FY2019-20 has remained lower by about 15% than ICRAs previous estimate (7-7.5GW), mainly on account of the disruption in supply chain and execution disruption in Q4 FY2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The solar capacity addition in FY 2020-21 is further expected to remain subdued given the continued execution challenges post lockdown restrictions, ICRA said in a statement on Monday.

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Four months after murdering BJP leader Santosh Shukla inside Kanpur Dehats Shivli police station in 2001, fugitive gangster Vikas Dubey surrendered in court with several politicians accompanying him, recalled Santoshs brother Manoj Shukla.

Politicians accompanied him in court at the time of surrender. Their gesture was to ensure he did not get caught by the police, he said.

That was the first of many shocks for the Shukla family, he said. What is more, 25 policemen, all eyewitnesses to the killing, turned hostile one after another. In an apparent first, the investigating officer turned hostile in court. Dubey was acquitted.

Had they taken a stand then, what happened now at Bikru village could have been prevented. Their testimonies would have put Vikas Dubey in jail. Unfortunately, this did not happen, he said.

Manoj Shukla, who had pursued the case, met the then Kanpur Dehat district magistrate, the then special prosecuting officer (SPO) officers and police officials many a times during those days. No help was extended at any stage, Shukla alleged. The prosecution wing functions under the DM.

But Manoj Shukla said he had immense faith in chief minister Yogi Adityanath and police officials who are now out to nab Vikas Dubey for killing eight policemen in cold blood.

The year 2001 was different and 2020 is different. This time, I am absolutely sure the police will get him, he said.

Additional director general, Kanpur, Jai Narayan Singh has sought all the documents related to the Santosh Shukla murder case, which is likely to be reopened.

He has asked superintendent of police, Kanpur Dehat, Anurag Vats to look into Vikas Dubeys old cases. Similarly, he asked for all files related to murders of Kaushal Kishore Tripathi and Shri Krishna Mishra in 2002, officials said.
Former Kanpur SSP Anant Deo Tewari and the entire staff of Kanpurs Chaubeypur police station, comprising 68 police personnel, were transferred on Tuesday.

Anant Deo Tewari was transferred from his present post of DIG STF after a controversial letter of slain Dy SP Devendra Mishra surfaced. In the letter, Mishra had sought action against SO of Chaubeypur police station, Kanpur, Vinay Tewari but Anant Deo Tewari had allegedly ignored the complaint.

Vinay Tewari was earlier suspended, allegedly for passing on information about the police raid on Vikas Dubeys house, during which eight police personnel were killed by Dubey and his henchmen early on Friday.

The state government transfer order included Anant Deo Tewari and three other IPS officers.

As per the order, Anant Deo Tewari has been transferred as DIG PAC, Moradabad sector, while Sudhir Kumar Singh, who was posted as commandant of 15th battalion PAC in Agra, has replaced him.

Anant Deo Tewari, who was posted as SSP Kanpur till June 15 before being posted as DIG STF after his promotion, got involved in a controversy since the letter by the slain Dy SP became viral on social media. The slain Dy SPs daughter had made the letter viral on social media, alleging inaction by senior police officers in not removing SO, Chaubeypur, Vinay Tewari despite her late father complaining against him.

There were demands on social media for Anant Deos removal from his present post as the STF was investigating the killing of eight policemen during the raid at Vikas Dubeys house in Kanpurs Bikru village.

In the other IPS transfers, SSP Moradabad Amit Pathak and SSP Varanasi Prabhakar Chaudhary swapped places.

ENTIRE STAFF SHIFTED

SSP Kanpur Dinesh Kumar P late Tuesday night removed the entire staff of Chaubeypur police station comprising 68 police personnel. The police personnel, including 45 constables and 10 head constables, were sent to the police lines.

The action comes in the wake of evidences emerging that many of the policemen were in league with gangster Vikas Dubey, who along with his aides, killed eight policemen early on Friday.

About 95 policemen of four different police stations are under investigation for their links with Dubey. Three sub-inspectors and a constable have already been suspended.
Two bureaucrats, including additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Amarjit Singh Bains and sub divisional magistrate (SDM), Khanna, Sandeep Singh were among 78 persons who tested positive for Covid-19 as Ludhiana recorded its second highest spike in Ludhiana on Tuesday.

With this, Ludhianas count has risen to 1,170 cases and 27 fatalities. Earlier on July 5, the city had recorded 84 positive cases, the highest so far in a single day.

Top officials too who had come in contact with Bains and Sandeep Singh were home quarantined, including civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga, who had held several meetings with Bains as part of their Covid-19 initiatives.

Both Bains and Sandeep Singh were believed to be batch mates. They were suffering from influenza like illness (ILI) earlier and were admitted at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMC&H).

Bains and Sandeep Singh were the third and fourth high ranking officials from Ludhiana to have contracted the virus. Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Anil Kohli died from Covid-19 on April 18, and deputy commissioner of police (DCP), law and order, Ashwani Kapoor, was undergoing treatment after testing positive in the last week of June.

Bains had recently supervised the return of migrant labourers via train to their native states, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He was also looking after ration distribution among labourers.

Of late, both officials were camping at their offices and monitoring Covid-19 healthcare initiatives of the state government.

FLUTTER IN BUREAUCRATIC CIRCLES

The news of the ADC and SDM testing positive created a flutter in bureaucratic circles and among employees of the deputy commissioners office.

People they had come in contact with were home quarantined, including MC additional commissioner Sanyam Aggarwal, additional chief administrator, Greater Ludhiana Development Authority (GLADA) Bhupinder Singh, ADC (Jagraon) Neeru Katyal Gupta, SDMs Amrinder Singh Malhi and Dr Baljinder Singh Dhillon, secretary, Regional Transport Authority Damanjit Singh Mann, MC joint commissioner Kulpreet Singh, and estate officer GLADA Sonam Chaudhary, among others.

Dr Bagga and ADC Bains were part of several meetings conducted by the administration to spread awareness of Covid-19 under mission Fateh.

DC Varinder Sharma, who tested negative in initial tests, advised all officials who had come in direct contact with Bains to get their tests done and proceed for home quarantine as a precautionary measure.

OFFICIAL RESIDENCE ON MALL ROAD SEALED

The ADCs official residence on Mall Road was sealed with his family members as well as gunman, cook and driver asked to quarantine. The health department had also initiated processes to trace his contacts.

Earlier, four members of family on Mall Road had tested positive for Covid-19.
Subhash Nagpal lost his father to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on June 9. Five days later, his mother too succumbed to the disease. Nagpal neither got a chance to bid them goodbye nor could he cremate them. In home-isolation after six members of his joint family tested positive for Covid-19, he had mourned the loss in solitude.

On Tuesday, Nagpal paid what he described as shradhanjali (tribute) to his parents. He landed at Delhis Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) and donated his plasma.The day happened to be 54-year-old Nagpals birthday. And it wasnt a mere coincidence.

Whenever there was a birthday in our family, my mother would perform a havan. Today there was no such ritual and I missed her badly. I couldnt control my emotions and decided to pay back to my parents by trying to save someone elses life, Nagpal said about what inspired him to make the donation at a time when the city is grappling with a shortage of plasma donors.

Plasma therapy is a process in which blood rich in antibodies from a Covid-19 recovered patient is transfused into the body of someone still struggling with the virus to boost immune response to the virus.

Nagpal, an engineer by education and owner of an insurance advisory firm, lived in a ten-member joint family in Faridabad Sector 28. It included his elderly parents, his wife and son, his brothers family and a domestic help. We were a blessed, happy family that looked out for each other at all times, said Nagpal.

Since March 19, Nagpal said, only the domestic help would leave the house once a week to bring essential items which would then be first left outside, and then ritualistically washed with turmeric water and dried in the sun before being used.

The family still has no answers to how the virus crept into their household, given the fact that their domestic help tested negative for Covid-19.

Nagpals 78-year-old mother, Kaushal who retired as a lecturer in Karnal, was the first to show symptoms. She had complained of weakness on May 31 and her subsequent blood test showed low platelet count. We got her admitted to Apollo Hospital for treatment where her Covid test on June 1 showed she was infected with coronavirus, said Nagpal.

All other nine members of the family, including the domestic help, got themselves tested soon after. On June 4, when the test results arrived, Nagpal said it hit them like a tsunami. Nagpal, his father, his wife, brother and nephew were found to be infected.

Until then, the disease was just a statistic for us. We would see the numbers rise every day and think we were insulated from it, said Nagpal.

The other five infected members of the family did not have any severe symptoms and went into home isolation, but on June 8 his father, 84-year-old Prithviraj, began having difficulty breathing. The elderly man, a retired lawyer, was admitted to a private hospital in Faridabad.

He passed away the next day. It was so sudden and unexpected. We couldnt even get to speak to him one last time, said Nagpal.

Over the next five days, the family prayed for the recovery of Nagpals mother who was on a ventilator at Apollo Hospital. I had last spoken to her on phone two days before my fathers death. The call had lasted a minute and all I could tell her was to pray to god, Nagpal said.

But Nagpal couldnt speak to his mother ever again. There was no way to communicate with her. She was in the ICU and not in a position to speak over the phone, said Nagpal.

Nagpals mother passed away on June 14, in the absence of her family. Like her husband, she was cremated by some relatives even as their two sons suffered the agony at their home.

The four infected surviving members of the family recovered from the disease by June 20, but life was never the same for them again. There was a constant sense of regret, said Nagpal.

It was in those days of sadness and gloom that Nagpal read extensively on plasma donation. There are so many myths about the disease. But as I read more and more, I realised that it is a harmless process for those without co-morbidities, Nagpal said.

On Saturday -- 14 days after he had recovered -- he dialled an NGO and offered to donate his plasma.

While they told him that he would receive a call soon, Nagpal on Tuesday morning drove to the plasma bank recently established by the Delhi government at ILBS in Vasant Kunj. I saw relatives of some patients literally begging doctors to arrange plasma, said Nagpal.

And true to what he had read up, Nagpal didnt feel an iota of weakness after donation.

Dr Meenu Bajpai, professor of transfusion medicine at ILBS, said she was overwhelmed on realising that a man who had lost both his parents to Covid-19 was out to donate his plasma.

He told me he had lost his own parents, but wanted to save someone elses. It was a moment I felt inspired to work harder, said Dr Bajpai.

Having experienced the how safe the process is, Nagpal has now requested his brother and nephew to donate plasma. The doctor told me that I would be in a position to donate again after 14 days, said Nagpal.
The opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday held statewide protests against the hike in fuel prices, alleged scam in ration meant for the poor, illegal mining and increase in power tariff in Punjab.

Leading a protest at Zirakpur in Mohali district, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal demanded that the Punjab government slash fuel prices by 10 a litre. Once the Punjab government reduces fuel prices by 10 per litre, we will ask the Centre to do the same, said Badal, while demanding a CBI probe into the ration embezzlement.

He said he had already written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reduce central excise on petrol and diesel. He also demanded the government ensure that no student of any private school in the state was victimised solely because his parents were not able to afford the fee due to reduced income during Covid-19 pandemic. He said Punjab should compensate the private schools by submitting six months school fee of students in advance to them.

Leading a dharna here, Badal said a large number of Punjabis came out in thousands over the SADs Punjab Bachao call and displayed their seething anger against the Congress government and chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh for leaving them in the lurch at the time of a pandemic. People today hold the Congress government responsible for the hike fuel prices as well as increase of power tariff and other taxes because Congressmen have looted the state treasury through a series of scams be it the 5,600-crore liquor scam, the 4,000-crore seed scam or illegal mining or even the latest insurance scam, he said.

Badal thanked the people for coming out to show solidarity with the SAD and force the Congress government and the chief minister who is busy making gimmickry videos while locked up in his farmhouse. Today every village and town in the state has passed a vote of no-confidence against chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and the days of Congress government are numbered, he said in Zirakpur in the presence of Derabassi legislator N K Sharma, who thanked him for the development of Mohali during the SAD-BJP tenure and disclosed how every work had come to a stop during the Congress rule.

Senior leader and MP Balwinder Singh Bhundur said the people of Punjab had been left to their own fate amid the pandemic even as Congress leaders were resorting to open loot by indulging in manufacturing and bottling illicit liquor besides cross-border liquor smuggling.

Senior party leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia, who was in Amritsar, said diesel is the costliest in Punjab as compared to neighbouring states. He demanded a central probe into the embezzlement and wrongful distribution of ration by the Congress government.

In Jalandhar, the SAD organised protests at various places against the alleged anti-people policies of the government. Similar protests were organised in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Kapurthala districts.

The SAD workers also staged a protest against the cancellation of blue cards and hike in fuel prices near the Mini Secretariat in Ludhiana. The workers formed a human chain to register their protest and raised slogans against the Congress government and submitted a memorandum to Ludhiana deputy commissioner.

Akali Dal leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal said the Congress government has imposed various taxes on petrol and diesel and demanded that both the Centre and the Punjab government should reduce fuel prices.

The government has cancelled blue cards of the people living below the poverty line and there is a massive bungling in the distribution of ration, said Grewal. Partys district president Ranjit Singh Dhillon said they will keep raising the issues of public concern and force the government to cut taxes on fuel.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Tuesday announced give Rs 1 lakh each to the families of 29 Sikh pilgrims killed when a mini-bus carrying them rammed into a train at an unmanned crossing in Pakistans Punjab province on July 3. Besides, the injured will get Rs 50,000 each.

SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said the entire community sympathises with the families of those killed in the accident.

The loss of lives cannot be overcome but on sympathetic grounds, the SGPC gives them this money as help. Besides, we appeal to the Pakistan government to extend help to the victims families. The Indian government should also take action against the railway personnel whose negligence caused this tragedy, said Longowal.

He said that the SGPC will write to Pak PM Imran Khan in this regard. He said the SGPC will also conduct Akhand Path at the Golden Temple in memory of the deceased.
PUNE: Six persons were arrested by a Pune police Zone-3 team on Tuesday for the murder of a garage owner in Dahanukar colony area of Pune on Monday.

The deceased was identified as Rakesh Yamunappa Kshirsagar (25) of Laxminagar area, Dahanukar colony, Kothrud.

Inspector (crime) Kiran Balwadkar of Kothrud police station who is investigating the case said that six persons have been arrested. One person identified as Prashant Maruti Bavdhane (21) of Kondhwa Dhadawe in Uttamnagar area of Pune was arrested by Unit 3 of Pune police crime branch. The others are identified as Rahul Sarkar (19), Siddharam Manjile (20), Kiran Gaware (24), Ajay Suryavanshi (22) and Suresh Waghmare (21), according to the police.

The accused were remanded to five days in police custody as the police are on a lookout for more accomplices in the case.

The reason for murder was enmity between Manjile and the garage owner and they had fought in the past also, according to an official working on the case.

A case under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code was registered at Kothrud police station against the accused.
Shimla: Two brothers were among three persons killed when their Bolero fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradeshs Sirmaur district, police said on Tuesday.

Rakesh Kumar, 34, and his brother Rajesh, 40, and Haribhalab Sharma, 40, all residents of Bajnashra in Theog sub division of Shimla district were returning from Solan when the accident took place on Monday evening. The driver lost control of the vehicle on the Yashvantnagar-Neripul road near Shilabag village in Sirmaur district.

The vehicle was noticed by local residents who informed the police. The bodies were taken to the civil hospital at Rajgarh, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Bhisham Thakur said, adding investigation was on.
The Energy Department began that process last week. According to a back-to-work order obtained by The New York Times, employees asked to report to the departments offices will be questioned about flulike symptoms or contacts with coronavirus patients. The document did not say whether workers would undergo temperature screenings. It did say that while masks would be provided, employees would be encouraged, but not required, to wear them.
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will provide oxygen supply to Covid patients through gas pipelines at a Covid hospital set up at CIDCO exhibition centre in Vashi. The piped oxygen gas supply plant is ready and will be commissioned on Wednesday.

The centre is a 1,183-bed facility and the pipe supply will ensure that all the patients get continuous and uniform supply.

Annasaheb Misal, municipal commissioner, NMMC said, NMMC had set up the 1,183-bed Covid facility in a record time of 20 days. At the time, we had provided 483 oxygen-equipped beds, that supplied oxygen using cylinders. This was a temporary step to provide immediate facility. However, it is important to maintain a constant oxygen gas pressure, hence copper pipelines have been installed at the facility.

Misal said that the oxygen facility will start from July 8. At present around 400 patients are admitted to the exhibition centre. The corporation also has plans for 150 additional ICU beds.

Misal said, Two ICU wards of a total of 75 beds are being set up at the facility. Another 75 bed ICU facility is being set up at MGM Hospital in Sanpada. Work is in progress and we should have them ready in the next two weeks. Our focus is to reduce the fatality rate by setting up efficient healthcare facilities.
Pilgirms to the Char Dham shrines in Uttarakhand have been strictly following the Standard Operating Procedure, including wearing of masks and observing social distancing, to curb the spread of Covid-19 disease in the state.

The Uttarakhand government allowed people from the state to visit the four shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri from July 1. Since then, 5,000 e-passes have been issued to pilgrims from the state. The number of e-passes has increased for Kedarnath and Gangotri shrines as the Hindu month of Savan began.

Pilgrims have to undergo thermal scanning and sanitisation before they are allowed to enter the shrines. Wearing of masks has also been made compulsory at all the shrines.

Bhuwan Chandra Uniyal, dharmadhikari or senior priest at Badrinath shrine in Chamoli district of the state said that none of the pilgrims have violated any of the norms till now.

Pilgrims are strictly following all the rules. They are not allowed to touch the idols, enter the sanctum sanctorum, there is also no distribution of Prasad nor any kind of offerings to the deity are being allowed. Earlier, we used to apply tika or tie the holy thread on pilgrims wrists. But none of that is being done this time. Despite all these rules, the devotion by pilgrims is the same and that is the only thing matters, especially in such tough times, he added.

Deepak Semwal, the secretary of Gangotri Dham Committee said even though ritualistic prayers are not being offered this time, it is important to follow all the norms so that priests and locals remain safe.

For Gangotri, 15-16 priests are appointed every year before the portals of the shrine opens. These priests are the only ones allowed to perform prayers and other rituals for the next one year; so all the norms need to be strictly followed to keep the priests and the locals safe. If a priest gets infected then the whole ritual of offering prayers can get affected, said Semwal.

Pradeep Uniyal, priest at Yamunotri shrine, said that around four to five devotees are reaching the shrine on a daily basis.

Pilgrims who come to the shrine are only being allowed to worship from outside. No one is allowed to enter inside and there is no system of offering prayers inside the shrine this time, Uniyal said.

Harish Gaur, media in-charge of the Board, said that there is great enthusiasm among pilgrims for visiting the shrines and the organisations portal is constantly flooded with requests for generation of e-passes.

The Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board has also opened guest houses situated along the routes to the shrines so that pilgrims can stay at the nearest lodging facility.
Delhi on Tuesday recorded 2,008 fresh coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the cumulative tally of infected cases in the city to over 1.02 lakh. The death toll from contracting Covid-19 disease in the national capital rose to 3,165 after 50 new casualties were recorded on Tuesday.

Here are ten things about the disease outbreak in Delhi you need to know:

1. A total of 74,217 people have recovered from coronavirus disease in Delhi, out of which 2,129 have recovered, discharged and migrated in the last 24 hours.

2. In terms of tracing and testing people, the authorities have tested a total of 6,79,831 people so far, out of which 22,448 people have been tested in the last 24 hours under RTPCR tests and Rapid antigen tests.

3. The city had reported highest single-day spike of 3,947 cases on June 23. The cases recorded have been on a decline since then.

4. Total containment zones in Delhi as of July 7 are 454, after one zone was de-contained in the last 24 hours.

5. Delhi recorded a sharp decrease in the positivity rate for tests, currently at 6.73 per cent, over the past three weeks. This could be a sign that testing may have been adequately scaled up in the national capital.

6. Test done per million in Delhi  which represents the total number of people tested out of a million  is at 35,780.

7. At present, Delhi has a total of 16,608 infected people under home isolation.

8. As of July 7, Delhi has 16,881 beds available to treat people infected by Covid-19, indicating preparedness on the part of authorities who had expected the tally to go past a lakh by June end. However, Delhis number crossed a lakh in July first week.

9. Delhi is currently the third worst-hit state in the country, contributing nearly 14 per cent of the cases, after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

10. Delhis recovery rate on July 7 remained over 70 per cent for third day in a row at 72.17 per cent, indicating a better chance of recovery in the disease outbreak.

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A 21-year-old student of BA (Hons) in English at Delhi Universitys SGTB Khalsa College is fighting two battles at the same timethe coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and stress of the upcoming online open-book exams.

Despite opposition from both teachers and students, the University is set to conduct open-book exams online for final-year students from Friday.

While hundreds of students said they might boycott the online open-book exams after facing several technical issues during the mock tests, Gaurisha Kapila, who tested positive for Covid-19 on July 1, said that she does not want to miss future opportunities by skipping exams.

The resident of west Delhis Uttam Nagar area is in home isolation. I do not have a choice but to appear in the exams. The University is saying it will conduct another round of exams whenever the situation improves. But I cannot wait for my degree for an unknown period. There is so much uncertainty. If I wait, my graduation will be stuck and I will not be able to do anything else, she said.

Even as the Delhi University has said that it will provide students who could not appear in online exams with another opportunity, the University has not made specific announcements for Covid-19 positive students like Kapila. I had contacted my college teachers and written to the college authorities about my situation. The college had forwarded my letter to the university administration. But there has been no response yet, she said.

Kapila said that she was already stressed about the online exams before she tested positive for Covid-19 on July 1. I visited my aunts house in the last week of June. I wanted some change since I was anxious about the online exams. My aunt and her family live in the same neighbourhood. A few days later, my aunt and cousin both tested positive. I also developed symptoms, following which my parents got me tested from a private lab. My result arrived on July 1, she said.

Her father, who has diabetes, and seven-year-old brother shifted to her grandparents house in Faridabad immediately. Kapila, who is now living with her mother, said that a team from the District Surveillance Office (DS0) visited them the day she tested positive. They put up a home isolation poster outside our house and gave us some medicines and an oximeter to monitor my oxygen level. Although I am feeling well physically, Im very stressed out. I keep wondering what would happen if it also infects my mother. There is a table outside my room where she keeps my food and other stuff to avoid contact with me. I wash my dishes and clothes, and clean my room several times a day. How do I study amid all this and write exams? she said.

Kapila, who wants to pursue a masters degree in theatre from the National School of Drama, could not even appear in any mock online test the University conducted to familiarise students with the new format.

Her mother Sonia Kapila said that the family is stressed about their daughters health. How can the University put students under so much stress amid the pandemic? My daughter is fighting the virus, and she is so worried about her exams at the same time. I do not know how she will write the exams from Friday, she said.

Saikat Ghosh, an assistant professor at Kapilas College, said that she contacted him when she tested positive for Covid-19. She had also written to the college administration. The college administration had forwarded her letter to the University. We are yet to hear anything from them, he said.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Monday advised against the cancellation of final-year exams in colleges. The UGC recommended the colleges hold exams in any mediumonline, offline, or mixedby September 30.

Despite several attempts, DUs Dean of Examination Vinay Gupta and Dean of Students Rajeev Gupta did not respond to calls and text for comment. A senior University official, requesting anonymity, said, The University will surely give another opportunity to students who will not be able to take exams now. In cases like these, the student should give priority to his or her health.
The Delhi Police Tuesday said they had arrested a 40-year-old man from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh for allegedly cheating a 32-year-old nurse of a government hospital of around 34 lakh after befriending her on social media and promising to marry her.

The man, identified as Mohammad Sadiq Imran, had tricked the woman into transferring the money into his bank accounts by telling her that he wanted to start a hotel business before their wedding. He started the hotel business using the money. But when the business incurred losses, he backtracked on his marriage promise, stopped all communications with the woman and never returned her money, police officers associate with the case said.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Kumar Thakur said the woman approached the Mehrauli police station on March 17 and filed a complaint of cheating against the man.

Identifying himself as a businessman in Vijayawada, Imran befriended the woman in 2018. They exchanged their phone numbers and started talking. After sometime, he proposed to her, said DCP Thakur

Once he had her trust, Imran told her about his hotel business plan and tricked her into transferring around 34 lakh to him. But when his business failed, he started avoiding her calls. When the woman realised that she was cheated, she filed a case, said an investigator.

During the probe, the officer said the investigating team identified the suspect and his address through technical surveillance. A team went to Vijayawada and arrested Imran last week. No recovery has been made from Imran since he invested the money in the business, the officer said.
A hard crackdown, coupled with the fear of an invisible but deadly virus, has given Delhi Police the opportunity of cleaning up the citys streets like never before.

If numbers could speak, then the ones accessed by HT from the police control room, would say that common street crimes in the city  like robbery and snatching  are at an all-time low , having dipped by around 60%, when compared to average number of calls received each month last year.

Data accessed by HT shows that the police control room used to receive around 5,000 distress calls on an average every month.. The numbers have come down to less than 2,000 in the last few months.

Senior Delhi police officers said that they had launched a massive crackdown in the last two months and a large number of people have been arrested for snatching and robbery . Snatching was one of the most common crimes last year.

Senior police officers said all station heads have been directed to focus on street crime by police chief SN Shrivastava. The SHOs have been told to ensure that bikers do not have a free run and ensure that snatching cases do not remain unsolved.

Between May and June this year, since the lockdown norms started to be eased, police have arrested 15,678 persons. During the same period last year, there were 11,250 arrests.

The number of calls received has gone down, which definitely means that the crime is coming down. From mid May to June, the lockdown norms have relaxed. People are back on the streets but the calls are reducing, said additional commissioner of police(crime) MS Randhawa.

Randhawa said that every police district has been told to focus on nipping street crime in the bud. At every meeting, the district DCPs are told probe the whole gang involved in snatching  like people receiving/buying stolen property. The number of arrests has increased suddenly because after every snatching, investigating teams are arresting every person related to the crime to break the chain.

The officer cited the example of a cell phone repair mechanic in north Delhi, who was arrested on Saturday with 27 stolen phones. Police had then said that the man, bought snatched mobile phones and sold it in the market by tampering its IMEI number.

The increase in the number of arrests has also prompted Tihar jail authorities to create more spaces for isolation wards to ensure social distancing in jails.

Tihar has reported two Covid-19 deaths and 141 positive cases until Tuesday .

The prison chief, director general Sandeep Goel said that while the situation is manageable currently, the department has written to the government requesting for a temporary jail to be built in the police colony at Mandoli. There are around 350 flats in the police colony, which can house around 2000 prisoners and can be utilized for isolation of new inmates.
Confusion over procedures and paperwork was among teething troubles facing donors as well as prospective recipients at the countrys first plasma bank for Covid-19 patients, which was set up by the Delhi government five days ago to streamline access to one of the few effective treatments against the coronavirus disease.

Convalescent plasma therapy uses a blood component called plasma, which contains virus-fighting antibodies, from a person who has recovered from the infection. When given to a patient with Covid-19, it has been established to help their immune system fight off the virus. Other states such as West Bengal and Goa have also decided to set up plasma banks.

There were several forms that had to be filled, and even if one column or stamp was missing, the applicants were asked to go back to the hospital. Apart from that, transporting the plasma is also the responsibility of the patients family. So, I had to go looking for an ice box, said Sujeet Kumar, 35, who went to the plasma bank on Monday with a friend whose father needed the therapy.

Similar problems were faced by donors, who reported waiting for long waiting hours.

Ravi Sharma, 33, was one of the recovered Covid-19 patients who registered as a convalescent plasma donor. Sharma, a Delhi government educator, left the Delhi Plasma Bank without donating after waiting for over six hours at the hospital.

After I registered on the website, I got a call from a doctor who told me about the therapy. Then, we fixed an appointment for Monday afternoon, he said.

The confusion started when he reached the hospital. I was not told that I had to carry any document. But once I reached the hospital, they asked me to fill a form and provide my test reports  both positive and negative. I had the negative report on my phone but not the other one. It took two hours of back and forth for my sample to be taken, he said.

He left around 7pm after waiting in vain for his fresh test report. I was the only voluntary donor at that time, he said.

The process will definitely get streamlined in the next few days. It is a new process and we will take their feedback to make it as easy as possible. It is monitored directly by the CM and a dedicated team is personally reaching out to potential plasma donors to make the process smooth and convenient at the earliest, said a Delhi govt spokesperson.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday had urged all recovered Covid-19 patients to donate plasma, particularly since the criteria for who can donate leaves many people out.

The number of patients receiving plasma therapy has gone up with the Union ministry of health allowing hospitals to administer the therapy outside of a clinical trial in patients with moderate disease whose requirement for oxygen kept increasing despite being given oxygen therapy and steroids.

So far, over 74,000 people have recovered in the city and many of them can donate plasma, health officials said. So far, we have administered the therapy to 12 patients. However, its efficacy in treating Covid-19 is not yet proven, said Dr Gauri Shankar, head of the department of critical care at Fortis hospital, Vasant Kunj.

Max hospital, Saket, which was the first hospital in the city to administer the therapy, has been receiving increased requests and queries about the therapy.

We counsel all Covid-19 patients at the time of discharge to return in two weeks to donate plasma. However, we are not getting enough donations at the moment for us to create a plasma ban, said Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director, Max Healthcare.

The delays could possibly be because people might come to the hospital without checking what papers are needed on the website. The process of plasmapheresis is meticulous. We are able to manage nearly 20 donors and recipients everyday and hope to get better with time, said Dr SK Sarin, director of Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences that runs the plasma bank. Around 200 patients in each of the two hospitals will receive the therapy under the trial.

In two separate orders on Tuesday, the Delhi government directed all Covid hospitals in the city to obtain feedback of patients on prescribed proforma and ask them if they want to donate plasma. The government has also decided to put up boards at entry gates of all hospitals requesting recovered patients to donate.
Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday asked all the 1,030 government schools in the city to employ the services of guest or contractual teachers in the ongoing online teaching-learning process. Around 20,000 guest teachers, employed in Delhi government schools contractually, were rendered jobless after their contracts lapsed in May.

On July 2, Sisodia had announced that the guest teachers would be engaged in the online teaching process underway in all government schools amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a letter to the Directorate of Education (DoE) on Tuesday, Sisodia said, It has come to my notice that despite very clear instructions on July 2, 2020, many schools are not involving guest and contractual teachers in implementing the new teaching-learning plan. Our plan will not be effective unless all teachers, including guest and contractual teachers, who have had a direct role in taking classes with children in the pre-lockdown phase, are not involved once again.

Sisodia said that the new plan does not just involve sending worksheets or conducting online classes, but also staying connected with every child via regular follow-ups. Its possible only when all teachers of the schools take individual responsibility for a certain number of children. Therefore, all teachers must be engaged to ensure that all children take part in teaching-learning activities and to keep track of their well-being, the education minister wrote.

He directed the DoE to instruct all heads of schools (HoS) to take the services of the guest teachers. Please instruct all the HoS to call all willing guest and contractual teachers who rendered their services before the summer vacation in May 2020 and continue employing their services in teaching-learning and any other function assigned to the school, Sisodia said.

The All India Guest Teachers Association welcomed the move. Shoeb Rana, a guest teacher at a government school in Sunder Nagri and a member of the association, said, This is a big relief for the guest teachers since many schools were not calling them back to work citing the fact that there was no official confirmation by the government. The education ministers letter has made things clear now.
After escalatory rhetoric, and more important, aggressive actions, a process to slowly, in a calibrated manner, defuse the tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), has commenced. Chinas slight withdrawal of troops from Galwan, and the Hot Springs Area, and what appears to be a minor thinning of its presence at Finger 4 in Pangong-Tso, is a positive development. With a two-hour-long conversation between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi  the designated special representatives on border talks  there appears to be a degree of convergence between the two countries on the need to first disengage, and eventually de-escalate, from the current stand-off.

There are structural reasons why disengagement makes sense for both countries. China was solely responsible for transgressing across LAC. Even the finest scholars who study China have not been able to offer a fully rounded explanation on why Beijing has behaved the way it did. Is it linked to its pattern of aggression elsewhere? Is it to overcome domestic legitimacy issues Xi Jinping may be confronting? Is it a message to India to not cosy up to the United States? Is it to halt Indias border infrastructure development? Is it to gain tactical advantage to secure Aksai Chin and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor? Beijing may have been motivated by all these factors, but the fact is, even for a rising power, its actions defied rational calculation, for it has alienated India, and Indian public opinion entirely, throwing the entire relationship  of which China too has been a beneficiary  off-gear. It will also push India in the very direction Beijing does not want it to move. If Beijing is now waking up to what is a miscalculation, that is wise. New Delhi too does not want conflict. It was left with no choice but to respond aggressively to Chinese incursions and defend its territorial integrity. But given the internal economic weaknesses, the Covid-19 challenge, the gaps in military preparation, and the costs of any conflict, peace is, of course, the most desirable option.

But this seeming thaw needs to be accompanied with two caveats. One is immediate. As the Indian establishment has made clear, every step of the disengagement process will be carefully monitored and verified. China has violated past understandings; its statement contained a hint of continued belligerence; and there doesnt appear to be a deal on it stepping back from the finger area in Pangong-Tso. India must ensure complete restoration of status quo ante. The second is medium-term. Irrespective of a possible de-escalation, it cannot be business-as-usual. India must ramp up its capabilities, deepen external partnerships, reduce dependence on China, and remain wary, for this is possibly the beginning, not the end, of an era of a new strategic competition.
Delhi University informed the Delhi High Court on Monday that Open Book Examinations (OBE) for under-graduate courses will commence from July 10 and those students who are unable to take them, be it persons with disabilities or others, will be allowed to appear for the exams physically in September.

The varsity said this would be irrespective of whether students have filled up applications online or not and also in cases where they download the question papers for OBE but fail to upload their answer-sheets.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad, which was conducting the hearing through video conferencing, directed the university to file an affidavit clarifying its stand and listed for July 9, a plea challenging the conduct of online exams.

For purposes of clarity and to avoid any ambiguity, it is deemed appropriate to direct the Delhi University to file an affidavit clarifying its stand as recorded above and on any other aspect stated before us so that appropriate orders can be passed on the next date, the bench said.

The court was hearing a plea by Prateek Sharma and Diksha Singh seeking directions to the Centre for setting up an effective mechanism for visually impaired and other disabled persons so that educational instructions can be transmitted to them properly and teaching material is provided to them through online mode of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plea said that universities, schools, colleges and other educational institutions have engaged in online teaching amid COVID-19 outbreak, but no efforts have been made by the government to consider the need of the visually impaired and specially-abled individuals.

The high court had earlier asked the DU why contempt proceedings not be initiated against it and its officers for trying to mislead the court by withholding information on deferment of the online open book exams.

The exams, which were scheduled to start from July 1, have been deferred by another 10 days and will now commence from July 10.

During the hearing, senior advocate Sachin Dutta, appearing for Delhi University, said that as a run up to the main examinations, the mock exams have commenced on July 4 and will conclude on July 8. Thereafter, the OBE will commence from July 10.

He, however, submitted that if, for any reason, the students are not in a position to sit for the OBE examination commencing on July 10, all the students, whether in the PWD category or otherwise will be afforded an opportunity to sit in the examinations physically in September this year subject to pandemic conditions normalising.

The high court posed certain queries to the DU as to the status of those students who are studying in the final year of the under-graduate courses and propose to seek admission in the post-graduate courses in the event they are not in the position to take the exams through the OBE system conducted remotely and instead elect to await the physical examinations proposed to be conducted in September, 2020.

To this the varsitys counsel said such students will be provisionally granted admission in the post-graduate courses offered by DU subject to the condition that they meet the eligibility norms after the results of the under-graduate course are declared and subject to their appearing for the entrance examination.

The high court had earlier pulled up the varsity for not informing it on June 26, when the matter was heard, about the decision to defer the examinations.

The bench had said it came to know about the same on June 27 from news reports while it was in the middle of dictating an order to dispose of the petition on the basis of the DUs statement that it was geared up to commence exams from July 1.

It had said that once DU had told it that it was fully geared up for holding the exams from July 1, any change in schedule ought to have been communicated to the bench.

The DU, in its defence, had said the decision was taken after it came to know on June 26 at around 2.20 pm that the mother of its Deputy Registrar (secrecy) tested positive for COVID-19 and the entire family had to be quarantined.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi co-chair the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum via video link, July 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China and Arab countries on Monday agreed to jointly fight COVID-19, deepen cooperation in various fields, and embrace new prospects in building a China-Arab community with a shared future.

The agreements were reached during the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, which was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, via video-link. Foreign ministers and ministerial officials from all Arab League (AL) member states attended the meeting, along with AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

Commending China-Arab relations since the last meeting, Wang said the China-Arab community with a shared future is developing, and the two sides should grasp the trend of promoting bilateral relations with more urgent historical consciousness.

During the meeting, Wang called on the two sides to strengthen unity and coordination to fight COVID-19.

China is willing to continue to work with Arab countries to offer more anti-epidemic supplies, share experiences, and send medical teams, hold China-Arab health-cooperation forums as soon as possible, work on vaccine research and development, and also support the key role of the World Health Organization (WHO), said Wang. He called on the two sides to oppose politicizing and labeling practices regarding COVID-19, and oppose racial prejudice and ideological bias.

Wang called on the two sides to firmly support each other, and to safeguard fairness and justice. China firmly supports Arab countries in safeguarding their political security and social stability, and in choosing a path of independent development, he added.

China will continue to resolutely stand with the Palestinian people and Arab people, said Wang, hailing Arab countries' support of China's legitimate propositions on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan, and other domestic affairs.

On multilateralism and global governance, Wang called on the two sides to unequivocally support a UN-centered multilateral system and the international order based on international laws, and resolutely reject any unilateralism and power politics.

China and Arab countries can open up fast channels for necessary personnel exchanges, and deepen industrial and supply chain cooperation, Wang said. He urged both sides to push the Belt and Road construction forward in the direction of high quality, sustainable development, and improving people's livelihood.

The state councilor also called on the relevant sides to push forward political dialogue to promote security in the Middle East.

Twenty-one ministers attending the meeting along with the AL Secretary-General spoke highly of mutual trust and support between the two sides. They commended China's important achievements in fighting COVID-19.

They agreed to work with China to implement a plan outlining China-Arab relations in the next two years, accelerate Belt and Road cooperation, and deepen cooperation in trade, investment, energy, technology, tourism, and culture to achieve common development.

Noting that both sides uphold the basic norms of international relations, such as multilateralism and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, they said the Arab countries firmly support China in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity. They also firmly uphold the one-China principle, support China's legitimate position and propositions regarding Hong Kong and Xinjiang affairs, and oppose interference in China's domestic affairs.

During the meeting, the two sides released a joint declaration on fighting COVID-19 with solidarity, the Amman declaration, and an action plan for the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum 2020-2022.

[ Editor: WXY ]
Depp and Heard arrived by separate entrances at the neo-Gothic court building on the first day of the three-week trial, one of the first to be held in person since Britain began to lift its coronavirus lockdown. Both wore face coverings over their noses and mouths.Proceedings have been spread over several courtrooms to allow for social distancing.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court has called for the University Grants Commission (UGC) to be made a party to a public interest litigation (PIL) that has challenged a Maharashtra government resolution of June19 which decided to not conduct exams for professional and non-professional courses due to the situation caused by novel coronavirus pandemic. The bench also asked Maharashtra state to respond to the petition.

The PIL filed by Dhananjay Kulkarni, a retired teacher from Pune, has stated that because UGC was the regulation authority, Maharashtra state was not empowered to decide and announce the mode of assessment for final year students, and has sought to set aside and quash the government resolution.

The division bench of Justice AA Sayed and Justice MS Karnik was informed by Kulkarnis advocate Uday Warunjikar that the decision of the higher and technical education ministry to not conduct exams for professional and non-professional courses was not valid.

The government resolution had stated that students of non-professional courses, who have cleared all previous semesters and do not want to appear for last semester exams of their final year should give in writing that they do not want to appear for final exams to their respective universities. These students will be awarded a score based on the average of their aggregate marks of previous semesters and provided with results, and had given an exception for those students who were not satisfied with their score and wished to fare better to given a written undertaking to the effect which would enable them to take an optional exam later.

But the government resolution had stated that it will not be able to conduct final semester exams of professional courses like engineering, pharmacy, hotel management, architecture, planning, management studies, computer studies, law, physical education and pedagogy, but had given students to take the optional exam for better scores later.

The plea stated, There is an artificial classification made by the state among students who are admitted to professional and non-professional courses. If the state government is not going to conduct examinations for non-professional courses because of the coronavirus outbreak, there is no reason to conduct exams for professional courses either. There is no logic behind the decision and it is arbitrary and unreasonable and therefore courts intervention is required.

Warunjikar further submitted that the dual assessment method offered to the students in the GR was also without logic and such methods cannot be adopted while granting degrees. Students are given the option to appear for exams or accept average marks based on past performance.

Such exercise is unknown to the educational field and therefore there is non-application of mind on the part of the state, said Warunjikar and submitted that even the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 did not permit the state government to take such a decision and only the UGC could take such decisions, hence the decision was beyond the purview of the provisions of UGC Act as well.

The plea stated, The hanging sword of uncertainty is faced by final year students and GR is not clear as to when the exams will be conducted and the academic year will get over. Fate of a large number of students who wish to take admission for the post-graduation courses is kept in a hanging situation.

Stating this, the petitioner sought from the Court to quash and set aside the GR and pending hearing, sought a stay on the same. After hearing the submissions the court directed that UGC should also be made party to the PIL and directed the state to file response to the plea within a week, the Court posted further hearing on July 17.
The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) on Monday expressed its disappointment over the UGC guidelines on exams, saying that they show complete disregard for students.

Final-year examinations in universities will have to be conducted by September-end, the HRD Ministry announced on Monday, deferring the schedule from July in view of a spike in COVID-19 cases.

However, students unable to appear in final-year exams in September will get another chance and universities will conduct special exams as and when feasible, according to revised guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The decision by the HRD Ministry came following a nod from the Ministry of Home Affairs to conduct the exams as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The Delhi University is holding online open book exams despite opposition from students and teachers.

DUTA, in a statement, 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.

Despite widespread reporting that the mock tests in Delhi University were ridden with glitches, the UGC has declared that it will not ask universities to cancel exams, the teachers association said.

What has led to this about turn since the Ministers tweet on 24.6.2020 advising the UGC to reconsider its guidelines? The contradictory MHA orders in a gap of few days, even as there is no change in the COVID graph, shows that mental and physical well-being of lakh of students has been compromised. The -OBE business is clearly more important, DUTA said.

Is an exam that has no mechanism at all to monitor malpractice an acceptable basis for award of degrees? Is an exam that rewards dishonesty punishes honest students not the antithesis of education or is promoting dishonesty an aim of education? it asked.

Students have complained about technical glitches arising during the Delhi Universitys mock exams and have been demanding cancellation of the exams that are due to commence from July 10.
Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has found the perfect cast for a sequel to his 1983 film, Masoom, despite there being no plans for one. The filmmaker has shared a family picture of actor Jugal Hansraj, noting how cute his son is.

The filmmaker wrote, Anyone looking to make a sequel to Masoom, needs to look no further for the cast! Even cuter than Jugal Hansraj was in Masoom, is his wife Jasmine and Jugals son. Sidak Sidak. What a beautiful family. They live happily in New York.

He also made sure to put an end to any speculations about the sequel. And no, i have no intention of making a sequel to Masoom. Jugal, i dont know if you remember what a run around you gave me to do the part. I saw you in the Amul Dada commercial, and it took me months to convince you to act in the movie. I would have to take you to the recordings of the songs, take you to sets on studios, to convince you to that film making can be really interesting exciting and fun ! Do you remember ?#masoom #kids #family #film #family @thejugalhansraj, he added.

Also read: Actor Rahul Sharma says he battled depression: I used to choke on my tears even in my sleep, would wake up crying

Starring Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi in lead roles, Masoom remains one of Shekhars most beloved films. It tells the story of a man, who realises he has a child from a past relationship, and how the news leaves his wife devastated. Naseer and Shabana essayed the roles of the couple while Jugal played the child.

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The Nuh Police, on Tuesday, seized 823 kilograms of cannabis (locally known as ganja), worth 1 crore in the international market, from a moving vegetable truck in Pinagwan, Nuh.

According to the police, there has been a spurt in drug smuggling since lockdown and the police so far have recovered drugs worth 2 crore in the last three months across the district.

According to the police, the cannabis was being transported in a truck from Odisha and was on its way to Alwar in Rajasthan. Truck driver Sahil, a resident of Rajasthan, has been arrested and is presently being interrogated by the police.

During interrogation, he allegedly told the police that he has been working as a driver with a transport company for the last two years. Three months ago, he came in contact with some people of his village who used to sell ganja and used to smuggle it to states such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. They lured him to smuggle it from Odisha to different parts of Rajasthan, by promising him 40,000 per trip.

Last week, he was given advance of 20,000 and was asked to drive a vegetable truck, with cannabis hidden in it, to Alwar. He was told to deliver the consignment to a drug peddler in Alwar, after which he would drive back the empty truck to another location in Nuh, from where he would load spices.

The contraband substance was to be handed over to a peddler in Alwar but the crime investigation agency (CIA) team intercepted the truck at Pinagwan after receiving a tip-off, The police recovered the cannabis from 26 sacks. There were two drivers out of which one fled from the spot, Narender Bijarnia, the superintendent of police, Nuh, said.

An FIR has been registered at the Pinagwan police station under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the accused have been remanded to judicial custody, the police said.

Bijarnia said, We have adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards drug trafficking in the district. The main reason behind the spurt in the drug peddling cases is the rise in demand. After the relaxations in the lockdown norms, the demand has increased and therefore drug peddlers are more active nowadays. However, crime units and police teams are working very hard to nab the peddlers and the middlemen involved in the trade.
Forty-two policemen including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and officers in-charge of two police stations, who raided an illegal liquor unit last Saturday, have been quarantined in Jharkhands Koderma district after an accused who was arrested was found infected with coronavirus, police said on Tuesday.

As many as 42 policemen were quarantined at our Domchanch based institutional quarantine centre. After five days, the high risk personnel that includes whosoever came in close contact with the Covid patient, will be examined. Then, samples of low risk personnel will be taken, said Koderma deputy commissioner (DC) Ramesh Gholap.

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A 42-member police team including DSP (headquarters) and officers in charge of Jay Nagar and Chandwara police stations raided an illegal liquor factory in Chutiyaro village under Jay Nagar police station on July 4, said Koderma sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Rajendra Prasad.

He said they also arrested two persons from the spot. Before sending them to jail, they were tested for Covid-19 as per rule and a 24-year-old accused was found infected with coronavirus. He was immediately sent to Covid hospital, while the other person was sent to jail, Prasad said.

All 42 personnel who were involved in the raid were put in quarantine on Monday, he said.

Meanwhile, the entry of common people has been prohibited in Jay Nagar and Chandwaro police stations as precautionary measures and both the police stations have been sanitized. The complainants have been asked to submit their applications at drop boxes or at the outer gates of the police stations.

On Monday, Chutiyaro village under Jay Nagar block where the illegal liquor factory was running was notified as a containment zone. Contact tracing exercise in the village is being conducted. The villagers who came in contact with the accused will undergo Covid test, the Koderma DC said.

Koderma district has recorded 202 Covid-19 cases till Monday. The number of active cases in the district is 45 and 156 people have been discharged from the hospitals.
The BJP and Congress in-charge for Bihar were in the state on Tuesday to shore up and firm up their alliances ahead of the assembly polls. The BJP said that NDA partners will fight unitedly. The Congress, on the other hand, said it will hammer out an honourable pact with its coalition partners.

Underscoring that its alliance in Bihar was intact, the BJP said that it would contest the polls with its two other partners - JD(U) and the LJP - with a positive mindset and on a development plank.

The comment assumes significance as differences have cropped up between the JD (U) and the LJP on several issues lately.

NDA is comfortably placed. Nobody should have doubt about the alliance. The alliance will contest elections unitedly on the plank of work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government in six years and the steps taken during the lockdown period, said Bhupendra Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP and in-charge of Bihar BJP affairs.

The BJP in-charge also made it clear to the cadres that they should not bother about who will be contesting how many seats. Whatever seats one gets, NDA will fight unitedly. Prepare for all 243 seats, he said.

The LJP had been critical of JD(U) over employment opportunities for migrant labourers during the lockdown, farmers issues, seat sharing, and, above all, the issue of chief ministership in the state.

The Congress in-charge for Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil also sent a message to sulking alliance partners that the party would have an honourable tie up with the alliance partners for the upcoming assembly polls.

Gohil, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha, rushed to Patna on a three-day visit apparently to coordinate with the leaders of the opposition alliance in the wake of fissures emerging over two issues  common minimum programme (CMP) and coordination committee.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) chief Madan Mohan Jha and campaign committee chairman Akhilesh Prasad Singh were also present when Gohil addressed the gathering of party workers at the BPCC office at Sadaquat Ashram in the evening.

A senior BPCC functionary, pleading anonymity, said that meeting the top leaders of the alliance to sort out minor differences on the issues of CMP and coordination committee also topped the AICC in-charge agenda, which was not included in his official itinerary.

HAM-S leader Jitan Ram Manjhi is also anxiously waiting for Gohils meeting with RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to sort out issues, he said.

BPCC media in-charge HK Verma said that Gohils visit was quite significant as the party would form an initial view for the seats it would bargain to contest in the assembly polls with RJD and other alliance leaders. The party leaders have identified around 100 out of 243 seats to contest in the upcoming assembly polls set to be held in October-November.
A thousand pilgrims will be allowed to take a helicopter ride and another 500 will be allowed on foot through the shorter Baltal route each day to undertake Amarnath Yatra this year, officials said on Tuesday. Jammu and Kashmir administration is busy making last ditch efforts to put in place all the arrangements for the curtailed Amarnath Yatra due to Covid 19 pandemic outbreak.

Officials of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) said chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam has decided on the number of pilgrims to be allowed each day during the curtailed pilgrimage that is likely to be held from July 21 to August 3.

On Sunday, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, GC Murmu, peformed Pratham Aarti of the ice stalagmite at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir.

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Murmu was accompanied by his principal secretary and chief executive officer of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) Bipul Pathak, additional CEO AK Soni, Division Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang K Pole and other senior officials.

Since then Prasar Bharati, Indias official broadcaster, has been airing live the Aarti from the holy cave shrine and it will continue till August 3.

The chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, BVR Subrahmanyam on Saturday had said that this years Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir Himalayas would have to be undertaken in a restricted manner, so that the SOPs for Covid-19 are strictly adhered to.

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Pilgrims and volunteers (Sewadars), who set up community kitchens, have to carry latest Covid 19 negative reports with them.

On June 5, the top officials of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) performed Pratham Pooja in the states winter capital Jammu on the occasion of Jayestha Purnima signifying commencement of the annual pilgrimage.

Last year, the yatra was cut short following intelligence inputs of terror threats ahead of the Centre scrapping Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In 2018, the pilgrimage was held for 60 days.

Thousands of pilgrims either trek the traditional and longer 45-km-long Pahalgam route or the shorter 16-km Baltal route to the holy shrine every year.

One of the holiest pilgrimages of Hinduism, the Amarnath Yatra attracts pilgrims from India as well as across the world. There have been terror attacks on the route of the yatra in the past. The last attack took place in 2017 on a bus from Gujarat in Anantnag district that left seven pilgrims dead.
The Assam unit of Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday expressed resentment and reservations on certain policy changes by the state government on management of Covid-19 pandemic in the state.

In a letter addressed to health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (copy of which is with HT), the IMA unit said with present surge in Covid-19 cases in the state it will be difficult to control the situation in the absence of proper planning.

Increasing hospital beds without manpower planning will be futile exercise as we have very limited resources in terms of doctors and health workers, the IMAs letter said.

Till Monday, Assam had recorded 12,522 Covid-19 positive cases. The states biggest city, Guwahati, and rest of Kamrup Metro district have been placed under total shutdown for 14 days beginning June 28 due to community spread of the disease.

On Monday, the government issued a fresh set of guidelines increasing Covid duty for doctors from existing 7 days at a stretch to 11 days followed by 3 days in quarantine and resumption of duty after their tests come negative, said Dr. Satyajit Borah, IMA Assam unit president.

This was done without consultation with stakeholders. Working in Covid centres for 11-days at a stretch wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) kits in this summer without air-conditioning in most centres is very exerting and will demoralize frontline workers, he added.

The IMA unit also opposed the governments decision to switch over from RT-PCR tests to rapid antigen detection (RAD) tests for checking health workers engaged in COVID. It added that according to ICMR, the RAD test is less sensitive and negative result does not rule out Covid.

Already a number of doctors and healthcare workers have fallen victim to Covid and such unplanned and insensitive steps will further endanger the health workers. IMA demands a critical review on why so many doctors and health workers are affected by the disease, the letter stated.

Though exact figures of Covid-19 infection among doctors and health workers wasnt available, IMA office bearers mentioned nearly 20-25 doctors have tested positive for the virus in the state.

IMA urges the government to take experienced healthcare professionals and groups in confidence in proper planning to face the challenges rather than taking closed door and whimsical decisions. Otherwise the much talked about successful Assam model will collapse in no time, the letter cautioned.

The IMA unit advised the state government to adhere to ICMRs advice of management of asymptomatic Covid-19 patients in their homes in order to lessen burden on healthcare workers and facilities.

Reacting to the IMA letter, principal secretary (health and family welfare) Samir Kumar Sinha mentioned that he was aware of the issues raised and they will be sorted out after consultations.

We had to raise the number of Covid duty days from 7 to 11 for healthcare workers due to the surge in cases. We have to provide medical services to the patients or else there will be more deaths, Sinha said.

Unlike RT-PCR test, which used to take several days to get results, the RAD test allows us to get results within an hour. Once the results come negative and their quarantine period is over, healthcare workers can get back to duty, he added.

Health department officials requesting anonymity said keeping asymptomatic Covid-19 patients in home quarantine is tough for Assam as healthcare workers will need to pay visits regularly to monitor them. But a change in protocol is expected within the next few days.
Uttarakhand DG (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar, drawing lessons from the failed police raid in Uttar Pradeshs Kanpur, advised his men on Tuesday to carry out a proper threat assessment before conducting counter raids on criminals.

Eight policemen were killed in an ambush in Kanpur when they had gone to arrest notorious criminal Vikas Dubey. The criminal continues to be on the run.

Weve directed all police authorities in the State to assess the level of criminals before conducting raids, gather information about them and plan accordingly, Uttarakhand DG (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

We've directed all police authorities in the State to assess the level of criminals before conducting raids, gather information about them and plan accordingly: Uttarakhand DG (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar on being asked about steps taken by police after UP's Kanpur encounter pic.twitter.com/yyMNY6xvIs  ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2020

The officer said authorities have been told to raid only after taking everything into account.

If the criminal is of a very high level then we can call commandos for assistance, he added.

Fifty dedicated teams and over 3,000 police personnel across UP have been deployed in a massive manhunt to nab history-sheeter Vikas Dubey. The police have also raised the bounty on his head to Rs 2.5 lakh from the initial Rs 50,000.

According to local police officials who did not want to be named, the UP police team came under attack from three sides when it had gone to arrest the criminal from his village in Kanpur. Taken by surprise, as they ran for cover, criminals on the ground accosted them and snatched their weapons, they said.

By the time a wounded policeman escaped the site and raised an alarm, the criminals  believed to be around 20 in number  escaped.

The autopsy report said that the policemen were killed by their own weapons.
Air and first class rail travel ban for officials were among several measures adopted by the Odisha government on Tuesday as part of its austerity measures to make space for Covid-19 related expenditure.

Odisha finance department secretary AKK Meena in a letter to all the government departments said there would be a complete ban on purchase of new vehicles for the next two years and travel and official tours have to be avoided in general.

All administrative departments are required to prioritise their expenditure needs in order to limit the expenditure within the resources available with priority to make fiscal space for Covid-19 related expenditure. There would be a complete ban on travel outside the country and air travel in business class using government funds. Air journey should be avoided and meetings through video conferencing or IT may be preferred. In exigencies approval of authority one level higher than the present delegation would be required for journey by air. There would be a complete ban on journey by train in 1st class AC by all government officers, Meena instructed in the letter.

The finance secretary further said if any officer has to travel, then no reimbursement would be allowed for occupancy in any hotel in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.

There would be a complete ban on creation of new posts except for the health & family welfare department.

New engagement of consultants, outsourcing and employing services of retired government officers would be restricted. In case, there is necessity for creation of posts for modernisation of administration or effective implementation of development and welfare programmes, the same would be considered only against abolition of equivalent posts with concurrence of the finance department.

Experts have said that Odisha has no other way than to borrow liberally so as to provide for higher spending on healthcare and continue with its welfare programmes.

Recently, while speaking at a webinar organised by the Odisha Alochana Chakra, former chief secretary Jugal Mohapatra and former NIPFP professor Dr Tapas Sen said as economic activities remained suspended for most part of the April-June period, the Odisha government could raise only 60% of the revenues it had budgeted for the quarter.

If this trend continues through the rest of the financial year, the governments revenues in financial year 2020-21 may fall about Rs 49,600 crore, or 40%, of the Rs 1,24,000 crore budget target, said Dr Pravas Mishra, a public finance analyst with Oxfam India.

Assuming that economic activities and revenue collections return to normal by October-December quarter, the most optimistic scenario could still leave the state with a revenue shortfall of at least Rs 17,000 crore, or 25%.

Mohapatra said the government of Odisha could tap the Debt Redemption Fund that has about Rs 12,000 crore lying in it. Also, it has enough headroom to borrow from the RBI via ways and means advances, as the limit for such loans has been raised to 5% of GDP, around Rs 22,000 crore.
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At 8.45am on Sunday, army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane called up defence minister Rajnath Singh to inform him that the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) was moving out troops from the Y-junction of Galwan Valley, towards its base camp in the rear.

The same evening, between 5pm and 6pm, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, also the Special Representative (SR) on the Boundary Dialogue between the two countries, had a candid conversation with Chinese SR Wang Yi (also the countrys foreign minister). Coming out of more than two weeks of quarantine and indisposition during which he monitored the LAC developments from home, NSA Doval stressed the need to restore patrolling rights of the Indian Army on these four points in order to bring peace and tranquillity along the 1597km long Line of Actual Control (LAC) in east Ladakh.

People aware of the matter said that, by Monday evening, the Chinese started moving back at the four contested stand-off points between the two countries  Galwan, Gogra, Hot Springs and Pangong Tso. The PLA and the Indian Army had withdrawn to their respective base camps in the Galwan sector; initial troop withdrawal had begun in Gogra (patrolling point 15) and Hot Springs (patrolling point 17); and the PLA was in the process of dismantling some structures on Finger 4. People aware of the developments said that till such time as the withdrawal is complete, there will be no let up from the Indian forces, which will continue to be deployed, as an accident cannot be ruled out.

Also read: India-China ties in complex situation, says Beijing after Doval-Wang icebreaker

While these are the first steps taken towards disengagement on the LAC leading to de-escalation, Doval and Wang agreed that both sides will have patrolling rights on the contested points, but will avoid any friction or clash in the future. While the joint secretary-level Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border issues will meet soon to implement these decisions on the ground, the two SRs are scheduled to hold talks three weeks later, by which time the withdrawal process should have been completed, the people cited above said.

The development is a culmination of series of meetings between military commanders and diplomatic officials that began after the PLA took an aggressive posture on the LAC in May. Indias response was handed by NSA Doval under guidance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in close coordination with Rajnath Singh, home minister Amit Shah and external affairs minister S Jaishankar, who stood in for an indisposed Doval to talk to SR Wang Yi on June 17 after the Indian Army and the PLA clashed at patrolling point 14 in the Galwan sector.

The people said it two had a tough conversation, with both sides accusing the other of initiating the border skirmish in which 20 Indian Army soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers were killed.

While India will continue to put pressure on China to ensure that the PLA withdraws to its April positions, the countrys national security planners say that the disengagement process will take time, with each point being negotiated by the military commanders on the ground with diplomatic support. While the PLA were at a disadvantage in Galwan, Gogra and Hot Springs in terms of military positions, the situation at Pangong Tso is in favour of the Chinese, as they have built a road up to Finger 4.

Also read| No unilateral change to status quo, agree India-China: 10 points

Ultimately, said analysts, it is restoration of Indian patrolling rights on the north banks of Pangong Tso which will determine the success of the Doval-Wang parleys.

Although Raisina Hill is relieved at the reduction of tension at the border, it is still foxed at the reasons for the Chinese PLA to initiate military aggression on the LAC at the cost of a nuanced and complex relationship between the two countries achieved with 30 years of careful nurturing.  Even if we say that PLA was showcasing the power differential between China and India, it does not make any sense strategically as the move to acquire few kilometres of territory not only riled up all India including Opposition parties but also severely hit the economic ties (between the countries), said a senior government official who asked not to be named.

The only explanation to the PLA aggression, according to a member of China Study Group, a government body, is that Beijing expected New Delhi to capitulate much the way some ASEAN nations have when it comes to Chinas aggression in the South China Sea.

While India has noted the US Navy counter to Chinese Navys exercises in the South China Sea, senior officials are at pains to clarify that this has no links to Ladakh withdrawal.  For the past two months, we were prepared for the worst in Ladakh as PM Modi had decided that India will not back down from any aggression on the borders and surrendering of any territory was unacceptable, said a senior Cabinet Minister who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The West Bengal government on Tuesday expanded the definition of containment zone and clubbed it with the buffer zones to come up with a broad-based containment zone and said a strict lockdown will be implemented in those areas from July 9 to stem the spread of coronavirus. The order, however, did not mention how long the fresh spell of the shutdown will last.

A containment zone has a stricter form of the lockdown and people are not allowed to leave or enter such areas while a buffer zone is a certain area marked outside the containment zone.A Centre-mandated nationwide lockdown in containment zones is in place till July 31.

Current concept of containment zones may be combined with the current concept of buffer zone and together they may constitute a revised and broad-based containment zone approach, read a government notification.

The state government said the following activities will be barred in these broader containment zones: all offices (government and private), all non-essential services, all congregations, all transportation, all marketing/industrial/trading activities.

The movement of residents, the government added, will be strictly regulated.

Local authorities will try to arrange home delivery to the residents staying inside the broad-based containment zones, it said further.

In another decision last week, flights from six coronavirus hotspots - Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad - will not be allowed to land in Kolkata between July 6-19 as the state government stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Kolkata has of late been witnessing a daily average of 200 people being infected by coronavirus. The city had 2,415 active coronavirus cases on Monday.
A 59-year-old patient of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19 ) died in Madhya Pradeshs Bhopal after he was left unattended for more than an hour in a parking lot of a private hospital on Monday evening, his family members alleged.

The mans son said his father, who was suffering from a kidney ailment, was admitted to Peoples General Hospital on June 23 after he complained of breathing problem and low sugar level.

On Sunday, the hospital administration got a Covid test done. The report came on Monday that suggested my father suffering from Covid-19. The Peoples Hospital called Chirayu Hospital, a Covid-19 designated private medical colleges hospital, for an ambulance to shift him there, he said.

The ambulance came at around 5pm and took my father. I also left the place but later in the evening, I came to know that my father was abandoned by Chirayu Hospital ambulance back at Peoples hospital. The carelessness of staff of both the hospitals led to the death of my father. I want strict action against them, he said.

Relatives of Covid-19 patients are not allowed to accompany them, he said.

The administration of Peoples General hospital, where the patient was allegedly abandoned, blamed Chirayu Medical College and Hospital for the death.

The patient has been visiting the hospital for his dialysis for the past five years. He was referred to Chirayu Hospital after completing all the discharge formalities in an ambulance. After 20 minutes of discharge, the ambulance attendant called us that they are coming back and we should get ready to provide the man treatment at ICU, Udayshankar Dixit, the Peoples Hospitals manager said.

I asked him not to come back as we had already sealed our ICU as he was the first Covid-19 patient detected in our hospital for the safety of other patients. But instead of listening to us, they left the patient on a stretcher in the parking area. We arranged a PPE kit and provided the patient oxygen but he died, said Dixit.

When contacted, Chirayu Hospitals director Dr Ajay Goenka denied the allegations as baseless to say that patient was left abandoned in parking. He said the man was in a critical condition due to renal failure and was also suffering from a heart ailment.

When a doctor from Peoples Hospital called us, our team of doctors inquired about the condition of the patient to send the ambulance accordingly but the doctor over the phone didnt explain the condition. When the ambulance driver was taking the patient to Chirayu Hospital, he found that he was very critical and needed ventilator support, Goenka said.

He said the ambulance driver called the Peoples Hospital and asked them to attend to the man as Chirayu Hospital was 45 minutes away.

The ambulance driver urged the Peoples Hospital to manage the patient for just 20 minutes till another ambulance from Chirayu equipped with a ventilator could reach there. First, the administration of Peoples Hospital refused to take the patient back. Later, it provided oxygen and CPR. When our second ambulance reached there the patient was found dead, Goenka said.

As the photo and video of the man lying in the parking area went viral on social media, Zameel Khan, a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), reached the hospital and shifted the body to a morgue.

SDM Khan said tough action will be taken against whoever is found responsible for the mans death.
The 119th birth anniversary of nationalist leader Dr. Syama Prasad Mookherjee, the founder president of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, which led to the birth of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980, was used as a platform by the party president JP Nadda to target the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal.

However, the policies of the Congress and the countrys first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, particularly in the context of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), were the mainstay of his speech.

Addressing a digital rally on Monday, Nadda dubbed the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government as an impediment to Bengals development and called for dismissing it lock, stock, and barrel.

As the Bengal assembly polls, slated to be held next year, draws near; the BJP has been sharpening its attack against its main rival, the TMC.

From accusing it of fostering policies of appeasement to shielding those involved in financial scams; the BJP has recently begun blaming the Bengal government of not taking the Centres help in its battle against the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic and depriving the people of the state of benefits of Central schemes such as Ayushman Bharat.

However, it was Dr. Mookherjees clarion call of ek desh, ek nishan, ek vidhan to scrap the special status of J&K that has set the tone for the BJPs battle royale in the state in next years assembly polls.

On Monday, Nadda trained his guns on the TMC government by accusing the party of being power-hungry and chose Dr. Mookherjee as an arsenal.

He said Dr. Mookerjee, who was instrumental in ensuring that Bengal and Punjab were not merged with Pakistan during the Partition in 1947, had opted to resign from the Nehru cabinet, when he had felt ideologically distanced from the government.

West Bengal has always given the country a new vision and a new direction, however, under the current dispensation, the states condition is pitiable. The current West Bengal government has not only ruined education in the state, manufacturing, and trade has also been severely affected. For the sake of the country and West Bengal, Dr. Mookherjee had resigned from a position of power. However, to the current government clinging to power is all that matters, Nadda said.

The party is relying on the J&K issue to stitch its Bengal strategy for the next years assembly polls.

By bringing up Dr. Mookherjees stand on the Kashmir issue it has drawn a comparison between the Bharatiya Jan Sangh founders push for national integration versus CM Banerjees constant tussle with the Centre.

The state government has adopted the policy of appeasement and violence in the state. It is not even cooperating with the Centre in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, whereas PM Narendra Modi has been speaking about cooperative federalism. The West Bengal government has not allowed BJP MLAs (members of legislative assembly) and MPs (members of Parliament) to participate in the war against the viral outbreak. The TMC government is busy filing cases against BJP lawmakers in a bid keep them under house arrest, Nadda said.

In Bengal, where the BJP had won a record 18 of the 42 Lok Saba seats in last years parliamentary polls, the party is assiduously trying to dislodge the TMC government from power.

It recently rejigged its state unit and expanded the roles of known Banerjee-baiters.

And while its political opponents have accused it of trying to appropriate the legacy of Dr. Mookherjee, social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and renowned poet Nazrul Islam; the BJP has found ways of linking the current discourse to its ideology.

For instance, the issue of stripping J&K of special status, which has a pan-India resonance, has been particularly cited in the context of Dr. Mookherjees sacrifice.

Dr. Mookherjees three contributions in the national interest can never be forgotten -- the partition of Bengal before the Independence, the establishment of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and the J&K movement, Nadda said.

Will the BJPs gambit of making Dr. Mookherjee and J&K the focal point of the Bengal polls pay off?

Ajay Gudavarthy, a political commentator and a faculty member at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), said the BJP could benefit from linking the polls to the reading down of Article 370 of the Constitution.

Dr. Mookherjee is not part of the popular discourse or culture of Bengal in the way, say, Swami Vivekananda is. His name may resonate with the urban middle class, but the issue of J&K and the scrapping of Article 370 is an emotional issue that people support, he said.

BJPs national vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, however, said it is a matter of interpretation, if the party is reviving Dr. Mookherjees legacy for its own political gains.

Dr. Mookerjees legacy is an inseparable part of national politics. He has been an icon of our ideology and our political journey; and consequently, bound to figure in our narrative, Sahasrabuddhe said.

We cannot help if people find that there are many similarities in the current situation in West Bengal and those during the times of Dr. Mookherjee. If there is any party that is talking about his legacy, it is the BJP. Although he was a Congressman, the Congress has forgotten him. It is the BJP that tried to translate his ideals into reality. For example, his dream of keeping secessionist forces in J&K at bay by abrogating Article 370, he added.

Saugata Roy, TMCs Lok Sabha MP from Dum Dum constituency, said the BJP is banking on Dr. Mookherjee since the party doesnt have an icon in the state that it can call its own.

Dr. Mookherjee never had a deep political base in Bengal...while he enjoyed respect because of being the son of Sir Ashutosh Mookherjee, Syama Prasad was never a freedom fighter and never went to jail... the BJP is projecting him because it doesnt have an icon In Bengal. The states true icons such as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Dr. Chittaranjan Das, and many others, spoke of Hindu-Muslim unity and not Hindutva. Unfortunately, Nadda doesnt know Bengals rich history, said Roy.
Chinese ambassador Hou Yanqi reached out to Nepal Communist Party leader Jhala Nath Khanal on Tuesday, continuing her outreach to NCP leaders who have joined hands to push out Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, people familiar with the development said. Hou has, over the last few days, met President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and senior Nepal Communist Party (NCP) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as well, triggering criticism about the envoys role in Nepals internal politics. Nepal and Khanal, both former prime ministers, are aligned with the rival faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda.

A meeting between Hou and Prachanda hasnt matured yet. Prachanda, who is leading the campaign to oust PM Oli, is reluctant to meet her, people familiar with the development told Hindustan Times. It is not clear how long he would be able to resist.

Hou Yanqis deep interest in Nepals politics and PM Olis continuation has been widely criticised in Kathmandu.

The Chinese Embassy has defended Hous meetings. Embassy spokesperson Zhang Si told the Kathmandu Post that China did not wish to see the Nepal Communist Party in trouble and wanted the leaders to resolve their differences and stay united.

The embassy keeps good relationships with Nepali leaders and is ready to exchange views on issues of common interest at any convenient time, said Zhang, according to a report in the Post.

The ambassador  and the embassy  keeps good relationships with the government, political parties , think tanks and all walks of life in Nepal, and always exchanges views on issues of common concern at convenient times, said Zhang.

Prachandas reluctance to make it convenient to meet the ambassador stems from his experience in April this year when Hou persuaded the three big feuding players in the NCP - Prachanda, Madhav Nepal and Oli - to stay on the same side. That intervention came as a reprieve for PM Oli, who promptly fuelled a controversy around a 80-km road built by India and issued a new political map for Nepal to consolidate his position in the party and government.

When the rebel leaders revived their campaign for his exit from one of the two posts that he holds - the NCPs co-chairman and the Prime Ministers office - KP Sharma Oli promptly blamed New Delhi for the rebellion, even accusing Prachanda and his faction of batting for the Himalayan nations giant neighbour India that was upset over the map.

PM Olis accusation, designed to put Prachanda on the back foot, however, appeared to backfire when he amped up the campaign against the prime minister, now insisting that Oli quit the prime ministers office.

Kathmandu watchers say Oli has dug in his heels and is unlikely to just give in. Instead, according to reports in Nepals media, he is planning to split the party and form a government in coalition with Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Nepali Congress.
Chinas envoy to Nepal Hou Yanqi is at the centre of a fresh controversy for her meetings with Nepalese political leaders amid growing pressure on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from within his party to step down over charges of poor governance.

Hou is no stranger to such controversies, as she held a series of meetings with leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) in late April and early May after an internal rift in the party became public and threatened to lead to the ouster of Oli. Political analysts also believe China played a key role in bringing together various communist leaders to form the ruling party.

In the past week, Hou met President Bidya Bhandari on July 3 for what was described as a courtesy call and senior politician Madhav Kumar Nepal, who heads the foreign relations department of NCP, on July 5.

As with her meetings with Oli and NCP chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and Nepal in April-May, analysts believe Hou is engaged in efforts to shore up the position of the beleaguered prime minister. Media reports in May said that Hou had, in her earlier meetings, expressed concern at the rift within the NCP and urged the partys leaders to maintain unity and avert any sort of split.

Hous latest meetings with government officials and political leaders have sparked concerns among political analysts and former diplomats as they came at a time when Nepals politics is in disarray and different actors are attempting to gain the upper hand, The Kathmandu Post reported on Tuesday.

Questions have been raised about Bhandaris role in the ruling party, especially against the backdrop of tensions between Oli and Prachanda. Thirty of the 44 members of NCPs standing committee have asked Oli to step down as party chairman and prime minister.

Bhandaris meeting with Hou led to more questions, especially since foreign ministry officials said the Presidents Office has repeatedly violated the diplomatic code of conduct, The Kathmandu Post reported.

An under secretary of the foreign ministry is posted in the Presidents Office to brief Bhandari on potential meetings with foreign dignitaries and envoys, but this official wasnt informed about the meeting between Bhandari and Hou, the report said.

As per the diplomatic code of conduct, foreign ministry officials should be present at such meetings, but we were not informed, an unnamed ministry official told The Post. So there is no institutional record of the meetings and we dont know what the talking points were.

During her meeting with NCP leader Nepal, Hou discussed the conflict within the ruling party and urged all sides to maintain restraint, according to sources cited by The Post.

Bishnu Rijal, deputy chief of NCPs foreign relations department, didnt provide details of the meeting.

I dont have details about the meeting between Nepal and ambassador Hou but as far as I understand Chinese protocol, the Chinese begin meeting top ranking officials and gradually come down to other officials, said Rijal, implying Hou should have already met the two NCP chairs before meeting Nepal.

Hou also reportedly met Oli before the beginning of NCPs standing committee meeting, which began on June 24. On Monday evening, Hou met senior NCP leader Jhala Nath Khanal to discuss internal politics, according to an aide to Khanal.

The Chinese envoy has reportedly been advising NCP leaders to remain united as Beijing is concerned about political stability in Nepal.

Asked about the objective of Hous meetings, Chinese embassy spokesperson Zhang Si told The Post that China didnt wish to see the NCP in trouble and wished its leaders would resolve their differences and stay united.

The ambassador and the embassy have a good relationship with the government, political parties, think tanks and people from all walks of life, and always exchange views on issues of common concern, Zhang said.

Foreign affairs analysts, however, havent taken kindly to the Chinese envoy holding meetings with Nepalese leaders at a time of crisis within the ruling party, The Post reported.

I blame our leaders for inviting interference in our internal affairs, former ambassador Lokraj Baral said. Earlier, the Indian ambassadors would involve themselves in our internal affairs, and now it is the Chineses turn.

Baral pointed to the changing facets of Nepals relationship with both countries, where India is viewed with more suspicion than China.

When the Indian ambassadors did the same thing, we called it interference, he said. But the same does not apply to the Chinese. Only the media have raised this issue, but the political leadership and public intellectuals have not thought about it that way.

Recently, NCP and the Chinese Communist Party held a virtual interaction and Nepal, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, voted in favour of the controversial Chinese security law for Hong Kong.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered a magisterial inquiry on Tuesday into death of a Covid-19 patient in Bhopal after he was allegedly left unattended in a private hospitals parking lot on Monday evening.

The critically ill 59-year-old man lay in the parking lot of the Peoples General Hospitals for about an hour after being left there by an ambulance driver, the deceaseds son alleged. Doctors eventually attended him but he died shortly thereafter.

The man had been admitted to the Peoples General Hospital on June 23 for renal failure before he contracted Covid-19.

It is unfortunate that a patient was ill-treated in Bhopal. A magisterial inquiry has already been ordered and wrongdoers will not be spared, the chief minister told reporters.

The Peoples General Hospital released CCTV footage where the driver and ambulance attendant of Chirayu Medical College and Hospital could be seen leaving the patient unattended on the floor of the parking lot.

The deceaseds son demanded a tough action against the management of both the hospitals.

Peoples General hospital, where my father was left unattended, neither informed any of family members including me nor provided the necessary treatment to him and Chirayu hospitals ambulance left my father in a serious condition on the floor in the parking lot. The driver of the ambulance said instead of taking my father to Covid-19 designated Chirayu Hospital, he came back to Peoples Hospital as my fathers condition was getting critical, said the son.

How could a sensitive person leave a critical patient unattended at a parking lot? he asked and demanded legal action against the driver too.

Zameel Khan a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in Bhopal, said the patient was left behind after a disagreement between the two hospitals.

The ambulance came at around 7.30 pm to take the patient to Chirayu Hospital after he tested positive for coronavirus as Chirayu happens to be a dedicated Covid hospital. But later, the driver called the Peoples General Hospital that they were coming back as the patient was getting critical and needed an ambulance equipped with a ventilator. When Peoples General Hospital refused to take the patient back, the driver left the patient in the parking lot. Later, while the doctors at Peoples General Hospital started treating him, he died, Khan said.

The two hospitals blamed each other for the patients death. The Peoples General hospital blamed Chirayu Medical College and Hospital for the lapses whereas Chirayu hospital administration blamed Peoples Hospital for not providing correct information to it regarding the patient and later refusing to attend the patient.

Peoples General Hospitals manager Udayshankar Dixit said, As we are not a Covid-19 designated hospital, we requested the ambulance driver not to come back but he not only ignored our request but also left the patient outside the hospital without informing us.

Chirayu Medical College and Hospital managing director Ajay Goenka said, The driver came back with a good intention as the patient was getting critical. He informed a doctor of Peoples General hospital that they needed to take care of the patient just for 20 minutes as another ambulance equipped with a ventilator was on its way but Peoples General Hospital refused to take care of him immediately.
A city court has issued notices to the police seeking a status report after three residents of northeast Delhi filed pleas to register FIRs (first information reports) against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra and his associates over their alleged role in inciting communal violence in the area in February, according to the complainants, their lawyer and court records.

The residents have alleged the BJP leader was not booked despite their police complaints against him in late February and early March. They approached the Karkardooma court under Section 156 (3) of the code of criminal procedure (CrPC), which empowers the court to direct the police to file an FIR.

The court asked the police to respond to two petitions filed in March. Hearing in these cases was affected due to the lockdown imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease. The first petition, filed on March 12, is expected to heard on July 20. The second, filed on March 18, will be taken up on August 13. The third petition was filed on Saturday (June 4). No date has been fixed for its hearing.

In their response to HT, the Delhi Police said they meticulously followed up on all complaints and probed them, stressing that no discrimination has been made on grounds of community, caste or faith in a free and fair investigation. Mishra said some forces that want to divert attention from the truth are trying to fabricate false complaints against him and the Delhi Police.

The Delhi Police have filed around 750 FIRs in connection with the riots between Hindus and Muslims that killed 53 persons and left 400 others wounded over four days (February 23-26). An FIR is the first step in launching a formal police investigation.

In his court application, accessed by HT, one petitioner who asked not to be named said he was at his godown in Karawal Nagar around 4.30pm on February 24 when Mishras men attacked him. This person, who was the first of the three to approach the court, said he filed a police complaint on February 25.

Mohammad Jami Rizvi, another complainant and a resident of Yamuna Vihar, said he filed a police complaint on February 23 against Mishra. We have now approached the Karkardooma court. I know many other complainants on whom pressure is being built to either withdraw the complaint or remove names of Mishra and his men from their complaints, Rizvi said.

The third complainant, who approached the court on Saturday, said she filed a police complaint on May 5.

Advocate Mahmood Pracha, counsel for all three complainants, claimed the police did not even file any status report in any of these complaints.

Six other residents of northeast Delhi, who have not approached the court have also alleged that their houses and shops were robbed and vandalised by Mishras men, according to their complaints in four police stations  Jafrabad, Usmanpur, Gokalpuri and Karawal Nagar between March 12 and April 29. They have alleged that police did not register an FIR. HT has seen the complaints.

On February 23, Mishra visited the Jafrabad metro station and held protests against those who blocked the road (anti-Citizenship Amendment Act, or anti-CAA, demonstrators) that runs underneath the metro station. Mishra demanded that the police remove anti-CAA protesters within three days. The Delhi Police, in their charge sheets, have acknowledged that two groups of pro-CAA and anti-CAA protesters clashed at Jafrabad at the start of the riots. They did not mention Mishras name.

Mishra told HT that even legal experts have said there was nothing wrong in what he said that day. What I said is captured in video, and everyone has seen that video (on social media)...Now that the entire conspiracy of Delhi riots is exposed, people such as Tahir Hussain, Khalid Saifi, Shahrukh, Safoora Zargar, and Sharjeel Imam, and the role of Pinjra Tod (a students group) are under the scanner, he said, referring to people held in connection with the riots. He alleged that the violence began in Delhi at the Jamia Millia Islamia in December.

The truth of Delhi riots is out; how long they have planned, their funding and why they especially chose the days of [US President] Donald Trumps visit [in February-end]; everything is exposed already. I am the only one who actually went out and assisted riot victims, and if you go on ground, you will hear the reality from people, Mishra said.

A Delhi Police spokesperson said a case has been registered at Khajuri Khas police station regarding the incident referred to by the first complainant. He confirmed that the department received court papers on March 18, but also said no complaint was received by the Khajuri Khas police from the first person. However, the matter is being investigated.

Responding to Rizvis complaint, the official said he gave a wrong address and was not available on phone. The enquiry has not revealed an iota of truth in his complaint. The allegations laid down by Rizvi are outrightly and vehemently denied.., he said. The matter is also under judicial scrutiny in court and necessary action will be taken as per the outcome and directions of the court.

Allegations in the third complaint, too, were found to be vague, concocted, false and baseless, the spokesperson said.

Senior Advocate Rebecca John, who has represented some of those accused of the Dehi riots (by the police) in the Delhi high court, said the law laid down by the Supreme Court is clear, and the police have no option but to register an FIR if a complaint discloses the commission of a cognisable offence.

If after investigation, the police find the complaint to be false, they have the option of filing a closure report. But that closure report will also be scrutinised judicially and the magistrate need not agree with the view taken by the police. But by not registering an FIR in this first instance, police are avoiding an investigation into cognisable offences mentioned in the complaint.
Tens of thousands of Indian students in the United States found their future in jeopardy on Tuesday after the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said it will not allow student visas holders to remain in the country if their school goes fully online for the fall.

Many of these students said they planned their careers around their US education and the new rules will either kill future career prospects or force them to attend classes in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. To stay in the US, foreign students must transfer to another school with in-person instruction.

While the specifics of the directive are yet to come, it is clear that this will uproot students financially and socially from where they are and make people extra cautious about trusting the US as a preferred higher-education destination, said Sudhanshu Kaushik, executive director at the North American Association of Indian Students (NAAIS), which has over 4,500 student members.

Kaushik, who already paid his deposits for an MBA in a US-based university this year, is now uncertain about whether he can continue in the country himself.

Several institutes are offering a combination of online and in-person classes that can help foreign students stay back. But attending physical classes in the country with 1.4 million coronavirus infections poses a difficult choice between health and future prospects.

Even if the universities opt for hybrid classes, my daughter will have to put her health at risk to attend them, says Bijayalaxmi Nanda, a Delhi college teacher whose daughter is a final-year postgraduate student at New York University.

Saksham Arora, a second-year undergraduate student at Dartmouth College who is currently in Delhi on a break, has the same worry. And so does his mother Vibha, a school teacher. If my son goes back, his health will be at risk, she said. Students will have to live in hostels and use mess facilities which are more likely to expose them to the virus.

A 28-year-old student from Mumbai enrolled at the Parsons School of Design in New York said she made her choice as soon as she heard the options.

I would rather take this risk and attend classes than leave the country, she says. Im just hoping the institute offers offline classes and makes that possible.

NO EXIT PLAN

With no clarity yet on how most institutes plan to proceed, students said anxiety about their careers overshadowed their pandemic worries. Aside for fending for themselves in shuttered foreign cities, many said they were unable to visit home and family; others worried about shrinking job prospects.

The Covid-19 crisis came out of nowhere and we dont have a fallback option, says Shilpi Agarwal, whose son completed his undergraduate course in May and is currently waiting for postgraduate admissions in Indiana. There will be a financial loss for us if he doesnt get to do his Masters or is forced into a gap year. Every parent has different concerns and for us, we dont want our son to be forced to give up a year.

Educationists said students and their families should work closely with universities to formulate a plan.

Many universities are against this new policy. We are, of course, hoping that with their involvement and the petitions they are signing, amendments will be made, says Alisha Mashruwala Daswani, CEO and co-founder of OnCourse Vantage, an education consultancy.

In one scenario, colleges could quickly go back to the drawing board and devise plans that implement enough in-person programming to keep international students in a status that complies with the new regulations, says Kimberly Wright Dixit, CEO and co-founder of the education consultancy Red Pen. In another scenario, colleges will not be able to accommodate the international students, which would create tremendous pressures on them to plan their future and return home in the middle of a pandemic.

FLASH FORWARD

The American education system gets much of its famed vibrancy from the diversity of its ranks of students and faculty. It has routinely wooed students from around the world on the basis of that diversity. Billions of dollars in revenue and tens of thousands of jobs depend on that vibrancy.

Students said if forced out of the country, they will lose key elements of the American education promise  a chance to network, and a chance to work, in that country.

With confusion over work visas for students, residency rules, etc, prospective students had already begun looking away from the US, says Daswani. Many began looking to Canada, the UK, Europe. Our advice to students applying now is to try to diversify and keep all options open instead of looking at just one country.

Vibha Kagzi, founder and CEO of the study-abroad consultancy ReachIvy, calls Mondays announcement myopic and impulsive.

The US is one of the worlds most popular study destinations. They attract the smartest students from across the globe. This could have been handled more sensitively, she says.

For students, our advice is, retain your admissions, return home if you must, but get your degree. Stay the course as best you can.
India fast-tracked delivery of the last batch of the US-built Apache attack choppers after the May 5 stand-off with China in eastern Ladakh to be able to ramp up their presence along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The last batch of five choppers arrived in India last month after the central government exempted Boeing contractors from the mandatory quarantine rules notified due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The team assembled the five choppers that had been shipped to India and quickly had them flown to the Pathankot air base after being flight-tested for deployment in Ladakh.

The military wanted to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. And it was, a top government official told Hindustan Times on Monday.

India had last year inducted 17 of the 22 AH-64 Apache choppers ordered from Boeing that can track 128 targets, prioritise threats and engage 16 targets. The remaining five were to arrive in India by the end of March. But the plan to ship the choppers had to be halted due to the nationwide lockdown enforced in India due to the coronavirus pandemic.

India was taken by surprise in early May when Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers adopted an aggressive posture, setting up a stand-off at four locations in eastern Ladakh. As it became clear that the stand-off was probably directed from Beijing, New Delhi started preparing for all eventualities.

Over the next few days and weeks, the air force started moving its assets such as the Apache choppers and the 15 heavy-lift Chinook choppers to airbases closer to Jammu and Kashmir.

Simultaneously, it also reached out to Boeing to indicate its ability to receive the shipment. Special visas were arranged and formal orders exempting the contractors who would re-assemble the choppers from the mandatory quarantine rule was issued on grounds of national security. By 1 June, the Home Ministry allowed visas to foreign technical specialists travelling for installation, repair and maintenance of foreign-origin equipment.

The induction of the two aerial platforms acquired in a $3 billion deal is a game-changer for the Indian military which otherwise relied on Russian Mi-17 medium lift helicopters for rapid induction of forces and an obsolete squadron of Russian Mi-26 helicopters.

The Chinook helped the military transport troops, artillery, equipment, and fuel to forward bases. The AH-64 Apache choppers, described by some as the Ferrari of attack choppers, was one of Indias primary counter to Chinese threats on the ground and in the air. Because they have an amazing maneuverability, the Apache is designed to operate in nap-of-the-earth flight - that is flying at an extremely low level and using terrain and vegetation to hide from hostile elements.

Counted among the deadliest flying machines, the Apache has a 30mm cannon under the nose that can fire 1,200 rounds in less than two minutes. It can also carry 80 rockets besides Hellfire missiles that can identify, track and hunt targets in the dark.
In all elections, the political environment shapes how things come out, and sometimes you cant control that, No. 2 Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota said last week. He said GOP candidates need to do what they need to do to win. And in some states, he will be a benefit in some parts of the country. In other parts of the country, less so.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the group on infrastructure with railway minister Piyush Goyal and environment minister Prakash Javadekar seeking to expedite clearances for several pending highway and infrastructure projects.

The road transport and highways minister raised the issue of outstanding forest clearance for 187 highway projects. It was also noted that many projects had not yet applied for Stage II forest clearance. Environment minister Javadekar was asked to direct the forest officers posted in states to follow and implement the circulars and orders issued by the environment ministry.

Special High powered committees on forest issues can be conducted as is being done in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh. It was felt that this step will remove many hindrances in the way of infrastructure projects, which will save both time and money, the transport ministry said.

A major issue before infrastructure projects is tree cutting, however, there are ambiguities over inclusion of certain local breeds of shrubs and plants in forest cover, the ministry noted.

An example of Babool or Kikar was presented in the meeting. This being an exotic Arabian shrub, its inclusion in the definition of trees is causing hindrance while considering forest clearance for several projects. In Delhi, an ambitious project monitored by PMO, the Dwarka Expressway, is facing such 1939 Babool shrubs in a total of 6364 trees. It was pointed out that many States like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh do not cover this shrub in land revenue code as a tree, it said.

The meeting was also attended by the railway board chairman, senior officers of the ministries of road transport, power environment and forests, NHAI and representatives from the state governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

Chairman railway board, director general forests and director general roads have been directed to meet every month to expedite work on the concerned projects.

It was stressed in the meeting that level crossings on National Highways need to be removed, as they constitute major accident spots. It was pointed out that while their designs had been approved at 167 locations, but work has not begun as yet.

MoUs were signed in this respect over 5 years ago, and there is a need to improve performance. In this direction, it was agreed to monitor the projects under Setubharatam programme on a monthly basis. It also was underlined that 30 road projects are pending with Railways. However, the railway minister assured to resolve these within two days, the ministry said.
The Bombay high court (HC) last Friday allowed a gynaecologist , booked for performing illegal abortions and convicted under provisions of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, to resume his medical practice.

Dr. Suhas Jadhavar, a gynaecologist, had moved the HC challenging a June 18 order, which was passed by the additional sessions judge, Pandharpur, refusing to relax a bail condition prohibiting him from practising medicine till the completion of his trial.

Dr. Jadhavar and his wife, Dr. Ashwini, also a gynaecologist, were booked by police in Maharashtras Solapur district in February 2018 for performing illegal abortions.

On June 4, 2018, the HC had granted bail to Dr. Ashwini on the condition that she is barred from her medical practice until the trial concludes.

Dr. Jadhavar was also granted bail by the Pandharpur sessions court on the same condition a fortnight later.

Last year, Dr. Ashwini moved the HC seeking relaxation of the condition, and on February 20, the court allowed her to resume practice.

Subsequently, Dr. Jadhavar moved the sessions court, seeking similar relaxation for himself on the ground of parity, but the court rejected his plea, prompting him to move the HC.

His lawyer, advocate Vishwanath Talkute, submitted that on the ground of parity the petitioner doctor was entitled to the same relief, as was granted to his wife and a co-accused in the case, but it was refused on the ground that Dr. Jadhavar has been convicted in a separate case under the PCPNDT Act, 1994, which prohibits the use of modern techniques for sex-selective abortions.

Assistant public prosecutor RM Pethe had opposed the plea, citing Dr. Jadhavar is not eligible for relief because of his conviction.

Justice CV Bhadang, however, felt that Dr. Jadhavar could not have been denied the same relief, as has been granted to the co-accused in the case.

The judge felt that the conviction under the PCPNDT Act, 1994, was an extraneous consideration.

The consideration in my view has to be principally confined to the present case, said the judge.

Once the said condition has been relaxed in respect of the co-accused and where the reasons for such relaxation that the co-accused Dr. Ashwini Jadhavar has abided by the said condition and that there is no likelihood of the trial coming to end in the near future (which apply equally to the case of the petitioner), the parity cannot be refused, he said.

It is necessary to note that the condition was not imposed, on account of pendency and/or conviction in the earlier case, he added.
Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the 21-day nationwide lockdown to fight the Covid-19 pandemic in March, Sanjay Singh, a 45-year-old resident of Mirzapur village in Jalaun district realised that there was a crisis in the making.

Jalaun lies in the plains of Bundelkhand, a region from where several thousand men and women migrate to Mumbai in Maharashtra, Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Bengaluru in Karnataka and other metropolises, in search of work. When the lockdown began on March 25, Singh saw residents of nearby villages make frantic calls to their family members living as migrants in big cities, fearful of their survival. Within a few days, one of the countrys biggest reverse migration movements began, as migrant workers took to the roads, often on foot, to go back to their home states.

Towards the end of March, such a group of migrant workers had reached Madhya Pradeshs Datia district, but to enter their home state, permissions from top officials like the chief secretary and additional chief secretary (Home) in Lucknow were required. In the meantime, the police had a tough task controlling the workers who were impatient to cross into Uttar Pradesh. It was also an arduous task for the administration of districts to supply food and water.

Watch | HT Salutes: UP man helping migrants labourers with food, work as they return

Thats when Singh, who runs a voluntary organisation called Parmarth Samaj Sewi Sansthan which works on livelihood and water conservation in Bundelkhand districts across both states, approached the authorities with an offer to help. His volunteers many of whom themselves had migrant family members  would have no problem in managing the crowd, Singh told the officers.

As the crowd multiplied on the border, the Datia and Jhansi district administrations gave a green signal to Singh to set up a kitchen near the border at of these two districts, to distribute food and water among the migrants. He also set up a help desk to guide migrants to buses and shelter homes as well as transport those exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19, like cough or fever, to health centres.

The volunteers ran the community kitchen and the help desk till the end of May. They took the assistance of local residents of these districts, including adjoining Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh, as well as traders and farmers who supplied grains and edible items to run the kitchen, Singh said.

Singh also ensured that the group of 18 volunteers wore personal protective gear as well as distributed masks and sanitizers among the migrants many of whom had returned from hotspots like Mumbai, Surat and Indore.

From March 27 to the first week of June, around 3.5 million migrant workers have returned to Uttar Pradesh of which 1 million were from Bundelkhands districts of Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jaluan, Hamirpur, Banda, Mahoba and Chitrakoot. A majority of them have little money and no source of employment other than the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MNREGS). In Uttar Pradesh, already 2.5 million migrants have applied for new job cards under the scheme, but till mid-June, 1 million were yet to receive them.

In June, Singh also began to motivate returned migrants to work in water conservation schemes. We roped in some of the returning migrants to revive the ponds, lakes and rivers in the Bundelkhand region which is in midst of a water crisis. Work has already begun in Manpur pond in Jhansi district. A canal to connect the pond with nearby agricultural land is being repaired in time for the paddy crop, he said.

Paddy sowing begins from the end of June.

We told them that if they do not wish to migrate again, they need to revive and conserve the water bodies. Along with Lalitpur and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh we have also organised similar revival activities of ponds and lakes in Tikamgarh and Chattarpur areas of Madhya Pradesh, Singh said.

We were trapped in the lockdown. We faced hardship and hunger. Now, after returning to the native village we are working for the revival of the pond and the canal to ensure we dont have to face this again, said Meera Ahirwar, a migrant worker who returned to Manpur from Indore in May.

Hindustan Times and Facebook have partnered to bring you 15 stories of HT Salutes. HT is solely responsible for the editorial content of this series.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday retweeted a 2013 tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he had posted as the chief minister of Gujarat while questioning Indian troops withdrawal from the conflict zones at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in Ladakh sector.

Retweeting the post, Tharoor said he agreed with the question Modi raised then as the Gujarat chief minister in 2013, while referring to instances of Chinese incursions into Indian territory and the subsequent stand-off between the armed forces of the two sides.

China withdraws its forces but I wonder why Indian forces are withdrawing from Indian territory? Why did we retreat?, Modi, then Gujarat chief minister, had asked in a tweet dated May 13, 2013.

On 15 April 2013, a platoon of Chinese troops had erected four tents southeast of Daulat Beg Oldi, 19km inside the Indian territory which resulted in a 21-day standoff. Two months later, the same year, Chinese soldiers again intruded into the Chumar sector in Ladakh on June 17. Modi had accused the then UPA government of not standing up to Chinese aggressions.

US Military to stand with India in conflict with China, indicates White House official

More than seven years later, Tharoor retweeted Modis questioning of the withdrawal of the Indian forces in 2013 to draw a parallel with the current situation in July 2020, when Narendra Modi-led Central government has negotiated an agreement with China for the withdrawal of troops from forward positions in the eastern Ladakh sector, where the two sides clashed in a brutal face off on June 15 in Galwan Valley, leading to deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and an unverified number of Chinese casualties.

I stand with Modiji on this. PM must answer his question!, Tharror said while retweeting Modis 2013 tweet.

Tharoors dig at the Modi governments handling of the current crisis follows the beginning of an agreement between India and China to disengage from the Line of Actual Control which has resulted in troops on both sides withdrawing up to 1.5km from key friction points of Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra.

Explained | Missiles, fighter jets: How Indias boosting forces amid China row

The breakthrough to a three month long tense stand-off followed a conversation between the Special Representatives (SR) on the boundary issue, national security adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi. Officials also attributed the developments to intense bilateral engagements over the past few days at the diplomatic and military levels.

This is not the first time that Tharoor has tried to use PM Modis tweets from the past to bring into focus Modi governments handling of the border dispute with China. Earlier on June 18, he had retweeted several of Modis old tweets on the issue, posted on May 13, 2013, February 8, 2014 and August 15, 2013 respectively.

Tharoors re-tweets are in line with Congress offensive accusing the Centre of being soft on China.
The Indian Air Force is projecting its capability to carry out day-and-night, all-weather combat missions in the Ladakh sector, with front-line fighter jets, attack helicopters and multi-mission choppers getting airborne for demanding night-time missions from a forward airbase in the area even as the Indian and Chinese armies have kicked off a complex disengagement process to defuse tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), people familiar with the developments said on Tuesday.

The air forces MiG-29 fighter jets, Sukhoi-30s, Apache AH-64E attack helicopters and CH-47F (I) Chinook multi-mission helicopters are among the platforms that are undertaking night missions in the mountainous terrain, amid the border row in Ladakh and worst tensions there since the 1962 India-China war, said one of the persons cited above.

The IAF is sending out a message to the adversary that it has exploited the full capabilities of its platforms that can be assigned to undertake all-weather, all-terrain and day/night missions in the Ladakh theatre, said former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali H Major (retd).

The message is that we have the capability and it can be used as and when required, he said.

Also read: India keeps focus on building border infrastructure, Rajnath Singh chairs crucial meet to review projects

Any professional force has to be ready to fight 24x7, said Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), additional director general, Centre for Air Power Studies.

Earlier, there were limitations of aircraft that prevented flying in the hills at night but now they have been mostly overcome. The night flying activity seen in Ladakh is part of IAF training to keep the skills of pilots and other personnel honed, he said.

The challenges in those hills are many, especially illusions caused due to hill shadows and faulty depth perception that are overcome with experience, said Bahadur, a veteran helicopter pilot who has carried out night flying in the area.

While disengagement is underway along the tense and heavily militarised border, the Indian armed forces are keeping their guard up and advancing with maximum caution with the IAFs forward air bases continuing to be on their highest state of alert to deal with any Chinese provocation, a second official said.

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has withdrawn up to 1.5 km from friction areas in Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra along the LAC, and the Indian Army has pulled back proportionately, acting on an understanding reached last week by top Indian and Chinese military commanders on a phased de-escalation of the ongoing border conflict, as reported by Hindustan Times on Tuesday. Some thinning of PLA soldiers has also been noticed at the sensitive Finger Area near Pangong Tso.

The IAF has played a key role in the Ladakh sector since border tensions began in early May. Its C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft have been used to move soldiers, tanks and infantry combat vehicles to the sector, while C-130J Super Hercules aircraft have undertaken sorties to the advanced landing ground in the strategic Daulat Beg Oldie sector to support the militarys forward deployments, the officials said.

The IAFs new inductions --- the Apache attack and Chinook multi-mission helicopters --- have significantly enhanced the IAFs capabilities, the officials said. Armed with fire-and-forget Hellfire missiles, an Apache can track up to 128 targets a minute and prioritise threats. The missiles equip the gunships with anti-armour capabilities. The Chinooks main roles include transporting troops, artillery and battlefield resupply.

The defence ministry last week approved the purchase of weapons and ammunition worth Rs 38,900 crore, including 33 new fighter jets for the IAF that is grappling with a shortage of warplanes.
India on Tuesday raised with the US its decision to withdraw US visas from foreign students whose courses moved fully online even as the two countries held extensive talks covering a range of issues like ongoing threats to the rules-based international order as well as situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

It is understood that Indias border row with China figured in the talks between Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale though there was no mention of it in the press statements issued by the two sides.

In a statement, the US State Department said Hale and Shringla agreed to consult closely on all challenges and endeavour to support each others objectives, adding the discussions included ongoing threats to the rules-based international order, maritime security, and the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It said both officials pledged to remain in close contact on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

On the Trump administrations decision on students visas, official sources said Shringla raised the issue following which the US side said they will keep the best interests of the Indian students in mind and would try and mitigate the impact of the decision. The online talks were held under the framework of India-US Foreign Office Consultations. In a move that is expected to adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students, the US immigration authority announced that foreign students will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only classes in this fall semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said the two sides discussed ways to further enhance mutually beneficial trade and people-to-people ties, including through visa facilitation for students and professionals.

It said Shringla and Hale exchanged views on a number of regional and global issues of shared interest. They reaffirmed their commitment to work towards ensuring a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific. They agreed on the need to deepen cooperation in the United Nations, especially during Indias membership of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2021-2022, the MEA said.

India and the US have been expanding cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region where China has been trying to expand its military and economic clout.

Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MEA said the two sides agreed to further strengthen the bilateral health partnership, including on pharmaceuticals and vaccine development. On its part, the US State Department said both sides agreed that the US-India health partnership, including cooperation on pharmaceutical and vaccine development, will continue to play a critical role in the worlds recovery from COVID-19. The MEA said the two sides agreed to remain in touch, and move forward on the bilateral agenda through a range of mechanisms like the 2+2 ministerial dialogue that India will host later this year.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held a meeting with Border Roads Organisation (BRO) chief Lt Gen Harpal Singh and other officials about the progress in ongoing infrastructure projects on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

The meeting went for about an hour where the BRO chief gave presentation to Singh about the work being done to boost infrastructure in Indias border areas, news agency ANI reported.

Indias push to improve the infrastructure in the border areas was the primary reason for clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakhs Galwan Valley on June 15. Beijing was opposed to a 60-metre bridge over Galwan river in eastern Ladakh that would consolidate Indias hold of the sensitive sector by allowing Indian infantry to move across the cold mountain river and also protect the 255 km strategic road from Darbuk to Daulat Beg Oldie, the last military post just south of the Karakoram Pass.

That bridge was completed last month, days after a face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and an undisclosed number of Chinese soldiers.

In the last few years, there have been frequent face-offs in certain sensitive areas in Eastern Ladakh. It has been a direct outcome of Indias ability of increased patrolling in the area due to vastly improved infrastructure readiness.

The genesis of the building up of faster strategic infrastructure can be traced back to 2014, when the Modi government gave it a big push. One of the first decision of the government was to issue a general approval in July 2014 for the creation of road network by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) within 100 km of aerial distance from LAC. This general approval ensured that requirement of prior central government and other bureaucratic process were done away with.

In May, the BRO completed a key road in Uttarakhand which will cut travel time drastically. The road was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh through video conferencing. He also flagged off a caravan of nine vehicles from Pithoragarh to Gunji to indicate that both passengers and load can be sent by the new road stretch through mountainous terrain.

The road has been built from Ghatibagar in Dharchula to Lipulekh near the border with China. It is also known as Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra Route. The road is 75 kilometre long.

The road ends at the 17,000 feet high Lipulekh pass. From there, Mount Kailash is located around 97 km north of the pass in Tibet. The Lipulekh pass, close to the tri-junction of India-China-Nepal, is the lowest point in this section of the high Himalayas.
Indias first general aviation terminal for private jets is set to become operational in New Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to officials familiar with the matter. The facility promises faster turnaround of business jets and chartered planes, shielding them from the clutter of general passenger terminals, where they now compete for taxiing slots with commercial flights.

Delhi International Airport Limited, which operates Indira Gandhi International Airport, said it is working towards the commissioning of the terminal soon to support the movement of passengers flying on chartered flights from the airport. It is the first such independent facility at any Indian airport to handle general aviation passengers. While the new terminal will be commissioned as an interim facility it will be equipped with state-of-the-art features and facilities including world class passenger lounges, retail, food and beverage [outlets] etc., DIAL said in a statement in response to queries from HT.

An official from the airport said the terminal may be operational as early as by the end of July. It is meant to be replaced by a larger facility in the future.

The terminal has been designed in such a manner that it will have parking space for a maximum 65 jets of all sizes...The terminal also has the capacity to handle a maximum of 150 business jet movements a day. The average movement capacity of the terminal is 75 jets per day. This makes it a general aviation terminal with the highest capacity in entire south Asia, said a second Delhi airport official who requested anonymity.

The terminal has been built at a cost of Rs.150 crore over one-and-a-half years by Bird ExecuJet Airport Services Private Limited, a joint venture between Bird Group and ExecuJet Aviation Group, an international business aviation company based at Zurich Airport in Switzerland.

A spokesperson for the company said construction work commenced on January 1, 2019. In between, we faced a Supreme Court ban on construction activities owing to pollution in Delhi for three months. Then lockdown [for the coronavirus disease pandemic] also hampered our work. However, we have been able to complete the project by June 2020, it said.

The terminal will also be able to handle Boeing 767 business jets and any Boeing 777 with a VIP configuration, the second official cited above said.

Before the national lockdown was first imposed in March to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease, around 1,300 scheduled flights operated from Delhi airport every day and an additional 40-50 small non-scheduled chartered or private planes also landed at and take off from the airport daily.

While private aircraft will still have to compete for take-off and landing slots with commercial flights, a Delhi airport official said that the new terminal will cut time , because runway 29/11 -- the largest in Delhi -- is closer to the new terminal, and this will make taxiing time of these private aircraft significantly shorter. He added that the shorter distance between the terminal building and flight boarding point will also make the process of boarding quicker and less cumbersome.

Several VIPs prefer to travel in private jets and all their aircraft movements take place from Terminal 1, which has been operating beyond its capacity and is currently undergoing expansion, the airport official cited above said.

Kanika Tekriwal, CEO and founder, JetSetGo Aviation, one of the firms that offers private jet services at Delhi airport, said the charges for hiring a private jet vary, depending upon size of aircraft and length of trip. They start at Rs 80,000 per hour for an eight seater turbo-prop and go all the way to Rs 5-6 lakh per hour for a 16-seater jet. Added to which there are airport and other landing charges, she said.

Kapil Kaul, CEO and director of CAPA South Asia, an aviation advisory and research firm, said he expects an international standard general aviation terminal in Delhi to help increase corporate jet penetration in India.

However, given the challenging economic conditions post-Covid, we may see a serious short-term impact till the recovery is visible. The demand for corporate jets since last few years has remained almost stagnant, Kaul said.

During the lockdown, the number of daily non-scheduled flights remained between 8-10 flights a day -- mostly medical emergencies; at present, it is around 20-30 movements a day, and of these at least 40% are for medical emergencies, a third official at the airport said.

The general aviation terminal has not been without its share of legal tangles.

This February, Mark Martin, chief executive officer of Dubai-based aviation firm Martin Consulting, which was executing the general aviation terminal project until February 2019, when the contract was terminated, filed a police complaint for criminal as well as civil proceedings against officials of DIAL and Bird ExecuJet alleging theft and unlawful use of Martin Consultings work and intellectual property.

Martin Consulting had been engaged by Bird ExecuJet in 2017 to develop the design and prepare a study on the general aviation project, Martin said. The following year, after the location of the project changed, it was appointed to carry out demolition of existing structures on the site and design and construct the facility, he said.

Bird ExecuJet disputed the version, saying Martin Consulting had been engaged by it as a project management consultant to prepare a study on the general aviation project. And its contract was terminated because it was unable to deliver on its contractual obligations, the company said.

Deputy commissioner of police (Delhi airport) Rajeev Ranjan said a probe was started on the complaint by Martin, but had to be stopped because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is again being taken up, Ranjan said.

When contacted, Martin said changes made by GMR Group-led DIAL on the original drawings and design by Martin Consulting are in violation of copyright laws. Changes made by them on the original drawings and design by Martin Consulting also emerge as a safety violation keeping landside access to the terminal in view. We have also notified the ministry of civil aviation on the matter along with the Airports Authority of India.

In response, Bird ExecuJet said it had replied to a legal notice sent by Martin, clearly stating that under the terms of the contract with Martin Consulting, all deliverables were work for hire and all intellectual property rights for the work belonged to Bird ExecuJet.

Bird ExecuJet is the rightful owner of all such work under the terms of the contract and copyright laws. Under the contract, payment was to be made to Mark Martin upon production of documents. Failure to substantiate the expenses with documentary proof has led to non-payment of the dues he claims from us, said the company in a statement.

Martin has filed two cases. While in the first case, the National Company Law Tribunal has not issued any notice to BirdExecuJet, in the second case, a local court has granted no stay in favour of Martin Consulting, Bird ExecuJet said.

Police have also not registered any first information report against Bird ExecuJet.

In its response to queries from HT, a DIAL spokesperson said: DIAL has no contractual relationship with Martin Consulting.
India on Tuesday mounted a sharp attack on Pakistan during a virtual meeting of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, accusing it of sheltering and supporting terrorists and pushing a false narrative on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mahaveer Singhvi, joint secretary (counter-terrorism) in the external affairs ministry who led the Indian delegation for the webinar organised by the UN body, pointed out the meeting was being held on a day when the Indian embassy in Kabul was attacked by a Pakistan-backed terror group 12 years ago and Indians and Afghans were killed.

It is very unfortunate that a country which perpetrated terrorist attacks in Mumbai (2008), Pathankot (2016), Uri and Pulwama is now preaching to the world community, Singhvi said in his intervention during the meeting with the theme The global scourge of terrorism: Assessment of high risk threats and trends including the rise of violent extremism and hate speech in a pandemic environment.

While the world is coming together to battle the pandemic, it is unfortunate that Pakistan, a state which sponsors cross-border terrorism, continues to use every opportunity to peddle false narratives and make baseless, malicious and egregious allegations against India and interfere in our internal affairs, he said, adding that the statement by Pakistans representative at the meeting was part of this pattern.

Singhvi added, Even as Pakistan provides shelter and support to terrorists, it continues to peddle a false and motivated narrative on the situation in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is seeking to portray its military, financial [and] logistical support to cross-border terrorism against India as a freedom struggle. It is also peddling misinformation about Indias domestic legislation and policies.

The webinar was part of the UN bodys virtual counter-terrorism week, and Singhvi pointed out that terrorists have made innumerable attempts to infiltrate India from their safe abodes across the border to carry out attacks and have even used unmanned aerial systems to smuggle weapons across our borders.

At the global level, terrorists have tried to exploit financial and emotional distress caused by the pandemic, and used the increased presence of people online and on social media to disseminate misinformation through hate speech, fake news and doctored videos, he said. Another disturbing trend is the collection of funds by proscribed terror groups ostensibly for charitable activities but which would be used to finance terror, he said.

Singhvi described Pakistans statement claiming credit for eliminating al-Qaeda as ludicrous and said the groups founder, Osama Bin Laden, was recently glorified as a martyr by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Parliament. This is a chilling reminder of the patronage that international terrorists receive in Pakistan, he said.

Khan had publicly acknowledged the presence of up to 40,000 terrorists in Pakistan and the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council had reported that about 6,500 Pakistani terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are operating in Afghanistan, he said.

Pakistans role as epicentre of terrorism has been well documented by numerous international organisations including UN and FATF. Unlike Pakistan, India does not make any distinction between terrorists and invariably condemns terror attacks anywhere in the world, including the one in Karachi, referred to by Pakistans representative in his statement, Singhvi said.

The Indian official also criticised human rights violations in Balochistan, Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the discrimination against religious and cultural minorities.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said it has arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operative for allegedly harbouring and providing logistical support to the perpetrators of the February 2019 attack that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead in Jammu & Kashmirs Pulwama and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

In a statement, NIA said Bilal Ahmed Kuchey, the accused, allegedly harboured the perpetrators at his residence and provided them with high-end mobile phones to communicate with their Pakistan-based handlers and to record Adil Ahmed Dars video before he rammed an explosive-laden car into a CRPF vehicle.

JeM released the video after the attack to claim responsibility for it. The attack prompted India to carry out an airstrike on a JeM camp in Pakistans Balakot.

Kuchey, a resident of Pulwamas Hajibal, is the seventh person to be arrested for the attack.

In the statement, NIA spokesperson Sonia Narang called Kuchey a terror associate. The main perpetrators in the case stayed in his house and he further introduced them to other OGWs [overground workers] who provided safe houses during their stay and planning of the attack. Narang added the perpetrators used the high-end phones for giving final touches to the planning and execution of the attack besides communicating with Pakistan-based JeM leadership as well as among themselves.

NIA last week arrested Mohammad Iqbal Rather for allegedly facilitating Muhammad Umar Farooqs movement. Farooq, a key conspirator in the Pulwama case, infiltrated into Jammu & Kashmir in April 2018 and was killed in an encounter on March 29, 2019.

The others arrested in the case in February and March include Shakir Bashir Magrey, Mohammad Abbas Rather, Waiz-ul-Islam, Insha Jan, her father, Tariq Ahmad Shah.

Pakistani terrorist  Mohammad Umar Farooq (killed in encounter on March 29, 2019 along with IED expert Kamran) were given the responsibility to execute the attack while JeMs area commander Mudassir Khan (killed on March 11, 2019) supervised the overall planning.
As families make their decisions  the district is hoping to get all families to go online and fill in choices by July 21  administrators are also encouraging them to provide their own transportation to and from school or have students walk or bike to school. Social distancing guidelines will likely limit how many kids can be on a school bus at one time, meaning a typical 70-passenger Chesapeake bus could only carry 22 students.
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modis tough stance on LAC stand-off forced China to pull back its troops in Galwan valley, the spot of violent clash between both countries which resulted in death of 20 Indian troops and an uncited toll among Chinese troops last month.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a befitting reply to China. From today, their Army has started pulling back. I will like to pay my condolences to Colonel Santosh Babu who gave a strong reply to China and sacrificed his life to further bolster our resolve to give a befitting reply (to enemies), Scindia said addressing a virtual rally of the BJP workers in Karera assembly constituency of Shivpuri district.

Treading on this path, our prime minister visited Leh to give a boost to the morale of our Army. China is pulling back cowardly. Our prime minister hoisted Indias flag on the world map to maintain the unity and integrity of the country, Scindia said.

Scindia praised the PM for issuing a warning to China, by visiting the border and meeting soldiers, in a virtual rally with BJP workers in Ashok Nagar assembly constituency he addressed earlier in the day,

Karera is one of 24 assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh to undergo bypolls this year. The schedule of bypolls is yet to be announced by the Election Commission of India.

States chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also addressed the virtual rally of Karera assembly constituency.

Attacking the previous government led by Congress Kamal Nath for betraying people of the state with its false promises, Scindia exhorted the party workers to give a befitting reply to the Congress in the bypolls as it would send out a right message to the entire country that how a government had done injustice to people and was involved in corruption in its 15-month rule.

We all wanted a progressive government in Madhya Pradesh which would have ushered the state on the path of progress and development but they crossed every limit in 15 months of their rule, Scindia said.

Scindia added that state secretariat Vallabh Bhavan had become a den of corruption. There was a ban on MLAs visit to it but saudagar (manipulators) were found ensconced in big sofa sets. The chair in Vallabh Bhavan was occupied by someone, but the key was in some elses hand, said Scindia.

CM Chouhan also attacked the states previous regime led by Kamal Nath and said, I will expose the Kamal Nath governments scam regarding its loan waiver scheme for farmers. Out of Rs 6,000 crore worth loans waived, that too crop loans only, Rs 2800 crore came from cooperative banks which were forced to waive loans which affected their financial condition badly

He said a large number of farmers waited for the loan waiver in vain and instead they became defaulters in the banks records. However, I am committed to helping such farmers, Chouhan said.
Police in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday released the names and photographs of over a dozen people involved in the killing of eight policemen during an operation to nab dreaded criminal Vikas Dubey in Kanpur Dehat district, a senior official said.

The photographs and other details of these 15 men have been circulated throughout the state, according to the official.

This is the latest in the polices attempt to track down the men who were involved in firing indiscriminately at the team that went on the late-night raid to Bikru village near Kanpur city late on Thursday last week.

Before this, the force had released a photograph of the 48-year-old Vikas Dubey, who escaped with his men after the chilling 15-minute ambush.

Officials put up posters with images of Dubey at toll plazas amidst apprehensions that he has already left the state, and increased the bounty on him to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh.

Two sub-inspectors and a constable were suspended on Monday over suspicion that they leaked information about the operation targeting Vikas Dubey. Another sub-inspector was suspended earlier over his alleged links with Dubey.

Officials were also probing a purported report by Devendra Mishra, the deputy superintendent killed in the failed raid.

HC Awasthy, Uttar Pradeshs director general of police, has said the force was conducting raids to track down Dubey, who faces 60 criminal cases.

An alert has been sounded in all the 75 districts of the state and 25 teams from 40 police stations pressed into action.
Seven years after a Kerala chief ministers office was roiled by a fraud in which one of the main accused was a well-connected woman, the current chief ministers office has been embroiled in a similar case.

Swapna Suresh, a senior information technology consultant to the Kerala government was fired on Monday, a day after her role in the smuggling of gold through diplomatic channels came to light with the seizure of 30 kg of gold from the UAE, ostensibly being sent to its consulate in the state capital.

Suresh, whose work experience includes stints at the UAE consulate, Air India, and the UAE airport, is fluent in Arabic, and has connections in high places, is allegedly the brain behind the scheme, and is on the run.

An embrassed chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan transferred his principal secretary M Sivasankar, who was close to Suresh.

The CMs principal secretary M Sivasankar has been transferred with immediate effect and his charge has been entrusted with Mir Mohammad IAS, a brief statement from the CMs office said.

In 2013, then CM Oomen Chandys office was similarly embarrassed in the so-called solar fraud; back then, it was a woman named Saritha Nair who was one of the main perpetrators of the fraud and it was alleged that she was connected with people in the CMO.

On Tuesday, opposition parties sought a central agency probe into the gold smuggling incident. They said the CM was aware of Sureshs appointment and that she was given key responsibilities. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case.

But the CM played down the controversy. She was hired by a placement agency. And (the) customs (department) also made it clear nobody called from the CMs office to bail her out. Some people are creating a smoke screen to portray the government in bad light, he said.

The customs department seized gold from an air cargo consignment from the United Arab Emirates to the countrys consulate in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday after securing permission from the ministry of external affairs. Suresh, who was working as the operational manager of Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited under the state IT Ministry, went into hiding after the seizure, following which the customs department raided her flat in the state capital. Sarith Kumar, a former employee of the consulate, was arrested by customs. After his arrest, he reportedly disclosed the role of Suresh.

A statement issued by the UAE embassy said the mission in Thiruvananthapuram and its diplomatic staff had no role in the matter. The statement said the embassy condemns the attempted misuse of diplomatic channels by an individual engaged in smuggling activity and firmly rejected such acts.

The UAE looks forward to fully cooperating with Indian customs authorities to thoroughly investigate this matter and urges stringent legal action against those involved, the statement added.

People familiar with developments, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the diplomatic bag apparently had the required authorisation, including documentation regarding its contents and a tamper-proof seal.

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, authorities in the receiving state cannot open a diplomatic bag even if they have suspicions about its contents. The bag can only be opened in the presence of officials or diplomats of the sending state. This was done in the case of the UAEs diplomatic bag after receiving the required permission, the people said.

Media reports suggest that the customs department was on he lookout after a gang arrested for allegedly trying to extort money from a popular actress spoke of a a gold smuggling operation in which a well-connected woman was involved.

Hindustan Times couldnt immediately ascertain whether Suresh and Sarith had used the diplomatic bag to smuggle gold previously.
As rioters climbed up our house, one of them placed a sword on my elder daughters neck; when a man from the mob shouted ladkiyan Laxmi hoti hain, ladkiyon ko kuch nahi karna (girls are goddess Laxmi, do not harm them in anyway) ...they went the other way and set our house afire, said Gulista Begum.

Gulista Begum is the daughter-in-law of Akbari Begum, 85, who died in the fire during the communal riots that rocked northeast Delhi in late February. She was the only woman among 53 fatalities in the violence that also left more than 400 injured; the police have filed 750 first information reports (FIRs) in connection with the riots .

Gulistas statement is a part of the charge sheet Delhi police have filed in the murder case of Akbari Begum, who died of asphyxiation and also had 72% burn injuries. In her statement, Gulista related how the family was stuck on the rooftop of the burning house; the mob left with Rs 8 lakh cash, her jewellery and other valuables.

Gulista, 43, gave a written statement to the police, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times. She said that on the day of the incident on February 25, she was in her house in Gamri Village, Bhajanpura, with her younger son, two daughters and mother-in-law.

Her husband Mohammad Saeed Salmani, 49, who ran a ready-made garments workshop from the ground and first floor of their four-storey house, had stepped out to buy milk and her elder son had taken his pregnant wife to the hospital.

Gulista said in her statement, part of the 671-page charge sheet filed on June 8 in the Karkardooma court, that around 11 am, when she was cooking on the second floor of the house, the mob broke open the lock of the main gate and set on fire piles of garments stashed on the ground floor. She said the mob then climbed up to the first floor and also set it on fire.

The man who placed a sword on her elder daughters neck spared her after one member of the mob shouted that women shouldnt be harmed, likening them to Laxmi.The rioters then looted jewellery, cash and other valuables from her almirah. They then set afire the second floor and fled the floor shutting the door with all of us inside, Gulista said.

An employee of the garments workshop then broke the locked door and they escaped the smoke-filled room and reached the terrace. Because the rioters had also set the third floor on fire, her mother-in-law Akbari Begum could not escape because of the smoke and died of asphyxiation and burn injuries.

Asif Salmani, 19, Gulista Begums younger son, who was also trapped with the family on the rooftop, said in his statement that the mob even tried to climb up to the roof but couldnt because he and others started pelting the rioters with stones from the debris on the roof.

We even tried to use a rope to get on to our neighbours roof but he threatened us not to do so. Meanwhile, my sister was hit with a stone that the rioters were throwing at our house. After some time, police and some of our neighbours used a ladder to help us get down. The rioters even threw stones on the police vehicle in which they took us to the police station, Salmani said.

Gulista Begum added to her statement that her husband had received a delivery of clothes for their workshop just two days ago because of which the ground and first floors were full of raw material that may have fuelled the fire that destroyed appliances and furniture as well.

The police later arrested six men for setting the house on fire and killing Akbari Begum. The police have charge-sheeted the six men under Indian Penal Code sections 396 (dacoity with murder), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons), 455 (house break-in) and 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substances), among others.

The arrested men were Arun Kumar, 26, his brother, Varun Kumar, 22, Vishal Singh,29, Ravi Kumar, 24, Prakash Chand,36, and Suraj Singh, 28.

According to Delhi police, the arrests were based on technical evidence, video footage recorded by local area residents, eyewitnesses account and the statements of Begums family members.

The charge sheet, accessed by HT, mentions that Begums post mortem reports read she died of asphyxia as a result of antemortem inhalation of smoke. It said: Most of the burns were superficial but total body surface burnt was 72%.

Advocate Mehmood Pracha, counsel for the family of the victim, said that while the police had arrested and charged the six suspects, they were only foot soldiers.  The main perpetrators are still at large, he said.

A Delhi police officer privy to the probe, who wished not to be named, said the charge-sheet has been submitted in the Karkardooma court on June 8. The court is due to take cognizance after which trial in Begums murder and dacoity case will begin against the six arrested accused, the officer said.

A Delhi police spokesperson said the department couldnt comment on the case because the matter is sub judice.
Maharashtra recorded another huge spike of 5,134 cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday that took the states tally to 2,17,121, the state health department said.

Out of the new cases, 785 were from Mumbai taking its tally to 86,509.

The death toll rose to 9,250 with 224 casualties in the day. Sixty four of the casualties were in Mumbai where the death toll has gone up to 5,002. The number of recoveries reached 1,18,558 after 3,296 were declared cured on Tuesday.

The state has so far tested 11,61,311 people for Covid-19.

On a day when heavy rain lashed many parts of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the 3,520 bed Corona treatment facilities across Mulund, Dahisar, Mahalaxmi Race course and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

Among the new facilities, the one at Mulund is the largest with 1,700 beds for treating Covid-19 patients. It has been built by Maharashtras City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO).

Maharashtra has now recorded more than 42,000 cases of Covid-19 this month as the surge in coronavirus positive cases continues unabated. State health department officials had cautioned on Monday that they expect a surge in the daily count for the next few days.
Maharashtra has recorded 37,228 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases since July 1, as compared to 302, 10,196, 57,157 and 1,02,172 in March, April, May, and June, respectively, amid projection that a peak is likely to occur later in July in the countrys worst-hit state as far as the pandemic is concerned.

On Monday, Maharashtra reported 5,368 fresh Covid-19 positive cases, as the tally rose to 2,11,987, even though the single-day count was relatively lower than the daily trend since July 1.

The state had recorded the following single-day positive cases in the past week: 5,537 (July 1); 6,330 (July 2); 6,364 (July 3); 7,074 (July 4); and 6,555 (July 5).

State health department officials said that Mondays figure is an aberration, and they expect a surge in the daily count for the next few days.

The daily rise in Covid-19 positive cases was lower on Monday. But, this cannot be construed as a defining trend, unless the graph sustains for a longer period. Besides, the viral outbreak is growing in the densely congested Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and other areas. A surge is expected by end-July and then there is a likelihood of flattening of the Covid-19 curve, said a health department official, requesting anonymity.

On Monday, Maharashtras Covid-19 related death toll crossed 9,000 after 204 fresh fatalities were reported. The current toll stands at 9,026 and the case fatality rate (CFR) is 4.26%.

Data showed that the state has reported 1,020 deaths in the past six days as against 10, 449, 1,827 and 5,638 in March, April, May, and June, respectively.

A day-wise break-up in July showed that on July 1, 198 deaths were recorded; followed by 125 (July 2); 198 (July 3); 295 (July 4); and 151 (July 5).

State health commissioner Dr. Anup Kumar Yadav said the authorities primary focus is to keep the Covid-19 related deaths under check.

The state government has set up a task force in every district, comprising expert doctors, to attend to critical Covid-19 patients in rural areas, especially those with comorbid conditions.

We have changed clinical guidelines, have set up a task force in every district, where expert doctors, epidemiologists, and virologists are available to attend to Covid-19 patients in rural areas suffering from comorbid conditions, said Yadav.

Maharashtras Covid-19 related recovery rate is over 54%, including 3,522 patients who were discharged on Monday after being cured of the viral infection.

Altogether, 1,15,262 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals across the state after they have recovered.
Maoists have abducted the parents of a policeman in Chhattisgarhs Dantewada district, police said on Tuesday. The incident happened after the cop put up posters of the rebels in his village urging them to surrender during a campaign last month.

Superintendent of Police , Dantewada , Abhishek Pallava told Hindustan Times that around dozen Maoists entered the Gumiypal village on Monday night and abducted constable Ajay Telams parents.

They abducted Telams father, Lachhu Telam (64) and mother Vijjo Telam (62 )and also beat up the constables sister,the SP said.

Telam was recruited in the District Reserve Guard by Dantewada police last year.

He had distributed pamphlets and put posters of Maoists in his village, urging them to surrender. On Tuesday, about 15-20 rebels from the village were about to surrender and hence out of frustration, Maoists have abducted his parents, Pallava said.

Last month, the Dantewada police had launched the Lon Varratu campaign under which posters and banners of the rebels, who carry cash rewards on their heads, are being put up in their native villages. The posters mention their names and appeal to the rebels to join the mainstream.

I had met families from Gumiyapal village and urged them to come and live in Dantewada district headquarters. Some families did move but the constables parents, who are old, decided to live in their village, said the SP.

Police sources said that about 200 people have gone to jungles to appeal to the Maoists to release Telams parents.

Last week, Maoists killed a policemans brother-in-law in Hiroli village of Dantewada.

Meanwhile, tribal leader Soni Sori said that Maoists act is condemnable but blamed the police force of using the youth for their own gain.

If Maoists have abducted Ajays parents, this is completely wrong and is condemnable. But police are using tribal youths like Ajay for their gain. For the last two years, Ajay was being accused by villagers of giving information of two tribal youths  Lachhu and Podia  who were killed by security forces, said Sori.

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The outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) has made a key strategic change and advanced its annual tactical counter-offensive campaign (TCOC), where rebels carry out maximum attacks against security forces, to two phases this year  January to March and April to June  officials said.

Usually, TCOC was be carried out between March and June, allowing rebels easier move in dense jungles of Central India during peak summer.

However, an alarming trend has come to light amid the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, where ultras managed to freshly recruit 50 cadres in eastern Bastar, a Maoists letter seized by the security forces revealed, said a police official posted in the region.

The officials believe that rebels have also managed to recruit new cadres in Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, and Narayanpur districts.

The seized letter is written by Maoist leader of Maad division of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, Sukhlal, and addressed to the banned partys leader Nagesh, who goes by his first name.

The letter stated that TCOC would start in January this year, as a marked departure in a bid to take security forces by surprise.

Sukhlal claimed that half a dozen ambushes and attacks were carried out in the Maad division in Narayanpur district and also fresh recruitment of 50 cadres since TCOC had started in January.

TCOC is an arm of the Maoists, which reports to the partys Central Military Commission (CMC), whose chief is responsible for making an annual strategy for the counter-offensive operations against security forces that are aimed at destablising the government by an aggressive armed rebellion.

A fresh recruitment drive for cadres is also carried out during this period. Typically, the new recruits are deployed in areas, where the rebels are planning fresh strikes against security forces.

TCOC helps Maoists to regroup and startle security forces with a pulverising attack out of the blue. Though the campaign had started in January, the Minpa attack on March 23 was its culmination, when 17 jawans were killed in a daring attack in Sukma district. This is for the first time that TCOC has been advanced to January and held in two phases, said the official quoted above.

Data showed that 26 security personnel were killed and bodies of 20 rebels were recovered in Chhattisgarh between January 1 and June 30.

Most of the strikes were carried out in the Left Wing Extremist (LWE)-hit areas such as the tribal-dominated Bastar division and districts that come under the newly formed Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh (MMC) region.

In 2019 and 2018, 12 security jawans and another 35 lost their lives in anti-Naxal operations, respectively.

The Minpa attack, where 17 jawans were killed on March 23, is the worst-attack on security forces over the past two years. Altogether, 21 jawans were killed between January and March, said an Indian Police Service (IPS) official posted in Chhattisgarh.

The official expressed concern about the fresh recruitment drive in eastern Bastar.

This is a worrying trend. Over 300 cadres have been recruited in the Bastar division between March and June, despite the pandemic. The Maoists toll of 20 between January and June is the lowest in the 10 years, he said.

DM Awasthi, director-general of police (DGP), Chhattisgarh, said, The pattern for conducting TCOC has been constantly changing over the past few years. In the last couple of years, TCOC was held for four months after June and ended in December. It was started in January this year, as they have become more flexible. However, we were prepared because we had prior information of an early start.

Shubhranshu Chaudhary, a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalist-turned-peace activist in Maoist-infested areas in central India, weighed in on the TCOCs early start in January

If TCOC had started in January, it also suggests an over militarisation in the partys ranks since the new leadership assumed charge. Now, the party is filled with people, who are adept at Guerrilla warfare since Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, took charge as the new general secretary. There has been a sea-change in their combat strategies, he said.
The parents of a Chhattisgarh policeman, who were abducted by Maoists on Monday, were released by the rebels on Tuesday evening, the police said.

Lachhu Telam and his wife Vijjo Telam were released on Tuesday evening after pressure from the villagers. Their son Ajay Telam is a constable with the District Reserve Guard (DRG) in Dantewada district.

Due to sustained pressure from villagers of Gumiyapal, Maoists have released the parents of Ajay Telam. For the first time, the whole village walked 15 km to Bade Palli jungles and put forth their views and made sure that Maoists release Telams parents, said Superintendent of Police ( SP ) Dantewada, Abhishek Pallava.

The couple was abducted by Maoists from Gumiyapal village under Kirandul police station limits on Monday night.

The Dantewada police had launched the Lon Varratu campaign in June under which posters and banners of the rebels, who carry cash rewards on their heads, are being put up in their native villages. The posters mention their names and appeal to the rebels to join the mainstream.

Ajay Telam had also distributed pamphlets and put up posters of Maoists in his village, urging them to surrender due to which the ultras abducted his parents, the police said.

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Former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell is likely to be formally charged and enter a plea on July 14.

US District Judge Alison Nathan on Monday proposed the hearing be by videoconference because of the coronavirus pandemic. Maxwell agreed to the remote hearing and the date in a letter to the judge late Monday.

Maxwell, who is being held in a federal jail in New York City, was arrested in New Hampshire on Thursday on charges including conspiracy and enticing minors to engage in sex. She is currently at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, said Justin Long, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Maxwell had rarely been seen in the past year since Epsteins arrest on charges of sex trafficking in minor girls. In a brief hearing Thursday, she said she wouldnt fight her move to New York.

In a letter to the court late Sunday, prosecutors and Maxwells lawyers proposed a schedule that included her submitting a bail request on Thursday and appearing at a hearing Friday. Maxwell was living in a million-dollar home in Bradford, New Hampshire, when she was arrested. Prosecutors say she is a flight risk and have said they will fight any bail proposal.

The Brooklyn jail has been criticized as having terrible conditions for its female detainees. US Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak called the conditions there unconscionable in 2016. In addition, it has had five inmates and six employees with confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to the lockups website.

The US attorneys office in Manhattan, where the case is, responded to requests for comment.

Maxwell isnt in the jail where Epstein was found dead last year, ruled a suicide. Guards at that facility, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, were fired for failing to check on Epstein as required.
The Lovings plead guilty to violating the states Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited the marriage of whites and nonwhites. Given the choice of serving a year in jail each or leaving the state for at least 25 years, the couple chose exile and moved to Washington, D.C. Eventually, the longing to return to their home state became too much to bear.
Days before a parliamentary panel is due to discuss Indias preparedness to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic and similar outbreaks likely in the future, lawmakers have renewed demands for meeting online without being physically present.

Science and technology committee chairman Jairam Ramesh, who will head the discussions, has written to Rajya Sabha chairman N. Venkaiah Naidu seeking his approval for panel members to meet online.

Many members of the committee have expressed their inability to attend this meeting because of travel restrictions, quarantine and other constrains. I am doubtful if we can muster up a quorum, Ramesh wrote and reminded him on Twitter, Where there is will, there is skill!

Parliament authorities have spent long hours to work out how to conduct such meetings online, but to no avail, as depositions and discussions are wrapped in layers of secrecy. Lawmakers say that just approval from Naidu and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla is required for respective panels under the two Houses to take the process online amid the pandemic.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Dayanidhi Maran too wrote to Anand Sharma, chairman of the panel on home affairs, making a similar request.

With different states having different guidelines and travel advisories, quarantine regulations, standard operating procedures on entry/return, it becomes very complicated for members to attend the committee meetings, he wrote to Sharma.

He expressed concern that to Delhi would mean exposing myself to the Covid virus and how it would severely affect his parliamentary duties in his constituency.

His party colleague Tiruchi Siva has written to civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri, asking him to ensure that airlines keep the middle seats empty to avoid contact between passengers.

Airports are maintaining and implementing with seriousness and sincerity all hygienic precautions like thermal scanning, sanitizing and maintaining social distance of passengers till boarding, yet many flights are flying with full capacity leaving not enough required space between adjacent passengers, he wrote.

He expressed concern that during air travel to Delhi from Chennai, which takes up to three hours, an asymptomatic passenger may be on the flight, leaving open the chance for the spread of the virus easily and faster onboard.
A youth (22) has been arrested by Mumbai Police for allegedly befriending a minor girl (13) from Virar on a social media network, kidnapping her from her grandmothers home in the city and raping her in his native state, Rajasthan.

The accused three accomplices have also been arrested from Madhya Pradesh (MP) for allegedly trying to help him kidnap the rape survivor.

Police said the rape survivor lives with her mother and elder sister in Virar. She had come to visit her grandmother, who lives at Agripada in south Mumbai, in June.

The rape survivor, who had befriended the accused on the social media network about a year ago, has been in regular touch with him, her relatives told the police.

On July 1, the accused, who works at a Haryana-based company that manufactures bottled water, along with his MP-based friends came to Mumbai in a private vehicle and picked up the minor girl from Agripada. He took her to his native state Rajasthan and raped her there, said Sawalaram Agawane, senior inspector, Agripada police station.

The police started a probe on the basis of a complaint filed by the rape survivors grandmother at Agripada police station.

A preliminary probe revealed that the rape survivor was in contact with a person on the social media network for a while and recently the communication had become more regular.

Police analysed her social media activities and zeroed in on a suspects profile and also found his phone number linked to it. An analysis of the call details traced the accuseds links to Rajasthan and MP.

Two separate police teams were sent to these two states.

A police team arrested the accused and rescued the rape survivor from Rajasthans Jhalawar district on Monday. While the other team arrested the accuseds three accomplices from MP. Police have also seized an MP registered car that was used in the rape survivors abduction.

The accused have been brought to Mumbai on transit remand. They will be produced before a court on Tuesday. However, one accused is still wanted in the case, said R Syed, inspector, Agripada police station.

The accused has been booked under relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, Agawane said.

The rape survivor has been sent to a childrens home for safe custody, he added.

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The bidding process for projects under the second phase of the Namami Gange mission will start in the next three months, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga Rajiv Mishra said on Tuesday. The funding for the second phase was approved by the World Bank last week, and it will kickstart after the phase-1 ends on December 31, 2021, a statement by the NMCG said. For the next phase, an agreement for the USD 400-million (Rs 3,023.10 crores) loan was signed on Tuesday by Sameer Kumar Khare, the additional secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, on behalf of the Government of India, and Qaiser Khan, World Bank acting country director, India.

This comprises a loan of USD 381 million and a proposed guarantee of up to USD 19 million, the statement said.

The Second National Ganga River Basin Project has now been given the go-ahead for an amount of USD 400 million for taking up projects on the tributaries of Ganga with a view to address pollution abatement in the entire Ganga basin, a statement by the National Mission for Clean Ganga said.

The loan provides USD 150 million (Rs 1,134 crores) for three new Hybrid Annuity Projects in Agra, Meerut and Saharanpur over the tributaries of Ganga (Yamuna and Kali).

The bidding process will start in the next three months, Mishra said. USD 160 million (Rs 1,209 crores) has been provided for ongoing DBOT (Design, Build, Operate & Transfer) projects in Buxar, Munger, Begusarai and Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) projects of Digha, Kankarbagh in Patna (Bihar), and Howrah, Bally and Baranagar in West Bengal to be funded from the next phase.

Under Ganga -- II, 482 MLD (Million Litres per Day) STP capacity shall be created. In addition, 378 MLD STP capacity and 911 Km of sewage network approved under Ganga  I will also be funded.

The balance, USD 71 million will be for various activities pertaining to Institutional Development (USD 20 million), improving Investments Resilience to COVID-19 like emergency situations (USD 5 million), Performance Based Incentive for Urban Local Bodies (USD 30 million) and Programme Communication and Management (USD 16 million).

The National Ganga River Basin Project (NGRBP) is an important component of Namami Gange. A World Bank funded National Ganga River Basin Project (Ganga I) for an amount of USD 600 million is currently ongoing and is approved up to December 31, 2021 for funding infrastructure projects of Pollution abatement in the river Ganga.

With a funding of Rs 4,535 Crores, Ganga-I helped build sewage infrastructure in 20 towns along the main stem of the Ganga. Sewage Treatment Plants with a capacity of 793 MLD have been created, along with 3,589 Km of sewage network. Several crucial projects have been completed in Rishikesh, Muni Ki Reti, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Narora, Anupshahar, Patna, Sahibganj.
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Maharashtra gets 4 new Covid treatment facilities, cases spike by more than 5,000

Maharashtra recorded another huge spike of 5,134 cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday that took the states tally to 2,17,121, the state health department said. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the 3,520 bed Corona treatment facilities across Mulund, Dahisar, Mahalaxmi Race course and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

Read More

Bengal to club containment, buffer zones for stricter lockdown from July 9

The West Bengal government on Tuesday expanded the definition of containment zone and clubbed it with the buffer zones to come up with a broad-based containment zone and said a strict lockdown will be implemented in those areas from July 9 to stem the spread of coronavirus. The order, however, did not mention how long the fresh spell of the shutdown will last.

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Donald Trump is wrong, yet again | HT Editorial

The United States (US) Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has announced that foreign students who plan to take only online college courses this coming semester must leave the US. Indian students currently in the US, or who were planning to come in as new students, must take in-person courses. Visa restrictions on students will harm the US and offer no benefits to its citizens.

Read full HT Editorial

Sachin Tendulkar wont accept he was scared to face Shoaib Akhtar: Afridi

Former Pakistan captain Shahif Afridi said Sachin Tendulkar obviously wont accept that he was scared to face Shoaib Akhtar but Afridi claimed he had seen it while fielding at covers or at mid-off that Sachin had hard times against Akhtar in some of his spells.

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Tom Cruise pushed Thandie Newton into terror and insecurity on Mission Impossible 2 set

Actor Thandie Newton, who worked with Tom Cruise on Mission: Impossible 2, has said in a tell-all interview that Cruise made her feel insecure on the sets of the film. I was so scared of Tom, she told Vulture.

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Chingari co-founder shares how much the app has grown over the past week

Amidst the whole Chinese product and app ban fiasco, Chingari has emerged as one of those Indian apps that has been downloaded millions of times within a matter of days. And naturally, this has led to a tremendous growth of the app in terms of users, comments, likes and video uploads. But exactly how much growth are we talking about?

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Harsh Goenka says he needs this to navigate through his crowded city

Most people who watch videos of hoverboards and Segways wish they too could try them and how efficient theyd be to commute on. Business tycoon Harsh Goenka has shared a video of a man riding one across a crowded street and his tweet is collecting several reactions.

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Japans Tanabata Festival commemorates the fabled reunion of Orihime and Hikoboshi

Tanabata or The Star Festival, has been is celebrated in Japan since 755 and is one of the main summer festivals in the country. The dates of the Tanabata festival varies by region in Japan but the first festivities begin on July 7 as per the Gregorian calendar. The celebration is held on various days in the months of July and August.

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Watch: BRO expanding strategic Khardung La road amid face-off with China

The Border Roads Organisation is reportedly expanding the Khardung La road, one of the highest motorable stretches in the world. The road is being turned into a two-lane pass. Incidentally, it is the development of border road infrastructure which is believed to be one of the points of contention between India and China during the current face-off. Defence minister Rajnath Singh also held a meeting with Border Roads Organisation officials on July 7. He reviewed ongoing projects with Director General, BRO, and other officials.

Watch the video
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Urban joblessness on the rise as cities impose restrictions

Urban unemployment, having fallen for four straight weeks, has reversed course and risen in the week ended July 5, in tandem with the renewed lockdown in parts of India, according to a survey. Read more

Elyments promises a fix after several users report OTP registration failure

The new homegrown social media app Elyments launched this Sunday but users have been unable to register on it. The team behind Elyments has updated saying that theyre working on it. Read more

Abhishek Bachchan on 20 years in cinema: I dont like my work; I see so many flaws that need to be rectified

I dont like my work, is Abhishek Bachchans answer if you ask him to pick his favourite films in a 20-year long career. When I review my work, I find many flaws that need to be rectified. I am not the person who says well done, good job, I find flaws everywhere. I think there is room for improvement, he says candidly. Read more

Explained | Missiles, fighter jets: How Indias boosting forces amid China row

Amid the face-off with China at the Line of Actual Control, India took steps to boost its defence capabilities. The Defence Acquisition Council, headed by the defence minister Rajnath Singh, recently gave its approval for the purchase of at least 33 fighter aircraft, and an arsenal of missiles. Read more

Great damage to world: Trump slams China as US backs India amid face-off

Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, launched a tweet attack on China. He accused Beijing of causing great damage to the US and the world. His latest salvo came days after a scathing attack in his US Independence Day speech. Read more

Happy Birthday MS Dhoni: Why there wont be a captain like him again

Think of the greatest Indian captains of all time and what comes to mind Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly? Or one name that perhaps shadows all the above players combined? MS Dhoni. Read more

Chocolate Day 2020: Heres how chocolate was introduced to the world

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested Jammu and Kashmir resident Bilal Ahmed Kuchey for playing a key role in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers in Kashmir valley, an official agency release said on Tuesday.

Bilal had provided logistical support to the group of terrorists that planned the attack on February 14, when an explosives laden van was rammed into a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force travelling on the national highway in Pulwama area, the release states.

The main perpetrators in this case stayed in his house and he further introduced them to other OGWs who provided safe houses during their stay and planning of the attack, the NIA says.

Pulwama encounter: Terrorist shot down, 3 security personnel injured in J&K

According to the agency, Bilal also provided the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists with high-end mobile phones to communicate with Pakistan based JeM leadership and among themselves for planning and execution of the attack.

Further the mobile phone provided by him was also used for recording the video clip of Fidayeen Adil Ahmed Dar, which became viral after the attack, NIAs release said.

Adil Ahmed Dar was the one who had driven the van into the CRPF convoy.

Bilal is the seventh person to be arrested in Pulwama case. Last Thursday, NIA had arrested a Budgam resident Mohammad Iqbal Rather (25), a member of JeMs transportation module that ferried infiltrating terrorists from the border to Kashmir in February 2019 before the attack.

NIA arrests transportation module member of Jaish in Pulwama attack

Rather is accused of allegedly facilitating the movement of one of the terrorists-- Muhammad Umar Farooq-- who helped in making the bomb, officials had said, Rather helped Farooq facilitate his movement through the national highway near the international border to South Kashmir he infiltrated into the Indian territory in Jammu region in April, 2018.

The other five arrested earlier this year in the Pulwama attack case include Shakir Bashir Magrey, Mohammad Abbas Rather, Waiz-ul-Islam, a young girl  Insha Jan and her father Tariq Ahmad Shah.
As Odishas Covid-19 positivity rate went past the national average of 6.73% and more and more hospitals turned Covid hotspots, Opposition leaders accused the state government of failing to control the pandemic by not increasing its daily testing.

On Monday, Odisha reported 456 new cases from the 4,827 samples tested indicating a positivity rate of 9.44 per cent, a sharp departure from positivity rate of 4-6 per cent that it reported till July 1. The total number of positive cases in the state shot up to 9,526 and the number of fatalities stand at 38. There are close to 3,000 active cases in the state.

For the third day on Monday, the number of local cases was more than 30 per cent of the total suggesting 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 few infected people from a large number of people already infected, said Saluja.

The general secretary of BJPs Odisha unit 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 arund 4,000-5,000 samples a day, said Mahapatra.

Referring to Delhi, Mahapatra said increasing testing there brought the situation under control.

BJPs another 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 result. Over 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 hospital in Nabarangpur district by scaling the boundary wall. Nabarangpur district collector Ajit Kumar Mishra said the 50-year-old who was brought to the Covid-19 hospital on July 3, went missing on the morning of July 5. The patient was missing when the hospital staff went to offer him breakfast. A police complaint has been lodged, he said.
India will adopt a cautious approach, cognizant of the risk of an accident, to the limited withdrawal by Chinas Peoples Liberation Army soldiers who had set off the stand-off at four locations in eastern Ladakhs Galwan Valley and Pangong Lake.

PLA has started troop withdrawal from the stand-off sites at three locations in the Galwan Valley and is in the process of dismantling some structures on Finger 4, one of the eight cliffs jutting out of the Sirijap range that overlooks the Pangong Lake.

The troop pullback till Monday evening was thinner, and slower at Finger 4 than the other locations, said an Indian military commander. We need to keep track of the movements at Pangong Tso to arrive at any firm conclusion, he said.

The army officer said PLA had been at a disadvantage in Galwan, Gogra and Hot Springs in terms of their military positions. In Pangong Tso, however, the situation favoured the Chinese since they had built a road up to Finger 4, he said.

Officials said the disengagement process was likely to be a gradual and calibrated process by both sides, with each point being negotiated by the military commanders on the ground.

China was the first to start thinning its troops at the site of the June 15 bloody clash that killed soldiers on both sides. Local army commanders quickly relayed the information to their superiors once they were able to establish a trend.

At just about 8.45am on Sunday, Indian Army chief General MM Naravane picked up the phone to inform defence minister Rajnath Singh. Diplomats from the two countries touched base and by evening, they had fixed a quick video conference between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi.

The conversation went on for about two hours. There were disagreements on who was to blame for the stand-off and the June 15 violence. But they had arrived at agreements on many points.

Doval told Wang that Beijing would need to restore the patrolling rights of the Indian army on these four points to ensure peace and tranquillity along the 1,597km Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Also read: For Ladakh stand-off, how India readied its fleet of Apache attack choppers

Analysts insist that the litmus test of the success of the Doval-Wang conversation would be the restoration of the Indian patrolling rights on the north banks of the Pangong Lake.

Indian officials said the military buildup in the depth areas on both sides of the LAC would continue till the situation at the stand-off points did not settle down. India had mobilised thousands of soldiers, fighter jets, attack helicopters, tanks and artillery guns to respond to the Chinese mobilisation.

It was during the disengagement process that violence broke out on June 15, the worst clash between soldiers of the two countries in 45 years.
The Congress on Monday lauded the Indian army for pushing back Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh but demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his June 19 remarks at the all-party meeting that no one had entered Indian territory or occupied any Indian post.

Our brave army has been trying to push Chinese army back and we are very happy to see reports that we have succeeded. We are proud of our army..., Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told a virtual news conference. Prime Minister Modi stated at an all-party meeting last month that neither anyone is present in the Indian territory nor is any Indian post captured by the Chinese.

The Congress said Modis stand contradicted past remarks by defence minister Rajnath Singh and foreign minister S Jaishankar on Chinese intrusion.

What we are worried about is the PMs comments that he made at the all-party meeting where he said that No one has entered our territory or occupied any of our post... The Prime Minister should use this opportunity come out and address the nation, take the country into confidence and apologise.
With the Uttar Pradesh government still smarting under the massacre of eight policemen last week by gangster Vikas Dubeys men in Kanpur, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday accused the state government of failing to control crime and dressing up statistics.

As far as crime is concerned, UP has been on top for the last 3 years. An average of 12 murder cases occur every day. Between 2016-2018, crimes against children increased by 24% in UP. What have the UP Home Department and CM done other than covering these figures? she tweeted.

In another tweet, she said that the letter that slain police officer Devendra Mishra wrote to the then SSP was an alarm for last weeks ambush where Mishra and seven other policemen were killed.

Today there are many reports that the letter is missing. All these facts raise a serious question on the working of the Home Department of UP, Priyanka Gandhi said.

The massacre of the policemen who had gone to raid the gangster caught the police on the wrong foot and exposed a rot in the departments ranks forcing it to suspend several personnel for ties with Dubey and allegedly tipping him off about the raid.

The UP government which has often publiscised a policy of zero tolerance to crime has come out in poor light following the encounter.

The UP Police have launched one of its biggest manhunts ever to arrest Dubey who has vanished after the ambush and is suspected to have crossed over to Madhya Pradesh. The police also raised the bounty on Dubeys head to Rs 2.5 lakh. On Tuesday, the Uttarakhand Police went on alert after reports that the gangster was sighted in UPs Bijnor.
Cannot believe the staggering size and scope of proposed rezoning in Upper York County from Mr. Ress article! This is another York County government zero-sum game: One developer wins while hundreds of rural (long-term) residents will lose. Some local businesses will be crushed by their actions. All you have to do is drive from the 7-Eleven on Croaker Road to the end of Fenton Mill Road and turn left onto Barlow Road. Traffic now is already a nightmare. You cannot put a Kiln Creek size development of approximately 900 new units on already dangerous, narrow, rural roads and convince people that this is good for all! The Planning Commission needs to turn this down. Also, where are the York County Supervisors? With the exception of Mr. Zaremba, the other four are hiding under their desks and have no opinion or worse yet theyre AWOL with no response to their voters. Their silence is deafening and calls into question their leadership (or lack thereof). Upper York County residents need to wake up and persist, because theyre not stopping with this project. I am now proudly displaying a NO REZONING preservefentonmill.org sign.
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday sought to corner the government over the India-China de-escalation in Ladakh, asking why status quo ante was not insisted upon and why territorial sovereignty of the Galwan Valley does not find mention in the foreign ministrys statement.

National interest is paramount. Government of Indias duty is to protect it. Then, why has Status Quo Ante not been insisted on? Why is China allowed to justify the murder of 20 unarmed jawans in our territory? Why is there no mention of the territorial sovereignty of Galwan valley? he asked in tweet.

Gandhi has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government on the India-China border standoff, and his twitter attack escalated after 20 Indian soldiers died in clashes with the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) on June 15.

While the Congress has been asking the government to be transparent on transgressions by China, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the opposition party of politicising the issue and demoralising the armed forces.

Gandhis tweet came a day after India and China started disengagement process in the Galwan Valley.

He shared the statements put out by the Indian and Chinese foreign ministries after the talks between Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval.

Gandhi highlighted how the Chinese foreign ministry in its statement made a mention of the Galwan Valley, but the Indian side did not do so.

Doval and Wang, who are special representatives for boundary talks between the two countries, held a telephonic conversation on Sunday during which they agreed on an expeditious withdrawal of troops. The two also said that a complete disengagement at the earliest was necessary for full restoration of peace in border areas and both sides should not allow differences to become disputes.
A day after a senior information technology consultant to the Kerala government allegedly emerged as the key player in the gold smuggling racket operated through diplomatic channels, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday rushed to contain the political fallout of the racket, removed his top aide M Sivasankar and declared that he was ready for any probe.

A brief statement by Vijayans office announced the transfer of the chief ministers principal secretary M Sivasankar with immediate effect. Sivasankars charge has been handed over to another IAS officer Mir Mohammad.

Sivasankar has been linked to the IT consultant Swapna Suresh who is alleged to have played a key role in the gold smuggling racket following the seizure of 30 kg gold from a diplomatic consignment on Sunday. The government sacked Swapna Suresh the next day.

But the opposition kept up the pressure. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala sought a CBI probe, alleging that Swapna Suresh and Sivasankar, who was also the states IT secretary, were linked. Other opposition leaders also joined in, insisting that the chief minister was aware of Swapna Sureshs appointment and that she was given key responsibilities.

Customs officials on Sunday had seized a diplomatic bag that landed from the UAE, ostensibly being sent to its consulate in the state capital. Since authorities cannot not open a diplomatic bag under the Vienna convention, they roped in UAE consulate officials. The bag, which arrived on a chartered flight from the UAE, contained 30 kg of gold in cylindrical form hidden within some equipment.

Sarith Kumar, a former employee of the consulate, has been arrested by the customs. He is alleged to have disclosed Swapnas role in the racket. There are reports that they made at least 10 such sorties which went unnoticed.

Chief Minister Vijayan played down the controversy saying the state was ready for any probe.

She was hired by a placement agency. Customs also made it clear that nobody had called from the CMs office to bail her out. Some people are creating a smoke screen to portray the government in the bad light, he said.

Asked why he had removed his principal secretary, the chief minister said he was sent out of the CMs office after receipt of some general complaints.

BJP state president K Surendran, however, alleged that a senior official from the CMs office did make a call to customs officials pleading with them to spare some people involved in the case. The gold bars and sticks were hidden inside some of the household equipment like handlebars to avoid detection.

As the controversy raged, the CPM central leadership said the party is ready for a probe by an agency including the CBI. The United Arab Emirates embassy has also said it will cooperate with the ongoing probe.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a month more to the Centre to implement its February verdict on giving all serving Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers permanent commission in the Indian Army, news agency PTI reported.

According to the news agency, a bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud said that the Centre will have to comply with all its directions given in its verdict.

The top courts direction came after the Centre filed an application seeking six months time for the implementation of the order citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Supreme Court had in February said women should be considered for command roles and that all women officers are entitled to permanent commission.

In its landmark judgment, the top court had asked the army to give them permanent commission within three months.

It had while upholding a 2010 Delhi high court verdict ruled that women officers who joined the army through SSC are entitled to permanent commission even if they have more than 14 years of service.

A permanent commission allows officers to serve in the army till they retire, unlike the SSC, which is for a specific period of 10 or 14 years.
The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim bail to Unitech Promoter Sanjay Chandra who has been in jail for three years for allegedly duping over 500 home buyers in proposed housing projects in Gurgaon.

A bench headed by justice DY Chandrachud allowed Chandras plea where he had said that both his parents are Covid-19 positive and in hospital.

Chandra and his brother, Ajay, were sent to jail in 2017 in connection with a cheating case registered against them by investors in Wild Flower Country and Anthea housing projects.

A case was first registered in July 2015, on the complaint of two Delhi residents. They alleged that Unitech had convinced them to book a flat at Wild Flowers Country in Gurgaon for a sum of Rs 57.34 lakh in August 2011.

Later, 90 more complaints concerning the same project were registered against the firm. They were clubbed with the FIR. The police claimed that the firm collected around Rs 363 crore from the complainants.

The Chandra bothers are lodged in Tihar jail.

The Supreme Court had on October 30, 2017, ordered that Sanjay Chandra will be granted bail only after the real estate group deposits Rs 750 crore with the registry.

It directed the jail authorities to facilitate Chandras meeting with his company officials and lawyers so that he is able to arrange the money for refunding home buyers as well as for completing the ongoing housing projects.
Work on the Rs 13,277 crore Talcher fertiliser and coal gasification project, which was awarded to Chinas Wuhuan Engineering Company Ltd in September last year, has been halted because of technical reasons, people aware of the development said.

The Chinese firm is unable to immediately mobilise technicians, equipment and workers at the site because of disruption in air connectivity amid the Covid-19 pandemic and visa issues, they added, requesting anonymity.

The recent India-China military standoff at the border may also have some indirect impact on the project, but it is too early to come to a definitive conclusion at this stage on the extent of the impact, the people cited above said. The project is the first in India to employ coal gasification technology for production of urea. Coal gasification is a process that converts coal into synthesis gas or syngas that is a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide..

Also read| Ensure expeditious restoration of peace in border areas: India urges China

The project is on. Any call, if at all, will be taken by the competent authority depending on how India-China border talks unfold. Although the project is important to reduce Indias dependence on imported urea, national interest is supreme, one of the people cited above, who works in an economic ministry, said.

The Narendra Modi govenment last week announced a ban on 59 mostly Chinese mobile applications such as Tik-Tok, UC Browser and WeChat, citing concerns that these are prejudicial to sovereignty of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. Imports from China are also facing strict scrutiny at customs check-points and Chinese investments are subject to prior government approval amid security concerns.

Also read| Banning Chinese apps a digital strike: Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

Sindo-Indian tensions shot up after a violent brawl between Chinese and Indian soldiers on June 15 along the Line of Actual Control in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in which 20 Indian army personnel an unspecified number of Chinese were killed.

The state-owned Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL) awarded the lump-sum turnkey (LSTK) contract project to Wuhuan Engineering on September 17, 2019 after a global competitive bid. TFL is backed by four state-run companies Gail India Ltd (GAIL), Coal India Ltd (CIL), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd (RCF) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL). GAIL, CIL and RCF hold 31.85% equity stake each in the company and the balance 4.45% is held by FCIL.

Email queries sent to TFL, GAIL, CIL, RCF, FCIL, Wuhuan Engineering and the ministries of fertiliser, coal and petroleum did not elicit any response.

One person aware of the ground developments said, The project had been hit by coronavirus pandemic that started in (the central Chinese city of) Wuhan last year in December, hence slow progress. But you cant judge the outcome of a match in the first few overs. We are hopeful of completing the project by September 2023.

An officer in the fertiliser ministry said the project has already been delayed by almost six months.

The Talcher project will produce 1.27 million tonnes per annum of neem-coated urea through gasification of a mixed feedstock comprising of high ash Indian coal and petcoke. TFL has been allotted northern part of the North Arkhapal mine as a captive asset for meeting its coal requirements and petcoke shall be sourced from the Paradip refinery of Indian Oil.

SC Sharma, an energy expert and former officer on special duty at the erstwhile Planning Commission, said, Coal gasification to urea is not a viable technology in an era of cheap imported gas. Talcher Coal is best used for power generation at pithead where costs could be Rs 1.5 per kWh to Rs 2 per kWh. Its more important to reduce import of coal for power generation rather than creating another technology which may not turn out to be a competitive option.
A 35-year-old alleged thief who had tested positive for Covid-19, escaped from a hospital in Gwalior late Monday night, police said Tuesday.

Two police guards - Ramu Gupta and Sonu Dandotiya  were suspended on Tuesday on charge of dereliction of duty following the thiefs escape, said Alok Vajpayee, jailor of the Gwalior prison.

Police are trying to nab the accused. The thief, who was also accused of robberies in Delhi, was released from Tihar jail last month on parole and had come to Gwalior at his parents house in Awaadpura area in Gwalior, said Navneet Bhasin, superintendent of police, Gwalior.

More than 21 people including six police personnel, who came in contact with him, have been quarantined, police saId.

According to police, the thief was caught red handed by people in Awaadpura area in Gwalior while stealing a mobile phone on Sunday. He was beaten up and handed over to police at Kampoo police station by a group of people. Later, he was produced before the court and sent to jail.

During mandatory medical examination, he tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday which caused a flutter in Awaadpura area, Kampoo police station and the jail.

Six police personnel were quarantined on Monday while police are preparing a list of those people who came in contact with the thief while beating him. As of now, 15 people have been identified, said the SP.
With the assembly polls in Bihar just four months away, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the main opposition party in the state, made it clear on Tuesday that it was not in favour of elections being per the schedule in view of the mounting cases of Covid-19 in the state, drawing ridicule from the ruling parties which said the decision was best left to the Election Commission (EC).

Elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly are due in October-November.

This is not the right time for election... Does Nitish Kumar want to hold election over dead bodies? Leader of Opposition Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav told reporters.

There has been an unprecedented increase in Coronavirus infections in the state, but the government seems unconcerned. It seems busy with election preparations. It is hiding figures. If the government doesnt wake up, the situation may become explosive by August-September, he warned.

The RJD leader said the situation was just not right for election at this stage in Bihar and that the government needed to focus on the pandemic. People are not getting proper health care. Coronavirus has reached the CMs house and the government is busy holding virtual rallies. Why is he in a hurry? Is he afraid of Presidents rule getting imposed in the state? he asked.

The JD-U has been in digital campaigning mode since the beginning of June and has planned virtual rallies in August, starting with the one to be addressed by Nitish Kumar on August 7.

RJD MP Manoj Jha said, The numbers of corona positive cases is alarming in Bihar despite low testing compared to other states. I would urge the government to keep aside elections for a few months and concentrate on Covid-19.

Congress MLC and spokesperson Premchandra Mishra said the testing ratio in Bihar, just 2,097 persons per million, was among the lowest in the country. There is a danger of community spread, he said.

JD-U spokesman Neeraj Kumar, however, said any decision on elections rested with the EC. Everyone knows it (coronavirus) is contagious. EC will also consider everything. Tejaswhi needs to look within before giving sermons. He is himself undertaking cycle yatras and addressing people through video conferencing, but asking others to refrain from it, he said.

State BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said the RJD seemed to be in a mood to evade the electoral field after seeing the writing on the wall. When, why and how the election will be held is for the EC to decide and RJD should not try to interfere with that. In these times (of pandemic), all the parties and people should work together to deal with it, he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda used Syama Prasad Mookerjees birth anniversary as a platform to target the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal on Monday, even as the policies of the Congress and Jawaharlal Nerhru, particularly in the context of Kashmir, were the mainstay of his speech.

Addressing a digital rally, Nadda dubbed TMC government as an impediment to the states development and called for dismissing it lock, stock and barrel. Nadda accused the party of being power hungry.

West Bengal has always given the country a new vision and a new direction, however under the current dispensation the states condition is saddening. The current West Bengal government has not only ruined education in the state, manufacturing and trade has also been severely affected. For the sake of the country and West Bengal Dr Mukherjee resigned from a position of power, however to the current government in West Bengal only posts matter, Nadda said.

The state government has adopted the policy of appeasement and violence in the state. It is not even cooperating with the Centre in the fight against the corona pandemic...

Saugata Roy, TMCs veteran Lok Sabha member, said, Shyama Prasad never had a deep political base in Bengal...While he enjoyed respect because of being the son of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, Shyama Prasad was never a freedom fighter and never went to jail.

BJP is projecting him because it does not have an icon In Bengal. The states real icons, such as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Tagore, Chittaranjan Das and others spoke of Hindu-Muslim unity and not Hindutva. Nadda does not know the history of the state, said Roy.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday suspended 18 of its panchayat workers and leaders in the Nandigram area of East Midnapore district after allegations of nepotism and corruption in distribution of monetary compensation to people affected by cyclone Amphan which hit the state on May 20.

These were among the 200 workers and leaders who were issued show-cause notice on Sunday.

The state government had released a relief package of Rs 6,800 crore. A part of this amount is being spent as compensation for those whose houses were damaged by cyclone Amphan. But there have been complaints that thousands of people whose houses were not damaged also got the money.

More than 50 of those TMC workers who received show-cause notice from the party in Nandigram have returned the compensation of Rs 20,000 that the government transferred to their bank accounts for repairing homes. In no other area of Bengal has so many people been charged by the party in a single move. Complaints of nepotism in south Bengal districts run into thousands.

TMC will conduct a survey in all 25 community blocks in the district and take action against errant workers, said Sisir Adhikari, TMC Lok Sabha member and the partys East Midnapore unit president.

TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee had on Sunday said that those involved in nepotism would be punished by the party.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said on Monday that the state government is rectifying the lapses which might have occurred in its efforts to pay the compensation to the victims quickly.

A few lapses might have taken place while we fast- tracked the compensation payment process on an emergency basis. We are rectifying the anomalies. Every affected family will receive the monetary relief, she had said.

Incidentally, the TMC-led movement against acquisition of farmland for a chemical hub at Nandigram witnessed unprecedented violence in the last years of the Left Front government and helped Banerjee come to power in 2011. The violence, which continued for more than two years, erupted after 14 villagers died in police firing in 2007.

It is widely acknowledged that without the Nandigram movement and a prolonged agitation against the proposed Tata small car plant at Singur in Hooghly district, Banerjee might not have been able to overthrow the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led government. The two incidents rocked the state, became headlines in the international media and galvanised public opinion against the Buddhadeb Battacharjee government.

TMC sponsored the violence in Nandigram with help from Maoists. After she came to power, Banerjee promised to transform Nandigram with new industries. It never happened and local people had to look for jobs in other states. Now they are witnessing loot by the ruling party, said Md Salim, a member of the CPI(M) politburo.

The BJP on Monday started an agitation at Singur as well, alleging that a woman who had asked for tarpaulin after the cyclone was raped by a TMC worker in June. The party said the woman and her husband were threatened and told not to go to the police.

BJP state womens wing president Agnimitra Paul led the agitation at Singur police station. The woman has two children. She was raped and threatened, she said. An officer at the police station said that a complaint has been registered.

While community block development offices are still receiving applications from scores of people who did not receive the compensation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has turned this into a raging issue prior to the 2021 assembly polls. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh on Sunday launched a website where people who have been deprived can lodge complaints.

To counter this, TMC has accused the BJP of indulging in the same nepotism in several parts in North 24 Parganas district. On Monday, TMC workers staged an agitation at a panchayat office in the districts Bagdah area.
China on Tuesday said its troops had begun to disengage from the Galwan Valley in the western sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, a day after New Delhi and Beijing simultaneously announced their decision to de-escalate two months of tension in the area.

In an official statement issued Monday, China did not specifically mention whether its soldiers had begun to disengage from the Galwan Valley area in eastern Ladakh.

Recently, according with the consensus reached at the military-ministerial level, the Chinese and India frontier troops have taken effective measures to disengage and ease the tension on the ground in the Galwan Valley and other areas in the western sector of the China-India border and made positive progress, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement to HT.

The ministry was responding to a query from HT on whether Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) had begun to withdraw its troops from the areas of friction near the line of actual control (LAC) and the phases and protocols of the disengagement to be followed by Chinese soldiers.

The statement did not share details but acknowledged for the first time that disengagement had begun on the ground.

The ministry said it hoped the disengagement would be done according to the established plan decided by the two sides.

It is hoped that India will work with China in the same direction, implement local arrangements in accordance with the established plan agreed by the two sides and work together to further ease the tension in the border, the ministry statement in Mandarin said.

The statement referred to the July 5 phone conversation between Indias National Security Advisor AK Doval and Chinese state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi: Both Doval and Wang are the special representatives for the ongoing boundary talks between the two countries.

During the phone conversation, the statement said: The two sides stressed the importance of implementing the consensus reached at the military-to-military level of the border troops of the two countries and completing the process of disengagement of the frontline troops of the two sides as soon as possible.

The move towards a partial de-escalation and disengagement at key friction points in the Ladakh sector of the LAC followed Doval and Wangs phone conversation on Sunday.

It was also the first interaction between the two SRs since the standoff began in early May.

The military corps commanders had met on June 6, 22 and 30, while the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs had held two virtual meetings on June 5 and 24.

New Delhi and Beijing will closely monitor each others disengagement process and levels of withdrawal as both countries cautiously attempt to resolve the latest  and the worst in decades  crisis in bilateral ties.

China is yet to reveal the PLAs casualty figures but the Indian army lost 20 soldiers in a violent brawl between the border troops of the two countries on the night of June 15. Both sides have amassed large numbers of well-armed troops
Apparently after months of briefings from government advisers, he has chosen not only to remain ignorant, but to publicly flaunt his ignorance and to ridicule our scientists and public health officials. What are we to make of the presidents demand that testing to find people infected and potentially infectious be stopped because, he says, if testing is stopped, there will be no more cases?
The police in Andhra Pradeshs Visakhapatnam district on Tuesday arrested 12 persons including the chief executive officer and two directors of LG Polymers Ltd, and suspended three officials for negligence, exactly two months after a gas leak from the companys plant at R R Venkatapuram village on the outskirts of the city resulted in the death of 15 people and hospitalisation of over 500 others.

Visakhapatnam police commissioner R K Meena said companys managing director and CEO Sunkey Jeong, technical director D S Kim (both South Korean nationals), additional director (operations) Pitchuka Poorna Chandra Mohan Rao, head of the department and shift in-charge Kodi Srinivas Kiran Kumar, team leader (production) Raju Satyanarayana were among those who were arrested.

The Gopalapatnam police under whose limits the chemical plant is located had booked criminal cases under various sections of Indian Penal Code on the same evening of May 7, when the gas leakage mishap took place, the commissioner said.

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Interestingly, the arrests were made a day after the experts committee appointed by the Andhra Pradesh government submitted its report to chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy blaming the LG Polymers management for its negligence which led to the accident.

The first information report (FIR) filed by the police said at around 3 am on May 7, liquid Styrene rapidly vaporized due to the sudden rise in temperature in the M-6 storage tank at LG Polymers because of a polymerization reaction. The gaseous vapour leaked through the vents of the tank and spread across the nearby residential areas following downwind direction.

Also Read: With 40 teams chasing Kanpur gangster, UP police vows not to sit quietly till Dubey is nabbed

This affected the adjoining six colonies/villages of Venkatapuram, Venkatadri Nagar, Padmanabhapuram, SC & BC Colony, Nandamuri Nagar, RR Venkatapuram. As many as 12 villagers died on May 7 and 8. Subsequently, another three villagers died. About 34 animals also lost their lives in the incident, the police said.

The arrests were made by assistant commissioner of police R V S N Murthy and his team members under the supervision of police commissioner R K Meena, deputy commissioner of police Aishwarya Rastogi and DCP (crimes) D Suresh Babu.

All the accused are being produced before the court for judicial remand. Case is under investigation as reports from various departments have to be received and examination of witnesses has to be done, the commissioner said.

Meanwhile, the state government suspended deputy chief inspector of factories KBS Prasad for alleged negligence in inspecting the LG Polymers plant for any potential hazards in its design. Besides, Visakhapatnam zonal environmental engineer R Lakshmi Narayana and regional environmental engineer P Prasad Rao were also suspended for allowing operation of LG Polymers plant without environmental clearance and the import and storage of huge quantities of styrene without verifying safety and environmental issues.
A former Indian employee of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consulate in Kerala, fired for misconduct, was allegedly behind an attempt to smuggle 30 kg of gold through a diplomatic bag and no diplomats were involved in the matter, UAE authorities have said.

Customs officials at the airport in Thiruvananthapuram seized a diplomatic bag addressed to the UAE consulate on Friday after getting a tip-off that it was being used to smuggle gold. The bag, which arrived on a chartered flight from the UAE, contained 30 kg of gold in cylindrical form hidden within some equipment.

The UAEs ambassador to India, Ahmed Al Banna, has told the media in Dubai that he will coordinate with officials in Kerala for the investigation into the incident.

A statement issued by the UAE embassy said the mission in Thiruvananthapuram and its diplomatic role had no role in the matter. The statement said the embassy condemns the attempted misuse of diplomatic channels by an individual engaged in smuggling activity and firmly rejected such acts.

Initial inquiries conducted by the mission revealed that a former locally hired employee of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram was responsible for this act. The employee in question was fired for misconduct long preceding this incident, the statement said.

At this time, it appears that this individual exploited his knowledge of the missions channels to engage in criminal activity, it said.

The UAE looks forward to fully cooperating with Indian customs authorities to thoroughly investigate this matter and urges stringent legal action against those involved, the statement added.

Police in Kerala have named two former employees of the UAE consulate  Sarith Kumar and Swapna Suresh  as suspects in the case. Sarith was arrested after he allegedly went to the airport with a fake ID card to collect the diplomatic bag.

People familiar with developments, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the diplomatic bag apparently had the required authorisation, including documentation regarding its contents and a tamper-proof seal.

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, authorities in the receiving state cannot open a diplomatic bag even if they have suspicions about its contents. The bag can only be opened in the presence of officials or diplomats of the sending state. This was done in the case of the UAEs diplomatic bag after receiving the required permission, the people said.

Sarith worked as a public relations officer for the UAE consulate but was fired some months ago as he was not doing his job, Al Banna told Gulf News. Unfortunately, he used different means and ways to misuse the name of the consulate, he said.
The US Navy and Chinese media exchanged hashtag fire on Twitter over US carrier groups and the Chinese military holding exercises in the South China Sea at the same time. The state-owned Global Times tweeted pictures of Chinese missiles and warships, and warned any US carriers in the sea did so at the pleasure of PLA). The US Navys chief of information tweeted back the next day: And yet, there they are #USSNimitz & #USSRonaldReagan are not intimidated. The tweet ended, #AtOurDiscretion.

PLA is the Peoples Liberation Army, the Chinese military. The Nimitz and Reagan are two supercarriers, or large aircraft carriers, in the US American fleet.

Military exercises with two carrier battle groups are rare. The last one held by the US in the South China Sea took place in 2014, and indicates a deliberate show of military power in waters claimed by Beijing.

Also read| South China Sea is not Chinas maritime empire: Pompeo

The Global Times tweeted pictures of the main gun of the Chinese guided missile frigate Yulin and three long-range anti-carrier missiles, either DF-21Ds or DF-26s. It warned that the South China Sea is fully within the grasp of the #PLA, and linked an article criticising the US decision to deliberately hold exercises at the same time China was holding military drills near the Xisha islands in the disputed South China Sea. The US decision showed it was the real source of potential regional instability, the newspaper said.

On Sunday, another Global Times article described the carrier groups as nothing more than paper tigers on Chinas doorstep. It claimed the US drills were a mere show to make up for its loss of face regarding epidemic control and the loss of its Hong Kong card following the passage a new national security law giving Beijing sweeping powers of arrest there.

The Chinese drills were originally scheduled to run from Wednesday to Sunday. The US Navys started on Saturday.

David Larter of defensenews.com noted that whether or not the carriers could be destroyed by Chinese missiles was irrelevant. The point of operating aircraft carriers in the S. China Sea isnt to demonstrate American invincibility, its to demonstrate that the United States is not deterred by Chinas missiles, he tweeted.

The US Pacific Fleets twitter account joined the fray on Monday with pictures of a B-52H bomber and fighters from the USS Nimitz flying in formation over the South China Sea. The bomber was flown from a base in Louisiana to show, the US Air Force said, strategic predictability and operational unpredictability.

Also read: China to supply 4 attack drones to Pak, prompts India to revive Predator-B plan

Beijings response was to call in the diplomats.The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday accused the US of ulterior motives by intentionally sending heavy forces into the South China Sea for large-scale drills and flexing its muscles. He added that Washington was alienating countries in the region, pushing for South China Sea militarisation and sabotaging peace and stability, and that China holding military drills in waters of Xisha islands was within the countrys sovereignty.

The Twitter banter over the exercises reflects the deepening and increasingly more overt strategic rivalry between the US and China. Senior US and Chinese officials make statements against each others military intentions in the Indo Pacific region every few days. The past few weeks, for example, has seen US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo say the US needs to shift troops out of Europe to take on Chinese military might. The White House cited a pattern of aggression by Beijing that encompassed the South China Sea, the Ladakh border clashes and other actions.
The United States took note Monday of the de-escalation efforts at the India-China border but leery of Chinas aggressive behavior against minorities at home, neighbours in the region and in cyberspace generally, it said imposing costs on Beijing was the only way to stop it.

There has been a calibrated sharpening of US remarks on the India-China conflict, with the White House setting the tone last week when the spokesperson said President Donald Trump believed that Chinas aggressive stance on the border with India fit a pattern of Chinese aggression around the world.

The US state department took much the same line Monday shortly after news broke of the Chinese moving their troops back from Patrolling Point 14, site of deadly classes last month in which 20 Indian and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops were killed on June 15.

Also read| Phone call at 8.45 am, then a video call: The backstory of the PLAs pullback

A state department spokesperson told Hindustan Times the United States supported a peaceful resolution of the situation, as state many times before, but, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said on many occasions, what is so disturbing is the emergence of a clear pattern of Beijing acting increasingly aggressively, both domestically and abroad.

From the Taiwan Strait to Xinjiang, from the South China Sea to the Himalayas, from cyberspace to international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the spokesperson said we are dealing with a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that seeks to repress its own people and bully its neighbors.

The official added: The only way to stop these provocations is by standing up to Beijing and imposing costs on its bad behavior.

It was not immediately clear if the standing up to Beijing and costs were a reference to the Indian ban on 59 mobile phone apps from China that Secretary Pompeo welcomed last week. Backing the ban, he had said these apps could sometimes serve as appendages of the CCPs surveillance state

Indias Clean App approach will boost Indias sovereignty, he had added.

The spokesperson did not explain the costs, but in recent days, the United States has announced the end of export of controlled defense equipment to Hong Kong over the new Chinese national security law that western powers have said is violative of Chinas international commitments. And Trump has signed into law a bill that sought to impose sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for the repression of Uighur minorities.

The president and allies in Congress have also talked about holding China accountable for the spread of the coronavirus by billing it the damages caused to the US economy.

Also read: For Ladakh stand-off, how India readied its fleet of Apache attack choppers

Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri state, moved a resolution in March that sought to hold China accountable for the pandemic and design a mechanism for delivering compensation from the Government of the Peoples Republic of China to all affected nations for the harm caused by its decision to hide the emergence and spread of COVID19 during the initial weeks of the outbreak.

Missouri has already filed a lawsuit against China for damages.

Support for India in its recent border confrontation with China has been growing. In a TV interview recently, a Republican senator who is a close ally of President Trump, denounced Chinas aggression on the border with India to illustrate the growing threat the Asian giant poses to the United States and its allies and partners around the world.

Also read: How China, under Xi, lost the worlds goodwill | Opinion

The Chinese Communist Party is certainly using the pandemic to try to assert claims and take very aggressive action against almost all of its neighbors, Cotton had said, adding, high up in the Himalayas, China has essentially invaded India, an ally of ours. And they have killed 20 Indian soldiers.
Uttarakhand high court (HC) on Monday reserved its judgment in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy against the state governments takeover of the Char Dhams and 51 other temples in the hill state by invoking the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019, said counsel Manisha Bhandari, who appeared in the matter along with petitioner Swamy.

Kartikey Hari Gupta, the counsel representing intervenor, Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), in the matter that is supporting the state governments stand, said the court over the past week had heard all the parties concerned and reserved its judgment in the matter.

The PIL had challenged the constitutional validity of the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019, by which the administration and control of major Hindu religious institutions have been taken over by the Uttarakhand government or by any authority functioning under the state government.

Last December, the Uttarakhand assembly had passed the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board Bill.

In January, Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya gave her assent for the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019.

Aggrieved priests had threatened that they would move the HC against the Act, as they claimed to have been kept in the dark about the new law.

They had alleged that the government took the step to ensure its control over shrine-related issues, bypassing the powerful priest community.

On February 10, a four-member delegation of the states priest body met Swamy and submitted documents that were required to file a PIL along with a copy of the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019.

Soon, Swamy filed the PIL against the formation of the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board and the resultant Act.

Gupta said he argued in favour of the state governments decision and presented various historical and legal documents before the court.

He said the Act does not interfere in the matter of religion, it only regulates the temporal functions associated with matters of faith, as far as these shrines are concerned.

The administration of these temples was made by the then HC bench of Kumaon in 1899, which had separated the religious and temporal affairs. The 1939 Act for the management of these temples records that the law was needed due to the mismanagement of temples and also to alleviate pilgrims plight. The new Act has been passed to further that objective and it is valid, he said.

Gupta cited that the shrines mismanagement led to a separation of religious and temporal functions.

Irish lawyer Edwin T. Atkinson has recorded this fact of gross mismanagement of temples in the Himalayan Gazetteer published in 1884. The Supreme Court in its Ayodhya Ram Mandir judgement last November had also held that gazetteers are key evidence that courts can rely on, he added.

Gupta said he apprised the HC that Manusmiriti, which is the ancient text for Hindu laws, in its Chapter 7 lays down that it is the choice of the King as to whom he wants to keep a priest and all rites and sacrifices in temples are performed by priests on his behalf. Thus, priests have no inherent right to manage temples. Scholar and educational reformer Madan Mohan Malaviya in 1933 had also published a book appealing to the public to hand over the management of temples for their better upkeep.
The civic agency in Mumbai allowed on Tuesday people to get tested for Covid-19 without needing a doctors prescription, making it the first city in the country to allow walk-in tests  a step experts say is crucial to adequately scale up a process that alone could hold the key to beating back the outbreak.

India has till now carried out a little over 10 million tests but will need to ramp up this process significantly by setting a bar as high as 50 million tests by August 15, which would give authorities a far more adequate insight into how the virus may have spread in a population of over 1.3 billion people so that each of the infected can then be traced and isolated.

According to experts in public health, industry and regulations, the country has the capacity to carry out a million tests a day but will need administrative will from across the states. We are not testing enough. We (India) have enough tests  we can make two million tests per week just in Mylabs and now there are multiple other companies making testing kits in India, but were just not testing more, said Adar Poonawalla, CEO and owner of the Pune-based Serum Institute of India, which is the worlds largest vaccine manufacturer by volume.

Mylabs is Indias first local manufacturer of the gold standard RT-PCR tests for Covid-19, and Serum Institute has helped it increase its capacity.

India, which has the third highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world after US and Brazil, has done 7,661 tests per million people, which is less than 0.8% of its population. In comparison, the US has tested 11% of its population, Russia 16%, and the UK, 15%, according to data compiled by Worldometers.

Recent headway in efforts to ramp up testing have come from tools such as the rapid antigen kits (one of those used is the Standard Q from a South Korean company) and equipment-makers are pushing for more innovation to make testing devices that are easier to operate.

One such device was launched on Tuesday by Pune-based Mylabs, which unveiled Indias first fully-automated bench-top system designed to automate the process of testing using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method.

This machine can perform 400 tests a day with a single person operating it, which will help address any potential demand-supply gaps of highly skilled technicians for testing, thus saving us manpower and time and helping the country open up by testing faster, more efficiently and on a large scale, said Poonawalla.

On-demand testing

As much as equipment and resources, India needs to allow walk-in tests, say experts. The number of tests being done is not at all adequate. Given Indias population, we must do one million tests a day to diagnose and isolate the infected and it can be done only by making testing available on demand. Since rapid scale-up may not be possible using RT-PCR tests, antigen testing should be deployed at scale at point-of-care to increase community testing till the positivity rate falls below at least 2-3%, said JVR Prasada Rao, former health secretary and a former UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS.

Poonawalla echoed the suggestion: The government has to allow testing for asymptomatic people also because that is the only way well know how many cases there are. People may ask, Will it create panic?, but there is no panic in knowing cases. We have to worry about deaths and treat the sick early so that they dont die. To do that, you need to isolate and treat people who tested positive.

China, which has 83,565 Covid-19 cases and a population comparable to India, has done 62,814 tests per million of its population , covering roughly 6% of its population. Its main strategy to stop infection has been focused mass testing and isolation in hard-hit cities and provinces, including Beijing, Mudanjiang city in Heilongjiang province, and Wuhan city in Hubei province.

Testing is the only way to diagnose an infected person and stop further transmission. I am alarmed at the mishandling of the pandemic. Where are the labs to test and give results within an acceptable time frame? I am told test samples are piled up in labs in Andhra Pradesh and delays are huge. If results come after five days, the infection has already spread, so a lot must go into the strategy besides numbers. They have messed it up in a big, big way, said K Sujatha Rao, former health secretary, Union ministry of health and family welfare.

An antigen test is helpful in diagnosing the infection, like the ELISA test for HIV, which can be sent for confirmation trough RT-PCR. So having a point-of-care test like the antigen test can help scale up, which is what is being done in some states now, said Rao.

Flattened peak

Increased testing leads to an initial spike in cases, followed by a plateau and then a steady fall as the sick get isolated and their close contacts are quarantined. Low testing leads to high positivity rate, which is an indicator for need to ramp up testing. Since the pandemic is spreading in multiple waves in India, the focus areas should be on increasing testing in hot spots and merging hot spots, such as Andhra and Karnataka. Infections are fortunately limited in India, so ramping up testing in affected areas to test everyone and their contacts will make a difference, as it has in Delhi, were the peak has plateaued considerably, said CK Mishra, former secretary with the ministries of health and environment.

With increased testing, positivity in Delhi fell from a weekly average peak of 30.4% in mid June to a weekly average of 10.4% on Tuesday. Testing alone is not enough, the contacts must also be traced and quarantined to stop transmission, added Mishra. Thats the second T and the I of the classic Test, Trace, Isolate, Treat approach.

The plateauing in Delhi indicates adequate testing and containment, and this will sustain for a while before the numbers gradually hopefully begin to fall in early to mid-August, provided there are no slip-ups, said Randeep Guleria, director, All India of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi on Tuesday.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi, which together account for 60% cases in India, have per million testing numbers of 9,295, 18,185 and 33,178 respectively. Maharashtra has done the least tests, and has the highest positivity rate of 22%.

Telangana, with second lowest testing after Bihar, has positivity rate of 27.6%, which is three times the average national positivity rate of 9.43%.

Standardising numbers

India now has 1,115 labs equipped and approved for testing for Covid-19, which include 793 in the government sector and 322 in the private sector. That apart, states have begun using antigen-based tests that give results at point of care within 30 minutes.

But, increasing testing is not just about approving labs and kits, say experts.

Its also about ensuring quality of test kits, logistics in terms of supply to states, standardization of the testing protocols, and setting a minimum range that ought to be done. For example, you cant have arbitrariness, where Telangana has tested 3,284 per million while Delhi has done 33,000 per million. There is no clarity or uniformity of approach, said Rao.

Flattening the curve by testing even asymptomatic people can accelerate opening up with the new-normal safeguards like masks and social distancing. How can governments, companies and economies open up if companies are not allowed to test its staff so that they feel and know they are in a safe environment? That can happen only with more testing, said Poonawalla.

We we must test more and should not worry about having more cases. Epidemiologists predict up to 50% of the worlds population will have Covid over the next few years, but thats nothing to worry about because a very, very, very small percentage of that will have critical illness, he added.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday questioned the government over the tension on the border between India and China, including the separate statements issued by the Indian and Chinese foreign ministries over talks held between two seniors officials.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had spoken with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi over video call on Sunday before soldiers of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) moved back from the standoff points in the Galwan area and near Pangong Tso.

Doval and 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 had said.

Doval and Wang, the 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, an external affairs ministry statement had said.

On Tuesday, the former Congress president tweeted two photographs of the statements issued by India and China after Sundays talk between Doval and Wang.

A part of the Chinese statement has been highlighted in one of the photographs.

National interest is paramount. GOIs duty is to protect it, Rahul Gandhi posted on Twitter.

Then, 1. Why has Status Quo Ante not been insisted on? 2. Why is China allowed to justify the murder of 20 unarmed jawans in our territory? 3. Why is there no mention of the territorial sovereignty of Galwan valley? Gandhi asked.

Rahul Gandhi has been relentless with his attack on the government over the border standoff with China in Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh.

The Congress party has also been taking jibes at the Centre since the June 15 violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley, which resulted in the killing of 20 Indian Army soldiers, including the commanding officer of 16 Bihar Regiment.

It has also been questioning the government whether Indian land has been occupied by China.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, on its part, has attacked the opposition party for what it called the demoralising of the countrys armed forces.
Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday said 40 police teams and a special task force was hunting for dreaded gangster Vikas Dubey, on the run after ambushing eight policemen with the help of his accomplices in Kanpur city last Thursday night. The state police chief added that the force will not rest until Dubey is nabbed.

The sensational and barbaric execution of policemen last Thursday night is also in focus for exposing moles in the state police force who actively tipped off Dubey hours before the police raid and led their own colleagues into a deadly trap laid by the gangster. A stunned UP police force is now in hot pursuit of the gangster who managed to flee with his accomplices the same night.

40 teams and STF are working. Were collecting information on Vikas Dubeys accomplices and members of his family. Until and unless we arrest Vikas Dubey and his accomplices, we will not sit quietly, UPs ADG (law and order) Prashant Kumar was quoted as saying on Tuesday by news agency ANI.

Two sub-inspectors and a constable were suspended yesterday over suspicion that they might have leaked information to Dubey. Another sub-inspector was suspended earlier for his alleged links with Dubey. The police chief cited the huge cache of arms and explosives found at Dubeys house which was razed down by police later to question if there was a deeper link to this incident.

3 more cops suspended on suspicion of links to Vikas Dubey

The entire house was searched and 2 kg of explosive substance, 6 country-made pistols, 15 crude bombs and 25 cartridges were recovered, Kumar said before adding, Where did they get such a huge cache of weapons? What weapons were used? Information was received that someone kept it hidden at his home.

Police had also stumbled upon a concrete bunker built inside Dubeys house that was stocked with provisions to last for months apart from the seized weapons and explosives, hidden carefully inside the walls.

25 cops, all eyewitnesses to 2001 murder, turned hostile during Dubeys tria

State-wide raids to track down Dubey, who faces 60 criminal cases, are continuing. An alert has been sounded in all 75 districts of the state and 25 teams from 40 police stations are involved in search operations. UP borders have been sealed and posters put up at toll plazas in the state amidst apprehensions that he might have already crossed the border. The bounty on his head was increased to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh.

Officials believe that Dubey had supporters in the police force who helped him and his gang have a free run. This suspicion was corroborated when Daya Shankar Agnihotri, an aide of Dubey arrested on Sunday, claimed in a video statement that Dubey had been alerted about the raid by a caller from a police station. It is suspected that the police station in question could be the one in Chaubeypur, about 14km from Bikru village where Dubey lived. Vinay Tiwari, the Chaubeypur station officer was the first person to be suspended in the case. There are allegations that he has been protecting Dubey.

It is viral in the media that Circle Officer Devendra Mishra, who lost his life in Kanpur encounter, had written a letter. DGP has sent an IG level officer to investigate this. The truth will come out in the investigation, Prashant Kumar said., referring to reports that Bilhaur circle officer Mishra, who led the raid team to Dubeys village, had told former Kanpur senior superintendent of police about Tiwari protecting Dubey.
India, the worlds third worst-hit country, recorded more than 22,000 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 467 deaths between Monday and Tuesday morning, Union health ministrys data showed.

The tally now stands at 719,665 after the 22,252 fresh infections in a single day. The number of Covid-19 cases in India has mounted to 7 lakh from 6 lakh in just four days as more than 20,000 infections, with over 24,000 on two days, have been reported every day since July 3.

Click here for full Covid-19 coverage

And, the Covid-19 cases have ballooned since January end when the countrys first case was reported in Kerala after a student who returned from Chinas Wuhan, the original epicentre of a pandemic, came home and tested positive for the viral disease.

With 20,160 deaths, Indias fatality rate or the number of deaths as a percentage of total cases was 2.80% on Tuesday. It was 2.82% on Monday morning as compared to 3% a week ago.

The number of recovered cases among Covid-19 patients rose to 439,947 on Tuesday. During the last 24 hours, 15,515 patients have been cured.

The number of recovered patients is more than the 259,557 active cases of Covid-19. This takes Indias recovery rate to 61.13%.

The health ministry has also said that the national positivity rate, the percentage of samples testing coronavirus positive from the total number of samples, is 6.73% while many states have reported lower.

As part of the coordinated efforts, the Union government has emphasized on increasing testing, prompt contact tracing and timely clinical management of the cases. It has also helped the States to significantly ramp up testing capacities. This has resulted in reduced positivity in the country. Currently, the national positivity rate stands at 6.73%, it said on Monday.

It added that in Delhi, the efforts being made by the UT were significantly bolstered by the Centre to ensure an increase in testing.

As a result of concerted and focused efforts by Government of India to augment efforts, the average number of samples being tested per day which was only 5481 (1st-5th June 2020) has witnessed a huge increase to reach an average of 18,766 samples per day between 1st to 5th July 2020, it said.

Delhis positivity rate has seen a substantial decrease from about 30% to 10% in the last three weeks.

Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state with 211,987 cases, including 9,026 deaths. Tamil Nadu is second with 114,978 cases, including 1,571 deaths, and Delhi is third with 100,823 cases, including 3,115 deaths.

The national capital is the worst-affected metro city in the country.

The health ministry said on Monday that the number of tests to detect the coronavirus disease has crossed the 10 million milestone.

This signifies the importance accorded to widespread testing and the focussed Test, Trace, Treat strategy with several follow-up measures taken in tandem by the Central government and the States/UTs, it said.

It said on Monday that 346,459 samples had been tested in 24 hours and that the cumulative number of samples tested as of now is 1,01,35,525.
Many will agree that there are several people craving for a vacation. It doesnt matter whether its a beach or a mountain, people are longing to stretch their legs and fill their social media with aesthetic photos of pretty landscapes. But, Nagpur Police has stepped in to make sure that people refrain from doing so in these perilous times with a witty travel contest post.

Posted on their official Twitter account, the department tweeted about the contest and asked everyone to solve an interesting math riddle. Nagpur Police has organised a TRAVEL contest. Calculate your next Travel Destination, reads the caption.

The post details step-by-step instructions for solving the puzzle and the twist lies in the solution itself.

Take a look at the post and check the destination you received:

Nagpur Police has organised a TRAVEL contest. Calculate your next Travel Destination -



1. Choose a no. between 1 and 9



2. Multiply it by 3



3. Add 3



4. Multiply it by 3 again



5. Add the two digit number you get together



6. Number you get is where you will travel to pic.twitter.com/EpOEZ9l7h6  Nagpur City Police (@NagpurPolice) July 6, 2020

If youre still confused, let us clear the air for you. The riddle is such that whatever number you choose, the result will be 9 and the 9th destination on the list is Stay at Home. The riddle has garnered over 1,000 likes and tons of impressed comments from netizens.

Although, one individual cracked the riddle in a rather unusual way and youll also relate to it if youre a mathematics buff:

Let me extend my answer. Nowhere written that answer should be integer only. So yes I chose number



5/3 as 1<5/3<9

5/3*3=5

5+3=8

8*3=24

2+4=6....



I want my ticket for Japan please@NagpurPolice  Aksshay Hedaoo (@AksshayH) July 6, 2020

Heres how others reacted:

.

Good one .. loved your humour. Keep it up.  Amit Upagade (@AmitUpagade) July 6, 2020

Nice Method applied  Mrudani Deosthali (@spyspeech) July 6, 2020

What are your thoughts on this witty approach by Nagpur Police?
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
The Kerala government transferred its information technology secretary, M Sivasankar, on Tuesday, a day after the dismissal of an IT consultant amid allegations of her links to a gold smuggling racket in the state.

The transfer of M Sivasankar, the senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who is also a secretary to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, came after opposition parties in the state stepped up pressure following the seizure of 30 kg gold from a diplomatic consignment on Sunday.

The chief minister holds the IT portfolio.

The customs department had seized the gold from an air cargo consignment from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the countrys consulate in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. The action came after a green light 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 be on the run 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.

K Surendran, the state unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has alleged that she was close to IT secretary Sivasankar, who helped her get plum the assignment.

Sivasankar had 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.

Vijayan denied reports that his office made any intervention.

Customs is with the Union government. Let it investigate and find out the truth, the chief minister said.

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As several private schools in the city have hiked their fees, parents and experts urged the state to make amendments to the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) Act, 2011, to allow the government to regulate the fees of private schools.

An official from the education department said that the state is reviewing the fee-related laws.

As parents reel under financial stress owing to the lockdown, they said they were unable to pay huge amounts at the moment. Many schools are removing students from their online learning groups or threatening parents to remove them from the school altogether, if the fees are not paid.

Vaishali Bafna from SYSCOM, a Pune-based think tank, said the government needs to amend the fee regulation Act to include a provision, in which fees of private schools can be capped during a crisis.

The current provisions of the Act allow private schools to set their own fee structure. Schools are using this system to their own advantage even in difficult times such as these to put pressure on parents to pay huge sums. The government needs to intervene and bring amendments in the Act urgently, she added.

A government resolution released on May 8 stated that schools should stay all fee hikes for the current academic year and allow parents to pay fees in instalments. The GR was, however, stayed by the Bombay high court on June 26, in response to a petition by several organisations of private school owners. The petitioners argued that the government cannot regulate fees of private schools as per the current rules.

Parents said that in the absence of strict norms, they have nowhere to go.

We are all stuck now because even if we complain to the education department, schools will still get away, as the court put a stay on the GR. On the other hand, schools are discriminating against students whose parents are unable to pay the fees, by removing them from online learning groups. The government needs to intervene, said a Goregaon-based parent.
Expensive airline tickets, enhanced wages, medical insurance, weekly doctor visits... just some of the perks that Mumbais real estate barons are offering. Not to their Ivy-league-educated senior executives, but to entice hundreds of thousands of construction workers who left the city in the wake of the Covid-19 spread in April, May and June this year to return.

According to the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (shortened as CREDAI-MCHI), the apex industry body in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), close to 700,000 of the 900,000 on-site real estate workforce migrated back to their hometowns as soon as Mumbai became the countrys worst-affected Covid-19 hotspot.

There are hardly 200,000 on-site workers left in Mumbai, and a majority of the projects are in limbo. We desperately need to start work and hence we are trying all means possible to bring them back, said Rajesh Prajapati, managing committee member, Credai-MCHI. The workers are not ready to come back fearing infection and due to family pressure. We are assuring them that we will take good care of them, and offer them best of the facilities such as Covid-19 insurance as well as weekly visits by doctors.

On June 8, the Maharashtra government allowed private construction activity to restart, but builders say they have been facing an acute shortage of workers since then, and that they are left with no option but to lure them back with flight tickets, enhanced wages, boarding facilities and medical insurance, in addition to weekly medical check-ups.

Recently, the Avighna Group  best known for erecting highrises in the erstwhile mills cluster in central Mumbai  arranged flight tickets for 88 workers from West Bengal for their new project in south Mumbais Worli area. Work is delayed by six months due to the pandemic, and we cannot afford more setbacks. This forced us to arrange flight tickets as well as offer 25% extra wages for our workers, said Nishant Agrawal, managing director, Avighna Group. He said Avighna has spent 9 lakh to transport them from West Bengal to Mumbai.

Real estate executives said they have appointed independent contractors who are scouting for skilled construction workers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha.

Real estate consultancy Liases Foras warns that the sector will face long-term crises if work does not start soon. The disbursement of money by the banks to companies is construction-linked (according to the stage of the project) and hence builders will not get money till work starts and there is progress in the project. Delays will make projects unviable, said Pankaj Kapoor, CEO, Liases Foras.

Liases Foras estimates that there are at least 4,500 ongoing projects in the MMR, of which less than 40% have started after the June 8 notification. Here also, the work has not started in full swing and is progressing slowly, Kapoor added.

Take Shraddha Lifescapes. This construction firm, which had started their Jogeshwari (in north-west Mumbai) project just before the March lockdown, has sent contractors scouting for workers in places like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Our project is delayed by at least a year, and if we dont get workers fast, it will be delayed further, said Bhavesh Sanghrajka, CEO, Shraddha Lifescapes. Shraddha Lifescapes has constructed projects in places like IC Colony in Borivli in north Mumbai and Jogeshwari, and is offering higher wages to bring back its workforce.

The National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco), however, estimates that reverse migration has started and the construction workforce will return within the next three months. There is no work in the villages and hence we are seeing a healthy reverse migration. We estimate that all construction workers will return by Diwali (November), said Rajan Bandelkar, president, Naredco (Maharashtra).

Niranjan Hiranandani, co-founder and managing director of real estate major Hiranandani Group, said the process of workforce returning to Mumbai has started. They are attracted to Mumbai as it gives them employment and they will return, he said. Things will normalise in the coming months as people are realising that they need to live with this virus. Those who have gone are talking to other labourers, and the response has been positive.
The Union ministry of road transport has expressed its intention to make it easier for state bodies to garner faster forest clearances on national highway projects. The Maharashtra forest department, however, has asked the Union environment ministry to issue formal instructions on recent directions issued by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) regarding diversion of forest land for such projects.

Sanjeev Kumar, chief engineer, MoRTH said, The directions strictly pertain to major highway projects proposed by the Centre. Some of the stretches of these projects are handled by state agencies, but owing to existing norms applicable to them, there is a delay in overall project completion. We are not exempting any state agency from existing rules nor are we changing the rules, we are only bringing them under the aegis of the Centre while applying for clearances (under Forest Conservation Act) for faster forest land diversion.

Kumar added that the decision was finalised only after a meeting with the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC).

On June 30, MoRTH issued a letter to all state governments informing them that state bodies like the public works department (PWD) and other agencies involved in developing national highway projects be exempted from purchasing non-forest land in lieu of forest area being diverted. This is mandatory for state agencies as per the Forest Conservation (FC) Act, 1980. Instead, MoRTH suggested, state agencies be allowed to carry out compensatory afforestation (CA) on degraded forest land, which applies to certain small projects (link roads, minor irrigation projects etc which directly benefit local livelihood) under the Act.

The letter also stated that since MoRTH and central bodies like the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are already exempted from the rule (purchasing non-forest area for loss of forest cover), state bodies should use the name MoRTH as the user agency while applying for project clearances on the Union environment ministrys Parivesh portal - a web-based application for online monitoring and submission of project proposals.

The move was intended to avoid unnecessary delay in identification for transfer of non-forest land and diversion of forest land approval could be expedited, the letter read.

Meanwhile, apprehending that state agencies may commence submitting proposals based on MoRTHs letter, Sanjeev Gaur, nodal officer, Maharashtra forest department said, We have referred the issue to the director-general of forest (DG), MoEFCC, to issue formal communication regarding the ministrys stand on the MoRTH letter, and convey further course of directions when we receive such proposals.

MoEFCC DG Sanjay Kumar and inspector general AK Mohanty refused to comment. However, a MoEFCC officer looking into FC issues, requesting anonymity said, The MoRTH directive will apply to those state agencies working directly with NHAI only. Specific details on forest area diversion are still being examined, and a notification in this regard will be issued soon.

Environmentalists vehemently objected to the decision. India roughly has 20% forest area, and the cover needs to be 33% as per the National Forest Policy. To ensure we have additional 13%, mandatory conditions under the FC Act to bring equivalent non-forest land have to be followed by every project proponent, irrespective of who they are, said Kishor Rithe, former member, National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) Standing Committee (SC).

Environmentalist Debi Goenka explained that post Prime Minister Indira Gandhis demise, the FC Act was diluted due to a lack of political will. Earlier equivalent revenue land (non-forest land) was to be declared as forests for areas being diverted for projects. Post Gandhis death, a newly evolved strategy saw agencies pay for CA on degraded forest land twice the extent of forest area diverted for faster clearance. However, most cases of CA are a disaster as they are monoculture plantations that do not survive. We are losing thousands of hectares of forest land annually with negligible restoration in comparison, said Goenka.

Former SC-NBWL member Bittu Sahgal said CA had been a total failure so far. Several high court and Supreme Court orders highlighted the threat of not having enough forest cover in India since user agencies only accept carrying out CA on degraded forest land. The courts also raised concerns about the failure of this practice. Such plantations are not being done properly and have yielded unsuccessful results, he said adding, If MoEFCC brings such agencies under this sub-clause, India will continue losing forest land. We would never achieve the 33% forest cover goal, as we wont have that many forest areas left.
Seventy-two-year-old Rakesh Wadhawan, an accused in the 6,670 crore Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) bank scam and director of Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) who was lodged in the Arthur Road central prison, has been admitted to JJ Hospital after he complained of breathlessness.

Deepak Pandey, inspector general of police (south range) confirmed the development and said that he was rushed to the hospital on Monday night.

Police sources said that his condition is said to stable now. When asked if Wadhawan will be undergoing a Covid test, Pandey said, It will be decided by the doctors at JJ Hospital. He also has other comorbidities.

Wadhawan and his son Sarang were arrested on October 3, 2019, by the economic offence wing (EOW) in Mumbai after they were named in the FIR registered by Reserve Bank of India on September 30.

EOW in their charge sheet claimed that Rakesh is the key accused of the fraud as the patriarch of the HDILs business. He gradually plotted the fraud and obtained loans from the bank with the help of other accused, the agency alleged. The police investigation has revealed that HDIL accounted for 73% of the banks total loan book.

On September 23, 2019, the RBI had placed restrictions on PMC Bank and barred it from proceeding fresh loans or accepting deposits.

The EOW has arrested a total of 15 people in the case. All accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Two constables were dismissed from the city police force for not reporting to duty despite several warnings. The two were suspended earlier and asked to be present for an inquiry. However, they remained unavailable for inquiry, following which they were dismissed. The dismissal orders were sent to them.

A senior police officer said that in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Disaster Management Act is implemented in the state and the police force is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order. So the police department is taking stern action against those personnel who are not cooperating with the department during this crisis.

The dismissed constables  Dada Bapu Sonawane and Madhav Rajendra Jadhav  were attached to Tardeo local arms division (LA-2).

Both remained absent for a very long period. They did not respond to the show-cause notices that were issued during the departmental inquiry and hence have been dismissed, said Nandkumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police, LA-2.

Jadhav was absent since December 22, 2018, while Sonawane has a history of remaining absent from duty for long periods, said the police.

He was absent for 107 days in 2009 and later in 2011, did not report to duty for over four years. After resuming duty in May 2015, he was again stopped reporting to work on November 7 last year and since then did not come back on duty, said a police officer.

Sonawane is in his village. The departmental inquiry found him guilty for indiscipline and not fit for police service.

To prevent the spread of the virus and save the lives of the personnel, those with comorbidities and above 55 years of age are exempted assigned indoor duties or exempted from reporting to duty. As a result, the number of personnel on the field has reduced and the leaves of all the personnel were cancelled, while those on leave were asked to report to duty on an immediate basis. But several personnel are yet to resume the services, prompting their superiors to take stern action.

Strict action sends a clear message across the force that such attitude will not be tolerated, said Thakur.

Last month, in a similar development, a criminal case was registered against six police personnel for not reporting to duty, despite several warnings. The personnel were suspended earlier and were asked to be present for an inquiry by the Borivli police. However, they remained unavailable during the inquiry, following which they were booked in a criminal case.

In May, the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) registered a similar complaint against 17 personnel at the Vanrai police station not reporting to duty despite several warnings.
Pune district reported 1,245 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the count to 29,844 on Monday, while 21 more patients succumbed to the infection, a health official said.

He said the death toll increased to 890 with 21 more patients succumbing to the infection during the same period.

Also, 630 patients were discharged from hospitals, he said.

Of the 1,245 cases, 886 were reported from Pune Municipal Corporation limits, which now has 22,277 patients, the official said.

As many as 258 cases were detected in Pimpri-Chinchwad where the Covid-19 count now stands at 5,052, he said.

The number of positive cases in rural and Pune Cantonment Board areas increased to 2,515, the official added.
A day after a 68-year-old diabetic patient living in Wadgaonsheri succumbed to a heart attack as his relatives failed to first get an ambulance and then, ICU beds in various hospitals, another incident of a 62-year-old Covid patient succumbing to the contagion due to non-availability of a vacant bed has come to light.

Besides these two cases, two more incidents of hospitals denying service to needy patients have come to light during the past two days, bringing into focus the shortage of beds in the city as the Covid tally surges ahead.

In the 62-year-old womans case, she was initially asked by the administration since no bed was available for admission, she can stay at her house in Gujar-Nimbalkarwadi on the outskirts of Pune.

However, on Monday, her condition worsened as she gasped for breath amid non-availability of a ventilator in the hospital situated in neighbourhood complicated the situation, said her kin.

Vyankoji Khope, sarpanch of Gujar Nimbalkarwadi said, The health department has not provided adequate facilities to us to fight Covid-19. The health department officials have still not visited our villages despite there being 10 positive patients. The villagers have to spend from their pockets, pay extra charges for vehicles and other facilities to save their lives. We are ready to give our halls for free for establishing Covid quarantine facility in the village.

After the incident, district health officer Dr Bhagwan Pawar promised an inquiry saying negligence will not be tolerated at any cost.

Special checking squads will be formed to check the spread of Covid-19 in Haveli area and all the grievances of the residents would be addressed, said Pawar.

In the 68-year-old Wadgaonsheri residents case, the deceased and the relatives had to go looking for a vacant ICU bed for two-and-a-half hours on Sunday, before the patient got a bed in the casualty of Sassoon Hospital, which also did not have a vacant ICU bed. Although the patient was suspected to be a Covid-19 person, he was never tested for the same.

Anant Dudhane, brother of the deceased who was present with the patient said, After rushing my brother to two hospitals early hours on July 5 and then inquiring for a vacant ICU bed in multiple other hospitals, we did not get any response. We first went to Ruby Hall Clinic, then to Inlaks and Budhrani hospital and faced a similar situation. On the way, we also made calls to Jehangir, KEM and Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital over the phone but we got to know that there are no vacant ICU beds. Finally at 5.20am, we admitted him at Sassoon hospital where he suffered a severe heart attack and breathed his last at 6am. Even at Sassoon, he was taken to the casualty ward and not the critical care centre as they too did not have any beds.

The patient also did not get a cardiac ambulance on time which would have helped save the golden hours, said Anant. We had to take my brother in our own car as we did not get an ambulance. We were denied an ambulance at Ruby Hall and then when we called the government service at 108 they said they will call back but they never did. Although my brother had Covid-19 symptoms he was not tested for the same. Had those hospitals provided critical care at the right time, my brother would have survived.

The hospital in its clarification has stated that they did not have any vacant beds to accommodate the patient and so they stabilised the patient by improving the oxygen saturation, following which they were advised to take the patient for isolation ICU care.

Dr Sanjay Pathare, medical director of Ruby Hall Clinic, said, We had a patient named Tanaji Dudane who complained of breathlessness, fever with chills and was a Covid-19 suspect. His SPO2 or oxygen saturation was 80 per cent we gave him oxygen support on venture mask started with 5ltr. When the saturation reached 93 per cent saturation we asked them to take him to a hospital with a vacant ICU facility. We did offer them an ambulance but they denied it and took the patient in their own vehicle. With the current divisional commissioners dashboard, anyone can check for a vacancy on real-time bases so there is nothing to hide. We are having 130 plus patients admitted at any point in time.

Dr Dnyaneshwar Shelke, chief operating officer at BVG India for the Maharashtra emergency medical services (MEMS) which run the 108 ambulance service stated that they did get two calls with regards to this patient. He said, We got a call from Ruby hall clinic but we do not provide ambulance services to private hospitals. The next call we got was from Sassoon but by the time the ambulance was dispatched, the relatives said that they do not require it anymore. Before we dispatch any ambulance we need to check the medico-legal part of it and the scope of the patient so we need to talk to the medical officer, nurse or the treating doctor.

He further added that every hospital needs to stabilise a person before sending them to a different hospital even if they do not have a vacant ICU bed. The ambulance is not above hospital it is just transit care. Usually, the response time for urban areas is 20 minutes and for rural areas, it is 30 mins. We are integrating private ambulances too to increase our strength. Out of the current 937 ambulances we have, 440 are dedicated to Covid-19 and we cannot transfer a non-covid patient in that ambulance.

Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram said, We have formed a special committee to look into the complaints of overcharging, denial of the hospital facility and overcharging by ambulances. We have the power to impound ambulances and book them for denying service to the needy patients both COVID and regular patients.

As of Monday evening, only two hospitals showed vacant ICU beds with ventilators in PMC areas and only four hospitals showed vacant ICU beds without ventilators

Difficulty in getting admitted

A senior citizen from Kothrud had to face the worst ordeal of her life as several prominent hospitals denied her admission on the ground that whether her Covid-19 test was undertaken and the results had come. Her doctors advised treatment in a multi-speciality hospital as she was having breathing issues. Those patients who have Covid like symptoms and whose tests have not been done find great difficulty in getting admitted in prominent hospitals across the city, her family members said.

Death at Sassoon

A diabetic died of a heart attack at Sassoon Hospital after he was denied a bed by hospitals in the city. The deceased developed severe breathing issues at around 3 am on Monday night, but despite requests for admission by relatives, a bed was denied to him. He was rushed to Sassoon hospital where he suffered a heart attack and died. His relatives alleged that the private hospitals were flatly denying hospital beds without any fear of action.

Problems in rural areas

No dedicated quarantine centres

Delay in testing

For 10 villages, one Covid centre

Dedicated fleet of ambulances is required which is currently missing

Dedicated team of medical professionals including doctors and paramedical staff

Complaints of overcharging by private vehicles
A woman, a journalist formerly employed with a local daily, and a constable have been arrested on Tuesday by the Pune police in an extortion case. They were among the five people booked in the case for demanding extortion of Rs 2 crore from a builder.

The arrested have been identified as journalist Devendra Jain, a resident of Sinhgad road; suspended constable Shailesh Jagtap, a resident of Bhavani peth; and a woman who is a complainant in a sexual assault case, according to the police. The complaint was lodged by a city-based builder Sudhir Vasant Karnataki (64) a resident of Shivtirthnagar in Kothrud.

The other two persons against whom the first information report has been filed are RTI activist Ravindra Barhate and Amol Chavan.

The three have been arrested and will be produced in court tomorrow (Wednesday), said inspector (crime) Kiran Balwadkar of Kothrud police station.

Karnataki has claimed that he has known one of the accused, the woman since 2013, and they bought a house together in 2017 in Bavdhan. In November 2019, the woman allegedly threatened to file false rape charges against Karnataki if he failed to hand over the ownership of the house and Rs 6 lakh, of which he paid Rs 1,50,000 to her, according to his complaint.

Futhermore, the five allegedly later increased the demand to Rs 2 crore and a property in Bhavani peth in order to save the complainant from getting killed or named in a false case.

The complainant is an accused in a sexual assault case registered in Hinjewadi in January. Karnataki claims that he was wrongly accused in the sexual assault case as he did not pay heed to the extortion demand of Rs 2 crore, according to his complaint.

A case under Sections 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 389 (putting person in fear of accusation of offence, in order to commit extortion), 506(2) (criminal intimidation), 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Kothrud police station.
The Federation of Jharkhand Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) on Monday opposed the proposed power tariff by the Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) for the year 2020-21 on the ground of the audit report attached with the tariff proposals.

Addressing the media, FJCCI energy sub-committee chairman Binod Kumar Tulsyan and sub-committee member Ajay Bhandari said the audit report of JBVNL accounts has mentioned that it cannot be relied upon.

Earlier, the state-owned power discom submitted its proposals in February to the Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission (JSERC).

The power regulator has uploaded the tariffs on its website for public view and seeking suggestions as well.

However, the JSERC could not hold the mandatory public hearings before announcing the new tariff due to the Covid-19 pandemic .

The FJCCI was of the view that the JBVNL has failed to provide reliable power to its customers and now their accounts were also not reliable.

Tulsyan said the industrial units were getting about 20 hours of electricity supply but the fixed charges were being calculated on the basis of power supply of 24 hours.

Why we should not demand uninterrupted power then, he questioned.

He said the JBVNL has proposed Re one per unit hike in domestic category and 75 paisa per unit hike for commercial users.

Pointing out the its lack of efficiency, the FJCCI energy sub-committee chairman said open conductors connected with the transmission grids often cause power cuts, resulting in interruptions in productions of industrial units.

The two FJCCI members also questioned how the energy dues of JBVNL on Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) against power purchases that was nil in 2015 rose up to Rs 5,760 crore in the past five years.

The FJCCI was of the view that the power distribution and supply in Jharkhand should be handed over to a competent authority having a professional approach and accountability.

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The family of late Kannada actor Chiranjeevi Sarja recently united for a get-together in his memory, pictures of which were shared by his wife Meghana on Instagram. She mentioned that since the meaning of his name is celebration, they would remember him in the same way.

Sharing the family pictures on Instagram, Meghna wrote, My Dearest Chiru .... Chiru is a CELEBRATION... has always been, is and will always be... I know u wouldnt have liked it any other way! Chiru,the reason i smile... what he has given me is most precious... MY FAMILY.. the JUST US... together we will always be for all eternity baby ma.. and each day will be just the way u like it! Filled with Love, laughter, pranks, honesty and most importantly Togetherness WE LOVE YOU BABY MA!

While one picture shows a portrait of Chiranjeevi with flowers on each side, the two other pictures show the men and the women of the family huddled together for family pictures. All of them can be seen smiling for the camera as they sit in front of Chiranjeevis portrait.

Also read: Sushant Singh Rajputs dialogue from Dil Bechara goes viral, fans flood Twitter with emotional memes

Meghna had shared the news of her pregnancy last month along with a heartfelt note. Shed written, You love me so much that you just couldnt leave me behind alone, could you? Our little one is your precious gift to me  a symbol of our love  and Im eternally grateful to you for this sweet miracle. I cant wait to bring you back to earth, as our child. I cant wait to hold you again. Cant wait to see your smile again. Cant wait to hear that infectious laughter of yours light up the entire room. I will wait for you and you wait for me on the other side.

Chiranjeevi passed away on June 7 at a private hospital in Bengaluru . He was 39 and had suffered a cardiac arrest, leaving the entire country in shock and grief.

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Actor Vijay Deverakonda is now a proud owner of a Siberian Husky named Storm. In a set of new candid pictures that have gone viral on social media, Vijay is seen bonding with his new pet. Introducing Storm, Vijay shared pictures with his pet on Instagram.

On the career front, the actor will be next seen in Puri Jagannadhs upcoming Telugu-Hindi bilingual actioner Fighter. In the film, Vijay plays a fighter with a stutter. He underwent mixed martial arts classes in Thailand in preparation for his character. Karan Johar has come on board to release the film in Hindi.

The film will be shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi, and will be dubbed into other regional languages as well. Besides Telugu, I am planning to dub my lines in Hindi as well, Vijay had said. Vijay is expected to sport six-pack abs for this project, which is eyeing a 2020 release. Karan Johar and Apoorva Mehta will distribute the film in Hindi.

Apparently, the script of Fighter was originally pitched to Jr NTR a few years. For reasons unknown, the project never took off and both of them got busy with their respective commitments.

Also read: Arshad Warsi gets sharp response from Adani Electricity after he tweets about inflated bill: Derogatory, of a personal nature

Vijay also has a yet-untitled Telugu project with filmmaker Indraganti Mohan Krishna in the pipeline. The film, which will take off after the release of Fighter, will be produced by Dil Raju.

Meanwhile, recent reports suggest that Vijay is all set to produce content for streaming platforms. As per recent report by Telugu 360, Vijay has plans to bankroll a few digital shows for leading streaming platforms. Hes said to have already given his nod for a show which will be directed by KVR Mahendra, who launched Vijays brother Anand in Dorasaani.

Vijay recently unveiled his new look sporting long hair and a goatee. However, it is still yet unknown if this look is for his upcoming release Fighter.

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This weekend was a treat for astronomy lovers as the lucky ones managed to observe a comet streaking across the sky.

Dubbed Comet C/2020 F3 or NEOWISE, it was captured and shared by many including astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA astronaut Bob Behnken took pictures of NEOWISE as it came into the view of earth and tweeted them from ISS,describing them as last nights fireworks.

Last nights fireworks, for real. Because Science, said Behnkens tweet which was a collage of four pictures showing the comet shining bright near the glowing curve of Earth.

Behnkens ISS colleague, Roscosomos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, too, shared NEOWISEs images, calling them the brightest comet seen over the last seven years.

During the next revolution I tried to capture the C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) comet a bit closer, the brightest one over the last 7 years.



Its tail is quite clearly visible from the @Space_Station!#ISS #comet #NEOWISE pic.twitter.com/FnWkCummD6  Ivan Vagner (@ivan_mks63) July 4, 2020

Down below on Earth, many skywatchers also shared their images of the comet. Astrophotographer Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn shared a stunning shot over the Toronto skyline.

Comet NEOWISE and the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada ! I was up really early for this shot. It's not often that we get the opportunity to see or photograph a comet of this brightness and with a tail. I hope you like it! https://t.co/BFyxFFw2DE pic.twitter.com/sGZBiEVryM  Kerry LH (@weatherandsky) July 5, 2020

The comet was discovered by NASAs Near Earth Asteroid Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft on March 27, according to Astronomy dot com.

At the moment, one needs a good pair of binoculars to catch sight of Comet NEOWISE in most locations. But it should dazzle throughout July surrounding its closest approach to Earth, which occurs on July 22, according to an article in Space dot com.
The Telangana government on Tuesday started demolition of the state secretariat buildings in Hyderabad to pave way for the construction of an ultra-modern and Vastu-compliant official complex at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

According to a brief statement from the chief ministers office, a new design for the proposed secretariat complex with six lakh square feet built up area was approved by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao after discussion with senior officials. The design was released to the media later in the day.

The demolition work started in the early hours with C Block, also known as Samatha, that housed the chief ministers office till recently and it continued till evening. All the official departments from the secretariat complex had already been shifted to another official complex Burgula Rama Krishna Rao Bhavan during the last year itself.

The demolition is expected to be completed within a couple of days and after clearing the rubble, the entire area would be readied for the construction of the new complex, the work on which is expected to commence with the onset of auspicious month of Sravanam in the third week of July, an official familiar with the developments said.

As the demolition exercise began, the Hyderabad police cordoned off all the routes leading to the secretariat and imposed traffic restrictions for about a kilometre radius from the work site by erecting barricades.

It was on June 29 that the Telangana high court gave the green signal for the construction of the new secretariat complex in place of existing one, stating that the judiciary would not interfere in the policy decisions of the government.

Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy described the demolition exercise as a black day in the history of Telangana. He said the Telangana government was spending crores of rupees of public money to satisfy the Vastu belief of the chief minister.

KCR was hell bent on demolishing the secretariat only because of his penchant for Vastu. He thought the Vastu of the existing complex was not suitable for him and that was why he had never entered the secretariat after taking over as the chief minister, the PCC chief said.

State BJP official spokesman K Krishna Sagar Rao strongly protested the action of the TRS government and accused it of demolishing the secretariat buildings for false prestige of KCR even as the country and state are in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The state is in the middle of a serious public health crisis with a spike in Covid-19 positive cases and people are dying due to lack of medical support and hospital beds since the last few weeks. Every other state is building hospitals and expanding their bed count, while KCR is demolishing existing infrastructure which could be very well turned into a makeshift hospital to meet the existing demand for hospital beds, Rao said.

Spread over 25.5 acres, the secretariat complex facing the picturesque Hussain Sagar lake on the eastern side has been serving as the highest seat of administration since the 1950s.

The complex was originally a huge palace  known as Saifabad Palace - constructed by Nawab Mahboob Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, in 1889.

The G block was the main palace of the Nizam. Though Mahboob Ali Khan did not stay there, it was later converted into the chief ministers office after the formation of Andhra Pradesh. It housed the CMO till the regime of NT Rama Rao in 1994, who later moved into the C block.

There were nine other blocks constructed during the Nizam period and they later housed several government departments after the complex was converted into the secretariat. New blocks came up in their places  a swanky D Block was constructed in 2003 and two other blocks in 2012.
Museums in Europe are seeing initial high demand as they open their doors following months of closure because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Louvre in Paris, the worlds most-visited museum, sold out of the 7,400 tickets available when it reopened Monday after almost four months. However, this was just a fraction of its usual occupancy. Before the outbreak of Covid-19, the museum typically welcomed between 30,000 and 40,000 visitors a day, mostly from outside France.

Visitors wearing protective face masks queue to enter the reopened Louvre Museum in Paris, France, on Monday, July 6, 2020. The Louvre had 9.6 million visitors last year. (Bloomberg)

Since it closed on March 13, the Louvre has lost 40 million euros ($45 million) in revenue, according to Nadia Refsi, head of the museums press division. At best, it expects to bring in 20% to 30% less revenue than in the previous summer due to social-distancing restrictions and reduced tourism, she said.

ALSO SEE| Photos:Europes museums in high demand, sell out of limited tickets in reopenings

Londons National Gallery is set to reopen on Wednesday after being shut an unprecedented 111 days. It will be the first national museum in the U.K. to welcome visitors following the countrys lockdown.

Visitors pass statues in the Louvre Museum ahead of reopening in Paris, France, on Monday, July 6, 2020. The Louvre had 9.6 million visitors last year. (Bloomberg)

The gallery, which previously accepted walk-ins, has instituted an advanced reservation system online, although entry for the permanent collection remains free. All available tickets for its first week are sold out, as are those for the first month of a special exhibition of Italian painter Titians works, according to the museums website.

Visitors inspect artwork in a gallery in the reopened Louvre Museum in Paris, France, on Monday, July 6, 2020. The Louvre had 9.6 million visitors last year. (Bloomberg)

Museums are intensifying cleaning procedures, requiring visitors to wear face masks and instituting one-way systems to enforce social distancing. Some, including the Vatican Museums, are testing the temperatures of visitors upon entry.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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TV actor Rashami Desai has said the death of Sushant Singh Rajput is a matter of personal loss for her and she would not like to discuss or talk about him because he was not a subject for her. Rashami was quite close to late Sushant but the two grew apart as Sushant graduated to films and she got busy with her shows.

Sushant died by suicide on June 14 and cops have confirmed he was suffering from depression. Rashami told Times of India in an interview, Sometimes, reality is an illusion which is created by the world. I was a very close friend of Sushant once, but then slowly we lost touch as he became busy with his work in Bollywood and I got busy with my shows. He was doing so good in life, we were really proud of him. He is not a subject for me to talk and discuss because the kind of love and respect I have for him, I would not like to discuss. This is a personal loss to me.

Also read: When MS Dhoni told Sushant Singh Rajput: You ask too many questions

Sushant began his acting journey with TV and gained popularity with his 2009 television show, Pavitra Rishta. Soon, he bagged Abhishek Kapoors Kai Po Che which marked the actors critically acclaimed Bollywood debut.

Upon his death, Rashami had shared pictures with him on Instagram and written, Sush!! Not fair.. Sucha talented, hardworking, brilliant person and a dear friend.. its a personal loss. #RipSushant.

On the work front, Rashami was one of the finalists on Salman Khans reality show Bigg Boss 13 that ended earlier this year. She was later seen on Ekta Kapoor popular supernatural thriller show Naagin 4. Speculations are rife that she will now be seen on Rohit Shettys Khatron Ke Khiladi Fear Factor season 10.

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A new poster of Kannada film Law was unveiled on Tuesday, confirming that the Puneeth Rajkumar-produced film will release directly on Amazon Prime on July 17. Law happens to be the maiden mainstream Kannada film to head for a direct-OTT release.

Actor Puneeth Rajkumar unveiled the new poster on Twitter. He also announced that the films trailer will be released soon.

Also read: Arshad Warsi gets sharp response from Adani Electricity after he tweets about inflated bill: Derogatory, of a personal nature

Tipped to be a crime-based legal thriller, the film follows the journey of a lawyer named Nandini (played by Ragini Chandran), who fights for justice in crimes against women. Ragini Chandran, in an interview to DTNext recently, opened up about the project. Doing movies was something I had not planned; it was definitely not in the pipeline. But the script is what got me interested, especially, when the director Raghu Samarth narrated the story. I found the story to be very impactful. I didnt see myself doing a romantic film on my debut so I thought this movie was a great first choice, she said.

Law also features veteran actor Mukhyamantri Chandru, Siri Prahlad, Achyuth Kumar and Sudharani in prominent roles. Law will be the fourth southern film to directly head for OTT release after Ponmagal Vandhal, Penguin and Sufiyum Sujatayum.

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Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, launched a tweet attack on China. He accused Beijing of causing 'great damage' to the US and the world. His latest salvo came days after a scathing attack in his US Independence Day speech.
The chief executive officers of Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. will testify on July 27 before a congressional panel investigating competition in the technology industry, according to an announcement from the House Judiciary Committee.

Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook are likely to face a torrent of critical questions from lawmakers on the panels antitrust subcommittee as the investigation builds a case for revamping antitrust enforcement.

Bezos may be in for a particularly tough session. Unlike the other chiefs, the worlds richest man will be addressing Congress for the first time, and his company has sparred with subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline over previous testimony by another company official and allegations of anticompetitive conduct.

The appearances may be virtual, according to the Monday evening announcement, which said additional details on the format would be forthcoming.

Given the central role these corporations play in the lives of the American people, it is critical that their CEOs are forthcoming, said Cicilline and Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler in a joint statement. As we have said from the start, their testimony is essential for us to complete this investigation.

Some of the companies had been reluctant to send their top executives even though Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, has said he would be willing to subpoena CEOs. He has said he wants to use their appearances to inform a final report recommending changes to antitrust law.

Antitrust scrutiny of giant technology companies is accelerating. Facebook and Alphabets Google both face competition inquiries by federal enforcers and nearly all 50 states. Amazon is under investigation in California, Bloomberg has reported, and both the e-commerce giant and Apple are facing scrutiny from the European Union.

The Judiciary Committee had previously announced that the four men would testify, but had not set a date or format.
China condemned Canadas suspension of its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, calling it a serious violation of international law and a flagrant interference in its domestic affairs.

We urge the Canadian side to correct its mistake and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and Chinas domestic affairs to prevent further damage to bilateral relations, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing in Beijing on Monday, responding to a question about new Canadian measures including the treatys suspension and an updated Hong Kong travel advisory.

China condemns that and reserves the right to take further actions, Zhao said. All consequences shall be borne by the Canadian government.

Shortly following the briefing, the Chinese embassy in Canada advised Chinese citizens traveling to the country to exercise caution citing frequent use of violence from local law enforcement and protests in Canada, according to the embassys official WeChat account.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced measures including the suspension of the extradition treaty last week, making his country the first to break law enforcement links with Hong Kong since China handed down a sweeping new national security law thats raised concerns about the citys autonomy from the mainland. Hong Kongs large expatriate community includes some 300,000 Canadians.

Trudeaus move stands to inflame already-heightened tensions between Canada and China stemming from the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou. Her case has been closely linked to Beijings subsequent detention of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were charged with espionage last month.

Other steps announced by Trudeau will include a ban on the export of sensitive military equipment to the Asian financial hub Hong Kong and a travel advisory warning of the security laws impact. Hong Kong has extradition pacts with 30 countries and jurisdictions around the world.

Canadas erroneous remarks on Hong Kong and its measures show a disregard of the basic fact that the national security law in Hong Kong is conducive to the sustained implementation of one country, two systems, Zhao said.
Bed lined at a temporary COVID-19 centre at BIEC in Bengaluru, as coronavirus cases rise across the state. PTI photo

A day after the government warned private hospitals of criminal if they denied treatment to Covid19 patients. The government cracked the whip and set an example by issuing notice to Apollo Hospital for over-charging.

While there were incidents of private hospitals over-charging the patients for Covid 19 tests, the government on Monday issued a show cause to Apollo Hospital which had charged Rs 6,000 when the government capped it at Rs 4,500. However, the hospital was quick to clarify that it has initiated the refund process and have revised rates as per government guidelines. The state has 14,385 active cases.

Corona positive cases in Bengaluru crossed the 10,000 mark on Monday and stood at 10,561. The state too crossed 25,000 cases and stood at 25,317.

Ever since the start of July, the city on an average has reported 1,000 cases every day. In the past six days, it has contributed to 6,006 cases.

The state recorded 1,853 fresh cases, of which 981 are from Bengaluru. Sources claimed that Mandya MP Ms Sumalatha had also tested positive and was being given treatment at her JP Nagar residence and her son and cine actor Mr Abhishek is awaiting his result and has been isolated in the residence.

Bengaluru witnessed 10 deaths from Corona and Karnataka recorded 30 deaths. Medical education minister Mr Sudhakar revealed that the death rate in Karnataka is 1.58 percent and the city's rate was 1.51. He assured that everything was under control and citizens didn't have to panic.

Minister Mr Madhuswamy's statement that the community spread has begun in the state had turned into a topic of debate. However, there were no official confirmation on this neither by the COVID-19 incharge ministers nor the health department.
Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan on Tuesday told those who remain sceptical about using face coverings that not using them should be considered as much an anti-social act as driving after imbibing alcohol or driving without putting on seat-belts.

Ramakrishnan, who is president of Royal Society, made the intervention as two new reports added to studies highlighting the benefits of wearing face coverings to prevent coronavirus infection for the wearer as we all for those around her.

He said: It used to be quite normal to have quite a few drinks and drive home, and it also used to be normal to drive without seatbelts. Today both of those would be considered anti-social, and not wearing face coverings in public should be regarded in the same way.

If all of us wear one, we protect each other and thereby ourselves, reducing transmission. We lower the chances of future surges and lockdowns which are economically and psychologically disruptive, and we increase the chance of eliminating the virus. Not doing so increases the risk for everyone.

One of the two reports presents mounting evidence for the effectiveness of wearing face coverings in reducing the risk of transmission, authored by Paul Edelstein of the University of Pennsylvania and Lalita Ramakrishan of the University of Cambridge.

The second report, by the Royal Societys SET-C (Science in Emergencies Tasking  Covid-19) group looks at the effectiveness of different face mask types and coverings and isolates behavioural factors that have limited adherence such as public understanding of the virus transmission, risk perception, trust, effectiveness of public messages and perceived barriers to wearing a mask.

In Britain, the people are much less likely to wear face coverings in public compared to other countries, including the United States.

Ramakrishnan said: The UK is way behind many countries in terms of wearing masks and clear policies and guidelines about mask wearing for the public. The public have taken to hand-washing and distancing but remain sceptical about face coverings.

You only need to go on public transport, where they are supposed to be mandatory, to see how many people are ignoring this new rule based on the growing body of evidence that wearing a mask will help protect others  and might even protect you.

According to him, there are multiple factors why the people have not taken to face coverings. Since the message has not been clear enough, the people may not understand the benefits or are not convinced of them.

Whatever the reasons, we need to overcome our reservations and wear face coverings whenever we are around others in public, he said.

The Royal Society has sent up groups comprising leading experts to find the most important factors that can help slow the spread of coronavirus.
Mona Lisa is back at work as the Louvre in Paris, the worlds most visited museum, reopened on Monday after nearly four months of Covid-19 shutdown.

Several dozen visitors queued up, eagerly awaiting the opening at 9:00 am local time as the famed museum hopes to start recuperating losses of up to $45 million due to the lockdown.

Most popular draws, including Leonardos Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Louvres vast antiquities collection will be accessible. But galleries in which social distancing is more difficult, about a third of the total, will remain off-limits.

Visitor numbers were capped at 500 per half hour. Face masks are compulsory and no snacks or cloakrooms were available. Tickets must be bought online in advance, and were sold out for the first day of reopening after the Louvres longest closure since World War II.

Meanwhile, the first-ever online Paris fashion week began on Monday with the world of glitzy runway shows thrown into an existential crisis by the virus.

Here are the latest updates from around the globe:

1. Art and culture got a boost in UK too, where minister Rishi Sunak unveiled 1.57 billion Covid-19 rescue package. Thousands of theatres, heritage sites, palaces, museums, galleries, live music and independent cinema will get emergency grants and loans under the package.

2. Australian officials are closing the border between the countrys two most populous states from Tuesday for an indefinite period as they scramble to contain a Covid outbreak in Melbourne.

The decision announced on Monday marks the first time the border between Victoria and New South Wales has been shut in 100 years. Officials last blocked movement between the two states in 1919 during the Spanish flu.

3. Israels government reimposed a series of restrictions on Monday to fight a spike in infections, deciding on the immediate closure of bars, night clubs, gyms and event halls, Israel Radio said.

4. Even as Covid-19 deaths in the US topped 130,000, President Trumps campaign has announced he will hold an outdoor rally on Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The rally at Portsmouth International Airport will come three weeks after an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trumps first of the Covid-19 era.

On Monday, Trump continued to lash out at China over the pandemic. China has caused great damage to the United States and the rest of the world! Trump tweeted.

US House Speaker Philip Gunn tested positive for coronavirus. Gunn, a Republican, said in a video posted on Sunday to Facebook that he got tested because he had been in close proximity to another member of the House who tested positive.

5. In Pakistan, the countys point person on Covid-19 has himself contracted the virus. Health minister Zafar Mirza said on Monday he was self-isolating at home .

6. The government of Singapore invoked the fake news law to crack down on critics of its stand on the testing of migrant workers, the biggest cluster of its coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The government issued five corrective directions under the law to media outlets and a local graduate club that carried comments by an opposition leader on the topic.

7. As the race for treatment continued, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said on Monday it began late-stage clinical trials to assess the effectiveness of its antibody cocktail in preventing and treating Covid-19.
French President Emmanuel Macron ousted his top security official Monday following protests over police brutality as part of a government shakeup aimed at focusing on Frances post-pandemic economic recovery for the remaining two years of Macrons term.

In a surprise move, Macron named a provocative lawyer who has defended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and suspected terrorists as head of the Justice Ministry. A former Green Party lawmaker was appointed to lead the powerful Ministry for Ecological Transition after Macron came under criticism for lagging on promises to cut emissions.

The 42-year-old centrist leader, whose presidency has been buffeted by protests and now the virus crisis, promised that the new government would be one of purpose and unity. Macron tweeted that his 2017 campaign promises to modernize France and free up its businesses remain central to his agenda, but he must adapt to the international upheavals and crises we are experiencing. A new path must be forged.

First among the priorities that Macron listed is helping the worlds sixth-largest economy recover from the battering delivered by the coronavirus pandemic. His new lineup includes some new faces but also leans heavily on loyalists as Macron seeks to steady the country.

One key change is at the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police. Former budget minister Gerald Darmanin was named to replace Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, who had come under fire amid widespread French protests against racial injustice and police violence spurred by the death of George Floyd in the United States.

In response, Castaner initially announced a ban on the use of chokeholds in policing, but he then backed down in the face of counter-demonstrations and pressure by police unions. He also launched an experiment with expanded Taser use.

Darmanin, a member of Macrons young guard, is a former conservative who joined Macrons centrist party in 2017 and is seen as outspoken but effective.

The new government reflects a balance of figures from the left and right and from outside politics altogether -- like Eric Dupond-Moretti, arguably Frances most famous lawyer.

Among his clients have been Assange; accomplices to Mohamed Merah, who killed Jewish children, a rabbi and paratroopers in a 2012 rampage around Toulouse; and former French government ministers accused of tax fraud or sexual harassment.

Two other important changes are at the Labor Ministry, whose new chief, Elisabeth Borne, will have to deal with a pending surge in unemployment, and the Ministry for Ecological Transition, to be led by former Green Party legislator Barbara Pompili.

Macron didnt change the finance or health ministers, posts central to helping France through the virus crisis and recession, or the foreign and defense ministers.

The new government will be led by Prime Minister Jean Castex. who was appointed Friday. Macron last week ditched Edouard Philippe, who as prime minister steered France through its coronavirus lockdown and the first three years of Macrons presidency.

Castex is a career civil servant, and his low profile suggests that Macron doesnt want to be overshadowed should he choose to seek reelection in 2022. Macron has not yet said if hell run for a second term.
Hong Kong Education Bureau has recommended schools to review their book collections and remove those titles that may breach the draconian national security law.

If any teaching materials including books have content which is outdated or involve the four crimes under the law, unless they are being used to positively teach pupils about their national security awareness or sense of safeguarding national security ... they should otherwise be removed from the school, a spokesperson for the bureau was quoted as saying by by South China Morning Post.

Schools have a gatekeeping role in terms of choosing suitable teaching resources. The bureau would take serious follow-up actions if any problems arise over the issue, he added.

Earlier on Sunday, South China Morning Post had reported that Hong Kong libraries have taken at least nine titles written by localist or democracy advocates out of circulation for conducting a review of whether the books run afoul of the new national security law.

Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes had called the move to be alarming and said authorities needed to justify restricting the publics right to seek information.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which manages the citys public libraries, had confirmed it was scrutinising some books for compliance with the new law, without naming them.

The Chinese-language books were written by activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung, localist Horace Chin Wan-kan and Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan. A search of the nine titles on the library website on Saturday found all the titles marked under review.

Beijing drafted and passed the legislation late last month that targets acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with punishments of up to life in prison for the most serious offences.

The move came after months of social upheaval triggered by opposition to a now-withdrawn extradition bill but that morphed into wider demands, including universal suffrage.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will skip a meeting organized by American President Donald Trump to celebrate the US Mexico Canada or USMCA pact, a refurbished version of the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA which existed earlier.

Trump, Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador were expected to meet in Washington on Wednesday to mark the enforcement of the new deal, which was championed by Trump. However, Trudeau has turned down the invitation from Trump.

The official version for Trudeau avoiding the Washington trip is that Trudeau is participating in a virtual Cabinet retreat leading up to a session of Parliament where Canadas Finance Minister Bill Morneau will present a fiscal update relating to the economy and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in lieu of a regular budget.

However, Trudeau has been miffed with Trump in recent days. In a media briefing last week, he said, Were obviously concerned about the proposed issue of tariffs on aluminum and steel that the Americans have floated recently, according to the outlet CBC News.

Trudeau had also expressed concern over having to self-isolate for two weeks on returning from the United States, as is now mandated in Canada.

Trudeau spoke to Mexican President Obrador on Monday and expressed regret that he is unable to travel to Washington D.C. this week and wished President Lopez Obrador a successful meeting with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, according to a readout issued by the Canadian PMO.

They also agreed that the recent entry into force of the new NAFTA will strengthen the deep economic ties and longstanding friendship between Canada and Mexico, and advance social as well as economic development in both countries. There was no word on whether Trudeau held a similar call with Trump.
The Canadian Armed Forces reservist who intruded into an area in the vicinity of the residence of the countrys Prime Minister on Thursday may have also conveyed a threat to kill or injure Justin Trudeau, according to documents filed in an Ottawa court by law enforcement.

The 46-year-old Corey Hurren, a reservist with the Canadian Rangers, drove his vehicle into a pedestrian gate fronting Rideau Hall in the countrys capital early on Thursday. He then proceeded on foot into the area before he was arrested by Royal Canadian Mounter Police or RCMP personnel patrolling there. Rideau Hall is the official residence of Canadas Governor General Julie Payette while Trudeau and his family live close by at Rideau Cottage.

Some Canadian media like the National Post said the documents suggested this may have been an assassination attempt. Neither Trudeau nor Payette were present in the area when the incident occurred. However, Rideau Cottage has been the venue for Trudeaus high-profile media briefings during the period of the coronavirus crisis.

While investigators did not comment on his motive, court documents cited by the outlet Global News appear to indicate he may have posed a threat to Trudeau. They alleged that Hurren did knowingly utter a threat to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or convey a threat to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or cause Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to receive a threat to cause death or bodily harm to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Hurren, who is from the town of Bowsman in the province of Manitoba, faces 22 criminal charges related to that episode. Police documents submitted to the court alleged he was carrying four loaded firearms, including two shotguns, a rifle and a revolver.

He remains in custody and has a hearing scheduled for later this month. Hurren owned a sausage products business, GrindHouse Fine Foods which may have suffered from the restrictive measures implemented to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Before arriving a 1 Sussex Drive, where Rideau Hall is located, Hurren posted a link to a coronavirus-related conspiracy theory on the Facebook page for the business. He had made a similar post even earlier.

The investigation into the intrusion is being led by the RCMPs integrated national security team. Security in and around Rideau Hall has been enhanced since the event.
Australias second-most populous state announced a six-week lockdown across metropolitan Melbourne as a coronavirus outbreak risks triggering a second wave of infections in the nation.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said from midnight Wednesday people must stay home except for work, essential services, medical treatment or school. The state recorded 191 new cases overnight, the biggest daily increase since the crisis began.

These are unsustainably high numbers of new cases, he told reporters. At such levels it is impossible to suppress and contain this virus without taking significant steps.

The lockdown dashes the hopes of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, whod aimed for most social-distancing restrictions across the nation and border closures to be lifted by the end of July in a bid to revive the crippled economy. The Victoria outbreak risks deepening and prolonging the nations first recession in almost three decades, while wearying Australians whod hoped the first wave of restrictions imposed in late March had crushed the infection curve.

The Australian dollar fell 0.2% to 69.57 US after the announcement, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index hit a session low.

The overall recovery of the Australian economy is expected to be significantly hindered by the second lockdown, IBISWorld said in an emailed statement on Tuesday, pointing out that Victoria contributed almost 24% to the nations gross domestic product in fiscal 2019.

Victorias northern neighbor New South Wales will close their shared border from midnight, for the first time since the 1919 Spanish Flu pandemic.

The lockdown across metropolitan Melbourne is a dramatic escalation of the states response, after it recorded more than two weeks of double-digit daily increases in case numbers. In recent days, authorities have ordered residents in 12 of the citys poorer and more multicultural suburbs to stay at home except for work and essential shopping. At the weekend, about 3,000 residents of public-housing tower blocks were barred from leaving their apartments.

Melbourne Covid Second Wave Sets Back Tourism, Education Hub

While Australia has been one of the standout performers globally in limiting the spread of the virus to less than 9,000 cases, Victorias flare-up shows just how hard it will be to eradicate without a vaccine.

I know there will be enormous amounts of damage that will be done because of this, Andrews told reporters. But we cant pretend its over. It is not over in so many parts of the world and it is not over in metropolitan Melbourne and to a certain extent right across Victoria.
Saudi Arabia has issued guidelines for the 1,000 or so pilgrims that will be allowed to perform the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca later this month, an experience that will be unlike any before because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The pilgrims will be only be able to drink holy water from the Zamzam well in Mecca that is packaged in plastic bottles, and pebbles for casting away evil that are usually picked up by pilgrims along hajj routes will be sterilized and bagged ahead of time. Pilgrims will also have to bring their own prayer rugs.

The guidelines were announced on Monday as Saudi authorities prepare to carry out a very limited hajj, which for the first time will not include pilgrims from outside the country. Instead, the kingdom said that 70% of pilgrims allowed to participate this year will be from among foreign residents of Saudi Arabia while 30% would be Saudi citizens.

Saudi pilgrims will be selected from among healthcare workers and security personnel who have recovered from Covid-19, the illness caused by the virus. The government said their selection represents a token of appreciation for their role in providing care during the pandemic.

Saudi Arabia has one of the Middle Easts largest outbreaks of the virus, with infection rates rising by 3,000-4,000 cases daily. More than 213,000 people have contracted the virus in the kingdom so far, including 1,968 who have died.

The new guidelines also mandate that foreign residents in Saudi Arabia who want to participate in this years pilgrimage should be between the ages of 20 and 50, and that have not performed the hajj before. The pilgrims will have to quarantine before and after the hajj, and they will be tested for the coronavirus. Those eligible have until Friday to submit an application through the kingdoms Hajj Ministrys website.

The hajj is not only a once-in-a-lifetime requirement for Muslims but also a chance to wipe away past sins and connect with Muslims from different walks of life.

Saudi Arabia dramatically scaled back the hajj due to concerns about overcrowding at the annual pilgrimage, which usually draws 2.5 million people. The crowds move, pray and stand in extremely close proximity, often squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder, as they carry out five days of rites around Mecca.

Saudi Arabia said its decision to curtail the hajj was aimed at preserving global public health because of the risks associated with large gatherings.

Pilgrims normally crowd and push their way toward the cube-shaped Kaaba, which is Islams holiest site and the metaphorical house of God. This year, authorities said anyone participating in the hajj will not be allowed to touch the Kaaba as part of the new safety measures.

Pilgrims this year will also have to wear masks, maintain physical distance during prayers and sleep in tents that follow guidelines on social distancing.

Elsewhere in the Mideast, Israels parliament early on Tuesday passed an emergency bill allowing the government to bypass the house in making immediate decisions on combating a renewed outbreak of the coronavirus.

Lawmakers supporting the bill said it was essential, given the fast-spreading nature of the virus, but some opposition lawmakers decried the sidelining of the legislature as another step in undermining the foundations of Israeli democracy.

On Monday, the Israeli government reimposed new restrictions on the public, limiting gatherings and ordering reception halls, restaurants, bars, theaters, fitness centers and pools be shut down again.

Just weeks ago, Israel appeared to have contained its initial outbreak after imposing strict measures early on in the pandemic. But after reporting just a handful of new cases a day in early May, it has experienced a steady uptick following an easing of restrictions. Currently, Israel is reporting upward of 1,000 new cases a day  higher than its peak during the previous wave.

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A new sanctions regime against abusers of human rights unveiled on Monday could be applied to individuals in India or those in countries that are allies or friends of the United Kingdom, foreign secretary Dominic Raab has said.

The first list of individuals and entities facing asset freeze and visa bans include those from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea. Raab came under pressure on Tuesday to name individuals in China (on abuses related to Uyghur Muslims) and Hong Kong.

During the debate in the House of Commons, Scottish National Party MP Brendan OHara asked Raab about imposing sanctions on the UKs allies, including India, which is one of the key markets with which the post-Brexit UK is keen to reach a free trade deal.

He asked: Can the Foreign Secretary assure the House that the application of the sanctions regime will be transparently even-handed and will not be blind to human rights abuses carried out by or in the name of our so-called allies and friends such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Israel or India, or indeed countries with which we are seeking to secure a post-Brexit trade deal?

Raab responded: If the hon. Gentleman looks at the designations, he will see that we have answered that in the first round that we are making today. The UK has a long-standing relationship with Saudi Arabia, which is one of the countries whose citizens named on Monday.

Raab said MPs, civil society groups and others could suggest names for future sanctions. Britains crime officials have been dealing with several cases of foreign nationals with controversial backgrounds who have bought property and other assets in London and the UK.

Raab told MPs: (This) Government and this House send a very clear message, on behalf of the British people: those with blood on their hands, the thugs of despots, the henchmen of dictators, will not be free to waltz into this country, to buy up property on the Kings Road, do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge or siphon dirty money through British banks or other financial institutions.

Labour MP Gagan Mohindra, who was one of the new Indian-origin MPs elected in the December 2019 election, asked Raab if the sanctions regime would include the issue of freedom of religion and belief around the world.

Raab responded: The regime focuses on the most serious human rights abusesthose against the right to life, the prohibition against torture, and the prohibition against slave labour and forced labourbut of course many of those abuses can be directed at journalists and those practising their religion, and if he looks at the designations that we have made today, he will find that that is true even in relation to the first wave.

Those named in the first list of sanctions include Myanmar army commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and Soe Win, deputy commander-in-chief  both named in relation to Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state.

The regime is expected to 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.
North Korean Foreign Ministry US affairs department head Kwon Jong Gun said Pyongyang did not intend to hold talks with Washington, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

Earlier, after the aggravation of inter-Korean relations, the media and experts from different countries, as well as some officials, spoke about the need and even the possibility of holding a summit between North Korea and the United States.

The hope for a summit before the US presidential elections has been expressed by South Korean leader Moon Jae-in. US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun is also expected to visit South Korea July 7-9.
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.
A technician works to convert a building of the National Institute of Ageing into a dedicated COVID-19 care centre, in Chennai. PTI

The lifting of the total lockdown after 18 days saw the arterial roads of Chennai flooded with vehicles and people coming out in large numbers on Monday when the number of new infections all over the State was at 3827 and the days death figure standing at 61.

Health Minister C Vijaybhaskar said the total lockdown was helpful in the governments effort to control the spread of the Coronavirus with the members of the public extending cooperation to the authorities.

He said that spread had come under control and urged the people not to fear over the death figures. Almost all the people who succumbed to Covid-19 had co-morbidities, he said.

The Minister was speaking to media after holding a meeting with directors of 43 branches of medicine at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, where he also launched a battery operated vehicle fitted with a stretcher and other facilities to transport Covid-19 patients from the out-patient section to the wards.

He said RGGGH was today more a research centre, offering quality treatment and care to Covid-19 patients, including plasma treatment. The hospital had 1000 beds and had admitted 700 patients, he said, adding that 1000 more beds would be added soon.

He said an oxygen pipeline was being laid with a view to increasing the oxygen capacity of the hospital to 20 kl and work on that would be over in a weeks time.

The Minister said that a block in the Stanley hospital had been given for Ayurveda treatment of Coronavirus cases and in the Guindy hospital facilities would be provided for yoga, Naturopathy and Siddha.

Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar held a meeting with officials at the Ripon building. He said though the total lockdown help curb the spread of the virus, the government announced the relaxations taking into consideration the livelihood of the people.

The spread would come down step by step and the government was taking all efforts to control it fully, he said, adding that they were taking measures to stop crowding at fish markets by insisting on social distancing and wearing of face masks.

Retail sales had been banned at the Kasimedu fishing harbor and even other fish vendors had been instructed not to sell fish to those turning up without face masks.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister R Kamaraj, who inspected fever camps in Kodambakkam and Annanagar, said that the number of people recovering from Coronavirus was 62 per cent.

In Chennai city, 12,712 fever camps were organized benefitting 8,20,358 people. From the camps 38,280 infections were detected and 62 per cent of them had recovered, he said.

Stating that the infections had come down in the city, Kamaraj said that Kodambakkam had 2414 infections 14 days back but now it was only 990.

Chief Secretary K Shanmugham organized a meeting with Collectors of 15 districts through video conference and urged them to intensify efforts to control the pandemic in their respective districts. He stressed the need for creating awareness among the people, increase testing and enable people to come forward for testing.

After Chennai that had 1747 new cases on Monday, Madurai reported 245 cases, followed by Chengalpattu (213), Kanchipuram (182) and Thiruvallur (175).

Among the politicians who tested positive were former Minister B Valarmathi, who is now the head of the Text Book Society of Tamil Nadu, and former MLA Annadurai of CPI.

Nagarajan, an armed reserved constable, died of Covid-19, taking the total number of police personnel succumbing to the virus to three.
Panic has gripped Indian and international students in US colleges over the new guideline announced Monday by the Trump administration. The guideline forces foreign non-immigrant students to leave the country if they are enrolled in institutions holding only online classes for the fall semester.

The state department will not issue visas to students on F-1 and M-1  for academic and vocations students  enrolled in online-only institutions and the US border and customs will not let them enter the country, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department said in the guideline. This would apply, presumably, to new enrolments.

Students who were already in the United States and were enrolled at these online-only institutions will be allowed a maximum of one online class or three credit hours to remain in status or they would have to switch to a school that allows them to take the minimum number of in-person classes.

At institutions that are moving towards a hybrid model  a mix of online and in-person teaching or blended programme as some universities call them  students will be allowed to take more than one course online, or three credit hours. However, the university must certify that the program is not entirely online, that the student is not taking an entirely online course load this semester, and that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in their degree program.

But these exemptions did not apply to F-1 students in English language training programs or M-1 students pursing vocational degrees, ICE said. These students are not permitted to enroll in any online courses, it added.

With an eye on his re-election bid coming November, President Donald Trump has been pushing for the country to reopen after Covid-19 lockdown to get the economy back on track. Schools must reopen in the fall, he wrote on twitter, in all-caps, around the time as the ICE announcement was made.

There is a sense of panic among students, said Onkar Joshi, a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland in Maryland. The order forces us to choose between our health and staying in the US, he added.

There are approximately 200,000 Indian students in the United States. It was not clear immediately how many of them would be impacted and in what way as universities do not have a uniform model for reopening. Not all of them have announced their programmes for the fall semester, which starts mid-August.

India raised the issue with the US at foreign office consultations Tuesday morning. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla and US under-secretary of state for political affairs David Hale discussed ways to further enhance mutually beneficial trade and people-to-people ties, including through visa facilitation for students and professionals, the ministry of external affairs said in a readout of the meeting.

An estimated 1 million international students enrolled in US colleges every year. Their impact on US economy is worth $41 billion and they support more than 450,000 jobs.

Harvard University announced earlier Monday  just before the ICE guideline  that it will hold all classes online and will allow only 40% of these students to return live on campus for the fall semester, according to The Harvard Crimson.

We are deeply concerned that the guidance issued today by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement imposes a blunt, one-size-fits-all approach to a complex problem, giving international students, particularly those in online programs, few options beyond leaving the country or transferring schools, Harvard University president Lawrence S Bacow said in a statement.

This guidance undermines the thoughtful approach taken on behalf of students by so many institutions, including Harvard, to plan for continuing academic programs while balancing the health and safety challenges of the global pandemic, he added.

The American Council on Education (ACE), which represents US colleges and universities, slammed the ICE guideline as horrifying.

At a time when institutions are doing everything they can to help reopen our country, we need flexibility, not a big step in the wrong direction, the organization said further in a statement. ICE should allow any international student with a valid visa to continue their education regardless of whether a student is receiving his or her education online, in person, or through a combination of both, whether in the United States or in their home country, during this unprecedented global health crisis.

Foreign students are not allowed into the United States through online-only institutions and an exemption was made , ICE said in the statement, in view of the Covid-19 epidemic. This policy permitted non-immigrant students to take more online courses than normally permitted by federal regulation to maintain their non-immigrant status during the Covid-19 emergency.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late on Monday that the United States is certainly looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.

I dont want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but its something were looking at, Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News.

US lawmakers have raised national security concerns over TikToks handling of user data, saying they were worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

The app, which is not available in China, has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots to appeal to a global audience and has emphasized its independence from China.

Pompeos remarks also come amid increasing US-China tensions over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Chinas actions in Hong Kong and a nearly two-year trade war.

TikTok, a short-form video app owned by China-based ByteDance, was recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps after a border clash between India and China.

Reuters reported late on Monday that TikTok would exit the Hong Kong market within days, deciding to do so after Chinas establishment of a sweeping new national security law for the semi-autonomous city.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will skip a meeting organized by American President Donald Trump to celebrate the US Mexico Canada or USMCA pact, a refurbished version of the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA which existed earlier.

US President Trump, Canadian PM Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador were expected to meet in Washington on Wednesday to mark the coming into force of the new deal, which was championed by Trump. However, Trudeau has turned down the invitation from Trump.

The official version for Trudeau avoiding the Washington trip is that Trudeau is participating in a virtual Cabinet retreat leading up to a session of Parliament where Canadas Finance Minister Bill Morneau will present a fiscal update relating to the economy and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in lieu of a regular budget.

However, Trudeau has been miffed with Trump in recent days. In a media briefing last week, he said, Were obviously concerned about the proposed issue of tariffs on aluminum and steel that the Americans have floated recently, according to the outlet CBC News.

Trudeau had also expressed concern over having to self-isolate for two weeks on returning from the United States, as is now mandated in Canada.

Trudeau spoke to Mexican President Obrador on Monday and expressed regret that he is unable to travel to Washington D.C. this week and wished President Lopez Obrador a successful meeting with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, according to a readout issued by the Canadian PMO.

They also agreed tthat the recent entry into force of the new NAFTA will strengthen the deep economic ties and longstanding friendship between Canada and Mexico, and advance social as well as economic development in both countries. There was no word on whether Trudeau held a similar call with Trump.
President Donald Trump has made his position clear: SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!! he tweeted Monday. As Covid-19 surges in parts of the US, many teachers arent convinced.

The pandemics ever-shifting nature has robbed school districts of the ability to plan with certainty -- not only for instruction, but to provide protective equipment and intensive cleaning. Even if a sustained decline in infections allows them to open their doors, many are preparing a mix of in-person and remote education that is certain to fall short of the presidents expectations.

Click here for full Covid-19 coverage

The reality is that they have to map out several scenarios for the fall with the real possibility that they dont know what the scenario will be on the first day of school, said Betheny Gross, associate director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington at Bothell, which has been tracking districts responses to the coronavirus shutdown.

In Washington on Tuesday, Trump will host a gathering of health and education leaders -- as well as students and parents -- for an event billed as a National Dialogue on Safely Reopening Americas Schools.

The event comes as many students approach five months without setting foot in a classroom. Proponents of returning say distance learning is hobbling childrens development and the economy, with parents trying to juggle work and their offspring. Many teachers say theyre well aware of the benefits of face-to-face instruction, but worry about endangering students and peers.

The Trump Administration is committed to working in partnership with university presidents, superintendents, principals, counselors, teachers, health professionals, parents, and students to ensure in-person learning resumes in a safe and healthy way, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

Economic drag

Trumps demand that schools open this fall was a reminder of how politicized the issue has become. Its not surprising, said Douglas Harris, chair of the Department of Economics at Tulane University in New Orleans and a public-education expert. The economy cant really open back up again until kids go back to school.

Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, the nations biggest teachers union, said schools need a massive allocation of federal stimulus funds to purchase protective equipment and hire cleaners. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday predicted Congress this month will pass one final rescue package.

Teachers agree that remote instruction isnt optimal, said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. The real debate, she said, is around how to return to school safely -- and the need for money to do it right.

Either you have to be a moron about not understanding how government or schools work, or you have to be really callous and craven that youd wait till the end, till its almost too late, Weingarten said.

To maintain social distancing, schools will have to use lunchrooms, gyms, libraries and trailers as classrooms. Some are considering rotating classes in mornings and afternoons or three days a week. Others may keep older pupils online, while using high-school classrooms for younger children who dont learn well via Zoom, Garcia said.

Gross said schools may also need to rotate through different scenarios as the school year goes on and the pandemic changes anew.

In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday reiterated that no decision has been made on whether students across the state will be able to return for in-person learning in the fall.

We obviously very much would like to, Cuomo said, adding that New York City and 700 school districts are in the process of developing reopening plans that must be submitted to the state.

In Texas, where Covid-19 cases have surged since the state embarked on one of the countrys most aggressive reopening plans, most teachers surveyed by the Houston Federation of Teachers have said they would prefer to not return to in-person learning until it is safe, according to Andy Dewey, the groups executive vice president.

Defining safe

The definition of safe is where we have disagreement, he said by phone Monday. The problem is this: The district hasnt given us any guidance on it because the district says the state hasnt given any guidance on it.

The latest survey conducted by the El Paso branch of the AFT showed that just 7% of 790 respondents were in favor of full face-to-face learning at the start of the school year. About 20% said they supported a hybrid return, while roughly 72% said they favored remote learning. The city and surrounding areas two main school districts both plan to start the first few weeks of the year virtually.

Teachers for the Houston Independent School District have until the end of this week to decide whether they want to resign to avoid potentially being required to return to classrooms. After that, they risk having their teaching certificates suspended for a year if they defy an in-person start to the school year, with a permanent notation that could make it harder for them to get hired in other districts, Dewey said.

Leslie LaFollette, a third-grade teacher at Kiker Elementary in Austin, said shes prepared to move to Massachusetts, where her wife has family, if educators arent allowed to stick to online learning.

Its drastic, but Im willing to do that if we lose the option, said LaFollette, 46. I miss my kids, I want to be with them. But not to the detriment of their health and my health.

In Seattle, site of the first major US outbreak, officials are pursuing a hybrid reopening. Parents have been asked to fill out a questionnaire with their preferences so the district can plan. In August, families must finalize their pick.

Were focusing on making that as equitable and safe as possible, said Julie Popper, spokeswoman for the Seattle Educational Association, which represents some 6,000 members, including teachers and staff.

Before opening, the union wants to make sure Seattle is spending enough on staff and protective equipment to meet state health and safety rules, as well as adding custodial workers to disinfect, and having nurses and mental-health professionals in every school daily, Popper said.

Peer interaction

In North Carolina, Angie Mangin is optimistic about getting her two incoming eighth-graders back to school, especially her daughter, after having them home-learning since March.

My son wasnt too affected by the change, but my daughter needs that interaction with her peers, said Mangin, 54, who works in the insurance and risk department of Circle K convenience stores.

Tulanes Harris, who studies the economics of education and education policy, said theres simply no guarantee everyone is going back. Its hard to imagine that schools will reopen fully in person on a large scale, he said.

Trump, who avoids wearing a mask in public and has convened rallies without social-distancing requirements, has urged local governments to reopen. Stacy Davis Gates, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union and executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said she didnt trust him to lead on education policy.

President Trump has been virtually missing in action with respect to keeping Americans safe countrywide, Gates said. It gives me a great amount of anxiety to know that he is going to set the standard for my children and Americas children.
The White House dinner that President Donald Trump is hosting for his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, will have business executives from both countries on the guest list, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The Wednesday night event will be the closest thing to a state dinner that can be organized during the Covid-19 outbreak, according to one of the people, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. Polish President Andrzej Duda met with Trump at the White House on June 24.

The dinner will be indoors and one of the people said that some social distancing measures would be taken.

Lopez Obrador said he would take a coronavirus test before his departure from Mexico on Tuesday, and was willing to take another one in the US if asked.

The guests will include some 20 executives, about 10 from each nation, who will represent the automobile, telecommunications and media, transportation, technology, energy and financial industries, one of the people said.

The occasion is to mark the dawn of the United-States-Mexico Canada-Agreement trade pact, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, the other party to the accord, will not be coming to Washington.

The two leaders plan to discuss the new agreement as well as measures to combat narcotics traffic, business between the two countries and migration.

The Mexican guests invited include broadcast, banking and retail billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, according to a person familiar with the plans, who asked not to be identified because the guest list hasnt been made public. Salinas, with a net worth of $11 billion, is the countrys second-richest man.

Also invited are fellow billionaires German Larrea, part of the nations third-richest family, and chief executive officer of miner Grupo Mexico; Alberto Bailleres, Mexicos fourth-richest person and an owner of department stores; Grupo Financiero Banorte Chairman Carlos Hank Gonzalez; Grupo Televisa co-chief executive officer Bernardo Gomez.

Also among the Mexican invitees are Olegario Vazquez Aldir from Grupo Empresarial Angeles, which owns hospitals, hotels and a broadcaster; real estate developer and Grupo Vidanta founder Daniel Chavez Moran; and Bio Pappel SAB CEO Miguel Rincon. It isnt clear if all the people invited will be able to attend, according to the person.
The UK reaffirmed its collision course with Beijing and Moscow on Monday as it sought to establish its place in the world after Brexit.

Chinas ambassador to London warned of consequences if Britain treats his country as a hostile power in its dealings over Hong Kong and Huawei Technologies Co., while Russian officials topped the list of people sanctioned for human rights abuses, sparking a threat of retaliation from the Kremlin.

As we forge a dynamic new vision for a truly global Britain, this Government are absolutely committed to the United Kingdom becoming an even stronger force for good in the world, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Parliament as he introduced the sanctions. He pledged to keep the flame of freedom alive for those brave souls still suffering in the very darkest corners of the world.

The announcement of targeted sanctions on 49 individuals and organizations for human rights abuses immediately sparked calls from senior lawmakers in Prime Minister Boris Johnsons Conservative Party for similar curbs on China. The demands highlight a tension for the UK as it seeks trade deals around the world after Brexit while trying to assert itself as a champion of freedom.

Britains future means balancing different interests and some tough choices, said Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative and chairman of Parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee. But to get through this we need to remember what really matters and hold on to core beliefs -- none more than the rule of law.

Tensions, Consequences

Tugendhat was joined by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith as senior MPs called for the sanctions, currently limited to Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea, to be extended to Chinese officials for the suppression of protests in Hong Kong and human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. Some said Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam should be added to the list.

Raab didnt rule out including Chinese nationals and said he is already working on the next round of sanctions, which he told MPs are a forensic tool and have to be legally watertight before they are applied.

The escalation of tensions came after it emerged Britain is preparing to phase Huawei out of plans for fifth-generation telecommunications networks, sparking a robust response from Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador in London.

He accused the UK of following the bidding of the US over the Chinese technology giant and criticized its response to a crackdown on demonstrations in Hong Kong. Last week Johnson offered a fast-track to citizenship to almost 3 million residents of Britains former colony.

We want to be your friend, we want to be your partner, but if you want to make China a hostile partner you have to bear the consequences. Liu said on a video call with reporters Monday. If you dance to the tune of other countries, how can you call yourself Great Britain?

Significant Impact

A report from the UKs National Cybersecurity Centre concluded that new US sanctions mean Huawei will have to use untrusted technology, making security risks impossible to control, a person familiar with the matter said.

Officials are drawing plans to speed up the removal of existing Huawei kit, although an exact timetable is yet to be set, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing unpublished proposals.

Johnson, who set a US trade deal as the centerpiece of his international plans after Britain leaves the European Union, has been under heavy pressure from US President Donald Trumps administration to drop Huawei from his plans. Washington warned future security cooperation could be under threat if London pressed on with the company after ministers cleared its participation in January.

Mondays sanctions were announced as Raab set out the British version of the US Magnitsky Act. They included visa bans and assets freezes for 20 Saudi citizens suspected of involvement in the killing of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and two government entities in charge of North Koreas prison camps.

Unfriendly Decision

The action against Saudi nationals marks a change for the UK, which has long regarded the kingdom as a crucial ally and trade partner in the Middle East. Raab was asked in Parliament if the sanctions would be extended to others in the Saudi regime and neighboring countries, including Bahrain and the UAE.

It would be welcome if it marked the start of a more consistent approach from the Government towards Saudi Arabia, and in particular the arms sales from this country that are being used to harm innocent civilians in Yemen, Lisa Nandy, foreign affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Labour Party, told Parliament.

The Magnitsky Act is named for Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in jail in 2009 after alleging officials were involved in tax fraud, and the list includes individuals implicated in his case. Twenty-five Russians were named by the Foreign Office.

Raab, who compared Magnitsky to the Soviet-era dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn, said targeting individuals rather than states, will allow us to continue to engage bilaterally with countries that, frankly, we need to.

That view was not shared by Russia, which said the UKs targeting of judges and prosecutors was an assault on judicial independence.

Russia reserves the right to respond to todays unfriendly decision by the UK on the basis of reciprocity, Russias Embassy in London said in a statement. It will not improve Russian-British relations.
The UK opposition Labour Party has urged Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to focus more effort on protecting young people from the effects of what could be the worst recession in three centuries.

Sunak will on Wednesday unveil the next stage of his program to reduce the damage done to the British economy by coronavirus. The government is trying to restart businesses that have been closed since the country went into lockdown in March, with pubs and restaurants the latest to reopen their doors. But Labour is concerned that the young will be particularly badly hit.

Ed Miliband, Labours business spokesman, told the Resolution Foundation think tank he hoped the government would recognize the particular impact on particular groups in this crisis such as young people. Over one million young people could be out of work by the end of the year, according to research by the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Governments tend to think that the danger is that they do too much too quickly, when really the danger is doing too little too late, Miliband said. I hope we see a response which is equal to the scale of the emergency, particularly facing young people. What you dont want is a kind of abyss between the end of furlough and the job-creation measures in place.

Among Sunaks announcements on Wednesday will be a 111 million-pound ($140 million) program to triple the number of traineeships for young people, but Labour argues that more is needed.

Sunak Eyes $3.8 Billion of Green Spend to Fuel UK Recovery

Labours Treasury spokeswoman Anneliese Dodds told Sunak in Parliament on Tuesday the governments current proposal hardly reflects a focus on jobs, jobs, jobs. The Chancellor replied that tens of thousands of good local jobs would be created through new grants for energy-efficient housing.
President Donald Trump has formally withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization, making good on threats over the UN bodys response to the coronavirus, a senator said Tuesday.

Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the US from the @WHO in the midst of a pandemic, Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, wrote on Twitter.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced visa restrictions for a certain group of Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act.

Today I announced visa restrictions on PRC (Peoples Republic of China) officials involved in restricting foreigners access to Tibet. We will continue to seek reciprocity in our relationship, Pompeo tweeted on Tuesday.

Beijing has continued systematically to obstruct travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas by US diplomats and other officials, journalists, and tourists, while Chinese officials and other citizens enjoy far greater access to the United States, he said in a statement.

As such, Pompeo said he is announcing visa restrictions on Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party officials determined to be substantially involved in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas, pursuant to the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018.

Access to Tibetan areas is increasingly vital to regional stability, given the Chinese human rights abuses there, as well as Beijings failure to prevent environmental degradation near the headwaters of Asias major rivers, he said.

Pompeo said the US will continue to work to advance the sustainable economic development, environmental conservation, and humanitarian conditions of Tibetan communities within China and abroad.

We also remain committed to supporting meaningful autonomy for Tibetans, respect for their fundamental and unalienable human rights, and the preservation of their unique religious, cultural, and linguistic identity. In the spirit of true reciprocity, we will work closely with the US Congress to ensure US citizens have full access to all areas of the Peoples Republic of China, including the TAR and other Tibetan areas, Pompeo said.

The State Department funding for the Tibetan issues for the fiscal year 2021 beginning October 1 has been proposed to be $17 million and $1 million for the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, according to the budget papers which is now making its way through the Congressional approval process.
A video recording of a lady government doctor, who was not discharged by a private hospital in the Old City of Hyderabad after she alleged that the bills were exorbitant, went viral, prompting the Telangana health department officials to rescue her.

The entire episode raises crucial questions over healthcare as an institution, an eco-system, a fundamental right, and over the yawning gap between want and availability, because with some variation, this story could have been of any Indian city or state.

Two stark realities face us  government hospitals are inefficient, corrupt and so unrealiable, so unworthy of trust, that most people including politicians, bureaucrats and even government doctors avoid it; even as private sector hospitals are seen as dishonest, commonly perceived as businesses which are compromised on ethics, where professionals use fear psychosis to force needless extensive testing and redundant expensive care.

Is it fair for people to expect the private sector to sell wares at prices fixed or overseen by the government? If the government was so efficient as to advise, would it not use its own wisdom to achieve better results in its own healthcare establishments? Should we be blind to a social faultline, where for so long we have accepted substandard public healthcare because only the very poor were using it? Has quality become an issue only after the private sector bills have become unaffordable even for middle classes?

Most customers in corporate hospitals complain of astronomical bills; common phraseology describes it as extorting and bleeding. Telangana Health Minister Etala Rajender gave a sermon on profit-seeking hospitals, never mind a transparent account of the public healthcare budgetary spends.

Do we risk killing the private sector medicine by stifling it with public control? Or should we indeed tame the beast. The answers will define our nations future. And we need them urgently.
Please be aware that Cache Valley Publishing does not endorse, and is not responsible for alleged employment offers in the comments.

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TheStatehosueFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS  Indiana schools are no longer required by law to use state test scores when annually evaluating teacher performances.

The new law, House Enrolled Act 1002, went into effect July 1 and marks a significant departure from past mandates on how teachers should be evaluated.

In 2011, Indiana lawmakers joined in a national education reform movement and implemented a new policy that ordered test scores make up a significant portion of teacher evaluations. Some argued the 2011 change put more pressure on educators to teach to the test.

After the policy changes in 2011, the Indiana Department of Education released an evaluation rubric that districts could use, though it wasnt required. This rubric noted math and English Language Arts teachers in fourth through eighth grade would have 20% or 35% of their evaluations based on their students test scores.

During the 2020 legislative session, the Indiana General Assembly reviewed this rule and determined schools should not have to build their teacher evaluation plans around tests. But districts can choose to keep them as part of teacher assessments if they choose.

This new teacher evaluation legislation arrived after a teacher shortage thats lasted several years in Indiana and amid ongoing concerns about whether low state test scores accurately reflect students knowledge. Both challenges, over time, led to strained support for the 2011 policy.

Education advocates argued the 2011 law was detrimental for teachers, whose pay is tied to whether they earn a top rating when evaluated.

Educators have argued that state test scores arent a fair way to judge a teachers effectiveness because it has been shown that outside factors such as race and poverty have an effect on test scores as well.

Students in the third through eighth grade take both the math and English Language Arts portions of the states new ILEARN test. After only one-third of them passed both portions in 2019, lawmakers decided in February to not hold schools accountable for the low scores for two years in an effort to protect teachers and their schools.

The low scores could have negatively affected a schools overall letter grade rating by the state, for example, which would have impacted teacher evaluations, and ultimately, their pay.

Now that teacher evaluations do not have to legally be affected by test scores, districts can create new evaluation templates that are primarily based on principals observations and teachers progress toward meeting yearly goals set by their schools.

House Enrolled Act 1002 passed through the House of Representatives unanimously, and when the legislation was read to the Senate, only Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn voted against it.

Kruse authored the 2011 law that originally changed how teachers are evaluated. He declined an interview request to explain why he opposed the new legislation.

While Kruse was the only state senator to not approve the law, he is not alone in opposing it. Groups including the National Council on Teacher Quality, or NCTQ, have opposed the legislation since it was introduced in January.

The organization stands by the idea that standardized tests offer an objective way to measure student learning and therefore increase the validity of formal teacher evaluations.

In an email statement, NCTQ President Kate Walsh said HEA 1002 walks away from almost a decade of progress the states schools and districts have made to improve teacher quality.

Removing the requirement to consider objective measures of student learning in teacher evaluations is a step backwards for Indianas teachers and students, Walsh said.
Rebranding

7 July 2020

Winter the Dolphin's Beach Club is now a member of Choice Hotels International, Inc.'s (NYSE:CHH) Ascend Hotel Collection, a global portfolio of resort, boutique and historic hotels. The marine-themed hotel is located in Clearwater Beach, Florida, where the Gulf of Mexico's welcoming blue waters make it an ideal destination for guests seeking a beachfront stay. Named after the subject of the "Dolphin Tale" movies, the hotel provides upgraded amenities that are purposefully designed to deliver a distinct marine experience in an unforgettable setting.

Located at 655 S. Gulfview Blvd., the five-story, 91-room Winter the Dolphin's Beach Club is just minutes away from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. The hotel features design elements that celebrate aquatic life and gives guests the opportunity to support the aquarium's mission, with a portion of the proceeds from each room night going directly to the care, education, research and conservation of marine mammals.

Winter the Dolphin's Beach Club features a live video stream of wild dolphins off the coast from the hotel, as well as sustainability measures and amenities including:

Sea turtle-safe lighting.

No single-use plastics.

Special window treatments to reduce energy use while minimizing the harmful effects of sun glare.

Dolphin tail-shaped stone jetties to protect the hotel's inlet beach.

An outdoor heated pool with sundeck.

Food and beverage options at the Cabanas Beachside Bar and Grill.

Ascend hotel guests can participate in the award-winning Choice Privileges loyalty program, rated a top hotel loyalty program by both USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards and U.S. News & World Report. Choice Privileges membership is free and offers fast rewards and exclusive member rates for those who book directly at www.choicehotels.com.

All Choice-branded hotels are participating in Commitment to Clean, which is the company's global, holistic approach to supplying franchisees and their employees with the tools they need to achieve superior levels of cleanliness and address health and safety concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative enhances existing best practice guidance for deep cleaning, disinfecting, hygiene and social distancing. For more information on Commitment to Clean, visit https://www.choicehotels.com/about/commitment-to-clean-hotels.
Appointment

7 July 2020

Marc Lores Panades recently come on board at Six Senses Douro Valley as the resort's executive chef. He joins from his previous four-year stint as executive chef and food and beverage director at the acclaimed Alila Hotel in Bali, renowned for healthy, plant based forward cuisine and zero waste.

Marc hails from Lleida in Catalonia where his mother still lives and works the farm on which he grew up. After training in some of the best restaurants of Spain (El Bulli, Mugaritz) his exciting international career included tenures in Austria, England, Denmark, Germany and Hong Kong. Along the way, Marc has developed a distinctive style of cuisine. He loves growing his own food and sourcing the best local ingredients to create vibrant nutritious dishes, using both modern techniques and the best of local culinary traditions.

A highlight of his career was as head chef of Cal Xirriclo in Lleida, a modern fine dining restaurant, recognized by Michelin for producing wonderful dishes from local organic ingredients. It was here that Marc appeared on several cooking shows, wrote a food blog for the local paper, and won several of Spain's top culinary awards. including Best Dish at the Negrini Creative Cuisine Madrid in 2012 and 2016. His thirst for adventure eventually has led him to Hong Kong and ultimately to Bali.

Marc is accompanied by his wife Olivia, and in what little spare time he as, Marc likes to unwind by training for endurance sporting events, which have included several Ironman triathlons. Six Senses Douro Valley is as excited he is to take on this new challenge, and his reputation as an enthusiastic leader who is passionate about healthy vegetarian-focused food and sustainability will stand him in excellent stead.
Press Release

7 July 2020

London, UK - Popular holiday hotspots Tunisia and Ras Al Khaimah are among the latest destinations to sign up to the world's first ever global safety and hygiene stamp, launched recently by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

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The growing list of endorsements have come from many major holiday and city destinations around the world, such as Kenya, St. Petersburg, and the ever-popular Spanish resort of Benidorm, among many others.

WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, designed the Safe Travels stamp to enable travellers to identify destinations and businesses around the world which adopted its health and hygiene global standardised protocols.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has welcomed the WTTC Safe Travels stamp, which place the safety and hygiene of travellers as top priority.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: "Our Safe Travels stamp is proving a great success and we are delighted to see many more major countries and destinations receive the stamp. Top holiday destinations like Tunisia, and popular cities such as St Petersburg, have joined the growing list of global destinations adopting our private sector protocols.

"The early success of the WTTC Safe Travel stamp demonstrates its importance not only to countries, destinations and businesses, but also to travellers and the 330 million people around the world who work in and depend on, the Travel & Tourism sector.

"The stamp is critical to re-establish consumer confidence in Travel & Tourism and ensure travellers can rest assured that enhanced standards of hygiene are in place and they can once again experience 'Safe Travels'."

Since the launch of the WTTC Safe Travels stamp, destination countries, cities, and hotspots around the world such as Turkey, Egypt, Mauritius, Panama and Portugal have now adopted WTTC's new protocols.

Sergey Korneev, Tourism Development of Saint Petersburg, Chairman of the Committee said: "A fast and effective recovery of the Travel & Tourism industry will require a coordinated approach. The northern capital is the first Russian city to adopt the protocols recognised through the WTTC Safe Travels stamp, and our main priorities as a major tourist centre, is ensuring safety and reducing risk factors during the journey.

"We are confident that the Safe Travels stamp will serve as a signal of trust and confidence and will be an opportunity for the city to attract many more visitors."

Raki Phillips, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority CEO said: "The Safe Travel Protocols and the Global Safety Stamp are demonstrative of WTTC's efforts to revitalise the travel and tourism industry during the wake of COVID-19, and in the years to follow.

"With all these measures in place, we are witnessing an uptick in domestic travel and preparations are well underway to welcome international markets as travel corridors open up. WTTC has been instrumental in this process by providing consistency in global protocols and rebuilding trust and confidence in the travel experience."

Dr. Emad Hijazeen, Jordanian Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities Secretary General, said: "We appreciate and support the WTTC initiative of making travel and tourism a safe activity.

"Protecting the health of Jordanians and our visitors is a top priority for the Government of Jordan."

As part of its Safe Travels protocols, these worldwide measures provide consistency and guidance to travel providers and travellers about the new approach to health, hygiene, deep cleansing and physical distancing, in the 'new normal' of COVID-19 world.

The protocols were devised following the experience of WTTC members dealing with COVID19 and based on guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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.
Press Release

7 July 2020

London - 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.

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Set for July 23, this will be a virtual scientific summit focused on COVID-19 and the 'new normal'.

Taking place from 14:00 hours to 17:30 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.
Press Release

7 July 2020

The "new normal" cannot be implemented without sustainability as a core value that underpins the entire business structure. From interior design to food waste, it's now time to reconcile long-term vision with momentary short-term gains for the sake of the bigger picture.

As lockdowns begin lift and people start to travel again, hotels are scrambling to figure out the new normal. Experts confirm that those owners and managers who focus on innovation and sustainability will be most likely to bounce back and thrive in the future. A sustainable approach will be key in driving economic development globally. In fact, as travel restrictions have begun to lift, UNWTO secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili remarked, "The timely and responsible easing of travel restrictions will help ensure the many social and economic benefits that tourism guarantees will return in a sustainable way. This will contribute to the livelihoods of many millions of people around the world."

Finding the "middle way"

In the days leading up to the arrival of COVID-19, over-tourism was industry's number one buzzword and bugaboo. From Amsterdam to Iceland and Bali, local residents were overwhelmed by the influx of travelers, while city and tourism planners were struggling to manage the throngs of visitors.

Now, these same places are more than eager to welcome guests again but with the understanding that this is an opportunity to better develop sustainable opportunities. In places like Venice, for example, one of the world's most popular destinations, officials are planning to revamp tourism entirely with a sustainability underpinning. As Paola Mar, the city's Councillor for Tourism said:

"Our goal is to trigger a renaissance of the city. We want to attract visitors for longer stays and encourage a 'slower' type of tourism. Things can't go back to how they were."

The Financial Times travel editor Tom Robbins recently wrote, "Perhaps the current crisis might nudge us towards a middle waya more responsible, thoughtful way of travelling that minimizes carbon emissions, manages over-tourism and maximizes the contribution to local economies."

For destinations and for the hospitality industry, sustainability is an overall approach designed to address the most pressing problems we face as a society - including climate change, economic inequality, food waste and insecurity - which require the contributions of everyone, everywhere. Carlos Martin-Rios, Associate Professor at EHL, explains:

"That means reconciling a long-term vision and strategy with short-term financial gains. To further contribute to a sustainability program, EHL's new Sustainability Institute features a series called "The Sustainable Future of Hospitality Think Tank" where several times a year a select group of industry senior executives will meet to advance business models and tools to monitor the transition toward sustainability."

How some leading hotel chains are intentionally integrating sustainability into their ethos and operations

Baking it into the business

For sustainability to be authentic, it needs to be baked in rather than bolted on. In other words, sustainability is not one part of a business, it is essential to the whole business. As Marriott states, "From design to the guest experience, sustainability is embedded into our business strategy." The hotel conglomerate said it is building energy-efficient hotels, using renewable energy wherever possible and trying to find new ways to reduce waste and carbon emissions. The goal set by the company is to reduce water use by 15% and waste by 45%, and to use at least 30% renewable energy by 2025.

Lowering carbon emissions

As a major contributor to carbon emissions, experts conclude that the hotel industry as a whole must lower its emissions by 66% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. Hilton is committed to bringing its properties in line with the carbon reductions outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement. The company's goal is to cut the Hilton's global environmental footprint in half by 2030 and claims that over the past decade it has reduced its carbon emissions by 30 percent. "As a global business, we see the impacts of climate change every day," the company said. "From hurricanes to droughts, wildfires to floods, our Team Members and guests are facing an increasing number of extreme weather events and natural disasters caused or amplified by global climate change." Radisson Hotel Group is lowering its carbon footprint across the chain by reducing demand for energy from CO2-intensive sources and increasingly making use of renewable energy sources.

Reducing food waste

While 800 million people around the world don't have enough to eat, one third of all food goes to waste. According to experts, food waste is a leading type of waste in the hospitality industry. IHG has teamed up with a technology company called Winnow Vision to reduce hotel food waste by 30% over the next few years. And thehotel industry group American Hotel and Lodging Association teamed up with the World Wildlife Fund to create HotelKitchen.org in 2017 to teach the industry ways to reduce food waste. Hilton, Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels, InterContinental Hotels Group and AccorHotels have all participated in the program.

Designing for the future

The Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. recently launched the results of a study entitled Sustainability in Hotels: Opportunities and Trends Shaping the Future of Hospitality which outlines the business case for sustainability and the ways in which hotels are incorporating eco-friendly best practices into operations and construction. Hotels are currently among the highest per-square-foot energy and water users of all commercial buildings. Perhaps no hotel group more embodies the sustainability design ethos than Starwood brands, founded by Barry Sternlicht, who has since gone on to launch brands like 1 Hotels and Treehouse Hotels. While 1 Hotels is a nature-inspired luxury brand rooted in sustainability, Treehouse, according to the company, is less serious, more torn jeans and t-shirts and infinitely accessible. At the Treehouse London, which opened in December, composting, recycling and single-use plastics are very much part of the plan, and the 1Hotel London Mayfair, is set to open in 2022. As Sternlicht explains, 1 Hotel London will undoubtedly set a new standard in the city for the luxury hotel experience, while also advancing our brand mission to inspire conscious consumption and become a platform for change."
Supplier News

7 July 2020

Singapore and Berlin - INTEREL, the award-winning hospitality guest-room automation solution, and SuitePad, the leading provider of in-room tablets for the hotel industry, have announced a technology integration enabling guests to control room features and request hotel services directly through SuitePad tablets located in the guest room.

The integration provides guests with the option of managing room control and requesting services through SuitePad's in-room tablet in addition to INTEREL's wall mounted glass plates. With a touch on the tablet, guests can adjust the temperature, turn on, off or dim lights, open and close drapery and shades, or request services such as make-up room or privacy, in addition to standard services typically offered by SuitePad through the tablet.

"At Caesars Bluewaters Dubai, we always look to provide our guests with the most convenient and advanced in-room technology, which is why we chose INTEREL and SuitePad for their solutions," said Atul Aggarwal, Director of IT at Caesars Bluewaters Dubai. "The newly added interface between the INTEREL guest-room management system and SuitePad's tablet solution deployed at our hotel enables guests to control their entire room experience from the tablet, and we are expecting guests to make increased use of this offering in the post-COVID-19 world as they appreciate the hygiene benefits of a glass touch surface that is easily cleaned."

Guest facing products provided by INTEREL and SuitePad are flat, glass surfaces, which are easier to effectively clean when compared to devices with mechanical buttons that allow dirt to accumulate. Additionally, by consolidating controls on the in-room tablet and glass control plates, it reduces the amount of touchpoints that are typically used throughout the guest room.

"In the wake of the pandemic, it's more important than ever for hotels to establish cleanliness best practices that reassure guests," said Florian Gallini, INTEREL CEO. "We are proud to supply a technology that is cleaner and safer by design. Thermostats and light switches are high-touch points in hotel rooms, but with a seamless glass surface, like INTEREL panels and SuitePad's surface tablets, bacteria and viruses are not only easier to be sanitized when compared to tactile buttons, but are also visibly clean and therefore help hotels in providing their guests the confidence that the sanitization process has been followed."

"This integration represents a coming together of two best-of-breed solutions, expanding SuitePad's compatibility with one of the top hospitality technology providers on the market," said Moritz von Petersdorff-Campen, Co-Founder and CEO at SuitePad. "We're proud of the projects we have together with INTEREL, and we're confident that this partnership will improve the guest experience at hotels around the world."

About INTEREL

At INTEREL we power the modern hotel through our Hotel of Things ecosystem by connecting people, devices, and data. With our award-winning connectBsmart IoT infrastructure, built into our Guest Room Management System, and our new low cost Wi-Fi networked thermostats, we revolutionize the guest experience, increase operational efficiency, and drive sustainability in the hospitality industry. INTEREL is backed by European technology investor, Jolt Capital SAS. With offices across four continents, INTEREL's solutions are deployed in over 45 countries and have been used by over 30 million guests.

For More Information:

Global: www.interelme.com Connect with Us: LinkedIn

Contact:

Lindsay Kelso, INTEREL

About SuitePad

SuitePad is a leading provider of digital guest communication systems for the hotel industry. The Berlin-based company was founded in 2012 and has a team of over 60 employees. In January 2020, SuitePad was named HotelTechReport's best guest room tablet and best place to work in hotel tech.

SuitePads are tablets that are specifically designed for the hotel room. They provide a centralized service that brings digital communication between hoteliers and their guests to a whole new level. Apart from providing general information about the hotel, its services, and the surrounding area, SuitePads also serve as central booking tools for services such as hotel restaurants, shops, and spas, and each one is integrated with an in-room telephone and TV remotehelping to effectively declutter the hotel room and provide a modern and hygienic experience for guests.

SuitePad serves 1000 hotels across 30 countries, amounting to over 60,000 hotel rooms worldwide. In addition to the in-room tablets, SuitePad also provides a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) solution.
Opinion Article

7 July 2020

The crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic has had dramatic effects on many sectors, including the wine industry. The OIV (International Wine Organization) anticipates a 35% drop in sales volume and a 50% drop in value in 2020 in Europe. In Switzerland, the figures are not much better. According to the ASCV (Swiss Wine Trade Association), the industry's turnover has already fallen by 35% during the "semi-lockdown" period. Economic activity has now picked up again, but the outlook remains bleak. The pandemic has wiped out many of the summer events that usually generate high sales. As for restaurateurs, they have not sold any wine during the last few months and therefore have neither the need nor the financial means to build up stocks at the moment.

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This situation points to short-, medium- and potentially long-term difficulties for the Swiss wine industry: a lack of liquidity, commercial and logistics problems (what happens to the upcoming 2020 harvest?), competitive position vis-a-vis foreign production whose prices will inevitably fall (for example, the 2019 Bordeaux wines are currently being released at prices 10% to 35% lower than last year).

To have a more comprehensive view of the situation and the prospects for the industry, the Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne and Changins, in collaboration with the European Association of Wine Economists (EuAWE), conducted a study on the behaviour of wine consumers in Switzerland during the semi-confinement period and their expectations.

Sample and respondent profiles

The questionnaire received a total of 927 responses from all over Switzerland. Respondents had the option of answering in French (56% of respondents), German (21%), Italian (12%) and English (11%). The vast majority of respondents live in Switzerland (92%) or neighbouring France (5%). Most of the English-speaking respondents also live in Switzerland and are employed in the tertiary sector; they can, therefore, be considered to be expatriates for the most part. The best-represented cantons are Vaud, Valais and Ticino. The other French-speaking cantons and the large German-speaking cantons of Berne, Lucerne and Zurich follow.

Men make up just over half of the respondents (58%) and the age groups 18-30, 31-40, 41-50, and 51-60 each account for between 20% and 25% of the responses. Those over 61 years of age thus represent just over 10% of respondents. The majority of respondents are active in the tertiary sector (70%) and live as a couple (54%), without children in the household (69%) and enjoy a financial situation that allows them to "live comfortably" (63%).

In terms of consumption, 95% of respondents report having drunk wine at least once a month before confinement. The majority also went to restaurants at least once a month (92%) before the lockdown. Many respondents participated at least occasionally in wine tastings at wineries (84%), at fairs (77%), or "open cellars" (76%), and learned about wine through various media such as websites (48%), magazines (30%), social media (27%) and books (26%).

In short:

The typical respondent in this study can, therefore, be described as a wine lover.

The origin of the respondents reflects the distribution of wine production in the country.

The sample appears to be representative of the diversity of wine consumers in Switzerland.

The Swiss, especially the Latins, consumed more wine during confinement

Figure 1 illustrates a trend towards increased consumption of wine at the expense of beer and spirits. It can also be seen that the people most directly affected by the epidemic are those who have changed their consumption profile the most. Thus the vast majority of German-speaking respondents have not changed their alcohol consumption. Although German-speaking Switzerland also experienced a period of semi-confinement, the incidence rate of COVID-19 (source: FOPH, data as at 04/06/2020), except for Basel and Graubunden, remained well below that of French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. This analysis is corroborated by the fact that only 20% of German-speaking people feel vulnerable as a result of the epidemic, compared to 30% of French-speaking and 29% of Italian-speaking Swiss people.

Photo: EHL

The emergence of new consumption patterns

Figure 2 illustrates both some cultural differences between language regions in terms of consumption patterns and the impact of social distancing. Before the crisis, the majority of respondents frequently drank wine with family (87%), friends (92%) and colleagues (51%). In Italian-speaking Switzerland and among expatriates, it was also common to drink alone (27% among Italian speakers and 34% among English speakers). On the other hand, almost no one consumed online.

Photo: EHL

The crisis has brought about significant changes. Consumption among friends and colleagues collapsed but has not entirely disappeared - a reflection of the soft confinement that was practised in Switzerland. Nearly a third of the population regularly took part in digital wine tastings. The change was particularly marked among the English-speaking population (up from 2% to 40%), no doubt due to their particular situation with relatives spread over several countries and sometimes several continents. In general, 67% of respondents said they had "organised or participated in digital gatherings to have a glass [of wine or other] with family or friends" since the beginning of the confinement. But only 18% think they will continue to do so in the future. It seems that these consumption patterns reflect a short-lived trend that is intrinsically linked to the nature of the measures taken to contain the pandemic.

An increase in consumption "alone" is also observed, which could lead to fears of an increase in cases of risky consumption (dependence). Fortunately, this increase remains moderate (from 20% to 26% on average in the sample) and is probably temporary.

Consumers tapped into their cellars

In terms of purchasing, 57% of Swiss consumers buy wines priced between 11 and 20 francs, and 24% are willing to pay more than this amount for a bottle. These figures conceal the different realities in the various language regions, with the majority of German speakers (58%) being reluctant to pay more than CHF 10 for a bottle.

Consumers use three main purchasing channels: supermarkets (85% of respondents buying wine at least once a year), specialised shops (85%), and direct purchases at the winery (80%). This shows the strength of Swiss wine producers. The advantages of direct sales include a contact list that can be used directly by the winegrower for marketing purposes, a close relationship between the producer and his customers - which can increase the loyalty of the latter, fewer intermediaries and more direct control over the management of distribution channels. However, there is an essential difference between regions in this respect: while more than 80% of Latin speakers buy directly from producers, less than 60% of German speakers do the same.

Since the crisis, however, close to  of respondents have not bought wine. Only 30% of respondents said they had purchased wine online, including 6% for the first time and 8% in larger quantities than usual. Overall, respondents, therefore, unsurprisingly, spent a little less than usual on wine (22% spent more, and 32% spent less).

On the whole, the increase in consumption mentioned above was, therefore, to the detriment of consumers' stocks. This observation is consistent with the fact that the majority of consumers own a cellar (81%) and that only 16% of respondents generally say they usually open a bottle less than a week after buying it.

What are the prospects?

The situation is difficult, as restaurateurs and consumers have reduced their purchases and, given the uncertain economic conditions, will probably remain on hold for the most part in the coming months.  of the respondents are worried about the economic and non-economic consequences of the crisis for themselves and their families. Nevertheless, there are several reasons for cautious optimism.

First of all, the proximity of Swiss producers to their customers could help them get through the crisis. For example, 73% of those surveyed live less than 10 kilometres from a wine-growing region and 82% know wine producers personally. More than a third of those surveyed even have winegrowers among their friends. Obviously, these figures are even more pronounced when we focus on Latin respondents, with only 14% of French-speaking and 5% of Italian-speaking respondents not knowing any winegrowers.

Photo: EHL

Second, the majority of consumers hope to return to their previous habits once the situation has fully returned to normal. Thus, 91% of those surveyed plan to consume as much wine as before and a little more than 5% even anticipate an increase. As shown in Figure 3, this increase should be above all favourable to national wines and, to a lesser extent, to organic wines.

Finally, since the confinement, 54% of those surveyed "feel that they should buy more local wine to support local producers". Here again, a different sensibility should be underlined according to the regions: French and Italian speakers are respectively 65% and 70% to agree with this assertion, while German speakers are mostly in disagreement (45% against, 26% agree and 29% neutral). Swiss wine producers seem to have exploited this trend and have been very present on social networks, with more than half of those surveyed saying that they have received offers through these channels.

It is clear that the Swiss wine industry has suffered the adverse effects of the pandemic and is still facing considerable uncertainty. However, the proximity that Swiss winegrowers have historically maintained with their customers through direct sales, combined with a willingness - the sustainability of which, however, remains to be confirmed - to consume more locally, offer reasons for measured optimism in a longer-term perspective.

Note: this study was carried out in collaboration with the European Association of Wine Economists (www.euawe.com) which conducted a similar survey at the European level.
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Houstons Memorial Hermann Hospital System and Harris Health System are best in class for clinical outcomes and addressing racial and income disparities in health care, according to a report released Tuesday.

Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center was named the top hospital in the region for its quality and value of care. Harris Health System, which includes Ben Taub and Lyndon B. Johnson hospitals, ranked No. 1 nationwide for its commitment to equity, inclusion and community health, according to the Lown Institute, a Brookline, Mass.-based health policy think tank that prepared the index.

Medical centers are scored by patient outcomes, how well they avoided low-value medical procedures and technologies (those that provide little to no clinical help or incur unnecessary costs), and their commitment to equity and inclusion in health care. Researchers also examined pay equity and subsidized care to determine the rankings.

The data used came from Medicare claims, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Bureau of Labor Statistics information and other federal data that tracks costs, patient satisfaction and mortality rates.

The institute also ranked five additional Memorial Hermann hospitals, the Brazosport Regional Health System, the Womans Hospital of Texas and Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital among the top 10 hospitals in the Houston area.

DISPARITIES: Black Houstonians suffering worst consequences of virus, but lack of data obscures full picture

As a system, our mission to improve health is always our main focus, David Callender, Memorial Hermanns president and CEO, said in a statement.

Callender said the systems employees are focused on creating exceptional experiences while delivering safe, high-quality, cost-effective care that is coordinated and seamless across the care continuum.

Harris Health president and CEO Esmaeil Porsa said the system's mission is to improve community health while addressing social inequalities.

"This recognition serves only to challenge us to take even bolder steps," Porsa said, "in leading the health care community in matters outside traditional health care."

Despite the high praise, many hospitals in Houston, home to the worlds largest medical center complex, need to do more to address the socioeconomic issues and barriers to equitable healthcare, said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute.

The main thing we found, Saini said, was there are a lot of renowned hospitals that may do very well with specific patient outcomes, but they struggle to advance equity within regions.

Texas hospitals ranked highly on the national scale because of their emphasis on charity care, in which a hospital covers the costs of medical care for uninsured patients, Saini said. Thats in part because the state has a high rate of uninsured patients  nearly 1 in 5 Texans dont have health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

More Information Top 10 Greater Houston-area hospitals: 1. Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center - Houston 2. Harris Health System - Houston 3. Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital - Humble 4. Memorial Hermann Hospital System - Houston 5. Brazosport Regional Health System - Lake Jackson 6. The Woman's Hospital of Texas - Houston 7. Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital - Katy 8. Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital - Baytown 9. Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital - Sugar Land 10. Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center - Houston Source: The Lown Institute See More Collapse

But medical systems still need to invest in community benefits that could reduce health care disparities, such as providing access to nutritious food and adequate housing, researchers said.

The rankings, Saini said, dont determine which hospital might be best for a certain medical procedure. Instead, they show which hospitals treat patients equitably and safely and how they can improve service to their communities.

From an aspirational perspective, Callender said, that means creating healthier communities by engaging with Houstonians beyond the hospital walls and giving them the tools and resources they need to lead healthier lives.

This article has been updated to include comment from Harris Health.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

twitter.com/gwendolynawu
In the last couple weeks, food brands such as Aunt Jemima, Uncle Bens, Cream of Wheat and more have announced plans to reevaluate their names and logos, which originated from racist stereotypes. For longtime critics, these changes are welcome, albeit belated and cosmetic. As companies rethink their branding, its also worth examining how they tell their origin stories.

Forrest E. Mars Sr., of candy bar fame, bought a stake in the patent for parboiled rice in 1942. Developed by European scientists, commercial parboiling is a method that boosts the grains nutritional value and softens its texture by partially boiling the rice in its husk. The final product is also known as converted or easy-cook rice. Using this invention as their basis, Mars, along with a scientist, founded Houston-based Converted Rice Inc.

Not exactly a riveting backstory. By 1946, the brand was renamed Uncle Bens, portraying a smiling African-American man  Ben, presumably.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston-based Uncle Bens to evolve its brand after Pepsi ditches Aunt Jemima

In an article, Who Owns Uncle Ben? published in the Bitter Southerner, Shane Mitchell writes: Uncle Ben may never have existed, although Mars Food corporate lore references a Black rice farmer, last name unknown, in Beaumont, Texas, as his inspiration.

Food brands have long used wholesome narratives of farmers and agrarian scenes to sell their products. Its a far more romantic image than food zooming around a factory, being parboiled.

While farmer Ben was the inspiration for the name, the man whose portrait is depicted on the rice boxes was actually a Chicago chef and waiter named Frank Brown. In 2007, Mars promoted Uncle Ben  the fictional character  to chairman of the board. He still kept the honorific uncle, though, which is a disparaging way to refer to Black men, in lieu of Mr. (and aunt for Mrs. or Ms./Miss).

But back to farmer Ben, no last name, whose excellence in growing rice supposedly inspired Mars to romanticize him for marketing purposes. As Mitchell says, he may well have not existed. Lets say he had. Given systemic power structures that perpetuated racial inequality, it is unlikely Ben was a successful entrepreneur and owner of a thriving rice farm in the 1940s, as a Black man in Beaumont.

There is a possibility Ben would have been a sharecropper. According to the Texas State Historical Association, the number of farmers who were tenant farmers fell to 37.5 percent by 1945, and the proportion of those tenants who were sharecroppers to 16 percent.

There is a greater probability Bens parents would have been sharecroppers. It is a near certainty that Bens parents, or grandparents, were born into slavery.

A timeline on the Uncle Bens About Us web page starts in 1000 A.D., when rice reportedly arrived on the African continent. It then jumps to the year 1250, when the word rice first appeared in the English language. The next slide highlights the year 1694: Could this be the year rice made its way to the early American colonies? Could be. According to an old story, a storm-damaged ship paid for repairs at Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, with rice seeds.

The next slide leaps forward to the 1930s, and covers the invention of parboiling. However, the skipped-over period between the 1700s and the 1930s reveals many tales relevant to rice.

In Taste the Nation, the new Hulu series hosted by Padma Lakshmi, an episode about the Gullah Geechee community delves into the history of rice in the United States. Reporting from South Carolina, in and around Charleston, Lakshmi and her interview subjects tell a very different old story from these parts.

In the late 17th century or so, Carolina was a backwater, this was swamp, culinary historian and writer Michael Twitty says in the show. No Englishman knew what to do with this land. And then they decided to start bringing in people: Lets bring in people who know how to grow rice.

On HoustonChronicle.com: What is American food? Taste the Nation offers several answers

West Africans were specifically targeted, then enslaved, for their knowledge of rice crops. Mitchell, in the Bitter Southerner, writes that planters paid a higher premium for slaves from the ancient rice regions of Sierra Leone and the Upper Guinea Coast; traders were quick to advertise these skills in auction posters at the Old Market in Charleston.

Uncle Bens could have started its timeline with the companys founding in the 1940s, rather than mentioning the history of rice in this country, via a ship that docked at Charleston Harbor, while omitting this crucial part.

Another local company, Imperial Sugar in Sugar Land, provides a further example of opacity in recounting its origins. On a company history page, the story starts in 1843, when two brothers reportedly built a mule-powered sugar mill. Then it jumps to 1905, when the Kempner family of Galveston, under the leadership of Isaac H. Kempner and in partnership with William T. Eldridge, purchased the Imperial Mill and formed the Imperial Sugar Company. The timeline does not clarify whether this is the same mill.

The fleshed-out history is a little bit more complicated. The brothers, Nathaniel F. and Matthew R. Williams, did indeed buy a mill in 1843  22 years before General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston announcing all enslaved Texans were free.

According to the Fort Bend Star, two other businessmen, Benjamin F. Terry and William J. Kyle, bought a plantation from the Williams brothers between 1852 and 1853  10 years after they built the sugar mill mentioned on Imperial Sugars website. The Oakland Plantation reportedly included 4,400 acres, 19 slaves, 500 head of cattle, 30 mules and horses, and fields of cotton, corn, and sugar cane. In the following years, Terry and Kyle bought more plantations, totalling 12,500 acres by 1858, and renamed the consolidated operation Sugar Land Plantation.

After the Civil War, area sugar plantations struggled to survive without free, forced labor. Over the years, Terry and Kyles heirs inherited the business, and eventually sold it to Col. Edward H. Cunningham, who formed a partnership with Littleberry A. Ellis. Cunningham and Ellis invested heavily in building new mills, including one that became known as the Imperial Mill. At the turn of the 20th century, Cunningham and Ellis sons sold the business  to Kempner and Eldridge.

History is complicated. It often doesnt fit on a rice box or bag of sugar.

And sometimes, history gets dredged up. In recent years, the remains of 95 men were found at a Fort Bend school district construction site. They are believed to be Black men, who were victim of Texas brutal convict-leasing system, which many considered a new form of slavery.

Cunningham and Ellis leased prisoners from the state of Texas from 1878 to 1883, paying $186,910 in the first two years alone. Even when the lease ended, they continued to use convicts to work their plantations, making millions in todays money.

On HoustonChronicle.com: African-American remains awaken history of convict-leasing system

The story behind how rice, sugar and many other commodities became so successful in the U.S. is relatively well-documented. Its difficult to divorce that history from the multimillion dollar brands that sit on our grocery shelves today.

Itll be interesting to see how these brands evolve. As Uncle Bens and Aunt Jemima adopt new names and faces, it remains to be seen whether the stories the companies will tell will reckon with the past.

emma.balter@chron.com
Ghislaine Maxwell spent the last few months at a secluded 156-acre estate called "Tuckedaway," hidden in the woods of Bradford, N.H. -- the type of luxury retreat she's grown accustomed to as Jeffrey Epstein's girlfriend. Now, however, she's having to deal with accommodations that have been compared to a Turkish prison.

Her new digs are at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. -- a dusty lockup adjacent to the waterfront and expressway in Sunset Park. It's a place so notorious that a magistrate judge once said she was reluctant to send women there because of the "unconscionable" conditions.

Maxwell, 58, has been in U.S. custody since her arrest Thursday in New Hampshire on multiple charges, including conspiracy to entice underage girls to engage in illegal sex acts with Epstein from 1994 through 1997. Epstein hung himself in a federal jail in Manhattan while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Maxwell agreed to appear before a judge in Manhattan by videoconference from jail on July 14, when she is likely to be formally charged and enter a plea.

Since at least December, prosecutors say Maxwell has been "hiding out" in the sprawling four-bedroom and four-bath New Hampshire mansion which boasts cathedral ceilings, a barn and views of Mount Sunapee foothills from every room. The house was described by Sotheby's as "an amazing retreat for the nature lover who also wants total privacy."

But on Monday, U.S. Bureau of Prisons officials confirmed Maxwell was moved from a New Hampshire jail to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal jail that houses more than 1,600 male and female detainees. It's part of a compound of massive shipping warehouses built at the turn of the century and used during both world wars.

No one wants to go to jail, but the conditions described at the MDC have been the subject of numerous complaints and scrutiny that rival the rat-infested federal lockup in Lower Manhattan where Epstein was held.

In early 2019, hundreds of inmates at the MDC were locked shivering in their cells for at least a week after an electrical fire knocked out power in the building. The inmates spent some of the coldest days of that winter in darkness, largely without heat and hot water.

Over the years, federal investigators have concluded the jail is among the worst in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons system, finding that prisoners have been beaten, raped or held in inhumane conditions. Two inmates died recently.

After the coronavirus hit New York, Homer Venters, a former chief medical officer for the city's jails, visited the facility and concluded in a report that the facility was "ill-equipped" to deal with Covid-19 cases and failed to implement adequate infection-control practices.

Venters said he was "concerned about the ongoing health and safety of the population" at MDC, and condemned the failure of the jail's officials to take simple steps to identify potentially sick patients and isolate them.

In a sworn statement filed April 28, Derrilyn Needham said she'd been incarcerated at the MDC since November 2019, along with 30 other women. They slept in bunk beds, and she said it was difficult to stay six feet apart. From April 20 to April 23, Needham said the women were on "lockdown on our bunk beds, not able to leave our bunks except to use the bathroom or shower."

The inmates were allowed to make phone calls one day, Needham said, but they hadn't been given gloves, hand sanitizer or disinfectant wipes. After suffering from symptoms she thought could be Covid-19, including chills, fever, extreme fatigue, cough and trouble breathing, she said the assistant warden told her she couldn't be tested.

Voice mail and email messages to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on Monday seeking comment about the MDC weren't immediately returned.

Cheryl Pollak, the federal magistrate in Brooklyn, has repeatedly voiced concerns about the MDC after reviewing a report by the National Association of Women Judges, who visited the facility and found that 161 female inmates were housed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in two large rooms that lacked windows, fresh air or sunlight and weren't allowed out to exercise.

"Some of these conditions wouldn't surprise me if we were dealing with a prison in Turkey or a Third World Country," Pollak said during one 2016 hearing. "It's hard for me to believe it's going on in a federal prison."
Posted July 6, 2020



We are collaborating with FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, in an effort to identify misinformation and to ensure news consumers get the facts.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that through May 30, 14% of confirmed coronavirus cases led to hospitalizations  including 2% in intensive care units. But President Donald Trump falsely claimed 99% of cases are totally harmless.



The president, according to his press secretary, was referring to the case fatality rate, and he claimed the amount of testing the U.S. has conducted showed this. The testing actually shows a case fatality rate of 4.5%, but not everyone who has contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, has been tested. Some estimates say the fatality rate among those infected is likely around 1%.

Asked whether cases that dont result in death are harmless, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said: The president was noting the fact that the vast majority of Americans who contract coronavirus will come out on the other side of this.

Some estimates do place the mortality at about 1%, Columbia University epidemiologist Stephen Morse told us in an email, noting that we dont have a solid figure for the total number of people who have been infected. However, 1% mortality is not the same as 99%  totally harmless. I wish that were true. Totally harmless suggests that the infection doesnt do any harm.

In addition to patients who get sick enough to need hospitalization, some who have recovered from COVID-19 report experiencing long-term effects, including lung damage but also other symptoms, and we dont know how common these sequelae (the term for aftereffects of disease) are, Morse said.

Trump made his claim in July 4 remarks at the White House.

Likewise, testing  there were no tests for a new virus, but now we have tested almost 40 million people, he said. By so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless. Results that no other country can show, because no other country has testing that we have  not in terms of the numbers or in terms of the quality.

The president exaggerated the number of tests a bit: 36.3 million had been conducted as of July 3, according to the CDC. The COVID Tracking Project had the total at 34.9 million as of July 4.

What those tests show is that 2.8 million people had tested positive for COVID-19 and 122,464 had died in the U.S., as of July 4. That puts the case-fatality rate  the percentage of confirmed cases that resulted in death  at more than 4%.

Trump is also wrong to say these are results that no other country can show. Several countries have lower case fatality rates than the U.S.

Among the 20 countries most affected by COVID-19 now, the U.S. has the sixth highest case fatality rate  which means 14 other countries have lower rates, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.

And, as weve written before, the president is wrong to claim other countries dont have the same quality of tests. Rangarajan Sampath, the chief scientific officer of the nonprofit Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, told us in late April there wasnt any data to support Trumps claims that the U.S. tests are better than those in other countries.

Morse said: Most of our tests for the virus are of very good quality, but quality varies, too, and many tests in other countries use the same methodology and are just as good.

Mortality Rates and Disease Severity

Theres a lot of debate about the infection fatality rate, Dr. Ashish Jha, faculty director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said in a July 6 press call. I think the broad consensus in the community is that the infection fatality rate is somewhere between 0.6% and 1%, but that varies based on whether a population is older or younger.

Jha pointed to a study published in the Lancet on July 6 that used antibody tests to estimate the prevalence of COVID-19 in Spain. The findings  that about 5% of the population could have been infected  suggest an infection fatality rate of 1.2%, as Jha explained in a Twitter thread.

Based on several studies in various countries, the World Health Organizations chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, said on July 2 that the infection fatality rate is about 0.6%  at least for now, according to The New York Times.

Jha said he thinks the rate should come down over time because were getting better at treating COVID.

And so somebody who spends three weeks in the ICU, has severe lung damage and would have died two months ago might now survive, he said. But lets be very clear, that if you spent three weeks in the ICU, have severe, diffuse lung damage and you survive, its fabulous that you survived. That was not inconsequential.

Even if the infection fatality rate is about 1%, thats still a lot of people, Dr. Lee Riley, professor and chair of the Division of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, told us. Im more concerned about the actual numbers of people who are dying rather than the percent.

As of July 6, that figure was 130,208 deaths in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins figures.

Whatever the proportion, weve had over 130,000 deaths in the US so far, Morse, at Columbia University, said, more than twice as many as died in the Vietnam War, and more than died in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined, but I dont think war could be called 99% harmless.

McEnany said in the July 6 press briefing that Trumps claim was a reference to the fact that mortality in this country is very low. And the case fatality rate in this country, vis-a-vis other European countries, is much lower than, lets say, France and Italy.

The U.S., at 4.5%, does have a lower case fatality rate than France (14.6%) and Italy (14.4%), as well as other countries, but a higher rate than many countries, too.

But McEnanys explanation doesnt support what Trump said, in claiming 99% of coronavirus cases are totally harmless.

In addition to those who die, many are hospitalized. In June, the CDC published data on the 1.3 million reported cases in the U.S. from Jan. 22 to May 30, finding: Overall, 184,673 (14%) patients were hospitalized, 29,837 (2%) were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), and 71,116 (5%) died.

A study published in late February by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention similarly found that 14% of cases in mainland China were severe and 5% were critical. The latter category included respiratory failure, septic shock, and/or multiple organ dysfunction or failure.

The WHO also says that 13.8% of confirmed coronavirus patients have severe disease and 6.1% have critical cases.

Beyond the harm caused by being sick and hospitalized, there are the financial ramifications of that treatment, the impact on hospitals of the pandemic and the burden to the U.S. health system, Riley said.

And even those who have mild symptoms may transmit the infection to others. They can still pass it on to others, who may get sick or even (tragically) die, Morse said.

Lingering and Long-Term Effects

Not much is known about how frequently COVID-19 patients suffer long-term effects, but there are signs that the disease does not always completely resolve itself as rapidly as expected  and is unlikely to be described as harmless by many who are affected.

We dont have any long-term data because the virus has only been around for a little while, said Harvards Jha. But we certainly are seeing more and more cases of people with  lingering symptoms.

According to the WHO, it takes about two weeks for a person to recover from a mild case of COVID-19, and three to six weeks to recover from a severe or critical one.

Anecdotally, however, some patients  even those with mild cases  report months of extreme fatigue or on-and-off again symptoms such as headaches, brain fog or shortness of breath that make daily life difficult.

These so-called long-haulers, as some call themselves, have shared their stories in online support groups and with journalists. One patient in the U.K. told The Atlantic that her case might be mild relative to dying in a hospital, but this virus has ruined my life.

Without more data, its difficult to know how common these complaints are or why they might be happening, but similar types of symptoms have been reported in the wake of other viral infections, including SARS.

One hypothesis is that the lingering symptoms are the result of the immune system still reacting to the virus, even if infectious virus is long gone from the body.

Experts also have concerns that some proportion of those who survive severe COVID-19 infections may be left with organ damage.

The amount of lung damage that were seeing in a lot of CAT scans make me very worried about functional capacity and long-term lung function in a lot of these people who survive, Jha said. And so my best guess  and it is just a guess  is a sizable minority of people who end up getting infected, I dont know, 10, 20% of people will end up having meaningful long-term clinical effects of this virus.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute launched an observational study in June to investigate the long-term health effects of having been hospitalized with COVID-19, with a special focus on the heart and lungs.

Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, was asked about Trumps totally harmless claim on CNNs State of the Union on July 5. Hahn wouldnt say whether the president was wrong.

Im not going to get into who is right and who is wrong, he said. hat I will 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.
Almost half of Houston households are still missing from the 2020 census count despite an extended deadline, local government cash infusions and grassroots campaigns to improve the response rate which has not changed for at least two months.

As of July 7, 52.6 percent of Houstons estimated 2.3 million residents have completed the decennial survey, according to the most recent census data. In Harris County, the response has been about 56 percent.

Houstons racial and ethnic diversity has traditionally challenged census response and this year, the pandemic is adding to the problem. When the U.S. Census Bureau stopped delivering surveys and knocking on doors this spring due to COVID-19, local organizations tried to pick up the slack in Houston neighborhoods that are considered hard-to-count.

Were supposed to fill in the gaps from the Census Bureau, we are not supposed to be the drivers, said Ana Mac Naught, census coordinator for Houston in Action, a local coalition.

Houstons response rate is not an anomaly. Across the country, other large metropolitan areas are also struggling to get their populations counted, reporting similar self-response rates to Houstons. In Los Angeles, the response rate is 51.6 percent, while Chicago polls at 54.5 percent, and 53.1 percent in New York City.

Yet, Texas still ranks 40th in state census response, according to recent data. The state response rate of 56.8 percent lags behind the national rate of 61.9 percent. In 2010, the state had a 64.4 percent response rate compared with a national rate of 66.5 percent.

This national survey, completed every decade, aims to gather information about every person in the U.S. These demographics help determine how much federal aid states get as well as political representation and congressional district lines. Federal dollars, allotted based on state population and need, can help prop up city infrastructure like healthcare, emergency response, education and housing. Undercounting even 1% of the population could cost Texas almost $300 million in federal funds, a report from George Washington Institute of Public Policy found.

With the deadline extended to Oct. 31, organizers hope response rates will increase. But two months of stagnating numbers have some worried.

Were really concerned that the rates are not going as high as we would like, said Nabila Mansoor, executive director for Emgage, a Muslim civic engagement organization. Mac Naught suggested local groups are hoping to get the self-response rate to 70 percent. Households that fail to respond are not included in the final self-response rate, and census workers are dispatched to collect a response.

Organizers point to a number of roadblocks: access to internet, fear of deportation, and now, social distancing.

Do I think the pandemic has created some challenges for the census? Absolutely, said Nakia Cooper, media coordinator for the U.S. Census Denver region, which includes Texas.

As a result, the Census Bureau has leaned into their partnerships with grassroots organizations and volunteers. The Bureaus field operations in the Houston area are not planned to resume until next month, said Terry Bennett, media specialist for the agency.

The 2020 census will have real impact on Houstons next 10 years, said Stephen Klineberg, founding director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research. The citys population is estimated to have grown more than 10 percent since 2010. Between 2010 and 2016, Texas had the highest annual state population growth due to increasing numbers of domestic and international migrants, as well as natural population growth, the census website said.

Houstons population  22.5 percent Black, 44.8 percent Latino and almost 7 percent Asian  is among the nations most diverse.

The census has a projection for what the population of America will look like in 2050, and its the population of Houston today, said Klineberg.

A 2019 study by Lopez Negrete Communications found that churches, schools, public events and community health clinics are integral to census messaging, yet many of these community centers remain closed because of the pandemic.

So, local organizers are focused on continuous, curated messaging  digital and visual. It has to be a personal message, said Mac Naught. In partnering with the Houston Food Bank, Houston in Action volunteers and census workers don protective gear and encourage people to take the survey in their cars while waiting in line. Mac Naught also said the food bank has put fliers inside the meals saying the service is made possible by census data.

Response efforts are focused on visibility. The Census Bureau and its local partners are planning a Census Caravan car parade on July 19 through Fifth Ward, decorating the vehicles and encouraging people to complete the census along the 40-minute route.

The Yes! To Census 2020 campaign and Lopez Negrete collaborated with local artists to produce five murals across the city that aim to amplify and encourage participation among multicultural and potentially undercounted populations, a news release said. The final mural will debut Tuesday at the SHAPE Community Center in Third Ward, a hard-to-count community.

All of this stuff is tied together, said Deloyd Parker, executive director of the SHAPE Center, referencing the centers mission and its attached community park as benefitting from federal funds.

Cooper, with the Census offices in Denver, is confident that come October, the efforts will pay off. I believe Houston will hit its numbers, she said.

Note: This story has been updated to correct the date of the debut of the final mural created in collaboration with the Yes! To Census 2020 campaign.
The city of Houston will deploy health inspectors to enforce COVID-19 restrictions at the Texas Republican Convention, and potentially shut down the event if guidelines arent followed, Mayor Sylvester Turner said Monday.

In a letter to Texas GOP executive director Kyle Whatley, Turner on Monday laid out a series of conditions the party would have to follow if it proceeds with an in-person convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center from July 16 to 18. The guidelines are aimed at limiting the transmission of COVID when an anticipated 6,000 people descend on the convention center.

Those conditions, according to Turners office, include denying entry to anyone who has tested positive for COVID or come in contact with a COVID patient between July 2 and July 15, requiring attendees to wear masks, and providing touchless hand sanitizing stations throughout the convention center.

Party officials also must limit attendance and seating capacity or host smaller events in larger rooms, and modify room layouts to promote social distance of at least 6 feet. The mayors letter did not include a specific cap on how many people can attend the convention.

Turner also said he is strongly encouraging the Texas GOP to call off the in-person convention, which he said is the only conference or convention in Houston that has not been canceled or rescheduled for next year.

I believe canceling the in-person convention is the responsible action to take while we are in a critical moment in our battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, Turner said. Ive not yet talked to a medical professional who has said that this is a good idea to hold this convention at this time.

Echoing Turners message, Houston public health authority David Persse said the wise, prudent thing to do would be for the Texas GOP to reconsider their position to hold the event in person.

Last week, the Texas Republican Partys executive committee voted by a 2-to-1 margin to carry on with an in-person convention, despite concerns raised by local officials and some party members about a local spike in COVID cases.

The Texas Medical Association, a nonprofit medical society of about 53,000 physicians and students, and the Texas Craft Brewers Guild both pulled their sponsorships following the vote. Turner on Monday called on other convention sponsors to urge the Texas GOP to cancel the event.

Party officials already have said they will use thermal scanners to check peoples temperature at entryways and conduct deep cleanings between meetings, among other safety precautions. Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey also has said attendees will be required to follow Gov. Greg Abbotts order requiring Texans to wear masks in most public settings, though the executive committee last week voted down an amendment requiring face coverings, creating some uncertainty about the partys intent to comply.

In a podcast published by the Texas GOP Monday, Dickey said the convention would be many, many times safer than the tens of thousands of people who just weeks ago marched through the streets of Houston, a reference to the June 2 protest following George Floyds death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. An estimated 60,000 people, including Turner, attended the outdoor event.

Though Turner has now called for the Texas Republican Party to call off the convention on at least two separate occasions, he has not stepped in and canceled the event himself. Last month, the mayor ordered the cancellation of all events of more than 50 people in city-owned buildings, before striking that provision from his COVID executive order.

Turner has yet to say why he changed his order to allow such events, though he explained last week that he does not want to cancel the convention because doing so would politicize the situation.

The ban on 50-person events would have applied to the GOP convention, as the city owns the George R. Brown Convention Center.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
Houston is aiming to give some 220 residents air conditioning units this summer in a bid to offset a limited schedule for the citys cooling centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said the centers will open this summer only during weather emergencies. Officials are concerned about crowding people together indoors and placing the elderly people that often frequent the centers at higher risk of contracting the virus.

Reliant Energy, which has partnered with the city on a Beat the Heat summer program for 15 years, is donating more portable air conditioning units as a result. The company is donating $80,000 to city and county support programs.

Weve really pivoted from opening the cooling centers, and expanding the risk broadly, to isolating our giving so that we provide those portable AC units so people can stay in their homes, said Elizabeth Killinger, Reliants president.

The Reliant donations include $60,000 for the Houston Health Department and $20,000 for Precinct2gether, a program started by Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia.

The money will fund air conditioning units, care packages for older and vulnerable residents and other support services.

Most of the money will go toward acquiring the air conditioning units, though some will fund care packages and support services. Megan Talley, a spokesperson for Reliant, said $45,000 of the citys $60,000 would go toward buying about 150 machines. The countys $20,000 donation is mostly for air conditioning and will provide an estimate 70 units, Talley said.

Turner said the city would be open to accepting air conditioning units from other companies, as well.

In the era of COVID-19, cooling centers will be open on a selective basis, Tuner said. Thats why the air conditioning units are so important.

When cooling centers do open, the city will conduct temperature checks to screen people for symptoms of COVID-19.

Residents interested in applying for help through the program can call the Harris County Area Agency on Aging at 832-393-4301.

Editors note: An earlier version of this story misstated how many Houston Housing Authority units do not have access to air conditioning. While roughly a third of the agencys 3,855 units do not have central air conditioning, most of them have window units. A spokesperson said 39 units, or 1 percent, do not have either.

dylan.mcguinness@chron

.com
The Texas Republican Party on Tuesday rejected Mayor Sylvester Turners formal request to call off its in-person convention, putting the GOP on track to hold Houstons largest indoor event since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

James Dickey, chairman of the Texas GOP, in a statement said the party has been proactive in implementing safety measures and had extensive conversations with Houston First, the public nonprofit that serves as the citys convention arm and operates the George R. Brown Convention Center. The convention is set to take place there from July 16 to 18.

With these precautions currently in place, the Republican Party of Texas intends to proceed with an in-person convention next week in Houston, Dickey said.

Turner said he was incredulous that the GOP is moving ahead with the event amid a local escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic. He reiterated that health department officials would shut it down if they find people are not following city COVID-19 guidelines.

It is the only convention or conference that has elected to proceed, Turner said. All of the other conferences and conventions have chosen to cancel or reschedule.

At least two elected officials  Turner and Gov. Greg Abbott  have the authority to shut down the convention. Under his prior executive orders, Abbott prohibited gatherings of more than 10 people and required Texans to minimize in-person contact except where necessary to provide or obtain essential services.

The governor has been asked about the convention a handful of times in recent TV interviews and each time declined to stake out a firm position. He has not signaled any plans to step in and cancel the event.

At the city level, Turner issued an executive order in June that required the cancellation of all events of more than 50 people in city-owned buildings, including ones involving a third party such as the Texas GOP.

The mayor, who is a Democrat, removed that provision from his order last week and has yet to explain why he did so, though he has said he does not want to cancel the convention, fearing that doing so would politicize the situation. He sent the GOP a list of conditions Monday it would need to follow during the convention, including denying entry to anyone who has tested positive for COVID or come in contact with a COVID patient between July 2 and July 15.

The party also must require convention guests to wear masks and provide touchless hand sanitizing stations throughout the convention center, Turner said.

Mary Benton, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said Houston public health authority David Persse would work with officials from the citys health department to evaluate the potential public health risks during the course of the convention and advise Turner on whether to shut it down.

This is the same process that was followed for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Benton said, referring to Turners ordered shutdown of the popular annual event in March.

A spokesman for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo declined comment on whether she has authority over the convention. Robert Soard, the first assistant attorney for Harris County, said the county attorneys office is reviewing the situation and has been discussing it with the judges office, but he declined to comment further.

Meanwhile, Dickey said the Texas GOP already had planned to enforce the guidelines from Turners office.

Mayor Turner must not have had the information about the measures being voluntarily implemented, Dickey said. The Republican Party, delegates, and guests are looking forward to a safe and productive Convention next week.

Abbott, in an interview with KENS-TV in San Antonio on Tuesday, declined to say whether he would attend the convention himself, saying only that we will continue to see what the standards are that will be issued by the GOPs executive committee.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
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Military officials Monday confirmed the human remains found last week near Fort Hood were those of soldier Vanessa Guillen, Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt announced during a news conference.

Efflandt, the Fort Hood senior commander, said the Armed Forces Medical Examiner made the ruling Sunday through DNA analysis.

He and Col. Ralph Overland offered their condolences to Guillens Houston family, describing her as a brave soldier who went above and beyond to complete her duties.

I spoke with soldiers who served with her  and I can see the intense sadness in their faces and hear it in their voices, said Overland, Guillens regimental commander. They miss their friend and spoke of her qualities as a person and a soldier  caring, dedicated to her profession and an expert in her craft.

Efflandt and Overland did not release new details about the FBIs ongoing criminal case or the Armys probe into allegations that Spc. Guillen, who served in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, was sexually harassed before she went missing.

Guillen, 20, grew up in southeast Houston and attended Chavez High School. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, on Monday penned a letter with 87 members of Congress pushing for the Department of Defense inspector general to conduct an independent investigation into Fort Hoods handling of the case.

The United States military has a responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of the young women and men that take an oath to defend our country, the Houston Democrat said in a statement. In SPC Guillens case, the U.S. Army failed both Vanessa and her family.

Also on Monday, a Killeen resident suspected in Guillens death appeared in court, federal officials said.

Cecily Aguilar, who was charged last week with conspiracy to tamper with evidence, appeared virtually in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey C. Manske, officials said.

She has been accused 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, which covers news in Waco and Temple.

The hearing was an initial appearance. An arraignment, where Aguilar would be expected to enter a plea, has not been scheduled yet, officials said.

Guillens disappearance from the base on April 22 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.

Army officials last week said no evidence linked sexual harassment to the soldiers disappearance.

The criminal complaint filed by the FBI against Aguilar, previously reported in the Houston Chronicle, details the lengths to which investigators believe Robinson and Aguilar went to hide her remains.

If convicted, Aguilar faces up to 20 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

Kelsey Bradshaw with the Austin American-Statesman contributed to this report.

julian.gill@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.
The protests after George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis police custody have prompted efforts to curb police violence. These include calls for greater accountability, including the firing and prosecution of officers who cross the line. And the conversation often stops there because many policymakers view lack of police accountability primarily as a problem to be fixed at the individual or departmental level, given that policing is a local matter.

But real accountability also requires action by the states and the federal government. Although the House has passed a police reform bill - while the Senate bickers over Republicans' proposal - for most of American history, the federal government has allowed localities to police without sufficient oversight, with devastating consequences for communities of color. States, too, have largely stood by. But history also suggests that state and federal governments can - and must - do more, which is why it is important for reformers to keep the pressure on state and federal policymakers, in addition to local officials and police departments.

American policing has always been under local control. One reason is that law enforcement depended on local knowledge; it was neighbors and community leaders who had information about crime and probable culprits. But Americans also held fast to local governance as a matter of principle. Centralized police forces like those in Europe were anathema to democratic ideals. The hostility extended even to state governments. As late as 1905, only five states had some form of state police, and those had little to do with routine policing.

Cracks in localism began to appear in the late 19th century, when police departments realized they needed help from outside their jurisdictions. Technology had created an increasingly mobile society, and police could no longer rely only on local information for tracking down fugitives or keeping track of parolees and probationers, while crime itself transcended jurisdictional bounds. In 1926, the Chicago Daily Tribune observed that while crime used to be "a local affair" when thieves "operated locally and disposed of their loot locally," today "crime is a national affair, run on interstate lines, made so by the railroads and the automobile, principally the latter." It did not help that law enforcement members in one state often had no idea that a wanted person from another state had just arrived in town.

So local police chiefs asked the federal government for help. They appealed to Congress to establish "a National Bureau of Criminal Identification in connection with the Department of Justice." In time, Congress did just that, but at first, it assisted local police by passing laws that made traditionally local crimes, such as prostitution and theft, that now crossed state lines into federal ones.

The investigation of these new federal crimes ultimately became the responsibility of the newly formed Bureau of Investigation (the early version of the FBI). But the new agency rarely intruded into the domain of local police. Instead, it collaborated with local police departments, who needed the feds' assistance in finding missing people or stolen cars located in another state.

But the bureau didn't provide this service free. It wanted to make a name for itself, especially under J. Edgar Hoover, who served as director from 1924 to 1972. During the Prohibition years, punctuated with machine-gun toting gangsters and kidnap-for-ransom schemes, the bureau also faced pressure from Americans to act.

A working relationship of mutual exchange soon developed between police departments and the FBI. Locals provided knowledge from their jurisdiction to the feds, allowing them to take credit for solving headline-grabbing crimes, while the feds provided information from across state boundaries to the locals.

This collaboration rendered the bureau largely unwilling to hold the police accountable for how they performed their jobs. Police departments' monopoly over local knowledge served as a guarantee against unwanted federal meddling, particularly in cases that touched on racial issues sensitive to local politics.

When the NAACP implored President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration to use the Federal Kidnapping Act to prosecute the lynching of two black victims who had been carried over state lines, the attorney general refused. Similarly, in 1946, Hoover passed on investigating the lynching of four African Americans in Georgia, citing the bureau's case overload. This was the norm - the bureau's probes into civil rights violations and police abuse were episodic and rare.

Meanwhile, Congress chose to keep state governments largely out of the local-federal collaboration. Lawmakers could have funded the exchange of criminal information among the states. For example, direct grants to the states would have reduced local autonomy over policing and promoted state oversight, as they did in other areas of local governance. The Federal-Aid Road Act of 1916 bolstered state administrators' control over local highway construction by funneling money through the states, which facilitated the standardization of roadways. Similarly, the Social Security Act of 1935 dispensed welfare benefits through grants to the states, which obligated them to ensure that local agencies conformed to national standards.

But no parallel effort materialized with law enforcement, which might have led to minimum standards for policing or a state oversight bureaucracy. As a result, local police practices developed over the 20th century without significant state or federal involvement, with destructive consequences for communities of color.

While Americans have traditionally celebrated local governments as crucibles of democracy, localism's dark side has been bound with the unjust racial history of policing in the United States. Minority groups' historical lack of political power ensured that the police would neglect their needs or, worse, abuse them with impunity.

Free from outside oversight, municipalities and counties implemented a wide range of policies, from stop-and-frisk efforts to the use of deadly force. Towns and cities needing to fill their meager municipal coffers used the police essentially as collection officers to extract fees and fines from their poorest, most disadvantaged residents. Lack of institutional accountability allowed local pathologies to persist.

Indeed, where state governments have acted, it has often been to limit accountability at the behest of police unions. Without the incentives of federal funding to take more responsibility over policing, state officials have been vulnerable to police lobbying and political calculations.

In the past few decades, the federal government has used grants and occasional litigation to change the priorities and, sometimes, the tactics of police departments. But because its primary focus has been on crime control and only secondarily (if at all) on constitutional and equitable policing, the federal role in promoting the latter has been limited.

The widespread protests over the past month could be a turning point in this history. New York and Iowa have been among the first states to enact oversight measures. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo also signed an executive order requiring the state's local police departments to "reinvent and modernize" police policies and procedures or risk losing state funding. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis just signed a legislative package that addresses the "wandering officer" problem - in which officers fired from one department get hired by another - and ends qualified immunity, which protects officers from lawsuits, under state law.

Even Republicans in Congress have proposed a bill. Whether any of these efforts can create meaningful change is an open question. But it is promising that some states and the federal government are taking steps to hold local police accountable.

To be sure, reform may be difficult without support, or at least acceptance, from local officials. But accountability must come from outside, not just from within, a community. Criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits against individual officers help, but programmatic control tied to state and federal funding can more swiftly and effectively produce change.

The states and the federal government do not have a monopoly on virtue. But no institution does, which is why accountability is crucial in a democratic society.

---

Seo is a professor of law at Columbia University and author of "Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom." Richman is a professor at Columbia Law School.
The Texas Republican Party seems intent on ignoring public health warnings, science and plain old common sense.

Even though coronavirus cases in Houston are continuing to spiral upward, straining hospital capacity and sickening nearly 53,000 people in our region, the GOP is going ahead with plans to bring more than 6,000 people to the George R. Brown Convention Center for its annual convention.

Whats more, the executive committee last week voted down an amendment requiring face coverings, making it unclear if attendees will follow Gov. Greg Abbotts order requiring Texans to wear masks in most public settings.

Thats just foolhardy  and could aggravate the COVID-19 spike that is already threatening to overwhelm the citys ICUs and lead to more deaths.

If Abbott and GOP leaders refuse to do the right thing, then others need to step up.

Sponsors should all follow the lead of the Texas Medical Association, a nonprofit medical society of about 53,000 physicians and students, and the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, which both pulled sponsorships after organizers voted to go ahead with an in-person convention.

With or without masks, an indoor gathering of thousands of people from all around the state in a city with tens of thousands of active COVID-19 cases poses a significant health risk to convention-goers, convention workers, health care workers, medical association President Diana Fite said in a statement.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is no doubt in a tough spot here. If we were talking about the Houston Tattoo Arts Convention or the annual Quilt Festival that draws thousands, hed have an easier time ordering them canceled if organizers refused to do it first  which, incidentally, has not been a problem with any other convention. Theyve all reportedly done the right thing and canceled or postponed.

But a Democrat canceling the political convention of another party is fraught. The bad optics could easily be misconstrued as a Russian-style plot to undermine Republican power and meddle with Texas elections. Thats all we need in this polarized political tinderbox of a society.

Still, saving lives should come before worries about bad optics, and even before valid concerns about protecting political speech and democratic process. Abbott, a Republican, should really be the one stepping up and persuading his fellow partisans to move the convention online.

But if hes not going to show that leadership, Turner must.

The mayor must go beyond ordering health inspectors to enforce public health guidelines and strongly encouraging the state GOP to cancel the July 16-18 in-person gathering.

In a letter to GOP leaders, Turner sent a list of safeguards required by the Houston Health Department and noted that even if all the safeguards are followed, there will still be avoidable risk to attendees, presenters and support staff. The best way to minimize risk is to hold a virtual convention.

As the citys top elected official, Turner must put the health of his constituents and all Houston-area residents first, and order the cancellation of the in-person convention.

Turner could be thrust into a nasty partisan battle, but he must be willing to risk the fallout.

These are not ordinary times. Political concerns must take a back seat to public health.

In a statement, Texas GOP chairman James Dickey argued that a state convention is a fundamental exercise of the freedom to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress and is taking every precaution to ensure it is done safely.

But those precautions, which include thermal temperature scans of attendees and hand sanitizer stations, are not enough to guarantee that attendees and the people they come into contact with will be safe.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorizes large gatherings where it is difficult to maintain a social distance of 6 feet and where attendees travel from outside local areas as highest risk. The CDC also notes that the higher the level of community transmission in the area that the gathering is being held, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spreading during a gathering.

That should serve as a flashing red light for the Texas GOP and local officials.

Holding an in-person convention when a pandemic is raging out of control  Abbott himself warned on Sunday that Texas will be facing greater fatalities from COVID-19  is reckless.

The in-person convention should be canceled and moved online. Thats what Texas Democrats did, without any apparent disruption to their fundamental exercise of freedom. Since state Republican leaders dont seem willing to take that step, Turner must.
Now is the time to strengthen the 2017 Sandra Bland Act, named after the 28-year-old Black woman who died five years ago in a rural Texas jail. That law should have marked a major step toward comprehensive police reform, but by the time it had passed the Legislature, most of its police reforms had been removed. Instead it was a badly needed, but much weaker, bill aimed at improving the way police and jails safeguard inmates with mental health problems.

Thats why its so heartening to see the laws architects mounting a campaign to restore provisions stripped from the original bill four years ago amid opposition from major law enforcement groups.

The next session begins in January, and state Rep. Garnet Coleman and state Sen. John Whitmire are right to get started now, while bipartisan revulsion over the video of George Floyds death in Minneapolis is fresh on everyones mind.

But other, equally needed reforms, neednt wait. There are many steps cities and elected sheriffs in Texas 254 counties can take on their own.

They can start by following the example of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which last week revised the method for collecting data on traffic stops to include racial breakdowns on why the stop was made and what is found during searches of motorists. That key piece of information was required under the Sandra Bland Act but had not been included in data submitted by law enforcement agencies.

After a request by Coleman, the commission also added implicit bias training to a course required for every police officer  another provision that had been included in the original Sandra Bland Act but was left out of the final version.

Changes such as these, and many others, dont depend on legislative mandates.

They don't have to wait, and I would encourage them not to wait, Coleman told the editorial board. If we could go into session or if the governor called a special session, we'd go in and do this now. Do not wait. Cities and counties, you have the power to do it, so go do it.

Coleman and Whitmire want to curtail police searches of vehicles, limit arrests for offenses punishable only by fines and end so-called pretextual stops, in which officers stop motorists for minor traffic violations hoping to stumble upon evidence of other, more serious crimes. All of these are measures that got stripped out of Colemans original Sandra Bland bill.

Those were urgent reforms then, and they are even more so amid the growing awareness of how such policing practices disproportionately target people of color. A 2005 study found two-thirds of Texas police departments searched blacks and Latinos at higher rates than white drivers. In Houston, where the population is less than 25 percent African American, Black drivers made up a third of traffic stops made last year by police.

According to research by Frank Baumgartner, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina and author of numerous racial profiling studies, departments nationwide almost uniformly search people of color at higher rates.

Pretext stops, in particular, are too often used as excuses to pull over motorists of color, amounting to little more than stop and frisks in a car, as Coleman described them. In 97 percent of those encounters, studies show, police found no evidence of a crime.

Far too often, however, they result in tragedies such as Blands death. She was pulled over for failing to use her blinker and arrested after a confrontation with an officer who became furious when she declined his request to put out her cigarette. She hanged herself with a plastic garbage bag in her Waller County jail cell three days later.

Why are we creating confrontation, agitation, among our citizens over things that dont pose a danger to society? Whitmire asked.Are we really wise to have a police officer walk up to the window and challenge someone about not having a front license plate?

Why indeed. Local officials should take immediate action to rewrite policy and practices to improve policing. Reforms such as banning choke-holds, giving subpoena power to citizens review boards and ending pretextual stops are all within their reach.

Their fast action to implement reforms at the local level will only increase the momentum in Austin come January, when lawyers will get to work restoring the gutted reforms to the Sandra Bland Act.

Now is the moment to answer the call for police reforms, not with promises for the future, but with solutions in the present.
Growing up in Texas and working for a time as a reserve police officer in East St. Louis, Ill., Laurence Larry Payne brings 70 years of life experience to his role as chairman of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turners Task Force on Policing Reform.

Ive been shot at while wearing a police uniform and Ive been shot at just for being a Black person in Orange, Texas trying to survive the Klan, Payne told the editorial board. Ive been driving while Black for the past 50 years. Ive been stopped plenty of times over those years ... in five different states. I have seen policing from both sides. Ive seen community from both sides.

Payne believes that background will help him to shepherd the 45-member task force through a 90-day study and review process that will produce recommendations for historic change in the way that policing is done in Houston.

Johnny Mata, the 83-year-old director of the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice and a longtime civil rights activist and advocate, thinks we already know what changes need to be made and only require the political will to get them done.

No disrespect to the people on the task force  they are all good people  but this is just kicking the can down the road again, he said.

Matas pessimism is well-earned, but this time, we hope hes wrong. Delaying, diluting or denying the demand for substantial change in policing would be a moral and political failure. The task force should be bold, innovative and urgent in its recommendations. As this editorial board has said before, those changes must include, at least, an oversight board with the power to hold officers accountable and to provide more transparency within the department.

Payne and Mata agree that fundamental reforms are needed. Their differences in approach highlight the contradictory feelings about the working group the mayor formed in the wake of George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police and local unrest over recent police shootings and the delayed release of body cam footage and other material from high-profile police actions.

Payne said we must trust the process and move forward so that we dont have to continue to do the same things around policing that weve done since the Houston Police Department was formed in 1900.

Mata declined an invitation to serve as a special adviser to the task force: Its window dressing, he said. We know the problems in the system. We could start fixing them tomorrow.

Mata is not alone among activists in his doubts. More than 100 residents called into a city council committee meeting last month, many to complain that more immediate action wasnt being taken.

The low point came when council members asked Marvin Hamilton, the chairman of the Independent Police Oversight Board, his recommendations on how the board could be strengthened or improved.

Thats a good question and I dont think I can answer that without putting a lot of thought into it, said Hamilton, who has served on the board since 2012, the last two as chairman. And you dont have time for me to really think about it, so I cant really answer that question.

When asked whether the board should have subpoena power, Hamilton responded: Its hard to address something youve never had.

Come again? Its inexcusable for the person leading a watchdog group at the center of local discussions on police reform not to have contemplated hard questions the public has been debating for weeks. What does it say about Hamilton and his leadership, and about the mayors appointment of him, that he came unprepared to discuss a key item on the task forces agenda?

We hope it doesnt signal the lack of commitment Mata fears

He said a truly independent review board with the power to initiate investigations and subpoena documents may be the single most important step to holding police accountable.

Payne said the task force will look at different models and best practices from around the country before making its recommendations. He said he understands the concern about the process but that he thinks it necessary to make long-lasting change.

I go back to the word systemic, he said. This is so deeply ingrained as a systemic issue that the easy fixes, the fine-tuning around the edges, the little quick things, those things dont necessarily work. Theyre not long-lasting, they dont get to the root of the problem and they dont allow you to dig deep and ask the hard questions behind the question to get to the systemic issue.

We are encouraged by those words. We dearly hope the citys drawn-out process is a function of ambition rather than vacillation. The task force holds its first meetings this week. The clock is ticking. No more kicking the can. Meaningful action is the only acceptable outcome.
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.

But neither Republican politicians nor the Trump administration was willing to heed that lesson. By the second week of June new COVID-19 cases were surging in Arizona and clearly on the rise in Texas. Yet the governors of both states dismissed calls for a pause in reopening, insisting that things were under control.

And on June 16, of course, The Wall Street Journal published an opinion article by Vice President Mike Pence declaring that there wasnt and wouldnt be a coronavirus second wave. Given the Trump administrations track record, this virtually guaranteed that the wave was about to hit. And so it was.

Over the past three weeks things have quickly gotten very grim. Hospitals in Arizona and Texas are in crisis. And, yes, it was premature reopening that did it, both directly and by sending a signal to individuals that the risk was past.

But why did America bungle COVID-19 so badly?

There has been a fair bit of commentary to the effect that our failed pandemic response was deeply rooted in American culture. We are, the argument goes, too libertarian, too distrustful of government, too unwilling to accept even slight inconveniences to protect others.

And theres surely something to this. I dont think any other advanced country (but are we still an advanced country?) has a comparable number of people who respond with rage when asked to wear a mask in a supermarket. There definitely isnt any other advanced country where demonstrators against public health measures would wave guns around and invade state capitols. And the Republican Party is more or less unique among major Western political parties in its hostility to science in general.

But what strikes me, when looking at Americas extraordinary pandemic failure, is how top-down it all was.

Those anti-lockdown demonstrations werent spontaneous, grassroots affairs. Many were organized and coordinated by conservative political activists, some with close ties to the Trump campaign, and financed in part by right-wing billionaires.

And the rush to reopen in Sunbelt states was less a response to popular demand than a case of Republican governors following Trumps lead.

The main driving force behind reopening, as far as I can tell, was the administrations desire to have big job gains leading into November, so that it could do what it knew how to do  boast about economic success. Actually dealing with the pandemic just wasnt Trumps kind of thing.

In that case, however, why has Trump refused to wear a face mask or encourage others to do so? After all, wider use of masks would be one way to limit infections without shutting down the economy.

Well, Trumps vanity  his belief that wearing a mask would make him look silly, or mess up his makeup, or something  has surely played a role. But its also true that masks remind people that we havent controlled the coronavirus  and Trump wants people to forget that awkward fact.

The irony is that Trumps willingness to trade deaths for jobs and political gain has backfired.

Reopening did lead to large job increases in May and June, as around a third of the workers laid off as a result of the pandemic were rehired. But Trumps job approval and electoral prospects just kept sliding.

And even in purely economic terms the rush to reopen is probably failing. The last official employment number was a snapshot from the second week of June; a variety of short-term indicators suggest that growth slowed or even went into reverse soon afterward, especially in states where COVID-19 cases are spiking.

In any case, the point is that Americas defeat at the hands of the coronavirus didnt happen because victory was impossible. Nor was it because we as a nation were incapable of responding. No, we lost because Trump and those around him decided that it was in their political interests to let the virus run wild.

Krugman is a New York Times columnist and winner of a Nobel Prize in Economics.
Texas is in the middle of a deadly pandemic that may continue to worsen before it subsides. State officials and educators are still figuring out how to reopen schools safely and educate students effectively and equitably under extremely challenging circumstances. And parents are deciding whether to send their children back to school or keep them home for remote learning.

Even with all these worries and uncertainties, however, state Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced to the State Board of Education that stress-inducing and money-wasting STAAR exams will resume during the upcoming school year.

The Texas State Teachers Association has a better idea: Lets continue the timeout on STAAR testing.

We applauded Gov. Greg Abbott for suspending STAAR last spring. The coronavirus was beginning to strike Texas, and school districts were sending everyone home and closing their campuses to slow the spread of the virus. We said then that educators, students and their parents should focus on keeping themselves and their families safe and not have to try to cope with the additional burden of STAAR testing.

Now, with COVID-19 infections increasing daily at a scary rate, we havent changed our minds.

Standardized testing should be the last priority for students, educators and policymakers as Texas plans for what could be a very difficult school year, assuming the pandemic is brought under control in time to have a school year. Even now, students and educators are still dealing with COVID-19 losses in their families and among their friends while worrying about their own health and safety.

For all its expense and attendant stress, STAAR tests do not add value to other tests or other ways of measuring students success. They are not valid measures of student progress or learning loss, as the commissioner would have us believe. They do little more than measure a students ability to take a test.

In announcing the resumption of STAAR testing, Morath also said the A-F school accountability rating system will have to be adjusted, but he didnt say how. The rating system, which unfairly labels under-funded schools in low-income neighborhoods with large concentrations of minority students as failures, also needs to be jettisoned, along with the STAAR tests. Texas must apply for whatever waivers from the federal government are necessary to do this.

Even under normal circumstances, STAAR exams waste millions of tax dollars  the 2020-21 contract with the primary test administrator is about $73 million  which could be better spent on real teaching and learning. That waste will be even more harmful now. The state and school districts are losing millions of dollars in revenue from the pandemics blow to the economy, while accumulating additional expenses.

These extra expenses begin with the personal protective equipment and procedures necessary to allow campuses to reopen when it becomes safe enough to do so.

Additional funding also will be necessary to find and help the thousands of students, mostly low-income children and children of color, who fell through the cracks while school buildings were closed this spring. The Texas Education Agency has counted more than 600,000 of these children so far, or about 11 percent of the total student enrollment, and that may be an undercount. Many of these children dont have computers or reliable virtual access at home. So, they didnt complete assignments or simply didnt respond to their teachers. Many may remain home for the fall semester, and their needs must be addressed.

A large, but unknown, number of other students who participated in the online learning this spring also will have suffered from an academic regression, the so-called COVID slide, and they will need extra attention from their teachers, not a standardized test.

Many special needs students, whose families may be reluctant to return them to campuses, will need individual services, which cant be provided remotely and also will require additional spending.

The implementation of a new school system  with on-campus, virtual and blended learning alternatives  will be costly and stressful for educators, students and parents. Educators and student families dont need the additional stress of STAAR testing, and taxpayers dont need the wasted expense.

Even in a normal year, STAAR exams and test preparation, aside from the monetary expense, rob students and teachers of valuable classroom time. They certainly cant afford that distraction as they adjust to the new realities of our public schools. Let educators spend their time and our resources during these challenging times enriching their students, not enriching testing companies.

Candelaria is President of the Texas State Teachers Association.
If you are a pipeline developer, landmark court victories just arent what they used to be.

Dominion Energy and Duke Energy announced on Sunday that they are canceling their proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline just 20 days after they won a 7-2 decision in the U.S. Supreme Court authorizing them to build the pipeline underneath the Appalachian Trail. Apparently, the economics of the project were so terrible and the opposition to the to the project was so tenacious that even a landmark Supreme Court decision couldnt save the $8 billion project.

The two companies are walking away from what the Wall Street Journal reports is, to date, a $3.4 billion investment. The pipeline, which would have traveled 600 miles through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, met with fierce opposition from residents of all three states. Opponents were concerned with the seizure of their land by the companies through the use of eminent domain, local environmental impacts, climate impacts associated with gas emissions, and the financial burden that would be borne by utility customers.

Residents of the three states fought the project in every venue they could  the courts, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, state administrative offices and in the public arena. They lost quite a few battles, but it turns out they were able to hold out longer than Dominion and Duke. With the decision coming so close to the Fourth of July, its worth noting that losing a lot of battles while never giving up was also the strategy of the Continental Army.

It hasnt just been agonizing court victories for the pipeline companies. They have also suffered from the agony of court defeat. Keystone XL is now in limbo due to a court decision holding that an Army Corps of Engineers nationwide permit regarding water crossings violated the Endangered Species Act. And on Monday, another court ruled that oil will have to stop flowing through the Dakota Access Pipeline at least until the Corps conducts an extensive environmental impact statement on the project.

Fights over oil and gas pipelines and other projects are taking place all over the country. Some of those fights, such as the Keystone XL oil pipeline, are famous. Others, involving gas pipelines such as Permian Highway in Texas; Mountain Valley in West Virginia and Virginia; and Pacific Connector in Oregon, are well-known in the states that would be directly affected but have not gained national prominence.

Pipeline companies operate in an environment that is very different from the one they enjoyed a decade ago. Virtually every oil and gas pipeline is now controversial. Property owners dont want their land taken against their will by pipeline companies. Residents dont want bodies of water to be polluted. Consumers dont want to be forced to pay for multi-billion-dollar gas infrastructure through their utility bills when the gas is not needed. Americans dont want their land taken and damaged by oil pipelines just to enable large corporations to export oil that is drilled here in this country.

Moreover, it has become obvious that the oil and gas industry is in decline. Even a price increase to about $40 per barrel hasnt prevented American carnage for the industry. Domestic production has dropped to 10.5 million barrels per day from about 13 million in late March. The Wall Street Journal reports that this is the biggest 11-month decline since 1983. In recent months, Shell, BP, Hess, Occidental and Chevron have all taken write-downs. Despite the industrys obvious weaknesses, the majority of the Texas Railroad Commission has chosen to stand idly by, refusing to plan for a future in which the industry will be much smaller. Their political hero appears to be Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned.

Exxon, the largest U.S. oil company, now has a market capitalization thats less than the market capitalization of Tesla. While Tesla itself may or may not turn out to be a long-term winner, it is clear that over the next few years, oil-based motor vehicles will continue to lose market share to electric vehicles. In the electricity sector, gas will continue to lose market share to renewables and energy efficiency. This shift might happen on a large scale very quickly or a little less quickly. But its already happening, even under a presidential administration that has done everything it can to promote oil and gas. And the pace of change will certainly accelerate.

The lesson of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline battle is that opponents of oil and gas projects can win if they get into the fight early, operate in every venue they can, and fight as hard as they can. This is a lesson that the people of Texas understand and that Texas policymakers need to learn. When opponents of pipelines and other oil and gas projects are organized, the oil and gas crowd is in serious trouble.

Shapiro is associate director for program development for the Rockefeller Family Fund and co-founder of the Funder Collaborative on Oil and Gas.
MEXICO CITY  President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors visit with President Donald Trump in Washington this week will no doubt embarrass many Mexicans and outrage many Americans. The meeting, intended to bolster Trumps campaign, is an opportunity for Lopez Obrador to return a favor.

When, in April, Mexico balked at reducing its oil output, endangering a global agreement to shrink oil production, Trump stepped in and promised that the United States would pick up the slack for its southern neighbor with its own cuts. Theyll reimburse us, sometime at a later date, when theyre prepared to do so, Trump said of Mexico. Lopez Obrador is doing just that by breaking his custom of never leaving Mexico.

The only precedent for such acquiescence in modern Mexican history was in August 2016, when Lopez Obradors predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto, invited Trump, not yet elected, to the presidential residence. Nothing justified that invitation, and after it was extended, many of us demanded that Pena Nieto at least ask for a public apology from Trump, who had branded Mexicans as rapists and murderers.

We urged him to tell Trump that Mexico would never pay for his wall. But Pena Nieto avoided the issue of the wall altogether and even stooped so low as to absolve Trumps affronts. After spending four hours in Mexico City  probably the most profitable hours of his campaign  Trump returned home to a political rally where he declared that Mexicans would pay for the wall. Pena Nieto and Mexico got nothing.

American liberals have a hard time seeing the rather unconventional similarities between Trump and Lopez Obrador, who has projected the image of a nationalist left-wing fighter for social justice while the American president is a populist racist oligarch.

But, in fact, their convergence proves the anachronism of ideologies in our time. Both seek the absolute dominance of the executive branch. They dismiss institutions and the rule of law. They attack the critical independent press: Trump cries fake news, while Lopez Obrador repeats, I have other data. They scorn science and have confronted the pandemic irresponsibly and ineffectively, and with total lack of empathy. Both cultivate a twisted cult of personality.

There is only one power that Lopez Obrador, popularly known as AMLO, recognizes and fears, and that is the only power greater than himself  the United States. Having cut his teeth in Mexico, where presidents used to reign as emperors, Lopez Obrador equates Samson and the United States with Trump.

Thats why when Trump threatened to abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement or to impose tariffs on Mexican products, he agreed to turn Mexico into Trumps wall. The new National Guard, which was supposed to prevent and combat this countrys unspeakable drug violence, has instead been deployed on our southern border turn away Central American migrants and, on the northern border, to keep them penned up in subhuman conditions.

Until Trump, servility was never the hallmark of Mexican diplomacy vis-a-vis the United States. In the nearly two centuries of relations between our countries, full of diplomatic and military conflicts, there have been only a handful of episodes in which Mexican leaders, driven by fear and necessity, prostrated themselves before the giant of the north  most famously the Mexican-American War, which ended in 1848 with Mexico ceding more than half of its territory to the United States.

Mexican diplomacy has maintained an attitude of dignity, lending to a positive neighborly relationship.

In 1927, when Plutarco Elias Calles resisted pressure from Calvin Coolidge over a law that threatened American oil company operations in Mexico, Hearsts sensationalist press urged invasion against Soviet Mexico.

The Mexican government then released secret documents that revealed the United States intent to invade. Coolidge gave in, sending to Mexico the sensible and practical ambassador Dwight M. Morrow, who brought the two countries closer.

The moral was clear: Dignity pays off. The relationship between two truly progressive presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lazaro Cardenas, was established on that basis of respect and good faith. The United States was tempered in its reaction to Cardenass 1938 decree expropriating oil companies. And in 1942, Mexico joined the Allied powers in World War II.

That base of dignity, firmness, respect and good faith has been lost, not only because of Trump, with his racist discourse and his hostility toward Mexicans who live in the United States, but by Lopez Obradors submission to his every whim and threat.

He is betting that he will benefit if he helps Trump win the Latino vote.

But Mexican democrats will not forget Lopez Obradors reverence to the man who has maligned us. And American Democrats will not forget the service Lopez Obrador is doing to the president who has caused them so much harm.

If Joe Biden triumphs in November, he would do good to pay attention to his southern neighbor, where a friend and faithful servant of Trump is trying to impose an authoritarian order like the one that Trump, in his Twitter-filled sleepless nights, has always dreamed of.

Krauze (@EnriqueKrauze) is a historian, the editor of the literary magazine Letras Libres, and the author of Redeemers: Ideas and Power in Latin America. This op-ed originally appeared in the New York Times.
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
Gov. Greg Abbott is warning of even greater fatalities from COVID-19 as the number of people in hospitals with lab-confirmed cases hit a record 8,698 on Monday.

During a television interview in Dallas, Abbott agreed that at one point even as new coronavirus infections were rising, the states deaths were decreasing  which could have been seen as good news. But he said heading into the Fourth of July weekend, Texas had its deadliest four-day stretch since the pandemic started, and he warned of things to come.

My concern is that we may see greater fatalities going forward as we go into the middle part of July, Abbott said.

Over the last 7 days, Texas has averaged 36 coronavirus deaths per day. That is up from a week ago when the state averaged 30 people dying per day from the disease.

HOSPITALS BRACING: Houston hospitals expect rocky weeks ahead

Abbott said in the interview on FOX4 in Dallas that many of the people dying now likely contracted the disease back in late May.

So far, Texas has reported 2,655 deaths. New York has reported 24,913 and California has reported 6,337.

In another Monday evening interview on Beaumonts KFDM, Abbott blasted local government leaders who have called on him to give them the authority to issue new stay-at-home orders to contain the virus. He said going back into lockdown mode would really force Texans into poverty. He said many of the local leaders calling for more authority have refused to enforce current executive orders already in place.

What they need to show is action, not absenteeism, Abbott said, pointing to enforcement of mask ordinances, and to his own order last Thursday requiring them in most Texas counties.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

His comments come a day after Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo appeared on ABCs This Week, when she said Harris County needs authority to issue a stay-at-home order, though she never mentioned Abbott by name.

We dont have room to experiment, Hidalgo said during the interview. We dont have room for incrementalism when were seeing these kinds of numbers.

During his FOX4 interview in Dallas, Abbott said all along he has warned Texans that as the state reopened wed see an increase in the number of infections because of the way a pandemic works. But he said hes also always been ready to implement more measures if the virus outbreak accelerated  as has done over the last two weeks. Two weeks ago he shut down all bars and last week limited restaurants to 50 percent capacity. In addition, hes barred elective surgeries in some of the states coronavirus hotspots to free up hospital beds.

Hospitalizations from lab-confirmed COVID-19 have more than doubled in Texas in the last two weeks to 8,698  a 517-patient increase from a day earlier. Since Memorial Day, hospitalizations have spiked more than 400%.

Abbott told Beaumonts KFDM, a CBS affiliate, that the states ICU bed capacity is being challenged in Bexar County, Nueces County, the Rio Grande Valley and in the Midland-Odessa region. He said in those regions COVID-19 patients represent more than 60 percent of the current ICU patients.

What we are doing is, we are surging people  medical staff  into those regions to assist, to make sure those regions will have all the medical resources they need to be able to respond to the growing hospitalizations, Abbott said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late Monday that the United States is considering banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, one of the world's most popular online platforms.

Noting that India had recently banned dozens of Chinese apps, Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Pompeo whether the Trump administration was exploring similar action against TikTok, which has around 30 million active American users.

"We're certainly looking at it," Pompeo said, adding that the administration was taking the issue "very seriously." "With the respect to Chinese apps on people's cellphones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right."

PUNKED: TikTok teens and K-pop stans say they sunk Trump rally

He added, "I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at."

Pompeo's interview comes amid rising tensions with China, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed for America's escalating coronavirus pandemic. It also follows an underwhelming crowd at Trump's rally in Tulsa that some blamed on a disruptive campaign led by TikTok users.

Ingraham also asked the secretary of state on Monday whether he would recommend Americans download TikTok or other Chinese social media apps to their phones.

"Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party," Pompeo replied.

In an email to The Washington Post early Tuesday, a TikTok spokesperson denied that the popular video-sharing giant, with hundreds of millions of users worldwide, is influenced by any foreign government.

"TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users," the spokesperson said in an email. "We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked."

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

RELEASE NOTES: Get Dwight Silverman's tech newsletter each Monday

Before Pompeo's interview, TikTok said Monday night that it would stop operating its app in Hong Kong, citing "recent events." Beijing last week passed new national security laws in the territory, classifying a wide range of crimes as terrorism and secession and criminalizing dissent - posing a problem for tech companies that operate there. Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp said earlier that they will no longer process data requests from law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong until they assess the political changes.

Chinese state media, however, said that TikTok's Chinese version will continue to operate in Hong Kong.

On Fox News, Pompeo included the push against TikTok with the administration's work against Huawei, the Chinese company that has long dominated global sales of equipment for wireless networks. The Trump administration has labeled Huawei gear a security threat, urging allies not to use it in their 5G networks, The Post's Jeanne Whalen reported. But a lack of alternatives to this point has rendered the campaign ineffective.

Some countries have already taken action against TikTok. India, which had nearly 200 million TikTok users, announced last week it was banning more than 50 Chinese mobile apps, including the video-sharing platform. As The Post's Joanna Slater reported, the ban was a consequence of the deadly clashes that killed 20 Indian soldiers last month, the most serious conflict between China and India in more than a half-century.

In announcing the ban, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said Chinese apps represented a threat to citizens' privacy and national security. The agency noted it had received complaints that the apps were "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data" to servers outside the nation, an activity that, the ministry said, "ultimately impinges on the sovereignty and security of India."

- - -

The Washington Post's Shibani Mahtani in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
FACT CHECK See inaccurate information in this story? Tell us here.

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UK Arts, Music Rescue Funding Tops $2B vs $30M In US

The UK government has announced that the countrys arts, culture and heritage sector will receive a 1.57 ($2 billion USD) rescue package to help it recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK Ministry of the Treasury says this represents the biggest ever investment in cultural business and non-profits including music clubs, art galleries, and independent cinemas,

Some of the funding is in the form of grants, while others are loans with very favorable terms.

Music Venue Trust warmly welcomes this unprecedented intervention into Britains world-class live music scene. Wed like to thank the Secretary of State and the team at DCMS for the opportunity to work closely together throughout this crisis to develop genuine solutions to the challenges faced by grassroots music venues. This fund provides the opportunity to stabilize and protect our vibrant and vital network of venues and gives us the time we need to create a plan to safely reopen live music, said Mark Davyd, Music Venue Trust.

In The US

Meanwhile, in the US just $30 million was earmarked for the Arts in Marchs CARES Act federal funding.

The National Endowment for the Arts then awarded the funds to the 50 states, the District of Columbia and several of the territories including Puerto Rico.

By Congressional mandate, 40 percent of the agencys CARES Act funding goes to state and territorial arts agencies and regional arts organizations for their funding programs, ensuring distribution throughout the country, said The National Endowment for the Arts in a statement. These funds will be re-granted in order to preserve jobs and facilities costs.

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Early EEE Detection in State Points to Need for Vigilance this Summer

PLYMOUTH, Mass.  For nearly four months, Gov. Charlie Baker has addressed the media almost daily about a disease first discovered last year.

On Tuesday, he switched gears to remind residents of a more familiar deadly threat: eastern equine encephalitis.

"I know I speak for the lieutenant governor and myself when I say how much we appreciate the opportunity to speak about something other than COVID," Baker joked during an appearance at the headquarters of the Plymouth County Mosquito Control Project.

But things turned serious as Baker and other other officials talked about EEE, a mosquito-borne illness that infected 12 Bay State residents and killed six in 2019.

"We really can't speculate about what [2020] will look like," Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel said. "What we can do is look back at the patterns we have seen in the past. What we've seen from previous years is that triple-E tends to be in two- to three-year cycles.

"That's why at the end of last season we began right away planning for this season, assuming we might see triple-E in high numbers again."

The early data is concerning. The commonwealth found its earliest instance of EEE in a mosquito in 20 years when it was detected in Franklin County on July 1, Bharel said.

That discovery and another in the Western Mass county came from one of the surveillance and trapping sites the commonwealth added this year in response to last year's outbreak.

Increased surveillance is just one part of a state response that included "larvacide applications  targeting almost 20,000 acres in 110 member communities in 10 counties from the Berkshires to Cape Cod," Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides said.

Soon, Bay Staters will start seeing another part of that response, a stepped up public awareness campaign that includes a new website rolled out on Tuesday.

And, just like the commonwealth has been pushing personal responsibility (social distancing, hand-washing, face coverings) to slow the spread of COVID-19, the campaign against EEE includes promoting measures that individuals can take to protect themselves.

"We do think it's important people should be outside," Baker said. "We've been saying people should be outside since March. The sun is a very important part of  happiness and positivity for people. I love the fact that the parks have been full for a long time now.

"But once again, our key message is we will do the things we can do as government entities, working with our colleagues in the private sector to limit the exposure and the outbreak associated with EEE.  But there are a lot of things people can do as individuals, and if we're all smart about this, we can limit the impact."

Theoharides echoed that sentiment.

"There is not, unfortunately, a [EEE] treatment or vaccine for humans," she said. "Triple-E, as the governor said, is a very serious disease that can impact people of all ages in every region across Massachusetts.

"It's important that we all remain personally vigilant against the risk of the mosquito-borne illness. Spraying for mosquitoes does not eliminate the risk of triple-E transmission, and we ask the public to follow personal protective practices."
Sushi meets AI: Japanese inventors app scopes out choice tuna cuts

by Tim Kelly

July 07,2020 | Source: Reuters

If you've ever bought supermarket sushi, you may know the taste trauma that hit Kazuhiro Shimura one night. But "disappointing" tuna sparked an idea: he'd develop an artificial intelligence (AI) system to make sure your sashimi is always delicious.



Shimura, a director at advertising firm Dentsu Group's Future Creative Center, came up with the concept for "Tuna Scope" AI as he chewed his raw dish while watching a television show on fish merchants who spend a decade mastering the skill of selecting high-quality tuna for sushi restaurants.



Using a deep learning algorithm to crunch through grading data from merchants, Tuna Scope has now evolved into a smartphone app. Clients can download and use it anywhere, creating "a unified grading standard" for an industry that relies on local know-how, said Shimura, who is working with Japanese trading company Sojitz Corp to promote his technology.



"That means people can be sure they are getting delicious tuna," Shimura told Reuters at fish merchant Misaki Megumi Suisan, which ships AI-certified tuna overseas.



The highest quality fish - which can each weigh around 300 kilogrammes - have sold for more than $3 million in past tuna auctions. According to the Organization for the Promotion of Responsible Tuna Fisheries, around 2 million tons of tuna is consumed around the world annually, of which Japan accounts for a quarter.



Since the start of coronavirus pandemic fish merchants from the Maldives, Spain, the United States, Taiwan and elsewhere have contacted Shimura about Tuna Scope because travel curbs mean they can't visit suppliers to check tuna quality, he said.



At Misaki Megumi near Tokyo, one of the merchant's buyers Shingo Ishii held a smartphone with Tuna Scope over a tray of tuna tail sections on a metal tray as other workers used industrial saws to cut up frozen tuna shipped from around the world. The AI delivered a result within a few seconds.



"I think this will become a common tool over the next 10 to 20 years," said Ishii, holding the smartphone over one of the tail sections.



Ishii admitted to mixed feelings about a technology that could make his job easier, but threatened to make a skill passed down through generations obsolete.



"To be frank, I think I can still beat the AI," he said.

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Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
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Yemeni journalists have suffered numerous press freedom violations ranging from killings, torture and kidnapping to threats, attacks on media headquarters and work suspensions, according to the latest report by the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate (YJS).

The latest YJS report on the state of media freedom in the country reveals 66 media rights violations that took place in the first half of 2020. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) supports its affiliate in calling for an end of to the attacks on Yemeni media workers and press freedom.

Two photojournalists, Badel Al-Burihi and Nabil Hasan Al-Qaiti were murdered earlier this year. Other violations include several cases of kidnapping, detention, prosecution and harassment. The union also reports several threats to journalists, attacks on media headquarters and suspensions from work.

According to the YJS, most of these violations were committed by the Houthis, the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

20 journalists are still missing, having been kidnapped, while 4 journalists have been sentenced to death on charges of "treason and spying for foreign states" in arbitrary trials.

The YJS claimed that the ongoing attacks on media are "politically motivated" and remain mostly unpunished.

"The YJS calls on all international organizations concerned with freedom of opinion and expression to express solidarity with the Yemeni press and journalists and put pressure for ending the systematic targeting of media freedoms in Yemen," the YJS said.

The IFJ has long supported YJS's calls to end the targeting of journalists in Yemen. In 2020, the IFJ wrote a letter to UN General Secretary, Antonio Guterres, demanding the release of the four journalists sentenced to death and called for the release of the 20 journalists currently in jail in the country.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "This year again the state of press freedom in Yemen looks grim. We reiterate our support for all the journalists who are suffering the harshest consequences of the conflict and call on the authorities to release the kidnapped and incarcerated journalists, drop unfair death sentences, and stop waging war on the media".
Imperial Valley News Center

Platform revolution: Curing more people, reaching more lives, anytime, anywhere

Rochester, Minnesota - The Mayo Clinic Platform is revolutionizing health care at a time when change has accelerated rapidly. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the need for remote monitoring, and new diagnostics, treatments and cures. The needs of the patient cannot wait.

Dr. John Halamka sees an entirely new future for health care.

More cures. Earlier diagnoses. Treatments tailored to each person at a precise moment. Healthier populations. The scourge of potential pandemics eradicated just as they emerge.

How? Through Mayo Clinic's bold vision to transform the current state of health care  a revolution to be led by a patient-centered organization committed to harnessing the full potential of technology and data to serve patients everywhere.

Dr. Halamka, an emergency room physician with a deep medical informatics background, joined Mayo Clinic in January to bring the vision to life as the first president of the Mayo Clinic Platform.

The Mayo Clinic Platform is a collection of initiatives focused on transforming health care by unlocking the potential of technology, big data and artificial intelligence to make connections that were previously difficult to achieve.

In his role, Dr. Halamka is helping Mayo Clinic develop new ways of thinking, new partnerships and new specialized skills to meet evolving patient needs while adhering to Mayos long-standing values. Its a more aspirational charge than ever before for Dr. Halamka, who has been developing and implementing health care information strategy and policy for more than 25 years.

It is Mayo Clinic's patient-centered commitment to digital health care, however, that will ultimately power transformation by creating the first truly integrated medical platform, he says.

An accelerated timeline

"There are rare moments in history when technology, policy and urgency to change converge," Dr. Halamka says. "I call that the 'perfect storm for innovation.' My experience over the past few months has convinced me that Mayo Clinic will define a new health care paradigm over the next decade.

The COVID-19 crisis has confirmed and accelerated Mayo Clinic's 2030 strategic direction to create the health care of the future through the Mayo Clinic Platform. The pandemic response has demanded connected, coordinated, data-driven actions  precisely the type of orchestration for which the Mayo Clinic Platform is designed.

"We were talking about health care in 2030," Dr. Halamka says, "but what we are seeing now is that 2030 is going to arrive in 2021 because COVID-19 has reshaped the culture and the policy around the use of technology. And anything we thought would take a decade to do is going to be an expectation for next year. We're going to have more demand for telemedicine, telehealth, hospital-level care in the home, wearables, and the ability to apply machine learning and artificial intelligence to new data sources for cure plans. That's going to be here very soon because we have changed so much, so fast with COVID-19."

For example, Dr. Halamka has helped spearhead the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition involving many global organizations, large health care facilities and labs. The coalition has worked in real time to increase COVID-19 testing capacity for the country, coordinate treatment research and accelerate vaccine development.

Industry transformation leader

Dr. Halamkas knowledge and expertise in technology, medicine and global health care are helping to quickly advance the mission of the Mayo Clinic Platform.

Initial work is taking shape in three platform ventures: Virtual Care, Clinical Data Analytics, and Remote Diagnostics and Management.

These key initiatives will allow Mayo to explore ways to bring care into the home, speed the discovery of new diagnostics and therapies, and form actionable insights using data from wearable devices.

To support this work, Mayo Clinic is building policies, resources, technology and other infrastructure necessary to be agile and innovative, while protecting data privacy. Additionally, Mayo has formed strategic partnerships  including a cloud partnership with Google to enable platform activities  and has made investments in data organization and computing capabilities to unlock key insights in massive amounts of data.

Its challenging to predict the future because technology is evolving so quickly, says Dr. Halamka. The hope is that as the work of the Mayo Clinic Platform goes forward, there becomes a societal expectation that care is coordinated, that patients are getting the best advice from the best experts, and that specialists are watching patient data as its generated to make sure patients have the best opportunities for care.

Unwavering dedication to patient privacy, Mayo Clinic Model of Care

Increased use of patient data in health care requires a firm commitment to protecting privacy. To ensure patient privacy in new environments, Mayo Clinic Platform experts have incorporated 11 layers of protection.

Mayo has the most unique privacy model that exists in the health care world, Dr. Halamka says, citing the rigor the institution uses to de-identify data and then certify the de-identification by external experts. Once all the data are fully de-identified and certified as de-identified, we bring innovators into Mayo to use tools to build knowledge, and the knowledge leaves Mayo, but the data is always under our protection and control.

The Mayo Clinic Platform also is focused on strengthening the Mayo Clinic Model of Care. For more than 100 years, Mayo Clinic has excelled in its ability to collaborate and integrate knowledge and expertise to benefit individual patients. At the same time, the amount of medical knowledge has increased at a pace that surpasses human understanding.

Were to the point where theres so much data that physicians need augmentation so they have more time for the patient," says Dr. Halamka. "The idea is to take the knowledge of the world and make it available through augmentation of human capabilities.

With 30 petabytes of patient data, 25 million tissue samples and 30 million pathology slides, Mayo Clinic is positioned to create the largest, deepest and most informative collection of biomedical data in the world. The organization will be able to combine millions of de-identified patient records with the latest medical literature to provide physicians everywhere with the best treatment options and knowledge.

By fully realizing the untapped potential of data and technology, Dr. Halamka and his colleagues are bringing the world closer to health care experiences where everyone can confidently expect answers, simplicity, convenience, affordability and accessibility.

Realizing the vision  a personal perspective

The world is changing quickly, and Mayo Clinic is rapidly accelerating its Platform efforts to meet evolving patient needs. Dr. Halamka is passionate about developing the tools that will bring this vision to life to benefit people everywhere, including his own family.

When my wife, who is Korean, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, she had a very simple question," he says. "Of all Korean women, age 50, who have stage 3 breast cancer, what treatment is best?"

He notes that, "There has never been an article written on that topic, but there are hundreds of thousands of Asian women who have had breast cancer treatment. And therefore, if we have the right tools, we could ask, what was the success or failure of treatments of the past for women like my wife? That information would bring tremendous value to patients.

The Mayo Clinic Platform will help answer questions like this and many more. In the coming months and years, experts will crystallize what is best about Mayo Clinic as they lead a revolution in health care.

Mayo Clinic has visionary leadership, a remarkable culture and staff, and a willingness to take risks, Dr. Halamka says. We're going to figure out what works and make those technologies available to the world. I have not found an organization in this country as poised as Mayo is to do that.
Wu Guichun, a migrant worker in Dongguan, south Chinas Guangdong province, didnt expect that a farewell message he left in June for a library in the city in turn continued his bond with the city.

Wu, from central Chinas Hubei province, came to Dongguan in 2003. As he only received elementary school education, he could only work as a choreman in factories.

Reading has been Wus only hobby through the years. He used to visit roadside bookstalls frequently to buy books in his spare time.

"Why dont you go to the library since you love reading so much? You can read there for free, plus they have a massive collection of publications," a coworker suggested to Wu one day in 2008. Wu didn't believe what his coworker said until he got up the courage to visit the Dongguan Library, where he found it was easy and comfortable to read. "More importantly, it is free," Wu said.

He spent most of his spare time in the library during holidays or on the days off since 2008. I ate more in the morning if I planned to go to the library, so that I wouldn't feel hungry the whole day and could stay in the library till it closed, Wu said.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on many industries in the city, Wu decided to leave Dongguan for his hometown to find a new job.

When he went to the Dongguan Library to return his library card on June 24, Wu wrote on a comments book of the library ...Looking back on my life in Dongguan over the years, I find the library is the best place Ive been to. As much as I hate to leave, I have to make a living. Never will I forget you in the rest of my life

The message aroused wide attention online the next day. The heart-touching words conveying simple and honest sentiments of the migrant worker to the library moved numerous people.

While many netizens felt sorry that the bookworm had to leave the place he likes so much, the official account of the library on micro-blogging site Sina Weibo forwarded relevant news and commented, We will always be here, looking forward to seeing you again.

Fortunately, the news drew the attention of the citys employer-employee match-making service center, which promptly searched for suitable jobs for Wu and received responses from many enterprises.

On June 26, Wu passed the interview of a property management company and got a new job. On the afternoon of the same day, he resumed his library card of the Dongguan Library.

I feel great as I can stay and read here again, Wu said.

Wu is a witness to the ever-growing reading atmosphere of Dongguan, a city planning to build itself into a city of libraries since 2004.

By the end of last year, the city had built a main public library and 52 branch libraries. These public libraries were visited over 13.53 million person-times last year, or an average of 37,000 readers per day.

There are much more readers today in Dongguan Library, and some even sit on the floor during weekends and public holidays, according to Wu, who said the situation stands in stark contrast with that more than ten years ago when he first started to read in the place.

The atmosphere of reading adds to the charm of Dongguan. As books nourish the mind, they make people who read them sparkle. While playing their parts in city construction, migrant workers are also eager to absorb spiritual nourishment in public libraries of the city.

As the public cultural service systems improve, migrant workers demand for reading has been gradually met. China is looking forward to seeing more readers like Wu who contribute to and benefit from urban development.
After recovering from Covid-19 in April, Tom Hanks was so chuffed by the prospect of his plasma being used for medical science that he suggested calling the results a "Hank-cine." He is not alone. Other former patients are equally enthusiastic about donating blood to the research effort. "They are very willing and motivated," says Gerald Lee, chief product officer at Sanguine Biosciences, a business that enables patient participation in medical research. "They want to make a difference in finding a treatment."

Those drawing the blood, however, are less excited.

As part of its service, Sanguine, which is based in Thousand Oaks, California, and had $5.9 million in revenue last year, dispatches medical technicians to collect blood and other samples from patients in their homes. The company traditionally employed 80 or 90 technicians, called phlebotomists, mostly on a contract basis. Staffing home visits was not a problem when the company's pharmaceutical clients were studying non-communicable diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. But when the pandemic erupted in the U.S. in March, Sanguine's entire workload switched to Covid studies.

"We went through our whole Rolodex and called [the phlebotomists] one by one," Lee says. Even though the research involved only recovered patients, "in the beginning about half said, 'No, thank you.'"

Taking the fear out of house calls

Since then, Sanguine Biosciences, led by founder and CEO Brian Neman, has been working on several fronts to keep critical trials on track by increasing its field staff while taking extra measures to keep them safe.

First, the company concentrated on risk reduction for the 25 or so phlebotomists willing to enter research subjects' homes. (Roughly 30 of Sanguine's phlebotomists are based in regions without current Covid trials, so the company did not approach them.) Not surprisingly, it loaded up on PPE. Sanguine's field workers have always used gloves and alcohol wipes; now they go in armed also with medical gowns, goggles, and N95 masks.

New protocols require the phlebotomists to suit up outside the home. Before Covid, they disposed of their own used PPE in small biohazard bags. Now the research subjects must agree to dispose of it for them.

Research subjects are also asked to be alone in their homes when technicians arrive, with no pets in the vicinity. They must have a clean, prepped area with a sink and soap, and a clear walkway to and from the front door. "We want to keep things isolated so everything moves smoothly," Lee says.

Sanguine has roughly doubled the phlebotomists' per-visit wages and engaged in what Neman calls "ruthless recruiting." The company hired its first in-house recruiter with the goal of onboarding around 140 new phlebotomists by year's end. It is also bringing on an in-house trainer to manage and communicate stepped-up protocols.

Desiree Hollemon, a self-employed clinical development and operations adviser based in San Jose, California, enlisted Sanguine to help two of her large pharmaceutical clients with their Covid trials. "This is one of the most ambitious projects I've worked on in a while, and it was very intense for the first couple of months," Hollemon says. "Sanguine was stellar."

A higher hurdle

Recruitment may get more challenging if Sanguine Biosciences begins working with active Covid-19 patients--a likely prospect if clients mount studies of sufficient scale. That will add strain to the workforce, both because more members may opt out, and because those willing to enter patients' homes will be prohibited from visiting research subjects of non-Covid studies, for fear of spreading illness.

In preparation for such visits, the company is considering protocols just for patients who still have the active virus. For example, if a phlebotomist fails to draw blood on the first puncture, should he or she try again? "Probably not," Neman says, "because the longer you stay there the higher the risk of infection."

Lee says the original phlebotomists who stayed on are as enthusiastic as their research subjects about fighting the pandemic. And recently a handful of those who declined at first have signed up again for house calls.
Piers Morgan has fuelled speculation that he could leave Good Morning Britain by the end of next year.

Speaking on the daily ITV chat show, the presenter said he was "possibly" set to leave once his current contract expires. It has been rumoured for a while that the breakfast show host will soon be leaving his post.

On this morning's (7 July) episode of Good Morning Britain, Morgan began reading out fan mail from a viewer named CJ, which read: "I thought I heard you state you're leaving at the end of the year."

He responded: "I'm not, actually, CJ. End of next year... possibly."

Co-host Susanna Reid then added: "Contract negotiations underway."

The revelation came after the news that Morgan and Reid would be taking time away from Good Morning Britain for their annual summer holiday, and will not return until September.

Earlier this week, they confirmed that they would first consult co-presenter Kate Garraway, whose husband Derek Draper has been hospitalised with coronavirus.

Morgan said: "Were going to talk to Kate on Wednesday before we go off for the summer and Im sure shell have something to say about this."

Good Morning Britain is broadcast on ITV at 6am every weekday. The series has recently prompted hundreds of complaints to broadcast watchdog Ofcom, after Morgan stuck his fingers in his ears during an interview with Conservative care minister Helen Whately.

Many senior ministers have boycotted the series over Morgan's interviewing technique.

Reid tried to read out a government-issued statement, at which point Morgan interjected by saying: "If they're boycotting us, I'm going to boycott their stupid little statements."
Its Monday morning and Im running my regular childrens sleep clinic. Except its not a Monday morning like any other I have had in my 20 years of practice. I am running the clinic on my laptop, seeing patients and their families on a video screen rather than in person, in an eerily quiet childrens outpatient department.

After two months of Covid-19 lockdown and working all hands on deck to deal with the pandemic surge, I am allowed to resume my outpatient work. One thing that strikes me in this clinic is another new phenomenon. Parents are reporting that their childs symptoms have dramatically improved over the last few weeks.

Most of the children I see in my clinic have obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition that leads to a disturbed nights sleep due to the repeated blocking of the upper airways (apnoeas). This leads to daytime symptoms such as tiredness, behavioural issues and poor concentration. Left untreated, these children may not reach their full academic potential and may go on to develop heart failure in later life.

We often see symptoms improving gradually as children get older, but families were reporting a near-resolution of symptoms over just a few weeks. To my amazement, this trend has continued from lockdown into the period of social distancing we are currently facing.

This has led me to reflect on how unexpectedly quiet our paediatric wards have been since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The vast majority of children with Sars-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) have very mild symptoms and are not admitted to hospital. But what about all the other acute conditions that normally fill our wards at this time of year, such as asthma?

Recommended Lockdown prompts drop in children needing emergency asthma treatment

We usually see a surge in children with acute allergic asthma attacks during the period of May-June, which corresponds to the peak tree pollen counts. But we have barely seen any cases in this period.

Im sure there is an element of increased home-management with parents understandably reluctant to bring their children anywhere near a hospital at this time. But we would still expect to see a significant number of children whose symptoms are severe enough to need specialised hospital treatments.

For such a dramatic clinical effect to occur over such a short space of time for so many children, there has to be an environmental reason to explain at least part of it. The biggest change for children during the Covid-19 pandemic has been the closure of schools and nurseries. Only children of key workers have been allowed to attend primary school and nurseries from late March until early June in the UK.

Whether these effects last remains to be seen. Up to now, our attention has focused on containment of the contagion, but it appears there are other lessons to be learnt

This measure, combined with social distancing policies outside school, is likely to have reduced the spread of not only Sars-CoV-2 among children but also reduced the spread of other viruses. And respiratory viruses are strongly associated with acute asthma and worsening obstructive sleep apnoea symptoms in children.

Another similarity between asthma and obstructive sleep apnoea is their association with allergens. During the period of lockdown, unless making essential journeys for work or school, or to get groceries, the public (including children) were allowed out of their homes only once a day for up to one hour to exercise. This would have reduced their exposure to common airborne allergens such as tree pollen, a potent trigger of allergic asthma and hay fever. Both are positively associated with obstructive sleep apnoea in children.

Nitrogen dioxide emissions in China before and after lockdown (Nasa)

There is also good evidence of a correlation between air pollution and asthma or obstructive sleep apnoea. Fine-particulate matter and gases, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), are known to trigger airway inflammation. As travel has declined globally during the pandemic, there has already been a significant reduction in air pollution levels, particularly in industrial countries across the world. Data from Nasa suggests a 20 per cent to 30 per cent reduction in NO2 emissions in Europe between March 2019 and March 2020.

The World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020. Since then, saturation news coverage has emphasised the dangers of the disease. As a clinician, I prepared for these dangers, but have been surprised by some of the unexpected consequences of the lockdown, which seem to be related to wide-scale behavioural change.

Whether these effects last remains to be seen. Up to now, our attention has focused on containment of the contagion, but it appears there are other lessons to be learnt.

Jo-Anne Johnson is a senior lecturer in child and family health at Anglia Ruskin University. This article first appeared on The Conversation
Lady Hale has responded to claims the spider brooch she wore for the prorogation judgement in September last year bore a hidden meaning, stating that she hadnt realised people would assume the accessory was symbolic.

On Tuesday 24 September 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnsons decision to prorogue parliament that month had been unlawful.

The 11 judges of the court who made the unanimous decision was led by Supreme Court president Brenda Marjorie Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond.

As Lady Hale delivered her verdict, several social media users began speculating whether she had chosen to wear a large spider brooch on her right shoulder to convey a coded message regarding her feelings about the prime minister.

Anne Louise Avery, a writer and art historian, expressed her belief that the brooch was symbolic of the tangled web of the prorogation judgement, while others thought it was a feminist statement, representing the goddess Neith who was worshipped in Ancient Egypt.

Some also theorised that the spider on the brooch was representative of a jibe then-prime minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar had made towards Johnson about Athena, goddess of wisdom and crafts and Hercules.

10 months later, the baroness has explained her reasoning behind wearing that particular brooch on the day, saying that she wasnt giving any sort of hidden message.

Im not a politician, so I dont play any part in politics, the 75-year-old told The Guardian.

If I had realised some of the things that people might have speculated, then I would probably have worn an innocuous bunch of flowers.

Lady Hale stated that her husband has bought her several brooches over the years, the first of which was a spider.

I dont think there is any particular reason I have so many spider brooches. The spider is a very good artistic theme  you can do a lot with a spider. The same is true of frogs, I have a lot of frogs, she said.

Lady Hale added that all of the brooches in her collection are costume jewellery, with the one she wore for the prorogation ruling costing 12 from Cards Galore.

Lady Hale stated that while people comment on womens appearance much more than they comment on mens, she remembers one instance during a case when the majority of attention was placed on her fellow justices ties, as opposed to her outfit.

I had taken great care to wear a different dress and brooch each day and nobody noticed! she said.

The Supreme Court president said that when she entered the House of Lords, she chose to wear a reasonably sober dress but doll it up a bit so as to stand out among her male peers.

I would wear colourful scarves because I was rather anxious that it should be apparent that there was a woman there now and that it was necessary to stand out  not in an aggressive or dramatic way, but just to make it clear that it was no longer all men.

Following the attention Lady Hales spider brooch received in September, Uxbridge-based printing company Balcony Shirts announced it had created a Lady Hale spider brooch T-shirt, with 30 per cent of every sale being donated towards homeless charity Shelter.

The company later tweeted that they had raised 4,000 for the charity.

In 15 years of doing this, nothing like this has ever happened to us before, the firm said. Thank you so much for your orders and love.
After several delays, SpaceX is planning to launch the latest batch of its Starlink satellites this week.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 57 Starlink satellites and two BlackSky Global satellites is scheduled to lift off at 11.59am local time (4.59pm BST) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday.

The launch will be live streamed through SpaceXs website and official YouTube channel, while the satellites themselves are expected to be visible in the nights sky over the coming days and weeks.

**Follow SpaceX launch live**

The satellites form part of Elon Musks plans to beam high-speed internet back down to Earth, and are typically launched in batches of 60. This weeks launch will carry three less than usual to make room for BlackSkys geospatial imaging satellites.

It is the tenth launch of Starlink satellites, bringing the total number in orbit close to 600. SpaceX eventually plans to create a 12,000-strong constellation in order to deliver broadband to remote and under-served areas of Earth.

The Starlink satellites are small in size but highly reflective, prompting criticism from some astronomers who claim that the so-called mega-constellation could disrupt radio and optical observations of space.

SpaceX's Starlink satellites have been criticised by some astronomers for disrupting observations of space (iStream/YouTube)

Mr Musk said the company is taking "key steps" to reduce the satellites' visibility, including painting surfaces black and using a twisting technique to make the solar panels less reflective.

Some astronomers have compared their appearance to a "string of bright pearls" moving steadily across the sky, while precious launches have also caused spikes in UFO reports.

One website dedicated to tracking the satellites in real-time lists several potential viewing opportunities this week.

FindStarlink.com states that batches from previous launches will be visible from the UK every night this week, weather permitting.

Within hours of Wednesday's launch, Starlink satellites will appear travelling across the night's sky from west to east. They will appear 10 degrees above the horizon and will take approximately 6 minutes to travel across the sky.

SpaceX's journey through the Solar System Show all 6 1 /6 SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System

Forecasts for Wednesday and Thursday are currently not favourable for viewing the satellite trains across large parts of the UK, however skies are expected to clear on Friday and Saturday.

SpaceX is yet to announce a precise launch date for the internet service but is aiming to make it available in Canada and northern parts of the US in 2020.

The firm's website states that it will achieve "near glbal coverage of the populated world" by 2021.
TikTok has quit Hong Kong, pulling the viral video app from stores.

The decision comes after the passing of a new national security law that requires technology companies to have hand over and control data about users in Hong Kong. But it also removes a platform that has become key for activists, who have used it to post videos of protests and supporting their fight for an independent Hong Kong.

TikTok's parent company, Bytedance, has faced questions over its relationship with the Chinese state as it has rapidly grown in popularity. Bytedance has repeatedly insisted that it would not share TikTok user data from outside China with the Chinese government, but the new law would have forced it to do so.

In China, Bytedance offers a separate but similar app known as Douyin. It did not give any indication of whether that app could come to Hong Kong instead.

The company did not specify why it was removing the app from Hong Kong, only indicating in a statement that the decision came "in light of recent events".

Recommended WhatsApp stops processing police requests for Hong Kong users data

The decision will come into effect in the coming days, according to Reuters, which first reported the news. It is not clear how exactly it will affect users who are already on the app  even if it is removed from the app stores, users will still have it on their phones, though TikTok may choose to stop people within Hong Kong from being able to access its servers.

The app had some 150,000 users in Hong Kong, it said last year, making up only a very small proportion of the more than two billion people who are said to have downloaded the app.

Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Show all 20 1 /20 Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests An anti-extradition bill protester is detained by riot police during skirmishes between the police and protesters outside Mong Kok police station, 2 September, 2019 Photos by Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at anti-extradition bill protesters during clashes in the Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, 14 August, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests A pro-China demonstrator films herself as an anti-government protester holds up a sign on her phone during skirmishes between the two opposing groups at Yuen Long station in Hong Kong, China, 12 September, 2019. The words on the phone read, "Seek an official reassessment of the June 4 crackdown," referring to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests A man sprays paint over the Regional Emblem of Hong Kong after anti-extradition bill protesters stormed the Legislative Council Complex on the 22nd anniversary of the handover from British to Chinese rule, destroying pictures and daubing walls with graffiti on 1 July, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests An anti-government protester, who later identified himself as a university student, is chased by riot policemen after skirmishes at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on 12 November, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Hundreds of thousands protesters march through the streets of Hong Kong, demanding for it's leaders to step down and withdraw the proposed extradition bill on 16 June, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests A masked anti-government protester, wielding a hammer, attacks a man who bystanders suspected of being a pro-Beijing activist from mainland China, during a protest in the Mong Kok area in Hong Kong on 11 November, 2019. The bloodied man, who suffered major facial and head trauma, was reported to have survived his injuries by local media Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Passengers push their luggage past bricks and barriers after anti-government protesters blocked the roads leading to Hong Kong International Airport on 1 September, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Mall security personnel urges caution as he tries to extinguish a burning Christmas tree at the Festival Walk mall in Kowloon Tong on 12 November, 2019. The property suffered damage after anti-government protesters stormed the shopping centre Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests A woman looks out from the window of a residence as tens of thousands of demonstrators march through Hong Kong on 20 October, 2019, demanding autonomy and for its leaders to step down weeks after the formal withdrawal of an extradition bill Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Hundreds of anti-government protesters gather after climbing to the peak of Lion Rock as a lighted sign is held high in the air, in Hong Kong on 13 September, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests A child sits in carrier wearing a mask as anti-government protesters hold hands to form a human chain in a sign of solidarity in Kowloon Bay on 30 November, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Anti-government protesters are detained during skirmishes between the police and protesters in Admiralty district, Hong Kong on 29 September, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam pauses while holding a news conference in Hong Kong on 27 August, 2019. On September 4, Lam announced the formal withdrawal of the extradition bill Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Anti-extradition bill protesters use slingshots to hurl bricks as they clash with riot police during a demonstration to demand democracy and political reforms, in the market town of Tsuen Wan, located in Hong Kong on 25 August, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Customers cautiously exit an eyeglass store past a burning molotov cocktail as demonstrators clash with riot policemen during a march billed as a global "emergency call" for autonomy, in Hong Kong on 2 November, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Demonstrators protesting the proposed extradition bill aim their flashlights towards riot police as they are chased through the streets of Hong Kong on 25 August, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests A restaurant worker receives help from volunteers as patrons cover their faces after riot police fired tear gas nearby to disperse anti-government protesters taking part in a march billed as a global "emergency call" for autonomy, in Hong Kong on 2 November, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests Anti-government protesters stand in a cloud of tear gas unleashed during a stand off with riot police at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, in Hong Kong on 12 November, 2019 Reuters Pulitzer-winning photographers look back on Hong Kongs protests A man clears debris following the clashes between police and anti-government protester after a two week campus siege of the Polytechnic University in Hong Kong on 16 November, 2019 Reuters

A number of companies  including Facebook, Twitter and Google  have publicly opposed the new law. Some, such as WhatsApp, have already announced that they stop responding to requests from law enforcement for data as they review the new law.

Facebook and its messaging app WhatsApp said in separate statements Monday that they would freeze the review of government requests for user data in Hong Kong, "pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts."

Hong Kong was convulsed with massive, sometimes violent anti-government protests for much of last year as the former British colony's residents reacted to proposed extradition legislation, since withdrawn, that might have led to some suspects facing trial in mainland Chinese courts.

The new law criminalizes some pro-democracy slogans like the widely used "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time," which the Hong Kong government says has separatist connotations.

The fear is that it erodes the special freedoms of the semi-autonomous city, which has operated under a "one country, two systems" framework since China took control in 1997. That arrangement has allowed Hong Kong's people freedoms not permitted in mainland China, such as public dissent and unrestricted internet access.

Telegram's platform has been used widely to spread pro-democracy messages and information about the protests. It understands "the importance of protecting the right to privacy of our Hong Kong users," said Mike Ravdonikas, a spokesperson for the company.

"Telegram has never shared any data with the Hong Kong authorities in the past and does not intend to process any data requests related to its Hong Kong users until an international consensus is reached in relation to the ongoing political changes in the city," he said.

Twitter also paused all data and information requests from Hong Kong authorities after the security law went into effect last week, the company said, emphasizing that it was "committed to protecting the people using our service and their freedom of expression."

"Like many public interest organisations, civil society leaders and entities, and industry peers, we have grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law," the company said in a statement.

Google likewise said it had "paused production on any new data requests from Hong Kong authorities."

Though social platforms have yet to be blocked in Hong Kong, users have begun scrubbing their accounts and deleting pro-democracy posts out of fear of retribution. That retreat has extended to the streets: Many shops and stores that publicly stood in solidarity with protesters have removed the pro-democracy sticky notes and artwork that had adorned their walls.

Under implementation rules of Article 43 of the national security law, which give the city's police force sweeping powers in enforcing the legislation, platforms, publishers and internet service providers may be ordered to take down any electronic message published that is "likely to constitute an offence endangering national security or is likely to cause the occurrence of an offence endangering national security."

Service providers who do not comply with such requests could face fines of up to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,903) and receive jail terms of up to six months.

Individuals who post such messages may also be asked to remove the message, or face similar fines and a jail term of one year.

Hong Kong authorities moved quickly to implement the law after it took effect on June 30, with police arresting about 370 people.

The rules allow Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to authorize police to intercept communications and conduct surveillance to "prevent and detect offences endangering national security."

Police can conduct searches for evidence without a warrant in "exceptional circumstances" and seek warrants requiring people suspected of violating the national security law to surrender their travel documents, preventing them from leaving Hong Kong.

Written notices or restraining orders also may be issued to freeze or confiscate property if there are "reasonable grounds" to suspect that the property is related to an offense endangering national security.

TikTok, operated by Chinese internet giant Bytedance, has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots while striving for global appeal. It recently hired former Walt Disney executive Kevin Mayer to be its CEO.

The company has said all its data is stored in servers in the U.S. and insisted it would not remove content even if asked to do so by the Chinese government. Even so, TikTok has still been regarded as a national security risk, with U.S. secretary of state Michael Pompeo saying Monday that it was looking at banning certain social media apps, including TikTok.

Additional reporting by agencies
President Donald Trump claimed incorrectly on Monday that the US's coronavirus mortality rate was among the lowest in the world.

"The Mortality Rate for the China Virus in the US is just about the LOWEST IN THE WORLD," Mr Trump tweeted on Monday.

The president's tweets punctuated an earlier message delivered by the White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany in which she claimed the world was looking to the US as a "leader in Covid-19."

"Because the chart I showed you where you have the mortality rate in Italy and UK up here and across Europe, and you have the United States at a low case mortality rate, it's because of the extraordinary work that we've done on therapeutics and getting PPE and leading on ventilators," Ms McEnany said.

Calculating coronavirus death rates accurately is difficult because many mild or asymptomatic cases go unreported and testing is still relatively limited in the US. Even with those disclaimers in place, however, Mr Trump's claim that the US has the lowest death rate remains incorrect. There are at least 14 other countries with death rates lower than that of the US.

Johns Hopkins University maintains a mortality analysis comparing the coronavirus death rates between countries.

When examining death rates based on the case-to-death ratio, the UK has the highest death rate with 15.4 per cent of Covid-19 cases resulting in fatalities. According to the graph, the US has a much lower case-to-death ratio - 4.4 per cent - but is still higher than other high population countries like Brazil, Pakistan and, and India.

When the countries are re-ranked in order of the number of deaths per 100,00 people, the US shoots higher, with a 39.82 per cent mortality rate per 100,000 people.

European countries hit hard by the virus top the list. Belgium's death rate per 100,000 people is 85.57 per cent, and Spain's is 60.76 per cent. Sweden's death rate per 100,000 people is 53.35 per cent and France's is 44.67 per cent.

Ireland, the Netherlands, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Norway, Poland and Israel - among others - all have lower proportional death rates than the US.

When adjusted for case-to-death ratios, most - though not all - of these countries also have lower mortality rates than the US. Notable exceptions are Hungary - with a 14.1 per cent case-to-death ratio - and Finland, with a 4.5 per cent case-to-death ratio.

Speaking to CNN, Columbia epidemiologist Elizabeth Radin said she had seen no evidence suggesting the US's death rate was among the lowest in the world.

"To be sure, estimates for all countries are subject to measurement error due to inaccurate reporting or attribution of deaths and/or under identification of cases due to limited testing," Ms Radin said. "Additionally, data from some countries may be more accurate or complete than others. I have not seen other reliable estimates that suggest the case fatality rate or deaths per population are uniquely low in the United States compared to other countries."
Johnny Depp is not and never has been a wife beater and ex-wife Amber Heards allegations of violence are complete lies, his lawyers have told the High Court.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor, 57, is suing The Suns publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and the tabloids executive editor, Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article that called him a wife beater and referred to overwhelming evidence that he attacked Heard, 34, during their relationship.

Depp strenuously denies the claims and his legal team alleges it was Heard who was violent towards him.

The Hollywood stars lawyers have said his libel action against The Sun is not a case about money but about vindication and clearing his reputation.

His barrister, David Sherborne, argued Heard invented these stories of serious violence and that she was the abuser in the relationship.

Depps lawyers will attempt to prove The Suns allegations are untrue and defamatory, and are expected to argue that the newspapers coverage has cost him lucrative film roles.

However, lawyers for NGN have told the court the description of Depp as a wife beater is entirely accurate and truthful.

They argued a raft of evidence, including photos, audio recordings and the Hollywood stars own text messages, supports the defence that Depp beat his wife Amber Heard, causing her to suffer significant injury and on occasion leading to her fearing for her life.

The Sun is relying on 14 separate allegations of domestic violence from between 2013 and 2016 in its defence.

Mr Sherborne claimed the newspapers article amounted to a full-scale attack on Depp.

The claimants position is clear  Ms Heards allegations are complete lies, he said. He is not a wife beater and never has been.

US actor Amber Heard (centre) arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on 7 July 2020 (EPA)

He added: Indeed, he says that it was Ms Heard who was the one who started physical fights, who punched or hit him (and there was little he could really do to stop this); she was the abuser, not him, and the contemporaneous evidence fully supports that, as the court will hear.

Depp took to the witness stand on the first day of the trial, during which he was quizzed about his friendships and associations with a raft of famous names, including Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, writer Hunter S Thompson and musician Sir Elton John.

He was also questioned at some length about his drug taking and a number of violent outbursts in his past.

The court was played a video clip, recorded by Heard without Depps knowledge, in which Depp, wearing a large cowboy hat and denim shirt, appeared to be drunk and agitated as he swore repeatedly and slammed glass-fronted cabinet doors.

Asked by NGNs lead counsel Sasha Wass QC whether he would agree he was violent in the clip, Depp said: I was violent with some cupboards, before adding: Clearly, I wasnt in the best state of mind.

The actor told the court that the monster, which Heard claims the actor turned into when he snaps, was something his ex-wife became obsessed with.

File image of US actor Johnny Depp with ex-wife Amber Heard pictured in September 2015. (AFP via Getty Images)

Ms Wass responded: It was your name for your alter ego, the bad side of your character, the person who used to lose control, used to smash up hotel rooms, used to assault camera crew men or paparazzi, that bad boy image ... when you lose control and become a violent thug, thats the monster, isnt it?

Mr Depp replied: No. The monster in situations with Ms Heard was when the argument would escalate.

He claimed it happened when he did not placate Ms Heard, adding: If she was yelling, I would yell back and then it became a screaming match.

Depps former girlfriends Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder are expected to give evidence as witnesses via video link during the trial. Both have already claimed Depp was never violent towards them in previous statements.

The trial, expected to last three weeks, was originally due to start in March but was delayed by the coronavirus crisis and will now take place across five courtrooms to ensure social distancing.

Additional reporting by Press Association.
The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the police watchdog over the actions of its officers in a stop and search involving athlete Bianca Williams.

The 26-year-old Team GB sprinter was dragged from the vehicle and handcuffed in Maida Vale, West London on Saturday along with partner Ricardo dos Santos, a Portuguese 400m runner, in front of their three month-old-son.

The athlete has since accused the Met of racial profiling - telling LBC radio she believes they were stopped because the car is all black and her partner is a black man.

Now the force has said it will voluntarily refer itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), having not identified any misconduct through their internal review process.

A Metropolitan Police statement said: ""We have now recorded this incident as a public complaint.

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"The decision to refer to the IOPC has been taken due to the complaint being recorded and the significant public interest in this matter and we welcome independent scrutiny of the facts.

"Two reviews of the circumstances by the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards have not identified misconduct for any officer involved."

On Monday Met Commander for Central West Helen Harper said that while no misconduct issues had been found, "that does not mean there isn't something to be learnt from every interaction we have with the public".

Meanwhile David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham, said such incidents are "diminishing trust among black populations in the criminal justice system".

"I'm afraid there has been far too much footage now of what feels like incredibly heavy-handed policing of black people, not just in London but across the country, and this is a moment I think to pause and ask ourselves deep questions that are coming up in relation to Black Lives Matter", he said.

"Why is it that this is persistently happening? It's diminishing trust among black populations in the criminal justice system.

"These are issues I raised in the review I was asked to do by David Cameron and it's very, very concerning that here we are three years later and these issues remain perennial."

Additional reporting by Press Association
A Home Office policy which gives people as little as 72 hours notice before they are deported from the UK is a barrier to justice and has led to a series of unlawful removals, lawyers warn.

Ministers have had to return a number of deportees back to the UK after they were removed under the removal notice window (RNW) policy, which gives individuals between 72 hours and seven days notice that they can be removed without further warning at any time.

Campaigners said it was often practically impossible for people issued with deportation orders to go through all the steps required to challenge removal in this amount of time.

The RNW policy is being challenged in court this week by charity Medical Justice, after the Administrative Court ruled it was lawful in September 2019.

One Jamaican national who was unlawfully detained and almost wrongly deported under the policy described it as the most inhumane and unjust process.

The man, who didnt wish to be named, had lived legally in the UK for nearly 30 years when he was detained and threatened with removal in 2017.

He had asked the Home Office for a new stamp to show he had indefinite leave to remain when replacing a lost passport, but the department had lost their records and he was stripped of his immigration status, meaning he couldnt access NHS care and was let go from a drylining training course he had been excelling in.

The day I was taken to the detention centre was horrendous. There was no warning at all. It was early in the morning. There was a loud hammering at the door. I looked out of the window and there was a van outside with a huge gang of people in their immigration uniforms, the man said.

When I got to the detention centre they took my phone away and gave me another handset to use, but it was useless. It was almost impossible to get a signal. I couldnt contact anybody to help me. I struggle with dyslexia so I couldnt understand what the paperwork was saying and nobody would explain what was going on.

I would queue up all day in the detention centre to try and see a lawyer and when I finally got to see an assistant they said straight away that they couldnt help.

He was in detention for about two weeks when he was called in for a meeting and told he was going to be put on a plane to Jamaica in two days time. Fortunately, his partner came across a lawyer at the last minute who said he could try and get an injunction, and the injunction came just after 5pm the next day.

Once the injunction was in place, the man had time to prove his immigration status and the Home Office subsequently accepted that he had had indefinite leave to remain since 1990, meaning they should not have tried to remove him. The department also acknowledged that they had detained him unlawfully.

Recommended Home Office deports man despite court order ruling it illegal

The man said there was "no way" he could have gathered all the evidence needed to prove this  which included Home Office records, tax and NI records, DWP records, GP medical records and local authority records  in the removal notice window he was given.

He added: Everything about the process was wrong. After living here lawfully for nearly 30 years I was placed in detention with nobody to explain what was happening. I had very limited contact with the outside world and no legal help from inside detention. I just hope that nobody else has to go through what I did.

Rakesh Singh, solicitor at this Public Law Project, who represented the man and who is representing Medical Justice in court, said it was by pure luck that his client avoided removal, and that it was often practically impossible to go through all the steps required to challenge removal in the time allowed under the policy.

I have represented people who were unlawfully detained and removed from the UK because this policy simply denied them the opportunity to put their case before a court. The Home Office has had to return several of our clients who were removed under the RNW policy, he said.

All the individuals we represented who the Home Office had to bring back to the UK now have leave to remain. But such cases are rare. In most cases if a person is wrongly removed they may never return to the UK.

The cases in which weve acted are the tip of the iceberg. This is an unjust policy which can have a terrible impact on peoples lives.

The Home Office disclosed to the court in a previous hearing that between 2015 and 2018 they carried out over 40,000 enforced returns. While it has not disclosed exactly how many of these were no-notice removals, it said the majority of returnees would have been served with a RNW.

Medical Justice will argue the policy is unlawful because it poses an unacceptable risk of blocking access to justice, in potential breach of the law.

Emma Ginn, director of the charity, said the Home Office had failed to monitor the operation of the policy for years, and therefore did not know how many people had been affected by it  but that tens of thousands may have been affected.

 Home Office showed 'institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness' towards race Windrush report finds

The consequences of this policy are devastating for the individuals involved and for their families and loved ones. Detention and removal often involve lengthy or permanent separation of families and people being sent to countries where their lives are at risk, she added.

Cases where people are removed from the UK without access to legal advice are particularly concerning. As well as the grave implications for access to justice, such cases are unlikely to be detected or reported by any organisation independent of the Home Office. This makes it difficult to know the true extent of the policys impact.

A Home Office spokesperson said they did not routinely comment on individual cases, adding: Individuals are given at least 72 hours notice before removal and have access to legal assistance when required in removal centres, and we will always seek to remove those who have no right to be in the UK who do not leave voluntarily  however as legal proceedings are ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further. 

They said the department regrets any cases of unlawful detention and constantly ensures there are appropriate safeguards in place to prevent this from happening in the future.
Queen Elizabeth will reportedly refuse to abdicate if it means Prince William will replace Prince Charles as the supposed King, a situation that the public actually wants. How come the Queen cannot give way to what the public wants?

There is a public clamor for Prince William to replace Charles when the Queen abdicates. However, a new report revealed that this is not something the Queen wants at all. Doesn't she trust her own grandchild at all?

According to royal commentators, Queen Elizabeth II truly does not want Prince William to succeed her as the next monarch. Not because she does not want to bypass her son, Prince Charles, nor because she does not trust Prince William to take on the position and do well in it.

Instead, the reason is just simple. According to the royal insiders, Queen Elizabeth simply does not want to break protocols. She would just like to continue the tradition and just follow the rules. In particular, royal expert Victoria Arbiter told Channel 5's documentary titled "William & Kate: Too Good to be True" that people in Britain would really rather have Prince William be the next King rather than Prince Charles. According to him, there is a sizable British population who want the Queen to skip Charles and go straight to William.

Although it is truly shocking why people would want Prince William, and no doubt hurtful to Prince Charles, the royal expert claimed that this is more likely motivated just by William's youth.

However, despite public desire, Channel 5's royal correspondent Simon Vigar asserted that Queen Elizabeth would never let it happen anyway. She's not comfortable with breaking rules.

Good thing though, Prince William does not like breaking rules, too. There is less chances of hurt feelings if both Prince William and Queen Elizabeth see eye-to-eye that rules and protocols are important.

"He will be William the 5th one day and she will be Queen Catherine, and I honestly think what you see is what you get. They're not fakes," Vigar said.

If this is true though and Prince Charles becomes the king, British people need not worry. Queen Elizabeth's son has great plans to dampen royals' "sense of entitlement." Prince Charles is also keen to transform the institution into a more modern look.

A royal expert shared that Prince Charles would like to see Britain follow its European counterparts on balancing the rewards and responsibilities of being a royal.

"Like the Windsor's' relatives who reign in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium and Spain, he prefers to dampen a sense of entitlement among royals," the royal expert says.

The expert has credibility over royal matters since he has a book under his name entitled "Prince Andrew: Epstein and the Palace."

For those who do not know, there are two ways for a royal to make it to the throne. Succession by ancestry is the first one, and succession by laws placed by the British government is the second. Since Charles is Queen Elizabeth's eldest son, it follows that he would be the one to get the throne should the Queen steps down or dies.

At present, Prince William will certainly see his father becomes King. Only if Charles dies before the queen would William become king when the queen passes away.

READ MORE: Queen Abdication: Queen Elizabeth Wants To Do This First Before Stepping Down?

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Local councils have warned Priti Patel an immigration policy that blocks migrants from accessing public funds will force thousands of homeless people back onto the streets during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dozens of local authorities and charities are calling on the Home Office to take urgent action to ensure restrictions on state support for migrants do not undermine the collective effort to end rough sleeping in Britain during the lockdown.

Almost 15,000 rough sleepers across the UK have been housed in hotels or emergency accommodation since March under the Everyone In scheme, under which local authorities were required to provide emergency accommodation to rough sleepers with a 3.2m pot of funding from central government.

Ministers told local authorities at the end of May they must put in place plans to ensure all rough sleepers currently accommodated in hotels and other forms of emergency accommodation were supported into stable housing.

However, councils in London warn that thousands of people will not be able to access this support because their immigration status stipulates that they have no legal right to local authority or central government support.

A letter to the home secretary on Tuesday, signed by 16 London councils including Southwark, Ealing and Hackney, along with 15 charities and faith leaders, states that the legal limits on the benefits and housing support they can provide to some migrants make it almost impossible to secure long-term homes for many rough sleepers.

The letter, seen by The Independent, states: As it stands all restrictions are due to come back into force in the near future, creating a cliff edge beyond which councils will once again be prevented from providing many rough sleepers with the housing and other support they need.

Without urgent action to address these issues we risk facing the unthinkable tragedy of rough sleeping going back up even while the threat of Covid-19 remains.

Among homeless people who cannot access public funds are individuals who have lived in the UK for decades and have British children, but have become destitute because they have been stripped of their immigration status as a result of difficulty proving their status to the Home Office.

In other cases, people cannot access support because they have the no recourse to public funds (NRPF) attached to their immigration status, meaning they can live and work in Britain but cannot access benefits, or they are European Economic Area (EEA) nationals who have been unable to exercise their treaty rights due to job losses during coronavirus.

Councillor Kieron Williams of Southwark council said the number of rough sleepers in the borough had significantly increased during the pandemic, and that scores of these individuals had no access to public funds.

Many of these are people who were working and in accommodation before, but were clearly in a precarious situation and Covid-19 has taken away the little security they had, he told The Independent.

The options to secure long-term homes for them beyond the temporary accommodation weve provided are currently shut down by the fact that the national laws mean they dont have a social security net to fall back on.

Legally, we will be prevented from providing support for them, so its completely unclear how we provide long-term homes for many people in this situation.

Since 23 March, Southwark has accommodated 323 people who were at imminent risk of sleeping rough or actually sleeping, 86 of whom have no access to public funds.

Some people will be able to get themselves back into work and back into a home, but in the current job market, this will be incredibly difficult, said Cllr Williams.

We shouldnt be in a situation where people who are living here  many of whom have been working and contributing to our economy for many years  end up finding themselves with no way to live their life except on the streets.

The council has funded Southwark Law Centre to assist people with NRPF in hotels to regularise their immigration status. The charity told The Independent it was up to its eyeballs in cases of homeless people who have a realistic prospect of being granted immigration status that would give them access to public funds, but who havent been able to apply over many years due to the cost or complexity of doing so.

In one case, a Nigerian woman who has been in the UK since she was 10 was housed in a hotel in Southwark during the lockdown after becoming destitute in 2018, because the Home office had reportedly informed her there was no evidence of her status on file after she lost her passport.

The woman, who was working in the UK and has two British citizen children, aged 12 and 21, had previously tried to claim universal credit and housing support, but as she no longer had her passport, was told that she needed to provide evidence of status. Southwark Law Centre is now applying to regularise her status.

In a second case, a Polish man who arrived in UK March 2006 and worked for 11 years in several jobs including construction, waste management and a rickshaw driver in London, had been destitute since 2017 when he was housed under the Everyone In scheme.

He had registered as self-employed, but did not file tax returns as he was living in a squat as was not earning enough to pay for London rent. Due to NRPR restrictions, he was unable access welfare support and therefore didnt have stable accommodation, which led to him losing his papers and theft of his rickshaw. Southwark Law Centre is now helping him apply for EU settled status.

The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Show all 10 1 /10 The Stats: Homelessness in the UK The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Sleeping rough up 165% from 2010 The total number of people counted or estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2018 was 4,677, up 2,909 people or 165% from the 2010 total of 1,768 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK London rough sleepers up 13% The number of people sleeping rough increased by 146 or 13% in London since 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK London accounted for 27% of people sleeping rough in England London accounted for 27% of the total number of people sleeping rough in England. This is up from 24% of the England total in 2017 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 64% of rough sleeps UK nationals 64% were UK nationals, compared to 71% in 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 14% of rough sleepers are women 14% of the people recorded sleeping rough were women, the same as in 2017 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 6% were aged 25 years or under, compared to 8% in 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Thousands of families staying in temporary housing Almost 79,000 families were staying in temporary housing in the last three months of 2017 because they didn't have a permanent home, compared with 48,010 in the same period eight years before Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Reduction in families living in temporary housing before Coalition government There had been a significant reduction in families living in such conditions before the Coalition government came into power, with the number having fallen by 52 per cent between 2004 and 2010 under the Labour government AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Families staying in temporary has risen since But the figure has crept up in each of the past seven years, from 69,140 in the last quarter of 2015, to 75,740 in the same period in 2016 and 78,930 at the end of last year Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Nearly 58,000 families accepted as homeless (2018) Nearly 58,000 families have been accepted as homeless by their local council in the past year (as of March 2018), equating to an increase of 8 per cent over the last five years Getty

As part of the national Everyone In programme, ministers introduced a partial suspension of restrictions for work-ready EEA rough sleepers, allowing councils to offer them up to three months basic emergency accommodation and support  but there are concerns this is not long enough.

Van Ferguson, a senior caseworker at the legal charity, told The Independent: There are some horror cases in there. Because of how hostile the environment is, people who are essentially British have been caught up in it. All of them seem to want to work, even just as cleaners, which makes it even more heartbreaking.

Its just by chance that this pandemic happened and now we can get in contact with them. But God knows how many people out there who have a right to immigration status but are living an underground existence.

Ealing Council is calling on the government to grant refugee status to homeless people with NRPF, arguing that rough sleepers have in effect become refugees from Covid-19 as a consequence of the rules and arrangements provided by this government.

Councillor Peter Mason  lead member for housing, planning and transformation at the council  told The Independent the government guidance on housing rough sleepers had been opaque at best, at worst deliberately misleading.

Ealing is said to have the largest proportion of rough sleepers with NRPF, at around 60 per cent. The borough saw a surge in the homeless population at the start of the pandemic, with the count increasing from roughly 30 rough sleepers at any one time to more than 300.

This is believed to be in part because of its geographical location as the gateway to London from Heathrow, as a group of around 140 rough sleepers at the airport were forced to leave the premises when lockdown came in  and many headed to Ealing.

Recommended Fears rough sleeping plan may force thousands back on to streets

The council has worked with 450 individuals who have been identified as rough sleepers or at serious risk of rough sleeping since March, of whom 61 have no recourse to public funds and 80 are EEA nationals who are not exercising their treaty rights.

Weve got disproportionately higher NRPF than the rest of the country, but we have no legal recourse to support this group. We will continue to accommodate them for as long as we can, but when the cliff edge arrives, we have no legal recourse to support them, Cllr Mason said.

Across the country there will be thousands of people who will be forced back out onto the street if there is no action. If were going to keep them off the streets permanently and ensure we can support them with their financial, legal, immigration problems, we need to do something quite radical.

Hackney Council, which announced a 100,000 fund to support residents unable to access the welfare system due to their immigration status in June, said failure to suspend the NRPF policy could lead to homeless people dying.

The borough has placed around 170 people in emergency accommodation since the start of the pandemic, of whom around eight arent able to access public funds, and has block-booked hotels in the borough for up to 12 months to help house rough sleepers struggling to move on.

Cllr Rebecca Rennison, deputy mayor and cabinet member of Hackney Council, said that while it was able to just about manage without further government funding, other councils such as Southwark and Ealing would face a bigger challenge as they had considerably higher numbers.

Weve managed to get people to engage with services who weve been trying to reach for years, and this has brought them forward. Its amazing, she said.

But you cant talk about ending rough sleeping and not have conversation about NRPF. Its an inhumane policy and it needs to be scrapped. It has no place. If we cant continue to intervene and support people off the streets, people will die.

Matt Downie, director of policy and external affairs at Crisis, said the progress made housing rough sleepers under the Everyone In scheme would be reversed unless ministers lift the NRPF restriction for the next 12 months.

To tackle this head on, we need to see emergency legislation, backed by funding, from the Westminster government. This will not only protect individuals from being forced to return to sleeping rough but will also give local councils the legal framework to provide the right support, he said.

 Landlords call for end to coronavirus eviction ban that stops people being made homeless

A government spokesperson said: Our rough sleeping taskforce has one overriding objective  to ensure as many people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic do not return to sleeping rough.

Thats why weve ensured councils across England can support vulnerable rough sleepers from EEA countries. Councils are also able to provide emergency accommodation for foreign nationals where they are in the UK lawfully.

The 105m we recently announced will mean councils are able to continue to provide safe accommodation to vulnerable rough sleepers, help break the cycle of homelessness, and continue our work to end rough sleeping for good.
The chief executive of a social care charity has launched a blistering attack on Boris Johnsons cowardly and appalling comments after the prime minister appeared to blame care home owners for the high death toll.

Expressing his anger at Mr Johnsons remarks, the chief executive officer of Community Integrated Care, Mark Adams, accused the government of re-writing history and claimed there had been a travesty of leadership during the health crisis.

As deaths of care home residents with Covid-19 approached 20,000, the prime minister said on Monday that we discovered too many care homes didnt really follow the procedures in the way that they could have but were learning lesson the whole time.

Care providers said the basis for Mr Johnsons comments were unclear, while the National Care Forum (NCF) said they were neither accurate nor welcome and urged him to start turning the dial up on reform and down on blame.

Asked what he made of the prime ministers comments on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, Mr Adams added: I probably cant say on national radio. Lets just say unbelievably disappointed. This at the best was clumsy and cowardly.

He went on: But to be honest with you if this is genuinely his view I think were almost entering a Kafkaesque alternative reality where the government set the rules, we follow them, they dont like the results, they then deny setting them. It is hugely frustrating.

Youve got 1.6m social care workers who when most of us were locked away in our bunkers waiting out Covid and really trying to protect our family, weve 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 lives at risk.

And then to get perhaps the most senior man in the country turning around and blaming them on what has been an absolute travesty of leadership from the government, I just think its appalling.

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.

Recommended Johnson blames care home owners for coronavirus deaths

"Yes, the testing has now reached a point where most of our people 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 back on the bus 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."

On Monday evening, Downing Street insisted the prime minister had not blamed care homes for what happened.

Throughout this crisis, care homes have done a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances, a spokesperson 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."

Alok Sharma, the business secretary, also claimed on the BBC that the prime minister had been pointed out that no-one had known what the correct procedures were.

Specifically the point that the prime minister was making yesterday, I think what he was actually pointing out was that nobody knew what the correct procedures were at the time because quite frankly we didnt know what the extent of the asymptomatic transmission was, he said.
EU nationals are in danger of slipping through the cracks of the government's Brexit registration scheme and turning into another Windrush-style scandal, citizens' groups have warned.

MPs on the EU future relationship committee were told by community groups that there was simply no way to tell whether how many people had been left out of the scheme because there were no accurate figures for how many were eligible.

EU nationals in the UK have been expected to sign up for "settled status" because of Brexit bringing and end to free movement, but campaigners have complained that the scheme is poorly designed and will leave some people behind.

The Financial Times separately reported on Tuesday that the 3.6 million tally of people who had signed up for the scheme had exceeded the ONS's 3.4 million estimate of the number EU national in the UK.

But Dr Kuba Jablonowski, a research at citizens' group the3million, told MPs: "It is true that there is a large volume of applications that have been processed under the scheme but the real question is how many applications are yet to come from those who have not applied. That's the key question which we don't know the answer to.

Dr Jablonowski said "the biggest problem" with gauging whether the scheme was working was that "we do not know how many EU citizens are here".

"I'm looking at the impact assessment for the EU settlement scheme produced by the Home Office in 2019, and that states that it's anything between 3.5 and 4.1 million," he told MPs.

"So even the Home Office admits that there is an uncertainty around 600,000 people and since that was published we've learned that there are further problems with the reliability of the population statistics that these numbers are based on."

The numbers are complicated by the fact that there is constant churn of EU citizens leaving and entering the UK, including during the period the scheme is open, and that not everybody who registers intends to stay.

There is also concern that vulnerable groups could not understand that they have to register.

Luke Piper, the3million's head of policy said: "I do have concerns about the numbers. We don't have a clear picture of those that can and should apply. I think it's more likely in my experience that older people are more likely to have an assumption that they have a right to be here than say anybody else.

"But I would say that there is a very concerning trend - and this steps beyond the vulnerable categories into more general EU citizen population - that there is worrying perception from some people that they don't need to do anything.

"I regularly come across people who have previously applied for an acquired permanent residence document, thinking that that's the end of the journey, they don't need to do anything else; or that they've been told by somebody that they're British and they don't ned to worry about it; or that they have this perception that they've lived here all their life and they don't need to do anything.

"There are very similar trends here in the assumption of rights to those who were impacted by the Windrush scandal. There was this continuing assumption that they were OK and when they faced those barriers to employment, housing, health, it was only at that stage then that they realised that they weren't safe and unfortunately sometimes it's too late then, and it could take time for them to retrospectively fix the damage that has been done."

During the Windrush scandal, new restrictions imposed by the government on needing legal documentation to work and get housing or healthcare meant many people were wrongly deported, threatened with deportation, or denied rights because they could not produce the correct documentation. Many of those affected had arrived legally in in the UK before 1973 as British subjects.

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. 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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. 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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. 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Barbara Drozdowicz, chief executive of the East European Resource Centre, told the same committee: "We have quite significant applications from EU nationals who have returned to EU member states but who have retained the rights of residency. They can still apply to use this immigration instrument.

"So on top of EU nationals who actually live in the UK we have significant numbers of EU nationals already departed form the UK who might want to retain their connections to the country because of children or whatever, or they just want to come back - so that's additional thousands of people we might need to consider as clients for this particular scheme."

Asked by MPs why they had not been contacted by many constituents asking for help with the scheme, she said: "Our experience is that eastern Europeans in general are much less willing to see out hope from broader society, they more rely on their own networks.

"That is partially because people feel they are not equals, that they will be seen as EU residents, therefore they will not have tried to speak to their local MP for example - because they don't see their local MP as representing them.

"They are told that they are immigrants and they are being told that they come here to do bad times, stealing jobs. Frankly it is very disturbing but quite a high level of EU nationals harbour this feeling, quite frankly."
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier met his counterpart in Downing Street on Tuesday evening, in the latest bid to unblock stalled Brexit talks.

Fish was on the menu at No.10 as Mr Barnier and David Frost dined on a fillet of halibut, chargrilled asparagus, and a terrine of summer fruits.

Fishing rights for EU fleets in British waters are also among issues that need to be ironed out for a free trade agreement to be struck.

Other stumbling blocks included the so-called "level playing field" on regulations demanded by the EU, workers' rights, and state aid rules.

"The EU wants an agreement - and we are doing everything to succeed - but not at any price," Mr Barnier said ahead of the meeting.

"We are engaging constructively and I look forward to equivalent engagement from the UK this week."

The meeting is the first "intensified" round of discussions aimed at bolstering the schedule of negotiations, which is falling dangerously behind schedule and risking a no-deal.

Boris Johnson's spokesperson said that the "informal" talks would "cover everything from what the EU calls the level playing field through to governance structures".

They confirmed that no ministers would be present at the dinner but that "one or two" officials from each side might attend. No.10 social social distancing rules would be adhered to.

Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Show all 37 1 /37 Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro-Brexit supporters celebrating in Parliament Square, after the UK left the European Union on 31 January. Ending 47 years of membership PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Big Ben, shows the hands at eleven o'clock at night AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro Brexit supporters attend the Brexit Day Celebration Party hosted by Leave Means Leave Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage smiles on stage AFP/Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square People celebrate in Parliament Square Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A Brexit supporter celebrates during a rally in Parliament square AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Police form a line at Parliament Square to prevent a small group of anti-Brexit protestors from going through to the main Brexit rally PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Nigel Farage speaks to pro-Brexit supporters PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square JD Wetherspoon Chairman Tim Martin speaks as people wave flags Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters wave Union flags as they watch the big screen AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage arrives Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters gather AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Ann Widdecombe speaks to pro-Brexit supporters PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters wave Union flags as they watch the big screen AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square People wave British Union Jack flags as they celebrate Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro-Brexit demonstrators celebrate on Parliament Square on Brexit day Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A pro-Brexit supporter jumps on an EU flag PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A man waves Union flags from a small car as he drives past Brexit supporters gathering AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A pro-Brexit supporter pours beer onto an EU flag PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square An EU flag lies trampled in the mud Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty

Face-to-face meetings resumed in Brussels for the first time last week after months of videoconferencing in which little progress was made on key issues.

Both sides say they want an agreement by the autumn but if no deal is struck by the beginning of 2021 the UK will leave the single market without a deal  a policy that is expected to come with severe economic damage.
Philip Hammond has warned against an alarming rise of anti-Chinese sentiment within the Conservative Party, as he suggested the UK should avoid jeopardising its trading relationship with the worlds second largest economy.

Mr Hammond, who was foreign secretary when David Cameron declared a Golden Era of Sino-British relations, said the UK was already loosening its ties with the EU in the name of expanding its global reach.

It seems to me this is not a time to be wanting to weaken our trade links with the worlds second largest economy, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

Amid escalating diplomatic tensions between London and Beijing over issues such as Huaweis access to the UKs 5G network, Chinese investment in nuclear power plants and the the new security law in Hong Kong, Mr Hammond said the government had always been very frank with the Chinese in private.

He continued: We have to find a way, and I think we have done it in the past with many countries, of continuing to trade, continuing to invest and welcome investment from countries with which we have frank disagreements about political issues.

On the increasing criticism of Beijing from Tory MPs, Mr Hammond said: Im concerned about the outbreak of anti-Chinese sentiment within the Conservative Party.

As I say, its always been right to be clear-eyed about the challenges of a relationship with China and frank about the differences we have with China, but that seems to me over the last months to have accelerated into something which is becoming a little bit more alarming.

At the same time, we are in a position where need to build our trade relationships around the globe, but China is Britains third largest trading partner after the EU and the US and I think we need to tread carefully in how we manage this relationship.

His remarks come after Chinas ambassador to the UK warning that stripping the telecommunications giant Huawei from the 5G infrastructure would send a very bad message to Chinese companies.

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 Xiaoming said at a press briefing on Monday.

Mr Johnson's spokesman declined to discuss whether there was anti-Chinese sentiment on the Tory backbenches.

The spokesman said: "We have a strong and constructive relationship with China in many areas but at the same time, where we have concerns, we will raise them and where we need to intervene, we will - such as in Hong Kong."

He said the government wanted the UK to maintain its reputation as an open economy, but added that it was beefing up safeguards to protect critical national infrastructure.

"We have a hard-won reputation as one of the most open economies in the world," said the spokesman. "There is a National Security and Investment Bill which we are bringing forward which wil help protect our national security by strengthening powers to scrutinise and intervene in takeovers and mergers while ensuring the UK remains open for free trade and investment."

The former chancellor under Theresa Mays premiership also said Rishi Sunak must be prepared to let some businesses fail in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking before the chancellor announces fiscal measures designed to aid the UKs economic recovery on Wednesday in an update to MPs, Mr Hammond said: I think it is important to recognise that the chancellor faces an extraordinarily complex challenge.

Hell want to continue to support businesses and people who are affected by regulatory shutdown in what are otherwise viable businesses, he said. But he will also sadly need to facilitate a transition for those businesses and people who are, what they are doing is no longer viable.

Some businesses will close, some viable businesses will close units  we have already heard the announcement of retailers closing stores  and thats where a focus on re-training and re-skilling, getting people turned around and ready to go back into the workforce as quickly as possible, will come into it.
Piers Morgan has labelled Boris Johnson disgusting over comments the prime minister made suggesting that care home bosses did not properly follow procedures during the Covid-19 crisis.

Mr Johnson sparked widespread anger on Monday during a visit to Goole, Yorkshire, when he said too many in the care home sector didnt really follow the procedures when dealing with the novel disease.

The prime minister was responding to NHS chief executive Simon Stevens who told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show that the crisis had shone a very harsh spotlight on the care system, adding that the sector needed urgent reform within a year.

Health professionals and opposition MPs condemned the prime ministers comments, with the National Care Forum describing the remarks as hugely insulting to care workers.

And now Morgan, 55, has waded into the row, accusing Johnson and other ministers of attempting to shift the narrative around the UKs high coronavirus death toll.

The government instructed 25,000 elderly people to be sent back to care homes without any testing for Covid-19 to see if theyre negative, Morgan told Good Morning Britain viewers on Tuesday.

And then, an epidemic started in care homes and over 20,000 people in care homes died. And apparently thats the care homes fault, says the prime minister.

Morgan, who has been robust in challenging the governments handling of the pandemic, also suggested that ministers had been attempting to blame public health bodies over the crisis.

He added: Its all their fault [ care homes], not the governments fault for not applying mandatory testing to those who wont go back, no, it was the fault of the care home who had no PPE to protect them so a large number of care home workers died in this process.

I think its honestly disgusting. What were seeing now is the blame game.

The prime minister and Matt Hancock and other ministers are starting to shift the narrative away from themselves and their decisions to other people like Public Health England, NHS England the care homes  everyone but the government is going to end up being blamed for this by the government.

Recommended Johnson blames care home owners for coronavirus deaths

Ian Kessler, professor of public policy and management at Kings Business School, said: The prime ministers comments on care homes distract attention from the highly fragmented, largely outsourced system of social care provision, delivered by low paid and insecure workers, as highlighted in our recent report on Fair Care Work.

The report notes how these systemic features of the social care model generated major challenges and difficulties in dealing with Covid-19 in care homes, and the value of improving the treatment of staff in the sector as a step towards addressing them.

He added: We need a new fair deal at work for social care workers which addresses the precarious nature of work and the often poor employment conditions found in the sector and as cruelly exposed by the Covid crisis.

As the initial terror of this pandemic begins to subside, it feels like the right moment to start talking about how to rebuild and re-regulate our health and social care system. It is not enough to just clap for our carers, its time to make meaningful changes to the working practices that have seen them undervalued and dismissed for far too long.

The government has come under criticism in recent days after newly published Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures revealed that one in five care home residents had been infected with the novel disease once it was present at a site.

More than half of homes in England surveyed by the ONS reported at least one Covid-19 infection, and where that case occurred, at least 20 per cent of residents then tested positive for the virus, according to the figures.

Separately, the ONS said a third of all fatalities in care homes across England and Wales between March and June have been linked to coronavirus  almost 20,000 deaths.

Mark Adams, chief executive of the Community Integrated Care charity, told the BBCs Today programme that the sector had been crying out for adequate testing for months and criticised Johnsons throwaway remarks.

I think what were 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.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during a visit to the Siemens Rail factory construction site in Goole, Yorkshire, on Monday (PA)

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.

When asked whether his staff were being tested enough, he said: We didnt 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 people 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 back on the bus and pick up the virus on the bus, within a week youre potentially asymptomatic and infectious.

We have been crying out for weekly or ideally twice-weekly testing for months and weve only just got that commitment  it is a question of the horse bolting and shutting the stable door.

Business secretary Alok Sharma claimed his boss was certainly not blaming care homes for social care coronavirus deaths,

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, he said.

We have done our best to put our arms around the care home sector.
Two separate incidents on Monday saw cars deliberately driven into crowds of Black Lives Matter protesters  just as it was announced that the victim of a similar attack in Seattle has died.

On Long Island in New York State, a Toyota SUV struck two protesters in the street, sending them to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Anthony Cambareri, a 36-year-old man, has been arrested and charged with third-degree assault.

Meanwhile in Bloomington, Indiana, a driver described by witnesses as white and in her 40s reportedly revved her engine and drove into a large crowd, running several red lights with a woman forced up onto her cars bonnet. The victim was taken to hospital; it is as yet unclear whether the police have identified the driver and passenger.

The protest where the attack happened was in part a response to a racist attack on 4 July in which Black human rights advocate Vauhxx Booker was subjected to what he himself called an attempted lynching. He was physically and verbally assaulted by several white assailants, who at one point shouted white power and get a noose.

These two incidents come on the heels of an attack in Seattle in the early hours of Saturday morning, with a car driving into protesters on a closed section of the Interstate 5 freeway. Two women were seriously injured; one of them, 24-year-old Summer Taylor, died in hospital on Saturday night. Protesters held a vigil in her honour.

The suspect has been named as 27-year-old Dawit Kelete, who now faces multiple felony charges. Police do not suspect him of being intoxicated or impaired while driving, having tested him at the scene of the attack.

While these three attacks have followed in strikingly close succession, they are not the only such incidents in recent weeks.

At the start of June, Frank Cavalluzzi of Queens, New York got out of his car to shout at protesters, brandishing a claw-like device featuring multiple knives before driving across the pavement. His attack was captured on camera from several angles, and he has since been charged with attempted murder.

The most notorious car attack in the US in recent years is the incident at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. rammed his car into a large crowd, seriously injuring multiple people and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was protesting against the rally. Fields pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crimes charges.

Outside the US, vehicle attacks have been associated with terrorism for decades, particularly in Israel and the Palestinian territories. More recently, both Isis and al-Qaeda have promoted the method, and in recent years, car and truck rammings have been a hallmark of Islamist extremism, with major incidents in Nice, Stockholm, Berlin and elsewhere.
Jair Bolsonaro will reportedly take a new test for Covid-19 after developing symptoms of the virus, just days after he was seen attending a private lunch with seven people, including ambassadors and ministers, without a mask.

According to CNN Brazil, the 65-year-old had a fever and had cancelled his schedule for the rest of the week. On Monday, the Brazilian president went to hospital for a lung X-ray and told supporters he would undergo a test for coronavirus.

In a statement, broadcast by news channel Foco do Brasil on YouTube, the president said: I came from the hospital now, I did a lung check. The lung is clean. Im going to do the Covid exam. Its okay.

The presidents office said his test results were expected on Tuesday and he is in good health and remains at his residence.

As recently as Saturday, Mr Bolsonaro was pictured attending a lunch hosted by the American ambassador in Brazil to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Foreign minister Ernesto Araujo, who also attended the event, posted a photo on Twitter showing the president in close proximity with US ambassador Todd Chapman and five other men, none of whom were wearing a mask or maintaining social distancing.

The embassy said in a tweet on Monday night that following the lunch, Mr Chapman has no symptoms, but he is taking precautions, will do the tests and follow the screening protocols of the Centres for Disease Control.

In May, Brazils Supreme Court published documents showing that Mr Bolsonaro had tested negative three times in March after a meeting with Donald Trump in Florida.

He previously dismissed the novel coronavirus as just a flu and has repeatedly ignored health officials guidance to practice social distancing and wear a face mask to prevent the spread of the virus.

Earlier this month, Mr Bolsonaro sanctioned a law that makes the wearing of masks mandatory in public, but vetoed their use in shops, churches and schools as he argued it could lead to the violation of property rights. He also vetoed another bill requiring the distribution of masks to the poor.

Brazil has the worlds second-highest numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths, with more than 1.6 million infections and 64,867 deaths as of Monday, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
Deutsche Bank has been hit with a $150 million penalty as part of a settlement the German lender signed with New York regulators for violating anti-money-laundering rules in its controversial relationship with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein, the disgraced billionaire who killed himself last year in federal custody while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, used his accounts with the bank to pay off co-conspirators, lawyers and even victims, according to the New York Department of Financial Services.

The bank "failed to properly monitor account activity conducted on behalf of the registered sex offender despite ample information that was publicly available concerning the circumstances surrounding Mr Epsteins earlier criminal misconduct", the department said in a statement.

Regulators also noted "very few problematic transactions were ever questioned" by the bank, adding: "and even when they were, they were usually cleared without satisfactory explanation."

The major settlement was just the latest explosive news surrounding Epsteins alleged abuse and life of crime. Just last week, his former confidant and girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell  accused of serving as his madame and recruiting his underage victims  was arrested and sent to New York City to face trial.

Prosecutors charged Maxwell in a six-count indictment that alleged she participated in the sexual abuse of numerous victims who she arranged meetings for with Epstein and his high-profile inner circle, which included government officials and even Prince Andrew. If convicted, Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison.

On Tuesday, the New York Department of Financial Services said the penalty marks the first enforcement action by a regulator against a financial institution for dealings with Jeffrey Epstein.

Epsteins attorney sought counsel from the bank on how to remove large sums of cash from the billionaires accounts without raising suspicion, before eventually withdrawing a reported $800,000. At no point was there any record of the bank making serious enquires about those massive withdrawals.

Deutsche Bank officially ended its relationship with Epstein in 2019, though it later went on to write referrals for him at other banks and said it was unaware of any problems associated with his accounts with the lender.

In a statement shared internally to Deutsche Banks staff that was later sent to The Independent, CEO Christian Sewing said the settlement serves as a reminder of how vigilant we must remain.

It is our duty and our social responsibility to ensure that our banking services are used only for legitimate purposes, the CEO said. That's exactly why we should always examine things critically, ask questions and speak up.
Tom Hanks survived his battle against COVID-19 months ago. Now, he spoke up about its concenring effects to warn everyone to practice safety measures.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Hanks opened up about his symptoms when he contracted the virus.

In March 2020, Hanks confirmed in a statement that both he and his wife Rita Wilson were tested positive for the virus in Australia while on location for a movie.

"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," the actor said during the G2 Virtual Interview with Hadley Freeman. "That last bit is kinda like my natural state anyway."

According to the 63-year-old "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" actor, he and his wife had very different reactions. Despite that, their discomfort went away after two weeks.

He added that Rita lost her sense of taste and smell. Aside from severe nausea, Wilson reportedly had a higher fever than he did.

Freeman then asked him Tom if he was scared, to which Hanks said that it did hit him since he has Type 2 diabetes and a stent inserted in his heart.

According to Health.com, patients who have diabetes -- like the 63-year-old Hanks -- are at a higher risk of getting complications from the novel coronavirus.

This is mainly because some viruses tend to increase their numbers on higher blood glucose levels. In addition, diabetes sufferers are already considered as immunocompromised patients due to their weaker immune systems.

"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," Hanks went on. "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."

Hanks Gives Advices To Beat COVID-19

In more Tom Hanks news, the Hollywood actor recently urged people to do three things amid the pandemic: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands.

In a press conference he held for his upcoming Apple TV+ movie "Greyhound," Hanks emphasized that those three things are simple enough to be followed by everyone.

"Those things are so simple, so easy, if anybody cannot find it in themselves to practice those three very basic things - I just think shame on you... Get on with it, do your part... it's common sense," the Cast Away star added.

Per the actor, those little things can help everyone control the spread of COVID-19, so it really surprises him whenever he bumps into someone who does not want to do "their part."

He added: "Do your part. It's very basic. If you're driving a car, you don't go too fast, you use your turn signal and you avoid hitting pedestrians. My Lord, it's common sense."

The World Health Organization's record shows that as of the writing, there have been 11,327,790 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 532,340 of which succumbed.

READ MORE: COVID-19 Heartbreak: Jay-Z Delivers CRUSHING NEWS Amid Pandemic

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Brazils president has said he has tested positive for coronavirus.

Jair Bolsonaro  who has opposed lockdown measures and downplayed the dangers of Covid-19  told reporters on Tuesday he had been diagnosed with the virus.

Im well, normal, Brazils right-wing president said. I even want to take a walk around here, but I cant due to medical recommendations.

According to earlier reports, Mr Bolsonaro had cancelled his schedule for the rest of the week after developing a fever.

He said he took the test on Monday after developing symptoms, but insisted on Tuesday his fever had gone down.

Mike Ryan from the World Health Organisation (WHO) health emergencies programme said: We wish him a full and speedy recovery from this disease.

The director for communicable diseases at the Pan American Health Organisation, Marcos Espinal, also wished the president a speedy recovery, adding the news should reinforce the need to strengthen implementations of social distancing recommendations and the use of masks.

Mr Bolsonaro has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds despite the countrys outbreak, and has suggested his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus.

He was recently pictured at a lunch hosted by the US ambassador in Brazil during 4 July celebrations.

Brazils foreign minister tweeted an image of the event showing a group of men who were neither socially-distanced nor wearing masks.

In the interview broadcast on state-run TV Brasil, the president said he began feeling ill on Sunday and has been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug with unproven effectiveness against Covid-19.

Donald Trump, the US president, previously claimed he was taking the same drug to stave off the virus  despite warnings from health authorities about its potentially dangerous side effects.

Mr Bolsonaro, who has previously called coronavirus a little flu, has repeatedly defied local guidelines to wear a mask in public, even after a judge ordered him to do so in late June.

He has also been a vocal critic of local lockdown measures that provincial leaders have put in place to try and limit the spread of the virus.

Brazil has been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and 65,000 deaths as of Tuesday.

It has suffered the second-largest outbreak in the world after the US to date.

Additional reporting by agencies
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."

Recommended Mississippi legislature votes to remove Confederate emblem from flag

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.
From the earliest days of his presidential campaign, progressive climate advocates viewed Joe Biden with deep scepticism. 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 energise the Democratic 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 Bernie Sanders, 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 finalised 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, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who headed the climate panel with former Secretary of State John Kerry, said last week. Representative Donald McEachin, a Biden ally who was also on the task force, called it a collaborative process that developed wide-ranging policies.

Still, Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who has previously clashed with Mr Biden over his approach to combating climate change, struck a note of caution.

Recommended This is what a green new deal will actually look like

Now, what he does with those recommendations, ultimately, is up to him, she said. And we will see what that commitment looks like.

Those goals, according to three people familiar with the task forces decisions, include committing to seeing the United States electricity sector powered fully by renewable energy by 2035 and a rapid transition to energy-efficient buildings. They also seek a day one promise to begin developing new vehicle efficiency standards  and to include labour unions in the discussions  to replace and improve upon the Obama administration measures that Donald Trump has weakened.

The group, which convened amid economic collapse during the coronavirus pandemic and protests against racism and police brutality, was especially attuned to linking the climate crisis to jobs as well as to the struggle to help low-income communities that already face outsize health consequences from pollution, task force members said.

I think where we have really made a lot of progress is in areas with respect to environmental justice and addressing front-line communities, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said.

Mr Biden, the former vice president, last year proposed a $1.7 trillion (1.36 trillion) plan aimed at achieving 100 per cent clean energy and eliminating the countrys net carbon emissions by 2050.

But how he responds to the task forces recommendations  and whether progressives in the group walk away feeling heard  will test his campaigns ability to navigate an issue of great importance to ascendant forces in the Democratic Party.

The work of the task forces has been collaborative and productive, and vice president Biden looks forward to reviewing their full recommendations, a campaign spokesperson, Jamal Brown, said in a statement. As for Mr Bidens approach to the issue, Mr Brown said, As president, Biden will take immediate action to address the urgency of the climate emergency and create good-paying jobs that provide a chance to join a union, which is especially important now as tens of millions of Americans are out of work.

In recent weeks Mr Biden has made a number of overtures to climate activists. He has increasingly linked environmental issues to racial justice, and he said at a recent climate-focused fundraiser that, if elected, in his first 100 days as president, he would send Congress a transformational plan for a clean energy revolution. Last week he announced the formation of an advisory council focused on mobilising climate-focused voters.

Former vice president Al Gore said that Mr Biden had asked shortly before Earth Day for his endorsement, which Mr Gore gave, and that since then the two men have had multiple conversations about climate change. Mr Gore said Mr Biden had asked for advice and suggestions in climate policy areas, though he declined to offer specifics.

I think hes got the science pretty well down and he understands the rich potential for creating millions of jobs, Mr Gore said, adding, I get the impression that he has made a decision to lean forward on climate.

Some of Mr Bidens allies have suggested he is committed to fighting climate change but also understands the challenge of enacting far-reaching deals in a partisan climate.

Im certainly willing, and I know the vice president is, to push it as hard as possible, said former senator Bill Nelson of Florida.

But, he added: Three-quarters of a loaf is better than not having any loaf at all.

From the start of his presidential run, Mr Biden has walked a fine line between championing climate change action and trying to engage union members who still rely on jobs in fossil fuel industries, as well as moderate Republicans who may dislike Mr Trump yet oppose aggressive action on curbing greenhouse gases.

But some public opinion polling seems to indicate that building a big tent on climate change may be easier than previously thought.

Recent surveys by the Pew Research Centre have found that, despite a lingering partisan divide over the scientific fact that human activity is the main driver behind global warming, 60 per cent of Americans view climate change as a major threat. More than half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents also favour stricter measures like restrictions on power plant emissions and tougher automobile emissions standards.

The League of Conservation Voters, an environmental group, and the Centre for American Progress Action Fund, which is affiliated with a liberal think tank, recently tested messaging that might persuade voters to support Mr Biden. They found that the voters who were still up for grabs leaned centre-right but were also in favour of prioritising action to tackle climate change.

Yet Mr Biden was still facing challenges with young people, according to a report issued by the groups, which was based on internet surveys in May of voters in 11 potentially competitive states.

It is not enough to just have a bunch of good policy and the strong and right goal, said John Podesta, founder of the Centre for American Progress and an adviser to former president Barack Obama on climate change. You have to show that this is going to be a priority, and that you really, passionately understand the risk associated with it.

He said Mr Biden needed to dovetail his Middle-Class Joe brand with tackling climate issues. Hes never going to imitate Al Gore at the PowerPoint on science, Mr Podesta said, but what he can do is express passion at creating an economy thats going to work for everyone.

The future of natural gas, and its implications for jobs, is a major fault line that separates the Obama-era climate policy leaders from the new generation of activists.

Natural gas produces about half the emissions of coal. Much of the Obama administrations energy strategy centred on promoting it as a bridge fuel to wean the country off dirtier fossil fuels until the price of renewables dropped.

These days, the average cost of new wind or solar power is cheaper than the costs to keep running most coal-fired plants, according to an analysis last year by two energy research groups. And renewable energy generation in the United States has now surpassed coal, according to the federal Energy Information Agency.

Yet in places like Pennsylvania, a state Mr Trump won by less than 1 percentage point in 2016, the natural gas industry is responsible for thousands of high-paying union jobs. So when Mr Biden, during a pointed exchange with Mr Sanders on the debate stage in March, declared no new fracking, some allies were alarmed, including former governor Edward G Rendell, who said he called the campaign to voice concern.

Mr Biden has proposed ending new fracking leases on federal lands, but not a national ban, something his campaign quickly clarified.

Andrew Baumann, a Democratic strategist and pollster, said that there were limits to how far Mr Biden could push on climate matters without encountering political risk  but that he was pretty far away from that.

It is possible to go too far, he said. But the amount that is there to go bolder before you reach that level is really a lot bigger than people think.

The New York Times
South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Jaime Harrison, who is challenging Republican Senator  and Donald Trump ally  Lindsey Graham, raised a record $13.9m for his campaign in the second quarter of 2020, he announced on Tuesday.

The fundraising mark nearly doubles Mr Harrison's first-quarter haul of $7.3m, the Palmetto State's previous record for quarterly fundraising by a congressional candidate.

The former state Democratic party chairman's prolific fundraising "reflects the grassroots energy behind Jaimes movement," his campaign said in a statement on Tuesday, and will enable it to "make the investments necessary to send Lindsey home for good."

Mr Harrison's campaign to oust Mr Graham, a longtime staple in Washington and one of the most vocal Republican senators, is widely considered a long shot by leading elections handicappers, despite the challenger's impressive fundraising.

Inside Elections with Nathan L Gonzales rates the race for South Carolina's Senate seat Solid Republican, while the Cook Political Report rates it Likely Republican.

An online poll in May from Civiqs found Mr Graham and Mr Harrison tied with 42 per cent support, though the margin of error was +/- 4.5 percentage points.

Mr Harrison's fundraising haul is indeed ludicrous: he raised 33 per cent more money than former Texas Democratic Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke ($10.4m) did in the second quarter of 2018 during his campaign to replace GOP Senator Ted Cruz.

Mr O'Rourke's campaign, which ultimately did not succeed, was widely lauded as a fundraising machine unlike any the Senate had ever seen from a challenger, and helped propel him into the 2020 presidential race for a time.

Mr Harrison's backers have insisted his race is different from Mr O'Rourke's.

More than one in every four South Carolinians is black, the most reliably Democratic racial demographic in the country.

US Senate candidate Jaime Harrison speaks to the crowd during the King Day celebration at the Dome March and rally on January 20, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

The recent reinvigoration of the Black Lives Matter movement after the deaths in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, and others could help increase turnout in black communities across the country, several elections experts have predicted.

Mr Graham is still likely to have a cash-on-hand advantage in the race. By 20 June, the senator had reported $13,936,243 still left in the campaign coffers, compared to Mr Harrison's $6,724,134 mark from his 20 May pre-primary filing.
Students studying in the US on certain non-immigrant visas will not be allowed to stay in the US this fall if their classes move entirely online, even though hundreds of colleges and universities are still deciding how they will teach during the pandemic.

In a press release on Monday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the new modifications to existing exemptions for students during the pandemic, among them that 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, and that incoming students registered at schools that will only teach online will not be allowed into the country.

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. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings, the agency announced.

During the pandemic so far, the US immigration authorities have let non-immigrant international students take more online courses than would normally be allowed.

The new announcement all but ends those exemptions for most international students, and essentially stakes their immediate future as US residents on universities plans for the next semester and in turn, on the evolution of the US outbreak, which is getting notably worse in numerous states.

Because international students overwhelmingly pay for their studies with funds from outside the US, they are a valuable source of revenue for the economy; the US Department of Commerce estimated that in 2018, they contributed some $45 billion.

Not all of them will be affected by the new ruling. Many universities are  for now  still planning full return to teaching, while others are set to adopt a hybrid model that will see at least some number of classes taught in person.

As far as international students at those institutions are concerned, ICE says it will be incumbent on the school to certify to the authorities that the students are not taking online-only courses.

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Depending on how the pandemic unfolds in the coming months, many international students could face serious logistical problems returning home if their countries will not allow travel from the US because of its high infection rate.

The extent to which ICE would be obliged to help them in these circumstances is not clear.
The White House played down explosive claims against Donald Trump in a new book by his niece, Mary L Trump, scheduled for release next week, arguing that the press should not be meddling in the Trump family's private history.

"He's not her patient, he's her uncle," counsellor to the president Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Tuesday.

"As for books generally, obviously they're not fact checked, nobody's under oath. I know there's always this rush to slap credibility on whoever's getting the president that day," Ms Conway said.

She also scolded reporters to leave the president's family affairs alone, despite the fact several of the president's children work either on his campaign or in the White House and are thus public figures.

"Family matters are family matters," Ms Conway said.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that the book is full of "falsehoods," though she did not elaborate on any of the specific claims against the president and admitted she had not read the book.

"It's ridiculous, absurd allegations that have absolutely no bearing in truth," Ms McEnany said.

She added that she has "yet to see the book, but it is a book of falsehoods."

In Ms Trump's book, the 55-year-old folds back the curtain on the Trump family's private life and how the president's upbringing has made him "the world's most dangerous man."

Ms Trump claims that her uncle suffered emotional abuse at the hands of his father as a child, which scarred him for life and has left him unfit to be president.

Ms Trump, a clinical psychologist, claims the alleged abuse from his father, Fred Trump Sr, destroyed Mr Trump and robbed him of the ability to develop and experience the entire spectrum of human emotion.

The book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, has been pitched as part memoir and part psychoanalysis, and is due to be released next week.

It also maintains that the president went to see a movie while his brother was dying in hospital in the 1980s, and that he paid someone to take his college entrance exams.

Ms Trump, estranged from the president for many years, faced a legal challenge from the Trump family to halt publication of the book, but a New York judge ruled to let publication move forward.

A separate ruling is expected soon on whether she violated a 20-year-old confidentiality agreement.
 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".

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TikTok and other Chinese social media apps could soon be banned from the United States amid concerns over national security.

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Monday that the US was certainly looking at such a ban.

With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right, Mr Pompeo told Fox News.

I dont want to get out in front of the President [Donald Trump], but its something were looking at, he continued. Were taking this very seriously.

Mr Pompeo added on Monday that TikTok, which has some 30 million active American users a month, would put your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

Fox News host Laura Ingham had asked Mr Pomeo whether or not the US would consider banning Chinese social media apps amid increasing tensions between Washington and Beijing on trade, national security and the coronavirus pandemic.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called for a national security probe into TikTok in November 2019, when he wrote to House minority leader Kevin McCarthy with concerns over Chinese laws requiring domestic companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party".

TikTok, which is not available in China, has tried to put distance between it and Beijing, where the apps owners, ByteDance, are located.

The video app argues that user data can not be controlled with Chinese laws because its data servers are not located there.

On Monday night, TikTok said it would leave Hong Kong within days after China introduced a new national security law in the semi-autonomous city.

In a statement, TikTok said it had decided to halt operations in light of recent events.

TikTok was among almost 60 Chinese apps banned in India after a border confrontation between India and China last month.

The Independent has contacted TikTok for comment on the possible US ban.
Schools throughout Virginia are shedding Confederate names and mascots as officials face a burst of advocacy from students, alumni and parents fuelled by the national reckoning over racism and injustice.

Prince William County is renaming Stonewall Middle School, named for Confederate general 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 colonel John Mosbys 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 would not recognise the reference. Options for new titles, put forth by the superintendent in a recent email to families, include representative John Lewis, 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.

AJ 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 George Floyd demonstrations, fuelled 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 thats the way things are,  said Ms Dillon. Thats 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 was 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, Mr Grossman said, as an angry reaction to the Supreme Courts 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 is 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 Americas 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 instil 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 per cent 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, colourful in all senses of the word. But she did not like walking past the gigantic painting of General Robert E Lee hung just by the schools entrance.

One day I was sitting after school and the lobby was empty and I looked up and it was kind of menacing, Kimberly 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. 

Kimberly 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 Floyds death, Kadija, who is also black, decided she was fed up with waiting. She launched an online petition on 6 June that earned more than 1,000 signatures in its first 24 hours. And she and Kimberly wrote an open letter the next day to superintendent Scott Brabrand and the school board.

Washington-Lee High School in Arlington is named after Confederate general Robert E Lee (Washington Post)

Robert E Lee embodies the very heart of racism, they wrote. The next graduating class [should not] have the misfortune of having his name immortalised 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 are discussing ways to add more black history to school curriculums and ensure that the school system hires more black teachers and administrators.

Civil rights didnt end with Martin Luther King, Kadija said. The fight isnt over, and the fight wont be over for a long time.

We cant stop at names, Kimberly agreed.

Kimberly and Kadija said they faced little opposition throughout, from classmates or alumni. That was not the case in Loudoun, where Mr Jelonek and Ms Dillon soon noticed backlash from older graduates on Facebook. Another white graduate, Shawn Carver, started a counter-petition 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 $1m (802,000) - 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, Mr Carver said, earned the support of students and alumni of all races and ages.

At the heated virtual board meeting on 29 June, others gave more sentimental reasons.

Our children have been stripped of so much this year, between a meaningful education, socialisation 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 1am, 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 the first four grades.

Through research this summer, Ms 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 nail-making business at Monticello. She found records in which Jefferson wrote that he oversaw all the details of [the boys] business myself.

Im not saying lets erase Jefferson, said Ms Loftur-Thun, who is white. All Im saying is that its 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 sceptical 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, Ms Loftur-Thun said, she will still feel proud she launched the petition. At least she started a conversation.

The Washington Post
A white man was filmed racially abusing diners at the Bernardus Lodge & Spa, in Carmel Valley, California, before being kicked out by the waitress.

The man, who social media users and Heavy identified as Michael Lofthouse, was filmed on Saturday evening telling an Asian American family that Trump is gonna f*** you, while they dined at the Lucia Restaurant & Bar, situated at the spa.

The incident was filmed by Jordan Chan, who was at the restaurant celebrating her aunts birthday, when the man believed to be Mr Lofthouse, who is the CEO of tech startup Solid8 based in Silicon Valley, started shouting racist remarks at her family.

Mr Lofthouse. is reportedly originally from the UK but now lives in San Francisco,

The man put his middle finger up at the diners, after they asked him to repeat a remark that was not heard on camera.

After he was told to leave the restaurant by the family and the waitress, he said: You f*****s need to leave.

As he put his jacket on, he called the family: F*****g Asian piece of s***, before adding: Yeah, Im out, when told to leave by the waitress.

The server continued to shout at him to get out, and after a small argument, the man pointed to the family and said: Who are these f*****s?

He was told by the waitress that the family are valued guests, and he sarcastically responded: Oh are they? Valued guests in America?

The family called him a racist, and the waitress told him: You are not allowed here ever again, before the video cut out.

Ms Chan posted the video to Instagram, and it is included below. The video contains explicit language.

Chris Philpott, who is a friend of the family who were racially abused, posted a screenshot of a member of the public reportedly criticising Mr Lofthouse on Facebook for the racial abuse directed at the family.

Responding to the criticism, an account with Mr Lofthouse's name and picture said: Asian f***. Come near me or my people and u r f*****g dead.

Sean Damery, the regional vice president of Bernardus Lodge & Spa confirmed to The Independent that Mr Lofthouse was not a guest at the hotel.

This is an extremely unfortunate situation, however we are proud of our staff at Lucia in keeping with Bernardus Lodges core values; this incident was handled swiftly and the diner was escorted off property without further escalation, he added.

We provide guests with a safe environment for lodging and dining; and extend our sincere apologies to the guests enjoying a birthday celebration on a holiday weekend.

In May, it was reported that hundreds of Asian Americans had been violently attacked because of racism linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

President Donald Trump and his followers have repeatedly referred to Covid-19 as kung flu, or Chinese virus, which The Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action found correlated with spikes of violence.

CBS reported on Sunday that more than 800 hate crimes against Asian Americans had been reported in California in the three months since the crisis began.

A spokesperson for California governor Gavin Newsom told CBS: Racism and xenophobia have no place in California  not during a public health emergency when it is essential we come together to support all of our communities  not ever.

The Independent has contacted Mr Lofthouse for comment.
"Harry Potter" best-selling author JK Rowling is once again the target of a major Twitter backlash after voicing out yet another insensitive tweet.

It all started when a Twitter user called out Rowling for liking a post which claims that hormone prescription was the new anti-depressant.

"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 time and effort to heal people's minds," the tweet stated.

Twitter user @TrinerScot then called out the author and questioned who is putting the money behind Rowling's opinion that taking mental health medication is lazy.

In an 11-part Tweet thread, the 54-year-old author said that while she could ignore death and rape threats, as well as fake tweets about children porn attributed to her, she would not let this misinterpretation pass.

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. 1/11 pic.twitter.com/hfSaGR2UVa  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 5, 2020

She explained that she had written about her mental health challenges in the past and expressed concern over young people with mental health issues being forced to take hormone prescription and surgery to get a cure.

"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," Rowling wrote.

However, things escalated quickly when the author described the hormones prescription to be a kind of "conversion therapy" for young gay people and said it might eventually result in loss of fertility and full sexual function.

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. 4/11  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 5, 2020

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. 5/11  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 5, 2020

She insisted that anti-depressants prescribed to teenagers are resulting in severe consequences, citing a BBC documentary and a New Port Academy study to back up her claims.

"The long-term health risks of cross-sex hormones have been now been tracked over a lengthy period. These side-effects are often minimized or denied by trans activists," Rowling continued.

Internet Backlash

Because of her unfiltered opinions, Rowling once again received a major backlash, just like what happened to her "transphobic" statements last month.

Responding to the author's new gender-sensitive comments, transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf labeled Rowling as someone who will never support the transgender 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," Berdorf wrote.

Meanwhile, others are encouraging Rowling to stop voicing out her opinions about the transgender and LGBTQ+ community in general, as she is just hurting the majority of them who has supported and loved her novels in the past.

Anti-Trans Tweet

The British author became the subject of a major Twitter backlash last June after commenting on a Devex article and emphasizing that the description "people who menstruate" should simply be called women.

Her opinion was instantly viewed as anti-transgender and later on sparked debate about sex and gender. Many people slammed the author and accused her of being a "transphobe."

People from the community said they were deeply hurt by Rowling's statement, especially those self-confessed "Potter Heads" who loved the author's Harry Potter series.

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that a so-called outbreak of bubonic plague in China is not being treated as high risk.

Officials in the city of Bayan Nur, in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, issued an early epidemic warning on Sunday  one day after a hospital in the region reported that a man had displayed symptoms of the disease known as the Black Death.

Health officials later confirmed that the unidentified herdsman had tested positive for the illness and was placed in quarantine. He is thought to be in a stable condition.

It is not yet known how the man might have become infected with the disease.

We are monitoring the outbreaks in China, we are watching that closely and in partnership with the Chinese authorities and Mongolian authorities, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a U.N. press briefing in Geneva.

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At the moment we are not...considering it high-risk but we are watching it, monitoring it carefully, she added.

Officials said they were also investigating a second suspected case of bubonic plague, according to Chinas Global Times.

The second reported case was in a 15-year-old girl, who allegedly come into contact with a dead marmot hunted by a dog, according to the publication.

Chinas pandemic warning has temporarily banned the hunting of animals  such as rodents  that could carry plague.

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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.

In November last year, three people in northern China were reported to have been infected with the disease.

Among those was a 58-year-old man who had killed an eaten a wild rabbit. A further 28 people were quarantined as a result of the infection,.

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.

Cases are not uncommon in China although they are becoming increasingly rare.

Additional reporting by Reuters
A nationwide antibody study in Spain has found that only 5.2 per cent of the countrys population has been exposed to coronavirus, suggesting that herd immunity could be unachievable.

The findings marked the conclusion of a three-month study into the prevalence of the virus, which involved testing almost 70,000 people across Spain three times in as many months.

The results confirmed initial reports in May that a low percentage of people in Spain had developed antibodies after being infected with Covid-19.

In an article published in the health journal the Lancet on Monday, the scientists behind the study said: Despite the high impact of COVID-19 in Spain, prevalence estimates remain low and are clearly insufficient to provide herd immunity.

This cannot be achieved without accepting the collateral damage of many deaths in the susceptible population and overburdening of health systems. In this situation, social distance measures and efforts to identify and isolate new cases and their contacts are imperative for future epidemic control, they added.

The study also discovered that 14 per cent of people who tested positive for antibodies in the first test produced a negative result in the final test, which implies that immunity to Covid-19 can be short-lived. This phenomenon was most common among those who never displayed symptoms.

As a result, Dr Raquel Yotti, director of the Carlos III Health Institute which co-led the study, said: Immunity can be incomplete, it can be transitory, it can last for just a short time and then disappear.

After appealing to Spaniards to remain careful, she added: We cant relax, we must keep protecting ourselves and protecting others.

Spain, which has been one of the European countries worst affected by the pandemic, has recorded 28,385 deaths from coronavirus so far. It is still struggling with regions outbreaks, including one that led to the lockdown of more than 200,000 people in Lleida province in the northeast of the country last week.

The Spanish study report came a month after the results of an antibody study in Switzerland involving 2,766 participants were published in the Lancet. It suggested that a low percentage of the population in Geneva tested positive for antibodies, despite the city being a hotspot for the disease.

Additional reporting from Reuters
The Kremlin has said it will impose retaliatory sanctions on the UK after Dominic Raab announced Magnitsky Act-style measures against individuals in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea.

Britains post-Brexit sanctions, which are designed to stop the laundering of blood money, targeted 20 Saudis and 25 Russians who are accused of human rights abuses, including Russias top state investigator.

In response, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia would take reciprocal measures.

We can only regret such unfriendly steps. Of course, the principle of reciprocity and some kind of retaliatory response will apply to the extent that it suits the interests of the Russian Federation, Mr Peskov said.

Speaking about the new sanctions regime, Mr Raab told parliament on Monday: If youre a kleptocrat or an organised criminal, you will not be able to launder your blood money in this country.

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Today this government ... sends a very clear message on behalf of the British people that those with blood on their hands, the thugs and despots, the henchmen and dictators, will not be free to waltz into this country to buy up property on the Kings Road, to do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge, or frankly to siphon dirty money through British banks or other financial institutions, the foreign minister added.

Following his announcement in the House of Commons, Mr Raab met with the widow and son of Sergei Magnitsky, who died after 11 months of mistreatment in Russian police custody in 2009 after he raised allegations that Russian officials had been involved in massive tax fraud.

Magnitskys friend and colleague Bill Browder, who has led the campaign for justice over his death, also attended the meeting.

Alexander Bastrykin, an investigator who reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, and Aleksey Anichin, a former deputy interior minister, are among the Russians who the UK has now blacklisted over Magnitskys death.

The UK also sanctioned 20 Saudis for their roles in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, including intelligence and security officials in the office of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The two top members of Myanmars armed forces are sanctioned for their role in the persecution of the Rohingya, while two North Korean security ministries face asset freezes for running prison camps linked to murder, torture and slave labour.

As well as being banned from travelling to or doing business in the UK, the blacklisted individuals will have their assets in the country frozen.

In a statement given before Mr Raabs announcement, the Foreign Office said that the measures mark the first UK-only sanction regime, rather than sanctions introduced by Britain as part of a EU or United Nations regime.

Commenting on the UK sanctions on Monday, Kate Allen, Amnesty International UKs Director, said: We strongly support efforts to bring more human rights abusers to justice, but theres a risk with a unilateral approach that sanctions could be selectively imposed by the UK for what are essentially political reasons.

It is far preferable to have a joined-up, multilateral approach, working through the UN or the EU for example, she added.
Husham al-Hashimi knew his life was in danger. And late last year, heeding warnings, the Iraqi researcher and scholar took his wife and daughter from his home in Baghdad to Beirut for a few months, returning just before coronavirus lockdown measures were imposed in February.

On Monday evening, he was shot dead. Unknown assailants travelling on motorcycles walked up to his parked car near his home in Baghdads Zayouna district and shot him multiple times in the head and torso, according to surveillance video shown on Iraqi television stations.

A photo showed the 47-year-olds lifeless, blood-splattered body lying on a hospital gurnee. On Tuesday, friends and family carried his body to his home, in a wooden casket draped with the Iraqi flag, then drove him through Baghdad traffic to the cemetery in the city of Najaf for burial.

Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi, who was a personal friend of Hashimi, vowed to find the killers. The interior ministry announced the formation of a special investigative group to pursue the assassins.

We pledge to pursue the killers to bring them to justice, and we will not allow the assassinations to return to Iraq to undermine security and stability, Mr Kadhimi was quoted as saying in a statement after the incident.

The United States Embassy in Iraq issued a statement calling on the Iraqi government to bring those responsible for his murder to swift justice.

Suspicion for the assassination fell on Iranian-backed Shia militias, especially the group Katayeb Hezbollah, whose members and leaders have sparred with Hashimi on social media.

Hashimi was a prominent expert on both armed Shia militias and Sunni insurgents groups. He was a frequent guest on Arabic-language television stations, especially the Saudi-backed al-Hadath network.

According to the Dubai-based channel, he was working on a report on Shia militias surmising that some 70,000 of the fighters, many of whom are part of the Iraqi security forces, are loyal to Iran.

Hashimi leaves behind four young children and a wife. He was generous with his time, frequently meeting for hours with local and foreign journalists and scholars to discuss the nature of Iraqi armed groups. He explained in a chat during one of numerous interviews he has given Western journalists visiting Baghdad that although he was born a Shia and now identified with secular Iraqis, he had flirted once with Sunni extremism and understood the psychology that drove them.

We have known Husham as a man of immense integrity and courage, who advocated vehemently and honorably for a peaceful and prosperous Iraq, said a statement by the Washington think tank Centre for Global Policy. He went where very few others dared. And for that, he paid with his life.

Hashimi identified strongly with Iraqs youthful, non-sectarian protest movement which erupted last year demanding political and social changes, including a curtailing of corruption and the dismantling of militias that have become akin to mafias lording over the government.

Most of the youth are asking the politicians for a piece of bread, Hashimi wrote in his last Tweet before he was killed.

Mr Kadhimi, who came to power in May, has vowed to crack down on some of the groups, recently arresting more than a dozen members of Katayeb Hezbollah for alleged attacks on Baghdads Green Zone, which includes the US embassy, before releasing them after the militia abducted members of the armys elite counter-terrorism force.

Hashimi was critical of the move, speaking about the events in television interviews. One friend said he had warned him that he was going too far in his criticism; only Iraqis based abroad spoke with so little restraint.

The hosts on the shows kept encouraging him to say more and more harsh things, said the friend.

In one recent television interview, a militia leader accused Hashimi of providing the prime minister with disinformation about armed groups.

Husham al-Hashimi, said the leader. I can say his name. He is linked to Kadhimi and his job is to disseminate false information.

Hashimi served occasionally as an official adviser to the government, especially when it was fighting a years-long war to dislodge Isis from northern Iraq.

Irans embassy in Baghdad condemned the killing, as did the leader of the Popular Mobilisation Units, which includes militias without strong connections to Iran. The official Islamic Republic News Agency cited a fake claim for the attack by Isis, which also despised Hashimi and had threatened him over the years.
In the Godfather: Part III, Michael Corleone laments his failure to escape his fate as a member of organised crime. This alluring analogy was used by Jeffrey Goldberg during a 2016 interview with former US President Barack Obama to describe his policies in the Middle East.

Goldberg said that the Middle East is to Obamas presidency what the Mob is to Corleone, quoting the Al Pacino line: Just when I thought I was out

It pulls you back in, said Obama, completed the thought.

If he makes it into the White House, this is the biggest challenge President Joe Biden will have to deal with, having served as Obamas vice president, he knows you cannot ignore or downplay the importance of the most combustible region in the world  as Donald Trump has tried to do.

Biden seems to know it. There will likely be a cautious approach towards his future policies in the region, which would reflect a desire to strike a delicate balance between re-installing security and stability, and not being fully drawn into its festering conflicts.

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But contradictions are rife in dealing with the Middle East and Biden is no exception.

In a 2007 interview, Biden describes himself as a Zionist and a stalwart supporter of Israel, but he is also in opposition to the annexation of parts of the West Bank. He also wants to open a dialogue with the Palestinians  this includes resuming US aid to the Palestinians, reopening the US consulate in East Jerusalem, signalling his support for the two-state solution, and restoring the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) diplomatic mission in Washington DC.

There are no simple answers, as much as Trump often suggests otherwise.

On the issue of the Iran nuclear deal, Bidens campaign is clear that If Tehran returns to compliance with the deal, President Biden will re-enter the agreement. But on many other occasions, the former vice president called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action a starting point and that he would work to extend its nuclear restrictions.

Biden is willing to resume a strategy that proved to be working, until Trump decided in May 2018 to pull the US out of the deal. Trump's policy on Iran may have been one of his most consistent, but Biden understands that maximum pressure policy towards Iran has so far failed to curb its nuclear programme, change its regional behaviour or result in a regime change.

However, Biden is no different than Trump in acknowledging that the nuclear deal needs to be fixed. He is aware of issue of the "sunset clause"  the date when restrictions on Iran can be lifted  and the fact that it needs to include a much longer deadline.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Gulf, Saudi Arabia might not be so keen on Biden's take on their country. When Obama was asked: Arent the Saudis your friends? he replied: Its complicated. Not quite the support that Trump has offered.

Biden has not been afraid to criticise Riyadh. During a Democratic debate last November, Biden said he would make Saudi Arabia pay the price over the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. He also said: We were going to in fact make them pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are, and promised to stop the weapons sales to Riyadh to put an end to the war in Yemen.

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Many analysts across the region think that Biden's policies will be nothing but a spin on Obama's, who worked hard to shift the US focus to south-east Asia instead. But, the Middle East kept "pulling him back in." Biden has pledged to keep a small number of troops in the region to achieve two clear objectives: patrolling the waters of the Gulf and making sure Isis will never make a comeback.

In addition to Iran, Arab US allies fear another imminent threat: an expansion of Turkey's influence.

The UAE Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed once called Obama Untrustworthy for abandoning former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during the 2011 uprising that ended his 30-years rule. There is concern among some that Obama promoted the Muslim Brotherhood (a Sunni group) narrative about the region, and Biden would throw the group a new lifeline, by looking the other way on largely Sunni Islamist Turkeys ambitions. But that is ignoring the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood group, which is designated as a terrorist organisation in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, has been completely crushed in these countries, losing its gravitas too.

But the biggest fears for many countries are already happening, even with Trump's kind words. Half of Saudi Arabia's oil production was briefly knocked out in September by attacks claimed by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. And on a number of occasions, oil tankers have been harassed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz.

In Syria and Libya, many accuse Trump of granting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a green light to advance his country's agenda with no constraints. Trump sees the wars in both countries as not his problem, leaving others to fill the vacuum left.

Leadership is what Biden has promised. Like Trump he wants to bring an end to forever wars in Afghanistan  but also in Yemen. But rather than that coming via unilateral withdrawal, he pledges to elevate diplomacy and restore and reimagine partnerships. According to his campaign, this will be through strengthening US alliances with the Nato partners, reviving US partnerships with South Korea, Japan and other South Asian allies, and signing a new START nuclear treaty with Russia.

The restoration of the US as an active participant in shaping the new world order is key when it comes to the Middle East. Even if this US strategy is based on a strategic re-posturing to tackle China,

Under Biden, Turkey, Iran and Israel are likely to receive a clear message that expansion  by whatever means  will not be left unchecked. The same message will be extended to countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where activists, journalists and dissidents still disappear by the thousands behind bars.

Biden has a growing lead in polls, and some in the Middle East will no doubt miss the more friendly nature of the Trump administration if there is a new president in the wake of November's election.
How much should a slice of meat cost? More than it does now, according to German Agriculture Minister, Julia Kloeckner.

Following a coronavirus outbreak at a German abattoir which cast a spotlight on standards in the industry, Kloeckner is trying to wean German households - many on tight budgets - off low-cost meat.

"Meat is too cheap," Kloeckner said. "Lurid advertising with low prices for meat does not fit with appreciation and sustainability. This is no longer acceptable."

Cut-price meat, from peppered salami to traditional sausage (Wurst), is a staple for many German consumers but the Covid-19 outbreak at a meat plant in the west of the country has raised questions about some of the measures taken to keep prices down.

Efforts to trace people affected by the virus were hampered when some slaughterhouses were unable to give the home addresses of all their workers because they were relying on sub-contracting firms to supply them with migrant labour.

Some of the sub-contracting firms were themselves also relying on sub-contractors to get them staff.

German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil condemned the system of "sub-sub-sub-contracting" in abattoirs and is introducing a new law compelling meatpackers to employ staff directly.

Animal welfare levy

In addition, Kloeckner plans a raft of measures to address the "serious consequences" of downward meat price pressures on animal welfare, working conditions in abattoirs and farmers' incomes - a move she knows risks driving business abroad, with a loss of control over standards.

Kloeckner has proposed an animal welfare levy to compensate farmers for the cost of better husbandry of their livestock. She will also push for European animal welfare labelling on meat goods.

"Meat should not be a luxury commodity for the rich, but also not an everyday junk product," she said.

One estimate put the price of a kilo of beef leg 10.64 in Germany against  16.67 in France.

German meat processing industry association VDF said the industry will accept change.

"The sector has decided to depart from the system of worker contracts in slaughtering, cutting and packing of meat as fast as possible," VDF director Heike Harstick said.

German poultry meatpackers have pledged to end sub-contracting by early 2021.

Reuters
These three bullocks sold for 970 at Kilkcullen Mart recently. Photo: Roger Jones

Beef prices are set to rise by up to 10c/kg this week, offering some hope to finishers after months of stagnation.

The price rises come on the back of buoyant British demand, uncertainty over cattle supplies and strong grass growth.

Competition between factory buyers has seen quotes for bullocks move up by 5-10c/kg to 3.60-3.65/kg, with heifers on 3.65-3.70/kg.

Bulls have also improved to 3.70/kg for U-grades, with Rs on 3.60kg, while O-grades are on 3.40-3.50/kg.

Factories are finding it tougher to secure stock, with strong grass growth encouraging finishers to hold out for higher prices, and Northern buyers driving the trade at many marts.

Bord Bia confirmed that as of May 1, the number of male cattle over 12 months of age is 68,000 lower than on May 1, 2019 and the number of beef female cattle is 25,000 lower.

These tightening numbers should provide a level of advantage for the primary producer, according to ICMSA president Pat McCormack.

In addition, while beef demand has taken a hit due to Covid-19, with restrictions being relaxed across the EU, there is certainly optimism that demand levels will recover over the rest of the year.

This provides a reasonable market outlook for beef that has to be translated into better prices for farmers, Mr McCormack added.





Price differential

Factories have also come under sustained pressure from farm organisations to boost returns as British prices soared.

The market has clearly improved, yet factories continue to try and hold back the price, said IFA president Tim Cullinan.

Last week the British steer price at 3.68/kg was equivalent to 4.29/kg. This equates to a price differential of 173 on an average steer.

However, concerns have been raised in the UK that the post-coronavirus recovery in Irelands factory throughput could undermine British beef prices in the short- to medium-term.

Hannah Clarke, analyst with the AHDB, noted that the British beef price increases of the last few weeks have not been matched in Ireland, suggesting that any Irish supplies that do come into the UK are likely to be more competitively priced.
The IFA and ICMSA have expressed deep concern regarding proposed changes to Ornua's Purchasing Price Index (PPI) which could adversely affect returns to dairy farmers.

Moves to increase the processing allowance which is used to convert the PPI into an estimated farmgate milk price have been strongly opposed by the farm organisations.

It is understood that the proposals will increase the allowance for processing from 6.5c/l to 6.9c/l. This would reduce the PPI conversion to a farmgate price by 0.4c/l.

IFA president Tim Cullinan said reports that Ornua were reviewing aspects of the PPI had left farmers very concerned.

"Farmers and the IFA have always valued the transparency the PPI has brought to the dairy market. The same transparency must apply to any proposed change in any aspect of the PPI," Mr Cullinan said.

"Any review must also be used to show the full benefits Ornua returns to co-ops.

"I think Ornua need to reflect on the timing of the review when there is such volatility and uncertainty in the market due to Covid-19 and with Brexit looming.

"Farmers need to have full confidence in the PPI and we can't risk any perception that the goalposts are being moved."

The ICMSA has rejected the need for changes to the processing cost element of the PPI.

"There should be no changes to the processing costs used in the PPI calculation until a full and independent assessment of processing costs in Ireland is carried out in a clear and transparent manner," said Ger Quain of ICMSA.

"It is simply unacceptable that adjustments can be made based on data provided by processors," he added.

It is understood that the proposed PPI changes are due to be discussed at Ornua board level over the next week.

Mr Cullinan said the IFA was looking for a top-level meeting with Ornua to discuss the matter.

The Ornua PPI is a monthly indicator of market returns on dairy products purchased by the marketing body - typically butter, cheese, whole milk powder and protein products - relative to comparable returns generated in the base year of 2010.

Efforts to increase Ornua's estimated processing charge are being driven by the dairies, who argue that the cost structure of the industry has changed radically since the charge was set in 2010.

Converting the Ornua PPI into a farmgate milk price has been a thorn in the side of many dairy processors over the last few years, with the farm organisations pointing out that returns to farmers have traditionally tracked below the PPI equivalent price.

The current PPI equates to a farmgate milk price of 29.88c/l. However, many of the country's processors are paying below this level.

Bonuses

Meanwhile, the ICMSA has claimed that all processors should be paying at least 30c/l for June milk given the improved market sentiment of the last few weeks.

The ICMSA's Ger Quain warned processors that suppliers wanted the market value for June milk, not bonuses paid later in the year.

"Farmers are very clearly saying that they want their milk price paid in full now and not as retrospective bonuses later in the year. ICMSA does not accept milk processors using milk suppliers as a risk management tool by holding milk price at peak and paying bonuses later," Mr Quain said.

While processors have described current dairy commodity markets as "sticky", traders report that milk supplies across Europe remain tight.

IFA and ICMSA concerned over proposed changes

to dairy co-ops' Purchasing Price Index (PPI)
Having operated various beef production systems for years, Michael and Kathleen Flynn decided that beef farming had become economically unsustainable and the family is converting to dairy.

In 2009 we were in sucklers and it was eating into our Single Farm Payment, says the family from Puckane, near Nenagh, Co Tipperary. My wife Kathleen decided that we needed to do something about it, and we went down the calf-to-beef route.

We started rearing a small amount of calves in the spring of 2010 and started with 20. By 2013 we had built up to 200 calves. Everything went to beef and everything went through the ABP factory.

While he was happy enough initially, Michael began to question the system after a few years.

We found grading cattle going into the factory to be very difficult. The difference in grades could be 100 an animal. We were selling through Hereford prime and there was a bonus of an extra 20c/kg but it was dropping back to 15c or 10c/kg at different times.

Across the border in Northern Ireland and in the UK beef is getting 4/kg (about 4.42) and its only getting 3.60 here. It doesnt make sense. Its bad for trade.

Dairying

Ive spoken to different people who made the switch and they arent sorry that they did it. There are not too many beef lads left around us.

There are some places where the land isnt suitable for dairy farming and thats fair enough but its very difficult to make a living off beef.

You need a second income, but you cant obey two masters  you cant look after stock, manage grass etc and work full time somewhere else.

Expand Close Michael and his wife Kathleen set up the farm partnership with Paul last September. Photo: Liam Burke / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michael and his wife Kathleen set up the farm partnership with Paul last September. Photo: Liam Burke

Together with their son Paul  an inter-county hurler  who has dairy experience, Michael and Kathleen decided to take the leap into dairying.

Paul came in on a partnership with us, Michael says. Were in the process of trying to get up and running the dairy operation by 2021.

"Paul went to Gurteen Agricultural College to do his Green Cert and he did a three-months work placement with a local dairy farmer called James OMeara and ended up staying working for him for three years.

I hope hell be able to stay hurling because its only a short career and Im happy to stay working here with him and help as much as I can for the next few years."

The Flynns are well set up to make the switch, with a large milking platform and beef cattle accommodation that can be easily converted to cubicles.

We have a milking platform of 92 ha in total, which is all of our own ground. Its ideally set up for dairying  we only have to cross one quiet laneway to reach a small part of it.

Were converting the beef units into approximately 130 cubicles and have plans to build new cubicles, and the dairy enterprise is being built on a greenfield site. It will consist of a 24-unit Fullwood Packo herringbone milking parlour, a drafting system and calving facilities, all under one roof. Our local Teagasc advisor Michael Hogan in Nenagh gave us great help with planning the layout and facilities.

While the majority of the building work is being done over a few months this spring/summer, Michael found the planning process took quite a while.

It was a 12-month process from when we started planning to when we started building. Between talking to the county council, getting drawings done, dealing with solicitors and dealing with the bank."

Although it took a while, we used AIB and they were very good.

Setting up the partnership between myself, Paul and Kathleen took a lot of time. A local agricultural advisor called Anthony Cleary was very helpful. Going through the Department took a lot of time but its all done now and were ready to hit the ground running.

Stock

Buying new stock also took time. Having looked at various breeds, the Flynns opted for Holstein/British Friesian crosses.

Expand Close Paul and his twin brother Alan (left) hurl for their local club Kildangan, who reached last years Tipperary senior final, and both are panellists with the county senior team. Photo: Odhran Ducie/OD photography / Facebook

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Whatsapp Paul and his twin brother Alan (left) hurl for their local club Kildangan, who reached last years Tipperary senior final, and both are panellists with the county senior team. Photo: Odhran Ducie/OD photography

We bought in heifers earlier this year, which bred in May and June. We bought 83 and have plans to buy 50 more in August/September. Our plan is to build a good foundation of a herd. Were trying to get them all in from as few herds as possible, which was always our plan, even when we were at beef.

We used Friesian AI for six weeks and have an Angus bull for six weeks; well take him out on July 10 and scan a month after that.

Were happy enough we ran a good show here before, so we can take it into dairy farming.

On average our Hereford heifers were slaughtered at 19 months and they averaged 280kg deadweight and the bullocks averaged 355kg.

We reseed 15pc of the farm every year, so were well fit to grow grass  its free-draining land. In an average year wed get stock out in February or by the first week of March at the latest.

Things got dry here for a while but since the rain came grass has been jumping out of the ground.





The partnership allowed us to apply for grants such as TAMS

Expand Close Michael and Paul Flynn on their farm in Puckaun, Nenagh. Photo: Liam Burke / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michael and Paul Flynn on their farm in Puckaun, Nenagh. Photo: Liam Burke

Michael Flynn and his wife Kathleen set up the partnership with their son Paul last September, after the plans to convert from beef farming to dairying were set in motion.

We had started out this plan in May 2019 to change to dairying and the whole process took 10-11 months, with planning, registering partnerships and other paperwork that needed to be done, says Michael.

The main reason for the partnership was that Paul was interested in coming on board to farm and we felt that there wasnt a good future in beef.

We were in beef for a lot of years and it wasnt too bad up to a couple of years ago. However, you could not send a family to college on a beef farm [now].

The partnership allowed us to apply for grants such as TAMS, and as Paul is under 35 we could qualify for grants at 60pc and I could get a 40pc grant.

Michael has no plans to still be milking cows when hes 70 or 80, he says, and a partnership allows a natural transition of the farm over the Paul, who is an inter-county hurler with Tipperary.

I hope to help out Paul for a few years until we get up and going and I do intend to sit back a little after that. Im involved in GAA myself and enjoy giving time to that too, Michael says.

It was great to have Paul interested in the farm. It allows him to have a percentage of the profits.

While Michael admits its a big challenge to go milking cows, he says he likes a challenge, as does Paul.

But no one I have spoken to who has changed over to dairying is disappointed with the change.

Im surrounded by a number of top-class dairy farmers who have alway been helpful with advice, which we've taken on board."

The plan is for the partnership to start milking 130-140 cows, all black and white, in February.

The main grant-aided spend on the farm will be the milking equipment, Michael says, with bulk tanks and feeders, as opposed to a building grant.

Under TAMS the partnership can draw back 80,000 if they spend 160,000. The Flynns are installing a 24-unit Fullwood Packo herringbone milking parlour, and progress on the build, Michael says, has been smooth with his contractor David Grant, with the tanks now done and roofing taking place.

However, the partnership has been very conscious of its spending.

Kathleen is very involved in the farm and keeps a tight rein on spending, Michael says.

You need to have that on any farm. You have to be able to draw the line, as its very easy to go overboard with the spending.

But whats in the bulk tank at the end of the day is what goes back into your pocket.
When Ghislaine Maxwell -- former girlfriend and long-time confidante of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein -- was finally arrested last week, people could not wait for what she is going to reveal about this sexual abuse and trafficking case involving prominent personalities.

But instead of major revelations about Epstein's association with some of the world leaders, the Twitter world was greeted with another bombshell claim about the British socialite.

It is after a certain Twitter user claimed that he is the estranged son of Ghislaine Maxwell and incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump. It all started when the man by the name "James Maxwell Trump" emerged on the social networking site, claiming that he is the love child of both Trump and Maxwell.

To make his claims look credible, James Maxwell Trump shared a photo of what is supposed to be his birth certificate, clearly showing Maxwell and Trump's name as his parents.

The duly signed document shows that James was allegedly born on December 21, 1992 in Manhattan, New York.

This revelation created a buzz on Twitter, with some people believing that it could be true since Epstein and Maxwell have been close to Trump back in the days.

There are also several photos going around the internet, proving that Maxwell and Trump did not only meet once but a couple of times together with their respective partners.

Is James Maxwell Trump Real?

While many bought the idea of Trump and Maxwell having a 27-year-old love child, some eagle-eyed internet users quickly pointed out that James Maxwell Trump is not a real person.

First off, they pointed out that no records showed that the 58-year-old British socialite was pregnant between 1991 to 1992.

Second, the birth certificate that James uploaded on Twitter is said to be an altered version of a birth certificate of a certain person named Tara Ann Unzamere.

Just a quick Google search will prove how fake the document is. When you search for "New York Birth Certificate," Unzamere's document will be the first one to greet you. It means that all other details in the paper were altered to make it look real.

Third, the profile picture of the infamous Twitter account is obviously a mashup of Trump's faces with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's.

And most importantly, the Twitter account of James Maxwell Trump only emerged days after Maxwell's arrest.

In short, Maxwell and Trump are just mere victims of hoax and fake accounts trying to spark controversy in the middle of sensational case development.

Ghislaine Maxwell Arrest

After months of searching and surveillance, authorities finally arrested Maxwell on July 4 in New Hampshire. She is currently in custody for immediate transfer to New York.

Based on civil court filings, the authorities accused Maxwell of facilitating Epstein's sex trafficking operation by bringing girls as young as 14 to Epstein's multiple residences, including the apartment in Manhattan, mansion in Palm Beach, New Mexico ranch, and Maxwell's own house in London.

Maxwell is now facing multiple sex abuse charges, and if convicted, she will be facing 35 years in prison.

READ MORE: Royal Protection: Prince Andrew NOT In Danger In Jeffrey Epstein Case?

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
The Department said the progress of the bill has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. File photo

THE progress of legislation that would reduce Fair Deal nursing home costs for farm families has been delayed by Covid-19, the Department of Health has said.

At present, the capital value of an individual's principal private residence is only included in the financial assessment for the first three years of their time in care - this is known as the three-year cap.

However, this cap does not apply to productive assets such as farms and businesses except in cases of sudden illness or disability where specific conditions are met.

Under legislation approved by the Government in June 2019, it was proposed to extend the three-year cap provision to farmers and business owners.

The current system sees farm families and small business owners required to set aside 7.5pc of the value of their land annually to fund a place in a nursing home.

The proposed policy change to the Nursing Homes Support Scheme would cap contributions based on farm and business assets at three years, where a family successor commits to working the productive asset.

The Department said that this proposed policy change will be extended to eligible existing participants in long-term residential care so that they are not disadvantaged. However, it also said there would be no retrospective recoupment of contributions for those who have paid contributions over and above the three-year period.

Workload

It said the changes to the scheme will come into effect as soon as the legislative process is successfully complete.

However, the Department said the progress of the bill has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic due to the Department's workload in responding to the pandemic.

The Department added that the budget for the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, commonly referred to as Fair Deal, has been increased to 1.07bn for 2020, up from 986.2m.
"Cough etiquette" is one of the phrases that has defined 2020 for me so far. Not a day goes by that I don't hear about how coughing into my elbow will help minimise the risk of spread of Covid 19.

As the country returns to some semblance of normality, I was starting to enjoy not hearing about coughing at every hands turn. However, this week, coughing is back with a bang - not in people this time, but in our cows.

A number of farmers in recent days have complained of hearing cows coughing, either on the way in from pasture or when standing at the back of the parlour waiting to be milked. The cough is a dry, husky type cough. There is often an accompanying drop in milk yield. Fertility can also be affected. This is typical of a lungworm infestation.

Lungworm seems to be becoming more and more of a problem in recent years.

Lungworm love wet and warm weather, which is exactly what we have had over the past two weeks.

Unfortunately, the ideal conditions for grass growth are also ideal for lungworm. The dung pats at pasture are full of larvae which are spread onto the grass when rain falls. This has led to a massive increase in lungworm being ingested by cows.

The spell of dry weather that we had in late May and June ensured that very little lungworm was in the pasture at that time. Due to the fact that the cow's immune system was not exposed to lungworm, immunity decreased.

A sharp increase in lungworm at pasture combined with decreased immunity has created the perfect storm for lungworm this July.

Tight grazing patterns have served only to exacerbate the problem. Some herds of cows are returning to pasture every 17-18 days. This quickly leads to massive burdens of lungworm larvae. Topping, although necessary for better grass quality, has the disadvantage of spreading the dung-pats thereby distributing lungworm larvae all over the pasture.

A lungworm problem in cows starts back at the calf stage. The calf worming protocol, or lack thereof, can mean that calves gain little or no immunity in their first year. There is a tendency to dose calves whenever is convenient, rather than only when necessary.

Calves need to exposure to lungworm to develop immunity. A dosing strategy should be drawn up in conjunction with your vet to ensure immunity to lungworm can be developed in your replacement stock.

Weather conditions, pasture type, faecal samples and handling facilities will all be taken into account when formulating a plan.

The aim is for replacement stock to enter the grazing herd with a strong level of immunity. There is a vaccine available against lungworm, which is playing an increasing role in the development and maintenance of immunity every year in dairy herds.

It seems on first glance that there are a number of zero milk withdrawal products on the market for the treatment of lungworm in cows. There are various different pour-ons and also an injectable formulation.

At this time of year there seems to be some zero milk withdrawal wormer on offer in every farm store every week. The grim reality is that, despite all the product names, the active ingredient is the same - eprinomectin. There is no other option for dosing dairy cows during the grazing season. Eprinomectin is all we have. If resistance develops to eprinomectin, that's it.

We should be using zero milk withdrawal products very, very carefully to ensure we have them in the future. Don't buy and use a product because it's on special offer. Only use it when it's completely necessary and in consultation with your vet.

When lungworm is suspected, we need to confirm that it is present and also, rule out other causes of coughing.

Swabs can be taken to check for viruses such as IBR or PI3. A bulk milk sample can be analysed for antibodies to worms but shouldn't be used on its own to confirm. A lung washes (also known as a BAL) can be performed by your vet. A small volume of saline is flushed into the lungs and sucked back out. In severe cases, adult lungworm can be seen in the fluid. The fluid can be examined under a microscope to see lungworm larvae.

It is also worth noting that, after dosing coughing cow, the coughing may continue for a number of weeks due to irritation in the airways. Success of treatment should be judged by a combination of an increase in milk yield and a gradual decrease in the incidence of coughing. Reinfection can occur so continuous monitoring should be carried out.

Hopefully, as the summer goes on, we will hear less and less coughing, across all species.

Eamon O'Connell is a vet with the Summerhill Veterinary Clinic, Nenagh, Co Tipperary
Nursing homes have been in the news a lot lately and for all the wrong reasons. In the fullness of time, the State and wider society will have to come to terms with the terrible toll Covid-19 wreaked on our care homes.

However, despite well-documented failures, nursing homes remain a vital source of care for our most vulnerable citizens.

Access to residential care at a reasonable cost has been a contentious issue for farm families for some time. What farm has the ability to pay 60,000 a year in nursing home fees? Not many, given the recent farm income figures from Teagasc.
It was a week of two halves. Anyone keeping an eye on public life in the country was certainly taken to the heights of history as the two post-Civil War factions set aside their differences and joined a coalition government.

For students of history this was a unique moment almost 100 years after the then monolithic Sinn Fein party split into two warring factions.

Nevertheless, the highest point of the week had to be the heroics of our frontline workers as portrayed in RTE's documentary on Covid-19.

For two nights we watched as our nurses, doctors, hospital attendants and hospital staff faced the horrors of Covid -19 with professionalism, dedication, tenderness and love.

They risked their own health to protect the lives of others. The balm of human kindness shone through the masks and plastics of pandemic care.

But we were brought crashing back down to the 'old normal' with the unedifying spectacle that surrounded the dishing out of junior ministries.

It was incredible to behold the snivelling self-regard many in political life have for themselves. At a time when the country needs selfless service more than it ever did, when we are in the grip of a deadly pandemic and about to enter the teeth of a recession, all we got from would-be ministers and junior minister were cries of 'me, me, me'.

Those with the greatest welcome for themselves cocked their noses when the responsibilities offered them didn't fit their notions of their stations in life. They told their leaders where to stick the positions on offer.

The sense of entitlement was jaw-dropping. Some such as Fianna Fail's Michael Moynihan seem to believe that part loyalty should result in even more lavishly feathered political nests. His party colleague, the lofty Jim O'Callaghan, turned down the opportunity to serve his country, saying he wishes instead to use his time and energy as a legislator to serve his party's advancement. As other commentators have pointed out, his eschewing of a junior ministry also leaves him free to continue to practice as a senior counsel in the courts.

Fine Gael's John Paul Phelan and Joe McHugh are also to be found in the ranks of the sulking wounded while the real wounded are trying to get their lives back together after months of sweat and tears among the laboured and the dying.

North of the border Sinn Fein showed that it still operates in a parallel universe where regulations are meant for everyone else.

Those who suffer bereavements as a result of Covid have their pain and suffering doubled and tripled. They are unable to see, to hear or to feel the support of their extended families and communities as they carry their loved ones in sealed coffins to lonely graveyards all over the country. But obviously the Sinn Fein dead are more important than anyone else's dead.

And the Greens haven't covered themselves in glory.

Newly elected TD Steven Matthews saw his wife co-opted into his council seat, while also appointing her his secretarial assistant.

Meanwhile, Vincent P Martin, the brother of deputy leader Catherine Martin, has been appointed to the Seanad. At the very least the optics of this stuff are appalling.

Many sides of human nature have been on display over the last number of months. We have seen outstanding examples of leadership, we have witnessed people take life-threatening risks for the sake of the public good and some paid the ultimate price.

But things haven't really changed.

As we move on to the next phase of the pandemic, it is regrettable that the much-spoken-of 'new normal' won't be very much different from the old version.

When it comes to our political classes, the notions of service, selflessness and civic mindedness are set to remain just that, notions, while a crass sense of entitlement pervades the system that sustains them.

On February 11, 1926 WB Yeats took to the stage in the Abbey theatre as the audience disrupted a performance of O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars. He shouted at them: "You have disgraced yourselves again."

If his ghost were to appear on the stage of the National Convention Centre at the next gathering of our parliamentarians, he would surely be justified in repeating that sentiment.

While our politicians squabble bitterly about the division of ministerial spoils, thank goodness for the redemption personified by the actions of the men and women who scrub floors, change drips and kiss the dying in our hospital wards.
A number of weeks ago the ICSA's Sean McNamara put out a press statement critical of sheep imports from Northern Ireland undermining factory prices here in the South.

Looking into the claim, the Farming Independent contacted various agencies on either side of the border seeking figures.

It has to be pointed out that there is nothing illegal about importing sheep that originate within the EU once all veterinary and traceability rules are followed.

What I found interesting was how the figures on imports broke down when I compared the data I received from the North's Livestock and Meat Commission with the figures supplied by our Department of Agriculture.

The Department quoted data from the EU's Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) which gave the total number of sheep imported into the Republic as 521,798 in 2018, 461,522 in 2019 and to April 1 this year, 108,853.

The Livestock and Meat Commission data, however, shows that in 2018 of those 521,798 sheep imported, only 421,365 originated from flocks in Northern Ireland.

In 2019 the figure was 380,431, and up to April 4, 2020, 94,899 sheep originated from flocks north of the border.

These figures show a serious dependence by southern sheep processors on imports.

These figures also raise questions about how this trade might operate in a post-Brexit situation.

And do the Department know where all these imports ended up?

In the here and now the sheep trade appears to be seeing a revival in fortunes as factory quotes for lambs rose yesterday by 10-15c/kg.

The biggest increase comes from Kepak Athleague, who added 15c/kg, bringing it up to 5.35+15c/kg quality assurance.

Kildare Chilling go up 10c/kg to 5.40+10c/kg QA. Dawn Ballyhaunis and the two ICMs also add 10c/kg, reaching 5.30+10c/kg QA.

The ICM plants and Kildare continue to quote 4.40+10c/kg QA for hogget.

On the cull ewe side all quotes remain unchanged, with Kildare continuing to offer 2.60+10c/kg, while all the rest remain on a straight 2.50/kg.

Both the ICSA and the IFA report stronger prices being offered, with the IFA's Sean Dennehy claiming that as the trade has strengthened, "factories are paying 30c to 35c/kg over quoted prices to get stock, with 5.60-5.65/kg paid".

On the cull ewe front he claims up to 2.80/kg has been offered.

Sean McNamara agreed that up to 5.65/kg was possible for lamb but explained that you have to "build that price with bonuses off a base of probably of 5.40/kg".

Trade in marts has also seen an improvement with very strong demand for stores from farmers pushing prices forward by 5-10/hd in places, with 30kg lambs making upwards of 85/hd.

The trade for factory type lambs at marts also moved very positively as factories upped the ante to the point where the mart road appears a real option when compared to direct selling.

For those in the sheep game the weather this year has been a huge help, with Nelius McAuliffe in Dingle crediting it for the thrive he has seen in lambs.

"The early sunshine suited them," he said.

Sunshine all round at present it seems.

Marts

Baltinglass

A bigger sale, a complete clearance and stronger prices was the story here with 40-50kg lambs selling from 96-120/hd, an increase of 1-3/hd, while 35-40kg lambs averaged 86-96/hd.

Among the lighter lots, prices were better by around 5/hd, with 30-35kgs averaging 73-86/hd, while 25-30kg lots sold from 68-73/hd. Hogget ewes sold from 115-145/hd with 2-4-year-old ewes making up to 130/hd. Cast ewes sold from 60-110/hd.

Dowra

A very big sale, with over 1,600 sheep on offer including 1,300 factory and store lambs. Those big numbers were matched by strong prices as factory buyers were keen.

Top price of the day saw twelve 45kg Suffolk lambs, average 129.50/hd. Other notable prices included 50kgs at 125.50/hd, 43kgs at 118/hd and 42kgs at 112/hd.

Among the store types, samples included 35kgs selling from 87-93/hd with 31.5kgs making 89/hd with prices in general running from 75-100/hd.

Quality breeding hoggets sold from 130-183/hd. Cast ewes also had a good day, selling from 85-130/hd.

Blessington

A busy sale that saw a good trade all round with all butcher and factory lambs improved by 4-5/hd. Butcher types sold from 114-120/hd, with factory lambs averaging from 100-114/hd. Trade for stores was also stronger with those over 35kgs making from 84-98/hd, while lighter types averaged 55-83/hd.

Fat ewes sold from 105-125/hd with feeding ewes making 79-103/hd.

Dingle

Neilius McAuliffe reported a very large sale with fleshed lambs coming earlier because the early sunshine suited them.

Lambs up to 47kg sold from 2.30-2.40/kg while on the store side those under 37kg averaged 2.10-2.35/kg.

Cull ewes sold from 1/kg to 1.20/kg, giving averages of 85-110/hd.

Headford

Lambs ranged from 74-115/hd or 2.11-2.74/kg. Sample prices included 42kgs at 115/hd, 45kgs at 108/hd and 43kgs at 105/hd.

Among the lighter lots the better 34-35kg lambs sold from 80-85/hd. Cull ewes made 75-111/hd.

Mountbellew

Numbers here remained constant, with trade a shade better in places.

Sample prices included twenty 37.2kg wether lambs that sold for 90/hd, with another twenty wethers weighing 37.1kg averaging 94/hd. Six 47kg ram lambs sold for 110/hd, while five 43kg ewe lambs made 114/hd.

Strongest per-head price was five 52kg ram lambs that averaged 118/hd. Stag ewes were a stronger trade than the previous week with prices 85-125/hd.
BigDish operates a yield management platform for restaurants that was in use in 650 outlets in the UK before the pandemic stuck (stock image)

Dublin-based software firm Wia Technologies has inked a partnership with UK food technology company BigDish that will see the Irish venture's platform - which monitors building capacity in real time - rolled out across restaurants in the UK.

It will enable the restaurants to adhere to rules including those for social distancing in the Covid environment, according to BigDish.

BigDish operates a yield management platform for restaurants that was in use in 650 outlets in the UK before the pandemic stuck.

"When restaurants reopen, safe dining and physical distancing, will be important for restaurants in order to give confidence to their customers," said the company.

Wia offers services such as people counting and space utilisation monitoring in buildings.

"By using GDPR-compliant people counting sensors, the Wia solution can monitor capacity in real-time and provide information to ensure physical distancing and appropriate capacities are maintain," noted BigDish. "Wia's compliance-focused analytics also help businesses identify when certain key metrics fall below the limits set within definable guidelines, including those set by the governments regarding Covid-19."

Wia Technologies was founded and is headed by Northern Ireland native Conall Laverty.

He was named by Forbes in its '30 under 30' list of technology entrepreneurs in 2019.

The company is backed by Enterprise Ireland, the entrepreneur-led Sure Valley Ventures private equity firm and the National Digital Research Centre.

"The suite of tools offered by Wia forms an ideal solution for businesses, including restaurants, now facing the difficult task of trying to allow their employees and customers to return," said BigDish of the software.

The UK firm said that it's revamping its technology offering to customers in light of the structural changes that are happening within the food service sector.

"The pandemic has caused significant disruption to the hospitality industry," it said.

"Over the past several months the company has been developing its strategy in preparing for what the future of the restaurant industry will look like and how best to respond to the needs of restaurants and consumers."

It added: "The company recognises that the pandemic has also accelerated certain consumer trends and as such has been proactively upgrading its technology platform in order to address the wider needs of restaurants and consumers."
Turnover at insurer 123.ie continued to decline last year, falling 17pc to 24.6m, newly-filed accounts for the business show.

Owned by RSA Insurance, profits halved to 3.2m in 2019.

The accounts for the company behind the 123 firm - 123 Money - also show despite the deterioration in its financial performance, the firm still paid a 4m interim dividend to its parent. However, that was less than half the 8.5m paid in 2018.

The 123.ie directors said the revenue decline for 2019 was "slight", and they were satisfied with the performance for the year.

They noted that the cost of sales at the business, which employs about 170 people, rose last year to 1.3m, which compared to 1.2m in 2018. They blamed the increase on higher telephone charges.

The directors also said there have been "no adjusting events" since the end of 2019, but that they continue to monitor the potential impact of the Covid pandemic on the economy.

RSA bought 123.ie in 2010, a decade after it was founded by Derek Richardson.

In 2013, RSA said that it had found a 274m hole in the accounts for its main Irish business.

It was eventually forced to pump almost 400m into the Irish RSA subsidiary.

RSA said earlier this year that its main business here had delivered "excellent" results for 2019.

Its Irish arm posted net written premiums of 327m (361m) last year, which compared to 312m the previous year.

In a trading update for the first quarter of this year, RSA said premiums at its Irish business were broadly flat. Shares in RSA jumped in May as the insurer estimated its exposure to the coronavirus pandemic at just 25m and said most of its business interruption policies did not offer cover.

There was little effect from the pandemic on RSA's first-quarter results, with business operating profit up by double-digit percentages, the home, motor and commercial insurer said.

Best known in Britain for its 'More Than' brand, RSA also has large operations in Canada and Scandinavia.

Last month, Britain's financial services compensation body said it's "keeping an eye" on insurers facing claims from companies whose business has been interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some insurers have balked at paying out on business interruption claims, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is asking the courts to clarify the wording in policies, which could lead to more claims being valid.

The FCA's Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is braced for a rise in claims as some financial firms are expected to go under in the pandemic.

The FSCS is working with the FCA, Bank of England and finance ministry to quantify what could come down the line.

Additional reporting: Reuters
The European economic decline is expected to be larger than what was initially predicted Photo: Bloomberg

Irelands economy is expected to shrink by 8.5pc this year due to the impact of Covid-19, according to indicators from the European Commission.

The anticipated decline in economic growth here is greater than the European Union average of 8.3pc.

The overall decline across Europe is expected to be larger than what was initially predicted in the Commissions Spring Forecast.

It comes as large swaths of the economy have experienced a dramatic slowdown in business on the back of restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the global pandemic.

Commission vice president, Valdis Dombrovskis, said the economic impact of the lockdown is more severe than was initially expected.

We continue to navigate in stormy waters and face many risks, including another major wave of infections, Mr Dombrovskis said.

If anything, this forecast is a powerful illustration of why we need a deal on our ambitious recovery package, NextGenerationEU, to help the economy, he added.

With most EU member states introducing lockdown measures in mid-March a far longer period of disruption and lockdown has taken place in the second quarter of 2020, therefore economic output is expected to have contracted significantly more than in the first three months of this year.

Nonetheless, early data for May and June suggest that the worst may have passed, according to the Commission.

The recovery is expected to gain traction in the second half of this year, albeit remaining incomplete and uneven across countries.

Meanwhile, the Irish economy is expected to record growth of 6.3pc next year, higher than the EU expected average of 5.8pc.

However, the Commission warned that the risks to the European economic forecast are exceptionally high and mainly to the downside.

It said the scale and duration of the pandemic, and of possibly necessary future lockdown measures, remain unknown.

The forecast assumes that lockdown measures will continue to ease and there will not be a second wave' of infections.

There remains to be a risk that the labour market could suffer more long-term scars than expected, and that liquidity difficulties could turn into solvency problems for many companies, according to the Commission.

In addition, it warned that a failure to secure an agreement on the future trading relationship between the UK and the European Union could also result in lower growth, particularly for the UK.

Elsewhere, protectionist policies and an excessive turning away from global production chains could also negatively affect trade and the global economy, the Commission added.
Struggling small firms should be allowed to 'borrow back' 2019 tax payments, offset current losses against profits through 2024 and gain a trove of fast-track tax deductions, according to a team of PwC tax consultants.

Their submission to Government, published today, describes many of their scores of proposals as "heretofore unimagined" - but effective to boost small firms' perilous cash positions.

"The situation is so serious, and the threats so large," said Nicola Quinn, tax partner at PwC Cork. "Decisive measures need to be taken to help Ireland's SME sector."

She said PwC's ideas involve "a suite of measures, including for sectors badly hit such as hospitality, tourism, retail and motor, along with accelerated tax deductions aimed at preserving cash, encouraging investment and injecting demand. This should ultimately save and create jobs."

Among PwC's proposals are:

:: Firms could set 2020 losses against profits for three years, up from one year - so long as that firm traded profitably before the crisis. This would "ensure that the measure supports viable businesses".

:: Workers on reduced hours or salaries would gain a 1,000 tax credit to protect net pay.

:: VRT on motor sales would be cut by 20pc and VAT on hospitality and tourism to 5pc.

:: The 0.5pc rate for employer PRSI - introduced alongside emergency wage subsidies - would run through the end of the year. Firms normally pay PRSI equivalent to at least 8.8pc of employee pay.

:: A "borrow back tax" scheme would let companies borrow up to a quarter of their 2019 tax payments.

:: Firms would receive 100pc advance capital allowances for spending on employees' home-office equipment and for all investments in plant, equipment and vehicle fleet. These allowances - currently available only for certain energy-efficiency purchases - would promote home working, aid SMEs' cash flow and drive sales to trading partners.

:: To spur online sales skills, retail and hospitality firms would get a tax break worth twice the value of their investment in new or improved online sales channels.

Tax partner Colm O'Callaghan said SMEs "require creative and heretofore unimagined responses".

While forbearance measures on tax payments were helping to preserve their cash, he said, many SMEs now need "cash injections" even more.
It looks like Chris Evans has finally found his perfect pair -- or so people believe.

Amid the ongoing crisis in the U.K., Evans shared some excitement after being spotted getting into a cab with British actress Lily James. In photos obtained by the Daily Mail, the two were seen leaving a private club in the Mayfair neighborhood in London on June 4.

According to the paparazzi, Evans and James jumped in the same black cab together before heading back to the luxe hotel Corinthia. However, the source also confirmed that the 31-year-old "Mamma Mia 2" actress exited the taxi first and headed to another hotel door.

Meanwhile, the 39-year-old "Captain America" star headed to the main entrance where he waited for the staff to open the door for him after waving his guest key card through the glass.

Their meeting came after James reportedly split from "The Crown" star Matt Smith. The two dated for five years until they decided to go their separate ways last year.

The said breakup reportedly happened in december 2019. However, three months later, James and Smith allegedly reunited again for a casual afternoon stroll in London.

Evans, for his part, was last linked to anyone in 2017 when he dated actress and comedian Jenny Slate. The two worked together in the family drama movie "Gifted," in which Slate was the love interest of Evans' character.

Since their split though, Evans has kept his love life private. He has also opted to focus more on his acting career.

Per Us Weekly, Evans and Slate first called it quits in February 2017 after nearly one year of dating. They restarted their romance again soon after, but it did not last long and they broke up for good in March 2018.

Evans Fears Having a Relationship Again?

Evans' split from Slate might have hit him hard, as he reportedly feared to be in a relationship again.

Though he was still in the process of healing his broken heart at that time, he bravely opened up about his biggest "dating deal-breakers" which he learned during his relationship with Slate.

"I'm the one who fears being enveloped," Evans told the Hollywood Reporter in March 2019. "I was always a really autonomous guy my whole life. Camping by myself is one of my favorite things. I really like to be with someone who also has their own thing to do as well, you know?"

According to Evans, being with someone who easily adapts to his life made him feel a bit suffocated.

Though he has been single for a long time, an insider exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this 2020 that Evans has been "dating different women and is having fun." However, he isn't "exclusive with anyone."

Chris Evans and Lily James are yet to confirm the real status of their relationship. But if the two are really together, the actor surely knows how to handle his relationships now.

READ MORE: Beyonce Faking Being Black? Florida Politician Makes Outlandish Claim!

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
The State aims to borrow a further 1.5bn this week, taking advantage of an exceptionally favourable global environment for auctioning debt equities.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) already has raised 18.5bn this year as it retires more expensive bonds and seeks to build the State's cash on hand in advance of an expected Government emergency stimulus plan next week.

If the most recent auction in June is anything to go by, the auction planned for Thursday among 15 institutional dealers is likely to be well oversubscribed. The greater the volume of competing bids, the lower the likely interest payout for the State.

The NTMA says it aims to raise between 20bn to 24bn this year, while Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says the State could post a 2020 deficit ranging anywhere from 23bn to 30bn, depending on the cost of Covid-19 economic supports versus the tax haul.

So far, Revenue has reported surprisingly resilient collections, with June's intake of corporation taxes 1bn ahead of target and even income tax running 400m better than expected.

But virtually every sector of the economy is crying out for the Government to provide billions more in aid this month, warning of mass business failures if they don't get it.

And the Exchequer returns for July - a big month for VAT collections - are expected to reveal sharper losses, given the widespread disruption to turnover in hospitality and in-store retail. Overall, the Economic and Social Research Institute expects VAT this year to drop by 3.9bn to 6.7bn, depending on whether Covid-19 infection rates rise in the autumn and greater social restrictions are reimposed.

The NTMA said yesterday that Thursday's auction - for bonds maturing in 2027, 2030 and 2050 - would seek to borrow 1bn to 1.5bn. It has been many years since an auction closed at the lower end of such ranges.

Last month, the NTMA offered a syndicated sale of 2030 bonds and said it hoped to borrow 4bn. But investors filed an Irish-record 66bn in bids. This meant the agency cold pick the best 6bn in bids seeking average 'yields' - the effective interest cost to the State - of just 0.285pc.

Thursday's auction, because it is restricted to the NTMA's usual primary dealers, shouldn't be nearly as frenetic.
Co-leader of the Social Democrats Roisin Shortall was also criticial of the plan

A leading bank has been accused of breaches of rules designed to protect consumers by shutting branches during the lockdown with little notice to customers.

Bank of Ireland shut 101 branches in March due to the pandemic, mainly in rural areas.

Last month it said it would re-open them, but some have yet to be put back into operation.

Now it has emerged that the bank gave just 24 hours notice that it was shutting what amounts to around 38pc of its total network.

It is required under the Central Banks Consumer Protection Code to give notify the Central Bank immediately and give customers two months notice of the closure of a branch.

Social Democrat TD Roisin Shortall accused Bank of Ireland of a clear breach of the code.

She told Central Bank Governor Gabriel Makhlouf at the Covid-19 Oireachtas Committee that the bank was required to give notice of branch closures.

Ms Shortall wanted to know if Governor Makhlouf was going to take action against Bank of Ireland for breaching the code.

The exchange came moments after Governor Makhlouf dismissed suggestions from the Green Partys Neasa Hourigan that consumer protection is down the list of priorities at the Central Bank.

Many institutions had to make sudden decisions during the pandemic-induced lockdown, he said.

Ms Shortall said this was a clear breach of the code, and wanted to know if the Central Bank was going to hold Bank of Ireland to account so that there are no breaches in future.

The governor said the bank had an obligation to its staff, but did not say if the bank was going to be sanctioned.

Information gleaned from Freedom of Information requests to the Central Bank from the Financial Services Union (FSU) shows that Bank of Ireland gave just 24 hours notice of the closures.

Under provision 3.12 of the Central Bank Consumer Protection Code 2012 banks closing or merging a branch must notify the Central Bank immediately, and provide at least two months notice to affected consumers to enable them to make alternative arrangements.

FSU said the branch network is vital to our economy and society as underpinned by the requirement to keep the network open during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The union is now seeking meetings with the Central Bank and Minister Donohue, seeking the proper implementation of the code.

General secretary of FSU John OConnell said the freedom of information response shows that timelines were not adhered to in any case of branch closures.

He said the Consumer Protection code is in place to ensure that banks make good on their obligations to communities.

Our freedom of information response shows that these obligations are clearly being breached.

He said the banks have made commitments in relation to cultural change. Proof of their commitment would be a signal that they will in future adhere fully to the Consumer Protection Code, Mr OConnell added.

Bank of Ireland said that the rapid emergence of Covid-19 in March meant that very quick measures had to be taken in order to protect the health of customers and staff.

While banks would normally give more notice when closing a branch, this wasnt possible if we were to respond appropriately to the rapidly emerging health crisis at that time, the bank said.

It said the majority of the closed branches reopened from June 29, with modifications for social distancing. The remaining branches are mostly in colleges, hospitals and airports.
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 government has launched a contact tracing app into app stores.

Our technology editor Adrian Weckler runs through what it is, how it works and what it will and wont do.

It is available on Apples App Store here or Googles Play Store here and search for HSE contact tracing app.

More information can be found at https://covidtracker.gov.ie/

What does it do?

It can alert you if someone you were in close proximity to over the last 14 days tested positive for Covid-19.

Read More

What does close proximity mean?

Within two metres of you for a period of 15 minutes or more.

What kind of 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. For example, it wont work on an iPhone 6 or iPhone 5. It also wont work on feature phones like old Nokias.

How does it work?

The app uses the phone to send out Bluetooth signals, which are acknowledged by other phones (which have the app) and stored for two weeks. If you test positive for Covid-19, you can then kick off a contact tracing process. As part of that process, the contact tracing person youre dealing with will ask whether youll allow your phones signal bank to alert others youve been in close proximity to. If you agree, you get a code, you enter it and then other phones with the app, which have been in close proximity to you over the last 14 days, will get an alert to say they were in close contact with someone who now has Covid-19.

Then what?

Then its up to them to go get a test.

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 from 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. There is one small wrinkle, though. On Android phones, you have to have your phones location setting on for the Bluetooth to work. This doesnt mean the app will collect location data. But it does mean that you now have to go through every other app on your phone to make sure that location data permissions are individually switched off, which is a pain and which many people wont do.

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.

How many people need to download it for it to really work?

Somewhere between 25pc and 60pc, according to experts. As of the time of writing, it has been downloaded 250,000 times.

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 and Britain?

Yes. It will also work with other European apps that are based on the same Apple-Google app technology, such as Germany.

Does it cost anything?

No.
'The deal with HTC includes a strategic partnership for the distribution and licence of VR Education's 'Engage' platform globally.' Stock photo

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. Demand for such remote working and remote learning tools has exploded during Covid-19 lockdowns.

HTC, which was once one of the world's biggest smartphone companies, is now a virtual reality specialist.

The appointment of Mr Gupta comes after HTC earlier this year invested 3m in the company for a 20pc stake in the business.

HTC can have a presence on VR Education's board 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 and 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 his 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 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.
Well-known sandwich chain Pret a Manger has refused to comment on whether it still plans to enter the Irish market after it said it was permanently shutting a number of coffee shops across the UK.

It was reported in 2019 the company was set to open in here early this year, with the group understood to have identified two locations, including one in Dublin city centre.

Yesterday the company said it is to permanently shut 30 of its stores in the UK after footfall was hammered by the coronavirus lockdown.
Failure: Following Wirecards insolvency, auditor EY has come under scrutiny

Some of the UK's biggest auditors will be forced to build a "Chinese wall" between their audit arm and the rest of the consulting business after a series of high-profile failures in the sector.

Auditing watchdog the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said that it expects EY, Deloitte, KPMG, Grant Thornton and other auditors to ensure their audit partners are not rewarded when the rest of the business does well.

It wants no cross-contamination between the companies' auditors and other parts of the business that may have an influence on the quality of their work.

It is in part an attempt to ensure a consultancy's bids for contracts with a company do not impact on the quality of the audit on that company's accounts.

"Operational separation of audit practices is one element of the FRC's strategy to improve the quality and effectiveness of corporate reporting and audit in the United Kingdom," said the watchdog's boss Jon Thompson.

"Today the FRC has delivered a major step in the reform of the audit sector by setting principles for operational separation of audit practices from the rest of the firm.

"The FRC remains fully committed to the broad suite of reform measures on corporate reporting and audit reform and will introduce further aspects of the reform package over time."

The Big Four companies will now have to present a plan by October to carve out their audit practices before the end of June 2024.

The FRC said it will report on how well firms are doing against a string of objectives every year.

They will need to show the regulator that they are delivering on the outcomes by sending officials financial statements, audit quality indicators, and other information.

Several high-profile company failures have in recent years shone a light on the auditing profession.

Auditors have often been blamed for signing off on accounts that were later discovered to contain serious problems.

Most recently, EY has faced a barrage of criticism after its customer Wirecard collapsed into insolvency.

Wirecard said it had found a 1.9bn hole in it accounts of money that may not exist.

The FRC is also investigating Big Four firm KPMG over more than four years' worth of audits into outsourcing giant Carillion which collapsed in 2018 with debts of 1.5bn.

Review

The review was due to be published in January, but has since been delayed.

The FRC said that its requirements on separating audit businesses from other wings of the firms is "world leading".

It will ensure that auditors are focused on making high quality audits "in the public interest", it said.

They will also no longer "rely on persistent cross subsidy from the rest of the firm".

The rules mean, for instance, that while the consultancy and audit arms of a company can share an office, they must both pay their fair share of the rent.

PA City
The description of Johnny Depp as a wife beater is entirely accurate and truthful, lawyers for News Group Newspapers have told a High Court judge.

A raft of evidence, including photos, audio recordings and the Hollywood stars own text messages supports the defence that Mr Depp beat his wife Amber Heard, causing her to suffer significant injury and on occasion leading to her fearing for her life, they argued.

Mr Depp, 57, is suing NGN, publisher of The Sun newspaper, and its executive editor Dan Wootton over an article which called him a wife beater.

The article related to allegations made against Mr Depp by Ms Heard, 34, that he was violent towards her during their marriage  claims he denies.

In a written opening note at the start of the three-week trial in London  which is being heard by Mr Justice Nicol  Sasha Wass QC, barrister for NGN, said: The defendants will demonstrate that the description of Mr Depp as a wife beater is entirely accurate and truthful.

They will show that the sting of the articles is correct  namely that the claimant beat his wife Amber Heard, causing her to suffer significant injury and on occasion leading to her fearing for her life.

This defence is supported by witness testimony, medical evidence, photographs, video, audio recordings, digital evidence and Mr Depps own texts.

In her note Ms Wass described Ms Heard as an intelligent and independent woman who has developed her own career as an actress.

The side of character which he described as the monster was jealous, controlling, violent and savage Sasha Wass

She said: Her independence and self-determination gave rise to a series of conflicts between the two, with Mr Depp seeking to control Ms Heards social life and career choices.

Ms Heard was forging her own way in the acting profession and was not content to play the role of a supplicant consort.

As a result of her having her own career, disputes between the two increasingly arose where Ms Heards professional life clashed with Mr Depps desire to dominate the relationship.

These conflicts manifested themselves in arguments where Mr Depp became abusive and aggressively jealous, on occasion falsely accusing Ms Heard of having sexual relationships with her co-stars.

Expand Close Johnny Depp arrives at the High Court (Steve Parsons/PA) / Facebook

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Matters were not helped by the generational difference between Ms Heard and Mr Depp which fuelled Mr Depps insecurity.

This exacerbated his well-documented dependence and excessive abuse of alcohol and controlled drugs which dated back to Mr Depps time as a young man.

Ms Wass said that during the relationship, Ms Heard was understanding and supportive of all Mr Depps attempts to rehabilitate himself and during the early period of his attempts to kick his addiction he was appreciative of her support.

But she said that on occasions, when he failed to control his alcohol and substance abuse, Mr Depp turned his rage and frustration on Ms Heard, berating her and launching into a variety of vile, crude and unreasonable accusations.

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Ms Wass said: On such occasions, Mr Depps aggression typically descended into physically destructive behaviour, including the use of violence against her. His wife beating behaviour included throwing objects at her, slapping her across the face, kicking her, gripping her around the throat and threatening to kill her.

In periods of sobriety following Mr Depps destructive rages, he recognised the problems he faced, apologised to Ms Heard and blamed what he described as his illness. He referred to his drunken and violent persona as the monster.

When sober, Mr Depp was capable of kindness, charm and generosity. The side of character which he described as the monster was jealous, controlling, violent and savage. It is these characteristics which qualify him for the term wife beater.

Ms Wass argued that during his evidence, Mr Depp will seek to present as a kind and charming individual.

But she added: The defendants will suggest that either Mr Depp is a pathological liar or his excessive alcohol and drug abuse have detached him from any insight into his own conduct.

Either way, what he did to Amber Heard was to beat her.

The description of him in the online article in The Sun newspaper is correct, true and accurate.
The musical director of the Dublin Gospel Choir (DGC) has recalled her time working with the late composer Ennio Morricone in Ireland as an unforgettable moment in her career.

The world of music and movies is in mourning after the Oscar winner (91) passed away in a Rome hospital yesterday morning after complications arose after he broke his leg in a fall.

He had produced more than 500 original scores for films including 'The Mission' and Quentin Tarantino's 'The Hateful Eight', which won him an Academy Award in 2016.

Morricone was last in Ireland in 2019 as he marked 60 years in the industry with an ambitious concert at the 3Arena.

Orla Gargan, DGC musical director, said members of the choir collaborated with him on three different occasions over the past seven years, most notably in 2013 for a performance at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin.

"'The Mission' was the soundtrack for me growing up, so getting to work with him was just massive, I couldn't believe it," she told the Irish Independent.

"This is a man who gets a standing ovation everywhere he goes before anyone even plays a note - that's how respected he was in the world of music."

The DGC brought in 40 extra performers to make it a 100-strong choir for the 2013 event and she said that it was a "real labour of love" to make sure its performance was pitch-perfect.

Expand Close A 100-strong Dublin Gospel Choir joined Morricone in performing at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Photo: Caroline Quinn / Facebook

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Whatsapp A 100-strong Dublin Gospel Choir joined Morricone in performing at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Photo: Caroline Quinn

"Ennio came in for the final rehearsals and sat down and just listened to us. Then all he said was 'grazi' and nodded and walked out, like he had given us his ultimate seal of approval.

"It was an amazing experience. For our final dress rehearsals of 'On Earth As it Is In Heaven', we all had tears pouring down our faces by the end. That was a stand-out moment.

"I think often it's the most difficult endeavours that are the most rewarding and this was definitely the case here."

The DGC was fortunate enough to collaborate with him again in 2017 and in 2019 at the 3Arena for his 60 Years of Music world tour which saw the then-90-year-old marking six decades of producing iconic pieces of music.

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Ms Gargan said he was a "man of few words" during her encounters with him but that his breadth of work spoke for itself.

"His sheer body of work is mind-blowing. It was a really, really incredible experience and I remember, even last year, he was still a force to be reckoned with. You could see all the respect from the orchestra and the warmth that he's greeted with. It was something special to be part of," she said.

Irish conductor Eimear Noone met him in 2016, the year he won his first Academy Award after being nominated six times.

She said her "heart was heavy" with the news of his passing.

"For musicians and composers in particular when we lose one of our own, especially such an iconic member of our community, it's just a really sad day and it's resonating and reverberating around the world," she told RTE Radio 1.

"It's a very poignant day. We all have amazing memories of Maestro Morricone's work and all experienced it in various ways. My heart is definitely a little bit hurt and a little bit heavy."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's life continues to be surrounded by scandals and controversies despite officially stepping down as senior members of the royal family.

To recall, after the Sussex couple dropped their bombshell decision to quit the Firm last January, they have settled in a Beverly Hills mansion in Los Angeles alongside their 1-year-old son Archie.

However, despite living a thousand miles away from the U.K., the runaway Duchess is facing another controversy involving her ongoing court battle with British tabloids.

Meghan Markle Playing The Victim Card To Destroy The Royal Family

As cited in her new court filings, the 38-year-old former actress claimed that she was "unprotected by the institution" and prohibited "from defending herself" against the "false and damaging articles by the UK press" when she was pregnant.

With the rather controversial and shocking revelations, royal writer and former weekly magazine editor Corrine Barraclough expressed her belief that Duchess Meghan wants to change the royal family by embarrassing the monarchy "into submission." She then accused Meghan of playing the victim role and using her bitter court battle as reference.

"She wants to play the victim role, and being an actress she will play it very well," Barraclough told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. "She wants to force change by doing damage to the Royal Family's brand."

Barraclough also pointed out that the former royal is very different from Duchess Kate, who refuses to go against the royal custom.

"Meghan is the exact polar opposite of Kate; Kate waited for years, knew exactly what she was getting into and she lives and breathes by the book," the expert furthered.

Royal Family's Unfair Treatment To Meghan Markle

For what it's worth, it was previously reported that Meghan told her friends that the royal family favored her sister-in-law more. She allegedly claimed the the monarchy would have lashed out at U.K. tabloids if the Duchess of Cambridge was the one "relentlessly picked on."

"[Meghan said] no one would have put up with it, and the broken and outdated system would have been revised. Those outlets responsible for their vicious attacks would have been shut out," an anonymous friend revealed to the DailyMail.com.

To recall, the former actress was banned by the Kensington Palace press team to respond to articles written about her. In contrast, the British institution recently addressed and slammed the scandalous claims of Tatler magazine against Kate Middleton, who was said to be "upset" and "overworked" due to the increased royal duties left by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Aside from this, Buckingham Palace was able to give their full support to Prince Andrew after he resigned from his public duties when he was first linked to the deceased American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In addition, the disgraced royal was able to keep his HRH title, while the Sussexes lost their royal titles as they officially exited the Firm last April.

READ MORE: Prince Harry's Pain: Meghan Markle SUFFERING Big Time With This!

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Pubs in rural Ireland and tourist destinations shouldn't be punished and prevented from reopening due to the behaviour of a small number of people, Labour leader Alan Kelly has said.

The wider reopening of pubs from coronavirus restrictions on July 20 is at risk over concerns about social distancing outside bars.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said the Government was unhappy about incidents at some locations over the weekend and warned plans for the next phase of reopening remain under review.

Read More

Pubs that sell food were allowed to reopen last week but the remainder of licensed premises cant reopen until phase four of the Governments roadmap due to begin on July 20.

Major concern has been sparked by videos that emerged on social media over the weekend showing hundreds of young people congregating to drink on Dame Lane in Dublin city centre.

Mr Kelly was asked if the wider reopening of pubs should take place on July 20 given the scenes at the weekend.

He said there are communities and tourist areas that are "very much dependent on public housing opening on July 20."

He pointed to the Wild Atlantic Way and Hidden Heartlands tourist areas and how there have been campaigns to encourage people to holiday at home in Ireland.

"I think would be wrong for those areas to, to be treated like that with a further closure because of the behaviour of a small number of people."

Mr Kelly suggested that the government may look at ways to deal with the kinds of incidents seen at the weekend and that it's "more an enforcement issue rather than changing the July 20 date."

He said: "I don't think it would be correct to punish those who are trying to make a living and people who are trying to get back into employment in tourist areas all over the country because the behaviour of a small few."

Some of the crowding has been blamed on pubs selling take-away pints.

Mr Kelly said he didn't think a ban on this practice would be enforceable as people could just go to an off licence.
The Green Party will pull the plug on coalition government if party policies are not delivered, the party leadership hustings heard this evening.

Leader Eamon Ryan and deputy leader Catherine Martin went head to head in the hustings, where they both said that they will pull out of government if Green policies are not upheld.

Yes I would be [willing to pull the plug], said Ms Martin.

Its not that Im going to walk in every day threatening that, because that wouldnt work in a partnership. But I hope that at the back of their minds they know that there is a chance of that happening.

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I think maybe thats where we went wrong in the previous time, that maybe that threat wasnt there or that we should have walked earlier.

The whole point of being in government is to see the Green policies being implemented, thats why our membership voted for us to go in.

There is no other reason to be there, she added.

Ms Martin said that TDs and Senators must take time out every few months to assess if goals are being achieved in the first 100 days of government.

She added that there should be an opportunity to re-negotiate the programme for government down the line.

We should be open to renegotiating the programme for government, it wasnt in the programme for government in 2007 but we still did it half way through, she said.

Party leader Eamon Ryan also said that he would pull the plug.

Of course, if its not delivering a Green transition, why would we be in government?

My experience is that it is difficult in government, particularly in times of crisis - there is collective Cabinet responsibility.

People in Cabinet, you dont vote. You either agree something, you mend it, or you defer it.

This time is really difficult, were facing into such an unknown time, he added.

Minister Martin also said that the Green Party is sometimes deserving of its criticism that it is not rural-focused.

Theres an unfair characterisation that were anti-rural that is sometimes have been deserving of that criticism.

We need to amplify our rural voices and avoid at all costs, a lecture on rural Ireland from south Dublin, she said.

Mr Ryan also said that the Green Party should be hoping for 20 TDs and 100 councillors in the coming general and local elections.

The Minister said that doubling the number of local councillors in the 2024 local council elections is practical and that the party should get out of central areas and into rural areas.
A man who the Adrian Donohoe murder accused said he was moving laundered diesel waste for on the night of the murder is also a suspect in the credit union robbery, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Aaron Brady (29), who denies capital murder, issued a notice of alibi saying he was moving laundered diesel cubes at a yard in south Armagh at the time of the murder and that he had interacted with two named individuals, the jury were told.

The court previously heard that Mr Brady said in his notice of alibi that these men directed him via telephone at the suspected diesel laundering yard on Concession Road.

Asked what steps had been taken to interview one of the men in relation to Mr Brady's account since the notice was given, detective inspector Martin Beggy said gardai would not have spoken to him because he was a suspect in the case.

This man previously gave an account to gardai, in February 2013, but he did not mention any interaction with the accused on that occasion, the court heard.

Det Insp Beggy told defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC: "For us to speak to him would require him being cautioned and interviewed and put in the process."

The Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) also agreed with prosecution counsel Brendan Grehan SC that people involved in fuel smuggling are also involved in other things and that it is "not a tradesman's occupation".

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.

This morning a number of garda witnesses were tendered by the prosecution to be examined by the defence.

Retired Supt Brian Mohan, who was the SIO between 2013 and 2016, also gave evidence.

He agreed that gardai had interest in a named individual because he was a suspected launderer, but that "he was also nominated as a suspect in this case."

Retired Det Insp Pat Marry, who served as SIO in 2013 and later from 2016 until 2018, was recalled to give evidence.

Mr O'Higgins asked him about cell site analysis tests, which the prosecution aren't relying on as evidence, being carried out in March 2014.

He put it to the witness that a call made from Concession Road was routed through at a mast in Drumlandrick, a townland in Co Monaghan, and that this would tend to support Aaron Brady's claim that he was at the diesel laundering yard that evening.

Mr Marry said he would "not agree with that at all" and that phone calls made from the car park of Lordship credit union could go through five different masts which cover a vast area.

He added that it "wasn't an exact science" and that a call from Drumlandrick could "possibly have gone through other masts" as well.

The trial continues before the jury of six men and seven women on Thursday morning when a Special Agent from Homeland Security based in London is scheduled to be called.
A Dublin man will apply to the Special Criminal Court later this month to dismiss charges against him of falsely imprisoning and assaulting Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH) director Kevin Lunney, the non-jury court heard yesterday.

Alan O'Brien (39), with an address at Shelmalier Road, East Wall, Dublin 3, is charged with false imprisonment and assault causing serious harm to Mr Lunney (50) at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, Co Cavan, on September 17, 2019.

Mr Lunney, a father-of-six, was abducted close to his home in Co Fermanagh on the evening of September 17.

The businessman's leg was broken, he was doused in bleach and the letters QIH were carved into his chest during the two-and-a-half hour ordeal before he was dumped on a roadside in Co Cavan.

Sean Guerin SC, prosecuting, said Mr O'Brien's case was listed yesterday morning for the purpose of a Section 4E hearing.

An application under Section 4E of the Criminal Justice Act 1999 is for the dismissal of a charge against an accused.

However, Mr Guerin said he was making an application to adjourn the hearing.

In reply, defence counsel Bernard Condon SC, for Mr O'Brien, said his client was "very anxious" for the Section 4E application to be heard and resolved as soon as possible.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Dermot Dempsey, fixed the Section 4E hearing for the morning of July 29 and Mr O'Brien was remanded in custody until that date.

The defendant's co-accused are Luke O'Reilly (66) from Mullahoran Lower, Kilcogy, Co Cavan; Darren Redmond (25) from Caledon Road, East Wall, Dublin 3; and another man who cannot be named for legal reasons. They are accused of the same offences.

Mr O'Reilly's case was also mentioned yesterday before the three-judge court.

Defence counsel Carol Doherty BL, for Mr O'Reilly, asked the non-jury court to extend time for her client to serve his alibi notice in circumstances where his barrister Mark Mulholland QC wished to meet with him.

In reply, prosecution counsel Mr Guerin said there was no difficulty.

Mr Justice Hunt gave Mr O'Reilly three weeks to serve his alibi notice.

Mr O'Reilly and Mr Redmond were granted High Court bail in April, despite Garda objections.

Granting both men bail at the time, Mr Justice Paul Burns said the alleged abduction and assault on Kevin Lunney constituted vicious, cruel and abhorrent criminal behaviour.

However, the judge said the accused were presumed innocent and there was an entitlement to bail.

Last month, the Special Criminal Court fixed January 11 next year as the date for the trial of the four accused men.
Hundreds of gardai were involved in a massive search operation against one of the gangs driving the dangerous Longford feud.

The operation, which had been planned for weeks, got under way shortly before 7am yesterday and led to the seizure of 110,000 and stg14,000 (15,400) in cash, 11 vehicles, three caravans and designer watches, handbags and clothing.

Specialist armed Garda national units were backed up by local officers as they raided 12 homes, three professional premises and a business premises.

Gardai also froze financial accounts which held in excess of 80,000.

The targeted gang is a member of the Hannifin-organised crime group and is among the main protagonists in the bitter Longford feud.

Investigations have established the gang has bought at least four properties on the same road in a housing estate and a large parcel of development land in Co Longford.

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It is estimated one property which was raided yesterday had around 500,000 worth of upgrades made to it, including "marble on every internal surface and pure granite pillars and fittings".

Last month, three members of the gang walked free from court after receiving suspended sentences in relation to a violent fracas that inflamed the feud. The incident happened at the Texaco Service Station on the Dublin Road in Longford last June 2.

Willie Hannifin (32) of Knockashaw, Dublin Road, Longford; Thomas Hannifin (40) of Dublin Road, Longford; and Denis Hannifin (39) of Curry, Athlone Road, Longford, as well as two male juvenile defendants, all appeared before Judge Keenan Johnson at Longford Circuit Court last month.

Thomas and Willie Hannifin pleaded guilty to violent disorder and were each given a three-year suspended jail sentence which was backdated to April 7, when they were first remanded in custody by the local district court.

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Denis Hannifin was given a one-year suspended sentence, also backdated to when he was remanded in custody for possession of weapons in the fracas.

There was controversy after the court hearing, when it emerged local Fianna Fail TD Joe Flaherty wrote a letter on behalf of the accused men to the court, which he later explained was not a character reference or a plea for clemency.

The Longford feud has resulted in numerous violent incidents, including shootings, arson attacks, assaults and death threats which have led armed gardai to carry out dozens of major operations.

Senior gardai have become increasingly concerned the Hannifin gang - which has been involved in a feud with members of the Stokes family in Co Longford - has been building up a "property and business empire" in the county.

"They have been getting bigger all the time and these raids will hurt this gang severely with so many assets being seized," a senior source told the Irish Independent.

The gang is suspected of being involved in drug dealing, intimidation, extortion, prostitution and of ordering violent feud attacks.

There were no arrests following yesterday's raids, which were led by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

Among the items seized - which have a value of around 500,000 - were vehicles that included a Mercedes saloon, Skoda Kodiaq, Isuzu D-MAX, Ford Ranger, Toyota Land Cruiser and assorted light commercial vehicles - none of which was found to be stolen.
Alan Mongey told the Oireachtas Covid-19 committee that re-opening schools to the maximum extent is going to take a community effort. (stock image)

Parents who take children on foreign holidays this summer are jeopardising their chances of returning to school in September, a post-primary principals leader warned today.

Alan Mongey told the Oireachtas Covid-19 committee that re-opening schools to the maximum extent "is going to take a community effort".

"If parents want students returning to school in September, then heading off on a foreign holiday to Portugal or Spain will present significant challenges to schools accepting those students in September," he said.

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Mr Mongey is president of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) and a principal at a west of Ireland school with more than 1,000 pupils.

He outlined the array of challenges facing school leaders ahead of re-opening but said  a full return is what we are aiming for.

The challenges include extra funding for cleaning, health and safety information supplied and additional staffing support to oversee the implementation of public health guidelines.
An award-winning journalist has told of the mental health struggles he has endured in direct provision in this country.

Egyptian national Mostafa Fawaz (30) ended up in the controversial system after he was arrested in his own country.

He was awarded journalist of the year at the Smedia student media awards last week.

Mr Fawaz is in the middle of a part-time Masters in Journalism at University of Limerick (UL), but already has a successful career as a freelance journalist for a number of international media organisations.

He has written about Syrian refugees and the direct provision system in Ireland.

He began his media career at the start of the Egyptian revolution in 2011 and covered major breaking stories in his home country.

In 2015, Mr Fawaz was arrested while working as a journalist in Egypt.

Egypt has been sharply criticised by human rights and free press organisations for repeatedly trying to prosecute reporters.

Mr Fawaz left Egypt and went to a number of other countries before he ended up in Ireland over a year ago.

Because his passport was about to expire, he was forced into the direct provision system.

He believed that if he tried to renew it at the Egyptian Embassy, he would be sent home.

Mr Fawaz said he knew from his experience covering stories of asylum seekers all over the world that he did not want to go through this process himself.

"I didn't want to seek asylum but it was the only solution to be safe," he said.

Mr Fawaz was first sent to the Balseskin reception centre in Dublin, before he was transferred to Drishane Castle direct provision centre in Cork.

He said this centre was a nice place, but he was then moved to Knockalisheen centre just outside Limerick.

"This is a worse place. It reminded me of the prison circumstances that I lived in in Egypt in 2015.

"It was horrible. I am not that strong any more, I couldn't stay for long," he said.

He added that his mental health was deteriorating while staying at the centre.

This had an effect on his work and Mr Fawaz said he wasn't able to produce as many stories.

"I used to publish between eight and 12 stories a month when I was working as a journalist.

"But once I got to Ireland, it was down to one story a month," he said.

He started trying to make money freelancing as a journalist to try to get out of the direct provision centre.

Mr Fawaz, who also works as a multimedia journalist, has contributed to Al Jazeera, AP and BBC News.

In 2019, he won the Thomson Foundation's mobile journalism competition for his report on Egypt's sharp fare increases to an already inadequate train system.

Throughout his career Mr Fawaz has travelled across the Middle East and Europe, covering news and documenting life in Sudan, Turkey, Malaysia, Sweden, Georgia, Latvia and the United Arab Emirates.

He is currently hoping to get funding from UL to help him finish his Masters.

Mr Fawaz said he was "really delighted" to be selected as the overall journalist of the year in this year's Smedia awards. There were six winners overall from UL at this year's awards.

Kathryn Hayes, the BA in journalism course director at UL, congratulated all winners but singled out Mr Fawaz "for his outstanding work and achievement given what he has overcome personally".

She added that the award winner was "a huge credit to our programme and to the journalism profession".
ONE of the leading private hospital groups in the State has defended charging patients up to 275 for a Covid-19 test before people can attend the hospital.

The Mater Private Healthcare Group also questioned why health insurers were not picking up the cost, given that claims for health procedures in private hospitals were way down this year.

This publication revealed last Friday that private hospitals were imposing new charges for Covid tests for people before they can attend the hospitals.

This prompted Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to say that the Government would take a dim view of private hospitals profiteering from Covid-19 testing.

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There is no agreement for health insurers to cover the cost for those with cover, although talks are taking place.

The Beacon Hospital in Dublin said Laya Healthcare was covering the cost of its tests.

Some private hospitals are not charging. But others are charging fees of between 75 for those who have to have a day procedure in a private hospital, to 275 for in-patient procedures.

In a statement, the Mater admitted it is charging 275 for an inpatient day procedure, and 75 for a diagnostics outpatient test.

It said this was necessary to protect patients and staff.

The group said the extra public safety measures it has had to put in place were hugely expensive.

These are costs that we believe should be absorbed by the health insurers as part of insured patients policies, the Mater said.

It said health insurers had zero claims during the three months the private hospitals were used by the State during the Covid-19 pandemic at no profit to the private hospitals.

Mater Private Healthcare Group Hospitals said it would not make any profit on the Coivd-test .

It said people attending its hospitals more than once would not have to pay the fee more than once.

As well as the two Mater Private hospitals in Dublin and Cork, the group operates two advanced cancer centres in Limerick and Liverpool as well as a number of out-patient clinics in this State.

The hospital group was sold to French investment company Infravia last year for 500m.

It made a net loss of 23.4m in the final five months of 2018.

Last month the group warned staff that its ability to pay wages and its debts is now under threat and that the danger to the Mater Privates future is real and immediate.

A spokesman for the Private Hospitals Association said private hospitals were forced to incur extra costs to meet stringent new public health guidelines, including deep cleaning, the use of PPE and testing patients for Covid before they can be treated.
Royal heartbreak: The two Wales brothers, Prince William and Prince Harry have further drifted apart from each other.

According to reports, the Duke of Cambridge, 38, and the Duke of Sussex, 35, have agreed to split the future proceeds given to The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, which they have set up to honor the legacy of their late mom.

The Diana Fund is an independent grant-giving foundation established in September 1997 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, to continue her humanitarian work in the UK and overseas.

The Diana Memorial Fund is no longer raising funds. Still, it has been reported to occasionally receive donations and legacies, with most of the proceeds going to Prince Harry and Prince William's chosen charities.

Financial documents show that the two brothers signed an agreement in December 2019, which divides the funds between the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the newly-abandoned Sussex Royal Foundation.

It has been reported that an unrestricted grant of $181,000 was given to the Sussex Royal Foundation to help it commence.

An additional $125,000 was given to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's foundation to aid in the development of Prince Harry's sustainable tourism program, Travalyst.

Since 2013, the Royal Foundation assumed lawful control of The Diana Fund to safeguard any future income upon the ending of its operations.

According to the foundation's report and financial statements, "On 18 December 2019, an agreement was signed with the Sussex Royal Foundation by which The Royal Foundation intended to grant half of the net future proceeds received by the Diana Fund to Sussex Royal."

The Royal Foundation was initially a joint organization of the Cambridges and the Sussexes, but in June 2019, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, revealed they have separated from their collective charity.

As part of the Sussexes' decision to leave the charity, the Royal Foundation said it had also agreed to run a home for legacy projects set up by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

This means that the Hubb Community Kitchen, Empowering Communities, and Full Effect programs are still granted funding through the Royal Foundation.

Moving forward, Prince Harry chose Sentebale, a charity he set up to help the victims of extreme poverty and HIV/Aids in Lesotho, Botswana, and Malawi, for the donations.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are now living in Los Angeles after stepping down as senior members of the royal family in March.

In July, it was reported that the couple was winding up their UK foundation as they go ahead with their own global charitable body, Archewell.

They have established the new charitable organization in the past few months.

Archewell comes from the Greek word Arche, which means "source of action." It also mirrors the name of their son, one-year-old Archie Harrison.

Last month, the couple announced that they would be postponing the launch of Arcehwell, as they focus on supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and coronavirus relief efforts.

READ MORE: Meghan Markle Abandoned: Why Duchess Was NOT Protected Like Prince Andrew, Kate

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Gardai at the scene where human remains were discovered at Lissenfield on the Lower Rathmines Road.

GARDAI are searching for the family of a man whose remains have been found after he was missing for over eight years.

Gardai have issued an appeal to finding any relatives of Stephen Corrigan, who went missing in 2011.

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Human remains were discovered in the Rathmines area of Dublin on April 9 this year.

Through DNA analysis, the remains were positively identified as those of Mr Corrigan.

A garda spokeswoman said Mr Corrigan was a resident in the Cork Street area of Dublin 8 and had been missing since November 22, 2011.

Gardai issued appeals to locate Mr Corrigan through Crimecall in May 2012, January 2013 and May 2014.

He was identified through DNA analysis compared with a familial DNA sample provided by his mother.

Sadly, his mother is now deceased, as is his only other known blood relative.

An Garda Siochana are trying to identify surviving members of Mr Corrigan's family and are appealing to any living relative or any member of the public who knew Stephen, who was born on June 8, 1963, to contact Gardai at Rathmines Garda Station on 01 666 6700, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.
Labour leader Alan Kelly raised the concerns over social distancing at the funeral of Republican Bobby Storey and also claimed Sinn Fein's tax policies are 'illogical'

Labour Leader Alan Kelly has poured cold water on the prospect of his party cooperating with Sinn Fein in Opposition.

He criticised Sinn Fein, raising the concerns over social distancing at the funeral of Republican Bobby Storey and also claiming its tax policies are 'illogical'.

Mr Kelly made the remarks as he announced his party's new team of spokespeople.

He will be the party's health spokesperson, Louth TD Ged Nash will cover finance and public expenditure.

Mr Kelly's defeated leadership rival Aodhan O Riordain is spokesperson for Education and Enterprise and Senator Rebecca Moynihan will be marking the Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien.

Today our Leader @alankellylabour announced our new team of spokespeople.



Labour Party TDs and Senators will hold this government to account to ensure that all our people have a fairer future. pic.twitter.com/HxjeBRRJCH  The Labour Party (@labour) July 7, 2020

Asked about cooperating with Sinn Fein in the Dail, Mr Kelly said Labour will work with other opposition parties when their goals match Labour's values.

But he added: "We will not take populist stands and just oppose things for the sake of it."

"Well be very distinctive. We're a very different party and we're very different individuals.... the way in which we act and behave is very different as well."

He said he doesn't believe how Sinn Fein behaved during the funeral in Belfast last week is acceptable.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has defended attending the funeral of a friend but also apologised for the hurt caused by photographs of busy pathways in West Belfast amid controversy over coronavirus social distancing rules.

Mr Kelly said: "If you're going into Leinster House, and you're saying that everyone should adhere to public health advice and then you go and behave like that?

"That is not something that the Labour Party would stand over."

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He said the two parties are "very different" across a range of policy areas as well.

Mr Kelly said: "I think Sinn Feins policies in relation to taxation just basically are illogical. "They don't seem to show any form of tax base that would justify the positions that they stand on.

He added: "Calling themselves a left-wing party while theyre against the property tax is bizarre."

He said Sinn Fein's opposition to carbon taxes given the threat posed by climate change is "also bizarre".

"We're a very different party, and we will be setting our own stall out. We will be pursuing our own policies and we will be leading from the opposition.

"Therell be many different leaders in the opposition," Mr Kelly said.
Roderic OGorman says he has been the victim of toxic online comments recently

The new Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman says children under 16 should be able to change their gender with the consent of their parents or guardians and GP.

The Children's, Disability, Equality and Integration Minister also hit out at "toxic" and "homophobic" online attacks against him in recent days.

Laws to make it easier for 16 and 17-year-olds to legally change their gender will be introduced by the new coalition under a commitment in the Programme for Government. The document also commits to examining the arrangements for children under 16 who may want to change gender.
Sarah and Matthew Billingham with their two children, Logan and Darcie, on their wedding day last month. Photo: Emma May Loughran

Before coronavirus struck, Irish weddings tended to follow a certain template. A couple would typically get married in front of over 150 of their closest friends and family and have their party in a hotel or country house. The shindig would go on into the wee hours with day two celebrations all but a certainty.

Now that has all changed. The arrival of Covid-19 has forced many couples to reconfigure their wedding plans. They now have to take things like social distancing and vulnerable relatives into account. Not wanting to take their chances, many have postponed their weddings until next year or 2022. But other couples are scaling back and opting for a smaller celebration - and finding, to their surprise, that they love it.

Collette O'Leary is a wedding planner based in Dublin. She says that many of her clients are increasingly considering "micro weddings" with guest lists of between five and 30 people. Indeed, many are foregoing the traditional evening meal and knees-up in favour of a lunch.

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"That's certainly a trend I've seen which I haven't seen before," she says. "The old-style weddings where you get married in the morning at 11am, everyone goes for lunch and everyone goes home. You have to think about social distancing on a dance floor. How is that going to look? Who is going to be responsible for it?

"There has to be a happy medium and I think that's where the micro weddings are coming in. Then you can have the party when it's safe."

Expand Close Cara Groome and Conor Berkeley tied the knot in March / Facebook

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But that's not to say a small wedding can't be as memorable as a large one.

"When it's small with close friends and family, I find those to be much more fun and much more personal," says Pat Clarke Browne, a humanist celebrant. "That's one of the advantages of the numbers going down. It focuses more on the couple and it's less about the production of the day."

Indeed, many couples who have tied the knot in recent months say that they have found that size doesn't matter when it comes to weddings.

Cara Groome and Conor Berkeley were originally due to get married back in March. The Naas couple had planned on getting married in a registry office surrounded by family and close friends. A non-legal ceremony and wedding party for 100 guests was scheduled for the following day. But when suppliers started cancelling, they decided to postpone the wedding party until further down the line. All going well, it will take place next May. However, they still had a slot in the registry office to get married on March 27. They were reluctant to give up the date as it was their 10th anniversary.

"So it was literally the night before and we said, 'Look will we do it? It's just going to be two of us," recalls Cara.

They enlisted two friends who lived together to serve as their witnesses and got married the next day. No family, no friends, no hair stylist, no make-up artist. Just the two of them and their witnesses.

"It kind of did away with things we had spent months planning," says Cara of the ceremony. "You get very bogged down in all of the wedding stuff. It kind of takes over your life. You hear a lot of, 'You have to do this, you have to do that.' This kind of proved to us that we didn't really have to do anything bar have our license and show up because that's all we did."

Going into the day, the couple feared that they would miss out on having their own "special memorable moments". But the day turned out to be memorable in its own right.

After the ceremony, the couple and their two friends headed to the Phoenix Park to take photographs. There, a couple they didn't know approached them and gave them a bottle of wine.

"They said it was their 40th wedding anniversary that weekend and they were supposed to have a big party but obviously they weren't," says Cara.

"They were out for a walk and a friend had given them the wine and they said, 'Look they deserve it' and gave it to us. Isn't that lovely?"

Afterwards, they hosted a virtual party on Zoom. At around half past eight, everyone decided to take a break and planned to reconvene on Zoom after getting something to eat.

Then Leo Varadkar announced in a televised address that the country was going into lockdown. "Everyone was like, 'We might be a bit late coming back on the Zoom. We're just taking all of this in here,'" laughs Cara.

While it was tough to not have their families present, Cara says she appreciates the fact that she and her husband got to spend so much quality time together.

"I don't think that would have happened on the day the way we had it planned," she says. "I don't think we ever would have had a minute just the two of us. That ended up being really important. All the other things just fell away."

Sarah and Matthew Billingham from Waterford found themselves in a similar boat. The couple were originally due to have a small wedding in April. When that was cancelled, Sarah quickly decided to get in touch with Spiritual Ceremonies Ireland to enquire about having a marriage ceremony.

Once it was confirmed that Spiritual Ceremonies Ireland could recommence the solemnisation of marriages on June 10, Sarah and Matt's wedding was back on. "I just said, 'Book me in for the first day if possible, please,'" says Sarah.

After receiving Garda clearance to travel, the couple drove from Waterford to Clondalkin with their two young children - son Logan and daughter Darcie - to get married. "The fact the two kids could go was brilliant," says Sarah. "I never thought they were going to be able to go in the current situation but they said we were a family unit and it made no difference. That was the best thing ever."

The couple's "two Mammies" served as their witnesses while other family and friends tuned in via Zoom. Sarah says the registrar, Miriam Fitzgerald, was "just amazing".

"Obviously we couldn't meet her during the restrictions but she wrote a fabulous service and made it very intimate," she says. "Matt's dad had only passed away and she wrote a lovely piece for him and lit a candle."

Afterwards, the party of six headed to Marlay Park for a family picnic. "The people in Marlay Park, oh my goodness," she says. "They were amazing. The amount of well wishes and people shouting over to us. It was so lovely."

Her advice for any couple thinking about having a smaller ceremony? "Go ahead with the smaller one.

"I think you get more out of a more intimate group than running around for a whole night trying to run around and speak to everyone," she says.

Wedding planner Collette O'Leary agrees and says that the lockdown has given couples perspective on what really matters. That means celebrating with loved ones and not dwelling on "add-ons" like chocolate fountains or silent discos.

"What we have to remember is that a wedding is about two people who fall in love and it's about celebrating that."
Hotels and private venues will be allowed to hold weddings from Friday. (stock image)

First Minister Arlene Foster has announced that hotels and private venues will be allowed to hold weddings from Friday.

The Executive also agreed that civil partnerships and baptisms could resume from the same date.

Wedding and baptism ceremonies have been put on hold since the introduction of the lockdown to combat the spread of Covid-19.

It will be up to wedding venues themselves to determine the precise opening dates for ceremonies, while they can also choose if they wish to provide post-ceremony celebrations.

DUP leader Mrs Foster held a Belfast city centre Press conference yesterday without Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill following the dispute over the Sinn Fein vice-presidents attendance at republican Bobby Storeys funeral last week.

Mrs Foster said: I am delighted to say that we are able to announce in relation to weddings and baptisms that they can now go ahead from July 10 in a socially distanced way but inside, taking account of the space available.

"No longer will they be limited in numbers; it depends on the space in the church, or indeed in the venue as well.

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Northern Ireland Hotels Federation chief executive Janice Gault welcomed the news, explaining that the wedding industry is worth 250m to the local economy. The hotel sector is therefore looking forward to being able to say I do to the many couples who wish to get married, and to welcoming back guests for other events in the coming months, said Ms Gault.

Its important to recognise that the hotel industry faces a massive challenge in responding to Covid-19.

"The understanding is that there will be further clarification around other types of gatherings, meetings and events this week. This will open up further income streams in what is undoubtedly a challenging trading environment.

Economy Minister Diane Dodds added: Hotels and private venues will need to assure themselves that they have taken the appropriate steps to put precautions in place for the safety of staff and customers.

"It is therefore likely that many will not be ready for July 10. However, they are free to host weddings anytime after that date once they have measures in place.
Little more than a week "back in town" but already up to its oxters in the wars, it's tempting to say "meet new Fianna Fail - it's more than a bit like old Fianna Fail". Today, Barry Cowen will once again publicly apologise, this time in the Dail, following one of the most unequivocal and sincere public apologies delivered on RTE on Sunday.

By teatime that evening, FF's new MEP, Billy Kelleher, was also in the public mea culpa department after an ill-considered foray from the European Parliament to Dail Eireann to mark his party's return to government after almost a decade.

This writer has no intention of minimising the duo's misdeeds. Driving offences can potentially cost lives, and over-exuberance around public events, in what is still the coronavirus crisis, can risk the same outcome.
Is it just me? This issue with technology where everything goes wrong nearly all of the time? I suspect it might be.

I seem to emit a strange electric charge that turns a device that works perfectly fine for everyone else into a malfunctioning klutz.

From the first moment I press a key, push a button or scroll a screen something can go wrong.

Even the television and its two remotes, which between them offer me multiple choices, often end up with me watching a blank screen.

I have to wait until somebody comes into the room, sighs and unzaps whatever it is I had just zapped.

Last week I was given a lovely present of bluetooth headphones. Neatly designed, they wrap around the back of my head, no cord tangling with the dog lead. Completely nuisance free.

Except: there is always an except with me when it comes to anything designed after 1999.

There is a tiny little button on the left side where you can dictate your options. But every time I switch tracks via Spotify this intuitive machine calls the last person I dialled.

Instead of getting Radiohead's 'Creep' I get the impatient voice of my doctor's receptionist.

Even when I tried to tune into John Creedon, I found myself in a queue for AIB customer service.

It might have helped if I had read the instructions on the box first, but who has the time? Well, I have actually. Still, life's too short and the type is too small.

At this stage I'm terrified of what I might do next. Hack the Kremlin? This thing dangling off the back of my head seems liable to do anything other than play silly pop songs.

My laptop doesn't like me much either. Truth is, the feeling is mutual.

It can't do the simplest things without creating a fuss. Hissy fits are its regular response to the most modest of requests.

It crashes the internet and sulks when I try to get it back up.

Microsoft Word keeps warning me that it isn't responding and it's worse at saving than David de Gea.

And Google Drive? Never needed it and I do not trust it.

All I ever wanted from a laptop was a typewriter with pictures. These things are too clever by half, offering me functions I don't need. Then they seem incapable of carrying out the simplest of requests.

When I seek help from any millennial in the room (bought and paid for children of my own) the evil thing comes over all smiley and helpful. No bother, thanks for asking. Anytime.

I am not a Luddite, though I do think history has been harsh on them. What the Luddites did at the time seems perfectly reasonable to me.

I even acknowledge that gadgets and gizmos, the internet of things and all the rest of it, have transformed our world.

But why can't I just switch these things on and off and get them to do what I want?

Why do they have to be so smart arsed all the time?

Sometimes I even think they are watching me, listening and waiting, playing silly buggers with this 20th century dinosaur who grew up with a 19-inch black and white Pye television and one channel. Someone who remembers vinyl the first time around.

Snigger if you like but at least when I flipped over Abbey Road to listen to the second side I knew exactly what I was going to get.

If you receive a call from an unknown number any time soon, don't pick up. It is probably just me trying to get my posh headset to play the new Bob Dylan album. Times sure have a-changed.
Water is a precious commodity but the only time there is public outcry over this great source of life is when we are asked to pay for it or when we are affected by boil notices. Too often we seem to accept without protest that our water standards are deteriorating and that raw sewage can still be pumped into our rivers and coastal waters.

We are a green island where water is considered plentiful. We market our agricultural produce abroad based on the perception of environmental purity and in normal times visitors flock to our shores to fish, enjoy nature, interact with people and the landscape.

Yet we are not doing enough to take care of our rivers or the water which flows freely from our taps, as has been pointed out by An Foram Uisce (the Water Forum), which was set up as a statutory body in 2018.

Our aversion to conservation measures continues despite increasing demand on our supplies. This demand is coming from our increasing population, industry, planning decisions and the way in which we use our land. It is coming at a time of climate change which could seriously affect water supply.

We know that our waters are being contaminated by nutrient pollution, primarily from agriculture and waste water. Details released today of samples taken last year show that the quality of drinking water was in compliance with bacterial and chemical limits, but we already know that many of our rivers and estuaries fail to meet nutrient environmental quality standards. The result in some cases is excessive plant growth and increased likelihood of harmful algal blooms.

The latest Drinking Water in Public Supplies report shows that supply to more than 1.1 million people is "vulnerable to failure". There is increasing uncertainty in Irish Water's planning and delivery of critical improvements to treatment plants. This uncertainty is posing a risk to the health of a large portion of the population, says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It wants determined action by Irish Water to protect and improve supplies.

EPA director general Laura Burke warns that delays in delivering public water improvements put quality and the public's health at risk. The multiple failures at the Leixlip treatment plant last year highlighted the serious lack of resilience in our supplies. Those failures resulted in two boil notices affecting more than 600,000 people.

The Leixlip plant was one of 52 where significant issues had to be addressed by Irish Water. While this was down from the previous year's figure of 63, the number affected almost doubled.

It takes time for improvements in water quality to be seen. Progress has been made but we still have a long way to go for the standard of our water to return to where it needs to be. This is required for our own health and compliance with legislation.

Not too long ago we had more than 500 pristine rivers with the highest water quality. You would be hard pressed to find even 50 rivers to fit that description nowadays.
A total of four Wexford companies are to receive grants from 6.5m in funding announced by Tanaiste Leo Varadkar as part of the Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme.

The funding is targeted at online retailers to strengthen their online offering and enable them to reach a wider customer base.

In Wexford, the recipients were Dominic Smith Electrical in Gorey, Greenacres in Wexford town, MDRG Holdings in Gorey and Rhinecourt Ltd (otherwise known as Tom Doyle Supplies) in Camolin.

The funding ranges from 16,000 to 40,000 to strengthen a company's online offering. Enterprise Ireland will be opening a second call under the Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme in the coming weeks.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, continue to stand up for what is right, even if it means dissing a family member.

In the past couple of weeks, the two have been pretty clear about their strong feelings of racial injustice and standing up for it.

Thanks to their exit from the British royal family, Meghan Markle, and Prince Harry can now become more vocal about their thoughts.

In a video call with young leaders from the Queen's Commonwealth Trust last week that was only made public today, the Duke of Sussex was joined by his wife for a discussion on the Black Lives Matter movement and justice and equal rights.

"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."

Prince Harry added, "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 of everybody benefits."

The 35-year-old dad was loud and clear when he hinted at calling out the UK for its past of colonization.

"When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past."

"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," the Duke concluded.

Meghan Markle also chimed in addressing racial injustice, especially within the Commonwealth, benefits the worldwide community. However, it would not be a smooth process.

She expressed that though many will be uncomfortable now, it will soon push through that discomfort when people start to get to the other side of the issue.

Prince Harry, whose grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is the head of the Commonwealth, seemed that his statement was a swipe at the British Empire, which was ruled over by his ancestors and led to the creation of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth is made up of 54 nations, all previously ruled by Britain as part of its empire. Its colonization of those countries has been reassessed in the wake of recent global anti-racism protests.

Prince Harry's comments also go against the royal protocols about not speaking about politics in talks, speeches, and discussions.

"Good Morning Britain" host Piers Morgan was angry at the Duke of Sussex's remarks, claiming that he and Meghan Markle are "deliberately picking a fight" with Queen Elizabeth.

Andrew Pierce of The Daily Mail also agreed with Morgan's comment and urged Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to "do a bit of history" before lecturing about the Commonwealth.

Even Andrew Rosindell, who is a member of Parliament of the UK, said that the "inappropriate" comments of Prince William's younger brother were "disappointing" and would "not please" Queen Elizabeth II.

He expressed his frustration by saying that "we should look forward, not back."

"As someone who has stepped out of the Royal Family, he should focus on his own life and not get involved in politics."

READ MORE: Queen Elizabeth II BETRAYED: She Broke Royal Protocols to PLEASE Meghan Markle!

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
The USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Groups steam in formation, in the South China Sea (US Navy via AP)

The Chinese government has accused the US of flexing its military muscles in the South China Sea by conducting joint exercises with two American aircraft carrier groups in the strategic waterway.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the exercises were performed totally out of ulterior motives and undermined stability in the area.

Mr Zhao told a daily briefing: Against such a backdrop, the US deliberately dispatched massive forces to conduct large-scale military exercises in the relevant waters of the South China Sea to flex its military muscle.

The US Navy said over the weekend that the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan along with their accompanying vessels and aircraft conducted exercises designed to maximise air defence capabilities, and extend the reach of long-range precision maritime strikes from carrier-based aircraft in a rapidly evolving area of operations.

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China claims almost all of the South China Sea and routinely objects to any action by the US military in the region.

Five other governments claim all or part of the sea, through which approximately five trillion dollars (4 trillion) in goods are shipped every year.

China has sought to shore up its claim to the sea by building military bases on coral atolls, leading the US to sail warships through the region in what it calls freedom of operation missions.

Washington does not officially take a stand on the rival territorial claims in the region, but is closely allied with several of the claimants and insists that the waters and the airspace above be free to all countries.
The boss of the Central Bank will today warn TDs that Ireland's high level of debt leaves the Government's finances "vulnerable to future shocks".

Governor Gabriel Makhlouf will say that the rise in the deficit as the Government borrows to tackle the coronavirus crisis is "warranted", "necessary" and "currently affordable".

But he will tell the Dail's Special Committee on Covid-19 Response that it does leave the State vulnerable to challenges posed by the implications of Brexit, international tax reform and climate change.

The budget deficit is estimated to reach between 23bn and 30bn due to borrowing to fund the massive initiatives such as the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, as well as the need to inject resources into the health service.

Mr Makhlouf will tell TDs: "The high level of debt will leave Government finances vulnerable to future shocks and it will be important for the Government to provide a clear and credible return to much lower and sustainable deficit and debt positions."

His statement to the committee also says that households, businesses and the financial system have entered the current crisis in a more resilient position compared to the onset of the financial crisis a decade ago.

Mr Makhlouf will say that future policy should "continue to focus on supporting the productive capacity of the economy and avoiding scarring effects such as long-term unemployment".

He will add: "Any such action by the Government is likely to be costly in the near term but will benefit the fiscal position over the medium term if it is effective in reducing the degree of damage to the economy's productive capacity."

The Government is currently planning a July jobs initiative stimulus package to be announced later this month.

Mr Makhlouf will tell TDs that the Central Bank's primary focus since March had been on ensuring the financial system absorbed the coronavirus shock, supporting households and firms through the crisis and being ready to support the recovery.

He says the economic outlook is "very uncertain" and "the path ahead for the economy will depend on the future path of the virus, the degree to which containment measures need to remain in place or be reintroduced, and the immediate and longer-lasting effects on behaviour and economic activity".

Mr Makhlouf will outline two scenarios that have been set out by the Central Bank.

The first is an assessment of what would happen if the easing of coronavirus restrictions takes place as planned.

Unemployment would fall from a peak of 25pc to around half that by the end of 2020. GDP would be down 9pc but there would be a recovery to pre-crisis levels by 2022.

Under the severe scenario, GDP would fall by 13pc this year and not recover until 2024. Neither scenario takes into account a possible no-trade-deal Brexit.

Senior National Treasury Management Agency official Frank O'Connor will also appear at the committee. He will tell TDs that the State is "in a strong position to meet its borrowing requirements".
Women who avail of BreastCheck are expected to have to wait three years between mammograms when the service resumes because of the restrictions of Covid-19.

Before the pandemic struck, women were invited for the free screening - which can pick up breast cancer - every two years.

However, Dr Colm Henry, national clinical adviser of the HSE, said yesterday that BreastCheck, which will resume in September, would have to operate under a new set of procedures that would slow down the service.

"We would have preferred to go back to the way we were but nothing is going back to the way it was in healthcare," he said.

It would mean a three-year cycle of screening, he said. A backlog of around 80,000 women had built up since the service had to be suspended in March, he told 'Today with Sarah McInerney' on RTE radio.

It will be next year before the screening service will catch up.

BowelScreen, the programme to detect bowel cancer, will also resume in the autumn. It too had to be suspended because of the ability of hospitals to provide colonoscopies, which are invasive diagnostic procedures for people who are referred on for further investigation.

Dr Henry said the restrictions meant the volume of colonoscopies had halved.

Tallaght Hospital gastroenterologist Dr Anthony O'Connor has previously warned that people who require an urgent colonoscopy should be seen in 28 days under best practice.

"This is not happening for too many people and many more people will be left waiting for far too long unless we see steps taken now. The longer people have to wait the greater risk we are taking with their outcome if they are found to have cancer," he warned.

CervicalCheck resumes this week for high priority women - those who need a yearly recall and women who have just joined the service.

Dr Henry estimated there was a backlog of around 100,000 women whose invitation to screening from CervicalCheck had to be put on hold. The hope is that this backlog will be cleared by October and the service back to normal in February.

He advised women not to go for private smear tests and to continue with CervicalCheck.

The screening in laboratories now involves HPV testing, which increases the chances of abnormalities being picked up He urged people who may have symptoms of cancer not to delay and to contact their GP.
Apparition: A reveller dressed up as Saint Fermin waves from a balcony in front of the town hall in Pamplona, Spain. The San Fermin Festival has been cancelled due to Covid-19. Photo: REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Results from the final stage of a nationwide antibody study show some 5.2pc of Spain's population has been exposed to the coronavirus, health officials said yesterday, confirming findings from earlier stages.

The study, which tested nearly 70,000 people across Spain three times over the past three months, found the virus' prevalence had not altered significantly since preliminary results were published in May.

It also suggested that immunity to the virus can be short-lived, with 14pc of participants who tested positive for antibodies in the first stage subsequently testing negative in the last stage.

"Immunity can be incomplete, it can be transitory, it can last for just a short time and then disappear," said Dr Raquel Yotti, director of Spain's Carlos III Health Institute, which co-led the study.

The loss of immunity was most common among people who never developed symptoms.

Speaking at a news conference, she appealed to Spaniards to remain prudent, particularly those who had recovered from the virus and considered themselves immune.

"We can't relax. We must keep protecting ourselves and protecting others," she said.

In a sign that the risk is far from over, the regions of Galicia and Catalonia imposed local lockdowns over the weekend, isolating some 270,000 people after small-scale outbreaks were detected.

Catalonia, which was last year the most visited Spanish region by foreign tourists, sought yesterday to reassure visitors, saying the lockdown in the Segria county only affected 2.5pc of the region's population.

Meanwhile, US coronavirus deaths topped 130,000 yesterday amid a surge in cases that has put President Donald Trump's handling of the crisis under the microscope.

The overall rate of increase in US deaths has continued to trend downward despite case numbers surging to record levels in recent days, but health experts warn that fatalities are a lagging indicator, showing up weeks or even months after cases rise.

Arizona had 449 deaths in the last two weeks of June, up from 259 deaths in the first two weeks of the month. The state posted a 300pc rise in cases over the full month, the most in the country.

Nationally, cases are approaching three million, the highest tally in the world and double the infections reported in the second most-affected nation Brazil.

Israel yesterday reimposed a series of restrictions to fight a spike in infections, including the immediate closure of bars, night clubs, gyms and event halls.

In public remarks at a special cabinet session on the health crisis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had to reverse course to avoid a wider lockdown that could paralyse its economy, where unemployment is just above 20pc.

"The pandemic is spreading - that's as clear as day. It is rising steeply daily and it is dragging with it, contrary to what we had been told, a trail of critically-ill patients," Mr Netanyahu said.

The hard-hit Australian state of Victoria recorded two deaths and its highest-ever daily increase in coronavirus cases as authorities prepared to close its border with New South Wales.

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.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said of the 127 new cases, 53 were among 3,000 people who had been confined by police to their apartments in nine public housing blocks since Saturday.

Mr Andrews said the high number of cases reflected a daily record number of tests exceeding 24,500.

He added that the state border with New South Wales will be closed from tonight in an agreement between the two state premiers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Mr Morrison had previously opposed states closing their borders.
A further 24 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in Ireland, according to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), as the worldwide tally approaches 12 million cases.

The HPSC today reported one more Covid-19-related death in Ireland, bringing the death toll here to 1,742.

The total number of cases in Ireland has risen to 25,538 after the 24 new positive results were registered but 17 confirmed cases were denotified by the HSPC.

After a contract tracing app was launched yesterday, Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, said that the system could have a significant impact on Ireland's fight against the disease.

"As of 5pm this evening, the Covid Tracker App had approximately 545,000 downloads. This is one more example of the solidarity and collective spirit that has characterised the Irish publics response to Covid-19 to date," he said.

The app is an important tool to support our contact tracing systems. It has the potential to reduce the time that people are active in the community with infection, which will have a significant impact on the transmission of the disease.

The more people who download and use this app, the more effective it will be. It is a further opportunity for us to play our part in the response to Covid-19."

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Globally coronavirus cases have crossed 11.71 million, with the death toll now above 538,300.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

The United Kingdom's suspected Covid-19 death toll has hit 55,398, according to a Reuters tally of official data sources that underline the country's status as one of the worst hit in the world.

Italy is suspending all flights from Bangladesh for a week due to a "significant number" of passengers who tested positive for the coronavirus on a flight to Rome on Monday, the health ministry said.

In America, Florida's greater Miami area became the latest US coronavirus hot spot to roll back its reopening, ordering restaurant dining closed on Monday as Covid-19 cases surged nationwide by the tens of thousands and the US death toll exceeded 130,000.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, after previously referring to the virus as a 'media tick', tested positive for Covid-19.

The World Health Organization is reviewing a report urging it to update guidance on the coronavirus after more than 200 scientists, in a letter to the agency, outlined evidence the virus can spread in tiny airborne particles.

As the United States accelerates the search for a vaccine, tensions have erupted between government scientists and Moderna Inc, one of the leading developers.

Meanwhile, the euro zone economy will drop deeper into recession this year and rebound less steeply in 2021 than previously thought, the European Commission forecast on Tuesday, with France, Italy and Spain struggling the most.

A five-day charge by world stocks fizzled today as caution about renewed lockdowns took hold, though it was not enough to douse China's July hot streak.
Ireland, which has recorded no new deaths from Covid-19 for two days, could run into trouble again if the weekend scenes of heaving revellers enjoying "takeaway pints" in Dublin city are repeated, public health doctors warned.

Acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: "If gatherings like that continue, then it is inevitable that we will run into problems.

"The virus is still out there, we are not immune - very few of us have had this."

A further four people were diagnosed with the virus yesterday while 19 patients are being treated in hospital, including 10 in intensive care.

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Dr Glynn said the driving down of infection left Ireland in an almost "uniquely good" position but there was always the risk of ending up where we were months ago if individuals did not follow basic guidelines.

They would jeopardise the lives of the sick and vulnerable and threaten the chances of children returning to school in September, he warned.

Dr Colm Henry, HSE chief clinical officer, said: "Vulnerable and older people rely on the actions of each and every one of us for their safety. If the virus begins to spread in our communities, these fellow-citizens will be most at risk."

Over the past 14 days, there were 141 new cases of the virus and the median age of people who contracted it was 37 years.

As people embark on home holidays around the country, it emerged there were new cases in 20 counties including 58 in Dublin and 24 in Kildare.

Sligo, which is a county with low levels of infection, had 18 more cases due to a single person returning there who tested positive and ending up passing the virus on to their immediate family and extended family.

Dr Glynn defended the decision to not provide a list of countries this week with low levels of virus that people can travel to without having to quarantine on their return.

He said the last few weeks were more "volatile" internationally due to countries having large outbreaks.

Asking people not to travel abroad for their summer holidays, he said the "global situation is changing rapidly and we need to see where it goes".

Dr Glynn also expressed concern about the numbers of people who were in contact with a person who caught the virus but who refused the offer of a test.

"From mid-May to the end of June, 35pc of those identified as a close contact of a confirmed case did not take up the offer of a test. 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."

Asked about private hospitals charging patients for Covid-19 tests in advance of being admitted for procedures he said: "I don't think it is acceptable that anyone is precluded from treatment in the context of a global pandemic."

If it got out of control again, it would have significant consequences for both public and private hospitals.

Research carried out on behalf of the Department of Health shows "a higher level of overall worry among the population" about Covid-19.

There is a growing proportion of people who now believe there will be a second wave.

The nationally representative sample of 2,004 people conducted on behalf of the Department of Health revealed almost three-quarters think that there will be a second wave.

This is a rise of 20pc in the past month.

The findings revealed that 41pc the population now believes that the worst of the pandemic is behind us.

But many of us think there are even tougher times ahead, with as many as 32pc saying the worst is yet to come.
Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay 150 million dollars (119 million) to settle claims it broke compliance rules in its dealings with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, New York state has announced.

The penalty was announced in a release by Superintendent of Financial Services Linda A Lacewell.

Despite knowing Mr Epsteins terrible criminal history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions, Ms Lacewell said.

According to the release, the agreement marked the first enforcement action by a regulator against a financial institution for dealings with the financier.

Epstein killed himself last August in a Manhattan federal jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

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His ex-girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested last week and brought to New York City to face charges she recruited girls for Epstein to sexually abuse in the 1990s. In civil lawsuits, she has denied involvement. Her Manhattan federal court arraignment is likely next week.

In a statement, the German bank said the settlement with New York state reflects our unreserved and transparent co-operation with our regulator.

The bank said it had invested almost 1 billion dollars to improve its training and controls and had boosted its staff overseeing the work to more than 1,500 employees to continue enhancing our anti-financial crime capabilities.

In a statement, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the bank failed to prevent millions of dollars in suspicious transactions.

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Ms Lacewell said the bank failed to properly monitor Epsteins account activity despite publicly available information about Epsteins crimes.

The financier with US residences in Manhattan, Florida and New Mexico, along with homes in Paris and the Virgin Islands, had pleaded guilty to criminal sex abuse charges in Florida over a decade ago and was a registered sex offender before his July 2019 arrest on federal sex crime charges.

Ms Lacewell said the bank processed hundreds of transactions totalling millions of dollars that, at the very least, should have prompted additional scrutiny in light of Mr Epsteins history.

She said some payments that should have drawn scrutiny included money paid to people publicly alleged to have been Mr Epsteins co-conspirators in sexually abusing young women; settlement payments totalling more than 7 million dollars (5.5 million) and more than 6 million dollars (4.75 million) in legal fees for Epstein and co-conspirators.

Other payments went to Russian models and transactions for womens school tuition, hotel and rent expenses, she said, along with suspicious cash withdrawals totalling more than 800,000 dollars (636,000) in a four-year stretch.
Carlo Efisio Marras, head of the Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) hospitals neurosurgery department, left, poses with Ermine, mother of conjoined twins Ervina and Prefina, before a press conference (Riccardo De Luca/AP)

Doctors at the Vaticans paediatric hospital said they have successfully separated conjoined twins whose skulls were fused back-to-back, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect.

The twins, Ervina and Prefina Bangalo, were born June 29, 2018 in Mbaiki, Central African Republic with their heads attached and sharing critical blood vessels around their brains.

Such cases of conjoined twins occur once in every two million births or so.

The Bambino Gesu Paediatric Hospital, which is Vatican-owned but operates within the Italian public health system, brought the twins and their mother to Italy soon after their birth.

The hospital said the toddlers are recovering well a month after their third and definitive separation surgery on June 5.

Video released by the hospital showed the girls waving along to music from their beds, clapping and holding markers, as well as celebrating their second birthday in their mothers arms as hospital staff sang Happy Birthday to them in Italian.

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The key goal of the surgery was to obtain a separation with the girls in perfect condition.

So the objective we gave ourselves was very ambitious, and we did everything to reach it, Dr Carlo Marras, chief of paediatric neurosurgery at Bambino Gesu, said.

Dr Marras led the team that worked for nearly two years planning and executing the separation.

At a press conference to announce the outcome of the sisters surgery, Dr Marras said the prognosis was these girls can have a normal life after a phase of rehabilitation.

There have been successful separation surgeries in the past of twins joined at the head, but most have been for twins whose heads were fused vertically, at the top.

Ervina and Previnas skulls were joined back-to-back in what is known as total posterior craniopagus.

That made the surgery particularly challenging since the back of the head is a far more critical place for blood supply to the brain and drainage of blood away from it, said Dr Jesse Taylor, head of plastic surgery at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia who has participated in some separation surgeries.

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Its one of those configurations that I think a lot of centres, when they see it, say, You know, were not sure that this can be done safely, Dr Taylor said.

The venous drainage tends to be the main limiting step for separability in twins connected at the back of the head.

He said in typical separation surgeries, doctors can borrow some blood vessels to give to each twin.

But when it comes to the back of the head, you dont have a lot of wiggle room for borrowing veins, Dr Taylor explained.

Dr Marras said that indeed, the most complicated aspect of the Bangalo twins separation was to give each child autonomous venous drainage systems, procedures that began with two surgeries in May and June 2019.

The final, 18-hour surgery last month to physically separate them involved a team of 30 doctors and nurses, who made use of 3-D imaging and neurosimulators.

Before the separation surgery, members of the Vatican hospitals staff gave the girls mirrors so they could see one another.

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They knew what each other sounded like, but the mirrors helped them associate facial expressions with their personalities and sounds, Dr Marras said.

It was an experience that wasnt just professional but above all human: to think that you can arrive at something that we had only imagined, with all the possibilities of failure.

It was a magical moment. Marvellous, he said.

Dr Marras said there was only one previously known case of a separation of twins conjoined at the back of the head, performed in the United States during the 1980s.

He said the outcome in that case was poor.

He was referring to the 1987 surgery at Johns Hopkins University by a team led by Dr Ben Carson, who is now US President Donald Trumps housing secretary.

Both twins suffered serious neurological problems; two years after the surgery, one of the boys was reportedly in a vegetative state and the other had severe developmental delays.

In the case of the sisters from Central African Republic, Dr Marras said the girls so far have suffered no neurological harm.

The twins mother, Ermine Nzotto, wiped tears from her eyes as she watched a video prepared by the hospital of the twins before and after their separation.

Ms Nzotto said she never went to school but hopes her daughters would study to become doctors.

Its a joy, that I can see my girls run and play like other children.

May they tomorrow study and learn to become doctors to save the other children of this world, she said through an interpreter.

The mother thanked Dr Marras, the hospital president and Pope Francis, who visited Central African Republics capital of Bangui in 2015 and has since strongly supported Bambino Gesus collaboration with the paediatric hospital there.

Ms Nzotto said she also hopes that Francis will now baptise her girls.

Hospital President Mariella Enoc had met the twins soon after they were born during a visit to the Central African Republic and was the driving force behind bringing them to Rome and seeing if they could be separated.

She said deciding to do so created ethical and economic questions, since the cost of one million euros (1.1 million US dollars) paid for primarily by the hospital foundation could have been spent on less-risky procedures that might have benefited more children.

But Ms Enoc said: When you find a life that can be saved, you have to save it.
Not impressed: British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab rejected Lius comments and said China had freely signed the Joint Declaration

Britain's criticism of Beijing-imposed security legislation in Hong Kong could damage future Chinese investment in the UK, the country's ambassador to London has warned.

Britain has described the security law as a "clear and serious" violation of the 1984 Joint Declaration, under which it later handed back its colony to China and said London would offer around three million residents a path to British citizenship.

"The UK government keeps making irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong affairs," Ambassador Liu Xiaoming told reporters.

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 China's internal affairs and openly tramples on the basic norms governing international relations."

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab rejected Liu's comments and said China had freely signed the Joint Declaration that guaranteed freedoms for the people of Hong Kong.

"It's a matter of trust and lots of countries around the world are asking this question: does China live up to its international obligations?" Raab told Reuters in a pooled interview.

Liu said China would decide on its response after seeing how Britain proceeded with its passport offer, and that any future decision to ban Huawei from Britain's 5G telecoms infrastructure would send a "very bad message" to Chinese companies.

British premier Boris Johnson describes himself as a "Sinophile", but has spoken of the need to "stick up for [Britain's] friends in Hong Kong".

He has also toughened his language on a provisional decision to let Huawei be involved in the development of Britain's 5G infrastructure, saying he would protect critical infrastructure from "hostile state vendors".

Mr Johnson has faced pressure from the US and some British lawmakers to ban the telecommunications equipment maker on security grounds, and Britain's media minister said yesterday the Huawei decision was not set in stone.

Mr Liu said China wanted friendly relations with Britain but added that "if you want to make China a hostile country, you will have to bear the consequences".

He said a U-turn on its Huawei decision would damage Britain's image.

"If you get rid of Huawei it sends out a very bad message to other Chinese businesses," Mr Liu said.

Hong Kong returned to China on July 1, 1997, under a "one country, two systems" formula guaranteeing wide-ranging autonomy and an independent judiciary.
Former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke chased a woman around his kitchen and chanted "I'm a naughty Tory" after sexually assaulting her, a court has heard.

The woman was said to have been "distressed, almost hysterical" after the ex-Dover MP allegedly groped her breast and tried to kiss her while his wife Natalie Elphicke was away, a jury was told.

Southwark Crown Court heard the alleged victim, who was in her early thirties, was "flattered" when Mr Elphicke - 36 at the time - invited her to share a drink with him.

He opened a bottle of 40 wine and began asking her about her sexual interests, including if she liked "lace and leather", and saying he liked "bondage and whips", jurors were told.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC said Mr Elphicke was alleged to have told the woman to come towards him so he could top up her wine glass.

He then assaulted her on the sofa, reaching into her top to grope her right breast and trying to kiss her, the court heard.

The prosecutor said: "She (the alleged victim) immediately shouted: 'No!'

"She was shocked. The whole incident was completely unexpected.

"He was chanting in a sing-song way: 'I'm a naughty Tory, I'm a naughty Tory', as though it was the school playground."

The alleged victim said he was "very animated, excited and clearly enjoying himself".

She said Mr Elphicke chased her around the home, trying to smack her bottom.

The jury was told the alleged victim "felt horrified by the entire situation".

She was said to have telephoned a friend about what had happened, with the incident being described as sounding "like a sketch from 'The Benny Hill Show'".

The jury heard that what the friend heard from the alleged victim on the phone "gave her real cause for concern".

The woman was also said to have phoned her brother after the incident, who described her as sounding "distressed, and almost hysterical".

Mr Elphicke denies three counts of sexual assault - one against the woman in 2007, and two counts against a parliamentary worker in her early twenties on two occasions in 2016.

The woman in her twenties said she found herself in Mr Elphicke's company sharing a bottle of champagne in Westminster.

The young woman later said: "He fully came at me, pulled his body towards me.

"He had his face on (my) face.

"He had his mouth open, continually trying to kiss me.

"It was like a disgusting slobbery mess."

The prosecutor said the woman "clearly rejected" Mr Elphicke, told him he was married, and that there was a large age gap.

Mr Elphicke was said to have replied: "What's the matter? Don't you like me ."

He later told the alleged victim: "I knew you'd bring my age into it."

Ms Marshall told jurors he also said to the woman: "Oh I'm naughty sometimes, aren't I? I can be so badly behaved but I can't help it."

The parliamentary worker is alleged to have reported the incident to Anne Milton MP, the Conservative deputy chief whip, in 2016 before contacting police the following year.

The court heard Mr Elphicke was called in to speak to Ms Milton but "completely denied" the allegations made against him.

The trial continues.
The Spanish state clashed in court yesterday with the heirs of Francisco Franco over who should control a mock-castle used by the fascist dictator as a summer home.

Officials donated the manor house in Sada, near A Coruna, Galicia, as a retreat for Franco in 1938, when he was the leader of the Nationalists in the civil war.

Spain's left-wing coalition government demanded its return last year, contending that the formal transfer of the site in 1941 was illegitimate. Franco's family still enjoy use of the house.

On the first day of hearings expected to last a week, the court in A Coruna heard how the house, which was built between 1893 and 1907, was enlarged after taking in local smallholders' land.

"My grandmother was kicked out of her home," said 70-year-old Juan Perez Babio. "She was pressured and had to leave her house, and that marked her for the rest of her life."

During his two-year tenure, Pedro Sanchez, the socialist prime minister, has challenged lingering reverence for Franco, who ruled from 1939 to 1975, most notably by exhuming his body from a mausoleum for the war dead.

The house has long stoked controversy, with campaigners arguing that the 16-acre property should have reverted to public ownership after the dictator's death in 1975.

According to the Franco regime's official account, the donation of the home was a mark of loyalty by the people of A Coruna to the general, who was born in nearby Ferrol. But historians claim that the leaders of A Coruna's council and business community obliged locals to hand over a portion of their income to buy the house. "There was nothing voluntary about the donations," said Carlos Babio, co-author of a history of the house.

Key to the legal case is whether any transfer of ownership took place. Spain's heritage council contends that the bill of sale for Franco taking ownership in 1941 was a "fraud". No money changed hands and upkeep was still paid for by the state. In 2018, Franco's heirs tried to sell the house for 8m after local officials placed a protection order on it.

The family have also clashed with the state over how to manage visitors, drawing criticism for allowing the Franco Foundation to run tours extolling the virtues of the dictator.

An estimated 100,000 people died during a campaign of repression by Franco's regime during and after the Spanish Civil War.
Actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard arrive separately at the High Court in London for the first day of his libel case against The Sun (Steve Parsons/PA)

Hollywood star Johnny Depp accused his ex-wife Amber Heard of lying about him beating her up, and told London's High Court on Tuesday that she had actually struck him.

Depp, the 57-year-old star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, is suing The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, for libel over an article Wootton wrote in April 2018 calling him a "wife beater".

The paper's lawyers said they would show the claim was true and that he had beaten actress Heard, causing her to fear for her life, during violent rages brought on by alcohol or drugs, sometimes when he had falsely accused her of infidelity.

"For the avoidance of any doubt, I have never abused Ms Heard, or, indeed, any other woman, in my life," Depp said in a witness statement in which he characterised his ex-wife as a calculating, emotionally dishonest narcissist.

Wearing a dark suit and glasses and speaking in a deep clear tone, Depp gave evidence at the beginning of the case at London's High Court. Heard, who arrived wearing a red scarf tied around her face, is also due to give evidence.

Expand Close Actress Amber Heard arriving at the High Court in London (Aaron Chown/PA) / Facebook

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In a written statement outlining Depp's case, his lawyer David Sherborne said Heard had first aired the abuse allegations in May 2016, saying it was hard to think of "more extreme or violent" claims of abuse than she would make during the trial.

"The Claimant's position is clear; Ms Heard's allegations are complete lies," Sherborne said. "The Claimant was not violent towards Ms Heard, it was she who was violent to him."

In papers submitted to the court, Depp's team also said Heard had begun an affair with Tesla chief executive Elon Musk in early 2015 shortly after they had got married and had engaged in at least one extra-marital relationship with her co-stars, with actor James Franco named.

Appearing in the witness box, American Depp said he was the victim of attacks from his ex-wife and had himself sought to avoid confrontation.

"I would try to go to my own corner as it were," he said. Asked about one argument, Depp said: "It escalated and it got physical ... Miss Heard struck me."

Expand Close Actor Johnny Depp during a break in the hearing for his libel case (Aaron Chown/PA) / Facebook

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The couple met on the set of the 2011 film "The Rum Diary" and married in February 2015. Heard filed for divorce after 15 months, and days later obtained a restraining order against Depp. Their divorce was finalised in 2017 when the restraining order was dismissed.

Cross-examined by lawyer Sasha Wass, Depp agreed he had taken "every drug known to man" by the age of 14 and said he had a difficult childhood and struggled to come to terms with his fame and success.

"Even when I speak my own name it sounds foreign to me," he said.

The court was shown mobile phone footage taken by Heard which showed an angry Depp slamming kitchen cupboard doors and pouring himself a "mega" glass of wine.

"I can only say I was upset, very upset," he said, adding it was not a pleasant video to watch.

Wass said he would turn into an alternate persona which he himself described as "the monster", which was brought on by anger, jealousy or drugs.

He said "the monster" Heard referred to was when he yelled back at her in arguments.

"It would become a screaming match and that was the monster," he said. "It's not Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde."

Expand Close A photo issued by Schillings of Johnny Depp being taken to hospital with a severed finger, following an incident in Australia in March 2015 (Schillings/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A photo issued by Schillings of Johnny Depp being taken to hospital with a severed finger, following an incident in Australia in March 2015 (Schillings/PA)

Depp denied Wass's suggestion that he had a "nasty, angry side".

Depp is also being sued by a crew member from one of his films in 2018 who accused him of punching him twice in the ribs, the court heard.

Wass recounted a statement from actress Ellen Barkin, who said Depp had thrown a bottle of wine across a hotel room on one occasion and had got jealous and angry.

"Untrue," Depp replied, saying Barkin held a grudge. "I do not have an anger management problem."

In his witness statement, Depp said Heard had thrown a vodka bottle at him, severing his finger off, and that his ex-wife or one of her friends had defecated in their bed.

The case is set to last for three weeks, the judge, Andrew Nicol, said. Also due to give evidence via videolink are Vanessa Paradis, Depp's former partner, and actress Winona Ryder.
Jeffrey Epstein's longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred yesterday to New York to face charges that she recruited women and girls, one as young as 14, for him to sexually abuse, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed.

Prosecutors have asked a judge to schedule a Friday court appearance in Manhattan federal court for Maxwell (58) who was arrested last week at a $1m (880,000) estate she had bought in New Hampshire.

Ms Maxwell, the daughter of British publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, was the former girlfriend and longtime close associate of Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail last August while he awaited trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

Ms Maxwell has been indicted on multiple charges, including that she conspired to entice girls as young as 14 to engage in illegal sex acts with Epstein from 1994 to 1997.

Several of Epstein's victims have described Ms Maxwell as his chief enabler, recruiting and grooming young girls for abuse. She has denied wrongdoing.

In a letter to a judge Sunday, prosecutors said they have communicated with Ms Maxwell's defence lawyer, Christian Everdell, who would like a Friday bail hearing where she will be arraigned.

Prosecutors have said Ms Maxwell "poses an extreme risk of flight". Maxwell has three passports, is wealthy with lots of international connections, and has "absolutely no reason to stay in the United States and face the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence", they wrote in a memo.

She is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn lockup has had controversies of its own. A week-long power failure at the jail in January 2019 sparked unrest among shivering inmates.

The Bureau of Prisons has been the subject of intense scrutiny since Epstein took his own life while in custody in August last year, which Attorney General William Barr said was the "perfect storm of screw ups".

The agency has been plagued for years by serious misconduct, violence and staffing shortages so severe that guards often work overtime day after day or are forced to work mandatory double shifts and has struggled recently with an exploding number of coronavirus cases in prisons across the US.
The Trump and Biden presidential campaigns now see the coronavirus response as the major force shaping the results of November's election, prompting both camps to try to refocus their campaigns more heavily on the pandemic, according to officials and advisers of both campaigns.

Advisers to presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden see the Covid-19 crisis as perhaps the clearest way yet to contrast the former vice president with President Donald Trump, using the stumbling response and renewed surge in cases as a way to paint Mr Trump as uninformed, incapable of empathy and only concerned about his own political standing.

Mr Trump's advisers, by contrast, are seeking ways to reframe his response to the coronavirus - even as the president himself largely seeks to avoid the topic because he views it as a political loser.

They are sending health officials to swing states, putting doctors on TV in regional markets where the virus is surging, crafting messages on an economic recovery and writing talking points for allies to deliver to potential voters.

The goal is to convince Americans that they can live with the virus and that schools should reopen and professional sport should return.

They will add that a vaccine is likely to arrive by the end of the year and the economy will continue to improve.

White House officials also hope Americans will grow numb to the escalating death toll and learn to accept tens of thousands of new cases a day, according to three people familiar with the White House's thinking, who requested anonymity to reveal internal deliberations.

Americans will "live with the virus being a threat", in the words of one of those people, a senior administration official.

"They're of the belief that people will get over it or if we stop highlighting it, the base will move on and the public will learn to accept 50,000 to 100,000 new cases a day," said a former administration official in touch with the campaign.

Mr Trump's campaign officials and advisers recognise that the administration's coronavirus response presents one of their biggest political challenges in the coming months, as voters generally disapprove of Mr Trump's handling of the issue.

Faced with some of Mr Trump's tide of problematic comments - such as suggesting lungs could be cleaned of coronavirus with disinfectants - the administration also plans to rely on surrogates to speak on the issue, including Vice President Mike Pence and White House coronavirus response co-ordinator Deborah Birx.

Several advisers have proposed coronavirus events in forthcoming weeks that Mr Trump has agreed to participate in that will highlight a potential vaccine and economic recovery, according to two campaign advisers and a White House official.

Several advisers said Mr Trump is still shellshocked by the faltering economy, protests over racial injustice and his declining political fortunes.

Some close to him, including a range of Republican senators and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, have encouraged him to focus on blaming China for the pandemic and to emphasise the administration's successes in the response, including preventing a widely feared ventilator shortage and increasing the country's testing capacity to 500,000 tests a day.

"Anytime you're an incumbent, you kind of own these things more than the challengers," said Senator Lindsey Graham, who added that the election will hinge on whether the economy has made a robust recovery, which can only happen if the outbreak comes under control.

Mr Biden has ramped up attacks on Mr Trump's response and outlined how he would place the federal government at the centre of the response if he was elected, a contrast to Mr Trump's decision to largely leave it to the states to procure testing kits, personal protective equipment and decide when and how to reopen.

Mr Trump reiterated his belief last week that the virus would simply "disappear", despite new daily infections surpassing 50,000 for the first time last week and more than 127,000 Americans dying from the disease.

Polls have shown Americans growing increasingly worried about the course of the outbreak. A Gallup poll on Thursday found 65pc of Americans saying that the coronavirus situation was getting worse - up from 48pc the week before.
TikTok has said it will stop operations in Hong Kong in the wake of a sweeping national security law in the former British colony.

The short-form video apps planned departure from Hong Kong comes amid concerns from various social media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and Twitter over the possibility of providing user data to Hong Kong authorities.

The social media companies say they are assessing implications of the security law, which prohibits what the Chinese government views as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities or as foreign intervention in the citys internal affairs.

In the mainland, foreign social media platforms are blocked by Chinas Great Firewall.

Expand Close There are concerns over the possibility of having to hand over user data to Chinese authorities (Peter Byrne/PA) / Facebook

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Critics see the law as Beijings boldest step yet to erase the legal divide between the former British colony and the mainlands authoritarian Communist Party system.

TikTok said in a statement that it had decided to halt operations in light of recent events.

Facebook and its messaging app WhatsApp said in separate statements that they would freeze the review of government requests for user data in Hong Kong, pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts.

Hong Kong was convulsed with massive, sometimes violent anti-government protests for much of last year as the former British colonys residents reacted to proposed extradition legislation, since withdrawn, that might have led to some suspects facing trial in mainland Chinese courts.

The new law criminalises some pro-democracy slogans, such as the widely used Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time, which the Hong Kong government says has separatist connotations.

The fear is that the law erodes the special freedoms of the semi-autonomous city, which has operated under a one country, two systems framework since China took control in 1997.

That arrangement has allowed Hong Kongs people freedoms not permitted in mainland China, such as unrestricted internet access and public dissent.
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Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region.
Emission reduction of greenhouse gases is now certified and traded under the Puhui Certified Emission Reductions (PHCER) program in South Chinas Guangdong Province, helping increase the collective income of the provinces villages.

In April, 1,448 tons of reduced carbon dioxide equivalents in Qianfeng village, Hengshitang township in Yingde city of the province was transacted after fierce bidding at an auction.

The purchase price is 36 yuan ($5) per ton, said Li Yanshen, Party head of the village. The transaction helped the village gain over 50,000 yuan in collective income.

The PHCER trading means the transaction of greenhouse gas emissions reduced by increasing carbon sinks in the process of forest management and operation, which will be converted into certified emission reductions.

Guangdong launched the first batch of the PHCER pilot schemes in July 2015. By quantifying and pricing energy saving and emission reduction behaviors of small and medium-sized enterprises, households and individuals, the province established an encouraging mechanism that combines commercial incentives, incentive policies, and trading of certified emission reductions.

Qianfeng village has sound conditions to implement the PHCER program thanks to its abundant forestry resources, said Chen Shuyan, head of the forestry bureau in Yingde.

Each forestry land participating in the program should provide its cadastral data, such as its boundaries, said Geng Hongbo, the first secretary of the village for poverty alleviation, who believes that certificates of forest rights are very helpful.

Third-party agencies will verify such data, mainly by measuring the growth of trees and carbon emission reductions in previous years, Geng added.

About 456.3 hectares of forests in the village have been certified as a total of 1,448 tons of reduced carbon dioxide equivalents, according to Geng, adding that the villages PHCER scheme was approved in March after it was submitted and filed.

Many other entities in Yingde have participated in the PHCER program. Like Qianfeng, Longhua village in the township also completed a transaction in April at the China Emissions Exchange (Guangzhou), the largest local carbon market in China, generating a pollution-free income of about 130,000 yuan.

The Shimentai National Nature Reserve in Yingde is a place with lush mountains and lucid waters. Its suitable for planting Schima superba and maple trees, and we have planted about 1,333.3 hectares of forest carbon sinks, said Zhou Guocheng, a ranger at the nature reserve.

Market-based PHCER trading has not only fostered a new growth point of green development for poverty-stricken villages to increase collective income, but also made villagers more convinced from their first-hand experience that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. Besides, it has enhanced the endogenous dynamism of economic profits and the ecological environment, providing valuable experience for other impoverished areas to pursue green development.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Centre and gave it one month's time for the implementation of its verdict on giving all serving SSC women officers permanent commission in the Army, PTI reported.

In a landmark judgement on February 17, the top court had ordered the Centre to grant permanent commission respecting a 2010 order of the Delhi High Court in this regard and had also ruled that women officers can get command and criteria appointments in the Army on par with their male counterparts.

PTI

It had directed the Centre that within three months, all serving Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers have to be considered for Permanent Commissions (PCs) irrespective of them having crossed 14 years or, as the case may be, 20 years of service.



The courts latest order was passed on an application the Centre filed seeking six months time to implement the verdict, citing the coronavirus pandemic. India has recorded more than 7 lakh cases and over 20,000 deaths due to COVID-19.

AP

But the Supreme Court has shot down the application. A bench headed by Justices D Y Chandrachud said that the Centre will have to comply with all its directions given in its verdict.



The Narendra Modi-led government had approved permanent commission for women in all 10 branches of the Army in March last year. Under the scheme, the women officers should indicate within four years of service whether they want permanent commission.

In 2010, the Delhi High Court had ruled that compulsory retirement for women officers after 14 years was unconstitutional in all three services of the military  Army, Air Force and Navy.
Among other things, Kerala also has the dubious distinction of being the Hawala Capital of India. It is also the hub of gold smuggling in the country and a large portion of the yellow metal that is illegally brought to the country every year ends in the small state.

Gold smuggling, from the middle east, has been going on in Kerala for decades and it is continuing even on Vande Bharat repatriation flights. Indiatimes had recently reported how smugglers are using desperate evacuees as carriers to smuggle gold.

BCCL

But a recent haul of around 30 kg gold, valued at Rs 15 crore, that was seized at Thiruvananthapuram airport has left everyone including officials and the state government stumped.

The gold was sent to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai, in what is called a diplomatic consignment, which under normal circumstances are not checked at airports. Like diplomatic privileges, diplomatic baggage too are protected under the Vienna Convention and are not screened at arrival at airports.

BCCL

But on Sunday, the local customs officials had a specific tip-off and after obtaining permission from the Ministry of External Affairs, the bag was seized and searched. An individual identified as Sarith, who used to work as the PRO of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram who was at the airport to collect the baggage has apprehended. He along with another former official, identified as Swapna Suresh was the ringleaders of the operation.

BCCL

According to reports, Swapna who was fired by the Consulate over misconduct was working as temporary staff at the Kerala Government's IT Department. Sarith who has been arrested has confessed that they used their connections in the Consulate and his previous experience in receiving diplomatic baggage on behalf of his former employers to smuggle gold.

Though it is still unclear how many times they have exploited this privilege, Sarith has confessed that they have been smuggling gold since January.

Swapna who has been fired from her job and is still elusive is emerging as the kingpin in the racket. Swapna who was born and brought up in the Middle East where her father used to work was fluent in several languages including Arabic had returned to Kerala in 2010 and started a tour agency. Her proficiency in the Arabic language made her a regular translator for visiting middle-east delegation and eventually a job at the UAE Consulate in 2016.

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Before that, she had worked at the Air India SATS, Swapna was probed there for giving a fake complaint against an officer to implicate him in a sexual harassment case.

Ever since her role in the gold smuggling surfaced, social media in Kerala has been flooded with her photos with prominent politicians including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. While the opposition used this to corner the government in the case, left-supporters hit back with photos of her with Congress leaders. However, most of the photos that are making rounds are from her days at the UAE Consulate when she was a regular presence at any events there.

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According to reports, the officials got the first input on the gang from another recent case - where prominent south Indian actress Shamna Kasim had alleged that a gang who approached her family with a marriage proposal was trying to extort money from her.

bccl

While probing the case, the cops had come across a gold smuggling gang and a deal woman in Thiruvananthapuram, which officials believe is Swapna.
Taking a risk in dangerous times and also possibly making himself a target for social stigma, a 46-year-old man in Mizoram is winning the hearts of several Covid suspect patients as he took them home without charging a penny after they completed their institutional quarantine period, as per a report in IANS.

Israel Lalremtluanga is a Baptist Church pastor in southern Mizoram's Lunglei district. He drives people to their homes in his own car. He worked on his small vehicle with a single seat in front for the driver, with back seats for passengers made of polythene and a plastic barrier in between to maintain social distancing.



North East Now

"I started ferrying people from March after the Mizoram citizens started returning to their homes from different parts of the country. I learnt people were facing great difficulties in returning to their villages and homes even after they completed their 14 or 21-day quarantine period or came out negative for coronavirus," he said.

No public transport despite Covid-19 recovery

"Social prejudice came in their way. Even after recovering from the disease or completed quarantine period, they were not getting public transport or were made to pay up Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 to return to their villages and homes in vehicles laden with goods," he added.

Just a few months back there were reports of an asthma patient dying on roadside in a southern state as none around him was brave enough to ferry him to the nearest hospital, fearing Covid infection. This shows how important the pastor is to people who face prejudice everyday.



"Their miseries and inhuman situations stirred my heart," he went on to say.



BCCL

He said that his father-in-law Thankunga Chongthu, who died in January last year, had purchased the car, he is now using.



The pastor, who along with his two children and wife lives in Haulawng village (in Lunglei district), 130 km south of state capital Aizawl, said it was his primary duty to give happiness and comforts to the needy and ailing people.



Reuters

"My work is not for any recognition and publicity. When I am serving others, I am serving as per God''s wishes. It gives me immense pleasure, when I am able to help the people during this time of crisis," Lalremtluanga said.

The pastor, however, could not recollect the exact number of people he has ferried so far. "Since services of a large number of churches have been suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak and governmental restrictions, I have started serving people outside the church."



Around 18,000 people so far have returned to Mizoram from other states. The Mizoram government made it mandatory for them to remain in 14 or 21-day institutional quarantine immediately after their returned to the state and then a week isolation in their homes.


Mumbai now has gone past China in the number of coronavirus positive cases and deaths. According to official data, Mumbai has 85,724 cases and 4938 deaths.

BCCL

In China their have been 4634 fatalities and along with 83,565 cases. Read more

Jawan Martyred Fighting Off Terrorists In Kashmir's Pulwama, One Terrorist Killed In Encounter

One terrorist has been taken out and one jawan martyred during an encounter that started at Goosu village of Pulwama. Police and security forces are in the process of carrying out the operation.

BCCL

"One terrorist has been neutralised in the ongoing encounter. Operation underway," Kashmir Zone Police said. Read more

Female Army Officers Might Start Getting Permanent Commissions In The Next One Month

The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Centre and gave it one month's time for the implementation of its verdict on giving all serving SSC women officers permanent commission in the Army.

.

In a landmark judgement on February 17, the top court had ordered the Centre to grant permanent commission respecting a 2010 order of the Delhi High Court in this regard and had also ruled that women officers can get command and criteria appointments in the Army on par with their male counterparts. Read more



2 Ex-UAE Consulate Staffers Used Diplomatic Baggage To Smuggle 30 KG Gold In Kerala

The recent haul of around 30 kg gold, valued at Rs 15 crore, that was seized at Thiruvananthapuram airport has left everyone including officials and the state government stumped.



BCCL

The gold was sent to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai, in what is called a diplomatic consignment, which under normal circumstances are not checked at airports. Read more



Vikas Dubey Still At Large, Police Now Claim There Was No Letter From Slain Officer Against SO

It has been four days since Devendra Kumar Mishra, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) along with seven other cops were shot dead by the henchmen of gangster Vikas Dubey in Dikru village under the Chaubeypur police station of Kanpur.

Twitter

Dubey has been missing in action ever since and all that the cops have so far managed to do is to demolish his house and cars. Read more
As China has introduced new sweeping powers to censor Hong Kong's internet and access user data using its feared new national security law, the US tech giants have put up some resistance citing rights concerns.

The online censorship plans were contained in a 116-page government document released on Monday night that also revealed expanded powers for police, allowing warrantless raids and surveillance for some national security investigations.

AFP

China imposed the law on semi-autonomous Hong Kong a week ago, targeting subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces - its wording kept secret until the moment it was enacted.



Despite assurances that only a small number of people would be targeted by the law, the new details show it is the most radical change in Hong Kong's freedoms and rights since Britain handed the city back to China in 1997.

Late Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke out against "Orwellian" moves to censor activists, schools and libraries since the law was enacted.

"Until now, Hong Kong flourished because it allowed free thinking and free speech, under an independent rule of law. No more," Pompeo said.

Restore stability

Under its handover deal with the British, Beijing promised to guarantee until at least 2047 certain liberties and autonomy not seen on the authoritarian mainland.

Years of rising concerns that China's ruling Communist Party was steadily eroding those freedoms birthed a popular pro-democracy movement, which led to massive and often violent protests for seven months last year.

AFP

China has made no secret of its desire to use the law to crush that democracy movement.



"The Hong Kong government will vigorously implement this law," Chief Executive Carrie Lam, the city's Beijing-appointed leader, told reporters on Tuesday.

Internet firms and service providers can be ordered to remove the information and their equipment can be seized. Executives can also be hit with fines and up to one year in jail if they refuse to comply.



The companies are also expected to provide identification records and decryption assistance.

Big tech unease

However the biggest American tech companies offered some resistance.

Facebook, Google and Twitter said on Monday that they had put a hold on requests by Hong Kong's government or police force for information on users.

Representational Image

Facebook and its popular messaging service WhatsApp would deny requests until it had conducted a review of the law that entailed "formal human rights due diligence and consultations with human rights experts," the company said in a statement.



"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," a Facebook spokesman said.

Twitter and Google told AFP that they too would not comply with information requests by Hong Kong authorities in the immediate future.

Twitter told AFP it had "grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law.

Tik Tok, which is owned by Chinese company Byte Dance, announced it was pulling out of Hong Kong altogether.

"In light of recent events, we've decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong," TikTok told AFP.

Tik Tok has become wildly popular amongst youngsters around the world. However many Hong Kongers have distrusted it because of its Chinese ownership.

ByteDance has consistently denied sharing any user data with authorities in China, and was adamant it did not intend to begin to agree to such requests.

In less than a week since the law was enacted, democracy activists and many ordinary people have scrubbed their online profiles of anything that China may deem incriminating.

Monday night's document also revealed that judicial oversight that previously governed police surveillance powers in Hong Kong had been eliminated when it comes to national security investigations.

Police officers will be able to conduct a search without a warrant if they deem a threat to national security is urgent".
Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro says he tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the threat, as per a report in AP.

He confirmed the results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in Brasilia.



"I'm well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations," Bolsonaro said.



The president has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a little flu" were he to contract it.



He has also repeatedly said that there is no way to prevent 70% of the population falling ill with COVID-19, and that local authorities' measures to shut down economic activity would ultimately cause more hardship than allowing the virus to run its course.



AP

Cities and states last month began lifting restrictions that had been imposed to control the spread of the virus, as their statistical curves of deaths began to decline along with the occupation rate of its intensive-care units. Brazil, the worlds sixth most populous nation, with more than 210 million people, is one of the global hot spots of the pandemic.



On Monday, Bolsonaro told supporters in Brasilia that he underwent an X-ray of his lungs that showed they were clean, and that he would be tested for COVID-19. On Tuesday, he told CNN Brasil that his fever had subsided.



Over the weekend, the Brazilian leader celebrated the U.S. Independence Day with the nations ambassador to Brazil, then shared pictures on social media showing him with his arm around the ambassador alongside several ministers and aides. None wore masks, despite being in close quarters.



AP

The U.S. Embassy said on Twitter on Monday that Ambassador Todd Chapman is not showing any COVID-19 symptoms but would be tested.



Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with the U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida. Multiple members of his delegation to the U.S. were later reported to be infected with the virus.



AP

More than 65,000 Brazilians have so far died from COVID-19 and more than 1,500,000 have been infected. Both numbers are the world's second-highest totals, and are considered to be undercounts to the lack of widespread testing.



The Brazillian president was in India during the country's Republic Day celebrations and he visited Akshardham temple in Delhi during his stay.


While the coronavirus crisis continues to mount in United States, the country is facing an uphill battle to get the virus in check. The effects of it have been felt far and wide, and the growing COVID-19 threat has also impacted the foreign students in the country.

If the halt to academic session wasn't enough, the US on Monday said that it will 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.

BCCL

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.

Reuters

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.

What it means

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.



The decision hasn't gone down well, with many Democratic leaders including Bernie Sanders hitting out at the new development coming out of the White House.

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.

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.

AFP

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 on Monday.

SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020

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.
As the world fought the Coronavirus pandemic this year, several new initiatives emerged in the medical field to lessen the risk to lives of COVID-19 health workers fighting the pandemic on the front lines.

One such was the use of robots in hospitals. Keeping staff safety in mind, Podar Hospital in Mumbai has now inducted a robot into service.

Reuters

Called Gollar, the new robot at the medical facility is meant to bring food, water and medicines to the patients in the hospital. As can be understood, the use of the robot is meant to eliminate contact and reduce risk for the medical staff present at the COVID-19 facilities.

The update comes straight from the Twitter account of the Office of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. A short video shows the robot Gollar in action in one of the wards in the Podar hospital.

The tweet reads: "Robot Gollar has reported on duty at Podar Hospital in Mumbai! Itll get you food, water & medicines. This is an important step in our #WarAgainstVirus as it will eliminate contact and reduce risk for our medical staff in COVID Facilities."

Meet Gollar the COVID-19 safety robot

In the video shared through the tweet, Gollar can be seen carrying supplies to the patients admitted in the ward.

Patients can simply pick up the required supply straight from the robot, thus avoiding direct contact with any medical worker in the process. You can check out the video in the tweet below.

Robot Gollar has reported on duty at Podar Hospital in Mumbai! Itll get you food, water & medicines.



This is an important step in our #WarAgainstVirus as it will eliminate contact and reduce risk for our medical staff in COVID Facilities. pic.twitter.com/BGKfyGlMdC  CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) July 7, 2020

Gollar robot detail

Essentially a robotic trolley, Gollar has been created by Ignite Labs for the purpose.

This is not the first time that a robot is being used in hospitals to minimise contact between the medical workers and the patients. Earlier, Kerala inducted a pair of computer-programmed machines developed by Asimov Robotics, a startup incubated at the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), to distribute masks, sanitisers and napkins to the public.

Robots have not been limited in their use in this fight against COVID-19. Another robot created by Shanghai-based Keenon Robotics uses a combination of UV light and liquid disinfectant spray to kill pathogens like COVID-19. The Rs 30 lakh robot is meant to keep any place germ-free.

Spain used robots to induct COVID-19 tests in public, to the count of 80,000 tests per day, simultaneously preventing physicians being exposed to the risk of the pathogen. In Chennai, robots were used by the police to ensure people follow COVID-19 lockdown in containment zones.
Onon is a cuckoo bird who took off above the rolling hills of the Khurkh valley in Mongolia in June 2019; researchers who fit him with a tiny tracking device along with one oriental cuckoo and three other common cuckoos, weren't sure if they would see him alive again.

The birds were to embark on a journey to southern Africa. Last month, he was the only bird to return safely with his tracker intact.

A senior research ecologist at the British Trust for Ornithology, Dr Chris Hewson, said, Its an amazingly long migration". He stated that Onon's 26,000 km round trip was one of the longest journeys recorded by any land bird.

Also watch: Flamingos Appear In Navi Mumbai, Residents Want The Area To Be Declared As A Sanctuary

Mongolia Cuckoo project

Onon not only left conservationists extremely amazed but has become quite the sensation online too. People followed online updates from the Mongolia Cuckoo Project and watched in awe as Onon cruised across oceans and made 27 border crossings in 16 countries.

Onon returned on May 27 after becoming a celebrity in India, Kenya and Sweden. He was every newspaper's headline back in Mongolia.

Now, researchers are studying relevant data from his journey for clues about why cuckoos travel as far as they do and how climate change can affect them.

Also read: According To A Study, South Pole Is Warming Three Times Faster Than The Rest Of The World

Mongolia Cuckoo project

Dr Hewson worked on the project with the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia and said that he did not believe cuckoos were capable of such extensive migration. He said, Although theyve got nice long wings, when theyre flying around the breeding site they look slightly ungainly compared to the other birds".

He added that cuckoos like Onon, who migrate in search of their favourite food -- caterpillars -- travel significantly fast. Using tailwinds, they can motor for more than 1,000 km in a day for a week.

Caterpillars appear in places that are sunny and wet; in summer, they show up in the Khurkh valley and as the weather changes, they travel to India for monsoon and then further on to east Africa.

Mongolia Cuckoo project

The other four birds that set off at the same time as Onon did not return and their fate remains unknown. Their trackers may have failed or they may have died. One of them named Bayan is believed to have died in Yunnan province, China, after flying for 7,200 km in a week from Somalia.

Also read: The Beautiful Story Of 'Longleng,' The Amur Falcon That Flew 22,000 Km From Nagaland To Africa

As researchers compare the flight paths of cuckoos from across Asia, they are exploring why Onon and his peers choose such epic journeys. They could potentially spend winter in Asia or Australasia south of the equator, but they dont, says Hewson. Probably partly because the presence of a competitor species, the oriental cuckoo, makes this less profitable than it would otherwise be.



He is Onon a Cuckoo. This bird was in Kenya on 29th April. Today he is in Madhya Pradesh. He has completed his crossing of the Arabian Sea to India and, for good measure, flown another 600 km inland also. It is 5000 Kms flying in a week. Feel that amazing feat. @BirdingBeijing pic.twitter.com/SGfuGO3MkS  Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) May 4, 2020

The very long journey is perhaps easier than it might appear because theres such an abundant supply of caterpillars on route, he adds. If youre finding food when you get there, its not such a costly thing to do in terms of energy. This raises questions over how the cuckoos might manage if global heating or other threats affect the availability of food.



If their stopover sites get lost they will be in big trouble, says Nyambayar Batbayar, of the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia, who said the project had raised awareness of the need to protect key flyways and the areas where the birds rest and eat. In Mongolia, schools in Khentii province have taken part in the project, helping to name the birds and closely following their journeys.

Back in the lush hills and wheat fields of the Khurkh valley, Onon is getting on with life. He has no time to waste as he needs to set up his territory, defend it from competing males and mate with as many females as possible! the Mongolia Cuckoo Project has informed his fans.
The Sikh community has often come to the aid of those in distress. From setting up langars in America for the needy during the pandemic, to rushing to the aid of those affected by the bush fires in Australia, they've always showed up no matter what.

They continue the good work. More recently, they came to the rescue of Australians who suddenly found themselves shut inside their homes in the middle of a lockdown.

Facebook





On Sunday, Sikh volunteers drove to the public housing blocks in Kensington and Flemington, in Melbourne, and served 1,325 free meals to desperate residents who were suddenly forced into coronavirus lockdown, reports MSN. The strict lockdown was imposed by Victorian Government on Saturday in a bid to contain an outbreak after 27 people in the towers tested positive for coronavirus.

More than 3,000 tenants were unprepared for the surprise decision and did not have enough groceries or supplies for the entire run of the lockdown.

Facebook





'With the help and coordination of Victorian Department of Health and Human Services and Victoria Police today we were able to served 1325 meals,' Sikh Volunteers Australia group wrote on Facebook.

The group also went live, showing the preparation of food. In the video, people can been seen wearing masks and gloves while cooking vegetarian food in large utensils.





Volunteers reportedly did not come in direct contact with any residents.

We are not making any direct contact with anyone. We leave food on the table, people come there one by one and take food from there, an organiser reportedly said.

The residents were initially told that the lockdown would be for five days but later told it could go on for two weeks.

A week ago it was reported, the Guru Nanak Foundation of America Gurudwara in Silver Spring, in the Washington DC metro area, turned the traditional tenant of Sikhism - the 'langar sewa' into a drive-thru food distribution zone. In seven weeks, the volunteers managed to distribute more than 2,100 food packages.

No matter what the person's nationality or faith, Sikhs are there to help, and for that they have our respect.
An eight-month-old baby who travelled around 400 km from Arunachal Pradesh to Meghalaya via Assam for treatment died within hours of testing positive for coronavirus, reported Times of India.

The baby boy was referred to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) from Arunachal Pradesh's Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences for the treatment of an ailment.

Also read: Man Allegedly Assaults Newborn Girl Doubting Her Parentage, Baby Admitted To Hospital With Bleeding Brain

Edufever

His parents managed to bring him to Shillong by road and arrived at the hospital during the wee hours on Monday. Meghalaya Health Minister AL Hek said, "On their arrival, the swab samples of the baby were collected and sent for tests. The baby boy tested positive for COVID-19 and later died in the evening."

However, both the parents and their driver tested negative for the highly contagious virus. The baby's unfortunate demise takes Meghalaya's COVID-19 death toll to two, claim reports.

Also read: Meet Emmanuel Quarantino, A Manipuri Baby Boy Who Was Born In A Quarantine Centre

Meghalaya's first COVID-19 death was recorded on April 15 and, so far, the state has 89 cases of coronavirus. Out of these 89, 44 are presently undergoing treatment and 43 have recovered. 22 of the active cases were detected at the BSF headquarters in the state.

Pixabay (Representational image)

Babies are extremely vulnerable to the highly contagious disease and several have lost their lives to the same. A two-day old newborn baby passed away due to COVID-19 in Faridabad in May. Another two-month-old baby succumbed to the disease in Pune last month.

Also read: RPF Jawan Puts His Life In Danger, Runs Along Moving Train To Deliver Milk For 4-Month-Old Baby

TOI (Representational image)

If you or anyone you know has a baby around, please ensure that he/she is protected at all costs and does not come in contact with anyone from outside. If someone in the house is stepping out, they should maintain maximum physical distance from the baby. Proper safety and hygiene protocol should be followed at all times.

Facebook image for representational purposes only.
Frank Islam, an Indian American entrepreneur, writes: It is an irony that, while Trump is trying to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., his nonimmigrant worker visa policy could force more high-paying service jobs offshore. What makes it doubly ironic is that this action which Trump has taken to try to save his job as president will not do so. President Trump is seen above speaking at the White House July 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said July 7 that foreign students, including Indian students, must leave the U.S. if classes go fully online. "Trump is forcing foreign students to study in unsafe conditions during Covid-19, Indian American attorney Cyrus Mehta tweeted. (representational image/IANS)
Image will supply 100,000 tonnes of zircon-rich heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) to Guangdong Orient Zirconic (OZC) and Shantou Natfort Zirconium & Titanium over a 3-4 month period starting in July 2020.

Image reported that demand for HMC had softened globally due to the effects of Covid-19. As a result,...
Tower Health and Drexel University, which jointly own St. Christophers Hospital for Children, on Tuesday said that they had selected Donald Mueller as permanent chief executive of the North Philadelphia safety-net hospital, effective July 27.

Mueller, 49, will come to Philadelphia after five years at Childrens Hospital at Erlanger, a 128-bed facility in Chattanooga, Tenn., that is part of Erlanger Health System, a nonprofit with $1 billion in annual revenue. Financial details on the Erlanger childrens hospital were not available.

It is an honor to join the amazing team at St. Christophers Hospital for Children, and I am thrilled for the opportunity to strengthen and grow one of the most important health-care facilities in the Philadelphia region, Mueller said in a news release.

Among Muellers accomplishments at Erlanger was recruiting more than 50 sub-specialty physicians, Drexel and Tower said. He also helped raise $46 million to upgrade the hospitals facilities, and oversaw planning and design for a new 100,000-square-foot ambulatory-care center.

Mueller, who had been at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta for 15 years before going to Erlanger, was the top pick of both medical staff and management at St. Chris, one doctor there said.

He will replace Ronald Dreskin, who has been interim CEO since December, when Tower and Drexel bought St. Christophers out of bankruptcy for $50 million in a deal that did not include the real estate. Dreskin was part of the EisnerAmper restructuring team that then-owner Joel Freedman brought to Philadelphia last year in a bid to save St. Chris and the now-shuttered Hahnemann University Hospital from bankruptcy.

Mueller will take over a 188-bed hospital that has been losing significant amounts of money. From December through March, St. Christophers had a $24 million operating loss on $88 million in revenue, according to Towers financial statements.

Tower recently announced that it was cutting about 1,000 jobs, or 8% of its workforce, as it contends with COVID-19 fallout and other problems. The nonprofit, based in West Reading and anchored by Reading Hospital, paid $418 million in 2017 for five community hospitals in Southeastern Pennsylvania: Brandywine in Coatesville, Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia, Jennersville Regional in West Grove, Phoenixville, and Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, now called Pottstown Hospital.

Even though hospitals have reopened for non-urgent care, many patients remain reluctant to get treatment because of worries about the coronavirus. That means health systems are expecting losses to continue in the fiscal year that started July 1.
More than 90 Philadelphia-area companies received up to $10 million each from the Paycheck Protection Program, the maximum amount available under the federal program of forgivable loans set up to help small businesses through the coronavirus pandemic.

Those receiving between $5 million and $10 million, the highest tier in data released Monday by the Trump administration, include law firms Archer & Greiner and White & Williams and developer and parking-lot operator Parkway Corp. in Philadelphia; the Allied Resources Group staffing firm in Exton; the Miller Service Corp. auto group in Lumberton; and the Mount Laurel-based mortgage lender known as Annie Mac.

Key nonprofit and cultural institutions also received money, including Mastery Charter Schools of Camden, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia board that oversees the Stephen Girard Estate and other city trusts.

The funds are part of at least $7.4 billion in potentially forgivable loans granted to firm and nonprofit organizations in Philadelphia and neighboring Pennsylvania and South Jersey counties from the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program.

In one unexpected finding, analysis of the data shows that in this region, almost a quarter of those who received more than $150,000 in help reported that they had not saved any jobs as a result or left the job retention question unanswered. Firms who dont use the money to keep employees cant take advantage of the programs path to convert loans to outright grants, but still pay only 1% interest on the loan.

Mondays release provides the most detailed picture to date on which industries and businesses received funding from the program, which lawmakers passed in haste this spring to help firms with fewer than 500 workers weather the coronavirus pandemic.

Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin had for months resisted naming recipients of the loans, but has now reversed course  at least in part.

The newly released data only identify the nearly 658,300 grantees who received more than $150,000, accounting for fewer than 14% of all entities awarded funds from the program. But those loans comprised 75% of all loan dollars approved.

 READ MORE: Pa. to give $225 million in grants to small businesses hurt by coronavirus

The data do not disclose specific loan amounts, instead presenting them in a series of five ranges, spanning from $150,000 to $350,000 to $5 million to $10 million.

A separate set of data released Monday disclosed specific loan amounts for awards that are less than $150,000, but did not identify recipients.

One company listed as receiving between $350,000 and $1 million is linens company ADT-American, which has locations in Wyncote, as well as in Georgia and South Carolina. In the midst of the pandemic, the firm, which employs about 90 people, pivoted from selling organic bedding to making and selling masks and hospital gowns.

People are thinking about products and supply chain, said owner Janet Wischnia. Since April Ive gotten more and more email from people who dont want to buy from China anymore.

The company applied for a PPP loan from M&T Bank/Wilmington Trust, although she declined to give the loan amount. We got the amount that was allowed, based on payroll numbers, she said. And were planning on applying to have it become a grant.

 READ MORE: Virus woes put properties from Fillmore music hall to View dorm tower near Temple on Philly areas $2.7B loan-default watchlist

Mnuchin said in a release that Mondays 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.

Nationally, the program has supported more than 51 million jobs, reaching over 80% of all small business employees, Mnuchin said. The average loan under the program was $100,000, demonstrating that the program is serving the smallest of businesses, he said.

The first funds made available under PPP was a $349 billion allotment authorized by lawmakers in March. It went fast, with some publicly traded companies drawing criticism for disclosing that theyd taken money while smaller businesses struggled to access funds.

Companies including Philadelphia hotel operator Hersha Hospitality Trust and restaurant chains Ruths Hospitality Group  owner of Ruths Chris Steak House  and Shake Shack Inc. later said they would return their grants.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, owner of the Fashion District Philadelphia shopping mall in Center City and the Cherry Hill Mall, opted to keep the $4.5 million that it received.

 READ MORE: The Philly areas biggest mall owner furloughed employees and got coronavirus cash. Executives arent feeling the pain.

Many companies, however, came to view the terms of the loan as too restrictive, resulting in no takers for $132 billion from a $310 billion second round of PPP funds authorized in April.

Legislation signed last month loosened some rules, giving business owners more time to bring back furloughed workers and letting borrowers use PPP money over a 24-week period, rather than the eight-week period set in the first round of legislation.

Loans can also be forgiven even if companies dont bring back the same number of employees as theyd let go, while the deadline to apply for a PPP loan  originally scheduled to lapse last week  was extended to August 8.

Philadelphia-area businesses and organizations received 77,180 loans, of which 12,542, or 16%, were for more than $150,000.

Regionwide, 753,375 jobs were retained, 524,876, or 70%, of them, by entities receiving more than $150,000.

Among those getting more than $150,000 were 33 recipients who reported 500 jobs retained, the maximum number of employees for a firm to be eligible for the loans. Those firms included Collegium Charter School in Chester, Philadelphia-based fast-casual dining chain Honeygrow, and Duone Family Enterprises, a franchisee of McDonalds restaurants in Newtown Square.

The Philadelphia Art Museum, for its part, reported that the program had permitted it to save 497 jobs, virtually its entire workforce. Nonetheless, the museum recently announced it plans to cut 100 workers from its staff.

Meanwhile, 1,193 recipients awarded more than $150,000  nearly 10% regionwide  reported that they had retained no jobs. They include law firm Zarwin Baum, the Family Dealerships auto group and Pats King of Steaks in Philadelphia, Plymouth Law Center in West Conshohocken, and the construction-themed Diggerland USA attraction in West Berlin.

Another 1,572, or almost 13%, left a job-retention question unanswered.

We are happy some jobs were protected, said Derek Martin of Accountable.US, a left-of-center advocacy group that has been critical of some aspects of the program. Its not enough.
Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson apologized twice Tuesday for his recent Instagram posts, in which he praised Louis Farrakhan and shared a text that included a fake Adolf Hitler quote.

Jacksons first attempt of the day to explain and express remorse included a statement and a video, in which he said he didnt intend any harm or hatred, and disavowed any approval of Hitler.

I really didnt understand what this passage was saying, Jackson wrote. Hitler has caused terrible pain to Jewish people like the pain African-Americans have suffered. We should be together fighting anti-Semitism and racism.

In the accompanying video, Jackson said, in part: I post things on my story all the time, and just probably never should have posted anything that Hitler did, because Hitler was a bad person, and I know that. I was just trying to uplift African-Americans, and slavery, and just enlighten my people.

Jackson said that people who know him know I have no hatred in my heart, that Id never try to put another religion down to uplift my religion or my race.

The second statement, Tuesday evening, was more polished. It specifically apologized to the Jewish community, fans, the Eagles organization, owner Jeffrey Lurie, general manager Howie Roseman, and head coach Doug Pederson. It also contained a pledge.

This apology is more than just words -- it is a promise to do better, Jackson said. I will fully educate myself and work with local and national organizations to be more informed and make a difference in our community.

Jacksons initial apology came as the team released a statement that said the views Jackson endorsed on Instagram have no place in our society and are not condoned or supported in any way by the organization.

The statement indicated the team will take further action -- perhaps a fine -- and outlined what the Eagles feel Jackson needs to do to atone -- ... not only apologizing, but using his platform to take action to promote unity, equality and respect. These requirements were reflected in Jacksons second missive.

The Eagles statement did not mention the possibility of Jackson being released, but it might be inferred that management needs to be satisfied with Jacksons response. ESPN reported that Jackson, 33, met with Roseman Tuesday and had a meeting set with Lurie.

The NFL indicated it would leave the matter in the teams hands.

DeSeans comments were highly inappropriate, offensive and divisive and stand in stark contrast to the NFLs values of respect, equality and inclusion, the league said in an unattributed statement. We have been in contact with the team, which is addressing the matter with DeSean.

On Sunday, Jackson highlighted several paragraphs from a text purporting to quote Hitler saying that Black people were the real Children of Israel and falsely claiming that white Jewish people were secretly behind horrendous acts of violence against people of color, including lynching.

After receiving harsh criticism for sharing the passage  which has long been debunked as an Internet meme attempting to claim Hitler was not a racist  Jackson posted a new message claiming that his post was misunderstood and that he has no hatred in his heart toward anyone, including the Jewish community. So actually, Tuesdays efforts were his second and third attempts to clear the air, if youre keeping score at home.

But at that time. Jackson also re-shared a specific paragraph with direct anti-Semitic language about Jewish people extorting America, highlighting the passage with the text, This ^^^^^.

Jacksons anti-Semitic comments drew harsh criticism on social media, including from former Eagles president Joe Banner, who called the receivers words absolutely indefensible.

If a white player said anything about [African-Americans] as outrageous as what DeSean Jackson said about Jews tonight there would at least be a serious conversation about cutting him and a need for a team meeting to discuss, Banner wrote.

Contacted Tuesday by The Inquirer, Banner reiterated his view of the seriousness of Jacksons transgression, but he also said that if he were still in a position of authority, he didnt know if he would release Jackson.

The outrageousness of his comments . . . any claim by him that he was misunderstood, you cant misunderstand saying Hitler was right. Those three words are pretty clear, Banner said. Its not an accident. You cant misunderstand quoting Louis Farrakhan, who has said some of the most hateful things about women, gays, and Jews of any human being on earth. Almost always based on lies.

Theres nothing to misunderstand here. He said it. He meant it. Its wrong. And we just have to deal with what do we do about it.

Its hard to take any apology from him right now as sincere because the comments were so clear.

Jackson starred for the Eagles from his rookie season of 2008 through 2013, after which then-coach Chip Kelly released him and he signed with Washington. Jackson returned in a trade with Tampa Bay last year and signed a three-year, $27.9 million contract. If the Eagles were to release him in 2020, they would face a $12,536,000 dead-cap charge, according to Spotrac.com.

Its all easy for me until you get to the question of whether his job should be affected by it or not, Banner said. The emotional part of me says yes. The practical, philosophical part of me says its a tougher answer.

Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill, whose own controversial comments about Israel and Palestine have been called anti-Semitic, called Jacksons Instagram post disappointing and disturbing, writing on Twitter, Theres no defending it.

Jackson shared several quotes featuring Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who has been described as anti-Semitic by both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia called for an apology. ADL Philadelphia later tweeted that it appreciated Jacksons expression of remorse and the Eagles condemnation of his statements, and that Its our hope he uses this moment as a chance to work with the Jewish community and educate himself further on how dangerous and hurtful antisemitism is.

Jacksons problematic posts also included some that cast a dubious eye toward a potential coronavirus vaccine. In one, Jackson referred to philanthropist Melinda Gates, the wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, as a dumb broad after she advocated for Black people and Native Americans to be among the first to obtain any vaccine due to their increased risk factors to the virus.

If the Eagles were to consider releasing Jackson, they would have to contend with the fact that the team did not release wide receiver Riley Cooper in 2013, after Cooper was captured on video using a racial slur in a dispute with a security officer during a Kenny Chesney concert. Cooper apologized, and Kelly, in his first year as coach, got quarterback Michael Vick to endorse Coopers return to the team after a weekend away.

Back then, Jackson seemed to be among the teammates most reluctant to welcome Cooper back into the fold. Asked if he agreed with the way Kelly and the organization were handling the Cooper controversy, Jackson said: Thats what they decided to do. I dont think its really going to change the fact, if I did feel good or I didnt feel good about it. Its not my business.
Drexel University has rolled out a coronavirus contact tracing app that lets smartphone users indicate every day whether they have symptoms that might indicate a COVID-19 infection.

Physicians will review the responses, and users can be surveyed to find out whether theyve been tested, and whether they live in a dorm or play sports. The goal: Help medical professionals track and prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus, according to Charles Cairns, dean and senior vice president of medical affairs at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Technology has been rapidly developed to respond to the pandemic, especially as efforts ramp up to increase contact tracing  usually a labor-intensive process involving phone calls to anyone with an infection and all of the people theyve had contact with.

The work of contact tracing and collecting data  and making it transparent  is incredibly difficult when done manually and using traditional methods, said Austin Kilaru, emergency physician and a fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at Penns Perelman School of Medicine. Technology offers a great deal of promise not just making the work easier, but also making it more effective.

Singapore, China, and Taiwan are using tech-based efforts to contact trace, with varying degrees of success. These technologies hold promise to address growing challenges in health care. But they also raise concern and debate about such civil liberties as digital privacy, highlighted by recent scandals such as the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data misuse and the use of facial recognition technology.

Smartphone applications often require access to users personal data, and measures to protect user privacy should at least include encryption, anonymity, and secure storage of any data collected. The Drexel effort, for instance, asks users whether they are willing to share personal data with the university. However, a study recently published in Nature Medicine found that most apps related to COVID-19 lack privacy protection measures.

The pandemic led to a surge of app development around the world in an effort to contain the spread of the virus and minimize the number of people getting infected, said Masooda Bashir, associate professor at the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and senior author of the study.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus transmission rate in N.J. reaches highest since early May; officials beg people to wear masks

Among the apps functions are live maps and updates of confirmed cases, direct reporting systems to governments and health ministries, community-driven contact tracing, educational material, and real-time location-based alerts. Some apps monitor vital signs and offer virtual medical consultations.

We found that the majority of apps did not include privacy preserving mechanisms, Bashir said. For instance, very few were anonymizing data or reporting the data in an aggregated format. We also found that a lot of the apps were requesting or accessing very personal information on the mobile device that did not seem to be needed for the app to function.

Personal information collected by some of the apps studied include the users names, email addresses and voter/nationality information. Some apps required permission to access the contacts, photos, camera, location, microphone, and network access of users, and a lot didnt limit how long the data could be used.

Drexels application has emphasized privacy protection, through using an established platform to design the app and not tracking geographic locations as apps such as Google and Apple do.

The organization only uses deidentified data. The only access to individual data is for occupational safety and health workers, Cairns said. The app wont be used for any other purposes other than COVID-19 or health, and COVID-19 innovation.

 READ MORE: Hydroxychloroquine is the most disappointing, disavowed drug that researchers keep studying for COVID-19

While automated e-mails will be sent out to people who havent used the app, Cairns says the design is intended to engage people rather than be punitive.

Checking symptoms on a voluntary basis is better than blindly tracking people with technology. The privacy concerns people bring up are very real. But on the other hand, we all benefit from a healthy campus and a safe environment, Cairns said.

COVID-19 is the first pandemic in the digital era and so theres tension between privacy and protecting public health. Countries have responded differently. Hong-Kong has used mandatory electronic wristbands. China created a large-scale digital surveillance network, and South Korea has broadcast detailed information on where people with coronavirus live. Singapore has enhanced its tech-based approach with privacy safeguards  removing GPS functionality and internet and cellular connectivity from devices used for contact tracing.

In the United States, there hasnt been a unified initiative, but Apple and Google have now adopted a privacy-first approach. Experts believe transparency about how long the data will be collected, who has access to it, and how is it reported is essential.

To help both the public and our public health authorities, we need to make sure applications meet a certain standard informed by patient and public input, Kilaru said. Rules need to govern public information during non-pandemic times, and realize the urgency of situations like the pandemic.

For all its challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic also has created opportunities to better consider how to protect privacy by design during both pandemic and non-pandemic times.

We tend to think when we have a digital innovation, we have to give up privacy, Bashir said. But we can both provide the functionality as well as protect individual privacy  it doesnt have to be one or another. We just have to think harder and be more creative in our approach.
The rate of coronavirus infections has remained steady in Philadelphia but increased slightly in areas of the suburbs, data indicated Tuesday, while Pennsylvania reported its highest daily case total in nearly two months. New Jersey said people coming in from Delaware should quarantine for two weeks after the First States case counts rose.

Despite case surges in other parts of the country  the U.S. reached an alarming single-day-record high of 55,274 cases Tuesday  Philadelphias rate of daily new infections has stabilized, Public Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said. And the city aims to keep it that way with restrictive measures remaining in place, he said.

Other areas of the country are continuing to see very rapid growth, Farley said. These are places that opened without enforcing safety precautions like masks, and I think theyre paying the price for that now.

The 995 new cases Pennsylvania reported Tuesday included 204 in Allegheny County, which has experienced a surge that has been linked to young people who went to bars and restaurants. Allegheny Countys infection rate is now twice as high as Philadelphias.

The spike in the states case numbers was partly due to a lag in reporting from Philadelphia, so the number includes several weeks of cases from the city. There could also have been a backlog in reporting caused by the holiday weekend, the Department of Health said in a statement.

The state is now seeing more cases in younger age groups than in the groups older than 50, the Department of Health said. Southwestern Pennsylvania has had the highest increase, with young people representing 5% of cases in April to nearly 30% so far this month.

In two weeks, Allegheny Countys rate of infection per 100,000 people has gone from 10 to 100 people, according to data analyzed by The Inquirer. Beaver and Washington Counties have also experienced large increases as the southwestern part of the state continues to see the worst current outbreak.

Chester Countys rate has dropped from 37 per 100,000 people to 29. Bucks County has increased from 20 to 32; Montgomery County from 25 to 28, and Delaware County from 23 to 32. According to city data, Philadelphias rate has increased slightly from 47 to 48.5.

In Southeastern Pennsylvania, about 15% of cases so far in July have occurred among young people between the ages of 19 to 24, up from just 5% in April, according to the Department of Health. Meanwhile, the rate of new cases among Philadelphians over 50 has decreased, Farley said Tuesday.

Gov. Tom Wolf suggested Pennsylvanias requirement to wear face masks to prevent the spread of the virus is likely to continue until a vaccine becomes publicly available, PennLive reported Monday.

Im sort of thinking this is until we get a vaccine, but I dont have any real formal goal there, Wolf told reporters.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said the soonest a vaccine might be ready is the beginning of next year. On Tuesday, Maryland-based Novavax said it had a deal with the federal government to receive $1.6 billion to expedite the development of 100 million doses of a vaccine by the start of 2021. The Trump administration has invested in several companies working on vaccines.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus could be the turning point for a vaccine technology 30 years in the making

The School District of Philadelphia began a series of virtual town halls Tuesday to collect public input on how to reopen in the fall. The district will lay out its plans next week, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said at a virtual news conference Tuesday.

Bringing children back to school in the fall in shifts on alternate days was the option most favored by parents and teachers in a survey of 34,000 people by the School District.

We are prioritizing first by our most vulnerable children and by the children who really need to be in front of a teacher, Hite said Tuesday, adding that career and technical school students, English language learners, and students with special needs would be among the priority groups. Were setting other plans for essentially everyone else, but those are the categories of children we would want to see on a more regular basis, if not every day.

 READ MORE: What Philly parents, staff said in a district survey on reopening schools

The Philadelphia Water Department and Water Revenue Bureau announced Tuesday a moratorium on water shutoffs through Aug. 31, so customers unable to pay their bills due to the economic impact of the pandemic wont lose service.

If you cant pay a water bill because of the pandemic, please get in touch to see how we can help, Commissioner Randy Hayman said in a statement. If you can pay, please do so. Water bills are our only way to fund critical investments that ensure Philadelphia has safe, clean water.

In New Jersey, lines were so long at state Motor Vehicle Commission agencies when they reopened for the first time Tuesday that people were spotted waiting in lawn chairs in Camden, and some offices had to close.

The commission asked people to consider waiting a week or more to visit their local agencies.

New Jersey added Delaware, Kansas, and Oklahoma to its travel quarantine on Tuesday, but Delawares governor said that state did not belong on the list of coronavirus hot spots.

New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut are now asking travelers from 19 states to self-quarantine for 14 days. All the states on the quarantine list have a rolling seven-day average of new cases of 10 or more people per 100,000, or a 10% positive testing rate.

Murphy said the quarantine would prevent flare-ups of the virus, which have already occurred among people who traveled out of state and brought back the illness.

But Delaware Gov. John Carney said Tuesday that he didnt think Delaware should be grouped with the other states. As of Tuesday afternoon, Delawares positive test rate was 5.3%, but its per capita case rate was 13 per 100,000 people.

Were not, frankly, in the same ballpark as the other states identified, so I dont think we should be singled out, Carney said. Certainly not by our partners in the region.

Delawares increase in new cases has been driven largely by young people in beach towns in the southern part of the state. Karyl Rattay, the director of the states Division of Public Health, said increased testing in Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach over the last week has led to an increase in cases but has allowed the state to take mitigation approaches in those areas.

Inquirer graphics editor John Duchneskie contributed to this article.
The coronavirus transmission rate in New Jersey has risen to its highest in 10 weeks, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday: Every new case of the coronavirus in the state is now leading to at least one other case.

As we took the steps to reopen, we knew we were taking on some more risk, Murphy said. And thats probably a partial contributor to the increased rate of transmission.

After the July Fourth weekend brought out crowds and inspired gatherings, Murphy implored residents to wear face masks. And in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf, citing studies that have indicated face masks reduce the risk of infection, said the outbreak of cases in the states southwest region has been traced to people not wearing masks in public places, such as bars and restaurants.

On Monday, the number of people in the United States who have tested positive for the coronavirus surpassed 2.9 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. Pennsylvania and New Jersey officials have been proceeding with a more cautious approach than leaders of some other states, looking to avoid the major spikes states that eased shutdown restrictions earlier are now seeing.

Murphy said his state has learned of new outbreaks that are linked to people who have traveled out of state to hot spots. One that has impacted Sussex and Warren Counties, for example, stemmed from people who went to a wedding in South Carolina. The state police also had to break up a crowd of 500 people in Burlington City over the weekend who were partying and dancing inside a restaurant and in its parking lot.

That sort of stuff indoors, that cant happen, Murphy said. Thats exactly why Arizona and Florida and Texas and other places are exploding.

Black and Latino people in the U.S. have been three times as likely to get sick with the virus and almost twice as likely to die of it than white people, new federal data obtained by The New York Times revealed. In Philadelphia, Chester, Delaware, and Bucks Counties, Black residents had the highest virus infection rate, and Latino residents had the highest in Montgomery County, according to the data, which did not account for all cases.

As schools continue to grapple with how theyll resume instruction in the fall, Princeton University announced undergraduate students would be allowed to return to campus for one semester in the upcoming academic year, with freshmen and juniors on campus in the fall and sophomores and seniors there in the spring.

Most classes will remain online in an effort to reduce the density of people on the New Jersey campus, and all undergraduates will have the option of completing the entire year remotely, the university said.

Princetons decision differed from that of Harvard University, which announced Monday all classes would be online but 40% of undergrads would be allowed to live on campus.

And Rutgers University said most courses would be taught remotely, but a limited number of classes in hands-on subjects will be offered in person.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus, racial reckoning, money woes: its been quite a first week for Rutgers new president

Nearly half of the 450 new cases reported in Pennsylvania on Monday were from Allegheny County. In Philadelphia, the seven-day average number of new daily cases was 160, the highest since June 4, according to an Inquirer data analysis. The city reported 274 new cases in the three-day period since Friday.

The Philadelphia Zoo reopened to members Monday  it opens to the public Thursday  and Franklin Square park, which has a new fountain show and carousel, also opened. The citys 91 spraygrounds, where children can run through sprinklers and fountains, also opened for the summer. Kids need to wear masks when not in the water, Mayor Jim Kenney said.

Monday also marked the first day of the citys summer camp programs. They usually draw about 8,000 participants, but the city this year capped enrollment at 4,000 to allow for social distancing and other coronavirus safety practices, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Parks & Recreation. Only about 2,000 have signed up so far, and enrollment is still open.

Pennsylvania workers have received $23.7 billion in unemployment benefits since the pandemic put millions of people out of work, state officials said Monday.

The total payout since March 15 includes state and federal assistance distributed by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, which has received more than 2.2 million unemployment compensation claims during the pandemic.

As of Monday, 90% of eligible claimants who filed for benefits since March 15 have received payments. The state is now getting fewer than 50,000 applications per week, Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said. The rate has slowed from a peak of about 300,000 per week after the pandemic began.

Pennsylvanias moratorium on evictions and foreclosures is set to expire Friday, and Wolf said he has not yet decided whether he will extend it again, as he did in May.

If the moratorium ends, it would only apply to suburban counties and not Philadelphia, where an eviction moratorium has been extended though Aug. 31.

In Philadelphia, applications for a second phase of rental assistance for tenants affected by the pandemic opened on Monday. Applications can be submitted to PHLRentAssist.org until September 30 or when funding, estimated to be enough for about 6,300 renters, runs out.

 READ MORE: Do I have to pay my rent? Renters rights in Philadelphia during the coronavirus pandemic.

The commonwealth will send $53 million in federal coronavirus funding to child-care centers across the state in an effort to prevent the centers from closing and to support parents who are returning to work.

Announcing the additional funding Monday, Wolf said 65 child-care centers have permanently closed since the pandemic began and dozens more are expected to follow suit. Hundreds of workers have also been laid off, he said.

With more parents now needing to get back to work, one of the things we need to do is relieve them of the pressure and the stress of them not knowing what to do with their children, Wolf said.

Staff writers Rob Tornoe, Christian Hetrick, Kristen A. Graham, and Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.
SPRING CITY, Pa. - They wrapped the dead in body bags and raced back to treat the living, crammed into a nursing home that, day after day, played the somber sound of taps over the speaker system so the veterans who lived there had the chance to say goodbye.

The nurses and aides at the Southeastern Veterans Center in the suburbs of Philadelphia had watched so much go wrong since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The communal dining that lasted into April, the nights that feverish patients were left to sleep beside roommates who werent sick yet. Merry Christmas, one nurse told another when they finally got N95 masks, weeks into the crisis and just before administrators stopped staffing the isolation rooms because too many people were feared infected.

But what worried some nurses most was what they called the COVID cocktail, the widespread, off-label use of one of the antimalarial drugs touted by President Donald Trump in March as a potentially game-changing treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

For more than two weeks in April, a drug regimen that included hydroxychloroquine was routinely dispensed at the struggling center, often for patients who had not been tested for COVID-19 and for those who suffered from medical conditions known to raise the risk of dangerous side effects, interviews, emails and medical notes and records obtained by The Washington Post show.

Although precise estimates vary, the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs said about 30 residents received the drug. Several nursing home staff members placed the number higher. The Chester County coroner, who reviewed the medical records for some of those who died, said at least 11 residents who had received the hydroxychloroquine treatment had not been tested for COVID-19.

 READ MORE: Pennsylvania nursing homes are treating coronavirus patients with the unproven malaria drug Trump touted  sometimes without consent

The drug regimen appeared to conflict with guidance from the Food and Drug Administration, which issued an emergency-use authorization for the drugs in late March but stressed they should be administered only during clinical trials or in hospitals providing "careful heart monitoring" and only after detailed discussions with patients and families about the risks. At the 238-bed nursing home, the treatment was given over the objections of some nurses, at times with little knowledge among patients' families and largely hidden from lawmakers who have been probing the matter, according to interviews and emails.

"Started on the COVID Cocktail," the center's records noted for an 86-year-old resident with a history of arrhythmia, resulting in a pacemaker placement.

"Prophylactic," the records said in describing the preventive regimen of hydroxychloroquine for a woman in her 80s who had a cough and was running a fever of 100.4.

The home's interim commandant, Barbara Raymond, who took over after the treatment ended, declined to comment. Michele Shrikanthan, the center's medical director, and Rohan Blackwood, the home's commandant at the time, did not return calls.

State officials said health-care providers at the center had sole discretion on use of the drug. The medical director and another doctor, along with two nurse practitioners, write prescriptions at the home.

"Leadership was aware of [hydroxycholoroquine] being prescribed for residents," said Joseph Butera, deputy communications director for the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which operates Southeastern and five other state homes for veterans. "It was up to providers as to whether they felt comfortable."

In May, the state suspended Blackwood and the centers director of nursing after The Philadelphia Inquirer reported widespread breakdowns at the facility and the use of hydroxychloroquine at that home and others. Dozens of emails, reports, medical notes and records as well as interviews with 17 nurses, family members, doctors and others by The Post show how broadly the home turned to the unproven treatment and how a complex state bureaucracy went on to obscure critical decision-making in the midst of a pandemic.

 READ MORE: Inept boss, altered records, ignored warnings at Pa. vets nursing home with 38 COVID deaths

The center and the two state agencies responsible for oversight have released little information about what transpired. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has confirmed the use of the drug but has not offered details about what led the doctors on site to decide to use it. The state Department of Health, which inspected the home on May 1 and did not cite a single deficiency in infection control or patient care, declined to say whether hydroxychloroquine was administered. The center has released no information about how patients were selected or monitored.

"I am absolutely gobsmacked about the events that have occurred there," said William Hunter, a Johns Hopkins-trained internist who served as the center's medical director until he retired in December. "It was an untried cocktail. The risks and potential benefits were completely unknown - no real scientific studies were conducted."

Hunter, who said he has been talking to staff members at the home for weeks, called the treatment "reckless."

"My sense," he said, "is that things were starting to spiral out of control and they were looking for a magic bullet. It was horrifying."

Nurses who had spent years caring for veterans and their spouses at Southeastern said they raised concerns. Without COVID-19 testing, they said, potentially virus-free patients in their 80s and 90s were at risk of being dosed with an unproven drug they didn't need or, worse, could hurt them.

"Why are we giving this to them?" one nurse recalled asking Shrikanthan after several residents with heart problems were placed on the drug regimen. Like five other caregivers at the home, the nurse spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss what happened.

In response to the inquiry, the nurse said she was told, "This is the standard order."

"I felt like I was playing Ring Around the Rosie," she said. "Nobody wanted to sit and explain why. If that were my mom or dad, I would want answers."

Another staff member decided to keep a running list of residents who were administered the drugs and counted nearly three dozen. The Post did not have access to the records needed to independently corroborate the numbers.

The cocktail included azithromycin, commonly used to treat infections, and Plaquenil, a brand name for hydroxychloroquine, a sampling of medical records obtained by The Post show.

Doctors "would just give it without any parameters," the staff member who kept the tally said. "We weren't monitoring . . . as much as we needed to."

There is no way to know whether the treatment played a role in any of the deaths at the home, which has attributed 42 fatalities to COVID-19. Chester County Coroner Christina VandePol, a board-certified internist trained at the University of Pennsylvania, said the center signed off on the death certificates of residents and, in many cases, sent the bodies to funeral homes outside the area.

Through medical records and reports from the home, VandePol said, she determined that at least 14 residents whose deaths were tied to COVID-19 were never actually tested for the infection. Of those, 11 had been given hydroxychloroquine before they died, she said. VandePol is pressing to have all nursing home deaths reported to the state's coroners moving forward.

"In the case of hydroxychloroquine, as part of a COVID cocktail, perhaps, knowing there would be outside scrutiny, the home would not have been as cavalier about routinely giving elderly debilitated people an unproven drug outside of a clinical trial," she said.

 READ MORE: Its a sinking ship: COVID-19 deaths triple at state-run vets nursing home in Chester County as families clamor for information

The center stopped administering the drug about April 22, according to an email obtained by The Post that was sent to more than a dozen staff members. Earlier that week, a nationwide study of 368 hospitalized Veterans Affairs patients with COVID-19 reported that the death rate was higher for those treated with hydroxychloroquine.

"The providers have decided not to use this drug anymore," Deborah Mullane, then the center's director of nursing, wrote in the email. "All current Plaquenil orders have been discontinued."

Last month, the FDA reported that the antimalarial drugs had triggered cardiac problems and other adverse effects in COVID-19 patients and revoked the emergency-use authorization, which had allowed the transfer of funds to the Strategic National Stockpile for distribution of the drugs to hospitals.

Families and staff members are still grasping for an explanation. In recent weeks, more than 40 people have reached out to state Sen. Katie Muth, a Democrat who lives two miles from the home and has been heading up an unofficial investigation. Answers have been hard to come by.

In response to an inquiry from Muth last month, Pennsylvania Health Department legislative director David Toth defended the use of hydroxychloroquine but declined to say whether it was used.

"In late March, numerous sources began highlighting a potential benefit of the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for COVID-19," he said in an email written on behalf of Health Secretary Rachel Levine, whose agency is responsible for ensuring that the home meets federal health and safety standards. "Health care providers throughout the country began to use this medication to treat COVID-19 patients based on that literature. At that time, the federal government also touted its potential benefit. This was an off-label use of the medication, but it is important to note that doctors can and do write off-label prescriptions for FDA-approved medications."

Without clarity from state agencies, Muth has called on the state attorney general to investigate.

"I sort of Forrest Gump-ed myself into finding out about the use of Plaquenil," the 36-year-old lawmaker said. "I knew a lot of really horrible stuff was happening there, all these deaths, but I didn't know this. . . . Did they die from the drug? Did they die from COVID? What did they die from?"

- - -

Residents and their family members had no idea how many people were dying at the four-story veterans' home near the Schuylkill River when The Inquirer broke a story on April 25. The news was stunning: 26 residents had died in what had clearly become one of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks in the state.

Inside the home, staff members said they were pleading to wear personal protective equipment, isolate the sick and keep nurses and aides who had been exposed to the virus away from healthy patients. The sounds of coughing swept the hallways and the activity rooms, where residents shared colored pencils and dice. Those who grew too ill to eat sat listless over ham loaf alongside healthier residents in the dining hall.

"We were handing out Tylenol like crazy," one nurse said. "There were times when I would stand there peeing on myself because I had so many sick people and you just couldn't take the time to stop."

As staff members scrambled to control the rapid-fire spread of infection, the center turned to hydroxychloroquine.

Trump started talking about antimalarial drugs in mid-March, suggesting a potential, off-label treatment for COVID-19, which has so far killed at least 42,000 nursing home residents nationwide. Public health experts urged extreme caution, saying the drugs were unproven and could trigger life-threatening side effects, particularly in cardiac patients.

"We do not know if it works for COVID-19," the FDA wrote in March when it authorized the use of the drugs. "There is limited information known about the safety and effectiveness (whether this will make you better)."

The president pressed forward during a series of televised press briefings. "It's a very strong, powerful medicine, but it doesn't kill people," Trump declared in early April. "We have some very good results and some very good tests."

The FDA made clear that the treatment should be used only in hospitals, which can provide intense monitoring. Some have deployed teams that include cardiologists, electrophysiologists, infectious-disease physicians, pharmacists and nurses.

"It was a multidisciplinary effort to make sure that if this was used, everyone was making sure it was being used as safely as possible," said Barbara Santevecchi, an infectious-diseases clinical pharmacy specialist and professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research at the University of Florida. "You have to be able to watch for adverse effects."

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates the 15,000 nursing homes in the United States, has provided no guidance on the use of the drugs in nursing homes since Trump first touted the potential benefits. Local media have reported that nursing homes in Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina and Texas treated patients with the drugs.

The Southeastern center ordered hydroxychloroquine from a wholesale pharmacy in March and notified the state's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs when health-care workers started administering the drug in April, said Butera, the department's deputy communications director. Darryl Jackson, the department's chief medical officer, "ensured the medication was available in case the primary care providers at the homes felt that it was medically necessary," Butera said in an email.

"There were numerous [Department of Health]/medical reports about the use of this drug across Pennsylvania and throughout the United States," Butera said.

Muth, the state senator, said the home apparently focused more on the drug supply than masks and other protective equipment for front-line caregivers.

"Funny how they didn't have PPE stockpiled but they made it a priority of their treatment protocol to include a drug that wasn't proven to work and shouldn't be used in non-hospital settings," she said.

Nurses at Southeastern said they received little information about the new course of treatment.

"All they said was that they were starting these residents on Plaquenil. I started asking them, 'Well, what's Plaquenil for?' " one nurse recalled. "I started looking it up. We were always taught in nursing school that you're supposed to know what medications you are giving, what it's for and what the side effects are. I said, 'Well, I don't understand. Why are we giving it to the elderly?' "

"This is what's ordered. This is what you're supposed to give," the nurse recalled being told by Shrikanthan, the center's medical director.

In the past, nurses said, doctors at the center had provided explicit instructions for medications that could have adverse effects. In the case of hydroxychloroquine, nurses said they were given standard orders: five days of treatment, even for patients with heart problems. Hydroxychloroquine has been found to cause serious heart irregularities, such as life-threatening arrhythmia, in COVID-19 patients.

"We all started looking it up and we found that this wreaks havoc on your system," another nurse said. "You're talking about people with pacemakers, people with [arrhythmia] . . . and we're giving it to them without any parameters. It was just like we were starting them on any other medication."

The nurses said they raised questions but did not push the doctors or top administrators further. In interviews with The Post and in emails to Muth, staff members said they feared for their jobs, especially since the center appeared to have unwavering support from Pennsylvania's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the state Department of Health.

Health Department inspectors gave the home an overall five-star rating, the highest mark, according to a federal government rating system that takes into account quality and staffing, among other measures, records show. An inspection on May 1, days after the hydroxychloroquine treatment ended, found no violations, records show.

"That so-called DOH [inspector] was just sitting in a room talking for a few hours and they didn't walk onto any floors nor did they speak to any staff," one staff member wrote in an email to Muth a week after the inspection.

Nate Wardle, spokesperson for the state's Department of Health, said in an email that the department "takes seriously our job of protecting the health and well-being of our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians."

It is unclear how patients were chosen for the drug regimen. Nurses said they were instructed to give the drugs to anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, including those who had not been tested for the infection.

In emails to families and in discussions with nurses, the center attributed the lack of testing to guidance from county health authorities.

According to the center, the Chester County Health Department had ordered no further testing once two or more residents in the same unit tested positive. Instead, everyone else would be considered exposed and, if symptoms developed, presumed positive without laboratory confirmation.

"Chester County stated if we have a unit who has 2 or more people who have tested + that we should presume everyone to be positive and no one additional on that floor will be tested (we tested the 3 residents before we received this directive)," a social worker at the center wrote in an April 8 email to the daughter of a resident. "At this point, everyone including Dad is presumed positive."

A Chester County Health Department spokesperson acknowledged that in the early stages of the pandemic when supplies were limited, congregate care facilities "where some individuals tested positive could operate as if everyone who was symptomatic was also positive and should be treated as such." The county was taking direction from the state, spokesperson Becky Brain said.

"The Chester County Health Department was following guidance from the PA Department of Health - not just for [Southeastern], but for all congregate care settings," she said.

Wardle said the Health Department did not order nursing homes to consider patients presumed positive for COVID-19 without testing. "The department encouraged testing of symptomatic residents once an outbreak was identified," he said.

One nurse at Southeastern said she grew particularly concerned about a resident with a low-grade fever who was presumed positive, moved into a room with two sick roommates and given Plaquenil. Before the pandemic, the man often had developed fevers from heart problems and blood clots in his legs. Suddenly, she said, he was placed near sick people and given a drug with potentially dangerous side effects.

"What if it's something totally different and you just put him in isolation with two positive people . . . not even testing him?" she said. "Then they start him on Plaquenil."

He later died, the nurse said.

A nursing assistant recalled the case of an elderly woman with bronchitis who was placed on the drug. Records from the home said the cocktail was given for prophylactic use.

She later died, the nursing assistant said.

"I just feel as though arrogance and ignorance came into play," she said. "Granted, nobody really knows anything about COVID, but I feel like they were more trying to cover themselves than really helping our residents at the end of the day, and it's heartbreaking."

- - -

The relatives of several residents dosed with the drug say they were provided little information about the experimental course of treatment.

Long-standing federal rules on the rights of residents in nursing homes require doctors to inform patients in advance about medication changes and discuss the risks, benefits and treatment alternatives. If patients have dementia or other cognitive impairments, homes are supposed to reach out to a primary point of contact, such as a spouse or child.

Family members say the calls they received from the home about the drug treatment were brief and lacked critical details.

Before he fell ill in mid-April, 87-year-old Paul Ferko had known for days that something was very wrong at his home of nine months.

"He heard the taps," said his daughter, Chrissy Diaz. "He told us that the virus that was on TV was in the home."

Diaz said she received a call from the center on April 19, noting that her father was being placed on Plaquenil. She said she grew concerned because her father, a former steelworker who had serviced airplanes during the Korean War, had hypertension and other medical conditions.

"They weren't asking me in any way, shape or form," Diaz said. "I asked if Plaquenil was hydroxychloroquine. They said it was, and I asked about the side effects. I thought it was just used in hospitals. They said nursing homes could use it. They assured me that it was safe, that the side effects were minimal."

Diaz said her father had not been tested for COVID-19 when the treatment began. Medical records show that he was running a fever of 99.2 and had a possible case of pneumonia. She saw him for the last time a few days later, propped up against a second-floor window by several aides. He died in a nearby hospital.

"They started using [hydroxychloroquine] on anyone who had symptoms," Diaz said. "It was in the news. It was like the next great thing. I feel like it was, 'Let's use this on our elderly patients and see what happens.' Maybe they thought they were going to die anyway. I don't know what was going through their heads. That's what's really scary."

Carol Lewis said her family received a similar call from the center and grew concerned about the course of treatment. Her father, a computer engineer who served in the Army, had a history of heart problems, she said.

Lewis said the family instructed the center not to use hydroxychloroquine. After her father died on April 13, Lewis requested the medical records and found a doctor's note indicating that a course of Plaquenil had been completed.

"It's just disgraceful," she said. "I want to know who ordered this, first of all. What happened, and where was the breakdown that this whole situation went up in flames like this?"

Nursing home experts say patients and their families should have been consulted before the drugs were used and should have been given detailed information about the potential risks and side effects.

"It's just not acceptable. Facilities aren't supposed to just give people drugs," said Toby Edelman, senior policy attorney for the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Connecticut and Washington. "Just because it's an emergency, facilities can't give residents drugs that are totally unknown, untested and unproven."

- - -

Lawmakers, staff members and relatives of the deceased say state regulators have frustrated efforts to probe what happened at the home. Dozens have reached out to Muth, who had been planning to run a bingo game at the center before it was locked down to visitors in March.

"I first heard about him receiving these drugs after they were prescribed and administered with no idea of the risks associated with other preexisting conditions," the widow of a retired Army officer emailed on May 5. "Why did this happen out of protocol and in this case only? Was this some type of clinical trial or practice test administered to someone that could not engage in his own decision-making, or were they just desperate or both?"

Muth called VandePol, the county coroner, who had not heard about the treatment. VandePol started researching the possibility that the residents had been part of an approved clinical trial. No trial existed. VandePol delved deeper, counting 14 residents whose deaths were categorized by the center as "presumed COVID-19" because they had not been tested for the infection.

"I was very surprised to find [hydroxycholoroquine] was being used in an unmonitored way for very elderly people who in some cases had not been tested for COVID-19," said VandePol, who spent more than 20 years conducting pharmaceutical trials.

Other nursing homes in the county allowed VandePol to do postmortem COVID-19 tests. Bodies at the veterans' center, however, were in most cases already released to funeral homes outside the county.

"Their institution became a closed-loop system," VandePol said. "The people that are taking care of the patients are also certifying what the cause of death is."

Muth blames a state system that is "internally regulated with no guarantee of transparency," from the doctors and the director at the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to the inspectors and the secretary at the Department of the Health.

In late May, the governor's general counsel engaged outside lawyers to conduct an independent investigation of the outbreak at the center and the way the home and the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs addressed the crisis. No details have been released.

Amid the ongoing questions and calls for additional investigations, staff members say they are still reeling from all they saw and heard: The dead rolled into body bags with their names on toe tags and the ever-present, unwelcome sound of taps on the speaker system, notice of yet another death. Standing alongside their nurses and listening to the bugles play, residents with dementia who often could not remember what they had for dinner the night before would slowly remove their hats.

And then they would salute.

- - -

Mulcahy is a graduate student in journalism at Northwestern Universitys Medill Investigative Lab. The Washington Posts Alice Crites and Peter Whoriskey contributed to this report, as did Medill Investigative Lab graduate student Joel Jacobs.
Samoa might seem like a simple place to eradicate a disease. The Pacific island nation, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, has a land mass smaller than Rhode Island and a population of less than 200,000.

Effective vaccines against measles have existed for decades. Among them is the MMR vaccine, a single jab and booster that protects against measles, mumps and rubella. It has been administered in Samoa for more than a decade. Some 90% of infants in the country received the shot in 2013, according to the World Health Organization.

But last year, it became clear that, even in a small nation like Samoa, eradicating a preventable disease like measles was not simple at all. In less than four months, thousands of infants grew sick from measles and more than 80 people died, many of them very young.

The nation's health infrastructure was overwhelmed. "It happened so quick," said Fonoifafo Mcfarland-Seumanu, a public health nurse who joined the anti-measles campaign after winning the Miss Samoa pageant.

An array of local factors led to Samoa's outbreak. It was not, however, unique. Around the world, people die every year from outbreaks that vaccines could have quashed, from polio in Pakistan to human papillomavirus infections in Japan.

As the world grapples with the novel coronavirus pandemic and races to develop a vaccine to fight it, these outbreaks hold lessons for what lies ahead. Far from the end of the line, the discovery of a vaccine would mark the beginning of a new set of challenges in an era of fast-spreading misinformation and rampant public health policy missteps.

"Vaccines don't save lives," said Walter Orenstein, an associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center. "Vaccinations save lives. A vaccine dose that remains in a vial is zero-percent effective."

A false sense of security'

Measles spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Among those confirmed to be infected, the death rate is 1.46%, deadlier than most estimates for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Before a vaccine became widely available in the 1960s, it caused millions of deaths worldwide annually.

Samoa has administered measles vaccines since 1982, according to national records, but it had not had an outbreak in years. "There was a false sense of security," said Sheldon Yetts, the UNICEF representative for Pacific island countries.

In July 2018, two infants died after receiving the vaccine. The Samoan government stopped its MMR program for nine months to investigate. A court later found the two nurses guilty of manslaughter  they had mixed a vaccine with muscle relaxant instead of water  and sentenced them to five years in prison.

"Everyone lost confidence," Mcfarland-Seumanu said. "Even some of the health-care professionals had doubts."

Anti-vaccination activists stoked a backlash, including Edwin Tamasese, a coconut farmer with no formal medical training, as well as Taylor Winterstein, the wife of an Australian rugby player.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and a controversial anti-vaccination activist, visited the islands in June 2019; he was photographed with Winterstein.

Vaccination rates, already lower than the roughly 95% required for herd immunity, plummeted to 31%. Experts cited a variety of reasons, including poor medical literacy and government inaction.

Then the outbreak began.

Samoa confirmed its first case of measles in September, probably imported from New Zealand. Within weeks, the outbreak was out of control. On Nov. 15, the government declared a state of emergency. Hospitals were as much as 300% past capacity.

The mother of the first child to die, 14-month-old Peter Von Heiderbrandt, begged families to get vaccinated. "These are our babies dying," she told a reporter. But the practical realities were immense.

"Most Samoans use traditional as well as scientific medicine and because of the confused response by the government to the measles epidemic, many were going to and fro in both systems," said Penelope Schoeffel, a sociologist at the National University of Samoa.

The government shut down the entire country on Dec. 5 and 6 for a sweeping door-to-door vaccination campaign. Unvaccinated families were asked to hang red flags outside their homes. Judith Esmay Ah Leong, a general practitioner in Apia, Samoa's capital, said doctors were shocked to discover "there were still people living off the grid and had no access to transport."

Tamasese was arrested on Dec. 5 after allegedly breaking a new law about spreading anti-vaccination views. Mcfarland-Seumanu said that even as the deaths racked up, she spoke to parents who were scared of vaccines, citing rumors they read on Facebook.

Only after 95% of eligible people were vaccinated on Dec. 29 did the government lift the state of emergency. "There wasn't a village that was not affected, one way or another, by the outbreak," Yetts said.

Anti-vaccine activism

As a small island nation, Samoa may seem a unique case. But most countries have anti-vaccine activists, including the United States. Such views tend can take deep root in societies where distrust of authority is widespread.

A polio vaccine was first discovered 70 years ago. It has largely been successful: Cases worldwide have decreased by over 99% since 1988. Yet wild transmission still occurs in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. And last year, the number of cases in Pakistan surged to 147  a five-year high that alarmed experts.

Experts say that the central problems in Pakistan are distrust and mismanagement. Among the Pashtun ethnic community, anti-vaccine sentiment was especially rife after the CIA used a door-to-door vaccination effort a decade ago to hunt for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

When rumors of vaccinated children falling sick in a village school spread last spring, it prompted a wave of violence against medical workers and their guards. Vaccination rates plummeted.

But vaccine hesitancy is not just the province of conspiracy theorists. Vaccines can be inconvenient. The oral vaccine that is prevalent in Pakistan (partly because it costs less) must be administered multiple times. Teams go door-to-door, leaving people jaded and skeptical of a formulation that involves a live virus.

"As a parent you're sick and tired of it, as a vaccinator you are sick and tired of it," said Babar bin Atta, the country's top anti-polio official until last year.

The Independent Monitoring Board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative also blames senior Pakistani officials, arguing in 2018 that there had been "divisive and dysfunctional working relationships" within Pakistan's anti-polio and U.N. teams.

Dysfunction and division are not limited to developing nations. There is an effective vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), but the Japanese government avoided promoting its use for years, putting the lives of thousands of women at risk.

HPV, which is passed on through sexual contact, is remarkably widespread. Some strains of HPV can eventually lead to cervical cancer  it caused an estimated 266,000 deaths globally in 2012.

Japan's multidose HPV vaccination rate was once around 70%. But just a few months after it was added to the country's official vaccination program in 2013, media reports alleged shocking side effects, and the government pulled its backing.

 FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

The evidence of adverse side effects is slim. Doctors cautioned that only a tiny fraction of recipients reported symptoms. But the government hesitated, in part due to fear of legal repercussions, and the vaccination rate dropped below 1%.

Following a lengthy political battle, the HPV vaccine is expected to return to the country's immunization program this year. But the cost of the seven-year pause is high: A study published by the Lancet this year estimated that the crisis could result in up to 5,700 deaths unless coverage increases.

The coronavirus pandemic

Globally, more than a dozen COVID-19 vaccines have reached clinical evaluation already, with more than 100 others in the works. President Donald Trump has bragged of a "warp-speed" U.S. process for developing a vaccine, while other nations are racing forward with their own programs.

Some experts hope COVID-19 could go the way of smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980. "It's a hard time to be an anti-vaccination activist right now," said Riko Muranaka, a Japanese doctor and journalist who tracks HPV vaccine misinformation.

But vaccinating an entire planet is an enormous task. It took decades of work to eradicate smallpox. Similar efforts to quash measles and polio have yet to succeed. And the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting vaccination efforts, not aiding them. UNICEF warns that routine immunization services have been hindered in at least 68 countries.

Some advocates worry that the spread of coronavirus misinformation could fuel anti-vaccination sentiment. "Global narratives of vaccine development for COVID-19 may contribute to an upsurge in anti-vax messages, including in Pakistan," said Rana Muhammad Safdar, coordinator for Pakistan's polio program.

If and when we get a COVID-19 vaccine, we will see claims about the vaccine being dangerous and ineffective join this story, regardless of what the evidence says, said Julie Leask, a professor at the University of Sydney and an expert on vaccinations.

Polls show a significant minority of Americans say they would not get a coronavirus vaccine.

In Samoa, that may seem unlikely. The country, having learned just how hard it is to stop an outbreak once it begins, went into lockdown early this time around. It has not reported a single confirmed coronavirus case.

But anti-vaccination sentiment lingers.

Tamasese, the businessman arrested last year over allegations that he spread misinformation, said in an email that neither the measles outbreak nor the coronavirus pandemic has changed his mind. My position on vaccination has actually been reaffirmed, he wrote.
It is the start of a telemedicine session. A doctor is preparing to video conference with a patient. But then, a note from the appointment scheduler appears: Does not have WiFi internet service  cannot do video visit. Will need telephone call.

During the coronavirus pandemic, telemedicine has become a critical tool. Virtual doctors visits have spiked since March, and many patients surveyed have said that they prefer telemedicine over in-person visits during this time.

However, for others, access to telemedicine and broadband internet is unaffordable or inaccessible. For physicians, the pandemic has exposed a digital divide within our patient populations that demands our immediate attention.

Despite progress in expanding internet connectivity in the U.S., a report from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finds that about 21.3 million Americans  6.5% of the population  live in digital deserts and still lack access to fixed broadband service at threshold speed. And research from BroadbandNow, which tracks internet providers, suggests that flawed methodology from this study means the true figure is actually much greater an estimated 42 million Americans likely do not have access to wired or fixed wireless broadband.

Lacking internet access is about more than lacking access to doctors. Public-health experts are beginning to study the impact of broadband internet access on the nations health, and have called it a super-determinant of health. Without internet access, people are unable to communicate freely with their physicians, to access electronic medical records, to research health conditions and treatment, or find resources for healthy behaviors and lifestyle changes.

Through efforts by the Connect2Health Task Force, the FCC has developed a mapping tool that allows users to overlay facets of broadband availability (broadband access, rural access, download speed, upload speed, etc.) with health measures (diabetes, obesity, physician access, for instance). We anticipate that if the digital divide is not rectified, we will see a deepening of these health disparities.

In our own city, the search for solutions to the digital gap has been met by a lack of will by the largest internet providers in Philadelphia. As reported in The Inquirer, Philadelphia school superintendent William R. Hite Jr. asked Comcast and other internet providers to open their WiFi networks so that all Philadelphia public school students could learn online through the recently provided 81,000 Chromebooks  but all refused. Comcast officials said that their networks were not engineered for broad public use. Hite said internet access remains a critical infrastructure issue, and if public schools require children to use the internet for educational purposes, that access should be free in the way that school meals are free to low-income families.

To reduce the digital divide in the rural U.S., the FCC approved a $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity fund. The FCC prioritizes the funds for census blocks that the agencys data reveal to be least connected. However, if the FCCs own data is flawed, the funding allocation will be, also.

Although some state efforts to increase funding for internet subsidies have not been successful previously, there is pending legislation that gives us hope. Pennsylvania Senate Bill 835, proposed by State Sen Wayne Langerholc Jr. (R., Bedford), would provide funding for deployment of high-speed broadband service in unserved areas of the commonwealth. In addition, Pennsylvania Senate Bill 857 (the Telemedicine Act), proposed by State Sen. Elder Vogel Jr. (R., Allegheny), will provide the infrastructure for telemedicine in the state. Both bills are going through a review process. If signed into law, they would place a greater emphasis on the need for addressing the digital divide.

We share Hites calls for broadband access for our families, not only so that children may receive critical education, but also so that families can access critical health care, employment, and other opportunities. We propose that the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Health acknowledge broadband access as a super-determinant of health and come together to support expanding access for all Pennsylvania families.

There may also be opportunities for a public-private partnership with people who share the vision of expanding broadband access to all as a basic human right. One of those is Elon Musk, who started the Starlink venture this year with the goal of establishing high-speed internet access across the globe, which will surpass traditional satellite internet and deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable.

We encourage all Philadelphians to take a public stance and continue calling for increased broadband access for all. The time to act is now before the digital divide becomes a chasm on the quality of nations health care, education, and other opportunities that will reduce our overall human potential.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters.

Carmen Guerra is the Ruth C. and Raymond G. Perelman Associate Professor and vice chair of diversity and inclusion in the Department of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and a senior scholar at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Jeffrey Millstein is associate medical director for patient experience and lead physician at Penn Medicine Woodbury Heights. Rolando Vega is a student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursings combined BSN/MSN Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program.
They heard his airplane engine rumble off in the distance before they saw Sean ODonnell wing his way into view. Thats when the cheers went up.

He was 1,000 feet above them, framed by a blue sky and billowing clouds. But there was no mistaking it was him.

ODonnell dipped his left wing on the first pass, and then circled three times around the MossRehab campus in Elkins Park on July 1. On each pass of the flyover, the four or five dozen health-care workers and staff at Moss waved and whooped as ODonnell soared overhead.

It was a celebration of achievement, dedication, and gratitude. And, although initially designed to honor the therapists, doctors, and nurses at Moss, ODonnell, too, felt the privilege of being involved.

This is an example of what can be done via rehab, ODonnell said a day before the flight.

ODonnell is an example of that, too. The 42-year-old Newtown Square resident was paralyzed and lost the use of his legs in 1995 when a car hit the motorcycle he was riding. Since then, he has become a successful product manager, computer engineer, motivational speaker, writer, and  maybe best of all  passionate pilot.

No picture can capture the beauty of flying, ODonnell said. Its almost indescribable. Its a gift, and you have to share it. The people who helped me, and those at Moss, help patients think outside the box and chase their dreams no matter which different roads they take. They help us see what is possible.

The flyover was conceived by ODonnell and friend Kerry OConnor a few weeks ago. They met a dozen years ago when ODonnell was working on a project at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, where OConnor worked in the communications department.

Now working at the Einstein Healthcare Network as a senior communications manager, OConnor asked ODonnell to honor the staff at Moss for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight would also mark the halfway point in the year-long celebration of Moss 120th anniversary.

I know its not the Thunderbirds, ODonnell said, referring to the famous U.S. Air Force fighter squadron that performs aerobatic flyovers at big events. But its sincere and meant to show that we care.

It was a beautiful day for flying. ODonnell took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport and flew four minutes to Moss. On the ground, folks made sure ODonnell could see them, too. They arranged hundreds of yellow papers to form the rehabs motto, Challenge Accepted, in huge letters on a hillside outside the emergency room entrance.

This is a simple thing, Alberto Esquenazi, the chief medical officer at Moss, said of the homemade letters and the flyover about to take place. But it describes who we are. We may do the initial work, but its about the person in the end. Were so happy to see a person with a disability do this. It closes the loop for us.

ODonnell has been closing loops and reaching out to others for years. He traces that largely to the reaction his father had to the motorcycle accident on Sept. 18, 1995, when ODonnell was a senior at La Salle High School. Doctors predicted it would take him months to reach the rehab milestones needed to return to school and graduate with his class on time.

My father said, I want you back in 30 days, ODonnell said.

ODonnell went to Magee Rehab - and was back in 32 days. He graduated with his class and then from Villanova with a degree in computer engineering. Hes held good jobs in e-learning and information technology at Villanova and other employers, including his current gig at Phenom, a talent management managing company in Ambler.

But the sky always called loudest. My proudest personal achievement is enabling other people with disabilities to achieve their dreams of flight, he wrote on LinkedIn.

ODonnell was born the fourth of five children to goal-oriented parents and raised in Brewerytown and Miquon, Montgomery County. He loved computers from the start, studied code as a kid, and says he thought outside the box on practically everything.

He was also obsessed with flight.

He went to every air show he could. Collected 150 model airplanes. Covered his bedroom walls with aircraft photos. Tom Cruise, star of the 1986 hit Top Gun, was his hero.

After his injury, ODonnell came across Able Flight, a nonprofit founded in 2006 by pilot Charles Stites. It connects people with certain disabilities to scholarship-funded pilot training programs. ODonnell earned his license through Able Flight and now mentors other pilots.

ODonnells plane is a sleek two-seat Sky Arrow light sport aircraft with hand controls instead of foot pedals. But the art of flying, he said, is the same for everyone, disability or not. So is life, he has discovered.

You can have a flight plan, ODonnell likes to say about practically every situation. But you have to learn how to adapt.
Philadelphia officials say they are nearing an agreement that could disband the homeless community camped on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway by the end of the month, but some organizers of the encampment caution that a deal is far from certain.

Were hopeful that well reach agreement this week around the timeline for the camp to voluntarily dissolve, Eva Gladstein, the citys deputy managing director of health and human services, said Tuesday of the encampment of more than 100 people. From the beginning, we had agreement about some of the goals that were focused on the need for affordable housing, and we need to respect that point of view and try as hard as we can to reach those goals.

The agreement would involve the city setting up an area near the cluster of tents at 22nd Street where, for several days, encampment residents could access social services and get assistance enrolling in programs on housing, health care, and behavioral health, Gladstein said. Organizers of the encampment had previously rejected offers for services, but some are open to it now, she said.

If both sides move forward with an agreement, the city could, as soon as this week, set up shop near the encampment, which in turn would be disbanded two weeks later, Managing Director Brian Abernathy said.

Leaders of the encampment, which sprang up during the protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and has been labeled by its inhabitants as a no cop zone, have backed off some of their initial demands, such as disarming police officers.

But other issues remain unaddressed by the proposed deal, and some organizers said the citys offers dont go far enough. There are several groups and leaders active at the encampment, and they do not always align on their priorities. At various points, residents have asked the city to build a community of tiny houses for people experiencing homelessness, to end homeless sweeps, and to disband the police.

Jennifer Bennetch, founder of the activist group Occupy PHA, said persuading everyone to leave would require concrete action from the Philadelphia Housing Authority, which is independent from but works with the city.

We feel like [the citys current offer] is inadequate, especially if theyre not offering people permanent housing, Bennetch said. We told them that we needed more time to deal with PHA, and they said that they were willing to see where that conversation goes.

Bennetch said that she would support ending the encampment if PHA transferred vacant properties it owns to a community land trust that could provide affordable housing.

Kelvin Jeremiah, CEO of the housing authority, which is funded almost entirely by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said it cannot transfer property without federal approval. The authority would be open in the future, he said, to seeking approval for transferring some of its vacant properties to the Philadelphia Land Bank or a nonprofit that could use them to create affordable housing. He noted, however, that there are tens of thousands of Philadelphians on wait lists for affordable housing units.

Occupy PHA has feuded with the authority for several years and recently set up a splinter encampment at the housing agencys headquarters in North Philadelphia. Jeremiah said he hopes the citys efforts to disband the Parkway encampment will include a resolution to the one on Ridge Avenue, where the protesters are on PHA property slated to be redeveloped as affordable housing units and a grocery store. Otherwise, he said, the residents of the Parkway camp may head north to the other site.

I hope that the citys resolution will include the disbanding of the encampment next to our headquarters as well, Jeremiah said.

But a resolution to the Parkway camp remains uncertain. Sterling Johnson, an attorney who describes himself as a spokesperson for the encampment, said Tuesday morning that no agreement had been reached.

Were still talking to the city, he said. Nothing is a done deal.

Johnson, an organizer of the Black and Brown Workers Cooperative, was one of the encampment representatives who initially demanded that police disarm and disband. But on Monday, he indicated that police-related demands may be put aside for the time being and echoed Bennetchs call for the PHA to transfer properties to a land trust for housing.

The demands about police have only distracted people, Johnson said. We still care about them, but when it comes down to the residents of the Parkway encampment, were focusing on that one demand of permanent housing.

Meanwhile, residents of high-rises near the encampment are continuing to express frustration, complaining that theyre being asked for money by people living in the tented site.

Some 1,200 people who live in the area sent a petition to city officials calling for a humane dissolution of the encampment, officials from a neighborhood organization said.

Fears that the encampment could become dangerous were stoked after a 26-year-old living there, identified by supporters only as Anabeastee, was stabbed multiple times after trying to break up a fight between nonresidents.

Police are investigating the incident and said those responsible for the stabbing had fled before officers arrived. Advocates have organized a GoFundMe for Anabeastees recovery that has raised more than $3,000.

Last month, a group of about two dozen academics from the region wrote a letter to the city, urging officials to find housing for encampment residents.

Scattering the residents of the encampment to fend for themselves would be both a public health and humanitarian mistake, they said.
Judicial authorities and police in Italy and Romania, with Eurojust and Europol support dismantled a criminal network responsible for big-scale financial fraud, cybercrime and money laundering. The illicit profits are estimated to over 20 million resulting from the losses suffered by citizens throughout Europe.

12 suspects were arrested today (8 in Italy and 4 in Romania), including the two leaders of the organised criminal group (OCG). 12 house searches took place and several assets were seized, including vehicles, credit cards, jewellery, properties, and a numismatic collection with an overall estimated value of over 1.5 million.

The organised crime group (OCG) dismantled today is one of the most important transnational criminal networks discovered so far in Italy, operating in financial frauds and cyber scams such as purchase of non-existing goods and services, rental fraud (fraud through the advertisement of inexistent properties to rent), computer phishing, clone-sites phishing (impersonating of a company to trigger large transfers to bogus accounts). With these frauds, the criminals were tricking victims across Europe into making wire transfers to Italian bank accounts, owned by entities used as money mules. This way the criminals were laundering the criminal proceeds resulted from this the cybercrime activities, estimated to have caused 20 million losses for citizens throughout Europe.

Today's action day, coordinated by Eurojust, was the result of intensive cooperation between the judicial and law enforcement authorities in both countries.

The investigation was conducted in Italy by the Postal and Telecommunications Police of Genova with the support of the Central Unit of the Postal and Telecommunications Police, under the supervision of the Public Prosecution Office in Genova. In Romania, the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (Central Structure, Valcea and Bistrita-Nasaud Territorial Offices), Public Prosecutions Offices attached to Bucharest Tribunal, Court of Appeal Pitesti and Court of Appeal Cluj executed the coordinated judicial activities.

Several Romanian police units were involved, respectively Dambovita County Police, Services for Combating Organized Crime Valcea and Bistrita-Nasaud, Service for Criminal Investigations Valcea.

Eurojust played a key role in the judicial cooperation by facilitating the exchange of real-time information between the involved judicial authorities, and providing support in order to plan the operational activity carried out today. During the joint action day, Eurojust coordinated the execution of several European Arrest Warrants, European Investigation Orders and legal procedures for seizing the proceeds of crimes.

Europol supported the operation by facilitating information exchange, providing analytical and operational support.
A Chester County pharmacy is the latest business in Pennsylvania to face civil court penalties for price gouging personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the state Attorney Generals Office.

Paoli Pharmacy has agreed to pay $5,300 in fines for selling 100 individual N95 masks for $25 each, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Tuesday. The business must also reimburse almost $2,000 to the customers who purchased the masks.

We wont tolerate illegal price gouging during this emergency, and were taking action every day to stop it  here in Chester County and across Pennsylvania, Shapiro said, adding that Pennsylvanians have a right ... to purchase life-saving goods at reasonable prices whether in store or online.

The owners of Paoli Pharmacy did not return a request for comment Tuesday.

Shapiros office would not disclose how much the pharmacy should have been selling the masks for, but said its profit margin was above the $1-per-mask figure deemed acceptable during the coronavirus lock down.

Since Gov. Tom Wolf issued an emergency declaration over the coronavirus, Shapiros office has been urging residents to submit tips about predatory pricing. As of Tuesday, 20 businesses across the state  half of them in Southeastern Pennsylvania  have been forced to pay fines for gouging customers on items including hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray, and protective face masks, according to prosecutors.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus has consumers making an extraordinary number of price-gouging complaints

Only a fraction of the complaints submitted through the offices tip line end in punitive measures. A spokesperson for Shapiros office said that of the 200 businesses investigated for alleged price gouging,150 were cleared when the subjects proved their price hikes were the result of higher costs they had incurred.

In June, Shapiros office won an additional settlement against Landmark Supply, a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical distributor that was selling Purell hand sanitizer to local businesses for more than $8 a bottle.

And with Wolfs coronavirus emergency order still in effect after surviving a legal challenge last week, Shapiro said his office is continuing to solicit tips from residents about price gouging.

 READ MORE: Did you just pay $39.99 for toilet paper? The Pennsylvania attorney general wants to hear from you.

Under the law, price gouging constitutes any retail markup more than 20% above the average price of a good sold in the week before the emergency declaration. That restriction extends beyond medical supplies. Shapiros office, in the early days of the pandemic, was receiving tips about higher-than-usual prices for toilet paper and paper towels.

Youll know it when you see it, Shapiro told The Inquirer in May. Youll see something where the price seems very high. And we want you to report that to us.

The Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office is asking consumers to send price-gouging complaints to pricegouging@attorneygeneral.gov.
I dont think Ive had white people treat me this nicely in my entire life.

I mean, its everywhere. I get smiles and hellos where they used to not exist. My social feeds are full of memes in support of upending the white patriarchy and in support of Black Lives Matter. Everyone is posting images of themselves protesting, others protesting alongside just about every pro-Black quotable known to man.

Its even happening on a national scale. Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben are enjoying a much-needed retirement from feeding Americans pancakes and rice. Same goes for the guy who urged you to buy Cream of Wheat, a personal sadness for your boy coming from Jamaican descent, where if you didnt have porridge on the breakfast table at least once a week, it would be tough to prove youre really a descendant of the islands.

Even in my own profession, just last month the Associated Press added Black with a capital B when referring to a person to its style guide  as if a writer needed to wait for the AP to give people of color a capitalizing reference.

Its clear the aftermath of the last month or so has lit a fire under so many people who placed race relations in the back of the brain, because, well, as white people, it really didnt affect them much. I personally love that the struggle of a collective is on full display right now and so many white people are getting educated. I recently had a friend Ive known forever reach out a while back to personally apologize if hes ever made me feel marginalized. I couldnt think back to a specific time, just those common overarching microaggressions, ones that have always been easier for so many POCs like myself to just laugh off or change the subject.

I told him I appreciated the call before I flipped a microaggression I could recall from our childhood  reminding him that even at my age, my Blackness still does enable me to run faster and jump higher than he can  and then I hung up.

Theres no need to show POC how enlightened youre getting in the aftermath of all of this. Do you want to help? Vote with us in mind. Shop with us in mind. Advocate beyond a cool quote from Maya Angelou on your Instagram story or Facebook feed. Kerith Gabriel

Whats perhaps weirdest about this current state of newfound wokeness is as a POC its really hard to ascertain if all of this outcry via social media is legit. Will this fight continue long after people put the impact George Floyd had on the movement in the back of their brain? Is this just for the clout of siding with the cause on social media? Is it the guilt of feeling as if they have to post or reach out to not look as if they dont care?

You probably just snickered at that last one, but Im telling you, its a thing.

I just feel like if you dont say anything my [Black and brown] friends might think that I dont care, says Sean Golden, a friend and former colleague who lived in Fairmount before making a move to the rural, lily-white confines of the Poconos. Sean and I chat regularly and when we caught up over text chatting about this very subject, this was his sentiment. I dont have the time to sit around and post memes and s---, man. But that doesnt mean I dont care. But when people call me out for not speaking out, Im just like WTF? Why do I have to announce my feeling about racial injustice on social media?

Its a great point. This movement is one of those actions-that-speak-louder-than-words-type moments. Theres no need to show POC how enlightened youre getting in the aftermath of all this. Do you want to help? Vote with us in mind. Shop with us in mind. Advocate beyond a cool quote from Maya Angelou on your Instagram story or Facebook feed.

A few weeks back, I wrote that POC currently reside in a unique situation: For the first time people are listening and were seeing the action thats occurring as a result. Its imperative we continue to share stories that shed light on situations wed otherwise brush off. One example is an Instagram account Ive been following called Black Main Line Speaks, where students of color past and present are sharing stories of marginalization while receiving a quality education.

Its a really eye-opening page, one I encourage you to give a follow.

At the end of the day, many POC like myself just want you to listen to what we have to deal with and do your part with the God-given privilege some now realize they truly have to help bring a bit more equality to the main stage.

Kerith Gabriel is the editor in chief of Philadelphia Weekly, where a version of this piece originally appeared.
Guidelines from health officials suggest Pennsylvania needs about 4,000 contact tracers, including 2,000 for the Philadelphia metro area. Our state has been operating with fewer than 200.

Why is this a problem? Because reopening the economy means more social contact and more opportunities for the coronavirus to spread. In response, we need to rapidly identify both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals and help them avoid infecting others. Otherwise, what happened in Texas and other states in recent weeks  surges of COVID-19 cases and deaths  could happen here.

What is contact tracing? Contact tracers get in touch with people who test positive for COVID-19 and ask them for names and phone numbers of people with whom they have been in contact. They then track down those who have been exposed to the virus and encourage them to get tested. They may also assist them with the logistics of self-isolation, making sure that they receive necessary medical attention and can get food and medication delivered.

Contact tracing is nothing new. With a history that goes back to tracking the Bubonic plague in the Middle Ages, this low-tech strategy has long been standard practice for reducing the spread of tuberculosis and HIV.

Other states have gotten the message. Massachusetts, for example, has a similar number of recorded COVID-19 cases as Pennsylvania but has thousands, not hundreds, of contact tracers.

Some may argue that technology can solve this problem by offering digital substitutes for human contact tracers. For instance, there are phone apps that keep track of where youve been, making it easier for you to remember people with whom youve recently interacted. But you still need a human contact tracer to ask you about these social interactions. Other apps use privacy-respecting Bluetooth signals to detect if you are near someone who tested positive, but this requires both you and the infected person to have the same app running, and forcing people to install contact tracing apps on their phones raises concerns about privacy and freedom of choice.

 READ MORE: Contact tracers in N.Y. couldnt get partygoers to answer the phone, so they issued subpoenas  and it worked

Of course, contact tracing will miss many infections. Not everyone can be reached, nor remember everyone with whom theyve recently had contact. Some people dont have phones; others are afraid of being contacted by authorities. And COVID-19 tests arent perfect. Even so, research suggests that even imperfect contact tracing complements mask-wearing, social distancing, and testing to help reduce transmission.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus contact tracing raises concerns about digital privacy

Is contact tracing prohibitively expensive? If the state paid 2,000 full-time contact tracers $17 per hour, the cost would run about $13 million per month. Thats a lot of money. But compare this to the $225 million in grants to small businesses affected by the pandemic, and the estimated $5 billion in tax revenue that Pennsylvania is expected to lose through June of next year.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work, and life? Ask our reporters.

Contact tracing is absolutely necessary to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and reopen the economy responsibly. Lets use it. Now.

Lyle Ungar is a professor of computer and information science and Angela Duckworth is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
When China imposed a draconian new security law on Hong Kong last week, I grabbed my phone to call some young pro-democracy activists Id met there in November.

Then I put the phone down because I realized that the old Hong Kong, where free speech and rule of law were allowed despite it being part of China, was over. It was ended by a new security law imposed by Beijing that destroys the rights Hong Kongers were promised by international treaty.

Those high school students, who passionately protested last year against Beijings efforts to undermine Hong Kong courts, were now in grave danger. A call from an American journalist  or even a WhatsApp message  might get them arrested.

 READ MORE: U.S. must stand with Hong Kong against Beijing's repression | Trudy Rubin

And make no mistake, Beijings new Hong Kong security law has repercussions that go far beyond millions of pro-democracy activists, or the fate of a vibrant, iconic city that hosts thousands of international business people, scholars, and journalists.

Beijing is laying down the gauntlet, says Human Rights Watch China expert, Sophie Richardson, not just to Hong Kong, but to the rest of the world.

Indeed, Hong Kongs fate has become a symbol of a more aggressive Chinas approach to global politics. And to the intentions of its increasingly authoritarian leader, Xi Jinping.

Seven million Hong Kongers were promised rule of law and other rights for 50 years following Britains 1997 return of the territory to China, in an arrangement called one country, two systems. It made Hong Kong the entryway for international businessmen into China, because the citys trustworthy legal system differentiated it from the mainland.

And, in the past, one country, two systems held out the promise that China itself might one day introduce political reforms.

But under Xi, China began to shrink Hong Kongs freedoms, producing months of demonstrations last year.

Rather than compromise with demonstrators, the Chinese leader has decided to crush them. This reflects Xis efforts to strengthen Communist Party control at home, and Chinas influence abroad, at a time when relations with the United States are more tense, and the West is distracted by COVID-19.

I spoke with Nathan Law, 26, a leading democracy activist and former elected official, who fled Hong Kong last week in order to continue advocacy work abroad, including testifying before Congress. I asked him about the laws meaning.

What is at stake, Law said, is not just the safety of friends, but the survival of Hong Kong as an idea. The security police will now have sweeping powers and can threaten not only Hong Kong people, but [foreign] businessmen, journalists, scholars, and even diplomats.

Beijing wants full autocratic control, and it doesnt matter if demonstrations are peaceful. No one knows who is in danger, and Hong Kongs rule of law is destroyed.

But Xis efforts to clamp down on the Hong Kong democratic idea doesnt mean this historic territory can be transformed into just another Chinese city.

Unlike residents of Shanghai or Shenzhen, young Hong Kongers grew up with democracy. They are much more determined to resist Beijings repression, points out Hong Kong democracy activist Victoria Hui, now an associate professor at Notre Dame. How do you silence a majority?

Moreover, if rule of law is shredded, international businessmen will face the very problems that led them to prefer Hong Kong. Nor can Hong Kong imitate Singapore, which lacks some freedoms but enshrines a strong legal system.

Rather, cautions Hui, the West must regard Chinas repression in Hong Kong as a harbinger of Xis global intentions.

 READ MORE: Trump's blame game with China can't disguise COVID-19 failures | Trudy Rubin

No question, Beijings attitude stems from a perception of [Donald] Trumps weakness, she contends. The U.S. presidents failure to condemn Chinas vast re-education camps for Muslims in Xinjiang, and his hesitancy to critique Beijings crackdowns on Hong Kong protesters, have convinced Xi he can act with impunity in Hong Kong.

If Beijing can act with impunity in Hong Kong, it will be emboldened to act similarly with Taiwan, and encouraged with expansionist moves in the region.

Both Law and Hui argue that the United States must stand together with allies in cautioning Beijing against crushing Hong Kongs autonomy. Possible steps could include targeting mainland officials connected with repression in Hong Kong, or ending Hong Kongs special trade status, both already authorized by congressional legislation  or even a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Also, U.S. visas for endangered young activists (who arent covered by Britains promise to take in many Hong Kongers).

No one questions Beijings sovereignty over Hong Kong, but the new law sends warning signals about Chinas global vision for its future.

How far Hong Kong goes down the road to Xinjiang depends on how the world reacts, says Hui. If the world looks the other way, it could be much worse. And not just for Hong Kong.
Joe Biden has added two Philadelphians with extensive experience in Pennsylvania politics to lead his campaign operation in a state critical to the presidential election and his hopes of winning the White House.

Biden on Tuesday named Brendan McPhillips as his Pennsylvania state director and Sincere Harris as senior adviser in the state, the campaign first confirmed to the Inquirer on Tuesday.

McPhillips, who lives in Point Breeze, most recently led Pete Buttigiegs campaign in Iowa, helping the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., pull off a surprising first-place finish. McPhillips previously managed Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fettermans primary campaign for U.S. Senate in 2016 and Helen Gyms successful 2015 City Council run. He also led Andrew Gillums 2018 bid for governor of Florida.

Harris, a Philadelphia native and Temple University alumna, has been executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party since 2015 and has close ties to Gov. Tom Wolf, after previously serving as Wolfs deputy statewide political director and working in his administration.

The Biden campaign is expected to add more staff to its Pennsylvania operation in the coming days.

Harris and McPhillips will be charged with boosting Bidens support in a state where tiny margins can have huge consequences. Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes in 2016, a less than 1% margin that helped seal his national victory.

Both parties see Pennsylvania as vital to this years election as well.

 READ MORE: We went to an Iowa caucus that looks a lot like the Pennsylvania swing counties Trump flipped in 2016

The announcement is part of a spree of swing =-state hires. Biden in recent weeks has built out his staff in Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina, and Nevada, all key battlegrounds. But some supporters, including in Pennsylvania, have worried that, amid the limitations imposed by the coronavirus, it has taken too long to fill out important positions, particularly in such a critical state.

Bidens campaign had originally hoped to have staff in place in key states by early June. The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee say they already have 106 people working on the ground in Pennsylvania. Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit the state Thursday, with a bus tour from Lancaster to Philadelphia.

Despite only now hiring Pennsylvania-specific staff, Biden has already had a significant presence in the state: His national headquarters is in Philadelphia, and the former vice president has held several major events here and in Pittsburgh. More recently, as he has cautiously restarted campaign travel and left his Wilmington home, he has traveled to nearby Pennsylvania for several events. Since early June, he has come to City Hall for a speech on race and made campaign stops in West Philadelphia and Delaware and Lancaster Counties. He is scheduled to campaign in Dunmore, near Scranton, on Thursday, at the same time as Pences visit.

Recent polls show Biden leading Trump in Pennsylvania by between 5 and 10 percentage points.

 READ MORE: Joe Biden accuses Trump of accelerating divisions and vows racial reconciliation in Philadelphia speech
Vice President Mike Pence and Joe Biden, Pences predecessor and the presumed Democratic nominee, plan to campaign at about the same time Thursday in Pennsylvania, underscoring the states status as a crucial battleground in the race for the White House.

Pence will stop in Lancaster, Malvern, and then Philadelphia, where he will meet with police officers and their families amid weeks of protests against police brutality nationally and in the city.

Biden is scheduled to visit Dunmore, near his hometown of Scranton, where hell tour a metalworks facility and deliver remarks on economic recovery.

Pennsylvania has already hosted both men several times in recent months.

Pences visit is part of a bus tour through eastern Pennsylvania, which will start in Lancaster with a fund-raiser at a farm, followed by stops at the Rajant Corp. in Malvern and at the FOP Lodge 5 in Philadelphia, the citys police union.

Pence will likely be in Malvern speaking about the economy around the same time Biden is talking about economic recovery in Dunmore.

FOP Lodge 5 president John McNesby said Pence will meet with the six officers injured in a North Philadelphia standoff last August and families of officers killed in the line of duty. Later in the evening, the FOP will have a separate Back the Blue rally outside the union hall in Northeast Philadelphia.

From what I understand hes been meaning and wanting to address the officers in that shooting that day and this was the first chance I think hes been able to do that, McNesby said. You put all politics aside, its for the officers. People are going to want to do what they want to do and vote the way they want to vote and thats fine, but it just shows theres some thought out there for those guys.

The visit comes as President Donald Trump has slumped in national polls and in Pennsylvania, and as Trump aims to reframe the campaign as a battle against the radical left. Even as polls show public support for the protests, Trump has asserted the movement has darker motives. In a speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday, Trump accused protesters who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a merciless campaign to wipe out our history.

In Philadelphia, protests started in late May after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and have continued for more than a month. In response, Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council agreed to nix a planned $19 million increase in the citys police budget.

Trump has denounced activists calls to defund the police, and in ads and on the campaign trail hes falsely accused Biden of supporting defunding law enforcement.

McNesby visited the White House in December, where he met with Trump and other police union chiefs to condemn progressive prosecutors like Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

Pence will do a midday fund-raiser at a Lancaster County farm owned by Ron Kreider, the vice presidents first fund-raising event since the coronavirus struck, said Bob Asher, cochair of the Trump campaigns Pennsylvania finance committee. The event will raise money for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee. Asher said Pence was originally scheduled to do the event in March, but it was scuttled by the pandemic.

Pence will also visit the Rajant Corp., which makes wireless communication technology, for an afternoon roundtable discussion on reopening the economy.

Since taking office, he and the president have been frequent visitors to the state, which Trump won by 44,000 votes in 2016, or less than 1%. Biden has also made several trips to Pennsylvania recently, including to Lancaster, Philadelphia, and Delaware County last month. The campaigns have taken different approaches during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump recently hosted his first campaign rally in months in Oklahoma, where participants were not required to wear face masks. Biden has taken a more cautious approach, with masks and social distancing at his events.

Staff writer Jonathan Tamari contributed to this article.
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.
Northern Virginia continues to avoid the dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations seen in other parts of the country.
A joint investigation team (JIT) between Belgian and Romanian authorities, set up with the support of Eurojust and participation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) unveiled a money-laundering scheme associated with an EU-funded railway infrastructure project in Romania. Four people (two of Romanian origin and two Italians) were indicted for money laundering, influence peddling and tax evasion. Various assets were seized and bank accounts were frozen as a result of the investigation.

The focus of the investigation was alleged corruption and money-laundering offences committed in relation to two different contracts for railway infrastructure development in Romania, which obtained co-funding from the European Union. The money-laundering offence is linked to the illicit money resulted from corruption, not to the EU funding.

The criminal investigation was initially opened by the Belgian judicial authorities in 2016 and by the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) in 2017. Given the cross-border dimension of the criminal activity, those involved decided to set up a joint investigation team (JIT). Eurojust assisted with drafting of the agreement and the functioning of the joint investigation team and provided financial support. It also facilitated direct contact between the national judicial and law enforcement authorities from both countries involved and OLAF.

In April 2019, simultaneous operations were carried out by the JIT members in Belgium and Romania, during which strong evidence was found of corruption and money laundering linked to works undertaken by an Italian construction company through its Romanian subsidiary. The works were part of an EU-funded project aimed at improving the railway infrastructure between Bucharest and Constanta.

The indictment against the four suspects was issued last week and the file was sent to the relevant Romanian Court. The Belgian authorities are continuing the investigations linked to criminal activities committed on Belgian territory.

Photo Shutterstock
An 11-year-old Quantico girl is keeping busy this summer editing videos thanks to Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic.

Iliana is battling lymphoma and recently moved from North Carolina because her stepfather is in the military.

Throughout her medical journey, she has found comfort in making and editing her own videos, according to Make-A-Wish, and the group granted her wish of an Apple desktop computer. Make-A-Wish didnt provide Ilianas last name.

She needed the right equipment to go along with her computer, so Make-A-Wish had her put together an Amazon Wish List for the perfect space to make videos. She asked for a new glass-top desk, the perfect desk chair and a printer with ink and paper.

Once the wish list was ready, it was sent out to Make-A-Wish supporters for help. Everything on her list was bought in a matter of days.

The community came together to grant Ilianas wish, and now shes set up for success to make the best high-quality videos for everyone to watch, a Make-A-Wish news release stated.

While Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic continues to grant wishes like Ilianas, the vast majority of wishes are currently on hold due to COVID-19.

With support, Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic will still grant wishes to local children battling critical illnesses as well as to the communities around them. To learn more about local wishes and how you can keep hope, visit midatlantic.wish.org.

Brothers get Make-A-Wish shopping spree Eighteen-year-old Jason and 15-year-old Justin are a pair of brothers from Springfield who love to hang out and spend time together.
Local Twin Cities artists Enzyrose, Eyenga Bokamba, Noah Lawrence-Holder, LeShon Lee, and Meadow Gillispie, talk about their reaction to the murder of George Floyd, the trial of Derek Chauvin, and life as a black artist during this time.
The spotlight has shone too on businesses representation, with the insurance industry still, to this day, dominated by the white male demographic. While many companies are improving their inclusion statistics with female and LGBTIQ representation, Insurance Business Australia set out to discover which insurance giants are making their mark with ethnic and Indigenous representation.

Vivek Bhatia (pictured above), CEO at QBE Australia Pacific, says the company is committed to an inclusive culture where all our people can expect to be valued and respected for who they are.

We believe that seeing diversity valued and included at a leadership level opens up possibilities and opportunities for people who identify with these same diverse qualities, Bhatia continued. At QBE, we have cultural diversity reflected in both our executive leadership team and at board level. We also have an ongoing review of our talent lists that will flag any biases to ensure we leverage the full diversity of our talent pool.

Read next: Diversity drives better outcomes

Additionally, Bhatia says it has a long-standing commitment to reconciliation and supports positive futures with sustainable employment for Indigenous Australians.

This includes employment pathways through Indigenous internships with CareerTrackers and New Columbo Plan, he said. We also support community organisations such as Toys Change Lives, which supports the employment of young Indigenous men following a period in juvenile detention. This work remains a key focus and we will be launching our third Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) later this year.

Bhatia added that it is important to the company that it ensures that cultural inclusivity is embedded in our everyday operations to make this an intuitive way of conducting business.

Asked about its representation in leadership positions, Bhatia says the Australia Pacific leadership team and board have strong representation of people from culturally diverse backgrounds or heritage, including myself and our chief underwriting officer, Phuong Ly.

We were recently delighted to see our board member, Ming Long AM recognised in the Queens Birthday Honours as a Member of the Order for her services to the financial and real estate sectors as well as to diversity and inclusion, he added.

For Bhatia, inclusion really matters and so a workforce that reflects the community in which it operates is important if we wish to have a diversity of voices around the table to create products and solutions that really matter and really make a difference.

However, he concedes the insurance industry is still shaking off its white male dominant heritage.

 its critical that we ensure we have positive symbols of diversity in our leadership team, so that other people from culturally diverse backgrounds  and even women and the LGBTIQ community  can see that there is a place for them at the top, Bhatia explained.

We celebrate the cultural diversity of our people by embedding inclusion into our day to day communications, profiling employees and sharing customer wins. We take the time to acknowledge key cultural celebrations, such as NAIDOC Week, Ramadan and Diwali in our internal culture and events.

Read more: QBE Foundation supports new mental health campaign

In addition to this, he says QBE is committed to continuing to work with those in culturally diverse communities to ensure their response is authentic and not based on what we think we know.

An example of this is when we named the boardroom in our new Melbourne premises, Bagung, meaning gathering, following cultural consultation with the Wurundjeri Land Council. Plans are underway to do this with our upcoming 2021 premises, again in consultation with the Indigenous council of those locations, Bhatia said.

CEO of Marsh in Australia, Scott Leney (pictured immediately above), meanwhile, told Insurance Business the company plays an active role in the shared journey of reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), and on inclusion specifically.

We are dedicated to making a sustainable contribution to closing the gap in employment, career and business opportunities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, Leney said.

We see tremendous scope to develop mutually beneficial opportunities in the insurance industry and our aligned commitments as an organisation are outlined in our Reconciliation Action Plan.

Leney added that in order to develop a culture of inclusion they needed to be deliberate, comprehensive, intentional and deliver tangible outcomes.

 were addressing many aspects of inclusion including important root causes such as unconscious bias, he concluded.
Read more: Hole in one! McLardy McShane raises $105,000 for FightMND

In NSW, McLardy McShane Sydney has commenced as a new joint venture partnership between McLardy McShane Insurance Brokers and broker Charles Clark.

I had no hesitation in partnering with McLardy McShane who bring a vast array of expertise in many industries, said Clark.

Lastly, the group also announced that Shane Brady will be the new joint venture partner of McLardy McShane South East, located in Dandenong, Victoria.

McLardy McShane has been a destination brand for me, said Brady. They have a great culture, our values align, and Im excited to now be part of the group.

Don McLardy, chief executive officer of McLardy McShane Group, said that the company continued to grow its national network despite the difficult times.

Now with 21 branches and 41 corporate authorised representatives across Australia, we are building a great presence and look forward to the challenge of helping all our clients through this turbulent period, said McLardy.
COVID-19 has paralysed supply chains and the movement of people, but nowhere has the disruption been starker than the issue of crew changes, said loss prevention director Stuart Edmonston. Port restrictions and the global lockdown have stifled crew mobility and the repatriation of seafarers. Crew have had to remain on vessels well beyond their contracted period, while others have been unable to join their ships. We believe governments need to act decisively to ease the strain on global seafarers.

Governments and relevant national authorities have been asked to introduce special exemptions for seafarers in laws restricting the movement of people during the pandemic and to ensure that means of transport, especially between ports, airports and the homes of the seafarers are available to crew. Additionally, a relaxation of documentary requirements for seafarers is necessary during these extraordinary times.

Edmonston believes a framework of protocols for ship safety is needed  such as those drawn up by several global industry associations.

Its disappointing that few governments and national authorities have to date implemented this framework, as doing so would hugely assist in addressing the issues of safe conduct of crew changes and repatriation, he said.
Floridas state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has joined a chorus of insurance companies accusing the Strems Law Firm of lawsuit abuse. Citizens says it has lost millions of dollars due to an alleged scheme of sham claims by the law firm, a public adjusting company and restoration company.

Citizens also alleges a pattern of racketeering activity in violation of [the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] RICO.

The allegations came in a civil complaint filed against Fort Lauderdale-based The Strems Law Firm; attorney Scot Strems; public adjuster Guillermo Saavedra and his public adjusting firm Contender Claims Consultants (CCC) of South Miami; and All Insurance Restoration Services (AIRS) of Miami, its president Cesar I. Guerrero, and its operations manager Derek Parsons.

Citizens Spokesperson Michael Peltier said the lawsuit details concerted actions by the parties to abuse the claims process.

These abuses have made it virtually impossible for Citizens to handle claims efficiently and effectively. We believe we had no choice but to file this suit to address the costs of these abuses that are shouldered by all Citizens policyholders through higher premiums, he said.

Citizens filed the complaint in the Second Judicial Circuit Court for Leon County, Fla., on June 16. The 26-page document details Citizens allegations of how Strems, his firm, CCC and AIRS acted individually and in concert to defraud the insurer into paying for sham first-party property insurance claims.

Representatives for Strems, CCC and AIRS did not return Insurance Journals request for comment.

The complaint by Citizens comes after a June 9 emergency suspension ordered by The Florida Supreme Court against Scot Strems, who, with his firm, has filed thousands of lawsuits against insurance companies. The suspension was granted in response to a petition from The Florida Bar, which alleges that Strems and his firm have engaged in mendacious, bad-faith conduct and are causing great public harm. Strems has denied the bars claims through his attorney.

Citizens is seeking damages in excess of $30,000, exclusive of interest, costs, and attorneys fees, and asks for a jury trial. The filing details four parts of the scheme that the insurer says began in 2014 when the parties secretly set out and engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud not only Citizens, but many other insurers in connections with claims made on behalf of Florida homeowners. Citizens says it discovered the scheme in 2019 and claims it is still taking place today.

According to the complaint, the four parts of the Scheme to Defraud Citizens by the named parties are: Part one  improper solicitation and referral of business to one another; Part two  obstruction of Citizens investigation; Part three  submission of inflated or fraudulent claims; and Part four  vexatious litigation.

The alleged scheme begins with CCCs adjustment of claims where it has homeowner insureds sign Strems contingency fee agreements, often without their knowledge that they have signed a contract for legal representation, Citizens said. The Strems Law Firm thereafter retains CCC adjusters as loss consultants while CCC also continues to provide public adjusting services, which Citizens claims is done to avoid limitations on public adjusters recovery and to claim their fees as part of litigation costs rather than being paid out of proceeds from the homeowners recovery. Over the course of the claims, Citizens says Strems or CCC contacts AIRS to provide water remediation services, where AIRS then will convince the homeowners to execute assignment of benefits contracts necessary to perpetrate the  scheme.

Working together, Strems, AIRS and CCC refer business to one another, securing each others involvement in thousands of first-party property claimsoften without full disclosure to, or knowledge by, the insureds, according to the complaint.

Citizens also alleges the parties have thwarted the insurers investigations of claims, impeded direct in-person contact with the insureds, presented inflated or fraudulent claims of damages, and failed to photograph or take video footage of the purported damage in the homes. Additionally, Citizens says the accused parties have worked to deceptively increase attorneys fees claims by filing different lawsuits for the same event or for damages covered by the same policy and engaging in egregious dilatory tactics, serving the purpose of multiplying proceedings and expenses.

This conduct resulted in great harm to Citizens, which was compelled to defend this often-spurious litigation brought in bad faith, Citizens said in the complaint.

Over the years, the Strems Firm, AIRS and CCC actively took measures to conceal their fraudulent scheme from Citizens, resulting in millions of dollars in actual losses to the insurer.

Citizens alleges multiple violations of Florida law and rules such as: CCC using its public adjuster position to solicit clients for Strems, and CCC acting as an agent of the Strems firm, circumventing state regulations including adjuster limitations on fees and licensure requirements.

Additionally, Citizens claims homeowners have been left in the dark as to CCCs agreements with the Strems Firm, another violation of law. Citizens says CCC has used misleading retention and solicitation practices, in violation of the Florida Rules of Conduct of Public Adjusters, and advertised its services as free remodeling, suggesting a wrongful practice of using insurance for voluntary remodeling rather than repair of damage resulting from a covered occurrence, and ignoring insurance deductibles.

All of the actions allowed the parties to submit claims with inflated values or outright sham claims, Citizens said, with examples of such claims including: invoices from CCC for repairs to parts of the home that were not reported to have damage; invoices from AIRS overstating the amount of work performed and equipment used; water damage claims for parts of the home that had exhibited no moisture damage and were supported only by fraudulently-obtained moisture meter readings; and claims for damage that was caused by AIRS itself, among others.

Citizens complaint also details how the Strems firm repeatedly engaged in behaviors to delay cases by failing to comply with court orders, failing to appear at depositions, failing to appear at hearings or examinations under oath and failing to provide adequate discovery responses, all as a means to inflate attorneys fees. The insurer notes that the described conduct is also the subject of Strems emergency suspension petition by the Florida Bar granted by the state supreme court.

RICO Charges

Citizens says the named parties in its complaint knowingly participated in conducting the activities of an enterprise whose activities involve or affect interstate commerce through a pattern of racketeering activity in violation of RICO, and Citizens was injured as a result.

Citizens details six federal and state RICO counts against The Enterprise of Strems Law Firm, Scot Strems, CCC, Saavedra, AIRS, Cesar I. Guerrero, and Derek Parsons, that it says represented a pattern of racketeering activity.

Citizens says it is entitled to recover threefold its actual damages and its costs and attorneys fees, and seeks an award of damages in compensation for the millions of dollars it paid in claims as a result of the defendants scheme and the expenses it incurred in defending spurious claims.

The insurer requests it be awarded compensatory damages, pre-judgment interest on the damages from the fraud and scheme, and any other relief determined by the court, as well as the potential to seek an award of punitive damages.

The unlawful actions of defendants, and each of them, have directly and proximately caused and continue to cause injuries to Citizens in its business, the complaint states.

Topics Lawsuits Carriers Claims Florida Fraud Homeowners
Industry advisory firm TigerRisk Partners announced that Joe Jackson has joined its North American team.

Jackson joins TigerRisk from Aon, where he was managing director of Reinsurance Solutions. He joined Benfield (later Aon) in 2006 and developed specialties in personal and commercial property, liability, workers compensation, non-standard and commercial auto. He advanced to become account manager for several major clients. He later joined Aons Managing General Agents (MGA) Practice Group.

Jackson will join Kevin Abramsons team and will be based at TigerRisks New York office.

TigerRisk Partners is a capital and strategic advisor to the insurance and reinsurance industries founded in 2008.

Topics New York Aon
Argo Group International Holdings Ltd., the Bermuda-based specialty re/insurer, announced an update to senior leadership team responsibilities and the launch of an outside search for a chief financial officer to succeed Jay S. Bullock, who is leaving the company.

Earlier this year, we established a clear set of operating principles designed to create an efficient organization focused on delivering improved operating results and shareholder value creation, explained Chief Executive Officer Kevin J. Rehnberg, who became CEO in February, after three months as interim CEO.

Argo Group to Pay $900,000 to SEC for Failing to Fully Disclose CEO Perks New Argo Group CEO Rehnberg Aims for Transparency and Straight Shooting AM Best Downgrades Argos Credit Ratings After a Disappointing Q4

The company is in the midst of a restructuring after a string of losses, an SEC investigation into executive perks and last years departure of CEO Mark E. Watson III.

We have also initiated a succession plan for the CFO role, as Jay will be leaving the company. I would like to personally thank him for his support, especially in my new role. Im also appreciative of his commitment to continue serving as CFO until his successor is hired and assisting with a smooth transition as we begin the public search immediately.

The new CFO and the following leaders will report directly to Rehnberg:

Tim Carter, chief underwriting officer. Carter is responsible for underwriting at the group level. He is also responsible for Argo Surety and Argo Pro.

Carter is responsible for underwriting at the group level. He is also responsible for Argo Surety and Argo Pro. Gary Grose, executive vice president U.S. operations. Groses responsibilities include the following businesses: Argo Construction, Argo Property, Rockwood, Argo Casualty, Argo Environmental, Argo Marine and Argo Insurance. He will continue to oversee group-wide marketing, communications and producer management.

Groses responsibilities include the following businesses: Argo Construction, Argo Property, Rockwood, Argo Casualty, Argo Environmental, Argo Marine and Argo Insurance. He will continue to oversee group-wide marketing, communications and producer management. Susan Comparato, senior vice president U.S. Operations. Comparato will move into operations leading the Argo Programs business, Argo Transportation and Alternative Risk Solutions. The company will announce a newly created group-level general counsel role in the fall. Comparato will continue as U.S. general counsel and manage the legal and compliance teams in the interim.

Comparato will move into operations leading the Argo Programs business, Argo Transportation and Alternative Risk Solutions. The company will announce a newly created group-level general counsel role in the fall. Comparato will continue as U.S. general counsel and manage the legal and compliance teams in the interim. Matt Harris, head of international operations. Harris continues to lead the companys ongoing efforts to improve business results in international operations, including businesses based in London, Bermuda, Europe and Brazil. He is also responsible for the companys reinsurance business.

Harris continues to lead the companys ongoing efforts to improve business results in international operations, including businesses based in London, Bermuda, Europe and Brazil. He is also responsible for the companys reinsurance business. Mark Wade, chief claims officer. Wades role has expanded to incorporate claims across the organization, including U.S. and international.

Wades role has expanded to incorporate claims across the organization, including U.S. and international. Andy Borst, chief administrative officer. Borst will serve in a group-wide role overseeing operations, including responsibility for Risk Management, IT, Digital, Innovation and Facilities.

Borst will serve in a group-wide role overseeing operations, including responsibility for Risk Management, IT, Digital, Innovation and Facilities. Tony Cicio, chief human resources officer. Cicio will continue in this role.

The general counsel role will report to Rehnberg and a new internal audit leader will report to the boards Audit Committee upon their appointments later this year.

Source: Argo Group International Holdings

Topics Carriers USA Leadership
Authorities are blaming fireworks for a blaze that caused an estimated $10,500 in damage to a Junction City, Kansas, duplex.

WIBW-TV reports that the fire was reported around 4:20 a.m. Sunday on the northeast edge of the city.

Junction City Fire Department officials said the blaze was caused by fireworks that were disposed inside a plastic trash receptacle. Crews found heavy fire in the front of the residence and the garage area upon arriving.

Four people and a pair of dogs were evacuated.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Kansas
Fraud inevitably rises after natural disasters and during economic downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought both conditions to the entire globe at once.

Fraud-prevention advocates have long been warning about the coming increase in fraudulent claims. Data from Friss, a Dutch tech company that provides fraud-detection software to 180 insurers, suggests that the fraud storm is well underway.

Friss said last week that it has seen a strong uptick in the volume of fraud investigations tracked by its detection software, even though total claims volume is down. In other words, even though there are fewer claims, a higher proportion of them look suspicious.

The company, headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands, did not provide specific numbers. In a blog post last week, Friss included a graphic that showed a declining volume of claims starting when coronavirus lockdowns began in March and leveling off as lockdowns eased in June. A corresponding line showed the share of claims investigated rising sharply, easing and then rising again. Exact percentages were not revealed.

As re-opening began, we saw a sharp rise in suspicious cases, the company said in the post, written by Customer Success Manager Martino Scheepens. Investigation volumes are now on track to exceed normal volumes.

An increasing number of investigations doesnt necessarily mean more fraud. Scheepens noted that carriers are aware of the increased propensity for fraud during economic hardships, so investigation units may be ramping up.

Dan Gumpright, vice president of global products for Friss, said during an interview that the pandemic has changed behaviors so that some claims may look suspicious even if they are valid. For example, it is now common to see a bill for telemedicine services for, say, an ankle or neck injury. Before COVID-19, those injuries would rarely be treated remotely, he said.

Still, not all of the increase in investigations is due to changed practices. Gumpright said the increasing investigations are following a familiar pattern.

This is kind of similar to what weve seen in the past when theres any kind of financial crisis in the world, he said.

Gumpright said the coronavirus has both opportunities and motivations to commit fraud. For instance, a towing company suffering from the reduction in vehicle traffic may be tempted to bill for services never provided. Socially distanced medical providers, alone in their offices and proving most of their services by video, may pad their bills with upcoded services.

Some people see insurance fraud as an easy way out, he said. Its seen as a victimless crime even though we know its not victimless.

Gumpright said some insurers are on high alert. He said Friss is working with one insurer to develop software that will monitor social media to find unapparent connections between all of the people involved in a claim to expose potential scams. He said the initiative started before the pandemic, but COVID-19 made the project more urgent.

Friss isnt the only vendor sounding the fraud alarm. Data analytics provider Verisk warned earlier this month that the pandemic has created opportunities to commit medical billing fraud and abuse. The company said in April that its data showed a 14 percent increase in claims linked to providers with suspicious billing practices.

Verisk said its Insurance Service Office MedSentry team has identified several COVID-19 medical billing schemes. Among them:

Unlisted lab tests. There was no specific ICD-10 code for COVID-19 until April 1. Prior to then any COVID-19 tests were likely coded as unlisted laboratory tests. Claims for a patient who has received both an unlisted laboratory test and a COVID-19 test may be cause for scrutiny.

Hands-on therapy charges. Many providers eliminated in-office visits and began to offer telehealth sessions. Verisk said bills for hands-on therapies such as chiropractors, physical therapists, and massage therapists should be examined.

Unnecessary durable medical equipment. Insurers should be wary of misleading claims for gloves, face masks, thermometers, and similar items, especially for patients who have not been tested for COVID-19 or have tested negative, Verisk said.

Genetic testing. While there has been some very early research on the relationship between genetic factors and COVID-19 susceptibility and severity, to date there has not been a call from the medical community to conduct such testing in relation to the virus, Verisk said.

Michael J. Smith, executive director of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, said the report from Friss is the first claims-centric data that he has seen that shows a potential increase in insurance fraud. But he said there are other indicators.

Smith said the number Google searches for how to burn a car has increased 125 percent since January. Similar search terms, such as how to burn a business also saw increased use.

Smith said he searched Google himself for information on how to commit insurance fraud while preparing a PowerPoint presentation. He found a video that showed how to set fire to a car using greasy potato chips, a nine-volt battery, bare copper wire and newspaper.

Smith said the coalition documented that all types of insurance fraud increased dramatically during the Great Recession. He said the Friss data may be the tip of perhaps the largest iceberg of fraud ever.

We always see a huge spike of insurance fraud following natural disasters, he said. With COVID-19 its the perfect storm. Its really like having a global earthquake, wildfire, hurricane all over all at once.

Smith said the Coalition is concerned because U.S. insurers have not restored fraud-prevention staff and resources to the levels in place before the Great Recession. He said he knows through conversations with investigators in the field that all of them are coping with increased case loads.

Smith said some staff reductions were made because of increased use of fraud-detection software and other automation, but he fears the industry has cut too far.

What we have seen over the last decade has been across the board, American insurers are downsizing. Insurers like to use the term right-sizing.

A lot of them have been cutting back on insurance fraud resources because of the use of AI that offsets human costs. But we are in a world controlled by bean counters. Insurers may have cut too deep into their anti-fraud staffing and resources.

Topics Carriers Trends Claims Fraud
NEW YORK  Harvey Weinstein and his former studios board have reached a nearly $19 million settlement with dozens of his sexual misconduct accusers, New York states attorney general and lawyers in a class-action lawsuit said last week.

The agreement was announced by New York Attorney General Letitia James and Chicago attorney Elizabeth A. Fegan.

The deal, if approved by judges in federal courts, would permit accusers to claim from $7,500 to $750,000 from the $18.8 million settlement.

The former Hollywood producer was convicted earlier this year of rape and sexual assault against two women. Accusations by dozens of women in 2017 destroyed his career and gave rise to #MeToo, the global movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual misconduct.

The 68-year-old former film producer was diagnosed in March with the coronavirus just days after he was moved to the states maximum security Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo to begin serving his 23-year prison sentence.

This settlement is the culmination of several years of hard work by survivors who not only initiated the (hash)MeToo movement around Weinstein, but also used their platforms to seek justice for all of those who were afraid to come forward for fear of retaliation in Hollywood, Fegan said.

Included in the news release was a statement by plaintiff Caitlin Dulany, who said Weinstein isolated and assaulted her after they met in 1996 at the Cannes Film Festival.

When I came forward and shared my story about the assault, I knew there wouldnt be a straight path to justice, Dulany said.

Harvey avoided accountability for decades, leveraging his power to hide behind a web of deceit, and I was determined to join the class action to ensure meaningful change for all survivors, she said. I am proud that this settlement will help so many women who are long overdue for justice and relief.

James said in a release that the deal would resolve claims in a New York state lawsuit and in a class-action lawsuit that was pending in federal court.

After all the harassment, threats, and discrimination, these survivors are finally receiving some justice, James said.

She called it a win for every woman who has experienced sexual harassment, discrimination, intimidation, or retaliation by her employer.

Gerald Maatman, lead counsel for the Weinstein Companies, declined comment.

Messages seeking comment were left for Weinstein and individuals on his former studios board.

Attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and Kevin Mintzer, who represent some of Weinsteins accusers in lawsuits, said in a statement that the proposed settlement was a complete sellout of the Weinstein survivors.

They called it deeply unfair, saying it does not require Weinstein to accept responsibility and doesnt require him to pay any money toward it. They also said the director defendants will receive millions of dollars to reimburse their defense costs.

The lawyers said the deal would also harm women who do not join the settlement because they would be unable to pursue large amounts of money from insurance companies which would receive protection from the deal.

We are completely astounded that the Attorney General is taking a victory lap for this unfair and inequitable proposal, and on behalf of our clients, we will be vigorously objecting in court, the lawyers said.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits New York
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.

Over 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 convention 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 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.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics COVID-19 Texas Leadership
Arkansas governor on July 3 signed an order allowing cities to enact measures requiring masks in public to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, relenting after opposing such mandates at the state or local level.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed an executive order that would allow cities to enact a model ordinance drafted by the Arkansas Municipal League requiring masks. The order does not require masks statewide and the local ordinance would not include penalties for not complying.

Its an option for cities to give them more flexibility if they have a community in which they might have a surge in cases, Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson, a Republican, has opposed a statewide mask mandate and has previously said cities cant impose their own restrictions. At least two Arkansas cities, however, have enacted their own mask requirements but Hutchinson has not taken any steps to challenge them.

Hutchinson signed the order the day after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered face coverings to be worn in public in most parts of the state.

He also allowed the requirement days after several mayors in northwest Arkansas, which has been hit hard by the recent surge in cases, asked the governor for stronger directives on wearing masks for the region.

Under Hutchinsons order, local law enforcement and city officials would act in a support capacity to educate and encourage people to wear face masks.

The author of the mask ordinance in Fayetteville, in the states northwest, called Hutchinsons order a good first step, but said there needs to be further discussion about giving cities the ability to enforce such requirements and additional funding for local public health campaigns about them. Fayettevilles ordinance includes a penalty for businesses that willfully neglect the requirement.

If we are saying today that we are never going to have to do enforcement, we may be making a promise we may not be able to keep, Fayetteville Alderman Matthew Petty said.

Health officials on Friday said at least 22,622 people in the state have tested positive for the virus, an increase of 547 cases since Thursday. The Health Department said 6,177 of those cases are active, meaning they dont include people who have died or recovered.

The true number of cases in Arkansas is likely higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.

Two more people in the state have died from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, bringing the states total fatalities to 281. The number of people hospitalized rose by 13 to 285.

Hutchinsons decision on masks comes as the state is in the middle of a dramatic uptick in coronavirus cases and as health officials say theyre concerned about that number growing further the July 4 holiday weekend.

The number of active cases since Memorial Day has grown by 271 percent. The state has five times as many active cases among non-incarcerated people as it did heading into Memorial Day weekend, state Health Secretary Dr. Nathaniel Smith said.

Youre five times more likely to be in contact with someone whos an active case, Smith said. Things you might have gotten away with over Memorial Day weekend are going to be riskier this weekend, so its more important this weekend to take those precautions to prevent COVID-19 spread.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics COVID-19 Oklahoma Arkansas
Government health insurance provider Centene Corp. said on Wednesday it will build an East Coast campus in Charlotte, North Carolina, developing a $1 billion construction project thats expected to create more than 3,200 new jobs by 2032.

Gov. Roy Cooper described the expansion as the states largest single jobs announcement by number in nearly two decades.

The St. Louis-based managed care company will benefit from a recently sweetened state economic recruitment law, which along with local incentives could provide Centene with $465 million in cash and other benefits over time, according to state officials. Average pay for the new jobs will be $100,000, Coopers office said, $32,000 above the local average.

This is a transformative initiative, Cooper said in an online announcement, minutes after a state panel agreed to most of the incentives. When you look at Centenes monumental decision here, you see what a significant impact this is going to have on North Carolinas economy.

The rapidly growing company already has 70,000 employees and expects to generate $112 billion in revenues this year. Centene offers government-sponsored healthcare programs nationwide. They include Medicaid and Medicare coverage in more than 20 states as well as products for TRICARE, and through the marketplace created through the 2010 federal health care law.

Centene chose Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, over potential sites in Tampa, Florida and York County, South Carolina for the project, a Commerce Department document says. York County is considered a bedroom community of Charlotte, so South Carolina residents also should benefit. Tampa was the headquarters for WellCare Health Plans, which Centene recently purchased for $17 billion, bringing their customer base over 23 million.

CEO Michael Neidorff said Centene picked Charlotte because of its schools and infrastructure, including the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and its light rail. A new rail line serves northeast Charlotte, where Neidorff said Centene will break ground as soon as August on a six-building campus with 1 million square feet (92,900 square meters) of office space. He said the goal is to create 6,000 jobs in the coming years on the University City campus, which also will serve as a technology hub.

Our new campus will enable Centene to continue advancing our mission  to provide care to our most vulnerable populations and transform the health care communities we serve, Neidorff said by video conference.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said he began talking with Centene back in 2017 about coming to the state. NCDOI said in a statement that North Carolina competed with Florida and South Carolina for the Centene project.

I appreciate the teamwork with the governor and the Legislature to make this move a reality, Causey said. I would also like to thank the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) for assuring Centene of the favorable regulatory climate North Carolina encompasses. This transaction could not have happened without its oversight.

Under a 2017 state law, originally approved to help North Carolina compete for a new Apple headquarters, Centene could receive $388 million in cash payments alone over 39 years if it meets investment and job-creation goals. The amount is linked to a portion of the income tax withheld from each job created. Job Development Investment Grants have been in place since 2002, but the 2017 law made them more generous for projects creating at least 3,000 jobs and investing $1 billion.

After accounting for the cost of these potential cash grants, an economic model used by the Commerce Department estimates that the deal its recruiters called Project Big Boy will generate $674 million in net state revenues over the next 40 years.

The company also is poised to benefit from $78 million in local government and community college incentives.

This project touches every corner of Mecklenburg County, county commissioner Chairman George Dunlap said, pointing out the secondary jobs and local tax revenues it will create.

Centene or its affiliates already have nearly 600 workers in North Carolina. The company is also involved with a coalition of health care providers planning to offer Medicaid services when the state switches to managed-care operations, possibly next year.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Carriers Talent North Carolina South Carolina
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Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020
From left: Prof Marcello La Rosa  CEO and Co-Founder, Prof Marlon Dumas  Partnerships and Co Founder, Dr Simon Raboczi  Chief Architect and Co-Founder and Dr Ilya Verenich  Chief Data Scientist and Co-Founder.

Apromore, a Melbourne, Australia-based open-source process mining vendor, raised AU$6.84m in Series A funding.

The round was led by German business process management specialist GBTEC, with participation from Melbourne-based consulting and technology firm Leonardo and The University of Melbourne, which helped to incubate Apromore prior to spin off.

Led by Prof Marcello La Rosa  CEO and Co-Founder, Prof Marlon Dumas  Partnerships and Co Founder, Dr Simon Raboczi  Chief Architect and Co-Founder and Dr Ilya Verenich  Chief Data Scientist and Co-Founder (photo), Apromore is a collaborative business process analytics platform supporting the full spectrum of process mining functionality. These features are complemented by an authoring environment for business process models, underpinned by an enterprise process model repository.

The company intends to use the funds to strengthen its product development capacity and to expand into AI-driven automated process improvement, including robotic process mining, prescriptive process analytics, and automated decision optimisation.

FinSMEs

07/07/2020
Burma Myanmar Ministry Orders Monastery to Remove Buddha Statues Designed Using Occult Practices

A Buddha statue with an unauthorized mudra is displayed at the Seindamuni Monastery in Pyinmana, Naypyitaw. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

YANGONMyanmars Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture has ordered the removal of sitting Buddha statues donated by members of the countrys former military regime, as the stone idols were sculpted according to occult practices that go against Theravada Buddhism, the countrys dominant religion.

The 66 statues with unusual hand gestures are located in the compound of the Seindamuni Monastery on Mt. Min Wun in Naypyitaws Pyinmana Township. The compound also hosts a number of small stupas with strange titles like May power be long established and Let the throne be long established. The donors of the stupas include the family of Myanmars former dictator Senior General Than Shwe, and U Thein Swe, a former major general who served as transport minister under the military regime and is the current minister of labor, immigration and population.

Among the donors of the statues are general-turned-politician Thura Shwe Mann; senior members of the countrys former ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP); military commanders; and high-ranking government officials.

The statues are described as having one hand behind the back and the other in front with the palms facing outward.

According to Tampawaddy U Win Maung, a prominent scholar on traditional Myanmar design and architecture, the positions and gestures of these Buddha images are intended to signify that the Buddha is protecting worshipers from misfortune from both behind and in front, and that donating to it or worshiping it will afford such protection to the devotee.

But what the Buddha has taught us is to follow his way, not to build such idols in the hope that worshiping them will fulfill our desires, he said.

In others words, the creation of the statues with unusual hand gestures is an act of YadayaBrahman rituals enacted to prevent misfortune or secure wealth and power under the guidance of astrologers. The practice is wildly popular among Myanmar officials and the countrys powerful generals. This would appear to explain the presence of stupas with strange titles like Get Promoted in the compound of the Seindamuni Monastery.

In its announcement released on Tuesday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture said the 66 statues inside the Seindamuni compound, created with unauthorized mudras (gestures) and with the astrological goal of changing the donors karma to enhance their power and wealth, were disgraceful.

Through the local clerical authority, the Naypyitaw Sanga Maha Nayaka, the ministry asked the abbot of the monastery to remove all of the statues by 4 p.m. on Monday. Some of the statues were removed on Monday.

Those mudras are disgraceful and also against Theravada Buddhism. Thus, we asked that they be removed, said U Zarni Win, deputy permanent secretary of the ministry.

If they dont follow the order, we will take [legal] action, he said on Tuesday.

Asked what action the ministry planned to take in regard to the stupas with strange names, U Aung San Win, the director of the ministry, said it would follow up on the case and keep the public informed.

Regarding some of the statues that were donated under the name of the USDP, party spokesperson Nanda Hla Myint said the donations were made by individual party members, not the party itself.

It is neither the partys donation nor the partys policy. [The donations] were made by individual party members based on their own beliefs, he said.

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Burma UK Imposes Sanctions on Myanmar Military Chief, Deputy for Abuses Against Rohingya, Others

Myanmar military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (center) and deputy commander-in-chief Vice Senior General Soe Win (behind the senior general, to the left) attend the 21st-Century Panglong Peace Conference in Naypyitaw in 2018. / The Irrawaddy

YANGONThe British government on Monday imposed sanctions on the Myanmar militarys commander-in-chief and his deputy for alleged human rights abuses against the Rohingya people in Rakhine State and other groups in the country.

The UK foreign secretary said the sanctions targeted Myanmars commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and deputy commander-in chief, Vice Senior General Soe Win, over their involvement in systematic and brutal violence against the Rohingya people and other ethnic minorities. Along with the Myanmar military, another 47 individuals and organizations involved in some of the most notorious alleged human rights violations and abuses in recent years have been targeted under a powerful new sanctions regime established by the UK, it said.

The UK government said the move aims to stop people who are involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the country, channeling money through UK banks, or profiting from the UK economy.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape military operations that the UN has called a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. The Myanmar military denies these allegations, insisting the crackdown was a response to coordinated attacks on security outposts in Rakhine State by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).

A British Embassy spokesperson said, These sanctions target specific individuals involved in serious human rights violations, as highlighted by the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. The designations are not aimed at countries or governments.

The UK remains committed to supporting Myanmar on its path towards a more peaceful, prosperous society. We will continue to work with the civilian government to help achieve this, including through our substantial support from UK aid to help the poorest and most vulnerable in Myanmar, the spokesperson said.

Military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy the UKs move to impose sanctions was politically motivated. He said the Myanmar military has been fully accountable for its operations in Rakhine and their impact on the humanitarian situation there.

We have publicized all the information related to Rakhine transparently, Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun said.

The Myanmar military was recently criticized by local and international rights activists and legal experts for failing to reveal any details of its prosecution of three army personnel for the killing of 19 Rohingya in Gutar Pyin Village in northern Rakhine State during the August 2017 clearance operation.

Mondays announcement marks the first time the UK has sanctioned people or entities for human rights violations and abuses under a UK-only regime, and will allow the UK to work independently with allies such as the US, Canada, Australia and the European Union (EU). The individuals and organizations are the first wave of designations under the new regime, with further sanctions expected in the coming months, it said.

In April, the EU decided to keep sanctions in place against the 14 top-ranking Myanmar security personnel. The US also implemented targeted sanctions against Myanmar military leaders including Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing last December for alleged human rights abuses against the Rohingya and other groups. The sanctions freeze any US assets held by the targeted individuals and prohibit Americans from doing business with them.

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More than 700 villagers in Kyaukme Township in northern Shan State fled their homes late last month due to fighting between government troops and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS). The ethnic armed group allegedly burned a cache of illegal drugs to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26.

The villagers claimed Myanmars military shot and killed a man and injured two others. However, the army said it was unaware of any civilian casualties. The Irrawaddy witnessed more than 600 villagers taking shelter at two monasteries in Panlok and Naung Pain villages in Kyaukme last Tuesday. Some said they fled with only the clothes they were wearing.

The internally displaced people have been reliant on monks and well-wishers for food and worry about their cattle and crops in the villages.

U Maung, a corn farmer, said: We had to leave everything behind. We cannot tend to our farms. We cannot return because of the fighting.
On This Day The Day a British Benefactor of Myanmar Youth and Education Passed Away

John Sydenham Furnivall

YANGONOn this day in 1960, John Sydenham Furnivall, a pro-Burmese British ex-civil servant who dedicated himself to the educational development of Burmese youth during the colonial period, served as a national planning adviser to independent Myanmar, and loved to be addressed as U Gyi (uncle in Burmese), died at the age of 82 in Cambridge, England.

He arrived in Myanmar (then Burma) in 1902 as a public servant in the Indian Civil Service. He served as the Commissioner of Land Settlement and Records across Myanmar.

Furnivall, who married an ethnic Shan woman and could speak Burmese fluently, was upset by the oppression of the Burmese people. He boldly told his government that Burmese people deserved self-rule, and later retired from his position.

He founded the Burma Research Society, Burma Book Club, Burma Education Extension Association and the publication The World of Books (Ganda Lawka), which introduced Myanmar youth to the worlds literature and helped broaden their horizons. He also laid the foundation for the establishment of the Burmese Translation Society (now Sarpay Beikman) after independence.

Thakin Ba Thaung, the founder of the Doh Bamar Asiayone (We Burmans Association), served as an editor of The World of Books, and U Thant, the third United Nations secretary general, was a contributor to the publication.

Following his retirement, Furnivall served as a lecturer in Burmese language at Cambridge University. After World War II, at the request of General Aung San, he served as a planning adviser for the reconstruction of Myanmar. He continued to serve as a national planning adviser in then Prime Minister U Nus administration until he was expelled in 1959 along with other foreign residents by the caretaker government of General Ne Win.

However, after he was given permission to remain in the country, Furnivall completed a report titled Social and Economic Development of Modern Burma (1862-1941), a task that had been assigned to him by Prime Minister U Nu in 1952.

He left Myanmar in April of 1960 for what was intended to be a brief residence in England, with the intention of returning to take up the newly created post of visiting professor of economics at Rangoon University. However, he passed away three months later in Cambridge as he was preparing to return to Myanmar, the country he loved. U Nu sent a message of condolence to Furnivalls daughter in England.

In the Myanmar Encyclopedia, he is referred to as a Benefactor of Myanmar.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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Tuesday, July 7th, 2020 (7:55 am) - Score 6,395

At present most consumer UK internet traffic is made up of video content (70-80%) and one of the problems with having a slower broadband ISP connection is that youre often stuck with lower quality streaming. But that could be about to change with the new H.266 Versatile Video Coding standard, which offers 50% more compression.

Video quality is constantly improving and so is availability via video streaming platforms. The most common streams today are currently still distributed at 1080p / HD (pixel resolution of 1920 x 1080), while those who tend to pay a bit extra often get 4K / UltraHD (3,840 x 2,160) and were now starting to see the first early 8K (7680 x 4320) content.

NOTE: Resolution is only one aspect of how you define video quality, but for our purposes its the easiest to understand. See Resolution is only one aspect of how you define video quality, but for our purposes its the easiest to understand. See here and here for more.

The introduction of ever higher resolutions tends, at least at first, to push up data (bitrate) demands. For example, on Netflix its recommended to have a stable broadband download speed of 5Mbps for HD and 25Mbps for 4K (other platforms user similar figures). In reality the variable nature of video content means that the bitrate will fluctuate as the detail on display changes, but for the most part such figures are a reasonable guide.

Obviously, this can be a problem if your broadband connection remains below that level or indeed if you have a busy home where several high-quality streams may be active at the same time. Sadly we dont all have access to ultrafast (100Mbps+) or gigabit-capable (1000Mbps+) broadband yet.

However, video compression and optimisation technology has done a fantastic job of keeping pace with such changes and as a result its today possible to fit increasingly high-quality video down ever slower broadband lines. For example, early 4K streams would gobble data at up to 200Mbps, but improvements in video compression via new codecs pushed this down to 50Mbps and then later.. 20-30Mbps, as is common today.

Enter H.266

At this point we could go off on a tangent about how introducing greater compression is more of a maths and processing problem, but its easier to just say that every few years a new video codec (often a bunch of codecs with similar features but different licensing conditions) come out that help to further squeeze high quality video streams down to an increasingly small bitrate.

One of the best-known standards of the last generation was H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding (HVEC), which was launched in 2013. A few years after that ISPreview.co.uk did a simple test to show just how much of an impact changes like this can have on internet connection performance. We compared compression between the older H.264 and newer H.265 standards at a similar level of quality output.

H.264 / MPEG4 720p [MKV]

Video File Size: 987 MegaBytes Time to download at 2Mbps = 1 Hour 9 Minutes

Time to download at 24Mbps = 5 Minutes 44 Seconds H.265 / HEVC MPEG-H 720p [MKV]

Video File Size: 243 MegaBytes Time to download at 2Mbps = 17 Minutes

Time to download at 24Mbps = 1 Minute 24 Seconds We could have compressed the H.265 copy even more and made it just 160MB in size, but this would have lost just a little too much quality.

The good news is that a project to develop the next generation of video standards, which was initiated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2017 (here), has this week celebrated the release and official adoption of a new global video coding standard  H.266/Versatile Video Coding (VVC).

The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (together with partners from industry including Apple, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Sony) are claiming that H.266 reduces data requirements by around 50% of the bit rate relative to the previous standard. Put another way, if an HD stream needed 5Mbps before and 4K needed 25Mbps, then under H.266 this could fall to just 2.5Mbps and 12.5Mbps respectively. Good for consumers and ISPs alike.

The H.266/VVC standard was developed with ultra-high-resolution video content in mind (4K, 8K etc.), as well as support for things like High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Omnidirectional 360 video.

Benjamin Bross, Head of the Video Coding Systems at Fraunhofer HHI, said: After dedicating almost three years toward this standard, we are proud to have been instrumental in developing H.266/VVC. Because of the quantum leap in coding efficiency offered by H.266/VVC, the use of video will increase further worldwide. Moreover, the increased versatility of H.266/VVC makes its use more attractive for a broader range of applications related to the transmission and storage of video.

A uniform and transparent licensing model based on the FRAND principle (i.e. fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) is apparently planned to be established for the use of standard essential patents related to H.266/VVC. For this purpose, the Media Coding Industry Forum (MC-IF) was founded. The first software (encoder and decoder) release to support H.266/VVC is then due this autumn 2020.

The big caveat in all this is that such changes tend to require ever faster computer processors (CPU), which can make backwards compatibility with some older devices (e.g. particularly internet connected TVs, Smartphones, set-top-boxes etc.) a bit more problematic. Generally, it tends to take a few years for any new standard to fully propagate and so we may have to wait a bit longer before the benefits start to be realised.

As for where the limits to all this are, that is much harder to answer. But suffice to say, we wouldnt be surprised to see another such advancement some 7 years from now.
Tuesday, July 7th, 2020 (3:41 pm) - Score 1,966

The remote Shetland Islands Council (SIC) has decide to start exploring the possibility of extending superfast broadband coverage across the island(s) by itself, which they say is due to a failure to deliver under the Scottish Governments wider 600m R100 (Reaching 100%) programme.

The R100 scheme has been hit by various delays since it was announced several years ago. BT (Openreach) was widely expected to pick-up the contract for the relevant LOT 1 (Northern Scotland) area last year (here), which was originally valued at c.384m; this reflects about 100,000 premises across the Highlands and Islands, Angus, Aberdeen and Dundee.

NOTE: At present only around three quarters of Shetland can access a superfast broadband (30Mbps+) service.

Unfortunately, that plan fell through after it emerged that rival bidder Gigaclear had lodged a legal challenge against the award due to claims of a manifest error in the procurement process (here). The case is expected to be heard in a few weeks time and the hope is that a conclusion can be reached before the end of this year, which is when the current state aid agreement runs out.

Meanwhile the contracts that have already been awarded to BT, specifically LOT 2 (Central Scotland) and LOT 3 (South Scotland), are not due to fully complete until the end of 2023 and 2024 respectively. As a result, the SIC are concerned that they may have to wait even longer before their side of LOT 1 is finished, assuming it even gets going in the first place.

Councillor Steven Coutts, SIC Political Leader, said (Shetnews): We have had words and commitments from government but little action. The failure to deliver has left a significant digital divide across our community. This was laid bare as we responded to Covid-19 restrictions and the need to work and study and retain social contact through digital means. For many across Shetland, they simply couldnt do this. That is unacceptable. The latest legal challenge to R100 is another delay to the programme. As a council we will now be looking to assess what we can do to scope out what is needed. This is very much at early stages but we are losing faith in government programmes to properly design and deliver for Shetland.

In fairness, this frustration is shared by the Scottish Government, which are equally keen to get the ball rolling on LOT 1 but have little option except to wait for the court case to proceed. As the Scottish Minister for Connectivity, Paul Wheelhouse, said: We are as disappointed as local authorities  at the delay this is causing to the north lot  We are happy to discuss with Shetland Islands Council any proposals it might have.

A new voucher scheme is due to launch soon, which will be designed to help fill the void while a proper solution is found, although were still awaiting the final details on that (here). However, the idea of going it alone seems like a difficult proposition for such a remote community, which will only have very limited funding available.

Lest we forget that developing another scheme and awarding contracts can take an awfully long time, which may or may not result in the R100 situation being resolved before that even has a chance to get off the ground. At this stage its difficult to say whether this is all just a case of playing politics or if theres something more tangible to the proposed direction. Time will tell.
Amid climate change and soaring pollution rates, a growing number of countries reject fossil fuels and foster the adoption of reusable energy sources. India is one of the fastest developing nations on earth, whilst being the second most populous one.

The rate of industrialization and growth is causing a lot of problems in major cities across India. Unregulated cars and manufacturing plants, along with other factors, in New Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities are causing a major issue of extremely polluted air. Indian cities have been named as some of the most polluted consecutively for the past few decades. Moreover, the nation is experiencing a growing need for more and greener energy. With the soaring economy, people consume more electricity and other resources. This is why the country is focusing on developing green energy sources.

Enel Green Power enters India with significant experience

Enel Green Power is one of the most prominent companies in the field, based in Rome, Italy. It has over 12 years of history and unites green electricity-producing plants in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and now India. The companys experience and knowledge in this rather a new field is big, making it a perfect fit for such a project in India. As the country is making its first baby steps towards the development of green energy infrastructure, the experience of such firms is of utmost importance, ensuring the high quality of work and the good use of the investment.

Enel Green Power can surely claim to be a highly respectable company and its stocks, referred to as azioni Enel in Italy, are proving it right. The companys value and its stock popularity have soared rapidly over the past few years, amid the increased number of green projects across Italy. The southern European nation is one of the pioneers in the industry with a high number of green energy projects. Originating from Rome, Enel Green Power has extensive experience within Italy and beyond.

The company did not compete with its original name and representation, i.e. Enel Green Power Italy, but the subsidiary called the EGP India. With this, the company guaranteed a 25-year energy supply contract for a 420 MW plant which is expected to be located in the Indian state of Rajasthan. The project falls under the ninth tranche of a 2 GW nation-wide solar energy megaproject, executed by the governmental agency called Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI).

The 420 MW solar plant is a major project and requires extensive construction process, adhere to high construction standards and safety measures. The overall investment of the project is expected to hit an estimated $180 million. The construction will last until next year with the plant expected to be opened at the end of 2021. According to the energy supply contract, the firm should supply the Solar Energy Corporation of India with green, renewable, and sustainable energy for 25 years from the opening of the plant. The energy will be allocated to different areas across the region, as the plant will generate an estimated 750 GWh of energy each and every year. The project will ensure that more people and businesses have access to green and renewable energy in India. Moreover, the important part of the project also is that after the launch, the plant will reduce the annual CO2 emissions by 681,600 tons of CO2.

Why is India investing heavily in renewable and green energy sources?

As mentioned earlier, the Indian government, along with many others, is trying to reduce emissions. The trend is alarming in India as thousands of people die each and every year from breathing poor quality air that affects the body. The problem is deep-rooted and will not be solved without a radical green change that the government is trying to bring. 21 out of 30 cities with the worst air pollution in the world are located in India. This number clearly shows how bad the situation is across the nation, home to more than 1.3 billion people.

India is trying to meet its renewable energy goals, set at the local level, as well as through the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which the Indian government has already ratified. As one of the biggest emitters globally, the country is expected to take radical steps in efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and their effects on India and beyond.

By 2022, India is planning to meet its first milestone by generating 100 GW of Solar and 60 GW of wind power. This will cause a major adaption and lots of investment throughout the next 2 years as the current rate today stands at approximately 35 GW of solar and roughly 38 GW of wind power.

As of now, Enel Green Power through its subsidiary EGP India is one of the largest renewables companies in India. It operates a whopping 172 MW wind capacity in Gujarat and Maharashtra, generating over 340 GWh every year.
On Friday, officials with the Walker County Hospital District board announced that they have finalized a $7.8 million purchase of Huntsville Memorial Hospital. Do you feel like this is a good use of tax dollars, and is this the right direction for the struggling health care facility?

You voted:
Today

A mix of clouds and sun in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon. Hot. High 106F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunshine and clouds mixed. Hot. High around 100F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.
Left to right: Ernst van Niekerk, Gillis Haasnoot, Pieter de Haas

Payaut, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based automated payment solution for online marketplaces, raised 1m in funding.

Backers included LocalGlobe and Finch Capital, as well as several seasoned professionals from the finance and payments industry.

Led by Ernst van Niekerk, Gillis Haasnoot, and Pieter de Haas, Payaut provides a PSD2-compliance and automation of the payment process. The solution helps online businesses that are part of the payment flow to easily comply with the new PSD2 regulations, while still able to use multiple Payment Service Providers (PSPs). It also automatically assures the money ends up with the right persons or companies in the right ratio with SplitPayment. Payaut verifies sellers on each platform instantly and automatically to comply with all the necessary Know Your Customer regulations in the PSD2.

For now, customers include Dutch Airbnb for boats, Barqo, and for motorbikes, Motoshare, and insurtech SharePeople, which offers income protection for entrepreneurs.

The startup is currently in talks with investors and expects to close a large seed round within a couple of months.

FinSMEs

07/07/2020
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Second Front Systems, a San Francisco, CA-based software company working focused on aerospace and defense industry, raised $6m in seed funding.

The round was led by ARTIS Ventures with participation from Kleiner Perkins, 8VC, Gula Tech Adventures, and Abstract Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, Austin Walne, partner at ARTIS Ventures will join Second Fronts board with General Peter Pace, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Stanley McChrystal, former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, and Alberto Yepez, co-founder and managing director of ForgePoint Capital.

The company intends to use the funds to expand the capabilities of its software platform, Atlas Fulcrum.

Started by former Marine Corps Major Peter Dixon, a scout sniper platoon commander who worked with In-Q-Tel and DARPA to pioneer counter-cartel and counter-insurgency technologies, including early adoption of Palantir, at the State Department and Pentagon, and retired Marine Corps Colonel Mark Butler, a fighter and test pilot who helped form the Marines arm of Cyber Command, Second Front is a veteran-owned small business that builds software so U.S. and allied governments can leverage technology from venture capital-backed, commercially proven companies.

Atlas Fulcrum, its software platform, empowers the U.S. government to regain control from the traditional defense industry in scouting, vetting, and securely fielding technology at scale. It has recently received a major contract award from the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Air Forces AFWERX. The U.S. military recognizes that commercially driven tech, such as autonomy, cyber, biotech, and AI, has surpassed the defense base in relevance to national security in the 21st century.

FinSMEs

08/07/2020
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Over 70 countries recently voiced support to China's adoption of the law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). It demonstrates that China's passage of the law is a justified move winning the recognition of the world.

However, some U.S. politicians are stubbornly standing at the opposite side of justice, groundlessly stigmatizing the legislation and China in the name of the so-called human rights protection and freedom, a conventional trick always played by the White House, which fully demonstrates their vicious intention to seek hegemony by political manipulation.

The rights and freedoms of residents will be guaranteed to the maximum extent possible, if the security of a country is guaranteed and its society remains stable. The law on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR clearly defines the important principle of the rule of law that Hong Kong shall follow to safeguard national security, stressing in its General Principles that human rights shall be respected and protected in safeguarding national security in the HKSAR.

The rights and freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, of the press, of publication, of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration, which the residents of the Region enjoy under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong, shall be protected in accordance with the law.

Any right and interest are defined by laws. The one who breaks the limits shall be held accountable accordingly. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights clearly stipulates that the freedoms of religion, speech, peaceful assembly and receiving open trials shall not be subject to any restrictions except those are necessary to protect national security and public order.

Its written in the constitutions of over 100 countries that the execution of basic rights and freedoms shall not undermine national security. Since the anti-extradition bill protests June the last year, the Hong Kong independence, black-clad rioters and mutual destruction mobsters have colluded with both domestic and foreign forces and committed violent crimes and activities. They undermined Chinas national security, challenged the bottom line of the one country, two systems principle, and seriously threatened the life and property security of Hong Kong residents. Their practices went way beyond the freedoms and rights enshrined by law.

The law on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR targets a very narrow category of criminal acts and activities that endanger national security and protects the safety and rights and freedoms the vast majority of the Hong Kong residents enjoy in accordance with the law. It is a sharp sword on the necks of those who undermine national security, and a guardian for the majority of Hong Kong residents, including foreigners. Those fanning up Hong Kong independence, engaged in black-clad rioters activities and conducting mutual destruction activities are the largest enemy to Hong Kong residents rights, freedoms and peaceful life, and they must be punished by the law.

It is necessary for China to plug its loopholes in Hong Kongs national security. The enactment of the legislation will offer stronger institutional guarantee for the long-term and stable development of the one country, two systems principle, help Hong Kong maintain long-term stability and prosperity, better safeguards the freedoms and rights enjoyed by Hong Kong residents, and protects the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors in Hong Kong.

The enactment of the legislation also sends a signal that the anti-China activities supported by the external forces will be eliminated. The anxiety of some U.S. politicians over the law further proves that what they want is the so-called freedom to undermine the long-term stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, to contain and curb the development of China, and to arbitrarily hurt the legitimate rights and interests of Hong Kong residents.

However, the U.S. itself has a variety of laws on national security. It passed the PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act and the CLOUD Act after the September 11 attacks alone, and a large number of cases have been dealt with under these acts. So why the U.S., a country thats highly sensitive to its own national security, cant stay calm when other countries take normal actions to protect their national security? The country always points fingers at other countries domestic affairs, but turns a blind eye to its own bad record of human rights protection. The long-term racial discrimination that has been developed into a structural problem of the U.S. society is the best proof. The PRISM program revealed in 2013 just demonstrated how the U.S. is infringing upon its own citizens and foreign citizens rights and freedoms for its so-called national security. Its just a joke that some U.S. politicians, who shouldve long been introspecting their human rights problems, are shamelessly teaching other countries to protect human rights.

The Chinese government and people will unswervingly safeguard their national sovereignty, security and development interests, and oppose any external force meddling in Hong Kong affairs. The interference in other countries domestic affairs is never a freedom, and the U.S. politicians shall be aware of it. The attempts to interfere in Hong Kong affairs and Chinas domestic affairs will never succeed.
Florida coronavirus cases double in two weeks

Lee County cases mirroring state increases

By Nathan Mayberg

Over the past week, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Florida has risen from 146,341 to 206,447 as of July 6, representing a doubling of coronavirus cases since June 22 when there were 100,217 cases reported by the Florida Department of Health.

The latest weekly jump in confirmed positives represents a 41% increase, slightly down from the 46% increase a week earlier. The number of deaths statewide continued to rise steadily from 3,546 as of June 29 to 3,880 on data reported July 6, an increase of nine percent.

On Fort Myers Beach, the number of confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 grew from 29 to 38, representing an identical increase from a week earlier.

Lee Countys deaths rose from 167 deaths from 156 a week earlier. Due to a lag in reporting, the only death recorded since June 29 was a 72-year-old male on July 2.

The number of tests continued to grow statewide from 1.9 million last week to 2.2 million. The state saw its largest single-day test numbers on July 3 with 85,076 tests, and also its most positives on the same day with 11,436. The percentage of positive tests has more than doubled the rate of positives that were being reported in May.

Over the past week, the percentage of positives statewide has averaged between 16% and 17%. In Lee County, that percentage has ranged from a low of 14.8% on July 4 to a high of 33.8% on June 29. Between June 29 and July 2, Lee Countys percentage of those testing positive for COVID-19 was more than 20% for four straight days.

Lee Countys positive cases surged 43% from 5,363 cases to 7,661, more than doubling the 3,666 cases reported June 22. The county has fallen from sixth in the state in number of COVID-19 positives a month ago to eighth in the state. At one point last month, Lee County had just 65 fewer cases than Orange County  which now has nearly double the number of cases of Lee County.

The percentage of those testing positive for COVID-19 is continuing to trend younger, with 58% of all positives now among those 44 and younger. A week earlier that percentage was 55% and a month earlier was 42%. Those dying from COVID-19 continue to be the elderly, with 85% of deaths amongst those 65 or older.

As of July 6, there are 286 COVID-19 patients at Lee Health hospitals being isolated.

The COVID-19 numbers are continuing to raise worries with Lee Health CEP Larry Antonucci. We are seeing a trend in our hospitals that has me very concerned, Antonnuci said.

Just a month ago we were treating around 100 COVID patients each day. In one month we went from 100 to over 300, triple the number of hospitalizations.

As we enter this holiday weekend, and we celebrate with friends and family, we must take the threat of this virus extremely seriously.

We know how to stop this spread, we have done it before, and I am asking for our community to help us do it again. At our current rate, Lee Health hospitals will be completely full by the end of the month. We must act now to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Three months ago, everyone joined in a shared goal of flattening the curve, which was temporarily accomplished. We stayed at home, we practiced hand hygiene and we began wearing masks. The curve is no longer flat. Instead we have a spike in cases and the spike is growing fast.

Now is the time to take action. No one person, law or mandate can stop the spread of the virus. The actions of each and every one of us can ensure the safety of our families, our neighbors and strangers alike.
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).
Not only is Granato's attorney claiming self-defense, he is also arguing that that Granato's actions are protected under North Carolina's Castle Doctrine, which provides a so-called Stand Your Ground defense. In other words, under the law, a person is justified in using deadly force and has no duty to retreat in "any place he or she has the lawful right to be" if deadly force is needed to prevent "imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another."

That has led some of Sampson's supporters, including his wife, Keyia Sampson, to protest North Carolina's Stand Your Ground law and call for state legislators strike the law down.

James and Forsyth County prosecutors hotly dispute some of the facts of the case. But they broadly agree on some of what is alleged to have happen:

At 3 p.m. Aug. 6, 2019, Granato and his friend, Landon Smith, came into BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse. Granato had a concealed carry permit and was carrying two guns -- a 9-mm handgun and a .22-caliber Derringer pistol. But before going into the restaurant, Granato put the 9-mm handgun into the glove compartment of his car. James said he forgot he had the pistol.

Later, Sampson and his friend came into the restaurant to have lunch.
Three Yadkinville residents were indicted in Federal Court on drug charges June 22 after investigators say they linked them to overdose deaths in Yadkin and Davie Counties.

Detectives in the Yadkin County Sheriff's Office and Davie County Sheriff's Office bean investigating Christopher Adam Tetter, Emily Nicole DuBree and Laura Diane Cline Long in October of 2018, according to a news release.

All three were arrested in December 2018 on on charges of distributing oxycodone, heroin and Alprazolam  a drug commonly prescribed to treat anxiety.

Detectives later developed evidence linking the three to two overdose deaths, one in each county, and took their evidence before the United States Attorney's Office in Middle District of North Carolina, according to a news release.

All three were indicted, and all three are charged federally with distributing aprazolam and heroin, according to the news release.

On Twitter @LeeOSanderlin lsanderlin@wsjournal.com 336-727-7339

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Many of the positive antibody tests have been found in south Winston-Salem, southwest Forsyth, western Greensboro and High Point. The positive tests for the virus appear to be concentrated in south Winston-Salem and southwest Forsyth.

Getting a picture

Dr. Mandy Cohen, the states health secretary, said during a press conference Thursday that from other prevalent studies around the country, laboratory confirmed cases are really only picking up a fraction of the likely COVID positive patients here in North Carolina.

Those antibody studies are helping us get a picture of how many people have actually been exposed to COVID or had it in the past.

Cohen said COVID antibody tests with North Carolina participants involved are finding between 5% and the potential 14% in the Wake Forest Baptist study.

Cohen said the tests are telling us that the virus is here and a lot of people have been exposed to COVID-19. It shows theres been a lot of community spread when people dont even know it or that they are sick.

High hopes

According to Kaiser Health News, there are high hopes for antibody tests.
Plenty of people had seen Crawley around the neighborhood before, but investigators have had a hard time pinning down details about her life in Winston-Salem. She had irregular access to a cellphone, and didnt leave behind a digital trail for investigators to try to follow, Dorn said.

However, there are at least two witnesses who know something about Crawleys death, Dorn said. One person told investigators they heard arguing in the park but didnt see anything.

The other witness is a child who may have actually seen the violent acts. Because the witness is a child, investigators cant interview them without their parents permission, and the childs mother has refused to allow an interview, Dorn said.

It may be because they want to protect the child, he said. Or it could just be because it was dark and its hard to tell if anyone actually saw anything.

On Monday, Melissa Crawley, Ellas sister, and two local activists, Miranda Jones and Ikulture Chandler, criticized the police department plans to canvass the neighborhood.

Jones said she's not convinced police will get any new leads from canvassing communities where black people have been traumatized by their interactions with police and are not inclined to trust officers.
Kokai said it is possible that the agreement between Cooper and Republican legislative leaders may contain the veto, a successful veto override and then passage of SB232.

If lawmakers were not expecting the veto, then I suspect they are regrouping now to decide how they want to move forward, Kokai said. It might be easier to come up with a new bill than to try to pass SB232 and override the veto.

Bill draws protests

The Triad Abolition Project of Winston-Salem is circulating a Care2 petition online and on Twitter that calls for Coopers veto of SB168. As of Monday night, it had gained 8,756 signatures toward a goal of 10,000.

We believe SB168 not only obfuscates law enforcement involvement in the deaths of those they have in custody, but it also shields and protects law enforcement from being held accountable for deaths of civilians who are incarcerated, arrested and detained, according to the petition.

The Triad Abolition Project cited the investigation into the death of John Neville, who was in Forsyth County Jail shortly before his death in December.
He said deputies are provided with and encouraged to wear masks, and that they do so when social distancing is not possible to maintain. He added that inmates are given masks when going to court.

In a bid to lower the risk of an outbreak, many jails around the state have also moved to reduce their populations and take on fewer new inmates.

The Onslow County jail population has gone down to around 300 inmates, from its usual total in the mid-400s, according to Chief Deputy Col. Christopher Thomas. The jail is built to hold more than 500 inmates, Thomas said.

Tripp said he has set a cap of 65 inmates for the Halifax County jail, down from its ordinary 85-person capacity.

Still, in many jails inmates are housed with two, or sometimes more, people to a cell.

Its not the ideal situation for social distancing, thats just being honest with you, Tripp said of the jails two-bed-per-cell layout.

While jails and prisons have received criticism for their responses to the virus, Brinkley-Rubinstein said she hoped they would not be left on their own to find solutions.
Search below to see businesses in your community that received money from the Paycheck Protection Program meant to keep Americans employed during the pandemic. The program has been popular but also controversial.

The Paycheck Protection Program is the centerpiece of the federal governments plan to rescue an economy devastated by shutdowns and uncertainty. The program, which helps smaller businesses stay open and keep Americans employed during the pandemic, has been both popular and controversial.

Demand was so great that a first infusion of $349 billion ran out in just two weeks. Many businesses couldnt navigate the application process rapidly enough to get one of those first loans before funding dried up. Meanwhile, several hundred companies traded on stock exchanges  hardly the image of a small business  received loans maxing out at $10 million each, causing a public backlash and leading dozens to return the money.

And the public may never know the identity of more than 85% of the nearly 5 million beneficiaries to date because the administration has refused to release details on loans under $150,000 -- the vast majority of borrowers. That secrecy spurred an open-records lawsuit by a group of news organizations, including The Associated Press.
To that I said, Hallelujah. And I apologized under my breath for the mean things that Id said about Roberts just the day before. The irony is that he could have just as easily written the type of scathing dissent that Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote wailing about the separation of church and state, if Roberts really was concerned about his blessed precedent. Thats because there are enough prior decisions that would give him cover to find that providing money to religious schools is a violation of the Establishment Clause (I think those decisions are wrong, but theyre on the books).

Its almost as if there is a good angel and a bad devil warring for the soul of the chief justice, and on any given day hes not sure which one he wants to listen to. Its obvious that Roberts is a decent man, despite the scurrilous things that have been written about him by others. But he is so desperate to make it seem as if he really is that umpire he referenced at his confirmation hearings that he ends up being Casey at the Bat, who keeps striking out at the crucial moment.

I hope when he finally settles down and realizes that the reputation of the institution is much less important than the integrity of the law itself, Roberts will reconcile the two sides of his complicated nature and choose to follow that better angel.

Flowers (cflowers1961@gmail.com) is a columnist for Cagle Cartoons and an attorney.
Classes in the Wilkes County Schools will start on Aug. 23 and end on May 25 in 2021-22 as a result of a calendar approved by the Wilkes Board of Education on Feb. 1.
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This July 11 marks a quarter century since the Srebrenica massacre of nearly 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys. On the eve of the anniversary of the genocide we spoke to Iva Vukusic, Hikmet Karcic and Jennifer Trahan about the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the limits of what justice can achieve for victims in Bosnia.

The 1995 Srebrenica massacre was ruled a genocide by both the ICTY and the United Nations top court the International Court of Justice (ICJ), yet in the Balkans, denial prospers. Hikmet, a genocide studies scholar, wrote for Balkan Insight recently about how denial of Bosnian war crimes has moved from the fringes to mainstream discourse. University of Utrecht historian Iva and Jennifer, NYU professor at the Center for Global Affairs, collaborated on a chapter considering which benchmarks can be used to assess the legacy of the ICTY in Bosnia for a new publication: Legacies of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia: a Multidisciplinary Approach . You maybe also remember Iva from our 2019 Dogs of War episode where we discuss her research into paramilitaries.

We wanted to know what are the lasting effects of the ICTY cases in Bosnia and what has become of all those lofty pronouncements about peace and reconciliation through criminal cases. And we talked about national trials and the importance of the ICTY case records.

As always we asked recommendations and our contributors did not dissapoint. For understanding Bosnia and the impact of the ICTY Iva suggests Some Kind of Justice By Diane Orentlicher, In this link you can hear her talks about the book herself. Jennifer was busy proofreading her own book Existing Legal Limits to Security Council Veto Power in the Face of Atrocity Crimes. Hikmet confessed he spend his time reading war crimes judgements from Bosnian courts but did find time to watch the excellent BBC drama The Salisbury Poisonings based on the 2018 Novichok poisoning of former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
War crimes and possible crimes against humanity were committed during the battle for Syrias opposition-held Idlib province, a UN investigation said Tuesday.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said people endured unfathomable suffering during the campaign launched in late 2019 by pro-regime forces to re-take the last remaining areas in the country held by armed groups.

Children were shelled at school, parents were shelled at the market, patients were shelled at the hospital, and entire families were bombarded even while fleeing, said commission chair Paulo Pinheiro.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime, supported by Russia, in December relaunched its offensive against the northwestern region, which is dominated by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadist group.

A precarious truce brokered by Russia and rebel-backer Turkey came into force in early March.

The offensive left a million people displaced and more than 500 civilians dead, according to the United Nations.

The 29-page commission report covers the period from November 1 to June 1.

It documents 52 attacks  by all parties  which led to civilian casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure.

They included 17 attacks impacting on hospitals and medical facilities; 14 involving schools; nine on markets, and 12 others on homes.

It is completely abhorrent that, after more than nine years, civilians continue to be indiscriminately attacked, or even targeted, while going about their daily lives, said Pinheiro.

Pro-government forces and UN-designated terrorists flagrantly violated the laws of war and the rights of Syrian civilians.

The commission urged all parties to the conflict in Syria to cease attacks on civilians, and also urged countries to pursue accountability for the crimes documented.

The report is due to be presented at the ongoing Human Rights Council on July 14-15.

The war in Syria has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced nearly half of the countrys pre-war population since it started in 2011.
Exiled Uighurs urged the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to investigate China for genocide and crimes against humanity, filing a huge dossier of evidence with the Hague-based court to back their case.

The evidence handed to the ICCs prosecutor accuses China of locking more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in re-education camps and of forcibly sterilising women.

China has called the forced sterilisation accusations baseless and says the facilities in the northwestern Xinjiang region are job training centres aimed at steering people away from terrorism.

Today is a very historic day for us. Salih Hudayar, prime minister of the self-styled East Turkestan government in exile, told a virtual press conference held in Washington and The Hague.

China is not an ICC member but lawyers for the Uighurs said the court could follow the example of its ongoing probe into the treatment of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar, which is also not party to the tribunal.

ICC judges ruled in 2018 that the Rohingya investigation could go ahead because the situation in Myanmar affects people in neighbouring Bangladesh, which is a member of the ICC.

Rodney Dixon, a London-based human rights lawyer for the Uighurs, said it was a historic breakthrough and hopefully a turning of the tide as the ICC can now act.

The evidence filed with the court showed that China was guilty of harsh repressive measures over more than a decade, he told the press conference from The Hague.

These include mass internments in excess of a million people, murders, disappearances, torture, and harrowing accounts of sterilisations and birth control measures, said Dixon.

The dossier includes a list of senior Chinese Communist Party members who are allegedly responsible for the treatment of the Uighurs including President Xi Jinping.

Dixon said following the example of the Myanmar case begun by the ICC prosecutor last year showed there was a clear way which allows the ICC to exercise jurisdiction.

The case was possible because crimes including forced deportations back to China happened in Tajikistan and Cambodia, which are both ICC members, the dossier filed by the exiles says.

The ICC has no obligation to consider complaints filed to the prosecutor, who decides independently what cases to submit to judges at the court, set up in 2002 to achieve justice for the worlds worst crimes.
Silence reigns at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) about the historical moment when the judges will deliver the long-awaited judgement in the case against four suspects of the bomb-attack that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others in 2005. Four months ago, on 5 March, the STL trial chamber said the verdict would be delivered in public session mid-May, which already sounded vague. Now the STL website carries a message saying that given the prevailing circumstances linked to the Covid-19 crisis, the date will be specified as soon as possible.

In contrast, a court in Rwanda has recently delivered a high-profile genocide verdict by videoconference; at least two war crimes trials have opened in the past weeks before German courts; and the International Criminal Court is organising hearings. But the STL, based in Leidschendam (near The Hague) in The Netherlands, has decided to postpone its first and only terrorism verdict to be reached fifteen years after the beginning of the investigations and more than six years after the trial started. The postponement has attracted criticism towards a court that is already suffering from a range of bad reviews for its lack of achievements and impact, and huge cost.

The written judgment should be handed down, read out or issued. My clients, the accused, the Lebanese public and tax payers are entitled to know what it says.  Peter Haynes

Theres no reason why the publication should be delayed, says counsel Peter Haynes, who represents 70 victims, including Saad Hariri, the son of the killed prime minister. The reading of a judgment summary is not a judicial or legal event. Its a public relations event. The written judgment should be handed down, read out or issued. My clients, the accused, the Lebanese public and tax payers are entitled to know what it says, states Haynes. The usual public session with all parties present is impossible now as the pandemic makes international travelling difficult. While it is unfortunate because the victims would have loved to be in the court room, Haynes suggests that a Zoom-judgement (Zoom is a popular, online platform for audio and video conferences) should be organized and that David Re, the presiding judge of the trial chamber, would be reading the judgement to us from his dining room.

The STL is a well-equipped and well-funded international tribunal, with twelve full-time judges for a single trial.  Special Tribunal for Lebanon

22 dead, a full inquiry, no accused in the dock

On Valentines Day, 14 February 2005, at 12.55 oclock, a massive car bomb exploded in downtown Beirut. As the convoy of Rafik Hariri was passing Hotel St-Georges a truck carrying military-grade explosives was detonated, leaving a crater of ten metres wide and two metres deep in the street. The suicide bomb attack killed 22 people and injured 226 persons. Among the victims were former prime minister Hariri, bodyguards, workers and bystanders. Immediately the United Nations Secretary General sent a fact-finding mission, which arrived in Beirut on 25 February 2005, to find that the crime scene had not been preserved according to standards and important evidence was removed and destroyed without record. On 7 April 2005, the UN Security Council established the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) to assist the Lebanese authorities investigating the attack, including to help identify its perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and accomplices.

Two years later, on 30 May 2007, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was created by the UN Security Council through its Resolution 1757. Lebanon would foot 49 percent of the bill for the tribunal, while the rest of the budget would be financed by other states (see the box below). On 1 March 2009 the STL started officially working as the first international criminal tribunal to deal with terrorism. Its primary mandate is to prosecute the bomb attack that killed Hariri and 21 others, but the tribunal also has jurisdiction over related assassination attacks in Lebanon between 1 October 2004 and 12 December 2005. The STL inherited four years of investigative work by the UNIIIC.

Salim Jamil Ayyash, the main defendant before the STL, an executioner who has never been arrested.

In 2011 the prosecutor filed a confidential indictment against Salim Jamil Ayyash, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra. In 2013 Hassan Habib Merhi was added as co-accused. All men were allegedly linked to Hezbollah, a powerful political and military force in Lebanon, supported by Syria and Iran. All defendants were charged with the Hariri attack. The terrorism trial began on 16 January 2014. However none of the suspects was located or handed over to the tribunal, adding the unique feature of a first trial in absentia before an international court since Nuremberg. In 2016 proceedings against Badreddine were terminated after he was confirmed dead.

A total cost of at least 970 million dollars for a single trial on a single attack that killed 22 people, with none of the four accused present in the dock.

In eleven years, the tribunal has cost 800 million dollars (net) at a minimum, to which the 170 million dollars spent by the UNIIIC in its 4-year existence must be added, without counting unknown extra expenses during the setting up of the court in 2008-2009. A total cost of at least 970 million dollars for a single trial on a single attack that killed 22 people, with none of the four accused present in the dock.

From a good idea to make-believe

Habib Nassar: So much money has been spent on just one trial. It becomes a little obscene.  Nadim Yared

Initially I saw the establishment of the tribunal as a good idea for justice, says Habib Nassar, director of policy and research at Impunity Watch, an NGO. Historically political assassinations have been systematically used in Lebanon against politicians, journalists, intellectuals and others. These horrible crimes have destabilised the country, led to conflict and unrest in some cases. You want justice for these lost lives and accountability, so that these crimes dont go unpunished.

Also Imad Salamey, president of Legal Action and associate professor of political science and international affairs at the Lebanese American University in Lebanon, says that overwhelmingly the Lebanese were in favour in the beginning. That the truth would be emerging out of this assassination, and the international community ran to their aid.

Haynes says that by definition the victims are supportive of the institution  to discover the truth about what happened to them and their loved ones and to be part of a process.

We dont know whether the accused are alive. None of us had contact with them. We never received instructions from them.  Guenael Mettraux

Guenael Mettraux: The verdict will likely be a footnote in history.  Special Tribunal for Lebanon

But from the start there also has been severe criticism against the fact that this is a trial in absentia. We dont know whether the accused are alive. None of us had contact with them. We never received instructions from them. We have no idea whether they even knew the trial was taking place. To try a person without his presence and involvement is problematic in many ways, says law professor Guenael Mettraux, who was defence co-counsel for Sabra. We were part of the make-believe intended to give the exercise an air of respectability, states Mettraux, who resigned as defence lawyer when he became judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.

The limits of in absentia trials

Nassar shares these objections. Trials in absentia can work in permanent structures. But this is a special court which is not permanent. What if Ayyash is arrested in the far future when the tribunal will no longer be operational? Whats the mechanism for a re-trial? It poses so many questions, he says. Is it worth all the money to have a trial in absentia? asks Mettraux. Because if a suspect is handed over to the tribunal, the trial will have to be done all over again and the record will be challenged because the accused never got a chance to be heard or tell their story, he points out, stressing that an in absentia trial is also strategically unwise, as it takes the pressure off from states to arrest suspects.

It seems the protagonists in Lebanon have reached some sort of an agreement. The government pays for the tribunal. The contributions never stopped, even when the Hezbollah is in power, says Nassar, adding: Have political forces agreed to pay in exchange for no genuine cooperation by Lebanon? The authorities never cooperated such as arresting suspects. At least two Lebanese officials involved in the investigations were killed. Even if there were attempts to cooperate, the response has been violence, says Nassar.

Where is the chain of command? We hear nothing about those who ordered or instigated this crime. Now it looks as if the crimes happened in a vacuum.  Habib Nassar

The masterminds are off the hook

The four individuals are charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and other charges, such as intentional homicide (Ayyash) or being accomplices to intentional homicide (the other three). Ayyash was allegedly at the epicenter of the planning and the execution of the attack, the prosecution stated during the closing submissions in September 2018. He led and coordinated the assassination unit, was engaged over four months in surveillance of Hariri, bought the truck, coordinated the transporting of the bomb to the scene and made sure it would explode at that fatal moment. The others were allegedly involved in selecting a man called Abu Adass, who  falsely, according to the prosecution  claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attack on behalf of a fake fundamentalist Islamic group. The prosecution states the suspects shared a common bond by being linked to Hezbollah.

The four accused, however, are thought to be involved at the lower levels of the organisation of the crime. They didnt act on their own. It was a politically orchestrated plan, states Imad Salamey. The STL has never charged the masterminds, commanders or financiers of the attack. Depending on who you ask, people accuse Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanese and Syrian top security officials and politicians for ordering the onslaught. The most disturbing aspect of this case is that the masterminds behind the killing  and everybody who followed the trial knows who they are  are unlikely to suffer any consequences for that crime, says Mettraux.

Also Nassar has a real question mark about the case: Where is the chain of command? We hear nothing about those who ordered or instigated this crime. Now it looks as if the crimes happened in a vacuum. Thats pretty problematic.

A remote court and selective justice

While the trial was taking place some of my clients were religious followers of the proceedings, says Haynes. But in general the tribunal didnt receive much attention from the public, media or academic world. Very soon people started to lose interest, notes Nassar. There were many reasons for the lack of heed. Located in The Netherlands, with its office in Lebanon cordoned off for security reasons, the tribunal is remote from Lebanese society. Then there is the fact that it became a purely technical process, explains Nassar. Much of the evidence was based on complex telephone network analysis, which made the tribunal innovative in investigations, but not very evocative. Moreover, according to Nassar, the Lebanese may no longer see the trial as a justice process, but rather as a way to settle scores between Hariri and Hezbollah.

About 120,000 Lebanese lost their lives during the civil war between 1975 and 1990.  Joel Robine / AFP

Another point is selective justice. The attack against the Hariri convoy killed 22 people and injured dozens, in a country where nothing was done for the many more victims of decades of violence, including a 15-year bloody civil war that claimed an estimated 120,000 lives, with 10,000-17,000 people who disappeared. I worked with families of disappeared persons. They have been fighting for 40 years to know the truth about those missing. But there has still been very little done for them, says Nassar. He also points at the war with Israel which broke out in 2006 right when the STL was set up. More than a thousand Lebanese were killed, one million people were displaced, entire villages were erased by Israel. The powerful are not held accountable. Many crimes remain unpunished, and thats dangerous. It might fuel tensions in society, says Nassar.

They received a full investigation on their desk that was of high quality. Why did it take all those years to come with a judgment? Nassar wonders. Mettraux: Because they could.

Well-funded hopes

By comparison with other hybrid tribunals, the STL appears particularly well funded, equipped and staffed (see box below). It has no fewer than twelve full-time judges for basically one case. (The tribunal also dealt with two contempt cases against media organizations, of which one ended in an acquittal.) It had the luxury of inheriting the information gathered by a particularly strong commission of inquiry. (There is continuity between the UNIIIC and the STL: when the tribunal kicked off in 2009, it was the UNIIIC commissioner who became the first prosecutor of the STL.) They received a full investigation on their desk that was of high quality. Why did it take all those years to come with a judgment? Nassar wonders. Mettraux has a biting answer for it: Because they could.

Everybody is eager to see the outcome of the trial, says Salamey. It is significant, it is a historic moment, because people in Lebanon will find justice and closure to this matter at least. Despite his reservations about the tribunal Nassar is curious to see what the judgement is. If the court reaches a conclusion and establishes responsibility, it is one step in knowing the truth. If we can get some truth out of it, its something, he says. But this case is unlikely to be a success when it comes to full accountability and stopping impunity. It has also not been successful in terms of local ownership, connecting with the Lebanese, he adds. Mettraux hopes the judgment may have significance for the victims. There are 22 people who died. We heard horrific testimony of victims who were wounded and maimed. These people deserve justice. I hope it will do good for the victims, but claiming that it will have that effect is not good enough. At the very least I hope they find a bit of peace, says Mettraux.

Victims representatives during closing arguments before the Tribunal for Lebanon.  Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Several other cases dealing with attacks in 2004 and 2005 may fall in the tribunals jurisdiction. If cases are opened with such opportune timing, the STL could potentially go on for decades.

Justice forever?

As the judgment on the Hariri attack was being written and the STL mandate, which runs until February 2021, was drawing to an end, it seemed that the STL was getting near a possible finish. But then on 16 September 2019 the pre-trial judge lifted the confidentiality of an indictment, opening a new case which focusses on the attacks against the Lebanese politicians Marwan Hamade, Georges Hawi and Elias El-Murr. There is one single accused in this case, and he is a well-known though absent figure: Ayyash. As theres little prospect for him to appear in court, it is likely this becomes another trial in absentia. This second case may be perceived as repetitive, admits Nassar, but from a truth-seeking perspective it is important, as it establishes a clear pattern. It puts the spotlight on the horrific tradition in Lebanon to settle political disputes through assassinations, which the country has sadly experienced since its independence.

Recommended reading Lebanon: new indictment, old troubles

This case could actually prevent the tribunal from closing down any time soon, while there are several other cases dealing with attacks in 2004 and 2005 that may fall in the tribunals jurisdiction. In fact, if cases are opened with such opportune timing, the STL could potentially go on for decades. The authority that decides on the lifespan  and who could pull the plug  is the UN Secretary General. When the end of a mandate is in sight, the president of the tribunal can request for an extension. The UNSG then consults with the Lebanese authorities before taking his decision. The extension matter is currently a sensitive issue, says a source, as the STL president hasnt made her request yet to keep the court open beyond 2021.

Meanwhile the tribunal is the scene of an astonishing open legal battle between Judge David Re and the president of the tribunal. The judge objected to the fact that the president didnt consult with other judges when she convened the new trial chamber dealing with the second case. Re, who was not selected for this job, said she wrongly had assumed that the judges conducting the Hariri trial couldnt handle two cases at a time. Re even tried to stop a new judge from being sworn in. It led to filings turning in traffic lights  being public, made confidential, turned public again  and judges discussing the row, which led to new filings and allegations.

When the verdict is pronounced it will be news for two days on the BBC and in The Guardian. Thats it. It will be forgotten and will likely be a footnote in history.  Guenael Mettraux

A footnote in history

So was it worth all the money? It was, replies Imad Salamey, even a billion would be nothing to bring truth and good closure to such a series of assassinations, and to set the record. Not only in Lebanon, but also the region. But the costs for the tribunal, half of which has been paid for by Lebanon, leaves Nassar baffled. For a country that is bankrupt? So much money has been spent on just one trial which will leave very little legacy in Lebanon in terms of justice. It becomes a little obscene. If justice has no effective societal impact, I wonder whether it merits the investment, says the Impunity Watch policy and research director. While hundreds of millions were invested in the court, there were hardly funds for the many people affected by war and conflict. How unfair is this, says Nassar.

Mettraux recalls that the tribunals early ambitions were basically fixing Lebanon, bringing the rule of law and reconciliation to Lebanon and its communities. But look at whats been achieved: basically nothing that can be concretely demonstrated or measured. When the verdict is pronounced it will be news for two days on the BBC and in The Guardian. Thats it. It will be forgotten and will likely be a footnote in history.
As Americans head into a holiday weekend in the shadow of a ravaging coronavirus pandemic, some governors are rethinking their stance on face coverings after days of record infections.
A former Kansas City police officer who crashed into a vehicle outside the Truman Sports Complex before the October 18, 2018, Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night game, killing one passenger in the car and injuring two others, has pleaded guilty to four felony counts, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced Tuesday.
(CNN) - When a traffic officer pulled over a pickup truck on an Australian highway, he didn't expect to find one of the world's deadliest snakes inside.

The driver, a 27-year-old man identified only as "Jimmy" in a police news release published Tuesday, was heading down the Dawson Highway in the state of Queensland at 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) when he noticed a reptile in the vehicle.

It was an eastern brown snake -- highly venomous, and responsible for the majority of snakebite deaths in Australia.

"The more I moved my legs ... it just started to wrap around me. Its head just started striking at the (driver's seat) chair, between my legs," Jimmy said in the news release.

He then used a seat belt and a nearby knife to fight it off -- while trying to stop the car.

Jimmy thought he had been bitten in the ensuing tussle, and feared for his life. Eastern brown snake bites are fast-acting and fatal, and the venom can cause paralysis and bleeding into the brain.

So Jimmy killed the snake, hit the accelerator and headed for the nearest hospital. That's when a police officer spotted his car, driving at 123 kilometers per hour (about 76 mph) and pulled him over.

"A brown snake or a tiger snake is in the back of the ute (truck), I think it has bitten me, it was in the car with me," Jimmy can be heard saying as the officer pulled up, in a video released by police Tuesday. "You can feel my heart, mate."

The officer saw the dead snake lying in the back of the truck and called for help. When paramedics arrived, they determined Jimmy had not been bitten, but was suffering from shock.

"It was pretty terrifying, I've never been so happy to see red and blue lights," Jimmy said in the video.
ALBANY, NY (AP)  New York is now requiring people from three additional states to quarantine for 14 days as more individuals are testing positive for COVID-19 nationwide.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a Tuesday press release that Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma now join a total of 19 states that qualify under New York's metrics for community spread.

Cuomo's advisory applies to states with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average, or states with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

As states around the country experience increasing community spread, New York is taking action to ensure the continued safety of our phased reopening," Cuomo, a Democrat, said.

Cuomo said he hopes his travel advisory will prevent COVID-19 from spreading at high rates again in a state hard-hit by the pandemic.

Cuomos office said 836 people were hospitalized Monday  up 19 from Sunday, but down from 878 on July 1.

New York is seeing a smaller share of individuals test positive for COVID-19 even as the state amped up its testing and slowly reopened its economy.

About 600 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 Monday out of nearly 57,000 tested, according to Cuomo's office.

New York's testing has turned up nearly 400,000 positive test results since the spring, out of 4.2 million tests of individuals.

Cuomo said ten people with COVID-19 died in hospitals and nursing homes Monday. The state's numbers are likely an undercount  about 25,000 people with COVID-19 have died in hospitals and nursing homes since March, while New York City says another 4,600 people likely died of COVID-19.
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a US Army veteran who lost both of her legs while serving in Iraq, rebuked Tucker Carlson after the conservative Fox News host attacked her and suggested that she hates America.
While new Covid-19 infections keep soaring in most states, some hospitals are close to running out of beds.

But by the looks of packed holiday crowds this weekend, many Americans don't care -- threatening to infect others and set the economy back even further.

"We are in free fall," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"You see the footage of what happened this past weekend. And people are either naive to the influence of their actions, or they're simply resigned to ignore it."

This virus is notorious for how contagious it is -- and how easily people can infect others without symptoms.

"We know of the 50,000 cases this past day -- a single day of this (holiday) weekend," Walensky said. "If they're young people, it could be 500 people who die from that. If they're older people, it could be 7,500 people who die from that -- just from a single day of infection."

But "even if a person does not get harmed individually, they have the potential to infect two to three other people who will be harmed by this infection. So there's a lot of harm that could be done."

Almost 3 million Americans have been infected with Covid-19, including a growing number of young adults. More than 129,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, and some survivors are grappling with long-term complications.

"Let's remember there are 300 million people in this country who remain susceptible and have been uninfected so far, and this virus is far from running out of people to infect," Walensky said.

"And until we change our behavior to prevent these infections, the infections are going to continue to soar."

In 32 states, the rates of infection are still going up

Doctors are worried about more hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks.

"We're accelerating nationally. ... The number of cases still continues to accelerate," said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

"We're breaking records almost every day here in the state of Texas. People are piling into hospitals, into ICUs (intensive care units). We can't really keep going at this rate," he said.

"And it's not only happening in Texas, of course. It's happening in Florida, Arizona. We're starting to see now a similar situation unfold on the Gulf Coast. And now we're starting to see this in the Upper Midwest and in Tennessee as well."

At least 32 states are reporting higher rates of new cases this week compared to last week, according to Johns Hopkins University data: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

In 14 states: the rates of new infections are generally holding steady: Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming.

And only four states are seeing decreases in the rates of new cases: Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Track the virus in your state and across the US

Some parts of the US opened 'too early'

In Florida, officials shut multiple beaches throughout the state hoping to avoid July 4 crowds. The state reported 9,999 new coronavirus cases Sunday, bringing Florida's total to more than 200,000 infections.

Texas reported its second highest day of new cases over the weekend. The state opened "too early, too much," driving Houston hospitals to surge capacity in recent days, said Harris County government head Lina Hidalgo.

"Wishful thinking is neither good economic policy, nor good public health policy," Hidalgo told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.

"If we had stayed shut down for longer and opened more slowly, we would probably be in a more sustainable place in our economy."

In Arizona, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego told ABC's "This Week" that her state "opened way too early," attributing much of the "explosion" in cases to people between the ages of 20 and 44.

You asked, we're answering: Your top Covid-19 questions

Florida authorities failed to contact trace

A CNN investigation found Florida health authorities often failed to perform contact tracing, which has long been considered a key tool in containing coronavirus outbreaks.

CNN spoke with 27 Floridians -- or their family members -- who tested positive for the virus and only five said they received a call from health authorities asking for their contacts.

It's unclear how many contract tracers are employed by the state. A spokesperson for the state's health department told CNN there are 1,600 people "currently involved in contact tracing every positive case of COVID-19 in Florida" but another said there are 2,300 "individuals involved in contact tracing."

According to the Florida Department of Health, when someone tests positive for Covid-19, the department "conducts an extensive epidemiological investigation in conjunction with the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] to identify individuals who may have had close contact with the virus."

Contact tracing 101: How it works and who could get hired

When CNN asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, how the nation is doing with contact tracing, he answered, "I don't think we're doing very well."

Remdesivir should be reserved for very sick patients, official says

Only one antiviral drug, remdesivir, has received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for use in treating coronavirus infections. Remdesivir has been shown to shorten recovery time for people who catch the virus.

The US government intends to "surge remdesivir to the areas that most need it," FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen M. Hahn said Sunday.

Hahn noted that the country's remdesivir supply has not run out and is being distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Last week, HHS announced that it had shipped the final allocation of the antiviral drug, prompting concerns there would not be enough to help states experiencing sharp rises in infections.

"The Vice President and I and others were in Florida and this issue came up, and we are receiving that feedback and then shipping remdesivir," Hahn said. "So it's available for people who need it."

The country currently has enough remdesivir if the pandemic doesn't get any worse, former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Sunday on CBS' "Face The Nation."

For the supply to last, the drug should be reserved for very sick or hospitalized Covid-19 patients, Gottlieb said.

"But if the epidemic worsens and we want to extend use of the drug to patients who aren't as ill but have preexisting conditions that predict that they may become very sick, we don't have enough drug for that," he said.

"We would have had to set the groundwork for that months ago, and we didn't do that."

Remdesivir has been shown to shorter recovery time for people with the virus.
Spain's large-scale study on the coronavirus indicates just 5% of its population has developed antibodies, strengthening evidence that a so-called herd immunity to Covid-19 is "unachievable," the medical journal the Lancet reported on Monday.

The findings show that 95% of Spain's population remains susceptible to the virus. Herd immunity is achieved when enough of a population has become infected with a virus or bacteria -- or vaccinated against it -- to stop its circulation.

The European Center for Disease Control told CNN that Spain's research, on a nationwide representative sample of more than 61,000 participants, appears to be the largest study to date among a dozen serological studies on the coronavirus undertaken by European nations.

It adds to the findings of an antibody study involving 2,766 participants in Geneva, Switzerland, published in the Lancet on June 11.

There have been similar studies in China and the United States and "the key finding from these representative cohorts is that most of the population appears to have remained unexposed" to Covid-19, "even in areas with widespread virus circulation," said a Lancet commentary published along with Spain's findings.

"In light of these findings, any proposed approach to achieve herd immunity through natural infection is not only highly unethical, but also unachievable," said the Lancet's commentary authors, Isabella Eckerle, head of the Geneva Centre for Emerging Viral Diseases, and Benjamin Meyer, a virologist at the University of Geneva.

Doctors are uncertain whether having antibodies to the coronavirus means someone cannot be infected again. It's not clear how long or how well antibodies protect people from the virus.

Spain's peer-reviewed study began in April while the nation remained on a strict lockdown, and was conducted by leading government research and epidemiological agencies.

"The relatively low seroprevalence observed in the context of an intense epidemic in Spain might serve as a reference to other countries. 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," the report reads.

The Spanish study's lead author, Marina Pollan, who is director of the National Center for Epidemiology, told CNN: "Some experts have computed that around 60% of seroprevalence might mean herd immunity. But we are very far from achieving that number."

Spain has been one of the countries in Europe hit hardest by the coronavirus, with more than 28,000 deaths and 250,000 cases.

The Lancet published results of the first phase of Spain's study, conducted from April 27 to May 11, which showed a nationwide antibody prevalence of 5%.

But the Madrid metropolitan area, the hardest-hit in the country by Covid-19, had more than 10% prevalence, and densely urban Barcelona had 7%, while many other coastal provinces had far lower rates.

Similarly, Geneva's prevalence was 10.8% in the Swiss study conducted from April to early May, the Lancet reported.

"With a large majority of the population being infection naive, virus circulation can quickly return to early pandemic dimensions in a second wave once measures are lifted," the Lancet's commentary authors Eckerle and Meyer wrote of the findings.

Spain's second study phase results were released on June 4, showing a 5.2% national prevalence, just slightly higher than in the first phase. The results from the third and final phase were made public on Monday; they showed that national prevalence remained at 5.2%, Pollan said.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Jordan Cove Project received the green light to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas from the proposed terminal in Coos Bay.

[Monday's] export authorization for Jordan Cove, the first U.S West Coast LNG project, will ease access to further position the U.S. as a top supplier of LNG around the world, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said on the Energy Department's website. Todays issuance to Jordan Cove serves to further expand opportunities for U.S. LNG abroad, particularly in the growing markets of Asia, and encapsulates what the Trump Administration has been working hard on for the past three years  providing reliable, affordable, and cleaner-burning natural gas to our allies around the world.

The United States Department of Energy authorized the long-term order Monday. Jordan Cove would be allowed to export up to 1.08 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. The decision comes after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the construction of the pipeline in March.

RELATED: Federal regulators approve Jordan Cove LNG Pipeline and Terminal Facility

This post will be updated with more details as they emerge.
MEDFORD, Ore.  A former deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office has pleaded guilty to one count of official misconduct and will never be able to work as a law enforcement officer again, according to the county District Attorney's office.

In October of 2019, police were examining a cell phone during the course of an investigation and found photos apparently taken by a JCSO deputy, 39-year-old Roger Campbell. The DA's office said that one photo was shared earlier that year, on May 5.

"The investigator observed photos of Roger Campbell in uniform, in his patrol car, exposing his genitals in an explicit sexually aroused manner," the DA's office said. "Roger Campbell had taken a photo and forwarded it to a female acquaintance."

The discovery of those photos led JCSO to ask Oregon State Police for an investigation into the deputy's actions. When OSP investigators went to serve a search warrant at Campbell's home, they were reportedly blocked by a gate.

"They phoned Roger Campbell and explained they had a search warrant; he came out and opened the gate," the DA's office said. "They entered the house, read the search warrant to him and requested him to turn over his cell phone."

When Campbell gave the phone to OSP, they found that it had been factory reset "so no information on the cell phone could be retrieved."

Campbell was charged with one count of Official Misconduct in the First Degree, a class A misdemeanor. Campbell pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 11 months of bench probation and a $1,300 fine in lieu of completing community service.

The DA's office said that Campbell signed an order earlier this year revoking his police certificates from the state Department Public Safety Standards and Training.

"He will not be able to work as a police officer again," the DA's office said.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.  Officers arrested a Klamath County man on Monday evening after he allegedly set fire to a trailer following a dispute, according to the Klamath County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies were dispatched to the 7400-block of Hager Way near Klamath Community College around 5:30 p.m. for a reported arson. When officers arrived, witnesses told them that the fire was started by Robert Lee Martinez after an argument.

An off-duty reserve officer with the Malin Police Department spotted Martinez leaving the home and was able to detain him with the help of KCC campus security.

Meanwhile, firefighters from Klamath County Fire District 1 and support units from Kingsley Fire worked to suppress the fire, which had spread from the trailer to nearby structures, KCSO said.

Martinez was taken to the Klamath County Jail on charges of Arson in the First Degree, two counts of Arson in the Second Degree, Criminal Mischief in the First Degree, and Reckless Burning.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  Hot on the heels of a Trump administration decision to okay natural gas exports for the Jordan Cove LNG project, a group of Oregon landowners has filed in federal court to have the project's federal approval invalidated.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Energy okayed liquid natural gas exports from the proposed Jordan Cove terminal in Coos Bay, just one in a long list of necessary steps for Canadian gas company Pembina to get the project underway.

Perhaps most vital to the project thus far was a vote of approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March. Still, the project has yet to gain several key permits from Oregon state agencies in order to move forward, a matter previously highlighted by FERC commissioners as a condition for their approval.

Now a group of Oregon landowners who would be impacted by the pipeline's construction has filed a motion asking the DC Circuit Court to invalidate that FERC decision. They have also asked the court for a stay on the project's approval in an effort to halt Pembina from moving forward with eminent domain proceedings on the land while the case is considered.

Landowner Petitioners have been fighting this project for well over fifteen years," said Megan Gibson, senior staff attorney for the Niskanen Center, which represents the landowners. "They are now under imminent threat of having their land taken, during a global pandemic, for a natural gas pipeline with no discernable public use or benefit, which is unlikely to ever be built."

RELATED: Federal regulators approve Jordan Cove LNG pipeline and terminal facility

The motion cites an earlier, similar case, in which the DC court found that natural gas exports cannot be used toward FERC's "public convenience and necessity" determination, which would underpin eminent domain proceedings.

The unique facts of this case warrant the Court taking a close look at what FERC ignored in approving a certificate of public convenience and necessity for this project," said Klamath County landowner and lead petitioner Deb Evans. "We are extremely encouraged that the DC Court will weigh the law and these facts against the pipeline to ensure that landowners constitutional rights are upheld.

The landowners have asked that the Court immediately halt Pembina from accessing land through eminent domain until the case is resolved, assuming that the FERC approval is not vacated outright.

Following the U.S. Department of Energy's announcement on Monday that it had authorized export of natural gas from the proposed terminal, Pembina issued a brief statement:

"Pembina is pleased with the issuance order by the DOE, which marks another momentous step forward for Jordan Cove. The Project represents a significant opportunity to bring tremendous economic benefits to the State of Oregon and Western Colorado and make a positive contribution to address global climate change."

The motion filed on Tuesday is one of several legal challenges that the Jordan Cove project faces. In May, a coalition of southern Oregon environmental groups, landowners, and tribes filed multiple lawsuits against FERC for its decision to approve Jordan Cove.
LAKEVIEW, Ore.  The Lake County Major Crime Team is still investigating the murder of Jacob Wheat according to Oregon State Police.

The team believes 32-year-old Dean Wood is a person of interest. He is already in the Lake County Jail on unrelated charges. The Major Crime Team says it will pursue criminal charges on anyone involved with the murder.

*Anyone who has information regarding this investigation is encouraged to contact the Lake County 911 non-emergency line at 541-947-2504 or the Oregon State Police Southern Command Center at 541-883-5711.

Update: 7/25/2020 11:00 am

Oregon State Police is investigating a fatal shooting in Lakeview that happened on Monday night, the agency said in a statement.

Lake County dispatch received a 911 call reporting a shooting just after 10 p.m. When Lake County deputies and OSP troopers arrived at the scene, they found a man lying in a parking lot at 11 North G Street.

The victim, identified as 26-year-old Jacob Wheat, was seriously injured and died while officers tried to him him first aid.

OSP said that the Lake County Major Crime Team has been activated to investigate. The agency said that it does not believe there is an active threat to the community.

Anyone with information about the investigation  or anyone who was in the area and has not yet been contacted by police  is asked to contact the Lake County 911 non-emergency line at 541-947-2222 or the Oregon State Police Southern Command Center at 541-883-5711.
LINCOLN CITY, Ore.  Police in the Oregon coast community of Lincoln City say that they arrested a group of belligerent men who reportedly harassed a Black family on a beach Saturday night.

Lincoln City Police responded to the beach around 9:30 p.m. on the Fourth of July after receiving reports of a group shooting off illegal fireworks and causing a disturbance.

When officers arrived in the area, Lincoln City Police said that the group of roughly ten people "immediately surrounded" the officers and began harassing them as they tried to seize the illegal fireworks.

"Several other officers arrived on scene and 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 agency said. "The black family advised they felt intimidated by the actions this group had displayed towards them."

Police said that they formed a line between the belligerent group and the Black family, allowing the latter to safely leave the beach and go back to their room. Several of the men reportedly kept taunting the officers and tried to "challenge them to a fight," while others continued shooting off illegal fireworks.

When backup arrived at the scene, the officers were able to arrest seven of the "highly intoxicated" group  all men from Clark County, Washington.

30-year-old Gennadiy Kachankov, 28-year-old Antoliy Kachankov, 28-year-old Andrey Zaytsev, 45-year-old Oleg Saranchuk, and 22-year-old Ruslan Tkachenko were all charged with Riot, Interfering with Police, Disorderly Conduct II, Harassment, Possession of Illegal Fireworks, and Offensive Littering. Another man, 30-year-old Yuriy Kachankov, faces all of those charges and one count of Resisting Arrest.

Lincoln City Police said that all of six of those men were cited and released "due to coronavirus policies at the county jail." A seventh man who refused to identify himself was booked into jail on the same list of charges and held for fingerprint identification.
KEARNEY  The Archway will present musical performer Dan Holtz with a program called Nebraska Through Song and Story at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in The Archway event room.

Holtz weaves traditional songs with stories from Nebraskas most acclaimed authors to form a tapestry that tells the story of the states history from the 1850s through the turn of the century. Audience members will hear the sounds and stories of the first Nebraskans, the pioneers who passed through Nebraska and those who eventually settled here.

Our flexible seating will enable us to observe social distancing in The Archways event room for this performance, said Jill Epley, The Archways event coordinator. So, seating will be limited. We encourage everyone to arrive early so that they can reserve their seats and we can adjust the seating arrangement as needed. We want everyone to feel safe and comfortable.

Following Holtzs performance, The Archway will serve root beer floats. The performance is free. Donations for sodas are welcome.

Support for the Archways Soda Fountain Sundaes comes from Humanities Nebraska, First National Bank of Omaha, and Jim and Kathleen McKenzie.
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.
Hickey is the troop committee chairman for Boy Scout Troop 512 in Kenosha, according to the troops website. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America refused through an email to answer questions about how long Hickey had been involved with the troop or with Boy Scouts, or answer questions about the roles he had served with the organization, referring those questions to Kenosha Police. The email stated that the organization learned of the charges against Hickey Monday.

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The spokesman stated in an email that Hickey would be barred from further involvement with scouts.

The email included a statement from Andrew Hardin, chief executive of the Three Harbors Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which oversees Kenosha County troops.

This described behavior is reprehensible and runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands, it states. While this incident appears to be unrelated to Scouting, upon learning of this today, we took immediate action to remove this individual from Scouting and prohibit him from any future participation in our programs.
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I am Jewish, bisexual, and female. Statistically, these three identities put me at risk for experiencing violence in this country. But I am also white, and so I am not afraid. I can go for runs in my neighborhood without fear of being attacked. I can shop in fancy stores without fear of being followed. And I can go to sleep at night without fear of police knocking down my door and shooting me in my own bed.

In the aftermath of both the Pulse nightclub and the Tree of Life shootings, I was shocked and grief-stricken, and, briefly, I was afraid. But then I saw this country pull together, denouncing hate and reaching across divides to support each other. Our nations political leaders were quick to condemn the attacks, offering condolences and promises to do better. Jews and queer people across the nation held each other tight, and I knew that while there are those in this country that believe people like me should not exist, I also knew that I personally was not in any real danger.

Now, as protests continue to bloom across the country in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, David McAtee, and Tony McDade, people are once again coming together to hold and support each other. Only this time, the story is different. This countrys history of racial injustice has finally come to a head. The revolution has begun, and media coverage is emphasizing violence. Political discourse has taken the side of the oppressor. In the last seven months, 104 Black Americans have been murdered by the very people who have promised to serve and protect. This number is unfortunately unsurprising, however, because this country and all its institutions have been built on racism.

While I do my best to be open and outspoken about my identities, if I ever feel unsafe, I can hide behind my white privilege. Black Americans cannot do this. They can rarely, if ever, turn off this heightened fear response. As a medical student, I have learned that the bodys response to chronic stress can lead to an increased risk for a huge number of diseases. I have been taught that generational trauma can become embedded in ones DNA and can be passed down to ones children. And so it is no wonder that the health disparities we see in our patient populations are so evident and yet are so difficult to address.

It is clear to me, as a future physician, that the answer lies far beyond the scope of my practice. If we hope to make a dent in the health disparities that exist in this country, if we hope to staunch the blood that flows through these streets, we must tear down and rebuild. We must build a society in which Black Americans can live without fear of discrimination and violence, and it is up to those of us who have been hiding behind our privilege to finally stand up and do the work.

Rachel Fogel is a medical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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Public health has never been more important. As the coronavirus waxes and wanes, it is crucial that our evolving understanding of COVID-19 translate into our everyday lives. Our collective response to the virus will be much improved with an acknowledgment that our scientific knowledge is dynamic, and that we may have to alter our behaviors as scientists unearth more information about the viruss transmissibility and lethality.

Nowhere is this evolving understanding more acute than in the inconsistent messaging surrounding widespread mask usage. At the outset of the crisis, out national reliance on Chinese supply chains for personal protective equipment was exposed in glaring fashion, as doctors and nurses entered emergency rooms protected by trash bags, ponchos, and re-used masks and respirators. Our public health establishment was practically unanimous in its messaging to the American public: do not buy or conserve masks. Do not even use them! Not only were we told to save masks for frontline personnel, but we were told that masks were probably not very effective anyways, as the relatively large pores in an ordinary mask do allow virus transit. Indeed, as recently as March 30, the World Health Organization stated that they do not recommend mask wearing for healthy members of the general public.

Three months on, the message is precisely the opposite: masks save lives, and everyone, everywhere, ought to be wearing them. Shops, restaurants, and grocery stores mandate their use for entry, and states have declared that masks are required in public spaces. Toronto, in a potential harbinger of future life in the United States, has mandated mask use in public transit and plans to hand out at least 1 million masks to riders. New studies even suggest that we avoid future waves of infections with mask compliance of just 50 percent.

This reversal on masks is certainly disorienting, but it is not unexpected. It mirrors the transformation in our understanding of the viruss effect on the human body. When news of coronavirus first emerged from China, doctors considered it to be a particularly lethal respiratory virus that frequently causes pneumoniahence the worldwide dash for ventilators to aid those in respiratory distress. Our current belief is that, while coronavirus may cause dire respiratory illness, the virus may be even deadlier as an affliction of the blood vessels, as thousands of COVID patients have succumbed to blood clots.

Because the coronavirus is entirely new, we should appreciate that the guidelines that govern our response to the virus may change as our understanding grows. We should listen to the recommendations of our top public health officials, and avoid turning commonsense suggestions, including mask usage, into yet another battleground in our sprawling cultural wars.

At the same time, public health officials possess an obligation to avoid wading into politics themselves. Anthony Fauci, our national treasure, perhaps put it best when he told the Senate Committee on Health, Educations, Labor, and Pensions, I have never made myself out to be the be-all. I am a scientist, a physician, and a public health official. I give advice according to the best scientific evidence. I dont give advice about economic things. Dr. Faucis scientific detachment, and his understanding of the proper role of the health official add to his considerable credibility.

On the other hand, public health officials who decried gatherings for months, only to support mass protests in response to the killing of George Floyd, risk undermining faith in public health expertise just when we need it the most. To be sure, racial disparities in our country deserve our full attention, and it is heartening to see widespread outrage over the shocking killing of George Floyd at the hands of the police. But by encouraging people to join the protests, after months of forbidding Americans from even saying goodbye to loved ones on their deathbeds, public health experts inadvertently waded into our political discourse. A better tack would have been to model the example of Dr. Fauci, who counseled that his advice against public gatherings applied to protests against police brutality as well as to President Trumps forthcoming campaign rallies.

The battle against coronavirus is far from over. As we hunker down for future waves in this brutal war of attrition, it is my hope that the American public possesses the flexibility to comply with evolving public health guidance, while public health officials maintain their credibility in the face of our ever-swirling political winds.

John Connolly is a medical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- The Oregon National Guard has announced the death of Pfc. Alexander Blake Klass from Willamina.

Klass, 20, died as a result of a non-combat related incident on July 4, at Camp Novo Selo in Kosovo, the Oregon National Guard said.

The incident is under investigation.

Klass was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oregon National Guard, in Springfield.

Klass joined the Oregon Army National Guard in January 2019 as an Infantryman. He mobilized in January 2020 and was scheduled to return home from Kosovo in November.

This is a tragic situation and our primary focus is supporting the family during this difficult time," said Brig. Gen. William J. Prendergast IV, Land Component Commander, Oregon Army National Guard.
LINN COUNTY, Ore.  A Salem woman is dead after a crash on Highway 20 Monday night.

Oregon State Police said troopers and emergency personnel responded just before 6:30 p.m. to the Highway 20 and Highway 22 junction.

Investigators said Corey Brett, 51, of Creswell was driving a Dodge Ram 1500 west on Highway 20, turning left across Highway 22 to stay on Highway 20.

The vehicle crossed into the path of a Nissan Rouge driven by Kaitlyn Allen, 20, of Salem. Allen was headed east on Highway 22.

Allen was taken by Air Ambulance to St. Charles in Bend where she was pronounced dead.

Brett reportedly had no known injuries from the crash.

Sisters Fire and Rescue and Oregon Department of Transportation assisted.
CANYONVILLE, Ore. -- The South County YMCA has officially closed their doors due to financial pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials from the YMCA of Douglas County closed the Roseburg and Canyonville locations in March after Gov. Kate Brown issued the Stay Home, Save Lives order.

However, when the Roseburg location reopened in June, officials said only 30% of their members returned on a regular basis.

They said the South County YMCA was struggling before the pandemic hit. The Rosburg YMCA was financially supporting the South County YMCA for more than five years before the closure.

Now that there is a loss in membership, officials said they did not have enough money to keep the South County YMCA running.

Its obviously not an easy thing to do on anybody, said Interim CEO Matt Lund. Its not easy on the board, its not easy on me.

Lund said the Board of Directors are hoping to reevaluate their finances in one to two years to potentially reopen the South County YMCA in some capacity.

Many Canyonville residents told KEZI 9 News that theyre disappointed by the closure because the YMCA meant so much to the community.

Cindy Goodwin said shes still trying to process the closure.

It was something we did, it was a routine, said Goodwin. It got me out of bed in the morning and it was a great work out.
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ore. -- The Douglas Forest Protective Association and local fire departments are concerned with the recent spike in illegal burns in the area.

DFPA has responded to 17 illegal burns since July 1.

The number of illegal burns in the last week has been very concerning, said Kyle Reed, fire prevention specialist with DFPA. Crews have responded to everything from debris piles, to burn barrels and even campfires. While we are fortunate that the illegal burns were addressed before they had a chance to spread, we want to remind everyone that the use of open fire is either restricted or prohibited during fire season.

According to DFPA, debris burning is one of the leading causes of wildfires each year throughout Oregon. Locally, debris burning accounted for 133 fires that burned nearly 400 acres within the Douglas District over the last ten years.

All backyard debris burning, including both debris piles and the use of burn barrels is prohibited during fire season. DFPA also wants to remind residents that they are not issuing burn permits at this time.

Campfires, cooking fires and warming fires are also restricted under DFPAs Public Use Restrictions and are only allowed within designated campgrounds.

RELATED: MILEPOST 97 FIRE 100% CONTAINED, OFFICIALS SAY

Last summers Milepost 97 Fire has been the most costly for the association to date, said DFPA.

The Milepost 97 Fire, which resulted from an illegal campfire south of Canyonville, went on to burn 13,119 acres of private, public, and tribal lands and cost nearly $22 million to suppress.
Bozeman Business Boom: Where the sidewalk ends and how the City of Belgrade hopes to connect them
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A South Kilkenny farmer is leading the way when it comes to robotic dairy farming.

Michael Downey, a native of Windgap and a fulltime farmer himself turned to robotic milking in 2014. He firmly believes that it is the way forward in farming and for five years after turning robotic on his farm he was contracted to a robotic milking company.

During this time he assisted first hand with the process of new start-up robotic farms in daily management, setting out their farm buildings to house the robotic systems, grazing platforms and other matters relating to the changeover.

With the experience of assisting other farmers through contract work and indeed having his own robotic farm, Michael felt strongly that there was a need in the market for an independent advisor whom the farmer could call upon.

Michael now operates his own Consulting business Downey Robotic Sales and offers advice to farmers who are considering the road to robotic milking on their farm.

Michael is passionate about what he does and feels strongly that every farm and those farming the land need to be analysed to see if they are suited to a robotic way of life.

Since the commencement of his consultancy business, Michael has assisted farmers across several counties, family units with generations farming, father and daughter farm businesses and also new entrants to farming considering milking for the first time alongside setting up robotic milking.

Michael has no hesitation in suggesting robotic milking for new entrants and indeed evidence has proven it to be a very successful venture.

Ensuring a smooth transition to robotic life is key to the herd and the farmer to ensure a lifetime of contentment. So much is the need to ensure a smooth transition that robotic milk companies have also requested Michael for his expertise to assist farmers both pre and post installation, getting the layout of buildings correct along with suitable field and farm roadway planning is key.

Many farmers Michael feel, dont place enough emphasis on the preparations and decisions in the lead up to installation and this can result to frustration and negativity post installation.

Michael firmly believes with the right preparation that results can only be positive.

Robotic milking has shown that it facilitates higher milk yields, happier cows and improved health amongst the herd. Informative daily reports on health, somatic cell count, protein, butterfat, lactose, fertility from the robotic set up enables the farmer to monitor much more closely the health and performance of each individual cow.

Certainly with the very real concern amongst the farming community of a limited workforce and the fear that in future years farm labour will be extremely difficult to source, robotic milking also helps alleviate both the cost of labour in future years and the difficulty around the actual sourcing of farm workers.

It is important to note from a cost perspective that grant support is available to farmers and should be researched in detail. Also being mindful of the actual costs necessary for turning a farm robotic and to not take on unnecessary costs during installation.

For more information see www.downeyroboticsales.com
GARNER, Iowa  Trial is scheduled for a Corwith man facing two counts of 2nd degree sexual abuse.

Keith Michael Moss, 32, entered not guilty pleas in Hancock County District Court and his trial is set to start on September 16.

Hes accused of having sexual contact with a victim under the age of 12 in March 2019.
CLEAR LAKE, Iowa - Several cities and towns throughout our area rely on big Fourth of July events to bring in tourists. With COVID-19 causing many of them to be cancelled, were people still taking the holiday weekend off? According to the Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, they were.

"Those who were open are actually saying that this weekend was a good weekend for them and comparable to previous years. So that's pleasant to hear," said chamber president Stacy Doughan. She said people still flocked to Clear Lake to celebrate the Fourth.

"I think the lake is a great place to get out and be on their boats and people were on their boats and they were enjoying the nice weather and being with their family and hopefully enjoying the holiday safely."

Doughan also said local businesses have seen steady cash flow over the summer, even without big weekend activities.

Clear Lake's biggest event over the Fourth of July is their fireworks, parade and carnival. Not having them this year was dissapointing for Mason City resident Maggie Johnson. Her family usually makes the short trek every year for the show.

"We missed the fireworks. We usually come here for the Fourth of July weekend, we missed them on the lake," said Johnson.

Instead the family had to stay closer to home, in order to get their Independence Day thrills.

"We went to the fireworks that were Clear Lake and Mason City combined and we went to the one's there in Mason City and those were really cool and there were a ton of people there," she said.

Mary Prusa from Clive, Iowa said she didn't spend the Fourth of July in Clear Lake, but was still enjoying the town on Monday afternoon. She thinks some people might have decided to stay close to home over the weekend.

"I would say it was definitely slower this year people are more cautious. a little different with the masks and everything on but also people are kind of letting their guard down it seems like," said Prusa.

It is still too soon to get a dollar-and-cents figure on how well businesses did over the weekend. Many chambers of commerce are trying to get a more accurate picture on how the holiday went. Albert Lea Freeborn Chamber of Commerce is asking local businesses to fill out a survey on the Fourth of July weekend.
PROSPER, Minn.  Two people were arrested after a drug raid in Fillmore County on July 2.

Sheriffs office investigators and the Southeastern Minnesota Violent Crime Enforcement Team searched a building in the 10000 block of County Road 113 in the Village of Prosper. Law enforcement says they found more than 10 grams of suspected methamphetamine and a trace amount of suspected cocaine.

Arrested were:

Ted Lord, 60 of Prosper.

Angela Chamberlain, 43 of Black River Falls, Wisconsin.

They are accused of 3rd degree possession of a controlled substance, storing methamphetamine in the presence of a child, and gross misdemeanor charges of 5th degree possession of a controlled substance.

Fillmore County Social Services assisted in this search.
BLUE EARTH, Minn.  Two Milwaukee men arrested in Albert Lea after they dragged a state trooper along Interstate 90 are going to prison.

Montrell Smith, 30, and Anthony Hector Enriquez, 30, pleaded guilty to 1st degree assault and 5th degree drug charges for the incident on December 20, 2018. Authorities say the two were pulled over in Faribault County on suspicion of transporting drugs and while a state trooper was partly inside their vehicle, Smith and Enriquez drove off and punched the trooper to force him out.

Court documents state the trooper, Doug Rauenhorst, was dragged along I-90 before being forced out of Smith and Enriquez vehicle and suffered substantial injuries. Smith and Enriquez were also accused of throwing bricks of marijuana out of their vehicle while being chased by law enforcement.

After that incident, the two men were found and arrested at Sportmans Tavern in Albert Lea.

Smith was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison, with credit for 13 days already served. Enriquez has been given seven years and two months, with credit for 14 days already served.
MASON CITY, Iowa  After multiple probation violations, a Mason City man is heading back to prison.

Dakota James Veal, 26, was arrested on February 24 in Mason City after authorities say he violated his probation for previous crimes. Law enforcement says Veal was found with a small container of methamphetamine and a small baggie of marijuana.

He pleaded guilty to possession of meth-1st offense and was sentenced Monday to up to five years in prison. That sentence will be served at the same time as the ones for Veals probation violations.
Now is the time to be concerned - Olmsted County Public Health Director Graham Briggs gives COVID-19 update at Board of County Commissioners Meeting #RochMN pic.twitter.com/QIvleb3Qyl  Calyn Thompson (@CalynTReports) July 7, 2020

ROCHESTER, Minn. - The Olmsted County Public Health director said Tuesday he supports Rochesters passing of a mask requirement.

A day after the city put the requirement in place, Graham Briggs said the best tools we have when it comes to COVID-19 is social distancing and mask use.

By a 6-1 vote Monday, the Rochester City Council mandated the wearing of face masks to fight the surging coronavirus pandemic.

The mask requirement will go into effect on July 8 and face masks will be mandatory in any indoor public space, such as bars, restaurants, retail stores, and public transportation.

Violating the order is not a criminal offense. However, any individual who doesn't wear a mask in applicable areas can/will be asked to leave by an authorized representative of the business or organization. If the individual refuses to leave, Rochester police may enforce trespassing laws or any other law the individual may violate.

The mask mandate will end on September 4th, when Minnesotas peacetime emergency ends, or when Olmsted County and Mayo Clinic say it is no longer necessary.

As of Tuesday morning, Olmsted County had more than 1,125 positive coronavirus cases and 15 deaths.

Now is the time to be concerned, Briggs said.
DECORAH, Iowa  A Rochester man accused of nearly hitting another vehicle and then leading law enforcement on a chase through northeast Iowa is pleading not guilty.

Thomas James Yennie, 42, is charged with eluding and possession of THC.

Authorities say they tried to pull Yennie over on June 9 when he crossed the center line and almost crashed into another vehicle in Winneshiek County. Yennie is accused of fleeing a traffic stop on Highway 52 and then escaping from pursuing deputies.

Law enforcement says Yennies vehicle was later found in a ditch. Yennie was arrested on June 10.

His trial is scheduled to begin on December 9.
MASON CITY, Iowa - A huge chunk of the money from the Paycheck Protection Program went to some pretty large firms.

Data released by the Treasury Department gives us a better picture of who profited from the program. According to the reports, PPP loans were granted to bigger companies, like Kanye West's clothing brand and restaurant giant P.F. Chang's. Law offices and private equity firms were also beneficiaries of the program.

Riverland Community College economics instructor Rayce Hardy says small businesses may have been intimidated by the application process, where as large companies have accountants on staff to figure out the paperwork.

"For some people, there might have been a fear factor. Another one would have been 'there's no way I'm going to get this money, there's millions of small businesses, I wont get it.' A third would be just ignorance, not in a negative form, just we've never had this happen before," said Hardy.

He also mentioned the fact that the Small Business Administration was supposed to reach out to minority and women-owned businesses, as required by Congress, but their efforts were negligible. Hardy also pointed out that 8% of the businesses receiving PPP help were in the restaurant and hotel category, which were hardest hit by the pandemic.

The payday loan industry also received bailout money through the PPP. Nearly 120 of these companies were listed in the Treasury Department's data.
MASON CITY, Iowa - If you're looking for something for the kids to do other than play video games, two Mason City sisters are creating and selling yard games for the whole family.

Mollie and MacKenzy Conway were playing an outdoor version of 'Chutes & Ladders' during the height of the quarantine period, when Mollie decided to cut up the board into a 'Yard-Zee' game, and sold a couple.

"I know a lot of our ideas come from our whole family shooting out ideas and figuring out whether or not this is something that can happen or something that can't happen," MacKenzy said.

Since then, they've expanded into tic-tac-toe, Jenga and cornhole games, as well as yard signs. And in just the last few months, Mo's Yard Games & More has taken off.

"I emailed my industrial tech teacher because she wanted us to do some kind of project, and I said, 'we're making these yard dice, do you want me to send a video of that?' And she was like, 'yeah.' That spread word to the other teachers, and some of them came and got some games. And it just blew up," Mollie said.

Mollie and MacKenzy have been selling their games in front of their house on State Street, as well as online, at the Clear Lake Farmer's Market, and at Chris' Kettle Corn at Southbridge Mall, and are looking to expand.

It has been a learning experience starting a new business from the ground up.

"Sometimes there can be a little stress with that, but it's always something we can overcome. We've been having fun with this," Mollie said.

"I feel like it's taught everyone in this house about patience and doing things right the first time, and doing things of quality and selling quality product instead of 'oh hey, I painted these blocks and put a little sticker on them.' Producing quality things, learning people skills, being around people more than you would if we were fully on lockdown...it brings me joy that it's making other people feel happy and give them something to do," MacKenzy said.

So what's next? Mollie and MacKenzy are looking at a domino-based game, as well as some indoor games for the colder months.
With summer in full swing, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said everything is still on the table as the state continues its fight against the coronavirus.

Reynolds said Tuesday during a press conference that announced $50M that will help fund mental health issues in Iowa that it shouldnt be a surprise if positive coronavirus tests in the state increase.

Part of that is due to increased testing and another factor is people being together in the summer.

Reynolds said that to limit the spread that all things are on the table including potentially altering how businesses such as bars operate.

Young people are in the bars in the events, maybe you look at the hours? Reynolds said.

Reynolds said the focus across the state lies on not overwhelming hospitals.

We cant just focus on positive cases, she said. The more we test, you will see those numbers go up, but are they overwhelming our hospitals?

Reynolds also said we need to get kids back in schools in the fall.

I believe there is a way we can do it in a safe and responsible matter.
ACTIVITY: China's Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 51.2 last month after the fastest pace of growth since December and up from May's 50.7. A survey of purchasing managers in the U.S. manufacturing sector also showed expansion, while in Europe the contraction eased. "Looking at historical recovery cycles - 2005, 2009-10, 2013, and 2017 - August is extremely important," analysts at BMO Capital Markets said in a note. "This is the month of most dramatic price increases, which in our view is linked to Northern Hemisphere purchasing managers returning from vacation to better order books." SPREAD: Concern about nearby copper supplies on the LME market , due to a large holding of warrants, pushed the premium for the cash over the three-month contract to $6.8 a tonne on Monday compared with a discount for the last 14 months.

The premium returned to a discount of $3 a tonne on Tuesday, but worries about tightness on the LME market remain due to cancelled copper warrants -- metal earmarked for delivery -- at 47% of total stocks at 195,825 tonnes . OTHER METALS: Aluminium was little changed at $1,635, zinc rose 0.1% to $2,065, lead added 1.4% to $1,823, tin slipped a touch to $17,000 and nickel climbed 1% to $13,470 a tonne. (Reporting by Pratima Desai; Editing by Jan Harvey/Louise Heavens/Ken Ferris)
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(Kitco News) - Skeena Resources (TSX.V:SKE) said Tuesday that it is acquiring 100% of Eskay Creek from Barrick Gold in a deal that included shares and royalties.

Barrick is expected to own 12.4% of Skeena after the transaction closes.

Skeena is honoured to have Barrick as a significant shareholder as we endeavor to revitalize Eskay Creek, the former highest-grade, past-producing gold mine in the world," said Skeenas CEO, Walter Coles Jr.

"The recent improvements to infrastructure in the Golden Triangle offer us an opportunity to potentially reopen closed mines and contribute to the economic development of communities in northern Canada. Gaining 100% ownership and operatorship of Eskay Creek is an important milestone in the evolution of our Company. Skeena is well financed with almost C$50 million of cash and we continue to believe there are meaningful opportunities to increase the grade and size of this project with aggressive exploration drilling.

In a news release, Barrick CEO Mark Bristow said that following the merger with Randgold and the creation of NGM, which intensified its focus on tier one and strategic assets. Barrick is looking for options for its other assets.

The Skeena team has done a great job on its evaluation of Eskay Creek and this is another good example of a transaction that delivers a value creating opportunity for all stakeholders, he said.
Jasper, TX (75951)

Today

Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the morning. High 84F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
President Donald Trump plans to hold an outdoor campaign rally in New Hampshire on Saturday as he continues his push for in-person events amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The KB Securities head office on Yeouido, Seoul / Courtesy of KB Securities



By Park Jae-hyuk



It's fair to say investing opportunities aren't entirely bounded by geography. If investors are attracted by reports of emerging economies and even booming growth in other countries, it's no question some investors will invest.



The top principle is that investors just have to know how to get started because the central point of investing in foreign stocks is aimed at diversifying portfolios by actively embracing risks and taking a sizable stake in the growth of other economies.



In the case of KB Securities, South Korea's leading brokerage, a lot of issues need to be addressed before "actually helping" investors, as its apparent incompetency in handling this is raising concern.



Like many other domestic securities companies, KB Securities is eyeing countries in the ASEAN bloc, as the region is widely considered a "safe bet" in terms of minimizing management risks and winning more customers, given the quantity of Korean exporters there.



But KB Securities Vietnam Joint Stock Company was recently punished for allegedly violating Vietnam's securities exchange law, according to the State Securities Commission (SSC) of Vietnam, Tuesday.



The SSC said the Korean securities firm's Vietnamese unit failed to keep complete records, relevant data and documents related to its operations.



"KBSV did not keep documents proving its stock transactions with Duc Quan Investment and Development done between January and August 2019," the Vietnamese regulator said in a statement. The fine imposed on the KB unit was quite small as it has only to pay 70 million dong ($3,000).



The Korea Times asked KB Securities about this issue, but it did not answer.



The imposition of the fine doesn't matter at all. But the implication of the fine is that a stain on the securities firm's reputation.



KB Securities has been the center of controversy over its ambitious real estate investment in Australia, which eventually ended in failure after the company was connected with a fraud case, due to a local borrower's breach of contract. The brokerage firm set up JB Australia NDIS Fund with JB Asset Management last year with the purpose of investing in businesses related to the Australian government's housing policy for the disabled.



For this project, KB Securities amassed 326.5 billion won ($282 million) in investments  236 billion won from institutional investors and 90.4 billion won from individual investors  and JB Asset Management lent the money to LBA Capital so the Australian borrower could buy homes, remodel them and receive subsidies from the Australian government to accommodate disabled people.



However, it was revealed that LBA Capital bought land  not homes  as the price of apartment buildings went up because of the continued overheating of the real estate market there. Following the revelation, KB Securities and JB Asset Management took legal action against LBA Capital and retrieved about 85 percent of their investments.



Some sources familiar with this issue alleged KB Securities was also responsible for this case.



"KB Securities was aware that LBA Capital was focusing on real estate development projects, but continued to advise investors that they were making placements against existing assets," a source said. "However, once details of the situation leaked out to the media, KB Securities and JB Asset Management decided to pursue litigation, while LBA Capital fully cooperated with them and provided full accounts of all fund expenditures."



Regarding this issue, KB Securities has been sued by multiple institutional investors after it refused to refund their money. The institutional investors are the Korean Reinsurance Company (Korean Re), the Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the National Forestry Cooperative Federation, Korea Investment & Securities and ABL Life Insurance.



"Unlike individual investors, institutional investors have expertise in financial products and ability to take risks from investments," a KB Securities official said.



Its worsening overseas financial performance is another negative factor weighing on its foreign business. According to a regulatory filing by KB Securities, its overseas subsidiaries suffered a 5.52 billion won net loss in the first quarter.



Global credit ratings agencies have also cast doubts on the securities firm's competitiveness.



In May, Fitch Ratings downgraded KB Securities' long-term issuer default rating to BBB+ from A-, with a negative outlook. It downgraded the Korean firm's support rating to 2 from 1.



Moody's Investors Service also placed the ratings of KB Securities on review for a downgrade in April, saying its funding and liquidity profiles have deteriorated significantly over the past two years.


Members of Seoul city's committee of foreign residents pose for a photo during a meeting in December last year/ Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government



Calls growing to accept immigrants as members of society



By Kim Se-jeong



Khalilzade Nihat, an Azerbaijan national and Seoul resident, is a member of a committee run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, in which foreign residents discuss policies relating to them and make recommendations.



At an upcoming meeting slated for July 17, Nihat is planning to recommend that the Ministry of Justice run a public campaign promoting the acceptance of foreign nationals as members of society.





"I am in the process of getting Korean citizenship. I have a 16-month-old daughter. For Narin, Korea will be her home and her mother tongue will be Korean. But, she is treated differently just because she looks different. I would be very sad to see her rejected and lose opportunities because of this," the 28-year-old father said as the reason why he wanted to make the proposal during a recent telephone interview with The Korea Times.



The committee of 43 foreign residents was founded in 2016 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. "As the number of foreign residents grows in Seoul, it is becoming more important for the city to hear their voices," said a Seoul city official responsible for the committee's affairs who wished to remain anonymous.



According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the number of foreign residents in Seoul grew from 260,019 in 2008 to 446,473 in 2018.



Nationwide, the number more than doubled from 891,341 to 2,054,621. The largest number of foreign residents in Korea comes from China, followed by those from other Asian countries, who often find jobs in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.



The committee members meet 18 times a year, to discuss existing policies, recommend revisions or propose new policies.



When they present new policy recommendations, twice a year, officials from the city government as well as the Ministry of Justice, the Immigration Office and other relevant government bodies are invited. After the meeting, these are compiled and sent to the relevant government bodies as official recommendations.



Some recommendations have been accepted.



In March last year, the Ministry of Justice changed the way names were written on alien registration cards, allowing the names to be written in both English and Korean. The Korean name option is currently only available for Chinese nationals but it is a change that has been welcomed by committee participants.





Expats cry foul over points-based new visa rules Expats suffer workplace discrimination amid Itaewon outbreak 15% of expats here are illegal immigrants: report "I wasn't a member long enough to see how it happened from the beginning but it was certainly exciting when I heard the news," said Nihat.



Seoul isn't alone in listening to foreign residents.



Last month, the city of Gwangju announced the launching of a committee consisting of 20 foreign residents who would represent the voices of the 23,000 foreign nationals living in the city. The cities of Ansan in Gyeonggi Province and Daegu, and Jeju Island also have similar channels to listen to the voices of foreign residents. Once a year the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family also invites foreign nationals of Korean spouses to meet and discuss policies.



"It's more important during the COVID-19 pandemic because we want information to disseminate. We're hoping the information will get to foreign residents faster with their help," an official from the Gwangju Metropolitan Government said.



Kang Dong-kwan, director of the Migration Research and Training Center based in Seoul, praised the central and local governments for their efforts.



"They're doing pretty well. What they are doing is in line with the government's social integration efforts," Kang said.



To address the needs of a growing number of foreign residents, the government drafts a master plan that it updates every five years.



Kang also pointed to Korea's overall social integration efforts, citing the Migrant Integration Policy Index entry on the country.



The index states: "Its policies guarantee more equal rights, opportunities and support for immigrants than Japan and most central European countries. More specifically, Korea's strengths include strong targeted employment support, school support, voting rights and support for immigrant associations."



The director said he felt Korea's success more during the pandemic.



"I feel Korea is doing well in terms of integrating immigrants, personally. My daughter is staying in the U.S., and she tells me how she gets discriminated against because she is Asian. I don't see that happening in Korea," Kang said.



However, Prof. Seol Dong-hoon from the Jeonbuk National University said the government's approach doesn't reach out to all.



"Marriage migrants can benefit from it, but international students and those who come to Korea to work are still left out. Take the COVID-19 relief funds as an example. Students and workers weren't eligible for it."



Nihat said he is keeping his hopes up.






By Joseph S. Nye, Jr.





CAMBRIDGE  Many analysts argue that the liberal international order ended with the rise of China and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. But if Joe Biden defeats Trump in November's election, should he try to revive it? Probably not, but he must replace it.



Critics correctly point out that the American order after 1945 was neither global nor always very liberal. It left out more than half the world (the Soviet bloc and China) and included many authoritarian states. American hegemony was always exaggerated. Nonetheless, the most powerful country must lead in creating global public goods, or they will not be provided  and Americans will suffer.



The current pandemic is a case in point. A realistic goal for a Biden administration should be to establish rules-based international institutions with different membership for different issues.



Would China and Russia agree to participate? During the 1990s and 2000s, neither could balance American power, and the United States overrode sovereignty in pursuit of liberal values. The U.S. bombed Serbia and invaded Iraq without approval by the United Nations Security Council. It also supported a U.N. General Assembly resolution in 2005 that established a "Responsibility to Protect" citizens brutalized by their own governments  a doctrine it then used in 2011 to justify bombing Libya to protect the citizens of Benghazi.



Critics describe this record as post-Cold War American hubris  Russia and China felt deceived, for example, when the NATO-led intervention in Libya resulted in regime change  whereas defenders portray it as the natural evolution of international humanitarian law. In any case, the growth of Chinese and Russian power has set stricter limits to liberal interventionism.



What is left? Russia and China stress the norm of sovereignty in the U.N. Charter, according to which states can go to war only for self-defense or with Security Council approval. Taking a neighbor's territory by force has been rare since 1945, and has led to costly sanctions when it has happened (as with Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014).



In addition, the Security Council has often authorized the deployment of peacekeeping forces in troubled countries, and political cooperation has limited the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. This dimension of a rules-based order remains crucial.



As for economic relations, the rules will require revision. Well before the pandemic, China's hybrid state capitalism underpinned an unfair mercantilist model that distorted the functioning of the World Trade Organization. The result will be a decoupling of global supply chains, particularly where national security is at stake.



Although China complains when the U.S. prevents companies like Huawei from building 5G telecommunications networks in the West, this position is consistent with sovereignty. After all, China prevents Google, Facebook, and Twitter from operating in China for security reasons. Negotiating new trade rules can help prevent the decoupling from escalating. At the same time, cooperation in the crucial financial domain remains strong, despite the current crisis.



By contrast, ecological interdependence poses an insurmountable obstacle to sovereignty, because the threats are transnational. Regardless of setbacks for economic globalization, environmental globalization will continue, because it obeys the laws of biology and physics, not the logic of contemporary geopolitics. Such issues threaten everyone, but no country can manage them alone. On issues like COVID-19 and climate change, power has a positive-sum dimension.



In this context, it is not enough to think of exercising power over others. We must also think in terms of exercising power with others. The Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization help us as well as others.



Since Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong met in 1972, China and the U.S. have cooperated despite ideological differences. The difficult question for Biden will be whether the U.S. and China can cooperate in producing global public goods while competing in the traditional areas of great power rivalry.



Cyberspace is an important new issue  partly transnational, but also subject to sovereign government controls. The internet is already partly fragmented. Norms regarding free speech and privacy on the internet can be developed among an inner circle of democracies, but will not be observed by authoritarian states.



As suggested by the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace, some rules barring tampering with the internet's basic structure are also in authoritarians' interests if they want connectivity.



But when they use proxies for information warfare or to interfere in elections (which violates sovereignty), norms will have to be reinforced by rules such as those the U.S. and the Soviet Union negotiated during the Cold War (despite ideological hostility) to limit the escalation of incidents at sea. The U.S. and like-minded states will have to announce the norms they intend to uphold, and deterrence will be necessary.



Insistence on liberal values in cyberspace would not mean unilateral U.S. disarmament. Rather, the U.S. should distinguish between the permitted soft power of open persuasion and the hard power of covert information warfare, in which case it would retaliate.



Overt programs and broadcasts by Russia and China would be allowed, but that would not be true for covert coordinated behavior such as manipulation of social media. And the U.S. would continue to criticize these countries' human rights records.



Polls show that the U.S. public wants to avoid military interventions, but not to withdraw from alliances or multilateral cooperation. And the public still cares about values.



If Biden is elected, the question he will face is not whether to restore the liberal international order. It is whether the U.S. can work with an inner core of allies to promote democracy and human rights while cooperating with a broader set of states to manage the rules-based international institutions needed to face transnational threats such as climate change, pandemics, cyber-attacks, terrorism, and economic instability.





Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is a professor at Harvard University and author, most recently, of "Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump." His article was distributed by Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).






The Supreme Court last week needlessly poked a hole in Thomas Jefferson's "wall of separation between church and state." By a 5-4 vote, the court ruled in a case from Montana that if a state provides a tax break that benefits students at a secular private school, it must include private religious schools as well. The decision is doubly disappointing.



First, the court has told states that they may not decide that they won't subsidize, even indirectly, the propagation of religion, a choice that is permitted by the 1st Amendment. States should be free to decline to subsidize religious instruction so long as they treat all religious schools the same.



Second, the way the court broke down on ideological lines is worrisome at a time when debates about the role of religion loom large in America's culture wars. All five Republican-appointed justices voted in the majority in this case; all four Democratic appointees dissented.



Tuesday's decision involved a state program under which taxpayers received a modest tax credit for contributions to establish scholarships for children attending private schools.



After the Legislature authorized the program, Montana officials decided that its use to endow scholarships for religious schools violated a provision of Montana's state constitution that prohibits "any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies" to any school that is "controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination."



After religious schools were denied participation in the program, some parents challenged that decision. The Montana Supreme Court ruled that the entire scholarship program must be invalidated.



Writing for the majority in reversing that ruling, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said that Montana's ban on aid to religious schools violated the 1st Amendment protection of the free exercise of religion by discriminating against recipients of a government benefit "because of their religious character." He compared the Montana case to a 2017 decision in which the court held that the state of Missouri couldn't exclude religious schools from a program that subsidized the resurfacing of playgrounds.



But, as Justice Stephen G. Breyer pointed out in his dissent, that program and the Montana plan were "importantly different" from each other. Justice Elena Kagan made a similar point during oral arguments in the Montana case. She noted that the playground decision, in which she was part of the majority, involved a "completely secular public benefit."



Breyer wrote that the Montana case was much more like a 2004 case in which the court held that the state of Washington didn't violate the Constitution's guarantee of free excise of religion by excluding students studying for "a devotional theology degree" from a state scholarship program.



As Breyer noted, the court in that case concluded that Washington's refusal to subsidize the education of clergy "was consistent with the widely shared view, dating to the founding of the Republic, that taxpayer-supported religious indoctrination poses a threat to individual liberty." Breyer added that, like the exclusion of potential clergy from a scholarship program, Montana's decision to bar state aid to religious education was a choice "not to fund (at a distance) an essentially religious endeavor."



In his majority opinion, Roberts acknowledged that Tuesday's ruling doesn't require any state to provide support for private schools, religious or secular. "A state need not subsidize private education," he wrote. "But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious."



As a policy matter, we believe that state financial resources should be directed toward underfunded public schools. Still, even if its practical consequences prove limited, this decision and the divisions on the court augur ominously for future cases in which the court must rule on the role of religion in public life.





The above editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times. It was distributed by Tribune Content Agency.




Starting from July 7, across China 400,000 exam rooms will be expecting 10.7 million young examinees, who will embark on one of the most important journeys of their lives  the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) that can alter their life direction forever.

Cleaners disinfect a classroom at Beijing No 12 Middle School in the capital's Fengtai district on Friday to ensure a safe testing site during the coronavirus pandemic. About 660 students are preparing to take the national college entrance examination from Tuesday to Friday at the school, the largest exam venue in the district. FU TIAN/CHINA NEWS AGENCY

An annual occurrence, the Gaokao is the sole determinant for admission to Chinese universities. The test result will decide not only what universities an examinee can attend, but also whether he or she will find a well-paid job in the future. About 3 in 5 students will make the cut in this silent battle, while only 1 in 20 can access the top universities in China.

As ruthless as it sounds, Gaokao is now close at hand. Over the next few days, peoples conventional perception of China being a boisterous and vivifying country will be totally shattered. The whole nation will be immersed in tranquility, expectation and anxiety, all for a short period of time during this solemn examination.

Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as natural disasters such as flooding and rainstorms in several regions, this years Gaokao has been unprecedentedly postponed for a month, with multiple countermeasures against the pandemic implemented. Whats new in this years Gaokao? What measures will the Chinese government take to protect the students safety during the pandemic as well as ensuring a fair play for every examineePlease follow us and check them out!

Gaokao during the COVID-19 pandemic

As a large number of students will be confined in exam rooms for a lengthy period, the risk of spreading COVID-19 is not to be neglected. Twenty days before the exam, Chinese authorities issued specific instructions to protect the students safety.

All examinees are required to keep a daily record of their temperature two weeks ahead of the exam. At least three spare exam rooms are prepared at each exam center, in case examines have shown symptoms such as abnormal temperature. Each spare room can contain nine students at most, while counselors will also be at the scene to sooth the students nerves.

Outside of each exam room, it is required to be equipped with disinfection items such as ultraviolet ray disinfection devices, masks and tissues, while exam monitors are required to wear protective gear.

For students who are currently in centralized quarantine for medical observation, they will take the exams alone in an isolated exam room. Local governments will provide transportation for them in order to prevent infection.

Every year, parents and teachers of the examinees gather together outside of the exam centers and forge their own cheering squads for the kids. This year this tradition is banned due to the pandemic, as well as out of concern that such behaviors may actually burden the students, giving them extra stress.

In addition to launching measures to protect the students safety during the pandemic, their mental health is also a vital concern of the government. Due to the pandemic, graduating students have had to study at home for months since February. Lacking face-to-face interaction with their teachers and classmates, as well as the stress and fear for the upcoming exam, some have developed anxiety or even depression. Local authorities, along with medical institutions and social organizations, have arranged free psychological counseling on social media, providing professional help to the examines. For instance, the Communist Youth League Committee of Shanghai Songjiang Area has created a psychological assistance account on social media, providing telephone numbers of medical professionals to students who are in need.

Many NGOs and companies have also launched activities to help the examinees. For instance, the navigation service provider AutoNavi will provide free rides for students taking the exam who make reservations.

Reforms of traditions

Starting from this year, a new college enrollment plan called Strengthening Foundation Plan," known in Chinese as "Qiang Ji Ji Hua," will replace the independent recruitment plan started in 2003 to select students with special talents in math, physics, chemistry, biology, history, philosophy and ancient studies.

The pilot program, which will initially be rolled out in the countrys top 36 universities, is regarded as a reform of Gaokao to shift the overwhelming focus away from pure scores and results. Compared to the 2003 independent recruitment plan, which entitles universities to recruit candidates based on their own subjective criteria, the new scheme requires applicants to attend the Gaokao and undergo an evaluation process organized by the selective universities before being admitted as a student,, reducing malpractice during the selection process.

The scheme aims to better select and train students that are interested in serving the country's major strategic needs, who at the same time have excellent comprehensive qualities or excel in basic discipline studies, said the document issued by the Ministry of Education via its official website.
Asiana Airlines



Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest carrier by sales, said Tuesday it will resume flights to Nanjing next week upon approval from China.



Asiana Airlines plans to begin offering one flight a week on the Incheon-Nanjing route Sunday. The carrier has served one flight a week on the Incheon-Changchun route, a company spokesman said by phone.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been in consultations with its Chinese counterpart to increase the number of flights that has sharply decreased due to the new coronavirus outbreak.



With the resumption of flights to Nanjing, there will be four routes to China available beginning Sunday, the spokesman said.



Currently, two other Korean carriers -- Korean Air Lines Co. and Jeju Air Co. -- offer a flight per week on the Incheon-Shenyang route and the Incheon-Weihai route, respectively.



China's aviation authorities have made airlines offer one flight a week since late March to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through incoming passengers. (Yonhap)
Description

GIS  07 July 2020 : There has been exchange of information between the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) and foreign authorities concerned with a view to obtaining relevant inputs for the progress of the investigation. As the investigation is still in progress, any disclosure of information pertaining thereto can be highly prejudicial to the case. It involves international ramifications, hence the enquiry is complex and time-consuming. To date, statements from sixteen persons have been recorded in connection with the case. No arrest has been effected so far.

The Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, Home Affairs and External Communications, Minister for Rodrigues, Outer Islands and Territorial Integrity, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, made this statement today in the National Assembly in reply to questions pertaining to the seizure of 95 kgs of heroin found in a wheel loader on 10 July 2019.

The Leader of the House recalled that on Wednesday 10 July 2019 at 1620 hours, following the request of the Service Manager of Scomat Ltd located at Grewals Lane, Pailles, a team from the ADSU proceeded to the location of the said company. The ADSU Officers were informed by the Manager of the company that on the same day at around 1530 hours whilst the employees were inspecting the engine of a wheel loader imported by the company from Brazil, they found three black kit bags which were concealed in the engine compartment near the exhaust muffler of the said vehicle. The bags were handed over for safekeeping to the store supervisor, who whilst checking the three kit bags came across several rectangular parcels each containing suspicious substances.

The Minister of Home Affairs underpinned that the responsibility for the examination and scanning of such types of consignment or equipment devolves upon the Customs Department of the Mauritius Revenue Authority. The examination, scanning and search of such types of consignments are based on risk management which is automated on pre-set selectivity criteria and also on intelligence and profiling, he stated.

Prime Minister Jugnauth highlighted that he has been informed by the Customs Department that since 11 July 2019 to 02 July 2020, 273 such types of equipment have been imported. All such types of equipment are, without exception, subject to sniffing by narcotics sniffer dogs; out of which 79 have also been scanned, 68 have been subject to physical examination and 35 have been scanned and examined. Nothing incriminating has been found in these types of equipment, he added.

The Leader of the House reiterated once more the unflinching commitment of the Government in the fight against drug trafficking.
The Oregon Zoo will be reopening with added safety measures this week after closing for nearly four months to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Photo by Michael Durham, courtesy of the Oregon Zoo.
BILLINGS, Mont. - A late night shooting Monday is now being investigated as a homicide after the victim died at a local hospital.

Preston J. Gregor, 21, of Billings died after being shot in the abdomen.

According to Lt. Brandon Wooley Gregor was found in the street on the 600 block of Samuel Court.

Police were initially dispatched to the location around 11:35 p.m. on a report of a person being held at gunpoint.

Billings Police identified the shooter as a 52-year-old Billings man. Lt. Wooley says he was interviewed and then released.

Lt. Wooley says that prior to the shooting, police received a report from the Town Pump gas station at 450 Main Street of an intoxicated man walking in and out of traffic.

Police believe that person is the same person who was shot on Samuel Court.
BOZEMAN- As numbers across the state and in Gallatin County continue to rise, Governor Steve Bullock will visit the Community Health Partners Medical Clinic in Bozeman with a focus on Medicaid expansion.

The governor will host a roundtable with health officials to discuss how COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of removing barriers towards getting needed health care.

Hes hoping to discuss ways such as Medicaid and telemedicine services that allow Montanans to still receive proper care during the pandemic.

According to the governors office, 10 times more services were delivered via telehealth in April than in February for Medicaid expansion numbers.

The governors office also said Montana hasnt lost one rural hospital thanks to Medicaid expansion which covers the cost of COVID-19 related treatments.

The visit will take place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.

We will be tracking this event and have a full update on Montana Right now tonight
Amidst the Fourth of July celebrations, the defunding of NYPD has caused a blood bath that left 9 killed and 41 injured. The gun violence has reached a deadly crescendo as criminals roam the streets of New York.

The defunding of the police has grossly affected law and order. NYC has turned into something of a wild west as authorities are having a tough time arresting and putting criminals behind bars, according to NY Daily News.

Recently, the series of chaotic events and turmoil has brought NYC to its knees. One unfortunate turn of the events is the shocking wave of violence that has struck the citizens. Here are some of the victims who were either killed or injured during the crime spree in NYC. This just goes to show that the police defunding has also affected the city's peace and order.

Victims of chaotic events in New York

Last Sunday night, Jose Cepeda, 20, was shot in the chest by an unknown gunman in East New York, Brooklyn. He had an argument earlier and later that night, he ended up dead. He never had a chance to reach the hospital alive and was pronounced dead on arrival.

The cop unions are pointing the finger at Mayor de Blasio and Council Speaker Corey Johnson for defunding $1 BN from NYPD all because of the people's demand to defund the police, according to NPR.

Just last year, nine people were shot, one died, with two men slashed after Fourth of July fireworks.

According to the Police Benevolent Association, the NYPD's largest union said that armed criminals have no fear of what happens next. They also stressed the incompetence of the mayor, and urged all elected officials to give an answer to the violence, as cited in Herald Mail Media.

Also read: New York Cops Will Get $1 Billion Cut From Their Budget, Warns De Blasio

Ironically, a city hall spokesperson said that keeping New Yorkers safe and healthy is their topmost priority. The problem is now dealing with all the problem spots in NYC.

Johnson added that a safe city is what everybody wants and real change can be affected. Furthermore, he added that the real cause of the violence must be found instead of merely depending on the police to get thing done.

The coronavirus lockdown has also affected the surge of violent crimes in NY. The city was shut down mid-March due to the surge of COVID-19 cases.

Last June, NYC witnessed a blood bath with 250 shot in just only in 28 days, according to NYPD's report. This was a large jump from the 97 shootings last year, and one of the most violent streaks ever recorded since 1996 based on NYPD stats. More murders have gone up by 23% in 2020 that includes 176 killing, in comparison to 143 last year.

Other cases of murders

A 23-year old was shot dead near W. 116th St. near Morningside Park, about 2:40 am. He got to the hospital but died afterwards. In another case, a 19-year old man got it in the chest and another 27-year old man was hit in the left shoulder at 4:20 am. It was a ruckus on E. 39th St. near Avenue D in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Only the older one was saved but the teen died from the gunshot. The older man was already stable hours later. Meanwhile, NYPD Assistant Chief Kathleen O'Reilly remarked all the violence happening as a disgrace.

Related article: NYC Blood Bath Continues With 75 People Injured, 55 Shootings in Seven Days

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Amid the controversies involving the name of Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's associate, who was arrested for her alleged involvement in the sexual exploits of Epstein involving minors, it is unavoidable that her name be dragged in some hoax news.

One of those hoaxes is the report that claims Maxwell contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and tested positive while she was detained in a New Hampshire according to a report by the Brown Valley Observer on July 3.

According to the hoax news site, the report stating Maxwell tested positive for the disease came from the United States Department of Justice. It also stated that the test was done and the results were released while she was in a New Hampshire jail waiting to be transferred to New York.

Moreover, the report claimed that the release from the DOJ state stated that while in custody, officials noticed that Maxwell was exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. It also stated that the officials stated that Maxwell was coughing, had watery eyes and expelled mucus.

In addition, the report also purported that Maxwell got tested and officials decided to speed up the testing process for her as she was exhibiting severe symptoms.

In light of the said reports, snopes.com checked the validity of the report and concluded that there is no truth to the said claims. The fact-checking site also stated that similar claims which were disguised as a screenshot from BBC claiming that Maxwell had the deadly disease. However, it was then verified that the BBC never published the story.

Read also: Ghislaine Maxwell Charged for Being Chief Enabler in Sexual Trafficking Ring for Young Girl Victims

Maxwell called to appear in court

Meanwhile, in a development in the case of Maxwell, prosecutors have requested a judge to ask Maxwell to appear in court on Friday after charges of sexual exploitation involving minors were filed against her.

Last week, Maxwell was arrested in what was considered as another twist in the events concerning the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The 58-year-old has been laying low in Bradford, New Hampshire since December of last year before last week's arrest.

According to India Express, Judge Alison Nathan received a letter of request to set the bail hearing for the case of Maxwell for July 10. Maxwell is currently facing four counts of transporting and procuring minors for illegal sexual acts. In addition, she is also facing charges of perjury based on the indictment by New York's federal prosecutors.

It can be recalled that before his apparent suicide, Epstein was 66 years old and was awaiting the trial for federal charges that were filed against him for trafficking minors back in 2002 until 2005.

Maxwell is a British socialite who is the daughter of then media mogul Robert Maxwell. However, ever since Epstein's death she has kept a low profile. Based on several reports, Maxwell was one of Epstein's ex-girlfriends who later one became part of his inner circle. A magazine article that was published back in 2003 even quoted Epstein saying Maxwell was his best friend.

Related article: Ghislaine Maxwell Posed with Kevin Spacey in Buckingham Palace Throne

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Now that things have loosened up with regard to the pandemic, are there precautions you are still practicing? Which have you relaxed?
The Missouri Historical Society will host a virtual author presentation Tuesday evening to kick off its new event series called How Did We Get Here: Conversations about Race, Anti-Blackness, and Identity.

The virtual events are organized under the societys African American History Initiative, which launched in 2015 to promote greater cultural understanding.

We launched the MHS [Missouri Historical Society] African American History Initiative to collaborate with the African American community, national scholars, our members and the St. Louis community to foster an understanding of how history has brought us to where we are as a community and a nation, society president Dr. Frances Levine said in a press release. The How Did We Get Here? series will allow us to address and examine contemporary issues of race, equity and inclusion through the historical lens.

Author and professor Crystal Marie Fleming will speak to a digital audience at 6:30 p.m. tonight via Zoom about her latest book, How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy and the Racial Divide. The book blends memoir with critical race theory, social commentary and satire to debunk common misconceptions about race and reveal the inner workings of systemic racism. According to the press release, systemic racism exposes everyone to racial ignorance or racial stupidity.

When left unchallenged, racial stupidity fuels discriminatory behavior, devalues the lives of black and brown people and reproduces the white supremacist status quo from one generation to the next, the release states. This wide-ranging talk unveils the historical roots of racial stupidity and explores how racial non-sense manifests in pop culture, (mis)education, media, politics and personal relationships today.
24-year old Pakistani woman is stoned to death by her husband and...

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.



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 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.
Chinese-Australian freethinker artist Badiucao was in search of a place in Hong Kong to showcase his artworks in 2019. Many of his works denounce the Chinese Communist Party.

According to Badiucao, he would not even transfer through the Hong Kong airport to avoid being taken into custody due to Beijing's new national security law.

The new Hong Kong security law into action has been put into action by China. A 23-year-old man was the first person on Monday to be arrested.

The Hong Kong administration underscores that free speech is not being silenced. However, according to the city's public library system on Saturday, books authored by acclaimed activists had been removed from circulation, reported Firstpost.

China campaigned for support from 53 nations to back the disputable law in the midst of vehement resistance from other governments.

The United Nations Human Rights Council's 44th session became the site of opposing international retaliation to the newly carried out national security law in Hong Kong. In the session last week, 2 contending statements were read back to back. Cuba represented a cluster of 53 states supporting the Chinese law, while the UK spoke on behalf of 27 opposing governments, according to The Diplomat.

Hong Kong police officials will be permitted without a warrant to initiate searches at private properties. They will restrict suspects' movements, obstruct communications, freeze the suspects' assets, and command internet service providers to delete information, as more powers were transferred to the force for implementing the national security law, reported Hong Kong Free Press.

The broad-ranging new law for Hong Kong would make it more convenient to hold protesters accountable and diminish the city's autonomy.

Also Read: Bangkok Now Back to 'Normal': No COVID-19 Local Transmission for 36 Days

Critics have labeled the advent "the end of Hong Kong."

Following his appearance in court, the first person to be prosecuted under the city's extensive national security law has been denied bail.

Tong Ying-kit was arrested for instigating severance and terrorist actions and is alleged of plunging his motorbike into a cluster of police officers. He injured at least 3 at a protest favoring democracy on Wednesday.

The new security law was first implemented on July 1.

Facebook, Twitter, and Google are halting data processing requests from the Hong Kong administration as they evaluate the security law. Google particularly made the pause immediately when the law took effect.

Washington Post indicated that the national security law China implemented on Wednesday is concerning for numerous reasons: There are serious limitations imposed on free speech in Hong Kong, and the law authorizes officials to take suspects from Hong Kong and try them in mainland China.

According to 7 new implementation measures for enforcement agencies, failure to observe the law will result to being fined HK$100,000 (US$12,900) and a maximum of 2 years' imprisonment.

The new measures were deliberated at the Committee for Safeguarding National Security's first meeting, spearheaded by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. Police, finance, security, immigration, and justice chiefs served as members.

Related Article: China City Bans Eating Cats and Dogs Amid Coronavirus

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Operators of a suspected baby factory in Imo State have reportedly attacked policemen who stormed the facility while trailing a man who allegedly stole a baby from its mother at gunpoint.

The incident happened in Umuocha community in Oguta council of the state, it was said.

The Nation learnt that police went after the baby thief who reportedly fled into an hospital.

On arrival at the facility, police saw several children and expectant mothers apparently used for child trafficking.



It was gatthered that as the policemen started asking questions, the owner of the hospital, one Innocent Onuoha, allegedly mobilised youths of the village, who surrounded the building, demobilised the police vehicle and attacked the four policemen with different objects, inflicting various degrees of injuries on them.

It took the intervention of the member representing Oguta State constituency in the state house of assembly, Frank Ugboma, for the policemen to escape.

Ugboma said the policemen told me that immediately they stormed the illegal baby factory disguised as hospital, the owner raised the alarm and the youths came out and started resisting the police from arresting the man. They overpowered the policemen and destroyed their vehicle that night while the policemen managed to escape.

Police spokesman Orlando Ikeokwu confirmed the incident, saying that the owner of the baby factory was arrested but released by the youths, while a police inspector sustained injuries.
A Magistrate Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has remanded in the Correctional Center, four police officers who allegedly tortured Late Chima Ikwunado to death and inflicted various degrees of injuries on three others while being detained in a police cell.

It would be recalled that operatives of the Eagle-Crack, an outfit of the state police command had tortured four Ikoku motor spare parts dealers while the were in detention cell.

The police command had on the wake of this development, dismissed the police officers, Ayogu Fidelis, Rose Georgewill, Eke Chibuzor and Egbunefu Felix, for unprofessionalism.

The suspects were, however, arraigned before the Magistrate, on seven counts bordering on murder, conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful assault on the three other friends of Chima.



But, when the charges preferred against the defendants were read, the four suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Chief magistrate, Promise Iruanya, who declined to grant the suspects bail remanded them in the Correctional Centre and ordered that the case file be transferred the Directorate of Public Prosecution for legal advice.

Iroanya quickly added that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the matter and adjourned it till September 19th, for the legal advice.

The Magistrate explained that while the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain count one to three of the charges, count four to seven could be entertained.

Meantime, the former E-Crack Commander, Benson Adetuyi, and Inspector Sam Amadi, who were earlier mentioned in the matter were not arraigned in court.
Ghanaian actress, Akuapem Poloo who went n.u.d.e in front of her 7-year...

A popular Ghanaian actress, Akuapem Poloo who went n.u.d.e in front of her son to celebrate his 7th birthday has been arrested by the Ghanaian police.

According to the reports, Poloo was arrested and sent to the headquarters of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit.

It would be recalled that Akuapem Poloo posted a photo of herself without any clothes and had her son wearing only underpants.

The photo sparked outrage on social media and led to a massive 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 Child Acts.

Rosemond Brown took down the post and apologized to the general public afterwards.
A tourist is desperate to be rescued after spending 110 days living in an airport in the Philippines due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Roman Trofimov, who lives in Estonia, landed in Manila airport from Bangkok on March 20, but was denied access to the country as entry visas were no longer being issued for arrivals. He says his passport was then taken from him before he reached immigration.

The airline he had travelled with, AirAsia, was then unable to return him to Thailand, and he was told he would have to wait for Enhanced Community Quarantine to be over until he is allowed to fly. The lockdown, which restricts all travel for anyone not a diplomat, medical or humanitarian worker, was brought in by the Philippine goverment on March 16.

Mr Trofimov, who says he is disabled, likened his situation to being a prisoner in the airport. He has been sleeping in an airport departures hotel room and surviving on food and snacks donated by staff.



The tourist has repeatedly asked his embassy for help but they were unable to organise a repatriation flight.

He said: My health is getting worse because of malnutrition, lack of sun, and fresh air. I have no other choice,but to go public. Please share with news agencies.

Mr Trofimov had an onward flight to Cebu, in the Philippines, booked for the same day he landed in Manila and a return flight to Bangkok for April 2. Both were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Metro Manila was shifted to a lower level General Community Quarantine in June, but despite the more relaxed status, most flights have still not been allowed to resume, including those to Estonia.

Mr Trofimov told Estonian broadcaster ERR that he also isnt allowed to fly out of the Philippines to a new country as he was denied entry, and can only be taken back by the airline which brought him to Manila.

He said: They took my passport and will give it back only when I fly to Estonia. But they dont fly to Estonia, they dont fly anywhere currently. I am told to wait all the time until flights are restarted.

I was offered an opportunity via Turkish Airlines, but they also dont fly currently. So I am waiting, the departure date has been delayed four times now. They are extending the emergency situation here, the country is still closed.
Natasha Keane is still breastfeeding her youngest daughter Grace, even though she is ready to start school.

The mum-of-three is a breastfeeding advocate and she nursed her oldest daughter Ellie until she turned five and decided she wanted to stop.

Natasha, 38, from Galway, Ireland, practises natural stage weaning  where a child decides for themselves when to stop breastfeeding.

She says that she feels it has helped both Ellie, six, and Grace, four-and-a-half build strong immune systems as only one of them has ever been to the doctors with a bug.



Back when she was a first-time mum to son Adam at 19, she had to stop breastfeeding after a few months due to medication but 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. After meeting her husband Adam, 35, and falling pregnant with their first child together, she decided she wanted things to be different this time around.

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.

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.

She started to research other groups, speak to other mums and read articles about extended breastfeeding.

She also read on the NHS website that babies are passed valuable antibodies to help protect them against infection through their mothers milk and discovered that the World Health Organization states that breastfeeding can continue for up to two years and beyond.

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 mums milk.

Buoyed by her findings, Natasha 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.

She started breastfeeding Ellie with no deadline in mind and when Grace was born two years later, she would tandem feed with one on each breast.

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.

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 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.

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 Im also feeding her older sister? I dont think people are deliberately trying to shame me, or be evil, though. Its a lack of education  even within the medical profession. 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 also thinks mums should be able to breastfeed in public.

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.

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 explained.
Nigerian lady welcomes her first child after 12 years of marriage (photos)

A Nigerian lady, Queen Ogbonna has welcomed her first child after 12 years of marriage.

She took to social media to announce the good news, revealing its a girl.

Jehovah overdo. he did it after 12 years. its a baby girl, she wrote.


One dead, 4 others wounded as 75-year old woman crashes into emergency...

One person was killed and four others were injured when an elderly woman driving an SUV crashed into the emergency room of a major Atlanta hospital.

The wreck in the ER lobby of Piedmont Hospital involved a Mercedes-Benz SUV operated by a 75-year-old woman who was arriving at the medical facility for an appointment at 7.45am local time.

Atlanta police Officer Steve Avery told reporters the driver lost control of her vehicle in the ER driveway, hit another car and veered into the hospital building.

The SUV struck two people and bumped several others just inside the glass doors, Avery said at the scene.



One of the people struck by the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. The injuries suffered by the four surviving victims did not appear to be life-threatening. The driver was not hurt.

Investigators do not know what caused the woman to lose control, Avery said.

It does not appear to be a deliberate act, the officer told reporters.
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.

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.
The Senate today urged the Federal government in its resolution to name the Ibadan Airport after the former governor of Oyo State, late Abiola Ajimobi who died on 25th of June, 2020.

The former governor of Oyo state was also a principal officer in the Senate where he served as a minority leader between 2003  2007.

The resolution of the Senate followed a motion by the Senator Buhari Abdulfatai (Oyo North) APC, who described the governor as a jinx breaker for returning for the second time as a governor, which was the first time in the political history of Oyo State that a serving governor got a second term.



The Senate also resolved that a high powered delegation will be constituted to visit the family to commiserate with them and the people of Oyo state for the loss of the former governor who served his state for eight years.

The Senate in its resolution on the motion also paid its last respect to the late Senator Ajimobi as it observed a minute silence for the former minority leader of the Senate.

Supporting the motion, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun Central) APC, said the late Senator Ajimobi was a hardworking governor and lover of his people.

He recalled that he was a man of peace and full of humour as he usually will keep all in his company laughing with jokes and banters.

Ajimobi was appointed Acting Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress amidst its crisis that was finally resolved by the dissolution of the NWC by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party, he could have resumed the office before his death.
After the PLA Navy exercises near the Paracel Islands soon after, the Chinese said they can repel the US Navy. The two-carrier group arrived after the Chinese were done doing naval exercises. US Navy officials declare the SCS is free and is not under Chinese sovereignty as the claim.

The timing of extra US exercises when the US Navy did several already was not unnoticed by Beijing's propaganda. Immediately, there were pronouncements that the US Navy will be defeated, reported CNN.

Rallying under the moniker 'The Carrier Strike Force' with the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan involved in a set of tactical carrier exercises with emphasis on the repulsion of enemy attacks. One other aspect of these exercises is to extend ranges of pinpoint strikes from carrier-based attack aircraft, said the US Navy.

A statement by Lt. Cmdr. Sean Brophy, on the Ronald Reagan said that then two carriers were in the South China Sea in 2014 for two carrier exercises.

According to the US Navy stressing their efforts to sail, fly, and conduct operations are indicative of its support of a free SCS with emphasis on actions based on international law.

When the US forces were showing naval firepower on the Fourth of July as the China's People Liberation Army Navy was closing five days of naval exercises. The Chinese navy was near the purloined Xisha islands or Paracel Islands.

China was secretive about its exercises in the Paracel drills where there might be missile batteries that figure in these exercises, reported Global Times.

Chinese justifies naval exercise after the appearance of US carrier strike group

On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry defended the sea drill were in claimed Chinese waters on the PLA website. Most of the claimed areas in the SCS and the fortified island have been assailed as illegal and accusations against the communists are many.

Also read: Chinese Navy Airs Threats, After the US Navy's Carrier Exercises in Philippine Sea

Despite saying not to build up arms in the SCS to target US carriers specifically, the Communist Party of China did not follow on its vow to the US in 2015. In 2020, the SCS is a powder keg because China desires to dominate.

China mocks the US Navy because it feels threatened

According to the Global Times, the two-carrier strike group were just 'paper tigers' and China can repel them. It boasted in a tweet that the PLA has the DF-21D and DF-26 as ship killers that can kill these US carriers, cited Tele Sur.

In response, the US Navy said the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan are in the SCS international waters. Adding that the US Navy is not afraid said a tweet from the US Navy commander.

Showing China who's boss

China's actions in the SCS have worsened tensions which have made the US Navy and Air Force teach China that international law is not a trifle.

US Naval ships have been conducting FONOPs close to Chinese claimed areas in the South China Sea. They're even making it clear by sending Air Force bombers and joint operations with Asian allies. Each of these exercises was mostly unopposed with the Chinese belching complaints. Part of the exercises are included with B-52.

The problem with China that there is no 100% sea, or air superiority as the US Navy has all these aspects to push back the PLA Navy. China is the source of instability due to its claim nor does it respect any agreements.

Related article: US Navy Sends Two Carrier Strike Groups as Show of Force Against PLA Naval Exercises

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
U.S to ban TikTok, other Chinese apps over security concerns

The United States government is planning to ban TikTok and other Chinese social media apps over national security concerns.

Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of state suggested the move during an interview with Fox News Laura Ingraham on Monday, July 6.

When asked by Ingraham whether the United States should be considering a ban on Chinese social media apps, especially TikTok.

He said: With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too, Laura.



I dont want to get out in front of the President [Donald Trump], but its something were looking at.

Washingtons top diplomat added that people should only download the app if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

His comment comes after US lawmakers raised national security concerns over TikToks handling of user data, accusing the short-form video app of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China.

They also allege that the company could be compelled to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

TikTok is owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has finished the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Campaign Council for the Edo governorship election, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, describing him as a barefaced treasury looter, who has no moral rectitude to speak on corruption.

This is coming after Ganduje said PDP is only interested in Edos treasury.

The PDP described as a huge irony that Governor Ganduje, who has become a butt of national shame after being seen on viral video stuffing his robe with gratification in foreign currency, to accuse the PDP of corruption intentions in the Edo state governorship election.

In a communique on Monday, the PDP said it is a paradox that an individual who has earned himself the disgraceful public sobriquet of gandollar, after being caught collecting gratification, would attempt to accuse others of having intention of looting the treasury of a state.



The PDP further pointed out that it is only in a party like the APC, under a Buhari Presidency, that such a tarnished individual can be selected to speak in public, let alone lead a governorship election campaign.

Apparently, Governor Ganduje and other APC leaders are so used to looting public treasuries that such is his first mental direction after his inauguration to lead the Edo governorship campaign.

Governor Ganduje has further confirmed the real intention of the APC, which is to use their morally embattled candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu (of course, birds of the same feathers flock together) for their desperate effort to regain access to Edo state treasury, after Governor Godwin Obaseki liberated the state from the stranglehold of APC treasury-looting godfathers.

Our party invites Governor Ganduje to note that there is no free dollars for him and other APC leaders to loot in Edo state.

Under the PDP, the resources of Edo state, and indeed other PDP states, belong to the people and not to any political cabal and their godfathers.

Of course, this is why the people of Edo state are solidly behind Governor Obaseki for firmly resisting APC looters.

Moreover, Governor Ganduje, with his infamous gandollar video, is no match to the Chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council for the Edo election, Governor Nyesom Wike.

Whereas Governor Wike is a highly respected, upright, honest, transparent, people-based and development-driven leader, who is firmly in touch with the people of Edo state and enjoys their confidence and trust, Governor Ganduje, on the other hand, represent a leadership that is fraught with dishonesty, corruption, non-performance and public shame.

The PDP therefore counsels Governor Ganduje and the APC to quietly perish the thoughts of looting Edo state treasury like they are doing in APC controlled states, as the people of Edo state will humiliate them in the September 19 election, the PDPs communique stated in part.
Letter: Be aware of what your political party leaders are saying
As the number of coronavirus cases surpasses 700 in Walworth County, county health officials have announced plans to offer public testing in two area schools.

Testing is scheduled July 14 and 15 at Big Foot High School in Walworth and July 28 and 29 at Lake Geneva Middle School in Lake Geneva.

The county Department of Health & Human Services today reported Walworth County has recorded 709 confirmed cases of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

The county has confirmed 200 new cases in the past two weeks.

Since the Wisconsin Supreme Court threw out the state's "Safer At Home" public health safeguards on May 13, the number of Walworth County people to test positive for the virus has nearly tripled  from 250 to 709.

Of the 709 cases, 634 people have recovered, 56 are quarantined at home, one is hospitalized and 18 have died.

In announcing the new testing efforts, Elizabeth Aldred, the county director of health and human services, said her agency is taking steps to make COVID-19 testing more accessible for people who have had difficulty getting tested previously.

"The goal of this clinic is to provide easy access to testing for anyone in the community, Aldred said.

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To the editor:

Im writing to object to the headline of an article that appeared in the Lake Geneva Regional News on Sunday, June 28.

The headline: "Stores losing customers by requiring customers to wear face masks."

The article cites a few examples of unhappy customers. It also mentions the fact that many, if not most customers are happy to comply with mask-wearing rules.

Your headline is dangerous and misleading. Maybe a headline such as "Lake Geneva stores practicing safety rules help fight the spread of COVID despite a few customers objections" might have been a more accurate and socially responsible choice.

Today, Sunday, June 28, the virus is spreading at an alarming rate  "like a forest fire." Top scientists are saying that this next three-week period is crucial in terms of keeping the virus from getting out of control  a pandemic apocalypse. Many states are shutting down again, going back into lockdown.

All responsible news outlets are shouting the warnings. Last night, on Milwaukees Channel 12, two different people from Illinois were interviewed about why they like to come to Lake Geneva. Their answer: Because mask wearing and social distancing are not required.
Chinese officials have cautioned the UK government over its interference with Hong Kong amid the new security laws Beijing passed in the city.

International tension

Ambassador Liu Xiaoming said that the UK's decision to provide citizenship to up to three million Hong Kong residents that want to flee the city could be considered as a massive international intervention.

According to BBC, Dominic Raab, the British Foreign Secretary, denied the accusations of the Chinese national.

Those who oppose the new security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong say it undermines the city's political freedom and autonomy.

Prominent young pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong previously issued a statement urging and pleading for the world to support Hong Kong and stand in solidarity with the residents in the city.

Liu also expressed his hopes that the UK would reverse its decision of offering Hong Kong residents citizenship in their country. The Chinese national also announced that Beijing would take necessary steps to respond to the UK's move once details became clear.

The ambassador also said that if the UK continued with its decision not to use Huawei, a Chinese tech giant's technology to support its 5G network plans, it would suggest a declining relationship between the country and other Chinese businesses.

Zhao Lijian, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, announced that China had the right to take actions against Britain over its alleged support of Hong Kong and its citizens but did not specify the details and consequences of such actions, as reported by Reuters.

Also Read: China Detains Prominent Xi Jinping Critic for Calling Out Communist Party Mismanagement

Violation of previous provisions

The UK has called China's new security law a violation of the 1984 Joint Declaration where the former British colony handed back authority over the city to China but set it in place to ensure that specific freedoms remained, including political freedom and expression.

The British government also said it would provide up to three million Hong Kong residents with a chance to have UK citizenship if they were to flee the city.

When called out by Chinese Ambassador Lu as interfering with China's affairs, Raab said the move was not undermining domestic affairs, but rather, was a questioning of Beijing's commitment to international obligations.

According to Aljazeera, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, although considered a Sinophile, expressed his support of Hong Kong and urged citizens to do the same. The official was behind the controversial decision to prevent Huawei from being involved in the country's development of 5G infrastructure, saying it was a protection from hostile state vendors.

China's new security law also caused libraries in Hong Kong to pull pro-democracy books from their shelves and make them unavailable to the public while they were being "reviewed" for potential violations of the new legislation.

The Education Bureau noted that they are required to manage and monitor the lessons, teaching, and learning materials within the city to ensure that they do not pose a threat to the new law.

The bureau also said that any outdated content or those that may violate the new law's provisions, including subversion, secession, terrorism, and conspiring with foreign forces would have to be removed.

Related Article: China's New Security Law In Hong Kong Causes Libraries to Pull Pro-Democracy Books in Fears of Violations

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not join the meeting with Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C.

The prime minister wished the U.S. and Mexico well for the meeting.

"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 Prime Minister's Office was quoted in a statement.

The D.C. meeting will talk about the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This was enforced on July 1.

Trudeau's office said that Canada will still cooperate with Mexico and the U.S. to make sure that this will be a successful agreement.

Trudeau wished Lopez Obrador a successful meeting with the U.S. President. through a phone call on Monday.

"The two leaders discussed the significant efforts made by each country to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and looked forward to their next opportunity to meet in person," A readout of the call was quoted in a CBC report.

Trudeau is set to attend a virtual government retreat tomorrow. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Bill Morneau will deliver a "fiscal snapshot" on Wednesday.

Trudeau was asked last week if he would attend the D.C. meeting with the U.S. and Mexico leaders.

He said that with Canadian public health rules he would be required to be quarantined for two weeks on his return.

US-Canada Trade Issue

On the other hand, the Canadian leader mentioned some business issues with the U.S.

"We're obviously concerned about the proposed issue of tariffs on aluminum and steel that the Americans have floated recently," Trudeau was quoted in a report.

Trudeau was referring to the statement Trump made last month. The U.S. president said he might look at bringing back taxes on Canadian aluminum.

The U.S. president said that Canadian metals are a "national security threat" to the U.S.

Trudeau said the taxes are "insulting" and senseless. He said that the business between the U.S. and Canada is generally balanced.

In a 2018 Washington post report, Trudeau said that he wants the steel and aluminum taxes removed if a new NAFTA deal is applied. The Trump administration is having second-thoughts.

Another issue is the "Chapter 19" in the original NAFTA design. This allows one country to challenge another country about taxes and dropping goods below market value.

The U.S. would like to remove the chapter from the original version. Canada still wants it included in the new agreement.

Canada also wants to have better environmental protections. The U.S. wants better intellectual property protections. These issues might compromise the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

TPP was a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the U.S.

TPP was supposed to be the world's largest trade deal before Trump withdrew the U.S. in 2017.

The New NAFTA

NAFTA's updated version is the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). The changes include new rules on labor and environmental standards.

USMCA also includes changes in intellectual property protections and some digital trade laws, according to a Vox report.

There is also a 16-year sunset clean. This means the terms of the agreement end after 16 years.

The deal will be reviewed every six years. Canada, Mexico, and the US can decide whether to extend the USMCA.

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A 17-year-old Lee County teenager died after contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in early June.

However, a newly released report from the medical examiner's office claimed that the girl died after her family treated her symptoms at home using unproven remedies.

According to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office, the victim identified as Carsyn Davis attended a 100-person church gathering roughly two weeks before her death.

The event did not require its attendees to wear face masks or observe social distancing measures.

Davis' mother gave her unproven drugs, including antibiotics and hydroxychloroquine. She was also given oxygen via her grandfather's portable machine.

Her family oversaw her treatment at home during the nine days following the church function, the Newsweek reported.

Davis was admitted to the hospital's pediatric unit on June 19, nearly two weeks after the event.

Doctors recommended intubation, but her parents refused to permit the procedure. She eventually received plasma therapy and intubation on June 22.

The teen died on June 23, making her the youngest coronavirus victim in Lee County.

Home Remedy

Davis was a cancer survivor, who battled against numerous health issues over the years.

Before her untimely death, she struggled with a rare nervous-system disorder, obesity, and an auto-immune disorder.

Her parents gave her azithromycin, an antibiotic that is being studied as a possible COVID-19 treatment, to protect her from contracting the virus.

Her mother works as a nurse, and her father is employed as a physician's assistant, the News-Press.com reported.

On June 13, Davis developed a headache and a mild cough. The family assumed the symptoms were from a sinus infection.

Six days later, the girl received an unspecified dose of hydroxychloroquine after her mother noticed that she looked "gray."

Davis' parents gave her oxygen used by her grandfather, who suffers from a pulmonary disease.

Her family rushed her to Gulf Coast Medical Center, but officials transferred the teen to The Golisano Children's Hospital.

Doctors in the pediatric unit confirmed that she had COVID-19. The girl's family intially refused to allow doctors to intubate her.

The 17-year-old girl received plasma treatment. She was eventually intubated after she failed to respond to the procedure.

Davis was later transferred to Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, where she died from COVID-19-associated respiratory failure.

Discontinuing Hydroxychloroquine

On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally stopped trials for hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir-ritonavir.

The announcement came after many trial results showed that the drugs did not help reduce coronavirus mortality rates.

Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine is used to treat arthritis. Lopinavir serves as a treatment option for HIV patients, while ritonavir helps increase the level of lopinavir in the blood.

The ban does not affect studies where the drugs are used in patients, who are not hospitalized, as reported by The Hill.

The international health agency is currently leading a trial to determine the potential effect of the antiviral drug, remdesivir, which is being developed by Gilead Sciences.

The European Commission allowed doctors to prescribe the drug under conditional approval.





Catch up on the latest COVID-19 news here:
An Oklahoma woman was shot multiple times, while trying to remove a Nazi flag from a large flagpole in a Garfield County man's front yard.

The victim is currently receiving medical care in a hospital after she was gravely injured from the incident.

According to the Garfield County Sheriff's office, Kyndal McVey, the 26-year-old victim had attended a party nearby, when she swiped one of the Nazi flags flying outside the shooter's home.

Alexander John Feaster, 44, was charged with felony assault, battery with a deadly weapon, and shooting with intent to kill after he shot the victim in the back with a semi-automatic rifle.

He was booked into the county jail on June 28, the WSB-TV reported. Several people found McVey lying in a ditch near the man's home.

County officials said the victim suffered gunshot wounds to her abdomen and legs.

Lying In Wait

An affidavit obtained by the Enid News & Eagle said the suspect had been lying in wait after he set up inside the front door of his home.

While it was initially suggested that the woman tore the Nazi flag for a dare, an interview with NBC News said there was no accurate information surrounding the victim's motives.

Camera footage from Feaster's home showed he fired at the victim without warning.

A neighbor immediately moved a pickup truck to serve as a barricade after the shooting.

Another witness pointed a rifle on the suspect's property, while waiting for law enforcement officers to arrive.

Court document showed that the shooter fired at least seven or eight shots. Four bullets struck the victim.

Heather Riley, McVey's best friend, set up a GoFundMe page.

According to the description, the victim's condition is steadily improving. She was recently released from the intensive care unit.

While there has yet to be more information on what the victim needs to move forward, Riley wrote that some physical therapy rehab might be part of her recovery process.

As of Tuesday, the page raised $2,194 of its $10,000 goal.

Swastika-Emblazoned Flag

According to a neighbor, Feaster had been flying the flags for over a year.

There have also been multiple incidents, where the flags were stolen from the shooter's home.

Feaster is known to occasionally dress up in a black uniform while wearing a red swastika armband, as reported by the BBC.

The outfit resembles that of the infamous Nazi SS uniforms.

Multiple people stormed social media with screenshots of Feaster's profile on the site Gab.

The website describes itself as a social network that allows free speech and the free flow of information.

On his profile, the phrase "Meine Ehre Heisst Treue" appears. The saying, which translates to "My Honor is Loyalty," is linked to the Waffen SS, a military unit in Nazi Germany.

Since World War II, the German phrase is viewed as a hate slogan.

Apart from the swastika-emblazoned flag flying up a flagpole, officers saw a smaller Nazi flag sitting in a flag holder outside Feaster's front door.

Check out the latest news from the US here:
The Trump administration has released the 658,277 names of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers with their addresses, business type, nonprofit information, and the number of jobs supported.

They said more than 658,000 small-businesses received taxpayer-funded loans through PPP.

The Treasury Department and Small Business Administration said the program supported around 51 million jobs in which, 84-percent of all employees are working at small-businesses.

Around five industries received a percentage from the program. This accounts to more than half of the $670 billion PPP fund.

The health care and social assistance received 12.9 percent. Professional and technical services got 12.7 percent; 12.4 percent went to construction. Manufacturing received 10.3 percent.

Restaurants, bars, hotels, and other service-oriented industries received 8.1 percent.

Members of Congress Benefited from the $670 billion

Meanwhile, at least four members of Congress received a portion from the $670 billion program funded by taxpayers' money.

PPP was part of the Trump administration's response to the current pandemic and businesses affected by the health crisis.

Businesses with less than 500 employees can avail loans of up to $10 million.

Fox reported that a small group of Republicans and Democrats have close ties to businesses that received loans.

One of the Republicans included on the list is Texas Representative Roger Williams. He is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.

He made $27.7 million fortune from several auto dealerships in Northern Texas and valuable real estate.

He received a PPP loan for an undisclosed amount for his dealership in Weatherford, Texas.

William's office told Fox News he has been "transparent and open" about receiving the loan.

Williams added the loan kept every one of his employees on a payroll.

"Those set on criticizing his family business's decision to utilize a loan to preserve jobs are really saying they would rather see Texans in the unemployment line, unable to provide for their loved ones," his office was quoted in a report.

Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler was also on the list. Her family owns farms and equipment suppliers across the Midwest.

Hartzler's family received a PP loan for under $2 million but it's unclear which businesses received the loans.

Hartzler said that workers of their small-businesses deserve to keep their job too. She said they should be denied that because of her position in Washington.

Democratic included on the list was Nevada Rep. Susi Lee. Her husband is the chief executive of a casino developer.

Lee's husband is the CEO of Full House Resorts. It received a $5.6 million PPP loan.

The funds are to be used to "rehire several hundred employees at Rising Star and Bronco Billy's in preparation for the reopening of these businesses."

Her office did not respond for comment.

Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel Powell also reportedly benefited from PPP. Her husband is an executive at a restaurant chain.

Powell's husband is an executive of the Fiesta Restaurant Group. The group received a PPP loan worth $15 million before returning it in full.

Powell's spokesperson told reporters her husband is not involved in obtaining the loan.

PPP Background

The PPP was made as part of The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act,(CARES Act). U.S. President Donald Trump signed thaw law at the end of March.

CARES Act was created to five forgivable loans to pay for the employee's salary and other expenses of small businesses.

The PPP ran out of budget in two weeks due to disorganized applications and rollout period. This pushed Congress to pass more laws to give the program another round of funds.

Trump signed into law the bill to extend PPP for another five weeks.

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections in the United States have reached 300,000 during the first six days of July. More states are now beginning to shut down businesses and mandate the use of face masks.

The state reopenings and Independence Day celebrations have contributed to the increasing number of COVID-19 infections in the country. As of yesterday, nearly 300,000 infections were recorded, according to a published report by The Washington Post.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a five percent maximum cap for safe reopening. This means that if people tested positive for the virus through COVID-19 testing in a particular state is above five percent, the state should not reopen its economic activity.

However, it is not what is happening in the country. An example of this is in Florida, where they have recorded over 11,000 infections in just a single day. Despite this, Governor Ron DeSantis does not have a plan to shut down businesses or mandate people to wear facemasks, according to an article published by Latin Post.

Meanwhile, health officials in the country warned that the virus is spreading at a very fast rate. The warning was made after Independence Day that attracted large crowds to witness firework displays. Some of them were also seen drinking and partying without observing safe and health guidelines.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease expert, said that the country is still in the first wave. However, Fauci also admitted that while Europe managed to drop COVID-19 infections, U.S. communities are struggling to drop infections.

Moreover, Arizona and Nevada have reported their highest COVID-19 related hospitalizations in recent days. Additionally, the first seven days of July have hit new highs in 12 states. The highest number of infections are in West Virginia, Tennessee, and Montana.

Arizona Department of Health announced on Monday morning that beds in the state's Internal Care Unit Hospitals were at full capacity. The state has already recorded over 100,000 infections.

Authorities in Miami-Dade County reversed their plan to reopen businesses. The county issued an emergency order to shutdown gyms, party venues, and restaurants. However, takeout and delivery are exempted.The emergency order took effect on Wednesday.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said that the emergency order was made to ensure that the hospitals in the county continue to have enough staff. He also added that most of the infected persons age between 18 to 34 years old.

They also found out that these infected persons are those who gather in crowded places without wearing masks and observing social-distancing.

Doctors told the county mayor that the increase of COVID-19 infections in Miami-Dade is due to graduation parties, gatherings at restaurants, street protests, not wearing facemasks, and for not observing social-distancing.

More politicians tested positive for the virus as well. Some of the are State House of Representatives, Governor Tate Reeves, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and several lawmakers.

At this time, the number of COVID-19 infections in the country has reached over 2.9 million and claimed the lives of over 127,000.

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Brazil has a lot to brag about when it comes to beauty. It holds a special place in our hearts because it holds the best beauty ingredients found in the world's largest rainforest: the Amazon.

Ingredients like camu camu, cacao, and the Amazonian white clay can be found from this rich forest. With the beauty ingredients we've grown to love, it's not hard to see how beautiful Brazilian women are.

But, beyond the ingredients, it is also home to the top beauty brands known and sought after internationally.

Here are 5 of the most amazing products from Brazilian beauty brands. Make sure you look into them because they belong right at your top shelf.

Brazilian Bum Bum Cream by Sol de Janeiro

This body cream melts into your skin with a formula infused with powerful caffeine-rich guarana and a Brazilian blend of skin-loving ingredients.

It's perfect for your legs, tummy, and all over te body. The guarana in it tightens your skin and makes it look smooth.

It also has a perfect mix of Cupuacu Butter, Acai Oil, and Coconut Oil that softens your skin.

The cream is sceneted pistachio and salted caramel.

It doesn't feel sticky or greasy at all.

Sol de Janiero formulated the cream cruelty free, paraben free, and gluten free.

This product is the Best Body Lotion for 2020 of Glamour Beauty Readers' Choice Award.

Lily Satin Moisturizing Cream by O Boticario

Lily Body Moisturizer Skin Cream is a fragranced body butter that can quickly hydrate dry skin caused by hot and cold climates.

It is scented with Boticario's best-selling Lily eau de parfum and brings the fragrance of stargazer lilies to life.

It contains Shea Butter that gives your skin a soft and healthy looking glow.

O Boticario, one of the world's largest cosmetic network in Brazil, is certified by PETA as cruelty-free.

Leave-In Treatment Light by Rahua

Rahua Leave-In Treatment gives your hair a weightless heat protectant.

It is designed specifically for fine hair types to give flawless, lightweight anti-frizz finish when you style using heat like blow-drying and curling.

It is crafted with Omega-9 rich oil and whipped to perfection.

By helping prevent split ends, it allows hair to grow longer and stronger. Hair will grow healthy and bouncy with this product.

Plastica dos Fios Liso Magico Gradual Smooth Serum by Cadiveu

Liso Magico Smooth Serum is a thermoactive treatment that makes your hair feel smooth for a long time.

It reduces drying time, seals cuticle, prolongs the anti-frizz effect, makes hair shiny, protects hair color, blocks moisture, prevents breakage, and more.

It give the hair a velvet effect and protects your hair from heat.

You just have to spray it on your damp hair and clean it from root to tip. You can then move on to normally brushing your hair and going about your day.

Henna Cream Hair Color by Surya Brasil

Surya Brasil is a true Brazillian brand through and through. It dedicated its time and effort into making organic and natural products from sustainable ingredients.

They source their ingredients from the Amazon and India. All of them are grown naturally.

Since there are no chemical additives to their products, you can enjoy naturally warm smells.

The Henna Cream Hair Color is one of their most popular products, along their products based on capuacu.

It is available in 15 different shades, from "Silver Fox" to "Dark Brown".

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The Florida Department of Education (DOE) issued an executive order on Monday for schools to reopen for at least five days a week starting August.

Commissioner on Education Richard Corcoran signed the order in the middle of a surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.

The order is not limited to public schools. It also applies to charter schools and private schools that accept scholarship students, said a report from NBC Miami.

Before schools can reopen, they need to submit a reopening plan to the school district.

The plan has to list the safety measures and social distancing guidelines they will put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus.

The schools also have to give all services required by the law. This includes in-person teaching and services for students with IEPs (individualized education program), said a report from Spectrum News 13.

School districts have to put monitoring systems in place to make sure students do not fall behind in their studies. The data has to be shared regularly with the education department.

Schools have to provide online learning too. Teaching online has to be at the same levels as the existing brick-and-mortar-schools.

The DOE will give the final say on the reopening of schools.

DOE said in the order that they would consider factors like the percentage of students in the district who are likely to learn through traditional and online teaching and the quality of proposals to close gaps between students.

The full executive order can be read at the DOE website.

Schools Surveyed Parents

Some school districts in Florida surveyed parents on how they want the students to return to school in the new school year.

Parents can choose between sending their kids to physical schools, online classes, or a format that uses a mix of both online and in-person teaching.

High school teacher Jenn Devine believes the executive order makes sure no student is left behind for whatever schooling format they need.

She believes the order focuses on giving students all the different services that the school system can offer. That includes virtual learning.

It also allows school districts to make changes if changes in the pandemic call for a need to close.

The executive order also suspends the 180 education day minimum for school years, so schools don't have to make up for lost time if they need to close comes.

Reopening Plans of Schools

WKMG-TV News 6 reported on the plans of some Central Florida schools about reopening.

Seminole County School Board is planning to reopen on July 14 and is set to approve the final safety plan.

Osceola County schools will reopen on August 10 as planned, said the school district. A reopening plan was already approved.

Orange County School Board will meet on Tuesday to talk about reopening plans. They already asked families for suggestions on safe reopening.

Lake County has already drafted a reopening plan, and Polk County made a task force to devise one.

Volusia County and Marion County school boards will hold a meeting to finalize and possibly approve plans.

Flagler Schools has posted general guidelines for reopening.

Not part of News 6's report was Miami-Dade County's questionnaire to parents that need to be answered by July 10.

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said the United States is looking to ban TikTok and other Chinese social media applications.

TikTok is owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance, which has been repeatedly criticized by U.S. politicians. Many believed that the short-form video app is bringing the threat to the country's national security.

Pompeo said the country is now looking to ban TikTok and other Chinese social media apps. If this happens, the U.S. will be the second country to ban TikTok and other Chinese apps just like what India did.

"With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too, Laura," Pompeo said during his interview with Fox News.

The Secretary of State further noted that this is something that the Trump's administration is seriously looking at. Pompeo said anyone can download TikTok, but you have to give first your private information under the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

He alleged that TikTok could be working to support and cooperate with Intelligence work controlled by the Communist country.

It can be remembered that Huawei, a Chinese-owned mobile company, was not allowed to sell its devices last year because of an alleged security threat.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of TikTok has defended their company. He said TikTok is led by an American chief executive officer (CEO) with hundreds of employees and key officials across the country.

He added that these people are responsible for the security, product, and public policy in the U.S.

The company's spokesperson also asserted that the priority of the firm is to promote a safe and secure application for their users.

TikTok also claimed that they have never provided any private information to the Chinese government nor will give information if they will be asked.

TikTok said the application in the U.S. operates separately from ByteDance, according to a published article by CNN News.

The company stressed that their data centers are outside China and that the data of users in the U.S. are not subject to Chinese law.

According to TikTok, the data of American users is stored in the United States with a backup in Singapore.

In May, a company's spokesperson said the allegation of U.S. politicians regarding the application's threat on national security is unfounded.

TikTok is the first Chinese social media platform to gain significant traction outside its country. Early this year, the application was downloaded about 315 million times. It was the highest so far compared to other social media platforms.

TikTok has exploded its popularity in Western countries, including the U.S. Many American teens are now using this application.

TikTok has already received criticisms in India. Last week, India announced that it would ban the social media platform and other Chinese applications.
The rising tension between China and India began to calm down after Beijing decided to pull its troops back from a region where a deadly border clash occurred. The move, however, was conducted as the Chinese government laid claim to an area near Bhutan.

Falling back

According to the Wall Street Journal, both countries started to have their troops retreat from some parts of disputed regions along the Himalayan border.

Security officials from India announced the news on Monday along with discussions between both nations' senior diplomats and military commanders in an attempt to alleviate pressure on both China and India.

Movements of the military personnel took place two days after an Indian news outlet reported a rising conflict between Beijing and Bhutan, which the Bhutanese government considered a territorial claim of China over a wildlife sanctuary.

On Sunday, Ajit Doval, the Indian national security adviser, spoke with Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister and had a "frank and in-depth exchange of views" by telephone before the troops' retreat.

The two representatives agreed to take steps to de-escalate tensions between the two countries along the borders as quickly as possible and continue communications between the two nations' diplomatic and military officials.

Also Read: China-India Tensions Rise Amid Brutal Border Clashes, Death of Several Troops

The location that China pulled back from was the site where 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in brutal unarmed encounters with Chinese troops. The battle lasted for hours on June 15, where some immediately lost their lives, and some succumbed to their injuries and fell to the freezing waters of the Galwan river, as reported by the New York Post.

The deaths of the Indian troops have been the highest number of casualties the middle eastern nation has experienced in the last 50 years. The incident also led to weeks of continuous discussions between the two countries in trying to calm the situation down.

De-escalation efforts

Chinese military troops were seen on Monday dismantling tents and structures at the region where the deadly clash occurred, say the reports of the Indian government. They also stated that vehicles could be seen fleeing the area along with two other disputed zones; Hot Springs Area and Gogra.

Zhao Lijian, China's foreign ministry spokesman, announced that both countries had taken measures to ensure the de-escalation of tensions between the two nations along the border that has been contested for years.

According to Aljazeera, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday made a surprise visit to the northern part of the Himalayan region of Ladakh where he announced the end of the age of expansionism.

The Indian government claims an area of land spanning 38,000 sq. Km that is currently controlled by China. Beijing, on the other hand, is claiming rights to a 90,000 sq. Km area that sits inside Indian territory.

The Center for South Asian Studies' Deputy Director, Lin Minwang, stated the most crucial factor now is the de-escalation of both parties involved.

Related Article: India Clashes With China at Border, 20 Indian Soldier Killed, Beaten to Death

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Several multi-million dollar companies, elite private and charter schools, and celebrity-owned businesses received loans from the administration.

The Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, aimed to help small businesses who were heavily affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns.

Federal data released on Monday showed that billionaire property developer Joe Farrel, a fancy sushi restaurant at a Trump hotel, and Kanye West's clothing and sneaker brand Yeezy received federal aid worth between $2 million and $5 million, the CBS News reported.

Yeezy, which is known for its $250 sneakers, recently closed a deal with Gap. The partnership will see the rapper designing apparel that will be sold in more than a thousand stores worldwide. The PPP loan allegedly supported 106 jobs.

A Hamptons beachfront community developer, Farrell, claimed his loan went to retain 41 jobs. According to NBC News, Farrell rented out a 17,000-square-foot estate for nearly $2 million to a wealthy Manhattan family.

Soho House, an exclusive membership club, received over $23 million after it applied for seven loans through its multiple locations.

Who else benefitted from the loan?

Kasowitz Benson Torres, a firm founded and run by President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, received a loan between $5 million and $10 million. The firm began representing the president more than a decade before he was elected into position.

Marc E. Kasowitz, the lawyer, helped keep Trump's divorce records sealed. He also represented the president when he was under investigation for allegedly having the Russians interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Dozens of tenants at buildings owned by the president or managed by his companies were also revealed to have benefited from the government's coronavirus relief package.

Several loan recipients had connections with the president's senior adviser, Jared Kushner, as reported by The New York Times. A Kushner family entity in Livingston received between $350,000 and $1 million.

Princeton Forrestal, a real estate entity owned by members of the Kushner family, also received a loan of up to $2 million.

Car dealerships connected to multimillionaire Representative Mike Kelly received three loans, each amounting between $150,000 and $350,000.

Businesses associated with other members of Congress also received federal aid. They included both Democrats and Republicans.

A farm and other businesses owned by Missouri Representative Vicky Hazler and a New York shipping business owned by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao received at least $350,000 from the PPP.

How do you qualify for PPP?

To legally qualify for the PPP, businesses must self-certify that the loan request is necessary to support their operations amid the COVID-19 economic crisis.

In the borrower application form, applicants are required to check a box that says the loan must go towards retaining workers. They are also required to ensure that the funding would be used to make mortgage, lease, or utility payments.

A report by the Small Business Administration claimed the taxpayer-funded relief reached over eighty percent of all small-business employees.

Twenty-seven percent of low and moderate-income communities were also granted the emergency payroll relief effort.
South Africa: COVID-19 cases exceed 200 000

South Africas COVID-19 cases have breached the 200 000 mark, while the death toll is now sitting at 3 310.

While the country has recorded 97 848 recoveries, infections increased by 8 971 to 205 721 on Monday, while 111 more people lost their lives.

Of the new additional deaths, 50 are from Gauteng, 35 from the Western Cape, 17 from Limpopo and nine from the Eastern Cape.

The MEC of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs in the North West, Gordon Kegakilwe, also succumbed to COVID-19 after a short battle with pneumonia.

He was admitted [on Sunday] to a private hospital in Vryburg and was subsequently transferred to Klerksdorp, where he suffered cardiac arrest on arrival, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said.

The Minister described him as a tried and tested leader, with an illustrious political career.

It is crushing to lose such talent at the prime of his life, Mkhize said.

He also expressed his condolences to his friends, colleagues and comrades, and to all the other families who have lost their loved ones.

The country has conducted 1 864 111 tests, 33 950 of which were done in the last 24 hours.

The Western Cape remains the epicentre with 70 938 cases, followed by Gauteng 66 891, Eastern Cape 38 081 and KwaZulu-Natal 15 819.

North West has 6 410 cases, Free State 2 804, Mpumalanga 2 173, Limpopo 1 785 and Northern Cape 820.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are 11 327 790 cases globally and 532 340 deaths.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
LONDON, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Nemanja Matic has signed a new contract with Manchester United to continue his stay at the club until June 2023, announced the Premier League side on Monday.

Matic, 31, joined United from London club Chelsea in 2017 and has made 114 appearances for the Reds.

"I am very happy that I will continue to be part of this great club," said the Serbian midfielder. "As a player, I still have a lot more to give and achieve in my career and to do that with Manchester United will be a huge honor."

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: "We have great strength in midfield and Nemanja's attributes are a key part of that. Nemanja has been here for three seasons now and really understands the values of playing for Manchester United."

Manchester United is fifth in the Premier League with five games remaining. They are only two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
Recently, an anonymous user publicly announced his claim that he was the son of United States President Donald Trump and recently charged of sex trafficking Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's long-time confidant.

A monumental secret

The announcement was made on Twitter when an account named "Rogue Senior White House Advisor" came out with his confident statement, as reported by Inquisitr.

The user immediately gained widespread fame from its initial creation two years ago as being one of the most secretive White House insiders who has been working to reveal publicly unknown information about the American president.

Several high-profile news names began to follow the account and monitored what intelligence the so-called insider had about the United States president including The Atlantic and Reuters, but was not able to erase doubts that it could have been someone playing a long-running prank on Trump and his critics.

The week before July 4, the account continued to tease followers that it would be revealing the identity of the individual behind the account which it would reveal on Independence Day.

Using a new account and spectacularly, the person appeared in a video and claimed to be Trump's long-secret son and revealed his name to be James Maxwell Trump while also showing a birth certificate he used as supportive evidence to his claim.

After the announcement, however, the account had since deleted all its past tweets, changed its displayed name to "Jimmy Trump," and stopped all postings.

Also Read: Fact Check: Photos of Donald Trump with Ghislaine Maxwell Following Sexual Abuse Charges Real?

Trump and Maxwell's son?

According to Snopes, the account used the birth certificate as proof that he was the biological son of Trump to Maxwell, who was previously charged and arrested for sexual abuse and other crimes.

Upon further investigation, it was revealed the birth certificate was fake and forged to look legitimate. The document was altered from the actual birth certificate of an individual named Tara Ann Uzamere.

The person shown in the profile picture was also found to be a fake, as it was the mash-up of the faces of Trump and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The account also wrote in its location with "in DJTJ's Head," which is a reference to Donald J. Trump Jr. and suggests the real objective of the person behind the account was to prank the United States president's family.

It was also found that the birth certificate was forged by altering some of the details to make it seem like a legitimate birth certificate for one James Maxwell Trump who does not exist. The perpetrator failed to change the document numbers and discolorations of the original file, leading to the discovery.

The fraudulent document also made errors in altering the birth certificate number found on the top right of the document as it suggested James Maxwell Trump was born in Utah, contrary to what the user wrote down as Manhattan.

The supposed birth was placed as 1973, 19 years before the supposed illegitimate child of Trump and Maxwell was even born based on the Twitter account.

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.
TORONTO  Two Americans have been fined for breaking Canadas COVID-19 quarantine rules after being spotted multiple times in an Ontario town, police say.

Ontario Provincial Police officers in the Rainy River District, which runs along the Canada-U.S. border west of Thunder Bay, Ont., say the 66-year-old man and 65-year-old woman entered Canada on June 24.

Police report that the visitors were told to drive straight to their Canadian destination and stay there for 14 days.

Both individuals failed to comply with the  Quarantine Act and were observed making stops in the Town of Fort Frances, police said Saturday in a news release.

As a result of the charge, the man and woman, who police say live in Excelsior, Minn., have each been fined $1,000.

Everyone entering Canada for non-essential reasons since March has been ordered to quarantine for two weeks. This rule is currently scheduled to remain in place until the end of August. Visitors also have to wear non-medical face masks while en route to their quarantine locations, unless they are in private vehicles.

There is an exemption that allows Americans to travel through Canada to reach Alaska. There has been concern that some tourists may be using this as a loophole to get into the country and stay here, and several charges related to Quarantine Act violations have recently been laid against Americans found in Banff, Alta. B.C. Premier John Horgan recently implored American tourists to go straight to Alaska and straight back, without stopping to see the sights of Canada.

The Quarantine Act carries maximum penalties of six-month jail terms and fines of up to $750,000, or more if a failure to quarantine leads to death or serious bodily harm.

For anyone arriving from outside the U.S., the border is also closed outright to most non-citizens until July 31, although there are exceptions for permanent residents, immediate family members of Canadian citizens, diplomats and air crews.
- Switzerland is rated as the most powerful country in the world among 73 countries reviewed by Best Countries Rankings

- Among the powerful top 10 are Sweden, Norway, UK, the US, with Canada coming second

- Japan is in the third position, Germany and Australia are fourth and fifth

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The 2020 Best Countries Rankings has ranked Switzerland as the worlds most powerful country. Canada is second on the list among 73 reviewed countries.

Japan, Germany, Australia were ranked third, fourth, and fifth. In the top 10 worlds most powerful countries, the United Kingdom and the United States are sixth and seventh on the ranking.

Netherlands and Norway are at the lower rung of the first 10 rankings.

Below is the full list of the countries and their positions:

Switzerland Canada Japan Germany Australia United Kingdom United States Sweden Netherlands Norway

It should be noted that in the ranking, the countries were grouped with subcategories like adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power and quality of life.

A collage of seats of power in the US, Japan, UK, Switzerland. Photos sources: US Govt/WorldAtlas

Source: UGC

Recall that the same ranking adjudged Egypt to be the most powerful country in Africa followed by South Africa in the second position.

South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana are in the second, third, and fourth positions respectively.

In other news, on Monday, July 6, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that international students in America will leave the country if their universities switch to online teaching.

The present development will affect thousands of foreign students who are in America for university education.

It should be noted that the universities are making the switch as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. For instance, at Harvard, course instructions will be delivered online which will include on-campus students.

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ICE, however, added that students that are under certain visa categories may stay back in the US and not take a full online course.

It went ahead to say the US will not give visas to students whose schools offer full online courses for the fall semester.

The agency said that students may consider transferring to a school with an in-person system or those who offer a mix both.

The Migration Policy Institute, about 1.2 million students in more than 8,700 schools could be affected by the latest development.

Coronavirus: The US govt gave me over 400k to stay at home - Nigerian in US | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
Q. Can a New Jersey resident use a 529 plan to pay for K-12 tuition at a school in New York State?

 Dad

A. 529 plans are a great way to save for college. But now, you can also use the funds for K-12 educations, too.

529 plans are state-run plans that allow you to contribute tax-deferred dollars for college and university expenses, said Dawn Brown, a certified financial planner with Lassus Wherley, a subsidiary of Peapack-Gladstone Bank, in New Providence.

She said the plans were created to be used to pay for tuition and other qualified expenses.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017 expanded the use of 529 plans to include paying for tuition at an elementary or secondary school, Brown said. It includes public, private and religious schools for K-12 students. A maximum of $10,000 can be withdrawn annually to pay for tuition.

Though the federal law expanded the use of 529 plans, not all states conform with federal law, she said.

Brown said New Jersey conforms with the law, so if a New Jersey resident owns a New Jersey plan, they can use up to $10,000 to pay for tuition in a New York school.

But New York does not conform with federal law.

If a withdrawal is made from a New York 529 plan to pay tuition at an elementary or secondary school (K-12) the New York 529 plan classes it as a non-qualified distribution, Brown said. Therefore New York will recapture any tax benefit that was received for the contribution.

Also, she said, New York will tax any earnings on the withdrawal on a New York tax return.

A New Jersey resident needs to be aware of the rules in the state where the plan is opened, Brown said.

Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com.

Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.
Police seek the publics help to track down a 24-year-old Bethlehem man accused of stabbing another man to death in Downtown Easton, authorities report.

Natural Nacier Golson stabbed Raekwon Washington, 22, of Palmer Township, three times in the back, Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck said during a Tuesday morning news conference in the courthouse. Court paperwork was sealed in the case to protect the identity of witnesses and due to the sensitive nature of the case, Houck said.

The killing was in the early morning hours of June 28 in the first block of South Second Street, Houck said. Golson faces counts of homicide and possession an instrument of crime. A warrant was issued for Golsons arrest and he wasnt in custody as of Tuesday morning.

I believe Mr. Golson is on the run at this time, Houck said. He could be armed. We would ask the publics assistance with any information they have on Mr. Natural Golson.

Houck told members of the public to stay away from Golson, who police said should be considered armed and dangerous.

I would not approach him. I would simply call 911 and give any information you have, Houck said.

The stabbing happened after a related fight on Lehns Court and shots fired in the 200 block of Northampton Street, city police reported.

Police were investigating the fight report at 12:42 a.m. when they heard the gunfire just south of Centre Square, Lt. Matthew Gerould said later that day.

They found evidence of shots fired -- Jacks Market was struck by gunfire, according to an on-scene report -- and then police were alerted to an assault victim at Easton Hospital, Gerould said.

Washington had been taken to the hospital in a private vehicle and died from his injuries, Gerould said. His death was ruled a homicide by the Northampton County coroners office. Authorities are not releasing the cause of Washingtons death, but he was stabbed on South Second between Northampton and Pine streets after the gunfire, Gerould said.

Houck wouldnt say whether the murder weapon was recovered.

Golson targeted Washington in what is believed to be related to an ongoing dispute. Those involved in all three incidents knew each other.

This was not a random act, Houck said. Nor was it gang related, he said. Houck said police looked in four homes in Easton and Bethlehem for Golson on Tuesday morning.

Road barriers had been moved the morning of June 28, 2020, on Easton's South Second Street after a fight hours earlier on Lehns Court in the Downtown led to a shots fired incident in the 200 block of Northampton Street and then a fatal assault on a 22-year-old Palmer Township man here in the first block of South Second, city police report.Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor

Golson is 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes, police said. Hes know to spend time in Easton and Bethlehem but has ties to New York as well.

It was the second killing in a little more than a week in Easton.

The citys most recent killing was the June 18 killing of Ricky Hunter, 47, formerly of Easton but in recent years of Allentown. His body was found in a car at Iron and West Bird streets on the citys South Side. The most recent killing before that was May 9, 2016, when Michael Bond was shot dead in the 600 block of Church Street.

Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek announced Hunters death was a homicide due to a gunshot wound. No one was in custody in that case and the investigation was continuing.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a voluntary subscription.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.
St. Lukes University Health Network paid $15 million to acquire Easton Hospital and eight related properties, according to St. Lukes chief marketing officer.

The deed transfer was recorded July 2 in Northampton County. The hospital was formerly owned by for-profit Steward Health Care of Dallas.

St. Lukes issued Steward a promissory note in the amount of $15 million, which was the payment for the hospital operations and the real estate parcels, said St. Lukes Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer Kenneth Szydlow in an email Monday.

The deed transfer paperwork says $62 million actually changed hands during the transaction. The owner who sold to St. Lukes is listed in county records as MPT of Easton-Steward LLC of Birmingham, Alabama.

A Pennsylvania representative of MPT, or Medical Properties Trust, said his company was the landlord of the hospital and leased to Steward. He confirmed MPT sold the property to St. Lukes but had no further comment.

A report in the Morning Call of Allentown says $47 million went from Steward to MPT during the hospital sale. That covers the sale price of more than $61 million that MPT paid Northampton Hospital Corporation when MPT acquired Easton Hospital in 2017, according to county property records.

A St. Lukes spokesman declined to discuss the discrepancy between the $62 million and $15 million figures. Messages left Monday with Steward media representatives werent returned.

Easton Hospital was founded 125 years ago. Its at 250 S. 21st St. in Wilson Borough. Easton Hospital is now the 12th hospital owned by St. Lukes. St. Lukes is based in the Bethlehem area and has more than 325 outpatient sites serving 11 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

St. Lukes acquired these properties from MPT:

The hospital and three neighboring properties on 20th and 21st streets in Wilson Borough.

A medical practice in Unit 104 in the Northwood medical building at 3735 Nazareth Road in Lower Nazareth Township.

A property on Broadway in Wind Gap.

3819, 3783 and 3824 Corriere Road in Lower Nazareth Township.

Workers rallied at the hospital in June to protest job losses that came as a result of the hospital sale.

Steward previously said more than 600 people would lose their jobs if the hospital closed. At the time of the June 18 rally, St. Lukes had offered 200 jobs to employees affiliated with Easton Hospital and was reviewing 180 applications from Easton Hospital-affiliated employees. Those figures include the hospital, primary care physician practices and residencies.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Lehighvalleylive.com.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
August 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, and the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act that addressed barriers to the African-American vote.

Nearly 60 years before the 1920 ratification, the American Association of University Women took an early lead in advancing equity for women  fighting for access to higher education, family leave and child care, and against workplace discrimination. As active supporters of voter education and registration drives, we believe in the power of the vote to effect change.

While we all should celebrate our nations voting rights achievement, we also believe much remains to be improved. Prohibitions on early or mail-in voting and reducing the number of polling stations are designed to discourage participation.

Beyond these we now face concerns about the effect of COVID-19 on the November election  health safety, limited available poll workers, long lines and difficulties with new voting machines experienced in some states.

Clearly there is work to be done! In an important step this year, Pennsylvania approved mail-in voting. Join the almost 2 million Pennsylvania residents who voted by mail in the primary.

For the November elections, the last day to register to vote is Oct. 19 and the last day to apply for a mail in ballot is Oct. 27. There is useful information on VotesPA.com. Make your voice count.

Nancy Kinzli

Co-president, Easton AAUW branch

Bangor
The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress at the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Congress approved the final text and it was signed Aug. 2, 1776. These dates gave birth to the United States of America. The cruel and unfavorable oppression by British rule would no longer be tolerated.

Many Americans past and present choose not to celebrate July 4th. One remarkable man was Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and leader of the abolitionist movement. He sought to end slavery prior to our Civil War. He passionately spoke about his opposition to celebrating the Fourth of July on July 5, 1852. I truly respect the beliefs of these Americans.

Nevertheless, I and my family, along with millions of other Americans, continue to celebrate July 4th and the beginning of independence. The signers of the Declaration were of one mind and wanted to be free. Many wars followed. Men and women from all backgrounds lost their lives in battle, in support of battle and ending slavery.

The U.S. is a great country, especially our right to peacefully protest. However, the destruction of property, terrorizing citizens and injuring people through rioting is divisive.

The sacrifices of all people in our country should be remembered. As a nation we must passionately move to erase racism to improve the lives of all Americans. May we as a country always have the freedoms currently enjoyed, and never have constitutional rights eliminated by groups focused on the destruction of our constitution and great nation. May God bless America.

Steve Bair Sr.

Bangor
As the country emerges from lockdown, staycationing has become the new trend for what remains of the summer months with people on the lookout to uncover some of Ireland's hidden gems.

Airbnb has fast become the go-to website for short term breaks, and this stunning boathouse in Co Clare is one of many short term getaways available for a much-deserved break within Ireland.

The boathouse, Pops Dream, is set overlooking Lough Derg in Co. Clare and is described by owner Barry as a "small slice of paradise on the sunny side of Lough Derg".

The house is self-contained with a full kitchen, bathroom and mezzanine bed. The property boasts a private veranda with seating for two people, and there's also and a small BBQ for that authentic cabin feel.

If you're looking to get away from the day-to-day grind to relax and unwind after a particularly stressful few months, look no further than this one-bedroom idyllic property with more than its fair share of scenic views in a truly unique setting.

For more information about prices and how to book, visit HERE.
A Naas woman recovering from cervical cancer is outraged that as the economy is reopening, healthcare is not, and she is still fighting for vital care.

Aoife Rafter, 28, was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, at the age of nine, and last year, she had a hysterectomy, and underwent radiotherapy, after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Ms Rafter says that she is shocked and disheartened that since the lockdown, all she has been getting for her cancer care is phone calls. Although she is seeing a radiologist this Tuesday, June 30, she feels that it is not enough, and her treatment needs to improve.

She said: I am very appreciative of the level of care I had before Covid, but I am not getting my usual testing or consultations.

My follow up appointment in St Vincents is a virtual one for this October. I am very confused. How can I be examined internally on a phone call? This is not good enough.

Unsure

I dont even know if I am cancer free or not. Virtual is not good enough, I have seen a Cystic Fibrosis doctor once over the lockdown, but I have not seen anyone in oncology, since the lockdown.

Meanwhile, the qualified Social Care Worker, who has not worked over the past 12 months, due to her cancer treatment, is cocooning, and says that it is lonely, but the lack of medical support makes it more lonely.

She said: I have been mostly on my own. I live with my mother and my sister, I have my own bedroom and bathroom. It has been lonely and even more lonely not having medical support. I think the healthcare system is really struggling with all of this, it was not strong before this.

The Naas woman does not feel that she should have to be fighting for urgent medical care, when shops, hairdressers and restaurants are being allowed to reopen.

Ms Rafter said: I dont want to be at loggerheads with my medical teams, I think that it is very avoidable, I assumed that oncology would be the most significant health issue.

Throughout Ms Rafters life, she has experienced ill health, but has never experienced, what she is describing as a scary lack of care, since the onset of Covid-19, in the country.

She said: I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when I was about 10, I was missing loads of school, I was very thin, a delicate child.

However, she did not let Cystic Fibrosis get in the way, and qualified with a degree in Social Care, and was employed as a Social Care worker for four years.

When she moved to Australia, she became a recruiter for companies seeking social care workers.

While in Australia, she began to experience spotting over her menstrual cycle, and strong pelvic pain.

She said: My periods had been like clockwork, now I was having a lot of pain, my pants would be destroyed with blood and discharge, my periods were not regular and more often.

Ms Rafter thought that the treatment she was on for Cystic Fibrosis was causing the symptoms, but the pelvic pain became so severe, that she went to a doctor in Australia, and got cervical screening.

On the same day that she returned back to Naas, last year, June 24, she got an email from Australia, informing her that she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

She had to have a hysterectomy, as the tumour was so large, and before radiotherapy, her eggs got frozen, during a procedure at The Rotunda. Her 25 sessions of radiotherapy came to an end on the second week of January this year.

Ms Rafter said: I would like to have children some day, but for now getting treatment is most on my mind.

I attend six different clinics in three different hospitals, none of them have been face to face, all virtual.

Baffled

Ms Rafter is a public patient, and says that it is baffling that her treatment is not being prioritised.

She said: There is something missing here, there are so many people in the same situation as me. I was not even asked if I was okay with making the clinics virtual, there has been no inclusiveness.

I may not even be eligible for a vaccine, as some vaccines dont agree with me because of the steroids that I take for my Cystic Fibrosis .
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 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 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

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.

Jenny's funeral will be leaving Glennons Funeral Home, Allenwood on Wednesday at 12.30 to arrive at The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Allenwood, for 1 o'clock 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 George Heather

Leixlip, Kildare

HEATHER, (Leixlip, Co. Kildare) July 6th, 2020 (peacefully) in the loving care of the staff at Knightsbridge Nursing Home, Trim, George, beloved husband of the late Elizabeth (Betty) reunited, much loved father of George, Sarah and Nigel and grandad to Amelia, Leo, Finn and Holly. Sadly missed by his loving family, brother David and his wife Carol, daughter-in-law Elaine, brothers-in-law Myles, John and Chris, sisters-in-law Jan, Ann and Maeve, nephews, nieces, 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. We look forward to meeting everyone at a Memorial Service for George where we will honour his life at a later date.

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.



The death has occurred of Aldis SNIKERS

Esmondale, Naas, Kildare

Formerly of Cesis, Latvia. Sadly missed by his loving wife Nina, sons Janis and Valerijs, parents Edite and Micks, sister Inga, brothers Guntars and Gatis, Valerijs's partner lima, granddaughter Mia, extended family and friends.

"May He Rest In Peace"

In accordance with government directives and in the interest of public health a private family funeral will take place. A memorial service for Aldis will take place in Cesis, Latvia at a later date. Those who would like to attend the funeral but cannot due to the current restrictions on gatherings are invited to leave a message on the condolence page below.



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.


On June 23, a 17-year-old teen girl from Lee County, Florida, died from COVID-19 after her mother used unproven drugs to treat her and put her on an oxygen tank used by her grandfather.

Self-medication

On June 10, Carsyn Leigh Davis started showing symptoms of the COVID-19 after her mother Carole Brunton Davis made her attend a youth group event at their church.

Around 100 people attended the church function, according to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office. Carsyn did not wear a mask and the said event did not follow social distancing. The website News-Press could not verify which church was involved and Carole is not returning calls from reporters since July 6.

Carsyn had struggled with numerous health issues, she had a rare nervous-system disorder that was resolved when she was 5-years-old. She also suffered from obesity and auto-immune disorder, according to the report by RawStory.

The teen's mother is a nurse and her father is a physician assistant. On June 19, Carole noticed that her daughter was gray and had developed a cough, headaches, and sinus pressure, they thought it was just a sinus infection. Instead of rusher her immediately to the hospital, her parents gave her azithromycin, which is an antibiotic that is being studied as a potential COVID-19 treatment.

The report published by Boston states that her parents did it as a "protective measure." She was also given an unspecified dose of hydroxychloroquine which is lupus and arthritis drug.

The drug was advertised by President Donald Trump as a possible treatment for COVID-19, although nothing has been proven. There is little evidence that the drug is effective in treating COVID-19.

Also Read: President Trump Cancels His Alabama Rally Due to COVID-19 Threat

The FDA has warned the public about using the drug outside of supervised hospital settings because it has the potential to cause liver, heart, and kidney problems.

Carsyn was then given the oxygen that was used by her grandfather, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease before they took her to the Gulf Coast Medical Center.

Medical officials then transferred Carsyn to The Golisano Children's Hospital, which confirmed that she had COVID-19. Her family refused to allow her to be intubated and opted for plasma treatment instead. However, that did not work and the doctors had no choice but to intubate her. Carsyn was then transferred to Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, where she passed away.

A GoFundMe page was set up for Carsyn and as of July 6, it received around $8,400. On the GoFundMe page, Carole said that they were saddened by the passing of her young daughter, but they are comforted that she is now pain-free.

Hydroxychloroquine

After U.S President Donald Trump suggested that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are treatments for the coronavirus, however, medical experts have no proof that they actually work.

Despite the warnings posted by the CDC and the FDA, the sales of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine skyrocketed in America from February to March. What alarms medical experts is that most Americans are relying on self-medication instead of going to the hospital.

This move is very dangerous especially if people take chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine on unrecommended doses. Some of the side effects of these drugs are nausea, vomiting, dizziness, stomach pain, and skin rash.

Related Article:Mongolia Quarantines Area Next to China After Discovering Cases of Black Plague

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The Royal Canal Greenway project between Maynooth and Leixlip in North Kildare could have to be widened due to social distance guidelines in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 84km route for pedestrians and cyclists runs from Longford, Westmeath, Meath, Kildare and Dublin.

The Maynooth to Moyvalley route is practically complete with Waterways Ireland preparing to install picnic benches and signage.

The Council wants to go to tender with the Maynooth to Leixlip stretch.

Increase to 4m



However The Clane - Maynooth Municipal District meeting was told last week that the National Transport Authority wants to increase the agreed width of the route from 3m to 4m from Maynooth to Leixlip.

Kildare Co Council engineers have instructed the NTA that this isn't possible due to the physical constraints beside the Canal and that the proposed 3m Greenway is due to go to tender.

Council officials are meeting with NTA representatives this week to discuss the issue.

Director of Services Sonya Kavanagh said that the NTA is the funding authority for the project and that there is currently no other source of funding for the project.

'Worrying'

She said that the situation is quite worrying to the project given the physical restrictions along the Royal Canal.

The meeting also heard that a marketing consultant will be hired by Waterways Ireland to promote the Greenway.

Businesses will also be encouraged to set up services related to the Greenway such a bike hire business.

The Greenway will run from Spencer Dock in Dublin to Richmond Harbour in Longford.

Leixlip, Maynooth and Kilcock will be the towns closest to the new amenity.

Biggest greenway



It will be Ireland's biggest greenway once it is completed.

The first stage is a 22km paddling trail in Westmeath from McNeads Bridge in Coralstown to Coolnahay townland.

According to Waterways Ireland, the Greenway is a recreational, off-road route for walkers, cyclists and other non-motorised vehicles and will be free to everybody.
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A Newbridge housing estate will have a road closed for 80 days.

At Pairc Mhuire Kildare County Council, in conjunction with Irish Water, has announced that from Monday, August 17, until February 28, next, the road from Pairc Mhuire to Sarsfield Drive will be closed.

The works are to facilitate the installation of pipework.

A statement from Kildare County Council said: "Closures will be managed so as not to interfere with school opening or exam schedules."

Alternative Routes:

Southbound vehicles travelling on Sarsfield Drive towards Newbridge Main Street will divert straight onto Pairc Mhuire (circa 0.19km). They will divert right at Pairc Mhuire/ Pairc Mhuire and continue onto Henry Road (circa 0.3km). They will divert right at Henry Road/ Henry Street (circa 0.1km) and continue on R445.

Vehicles travelling eastbound on Dara Park towards Newbridge Main Street will be diverted right onto Highfield Estate (circa 0.3km). They will be diverted left at Highfield Estate/ Morristown Road (circa 0.16km) and then diverted right at Morristown Road/ Standhouse Road (circa 0.4km). They will divert left onto Moorefield Road (circa 0.15km) and then right onto R445.

Vehicles travelling westbound on Henry Street towards the Curragh will be diverted left at Henry Street/ Henry Street. They will divert right at Henry Street/ R445 (circa 0.4km). They will then divert right at R445 / Moorefield Road onto Moorefield Road.

Diversionary routes will be clearly signposted, as agreed with the Council and An Garda Siochana. Emergency access and restricted local access will be maintained. Any objections or observations should be lodged in writing to the Senior Executive Officer, Roads, Transportation & Public Safety, Kildare County Council, Aras Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas, Co. Kildare, W91X77F or by e-mail to roadssubmissions@kildarecoco.ie on or before 5pm. on Monday, July 27.
LIMERICK City and County Council is to spend more than 600,000 upgrading the sound equipment in its chamber at Dooradoyle.

Members at this months full council meeting were told the news by director of community development Gordon Daly.

The meeting was held at the Limerick Racecourse to ensure members adhere to social distancing.

But it was a third venue which Labour councillor Joe Leddin said thinks is more deserving of investment  City Hall at Merchants Quay.

He said: At the time of its opening, City Hall would have been seen as iconic and transformational. We were refurbishing what was an old biscuit factory and turning it into a modern block to house the seat of local government on the banks of the River Shannon and near the cathedral. It would have been very visionary.

But, the City West member stated this was 30 years ago.

A lot of the areas of City Hall, particularly the glass corridor coming in has pretty much served its purpose. County Hall in comparison to City Hall is a relatively new building. My view would be a proportion of that 600,000 should go towards the refurbishment of that glass corridor because its extremely cold not just for staff but also members of the public. Its an opportunity to examine how we can best upgrade it to better the needs of the organisation, he said.

A council spokesperson confirmed the money is for new audio-visual equipment, alongside health and safety works.
LIMERICKs new deputy mayor has been targetted with what has been described as repulsive and racist abuse on the Internet.

Fianna Fail member Abul Kalam Azad Talukdar won the support of 31 of 39 councillors to become the first Muslim to hold a top political job on Limerick City and County Council.

But no sooner had he been elected, right-wing commentator Gemma ODoherty issued a series of comments on the social media site Twitter, which led to a big debate and what many felt were racist comments by some.

If we don't take back our country very soon, it will be gone again, but this time for good, she wrote. Many of her followers also wrote to agree with the sentiments.

These comments have been reported to Twitter, while colleagues and friends were rallying around the Bangladeshi national last night, with newly appointed Minister of State Niall Collins describing Ms ODohertys slur comments as repulsive in the extreme.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Cllr Talukder said he has no time for a small minority of people like this.

It is very disappointing, but she couldn't even get elected herself. She has no mandate. People in Limerick City West elected me. I was elected by the people, I was even elected deputy mayor. That's why I won't use my energy for her. he said.

The City West member  who made history on his election last summer  added: It makes me very sad. My family and my community worry. I've had a lot of calls on this, not just from Limerick, but from Cork, Waterford and elsewhere after the racist attack. I told my community, don't be sad. Irish people have already proven they are not like this.

His party colleague Mr Collins said: The less media focus and attention she [Ms ODoherty] gets, the better. Azad represents the face of a changing Limerick, and it is right we embrace all creeds, cultures and none, all parts of society.

Fellow City West councillor Daniel Butler was one of dozens to also report the comments to Twitter.He said: The election of Azad is reflective of Limerick and the new Irish society we have. Everyone has been enriched by new cultures which have come in. We are the better for them.

Cllr Butler said he felt if he didnt do anything, he would be complicit in the abuse.I think it's important not just as a public official, but a citizen, that I condemn anything that I see as racist against any individual. I think it's important we stand with the people who are victims of racism. We all need to realise that. We have to understand we all have a role to play in ensuring racism is stamped out, he concluded.

@TwitterSupport I would like to report this racist attack on our newly elected Deputy Mayor of @LimerickCouncil Azad Talukder. This has no place on our city or country. We are a diverse city culturally a quality we embrace and are truly enriched from. #DiversityAndInclusion pic.twitter.com/odhHHZwQxe  Cllr Daniel Butler (@DanielButlerFG) July 1, 2020

There was also condemnation of the comments from Doras chief executive John Lannon, who said: We are appalled that the race, ethnicity or religion of any public representative would be used as an opportunity to spread messages of intolerance and hate. The recent general elections have shown that there is next-to-no public support for people and parties that overtly carry anti-immigrant, far-right views.
NEW DELHI : The finance ministry on Tuesday said banks have sanctioned loans of about 1,14,502 crore under the 3 trillion Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for MSME sector reeling under the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, disbursements against this stood at 56,091.18 trillion till July 4 under the 100% ECLGS for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The scheme is the biggest fiscal component of the 20 trillion 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in May.

The latest numbers on ECLGS, as released by the finance ministry, comprise disbursements by all 12 public sector banks (PSBs), 20 private sector banks and 10 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

"As of 4 July 2020, the total amount sanctioned under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by #PSBs and private banks stands at 1,14,502.58 crore, of which 56,091.18 crore has already been disbursed," the finance minister said in a tweet.

Under the ECLGS, the loan amounts sanctioned by PSBs increased to 65,863.63 crore, of which 35,575.48 crore has been disbursed as of July 4, she said.

At the same time, private sector banks have sanctioned 48,638.96 crore and disbursed 20,515.70 crore.

"Compared to 1 July 2020, there is an increase of 4,158.51 crore in the cumulative amount of loans sanctioned and an increase of 3,835.65 crore in the cumulative amount of loans disbursed, by both #PSBs and private sector banks combined as on 4 July 2020," Sitharaman said.

Market leader SBI has sanctioned 20,628 crore of loans and disbursed 13,405 crore. It is followed by Punjab National Bank, which has sanctioned 8,689 crore. However, its disbursements stood at 2,595 crore as of July 4.

The business units of Maharashtra have got the highest cumulative sanction of 6,856 crore from banks, while disbursement was to the tune of 3,605 crore as of July 4.

It is followed by Tamil Nadu, with sanction of 6,616 crore loans and disbursements of 3,871 crore.

On May 21, the Cabinet approved additional funding of up to 3 trillion at a concessional rate of 9.25% through ECLGS for MSME sector.

Under the scheme, 100% guarantee coverage will be provided by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to 3 trillion to eligible MSMEs and interested Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) borrowers in the form of a guaranteed emergency credit line (GECL) facility.

For this purpose, a corpus of 41,600 crore was set up by the government, spread over the current and next three financial years.

The scheme will be applicable to all loans sanctioned under GECL facility during the period from the date of announcement of the scheme to October 31 or till the amount of 3 trillion is sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier.

All MSME borrower accounts with an outstanding credit of up to 25 crore as on February 29, which were less than or equal to 60 days past due as on that date, i.e., regular, SMA-0 and SMA-1 accounts, and with an annual turnover of up to 100 crore are eligible for GECL funding under the scheme.

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On 16 March, the Supreme Court asked the states and Union territories on their plans to avoid covid-19 spread in prisons. At the time, most states showed their willingness to release certain categories of prisoners on bail and parole. The idea was to decongest the 1,401 prisons in the country, which, according to 2018 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, were packed with around 450,000 people, nearly 60,000 over the sanctioned capacity.

As of 30 June, nearly 805 jail staffers and inmates have tested positive for covid-19 across jails in the country, as per Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). On 4 July, Mahender Yadav, a former legislator from Delhi, imprisoned in the Capitals Mandoli Jail in connection with the 1984 riots case, died of covid-19. Yadav became the second prisoner from the Capital to have succumbed to the virus.

Mint spoke to Vijay Raghavan to assess how India is faring in its efforts to control the covid-19 spread inside prisons. Raghavan is a professor at the Centre for Criminology and Justice at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. He also leads Prayas, a TISS initiative promoting social work in criminal justice. On paper, he said, India has taken the right steps to decongest prisons. Yet, an on-ground assessment shows the conditions remain dire. Edited excerpts from an interview:

In March, most states and Union territories had expressed willingness to decongest their prisons. Did they live up to their word?

On the direction of the Supreme Court, the states and Union territories had set up a high-powered committee (HPC) to decongest prisons in March. The committees came up with guidelines on the 14 categories of prisoners to be released. Delhi and some states like Karnataka and Chhattisgarh ensured large numbers should be released. But some HPCs didnt take proactive stands. In Maharashtra, for example, it said only those sentenced to less than seven years could be released. Later through an order dated 11 May, they expanded the category of prisoners who could be released. Overcrowding is more in big cities. Mumbais Arthur Road prison is still packed nearly three times the official capacity of 900.

How vulnerable are prisoners in case of a covid-19 spread?

Extremely. Even when one were to judge it by its official capacity, it doesnt allow for social distancing. You have to reduce 50% of official capacity if you have to do social distancing.

I dont want to blame the prison department alone because its not in their hands. The problem also lies in the role of the court. After the HPCs were formed, nearly 14,000 bail applications were forwarded to trial courts. We are told the courts have rejected a large number of bail applications on factors like case papers arent available. They are not available because most of the courts are functioning with 30% staff. Some courts, like the Kalyan session court in Maharashtra, are in a containment zone. So the situation is complex. But the courts need to realize that we live in extraordinary times and in such situations, extra ordinary decisions may have to be taken.

Dozens of prisoners in places like Mumbais Arthur Road and Delhis Tihar have tested positive. What has been done for them?

Medical teams from government hospitals are visiting prisons on a daily basis. They have also created temporary jails. Maharashtra has nearly 37 such jails in 27 districts. Its done to quarantine new admissions or those tested positive. The Bombay high court has laid down detailed guidelines for random tests to be done and those with comorbidity also tested.

Is it enough? Is politics playing a role in those allowed to be released?

Its not. The primary problem is to reduce overcrowding. Bail requests of those accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case have consistently been rejected, even when some of those accused are old and have co-morbid conditions.

The courts have taken a position that those arrested in economic, terror-related and organized crime and under passport act have been excluded. The accused charged under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) or those who fall under "organized" crime offences are excluded. I think classification should have been on the basis of age, comorbidity, pregnancy, disabilities. But for now, the entire categorization is on the basis of the seriousness of offence than the risks the virus poses.

How are things inside prisons?

The thing about prisons is, you never know whats happening inside because outsiders are not allowed. You can only form a picture based on anecdotal data. We are given to understand that masks and hygiene issues are being taken care of but that may not be enough. I must add that the fear of covid-19 is so strong, it has increased cleanliness inside prisons. Officials know that if the situation becomes abnormal, heads will roll.

Has transparency about prison affairs also reduced because of the pandemic?

Yes. Usually, undertrial prisoners are produced in courts every 14 days. Thats not happening. Earlier, undertrials would be allowed meetings at least once a week and convicts at least once a month. Now, its only done via phone or video calls. Meeting with lawyers have stopped. Only phone calls allowed.

How many and what kind of prisoners have been released since?

A report by the National Legal Services Authority in May said nearly 42,000 undertrials and 18,000 convicts were released. But new admissions also take place everyday.

Has the release of convicted criminals and those accused of crimes backfired?

I recently read a headline in a Mumbai newspaper that six notorious robbers were caught attempting robbery again. This is an instance of recidivism" or repeat offences. Its a worldwide phenomenon. In India, recidivism is less than 6%. In some developed countries, its as high as 50%. There could be two reasons why its the case. Either our conviction rates are lower, hence a lot of genuine criminals get off the hook. Or we are arresting a lot of innocent people. Either way, a certain percentage of people can always reoffend. Its normal in all countries. That has nothing to do with covid-19.

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World Bank and Government of India today signed a $400-million loan agreement to enhance support for the Namami Gange programme that seeks to rejuvenate the Ganga river.

The Second National Ganga River Basin Project will help stem pollution in the river and strengthen the management of the river basin which is home to more than 500 million people.

"The $400 million operation comprises a loan of $381 million and a proposed Guarantee of up to $19 million. The agreement for the $381 million loan was signed today by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr Qaiser Khan, Acting Country Director (India), on behalf of the World Bank,"according to an official statement.

Khare said the new project will extend the Government of India and World Banks engagement in this critical national programme to make the Ganga a clean, healthy river.

The World Bank has been supporting the governments efforts since 2011 through the ongoing National Ganga River Basin Project, which helped set up the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as the nodal agency to manage the river, and financed sewage treatment infrastructure in several riverside towns and cities.

Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, said, "The first World Bank project helped build critical sewage infrastructure in 20 pollution hotspots along the river, and this Project will help scale this up to the tributaries. It will also help government strengthen the institutions needed to manage a river basin as large and complex as the Ganga Basin."

The Project will help expand the coverage of sewage treatment infrastructure to more towns in the Ganga Basin, and focus on making sure that these assets are operated and maintained efficiently in the long term," said Xavier Chauvot de Beauchene, Lead Water & Sanitation Specialist and Shri Upneet Singh, Water & Sanitation Specialist, both co-task team leaders (TTL) for the SNGRBP. The Project will also help NMCG develop state-of-the-art tools to help manage the river basin more effectively."

Ganga Basin provides over one-third of Indias surface water, includes the countrys largest irrigated area, and is key to Indias water and food security. Over 40 percent of Indias GDP is generated in the densely populated Basin. But the Ganga river is today is facing pressures from human and economic activity that impact its water quality and flows.

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Topics
Today is #BlackoutDay2020. Today is a Black Lives Matter-adjacent economic movement where Black Americans join together to show their economic strength by either spending no money, or spending only at Black-owned businesses.

In the midst of protests against police brutality, some Black-owned businesses have flourished.

SUPPORT A BLACK-OWNED BUSINESS: New black-owned liquor store in Third Ward offers premium experience for patrons

Today is not to be confused with #BlackoutTuesday where you saw black squares across your Instagram timeline back in June.

Texas-based Activist Calvin Martyr has spent the last few months promoting the campaign on social media, and CNN reported that Martyr likened the campaign to the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. When he introduced the idea on social media back in May, he said in a video, "the only way we're going to get change is when they fear hurting us like we fear hurting them."

The overall objective for #BlackOutDay2020 is to force companies to end racist policies and practices that have done more harm to the Black community. The initiative has garnered tons of support on social media. More than 13,000 people joined a Facebook group about an entire "blackout week."

The campaign started in early May following the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and the police shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville. It was about a month before the death of George Floyd.

Since these traumatic events, cities across America have introduced potential legislation to defund and restructure police departments and their budgets. In addition, major corporations have set aside funds for social justice causes, and adjusting some of their systemically racist practices.

According to a study conducted to Neilsen, Black Americans spent $1.3 trillion on consumer goods in 2018. In 1990, it was just $320 billion, and between 2000-2018, Black buying power rose 114%.

GOOD EATS: Here are more than 50 Black-owned restaurants

While today's movement targets the Black community specifically, it also welcomes allies to join in as well. Major companies and brands including Proctor & Gamble and Cisco Systems have publicly announced their support of the campaign.

Here in Houston, we've seen artists like Slim Thug and Bun B support the initiative on social media. Radio station 97.9 The Box released a statement stating that "Urban One, through all of its platforms, is committed to supporting Black businesses, championing Black causes and remaining 'unapologetically' in service to the African American community."

The Houston community has been supportive of Blackout 2020 as well. There have been numerous tweets mentioning Black businesses in the Houston area.

https://twitter.com/jbiddy19/status/1280488144077492225?s=12

There are multiple ways to support the cause here in Houston. Black-owned businesses here in the city range across all industries. Houston is home to Black-owned bookstores, bestaurants, banks, gyms and more.
Both United ISD and Laredo ISD have announced on Tuesday that the 2020-21 school year will start on August 10 with 100% remote learning using both online full-time instruction and paper instructional packets.

READ MORE: TAMIU plans to keep offering in-person classes amid new ICE guidelines

Remote learning will provide consistent and rigorous instruction requiring the engagement of students on a daily basis, the joint press release states. As required by the Texas Education Agency model, the District will provide online instruction as well as paper/pencil activity packets to be completed by students on a daily basis for a grade.

As both districts serve over 65,000 students, the districts want to assure parents and staff that questions will be answered to help them with any uncertainty over the decision.

Students will be provided with the necessary resources to help them engage in daily instructions and the districts are planning to ensure internet connectivity to the students.

For example, LISD is adding modems to 12 different schools that provide a wide area wifi capability. This is an independent yet complementary project that is said to work with a similar project by the City of Laredo.

Students will be required to engage with lectures every day and teachers will be tasked with daily monitoring of student progress to prepare them for their STAAR tests. A safe return-to-work plan is being developed by the districts for non-teaching employees.

READ MORE: Dos Laredos heard on La Voz as Jimenez earns a spot

The joint press release states, further details will be provided to students, parents and staff members via each districts website and through email systems as they are developed.

Christian Ocampo may be reached at cocampo@lmtonline.com
ALBANY  The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany on Tuesday added Rev. Alan Jupin  who spent most of his tenure as a priest at Our Lady of Fatima, now St. Kateri Tekakwitha, in Schenectady  to its list of priests and clergy "credibly accused" of sexually abusing children.

Jupin, who died in January 2019, is accused of molesting five children in Schenectady and Albany in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He is the latest, and the first 2020 addition, to a list of nearly 50 priests and clergy who have substantive complaints of molestation filed against them, as determined by a diocesan review panel.

Jupin's name was added to the list after the review board hired an investigator last year to probe a new allegation against the reverend, as well as past accusations that the panel had previously decided were unsubstantiated. Jupin had been placed on administrative leave twice  in 2003 and 2011  for allegations of sexually abusing children, but the review board at those times found those accusations to have "no reasonable cause for action."

The 2019 investigation, instead, did find reasonable cause to add Jupin's name to the list, according to a release from the Albany Diocese. The review board meets privately to determine whether sexual abuse allegations are credible and typically relies on information from private investigators; ultimately, the bishop is responsible for any action against priests.

The new allegation surfaced in late August through a lawsuit filed under New York's landmark Child Victims Act, which last year opened a short-term "look-back" window temporarily eliminating statutes of limitations for civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children. In that case, an anonymous plaintiff  identified only as John Doe  alleged that Jupin had abused him in 1988 and 1989, when the priest was serving as a pastor at Our Lady of Mercy in Colonie. At the time, the plaintiff was about 11 and 12 years old.

Jupin allegedly lured the young boy to his apartment under the guise of bible study, where he instead repeatedly assaulted him and forcefully performed oral sex on the plaintiff. Doe alleges that he was assaulted about 15 times  and that he had reported the abuse to another church official who did not take action.

Doe's attorney, Jordan Merson, did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Merson also represents a survivor in a second case naming Jupin, similarly filed last August under the Child Victims Act.

In that lawsuit, a Guilderland man alleges that Jupin invited the then-13-year-old to his apartment in 1983, where he allegedly forced him to drink alcohol and watch "inappropriate movies" before the priest kissed and fondled him. Previous accusations against Jupin have similarly portrayed him as a priest who would throw alcohol-fueled parties at his apartment for young boys, where he would then molest them.

Jupin's 2011 suspension followed a complaint from Colonie resident Michael DeSantis, who alleged that Jupin invited him to parties at his apartment and assaulted him multiple times between 1986 and 1991. DeSantis alleged that Jupin and two other priests repeatedly raped and abused him as a child, starting when he was about 9 years old.

"I was used as pretty much like a child sex slave," DeSantis, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, told the Times Union in 2011. "My wife has wept by my side, seen me cry myself to sleep. ... I would have flashbacks of the nights I was there during thunderstorms. I was 34 years old and laying in my bed in a fetal position in the thunderstorms."

Jupin most recently served as a pastor at Our Lady of Fatima from 1989 until his retirement in 2007. He also served at Our Lady of Mercy in Colonie from 1979 to 1989; St. John the Baptist in Schenectady from 1971 to 1979; and St. Thomas the Apostle in Delmar from 1962 to 1971. He had also served as chaplain to the Colonie Police Department, according to a Tuesday release from the Albany Diocese.

The Albany Diocese has encouraged anyone who was sexually abused by a priest or deacon to report the incident to law enforcement or diocesan officials. The diocese's assistance coordinator, Frederick Jones, can be contacted at (518) 453-6646 or assistance.coordinator@rcda.org.

The Child Victims Act's look-back period is set to expire on Jan. 14, 2021, if survivors are interested in pursuing a civil lawsuit against their alleged abuser. The state Legislature passed a measure earlier this year to extend the retroactive window until August 2021, and that bill awaits Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's signature.
Hospitals across the Sun Belt continue to be inundated with coronavirus patients, with Arizona on Tuesday reporting a new high of more than 3,300. The state also reported that nearly 870 patients were in intensive care, a day after its said its ICU units were at 89% capacity.

On Monday, for the 28th day in a row, the country's rolling seven-day average of daily new cases shattered all previous records, though the number of deaths has remained relatively stable. Alabama, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas were among the states that reported record numbers of hospitalizations.

The nationwide total of reported cases is approaching 3 million, including at least 127,000 deaths.

In Arizona on Tuesday, more than 3,300 people were hospitalized with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, covid-19, an increase of 144 since Monday, with nearly 870 ICU patients and more than 540 people on ventilators, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Officials also reported a new single-day high for deaths, 117, but noted that 52 of them were from death certificate matching.

The agency has been using death certificate surveillance since May 1 to get a more accurate count of covid-19 deaths, according to its website.

Arizona has more than 104,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.

In a snapshot of the nation, 7 in 10 Americans say they trust their governors over President Donald Trump to decide when businesses should reopen in their area, according to an NBC News-SurveyMonkey tracking poll on issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The sentiment is stronger among Democrats, with 93% saying they trust their governors over Trump. But even among Republicans, a little more than half - 53% - say they trust the president's judgment over that of their governors.

The NBC-SurveyMonkey poll also found that 43% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of the pandemic, while 55% disapprove.

By contrast, 60% say they approve of how their governors are handling it, while 37% disapprove.

Also on Tuesday, the World Health Organization said that they were aware of the calls from scientists to more seriously consider the possibility of the airborne spread of the coronavirus and that the organization would issue a brief on it in the coming days.

"We acknowledge that there is emerging evidence in this field, as in all other fields, regarding the covid-19 virus and the pandemic," Benedetta Allegranzi, a specialist in infectious diseases and coordinator with the U.N. agency, said at a news briefing in Geneva.

More than 200 scientists from over 30 countries are due to publish a paper this week that says there is growing evidence that the virus can spread indoors through aerosols that linger in the air.

If confirmed, the finding would signal that the virus may be especially dangerous in crowded or poorly ventilated indoor settings and that techniques the WHO suggests for limiting the spread of droplets, including social distancing and hand-washing, may be only partially effective.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on the pandemic, said that the organization had been in touch with the authors of the report and that the WHO would release a brief that includes information about the potential airborne spread of the virus.

"There is some evidence emerging, but it is not definitive," Allegranzi said, adding that airborne transmission "cannot be ruled out."

WHO officials later offered more details on an upcoming trip to China, where a team from the organization hopes to uncover more about how the virus spread from animals to humans.

Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO, said that the investigation would start in Wuhan but that it was not clear where it may lead.

In Australia, a new wave of coronavirus infections prompted officials to impose restrictions on some 5 million people in Melbourne, the nation's second-largest city, illustrating the difficulty of conquering the pandemic even in a country that had enjoyed relative success in taming its toll.

Authorities in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria state, said they would reinstate curbs for six weeks starting Wednesday night to try to beat back a surge in new cases that threatens to spiral out of control. Residents of the city and some surrounding areas will be required to stay home except for essential activities such as some jobs or studies, food shopping, exercise, or medical care, and they will not be able to leave the metropolitan area.

The European Union expects its economy to contract the most on record this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a top E.U. official said Tuesday as the bloc released new forecasts that show a worse recession than expected two months ago.

The 27-nation European Union's economy is expected to crater 8.3% this year before growing 5.3% next year, the worst hit to Europe since World War II, according to the new forecasts. The previous estimate, released in early May, forecast a recession of 7.5% this year and 6% growth next year.

"The pandemic has hit the European economy harder than previously expected," Paolo Gentiloni, the senior E.U. official charged with economic affairs, told reporters in Brussels.

The European Union is the biggest trading partner of the United States - there was $852 billion in back and forth trade last year, compared to $558 billion in U.S.-Chinese trade - and so European economic turmoil can quickly cross the Atlantic.

But the source of Tuesday's gloomier estimates was partially caused by the U.S. response to the pandemic, which has been far less effective than Europe's and where cases are rising daily.

"At the global level, the still rising rate of infections, particularly in the U.S. and emerging markets, has deteriorated the global outlook and is expected to act as a drag on the European economy," the forecast said.

In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro has been diagnosed with covid-19, the effects of which he had repeatedly and fervently downplayed.
Florida's top school official issued a sweeping executive order Monday requiring all schools in the state to reopen their buildings for in-person instruction for the coming school year, even as coronavirus cases in the state continued to rise.

Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, a Republican and former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, issued the order Monday. "School districts and charter school governing boards must provide the full array of services that are required by law so that families who wish to educate their children in a brick and mortar school full time have the opportunity to do so," the order states.

Many districts, including the Miami-Dade school system, have proposed offering options for schooling, including hybrid models that would incorporate online and in-person learning. The order requires schools to offer full-time instruction "at least" five days a week for families who desire it.

The order leaves room for local health officials to override the state order, which won praise from Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who called the order "fair and measured."

The announcement comes the same day President Donald Trump tweeted, "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!" In a later tweet, he said those hesitating to reopen schools amid a global pandemic were politically motivated: "Corrupt Joe Biden and the Democrats don't want to open schools in the Fall for political reasons, not for health reasons! They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!"

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos backed the president's statement. "Absolutely right, @POTUS! Learning must continue for all students. American education must be fully open and fully operational this fall!" she tweeted.

Fedrick Ingram, president of the Florida Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, said his members also want to see schools reopened, as long as they have the resources and guidance to make it safe.

"At the end of the day we want our schools open," Ingram said. "We want our schools open with safety in mind first and with the proper funding to provide those safety measures."

But he added that he was concerned, given Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis's response to the pandemic, that state leaders would not be "guided by science."

Teachers unions across the country are pressing school districts to allow teachers to opt out of teaching in person. Many parents are eager to see their children return to school, but some are telling districts that they're not ready to let their kids back on campus, especially in places where the virus is surging.

The pandemic shuttered nearly every school in the United States in March, with many schools moving online with shaky curriculum plans. Educators say they fear that vulnerable children - especially those who are homeless, come from low-income households or have special-education needs - would fall even further behind their peers, with many lacking stable home environments, Internet access or the technology necessary for successful online learning.

As the new academic year approaches, schools are facing myriad challenges and pressures as they formulate back-to-school plans, contending not just with the looming danger of the virus but also drastic funding cuts in many states that have seen revenue plunge. Many of the measures public health officials recommend to reduce transmission of the virus - staying six feet apart, washing hands frequently, wearing masks - seem logistically difficult in schools that were overcrowded before the pandemic began.
A suspected human smuggler claimed that the immigrant he was transporting was a U.S. citizen en route to a Fourth of July gathering in Falfurrias, according to an arrest affidavit filed on Monday.

On Friday, a white vehicle arrived at the Hebbronville checkpoint on Texas 359. Authorities identified the driver as Ricky Angel Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen. The front passenger was identified as Jose Antonio Hidalgo-Perez, who claimed to be a U.S. citizen.
RICHMOND, Va. - Beth Almore played the cello as J.E.B. Stuart fell.

Sitting on a shady median along Monument Avenue Tuesday morning, Almore refused to look at the Confederate statue as a crane hoisted it from the base where it had stood since 1907. She played Bach, and the haunting "Spiegel im Spiegel" by Arvo Part, and afterward wouldn't even say the name of the man whose bronze likeness now lay on its side on a flatbed truck to be hauled away.

"That's a person who deserves to be a footnote in history," said Almore, 53, a public school music teacher in Richmond. A photo of her great-great grandmother, born into slavery in Mississippi, rested on her music stand. "What concerns me is that if it takes this much effort to get a statue removed, what is it going to take to get systemic racism dismantled in this country?"

After a solid month of day and night protests, all four Confederate statues on city-owned property along Monument Avenue are gone. Only the grandest and oldest monument - to Gen. Robert E. Lee, which towers 60 feet over state-owned land - remains. A judge has so far blocked Gov. Ralph Northam (D) from removing it.

A national reckoning with racism and inequity, triggered by police killings of blacks, has led in the South to a final attack on the icons of the Confederacy, with the battle flag banned by NASCAR and removed from the state flag in Mississippi.

In Richmond, a group of well-heeled residents is fighting in court to save Lee, arguing in part that losing the statue will harm property values in a grand part of the city that was the capital of the Confederacy. "It was mystical, magical to walk down the street any time of year," said Patrick McSweeney, 77, a lawyer who grew up around the corner from the monuments and now is representing the property owners.

The popular effort to take them down, he said, is "worse than the Bastille."

But the voices that once defined the former capital of the Confederacy have become hard to find in the past month. When Mayor Levar Stoney (D) ordered a statue of Stonewall Jackson removed last week, one white man rushed the base of the monument, openly crying and begging for the work to stop. He was hustled away by sheriff's deputies.

No one stood to defend Stuart on Tuesday, or Matthew Fontaine Maury when the city dismantled him the week before. Or Jefferson Davis when protesters hauled him down last month.

Instead,people who once felt unwelcome in this part of town have transformed the avenue into a monument of their own. The granite bases of the statues are splashed with colorful graffiti - some profane and angry, some in memory of African Americans killed by police. But it's the people - all ages, all races - who constitute the biggest transformation, filling public spaces that once stood grand and empty awith speeches and music and chanting.

"I grew up around here. . . . . Any time before the last month you would not see a soul out here," said one young man, 25, who declined to give his name as he stood with an assault-style rifle in an encampment near the Lee statue on Monday. He said he feared reprisals from statue defenders, who sometimes appear in small groups at night, or from police.

"This is all love - all community coming together," said the young man, whose shirt read "Legalize Being Black." Asked how his firearm fit in with a message of love, he replied that protesters have felt threatened and want to show that they have the same right to bear arms as anyone else.

For an older generation of African Americans, the statues represent a painful past that many had given up on reconciling.

"I think they should make them all mechanical and put quarters in them so the kids can ride them," said a man who would only give his name as Michael, age 69. He said he grew up in Richmond's public housing projects, and as a young man, "we didn't come over this way, okay? If you were black, they would arrest you or call the cops on you if you walked on the grass out here on the traffic circle."

Wren Vessel, who gave his age as "over 60," grew up in rural King and Queen County and used to come to town with his father selling tomatoes, green beans and butter beans at the Shockoe Bottom farmers market. He recalled wanting a hot dog but being turned away from long lines at the "colored" entrance to a Richmond diner when he was too young to understand segregation.

The statues were like that, too, he said. At first they just seemed like big works of art. Only recently has he grasped the history of racial injustice suggested by their very presence. If blacks had been given true equality after the Civil War, Vessel said, the statues might never have been built.

"My vision is for my grandkids and all people - not just my grandkids, but all kids regardless of race - that we have a more fair society," he said. "And the Constitution's not just a piece of paper, but it's something we live by," he said.

Keith June, 56, lives in Arlington, Va., but has visited Richmond for nearly 30 years, making a hobby of photographing the monuments. "Quite frankly I never thought they would come down," he said.

As an African American, June said he grew particularly interested in Confederate statues after being stationed in Germany for the Army and watching that nation wrestle with its World War II legacy.

"It's almost like the Civil War is finally ending," he said this week at the Lee statue. "Some of this is generational. Some of this is, you know, Richmond is changing, our nation is changing."

For many of the younger protesters, the statues are just the beginning.

Mikhail Smith, who is African American, said he grew up in Reston, Va., and came to Richmond in March after losing his bartending job to the coronavirus pandemic. The protests have given him a new purpose in life, he said, and sparked interest in a career in politics or the law.

"This is one of the things we were fighting for, why I've been out here for 30 days straight," said Smith, who turned 26 on Tuesday. Watching Stuart fall, he said, "is like my birthday present to myself."

At the same time, he said he sees the dismantling of the statues as a superficial change, and maybe even a distraction. "They're making a big deal out of this to kind of take away from other things, like evictions," Smith said, referring to the notoriously high eviction rate for low-income people in Richmond. "This is like painting an old car, it's not really like getting a new one."

Aaron Wade, 29, flew to Richmond late last month from Los Angeles to see the spectacle in the town where he was born and raised. He and his wife, who also grew up in Richmond, have been shooting film for a planned documentary.

"I didn't want to miss a piece of history in my hometown. I couldn't do it," Wade, who is African American, said last week as he watched work crews dismantle the Maury statue.

The fall of the Jackson monument the day before was so dramatic - torrential rain, thunder pealing, church bells ringing - that "Spike Lee couldn't have staged it any better," said Maria Warith-Wade, 26, a filmmaker.

Wade grew up in the east end of Richmond and attended a Catholic boy's high school located just blocks from the monuments. As a member of the school's cross country team, he ran down Monument Avenue all the time. "Going past a lot of these monuments, you know, you become numb to it, because it's so part of the ingrained history," he said.

Warith-Wade said she had a very different experience. "I had parents that were very much into social movements and history," she said, "and so I never had the privilege of seeing them as, you know, these beautiful things."

Her family took her to historic sites around Virginia, she said, but always made sure she knew the full story. They went to Jamestown, but also learned about Gabriel, an enslaved man who led a failed revolt in Richmond in 1800.

Warith-Wade said she tried to use those perspectives to see the statues from the point of view of the people who erected them. "The women of the Confederacy, I think that they really wanted to make something beautiful for what they believed in. And if I were in their shoes, maybe I would have thought that way - I don't know; I'm not a white woman."

Now, she believes, there's a chance to do something truly beautiful. "I really hope that one day, we're able to see a lot of these spots on Monument Avenue reclaimed in a way that is welcoming to all the Richmond community," she said.
Miami

Hospitals rapidly approached capacity across the Sunbelt, and the Miami area closed restaurants and gyms again because of the surging coronavirus Monday, as the U.S. emerged from a Fourth of July weekend of picnics, pool parties and beach outings that health officials fear could fuel the rapidly worsening outbreak.

The seesaw effect  restrictions lifted, then reimposed  has been seen around the country in recent weeks and is expected again after a holiday that saw crowds of people celebrating, many without masks.

"We were concerned before the weekend and remain concerned post-holiday, as anecdotal stories and observed behavior indicate that many continue to disregard important protective guidance," said Heather Woolwine, a spokeswoman for the Medical University of South Carolina.

Confirmed cases are on the rise in 41 out of 50 states plus the District of Columbia, and the percentage of tests coming back positive for the virus is increasing in 39 states.

Florida, which recorded an all-time high of 11,400 new cases Saturday and has seen its positive test rate lately reach more than 18 percent, has been hit especially hard, along with other Sunbelt states such as Arizona, California and Texas.

In Miami-Dade County, population 2.7 million, Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered the closing of restaurants and certain other indoor places seven weeks after they were allowed to reopen. Beaches will reopen on Tuesday after being closed over the weekend.

Hospitalizations across the state have been ticking upward, with nearly 1,700 patients admitted in the past seven days compared with 1,200 the previous week. Five hospitals in the St. Petersburg area were out of intensive care unit beds, officials said. Miami's Baptist Hospital had only four of its 88 ICU beds available.

"If we continue to increase at the pace we have been, we won't have enough ventilators, enough rooms," said Dr. David De La Zerda, ICU medical director at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Officials in Texas also reported hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed. Hospitalizations statewide surged past 8,000 for the first time over the weekend, a more than fourfold increase in the past month. Houston officials said intensive care units there have exceeded capacity.

Along the border with Mexico, two severely ill patients were flown hundreds of miles north to Dallas and San Antonio because hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley were full.

In Arizona, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 topped 3,200, a new high, and hospitals statewide were at 89 percent capacity.

Average deaths per day have fallen over the past two weeks from around 600 to about 510, in what experts say reflects advances in treatment and prevention as well as the large share of cases among young adults, who are more likely than older ones to survive COVID-19. But deaths are considered a lagging indicator  that is, it takes time for people to get sick and die. And experts are worried the downward trend in deaths could reverse itself.
Phoenix

A Latino cook whose co-worker got COVID-19 waited in his truck for a free swab at a rare testing event in a low-income neighborhood in Phoenix. A Hispanic tile installer queued up after two weeks of self-isolation while his father battled the coronavirus in intensive care. He didn't know his dad would die days later.

As the pandemic explodes in diverse states like Arizona and Florida, people in communities of color who have been exposed to the virus are struggling to get tested. While people nationwide complain about appointments being overbooked or waiting hours to be seen, getting a test can be even harder in America's poorer, Hispanic and Black neighborhoods, far from middle-class areas where most chain pharmacies and urgent care clinics offering tests are found.

"There really isn't any testing around here," said Juan Espinosa, who went with his brother Enrique to the recent drive-up testing event in Phoenix's largely Latino Maryvale neighborhood after a fellow construction worker was suspected of having COVID-19. "We don't know anywhere else to go."

Hundreds of people lined up last week for another large-scale testing event in a different low-income area of Phoenix that's heavily Hispanic and Black.

Arizona  the nation's leader in new confirmed infections per capita over the past two weeks  and its minority neighborhoods are just starting to feel what New York and other East Coast and Midwestern communities experienced several months ago, said Mahasin Mujahid, associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health.

"It's the perfect storm as this hits unlevel playing fields all across the U.S.," said Mujahid, a social epidemiologist who studies health in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Public health officials say widespread testing to rapidly identify and isolate infected people can help ensure residents of underserved neighborhoods get care while slowing the virus's spread.

"Pandemics expose the inequalities in our health care system," said Dr. Thomas Tsai, assistant professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a surgeon at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. "What is needed is to make testing free and as available as possible.

"Outreach to the Hispanic population, the Black community, to immigrants, the most vulnerable, unprotected people is critical for public health," with a national response being ideal, he said.

But President Donald Trump's administration has delegated responsibility for testing to states that have stitched together a patchwork of responses, forcing private foundations and nonprofit community health organizations to fill in the gaps and ensure people of color are reached.

"If you just set up the testing sites in wealthy communities, you cannot rein this in," said Dr. Usama Bilal, assistant professor at Drexel's Dornsife School of Public Health in Philadelphia, where Black doctors recently won city funding for testing in African-American neighborhoods.

When Florida officials were slow to roll out testing in the migrant community of Immokalee, the nonprofit Coalition of Immokalee Workers called on the international aid group Doctors Without Borders for help.

The Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation in Chicago pushed hard before getting support from the city's Racial Equity Rapid Response Team to deliver free, widespread testing in that Black neighborhood.

"It hit the African-American communities very, very hard," said the corporation's executive director, Carlos Nelson.In Arizona, the free drive-up testing June 27 drew nearly 1,000 people and was just the second big event of its kind in the heavily Latino neighborhood of Maryvale.

But as of Sunday, Arizona was 38th among all states for the number of tests performed with results per 1,000 people, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Like Black people, Latinos have high rates of health problems such as diabetes that make them more susceptible to the virus.

And they often live in family groups that make the virus easier to spread.
BETHLEHEM  The mother of a Bethlehem student is suing the school district after her son, who has autism and is severely disabled, was left outside his place of work for two hours in 2019.

Michael Seavey, then 21, was in his final year at Bethlehem Central School District, where he participated in a work-to-school program, according to the court documents filed last week in state Supreme Court in Albany. Seavey would take classes in the morning and then was transported to his job at Top Form, a local gym, to work a two-hour shift before returning to school.

On April 1, 2019, Top Form was closed and Seavey was unable to enter the building, according to the court documents.

A school bus driver and bus aide named in the lawsuit did not escort Seavey to the building or ensure that he got in, the documents allege.

Seavey had a cellphone to use in school, but he was prohibited from bringing it to Top Form due to school policy. With no way of contacting parents or school staff, he waited alone on a busy street on a "cold and windy" early spring day, the lawsuit alleges.

The bus returned two hours later to find Seavey standing in the parking lot outside of Top Form, "in precisely the same location where he

was left," the lawsuit continues.

Seavey was severely traumatized by the incident, which prevented him from returning to school or participating in the work-training program for the remainder of the school year, the court documents allege.

The school aide, Stephanie Corbett, resigned last year because of the incident, Spotlight reported last year.

"Something like this should never happen and is absolutely unacceptable," Superintendent Jody Monroe said, according to Spotlight. "We have put in place new transportation protocols for our work program students to make sure this does not happen again."

The plaintiff is seeking compensations for long-term emotional and psychological injuries sustained by Seavey, past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and other expenses, according to the suit.

A spokeswoman for the district did return a request for comment.
As the Lakelands and the country respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has led to state and national emergency declarations, it is vital for everyone to have up-to-date information about the virus and its spread. As such, we're providing free access to all of our COVID-19 coverage, which is available on this page.

Here's the latest information on COVID-19 from health agencies and hospitals:
Waiting hours to do grocery shopping might seem like a waste of time, but the experience proved fruitful for Ridgefield High School student Isabella Tuccio. She came up with an idea for a computing technology application  HeadCount  making her one of three top finishers in Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz COVID-19 Computing Challenge.

It was an honor to be selected for the Lieutenant Governors computing challenge, Tuccio said. I wanted to help both consumers and businesses with HeadCount.

Her idea was to have a mobile app letting customers know how many people are in a store or restaurant at a given time. The app would also tell customers the maximum number of people allowed in a store or restaurant and predict potential wait times.

The app she envisioned would also help businesses forecast daily foot traffic in order to ensure the safety of its customers.

Tuccio came up with the idea after being frustrated waiting in line to enter Trader Joes with

her whole shopping experience taking several hours.

My ideas main purpose was to reduce the amount of time we all have to wait in line, she said. I learned a lot from this experience!

Lt. Governor Bysiewicz had challenged students in grades 3 through 12 to propose an idea for a computing technology application. She invited Connecticut students to develop ideas for apps, websites and/or computer programs that could help defeat the spread of the disease, and aid and inform Connecticut residents.

A ninth grader at RIdgefield High School, Isabella was selected along with two other high school students for honors in the Connecticut Covid-19 Computing Challenge.

RHS business teacher Jesse Peterkin had assigned the COVID-19 challenge to his computer applications students this spring after hearing about it from retiring RHS Principal Stacey Gross. I thought the challenge was an excellent opportunity to give students a voice and a platform to come up with ideas that might help our community during a difficult time, Peterkin said. Many students embraced the challenge and we had several virtual brainstorming sessions for students to help enhance their ideas.

Related: Listen to Isabellas presentation here.
WASHINGTON - Four Republican senators said Tuesday that they will not attend next month's Republican National Convention, where the party will renominate President Donald Trump, citing the demands of their own campaigns or simply deciding to skip the gathering in Jacksonville, Fla.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who spoke out last month against Trump's handling of the racial injustice protests and against his moral leadership, and Mitt Romney of Utah, the party's 2012 presidential nominee, joined Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee in making other plans in late August.

An aide for a fourth GOP lawmaker, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said she does not plan to travel to Jacksonville either. But the aide noted that this is not a change in plans: Collins has never attended national conventions in years when she is up for election.

On Monday, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he would not attend, citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic as Florida is seeing a surge in cases.

In a statement, an Alexander spokesman said that despite being the honorary chairman of the Tennessee delegation to the convention, the senator, who is retiring early next year, will not attend "because he believes the delegate spots should be reserved for those who have not had that privilege before as he has had."

Alexander's office did not immediately respond to a question about whether the coronavirus was a factor in his decision.

Both Grassley, 86, and Alexander, 80, are among the oldest GOP senators. The virus has taken a disproportionate toll on elderly Americans.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose title makes him an honorary co-chair of the convention, does plan to attend the gathering, a spokesman said Tuesday.

"The Leader has every intention of attending," David Popp, McConnell's spokesman, said in a statement.

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., also plans to attend, tweeting Tuesday: "I campaigned with President Trump in 2018 - where he helped expand our Senate majority - and touted his policies to Make America Great Again. I'll be at the @GOPconvention in Jacksonville with @realDonaldTrump where we will kick off the 2020 campaign to #KeepAmericaGreat!"

Karina Petersen, a spokeswoman for Murkowski, said the senator, who often spends August in Alaska, "does not plan to attend the convention at this time."

Romney skipped the 2016 convention in Cleveland, and his spokeswoman, Liz Johnson, said Tuesday that he does not plan to attend this year's gathering.

Alexander announced in late 2018 that he would not seek reelection this year. At the time, the senator said he had concluded that his three Senate terms and two as Tennessee governor were enough.

Alexander has cultivated a reputation as a traditional Republican senator, voting with Trump much of the time but also willing to work with Democrats. As chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, he has been an active player in shaping the federal response to the coronavirus.

The Republican convention was originally slated for Charlotte. But after failing to receive assurances from North Carolina's Democratic governor about being allowed to proceed with its plans for the large event, the Republican National Committee announced that it was moving many of the major convention events, including Trump's acceptance speech, to Jacksonville.

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.

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The Washington Post's Paul Kane, Seung Min Kim and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.
The pandemic map of the United States burned bright red Monday, with the number of new coronavirus infections during the first six days of July nearing 300,000 as more states and cities moved to reimpose shutdown orders.

After an Independence Day weekend that attracted large crowds to fireworks displays and produced scenes of Americans drinking and partying without masks, health officials warned of hospitals running out of space and infection spreading rampantly. The United States is "still knee deep in the first wave" of the pandemic, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, said Monday

Fauci noted that while Europe managed to drive infections down - and now is dealing with little blips as it reopens - U.S. communities "never came down to baseline and now are surging back up," he said in an interview conducted on Twitter and Facebook with his boss, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins.

Despite President Donald Trump's claim that 99% of covid-19 cases are "harmless," Arizona and Nevada have reported their highest numbers of coronavirus-related hospitalizations in recent days. The seven-day averages in 12 states hit new highs, with the biggest increases in West Virginia, Tennessee and Montana. The country's rolling seven-day average of daily new cases hit a record high Monday - the 28th record-setting day in a row.

In Arizona, 89% of the state's ICU beds were full Monday morning, the state's Department of Health announced, as the recently hard-hit state surpassed 100,000 cases.

In Miami-Dade County, authorities reversed course on a reopening plan, issuing an emergency order that shut down gyms, party venues and restaurants, with exceptions for takeout and delivery. That order will go into effect Wednesday. Florida has seen its caseload soar past 10,000 per day and 200,000 overall.

"We want to ensure that our hospitals continue to have the staffing necessary to save lives," Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, a Republican, said in his announcement.

Gimenez said the spike has been driven by infections among 18- to 34-year-olds who have been gathering in congested places - indoors and out - without wearing masks and maintaining proper 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 said.

Despite the steep new rise in infections, the House and Senate have adjourned for a two-week recess, setting up a potential battle when they return over another pandemic relief package.

And more politicians continue to contract the virus. In Mississippi, where cases are rising, several lawmakers have tested positive, including the speaker of the State House of Representatives. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter he was "briefly in contact" with one of them, so he plans to isolate himself until he gets his own test results back. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, tweeted Monday evening that "COVID-19 has literally hit home. I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive."

The United States has reported 2.9 million coronavirus cases to date, and at least 127,000 people have died from the virus nationwide. The United States has had more than twice as many reported deaths as any other country and accounts for nearly a quarter of all deaths attributed to the virus worldwide.

Some states imposed fresh restrictions on Monday in an attempt to tamp down rising case numbers and preserve hospital capacity.

West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced that face coverings will be mandatory inside buildings, and he asked residents to comply voluntarily. West Virginia hit an all-time peak of 130 new cases in one day on Sunday, putting its total at 3,356 cases.

"If you go to work in a building, I expect you to wear a mask as you enter work, and if you're working in an area that is completely socially distanced, take your mask off," Justice said during a briefing. "If you go to a drinking fountain, put your mask on. If you go into a retail business, then I expect you to wear a mask."

Local ABC affiliate WCHS reported that Justice added that he had put off mandating masks but eventually decided "it is the very thing I want to do the most because I know in my heart if we don't, we are going to have funeral after funeral."

Universities, quickly approaching their fall semesters, also were grappling with how to provide an education without risking student health.

Harvard University announced Monday it will reopen with fewer than half of its undergraduates on campus, a sign of the extraordinary constraints colleges face across the country as they map out plans for the fall term. No more than 40% of Harvard's undergrads will live at the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Mass., when the school year begins, the university said. Most of them will be first-year students, who will get priority access to help them adjust to college life. All undergraduate courses will be taught remotely, the university said, no matter where the students are living. Tuition will remain the same.

Public health officials have been pleading with younger people to take the virus more seriously, as new cases among that demographic has driven spikes in several places. Fauci on Monday called on young people to realize that they are not "invulnerable to serious consequences" of the virus. Even though they may not get sick enough to end up in the hospital, they still could get "very sick" for weeks, he said. And by getting infected, he added, "they are propagating the outbreak" and might inadvertently infect someone vulnerable, with potentially fatal outcomes.

Though largely considered less vulnerable, young children have shown susceptibility as people try to return to their normal routines. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services reported Monday that at least 1,335 people have tested positive at child care facilities, and about a third of the cases were children.

President Donald Trump and his campaign have increasingly argued that Americans need to continue to live their lives despite the pandemic. On Monday afternoon, Trump tweeted, in all caps, "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!"

Trump has played down the rise in cases, attributing it to expanded testing, and has recently emphasized that U.S. deaths have not spiked with new cases. He tweeted on Monday: "The Mortality Rate for the China Virus in the U.S. is just about the LOWEST IN THE WORLD!"

Other Republicans have struck a more serious tone. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday said: "This is not over."

"We had hoped we'd be on the way to saying goodbye to this health-care pandemic. Clearly it is not over," McConnell said at a news conference at a Louisville food bank. Public health officials in both parties have criticized the Trump administration for dismissing science and expertise in its handling of the pandemic. Dozens of former government scientists on Monday called for a science-based approach.

"Sidelining science has already cost lives, imperiled the safety of our loved ones, compromised our ability to safely reopen our businesses, schools, and places of worship, and endangered the health of our democracy itself," wrote officials from the Trump, Obama, and George W. Bush administrations.

Another group of more than 200 scientists from dozens of countries urged the World Health Organization to take more seriously the possibility of airborne-transmission of the virus, saying there is growing evidence that it can linger in the air indoors in small aerosol particles. More than 11.5 million cases have been reported worldwide.

Also on Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for a rapid, point-of-care covid-19 diagnostic test that can yield results within 15 minutes, medical technology company Becton Dickinson announced.

The new antigen test that detects the presence of the virus will be used in conjunction with another diagnostic tool from the company that is in use in more than 25,000 hospitals, medical centers and retail pharmacies across the country.

Dave Hickey, president of Integrated Diagnostic Solutions for Becton Dickinson, said in a statement that the test will be a "game changer" for health-care workers and patients.

In May, the FDA issued an emergency approval for the first covid-19 antigen test that was made by Quidel Corp.

Fauci and Collins ended their 30 minute session on Monday with something of a pep talk."We will get through this," Fauci said. "We have already suffered through a lot of pain, a lot of economic and personal pain and inconvenience." He said "science will get us through this" by delivering drugs for early- and late-stage covid-19.

"Hang in there, it will end," he said. "We promise you."

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The Washington Post's Laurie McGinley, Felicia Sonmez, Hannah Denham, Lateshia Beachum, Nick Anderson and Yasmeen Abutaleb contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - Audio of the forceful push led by U.S. Park Police to sweep protesters out of Lafayette Square on June 1, moments before President Donald Trump's visit to St. John's Episcopal Church, was not recorded by the Park Police radio communications system, the agency said Tuesday.

The sudden march into the group of protesters, featuring members of the Park Police, Secret Service, D.C. National Guard and Arlington County, Va., police, is now under investigation by Congress and the inspectors general of the Interior Department and the Justice Department, and is the subject of civil lawsuits. The sweep caused an uproar because police used smoke and chemical irritants, along with officers on horseback, to clear out protesters well-before a 7 p.m. curfew, with advance announcements that many said they did not hear.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, which is investigating the June 1 incident, said Tuesday that "Trump administration officials ordered the attack on clergy, nonviolent protesters, and working members of the press. For the official audio record of that day to now turn up missing has every appearance of a coverup."

Grijalva said his committee is hoping to hear from acting U.S. Park Police chief Gregory Monahan this month. "The American people deserve firm, clear answers from the administration," Grijalva said, "about who issued what orders that day, where those orders ultimately came from, and why these recordings are mysteriously unavailable."

When investigators review a police operation, they typically rely on audio and video recordings made by police to verify accounts made in statements or interviews. But the Park Police, along with nearly all federal uniformed police, have never worn body cameras. Officers and commanders expected that their comments and orders made during the operation would be captured electronically, to create a contemporaneous record of the event.

But that didn't happen.

Washington Post photo by Evelyn Hockstein

"At the conclusion of the demonstrations," Park Police Lt. Jonathan Hofflinger said in response to an inquiry from The Washington Post, "we discovered that the radio recorder was not working and did not record any transmissions. However, written radio logs were generated as a redundant practice. This recorder issue has since been rectified."

Hofflinger did not respond to questions about how written radio logs were compiled, why the recorder didn't work or how it has been rectified. Monahan did not respond to requests for comment. It was unclear whether the Park Police communication system has failed to record transmissions in other instances.

"It's very disappointing," said Kenneth Spencer, chairman of the Park Police's Fraternal Order of Police Labor Committee. "It's frustrating, especially at the officer level, because a lot of information that would serve the perspective of the officers on what was actually taking place would have been recorded."

Spencer says that Park Police officers responded appropriately to the situation and that his command staff gave proper direction. "Myself included," Spencer said, "there were many officers expressing what kind of objects they were being hit with, where it was coming from. Everything of that nature was being expressed on the radio."

Spencer offered support for Monahan's statement that the Park Police did not use tear gas that evening. "When we were getting ready to deploy to H Street on June 1," Spencer said, "it was right on the radio transmissions that 'CS gas is not authorized and everybody remove your gas mask.' We did remove our masks, and we didn't use CS gas. That was one of the things that didn't get recorded."

Monahan has acknowledged that Park Police used smoke canisters and pepper balls containing an irritant powder.

The "written radio logs" mentioned by Hofflinger are handwritten notes taken by dispatchers, Spencer said, and then given to an officer to type into spreadsheets. The notes say who was speaking and what they were describing in their transmissions, Spencer said. He did not know whether the notes were taken because commanders knew the recording system wasn't working, or as a standard backup.

Monahan had been scheduled to testify before a House Committee on Natural Resources hearing on the incident last week and declined to appear. A letter from an Interior Department official said Monahan could not attend the hearing because the Park Police were still "in its highest operational status" due to protests at parks in Washington. The Park Police are part of the Interior Department.

"These are things that are just inexcusable in 2020," said Geoff Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina who has studied how police recall critical incidents in subsequent interviews. He and others said having an audio record of an incident is crucial.

"It is the investigation," Alpert said. "It's all you've got. Memory and reasoning can be clouded, they can be manufactured. A recording of an action is far more preferred than trying to get someone to remember what they did, and why."

Steve Souder, a widely respected public safety communications expert who oversaw 911 systems in Washington-region counties, said of the Park Police failure, "I find it quite shocking. They want this stuff recorded, they have nothing to hide."

Souder said modern dispatch technology has made it easy to record every transmission, by dispatchers, commanders and officers in the field, even on systems with multiple channels or talk groups.

"In my mind, you should record everything," Souder said. "You never know when you're gonna need it." He said "these recording systems are all digitized. They record everything."

Spencer said there is some video of the operation taken by authorities that has not been released. He said video of the "large chaotic event" would show provocative actions by the protesters, such as throwing large objects or shooting fireworks at the police, which protesters have largely denied. But even those cameras would only capture select areas of the protest, and not the full sweep of interactions being reported by officers over the radio.

Spencer also of the Park Police radio system, "This has been a problem for decades. We have brought it to the attention of our command staff and the National Park Service" with repeated complaints.

The incident, which started about 30 minutes before an announced curfew, sparked criticism because protesters were forced from the area amid smoke and chaos, and because the president showed up soon after for a photo opportunity in front of the church.
June 2020 tied for the planet's warmest on record, closely matching the anomalously toasty temperatures observed globally during June last year. But one region in particular saw heat virtually off the charts - Siberia.

Uncharacteristically warm weather and at least one instance of triple-digit heat thawed vast stretches the Arctic, contributing to a flare-up in wildfires and melting away permafrost in a process set to accelerate the pace of human-induced climate change.

It was Siberia's hottest June on record, beating out the previous record holders - 2018 and 2019 - by a significant margin, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, a science division of the European Union.

Across the entirety of Arctic Siberia, June temperatures averaged about nine degrees above normal. A few places bordering the Laptev Sea in northeast Siberia spent the month 18 degrees above normal. An anomaly like that would be the equivalent of New York City averaging a high of 104 and low of 87 degrees every day during the month of July.

Triple-digit heat even occurred in Siberia during June, the town of Verkhoyansk cresting at 100.4 degrees on the afternoon of June 20. The World Meteorological Organization has preliminarily accepted the reading as legitimate, marking the hottest temperature ever observed in the Arctic.

Climate scientists have long concerned themselves with Siberia and the Arctic, zones that are outpacing almost everywhere else in the world when it comes to climate warming by a factor of almost three. The heating in this region unlocks several large-scale feedback mechanisms that quicken the rate of climate warming even further.

Among those byproducts of the red-hot Arctic have been melting snow and ice in recent years, leaving more of the adjacent Arctic Ocean ice-free during part of the year. Current Arctic sea ice extent was at record-low levels for July, a roughly a million-square-mile deficit in areal ice coverage when compared to average levels in the 1980s. That's an area about 3 1/2 times the size of Texas.

Cutting back on the amount of ice in the Arctic means there's less to reflect sunlight, allowing the surface to absorb more of the sun's rays and heat up disproportionately faster than the rest of the world.

That's also triggering the same positive feedback mechanism on land, by melting Siberia's snowpack and even thawing its previously untouched permafrost.

Scientists with the climate monitoring service Copernicus reported a record minimum in snowpack across Siberia during June, catapulting the region's ability to heat up. The severely reduced snow cover also left surface moisture exposed and able to freely evaporate, resulting in record dry soils. That fosters even greater warming, since dry air can heat up more quickly than moist air.

That was reflected in a spate of extreme heat that brought temperatures exceeding 90 degrees to Verkhoyansk - about 70 miles north of the Arctic Circle - for nine days within a 10-day stretch between June 19 and June 28. Verkhoyansk is about 1,300 miles farther north than Fairbanks, Alaska. For comparison, Buffalo has never hit 100 degrees in its 147 years of records.

The prolonged hot, dry conditions have also jump-started Siberia's summer wildfire season at an alarming clip. Scientists at Copernicus said that last summer's Siberian wildfires were the most widespread since at least 2003 and evolving in similar way to last year, which was a record-setter.

"Higher temperatures and drier surface conditions are providing ideal conditions for these fires to burn and to persist for so long over such a large area," Copernicus senior scientist Mark Parrington said in a news release.

Wildfires are both a product and a catalyst of climate change. They feed off the progressively hotter and drier weather that's infiltrating the Arctic, while their combustion releases droves of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by the ton.

Blazes in the Arctic pumped some 59 megatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during the month of June alone, the worst wildfire emissions in the Copernicus data set.

All that CO2 enters the atmosphere, where it can drive accelerated warming.

A similar melting of Arctic permafrost is having an equally disconcerting effect, releasing previously trapped greenhouse gases back into the atmosphere.

The anomalous heat in Siberia extended into Northern Europe, where impressive warmth also hovered over Scandinavia. Helsinki, the capital of Finland, has seen its warmest year to date by a wide margin, while Stockholm experienced its warmest June on record. France has also seen its warmest year to date on record, a feat shared by southeast Norway. Europe as a whole concluded its second warmest June on record.

It comes as the entire planet wrapped up its warmest June on record, tied with last June. Temperatures globally averaged out to 0.95 degrees (0.53 Celsius) above the 1980-to-2010 mean. This follows the warmest May on record.

In addition, the Copernicus data shows the planet's average temperature over the last 12 months was on par with the warmest one-year period on record, 2.3 degrees (1.3 Celsius) above preindustrial levels.

This puts the planet perilously close to one of the temperature guardrails outlined in the Paris climate agreement, in which policymakers agreed to limit global warming to "well below" 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 degrees Celsius, above preindustrial levels by 2100. The aspirational goal in the agreement is to hold temperatures to a 2.7-degree increase, or 1.5 Celsius, above preindustrial levels, which is a target that was pushed by the countries considered most vulnerable to climate impacts, such as small island nations.

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The Washington Post's Jason Samenow and Andrew Freedman contributed to this report.
JERUSALEM - Israel's deft handling of its coronavirus outbreak this spring won praise at home and abroad, but the virus has returned, with cases now increasing faster than ever and health officials warning that hospitals could be overwhelmed by the end of the month.

Israelis across the political spectrum are asking what's gone wrong and demanding to know how their government could have fumbled so badly after getting it so right.

An Israeli official with knowledge of the pandemic response said government researchers have traced the bulk of new infections to a single category of activity: public gatherings, particularly weddings. The official said an explosion of weddings - some 2,092 between June 15 and June 25 - proved to be covid-19 incubators.

"You have people coming from all over the county," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the matter. "They hug each other; they sing, they dance. That's the ultimate opportunity to infect people."

Israel has begun to alert other governments about it its findings on the peril of weddings, the official said. A shutdown of wedding halls was among the new restrictions announced Monday, along with closing concert venues and public pools. Restaurants have been limited to 20 indoor diners and 30 outside, while houses of worship will be held to 19 attendees.

Israel's flattened curve of cases began to climb again after the government eased its lockdown in late May, opening gyms and cafes and allowing large gatherings. The country Monday surpassed a total of 30,000 infections.

Hospitals are scrambling to accommodate serious cases, which have started doubling every day, according to figures cited by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has begun pleading with citizens to wear masks and avoid crowds.

Health and policy experts, while crediting the government for dampening the virus's spread in the spring, cite a raft of failures for its summer resurgence. They include refraining from appointing a coronavirus "czar" to coordinate the response and failing to stand up a national network of testing labs and technicians able track the virus.

The government official noted that Israel was averaging more than 20,000 tests a day but acknowledged inadequate contact tracing. "It wasn't robust enough in terms of manpower," the official said.

With new restrictions now taking effect, Israelis are again losing the near normality they had thought was theirs to enjoy. The backsliding has unleashed a torrent of criticism against the government.

Netanyahu's approval rating for handling the pandemic is at 46%, according to a new poll by Israel's Channel 12, a decline of almost 20 points since May. A spokesman in the prime minister's office declined to comment for this article.

"We are the only country in the world that is less prepared for the second wave than it was for the first," opposition leader Yair Lapid said at a party meeting Monday,

Critics describe the new wave as reflecting a political failure to prep for the novel coronavirus's inevitable return once Israelis were given the all-clear to hit the streets, beaches and bars.

"The virus is not going to stop being contagious. What do you expect to happen when you open up?" asked Dan Ben-David, a professor at Tel Aviv University and president of the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research. "This was all avoidable, which is what makes it such a tragedy."

In April, Shoresh was one of several think tanks to produce research on the steps needed to the keep the virus at bay as economic activity picked up. The basic strategy, as has been seen in Germany, Austria and other countries, is to test widely and control hot spots as they pop up.

Israel started with several advantages, including its small population, centralized government and tightly controlled borders. The country's history of crisis management made it suited to meet the moment. All of that contributed to the country's success in tamping down infections after quickly shutting itself off and imposing a nationwide shutdown.

Israel had been ranked in March as having the world's top covid-19 safety rating by Deep Knowledge Group, which describes itself as a consortium of commercial and nonprofit organizations. But now, with infections spiking anew, Israel has been consigned to the "Red List" of covid-19 pariah countries barred from entry into European Union countries, along with the United States, Russia and Brazil.

Like many Israelis, Ben-David blames politics for what he calls the national "balagan," a Hebrew word roughly translated as a chaotic mess.

Netanyahu enjoyed a boost in popularity for his early handling of the crisis, which included near-nightly televised briefings and personal demonstrations of mask-wearing and hand-washing. But the prime minister seemed loath to appoint anyone else to oversee operations that ranged from securing ventilators and testing agents overseas to tracking cellphone movements of infected citizens.

He also resisted repeated calls to give the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) a bigger role in fighting the pandemic. The defense minister at the time had been Naftali Bennett, a Netanyahu challenger on the political right.

A spokesman for the IDF said the military has in fact played a crucial role since early March, transporting tests and materials, helping enforce curfews and lockdowns, and developing new ventilators. The army has run a string of 24 "corona hotels," where asymptomatic or mildly ill patients can ride out their infections. The number of hotels had declined from 24 to 12, but the IDF is now preparing to open two more.

"The IDF is ready, equipped, manned and prepared to assist with whatever the government of Israel asks us to do," said Col. Jonathan Conricus.

Ben-David also the sluggish response to the new outbreak reflected a government that had become so sprawling after new ministries were created this year to accommodate Netanyahu's political backers. "We already had a problem with officials in silos not talking to each other," he said. "With the new government, we divided the silos into new silos."

Sarah Talmor, a restaurateur in Jerusalem, recalled the sunny day a month ago when she moved the tables back onto the terrace. She remembers the hope and relief at apparently escaping the worst of the global pandemic.

On Tuesday, hope and relief had been replaced by "disappointment and sadness," as she ordered some those tables removed again and prepared to tell customers that new restrictions meant she could allow only a few of them to sit down.

"I wanted to believe life was going to be normal," said Talmor, manager of the Grand Cafe, one of several Jerusalem restaurants she owns with her husband. "Now we are going backward again."
Courtesy Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg

The city of Fredericksburg has been forced to cancel Oktoberfest, which is now the latest event to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the event's website.

Organizers said Monday evening the festival that celebrates German culture and heritage in Texas not feasible this year due to increasing concerns with the spread of COVID-19.
Bob Owen /Staff photographer

San Antonio dropped a handful of spots on CNBC's list of U.S. cities with the fastest COVID-19 growth after spending weeks in the top ranks.

San Antonio moved down to No. 9 on the ranking, according to CNBC. Previously, the city was ascending or descending by a spot or two each time the list was shared. On July 2, the last time CNBC posted the information, San Antonio had dropped from No. 4 to No. 5. The city first entered the list at No. 4 on June 19, then rose to No. 3 before returning to No. 4
Allan Pundt started working part time as a teenager at San Antonio vending company Toms Snacks. He loaded chips, candy and other treats onto trucks for delivery to offices and convenience stores.

After graduating from high school in 1966, Pundt joined the company full time in its warehouse and went on to hold just about every job in the place. He drove a route delivering snacks for two years, moved up to warehouse manager and, after about 20 years, became office manager before buying the business in 2001.

Since taking the reins, Pundt says the company  now known as San Antonio Snacks & Vending LP and located near the AT&T Center  has become a distributor of all major lines of snacks and drinks. Hes one of the few independent distributors in the U.S., he says. The company has a roughly 100-mile service area thats centered in San Antonio.

Pundt, 71, recently discussed his career and how the coronavirus pandemic has affected operations. Heres an edited transcript of the interview.

A: It started in Columbus, Ga. Thats where the plant was that made all the product. The building actually said Toms Toasted Peanuts on the top of it. It employed thousands of people.

Q: Was it locally owned when you started in 1965?

A: It was locally owned. This was an independent distributor. My father worked here as the general manager at that time. I was just out of high school and needed a job. So I started helping him on Saturday mornings.

I (later) needed a full-time job, (so I) started working in the warehouse, advanced into taking care of the books and ordering. Kind of ran the office. Then my daddy retired, I guess, in 85. I was still working for an independent owner at that time. He decided to retire about 20 years ago. I bought the business from him.

Lisa Krantz /Staff photographer

On ExpressNews.com: Liberty Bar owner in the age of coronavirus: I feel like the tail struggling to wag the dog

Q: How were you able to buy the business?

A: Broadway Bank made me a loan based on my years of experience and the profitability of the company.

Q: What did you acquire when you bought the business?

A: The distribution service, the trucks, the vending machines, everything that was part of the company at that time. A lot of it was purchasing the goodwill.

Q: How big is the business today?

A: Twenty-five to 30 employees. About half of our business is convenience store racks and half of it is vending. Some of these employees are supervisors, administrative assistants, warehouse people.

Q: How many vending machines do you stock?

A: Thatd probably be proprietary. Wouldnt want to say.

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Q: What would you say you like best about the business?

A: Interaction with people.

Q: Is there anything you dislike about it?

A: (Laughs) Hard to find good people. Hiring good people has always been an issue. Thats why you see now hiring (signs) in every building you go into.

Q: Whats been the biggest change in your industry since youve been in it?

A: Cost of goods. Prices that manufacturers charge. Obviously, were in business to make a profit, and the increase in the cost of products over the last 20 years  that was the first thing that came to mind. Machines (that accept) credit cards, thats been a big deal.

Q: Whats your favorite vending machine snack?

A: Im a pretty good snacker. Peanuts.

Q: How has your business changed since the pandemic?

A: I guess the sanitation, the masks, the gloves, the increased awareness of the transmitted coronavirus.

Q: Have you seen a drop in business because of offices closing and people working from home?

A: Oh, yes, quite a bit.

On ExpressNews.com: USAA delays return of workers until at least next year after COVID-19 surge

Q: How are you adapting? Have you laid off or furloughed workers?

A: We havent furloughed anybody. Ive had to raise compensation to help my employees get through this.

Q: How are you able to do that if sales are down?

A: Out of my pocket.

Q: Youre absorbing the sales drop?

A: The company is.

Q: So theres not a whole lot you can do if people arent eating snacks because theyre working from home?

A: Right. Just pray.

Q: Did you seek a Paycheck Protection Program loan?

A: Id rather not say.

(The Small Business Administration released the names of many loan recipients on Monday. San Antonio Snacks & Vending received a loan in the range of $150,000 to $350,000.)

On ExpressNews.com: Thomas J. Henry law firm, Bill Miller Bar-B-Q among San Antonio companies that received millions in PPP loans

Q: Dont take this the wrong way, but youre 71. How long do you want to continue in the business?

A: I wouldnt take it the wrong way. My wife passed away seven years ago. This job is my passion, and I dont have any plans.

Q: So youre just going to hold on as long as you can?

A: (Laughs) Well, it keeps me busy. It keeps me out of trouble.

Patrick Danner covers banking, insurance, business litigation and bankruptcies. To read more from Patrick, become a subscriber. pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD
Think twice before you blithely predict the end of offices.

True, San Antonio companies sent thousands upon thousands of employees home in March and April, pushing them into a new world of Zoom meetings and home schooling  and overall its worked out. Frost Bank loan officers, for example, processed a record volume of loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program in April while, presumably, working in their jammies.

Months later, many employees are still clocking in at their kitchen tables, couches and spare bedrooms.

Employers are struggling with plans to bring them back to the office, a complex task made even harder by the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. Return them in phases? Starting when? And do you have enough little bottles of hand sanitizer and bleach wipes?

Nobody wants to turn their workplace into a petri dish for a virus that threatens to be with us for a long time.

Illustration courtesy of Hornberger + Worstell

On ExpressNews.com: How will coronavirus change offices? Think new seating, more cleaning and hands-free tech

So loose talk about the obsolescence of offices is inevitable. Working remotely looks to be the next wave.

Clare Flesher, managing director at commercial real estate firm NAI Partners, isnt buying it.

He said hes been hearing offices are doomed for the 22 years hes been in the industry.

Tom Reel /Staff file photo

People still need a place to go, he said. They need a place to collaborate with colleagues and interact with clients.

The majority of his offices transactions are still moving forward, albeit with concessions to the pandemic. A few clients are reassessing their office space, looking at whether they need less square footage or need to reconfigure their layouts to reduce density.

The office vacancy rate in San Antonio stands at about 10.5 percent year-to-date, barely changed from 10.8 percent during the same stretch last year, according to a June report by NAI Partners. A vacancy rate of 10 percent or lower is healthy, Flesher said.

Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox

The number of completed projects is down, and the area posted a negative net absorption  a clunky phrase that means more office space is available than has been rented  of 191,201 square feet, compared with 103,569 square feet over the same period last year. That could be because newly completed office space has not been leased yet, creating more vacancies, Flesher said.

The area is transitioning to a market where tenants hold the advantage, he added. Some businesses might be considering relocating, or their lease might be expiring soon.

Theres an opportunity for tenants who foresee they will need office space to restructure their leases, Flesher said.

Office park in the works

Speaking of offices not going away, Worth & Associates is building a 135,000-square-foot, two-building office project at the corner of Wurzbach Parkway and West Avenue in North San Antonio.

One of the buildings, at 58,000 square feet, will include suites ranging from 1,500 to 3,500 square feet and a break room, conference rooms and outdoor areas, according to a news release. The other structure, a 78,000-square-foot flex office building, also will have outdoor break spaces and other perks.

The project, called Walker Ranch Business Park, is expected to be finished next year.

One step closer

The citys Historic and Design Review Commission gave the green light recently to plans to build a 14-story hotel next to St. Marys Catholic Church downtown and to tear down its rectory.

On ExpressNews.com: Plans for 14-story hotel near downtown Catholic church get approval

Potentially forestalling divine wrath, the developer will build a new rectory and offices for the church inside Hotel Sul Fiume, or hotel on the river in Italian, according to documents submitted to the commission last year. The 147-room hotel will encompass 127,000 square feet.

Work on the $38.5 million project is expected to start in July and wrap up in 2022, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Event space and a bar or lounge are also part of the plans.

Cant catch a break

Many retailers were struggling to adapt to customers changing habits, including the shift to online shopping. And they were grappling with hefty debt loads. That was before the pandemic.

The outbreak has accelerated their problems and pushed some big names  including Neiman Marcus, Pier 1 and Stage Stores  into bankruptcy.

The delinquency rate for commercial mortgage loans was roughly 18 percent in June, an increase of nearly 8 percentage points from May, according to a report by Trepp.

On ExpressNews.com: How is the pandemic changing retail? One expert weighs in

The data and research firm attributed the spike to retailers pulling out of leases, emptying spaces and closing stores, which is squeezing property cash flows. But retail was a laggard even before COVID, the report notes.

One potential reason: oodles of spaces. The U.S. has about 8.5 billion square feet of retail space, or about 24.5 square feet per person, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Thats five times the average per person in Europe.

That, coupled with an overall shift in consumer demand away from brick and mortar stores towards online shopping, has amplified the effect of the COVID-19 crisis, Trepps researchers said.

Madison Iszler covers commercial and residential real estate and retail. To read more from Madison, become a subscriber. Madison.Iszler@express-news.net | Twitter: @madisoniszler
UNI

New Delhi/UNI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has made one more arrest in Pulwama attack case in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14, 2019 in Kashmir valley.

According to the probing agency, it arrested Bilal Ahmed Kuchey from Kakapora in Pulwama on July 5. Kuchey, a sawmill owner, was a terror associate who harboured and extended logistic support to the Jaish- e- Mohammd (JeM) terrorists involved in the attack.

The main perpetrators in the case stayed with him and he further introduced them to other Over Ground Workers(OGW) who provided safe houses during their stay and planning of the attack.

Bilal Ahmed Kuchey provided the JeM terrorists with high-end mobile phones which were used by them to communicate with the Pakistan-based JeM leadership as well as among themselves for giving final touches to their planning and for execution of the attack, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

Further, mobile phone provided by him was also used for recording the video clip of Fidayeen Adil Ahmed Dar which became viral after the attack.

Accused Kuchey was produced before Jammu NIA Special Court on July 6 which granted 10 days NIA remand for his custodial interrogation.

The probing agency said that this was the seventh arrest made by NIA in this case so far, adding that further investigation in this case has been under progress.

On 14 February 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora (near Awantipora) in the Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 Force personnel were martyred.

The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. The attacker was Adil Ahmad Dar, a local from Pulwama district, and a member of banned terror outfit JeM.
Photo by RobShots A Niagara Falls resident sets off what appear to be Roman candles on the 400 block of 20th Street on June 26. Municipalities across the country have been plagued by a skyrocketing number of complaints about the illegal use of fireworks.
A Longford man who was found in possession of a taser gun disguised as a knuckleduster has told a court he bought it after becoming curious when seeing it for sale on a Chinese website for 13.

Ryan OKeeffe, 4 Canal Walk, Longford pleaded guilty to having the device in the drivers front side draw of his vehicle at Park Road, Longford on March 15 2019.

Sgt Paddy McGirl, prosecuting, said Mr OKeeffes vehicle was stopped by Garda Keith OBrien and searched.

During the course of that search, Sgt McGirl said the accused suddenly told Garda OBrien to be careful as he reached down to the side pocket of the drivers door.

It was at that point Garda OBrien recovered the implement which was disguised as a knuckleduster.

He said when it was sent for analysis, a report came back confirming it to be a certified taser gun and an appliance capable of incapacitating someone for a number of minutes.

In defence, solicitor John Quinn said Mr OKeeffe had no previous court appearances and the taser gun had been purchased out of novelty.

He was likewise keen to stress that Mr OKeeffe was not privy to any ongoing feuding in the town.

Mr OKeeffe, under direct questioning from Judge Seamus Hughes, admitted he purchased the taser for just 13 from Chinese website, Wish.

I was having a browse and seen it there and was just curious, he said.

Judge Hughes questioned Mr OKeeffes insistence that he had never discharged the taser, saying in most circumstances the first course of action a person would take would be to determine if it worked or not.

You knew it was a taser, so why did you go and buy it? Judge Hughes asked.

I didnt know it was the real thing, came the reply from Mr OKeeffe, who was wearing blue jeans and a grey top.

Judge Hughes said Mr OKeeffe could count himself fortunate he was not looking at a custodial spell for the incident.

The only thing thats saving you from prison is that you dont have any previous convictions, said the judge.

He consequently issued the 22-year-old with a suspended three month prison term.

At least I will keep you on the straight and narrow for three years if that (sentence) has the desired effect, he told him.
While Longford has had no new confirmed cases of Covid-19 today, yesterday the county total increased by one new case to 287. There have been two new cases in the last week alone, following three weeks of no new confirmed cases.

In neighbouring counties, Cavan has had 864 confirmed cases since the pandemic began, Westmeath has had 674, Roscommon has had 346, while Leitrim still remains in double digits with just 82 total confirmed cases since the pandemic began.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been informed that 1 person with Covid-19 has died.

There has now been a total of 1,742 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Monday 6th July, the HPSC has been notified of 24 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 25,538 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

The Covid dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of Covid-19 in the community.

Dr. Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; As of 5pm this evening, the Covid Tracker App had approximately 545,000 downloads. This is one more example of the solidarity and collective spirit that has characterised the Irish publics response to COVID-19 to date.

You can download the app here.

The app is an important tool to support our contact tracing systems. It has the potential to reduce the time that people are active in the community with infection, which will have a significant impact on the transmission of the disease.

The more people who download and use this app, the more effective it will be. It is a further opportunity for us to play our part in the response to COVID-19.
Today, al-Mawred al-Thaqafy and AFAC are joining forces for the first time to launch a sol-idarity fund for Lebanese artists and cultural institutions. How was this collaboration born?

Both organizations are specifically dedicated to supporting artists and artistic and cultural or-ganizations in the Arab world through a multitude of programs providing financial support but also assistance for skills development and training sessions. Our respective missions are meant to meet the needs of the sector and fill in the gaps. It was therefore natural for our two organi-zations to share the desire and responsibility to help organizations and artists in these difficult times.

How much is the amount of aid provided by this solidarity fund and how can one apply for it?

It should first be noted that this solidarity fund is supported in large part by the Open Society Foundation and the Ford Foundation, long-time partners of al-Mawred and AFAC. Assistance can be as high as $80,000 per organization. Sixteen active organizations based in Lebanon will benefit. Applicants must submit a letter of interest with supporting documentation. The deadline for ap-plications was June 15, 2020. For details, please visit: www.arabculturefund.org/Programs/34

What do you hope to accomplish with this initiative?

We feel a responsibility for the urgent and changing needs of the sector in Lebanon. We want to help as many people or organizations as possible and allow them to take time to reinvent themselves and prepare new creations.

Who are the potential beneficiaries? Who did you encourage to apply?

The fund is open to all organizations working in the arts and culture, in all disciplines, and which have been in existence for more than two years. We encourage those whose professional sur-vival is at risk and those who face new challenges to question their mission, practices and commitment to communities.

Can you provide an overview of the cultural sector in Lebanon today? How have things changed in the last five and 10 years?

If this question was asked before October 2019 and before the pandemic, we would have ap-plauded the dynamic proliferation of the arts and culture sector, especially in Beirut but also increasingly in the regions. Through all disciplines  film, music, theatre, dance, visual arts, photography, writing, research in the arts  the sector has been built by passionate and ambi-tious individuals and collectives.

Throughout the year, several festivals and events brought together young and old people around rich artistic events that tackled topics with social, aesthetic and imaginary significance. Every day we had a generous range of options. In the last five years alone, at AFAC and al-Mawred, we received 2,000 proposals from artists or institutions in Lebanon and supported more than 250.

Today, with economic paralysis of this magnitude, this momentum is in jeopardy and small ac-tive initiatives can no longer survive on their own.

We are going through an intense and tense period and the impact on the arts and culture sec-tor will be clearer in one or two years. We will also be able to witness a flood of creativity ac-cumulated over the past 10 years over a short period of time. That is why it is difficult to ana-lyze the state of the sector when we are in the middle of a storm.

However, we can analyze the new realities and rely on certain facts. An economic crisis has hit the country hard and all sectors are affected. Being largely dependent on non-governmental support, the cultural sector is uniquely affected: lack of public support, absence of incentive programs, fragile infrastructure, non-existence of cultural policy.

In other words, it is a sector that has always suffered from vulnerability and precariousness which, in times of crisis, are magnified and multiplied.

With the economic collapse, and more recently the coronavirus epidemic and confinement measures, artists and cultural and artistic organizations have been hit hard by their inability to perform or continue to operate. In addition, in light of these new realities, many of these or-ganizations and collectives are grappling with crucial and internal issues and reflecting on the value and scope of their respective work vis-a-vis their communities.

Much has been said that this crisis can be an opportunity for us to come together and reflect together, to rethink the economies of cultural production, the functioning of organizations and the mode of financing in a way that reflects new local realities.

This discourse reflects a level of maturity and the urgency to act, but we must not forget that any collective strategic thinking requires time, resources and a favorable environment.

In your opinion, as directors of cultural associations, how bad is the situation of Lebanese artists?

Artists in Lebanon cannot be placed in a single category. An artists situation varies according to their gender, their years of experience, the network to which they are affiliated, etc. But we can generalize by saying that the economic crisis and the pandemic put enormous pressure on artists who make a living from their art. Most, if not all, artists work in the informal sector and are dependent on highly unstable sources of income, making their situation very precarious.

Are you planning other initiatives to support small enterprises in the months or years ahead?

Artistic and cultural organizations in the region are coordinating their efforts to support cultur-al, individual and collective actors.

Regional organizations such as al-Mawred and AFAC will announce new initiatives to support artists in response to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Al-Mawred has announced a new element in its Stand for Art program to help artists, technicians and cultural actors who need help most during the pandemic period. AFAC will also launch an artist residency grant to enable beneficiaries to pursue their projects, develop new ideas or find new ways to dissemi-nate their work, for example through technological solutions. Other regional funding mecha-nisms will also be announced soon and artists living in Lebanon will of course be able to apply.

In the absence of a policy of government assistance and support to the cultural sector, Lebanese artists relied on foreign aid or local sponsors, including banks. It goes without saying that they will no longer be able to rely on most Lebanese banks today...What means of survival for artists exist in the post-Covid-19 era?

Aid for the cultural sector is dwindling around the world. It is also taking other forms. The cur-rent crisis is magnifying this reality and we are unable to predict possible aid in the future. We have to wait and see if the global health crisis will be reflected on the funds allocated to the cultural sector.

Despite all the challenges, artists will continue to create. We are confident. We are also sure that there will always be generous local philanthropists who will respond to the circumstances and offer their support.

After all, the Arab world has been grappling with political, social and economic challenges for more than 50 years. The art that emerged during these years is the result of the work of the artists who react to crises and manage them as much as they can. Their resilience has proven its worth over the years: they know better than anyone to transcend all kinds of restrictions.

Call for Applications for a Masters Degree in Cultural Management Al-Mawred al-Thaqafy (Culture Resource) and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Hassan II University in Ben Msik, Casablanca, Morocco, are calling for applications for a scholarship for a masters degree in cultural policy and management for the years 2020/2022. This masters degree was founded two years ago by al-Mawred in partnership with Hassan II University in Morocco and Hildesheim University in Germany, alongside the latters UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy for the Arts in Development. The program, the only one of its kind in the Arab region, is offered in Arabic and English over a total of two years. The initiative for this masters degree aims to train senior managers in the fields of cultural management and governance in the Arab world. The program offers a partial scholarship and a fund to support the end-of-cycle project, as well as participation in the summer academy orga-nized in collaboration with the University of Hildesheim. The program also offers logistical as-sistance and facilities for obtaining a visa and residence permit for non-Moroccans. Applicants must have a bachelors degree and three years of experience in the cultural sector. They must also have a good level in Arabic and English. The deadline for applications is July 10, 2020 at 4 pm Beirut time. For more information: [email protected]

(This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 3rd of June)






Was it a message or a real strategy to put an end to the actions of pro-Tehran militias on Iraqi territory? The arrest on the night of June 25 of a dozen militants from the powerful pro-Iranian Hezbollah Brigades militia for firing rockets at US soldiers raises questions about the ambitions of the new Iraqi prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, and, above all, the means at his disposal to achieve these ambitions. While these arrests created a stir, the government's action ended in failure. The majority of the detainees who were handed over to a court run by the Popular Mobilization Forces or Hashd al-Shaabi, the name given to a largely pro-Iranian paramilitary coalition of which the Hezbollah Brigades is a member, were released for lack of sufficient evidence.

The unprecedented targeting of the Hezbollah Brigades underlines the prime minister's dual willingness to meet the security demands of the Americans and to let the people know that he has recognized their aspirations for a real state. As Iraq is facing a serious economic crisis, al-Kadhimi does not want to discourage Washington's investment prospects in the country and wishes to demonstrate that he is capable of pounding the table and starting an arm-wrestle with pro-Iranian armed factions, especially when they attack US facilities in the country.

The unprecedented uprising that began in October 2019 saw hundreds of thousands of Iraqis take to the streets to denounce, among other things, the sectarian system, endemic corruption and Iran's grip on Iraq. Anger is still growing today, albeit on a much smaller scale than at the end of last year. Cuts in civil servants' salaries and late payments are worrying a population to which the new head of government wants to give pledges to his commitment.

The timing seems all the more appropriate for the head of the Iraqi government as the Islamic Republic is particularly discreet these days. If the reactions of the militias in the country against al-Khadimi did not take long to come, combining threats and accusations of complicity with Washington. Tehran, for its part, kept silence although the June 25 arrests target it in a country it considers its private backyard. This attitude further confirms Iran's tendency to lower its tone against the Americans in the region. "External actors like Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah are distracted by massive economic and COVID crises. The Iraqi militias are on their own and struggling to keep their illicit gains and to stay relevant, Michael Knights, an expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told L'Orient-Le Jour. This is also an opportunity for Washington, which wants to seize it to try to get a head start on Tehran. "The US will work with the broader international community that is highly supportive of Kadhimis policy agenda. The key support will be political and economic, including economic reform and energy self sufficiency," Knights added.

Contortionist

While Iran appears to be losing a few points, its stated objective has not changed. Since the January assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the then commander-in-chief of the Quds Force which is part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and the former de facto leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the main purpose of Tehran and its allies remains the withdrawal of all US forces from the region. This is a priority that was even endorsed by a vote by the Iraqi parliament on January 5. Since October 2019, more than 30 rockets have targeted US soldiers and diplomats in Iraq, but the escalation following the deaths of Soleimani and al-Muhandis has remained moderate.

"Actions by pro-Iran entities like KH that do not enjoy popular support create challenges to Tehrans objective of developing a national consensus in Iraq on the issue of US force withdrawal. ," said Randa Slim, a researcher at the Middle East Institute. "Hence their preference for now is to work behind the scenes to solve differences that arise among parties they support and to keep pushing the new government to implement the Jan 5 parliamentary vote calling for withdrawal of US forces."

The June 29 release of the arrested militants illustrates the difficulties the Iraqi prime minister will face if he is to put Tehran-affiliated factions under state control. The task is made all the more complicated by the official integration of the Popular Mobilization Forces into the security forces. The paramilitary coalition therefore has one foot in the national army and another where Tehran demands it. "Curbing Iranian influence in Iraq is an uphill battle. Tehran has been for years embedding its supporters at every level of the decision making process and in every government agency. To unwind such influence takes a long term sustained strategy," Slim added.

The pro-Iranian militias in the country have no intention of making concessions, at least in form. Proof to this is the fact that the Hezbollah Brigades faction, after securing the release of its militants, said it wanted to prosecute the prime minister for "kidnapping."

Al-Kadhimi also has to deal with the voluntary US withdrawal from the Middle East. This move, defended by both Democrats and Republicans, resonates favorably with the US public in the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for November. "While the US will continue to support Iraqi security forces to prevent reconsolidation of ISIS in the country, they will also exit Iraq as soon as security conditions allow it," Slim said.

The opening of the strategic dialogue between Washington and Baghdad on June 11 resulted in a joint declaration, saying that the United States would reduce its military presence in the country in the coming months, without however specifying the exact scale and timeline of this move. Al-Kadhimi, who cannot oppose the militias head-on too much and must resign himself to a subtle contortionist game, can also argue that this announcement is in favor of Iran's political allies.





(This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 2nd of July)


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Questioning the silence of the Muslim nations over China's continuous atrocities carried out against Uyghur Muslims, a noted British journalist said these nations only use the idea of Muslim solidarity when it suits them

"But the main reasons why Muslims suffer in silence is that the Muslim-majority countries that raged against Rushdie, Jyllands-Posten and Charlie Hebdo have decided to stay silent. They use the idea of Muslim solidarity only when it suits them," Cohen wrote in his opinion piece published in The Guardian.

"In July 2019, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria and other Muslim-majority states that pose as defenders of the faith helped to block a western motion at the United Nations calling for China to allow 'independent international observers' into the Xinjiang region, he wrote.

"Iran issues occasional criticisms but wants Chinese support in its struggle against the Trump administration and so keeps its complaints coded. Their hypocrisy is almost funny, if you take your humour black. Iran, Egypt, Syria and dozens of other countries that could not tolerate a magical realist novel can live with the mass sterilisation of Muslim women. They will give concentration camps a conniving wink of approval, but draw the line at cartoons in a Danish newspaper," he said.

He said China is now a more active and influential voice at the United Nations because so many countries are benefiting from billions of dollars in Chinese investments through its Belt and Road infrastructure programme.

"As Norway found in 2010, and Australia found this year when it asked for an international inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, those who blaspheme against China face cyber-attacks and sanctions. Better to take the rewards and avoid the punishments," he said.

Criticising China, he said: "The Chinese world order appeals to the freemasonry of publicity-shy sadists. You say nothing about what we do to our subject people and we will say nothing about what you do to yours."

He said: "China is now turning criticism of its disastrous record on incubating the Covid-19 virus and its atrocities against its Muslim minorities into crimes, and the people who should be shouting the loudest are bowing their heads in reverential silence."

Image Credit: https://www.saveuighur.org
Kingswood Holdings Ltd - London-based wealth management group - Non-Executive Director David Hudd purchased 100,000 shares at 20 pence a share for a total of GPB20,000 last Friday. The company did not disclose Hudd's total stake following the transaction.

Current stock price: 20.52 pence

Year-to-date change: down 4.6%

By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - James Fisher & Sons PLC on Tuesday said it revenue for its second quarter, and therefore its first half was lower year-on-year despite a resilient performance amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The FTSE 250-listed marine engineering company said revenue for the second quarter was 18% lower than the comparative period in 2019, with revenue for the first half to the end of June 10% lower than GBP286.9 million recorded for the year prior.

James Fisher said its trading was hurt by the Covid-19 crisis, with the negative effects further exacerbated by a sharp fall in the price of oil. It stated that the imbalance between supply and demand in the oil & gas sector has continued to place downward pressure on oil prices, adding that it believes this may continue for some time.

In the second quarter, its Marine Support division experienced supply chain challenges and saw subsea service projects being deferred with the lower first half financial performance resulting in a decision to restructure the division, reduce the cost base and "refresh the management structure".

The Specialist Technical division performed "satisfactorily" despite supply chain issues. The Tankships division traded well through the first four months of 2020, however shipments of clean petroleum products reduced during May and June as a result of the UK and Irish lockdown. The Offshore Oil division traded "well" and is expected to report improved profitability in the first half of 2020 compared to the first half of 2019.

Looking ahead, the company located in Barrow-in-Furness, north-west England said it soon plans to stop using the government's furlough scheme and plans to repay salary deferrals for 800 employees except to board members and the executive committee who accepted 20% pay cuts. The payment of full salaries commenced last Wednesday.

As at June 30, James Fisher had net debt of GBP15 million, down from GBP203 million at the end of 2019.

Full unaudited results for the half year will be published on August 25.

The stock was trading 2.3% lower at 1,368.00 pence each midday Tuesday in London and 33% lower than at the start of the year.

By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com.

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - Homeowners will receive GBP2 billion in financial incentives to insulate their homes as part of an economic recovery scheme set to be announced by the Chancellor.

The funding is part of an expected GBP3 billion green package Rishi Sunak will unveil on Wednesday to create jobs, upgrade buildings and protect the environment as part of efforts to rebuild the economy after Covid-19.

The scheme will also include a GBP1 billion programme to transform schools, hospitals and other public buildings so they are greener and more energy efficient.

According to The Sun, the Green Homes Grant scheme will allow households to receive vouchers worth up to GBP5,000 to use on environmentally-friendly additions such as insulation, low-energy lighting and energy-efficient doors.

Some of the nation's poorest households will reportedly be able to access vouchers worth up to GBP10,000.

The paper reports the programme will commence in September and could save families up to GBP600 a year on energy bills, according to Treasury estimates.

The recovery package will also include GBP1 billion for public buildings to pay for measures such as insulation, efficiency and green heating technology to cut emissions and save energy in places such as schools, hospitals, military bases and prisons.

Funding of GBP50 million will go to pilot innovative schemes to retrofit social housing at scale, with measures including insulation, double glazing and heat pumps.

The Treasury said retrofits of social housing could save an average of GBP200 for some of the poorest households while cutting carbon emissions.

The GBP3 billion in green schemes aims to help the UK "build back greener" and meet its legally binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

Campaigners have been urging ministers to deliver on the manifesto pledge to invest GBP9.2 billion in energy efficiency, to boost jobs across the UK, cut consumer bills and reduce carbon emissions as part of the pandemic recovery.

They said the funding being unveiled on Wednesday in the summer economic update was welcome as a "down payment", but does not measure up to what is needed to tackle the climate and economic crises.

The Conservative manifesto pledged GBP9.2 billion for energy efficiency, including GBP2.9 billion for public buildings and GBP6.3 billion for low income homes and social housing.

Ed Matthew, associate director at climate think tank E3G, said: "If this funding is the down payment on their manifesto commitment then it is a welcome start.

"If this is the total level of energy efficiency investment they are pledging then it is peanuts a barely enough to get us to the end of this year if we are to get on track to net zero."

Greenpeace UK's Rosie Rogers pointed to funding by other countries for a green recovery, including GBP36 billion by the German government and GBP13.5 billion by France and said the UK's GBP3 billion "isn't playing in the same league".

"Of course this money is better than nothing, but it doesn't measure up to the economic and environmental crises. It's not enough to create the hundreds of thousands of new green jobs that are needed.

"It's not enough to insulate all of the homes and buildings that need to be kept warm and more energy efficient.

"It's not enough to 'build back greener', and it's certainly not enough to put us on track to tackle the catastrophic impacts of the climate emergency," she said.

The statement from the Chancellor will also confirm the announcement made last week by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that GBP40 million will be made available for nature conservation schemes.

Schemes to plant trees, clean up rivers and create new green spaces for people and wildlife could support up to 5,000 new jobs, the government said.

Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said the plan was not comprehensive and claimed it leaves out one third of people.

"We have consistently called for a recovery which has energy efficiency at its heart, and will welcome any measures which achieve that," he said.

"However, this is not a comprehensive plan. It appears there is almost nothing for the people who rent the 8.5 million homes in the social rented sector and private rented sector, which has the worst energy efficiency standards. That means one third of people are left out.

"It also needs to be part of a much broader and bigger scale strategy for getting back on track for net zero which includes a zero carbon army of young people getting back to work, investment in nature conservation, driving forward renewable energy, helping our manufacturers be part of the green transition and a plan for our transport network.

"The French government has promised EUR15 billion for a green recovery, the German government 40 billion euros. The UK government GBP3 billion so far. When the moment demands the government creates the most ambitious green recovery possible, the government has not so far risen to the challenge."

By Emily Beament, PA Environment Correspondent

source: PA

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.


Here are some of the local news and sports stories you may have missed this past week.
More than 400 homes and businesses were without power on Tuesday afternoon in the Romeo area in northern Macomb County, but power was restored after a couple of hours.

According to the DTE Energy outage map, the area impacted was between 32 Mile Road and Inwood Road just west of M-53. The area runs both north and south of 31 Mile Road.

DTE Energy reports that 446 customers lost power at 1 p.m. and were expected to get it back by 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, a day that was to see temperatures reach into the lower 90s.

- Advertisement -

DTE Energy listed the outage was caused by a repair or upgrade to equipment.

To the north, just outside of Macomb County, 24 customers lost power just after 1 p.m. and could see it back by 5 p.m. in an area near Almont. That outage is just east of M-53. At about 5 p.m., though, the outage had expanded to 476 customers.

Earlier in the day, shortly before noon, about hundred customers lost power in Madison Heights, just west of Dequindre, that that was quickly restored.

+5 Pools at Lake St. Clair, other metroparks a respite as heat soars Many of the restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made it difficult for families to have fun.

Clinton Township police searching for missing alligator The Clinton Township Police Department is currently searching for an alligator which escaped from a home in the Lucerene and Lantz streets are

+2 Eastpointe police release photo of suspect in July Fourth holiday shooting Eastpointe police have released a photo from security video of the suspect who gunned down a 42-year-old man during a Fourth of July holiday c

Kanye West? The Girl Scouts? Hedge funds? All got PPP loans WASHINGTON (AP)  The government's small business lending program has benefited millions of companies, with the goal of minimizing the number of layoffs Americans have suffered in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet the recipients include many you probably wouldn't have expected.

Trump donors among early recipients of coronavirus loans WASHINGTON (AP)  As much as $273 million in federal coronavirus aid was awarded to more than 100 companies that are owned or operated by major donors to President Donald Trump's election efforts, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data.
Exton, PA (19341)

Today

Periods of rain. Thunder possible. High near 70F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Pakistan-born Canadian author Tarek Fatah has said it is time for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to intervene and stop the slaughter and ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people of Balochistan.

"However, this would require the over a dozen Baloch political parties and guerilla groups to join hands to issue a Balochistan Declaration about their future where the enemy is no longer the Pakistan Army, but China," he wrote in an article published in Toronto Sun.

Describing the condition in Balochistan and the Chinese influence on the region, he said: "Almost a decade later, the killing fields of Balochistan are as bloody in 2020 as they were during the previous wars of independence fought by the Baloch in 1948, 1956, 1963, 1972 and 2005. Except this time the Baloch face a more powerful enemy  Communist China."

"Under the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, not only are the traditional tools of occupation being employed, but also the organized plunder of Balochistans natural resources," he said.

"A territory as large as France, Balochistan is rich in oil, gas, copper, gold, coal and fisheries along its 750km coastline with the port of Gwadar strategically sitting at the mouth of the Straits of Hormuz," he said.

"Predictably, the battle involving Baloch guerilla groups fighting what they consider Pakistans occupation army now involves China and its economic interests. Among the myriad of Baloch political parties and armed groups involved, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has taken their fight to attack Chinese interests in Pakistans urban cities," he said.

Image: Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay
VICTORY TWP. -- Students in the West Shore Community College Police Academy were right on track to graduate in May.

Their final weeks of the program were devoted to discussing police procedures and criminal investigations, learning the proper use of firearms and working out in preparation for their final physical fitness tests. They'd begun imagining the satisfying careers they'd soon begin.

Then the COVID-19 health crisis changed everything.

"When it hit, we scrambled to deal with the challenges," recalled John O'Hagan, academy director and associate professor of criminal justice. In mid-March, in an effort to help flatten the coronavirus curve, on-campus classes were suspended and many of the courses turned to online learning.

Adapting to new ways of interacting during Zoom lectures took some getting used to, and students and instructors agreed it wasn't the best way to learn practical skills. The classes were suspended for a month while faculty and administrators explored the best ways to resume face-to-face instruction.

"The police academy curriculum includes traffic stops, subject control, emergency vehicle operation -- things that require us to be within three feet of each other," explained O'Hagan, former Manistee County sheriff. "After that first week of being online, there were no other courses we could do, and I had to suspend the academy."

But O'Hagan and his colleagues were determined to find a way to continue.

"These students had worked and saved and done everything they could to finish college," he said. "They were counting on finding work right away so they could start paying off their debts and have insurance and take care of their families. I wasn't going to let them just fall away."

During the month that students were off campus, O'Hagan instituted semiweekly Zoom meetings and brought in guest speakers who discussed job opportunities in various areas of law enforcement.

In mid-May, classes resumed at the Riemer Regional Public Safety Training Center on U.S. 31.

"Everyone was ready and excited," O'Hagan said. "Students picked up where they'd left off, despite changes in daily protocol: face masks -- including special masks and face shields worn during driving events -- daily temperature checks when entering the building, social distancing in break rooms and classrooms, and for the instructors, lecturing for over two hours in a mask. This class told me, 'We'll do anything we have to get through this,' and I said, 'I'll do anything I can to make it happen.'"

Lauren Kreinbrink, criminal justice instructor, said they had a great group of motivated recruits.

"I felt that once we resumed, they didn't miss a beat," she said. "They were ready and motivated to finish the academy and make the most of it. They said that these circumstances motivated them even more to be the positive police officers we need."

Some students put the shutdown period to good advantage.

"The academy requires physical tests," explained student Joshua Pomorski. "But speed is not my friend when it comes to running. That was difficult. But the two months off gave me the time to train. That really helped me come back and pass that test with a good time."

Kreinbrink said she was inspired by students who weren't discouraged by the difficult circumstances and instead channeled it into something positive.

"They give me hope that we have people who want to make a positive difference in law enforcement," she said.

CURRENT EVENTS IN THE CLASSROOM

Challenges of the pandemic weren't the only thing to impact the academy this spring.

"Right after things went down in Minnesota (the arrest of a police officer in the death of George Floyd), the very next day we were talking about it in the classroom," said O'Hagan. "We don't teach a chokehold here."

Academy students are taught that the main purpose of law enforcement is to serve the community and protect lives and property.

"They're always taught safety first," said O'Hagan. "Theirs is a tough job which requires constant training."

The West Shore curriculum includes topics from investigation to patrol procedures to detention, prosecution, and police skills and covers sensitive areas such as de-escalation, bias, and cultural competency.

Policing in rural northern Michigan is demanding in its own way, O'Hagan stressed.

"You need to know everyone in your community," he said. "We like to be out there shaking hands, walking in our communities. In a small town, we can do a lot of that, where in the big city, there are so many officers and so many different assignments, it's a different culture. They're like a number. Here, you know everybody that you work with. And the community gets to know you. I teach interpersonal skills. I teach integrity, that if someone's in trouble, to step in immediately to render assistance."

POISED FOR SUCCESS

"One of the biggest challenges was our graduation," said student Kyli Cressel-Rogers. "We were looking forward to having friends and family there to support us. But the director and the other people involved in our academy did everything they could to make it as special as they could."

"This program is intense without COVID-19 playing a factor and our students were amazing," said Christy Christmas, dean of occupational programs. "Along with John, the dedicated adjunct faculty members, who shared their skill and knowledge with our recruits, are to be commended for their commitment to getting this class of recruits to a successful completion. They, too, were amazing and the students recognized their sacrifice."

The 2020 academy graduation ceremony may have been virtual, but it was no less meaningful than an in-person gathering. Perhaps it was a bit more meaningful considering the obstacles the class had worked to overcome. On June 18, 11 students received law enforcement certificates from West Shore Community College and are now eligible for police licensure from the State of Michigan.

The graduates are Kyli Cressell-Rodgers, Albert Mendez, Emily Paulsen, Joshua Pomorski, Austin Priese, Noah Robart, Catrina Saylor, Jeffrey Soraruf, Aaron Facundo, Brandon TenHove and Trevor Thrailkill.

Most plan to seek career placement in the area and neighboring counties.

"One reason a lot of them wanted to go into law enforcement was to give back to their community," said O'Hagan. "Yes, you hear about the negativity toward the police, but there's so much good. Most law enforcement officers have the heart the size of Montana. It's unbelievable what they would do to risk their lives for people."
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
Instacart has exploded in popularity during the pandemic. But the contract gig workers Instacart relies on say they arent sharing in the grocery-delivery companys success and some local governments are working to address their concerns. Photo: Ben Margot/Associated Press
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Marysville, KS (66508)

Today

Plenty of sunshine. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 90F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
COVID-19 may have existed in environment for many decades: researchers

Screenshot of the report by The Telegraph.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 may not have originated in China but could have been thriving in a dormant stage in the environment for decades, according to researchers.

While a British epidemiologist found the virus prevalent in many parts of world before the pandemic, another study traced a part of the virus gene in existence for thousands of years.

A combination of conditions led to its viral spread, reported The Telegraph on Sunday, citing a British epidemiologist.

"I think the virus was already here, here meaning everywhere. We may be seeing a dormant virus that has been activated by environmental conditions," said Dr. Tom Jefferson, an honorary senior research fellow at the Center for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM), University of Oxford.

The agents don't come or go anywhere, said Jefferson. "They are always here and something ignites them, maybe human density or environmental conditions."

He pointed out that the growing evidence had suggested that "the virus was elsewhere before it emerged in Asia," mentioning the increasing detection of the virus in sewage across the globe.

Another research found a part of the coronavirus gene developed around 60,000 years ago during the existence of Neanderthals, wrote a new study which is yet to be published. The virus developed in later years and could be found in the genes of people in many countries.

New transmission routes

Moreover, Brazil lately reported finding the novel coronavirus in the sewage samples from last November in Florianopolis.

Previously, Spanish researchers detected the coronavirus in samples taken from wastewater collected in Barcelona in March 2019, and their counterparts in Italy also found traces of the virus in the sewage of Milan and Turin last December.

The traces of coronavirus were tracked months earlier than officially reported.

Also, as clusters of the virus developed in food factories and meat packaging plants, Jefferson and Carl Henegehan, director of the CEBM, think there are new routes of transmission, which may be transmitted through the sewage system or "shared toilet facilities coupled with cool conditions that allow the virus to thrive."

"There is quite a lot of evidence that huge amounts of the virus in sewage all over the place, and an increasing amount of evidence there is fecal transmission. There is a high concentration where sewage is four degrees, which is the ideal temperature for it to be stabled and presumably activated. And meatpacking plants are often at four degrees," the two experts wrote.

They called on researchers to study the ecology of the virus.

"These outbreaks need to be investigated properly with people on the ground one by one You question people, and you start constructing hypotheses that fit the facts, not the other way around," they added.
A dead body was reported on a bike path near the Boston-Milton border Monday morning, according to authorities.

Troopers responded shortly after 6 a.m.to a report of a dead person on a a bike path near Granite Avenue, Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.

An investigation of the death ruled out foul play, state police said.

Authorities did not immediately release the age nor identity of the individual who died.

State police detectives and Crime Scene Services personnel also responded, the statement said. The investigation is ongoing.

No further information was released.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Wilson Peguero, the alleged former leader of the Boston chapter of the Latin Kings, pleaded guilty Tuesday to racketeering charges, federal authorities said.

Peguero, 29, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, also known as RICO conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts. Authorities say he is the second alleged Latin Kings member to plead guilty in the case.

Peguero or King Dubb was arrested along with more than 60 alleged gang members and affiliates across the Northeast in December as part of Operation Throne Down, a multi-jurisdictional operation targeting the Latin Kings gang. At the time, he was the leader of the Devon Street Kings Chapter of the Massachusetts Latin Kings, according to court documents.

Authorities said they seized $38,000 in cash, six cars, six motorcycles, three jet skis, an ATV and various drugs. They also confiscated dozens of firearms, including a submachine gun and an AR-15 rifle, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said after the arrests.

Court documents detailed Pegueros alleged involvement in the racketeering enterprise. Peguero was recorded in meetings discussing the business with other members of the Boston-based chapter. He was present during meetings where members discussed violence against rival gangs and where members were sometimes beaten up for violating the gangs code, according to court documents, citing the recordings.

Peguero also produced various music videos promoting drug distribution, threats against rival gangs and claiming his loyalty to the Latin Kings, according to court documents.

Pegueros sentencing is set for Oct. 20.

Related Content:
Massachusetts will move toward what one congressman described as a new chapter in Cape Cods history through an agreement with the federal government to replace the two bridges connecting the Cape to the mainland with wider, state-controlled successors.

Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. William Conde signed a formal memorandum of understanding Tuesday to embark on a years-long joint project to replace the 85-year-old Bourne and Sagamore bridges, two economic and transportation linchpins that have been functionally obsolete for years despite connecting the roughly 215,000 Cape Cod residents to the rest of Massachusetts.

These are more than bridges. These are lifelines, said Congressman Bill Keating, whose district includes both spans, in a video message played during the virtual signing event. We need modern bridges that will deal with modern vehicles, modern commercial transport and open up passageways for bicycles and pedestrian traffic.

This is indeed a milestone of significance, Keating added, standing outside with the Bourne Bridge towering in the background. Its a new chapter in Cape Cods history.

Under the agreement, the Corps will retain ownership and management of the bridges for the duration of the construction and demolition project. The federal government plans to pick up the tab, which the Corps previously estimated could range between $1.45 billion and $1.6 billion.

Once construction is complete and the new bridges enter service, MassDOT will take over their ownership and operation. State and federal officials described the switch as a more natural fit that allows the department to align its work on surrounding roadways with the highly traveled canal crossings themselves.

All of us have driven over the Bourne and Sagamore bridges and noticed how narrow the lanes are, how close the oncoming traffic seems, that theyre tough if youre on foot or on a bicycle, Pollack said during the event. The bridges have served us well, but their days are numbered, and they need to be replaced.

The path weve developed, to use a bad pun, is a terrific bridge to the future, Gov. Charlie Baker said at the event.

A 2019 MassDOT studyfound that, in 2014, average daily traffic was 56,500 on the Bourne Bridge and 65,900 on the Sagamore Bridge during the summer peak. Those figures are projected to continue to increase in the coming decades.

The agreement is a major milestone toward replacing two crossings that have been in place since before World War II, but several key details have not yet been settled.

Scott Bosworth, MassDOTs undersecretary, warned that the mutual journey will be extraordinarily difficult.

Officials will need to settle on a final design. When it concluded in October that replacing the four-lane bridges is the best approach, the Corps suggested constructing bridges with four standard lanes of travel as well as two auxiliary lanes for entrance and exit and additional space for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Funding is also still uncertain. Baker administration officials publicly touted that both parties agree paying for construction and demolition will be a federal responsibility, but a MassDOT spokesperson clarified that the memorandum signed Tuesday does not formally bind any federal agencies to cover the costs.

State and federal partners will work on a finance plan, and how and when the roughly $1.5 billion would be appropriated is unclear.

The three members of the states congressional delegation that joined Tuesdays event -- Keating, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- all pointed to a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that the House approved last week as a crucial step toward making more federal dollars available for much-needed projects.Keating said the bill included amendments he filed that would allow the Corps to access a gas tax-funded pool of money for multi-year building projects such as bridges.

Markey and Warren called on the Senates Republican majority to advance the bill, with Markey indicating it would direct at least $5.5 billion toward surface transportation projects in Massachusetts.

Every Massachusetts resident knows that this project is long overdue, that we need these new bridges to improve safety, reduce traffic and boost the regional economy, Warren said. But lets be clear: the Cape Cod bridges project is not a unique situation. We have significant infrastructure needs around the Commonwealth and around the country. The federal government must step up to fund new infrastructure.
With the coronavirus pandemic shaking up an already-struggling early childhood education and care industry that lacks the infrastructure of the K-12 system, Massachusetts professionals, advocates and lawmakers on Tuesday called for an infusion of public funding and a reimagining of how the state and employers support working families and child care facilities.

In a virtual oversight hearing of the State Legislatures Joint Committee on Education, speakers painted a picture of anxiety and financial strife among providers and parents alike as the state reopens after a tumultuous few months. Social distancing precautions, concerns over safety, staffing and capacity, and severe levels of COVID-19-related layoffs and furloughs across the state have left many facilities facing insurmountable revenue losses and families with fewer child care options.

Things are going to look different now, said Dottie Williams, whose Ms. Dotties NeighborSchool in Dorchester serves children between five months and 4 years old. Ms. Dotties going to have a mask on, a shield on. But children are very, very creative when youre creative with them, and they will adjust.

Williams told lawmakers shes asking parents to send children with teddy bears; the kids hug their bears and she hugs hers  creating a bond that helps blunt the social and emotional impact of a pandemic thats seen safety precautions limit physical touch.

Several leaders of nonprofits  many of them shuttered by Gov. Charlie Baker in March aside from those offering emergency services to the children of essential workers and first responders  told lawmakers that an expansion of subsidies through the Department of Early Education and Care would help more families cover tuitions, improve access and keep facilities afloat. Nearly every speaker said child care professionals and advocates should have a seat at the table as policies on early childhood education and child care are formed.

Ive heard fear anger, confusion and alienation, but the most important thing I heard was resilience, Sarah Sian, executive director of the Open Center for Children in Somerville and president-elect of the Massachusetts Association for the Education of Younger Children, testified. The people working in the classroom and educating the children have incredible wisdom. We need to continue to be heard.

Sian said the Open Center faces a devastating financial future due to coronavirus.

After considering a host of options including layoffs, furloughs, reduced hours and tuition cuts, the two-classroom nonprofit re-opened on June 29 at half capacity and slightly reduced hours, while maintaining all seven full-time teachers, several assistants and other staff. But theyre still on an unsustainable path and expect to lose about $20,000 to $25,000 monthly.

Many child care facilities are reopening with signifiant uncertainty about capacity and needs because the way things are shifting in the way people are working. We may not know what this is going to look like, Sian added.

She said a huge infusion of public relief dollars dedicated to the child care industry was vital, and in the long term, the child care industry needs to be reimagined and restructured, and available to everyone without undue financial burden.

Jynai McDonald, the family child care coordinator for the Service Employees International Union 509, said some providers are considering remaining closed due to increased operating expenses and an inability to maintain a steady income amid concerns of exposure or a potential surge in COVID-19 cases.

While many facilities have received grants and funding through coronavirus relief packages approved by Congress and the state, McDonald said the current business model for family child care providers still needs to be re-examined.

McDonald called for the state to offer providers $30,000 in annual income to cover basic operating costs. She noted that 90% of family child care providers are women-owned, and more than half are women of color.

Its a matter of equity. We have to invest more in early education and recruit and retrain, especially family child care educators, she said. Families who work in low-wage jobs are almost always employed in industries where they cant work remotely. Child care needs to work for families who have to return to work.

Companies that can offer remote working are seeing 30% to 40% of employees planning to stay home amid the pandemic, according to J.D. Chesloff, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable.

Youre going to see competition amongst employees around benefits like you do now, but focused on remote working, said Chesloff, who also pushed for a public, high-quality early education system.

Claire Higgins, executive director of Community Action Pioneer Valley, said the pandemic made clear what many have us known for a very long time: schools are child care providers and child care providers are educators.

Higgins said child care facilities on the whole could not rely on philanthropy or the business community to help them stay in business, arguing that only government can build permanent systems.

She urged lawmakers to extend state relief payments to facilities at least through December; to explore waiver opportunities on funding requirements; and to continue this longer-term exploration into the critical role early childhood plays in the health and welfare of families.

Rep. Alice Peisch, co-chair of the Education Committee, described the child care industry as a patchwork of different entities, with some providers accepting private payments, some subsidized, and some a little bit of both.

The pandemic has inspired a greater realization by a broader sector of the population how critical and important high quality child care is, whether you have a child or not, it has an impact on societys ability to function, Peisch said. We hope that gives us momentum to make changes that weve known for some time have to be made.

School districts in the K-12 public education system have access to state contracts for personal protective equipment, something that may also benefit child care providers, Peisch noted.

Larger organizations like the YMCA, which benefits from strong charitable support, have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars for emergency child care services and cannot meet capacity demands as they navigate varying interpretations of regulators COVID-19 guidance.

There are more children than there are spots, Pam Suprenant, senior executive director of Youth Development & Central Region for the YMCA of Central Massachusetts, testified Tuesday.

Typically, the YMCA of Central Massachusetts services more than 1,100 children, but our capacity this summer is less than 500, solely based on square footage per child, Supernant said in reference to state social distancing and safety guidelines protecting both children and staff.

Statewide, YMCA serves almost half a million children under the age of 18 daily, she said. Throughout the pandemic, YMCA staff have scrambled to maintain communication with families, mental health supports and other services.

Just because the state shut down does not mean the needs of families stopped, Supernant said. Providers like the (YMCA) are the most connected to families and their struggles. We want to be part of the conversation and plans.

Related Content:
Since announcing in late May it was targeted by a nationwide scam, the Massachusetts unemployment systems received at least 58,000 fraudulent claims, nearly losing $158 million.

Ernst & Young, who was contracted by the state Department of Unemployment Assistance to conduct a forensic accounting investigation, detected 58,616 fraudulent claims between the traditional unemployment system and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides benefits to self-employed people and contractors who lost work because of COVID-19.

The latest estimate captures fraudulent claims between March 8 and June 30. The state DUA says the state recovered $158 million but did not say how much money, if any, was not recovered.

Gov. Charlie Baker repeatedly declined to say how much money the state lost through the nationwide scam targeting unemployment systems. Washington state, one of the first to ring the alarm about the scam, estimates it lost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Baker said he would not comment on those estimates when asked by MassLive in June and declined to comment when asked by other reporters throughout the month.

Im not going to speak to any of the specifics on that. Washington was in fact sort of the canary in the coal mine on this. It was their experience that led to notifications that went to other states, including ours, to give us a heads up that we really needed to get aggressive about making sure there was representation on this stuff, Baker said in mid-June. Its very important to us that people get the money theyre entitled to, but its also very important to us that they in fact be the people that their application says they are.

When asked why PUA applications were still held up, Baker said the state is seeing thousands and thousands of attempts to steal money from the unemployment trust fund.

Like other states that closed during a surge of coronavirus cases, Massachusetts saw historic levels of unemployment. Between March 8 and June 30, the traditional unemployment system received 976,123 initial claims. The state has paid out 702,789 of them, according to data released Tuesday.

Another 183,144 claims have been denied, and a fraction of those were appealed. According to DUA, 26,098 appeals are pending.

The PUA system set up in mid-April has since received 649,764 claims. Nearly half of those, or 311,741, were paid, according to DUA.

Another 282,440 claims have been denied, and 43,911 appeals are pending.

The New York Times reported in May that a U.S. Secret Service memo suggests a Nigerian fraud ring was behind the scam and that it could lead to potential losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Other states have detected unemployment fraud during the coronavirus pandemic. A Pennsylvania representative said in late May he believed up to 58,000 were affected within the state by a scam, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

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Massachusetts reported 15 new COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday as well as 140 new cases of coronavirus.

The state reports there have been 7,998 total deaths among confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began. Another 215 deaths have been deemed probable COVID-19 deaths. According to the state, patients with a positive antibody test and either COVID-like symptoms or likely exposure to COVID-19 are counted as probable cases. As of Tuesday afternoon, 540,157 people had died from the disease globally with 130,902 deaths in the U.S.

Massachusetts continues to show positive momentum in the battle against the virus, with significantly lower numbers of new cases and deaths compared to the peak of the pandemic here in Massachusetts.

The seven-day weighted average of the positive test rate remains at 1.8%, a roughly 94% decrease from the middle of April, when Massachusetts saw its peak of the outbreak, Gov. Charlie Baker said on Tuesday.

Fewer than 100 people are in intensive care units, and only one hospital is reporting that it is still using surge capacity to serve patients, according to Baker.

The story is a sharp contrast to some other states, particularly in the south and west, that have seen spikes in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the past few weeks.

California, a state that reacted quickly to the pandemic, has seen a rise in the virus recently and is preparing for a possible spike in COVID-19 deaths as well, the LA Times reports. Health officials say the reopening of bars there was a contributing factor as well people relaxing on social distancing and wearing face coverings, which has proven effective in limiting the spread of the virus.

In Massachusetts, the three-day average of COVID-19 deaths has dropped 89% since April 15.

Despite the positive direction, state officials continue to urge caution as the state moved this week into Phase 3 of its reopening plan.

Coronavirus in Mass.: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Here are the cases listed by county:

Barnstable County: 1,561

Berkshire County: 604

Bristol County: 8,348

Dukes County: 51

Essex County: 16,318

Franklin County: 373

Hampden County: 6,895

Hampshire County: 986

Middlesex County: 24,243

Nantucket County: 20

Norfolk County: 9,306

Plymouth County: 8,757

Suffolk County: 20,048

Worcester County: 12,534

Unknown location: 294

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Massachusetts reported 15 new coronavirus deaths Monday and 157 new COVID-19 cases as the state continues to show positive movement in containing the virus.

The state reported 7,726 new molecular tests Monday as well as 159 antibody tests, which show if someone has been exposed to the virus. To date, 893,939 people have been tested by molecular tests in Massachusetts in addition to 75,795 antibody tests.

The seven day weighted average of positive molecular tests has dropped 94% since April 15.

The state continues to show lower numbers of COVID-19 deaths and cases, even as the disease is spiking in other areas of the U.S.

California, a state that like Massachusetts reacted quickly to the pandemic, has seen total coronavirus cases rise by more than 90 percent over the past two weeks, according to that states data. Although some of the rise in cases can be attributed to increased testing, California is also seeing a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations, which jumped more than 50% over two weeks.

Key public health indicators tracked by Massachusetts continue to show favorable progression. These key indicators include the COVID-19 positive test rate, the number of individuals who died from COVID-19, the number of patients with COVID-19 in hospitals, health care system readiness, testing capacity and contact tracing capabilities.

Test rate, hospitalizations and testing capacity all are showing a positive trend, while individuals who have died from COVID-19, health care system readiness and contact tracing are all ranked by the state as in progress.

Monday marked the beginning of Phase 3 in Massachusettss reopening plan, with gyms, museums and some movie theaters able to reopen with restrictions. The states casinos can also reopen with restrictions. Encore Boston Harbor is scheduled to reopen Sunday, July 12, and MGM Springfield scheduled to reopen Monday, July 13.

Gov. Charlie Baker has said this phase will last longer than the previous ones with Phase 4 only happening when a vaccine is available. But the governor has also cautioned that the states data will drive the measures to reopen and that a rise in cases or deaths could trigger the state going back to a previous phase.

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.

As a whole, weve been encouraged by the significant progress weve made in these metrics, Baker said last week. Positive trends in the public health data so far have allowed us to gradually reopen the Massachusetts economy in phases.

As of Monday afternoon, COVID-19 had killed an estimated 535,453 people globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. U.S. deaths have surpassed 130,000 people with nearly 3 million cases of the virus.

Coronavirus in Mass.: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Here are the cases listed by county:

Barnstable County: 1,561

Berkshire County: 604

Bristol County: 8,331

Dukes County: 51

Essex County: 16,283

Franklin County: 373

Hampden County: 6,883

Hampshire County: 985

Middlesex County: 24,193

Nantucket County: 20

Norfolk County: 9,284

Plymouth County: 8,748

Suffolk County: 20,014

Worcester County: 12,515

Unknown location: 292

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During Jake Lyons junior year, he found himself living for the weekend and finding high school itself wholly unenjoyable.

But learning to pick himself back up again and find the joy in what he was doing was an important lesson for the Monument Mountain Regional High School valedictorian.

What do we do to come back to ourselves, Lyons said during a virtual graduation speech. Its obviously not just hard work and determination. While they are undeniably important in everyones lives, these were the vices that brought us down in the first place.

He knows there are many paths to help you get back on track. One option might be to eat healthy and get enough sleep. But, he jokes, he cant speak from experience on that one.

Instead, Lyons worked hard on fostering healthy relationships with friends, family and teachers.

How we choose to come back up defines us, he said. And is probably the most important thing we can take away from these last four years.

Through these relationships he learned that theres more to learn than what comes out of a textbook.

Lyons plans to attend Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.

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AMHERST  Police Chief Scott Livingstone, who has been on the force the past 42 years, since the age of 18, said there is no record of any officer discharging a firearm while on duty during that time.

Livingstone, along with Capts. Gabriel Ting and Ron Young, made a nearly 90-minute presentation to the Town Council on Monday. They outlined the departments procedures, use-of-force policies and training, and gave a general, day-to-day snapshot of what officers do, then took questions.

Policing is at the forefront of the national discussion following the death of George Floyd, a black man killed when a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. His death sparked protests around the world against police brutality and racism, some of them resulting in clashes with squads of heavily armed police.

In Amherst, the news has prompted questions about how local police operate.

Choke holds and knee holds are against the law. ... They are not used. ... It is taboo in this agency, it is not allowed, Livingston said Monday in response to a question from Councilor Dorothy Pam.

Councilor Alisa Brewer asked about when officers don riot gear. The chief said that, at one point in the past, the department purchased riot gear for the safety of officers.

But he said it became clear that large parties organized by college students would try and goad the police. Partygoers felt that a party wasnt a party until until officers showed up in riot gear, Livingstone said.

Now, he said, officers no longer respond in that way to complaints about unruly parties. The chief said only in rare circumstances do officers don riot gear.

Ting said the force does not use nor possess Tasers, tear gas or rubber bullets. He said the department possess and uses, when needed, a pepper ball gun, which is either fired above a crowd or on the ground, but never at an individual. The pepper irritates eyes and last no more than 45 minutes, he said.

The department has no military-grade weapons and officers are trained to be defensive, not offensive, Ting said.

Livingstone said that an area of improvement for the force is obtaining community feedback. Anyone with a complaint has the option to meet with him in person.

I offer to meet with all complainants, he said.

Council President Lynn Griesemer said that the body will digest the information and any potential changes to police policy would be discussed at future meetings.

This is part of an ongoing process, she said.

I am incredibly proud of our police department. It is superbly run, Town Manager Paul Bockelman said.

There are about 66 full-time members of the force.
Central Park this morning: This woman's dog is tearing through the plantings in the Ramble. ME: Ma'am, dogs in the Ramble have to be on the leash at all times. The sign is right there. HER: The dog runs are closed. He needs his exercise. ME: All you have to do is take him to the other side of the drive, outside the Ramble, and you can let him run off leash all you want. HER: It's too dangerous. ME: Look, if you're going to do what you want, I'm going to do what I want, but you're not going to like it. HER: What's that? ME (to the dog): Come here, puppy! HER: He won't come to you. ME: We'll see about that... I pull out the dog treats I carry for just for such intransigence. I didn't even get a chance to toss any treats to the pooch before Karen scrambled to grab the dog. HER: DON'T YOU TOUCH MY DOG!!!!! That's when I started video recording with my iPhone, and when her inner Karen fully emerged and took a dark turn... Posted by Christian Cooper on Monday, May 25, 2020

Amy Cooper made a report with the New York City Police Department that she was under attack in Central Park, accusing a Black man of threatening her after he asked her to put her dog on a leash. She is now facing prosecution from the Manhattan District Attorney.

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, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement.

Birdwatcher, Christian Cooper pulled out his phone on May 25 and captured Amy Cooper calling police to report she was being threatened by an African-American man. The widely watched video, posted on Facebook by Christian and on Twitter by his sister, sparked accusations of racism and led to Amy Cooper getting fired from her job at Franklin Templeton.

"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. https://t.co/F3h1Ys6UDn  Cyrus Vance, Jr. (@ManhattanDA) July 6, 2020

The woman asked Christian to stop recording her and the confrontation escalated to take on a racial tone when she said she was going to call the police and tell them that, there is an African American man threatening my life.

The Central Park woodland, known as the Ramble, is composed of 38 acres of winding pathways between 73rd and 78th streets and is a popular spot for bird watchers.

Dogs MUST be leashed at all times, said Christians sister Melody Cooper on Twitter. And someone like my brother, an avid birder, politely asks her to put her dog on the leash.

When Christian Cooper refused to stop recording her, Amy Cooper grabbed her dogs collar and moved away from him to call the police.

The video shows her on the phone call with a 911 dispatcher raising her tone to emphasize a state of emergency.

The DAs Office issued a desk appearance ticket to Amy Cooper for an arraignment on Oct. 14.

Got a news tip or want to contact MassLive about this story? Email newstips@masslive.com or message us on Facebook orTwitter. You can also call our news tips line at 413-776-1364.
A new report from Nikkei regarding the iPhone 12 lineup corroborates what we have heard over the last few months. The report is based on supply chain sources and claims Apple will use OLED panels across all four iPhone 12 models that it will launch later this year.

Citing an executive-level source, the report says that despite the switch to OLED panels, the iPhone 12 lineup will come with a notch or fringe as the space is needed by Apple to house Face ID components.

The move to OLED panels will benefit Samsung, though Apple is working on reducing its reliance on the South Korean display maker and it is working on certifying OLED panels from BOE for this. The Chinese display maker is yet to meet Apples requirements for OLED panels for the iPhone 12 lineup, though it can enter the companys supply chain later on.

Apples decision to move to OLED panels completely will negatively affect the companys long time LCD panel maker Japan Display which has already been struggling for a long time. However, analysts believe that Japan Display will still be around and continue to supply Apple with LCD panels for its older and upcoming budget devices.

Sources also confirmed to the publication that Apple will not be including EarPoads and charger in the box of its upcoming new iPhones and iPad this year.

To lower the cost a bit is one reason, but not necessarily the most important one The reason why Apple does not include those two accessories is also because a lot of existing iPhone users already have many of them over the past few years, according to a source with knowledge of Apples thinking.

The report also reiterates that the iPhone 12 lineup will come with 5G connectivity.

We Want to Hear From You

At this point, it seems all but clear that Apple will indeed not bundle a power adapter with the iPhone 12 lineup. The addition of 5G and switch to OLED panels is seemingly confirmed, though theres no clarity on whether the iPhone 12 Pro models will feature a 120Hz refresh rate panel or not.

What are your expectations from the iPhone 12 lineup based on all the leaks so far? Are you excited about the addition of 5G?

[Via Nikkei
HOLYOKE  Fifteen local organizations will receive a total of $10,716 in grants awarded by the Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice.

Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the nonprofit could not hold a public ceremony. The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts manages the fund.

The fund honors Carlos Vega, a civil rights and social justice champion who founded Nueva Esperanza in south Holyoke. Vega died in April 2012 after a long battle with brain cancer. The nonprofit was founded in 2010, which coincided with Vegas 60th birthday.

After a long battle with brain cancer, Vega died in April 2012. At Holyoke High School, a memorial service drew hundreds of admirers who spoke about Vegas passion for social justice cause and the South Holyoke community.

His son, state Rep. Aaron Vega, D-Holyoke, stated, Carlos Vega was an ardent activist for civil rights, community-building, education, health care and social justice in Holyoke. The mini-grants are awarded to initiatives that foster change and promote empowerment, self-help and economic, political and social justice.

The purpose of the mini-grants is to support efforts to address injustice, oppression, and poverty in the greater Holyoke area, particularly for those who are marginalized by our society, he added.

The 2020 grant recipients are Clinical and Support Options, Enchanted Circle Theater, Girls Inc. of the Valley and Plunge Arts, First Shift Productions, Granby Public Schools, The Gray House, Holyoke Public Schools, Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative, Holyoke Senior Center and Western Mass Elder Care, Home City Development, OneHolyoke CDC, The Performance Project, Treehouse, Seeds of a Father, and Wistariahurst Museum.

OneHolyoke CDC, based in The Flats neighborhood, will use the $800 grant for its Everyday Democracy curriculum.

The ultimate goal is to create positive community change that includes everyone. We will use everyday democracy tools, advice, and resources to foster that kind of change, stated Michael Moriarty, One Holyokes executive director.

Whether it will be grappling with a divisive community issue, or simply to include residents voices in city government, Everyday Democracys Dialogue to the Change process, uses a racial equity lens to help, Moriarty added.

Ed Caisse, of the South Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative, said the $500 award would support its back-to-school event. The Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice has supported the HSNI Back to School event every year since its inception, Caisse said.

Because of the pandemic, the initiative will hold smaller events this year at several schools.
WESTFIELD  A 21-year-old man was killed and two other people were injured in a four-vehicle crash Monday afternoon on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The crash, that occurred at about 3 p.m. near the 39.6-mile marker caused major traffic woes since the westbound side of the highway was closed for about four hours and all traffic was diverted off the highway at Exit 3, Massachusetts State Police said.

Three vehicles initially collided in the westbound lanes while in heavy traffic. Then the driver of a fourth vehicle, a 2003 Peterbilt heavy-duty tow truck traveling in the left lane, struck the rear of a 2005 Nissan Altima that had been involved in the first crash, police said.

The 21-year-old Plymouth man who was driving the Nissan died at the scene of the crash, police said.

The 24-year-old man driving the tow truck and a 36-year-old woman who was driving a 2019 Toyota Rav4 involved in the collision were brought to Baystate Medical Center by Westfield Fire and Emergency Services ambulance. Both are believed to have suffered minor injuries, police said.

A 57-year-old man who was driving a 2017 Ford Super Duty pickup truck was also involved in the collision. He was not injured, police said.

The name of the 21-year-old is not being released until family members can be notified, police said.

The crash is being investigated by State Police troopers from the Westfield barracks, the Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Services and those assigned to Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gullunis office. Westfield Fire and Emergency Medical Services, the State Medical Examiners Office and Massachusetts Department of Transportation all assisted at the scene, police said.
AMHERST  As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement moves to deport international students who are assigned online learning only as classes resume in the Fall, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on Tuesday pledged resolute support and strong advocacy to the students.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, issued a notice on Monday stating that international students must transfer to a program with in-person classes or face deportation.

No public good is served by these threats to deprive thousands of students at the University of Massachusetts from continuing to make valuable and necessary contributions to the economy of the Commonwealth and the prosperity of the nation, UMass President Marty Meehan wrote in a statement Tuesday. Beyond the human toll this guidance takes on our students, the impact on the economic interests of the Commonwealth and nation will be negative and potentially irreversible.

More than 7,000 of the UMass systems 75,000 students are international, Meehan said, and many of them would be ordered to leave the country if they are not enrolled in classes that meet in person during the fall semester or need to transfer to a school where they can attend classes.

In a statement, Kenneth J. Reade, the UMass director of International Student and Scholar Services, said the ICE decision is a change from what had been allowed in the spring semester, related to foreign students learning remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reade said the ICE guidelines of concern specifically relates to federal governments Student & Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) . . . charged with oversight of international students and scholars in the United States with F-1 and J-1 visas.

SEVPs Spring Semester 2020 guidance in March was actually quite supportive towards our international student community and provided significant assurances that during the temporary remote (online) instruction F-1 and J-1 immigration status that began in March, international students could remain in status as long as they were enrolled full-time and making academic progress in their degree programs. The prevailing assumption among peer colleagues and institutions was that the updated Fall 2020 guidance would be similar. Unfortunately, as we learned today, that is not true, he wrote.

According to an ICE news release: 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. The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. 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. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.

Reade has advised international students that ICE may alter some of the rules moving forward.

Todays SEVP announcement is very much subject to change and there is an expectation that additional guidance or amendments to todays announcement are forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead. Higher education, congressional push-back and/or litigation is inevitable given how disruptive and poorly written todays SEVP guidance is, he wrote.

Please do not make any sudden or hasty decisions regarding your program of study based on todays SEVP announcement. Please also do not change or otherwise disrupt your continued progress in your program of study until further notice or without consulting with your academic advisor or graduate program director. Do not make plans to depart the U.S. based on todays SEVPS announcement. Despite todays disappointing SEVP information, there is no immediate effect on your F-1 immigration status and we have plenty of time to properly advise you on your fall semester plans, including on-campus employment, assistantships, etc. as the fall semester approaches and more clarity, guidance and amendments from SEVP develop, Reade said in his July 7 statement.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey called the ICE decision cruel and illegal, and vowed to sue to stop it.

As our colleges and universities navigate this unprecedented pandemic and grapple with how to continue teaching students, the Trump Administration has found ways to create more uncertainty and disruption, Healey said in a statement. Massachusetts is home to thousands of international students who should not fear deportation or be forced to put their health and safety at risk in order to advance their education.

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A new leadership academy for students of color and women who are interested in careers in technology and engineering is has begun through by the Institute of Diversity Sciences (IDS) at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

The Leadership Academy will be led by equity and inclusion expert Nilanjana Buju Dasqupta and a UMass core team. They will collaborate with UMass Dartmouth, UMassLowell, Harvard, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Wheaton, Smith College, Mount Holyoke Colleges and several other Massachusetts institutions.

Students of the academy are sponsored by technology and engineering sector leaders MathWorks, Dell Technologies, Red Hat, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Nye Lubricants and Energetiq.

This program is the product of a true collaboration among higher education leaders and tech and engineering industry leaders to ensure that Black, Latinx and women students have equal opportunity to develop the professional leadership skills needed to thrive in 21st century careers in technology and engineering innovation, Dasqupta said.

More than 100 students applied for the limited number of seats. A total of 54 students were selected by lottery.

They are 72% women, 48% Black and Latinx, and 24% LGBTQ students from 16 Massachusetts colleges and universities. They will meet online from July 6-Aug. 15 and participate in live class sessions three times a week.

The academy was the idea of a statewide network called Researchers, Educators, Business Leaders and Students (REBLS) that is funded by the National Science Foundation, and housed within IDS at UMass Amherst. REBLS members recognized that students of color and women majoring in technology and engineering may be disproportionately affected by a growing gap between the demand for, and supply of, internships, so they created the new initiative to bridge this gap, she recalls.

The academys teaching team will be led by Rati Thanawala, the 2018 Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University who spent 39 years working in the technology industry, and Hannah Riley Bowles, chair of the Management, Leadership, and Decision Sciences area at the Harvard Kennedy School. The curriculum was originally created with a grant from the Melinda Gates Company, Pivotal Ventures.

Dasgupta says this annual program will be a fast-paced accelerator for students planning technology or engineering careers. The curriculum will teach students the unspoken culture of professional workplaces, empower them to develop professional skills, and help them anticipate challenges in early careers through reading, reflection, assignments, and discussions with invited industry speakers.

Companies collectively donated more than $55,000 in less than two months. Industry leaders are also volunteering their time as invited speakers.
NORTHAMPTON  An official with the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head said a $3.5 million traffic rotary project at North King and Hatfield streets should be put on hold until it can be conclusively determined what impact construction would have the remains of an 8,000-year-old Indigenous settlement.

Mark Andrews, the tribal cultural resources monitor for the Wampanoag, has been involved with the project since excavation discovered ancient artifacts in a wooded area just off Hatfield Street where the rotary is planned.

A recent archeological survey of the property unearthed several artifacts, but Andrews said Tuesday he believes another survey covering a wider area needs to be conducted before distribution begins.

He said he is concerned that the roundabout project will disturb a larger area than he was originally led to believe.

The project design for the rotary calls for a section of Hatfield Street by the intersection to swing to the north of where it is now, which would take it into the wooded area where the artifacts were found.

Andrews said that once construction is underway, the project could have a massive footprint that goes beyond just the realigned road and rotary.

He also questioned the impact of any staging areas in construction, plus the installation of utility, electrical work, sewers and drainage lines, sidewalks, and bike paths. Theres also grading and excavation work on the outside of the rotary, and the installation of sidewalks and bike lanes.

While he has toured the site previously and been walked through the work area, he said he has seen marking in a recent visit that could indicate construction would cover

a larger area than was originally presented.

He said he would like to go over the site with all the construction officials, the design firm and construction supervisors to scope out exactly what areas would be disturbed.

We want to know everything that is going on, he said. We want to know where every last blade of the bulldozer is going.

The upper photo shows a Google Maps image of the intersection of North King and Hatfield streets in Northampton. The bottom drawing shows the proposed rotary and the new path of Hatfield Street, taking it into the area where Indigenous artifacts have been found

The parcel had been owned by John F. Skibiski Jr. until it was taken by the state under eminent domain.

Skibiski is a vocal opponent of the project.

Work was supposed to have begun earlier this month but Skibiski has filed suit in both federal and Massachusetts Superior Court. He has since withdrawn the federal suit, but the state suit is ongoing. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday, and all work is put on hold until at least then.

Judith Reardon Riley, spokeswoman for the Mass DOT said the agency cannot comment on the status of the project because of pending court cases in Massachusetts and federal courts seeking to stop it.

MassDOT cannot comment on this project further at this time due to pending litigation, however, MassDOT projects in general are developed in accordance with applicable state and federal laws, regulations and guidelines, she said.

Andrews said that expanding the archeological review to a greater scope than the first review would answer the question about the impact of the project before work actually begins.

If additional archeological digs show no other signs of Indigenous people, the construction could resume. But it it uncovers more evidence of a major settlement covering a larger area, then the state would have to reconsider the project, he said. Perhaps in that case, the state would opt for a less-impact solution for the intersection, like a conventional traffic signal instead of a rotary.

Andrews said the Wampanoags are looking for a solution that would benefit everyone.

No one is looking to stop it for the sake of stopping it, he said. Our goal is to get it accomplished while protecting resources.

Another Massachusetts tribe, Nipmuc Nation, recently issued a statement that said while tribal leaders are watching the project, they consider it a matter matter between the land landowner and the state. It does not involve our tribal community.

Earlier this week, a third tribe, the Elnu Abanaka, a recognized tribe in Vermont, that has ancestral ties to the Northampton-Hatfield area, issued a statement about the project on Monday.

The statement, authored by Sogmo Roger Longtoe Sheehan, chief, Jim Taylor, Councilman and Rich Hoilschuh, tribal historic preservation officer, notes the tribe has been following the project for more than a year.

It notes the tribe believes that the project has followed protocols under the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106, and that cultural resources have been surveyed and documented and the impacts of the project have been addressed.

The tribe appreciates that at least one federally recognized tribe, the Wampanoags, has been called in to serve as a cultural monitor for the project. Meaningful inclusion of Native voices with regard to Indigenous cultural concerns is paramount and should be foregrounded and expanded,

The tribe goes onto say that the best way to maintain balance in future projects like this that arise is by prioritizing the inclusion of native voices.

We maintain that, going forward, the best means of finding balance and peace, and minimizing these situations  recognizing that the inevitability of change is embraced through responsibility and relationship  is to prioritize inclusion and awareness. We aspire toward a better way of being here together and that includes recognizing where change is needed.

Like the Nipmucs, the Elnu Abenaki believe any artifacts found at the site should not be kept.

Any ancestral materials should return, or remain, in the early, our Mother who is our holder and provider of everything.
As Congress crafts its next coronavirus relief package, should lawmakers focus on the economy, or on getting a handle on the pandemic itself?

Yes.

The two, of course, are inseparable, and have got to be considered as such. Want to see the economy rolling along again, with jobs being added like crazy, consumers spending as though they are preparing for the greatest celebration in modern times, businesses growing and making plans to increase the size of their operations? Put fears over the pandemic in the rearview. And keep them there. Because there'll be many jobs that won't be coming back as long as folks remain afraid to leave their own houses.

With lawmakers currently back in their home states and districts, the legislative branch of our federal government won't be in Washington until mid-month. And once lawmakers are back at it, they'll be readying to leave for their annual extended break in August. As such, they'd best get to work. If they want to help, that is.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives has already passed an expansive stimulus package. The Senate, with Republicans in the majority, hasnt lifted a finger.

Though one could easily find fault with certain provisions in the measure passed by the House, the way to fix what's wrong is to come up with an alternative bill, not to do nothing.

Should unemployment benefits be extended? If so, for how long? Should some adjustments be made so that many who are out of work aren't being paid more to stay home than they'd get for being back on the job? Should the people get another stimulus check? If so, should the rules be as they were last time, or should they be amended?

There are countless questions such as those that need to be debated, and answered, as the next bill is being put together.

At the same time, Congress needs to set to work on adding and improving coronavirus testing, contact tracing, mandating best practices to prevent transmission of the disease.

Sadly, President Donald Trump opposes more testing, and since congressional Republicans live in fear of a nasty tweet from the reality TV star who is currently serving as our nation's chief executive, they won't likely do the right thing on that front.

And the cycle will continue, with the coronavirus raging and the economy struggling as a result.

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Massachusetts has enjoyed a long history of leading the Nation in services and benefits to Veterans and their families. We require Veterans Service Officers in every community. We provide financial and medical support to veterans and dependents who are financially struggling. And, we are the only state to provide payments to 100% disabled veterans and survivors. It is these and many other local benefits on which we have staked our long-standing reputation.

Today that reputation is in jeopardy.

Since we first learned of the COVID-19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home in March, the Disabled American Veterans of Massachusetts (DAV) has closely monitored the situation. We felt we owed it to the veterans at the Home and their families to ensure proper action was being taken by the Commonwealth and that those who were responsible were held to accountability.

Like Governor Charlie Baker, we are saddened by the recent report on the tragedy. The comprehensive investigation by former US Attorney Mark Pearlstein spotlighted serious failures in leadership and poor decisions which possibly resulted in the deaths of those we had a responsibility to care for and protect. Clearly, there are immediate steps that should be implemented to address this specific situation and we are encouraged by the Governors and the Legislatures quick action.

However, DAV hopes this tragedy can also be a catalyst for real change at a higher level. It is our belief that the pandemic did not create the problems in our system. Rather, this crisis exposed long-standing weaknesses which should now be addressed. To put it bluntly, our veterans service system is in need of reform and modernization.

We recommend several steps to get this effort underway. First, DAV has officially requested that the Legislature create a special joint committee to examine the way in which the Commonwealth cares for older Veterans. We have requested subpoena power for this committee and seasoned investigators to conduct an in-depth examination of the entire system to identify further legislative action needed for Holyoke, as well as steps to improve the quality and reach of all our long-term care facilities and services.

Second, the selection of the next Secretary of Veterans Services should be conducted with full transparency and input from recognized Veteran advocates. Along this line, DAV supports legislation introduced by Iraq War veteran State Senator Mike Rush that would make the Secretary a full member of the Cabinet, reporting directly to the Governor. Veterans groups fought hard for this position to be created and the Governor needs to hear directly from our community, through the Secretary, in hopes that future tragedies can be prevented.

Finally, we urge the Baker administration to take a deeper and broader look at our overall veterans service system with the goal of systematic reform and improvement. Attorney Pearlsteins investigation, though informative on the Holyoke crisis, does not go far enough to address the deep-rooted systematic issues with long-term veterans care or other structural problems with our veterans benefits delivery system, both of which are rooted in post-Civil War legislation and regulations.

A review of this magnitude is long overdue. There have been many attempts to make legislative changes to this system over the years. However, without a full and detailed understanding of the current needs and gaps in services, no meaningful change is possible. We, as a Commonwealth, owe it to our most honorable and vulnerable citizens to do better.

We are still engaged in combat operations overseas. The resources and benefits we provide to those few individuals willing to serve in uniform must be robust and adequate enough to provide them healthcare, reintegration services and equity and inclusion opportunities, given the systematic disadvantage they are at compared to their civilian peers who are able to further their education and careers during the years that these veterans are in service. Also, in light of the long-overdue national conversation we are having on race and equality, benefits and services should be widely available to all who served. This is our chance to make deep and meaningful change for a community that has defended our nation since its inception and represents persons of every race, ethnicity, gender, religion and sexual-orientation.

The time is now.

Deb Olson is the State Commander of the Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts and a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
DeSean Jackson claims that he has no hate for the Jewish community following outcry in response to the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver posting a quote claimed to be attributed to Adolph Hitler on his Instagram page.

Jackson says that his post, which included the statement that Jews will blackmail America, was taken the wrong way.

As noted by NJ.com, Jackson posted a series of Instagram stories to his account over the past few days quoting Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who made a three-hour speech on the Fourth of July. One such passage posted to Jacksons account includes a quote that is attributed to Hitler. However, as NJ.com noted, the quote cited by Farrakhan is of dubious origin.

The original image posted to Jacksons account can be found here and features a highlighted passage quoted by Farrakhan, who himself has long been criticized for anti-Semitic statements.

Heres the full highlighted passage posted by Jackson:

Hitler said, Because the white Jews (know) that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel and to keep (Americas) secret the Jews will blackmail America.

(They) will extort America, their plan for world domination wont work if the Negroes know who they were.

The white citizens of American will be terrified to know that all this time theyve been mistreating and discriminating and lynching the Children of Israel.

Jacksons posts were brought to light by former Eagles president Joe Banner, who called the post absolutely indefensible.

Banner, who is Jewish, argued that if a white player said anything as outrageous about African Americans as Jackson did about the Jewish community, there would be a serious conversation about cutting the player.

If a white player said anything about AAs as outrageous as what Desean Jackson said about Jews tonight there would at least be a serious conversation about cutting him and a need for a team meeting to discuss. Which would be totally appropriate. Absolutely indefensible.  Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) July 7, 2020

The Eagles released a statement Tuesday morning, saying they were disappointed in Jacksons social media post.

Regardless of his intentions, the messages he shared were offensive, harmful and absolutely appalling, the Eagles said in a statement. They have no place in our society, and are not condoned or supported in any way by the organization. We are disappointed and we reiterated to DeSean the importance of not only apologizing but also using his platform to take action to promote unity, equality, and respect. We are continuing to evaluate the circumstances and will take appropriate action. We take these matters very seriously and are committed to continuing to have productive and meaningful conversations with DeSean, as well as all of our players and staff, in order to educate, learn, and grow.

Statement from the Eagles on DeSean Jackson. pic.twitter.com/zZdZDYMilc  Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) July 7, 2020

In response to the outcry, Jackson defended his post, re-posting a smaller version of the quote with a statement that he had no hate for the Jewish community.

Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way, Jackson wrote. I have no hatred in my heart toward no one!! Equality. Equality.

Jackson then reposted the original quote, erasing the first and third paragraphs, drawing attention to the second paragraph: (They) will extort America, their plan for world domination wont work if the Negroes know who they were.

In addition to the quote, Jackson has drawn criticism for his praise of Farrakhan, who once compared Jewish people to termites in a 2018 tweet. While Jackson has attempted to explain his position on the quote, the receiver has been open in his support of Farrahkan, telling followers that he hopes everyone got a chance to watch the Nation of Islam leaders Fourth of July speech.

The 33-year-old Jackson is entering the second year of his three-year, $27.9 million deal with the Eagles, his second stint with the organization.
Disagreements over funding to mail ballot applications for the upcoming election cycle spilled into the public eye Tuesday after the states top election official and election reform advocates differed on the permissible use of federal money.

Gov. Charlie Baker signed legislation into law Monday that directs Secretary of State William Galvin to send mail-in voting applications by July 15 in order to give voters time to request a ballot for the Sept. 1 primary elections, fill it out, and mail it back in. Crafted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates and state officials have pointed to the new law as a way to help voters participate in the upcoming election cycle without putting themselves at risk for COVID-19.

We had hoped to do it by that date. The legislation calls for it. But the Legislature has not sent the money. We cant pay for the postage. We cant pay for the printing until we have the postal permit. We cant buy the permit until we get the money, Galvin told reporters Tuesday outside the State House.The point of contention centers on whether guidance from the Election Assistance Commission allows for states to use federal funds through the CARES Act to mail applications to voters for early or absentee ballots. There were nearly 4.6 million registered voters in Massachusetts as of February.Galvin said a $5 million appropriation included in a more than $1 billion Senate spending bill (S 2799) that largely deals with COVID-19 appropriations would probably get us going. The House and Senate versions of that spending bill differ, and its unclear when legislative leaders will agree on a single bill.When the Senate passed the voting reforms, it estimated the bills costs would reach about $8 million.Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, said the secretary of states office could turn to an $8.2 million portion of Massachusetts CARES Act allocation to mail applications by July 15.It cannot be used for anything else. And although there is need for election equipment and the like, we have other money the federal government has allocated for that, she said at a Tuesday press conference. This is exactly and precisely what that money was prepared for. And if the secretary doesnt follow what the regulations call for a you can stay tuned for us for some next steps.

The secretary of state does not believe CARES Act funds can be used to mail applications to all registered voters, a spokesperson for Galvins office said, as a result of guidance from the Election Assistance Commission. The secretarys office can use the money to send the ballots themselves, the spokesperson said.

The commission, in an April 6 letter to chief state election officers, provided additional guidance to states writing that funds are for additional costs associated with the national emergency related to the coronavirus and are to be spent to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally, for the 2020 Federal election cycle.

According to the letter, allowable uses include printing additional ballots and envelopes, statewide or local database upgrades to allow for online absentee or mail ballot requests, and additional mailing and postage costs.

I do expect the COVID [supplemental] budget to get done very soon but Id also add that the secretary does have money from the CARES Act, and in my opinion does have the money to send this out. Were not talking a huge amount of money to do this, Election Laws Co-Chair Barry Finegold said at the press conference. In my opinion, he does have the money and I hope he will send them out expeditiously.

Voters have three options for the fall elections: voting early, in-person on election day, or by mail. For the first time in the state, voters can take advantage of an early voting window before the statewide primary.

Local clerks will face larger amounts of manual labor when sending out and receiving mail-in ballots, a concern previously raised by advocates and state officials alike. Galvin said his office is exploring ways to help local officials through tabulation equipment and electronic poll books.

When youre increasing or taking a significant number of the electorate and having them vote-by-mail, that means you have to mail them out, you have to mail them back, receive them back, you have to log them in, and you have to tabulate, he said. Its going to be a burden on them. Were going to try to help them wherever we can.

Asked about voter fraud, Galvin said his office is always concerned about the potential for false ballots.

I know some candidates speculate about it sometimes. But its untrue. The history with my office in terms of voter fraud, when weve had voter fraud issues in the past, its been candidates whove been perpetrating fraud, and weve never hesitated to prosecute people, he said. There is a warning on the application that illegal voting is punishable both by state and federal law. And I assure you if we have any indication fraud, well be up there prosecuting people right away.

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A book penned by President Trumps niece claims her grandfather destroyed Donald Trump by short-circuiting his ability to develop and experience the entire spectrum of human emotion.

A copy of Mary Trumps forthcoming memoir, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man. was obtained and excerpted by The Washington Post on Tuesday. It will arrive in stores on July 14.

Mary Trump, 55, who has a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, states that her uncles view of the world was shaped by his desire during childhood to avoid the disapproval of his father, Fred Trump.

By limiting Donalds access to his own feelings and rendering many of them unacceptable, Fred perverted his sons perception of the world and damaged his ability to live in it, she wrote.

The books back cover 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.

The authors father, Fred Trump Jr., the presidents older brother, who died in 1981 of an alcohol-related illness, was frequently ridiculed by his father, she wrote.

However, Donald Trump escaped his fathers scorn, Mary Trump wrote, because his personality served his fathers purpose. Thats what sociopaths do: they co-opt others and use them toward their own ends  ruthlessly and efficiently, with no tolerance for dissent or resistance.

Robert Trump, the presidents younger brother, had unsuccessfully sued to block publication of the book.

Too Much and Never Enough follows the recent publication of a scathing account of the Trump presidency by his former national security adviser, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened.

On Tuesday, The Hill reported that Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a friend of First Lady Melania Trump for more than a decade, will publish a tell-all book, Melania and Me, before years end.

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The nearly $1.7 billion information technology bond bill the Senate passed last week funds upgrades to software, equipment and databases in agencies across the state, along with setting aside money to improve remote learning and replacing state police cruisers.

The latest iteration of the bill also allots $10 million to cell service.

At a glance, the amendment to study and ultimately expand cell service in rural communities may seem low-tech compared to the other provisions. Yet Western Massachusetts lawmakers say the lack of cell service between towns  and often between two neighborhoods within a town  is a technology problem others within the state would consider unthinkable in 2020.

I literally cant have a phone call or conversation right now if Im traveling, and I cant get from here to the north side of Pittsfield without dropping a call, said Sen. Adam Hinds from his home in Pittsfield.

Calls drop when the Pittsfield Democrat drives south to Lenox or ventures up into New Ashford, North Adams or Williamstown. It happens so often that he doesnt bother making calls in some areas because he knows he wont get service.

Hinds introduced the cell service amendment last week as the Senate took up the information technology bill that stemmed from a $1.15 billion bond bill Gov. Charlie Baker filed in April 2019. The provision authorizes the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security to study the current state of cell phone service coverage in counties with low population density: counties where most of the communities have under 500 people per square mile. No less than $10 million must be spent to improve coverage in these areas.

The amendment gained support from Sens. Jo Comerford of Northampton, Eric Lesser of Longmeadow, James Welch of West Springfield and Sen. Patrick OConnor of Weymouth. The cell service amendment made it into the bond bill passed Thursday, alongside provisions to upgrade cybersecurity and software in colleges and the courts.

Hinds saw it as a move toward regional equity, proposing a solution to a problem some colleagues didnt even know existed.

To me it falls in the category of when you dont experience it firsthand, and in downtown Boston, the infrastructure needs look very different, Hinds said. That was all the more reason why Senator Comerford and I felt the urgency to make sure this was not ignored.

As the coronavirus pandemic exposed the digital divide within the state, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute and KCST USA, Inc. worked with local internet service providers to launch 25 WiFi hotspots in unserved towns. A 26th site is expected to launch this week. But the hot spots are a short-term fix to problems dragging well into the 21st century.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the divide for residents who had to work from home, far from offices and other workplaces with cell service and internet access. Even as offices get cleared to return, several companies plan to continue having employees work from home without cell reception or broadband internet for the next several months.

We see for better or worse in a post-COVID world a desire to be very deliberate about choosing where you live and possibly work remotely, Hinds said. The more that we have options throughout the commonwealth for people to live and work, the better off were all going to be in terms of congestion and traffic and housing costs. So regional equity is in the interest of everyone.

Earlier this year, the institute estimated that 29,000 residents across three dozen Massachusetts towns lacked broadband access. With the latest grant announced in early June, the institute was able to help 52 of the 53 programs covered under the Last Mile program get grants for broadband expansion projects.

Twenty-one communities have completed projects under the Last Mile program, delivering broadband to about 18,000 residents. Broadband construction is nearing completion in another 11 communities with services being rolled out to homes and businesses by the end of the year.

The number of communities that partially or entirely lack cell service, however, is unclear. MassLive could not find estimates on cell service by town. Comerford, a Northampton Democrat, said she couldnt find any either, but the analysis of cell phone service should help the state take stock of how widespread the connectivity issues truly are.

Comerford said she hopes the cell service expansion in EOTSS follows a similar process as the broadband expansion campaign under the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

There is a similar apples-to-apples in that we need this kind of focused state push, and this is what we hope will be the beginning of this, Comerford said.

The Last Mile program took multiple infusions of funds to get as far as it has. The final portion of the Last Mile program has cost more than $40 million in state funding, and the Last Mile communities rely on MassBroadband 123, a nearly $90 million middle-mile network.

While the programs involve completely different startup costs and equipment, the proposed cell service expansion would likely need multiple investments beyond the first $10 million.

I think its a down payment, Comerford said of the amendment.

The bill isnt heading to the governors desk just yet. The differences have to be reconciled with a version of the bill the House passed in May.

Comerford said filling the reception gaps has become even more crucial during the pandemic, from teachers who try to call students parents to the person shifting to remote work to someone who may have been exposed to COVID-19 potentially missing a call from the Massachusetts Contact Tracing Collaborative.

How are we to reach people in a public health crisis if they are disproportionately living in an area where we get no cell coverage and they cant get a phone call? she said.

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Multiple stormy July days that saw widespread precipitation throughout Massachusetts did little to combat alarmingly dry conditions that are being reporting across most of the commonwealth.

Hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents, officials says, are still living through what officials have deemed a moderate summer drought.

Just last week, Massachusetts was experiencing increased rainfall as thunderstorms swept through the region. Torrential downpours, intense flash flooding and large hail battered several communities, and certain parts of New England received more than 3 inches of rainfall.

Despite the heavy precipitation, much of the commonwealth - mainly Western, Central and Northeastern Massachusetts - remains in a significant drought, and officials are urging residents to conserve water.

The Baker-Polito Administration continues to closely monitor the very dry conditions, state Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides said in a statement in late June. While the dry conditions continue and as we enter the summer months, we ask residents and businesses to aggressively conserve water and take increased care with any outdoor burning.

The Bay State is not the only area in the U.S. to suffer dry conditions this summer, though. Several other regions, the West, the South and the High Plains in particular, are experiencing droughts, according to data collected by the United States Drought Monitor.

Adam Hartman, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told MassLive late last month that the year as a whole has been unusually dry.

Below-normal snowfall was reported in the winter, and little rainfall was recorded during the summer months, he noted.

I wouldnt say a drought is normal for any time of year per se. Its not unheard of, I will say, Hartman said. Maine has definitely seen impacts, New Hampshire also, elsewhere in the country.

In recent weeks, high temperatures and low humidity levels as well as high wind events over some areas of the Great Plains have led to increased risks there and expanding drought.

Communities across 25 states, including five New England states, are experiencing moderate, severe or extreme droughts, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which is run by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture and the NOAA.

Not only are officials cautioning the public to not waste water, they are also warning of a potential uptick in wildfire.

The drought monitor, which was most recently updated on July 2, emphasized the high risk of wildfires in many locations that remain in drought, particularly in the West.

In Massachusetts even, the wildland fire risk has been steadily increasing across the commonwealth. More than 110 wildfires were reported over the course of 30 days from late May to early June, according to EEA.

And as drought conditions increase, the fires are burning deeper into the ground fuels, making it challenging for firefighters to extinguish these fires and taking multiple days to contain them, the agency said.

For the last 30 to 60 days, Massachusetts and the Northeast as a whole have seen both a lack of precipitation and above-normal temperatures.

These factors have helped increase evaporation rates throughout the region, leading to the water shortage residents are currently seeing, Hartman said.

Weve seen USGS [United States Geological Survey] seven-day streamflow averages well below normal, in the bottom 10th percentile, the NOAA meteorologist pointed out.

It appears that a majority of residents in the commonwealth may now be facing either a drought or abnormally dry conditions.

As of June 30, 2,312,000 Massachusetts residents, roughly 35% of the states population, were living in an area considered to be in a drought. Another 1,934,000 residents, about 30% of the commonwealths population, were in abnormally dry areas, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.

On Jun 26, Theoharides declared a Level 2-Significant Drought in Berkshire County and the Pioneer Valley as well as in northern communities across Worcester, Middlesex and Essex counties.

Southeastern Massachusetts as well as the Cape and Islands remain at a Level 0-Normal status, but conditions are still dry in both regions.

Towns and cities throughout southern Worcester, Middlesex and Essex counties remain abnormally dry but are not officially in a drought, according to the NOAA.

For the majority of the states counties that are in a Level 2 drought status, conditions are becoming significantly drier and warrant close coordination among state and federal agencies, detailed monitoring and more stringent watering restrictions, EEA said.

Limiting nonessential outdoor watering is one of the most effective ways to minimize the impacts of drought on water supply and the environment and ensure there is enough water for fire protection, the agency said.

The EEA secretarys declaration was the result of a recommendation made by the states Drought Management Task Force and will remain in effect until water levels return to normal in the affected regions.

It is unclear how long the drought could last, Hartman noted, but for dry conditions to be alleviated, the state would need long-lasting periods of consistent precipitation.

Consistent wet weather patterns are a little bit better when dealing with drought, the NOAA meteorologist said. If you have extended periods of rainfall, you have a greater chance of the soils absorbing that moisture. I would call it soil memory,' if you will.

When asked last week by MassLive about the impact of this months stormy weather on the ongoing drought in the commonwealth, EEA officials noted that rainfall totals in June were boosted during the few days of downpours. However, monthly precipitation levels are still below normal.

A variable amount of rain fell across the state, with the heaviest falling in a zone between Rhode Island and the southeast region of Massachusetts, authorities said. However, rainfall totals are still below normal for the month of June, and drought conditions have not changed at this time.

The Massachusetts Drought Management Task Force is scheduled to meet this week and will continue to analyze rainfall accumulation and its impact on drought conditions across the commonwealth, officials said.

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The former accountant for the town of Uxbridge has been charged in with stealing more than $729,000 from multiple municipalities, including more than $650,000 from Uxbridge, Attorney General Maura Healey announced Tuesday.

Justin Cole, of Harvard, is also accused of stealing $24,597 from Monterey and $47,600 from Millville.

Cole, 38, was indicted by a Statewide Grand Jury on five counts of of larceny over $250, two counts of larceny over $1,200, four counts of false claims, four counts of securing an unwarranted privilege, and a single count of unlawful financial interest of a municipal employee.

He will be arraigned at later dates in Worcester Superior Court and in Berkshire Superior Court, the attorney generals office said.

From 2012 to 2017, while Cole was employed as Uxbridges town accountant, the attorney generals office said he stole town funds by submitting and approving dozens of false invoices and related submissions, which resulted in the the town paying for services that were not provided.

The attorney generals office also said Cole defrauded the town through his company, Bay State Municipal Accounting Group, Inc. (BMAG), which provided accounting and financial services to the towns of Monterey and Millville as well.

Cole allegedly used the company to defraud Uxbridge by making the town pay rent owed by BMAG to its landlord. He also fraudulently billed software and equipment purchases made by BMAG to Uxbridge, the attorney generals office said.

Cole stepped down as Uxbridges full-time accountant in July 2017. He then continued to defraud Monterey and Millville through fraudulent billing and by misleading officials about municipal loan applications, the attorney generals office said.

The matter is being handled by Senior Trial Counsel Edward Beagan and Chief Trial Counsel Jim OBrien, both from the Attorney Generals White Collar and Public Integrity Division. Investigators Logan Davis, Jonathan Pitts and Ryan Miller of the Inspector Generals Office are also involved in the matter.

The Massachusetts Department of Revenues Division of Local Services, the IGs Office, and the towns of Uxbridge, Millville, and Monterey also provided assistance in this investigation.

Got a news tip or want to contact MassLive about this story? Email newstips@masslive.com or message us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also call our news tips line at 413-776-1364.
Is internet accessible in Worcester? Should broadband be in the hands of the private sector? These are questions wrestled with and answered in a new report from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau released Tuesday afternoon.

The latest report from the Bureau, Broadening Broadband: Considering Municipal Ownership as a Solution to Worcesters Internet Challenges, claims that communities that treat internet access as a core service, and not a luxury, have seen both economic and quality of life benefits.

The COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau argues, has exposed many of the challenges Worcester faces in regards to internet  access, price and speed  and that those issues have been exacerbated due to a regional monopoly, lack of infrastructure investment and a prioritization of profits over service.

The answer? Municipal broadband, says the Bureau.

Citing Glasgow, Kentucky as the first city to start their own Internet Service Provider (ISP) system, the report posits that municipalities with their own ISP provide more access and better speed and reliability than private options.

Access to internet in Worcester was an issue before COVID-19, the report points out, citing the U.S. Census Bureau which determined around 67% of city households had a broadband internet subscription, and 18% had no internet access at all.

As far as a choice of internet providers in Worcester, there really isnt one, the report finds.

In Worcester, 99.9 percent of the population has one choice for a wired broadband provider, according to the FCC, the report reads.

For nearly all residents in Worcester that choice is Charter Communications, which offers Spectrum as their internet service.

Regional monopolies are common - 60 percent of the U.S. population and 49 percent of Massachusetts residents have one or zero options for cable or fiber broadband providers, according to FCC, the Bureau writes.

Beyond choice, there are instances where municipal government is responsible for connecting people to the internet as well, says the Bureau.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced students into an online learning model, even though thousands of students did not live in internet-connected households, the Bureau writes. This created a hardware problem, since many students did not possess a device that could connect to the internet and allow them to complete schoolwork, and a connection problem, since even after WPS delivered Chromebooks to affected families, many students did not have a Charter subscription, and the companys proposed rates were expensive enough to create a barrier families could not solve on their own.

The WPS responded by signing a $500,000 contract with Verizon for Wifi hotspots to be delivered to 3,500 families. Another 1,500 hotspots will be retained through August and the start of the new school year, according to the Bureau.

There is no better need for municipal broadband than now, the Bureau argues.

The benefits of municipal broadband are undeniable - local control over an increasingly essential service, broader reach resulting in more equity in terms of which city residents deserve to have an internet connection and a commitment to speed and service that is not guaranteed from a for-profit entity.

The Bureau does, however, point out the looming cost of infrastructure investment a municipal broadband would incur.

While many municipal broadband networks turn a profit, communities must look beyond a simple return on investment financial analysis, the Bureau writes. Internet access has an indirect impact on a citys finances by creating an economic development incentive, as outlined by the Worcester Chamber and many national groups, but also has an impact on educational equity, quality of life and many other aspects of city living that will not show up on a balance sheet. Municipal broadband is an as much a foundational element as parks or libraries, one that communities must evaluate on financial and non-financial grounds.

And while the report points out that internet accessibility has provoked the mayor, city manager and WPS superintendent to collectively ask Charter to explore ways to expand internet accessibility in Worcester, the Bureau suggests the city seek outside funding to expand internet accessibility.

An information technology bond bill that has been passed by the Massachusetts Legislature includes $20 Million for a competitive matching grant program to assist municipalities with the construction of fiber broadband infrastructure and related projects. Through that program, as well as proposals under Congressional consideration as a part of the ongoing pandemic response, Worcester could have access to outside funding to explore potential means to expand internet accessibility, the Bureau writes.

In conclusion, the reports proposes the following recommendations to the City of Worcester:

The City of Worcester should take concrete steps to explore the possibility of a municipal broadband network, starting with a detailed cost estimate.

Any exploration of such a network should include all operational options, including a public-private partnership or neighborhood-by -neighborhood buildouts to defray costs. This should also include an examination of the plans, partners, and progress of other Massachusetts communities moving forward with municipal broadband networks.

Worcester leaders should, to the extent possible, use any federal and state grant programs and make clear the local justification for additional support. They should also continue to explore any and all means of encouraging Charter, as the citys incumbent ISP, to strengthen and expand service to users.

The ultimate goal of a network should be a fiber to the home system that delivers more affordable and faster internet options to both businesses and residents.

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McAAP provided photo

Explosives Operators Vicki Bowers and Chris Keller rework bomb bodies at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. Demilitarization or reclamation operations are performed once a munition is deemed obsolete, is no longer serviceable, or to manage the reuse of salvageable components. The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act which has cleared a Senate Committee includes $35 million to construct a second Ammunition Demolition Shop, called the C-Line, at McAAP.
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 EPAs standards, it glows green.

Led by researchers from Northwestern Engineering, 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 McCormick School of Engineering associate professor of chemical and biological engineering Julius Lucks, who led the study. Sending in a sample can cost up to $150 and take several weeks to get results. Were offering a technology that enables anyone to directly test their own water and know if they have contamination within minutes. Its so simple to use that we can put it into the hands of the people who need it most.

The research was published on July 6 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Lucks is 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 cant see or taste contaminants. Northwesterns 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 theres a contaminant in their water.

These reprogrammed 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. Franklins 100th birthday would have been 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 peoples 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 Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and (by courtesy) Earth and Planetary Sciences 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 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 doesnt scale, Alam said. It shouldnt take days to get an answer to the simple question: Is my water safe to drink?

Difficulties of testing at home

Disasters, of course, arent 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 peoples 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, theres 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 doesnt allow for checking levels from different taps in the house or temporal testing over time.

Testing for lead wasnt 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.

Editors 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.
Atlanta, GA (30303)

Today

Thunderstorms this morning with a few showers possible during the afternoon. High around 80F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 60F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Atlanta, GA (30320)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms. High near 80F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 62F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Marietta, GA (30060)

Today

Thunderstorms during the morning will give way to partly cloudy skies this afternoon. High 79F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 58F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden

July 7, 2020

Aaron Martin

Christopher Cooper

Iowa

Aaron Martin

Rich Low

the United States

the United States

Stockholm, Sweden

Santa Barbara, California

Dallas, Texas

, and/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Palette Life Sciences, a fully integrated global life sciences company dedicated to improving patient outcomes, today announced the launch of a new podcast series, The PedSpace, created specifically for and presented by pediatric urology healthcare professionals. The podcast series is a featured resource in Palette's new Deflux Learning Center, an online platform that provides information, education and training globally for pediatric urologists and their peers who treat vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and other pediatric urology conditions. VUR, sometimes referred to as urinary or bladder reflux, is a serious pediatric urinary condition in which urine flows from the bladder through one or both ureters toward the kidneys.The PedSpace podcast series features physicians discussing the field of pediatric urology, compelling VUR-related information, Deflux as a treatment option, broader topics such as telemedicine and more. In the first episode, "The Art of a Telemedicine Visit," Dr., Board-certified Pediatric Urologist at Children's Hospital New Orleans discusses best practices for virtual patient care. In the second episode, "Telemedicine and VUR," Dr. Martin discusses telemedicine in the context of VUR. In the third episode, "Improving the VUR Grading System," Dr., Board-Certified Pediatric Urologist at Stead Family Children's Hospital in, discusses the limitations of the current VUR grading system, asserting that not all VUR is created equal, and asking if the old method of grading is obsolete."As a pediatric urologist, I'm delighted to be participating in this new series developed specifically by and for my peers, and I hope they will find it a valuable and interesting new resource," said Dr., Board-certified Pediatric Urologist of Children's Hospital New Orleans."Palette Life Sciences is dedicated to supporting learning and collaboration among pediatric urologists. Through the launch of The PedSpace podcast series and our Deflux Learning Center, we hope to play an important role in improving patient outcomes," said, head of marketing, Palette Life Sciences. "These are just two examples of how we are making significant new investments in physician education and training, fostering peer-to-peer collaboration for the ultimate benefit of our young patients and their caregivers."In addition to The PedSpace podcast series, the Deflux Learning Center contains comprehensive VUR and Deflux-related information, education, training, tools and resources to support healthcare professionals who treat VUR. The PedSpace can also be subscribed to via Apple, Google, or Spotify podcasts.About Deflux Deflux is a minimally invasive, outpatient treatment that has been proven safe and effective in children with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). VUR is a serious pediatric urinary condition in which urine refluxes from the bladder through one or both ureters toward the kidneys, due to an abnormality at the junction of the ureter and the bladder. Deflux is an injectable gel bulking agent made from two tissue-friendly polysaccharides; Non-Animal Stabilized Hyaluronic Acid (NASHA) and dextranomer (Dx) microspheres. The product is administered via injection around the ureteral opening to prevent urine reflux. Deflux is indicated infor children with VUR grades II-IV, and is indicated outside offor all grades of VUR. For more information, visit https://deflux.com.About Palette Life Sciences AB Palette Life Sciences is a fully integrated life sciences company. Palette Life Sciences' products improve patient outcomes in urology and urogynecology disorders, colorectal conditions, radiotherapy, and interventional oncology procedures. The company's portfolio of available products includes Deflux, Solesta and Barrigel. Palette Life Sciences moves rapidly to leverage novel applications of existing technologies to create breakthrough medical solutions. This focus enables the company to serve those often overlooked by traditional medical companies and improve patient quality of life. Led by experienced healthcare executives, Palette Life Sciences is headquartered in, with offices in, and. Learn more at https://www.palettelifesciences.com.SOURCE Palette Life Sciences
It has been halfway through the year and people are starting to get bored being stuck at home all day. They wanna go out and go to the beach or go to parties or meet up with their friends.

But we can't. We're stuck at home till the coast is clear. Until then, we just have to improvise and find a way to pass the time.

And Walmart can let customers re-experience the joys of a drive-in theater soon as it teams up with Tribeca Enterprises to turn at least 160 of its store's parking lots into drive-in theaters in a report from WGN TV.

According to Janey Whiteside, Walmart's Chief Customer Officer expressed that her son has been bored at home and that the company is innovating to bring the summer fun to families. "We know Walmart plays a role in our communities that extends far beyond getting them necessary supplies, and we see that now more than ever." she added.

No further details have been added from the company other than the drive-in will run for a limited time from August to October. Additionally, Walmart said in a press release that families can order their drive-in essentials online for pickup to make the drive-in experience easier.

Tribeca Enterprises

Tribeca isn't new to drive-in theaters since the Tribeca Film Festival launched on the same year after 9/11 happened according to a report from The Los Angeles Times.

"It's one of the safest ways for communities to gather," said CEO and Co-Founder of Tribeca Enterprises Jane Rosenthal in a report from NBC Chicago 5. "We are thrilled to partner with Walmart to bring more people together around the shared cinematic experiences that Tribeca is known for."

Additionally, the report also indicated that Tribeca Enterprises has partnered with AT&T and Imax to bring movie screenings and stand-up comedy events to the city's Rose Bowl Stadium, after AmericaFest was cancelled.

For more details, you can check the tweet below.

pic.twitter.com/t4Enk8aYzL Starting in August at select Walmart stores, were partnering with @Tribeca and rolling out the red carpet for drive-in movie premieres, complete with car-side and service. Stay tuned for more details. See you at the movies! https://t.co/JfUPB6QK8C  Walmart (@Walmart) July 1, 2020

Read Also: NES Classic Edition Restocked At Walmart And Target, ThinkGeek Winners Notified, Brickseek Continues To Pay Dividends





Camp by Walmart

For kids who would love to get a chance to interact with their favorite celebrities online, Camp by Walmart, a new online camp is for you.

Serving as camp counselors will be none other than Drew Barrymore, Neil Patrick Harris, LeBron James, Idina Menzel and Todd Oldham. They will "lead kids through sessions varying from arts and crafts to fitness and other activities to keep them active and entertained."

Read Also: [Specs] Walmart's $140 Laptop Review: Here's Why You Shouldn't Buy
In a new study, an international team of scientists shows that the G version of the virus has come to dominate cases around the world. They report that this mutation does not make the virus more deadly, but it does help the virus copy itself, resulting in a higher viral load, or "titer," in patients."We are focused on the human immune response because LJI is the headquarters for the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC), a global collaboration to understand and advance antibody treatments against the virus," says LJI Professor Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D., who leads the Gates Foundation-supported CoVIC.Saphire explains that viruses regularly acquire mutations to help them "escape" antibodies made by the human immune system. When a virus acquires many of these individual changes, it "drifts" away from the original virus. Researchers call this phenomenon "antigenic drift." Antigenic drift is part of the reason you need a new flu shot each year.It is extremely important for researchers to track antigenic drift as they design vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19.For the study, Saphire collaborated with Bette Korber, Ph.D., a fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), who serves as senior author of the study. Korber and her colleagues at LANL have developed tools to track mutations around the world. In the new study, their tracking showed that while the G and D viruses both spread widely around the world, the G virus was "fixed" as the dominant variant by mid-March.Meanwhile, Saphire and co-author David Montefiore, Ph.D., of Duke University Medical Center, led research into the immune response to these variants. They determined that viruses carrying spike with the G mutation grew two to three times more efficiently, leading to a higher titer. Saphire and her colleagues then used samples from six San Diego residents to test how human antibodies neutralized the D and G viruses. Would the fast-growing G virus be harder to fight?Their experiments showed that the human immune response could neutralize the new G virus as well or better than the original D virus. This meant the immune system didn't need to produce more antibodies or better antibodies against the G virus, even though this variant was more successful at spreading. This finding was in line with what doctors saw in COVID-19 patients."The clinical data in this paper from the University of Sheffield showed that even though patients with the new G virus carried more copies of the virus than patients infected with D, there wasn't a corresponding increase in the severity of illness," says Saphire.Korber adds, "These findings suggest that the newer form of the virus may be even more readily transmitted than the original formwhether or not that conclusion is ultimately confirmed, it highlights the value of what were already good ideas: to wear masks and to maintain social distancing."Saphire says the novel coronavirus could be successful precisely because many patients only get a mild version or no symptoms."The virus doesn't 'want' to be more lethal. It 'wants' to be more transmissible," Saphire explains. "A virus 'wants' you to help it spread copies of itself. It 'wants' you to go to work and school and social gatherings and transmit it to new hosts. Of course, a virus is inanimateit doesn't 'want' anything. But a surviving virus is one that disseminates further and more efficiently. A virus that kills its host rapidly doesn't go as farthink of cases of Ebola. A virus that lets its host go about their business will disseminate betterlike with the common cold."So while the G mutation doesn't make cases more severe, a different mutation might. "We'll be keeping an eye on it," says Saphire.The study, titled, "Tracking changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike: evidence that D614G increases infectivity of the COVID-19 virus" was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) part of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR); Genome Research Limited, operating as the Wellcome Sanger Institute; a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship (110058/Z/15/Z); CoVIC, INV-006133 of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mastercard, Wellcome; private philanthropic support, as well as the Overton family; a FastGrant, from Emergent Ventures, in aid of COVID-19 research; and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Interagency Agreement No. AAI12007-001-00000.Additional study authors included W.M. Fischer, S. Gnanakaran, H. Yoon, J. Theiler, W. Abfalterer, N. Hengartner, E.E. Giorgi, T. Bhattacharya, B. Foley, K.M. Hastie, M.D. Parker, D.G. Partridge, C.M. Evans, T.M. Freeman, T.I. De Silva, C. McDanal, L.G. Perez, H. Tang, A. Moon-Walker, S.P. Whelan, and C.C. LaBranche.Source: Newswise
There are obviously hundreds and thousands of areas of study where people can get a great education at whatever subject they want, but I personally never thought Ninja Studies was one of the concentrations to exist. But hey, who wouldn't want to be a ninja, and apparently you can even get a proper legit degree to be one. A man has made history by being the first person ever to receive a master's degree in Ninja Studies and I think he's the only valid ninja to ever exist.

 Twitter

45-year-old Genichi Mitsuhashi spent two years thoroughly studying the art of becoming a ninja and completed the masters course at Mie University in central Japan, the region considered the home of the ninja.



Talking about his studies, he said, "It has been a fulfilling two years because I lived in a mountainous farming village in Iga to study ninja and pursued my research in my own way."

 Genichi Mitsuhashi

The course includes learning basic martial arts, traditional fighting and survival skills as well as how to stealthily climb mountains. Wow, it definitely sounds like one of the most interesting areas of study.



In addition to learning everything theoretically, he even mastered the practical aspect of being a ninja. He said, "I read that ninjas worked as farmers in the morning and trained in martial arts in the afternoon."

 Twitter

So of course, on top of studying in the classroom, he even grew vegetables and perfected his martial arts technique. He said, "With this combination, I thought I could learn about the real ninja."



Ninjas are basically assassins famous for their black-clothing along with secrecy and stealth, they also had "comprehensive survival skills", according to him.

Well, he's not stopping at a master's degree and is reportedly even working on a Ph.D. while he teaches ninja skills at his own dojo. Now that's pretty impressive.

Talking about his star student, Yuji Yamada, a professor of Japanese history at the university in charge of the ninja center, said, "Mitsuhashi is a real role model for graduate students who study ninja," Professor Yamada said. "We provide historical classes and courses on ninja skills. But I didn't expect him to engage to this extent. About three students enroll every year. I think there's a demand. We get many inquiries from overseas but I have to say one thing: This is a course to learn about the ninja, not to become one."

 Twitter

But, if you learn everything there is to learn about ninjas, aren't you close to becoming one for real? Lastly, our very own legit ninja said, "I want to play a role in connecting local residents with tourists and other visitors. I hope I can help revitalize the region and its ninja-related sites by having minpaku users join local festivals and offering other measures."


Being one of the most influential people across the world, his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama believes in the path of peace. The Tibetan spiritual leader is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and he travels across the globe with the message of tolerance and peace. Undoubtedly, he is the most visible symbol of Tibets struggle for autonomy.

The Buddhist monk turned 85 on July 6 and on several occasions earlier, he has also conceded that he may not have a successor. The Dalai Lama institution will cease one day. These man-made institutions will cease," the Buddhist monk told the BBC. "There is no guarantee that some stupid Dalai Lama won't come next, who will disgrace himself or herself. That would be very sad. So, much better that a centuries-old tradition should cease at the time of a quite popular Dalai Lama, he said.

Well, here is a look at some of the interesting facts about the 14th Dalai Lama:

1. Born in 1935 as Lhamo Thondup, the current Dalai Lama was proclaimed as the reincarnation of his predecessor at the age of two, when he is said to have identified several of his possessions. He was born in the small village of Taktser in north-eastern Tibet.

 CNN

2. His parents were peasant farmers. In the year 1938, the future Dalai Lama was taken to the Kumbum monastery after he was found by a delegation of monks and correctly identified several objects that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama.

 CNN

3. After a three-month journey from his home village he was enthroned on Feb. 22, 1940, at a ceremony in Lhasa, capital of the autonomous Tibet region that is now part of China.

 CNN

3. China invaded Tibet in 1950 and at the age of 15, the Dalai Lama assumed a political role shortly after, travelling to Beijing to meet Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders.

 tibet

 Facebook/Monyul

4. After a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, the Dalai Lama fled to India in early 1959 disguised as a soldier. He went into exile in the northern hill town of Dharamshala, where he still lives.

 quora

5. Since his flight from Tibet, China has accused the spiritual leader of being a dangerous separatist, and said any attempt to meet him is a major offence. In 2012, Beijing cancelled a planned visit by then-British Prime Minister David Cameron after he hosted the Dalai Lama in London.



6. According to a sample of his diary on his official website, the Tibetan spiritual leader wakes at 3am every day and meditates for several hours. After a breakfast of porridge and tsampa, a traditional barley flour, he spends the morning reading Buddhist texts, before holding audiences in the afternoon. He retires by 7pm. This picture is from 1959.

 Pinterest

7. His interests include cosmology, neurobiology, quantum physics and psychology, he told Reuters in an interview in 2019.



8. He has been granted dozens of honorary doctorates and awards for his leadership of the Tibetan community, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

 Tibet post

9. Whether there will be a successor to him or not is unclear. The current Dalai Lama, the 14th, has said the decision whether to retain the role after his death will be made by the Tibetan people, not the Chinese government, which claims the right to choose his successor. If the majority of (Tibetan people) really want to keep this institution, then this institution will remain, he told Reuters.

 Buddha weekly

10. Despite his veneration by Tibetans - and mistrust from China - the Dalai Lama says he spends most of his time on spiritual activities, not political affairs. I always consider myself as a simple Buddhist monk, he said on his official website. I feel that is the real me.


Following the ban of Chinese apps in India, it looks like they'll soon be banned in the US too. The US Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo indicated the same in an interview with a news channel.

We don't have official confirmation yet, but he did say that banning Chinese apps is something that the US is looking into. If it ends up happening, then TikTok may soon stop working in the US too, which is a huge deal.

 Reuters

"I don't want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it's something we're looking at," Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News. This will definitely be a huge blow to the country's revenue streams, and TikTok, in particular.



We say TikTok in particular because the app has over 65 million monthly active users in the US. It's extremely popular over there and getting banned would definitely affect its revenue. Meanwhile, TikTok has also stopped working in Hong Kong due to 'recent events'.

 Reuters

The company is already said to lose billions of dollars following the ban in India. We can only imagine the damage that would occur if it gets banned in the US.



As for the other Chinese apps, we don't have a list of apps that may get banned in the US, but we think it'll be along the same lines as the ones banned in India.

Source: TOI
TikTok will be pulling out of Hong Kong after China imposed a new national security law that grants excessive powers to mainland Chinese Government in the special administrative region. In light of recent events, weve decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong, a spokesperson told Axios.

 Reddit

Since the new law has been passed, global companies are also concerned whether it will force them to comply with Chinas extreme censorship standards. Global companies like Google, Facebook and others are already banned in mainland China and due to concerns, the companies have stopped processing requests of user data from the Hong Kong government.



The new law imposed by Beijing criminalises secession, subversion, terrorism and collision with foreign powers. It also attacks freedom of speech and the press which have existed in Hong Kong until the new law was imposed. The new law lets authorities investigate, prosecute and punish both foreign nationals and citizens. One of them included inciting hatred: among Hong Kong residents towards the mainland.

Now that TikTok is pulling out from Hong Kong, it indicates that Bytedance is complying with the Chinese authorities as the app is also not available in mainland China. Bytedance instead made TikTok alternative Douyin available for Chinese citizens that strictly follows guidelines of Chinese censorship laws. These censorship laws are nothing but draconian that can be used to persecute free speech and content that is deemed undesirable by the government.

 Unsplash

Last week, India banned TikTok and 59 other apps due to national security reason and other countries are following suit. TikTok has said that the app never shares data with the Chinese government but their latest move to pull out of Hong Kong says otherwise. Hacktivist group Anonymous called it a spying app for the Chinese government just last week.



Source: Axios
When I reviewed the Redmi Earbuds S, I felt it was the best deal anyone could get for a decent pair of TWS earbuds without spending too much. However, weeks after Realme announced the Buds Q, that not only look similar but are also priced quite similar. The Realme Buds Q in our opinion launched at a perfect time when people need wireless earbuds for making work calls from home or listen to some music while taking a break. The Realme Buds Q is priced for Rs 1,999 and here's what we think about the TWS earbuds.

Design

The Realme Buds Q looks just like any TWS earbuds that have launched in the past two years. It comes with an oval-shaped charging case that feels quite light in the hand due to its plastic build material. When looking at it from afar, it looks quite similar to the Redmi Earbuds S but is a bit larger in size. The charging case has magnets inside that instantly snaps the earbuds in place for charging. The charging case also has a tiny LED notification light at the front and a micro-USB charging port at the back. It was quite surprising to see Realme opt for a micro-USB port especially since most of their phones use the USB-C port for charging. Having a micro-USB port also means that it does not support any form of fast charging.

 MensXP/Akshay Bhalla

Realme boasts that these TWS earbuds have been designed by some dude called Jose Levy; a designer who works with Hermes and Realme. However, we do have to point out that these TWS earbuds have nothing unique about them and using Levy's name feels more like a marketing gimmick. The charging case nor the earbuds have any unique design attributes and similar designs can be found by numerous brands coming out of China. Having said that, since these earbuds cost less than a fancy meal in a restaurant we can't really complain here.

 MensXP/Akshay Bhalla

The earbuds themselves have an in-ear design that is quite similar to what we've seen by 1More, Samsung and Xiaomi as well. It is our favourite type of design for any wireless earbuds and it definitely works here as well. We would suggest switching out the silicon tips that fits perfect for your ear canal or Concha as it can impact your overall sound experience. Having said that, the earbuds don't have any notifaication light anywhere on the body which makes it difficult to identify whether the buds have any battery left or whether it is pairing mode.

Finally, the Realme Buds Q comes with an IPX4 rating which means you can use these earphones while working out as it is it is sweat and splash resistant. You don't really have to worry about sweating and spoiling your earbuds thanks to the water resistance rating.

Sound Quality

The Realme Buds Q has two 10mm drivers in the earbuds and even though it has a larger driver than the Redmi Earbuds S; the buds have a smaller footprint. The earbuds also have a better fit and seal than TWS that use a similar design as Apple's AirPods. Thanks to the tighter seal, the sound experience changes drastically as there is less room for sound leakage. Just like the Redmi Earbuds S; Realme's offering pays more emphasis on the bass i.e. lower frequencies. During our testing, we did find that the mids were quite bland and lacked character as compared to the Redmi Earbuds S. The deeper bass does overwhelm the other frequencies however you can easily adjust that manually using an equaliser on your music player. For users who love the extra bass, the Realme Buds Q is quite a decent pair of TWS earphones to consider. Having said that, these earbuds are not really meant for audiophiles but more or less for casual listening purposes. If you aren't too finicky about sound quality, these earbuds will do just fine. The earbuds have support for AAC HD audio codec which is the industry standard for most TWS earphones today.

 MensXP/Akshay Bhalla

Our main use for the Realme Buds Q was making calls over Discord, WhatsApp and normal voice calls. When using the Realme Buds Q during calls, the caller at the end did not notice my sound being muffled nor did I sound far away from the microphone. This is a good sign for users who spend hours attending calls because of work or like to communicate with friends in competitive games. For gamers, there is a dedicated mode that reduces the latency and can be switched on from the Realme Link app or by tapping and holding both earbuds for 2 seconds. Having the mode turned on reduces the latency to 119ms but affects the battery life and the range of the earbuds. It is meant to be used only when playing games and not music listening. Having said that, 119ms is still quite a bit of latency considering you can have almost zero or 1ms latency when using a wired earphone during gaming sessions.

Usability

The Realme Link companion app is also handy to customise the experience on the Realme Buds Q. You can use the app on any Android device and change settings for the earbuds according to your preference. For example, you can assign a certain function to earbud actions such as double-tapping and triple tapping the sensor on the earbuds. You can assign actions to each left and right earbuds giving you more options to play around with.

Battery Life

 MensXP/Akshay Bhalla

Every TWS earphone needs to have good battery life otherwise it defeats the purpose to go wireless. TWS earphones need to last you at least a day and the Buds Q achieves that easily. Each bud can last up to 4.5 hours on a single charge when using at 50% volume however you can expect that to drop with higher volumes. If you make a lot of calls, the earbuds can last up to 3 hours on a single charge which is not bad considering the price and the size of the earbuds. The charging case can extend the battery life to a total of 20 hours which means you can use the Realme Buds Q for an entire day without having it charged.

The Final Say

The Realme Buds Q is a great budget TWS earphone to consider if you are not looking for the best sound experience but gets the job done. We found it to be a bit better than Redmi's offering due to it slightly better sound and smaller earbuds design. If you need something to make calls or use while gaming; the Realme Buds Q is also a great fit for your requirements. The budget TWS earbuds category is the hottest addition to the Indian tech scene and the Realme Buds Q fits right in.
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
The March shooting of a Lauderdale County Chancery Court judge and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance of planning for the county's new government complex, the project architect said Monday.

Bob Luke of LPK Architects and Justin McDonald of W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Company shared a schematic design for the complex at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

The county purchased the old Village Fair Mall property in Meridian in June 2019 for $1.25 million with plans for a new courthouse. Demolition of the old mall off Sela Ward Parkway is expected to be finished this month, project leaders said.

Chancery Court Judge Charles Smith was shot near his truck outside the Lauderdale County Courthouse on the morning of March 16, police said. Smith returned to the bench in May, following several surgeries.

No arrests have been made in the case, which is being investigated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

In his presentation to supervisors, Luke shared some of the planned security features for the new government complex, including secure employee parking with card access, a single public entrance with several exits and public and private corridors.

Luke told supervisors that plans are for a main building of approximately 89,000 square feet. The existing courthouse and Raymond P. Davis County Annex Building currently utilize about 152,000 square feet, he said.

The new building would include offices for the tax collector, tax assessor, district attorney, public defender, Board of Supervisors, county administration and Circuit, Chancery and County courts, among other offices, Luke said.

He estimated that the initial phase of construction could begin in September or October, with a goal of completing the project by April 2022.

Project leaders hope to have an initial cost assessment within four to six weeks, he said.

The design includes plans to use a former LabCorp building on the rear of the mall property for the sheriff's department, E-911, emergency management agency, volunteer fire department and drug court testing, according to Luke.

The approximately 30,000 square-foot building is in good shape, but would need some work, he said.

Confederate monument

The lead organizer for several recent peace rallies in Meridian also addressed the board, calling for the relocation of the Lauderdale County Confederate monument.

N'spire Walker, president of Dream Team of the South, told supervisors that she and others hoped to change the narrative for the city.

Were not erasing history, were just putting it in a more suitable place so that we can continue to move forward as one people, she said.

One possible location would be a Confederate cemetery in the county, she said.

The county does not own the cemetery, Board Attorney Lee Thaggard said.

Walker has also addressed the Meridian City Council about the issue and some council members have discussed drafting a resolution in support of relocating it.

+2 Group seeks removal of Confederate monument at Lauderdale County Courthouse A representative of a movement to remove the Confederate monument at the Lauderdale County C

The resolution would require three votes by the council to pass and Council Vice President Weston Lindemann of Ward 5 said he expected it could be brought up at the next council meeting on Tuesday.

The monument is on public property owned and maintained by the county, according to County Administrator Chris Lafferty.

The Board of Supervisors is the public body responsible for maintaining it, Lafferty said.

He said earlier this month that any position that the board takes will be in light of a state statute, Miss. Code Ann. 55-15-81.

The statute prohibits the alteration of historical monuments and memorials erected on public property.

The governing body may move the memorial to a more suitable location if it is determined that the location is more appropriate to displaying the monument, according to the statute.

District 2 Supervisor Wayman Newell questioned who would pay for a relocation of the monument.

If you really want it to be done, especially if we see it affects us psychologically as a people, where theres a will, we know that theres a way, Walker said.

Susan Parker of Meridian said though the Civil War was a very hurtful time for our country, the statue should remain where it is.

If we don't have museums and correct information to teach us history, there's another saying, 'We're doomed to repeat it,' she said. I do hope we can turn the courthouse into a museum because it will help teach our young people our history.

Supervisors said they planned to discuss the monument at a future work session.
This past weekend, the small rocket launch firm Rocket Lab went through a horrid setback. That setback was the complete loss of a space mission that had a value of millions of dollars.

However, leaders of space companies competing for business have been offering the space startup Rocket Labs CEO their public support.

The Recent Failure Of Rocket Lab's Latest Mission

The failed mission of the $1.4-billion startup Rocket Lab was named "Pics Or It Didn't Happen," which is in line with how they called their other flights. This mission was the 13th attempt to get Electron to reach orbit. The Electron was a six-story launch vehicle with seven satellites onboard that were meant for three particular customers.

A couple of minutes after the Electron successfully lifted off from a Rocket Lab launch pad in New Zealand, the upper stage rocket failed. This failure led to the loss of the satellites, which happened almost 200 kilometers above the Earth. It was a little more than 300 kilometers under the target altitude needed for the rocket to get into orbit.

In two separate posts on Twitter, Peter Beck, the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, apologized after this failed mission.

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.  Peter Beck (@Peter_J_Beck) July 4, 2020

Soon afterward, Beck recorded a video that was almost two minutes long, which the Rocket Lab Twitter account shared on the same day.

Beck said that the day of the failed mission was tough while addressing the customers that the satellites were intended for. He stated that he and his team felt disappointed as much as the customers would be. But that didn't mean that Rocket Lab wouldn't do their best to find out the precise cause of what led to the failure so that they can learn from it and get the Electron back on the launch pad quickly and safely.

Rocket Lab is in the process of producing many more Electron launch vehicles and that it is ready to return to launching their spacecraft as swiftly as they can handle.

Are you wondering what the leaders of Rocket Lab's competitors had to say in terms of their support? Here are some examples:

Sorry to hear about this. Hope you get back to orbit soon. Rockets are hard.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2020

So sorry to hear this @Peter_J_Beck keep up the cadence and the great work!!  Eric Stallmer (@EricStallmer) July 5, 2020

Read More: Elon Musk Has an Interesting Job Posting as He Confirms Plan to Build 'Floating' Spaceports For His SpaceX Rockets





What's Next For Rocket Lab?

Before the failure on July 4, it was the first failed mission after 12 successful missions so far for Rocket Lab. The first Rocket Lab mission was a test launch that didn't reach orbit, which happened in 2017.

Rocket Lab is planning to launch the next Electron launch vehicle from the Virginia launch pad at the Wallops Flight Facility, which is owned by NASA next month, August.

The engineers at the startup are working hard to find out the reason the failure occurred. Upcoming missions won't be delayed significantly by the malfunction or investigation, but it is too early to give precise time and date for future launches.

Rocket Lab's investigation is going smoothly, and the company will be back on the launch pad soon enough, so we must wait patiently for further news from the startup.

Read More: Are You A Fan Of Elon Musk's Rocket Company? Check These SpaceX Launch Memorabilia Out!
KABUL  The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan hosted a conference on Strengthening Consensus for Peace on July 6, 2020.

The conference held via VTC was attended by representatives from over twenty countries and international organizations. The opening statement was made by H.E. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the conference was chaired by the Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar. H.E. Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation concluded the conference.

Participants emphasized the importance of international consensus on peace through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process. Participants focused on the latest developments in the peace process including the need for Reduction in Violence (RiV) by the Taliban, the release of prisoners by the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, start of intra-Afghan dialogue, and the need for the establishment of a humanitarian ceasefire to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Taking note of the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) report on the high levels of violence in Afghanistan and the recent call for peace from the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), participants appealed to the Taliban to significantly reduce violence in order to facilitate the immediate start of intra-Afghan dialogue.

Participants reaffirmed their commitment to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process and emphasized the need to preserve the values and achievements of the last two decades.
Michigan's Special Education Performance Improves Again on Federal Rating

Martin Ackley, Director of Public and Governmental Affairs 517-241-4395 Education

July 7, 2020

LANSING  Michigans performance on key special education factors associated with the U.S. Department of Education improved for the second straight year, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) reported today.

Michigan received a score of 72.5 percent for its federal determination annual performance rating on meeting the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B for the 2019-20 school year. In 2017-18, Michigan scored 59.17 percent. In 2018-19, the score improved to 65.28 percent, an increase of over six percentage points. This years increase was more than seven percentage points, which brings the two-year growth to 13.33 percentage points.

Our statewide progress is welcome news and reflects strengthening partnerships among local school districts, intermediate school districts, the Michigan Department of Education, and groups that advocate for our children with special needs, said State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice.

This is the highest score Michigan has received since 2014, when the federal government moved to results-driven accountability, said Deputy State Superintendent Dr. Scott Koenigsknecht. We are pleased with the trajectory of the growth and will continue to work to improve outcomes for every Michigan student. There is still much work to do around the areas of graduation and dropout rate, research-based best practices, and inclusion as we are still in the Needs Assistance category.

Dr. Koenigsknecht said a lot of work is being done in the school districts across the state, and at MDE, to improve compliance and results outcomes. MDE formed a steering committee and four work groups in December 2018 to generate and implement recommendations designed to lead to continued improvements in graduation and dropout rates, M-STEP test participation, and national NAEP test results and participation.

We appreciate the commitment from our partners across the education landscape in Michigan and look forward to continued growth and improvement, Dr. Koenigsknecht said. To become a top education state, we need to provide a quality education and growth for all students, including those with special needs.

Last year, the Michigan Department of Education was in full compliance with the reporting and submission of timely and accurate data of specific indicators required by the U.S. Department of Education. However, outcomes for students with disabilities for graduation and dropout rates were below the federal targets.

Federal officials use both compliance and results data for a letter of determination on whether a state "meets requirements," "needs assistance," or "needs intervention."
Statement from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on dismissal of lawsuits regarding Michigan's Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission

Statement from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on dismissal of lawsuits regarding Michigan's Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission

JULY 6, 2020

This morning a U.S. District Court judge dismissed the two consolidated lawsuits seeking to halt creation of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistrict Commission. The work to seat the commission as constitutionally required is ongoing following an application period that drew more than 9,000 applications from all of Michigans 83 counties. Last month 200 semi-finalist applications were randomly selected and delivered to the Legislature for review during the month of July. In response to the courts ruling, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued the following statement:

The court sided with the overwhelming majority of Michigan voters who amended our state constitution to enable the people of the state to draw fair political districts. My office will continue to support the will of the people by carrying out the historic work to launch the commission in an apolitical and transparent manner.



# # #

For media questions, contact

Tracy Wimmer at 517-281-1876.

We welcome questions and comments at the Contact the Secretary of State page.

Customers may call the Department of State Information Center to

speak to a customer-service representative at 888-SOS-MICH (767-6424).
Nia Peeples once said, Life is a moving, breathing thing. We have to be willing to constantly evolve. Perfection is in fact, constant transformation. Every community needs constant transformation, especially now. Pretty much every local media company has taken their lumps during the past few years. This is even more true with the onset of COVID-19. Despite these challenging times, it has never been more important for a local community to have a voice that comes with a viable media company. But here is another observation, no media company can survive in a community with a dying business base as well. Both the community and the media company along with the local city unit of government desperately need each other to win  of that there is no question.

Before we discuss the strategy that can lead to a solid return for local businesses and the community, lets focus on the reality of print media. While newspaper audiences have declined in recent years along with every other local advertising, marketing and social media option, they still have the largest single audience in nearly every local community across the country. What other single media outlet captures or speaks to between 20-75% of their communitys audience? This number swells even larger when you count their digital and niche product reach.

To put that in perspective. More people across the country read a weekend newspaper than watch any given Super Bowl.

Make no mistake, it isnt just the percentage of audience they reach. More importantly, it is the make-up of the audience they reach. What media can still say they reach in excess of 50% of the above 50 crowd? Yes, that is the generational crowd having the largest amount of expendable income. This is the group most connected within the community. This is the group most likely to cast a ballot in the local elections. This is the group that largely embraces the ink on paper form of reading.

Enough about the demographics of a newspaper, what does this mean for local businesses in the community? Let me offer a path forward for local businesses, local media and the community.

It is no secret the local media derives their income from either advertising/marketing dollars or subscribers. Truth be told, the newspapers ultimate survival rests in the hands of the local community. That being the case, it behooves media companies to unequivocally embrace the concept of shopping and supporting hyper-local. You notice, I didnt say local. I said hyper-local. Hyper-local is defined as locally owned and operated businesses, not big boxes and nationally owned chains simply located in your community. They may provide some economic balance which is good, but they wont save the community as most of their dollars will not remain local.

A media company needs to work with the local businesses and their community to market and brand a hyper-local strategy. They need to work with the local businesses, chamber and the city to create rewards and incentives encouraging hyper-local spending. They need to constantly pound home in editorial content the need and desire to support their community by spending hyper-locally. In short, they hold the key to educating their community regarding hyper-local spending and the real dangers of spending local dollars with National establishments where the profits go to pave the roads in some far-off town where their corporate headquarters might be.

This partnership must be a two-way street. Local businesses need to work with the local media company on strategies creating win-win partnerships between them. The media companies need the business community to survive. Likewise, the business community and city need the media company to help change the mindset and shopping habits in the community. The bottom-line is if the mindset of shopping at big boxes and national chains (as well as digitally) doesnt change at least a bit, both media companies and local business face a very bleak future.

It is no secret, America was built on the backs of local business and to an extent, the media. Small business coupled with local media have always led to sustainable community success. Communities working together overcoming obstacles can still win. Time is short and of the essence. It is time for media companies to reach and take the lead in this battle for the hyper-local spending mentality. It is also time for the local business community to embrace the media working to solve this problem. United, you can stand. Divided, you will most assuredly die.

John A. Newby, author of "Building Main Street, Not Wall Street," a column and Facebook group dedicated to helping local communities and media companies combine synergies allowing them to not just survive, but thrive where truly-local is lost to Amazon, Wall Street chains and others. His email at: john@360MediaAlliance.net.
According to the secretary of the state known as Mike Pompeo in his statement on Monday, the United States is finally "looking at" banning all of the Chinese social media apps, this includes TikTok!





Pompeo actually suggested the whole possible move during a particular interview along with Fox News' own Laura Ingraham, even adding that they are definitely taking this decision very seriously. Pompeo was also asked by Ingraham as to whether or not the United States should in fact be considering a total ban on other Chinese owned social media apps, "especially TikTok."

Chinese Apps and National Security

It was also stated that with respect to these Chinese apps that are on people's own cell phones, the United States is assuring that they aim to get this thing right as well. It was also stated that Mike did not want to get something out in front of the current president, but they are already looking into the matter.

Washington's very own top diplomat soon added that the people should only download this app if they really want their private information to land in the hands of the known Chinese Communist Party. TikTok also did not immediately respond to any requests for comments from CNN Business.

Pompeo's recent remarks come during this current time of heightened tension that is between both the United States and also China. The tension has spilled into multiple arenas and national security, trade, and also technology are among the problematic areas.

TikTok, which is currently owned by the Beijing-based startup called ByteDance, has already been repeatedly criticized by many US politicians who have been accusing the short-form video app of actually being a threat to national security due to its ties with China.

The company was alleged to possibly be compelled to support and even cooperate with certain intelligence work that is controlled by the known Chinese Communist Party.

Read Also: Uber is Acquiring Postmates for $2.65 Billion; Will This Save the Comapny's Drop in Profits?





TikTok's Power

TikTok has also previously said that it actually operates much separately from ByteDance. It also stated that its data centers are currently located entirely outside of the speculated China and that not a single piece of data is actually subject to Chinese law.

US users have their data stored within the United States and their backup is located in Singapore, according to the official TikTok statement. A certain spokesperson for the whole company told CNN Business back in May that it actually thinks that the national security concerns are even "unfounded.

TikTok has definitely exploded in popularity around the whole United States and also many other western countries, becoming the very first Chinese social media platform to totally gain significant traction with different users outside of its very own home country.

The app was said to be downloaded about 315 million times in its first three months of this current year, more quarterly downloads that happened to any other app ever in history, according to Sensor Tower analytics.

Read Also: Elon Musk Claims Hydroxychloroquine was Actually Effective Vs. Coronavirus and that Current COVID-19 Numbers are "False Positives"
MIDDLETOWN  City officials made historic progress at this weeks council meeting, adopting resolutions dealing with racism and becoming the third municipality in the state to sign on to the Equality Act.

Common Council members also passed an ordinance to create a Permanent Task Force on Anti-Racism, which requires a change to the city charter.

Resident input on agenda items was robust and passionate during the four-hour meeting, which stretched past 11 p.m., according to Mayor Ben Florsheim. It was streamed live on the WebEx platform.

Only New Britain and Torrington have enacted similar resolutions related to the Supreme Courts 6-3 ruling on June 15, which added the terms sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 related to employer discrimination.

We also need to codify that into law nationally  not just in the workplace, but in all walks of life and areas, said Florsheim, who believes Middletown is the first to address the two pressing public health issues.

The city of Middletown will continue to strive to promote justice, champion equity, ensure all voices in the community are represented, end oppression, and ensure that the promise of equality is realized for all, including for the members of the LGBTQIA community, and for the citys Black and Black transgender residents, the new ordinance says.

It says something exciting about Middletown. There was an incredible amount of public participation, said the mayor, who saw about 50 people queued up to speak.

Our community wants to be involved. They spoke eloquently about their positions and I respect that, said Majority Leader Gene Nocera.

Council members also watched a presentation of the final report on the anti-racism initiative. Passing the ordinance to create a committee requires a charter change. The findings will be used as a template for a soon-to-be created panel.

The report was created in conjunction with the National Conference for Committee & Justice and the citys Human Relations Commission.

It puts us way ahead of other communities that are trying to get caught up, because we have clear data coming from our residents, Florsheim said.

Over the next few days, work will begin on recruiting community members for the anti-racism panel. There will be a lot of interest, which is exciting. The folks we want to have on the task force are going to be really experienced people in field of racial justice and equity work, Florsheim said.

The common thread we want is a diversity of background and experiences, but some real experiences in doing anti-racism work, he said.

Monday night was a major step in the Black Lives Matter movement, said Middletown Council Minority Leader Phil Pessina, noting he did a lot of soul searching on the matter.

I sat back and thought about what we had just passed as a council. Were really starting to change the narrative now. The silent voices have come forward in a holistic manner to address the issues and perceptions they see in a really great way, he said. It was a total community buy-in.

Last night really was a historic day for Middletown, moving proactively and progressively to look at the issues our community and state faces to develop plans to remediate issues  not just talk about it,Florsheim said.

It was really the people who said they wanted to see this happen, he said.

The council also passed an ordinance declaring racism a public health crisis in Middletown.

That was the impetus of Middlesex Health and Community Health Center reaching out, saying we know those intersections exist, know the disparities exist in how people receive health care and treatment, and that needs to be part of the work it does on health, Nocera said.

During the public session, a large number of people also talked about renaming the new junior high school.

Pessina said both sides were represented  those who want it to remain Woodrow Wilson and others hoping it will honor the Beman family, which was instrumental in Middletowns participation in the Underground Railroad. They made a profound contribution to our city.

President Wilson, who lived in Middletown for two years and taught at Wesleyan University, didnt have nearly as much impact on the city, Pessina said.

Think about the slaves that came off those ships. They really didnt know where they were going to go, and what was going to happen. The Beman family steps forward in a very humanistic way, he said.

They started to change the narrative in our city, said Pessina, who recalled visiting a construction site downtown in the late 1970s or early 1980s when Dingwall Drive, then College Street, was being developed. Workers pointed out what he thought was a portion of the underground trail.

The graduates of Woodrow Wilson really enjoyed the impact the school had on their lives. Its great. But we have a very, very different population now, Pessina said. These young children  black, white, brown, whatever  theyre going to be going into a brand new school where they can learn about the Bemans family.

Meanwhile, Pessina hopes Wilson graduates will take a deep breath. See a change in the population, understand the impact they made for this community in guiding those slaves. Its a different time.
NEW HAVEN  State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney and Majority Leader Bob Duff Tuesday shared their displeasure with Stop & Stops decision to end coronavirus-related bonus pay for employees, noting grocery store workers are still risking themselves to serve the public during the pandemic.

Stop & Shop previously provided 10 percent raises to employees across the Northeast, describing it as appreciation pay. The company ended the program July 4.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery store workers have effectively kept our society going. Theyve faced risks to health and safety to ensure members of the community could access food and other essential products, Looney, D-New Haven, said in a statement.

After months of risk, workers have suffered significant health consequences from COVID-19. Since the risk they face is not over, the additional compensation they deserve in light of that risk must continue as a matter of fairness, Looney said. Stop & Shop has reported sales increases during the COVID-19 pandemic; the least it can do is support the employees who risked themselves and their families to keep the doors open.

Duff, D-Norwalk, said Stop & Shop employees deserve true hazard pay while they continue to risk exposure to COVID-19. Its clear the company labeled its program appreciation pay so it could end the pay increases as soon as the coast was clear, even as the virus clearly has not disappeared.

Despite the fact that rising COVID-19 infections in more than 60 percent of the country represent a continued threat to our communities, Stop & Shop opted to end this pay program employees deserve  and over a holiday weekend spurring high sales, to boot, Duff said, The hazard and risk of COVID-19 is not over, and Stop & Shop should share its financial gains with the employees who ensured it could achieve them.

The choice to end appreciation pay came despite the objection of a union that represents employees at Stop & Shop locations in Connecticut and western Massachusetts, which tried to negotiate with the chain to keep the program in place before the company declined to continue it, according to a letter from Ronald Petronella, interim president of the union.

We are disgusted by this decision, especially while confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in much of the country, and several states in the Northeast have announced that they will be delaying planned reopenings, Petronella said.

Stop & Shop spokeswoman Maura OBrien previously said the pay program was implemented amid mounting public concern over the pandemic and increased foot traffic in stores.

Now, the Northeast states Stop & Shop serves are reopening more fully, and consumer demand is returning to normal, OBrien said.

OBrien said in a statement Tuesday that members of Stop & Shop management deeply appreciate the vital role that our associates have played in the communities we serve throughout the pandemic.

Since March, Stop & Shop has invested more than $110 million in increased pay, extended health care and leave benefits, access to critical safety equipment, and other measures to keep our associates safe and to recognize their efforts, OBrien said. Stop & Shop shares profits with its associates through competitive compensation and benefits, and we are pleased to have now extended this pay and benefits to 11,000 newly hired associates.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
MADRID, July 6 (Xinhua)-- Results from the third and final round of wide-ranging tests to assess how many people in Spain have been infected with the coronavirus show that just 5.2 percent of the population has developed antibodies to the virus.

The results differ very little from the first test, the findings of which were published by the Spanish Health Ministry on May 13. It showed that five percent of the population had developed antibodies.

The tests were carried out on a representative sample of almost 69,000 people in areas all over Spain.

The results show that health service workers are more likely to be infected than other workers, with 10 percent of them testing positive for antibodies, while this figure stood at seven percent among workers in care homes for the elderly.

There are also important regional variations, with some of Spain's provinces (all in the center of the country) affected much more than others. The province of Soria was the worst affected with 14.4 percent of residents testing positive, while this rate was 12.4 percent for the region of Segovia, just north of Madrid.

In Madrid, the capital, 11.7 percent of the inhabitants tested positive, and the infection rates were 11.4 percent in the regions of Cuenca and 10.8 percent in Albacete.

The rates of people with COVID-19 antibodies are markedly lower elsewhere in Spain -- just 1.2 percent in Huelva, 1.6 percent in the provinces of Cadiz and Almeria in the south and 1.9 percent in the northern community of Asturias.

The results showed no significant differences between male and female patients, and other factors, such as education levels or the number of people living together, also had no significant bearing on the infection rates.

According to the latest data published by the Spanish Health Ministry, Spain has tallied 28,385 deaths from COVID-19 and 250,545 confirmed cases.
What to Watch this Week: 'Palm Springs,' 'The Old Guard' and more
The list of PPP loan recipients, that is, the Paycheck Protection Program, landed in our inboxes Monday afternoon from the good people at the Small Business Administration. To say its enlightening is like saying Hamilton the Broadway show is entertaining.

Like the landmark production, the PPP list  $6.7 billion in forgivable loans for more than 60,000 organizations in Connecticut  contains pretty much the full, messy picture of the U.S. economy. Is it fair? Maybe yes, maybe no.

It features companies you know, like Modern Apizza and Frank Pepes pizza (nine locations, $150,000 to $350,000 each and no, the New Haven location was not on the list); machine shops youve never heard of; an armload of private schools including The Foote School in New Haven ($1 million to $2 million), a few of the biggest law firms, Catholic schools in several Connecticut cities, the vast range of nonprofits including Planned Parenthood ($5 million to $10 million) and on and on.

Its supposed to be for small businesses, as the giant companies have their own coronavirus bailout. But small business means something different to the federal government than it does to you and me. Loosely, anyone with 500 or fewer employees is on the gravy train, down to sole proprietorships like your neighbor Marge who makes wooden toys in the garage.

So that means the troubled FuelCell Energy Inc., publicly traded with upwards of 300 jobs in Danbury and Torrington, was able to haul in between $5 million and the maximum PPP loan, $10 million. It was among 50 Connecticut borrowers listed as receiving loans of at least $5 million.

Click here for a searchable database of 3,670 borrowers that received at least $350,000.

The database only gives us a range, like those forms candidates sign that give their net worth in a range that lets you know what country clubs they can afford to join but not much else. Hat tip to my colleague Paul Schott for helping pull it together.

At least three Connecticut newspaper publishers are on the list but not this one. Were part of a larger corporation.

Government reach

Before we get further into the salacious details, lets think about what this list means. Aside from a catalog of the states employers, large to midsize, it points us to two big ideas.

First, any remaining pretense that the United States operates under a free market system is just seventh-grade silly talk. This massive bailout  $521 billion for the PPP and still counting until Aug. 8 since Congress couldnt bear to shut off the spigot on June 30 as planned  is part of a broader federal backstop. In all, the coronavirus stimulus will total maybe $3 trillion or more by the time the last state has coronavirus under control.

Yes, its an extraordinary crisis seemingly unrelated to the natural order of business cycles. But weve had bailouts before, notably in 2009, and what were seeing, like it or not, whether youre a Democrat, Republican, libertarian or none of the above, is that the government is your partner in the economy. We already know states and the Feds spend more than half the dough on the nations $3.3 trillion health bill, and we know about the $700 billion yearly military budget that keeps Connecticut off the ground (and under the sea).

Now we see more plainly than ever that the economy cant even begin to operate without serious government intervention, not just research dollars, not just education, not just as a payer for goods and services, but right down to the bottom line of literally millions of companies when it matters most.

Think about that the next time you hear someone  maybe at one of these 4 million-plus companies on the national PPP list  cry out that government needs to get off our backs.

No fair bailouts

Manufacturers werent shut down but the list includes many, including Tower Laboratories LTD in Essex, maker of bromide tablets, owned by state Sen. Norm Needleman  $2 million to $5 million, with no figure given for number of jobs saved.

Its a war, and you know what they say about ideology and religion in a foxhole.

Just a look at the Connecticut newspapers that participated in the PPP. They include Journal Publishing Co. of Manchester, publisher of the Journal-Inquirer ($350,000 to $1 million); The Day Publishing Co. in New London ($1 million to $2 million); and the publisher of the Waterbury Republican-American ($1 million to $2 million). They represent a wide range of political opinions.

Thats the beauty of the PPP  an equal opportunity bailout. And that brings us to the second big idea: There is no fair way to shut down an $18 trillion economy and make all the players whole. The list includes some companies, and individual proprietors, that were teetering, not really making a living at all. Now they can pay off their credit cards.

Some of them  at least two that I know personally  are also collecting unemployment, apparently against the rules.

And the list includes companies that were humming along nicely, revenues cut to almost nothing by COVID-19. Their PPP loans wont begin to cover their losses.

And it includes publicly traded companies, notably FuelCell in Connecticut, that have access to money on the public debt and equity markets. FuelCell just finished a major recapitalization last year to save itself, and now its on the PPP list.

Unfair? Tell that to the 258 people whose jobs are saved by the federal program  not ones and twos, but an important industry in hard-hit Torrington.

The point is, theres no such thing as fair. The economy is a roiling stew and if the bloody goats head of coronavirus lands in the pot, theres no going back.

Oh, we can try. This from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who spent years as Connecticuts attorney general, going after business wrongs.

This data  long-overdue  raises increasingly serious questions about possible misallocation of PPP funds. Ill be closely scrutinizing the list and seeking investigation of any misguided decisions, favoritism or wrongdoing. Small businesses in desperate need of funding simply had less access than larger companies. Ill be asking for more information from U.S. Treasury officials to answer tough questions and assure all Connecticut businesses, especially smaller ones, are treated fairly. We must learn from the mistakes.

Desperate firms

Eric Gjede, vice president of public policy at the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, told Schott Monday he viewed the PPP as helping companies stay afloat.

I think companies were desperate to ensure they were taking care of their people as best as they could. I dont begrudge those companies for looking for loans to help take care of their employees. Thats what we want at the end of the day - less people filing for unemployment and more businesses trying to keep these folks on through any means necessary.

Any means necessary. Yes, theres some wrongdoing in any half-trillion-dollar bailout and we should root it out but the point is there was no way to do that on the fly. The bailout happened too fast in too many places.

In all, The SBA database shows 8,595 companies that received forgivable loans of at least $150,000, up to $10 million under the Paycheck Protection Program, for a total of nearly $5 billion  an average of about $570,000.

Another 52,350 companies, not listed by name, received $1.8 billion, or an average of $34,000 each. Two thousand of them collected less than $2,000 in the program

On the list of large borrowers, there are 15 firms named Shoreline, all but one in a shoreline town; and 12 named Nutmeg.

Some of the states largest law firms are included, such as Day Pitney, Shipman & Goodwin and Robinson & Cole, all of which fetched between $5 million and $10 million. Also on the list for largest loans were two steel companies, speaking of old American industry.

Another 321 collected between $2 million and $5 million and 699 inked deals for $1 million to $2 million, including many of those private schools.

Messy as it is, Connecticut seems to be flousishing: With its $6.7 billion load, the state pulled in about $1 billion more than its share of the federal money, based on population.

Staff Writer Paul Schott contributed reporting

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
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.
WILTON  A proposal for 17 rental apartments  a mix of affordable and market rate  to be built at 3 Hubbard Road in Wilton Center, is under review by the Village District Design Advisory Committee.

Serving in an advisory capacity, the committee reviews development proposals in Village Districts, such as Wilton Center.

Under the scope of the committees review is the design and placement of the apartment building, the maintenance of public views, paving materials and placement of public roadways, signs and other elements that maintain and protect the unique character of the designated village district.

The apartment building would be built behind The IVE at Wilton Center apartments (formerly Wilton Arms) at 3 Hubbard Road. The applicant for the project is 3 Hubbard Road, LLC, which lists James L. Kleiber of Wilton as its principal member.

The new buildings connectivity is a main concern for committee member Laura Parese. Things like pedestrian connectivity are central to the committees review in order to better the village district, she said at a meeting on July 2.

The committee is reviewing four items in the proposal:

1. Sidewalks and connection to the street: The committee would like to see a means for pedestrians to get to Wilton Center. It suggested constructing stairs to connect the new building to existing apartments as well as a daycare center.

2. Brick veneer expansion: The committee would like to see brick veneer, which is proposed for the front base of the building, expanded to wrap around the entire base of the building.

3. Covered entrances: The committee has asked for changes on two covered entrances and removal/change of pediments on them.

4. View of retaining wall: Apartment residents on the side of the building closest to Old Ridgefield Road would have a view of a concrete retaining wall under the plan. The committee would like there to be texture to the wall or possible ivy plantings for a more acceptable view.

The committee was fine with a request by the applicant to have blue-colored doors at the entrances.

After its review, the committee will give its recommendations to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The applicant is applying for development of the property under statute 8-30g, as an affordable housing project.

Sitting on one and a quarter acres, the new building would measure 39 and a-half feet tall and include 14 two-bedroom apartments and three three-bedroom apartments encompassing 20,000 square feet. Thirty percent of the apartments would be affordable.

According to the application, 15 percent  two apartments  would be offered for rent to families whose income is less than 60 percent of the area or statewide median income, whichever is less. Fifteen percent  three apartments  would be offered to families whose income is less than or equal to 80 percent of the area or statewide median income, whichever is less.

pgay@wiltonbulletin.com
NEW HAVEN  Connecticuts daily death toll that began on March 17 finally came to a pause on Tuesday, when Gov. Ned Lamont reported no new fatalities in the coronavirus pandemic.

On a very positive note, for the first time in months there were zero COVID-related fatalities in Connecticut, Lamont said. Zero COVID-related fatalities. Thats really thanks to each and every one of you. The crowd, including Mayor Justin Elicker, state Rep. Toni Walker and officials from the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, applauded and cheered.

Tuesday did bring a net increase of 14 hospitalizations, for a total statewide of 83  a small warning for the state to continue the extensive social distancing and mask wearing that has made it a national leader in trying to battle the virus.

Lamont recalled that on April 22, there were 1,972 COVID patients hospitalized. The latest increase reflects the fact that Connecticut has reached a sort of floor below 100, and may see hospitalizations rise and fall within a narrow range.

About 20 to 30 people a day are admitted into hospitals for COVID treatment, Lamont said, and the number discharged has been higher than that for many weeks. Tuesdays uptick does not reflect an increase in admissions, he said.

Not that many people were discharged, he said Tuesday during an unrelated event with the Community Foundation. And thats going to happen a lot. To me its a less-important metric today than it was two months ago, when I really worried that our ICUs could be overwhelmed.

Also Tuesday, Connecticut logged a 1 percent testing rate  57 positive tests out of 5,745  continuing a positive trend. A rate of 10 percent or more, the threshold for states to be on the quarantine list of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, is considered high.

The first reporting cycle without fatalities  from late Monday afternoon to late Tuesday afternoon  since the week of March 16 is testament to the seriousness with which state residents have tried to discourage the spread of the virus, Lamont said.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
The upper parking lot at the Toyota Oakdale Theater was filled with cars and people in a celebratory mood on July 6. But instead of getting ready for the latest concert performance at the storied music venue, the cars in the lot were filled with graduating seniors from Mark T. Sheehan High School and their parents.
Douglas County added 103 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus since Friday, according to an update from Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health.
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 private first class in the Oregon National Guard died July 4 as the result of a non-combat incident while deployed to Kosovo, officials announced Monday evening.

Pfc. Alexander Blake Klass, 20, from Willamina, Oregon, was deployed to Camp Novo Selo and was supporting Operation Joint Guardian, the U.S. Army's ongoing sustainment mission in Kosovo.

Read Next: Marine Units Deactivate in Aggressive Plan to Reshape the Corps

He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, out of Springfield, Oregon. An Oregon Guard spokesman, Maj. Stephen Bomar, told Military.com that Klass was an infantryman.

He entered the military Jan. 17, 2019, and mobilized to Kosovo in January. He was set to return in November, Bomar said.

This is a tragic situation and our primary focus is supporting the family during this difficult time," Brig. Gen. William J. Prendergast IV, Land Component Command Commander, Oregon Army National Guard, said in a statement.

No additional details were immediately available about the incident that led to his death. Officials are investigating, according to the release.

A contingent of 600-700 U.S. troops is deployed to Kosovo at any given time. The U.S. military first entered Kosovo in 1999 amid the Kosovo war. U.S. forces now support the NATO-led Kosovo Force, which is designed to serve a peacekeeping mission until Kosovo's own security force can support itself.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck

Related: Army Specialist Killed in Afghanistan Vehicle Rollover Accident
U.S. Army officials at Fort Hood held a news briefing Monday evening to honor Spc. Vanessa Guillen, after confirming that the search for her since April had ended with the identification of her partial remains discovered near the massive Texas post.

"Sadly, I stand here to report that the search for Spc. Vanessa Guillen has resulted in the very outcome that I had prayed it would not have from there very beginning," Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, deputy commander of III Corps and Fort Hood, said during the brief news conference.

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Army officials briefed Guillen's family on Sunday that the human remains found in Bell County were identified through DNA analysis to be Guillen's, Efflandt said.

"We are now confronted with the aftermath of one of the most heinous acts I can imagine," Efflandt said.

Guillen, a 20-year-old 3rd Cavalry Regiment soldier who disappeared April 22, was allegedly murdered by Army Spc. Aaron Robinson, according to a July 2 criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office Western District of Texas.

Robinson shot and killed himself last Tuesday when confronted by area police. Two days later, federal authorities filed a criminal complaint charging 22-year-old Cecily Aguilar, a civilian and the estranged wife of a former Fort Hood soldier, with conspiracy to tamper with evidence in the disappearance of Guillen.

Robinson told Aguilar that he killed Guillen "by striking her in the head with a hammer" while on-post April 22, 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.

"There are no words that can convey the sense of loss for her family, her friends and her fellow soldiers that I feel during this tremendously difficult time," Efflandt said. "We all feel her loss, the loss of a vibrant young woman who bravely volunteered to serve her country, the loss of a talented soldier, the loss of a loving family member and the loss of a bright future ahead of her."

Col. Ralph Overland, commander of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, said the death of Guillen has "left a hole in our formation."

"Vanessa Guillen was a warrior, highly trained and proficient in her duties," he said. "She was strong, courageous and caring."

Overland said he has spoken with many of Guillen's fellow soldiers from units across the regiment who have expressed their feelings for her.

"I could see the intense sadness in their faces, and hear it in their voices," Overland said. "They miss their friend and spoke of her qualities as a person and a professional soldier. All described Vanessa as very caring, dedicated to her profession and an expert in her craft."

Efflandt said that everyone at Fort Hood knows that "our pain pales in comparison to that being endured by the Guillen family."

Moving forward, the Army will assist the U.S. district attorney for the Western District of Texas as that office takes the lead in investigating and prosecuting those suspected in Guillen's murder, Efflandt said.

The Army will also "complete the ongoing investigation into sexual harassment and take action against those findings," he said.

"Please know that every person that raises their right hand to serve their family and their country in uniform deserves to be safe and treated with dignity and respect," Efflandt said.

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 Thursday that there is no credible evidence that Guillen was the victim of sexual harassment.

Efflandt took no questions from the news media at the briefing.

"To the victims of sexual harassment and assault, we hear you, we believe you and encourage you to come forward," Efflandt said. "The Army will not stop its efforts to eradicate sexual harassment and sexual assault until it no longer exists in our formations."

On Saturday, a group of female veterans launched a petition calling on Congress to shut down Fort Hood and fire the chain of command for its handling of Guillen's case.

Efflandt also said that he will continue to seek external review to "ensure that any shortcomings during this troubling time are thoroughly identified and addressed as appropriate."

"We will honor Vanessa and her memory as part of our Army," Efflandt said. "She is part of our history and she will not be forgotten."

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Related: Female Vets Call for Closure of Fort Hood Amid Reports of Vanessa Guillen's Murder
A U.S. Army private, who allegedly confessed to the FBI about his role in planning a deadly ambush on his unit, has pleaded not guilty to charges that include leaking sensitive details about his unit to a neo-Nazi group in Europe.

Army Pvt. Ethan Phelan Melzer, a 22-year-old member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, Italy, submitted his plea in a U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, hearing Monday, according to a court records official.

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Following a lengthy investigation, the Department of Justice announced in late June that Melzer, originally of Louisville, Kentucky, allegedly sent information about his unit's location, movements and security measures to members of the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A), an occult-based neo-Nazi and white supremacist group.

Federal investigators indicted Melzer on charges including conspiring and attempting to murder military service members and providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, according to the indictment.

During a voluntary interview, FBI and military investigators allege that Melzer admitted his role in plotting the attack, which was designed to "result in the deaths of as many of his fellow service members as possible."

Reuters reported Monday that Melzer submitted his not-guilty plea to U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan at a hearing conducted electronically. Melzer is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, according to the news service.

Military.com reached out to Melzer's federal public defender, Jennifer Willis, for comment on the case but did not immediately receive a response.

Melzer joined the Army through the delayed-entry program in late 2018 and started his active-duty enlistment in June 2019. He arrived at the 173rd in November 2019. Melzer was assigned to the unit's 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on each of the following charges: conspiring to murder U.S. nationals; conspiring to murder U.S. military service members; and conspiring to murder and maim in a foreign country.

He also faces up to 20 years in prison for attempting to murder American nationals and another 20 years for attempting to murder U.S. military service members, according to the release. In addition, he faces 15 years in prison for attempting to provide and providing material support to terrorists.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Related: Soldier Used Upcoming Deployment to Plan Deadly Attack on Unit, Indictment States
This article by David Roza originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publication dedicated to military and veterans issues.

On September 13, 1985, an Air Force pilot pushed his F-15A into a steep climb at near-supersonic speeds as he prepared to launch into history. The pilot had prepared many months for what he was about to do: fire a heat-seeking missile towards a satellite the size of a 1969 Volkswagen as it hurtled through orbit at five miles a second. Basically, he was about to hit a bullet with another bullet, which would require absolutely perfect timing. But the pilot was ready for it.

"After we left the tanker, I started getting very confident we were going to make our timing," said Maj. Gen. Wilbert "Doug" Pearson Jr. (ret.), who was then a major. "Everything was looking just perfect as we flew out to the launch point."

The G-forces piled on as Pearson climbed 7 miles over the Pacific Ocean at nearly Mach 1. He was about 200 miles off the coast of southern California, but his target, an aging weather satellite, was still over Hawaii, more than 2,000 miles west. That was just fine for Pearson, whose aircraft carried the ASM-135, a missile purpose-built to hit that faraway mark.

At 38,100 feet, Pearson launched the missile, which blew through two rocket stages as it left the atmosphere. It then released a miniature homing vehicle that locked onto the satellite's infrared image and rammed it at 15,000 miles per hour 345 miles above the Earth.

Pearson was too far away to see the hit or the 285 pieces of debris that scattered into orbit. Mission control back at Vandenberg Air Force Base also couldn't tell him, since they were not using a secure channel and the event was considered classified. But the major had worked out a code with his friend Scott in the control room.

"I'm going to level off at 36,000 feet today," Pearson told Scott before the flight. "You can tell me if that's a good altitude or bad altitude. If you say that's a good altitude, I'm going to assume we hit it. And if you told me that's a bad altitude, I'm going to assume we missed."

But when the time came, Pearson didn't need the code to figure out what happened.

"When Scott keyed the microphone, he couldn't get a word out because all the screaming and yelling at the control room totally overrode him," Pearson said. "I had a pretty good idea we'd hit it at that point."

Retired Maj. Gen. Doug Pearson (left) and Capt. Todd Pearson joke around Sept. 13, 2007 prior to Captain Pearson taking off on the Celestial Eagle remembrance flight at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla.. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Erik Hofmeyer)

How did Pearson become the first pilot in history to shoot down an orbiting satellite, and why has nobody done it since? The decorated aviator talked about it with Task & Purpose earlier this summer:

Why was it necessary to shoot down a satellite from an aircraft?

The real reason we were trying to do this was at the time the Soviet Union had developed a robust capability of putting up very small satellites that could keep up with where our military forces were, primarily our ships at sea.

At the time, we had the ability to show up a couple of hundred miles off somebody's shore and it could be pretty intimidating. But with overhead photography, they could keep up with where our carriers were. So we couldn't surprise anybody to the same extent.

Earlier programs identified how absolutely difficult it was to hit a satellite with another object, because things in space, in order to be in orbit around the Earth, have to move at very high velocities, and hitting something at very high velocities is very difficult.

Our program was designed to do that with an airplane because you don't know exactly where the target's going to appear. A ship can't move very fast, and a ground-based system can't move very fast or at all. If a target comes in your area it pretty much has to come right over your base or your ship. But an airplane can move fairly fast and has a range of plus or minus 500 miles from its operating base. So that's why an airplane was looked at.

Why an F-15?

It was the real racehorse of the fighter community. And it was big enough and powerful enough that it could carry a fairly large missile on the centerline. So it was the perfect choice. And it had good navigation capabilities, very reliable, and it could operate from many bases along the East or West coast.

What did you have to do as a pilot?

You know, we launch big rockets from Cape Canaveral or Vandenberg or other places. They're very known, precise locations on the face of the Earth. You can do all the math so that all the angles and accelerations are perfect.

With a dynamic launch from an airplane, you have to get the airplane into the equivalent of that launch point, which is quite different because you are moving at a very high velocity. You need to be on a very precise heading at a very precise altitude at a very precise place at a very stable roll, azimuth, and acceleration. I must have practiced the launch hundreds of times, both in simulators and in the airplane to go from point to point to point.

The other most significant variable was time because the intercept was calculated very precisely. So the pressure for the pilot was to be at that point on those conditions at exactly that time. We developed algorithms to do that which ended up in later airplanes, such as the F15E and others, for conducting very precise attack timing or resupplies or other things. It was a good example of how one development program helps another.

Was that nerve-wracking? Did you have a lot of butterflies in your stomach to try to hit those markers?

I wouldn't call it butterflies but it was certainly a lot of pressure. But in the test business, preparation, training, and discipline all come together so that when you go to execute something that you've worked on so hard for so long, the confidence is there. There weren't a lot of questions of whether or not it was going to work, the question was just making everything come together so it would work. And it did. But yes, there was a lot of pressure and high expectations.

I often say everything that could go right did go right on that day. And this wasn't a shoot-from-the-hip kind of a thing. We had worked our tails off and a lot of really smart people around the world had invested a lot of effort to make this come together. There were probably a thousand people around the world that made it successful. So it's hard to talk about just the day without all the things that went into it.

Why was the missile program discontinued?

I don't know exactly what happened, but we demonstrated we could do it. And we made it look relatively easy. It wasn't, but it looked that way. The Soviets had been trying to do exactly the same thing so they knew how hard it was. There was some incentive on their part to negotiate some things, and I think the President used that to his advantage. I think there were some fairly high-level political negotiations that said, "you don't do that, we won't do this."

I think the other big factor is that this was one way, a physical way, to defeat satellites in orbit. At the same time, other technologies were in development to defeat them in other ways, maybe electronically. The system we had was pretty expensive in terms of rockets, airplanes, bases, and all that. So I think it was a multi-factor decision and a year later we were told to stand down, no more tests.

Would the U.S. ever need a hit-to-kill anti-satellite missile again? Or do you think that's not going to be used anymore?

I think it'd be a very special case where you would want to do that. They're relatively awkward, and it takes a lot of infrastructure. The big deal is it creates a lot of debris, and debris doesn't just hurt the bad guys. It hurts the good guys.

Space is a big place, but we all like to operate in the same regions. It's kind of like going down the interstate: you can drive across the desert if you really wanted to, but it's a lot more comfortable to go down the interstate. In space, there are some interstates, if you will, for satellites. You don't want a lot of debris there or, you know, you have nails on the interstate.

And I think with cyberattacks if they can attack your computer in your office, why can't they attack a computer in orbit? There may be alternatives today that exist that are far more elegant and maybe just as effective, and maybe not as permanent. You have to ask yourself, do you really want to sink the ship, or do you just not want the ship near your base? So no simple answers, and I'm not trying to avoid it. It's just a complicated answer.

When I Google "Doug Pearson" or "satellite kill" it looks like an article comes up about this every year or more. Why do you think people find the story so fascinating?

Well, I have to admit, I ask myself that from time to time. It's very interesting and fascinating, maybe because it's kind of the new frontier. And now we have a separate Space Force, much like what happened in 1947 for the Air Force. I think that brings us back to some of the early military-like operations in space and certainly, ours was the first highly publicized, if you will, military operation in a weapons-related way.

And I think people often find things blowing up interesting and fascinating. There are a lot of video games that blow up things and we actually went and blew something up.

Does it ever make you sad that the program didn't continue, like you may be the last of your kind?

I hadn't thought about that so much. I was thinking more about the capability, and I want to make sure that we, the United States of America, have the ability to defend ourselves.

I got into the flight test business because I was addicted to aviation from a very early age. My father served in World War II as a flight engineer on B-24s, and when I was in grade school, I was fascinated with the test program at Edwards Air Force Base. Every day I'd come home, I'd get the Shreveport Times and I'd read about what happened out at Edwards.

At the time, the X-15 program was the big deal: going higher, faster, and learning about the edge of space. I used to read about these great pilots that were flying the program: Pete Knight, Joe Engle, Bill Dana, [Neil] Armstrong, and those guys. They were these 10-foot, giant, godlike people to a 12-year-old. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would meet one of them.

As it turns out, as life went on, several of them became very good friends: Pete Knight in particular. Pete set the record in the X-15, I think it was Mach 6.7, just over 4,000 miles an hour, and that record holds today. He's the only pilot to have gone that fast in an airplane. They've done it in space shuttles and things, but he used to kibitz about that, like "why haven't we ever gone beyond that?"

I think about that from time to time. The reason we never did it in his case was we learned what we needed to learn in that program. We know what happens at those kinds of velocities. We know airflow kind of becomes like plasma and all that sort of stuff. So we don't need a pilot to go do that again right now.

Maybe someday. So in my case, we don't need a pilot to go shoot down a satellite right now.

More articles from Task & Purpose:
The case of a retired sailor who was court-martialed after leaving the Navy has reached the military's highest appeals court, potentially setting the stage for a U.S. Supreme Court battle on the matter.

Stephen Begani, a retired Navy chief petty officer who was court-martialed after being picked up by federal agents about a month after leaving active duty, has taken his case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

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Begani filed a petition late last month for the top military appellate court to hear his case after a naval appeals court in January determined the retired sailor had been rightfully court-martialed. That was after the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals issued a 2019 opinion that court-martialing military retirees is unconstitutional.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, known as CAAF, is the last stop before military appeals battles make it to the Supreme Court. Begani's attorney did not respond to a request for comment about the petition for the CAAF to consider the case.

The retired chief petty officer's request calls on the court to consider whether his court-martial was unfair since some retired troops are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice after leaving the military and others aren't.

Sailors and Marines who leave active duty with more than 20 years in uniform but less than 30 who want to collect retiree pay move into the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve. In that status, they essentially receive retainer pay and can be brought back onto active duty without consent in extreme circumstances, leaving them subject to the UCMJ.

It's not until retired Marines and sailors hit the 30-year mark of active or inactive service when they're moved to the Regular Retired List, under which they're no longer subject to the UCMJ.

Those same rules don't apply to retired reservists, though, which has left some considering Begani's case unconstitutional.

In 2019, Navy Lt. Daniel Rosinski, who represented Begani, argued that there's no difference between a retiree who leaves active duty versus one who leaves the Reserve. They're all out of uniform, aren't subject to military duties on a day-to-day basis, and can all be recalled to active duty, he said.

Unlike Begani, though, who was tried in a military courtroom, Reserve retirees are tried as civilians.

Begani's case dates back to 2017, when he was arrested by Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents after he'd left active duty and was transferred to the Fleet Reserve. He was working as a contractor at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan when he showed up at a residence where he believed a 15-year-old girl with whom he'd been communicating lived.

Begani had actually been communicating with an undercover NCIS agent. He received a bad-conduct discharge and was sentenced to 18 months' confinement.

The military's top appeals court is made up of a group of civilian judges. They review only the cases they select, meaning a small percentage of the cases presented by appellants is considered by the court.

Whether the court will grant review of the case can take months, according to the Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps. If the petition for grant of review is denied, the appeal of the case concludes and there is no further action. That includes not being able to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case.

If the CAAF does grant the petition, the court will eventually issue an opinion on a case, reversing or affirming the case in part or total. If the conviction is affirmed, according to the JAG Corps, there are 90 days to petition the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has previously upheld the Defense Department's authority to try retirees. In 2019, the court opted against hearing the case of a retired Marine who was court-martialed for a sexual assault he committed a few months after leaving the military.

By opting against hearing that case, the status quo was upheld, leaving some military retirees subject to the UCMJ.

-- Patricia Kime and Hope Hodge Seck contributed to this report.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: New 'Bombshell' Legal Opinion Says Military Retirees Can't Be Court-Martialed
Sailors due to take their physical fitness assessment this fall will see the requirement waived as novel coronavirus cases continue to spike across much of the country.

The Navy has canceled its fall physical fitness assessment cycle, Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John Nowell announced in a video Tuesday. The move follows service leaders' decision to waive the requirement in the spring when the pandemic started.

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"We've done a great job minimizing the outbreak, but we can't back off now," Nowell said.

The waiver will apply to both the physical readiness test and body composition assessment, which measures body fat percentage.

Everyone will be marked as excused for the fall cycle, Nowell said. But those needing to regain retention or advancement eligibility will be allowed to perform a mock PFA, he added, with approval from installation commanders.

Mock PFAs, which weren't allowed during the spring cycle, must meet a host of guidelines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Those rules, which require temperature checks, disinfection measures and limits on the number of people involved in the assessment, are detailed in a new Navy administrative message.

The Navy has struggled with some of the military's highest rates of COVID-19 cases in the ranks, due in part to virus outbreaks on multiple deployed ships. Now, several states, including some with a big Navy presence such as California and Florida, have seen huge increases in cases over the last two weeks.

"COVID-19 is still a problem," Nowell said.

Physical fitness assessments will pick back up next year, he added, but the decision to cancel them during the pandemic shouldn't be seen as an excuse to quit exercising.

"Do some planks at home, go jogging, eat healthy," he said. "... Whatever you need to do to do your best to stay in shape and within our physical fitness standards is what we expect you to do."

The Navy isn't the only service to cancel or postpone fitness tests during the global pandemic. As some base gyms closed as coronavirus cases picked up, leaders looked for ways to minimize activities that required close contact and shared equipment.

The Marine Corps in April suspended its physical fitness test for the rest of 2020. In May, the Air Force canceled its fitness test until at least October. The Army is also working to modify its new combat fitness test by the fall.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: In Change, Army Says ACFT Scores Won't Count Against Soldiers Until 2022
A new team assembled to examine Navy policies at nearly every stage of a sailor's career is likely to result in significant changes as service leaders look to end unfair policies that put anyone at a disadvantage because of their race or gender.

Task Force One Navy was established last week at the direction of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday. The move followed Gilday's order to create a policy banning the Confederate flag from public workspaces, ships, aircraft and subs as the nation grapples with conversations about racism following the deaths of several Black Americans at the hands of police officers.

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The Navy's task force will examine policies in nine areas: recruiting; pre-accession mentoring and scholarship opportunities; talent management; training and education; detailing; fitness reports and evaluations; promotions; military justice; and health care.

The effort is being led by Rear Adm. Alvin Holsey, commander of Carrier Strike Group One. Other key leadership positions will be filled by Capt. T.J. Dixon, serving as the task force chief of staff, Force Master Chief Huben Phillips as the senior enlisted adviser, and Jane Roberts serving as the civilian adviser.

The task force -- which includes Black, Hispanic, white, and male and female members -- will report their findings to Gilday through Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John Nowell.

"These are not figureheads -- that's not why they're there," Nowell told reporters Friday. "We think that diversity that we build into the task force is important. So it's not just about race, ethnicity, gender -- it's also about 'Where are you from? What was your education? What lens do you look through?'"

Twenty other members from across some of the Navy's biggest commands will support the task force.

Nowell said in talking to Black shipmates, it became obvious that the Navy does have a cultural problem with bias.

"As we look at the senior ranks," he said, "we know -- and certainly the perception and I think the reality is -- that there is systemic racism. Not on purpose, but I think sometimes unwittingly, which is why the idea is, 'What are the barriers that we can remove?'"

That will involve actions ranging from looking at programs for underserved communities when it comes to recruitment and scholarship programs, to possibly getting rid of photo requirements for promotions, Nowell added. The task force will also get feedback from those in private corporations and in academia, he said.

The task force's first list of written recommendations will be due to Nowell by the end of July. It also must provide a progress review to Gilday by Sept. 17 and a final report by Dec. 10.

Nowell acknowledged that the Navy has assembled groups in the past to examine its policies, only to have the findings not lead to significant change. He said he's convinced sailors won't see the results of this task force "fizzle out."

"I think this is a different level of dialogue, both at senior levels and also all the way down to the deckplates," Nowell said. "That's what makes me hopeful. The bottom line is senior leadership is committed."

Fleet Master Chief Wes Koshoffer, with Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education, said the Navy has the momentum to make positive changes for the long haul. And the changes, he added, are necessary.

When some sailors share their day-to-day experiences in society and the Navy, it can be tough to hear, Koshoffer said.

"I consider myself to be a leader that cares," he said. "I've tried to be fair and objective throughout my career and to be inclusive at every level. So to arrive here in sort of a senior leader position within the Navy, and then to hear sailors discuss what it's really like for them ... how they're treated or how they approach life ... is a real wake-up call for me, quite honestly.

"You can never rest your oars on this subject," Koshoffer said.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

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The Navy has removed a news release touting a sailor's heroic actions during a recent fire in Virginia and is now investigating whether the claims were made up.

Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Nathaniel Atkins, who's assigned to the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford's engineering department, claimed to have rescued two children from a burning building while on liberty last month. But the local fire department that launched a review into the matter said Atkins has since recanted his story.

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"During an investigation, he provided a statement that he did not rescue anyone from the structure," said Justin Arnold, the battalion chief for special operations and deputy coordinator of emergency management with the Portsmouth Fire Department. "This is an ongoing investigation, but the interview was face-to-face with investigators on July 6."

Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, a Naval Air Force Atlantic spokeswoman, said the Ford's command judge advocate was made aware of the questions surrounding Atkins' claims. The incident is now under investigation, she said.

Navy Times first reported the change in Atkins' story Monday.

Atkins was the subject of a July 1 Navy news release titled "Sailor Saves Lives on Land." The report has since been deleted from the Navy's website.

The service on Tuesday posted a new release saying the previous post was removed after the Navy has learned that the initial facts as reported are in question.

We will update the story with the correct information when the investigation is complete, it adds.

The Ford sailor, who has served for more than 10 years, said at the time that he was on his way home from getting groceries when he saw the house on fire. He pulled over immediately after finding out there were two children inside, according to the account.

"It was a four-apartment duplex, and the main entrance that goes upstairs where the kids were, was on fire," Atkins said in the release. "I couldn't get through it. I saw the two children in a bedroom window in the back half of the house on the second story and went to find a ladder."

He credited his time at sea, where he trained for firefighting emergencies, with helping him keep calm. He said he got hold of a ladder and climbed to the window, where he could see the two little girls.

"There was so much chaos in the very beginning, nobody was taking control," he said. "I just leapt into action and did what I needed to do."

He said he had the first girl out before the fire department and other emergency personnel pulled up and got the second girl out as firefighters began combating the flames.

An incident report obtained by Navy Times said the kids were rescued by Lt. William Hatfield with the Portsmouth Fire Department.

A woman in the building did not survive the blaze, which Atkins said he regretted.

"I have a feeling of guilt, just because of the grandmother and that situation," he said, "but to be honest, I did everything I could. I think that I did a good job. I have a feeling that I've accomplished something."

When asked whether Atkins said what led him to make the claims about rescuing the children, Arnold declined to comment. He said the investigation into the fire started the night it broke out and is still ongoing, but Atkins' command is handling those aspects of the probe.

Portsmouth Fire Rescue and Emergency Services department officials said last month that the fire had been deemed suspicious and police were seeking three suspects.

The department is not seeking any charges against Atkins, Arnold said. The sailor is not considered a suspect.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from the Navy.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

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Two women who had been attempting to enter the U.S. Air Force's combat controller and pararescue career fields since last fall were recently reclassified into other jobs after not meeting the rigorous battlefield airman standards.

Military.com reported in March that the two women, not identified for privacy reasons, had completed the Special Warfare Preparatory Course and were eligible for the next Assessment and Selection (A&S) course. But they were not selected to continue, according to 1st Lt. Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman for Air Education and Training Command's Special Warfare Training Wing.

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It's not the first time women have advanced to the A&S level and were subsequently withdrawn.

One Pararescue (PJ) candidate and a Special Operations Weather Technician (SOWT) candidate -- the field has since been reclassified as Special Reconnaissance (SR) -- entered the A&S course last year, but neither successfully completed the program.

However, there are two new women assigned to the Special Warfare Training Wing within the training pipeline, Huggins said Tuesday.

"One is an enlisted Tactical Air Control Party trainee currently in the Tactical Air Control Party Apprentice Course," he said in an email. "The other is an enlisted trainee in the Special Warfare Preparatory Course who has not yet been vectored to a specific career field."

The career field selection "will happen upon completion of the preparatory course," Huggins added.

The Special Warfare Prep Course runs eight weeks, following Basic Military Training at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.

Huggins said the current training has not slowed or been pushed back even in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic because the existing candidates had been living and training at Lackland for weeks since BMT with no need to train at other locations.

On the officer side, the single female Special Tactics Officer (STO) candidate who has advanced the farthest in that specialty is still on track in her training, said 1st Lt. Alejandra Fontalvo, spokeswoman for Air Force Special Tactics at the 24th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

"Out of privacy and respect for the current candidate, we won't release details on the specific stage of the training pipeline she's in," Fontalvo said Monday.

Due to the pandemic, the next class of airmen slated for STO assessment and selection -- which also includes Combat Rescue Officers, or CROs -- will not enter that phase until the end of July, the spokeswoman said. There are no female candidates in that STO/CRO class, Fontalvo added.

The single female STO candidate completed the "STO Phase 2 Assessment" conducted by Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), as well as the Special Tactics/Guardian Angel Assessment and Selection Course, officials said in March.

"As such, she has proceeded farther in the pipeline than any female pursuing Pararescue, Combat Control, Special Reconnaissance, Special Tactics Officer or Combat Rescue Officer specialties," Huggins said at the time. The candidate was awaiting the Pre-Dive Course.

Since the Defense Department opened combat career fields to women in December 2015, few female airmen have qualified for Air Force special warfare training.

Some have self-eliminated or sustained injuries; others have not met the standards of a particular program.

Battlefield airmen career fields include special tactics officer, combat rescue officer, combat controller, pararescue, special reconnaissance, Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) specialist and Tactical Air Control Party Officer (TACP-O), formerly known as air liaison officers (ALOs).

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the new name for Tactical Air Control Party Officers.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

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So much has happened in 2020, and we're just in the first half of the year. Yes, most things we have experienced lately lack a bit of the good side, but we all know for a fact that it isn't all bad.

At times like these, we need to let our minds focus on the brighter side of life, having a glass-half-full mindset and the silver linings we keep missing. May it be your excellent health, a new dog, a new skill, or recently aired Korean dramas that make 2020 easier to deal with. So, much of our gratitude should be given to Korean dramas because they have been keeping a lot of us sane through and through.

Here are ten best Korean dramas in 2020 so far in no particular order.

Hyena

This drama tells an exciting story about a feud between two driven lawyers. One is an elite and high-end lawyer while the other comes from a small town yet whose skills should not be underestimated. Given that they are both competitive lawyers, both form a love and hate relationship and will do anything to win their own cases. The promising drama gives a thrilling look at law practices, business, and love. With the plot of the story, viewers will keep chasing the story with eyes like Hyenas. It is definitely a must-watch!

Memorist

If you like thrilling stories with multiple plot twists, this is a story for you. "Memorist" tells a story about a detective who is gifted with the special ability to read people's minds. Although this gift of his may seem like an advantage to his job, it actually adds more salt to the wound. When he receives a murder case, he works together with a genius crime profiler. As they both dive deep into the case, secrets and troubles in the past arise to the surface. This thrilling drama sure is a good one and shouldn't be missed.

Hi, Bye Mama

Despite the given title, this touching drama is not only for mothers but was made for everyone. It tells a story about a mother who is forced to leave her husband and child because of an accident. She cannot be reincarnated, but she is given a chance to go back to life and go back to where she left off. What's painful about the story of this drama are the questions: when she goes back, what if her husband has moved on to a new partner? What if her daughter won't even remember her? This tearful story is a drama worth the tears!

Itaewon Class

This empowering drama tells a story about a man who seeks revenge for his dead father. However, the drama is not only focused mainly on revenge. It emphasizes each of the character's reality and struggle. It shows the importance of friendship, diversity, standing up for what is right, and the ability of a person to stand up eight times when one falls seven times. It's a story about romance, dreams, and success, which we all want in life!

Dr. Romantic 2

Seldom do Korean dramas have the following season, yet fans cannot get enough of Dr. Romantic! In the new season, new doctors will be scouted in the drama, which will tell viewers stories about the hardships of doctors, medical crews, and patients undergo. It will bring our minds enlightenment and open our eyes to the medical field.

The World of the Married

This soap drama tells a story about a woman who is a successful doctor. She thinks that she lives a perfect and the best life. That view continued until she discovered his husband cheating from her with another woman. It is a drama with no dull moment, which made it very popular to fans.

Crash Landing On You

It is undeniably a fact that this drama belongs to this list and will never be taken off from this list. Even if this drama is quite cliche, it definitely stole our hearts. It tells a story about a successful South Korean woman who lands in North Korea after a paragliding accident. A North Korean Soldier hides her to protect her identity. While they figure out what to do, they eventually gro feelings for each other and fall in love.

Kingdom 2

This zombie-filled drama is one of the most thrilling and exciting stories to watch. The crown prince in this season is weighed with burden after burden but returns stronger every time. Answers will be given in this season, especially the key to the answer of who started the plague.

Hospital Playlist

This medical drama tells a story about five friends who have been really good friends in medical school. Now a neurosurgeon, a cardiothoracic surgeon, pediatrician, OBGYN surgeon, and a general surgeon. And not to mention, these five friends are also in a band together. Talk about friendship goals! This drama takes us to each of the character's lives and their journey with their friendship and their love for music.

It's Okay To Not to Be Okay

This healing drama tells a story about a man who works as a health worker in psychiatric hospitals and a woman who is a famous author for children's books but has an anti-personality disorder. Both are in a place in their lives where they both need healing from their emotional wounds. This drama tells a romantic and also a very wholesome story, for it includes people who suffer from psychological problems that are important to be knowledgeable about.

Catch these amazing dramas this 2020. They are worth the watch!
SEOUL, South Korea -- The U.S. military expressed regret for "disruptive behavior" Tuesday after American troops allegedly caused a ruckus with a Fourth of July party that included fireworks on a popular beach in the southern city of Busan.

About 200 police were dispatched to break up the festivities Saturday on Haeundae Beach in Busan after receiving more than 70 complaints from local residents.

One soldier was briefly detained and fined for a misdemeanor after throwing a firework in the direction of police, then trying to flee the scene, according to the public affairs office at the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency.

Two traffic accidents and a drunken-driving case involving soldiers also were reported in the area on Saturday.

"The foreigners were setting off fireworks, sparklers and so on along the path leading to the beach, even throwing some toward people," an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

"They also installed speakers and played loud music. They clogged up the road, did not make way for cars and flipped folks off."

U.S. Forces Korea said it was aware of disruptive behavior and poor conduct reports in Busan and promised to cooperate with South Korean law enforcement authorities in their efforts to identify those responsible.

"We regret the inconvenience and disruption this behavior caused the people of Busan," the command said in a statement.

It called the behavior "deeply troubling" and not representative of "the strong respect we hold for the Korean people, their culture, laws and regulations."

"All commanders will take appropriate action for those service members determined to be involved in this type of behavior," it said. "USFK remains committed to being good neighbors with our host nation and maintaining a strong [South Korea]-U.S. alliance."

The statement was issued after civic groups held rallies in Seoul and Busan, denouncing the troops' actions and calling for an apology.

The military enjoyed a four-day weekend for Independence Day, but troops and their families were unable to travel outside the country due to anti-coronavirus restrictions so many headed to local beaches instead.

Rowdy troop behavior on beaches also has been a problem in nearby Japan.

The commander of Naval Base Sasebo, Capt. Brad Stallings, said last week that members of the military community had recently caused problems at Shirahama Beach, leaving trash and playing loud music that offended local nationals.

"We are going to start checking the beach periodically to ensure members of the base community aren't misbehaving there," Stallings said in a Facebook post on June 29. "If another incident happens, the beach will be secured."
Dodgers righty Jimmy Nelson is slated to undergo lower back surgery tomorrow, the team announced (h/t J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, via Twitter). Precise details of the procedure arent yet known, but its expected to sideline Nelson for all of the 2020 season, per MLB.coms Ken Gurnick (Twitter link).

Nelson had signed on with the Los Angeles organization in hopes of launching a comeback. Once a high-quality young hurler, he had fallen prey to arm issues in recent years. The 30-year-old dealt with some back and groin issues during camp and evidently was not able to overcome them during the leaguewide shutdown.

The deal that Nelson inked with the Dodgers certainly contemplated both upside and downside scenarios. He was promised just $750K in the pact, but couldve earned another $2MM in roster bonuses alone. His deal came with a floating-value club option that will now end up being priced at the minimum $2MM.

It seems unlikely that the Dodgers will end up picking up that option at that price, but perhaps that cant be ruled out entirely. If not, hell end up going back onto the open market after rehabbing yet another significant injury. Odds are, Nelson will be looking at minor-league offers over the coming offseason.
ANTRIM COUNTY, MI  A sheriffs deputy was injured during the arrest of three people who were fighting during the Fourth of July sandbar party on Torch Lake.

The Antrim County Sheriffs deputy was responding to a fight that broke out between several young people on the shore of Torch Lake on Saturday, July 4, UpNorthLive reports. The deputy sustained minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Sheriff Dan Bean reported that calls to central dispatch were up 26% over the weekend compared to the past 10 years. The sheriffs office marine patrol made contact with 579 boaters.

Bean also said sandbar party attendees were rarely seen practicing social distancing or wearing masks despite state and federal guidelines related to reducing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

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CRAWFORD COUNTY, MI  Two pieces of graffiti in Northern Michigan led to an outpouring of community support for the local police force, authorities said.

An unknown person or people graffitied the words shoot cops on a railroad crossing sign in Crawford County. Another graffiti piece on a road in that county says dont kill cops. The sheriffs offices response via Facebook was geared toward the anti-police message, but made clear that both instances of defacing public property are crimes.

We will not buckle to any presumed peer pressure, bullying, threats of violence, or presumed opinions that there are more against law and order and our American way than [in support of] our way of life, the Crawford County Sheriffs Office said via Facebook on Tuesday, July 7. We are not afraid.

The sheriffs office also said that they would save the life of the artist of the anti-police graffiti the same as they would for anyone else.

Our response is simple, please exercise your First Amendment right in another way, the statement said. You have defaced public property and that is a crime.

The sheriffs office also thanked county citizens for their support and words of kindness and called the publics response to the graffiti message solid proof that most citizens respect and understand the role of a police officer.

We will always respond to your calls, the statement said. We will always put our life in danger to save yours. We will always try everything within our power to save your life or the [lives] of your family members. We do not require a thank you or that you even acknowledge our efforts. We will continue to hold our heads up and professionally do the job that we have been hired to do. ... To the artist, we will save your life as well.

Anyone with information about this defacing of public property is asked to contact the sheriffs office at 989-348-6341.

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ANN ARBOR, MI  City Council members agree with the citys police oversight commission its past time for public safety reform, and theyre ready to take on the police union.

To start, that includes giving the commission more access to police information and revising the collective bargaining agreement with the Ann Arbor Police Officers Association to make it easier to fire officers for misconduct.

With the union pushing back, council voted unanimously Monday night, July 6, to reject a new police union contract, while endorsing a list of demands made by the citizen-led oversight commission.

Council members acknowledged its a risky move that means the parties may be headed toward a binding arbitration process where an arbitrator will settle the labor agreement dispute.

But council has heard demands from many in the community and the oversight commission to reimagine public safety in Ann Arbor, and thats bound up in the contract, Mayor Christopher Taylor said.

We are living in a time when the old way of business is not acceptable, Taylor said.

While I think  we all value and are grateful for the service of our officers, we at the same time understand that were in a different time now. And so well be moving forward to make sure that the contract that we have reflects the communitys values.

Ann Arbor officials want to radically rethink policing, consider alternatives to armed officers

Eric Ronewicz, president of the Ann Arbor Police Officers Association, said in a statement hes extremely disappointed with council for failing to reach out to discuss the issues and even more disappointed in the oversight commission because hes only had one meeting with the commission since it was formed.

If the Ann Arbor Police Officers Association is a shareholder in police reform, why are we not present at the table? he said.

Ronewicz recalled the police union was involved in talks of police reform two years ago during a city task force process that led to creation of the oversight commission.

First off, we requested that the commission look into our calls for police service and assist in crafting guidelines on what service calls warrant police intervention, he said.

We also requested that they have the commission look into hiring social workers to partner with officers on a 24/7 daily basis to meet the needs of the public. Furthermore, we requested that our policy and procedures become publicly available online. It has been almost two years later and these topics are finally being discussed or addressed.

Ronewicz said a mediation process is going to be scheduled at the end of the month, and if that doesnt pan out, binding arbitration is the next step.

Ann Arbor police oversight commission seeks stronger role in overseeing AAPD

Lisa Jackson, chairwoman of the Independent Community Police Oversight Commission, spoke out Monday night, explaining the commissions requests and reasons for wanting union contract changes.

Requests include giving the commission access to police officers personnel files and names of officers when reviewing complaints against them so commissioners can track complaint patterns, and changing city procedures to take into account the last seven years of conduct when making officer discipline recommendations, rather than just two years.

The commission also wants the contract changed to cease use of binding arbitration for termination cases  a process that can lead to reinstatement of officers whove been fired. The way things are done now can make it costly for the city to get rid of bad officers, Jackson said.

The elimination of binding arbitration in this manner has been happening across the country as municipalities agree that police chiefs need to be able to fire police officers for misconduct, she said. As it stands now, unions negotiate for favorable retirement terms and chiefs have to find creative, expensive pension packages to get rid of problematic police officers.

Ronewicz pointed to a case 12 years ago when an Ann Arbor police sergeant was demoted after investigating alleged impropriety by her supervisor and regained her rank with back pay through arbitration. He said thats an example of the need for arbitration for officers.

This unjust and unlawful demotion is exactly why police officers wish to retain the due process rights, he said.

Jackson urged council to fight for new contract terms that will facilitate more transparency, accountability and reform of the Ann Arbor Police Department.

The majority of police officers are people willing to sacrifice themselves to protect others, Jackson said, adding she knows several officers who do the work because of commitment to help their communities.

However, as we engage in a broader discourse about police reform, its clear that across the country and even here in Ann Arbor, good police officers are not enough, she said.

No reform is going to happen unless politicians  are willing to fight for it by taking on police unions.

Council members expressed appreciation for Jacksons remarks.

I hear the voice of thousands when she speaks, said Council Member Ali Ramlawi, D-5th Ward, a council liaison to the oversight commission.

The commission has been raising policy concerns for many months and has been told its requests werent achievable under the current union contract, he said.

Its disappointing there isnt consensus on a new contract, Ramlawi said, arguing the oversight commissions concerns are too great to ignore.

The commission wants to be more closely involved in future contract negotiations.

The contract rejected Monday night was initially up for approval in June and postponed while concerns about it were discussed. It was a three-year agreement retroactive to Jan. 1 and included a 2.5% wage increase each year, plus an increase in uniform and equipment allowances.

In addition to the oversight commissions concerns, Council Member Jane Lumm, I-2nd Ward, said there are financial concerns. The contract was negotiated before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the city is now facing significant financial challenges, so its not fiscally responsible, she said.

Lumm, a council liaison to the oversight commission, said the city approached the union about further negotiations and the union was unwilling to come back to the table.

Ronewicz explained the unions position, saying it asked the city to start the bargaining process in spring of last year.

The city denied the requests and the union was told the city would begin contracts talks after hiring a new police chief, he said. Council hired Police Chief Michael Cox in July 2019.

We started talks in September of last year and, after six bargaining sessions, we were able to shake hands on a new collective bargaining agreement, Ronewicz said, calling it the fastest negotiation session in his 23-year history with AAPD.

The two sides had a tentative agreement by late January and the union ratified it March 12, Ronewicz said.

Due to the pandemic, he said, it didnt go to councils labor committee until May and then the full council in June.

When city officials pulled the contract from the June agenda after receiving many emails from constituents, Ronewicz said the union asked the city for information about the issues being raised to understand them in case changes were requested, he said.

We never received the information we sought, he said. Now false information is being presented that the AAPOA refuses to come back to the bargaining table or budge.

The union has had numerous conversations with the city and AAPD leadership about the contract, Ronewicz said.

We were provided with a proposal from that city that desired us to relinquish our due process rights, he said. During this proposal process, the Ann Arbor Police Officers Association requested information, data or examples from the city for the desired changes. The city failed to provide any specific information for the desired changes.

Ronewicz said the union was satisfied with the contract that went before council Monday night and wished the city would honor that agreement.

Council Member Elizabeth Nelson, D-4th Ward, said shes hopeful this is the beginning of a larger movement resulting in a redistribution of power and better police oversight, with the commission having a louder voice and a seat at the table in future contract negotiations.

Council Member Julie Grand, D-3rd Ward, said council has heard the commissions concerns loud and clear.

I think first and foremost is this issue of progressive discipline, and this issue of arbitration, with not being able to fire police officers who arent there to protect our community, and we know theyre in the minority, she said of bad officers.

I really hope that we can all come together as a city  and with the police union, to put the safety of our community first and foremost.

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ANN ARBOR, MI  With a 180-day moratorium now in place, Ann Arbor officials are going to take a close look at whether to eliminate or modify campus business zoning districts.

City Council was divided on the proposal by Council Members Anne Bannister, D-1st Ward, and Jack Eaton, D-4th Ward, at the councils virtual meeting Monday night, July 6, eventually voting 6-5 to OK a revised version.

At the center of the debate is the rezoning of properties to C1A (campus business) and C1A/R (campus business residential) districts for new developments.

That has been the subject of a lawsuit against the city and delays in approving a condo project this past year.

Some council members are concerned developers have used or have tried using the debated zoning to build dense housing away from the University of Michigan core campus area.

These zoning districts were adopted in the mid-60s as part of a number of zoning classifications to allow for high-rises in the downtown area and near campus, and until the Lower Town project they had fallen into disuse and had not been applied to any new properties for about 20 years, Eaton said, referring to a controversial development taking shape off Broadway Street that was approved under C1A/R zoning in 2017.

Its my belief that we should review those, as to whether theyre antiquated and obsolete, or whether they should continue, Eaton said of the zoning.

After some debate, Eaton and the council agreed to revise the proposal so the moratorium only applies to rezoning requests, not development projects already in such zones.

Council voted 6-5 to impose the moratorium and have the citys Planning Commission study the issue during that time, with Mayor Christopher Taylor, Zachary Ackerman, Julie Grand, Ali Ramlawi and Chip Smith opposed.

Beekman on Broadway, 1149 Broadway St. in Ann Arbor, under construction on Monday, July 6 2020.

Some council members argued the city could review the zoning without a moratorium. Ramlawi, D-5th Ward, called a moratorium a nuclear option and argued it could have a long-lasting, chilling effect.

Eaton noted council members were criticized for making the developer of a five-story condo project who requested campus business zoning spend months jumping through extra hoops to get the project approved under different zoning.

Having a moratorium in place sends a clear message such rezoning requests arent allowed for now and will prevent other developers from going down that road, he said.

Bannister recalled how use of the C1A/R zoning for the large development at Broadway Street and Maiden Lane  a mix of apartment buildings and a small amount of retail space  has been a concern for neighbors. She indicated her preference for Planned Unit Development or PUD zoning designations, which require more public benefits such as affordable housing.

Ackerman, D-3rd Ward, said he supports planning officials revisiting the zoning, but he shared concerns about enacting a moratorium, saying it didnt meet the threshold.

Council Member Julie Grand, D-3rd Ward, offered similar remarks, but said she has much higher priorities for the citys planning officials, such as a transit-oriented development zoning initiative that stalled at council recently.

Beekman on Broadway, 1149 Broadway St. in Ann Arbor, under construction on Monday, July 6 2020.

Council Member Jane Lumm, I-2nd Ward, joined Bannister and Eaton in co-sponsoring the moratorium proposal. She also recalled the five-story condo project, saying it was an attempt to force fit an obscure zoning designation onto the project.

The controversial zoning districts were first created through a package of ordinance amendments adopted in 1966 under the title of Comprehensive High-Rise Ordinance.

The C1A/R zoning was designed to encourage the orderly clustering and placement of high-density residential and complementary commercial development near the campus business district, according to city records.

C1A was designed primarily to serve as a neighborhood shopping area for the university-oriented population, which is concentrated around it, providing goods that are day-to-day needs, specialty shops, and recreation.

Both districts shall be located in close proximity to the central area of the city, according to the zoning ordinance.

In terms of building density, C1A allows up to a 400% floor-area ratio with premiums, while C1A/R allows up to a 600% floor-area ratio with premiums. There are no height limits for either.

Beekman on Broadway, 1149 Broadway St. in Ann Arbor, under construction on Monday, July 6 2020.

Council members suggested considering height limits and better defining where such zoning should allowed, if at all.

Traver Street resident Tom Stulberg and a Lower Town neighborhood group called Ann Arbor Neighbors for Responsible Development challenged the citys use of the zoning in a lawsuit last year.

The case has since been dismissed.

Stulberg said the parties were in settlement talks for months and we dropped some of our requests, and the city agreed to pursue some of our requests.

He said a Jan. 27 email from the city attorneys office lays out our agreement. The email noted council members were considering directing the Planning Commission to study the issue, along with a moratorium.

It also noted city officials were discussing revisions to the citys variance standards, including standards for parking, and improvements to parks near the Lower Town development, as well as a parking plan for the area.

Stulberg said hes pleased with councils vote on the moratorium and looks forward to continued cooperation from the city.

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TRENTON, MI  A new homeowner found a human skull in the fire pit and the new property owners are working with investigators and the Trenton Police Department.

The home had been owned by the late Mark Eberly, who was recently killed in a shootout with police in Cumberland, Tennessee, FOX-2 Detroit reports.

Police say Eberly, 57, moved from the residence on Wilson Street, sometime during the COVID-19 pandemic in the past few months, possibly March. Neighbors say Eberly had nightly fires in the fire pit before he moved away.

Investigators are working to make contact with a possible girlfriend of Eberlys who may have been living there at the time.
PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI  A recently opened restaurant was picking up steam in the Ann Arbor area  then the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Naked Burrito, located at 2871 Carpenter Road, is described as high-end fast food by manager Jenny Huang, using organic foods and compostable materials, while combining an assortment of cultures.

Our goal was to have a new vision for a fast food restaurant to see if it will be sustainable, Huang said.

But the pandemic reduced their workforce, causing them to shut down for two months. Now, Huang said Naked Burrito is trying to rebound from being closed and regain its workforce.

Huang said the restaurant is operates over the counter, like Chipotle or Qdoba. However, she said they are not competing directly with these restaurants since Naked Burrito offers something different with the food options and practices.

The naked burritos are like burrito bowls, which customers can design themselves, Huang said. They start off by choosing their base, which includes rice, mixed greens and beans. Then a customer chooses their proteins to go on it, which includes chicken, steak, shrimp or tofu for vegetarians. Then they pick their vegetables, sauces and other toppings to finish it off.

The is not just inspired by Mexican food, Huang said. They bring cuisine from other cultures and incorporate them with their offerings, including halal enchilada chicken, halal cumin lamb and Greek tzatziki sauce.

Along with the naked burritos, the restaurant also serves hot dogs, mousses and quesadillas. Customers also have the options of choosing from the restaurants pre-made bowls or ordering a tortilla. The full menu can be viewed on Naked Burritos website.

Before the pandemic hit, Huang said the business was in the middle of building its name in the area and getting the word out about its catering service. She said the restaurant was getting great feedback through their catering.

But despite being carryout-centered, Naked Burrito had to close for about two months from mid-March to early May. Three of its employees became trapped in other countries once the pandemic hit and they couldnt get a flight back home, Huang said. Many employees were also too scared to work, so the restaurant lost about 50% of its workforce.

Even though the restaurant re-opened, it is only open in limited capacity from 3 to 8 p.m. Huang said. With the other employees not available, the restaurant doesnt have enough staff to have a morning shift, on top of not having the money or time to train new employees.

If we dont have the adequate amount of people to work and the resources to continue, then we may not be able to, Huang said. Thats our everyday thought right now because we dont know and everything is so uncertain.

She is also said business has been up and down. If the employees are not able to come back soon, Huang said that the restaurant will have to close again.

Despite the hardships, she is hopeful that students returning to Ann Arbor in the fall will help Naked Burrito in some way financially, even in a limited capacity.

Right now, every business is basically in the same boat, Huang said Theyre all testing out whether their business is still sustainable after the changes that were facing. We are all being tested right now.

I do hope that we will come out of this and it will be a sustainable business ...
ANN ARBOR, MI  An Ypsilanti Township man faces two felony assault charges after allegedly stabbing a man multiple times near a downtown Ann Arbor park on Independence Day.

Dvon Leetorrey Ballard, 25, was arraigned Monday, July 6, on one felony count each of assault with intent to murder and assault with intent to do great bodily harm after being accused of stabbing a man near Liberty Plaza, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department.

Officers responded to a report of a sidewalk stabbing at 7:50 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, in the 400 block of East Liberty Street, police said.

Ann Arbor stabbing leaves Redford man in critical condition

The victim, a 39-year-old man from Redford, suffered multiple stab wounds to the head and body and was taken to Michigan Medicine where he remains in critical condition, police said.

Ballard was identified as a suspect and arrested shortly after the incident, police said.

Witnesses told investigators that an argument started in Liberty Plaza, and the two men traveled a block down East Liberty Street before the stabbing occurred, police said.

The motive for the stabbing, as well as the relationship between the two men, is still unknown and under investigation.

Bond was set at $25,000 and he is scheduled for his next court appearance July 16.

Anyone who witnessed the stabbing or has additional information is asked to contact Det. David Monroe of the Ann Arbor Police Department by calling 734-794-6930, ext. 49308 or emailing dmonroe@a2gov.org.

Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 734-794-6939 or emailing tips@a2gov.org.

Assault with intent to murder is punishable by up to life in prison. Assault with intent to do great bodily harm is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

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HAMTRAMCK, MI  A man has been charged with threatening a Detroit-area judge who was presiding over his assault case, prosecutors said Monday.

The Associated Press reports that Zijad Talic, 41, made death threats against Hamtramck Judge Alexis Krot in a text message to another person.

Talic is charged with making a threat of terrorism, obstruction of justice, fleeing and eluding and malicious use of a telecommunication device. Bond was set at $150,000.

In a separate case, hes facing an assault charge, AP reports.
FLINT, MI -- The number of available seats on flights departing Flint Bishop Airport is rising 11.6 percent from July to August as airlines boost capacity following a crash in demand tied to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bishop officials said in a news release Tuesday, July 7, that flights scheduled by currently operating airlines for next month amount to 18,113 departing seats, up from 16,226 departing seats this month.

The increase is 8.1 percent if Delta Air Lines, which has suspended summer service, is included in the overall numbers.

United Airlines has the largest increase in seat availability, doubling capacity between Flint and Chicago OHare. American Airlines is increasing capacity by 14.9 percent between Bishop and its hub in Charlotte, North Carolina, and by 11.4 percent to Chicago. And Allegiant Air has returned its seasonal flight to Sarasota, Florida, adding to its capacity from Flint in July.

The scheduling increases come on the heels of a rise in departing passenger traffic in May to 6,301 passengers compared to just 1,667 departing fliers in April.

The wonderful partnership that we have with our airlines continues to bolster this airport and our community, Airport Director, Nino Sapone said in a statement issued by the Bishop Airport Authority. Of course, without the support of our regions travelers, our airlines would not be able to continue to add seats back into our market. Our heartfelt thanks go out to them all, as well as to our fantastic team members throughout the entire airport. Everyone has come together to continue to keep Flint Bishop a great traveling experience.

Like other airports across the county, Bishop saw the number of flights, passenger traffic and load factor drop sharply after the COVID-19 emergency was recognized in mid-March and officials took steps to limit losses by eliminating the hiring of seasonal temporary employees, eliminating non-emergency overtime and closing its economy parking lot.

Airport officials said last month that COVID-19 losses have eaten into cash on hand, dropping from $1.9 million in April to $1.2 million in May.

Through May, passenger traffic at Bishop is down 29.2 percent compared to the first five months of 2019.

Passenger traffic inching closer to normal at Flint Bishop Airport

Michigan airports were flying high before COVID-19. Now theyre fighting to survive.

Feds OK suspension of all Delta flights in Flint, United service to Kalamazoo
FLINT, MI -- The closure of the Flint Jr. High School is back on the table for the Flint district school board.

The Flint Community Schools Board of Education voted Monday, July 6, to reconsider the closure of the Flint Jr. High School building, formerly Flint Northwestern High School.

The closure of the Flint Jr. High School was originally proposed after the district learned last month the building is in critical need of $4 million in repairs. If the district moves to take on these repairs, the expense will drain the districts entire infrastructure fund, leaving nothing for all other school buildings. The district would also have to cut into $1.2 million of its general fund.

Board narrowly rejects plan to close Flint Junior High School

Superintendent Anita Stewards proposal to close the building was narrowly rejected at a special meeting Monday, June 29. Board Vice President Diana Wright voted against the motion to close the school. Treasurer Danielle Green, Trustee Carol McIntosh and Trustee Vera Perry voted in favor of the closure. Trustee Blake Strozier abstained, stating that his wife worked at schools affected by the action. President Casey Lester and Secretary Betty Ramsdell were absent, so the motion failed 3-1.

Four yes votes were required for it to pass.

While she originally was the deciding vote against the closure one week prior, Wright expressed support for the closure at the Monday, July 6, meeting.

Its been a very difficult decision but it looks like at the end of the day money will drive the decision and one of my responsibilities as a board member is to be fiscally responsible, Wright said. So, knowing that it breaks by heart to move students out of Northwestern, we still have to consider all of the students in the district so therefore I will be supporting this motion.

The closure will now appear on the Wednesday, July 8, committee of the whole agenda for the boards consideration.

$4M in needed repairs at Flint school would drain districts infrastructure funds

The Flint Junior High School opened in 2019 at the start of the balanced calendar school year at the site of former Northwestern High School. The building had closed for a year after budget constraints led the district to close the high school.

Board member Vera Perry said she hates to have to do this again.

However, I just cant put $4 into Northwestern with the possibility that its going to have to close next year anyway, and if we put that $4 million into Northwestern and one of our other schools go down, theres no money left to repair one of those schools if something major happens, Perry said.

Flint school board terminates superintendents contract without cause

Johnson Controls, the districts HVAC company, presented the scope of repairs needed to the junior high school building at a Tuesday, June 9, special Flint Community Schools Board of Education meeting. Many repairs were noted to be critical, meaning if the system failed, the facility would no longer be fit to be occupied.

The district has $560,000 from an energy efficiency bond. This means the district would need to commit $3.5 million to the building if it plans for students to use the building, executive director of finance Carrie Sekelsky has said. The district has $2.2 million in sinking fund dollars, which would be depleted under this option. An additional $1.2 million would have to be taken from the districts general fund.

Flint schools bond proposal is 2nd of its kind in Michigan since 1994, expert says

District leaders made it clear this would mean there would be no money for any other buildings if the district took on these repairs.

Secretary Ramsdell said she has received emails from teachers listing repairs needed to other buildings in the district.

Were not money bags. It cant be one school that gets all the money, Ramsdell said.

Anita Steward takes over as Flint Community Schools superintendent

Last week, Superintendent Anita Steward proposed moving the junior high students to the districts Holmes building. The Brownell building would house K-5.

The Northwestern building would still have the districts central kitchen. It could also house maintenance equipment and the stadium and auditorium could be rented out, Steward said. The district currently rents space for its buses. With the building closed, Northwestern could be used for buses instead.

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For the first time in 15 years, Flint schools has ratified contracts for all 3 unions

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A new community currency program, ShiaCash, aims to provide local business owners in Shiawassee County with an opportunity to restart and grow their business.

Carrie Rathbun Hawks, president of one of the many businesses participating in the program, said businesses in the area have had to pivot and be creative in order to survive amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

And I have seen many businesses do just that, Rathbun Hawks of Rathbun Public Relations said. Even though it meant tightening their belts and learning how to do things differently, its whats kept our economy going as opposed to completely falling apart. The more we can support the local mom and pop shops, I think the more were going to recover from this  and were going to do it a lot faster than if we dont pay attention to the people that are right here in our own small towns.

Rathbun Hawks is also on the Board of Directors for the Shiawassee Regional Chamber of Commerce and said they wanted to come up with something that drives business in the area and supports local business owners.

Large employers in the county spend 2-3% of their payroll on holiday gifts, sales incentives and employee recognition, according to the Shiawassee Regional Chamber of Commerce. ShiaCash was launched with the goal of becoming a reward employers use thats beneficial to the community unlike national brand gift cards.

Other goals of the new buy-local program include connecting local business owners with the areas large employers, helping local businesses acquire customers and providing a new marketing tool for them.

That just keeps our money locally within our own economy, Rathbun Hawks said. And then all boats rise when we do that.

The economic impact and community development initiative was launched in partnership by the Shiawassee Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership, Owosso Main Street and the Greater Durand Area Chamber of Commerce.

Theresa Trecha, owner of Capitol Bowling, another business participating in the new program, said she heard about ShiaCash from Owosso Main Street. She said the best part about it is the advertising it brings to employers in the area looking to give their employees an appreciation award.

Weve got a lot of people that work in the county that dont live in the county, Trecha said. A lot of those folks, they work and then they go, and so in order to maybe get those people to take advantage a little bit of what the town has to offer  thats a great way to do it.

ShiaCash can be purchased through an online portal with local branding and used only at participating merchants. Currently participating ShiaCash merchants include Capitol Bowl, Rathbun Public Relations, Maurer Heating and Cooling, Funny Pages, Miss Mallies Sweets and Treats, Shaws Pharmacy, Hass Vision Center and Photography by Jody L. Roethele.

Id like to see as many merchants and organizations participate as possible, Rathbun Hawks said. The more we have participating, then the businesses and the people who are buying the ShiaCash have a lot more to offer their employees, their family members or whomever they might be buying the ShiaCash for.

Accepting ShiaCash doesnt require upfront costs, specific software or equipment. Local business owners will receive 92% face value of the currency from the program, with the other 8% going to administrative costs and processing fees. Payment will be sent every two weeks in return for redeemed certificates.

Its a great co-marketing promotion, really, Trecha said. It doesnt require any business to work a deal with anybody. Its just we agreed to accept this money and those folks can spend it wherever they like with whoever participates, so thats a pretty good deal.

Businesses in Shiawassee County can become a ShiaCash merchant by filling out this form.

Read more on MLive:

Flints major summer events are canceled and businesses are feeling the heat
UPDATE: Question over process derails discussion of $9M police cut in Grand Rapids

GRAND RAPIDS, MI  One Grand Rapids city commissioner is pushing to cut the citys police department budget by $9 million, a move the police chief says would require layoffs and have a radical change on how the department delivers services.

Commissioner Milinda Ysasi made a motion during the commissions Tuesday morning committee meeting that the proposed budget cut be placed on the agenda for the commissions full meeting at 7 p.m. tonight.

I have to think about what are the things that I have said are values to me, what are the things that are most important in this community, where are the challenges, she said. We talk about workforce development, and we talk about mental health, we talk about the fact that there is a lack of affordable housing.

The specific amendment requested by Ysasi was to decrease the police departments share of the general fund budget from 38.6% to 32%, the lowest possible share under the citys charter. The reduction is opposed by City Manager Mark Washington and Police Chief Eric Payne, and would equate to a roughly $9 million cut.

City Commissioners Joe Jones and Kurt Reppart, have said previously theyre comfortable talking about divesting from the department to reimagine policing in the city.

The push to reduce the departments funding comes amid a national conversation on police reform following the death of George Floyd.

Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. His death sparked nationwide protests and riots, including in Grand Rapids, over police brutality and systemic racism, and ignited a movement to change how Americas cities are policed.

In Grand Rapids and elsewhere, police reform advocates have spoken about cutting the police departments budget and reinvesting those dollars into other social services.

Ysasis motion to cut the police departments budget followed a presentation by city staff outlining reforms and other changes being made by the police department.

One change is a budget amendment that would repurpose existing funds within the police department to add a second full-time position in the Office of Oversight and Public Accountability, a non-sworn public information officer, and a non-sworn chief of staff.

The cost of adding the positions is $396,012, according to documents previously presented by the city.

In addition to the new positions, the city has put forward a list of reform and accountability measures that it plans to complete within 60 days. Some were proposed by city officials, others by community members.

Among them are improving the policy requiring officers to de-escalate situations and requiring officers to exhaust all other reasonable alternatives, including non-force and less-lethal force options, before resorting to deadly force.

City administrators and the citys police union have previously spoken out against the $9 million budget cut.

In a joint statement issued last month, officials with the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association and Grand Rapids Police Command Officers Association said a $9.4 million cut could result in the layoffs of 78 of the citys 298 officers and leave detectives freed up to only investigate the most violent crimes.

Payne, the citys police chief, has said hes concerned the cut could hurt community safety.

I cant emphasize enough  the $9 million reduction will have a radical change on what were attempting to do at this point, he said on Tuesday.

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Speed, alcohol factors in Silver Lake sand dune crashes over July Fourth weekend
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Residents are flocking to beaches and other outdoor water sources in an effort to beat the current heat wave facing West Michigan.

With seven to 10 days of 90-degree plus temperatures, the heat wave is making it difficult for some adults and children to keep cool. As temperatures hit the low-to-mid 90s across the entire state Tuesday, its no surprise how folks in West Michigan are looking to ride out the heat wave.

Residents and visitors gathered at beaches along Lake Michigan in Ottawa and Muskegon counties. Families were spotted cooling off in Lake Michigan at both Grand Haven State Park and Pere Marquette beach in Muskegon.

If you are reading this in your Facebook app, use this link to view the entire gallery of photos.

Related: See how current 90-degree stretch stacks up in history

Also in Muskegon, the city opened up some fire hydrants so children could enjoy the water and cool off.

Fire hydrants in Muskegon at Ireland Avenue and Davis Street as well as Morton Avenue and Estes Street were open from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday.

While cooler temperatures are in the forecast for this weekend, the hottest day of the stretch is right around the corner on Thursday. Residents may continue to flock to beaches to cool off through the week.

Due to the hot weather across the state, surface waters on the Great Lakes have warmed rapidly.

Lake Michigan now averages 74 degrees on the surface, which is 11 degrees warmer than the historical average water temperature on this date.

Related: Great Lakes water temperatures warming off the charts; Some spots over 80 degrees

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IRON MOUNTAIN, MI  About 8 p.m. on July 4, troopers from the Iron Mountain Michigan State Police Post were dispatched to a firework injury accident at the Silver Lake Resort in Sagola Township.

Dispatch was advised that a 50-year-old male had severely injured his left hand.

Troopers assisted EMS with treatment of the victim until Valley Med Flight Helicopter arrived on the scene, according to state police.

Valley Med Flight was unable to land in the parking lot and M-95 was briefly closed to traffic so the victim could be loaded into the helicopter. He was then transported to Marquette and then relayed to Green Bay, WI.

A witness advised the victim was setting up fireworks on his private property and that she heard a boom and observed the man lying on the ground.

As she was unsure first responders would be able to locate the camp, she transported the subject to the Silver Lake Resort, police said.

The witness described the firework as a mortar but could not provide further details. Alcohol is not believed to be a factor.
UPDATE: The woman was found by police.

PLAINWELL, MI - A 42-year-old woman has gone missing from an adult foster care facility, and the Michigan State Police are seeking the publics help in locating her.

Kathyann Elbert is described as a 5-foot-8, 200-pound white woman with brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen at her adult foster care facility, Cornerstone, located at 803 10th St., Plainwell, north of Kalamazoo.

Elbert was wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans, and has a tattoo of a cross on her chest.

Police said they believe she may have tried to hitchhike to the area of Petoskey in northern Michigan. According to a news release, Elbert has a psychological condition and may become violent when not using medication.

The public is asked to call 911 or the Wayland post of the Michigan State Police, at (269) 792-2213 if they have any information about Elbert's whereabouts.

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JACKSON, MI  Virginia Coney Island has stood the test of time.

Opened in 1914, the restaurant has survived two World Wars, the Spanish Flu and dozens of other historic moments in time. The Virginia Coney Island was also named the best place for a coney dog in Michigan, according to a 2019 USA Today reader poll.

A second bout with a pandemic -- this one COVID-19 instead of influenza  has been scary for the owners of VCI, but that does not mean Erin and Joe Matthews cant get through it.

Virginia Coney Island named Best Coney Dog in Michigan

Virginia Coney Islands doors are open again. And business has been phenomenal, Erin said. The Matthews took over the business about eight years ago from Erins father, Eli Muggsy Potter. Both Joe and Erin worked as educators before deciding to take over the business.

Even with the lack of business we still had bills to pay, we made it through that thank God, said Matthews. Now we are struggling with hiring more people, that theres very few people to hire. And were going to change our hours because my husband and I have now worked for 39 days straight without a day off.

The staples of the restaurants menu are its signature coney dog, Coney Island Scram  a three egg scramble with onions -- and even fried catfish. You can view the menu here and find VCI at 649 E. Michigan Avenue in Jackson.

It was stressful being closed for 12 weeks, Mathews said. But welcoming customers back into the restaurant that has been a mainstay of the food scene in Jackson is more then fulfilling for them.

Sales have been phenomenal, customers are so devoted and come back, said Erin. Weve been busting at the seams, if you will, business is wonderful. We love to see all the faces that we missed for three months, we love to hear all the stories and the glad your doors are open.

Peek Through Time: 100 years of humble hot dogs covered in chili marks Jackson Coney Island history

The Matthews said they built their success on providing good food, good service and the best coney dogs in Michigan.

Erin laughed thinking about some of the texts she got, I received many texts that said, This is the longest Ive gone in my life without a coney, hurry up and open.

11 Jackson's Virginia Coney Island wins USA Today's poll for Best Coney Dog in Michigan

They even received requests to mail their coney sauce, Matthews said, and now have applied for licenses to have outdoor seating so they can help bring in more customers.

Theyre taking precautions, just like every restaurant. Masks even in the near 100-degree kitchen are required, socially distanced booths and stools in the diner-style eating area are also a huge part of their reopening strategy.

But at the end of the day, its all about the sauce.

It all comes back to the sauce, the consistency of the sauce year after year after year has made it successful, Matthews said, referencing the original recipe from 1914 that is still in use today.

Weve used the same recipe for 100 years.

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JACKSON, MI  The Jackson County Animal Shelter, 3770 Spring Arbor Road, has reopened, and it has many pets available for adoption.

Here are two of them.

Ziggy is a beautiful solid gray American Staffordshire terrier mix who was surrendered by his owner. He is not quite 1 year old and seems to get along well with other dogs and cats.

Ziggy is quiet, not a barker or a jumper. His timid nature is warmed by human affection, and then he then becomes a kisser.

If you want to get knocked out by some huge green eyes, check out Merlot. She is a smaller-sized, 3-year-old brown shorthair tabby. She gets along well with other cats and enjoys getting cozy in her cat condo.

A meet-and-greet with a dog is mandatory. A cat room walk-through is available to test reaction. The dog adoption fee is $150, which includes vaccinations, microchip and sterilization.

Cat Adoption Fees are $60 for one cat, $80 for two, which includes applicable tests, vaccines and spay/neutering.

Visiting the shelter is always best, but other adoption resources include online applications at https://www.co.jackson.mi.us/DocumentCenter/View/803, faxing 517-780-4750 or emailing animalshelter@mijackson.org.

The shelters current hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

More information is available on the shelters Facebook page. See more pets available for adoption at jcasmichigan.petfinder.com.
JACKSON COUNTY, MI  A woman arrested and charged for allegedly helping hide a body in Texas once lived in Jackson, Michigan, records show.

Cecily Aguilar, 22, is charged with a felony count of mutilating and destroying to impede an investigation, court records from July 6 in the United State District Court Western District of Texas show.

Aguilar is accused of helping hide the body of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, whose remains were found buried near U.S. Army post Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, a report from the Associated Press said.

Guillen, 20, was last seen April 22. The AP reports she was killed by fellow solider, Aaron David Robinson, who died by suicide July 1, federal and military investigators said. Aguilar and Robinson were dating, per court records.

Aguilar, also known as Cecily Brown, lived in Jackson County for several years. She attended Napoleon Community Schools from fourth to eighth grade, in 2012, the district said. She graduated from Columbia Options High School in 2017, according to the Brooklyn Exponent. She moved to the area of Killeen, Texas in 2019, according to records and her social media profiles.

Guillens remains were found June 30, but were authorities were unable to identify her because of the state the remains were in, AP reported. She was identified by DNA from bone and hair samples.

Robinson sexually harassed Guillen, her family said, and they are calling for a congressional investigation, per AP. There is no credible evidence Guillen was sexually harassed or assaulted, Army investigators said previously.

Aguilar is being held in McLennan County Jail, records show. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 14, records show.

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Theres nothing left, says family of 5 that lost home, dogs to house fire

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Using the minimally invasive method developed by KIT, thousands of tons of lithium could be extracted from the German and French Upper Rhine trench every year (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe)

Whether grid energy storage, electromobility or wearable electronics  lithium-ion batteries have become an integral part of our lives. Millions of tons of lithium are mined in places far away from Germany to produce them every year. However, an invention made by scientists at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) might now also enable economic mining in this country. The plan is to extract lithium using a minimally invasive process from the deep waters in geothermal plants of the Upper Rhine Trench.



A mineral treasure is hidden in rock formations deeply below the Upper Rhine Trench: dissolved in salty thermal water reservoirs, considerable quantities of the element lithium are waiting to be exploited. As far as we know, there can be up to 200 milligrams per liter, says geoscientist Dr. Jens Grimmer from the Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW) of KIT: "If we consistently use this potential, we could cover a considerable part of the demand in Germany. Currently, Germany is a net importer of the coveted resource that is mainly needed for the production of battery cells for electric vehicles and is thus of great importance for the climate protection program of the Federal Government. Imports are coming from the typical mining countries Chile, Argentina, and Australia, which account for more than 80 percent of global production.



Up to now, the exploitation of domestic reserves has been prevented by the lack of a suitable process to tap this resource in a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. Together with his research colleague Dr. Florencia Saravia from the research unit of the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water (DVGW) at the Engler-Bunte Institute (EBI) of KIT, Grimmer developed such a process and KIT now filed a patent application for it. In a first step, the lithium ions are filtered out of the thermal water and in a second step, they are further concentrated until lithium can be precipitated as a salt, says Grimmer.



Minimum ecological damage in domestic lithium mining

Compared to traditional methods of lithium production from the South American salt lakes and Australian solid rock, the Grimmer-Saravia process offers some key advantages: The existing infrastructure of geothermal plants, through which up to two billion liters of thermal water flow every year, can be used. In contrast to classic mining, hardly any overburden is produced and the land consumption is minimal. Since the thermal water is returned to the underground after use, no harmful substances are released and geothermal electricity and heat production are not impaired. Lithium can be continuously extracted within hours in the thermal water cycle of the geothermal plant, whereas in the South American salt lakes, the enrichment process takes several months and is highly weather-dependent. Heavy rainfall can set back production there by weeks or even months. In addition, the process offers the possibility of extracting other rare and valuable elements such as rubidium or cesium from the thermal water. These are required in laser and vacuum technology, for example.



Since the process can use the technical and energetic infrastructure of a geothermal plant, its CO2 balance also stands out very positively when compared to the traditional processes. We export many environmental problems to third countries in order to maintain and improve our living standards. With this process, we can assume our responsibility and extract important raw materials for modern technologies in an environmentally friendly way right on our own doorstep, says Florencia Saravia. We can also build up regional value chains, create jobs, and reduce geopolitical dependencies at the same time.



Hundreds of tons of lithium per year from a single plant

Together with industry partners, the two scientists are now in the process of developing a test facility for lithium extraction. In this first prototype facility, which is to be built in a geothermal plant in the Upper Rhine Trench, several kilograms of lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide will be extracted in a first step. If the tests are successful, the construction of a large-scale plant is planned. It would then be possible to produce several hundred tons of lithium hydroxide per year at each geothermal plant. According to current data, the potential in the Upper Rhine Trench on the German and French sides amounts to several thousand tons of recoverable lithium per year.



More about the KIT Energy Center: http://www.energie.kit.edu

Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,600 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 23,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
CASS COUNTY, MI -- After hundreds packed a July 4 sandbar party against coronavirus restrictions, the Cass County prosecutor is asking the state to appoint a special prosecutor to look at potential criminal charges.

Cass County prosecutors announced Tuesday, July 7 they have asked the state Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor because of a conflict of interest.

Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz has a longstanding affiliation with a lake association affected by the situation.

Diamond Lake in Cass County, Michigan just now:



A COVID-19 Petri dish...pic.twitter.com/rSzYHGTm0o  Rex Chapman (@RexChapman) July 4, 2020

A video posted to Twitter, showing the party and people in close quarters, went viral.

Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke said he would be forwarding a report to prosecutors for potential charges against the partys organizer. Authorities say it violated Gov. Gretchen Whitmers order against large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.

Related stories

Organizer of Michigan sandbar party could face charges after hundreds gathered in lake

Large crowd packs July 4 lake party in Cass County despite coronavirus restrictions
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Detroit attorney Geoffrey Fieger has released security camera footage from Lakeside Academy, which shows seven staff members restraining Cornelius Fredericks to the point where the teenager becomes limp and unresponsive.

Feiger is calling on Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting to prosecute all parties involved, in addition to three staff members who have been arraigned on felony charges, including involuntary manslaughter, in the case.

Fredericks was found unresponsive at Lakeside Academy when Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety arrived on Wednesday, April 29. He died at Bronson Methodist Hospital from cardiac arrest two days later.

The family of Fredericks is now suing Lakeside Academy for $100 million, claiming negligence leading to wrongful death. The civil suit was filed June 22 in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.

Attorneys Jon Marko and Fieger are representing the teens family. Parallels between Fredericks death and George Floyds have drawn national attention to the case.

During a virtual press conference on Tuesday, July 7, Fieger said the video was released to him by the Michigan Attorney Generals and Kalamazoo County prosecutors offices. He said Lakeside Academy and the facilitys staffing contractor, Sequel Youth and Family Services, refused to hand over the video without the agreement that Fieger would not share it with the press.

Fieger said his team handed the video over to forensic specialists and suspect there have been edits made, because there are jumps where the group of people surrounding Fredericks appear to change in a split second. The video released by Fieger Tuesday does show such apparent jumps in the footage.

Children are really powerless and voiceless, Fieger said. The kinds of horrors that weve witnessed on this video, they would never be disclosed to us if Cornelius had survived.

The full 18-minute video provided to MLive by Fieger Law shows Fredericks, 16, pretending to throw food prior to the restraint and staff took away his lunch tray. When he threw the sandwich across the table he was then pushed off his chair and restrained.

The scene quickly escalates as seven staff members rush in and restrain him.

Staff members push away two nearby tables as nearly every part of Fredericks body is covered by a staff member, as seen in the video. An eighth staff member eventually walks up and relieves one of his colleagues, taking his place in holding down Fredericks arm.

Other boys in the cafeteria remain at their tables and continue eating as the scene unfolds.

Related: Teens death comes after pattern of improper restraints at now-closed facility, investigation shows

A Michigan Department of Health and Human Services investigation said the restraint lasted for 12 minutes  two minutes longer than training calls for. The investigation also notes a proper restraint should not involve more than three adults.

During interviews the law firm has conducted with Sequel employees, Fieger said, many described a culture of fear and lack of training.

One employee told us that in order to work there all you needed was to be breathing and accept $13 per hour, Fieger said.

The video shows staff members eventually get up and surround Fredericks. Several minutes pass before an employee can be seen checking his pulse on his wrist. Employees attempt to sit him up, but Fredericks body is limp.

Employees then turn Fredericks on his side. In interviews with MDHHS and police, some employees said Fredericks was foaming at the mouth.

The MDHHS investigation estimates that 12 minutes passed before 911 is called  by a nurse who had been standing nearby and watching the employees restrain Fredericks. At that point, the video shows other employees have started chest compressions and CPR on Fredericks.

22 Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo

On June 24, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting authorized multiple charges against the nurse who was observing and two of the staff members who were physically on top of Fredericks.

Charges were brought against Michael Mosley, Zachary Solis and Heather McLogan. All three have turned themselves in and been arraigned on the charges in Kalamazoo County District Court.

Related: 3 face criminal charges in death of 16-year-old housed at Kalamazoo youth facility

Mosley and Solis were charged with involuntary manslaughter for knowingly causing Fredericks harm by laying across his abdomen. Each was also charged with second-degree child abuse and a second count of second-degree child abuse for a child care organization violation causing death.

McLogan was charged with involuntary manslaughter for gross negligence and failure to perform her legal duty to obtain medical care. She is also charged with second-degree child abuse for a child care organization violation causing death.

McLogans attorney responded, arguing his client did nothing criminal.

Involuntary manslaughter is a felony offense that can result in up to 15 years in prison. Second-degree child abuse is a felony offense punishable by 10 years in prison.

Fieger is pushing the Kalamazoo County prosecutor to bring further charges against the other staff members involved in the restraint and those who were bystanders.

He noted that the MDHHS investigation mentions a January incident, in which Fredericks was restrained in a similar matter. He called for a larger investigation by the state into for-profit facilities like Lakeside Academy.

The horrors that children have to endure have to be exposed, Fieger said. Unless you shine lights on insects and maggots, they proliferate.

Sequels license to operate has been suspended at Lakeside Academy. The state is exploring our legal authority to exclude Sequel from Michigans child caring institution continuum, MDHHS spokesperson Bob Wheaton said.

A spokesperson from Sequel released the following statement in response to the security footage released:

We continue to mourn the senseless and tragic loss of Cornelius and are aware of the video footage released today. The actions taken by the staff members in that video do not adhere to the Sequel and Lakeside Academy policies and procedures related to the use of emergency safety interventions as trained in the JKM Safe Crisis Management system. Further, those actions are not representative of our core values of accountability, humility, and integrity. We take our obligation to meet the significant behavioral health needs of all our students very seriously and strive to improve the lives of those in our programs by providing excellence in clinical care, therapy, education, and support.

At Sequel, we emphasize de-escalation both with our staff and our students. The staff at Lakeside were trained in our de-escalation techniques. It is our policy to only use restraints as an emergency safety intervention in two situations: 1) when a student exhibits imminent danger to themselves and 2) when a student exhibits imminent danger to others, and in those cases to use the minimal level of intervention possible. Otherwise, a restraint is not an appropriate first response, and restraints are never to be used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff.

Also on MLive:

Family of Lakeside Academy student seek answers about his death

Students removed from Lakeside Academy after 16-year-olds death

Lakeside Academy was out of control prior to student death, police say

37 students, 9 staff members test positive for coronavirus at Lakeside Academy

Nothing like this has happened before, Lakeside Academy board chair says of student death
VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI -- A 37-year-old woman is held in the Van Buren County Jail on a $1 million bond, accused a critically wounding a man in what police say was a domestic situation.

Estela Morales was arraigned Tuesday, July 7 on a charge of assault with intent to commit murder.

Police and rescuers responded to the 62000 block of 66th Avenue in Hartford Township on July 4 and found man on the porch, shot in the abdomen.

He was taken to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo with critical injuries and has had multiple surgeries since the shooting.

More from MLive

After crowds pack Michigan sandbar party, special prosecutor sought to consider charges

Michigan inching toward 400 new coronavirus cases per day
MUSKEGON, MI  During the coldest weeks of the spring, when so much of the city was shut down against the coronavirus pandemic, a person could still drive up to the Pigeon Hill Brewing Companys production facility and pick up growlers of local beer to while away long evenings at home.

So, all things considered, the six-year-old company, which operates a taproom at 500 W Western Ave. and brews and packages at a facility at 4th Street and Shoreline Drive, was lucky to maintain some portion of its business, said co-owner Michael Brower, even as retail distribution slowed and their downtown bar closed.

The loss of all of it was initially terrifying, Brower said. Luckily, it hasnt been that bad. I wouldnt say its been good. But it hasnt been that bad.

Over those endless-seeming shutdown months, and then as restrictions loosened on bars and restaurants  and then tightened again for many booze-centric establishments  the brewery learned to roll with the punches.

To abet their curbside pickup sales, they began canning drafts that hadnt previously been available for distribution.

Peoples quantities didnt changebut they got (their drinks) in a different way  they didnt go out to drink, but they picked up cans, Brower said.

After the state announced that in-house dining could recommence at half capacity, and after some frenetic days of prep, the taproom reopened for safe and socially distanced drinking, with posters to remind patrons to wear a mask, labeled and spaced out tables, and special training for staff.

Like many downtown businesses, Pigeon Hill now has outdoor seating set up, on a portion of Western Avenue completely closed to cars. Visitors can bring outside food to pair with their locally brewed ale, lager or cider.

Business has been robust since they reopened, Brower said. For a while, they offered reservations which were snatched up quickly. (Theyve since done away with those, citing finicky Michigan weather; when the bulk of your business takes place outside, what do you do when a sudden storm or heat wave strikes?)

And they were spared the most recent shutdown of businesses that earn most of their revenue from alcohol, following new COVID-19 outbreaks tied to bars; the law specifically exempts establishments that hold manufacturing licenses, like microbreweries and distilleries, Brower said.

Thats kept Pigeon Hill from having to once again quickly rearrange their operations.

The more support we get at the taproom, whether its to-go sales, or people drinking pints in the taproom, thatsextremely important, he said.

Still, Brower said he and fellow owners Joel Kamp and Chad Doane had big plans for 2020  and now its hard to plan for whats next.

My hope is to see us getting back into the position, by the end of this year, that we were in (before the shutdown), so that in 2021, we can start to put out some of those plans and lofty goals that we had for 2020so we can get back to a reset point, he said.

Brower declined to describe some of those big plans, however, with so much uncertainty ahead.

Its one thing to know how much money is in the bank, he added, and another to have faith in the broader economy. People must be ready to go spend a night on the town, both financially and from a sense of personal comfort and safety.

But the response of the community, through the long days of the shutdown, and the strange and tentative days of reopening, has been heartening, he said.

Despite all of the fear and uncertainty over the last couple of months, I am really positive overall about what lies ahead, Brower said. It might not be exactly what we had in mind, but I think brighter days lie ahead.

Every Tuesday, well be spotlighting one local establishment. Have a suggestion for a featured Muskegon Local Eat? Email the author, anya@mlive.com.

Read more on MLive:

After 107 years, historic Whitehall inn has closed

Organizer of Michigan sandbar party could face charges after hundreds gathered in lake

Michigan reports 297 new coronavirus cases, 3 new deaths
OCEANA COUNTY, MI  A driver seriously injured after he swerved to avoid a deer was rescued from the fiery crash by a passerby Monday night.

Jeremiah McDonald, 39, of Montague was driving in Oceana Countys Claybanks Township just before 7 p.m. July 6 when he swerved to avoid a deer, left the road and hit a tree, causing the car to catch fire, according to a press release from the office of Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast.

Officers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources who were patrolling nearby were first on the scene of the crash on South Scenic Drive near Webster Road. They learned that a passing motorist, identified as Mathew Beebe of Holland, had rescued McDonald from the burning car, according to the press release.

The driver was now laying roadside and had suffered obvious serious injuries to both of his legs, the press release states.

A passerby rescued the driver from this burning car after a single vehicle crash on July 6, 2020, in Oceana County.

When sheriff deputies arrived, the car was engulfed in flames. Beebe told deputies he had arrived just after the crash, which he had not seen, and pulled McDonald through the passenger side window through heavy smoke and high heat, moving him away from the car, according to the release.

McDonald was taken to Mercy Health Partners Hackley Campus in Muskegon for treatment. His vehicle, a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, was destroyed.

In addition to the DNR and Oceana County Sheriffs Office, first responders at the scene included Grant Township Fire and Rescue and Life Ambulance.

Also on MLive:

Man seriously injured after ejected from car in crash on I-96

Woman charged with open murder in shooting of Muskegon woman

Suspect charged in one of 2 weekend shootings at Muskegon area apartments
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  Teachers, staff and administrators at Ravenna Public Schools have accepted potential pay cuts in lieu of layoffs or program cuts, as schools brace for state funding to be slashed due to the coronavirus crisis.

Ravenna teachers agreed to a 6.7 percent pay cut if the district funding gets cut by a predicted $600 per pupil, according to a letter of agreement between the district and the Ravenna Education Association.

With the predicted state cuts, Ravenna would receive about $596,400 less in per-pupil funding next year. The district estimates an enrollment of 994 students in the fall, according to district documents. The $600 cut would bring funding to $7,511 per student.

Without concession in salaries, including the superintendent, administrators, teachers, and our certified/professional staff, we would have to make painful cuts to programs, Superintendent Greg Helmer wrote in an email to district staff. Layoffs wouldve been unavoidable!

By collaborating with the bargaining team representing our teachers union, we created a Letter of Agreement that prevents layoffs and painful program cuts to our budget.

There are three factors that could lead to pay cuts: a decrease in state funding, the 2019-20 fund balance and a fund balance target of 7.2 percent of the general fund for 2020-21.

The district has until Oct. 30 to determine whether there will be pay cuts, according to the letter. Salaries would be prorated from that date over the following 21 pay periods to reflect the decrease.

In a letter to the district posted to Facebook June 17, Helmer wrote that he was in awe of Ravenna teachers and staff. Union leaders quoted in the letter stated that teachers were willing to take the enormous pay cut to continue educating students.

The idea of a 6.7% pay cut is painful for all of us to consider, but it is a risk we have to take considering the circumstances brought upon us by a world pandemic in order to present a balanced budget to the state without cutting positions and programs in our district, Ravenna Education Association leaders wrote in a prepared statement.

Salaries and benefits make up about 79 percent of the school districts operating costs.

Because of a decline in tax revenues during Michigans stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic, state economists have projected a $1.3 billion revenue loss to the Michigan School Aid Fund.

Ravenna administrators passed the districts 2020-21 budget last month, projecting the year to end with a $461,742 deficit. The deficit will be covered by the districts current $1,173,440 fund balance.

The district will end the upcoming fiscal year with a fund balance of $711,698, or 7 percent of expenditures, according to the budget.

As schools prepare for their potential return to in-person learning in the fall, many school leaders are worried about the increased costs of reopening schools during a pandemic.

Muskegon school administrators previously told MLive that bringing students back to school with social distancing guidelines in place comes with higher costs; for example, the busing budget could be increased, and schools may have to send more materials to students homes to improve equity in distance learning.

More on MLive:

Huge cuts to school programs loom if lawmakers dont provide relief funding, West Michigan educators say

Muskegon superintendents preparing for different learning scenarios when school reopens

Muskegon abruptly closes Nelson Elementary School to mitigate predicted $2.4M revenue cut
OCEANA COUNTY, MI  Two people, including a child, were transported to the hospital and another was cited as the result of several crashes at Silver Lake sand dunes over the July Fourth weekend.

The office of Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast reported three crashes in the off-roading area at Silver Lake State Park on July 3-4, and a fourth on Monday, July 6. Speed was considered a factor in three of the crashes while alcohol was a factor in the fourth, according to crash reports from Masts office.

Three people, one of them a 9-year-old from Rothbury, were injured when a 2018 Polaris RZR 1000 rolled over around 9:30 a.m. Friday, July 3, according to a crash report.

The driver, a 30-year-old Montague man went over a hill too fast, and rolled the vehicle, which he owns, according to the report. The child was transported to Mercy Health Partners Lakeshore Campus with minor injuries. The driver and a 38-year-old male passenger from Rothbury also suffered minor injuries, according to the report.

All three were wearing helmets, according to the report.

A 27-year-old Ypsilanti man was injured, also on Friday, July 3, when the 2018 Yamaha Kodiak quad he was operating was traveling too fast down a hill and struck an embankment of sand, according to a crash report. The impact caused him to strike his face on the handlebars, resulting in minor injuries, according to the report.

The man, who was wearing a helmet, did not own the ORV he was operating, which wasnt damaged according to the report. The crash was reported at 3:20 p.m.

On Saturday, July 4, a passenger was injured after being thrown from a 2019 Polaris Razor after it went over a hill and struck an embankment, according to a crash report. The passenger is a 29-year-old Illinois woman. The driver, a 29-year-old Illinois man who owns the vehicle, was not injured in the crash reported just after 7:15 p.m., according to the report.

It was unknown if the two occupants were wearing helmets. The vehicle was significantly damaged. The report notes that the drivers speed was too fast.

At 11:22 a.m. on Monday, July 6, a 26-year-old Lapeer man crashed a 2000 Kawasaki dirt bike near the drag strip, hurting his back, according to a crash report. The report notes that alcohol was a suspected contributing factor, as was careless/negligent behavior; the driver was cited.

He was transported to Mercy Health Partners Hackley Campus in Muskegon.

Also on MLive:

Passerby rescues driver from fiery crash

U.S. Coast Guard reports busiest Fourth of July weekend on Great Lakes in 5 years

Woman charged with open murder in shooting of Muskegon woman
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  Two Republicans are vying for the chance to unseat the Democrat currently holding the 92nd House District seat.

Michael Del Percio and Michael L. Hauesien are candidates in the Aug. 4 Republican primary for the two-year seat.

The winner will face Democrat Terry Sabo, who doesnt have a primary opponent, in the Nov. 3 general election. Sabo, a former police officer and firefighter, has held the 92nd House seat since 2016.

The 92nd House district includes the cities of Muskegon, Muskegon Heights and North Muskegon and the townships of Muskegon, Laketon, Whitehall and Fruitland.

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 92nd House Republican primary candidates:

-- Hauesien, 66, describes himself as an event specialist who works part time in retail. He has attended some college and says he has experience dealing with both city and county commissions and from serving on the city income tax review board.

-- Del Percio, 74, is retired and holds a bachelors degree in electrical engineering. He said he managed major engineering projects for such companies as Intertherm Inc., Coin Acceptors, Frigidaire, White-Westinghouse, AB Electrolux and Siemens.

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 is your position on the role of public funding of education in Michigan? What measures do you support/propose to improve educational outcomes, and accessibility for all Michigan students?

Del Percio: Every child must have access to a quality education. Making learning a fun experience will motivate children to involve themselves in learning. Building teamwork and focusing on life skills at an early age will dramatically increase the quality of education. That also means that the local community needs to be more involved in their schools. I feel the State is too removed from local educational necessities to understand or be responsible for 80% of local school budgets. Participation by the State should be in a limited fashion as in helping underfunded school districts. Money does not equal Quality.

Hauesien: All of our schools need a better curriculum on true black history so that every child can understand where we came from. The funding needs to improve.

What policies do you support to increase jobs and help Michigan residents improve their economic positions, in general and given the pandemic?

Hauesien: This pandemic has kicked our backsides. Jobs lost forever. We need to get open and increase the emphasis on trade schools The trades will be better paying jobs and we need trades to rebuild the safe way.

Del Percio: My focus would be on making Michigan an attractive State for small business. Incentives for venture capitol enterprises to do not always have to result in lost tax revenues. Training and education of our work force will provide motivation to come to Michigan to access them. Easing of regulations in the early stages while a new business is growing. Leasing state owned lands to new business/industry can bring many new jobs, rent and tax revenue. I especially would promote a program to fill the voids left by many small businesses that will not resume once the pandemic is over.

What state policies do you support regarding Michigan elections, voting and campaign funding? Do you support mailing ballots to all eligible voters?

Del Percio: I would propose a review and purge of registered voter roles every 4 years. I would propose a confirmation of citizenship requirement before anyone can be added to Michigan's Voter Registration role. Any Absentee Ballot will not be counted if received by the Election Board after the date of the election and will not be opened or tallied until the election day. Voting is the one most important responsibility of every Citizen and should be regarded as such. Ballots should only be sent to those who request them.

Political PACs expenses for a candidate can't exceed the expenses of the candidate.

Hauesien: The campaign finance reporting is a mess. It needs a complete rebuild so that funds can be seen by all.on the mail ballot. No... I can see the needs for some to have mail in. But it should be their request. Mail in ballots cannot not be verified on a mass mail.

What actions or policies do you support to protect Michigans water, air and land for current and future generations? What is you position on energy efficiency and renewable energy?

Hauesien: Wind and solar are not up th o meeting all of our needs yet. We will have to keep fossil fuel a little longer. Improving our mass transit especially between cities will help here on demand. Better fuel mileage is a must.they need to look into hydrogenated motors more.

Del Percio: I would continue to support Michigan's DNR and DEQ. We all need to have an inhabitable environment now and for future generations. I am an Engineer, so i have some technical expertise in renewable energies, and I can support them on a small or individual scale. The only environmentally clean and safe form of mass energy production besides water is nuclear FUSION. No exhaust, no danger of explosion, no environmentally unsafe by products and the energy generated per sqft is in the same as coal or oil. Solar and Wind have energy ratios per sqft exponentially lower it would leave little for society to inhabit.

How would you address the racial, economic, health, education, etc. inequities, including Michigans 20 percent of children and 17 percent of seniors living in poverty?

Del Percio: Children living in poverty is a direct result of their parents not having the economic opportunity to provide for them. Economic expansion by bringing manufacturing back to the US is providing more job opportunities, especially in the parts of Michigan where these conditions are prevalent. Welfare is supposed to be a help, not a way of life and providing good paying jobs for parents is the way to combat children living in poverty. The qualification levels for Seniors to access state programs should be reviewed and raised based on current economic conditions so more Seniors would qualify.

Hauesien: Better education leads to better income. Get better jobs for the families. On the seniors get them good free health care to give them better income and raise social security rates. They earned it.

Do you believe that Michigan has a gun violence problem? If so, what measures would you support to alleviate this problem?

Hauesien: Gun education needs to be taught in school. For those that have legally bought and own guns, leave alone. But those that have use or have guns illegally, when caught need big fines and big jail terms.

Del Percio: I do not believe that guns, or knives or any other tool are the causes of violence. Violence against another is an act of human nature. The weapon is just a tool. Violent acts involving guns that create the outcry for laws restricting the 2nd A are a tiny portion of the overall problem and are basically ineffective in combating illegal guns, criminals using guns and gangs. The method of attacking either of these problems is not restricting legal gun ownership. Education and community trust in police will enable faster capture of those who use guns for violence and strict minimum sentencing as a deterrent.

Also on Mlive:

Heres whats on the ballot in Muskegon Countys Aug. 4 primary election

Muskegon County Sheriff faces challenger in Democratic primary

Federal judge throws out Republican lawsuit against Michigan redistricting commission
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  A Muskegon Heights woman is charged with open murder in the shooting death of another woman early Friday.

Myesha Gates, 27, is accused of fatally shooting Deja Monet Madison, 24, of Muskegon at the East Park Manor housing complex in Muskegon Heights.

Its alleged that Gates used a 9mm handgun to shoot twice into the car that Madison was driving, said Matt Roberts, chief trial attorney for the Muskegon County Prosecutors Office. Gates told investigating officers that she has a concealed pistol license, Roberts told MLive.

Related: Woman found shot to death in Muskegon Heights

Police said earlier they responded to 615 E. Hovey Ave. on a shots fired call at 3:18 a.m. July 3. When they arrived, officers found the 24-year-old dead in her vehicle, police said.

Madison, who does not live at East Park Manor, had been involved in a heated exchange with a group of eight to 10 people prior to the shooting, Roberts said. The argument lasted less than a couple minutes, he said.

Madison never exited her car, which she was inside by herself, Roberts said.

Investigators have interviewed some witnesses and are poring over surveillance video of the incident, he said. Gates has a relative who lives at East Park Manor, he said.

Open murder covers first- and second-degree murder as well as manslaughter. Gates does not have a criminal record, Roberts said.

Gates was arraigned Monday, July 6, by Muskegon County District Judge Geoffrey Nolan. Bond was set at $250,000 cash or surety and a preliminary examination is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. July 21.

Also on MLive:

Up north travelers beware: U.S. 31 to shut for several weeks east of Ludington

This is our time: Muskegon Black Lives Matter chapter hosts rally for equality

Large crowd packs July 4 lake party in Cass County despite coronavirus restrictions
SAGINAW, MI  When visitors come to Saginaws Ojibway Island, a public park on the Saginaw River, they are greeted by a stone monument recognizing a Jesuit missionary priest as the first white man in the Saginaw Valley.

The monument says Father Henri Nouvel celebrated Mass on the banks of the river in 1675.

The Saginaw City Council is now reviewing if the monument is appropriate after a citizen raised the issue at a recent online council meeting.

The national dialogue is pushing for racial justice, said Alexander Verdoni, who addressed the council. Theres a lot of different things we can do to approach, and I think one important thing to look at - the way monuments kind of upset people. I kind of wanted to bring that to their (city councils) attention.

The monument was erected in 1952 by the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw to mark Nouvels nearly month-long journey from St. Ignace by canoe to the Saginaw River, where he celebrated the first Mass to take place in the interior of Michigans Lower Peninsula. Centuries later, Nouvel Catholic High School was established in Saginaw County and is named after the priest, according to the Nouvel Catholic Central website.

A lot of people look up to him in the Catholic Church, Verdoni said. Henri Nouvel would not identify himself by his race, he would identify himself by his faith.

Verdonis family is from Saginaw, but he was born and raised in California. Since his recent move to the area, his friends pointed out the monument and expressed their dissatisfaction with it, he said.

Ojibway Island, where the monument is located, is named after Indigenous people, but theres no marker to explain who they were, Verdoni added.

Saginaw Mayor Floyd Kloc said the city council has elevated Verdonis concern to City Manager Tim Morales to look into the matter more. Kloc said there are competing interests regarding the monument.

Saginaw City Councilwoman Jamie Forbes said Morales has reached out to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Council to hear its thoughts on the matter.

Nouvel Catholic Central Schools Superintendent Cormac Lynn declined to comment on the situation, explaining he was unaware of the issue.

When asked if changing the wording of the monument would solve his concerns, Verdoni said he feels the issue is greater than just words.

Its more than just changing the wording, Verdoni explained. Its about recognizing people that used to live in the land and are no longer here because we pushed them out through violence, and through economic oppression and all kinds of ways.

Forbes is encouraging citizens who have thoughts on the monument to sign up for public comment at the next city council meeting on July 13, by calling the City Clerks office by noon that day at 989-399-1311.

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Test setup including high-pressure cell for the Fischer-Tropsch measurement campaign using the CAT-ACT measurement line at the KIT synchrotron. (Photo: Tiziana Carambia)

Suitable catalysts are of great importance for efficient power-to-X applications  but the molecular processes occurring during their use have not yet been fully understood. Using X-rays from a synchrotron particle accelerator, scientists of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now been able to observe for the first time a catalyst during the Fischer-Tropsch reaction that facilitates the production of synthetic fuels under industrial conditions. It is intended to use the test results for the development of bespoke power-to-X catalysts. The team has published the results in the scientific journal Reaction & Chemical Engineering. (DOI: 10.1039/c9re00493a)

On the way to a CO2-neutral society, power-to-X processes (P2X), i.e. processes that convert renewable energy into chemical energy sources, support the interlocking of different sectors. For example, synthetic fuels can be produced from wind or solar power, enabling climate-friendly mobility and goods transport without additional greenhouse gas emissions. The Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), which is necessary for this purpose among other things, yielding long-chain hydrocarbons for the production of petrol or diesel from carbon monoxide and hydrogen, is an established process in the chemical industry. However, even though more than one hundred years have passed since the discovery of this technology, the processes involved are still not fully understood scientifically: This applies in particular to the structural changes in the catalysts required for the process under industrial conditions, says Professor Jan-Dierk Grunwaldt from the Institute for Chemical Technology and Polymer Chemistry (ITCP) of KIT. During the reaction, undesirable by-products can be formed or disruptive structural changes in the catalyst can occur. So far, it has not been explained sufficiently how this happens exactly during the reaction and what the effects on the overall process are.

In a transdisciplinary project, in cooperation with P2X experts from the Institute for Micro Process Engineering (IMVT) and the Institute of Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT) of KIT, the team has now achieved a breakthrough in understanding the FTS at the atomic level. For the analysis, we use methods of synchrotron research, i.e. X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, explains Marc-Andre Serrer (IKFT), one of the authors of the study. This was the first time that we were able to watch, so to speak, an FTS catalyst at work at the atomic level under real process conditions. While catalytic reactions had already been studied beforehand with a synchrotron, a special particle accelerator for generating particularly intense X-ray radiation, reactions that take place over a long period of time and at high temperatures and pressures, as in real-time operation at a P2X facility, have so far presented an obstacle. For the experiment at KIT, a novel high-pressure infrastructure has now been added to the CAT-ACT measuring line (CATalysis and ACTinide measuring line) designated for catalyst studies at the KIT synchrotron. With this infrastructure  which was built as part of the German Federal government's Kopernikus projects for the energy turnaround  it was possible to determine the function of a commercial cobalt-nickel catalyst operando at 250 C and 30 bar for more than 300 hours during the FTS. This was also the first time that a sufficient quantity of hydrocarbons could be produced in such an experiment that could be analyzed afterwards.

Catalyst development at the computer

The experiment allowed the scientists to identify hydrocarbon deposits that hinder the diffusion of the reactive gases towards the active catalyst particles. In the next step, these insights can be used to protect the catalyst specifically against these deactivation mechanisms, says Grunwaldt. This is done, for example, by modifying the catalyst with promoters, i.e. substances that improve the properties of the catalyst. In the future, the novel atomic understanding of catalytic reactions will contribute to computer simulations for a fast, resource-saving and cost-effective development of bespoke catalysts for P2X processes.

Original publication:

Loewert, M., Serrer, M.-A., Carambia, T., Stehle, M., Zimina, A., Kalz, K. F., Lichtenberg, H., Saraci, E., Pfeifer, P., & Grunwaldt, J.-D. (2020). Bridging the gap between industry and synchrotron: an operando study at 30 bar over 300 h during FischerTropsch synthesis. Reaction Chemistry & Engineering, 5(6), 10711082. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9re00493a

More about the KIT Energy Center: http://www.energie.kit.edu

Further material:

Link to the publication in Reaction & Chemical Engineering: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/re/c9re00493a#!divAbstract

Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,600 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 23,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos are pushing states to reopen schools this fall after many closed this spring amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Associated Press.

We want to reopen the schools. Everybody wants it. The moms want it, the dads want it, the kids want it. Its time to do it, Trump said at a White House event. Were very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.

According to the Associated Press, Trump did not specify how he would pressure governors on the issue. He has said on Twitter reluctance to reopen schools is political.

Corrupt Joe Biden and the Democrats dont want to open schools in the Fall for political reasons, not for health reasons! They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020

Its not clear, yet, if Michigan schools will open in the fall. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has instructed districts to make different plans, ranging from all-online instruction to full in-person instruction. Which plan the districts pursue will be based on which economic recovery phase is in at the time.

If the state is in Phase 3, the flattening phase, schools will pursue remote learning. If its in Phase 4, the improving phase, schools can pursue in-person instruction with strict protocols. In Phase 5, the containing phase, schools can resume in-person instruction with more flexibility.

Related: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveils guide on reopening Michigan schools this fall

And if students do return for in-person instruction, Michigan schools will face a slew of new requirements and recommendations meant to keep COVID-19 from spreading.

Michigan schools have been closed to in-person instruction since March 16, when Whitmer ordered buildings closed as the state grappled with the spread of coronavirus. As of July 7, he state has reported 66,627 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 6,005 deaths.

Whitmer said on June 30 she was optimistic Michigan schools would be able to resume in-person instruction in the fall.

But the plan released by her task force on returning students to schools strongly recommends spacing students six feet apart, and keeping class sizes small enough to accommodate that spacing. To accomplish that, the plan encourages schools to consider implementing a staggered school schedule that incorporates alternative dates of attendance or use of virtual teaching.

Plans for partial attendance are not acceptable to DeVos, according to comments she made on a call with state governors, which was obtained by the Associated Press.

She said anything less than fully operational schools would fail students and taxpayers.

Ultimately, its not a matter of if schools need to open, its a matter of how. School must reopen, they must be fully operational. And how that happens is best left to education and community leaders, DeVos told governors, according to the Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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.

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Michigan reported 454 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, July 7, as the seven-day moving average inches closer to 400 new cases per day.

The state also announced 30 more deaths, though only 10 of them were from the last 24 hours. The other 20 were late additions discovered during the Department of Health and Human Services regular vital records review.

In total, Michigan has reported 66,627 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 6,005 deaths linked to the infectious respiratory virus since March. The state has also reported another 7,273 probable cases and 246 probable deaths in which an individual is suspected of having COVID-19 but without a positive test.

Health officials recommend looking at seven-day moving averages to determine trends. Michigans average for new cases per day is up to 394 -- the highest its been since May 22.

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Related: Gov. Whitmer will roll back Michigan reopenings if coronavirus cases keep climbing

The average for new coronavirus deaths reported per day is down to eight -- the lowest since March 23.

Michigans case fatality rate is 9 percent. Eighty-seven percent of the states deaths have been of individuals 60 or older. Black residents have been hit the hardest, accounting for 1,582 deaths per million people, compared to 387 deaths per million people for white residents.

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All 83 Michigan counties have reported at least one case of coronavirus to date. Forty-two counties reported no new cases on Tuesday.

Wayne County accounted for 90 of the new cases reported Tuesday, followed by Kent (68), Oakland (52), Macomb (35), Ottawa (19) and Kalamazoo (18). Ingham, Washtenaw, Calhoun and Crawford counties also reported double-digit increases.

For new deaths, Wayne County reported 11, followed by Oakland and Macomb counties with four each, and Kent County with three.

Heres a look at the five Michigan counties with the most confirmed cases.

1. Wayne County: 22,396 cases (2,621 deaths)

2. Oakland County: 9.175 cases (1053 deaths)

3. Macomb County: 7,374 cases (886 deaths)

4. Kent County: 4,943 cases (136 deaths)

5. Genesee County: 2,251 cases (263 deaths)

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Michigans cumulative positive test rate has risen slightly of late to 3.34 percent. It hasnt surpassed 4 percent in more than a month.

On Monday, July 6, the state processed 15,965 diagnostic tests, of which 533 came back positive. Thats a rate of 3.45 percent positive.

To find a testing site near you, check out the states online test finder, here, send an email to COVID19@michigan.gov, or call 888-535-6136 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

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

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:

More than 2 million Michigan workers have received unemployment benefits since pandemic began

185 Michigan businesses got at least $5 million in federal paycheck protection dollars

Bars, workplaces, private gatherings fuel Michigans recent increases in coronavirus

Tuesday, July 7: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel on Tuesday announced Michigan was spearheading a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos over the distribution of funding under a federal coronavirus relief package.

The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act allocated $13 billion in emergency education funding to states to support school districts, according to a document from the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor. The funding was allocated for things like sanitizing schools, purchasing educational technology and training teachers to use online tools.

But state officials say the guidance the U.S. Department of Education issued on how to actually distribute those funds runs contrary to the law and pushes money toward private schools.

Unfortunately, this most recent action by Secretary DeVos is really just another example in a long history of an administration that uses any and every opportunity available to tip the scales in favor of private schools at the great expense of our public schools, said Attorney General Dana Nessel at a press conference announcing the lawsuit Thursday.

Whitmer, who is coordinating with the Attorney Generals office and supporting the suit, said it was time to hold DeVos accountable.

Students have missed out on graduations and proms and seeing their friends at school every day. Theyve done their part to protect one another... now its time for the federal government to do their part, Whitmer said.

The state joined a lawsuit against a U.S. Department of education rule requiring local education authorities getting the money to either distribute the funds to public and private schools or pick between two to distribute it under Title I, which targets disadvantaged students, while still taking students at private schools into account.

U.S. Department of Education Press Secretary Angela Morabito said in a statement, While the Department does not comment on pending litigation, the Secretary has said many times, this pandemic affected all students, and the CARES Act requires that funding should be used to help all students. There is no reasonable explanation for debating the use of federal funding to serve both public and private K-12 students when federal funding, including CARES Act funding, flows to both public and private higher education institutions.

In a June 25 press release about the decision, DeVos said it decision provided equity.

The CARES Act is a special, pandemic-related appropriation to benefit all American students, teachers, and families impacted by coronavirus, said Secretary DeVos. There is nothing in the law Congress passed that would allow districts to discriminate against children and teachers based on private school attendance and employment.

But according to State Superintendent Michael Rice, the move diverted $16 million from Michigan public schools in favor of private ones.

Any siphoning off of public school funds to nonpublic schools in unacceptable, he said Tuesday.

The case, which four other states and the District of Columbia are also parties in, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday. Nessel said she would ask for a preliminary injunction, which would halt the rules implementation, within the next couple of weeks.

The move met with opposition from private school groups, including the Michigan Association of Nonpublic Schools.

The announcement made today by Governor Whitmer, Attorney General Nessel and State Superintendent Rice was disappointing. The pandemic has impacted all students and their schools in Michigan. Congress intended CARES Act funding to serve all students, in both public and nonpublic schools alike, said Executive Director Brian Broderick in a statement.

The Tri-County Alliance for Public Education was among the school groups supporting the governors actions.

Schools across Michigan are facing billions of dollars in shortfalls, with the first day of school year now less than two months away. Its critical that the limited resources that have been allocated to schools go where theyre intended and needed most - the classrooms of our public schools, said Executive Director Robert McCann in a statement.

Note: This story has been updated with comment from the U.S. Department of Education.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

Related stories:

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveils guide on reopening Michigan schools this fall

Masks, class sizes and busing: 10 ways Michigan schools could look different this fall

Coronavirus shutdown of Michigan schools creates unprecedented challenge for educators, families
More than 82% of Michigan workers who had their unemployment claims flagged as potentially fraudulent have had their account issues resolved, the state says.

About 540,000 accounts were flagged in May and June, causing delays in payments, the Unemployment Insurance Agency says. About 445,000 of those claimants have had the issue resolved. That leaves about 95,000 accounts in limbo  although some of them could be actually fraudulent.

In total, 2 million of the 2.4 million Michiganders who filed for unemployment since March 14 have received at least one payment. Some were deemed ineligible for benefits, while others failed to certify their accounts.

The Unemployment Insurance Agency has made a determination on all eligible, certified claims filed before May 1. It plans to make a determination on the 30,000 unpaid accounts filed before June 1 by July 20.

What does make a determination mean? The UIA will either pay out the benefits owed, determine somebody is ineligible and communicate to the claimant why or deem a person unreachable if multiple attempts to reach them fail.

While there is only small percentage of eligible workers who have yet to be paid, we know that is no consolation to the thousands of claimants who are frustrated, desperate and owed the benefits they were promised, said UIA Director Steve Gray in a news release. We will not rest until the claims backlog is eliminated and all eligible Michigan workers get every single dollar they are entitled to.

Michigan had a 21.2% unemployment rate in May, according to the most recently available data from the state. The nationwide unemployment rate dropped from 13.3% in May to 11.1% in June.

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.

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Ballot language on a petition to repeal one of the laws granting Gov. Gretchen Whitmers emergency powers was approved Monday morning.

The Board of State Canvassers unanimously approved the language for Unlock Michigans initiative to repeal the Emergency Powers of Governor Act at a July 6 meeting.

The board also rejected a recall petition against the governor after finding some of the language was not factual.

Fred Wszolek, spokesperson for Unlock Michigan, said the petition was filed 15 days ago. The organization will need 340,047 valid signatures in support of its petition within 180 days to put the measure before the legislature. The governor would not be able to veto the repeal if it were approved. Unlock Michigan aims to collect 500,000 signatures and submit them to the state for review.

"Yesterday, we finally got the green light and we will be on the streets with petitions in a day or two," Wszolek said.

There are two laws on the books that give the governor emergency powers. One, the Emergency Management Act, enacted in 1976 allows her to declare a state of emergency and then renew that state of emergency with the consent of the legislature every four weeks.

Another law, the Emergency Powers of Governor Act, passed in 1945, allows a governor to declare a state of emergency and operate under the state of emergency until they deem it to be over.

Everybody that weve talked to thinks thats a silly idea, Wszolek said. Under the current circumstances, the problem of COVID still exists, but the emergency has long since stopped and we can get back to governing the normal way.

Wszolek said Whitmer is micromanaging every aspect of life, commerce and culture.

"This is a complete overreach," Wszolek said. "No governor, under any circumstances, should have this power."

The Michigan Democratic Party released a statement on Monday calling the petitions attempt to remove Whitmers emergency powers reckless and irresponsible.

The petition is backed by Michigan GOP, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and other Republicans in the legislature.

Tim Carroll, Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson, said Unlock Michigan is using the COVID-19 crisis for political gain.

Governor Whitmers leadership during this crisis has saved lives, and as cases rise across the country, its now more important than ever to support the governor and fight back against these frivolous attacks, Caroll said.

Related stories:

Whitmer shuts down indoor bar service in most of Michigan

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveils guide on reopening Michigan schools this fall

Michigan gyms and fitness centers wont reopen Thursday after all

Recovery from coronavirus recession has begun, but Michigan unemployment remains among worst in U.S.
A Republican candidate for Michigans 11th U.S. House District filed a complaint with police Sunday against a man accused of stealing campaign signs in Canton Township.

The campaigns of 11th District hopeful Whittney Williams and Canton Township Supervisor Pat Williams, two Republicans who are are not related, say they noticed multiple campaign signs disappeared during the last few weeks. Williams campaign believes it has identified the perpetrator, a retired member of an electrical workers union. The man was caught on camera after staking out a location where signs were posted. Attempts to reach the man and the union for comment were unsuccessful Tuesday

The video shows a brief encounter between the man, holding several campaign signs in hand, and a person affiliated with Whittney Williams campaign. The man said he was removing the signs because they look nasty, but said he would return them after being confronted.

A spokesperson for Williams House campaign said a police report was filed with the Canton Police Department on July 5. The campaign forwarded videos and photos of the suspect to police. The Canton Police Department confirmed the case remains under investigation, but did not provide additional detail Tuesday.

In Michigan, removing campaign materials from private property without gaining permission from the property owner is illegal. Stealing or defacing signs is a misdemeanor that can carry a $500 fine or imprisonment of up to 90 days, according to state law.

Considering that radical leftists want to destroy Americas history, censor opposing views on social media and shout down any form of debate, stealing yard signs seems par for the course, Williams said in a statement.

Williams is among five Republicans facing off in the Aug. 4 primary election, along with Frank Acosta, Kerry Bentivolio, Erik Esshaki and Carmelita Greco. The winner will take on U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Bloomfield Township, who seeks to defend her seat after flipping the formerly right-leaning district in 2018.

Stevens won an open race for the seat vacated by Republican Dave Trott, becoming the first Democrat elected to serve a full-term representing the district in its current configuration. The 11th District covers the southeastern region of the Lower Penninsula, including portions of Oakland and Wayne counties.

Williams is a first-generation Taiwanese American who lived in the United States illegally for 16 years during her youth.

Williams said her experience living while undocumented and gaining citizenship shaped her belief in the American dream. She became a citizen in 2013 after marrying her husband and is running to fight back against the radical lefts socialist agenda.

Williams supports Trumps border wall and immigration policies, also pledging to modernize the immigration process on her campaign website.

Before running for office, Williams spent the last several years traveling the country working as a U.S. auto show product specialist. She is also a professional actor and model who appeared in advertisements for the Pure Michigan tourism campaign.

READ MORE:

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Pro-Trump immigrant to challenge Stevens for Congress in 2020

Who is running for Congress in 2020? Michigans top races to watch

Federal judge throws out Republican lawsuit against Michigan redistricting commission
Michigan reports 297 new coronavirus cases, 3 new deaths

The state confirmed another 297 cases of COVID-19 on Monday, July 6 pushing Michigans current total to 66,173.

Officials also confirmed three new COVID-19 deaths, pushing the states total to 5,975 deaths related to the virus.

The daily increase in cases was the smallest in five days. Still, Michigans seven-day moving average has climbed from 290 new cases per day to 382 in a week.

Since mid-March, Michigan has reported 66,171 known cases of COVID-19, including 5,975 cases in which the individual died. More than 52,841 patients have recovered, meaning they survived 30 days past the onset of their illness.

Track coronavirus cases in your Michigan county for month of June

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.

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.

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A dozen coronavirus cases tied to Detroit area strip club

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 wasnt 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.

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Bars, workplaces, private gatherings fuel Michigans recent increases in coronavirus

Michigans COVID-19 cases are starting to slowly increase: As recently as June 15, Michigan reported only 74 new cases of coronavirus for the day. Thursday, July 2, it was 543.

Health officials point to a number of factors: Outbreaks in workplaces, including migrant camps where workers are living in close quarters; private gatherings, especially as people celebrate Fathers Day, graduations and the end of quarantine; the reopening of restaurants and retail places, which means more people are out and about; mass protests for racial injustice.

The reopening of bars has been particularly problematic -- so much so that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced last week that Michigan bars in most of the Lower Peninsula are once again prohibited from serving alcohol indoors.

Before Whitmer issued her July 1 executive order, multiple restaurants and bars in the Grand Rapids area -- including B.O.B., Butchers Union, OTooles, Osteria Rossa, Donkey Taqueria and Olives Restaurant and Bar -- all announced temporary closures after employees tested positive for COVID-19.

I just want to hug my mom: COVID visitation ban takes emotional toll on nursing-home residents, families

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.

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.

More coronavirus coverage on MLive:

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Ghanaian musician, Kwabena Kwabena, has threatened to sue Kontihene over defamatory statements against him.

Over the last few days, Kontihene made some damning revelations about Kwabena Kwabena in an interview.

According to Kontihene, Kwabena Kwabena has been on drugs for as long as he can remember.

Responding to the allegations in an interview on Accra FM last Saturday, Kwabena Kwabena told host, Nana Romeo, that this was not the first time the rapper, Kontihene, had made such allegations against him.

According to him, it all started in 2006, He cursed me in 2006he told one of his friends, Nana Adu Sei, that If I was able to release a song that would be bigger than Asor, then God was not alivein 2016 he wanted us to do a song together and I did not do it, he stated.

He is making dangerous allegations that he has made bad investment for spending his money on meI will take him to court. You do not do that, he should be very careful, maybe he wants to do something and is riding on my name, that is okay, but to go that length to denigrate me is not appropriate, Kwabena Kwabena added.

Based on this, Kwabena Kwabena said Kontihene should prepare to meet him at the law court.

He further stated that he did not want to talk, but the defamatory remarks from Kontihene were becoming many.
Hundred (100) Entrepreneurs in the Obuasi Municipality have undergone training on the best practices to manage their businesses, become profitable, and employ more.

This forms part of the Presidential Business Support Programme (PBSP) being rolled out by the National Entrepreneurship Innovation Program (NEIP) under the Ministry of Business Development.

The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (NEIP) was launched in 2017 with a yearly Business Support for Micro, small and medium-size Entrepreneurs to help develop and expand their businesses with a sole aim of sustaining Ghanaian-owned businesses for 100 years and over for it to be profitable and also be able to employ at least two persons throughout the whole year.

This year, the Business Support Program will aid businesses with a loan between 5000gh and 50,000gh per your business to be repaid at a reducing balance rate of 10% which is unprecedented. The repayment period is 2 years with a moratorium of 3 -6 months before repayment begins.

For this money to be disbursed to successful applicants, they needed to go through rigorous training for a week, after which business pitching will be done and successful applicants will be selected. However, because of the COVID-19 this year, the training which was supposed to be done in March and April was rescheduled to June-July with a one day (2/3-hour period) and observing all social distancing protocols.

Initially it was opened to the general public where everything was done online but government has decided to include the MMDAs this time around.

Emmanuel Asante Okoto, a Consultant of NEIP and the CEO of Kumasi City Incubation Hub explained the rationale behind the training program. He said, this year, the NEIP is training 100 applicants (idea businesses, start up or existing businesses) from all 260 MMDAs.

He revealed that from 2017 to 2019 they have trained 19,000 applicants and supported 4350 businesses with loans to help expand their businesses. It is expected to help entrepreneurs desirous of creating jobs for others.

Mr. Asante Okoto minced no words in stating that, the only criteria for selecting those who will benefit from the loan facility will be businesses that have the capacity to employ more people and have the potentials to stand the test of time.

On his part the Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi, Honorable Elijah Adansi-Bonah said the program clearly defines the Npp Government's agenda of helping local businesses to thrive and also create jobs for the people.

" This training workshop will provide an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to be equipped with the knowledge to stand in a better position to expand their businesses and employ more people. I am particularly happy it has been extended to the District level".

The 100 people were selected from the 19 Electoral Areas in the Obuasi Municipality.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has criticised the credibility of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as the choice of running mate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama.

The NPP at a press conference on Monday, July 6, 2020, questioned the integrity and commitment of madam Opoku-Agyemang during her tenure as Education Minister under the erstwhile Mahama-led administration.

Addressing the media, Communications Director of the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa cited, among other things, cancellation of the teacher trainee allowance, freeze on education sector employment and their signing of the petition to have the Montie trio released as some of the decisions that ultimately make her unfit for the new role.

Teachers were the highest hit when Naana Opoku-Agyemang was Education Minister. These inhumane treatments meted out to Ghanaian teachers at the time was the brainchild of Naana Opoku-Agyemang the-then Minister of Education. We need not remember anybody that the cold-hearted manner by which teachers were treated cannot be forgotten easily by the teachers themselves or the nation. The worst thing associated with her name is the Montie 3 saga. When the trio threatened death on some Supreme Court Justices, she was one of the people who joined the campaign and appended her signature to have the trio who had been incarcerated at the Nsawam Prison released against sound advice by well-meaning Ghanaians. How can such a woman be given such a responsibility now to take care of everybody in the country?

Mr. Buaben Asamoa concluded that Mr. Mahamas running mate poses a serious danger to the countrys development because she has nothing relevant to offer Ghanaians.

We wonder what message candidate Mahama is sending to Ghanaians by picking Opoku-Agyemnag as Vice Presidential candidate when her stewardship in the past brought hardship to teachers and trauma to her colleague women. While we wish the NDC well in this regard, we also wish to tell the NDC that we are ready to tell Ghanaians about the dangers she poses to our growth and development as a country, he said.

Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has praised his running mate for the 2020 general elections, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang after the selection.

Mr. Mahama says he is impressed by the credentials and virtues upheld by the choice he made.

In a post on Facebook shortly after the announcement, he described Madam Opoku-Agyemang as God-fearing, a distinguished scholar, a conscientious public servant, and a role model.

The National Executive Committee of 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 wrote.

John Dramani Mahama, made the announcement at the party's National Executive Committee today, despite an earlier level of resistance by some officials of the NDC, according to Citi News sources.

The John Mahama and Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang are seeking to recapture power from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia in the December polls.

---citinewsroom
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Brazzaville, 06 July 2020  Burkina Faso today concluded a four-day mass polio immunization campaign, vaccinating 174 304 children under five years of age in two districts of the countrys Centre-East region while observing COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures.

The campaign is the first to be conducted since the government suspended all mass immunization on 27 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic to comply with the physical distancing guidelines to curb transmission of the virus.

As immunization campaigns resume, World Health Organization (WHO) teams at both regional and country offices have developed guidance for countries and frontline workers to ensure their safety and that of the children and their families.

All vaccinators and health care workers involved have been trained on maintaining physical distancing while conducting the vaccination. Additionally, a total of 41 250 masks, as well as 200 litres of hand sanitizers, were made available through the COVID-19 Committee in the country to the 2000 frontline workers who took part in the immunization campaign.

While mass immunizations were suspended, health facilities were still operating, offering routine vaccination services. However, parents and caregivers expressed some hesitation to vaccinate their children for fear of contracting COVID-19, leading to a 10% drop in vaccination rates, according to WHO teams in the country.

"We cannot wait for the COVID-19 pandemic to be contained to resume immunization activities. If we stop immunization for too long, including for polio, vaccine-preventable diseases will have a detrimental effect on childrens health across the region," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

The campaigns run by the Polio Eradication Programme demonstrate that mass immunization can be safely conducted under the strict implementation of COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines, added Dr Moeti.

Burkina Faso received its wild poliovirus-free status in 2015 yet is currently one of 15 countries in the African Region which are experiencing outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, a rare form of the virus that affects unimmunized and under-immunized populations living in areas with inadequate sanitation and low levels of polio immunization.

As of 27 June, the countrys disease surveillance system had detected 10 cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus transmission in the districts of Ouargaye, Bittou, Bogodogo, Kaya, Tougouri, Signoghin, Sapone and Dori, requiring an urgent response.

Suspending immunization activities, even though necessary to protect frontline workers and the community, has derailed our response to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus. However, our teams have been working non-stop across the region to ensure that in addition to supporting the COVID-19 response, we continue essential disease surveillance and plan for the resumption of polio outbreak response once the situation permits, said Dr Pascal Mkanda, Coordinator of WHO Polio Eradication Programme in the African Region.

The WHO African Region set up an inter-agency Rapid Response Team in September 2019 to mobilise responses to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks in the region within 72 hours. Campaigns involve conducting three rounds of immunization campaigns in affected areas within three months, with the first round conducted within the first 14 days. The Rapid Response Team has succeeded in ending three outbreaks in Kenya, Mozambique and Niger.

From 10 to 13 July, Angola is planning a polio vaccination campaign, targeting 1,287,717 children under five years of age. The campaign staff of 14,742 will include 4,309 vaccinators. Like Burkina Faso, strict infection prevention control measures are in place, including the distribution of 90,000 masks and 23,000 sanitizers of 500ml from the country Ministry of Health.

Polio is a viral disease, that is transmitted from person to person, mainly through a faecal-oral route or, less frequently, through contaminated water or food, and multiplies inside the intestines.

While there is no cure for polio, the disease can be prevented through the administration of a simple and effective vaccine. That is why efforts are underway across every country to rapidly boost immunity levels in children and protect them from polio paralysis.

No wild poliovirus has been detected anywhere in Africa since 2016. This stands in stark contrast to 1996, a year when wild poliovirus paralysed more than 75,000 children across every country on the continent. The Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC), the independent commission designated to certify the eradication of wild poliovirus in the WHO African Region is expected to certify the region free of wild poliovirus in August 2020.

About circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus in the African Region

Vaccine-derived polioviruses are rare, but these viruses affect unimmunized and under-immunized populations living in areas with inadequate sanitation and low levels of polio immunization. When children are immunized with the oral polio vaccine, the attenuated vaccine virus replicates in their intestines for a short time to build up the needed immunity and is then excreted in the faeces into the environment where it can mutate. If polio immunization coverage remains low in a community and sanitation remains inadequate, the mutated viruses will be transmitted to susceptible populations, leading to the emergence of vaccine-derived polioviruses.

Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Togo and Zambia are challenged by weak routine vaccination coverage, vaccine refusal, difficult access to some locations and low-quality vaccination campaigns, as well as security challenges, which have made immunization of all children difficult.

The World Health Organization contributes to a better future for people everywhere. Good health lays the foundation for vibrant and productive communities, stronger economies, safer nations and a better world. As the lead health authority within the United Nations system, our work touches peoples lives around the world every day. In Africa, WHO serves 47 Member States and works with development partners to improve the health and well-being of all people living here.
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The French presidential palace on Monday revealed the names of its revamped government under new Prime Minister Jean Castex, with big surprises at the interior and justice ministry.

The full line-up of government ministers following President Emmanuel Macron's reshuffle has been released and is complete with new promotions and departures.

Who got promoted?

Gerald Darmanin, until now budget minister, replaces Christophe Castaner as interior minister. Darmanin's promotion however has not gone down well with feminists, who have been quick to point out that the new interior minister is facing allegations of rape.

Eric Dupond-Moretti, a criminal lawyer who has defended personalities such as Abdelkader Merah, the brother of terrorist Mohamed Merah, business tycoon Bernard Tapie, and more recently right-wing mayor Patrick Balkany, takes over from Nicole Belloubet as the new justice minister.

Moretti, renowned for getting his clients acquitted, has been very critical of the justice system and the police and recently wrote an op-ed letter stating that "a police officer who commits a racist act must have his uniform immediately removed."

Barbara Pompili, a former member of France's green party, is the new Environment Minister in place of Elisabeth Borne. She comes from a mining family and has said that growing up in this environment opened her eyes to the necessity to plan for an ecological transition.

The environment ministry is now listed as one of the top portfolios. President Macron is keen to tap into the wave of popularity expressed for Green parties in local voting last month.

Roselyne Bachelot, a former minister under right-wing leaders Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, returns to government as minister of culture, taking over from Franck Riester. After 8 years away from the limelight, the 73-year-old, who has been very vocal on the Covid-19 crisis, describes herself as a passionate music fan.

Elisabeth Moreno makes her debut entry into government as Equality Minister in place of Marlene Schiappa who becomes state secretary to interior minister Gerald Darmanin.

Who is staying put?

Despite lots of speculation before the reshuffle, the great offices of state remain untouched, with Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire safe to steer the economy through its worst crisis since World War II. Le Maire will do so under a new title of minister of finance and recovery.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer and Defence Minister Florence Parly are also staying put.

Who is out?

Muriel Penicaud, up until now the Work Minister has been replaced by Elisabeth Borne, the former Environment Minister who will be in charge of pushing through tough pension reforms.

Christophe Castaner is out after his fallout with the police who accused him of not supporting them over allegations of racism.

Nicole Belloubet, up until now the Justice Minister leaves a troubled ministry facing multiple challenges, including accusations it led government meddle in its affairs.

Sibeth Ndiaye, up until now the government spokesperson, Ndiaye said she preferred to leave her role due to personal and family reasons.

In total, the new line-up contains 16 ministers and 14 under secretaries.

They are slated to meet on Tuesday for their first cabinet meeting and Act 3 of Macron's new government.
The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) says former President John Dramani Mahama's choice of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, shows that he is not serious.

Prof Opoku-Agyemang was confirmed on Monday, July 6, 2020 by the National Executive Committee of the NDC as running mate of Mr Mahama for the 2020 presidential election.

But the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) at a press conference on Monday evening, expressed the belief that the former president John Mahama has shot himself in the foot by choosing Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate.

Prof Opoku-Agyemang was a former vice chancellor of the University of Cape Coast.

She was also Minister of Education under the erstwhile Mahama-led NDC Government.

While congratulating Prof. Opoku-Agyemang for the feat, the NPP says her track record will erode the gains of the Umbrella Family.

Speaking at the press conference, the director of communications of the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoah reminded Ghanaians about the scrapping of the teachers' trainee allowances under her tenure as education minister, the signing of a petition for the release of the Montie 3 who threatened justices of the Supreme Court among other hardships teachers went through.

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, he said.

When she reigned as the Minister for Education, he said, Teachers were paid three months' arrears for three years of work, sometimes more than that and sometimes less than that, adding tha Yearly incremental jump in salary scales of Teachers was wickedly cancelled.

He stated under her reign, 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, he added.

He recounted that 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, Mr Asamoah added, 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 NPP."

Daily Guide
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Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang is a colossal figure who promises re- definition of genuine leadership that is on demand currently. She believes in broad based commitment to development. She contributed to the establishment of University of Cape Coast Medical School.

Do not limit her constituency to Cape Coast and the University.

She has unlimited constituencies because majority of Ghanaians who are crying for true leadership without dividing the country come from constituencies across the country. They are looking for inclusive governance , protection of businesses and respect for all.

On the economy, an economy is run by a team and not one person. The late Aliu Mahama was the Head of the Economic Management team. Prof. Naana has the ability to put together the complement of men and women as well as the youth to implement and monitor a manifesto derived from the people. The NDC has many astute finance and economics professionals to constitute a formidable team.

The economy is about commitment to the people and development.

Challenging Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang about the economy is like asking whether a professor of English is qualified to be the Vice Chancellor of a University with Medical School, Agriculture, Economics and Engineering as Programs. The answer is obvious.

The fixation about somebody being the Chairman of the Economic Management Team is to hype without substance. For the avoidance of doubt the word is team and the Chairman of the team must have the ability to collate the assessment by the team to redirect the various sectors.This ability is what Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang brings to support the flag bearer.

Recall that when the late Prof Mills was implementing strategic projects such as the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant, removing Schools under tree, completing N1 highway and promoting peace among Ghanaians, the Head of the Economic Management Team was H.E. John Mahama who has no Economics title.
Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, the running mate for John Dramani Mahama for the 2020 general elections on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has expressed her readiness to support the party's flagbearer to win the elections.

The presidential candidate of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama named the former Minister of Education today, July 6, 2020, in Accra.

In a statement, Professor Opoku-Agyemang indicated that she was delighted to accept the nomination following 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 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.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang also pledged to give off her best in capturing the presidential seat for the NDC.

I have worked with H,E. 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.

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.

---citinewsroom
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Cocoa farmer groups in Nkonya Tayi in the Hohoe-Kpeve Cocoa District of the Volta Region today, 6/07/2020 have received certificates from the Department of Co-operative in conjunction with Ghana Cocoa Board to operate as a legally registered cooperative.

This comes as the fourth community in the Nkonya Operational Area to receive such legal certificates after Nkonya Wurupong, Nkonya Ahenkro, and Nkonya Asakyiri Cocoa Farmer Cooperatives early this year. Receiving the certificate, the Chairman of the Nkonya Tayi Cooperative Cocoa Farmer and Marketing Society Ltd, Mr. William Ohene expressed his happiness to the Department of Cooperatives as well as COCOBOD for the honour and the role that the COCOBOD has reposed in the cooperatives across the Cocoa Industry.

Mr. Ohene added that Nkonya Tayi had produced 80 tonnes of Cocoa per season before, and has hopes that, this cooperative will help us reclaim our past glories. He thanked COCOBOD for the provision of the CocoaBuying Scale and appealed for permanent buyer stationed at Nkonya Tayi to reduce their stress.

The Technical Officer of Extension in the area, Francis M. Eshun, thanked the leadership of the cooperative for their continual support to COCOBOD in carrying out Productivity Enhancements Programmes (PEPs), viz Pruning, Fertilization, Hand Pollination, Irrigation, Rehabilitation, Seedling Distribution aimed at ensuring COCOBOD target of restoring its lead as the worlds largest producer of Cocoa be realized.

The District Extension Officer for Hohoe-Kpeve Cocoa District, Mr. Derick Alabi-Donkoh entreated the farmers to use the cooperative as a base to raise the standards of not only cocoa production but also standard of living among cocoa farmers.

He added with the cooperative in place, the farmers must follow it up by opening the account and ensure it becomes beneficial to them.

He assured the farmers that, the office is still working to ensure the fertilizer they requested is delivered to them.

The Municipal Cooperative Officer in the area, Mr. John Vorvor said, your certificate cannot work on its own, but you the farmers. He delivered five points of advice to the new Cocoa Farmer Cooperative: tolerance; trust; patronage; meeting and establishment of group farm.

He said the farmers should be tolerant of each other, accountable to each other, which will intend lead trust, and they should regularly meet to address issues as well as coming together to establish a group farm, to generate income for the cooperative.

The leadership of the cooperative are Mr. William Ohene, Chairman; Mr. Godfred Adondo, Vice Chairman; Mr. William Kwadje, Secretary; Mr. Yusif Nkansah, Financial Secretary; Ms. Edith Ohene, Treasurer; Ms. Patricia Nyakoa, Adore Agnes, Executive Member, Anthony Sekyere, Executive Member, and Ambrose Komla, Executive Member.
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The National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Joshua Hamidu Akamba has described Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang as "A high-level Competent character by all Standard".

He made these remarks to congratulate the former Education Minister and Vice-Chancellor of UCC on her nomination by HE John Dramani Mahama as the running mate for the NDC towards election 2020.

Mr. Akamba made these statements in the form of a short message on his Facebook Wall a few minutes after the announcement was made by the Flagbearer of NDC.

Hon. Akamba also emphasized that his office will be very ready to work with the Running mate.

If the NDC emerges victorious in the polls, she will be the first female Vice President of Ghana.
The Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery has imposed a 12-hour curfew on the Doba and Kandiga communities in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality and the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.

The Ministry imposed the curfew on the two communities upon advice by the Upper East Regional Security Council following last Saturdays clashes over a disputed parcel of land which claimed six lives.

The curfew which took effect on Monday, July 6, 2020 starts from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am daily until otherwise reviewed.

A statement issued by the sector Minister, Ambrose Dery, said any person or group of persons from the affected communities caught carrying arms, ammunition and offensive weapons will be arrested and prosecuted.

Mr. Dery also appealed to the leadership of the affected communities to exercise restraint and resort to non-violent means of settling disputes to ensure peace in the area.

Background

On July 4, 2020, six persons were killed and 12 houses torched over a renewed land dispute between the people of Doba and Kandiga in the Kassena-Nankana Municipal and Kassana-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.

Four others also sustained various degrees of injury and were receiving treatment at the War Memorial Hospital.

According to the Navrongo Municipal Police Commander, DSP Francis Agyare the people of Doba got infuriated after some suspects from the Kandiga community were granted bail by the Bolga high court in connection with previous disturbances in the area and upon their return home they were celebrated as heroes thus the reprisal attack.

Subsequently, over ten persons were arrested by the Navrongo police command in connection with the clash and are in police custody.

---citinewsroom
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The executives and the entire membership of the Ho-Anlokordzi Branches A, B, and C of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wish to congratulate Prof Jane Nana Agyemang on her nomination as the running mate of HE John Dramani Mahama.

We know your sterling performance as an educationist has earned you this befitting uplift in your political career.

Having known you as a caring, hardworking mother and academician, we do not doubt your ability to live up to your new responsibility.

It is our fervent prayer and hopes that you would work assiduously and live up to all expectations so as to win the heart of Ghanaians and help our flagbearer HE John Dramani Mahama wins the upcoming election come December 7th.

We will also like to caution you to live in the best of harmony with our flagbearer at all times.

We wish to assure you of our unflinching support and that of the good people of the Ho Central Constituency and Volta Region at large.

We also urge you to be fair, firm, and live up above reproach and discharge your duties dispassionately in order for NDC to rescue Ghanaians from this corrupt, scam, lazy and vindictive government.

Lastly, we would like to remind you to also concentrate your efforts in uniting all members of the NDC Party not forgetting the grassroots.

May the good Lord grant you strength, wisdom, and courage to succeed in your new capacity.

Never forget the good Lord who has brought you this far!

Long Live Ghana

Long Live Ho Central Constituency

Long Live Volta NDC

Signed:

COMMUNICATION OFFICERS.

MAWULI DZETROR

BABANTSI PATIENCE

GOHOHO RICHARD KOBLA
The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, says a team of experts has been constituted to assess the circumstances under which more frontline health workers are getting infected by COVID-19.

He says the finding of the team will enable the Ghana Health Service to find a lasting solution to the problem.

The Ghana Medical Association GMA, in a press statement, indicated that over a hundred and fifty doctors and dentists have tested positive for COVID-19 since the outbreak of the virus in Ghana.

Speaking on Citi TV's current affairs programme, The Point of View, Dr. Kuma-Aboagye described the trend as worrying.

We are also currently looking at, most importantly, what circumstances are leading to the increased number of doctors and health workers that are getting infected.

We have commissioned a group that is doing the assessment of not just the numbers but also the circumstances; is it community-based? Is it from colleagues? So we are trying to take a more holistic approach, he added.

Dr. Kuma-Aboagye also said doctors and managers of the countrys health systems should not be blamed for the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

He said citizens must be responsible for their own health and must strictly adhere to all COVID-19 preventive protocols.

The Ghana Medical Association over the weekend revealed that more than 150 medical doctors and dentists have so far tested positive for COVID-19 since the outbreak of the disease in Ghana in March 2020.

Several nurses across the country have also been infected.

The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital has had to cease attending to urgent cases because a large number of its staff at the surgical areas had tested positive for COVID-19.

Given these developments and the recent high numbers of confirmed daily COVID-19 cases, some have called on the government to ensure the risky activities such as the ongoing voter registration exercise be halted, but according to Dr. Kuma-Aboagye, that will not inure to the countrys benefit.

He said, while an imposition of a full lockdown will largely help to stop the spread of COVID-19, that would not be feasible hence the need for Ghanaians to protect themselves and psych themselves to live with the virus.

---citinewsroom
The Electoral Commission (EC) has downplayed calls for the suspension of the ongoing voter registration exercise due to the increasing reports of non-adherence to COVID-19 protocols.

The Acting Director of Public Affairs at the EC, Sylvia Annoh told Citi News that the commission has no intention of stopping the process of registration.

This is despite some medical observers warning of the downside of continuing with the registration, which has just entered its second week.

Some health professionals in the country wrote to the EC asking it to pause the ongoing voter registration exercise until safer ways of conducting the exercise are put in place.

The Founder of the Progressive People's Party, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, also urged the government to prioritise the health of citizens over the need to conduct elections

This is because of the blatant lack of social distancing and other COVID-19 protocols observed at some registration centres.

The EC spokespersons acknowledged some of the concerns but assured that enough was being done to safeguard registration centres.

We are not saying that when you get to the registration centre, there is nothing wrong with what is happening. The commission is making a conscious effort to ensure that the safety protocols are adhered to.

She further insisted that in most of our registration centres, the safety protocols are being adhered to.

The most recent update from the Ghana Health Service indicated a record 992 new COVID-19 cases in Ghana.

This pushed the countrys case count up to 21,077.

The number of discharges has increased to 16,070 while deaths have jumped to 129.

---citinewsroom
"It is due to the lack of a single national data system in Ghana that has currently contributed to the multiple records of bloody violence, beatings and slaps unleashed on innocent Ghanaians at voter registration centres by political hoodlums of the two major political parties, NPP and NDC," Rev. Prince Aidoo, a Ghanaian Social Commentator based in Germany has diagnosed.

According to him, until successive governments put in place a simple single national data system of records, Ghanaians will always taste the ugly side of political violence that the country has often dealt with in recent times.

Rev. Prince Aidoo, who was speaking in an exclusive interview with ModernGhana, revealed that Ghana's digitization should be directed at a single national data to replace all these useless ID Cards including the Ghana Card, VOTER ID, SSNIT Biometric, DVLA License, and NHIS Card.

The ongoing voter registration has recorded some cases of political confrontations and needless bloody attacks.

It is against this background that Rev. Prince Aidoo is calling for a total overhaul of all existing national ID cards in order to make way for a single ID card for Ghanaians.

He revealed that he and his team have the solution to the identification issues in Ghana since they have their possession a comprehensive digital ID system if only the ruling NPP government is committed to changing the status quo.

"We have a very big problem in Ghana; seriously why should people suffer pain and agony at voter registration centres through no fault of theirs. Ghana needs a solid database of its citizens and I can provide that if only the ruling Akufo-Addo-led government and the NPP can give me the chance. We have the capacity to do it. Trust me, if all these are done, the beatings and the political attacks can be avoided," Rev. Prince Aidoo emphasized.

He recalled proposing this single national data system to the late President John Evans Atta Mills and the NDC but his sudden demise contributed to the stalling of the project.

"President Mills was very interested in this digital identification project but his death left us stuck in the middle of nowhere. I invited NDC ministers, MPs, and spent over 150,000 Euros but to no avail," Rev. Prince Aidoo lamented.
Ghanaians have been called upon to rise up to the occasion once again and massively vote for President Nana Akufo-Addo for another four-year term.

The Minister Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen who made the appeal justified why the NPP and Nana Akufo-Addo deserve another term.

Mr. Kyerematen says achievements of the NPP and Nana Akufo-Addo should be rewarded with another term in the 2020 election.

In my humble opinion, Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP have done well. See where the Ghanaian economy was and see where we are now, Nana Addo has done fantastically well, he said.

Speaking to Citi News ahead of the presentation of the governments budget statement, Mr. Kyerematen said Ghanaians should expect something good in the budget. We are aware it is an election year so we will not spend beyond our means.

He added that what we are seeking to do is to balance the revenue and expenditure estimates in such a way we are able to respond to the commitment we made.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta on Citi TVs The Point of View Programme assured Ghanaians that the 2020 budget and economic policy of the government will focus on providing liquidity to boost industrialization in the country.

He says Ghana has gone through three years of macro-economic stability and it was now time to find interventions to boost industrialization in order to sustain the transformation

Alan Kyerematen believes consolidating the gains made so far will be important.

The leadership of the NPP has announced it will hold its Presidential primaries in April next year.

Alan Kyerematen says giving Nana Akufo-Addo another opportunity to lead the NPP into the 2020 election will be the best for the NPP.

Nana Akufo-Addo should be given the chance to lead the party again in 2020, I endorse his candidate for 2020 and l wish he will go unchallenged.
Australia on Tuesday ordered millions of people locked down in its second-biggest city to combat a surge in coronavirus cases, as nations across the planet scrambled to stop the rampaging pandemic.

While some countries are worried about second waves of infections, the worst-hit -- the United States -- was still "knee-deep" in its first, its top expert warned, with cases also surging in India and Brazil.

Global COVID-19 cases have surged past 11.5 million with more than 536,000 dead, and the lingering threat was illustrated by Australia -- which had largely suppressed its outbreak -- locking down five million people in Melbourne to fight a recent spike.

Chart highlighting six countries with most new cases in the past week.. By John SAEKI (AFP)

"We can't pretend" the coronavirus crisis is over, said Daniel Andrews, premier of Victoria state, after its capital Melbourne reported 191 new cases in 24 hours.

"These are unsustainably high numbers... There is simply no alternative (to the lockdown) other than thousands and thousands of cases and potentially more."

The lockdown of the Melbourne metropolitan area would begin at midnight Wednesday and last at least six weeks, while Victoria state will effectively be sealed off from the rest of the country a day earlier.

Fauci warning

The United States is still dealing with its first coronavirus wave, warned Anthony Fauci, its top infectious disease expert.

Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, has warned that the country is still 'knee-deep' in its first coronavirus wave. By POOL (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP)

Officials have warned that hospitals in some parts of the country are in danger of being overwhelmed, with many states hit particularly hard after they eased virus restrictions.

"We are still knee-deep in the first wave of this," warned Fauci on Monday, saying the US never managed to suppress infections to a manageable level before reopening like some European nations.

"We went up, never came down to baseline, and now we're surging back up. So it's a serious situation that we have to address immediately."

The US COVID-19 death toll hit 130,000 on Monday, with confirmed infections fast approaching three million.

Experts say better ventilation and air filters in buildings may be needed to ward off coronavirus infection via airborne droplets. By STR (AFP/File)

Some mayors have said their cities exited lockdown too early, as President Donald Trump tried to downplay the severity of the crisis, instead prioritising economic reopening.

But in the latest example of the human toll, the US government on Monday said it would not allow foreign students to remain in the country if all their classes are moved online because of the virus.

"The worst thing is the uncertainty," said Gonzalo Fernandez, a 32-year-old student from Spain.

"We don't know if we will have classes next semester, if we should go home, if they are going to throw us out."

Bolsonaro tested

Around the world, governments are struggling to balance the need to reopen economies wrecked by weeks of lockdown measures against the risk of new infections.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been slammed for his response to the coronavirus crisis. By Sergio LIMA (AFP/File)

Adding to the complexity of the challenge, a group of experts warned the virus can spread through the air far beyond the two metres (six feet) currently urged in many social distancing guidelines.

There have been explosions of infections across the world, from Iran and South Africa to India and Brazil -- whose virus-sceptic president Jair Bolsonaro was tested for the virus after showing symptoms including fever.

The far-right leader has lashed out at social distancing measures, frequently flouting them, and on Saturday published photos in which he was not wearing a mask at a July 4 event with the US ambassador.

He has been sharply criticised for his response to the crisis, with Brazil becoming the second worst-hit country in the world with more than 65,000 deaths and 1.6 million infections.

burs-qan/rma
A number of pubs in England have shut after customers tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

At least three establishments announced they had shut their doors again just days after reopening at the weekend.

They were among hundreds of venues  most apparently with no problems  that welcomed customers after three months as lockdown measures were eased.

But crowds descending in some towns and cities prompted fears social distancing was being disregarded.

The affected pubs announced their closures via Facebook.

The Lighthouse Kitchen and Carvery in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, said it was slowly working through a list of customers who had left details at the weekend and staff were awaiting their own test results.

In Batley, West Yorkshire, the Fox and Hounds said a customer had phoned to say they had tested positive for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the Village Home Pub in Alverstoke, Hampshire, said some staff were isolating due to a case of coronavirus in the pub.

In Burnham, Indian takeaway Saagar said it would be closing until Friday to undergo a deep clean after one if its drivers had been to the Lighthouse Kitchen, along with bar the Vape Escape, which has also closed for a full clean after a customers positive test.

Leanne Underhill, the owner of the Vape Escape, told burnham-on-sea.com all staff tests had been negative and customers in the bar on Saturday have been contacted, in accordance with government advice.

Somerset County Council said it was not treating the case as an outbreak and asked people to keep to social distancing guidelines and to regularly wash their hands.

The Fox and Hounds said staff had taken tests and the venue would be deep-cleaned prior to reopening.

Customers of the Village Home who had visited at the weekend have been told there was no need to isolate unless they showed symptoms or were contacted by tracers.

All three pubs had previously posted about implementing new social distancing and safety guidelines in line with government advice.

Crowds were seen across England on Super Saturday, as thousands flocked to enjoy a pint.

There were reports of arrests and early venue closures around the country, but police said a majority of people had acted responsibly.

UK pub and hospitality trade bodies have published guidance for bars and restaurants on how to operate contact tracing.

Contact details only need to be taken from one person in a group and must be kept for 21 days.

Owners are also asked to note the arrival times of customers and how long they stay. People can refuse to give information, but owners can choose not to serve them.

--BBC
To commemorate African soldiers who fought to free France during World War II, the French ministry of defense has prepared a report on 100 Africans cited for outstanding service during the war. The report will be presented to mayors around the country who are also being encouraged to use it when re-naming streets and public spaces

Naming streets, squares and schools named after African fighters will ensure that these unrecognized soldiers do not remain unknown soldiers, wrote Genevieve Darrieussecq, France's junior defense minister in the preface of the report.

African troops were essential actors in securing France's freedom, Darrieussecq added.

The report indicates that some 100,000 North Africans as well as 70,000 sub-Saharan Africans fought in May and June 1940, before France fell to the Nazis on 25 June 1940, acknowledging that they fought in some of the most violent battles.

Algerian and Moroccan spahis [light calvary regiments] were sacrificed in La Horgne, Algerian soldiers in Lille, Tunisian infantry in Eure-et-Loir, Moroccan and Senegalese infantry in the Somme, Oise and Marne, the report said.

Some men in the French African colonies volunteered after France was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940, while others were conscripted. More than 400,000 African soldiers took part in the Allied offensive in the south of France in August 1944 for the liberation of Toulon and Marseille.

"By mixing their blood with our land, they paid a heavy price in the fight against Nazism," said Darrieussecq, during the presentation of the report last week.

They "died for France, died for our ideals, these fighters deserve the full recognition of the nation," she added.

100 from the African continent

The list of 100 soldiers is divided into three parts by the researchers who drafted the report: Africans who fought for France, a list of Senegalese soldiers who fought at the battle of Chasselay in France, and third, a special category for Companions of Liberationthose who helped liberate France under the Nazi German occupation.

The soldiers featured in the report come from 18 different African countries, including Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Niger, Senegal, Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, and Madagascar.

Some died on the battlefields in North Africa or in France; others were wounded and died of tuberculosis in hospitals; others survived but were not recognized.

A number of these top 100 soldiers are already well-known in their own countries and some have been decorated and recognized by France, but many have fallen into the shadows, their names forgotten by history. Here are a few from the list of African combatants:

Charles and Jean-Baptiste N'Tchorere, Gabon

Father and son team Charles and Jean-Baptiste N'Tchorere are well known in their native Gabonthe highly decorated elder volunteered in September 1939, commanding the 5th company, 2nd battalion of the 53rd Senegalese mixed colonial infantry regiment in the Somme. Although repelling General Irwin Rommel's 7th Panzer division for days, he and his men were outnumbered, out of ammunition and were forced to surrender.

The Germans began to separate the European prisoners of war (POW) from the African POWs. N'Tchorere protested, invoking the Geneva Convention, and was shot in the neck on 7 June 1940. He argued that soldiers of the same rank should be grouped together, regardless of origin.

The other black soldiers captured with him were massacred a few days later with other prisoners of African origin, according to the report.

N'Tchorere's son Jean-Baptiste, a corporal in the 2nd regiment, died in the town of Airaines, hit by a German bullet only 30 kilometres from his father on the same day. The town of Airaines already has a street and memorial in their names.

Diana Idrissa, Mali

A number of African soldiers on this list were captured by the Nazis, but escaped, and went on to fight with the French Forces of the Interior (FFI), the name of the resistance during the later part of the war. Diana Idrissa, originally from Niafunke, Mali, was part of the Senegalese Tirailleurs infantry when he was captured in the Ardennes in 1940.

He escaped and joined the FFI in 1944. He was killed on 29 August 1944 while launching an attack on a German armored vehicle after having fired all the cartridges from his magazine, according to the citation issued by the FFI after his death.

With exceptional bravery, with a machine gun, he attacked the enemy alone. By donating his life saved the lives of his comrades, it added. He was decorated posthumously the War Cross with the Silver Star.

Sei Kone, Guinea

Others ultimately sacrificed their lives, even if they did not die on the battlefield. Sei Kone, originally from Helona, Bayla province of Guinea, joined the artillery battalion in 1932, and fought in Alsace, during the winter campaign in November 1944. Although under heavy fire during a particularly brutal winter, he stayed on the line until his mission was completed. As a result, his feet froze and had to be amputated.

Kone was awarded the military medal with the War Cross in 1946; he was repatriated in 1947 and died in a military hospital in Conakry in 1948.

Kandjina, Chad

Other soldiers placed on the list for their valor unfortunately have disappeared from view after the war, their contributions forgotten.Volunteering in 1935, Kandjina, from Mogombo, Chad, was in a number of Tiralleur regiments, including the Senegalese Tiralleurs. He fought in North Africa, France and Italy. In 1943, he moved to the 1st medical battalion as corporal.

During the French campaign, he was seriously injured on 8 October 1944 in Eboulet when he went to rescue a wounded man under enemy fire, thus giving a remarkable example of his disregard for danger and his dedication and sacrifice, which was noted when he was given the War Cross with Silver Star in 1944. He continued in the military after WWII, but the report is unaware of when or where he died.

Norbert Rakotomanga, Madagascar

Born in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Norbert Rakotomanga was mobilized in 1939 with the Regiment of Colonial Artillery of the Levant (RACL) and fought alongside the British army against the Afrikakorps in the Western Desert, including El Himeimat and the beginning of the second battle of El-Alamein, which changed the course of the war in North Africa.

He was awarded the War Cross, army corps in December 1942, with this citation: As a gunner, he showed on 28 October 1942, courage at the position of Deir-El-Hima. Under a tight and precise bombardment of large caliber artillery, he continued his work with a lot of spirit giving an excellent example to his Malagasy comrades, according to the report.

Rakotamanga fought in Tunisia, and Italy, and was promoted to marshal before he was killed by shrapnel from enemy shells at Frotey-les-Lure, France on 4 September 1944.

Recognition of some, not others

This recognition is yet another step towards understanding the big contribution made by African soldiers towards French liberation during WWII. Although many ultimately sacrificed their lives for France, African soldiers were not treated nor paid the same as French troops.

Their treatment after serving during WWII also illustrated the lack of equality as African soldiers were demobilized and sent back to West Africa. In December 1944, between 35 and 70 Senegalese infantrymen, depending on the source, were shot and killed by French Army troops in Thiaroye, a demobilization camp. Many were unarmed. They were protesting their poor benefits after serving the French state.

Although former French President Francois Hollande recognized the killings as a bloody repression in 2012, little has been done to rectify the situation.

One man has called on French President Emmanuel Macron for justice. M'Bap Senghor was a Senegalese soldier who enlisted in 1939 to fight for France. Captured by the Germans, he became a POW for four years before being repatriated to Senegal, where he was killed in Thiaroye by French troops.

Senghor's son, Biram Senghor, wrote an open letter to Macron in 2018, published in Le Monde newspaper, and in 2019, published in Les Obs, a French magazine, calling for the French state to exhume his father's body, and to change his status from deserter to Died for France.

France's junior Defense Minister Darrieussecq said at the release of the report that she is counting on senators, mayors, and municipal councils to consider re-naming public spaces in honour of the Africans who fought for France during WWII.
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Prof. George Agbango, Professor of Politics & Public Administration at Bloomberg University, USA and a former Member of Parliament for Zebilla in the 3rd Republic has applauded former President John Dramani Mahama for making Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman his Running Mate for election 2020.

Prof. George Agbango said Naana Jane is a great choice to Mahama who is being known as down-to-earth, intelligent, articulate and competent.

According to him, she has been an eminent teacher, an outstanding administrator, and above all a pragmatic economist.

He added that Prof. Opoku-Agyeman can excellently run affairs at the presidency with great competence even in the absence of the President.

In applauding Mr Mahama, he stressed that it takes a seasoned leader to choose a competent running mate.

Prof. George Agbango noted that in a country where women have been sidelined in political ladder, his nomination of a female running mate speaks a lot about his leadership style and his view of an inclusive Ghana.

He stated, "President Mahama is not new to us Ghanaians and Africans. We have tested him before and his competence as a president and regional (ECOWAS) leader is outstanding. A humble and determined gentleman, the physical assets he bestowed Ghana during his first term in office is only rivaled by what President Kwame Nkrumah bequeathed to Ghana. I can only wish him success in the coming election. Ghanaians are craving for a leader of his kind in these trying times. We need someone who can bring back probity and civility to our political discourse. Go for it, President Mahama!!!"
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The Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Ghana Education Service (GES) have issued a joint statement confirming an outbreak of Covid-19 at the Accra Girls Senior High Schools.

According to the statement, as at July 6, 2020, six students, a teacher and spouse had been confirmed positive for Covid-19 in Accra Girls Senior High School.

It says a team of experts from GHS at various levels led by national officers and their colleagues from GES have been to the school to put in the necessary control measures.

The statement noted that 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.

It says all contacts of confirmed cases have been identified and separated from non-contacts; testing of all contacts of confirmed cases have started.

---Daily Guide
A Deputy Health Minister, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, has ruled out any possible mass COVID-19 testing for health professionals despite concerns over the rate spread of the virus.

Speaking to Citi News, he said, in terms of health economics, it is not the correct way to go.

The Ghana Medical Association has indicated that over 150 medical doctors have tested positive for COVID-19.

The association suggested that to motivate health personnel to continue with Ghana's COVID-19 management and treatment the government should see to the testing of medical professionals.

But Dr. Okoe Boye said testing would only be feasible on a targeted basis.

What we don't want to do is say that the whole of 37 Military Hospital should be tested because there was a positive case on their surgical ward, he explained.

Probe into COVID-19 infections among health workers

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said a team of experts constituted to assess the circumstances under which more frontline health workers are being infected by COVID-19 is at work.

He says the findings of the team will enable the Ghana Health Service to find a lasting solution to the problem.

We are also currently looking at, most importantly, what circumstances are leading to the increased number of doctors and health workers that are getting infected.

Dr. Kuma-Aboagye also stressed that doctors and managers of the countrys health systems should not be blamed for the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The most recent update from the Ghana Health Service indicated a record 992 new COVID-19 cases in Ghana.

This pushed the country's case count up to 21,077.

The number of discharges has increased to 16,070 while deaths have jumped to 129.

---citinewsroom
In an effort to increased the removal of the ghost employees from the GoL Payroll through the use of the biometric enrollment for all government employees, the Interagency Payroll Clean-up Task Force through the Civil Servant Agency has started validation workshop at the Ministerial Complex in Congo Town.

According to a release from the Taskforce, the workshop is organized to compile and validate the National Biometric Identification Cards of Government employees across the country. The objective of the validation is to ensure all Government employees are bio-metrically verified before receiving salary payment beginning July 2020.

In view of this objective, the Taskforce is encouraging all spending entities that have not submitted NIR cards of their employees to submit hard copies of the IDs or send email to the payroll team for verification and processing. Equally, the Taskforce advised individual employees who have just only processed their NIR cards to also drop copy to our team at the Ministerial Complex, in Congo Town.

The Taskforce Chairperson, Mr. Del-Francis Wreh of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning explained that the exercise is an approved mandate of Cabinet since March 2020, which enforcement has been delayed due to the outbreak and spread of COVID19.

Mr. Wreh assures that despite COVID19 and the existing health protocols including social distancing, the Taskforce through its consultation with its members and stakeholders have revised its implementation and enforcement strategies, ensuring full compliance to the health protocols.

Honorable James Thompson, Acting Director-General of the Civil Service Agency, and also a member of the Payroll Clean-up Taskforce is also encouraging the public and government employees to support the enforcement of NO NIR NO PAYMENT by acquiring and submitting their national biometric identification.

Their compliance and support according to Honorable Thompson will help sustainably clean the government payroll and create the necessary fiscal space to finance more pro-poor programs and development in Liberia.

The Interagency National Payroll Clean up Taskforce comprised of the Civil Service Agency (CSA), Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Internal Audit Agency (IAA), and the National Identification Registry (NIR).
Some trainee teachers have taken to the streets to jubilate over the confirmation of former Education Minister Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang as running mate to former President John Mahama for the upcoming December polls.

The group said Professor Jane Naana ensured that all Trained Teachers from Colleges of Education were duly employed directly into the Ghana Education Service(GES). Unlike today, under Akufo-Addo, Qualified Trained Teachers are being forced to sit for Licensure Examination and also undergo a one-year national service only to be denied employment afterwards.

In a statement, the group said the former Vice-Chancellor of the Cape Coast University also increased Trainee Teachers enrollment from 9000 to 15500 annually, added eight new colleges of education, ensured all colleges of education benefited from GETFund Projects such as hostels, dining halls, teachers flat etc.

Below is the full statement:

We, Ghana Trainee Teachers (GhaTT), write to express our deep-hearted enthusiasm for the nomination of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, an astute academician and a humble woman of integrity with enviable proven track records in the education industry.

We are particularly happy about the emeralds she brings to table as an Educationist; a Former Minister of Education and Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast.

As Trainee Teachers, we recount her fantastic work as a Sector Minister who ensured that all Trained Teachers from Colleges of Education were duly employed directly into the Ghana Education Service(GES). Unlike today, under Akufo-Addo, Qualified Trained Teachers are being forced to sit for Licensure Examination and also undergo a one year national service only to be denied employment afterwards.

In the Teacher Education fraternity alone, we can add to Prof. Opoku-Agyemans achievements as the Minister of Education who increased Trainee Teachers enrollment from 9000 to 15500 annually, added eight new colleges of education, ensured all colleges of education benefited from GETFund Projects such as hostels, dining halls, teachers flat etc.

Some of the eight new colleges include; St. Ambrose College of Education at Dormaa Akwamu, Al Faruq College of Education at Wenchi, Bia Lamplighter College of Education at Bia, Methodist College of Education, Akim Oda, SDA College of Education at Agona in Ashanti Region, McCoy College of Education in Wa, Gambaga College of Education in Tamale

Unfortunately, same cannot be said about the Matthew Opoku-Prempeh led ministry of education as it had introduced the obnoxious licensure examination and national service. Painfully, the Akufo-Addo led government denies newly Trained teachers employment after going through this stress.

With Professor Naana as Vice President of the Republic, we believe the Licensure Examination and National Service would be cancelled and more importantly, automatic recruitment of teachers would be restored.

We are grateful.

SIGNED

Nasrullah Mutawakil

President

(0540317272)

Ayitey Samuel

Secretary

(0553908450)

Joseph Boakye

PRO

(0542728930)
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It is very unfortunate for the failed Member of Parliament for the Adentan Constituency, Yaw Buaben Asamoah, to make this rather unfortunate comment about Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang all because she is a woman.

It has been reported widely by a section of the media that the Hon. Member of Parliament categorically said:

"John Dramani Mahama choosing Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is an indication he does not take Ghanaians serious".

Such pedestrian comments should not be coming from a Member of Parliament. His position as Communication Director of the NPP appears more important to him than the welfare of the Adentan people who graciously gave him the mandate to represent them in Parliament.

I condemn the statement and I call on the Member of Parliament to apologise and retract his comments.

I also call on all well-meaning Ghanaians, civil society groups and women groups to condemn the sad and unfortunate comment by the Member of Parliament for the Adentan Constituency.

I, further, call on the good people of Adentan to vote him out.

Yaw Buaben Asamoah is certainly not and cannot be their best foot in Parliament for the Adenta constituency. His performance has been nothing to write home about.

The good people of Adentan certainly deserve better.

Signed:

Mohammed Adamu Ramadan

NDC Parliamentary Candidate, Adentan Constituency
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A Professor of Educational Leadership of the University of Cape Coast Prof. George K. T. Oduro has showered praise on Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang on her nomination as the Vice Presidential Candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He said, "Naana Jane is a woman of integrity and that is what she brings to the Mahama ticket and should the NDC win she would bring that to bear in government."

The Educational Leadership Scholar was speaking to Ben Nartey today Tuesday 7th July, 2020 on GBC Radio Central Morning Show on the nomination and acceptance of Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang as the Vice Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress for election 2020.

When asked whether he was surprised about her nomination, Prof. G. K. T. Oduro stated, "I'm not the least surprised because it is said that, a child who knows how to wash his or her hands, eats with the elderly".

He added that Naana Jane is a visionary leader and has excellent human relations.

Reacting to the kind of qualities she brings to the ticket, the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast enumerated three main qualities:

"First, she has integrity and this is what she exhibited during her tenure as the Vice Chancellor of UCC, one of the most paramount qualities of leadership."

Integrity according to Prof. Oduro "Is a God-given gift she has and that would be of benefit to President Mahama's government".

Secondly, Prof. Oduro, said Prof. Naana Jane believes in institutional agenda which is very good in governance. "What is in the interest of Ghana would be what she would uphold and she is not discriminatory in her dealings, which is good and essential in governance."

The third important thing about her nomination is that it demonstrates to the entire world that NDC and Ghana value the contributions of women in politics.

He continued that her nomination would help put Ghana on the map as not only a signatory to UN gender equity guidelines but as a country that cherishes and tries to implement same.

Prof. Oduro averred that, should she become Vice President, she would serve as a motivation for most women in Ghana. "This would erase the erroneous impression that leadership is always about men."

In concluding the discussion, the Educational Leadership professor intimated that Prof. Naana Jane's nomination serves as a great honour to the University of Cape Coast.

But, was quick to add that, he was scandalised by the sexist comment of the Communication Director of the NPP who described her nomination as "Taking Ghanaians for granted".

"That comment about her really made me sad," Prof.Oduro emphasised.
Government has bemoaned a growing level of complacency on the part of residents of Zongo communities and inner cities in adhering to Coronavirus safety protocols in the country.

Minister for Inner City and Zongo Development, Mustapha Hamid, made this known to the media at a press conference held at the Information Ministry on Tuesday in Accra.

Complacency has set in and people are beginning to relax on their vigilance in the zongos and inner cities, according to the Minister.

He therefore appealed to Muslims to adhere to the safety protocols of Coronavirus.

---Daily Guide
Ghanas COVID-19 case count has risen to 21,968.

Some 891 new infections have been detected in 73 districts.

Clinical recoveries are up to 17,156 with the death count standing at 129.

There are 4,683 active cases of which 22 are severe cases.

Six of the severe cases are in a critical condition and five are on ventilators.

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, at a press briefing today said these new cases are from samples dating back mainly from June 26 to July 3.

For the bulk of the new cases, 571 were recorded in 24 districts in the Greater Accra Region, 93 cases from 18 districts in the Ashanti Region and 86 from five districts in the Western Region.
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The "Western Dynamic Ladies" wishes to join numerous Ghanaians to extend our congratulations to Prof. Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang for her nomination as a first-ever Woman Running Mate of a major political party in Ghana.

We are attracted to NDC because it always stands for inclusive and participatory democracy for all. And her appointment has rekindled the believes and confidence in the party. Therefore, we salute NDC for the desire to give equal opportunity to every Ghanaian irrespective of gender, ethnicity and religion. NDC has once again demonstrated in actions its believe in Women's Empowerment.

We thank the Flagbearer of the party, H. E. John Dramani Mahama and the entire NDC for the confidence he reposed in Ghanaian women. This is a victory for affirmative action in Ghana. It has been a long wait sin inception of the 1992 Republic Constitution. Indeed, the glass ceiling has been shattered.

The unanimous endorsement by Council of Elders and National Executives Committee for her nomination as the running mate to H. E. John Dramani Mahama signifies her dignity, credibility, integrity and incorruptibility she brought onto the presidential ticket. Great woman by all standards. The selection of Prof. Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang as the Running Mate of party will eventually bring dignity and integrity to the Office of the Vice President.

The Western Dynamic Ladies considers her as a role model for many Ghanaians especially young ladies and women. Her tremendous contributions and achievements in academia and ministry of education has endeared her to many Ghanaians.

We, the "dynamic ladies", therefore, assure the presidential ticket of H. E. John Dramani Mahama and Prof. Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang our unflinching support. We shall criss-crossed Western Region to canvas for votes of young ladies and women for a resounding victory in 2020 general elections.

Signed

Portia Duncan

Regional Coordinator

Western Region.

0558205060

Signed

Karen Moses Ama

Secretary

Western Region

0249454632
The Executive Chairman of the Tobinco Group of Companies, Elder Samuel Nana Amo Tobbin I has been adjudged the 'C.E.O of the Year' at the just ended Ghana Manufacturing Awards.

He surpassed all his competitors, who are high ranking Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) including the C.E.O of Rockstars Roofing System Limited, Mr. Alfred Kwadwo Danquah.

Nana Amo Tobbin I, who is a well-known businessman in Ghana, has established about 11 companies under the Tobinco Group of Companies which has given employment to thousands of people in Ghana and West African countries where the group operates.

His hard work, has gained a lot of recognition both nationally and internationally including that of the GMAs which was held at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in Accra over the weekend.

Aside the 'C.E.O of the Year' award, the leading producer of pharmaceutical products in West Africa, Entrance Pharmaceutical and Research Centre, a member of the Tobinco Group, also won the Manufacturing Company of the Year-the ultimate prize of the night.

The Entrance Pharmaceutical and Research Centre competed with GIHOC Distilleries Company Limited, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company Limited of Ghana, BlowChem Industries Limited (Producers of Bel beverages) and the Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited.

Per the Citation given, Entrance's chances were boosted by the production of Hydroxychloroquine (endorsed medical product by the World Health Organisation for the treatment of Covid-19 patients) which were presented to the Government last month to help fight the Covid-19.

Receiving the awards on behalf of the companies and Nana Amo Tobbin I, the Managing Director (MD) for Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Centre, Mr Kwadwo Asare Twerefour, said, the firm has really worked hard and therefore deserves the honour, adding that the Group will work harder to make Mother Ghana proud.

The Deputy Minister for Trade and Industries, Robert Ahomka Lindsay, who was the Guest of Honour at the event, commended all the 32 winners and all Manufacturing Firms in the country for their performance during this Covid-19 era.

He, therefore, tasked them to unite and work to push Ghana forward.

To all winners, 'Ayeeko', well done. We expect more. The Journey is clear that, Ghana has a future and the future lies on Industrial Transformation and change, and you as the manufacturers, one of the keys players, he encouraged.

Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Centre, recently presented 1,000 courses of Hydroxychloroquine worth over GHS100, 000 and 18,000 bottles of Foligrow to the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The donation was aimed at supporting the government in the fight against CoVID-19 in the country. Hydroxychloroquine has been endorsed by WHO for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The valuable items were received by the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye in Accra today (Wednesday, June 17th 2020).

COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are said to recover quickly but the drugs were not available locally on a large scale, aside from the cost of drug shooting up on the international market.
The staff of the Metro Mass Transit Limited are calling on government to take steps to replace the ageing buses used for their daily operations.

According to them, the company is currently running with buses that are aged between 16 years to 20 years.

This situation, the workers say, is hampering efficiency and revenue generation.

Speaking to Citi News, Chairman of the Senior Staff Union of the Metro Mass Transit Limited, Nii Ashitey Attram, said although the staff are keen on getting their salaries paid, an addition of 200 buses to their fleet would help improve their operations.

We are asking for a replacement of our ageing fleets with new ones. We are also calling for the refurbishment of some of our out of use buses through an intervention and partnerships with Neoplan Ghana which has happened in some time past. We are asking the government to as a long term sustainability strategy increase its shareholding in Metro Mass to the extent that of an offtake agreement as a manufacturing company, he noted.

Industrial action at MMT

Workers recently called off a nationwide strike over unpaid salaries.

The sit-down strike was to demand payment for their May and June 2020 salaries after taking half-pay in April.

They were, however, directed to suspend it immediately after a directive was given by the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union of TUC (Ghana).

Commuters in major cities were left stranded when the strike was in force.

The Chairman of the Junior Staff Union of MMT, Samuel Kwesi Quaye, complained that their situation was dire as some drivers resorted to sleeping in some buses at the company's premises because they could not afford to go home.

---citinewsroom
Government has indicated that the actions by parents to withdraw their wards from the Accra Girls Senior High School after some students, a teacher and spouse tested positive for coronavirus is not in the right direction.

At least six students, a teacher and spouse have been confirmed covid-19 positive.

The confirmation of the cases caused panic among teachers, leading to some parents reportedly withdrawing their wards

But Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, says the withdrawal of students from the school is not the best option.

He says everything possible is being done to ensure that students are not in harms way.

According to him We understand that in the midst of all the anxieties its difficult for students to learn.

The Ghana Health Service and Ghana Education Service on Monday night, July 6, 2020 issued a joint statement confirming the outbreak of Coronavirus at the Accra Girls Senior High Schools.

The statement says as at July 6, 2020, six students, a teacher and spouse had been confirmed as positive for Covid19 in Accra Girls Senior High School.

It noted a team of experts from Ghana Health Service at various levels led by national officers and their colleagues from Ghana Education Service have been to the school to put in the necessary control measures.

The statement noted that the necessary steps have been taken and the six confirmed students, the teacher and spouse been taken to a treatment center for further management and are currently doing well.

It says all contacts of confirmed cases have been identified and separated from non-contacts; testing of all contacts of confirmed cases have started.

---Daily Guide
A leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, says the Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo, is engaging in what he calls tangential issues in the Kroll Associates contract case by talking excessively about seemingly unnecessary matters.

According to him, Mr. Domelevo is showing 'lack of focus' by accusing Kroll of having being paid for no work done when there is already some evidence in court about the fruits of the company's labour.

He said Kroll Associates was engaged by the government in 2017 to undertake proper forensic investigations of some complex cases of allegations of corruption against officials of the erstwhile Mahama administration.

To reiterate, you may ask, should the Auditor General rather not see the work of Kroll as complementary to his constitutional efforts and be cooperating with them or vice versa? This is what is unfortunate about this whole saga, he noted in a published piece.

Power Play

Is there a case of power play going on here that we are not ready to see or is it suggested that the President erred in engaging independent investigators and auditors? Is this where the AG's focus ought to be? Or, has the AG seen something he is not sharing? he asked rhetorically.

The NPP strategist said an impression was being created that the Senior Minister had an interest to hide information about the Kroll Associates contract, saying, It is as if it is a procurement contract for an infrastructural investment or something of that nature which a public official could ordinarily be accused of personal gain.

Setting Parameters

I think it is important we set the parameters of the discussion right as some have already suggested loudly that Daniel Yao Domelevo is being pushed out of the way because of this contract and his focus on it is 'embarrassing' government.

Gabby indicated that pontificating about an embarrassment to the government could share if there were other issues embarrassing government that Ghanaians do not know, adding but, the matter which is topical is this Kroll engagement and matters arising.

Kroll's View

Such contracts are not new and are not odd to our system. Ironically, Kroll is not complaining that other people in government are frustrating its work. It is, in fact, the Auditor General, constitutionally charged to guard the public purse, who is rather accusing Kroll Associates of being paid for what he sees to be no work done!

Here, a team engaged to help us secure public assets is being accused of being paid for no work done. It sounds serious. But, how serious is this charge? The question is what is the work done or being done? Domelevo wants details! Why isn't he having them? he quizzed.

He said, The documents requested are of details of the work done and being done by Kroll to justify fees paid to them! So what personal interest has the Senior Minister in this to even want the Auditor General out of the way as it has been alleged? he quizzed, adding, You may ask yourself, why can't, as it may seem, the Auditor General, appointed just before one government handed over power to another, be trusted with preliminary investigations into the work of that previous government?

He continued, But will that question be legitimate? Is it that he is not trusted to be fair and just to the previous government? Shouldn't, under normal circumstances, Kroll be seen as working to complement the work of the Auditor General instead of having their work questioned by the AG?

He also asked why Mr. Domelevo would rather not see the work of Kroll as complementary to his constitutional efforts and be cooperating with the forensic audit firm or vice versa, and described it as the unfortunate about this whole saga.

Mr. Otchere-Darko said to suggest that the Senior Minister or Finance Minister has anything to hide on the Kroll contract when they are not the subjects of investigations but rather those responsible for tasking a team of professionals to help the nation trace assets allegedly procured through corruption actually misses the point by a mile, in one's view.

Simply put, the whole cavil between Daniel Yao Domelevo and Yaw Osafo-Maafo appears to revolve around this Kroll contract. And, if there is more to it then, from ones reading, it is more likely to be in personam than institutionem.
President Akufo-Addo has urged Ms. Valentina Mintah, founder and former Chief Executive of West Blue Consulting, to use her role on the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Executive Board to promote trade between Ghana and international economies.

The President, who made this known in a letter to congratulate Ms. Mintah for her appointment, said I am glad to note that your personal mandate for this role will be to use ICT platforms to drive the promotion of trade between Ghana and international economies, further cementing Ghana's economic potential among global partners.

Ms. Mintah's appointment makes her the first black female to be elected to the ICC Executive Board in the organization's 100 years of existence. ICC is the world's largest business organization representing 45 million companies and a billion employees from all sectors and company sizes in over 130 countries.

President Akufo-Addo in his congratulations letter, lauded Ms. Mintah's achievement, promising her of government's support and urging her not to hesitate to contact any agency of the government for any assistance she might require.

Portions of the congratulations letter read, I write to congratulate you warmly, on behalf of the Government of Ghana and my behalf, on this outstanding achievement. It is a tribute to black women the world over, particularly to Ghanaian and African women.

This is very laudable and you can be assured of the full support of government to this end. Do not hesitate to contact any agency of the government for any assistance you may require. I wish you the best of luck and God's blessings.

The new member, Ms Mintah, joins the ICC Executive Board, responsible for developing and implementing ICC's strategy, policy and program of action, and for overseeing the financial affairs of the world business organization.

ICC Secretary General, John W.H. Denton AO, in his congratulations message said ICC is delighted to welcome Valentina Mintah to its global Executive Board. Throughout her career, Valentina has championed international trade facilitation both in her home region of West Africa and in several transitional economies across the world. With her additional role as Vice-Chair of ICC Ghana, she is uniquely placed to support the strengthening of commercial and trade ties between several key and high growth global markets.

ICC Ghana Secretary-General, Emmanuel Doni-Kwame, said ICC Ghana has one of its own on the Executive Board; this is not only well deserved by a qualified professional but an honor to a blessed nation and a continent whose time has come. Valentina's experience in Africa is an asset to the new board as we strive to make the business work for everyone, everyday and everywhere.

7-Member ICC Executive Board

The seven-member executive board was announced at the 2020 meeting of the ICC World Council and Ms. Mintah would be on the board with some of the world's most renowned giants including Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammad Al-Thani from Qatar, Sebastian Escarrer from Spain, Dario Gallina from Italy, ShintaKamdani from Indonesia, Takeshi Niinami from Japan and Jane Sun from China.

The 2020 meeting of the ICC World Council also announced that it had elected MasterCard Chief Executive, Ajay Banga, as ICC Chairman and confirmed Maria Fernanda Garza, Chief Executive of Orestia, as ICC First Vice-Chair.
A total of 684 contacts who came into contact with some eight persons who tested positive for COVID-19 at the Accra Girls Senior High School have been identified by health officials.

This was disclosed by a Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Adutwum at a press conference organized by the Information Ministry on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.

At this point, 648 contacts have been identified and a number of them have been tested, the Deputy Minister said.

Six students of the Accra Girls SHS, a teacher and his spouse have tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks after final year students were allowed to return to school to prepare for their exit exams.

Some parents thronged the premises of the Accra Girls SHS yesterday, July 6, 2020, seeking to return their wards back home following the COVID-19 situation at the school.

Dr. Adutwum at the press briefing allayed the fears of the parents saying the situation has been put under control.

A [COVID-19] case was reported to the health bay of a very distinguished school in Accra serving young women on June 29, 2020. A student who was unwell reported. Of course, they were quickly identified that it might be symptoms of COVID-19. Subsequently, other students started showing similar symptoms and they were all quickly quarantined prior to the testing and test results came in and we have six students who tested unfortunately positive for COVID-19. They were immediately isolated and taken care off and parents were informed to bring down the anxiety. An instructor and wife who tested positive have also been isolated.

I can understand why some parents went to the school to take their children home, but taking your child away at this point is not a very good optionSo as I speak to you now, we are on top of the medical side of things and the Ghana Education Service is also on the education side of things, he added.

The Deputy Education Minister further said counsellors have been brought on board to help boost the morale of the students so teaching and learning could go on.

We understand that, in the midst of all the anxiety, it is difficult for students to learn, but counsellors are on-site now looking at ways that they can help the students recompose themselves and begin the preparations ahead.

Accra Girls SHS students demonstrate, parents storm school after COVID-19 infections

On Monday, July 6, 2020, students of Accra Girls Senior High school protested to put pressure on the management of the school to allow them to go home following the COVID-19 situation at the school.

The students, who gathered outside their classrooms, kept chanting: We'll go home.

But police officers were deployed to the school to prevent some agitated parents who stormed the area from entering the premises of the school.

---citinewsroom
Deputy Health Minister, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye has disclosed that the substantive Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu has recovered after getting infected with COVID-19 few weeks ago.

According to him, Mr. Agyeman Manu is hale and hearty and has fully resumed his official duties.

Once he has been asymptomatic for two weeks, I don't want to even go into his test results, but two weeks of being asymptomatic, you have recovered. It's been two weeks, so the deduction is that, he has recovered. So the Health Minister is back to work. On Friday, he was at the Ga East Hospital to inspect the projects that are going on with the treatment centres. He started work before this interview so I guess he will be at work, he indicated in a Citi News interview.

Giving an update on the status of some Ministers who are at the various COVID-19 treatment centres across the country, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye said all of them are currently doing well.

I have had WhatsApp chats with the Education Minister, I know Dan Botwe is fine. I spoke to the doctors who are attending to Mac Manu and they tell me he is in high spirits and very stable so let's wish them well.

---citinewsroom
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Ghanaian women advocacy group Advocacy For Women Into Power which is a leading group for young women into Politics in Ghana has officially issued congratulatory message to Prof.Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang who has been confirmed as the running mate of John DramaniMahama for 2020 general election.

Professor Jane was confirmed for her candidature on 6th July 2020 by the National Executive council of National Democratic Congress (NDC) party in Accra. This came as a surprise to Ghanaians as she competed with top notch politicians like Kwabena Duffour who is the former finance minister.

Prof. Jane Naane Opoku-Agyemang has served as Minister for Education and also as the first female Vice Chancellor for a public university of Ghana.

In the release it was indicated that, Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang is known for her good services and well respected by all academias in Ghana. She has proven to all Ghanaian women that a woman can accomplish every dream they hope for through hard work and dedication.

In the press release it was also indicated that, Ghana is showing to the entire world that women are valued and are equally competent as men who have dominated our political space for decades.

Currently, Ghana has about 12% of women in the political space and that Prof. Naana Opoku- Agyemangs appointment will help put more light on the need to continue to empower women to the highest political positions in Ghana.We as women advocacy group Congratulates Prof. Jane Naane Opoku-Agyemang in a special way for this milestone and as a women group we will continue to support her and all women who are working hard to attain the highest level in Ghanas political space.

According to UNDP, Ghana is yet to meet the policy of 40% of women appointees to local government despite the fact that women constitute (51.2%) more than half of Ghanas population. Advocacy For Women Into Power is a non-governmental women advocacy group with the vision of Empowering Women into governance for sustainable development. The advocacy group is known for their empowerment programmes in corporate and tertiary institutions across the country that has gain maximum support from young ladies who are empowered and taken active part in various political activities.

To the advocacy group, Ghana will surly develop and women will play a key role. Therefore, the need to be given the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge for sustainable nationa development.

Below is full statement:

We the Advocacy For Women Into Power with sincere joy wish to congratulate Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang for her appointment as the running mate for His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the upcoming 2020 general election.

As a woman advocacy group in Ghana, we are excited about this appointment because it shows that Ghana is showing to the entire world that women are valued and are equally competent as men who have dominated our political space for decades.

Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang is known for her good services and well respected by all academias in Ghana. She has proven to all Ghanaian women that a woman can accomplish every dream they hope for through hard work and dedication.

With the vision of Empowering Women into governance for sustainable development this is a great news for us all as we continue to use the limited available resources provided to continue to educate and empower women across the nation to partake in good governance to help achieve the SDG 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

We as women advocacy group Congratulates Prof. Jane Naane Opoku-Agyemang in a special way for this milestone. As a women group we will continue to support her and all women who are working hard to attain the highest level in Ghanas political space.

We believe that Ghana will surly develop and women will play a major role. Therefore, women in all political parties in Ghana should be given the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge for sustainable development.

A win for a woman is a win for all

Thank you

Signed

The Executives

ADVOCACY FOR WOMEN INTO POWER

0243432235

[email protected]
A Deputy Campaign Manager for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) , Dr. Mustapha Hamid, has told Citi News the selection of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman as running mate to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer does not pose a threat to the electoral fortunes of the NPP.

Dr. Hamid said our campaign is focusing on candidate Mahama, not his running mate.

Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang will not be a threat to the NPP at all, he added.

After months of anticipation, John Mahama yesterday, July 6, 2020, made public his selection of former Prof. Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate for the 2020 polls.

Dr. Hamid, who doubles as Inner City and Zongo Development Minister, said: the 2020 election will be a contest between a former President and a sitting President.

''It's a battle of what he did in four years and what Nana Akufo-Addo has also done within the same period.

He added that Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang will not add any push to John Mahama in December. Her selection even strengthens us and gives hope that Ghanaians will renew the mandate of Nana Akufo-Addo.

For us in NPP, we will examine her records as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape and her records as Education Minister, and as you all know, her record at the Education Ministry is terrible, cancellations of teacher trainee allowance etc, Dr. Hamid said.

This notwithstanding, Dr. Hamid remarked that the NPP was not taking Prof. Opoku-Agyemang for granted.

We are not taking her and John Mahama for granted at all. We will work extra hard and ensure a resounding victory for President Akufo-Addo and the NPP.

 citinewsroom
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"Sir John is dead", the message read.

In the days since, there have been many tributes focusing on the private Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie-- kind, courteous, devout, funny and patient.

Sir John was a very unique character, full of interesting contradictions.

He was a well-educated, Shakespeare-loving lawyer who worked very hard to hide his enormous intellect. In a nation where many intellectual lightweights toil very hard to amplify their "krakyiness", that was very rare.

He communicated in a unique but seamless mixture of twi proverbs and biblical quotations that were mesmerizing and made him very approachable.

He loved people of all classes especially those of the Danquah-Busia tradition-- and yet he uttered the immortal words, "Fear delegates" which highlighted our corrupted primary process.

He exuded a carefree, laid-back attitude while being a workaholic. During campaigns he seemed to live at radio stations-- he was on so many of them.

And as the accounts by Asiedu Nketia and others made clear, he was a very kind man who had a lot of friendships across the political landscape.

Personally, he was very kind to me. We shared connections to both the Kumasi suburb of Old Tafo and his hometown of Sakora Wonoo, where I spent a year as a schoolboy with my sister who was a teacher. When I mentioned her, he lighted up, "Ah, you were that boy!", he exclaimed. From then on, he always insisted I was a Wonoo native.

One day during the 2008 campaign, when I had to stay in Kumasi longer than planned and needed a change of clothes, he gave me a nice blue shirt, with the comment--" Enfa nkogye me girl de3 oo!"

And he was grateful. When I defended him publicly for his Supreme Court debacle in 2013, he called to thank me, capping the call with the proverb, "Esie ne kagya nni aseda."

But he had a different public side that was a loud, confrontational, partisan "take-no-prisoners" and disturbing.

And I was on the receiving end of the public, political Sir John on a few occasions. Once, in a huff, he, the Shakespeare-loving lawyer described me derisively as too educated" and lacking in "efie nyansa"!

As Shakespeare put it in Julius Caesar, " The evil that men do lives after them and the good is oft interred with their bones". Sir John did a lot of good that should not be lost. We need to ponder why this man who was in private so kind and generous and courteous had such a different public personality and why this approach was mirrored so closely by his friend Asiedu Nketia.

The obvious answer is that we have a political environment that does not celebrate and reward those virtues. Sir John and many others knew that those friendships we are celebrating now would be considered evidence of the disloyalty and punished.

We reward, unfortunately, confrontation and insults and gratuitous attacks.

We should make it easier for people like Sir John to be their normal decent, kind selves in our politics.

May Sir John rest in peace and may the knowledge of his private kindness inspire us all to public kindness and courtesy.

Arthur Kobina Kennedy

(July 7th, 2020.)
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Senior Bio, It is all so sad. But one is glad that tiu have now seen the light, so to speak, and agree that at the very least, we should have demanded that half the vehicles that Volkswagen Ghana assembles here, should be EVs, for export markets - in Europe, the UK, the US, Australia, Japan, and elsewhere, where they are in demand.

The trouble with our perfidious, hard-of-hearing and greed-filled ruling-elites, is that they seldom do any creative and original thinking. Neither do they keep abreast of cutting-edge developments. Pity.

Massa, some of us are now so fed up, with their egregious stupidity, and greed-filled-idiocy, that we intend to step into Ghana's political arena, ourselves, in 2024 - as self-funded independent presidential candidates: and, additionally (for the sake of ordinary people across Ghana), solely fund the campaigns of a cohort of brilliant young achievers, who are amongst the brightest and best of our nation's dynamic younger generations, in constituencies nationwide.

The question we must all ponder over is: Why should discerning folk continue to stand idly by, and watch Mother Ghana being brutally gang-raped by hypocrites and criminal-types? Enough is enough. We must rid ourselves of the constituent entities that make up the NPP/NDC duopoly, which have dominated the politics of the 4th Republic, since the 1992 Constitution was promulgated. Haaba.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has questioned the value the running mate of the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress brings to the ticket of the party to make an impact in the upcoming December elections.

According to him, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has a good character but lacks the required qualities to improve the chances for candidate John Dramani Mahama in the 2020 election.

After months of anticipation, John Mahama yesterday, July 6, 2020, named former Education Minister, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate for the 2020 polls.

But the Suame lawmaker sharing his view on the issue to the media in Parliament today, July 7, 2020, said if former John Mahama wanted a woman, Hanna Tetteh or former Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong could have been a better option.

According to him, both have demonstrated some level of competence.

If he [John Mahama] wanted a woman, when they were mentioning some women who have demonstrable competence who have risen through this House to establish themselves firmly in the feminist [arena], one such person could have been Hanna Tetteh. She has been an MP before, she has been a Minister for Foreign Affairs. So she has learned the rules, so she could have complimented the [ex] President Mahama. The former Attorney General is also there Marietta Brew. She is also a solid lady. But you ask yourself what value is this woman [Prof. Opoku-Agyemang] bringing to that ticket, and thats where I find it extremely difficult.

I mean the woman is a calm woman, a woman of poise and speaks good English, but is it good enough to satisfy the ticket to ensure quality improvement in the governance? And lets not forget, perish him that, If John Mahama becomes the president and the next day he is no longer [alive], is this woman capable of being described as the president? This has nothing to do with her personally but we are talking about quality in governance.

In Kyei Mensah Bonsus estimation, a lawyer or an economist would have been a better compliment for Mahama.

He thus said the former President could have also chosen either Dr. Kwabena Duffuor or Dr Nii Moi Thompson.

For a ticket, John Mahama is a communicator so you want a person who is a lawmaker or a lawyer who will add value to the governance architecture. He himself has been a Member of Parliament before, so to be fair, one could say that he has acquired that experience from Parliament. But in terms of the economy, how are you going to impact the economy, which is why maybe, you need a mate who is an economist to be with you. A person who is short in that field [could be dangerous] because that ticket is to play the role of a generalist to exhibit versatility in a manner that when it comes to legal matters, you have some control and economic matters you have some control on it. So when I first heard, I thought there were going to decide on Dr. Duffuor or Nii Moi Thompson because they are economists and finance experts with considerable standing to complement the ticketeither of them could have done it. Mahama's running mate not a threat to NPP

On the same issues, a Deputy Campaign Manager for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2020 elections, Dr. Mustapha Hamid , has also said the selection of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as running mate to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer does not pose a threat to the electoral fortunes of the NPP.

According to him, the NPPs campaign will be on Mr. Mahama and not his running mate.

Dr. Hamid said, our campaign is focusing on candidate Mahama, not his running mate.

Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang will not be a threat to the NPP at all, he added.

''It's a battle of what he did in four years and what Nana Akufo-Addo has also done within the same period.

 citinewsroom
A worker at the Tema office of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) has tested positive for COVID-19.

The said member of staff, who has been working at the office since June 15, 2020, has since been isolated and is receiving treatment in accordance with infection control protocols.

GRIDCo in a statement issued today, Tuesday, July 7, 2020, said the employee tested positive for the virus on Monday.

An employee of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) has tested positive for COVID-19. The Company received the news on Monday, July 6, 2020. The employee has since been isolated for treatment by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) COVID-19 Management Team, in line with the established protocols, the release indicated.

A comprehensive contact tracing process has also begun in order to ensure appropriate measures are taken to protect the lives of those likely to have come into contact with the infected person.

The statement further added that as an additional precautionary measure; a decision has been taken by GRIDCo Management to undertake mass testing of all staff who have been working at its Tema office since June 15, 2020, in order to immediately identify, isolate and treat employees who may have contracted the virus.

The Company has engaged the COVID-19 Team in Tema to manage the process.

Meanwhile, GRIDCo has assured its customers and stakeholders that it remains committed to their safety whilst ensuring uninterrupted power transmission services.

 citinewsroom
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The Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference has asked government to deploy more security personnel to the various registration centers for the mass voter registration exercise to enforce strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols.

According to the Conference, it is worried about the increasing COVID-19 infections.

The Bishops lament what they describe as the high level of disregard for the observance of the safety measures at such public gatherings as the ongoing mass voter registration exercise.

They cited the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary primaries held in June, as well as the unveiling of NDC Flagbearer Mahama's running mate on Monday.

In a statement signed by President of the Bishops' Conference, Most Reverend Philip Naameh, the Bishops say the wearing of nose masks and social distancing must be strictly enforced at the registration centers.

Here is the full statement by the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference:

The Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference (GCBC) has observed with great concern the high level of disregard for the observance of the COVID-19 protocols at the recent New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary primaries, the ongoing voters' registration exercise, the announcement of the running mate of the Flag-bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the party's headquarters in Accra yesterday and some other public gatherings.

The latest updates from the official website of the Ghana Health Service indicate that our Coronavirus cases keep increasing and as much as we acknowledge that the recovery rates are equally impressive, the increase in the positive case count is not good news for us as a country. The same can be said about the mortality rate which is also on the increase.

We encourage all qualified Ghanaians to make the necessary effort to take part in the voters' registration exercise. We also wish to appeal to same to take the personal responsibility to ensure that they observe all the necessary health protocols, especially those of social distancing and the wearing of face masks, during the registration exercise and at all social and public gatherings.

In a directive issued yesterday, Monday, July 6, 2020, the Electoral Commission addressed the issue of overcrowding at some Registration Centres and therefore recommended The Queue Management System at its registration centres.

It says, Under the Queue Management System the first 150 applicants who arrive at the Registration Centres will be provided with numbered chits. The first half of this number will be served from morning to early afternoon. The second half will be asked to leave the Centres and return in the afternoon when the registration process for the first batch has been completed. They will then be served.

This, in our view, is a good measure to deal with overcrowding at the registration centres. However, we also wish to appeal to the Government to assist the Electoral Commission with more Security Personnel who can ensure strict adherence to the protocols, especially social distancing and the wearing of face masks, at the various Registration Centres.

While we focus our concerns on national events that attract crowds of people, we also appeal to all to accept the reality of COVID-19 and thus modify their behaviours to conform to the safety guidelines.

It is our hope and prayer that the concerns raised here will be addressed immediately to prevent any escalation in our COVID-19 cases.

 citinewsroom
HONG KONG, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) guarantees, rather than harms, the legitimate rights and interests of Hong Kong residents, said a renowned scholar in an interview with Xinhua.

The law only targets criminals endangering national security and does not affect law-abiding residents, Shiu Sin-por, former head of the then central policy unit of the HKSAR government, said, adding that Hong Kong residents will have a more peaceful life only after the national security loopholes are plugged.

Shiu refuted claims by some Western politicians and local opposition figures that the law will harm human rights, saying that those politicians, by smearing the law, are trying to stir up fear among the public and make Hong Kong residents misunderstand and resist the law.

Hong Kong residents currently enjoy more freedom of speech, press and publication, among others, compared to when Hong Kong had not returned to the motherland, Shiu said.

"According to the Law, the HKSAR will continue to protect the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents written into the Basic Law and relevant international covenants," Shiu said. "The lawful rights and interests of Hong Kong residents will not be infringed upon."

Shiu pointed out that with the legislation by central authorities, the principle of "one country, two systems" will not be bent or distorted in practice.

The law stipulates that the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region assumes the primary responsibility of safeguarding national security, and the law enforcement and prosecution are mainly exercised by the Hong Kong Police Force and the Department of Justice of the HKSAR government.

"The arrangement shows that the central authorities are committed to the 'one country, two systems' principle and have trust in the HKSAR government to shoulder the constitutional responsibility," Shiu said.

Shiu said more efforts should be made to help Hong Kong residents understand their own country. "Some Hong Kong residents, in particular students, have been misguided by those who are anti-China and seek to destabilize Hong Kong, and they do not have a correct understanding on their own country."

The HKSAR should also enact laws on its own to safeguard national security at an early date, Shiu said.
Shinhan Financial Group headquarters in Seoul / Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki





By Park Jae-hyuk







Shinhan Financial Group's two subsidiaries have recently joined the trend of using English names at the office, as part of efforts to break their hierarchical structures and allow their employees a sense of freedom to become more creative.







According to Shinhan Life Insurance, Monday, employees of its customer strategy group, which was newly established to prepare for the insurer's integration with Orange Life Insurance next year, began to address each other by English names for horizontal communication.







Shinhan DS, the group's IT subsidiary led by former Bain & Company consultant Sunny Yi, also decided in May to use English nicknames at the office for horizontal corporate culture.







The nation's leading financial group is seemingly trying to be as innovative as fintech firms, such as KakaoBank, whose employees have already addressed CEO Yun Ho-young as "Daniel," since its launch in 2016.







But a question still arises whether this experiment will succeed or not, considering Shinhan's corporate culture, which has been considered the most rigid and conservative, even among the nation's banking groups.







The same experiment done at its benchmark subsidiary, Shinhan Bank, ended in failure in 2019.







When Shinhan Bank Executive Vice President Cho Kyoung-sun led the bank's customer service center at that time, its employees addressed each other by English names. However, the bank's other departments did not adopt the change.







In this regard, Shinhan seems to need more drastic changes, such as hiring of talented "outsiders."







Although Chairman Cho Yong-byoung has continued to make efforts to attract experts outside of the company, even the Shinhan DS CEO Yi had complained of the group's conservative decision makers, who refuse to listen to opinions of the experts coming from outside.







Against this backdrop, Shinhan ranked third among domestic banks, in among university students' most favored workplaces in a survey done by local job market information provider Incruit.







The survey showed KakaoBank was selected as the top pick with a 27.3 percent of votes, way above the second place KB Kookmin Bank's 17.7 percent and the third place Shinhan's 13.6 percent.







"The rigid corporate culture reminds me of my military life," a Shinhan Bank employee wrote on Jobplanet, another job market information provider. "This could create great pressure for those who are not used to it, especially female employees."







The Incruit survey has proved most jobseekers these days regard corporate culture and work-life balance as more important factors than high salary and other benefits.







Considering this, there is not much time left for Shinhan to innovate itself.


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Accra, 7 July 2020: Organisers of the Ghana Virtual Career Fair 2020 are confident that the career fair will provide participants with unmatched opportunities and prepare them for their next career opportunity in these difficult times.

According to the Head of the Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs, Migration, and Reintegration (GGC), Benjamin Woesten, the line-up of expert speakers who have demonstrated excellence in their respective areas is testament to our commitment to ensuring to that individuals either looking for jobs or looking to grow their respective careers are rightly mentored, especially in this uncertain time.

Benjamin Woesten noted that currently, it is advisable to learn from people who have made it and continue to make it in their respective chosen fields. The Ghana Virtual Career Fair 2020 provides jobseekers and budding entrepreneurs with direct access to those experts and their views and experiences. The fair  the first of its kind in Ghana  will be headlined by seasoned speakers including Dr. Esi Ansah  who is billed to give the keynote address.

Each of the three thematic areas  digital and technology, entrepreneurship, employability  all have speakers lined up to speak to different aspects of the respective area. Above all, participants will have the opportunity to directly engage with several companies with vacancies on offer, Mr. Woesten added.

Speakers and facilitators include Akua Ofori-Asumadu, National Project Manager of the International Labour Organisation in Ghana; Dr. Michael Blank of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana; Grace Kafui Adorsu, Head of Recruitment at Amalitech Ghana; Richmond Carlos Out of DHL Ghana; Yao Agbogan of Allianz Insurance Ghana; Emelia Ainooson of Brandason; Nana Kwame Wiredu of the Institute of Development Finance; Atto Ulzen-Appiah of Ghana Think Foundation; and Kwame Osei Tutu of GetINNOtized.

Being hosted on the Hubilo platform, the speakers will deconstruct issues around the future of the labour market and the future of work through panel discussions, interviews, presentations, Q&A sessions, trainings, and crash courses.

The event comes off tomorrow, July 8 from 10am to 3pm, and is organized by the GGC in partnership with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana (AHK Ghana) and funded by the German Cooperation through GIZ in Ghana.

Anchored on its three pillars of Career Guidance, Employment Promotion and Reintegration Support services, the GGC offers employment promotion services to job seekers in Ghana and counsels its clients on socio-economic prospects in Ghana. The Centre targets local population and returning migrants alike. Its services include individual counselling, profiling, soft skills trainings, career guidance advice, psycho-social support, referral into vocational and entrepreneurship trainings and start-up support (trainings, equipment, and business registration) among others. Since its inception in December 2017, the Centre has counselled more than 12,000 individuals, offered more than 13,000 employment promotion measures, and facilitated more than 1,000 persons into employment or supported in setting up a business.

--Ends

Please contact Mina Kwansima Okuru, Communications Manager on +233 (0) 55 265 3907 for all your press enquiries.

Note to Editors

The Ghanaian-German Centre (GGC)

The Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs and Reintegration (GGC) is part of the global project Programme Migration for Development (PMD), which is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR). GGCs objective is to support Governments effort at improving living conditions and provide opportunities to enhance job prospects, now and in the future. This entails activities to promote education, training and employment opportunities. The support is aimed not only at the local population and internally displaced people, but also at those returning home from Germany.

Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs, and Reintegration Starlets 91 Road, Next to Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations Accra. Ghanaian-German Centre Tel.: +233 (0) 552 557 626; +233 (0) 5567 585 16 / 17 / 18 [email protected]

About GIZ

As a provider of international cooperation services for sustainable development and international education work, GIZ is dedicated to building a future worth living around the world. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment, energy and the environment, and peace and security. The diverse expertise of our federal enterprise is in demand around the globe, with the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector and governments of other countries all benefiting from our services. We work with businesses, civil society actors and research institutions, fostering successful interaction between development policy and other policy fields and areas of activity. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is our main commissioning party.

Currently, GIZ promotes sustainable development in Ghana via about 50 programmes and projects. Our activities cover currently four priority areas: Economic Development, Agriculture, Governance and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Additionally, our portfolio extends to other areas such as environment, peace and security. Another focus of GIZs work is linking business interests with development-policy goals. Most of the programmes and projects we support in Ghana have successfully brought together national and international private companies, the public sector, and civil society groups to collaborate on development initiatives.

For more information, please visit www.giz.de/ghana

About Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana (AHK Ghana)

The Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana is part of the worldwide German Chamber Network (AHK). For more than 10 years the Delegation has been supporting German businesses with their market entry and expansion in West Africa. At 140 locations in 92 countries around the world, the German Chamber Network (AHK) offers its experience, expertise and services to German and foreign companies. AHKs are located in all countries which are of special interest for German business.
The Electoral Commission is condemning attempts by foreigners to register in the ongoing voter registration exercise.

In a statement dated July 7, 2020 and signed by its Acting Director of Public Affairs, Sylvia Annoh, the Commission reminded the general public that it is an offence for non-Ghanaians to register as voters in the exercise.

It said C.I 91 explicitly stated that non-Ghanaian citizens are not entitled to register as voters on our electoral roll.

The Commission warned that non-Ghanaians who are caught in the act will each be liable to pay a hefty fine or serve a two year term of imprisonment or both.

Daily Guide
Ernesto Yeboah, the alleged Convener of Economic Fighter League, standing trial for leading a protest without notifying the Police has had his case adjourned to July 17 for case management conference.

Yeboah's case was adjourned after he appeared before the Circuit Court on Tuesday.

Charged with failing to notify Police of a Special event, he pleaded not guilty.

The court presided over by Ms. Ellen Asamoah admitted Ernesto to bail in the sum of GHC100,000.00 with three sureties, two of whom are to be public servants.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Emmanuel Haligah said on June 6, this year at about 1800 hours, the Regional Police Command received information that the accused and others numbering about 200 had gathered at the Independence Square, Accra and were holding a vigil in Protest and in Solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Demonstrations.

Chief Inspector Haligah said the Police moved to the place and arrested Ernesto who claimed to be the leader and organizer of the event.

The Prosecution said during investigations, it came to light that the accused did not notify the Police of the event as required by the Public Order Act.

GNA
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The New Patriotic Party's (NPP) campaign manager for the 2020 general elections, Peter Mac Manu is in a stable condition.

Mr. Manu who was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 about a week ago is now said to be showing positive signs of improved health status.

Deputy Health Minister, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye disclosed this to Citi News, while providing an update on the status of some Ministers who are at the various COVID-19 treatment centres across the country.

According to him, all of them are currently healthy.

I have had WhatsApp chats with the Education Minister, I know Dan Botwe is fine. I spoke to the doctors who are attending to [Peter] Mac Manu and they tell me he is in high spirits and very stable so let's wish them well.

Dr. Okoe Boye also disclosed that the substantive Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu has also recovered after getting infected with COVID-19 a few weeks ago.

According to him, Mr. Agyeman Manu is hale and hearty and has fully resumed his official duties.

Once he has been asymptomatic for two weeks, I don't want to even go into his test results, but two weeks of being asymptomatic, you have recovered. It's been two weeks, so the deduction is that he has recovered. So the Health Minister is back to work. On Friday, he was at the Ga East Hospital to inspect the projects that are going on with the treatment centres. He started work before this interview so I guess he will be at work, he indicated. Ghanaian politicians vs. Coronavirus

Presently, the President, Nana Akufo-Addo is on a 14-day self-isolation after getting exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

A number of government appointees have also tested positive for COVID-19 within the last few weeks.

Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo has also tested positive for the virus. His status was announced by the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.

A Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah who also tested positive for the virus resigned because he visited a voter registration centre, contrary to advice by his doctor to self-isolate.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission and former General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie , popularly referred to as Sir John died on July 1, 2020, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital as a result of COVID-19 complications.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Lydia Dsane-Selby , also tested positive for Coronavirus within the same period.

Mayor of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, K.K. Sam , who also tested positive for the disease, however passed on.

The MCE died on Friday, June 12, 2020, while receiving treatment at the University of Ghana Medical Centre where he was rushed to after falling sick.

The Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh , was also detained at the University of Ghana Medical Centre on June 24, 2020, over fears of COVID-19 infection.

Within the same period, Dan Botwe , the Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development was also admitted at the University of Ghana Medical Centre upon feeling unwell.

Few weeks on, it is unclear whether or not, both tested positive for COVID-19.

 citinewsroom
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The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Against Corruption numbering over 500 has today launched a campaign dubbed #BringBackDomelevo.

This comes after President Akufo-Addo directed the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo to take his accumulated leave.

On June 29, 2020, a statement signed and issued by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr. Eugene Arhin said the directive is in accordance with sections 20 (1) and 31 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) which apply to all workers, including public office-holders.

At a press conference in Accra today, over 400 CSOs have joined heads to launch the BringBackDomelevo campaign.

The Coalition of CSOs against corruption says the decision by the President to ask the Auditor General to proceed on leave at no other time but now is very disappointing.

.it is disappointing that the President only chose one option once this matter was brought to his attention. For an Auditor General who the President has praised on several occasions for his dedication to work, the President could only see the option of dispensing with his services for six whole months. The President could have taken the view that the entitlement extinguishes each year in accordance with the Public Service HR Manual, Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the CDD, Dr. Kojo Asante said while addressing the press conference today.

He added, We believe our President listens and when he re-assesses the case we have made, he will reconsider. In this regard, we are calling on all well-meaning Ghanaians to join us in our campaign to #BringBackDomelevo beginning today. Second, as a result of the gravity of the constitutional issues raised by this action, we have to at some point apply to the Supreme Court for interpretation of the Presidents powers in respect of independent governance institutions.

Read the full press statement from the CSOs below:

CSOs Statement On President Akufo Addos Decision To Force The Auditor General To Take His Accumulated Leave

Members of the press, colleague leaders of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Ghana, democracy and good governance activists and fellow Ghanaians, good morning and welcome to todays press conference. The CSOs gathered here represent close to 500 CSO members across the country.

The CSO Platform on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which has signed this statement alone represents 435 CSO members. We also have the Right to Information Coalition and the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition all endorsing this statement. Short Statement on the Impact of Covid-19 Before I proceed with the statement, let me use this opportunity to say a few words about the COVID-19 Pandemic.

First, we extend our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19, particularly our frontline health professionals. We pray the good Lord strengthen and comfort you during these difficult times. We must take this virus seriously and strictly observe the preventive protocols. In this regard, we want to wish the President and our leaders Gods protection. We need all our leaders to be healthy to lead us through these challenging times. CSOs have been doing their part to support through the CSO COVID-19 Fund.

At the appropriate time we will share with citizens our plans for a much stronger citizen involvement in the response to the pandemic. Statement 2 Fellow Ghanaians, it is with sadness, disappointment and extreme concern that we come to you today to share our thoughts on the decision taken by the President last Monday, 29 th June, 2020, directing the Auditor General, Mr. Daniel Domelevo to take his alleged accumulated leave of 123 days, beginning 1st July, 2020.

Following the Auditor Generals response to the Presidents directive, his annual leave for 2020 has subsequently been added to his leave days; bringing the total leave days to 167. We find the entire episode and the justification for the Presidents action regrettable and inconsistent with both the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution. In our estimation, such actions only weaken our quest for good democratic governance grounded in the principle of checks and balances, rule of law and the pursuit of public accountability. In the evening of Monday 29th June, 2020, news started filtering in that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had directed the Auditor General to take his alleged accumulated leave of 123 days effective 1 st July, 2020. The statement indicated that the basis of the Presidents directive was Sections 20 (1) and 31 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).

These provisions basically provide for a 15-day leave entitlement for a worker in a calendar year. Further, a worker or an employee cannot enter into any agreement to forgo a leave entitlement; such agreement would be void. Mr. Domelevo was said to have taken 9 out of a possible 132 days since his appointment in 2016.

To apparently strengthen the justification for such an action, the statement referred to a similar decision taken by the late President Mills in 2009 during the tenure of Mr. Edward Dua Agyeman (then Auditor General), now current Board Chair of the Ghana Audit Service. On the 3rd July, 2020 the Auditor General responded to the Presidents directive challenging the legal basis for the decision and expressing concern with what he considered to be an effort to interfere with his constitutional mandate. On the same day, the Presidency followed up with a reply restating and expanding its legal justifications.

All the 3 communication from the Presidency to the Auditor General and vice versa have been shared with the public. Ladies and Gentlemen, context matters in discussing these issues. It is important to note that this current issue with the Auditor General is not an isolated event but part of an ongoing tussle between the Auditor General and the Audit Service Board led by its Chairman Mr. Edward Dua Agyemang, over the confines of the Auditor Generals constitutional independence. The Boards efforts to subjugate the Auditor General under its control has led to several clashes including a matter in 2017 over the purchase of vehicles for the Audit Service which is now a subject of an EOCO investigation.

There was an attempt to resolve the impasse through a Committee set up by the President and led by the Presidents Secretary but it was unsuccessful. Mr. Isaac Wilberforce Mensah has taken the constitutional matters raised by the Board to the Supreme Court for interpretation. It is therefore no surprise that the Board Chairman is reported to have confirmed on several media platforms that it is the Board that referred the matter of the Auditor Generals alleged accumulated leave to the President.

This context indicates that at the heart of the matter is the independence of the Auditor General and that is what we should pay attention to. Threats to the Independence of the Auditor General and other Independent Governance Institutions First, some aspects of the decision of the President on the face of it may be grounded in law, however when examined overall in the context of the 1992 Constitution, particularly in relation to the independence of the Auditor General, it operates to interfere with the mandate of the Auditor General.

The framers of the 1992 Constitution could not have intended to create a simple employeremployee relationship between the appointing authority (in this case the President) and the Auditor General thereby making the President a Human Resource Manager, administering the 4 leave schedule of heads of Independent Governance Institutions. If this understanding is accepted then it means that the President can direct the Chief Justice, the Commissioners of the Electoral Commission and the Commissioners of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to proceed on leave when he sees fit.

That would be an absurdity and will operate to interfere with the independence of those offices. If this logic was to be extended, then it means the President can presumably direct the Auditor General as to which international conference he can and cannot attend; a matter which ordinarily would be managed as an HR function. Just imagine a situation where a President asks the Chair of the Electoral Commission to go on leave in the middle of her preparations for the voter registration exercise. In a context like that, a fair-minded person is likely to believe that the President is not acting in good faith.

The second letter from the Presidency raises an even more serious constitutional question as to whether or not the President as the appointing authority has the power to unilaterally apply administrative sanctions against heads of independent governance institutions. In essence, can the President suspend the Auditor General or a Chief Justice for insubordination? This reading of Article 297 of the Constitution has to be in error. The Presidents power of appointment in relation to the Auditor General does not include the power to disappoint as clearly stated in Article 187 (13) and therefore does not give rise to disciplinary powers.

Fellow Ghanaians, as democrats, we should heed the warning from what has happened recently in other African jurisdictions. Just last month, a similar incident occurred in Malawi, when the President directed the Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda to take his accumulated leave ahead of his retirement. The Malawi Law Society, the Association of Magistrates and others sought an injunction in court to stop the Presidents order from being carried out.

They believed the President was interfering with the independence of the Judiciary and rightly so. The Accumulated Leave Debate 5 Second, there is a debate as to whether annual leave can or cannot be accumulated. While that may not be an issue we like to spend ink on, we would like to refer to the Court of Appeals decision in the case of Samuel M.K Adrah v Electricity Company of Ghana (Civil Appeal No: HI/149/2017) in which the court indicated that there is no such thing as accumulated leave and workers are enjoined to take their annual leave.

The court also stated that any agreement to forgo leave is void with no benefits accruing to the benefit of the employer or employee under such agreement. This position of the law was expressed in simple terms by Deputy Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, on Joy FMs Super Morning Show on Monday 6th July, 2020. His statement of a summary of the law was that [w]e all know that to accumulate leave is wrongful

There is a prohibition of accumulation of leave. Indeed, this position is fully supported by paragraph 4.25 of the binding Human Resource Management Policy Framework and Manual for the Ghana Public Services. It states that unspent leave is forfeited and accrual of leave is prohibited with the only exception that where leave may accrue or accumulated it must not exceed leave periods for two years including the current year, and even so by agreement and approval of management. If indeed the Auditor General was being treated as any civil or public servant would have been treated, the legal basis for forcing the Auditor General to take accumulated leave is non-existent.

Handling Annual Leave as an HR Function Third, it is curious that a small matter of managing annual leave has escalated to this level. This is unfortunate but as we stated earlier, the context shows that the administration of leave has been added to the basket of actions and inactions being contested by the Audit Service Board. In our view, leave entitlements and schedules are purely an HR function handled within an organization.

For many public and private institutions this is handled by an HR manager and often does not lead to directing a person to forcibly take their leave. Most managers at the highest levels hardly exhaust their leave and if they omit to take their leave even when offered, 6 they lose it and do not accumulate it.

Therefore, it is disappointing that the President only chose one option once this matter was brought to his attention. For an Auditor General who the President has praised on several occasions for his dedication to work, the President could only see the option of dispensing with his services for six whole months. The President could have taken the view that the entitlement extinguishes each year in accordance with the Public Service HR Manual.

The President could have decided to ask him to take some of his 2020 leave. These are all options that recognizes the importance and independence of the Office and consistent with the law. None of these were done. In fact, at the time the Auditor General was receiving the letter from Jubilee House, it was already in the media that he has been asked to proceed on leave. On the whole, there were other options that would have mitigated any potential interference with the work of the Auditor General and none was taken. Citizens Should Support and Protect the Independence of the Auditor General and His Office Fourth, we as citizens have to fight for public officers like Mr. Domelevo, not because they are saints and infallible but because they show us that the governance and society we clamour for is possible.

We wake up each day complaining about the problems of leadership and the public service. We complain about the lack of accountability, sacrifice, leadership example and effectiveness in the way the public sector is managed. Since Mr. Domelevo took office, he has been exemplary. He has shown leadership and has been extremely productive. His achievements are there for all to see. We need more of such men and women. Unfortunately, many of them have to fight this battle alone and often they lose out.

This action is a warning and a huge discouragement to public office holders who desire to stand up and be counted. It is shocking to read some media reports that Mr. Domelevo is serving a political party interest by his actions. This is the same Auditor General who upon the assumption into office of the new NPP government in 2017 conducted an audit of the liabilities accrued by Ministries, 7 Departments and Agencies in 2016 during the tenure of President Mahama who appointed him and disallowed as much as GHC5.4 Billion; saving the country a lot of money.

As citizens, we have to make a choice whether we want an Auditor General who will hold everyone to account without fear or favor; one who will ensure our hard-earned taxpayers money is used for the benefit of citizens and not go to individual pockets. If that is what we want then we must stand up and make our voices heard.

This is not an NPP or NDC matter. This is about Ghana; whether it is an NPP or NDC government, we want an independent Auditor General. When, we get people like Mr. Domelevo who want to work and serve the public interest, we must protect them. Remedial Action Ladies and gentlemen, based on the issues we have raised in reaction to the Presidents decision, first, we believe the decision of the President is not proper and needs to be reconsidered. The action gravely weakens the Presidents fight against corruption and his standing in the eyes of the international community as someone committed to public accountability.

We should not forget that it was the President and the NPP government that set up an Office of the Special Prosecutor with a carefully designed legal framework to ensure that Mr. Martin Amidu was not only formally independent but substantively independent.

We believe our President listens and when he re-assesses the case we have made, he will reconsider. In this regard, we are calling on all well-meaning Ghanaians to join us in our campaign to #BringBackDomelevo beginning today. Second, as a result of the gravity of the constitutional issues raised by this action, we have to at some point apply to the Supreme Court for interpretation of the Presidents powers in respect of independent governance institutions.

Third, we are fully aware that one of the issues that deepened the conflict between the Auditor General and the Board is the Kroll Associates case in which the Senior Minister, Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo and four other officials of the Finance 8 Ministry have been surcharged by the Auditor General. The Senior Minister has resorted to court action to clear his name.

We will all be watching closely how the matter is being handled in the temporary absence of the Auditor General. We are aware per the Supreme Courts instructions the documents requested by the Auditor General has now been inspected and the parties are due to return to court. We will follow the process closely. Lastly, it is important to acknowledge the diligent work of the Audit Service for many years. It has been one of the performing public institutions over the years. Mr. Domelevos leadership has taken it to another level. It is our expectation that the Service will continue to serve the public with distinction and professionalism in the temporary absence of the Auditor General. Always Ghana First! God bless Ghana!! Thank you. Signed: Coalition of CSOs Against Corruption
The Assam government has invited textile companies to invest in the state, assuring customised support to their business ventures.

With the advancement of the Act East policy, Assam is now the centre of Southeast Asia with access to eight crore people, Industry and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said.

Participating from Assam in the 'Exclusive Investment Forum' webinar organised by the Union Ministry of Textiles in collaboration with Invest India on Monday, Patowary said the state's robust infrastructure makes it an ideal investment destination for textile and apparel companies.

"As per the fourth All India Handloom Census, Assam has the highest number of looms and weavers in India. With 10.9 lakh weaver households and 10.19 lakh looms, the cottage industry provides huge employment opportunities to the people. The state has a textile park and is contemplating to set up another such park," he said.

Apart from Assam, representatives of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana participated in the webinar.

Chairing the webinar, Union Minister for Textiles, Smriti Irani, highlighted the centuries-old history of textile in India. She said India has a vast textile market, abundant raw materials and investor-friendly policies.

Assam produces 4,650 tonnes of Eri silk, 156.96 tonnes of Muga silk and 59.50 tonnes of mulberry every year, state Industries and Commerce Department Commissioner and Secretary K K Dwivedi said. PTI ESB SBN ACD.
Since the lockdown rules have lifted significantly, Im sure a lot of you are itching to go out on a road trip. If youre in the market looking for something that will help ferry the entire family, heres a list we think could make that choice easier.

The income tax (I-T) department has notified tax exemption on interest, dividend and capital gain incomes of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and global pension funds arising from their investment in Indian infrastructure. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) through a notification dated July 6 has widened the scope of 'infrastructure' for the purpose of claiming income tax exemption under Section 10 (23FE) of the I-T Act introduced via the Finance Act 2020.

The said Section permits a complete tax exemption to certain exclusive category of non-resident investors on their income streams such as dividends, interest and capital gains.

Nangia Andersen LLP Partner Aravind Srivatsan said the Section was aimed at targeting select group of investors such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority through their wholly-owned subsidiary, SWFs and pension funds so that they increase their commitment or allocations to India.

"Pursuant to the notification, investments made by these investors fund directly or through vehicles such as AIF (alternative investment fund) into as many as 34 defined infrastructure sectors will qualify," Srivatsan said.

This notification shall come into force from April 1, 2021, and shall be applicable for the assessment year (AY) 2021-22 and subsequent AYs, the CBDT said.

AKM Global Tax Partner Amit Maheshwari said considering India's need for huge investment in infrastructure, this is a good move. "This will attract sovereign funds to a more diverse range of infrastructure companies into sectors like telecom, energy, logistics, hospitals, and cold chains."

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in Budget 2020 announced tax exemption for such infrastructure investments in India.

"In order to incentivise the investment made by the sovereign wealth fund of foreign governments in the priority sectors, I propose to grant 100 per cent tax exemption to their interest, dividend and capital gains incomes in respect of investment made in infrastructure and other notified sectors before March 31, 2024, and with a minimum lock-in period of 3 years," she had said.

The CBDT notification aligns the definition of the term "infrastructure facility" with the harmonised master list issued by the Department of Economic Affairs in 2018.

"Pursuant to this notification, investing in India infrastructure would turn attractive, unmindful of hasty downgrade of the country's ratings and allow long-term stable capital to chase high-quality infrastructure projects," Srivatsan added.

Also, such a wide-ranging list of qualifying investments for tax incentives would allow capital formation to flow into social infrastructure such as educational institutions, sport stadiums, tourism, operationalise long-pending investment creation of theme based parks including food parks, multi-modal logistics parks and textile parks, he said.

Themes that resonate with the New India such as city gas distribution network, bulk material transportation pipelines, urban public transport, rail infrastructure will also qualify, he said.
The first batch of Cipla's Remdesivir has left the manufacturing site of Sovereign Pharma, the Daman-based company that was contracted by the former to formulate Remdesivir into finished dosages.

Remdesivir is used in the treatment of hospitalised novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, patients who are on oxygen.

Sovereign Pharma didn't disclose the number of vials that it has shipped, but the management said its second batch is ready to be shipped on July 8. The company has the capacity to scale up production to 95,000 vials per month.

Cipla is among the six Indian generic pharma manufacturers that have signed non-exclusive voluntary licencing agreements with Gilead Sciences for its patented drug Veklury (Remdesivir). The management, in turn, has signed a contract manufacturing agreement with BDR Pharmaceuticals, who have further transferred the formulation technology for manufacturing and packaging of the generic drug to Sovereign Pharma.

Cipla's Remdesivir, to be sold under brand name Cipremi, is the most anticipated in the market given the severe shortage of the drug, even as people continue to fall prey to COVID-19.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Moneycontrol reported here about the shortage of Remdesivir and its diversion into the black market where it is sold up to six times of Hetero's price of Rs 5,400.

Cipla has priced the drug at Rs 4,000 per vial, almost 25 percent cheaper than Hetero's Covifor.

Remdesivir has been recommended for five days, 200 mg IV (intravenous) on day one followed by 100 mg IV daily for four days.

Rishad Dadachanji, Director, Sovereign Pharma, said, Since last month, we have been constantly manufacturing Remdesivir. At our current capacity, we can supply 50,000 to 95,000 pieces of the injectable per month. We know how critical the situation is, especially with the pandemic still spreading across the country. Hence, we are in constant touch with all our clients and ready to cater to any of their requirements with utmost priority.

Established in 2003 as a Contract Manufacturing Organisation (CMO) to produce high-quality injectables for pharmaceutical companies worldwide, Sovereign Pharma now produces 350 million pieces each year. Going by the number of doses, it sells over 1 billion injections every year.

Remdesivir is known for successfully reducing the virus load in coronavirus patients and has been going through tests for a specific treatment for COVID-19. It has been authorised for emergency use or severe cases in several countries, including India.
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JSW Steel Chairman Sajjan Jindal created a flutter on July 5, when he said that industrialists can't "keep making money by buying cheaper Chinese raw materials for our business while our soldiers are getting killed at the LAC by them."

He added that many of his industrialist friends are upset as business with China is important to maintain healthy margins, but Jindal said the situation has arisen "because of our complacency" in accepting cheaper products from across the border, instead of developing local capability.

Jindal's posts on Twitter saw a lot of supportive responses from fellow citizens.

Also Read: Sajjan Jindal calls for unity among industrialists to curb Chinese imports

A few days earlier, on June 30, Anand Mahindra response to a Chinese daily editor, also evoked similar nationalistic sentiments.

The editor had cheekily said that Chinese people can't boycott any Indian products as there are no Indian goods to boycott.

Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra , said: "I suspect this comment might well be the most effective & motivating rallying cry that India Inc. has ever received. Thank you for the provocation. We will rise to the occasion."

Twitterati replied with equal enthusiasm with some saying that few Chinese four-wheelers can match the performance of Mahindra's vehicles.

Also Read: Anand Mahindra hits back at Global Times' Editor-in-Chiefs tweet on Chinese apps ban

The nationalistic fervour from top industrialists is not surprising. "The sentiment has increased in the country, and the rule of the sovereign will now be far more visible in the action of corporate India," explains Tarun Bhatia,managing director and head of South Asia in the Business Intelligence and Investigations practice of Kroll.

"It will play out much more," adds Bhatia, about Indian businesses taking note of Chinese aggression. Kroll is a corporate investigations and risk consulting firm.

The Indian government had already banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and shipments from the country have been facing higher scrutiny at Indian ports.

There have been several calls to boycott further Chinese products and services, since the standoff between the two countries left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

The anti-China sentimentality was already building up, notes Bhatia. With the Donald Trump administration in the US announcing sanctions against China in 2019, companies globally had been looking for alternate locations to get their suppliers.

The feeling strengthened after the COVID-19 outbreak in China, which has been alleged to have suppressed information about the virus.

The violence at Galwan valley, further galvanised Indian citizens against anything Chinese.

At the same time, how much of this sentiment is just academic?

"There is indeed a lot of opportunity here. A lot of businesses in India and globally will check on their dependence on China. Government will also closely scrutinise this," said Bhatia, in an interview with Moneycontrol.

But business wise, he adds, "getting out of China is easier said than done. There are many sectors, including pharma and renewable energy, that are heavily dependent on China," says Bhatia.

At the JSW Group, which imports goods and equipment worth $1 billion from China a year, it will take at least two years to reduce the dependency. The timeline will be longer for companies that don't have resources similar to Jindal's Group.

The critical factor to enable the transition, says Bhatia, will be the government policy. If a phone from China is cheaper, then people won't continue buying other phones that are more expensive. The mood right now may nudge them to shun Chinese products. But that won't last for long," says Bhatia.

"A lot of work needs to happen to make that happen. Ease of doing business has to further improve, investments locally have to increase and reforms, including that on labour, have to be implemented," he says.

There are examples of countries who did grab the opportunity. Vietnam is one, with some economists even wondering if the South East Asian country has been eating into China's manufacturing pie.

Economists point out that many things, including cheaper costs, open trade, liberalised investment policies, including a free trade agreement with European Union, have helped the country.

The question now is if India can make the most of the opportunity. "It's a long path. We need a strong vision, and need to implement it," says Bhatia.




By Lee Kyung-min



The government is drawing criticism for its push to revise a law, Tuesday, a move that's being called pro-labor and anti-business, mostly because it would allow expanded membership of a company union to include dismissed workers as well as those not employed by the firm. Also to be allowed is legal recognition for Korea Teachers' and Education Workers' Union (KTU), a group of left-leaning educators outlawed in 2013 for including nine dismissed teachers in its membership.



The government says the revision is needed to ratify key clauses laid out by the International Labor Organization (ILO), a prerequisite to resolving a dispute over the free trade agreement between Korea and European countries.



Yet businesses say the move will only hurt their activities, long bogged down by militant unions known for their frequent threats and subsequent execution of strikes.



The labor-friendly policy will accelerate corporate deterioration already in significant progress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they say, with foreign businesses here being forced out of Korea, a country long shunned for arbitrary implementation of inconsistent, labor-friendly policy.



The revision approved by the Cabinet, Tuesday, will be submitted to the National Assembly within July. The ruling party-majority National Assembly will almost certainly pass the revision at the urging of President Moon Jae-in whose voter base includes a lot of unionists. Similar submitted revisions failed to pass the previous Assembly due to opposition from businesses-backed right-leaning lawmakers.



"Time-wasting conflict between management and union will escalate, with corporate survival on the line," said Choo Kwang-ho, economic policy team leader at Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI).



The revision will allow greater bargaining power to outside hard-liners dubbed "labor movement specialists," an industry term referring to those whose only concern is about protecting vested interests of union members. They almost always threaten to sabotage firm operation by refusing to work or going on strikes until the firm caves.



Union members in his view could hire them in a strategic move to amplify their influence, tanking firms to the brink of a shutdown.



"The contention may start by demanding greater benefits and higher wages, but they will certainly end up with some politically divisive issues that has nothing to do with corporate growth only used as a stalling tactic to have their demands met," he added.



The revision is in line with ILO recommendations seeking to strengthen the collective bargaining rights of workers. Yet, upholding global standards is meaningless if deadlocks over existing problems have no immediate breakthrough, he stressed.



"Korea has specific, decades-long problems that long ailed businesses," Choo said.



Unions in many other advanced countries do not rationalize or justify indefinite strikes launched only to hike wages or bolster other benefits while company plants are occupied by some hardline members threatening violence, which shows no regard to the firm or the economy. The revision should therefore not be hastily implemented without due discussion and ways to abandon the embarrassing culture, he said.



"Some clauses in related labor laws are open for interpretation and arguing for global standards lacks standing to give boost to the revision," he said.



The government push for the revision could not be any more ill-timed, according to a coalition of groups representing employers including Korea Enterprises Federation and Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea.



"The businesses are already experiencing extreme difficulty due to the virus-triggered economic crisis," said Park Che-khun, executive director of the Industrial Research Division at Korea Chamber Commerce & Industry (KCCI).



"It is regretful that the government is seeking revision knowing full well its implications for the struggling firms at a time of extreme financial strain. The revision up for discussion in the Assembly should be legislated properly in a way that can improve management-labor relations and bolster corporate competitiveness."


On July 1 American Airlines announced a revised start date for its Seattle - Bengaluru flight.

The airline which had surprised the aviation community with an announcement of a direct flight between Seattle and Bengaluru was to start operations this October. Instead, the airline would now operate it from next year.

American Airlines is not the only airline and Bengaluru is not the only airport to bear the brunt of COVID-19. Airlines the world over are re-aligning their networks, fleet plans and overall presence as they find ways to come out of the current pandemic environment and sustain.

In March, IndiGo - Indias largest carrier by domestic market share and fleet would have touched down in Chengdu from Mumbai, the second connection to Chengdu for the airline.

But days before the flight could start, Indian government banned all flights to China as the spread of Coronavirus was not contained.

The summer schedule would have offered Mumbaikars a chance to fly non-stop to Moscow as Ural Airlines was to launch flights from March 30 2020.

All flights in India were grounded from March 25 as the country headed for a lockdown. A second flight was on the cards beginning early July between Mumbai and Moscow, with Aeroflot returning to the city after 2008.

Vietnam - fast becoming a major partner of India in trade and tourism would have seen connectivity from Mumbai and additional flights from Delhi, come May.

VietJet - the vietnamese low cost carrier which started services to New Delhi in December 2019 with seven flights a week between the two countries was to rapidly expand the services with a daily flight each to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from New Delhi and five weekly flights to Da Nang - the beach town which attracts holiday makers from across the world.

The airline was to fly thrice a week between Hanoi and Mumbai along with four weekly flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Mumbai starting mid-May.

While Bengaluru is seeing its connection to Seattle pushed to next year, the airport was supposed to get a direct connection to Munich this March, which would have supplemented the existing Lufthansa operations to Frankfurt. This too now stands postponed.

Air France was to launch flights to Chennai starting June, which have been tentatively pushed to October.

The Air France KLM group has been trying to consolidate its hold over operations in India after its partner Jet Airways suspended operations last year. The group's rival Lufthansa already operates to Chennai while Air India offers a one-stop connection to Paris via its New Delhi hub with a seamless transit experience since immigration is handled at Chennai.

Impact on airports & airlines

Conservative estimates suggest that it would take between two to five years for air traffic to be back to pre-COVID-19 levels. Airports earn a large chunk of their revenue from parking, landing and route navigation charges that are paid by the airlines for operations. This forms the aero revenues for the airports.

The other revenue stream for airports is what is classified as non-aero revenues, consisting of rent from office space, advertising and a share of retail stores. With dwindling passenger numbers, there is little change of an uptick in revenues for retail. On the contrary, the going is getting so tough for the stores at airports that many - the world over, have started vacating the space.

For airlines, months, and at times, years of efforts go into announcing a route. This involves looking at the fleet plans for the next couple of years and planning aircraft delivery based on estimations.

The newer routes take time to mature and airlines are willing to give a new route some time to show positive revenues. An airline typically looks at breaking even at variable cost first - comprising the cost of operation of that flight and then helping add revenue at the total cost of operations.

While a transfer passenger market forms a large chunk of calculation for airlines to estimate the passenger load for a sector, there is fear that customers may not want to change flights and could opt for direct options - further putting pressure on some flights and airlines.

This could lead to deferment or delay in taking deliveries of aircraft by the airlines, further impacting both Airbus and Boeing. The two large aircraft manufacturers have already announced shedding of some work force as the entire ecosystem looks to stay sustainable and save cash.

Ameya Joshi runs the aviation analysis website Network Thoughts.

When will the flights be back and if at all those announced would be launched soon, needs to be seen but the market definitely is not conducive enough to have new links at this point of time.
The US Immigration department on July 6 announced that no student visas will be granted to international students pursuing online academic programmes. Students already in the US will also not be allowed to stay back unless they are taking in-person classes, the United States Immigration and Customs Department (ICE) said.

This comes as a big blow to international students, especially Indians, who had been eyeing higher education in the US and were either already in the country or planning to enrol for the fall semester.

A total of 1,095,299 international students were studying in the United States as per the Open Doors Report 2019. Of this 202,014 or 18.4 percent students were Indians.

While clarity is still awaited on the new guidelines, we at Moneycontrol try to explain what the changes could mean:

To begin with, what exactly has ICE said?

ICE said that international students will not be given a student visa (F-1 or vocational course M-1 visa) if they pursue a course in the United States that is offered fully online. This is applicable for the Fall 2020 semester that will begin from the end of August.

But, I am already in the US so I should be safe, right?

No. International candidates in the US on an F-1 visa would be allowed to stay back only if there are taking an offline in-person course on a physical campus.

So, will I be deported?

Technically, yes. ICE has said active students currently in the US enrolled in courses that are now being offered online due to the coronavirus outbreak must either leave for their home country or apply for transfer to another institute that is offering in-person classes. If not, they may face immigration consequences including deportation.

But I have been legitimately selected for a programme at an Ivy League institute. Why will I be forced to leave now?

Unfortunately, ICE has not excluded any institute from this requirement. So even if you are enrolled at an Ivy League institute such as Harvard University, you would be asked to go back home and continue online lessons.

Coincidentally, Harvard University on July 6 stated that the institution would be moving classes online for the academic year 2020-21.

But shouldnt my institute take responsibility?

Even though you may be legally enrolled into a US institute, if classes move online you would be mandated to go back to the home country. Your university may not want to risk their future by illegally allowing you to stay back.

ICE has, in fact, asked all US institutes to present a Certificate of Eligibility for Non-immigrant Student Status stating that the programme is not entirely online.

My programme is not fully online. Does this apply to me too?

There is a limit on how much of a programme can be online. In institutes offering online plus offline classes model, international students will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online.

Hence, if a higher proportion of the course/credit hours is online, you could be sent back.

I am planning to go by January since my institute has offered the option. Will ICE rules still apply to me?

Even if your US-based institute has offered the facility of joining classes at a later date, your student visa will be approved only if in-person classes are held. Despite having a valid acceptance letter, you will not be allowed entry into the US if classes are fully online.

What if my institute shifts classes online after a few weeks? How am I responsible?

The institute has to update the information with the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) within 10 days of the change if they begin the fall semester with in-person classes but are later required to switch to only online classes.

Even if you as a student changes the course selection and take up a full course online, you cannot stay back.

But hadn't the government itself offered this exemption earlier this year?

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme had instituted a temporary exemption regarding online courses for the spring and summer semesters. This policy permitted non-immigrant students to take more online courses than normally permitted by federal regulation.

But ICE has now clarified that this exemption was temporary in nature and was only taken due to the emergency caused by the pandemic.

I dont have access to the internet back home in India. Can I seek exemption from this new rule?

ICE has neither offered any exemption based on income category nor has it allowed students with inadequate facilities in their home country to stay back. So if you dont have a laptop/computer with working internet connection back in India, you would still be mandated to return to the home country.

How long can I now stay in the United States as a student?

ICE has not yet given details about the timeline for students to transfer at an alternative in-person class. It is likely that these details will be out over the next few days. Talk to your respective institute to find out if a hybrid model can be adopted so that you could stay back under the student visa.

Will I be able to ever return to the US?

Most educational institutes have said that 2020-21 academic calendar will be fully online. Though the ICE guidelines are only applicable for the Fall 2020 Semester. Immigration experts have said there will be a status quo on these new norms, meaning students cannot apply for a student visa if the course is fully online.

Will I still get my degree?

The online courses offered by the institutes are an exact replica of offline course modules. Hence, as an international student your academic future remains intact. Just that you would have to study from elsewhere.

Will I get any fee refund from the university?

Unfortunately not. All US institutes have clarified that even if classes move online and students are required to log in for live lectures from home, the fee structure will remain exactly the same. What you do save is living expenses.
The United States Immigration and Customs Department (ICE) has shut the doors on international students pursuing courses that have gone fully online due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The July 6 directive means that Indian students who are in the United States on an F-1 student visa or M-1 visa for vocational education will have to come back home if the course has gone online. It holds true for institutions like Harvard University as well. If the classes are online-only, the student may not be allowed to stay in the US.

In a statement, ICE said the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) had announced modifications to temporary exemptions for non-immigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester.

Non-immigrant 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. 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 ICE statement said.

Harvard University had on July 6 announced that in 2020-21, all classes will be held online. As per new ICE rules, Indian students enrolling into Harvard won't be allowed to stay in the United States.

According to the Open Doors Report 2019, there were 202,014 Indian students in the United States.

Immigration experts told Moneycontrol it is not clear how long students will be allowed before being sent back.

Several students, including Indians, have valid F-1 visas. We dont know what is the timeline planned by ICE to make students leave. This brings in a lot of uncertainty, especially since a lot of US universities have not even decided whether the courses will move full online, said a Mumbai-based immigration expert.

ICE said that students enrolled in online-only programmes have to either leave or must transfer to an institute that has some offline classes.

Non-immigrant F-1 students attending schools operating under normal in-person classes are bound by federal regulations. Eligible F-1 students may take a maximum of one class or three credit hours online.

Non-immigrant F-1 students attending schools adopting a hybrid modela mix of online and in-person classeswill be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online.

These schools must certify to SEVP that the programme is not entirely online, the student is not taking an entirely online course this semester and students are taking the minimum number of online classes to make progress in their degree programmes.

Educational consultants are of the view that Indian students from remote corners of the country may find it tough to keep pace with online degree programmes if they are forced to come back home.

Internet connectivity could be an issue. And, the US institutes would want to stay safe and may not side with the students. It is a tough choice, said Delhi-based education consultant Sankar Sethuraman

Schools have to update their information on the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) within 10 days of the change if they begin the fall semester with in-person classes but are later required to switch to online-only classes. It also has to be done if non-immigrant students change their courses and end up taking an entirely online course load.

Due to COVID-19, SEVP, however, has temporary exemption regarding online courses for the spring and summer semesters. This policy permits non-immigrant students to take more online courses than normally permitted by federal regulation.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case against the promoters of GVK Power & Infrastructure, Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) and others companies under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on July 7.

This development comes a week after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case of cheating and forgery against the GVK Group, its promoter GVK Reddy, Sanjay Reddy, MIAL and nine other companies for causing a loss of Rs 705 crore to the government.

CBI has divided the MIAL scam into four parts: 1) Siphoning off funds by showing execution of bogus contract work; 2) Misusing surplus or reserve funds of MIAL by inflating expenditure through diversion of funds; 3) Under reporting revenue earnings of MIAL by entering into related party contracts; and 4) Meeting the personal expenses of promoters of GVK group and their families using the funds of MIAL.

MIAL is a joint venture between Hyderabad-based GVK groups GVK Airport Holding, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and some foreign companies. GVK Airport Holding and AAI hold 50.05 percent and 26 percent stake, respectively.

AAI had in 2006 signed an agreement with MIAL for modernisation, operation and maintenance of the Mumbai airport. MIAL was to share 38.7 percent of its revenue with the AAI as an annual fee, the agreement said.

The CBIs charges against the GVK group can be broadly divided into four categoriessiphoning off money through bogus work contracts, diversion of funds to group companies, inflated expenditure and underreporting of airport earnings to meet personal expenses of promoters and their families. The alleged irregularities were spread over a six-year period, from 2012 to 2018

The AAI granted a 200-acre land parcel near the Mumbai airport to MIAL for development and generative revenue, the CBI said. But MIAL in 2017 allegedly entered into a bogus contract with Aishwaryagiri Construction Pvt, Kotia Enterprises, SBK Trade & Infrastructure, Subhash Infra, Aqua Tech Solutions, MV Omni Projects, Richa Industries, Nice Projects and Aditi Infrabuild for real estate development, the agency said.

MIAL transferred around Rs 310 crore to these nine companies but no work was carried out, causing a loss to the Airport Authority of India, it said.

The nine companies also took fake input credit, which resulted in a loss to the exchequer.

GVK group allegedly misused Rs 395 crore reserved funds of MIAL to finance its other companies. As per source information from 2012 onwards, the promoter of GVK used surplus funds of MIAL (to the) tune of Rs 395 crore to finance their own other group companies, the CBI said in the FIR.

The promoters created forged MIAL board resolutions authorising them to keep the reserve in the form of a fixed deposit with a public sector bank in Hyderabad though MIAL is a Mumbai-based company, the FIR said.

GVK used overdraft facilities and loans on this FDR. They have given benefits to other companies at the expense of MIAL. Similarly, the company has used surplus funds of MIAL in Hyderabad in other nationalised banks and availed loans and overdraft facility, it said.

The CBI has accused the GVK group of inflating expenditure of MIAL. It said employees of other GVK group companies who had nothing to do with the airport were shown on the payrolls of MIAL, causing a loss to the AAI.The GVK group connived with the family members and employees to give undue monetary advantage to it and to cause loss to AAI, the CBI said. As part of the conspiracy, they assigned the premium retail areas of Mumbai airport to their family members at exorbitantly low rates, thereby reducing the revenue of MIAL," the CBI said.

The GVK promoters also used MIAL funds for booking air tickets and hotel stay of family members.

This the second time in as many years that GVK group is facing scrutiny over Mumbai airport. Last year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs conducted an inspection of the group companies on a whistleblowers complaint that also included MIAL.

The CBI is likely to share information with income tax authorities as companies used fake input credits, sources said. The agency is expected to call in company officials for questioning during the week.
Malaysia's flagship budget carrier AirAsia Group Bhd expects its 2020 capacity to be just 45 percent-60 percent of last year's levels due to the coronavirus outbreak and to fill 70-75 percent of seats this year compared with the usual 85 percent.

The forecast was released in a presentation posted on the airline's website on Tuesday, a day after it reported its biggest first-quarter loss since it listed on the Malaysian bourse in November 2004, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

AirAsia expects travel demand to rebound to an extent in 2021, with capacity reaching 85 percent of its 2019 levels and load factor, a measure of the percentage of seats filled, returning to 85 percent in 2021, according to the presentation.

AirAsia posted a loss of 803.3 million ringgit ($187.91 million) for the quarter ended March, from 96.1 million ringgit net profit in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 15 percent to 2.31 billion ringgit.

AirAsia shares were down 2.8 percent at 0545 GMT on Tuesday.

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 company management had guided that an equity raising via a placement or rights issue looked imminent, Affin Hwang Capital analyst Isaac Chow wrote in a note.

AirAsia last month said it had received proposals from investment bankers, lenders and potential investors to help cope with the pandemic.

It said on Monday it had ongoing deliberations for joint-ventures and collaborations that might result in additional third party investments in specific segments of the group's business.

Demand was positive since the carrier gradually restarted domestic routes after grounding most of its fleet in March due to movement restrictions to contain the coronavirus, AirAsia added.

The company had sought payment deferrals from suppliers and lenders to ensure sufficient working capital and had restructured a major portion of its fuel hedges, Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said in a statement on Monday.

AirAsia has also applied for bank loans in countries it operates in to shore up liquidity, the statement said.

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With a 41 percent rally in both the benchmark and the broader markets since March 23 low, experts no longer feel that market valuations are cheap.

On July 6, the market ended on a more than four-month high don the back of three weeks of positive gain in Nifty. Positive news on the COVID-19 vaccine front and optimism over earnings and economic growth next year kept the party going for the bulls.

"The current actual fundamental data of economy & companies do not provide confidence to take a directional call on the market. Valuations have also reached near the last high due to low earnings base of FY21 & bounce of the market. Given both the outlook, today the stock market is moving with small positivity as per the push in liquidity, macro and micro news, hoping for a no virus issue in CY21," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Axis Securities also feels Nifty on FY20 earnings is trading at 23x. "The market has breached the mean valuations on the upside, we find the market not cheap even after considering the earnings are at the cyclical bottom."

Hence the brokerage feels stock picking and playing the right themes will be the key hereon. "While the broader economic challenges will continue to persist but value, quality mid and smallcap names will see increased allocation as they will see a consistent uptick in business in the forthcoming quarters. Pricing power will be a key factor in picking mid and smallcaps," the brokerage said.

Its long-term themes of uptick in Digital, Telecom, Rural, Supply chain shifts and Consumer staples remained intact but it also expects the positive impact of pent-up demand to help Automobile and Cement sectors in the near term. Hence it upgraded both the sectors to equalweight.

The brokerage feels markets eventually follow earnings trajectory. IT, Consumer and Telecom are likely to post better earnings and demonstrate better earnings growth trajectory in the upcoming results, according to the brokerage.

Axis Securities added ITC and CCL products in its list of top picks as it sees value buying. It dropped Aarti Industries and Escorts from its list.

The brokerage has recommended the following 10 stocks:

ICICI Bank: Buy | Target: Rs 495 | Return: 37.1 percent

We expect higher provisioning over FY21/22 cushioned by stable NIM, low cost of funds and healthy capital adequacy. We believe valuations are undemanding for the stock given strong liability franchise and leveraging opportunities across group products. We remain positive on the stock and maintain buy with SOTP of Rs 495.

Manappuram Finance: Buy | Target: Rs 173 | Return: 7.3 percent

We expect moderate loan growth and higher provisioning over FY21/22E cushioned by improvement in cost ratios. Pressure on the non-gold portfolio is easing off as collections improve in rural areas. Gold lending will remain an attractive option for customers looking for credit as banks will be more risk-averse. We expect Manappuram to maintain ROAE of around 24 percent over FY21/FY22. We remain positive on the stock and revise our target price upwards to Rs 173.

Varun Beverages: Buy | Target: Rs 804 | Return: 15.2 percent

We expect Varun Beverages to register Revenues/Earnings CAGR of 10/28 percent respectively over CY19-21E. This growth will be driven by 1) consolidation in newly acquired territories, 2) distribution led market share gains, 3) cost efficiencies and 4) margin tailwinds.

Varun Beverages' EBITDA margin stood at 16.2 percent in Q1 CY20 and with benign raw material prices, it is likely to sustain in CY20. The stock trades at 10.5x EV/EBITDA on CY21E basis versus its 3-year mean of 14x EV/EBITDA.

CCL Products: Buy | Target: Rs 267 | Return: 11.3 percent

We expect CCL Products to post Revenue/EBITDA/PAT CAGR of 9/11/12 percent respectively over FY20-22E driven by product mix improvement and 3,500MT expansion at Vietnam plant. Our estimates are also supported by the company's guidance of Volume/EBITDA growth of 10-15 percent in FY21 along with sustaining its high margins, despite COVID-19 led challenges.

Minda Industries: Buy | Target: Rs 318 | Return: 11.3 percent

We expect annual revenue to grow at 14.5 percent CAGR over FY20E-22E. Expect EPS to grow robustly at 35 percent YoY and 32 percent YoY for FY21 and FY22. The company trades at 23.8x FY22E P/E multiples and will continue to command premium valuation due to an unmatched product offering among auto ancillaries and a long history of superior growth.

ITC: Buy | Target: Rs 230 | Return: 16.6 percent

Clearly, Q1FY21 performance will be severely impacted owing to COVID-19 led disruptions leading us to revise our estimates downwards for FY21/22. However, progressive normalisation of operations across segments, share gain possibilities in core cigarette business, quicker recovery in FMCG sales given increased in-home consumption and consumers preference towards trusted brands could support a quicker recovery in earnings.

Increase in dividend payout (81 percent in FY20 versus 56 percent in FY19) and can sustain going ahead in our view. At CMP stock trades at 15.5x FY22E EPS providing enough valuation comfort and high dividend yield +5 percent, with steady return ratios and likely market share gains in core cigarette business supported by inorganic acquisitions.

Mindtree: Buy | Target: Rs 1,088 | Return: 15.1 percent

The company's management is confident in gaining momentum and has worked efficiently with zero productivity loss. While traction is expected in Capital goods, Digital initiatives remained strong. Hi-Tech and automation is expected to gain pace post-COVID-19. However, we see some near-term challenge in terms of softness in revenue growth and pressure on Q1 operating margin.

We expect annual revenue to grow by 11 percent YoY and 11 percent YoY in FY21 and FY22, respectively. EPS is expected to grow at healthy 16 percent YoY and 15 percent YoY for FY21E and FY22E, respectively. We recommend buy and assign 21x P/E multiple to its FY22 earnings of Rs 50.6 which gives a target of Rs 1,088 per share.

Biocon: Buy | Target: Rs 474 | Return: 19.8 percent

We expect annual revenue to grow by 25 percent CAGR over FY20-22E, EBIDTA to expand by 35 percent CAGR and PAT by 47 percent CAGR over the same period. The EBIDTA margins are expected to expand from around 27 percent in FY20 to 29 percent by FY22 driven by increased contribution from high margin Biologics segment. Given the prospects of earnings growth over next couple of years, we value the company at 35x FY22 earnings to arrive at target of Rs 474.

Bharti Airtel: Buy | Target: Rs 650 | Return: 11.9 percent

Bharti Airtel is one of the largest telecom companies in the world with operations spanning 18 countries and a subscriber base of more than 420 million. It is the second-largest wireless telecom operator in terms of revenue after Reliance Jio. Bharti Airtel is a well-capitalised telecom operator with offerings across the telecom spectrum of enterprise and fixed-line broadband services.

Considering the industry structure further tariff hikes cannot be ruled out in the forthcoming quarters which will lead to consistent EBIDTA improvement.

We value the company based on SOTP valuation at Rs 650. The value could increase by a further Rs 40/share if Vodafone-Idea shuts down.

HCL Technologies: Buy | Target: Rs 653 | Return: 12.8 percent

HCL Technologies is a next-generation global technology company that helps enterprises reimagine their businesses for the digital age. Its products, services and engineering are built on strong innovation making it a more sustainable business model even in uncertainties.

We believe HCLT has a resilient business structure from a long term perspective. We recommend buy and assign 13x P/E multiple to its FY22E earnings of Rs 50.3, which gives a target of Rs 653 per share.

Disclaimer: 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.

"Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Moneycontrol."
1 Market buzz

Chasing returns? Go global

Indian markets have underperformed US markets and that possibly is the reason why Indian investors are looking to diversify overseas. Data collated from Morningstar India suggests that more than Rs 6,000 crore of Indian money is riding on US markets and the trend is likely to grow stronger. As the momentum picks up the amount of money invested will grow multifold. From a portfolio point of view, global funds add another level of diversification, say experts. A lot of investors are talking about maintaining an allocation of 15-20 percent into international equities. What to know how they are doing it? Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/chasing-returns-rs-6000-crore-of-indian-money-riding-in-us-markets-can-grow-multifold-in-3-5-years-5507551.html

2 Big Story

Indian economy to shrink 4.5% in 2020

India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will shrink 4.5 percent in the current fiscal year, the Union Finance Ministry said in its macroeconomic report. In its report, the Department of Economic Affairs said that the uncertainty caused because of the absence of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus poses a "serious challenge" to the economy. However, various social welfare schemes rolled by the government will help revive the economy, the report pointed out. The projection is 6.4 percentage points lower than what the Centre had predicted in April this year. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/covid-19-impact-indias-economy-to-shrink-4-5-in-2020-finance-ministry-5512781.html

3 Your money

Nearly half of unsold houses may face delays

Around 50 percent of unsold residential inventory in the country is under high risk of being delayed or is susceptible to price correction or both, a new report has said. Nearly 33 percent of such projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and 59 percent of projects in the National Capital Region fall in high and very-high execution risk categories, a report has said. There are 5,689 (31 percent) no risk projects in the country with as many as 76,164 (6 percent) unsold units. As many as 1981 (11 percent) projects are categorised as very high-risk projects with 3,00,728 (23 percent) unsold units. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/real-estate/covid-19-impact-nearly-half-of-unsold-housing-units-under-high-risk-of-being-delayed-5513371.html

4 Global watch

Buffett's Berkshire to buy Dominion Energy gas assets for $4 billion

Berkshire Hathaway Inc has said its energy unit will buy Dominion Energy Inc's natural gas transmission and storage network for $4 billion, helping billionaire chairman Warren Buffett reduce his conglomerate's cash pile while letting Dominion focus on utilities operations. The transaction includes more than 7,700 miles (12,390 km) of natural gas transmission lines and 900 billion cubic feet of gas storage. Dominion will retain 50 percent of Cove Point. Brookfield Asset Management Inc owns 25 percent. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/in-its-first-major-deal-since-covid-19-warren-buffetts-berkshire-to-buy-dominion-energy-gas-assets-for-us4-billion-5510471.html

5 Tech Tattle

Elyments, India's 'super app'

Days after the government banned 59 Chinese apps, an Indian social media app named Elyments has been launched. This 'super app' combines the features of many mobile applications into a single platform and offers tools for social networking, instant messaging, video chats as well as voice calls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been calling for Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) and the launch of Elyments is seen as a step in this direction. The app has been developed entirely in India by over 1,000 IT professionals. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/social-media-app-elyments-launched-all-you-need-to-know-about-indias-super-app-5511701.html

6 Startup Tales

Agri-tech revolution is here

Investments from venture capital firms in agri-tech startups are expected to exceed $500 million (around Rs 3,730 crore) in the next two years as entities engaged in helping farmers, enabling financing for them and enhancing farm mechanisation attract significant interest, a report by Maple Capital Advisors has said. India's agritech sector attracted about $245 million in investments from venture capital firms in 2019. There are more than 500 agritech startups in the country that are working towards solving the problems and challenges in the agriculture sector. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/startup/agritech-sector-could-attract-over-500-million-in-venture-capital-investment-report-5514281.html

7 Tailpiece

Teslas red satin shorts

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. He 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", which also happens to be formed from Tesla model names. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/tesla-mocks-shortsellers-with-sale-of-red-satin-shorts-5511501.html
COVID claims are rising. PPE kits are vital for the safety of patients and the medical staff who attend to them, so differences with hospitals over charges are resolved through discussions, United India Insurance Chairman and Managing Director Girish Radhakrishnan tells Preeti Kulkarni in this exclusive interview. Excerpts:

What has United Indias experience of managing COVID-19 claims been during the last three months?

COVID-19 has been a classic black-swan event that has caught everyone by surprise. The insurance sector is no exception to this. Our health teams have been working both from home and, wherever possible, from offices. They have been co-ordinating with our 17 third party administrators (TPAs) to ensure that all COVID-19 treatment claims are settled either in real time through the cashless route or via quick reimbursements. Both policy issue protocols and claim settlement workflows have been amended and adapted to make these as digitalised as possible. This has ensured that cashless approvals are processed within two hours, sometimes even based on documents sent through WhatsApp from hospital reception desks.

How many COVID-19 claims have you received and settled so far?

We have received over 7,000 claims to date, including 4,000 under the state government schemes in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, both of which we run. From the last few days of March to date, we have paid out over Rs 30 crore as COVID-19 claims

Differences of opinion between hospitals and insurers on billing PPE kits, other consumables as also fumigation and sanitisation charges have resulted in partial COVID-19 claim settlement for many policyholders. How have you processed such claims so far?

PPE is a new term in health insurance. But its use, along with some enhanced usage of certain other consumables, has become an integral part of COVID-19 treatment. We recognise that these are vital for the safety of both patients and the medical staff. We take care to walk the fine line when issues of overbilling for these items come up and our networking team members hold discussions with hospitals. This is aimed at reducing the burden on patients when we are compelled to cap the amount we can allow under this head. The majority of our claims come through our network hospitals and this considerably eases the negotiation climate (with hospitals). Also, PPE billing, which was on an average approximately Rs 4,000 per day, has now come down to below Rs 3,000.

Are you seeking standardisation of hospital charges for COVID-19 treatment? What kind the kind of standardisation you are looking for?

Yes, standardisation of hospital charges is necessary for providing affordable treatment so that healthcare is not only effective, but also sustainable in the long run for those who finance it. We and the other PSU insurers (through General Insurance Public Sector Associations Preferred Provider Network) have managed to achieve a certain level of standardisation with our network hospitals. And yes, we certainly expect a broadly consensual and fair standardisation of charges and packages across the entire spectrum of hospitals, pan-India.

Can we expect any co-ordinated effort from the IRDAI, central and state governments, insurers and hospitals to resolve the disputes?

There have been discussions between IRDAI, the General Insurance Council, insurers and the central government. This coordination is expected to continue. Specific disputes will mostly be dealt with by the insurance companies themselves. The insurance regulator has made it clear that policyholders welfare is a matter which they consider paramount.

Has COVID-19 underscored the need for a hospital regulator? Would such a regulatory body have helped iron out issues faster in the current situation?

Yes. A regulator can definitely help in ensuring an optimum balance of affordability, sustainability, prevention of sharp practices and protection of patients rights.

The pandemic has also resulted in patients postponing elective surgeries and other treatment procedures. How has this affected overall claims received?

We have seen around 30 per cent reduction in the number of claims during these three months, but this respite is temporary. What we call an elective surgery is rarely an absolute matter of choice, except perhaps for the choice of when to do it. We have had quite a number of non-COVID claims also during these three months. However, we still do not have a clear picture as to how the claims profile will develop in the months to come.

Have you seen sharp rise in demand for health insurance policies now? Are you seeing a demand for larger health covers and top-ups?

There is a discernible rise in the number of retail health policy buyers, but not enough. Some of the corporate buyers have started asking for higher cover limits or top-ups for their employees. However, I want to stress that the prevalence of health insurance is still nowhere near acceptable levels in India. This is a matter that should worry all of us.

What will be the long-term impact of COVID-19 in the way insurers operate?

General insurance is one of the true barometers of the economys overall health. Insurers are now looking at a market characterised by severely-truncated budgets of all their corporate clients and less cash in the pockets of their retail clients, both of which impact the insurance-buying capacity. We have had to digitalise very quickly to continue transacting in todays market and entire workflows have had to be redesigned. Even after the lockdown is lifted across the country, social and business interactions will entail avoiding physical proximity. This calls for entirely new business practices that insurers will have to design, learn and implement. Insurance products will have to be reviewed to include the widespread demand for pandemic covers. One thing is certain  we will never be able to go back to the world as it was before March 2020.
The progress in the countrys REIT framework, enhanced market data and sustainability initiatives has pushed Indias ranking to 34th position in JLL and LaSalles biennial Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI).

India's rank has improved by five notches from 39 to 34 since the last six years from 2014 until 2020.

India has also edged into the top 20 for Sustainability Transparency through the role of organisations like the Indian Green Building Council and Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment, the report said.

The impact of key reforms and steady improvement in Indian real estate has enthused global investors. Institutional investments created a new benchmark of 5 billion dollars annually in last three years.

The governments objective of providing Housing for all by 2022 is being achieved through regulatory and fiscal incentives as well as providing tax benefits to sovereign wealth funds for investments in affordable housing.

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

Within the realty sector, key structural reforms such as the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act 2016 (RERA), GST, Benami Transaction Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2016, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, digitization of land records have brought about greater transparency in what was an erstwhile largely unregulated sector a few years back.

The 2020 Index is launched at a time of massive economic and societal disruption where the need for transparent processes, accurate and timely data and high ethical standards are in closer focus.

The backdrop of COVID-19 is also ensuring that transparency within Asia Pacifics real estate legal and regulatory systems is more important than ever to global investors as they look to deploy approximately $40 billion in dry powder capital into the region.

India has seen a steady improvement in the Global Transparency Index over the years. In fact, along with Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam, we are among the handful of countries that have seen the maximum improvement owing to positive governmental support and an enhanced ecosystem of transparency. In particular, the national REIT framework has been a major contributor to transparency in India, and with ongoing progress and governance, will continue to attract more interest from institutional investors, said Ramesh Nair, CEO and Country Head (India) JLL.

Furthermore, innovative new property technology (proptech) is changing how real estate data is gathered and analyzed and influencing industry transparency at a regulatory level.

While investment into commercial real estate has inevitably paused during the pandemic, the overarching trend toward rising allocations to this asset class will continue. As investors look to allocate more capital into Asia Pacific real estate, transparency becomes fundamentally more important, as will the enforcement of robust regulatory frameworks, said Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head  Research & REIS, India, JLL.

Emerging markets have shown the greatest advancement in the Index, with six Asia Pacific markets  Mainland China (32nd), Thailand (33rd), India (34th), Indonesia (40th), Philippines (44th) and Vietnam (56th)  among the top 10 biggest improvers globally. Mature markets such as Australia (3rd) and New Zealand (6th) have maintained their positions near the top of the global ranking.

Over the last decade, India has shown promising developments and is now at the cusp of being Transparent within the GRETI 2020 rankings. At the same time, Indias rank in World Banks Ease of Doing Business Ranking improved significantly from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2019.

Another key driver of transparency is the volume of real estate market data now available due to the growing adoption of Proptech platforms, digital tools and big data techniques.

Going ahead, real estate transparency will be driven by technology led innovation and sustainability with a focus on health and wellness. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to help fast-track digitization and stimulate innovation in the use of technology.

JLL and LaSalle have been tracking real estate transparency since 1999. This 11th edition of GRETI covers 99 countries and territories, and 163 city regions. This latest survey has been extended to quantify 210 separate elements of transparency, with additional coverage on sustainability and resilience, health and wellness, proptech and alternatives sectors.
Bengaluru-based Instamojo, which was almost written off a couple of years back, has come back from the brink and how!

The eight-year-old start-up made money for the first time in July 2020 and is now aiming to make net profits by the end of the current financial year. In the cash- guzzling start-up ecosystem, Instamojo stands out. What is more important here is that Instamojo is running ahead of its scheduled targets.

How did it get back its mojo? Sampad Swain, chief executive, said that COVID-19 and the lockdowns have been demonetisation 2.0 for his start-up. What demonetisation has done to digital payments, COVID-19 has done to the digitisation of small businesses, and the Kalaari Capital and Blume Ventures- backed firm has taken full advantage of the scenario.

The company is growing without spending any advertisement dollars and new customer acquisition is happening organically. In early 2020, one of my co-founders foresaw the potential impact of COVID-19 and we have been on a cash-saving mode since then. What we had not foreseen was this sudden demand for online services from small businesses, Swain told Moneycontrol.

He took to Twitter to announce cash flow positivity and his growth rates across business verticals and fellow entrepreneurs were quick to laud the achievements.

Words of praise from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma to Mobikwik co-founder Upasana Taku to even Jupiter founder Jitendra Gupta appeared on Twitter.

With spirited founders determined to get bigger in the hyper competitive start-up world, can Instamojo be the Shopify of India? Perhaps it is still too early, but given the growth projections of the company, pundits might hazard an affirmative response.

Swain believes that the momentum will survive. After all, they are on-boarding close to 1,500 merchants everyday over the last three months, reaching a merchant base of 13 lakh. So, why not gear up for more scale in the future?

If these businesses are coming online, they will sell something and we are only going to gain from their growth; we have all products needed to support them, he said.

From starting with a payments link via SMS, Swain and team has today expanded into a full-fledged service platform for micro entrepreneurs. Want to build a website? Accept orders online? Accept payments? Want to ship goods to customers? Need a business loan to expand operations? Instamojo today has all the solutions.

Swain does not intend to stop here. He is also looking to invest in other start-ups in complementary businesses to grow the product catalogue further. The aim is to become a one-stop shop for everything related to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

We used to get 100 percent revenue from payments. Now that has gone down to 70 percent. The rest comes from e-commerce and lending. Our aim is to bring it down to 50 percent, said Swain. With revenue opportunities in lending and e-commerce bigger, Instamojo has doubled its gross margins to 60 percent from 30 percent during pre-COVID days itself.

Gross margin is the net sales revenue minus the cost of goods expressed in percentage terms.

The Indian e-commerce market is worth around $30 billion,. With a run rate of $300 million of gross merchandise value, Instamojo still has 1 percent market share. Swain believes this shows the market opportunity.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun / Korea Times file



NK rules out talks ahead of US diplomat arrival



By Kang Seung-woo



U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun's three-day visit to Seoul from Tuesday to Thursday will be focused on showing the strength of the South Korea-United States alliance, according to diplomatic experts.



They say the secretary and his counterpart will have to demonstrate that South Korea and the United States are on the same page about pending issues, including North Korea, rather than extending new offers to Pyongyang amid stalled nuclear negotiations.



Hours ahead of Bigun's arrival here, the North repeated its inflammatory rhetoric against the South's attempt to facilitate another U.S.-North Korea summit, reiterating that it has no immediate intent to resume dialogue with Washington.



"President Moon Jae-in is in the process of updating his foreign policy team. So Biegun's visit isn't about a breakthrough with North Korea, but rather alliance coordination with South Korea," Leif-Eric Easley, an associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University, told The Korea Times.



Last Friday, Moon reshuffled his diplomacy and national security team, bring in so-called pro-North Korea figures including National Intelligence Service director nominee Park Jie-won, a key figure in arranging the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. The overhaul has raised speculation that the Moon administration may seek to push inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation without coordination with the U.S. government, which has insisted that such cooperation should proceed in lockstep with progress on denuclearization.



"Washington and Seoul want to be on the same page about upcoming defense exercises and how a bilateral working group can endorse more inter-Korean projects within the limits of international sanctions," Easley added.



The South Korea-U.S. working group, which was established in November 2018 to coordinate issues related to the North, is under fire for its "excessively harsh standards" that have often hindered progress in inter-Korean affairs. Last month, Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, met Biegun in the U.S. to discuss ways to improve the working group's operations.



Joseph DeTrani, a former U.S. special envoy to the six-party talks, also said the Biegun visit is timely and significant as there are growing whispers that the allies disagree on policies toward North Korea.



"I think Biegun's visit to Seoul is important because, as allies, it's important that we collaborate closely on all issues, especially those affecting North Korea," DeTrani told The Korea Times.



"There has been too much speculation that U.S.-ROK relations are strained and going in a negative direction. If there are issues, like Special Measures Agreement (SMA)-related funding, then let's resolve it amicably and quickly, as we did previously."



The SMA determines the amount of money the government pays for the stationing of the U.S. Forces Korea and includes wages for Korean workers as well as the cost for construction projects and logistical support. The two sides have failed to narrow the gap on how much more the South should contribute despite multiple rounds of negotiations.



Through Biegun's visit, DeTrani advised the allies to show a strong alliance to the Kim Jong-un regime.



"I'm confident North Korea will be watching the Biegun visit closely, so it's important we show solidarity, with the goal of a peaceful resolution to issues with North Korea, pursuant to the Singapore Summit Joint statement of June 2018 and the Panmunjeom Declaration of April 2018," he said.



When Biegun's trip first came to light last week, speculation was rampant that he could be conveying a message from U.S. President Donald Trump to the North, which may include an offer to hold another summit ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.



However, experts say there is little chance that Biegun's visit would achieve a breakthrough in the nuclear talks.



"I doubt there will be a breakthrough in the nuclear negotiations. Clearly the South Korean government is hoping for a breakthrough and they are doing everything, as signaled by the reshuffle of the senior leadership dealing with North Korea, to salvage their engagement policy," Daniel Sneider, an expert on Korean and Japanese foreign policy at Stanford University, told The Korea Times.



"But I see no evidence of a serious interest on the part of the North Korean leadership, or the Trump administration, to move from the positions they held going back to the Hanoi summit. Unless Biegun is bringing some indication that Trump is ready to give in to North Korean demands to lift sanctions in exchange for very limited moves on the nuclear front, I don't see much basis for another summit or even for any level of negotiations."



Earlier on Saturday, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said that his country did not feel any need to sit face to face with the U.S. accusing Washington of trying to take advantage of the bilateral talks as "a tool for grappling its political crisis."



"Explicitly speaking once again, we have no intention to sit face to face with the U.S.," Kwon Jong-gun, director-general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's American Affairs Department, said in a statement.



U.S. Naval War College professor Terence Roehrig expects that the U.S. side might offer working-level talks to the North, which can help the stalled nuclear diplomacy.



"Any big breakthrough or announcement of a summit meeting is unlikely but perhaps there might be an offer on lower-level working group talks between the U.S. and North Korea," he said.



"Working-level talks may be the better starting point for dialogue to resume to see what may be possible rather than another summit. Dialogue and diplomacy that are part of a well-thought out strategy are worth the effort but expectations of the possible outcomes need to be tempered with realism."


Suzlon

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Suzlon Energy share price locked at 5 percent lower circuit on July 7, a day after the company reported losses in the quarter ended March 2020.

The company posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 834.22 crore, mainly due to lower revenues and high finance cost.

The consolidated net loss was Rs 294.64 crore in the quarter ended on March 31, 2019, a regulatory filing said.

Total income from operations declined to Rs 658.89 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 1,450.47 crore in the year-ago period.

The consolidated net loss in 2019-20 was Rs 2,691.84 crore against Rs 1,537.19 crore in 2018-19.

Total income from operations in 2019-20 dropped to Rs 3,000.42 crore from Rs 5,074.64 crore in 2018-19.

There were pending sell orders of 10,062,618 shares, with no buyers available.

At 1149 hours, Suzlon Energy was quoting at Rs 5.33, down Rs 0.28, or 4.99 percent on the BSE.

With inputs from PTI
Differences among senior board members and key management personnel have made Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank hit the headlines again. Three recent back-to-back board-level exits were the outcome of serious differences, even though the resignation letters cited personal reasons, according to people in the know.

The first one was on June 29 when Sajeev Krishnan, part-time chairman and independent director, put in his papers. Krishnan had joined the Kerala-headquartered bank in February 2018 for three years.

He had around eight months left. The other two are KN Murali, Independent Director, and G Venkatanarayanan, Additional Director. Both resigned with effect from June 29, 2020, before their terms came to an end. Murali joined the bank nearly a year and a half ago while Venkatanarayanan joined only a few months ago.

At least three people  two former senior executives and one serving board memberconfirmed that the resignations followed differences in the board on policy issues.

One faction had a difference of opinion (on policy issues) on the Board. Maybe thats the reason that led to the resignations, said Gopinathan C K, one of the board members and prominent investors in the bank. All serving and retired employees Moneycontrol spoke to also confirmed that differences among key top executives on key policy decisions continue to be a long-standing issue.

In its Board meeting held on July 6, Dhanlaxmi Bank appointed two additional independent directors  G Subramonia Iyer and Suseela Menon R. This is following the resignations of board members last month. Iyer retired as Executive Director of Uco Bank and has an experience of more than 36 years in banking industry. Menon R retired as Professor of Commerce and has more than 21 years of experience in the academic field.

Though no one spelt out the exact reasons for the latest resignations, a letter written by K Jayakumar, a former director to the Chairman after his resignation in April 2016, provides some clues. Former and present senior executives Moneycontrol spoke to said that many of the points raised by Jayakumar, mainly the dominance of management over the Board, still hold true. These differences could have played a role in exits of board members ahead of their term, they said. Moneycontrol has a copy of the letter.

The letter started on professional competency: I have lost faith in the capacity of this management and its ethos I wonder why the initiatives approved by the Board and the several suggestions and admonitions of the RBI have repeatedly failed to yield the desired results. I am shocked by the abysmal lack of grace in dealing with difficult situations.

The letter then throws some light on the ego clashes, HR policies and governance issues.

They (management) seem to presume that the Directors have to be necessarily yes men. Any note different from his masters voice is unacceptable. Dissent with dignity seems to be unknown in their lexicon. Once a Director (who is paradoxically called Independent Director!) is suspected to have different views, then he has to be sidelined if not humiliated Jayakumar had said.

I am pained at the short-sightedness that fails to regard the commitment and contentment of the employees as paramount for the survival and success of the Bank in its darkest hour, he had said.

Arbitrary transfers, termination, selective rewarding of loyalty and such myopic strategies belie HR practices. As a Director I feel helpless and sad. For the above reasons, circumstances and facts, I resign from the Board of Directors of Dhanlaxmi Bank, Jayakumar explained.

The present resignations came not long after a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) took charge. Sunil Gurbaxani assumed office only in February 2020. Gurbaxani, a veteran banker, has 35 years of experience with the State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (now State Bank of India), and Axis Bank. An email to Gurbaxani is yet to elicit a response.

As on March 2020, prominent investors in the bank include B Ravindra Pillai (10 percent), Gopinathan C K (7.5 percent) and Kapilkumar Wadhawan (5 per cent). Foreign portfolio investors hold 11.4 percent. The biggest shareholder is Vespera Fund, which holds 4.42 percent.

A tumultuous past

Dhanlaxmi Bank has a long history of key executives leaving the bank ahead of their tenure-end. Jayakumars was the most controversial. He is a former chief secretary of Kerala.

Managements clash with trade unions, too, had played a key role in past exits of senior executives. For instance, one of the issues highlighted by Jayakumar was the sacking of a senior executive who was involved in trade union activities.

The sacking of P V Mohanan, former General Secretary of the Employees Association, had led to a month-long agitation. Mohanan didnt want to comment.

Chaturvedi eraan experiment gone wrong?

In February 2012, Dhanlaxmi Bank had hogged headlines after CEO Amitabh Chaturvedi quit on account of alleged differences with the management. Chaturvedi joined the bank in October 2008 after heading Reliance Capital Ltd, the financial services arm of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group.

Under him, the bank kicked off aggressive expansion plans. Former colleagues describe Chaturvedi as a growth junkie, who stepped up hiring and expanded branch network. But the expansion plans didnt go down well with the old-timers in the bank. Their complaint was that increased operating costs outweighed the gains. When the financial performance didnt pick up in a commensurate manner, things came to a head.

Chaturvedi attempted to bring in radical changes. Some of the steps like a more technology-oriented approach were good but the rapid expansion came at a cost, said a former senior executive.

During the Chaturvedi era, between 2008 and 2012, Dhanlaxmi hired around 3,000 employees, taking its headcount to more than 4,000. The wage bill rose to around Rs 250 crore in March 2011 from less than Rs 62 crore in March 2009.

However, efficiency parameters started declining. Return on assets fell to 0.23 per cent from 1.21 per cent between March 2009 and September 2011, while capital adequacy ratio fell to 10.81 per cent from 14.44 per cent between March 2009 and March 2011.

The worsening financials led the RBI to impose a monitorable action plan in 2011. Later, in November, 2015 the ban was put under a Prompt Corrective Action (PCA). It was lifted in February last year after financials improved.

Chaturvedi told Moneycontrol that his stint was a very satisfying experience. But, I feel we could have made the bank among the top five profitable ones in the country. Potential and commitmentboth was there (sic), Chaturvedi said.

The management, under P G Jayakumar, reversed most of the policies of Chaturvedi, including the attempts to centralise operations and aggressive expansion. Cant help if someone makes it a regional bank again, Chaturvedi said.

P G Jayakumar, who succeeded Chaturvedi as CEO, refused to comment.

Financials improving, but a long way ahead

The leadership crisis following the senior-level exits doesnt augur well for the bank, analysts said. Dhanlaxmi never kept track as such, said a Mumbai-based analyst who requested not to be named since he no longer tracks the bank. It has to improve at all levels to keep pace with the competition, he said.

Dhanlaxmi Bank shares closed at Rs 13.80 a piece, down around 93 percent, from its all-time high of Rs 212 in October 2010. In the last one year, the share price has fallen 11 percent while the benchmark equity index Sensex lost 7 percent.

In the January-March quarter of 2019-2020, Dhanlaxmi reported a 90.5 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 2.60 crore on account of higher provisions for bad loans and contingencies. The bank had posted a profit of Rs 27.61 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year.

On the asset front, the bank showed an improvement with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) falling to 5.90 per cent of gross advances, as on March 31, 2020, from 7.47 per cent by March-end last year. In absolute terms, gross NPAs were Rs 401.22 crore, down from Rs 495.84 crore in the year-ago period.

Over the years, Dhanlaxmi has built a loyal customer base in southern India. The bank has come of out of financial stress. However, there are challenges ahead. It still has high NPAs, and the threat of being acquired by bigger, deep-pocketed entities looms over small private lenders, including Dhanlaxmi.
Vasudeva Maiya, former CEO of Sri Guru Raghavendra Co-operative Bank, was found dead in his car in Bengaluru on July 6.

The Subramanyapura police have begun an investigation into Vasudeva Maiya's death. News18 reported that he died by suicide.

The car was found parked a little away from Maiya's house at around 6.30 pm on July 6, Bangalore Mirror reported.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had in January imposed restrictions on Sri Guru Raghavendra Co-operative Bank and limited withdrawals to Rs 35,000 by customers.

On June 18, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) raided five offices of Sri Guru Raghavendra Co-operative Bank, in relation to alleged misappropriation of Rs 1,400 crore.

The rbi, Enforcement Directorate, Criminal Investigation Department, and Registrar of Cooperative Societies are looking into the financial irregularities at the lender.

The police also conducted searches at residences of Maiya and the bank's chairman K Ramakrishna in relation to the above mentioned case, the NewsMinute reported.
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Haryana Cabinet on Monday accorded approval to a proposal of Town and Country Planning Department regarding alternative security against bank guarantee for Internal Development Works (IDW)/ External Development Charges (EDC) as well as devising stringent measures for recovery of EDC from colonizers.

The stringent measures for recovery of EDC from colonizers include mortgage of proportionate land of built up area and auto debit for the compulsory 70 percent escrow receipts from the allottees, an official statement said after the meeting of the cabinet, which met under chairmanship of Chief Minister M L Khattar.

Owing to issues involved in issuance of bank guarantee to colonizers by the scheduled banks, detailed policy parameters have been formulated for obtaining part of licensed land built up area as security in lieu of bank guarantee across all categories of licenses including existing licensed colonies.

As meeting the cost of construction of external development works is a vital cost component for any such real estate project and the payments to be made against EDC shall be eligible for payment from the dedicated 70 percent receipts account, at the time of grant of licence, the statement said.

In another decision, the Cabinet accorded approval to waive the upper limit of 15 acres for a license through an amendment in Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojna (DDJAY) Affordable Plotted Housing Policy, 2016. This would help in development of large size colonies and in discouragement of unauthorised colonies in the state, the statement said.

As per the amendment, the upper limit of 15 acres for grant of licence under the DDJAY policy will now be waived subject to 40 percent Net Planned Area (NPA) limit in a given residential sector.

"Further the minimum area limit of 10 acres defined for Final Development Plan (FDP), Gurugram-Manesar Urban Complex shall also be brought at par with that applicable in the rest for the state of Haryana, that is 5 acres," the statement said.

It may be recalled in the DDJAY the minimum and maximum Net Planned Area (NPA) is currently fixed as 5 acres and 15 acres respectively.

"Under the scheme, the upper limit of 15 acres is resulting in a number of smaller size colonies spread throughout a given sector in the Development Plans. A number of scattered colonies in a given sector also result in un-licensed pockets leading to unauthorized development.

"Therefore, a larger sized colony has been found appropriate as a larger area of community sites, leading to possibility of higher order and number of community sites...," the statement said.
The bullion metal lost Rs 2,562, or 4.68 percent, for the week on MCX as investors booked profit (Image courtesy: Reuters)

M Sivasankar has been removed as the principal secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over an alleged link to a gold smuggling case that has embarrassed the state government.

Mir Mohammad will replace Sivasankar, who is likely to retain his position as the IT secretary.

An Indian Administrative Service officer, Sivasankar is allegedly connected to Swapna Suresh, an accused in the case.

Customs officials at the Thiruvanthapuram airport seized 30kg of gold, brought as household items in a diplomatic bag addressed to the UAE consulate, media reports have said.

A former employee of the consulate in Kerala was behind the attempt at smuggling gold, the UAE embassy said.

"The embassy firmly rejected such acts and unequivocally affirms that the mission and its diplomatic staff had no role in this matter," the UAE consulate was quoted as saying by Gulf News.

"The employee in question was fired for misconduct long preceding this incident. At this time, it appears that this individual exploited his knowledge of the mission's channels to engage in criminal activity," the embassy added.

Sarith, who identified himself as a former public relations officer at the UAE Consulate in Kerala, was being questioned , The Times of India reported.

"The person who came to claim the cargo had not been a consulate staff for the past one year. We are investigating how such a person could receive the cargo," customs commissioner Sumit Kumar told the publication.

Suresh, another former employee of the consulate, has been linked to the case and is absconding, the report said. The IT department terminated her services after reports of her involvement in the case emerged.
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NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on July 7 that he met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to discuss issues of the state, and there was no bickering within the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

Pawar was speaking to reporters after a meeting with a traders' association here.

Asked about his meeting with the chief minister at 'Matoshree', Thackeray's residence in Mumbai, on Monday, Pawar quipped that newspaper reports about differences within the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance was news to him. "There are no differences. The discussions with the CM were related to the issues that are before the state and there were no other issues," he said.

Reports about tensions in the ruling coalition emerged after the home department's order of transfer of 10 deputy commissioners of police in Mumbai was rescinded. The Home portfolio is held by the NCP.

Talking about the issue, Pawar said transfers of IPS or IAS officers are being done with the chief minister's approval.

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

Asked about opposition BJP's jibes at Thackeray for rarely stepping out of house, Pawar said if a person with key responsibilities comes out, people come together and this should be avoided.

To a question, the NCP chief said he was happy with Thackeray's performance as chief minister.

After taking over as CM, Thackeray had plans to work on several issues, but priorities changed with the outbreak of coronavirus, he said.

Meanwhile, traders in Pune are in favour of decentralization and shift of businesses to the outskirts of city post-coronavirus, Pawar said.

During the meeting, they demanded around 1,000 acres of land near Pune for trade and business sector, he added.
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.

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.

"They (street vendors) are an unregulated sector as of now and permitting them to carry on with their business amid the COVID-19 outbreak would lead to further spread of the disease among the society at large," Kumbhakoni said.

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The advocate general was responding to a public interest litigation filed by one Manoj Oswal, raising concerns of street vendors being without income due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Oswal's advocate Ashish Verma argued that since hotels and restaurants are allowed to operate, street vendors should also be allowed to conduct their business activities.

The court last month asked the government to clarify its position on the issue and said the government could consider framing a policy.

The bench on Tuesday directed the government to file an affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.

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Gagandeep Kang, a noted clinical scientist and the executive director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), on July 6 said she has resigned from the post due to personal reasons.

Kang, who is known for her inter-disciplinary research on transmission, development and prevention of infections and their sequelae in children in India, is the first Indian woman to be inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society in London.

She is also associated with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness, a global consortium involved in facilitating vaccine candidates for the novel coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

"Yes, I am leaving THSTI as Director, but hope to continue my association with the faculty and the science. The reason is to return to my family and to CMC (Christian Medical College) Vellore as I was on sabbatical from there," Kang said in an email response to PTI.

Prior to her joining THSTI in August 2016, Kang was a professor at the Christian Medical College in Vellore. Her tenure was to end next year.

A noted name in the field of epidemiology and vaccinology, she was instrumental in building the national rotavirus and typhoid surveillance networks.

She also established laboratories to support vaccine trials and conducted phase 1-3 clinical trials of vaccines, a comprehensive approach that has supported two World Health Organization (WHO) pre-qualified vaccines, made by two Indian companies.

Kang was also elected to the Fellowship of the American Academy of Microbiology. In 2016, she also received the Infosys Award in Life Sciences.
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When, after over a month of closed skies, India announced repatriation flights in early May, many Indians stranded abroad breathed a sigh of relief. However, the relief was short-lived when it became clear that those seeking to avail of the scheme would have to furnish an undertaking to pay the cost of the flight as well as the two weeks of quarantine at a hotel  imposed by the government for entrants into India. For many, this came up to three to four times the cost of a flight they wouldve taken in normal times.

Such troubles were not reserved only for Indians who could afford to be abroad. Migrant labourers working in urban India had to shell out much more for their train journeys to their home states than they would have pre-crisis. The government also ran some trains for those who werent labourers, but priced it at premium Rajdhani train-fares.

Any of these actions, if committed by a private company (or even a government company, as Coal India was) would have invited severe penalties from the Competition Commission. Any enterprise that holds a dominant position over the consumer, and abuses (takes advantage of such a position to impose unfair terms) the same, is guilty under the Competition Act, 2002.

Take for instance, the Vande Bharat Mission  chartered flights for evacuation of Indians abroad. First, the government, through Air India, exercises a complete monopoly after it refused permission to private airlines to fly their scheduled trips. Having thus obtained a dominant position, the carrier has abused the same in multiple ways  excessive pricing, as well as an almost complete lack of cabin service, according to people who have travelled on these flights. (The latter, particularly, could be the cause for a complaint under Consumer Protection law too, in normal times).

How does the government explain this away? The government says that the price of tickets is inflated so as to cover the cost of the onward journey (just like the autorickshaw driver who explains his refusal to go by meter). Except, most of the onward flights, especially those flying to Europe and the United States have been well-occupied. Neither can it be attributed to the increased cost of operations  because the staff are not being paid better  in fact, Air India staff are being forced to take lower salaries.

Mandatory quarantine then has its own competition concerns. The government, in a dominant position, is forcing the customer to avail of a different service as a supplementary obligation (also prohibited). Over a 14-day period, even the cheapest hotels (around Rs 2,500 a night) can become prohibitive. Remember, pricing its services so steeply has meant that the people who are most at economic risk and, thus, in need of urgent repatriation  think of students on a scholarship  are actually excluded.

The examples dont end. Once you alight at an airport, lets say at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, the nightmare continues. Cab services arranged by the Uttar Pradesh government to satellite city, Noida, was priced at Rs 10,000  about 20 times more than what a normal Uber ride would cost. Neither private cabs nor public transport were available in May, so passengers didnt have a choice. A non-AC bus service was priced at Rs 1,000 for what would have been a 25-km ride. After an outcry, the rates were rolled back, but what does it say about governments that have no qualms about charging extortionate rates from its subjects?

To be sure, the Competition Act does not apply to the sovereign functions of the State, as repatriation arguably is. The US Department of Transportation has objected to this classification of the Vande Bharat Mission, accusing Air India of running commercial operations in the guise of repatriation services. Nor is it being argued that it should apply  the government must have the freedom to do what is best for its citizens in the midst of a pandemic. In any case, most of the actions are being taken under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which appears to give an almost free hand to government authorities in decision making.

Even there the government is still expected to deal fairly with its citizen  at least not exploit the citizen in times of grave crisis  exactly the kind of conduct that the competition law is designed to eliminate.
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Dhaval Desai

Since the relaxation of the lockdown from the beginning of June, life across Mumbai has shown increasing signs of limping out of its slumber. However, some businesses that have for long symbolised and shaped the character of the megacity are continuing to face an existential threat. One such victim of the lockdowns collateral damage are the iconic dabbawalas (lunchbox carriers), who, through their sheer ingenuity, have gained global recognition for their failproof business processes.

Unemployed and broke, many dabbawalas left for their hometowns in western Maharashtra when it became clear that the lockdown imposed for 21 days on March 24 will get extended for an indefinite period. However, more misery awaited several of them. The Nisarg cyclone that made its landfall on coastal Maharashtra on June 3 wrought widespread damage to their fields and houses. Those who did not have any homes to return to in the villages, continue to fend for themselves in the city, scavenging for whatever work they could find to sustain their families.

Humble Beginnings

In her book Mumbais Dabbawala  The uncommon story of the common man, one of the finest accounts of the dabbawalas amazing 130-year journey, noted Marathi writer Shobha Bondre notes that the business of ferrying lunchboxes from homes to offices and back started in 1890, when Mahadeo Bacche, a migrant labourer from Pune districts Maval taluka, came upon an innovative idea while working as a loader at the Bombay port. Long before the restaurant business mushroomed and the famous khau gallis (street food lanes) were established, most white-collared workers in the Fort area used to carry lunch from home. Eyeing an opportunity, Bachhe started collecting the lunchboxes from homes and delivering them to the offices in the area.

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

Bachhe soon recognised the potential of this business and called other unemployed men from and around his village to join him. The following decades saw extensive reclamation by the British rulers, leading to the citys rapid geographical expansion and population growth. The extension of the suburban railway also created enhanced employment opportunities with assured incomes, which drew more men from western Maharashtra to work as tiffin delivery boys. They organised themselves under the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust, a charitable organisation, which, in 1956, was formally registered as the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association (NMTBSA).

Clad in their trademark uniform of white pyjamas and shirts and donning the Gandhi topi, these men from Junnar, Rajguru Nagar, Sangamner, Akola, Mulshi, Ambegaon, and several other talukas and villages around Pune eventually came to be recognised as the dabbawalas of Bombay.

As the city as well as their clientele grew, so did the logistical complexities of the tiffin delivery service. Comprising a bunch of men who were mostly illiterate or early school dropouts, the dabbawalas came up with their own unique colour coding system that ensured that the tiffins were delivered efficiently and accurately.

Riding a bicycle, a dabbawalla would collect lunchboxes from homes by 9:30 AM. The three- or four-tiered lunchbox would be put in a unique colour-coded tin canister, the dabba. Finishing his daily morning round of about 30 homes, the dabbawala would ride to the nearest suburban railway station, where other dabbawalas too would have gathered from different areas. The dabbas would get quickly sorted as per the delivery area-specific colour codes and loaded on the trains. The loading and off-loading of dabbas would happen at all stops along the journey.

At each station, the offloaded dabbas would be sorted once again for delivery to the respective offices by 1 PM. Once picked up, a dabba would thus change six to eight hands before getting delivered to the office, without a single mix-up. The empty dabbas would be collected at 2 PM, and following the same pattern, make their return journey to each home by 6 PM.

No-Tech Six Sigma Operations

Over the years, the dabbawalas continued to hone their logistics with finesse. They shot to limelight in 1996, when their work was captured in a documentary titled Dabbawalas, Mumbais Unique Lunch Service followed by an article Fastest Food: Its Big Mac vs Bombays Dabbawalas published by the Christian Science Monitor in 2001, and another full-length documentary by the Carnegie Mellon University.

However, their biggest achievement came when Prince Charles made a scheduled stopover at the Churchgate Station during his official visit to Mumbai in 2003 to interact with the dabbawalas. So impressed was the Prince of Wales, that he invited two NMTBSA office bearers to attend his wedding with Camilla Parker Bowles two years later.

In 2005, IIM Ahmedabad published its research paper titled World Class Logistics Operations: The Case of Bombay Dabbawallahs, while Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, spent an entire day with them, learning their tricks of the trade. In 2001, Forbes magazine awarded the dabbawalas the Six Sigma certification for 99.99 percent accuracy  one mistake per 16 million transactions. The Six Sigma certification was once again accorded to the dabbawalas by a Harvard Business School study conducted in 2010.

Four years later, the dabbawalas logistics system was introduced as part of a course taught by UC Berkeleys Graduate School of Journalism. The world-class service delivery standards with zero technology input have been as an enigma to unravel for global logistics companies including FedEx and e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart.

Staring At Starvation

Currently, around 5,000-odd dabbawalas ferry over 200,000 dabbas daily. They earn quite a meagre salary of Rs 8,000 per month. Most of them reside in slums, which are the hotbeds of COVID-19. As the news of their financial woes spread, several city-based NGOs and film stars came forward to help them with daily rations. In association with the Make Earth Green Again (MEGA) foundation, Maharashtra Cabinet minister Aslam Shaikh, who is also the citys guardian minister, distributed ration kits to 2,500 dabbawalas. He also urged Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to announce a direct benefit transfer of up to Rs 5,000 to the bank account of each dabbawalla till such time the local trains resumed full-capacity operations and offices started functioning normally across Mumbai. However, such help has been sporadic, fragmented and mostly short-lived.

Following the death of Santosh Jadhav, a dabbawala, to COVID-19 on June 24, the NMTBSA has renewed its plea for Rs 2,000 per dabbawala as monthly sustenance money. Their plea, is reportedly, still under consideration.

Shiv Sena, the party that leads the incumbent tri-partite Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, was formed by the late Bal Thackeray, the current Chief Ministers father, to restore the rights and privileges of the sons of the soil and safeguard the Marathi asmita (pride). Not many in Mumbai embody the Maharashtrian identity, spirit and cultural ethos more than the dabbawalas.

It is high time the Shiv Sena lived up to the cause for which it was supposedly established. The government should immediately start the direct benefit transfer of Rs 2,000 per dabbawala per month as sustenance money. This should be continued till at least November, in line with the free rations scheme of the central government. The government must also disburse an interest-free loan to the NMTBSA and the cooperative credit society managed by the association so that each dabbawala has access to adequate funds in case he or any member of his family needs hospitalisation for COVID-19.

The glorious contribution of the dabbawalas was etched forever on the city when a larger-than-life statue of a dabbawalla was installed at the Haji Ali junction in 2017. The hands that fed lakhs of citizens daily are today in dire need of financial help to feed their own families. It is time for the citizens, and importantly, the government, to rise above mere symbolism and help these men who through their resourcefulness and imagination put Mumbai on the world map.

(This article first appeared in the ORF)
Rep. Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Yonhap



By Do Je-hae



Rep. Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) announced, Tuesday, his bid for chairmanship of the party ahead of the party convention to select the leadership next month.



As the strongest potential presidential contender according to opinion polls, if he becomes the party chief, it will give his future presidential bid a boost.



During a briefing, the former prime minister for President Moon Jae-in vowed to lead his party to produce effective solutions to some of the most urgent problems facing the nation, particularly the economic crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic that is afflicting households and businesses as never before.



"I have listened to various opinions from within and outside the party about my bid for the party chairmanship and have come to the conclusion that I should do my best to fulfill the responsibility of overcoming the national crisis that history has entrusted our party with," Lee said in a speech at the National Assembly.



"The ruling and opposition parties cannot insist on going their own separate ways in the face of a national crisis. The 21st National Assembly started with the responsibility of overcoming the crisis. It has a lot of urgent work to do."



Lee underlined the need for effective and swift legislative actions to support the Moon administration's drive for economic recovery as well as reforms in various sectors of society, such as the judiciary. He also highlighted the urgent need to address the rising social inequality.



"First, we need to speed up economic legislation to revive the economy, create employment by fostering new industries in the post-coronavirus era, and give hope to the people, including young people. Second, social legislation is urgently needed to improve polarization and expand the social safety net to protect the weak. Third, we can no longer delay the reform legislation that will promote delayed reforms such as political innovation and overhaul of power institutions," Lee said.



He also underscored a strong resolve to support President Moon's push for reviving talks with North Korea.



"With the inter-Korean summit and the North Korea-U.S. summit after the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, we were able to dream of the possibilities of peace, reconciliation and cooperation. In fact, military tensions have been eased to a considerable extent," Lee said. "But the situation has become unstable again. We need to turn this around."





Rep. Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea talks to reporters during a media briefing at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Yonhap
The Congress alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat has become the "epicentre of Chinese investment in India" and said there cannot be business as usual with China after its forces killed 20 Indian soldiers.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said Gujarat has signed three major MoUs in the last five years involving Rs 43,000-crore investment, which includes an industrial park for Chinese SMEs (small and medium enterprises).

He claimed that business has not stopped in the last 20 days and cargo flights continue to operate between the two countries.

"There cannot be business as usual with the country, which is transgressing our territory, to protect which our brave hearts are sacrificing their lives. These are questions that the Prime Minister must answer and respond to," he asked at a virtual press conference.

Khera said there are various methods of applying pressure on a "hostile" nation and since Gujarat has witnessed record investments from China, "now is the time to use that pressure".

"Gujarat has become the epicentre of Chinese investment in India.... On the one hand our brave army is pushing the PLA back from the Ladakh border and on the other hand, PSUs (public sector undertakings) continue to give contracts to Chinese companies.... We see Gujarat is becoming the hub of Chinese investment. We see that the process of Chinese investment in Gujarat continues," he said.

The Congress leader said the prime minister will therefore be asked if he "has a special fondness for China".

"We grant him that, we have no problem, he has invested in the relationship for two decades, we understand that also, provided the country's borders remain safe, the country's economy remains safe from China," he said.
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With the local administration in Aurangabad opting for a district-wide lockdown for nine days starting July 10, questions have now been raised on the Bajaj Auto's Waluj facility and if it was following COVID-19 related standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Sources told Moneycontrol that little more than 400 COVID-19 positive cases have emerged, including 10 deaths, from the automaker's Waluj factory. The rise in cases, sources said, is attributed to resistance from the employees to follow the SOPs.

These floor workers said a large proportion of the workforce did not wear masks while on duty, flouting one of the crucial SOPs. Workers have complained of heat and breathing problems while wearing a mask, a worker who is part of the union told Moneycontrol.

Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto, had earlier noted that 60 percent people in Aurangabad don't wear masks.

Other workers who are part of the union told Moneycontrol that the reason behind the spike in the number of cases at the Waluj plant is because of a previously existing medical condition of workers, most of whom are above the age of 50.

The Chakan plant has not had a single case so far. It is not because a different set of SOPs was employed at that plant compared to the Waluj plant. Both factories have similar SOPs. Workers at the Chakan factory have been following all the rules thoroughly. Besides the average age of a worker at the Chakan plant in under 30 years, whereas at the Waluj plant it is 55 years, said another worker from the union.

COVID-19 has beem found to be more lethal for older age groups, as per studies.

While the Waluj factory continues to report new COVID-19 positive cases, Bajaj Autos other plant located 220 km away at Chakan, Pune has not reported even a single case so far.

The Waluj plant is the oldest of the three manufacturing plants run by Bajaj Auto. It employs more than 8,100 employees and contractors, producing Platina, Discover, three-wheelers and the Qute. A bulk of Bajaj Autos exports are managed from this plant.

A decision to enforce a lockdown was taken on July 6 by the Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner Sunil Kendrekar after a meeting with district officials and corporators.

The lockdown will not just result in the shutting down of the Bajaj Auto factory, but the entire industrial belt in the vicinity as well, which includes the plants of auto ancillaries.

This will be the first shutdown of the plant after the company reopened on April 24, following a month long closure. Bajaj had indicated of a 50 percent reduction in salaries in the event of a lockdown.

We are waiting for final instruction. If there is a lockdown in Waluj and the plant has to be closed, then those employees will face a 50 percent cut for the duration of the lockdown," said a company source.

Bajaj has helped us, but the number of cases is not coming down. I have been asked by the company to get quarantined for seven days because my co-worker tested positive. Thankfully, my report has come out negative, said Thengade Bajirao, leader of the worker union at Bajaj Auto's Waluj plant.
Chinese app TikTok, which was recently banned in India over data security concerns, has said that it will pull out from the Hong Kong market, citing recent developments in the country.

The short video app has decided to stop operations and exit from Hong Kong after the Chinese governments newly-enforced law, which requires companies to provide user data as well as to comply with censorship requests in order to do business in the country.

In light of recent events, we've decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong," a spokesperson told Axios. Several other companies are considering to make a similar move.

The move comes after TikToks parent company ByteDance sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots to appeal to a global audience.

TikTok has been in the news for many wrong reasons. Prior to its ban by the Indian government, the app was accused of snooping on iOS clipboard without user consent.

The Chinese app could also be banned in Australia amid fears that the platform may be sharing users' data with the Chinese Government and could pose a national security threat to the country.

TikTok Chief Executive Kevin Mayer said the Chinese government has never requested user data, nor would the company turn it over if asked. "I can confirm that the Chinese government has never made a request to us for the TikTok data of Indian users," Mayer wrote, adding that data for Indian users is stored in servers in Singapore. "If we do ever receive such a request in the future, we would not comply.

Last month, the Ministry of Information Technology, banned 59 mobile apps , saying they are engaged in activities which are "prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.
The ban of Chinese apps, coupled with the demand for Made in India apps, has fueled the local talent to develop new alternatives. One such made in India app is the FileShare Tool which has been developed by a boy from Kashmir. FileShare Tool has been launched as an alternative to SHAREit, a popular Chinese app that was recently banned by the Indian government.

FileShare Tool, as the name suggests, is an app for sharing files between devices. The application is available for download on the Google Play Store and has an average review rating of 4.8 stars out of five. FileShare has been developed by Tipu Sultan Wani, who is also an MBA student living in Kashmirs Chadoora town. He claims that the app is faster than SHAREit and does not have any ads.

This application is working faster than SHAREit. Unlike SHAREit, I have developed this application without advertisements, which can be used to share movies, documents and audios, without any limit, Wani was quoted by KashmirWatch, a local news website.

The app functions are very similar to SHAREit. Android devices need to be on the same network to share and receive files. Users also need to give access to media files and Bluetooth to enable the transfer process.

Besides the FileShare tool, Wani has also developed a free VPN and deal-comparison website called Travager - a site that compares several deals on hotels, flights, etc.
3 | NHS England in talks on rollout of potential COVID vaccine from December, says report: The National Health Service (NHS) is in talks with the British Medical Association (BMA) and others around mobilising the rollout of a potential COVID-19 vaccine from December, Pulse website for health professionals reported. >There is optimism around the first cohorts being given a vaccine in December but there is a 50/50 chance of the vaccine being available by that time, Pulse reported, citing a person close to the discussions.

At least two hospitals  New Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Visakhapatnams King George Hospital  have still not approved protocols for clinical trials of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate COVAXIN, according to a report by The Economic Times.

This comes as a setback for the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which has been pushing for launch of the vaccine by August 15.

ICMR and Bharat Biotech, a private pharmaceutical company, said that they had envisaged COVAXIN to be launched for public health use latest by August 15, 2020. ICMRs National Institute of Virology and Bharat Biotech are jointly developing a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

ALSO READ: All you need to know about Indias first coronavirus vaccine COVAXIN

The ethics committee at AIIMS has reportedly found discrepancies in the protocol submitted for trials of COVAXIN. The phase-II trial will have participants in the age group of 12 to 65. However, the report cites a person familiar with the issue as claiming that affirmative agreement for children to participate in the study is missing.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"This is a basic requirement. Why other ethics committee did not flag this discrepancy needs to be inquired into," the people told the newspaper.

Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic

Ethics committee of the King George Hospital in Vizag is expected to hold a meeting on July 7.

Of the total 12 institutes selected to hold the human trials, ethics committees of five are still evaluating the process.

Absence of the child assent document in the protocol, as pointed out by AIIMS could delay the trials further.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Also read | Passed mandated protocols, animal testing and now in clinical development stage: Bharat Biotech's Dr Krishna Ella

On July 2, ICMRs Director-General Balram Bhargava wrote to Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Krishna M Ella and Executive Director V Krishna Mohan, asking them to fast track" clinical trials of vaccine candidate Covaxin.

The possibility of having a COVID-19 vaccine ready for public use by August 15 had raised concerns over potential lapses in clinical tests due to the hurry.

However, ICMR has since claimed that it only aims to complete the COVID-19 vaccines clinical trials as soon as possible, and August 15 is now a deadline
In a major setback for Indian students, the United States on Monday announced that the country will not issue visas to foreign students if their classes have been moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Non-immigrant students have to show that they are taking minimum classes online in order to remain in the US. The move is likely to impact thousands of Indians, who along with the Chinese, form the largest number of overseas students in the US.

Students on non-immigrant F-1 and M-1 visas cannot remain in the US or legally enter the country if their studies are entirely online, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said, adding that students may transfer to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status.

Non-adherence to order may lead to immigration consequences, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings, the ICE added.



International students attending U.S. colleges & universities contribute $41 billion to the economy each year, an additional $10 billion in spending outside of tuition, and are responsible for supporting over 458,000 jobs: https://t.co/RO4IdQbiDThttps://t.co/Fuq1EJ4bzm

 National Immigration Forum (@NatImmForum) July 7, 2020

According to the US National Immigration Forum, "International students attending U.S. colleges & universities contribute $41 billion to the economy each year, an additional $10 billion in spending outside of tuition, and are responsible for supporting over 458,000 jobs."

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

Taking to Twitter, former US Diplomat, Alice Wells, said, "The 200,000+ Indian students on American campuses not only are natural "ambassadors" between our countries but contribute significantly  $6 billion+  to the US economy. We need to safeguard these vital ties."

The announcement comes at a time when schools and universities are considering how to safely reopen in the fall, with major universities like Harvard and Princeton imposing restrictions on students return.

Harvard University on July 7 announced its plan to bring up to 40 percent of undergraduates, including all first-year students, back to campus for the 2020-2021 academic year, which begins on September 2, 2020. However, all course instructions -- for both graduate and undergraduate courses -- will continue to be fully online, regardless of whether the student is residing inside the campus.

Similarly, Princeton University and Yale University also announced that they would allow students to return to campus with a reduced capacity.
Prominent American academicians and lawmakers have reacted sharply to the new US guideline to kick out foreign students pursuing degrees in the country if their universities switch to online-only classes, calling it as "horrifying" and "cruel."

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday 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 referring to the September to December semester.

The decision will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students in the US.

It said 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.

The new regulation drew widespread backlash with many taking to social media to vent their anger.

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 American Council on Education (ACE), which represents university presidents, said the guidelines are "horrifying" and will result in confusion as schools look for ways to reopen safely.

"On its face, the guidance released by the ICE is horrifying. While we would welcome more clarity about international students studying in the United States, this guidance raises more questions than it answers and unfortunately does more harm than good," ACE President Ted Mitchell said in a statement.

"Regrettably, this guidance provides confusion and complexity rather than certainty and clarity," Mitchell said.

Of particular concern is a stipulation saying students won't be exempt from the rules even if an outbreak forces their schools online during the fall term. It's unclear what would happen if a student ended up in that scenario but faced travel restrictions from their home country, said Terry Hartle, the council's senior vice president.

"ICE is clearly creating an incentive for institutions to reopen, regardless of whether or not the circumstances of the pandemic warrant it."

The rule applies to holders of F-1 and M-1 non-immigrant visas, which allow non-immigrant students to pursue academic and vocational coursework, respectively.

Harvard University President Larry Bacow said in a statement that "we are deeply concerned that the guidance issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement imposes a blunt, one-size-fits-all approach to a complex problem giving international students, particularly those in online programs, few options beyond leaving the country or transferring schools."

More than 1 million of the country's higher education students come from overseas, according to the nonprofit Institute of International Education.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted that kicking international students out of the US during a global pandemic because their colleges are moving classes online for physical distancing hurts students. It's senseless, cruel, and xenophobic. @ICEgov and @DHSgov must drop this policy immediately.

Senator Bernie Sanders was also quick to attack the new guidelines. Sanders, the Vermont independent, said the "cruelty of this White House knows no bounds."

"Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported," Sanders said in a tweet. "We must stand up to Trump's bigotry. We must keep all our students safe."

The move also drew immediate criticism from immigration advocates who say it is part of the Trump administration's ongoing attempt to restrict legal and illegal immigration, the USA Today reported.

The new policy is "clearly designed to chase foreign students out of the United States and to bar foreign students who were coming to the US from entering the country if the schools they are going to are only online," said Charles Kuck, an Atlanta-based immigration lawyer and representative of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, an advocacy group.

According to immigration lawyer Fiona McEntee, the decision is especially puzzling given the value of foreign students, which is quantifiable economically, the National Public Radio reported.

McEntee added that losing foreign students is a huge blow to university budgets, something that will impact domestic students as well. Similarly, the decision to attend classes in person impacts all students present, the report added.

According to an economic analysis by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, international students studying at US colleges and universities contributed $41 billion and supported 458,290 jobs during the 2018-2019 academic year, the report said.

The NAFSA blasted the rules and said schools should be given the authority to make decisions that are right for their own campuses. It said the guidance "is harmful to international students...at risk."

New York-based immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta tweeted that Students who attend schools that operate completely online will not be allowed to receive F-1 visas or enter in F-1 status or maintain F-1 status in the fall 2020 semester. So Trump is forcing foreign students to study in unsafe conditions during COVID-19.

Dozens of colleges have said they plan to offer at least some classes in person this fall, but some say it's too risky.

The announcement is the Trump administration's latest COVID-19 pandemic-related strike against legal immigration. Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will suspend temporary visas for foreign workers, including the popular H-1B and the J-1 visas until the end of 2020.
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 has said, after the Navy deployed two aircraft carriers to the strategic 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 on Monday.

"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.

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.

Meadows also hinted that President Trump might sign an executive order that relates to China, among other issues.

"I'll give you a couple of hints, all right. So, a sneak preview here. We're going to be looking at how we make sure that China is addressed, how we bring manufacturing back from overseas to make sure the American worker is supported, he said.

We're also going to look at a number of issues as it relates to immigration. 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, Meadows said.

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.
Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, Twitter and Telegram have said they will not process official requests from the Hong Kong authorities to hand over user data for the time being, in the wake of China imposing a controversial new National Security Law in Hong Kong.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, WhatsApp decided to pause the review of Hong Kong government requests for user data "pending further assessment" of China's national-security law for territory.

Facebook is "pausing" such reviews "pending further assessment of the impact of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with human rights experts," a WhatsApp spokeswoman was quoted as saying in the report.

Google and Twitter said they suspended their reviews of data requests from Hong Kong authorities immediately after the law went into effect.

Twitter cited "grave concerns" about the law's implications.

Dubai-based Telegram Group said in a statement that it doesn't intend to process "any data requests related to its Hong Kong users until an international consensus is reached in relation to the ongoing political changes in the city."

A company spokesperson said it "has never shared any data with the Hong Kong authorities in the past."

The people in Hong Kong fear that the new law can send them to jail on the basis of their social media posts and messages.

After China imposed a controversial new National Security Law in Hong Kong, tech giants now face a free speech test in the country.

The new law requires local authorities to take steps to supervise and regulate the city's internet.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube currently operate freely in Hong Kong, unlike China where the great Firewall has censored the US tech giants in mainland China.

Twitter said in an earlier statement that it has "grave concerns and is committed to protecting the people using our services and their freedom of expression".

The Hong Kong government last week said the US has no right to intervene in the city's internal affairs, after the American Senate unanimously passed a punitive sanctions bill in reaction to the controversial new National Security Law imposed by China.

The national security law, which Beijing put into effect and made public last week on the eve of the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from British to Chinese rule, criminalises a wide range of behaviour and acts under four categories of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with a foreign power.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
USITC to ban Daewoong Nabota's US entry for 10 years



By Nam Hyun-woo





Daewoong Pharmaceutical's Nabota / Courtesy of Daewoong Pharmaceutical

The long-drawn-out legal battle between Medytox and Daewoong Pharmaceutical over the origin of their botulinum toxin (BTX) strains is expected to end up hurting both companies, as the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) on Tuesday made an initial determination banning the import of Daewoong's Nabota BTX into the country for 10 years, following Medytox's accusation.



Since Korea's drug authority decided to suspend the manufacture, sale and use of Medytox's BTX, Meditoxin, in Korea, industry officials say the four-year battle between the two companies will likely end without a winner.



According to Medytox, the USITC made an initial determination that Daewoong Pharmaceutical's

Nabota, marketed as Jeuveau in the U.S., will be banned from import to the U.S. for 10 years, as it violated USITC's Section 337 regulation related to unfair competition.



Citing the initial determination seen by its law firm, Medytox said the USITC has recognized that Daewoong developed Nabota with a BTX strain stolen from Medytox, and the ban will take effect when a final determination comes in November and the U.S. president approves it.



"The initial determination is clear proof that Daewoong has stolen Medytox's BTX strain and technology and has been making false claims to health authorities and customers across the world," a Medytox official said. "Given there are not many case of a USITC initial determination being reversed in its final determination, we believe this is the same as a final determination."



Medytox and Daewoong have been locked in the dispute since 2016 as Medytox claims Daewoong stole its BTX strain and used it for its own Nabota. Starting from a 2016 police complaint, their battle took place at the Orange County Court, the Seoul Central District Court and the USITC. Medytox filed the suit with the USITC in January last year.



The official also added that the USITC determination will be an important reference for the Korean court to reach a similar decision.



Over the initial determination, Daewoong claimed the USITC has "clearly made a wrong decision," adding it will save no efforts to reverse this at the final determination.



"The initial determination is a non-binding recommendation, and the cases at the commission reach determination fast because cases are proceeded without evidencing processes applied for civil or criminal cases," Daewoong said in a statement. "In handling complex cases, the USITC faces a limit of investigating multiple aspects with limited workforce and resources, and this may have contributed to the commission making a faulty decision."



Following the harsh rhetoric, Daewoong announced it decided to acquire $40 million of convertible bonds issued by Nabota's U.S. sales partner Evolus. This is interpreted as the company's strong intention to continue its BTX business in the U.S.



Both Medytox and Daewoong are making all-out efforts for the U.S. because the country is the largest BTX market in the world, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the global market worth 4.5 trillion won ($3.8 billion).



If the USITC upholds its initial determination in November, Daewoong's Nabota sales are expected to suffer critical damage, as the product is regarded as one of the new growth drivers for the drug maker. Nabota's sales for the first quarter stood at 15.1 billion won, and 13.6 billion won of that came from exports.





Fight without winner





Medytox's Meditoxin / Courtesy of Medytox
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to Unitech Ltd promoter and former Managing Director Sanjay Chandra, who has been behind bars for nearly three years in the homebuyers' case.

A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud allowed Chandra's release for one month since his parents are not keeping well and are hospitalised. The court was told that Chandra's 78-year-old father is infected with Covid-19 and admitted in ICU.

The bench, while allowing interim bail to Chandra, asked him to withdraw the second plea for regular bail.

The court however declined bail to Chandra's younger brother, who is also in jail in the case involving alleged siphoning of money paid by homebuyers in their project.

In 2017, both Chandra and his brother Ajay were sent to jail in a cheating case registered against them by investors in Anthea and Wild Flower Country housing projects.

In 2015, a case was registered based on the complaint of two Delhi residents, who alleged that Unitech convinced them to book a flat at Wild Flowers Country in Gurgaon for Rs 57.34 lakh in August 2011.

On October 30, 2017, the top court had ordered that Sanjay Chandra would get bail only after the real estate group deposited Rs 750 crore with the Registry.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
BOZEMAN, Mont. - Officials in Gallatin County are asking residents to keep a running list of the people they've been in contact with and the places they've been to, saying that it's a simple, daily practice that could help slow the spread of COVID-19.

You're asked to jot down on a notepad or the note app in your phone the name of each person you interact with (within six feet for 15 minutes or more) and each place you go to. Health officials say a contact list could be vital if someone ends up contracting COVID.

Keeping track of the people that you are in contact with speeds up the process of health officials and nurses contacting them and getting them tested and into quarantine, which in turn slows down the spread of the virus.

Contact tracing has been going on as long as public health has been around.

"You name the communicable disease," says Gallatin City-County Health Officer Matt Kelley," from tuberculosis to whooping cough to COVID-19, we've been using some form of contact tracing to limit the spread of the disease."

It's one of the best ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus especially within the Gallatin County community, since health officials like Kelley have said that COVID is mostly growing in the area through community spread.

The more close contacts you have, the more people will have to go into quarantine should you get COVID.

"I think it's a really useful way for people to think about what their interactions are and the risk of their interactions," says Kelley. "Think about, you know, if you got sick on Tuesday and someone said to you, 'Okay tell me everybody who you've been in close contact with since two days before you got sick' - how long is that list?"

Younger people tend to have more contacts, and that may be a factor in why there's been an uptick in people in their 20s and 30s contracting the virus.

Here's a tip to use when you're keeping track: if you can't think of who you've been around just because there's so many people, then you're probably already around too many. Kelley says reviewing the list frequently could help residents be more aware of who they're putting at risk by interacting with them.
BILLINGS, Mt. - For residents registered to vote in the Billings Public School District, Tuesday June 7th is the last day to drop off your ballot for the proposed school mill levy.

On the ballot for voters in School District Two is a proposed $1.6 million elementary school mill levy.

SD2 Superintendent Greg Upham says the levy will help to mitigate the $4.5 million elementary school deficit and pay for operational expenses such as lights, heat and staff.

If the mill levy is passed, that means homeowners with a house valued at $100,000 would pay an extra $0.82 per month, and homeowners with a house valued at around $200,000 would pay an extra $1.62 per month.

Yellowstone county Elections Administrator Bret Rutherford says about 60 thousand ballots were sent out and as of today theyve only received about 20 thousand back.

"The mail was pretty light today we've had a trickle of people walking in, but I think it's kind of par for course. I looked back to last year's school election with the same districts and it's going to probably be about the same turn out unless something changes drastically in the next day," says Rutherford.

Rutherford says registered voters for the Billings Public Schools have until 8 p.m. Tuesday night to drop off their ballots at the Yellowstone County Elections office or the drop box on the North end of the courthouse in order for their vote to be counted.
Lansdale, PA (19446)

Today

Rain. Thunder possible. High 71F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

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July 07, 2020 The Latest 'Russiagate' BOMBSHELL Took Just One Week To Be Exposed As Dud. Who Was Its Source? Within just one week the recent attempt to revive 'Russiagate' has failed. It was an embarrassing failure for the media who pushed it. Their 'journalists' fell for obvious nonsense. They let their sources abuse them for political purposes. On June 27 the New York Times and the Washington Post published stories which claimed that Trump was informed about alleged Russian bounty payments to the Taliban for killing U.S. soldiers and did nothing about it: A Russian military spy unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan, including U.S. and British troops, in a striking escalation of the Kremlins hostility toward the United States, American intelligence has found. The Russian operation, first reported by the New York Times, has generated an intense debate within the Trump administration about how best to respond to a troubling new tactic by a nation that most U.S. officials regard as a potential foe but that President Trump has frequently embraced as a friend, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive intelligence matter. The story ran on page A-1 of the paper version of the NYT. We immediately called it out as the obvious nonsense that it was: Now the intelligence services make another claim that fits right into the above ['Russiagate'] scheme. Reporters from the New York Times and the Washington Post were called up by unnamed 'officials' and told to write that Russia pays some Afghans to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. There is zero evidence that the claim is true. The Taliban spokesman denies it. The numbers of U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan is minimal. The alleged sources of the claims are criminals the U.S. has taken as prisoners in Afghanistan. All that nonsense is again used to press against Trump's wish for better relations with Russia. Imagine - Trump was told about these nonsensical claims and he did nothing about it! Others likewise dumped on the shady reporting: In Russian Bounty Story, Evidence-Free Claims From Nameless Spies Became Fact Overnight - Alan MacLeod/FAIR

BOUNTYGATE: Scapegoating Systemic Military Failure in Afghanistan - Scott Ritter/Consortiumnews

What Does The Russia Bounty Story Really Amount To? - Rivkin, Beebe/The Hill But that the story was obviously bullshit did not prevent Democrats in Congress, including 'Russiagate' swindler Adam Schiff, to bluster about it and to call for immediate briefings and new sanctions on Russia. Just a day after it was published the main accusation, that Trump was briefed on the 'intelligence' died. The Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Advisor and the CIA publicly rejected the claim. Then the rest of the story started to crumble. On June 2, just one week after it was launched, the story was declared dead: A memo produced in recent days by the office of the nations top intelligence official acknowledged that the C.I.A. and top counterterrorism officials have assessed that Russia appears to have offered bounties to kill American and coalition troops in Afghanistan, but emphasized uncertainties and gaps in evidence, according to three officials.

...

The memo said that the C.I.A. and the National Counterterrorism Center had assessed with medium confidence  meaning credibly sourced and plausible, but falling short of near certainty  that a unit of the Russian military intelligence service, known as the G.R.U., offered the bounties, according to two of the officials briefed on its contents. But other parts of the intelligence community  including the National Security Agency, which favors electronic surveillance intelligence  said they did not have information to support that conclusion at the same level, therefore expressing lower confidence in the conclusion, according to the two officials. The NYT buried the above quoted dead corpse of the original story on page A-19. Last week we also learned that Adam Schiff, who had blamed Trump for not reacting to the fake 'intelligence' and who used the story to call for more Russia sanctions, had been briefed on the very same 'intelligence' months ago: Top committee staff for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, were briefed in February on intelligence about Russia offering the Taliban bounties in Afghanistan, but he took no action in response to the briefing, multiple intelligence sources familiar with the briefing told The Federalist.

...

The revelation raises serious questions that Schiff is once again politicizing, and perhaps even deliberately misrepresenting, key data for partisan gain. Asked by a reporter Tuesday if he had any knowledge of the Russia story prior to the New York Times report, Schiff said I cant comment on specifics. Schiffs recent complaints that Trump took no action against Russia in response to rumors of Russian bounties are curious given that Schiff himself took no action after his top staff were briefed by intelligence officials. As chairman of the intelligence committee, Schiff had the authority to immediately brief the full committee and convene hearings on the matter. Schiff, however, did nothing. As Schiff and his committee staff knew about the claims they may well have been the ones who pushed it to the reporters. Consider that both papers, the NYT and the WaPo, attribute their knowledge to 'officials'. There is a code for anonymous sources in U.S. political reporting that is usual adhered to. Sources are described as 'White House officials', 'administration officials', 'Pentagon officials' or 'intelligence officials' when they are working for the government. Congressional sources are usually described as 'officials' without any additional attribute. The original sources also made the false claim that Trump had been briefed on the 'intelligence'. Source in the White House or the CIA would have likely known that this had not been the case. Sources from Congress had no way of knowing that. That makes it quite likely that Schiff and/or members of his staff were the original sources of the fake story. Consider that it was Schiff who for two years had claimed again and again that there was 'direct evidence" that the Trump campaign had colluded with the Russian government. That has turned out to have been a lie. It is certainly not beyond Schiff to sell a dubious 'intelligence' report, based on circumstantial evidence, as alarming news that required immediate action. The purpose of this shabby round of 'Russiagate' nonsense was to hinder Trump's plans to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan before the election, to sabotage the cooperation between Russia and the U.S. on the negotiations with the Taliban and to blame Trump of another 'collusion' with the ever hated Russia. But the short life of the false claims made certain that it failed to achieve this. Posted by b on July 7, 2020 at 17:08 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
Were going to reach a point where, really, its enough with the time-loop movies already.

Palm Springs  a mostly fun time-loop rom-com with an enjoyable dark streak thats bowing on Hulu  suggests were not there yet.

+2 Time-loop slasher romp Happy Death Day 2U has appeal of predecessor without making us relive it | Movie review Happy Death Day  a 2017 B-movie blending a Groundhog Day-like time-looping concept with slasher-flick tropes  shouldnt have worked as well as it did, but the romp has proved so fun as to to warrant repeated viewings on cable.

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Like 1993s beloved Groundhog Day, 2014s excellent Edge of Tomorrow, 2017s fun Happy Death Day, Palm Springs gets its narrative kicks by having the same day occur repeatedly with similar but ultimately different goings on.

Directed by Max Barbakow and penned by Andy Siara, Palm Springs stars Andy Samberg as a guest at a wedding in Palm Springs, California, whos long been stuck in a loop and Christin Milioti as the maid of honor, who, eventually, gets trapped in it with him.

We meet Sambergs Nyles as he wakes in the morning, becomes interested in the bare leg of his girlfriend, Misty (Meredith Hagner), and has relations with her, which are then followed by an awkward conversation that barely seems to mean anything to him.

He floats in the pool for a while, getting drunk on beers, and later sits at the open-air wedding reception very underdressed for the occasion.

Miliotis Sarah, meanwhile, is pushing the bartender for a more-generous pour from a bottle of red.

Come on, throw me a bone, Sarah says. This isnt the day for moderation.

Its not  good wine, she is told.

I dont care.

Despite being the brides sister and, again, the maid of honor, constant-disappointment-to-her-family Sarah has no idea she would be expected to make a speech. Jumping to the rescue is Nyles, who bolts onto the stage and gives a freewheeling, optimistic speech that goes over pretty well.

Misty is very confused; Sarah is at least a little intrigued.

Nyles then captures Sarahs attention with a series of maneuvers on the dance floors that suggest he almost knows the coming movements of every other guest, including a man who passes out.

After more alcohol for both of them, Nyles convinces Sarah to go somewhere with him. We next find them outside the window to a room in which Misty is cheating on Nyles.

Why dont you go in there and stop them? Sarah asks.

Trust me, he assures her, there is not a world where these two dont end up together.

This type of talk from Nyles will begin to make more sense to Sarah the next morning when she wakes after a night with him that involves even more boozing and a very careless mistake on his part. Like him, she awakens to find it is, again, the morning of the wedding day.

Angry, she goes to find him in his room, laying into him in front of a confused Misty.

Soon, Nyles does his best to explain the situation to Sarah, and you begin to get some sense as to how long hes been stuck in this loop.

She (and you) also will come to understand why a man named Roy (J.K. Simmons) had attacked Nyles  with arrows, no less  on the boozy, fate-filled night.

When Sarah finally accepts what has happened, she goes about enjoying an irreverent-and-repetitive existence thats very Nyles-centric. And, of course, the two grow close.

Eventually, though, Sarah becomes determined to find a way out of the loop. It is a goal Nyles does not share.

Samberg, a veteran of Saturday Night Live who has spent the last several years starring on the constantly delightful sitcom Brooklyn 99 and whos a producer of Palm Springs, brings his enjoyably zany sensibilities to Nyles. He manages to elevate many of the sophomoric gags to at least near-laugh-out-loud status.

Its nice to see a significant role for always-interesting Milioti, whos had memorable appearances in everything from How I Met Your Mother to Black Mirror to Mythic Quest. She helps make Sarah easy to relate with and to root for, if perhaps not initially.

+3 Apples Mythic Quest finds the laughs behind the scenes of fictional video game | Binge TV When Apple TV+  California-based tech giant Apple Inc.s foray into the increasingly competitive waters of streaming video  debuted Nov. 1, the subscription platform didnt exactly set the TV-watching world aflame.

And, in only a handful of scenes, Academy Award winner Simmons (Whiplash) helps elevate Palm Springs.

Behind the camera, Barbakow and Siara  who previously collaborated on an award-winning, dark-comedy short film, The Duke, do solid work but allow Palm Springs to lose a bit of steam over its relatively short running time. Still, youll laugh more often than you wont.

Most importantly, the filmmakers use the hook of the time-loop to do some clever, creative things they could not do were this just some linear movie set at a Palm Springs wedding.

As it stands, Palm Springs is more than a little loopy, but we're a bit better off for it.
In our community, we have great creators with vibrant ideas. I wanted them to bring all of their unique designs, products and services to everyone."

Wendy Caldwell, owner of P2R

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Ministry of Justice recently proposed rule changes for the F-2-7- visa which is drawing outcries from expats in Korea. Korea Times file



By Kim Se-jeong



Jennifer Strout is an English teacher in Korea and has been working to found a nonprofit school for low-income families.



She said her hopes are to contribute to the community which she now calls home and to become a Korean citizen in the future.



Yet, her plan is likely to become a distant dream with the Ministry of Justice's recent proposal for rule changes for the F-2-7 visa. The changes are not yet final as the government is still collecting opinions. Yet, Strout, along with many expats in Korea, are worried that the proposal would cut short their time in Korea.



According to the proposal, the visa which is run on a points system would allocate the most points to annual income. For example, under the current system, 10 points are allocated for those who earn 100 million won or more, but that will change to 60 points.



Age, education level and Korean language proficiency are other criteria, and the points allocated for each would also be redistributed so that more points could be allocated to people with money.



For Strout, she has to get at least 30 million won per year until next May to get her visa renewed and because of the struggling economy due to the coronavirus pandemic, she will have to find more ways to satisfy their criteria.



Because of her voluntary work, her present job, and struggling to make a living during the pandemic crisis, this maybe more difficult to achieve, while for other F-2-7 visa holders, it would be next to impossible.



"I don't understand why they are making the changes to the laws now unless they genuinely don't want me here anymore. Is it always about the money? I only recently got my F-2-7 visa and I was going to use this visa to help build my business so I could switch to an F-5 visa and then eventually get my citizenship," Strout said.



She questions the government's intention for pushing for the change in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.



"Why are they making these proposals in the midst of a pandemic where no one is making hardly enough money to survive, whether Korean or foreigner, unless they just wanted to get rid of us without a second thought?" she asked.



The proposed changes aren't only about money and that would also shatter the dream of Samsuzzaman.






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
Its what I know best. I wanted to be part of the community, and Im happy doing this.

Steve Karaplis, owner of New York Grill on Oberlin Avenue in Lorain

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Major non-bank mortgage lender Trez Capital has announced that it will be resuming redemptions on funds, and that it will be investing on debt that has been significantly affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trez will begin allowing limited redemptions on two of its four funds (Trez Capital Prime Trust and Trez Capital Yield Trust) it had halted in March, when the coronavirus outbreak took hold in Canada.

Daniel Marchand, senior vice president at Trez, said that the lender will be announcing in the very near future the status of the two other frozen funds.

We want to reopen progressively and deliberately, Marchand told Bloomberg. Although we are being conservative in our approach, its that risk culture thats kept us solid through this, and previous crises.

The mispriced debt that the lender will be investing on includes first mortgages, loans that are secure but, because of the current environment, offer higher yields than what we could earn pre-COVID-19, Marchand said. Lenders have pulled back on their borrowing activities and this fund allows our investors to capture the additional spread.

In a statement, Trez said that it has already closed the first round of financing on its new high-yield fund, although it will remain open for investments until the end of December.

Marchand is hoping that Trez will raise a maximum of $100 million in capital, with the comparatively small fund size stemming from the lenders projections of full market recovery by year-end or spring 2021.

During the global financial crisis, we were able to capture additional spread  higher yields on quality deals  for only about a year. We would expect a similar experience in this crisis, Marchand said.
Federal and provincial governments have announced the extension of the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program to help small businesses cover their July expenses.

Aside from the extension, the governments offered assurances that insurance payments for missed rents and provincial rent supports wont be deducted from the rent-support loans.

Small-scale ventures that previously qualified in April, May, or June will also immediately qualify for the extension, without the need for reassessment.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said that the extra month would greatly help in making sure that small businesses and property owners are poised to rebound in the post-pandemic recovery.

With a budget of more than $2.97 billion, the program is expected to be able to assist through at least September, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The organization said that the program still needs some revisions in terms of ease of access, however.

The announcement came just a few weeks after the Business Development Bank of Canada announced that it will be providing loans for medium-scale companies that were significantly impaired by the coronavirus outbreak.

Qualifying businesses, which can apply until the end of September, include companies with revenues ranging from $100 million to $500 million, which were financially viable before the crisis.

Through their preferred banks, applicants can benefit from BDB loans worth $12.5 million up to $60 million. BDB will be covering 90% of the loan, with the remainder to be handled by the applicants bank.
COVID-19s impact on commercial real estate in Canada is still one of the pandemics greatest unknowns. Non-eviction orders and government stimulus cant last forever. When both expire, there could be some serious disruption coming to the commercial space, including a rash of panic sales.

But pouncing on those opportunities will still require buyers to put up serious coin in the form of deposits. Developers or investors strapped for cash  and there is no shortage of either group these days  may find banks, who have themselves been stretched thin during COVID-19, unwilling to loan them these critically needed deposit funds.

Mickey Baratz says its a problem that existed for commercial developers and investors long before COVID-19 started pistol-whipping the Canadian economy in March.

Developers dont always have that liquidity lying around that they can tap into, Baratz says. They may have a line of credit with a bank, but its usually earmarked for specific hard or soft costs.

Thats why Baratz and a team of former and current leaders at Manulife, Venturon L.P., and Westmount Guarantee Services launched their new venture, FULECap: To provide refundable deposit financing to commercially-focused entities during a transactions due diligence period.

The program appears simple enough. Once the borrower passes through FULECaps application and vetting processes, the funds are wired to the borrower, who can then wire them to the vendors solicitor. Once the due diligence period is over, the borrower can either move forward with the transaction by replacing FULECaps deposit with their own funds and repaying the money or they can step away from the deal, in which case the FULECap money is returned. In either case, FULECaps money cannot be used for anything other than the initial deposit.

Baratz describes the process as painless and straightforward. There are no credit bureau checks, collateral or personal guarantees required aside from the borrowers promissory note.

We operate on the strength of the agreement of the purchase of sale and the professional commitment by the vendors solicitor, whos holding the deposit, to honour the agreement, Baratz says.

Although it seems customized for todays challenged commercial space, the FULECap concept was birthed back in September of 2019, when a conversation with a client brought to Baratzs attention an industry-wide need for deposit capital among developers. Now, rather than being forced to pick and choose which transactions to pursue based on the amount of capital available, Baratz says these developers can potentially leverage FULECaps cash to investigate multiple opportunities simultaneously.

It just so happens that it works during the pandemic, he says, but that was not the intent initially.

An additional benefit of the program could be an increase in housing supply at a time when Canada desperately needs it. If more developers are able to get themselves through the due diligence period, they may find themselves in a position to acquire land or obsolete commercial spaces that could become home to a new batches of townhouses, condos or apartments.

I dont know if this particular program will stimulate more construction or more projects, Baratz says, stressing that the final choice of what happens with a site will be made by investors. But I hope it does. Id like to think that we can contribute something in that regard.
Qualifying for a mortgage in Canada is no easy feat. In fact, over half of Canadians see it as a barrier to homeownership. On July 1, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) rolled out their new underwriting guidelines with three changes, including an increase to the minimum credit score required for insured mortgage, from 600 to 680.

Some lenders also continue to tighten their restrictions and request additional financial information and documentation before approval. All these changes, spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic, have many Canadians turning to alternative mortgage lenders.

An important thing to consider is that alternative lenders usually offer rates between 7.99% to 13%, compared to traditional mortgage rates that sit around 3%. Alternative mortgage lenders also require you to renew every one to three years, carry additional fees and require requalification.

With many Canadians already suffering from cashflow issues, HomeEquity Bank vice president, referred sales, Sue Pimento questions how homeowners will be able to afford these interest payments without having to sell their assets.

Some private lenders work in the capitalization of the first year of payments, which unfortunately is a short-term fix and escalates equity erosion, she added.

Using a reverse mortgage as an exit-strategy

Pimento suggests brokers offer using a reverse mortgage when building an exit strategy out of a high-interest alternative mortgage. Offering a lower interest, long-term strategy will not only benefit the homeowner, but adds an additional commission stream for the broker. Clients can use funds from a reverse mortgage to pay exit penalties from an alternative mortgage, and free themselves from a high-interest loan.

Alternative loans usually have monthly payments while reverse mortgages dont  your clients only pay what they owe once they sell their house or pass away. This means that they will also benefit from increased monthly cashflow to enjoy the retirement theyve always planned, added Pimento.

A reverse mortgage can also be used to help clients out of a second mortgage, which usually has higher rates and fees than a primary mortgage.

With a second mortgage, the borrower has to keep up with two sets of repayments, therefore, their monthly payments are considerably higher, leading to a risk of foreclosure or power of sale, depending on the province.

Not only is a reverse mortgage a great way out of alternative loans, it also provides an alternative solution to these high-interest loans. Since a reverse mortgage is a lifetime loan with no renewal fees, or requalification fees, the loan cant be called. If your clients are looking for a mortgage exit strategy, they wont have one with an alternative mortgage, but with a reverse mortgage, they wont need one, since it is a lifetime deferral mortgage, purpose built for Canadians 55+.
Moultrie, GA (31768)

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Son Jong-woo, operator of one of the world's largest child porn sites, leaves a detention center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, Monday, after the court's rejection of a request to extradite him to the U.S. Yonhap





By Kim Se-jeong







Public anger is on the rise over the Korean court's rejection, Monday, of a U.S. extradition request against an operator of one of the world's largest child porn sites.











Rejecting the request from the United States, the Seoul High Court said, "Sending a criminal to a place where he can receive a harsher punishment isn't the purpose of the extradition scheme Given the fact that he is a citizen of Korea, the court views that Korea can keep the right to impose punishment on the criminal."







On Cheong Wa Dae's website, a petitioner's complaint about the decision was quickly filed, drawing more than 280,000 endorsements less than one day after the ruling was given.







"Saying the criminal can receive a fair trial in Korea showed the arrogance of the judge who is probably in a position where he doesn't have to worry about undergoing sexual abuse," wrote the petitioner.







The petitioner also demanded the judge who delivered the ruling be banned from becoming a Supreme Court justice. According to local reports, judge Kang Young-soo is a candidate to replace justice Kwon Soon-il who is retiring.







Female prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun who led the #MeToo movement in Korea in 2017 also responded to the court's decision with anger, Tuesday.







"I felt angry, sad and desperate while reading the ruling. From the first to the last word, nothing felt correct," the prosecutor wrote on social media. "The judge should feel ashamed that the court failed to give a fair trial for the criminal thus making the public want to send him to the U.S. where he would receive just punishment."







Also, a group of female activists gathered outside the Seoul High Court, Tuesday, condemning the judge for his rejection ruling.







Son Jung-woo, 24, was arrested in March 2018 for operating Welcome to Video, one of the world's largest child porn websites. Law enforcement officials from around the world cooperated to find Son, site users and the victims.







In a move viewed as a grave insult to justice and reflective of the archaic Korean judicial system's total lack of empathy for the young victims, a court in Korea sentenced Son to a mere 18 months behind bars.







The U.S. federal grand jury indicted Son last year and requested his extradition.







Thanks to international efforts, more than 20 child victims from the U.S., Spain and the U.K. have been identified.







In May, Son's father took sudden legal action against him in a move to keep him in detention, a move to prevent the Korean court from extraditing him to the U.S.


The Midland Health Department had its first report of 100 or more confirmed coronavirus cases Monday, and the total ended being a lot more.

The report showed 155 cases, which is the most cases reported in one day and, by itself, makes this week the third most cases of any week since the start of the pandemic. It was a report from four days, including last Friday, but the addition of 114 cases on Friday through Sunday and another 41 Monday pushed the total during the pandemic into new territory as there are now 927 confirmed cases inside Midland County.

The Midland Health Department also reported the 16th and 17th COVID-19-related deaths. The 16th death was a man in his 50s. He died Saturday, according to the city. He was being treated at a hospital in San Antonio. The 17th death was a man in his 70s. He died Sunday, according to the city. He was being treated at Midland Memorial. They were the fourth and fifth COVID-related deaths involving Midland County residents since June 1. There have been 798 confirmed cases since June 1.

Of the active cases in Midland County, 661 are self-isolating at home. The number of Midland County residents who tested positive and then recovered went from 169 on Friday to 249 on Monday.

The most cases reported over the four days came from the 30-39 age range (39). The 36 cases from those 20-29 was second. Both age ranges each account for more than 20 percent of the total confirmed cases  28.8 percent from those in their 20s and 20.6 percent from those in the 30s. Also, on Monday, the Midland Health Department reported 27 cases from those 0-19, 22 cases from those 40-49 and 18 from those 50-59. Those 59 and younger were responsible for 91.6 percent of the confirmed cases in Mondays report.

On the same day that the Midland Health Department came out with its first triple-digit count, the city put into place measures that it believes will protect its employees and residents. The city announced Monday the closure of City Hall, Midland Health Department, Midland Senior Center, Southeast Senior Center, MLK Community Center, Scarborough-Lineberry House and Animal Services Facility (by appointment only).

The citys Parks and Recreation Division also reported that the Parks Movie in the Parks series is postponed until further notice. Gov. Greg Abbotts latest orders restrict gatherings of more than 10 people. Mayor Patrick Payton has been vocal about the governors executive overreach when it came to restrictions and required mask mandates.

Total cases

Reported June 22: 95

Reported June 29: 88

Reported July 6: 155

Total through Monday: 927

Gender

Male 417

Female 510

Age range

Thursday Monday

0-19 88 115

20-29 231 267

30-39 152 191

40-49 102 124

50-59 82 100

60-69 58 68

70-79 32 34

80-plus 27 28

Patient status

Thursday Monday

Home isolation 550 633

Recovered 169 249

Death 15 17

Hospital 19 20

Nursing rehab 7 8

Source of exposure

Thursday Monday

Contact to a known case 342 392

Community transmission 294 372

Travel-related 128 155

Under investigation 8 8

Source: Midland Health Department
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Lee Nak-yon, right, former prime minister and a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, offers condolences to former South Chungcheong Governor An Hee-jung, at a memorial altar for An's recently deceased mother at Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul, Monday. An began serving a three-and-a-half year prison sentence for sexual assault last September, but was temporarily paroled  from Monday until Thursday  after his mother passed away. Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



President Moon Jae-in and other ruling bloc heavyweights are receiving criticism for offering condolences to former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung whose mother passed away recently.



An has been imprisoned since last September on a three-and-a-half-year sentence for sexually assaulting his former secretary, but correctional authorities paroled him temporarily  from Monday until Thursday  so he could attend his mother's funeral.



Some ruling bloc heavyweights visited a memorial altar for his mother, which had been set up at Seoul National University Hospital, Sunday, to offer their condolences, including Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Unification minister nominee Lee In-young, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, National Intelligence Service director nominee Park Jie-won and several ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers such as former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, party leader Lee Hae-chan and floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon.



President Moon Jae-in, President Roh Moo-hyun's widow Kwon Yang-sook and National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug sent flowers to the venue.



But critics say such a mass visit of powerful politicians could send the wrong message to the public that they are giving an indulgence to An. They also say it was inappropriate for the President and other politicians to send flowers not as individuals but with their political titles.



The minor liberal Justice Party criticized President Moon and the ruling bloc politicians for their "irresponsible judgment."



"The sexual assault case involving An was a crime committed based on his political power in combination with his superior position to his secretary," Justice Party spokeswoman Jo Hye-min said, Monday. "The victim is still undergoing difficulties with criticism from An's supporters following the Supreme Court ruling. We are concerned if such behavior of the ruling bloc politicians would be seen as solidarity of the political community despite the sexual assault charge,"



An organization of female workers at the National Assembly also said in a commentary, Monday, "An Hee-jung is no longer the governor of South Chungcheong Province. The President and ruling bloc politicians should not have offered condolences under titles of the government or political party in which the cost for the flowers or condolence money came from taxpayer's money."



It further said, "Such offerings could be misunderstood by the public as An returning to politics after his sentence is finished."



An was a presidential contender of the DPK in the primary for the 2017 election, but his political career as a rising star started to fall in 2018 over sexual misconduct allegations amid the rise of the #MeToo movement here.



A year and a half after An's former secretary Kim Ji-eun accused him in March 2018 of raping her while he was the governor, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced him to prison for sexual assault.


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
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The Supreme Prosecutors' Office/ Yonhap





By Kim Se-jeong







Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae renewed her pressure on Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, Tuesday, asking him to implement her order on an ongoing investigation into a case involving a journalist and a senior prosecutor, in yet another sign of tension between the two.







"Mr. Prosecutor! Stop hesitating and follow my order," Choo said in a statement released Tuesday.







Yoon has not yet responded to her renewed call.







The case involves the senior prosecutor who is a close aide of Yoon. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office which has sided with Minister Choo wants an independent and thorough investigation into the case.







On the other hand, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office which stands behind Yoon views the district's investigation as too deliberate and political and wants to ask an expert advisory panel to decide whether the investigation is valid.







Currently, the prosecution is divided between pro-Cho and pro-Yoon prosecutors.







Last week, Choo ordered the district office to continue the investigation without letting Yoon know, a move many inside and outside the prosecution viewed as an abuse of power.







In response, Yoon called a meeting with senior prosecutors from across the country Friday during which the majority voiced opposition to Choo's move. he head prosecutor from the Seoul Central District Office didn't attend. With regards to the ongoing case, they recommended designating a special prosecutor who would start a fresh investigation.







On Monday, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office released the result of the meeting officially.







The situation puts Yoon between a rock and a hard place.







Some news media outlets report Yoon was considering resignation which would be a victory for Choo, while others predict he will stay and try to find an accommodation with the minister.







But Choo and Yoon have not been on good terms from the minister's first day in office.







Yoon, who was inaugurated last year, was President Moon's pick for the role of prosecutor general, however he quickly became a headache for Moon as he ordered investigations into the President's close aides.







The prosecutor general ordered an investigation into Cho Kuk, the former justice minister and a confidante of Moon, who spearheaded prosecutorial reform, over corruption allegations involving his family members. Cho resigned from the post late last year and he and his wife are currently on trial.



Yoon also ordered an investigation into the 2017 Ulsan mayoral election over Cheong Wa Dae's meddling to save another one of Moon's close allies.



Moon openly told Yoon to stop being excessively harsh with cases involving his aides, while asking him to look into corruption cases involving officials who opposed him.



Choo came into office in January and started to pressure Yoon. The minister, against Yoon's wishes, restructured the prosecutor's office and reassigned people  putting prosecutors who supported her in higher positions.







The ongoing tension poses a challenge to Moon's long drive for prosecutorial reform. For a long time in Korea, prosecutors were privileged and frequently embroiled in claims of corruption.




































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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:
BEARDSTOWN  A solar-panel farm near Beardstown is just one step away from approval.

The Cass County Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-2 on Thursday to send the project to the Cass County board for approval after listening to community concerns about the project and hearing from Courtney Timmons, project developer for Savion Energy, which is building the project as Cass County Solar LLC.

Approval requires getting OKs from the county planning commission, the zoning board of appeals and the county board.

Savion is proposing a 150-megawatt project that will cover roughly 1,500 acres or less of farmland near Edgehill Road. The project has a life expectancy of 30 years and would create from two to five permanent jobs.

The project is expected to cost between $100 million and $150 million and generate from $15 million to $20 million in tax revenue during its life, according to the company.

Timmons said the panels housed on the site would collect light from the sun and any reflected light from the ground, using it to generate electricity that will be transferred onto an existing grid.

Itll generate enough to power 22,000 average homes, Timmons said.

Should the county board approve the final permits, Savion will begin looking for a buyer for the project, Timmons said, noting that Savion develops such projects but does not operate them.

Once a utility or other buyer is found for the project, construction could begin in 2021 with the farm expected to be operational by 2022, Timmons said.

All agreements and permits transfer to the buyer, Timmons said. They will have to abide by any contracts and agreements.

Concerns raised by the community include property taxes and property values, radiation, and restoration of land.

Timmons said there are safeguards built into the contracts that establish funding for decommissioning the project at its lifes end or if it is abandoned.

There also has been no indication that solar projects raise property taxes or lower property values, Timmons said.

The county board could vote on the project as early as its next meeting, which is Monday. Board President Michael Barnett previously has said the board plans to hear about the project at its July meeting, if the zoning board approved the project.
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a request for an emergency order to delay the process of shutting down an oil pipeline that cuts through west-central Illinois while attorneys appeal a ruling to shutter the pipeline during the course of an environmental review.

Dakota Access pipeline attorneys filed the motion  along with a notice of appeal  late Monday after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled to stop the flow of oil by Aug. 5. In denying the request for an expedited ruling, Boasberg said he will scheduled a status hearing to discuss scheduling when he receives the Dakota Access motion to keep the pipeline running.
OTTERVILLE  There were no politics, but plenty of real mudslinging this weekend at the Independence Mudfest in Jersey County, where they were definitely not running a clean campaign.

The brown was being thrown around Friday through Sunday at Hillbillie Offroad, where candidates slipped and sloshed their way through deep mud pits or along the sites ATV trails. But whether they leaned to the left or to the right with their motorized running mates, there really was only one side to this dirty debate.

Go fast, get covered in mud, and have fun, said four-seat ATV driver Logan Thomas of Greenfield. Its just fun flinging through the mud. And its not like politics because youve got nothing to hide and dont need to worry about what the public thinks of you.

Adam Emge of St. Paul, Missouri, brought the Thunder Buzzard, a pickup truck he had in high school and transformed into a tractor-tire-shod, big-block-engined mudding monster.

My campaign slogan would be Thunder Buzzard 2020, and mud pits and jumps at every home. How does that sound? Emge said.

Emge said being covered in mud cools you off on hot days like those this past weekend. The key to successful mudding, he said, is speed.

When youre in mud, you want to go fast, Emge said. Wheel speed is king, and there is never too much wheel speed.

Emge said he doesnt have his own mud pit at home but he does have an obstacle course for testing and tuning. Thats just part of the money hes sunk into his favorite pastime.

Its not cheap, Emge said. But with sheer dedication and relentless work, anybody can make it happen.

Joe Fischer started mudding in 1976 and had a circle of young mudders sitting around his camper searching for the veterans advice on how to build trucks, how to fix them, and where to go get parts.

We are all low-budget, said Fischer, a resident of Alexis. I dont care how nice your truck is, youre still going to low-budget something and youre going to try to fix it yourself. Wed rather build it than buy it.

Fischer said he prefers creating mud runners from Chevrolet pickups because parts are easier to find. Drive shafts are the most common item to break when youre mudding.

The best way to get through the course, he said, is snorkel it and stay out of anything that is over headlight deep.

Fischer doesnt like politics at all, but he loves vehicular mudslinging.

Its great for the kids, keeps everybody out of trouble, and you have a good time, he said. Everybody gets along and helps each other; its just one big happy family. We absolutely love to sling that mud.

The Independence Mudfest also featured music, food, beverages and special contests that were a big hit with the hundreds of participants. These included the bounty holes, difficult 200-foot-long mud pits where the winner was the driver who got the farthest through the muck; and tug pads, a tug-of-war between two rope-connected vehicles.

The dirtier the better, said event promoter Mark Atherton of Wentzville, Missouri. If you have a clean machine youre just a highway warrior.

Atherton said todays politicians could learn a lot from the mudslinging that took place near Otterville.

It doesnt matter what color you are  male or female, child or elderly  everybody works together, Atherton said. If somebody gets stuck or hurt, everybody comes together as one. It doesnt matter who you are.

Thats what the world needs to see right now, and it is exactly what the mud park communities are doing.
It is going to be something to behold, on Jan. 21, when President [insert name here] takes revenge on Russia for paying the Taliban to kill Americans in Afghanistan. Hell task the CIA with killing the Russian agents behind the bounties, send lethal aid to Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression, work with allies to oust Russia and Cuba from Venezuela, withdraw from the arms deals Russia is violating, and ratchet up sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany.

Of course whomever it elected will do none of that, which ought to put into context the latest Washington uproar over the alleged Russian bounties and President Trump. The stories, leaked by anonymous sources, are another dive into the murky Washington nexus among intelligence, the media and politics.

Trump is cast again as the villain who knew the intelligence and did nothing, or should have known but didnt, and in any event he must be in hock to Vladimir Putin. Trump and his advisers say he wasnt briefed on the bounties intelligence, but sources (again anonymous) say it did appear in his daily intelligence briefing that he rarely reads. U.S. intelligence chiefs are denouncing the leakers, who no doubt want to damage Trump before the election.

Our first reaction is that the Taliban have been killing Americans for years for the religious pleasure of it  why would getting paid make all that much difference? Iranians have been paying them to kill Americans, and so have jihadist elements in Pakistan, including some in the intelligence services.

A second point is why anyone is surprised that Putins Russia would try to make trouble for America? Hes been doing it for at least 12 years, across three administrations, since he invaded neighboring Georgia in 2008. Contender Joe Bidens reaction to that affront was to blame the George W. Bush administration and call for a reset with Russia.

Putin is interfering in Americas backyard by propping up the Maduro regime in Venezuela. He is trying to drive a wedge in NATO by selling S-400 anti-aircraft missiles to Turkey. He is propping up the murderous Assad regime in Syria. He is blocking an extension of the United Nations arms embargo against Iran.

His agents traveled to the U.K. and tried to kill a Russian defector with a deadly nerve agent but killed an innocent Briton instead. His government recently imprisoned a former U.S. Marine on what are almost certainly trumped up spying charges. And, by the way, he interfered in the 2016 U.S. election under the nose of the Obama-Biden administration. Paying to kill Americans is hardly a giant leap of bad faith for Russias president for life.

In the face of all this, Trumps continuing personal solicitousness toward Putin is strange, bordering on the bizarre. Its accomplished nothing except damage his own political standing. But then Trump has toughened sanctions against Russia, has sent Javelin antitank missiles to Ukraine that Obama-Biden refused to send, has withdrawn from two arms deals Russia is violating, and has tried to stop Nord Stream 2. Hes been far tougher on Russia than Obama-Biden ever was.

What wed like to hear from Biden and Trump this year is what theyll do in response if the intelligence about Russian bounties is verified. Does Trump still want to reward Putin with an invitation to the G-7? If he does, it would rival his near-invitation last year to the Taliban to visit Camp David as an insult to Americans who gave their lives in Afghanistan.

As for Biden, has he learned anything since his last go-round with the Russian? He now talks tough about Russia and says Putin has no soul, but that was true when Biden sought his Russian reset in 2009, and when Barack Obama attacked Mitt Romney as an unreconstructed Cold Warrior in 2012. Is there anything specific that Biden would do that would deter Putin from further attacks on Americans or U.S. interests?

Concern about deals Trump might strike with Putin in a second term is legitimate.

If only we could trust that Biden would be any better  and he might be worse.

 Wall Street Journal




By Ko Dong-hwan







Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae has called for strengthening the maintenance of Korea's aging dams using drones and other state-of-the-art technologies of the fourth industrial revolution.







On July 6, Cho visited Daecheong Dam in Daejeon and urged officials from the ministry's Water Resources Policy Bureau and Korea Water Recourses Corporation to "deploy the country's latest technologies in safety measures for the dams."







Cho also said they should take full advantage of the Green New Deal  the ministry's 478 billion won ($400 million) set of new businesses on green-growth and low-carbon emission announced in May. The ministry allotted 1.3 billion won to drone equipment and manpower.







The touted measure uses drones to video-record dams above ground and underwater and uses the video footage to bring the dam into a three-dimensional vision. It allows specialists to check for signs of defects in the megastructure's nooks and crannies previously difficult for an inspector to examine while dangling dangerously from a rope.







The ministry called the virtual dam mapping a "digital twin" because it allows machinery and equipment from real life to be used in the virtual world.







Digital twin also stores recorded photos and videos as big data, which allows artificial intelligence analysis of the data to be accumulated.







Planned for complete development until 2025, the measure targets the country's 12 dams aged 40 years or longer or graded C or below in a close safety check. The dams are among 37 nationwide under the ministry's management.


BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Three COVID-19 nucleic acid test laboratories named "Huoyan," or Fire Eye, have conducted more than 1 million tests in Beijing, Science and Technology Daily reported Monday.

The laboratories are located in the districts of Daxing, Xicheng and Shunyi, according to Xiang Fei, an official of Chinese biotech company BGI Genomics, the developer of the lab.

The inflatable laboratory in Daxing district was put into use on June 23 and upgraded to have 16 air-inflated film chambers by June 28. It can conduct 100,000 nucleic acid tests each day.

With high throughput nucleic acid testing ability, the mobile inflatable laboratory can respond rapidly to the epidemic.

The "Huoyan" laboratories have automated high-throughput viral nucleic acid extraction equipment to improve test efficiency. They have been deployed in 13 Chinese cities including Beijing and Wuhan, said Xiang.

From June 11 to July 5, Beijing reported 335 confirmed locally transmitted cases, 324 of whom are still hospitalized. There are 30 asymptomatic cases under medical observation, the municipal health commission said Monday.

More than 10.41 million residents in Beijing had received nucleic acid tests as of July 2 since the resurgence of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, local authorities said on July 3.
By Seo Young-hoon





I truly enjoy philosophy. To exercise and hone my mind to think and develop an idea or perspective in the pursuit of truth is a captivating and intriguing experience. While my school does not offer a course in philosophy, I immerse myself with the thoughts of Plato, Descartes, Locke, Kant, and Nietzsche by reading their works. However, sometimes, I feel as though I was born in the wrong era, as if I was supposed to be born in either ancient Greece or early modern Europe in the company of the aforementioned philosophers. This is because of the erroneous yet ubiquitous misunderstanding in contemporary society that philosophy no longer has value.







A few years ago, Stephen Hawking, an eminent physicist, declared that "philosophy is dead" and that scientists have replaced philosophers in the pursuit of truth. This notion that philosophy is obsolete and does not possess practical utility is not exclusive to Hawking but instead permeates throughout our society. We often render philosophy as meaningless squabbles over semantics and abstracts, and therefore, believe that philosophy has no significant bearing in real-life circumstances.







This is the reason why whenever I tell others that I am planning to pursue philosophy in university, I am often met with confused looks and furrowed brows, along with questions about why I was studying a "useless" subject and how I was planning to get a job in the future. Yet, the recent outbreak of COVID-19 has served as a reminder of why philosophy is still pertinent in the present and why I will not waver in my decision to pursue philosophy.







COVID-19 has swept across the globe, and the number of patients continues to grow exponentially. However, the hospital capacity is limited, as the number of doctors and hospital beds, for example, is fixed. Therefore, the conflict of scarcity arises as the exponential graph of the number of patients exceeds the horizontal line of the hospital capacity, which forces the doctors and society to resolve the ethical dilemma of having to choose what is the "right" thing to do.







All around the world, doctors and medical professionals are working to define what this "right thing" is. By way of illustration, rather than the conventional notion of a "first-come, first-served" basis, a group of doctors proposed to prioritize the younger patients with a higher likelihood of survival, which reflects the utilitarian idea of maximizing the utility by focusing on the number of life-years saved. However, the issue is that all human lives are equally valuable, yet the utilitarian prioritization based on the likelihood of survival leads to discrimination against the elderly and people with disabilities.







Now, I do not have the answers to this ethical dilemma, but I simply wanted to point out the necessity of philosophy in tackling issues such as this.







Without the knowledge of ethics and philosophy, we would not be able to come up with practical solutions to the crucial issues. Only by reading and evaluating the thoughts of our predecessors by studying philosophy, we can equip ourselves with the necessary knowledge to tackle the philosophical problems that exist in all areas of life.







As humanity approaches new dawn along with the advent of technology (e.g., artificial intelligence), philosophy becomes more pertinent than ever, as it is crucial for us to learn from the past in order to prepare for the future.







In this sense, I assert that Stephen Hawking was wrong in saying that philosophy is dead, since I believe that Stephen Hawking himself, to a certain extent, is a philosopher.







Philosophy no longer exists solely within the confines of pondering about abstract concepts, but it lends tremendous practical insights that help humanity tackle real-life problems that exist everywhere. Plato said in "Republic" that his ideal state would be led by a philosopher king; however, in my ideal state, everyone would be a philosopher king, equipped with the philosophical knowledge capable of tackling the philosophical issues that arise in every facet of human life. The world is learning a lot of lessons from the COVID-19 outbreak. I sincerely hope and believe that acceptance of the necessity of philosophy is one of the lessons that we take from these catastrophic times.









) is a student at Chadwick International School in Incheon.



Seo Young-hoon ( yseo2021@chadwickschool.org
Microphone and US Flag View Photo

During the Democratic Weekly Address, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) criticized the Trump administrations efforts to have the Affordable Care Act struck down in court.

Carper was Tuesdays KMVL Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

Hello, Im Tom Carper, the last Vietnam Veteran serving in the United States Senate, and I serve there today as the senior senator from the great state of Delaware.

This week, Delawareans and Americans across our country woke up to the stark reports from our health and economic experts that are cause for alarm. The number of Americans our nation has lost to the coronavirus has now reached 130,000 people. The U.S. hit the highest single-day total of new infections with nearly 40,000 confirmed cases this week. Tragically, our nation, which represents less than 5 percent of the worlds population, has now recorded 25 percent of the worlds cases and deaths.

But it doesnt end there.

Last week, Delawareans and Americans across our nation woke up with more devastating news. And that is another 1.5 million people of our country have filed for unemployment bringing the total filings over a 14-week period to nearly 47 million Americans, many of whom rely on employee-sponsored health care.

We are a nation in crisis confronting matters of life and death. And, at this moment, Americans are desperate for real leadership, but, sadly, the president and his administration are not meeting the moment with much-needed action that could save lives.

Instead of working together with Congress, I would argue that our President is actually hurting our response to these crises. Because how has President Trump responded to this latest devastating news? Well, he and his administration filed an 82-page legal brief urging the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act. Thats how. Let that sink in. And as we see the coronavirus surging across our country, the Presidents priority is asking the highest court in our land to scrap the law that provides nearly 23 million Americans with quality, affordable health care and critical lifesaving preexisting condition protections for 135 million Americans.

If President Trump gets his way, those 23 million Americans will be kicked off their health insurance, and insurers can go back to the days where they denied services to people living with preexisting conditions, like cystic fibrosis or asthma or diabetes. Seniors will pay more for their prescriptions. Young adults will be kicked off their parents insurance plans and the most vulnerable among us will lose access to critical, often life-saving, health care.

I believe most of us would agree that there is never a good time to rip away health care from millions of our fellow Americans, but to do so in the middle of a deadly pandemic is just plain cruel.

Unfortunately, President Trumps cynical move is just the latest one in Republicans years-long effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act, destroy it, a law based on conservative, market-based, Republican principles. And they are continuing to do so even though, after a decade, they still have absolutely no plan to replace it and ensure Americans have the care that they need.

And sadly, Senate Republicans are following President Trumps lead  refusing to work with Senate Democrats on passing another emergency coronavirus relief bill before July 4th, and instead pushing through more right-wing judges who oppose our healthcare law.

Thats all the more reason why we cannot relent. Alongside my Democratic colleagues in the Senate and the House, I will continue to fight to protect Americans health care against Republicans endless assaults.

Recently, a new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that nearly half a million Americans enrolled in health care through the Affordable Care Act during a special enrollment period in the middle of this pandemic. 500,000 Americans  and that was against the Trump Administrations deliberate efforts not to inform Americans of this special enrollment period.

Americans dont want their access to health care taken away. So lets work on expanding access, not destroying it.

Just this week, across the Capitol, our Democratic colleagues in the House passed legislation to build on the successes of the Affordable Care Act and actually expand Americans access to critical care. What a thought!

If President Trump refuses to lead, then he should at the very least stop actively trying to sabotage the health care on which millions are more dependent than ever. Today, our message is simple: stop attacking Delawareans and Americans life-saving care because we simply cant overcome this public health crisis without access to quality care.

Thank you for listening. Stay safe. God Bless.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
ultrastructural morphology exhibited by corona viruses View Photos

Sonora, CA  Tuolumne County Health officials released the Monday Coronavirus testing update. There was one new case identified today bringing the total new cases since Thursday, July 2nd to 10, click here for details. Total tested* 5,972, total negative 5,919, total Tuolumne residents positive 53, hospitalized 0, in isolation 34, total recovered 19. Three non-residents have been identified as positive and will be added to the count of the county each person resides in at a later time.

The state testing site at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp, requires appointments, as earlier reported here.

Active** Coronavirus cases by county (as of 7/6/20 4:30 PM)

Alpine  0, Amador  15, Calaveras  35 as detailed here, Mariposa  12, Madera  238, Merced  869, Mono  11, San Joaquin  1,816, Stanislaus  428, Tuolumne  34.

**Active cases as reported by the county or recovered and deceased known positive cases minus total known cases or for Merced, Mono and San Joaquin Counties a rolling 14-day total.

* Tuolumne County testing numbers include those routed through Public Health to a Public Health Laboratory and those reported through the State infectious disease reporting system. All positive cases of Tuolumne County residents must be reported to Public Health. State data is here.

Tuolumne County Public Health Updates

As detailed here, a total of 10 new cases have been identified in Tuolumne County since Thursday, July 2. Friday- 3, Saturday- 5, Sunday- 1, and Monday- 1. All new cases are isolating at home. At this time, it does not appear that any of the new cases are associated with Avalon care center or the jail. 6 cases have been moved from isolation to recovered, and both hospitalized patients are now isolating at home.

A GIS dashboard has been developed that we expect to report Tuolumne Co unty COVID-19 data beginning tomorrow, July 7th. The data dashboard will also be embedded into our County website and the COVID-19 portal.

unty COVID-19 data beginning tomorrow, July 7th. The data dashboard will also be embedded into our County website and the COVID-19 portal. The no-cost state testing site is open at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds Tuesday  Saturday 7am to 7pm. Individuals must schedule appointments as detailed here, at: https://lhi.care/covidtesting

It is important that people continue to follow prevention guidelines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, including: Practice physical distancing at all times. Keep 6 feet space between yourself and others who are not part of your household. Stay in your household bubble! Wear a face mask if you arent sure you can maintain physical distancing while in public. Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently. Stay home if you are sick. Avoid unnecessary travel, and limit your outings to essential tasks.



LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION & RESOURCES

Community Resources Portal: https://bit.ly/TCcovidPortal

Tuolumne County Public Health Website: www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/publichealth

Public Health COVID-19 Call Center: (209) 533-7440

California COVID-19 website: www.covid19.ca.gov

State Testing Site info and Appointments: https://lhi.care/covidtesting

Tuolumne County Business: www.tcdisasterassistance.com

CDC COVID-19 website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Thank you for your support and efforts to protect the safety and health of our community
Sonora, CA  The state capitol in Sacramento is closing until further notice due to some recent COVID-19 cases.

Assemblywoman Autumn Burke of Inglewood announced yesterday that she tested positive for coronavirus after being exposed to someone with it when lawmakers met on June 26 to pass the new budget. She notes that she has had no symptoms, but will remain in quarantine until released by a doctor. Speaker Anthony Rendons office confirms that at least four others who work in the Assembly have also tested positive.

Lawmakers in the Assembly were planning to return on July 13, but that now remains in question, as the capitol has been closed until further notice for cleaning and sanitizing.

The state legislature had shut down for two months earlier this year as a coronavirus precaution. It was the first unscheduled recess in 158 years.
Matt Hawkins Sonora Mayor View Photo

Sonora, CA  After most recently serving as Vice Mayor, Matt Hawkins was picked to lead the Sonora City Council over the next two years.

Hawkins was unanimously selected last night to serve as Mayor through June of 2022. Mark Plummer was picked to be the Vice Mayor.

Also last night, the city council declined to give an extension to the Sonora Brewing Company to close the adjacent Bradford Street for outdoor dining. It was allowed during a two-week trial period. Instead, the council directed City Administrator Mary Rose Rutikanga to work with the business owner, Thomas Silva, about the possibility of closing a part of nearby Green Street, instead.

The council also discussed the potential of passing a resolution in the city to condemn racism. It came up in light of recent protests at Courthouse Park in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. The Council voted 5-0 to direct staff to create a committee, which include council members Colette Such and Mark Plummer, to gather information from the community, and to come back to the council with a recommendation.
After just 20 minutes of deliberation, a jury on Tuesday morning, May 6, in the 242nd State District Court found Jose Luis Aguilar, 41, guilty of the murder in the 1992 slaying of 27-year-old Guadalupe Fraire.

The sentencing phase of the trial was to resume following a lunch break. Judge Ed Self is presiding over the murder trial.

Aguilar pled not guilty Monday in the opening day of the trial. However, while on the witness stand today, he admitted to shooting Fraire three times inside a rodeo arena located on South Milwee.

Aguilar told the jury that he shot Fraire after the Plainview man threated that he would beat Aguilar up either at that time or after a dance scheduled for later that evening.

Aguilars defense attorney, George Trimber, appealed to the jury to lessen the charges to manslaughter as Aguilar felt threated and was defending himself.

However, Assistant District Attorney Chris Brown argued that Aguilar was not physically attacked and he made no other action to protect himself like locking the door or simply driving away in his truck while Fraire threatened him from outside.

The only thing that was hurt was his ego, said Brown in describing the moments before Aguilar pulled out a gun and shot Fraire.

Brown noted that Aguilar quickly fled the scene, disposed of the gun and went into hiding for the next 21 years before finally being arrested in Colorado in July 2013.

Being convicted of murder, Aguilar could face from 5 to 99 years or life in prison.

To comment:

hmarquez@hearstnp.com

806.296.1353
By JeongWon Bourdais Park





Recent aggression from North Korea, the June 2020 demolition of the joint liaison office, has largely evoked public bewilderment rather than fear. This is due to Pyongyang's somewhat deviated communication style, the so-called "good cop, bad cop strategy" towards the South. Prominent commentators, experts and policy makers worldwide have sufficiently exchanged their insights and analyses regarding what North Korea really wants and what reactions to such an act of renewed threat should look like. Here, I instead turn my attention to one micro-aspect of recent events  "North Korea's prima facie changing communication tactics."



The demolition of the Gaeseong joint liaison office  a symbol of renewed inter-Korean collaboration  was a provocative and fiendish incident. There are multitudinous complications underneath it: prolonged punitive sanctions, a fatal drop in trade with China due to COVID-19 and its consequent economic hardship, and the tottering Trump administration resulting in the loss of a negotiation partner.



Above all, what could fundamentally and briskly convulse the fragile regime is a large-scale social disturbance due to accumulated discontent from the grassroots. Then the influx of unfiltered information through the balloon campaign (scattering propaganda leaflets) from South to North could be "crucial" (in conveying the organization's view) but "fatal" for regime stability.



Moreover, North Korea has faced another disturbing situation: influential North Korean defectors have been elected as lawmakers in the South. In response, the North's regime began indirectly harassing the North Korean diaspora community. Allegedly, one of the purposes of Kim Jong-un's surprise disappearance from the public eye for 20 days in April was to crack down on the inter-Korean informant network by leaking some misinformation to diverse suspects.



Intentionally or unintentionally, this could also preview the world's reaction to the post-Kim Jong-un era. Kim Yo-jong, deputy director of the Workers' Party, was brought up in discussions of successors, providing North Korea with detailed evaluations on her qualification as a leader. Prior to the demolition event, Kim Yo-jong bombarded Seoul with threats to nullify the 4.27 Panmunjeom Declaration along with the 9.19 Military Agreement and implement a series of planned military aggressions unless the leaflet scattering was stopped. Afterwards, tensions escalated to the point of blowing up the liaison office, warning that this was only the first step of the planned military actions to come.





Interestingly, a few days later, on June 23, Kim Jong-un appeared in public rather abruptly. At the preliminary meeting for the Fifth Meeting of the Seventh Central Military Commission (CMC), he "gratefully" announced that all escalatory plans would be temporarily deferred. In this scene, he strategically portrayed himself as the capable leader who reigns peace or conflict on the peninsula.





The North's dual strategy resembles Kim Jong-un's remarks earlier this year, addressing President Trump's dual play tactic to "keep expressing friendship between leaders while dubiously holding back any negotiations and keeping hostile policy toward North Korea." In a similar vein, in her rude message to Cheong Wa Dae, Kim Yo-jong asserted that "the real bad guys are those who overlook and encourage bad things." It is apparent that North Korea does not understand the enormous structural constraints on leaders in a liberal democracy and simply considers it as an excuse to avoid dealing with imminent foreign affairs.



In international affairs, the border between diplomacy and deception can sometimes blur. Even in a liberal democracy, the connotation of "being diplomatic" may imply a strategic, rhetoric, evasive, and devious disposition, which could be associated with words like "dishonest" and even "deceptive." To the public, the gap in the dual strategy is often unacceptable.



This is one reason why whistle-blowers' disclosures in politics are easily scandalised. Bolton's "The Room Where It Happened" is only one such illustration. But in a totalitarian setting, what a dictator suggests in their speech in a coarse manner vis-a-vis the liberal world may not be the real message. The constraints as to what liberal democracies need to consider  such as domestic foes, national solidarity, social stability or more gains in inter-state relations  can be similar in any society.



One good reference in the Russian context, "Putin's Propaganda Machine" (2016) demonstrates the distinguishable components of non-liberal adaptation of soft power tools as mimesis (mimicking Western public diplomacy), rollback (attacking Western public diplomacy) and invention (new methods of information warfare). Such features help to explain North Korea's tactical alteration. The "good cop, bad cop" tactic is highly risky for those on the bad-cop side in any society, especially in a totalitarian regime, but not in a nepotism-based society resting on strict blood ties, such as North Korea. Therefore, the altered tactic is likely fake power-sharing, confirming that North Korea's strategy and attitudes toward inter-Korean relations have not changed.



Whatever psychological changes occur in the Supreme Leader's mind, if North Korea expands more non-military options in inter-state communication, it will be a positive sign.





JeongWon Bourdais Park is currently serving as associate professor at the department of international relations and regional studies at KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan.


The temporary waiver for certain vehicle and registration requirements is still in place.

Governor Greg Abbott announced in March that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles will provide notice when normal services resume, according to a news release from the Texas DMV. The public will have 60 days from then to fulfill overdue services including: initial vehicle registration and renewals, vehicle titling, renewal of permanent disabled parking placards and 30-day temporary permits.

Those who need to fulfill one of the registration requirements can do so online at www.TxDMV.gov and www.Texas.gov or by mail. Hale County residents can reach out to the Hale County Tax Assessor-Collectors Office, where these services can be fulfilled.

There are a few services that are available in-person by appointment only. Those services include:

 Replacement titles

 Bonded title notices of determination

 Title histories

 Temporary permits

 Assigned/reassigned numbers

 Registration refund authorizations

 Investigation and resolution of Texas title errors

Those interested in scheduling appointments can do so at www.TxDMV.gov/appointment.

The DMV does not issue driver licenses or state ISD cards. Those services are conducted through the Department of Public Safety.
In Indonesia, locals can soon fly from Jakarta to the beaches of Bali for a domestic vacation. Tokyo residents can escape the pandemic stress with a hike in the mountains, and New Yorkers can head to the Hamptons on Long Island.

Residents of Singapore, a city-state smaller than New York City, have few such options, presenting a massive problem for its battered tourism industry. With borders closed to foreigners, hotels and tourist attractions need to count on 'staycationers' to plug the gap in an industry that brought in almost $20 billion in revenue last year. It's a tall order.

"Unless we have a return to international business, the hotel industry is going to be decimated as up to 90% of our bookings come from international travelers," said Michael Issenberg, chief executive officer of Accor SA's Asia Pacific unit, the largest hotel operator in Singapore.

While tourism everywhere has been hammered by the pandemic, the gradual opening of some domestic travel has given a shot in the arm to airlines and hotels in places like Australia and Vietnam. Rosewood Hotel Group has seen occupancy rates as high as 70% at some of its China properties as leisure travel picks up, said CEO Sonia Cheng.

Singapore's tourism sector faces a tougher challenge, as the hotels were just given a green light last week to request approval to welcome domestic tourists. Many locals like teacher Najeer Yusof prefer to save their money and wait for travel to resume in nearby hotspots like Thailand and Malaysia rather than spend it on a hotel down the street.

"There's more to see and experience overseas at a cheaper cost," said Yusof. There's also the "awe factor -- getting to see or experience something I won't otherwise be able to in Singapore, like the mountains and national parks in Indonesia and activities like diving and surfing."

Though the country of 5.7 million people has reopened its economy after a lockdown of more than two months, its borders are still largely closed. It recorded a historic low of just 750 foreign visitors in April, down from 1.6 million in the same month last year. May's numbers weren't much better, at 880.

"In the short-term, hotels, eateries and attractions can re-orientate to draw interest to staycations, attractions or food discounts," said Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. "However, our inherent small domestic market size implies it may not be a longer-term sustainable solution."

Tourism has been an increasingly important industry for Singapore, helping to diversify the economy from its traditional strengths of finance, oil refining and shipping. Attractions including the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino, the Universal Studios theme park and the Singapore Zoo have drawn tourists from around the world.

Last year, Singapore hosted a record 19.1 million visitors, while tourism receipts rose to $19.8 billion (S$27.7 billion), from $19.2 billion (S$26.9 billion) the year before. Singapore's tourism sector, which employs about 65,000 people, contributes about 4% to gross domestic product. The Singapore Tourism Board doesn't track the share of local versus international tourism.

The border closure means Singapore needs to persuade locals to spend more money at home. Even with overseas travel off limits, Singapore residents will still want to venture out, said Tourism Board CEO Keith Tan.

"They may therefore be open to take time off in their own city and rediscover all that Singapore has to offer," he said in an emailed statement.

Singapore has set aside S$90 million for the tourism sector and a task force is developing domestic and international recovery plans to be shared soon, Tan added.

The board also aims to strengthen Singapore's brand abroad by spending S$2 million to encourage content creators to produce compelling stories about the city-state, Tan said.

Hotels including the Shangri-la are also getting a small boost from the thousands of Singaporeans and expats who had been traveling abroad and are slowly being allowed back in. When they arrive, most are being forced to quarantine for 14 days in a hotel, at a cost of about S$2,000.

With occupancy running at just 15% for August, the iconic Raffles Singapore is offering a two-night special for about S$795, complete with a complimentary Singapore Sling, free breakfast, city tour and spa discounts.

Some tourist spots are also offering price cuts to attract residents who've been cooped up in their apartments for weeks. Sentosa Development Corp., which manages a resort island with attractions including Madame Tussauds and Universal Studios, has waived admission fees until the end of September, said Lynette Ang, the chief marketing officer.

Lo & Behold Group, which operates the Tanjong Beach Club just 15 minutes from the financial district, is launching a new concept called "Dine In Nature," which includes curated gourmet picnic baskets. It hopes this "will fulfill a growing demand from local residents for polished, thoughtful dining experiences," said Chief Operations Officer Andrew Ing.

For Singapore's tourism industry, a full recovery isn't likely before 2022, and largely depends on countries avoiding additional waves of the virus and the development of a vaccine, said Wong King Yin, a lecturer in marketing at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

"Although domestic travel can be a solution at the beginning during the recovery stage, the tourism industry cannot rely on staycations to survive," she said.
Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News

The United States military is sending nurses and respiratory specialists to San Antonio as COVID-19 hospitalizations surge in the city.

On Monday, the U.S. Northern Command said approximately 50 medical and support personnel from Colorado would be deployed.
Pixar

The Tower of the Americas will resume its free monthly Movie in the Park service in July, a representative with the program told mySA.com on Tuesday.

The 50-foot observation tower and restaurant stopped screening the movies in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Tower of the Americas reopened on May 1 after Gov. Greg Abbott announced retail stores, dine-in restaurants, movie theaters and malls can reopen at 25 percent capacity as part of his "Open Texas" plan.
Heres a look at whats new or notable in home video. Movies and TV series are available on streaming sites such as iTunes, Amazon and Vudu unless otherwise noted.

Notable  Rent it

Trolls World Tour: With hard rockers threatening a Troll Kingdom takeover, pop music-loving Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) sets out to unite the kingdoms of funk, techno, country and classical music. The lesson: We need to respect our differences but learn to play together.

For the kids, a troll poops a birthday cake. For the adults, smooth jazz takes a mellow beating. For everyone stuck at home, the last big Hollywood movie anyone will see for months (the result of productions interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic) is a candy-colored childrens movie rooted in music criticism  unexpected but OK.

Previously released in theaters and on demand; now available on Blu-ray and to rent on digital services.

Related: Watch at Home: My Spy on Amazon Prime

New  Rent it

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets: You cant go to bars right now, but you can hang out for a night at The Roaring 20s in Las Vegas, the subject of this innovative feature, which was a hit at Sundance this year. Its especially timely because it captures the final night of a dive bar thats closing, eavesdropping on folks who have bonded over countless nights of boozy talk and are about to lose the closest thing many of them have to a home.

The movie is largely improvised and features a cast of mostly nonactors recruited from New Orleans bars, though the alcohol theyre drinking is real.

Available to rent starting Wednesday via Alamo Drafthouse On Demand at drafthouse.com.

New  Reissue

Wild Palms: In the wake of Twin Peaks, it must have seemed like anything was possible on network TV. Take for example ABCs Wild Palms, a surreal, near future sci-fi miniseries about a company with a monopoly on interactive technology plotting to take over the U.S.

Conspiracy theories and reality are becoming confused, and political factions are on the verge of violence. Crazy stuff. With Jim Belushi, Dana Delany and Kim Catrall.

On sale now on Kino Lorber Blu-ray.

Also streaming

The Old Guard: Charlize Theron stars in a superhero movie about a band of ageless warriors who are growing tired of saving humanity. Premieres Friday on Netflix. Read the review.

Palm Springs: This romantic comedy is a variation of Groundhog Day with Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti as wedding guests  shes the maid of honor  who become trapped in a time loop. Premieres Friday on Hulu. Read the review.

Relic: Australian horror movie begins with a trip to grandmothers house. Premieres Friday in theaters, on digital and on demand. Read the review.

Jim Kiest is the arts and entertainment editor for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Jim, become a subscriber. jkiest@express-news.net | Twitter: @WeekenderSA
Texas drivers can now schedule an in-person appointment for license renewals or replacements, including Saturday appointments.

Texas Department of Public Safety announced Tuesday that it has expanded in-person across the state as the department continues its reopening of driver's license offices. If your license expired during the pandemic, you can schedule the appointment and check the availability online through the DL appointment schedule.

According to DPS, of the nearly 700,000 Texans whose cards expired during the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 150,000 can actually conduct their transaction online, by phone or by mail, instead of making the extra trip to the DPS office.

Initially, as part of the first phase of reopening, appointments were only available for first-time Texas drivers' licenses, commercial driver's licenses (CDL), learner licenses or identification cards, in addition to those who needed to take driving tests. Please note that if your driver's license expired on or after March 13, it is covered by the State of Disaster Declaration related to COVID-19. It will remain valid for 60 days after which DPS issues a public notice that the extension period for the disaster declaration has been lifted.

Saturday appointments will be reserved for driver's license renewals and replacements only, DPS said. The Saturday appointments can be scheduled online and will be offered at select DPS offices.

Texans are encouraged to check their expiration date on their card, and visit Texas.gov. to see if they can schedule their transaction online.

alison.medley@chron.com
After new research was released showing that the novel coronavirus strain in Houston is potentially more infectious than the original strain, a top Houston doctor and researcher is offering more insight on what the new information means.

"This virus has been in Houston since March," Dr. Joseph Petrosino, chairman, Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at the Baylor School of Medicine. "It has better fitness than the original. It can outcompete the original strain. It's associated with 78% and 80% of the cases we see in Houston and Europe. It's a mutation that is present all over Europe and the world. One thing we see for sure, this virus is more prevalent."

In a peer-reviewed paper published in the medical journal Cell last week, scientists reported that novel coronavirus strains spreading quickly Europe and the U.S. have a mutated spike which is potentially stronger and more infectious. Researchers at Houston Methodist also gathered data for a preliminary study in May that concluded most strains in the Houston area are actually mutations from Asia and Europe.

"Viruses are mutating all the time. It's part of their natural replication cycle," Petrosino said. "The strain that has the beneficial mutations will be able to replicate faster. It will enable it to spread more quickly."

KNOW YOUR RISK: These activities put you most at risk for COVID-19

Petrosino said the new feature of the virus is a stronger spike on the actual surface of the virus used to gain entry into the cells. The mutated version is less likely than the original to break off when attempting to bind with certain receptors in a person's airways.

"The mutation stabilizes the spikes. It actually makes them last longer. The spikes are stronger," Petrosino said. "This allows more opportunities to 'handshake with the host.'"

Petrosino said the research does not reflect that the mutated COVID-19 strain is more deadly.

"The data suggests that it is more contagious, but it does not lead to more deaths."

Petrosino said that there are growing early reports that immunity to this novel coronavirus isn't sustained for very long periods of time.

"Multiple reports suggest that some of the antibodies that are thought to be protective don't stay around too long."

He said this could potentially impact how people are vaccinated against COVID-19 in the future.

"We may need to vaccinate on an annual basis to make certain we are fully immunized before the next strain, potentially."

SPIKING HOSPITALIZATIONS: Governor Abbott warns of 'greater fatalities' ahead for Texas

Petrosino emphasized the critical need for social distancing at this juncture in Houston, especially after Texas surpassed 200,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.

"The emotional and mental impact is not to be underplayed here," Petrosino said. "Once we become committed to work as a community to social distance effectively, we'll see the same successes as those in Europe."

alison.medley@chron.com
The coronavirus can stay aloft for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, mounting scientific evidence suggests.

This risk is highest in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain superspreading events reported in meatpacking plants, churches and restaurants.

Its unclear how often the virus is spread via these tiny droplets, or aerosols, compared with larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, said Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech.

Aerosols are released even when a person without symptoms exhales, talks or sings, according to Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have outlined the evidence in an open letter to the World Health Organization.

What is clear, they said, is that people should consider minimizing time indoors with people outside their families. Schools, nursing homes and businesses should consider adding powerful new air filters and ultraviolet lights that can kill airborne viruses.

Here are answers to a few questions raised by the latest research.

What does it mean for a virus to be airborne?

For a virus to be airborne means that it can be carried through the air in a viable form. For most pathogens, this is a yes-no scenario. HIV, too delicate to survive outside the body, is not airborne. Measles is airborne, and dangerously so: It can survive in the air for up to two hours.

For the coronavirus, the definition has been more complicated. Experts agree that the virus does not travel long distances or remain viable outdoors. But evidence suggests it can traverse the length of a room and, in one set of experimental conditions, remain viable for perhaps three hours.

How are aerosols different from droplets?

Aerosols are droplets, droplets are aerosols  they do not differ except in size. Scientists sometimes refer to droplets fewer than 5 microns in diameter as aerosols. (By comparison, a red blood cell is about 5 microns in diameter; a human hair is about 50 microns wide.)

From the start of the pandemic, the WHO and other public health organizations have focused on the viruss ability to spread through large droplets that are expelled when a symptomatic person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets are heavy, relatively speaking, and fall quickly to the floor or onto a surface that others might touch. This is why public health agencies have recommended maintaining a distance of at least 6 feet from others, and frequent hand washing.

But some experts have said for months that infected people also are releasing aerosols when they cough and sneeze. More important, they expel aerosols even when they breathe, talk or sing, especially with some exertion.

Scientists know now that people can spread the virus even in the absence of symptoms  without coughing or sneezing  and aerosols might explain that phenomenon.

Because aerosols are smaller, they contain much less virus than droplets do. But because they are lighter, they can linger in the air for hours, especially in the absence of fresh air. In a crowded indoor space, a single infected person can release enough aerosolized virus over time to infect many people, perhaps seeding a superspreader event.

For droplets to be responsible for that kind of spread, a single person would have to be within a few feet of all the other people, or to have contaminated an object that everyone else touched. All that seems unlikely to many experts: I have to do too many mental gymnastics to explain those other routes of transmission compared to aerosol transmission, which is much simpler, Marr said.

Can I stop worrying about physical distancing and washing my hands?

Physical distancing is still very important. The closer you are to an infected person, the more aerosols and droplets you may be exposed to. Washing your hands often is still a good idea.

Whats new is that those two things may not be enough. We should be placing as much emphasis on masks and ventilation as we do with hand washing, Marr said. As far as we can tell, this is equally important, if not more important.

Should I begin wearing a hospital-grade mask indoors? And how long is too long to stay indoors?

Health care workers may all need to wear N95 masks, which filter out most aerosols. At the moment, they are advised to do so only when engaged in certain medical procedures that are thought to produce aerosols.

For the rest of us, cloth face masks will still greatly reduce risk, as long as most people wear them. At home, when youre with your own family or with roommates you know to be careful, masks are still not necessary. But it is a good idea to wear them in other indoor spaces, experts said.

As for how long is safe, that is frustratingly tough to answer. A lot depends on whether the room is too crowded to allow for a safe distance from others and whether there is fresh air circulating through the room.

What does airborne transmission mean for reopening schools and colleges?

This is a matter of intense debate. Many schools are poorly ventilated and are too poorly funded to invest in new filtration systems. There is a huge vulnerability to infection transmission via aerosols in schools, said Don Milton, an aerosol expert at the University of Maryland.

Most children younger than 12 seem to have only mild symptoms, if any, so elementary schools may get by. So far, we dont have evidence that elementary schools will be a problem, but the upper grades, I think, would be more likely to be a problem, Milton said.

College dorms and classrooms are also cause for concern.

Milton said the government should think of long-term solutions for these problems. Having public schools closed clogs up the whole economy, and its a major vulnerability, he said.

Until we understand how this is part of our national defense, and fund it appropriately, were going to remain extremely vulnerable to these kinds of biological threats.

What are some things I can do to minimize the risks?

Do as much as you can outdoors. Despite the many photos of people at beaches, even a somewhat crowded beach, especially on a breezy day, is likely to be safer than a pub or an indoor restaurant with recycled air.

But even outdoors, wear a mask if you are likely to be close to others for an extended period.

When indoors, one simple thing people can do is to open their windows and doors whenever possible, Marr said. You can also upgrade the filters in your home air-conditioning systems, or adjust the settings to use more outdoor air rather than recirculated air.

Public buildings and businesses may want to invest in air purifiers and ultraviolet lights that can kill the virus. Despite their reputation, elevators may not be a big risk, Milton said, compared with public bathrooms or offices with stagnant air where you may spend a long time.

If none of those things are possible, try to minimize the time you spend in an indoor space, especially without a mask. The longer you spend inside, the greater the dose of virus you might inhale.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Government should not let Gangnam District monopolize development gains of GBC



A debate has flared anew on how to share the development gains from the construction of Hyundai Motor's new headquarters, the Global Business Center (GBC), in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. It is not right for the Gangnam District, where the GBC is located, to seek a monopoly on the astronomical sum of real estate development profit. Such a hoarding of Hyundai Motor's "public contribution" will lead to reinvestment in the already wealthy district, which, in turn, will push up property prices there even higher.



Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon expressed a similar view on Facebook, Monday. Park also criticized the current legal system, which lets Gangnam monopolize the almost 1.75 trillion won ($1.43 billion) in public contribution Hyundai Motor must make in return for development proceeds. Seoul City Hall is trying to change the situation by asking the Ministry of Land, Transport and Infrastructure to amend related laws. It is seeking to spend the 450 billion won that remains for the balanced development of the entire city.



Mayor Park says that it is not desirable to concentrate development gains only in the southern Seoul area, calling for its "extension to all of Seoul." When it comes to the balanced development of the entire nation, however, real estate development gains should not be limited to the capital city but be dispersed to the rest of the country. Officials need to face the reality in which social and economic concentration in Seoul and its vicinity have been aggravating property prices, sending them sky-high in the metropolitan area.



The public contribution to be made in Seoul this and next year amounts to 2.9 trillion won. Out of the total, 2.4 trillion won will go to the three southern Seoul districts  Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa. The absurdity is clear for anyone to see.



The government should not allow the monopoly of the public contributions by the three districts under the pretext of regulation restricting the use of such an economic windfall to create public facilities in specific areas. The land, transport, infrastructure ministry should listen to calls for expanding the use of public contributions, and improve the system in ways to distribute future development gains evenly among as many localities as possible.


Biegun's visit could serve to make a breakthrough



North Korea's staunch avowal not to sit down face to face with the United States  a stance repeated on the same day U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun arrived in Seoul  at the very least shows that the country will only engage in dialogue that is different from that of the past two years.



In announcing Biegun's visit to Seoul and Tokyo, however, the U.S. State Department indicated its stance remains largely unchanged. It said the visit was to "further strengthen coordination on the final, fully verified denuclearization" of North Korea.



Ostensibly, the situation looks more like a crisis rather than a chance for dialogue on peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Yet, for the first time in nearly seven months since Biegun attempted to restart talks with North Korea late last year, the attention of the United States, North Korea and South Korea is simultaneously on the same moment.



As an eerie calm falls over the Korean Peninsula, any indication from the North that promises an opportunity for dialogue should not be wasted. Imbued with the fresh momentum of a new security team, Seoul bears most of the burden in getting these countries on the same page.



On Tuesday, Kwon Jong-gun, the North's foreign ministry's director general handling U.S. affairs repeated what First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui had said Saturday, that it will not sit down face to face with the U.S. Regarding the South, the North once again indirectly referred to President Moon Jae-in as a "meddlesome man," warning that the South's attempts to play a mediator role will prove futile.



The U.S. and North Korea held two summits in Singapore and Hanoi in 2018 and 2019, only to find divergence in Washington's demand for complete denuclearization for sanctions lifting vs. the North's demand for a phased "action-for-action" to denuclearize, with sanctions being lifted correspondingly.



With Biegun in town, the "small deal" idea is being floated once again in the South. Biegun is a proponent for a plan that includes demolishing the North's Yongbyeon nuclear facilities in return for a partial easing of international sanctions. Some in the South's new team including Suh Hoon, the director of the National Security Office at Cheong Wa Dae, also support the idea.



Unification minister nominee Lee In-young has been talking up the need for "creative solutions" to break the Korean Peninsula impasse, while at the same time signalling a willingness to reduce the role of the U.S.-South Korea working group. The North has long protested that the group has been hindering sanctions lifting.



With the eager zeal of the South's new security team, the sliver of a chance for dialogue prompted by the North's tension hike should be put to constructive use. The goal is to work strategically, over the long term, if necessary, for peace on the Korean Peninsula via the denuclearization of the North, on terms that meet the needs of those involved.


San Antonians may notice a fleet of vehicles traveling across the city Saturday in honor of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen.

The #IAmVanessaGuillen Convoy is calling on car and bike clubs to meet on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. for a ride in honor of the slain soldier.

RELATED: 'Say her name': Mayor Ron Nirenberg adds flowers to local Vanessa Guillen tribute

A man hunt ensued on June 30, after remains, which were later identified as the Houston native, were found in a shallow grave along the Leon River. Army Specialist Aaron David Robinson, the suspect tied to the 20-year-old's April 22 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.

The months long search for Guillen, as well her family's allegations of sexual harassment, sparked national attention from activists, lawmakers and celebrities. Since then, the public has joined the Guillen family in pushing for justice.

Convoy organizers were not immediately available to return requests for comment, but said online that the event is to honor the soldier and other service members who have experienced sexual assault or harassment.

Participants are asked to gather by 9:30 a.m. at the Northside Independent School District Paul Taylor Field House parking lot for the ride, which will begin at 10 a.m. The group will travel across the city, ending at Cafe Azteca. A shrine has been set up at the South Side coffee shop, located at 359 Bustillos Drive, in honor of Guillen.

So far, nearly 200 people are interested in the Facebook event page. Those joining the convoy are asked to bring flowers, flags, signs and face masks.

"Let's show the Guillen Family that we're with them," the event page reads.

Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye
The accidental release of ammonia gas by a meatpacking plant on the city's West Side led to the death of more than 5,000 fish in the San Pedro Creek and the San Antonio River's Mission Reach last week, according to officials from the San Antonio River Authority.

The ammonia gas escaped from a damaged industrial refrigeration system at Kiolbassa Smoked Meats plant located at 1325 S. Brazos St. just before midnight on Monday, June 29, Kiolbassa Smoked Meats' spokeswoman Laura Waldrum told mySA.com. Waldrum noted the accident happened after production had finished for the day.

Most meatpacking, poultry and food processing plants use ammonia in their refrigeration systems, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. These systems are safe and efficient as long as the ammonia stays in the pipes. However, ammonia gas is highly corrosive and can injure or kill people who inhale it, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

READ ALSO: 13-year-old Texas boy catches nearly 900-pound shark in Port Aransas during offshore trip

The San Antonio Fire Department responded to the incident and used water to dilute the exposure of ammonia into the air, Waldrum said. The water used to neutralize the gas drained into the stormwater systems near San Pedro Creek. No one suffered injuries during the incident, according to SAFD.

The ammonia-water solution, however, flowed from the site into the San Pedro Creek and then made its way into the main stem of the San Antonio River's Mission Reach, causing approximately 5,500 fish and other aquatic wildlife to die by Wednesday morning, the San Antonio River Authority said.

Chris Vaughn, a River Authority aquatic biologist, said there are some contaminants in ammonia toxicity that cause fish to suffocate. It breaks down the fish's cells and affects them in every way possible, he said. The aquatics biologist crew pulled out the fish manually and transported them to a safe location, Vaughn said.

Vaughn said the direct zone of impact was relatively small and the fish population will "quickly" re-populate the area. He added that the ammonia-water solution denatures "very quickly" and does not have a long-lasting effect.

"The rivers ecosystem is extremely resilient and the bounce back will be quick," he said.

Kiolbassa Smoked Meats said the incident was a "one-time event" and it "deeply regrets" the effects the leak had on the environment.

The San Antonio River Authority, created in 1937, is one of many such active river authorities in the State of Texas. Its jurisdiction covers 3,658 square milesall of Bexar, Wilson, Karnes and Goliad Counties.

Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre
Support for a San Antonio vegan bakery poured in by the "thousands" in June during a push to support black-owned businesses.

Southern Roots, owned by husband-wife duo Marcus and Cara Pitts, are still working through the "unexpected jaw-dropping influx of orders" they received since their business was highlighted by multiple media outlets, including the San Antonio Express-News and viral Twitter threads, for being minority owned and shipping nationwide, the shop said online.

RELATED: Black-owned restaurants and cafes you can support in San Antonio

An Instagram post by the business said the orders were "flying in," creating a bit of a back log since all of the sweets are made fresh and shipped out the same day.

The sweets shop addressed concerns some customers had about the delay, which resulted in requests for refunds.

"Please know we bake each item from scratch and the same day they are baked they are also shipped out," the post reads. "We promise you your order is COMING."

The demand has been so high a "Where's My Order" tab greets customers on the website. On that page, the owners reiterate they did not have the resources ready to handle going viral.

The Pitts ran the shop alone before the tidal wave of orders hit, but recently hired more people to help get them through the orders.

"We appreciate everyones patience during this time," the business said online.

An assortment of vegan donuts, cookies, cakes and brownies are available to be ordered online. The business also has e-gift cards available if customers want to get a taste of their products once things slow down for the Pitts.

Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye
3 1 of 3 Bexar County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Google Maps Show More Show Less 3 of 3





A 39-year-old man was arrested in connection with a deadly shooting during a child exchange Monday on the Northeast Side.

San Antonio police said Andres Vega showed up in the 1800 block of Rogers Avenue just after 9 p.m. with his wife to pick up her child from Alejandro Vargas, who is the father of the woman's child.
Update July 8:

Police have located Carlos Robinson, 69, who is accused of stabbing his wife and teenage stepson.

Authorities located him in Temple on Wednesday.

Robinson fled the 600 block of Ferris Ave. on the East Side after critically injuring the mother and her son at approximately 9:26 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

Police have not released additional information on the case and did not provide an update on the condition of mother and son.

Update July 7:

San Antonio police are seeking the public's help in locating a man who allegedly stabbed his wife and 15-year-old stepson.

Carlos Robinson, 69, fled the 600 block of Ferris Ave. after critically injuring the victims at approximately 9:26 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

The San Antonio Police Department asked anyone with information on Robinsons whereabouts to call 911.

Robinson is wanted on three felony warrants, police said.

Court records show that he was arrested Thursday for violating a protective order. He was released on a $2,000 bond.

Original:

A mother and her son were stabbed after the woman was involved in a verbal altercation with her ex who showed up at her East Side residence, San Antonio police spokeswoman Alisia Pruneda said.

Pruneda said she does not know if the man was the woman's ex-boyfriend or husband but said the mother, who is in her 50s, and her 15-year-old son were stabbed several times by the man and taken to a local hospital in serious but stable condition.

The woman suffered stab wounds to her neck and head area, police said. The womans son was inside the home when he heard her cries for help. Police said the teenager attempted to talk the man into dropping the weapon but he stabbed the boy several times.

Pruneda described the weapon as a cutting instrument." Investigators found a knife thrown onto the roof of the home but said they were unsure if it was the weapon.

The man fled and police believe he may be hiding in a home in the area.

If you know his location, please do not approach him, just call 911 with the best location and we will come get him, Pruneda said. We just want to make sure he is safe and figure out what happened here today.

The man is described as being in his late 60s to early 70s and is about 5-foot 6-inches, weighing 150 pounds. Pruneda said the man was wearing a white T-shirt and dark shorts, but may have taken off his shirt.

Police were searching the area with its EAGLE helicopter and a K-9 unit.

Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway
The following editorial appeared in Tuesday's Japan News-Yomiuri:

- - -

Tensions are escalating as China is accelerating its use of the South China Sea as a military hub.

Relevant countries must unite to maintain regional stability by preventing China from changing the status quo by force and rendering the situation a fait accompli.

The Chinese military conducted exercises near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, over which China and Vietnam have a territorial dispute. There is speculation that China may soon conduct a large-scale exercise there involving aircraft carriers.

China has also suggested the possibility of setting up an air defense identification zone in the South China Sea. This reflects Beijing's claim that its sovereignty covers almost the entire area of the South China Sea. That claim was dismissed in 2016 by an international court of arbitration's ruling. It is extremely irresponsible of China to ignore the ruling.

At the summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam, Indonesia and other member countries voiced concern over China's behavior, which does not respect the rule of law. The chairman's statement confirmed the importance of freedom of navigation and also freedom of overflight.

The problem is that China has been intensifying its activities in the South China Sea amid the delay in formulating a code of conduct to prevent conflicts between China and ASEAN. Discussions on formulating the code have been suspended due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and it is uncertain whether the code will be realized in 2021 as targeted.

China has stressed that the code of conduct - developed by countries involved - would lead to stabilizing regional conditions. There is no doubt that Beijing's assertion is aimed at excluding the involvement of Japan, the United States and other countries.

China's military expansion has had a major impact on the entire Asia-Pacific region, including Japan. Countries in the region, such as Japan, the United States and Australia, need to support ASEAN from the standpoint of respecting international rules and protecting freedom of navigation.

It is hoped that cooperation will be strengthened among relevant countries, using opportunities such as a multinational naval exercise as part of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise administered by the U.S. Navy, which will be conducted in waters near Hawaii in August.

The U.S. military recently conducted an exercise with two aircraft carriers in the South China Sea to coincide with Chinese military drills. It is unusual for the United States and China to conduct military exercises at the same time.

There are persistent concerns among ASEAN member countries that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is weakening its involvement in Asia. It is important that the United States will continue to work to keep China in check in the South China Sea, while taking care not to increase military tensions.

Chinese government ships that entered Japan's territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands recently committed a record-long intrusion of 39 hours. A recent law revision in China allows Chinese government ships to conduct operations under the military command during wartime.

There are fears that Beijing's provocations around the Senkakus could take on a more military tone. Japan should be more vigilant.
This World War I campaign hat is among the items displayed in the Blackland Museum in Taft.
Yves here. This recap of a sordid bit of history, of the US, and specifically, CIA support of the brutal Kosovo Liberation Army during the civil war in what had been Yugoslavia, may seem wide of our usual beats. However, this detailed account is important not simply because it describes US sponsorship of an accused war criminal, former Prime Minister Hashim Thaci of Kosovo. It is also a media critique, of how the press initially accepted the US spin, but even US officials and journalists who witnessed key events started challenging these claims. It is an unfortunate reminder of what NC readers likely know all too well: that when US geopolitical interests are at stake, getting at the truth of what happens in contested areas is extremely difficult. And as Lambert points out, organ trade is about as neoliberal as it gets.

By Nicolas J. S. Davies, an independent journalist, a researcher for CODEPINK and the author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq

When President Clinton dropped 23,000 bombs on what was left of Yugoslavia in 1999 and NATO invaded and occupied the Yugoslav province of Kosovo, U.S. officials presented the war to the American public as a humanitarian intervention to protect Kosovos majority ethnic Albanian population from genocide at the hands of Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. That narrative has been unraveling piece by piece ever since

In 2008 an international prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, accused U.S.-backed Prime Minister Hashim Thaci of Kosovo of using the U.S. bombing campaign as cover to murder hundreds of people to sell their internal organs on the international transplant market. Del Pontes charges seemed almost too ghoulish to be true. But on June 24th, Thaci, now President of Kosovo, and nine other former leaders of the CIA-backed Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA,) were finally indicted for these 20-year-old crimes by a special war crimes court at The Hague.

From 1996 on, the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies covertly worked with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) to instigate and fuel violence and chaos in Kosovo. The CIA spurned mainstream Kosovar nationalist leaders in favor of gangsters and heroin smugglers like Thaci and his cronies, recruiting them as terrorists and death squads to assassinate Yugoslav police and anyone who opposed them, ethnic Serbs and Albanians alike.

As it has done in country after country since the 1950s, the CIA unleashed a dirty civil war that Western politicians and media dutifully blamed on Yugoslav authorities. But by early 1998, even U.S. envoy Robert Gelbard called the KLA a terrorist group and the UN Security Council condemned acts of terrorism by the KLA and all external support for terrorist activity in Kosovo, including finance, arms and training. Once the war was over and Kosovo was successfully occupied by U.S. and NATO forces, CIA sources openly touted the agencys role in manufacturing the civil war to set the stage for NATO intervention.>By September 1998, the UN reported that 230,000 civilians had fled the civil war, mostly across the border to Albania, and the UN Security Council passed resolution 1199, calling for a ceasefire, an international monitoring mission, the return of refugees and a political resolution. A new U.S. envoy, Richard Holbrooke, convinced Yugoslav President Milosevic to agree to a unilateral ceasefire and the introduction of a 2,000 member verification mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). But the U.S. and NATO immediately started drawing up plans for a bombing campaign to enforce the UN resolution and Yugoslavias unilateral ceasefire.

Holbrooke persuaded the chair of the OSCE, Polish foreign minister Bronislaw Geremek, to appoint William Walker, the former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador during its civil war, to lead the Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM). The U.S. quickly hired 150 Dyncorp mercenaries to form the nucleus of Walkers team, whose 1,380 members used GPS equipment to map Yugoslav military and civilian infrastructure for the planned NATO bombing campaign. Walkers deputy, Gabriel Keller, Frances former Ambassador to Yugoslavia, accused Walker of sabotaging the KVM, and CIA sources later admitted that the KVM was a CIA front to coordinate with the KLA and spy on Yugoslavia.

The climactic incident of CIA-provoked violence that set the political stage for the NATO bombing and invasion was a firefight at a village called Racak, which the KLA had fortified as a base from which to ambush police patrols and dispatch death squads to kill local collaborators. In January 1999, Yugoslav police attacked the KLA base in Racak, leaving 43 men, a woman and a teenage boy dead

After the firefight, Yugoslav police withdrew from the village, and the KLA reoccupied it and staged the scene to make the firefight look like a massacre of civilians. When William Walker and a KVM team visited Racak the next day, they accepted the KLAs massacre story and broadcast it to the world, and it became a standard part of the narrative to justify the bombing of Yugoslavia and military occupation of Kosovo.

Autopsies by an international team of medical examiners found traces of gunpowder on the hands of nearly all the bodies, showing that they had fired weapons. They were nearly all killed by multiple gunshots as in a firefight, not by precise shots as in a summary execution, and only one victim was shot at close range. But the full autopsy results were only published much later, and the Finnish chief medical examiner accused Walker of pressuring her to alter them.

Two experienced French journalists and an AP camera crew at the scene challenged the KLA and Walkers version of what happened in Racak. Christophe Chatelets article in Le Monde was headlined, Were the dead in Racak really massacred in cold blood? and veteran Yugoslavia correspondent Renaud Girard concluded his story in Le Figaro with another critical question, Did the KLA seek to transform a military defeat into a political victory?

NATO immediately threatened to bomb Yugoslavia, and France agreed to host high-level talks. But instead of inviting Kosovos mainstream nationalist leaders to the talks in Rambouillet, Secretary Albright flew in a delegation led by KLA commander Hashim Thaci, until then known to Yugoslav authorities only as a gangster and a terrorist.

Albright presented both sides with a draft agreement in two parts, civilian and military. The civilian part granted Kosovo unprecedented autonomy from Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav delegation accepted that. But the military agreement would have forced Yugoslavia to accept a NATO military occupation, not just of Kosovo but with no geographical limits, in effect placing all of Yugoslavia under NATO occupation.

When Milosevich refused Albrights terms for unconditional surrender, the U.S. and NATO claimed he had rejected peace, and war was the only answer, the last resort. They did not return to the UN Security Council to try to legitimize their plan, knowing full well that Russia, China and other countries would reject it. When UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told Albright the British government was having trouble with our lawyers over NATOs plan for an illegal war of aggression against Yugoslavia, she told him to get new lawyers.

In March 1999, the KVM teams were withdrawn and the bombing began. Pascal Neuffer, a Swiss KVM observer reported, The situation on the ground on the eve of the bombing did not justify a military intervention. We could certainly have continued our work. And the explanations given in the press, saying the mission was compromised by Serb threats, did not correspond to what I saw. Lets say rather that we were evacuated because NATO had decided to bomb.

NATO killed thousands of civilians in Kosovo and the rest of Yugoslavia, as it bombed 19 hospitals, 20 health centers, 69 schools, 25,000 homes, power stations, a national TV station, the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and other diplomatic missions. After it invaded Kosovo, the U.S. military set up the 955-acre Camp Bondsteel, one of its largest bases in Europe, on its newest occupied territory. Europes Human Rights Commissioner, Alvaro Gil-Robles, visited Camp Bondsteel in 2002 and called it a smaller version of Guantanamo, exposing it as a secret CIA black site for illegal, unaccountable detention and torture.

But for the people of Kosovo, the ordeal was not over when the bombing stopped. Far more people had fled the bombing than the so-called ethnic cleansing the CIA had provoked to set the stage for it. A reported 900,000 refugees, nearly half the population, returned to a shattered, occupied province, now ruled by gangsters and foreign overlords.

Serbs and other minorities became second-class citizens, clinging precariously to homes and communities where many of their families had lived for centuries. More than 200,000 Serbs, Roma and other minorities fled, as the NATO occupation and KLA rule replaced the CIAs manufactured illusion of ethnic cleansing with the real thing. Camp Bondsteel was the provinces largest employer, and U.S. military contractors also sent Kosovars to work in occupied Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2019, Kosovos per capita GDP was only $4,458, less than any country in Europe except Moldova and war-torn, post-coup Ukraine.

In 2007, a German military intelligence report described Kosovo as a Mafia society, based on the capture of the state by criminals. The report named Hashim Thaci, then the leader of the Democratic Party, as an example of the closest ties between leading political decision makers and the dominant criminal class. In 2000, 80% of the heroin trade in Europe was controlled by Kosovar gangs, and the presence of thousands of U.S. and NATO troops fueled an explosion of prostitution and sex trafficking, also controlled by Kosovos new criminal ruling class.

In 2008, Thaci was elected Prime Minister, and Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. (The final dissolution of Yugoslavia in 2006 had left Serbia and Montenegro as separate countries.) The U.S. and 14 allies immediately recognized Kosovos independence, and ninety-seven countries, about half the countries in the world, have now done so. But neither Serbia nor the UN have recognized it, leaving Kosovo in long-term diplomatic limbo.

When the court in the Hague unveiled the charges against Thaci on June 24th, he was on his way to Washington for a White House meeting with Trump and President Vucic of Serbia to try to resolve Kosovos diplomatic impasse. But when the charges were announced, Thacis plane made a U-turn over the Atlantic, he returned to Kosovo and the meeting was canceled.

The accusation of murder and organ trafficking against Thaci was first made in 2008 by Carla Del Ponte, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTFY), in a book she wrote after stepping down from that position. Del Ponte later explained that the ICTFY was prevented from charging Thaci and his co-defendants by the non-cooperation of NATO and the UN Mission in Kosovo. In an interview for the 2014 documentary, The Weight of Chains 2, she explained, NATO and the KLA, as allies in the war, couldnt act against each other.

Human Rights Watch and the BBC followed up on Del Pontes allegations, and found evidence that Thaci and his cronies murdered up to 400 mostly Sebian prisoners during the NATO bombing in 1999. Survivors described prison camps in Albania where prisoners were tortured and killed, a yellow house where peoples organs were removed and an unmarked mass grave nearby.

Council of Europe investigator Dick Marty interviewed witnesses, gathered evidence and published a report, which the Council of Europe endorsed in January 2011, but the Kosovo parliament did not approve the plan for a special court in the Hague until 2015. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and independent prosecutors office finally began work in 2017. Now the judges have six months to review the prosecutors charges and decide whether the trial should proceed.

A central part of the Western narrative on Yugoslavia was the demonization of President Milosevich of Yugoslavia, who resisted his countrys Western-backed dismemberment throughout the 1990s. Western leaders smeared Milosevich as a New Hitler and the Butcher of the Balkans, but he was still arguing his innocence when he died in a cell at The Hague in 2006.

Ten years later, at the trial of the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, the judges accepted the prosecutions evidence that Milosevich strongly opposed Karadzics plan to carve out a Serb Republic in Bosnia. They convicted Karadzic of being fully responsible for the resulting civil war, in effect posthumously exonerating Milosevich of responsibility for the actions of the Bosnian Serbs, the most serious of the charges against him.

But the U.S.s endless campaign to paint all its enemies as violent dictators and New Hitlers rolls on like a demonization machine on autopilot, against Putin, Xi, Maduro, Khamenei, the late Fidel Castro and any foreign leader who stands up to the imperial dictates of the U.S. government. These smear campaigns serve as pretexts for brutal sanctions and catastrophic wars against our international neighbors, but also as political weapons to attack and diminish any U.S. politician who stands up for peace, diplomacy and disarmament.

As the web of lies spun by Clinton and Albright has unraveled, and the truth behind their lies has spilled out piece by bloody piece, the war on Yugoslavia has emerged as a case study in how U.S. leaders mislead us into war. In many ways, Kosovo established the template that U.S. leaders have used to plunge our country and the world into endless war ever since. What U.S. leaders took away from their success in Kosovo was that legality, humanity and truth are no match for CIA-manufactured chaos and lies, and they doubled down on that strategy to plunge the U.S. and the world into endless war.

As it did in Kosovo, the CIA is still running wild, fabricating pretexts for new wars and unlimited military spending, based on sourceless accusations, covert operations and flawed, politicized intelligence. We have allowed American politicians to pat themselves on the back for being tough on dictators and thugs, letting them settle for the cheap shot instead of tackling the much harder job of reining in the real instigators of war and chaos: the U.S. military and the CIA.

But if the people of Kosovo can hold the CIA-backed gangsters who murdered their people, sold their body parts and hijacked their country accountable for their crimes, is it too much to hope that Americans can do the same and hold our leaders accountable for their far more widespread and systematic war crimes?

Iran recently indicted Donald Trump for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, and asked Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for him. Trump is probably not losing sleep over that, but the indictment of such a key U.S. ally as Thaci is a sign that the U.S. accountabilty-free zone of impunity for war crimes is finally starting to shrink, at least in the protection it provides to U.S. allies. Should Netanyahu, Bin Salman and Tony Blair start looking over their shoulders?
US universities and colleges are already in serious financial trouble due to coronavirus, and the coming fall season wont do much to improve matters. Schools were already all over the map about what they are doing for the coming school year. And some of them are changing course midstream as infections rise in their state.

It isnt just that schools had to refund room and board fees for their aborted spring terms. Universities make about $50 billion from non-tuition charges, not just room and board but also renting out university space and tickets to sporting events. That has evaporated and is not coming back any time soon.

Even at the campuses that say they are reopening, things will not go back to the old normal. Foreign students only account for 5.5% of the student population, but over the years, Chinese students have become the most heavily represented nationality and they pay full fees and tuition. Between travel restrictions, China-bashing, and high Covid-19 risks, foreign enrollment is expected to plunge, and that will have a disproportionate impact on revenues.

It isnt clear whether it is possible to reopen a university safely, at least in an America which has done plenty to get coronavirus wrong and still has far too few people wearing masks. One academic has told me the administrators he has spoken to at several universities have admitted they see no way to reopen dorms safely, yet many are doing just that. Lowering density of occupancy would reduce but not eliminate risk.

And that raises the question of safe for whom? The universities decisions appear to be driven by concerns about safety of their students and their faculty. The fate of support staff like cafeteria workers and dorm crews gets nary a mention. Nor does the safety of the communities in which they live, even when the school is tax exempt, appear to rate high, if at all.

The lack of criticism from locals seems odd until you factor in the dependence of many communities like Charlottesville, VA on their school. Imagine the hostility if you took what would be perceived as a position opposing the survival of the biggest employer in town. Nevertheless, these reopenings, even ones on a more limited scale, are all superspreader events in the making, particularly since it will be impossible to regulate student behavior in student housing and on their free time. And the whole point of an on-campus experience is to get to know classmates. Hard to do that at a six foot remove.

For US students, the question is whether to come back at all. Many schools that are less tuition dependent are looking to limit how many students return. Those in programs that require lab work are getting priority; some schools are favoring seniors. Consider Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, as described by CNN:

Harvard University plans to bring up to 40% of undergraduates back to campus for the fall semester, including all first-year students, the school announced on Monday. In addition to first-year students, Harvard will allow students who need to be on campus to progress academically to return as well. Princeton University will welcome undergraduate students back to campus in the fall with a reduced capacity, the school announced on Monday. First-year students and juniors will be allowed to return to campus for the fall semester, while sophomores and seniors will be welcomed back in the spring semester.. Both universities will emphasize online instructions. At Harvard, all course instruction will be delivered online, including for students living on campus. Princeton said that most academic instruction will remain online. Last week, Yale University announced a similar plan to limit the number of people on campus. Yale will reopen in the fall without sophomores living on campus and then will be open in the spring without freshmen living on campus.

Princeton is at least lowering its tuition by 10%. Not Harvard. And that underscores how much higher education in the US has become about credentialing, as opposed to learning. Teachers have described how difficult it is to teach online, and that its impossible to teach, as opposed to merely lecture, with more than 20 students.

Harvard just announced theyre charging the full $50k a year for 100% remote classes this coming year. Maybe kids should just listen to podcasts, watch YouTube, and read books instead.  Pomp  (@APompliano) July 6, 2020

Some schools are basically admitting they are making it up as they go, which is not a great inducement to return either. For instance, read between the lines of the University of Maines reopening plans:

Chancellor Malloy, UMS University Presidents and Dean of Maine Law unveil unifying principles universities will be using to start on-campus instruction August 31 as scheduled. Chancellor Dannel Malloy, Maines public university presidents, and the dean of Maine Law have adopted a set of unifying safe return and learning principles that will be used in campus-specific plans to bring students, faculty, and staff back to campus for face-to-face instruction starting on Aug. 31, the beginning of the fall 2020 semester. The release of Together for Maine: Principles for a Safe Return kicks off a cascade of student and community messaging at the universities to keep stakeholders informed of campus-specific plans and updates over the summer. The key elements of the principles include screening strategies to identify and isolate infection at the start of the semester, and a commitment to stay safe and together during the semester with science-based practices aligned with guidance from public health authorities and the UMS Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy. The University of Maine System will continue to monitor the public health situation, following civil guidance and adjusting plans if necessary to protect student and community health. What we have done and learned in our response to the pandemic is helping us plan for the fall with a focus on student safety and success, said President Ferrini-Mundy. Faculty at all of our campuses are working to develop the flexible, innovative instruction students will need to be successful.

This sort of thing does not inspire confidence, particularly in the face of some schools scaling back reopening plans in light of rising infection rates. From Inside Higher Education:

Two universities that were planning on in-person fall terms are now backing away from those plans due to the rise in coronavirus cases, and a third university is shifting its second summer session courses online. The University of Southern California announced last week that undergraduate students will take all or most of their courses online, reversing course from earlier plans to invite undergraduates back to campus for an in-person fall semester Across the country, in Virginia, Hampton University also cited the rise in coronavirus cases in announcing it was changing its plans to reopen the campus in favor of a remote-only fall. Texas State University said it would shift almost all of the classes for its second summer session online, with the only classes that will remain face-to-face being those that require a face-to-face component for licensure or degree requirements.

And one school that is doggedly sticking to a reopening plan that does not require students to wear masks in class is facing a faculty rebellion. From Georgia Public Broadcasting:

The majority of Georgia Tech professors, including some the universitys most acclaimed faculty members, have launched a revolt over reopening this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying the current plan threatens the health, well-being and education of students, staff, and faculty. More than 800 of Techs 1,100 faculty members outlined their concerns The lettercan be read in full here. The facultys objections throw into question the mid-August plans of reopening at one of the nations premier public universities. It also comes at a time when the state of Georgia has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases. At Tech, nearly a dozen students living in Greek housing near campus have tested positive for coronavirus in recent weeks. Faculty were already feeling anxious about the upcoming fall semester, GPB News was told, but a recent decision by the Board of Regents and state university system to not require students wear masks in classrooms sent faculty over the edge. Tech, like other public universities in the state, has to follow the rules mandated by the University System of Georgia.

As Lambert points out, universities started nearly 1000 years ago and survived plagues. But the neoliberal era has simultaneously bloated them well beyond their educational focus while also making them financially fragile. On CNN, a spokesman for the American Council for Education said that a 20% decline in enrollment would be devastating for US universities. Yet the clip ended with a student saying that based on what he knew now, he didnt regard it as safe to return. And thats before getting to the question of whether largely online, socially distant instruction is worth its hefty price tag.


By Ganbold Baasanjav





The world is experiencing unprecedented challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. With the devastating loss of lives and livelihoods, governments have been facing the daunting task of containing the spread of the virus on the one hand and mitigating the impact on the economy on the other.



As an immediate response, governments have rolled out massive stimulus packages to ensure that people and industries hit by lockdown measures and disruptions of supply chains have a lifeline.



With countries now moving toward the "new normal" where social distancing and prevention measures are kept in place while resuming and re-opening economic activities to the extent possible, there is a window of opportunity to think about "building back better."



This is particularly important for the three countries in Northeast Asia  China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. As countries that have been dealing with COVID-19 the longest and having achieved a degree of success in containing the spread, they have been paving the way for other countries in terms of managing COVID-19.



Experts from the three countries shared their experiences for the first time in the recently held webinar "Managing COVID-19 Pandemic  Experiences & Best Practices of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea" jointly organized by ESCAP East and Northeast Asia Office, and the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat.



The experts, who played a key role in developing national COVID-19 responses, discussed the different approaches and measures in dealing with COVID-19, partly reflecting various institutional frameworks which govern the flexibility and policy space in pandemic response.



In China, shelter hospitals enabled swift response to a massive surge of patients. Japan's cluster-based approach of contact tracing helped identify infections more efficiently. Korea's experiences showed that early implementation of nationwide massive testing was key to the containment of COVID-19.



The three experts also added that preparedness and rapid deployment of appropriate technology were vital to their responses. They also highlighted information sharing and international cooperation, especially among the three neighboring countries, as vital components for effective management of not only COVID-19 but all infectious diseases.



Looking ahead, resilient economic recovery in the "new normal" environment is the greatest challenge facing all three countries given the severe negative impacts of COVID-19 on business activity.



However, there is an increasing consensus that post-COVID-19 should not be a return to "business as usual" but a new path that will bring "environmentally sustainable and inclusive recovery" which the G20 finance ministers committed to supporting last April.



Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) had been moving at an extremely slow pace and in response, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a global call for a "Decade of Action" to accelerate sustainable solutions to narrow the gap between where countries should be and where countries are.



The ongoing wreckage of the COVID-19 pandemic will surely roll back progress made on a number of sustainable development goals, but it also presents the world with an opportunity to restart the global economic engine in the right direction, along a sustainable and climate smart pathway.



In this sense, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea have an important role to play in leading the sustainable recovery effort, as they rediscover the blue-skies in their cities while their environmentally costly progress in socioeconomic development has been partially wiped out.



Already the countries have demonstrated concrete strategies for building back better. China committed a large part of the stimulus package to developing new infrastructure to support smart cities and lowering emissions.



Japan, prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, announced ambitious plans to invest in Society 5.0 which is envisioned to be an inclusive socioeconomic system supported by cutting-edge science and technology.



The government's stimulus package will bring additional spending on Society 5.0 with greater emphasis on building national resilience. The Republic of Korea similarly launched a comprehensive Green New Deal to remodel the economy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.



In the three countries' efforts to ensure resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery, there are key areas that require strengthened regional cooperation including cooperation on renewable sources of energy, cross-border infrastructure investment for trade and transport, and cooperation on air pollution and marine resources.



The ESCAP East and Northeast Asia Office has been working closely with all three countries on enhancing regional cooperation in these areas and will continue to support our member states to build back better together.





Ganbold Baasanjav is the head of the East and Northeast Asia Office of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).






(Natural News) Milos Zeman, president of the Czech Republic, while on a visit to the American Embassy in Prague on June 30, said that the slogan Black Lives Matter is a racist slogan, because all lives matter.

Zeman, 75, is serving his second five-year term as president of the Czech Republic until 2023. He has been criticized for his strong ties with both Russia and China. He visited the American Embassy in Prague on June 30 to celebrate the United States Independence Day on July 4 with the American ambassador to the Czech Republic.

In his speech, he stated that, speaking as both an independent citizen and a friend of the United States, he believes the slogan popularized by the Black Lives Matter movement was racist because it put too much value on Black lives over the lives of everyone else.

Zeman, who spoke about the need to celebrate the independence of nations, their citizens and their beliefs, also said that this independence is under attack both in the United States and in the Czech Republic, and this danger cannot be ignored but must be faced head on. He was referring to the recent spate of rioting and civil unrest sweeping across the United States, which includes the destruction of private property and the toppling of historical monuments.

This civil unrest has also reached the Czech Republic. Criminals vandalized a statue of British Prime Minister and World War II hero Winston Churchill in a university in Prague with He was racist and Black Lives Matter. A largely peaceful protest also occurred in Pragues Old Town Square, where around 300 demonstrators lay down on the floor for eight minutes and 46 seconds  the amount of time George Floyd was pinned to the ground before he died. The protesters then marched to the American embassy, where they stayed for a while before dispersing.

Zeman blamed much of the violence conducted by the Black Lives Matter movement on stupid fellows who have declared themselves to be not just leaders of the movement, but also as value leaders or opinion leaders who are trying to push their beliefs onto everyone else. (Related: INSANITY: Walmart doesnt believe all lives matter, stops selling All Lives Matter items because only BLACK lives matter to corporate America.)

We need more free thinking, we need common sense. I do not need any new Big Brother, said Zeman, in reference to the fact that the Black Lives Matter movement is foisting its violent and hateful ideology on Americans and the world.

Listen to this episode of the Health Ranger Report, a podcast by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he talks about how the Black Lives Matter domestic terrorist movement has begun shooting at vehicles with the intent of killing the people inside them.

European Parliament passes non-binding resolution condemning racism

The European Parliament has also declared that Black lives matter, in a resolution adopted in response to the massive civil unrest in the United States that has spilled over into Europe. The resolution, which has no legal ramifications, condemns racism and White supremacy in both the United States and Europe.

The resolution, which passed with 493 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voting in favor, 104 voting against and 67 abstaining, declares their strong condemnation over the death of George Floyd, as well as similar murders around the world. The resolution also expresses its support for the recent riots and violent demonstrations that have cropped up supposedly to fight racism and discrimination.

MEPs have also condemned the inflammatory rhetoric of President Donald Trump, as well as police actions conducted against so-called peaceful American demonstrators and journalists.

The MEPs have also called upon individual EU member states to denounce the disproportionate use of force and violence against rioters and demonstrators, as well as the racist tendencies within EU nations law enforcement organizations.

Lastly, the resolution also called for the slave trade to be labeled as a crime against humanity. However, because the non-binding resolution provides no framework for how to legally press their stated desires, its unlikely anything will change because of its passage.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

StraitsTimes.com

News.Expats.cz 1

News.Expats.cz 2

EuroNews.com

DW.com
(Natural News) There are certain aspects of the ongoing Black Lives Matter/Antifa uprising that must be made evident to our countrys citizens. The leftist rioters do not understand that what they are doing to destroy our country will not work. The rioting and burning of local businesses, many minorities owned, the overtaking of city property, the tearing down of statues that are a part of our history will do nothing to improve our country.

(Article by John C. Velisek republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

All the efforts that they feel will intimidate people will only anger those who believe in our country. No amount of indoctrinating our children in academia will keep them from understanding that there is no option for a way of life that has made America the envy of the world. They want to use our children, much like it was done in Nazi Germany.

There are similarities to the Nazi Regime of Hitler and Black lives Matter today. In Hitlers Germany, there was talk of reparations, the monies of those who earned it were taken away and given to those who fomented the revolution. Looting and the destruction of business was also a part of the Nazi regime. Morality and the moral norms that are in any civilized culture were broken down. Freedom of speech and thought were curtailed in the media and everyday discussion if they did not conform to the party line or the struggle of the people.

Not mentioned is the struggle of the people in our inner cities with rampant violence and murders. Black Lives Matter never mentions it, the media wont cover it, and the leftists in the Democrat party ignore it. Why? It doesnt fit the narrative that they are trying to push on the American people. They cant virtue signal to defund the police if they discuss that constant murders in the significant cites run by the Democrats. They need to set a narrative where they can make law enforcement the villain, even though they coddle criminals with policies like no bail bond to put criminals back on the street.

The same words used by the Nazis, such as social justice was an integral part of the Nazi doctrine. The next step recently begun is to have the children tattle of their parents. All of these were the agenda forced on the German people as part of Nazi Germany. It is also a significant part of the plan of Black lives Matter. In essence, the final goal is intended to be to control the lives, speech, and actions of those they do not agree with in any aspect.

In todays case, those who do not agree have made it clear that with the help of the progressive socialists and media, they intend to negate those who disagree, conservatives, white, and those who still believe in religion to kneel and treat them as our overlords. They have come up with another mindless bumper slogan It is just a way to force those of our country to blare mindless Marxist slogans to get their approval. They will continue to use mob rule to stifle anyone who may dissent or criticize the Marxist Black lives Matter and globalists who intend to rule.

This will occur because groups like Black Lives Matter intend to do the best they can to break up the nuclear family. In this country, we have an equality of opportunity and equality of effort and not equality of outcome. They want to use Marxist doctrine to nullify the rights of everyday Americans of every color and religion. A little secret is that those on social media and the progressive socialists in the Democrat party do not understand that Americans will fight for their rights.

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com
(Natural News) During a recent interview with TIME, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the infamous Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spelled out the order in which she believes people need to be vaccinated for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). First in line after health care workers, she divulged, will be black people, which are supposedly more at risk of infection than others.

In order to achieve health equity, black people will need to be given first priority for the jabs, which are being rushed to market as quickly as possible, likely before the end of the year.

Using the George Floyd saga as the impetus behind why Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines need to be administered to black people first, Gates is encouraging the public to pause during this time and learn as best we can from it. And to her this means lining up the blacks to be injected with Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines before anyone else gets them.

Even before we saw this senseless death, COVID had already started to show us gaps and structural problems in our country, Gates is quoted as saying. We are seeing black men die at a disproportionate rate. We know the way out of COVID-19 will be a vaccine, and it needs to go out equitably.

Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how the vaccine industry could end up destroying itself by rushing out a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine:

Bill and Melinda Gates have been planning for this moment for 20 years

When asked how she plans to bring these plans to fruition, Gates explained that she and her husband have been greasing the wheels for more than 20 years. They set up an advanced vaccine delivery system to be used for such a time as this, and they have been working with governments to purchase vaccines in bulk for rapid distribution.

Both Bill and Melinda Gates have essentially been getting governments and other power players all around the world to sign on to a pledge stating, We care about this vaccine getting out equitably. And by donating to GAVI all these years, they have been effectively contributing towards the rapid push for a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

The first people that need this vaccine are the 60 million health care workers around the world, Gates further stated. They deserve to get it before anybody else. Then you start tiering.

In the U.S., that would be black people next, quite honestly, and many other people of color, she added. They are having disproportionate effects from COVID-19. From there, people with underlying health conditions, and then people who are older. Those are the ones who all need it first.

Recognizing that the Gates family lineage is packed with eugenicists, it is hardly surprising that the undesirables all come first with this thing. And as for the health care workers, with them out of the way there will be no more health care system to take care of anyone.

Gates also wants to make sure that other essential workers are also jabbed first, including the people who are keeping our grocery stores open for us so we can buy food, or who are making sure that food moves through the warehouses.

To those who believe that vaccines are good and that one for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) will help society, this all sounds very noble. But to those who see vaccines as biological weapons, the plan to vaccinate everyone important and vulnerable first reveals a much darker agenda at play.

For more related news about the dangers of vaccination, be sure to check out Vaccines.news.

Sources for this article include:

TIME.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) When a news outfit publishes a video of a whistle-blower, that doesnt make that news outfit fake news. Especially when the whistle-blowing comes from an insider, who worked high up in the vaccine industry, understands the mechanics and science behind it all, and speaks in great detail about the atrocities of todays chemical medicine industrial complex. Natural News Editor Mike Adams published an article with the embedded whistle-blowing, mind-blowing video Plandemic, and the vaccine zealot world has gone insane trying to debunk the debunkers. Too late. The truth is out.

Still, NBC News Brandy Zadrozny must shill and attack the character of anyone who exposes cover-ups with intellect, knowledge and insight. Its backlash from the criminals getting exposed, and you can bet your last dollar breast cancer psycho-blogger Dr. David Gorski, known cohort of patient-killer Dr. Farid Fata, is behind Zadroznys anti-anti-vax rants.

Mike Adams never said wearing a mask would spread the virus, in fact, hes all in for people staying on the safe side and wearing them, if you follow his news at all, you would see thats very apparent. What is misleading is librarians claiming to be journalists, but who dont do an ounce of research when trying to badmouth anyone who reveals the hoaxes of their own narratives.

Lets break this whole thing down into laymens terms right now. We know Bill Gates is not a scientist, yet hes the lead spokesperson for vaccines right now, and hes the one funding them. Mike Adams is simply calling out the truths that mass media will not talk about at all, including the pandemic situation, that the Health Ranger (and other actual journalists) even predicted years ago as being dangerous Biological Weapons.

Take one look at Faucis record and you know hes the front man for a vaccine industry apocalypse that was planned from before Covid broke out in China. This clown was part of the whole Plandemic they dont want ANYBODY talking about on these terms. Just watch the freak tell you himself that covid is coming, and Trump will have to deal with a surprise outbreak. Really? You cannot make this stuff up.

Facebook has banned and deleted any and every post that has to do with the Plandemic movie, as it makes people question many huge holes in the official CDC narrative. Facebook has now also banned every Natural News article by every truth media journalist and investigative reporter, even if its just about fruits and vegetables, supplements, or eating clean. That just gives more merit to the Pandemic film.

According to the internet analytics company SimilarWeb, Natural News has 3.5 million unique viewers every month now

Zadrozny falsely claims Natural News targets scientists and doctors, like Kevin Folta or Mass Murderer Dr. Farid Fata, for harassment and violence. But once you read the articles she sources, you see that Natural News simply covers the news about doctors and scientists who get caught in malpractice suits, forge documents, accept kickbacks, skew scientific results, spike vaccines with animal antibodies to yield false data in order to sell it to the CDC, and oncologists who give healthy patients lethal doses of his own homemade botched concoction of chemotherapy and kill them.

Thats journalism, not some fake news scoop thats circle-jerk sourced by the Leftist extremist news rags WAPO, NYT, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, MSNBC and CNN. Natural News pulls millions of viewers because its real news about health and safety.

NBC News Brandy Zadrozny  The shill from nowhere whos going nowhere fast

Working at NBC News is like working at a used car lot thats selling nothing but lemons. Youve got to accept that the news is manufactured to fit a narrative and then swim in the lies until they sound real. Brandy Zadrozny loves swimming in lies, from her pushing everything GMO as healthy, to blasting anyone who exposes vaccine injuries, nearly every word she types is predictable.

Working at NBC News, for Brandy Zadrozny, is just like working at a library, except you get to make things up because the books are written by corporations selling America toxic food and deadly chemical medicine. Brandy Zadrozny is the ultimate shill for fake NBC news, like an obedient gopher sent on little tantalizing missions to find stinky little scoops in the forest of plastic trees and fake stories.

Its a shame that journalism at this level is so polluted with shills that keep stooping to new lows. The ignorance is blinding.

Tune your internet dial to NaturalMedicine.news for updates on actual cures for diseases instead of lab-concocted mutations of diseases that spread disease when injected into humans.

Sources for this research include:

NaturalNews.com

Townhall.com

Poynter.org

Newsbusters.org

NaturalNews.com

UnmaskingOrac.blogspot.com

GateWayPundit.com

Breitbart.com
(Natural News) Africans are finally waking up to the deception of the experimental vaccination campaigns that continue to be thrust upon them in the name of advancing public health, and the globalist overlords behind it all are beginning to quake in their boots.

A recent protest in South Africa saw dozens of concerned Africans publicly declaring that they will not bow down and become human guinea pigs for the likes of Bill Gates, who is desperately trying to launch new vaccines for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

During this protest, some were seen burning their face masks as a symbol of resistance to mass vaccination, which is where things are headed once the human trials are complete, followed by the masks being retired.

Resistance to colonial medicine, also known as the pharma injections constantly being imported into Africa by wealthy globalists, is growing to such a degree that even the Bill and Melinda Gates-backed Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (Gavi) is worried about the future of its eugenics programs.

In general, people in Africa know the diseases and want to protect each other, contends Seth Berkley, the white-skinned CEO of Gavi who is concerned that an increasing number of Africans are rejecting his organizations vaccination efforts.

In this case, the rumor mill has been dramatic, he adds, noting that resistance to vaccines in Africa is the worst [he has] ever seen.

African Americans all throughout our countrys history have also been targeted with experimental vaccination campaigns. Be sure to check out The Health Ranger Report with Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, to learn more:

Black lives do not matter to Bill Gates or Gavi

In an attempt to justify these vaccine experiments on vulnerable black populations living in Africa, professor of vaccinology Shabir Madhi says that it is an important part of verifying that vaccines work in the local context, to quote Fox 5 in New York.

But protesters say that those who are agreeing to participate in such trials do not know the risks involved, and often naively believe that these drug-pushing outsiders are only trying to help them.

The people chosen as volunteers for the vaccination, they look as if theyre from poor backgrounds, not qualified enough to understand, says Phapano Phasha, one of the organizers of the protest. We believe they are manipulating the vulnerable, he says of Gavi, Gates, and other vaccine pushers.

French researcher Jean-Paul Mira basically admitted to this earlier in the year when he stated that Africa is a perfect place to test experimental vaccines for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) because there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation.

In prostitutes, we try things because we know that they are highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves, he added, comparing poor, vulnerable blacks living in Africa to prostitutes.

It is this total disregard by wealthy globalists for human lives other than their own that predicates efforts like Gavis to test experimental vaccines on the poorest and most trusting populations on earth, many of which live in Africa.

The narrative we got is our continent is a dumping ground, laments Phasha, who says that vaccines coming from elsewhere should be tested where they originated before coming to Africa.

I believe in science, she is further quoted as saying, emphasizing that vaccine trials should be targeted not just at poor people but at those in all levels of the socioeconomic strata. And I believe that science has managed to solve most of the problems society is faced with. Im not against vaccinations; Im against profiteering.

For more related news stories about the dangers of vaccination, be sure to check out Vaccines.news.

Sources for this article include:

Fox5NY.com

NaturalNews.com

Gavi.org
(Natural News) In a sudden and unexpected about-face, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the evidence is scant to suggest that infected people without symptoms are capable of transmitting the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) to others.

Speaking publicly, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHOs technical lead for COVID-19, recently explained that based on the data the organization has been collecting over the past several months, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual.

This is big, breaking news that the mainstream media has yet to touch amid all the criticism of President Trump, racist monuments, and of course, continued fear-mongering about the pandemic.

Newsmaxs Greg Kelly recently spoke with Dr. David Samadi, Director of Mens Health at St. Francis Hospital, about this latest development, which completely upends everything the government and media have been saying about how healthy people need to wear masks, social distance and remain isolated.

They are taking a 360-degree turn, Dr. Samadi stated about the WHOs latest announcement concerning the pandemic.

This is big news that asymptomatic people out there are not contagious. Remember, because we didnt know who would be passing this virus or not, we made everybody do something called social distancing  this is a new word that youve heard of it and it came into our life a few months ago.

Early on, Dr. Samadi noted, health officials had advised that only symptomatic people wear masks. Later, however, that expanded to everyone being told to wear masks, despite a lack of evidence suggesting any benefits.

We made everybody across the board wear masks, Dr. Samadi stated. At the beginning, we said, if you have symptoms then you wear the mask to protect others. And then we gave in because the CDC and everybody kept changing back and forth.

Trump is right: The more people get tested, the more scary positives there will be

The same thing happened with testing, which early on was largely unavailable but has since become the litmus test for reopening, in some places. The government rolled out the tests and, as expected, many more people have tested positive, which the media has put forth as evidence of a new spike.

We also made everybody to go for testing, we need 300 million tests the next day or else we cannot reopen our country, Dr. Samadi added.

The likelihood that these latest admissions by the WHO about asymptomatic transmission reach the mainstream airwaves is minimal, at best. But Dr. Samadi and Newsmax are doing their part to get the news out that the world has been deceived into believing the worst-case scenario about this pandemic  and thus has accepted the governments worst-case response to it.

It is very important, its breaking news, that if you are not symptomatic and you dont have any symptoms of fever, chills, shortness of breath, or any of those symptoms weve spoken about, the risk of passing it on to other people and being contagious is very rare, Dr. Samadi emphasized during the interview.

Studies like this come from a very accurate tracing in countries like Singapore, contact tracing, and its too bad that these researchers are not, the papers are not making it to The Lancet, and the mainstream media is not covering it to an extent. This is probably one of the biggest news items we have had since the coronavirus outbreak was first announced.

So, Dr. Oz and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were right after all. Go figure.

For more related news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Several students at the University of Washington (UW) are now demanding university higher-ups to be more lenient toward their black students in the wake of the ongoing protests and riots across the country.

In a petition filed on the for-profit website Change.org, Mihret Haile, a student at the UW, demanded academic accommodation for UWs black students, noting that the current situation regarding the riots  coupled with the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic  is severely affecting the universitys black student population. But somehow, even though whites are the targets of the racist bigotry and riots in America, white students are not considered to be affected in any way.

Give Black students a break! We are already DISPROPORTIONATELY impacted by this pandemic in terms of health care access and financial hardship. Now add state-sanctioned violence, how do you expect us to enter finals in this headspace?! Haile said in her petition.

Hailes petition, which has since drawn 59,984 signatures, came after UW President Ana Mari Cauce aired out a message for the universitys students, wherein she talked about how the university will address alleged issues regarding equity, racism and bias.

According to Haile, that is not enough.

We are tired of empty words and promises. We are tired of sentimental emails that do not materialize. Give us equitable responses that meet our needs now, Haile said, adding that the university needs to encourage  if not demand  that professors accommodate their black students.

If UW truly understands our pain, UW will be a part of alleviating it, Haile said.

Among the demands that Haile put in her petition are changes to the universitys final grading policies.

In an email addressed to UW President Cauce, Alejandra Puerto and several other students noted that final exams and assignments for the rest of quarters must be canceled since their results  given the current climate  would not be a true reflection of many students capabilities.

In addition, the students also demanded that no failing grades be issued and that increased leniency in the Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory (S/NS) grading option be observed.

The university  or at least some of its faculty  has complied with the students demands.

According to Nicole McNichols, a psychology professor at UW, she has decided to make some changes to her grading structure, noting that in addition to canceling all assignments for the rest of the quarter, she is also awarding full points to all of her students, as well as giving all of them the option to drop their lowest exam score if they wanted to.

Victor Balta, a university spokesperson, said the faculty senate is now looking at a proposal that will allow any S grades earned this quarter to count toward degree and graduation requirements.

According to Balta, confirmation of the motions approval will be sent to enrolled students come June 17.

Balta also sent out a message to all university instructors asking them to be more considerate to their students in these times. Balta, in his message, noted that while UW is, by nature, a community, some are being affected more than others.

Academics reject coddling of students

Not everyone in academe agrees with the points raised in these student-led petitions, however.

David Brooks, a commentator and conservative political pundit, for instance, noted in a column in the New York Times that coddling students by inflating their grades and being lenient has gone too far  even in the face of a global pandemic. (Related: Anti-white racism is becoming blatant on college campuses.)

The virus is another reminder that hardship is woven into the warp and woof of existence. Training a young person is training her or him to master hardship, to endure suffering and, by building something new from the wreckage, redeem it, Brooks said in his column, where he describes the current propensity of academic institutions to be forgiving as a symptom of the safety-ism that has crept into American society.

Another academic who aired dissent against similar motions is Gordon Klein, a lecturer in accounting at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

In a report by Business Insider, Klein reportedly rejected a request by his students who were asking for leniency in their class in light of the recent riots and protests occurring across the country.

According to reports, Klein responded sarcastically to the students request, thanking the sender for suggesting that he bestow special treatment to his black students.

Do you know the names of the classmates that are black? How can I identify them since weve been having online classes only? Are there any students that may be of mixed parentage, such as half black-half Asian? What do you suggest I do with respect to them? Klein said in the email, which has since been leaked to the public.

According to Klein, who has since been put on administrative leave by UCLA for his allegedly racist response, he was only following his direct supervisors orders when he denied the request, adding that he has extended and even eliminated final exams in the past due to extraordinary circumstances.

Sources include:

CampusReform.org

Change.org

DailyUW.com

Washington.edu

InsideHigherEd.com

NYTimes.com

Insider.com

NBCNews.com
(Natural News) Do you have white liberal friends who eagerly posted black squares to their social media profiles on Blackout Tuesday? Did these same white liberals march with Black Lives Matter (BLM) signs at their nearest virtue signaling public demonstrations against police brutality? Well, according to BLM Los Angeles co-founder Melina Abdullah, these white liberals are all liberal white supremacists who need to be rejected.

In a hilarious eating their own-type scenario, Abdullah got on stage during a recent demonstration in LA and proclaimed that all of the white libtard supporters of BLM out there who are marching in the streets alongside black people are basically just pretending to oppose racism in order to score points with their fellow white libtard friends.

So, its important as we say things  like I see your sign f*** Donald Trump, yeah, f*** Donald Trump  that we remember that we live in a city that is largely liberal white supremacists, the professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State LA proclaimed to wild cheers and support from a mixed crowd of whites, blacks and browns.

Filled with disdain for these always-whining white liberals who are constantly vying for attention, Abdullah described them as a bunch of shrill, entitled virtue signalers who live privileged lives in cocooned, and often all-white, wealthy neighborhoods.

So, the kind of white supremacists that have black friends that sit at the dinner table. Right? Abdullah said. That brag about having served in the Peace Corps. Right? That speak Spanish. Right?

The kind of white supremacist who will smile in your face but enact policies that kill our people, she further added, nailing it right on the head.

White liberals are the worst

It is hard not to laugh at Abdullahs chiding of entitled white liberals because she is exactly right: They are the true white supremacists who always leap into action as the white saviors, and pretend to rescue the poor blacks from their plight by putting up social media banners and marching in demonstrations.

These same white liberals typically live far, far away from black neighborhoods, and yet claim to know everything about the black experience, qualifying them to appropriate black demonstrations and protests as their own.

Abdullah feels the same way about far-left LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, whom she made the target of a chant she started during her speech. In many ways, Abdullah seems to hate white liberals specifically, having made no mention of white conservatives beyond President Donald Trump.

Based on her rhetoric, Abdullah probably does not like any white people, period. But her calling out of white liberals in particular as hypocritical, useful idiots resonates with what many white conservatives have been thinking and feeling for quite some time now.

From the comfort of their all-white enclaves, white liberals love to pretend as though they have a corner on caring about other people simply because they put up yard signs and try to out-virtue signal all of their white liberal friends and neighbors. It is all about projection rather than action, and Abdullah knows it.

It is the same mindless bandwagon mentality that prompted white liberal terrorists in Madison, Wisconsin, to tear down the statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, a Norwegian immigrant who fought alongside the Union during the Civil War to put an end to slavery.

This is the Democrat Party: an anti-white communist mob, wrote one Breitbart News commenter about the types of white people who identify as liberals.

White people should be ashamed of themselves for being such traitors to their own blood, wrote another. There is no racial injustice, and yet this outrage at perceived racism still happens  this is just 100 percent proof that multiculturalism does not work and will never work, and is just a recipe for eternal internal conflict.

More stories about BLM can be found at CivilWar.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The next phase of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) plandemic involves the imposition of so-called contact tracers on individuals believed to have been exposed to the bogeyman contagion, supposedly to limit its further spread. But an in-depth expose by Operation Rescue blows the lid on the true pro-abortion, globalist agenda behind the contact tracing facade, which has nothing to do with protecting public health.

With efforts seemingly shifting away from testing and towards contact tracing, many are wondering: How is this even legal? After all, contact tracing involves illegally prying into peoples personal lives with the threat of punishment for non-compliance, all to save the world from some virus, we are told.

Well, the contact tracing rabbit hole goes even deeper than just steamrolling the Constitution. According to the findings of the Operation Rescue investigation, many of the usual deep state suspects, including Bill Gates, the Clintons, and George Soros, are behind this evil plot to track everyone like cattle and depopulate the planet to sustainable levels.

Partners in Health (PIH), one of the first organizations to offer statewide contact tracing programs, is heavily mired in corruption. It has direct ties to the Clinton Foundation, for instance, including in Haiti and other third world countries where children are being sex-trafficked for profit. PIHs co-founder is also a close friend of Bill Clinton, while one of its board members is daughter Chelsea Clinton.

This organization does work around the globe, particularly in Rwanda and Haiti, writes Operation Rescues Cheryl Sullenger, noting that co-founder Paul Farmer and the organization as a whole openly espouse a Marxist, globalist world view.

A contact tracing whistleblower has also come forward to warn about the threat of this seemingly innocuous effort to keep people safe from the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), explaining that eventually it is going to evolve into door-to-door forced vaccinations and FEMA kidnappings of all resisters  listen below to The Health Ranger Report to learn more:

Plandemic now being used as excuse to kidnap children from infected parents

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine hired PIH to contact trace in his state with the help of former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton, who reportedly resigned from her position back in early June. DeWine, it turns out, has extensive ties to Haiti, and apparently took Acton there back in early 2019 before she was appointed to her government position.

These people are also friends with the Clintons, having worked with them through various organizations to increase the number of physicians, nurses, and midwives in Rwanda  many more details are outlined in Sullengers investigative report, which you can read at this link.

Suffice it to say that there is a massive revolving door situation happening where major deep state players who have long been involved in establishing questionable humanitarian efforts overseas are now trying to do the same thing here on American soil under the guise of contact tracing against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

Not only that, but contact tracing groups like PIH are vocal supporters of abortion rights, with PIH specifically having issued a statement opposing President Donald Trumps reinstatement of the pro-life Mexico Policy, as well as one denouncing his defunding of the pro-abortion World Health Organization (WHO).

Partners in Health is funded by a whos who list of global depopulation advocates, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, George Soros Open Society, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation  all big supporters of Planned Parenthood, Sullenger explains, emphasizing the fact that PIH has a leftist, anti-life agenda.

Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Google, Bank of America, and the World Bank are named in the long list of globalist financial partners listed on PIHs web site, she further explains.

Big Pharma is also deeply tied to PIH, which is hardly a surprise. One of its funders if Pfizer, the same company that manufactures Depo-Provera, an injectable contraceptive drug that inhibits pregnancy. PIH has also been working with various leftist interests to keep abortion an essential service during the pandemic, insisting that unborn baby murder is a critical form of health care for women.

It became obvious to me that the most important thing in America during the height of the pandemic was not to slow the spread of the China Virus, but to keep abortion facilities open and killing as many babies as possible, says Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue.

The restrictive orders that put people out of work and shut down legitimate businesses were not about a virus, but were about control and advancing a political agenda that was provably pro-abortion, globalist, and Marxist in nature.

Beyond this, PIH  and presumably other contact tracing organizations  is anti-American in that its services are being used to take children away from their parents based on accusations of COVID-19 risk. If a single mothers tests positive for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and has nobody to stay home with her children while she is at work, then states that enlisted PIH to perform contact tracing can potentially take those children into government custody.

Contract tracers are supposed to connect individuals with social services, so if a single person with children must isolate or quarantine, and they have no one to care for their children, social services may remove the children from the home, Sullenger warns.

Be sure to read her full analysis at this link.

You can also keep up with the latest abortion news and the leftist push to depopulate the planet by checking out Abortions.news.

Sources for this article include:

OperationRescue.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Powell, apparently un-suspended with the previous warning removed to view her account, slammed Twitters Jack Dorsey in a Monday tweet.

(Article by Tyler Durden republished from ZeroHedge.com)

[email protected] Why in the world did @Twitter

suspend my account and remove everyone I was following, she wrote, adding Your abuse of conservative and #patriotic free speech knows no bounds. Why no blue checkmark for me?

https://twitter.com/SidneyPowell1/status/1277637971836047361

Twitter has restricted the account of Michael Flynns lawyer, Sidney Powell.

Trying to access Powells account (@SidneyPowell1) results in a warning which reads Caution: This account is temporarily restricted due to unusual activity. Users can then bypass the message and access Powells account.

It is unclear if this restriction began before or after she retweeted an article from The Federalist calling for conservatives to fight back against Black Lives Matter and its radical agenda which have resulted in angry mobs pulling down statues, taunting police, attacking passersby, and taking over entire city blocks.

Powells involvement Flynns case changed the fate of the retired general, who  under advisement from his prior legal counsel from Eric Holders law firm  pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his interactions with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.

Powell fought to force the government to release exculpatory evidence which revealed that rogue agent Peter Strzok overrode the agencys recommendation to close the Flynn case  instead launching a perjury trap against the former Trump adviser.

As a result, the Justice Department dropped its case against Flynn. The judge in the case, Emmet Sullivan, would not accept the DOJs request and instead called on a 3rd party judge to outline why Flynn should still be prosecuted. Last week, the Second Court of Appeals for DC ordered Sullivan to drop the matter.

All thanks to Sidney Powell.

Read more at: ZeroHedge.com
An actual view of an oil refinery plant operated by Uzbekistan's state-run UNG is seen in this undated file photo. Courtesy of SK E&C



By Kim Yoo-chul



SK Engineering and Construction reached an agreement with a state oil gas company in Uzbekistan under which the South Korean company will handle the outlining of the planned modernization of an oil refinery there, SK said, Tuesday.



The estimated monetary value of the deal is about $7.2 million. Under the contract, SK E&C plans to upgrade an oil refinery plant operated by Uzbekneftegaz (UNG) helping it produce more value-added light petroleum. "Once the relevant processes are completed, the plant's flagship gasoline and diesel products will meet strengthened Euro V requirements," SK E&C said in a statement.



The oil refinery plant is located in the Bukhara region, about 440 kilometers southwest of the Uzbekistan capital of Tashkent, and is enabled to produce 50,000 barrels of crude oil daily, said the release. The agreement came a quarter after the SK unit signed a memorandum of understanding with UNG for the project.



Because of the spread of COVID-19, the official signing ceremony was held online. Established in 1992, the state-run UNG has 120,000 employees and is the largest company in Uzbekistan. Currently, it operates two oil refiners and the Uzbekistan government is supporting moves by the UNG for facility expansion by expanding the use of eco-friendly production processes.



"SK E&C will soon begin conducting a front-end engineering design (FEED) process. We will check which SK-owned technology will be applicable to the plant and review others considered the most crucial to move forward with the modernization process," SK said.


(Natural News) New York City is currently outlining several reforms to law enforcement operations, holding police officials accountable to the people they serve. The crackdown on police brutality and illegal law enforcement activity might be long overdue, but what about the people who make the laws?

What about the governors who abuse their emergency powers and restrain the liberty of the people using medical edicts? Why arent we watching them more closely, especially when they give medical orders? If cops have to wear body cameras, why shouldnt lawmakers and out-of-control governors wear them too and be held accountable when they use excessive force?

Law makers should be watched more closely and held accountable, too

All Senators, members of Congress, governors and their cabinet members should be required to wear body cameras 24/7, and upon request, release all the videos to the public within thirty days, for transparency.

Thats exactly what NYC police officials must do now  release their body cam footage within 30 days after they were involved in discharging a weapon. If we are to keep law enforcement accountable, why arent we doing the same for the people who make the laws?

If an officer uses force, he must release footage of the incident. If a lawmaker passes a law that uses force to take away a persons religious or philosophical exemption to injections, the public needs to see when, where, and why they did, so they can be held liable. A governor who holds his state hostage and restricts fundamental liberties until a vaccine is required, is using excessive force to threaten the livelihoods of everyone in the state. He/she should be held not only accountable, and watched closely, but he/she should also be held liable for such a coercive act.

A body cam would help us see which pharmaceutical reps he met with. Wed learn more about his own financial stake in the matter, how he stands to profit from widespread medical testing, contact tracing programs, and coercive vaccination schemes. We might see where he and his family travel after he ordered all the residents of his state to stay under strict, stay-at-home orders.

A body cam would help us see behind the scenes and learn more about who actually runs Congress. Wed find the real puppeteers behind the curtain, the ones who pull all the strings and perpetrate the problems on We the People. With enough body cam footage, maybe wed find out which members of Antifa met with Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan, as she negotiated the city away to terrorists. Maybe wed find out more about the $100 billion contact tracing deal that was negotiated between Bill Gates and Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) six months before a pandemic was declared, allowing that deal to come to fruition.

If were looking to protect innocent lives, then we need to start at the source of the corruption, at the congressional level, where force is often applied en masse, where crooked dealings are made between pharmaceutical giants and crooked congress critters.

NYCs new policy requires all audio and video to be released to the family members within 30 days if a police officer discharged a firearm, or if a police officer discharged a taser that could result in bodily harm, or if the officer used force that results in death.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a June 16 press conference at City Hall: When one of these three criteria is met, it is crucial that the information comes out promptly, that people have faith it will come out, that it comes out objectively.

That creates trust, that creates accountability. That says to the many, many good officers that they know the whole truth will come out from what they saw.

The same logic should be applied to lawmakers when a new bill is passed, especially when that bill is used to allow more surveillance and tracking of Americans, especially when that bill segregates children from an education and forces people to do things to their body against their will. When the public can finally see how these bills get passed, who pulls the strings; then we will know how corrupt, evil, and tyrannical these lawmakers are, and why they may ultimately be the root of the problem.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

LATimes.com

NEIUIndependent.org

Newsbreak.com

FoxNews.com

TruePundit.com

Politico.com

NPR.orgp
(Natural News) Men may be more at risk for contracting fatal coronavirus infections than women, a new study suggests.

This is because men have higher levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 or ACE-2 compared to women, according to a team of European researchers.

According to earlier research, ACE-2 works as a blood pressure regulator, a task it manages to complete by breaking down or cleaving specific amino acids in the body.

Aside from regulating the bodys blood pressure however, the enzyme has one other unlikely task: it can facilitate a successful coronavirus infection.

ACE2 binds to the coronavirus and allows it to enter and infect healthy cells after it has been modified by another protein on the surface of the cell, called TMPRSS2, Adriaan Voors, the studys lead researcher and a professor of cardiology at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) in the Netherlands, said.

This enzyme is usually found in several of the bodys organs, including the heart, lungs and kidneys, as well as in the lining of blood vessels, and, in the case of men, in the testes.

In their study, which was published in the European Heart Journal, Voors and his team noted that while men and women are equally likely to contract a coronavirus infection, men are more likely to suffer the diseases more severe effects and complications  an effect that could probably be linked to the higher levels of ACE-2 in their systems.

Voors and his team measured ACE-2 concentrations in blood samples taken from more than 3,500 heart failure patients from 11 European countries, namely the Netherlands, the U.K., Germany, France, Greece, Slovenia, Serbia, Italy, Norway, Poland and Sweden. None of the patients had COVID-19. (Related: Were risking a backslide: Public health experts concerned that emerging from lockdown can bring on a second wave of coronavirus infections.)

The latter detail stems from the fact that they started their research before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which is said to have originated in the city of Wuhan, in Chinas Hubei Province.

According to the researchers, it was only when other studies began to point to ACE-2 as key to the way the SARS-CoV-2 virus gets into cells that they saw important overlaps with their study.

When we found that one of the strongest biomarkers, ACE-2, was much higher in men than in women, I realized that this had the potential to explain why men were more likely to die from COVID-19 than women, Iziah Sama from UMC Groningen, one of the studys authors, said.

A global trend?

The findings listed by Voors team mirror that of several other studies investigating the disparity in COVID-19 deaths in terms of gender.

For example, a study conducted by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and published in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology found that 2.8 percent of Chinese men diagnosed with COVID-19 as of the second week of February, ultimately died. This is a much higher number compared to the 1.7 percent of women who died.

A similar result was recorded in Italy, in which an analysis of more than 25,000 COVID-19 cases found that male patients had a fatality rate of 8 percent, compared to 5 percent for Italian women. In fact, according to data supplied by the Italian National Health Service, men make up around 70 percent of the total coronavirus deaths in Italy.

Being male is as much a risk factor for the coronavirus as being old, said Sabra Klein, a scientist who studies sex difference in viral infections at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in an interview with the New York Times regarding the disparity in death rates in the European nation, adding that people need to be aware of the pattern.

Just like being old means youre at higher risk, so does being male. Its a risk factor, Klein said in her interview.

The same trend can be found in Spain, in which an analysis conducted by the Carlos III Health Institute found that while men only represented around 52 percent of the countrys coronavirus cases, they made up 66 percent of the countrys total coronavirus-related deaths.

Aside from ACE-2 levels, other researchers have raised other theories as to why men seem to be more vulnerable overall to COVID-19, such as preexisting conditions and poor health habits.

In a statement, Fernando Simon, the director of the Spanish Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts, noted that the Institutes findings suggest that certain groups, such as those with high blood pressure, people with respiratory problems and diabetics, are more at risk of the disease.

The illness affects certain risk groups more: those with high blood pressure, people with respiratory problems, diabetics  they all have higher mortality rates. These illnesses affect men more than women, which is why it is normal that they suffer higher death rates, Simon said.

A poll, meanwhile, found that one in 20 American men rarely wash their hands with soap after going to the bathroom at home. The World Health Organization (WHO) previously said that handwashing with soap is critical in the fight against coronavirus.

As of this writing, the COVID-19 pandemic has infected 4.4 million people around the world and killed 298,174.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

ScienceDaily.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

TheConversation.com

Reuters.com

Weekly.ChinaCDC.cn

Epicentro.iss.it

NYTimes.com

English.ElPais.com

Today.YouGov.com

WHO.int
(Natural News) The sordid details of California Governor Gavin Newsoms unwholesome dealings with communist China continue to emerge, including the shocking revelation that Newsom is quietly funneling hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to the communist Chinese regime in exchange for political favors.

Because California is certifiably bankrupt and on the verge of total economic collapse, Newsom appears to have forged a backroom deal with the Chicoms that involves him handing over taxpayer dollars in exchange for political bailouts. These include keeping California artificially afloat, as well as Newsom in office, at least until China can get troops on the ground as part of a planned nationwide takeover.

As it turns out, China fully supports, and is possibly even a financial backer of, Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa, the two most well-known domestic terrorist groups making the rounds destroying property, tearing down statues, burning entire city blocks, and shooting innocent people. The destabilization these groups are causing is all part of the Chinese takeover plan, in other words. Natural News has already established that China is providing full-auto weapons upgrade parts to Black Lives Matter through a smuggling operation that was interdicted by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).

How Newsom fits into the picture is that he has turned California into a port of entry for China to smuggle in weapons and other gear for the soon-to-be second civil war that has been planned for America. And the truly sick part is that Newsom is laundering money back and forth with the Chinese under the guise of coronavirus aid.

Back in April, even the mainstream media was questioning what Newsom was up to when it was revealed that he had wired half a billion dollars to an electric car company in China to supposedly purchase N-95 masks for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). This decision was never voted on or approved by legislators, and when pressed about the details of the deal, Newsom refused to disclose them.

Keep in mind that this half a billion dollars was just the first of two installments amounting to a full billion dollars being sent China to supposedly purchase face masks for Californians  face masks that never actually arrived, by the way. As of this writing, the Chinese electric car company in question, BYD, still has the money and has yet to send over a single face mask.

Thats because this isnt a billion dollars for masks,' writes Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, in an expose on Newsoms treasonous criminality. Its part of a massive money laundering operation to funnel money to China, so that China can funnel money and weapons back to Newsom in preparation for the civil war that theyre launching.

More from Adams on how this type of government corruption has turned America into a ruinous heap and a failed state is available in the following episode of The Health Ranger Report:

This was never about saving people from a virus

None of this is conjecture, by the way. Newsom himself admitted to it personally during a television interview, though he refused to provide any details about the nature of the agreement that was made with BYD.

This massive transfer of taxpayer money to some obscure Chinese vehicle manufacturer was never voted on by the taxpayers from whom the money was stolen, nor has there been any accountability concerning how it was used. In fact, nobody even knows how it was used because the whole thing took place under the table.

Instead of using this money to help actual Californians, many of whom are jobless and barely scraping by, Newsom instead redirected it to his communist buddies across the Pacific under the guise of purchasing face masks.

Even if it was true that all this money went towards masks, which we know it certainly did not, Newsom at the very least could have instead invested it locally to have the masks produced in the state of California by actual Californians. This would have helped the state economy by keeping people employed.

But no, that was never what this was all about. Newsom pretended to spend this pile of taxpayer cash on face masks as cover for a massive money laundering scheme that effectively hands the reins of power over to China in exchange for Newsoms own political protection.

By selling Californians down the river and giving China the beachhead it has been trying to establish on Americas western coast, Newsom is ensuring that he will remain on Chinas good side once the dust settles and the new world order emerges.

As we reported, Newsom is directly facilitating the transfer of weapons and ammunition from China to the United States, where much of it is now being stored at the Easy End Complex in Sacramento. Pallets upon pallets of Chinese munitions are being stockpiled right underneath our noses, and Americans have Newsom the traitor to thank for what is soon to transpire.

Essentially, Gov. Newsom has been stockpiling weapons and ammo in preparation for a civil war that hes been helping to make reality, notes the Health Ranger, who further warns that this all aligns with Barack Obamas infamous vision concerning the future of America:

We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that weve set  Weve got to have a civilian national security force thats just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded, Obama proclaimed to his cheering worshipers.

To sum it all up, Newsom is quietly paving the way for Obamas civilian national security force to come to fruition by working directly with China to stockpile weapons and ammo. He is also helping to foment the violent division that is tearing apart our country so that China and other new world order players can swoop in when the time is just right and seize control.

Following a series of other preliminary events, many of which we are now witnessing on a daily basis, the eventual outcome will be mass death in America followed by a staged military invasion by China. This will spell the final end of America as we know it, and Americans will have Newsom, among others, to thank.

More news about the treasonous Gavin Newsom is available at NewsomWatch.com.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) An executive order is reportedly being prepared by the White House that will require that certain essential drugs are made within U.S. borders  and its a move that feels long overdue to many who are concerned about the countrys concerningly high dependence on China.

Sources told CNBC that the order could come out within days and is part of a wider effort to secure the supply chain across sectors viewed as being related to national security, such as medical supplies, drugs, defense equipment and semiconductors.

FDA Director for Drug Evaluation and Research Janet Woodcock testified before Congress in October that 72 percent of the pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers that supply America are situated overseas, and 13 percent of them are in China.

When it comes to medications specifically, 90 percent of drugs in America are imported  and perhaps not surprisingly, most of them come from China. Lawmakers have been expressing concerns over the possibility of supply chain problems should American continue to depend on China for its medical resources.

On a visit to a distribution center in Pennsylvania last week, President Trump announced that he had signed an executive order that gave the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation the power to provide low-interest loans to firms that make pandemic-related supplies.

Its a move that was welcomed by Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who issued a statement saying that America has relied on China for far too long for essential goods like personal protective equipment and medical supplies.

He added: We cant bet Americans health and security on the potential malign decisions of our strategic adversary, the Chinese Communist Party.

President Trumps trade advisor, Peter Navarro, has said in the past that he would like to see an executive order that reduces Americas dependency on drugs made abroad. His executive order would streamline the regulatory approvals for products made in the U.S. and encourage U.S. government agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense to only buy medical products made in the U.S. Its not clear if this is the same executive order as the one that is said to be imminent.

Concerns have been growing from lawmakers and the public, even before the pandemic, about just how reliant we are on China. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow has suggested that America pay the moving costs for businesses to leave China, and the Japanese government is already doing something similar.

Some businesses were already shifting away from China before the pandemic

Prior to the pandemic, more than 50 American companies already had plans in place to shift some of their production outside of China, with HP and Dell hoping to move 30 percent of their production elsewhere and Apple instructing suppliers to determine what they can move to other countries.

Last year, U.S. manufacturing imports from China fell 17 percent, while the early part of this year showed an even steeper drop. Nevertheless, those declines only brought imports back to the levels of 2016 and 2017; theres still a long way to go.

The coronavirus pandemic has drawn more attention to Americas extensive dependency on China, and this should be just the push we needed to do something serious about the matter. It may be some time before the economy has recovered to the point where American businesses can afford to make a greater shift away from China, but the U.S. government starting with the pharmaceutical sector in the midst of a global health pandemic that originated in China is a pretty good start.

Sources for this article include:

CNBC.com

TheHill.com

Wired.com
According to a contract released by the U.S. DoD (Department of Defense) on June 6, 2020, Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon, is awarded a $133,406,869 firm-fixed-price contract to prepare for and accomplish repair and alteration requirements for U. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) chief of naval operations scheduled depot maintenance availability.

According to a contract released by the U.S. DoD (Department of Defense) on June 6, 2020, Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon, is awarded a $133,406,869 firm-fixed-price contract to prepare for and accomplish repair and alteration requirements for U. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) chief of naval operations scheduled depot maintenance availability.

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The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) transits through the South China Sea. (Picture source U.S. Navy)

This contract includes options which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $155,621,173. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon. USS McCampbell will receive comprehensive modernization for DDG 51 class ships to ensure a mission relevant service life. These improvements will include hull, mechanical and electrical technology insertion; as well as provide critical warfighting improvements, such as upgraded machinery control system, integrated bridge and navigation system (to include physical throttles); advanced galley upgrade; wireless communications and digital video surveillance system upgrade; upgrade to a fiber optic local area network backbone; AEGIS baseline 9 upgrade (that includes updated guns weapons system); enhanced Vertical Launching System; multi-mission signal processor; and Ballistic Missile Defense 5.0 upgrade. Work is expected to be completed by November 2021.



According to news published by the Sea Power Magazine, on Jully 6, 2020, the USS McCampbell departed Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, on July 2 following 13 years of service forward-deployed to U.S. 7th Fleet.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer is en route to Portland, Oregon, where it will undergo midlife modernization. Following routine maintenance and system upgrades, McCampbell will proceed to Naval Station Everett, Washington, where it will be homeported.



USS McCampbell (DDG-85) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. This ship is the 35th destroyer of her class. USS McCampbell was the 20th ship of this class to be built by Bath Iron Works at Bath, Maine, and construction began on 16 July 1999. She was launched and christened on 2 July 2000. On 17 August 2002, the commissioning ceremony was held at Pier 30 in San Francisco, California.

The Arleigh Burke-class is a guided missile destroyer in service with the U.S. Navy built around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar.
Washington (AP) - Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday that because of an increase in the rate of COVID-19 infection, starting next week, bar seating will no longer be permitted for counties currently in Phase 3 of the states four-stage reopening plan and businesses statewide will not be able to serve customers who dont wear facial coverings.
The following editorial appeared in Tuesday's Japan News-Yomiuri:

- - -

The novel coronavirus is spreading again, mainly in Tokyo. It is vital to prepare for the arrival of a second wave of infections by collecting the wisdom of a wide range of experts.

The government held the first meeting of a new panel for measures against the coronavirus. The new panel replaces the conventional panel of experts, which has provided scientific advice to the government's headquarters for combating the coronavirus and was created based on the revised law on special measures against new strains of influenza.

Based on analyses of the spread of infections and how tests are carried out, the new panel approved the easing of restrictions on entering venues for various events scheduled for Friday.

The new panel members comprise experts on infectious diseases - including Shigeru Omi, who served as vice chairman of the panel of experts - as well as economists, hospital officials and a prefectural governor, among others. It is timely that the government has put a system in place to reflect a multifaceted perspective in its policies in order to balance the prevention of infections with economic activities.

The question is how to implement the system and make it fully functional. It is essential for experts to make constructive proposals from their respective viewpoints and come up with concrete measures.

The new panel's discussions have a number of effects on people's lives. It is possible that there is a conflict of opinions over which should be prioritized - preventing infections or economic activities. It is hoped that effective options will be provided based on data and evidence.

It can be said that the panel of experts has achieved certain results, such as demonstrating a policy of prioritizing measures against infection clusters, which lead to mass infections, in the early stages of the outbreak.

On the other hand, some members of the panel of experts were criticized for jumping the gun as they explained measures against infections and called on people to refrain from going out through social media.

Experts have apparently come to the fore because the government has been busy coordinating with relevant ministries, agencies and local governments on countermeasures, including border controls and a project to provide cash benefits, thus leading to poor communication with the public.

What is important is to make the decision-making process more transparent. How has the government utilized expertise in making final decisions? Making the public aware of this will lead to trust in policies. Politicians must make such efforts with a sense of responsibility.

The previous panel of experts did not provide detailed meeting minutes. It is natural for the new panel to decide to keep minutes. It is important to enable verification of its meetings.

In the fight against infectious diseases, a delay in judgment of one to two weeks has serious consequences. Many of the characteristics of the coronavirus remain unknown, and other countries are also being forced to make difficult decisions while groping for measures, such as locking down cities.

In the medium and long term, it is urged that a powerful secretariat be set up in the Cabinet Secretariat and a system be established to collect information and make appropriate policy decisions.
A visitation and memorial service will be held for Donald Hawk Sr., who passed away on Nov. 16, 2020, and his beloved wife, JoAnne C. Hawk, who passed away on Jan. 17, 2021.
This photo illustration shows a visa stamp on a foreign passport in Los Angeles on June 6, 2020. The United States said June 6 it would not allow foreign students to remain in the country if all of their classes are moved online in the fall over the coronavirus crisis. (Photo by Chris DELMAS / AFP



International students in the United States on student visas cannot attend a university this fall if their studies are entirely online, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Monday.



In a statement, ICE announced that students on non-immigrant F-1 and M-1 visas who attend universities that operate entirely online amid the COVID-19 pandemic "may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States."



"The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester, nor will the U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States," ICE said.



The agency added that F-1 students who attend schools that provide a mixture of online and in-person classes will be permitted to take some online courses.



ICE added that the schools must certify to the Student Exchange Visitor Program "that the program is not entirely online, that the student is not taking an entirely online course load ... [and] that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in their degree."



F-1 students whose universities will maintain full in-person classes will remain bound by federal laws that allow a maximum of one class or three credit hours online.



Students who remain in the United States while taking only online courses could face "immigration consequences," including "the initiation of removal proceedings," ICE said.



The policy announcement came on the same day that Harvard University announced it plans to allow 40 percent of undergraduates to return to campus for the fall 2020 semester, including all first-year students and those who need to be on campus to "progress academically."



Princeton announced it will allow undergraduate students to return with reduced capacity, with first-year students and juniors returning for the fall semester and sophomores and seniors returning in the spring. (UPI)


Regular contributor Jane Walters has been reflecting that, as we get older, we realise that we have the answers to fewer and fewer of lifes questions.

Regular contributor Jane Walters has been reflecting that, as we get older, we realise that we have the answers to fewer and fewer of lifes questions.

Miracle MBE for genocide survivor Marie-Lyse Rwandan genocide survivor Marie-Lyse Numuhoza has been made an MBE for services to human rights and the community in Thetford. Read more

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
Newburyport, MA (01950)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then cloudy with rain likely during the afternoon. High near 80F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Rain early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low 53F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A perusal of the Union Ministry of Finances monthly macroeconomic report for June 2020 makes it clear that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a severe impact, adding to the miseries of the previous fiscal.

While the report cites the IMF to predict a 4.5 per cent contraction in Indias GDP in FY21 and notes that government revenues have been hit hard, it also notes that there are green shoots in a few activities.

These are power and petroleum consumption, highway transport activity, and retail financial transactions.

According to the report,electricity consumption saw lower contraction in growth rates  from (-)24 per cent in April to (-) 15.2 per cent in May to (-) 11.3 per cent in June (till June 28).

Total assessable value of E-Way bills rose 130 per cent in May 2020 (Rs 8.98 lakh crore) compared to April 2020 (Rs 3.9 lakh crore), though still below pre-lockdown levels.

The value of E-Way bills generated between June 1 and 28 stood at Rs 11.4 lakh crore.

Petroleum consumption has increased by 47 per cent in May compared to April, and the year-on-year contraction was much smaller at (-)23.2 per cent in May as against (-)45.7 per cent in April.

Average daily electronic toll collections increased from Rs 8.25 crore in April to Rs 36.84 crore in May, rising more than 4 times. In the first four weeks of June, it has improved further to Rs 50.9 crore.

Total digital Retail financial transactions via NPCI platforms increased sharply from 6.71 lakh crore in April to Rs 9.65 lakh crore in May. The trend is expected to continue in June driven by a sustained pick-up in real activity, the report said.

Economy to contract

However, it cites the IMFs World Economic Outlook to note that all regions across the world are projected to experience negative growth in 2020, for the first time in history.

While advanced economies are projected to contract by 8 per cent in 2020, 1.9 percentage points lower than the April forecast, growth in emerging market and developing economies has been forecast at (-) 3 per cent, a downward revision of two percentage points, it noted, adding, In line with downward revision of global growth, Indias growth has been forecast at (-) 4.5 per cent in 2020, a 6.4 percentage point downward revision compared to the April 2020 forecast.

Revenue hit hard

The pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, have had a substantial impact on government revenues in April and May 2020.

Revenue receipts registered a negative growth of 68.9 per cent, led by negative growth in Personal Income Tax, all indirect taxes and non tax revenue. Corporation tax registered a massive growth of 1,408.1 per cent over May 2019 and stood at 2.5 per cent of BE. Personal Income Tax stood at 5.6 per cent of BE compared to 10.6 per cent till May 2019. Non-Tax revenue upto May 2020 turned out to be less than 62 per cent of the level till May 2019, the report said.

As for expenditure side, the capital expenditure rose by 15.7 per cent relative to May last year, whereas revenue expenditure fell 1.9 per cent over May 2019 and stood at 17.4 per cent of budget estimates.

Consequently, the Centres gross market borrowings up to June 19 stood at Rs 2,82,000 crore, 51 per cent higher than last year  net borrowings were 12.3 per cent higher. States too, continued to be active borrowers.
By Agencies

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the US is "looking at" banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, over allegations Beijing is using them to spy on users.

Asked on Monday by Fox News's Laura Ingraham if the US should consider blocking the apps -- "especially Tik Tok" -- the country's top diplomat said the Trump administration was "taking this very seriously; we are certainly looking at it."

Pompeo said the US had been working for a "long time" on the "problems" of Chinese technology in infrastructure and was "making real progress."

"With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too," he said.

"I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we are looking at."

Pompeo earlier lashed out at what he called China's "Orwellian" moves to censor activists, schools and libraries in Hong Kong under a sweeping new security law.

Authorities in the financial hub have ordered schools to remove books for review under the law, which has criminalized certain opinions such as calls for independence or more autonomy.

Libraries in Hong Kong said they were pulling titles written by a handful of pro-democracy activists.

"The Chinese Communist Party's destruction of free Hong Kong continues," Pompeo said in a sharply worded statement.

The top US diplomat has also led Trump administration officials in criticising Beijing for a lack of transparency and disinformation campaign on the coronavirus since it emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Earlier, Tiktok was banned by the Indian government along with 58 other Chinese apps after the border clash between India and China at the Galwan Valley, Ladakh in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred.

The Indian Ministry of Information Technology of said that there have been raging concerns on aspects relating to data security and safeguarding privacy.

After this, US experts also called for a ban on Tiktok citing the handling of user data and threats posing to national security.

TikTok, owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, has long tried to solve these concerns by disassociation with their origin country.

Earlier today, TikTok said it will stop operations in Hong Kong after the city enacted a sweeping national security law last week. The company said in a statement that it had decided to halt operations "in light of recent events."

(With inputs from agencies)
Want to know how to navigate Downtown Los Angeles without climbing into the car? How about where to go when you need cold medicine and its late? Or are you looking for a place to work out? Check out this handy list that will help you with just about anything you want in Downtown. Its all a
S Lalitha By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: The exclusive terminal proposed at the Bengaluru Cantonment railway station to run suburban train services to ease the traffic on the citys roads has not made much progress due to lack of funds as well as the pandemic-induced national lockdown. The contract to carry out civil infrastructure work here was awarded nearly three months ago.This upcoming terminal is different from the `15,767 cr suburban rail project awaiting clearance from the PMO and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

The `37.94-cr project will have four new platforms 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E along the main entry of the station to facilitate running of more trains and a seven-storeyed terminal building.

Many MEMU and DEMU trains can run between Cantonment and Hosur, Tumakuru, Devanahalli and Marikuppam when the project, approved by the Railway Board in August 2019, is in place.One portion of the contract, laying of stabling lines and readying of platform, was awarded to PJ Baby in April. A K Swami, Chief Administrative Officer, Constructions, South Western Railway, told TNIE that fund crunch was hampering the progress of the work. We need to release at least `6 crore to the contractor for this financial year so that work can begin. No progress has been made so far, he said.

Giving details on the new terminal, T B R Narayana Rao, Chief Engineer (North), Constructions, SWR, said, The proposed new platforms will all come on the side of the main platform (PF 1). A subway will ensure they are interconnected. This will require demolition of some of our existing railway offices along this side and 29 houses in the Railways Quarters. We have written to the Bengaluru Division seeking their consent.
Ranjani Madhavan By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: A 34-year-old pregnant woman from Sikkim was thrown out of a nursing home on Sunday afternoon while she was suffering labour pain, as the hospital suspected that she had Covid-19. She has been visiting the nursing home in Viveknagar since the beginning of her pregnancy. Two days ago, they took the womans swab test but did not reveal the results. Rosline Gomes, a close friend of the family, said, She developed labour pain at around 11.30 am on Sunday and her family took her to the nursing home. Around 2.30 pm, they sent her out of the hospital, while she was in severe pain. They said they cannot treat someone with suspected Covid-19 symptoms. She was made to sit on a chair outside the nursing home. She was there for six hours and no doctor or nurse attended to her.

How can the nursing home be so negligent and throw out a woman in labour pain? They could have referred her to another hospital or guided us. Or they could have let her deliver and then shifted her to another hospital for Covid-19 treatment. This is a serious issue and is no way to treat a patient, irrespective of if they have coronavirus or not, Rosline said.

It is their responsibility to take care of her. We were all panicking and began searching for hospitals to take her to, Rosline said, adding, Around 8 pm we took her to a private hospital in Malleswaram and she delivered a healthy baby boy on Monday morning. When this hospital contacted the nursing home, they found that the result was positive. The family also got a call from BBMP later confirming the positive result. As they were unable to afford the Malleswaram hospital charges, Rosline shifted the woman to Vani Vilas Hospital later on Monday night.

Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Commissioner for Health and Family Welfare, said, We have a chain of maternity hospitals and will get in touch with them. They have to reserve 50 per cent of their beds for Covid-19 patients. As for this case, we will look into what action we can take.Minister of Medical Education Dr K Sudhakar recently said that criminal action will be taken against private hospitals for denying treatment to Covid-19 patients. He was, however, unreachable for comment.
ANANYA MARIAM RAJESH By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: During the lockdown, Kuchipudi dancer Kolichelimi Niharika has been choreographing of songs and looks forward to enrolling at Potti Sriramulu Telugu University for masters in dance after which she looks ahead to a future of teaching and ensuring the recognition of Kuchipudi in the current society.

The choreography is based both on traditional songs and film songs for her students. She teaches two batches of students categorised as junior and senior batches consisting of 25 and 15 members respectively. She plans to upload these videos on YouTube once she completes it, to reach out to people who would love to learn Kuchipudi. Niharika is a degree second-year student at Bhavans Vivekananda College in the city pursuing B.com computers. For her like any other kid, Kuchipudi was a hobby first but now its her passion to spread the culture in the society. She balances her academics and dance with the aim to make more people embrace Kuchipudi. She added, Kuchipudi is good for the health. It is the best form of fitness and meditation. It helps in reducing stress and depression.

Niharika mentioned, I have completed the certificate course for Kuchipudi. Eventually will pursue a masters in dance as well as a Ph.D. She was a participant in the group that won Guinness World Record at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium for promoting the culture of Kuchipudi on December 25 2016 in Vijayawada. She added, About 6,170 people had participated in the event to create the record. I participated as an individual dancer in the event.

Niharika was invited to participate at the 4th International Kuchipudi dance convention Navataram Natyatarangam 2014 at Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad, and also at the 5th International Dance and Music Festival program 2018 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The selection for the international convention is based on our performance which is judged on the basis of the dance videos the participants mail to the committee. I was selected based on the same criterion, added the 19-year-old. Niharika who has been learning Kuchipudi for the past nine years has won the Natya Keerthi and Independence Excellence awards. She started with the Natyalaya Dance academy and trained there for 6 years. She said, My current Guru is Shirisha Vandana. Niharika attributes her success and the drive for the passion to her parents Kumar and Shoba. Mission Kuchipudi is what she lives for, she adds.
Saima Afreen By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Akila G, a city-based poet, and corporate professional is working from home for the past four months. The extra time that she gets goes for her daughter and now for teaching young children online. These kids from Rasoolpura, Marredpally and Secunderabad know their language well. Shares Akila, I was teaching them word formation and was surprised to discover that they knew several tough words and could spell them perfectly. Shes part of a teaching project started by Suheim Sheikh of the Yacht Club of Hyderabad.

It so happened that the two children of Suheims housekeeping help were enrolled for tuitions paying `4,000 per month. But once the lockdown began it all stopped and they would loiter around the whole day. The schools were closed. Thats when I decided to take them to Our Sacred Space (OSS), Secunderabad, so that they could get their lessons right. But the strictness of the lockdown put that to a halt. Thats when we asked the institute to provide a few leads for online classes. They have two teachers from OSS while 14 are from his contacts which includes a few volunteers from abroad.

Other than the classes on language, maths, science there are real-life heroes and sheroes as well sharing their experiences. Doctors, lawyers, IPS officers, astronomers share their stories with the students so that if in future they want to choose their career the same can help them decide better. Adds Suheim, Elahe Hiptoola shared her experience as a filmmaker with the students.

There are 18 girl students as of now in the age group of 9-15 years. They are sailors and some of them have been to international regattas to Portugal, Spain and Oman. But how are they managing in terms of laptops or phones? Their parents have smartphones. And during the lockdown, since their work hours are limited the children are using the devices for the lessons online, he signs off.
Ajay Kanth By

Express News Service

KOCHI: The threat of community transmission of Covid-19 looms large in the district. However, the gravity of the situation is lost on people visiting markets and shops in the city as they blatantly flout social distancing norms. Due to this, the situation has become alarming, feel merchants. Ernakulam Market, which was closed recently, is most vulnerable to community spread as people from different parts of the state visit the market daily.

People are thronging the market without any concern for the virus threat. Though we are doing our best to ensure everyone follows social distancing norms, buyers are crowding the market as if there is no tomorrow, said Kerala Merchants Chamber of Commerce general secretary Vipin K M.He said over 80 per cent of merchants at the market hail from Kannur and Kasaragod and frequently travel between Kochi and their native place.

Besides local retailers, people are also coming to the wholesale vegetable market in large numbers due to low price of commodities. As of now, no Covid-19 case has been reported at Broadway. But we have decided to strictly enforce social distancing considering the gravity of the situation, Vipin said.He said household buyers should not be allowed in the wholesale market and should go to local stores for now. However, the authorities should ensure local stores are not fleecing customers in these times, he said.

On Monday, a hypermarket in Kaloor was forced to enforce the queue system with social distancing to prevent crowding inside the store.Kochi Corporation health standing committee chairperson Prathibha Ansari said people were throwing caution to the wind.We went to Palluruthy market on Monday and saw people crowding in large numbers. The corporation has sought the support of the police to take tough action against those violating norms, she said, adding that local markets will be shut down if they fail to ensure social distancing.

Travelling vendors

He said over 80 per cent of merchants at the market hail from Kannur and Kasaragod and frequently travel between Kochi and their native place.
Shainu Mohan By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the district deploys mobile teams to contain the spread of the virus, the latest lockdown comes as a huge challenge for health authorities as the situation demands more ambulances, in-patient facilities, swab collection facilities and antigen testing kits

With Covid-19 cases increasing across the city from untraced sources, the authorities have declared a triple lockdown within the city corporation limits to contain the spread of the virus. However, the latest lockdown comes as a huge challenge for health authorities as the situation demands more ambulances, in-patient facilities, swab collection facilities and antigen testing kits. Currently, around 30 cases with no known source of infection have been reported in the state capital setting the alarm bells ringing. On Monday, around a mobile team each was deployed at Manacaud, Chalai, Palayam, Poonthura, Nagaroor and Vallakadavu for swab collection. An average of 50 swab samples would be collected by each mobile team per day. An official said that around 700 results are pending in the district. More positive cases might get reported once the results come and we will be collecting more samples.

Increased demand for antigen testing kits

According to sources, the district currently has only 3,000 antigen testing kits available for field surveillance. With approximately 80,000 people residing in the containment zones, making sure a steady availability of antigen kits is going to be a challenge for the authorities.We will be needing more antigen kits as RT-PCR test results take anywhere between two to four days. Rapid antigen test gives more accurate results and we can identify patients within 30 minutes. We need to take swift action during the triple lockdown period so waiting for the results is not at all an option for us. Antigen test kits are currently being used only at Poonthura, said an official. It is learnt that the Kerala Medical Service Corporation Limited (KMSCL) has initiated steps to make available more rapid antigen testing kits.

More ambulances required

Efforts are on to increase the number of ambulances deployed from 20 to 40 ensure the hassle-free transportation of patients. We need more ambulances for patient transportation. Our plan is to use 40 ambulances exclusively for Covid-19, said the official. The district administration has taken over 20 private ambulances under the Disaster Management Act for the purpose. Though the Indian Medical Association has offered their ambulances for the fight against the pandemic, the vehicles are not available on a regular basis, added the official.

At present, the health authorities have decided to screen only high-risk groups and local clusters in the containment zones using antigen testing. Poonthura, Manacaud, Attukal, Manikyavilakam, Palayam etc are the high-risk areas falling under the contaminant zones. In the wake of the alarming situation at Poonthura, the authorities have decided to step up surveillance by testing more people. We had meetings with the authorities of public health centres in the coastal belt of the district. We will be deploying more staff from other centres, said the official.

Halting of train, flight operations necessary

According to sources, train and flight operations should be halted to reduce the woes of the health employees who are already overburdened. The chances of community transmission increased since the resumption of the train services. It is impossible to plug all loopholes. This might have triggered the spike in unlinked cases in the district. Its impossible to keep track of travellers at the airport and railway stations and at the same time conduct field surveillance, said the official.

More CFLTCs needed

With the authorities stepping up field surveillance and augmenting the number of tests conducted in the capital, the existing infrastructure will be unable to bear the spike in caseload. Currently, there are only two Covid-19 First-Line Treatment Centres (CFLTCs) in the district. An official said that immediate arrangements should be made to accommodate more patients. SR Medical College Hospital, Varkala would be converted as a CFLTC. Also, we have shortlisted many other facilities in the district including the BSNL Training Centre at Kaimanam, said the official.

KMSCL promises more rapid antigen testing kits

An official of KMSCL said that more antigen test kits would be made available in the state. We have procured around 1 lakh antigen testing kits and around 50,000 have been distributed across the state. Only two or three districts have so far utilised antigen kits for field surveillance. The initial plan was to use these kits at the airports only. We will make sure that the kits are available, said the official.
Shreya Chowdhury By

Online Desk

CHENNAI: Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's last film 'Dil Bechara' dropped its trailer yesterday and became the most liked video in the world by beating Marvel Studios' 'Avengers: Infinity War' which had 3.6 million likes.

'Dil Bechara' got a whopping 4.8 million likes within a day on YouTube. The film is based on the bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars by author John Green.

The trailer gives way to the story of Kizie and Manny, who are left to face a tragic twist to their lives. The flick was originally slated for May 8 theatre release but it could not see the light of the day due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

ALSO READ | 'Dil Bechara' trailer out: Sushant Singh Rajput's last film leaves viewers teary-eyed

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.

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. Disney Plus Hotstar will screen the movie on its platform for free as a tribute to the late actor.

The 34-year-old actor was found hanging at his suburban Bandra residence on June 14.

No suicide note was found from the spot, the police had said then.
Gopinath Rajendran By

Express News Service

Actor Napoleon, who has worked across South languge films, adds another feather to his cap, with his Hollywood debut, Devils Night: Dawn of the Nain Rouge, all set to be released on a OTT platform. I have known the films producer, Tel K Ganesan, who hails from a village thats just four kilometres away from mine. It was a surprise when he wanted to produce a Hollywood film and I was even more surprised when he wanted me to be a part of it, says Napolean, as he joins Tel over a video call to have this conversation. ..



Excerpts from the conversation:



What is it like to make your Hollywood debut?

Napoleon: Its a different experience. I play a museum curator in the film and its a role unlike anything I have done before in our films. Only after accepting the film, I realised that the film was going to be made with live sound. I had a tough time being part of Telugu and Malayalam films, but at least there, I could rectify mistakes during dubbing. Here, there was no question of bringing in dubbing artistes either. I had to write down my lines and practise pronouncing the words right. I joked, Naane butler English vechu ottitrukken, but Tel convinced me. Fortunately, the character is of Indian descent, so I didnt have to get the American accent perfectly.

Nain Rouge is the name of an urban legend famous in Detroit. Is this film based on that?

Tel K Ganesan: Yes, its a mythical creature famously known in the Detroit, Michigan area, and the film is based on the legend behind it. A series of murders happen and when the police cannot decipher the happenings, they turn to a museum curator played by Napoleon.



Napoleon, how does the technology used in a Hollywood film compare to what we have here?

Napoleon: Hollywood is leaps and bounds ahead. For our films, we would need more than 100 people for shooting a scene, but here, the number is just around 15-20 which means that each person is tasked with more responsibility. Even from an artistes perspective, unlike back home where we would each have a driver, a manager and others, here we had no such liberty. This helps them cut production costs, but of course, because of the currency exchange rate, it still feels like a lot to us.



Part of the curiosity over your Hollywood debut has to do with the number of rural characters you have played here...

Napoleon: Right from my first film, Pudhu Nellu Pudhu Naathu, to Seevalaperi Pandi in which I turned a hero, I have predominantly been a part of rural films. Ore oru colour satta, ettu muzham veshti, kodu potta pattapatti, kaila aruva When Id look forward to shooting in different locations, they would tell me that a farm, and a pump set would do for the setting. In fact when director Saran told me that my character would wear a suit in Vattaram, I immediately said yes without even hearing the story. I wanted to wear a suit in a film.



We learn that you have more Hollywood releases lined up?

Napoleon: I have got back to back English films produced by Tel Ganesan. Im also a part of this film called Christmas Coupon, and in another film titled Trap City, I play the bodyguard of the lead character played by Brandon T. Jackson (of Percy Jackson and BoJack Horseman fame). I think I have the hang of it now (smiles). In Tamil, I am a part of Karthis Sultan thats directed by Remo director, Bakkiyaraj Kannan.



Whats your take on this film getting released on a OTT platform?

Tel K Ganesan: We wanted to watch it and have the Indian audience too, watch it in theatres, but based on the current situation, OTT seems to be the best option. Right now, the film is out on Amazon Prime Video in USA and Canada, and we are in talks about the India release.



Napoleon, are you aware that some of your famous film contributions, like the song, Panju Mittai Sella Katti, or your role in Pokkiri, have become fodder for memes?

Napoleon: My family and friends forward such memes to me. I find some of them to be extremely funny. I am happy that the people of my land still remember me.
By Online Desk

With another big single-day jump in coronavirus cases, India's Covid-19 tally crossed the seven lakh-mark on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.

According to the update released by the Union Health ministry, 22,252 new cases in the last 24 hours has taken the count to 7,19,665 in India. This includes 2,59,557 active cases and 4,39,948 recovered and migrated cases.

This apart, 467 more people succumbed to the virus taking the death toll to 20160

It must be noted here that India went past Russia on Sunday to become the third worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic. Only the US and Brazil are ahead of India in terms of total coronavirus infections
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday said China needs to realise that stability and peace at borders and restoration of status quo ante are a must to rebuild trust between the two countries as it termed reports of withdrawal of Chinese troops from Galwan Valley "a positive development".

The Congress also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take the country into confidence and apologise for "misleading" the people by saying that no Chinese intrusions had taken place.

Congress senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said disengagement and de-escalation is a priority on the Line of Actual Control and called upon India to insist for a pullback of Chinese troops from the Pangong Tso area.

"Reports of Chinese troops withdrawal from Galwan Valley is a positive development. Disengagement and de-escalation on LAC is a priority. India must insist for pullback in Pangong Tso. There is need for eternal vigil."

"China needs to realise that stability and peace at borders and restoration of status quo ante is a must to rebuild trust. Proud of our Army for standing firm in Nation's defence," Sharma said.

Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said the Indian Army has been trying to push the Chinese PLA back and the party is happy to hear reports that Chinese troops are going back.

"The Prime Minister should today use this opportunity to come out and address the nation, take the country into confidence, apologise to the country that 'Yes, I went wrong, I misled you' or maybe he wants to use some other words.

"He should come and take the country into confidence and clarify not just his past statement, which was unfortunate, but also how much of our territory is still under their occupation and how far had they come in and now how much have they withdrawn," he said, adding that the prime minister or the defence minister should clarify.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said select news channels are running that Chinese forces are withdrawing from P-14 and Indian territory in Galwan Valley.

"If correct, we welcome and salute our forces. But PM said no one ever occupied our territory. Did he then mislead the nation," he asked.

Khera said, "We are proud of our Army. We never had any doubt about the ability of our Army to do that and they have done that on several occasions in the past, whether it was Pakistan, whether it was China, our Army doesn't need anybody's certificate.

"A day before Chinese military began pulling back from Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed on an expeditious withdrawal of troops, holding that a complete disengagement at the "earliest" was necessary for full restoration of peace in border areas and both sides should not allow differences to become disputes.

Chinese troops began removing tents early on Monday and started to withdraw from Galwan Valley, the site of a violent hand-to-hand clash between the two militaries on June 15 that left 20 Indian soldiers dead, government sources said.

Rearward movement of vehicles and troops was seen in Gogra Hot Springs as well but there was no confirmation of similar disengagement in Pangong Tso area, said the sources.

They said Chinese troops moved back around one kilometre from patrolling point 14, 15 and 17 in Galwan Valley.
By PTI

JAIPUR: 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.

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.

Of the 234 fresh cases, the maximum of 57 cases were reported from Jodhpur.

Cases were also reported from Alwar (36), Nagaur (34), Bikaner (29), Jaipur (22), Sirohi (19), Jalore (9), Barmer (8) besides from other districts of the state.

After 15,966 patients were discharged upon recovery, there were 4,137 active cases in the state.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Bar Council of India (BCI) Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking financial assistance, including disbursal of soft loans, to the needy advocates during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has crippled judicial functioning.

Courts across country are hearing urgent matters only via video link from last week of March due to the pandemic situation making things difficult for common lawyers.

The petition sought a direction to the Centre as well as all the states to arrange an interest-free loan of upto Rs three lakh each to advocates enrolled with the respective state Bar Councils.

The loan, disbursed through the state bar councils, would be repayable in reasonable monthly instalments at least 12 months after normal court functioning commences, it said.

'In the alternative, direct the Union of India and the respective state government to financially support the needy advocates by depositing the amount directly in their accounts," the BCI, through its chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, said.

The petition claimed that a significant section of advocates, particularly the younger lawyers, "are in acute need of urgent financial support in the prevailing circumstances brought about by the global pandemic resulting in closure of courts for a long time initially and only partial functioning of the courts since then."

"The very survival of these advocate has come into question in view of the present conditions. Large sections of practicing advocates depend upon the day-to-day functioning of the courts and tribunals to meet their financial needs and the present uncertainly has jeopardized their only source of income.

"It is therefore necessary to ensure the meaningful enjoyment of the rights guaranteed under Articles 21 (right to life) of the Constitution of India to give effective and immediate assistance to them and this court may be pleased to do direct the respondents- authorities to do the needful in this regard," it said.

It said the government has already taken steps in this regard for giving relief to certain sections of the society including entrepreneurs.

"In the circumstances, it is necessary that appropriate relief is given to the suffering lawyers also," it said. The petition said the advocates form essential and integral part of the justice delivery system and it is necessary to look after their well-being.

Therefore, it is in general public interest that the respondents - authorities are directed to make available requisite assistance to the needy advocates in view of the prevailing circumstances," it said.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday questioned the absence of Rahul Gandhi from the meetings of parliamentary panel on defence while the Congress sought to step up the heat on the government by demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his statement that none has intruded into the Indian territory in the wake of reports of disengagement between the Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh.

BJP president J P Nadda alleged that while Rahul skips the meetings of the standing committee on defence, he never misses an opportunity to demoralise 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, Nadda tweeted.

BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member GVL Narsimha Rao claimed the former Congress chief had skipped the visit of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh by the members of the Parliament panel. The Parliamentary Standing Committee has met 11 times so far after it was constituted in 2019, but Gandhi hasnt attended even one of them, he said.

Congress, meanwhile, asked the PM to apologise to the country. He should tell the nation how much Indian territory is still under Chinese occupation, party leader Pawan Khera said.

Congress demands apology from PM

Congress, while saying it was proud of the Army, asked the PM to use this opportunity to come out and address the nation, take the country into confidence and apologise
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Chinese military removed temporary infrastructure and continued gradual withdrawal of troops from face-off sites in Hot Springs and Gogra in eastern Ladakh for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, and the Indian Army is keeping a strict vigil on their rearward movement, government sources said.

Gogra and Hot Springs are among the key friction points where the two armies were in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation for the last eight weeks.

The sources said the mutual disengagement of troops at the two friction points is likely to be completed within two days, and that there has been "substantial" withdrawal of forces by Chinese military from the areas.

The disengagement process began on Monday morning after a nearly two-hour telephonic conversation between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday during which they agreed on an expeditious withdrawal of troops from the area.

Doval and Wang are Special Representatives for the boundary talks.

The sources said the Indian Army is not lowering its guard in view of the disengagement process in the area and will continue to maintain high-level of alertness to deal with any eventualities.

They said the two two Armies are expected to hold further talks later this week after the first phase of disengagement process is completed.

As per the decisions arrived at corps commander-level talks on June 30, the two sides would create a minimum buffer zone of three kilometer in most of the areas where they were locked in a standoff.

ALSO READ | India engaging with China through diplomatic, military channels: Foreign Secretary

"There has been substantial withdrawal of Chinese troops from Hot Springs and Gogra. The Chinese mliitary has dismantled temporary infrastructure too in the areas," said a source.

The Chinese military has already removed tents and withdrew its personnel from patrolling point 14 in Galwan Valley, the sources said adding the Indian Army is carrying out a thorough verification of the Chinese pull back.

On the situation in Pangong Tso, they said a "marginal thinning out of troops" has been observed in the area.

The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in the bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last eight weeks.

The tension escalated manifold after the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley on June 15.

The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details.

According to an American intelligence report the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35.

Both sides have held several rounds of diplomatic and military talks in the last few weeks to ease tension in the region.

However, there was no visible sign of any end to the standoff till Sunday evening.

ALSO READ | Have agreed to act promptly to disengage front-line forces at border: China after talks with India

Sources said the breakthrough was achieved at the Doval-Wang meeting.

On June 30, the Indian and Chinese armies held the third round of Lt General-level talks during which both sides agreed on an "expeditious, phased and step wise" de-escalation as a "priority" to end the standoff.

In the talks on June 22, the two sides arrived at a "mutual consensus" to "disengage" from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh.

The first round of the Lt General talks was held on June 6 during which both sides finalised an agreement to disengage gradually from all the standoff points beginning with Galwan Valley.

However, the situation deteriorated following the Galwan Valley clashes as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC.

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Ladakh during which he said the era of expansionism is over and that the history is proof that "expansionists" have either lost or perished, in comments which were seen as a clear message to China that India is not going to back off and would deal with the situation with a firm hand.

Tensions had escalated in eastern Ladakh around two months back after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on May 5 and 6.

The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the disengagement of troops at the border in eastern Ladakh and used a tweet by him in 2013 during the UPA regime to ask him why Indian soldiers were withdrawn from their own land.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala sought to remind Modi of his own words and demanded answers from him on why Indian forces were withdrawing from their own soil.

"Respected Prime Minister, Do you remember your words? Do your words mean anything? Will you tell us why our forces are retracting from our land? The country seeks answers," he said on Twitter.

Modi had on May 13, 2013, when he was chief minister of Gujarat, said "China withdraws its forces but I wonder why Indian forces are withdrawing from Indian territory? Why did we retreat?" Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also retweeted Modi's post and asked, "I stand with Modiji on this. PM must answer his question."

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked the government why status quo ante was not insisted upon by New Delhi and why the territorial sovereignty of the Galwan Valley does not find mention in the government's statement.

"National interest is paramount. Government of India's duty is to protect it," he said on Twitter.

"Then, Why has Status Quo Ante not been insisted on? Why is China allowed to justify the murder of 20 unarmed jawans in our territory? Why is there no mention of the territorial sovereignty of Galwan valley?" he asked.

Gandhi shared the statements put out by the Indian and Chinese Foreign Ministries after the talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

He highlighted how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of People's Republic of China in its statement made a mention of the Galwan Valley, but the Indian External Affairs Ministry did not do so.

The Congress has been attacking Modi ever since the bloody border stand-off with China which led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh last month.

Meanwhile, Chinese military removed temporary infrastructure and continued the gradual withdrawal of troops from face-off sites in Hot Springs and Gogra in eastern Ladakh for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, and the Indian Army is keeping a strict vigil on their rearward movement, government sources said.

Gogra and Hot Springs are among the key friction points where the two armies were in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation for the last eight weeks.
By PTI

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh government last week reopened the state for tourists after over three months with conditions, but not many hotels have started functioning yet.

The entry of tourists in Himachal Pradesh was banned in March to check spread of novel coronavirus.

The Tourism Department on Saturday issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) with which the tourists are allowed to enter Himachal with conditions such as a report by an ICMR-accredited laboratory not earlier than 72 hours, testing negative for COVID-19 and a prior hotel booking of at least five days.

Such tourists will also have to register online with the state government before entering the state, the state tourism director Yunus Khan said.

The president of tourism industry stakeholder association, Mohinder Seth, welcomed the decision and said the association was providing training to hotel staff for taking precautions while receiving tourists.

He said the majority of the hotels in the state have not yet opened as they are preparing to receive the tourists.

"We have already conducted training sessions for Shimla hotel owners. Similar training sessions will be held for general managers and subsequently for hotel staff," he added.

Moreover, the hotels in the state usually remain closed for one month, from March 15 to April 15, for annual maintenance which could not be done this year due to the coronavirus induced lockdown, he added.

While most of the 3,550 registered hotels in the state are still closed, all the hotels in Shimla are still closed for tourists, he added.

It may take some more time for us to train the hotel staff and complete the maintenance work, following which hotels in the state will be opened for the tourists, he added.

Kasauli Hoteliers Association president Rajendra Chopra said they would hold a meeting to decide about opening of hotels in Kasauli, whereas Chail hotel association president Devendra Sharma urged the Tourism Department to upload the conditions for tourists on its website.

Meanwhile Hoteliers Association Manali president Anoop Thakur said they decided in Tuesday's meeting to keep close the hotels in Manali.

Tourism Department Director Yunus Khan told PTI that some of the hotels in the state are open.

He said 507 tourists have entered the state after registering online as of Tuesday afternoon.

Of them, 253 came on July 5, 171 on July 6 and 83 till July 7, he added.

The tourists have to register within 48 hours for visiting the state, he added.

Some of them might have booking of government hotels and others might be of private hotels as some of them are open, he added.

Meanwhile a number of tourists have been turned back in the last three days at the interstate border at Parwanoo as they were not fulfilling the conditions, officials said.

However their exact number could not be known.

Kullu Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh told PTI that as many as 49 tourists tried to enter Kullu district without any COVID-19 negative report in the last three days.

They were turned back as they did not fulfil the required conditions, he added.

Majority of these tourists were from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, he said adding that three of them were also from Telangana.

The SP said that three tourists from Chandigarh had even insisted on entering Kullu district on the basis of OPD slips issued by a Chandigarh hospital of being asymptomatic.
Mukesh Ranjan By

Express News Service

RANCHI: Jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is currently admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi, is likely to be put under scanner for Covid-19 after a policeman, deputed for his security, tested positive on Monday.

Doctors, however, said that samples of other policemen deputed along with him will be taken first. The RJD chief will undergo tests only if their results come out to be positive.

The infected cop was sent to his native place on a 12-day leave. He was put under quarantine after he returned to Ranchi as per the guidelines issued by the State Government. While in isolation period, his samples were taken which showed positive results for Covid-19 on Monday.

Meanwhile, contact tracing of the policeman is being done. We are getting all details about the cop, whether he was posted on the ground floor or the first floor, when did he go home and when he came back, said Dr. Umesh Prasad under whose supervision RJD Chief is admitted to RIMS. Covid-19 test of Lalu Ji will be done only after contact tracing of that policeman is established with him, he added.

Samples of other policemen, deputed along with that cop, however, will be sent for examination, and if anyone of them is found positive, then only we will think about taking samples of Lalu Ji, said Dr. Umesh Prasad. The doctors further added that it will also be checked whether the policeman, who has been tested positive, was actually deputed to RIMS within the incubation period of coronavirus or not, he added.

After being convicted by a Special CBI Court in Ranchi on December 23, 2017, in the second fodder scam case involving the illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury, the 72-year-old RJD chief was lodged in Birsa Munda Central jail in Ranchi but was shifted to RIMS looking at his deteriorating health conditions. Lalu Prasad is currently admitted to the 100-bed paying ward of RIMS in Ranchi.

The RJD Chief, a heart patient with kidney ailments, had recently undergone a fistula operation at Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai.
Rajesh Asnani By

Express News Service

JAIPUR: A week after they got separated from their mother, six-year-old Kanchan and her two brothers, Mohit (8) and Kuldeep (9) simply cant stop crying. Their helpless mother Junta is stuck in Pakistans Sindh province while the kids continue to cry endlessly ever since they returned to Jodhpur last week with their father Leelaram.

This unfortunate family in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district is facing a situation caused by Covid crisis and the tense relationship between India and Pakistan.

Leelaram Mali came to India from Pakistan in 1986 and was granted Indian citizenship. Twelve years ago, he married Junta, a Hindu girl from Pakistan who is yet to get Indian citizenship. In February this year, when her mother got critically ill, Junta went over to Mirpur Khaas in Pakistan along with her husband and three children. Unfortunately, India was locked down due to Covid-19 and they got stuck there as train services between the two nations were suspended.

During the lockdown period in April, the visas for the entire family expired.

Last week when both the nations agreed to roll out a special shuttle service for people stuck on both sides of the border, the family planned to return to India. However, while Leelaram and their three kids, being Indian citizens, were allowed to return, Junta (33) wasn't allowed to return. Now, while Leelaram got back to Jodhpur with his three children, Junta still stays in Mirpur Khaas.

Junta had been living in India on a long-term visa (LTV) and she had left for Pakistan to visit her mother on a No Objection to Return to India (NORI) visa for 60 days. Under this category, if the person does not return on stipulated time, the whole process to renew the visa has to be restarted. After the expiry of the family's visa, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad only gave an extension to Leelaram and his children but Juntas visa was not extended.

"I tried my level best at the Indian embassy in Islamabad but the officials did not grant my wife the permission to return. I had no choice but to come back to India with my children leaving my wife behind. I can bear this separation but its tough to see my kids crying for their mother all the time," said Leelaram.

Seemant Lok Sanghthan, an orgnisation working for the cause of Hindu immigrants from Pakistan, has taken up Junta's case with the central government. "The children are very young and I couldn't bear to see her condition. I have spoken to Arjun Meghwal, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister who belongs to Rajasthan and is the MP from Bikaner. Ive requested him to personally look into this humanitarian issue. Necessary instructions should be sent to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to ensure that this family is reunited, said Hindu Singh Sodha, the president of Seemant Lok Sangthan.

While Sodha hopes that corrective steps will soon be initiated to end the familys suffering, Leelaram is making special pleas to all officials in Jodhpur to ensure an early return of his wife so that his children can be reunited with their mother at the earliest.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Vikas Dubey, the absconding dreaded criminal and main accused behind the killing of eight cops in Bikru village of Kanpur last week, has joined the list of top three criminals of the state carrying a bounty of Rs 2.5 lakh on his head.

The other two criminals carrying the same amount as cash reward include Badan Singh Baddo, who belongs to Meerut and is the most wanted criminal of western UP. The other one is Ashutosh, who has made a name in committing big loots and heists and is still evading arrest.

Other than these three, 19 listed criminals are there who have a cash reward of over Rs 50, 000 on their heads.

UP police claimed that they were making all-out efforts to net gangster Dubey. Around 40 police teams and a special task force were hunting for the dreaded gangster. Hunt for Dubey is on from Chuabeypur to Chambal. We are not leaving any stone unturned in tracing the criminal and will be able to nab him soon, said a senior police official.

Meanwhile, UP DGP HC Awasthi said that the force would not rest until Dubey was nabbed.

Were collecting information on Vikas Dubeys accomplices and family. Until and unless we arrest Dubey and his accomplices, we will not sit quietly, said ADG (law and order) Prashant Kumar.

During the search in his demolished residence, the investigators had found a concrete bunker equipped with ultra-modern facilities. After committing the crime, Dubey used to hide in the bunker which was underground.

Besides, there was a huge haul of arms and ammunition in his hideout. The sources claimed that the weapons were plastered in the wall. The entire house was searched and 2 kg of explosive substance, 6 country-made pistols, 15 crude bombs, and 25 cartridges were recovered, said ADG (L&O), adding: Where did they get such a huge cache of weapons? What weapons were used in the face-off with the police team? Information was received that someone kept it hidden at his home.

State-wide raids to track down Dubey, who faces 60 criminal cases, are continuing. While an alert has been sounded across all 75 districts of the state, UP borders have been sealed and posters have been put up at toll plazas in the state amidst apprehensions that he might have already crossed the border.

Meanwhile, a high-level departmental probe has been initiated into the letter which was written by slain CO Devendra Mishra. IG Lucknow range Lakshmi Singh reached Chaubeypur to conduct the probe into the issue.

The letter which went viral on social media has spoken at length about the links between the criminal and Chaubeypur SO Vinay Tiwari. However, the CO had alerted the higher district police authorities over the dealings of SO Tiwari and had expressed apprehensions that if corrective steps were not taken, anything major could happen any day.

As the letter has brought the then SSP Anant Deo in limelight. It is believed that despite CO letter and the wake-up call, the then SSP did not act against either the criminal or Chaubeypur SO Vinay Tiwari who stands suspended and is under interrogation.
By PTI

KANPUR: Police on Tuesday said there was no record of Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra having written a letter weeks before his death alleging links between the now suspended Chaubeypur station officer and gangster Vikas Dubey.

The purported letter, which surfaced on social media on Monday, alleged that station officer Vinay Tiwari had got a serious charge against Dubey dropped.

However, the letter carried no serial number or date.

Bilhaur Circle Officer Devendra Mishra was among the eight policemen killed in an ambush by the gangster's henchmen at Bikru village near Kanpur early Friday morning.

Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar Prabhu said that there was no record of the letter in which Mishra was supposed to have made the serious allegations against Tiwari.

The SSP said records at the offices of CO Bilhaur and SP rural were checked, but no such letter was found.

ALSO READ | Kanpur encounter: Three more policemen suspended on charges of spying for gangster Dubey

He further said that all office records were thoroughly checked in the confidential section of his own office, including police office and SSP camp office, but there was no entry of any letter.

"I also questioned the clerks who deal with the section, but they denied having any information regarding the letter," SSP asserted.

The SSP, however, claimed that the matter is under investigation and efforts are on to probe the charges.

The police suspect that Tiwari may have tipped off Dubey that a police team was on its way to arrest him.

According to the purported letter circulating on social media, Mishra had written that Dubey was booked on charges of rioting, extortion and criminal intimidation in a case.

"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 said.

It mentioned that it also came to light from other sources that Tiwari used to visit Dubey frequently.

Mishra's alleged letter to the SSP said that if the station officer does not change his style of working, then a serious incident could occur.

Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday started house searches in Bikru villages in which they seized several documents related to Dubey, a senior police official said.

Three more people including a close relative of Dubey involved in the killing of cops have been arrested, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

According to the police, the total number of arrests in the case now stands at four.

Dubey's relative Shama, his neighbour Suresh Verma, and maid Rekha were arrested in the case, an official police spokesperson said here.

Rekha's husband, Daya Shankar Agnihotri, is a key member of the Dubey gang and was arrested in a pre-dawn encounter in Kalyanpur on Sunday.

Agnihotri, who was involved in the ambush, was carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 along with 17 others who continue to remain elusive.

Ten police constables have been sent to Chaubeypur Police Station from the reserve police lines, said SSP, Kanpur Dinesh Kumar P.

This is in replacement for the police personnel who were suspended for their alleged involvement in the encounter.

Station Officer (SO) Chaubeypur, Vinay Tiwari, sub-inspectors Kunwarpal and Krishna Kumar Sharma and constable Rajiv were suspended for their alleged involvement in passing on information to Dubey about police movement.

Meanwhile, a 2017 video of Dubey has gone viral on social media in which he suggested he was close to local politicians including some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs.

The video was allegedly shot while Dubey was being interrogated by the Uttar Pradesh STF in 2017 after his arrest from Krishna Nagar.

In the clip, Dubey claims to have close links with two local BJP MLAs, Bhagwati Sagar and Abhijeet Sanga and the chief of the Zila panchayat.

He also claims in the video that Sagar and Sanga had helped him in the past when he faced police action.

However, both the BJP leaders denied having any links with Dubey.

"My constituency is Bithoor in Kanpur and people from the adjoining village come to me for help," said Sanga, adding that on several occasions, he had recommended action supporting people who were against Dubey.

Sagar, who is the MLA from Bilhaur, denied helping Dubey ever and said that the video was being circulated to malign his image.

ALSO READ | Kanpur encounter: Slain DSP had exposed circle officers links with gangster

Both the BJP leaders alleged that Dubey usually associates himself with the leaders belonging to the ruling party in the state and demanded an inquiry into the matter.

The Uttar Pradesh Police said Dubey's photographs have been put all over the state mainly at toll plazas including those in Unnao, Kanpur Nagar, Auraiya, Fatehpur and areas near India-Nepal border so that people may tip off the police if they spot the gangster.

The reward on Dubey has already been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh, they said.

The border areas of Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich and Gorakhpur that lead towards Nepal have been alerted to prevent Dubey from fleeing to the neighbouring country to evade arrest, said a senior officer.

Police also suspect that he may be hiding in Madhya Pradesh's Chambal ravines, the officer added.

Dubey and his men killed eight policemen mostly in their 20s and 30s, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra (54) in an ambush at Bikru village in Chaubeypur area on July 3.

The others are Mahesh Kumar Yadav (42), Sub-Inspector Anoop Kumar Singh (32), Sub-Inspector Nebu Lal (48) and Constables Jitendra Pal (26), Sultan Singh (34), Bablu Kumar (23) and Rahul Kumar (24).
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Himachal Pradesh Police to submit its status report, in a sealed cover, on the investigation into the sedition case registered against senior journalist Vinod Dua. The court was hearing Duas plea to quash the sedition case registered against him in Shimla.

A bench headed by Justice U U Lalit said the court wanted to verify if the probe was in the right earnest. The court said it could quash the case if it found no merit in the allegations against Dua. The bench observed that the questions posed to Dua didnt form any empirical evidence in a sedition case.



The court also extended the protection given to Dua till July 15.

ALSO READ | Special SC hearing on non-working day on Vinod Dua's plea one of many instances

Senior advocate Vikas Singh appearing for Dua told the bench that he had received a second questionnaire from the Himachal Pradesh Police though he has already answered one before. The bench said Dua didnt need to send his reply.

Singh cited an example about the nature of questions sent by the Shimla Police to him and read out one question which enlisted steps put in place by the Centre to control the spread of COVID-19 and asked Dua to explain why he had said, on his show, that it was not taking sufficient measures to curb infection rates.



Dua had responded by saying that he based it on research carried out by him and also, an article by Congress leader P Chidambaram.
Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR: Till last month, short and sturdy Sumitra Cherpa was a dreaded Maoist commander in the conflict zone of Bastar in south Chhattisgarh.

But one pandemic has changed the 34-year-old woman rebels perception about the outlawed organisation she has been associated with for 16 years, when she was forced to leave the outfit on suspicion of contracting the deadly coronavirus.

The active fighter engaged with the Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) battalion no-1 of the banned CPI (Maoist) since 2010 was asked to leave the organisation unceremoniously after she had caught a cold and fever in mid-June.

She left for her village in strife-torn Bijapur district where the Bastar Police nabbed her following the local inputs. The police then arranged for her a health check-up and medical test, and sent her to a quarantine centre.

Call it a blessing in disguise, Sumitra tested negative. The police accepted Sumitras offer to surrender under the rehabilitation policy of the state government.

Sumitra was held from the jungle of Pedankawali village under suspicious condition. During interrogation, she revealed her association with the armed wing, said inspector general of police (Bastar zone) Sunderraj P.

The senior rebels had apprehended that she might spread the infection among other cadres, added Sunderraj.With her recent experience, her attitude towards the security forces and the local administration has changed. Now, she realises the hollowness in the Maoist ideology, he said.
G S Vasu By

These are strange times in many ways. At no other point in history has the entire world been focused on only one problem: finding a drug, ideally a vaccine, for a raging pandemic that has affected millions, throwing out of gear what all of us believed was normal life. In the Indian context, though, there appears to be a dire need for more than one vaccine to deal with the social, political and economic orders that have come to dictate our lives. This is needed if the electoral democracy and the institutions we have built in the post-Independence erahaving already developed comorbidities owing to assaults at different timesare not to succumb to the varied viruses sweeping across the nation.

Suppression of labour power (what UP and other states are doing using Covid as an excuse), disdain for intellectuals and using fear as a tool against the masses and selected individualsthe signs are all there.But lets make no mistake. Such knocks have been delivered even before, crudely during the time of Indira Gandhi, more subtly during UPA rule, and perhaps belligerently now. Some of the vaccines that are needed have existed for long in the form of protections under the Indian Constitution. Its just that they are out of stock now or those who are required to vaccinate themselves are unwilling to do so.

Vaccine I: So whats vaccine

No. 1 that is now in short supply? Former Supreme Court judge Madan Lokur lamented in a recent piece that even extremely important remedies such as writ of habeas corpus, anticipatory bail and bail are being denied. This, despite the SC laying down on many occasions that criticism of the government or even sowing bad feelings about it cannot be a justifiable ground for restrictions on freedom of expression, because a very important aspect of democracy is that citizens shall have no fear of the government.

Justice Lokur was among the four judges who held the famous or infamous press conference in January 2018, when they pointed at the procedural failings affecting the functioning of the highest court, apparently under the influence of the executive. But such interferences happened in the past, too, and we need not go too much into history. At a dinner meeting some years ago, one of the sitting judges of the SC revealed to his colleagues, in a hushed tone, that a particular HC judge cannot be considered for elevation to the apex court because such a message had come from 10, Janpath. This is as abhorrent as the procedural failings raised by the honourable judges.

Vaccine II: One bewildering aspect is why leaders think the media can change their fortunes. Yes, it holds up the mirror and helps those in power make course corrections, but to believe that people will get carried away by the feel-good factor created in the media is, perhaps, giving it more credit than is due. For all the support he enjoyed from large sections of media throughout his political career, Chandrababu Naidu has the dubious distinction of having led the Telugu Desam to its two worst-ever electoral defeats. Public perception about his governance kept changing, despite all the window dressing.

Even on this count, described as media management, the BJP alone is not to be blamed. If the Gujarat government has registered a case of sedition against an online portal editor for writing that the state chief minister is likely to be replaced, the track record of state governments ruled by non-BJP leaders is no different. Havent we heard of the West Bengal government slapping a case against a professor for sharing a cartoon on Mamata Banerjee and similar absurdities elsewhere as well? At varying periods in history, institutions preferred self-censorship, much like the self-isolation we are being advised if affected by the coronavirus. There may be no vaccine yet for corona but we have one in the form of Article 19 (right to freedom of speech/expression), if only we want to fight the other disease.

Vaccine III: An oft-repeated observation by critics of Narendra Modi is that his success has more to do with the lack of an alternative leader. Lets accept the country now has only one political iconModi. During Emergency and after, the nation needed another icon and found one in Jayaprakash Narayan, despite his failing health, even as activists of the non-Congress coalition took to the streets with his recorded speech played out on loudspeakers.

Experience has shown us that for any political party, there cannot be an alternative to mass contact, similar to what the RSS does for the BJP. Dozens of political parties abound in this country but the more pertinent question to ponder is why Modi still finds favour with the people. Back in the 1970s, JP not only proved to be an alternative icon but also came up with an alternative narrative. All that his disciples did laterthe Mulayam Singhs of UP and Lalu Yadavs of Biharwas to foist family on people. Modi critics, too, concede that a precondition for a credible alternative to emerge is for the Congress, in its current avatar with the Gandhis at the helm, to be consigned to the dustbin because the family provides the most effective vaccine for the BJP to stave off any crisis. What this country needs is a genuine opposition, which could be the preventive shot against the failings/excesses of those in power, and if this has to happen, the Congress should reinvent itself.

On the flip side, the risks of what we are currently witnessing are actually greater for the parties in power, whether in the Centre or in the states, because the latent anger/discontent will be invisible until its too late. Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, among the respected prime ministers of this country, recalled an anecdote in one of his speeches in Parliament. I was a young MP, sitting on the back benches, but I had my fair share of arguments/disagreements with Pandit Nehru. I once told him that he is a split personality, reflecting both Churchill and Chamberlain, the UK prime minister accused of adopting an appeasement policy towards Adolf Hitlers Germany before the Second World War. All that Nehru did was to compliment Vajpayee for a good speech. If I were to indulge in similar criticism today, it would amount to fostering enmity, Vajpayee quipped in 1996, wondering whether or not Nehrus spirit merited respect. We are now in 2020.

G S Vasu

Editor,The New Indian Express

(vasu@newindianexpress.com)
By Express News Service

KADAPA: Kadapa police have ordered the closure of tea stalls due to coronavirus scare. The police officials have taken this decision as many people were seen standing in front of tea stalls in violation of Covid-19 protocols.Meanwhile, the tea stall owners, who have already suffered huge losses during the two-month corona-induced lockdown, expressed disappointment over the decision of the police officials.

They criticised the officials for not taking action against liquor stores, where large crowds were seen at most of the times. They said that they have already paid rent for the shop, electricity bill and also salaries to the workers hoping for good business post lockdown. They appealed to the police officials to permit them to run the tea stalls as they are struggling to meet their ends.

The two-month lockdown has turned our life upside down. I appeal to the police officials to withdraw their decision. We have been following Covid-19 protocols and also using disposable glasses, said Abdul Khadar, a tea stall owner. There are nearly 1,500 tea stalls in the district and around 4,500 families are staring at an uncertain future. However, police claimed that a majority of the positive cases are those who consumed tea at roadside stalls. DSP U Satyanarayana said that they have taken this decision as groups of 10 to 20 persons are always seen at tea stalls.

96 new corona cases in Kadapa

Kadapa: The district reported 96 coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the count to 1,481. Of the 96 cases, 22 were reported from Duvvuru, 18 from Proddatur, nine from Kadapa, seven each from Pulivendula and Rajampeta, six from Yerraguntla, four from Railway Kodur, three each from Mydukur, Nandaluru and Chinthakommadinne, two from Chitvel and one each from Brahmamgari Matam, Lingala, Simhadripuram, Jammalamadugu, Vempalle, Rajupalem, Siddavatam, Ramapuram, Chapadu, Khajipeta, T Sundupalle and Badvel. The medical teams have so far collected 80,105 swab samples.
By Express News Service

VISAKHAPATNAM: A day after a panel found fault with the management of the South Korean firm LG Polymers for the gas leak from their plant in RR Venkatapuram that claimed at least 12 lives, the Visakhapatnam police on Tuesday night arrested 12 people, including the company's MD and CEO Sunkey Jeong.

They were booked for negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substances, and causing hurt, among other things. The axe also fell on two officials of the AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) and factories department officials for dereliction of duties.

Apart from Jeong, technical director DS Kim and Pitchuka Poorna Chandra Mohan Rao, additional director of the firm were among those arrested. "The investigation revealed that the incident at M6 styrene storage tank took place due to negligence of the arrested persons, who knew their acts were likely to cause death," Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner RK Meena said.

ALSO READ| Two months after LG Polymers gas leak polluted Vizag reservoir, water finally released for use

The police said that further probe revealed that the accident occurred due to the poor design of the M6 tank, an inadequate cooling system, absence of circulation systems, inadequate measurement parameters, weak safety protocol, poor safety awareness, inadequate risk assessment response, slackness of management, insufficient knowledge among staff, insufficient knowledge of chemical properties of styrene, and a total breakdown of emergency procedures.

The others arrested are Kodi Srinivas Kiran Kumar, head of department and SMH in-charge, Raju Satyanarayana, team leader (production), Chedumpupati Chandrasekhar, K Chakrapani, K Gowri Sankara Nagendra Ramu (engineers), Muddu Rajesh, operator, P Balaji, night duty officer operations, S Atchyut, in-charge GPPS and K Venkata Narasimha Ramesh Patnaik, safety officer in night shift. All those arrested will be produced in court for judicial remand.

The accused were arrested under Sections 278 (making atmosphere noxious to health), 284 (negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety), and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC.

The state government had formed a nine-member High Power Committee (HPC) headed by Special Chief Secretary (EFS&T) Neerabh Kumar Prasad to probe the gas leak. The committee, in its 4,000-page report, found fault with the company's management on several counts.

ALSO READ| LG Polymers gas leak: Panel blames company, PCB

Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories Suspended

Based on the committee report, the Director of Factories placed on suspension KBS Prasad, the deputy chief inspector of factories for dereliction of duties and other irregularities.

The report, found that the M6 tank was having only one temperature measurement facility at hte bottom of the 12.18 metres high tank as the reason for not detecting the rise in temperature due to polymerisation of the styrene at the top layers of the tank, which in turn led to runaway reaction and uncontrolled styrene vapour release from the vents causing major loss of life and damage to environment.

The absence of circulation system is another contributory factor for the accident, the HPC found and said the casual approach of Prasad towards very serius safety issues amounted to dereliction of duties and was placed under suspension.

#LGPolymers Director &CEO Sunkey Jeong, 11 others -- all employees of the company -- arrested in #Vizag gas leak case @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/FmnITHh8fz  TNIE Andhra Pradesh (@xpressandhra) July 7, 2020

Two Pollution Control Board Environment Engineers suspended

The PCB suspended R Lakshminarayana, who is presently the environmental engineer, Zonal office, Visakhaptnam, for allowing operations and expansion of LG Polymers without environment clearance, allowing import and storage of huge quantity of styrene without verifying safety and environmental issues and without real time constinuous styrene gas monitors in the place during his tenure as regional officer, Vizag.

The PCB also suspended its present regional officer P Prasada Rao on the same charges.
Ashwini M Sripad By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: With the number of positive cases increasing every day, the Karnataka State Government Employees Association is seeking work from home option on alternate days.On Monday, Vidhana Soudha was sanitized again, for the second time within a week. Attendance at the government offices has dropped significantly after the employees were asked to take leave if they have any symptoms.In just one weeks time, Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha were shut/partially shut three times as one of the employees and police personnel deputed there tested positive.

Speaking to TNIE, Shadakshari, president, Karnataka State Government Employees Association, said that there are over 5 lakh employees in the State. Many people visit government offices. The employees fear contracting the virus. There is panic especially at Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha, MS Building and other secretariat offices where large number of visitors come, he said.

The association has written to Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar urging the State Government to allow them to work from home on alternate days. If 50 per cent of the staff work from home one day, remaining will do so next day. Thus, the number of people working in one place can be reduced without hampering the work. Now that we have adopted e-administration, we have e-files and people can work from home. There is similar mechanism in Tamil Nadu where only senior officials like the Under Secretary and above will go to office, while other cadre work on alternate days, he said.

They are also proposing that staff aged 55 years and above be allowed to work from home. A senior official, who didnt wish to be named, said that more precautions are taken at Vidhana Soudha, where visitors are tested and also timings are restricted. But in smaller offices at various zones in Bengaluru and also outside the city, there is no restriction of time, he said.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Clarifying that it is not against online classes, the Karnataka government on Monday strongly defended its decision to ban online classes, saying it has imposed temporary reasonable restrictions to protect the health of children.A batch of petitions questioning the ban on online education was taken up for hearing by the division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Nataraj Rangaswamy. Advocate General (AG) Prabhuling K Navadgi submitted that the petitioners argument that the ban will affect students education for one year is not correct.

Stating that the government has taken into account several factors before imposing restrictions, the AG termed the petitions premature. The government had consulted experts before banning online classes, and had later come up with an interim solution, following the observations made by court. There is no violation of fundamental rights, he argued.The bench then posed a series of questions to the AG: What is the statutory power to ban classes? What is the source of power of the experts panel? It suggested that the government withdraw the order and allow online classes to go on till the experts decide, and then pass an order under the Karnataka Education Act. It also questioned the state on how it will control CBSE and ICSE schools.

The bench pointed out that there was no statutory basis for the ban order, which was passed on the note put up by Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar on June 11, 2020, and the Nimhans letter dated May 19, 2020. The state cannot say it cannot allow online classes for urban students, saying that rural students are deprived of it. As per Article 21-A, the state should extend this facility to rural areas also, the bench noted.

Senior counsel Madhusudan R Naik, representing ICSE schools, argued that the state has taken a decision based on a casual letter by Nimhans. To a query, Naik argued that they are not charging extra fee for online classes and there is no compulsion of using a laptop or mobile. After hearing the arguments, the bench said it will pass the order on Tuesday.

Donate salary to aid pvt school counterparts: Minister to govt teachers

Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar on Monday urged government and aided school teachers to forgo their salary for a day or two, to help their counterparts in private schools. Private school teachers were in distress and the government is looking into all options to provide assistance to them, Kumar said, chairing a meeting of teachers associations and education department officials. Dear teachers (government), the government has not deprived you of any perks even during these testing times. Now, it is time to lend a helping hand to the private teachers.

I too will contribute, Kumar said. President of the Primary Teachers Association Narayanaswami pledged to contribute a months salary towards the welfare of teachers in private schools. In response, the Associated Management of Schools in Karnataka, tweeted, Good gesture by Govt. Teacher Assn. leaders, but at large EM pls look in to our demand of TWF fund, its our money used for Govt. Teacher welfare all this years, let us get support from own money, need not burden Govt (sic).
Express News Service

MANGALURU: Jobs of more than 50,000 Kannadigas in Kuwait are in limbo as the Gulf country has initiated the process of bringing in a legislation to restrict the number of foreign workers. States coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada will suffer the most, while the implications will also be felt in other parts of the state. The economy of the coastal region will be affected as there will be a drastic reduction in remittances. Kuwait was one of the most preferred destinations for people looking for greener pastures. An unskilled labourer there gets a minimum monthly salary of Rs 35,000.

Though it may take a year or two for the new rule to be implemented, many feel that they may not have to wait till then as the Kuwaits economy is in bad shape due to crash in oil prices and Covid-19 pandemic. Already many have lost their jobs and have returned to India. Now, layoffs will become more common, said SM Farooq, who has worked in Kuwait from past 15 years.

Kannadigas are employed in all sectors in Kuwait and the new rule has triggered panic among all these people. Many who have set up business are worried of huge losses. Those who started working in Kuwait recently are the most worried as they have borrowed money for visa and other expenses have not repaid it fully.

Mabiya Adam, an office-bearer Kuwait Kerala Muslim Associations Karnataka branch said many have shifted their families to Kuwait and have put their children in schools there. Kuwait allows people earning more than 450 dinars a month to keep their families with them. Farooq said while about 50,000 Kannadigas are employed in Kuwait, there are around 20,000 people staying there as dependents.
P Ramdas By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Foreigners stranded in India due to travel restrictions are desperate to get back to their countries. But the five-month stay in Kerala has been a soul-soothing experience for 74-year-old US citizen Johnny Paul Pierce who now wants to spend the rest of his life in the Gods Own Country. Pierce has approached the Kerala High Court seeking to convert his tourist visa into a business visa.

My aspiration is to show a viable business model and get a five-year business visa. The easiest way to become a resident is to marry an Indian, but I am 74 and probably past that option, he said. Johnny is planning to set up a centre for foreigners and explore the tourism potential in Kerala. I would recruit residents from the USA. Those who could afford to stay long term are generally the retired folks who are at the risk of contracting the virus in the USA, says Pierce.

I am absolutely safe in Kerala where the entire state has only reported 25 deaths (sic), Pierce told TNIE.

Pierce approached the court through advocate Saju S Nair and his petition will be considered on Tuesday.

He sought a directive to the government to permit him to apply for conversion of his tourist visa into a business visa without having to leave the country.

He came to India on February 26 on a tourist visa, which is valid up to January 26, 2025. He is staying at Kandanadu in Ernakulam and, after the lockdown was imposed, he got stranded there. This is his fifth visit to India as a tourist. The guidelines of the Indian government permit continuous stay for only 180 days for foreigners on tourist visas. His 180 days is going to expire on August 24.

Im a hermit, so Ive enjoyed the lockdown

Without leaving the country, he cannot apply for conversion of his tourist visa into a business visa. Its risky to travel to the US at the age of 74. It is chaos there. And I love Kerala. I dont want to go back and I would like to live here peacefully, said Pierce. Actually, I am a hermit, so I have enjoyed the lockdown because I experience much more meditation. Right now is the time for preparation and establishing more contacts in the hotel industry. I have found that many resorts are up for lease at wonderful prices and I am looking for a resort to lease near Wagamon. I hope to find a place with several rooms that I could establish as a Covid-free zone, he said.

Wagamon is perfect, according to him, because it is not crowded and he would want it to be a location far from the madding crowd. He also plans to produce a film. My Indian friend Rajesh has always been with me. Rajesh is a scriptwriter and we have plans to produce a movie. We have been on to at least a dozen movie sets. Since most entertainment is now online and not in theatres, we are making the dialogue much more in English instead of Malayalam to give it a more universal appeal. We have entered the preproduction stage and are about to give a casting call. Our location will be in and around Wagamon, he said.
By Express News Service

JAJPUR: Jajpur reported its first Covid-19 death after a 64-year-old man succumbed to the virus on Monday. The victim was a diabetic. He had returned from Maharashtra around three weeks back and died while undergoing treatment at a Covid hospital. In the last 24 hours, 57 more positive cases were detected in Jajpur, taking the tally to 623 in the district.

Of the new cases, 43 were lodged in different quarantine centres while 14 are locals. The highest 23 cases were reported from Bari block, eight from Jajpur, seven each from Korei and Binjharpur, five from Dasarathapur, two each from Danagadi and Rasulpur and one each from Barachana, Dharmasala and Jajpur municipality.

The patients from quarantine centres have travel history to Haryana, Telangana, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan and Kuwait. Of the total 623 positive cases in the district, 223 are active and 400 have recovered.
BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China's civil aviation regulator said on Monday that a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, to China's Guangzhou would be suspended after five passengers had tested positive for COVID-19 on a June 28 flight.

The suspension of flight BS325 will last for one week, starting on July 6, and is the third of its kind ever to be imposed. It is also the first suspension of an overseas airline.

To further contain the spread of COVID-19, a reward and suspension mechanism by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) was introduced on June 4.

According to the CAAC policy, if all inbound passengers on an airline test negative for novel coronavirus for three weeks in a row, the operating airline will be allowed to increase its number of flights to two per week.

If the number of passengers testing positive reaches five, the airline's flights will be suspended for a week. The suspension will last for four weeks if the number of passengers testing positive reaches 10.

The CAAC also said that the company is not allowed to transfer the original quota of flight BS325 to other routes.
Nirupa Sampath By

Express News Service

CUDDALORE: Relatives of a 40-year-old Dalit woman, whose dead body was found tied to a tree at Sriraman village near Srimushnam on Saturday evening, alleged that the deceased was raped and murdered by caste Hindu men, including a 45-year-old widower with whom she allegedly had a relationship for the past two years.

One of the victims neighbours told TNIE that the woman and one Palani (45), a widower from nearby village, were in a relationship. Palanis sons Muthuvel, Ajith Kumar and Seth were against this, especially because she was a Dalit.Five months ago, Muthuvel and Ajith tied the woman to a lamppost, beat her up and hurled caste slurs. Yet, the couple did not break up, the neighbour alleged.

An investigating officer attached to the Srimushnam police station rubbished the villagers claims. On Saturday noon, the victim went to take bath near a village temple, where she borrowed another womans phone and called Palani. She asked him to reach there with some liquor, but he refused, the officer said

Doctors who conducted the autopsy confirmed there were no injury marks on her body, and it might be a case of suicide. We also took Palani into custody for an inquiry on Saturday, he added.

Commenting on the police remarks, the victims kin said she did not have a habit of consuming liquor. We request the police to conduct a fair inquiry, they pleaded.
SV Krishna Chaitanya By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Despite the pandemic and prolonged lockdown restrictions, developmental work is going on at a brisk pace in Kovalam beach on the East Coast Road in Chennai's neighbouring Chengalpattu district.

The beach has been cleaned and solar panels are being installed as part of the Blue Flag certification process. Under the guidance of the Department of Environment, the Beach Management Committee (BMC) headed by Chengalpattu collector is monitoring and carrying out the work.

Jayanti Murali, Director, Department of Environment, told The New Indian Express that, if everything goes according to plan, Kovalam beach can create history by becoming the state's first Blue Flag certified beach.

KC Karuppanan, Minister of Environment, told the legislative assembly in March that Kovalam beach has been chosen to be developed, as per the principles of Blue Flag Beach programme in Tamil Nadu, as a pilot project.

Jayanti said periodical water monitoring is being carried out. "The water quality is generally good in Kovalam, but now with limited footfall of people due to coronavirus, the beach and coastal waters are saved from pollution. In fact, the pandemic has fast-tracked the whole process. Workers have carried out the clean-up and installation work has commenced without much disturbance. Work on pollution abatement and safety surveillance has commenced since January this year under the Beam Environment and Aesthetic Management System (BEAMS), which is a national component of Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZMP) Phase-II," she said.

She said the Union Environment Ministry has already issued orders permitting the Tamil Nadu government to install structures and facilities in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) area subject to maintaining a minimum distance of 10 metres from the High Tide Line (HTL).

Various infrastructure facilities will be set up at Kovalam shortly, including grey water treatment plant, solar power plant, solid waste management plant, purified drinking water facility, pathway/jogging track, bio toilets for men and women, outdoor fitness, bamboo seating bench and watch towers.

The Union Environment Ministry last year has announced a programme for Blue Flag certification for 13 beaches in the country. This certification is accorded by an international agency Foundation for Environment Education, Denmark based on 33 stringent criteria. It is an eco-tourism model endeavouring to provide the tourists/beach goers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, safe and healthy environment and sustainable development of the area.

What is Blue Flag certification?

1. Blue Flag certification for beaches and marinas is run by the international agency Foundation for Environment Education (FEE).

2. Blue Flag has become a truly global programme with an ever increasing number of countries participating in it.

3. FEE's Blue Flag criteria include standards for quality, safety, environmental education and information.

4. The beach must comply with 33 Blue Flag criteria in order to get the recognition. It is an indicator of high environmental and quality standards.

List of 13 pilot beaches that have been identified for the certification

Ghoghla Beach (Diu), Shivrajpur beach (Gujarat), Bhogave (Maharashtra), Padubidri and Kasarkod (Karnataka), Kappad beach (Kerala), Kovalam beach (Tamil Nadu), Eden beach (Pondicherry), Rushikonda beach (Andhra Pradesh), Miramar beach (Goa), Golden beach (Odisha), Radhanagar beach (Andaman & Nicobar Islands) and Bangaram beach (Lakshadweep).
Deepak Sathish By

Express News Service

COIMBATORE: Even as clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin are currently underway, a famous sweet stall at Chinniyampalayam in Coimbatore has come out with a public announcement that the viral infection can be cured in a day by eating their herbal Mysurpa.

It also claimed to have received good feedback for the herbal Mysurpa from people in Chinniyampalayam and Vellalore. COVID-19 patients and those with symptoms could get the sweet free of cost, it added.

The shop even declared that it's ready to share the product formula with the central government.

However, the advertisement did not go down well with officials as the health department has now launched an inquiry.

Deputy Director of Health Services G Ramesh Kumar told The New Indian Express that he is aware of the matter, adding that the advertisement claiming to be a remedy for COVID-19 could mislead the public.

He said, "This is a clear violation of the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897. At a time when the state government is sensitising the public about the measures to contain the virus spread, this advertisement could deceive people."

Ramesh said they have asked the food safety department to inquire into the matter. Efforts to get a response from the shop owner proved futile as our calls went unanswered.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Health Minister Eatala Rajender on Monday held a meeting with Superintendents of government teaching hospitals in the State to take note of their requirements to tackle COVID-19. Eatala told Superintendents of district hospitals that patients with mild symptoms should be treated there itself. Those who are asymptomatic should be placed in home isolation. The Minister emphasised that patients must not be denied entry into hospitals. Also, any requirement raised by COVID-designated hospitals will be delivered in a single day.

Nurses are feeding rice to patients at Gandhi Hospital. Such humane service is now necessary for the sick and ailing. This kind of service must be replicated everywhere, said the Minister stressing on the need to shift focus to care givers. Eatala further said Superintendents must be available at district centres at all times to address patient grievances as was being done by the Mahbubnagar Superintendent.

Also present at the meeting were Special Chief Secretary, Health, Shanti Kumari and Director of Medical Education, Dr Ramesh Reddy. Both the officials stressed upon how COVID-19 treatment and patient management needed special care. Therefore, services provided by caregivers like nurses and ASHA workers was crucial in battling the disease, they said.
Aihik Sur By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: While the Kuwaiti governments Expat Quota Bill will lead to the repatriation of around eight lakh Indians from the Gulf nation, the fate of more than one lakh Telangana natives hangs in the balance.

The people of Telangana, who are staying in Kuwait, told The New Indian Express that this move has been a long time coming owing to rise in visa frauds and increase in Covid-19 cases in that country as well as lack of jobs.

Muralidhar Reddy, a migrant activist and an entrepreneur now based in Kuwait, said that the first affected would be those living illegally in the country and those who have come in through visa trading.

Earlier, the price of visa registration was really less. But in the last 30 years, due to lack of business, companies started charging huge amounts ... around `3 to `4 lakh for one work visa, he explained. The Kuwaiti government found that in the last four years around `9,000 crore worth of transactions were defrauded, Reddy added.

Activist urges TS to approach Kuwait govt

Many workers have been coming to Kuwait on the sponsorship of on individual or company but are being forced to work in the sponsorship of others, which according to the countrys law, is illegal, he said.

According to Telangana Jagruthi (Kuwait) member Pramod Kumar, people who have been staying in the country for more than 15 years will also be affected by the decision.

ALSO READ | Telangana old Secretariat complex, built by the Nizams, razed down

Those who have been staying for more than 15 years are sure to be affected. They will be around 60 years of age, and anyhow they will not be able to work here above that age, he said.

Muralidhar Reddy added that people in that age group are more susceptible to the virus and the Kuwaiti government feels that those people may also unknowingly contribute to the spread of the virus. However, both Pramod Kumar and Reddy took solace in the fact that it will take another year or two for the rules to be implemented, but they are unsure about their future.

Reddy rued the absence of a Telangana government- headed Gulf Board, which would have been able to take up this matter with the Kuwaiti government.

If there was a Gulf board, the State and we would have been able to take this matter up with the Kuwaiti government, Reddy said while requesting the State provide its support in the issue.

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By PTI

BEIJING: China on Monday said that Foreign Minister Wang Yi and India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and reached "positive common understandings" over easing the current border situation and underlined the need to act promptly on the consensus reached by their military commanders to complete the disengagement of the front-line troops at the LAC as soon as possible.

On the evening of July 5, the Chinese Special Representative of the China-India Boundary Question, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang spoke on the phone with the Indian Special Representative and National Security Advisor Doval, a press release issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. "Both sides had candid and in-depth discussions over easing the current border situation and reached positive common understandings," it said.

"Both sides welcomed the progress achieved in the recent military and diplomatic meetings, agreed to stay in dialogue and consultation, and stressed the importance to promptly act on the consensus reached in the commander-level talks between Chinese and Indian border troops, and complete disengagement of the front-line troops as soon as possible," it said.

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 Chinese military on Monday began withdrawing troops from the Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring.

"Both sides agreed to follow the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries. Both believed that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas matters significantly to the long-term development of bilateral relationship, that the boundary question should be placed properly in the bilateral relations, and that an escalation from differences to disputes should be avoided," the Chinese press release said.

ALSO READ | 'China has moved back tents, troops at select points': Major breakthrough in Galwan Valley standoff

It said that both sides reiterated adherence to the agreements signed by the two countries and making joint efforts to ease the situation in the border areas.

During his talks with Doval, the press release said Wang stressed that both sides should pay great attention to the current complex situation facing China-India bilateral relations, and work together to "overcome and turn it around as soon as possible".

Wang hoped that the two countries can work together to guide public opinion in the right direction and advance bilateral exchanges and cooperation.

He noted that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and India. "Our bilateral relations have withstood tests and made hard-won progress. The right and wrong of what recently happened at the Galwan Valley in the western sector of the China-India boundary is very clear. China will continue firmly safeguarding our territorial sovereignty as well as peace and tranquillity in the border areas," the statement quoted Wang as saying.

India has made it clear to Beijing that the Chinese side took "pre-meditated and planned action" that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties. "It reflected an intent to change the facts on ground in violation of all our agreements to not change the status quo," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told Wang during their phone conversation on June 17.

ALSO READ| Chinas border, water rows underline its expansionism

The Chinese press release said that Wang emphasise that said for both China and India, achieving development and revitalisation is the top priority where the two countries share long-term strategic interests. "Both sides should adhere to the strategic assessment that instead of posing threats, the two countries provide each other with development opportunities," the Chinese foreign minister said.

On June 30, the Indian and Chinese armies held the third round of Lt General-level talks during which both sides agreed on an "expeditious, phased and step wise" de-escalation as a "priority" to end the standoff.

The first round of the Lt General talks were held on June 6 during which both sides finalised an agreement to disengage gradually from all the standoff points beginning with the Galwan Valley. However, the situation deteriorated 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.
By PTI

FRANKFORT: Award-winning Kentucky writer Wendell Berry and his wife sued the University of Kentucky on Monday to try to stop the removal of a mural that has been the object of protest for its depictions of Black people and Native Americans.

University President Eli Capilouto announced last month that the mural would be coming down.

The 1930s fresco mural by Ann Rice O'Hanlon shows the history of Lexington in a series of scenes, including Black men and women planting tobacco and a Native American man holding a tomahawk.

Efforts to remove the mural have been made since at least 2006. The lawsuit says Tanya Amyx Berry is a maternal niece of O'Hanlon and her oldest living heir.

The lawsuit contends that the university doesn't have the right to remove the mural since the federal government commissioned O'Hanlon to produce it.

The suit says the federal government gave the state limited rights to the artwork and those rights transfer back to the federal government if the state chooses to no longer display it.

It also asks for an injunction to prevent Capilouto from taking any action to remove the mural while the case proceeds.

Meanwhile, the National Coalition Against Censorship made public a letter that separately asks the university to halt its plans, saying it would negate the work of Karyn Olivier, a Black artist who created an installation that responds to the mural.

This is the first instance we are aware of in which the removal of a mural by a white artist will have the simultaneous effect of silencing the work of a Black artist, said Christopher Finan, coalition director, in a July 1 letter to Capilouto.

We urge you to reconsider your decision to remove the mural and to instead pursue the University's original goal of engaging in the sustained, difficult and complex conversations that can arise in contemplation of these old and new works.

 The university said in a statement that removing the mural is necessary for the community to heal and does not change history.

Our respect for Wendell Berry is deep and abiding. His contributions to our state and literature are profound. Moving art, however, is not erasing history.

It is, rather, creating context to further dialogue as well as space for healing," school spokesman Jay Blanton said in a statement.

"As President Capilouto wrote to our campus last month, after years of community conversation, 'our efforts and solutions with the mural, for many of our students, have been a roadblock to reconciliation, rather than a path toward healing.

' Berry, who lives Henry County, is renowned for his poetry novels and essays on sustainable agriculture and other subjects.

He was awarded a National Humanities Medal by then-President Barack Obama in 2011.
By Associated Press

RIO DE JANERIO: Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus' severity. Bolsonaro confirmed the test results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in capital Brasilia.

"I'm well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations," Bolsonaro said.

The president has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a "little flu" were he to contract it.

He has also repeatedly said that there is no way to prevent 70 per cent of the population falling ill with COVID-19, and that local authorities' measures to shut down economic activity would ultimately cause more hardship than allowing the virus to run its course.

Cities and states last month began lifting restrictions that had been imposed to control the spread of the virus, as their statistical curves of deaths began to decline along with the occupation rate of its intensive-care units. Brazil, the worlds sixth most populous nation, with more than 210 million people, is one of the global hot spots of the pandemic.

On Monday, Bolsonaro told supporters in Brasilia that he underwent an X-ray of his lungs that showed they were clean, and that he would be tested for COVID-19. On Tuesday, he told CNN Brasil that his fever had subsided.

Over the weekend, the Brazilian leader celebrated the US Independence Day with the nation's ambassador to Brazil, then shared pictures on social media showing him with his arm around the ambassador alongside several ministers and aides. None wore masks, despite being in close quarters.

The US Embassy said on Twitter on Monday that Ambassador Todd Chapman is not showing any COVID-19 symptoms but would be tested. Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with the US President Donald Trump in Florida. Multiple members of his delegation to the US were later reported to be infected with the virus.

More than 65,000 Brazilians have so far died from COVID-19 and more than 1,500,000 have been infected. Both numbers are the world's second-highest totals, and are considered to be undercounts to the lack of widespread testing.
By AFP

The foreign ministers of Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan on Tuesday urged Israel to abandon plans to begin annexing settlements in the West Bank, warning such action could have "consequences" for relations.

"We concur that any annexation of Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 would be a violation of international law and imperil the foundations of the peace process," the ministers said in a statement after a joint video conference.

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had set July 1 as the date when it could begin to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as well as the strategic Jordan Valley.

The move was endorsed by a Middle East plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump in January.

Netanyahu's office made no announcement on July 1 as expected, but said talks were continuing with US officials and Israeli security chiefs.

"We would not recognise any changes to the 1967 borders that are not agreed by both parties in the conflict," the ministers warned in the statement issued by the German foreign ministry.

"We also concur that such a step would have serious consequences for the security and stability of the region, and would constitute a major obstacle to efforts aimed at achieving comprehensive and just peace," they said.

"It could also have consequences for the relationship with Israel," they added, underlining their commitment to a two-state solution based on international law.

The EU has in recent weeks mounted a diplomatic campaign against annexation, highlighted by a visit to Jerusalem by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to raise concern about the prospective plans.

But the bloc cannot threaten Israel with formal sanctions without unanimous support among members.

After occupying the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel began establishing a network of settlements the following decade. Construction continues to this day.

Despite being viewed as illegal under international law, the settler population has jumped by 50 percent over the past decade.
By ANI

THE HAGUE: China's ethnic minority community, the Uighurs, have finally approached the the International Criminal Court seeking justice for human rights against them.

The New York Times reported that a team of London-based lawyers representing two Uighur activist groups have filed a complaint against China for repatriating thousands of Uighurs through unlawful arrests in or deportation from Cambodia and Tajikistan. This is for the first time that an international court's help is being taken against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The two Uighur groups are the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM). They campaign for independence for Xinjiang, which they call as East Turkestan, the name of two short-lived Uighur republics.

The EETGE said, "Uighur victims have been unlawfully deported into occupied East Turkistan from Tajikistan and Cambodia. Upon return to China, they have been subjected to crimes together with many other detained Uighurs including murder, unlawful imprisonment, torture, forced birth control and sterilisation and forced marriages."

ALSO READ | Politicians across the globe call for UN probe on forced birth control on China's Uighur population

The 80-page complaint includes a list of more than 30 Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, whom the exiled Uighurs have held responsible.

"The crimes committed against the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Turkic peoples which should be investigated include -- massacres, mass internment camps, torture, disappearances, forced birth control and sterilisation, forcible transfer of children from their families to Chinese state orphanages and boarding schools, measures aimed at eliminating the use of the Uyghur and other Turkic languages in schools, enhanced surveillance of Uighurs and other Turkic peoples significantly beyond that experienced by Han Chinese, repressive measures against Islam, and organ harvesting," the ETGE said.

"This can become a critical case because for so long it has been assumed that nothing could be done to hold China accountable at an international court," Rodney Dixon, a British lawyer representing the cases, was quoted as saying.

The ETGE has listed witness accounts and descriptions of "brutal torture through electrocution, humiliation in the form of being forced to eat pork and drink alcohol, mandatory insertion of IUD birth control for Uighur women of child-bearing age -- of which there is recent evidence of a major increase. An estimated 500,000 Uighur children being separated from their families and sent to 'orphanage camps', where there have been credible reports of attempted suicide by the children".

ALSO READ | 'We're next': China's national security law in Hong Kong sends chills through Taiwan

The applicants believe that with the court's order the victims of genocide and several other atrocities will finally see justice.

However, it is hard to say when the ethnic community will get justice as China does not recognise the court's jurisdiction because it is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

Speaking on the jurisdiction issue, Dixon said, "The filing on behalf of the East Turkistan government in exile confirms that the ICC has jurisdiction over international crimes allegedly committed against the Uighur and other Turkic peoples. For too long it was assumed that nothing could be done by the world's criminal court."

"There is now a clear legal pathway to justice for the millions of Uighurs who are allegedly being persecuted on mass by the Chinese authorities. It is a breakthrough and momentous opportunity which we urge the ICC Prosecutor to pursue without delay. This chance should not be squandered," added Dixon.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Prominent American academicians and lawmakers have reacted sharply to the new US guideline to kick out foreign students pursuing degrees in the country if their universities switch to online-only classes, calling it as "horrifying" and "cruel."

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday 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 referring to the September to December semester.

The decision will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students in the US.

It said 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.

ALSO READ | Foreign students in US will be asked to leave country if classes have gone online due to COVID-19

The new regulation drew widespread backlash with many taking to social media to vent their anger.

The American Council on Education (ACE), which represents university presidents, said the guidelines are "horrifying" and will result in confusion as schools look for ways to reopen safely.

"On its face, the guidance released by the ICE is horrifying. While we would welcome more clarity about international students studying in the United States, this guidance raises more questions than it answers and unfortunately does more harm than good," ACE President Ted Mitchell said in a statement.

"Regrettably, this guidance provides confusion and complexity rather than certainty and clarity," Mitchell said.

Of particular concern is a stipulation saying students won't be exempt from the rules even if an outbreak forces their schools online during the fall term.

It's unclear what would happen if a student ended up in that scenario but faced travel restrictions from their home country, said Terry Hartle, the council's senior vice president.

"ICE is clearly creating an incentive for institutions to reopen, regardless of whether or not the circumstances of the pandemic warrant it."

The rule applies to holders of F-1 and M-1 non-immigrant visas, which allow non-immigrant students to pursue academic and vocational coursework, respectively.

Harvard University President Larry Bacow said in a statement that "we are deeply concerned that the guidance issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement imposes a blunt, one-size-fits-all approach to a complex problem giving international students, particularly those in online programs, few options beyond leaving the country or transferring schools."

More than 1 million of the country's higher education students come from overseas, according to the nonprofit Institute of International Education.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted that "kicking international students out of the US during a global pandemic because their colleges are moving classes online for physical distancing hurts students.

"It's senseless, cruel, and xenophobic. @ICEgov and @DHSgov must drop this policy immediately."

Senator Bernie Sanders was also quick to attack the new guidelines.

Sanders, the Vermont independent, said the "cruelty of this White House knows no bounds."

"Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported," Sanders said in a tweet.

"We must stand up to Trump's bigotry. We must keep all our students safe."

The move also drew immediate criticism from immigration advocates who say it is part of the Trump administration's ongoing attempt to restrict legal and illegal immigration, the USA Today reported.

The new policy is "clearly designed to chase foreign students out of the United States and to bar foreign students who were coming to the US from entering the country if the schools they are going to are only online," said Charles Kuck, an Atlanta-based immigration lawyer and representative of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, an advocacy group.

According to immigration lawyer Fiona McEntee, the decision is especially puzzling given the value of foreign students, which is quantifiable economically, the National Public Radio reported.

McEntee added that losing foreign students is a huge blow to university budgets, something that will impact domestic students as well.

Similarly, the decision to attend classes in person impacts all students present, the report added.

According to an economic analysis by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, international students studying at US colleges and universities contributed USD 41 billion and supported 458,290 jobs during the 2018-2019 academic year, the report said.

The NAFSA blasted the rules and said schools should be given the authority to make decisions that are right for their own campuses.

It said the guidance "is harmful to international students at risk."

New York-based immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta tweeted that "Students who attend schools that operate completely online will not be allowed to receive F-1 visas or enter in F-1 status or maintain F-1 status in the fall 2020 semester. So Trump is forcing foreign students to study in unsafe conditions during COVID-19."

Dozens of colleges have said they plan to offer at least some classes in person this fall, but some say it's too risky.

The announcement is the Trump administration's latest COVID-19 pandemic-related strike against legal immigration.

Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will suspend temporary visas for foreign workers, including the popular H-1B and the J-1 visas until the end of 2020.
By Agencies

TOKYO: Japan's disaster management agency says the death toll from recent flooding has risen to 50 and at least a dozen others are still missing.

Pounding rain since late Friday in Japan's southern region of Kyushu has triggered widespread flooding.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 49 of the dead confirmed as of Tuesday morning were from riverside towns in the Kumamoto region.

One person was found dead in Fukuoka as the heavy rain spread across the southern area.

Rescue operations have been hampered by the floodwater and continuing harsh weather.

Meanwhile, more than half a million people were advised to evacuate across Kyushu, including riverside towns in Kumamoto city where 40 bodies were recovered.

The evacuation was not mandatory and many people are believed to have opted to stay at home because of concerns over catching the coronavirus, even though officials said shelters were adequately equipped with partitions and other safety measures.

The dead included 14 of the 65 elderly residents of the nursing home next to the Kuma River, which is known as the 'raging river' because it is joined by another river just upstream and is prone to flooding.

The river rose abruptly and its embankment gave in, causing floodwaters to gush into the nursing home, where most of the residents were bedridden or wheelchair users.

A caregiver on night duty told the Asahi newspaper that he saw the river rising in the early hours of Saturday and he and three colleagues woke everyone up and to prepare them for evacuation.

But then he heard a window break and saw water pouring in and quickly rising to his knees, he said.

He heard voices calling for help and grabbed two people to lift them above the water, which continued to rise until his arms grew numb and he was no longer able to hold them and they died, he said.

"I'm so sorry. I really wanted to help them, but I couldn't. I had no strength left," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Shunji Ogawa, a village assemblyman who regularly volunteers at the nursing home, said he joined the caregivers in helping move the residents but the water rose suddenly like a tsunami, the newspaper reported.

(With AP, PTI inputs)
By PTI

KATHMANDU: A Nepalese lawmaker was sacked by her party on Tuesday for defying its decision to unanimously endorse the constitutional amendment to revise the country's map to include three strategically key Indian territories, according to media reports.

The Opposition Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) decided to sack Sarita Giri for breaching the party whip to withdraw her amendment registered at the Parliament Secretariat against the Nepal government's second amendment to the Constitution.

A three-member panel led by party general secretary Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav recommended that the party sack Giri from both as a lawmaker and the party member, and the meeting of the officer bearers of the party took the decision on Tuesday, the Kathmandu Post said.

The Constitution amendment, which was aimed at updating the new administrative and political map of the country on the national emblem, was unanimously endorsed by the House of Representatives on June 18.

The SJP and the main Opposition Nepali Congress had backed the move by the government of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Contrary to her party's official position on the endorsement of the new map, lawmaker Giri registered a separate amendment proposal at the Parliament Secretariat.

Giri sought to retain the old map on the national emblem arguing that there was no clear evidence to claim Lipmiyadhura, Lipu Lekh and Kalapani as Nepali territories. The Samajbadi Party had asked Giri to withdraw the amendment and warned her of internal action, but Giri had refused to take back her amendment proposal.

The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8. Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory.

India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory. Nepal later released the revised political and administrative map of the country laying claim over the strategically key areas, more than six months after India published a new map in November 2019.

India had then sternly asked Nepal not to resort to any "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims.
By AFP

DHAKA: At least six tribal activists were shot dead Tuesday in an ambush by a rival group in Bangladesh's restive Chittagong Hill Tracts, where scores have died in an insurgency in recent years, police said.

Gunmen attacked supporters of a splinter group off the Jan Sanhati Samiti (JSS) insurgent movement at Bagmara in Bandarban district, about 400 kilometres southeast of the capital Dhaka, according to officers.

The splinter group's district head was among the dead and three other people were critically wounded, S.M. Mobassher Hossain, deputy head of the Bandarban police, told AFP.

The JSS is the main insurgent group in Bangladesh's three Chittagong hill districts that include Bandarban.

It fought a battle with government forces that claimed about 2,500 lives in the area from the early 1980s until a peace treaty was signed in 1997.

Despite the accord and withdrawal of most troops from the region, unrest has continued as tribal groups demand key clauses of the deal be implemented, including dismantling the villages of Bengali settlers and army camps.

In recent years insurgent groups have splintered, setting off in-fighting that has claimed scores of lives including several faction leaders.

In March last year seven people were killed during a battle in Bandarban.
By AFP

A Vietnamese man accused of "defaming" the country's leaders for broadcasting his pro-democracy views on Facebook was jailed for eight years on Tuesday after a lightning-quick trial denounced by rights groups.

Dissidents are swiftly muzzled by Vietnam's authoritarian government, which has stepped up the persecution of critics ahead of a looming leadership transition at the apex of the ruling Communist Party.

Nguyen Quoc Duc Vuong's arrest follows the detention of a number of high-profile journalists and activists in recent months ahead of the regime's five-yearly party congress, slated for next January.

The 29-year-old had spoken of his support for democracy in Vietnam and shared news of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong before his arrest last September, Human Rights Watch said.

He had broadcast videos totalling around 110 hours of airtime and posted 366 articles "defaming the Communist Party and socialism, humiliating Ho Chi Minh and other party and state leaders," the state-run Vietnam News Agency reported.

Vuong pleaded not guilty to charges of disseminating anti-state propaganda and told the court in central Lam Dong province that he had simply voiced personal views.

"The court, however, said his behaviour was a danger to society," VNA reported.

Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said Vuong's sentence was "outrageous and unacceptable".

"The government of Vietnam should cease its crackdown against bloggers and activists, and free all people they have locked away because they dared to say what they think," he added.

A day earlier the same court had sentenced three others to jail terms of up to seven years for allegedly aiming to overthrow the Communist party.
By AFP

TAIWAN: The imposition of a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong has sent chills through Taiwan, deepening fears that Beijing will focus next on seizing the democratic self-ruled island.

China and Taiwan split in 1949 after nationalist forces lost a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, fleeing to the island which Beijing has since vowed to seize one day, by force if necessary.

"The law makes me dislike China even more," 18-year-old student Sylvia Chang told AFP, walking through National Taiwan University in Taipei.

"They had promised 50 years unchanged for Hong Kong but they are getting all the more heavy-handed... I am worried Hong Kong today could be Taiwan tomorrow."

ALSO READ | National security law effect: Hong Kong libraries pull out books by pro-democracy activists for review

Over the years China has used a mixture of threats and inducements, including a promise Taiwan could have the "One Country, Two Systems" model that governs Hong Kong, supposedly guaranteeing key civil liberties and a degree of autonomy for 50 years after the city's 1997 handover.

Both Taiwan's two largest political parties long ago rejected the offer, and the new security law has incinerated what little remaining faith many Taiwanese may have had in Beijing's outreach.

Some now fear even transiting through Hong Kong, worried that their social media profiles could see them open to prosecution under the legislation.

The law "makes China look so bad, distancing themselves even further from Hong Kongers, not to mention people across the strait in Taiwan", Alexander Huang, a political analyst at Tamkang University in Taipei, told AFP.

- 'Hong Kong today, Taiwan tomorrow' -

Beijing has taken an especially hard line towards Taiwan since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), ramping up military, economic and diplomatic pressure.

Tsai views Taiwan as a de facto independent nation and not part of "one China".

But the pressure campaign has done little to endear China to Taiwan's 23 million people.

In January, Tsai won a second term with a historic landslide and polls consistently show a growing distrust of China.

ALSO READ | UK grants asylum to ex-staffer at its Hong Kong consulate, first such case after new security law

A record 67 percent now self-identify as "Taiwanese" instead of either Taiwanese-Chinese or Chinese -- a ten percent increase on the year before -- according to a routine poll conducted by the National Chengchi University.

In 1992, that figure was just 18 percent.

In recent decades Taiwan has morphed from a brutal autocracy into one of Asia's most progressive democracies.

Younger Taiwanese tend to be especially wary of its huge authoritarian neighbour.

Social media is filled with messages of support for Hong Kong's democracy movement. Some back Taiwanese independence, or highlight China's rights abuses in regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang.

Wendy Peng, a 26-year-old magazine editor who said she often shared pro-Hong Kong democracy messages on social media, said she would now avoid visiting the city.

"The national security law makes me wonder how far would China go. Right now I don't see a bottom line and there's probably none. I think it's possible they will target Taiwan next," she said.

- Universal jurisdiction -

Peng's fears are not unfounded.

As well as allowing China's security apparatus to set up shop openly in Hong Kong for the first time, Beijing's security law claims universal jurisdiction.

Article 38 says security crimes can be committed anywhere in the world by people of any nationality.

Hong Kong police have made clear that support for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet or Xinjiang independence is now illegal.

University employee Patrick Wu, 31, said he would now avoid even transiting through Hong Kong.

"It's like a blanket law, whatever China wants to define and interpret," he told AFP. "I don't know if the 'Likes' or messages I have left on social media will be prosecutable."

Last week Chen Ming-tong, the minister for Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, accused Beijing of aiming to become a supremely powerful "heavenly empire" by ordering "subjects all over the world" to obey its law.

Lin Fei-fan, deputy secretary-general of the ruling DPP, warned that "regular Taiwanese people" might now face arrest in "manufactured cases" if they went to Hong Kong.

He cited China's jailing of Taiwanese NGO worker Lee Ming-che under the mainland's own subversion laws.

Lee was arrested in 2017 during a trip to the mainland and held incommunicado for months before his eventual fate was made public.

Sung Chen-en, a political commentator and columnist in Taipei, said Beijing's new security law "creates a great uncertainty about what can be said" far beyond Hong Kong's borders.

"If everyone is watching his own expression of opinions, it creates a chilling effect on democracy," he told AFP.

"If everybody is exercising constraint, there is no freedom at all."
By Associated Press

HARARE: Zimbabwe's health minister has been fired for inappropriate conduct after he was accused of illegally awarding a multi-million-dollar contract for COVID-19 medical supplies to a shadowy company that sold the government USD 28 face masks and other materials at inflated prices.

A statement on Tuesday by the chief secretary for President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the removal of Obediah Moyo. Moyo last month was charged with criminal abuse of duty as a public officer. Zimbabwe's anti-corruption agency had arrested him following public uproar, and the government cancelled the contracts.

One of Mnangagwa's sons was forced to issue a statement denying a link to the company after photos emerged of its Zimbabwean representative with the president and his wife and sons at several events. The representative, Delish Nguwaya, and some top officials of the national drugs procurement agency also face criminal charges related to the scandal.

Nguwaya is accused of lying in saying the company was a drugs manufacturing company based in Switzerland, "whereas it was merely a consulting company with no experience in the manufacture of drug and medical products", according to the charge sheet.

Moyo, a former hospital administrator, faces a fine or up to 15 years in prison if convicted. According to the charge sheet, he "exerted pressure" on his subordinates to award the contracts worth USD 60 million last year and this year.

The scandal comes as health professionals including nurses and doctors in Zimbabwe demand more pay and adequate protective gear in a country that has long faced economic collapse. Zimbabwe has 734 confirmed coronavirus cases.
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Whippany, NJ (07981)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. Thunder possible. High 74F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 47F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
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.
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Pikeville, KY (41501)

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Rain early. A mix of sun and clouds by afternoon. Cooler. High 73F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

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Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 51F. Winds light and variable.
Champaign, IL (61820)

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Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. High 76F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

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Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low around 60F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
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Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Were going to reach a point where, really, its enough with the time-loop movies already.

Palm Springs  a mostly fun time-loop rom-com with an enjoyable dark streak thats bowing on Hulu  suggests were not there yet.

- Advertisement -

Like 1993s beloved Groundhog Day, 2014s excellent Edge of Tomorrow, 2017s fun Happy Death Day, Palm Springs gets its narrative kicks by having the same day occur repeatedly with similar but ultimately different goings on.

Directed by Max Barbakow and penned by Andy Siara, Palm Springs stars Andy Samberg as a guest at a wedding in Palm Springs, California, whos long been stuck in a loop and Christin Milioti as the maid of honor, who, eventually, gets trapped in it with him.

We meet Sambergs Nyles as he wakes in the morning, becomes interested in the bare leg of his girlfriend, Misty (Meredith Hagner), and has relations with her, which are then followed by an awkward conversation that barely seems to mean anything to him.

He floats in the pool for a while, getting drunk on beers, and later sits at the open-air wedding reception very underdressed for the occasion.

Miliotis Sarah, meanwhile, is pushing the bartender for a more-generous pour from a bottle of red.

Come on, throw me a bone, Sarah says. This isnt the day for moderation.

Its not  good wine, she is told.

I dont care.

Despite being the brides sister and, again, the maid of honor, constant-disappointment-to-her-family Sarah has no idea she would be expected to make a speech. Jumping to the rescue is Nyles, who bolts onto the stage and gives a freewheeling, optimistic speech that goes over pretty well.

Misty is very confused; Sarah is at least a little intrigued.

Nyles then captures Sarahs attention with a series of maneuvers on the dance floors that suggest he almost knows the coming movements of every other guest, including a man who passes out.

After more alcohol for both of them, Nyles convinces Sarah to go somewhere with him. We next find them outside the window to a room in which Misty is cheating on Nyles.

Why dont you go in there and stop them? Sarah asks.

Trust me, he assures her, there is not a world where these two dont end up together.

This type of talk from Nyles will begin to make more sense to Sarah the next morning when she wakes after a night with him that involves even more boozing and a very careless mistake on his part. Like him, she awakens to find it is, again, the morning of the wedding day.

Angry, she goes to find him in his room, laying into him in front of a confused Misty.

Soon, Nyles does his best to explain the situation to Sarah, and you begin to get some sense as to how long hes been stuck in this loop.

She (and you) also will come to understand why a man named Roy (J.K. Simmons) had attacked Nyles  with arrows, no less  on the boozy, fate-filled night.

When Sarah finally accepts what has happened, she goes about enjoying an irreverent-and-repetitive existence thats very Nyles-centric. And, of course, the two grow close.

Eventually, though, Sarah becomes determined to find a way out of the loop. It is a goal Nyles does not share.

Samberg, a veteran of Saturday Night Live who has spent the last several years starring on the constantly delightful sitcom Brooklyn 99 and whos a producer of Palm Springs, brings his enjoyably zany sensibilities to Nyles. He manages to elevate many of the sophomoric gags to at least near-laugh-out-loud status.

Its nice to see a significant role for always-interesting Milioti, whos had memorable appearances in everything from How I Met Your Mother to Black Mirror to Mythic Quest. She helps make Sarah easy to relate with and to root for, if perhaps not initially.

And, in only a handful of scenes, Academy Award winner Simmons (Whiplash) helps elevate Palm Springs.

Behind the camera, Barbakow and Siara  who previously collaborated on an award-winning, dark-comedy short film, The Duke, do solid work but allow Palm Springs to lose a bit of steam over its relatively short running time. Still, youll laugh more often than you wont.

Most importantly, the filmmakers use the hook of the time-loop to do some clever, creative things they could not do were this just some linear movie set at a Palm Springs wedding.

As it stands, Palm Springs is more than a little loopy, but we're a bit better off for it.
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Longview, TX (75601)

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Cloudy early, becoming mostly sunny this afternoon. High around 85F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

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Anna Aksenova, a senior research associate at the Laboratory of Amyloid Biology at St Petersburg University, has advanced a hypothesis that the severe course of COVID-19 may be associated with von Willebrand factor. It is one of the main components of the blood coagulation system. As the researcher suggests, the replication of the virus stimulates the development of microdamage on vessel walls. In its response to this, the body releases von Willebrand factor into the blood, trying to 'patch' possible holes. As a result, the risk of thromboses increases. It is with this clotting that a significant part of the deaths from COVID-19 is associated.

Nowadays, doctors throughout the world report that the novel coronavirus infection COVID-19 occurs in different people in completely different ways. Combinations of symptoms that are dissimilar, ranging from coughing to digestive disorders, make diagnosis difficult. Additionally, scientists and doctors still do not understand why people of the same age and with comparable health indicators can transmit the infection so differently from each other: some require ventilator support to stay alive, while others do not feel sick at all. One of the possible causes of this phenomenon may be a different level of von Willebrand factor (VWF) in the blood of patients.

This protein is synthesized in endothelial cells and platelets, and its main function is to form a framework for platelet adhesion. To date, the way in which the level of VWF is regulated in the blood has not yet been fully studied. However, it is known to be stored in vascular endothelial cells in special organelles, where it secretes in the form of multimers. As soon as some damage to the vessel occurs, then in order to eliminate it, a cascade of blood coagulability is launched in the body, in which VWF takes an active part." Anna Aksenova, Senior Research Associate, Laboratory of Amyloid Biology, St Petersburg University

The level and activity of VWF in the blood in people can be different. The lowest values are associated with von Willebrand disease. It is a hereditary blood disease that is characterized by spontaneous bleeding. Additionally, it differs markedly among healthy people. For example, it is higher among: African Americans than among Europeans; in men than in women; in adults than in children; and in the elderly than in middle-aged people. Also, academic papers have described the VWF and blood group relationship - its level is lower among people with blood group 0, and is higher among those with blood group A. The different amount and activity of VWF in people with different blood groups has a very interesting explanation: this protein is modified by oligosaccharide chains of antigenic determinants of the AB0 system (one of the blood group systems), and this affects its stability and activity.

Earlier, it was believed that the new type of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 affects mainly the lungs by binding with ACE2 receptors on the surface of alveolocytes (cells lining the lungs). Today, there is more and more information that something similar happens with endothelial cells - internal surface of blood vessels. Anna Aksenova explains that since the ACE2 receptor belongs to the renin-angiotensin system (it regulates blood pressure), the virus cannot but affect the blood vessels. Apparently, it is capable of causing local inflammation of the walls of blood vessels and capillaries. This results in an increased release of VWF into the blood, which, in turn, provokes clotting.

'Acute respiratory distress syndrome, which often develops in patients with COVID-19, can also be associated with VWF,' said Anna Aksenova. 'There are studies that use the example of model animals and people and suggest: the higher VWF, the higher the probability of respiratory distress. Why does this happen? Because capillaries run through the lungs, and if any thrombotic events occur there, this adversely affects the tissue functions. Excessive production of VWF can lead to the development of thrombosis, including in the capillaries of the lungs.'

Additionally, as Anna Aksenova notes, this hypothesis explains why the drug Chloroquine, which is usually used to treat malaria, in preliminary trials has shown efficacy of COVID-19 treatment as well. The fact is that chloroquine affects the process of autophagy in cells. This process regulates the secretion of certain factors into the extracellular environment, including the secretion of VWF.

'I hypothesize that the level and activity of VWF might be important predictors for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. It might also itself be involved in the disease process,' said Anna Aksenova. 'In order to confirm this hypothesis, it is necessary to carry out large-scale and comprehensive research into the level and activity of VWF in people infected with SARS-CoV-2, who have a mild or severe course of infection.'

In different countries throughout the world, academic papers currently continue to come out in favour of this hypothesis. For example, there have recently been reports that VWF is significantly increased in patients with severe COVID-19 who receive mechanical ventilation or who have thromboembolic complications. Moreover, rigorous research using GWAS (genome-wide association study) has confirmed the association of COVID-19 complications with a locus that determines AB0 blood groups. Also, the ways to reduce the amount of VWF in the blood plasma for the treatment of COVID-19 complications has begun to be discussed in scientific literature. The attention of researchers from all over the world is now starting to focus on VWF, its role in COVID-19, and new treatment regimens that will take into account the individual characteristics of the human body associated with von Willebrand factor.
Investigators at APC Microbiome Ireland (http://apc.ucc.ie) SFI Research Centre in Cork were stunned by the findings of the first microbiome study of Irish Travellers which challenges the concept of a 'normal' or 'healthy' microbiome and asks: "what is a normal or desirable microbiome in an ethnically diverse society?" The findings have global implications and will be published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine.

The microbiome is the collective genetic material of microorganisms (bacteria, yeasts and viruses) living in and on the human body, and is known to be linked with risk or protection from developing several chronic inflammatory diseases. A modern way of life increases the risk of chronic diseases, in part by influencing the microbiome. Until now, studies of the influence of modernization on the microbiome relied on transcontinental comparisons of different societies, but the story of the Irish Travellers and the changes imposed on their lives provides important new insights. Moreover, the study raises wider public health concerns for ethnic minorities, including migrants, who are pressured to change their culture and ways of life, which can have unanticipated health consequences.

Travelers have a gut microbiome which differs strikingly from that of the non-Traveller settled community. Whereas the settled or non-traveler Irish have an industrialized-type of microbiome with a relatively increased risk of chronic disease, most of the Travellers retain an ancient or non-industrialized type of microbiome which may protect from many chronic inflammatory disorders. This microbiome was strikingly more similar to people living in non-industrialized countries than to the settled Irish. Moreover, the greater the degree to which the Traveller lifestyle was adapted to that of the settled community, the more their microbiome changed from the non-industrialized type to the industrialized type associated with disease. Ethnic minorities are known to have distinct microbiomes, but the Irish Traveller study is particularly informative because it is not confounded by genetic and geographic factors.

The study investigators at UCC were Drs. David Keohane, Tarini Ghosh and Ian Jeffery, along with Profs. Michael G. Molloy, Paul O'Toole and Fergus Shanahan.

Why was the study undertaken? Prof. Fergus Shanahan said: "I have always been intrigued by the Travellers and was curious why Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are so rare among Travellers, and I wondered whether Travellers might have a protective microbiome." And so it is.

In thanking the Travellers, Prof. Shanahan said that the study represented the shared efforts of clinicians and scientists working in partnership with the insight, wisdom and input of Cork Travellers who not only participated in the study but also influenced its design and planning." He also expressed gratitude for the philanthropic support for the study.
Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, another health threat has emerged in a city in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.

Mongolia has issued a warning to residents in the western Khovd region after four people are suspected of having the bubonic plague. The National Center for Zoonotic Diseases (NCZD) states that the disease is linked to the consumption of marmots, a relatively large ground squirrel.

Marmot. Image Credit: Ondrej Prosicky / Shutterstock

The first suspected bubonic plague case was reported on July 4 at a hospital in Urad Middle Banner in Bayannur City. It is unclear how the patient contracted the virus.

Meanwhile, the second patient is a 15-year-old who had been in contact with a marmot that had been hunted by a dog.

Two other cases were confirmed in Mongolias Khovd province involving brothers who had eaten marmot meat.

The health committee of Bayan Nur City issued a third-level alert, the second-lowest in a four-level system. This prohibits the hunting and eating of animals that could carry the plaque. The public is advised to report any suspected cases of plague or fever with no apparent causes. They also asked residents to report sick or dead marmots.

Last year, Mongolia had declared a lockdown in Bayan Olgyi, in the western part of the country, after two plague cases emerged in the area.

What is the bubonic plague?

The bubonic plague, or the Black Death, is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history killing an estimated 75200 million people in Europe in the mid-1300s. Bubonic plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, a gram-negative, non-motile, rod-shaped, coccobacillus bacterium, with no spores. It can be transmitted to humans after fleas bite infected rodents, mice, and marmots.

Bubonic plague bacteria Yersinia pestis. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that people with the infection often develop symptoms after an incubation period of one to seven days. There are three types of plagues, the bubonic plague, which is the most common, the pneumonic plague, and the septicemic plague.

Bubonic plague is characterized by swollen and painful lymph nodes or buboes. The pneumonic plague may result from secondary infection of the lungs after the spread of the plague from other body sites. It causes pneumonia and may be transmitted through respiratory droplets. Septicemic plague results from bubonic plague, which may cause severe health consequences, such as meningitis, endotoxic shock, and disseminated intravascular coagulation.

In some individuals, plagues can cause severe disease, with a case-fatality ratio of between 30 and 60 percent. It is usually transmitted between animals and humans through the bite of infected fleas, direct contact with infected tissues, and inhalation of infected respiratory droplets.

The good news is, the bacteria can be treated with antibiotic treatment, but early detection and treatment are crucial. Between 2010 and 2015, more than 3,200 cases were reported across the globe, with 548 deaths. The three endemic countries include Congo, Madagascar, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. Every year, thousands of cases of the plague are still reported to the World Health Organization.

Is it another epidemic?

The world is currently grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 11.57 million infected and at least 536,000 dead. Though Mongolia reports a low infection and death toll caused by COVID-19, the emergence of the plague raised the alarm across the nation.

Bubonic cases are rare, but there can be flare-ups of the disease now and then. In 2017, Madagascar had reported more than 300 cases of the plague, but less than 30 people died. Last year, two people died in Mongolia after eating the raw meat of a marmot and contracted the bacteria.

Despite this, health officials said that it is unlikely to cause an epidemic.

Unlike in the 14th Century, we now have an understanding of how this disease is transmitted. We know how to prevent it. We are also able to treat patients who are infected with effective antibiotics. Dr. Shanti Kappagoda, an infectious diseases doctor at Stanford Health Care, said.

The International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (IAMAT) issued a warning, stating that the risk of plague is present throughout Mongolia, including the districts of Bayanhongor, Bayan-Olgiy, Govi-Altai, and Dzavhan. The transmission risk is also present all-year-round.

The agency recommends that all accommodations and camping sites for tourists should be free of rodents. Also, it urges everyone to remove food sources or potential nesting materials, avoid contact with mice, rodents, carnivores who are rodents, and dead animal tissues.
Short, frequent walks in blue spaces--areas that prominently feature water, such as beaches, lakes, rivers or fountains--may 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." 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 health--such as blue spaces--so that we can create healthier, more sustainable and more liveable cities."
In human cells, the nucleus is enclosed by a structure called the nuclear pore complex (NPC). It acts as a 'gatekeeper' controlling the transport of molecules between the nucleus and the surrounding cytoplasm (the protein-containing solution in the inside of a cell). The NPC consists of proteins known as nucleoporins; some of these, the so-called FG-NUPs, belong to the class of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and capable of forming liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), lacking a well-defined tertiary structure (that is, a particular 3D shape).

Although a lot is known about FG-NUPs, a thorough understanding of how their structure varies in time and space has been missing. But now, by applying high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM), Richard Wong from Kanazawa University and colleagues provide much-needed insights into the spatiotemporal structure of FG-NUPs.

The technique used by the researchers, HS-AFM, is typically used for imaging surfaces. A tiny cantilever is made to move over the surface; at any given time, the force experienced by the cantilever probe can be converted into a height measure. A scan of the whole surface then results in a height map of the sample. By repeatedly scanning the surface rapidly, a video of its evolving structure is obtained. Applying HS-AFM to FG-NUPs, Wong and colleagues were able to measure several of the molecules' properties, including the extension velocity of FG-NUP filaments (thread-like protruding structures), their bending angles and how they form knots.

The scientists studied FG-NUPs in normal colon cells and in colorectal cancer cells and organoids. They found that the former displayed less conformational dynamics. A particularly interesting conclusion is that in colon cancer cells, the structure of the so-called central plug is smaller, and cannot develop filamentous features as easily as in normal cells, a finding with high clinical relevance.

The results of Wong and colleagues regarding the central plug are very important and timely, as its morphology and function have been the subject of debate. The researchers now provide strong evidence that the central plug at least partially consists of FG-NUPs.

Apart from demonstrating that HS-AFM is a tool capable of visualizing FG-NUP filament motion in real time, another implication of the work of the scientists is "that bio-recycled nanomaterials [like NPC nanopores] ... have biocompatible advantages ... directly derived from cells and organoids, rather than other engineered nanomaterials [like e.g. carbon nanotubes, which may induce tumors and related pathologies] opening a new avenue for nano-tissue engineering."

[Background]

Nuclear pore complex

The nucleus of a cell is of key importance to any organism. It stores and organizes genetic information (DNA) in a way separating it from other cellular components in the surrounding cytoplasm. The nuclear pore complex (NPC), a very large protein complex dressed around the nucleus, is the 'gatekeeper' in the exchange of molecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm; it lets material pass that should reach the nucleus and blocks material that should not. This communication can happen because of pores in the NPC, structures built from proteins known as FG-NUPs. FG-NUPs do not have well-defined shapes; instead, they vary in time and space. By applying a technique called high-speed atomic force microscopy, Richard Wong from Kanazawa University and colleagues have now provided new, valuable insights into the spatiotemporal structure of FG-NUPs of both normal and cancer cells.

Atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an imaging technique in which the image is formed by scanning a surface with a very small tip. Horizontal scanning motion of the tip is controlled via piezoelectric elements, while vertical motion is converted into a height profile, resulting in a height distribution of the sample's surface. As the technique does not involve lenses, its resolution is not restricted by the so-called diffraction limit. In a high-speed setup (HS-AFM), the method can be used to produce movies of a sample's structural evolution in real time. Wong and colleagues have successfully used HS-AFM to study the dynamics of FG-NUPs, proteins playing a key role in the transport-regulating function of the nuclear pore complex situated between a cell's nucleus and the surrounding cytoplasm.
Fresh off a Caribbean cruise in early March, John Campbell developed a cough and fever of 104 degrees. He went to his primary care physician and got a flu test, which came up negative.

Then things got strange. Campbell said the doctor then turned to him and said, "I've called the ER next door, and you need to go there. This is a matter of public health. They're expecting you."

It was March 3, and no one had an inkling yet of just how bad the COVID-19 pandemic would become in the U.S.

At the JFK Medical Center near his home in Boynton Beach, Florida, staffers met him in protective gear, then ran a battery of tests  including bloodwork, a chest X-ray and an electrocardiogram  before sending him home. But because he had not traveled to China  a leading criterion at the time for coronavirus testing  Campbell was not swabbed for the virus.

A $2,777 bill for the emergency room visit came the next month.

Now Campbell, 52, is among those who say they were wrongly billed for the costs associated with seeking a COVID-19 diagnosis.

While most insurers have promised to cover the costs of testing and related services  and Congress passed legislation in mid-March enshrining that requirement  there's a catch: The law requires the waiver of patient cost sharing only when a test is ordered or administered.

And therein lies the problem. In the early weeks of the pandemic and through mid-April in many places, testing was often limited to those with specific symptoms or situations, likely excluding thousands of people who had milder cases of the virus or had not traveled overseas.

"They do pay for the test, but I didn't have the test," said Campbell, who appealed the bill to his insurer, Florida Blue. More on how that turned out later.

"These loopholes exist," said Wendell Potter, a former insurance industry executive who is now an industry critic. "We're just relying on these companies to act in good faith."

Exacerbating the problem: Many of these patients were directed to go to hospital emergency departments  the most expensive place to get care  which can result in huge bills for patients-deductible insurance.

Insurers say they fully cover costs when patients are tested for the coronavirus, but what happens with enrollees who sought a test  but were not given one  is less clear.

KHN asked nine national and regional insurers for specifics about how they are handling these situations.

Results were mixed. Three  UnitedHealthcare, Kaiser Permanente and Anthem  said they do some level of automatic review of potential COVID-related claims from earlier in the pandemic, while a fourth, Quartz, said it would investigate and waive cost sharing for suspected COVID patients if the member asks for a review. Humana said it is reviewing claims made in early March, but only those showing confirmed or suspected COVID. Florida Blue, similarly, said it is manually reviewing claims, but only those involving COVID tests or diagnoses. The remaining insurers pointed to other efforts, such as routine audits that look for all sorts of errors, along with efforts to train hospitals and doctors in the proper COVID billing codes to use to ensure patients aren't incorrectly hit with cost sharing. Those were Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, CIGNA and the Health Care Services Corp., which operates Blues plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

All nine said patients should reach out to them or appeal a claim if they suspect an error.

To be sure, it would be a complex effort for insurers to go back over claims from March and April, looking for patients that might qualify for a more generous interpretation of the cost waiver because they were unable to get a coronavirus test. And there's nothing in the CARES Act passed by Congress  or subsequent guidance from regulatory agencies  about what to do in such situations.

Still, insurers could review claims, for example, by looking for patients who received chest X-rays, and diagnoses of pneumonia or high fever and cough, checking to see if any might qualify as suspected COVID cases, even if they were not given a diagnostic test, said Potter.

One thing was clear from the responses: Much of the burden falls on patients who think they've been wrongly billed to call that to the attention of the insurer and the hospital, urgent care center or doctor's office where they were treated.

Some states have broader mandates that could be read to require the waiver of cost sharing even if a COVID test was not ordered or administered, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University.

But no matter where you live, she said, patients who get bills they think are incorrect should contest them. "I've heard a lot of comments that claims are not coded properly," said Corlette. "Insurers and providers are on a learning curve. If you get a bill, ask for a review."

Scarce tests, rampant virus

In some places, including the state of Indiana, the city of Los Angeles and St. Louis County, Missouri, a test is now offered to anyone who seeks one. Until recently, tests were scarce and essentially rationed, even though more comprehensive testing could have helped health officials battle the epidemic.

But even in the early weeks, when Campbell and many others sought a diagnosis, insurers nationwide were promising to cover the cost of testing and related services. That was good PR and good public health: Removing cost barriers to testing means more people will seek care and thus could prevent others from being infected. Currently, the majority of insurers offering job-based or Affordable Care Act insurance say they are fully waiving copays, deductibles and other fees for testing, as long as the claims are coded correctly. (The law does not require short-term plans to waive cost sharing.) Some insurers have even promised to fully cover the cost of treatment for COVID, including hospital care.

But getting stuck with a sizable bill has become commonplace. "I only went in because I was really sick and I thought I had it," said Rayone Moyer, 63, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, who was extra concerned because she has diabetes. "I had a hard time breathing when I was doing stuff."

On March 27, she went to Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, which is in her Quartz insurance network, complaining of body aches and shortness of breath. Those symptoms could be COVID-related, but could also signal other conditions. While there, she was given an array of tests, including bloodwork, a chest X-ray and a CT scan.

She was billed in May: $2,421 by the hospital and more than $350 in doctor bills.

"My insurance applied the whole thing to my deductible," she said. "Because they refused to test me, I've got to pay the bill. No one said, 'Hey, we'll give you $3,000 worth of tests instead of the $100 COVID test,'" she said.

Quartz spokesperson Christina Ott said patients with concerns like Moyer's should call the insurance company's customer service number and ask for an appeals specialist. The insurer, she wrote in response to KHN's survey of insurers, will waive cost sharing for some members who sought a diagnosis.

"During the public health emergency, if the member presented with similar symptoms as COVID, but didn't receive a COVID-19 test and received testing for other illnesses on an outpatient basis, then cost sharing would be waived," she wrote.

Moyer said she has filed an appeal and was notified by the insurer of a review expected in mid-July. Back in Florida, Campbell filed an appeal of his bill with Florida Blue on April 22, but didn't hear anything until the day after a KHN reporter called the insurer about his case in June.

Then, Campbell received phone calls from Florida Blue representatives. A supervisor apologized, saying the insurer should not have billed him and that 100% of his costs would be covered.

"Basically they said, 'We've changed our minds,'" said Campbell. "Because I was there so early on, and the bill was coded incorrectly."
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. 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." James Daley, PhD., Long School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center

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."
There are many different opinions in the medical and broader scientific community as to what works and does not work concerning the management of COVID-19 patients. Now, a recent trial published on the preprint server medRxiv* in July 2020 reports that a majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients have a high titer of neutralizing antibodies, at the time of admission, within 10 days of symptomatic disease.

Promising Therapies in COVID-19

Researchers in recent trials have described a salutary effect of the corticosteroid dexamethasone on the mortality rate in these patients, probably due to its anti-inflammatory effects. Remdesivir was also shown in a recent study to reduce the recovery time, as well as other medications and antibodies such as ribavirin, lopinavir-ritonavir combination, and interferon beta-1b.

There are significant issues with these drugs, including lack of adequate evidence as to their efficacy, their lack of availability, and their relatively higher cost. Thus, the use of convalescent plasma (CP) is being examined in many studies.

The earlier outbreaks of SARS and MERS also saw CP being used to treat affected individuals. The preclinical evidence is undoubtedly in favor of the use of this modality for the treatment of human coronavirus infections, but large adequately-powered trials have not yet been conducted.

The Study: Convalescent Plasma in COVID-19

The researchers, therefore, carried out the current study, assuming that the effectiveness of CP is due to the direct reduction of virus titer by neutralizing antibodies. This means that benefit can only occur if the patient being treated has an inadequate antibody response.

The safety of CP is another issue to be explored. The ConCOVID study was planned to discover the impact of CP on the death rate of COVID-19 patients when given early in the course of hospital stay. At this point, knowledge was scarce on the actual time when neutralizing antibodies developed, and patients were not expected to have detectable levels of these antibodies at the point of admission.

Patient and Donor Characteristics

The trial was carried out in 14 hospitals in the Netherlands, from April 8, 2020, onwards. All patients were 18 years or above, and had a positive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2 in the previous 96 hours. There were 86 patients who entered the study.

The 100 donors who contributed CP had recovered from a COVID-19 infection confirmed by RT-PCR, had no symptoms for 14 days or more, and the plasma used had neutralizing antibodies specific to the virus, as confirmed by a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) with a titer of 1:80 or more. Most donors were younger than the patients, and the disease course in their case was typically milder.

Each patient received the plasma with the highest PRNT titer available at the time of entering the study. Patients were randomly assigned to receive or not receive CP. If there was no clinical response and if the PCR remained positive after 5 days, a second dose was given at this point.

All patients in both groups received approved drugs like chloroquine, the antibiotic azithromycin, the antivirals lopinavir/ritonavir, the IL-6 inhibitor tocilizumab, and the IL-1R inhibitor anakinra.

The severity of the disease was scored using the WHO ordinal score at three points, day 1, 15, and day 30. Serum and nasopharyngeal swabs were tested by RT-PCR repeatedly.

Patients were mostly male, with a mean age of 63 years. Of the total, 13 were seriously ill and were directly admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and put on mechanical ventilation.

High Specific Antibody Titers

Of the blood samples taken at entry, 53/66 showed the presence of specific antibodies against the virus. The PRNT50 titer, measured in 56 samples, was above 1:20 in 44 of them, or almost 80%. The median PRNT titer in all measured samples was similar to that found in the donor population. The median titer in the plasma units actually used in patients was higher than that measured in the patients at enrolment.

In short, the investigators looked at another 37 samples from patients with COVID-19. All samples had been collected within 3 days of admission. The age, sex, and symptom duration of these patients were comparable to those in the ConCOVID study. Here again, about 70% of patients had antibodies to the virus, while about 62% had an Ig ratio more than 10, or a potent neutralization ability.

The researchers also wanted to see if the administration of CP speeded up the increase in neutralizing antibodies with time. They compared PRNT50 titers on day 7 with those on day 1 in 9 patients whose titers were less than 1:160 at the beginning. All of them showed a fourfold increase in titer over this period.

There was no significant improvement in the odds of death, or of severe disease, in patients treated with CP. This treatment did not reduce the time to discharge, while there were no serious adverse effects.

The follow-up in all patients, by the time these deaths were recorded, had lasted for a minimum of 15 days, while it was as long as 30 days and 60 days in 75 and 32 patients, respectively.

What is Wrong with Current Studies on CP Use?

The researchers comment, The observations we made on antibody titers in patients and donors, convinced us that a complete redesign of the study was needed and could not be resolved with a substantial study amendment. As a result, the study was prematurely ended, since the administration of CP in patients who already had high levels of neutralizing antibodies was not expected.

The study cautions against conducting similar studies without first testing for antibodies at the time of inclusion. Secondly, they point out that only 40% of donors had high neutralizing titers crossing 1:320, probably because of a milder course of disease. It is known that antibodies in plasma are diluted tenfold or more when given to an adult. This means that the titer should be adequate.

However, most current trials do not measure the neutralizing capacity of donor plasma, despite this being the gold standard. Some depend on a positive ELISA test, while others fail to test for the presence of antibodies at all.

The effect of CP may be independent of the titer of neutralizing antibodies, brought about by its inhibitory or modulatory effect on inflammation and the immune response. However, this may not be the case in these patients since immunomodulation occurs only when Ig is used at doses which are tenfold that found in 300 ml of plasma.

Implications and Future Applications

The current study suggests that when a Wantai ELISA for the virus is positive with the OD ratio at 10 or above, the PRNT50 titer is 1:80 or more. This means that if the PRNT50 is not measured, the donor will at least have a respectable titer of neutralizing antibody.

Another possible way to avoid recruiting donors with low antibody levels is to take only those who had severe disease, and to use hyperimmune Ig prepared from pooled convalescent plasma, or to separate only specific antibodies with high neutralization capacity.

In short, the study concludes, The majority of patients in the ConCOVID study already had high titers of virus-neutralizing antibodies upon enrollment in the study. This observation should trigger investigators to reconsider the design of current studies on convalescent plasma for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

*Important Notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
When an employee told a group of 20-somethings they needed face masks to enter his fast-food restaurant, one woman fired off a stream of expletives. "Isn't this Orange County?" snapped a man in the group. "We don't have to wear masks!"

The curses came as a shock, but not really a surprise, to Nilu Patel, a certified registered nurse anesthetist at nearby University of California-Irvine Medical Center, who observed the conflict while waiting for takeout. Health care workers suffer these angry encounters daily as they move between treacherous hospital settings and their communities, where mixed messaging from politicians has muddied common-sense public health precautions.

"Health care workers are scared, but we show up to work every single day," Patel said. Wearing masks, she said, "is a very small thing to ask."

Patel administers anesthesia to patients in the operating room, and her husband is also a health care worker. They've suffered sleepless nights worrying about how to keep their two young children safe and schooled at home. The small but vocal chorus of people who view face coverings as a violation of their rights makes it all worse, she said.

That resistance to the public health advice didn't grow in a vacuum. Health care workers blame political leadership at all levels, from President Donald Trump on down, for issuing confusing and contradictory messages.

"Our leaders have not been pushing that this is something really serious," said Jewell Harris Jordan, a 47-year-old registered nurse at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center in Oakland, California. She's distraught that some Americans see mandates for face coverings as an infringement upon their rights instead of a show of solidarity with health care workers. (Kaiser Health News produces California Healthline, is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)

"If you come into the hospital and you're sick, I'm going to take care of you," Jordan said. "But damn, you would think you would want to try to protect the people that are trying to keep you safe."

In Orange County, where Patel works, mask orders are particularly controversial. The county's chief health officer, Dr. Nichole Quick, resigned June 8 after being threatened for requiring residents to wear them in public. Three days later, county officials rescinded the requirement. On June 18, a few days after Patel visited the restaurant, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide mandate.

Meanwhile, cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in Orange County.

The county's flip-flop illustrates the national conflict over masks. When the coronavirus outbreak emerged in February, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discouraged the public from buying masks, which were needed by health care workers. It wasn't until April that federal officials began advising most everyone to wear cloth face coverings in public.

One recent study showed that masks can reduce the risk of coronavirus infection, especially in combination with physical distancing. Another study linked policies in 15 states and Washington, D.C., mandating community use of face coverings with a decline in the daily COVID-19 growth rate and estimated that as many as 450,000 cases had been prevented as of May 22.

But the use of masks has become politicized. Trump's inconsistency and nonchalance about them sowed doubt in the minds of millions who respect him, said Jordan, the Oakland nurse. That has led to "very disheartening and really disrespectful" rejection of masks.

"They truly should have just made masks mandatory throughout the country, period," said Jordan, 47. Out of fear of infecting her family with the virus, she hasn't flown to see her mother or two adult children on the East Coast during the pandemic, Jordan said.

But a mandate doesn't necessarily mean authorities have the ability or will to enforce it. In California, where the governor left enforcement up to local governments, some sheriff's departments have said it would be inappropriate to penalize mask violations. This has prompted some health care workers to make personal appeals to the public.

After the Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner's Office announced it didn't have the resources to enforce Newsom's mandate, Amy Arlund, a 45-year-old nurse at the COVID unit at the Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center, took to her Facebook account to plead with friends and family about the need to wear masks.

Amy Arlund is a registered nurse at Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center's dedicated COVID-19 unit. She lives in a separate zone of her house to protect the rest of her family from potential exposure to the coronavirus, and says that her husband was recently ridiculed for wearing a mask at a hardware store. (Courtesy of Amy Arlund)

"If Im wrong, you wore a silly mask and you didnt like it," she posted on June 23. "If Im right and you dont wear a mask, you better pray that all the nurses arent already out sick or dead because people chose not to wear a mask. Please tell me my life is worth a LITTLE of your discomfort?"

To protect her family, Arlund lives in a "zone" of her house that no other member may enter. When she must interact with her 9-year-old daughter to help her with school assignments, they each wear masks and sit 3 feet apart.

Every negative interaction about masks stings in the light of her family's sacrifices, said Arlund. She cites a woman who approached her husband at a local hardware store to say he looked "ridiculous" in the N95 mask he was wearing.

"It's like mask-shaming, and we're shaming in the wrong direction," Arlund said. "He does it to protect you, you cranky hag!"

After seeing a Facebook comment alleging that face masks can cause low oxygen levels, Dr. Megan Hall decided to publish a small experiment. Hall, a pediatrician at the Conway Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, wore different kinds of medical masks for five minutes and then took photos of her oxygen saturation levels, as measured by her pulse oximeter. As she predicted, there was no appreciable difference in oxygen levels. She posted the photo collection on June 22, and it quickly went viral.

"Some of our officials and leaders have not taken the best precautions," said Hall, who hopes for "a change of heart" about masks among local officials and the public. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has urged residents to wear face coverings in public, but he said a statewide mandate was unenforceable.

In Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted calls for a statewide order on masks despite a massive surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Cynthia Butler, 62, recently asked a young man at the register of a pet store why he wasn't wearing a mask.

"His tone was more like, this whole mask thing is ridiculous," said Butler, a registered nurse at Fawcett Memorial Hospital in Port Charlotte. She didn't tell him that she had just recovered from a COVID-19 infection contracted at work. The exchange saddened her, but she hasn't the time to lecture everyone she encounters without a mask  about three-quarters of her community, Butler estimated.

"They may think you're stepping on their rights," she said. "It's not anything I want to get shot over."
The 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

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, the Lucks' team used molecular machinery from bacterial cells.

Nature has already solved this problem. Biology has spent over three billion years evolving an elegant solution to detect contaminants." Khalid Alam, Study Co-Author, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University,

"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, runoff 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 the 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."
Milestone for therapeutic development of peptides against gastrointestinal disorders

The fascinating family of trefoil factor peptides brings hope to both research and industry to improve the treatment of chronic disorders such as Crohn's disease.

For the first time, a team led by ERC awardee Markus Muttenthaler from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna succeeded in the synthesis and folding of the peptide TFF1, a key player in mucosal protection and repair.

Chemical synthesis of these gastrointestinal peptides is an important step towards a better understanding of their mode of action and therapeutic potential. The study was published in "Chemical Communications". Markus Muttenthaler, ERC Awardee, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Vienna

The three known human trefoil factor family peptides TFF1, TFF2, and TFF3 are mainly produced by the gastrointestinal mucosa. Named after their trefoil-like folded structure, the molecules provide clinically intriguing properties.

Studies demonstrated that these peptides are locally produced to combat inflammation and injuries of the gastrointestinal tract by accelerating wound healing. Therefore, they have considerable therapeutic potential for gastrointestinal and other mucosal disorders such as dry eye disease and asthma as the researcher's state in an additional review article published in "ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science".

Local effects

"To date, there are two oral peptide therapeutics against diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome on the market," says the medicinal chemist Muttenthaler.

"Due to the relatively large size of the molecules, they are not being absorbed through the gastrointestinal wall into the bloodstream, and therefore can only act locally in the gastrointestinal tract without major side effects."

The trefoil factor family is "an essential starting point for new therapeutic strategies to treat chronic diseases that remain incurable", explains Muttenthaler, who leads research groups at the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Vienna and at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.

The studies are being conducted in the context of Muttenthaler's ERC Starting Grant project, which aims at disclosing the mechanisms of wound healing in the gastrointestinal tract. "Based on the chemical synthesis of the TFF peptides, we can now find answers to fundamental questions that we were not able to tackle before."

TFF1 acts as a homodimer

In their study, the researchers present the chemical synthesis of TFF1 and its homodimer, a molecule that comprises two TFF1 subunits. Only in its homodimeric form was TFF1 able to interact with mucins, main structural constituents of the gastrointestinal tract, which accelerates the closure of the mucosal barrier and its healing process.

With a length of 60 amino acids, conventional approaches were not applicable to the synthesis of TFF1. The scientists developed a new method to synthesize the peptide in two fragments and assemble them subsequently. The second challenge that the scientists had to overcome was to fold TFF1 correctly by selecting from a multitude of possibilities.

Correct folding was then confirmed through structural analysis and the TFF1 homodimer was shown to interact with the gastric mucosa. Muttenthaler and his team now work on the chemical synthesis of the other two members of the trefoil factor family, TFF3 and the more challenging TFF2, which is longer and more complex with its 106 amino acids and 7 disulfide bonds.

New possibilities for molecular design

The chemical synthesis of TFF1 is a milestone for the field since it provides more options to modify this peptide class. To date, recombinant expression was the only way to produce these molecules. "Therefore, their design was limited to the 20 natural amino acids.

Chemical synthesis now enables us to design advanced TFF1 probes to study their mechanisms of action or to optimize TFF1 towards its therapeutic applications", Muttenthaler explains.

Molecular probes are essential for a better understanding of TFF1 and its mode of action. Certain attachments such as fluorescent molecules or other reporter tags can help to study TFF1 interactions with its target proteins or receptors.

Other modifications could be used to further improve the stability of the peptides and their drug-like properties for a more efficient therapeutic application.
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 in the department of crop sciences 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 the genetics of behavior 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. And because there's quite a bit of variation in aggression among these bees, they are an ideal population to study." Matthew Hudson, Study Lead and Urbana-Champaign Professor of Bioinformatics, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois

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.

"There was one chunk of DNA where the frequency of that chunk in the hive seems to dictate how gentle that hive is going to be to a large extent," Hudson said.

"What that tells us is that the individual genetic makeup of the bee doesn't have a strong influence on how aggressive it is."

"But the genetic makeup of the society that the bees live in - the colony - has 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 acting - nature 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.
Amidst the tension between India and China at the Eastern border of India, in the region of Ladakh, Indian Air Force (IAF) is conducting air exercises at their forward airbase. A video of the Indian Air Force's advanced attack helicopter Boeing Apache AH-64E has surfaced online where it can be seen making a clean landing at the airstrip. This is for the first time, the Apache attack helicopter has been a part of air exercises at this forward base.

#WATCH Indian Air Force (IAF) Apache attack helicopter at a forward airbase near India-China border carrying out air operations. pic.twitter.com/2oAmoLBnfz ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2020

The Boeing AH-64E Apache Attack helicopter is the worlds most advanced multi-role combat helicopter. It is used by the U.S. Army and a growing number of international defence forces. Boeing has delivered more than 2,200 Apaches to customers around the world since the aircraft entered production.

It was a year ago when Boeing had announced the arrival of the first four AH-64E Apaches for the Indian Air Force (IAF) at the Hindan Air Force Station. This was followed by the arrival of additional four Apaches in the coming week, and the eight then moved to the Pathankot Air Force Station for their formal induction by the IAF, in September.

The order for production, training and support of 22 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters was finalized by the Indian Ministry of Defence in 2015. The Indian government also cleared the acquisition of an additional six Apaches for the Indian Army in 2017.

WATCH VIDEO OF BOEING AH-64E APACHE HELICOPTER:

India is the 14th nation to select the Apache and is receiving the most modern variant, the AH-64E Apache, also flown by the U. S. Army. The AH-64E has the latest technology insertions, maintaining its standing as the worlds best attack helicopter. It is the only available combat helicopter with a spectrum of capabilities for virtually any mission requirement.

For the AH-64 E, this includes greater thrust and lift, joint digital operability, improved survivability and cognitive decision aiding. It is uniquely suited to meet the commanders needs, including reconnaissance, security, peacekeeping operations, and lethal attackin both land and littoral environmentsall without reconfiguration.

The AH-64E Apache for the Indian Air Force completed successful first flights in July 2018. The first batch of Indian Air Force crew began their training to fly the Apache in the U.S. in 2018.

Also Watch:

(Image Source: Twitter/IAF_MCC)
The income tax (I-T) department has notified tax exemption on interest, dividend and capital gain incomes of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and global pension funds arising from their investment in Indian infrastructure.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) through a notification dated July 6 has widened the scope of 'infrastructure' for the purpose of claiming income tax exemption under Section 10 (23FE) of the I-T Act introduced via the Finance Act 2020.

The said section permits a complete tax exemption to certain exclusive category of non-resident investors on their income streams such as dividends, interest and capital gains.

Nangia Andersen LLP Partner Aravind Srivatsan said the section was aimed at targeting select group of investors such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority through their wholly-owned subsidiary, SWFs and pension funds so that they increase their commitment or allocations to India.

"Pursuant to the notification, investments made by these investors fund directly or through vehicles such as AIF (alternative investment fund) into as many as 34 defined infrastructure sectors will qualify," Srivatsan said.

This notification shall come into force from April 1, 2021, and shall be applicable for the assessment year (AY) 2021-22 and subsequent AYs, the CBDT said.

AKM Global Tax Partner Amit Maheshwari said considering India's need for huge investment in infrastructure, this is a good move. "This will attract sovereign funds to a more diverse range of infrastructure companies into sectors like telecom, energy, logistics, hospitals, and cold chains."

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in Budget 2020 announced tax exemption for such infrastructure investments in India.

"In order to incentivise the investment made by the sovereign wealth fund of foreign governments in the priority sectors, I propose to grant 100 per cent tax exemption to their interest, dividend and capital gains incomes in respect of investment made in infrastructure and other notified sectors before March 31, 2024, and with a minimum lock-in period of 3 years," she had said.

The CBDT notification aligns the definition of the term "infrastructure facility" with the harmonised master list issued by the Department of Economic Affairs in 2018.

"Pursuant to this notification, investing in India infrastructure would turn attractive, unmindful of hasty downgrade of the country's ratings and allow long-term stable capital to chase high-quality infrastructure projects," Srivatsan added.

Also, such a wide-ranging list of qualifying investments for tax incentives would allow capital formation to flow into social infrastructure such as educational institutions, sport stadiums, tourism, operationalise long-pending investment creation of theme based parks including food parks, mult-modal logistics parks and textile parks, he said.

Themes that resonate with the New India such as city gas distribution network, bulk material transportation pipelines, urban public transport, rail infrastructure will also qualify, he said.
The Indian 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 coronavirus outbreak. However, industry executives say a deterioration in bilateral relations since a clash along the countries' contested border last month, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, could further delay approvals.

"Various clearances are required. We are being a bit more cautious as one would imagine," said a senior Indian government official in New Delhi, when asked about the impact on investment applications since the border clash.

India's industries department under the commerce ministry, which drafted the new policy, did not respond to a request for comment.

The sources declined to name the companies whose investments are pending approvals, due to confidentiality concerns.

The official, and two other sources, said about 40-50 applications involving funding from Chinese investors have been filed since the rule change and are currently under review.

One of the sources said that multiple Indian government agencies, including the Indian consulates in China, have been communicating with investors and their representatives to seek clarifications on the proposals.

Alok Sonker, a partner at Indian law firm Krishnamurthy & Co, said at least 10 Chinese clients had sought his advice in recent weeks for investing in India, but were waiting for more clarity on the policy outlook in India.

"Uncertainty in timelines for the investment approval is dissuading parties, both Indian and Chinese, from proceeding with business as usual," Sonker said.

Last week India banned 59, mostly Chinese, mobile apps including Bytedance's TikTok and Tencent's WeChat, in its strongest move yet targeting China in the online space since the border crisis erupted last month. The move has potentially dented big Chinese businesses' expansion plans for the South Asian market.

Chinese companies' existing and planned investments in India stand at more than $26 billion, research group Brookings said in March.
Former NDB chief KV Kamath on Tuesday said Indian companies have already started making a comeback and are largely debt-free.

In an exclusive interview with Network18, Kamath said, "If I look at 2000-2010 and today, these companies are by and large free of debt. So they will go through pain, but they will come back quickly. I do not think they will have balance sheet distress, they will not end up having broken balance sheets and indeed we find some of these companies now coming back to speed in terms of what they are producing."

The veteran banker highlighted that the rural economy has been the driver for revival of the economy.

"First, I will look at agriculture because that to us is the core of India  that still is a large employer though its share of GDP has dropped over the years. I find agriculture has come back very quickly, rural India has been less affected by the health challenges and connection to the market has transformed dramatically. So, farm space, I am more optimistic about, the farm employment," he said.

The former chairman of Infosys also expressed confidence in India's e-commerce space.

"The e-commerce industry has been the backbone for these last four troubled months in terms of health channels so they have provided extreme degree of support to the economy," he said.

"Several indicators that are coming back to normal," he added, "are indicating that the rebound is faster than what most of us thought including myself and again data with the bankers indicate that; for example, two-wheelers are back to 70-80 percent of what they were. Tractors are back to 80-90 percent of what they were and mortgages other than in urban areas are also back to 70-80 percent where they were."
The contraction in the Indian economy may not be much as is being anticipated by various economists and rating agencies, veteran banker and former head of New Development Bank KV Kamath said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Network18 Editor in Chief Rahul Joshi in an exclusive interview a day after his stint as the founding president of NDB got over, Kamath said the landing because of the Covid-19 crisis will not be as hard as was being anticipated, offering a contrarian view to the numbers predicted by the likes of IMF and S&P.

I feel the landing will not be so hard. Rebound is faster than what most of us thought would be. The economy may see a shallow U-shaped recovery, he said.

While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that Indias economy will contract 4.5 percent in FY21, S&P Global Ratings has predicted it to contract by 5 per cent.

But Kamath, who was the CEO of ICICI Bank for 13 years and the chairman of Infosys for nearly four years, opined that these numbers need to be seen with a caveat, as they are based on mathematical models and it is very difficult to predict what happens next in a global pandemic scenario.

Offering a more optimistic take on Indias economic recovery, he said that he thinks it will be U-shaped but with a very shallow and short base. My initial thoughts were this would be a U-shaped with a very long base, he said,

adding that he now thinks things will come around much quicker.

Maybe next month, I would be pleasantly surprised and it is a V-shaped recovery, he told Network18, but added that hard date from more industries is needed to take a better call.

Kamath said his confidence of a faster rebound was based on a different set of numbers - high frequency data - that present a different picture about the state of the economy.

Giving a sector-wise overview, he said that he was most positive about the farm sector, which he said is already showing signs of a quick turnaround as rural India has been much less affected by the pandemic.

Large industries, too, he said may come back very rapidly as top Indian companies have never been as deleveraged as they are today.

Leader after leader talking about manufacturing getting back to 80-90 % capacity. Several indicators are showing rebound is faster. Electricity consumption, for example, is getting back up to normal levels. Two-wheelers sales and tractor sales are soaring, he said.

The veteran banker, however, said that construction, real estate, infrastructure and financial services will face a degree of pain because of the pandemic and will need a holding hand from the government to get back on the growth track.
Industry body FICCI has sought the Prime Minister's Office intervention in the immediate extension of deadline for installation of emission control equipment at captive power plants.

The deadline for installing flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) or emissions control equipment at captive power plants (CPP) to meet environment norms was June 30, 2020.

In a letter to Principal Advisor, PMO, P K Sinha, FICCI has demanded that a panel including ministries of power and environment be set up to review timelines for installation of FGD at power plants.

"A committee may kindly be constituted by Government of India, comprising Ministry of Power and Ministry of Environment (MOEFCC), to review the timelines for FGD implementation, via assessment of the requirements and prevailing bottlenecks," the letter said.

The power regulator CERC may be directed to issue provisional tari? for power plants implementing FGDs and where commission has approved change in law under the long term PPAs (power purchase agreement), it pleaded.

A mechanism for cost recovery may be implemented for power plants selling power in power exchange or under short term contracts through bidding under DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) along with extension in time for installation of FGD, it suggested.

An immediate time extension may be granted for installation and commissioning of FGDs by CPP, who may be exempted against any adverse action for non-compliance of the new emission norms in view of the 30th June 2020 deadline, it demanded.

Thermal power plants are required to meet new emission standards for sulphur dioxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx).

The deadline to meet these norms is different for different power plants but all plants are supposed to comply with rules by December 2022.

About 30 months are required to achieve commissioning of FGD after having regulatory and financing clarity, it stated

The data compiled by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for all power plants, Central, State and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) show that most of the plants would not be able to meet the deadline despite advance eforts having been taken by many, if not most of them, it submitted.

FICCI is of the view that the FGD sourcing and supply capacity becomes a critical issue.

"As you would be aware, major suppliers of FGD equipment are from outside India...the Ministry of Power order requiring prior approval of import of equipment from certain countries, presents an opportunity to manufacture in India and contribute to the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' objective and also create additional jobs which in the current scenario is welcome.

"However, as a result, it would take time for Indian manufacturers to ramp up capacity, as well as for IPPs and CPPs to redo the process of tendering and supplier ?nalisation."

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Power made prior approval mandatory for import of certain power equipment from China and Pakistan.

Power Minister R K Singh had also clearly said that power equipment imports from China will not be permitted.

The minister had said last week in a press conference that the deadline for installing FGD was already extended.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had on December 7, 2015, brought out new norms for coal-based power stations to cut down emissions of particulate matter (PM10), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) to improve the air quality around power plants.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had previously set December 2017 as the deadline for meeting the emission standards but extended it by two years as the country adopted a phased approach for thermal power plants to comply with emission norms, which involve installing FGD units that cut emissions of sulfur dioxides.
A 38-year-old woman from Bengaluru who returned home after three months of coronavirus lockdown was denied entry into the house by her husband.

The woman had been separated from her family owing to the lockdown and was stranded in Chandigarh for three months.

A few days ago, she finally managed to come home to her husband and 10-year-old son. Much to her shock, her husband told her that she must quarantine herself somewhere else for 14 days before entering the house.

Helpless, the woman dialled a helpline number of women in distress, the Parihar Vanitha Sahayavani, at midnight. The cell then counselled the husband about his misconception regarding the virus and quarantine rules. Subsequently, the woman was allowed to enter the house.

According to Times of India, the woman had filed a case with the Bengaluru city police who then insisted that the husband take her in.

The state government's guidelines for interstate travellers had been released a day prior to the woman's arrival. According to the guidelines, those arriving from other states, except Maharashtra, would be required to quarantine themselves in their homes for 14 days.

This is not the first time such an incident has happened.

The surging fears and stigma over coronavirus infection forced a woman in Andhra Pradesh to refuse entry to her husband in the house, till he underwent COVID-19 test.

The incident occurred in Venkatagiri in Nellore district when the man stuck in Nellore since the lockdown began finally returned to his home town.
Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan may be the Chief Minister but an image that has been going viral on social media proves that he is just like us when it comes to managing from home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a photo that was shared on the microblogging site by Twitter user Ganesh S, CM Vijayan can be seen working from his home office when he is interrupted by his grandson Ishan. Vijayan can be seen sitting on his table with his signature white and green, striped chair mat while the child appears to be handing over a document to his grandfather.

As per the user who shared the photo, the incident took place during an evening press conference held by Vijayan. "Work From Home problems are for all... surely for the Kerala Chief Minister. Grandson gatecrashing the daily evening press conference," Ganesh S wrote on Twitter.

Ishan is the son of Vijayan's daughter Veena and is often seen with the CM in photos on public occasions or at home. Vijayan, who has received avid praise for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic after India's first positive case surfaced in Karala, is known to be a family man and a doting father to his two children Veena and Vivek.

The Kerala CM is not the first public entity to be interrupted by a child on air while working from home. A similar incident happened to a UK's Dr Clare Wenham who was recently live on BBC discussing ways to best observe lockdown guidelines when her 5-year-old daughter crashed the interview.

READ: 'Mummy, What's His Name?' Experts Daughter Crashes Live BBC Interview in Most WFH Moment

The incident sparked discussion about parenting and the hassles faced by working parents while working from home during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, over 1.80 lakh people in Kerala are currently under home quarantine with the state recording 5.622 total cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday.
Messaging app including Telegram recently announced that they will deny law enforcement requests for user data in Hong Kong while studying ramifications of a national security law enacted last week.

While the news may bring temporary relief to thousands of Hong Kongers who were active users of Telegram, the change in heart seems to have evoked a cheeky response from fellow messaging app Signal.

The move comes in the wake of China implementing the National Security Law in Hong Kong, prohibiting what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities, or as foreign intervention in the territory's internal affairs. The legislation criminalizes some pro-democracy slogans like the widely used "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time," which the Hong Kong government says has separatist connotations.

READ: Hong Kong Protesters Raise Blank Papers to Avoid Banned 'Revolution of Our Times' Slogan

Reacting to the law, Telegram, owned by Russian entrepreneur and founder of the Russian social media site VK, decided to temporarily refuse data requests by Hong Kong authorities until an international consensus regarding the law has been reached.

Reacting to Telegram's announcement on Twitter, Signal, an not-for-profit and pro-privacy app developed by the Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC, took a dig at Telegram.

"We'd announce that we're stopping too, but we never started turning over user data to HK police. Also, we don't have user data to turn over," Signal tweeted.

We'd announce that we're stopping too, but we never started turning over user data to HK police. Also, we don't have user data to turn over. https://t.co/BBb8BYmW61 Signal (@signalapp) July 6, 2020

The tweet went viral with over 12,000 likes on Twitter and led to a discussion about data privacy and data retention. Journalist Tom Gurdy whose Hong Kong Free Press article was quoted by Signal clarified in a comment that Telegram had never shared user data with Hong Kong Police. Several users, however, pointed out that the fact that Signal did not store any user data in the first place made might make it a more reliable platform.

@tomgrundy One the contrary @signalapp doesn't store data.Therefore, it can't hand over the data even when requested.That's the difference. ANKIT SHUKLA (@india_ankit) July 7, 2020

Thats great but how about stop demanding phone numbers so you truly dont have user data to turn over at any point? Martin Vigo (@martin_vigo) July 6, 2020

Yet others pointed out that though Signal did not store user data, it collected users' phone numbers.

The debate about data privacy has rocked Hong Kong, where protesters are known to use encrypted apps like Telegram to mobilize swiftly through multiple group chats, with less risk of police infiltration, an in-depth report published by Reuters. The groups are used to post everything from news on upcoming protests to tips on dousing tear gas canisters fired by the police to the identities of suspected undercover police and the access codes to buildings in Hong Kong where protesters can hide.

Protesters have previously have expressed concern that authorities could use the movements reliance on Telegram to monitor and arrest organizers. Telegram chat groups used to organize public protests are often accessible to anyone and participants use pseudonyms.

In August last year, Reuters had reported that that Telegram had allowed users to cloak their telephone numbers to safeguard Hong Kong protesters against monitoring by authorities.

Not just Telegram, other social media and messaging apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and Twitter have also said they will deny data sharing requests from Hong kong authorities until further international consensus on the new national security policies.

(With inputs from AP and Reuters)
I was to blog about the marketing gimmicks on the label. But a bigger gimmick unraveled and everyone was getting emotional about. Unilever made a "big announcement". Its dropping FAIR (for its probable synonym) from you know which product nameevery Indian knows. Since 60% of the population uses it *drumroll*. Wondering why this move was close on the heels of its competitor Johnson & Johnson's move to ban all whitening products in Asia and the Middle East.

Alas! In time India will wake up to a world where every Indian is a changed man (woman) now. Fair is no longer the only lovely. No Classified will read Wanted Fair or Extremely White Bride. Kali shall again be just name of a Goddess. Actors and models of all shades of brown will surface (not just for playing the villain or rural roles). No one shall be bothered if Radha is gori and Kanha not.

No one would care about gore gaal or chittiyan kalaaiyyan. Fair people shall no more be the "saaf" color people. No Insta filters will whitewash you. No Youtubers will show home remedies for fair skin in just one week. Even the dark child will get the center stage. Every girl will be lovely and every boy handsome to get their dream jobs, attention, and spouse. No pregnant women will have to gulp down glasses of saffron milk to whiten her unborn child. No infants will shriek of the pain of whitening ubtans. No spending cash loads on peeling sessions and whitening drip appointments. No one will ask me to do 'something; about my daughter's dark complexion.

So much more is going to change in our daily lives. All as us can now enjoy your favorite product with the same harmless ingredients with a new name and packaging without being shamed.

For crying out loud.

Lets not kid ourselves. Did the white obsession come in that tube. Is the white reverence British hangover (of 73 years!!). Who are we fooling? This 4100 cr revenue cream was forced upon us. The tribalistic mentality was shoved down our throat by introducing this cream 45 years ago. If it was The Mughals and the British who claimed themselves fair and superior, why did WE have to internalize white supremacy to this extent and still continue to do so? It's true that we are inheritors of the wrongs of our ancestors. Nothing can be done about it, more so a reason to stop blaming the past. We are a brown country discriminating against brown. Its high time we stop insulting ourselves.

Unilever did a cosmetic to its golden geese, after feeding off on pre-existing social prejudice for years in a melanin-rich, newly empowered economy, not on moral grounds. But maybe only to sound politically correct in times of #Black lives matter. Maybe the social media movements like #DarkisBeautiful #BeautyWell Project #melaninmovement, #unfairandlovely #IndiasGotColor did create a dent there. Maybe it fears that may we go the Rwanda way and ban such products completely. Maybe because the innovative and effective ingredients are gaining pace. Maybe because the word fairness is falling out of favour and is long been replaced by whitening, lightening, brightening in other countries. Maybe because the unlawful toxic mercury bleaching cream black markets are spreading its fangs beyond Africa and the Philippines.

And talking about fairness being uncool, there is a parallel social media presence of skin forums "untabooing whitening. These are support groups of committed skin lighteners and these are fueled by a superfluity of skin products and procedures (illegal ones too) which we sold under a variety of names but "fairness", which you and me also have been buying unwittingly. Agree, whitening is a personal choice and should not be shamed. But more often than not this personal choice is stemmed from internalized colourism.

Before colorism takes another avatar we stop need to stop this whatabouterysnip off the roots of white supremacy which are entangled with gender bias, casteism, classism, even loveable. Its time fair people address this issue more than dark people. Its people of every shade take up all kinds of platforms unapologetically. We need to rework our vocabulary of beauty. We need to stop abrading our skins and self-esteem. Lets pull down this toxic relic of colonialism Lets not isolate the beauty industry as the sole cause of color-based prejudice. Lets tell the world we are a great tropical country very comfortable in our skin. Lets be colourblind when we meet peopleLets not ask the mirror, who is fairest of them all?

Once upon a time cosmetics shopping was simple. Creams meant Charmis, and talcum powder meant Ponds. Then came the 90s 'Beauty Boom', and cosmetics what was a trickle in the humble kirana shops snowballed to flood the supermarkets and malls. When you have to choose from the plethora of products, the labels come handy, at least they pose to be so. All too often, the uber-long Latin names, numbers, and symbols seem more confusing than helpful. I agree it can be daunting for all of us to try and size up the label as a whole, so you need to break it down. So grab your favorite bottle or jar of cosmetic product and reading glasses if you use one, as I walk you through it. Now, there is the "impression" side of the label which is mostly the front label, and the "information" side of the label which is at the back. I suggest ignoring the front, for now.

Lets strike off the easier ones.

#1. The Generic name of the cosmetics, like is it a night cream, or a depilatory cream (you dont want them mixed!).

#2. The name of the manufacturer and complete address of the premises of the manufacturer where the cosmetic has been manufactured. Provided that if the cosmetic is contained in a very small size container where the address of the manufacturer cannot be given, the name of the manufacturer and his principal place of manufacture shall be along with pin code. This is provided for you to send any complaints or compliments regarding the products.

#3. The distributor's or marketeer's company name and address.

#4. The place of manufacture. Sometimes the names of many countries are written. In that case, the underlined name is the country where the product information file (PIF) is kept.

#5. A declaration of the net contents or fill size expressed in terms of weight for solids, fluid measure for liquids, and weight for semi-solids. Except for a package of perfume, toilet water or the like, the net content of which does not exceed 60 ml or any package of solid or semi-solid cosmetic the net content of which does not exceed 30 grams like lipsticks. The "e" symbol following the fill size indicates its in accordance with EU requirements.

#6. An adequate direction for sale use (like for retail or in spas).

#7. Any warning, caution, or storage or any special direction required to be observed by you.

#8. A statement of the names and quantities of the ingredients that are hazardous or poisonous, if misused, separately.

#9. cosmetics which are also drugs must first identify the drug ingredient as active ingredient or Actives before listing the cosmetic ingredients with its concentration. For example, zinc oxide in Sunscreen

#10. A distinctive batch number the number by reference to which details of manufacture of the particular batch from which the product is taken preceded by the letter B. Except for cosmetics containing 10 grams or less if the cosmetic is in solid or semi- solid-state, and 25ml or less. In the case of soaps, instead of the batch number, the month and year of manufacture of soap shall be given on the label.

#11. The manufacturing license number is preceded by the letter M. It is the license for manufacturing a particular category of product.

#12.Best Before Date: If the shelf life of the product is less than 24 (30 months for international brands )it must be labeled with a best before date (date of minimum durability or minimal shelf life). The hourglass symbol can be used to indicate best before date.

If the shelf life is greater than 24 months (30 months outside India) best before is not required, and the Period After Opening (PAO) must be indicated using the open jar symbol. The product is safe to use within the indicated period after opening.

#13.MRP which should be inclusive of the GST

So, you see most ARE Self Explanatory, no rocket science here.

Then comes the ingredients list or the I.N.C.I list AH HA! The multi-syllabic jargon-filled gobbledygook (looks like I added one more) that twist your tongue and remind you of Harry Potter spells. Take a deep breath, dont try escaping as yet.

The list of ingredients, present in a concentration of more than one percent shall be listed in the descending order of weight or volume at the time they are added, followed by those in the concentration of less than or equal to one percent, in any order, and preceded by the word "INGREDIENTS".

Again this need not appear for packs of less than 60 ml of liquids and 30 gm of solid and semi-solids.

The seemingly incomprehensible ingredient names derive their terminology from a dictionary called the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients. (I.N.C.I) . This is the formulator language, complicated but more organized and universal for all cosmetic companies. For example, AQUA is water for any country irrespective of whatever they call it in their languages. Understanding it is easier than it seems and can be excelled by experience.

So, generally look out for the first 5 ingredients. They make up the volume of the product. Look out for the hero ingredient, it should be close to the top, especially, if its natural. The synthetic actives could be effective in lower concentrations too. There is no defined 1% or below the line. This imaginary 1% line is generally after the 6th-7th ingredient. Yeah, this part of the list is longer and usually contains the "key ingredient" (bummer!...I know). Plant ingredients are easy to spot because they are listed with their Latin names (always two words) and common names in brackets for example Rosmarinus officinalis, (rosemary) oil.

Finally, the fragrance is listed as fragrance or Parfum it can contain any number of ingredients that the companies need not disclose. Its changing though and companies are disclosing the constituents.

All of this information is a legal requirement so if a brand doesnt commit to these labeling requirements it may not commit to safety too.

I am not discussing good and bad ingredients here. Go ahead and explore as many labels, make friends with them. They can help you make or break your skin and help you save a few bucks. And, so that buying a moisturizer doesnt involve opening 50 tabs on Chrome and comparing not just the ingredient list and product reviews.. here are some resources/ apps helpful for decoding the INCI names and knowing more about the ingredients Skin Deep, Paulas Choice, Cosmetics Info, Chemical Maze, INCIDecoder.

I hope you are better equipped to do your own fact-finding to select the product that will do the most good for your skin. And even if you can't decipher every line of the list if the brand is an established one it is unlikely to contain the potentially harmful or toxic ingredients. Do lookout for something that you are allergic to. Inform Dont obsess. Skincare is fun because of the small moments and joys of experimenting. And I dont intend to take any of this from you

You could share the secrets and teach someone else to read skincare ingredients labels. Got any more questions? Please share in the comments

Until thenkeep exploring.

(This piece is written by Priyanka Golchha Kothari was originally published on The Skience Project on WordPress.
The Covid-19 outbreak and the lockdown was a spoilsport for so many of our plans for the year 2020. Weddings, graduation ceremonies, travel plans and what not! But a US teenager did not let the global health emergency dampen her spirit of participating in a prom outfit scholarship contest and instead documented a part of history in her dress.

Eighteen-year-old Peyton Manker was disappointed after the prom, for which she was making a dress with a duct tape, was cancelled in view of coronavirus. Manker did not let shelf her plan and themed the dress on how the pandemic has affected different people.

Her mother, Suzy Smith Manker, took to Twitter and said Peytons dress aims to tell a story.

For the past four months, Peyton has been working on a duct tape dress to enter in a contest. I knew she was artistic, but I am amazed to see the results of her dress! She based it all on the coronavirus and it tells a story. Whatever the outcome of the contest, I am so proud of her hard work and perseverance, Suzy wrote in a post on Facebook.

The coronavirus-themed dress has gone viral on the Internet as Suzy shared several pictures of her daughter's dress. The dress is complete with pockets and even a face mask which is now an apparel in day-to-day attires. Manker has a Facebook page by the name Peyton Manker Covid19 2020 Prom Dress where she is campaigning to win the scholarship. People have been pouring love and support for the teenager's creativity.
US's move asking the international students to leave the country if the classes are online has left many high and dry amid pandemic and travel bans in several countries.

Under new guidelines, federal immigration authorities on Monday said International students will be forced to leave the US or transfer to another college if their schools offer classes entirely online this fall.

The decision has drawn flak from the several quarters of the society with students being faced with an uncertain future amid a pandemic.

Senator Elizabeth Warren took strong notice of the decision and said the move 'hurts students'. She dubbed it as 'xenophobic'.

Kicking international students out of the US during a global pandemic because their colleges are moving classes online for physical distancing hurts students. Its senseless, cruel, and xenophobic. @ICEgov and @DHSgov must drop this policy immediately. https://t.co/MHYduGA1Pk  Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 7, 2020

"The cruelty of this White House knows no bounds. Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported. We must stand up to Trump's bigotry. We must keep all our students safe," Bernie Sanders wrote on Twitter.

The cruelty of this White House knows no bounds. Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported. We must stand up to Trump's bigotry. We must keep all our students safe. https://t.co/Q2MvmgJPqV  Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 6, 2020

Here are some other reactions on the decision:

This affects me and so many of my friends. The current administration is playing haphazardly with the lives of international students and we do not appreciate it.  Matthew Weatherhead (@Tails10360) July 7, 2020

I dont see the connection between online and immigration status. The government must look elsewhere to make rules.  Patricia Garcia (@triciagarcia31) July 7, 2020

Foreign students pay more tuition than US students. Today's decision seems to be motivated by xenophobia.https://t.co/59R6bwsvyv pic.twitter.com/XpbD2DIlX8  Scott Galloway (@profgalloway) July 7, 2020

I want to be surprised but I just can't. I have no words to express how angry I am on behalf of every foreign student in the US currently panicking about what this means for their studies and their lives. @SenKamalaHarris @SenFeinstein https://t.co/jwKvUN3PBf  Anne Caldwell (@historianne) July 7, 2020

It's really sad to see what the the US is devolving into. As Talleyrand would have out it, expelling foreign students it's worse than a crime. It's a mistake of historical proportions. https://t.co/PuhfQXoKU0  Daniel Munevar (@danielmunevar) July 7, 2020
A 96-year-old woman in Karnataka's Chitradurga district recovered from coronavirus in nine days and has been discharged from hospital, a health official said on Tuesday.

"The woman from Hiriyur in this district was admitted to the state-run hospital on June 27 for treatment after she tested positive. Her recovery is remarkable and she was discharged on Monday," Chitradurga health official M. Hanumantappa told IANS on phone.

"The lady seems to have contracted the disease from a 65-year-old man in her town," said Hanumanthappa but could not recollect her name.

Of the 90 Covid cases reported in the district, around 200 km from Bengaluru, till date, 52 have been cured and discharged so far, including four on Tuesday, while 38 are under treatment as active cases, with not a single death.

In contrast, Bengaluru reported 800 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking its Covid tally to 11,361, including 9,395 active, while 155 died so far.
The Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to apprise it by July 20 of its actions on a purported video of former Kanpur medical college principal making remarks against Tablighi Jamaat members and Muslims.

A bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice SD Singh gave the direction on a plea by New Delhi-based civil society Indian Muslim for Progress and Reforms (IMPAR), seeking action against former principal Arti Lalchandani of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College, Kanpur.

The bench asked the government to submit its action-taken-report to the court by the next date of hearing on July 20.

Dr Lalchandani had landed in controversy after a video clip had gone viral early last month in which she was purportedly heard making anti-Muslim remarks. After the controversy, she was transferred to Directorate General of Medical Education in Lucknow.

The IMPAR in its petition has alleged that in the video, Dr Lalchandani spoke against Muslims which is misconduct on part of a government servant and a doctor.

"She is the principal of a medical college and a senior government servant and her views may affect doctors and medical professionals working under her. Making such communal remarks is clear misconduct on her part but the state government is avoiding taking action against her," said the petition. It also sought the court's direction to the state government to take disciplinary action against her.

The state government's standing counsel, however, requested the court to grant him some time to apprise the court of the action taken against her.

In her remarks caught on camera, Dr Lalchandani was heard dubbing Muslims, being treated in one of the hospitals for COVID-19, as "terrorists who deserve to be put in jail".
Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government unveiled the country's first plasma bank at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences on Thursday, July 2. The chief objective of this initiative was to streamline access to blood plasma that is being used as one of the treatments for Covid-19. News18 explains what is a plasma bank and how it will function.

What is plasma?

Plasma is a light yellowish liquid part of the blood that helps carry it throughout the body. "Plasma is blood minus the cellular components  white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. Without these components, what remains is plasma and proteins, the liquid component, explains Dr Asha Kishore, Director, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum.

What is a plasma bank and how is it useful against Covid-19?

A plasma bank is a place that stores convalescent plasma of a recovered Covid-19 patient. Convalescent plasma has been used as one of the treatments against Covid-19. A recovered persons body contains neutralising antibodies and the plasma collected from such persons is then transfused into the body of an admitted patient.

In Delhi, public and private hospitals began plasma therapy treatments on compassionate grounds and it has showed limited improvements in patients and in some cases, it prevented their health from worsening. Delhi health minister Sateyndar Jain, who head earlier tested positive for Covid-19, received plasma therapy after which his condition improved subsequently.

According to the study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, convalescent plasma has been used successfully in the past as post-exposure prophylaxis treatment during the SARS-1 and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreaks.

As the demand for plasma increased, patients kin suffered as they had to run from pillar to post to look for recovered Covid-19 patients who were willing to donate plasma. To streamline and ease access to plasma, the Delhi government launched a plasma bank at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.

Who can donate plasma?

A person who had tested positive for Covid-19 and then fully recovered with no symptoms for the next 14 days, and is in the age bracket of 18-60 years, primarily qualifies for donation. However, that is not all. There are also certain riders. A woman who has been pregnant, people who weight below 50 kg, those with comorbidities such as hypertension or diabetes, cancer survivors and persons with chronic kidney/lung/heart or liver disease cannot donate plasma.

Those eligible can donate 400-600 ml of plasma and come back for donation within a months time.

What are the tests carried out before one donates plasma?

Since the presence of antibodies and absence of certain health complications are key to be eligible for donation, the plasma bank carries out tests on a potential donor. First, an antibody test is carried out to check if the requisite antibodies are present in the potential donors body. Not all antibodies are useful for Covid-19 treatment since the body produces some to fight other minor infections as well. It has to be tested whether relevant neutralising antibodies, useful against Covid-19, are present in the plasma. A potential donor is also tested for HIV, Malaria and Hepatitis.

How can a patients family access plasma? Who authorises its use?

As per the clinical management guidelines of the Union Health Ministry, only off label use of convalescent plasma is allowed as of now. This means that it is not a mode of treatment that has been approved and recommended as part of the various treatments. "Convalescent plasma may be considered in patients with moderate disease who are not improving (oxygen requirement is progressively increasing) despite use of steroids," read the clinical management guidelines.

For plasma, the doctors treating patients and the medical director or medical superintendent need to authorise its use. "Based on the authorisation, the plasma is provided for the patients. However, the family of the concerned patient has to find another plasma donor of any blood group, to replenish the stock in the plasma bank," said Dr Shantanu Dubey, Assistant Head of Operations at The Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.
Concerned over the rising number of COVID-19 cases in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said a "rigorous" lockdown will be enforced in all containment zones onward from 5pm on July 9.

The decision came on a day the state reported its highest single-day COVID-19 deaths with 25 patients succumbing to the disease, said the Bengal Health Department bulletin. The death toll in the state is now 807, it said.

The state government will also expand the areas under lockdown to stem the relentless spike in COVID-19 cases, said a senior official. The containment zones and buffer zones around them will be clubbed together and constitute a "broad-based" containment zone where total lockdown will be imposed from Thursday.

In this, broader containment zones (including the buffer areas) may be subjected to strict lockdown, and the following activities will be closed in this areas, which includes all offices including government and private, non-essential activities, congregations, transportation, marketing, industrial and trading activities.

A statement issued by Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Additional Chief Secretary and Chairman of Enforcement Task Force, said, Residents of the containment zones may be exempted and prohibited from attending government and private offices, in fact, their ingress and egress may be strictly regulated.

To the extent practicable, local authorities will try to arrange home delivery to the residents staying inside the broad-based containment zones. You may now delineate your broad-based containment zones. In case of Kolkata, Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Kolkata Police will have to do it in mutual consultation. In case of districts, DM may initiate similar exercise in consultation with respective CPs/SPs, it added.

Trinamool supremo Banerjee had sent a letter to the Centre to stop domestic flights till July 31 to Kolkata from those states where the number of COVID-19 cases are high. The Kolkata Airport has already suspended flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai, Ahmedabad from Monday.

Banerjee alleged that in Bengal the number of cases has increased because of the Centres poor planning while announcing the lockdown.

The statement, however, did not mention how long the fresh spell of the shutdown will last. The current phase of lockdown, in force till July 31, was largely limited to containment zones alone.

(With inputs from PTI)
Citing the Covid-19 pandemic, the central government has asked for six extra months from the Supreme Court to grant permanent commission to eligible women officers in the army and make provisions for command posts for them.

A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud will consider the request made by the government on Tuesday.

In its application filed recently, the Ministry of Defence has sought six more months to comply with the top courts February 17 verdict, which had shattered the glass ceiling by making it clear that women officers had to be treated on par with their male counterparts.

Pressing for a change in the mindset, the apex court had said the Centres submission of physiological limitation is based on flawed notion and there is no constitutional basis to deny the women officers equal opportunities.

The judgment by the Supreme Court had come 14 years after 11 women officers from the Indian Army instituted a PIL in the Delhi High Court.

The new application by the Centre, however, has underlined that it was not possible to comply with the courts orders owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, which crippled the administrative functioning of the ministry as well as within the army.

It pointed out that the nationwide lockdown, offices of the government were shut and thus the lack of staff etc made it very difficult to go ahead with complying with the directions of the court.

The plea added the government is obligated to honour the directions passed by the Supreme Court on February 17 but the situations triggered by the coronavirus outbreak held its hands and hence, it would require more time to comply with the directives.

The applicants have commenced the process of substantial compliance of the directions issued by this Hon'ble Court in earnest and in letter and spirit. However, in view of the Corona pandemic and the ensuing lockdown coupled with exigencies of services, the applicants have not been able to complete the same and requires some more time to complete the process," stated the application.

The application has sought extension of the time by another six months after May 17, which was the deadline fixed by the bench for compliance.

This Honble Court may kindly be pleased to extend the period of three months granted to the Applicant to comply with the Judgement and order dated 17.2.2020 by a further period of six months, stated the plea.

While affirming the Delhi High Courts 2011 judgment in granting benefits of permanent commission to women officers who had completed 14 years of service, the apex court bench had ordered that necessary steps for compliance with this judgment shall be taken within three months from the date of this judgment.

The judgment had opened up avenues for serving women officers as it made it clear that the government, in terms of its new policy, could not confine the entitlement of permanent commission only to those women officers who joined the forces after 2014.

The bench had held that all eligible women officers will be given the permanent commission and those not opting for it shall retire after 20 years of service with all the benefits.
Amidst mounting pressure on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to step down, Chinese ambassador Hou Yanqi on Tuesday intensified consultations with leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party to save him.

Hou met senior leaders and former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal within the past 48 hours as hectic negotiations for power sharing were going on between embattled Prime Minister Oli and dissident group led by ruling party's executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda.'

The political future of 68-year-old Oli, known for his pro-Beijing leanings, will be decided on Wednesday during the ruling party's Standing Committee meeting.

During the 45-minute meeting with Khanal on Tuesday, Hou expressed concern over disputes that has surfaced within the ruling party and suggested to work toward resolving the differences.

On Sunday, the Chinese ambassador met with senior NCP leader and former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and discussed the current political situation. She also called on President Bidya Devi Bhandari on the same day.

Both Madhav Nepal and Khanal held discussion with the Chinese envoy regarding the latest political situation in the country, aides of the two leaders said, without giving any details.

A number of political party leaders have termed the Chinese envoy's series of meetings with the ruling party leaders as interference in Nepal's internal political affairs.

"Will the democratic republic operated through a remote control benefit Nepalese people?" former foreign minister and Rastriya Prajatantra Party chairman Kamala Thapa tweeted, in an apparent reference to the Chinese envoy's meeting with the NCP leaders.

"We strongly refute all conspiracy theories that the internal political dynamics and phenomenon here in our country, even today, are dictated by this or that foreign forces," tweeted Narayankaji Shrestha, spokesperson of the CPN, shortly after the Chinese envoy met Madhav Nepal. "Nepal, as a Sovereign Country, is able to decide itself. We object & reject any tendency to intervene in our affairs."

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 NCP's executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' and Madhav Nepal.

Meanwhile, Oli and Prachanda on Tuesday held another round of talks at PM's residence at Baluwatar to sort out their differences, ahead of the thrice postponed Standing Committee meeting of the party scheduled for Wednesday.

However, PM's press advisor Surya Thapa told PTI that no conclusion was reached at the meeting. He did not provide any details.

Wednesday's Standing Committee meeting would be crucial for both the fate of Prime Ministers Oli and the NCP as well.

The two leaders had met on Monday also to sort out their differences as the party's crucial Standing Committee meeting was once again postponed till Wednesday, in a bid to provide them more time to agree on a power-sharing deal.

The differences between the two factions of the NCP -- one led by Oli and the other led by 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 Khanal, has been demanding Oli's resignation.

Last week, the 45-member Standing Committee meeting was postponed twice to allow Oli and Prachanda time to iron out their differences over power-sharing.

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.

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 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.
In a village in Mandya, between the cities of Bengaluru and Mysuru, a representative of the panchayat goes around beating drums and announcing: "People from Bengaluru and Mysuru, do not come here. If you do, you will be fined Rs 5,000."

Further south, in Chamarajanagar, villagers refused entry to government-run buses from Bengaluru.

In Chinnamulgund village in Haveri in north Karnataka, residents have formed teams of one volunteer from each household, who will all take turns to stand at the border with sticks to stop 'outsiders' from entering.

The ostracism is direct, and hurting. As Covid-19 numbers spike in Bengaluru, it is pitted in a strange battle against the rest of Karnataka  many districts that have seen recent emergence of cases among their own, trace it back to someone who has travelled to Bengaluru or has had contact with Bengalureans. And, hence, the spread of the virus.

Though the state well into Unlock 2.0, many districts have imposed a lockdown of their own making  one that says: those from Bengaluru are not welcome.

"There was a corona case yesterday in a nearby village, so we are guarding our village now. How we are doing this is, by drawing up volunteers from each household and having our own teams at the borders. We take shifts of four hours for each team," a villager from Haveri told News18.

His neighbour said that they have advised locals to not venture outside the village as well. "For the next 15 days, we have, of our own volition, closed borders and decided to keep to rules made by us. We are doing this for our own good, to save our lives," he said.

The anger against Bengaluru is such that tourists who attempted to go to Chikkamagaluru, a hilly tourist town in the Western Ghats, found themselves facing the wrath of an army of villagers. Since inter-state travel has meant quarantine on arrival, many in Bengaluru thought they could go to places like Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru  both of which are barely five to six hours away  for quick weekend getaways.

"There were 7,000 vehicles that came in the third weekend of June. Obviously, people got worried," state tourism minister CT Ravi told News18.

Last weekend, locals almost gheraoed all cars with Bengaluru registration plates.

"Do you really have to come to Malnad (the Ghats region is called Malnad locally) for masti? Is it essential in these times of corona? How many of you are not wearing masks? You are not supposed to bring children out of your homes, why are you here? Government buses go with just ten people, but eight of you here in one vehicle? Have you come to spread corona? Shall we ask the police to book you?" These were some of the questions hurled at the tourists by the locals.

Cars were asked to turn back and head to Bengaluru again, heckled by a group of almost 50 locals standing guard.

Not all of it is local, resident vigilantism. Some of it is State action, too.

On Tuesday, the district deputy commissioner (collector) of Kodagu issued an order closing all resorts, homestays and hotels for tourists. Those who are already there would be allowed to stay for the duration of their booking, but no fresh guests and fresh bookings will be allowed.

A tehsildar in Channagiri in central Karnataka's Davangere has asked people coming from Bengaluru to get tested on arrival.

These moves are happening at a time when many from Bengaluru are trying to return to their native villages.

The fresh exodus from the city is happening at that time of the month when they all have to pay rents. These are migrants who had made Bengaluru their home for years but have lost incomes and livelihoods in the last three months. Many waited it out thinking things would get back to normal. But that hasn't happened.

Highways out of Bengaluru are filled with hundreds of people in mini-tempos and luggage-autos heading back to their villages.

"We can't afford the rent now. Cases are also increasing. We will return after cases subside," said Hanumanthraju, an auto-driver who has lived in Bengaluru since 1991.

Many of them are ostracised, met with unwelcome stares and suspicion. Some villages tell them to quarantine themselves indoors for 14 days. Bengaluru now accounts for almost 60 per cent of the tally of active cases in Karnataka  and people from the rest of Karnataka want to 'maintain distance' from the capital they once aspired to live in.
A fire broke out at an office of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment at the Shastri Bhawan here on Tuesday, a Delhi Fire Services official said.

No casualty was reported in the incident and the fire was brought under control within 25 minutes, he said.

The call about the fire was received around 1.30 pm and five fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the official said.

It is suspected that the fire started in a split air-conditioner and then engulfed a sofa in room number 253 of the ministry. The office is located on the second floor of the Shastri Bhawan, he said.
Customs on Monday arrested a man, who claimed himself to be a former employee of foreign country's consulate in Kerala, in connection with the seizure of gold worth over Rs 15 crore from a "diplomatic baggage" at an airport in the state.

This seizure of over 30 kg gold at the International airport in Thiruvananthapuram has become a political issue in Kerala.

Sarith Kumar, who claimed to be working with the UAE consulate as a PRO, was taken into custody by the Eranakulam customs unit in connection with the diplomatic cargo by air cargo at the international airport in Thiruvananthapuram under the name of a person who enjoys diplomatic immunity.

On Monday, Customs personnel said they were looking for a woman named Swapna Suresh, also claiming herself to be a former employee of the consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, in connection with the case.

Following allegations of her involvement in the high-profile case, the state IT department on Monday stated that it has terminated the service of Suresh who was working as an operational manager with the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd, one of the prestigious projects of the state.

On Monday, Customs personnel said they were looking for a woman, also claiming herself to be a former employee of the consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, in connection with the case.

Following the reports of the gold seizure, the state IT department on Monday stated that it has terminated the service of Swapna Suresh who was working as an operational manager with the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd, one of the prestigious projects of the state.

"She was into a six-month contract and had ended already. However, she was continuing due to the COVID-19 and lockdown," said the IT department. Earlier, Suresh had worked as executive secretary at the Consulate of United Arab Emirates at Thiruvananthapuram.

BJP state president K Surendran alleged that the gold smuggling racket has links with the office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who holds the portfolio.

"The first call, as the smugglers were taken into custody by the customs, was from the chief minister's office. Suresh has close contacts with S Shivsanakr, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, who is also the IT Secretary," he said.

Connect the dots and it leads you to the @vijayanpinarayi's office. Swapna Suresh has powerful patrons. A crime of this nature cannot be executed without the support of higher ups, he said in a tweet.

The BJP leader also asked how a person like Sudesh who was kicked out of the UAE Consulate could join the chief minister's office at a key post. "The state special branch had informed CM about her background as she was questioned by the crime branch for forging documents in a case against an Air India official. However, he rejected all these," he said.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has demanded a CBI enquiry on this issue and alleged that chief ministers office has become the source of all the corruption and nepotism in Kerala. He later wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a CBI probe.

Vijayan said he was unaware of the factors behind the appointment of the woman and would look into the matter.

"This was a major haul that happened in the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. I would like to congratulate the Customs team that monitored the smuggling activity and seized the gold. It seems like they have details of those involved in the matter and the Customs will act soon," Vijayan said.

Dismissing the BJP chief's charge that the CMO was involved in the matter, Vijayan said his office had never entertained anyone involved in any sort of corruption and the people of the state know that.

He also said that those involved would not be able to escape and would be brought to justice. "Some people are trying to drag Chief Minister and his office into any allegation. The latest allegations by BJP state President are on similar lines. He should understand that customs is probing this case. No one will be shielded in that regard. People here understand what Chief Minister's office stands for."

"I don't know the details of the appointment of this person. Will have to look into it. However, no decision has been made in this regard with my knowledge, Chief Minister added.

Meanwhile, the UAE Embassy in India has stated it utterly condemns the attempted misuse of diplomatic channels by an individual engaged in smuggling activity.

"The Embassy firmly rejects such acts and unequivocally affirms that the mission and its diplomatic staff had no role in this matter," it stated.
The owner of an India-based ventilator firm has hit out at Rahul Gandhi days after the Congress leader accused the Centre of procuring substandard equipment from the company.

In an interview to news agency ANI, AgVa owner Diwakar Vaish said Gandhi should have done due diligence and consulted doctors before making the claim in a tweet. He added that his company is ready to provide a demo of the ventilator in any hospital.

Rahul Gandhi is not a doctor. He is an intelligent man. He should have done due diligence before making such allegations. He should have consulted doctors. I am ready to give a detailed demonstration in the hospital on any patient," he said.

Vaish accused international vendors of trying to sabotage Indian companies trying to indigenously manufacture ventilators during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We have not made the ventilator overnight. We have been in the market for three years. We have developed this step by step. This ventilator has all parameters that a normal ventilator has...Our ventilators are five to ten times cheaper than normal ventilators. A normal ventilator costs Rs 10-20 lakh. Our ventilator is just Rs 1.5 lakh Will international associations, international vendors accept this? That is why they are trying to sabotage us," he said.

#WATCH: Prof. Diwakar Vaish, Co-founder AgVa Healthcare gives a demo of AgVa ventilator after reports of problems in FiO2 levels and other technical glitches. pic.twitter.com/JcoDXvvYMR ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2020

Vaish added that if third-party installations in the ventilator were faulty and done without keeping AgVa in the loop, it could result in faulty readings, which he suspected was the case in some hospitals.

"LNJP Hospital in Delhi did not reject our ventilator. They said our ventilators do not have BIPAP and CPAP. But later they sent us an e-mail confirming that our ventilators have BIPAP and CPAP... As far as Mumbai is concerned, JJ Hospital and St George Hospital got the installation done through a third-party. They did not install it properly. Hence, their doctors could not use it. If you put diesel instead of petrol, what would happen?" Vaish said.

In a tweet on July 5, Rahul Gandhi had accused the Narendra Modi government of "wasting" the lockdown by not ramping up health infrastructure and procuring "substandard" ventilators that are crucial for critical Covid-19 patients.

Using the hashtag "BJPfailsCoronaFight", Gandhi had tweeted, "PMCares opacity is: 1. Putting Indian lives at risk. 2. Ensuring public money is used to buy sub-standard products." He had also tagged a news report about ventilator manufacturing firm AgVa providing allegedly substandard ventilators, procured using the PM Cares Fund.
Three persons were arrested on Tuesday over last week's ambush of a police team by the henchmen of Vikas Dubey and transferred a DIG, shortly after another officer accused him of having links with an associate of the gangster.

The transfer order, involving three other officers as well, did not link the move with the allegations against Deputy Inspector General Anant Deo, now posted out from the state's Special Task Force (STF) to the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in Moradabad.

But only hours earlier, Inspector General (Civil Defence) Amitabh Thakur made it known that he has written to the state police chief HC Awasthy seeking an inquiry against Deo and his transfer while the probe is on. However, no such inquiry has been ordered.

Deo was Kanpur's Senior Superintendent of Police in March when Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra purportedly wrote a damning letter, which surfaced on social media after he was killed in the ambush.

Seven other policemen were killed along with him early last Friday when they reached Bikru village near Kanpur to arrest Dubey.

The unverified letter to the then Kanpur SSP alleged that Chaubeypur station officer Vinay Tiwari had watered down an FIR lodged against the gangster. It suggested that Tiwari and Dubey were close.

Tiwari is already under suspension after police suspected that he may have tipped off Dubey about the raid to arrest him, leading to the ambush.

Police said there is no record of the purported letter, which is undated and carries no serial number. Anant Deo also said that the signature on it does not match that of the slain officer. But police said they will still investigate into the letter seen on social media.

Lucknow Range IG Lakshmi Singh on Tuesday began a probe into it, visiting the office of Circle Officer (Bilhaur), the post held by the killed DSP. The IG questioned the staff, checked records and computer data, said an official.

She also seized a computer hard disk, pen drives and some documents, the official added. Police on Tuesday said they have arrested three more people -- Dubey's relative Shama, neighbor Suresh Verma and domestic help Rekha.

Rekha's husband Dayashankar Agnihotri, a key member of the Dubey's gang, is already behind bars, arrested Sunday after an encounter in which police shot him in the leg.

Police have named 21 people in the FIR registered after the attack. The FIR also mentioned 50-60 unidentified people.

The Kanpur police released the photos of 15 criminals said to be close to Dubey. They are putting up posters carrying the pictures of these alleged criminals, most of them carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 for their arrest.

Vikas Dubey, with a reward of Rs 2.50 lakh on him, remained elusive. His posters too have been plastered at road toll plazas, including those in Unnao, Kanpur Nagar, Auraiya, Fatehpur and areas near the India-Nepal border.

Police have issued alerts in Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich and Gorakhpur to stop Vikas Dubey from escaping across the border into Nepal.

IG Amitabh Thakur has sought an inquiry into the alleged closeness between Deo and Jai Bajpai, a "frontman" of gangster Dubey.

A video clip from 2017, apparently shot while Dubey was being interrogated by the STF after his arrest in Lucknow, has also appeared on social media.

In the clip, the alleged gangster suggests he has links with two local BJP MLAs, Bhagwati Sagar and Abhijeet Sanga, and the district panchayat chief. He is heard claiming that Sagar and Sanga had helped him in the past when he faced police action. Both leaders denied this.

"My constituency is Bithoor in Kanpur and people from the adjoining village come to me for help," said Sanga, adding that on several occasions he had recommended action in support of people who were against Dubey.

Bilhaur MLA Sagar said the clip was being circulated to malign his image. The two MLAs said Dubey usually associated himself with leaders belonging to the ruling party in the state. They demanded an inquiry into the matter.
When China objected to the funding being sought by Bhutan for a Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary project at the Global Environment Facility Council meeting on June 2-3, it came as a shock to Bhutan because China's objection was based on what it claimed to be "disputed" area.

Bhutan vehemently refuted the claim and on the request of council member for the constituency of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka, the views of Bhutan were reflected in meeting highlights where it said: 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."

However, this claim by China should be equally alarming for India. This is because the 650 square kilometre wildlife sanctuary in Bhutan's eastern-most Trashigang district borders Arunachal Pradesh, which, in its 2014 map, China had shown as its own.

Significantly, in the same 2014 map that had taken a maximalist position showing China's territorial ambitions even in South China Sea, the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary and Trashigang were demarcated as being in Bhutan.

The Eastern sector of the boundary between China and Bhutan has never been disputed. The disputes lie in the Western and the Central Sector. Both countries have been discussing boundary issues since 1984 and China never made a claim to the sanctuary. Those in the know also pointed out that this was not the first time funding was being sought for the sanctuary and never has China objected to it in the past. Not until June 2020.

At the GEF meeting, China proposed an amendment while objecting to the project, saying: 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 was in June that China started claiming "sovereignty" over Galwan Valley in India too; a claim that had never been uttered since 1962. The repeated claims pushed the ministry of external affairs to issue a rebuttal at 12.45am on June 18, with MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava dismissing China's claim as "exaggerated and untenable.

Subsequently, India issued three more rebuttals to China's Galwan Valley claim. On June 20, MEA said "the position with regard to the Galwan Valley area has been historically clear. Attempts by the Chinese side to now advance exaggerated and untenable claims with regard to Line of Actual Control (LAC) there are not acceptable. They are not in accordance with Chinas own position in the past.

On June 24, after the virtual meeting at Joint Secretary-level under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (on border issues), India had said: The Indian side conveyed its concerns on the recent developments in Eastern Ladakh, including on the violent face off in Galwan Valley area on 15th June that had resulted in casualties. In this regard, it was emphasised that both sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control.

A day later, India said: "Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the LAC in all sectors of the India-China border areas and abide scrupulously by it. They have been patrolling all along the LAC, including in the Galwan Valley, for a long time."

All the statements emphasised the point that Galwan Valley not only belongs to India but that the new claim of sovereignty being made by China over it is a deviation from stated positions of the past.

But despite the statements and the phone call between the Special Representatives on boundary, NSA Ajit Doval and Wang Yi on July 5 and the subsequent disengagement in three locations on the LAC, the Chinese still seemed to stick to their position on Galwan Valley. In the readout, they said: "The right and the wrong of what recently happened in the Galwan Valley in the western sector of the India-China boundary is very clear. China will continue firmly safeguarding our territorial sovereignty as well as peace and tranquility on the border."

Similarly, it has also dug its heels on the claim in Bhutan too. In a response to a national daily, Chinese foreign ministry on July 1 said: "There have been disputes on the eastern, central and western sections for a long time and there are no new disputed areas. This statement gives an impression that the dispute over the Satkeng Wildlife Sanctuary has always existed, a claim Bhutan not only rejected but people in the know said that Thimphu also issued a demarche last month to the Chinese embassy in India via its own embassy in Delhi to emphasise its own territorial claim.

President of the Central Tibetan Administ Lobsang Sangay recently spelt out China's territorial ambitions to CNN-News18. He said they have been warning India for 60 years about China's Five Fingers of Tibet strategy.

Sangay said, When Tibet was occupied, Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders said, Tibet is the palm which we must occupy, then we will go after the five fingers. The first finger is Ladakh. The other four are Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh."

Galwan Valley and the simultaneous claims in Bhutan bordering Arunachal seem to fit this strategy and would certainly make New Delhi uneasy.
Mumbai's Covid-19 deaths outstripped China as the city toll crossed the 5,000 mark on Tuesday, while Maharashtra raced past Saudi Arabia's total corona cases, health officials said.

For the second consecutive day, Covid-19 cases in the state were in the 5,000 range, with 5,134 new patients. The number of fatalities in the state was 224, taking the toll to 9,250.

The country's commercial capital has now catapulted past China which has notched 4,634 deaths and 83,565 cases, ranking at No 22 on the Worldometer.

At the current number of cases, Maharashtra (2,17,121) overtook Saudi Arabia which ranks thirteenth on the Worldometer (2,17,108 cases), after whizzing past Turkey, and Germany over the weekend, and last month, shooting past Canada and France.

Tuesday's data works out to one death recorded roughly every 7 minutes and a staggering 214 new cases notched every hour in the state.

The recovery rate in the state changed marginally from Monday's 54.37 per cent to 54.06 per cent, while the mortality rate remained unchanged at 4.26 per cent.

The Health Department said of the total number of cases declared till date, 89,294 are active. On the positive side, 3,296 fully cured patients returned home on Tuesday - taking the number of those discharged today to 118,558.

Of the total fatalities in the state on Tuesday, Mumbai alone accounted for 64 deaths, pulling up the city toll from to 5,002 now, while the number of Covid-19 positive patients shot up by 785 cases to touch 86,509.

There were also 54 fatalities in Thane, 37 in Pune, 13 in Nashik, 10 each in Palghar and Solapur, nine in Raigad, eight in Jalgaon, five in Aurangabad, three in Latur, two each in Dhule, Yavatmal and Jalna, and one each in Ahmednagar, Nanded, Osmanabad, and Satara. One was from another state.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday inaugurated massive Covid care facilities of 3,520-beds in Bandra Kurla Complex and Mahalaxmi Race Court, including 120 ICU beds.

Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray said the state is first in the country with a majority of all beds having either ICU or oxygen facilities, even as BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation announced a healthy 44-day doubling rate for the city.

The minister also announced the deployment of robotic technology for the care of patients and security of the doctors, nurses and other health staffers, with a robot named 'Gollar' joining duty at the Poddar Hospital, giving food, water and medicines to the Corona patients there.

After touring Thane for two days, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis will go on a tour of a few other districts in northern Maharashtra from Wednesday while calling for more tests, ventilators, ICU beds, and other facilities to curb the Covid cases and fatalities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

The MMR (Thane Division) continues to see deaths and cases pile up, with a total of 6,652 Covid-19 fatalities so far, while a staggering 2,632 new patients, pushed up the number of positive cases to 151,770.

Thane cases have shot past the 50,000 mark to touch 50,829 with 1,381 fatalities - to emerge as the second worst-hit district after Mumbai in the state.

Pune district raced past the 30,000 mark by notching 30,131 patients and 926 deaths till now. The Pune division (comprising Pune, Solapur and Satara districts), which has recorded 34,901 patients and 1,292 fatalities, remains behind MMR and Thane district.

Nashik division has 652 fatalities and 12,623 positive cases, followed by Aurangabad division with 342 deaths and 8,267 cases, and Akola division with 149 fatalities and 3,274 cases.

Kolhapur division has notched 57 deaths and 2,464 patients, Latur division 60 fatalities and 1,366 cases, and finally Nagpur division recorded 20 deaths and 2,311 cases.

Among the eight divisions in the state, two - Kolhapur and Nagpur - have recorded zero fatalities on Tuesday, though both had new Covid cases, while Chandrapur and Bhandara are the only two districts with zero Covid deaths so far.

Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home quarantine increased to 631,985 now, while those in institutional quarantine went down to 45,463
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Tuesday filed a status report in the Delhi High Court informing it that salaries of March and April months of all resident doctors in hospitals run by the civic body have been paid.

The corporation also said in its report that salary for the month of March of all of its regular doctors have also been paid. It claimed that the Delhi government was liable to pay an amount of Rs 37.50 crore under the Health Plan in the first quarter.

"However, the Delhi government is yet to release this amount. Thus, due to non-release of the requisite amounts by the Delhi government, the North DMC has been unable to release the salary of the doctors," the civic body said in its report.

The report was filed pursuant to the high court's June 12 direction to the corporation to pay by June 19 the salary for March to the resident doctors in its six hospitals, including Kasturba Gandhi and Hindu Rao.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan had also asked the Delhi government to release funds to North DMC so that it can pay the April salary of the resident doctors of its hospitals by June 24.

The order had come in a PIL initiated by the court based on news reports that doctors of Kasturba Gandhi Hospital have threatened to resign as they have not been paid salaries since March this year.

The news reports also stated that recently doctors of North MCD-run Hindu Rao hospital had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over non-payment of their salaries for the months of March, April and May.

The Delhi government also filed a status report on Tuesday stating that it has released Rs 8 crore to the corporation, as directed by the court, for payment of the April salary of the resident doctors.

It further said that paying salaries of the doctors and other employees of the corporation was the sole responsibility of the civic body and the Delhi government only releases funds which it is obliged to as per budget estimate of the financial year.

The Delhi Government said that the corporations have to manage their financial affairs from the revenue they earn from property tax, transfer duty, toll tax, advertisements, parking fees, conversion charges, etc.

It said that due to COVID-19, the Delhi government was likely to face a financial burden of around Rs 1,855 crore for expenditure incurred on providing food, dry ration, shelter to labourers, migrants and homeless, creating isolation facilities, etc.

It further said that there has been a sharp decline in its revenue collection and therefore, the share of the corporations will also undergo a revision proportionately.

The Delhi government also said that the first installment of the funds allocated for the north and south MCDs under the basic tax assignment have been released to them by the Urban development department. It said Rs 212.53 crore to north MCD and Rs 112.62 to south MCD has been already released.

It further claimed that its Education department has already released Rs 147.50 crore to north MCD, Rs 97.50 crore to south MCD and Rs 75 crore to east MCD as grant in aid for the current financial year.

Besides that, its revenue department has released Rs 33.65 crore to north MCD, Rs 48.02 crore to south MCD and Rs 11.40 crore to east MCD in the current financial year, the Delhi government said in its report.

The north MCD stated in its report that there are a total of 502 regular doctors employed by it and 540 resident doctors working in its hospitals and the total liability of their salaries comes to Rs 18.57 crore per month.

"It is due to the grave financial constraints being faced by the answering respondent due to non-release of requisite grant-in-aid by Delhi government, that it is unable to discharge its onus of releasing salaries to its employees.

"It is with great anguish and distress that the answering respondent (north MCD) is unable to release salaries of its various categories of employees due to the financial constraints being faced by it, due to withholding of amounts under grant-in-aid by Delhi government," the civic body has said.
From committing his first murder in 1992 to he and his henchmen gunning down eight valiant men of the Uttar Pradesh police force, dreaded gangster Vikas Dubey had walked a long, bloody path.

With a criminal career spanning three decades, Vikas had probably signed his own death warrant. But the question is how did a small-time goon go on to build a major crime network and call the shots for so many years? His is the classic case of how gangsters and dons are born out of political greed and patronage, corrupt officials, and a system which is easy to exploit with money and muscle power.

With Vikas's death in police encounter, the larger question now is whether those among the politicians, the police and in the courts, who frequently shielded and patronised him, will ever be held accountable.

RISE OF THE BAHUBALI

The late 1980s and early '90s were the heyday of emerging caste consciousness both among the Dalits as well as the backward castes. This often led to clashes of egos and minor skirmishes among upper caste men and the lower castes. It was precisely during this period in 1990 when Vikas as a 20-year-old was first dragged to the police station after he had beaten some men from another caste for allegedly insulting his father. This was a moment when some police action might have taught the rowdy youth a lesson, but it was lost as local heavyweights intervened and got him released, without a case being registered.

The foundation in the field of crime was thus laid. Just a year later, in 1991, the first case was registered against him under section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The very next year, in 1992, Vikas hit the headlines by murdering two Dalit men. This was the first case of murder against him, registered at the Chaubepur police station of Kanpur.

Vikas was arrested, sent to jail, but was soon out on bail. For a section of upper castes, he was a symbol of pride. As his clout increased, Vikas slowly started getting political patronage. He also became a role model for many youths, and was soon able to garner a small but dedicated army of henchmen.

A LOOSE CANNON EVERY POLITICIAN WANTED TO USE

From 1992 to the next few years, as Vikas consolidated his hold in the region, he also emerged as a loose cannon, who was driven by his own motives and flamboyance. Having gained roots in the complex caste dynamics of those times, Vikas was also not shy of shifting political loyalties. As a result. he was eyed by politicians of all shades, but particularly those from the BSP and the BJP.

Competing politicians in the region approached him and Vikas continued to shift sides according to political convenience. He was important both for securing votes in the region as well as facilitating land and business deals through his network. This political patronage also helped him to often keep the police at bay or cultivate his own sources within the men in uniform.

In 1996, Vikas even joined the BSP after his mentor Harikishan Srivastava switched to the party from the BJP. Vikas emerged as a key aide of Harikishan in the area of Shivli and the surrounds.

MURDERER TURNS DON

It was the year 2000 that saw the real making of the don. Vikas Dubey gunned down Sidheshwar Pandey, the principal of the Tara Chand Inter College in Shivli town. The sensational murder was committed over a land dispute. Even before the heat in the case could die down, the very next year, Vikas did something unimaginable.

He murdered Santosh Shukla, a senior BJP leader with status of a state minister, inside the Shivli police station. The present union defence minister Rajnath Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh at the time.

The murder was said to be the political fallout of an old rivalry between Harikishan Srivastava and Santosh Shukla. In a previous election, Srivastava as the BSP candidate had defeated Shukla, a BJP nominee from Chaubepur. The two aspirants had fought each other in the 1996 assembly polls and Vikas was a key member of Harikishan's team for the BSP. During the campaign itself, Vikas had attacked a key political aide of Shukla.

A BJP leaders murder inside a police station, coupled with fact that the police failed to arrest him as Vikas surrendered in court, built greater infamy around his name. There was no looking back after that, as Vikas moved forward, amassing wealth and building a well-oiled network of moles and aides.

SLOW LEGAL TRIALS AND ACQUITTALS

As his criminal history continued to grow, touching around 60 odd cases of heinous crimes registered against him, Vikas continued to wade successfully through legal battles with the help of his political connections, muscle and money power, and associates within the system. Witnesses turned hostile and complainants denied charges in courts. No surprise then that he was acquitted in the murder that he was accused of committing inside a police station. How remarkable that no policemen saw him doing it.

The only murder case he was convicted in was that of Sidheshvar Pandey. But the conviction order was stayed by the Allahabad high court and Vikas was out on bail.

ADVENT OF YOGI SARKAR AND THEREAFTER

In March 2017, the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh and Yogi Adityanath became the chief minister. He soon declared a stern policy of zero tolerance towards organised crime and the mafia. Soon, encounters became a new norm. A bounty of Rs 25,000 was declared on Vikas Dubey, which which later raised to Rs 2.5 lakh and on Wednesday was increased to 5 lakh. He was also arrested by the UP special task force (STF), but the don was soon able to come out on bail.

Sources say since then Vikas was trying to enter the Bharatiya Janata Party. There was a section of BJP leaders that was backing his case. The efforts, however, were stonewalled by a senior party functionary in Delhi who have a family connection with the late Santosh Shukla.

The fact that genuine inputs from the likes of deputy SP Devendra Mishra, who was among the eight policemen killed, were being ignored by the higher-ups is clear indication of some support coming in for Vikas from people who matter even in administration.

But after the killing of eight policemen, and UP CM himself monitoring the investigation in the case, the escape routes had hit a dead end for the man who liked calling himself the "don of Shivli".
The construction of a road on no man's land along the India-Nepal border here has been halted, Pilibhit District Magistrate Vaibhav Srivastava said on Tuesday.

"After talks between officials of both the countries, the construction work near pillar number 38 (near Tatarpur village) has been stopped. Information about this has been sent to senior officials," he said.

Uttar Pradesh shares a 599.3 km long open border with Nepal touching seven districts - Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Sravasti, Balrampur, Sidhharthnagar and Maharajganj.

Srivastava said officials of the district administration, police, SSB DIG along with the force had gone to the border area on Sunday for inspection following which they got information that construction work was going on no man's land.

On getting the information, the officials reached the India-Nepal border, and held talks with Nepalese officials.

The construction work has been stopped, he said.

Superintendent of Police Jaiprakash and SSB DIG H N S Bisht along with Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawans accompanied the DM to the border.
After the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued guidelines on the dos and don'ts for Standing Committee meetings, the Rajya Sabha has also drawn up a protocol taking into account the Covid-19 situation.

The development comes after a series of meetings between Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Rajya Sabha Secretary General and other officers, after which a list of what can be allowed was prepared.

The most important aspect is to ensure that attendees maintain social distancing, with protocol mandating that a distance of six feet be maintained between two persons.

Second, only two officials from a ministry or department would be allowed in the meeting. In case more than two officers are available, they will have to wait outside the venue and can enter in turns. There is no restriction on the number of personnel from a said ministry/department who can be examined by the committees.

No hard copies of documents, papers and reports would be allowed to be brought to the meeting. If the material needs to be distributed, soft copies will be circulated.

Those taking verbatim notes of the meeting will be accommodated in the well of the committee rooms. Attendance of the members would also be marked outside Committee rooms. Committee branches would be advised to keep their supporting staff at the minimum to avoid any violation of Covid-19 rules.

It will be important for members to confirm their presence or absence from a scheduled meeting well in advance so that the administration in Parliament is aware and logistics and other arrangements can be made.

Hand sanitisers, disposable gloves, face covers/masks would be made available for all members, secretariat staff and officials attending the meetings and would be kept outside the room. Sources told News18 that after the meeting, no tea/refreshments/lunch would be served as was the practice earlier.

No decision has been taken so far on how the monsoon session will be held with no vaccine available yet and coronavirus cases continuing to rise. The government, which decides when to hold a session as it is its prerogative, hasn't fixed a date so far and no Cabinet Committee for Parliamentary Affairs meeting has been conducted till now.

However, sources that the dates could be as early as the last week of August or the first week of September. The Budget session was abruptly declared sine die on March 23 because of the Covid-19 situation. Subsequently, the midnight lockdown was declared by the government that very night.

No Parliament Committee meetings were held in these 100-plus days as the lockdown and travel restrictions are still in place in many parts of the country. The rising cases in Delhi have meant not too many MPs were willing to travel for Committee meetings.

In fact, the Home Committee chaired by Congress Deputy Leader of Opposition Anand Sharma was to take place on June 3 but was called off on account of members expressing inability to attend the meeting in view of the prevailing situation.

Both Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman had communicated that virtual meetings of Parliamentary Committees could not be allowed because of the confidentiality clause and the same could only be altered by the Parliament.

Meanwhile, DMK Lok Sabha MP Dayanidhi Maran has again requested for virtual meetings of the Home Committee of which he is a member. The former Union minister has also written to Committee Chairman Anand Sharma seeking exemption from the protocol/SOPs to follow quarantine in case of a visit to Delhi and then back to his home in Chennai, saying this will further risk him to being exposed to the virus.

However, the Committee on Home Affairs would now take place on July 15. Prior to that, a meeting of the Committee on Science and Technology, as well as Environment and Forests, has been convened by Congress MP & Chairman of the committee, Jairam Ramesh on July 10. This Committee has taken up the crucial and pressing matter of Covid 19 - what has been done so far and the road ahead.

Several top officials, including the principal Scientific Advisor of the Union government, have been asked to be present before the Committee. Lok Sabha-related Standing Committees resumed function after more than three months. Notably, the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) had met last week in Parliament.

As everyone waits for the dates to be announced and session to resume, these Committee meetings under strict protocols will equip the authorities to plan ahead.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the central government that they must make a "complete" compliance and not just "substantial" compliance with the court orders to give permanent commissions and command posts to eligible women officers in the army

Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, it gave government one more month to implement its orders while taking on record a statement that the directives will be complied with in letter and spirit.

A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud took exception to the Centre's application which stated that efforts are being made for "substantial" compliance with the directions issued by the court in its February 17 verdict.

"What do you mean when you use the term 'substantial compliance'? There is nothing called as 'substantial compliance' after the court has passed its orders. You must have to fully comply," Justice Chandrachud told senior lawyer R Balasubramanian, who appeared for the Ministry of Defence.

The bench's poser came after senior lawyers Meenakshi Lekhi and Meenakshi Arora expressed their apprehensions regarding the manner in which the government was trying to overreach the court orders.

The lawyers, appearing for the women officers, contended that the criteria of physical standards that were discontinued by army in 2011 have now been reintroduced only to deny benefits of permanent commission to women officers who have been in service for more than 10 years.

They brought it back on the premise of gender parity only to defeat the purpose of this judgment thereby compelling a 40 or a 45-year-old woman officer compete with their male counterparts in terms of physical standards, they said.

On his part, Subramanian assured the bench that there is no attempt to overreach the orders of the apex court and that the final executing orders will be issued by the government at any time now.

"The government will never try to overreach the orders of this court. We will comply with court orders in letter and spirit," submitted Subramanian.

The bench then took on record Subramanian's statement and gave them one more month to implement the order.

In its application, MoD had asked for six extra months from the Supreme Court to grant permanent commission to eligible women officers in the army and make provisions for command posts for them.

The application by the Centre underlined that it was not possible to comply with the courts orders owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, which crippled the administrative functioning of the ministry as well as within the army.

"The applicants have commenced the process of substantial compliance of the directions issued by this Hon'ble Court in earnest and in letter and spirit. However in view of the Corona pandemic and the ensuing lockdown coupled with exigencies of services, the applicants have not been able to complete the same and requires some more time to complete the process," stated the application.
Evening is Asawari Kulkarni's favorite time of the day. She spends it sipping green tea with her new partner Anil Yardi.

Kulkarni had an active social life but, after several years of being single, the 68-year-old divorcee felt she needed someone at home.

"As evening fell, I'd get worried about my health and being alone at home and my safety," said the former insurance agent.

So, she joined Happy Seniors dating agency and began meeting Yardi, also 68, for nights out to the theater and cinema. Ten months later, they're living together.

Kulkarni and Yardi's romance might not seem odd in many countries, but in India late-life relationships are generally frowned upon by a society that places a high value on marriage and disapproves of cohabitation outside wedlock.

While there is no particular law regarding the status of live-in relationships in India, in 2015 India's Supreme Court ruled that living together out of wedlock was an acceptable custom in Indian society.

But the social stigma remains and, in some cases, is perpetuated by adult children who fear their parents will be ostracized by their communities, and worry over complicating inheritance issues.

And while seniors dating agencies are making matches, some say it's still difficult to sign people up, especially women -- even when they're offered financial incentives.

A partner for life

This generation of elderly Indians grew up in a time when marriage was for life. Many married young to partners chosen by their parents and were expected to fulfill the duties of a traditional wife and husband -- she managed the family, he earned the money.

In traditional Indian society, older people have always occupied a position of reverence. They, in turn, are expected to lead a life that's centered around spirituality and family -- often helping to care for grandchildren, for example. Dating or finding a partner in later life, after a spouse has passed away, isn't the cultural norm.

But times are changing. Adult children in urban India no longer automatically invite their parents to live with them, leaving many without a support network they may have expected when they were younger.

There is no shortage of older, single Indians. According to the 2011 Census data, almost 15 million elderly Indians live alone and three-quarters of them are women. There are signs that some are interested in recoupling.

In 2012, Madhav Damle, an-ex publisher in the Indian city of Pune, Maharashtra, conducted a survey of 400 senior citizens in that city about their attitudes towards finding a companion. More than 70% of respondents thought live-in relationships were an ideal solution for lonely senior citizens looking for companionship.

Saroj Ghatani, a 52-year-old widow from Pune, has been seeking a partner to live with for the past year. Her children don't like the idea, but she's prepared to go against their wishes.

"They feel at 50 I have lived my life and shouldn't really think of finding a partner," she said, adding that her children worry she may not be available to help raise her grandchildren if she finds a new partner.

"All my life I have worked to raise them and support them and the family. Now I want to think only about myself and live the life I want to," she says.

Someone in the kitchen

Men and women typically want different things from live-in relationships, according to Natubhai Patel, 71. He started his non-profit dating service, Anubandh Foundation, after the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat. Around 25,000 people were killed in the quake and many survivors were left without a spouse.

Patel says while many older Indian women want companionship, many potential male partners are looking for someone to manage the kitchen.

Savita Desai, 69 is happy to do that. She makes lunch every day for her live-in companion Hiten Parekh, 70, to take when he goes to work in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Those aren't their real names. The couple requested to use aliases to avoid any "social embarrassment." They say they're happy for their friends to assume they're married.

Parekh has a wheat allergy and says, in the past eight years, Desai has taken care of him like his "own mother."

Parekh and Desai initially faced opposition from his sons, who live in the same city. "Gradually, they realized I needed someone to take care of me and came around, as did hers," he said.

Desai's children live in the US and she said life with Parekh is comfortable and easy. "You need a support structure in your old age and I have it now. I don't mind taking care of him in return," she said.

Some women reluctant to sign up

Some women say their days of running a household are over and believe that India needs to move on from its traditional, patriarchal system.

Jayashri M has thought about looking for a partner through organizations in her home town Bangalore, in southern India, but the 62-year-old, who has never married, says the "expectations involved" stopped her from signing up.

"Companionship is much needed, but I'm afraid many older men were so used to being taken care of by their now deceased wives that they are looking for someone to run their house and take care of them in old age. That's not my idea of having a companion. I don't want additional responsibility," said the former schoolteacher.

Patel and Damle agreed it's harder to attract women to their dating services. They offer discounts and other incentives, but Patel said there are still far fewer women on his books than men.

"I have the details of 12,000 men over 55 across India from the get-togethers we have held so far. Unfortunately, I have the details of only 1,000 women," he said. It's still culturally taboo to look for a partner at an older age, especially in more conservative smaller cities of India, he added.

As an extra incentive to women, Patel's foundation invites men who enter a new live-in relationship to put money into their partner's account each month or to invest in an apartment in the woman's name, so that she has financial security in case of a break-up.

"I do this as most women who come forward for companionship are more vulnerable than men," he said.

Women in traditional Indian households often depend on men to take care of their finances, including handing over any money they make to their husband. Family funds are often controlled by the eldest son after the father's death and many older women in middle-class families may have no savings in their names if they've never worked.

Damle, from Happy Seniors, said he doesn't believe in offering financial benefits to women signing up to this agency, because "we want companionship to be the main reason women say yes, not money."

But he does make it easier for them to join. While men have to pay Rs 5000 ($65) to join, women can do so for free. "Because it is a massive step for many older women to even think of approaching the organization," he explained.

Relationship counselor Hema Yadav-Kadam thinks that many senior citizens and their children are confused about what constitutes a live-in relationship.

"Many older people would like to get into it but hesitate because of society looking at living together as something immoral," said Yadav-Kadam, who works with Damle to speak with children who oppose their parent's decision.

"Fear of losing out on their inheritance, having a new contender in their parent's will and the inability to deal with the social disapproval -- that is inevitable and common -- is what makes most children oppose (a new relationship)," said Yadav-Kadam.

Right to inherit property

Damle believes a live-in arrangement is ideal for older couples as it gives them a sense of independence within the relationship and avoids the paperwork and legal complexities of marriage.

Often people receive retirement pensions in their deceased spouse's name or are entitled to a share in the property their husband owned. The right to those assets may end when a woman remarries, making it preferable to live with a new partner rather than getting wed.

Before ruling on the social aspect of living together in 2015, India's Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that that living together was similar to marriage and that women had the right to inherit their partner's property.

Before they begin dating or living together, Damle invites potential couples to sign an agreement spelling out everything from cooking responsibilities to joint finances. They draw up a will and even note down their expectations about sexual relations.

They didn't tie the knot. Instead, they exchanged garlands in front of their supportive children -- an important step in a Hindu wedding ceremony. For many couples planning to live together, it symbolizes not just social validation, but is an acknowledgment of their partnership.

"Our society needs to understand and accept the need for emotional and even physical support at any age. This stigma (of late life companionship) has been running in the society for so long but with time it will hopefully change," Rajeswari said.

Rajeswari's daughter, Radhika Lakshmi, said social disapproval didn't cross her or her siblings' minds when her mother started looking for a new companion.

"We didn't want to restrict her life or happiness because of what society thinks. Why should anybody have that right?" she asked.

Meena Lambe, 61, married her live-in partner, Arun Deo, 72, because his children were keen for their relationship to get the social stamp of approval. She would have been happy to remain as live-in partners, she said.

"My advice to all those who wish to find a companion later in life would be first to weigh the pros and cons and preferably be in a live-in relationship rather than marry, as one's habits are less alterable by this age."

When Kulkarni and Yardi decided to move in together, it wasn't without opposition, but they did it anyway.

Yardi's daughter initially wasn't in favor of their decision, though she visits the couple regularly now. She changed her mind after several interactions with Kulkarni. "She was assured I would take care of her father," Kulkarni said.

They are often asked by neighbors and friends if they wish to marry but the couple say they have no such plans.

"We are happy and want to keep things as they are," Kulkarni said.
Monday's announcement of the United States of America restricting the F-1 visa holders or international students from acquiring education in online mode due to the Covid-19 crisis will have an adverse impact on the future of the US, say experts.

Gaurav Khanna, assistant professor, School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California San Diego, told News18.com, These restrictions will hurt the US economy in many ways.

He explained further that in the research his team conducted, which was published in the American Economic Journal this year, they found that international students are a crucial source of revenue for the higher education sector. Without international students, universities would have to drastically cut their expenditures or research and teaching related activities, greatly harming the higher education sector. They would also have to raise revenues by now raising tuition rates for local US students, making it harder for locals to attend universities, he said.

This deterioration of the university sector will have a long term negative consequence for the US economy, as this is the sector that produces the next generation of innovators, business leaders and policymakers.

Khanna pointed out that additionally, while studying in the US, students contribute a lot to the local economy (especially in small college towns) by being important consumers of housing, cars, and other products. This contribution is about $41 billion.

Not to forget, he said, These very students are more likely to later become scientists, healthcare professionals, and inventors, which can produce large productivity gains to a country like the US, especially when faced with the recent crises. The US seems to be shutting the doors on those who can help it the most.

The international students are dejected as they face the risk of deportation if the universities theyve joined move classes entirely online in the fall semester. The rules are not the same for foreign students attending schools offering normal in-person classes. The condition is that they cannot take more than one class or three credit hours online.

Harvard president Lawrence Bacow issued a statement, saying, We are deeply concerned that the guidance issued today by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement imposes a blunt, one-size-fits-all approach to a complex problem, giving international students, particularly those in online programs, few options beyond leaving the country or transferring schools.

He added, This guidance undermines the thoughtful approach taken on behalf of students by so many institutions, including Harvard, to plan for continuing academic programs while balancing the health and safety challenges of the global pandemic.

Khanna warned that such policies are not only going to affect current international students, but also presumably discourage students in the future from choosing the US as a destination for higher education. Feeling unwelcome and having an uncertain future would make such students either stay behind in their home country, or choose other destinations like Canada, the UK or Australia.

Immigration lawyer Poorvi Chothani shared similar views. Students who are currently in India and are either waiting to go back (as they already have a student visa) or are waiting for visa approvals, will be impacted and they may actually change their plans, she said.

"But when you look at it from a different perspective, if you are a student or a parent, what does an American education mean? Forget about exposure to Covid, generally, we send our children there for the exposure they get, the mingling, the interpersonal relationships, the interactions, and access to world-class infrastructure at the universities to name a few, she pointed out.

All that is anyway not going to happen. So why spend on living expenses in addition to tuition fees? You might as well do a semester or a year from outside the US if necessary, or take a gap year. This would, in turn, hit the universities' finances hard, she added.

According to the American non-profit, Institute of International Education, Indian students constitute nearly 20 per cent of the 10.95 lakh students who go from across the world to study in the US. Interestingly, China accounts for over 35 per cent of the foreign students in the United States.

Data from the agency shows as many as 10,94,792 students from across the world went to the US in the academic year 2017-18. Of these, students from China were over 3.63 lakh, and from India 1.96 lakh. The number of international students in the US rose marginally in 2018-19 to 10,95,299. Again, the number of Chinese students was the biggest at 3.69 lakh students, while Indians were second with 2.02 lakh students. To put this in perspective, the number of Indian students, for instance, was more than double those from all of Europe put together both years. Indian students take loans of a minimum of Rs 40 lakh to as much as Rs 75 lakh to fund their education in the US.

Chothani said, The new rules may actually backfire on the US government. Universities may even sue their government as they lose out on revenues. US universities are generally not-for-profit organisations. However, they do depend on revenues and donations. Typically, revenues come from students who pay full tuition fees, a large number being foreign nationals, and donations, usually in the form of endowments that are used to pay professors, other expenses.

The tuition fees from students are often used to subsidise American students or to subsidise scholarships, etc. So that money is very important for universities which spend thousands of dollars each year recruiting students from abroad, she said, adding, Sometimes, for example, universities recruit a brilliant science student; but because he cannot pay the fees, the university cannot give him admission.

To retain such promising students, universities offer them scholarships, tuition waivers, support with living expenses, or similar incentives. Universities may find it hard to fund these if they lose large amounts of revenues from foreign students" she pointed out.

While Indian students abroad took to social media on how their life is caught between the risks of death and deportation and the constant work of re-planning, the US might be hit by the ricochet of its own move.
The US has thanked India for hosting the Dalai Lama since 1959 as the world commemorated the 85th birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The Dalai Lama has been living in India ever since he fled Tibet in 1959 following a Chinese crackdown on an uprising by the local population. The Tibetan government-in-exile operates from Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. Over 1,60,000 Tibetans live in India.

"Happy 85th birthday to His Holiness @DalaiLama, who has inspired the world through his peace & kindness, and as a symbol of the struggle for Tibetans and their heritage. We thank India for hosting His Holiness and Tibetans in freedom since 1959 & wish His Holiness happiness," the US state department's South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) bureau tweeted on Monday.

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi also conveyed her greetings to the Tibetan spiritual leader on his birthday.

"The Dalai Lama is a messenger of hope, whose spiritual guidance has been a vital force to advance warm-heartedness and compassion, promote religious harmony, secure human rights and preserve the language and culture of the Tibetan people," she said.

Sadly, the aspirations of His Holiness and the Tibetan people remain unfulfilled as the oppressive Chinese regime continues its disgraceful campaign of persecution, Pelosi said.

She noted that the US Congress on a bipartisan basis has long spoken with one voice in defence of those persecuted by Beijing and will continue to do so.

In January, House Democrats defended the rights of Tibetans to practice their faith, speak their language and celebrate their culture free from Beijing's repressive grip by passing the Tibet Policy and Support Act, which makes clear the US position that interference by Beijing in the process of recognising a successor or reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama would represent a clear violation of the religious freedoms of the Tibetan people.

"The Senate must pass this bipartisan legislation and support the bond of friendship that has existed between the United States, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people for decades," Pelosi said.

In honour of this special day and of the dreams of the Tibetan people, America remains committed to opposing the acceleration of Beijing's aggression toward the people of Tibet, as well as its brutal campaign against the Uyghur people, its suppression of free speech and assault on the 'one country, two systems' doctrine in Hong Kong, and its violent efforts to undermine religious freedom and human rights throughout China, she said.

"May this next year bring His Holiness The Dalai Lama, the people of Tibet and all those working to advance freedom in China and around the world a future of peace, security and prosperity for all," Pelosi said.

Congressman Andy Levin in a tweet wished the Dalai Lama a joyous birthday.

"May we all follow the example set by His Holiness in the coming year and work towards a more peaceful world," he said.
Himanshi Khurana and Asim Riaz have often created a buzz on social media by sharing pictures with each other. Their relationship started on Bigg Boss 13 and the couple has been often heard speaking highly of each other. Recently, in an interview, Himanshi said that any girl would love to have a boyfriend or partner like Asim.

Heaping praise on her partner, the Punjabi film actress said Asim is very expressive, while she is not. Himanshi added that she gets judged a lot for not being expressive.

I am a little superstitious when it comes to romance, I feel nazar lag jaati hai. He is a very nice person," Times of Inida quoted Himanshi as saying.

Opening up about the equation with her boyfriend, the actress said she doesn't believe in short or long distance relationships, adding that it is all in the mind of people.

There are so many stories we are getting to hear about how husband-wife and couples are fighting with each other after staying together for a long period. Everyone wants their other half to go to work and give space, she said.

Himanshi revealed that both of them are working and dont get to talk much. When Asim is free, she is busy and vice versa.

She said they make sure that they talk to each other at least once in a day and ask about each other's health and daily routine.

The actress asserted that they respect each other's space and try to balance that they don't lose focus on work.

Sharing her experience of working with Asim in Kalla Sohna Nahi video song, Himanshi said, Not many people know that I had very high fever during the shooting of the music video. I was travelling a lot that time especially back to back in flights.

She said that the shoot for the song went smooth and they did not even realize they were working.

The couple has featured in two video songs together.

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Brothers Ayushmann and Aparshakti Khurrana are thrilled as the family has bought a new home. The Khurrana family -- parents P. Khurrana and Poonam, Ayushmann and his wife Tahira, and Aparshakti and his wife Akriti -- have bought a family house in Panchkula, a satellite town of Chandigarh.

"The Khurranas got a family home. We decided to buy this new home in which the entire Khurrana family can now stay together. We are looking forward to making new and beautiful memories in our new address," said Ayushmann. The brothers were born and brought up in Chandigarh before moving to Mumbai to pursue a career in Bollywood.

A source from Chandigarh said the family was looking for a spacious home where the entire Khurrana family could stay together. "The two sons, Ayushmann and Aparshakti, are married, plus Ayushmann and Tahira have two kids now. So, it was only logical for the entire family to invest in getting something bigger. They have just bought this property and it will take some time before they can move into it," added the source.

The entire Khurrana family is in Chandigarh as both the brothers and their respective wives decided to visit the parents to spend quality time with them. This gave them the opportunity to also finish all legal formalities.

Read: Ayushmann and Aparshakti Khurana Playing 'Aao Milo Shilo Shaalo' Will Take You Back to Your Childhood
One of the most popular US sitcoms, Friends is returning for a special, unscripted reunion episode soon. The eagerly awaited special would have been completed by now but the coronavirus epidemic shut down production across Hollywood before it could be filmed.

Meanwhile, HBO Max executives are holding out hopes of filming it before a live audience rather than shooting the much-anticipated get together remotely with stars under quarantine. David Schwimmer, who plays Ross Geller on the show, has now revealed in an interview that the team is hoping to shoot the reunion in mid-August, adding they will do it when its safe.

David also spoke on the topic of diversity in Friends, which has acquired a cult status among watchers and is considered a huge cultural influence on people. "It felt wrong that there was not enough representation on the show," David said and added, "I just thought, I really felt like Ross should date other people, women of all races."

The actor is however proud that Friends makers incorporated a gay story line in Ross' track early on when his wife Carol leaves him for another woman, named Susan. It's also revealed that Carol is pregnant with Ross' child, which leads to her, Ross and Susan co-parenting throughout the remainder of the series. "(Friends) was doing some incredible things," he said.

Friends, starring Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry, ended in 2004 after 10 years, but it remains one of the most popular shows in re-runs.

Meanwhile, David is now starring on the British TV comedy series Intelligence.

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A staff member displays samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at Sinovac Biotech Ltd., in Beijing, capital of China, March 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

Beijing-based Sinovac Life Sciences Co announced on Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine collaboration with Brazilian immunobiologic producer Instituto Butantan has received approval from the Brazilian regulator for phase III clinical trials.

The Brazilian National Regulatory Agency, Anvisa, granted approval to a phase III clinical trial sponsored by Instituto Butantan on Friday to test the efficacy and safety of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Life Sciences Co in Brazil. This trial aims to be a pivotal study to support the licensing of the product, according to an official statement the company sent to the Global Times.

The trial will recruit nearly 9,000 healthcare professionals to work in COVID-19 specialized facilities in 12 clinical sites in several states in Brazil. The recruitment is scheduled to start this month after ethical approval is obtained from each clinical site.

The study will be a double-blind placebo-controlled trial with participants randomly allocated a 1:1 ratio of placebo and vaccine, according to the announcement from Instituto Butantan on Thursday.

The immunization schedule is two doses of intramuscular injections (deltoid) with a 14-day interval, it said.

For efficacy, the study aims to detect COVID-19 cases, defined as symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections, after the second week post-immunization schedule.

For safety and immunogenicity, participants are categorized in two age groups, adults (18-59 years) and elderly (60 years and above). All participants will be followed for up to 12 months.

Anvisa reviewed the detailed manufacturing information, the results of the previous two clinical trials of the vaccine candidate, and late-stage trial protocols developed by Instituto Butantan. It took only about two weeks for the agency to fast-track the application due to the public health emergency.

The review was conducted at the highest standards and met with international rules. Anvisa is qualified as a fully functional regulatory agency for the WHO prequalification process. The agency is also a full member of the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH), according to the statement.

"The phase III clinical trial approval is a demonstration that the Sinovac and Instituto Butantan partnership is an efficient collaboration, offering hope to save lives worldwide," commented Dr Dimas Covas, director of Instituto Butantan.

"We are pleased to advance to Phase III trials with Instituto Butantan, which will take us one step further in our commitment to develop vaccines for global use and our mission of supplying vaccines to eliminate human diseases," Weidong Yin, chairman, president and CEO of Sinovac, commented in the statement.

Sinovac announced on June 13 positive preliminary results in Phase I/II clinical trials for the inactivated vaccine, which showed favorable immunogenicity and safety profiles.

The Phase II results showed that the vaccine induces neutralizing antibodies within 14 days. The neutralizing antibody seroconversion rate is above 90 percent.

Brazil has become a new epicenter of the pandemic. The country has reported more than 1,600,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

The cooperation is expected to achieve a win-win outcome as a vaccine can help end the grim epidemic in Brazil. China, in contrast, has become less favorable as a late-stage clinical trial hub, given its smaller number of new cases.

The two parties aim to establish extensive collaboration in technology licensing, market authorization and commercialization of the vaccine, according to an announcement Sinovac sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

On June 29, Sao Paulo state Governor Joao Doria said 9,000 volunteers have already been registered to test the vaccine against COVID-19, Reuters reported.

Instituto Butantan will spend 85 million reals ($17.1 million) to conduct trials on 9,000 Brazilian volunteers, the governor said, adding that if the vaccine proves effective, it could be mass-produced in Sao Paulo, starting from the first half of next year, and administered to millions of Brazilians free of charge.

The company has partnered with several companies outside of China for phase III efficacy studies, Sinovac told the Global Times.
Fans of Sushant Singh Rajput have noticed that the actor is donning a T-shirt which screams 'Help!' in the trailer of the film Dil Bechara that came out on Monday. Sushants fans took to social media to share a still from the trailer and some even claimed that he was screaming for help even while shooting for the film.

One user posted, His T-shirt explains his last feeling that he need HELP," while another wrote, He is smiling but his t-shirt says 'help'.

He is smiling but his t-shirt says 'help'#DilBecharaTrailer pic.twitter.com/4rUFoFohzZ Naina Mehra (@_itsNM_) July 6, 2020

His T-shirt explains his last feeling that he need HELP#DilBecharaTrailer pic.twitter.com/is0ScOFiPh Ain't_yours (@yours_loved_one) July 6, 2020

Just watched the #DilBecharaTrailer . All heart Never new Sushant , this one will stay with us forever as will Sushant . Beautifully directed with love and emotions @CastingChhabra Bhai . Moments like Im not your girlfriend,& the boy says      .. pic.twitter.com/q2Pp2CIV7V Arav Chowdharry (@Aravchowdharry) July 7, 2020

The much-awaited trailer of Dil Bechara was released on 6 July and was very well received by the fans. The film will be releasing on a digital platform on July 24. Dil Bechara is the official remake of the 2014 Hollywood drama The Fault in our Stars based on John Green's novel with the same name.

The Mukesh Chhabra directorial will see Sushant Singh Rajput in a leading role, alongside debutante Sanjana Sanghi. The film also has Saif Ali Khan in an interesting cameo. The music is composed by maestro AR Rahman and lyrics are penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The story follows a young couple as they fall in love with each other against all odds. While one of them has had a brush with osteosarcoma, the other is fighting thyroid cancer.

Dil Bechara is Sushant Singh Rajputs last film. The 34-year-old actor was found dead in his apartment in Mumbai on June 14. Police have said that he died by suicide and are investigating the case.

This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata).

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Vikas Dubey's plunge into crime coincided with Sunny Deol thriller "Arjun Pandit" which released in 1999. Taking a cue from the movie Dubey also became Vikas Pandit, and has been known so in political circles and even among the police personnel, who referred to him as 'Pandit'.

Local journalist who came to know him, on condition of anonymity said that he was fond of being called Pandit.

The Bollywood thriller though panned out to be much different. In the film Arjun (Sunny Deol) became a puppet in the hands of a powerful man and kept quiet about a crime he witnessed. He fell in love with Nisha only to turn into a ruthless gangster after being betrayed by her.

Vikas Dubey now absconding was fond of this movie and had seen it hundreds of times says some of the local journalists, who have been familiar with his modus operandi. He even called his victims and only introduced himself as Pandit.

However, after the June 3 killing of eight policemen in Kanpur's Bikru village in his own backyard, Dubey is a pariah both to the ruling and the opposition.

While, the Yogi Adityanath government has increased the bounty on his head to Rs 2.5 lakh, and 300 teams are chasing him under the supervision of STF, the opposition has also demanded a thorough probe.

Posters of all his accomplices are out and even his wife Richa Dubey is been chased. The family of Vikas Dubey has turned away from the gangster and some have even called for his death, including his mother.

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Islamic doctrine flows from a triad of Islamic scriptures that includes Quran, Hadith (narrative record of the sayings or customs of Prophet Muhammad) and the Sira (biography of the Prophet Muhammad) or the Sunnah (tradition or way of the Prophet Muhammad). Whether at a personal or community level, it is scriptural sanction alone that validates any thought or action as moral or legal.

Notions of righteousness, justice, goodness, wisdom and piety are determined by scripture in its punctilious detail. They may not match and in fact may sometimes run afoul of universal standards. Though the global Ummah (community of the Islamic Faithful) is by its very nature supra-national, fact is that it is divided by territorial borders that are abhorrent to Islam. It is not hard to imagine how a supra-national idea may translate into an extra-territorial pan-Islamic political movement.

If the Khilafat Movement had caught the imagination of Indian Muslims for at least six years, one may safely assume that it had scriptural sanction. As scriptural sanction has timeless validity, one may also assume that the Khilafat Movement had historical antecedents and will also repeat itself in future.

Before we proceed, a word or two about the term pan-Islamism. The first use of the term thus far discovered is that by Franz von Werner (aka Murad Effendi) in Turkischo Skizzen (German for Turkish Sketches, 1877) and later by French journalist Gabriel Charmes in 1881. The closest Islamic equivalent term, Ittihad-i-Islam or the terms Ittihad-i-Din and Uhuv vet-i-Din, had long been used in the correspondence between the Ottomans and the Muslim rulers of India, Central Asia and Indonesia (The Khilafat Movement in India, 1919-1924, Muhammad Naeem Qureshi, dissertation submitted to University of London, 1973, p. 6). Though the term pan-Islamism is a relatively late construct, the idea has its roots in the following Quranic passage: "And verily this Ummah of yours is one Ummah and I am your Lord and Cherisher, therefore fear Me and no other." (23:52)

Khilafat in early Islamic history

The Quran mentions word khalifa (lit.successor, pl. Khulafa) in the sense of vice-regent or successor in Verses 2.30. 4.59. 6.165, 35.39 and 38.26. The first Muslim ruler was none other than Prophet Muhammad (570-632). Though he started his Prophetic mission in 610 CE, he started ruling Medina in 622 CE. Thus, for ten years, he was Prophet, Ruler, Military Commander, Jurist and Judge. Neither did the Quran nor Prophet Muhammad assign his Khalifa.

In Islam, Prophet Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets (Quran 33:40) and no one can take the place of the Prophet in his position as Messenger of God. However, his position as a ruler can be represented by other Muslims for the Quran states; O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger, and those from among you who are invested with authority (4:59). The Hadith has numerous commandments regarding allegiance to a ruler, for example, Whoever dishonours a ruler of Allah on earth, Allah will dishonour him (Tirmizi, Al-Hadith, Tr. of Mishkat-ul-Masabih, Vol.2, Islamic Book Service, Delhi, p.560).

The title of the first Khalifa Abu Bakr was Khalifatu Rasul al-Allah (Successor of Messenger of Allah). The first four Khulafa, Abu Bakr (632634), Umar (634644), Uthman (Osman, Ottoman 644656) and Ali (656661) have been called as Khulafa Rashidun (the rightly guided Khulafa) by Sunni Muslims. All four belonged to the Quraysh, the tribe that included Prophet Muhammads Hashemite clan. During their period, Islamic armies defeated the Sassanid Empire, halved and almost destroyed the Byzantine Empire and expanded into South and Central Asia and through North Africa into the Iberian Peninsula.

The period of the first four Khulafa (632-661 CE) is considered the Golden Age of Islam. Ironically, the Golden Age was marked by the murder of three of the four Khulafa. After Ali, the Khilafat passed into the hands of the Umayyads, the tribesmen of Uthmans clan where it stayed for 90 years. In 750 CE, the Abbassid dynasty overthrew the Ummayyads and established its Khilafat in Baghdad, Iraq. Though they were forced to cede authority to various other dynasties in the Muslim world, they continued to claim authority until the Turkish Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The Ottoman claim to the Khilafat lasted from 1517 to 1924. The Ottoman Empire was not just another Muslim empire or state. It carried aloft the banner of Islam against Christian Europeans for some five centuries, the conquest of Constantinople having being accomplished by Sultan Mehmed in 1453.

Fiction of Khilafat in Islamic history

Though devout Muslims are in the thrall of the scripturally ordained concept of Ummah, the harsh reality is that throughout history, Muslims have been at each others throats, each accusing the other of being a renegade. They seem to behave as an Ummah only when confronted with infidels. Barely two decades after the death of the Prophet, the notion of Khilafat was questioned by Shias who refused to recognize any Khalifa before Ali as well as by the Khawarij who questioned the need for a Khilafat altogether. Even among the Sunnis, debate continues to rage whether or not the Khalifa should be from the blood-line of the Quraysh.

By 750 CE there was no longer any one universally recognised Khilafat. Independent rulers in the core and on the fringe of the Islamic Empire appropriated to themselves the titles of Amir-ul-Mominin (lit. Commander of the Faithful) and Khalifa. At one time there were as many as three Khulafa in the Muslim world, each claiming the allegiance of the Faithful. Yet, in spite of the impotence of the 'central' Khilafat, the fiction of its authority, under an hieratic cloak and exalted by jurists like Al-Mawardi (974-1058) and Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), still survived and lingered even after the disappearance of the Baghdad Khilafat at the hands of the Mongols in 1258 CE. Large portions of the Sunni Muslim world continued to submit to the Abbasid Khulafa at Cairo and later to the Ottomans at Constantinople (Qureshi, ibid, p. 7).

Khalifa-Sultan nexus in India

India had been somewhat accustomed to the fiction of the central Khilafat since the very early days of the Arab conquest of Sind in 711 CE. Practically throughout the pre-Mughal period, the Abbasid Khulafa of Baghdad, and later their faineant (idle) successors in Cairo, were regarded as the source and sanction of the Sultans' legal authority. Some of the Sultans - Mahmud of Ghazna (998-1030), Shams-ud-din Iltutmish (1211-1236), Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325-1351) had especially sought and obtained the Khalifal investiture.

Even the few Sunni provincial dynasties which assumed Independence from Delhi did so in the name of the Abbasid Khulafa, whose names appeared on the coins. This practice continued until the advent of the Mughals in 1526 whose rule coincided with the 'transfer' of the Khilafat from Cairo to Constantinople. Though the diplomatic exchanges between the two Empires continued up to the late 18th century, the Mughals, like other independent rulers (e.g. Shia Persia), never conceded the Ottoman claim to the 'universal' Khilafat.

The position, however, changed gradually when the Mughal rule began to totter. There is evidence, though scant, to suggest that by the second half of the 18th century, the Muslims in India were developing some kind of attachment to the Ottomans. Shah Wali Ullah (1703-1762), the famous Sufi of Delhi, twice referred to the Turkish Sultan as Amir-ul-Mominin in his Tafhimat-i-Ilahiyah. Later, in 1789, the gesture was reflected in Tipu Sultan's endeavour to obtain an investiture from the Ottoman Khalifa Abdul-Hamid I (Qureshi, ibid, pp.8, 9).

Indian ulamas age-old Turkish fixation

The position of the Indo-Muslim orthodoxy with regard to the Ottoman Khilafat began to crystallise in the 1840s. Shah Muhammad Ishaq (1778-I846), the grandson of Wali Ullah, was probably the first Indian alim (lit. knowledgeable person; pl. ulama) to support the Ottoman political policies when he migrated to Mecca in 1841. From then on, the inclination of the ulama, at least of the Wali Ullah School, was to recognise and actively to proclaim the Ottoman title to the universal Khilafat.

By the early 1850s, the Ottomans were themselves reported to be pushing the Sultan's claim as Khalifa in India through their emissaries. It is not surprising, therefore, that in 1854 Lord Dalhousie (1812-1860), the Governor-General of India, found among Muslims considerable interest and sympathy for the Commander of the Faithful as he was considered to be. In fact, one consular report hints at such activity as early as 1835 or 1836.

When the Crimean War broke out in 1854, great interest and excitement was reported to be felt by all the Mussulman population in India, especially on the western frontier. Links with Constantinople became more intimate with the disappearance in 1858 of the last vestiges of Muslim rule in India. In their search for a centre and to escape British reprisals, not only did the Indian ulama turn to the Ottoman Khalifa, but also, in a number of cases, notably those of Rahmatullah Kairanwi (1818-91), Haji Imdadullah (1817-99), Abdul Ghani (d. 1878), Muhammad Yaqub (b. 1832) and Khairuddin (1831-1908), they migrated to Mecca and some even visited Constantinople.

Even those ulama like Karamat Ali Jounpuri (1800-73) who pleaded for loyalty to the British did so, on the basis of the friendship that exists between the British Nation and the acknowledged Head of our Religion, the Sultan of Turkey (Qureshi, ibid, pp. 8, 9).

Khilafat in Indian Muslim consciousness

The fixation with the Turkish Sultan was not unique to the ulama. It was reflected in the Muslim press and in the consciousness of common Muslims at least from the 1850s, if not earlier. A study of the nascent Muslim press during the closing decades of the nineteenth century indicates a growing pan-Islamic tendency among Muslims since the Russo-Turkish War of 1875, crystallizing itself into one of the basic strands in their orientation towards the British in India over the next four decades which saw the Turko-Greek War (1896), the Italian raid on Tripoli (1911) and the Balkan War (1912-14); (Review: The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India by Gail Minault; Review by Sharif al-Mujahid; Pakistan Horizon, Vol. 39, No.2, 1986, p.87).

The Indian Muslims had been praying for the long life, prosperity and victory of the Khilafat al-Islam at the khutba (a prescribed Islamic Friday noon-prayer from the mosque pulpit acknowledging sovereignty of the ruler) and pleading this cause in the press and from the public platform since 1870s (al-Mujahid, ibid p. 81). The middle-class Muslim intelligentsia represented by the likes of Sir Sayyid Ahmed (1817-98) popularized this fiction of a central Turkish Khilafat.

Nature of Turkish fixation

Three features need to be underlined to understand the Turkish fixation of Indian Muslims from the 1830s. First, the pan-Islamic fixation was not limited to Indian Muslims. The Turkish fixation was evident in pan-Islamic movements in Central Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia from early as late seventeenth century. Second, the fiction of the Turkish Khilafat was reinforced by the Turkish Sultans such as Sultan Abdul-Aziz (1861-1876) and his successor Abdul-Hamid II (1876-1909) to strengthen their position against internal turmoil and external European encroachments and to disabuse the Arabs from harbouring nationalistic aspirations.

In this, they were assisted by European Powers who acknowledged the Sultan's claim in treaties by Austria-Hungary (1908), Italy (1912) and Greece and Bulgaria (1913). Third, as elsewhere in the Muslim world, Shias joined Sunnis in demonstrating their support for the Ottomans, regarding the Khilafat as capable of unifying the Muslim community. The lead given in this direction by the Anjuman-i-Islam (Bombay) of the Bohra leaders Badruddin Tyabji (1844-1906) and Mohammed Ali Rogay, was later sustained by Cheragh Ali (1844-1895) of Hyderabad (Deccan), and still later by Ameer Ali (1849-1928), the Aga Khan (1877-1957), M.H. Ispahani, Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) and others (Qureshi, ibid, p. 15).

Thus, the Khilafat Movement that seems to erupt in India in 1919 had scriptural basis and historical antecedents that date from the earliest days of Islamic rule in India. The notion of a central Khilafat, fantastic as it is, was held and sustained by the Sultans and Badshahs, ulama and the intelligentsia as well by common Indian Muslims.

It was not a uniquely Indian phenomenon but part of a pan-Islamic sentiment through much of the Muslim world. On 3 March 1924, the Grand Assembly of the Republic of Turkey abolished the the laughing-stock in the eyes of the really civilized and cultured people of the world as the Khilafat was described by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The Khilafat Movement in India was but a momentary pause in the long battle for its restoration. Mustafa Sabri Efendi ,1869-1954, last Ottoman Shaykh al-Islam, 1924; Abu al-Ala Mawdudi ,19031979, Jamait-e-Islami, 1967; Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, 19091979, Hizbul-Tahrir or Party of Liberation, Jordan, 1925; Seyyid Qutb,190666, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, 1964; Mullah Muhammad Umar, 1960-2013,Taliban, 1996; Abu Bakr al-Baghdad, 1971-2019, ISIS, 2014 are few of the numerous notables who have championed the Khilafat post-1924. The battle for the Khilafat continues.
Former foreign secretary Shyam Sarans book How India Sees the World brings out how India and Pakistan nearly agreed to demilitarise Siachen Glacier, mutually withdraw troops from the area and thereafter establish a joint monitoring team.

He writes that both countries came close to an agreement on Siachen Glacier thrice - in 1989, in 1992 and then in 2006. First, during the Rajiv Gandhi era (1989), the deal didnt materialize due to Pakistani disagreement, and during the PV Narasimha Rao era (1992), it was left to the next round of talks.

In 2006, Saran, then Foreign Secretary, struck a deal with his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan on orders of the Manmohan Singh government, which sought to withdraw Indian troops from Siachen. It insisted the agreement and annexure be signed with the main agreement explicitly declaring that the annexure has same legal validity as the agreement itself.

Singh asked Saran to draft the agreement and obtain consensus from key Indian stakeholders. The former foreign secretary held multiple consultations with senior bureaucrats and ministers in ministries of defence, home and finance. Army Chief General JJ Singh and all chiefs of the intelligence agencies were brought on board.

The draft agreement was then presented to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) where National Security Advisor MK Narayanan raised serious concerns, arguing it would compromise national security and thereafter General JJ Singh also supported this view.

Narayanan also suggested the Siachen issue be taken off agenda for India-Pakistan talks on border issues, but defence minister Pranab Mukherjee supported de-militarisation of the Siachen glacier and home minister Shivraj Patil also held the same view.

One wonders how many policy makers were aware that Siachen Glacier flows east of the Saltoro Range and there is not one Pakistani on Siachen Glacier  never was. How many appreciated strategic importance of the Saltoro Range and the tremendous disadvantage to India for vacating it. It is more pathetic that none bothered to find out about this while such agreements were being worked out for 17 years since 1989.

What about Saran himself who was foreign secretary since July 31, 2004? When was the CCS meet in 2006  before September 1 or after when Shivshankar Menon succeeded him as foreign secretary?

Saran needs to explain how he brought all relevant stakeholders on board, what arguments he gave and what were the carrots offered? He has mentioned the Army Chief by name but the nation deserves to know names of others who were brought on board  politicians, bureaucrats and chiefs of intelligence agencies.

Tasked to obtain consensus of all stakeholders, why did Saran not consult the NSA? Chiefs of intelligence agencies brought on board would have informed NSA anyway. Was this by design to give NSA benefit at the CCS meet  since Narayanan was close to the Congress high command?

Recall when PM Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated at Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991, first visuals showed Narayanan (then Director IB) standing close to Dhanu (the suicide bomber) much before she approached Rajiv Gandhi. This may be coincidence but Narayanan got himself removed from those visuals.

Post retirement, Saran served as Manmohan Singhs Special Envoy for Nuclear Affairs and Chairman of National Security Advisory Board (NSAB). As Chairman of NSAB, he also formed the one-man inquiry that found China had nibbled away 645 square kilometre of Indian territory in addition to Aksai Chin and Shaksgam Valley.

Why has the report not been made public? In his book, Saran has eulogised Nehru and dumped all the blame on Manmohan Singh so that he remains in the good books of Congress high command. Readers can decide whether Manmohan Singh took such a decision by himself or followed orders. But Saran is equally culpable in this sordid affair - coordinating the dirty deal as foreign secretary.

All diplomats are not holy cows. Sardar Patel had warned Nehru in 1950 about KM Panikkar, who was then posted in Beijing. Sarans above book was published in 2017 but he skipped mentioning that the conspiracy to demilitarise Saltoro Range continued with Shivshankar Menon as foreign secretary, who almost got it through serving as NSA (January 2010 to May 2014) through the infamous Indo-Pak Track II  termed as good as Track I.

In this Track II, the eight military veterans were deliberately placed in front with the two diplomats and former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat playing back benchers. Did Menons tenure in Beijing also influence his functioning?

Menon also has the distinction of inserting Balochistan in the July 16, 2009 India-Pakistan joint statement at Sharm el-Sheikh after Manmohan Singh met his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani. The draft sent by Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad had no mention of Balochistan. Why did Menon do this  surely he understood the implications?

In India, treasonous acts like attempt to vacate Saltoro Range get overlooked though a trial is warranted. There is more to the demilitarisation saga. In 2010, I attended the Afghanistan-India-Pakistan Trialogue at Kabul as part Delhi Policy Group delegation, where India-Pakistan Track I Dialogue was also being held in the same hotel.

During a break, former ambassador Vivek Katju approached me and asked me if I was the fellow who was making noises against de-militarisation of Saltoro Range. I reminded him he was part of the Defence Secretary Ajit Kumar-led delegation that I had briefed at Base Camp as Siachen Brigade Commander in 1998, after which the delegation was to proceed for talks to Pakistan.

He confirmed he remembered and acknowledged it was the first time strategic significance was really understood. But he said there are problems. According to him, PM PV Narasimha Rao committed demilitarisation of Saltoro Range to Pakistan without reference to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Wheels within wheels!

MEA tried delay tactics by asking Pakistan for ceasefire, which they agreed. Pakistan was then asked to identify posts along the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL). Pakistan took long but eventually agreed. So now MEA was in quandary. My question was why the quandary with a brigade-worth PLA sitting in Gilgit-Baltistan, Chinese encroaching in Eastern Ladakh and Pakistani proxy war going up exponentially; why cant we simply tell Pakistani we will not vacate Saltoro Range, which is our territory? That was in 2010 and the Indo-Pak Track II still happened after that!
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday dubbed BJP president J P Nadda's criticism of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the Galwan Valley issue as a "desperate" attempt to distract public attention from the Centre's "failure".

On Monday, Nadda had attacked the Congress leader for "not attending a single meeting" of the Parliament's standing committee on defence and accused him of trying to "demoralise" the nation.

Reacting to it, the Punjab CM said after having "failed" to respond to Rahul Gandhi's persistent and relevant questions on the issue, the BJP-led Union government was now trying "desperately" to distract people with a personal attack on him.

"Not just Rahul but the entire country wants answers to those questions, which touch upon not just our soldiers but every Indian who wants to know what went wrong in Galwan Valley on June 15," he said in a statement here.

The CM said Rahul had been discussing the China issue with him for a long time and had been concerned about the matter even while the Centre was vehemently denying any standoff in Galwan.

Pointing to the latest statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he asked how the Chinese were now backing off without having entered the Indian territory in the first place.

These are the kind of questions being raised by Rahul, he noted, adding that instead of answering them, the Government of India, led by the BJP, "continues to be in denial" even now.

Reacting to the Nadda's criticism of Rahul for not attending a single meeting of the standing committee on defence, Singh questioned the relevance of this to the standoff.

The committee does not take on-ground decisions relating to the battle field, he said.

"It was not the standing committee which decided on sending soldiers to the borders with either no or inadequate arms and ammunition, nor does it make policy decisions on conditions in which the soldiers should or should not open fire," said Singh.

Even matters that are discussed in these meetings, such as those related to equipment shortage/procurement, just end up getting consigned to the archives, said the CM, citing his own experience as a member of the standing committee on defence during his last term as an MP.

The chief minister, himself an ex-Army man, recalled that at one meeting he had attended, he had raised the issue of the shortage of ammunition and was told that the problem would be resolved in five years, to which he had quipped "let's ask Pakistan and China to wait for five years."

Even during the Kargil war, India had to purchase ammunition at higher prices from countries like Israel and South Africa, he said, adding that soldiers are forced to use practice ammunition in combat due to this long-standing shortages.

He termed these meetings as simply a forum to "show our faces" with "no concrete" results emerging from the deliberations.

Contrary to the Nadda's charge of Rahul demoralising the nation and questioning the valour of armed forces, the Congress MP was actually looking after the interests of the country and forces, the CM asserted.

Quite apart from the fact that Rahul has the democratic right, like every other Indian, to question the government, the issues raised by him are important for ensuring that "we are not caught napping again and do not end up unnecessarily sacrificing precious lives of our soldiers, as happened in Galwan," he said.

The CM also flayed the Nadda's remarks on "dynastic tradition", stating that Rahul got elected to the Lok Sabha by popular vote, and not due to his family connections.

By questioning his credibility as an MP and as an intelligent Indian, the ruling party was only exposing the central government's "total failure" in Galwan, which had cost the nation dearly in terms of precious human life, he added.
The Congress on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the disengagement of troops at the border in eastern Ladakh and used a tweet by him in 2013 during the UPA regime to ask him why Indian soldiers were withdrawn from their own land.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala sought to remind Modi of his own words and demanded answers from him on why Indian forces were withdrawing from their own soil.

"Respected Prime Minister, Do you remember your words? Do your words mean anything? Will you tell us why our forces are retracting from our land?

The country seeks answers," he said on Twitter.

Modi had on May 13, 2013, when he was chief minister of Gujarat, said "China withdraws its forces but I wonder why Indian forces are withdrawing from Indian territory? Why did we retreat?"

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also retweeted Modi's post and asked, "I stand with Modiji on this. PM must answer his question."

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked the government why status quo ante was not insisted upon by New Delhi and why the territorial sovereignty of the Galwan Valley does not find mention in the government's statement.

"National interest is paramount. Government of India's duty is to protect it," he said on Twitter.

"Then, Why has Status Quo Ante not been insisted on? Why is China allowed to justify the murder of 20 unarmed jawans in our territory? Why is there no mention of the territorial sovereignty of Galwan valley?" he asked.

Gandhi shared the statements put out by the Indian and Chinese Foreign Ministries after the talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

He highlighted how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of People's Republic of China in its statement made a mention of the Galwan Valley, but the Indian External Affairs Ministry did not do so.

The Congress has been attacking Modi ever since the bloody border stand-off with China which led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh last month.

Meanwhile, Chinese military removed temporary infrastructure and continued the gradual withdrawal of troops from face-off sites in Hot Springs and Gogra in eastern Ladakh for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, and the Indian Army is keeping a strict vigil on their rearward movement, government sources said.

Gogra and Hot Springs are among the key friction points where the two armies were in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation for the last eight weeks.
Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday said the retreat of the Chinese Army in Ladakh vindicated the argument that intrusions had indeed taken place on the Indian side of the LAC and asserted "we will not budge an inch" before status quo ante is restored along the border.

The senior Congress leader had earlier asked the Narendra Modi government not to be in "denial" over the incursion by the Chinese military into Indian territory.

"Unlike Indian army, Chinese forces are not accustomed to withstand harsh & inhospitable glacial weather of Himalayan mountain which may trigger to the extent of the retreat of the Chinese army, that too again vindicates our arguments that huge intrusions occurred into our territory," Chowdhury said in a tweet.

"They may try to leave other occupied strategic areas as a fait accompli. But we won't budge an inch till the status quo ante is restored," he wrote on Twitter.

In the first signs of easing tensions, the Chinese military on Monday began a limited pull-back from a number of friction points in eastern Ladakh, a day after NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed on completing the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC "expeditiously", government sources had said.

Doval and Wang, who are designated Special Representatives on Sino-Indian boundary question, held a telephonic conversation on Sunday during which they had a "frank and in-depth exchange" of views and agreed that a "complete disengagement" of troops at the "earliest" was necessary for full restoration of peace in the border areas, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday.

Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan Valley during the violent face-off last month on the normally peaceful border. There were military casualties on the Chinese side as well.
As a political storm exploded in Kerala over allegations raised against his office in the gold smuggling case, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said it was up to the Centre to decide which agency should probe the matter as the left government removed an IAS officer from key posts.

With the Congress and BJP stepping up their attack, the Left government removed M Sivasankar, who was the secretary to the Chief Minister and the IT Principal secretary, after the opposition targeted him for the appointment of a woman official of the IT department, alleged to be the 'kingpin' and who was being investigated by the Crime Branch in another case. She was being investigated by the Crime Branch in another case and since sacked from her present post. Vijayan also said the "controversial woman" was not associated with the Chief Minister's office.

The woman, who was appointed as a marketing official in the IT department on contract basis, was sacked two days ago as media reports emerged that she had been recruited when a crime branch probe was on. With the woman,a former employee of a foreign country's consulate in Kerala, on the run, the Customs on Tuesday said it was planning to issue a lookout notice for her. Highly placed sources in the Customs said the lookout notice has to be issued for the woman, who is allegedly involved in the gold smuggling, to ensure that she would not flee the country.

The central agency's move came a day after it arrested a man, who claimed himself to be a former employee of a foreign country's consulate in Kerala, in connection with the seizure of gold worth over Rs 15 crore from a "diplomatic baggage" at Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Sunday.

Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a CBI probe into the matter, saying the seized gold worth "Rs 30 crore illegally brought to our country" from a consignment was addressed to the "UAE consulate."

The UAE Embassy in Delhi in a tweet said the UAE authorities have launched an investigation to find out who sent the cargo containing gold to the address of the UAE consulate. "The authorities have stressed that the culprits who not only committed a major crime but also sought to tarnish the reputation of the UAE mission in India will not be spared. We remain committed to cooperating with Indian authorities in getting to the root of the crime," the embassy stated.

BJP state unit chief K Surendran alleged that the woman was known to the Chief minister since September 2017 when she played a major role in organising some five-day programmes in connection with the visit of a Sharjah sheik.

As his office came under attack,the chief minister said as far as the state government is concerned, it has no problem with any inquiry and it was for the Centre to decide the probe agency, Vijayan told reporters responding to a query on the opposition demand for a CBI probe into the matter.

Dismissing the allegations raised by the Congress and BJP that a top official in the chief minister''s office had tried to intervene in the case, Vijayan said the state government will not protect those who are behind such crimes and pledged full support to the Customs department, which is probing the case.

The Opposition has been up in arms against the ruling left in the state over the recent seizure of over 30 kg of gold from the International Airport here which was attempted to be smuggled into the state through diplomatic baggage.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking CBI probe, Ramesh Chennithala said a former employee of the consulate was arrested in connection with the racket and a woman is allegedly the "kingpin of the racket."

On the opposition allegations that there was an "influence of the smuggling cartel"at the office of Chief Minister of Kerala, Vijayan said the smuggling attempt was foiled by the customs and how is the state government responsible for it? "The controversial woman is not associated with the Chief Minister''s Office.

She was a marketing official appointed through a placement agency on contract-basis for one of the projects in the IT department," Vijayan said.

Just because Sivasankar was removed, it does not mean that any legal procedure was initiated against him. But because his name figured in such a controversy, Vijayan said.

He also rubbished the allegation that his office tried to interfere in the matter and pointed out that the Customs officer himself has made it clear that nobody tried to influence the probe.

"The customs department comes under the central government so is the Airport.

How is the state government responsible for all those happening inside there? Vijayan also wondered how all these matters were directed towards the Chief Minister's Office and said the package was a diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE consulate and not for any state government agency.

"We will not protect anyone involved in such crimes. The woman took part in many programmes of the UAE consulate representing that country.

How's the state government responsible for such a person? The Opposition Leader and the BJP Chief are raising allegations without verifying the facts," Vijayan said.

Vijayan also clarified that currently the Customs Department, a central agency, was probing the matter. Meanwhile, demanding the Chief Minister's resignation, activists of opposition parties took out protest marches in various places. Two yuva morcha activists who tried to gatecrash to Vijayan's official residence, Cliff House here, were stopped by police.

Mir Mohammed Ali, Executive Director of Suchitwa Mission will hold the full additional charge of the post of Secretary to Chief Minister with immediate effect, while Mohammed Y Safirulla has been appointed as the additional secretary of the IT Department.
After fixing a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the procurement of cow-dung from cattle owners and farmers, the Chhattishgarh government is gearing up to collect cow-dung from July 20 amid sharp criticism from Opposition BJP.

Former minister Ajay Chandrakar mocked the project in his tweet. Posting a parody song, Chandrakar said that the youth should shun studies as the state government has decided to ask them to collect cow-dung.

BJP leaders had even suggested that cow-dung be declared state symbol.

"Is this the way, you will create a new Chhattisgarh," the ex-Minister mockingly said in his tweet.

Former Chief Minister Raman Singh had taken a swipe at the Bhupesh Baghel-led government and said it could not buy paddy from farmers but is now preparing to purchase cow-dung from them.

On July 5, the Bhupesh Baghel government of Chhattisgarh announced that it would fix MSP for buying cow-dung from farmers and cattle owners at Rs 1.50 per kg. Under Gaudhan Nyay Yojana, the Bhupesh government decided to procure cow-dung from farmers and cattle owners with an aim to make animal husbandry a profitable business.

The state government is of the view that this move would not only boost the farmers income but also promote organic farming. The state government plans to launch this project from July 20.

A cabinet sub-committee led by Agriculture Minister Ravindra Chuabey had recently finalised the modalities of the scheme, including the valuation of cow-dung. The committee has decided that the cow-dung will be purchased by Gauthan samitis (committees that oversee cattel-sheds) and Self Help Groups (SHGs).

The procurement will be done at the doorsteps of farmers and cattle owners and payments will be released within 15 days of purchase.

There is about 1.25 crore livestock in the state but due to the cattle rearers' poor economic condition, they are unable to make arrangements for fodder and they leave their animals in the open, said a communique from Chhattisgarh government.

The Godhan Nyay Yojana will be implemented in 2,200 Gothans in the first phase, after which it will also be implemented in 2,800 under construction Gaothan, it added.

Estimates suggest that with the implementation of the Godhan Nyay Yojana in five thousand Gaothans of the state, about four-and-a-half lakh people will get employment in cow-dung collection and manure making, the statement read.

The scheme will be implemented for the landless labourers and shepherds. Small cattle herders will also earn an income of two to three thousand rupees per month through the sale of cow-dung, state government estimates suggest.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader and veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha mocked BJP over its internal tussle on the allocation of portfolios to newly inducted ministers on Tuesday.

BJP in Madhya Pradesh has got divided into three camps- Maharaj, Naraaz and Shivraj, Sinha said. He also indicated towards internal unrest in Madhya Pradesh BJP which set in after Scindia camp was offered prominence in ministerial berths. The allocation of the portfolio is undecided on Tuesday even as the cabinet expansion had taken place on July 2.

Meanwhile, states Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan returned to Bhopal from New Delhi on Tuesday and declined to allocate ministries in his cabinet. He stated that he would work more on the portfolio allocation and will do it soon.

It is speculated that Chouhans visit to the national capital was aimed at resolving the dispute on portfolio allocation. There had been buzz that Scindia camp after pouncing on 14 cabinet berths had demanded most of the prominent ministries including GAD, Revenue, Transportation, Tourism and Health which Chouhan did not agree on.

Amid the internal tussle over ministries, the Chief Minister ignored ministerial aspirations of several of his former cabinet colleagues including Rajendra Shukla, Rampal Singh and Gaurishankar Bisen. Several of these ministers and their loyalists expressed resentment openly across the state.

Meanwhile, Congress also criticized BJPs delay in allocating ministries, He usurped power through the back door and took over 100 days to form a full cabinet and portfolio allocation still pending and he calls him tiger, Congress executive president Jitu Patwari tweeted. The public will teach a lesson to these man-eater tigers, Patwari added.

However, BJP members are denying any such internal discord. There are no camps, we are all under a single umbrella i.e Bharatiya Janata Party, said Arvind Bhaduri, one of the newly inducted ministers in the cabinet.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said on Tuesday that he was not surprised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ladakh, and reminded that Jawaharlal Nehru visited the region after the 1962 war and so did then defence minister Yashwantrao Chavan.

Speaking to reporters, Pawar recalled that when he was the defence minister in 1993, he had gone to China and a treaty was signed, under which soldiers from both the sides were to be pulled back.

"No-weapon treaty was also signed. During the all-party meeting with the PM, I had said the (present) issue needs to be solved through diplomatic channels and we need to create international pressure on China," he said.

"I read in newspapers that following dialogue through diplomatic channels, soldiers from both sides were pulled back. If it is so, then it is good," Pawar added.

To a question about Modi's visit to Ladakh after the clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Galwan valley, Pawar said that in 1962, China defeated India in war.

"But (then prime minister) Nehru had gone there. Even Yashwantrao Chavan, who was defence minister, too had gone to the China border and boosted the morale of the forces.

"When there is a conflict situation between two nations and forces are involved, the country's leadership has to ensure that the morale of the forces is boosted. I am not surprised that he (Modi) went there," Pawar said.
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Chief (UPCC) Ajay Kumar Lallu, CLP leader Aradhana Mishra, other senior leaders such as Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Tanuj Punia and several Congress workers were on Tuesday detained by the Lucknow Police while they were on their way to hand over a memorandum to UP Governor Anandiben Patel on the law and order situation in the state.

Earlier in the day, addressing a press conference at the UPCC Office in Lucknow, UPCC Chief Ajay Kumar Lallu had alleged that Vikas Dubey, who is behind the cold-blooded murder of eight UP cops, had links with UP government ministers and those sitting in power. Many sitting MLAs wee in touch with dreaded criminal Vikas Dubey. He also has links with many ministers. There should be a high-level investigation in this case to bring out the truth. BJP leaders are in contact with criminals and hence risking the lives of our policemen. When Dubey was arrested earlier by UP STF, he had revealed he had close links with two BJP MLAs.

Kumar said such criminals cannot roam freely without the support of the government. The death of eight policemen will be the last nail in the coffin of UP Yogi Adityanath government. People of the state should know how criminals like Vikas Dubey are running their business with the help of those sitting in power. The entire state is now under Jungle Raj, people are worried for their own safety. Congress party will keep fighting for the people of the state,

Meanwhile, gangster Vikas Dubey remains absconding for the fourth day after gunning down eight policemen in Kanpur. The reward on him was 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.
Days after eight police personnel were killed by history-sheeter Vikas Dubey and his accomplices in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) alleged that Dubey had been patronised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Adding to allegations, SP Spokesperson Sunil Singh Sajan stated that Dubey was hiding at a BJP ministers house.

Vikas Dubey is a Terrorist and he is getting support from the government. His real masters are in power, else the authorities should make his call details public. How it was possible that Dubeys name was not in the top-criminals list unless he was getting support from the government. He is hiding at BJP ministers house and police should launch a checking drive, Sajan said.

Nearly 72 hours after the attack which shook the country, Dubey along with his wife- Richa and their younger son is still at large.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police are investigating the case and the reward on Dubey has been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh. Along with the police force of 40 police stations, crime branch and Special Task Force (STF) is also looking for him.

Dubey has been involved in crimes since childhood, he had formed a gang to commit petty crimes which later became a regular affair. Almost 19 years ago, he murdered a Minister of State inside a police station, post which he even tried to enter politics.

Hailing from Vikru village in Chaubeypur police station area of Kanpur Dehat district, Dubey is said to have established an army of youths loyal to him.

However, during the course of the preliminary investigation, Vinay Tiwari, SHO of Chaubeypur along with two more policemen have been suspended and are being probed for their alleged involvement in tipping off Dubey ahead of the police raid.
Just days after India officially banned as many as 59 apps owned by Chinese tech companies or Chinese developers, more countries are now looking at banning Chinese owned apps as well. These include the popular social media app TikTok, among others, with fears over national security and the possibility of user data being shared with China. At this time, US and Australia have been very vocal about the need to ban Chinese social media apps, indicating a hardening of stance against China by an increasing number of countries.

In the US, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has confirmed hours ago that the US government is looking at banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps in the country. I don't want to get out in front of the President [Donald Trump], but it's something we're looking at, said Pompeo while speaking with Fox News' Laura Ingraham. He said the administration is taking this very seriously. TikTok is owned by Chinese tech company Bytedance and has repeatedly been criticized by politicians in the US of being a national security threat, alleging that the app sends data back to the Chinese government. TikTok has, on its part, said that its servers for the app are based outside China and not governed by Chinese law for any data sharing.

TikTok is owned by Chinese tech company Bytedance and has repeatedly been criticized by politicians in the US of being a national security threat, alleging that the app sends data back to the Chinese government

In China, the National Intelligence Law of 2017 governs all tech companies that are based in China or are under Chinese ownership. The law mandates all businesses to share any and all information that the Chinese Government may ask for.

In Australia, there are calls for the government to ban TikTok and other Chinese social media apps. A Federal MP has revealed plans to put TikTok before the Foreign Interference through Social Media senate inquiry over fears that the app developers are sharing user data with the Chinese government. The unnamed MP also says this is an effort by the Chinese Communist Party to collect data of users in other countries. It might be dressed differently but it's the same beast, the MP told the Herald Sun.

For TikTok, it may not be as simple as it seems.

The social media platform is trying to take a stand and is saying they will exit Hong Kong within the next few days. The company says they are pausing review of requests made by the Hong Kong government for user data as a reaction to the new national security laws that China has imposed in Hong Kong. In light of recent events, weve decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong, a TikTok spokesman told Reuters. The new law criminalizes "secession, subversion, organization and perpetration of terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country.

TikTok is incredibly popular around the world. According to analytics firm SensorTower, TikTok was downloaded 39 million times on Android phones and 14 million times on iPhones, in just the month of June. The app has clocked more than 2 billion downloads globally in just the first half of this year on Android and iOS.
The chief executives of Amazon.com, Apple, Alphabets Google and Facebook will appear before a U.S. House of Representatives panel on July 27, the committee said in a statement on Monday. Amazons Jeff Bezos, Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Googles Sundar Pichai and Apples Tim Cook will appear before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee as part of its probe into the companies, the statement said. They will be allowed to appear virtually.

As we have said from the start, their testimony is essential for us to complete this investigation, Jerrold Nadler, the House judiciary panel chairman, and David Cicilline, the House antitrust subcommittee chairman, said in a statement.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported the big four tech platforms heads would testify before U.S. Congress. Lawmakers are expected to release a report on their antitrust investigation in the coming weeks. The U.S. Justice Department is also probing the big four tech platforms. Facebook and Amazon are also facing inquiries by the Federal Trade Commission, while U.S. states attorneys general are looking at Facebook and Google.
Instagram, one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, decided to take on TikTok when it launched a strikingly similar service as the latter, named Reels, in late 2019. Now, according to a report by Business Insider, Instagram is testing the service for India, days after the virally popular TikTok was banned in the country as part of 59 Chinese apps that were blacklisted by the Indian government. According to the report, insider sources with knowledge of the matter reportedly said that Instagram Reels is being offered to a limited number of users in India at the moment, suggesting that a wider rollout is on the cards.

While there is no official confirmation of Instagram Reels being launched in India, most services tend to take the route of testing among a smaller subset of the audience, before proceeding with a wider rollout. Given TikToks popularity in India, it is hardly surprising that the worlds largest social media group wants a share of a lucrative pie. Owned by Facebook, Instagram has a sizeable user base in India, but likely sees a strong potential of expansion by filling the void left behind by TikTok. Incidentally, this is exactly what a host of Indian startups are attempting to do, with contenders including ShareChats Moj, Roposo, Chingari, Bolo Indya, GoSocial and more.

Instagram Reels will be a part of the main Instagram app itself, and offers an interface that allows users to make 15-second videos with pre-recorded audio dialogues and music clips in the background. The format is almost exactly the same as TikTok, which shot to fame as a result of this virally popular format. For TikTok, India was the largest foreign market outside of its home country, China. According to publicly available data from App Annie, TikTok reportedly saw 323 million downloads in 2019 itself, and had over 200 million active users on its platform, many of whom turned creators to give birth to an all-new section of the social media influencer industry.

It is this that most Indian companies are targeting  platforms such as Roposo and GoSocial are vocally banking upon the original video creator community left in the lurch as a result of TikToks ban, in order to cash in on this growth opportunity. Facebook, the worlds largest and mightiest social media platform, took a surprise turn at this time by shutting down its service Lasso  also a TikTok clone. However, Reels now appears to be headed to India, likely targeting the same group of new users that all Indian startups are vying for.

According to a Facebook spokespersons statement on the matter with Business Insider, it appears that India may see an updated version of Instagram Reels, which may bring in more features that might also be localised to suit the Indian user base. At the moment, however, Facebook has not offered any official word on when might Reels be rolled out for all users in India, or any related plans as such.
Judging when to tighten, or loosen, the local economy has become the worlds most consequential guessing game, and each policymaker has his or her own instincts and bench marks. The point when hospitals reach 70% capacity is a red flag, for instance; so are upticks in coronavirus case counts and deaths.

But as the governors of states like Florida, California and Texas have learned in recent days, such bench marks make for a poor alarm system. Once the coronavirus finds an opening in the population, it gains a two-week head start on health officials, circulating and multiplying swiftly before its reemergence becomes apparent at hospitals, testing clinics and elsewhere.

Now, an international team of scientists has developed a model  or, at minimum, the template for a model  that could predict outbreaks about two weeks before they occur, in time to put effective containment measures in place. In a paper posted on Thursday on arXiv.org, the team, led by Mauricio Santillana and Nicole Kogan of Harvard, presented an algorithm that registered danger 14 days or more before case counts begin to increase. The system uses real-time monitoring of Twitter, Google searches and mobility data from smartphones, among other data streams.

The algorithm, the researchers write, could function as a thermostat, in a cooling or heating system, to guide intermittent activation or relaxation of public health interventions  that is, a smoother, safer reopening. In most infectious-disease modelling, you project different scenarios based on assumptions made up front, said Santillana, director of the Machine Intelligence Lab at Boston Childrens Hospital and an assistant professor of paediatrics and epidemiology at Harvard. What were doing here is observing, without making assumptions. The difference is that our methods are responsive to immediate changes in behaviour and we can incorporate those.

Outside experts who were shown the new analysis, which has not yet been peer reviewed, said it demonstrated the increasing value of real-time data, like social media, in improving existing models. The study shows that alternative, next-gen data sources may provide early signals of rising COVID-19 prevalence, said Lauren Ancel Meyers, a biologist and statistician at the University of Texas, Austin. Particularly if confirmed case counts are lagged by delays in seeking treatment and obtaining test results.

The use of real-time data analysis to gauge disease progression goes back at least to 2008, when engineers at Google began estimating doctor visits for the flu by tracking search trends for words like feeling exhausted, joints aching, Tamiflu dosage and many others. The Google Flu Trends algorithm, as it is known, performed poorly. For instance, it continually overestimated doctor visits, later evaluations found, because of limitations of the data and the influence of outside factors such as media attention, which can drive up searches that are unrelated to actual illness.

Since then, researchers have made multiple adjustments to this approach, combining Google searches with other kinds of data. Teams at Carnegie-Mellon University, University College London and the University of Texas, among others, have models incorporating some real-time data analysis. We know that no single data stream is useful in isolation, said Madhav Marathe, a computer scientist at the University of Virginia. The contribution of this new paper is that they have a good, wide variety of streams.

In the new paper, the team analysed real-time data from four sources, in addition to Google: COVID-related Twitter posts, geotagged for location; doctors searches on a physician platform called UpToDate; anonymous mobility data from smartphones; and readings from the Kinsa Smart Thermometer, which uploads to an app. It integrated those data streams with a sophisticated prediction model developed at Northeastern University, based on how people move and interact in communities.

The team tested the predictive value of trends in the data stream by looking at how each correlated with case counts and deaths over March and April, in each state. In New York, for instance, a sharp uptrend in COVID-related Twitter posts began more than a week before case counts exploded in mid-March; relevant Google searches and Kinsa measures spiked several days beforehand. The team combined all its data sources, in effect weighting each according to how strongly it was correlated to a coming increase in cases. This harmonised algorithm anticipated outbreaks by 21 days, on average, the researchers found.

Looking ahead, it predicts that Nebraska and New Hampshire are likely to see cases increase in the coming weeks if no further measures are taken, despite case counts being currently flat. I think we can expect to see at least a week or more of advanced warning, conservatively, taking into account that the epidemic is continually changing, Santillana said. His co-authors included scientists from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Stanford University; and the University of Salzburg, as well as Northeastern.

He added: And we dont see this data as replacing traditional surveillance but confirming it. Its the kind of information that can enable decision-makers to say, Lets not wait one more week, lets act now. For all its appeal, big-data analytics cannot anticipate sudden changes in mass behaviour any better than other, traditional models can, experts said. There is no algorithm that might have predicted the nationwide protests in the wake of George Floyds killing, for instance  mass gatherings that may have seeded new outbreaks, despite precautions taken by protesters.

Social media and search engines also can become less sensitive with time; the more familiar with a pathogen people become, the less they will search with selected keywords. Public health agencies like the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which also consults real-time data from social media and other sources, have not made such algorithms central to their forecasts. This is extremely valuable data for us to have, said Shweta Bansal, a biologist at Georgetown University. But I wouldnt want to go into the forecasting business on this; the harm that can be done is quite severe. We need to see such models verified and validated over time.

Given the persistent and repeating challenges of the coronavirus and the inadequacy of the current public health infrastructure, that seems likely to happen, most experts said. There is an urgent need, and there is no lack of data. What weve looked at is what we think are the best available data streams, Santillana said. Wed be eager to see what Amazon could give us, or Netflix.

Benedict Carey c.2020 The New York Times Company
Samsung on Monday started offering customer support through WhatsApp to provide prompt resolution to queries of consumers from the comfort of their homes. Consumers can send a simple message on the company's WhatsApp support number 1800-5-SAMSUNG (1800-5-7267864) to register for the service, the company said in a statement.

"We are confident that this will help us deepen our consumer connect while providing greater convenience to them. We are hopeful our consumers will utilize the WhatsApp support service to ensure they stay home and stay safe," said Sunil Cutinha, Vice President, Customer Service, Samsung India. On WhatsApp, one can seek technical support for any Samsung product, get information about service centre locations, the status of a repair, new offers and also request for demo and installation of Samsung products they have just bought. This service is available from 9 am to 6 pm, on all days of the week.

According to the company, consumers have several contactless service options, helping them resolve their issues without stepping out of their homes. Customers can opt for Remote Support, Live Chat, technical assistance through the call centre or access do-it-yourself videos on the Samsung Website and on YouTube.
The coronavirus can stay aloft for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, mounting scientific evidence suggests.

This risk is highest in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain super-spreading events reported in meatpacking plants, churches and restaurants.

Its unclear how often the virus is spread via these tiny droplets, or aerosols, compared with larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, said Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech.

Aerosols are released even when a person without symptoms exhales, talks or sings, according to Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have outlined the evidence in an open letter to the World Health Organization.

What is clear, they said, is that people should consider minimizing time indoors with people outside their families. Schools, nursing homes and businesses should consider adding powerful new air filters and ultraviolet lights that can kill airborne viruses.

Here are answers to a few questions raised by the latest research.

What does it mean for a virus to be airborne?

For a virus to be airborne means that it can be carried through the air in a viable form. For most pathogens, this is a yes-no scenario. HIV, too delicate to survive outside the body, is not airborne. Measles is airborne, and dangerously so: It can survive in the air for up to two hours.

For the coronavirus, the definition has been more complicated. Experts agree that the virus does not travel long distances or remain viable outdoors. But evidence suggests it can traverse the length of a room and, in one set of experimental conditions, remain viable for perhaps three hours.

How are aerosols different from droplets?

Aerosols are droplets, droplets are aerosols  they do not differ except in size. Scientists sometimes refer to droplets fewer than 5 microns in diameter as aerosols. (By comparison, a red blood cell is about 5 microns in diameter; a human hair is about 50 microns wide.)

From the start of the pandemic, the WHO and other public health organizations have focused on the viruss ability to spread through large droplets that are expelled when a symptomatic person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets are heavy, relatively speaking, and fall quickly to the floor or onto a surface that others might touch. This is why public health agencies have recommended maintaining a distance of at least 6 feet from others, and frequent hand washing.

But some experts have said for months that infected people also are releasing aerosols when they cough and sneeze. More important, they expel aerosols even when they breathe, talk or sing, especially with some exertion.

Scientists know now that people can spread the virus even in the absence of symptoms  without coughing or sneezing  and aerosols might explain that phenomenon.

Because aerosols are smaller, they contain much less virus than droplets do. But because they are lighter, they can linger in the air for hours, especially in the absence of fresh air. In a crowded indoor space, a single infected person can release enough aerosolized virus over time to infect many people, perhaps seeding a superspreader event.

For droplets to be responsible for that kind of spread, a single person would have to be within a few feet of all the other people, or to have contaminated an object that everyone else touched. All that seems unlikely to many experts: I have to do too many mental gymnastics to explain those other routes of transmission compared to aerosol transmission, which is much simpler, Marr said.

Can I stop worrying about physical distancing and washing my hands?

Physical distancing is still very important. The closer you are to an infected person, the more aerosols and droplets you may be exposed to. Washing your hands often is still a good idea.

Whats new is that those two things may not be enough. We should be placing as much emphasis on masks and ventilation as we do with hand washing, Marr said. As far as we can tell, this is equally important, if not more important.

Should I begin wearing a hospital-grade mask indoors? And how long is too long to stay indoors?

Health care workers may all need to wear N95 masks, which filter out most aerosols. At the moment, they are advised to do so only when engaged in certain medical procedures that are thought to produce aerosols.

For the rest of us, cloth face masks will still greatly reduce risk, as long as most people wear them. At home, when youre with your own family or with roommates you know to be careful, masks are still not necessary. But it is a good idea to wear them in other indoor spaces, experts said.

As for how long is safe, that is frustratingly tough to answer. A lot depends on whether the room is too crowded to allow for a safe distance from others and whether there is fresh air circulating through the room.

What does airborne transmission mean for reopening schools and colleges?

This is a matter of intense debate. Many schools are poorly ventilated and are too poorly funded to invest in new filtration systems. There is a huge vulnerability to infection transmission via aerosols in schools, said Don Milton, an aerosol expert at the University of Maryland.

Most children younger than 12 seem to have only mild symptoms, if any, so elementary schools may get by. So far, we dont have evidence that elementary schools will be a problem, but the upper grades, I think, would be more likely to be a problem, Milton said.

College dorms and classrooms are also cause for concern.

Milton said the government should think of long-term solutions for these problems. Having public schools closed clogs up the whole economy, and its a major vulnerability, he said.

Until we understand how this is part of our national defense, and fund it appropriately, were going to remain extremely vulnerable to these kinds of biological threats.

What are some things I can do to minimize the risks?

Do as much as you can outdoors. Despite the many photos of people at beaches, even a somewhat crowded beach, especially on a breezy day, is likely to be safer than a pub or an indoor restaurant with recycled air.

But even outdoors, wear a mask if you are likely to be close to others for an extended period.

When indoors, one simple thing people can do is to open their windows and doors whenever possible, Marr said. You can also upgrade the filters in your home air-conditioning systems, or adjust the settings to use more outdoor air rather than recirculated air.

Public buildings and businesses may want to invest in air purifiers and ultraviolet lights that can kill the virus. Despite their reputation, elevators may not be a big risk, Milton said, compared with public bathrooms or offices with stagnant air where you may spend a long time.

If none of those things are possible, try to minimize the time you spend in an indoor space, especially without a mask. The longer you spend inside, the greater the dose of virus you might inhale.

Apoorva Mandavilli c.2020 The New York Times Company
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday urged China-born people in the United States to contact the FBI if Chinese officials try to force them to return to China under a program of coercion that he said is led by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Wray issued the unusual appeal in an address to a think tank in which he reiterated US charges that China is using espionage, cyber theft, blackmail and other means as part of a strategy to replace the United States as the world's dominant economic and technological power.

He said Xi has "spearheaded" a program called Fox Hunt aimed at strong-arming people born in China living outside of the country who are regarded as threats to return home in order to silence criticism of Beijing's political and human rights policies.

The families of those who refuse to return are threatened and some have been arrested in China "for leverage," he said

"Hundreds of these Fox Hunt victims that they target live here in the United States, and many are American citizens or green card holders," he continued. "The Chinese government wants to force them to return to China and China's tactics to accomplish this are shocking."

He related a case in which he said the Chinese government sent "an emissary" to visit a family in the United States of an unidentified target who could not be located. The emissary left a message that the target could chose between returning to China or committing suicide, Wray said.

"I want to take this opportunity to note that if you believe the Chinese government is targeting you, that you are a potential Fox Hunt victim, please reach out to your local FBI field office," he said.

Wray also said that almost half of nearly 5,000 active FBI counterintelligence cases now underway are related to China.

"We've now reached a point where the FBI is opening a new China-related counterintelligence case about every 10 hours," Wray said in his address to the Hudson Institute think tank.
Britain can once again issue new licences to export arms to Saudi Arabia after complying with a court order, its trade minister said on Tuesday, a move campaigners condemned as "morally bankrupt".

The Court of Appeal last year ruled that Britain broke the law by allowing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia that might have been deployed in the war in Yemen.

The court concluded that Britain's government had erred in law in its decision-making processes on arms export licences to Saudi Arabia, after activists said there was evidence the weapons had been used in violation of human rights statutes.

While the court's decision did not mean Britain had to halt arms exports to Saudi Arabia, it did mean it had to pause the granting of new export licences to sell arms to the kingdom - Britain's biggest weapons purchaser.

Trade minister Liz Truss said the government had re-taken those decisions on a "correct legal basis", meaning it could resume issuing licences.

"I have assessed that there is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL (International Humanitarian Law)," she said.

The Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), which originally brought the legal action and had argued that British weapons were likely to have been used in Yemen in violation of human rights law, condemned the decision.

"This is a disgraceful and morally bankrupt decision. The Saudi-led bombardment of Yemen has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and the government itself admits that UK-made arms have played a central role on the bombing," said Andrew Smith of CAAT.

"We will be considering this new decision with our lawyers, and will be exploring all options available to challenge it."
Latin America and the Caribbean now account for 50% of the COVID-19 cases in the Americas, and the number of registered cases continues to accelerate, the World Health Organization's regional director Carissa Etienne said on Tuesday.

"This is a pandemic of staggering proportions and we have no option but to continue to put all our energy into controlling it," she said in a virtual briefing from Washington with Pan American Health Organization directors.

PAHO wished Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro a speedy recovery from his positive test result for COVID-19.

"The message is that this virus in unpredictable and does not respect race, class or people in power, despite security around any president," said PAHO director for communicable diseases Marcos Espinal.

For Brazil, the infection of its president should reinforce the need to strengthen implementations of social distancing recommendations and the use of masks to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, he said.

Two months ago, the United States accounted for 75% of the COVID-19 cases in the Americas, she said, warning that the WHO sees acceleration of cases in several U.S. states, most of Central America and most of South America.

Some of Latin America's most persistent problems have contributed to the scale of the pandemic in the region, Etienne said: inequality, political division and health systems that have been weakened by years of under-investment.
A tell-all book by President Trump's niece Mary, a licensed clinical psychologist, will now be published next week, two weeks earlier than expected, the publisher Simon & Schuster said Monday.

The book portrays the president as a "damaged man" with "lethal flaws" who "threatens the world's health, economic security, and social fabric," the publisher described on its website.

Mary Trump remains entangled in a legal battle over whether she has violated a confidential settlement agreement. But the court case will not affect the release of the book.

"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," Simon & Schuster said Monday.

It was previously scheduled to come out on July 28.

The publisher has already printed 75,000 copies of the book, according to court filings. Subtitled "How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," it is currently the No. 1 best-selling book on Amazon, surpassing John Bolton's memoir "The Room Where It Happened."

In the prologue to the book, Mary Trump writes: "In addition to the firsthand accounts I can give as my father's daughter and my uncle's 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."

Simon & Schuster published the back cover of the book for the first time on Monday. It is an excerpt of Mary's writing, stating that "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 & synthesize information."

Mary also writes about the president's father Fred, who "caused him terror," she says. "Donald suffered deprivations that would scar him for life," Mary asserts.

When the existence of Mary's book was revealed last month, the President's younger brother Robert took legal action to block its publication.

Notably, he is being represented by one of the President's attorneys, Charles Harder, who has worked for Trump and Trump's re-election campaign for years.

After losing in Queens County Surrogate Court, Robert Trump took his case to the New York State Supreme Court and briefly prevailed, winning an injunction against Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster.

But an appellate court lifted the temporary restraining order against the publisher the very next day.

The restraining order is still in place against Mary Trump, so she is unable to comment publicly. She has a spokesperson, Chris Bastardi, who said Monday, "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?"

Mary's attorney Ted Boutrous said on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" that he is confident that the restraining order will be lifted.

"The Supreme Court has never upheld a prior restraint in any case in history where political speech was involved. That's what this is," he said. "It's an important book about the President of the United States."

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday.

In a legal brief on her behalf, Boutrous and her other attorneys said that the book is her "own story about life as a member of the Trump family -- a story that includes information about financial and familial misdeeds by the President of the United States and his siblings."

"This Book addresses issues of profound importance to our country, with critical insights concerning the President of the United States, his formative years, and his family's financial dealings," the legal filing said. "Ms. Trump offers a personal perspective on President Trump -- valuable eyewitness source material for historians and citizens."

Harder has not responded to requests for comment on the state of the case.
US President Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump levels scathing criticism of the President in her forthcoming book, accusing him of "hubris and wilful ignorance" dating back to his early days.

Mary Trump's book Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man charges that Donald Trump's father created a toxic family dynamic that explains the President, and that she could "no longer remain silent" following the past three years of his presidency.

"Donald, following the lead of my grandfather and with the complicity, silence and inaction of his siblings, destroyed my father. I can't let him destroy my country," Mary Trump wrote in the book, a copy of which was obtained by CNN.

The White House declined to comment on the book.

Mary Trump writes that some of the book is based on her own memory, and in parts reconstructed some dialogue based on what she was told by some members of the family and others, as well as legal documents, bank statements, tax returns and other documents.

Mary Trump, a licensed clinical psychologist, writes that she voted for Hillary Clinton, and didn't attend Trump's election night party in 2016 because she "wouldn't be able to contain my euphoria when Clinton's victory was announced, and I didn't want to be rude."

Mary Trump writes that she didn't take her uncle's run for president seriously at first. "I didn't think Donald took it seriously," she wrote. "He simply wanted the free publicity for his brand."

"'He's a clown,' my aunt Maryanne said during one of our regular lunches at the time. 'This will never happen,' " Mary Trump wrote.

Maryanne Trump Barry is a former federal judge. CNN has reached out to her for comment.

Mary Trump's book is being published two weeks early by Simon & Schuster on July 14, amid high demand following a court battle over its release. The publisher has already printed 75,000 copies of the book, according to court filings.

After Mary Trump's book was disclosed last month, the President's younger brother Robert took legal action to block its publication.

Robert Trump briefly won an injunction against Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster in New York State Supreme Court, but an appellate court lifted the temporary restraining order against the publisher the next day.

The restraining order is still in place against Mary Trump, so she is unable to comment publicly.

Her spokesman, Chris Bastardi, said Monday: "The act by a sitting president to muzzle a private citizen is just the latest in a series of disturbing behaviours."
When the nine African women lost their jobs as housekeepers in Saudi Arabia because of the coronavirus lockdown, the agency that had recruited them stuffed them in a bare room with a few thin mattresses and locked the door.

Some have been there since March. One is now six months pregnant but receiving no maternity care. Another tore her clothes off in a fit of distress, so the agency chained her to a wall.

The women receive food once a day, they said, but dont know when they will get out, much less be able to return to their countries.

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.

Families in many Arab countries rely on millions of low-paid workers from Southeast Asia and Africa to drive their cars, clean their homes and care for their children and elderly relatives under conditions that rights groups have long said allow exploitation and abuse.

Now, the pandemic and associated economic downturns have exacerbated these dangers. Many families will not let housekeepers leave the house, fearing they will bring back the virus, while requiring them more of them 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.

In Lebanon, employers have deposited scores of Ethiopian women in front of their countrys consulate in Beirut because they could no longer pay them.

Persian Gulf countries alone had nearly 4 million domestic laborers in 2016, more than half of them women, according to a study for the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, which focuses on migrant labor in the region. Experts say the real number has risen since and is probably much higher.

Hundreds of thousands of foreign housekeepers and nannies work in other Arab countries, including Lebanon and Jordan, giving the Arab world the most female domestic migrant workers of any region, according to the International Labor Organization.

Most come to the Middle East through recruitment agencies and are employed under a sponsorship system that links their residency status to their jobs, giving their employers tremendous power. In many cases, they cannot quit without losing their residency, or move to new jobs or leave the country without an employers permission.

And in practice, many employers confiscate their workers passports and deprive them of time off, human rights groups say. Some prevent them from using cellphones or the internet. Physical and sexual abuse are common.

The combination of their gender, the sponsorship system and the lack of contact with their peers makes female domestic workers especially vulnerable, said Vani Saraswathi, associate editor of Migrant-Rights.org, an advocacy group.

Most domestic workers are very isolated, she said. You have this person who controls your every movement, and you are in their house 24/7, so imagine the kind of power that gives them.

Alarm among such workers rose as COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, spread across the Middle East and shook the economies many migrants depend on.

Even in cases of extreme abuse, workers are hesitant to leave their employers, as they fear being made completely homeless, Saraswathi said.

Dozens of Kenyan women in Saudi Arabia have complained of not enough food, no rest, violence, even being threatened, trapped and monitored, said Ruth Khakame, chairwoman of the National Domestic Workers Council of Kudheiha, a Kenyan union. Youre being denied from using your phone. So youre struggling, youre alone and youve nowhere to turn.

Fear of contagion has upset relations between many domestic workers and their employers. Some who used to get breaks when their employers left for the office now have to serve entire families stuck at home all day. Other families distrust their workers as potential vectors for the virus.

From the beginning, my employers were not friendly, said Justine Mukisa, 33, a Ugandan working in Oman. But during the pandemic, her salary of about $180 per month has been cut in half, her workload has increased and her employers have grown hostile.

Before coronavirus, we sometimes played with the children, she said. Now this is not allowed. My employers do not want me to touch their food or sit near them.

In recent years, a number of countries have passed regulations regarding domestic workers, granting them one day off each week, annual or biannual leave and an end-of-service benefit based on length of employment.

Qatar has capped the workday at 10 hours, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait at 12 hours and Saudi Arabia at 15 hours. Kuwait has a monthly minimum wage of about $195 for domestic workers. Kenyans in Saudi Arabia are supposed to earn at least $375 per month plus benefits, and the Philippines has set a $400 minimum wage for its citizens across countries.

As the coronavirus has spread, Bahrain, Kuwait and the Emirates have facilitated visa renewals to stranded migrants and helped them avoid fines and detention if their residency status lapses. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have announced free treatment for migrant workers who get COVID-19.

But workers advocates say that enforcement of regulations is often spotty and that those who face abuse have little recourse.

The way these countries have perfected this system of disposable labor lends itself to a high level of exploitation, said Mustafa Qadri, the executive director of Equidem, a labor rights organization based in Britain.

Those who get the virus can be easily discarded by their employers.

Two months ago, Hanico Quinlat, a Filipino domestic worker in Saudi Arabia, came down with a severe headache and moved into her agencys hostel to recover. When she tested positive for COVID-19, the agency supervisor locked her in a room alone, giving her only painkillers and vitamin C to treat her illness.

When they give us food, they throw it into the room, Quinlat said by telephone from the room where she was being held. We are people, not animals.

Among the most vulnerable workers are women who have fled their employers or entered countries on tourist visas, hoping to freelance on the local market.

Kelleh Njoki, 25, arrived in Dubai from Kenya as a tourist in February seeking work, but soon discovered she was pregnant. She is now sleeping in a crowded private dorm and cannot afford maternity care or a $400 ricket on a repatriation flight.

Im seven months pregnant; how am I going to have my baby here? she said in a phone interview. Im stuck. Im confused. I really need help.

For Apisaki, the Kenyan locked up with eight other women in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the trouble started when she left her job last month after not being paid for months and returned to her recruiting agency, she said.

She was soon held with others from Kenya and Uganda who also had no work and no way to return home because of the lockdown  and because the agency had taken their passports.

The women are in a single room whose only sunlight comes from a small window that was recently taped shut, according to WhatsApp videos seen by The New York Times and Apisaki, who is being identified only by her middle name for her safety.

The women share a toilet, wash their clothes in the sink and cook one meal per day when the agency drops off food. The pregnant woman hasnt seen a doctor in months, Apisaki said, and the woman who tore off her clothes spent weeks lying naked on the tile, her arm chained to the wall.

New arrivals are not tested for the coronavirus, potentially endangering the others in a country recording thousands of new cases daily.

For the Kenyan women, the agency that recruited them in Kenya is responsible for helping them return home. But the agency that recruited Apisaki is no longer answering its phone or responding to messages, she said.

Last week, the Kenyan Embassy in Riyadh announced a possible repatriation flight to Nairobi but said travelers had to prove they did not have COVID-19, buy a $525 ticket and quarantine once home.

But Apisaki cant get tested or fly if she cant leave the room, and her efforts to reach the embassy have failed, she said.

In an emailed response to questions, Peter Ogego, the Kenyan ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said that he was alarmed by the serious allegations of the womens detention and that, if provided with all the information, he would work with the Saudi government to bring justice to the victims and address the loopholes in the law and any underlying causes.

But he said it was the job of Saudi Arabia to ensure the safety of foreigners working in the kingdom and questioned how Apisaki had been unable to reach embassy officials.

Much of our work is daily spent largely addressing such allegations, he wrote.

The women said they had been locked in the room by their Saudi agency, Almuhait Recruitment.

The agency did not respond to requests for comment on the womens situation on Sunday.

They cant hold women without any right, Apisaki said. I dont get sun to my body, no space to stretch my legs, to walk or exercise. These are the things that make my brain crazy.

Ben Hubbard and Louise Donovan c.2020 The New York Times Company
Malaysian police on Tuesday said they will summon reporters of news broadcaster Al Jazeera for questioning over a documentary on the country's arrests of undocumented migrants, which authorities have accused of being an attempt to tarnish Malaysia's image.

"Locked up in Malaysia's Lockdown", produced by the Qatar-based station's 101 East news programme, focused on the plight of thousands of undocumented migrants detained during raids carried out in areas under tight coronavirus lockdowns.

The documentary, which aired last week, sparked an immediate backlash online while several officials decried the report as being inaccurate, misleading and unfair.

The backlash comes amid concerns over crackdowns on press freedoms under Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassins government, which came into power in March, as well as rising anger towards foreigners and refugees, who have been accused of spreading the coronavirus and burdening state resources.

Defence minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob this week called on Al Jazeera to apologise to Malaysians, and said allegations of racism and discrimination against undocumented migrants were untrue.

Authorities had previously defended the arrests as necessary to uphold the law and stem the spread of the pandemic.

Police will call in Al Jazeera staff as part of a probe opened after several complaints filed against the documentary, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador told reporters on Tuesday.

"It is the police's responsibility to investigate to see if there are any elements of sedition or wrongdoing," he said, according to a video of his comments posted by news portal Malaysia Gazette.

Spokespeople for Al Jazeera did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Separately on Tuesday, Malaysia's immigration department issued a search notice for a Bangladeshi national whose name, details and photos match those of a migrant worker interviewed in the documentary.

The investigation is the latest in a recent series of clampdowns against reporters and activists that rights groups say are aimed at stifling dissent.

In May, a journalist from the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post was questioned by police over her reporting on the migrant arrests.
Pakistan's law enforcement agencies have arrested three Islamic State militants from the country's Punjab province where they were collecting funds for the dreaded terrorist group in Punjab province.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police said in a statement that an intelligence-based operation was conducted in Daska, Sialkot, some 125kms from Lahore on Monday.

"The CTD Team Gujranwala got credible information that three terrorists belonging to proscribed organisation Daesh (ISIS) were present in Tehsil Daska, District Sialkot and collecting funds for their organisation Daesh/ISIS. CTD Team raided the place and arrested them," the CTD statement says.

The terrorists have been identified as Ahmed Idrees, Azam Ali and Mazhar Mukhtar.

Cash for terror financing, receipt book and receipts of funds have been recovered from them. They have been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

Over a month ago, the CTD shot dead four "dangerous" terrorists of Islamic State (ISIS) in a shootout in Bahawalpur, some 400kms from Lahore.

The Pakistani government denies presence of ISIS on its soil but often its security agencies nab terrorists of this banned militant group from different parts of the country mostly in Punjab.
Russian security forces on Tuesday detained a former journalist who works as an aide to the head of Russia's space agency and accused him of treason, saying he had passed military secrets to an unnamed NATO power.

Footage released by the FSB security service showed Ivan Safronov being detained outside his Moscow flat by armed agents who searched him before putting him into a van.

He could later be heard saying "I'm not guilty" as masked agents led him past reporters to a court hearing that was closed to the public and was set to determine the terms of his custody.

Safronov, who has covered military affairs for two national newspapers, faces up to two decades in jail if found guilty. His trial is expected to be held behind closed doors because of its sensitive nature.

It is the first time in nearly two decades that a journalist has been accused of treason in Russia, said Ivan Pavlov, a prominent defence lawyer.

His detention raised fears among journalists of a new wave of repression, and staff at Kommersant, one of his former newspapers, said in an editorial that the allegations looked absurd because he was a real patriot.

Some of Safronov's former journalist colleagues protested outside FSB headquarters before being detained.

The FSB accused Safronov of working for an unnamed foreign intelligence service.

"Safronov, carrying out tasks for one of the NATO countries' intelligence services, gathered and handed over to its representative state secrets and information about military-technical cooperation and about the defence and security of the Russian Federation," it said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not believe the charges were related to Safronov's work as a journalist.

The space agency said Safronov had no access to secrets and the case was not related to his work there.

TASS reported last year that prosecutors wanted to bring a case against Kommersant for disclosing a state secret.

Russian news portal The Bell said then that an article which Safronov had worked on had disappeared from Kommersant's site.

It said Egypt had agreed to buy Russian Sukhoi SU-35 fighter jets. Washington threatened Egypt with sanctions if the deal went through.
A Russian court on Tuesday fined a coronavirus-denying monk who has challenged Kremlin lockdown orders for spreading false information about the pandemic.

The court in the Ural Mountains region ordered Father Sergiy to pay 90,000 rubles ($1,250). The 65-year-old monk, who has attracted nationwide attention by urging followers to disobey church leadership and ignore church closures during the pandemic, didn't attend the court hearing.

On Friday, a Russian Orthodox Church panel in Yekaterinburg ruled to defrock Father Sergiy for breaking monastic rules. He didnt show up at the session and dismissed the verdict, urging his backers to come to defend the Sredneuralsk womens monastery where he has holed up since last month.

In Fridays video posted by his supporters, Father Sergiy denounced President Vladimir Putin as a traitor to the Motherland serving a Satanic world government and dismissed Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill and other top clerics as heretics who must be thrown out.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin wasn't following developments regarding the rebel monk.

When contagion engulfed Russia, Father Sergiy declared the coronavirus non-existent and denounced government efforts to stem the outbreak as Satans electronic camp. The monk has described the vaccines being developed against COVID-19 as part of a global plot to control the masses via chips.

He urged believers to disobey the closure of churches during the nationwide lockdown. Orthodox churches across Russia were closed on April 13 amid a quick rise in COVID-19 cases and were allowed to reopen in early June as authorities eased restrictions.

The church banned the monk from ministry in April, but he has continued preaching and last month took charge of the monastery outside Yekaterinburg that he had founded years ago. Dozens of burly volunteers, including veterans of the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine, helped enforce his rules, while the prioress and several nuns have left.

The police visited the monastery last month a day after Father Sergiy took over, but found no violations of public order. Facing stiff resistance by his supporters, church officials have appeared indecisive, lacking the means to enforce their ruling and evict the rebellious monk by force.
Six people were killed in a gunfight Tuesday between two factions of an ethnic group over control of a hilly region in southeastern Bangladesh where armed gangs are active, police said.

The clash took place between Parbatya Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samiti and its reformist faction, both dominated by the influential Chakma tribe in Bandarban district, police official Mobasser Hossain said. He said all of the dead were from the reformist faction.

The group previously fought an insurgency against Bangladesh's military and other security agencies for decades, demanding greater autonomy for a region known as Chittagong Hill Tracts.

The insurgency ended after the group signed a peace treaty with the government in 1997, but some group members were unhappy because they wanted more political freedom for the ethnic group.

Bandarban is 387km (240 miles) southeast of Dhaka. About a dozen ethnic groups live in the region. Each has its own dialect, distinctive dress and rituals.

Hossain said the bodies were being taken to a police station and police have launched an investigation.

Such attacks are common in the region because some of the groups are reportedly involved in illegal activities such as drug trafficking and kidnapping for ransom.
Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday it was monitoring a case of bubonic plague in China after being notified by the authorities in Beijing.

A herdsman in China's northern Inner Mongolia region was confirmed at the weekend to have the bubonic plague.

Two other cases were confirmed in Khovd province in neighbouring Mongolia last week involving brothers who had eaten marmot meat, China's state news agency Xinhua said.

"Bubonic plague has been with us and is always with us, for centuries," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters at a virtual briefing. "We are looking at the case numbers in China. It's being well managed.

"At the moment, we are not considering it high-risk but we're watching it, monitoring it carefully." She said the WHO was working in partnership with the Chinese and Mongolian authorities.

The UN health agency said it was notified by China on July 6 of a case of bubonic plague in Inner Mongolia.

"Plague is rare, typically found in selected geographical areas across the globe where it is still endemic," the agency said, adding that sporadic cases of plague have been reported in China over the last decade.

"Bubonic plague is the most common form and is transmitted between animals and humans through the bite of infected fleas and direct contact with carcases of infected small animals. It is not easily transmitted between people."

Though the highly-contagious plague is rare in China and can be treated, at least five people have died from it since 2014, according to China's National Health Commission.

The man infected in Inner Mongolia was in stable condition at a hospital in Bayannur, the city health commission said in a statement.

Xinhua said that in neighbouring Mongolia, another suspected case, involving a 15-year-old boy who had a fever after eating a marmot hunted by a dog, was reported on Monday.
Members of the Central Tibetan Administration stand with ceremonial scarves in front of a portrait of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to pay their respects during an official function to mark the the Tibetan leader's 85th birthday in Dharmsala. (Image: AP)
Gilbert F. Kraemer, 74 years of age, passed away on Monday, May 31, 2021. He was born on November 9, 1946 in New Albany, Indiana to the late Edward and Henrietta (Renn) Kraemer. Gilbert was an Army Veteran serving in the 24th Infantry and was a 1965 graduate of Providence High School. Along 
(Newser)  Lawyers for the family of Breonna Taylor have leveled new allegations at Louisville police and city officials in amended court documentsincluding that officers failed to help and that her raid was tied to a city gentrification plan. Taylor was a 26-year-old black EMT fatally shot in her apartment on March 13 when officers executed a late-night raid seeking evidence against an ex-boyfriend. Coverage:

No aid: Family attorneys say Taylor survived the shooting, but officers at the scene failed to provide aid, reports the New York Times. "In the six minutes that elapsed from the time Breonna was shot, to the time she died, we have no evidence suggesting that any officer made entry in an attempt to check and assist her, says attorney Sam Aguiar. "She suffered."

Family attorneys say Taylor survived the shooting, but officers at the scene failed to provide aid, reports the New York Times. "In the six minutes that elapsed from the time Breonna was shot, to the time she died, we have no evidence suggesting that any officer made entry in an attempt to check and assist her, says attorney Sam Aguiar. "She suffered." Pushing back: A city coroner says Taylor could not have been saved "even it it had happened outside of an ER" because her wounds were too severe. Police, meanwhile, say the scene was too chaotic and dangerous. Why didnt they go in to help her? They just got shot. Why rush back in and get someone else shot? says Tom Wine, the Jefferson County Commonwealths attorney. He's referring to the fact that Taylor's companion fired at officers, striking one in the leg; Taylor's family says officers never identified themselves.

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Gentrification: The family also says Taylor's shooting was connected to a city gentrification plan, reports WLKY. They say Mayor Greg Fischer has been pressuring police to target a particularly crime-heavy block so the city can demolish it to make room for a multi-million-dollar development. Taylor's ex-boyfriend, convicted drug dealer Jamarcus Glover, lives on the block, and his home is a "roadblock" to the project, says the family. Taylor herself lived about 10 miles away, and police raided her apartment that night looking for evidence against Glover.

The family also says Taylor's shooting was connected to a city gentrification plan, reports WLKY. They say Mayor Greg Fischer has been pressuring police to target a particularly crime-heavy block so the city can demolish it to make room for a multi-million-dollar development. Taylor's ex-boyfriend, convicted drug dealer Jamarcus Glover, lives on the block, and his home is a "roadblock" to the project, says the family. Taylor herself lived about 10 miles away, and police raided her apartment that night looking for evidence against Glover. City responds: "Those are outrageous allegations without foundation or supporting facts," says a spokeswoman for the mayor.

"Those are outrageous allegations without foundation or supporting facts," says a spokeswoman for the mayor. Fudging the time? Officers raided Glover's place the same night they raided Taylor's apartment, and police records say both raids took place at 12:40am. But Taylor's family says police actually raided Glover's residence around midnight and arrested him, making the raid on Taylor's apartment unnecessary, reports the Courier-Journal. They say officers altered the time on their records to make it appear the raids occurred simultaneously. The newspaper says the "40" in the "12:40" appears darker than the rest of the print on a page related to the Glover raid. Louisville police did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment.

Officers raided Glover's place the same night they raided Taylor's apartment, and police records say both raids took place at 12:40am. But Taylor's family says police actually raided Glover's residence around midnight and arrested him, making the raid on Taylor's apartment unnecessary, reports the Courier-Journal. They say officers altered the time on their records to make it appear the raids occurred simultaneously. The newspaper says the "40" in the "12:40" appears darker than the rest of the print on a page related to the Glover raid. Louisville police did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment. WNBA: Players' uniforms will feature Taylor's name for the league's opening weekend later this month, reports the AP. Warmup shirts will read "Say Her Name" and "Black Lives Matter," and the league is looking at ways to honor other women who died at the hands of police, including Sandra Bland.

(Read more Breonna Taylor stories.)
(Newser)  Ghislaine Maxwell is now in a federal detention center in New York Citybut it isn't the one where former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein died last year. The British former socialite, who is accused of recruiting girls as young as 14 for Epstein to sexually abuse, was moved to Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center on Monday, CNN reports. Epstein died by suicide in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan 11 months ago. Maxwell, who was arrested by the FBI in New Hampshire on Thursday, faces multiple charges related to Epstein's abuse of girls. Prosecutors say the 58-year-old helped "recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims" she knew were underage.

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Maxwell is being held in Brooklyn, but she is being prosecuted in Manhattan, where prosecutors have asked a judge to schedule a Friday court appearance. "Somebody made the conscious decision, 'lets not house her where Epstein was housed,'" former prison official Jack Donson tells the AP. He says he expects Maxwellwho faces an immediate 14-day quarantine and coronavirus testingwill be very closely watched at the Brooklyn facility. At Friday's hearing, prosecutors will argue against granting Maxwell bail. In a memo, they noted that she is extremely wealthy, holds three passports, and has " absolutely no reason to stay in the United States and face the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence." (She was arrested after more than 20 officers stormed her rural retreat.)
(Newser)  Mary Trump's book isn't the only tell-all about the Trump family due out before the election. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former aide to and confidante of Melania Trump, is set to release a book on Sept. 1. And it's said to be "explosive," reports the Daily Beast. Sources tell the outlet that Melania and Me "heavily trashes the first lady." Wolkoffa New York socialite and former Vogue special events directorcarried on a 15-year friendship with Melania. She helped organize President Trump's 2017 inauguration before becoming senior adviser to the first lady. But their relationship reportedly soured after reports that Wolkoff's firm had received $26 million from Trump's inaugural committee, and that Wolkoff had pocketed $1.62 million. Wolkoff left the East Wing in 2018.

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"Was I fired? No," she told the New York Times last year. "Did I personally receive $26 million or $1.6 million? No. Was I thrown under the bus? Yes." At the time, she was said to be cooperating with Manhattan federal prosecutors who were investigating the inaugural committee's spending. Her book comes from Simon & Schuster, which published John Bolton's The Room Where It Happened and will next week publish Mary Trump's Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man. As with those books, a legal fight could follow. Wolkoff reportedly signed a nondisclosure agreement related to the her work at the White House. Even so, the book is said to chronicle "her role as the First Lady's trusted advisor to her abrupt and very public departure," per Vanity Fair. (Read more books stories.)
(Newser)  As Florida's coronavirus cases surge, the education commissioner there issued an emergency order Monday that mandated all public K-12 schools open in August. Per the Tallahassee Democrat, Richard Corcoran's order requires that all brick-and-mortar schools open for at least five days a week for each student. That rules out schools planning to set up a system where students work at home half the time and come to school the other half. "There is a need to open schools fully to ensure the quality and continuity of the educational process, the comprehensive well-being of students and families, and a return to Florida hitting its full economic stride," the order says, per the New York Post. The paper notes the decree came soon after President Trump tweeted Monday, "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!" Per WTXL, the order applies only to the fall semester for now.

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Local health officials can override this edict if they deem it too unsafe in their area to open due to the coronavirus, but the leeway they'll actually have on that is murky. "Logically, I don't think they could say schools aren't safe if they are allowing people to be out in public," a state Department of Education rep says, per the Tallahassee Democrat, adding that if a school can't open, the department will work with it to further develop its remote learning procedure or "alternative options." For those schools continuing to offer remote learning in some capacity, those plans won't be able to be as lax as they were in the spring and will have to be approved by the state. School leaders are already pushing back, the Palm Beach Post reports. "It is up to each individual school district how it reopens in the fall," Robert Runcie, Broward County's schools superintendent, tweeted. (Read more Florida stories.)
(Newser)  Tammy Duckworth's profile is on the rise as one of Joe Biden's potential running mates, and the Illinois senator took some strong criticism from Tucker Carlson during his Fox show Monday night. Youre not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military," Carlson began, per the Daily Beast. That is understating things: Duckworth lost both legs in Iraq when the helicopter she was co-piloting got shot down. After his caveat, Carlson went on to call her a "deeply silly and unimpressive person" and to suggest that she and other top Democrats "hate America." To which Duckworth replied on Twitter: "Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?"

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As Business Insider reports, Carlson took issue with an interview Duckworth gave to CNN in which she called for a "national dialogue" on whether monuments to George Washington and other slave-owning Americans should come down. Carlson said most people "ignore" her, but "when Duckworth does speak in public, youre reminded what a deeply silly and unimpressive person she is. He added, These people actually hate America. No longer a question about that. The Washington Post notes that Duckworth had a similar rejoinder to GOP Rep. Doug Collins earlier this year when he accused Democrats of being "in love with terrorists." She replied: "I left parts of my body in Iraq fighting terrorists. I don't need to justify myself to anyone." (Carlson is getting some electoral buzz himself.)
(Newser)  The Sun newspaper will rely on 14 separate allegations of domestic violence against Johnny Depp in defense of libel claims, beginning Tuesday. Depp is suing News Group Newspapers and Sun executive editor Dan Wootton over an April 2018 article that painted the actor as a "wife beater." The article included claims of physical abuse by ex-wife Amber Heard, who received a restraining order against the actor in 2016 after showing up in court with bruises. NGN says it will cite 14 allegations of abuse from early 2013 to May 2016, per the Guardian. Depp's lawyer denied the abuse Tuesday, saying "it was she who was violent to him," per the BBC. Both Depp and Heard were present as the trial kicked off at the High Court in London, spread across five court rooms to allow for physical distancing, but it was Depp who was called as the first witness.

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He was asked about a recording of a conversation with Heard on Sept. 26, 2015, and responded that both parties recorded conversations during their relationship, per the BBC. He disputed Heard's statement that her recordings were meant "to remind Johnny of what he would do when using drugs and alcohol." The 2018 article claimed Depp had lost part of a finger during an "alcohol and drug-addled rage" against Heard in 2015. NGN's lawyers say text messages show Depp was trying to find drugs around that time. "This is a critical case for Depp as his entire career is at risk," Emily Cox, an expert in defamation cases, tells the Guardian. That said, "London is an attractive place for celebrities to bring claims as English defamation laws are known to be claimant-friendly." The trial is expected to last three weeks and include evidence from Depp's former lovers. (Read more Johnny Depp stories.)
(Newser)  The FBI is monitoring the case of a black man who says he was the victim of an attempted lynching in Indiana on July 4. Vauhxx Booker described an encounter with people who yelled "white power" in a Sunday Facebook post, which was accompanied by a video showing him being pinned against a tree, per BuzzFeed. Booker wrote that five men beat him up, pulled out his hair, and threatened to break his arms, and one of the group yelled "get a noose." The encounter began when a male in a hat marked with the Confederate flag informed Booker and a friend that they were trespassing on private property, Booker wrote. He noted the pair apologized before continuing on to the public shore of Lake Monroe near Bloomington to meet friends. But the man and several others were later found to have "blocked off the public beach way ... claiming that it was also their land," Booker wrote.

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He noted someone yelled "white power" before Booker was attacked by five men, one of whom "jumped on my neck" with "both his feet." Witnesses soon began filming. But the attackers "kept telling onlookers to leave the 'boy' and that everyone else (all white) could go," wrote Booker. Videos show one man referring to Booker as a "nappy-headed b----" and stating "you invaded us." Booker was eventually freed by bystanders. But "I truly believe that Vauhxx would have been killed by those animals if people weren't there," his lawyer tells the Indianapolis Star. The Department of Natural Resources responded to a 911 call, but no arrests were made. The DNR says it's investigating, per WTHR, and working with the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office "to ensure lawful resolution." City officials, meanwhile, have condemned the incident as showing "the persistence of racism and bias," per WBIW. (Read more lynching stories.)
(Newser)  If you feel a little wound up while watching the latest commercial for a Dutch e-bicycle, France's advertising regulatory agency gets it. The 45-second ad for VanMoof's $2,000 S3 e-bike that debuted last month features scenes of bumper-to-bumper traffic, with images of car accidents and smokestacks spewing who-knows-what reflected off the surface of the trapped carsall until a woman's voice starts singing, "There's a new day dawning," along with the tagline "Time to ride the future." That's when one of the cars morphs into the slick-looking S3 e-bicycle, an apparent remedy to the environmental apocalypse the commercial implies would be caused by continuing to drive cars. But perhaps the ad was a tad too apocalyptic, as the company's first TV spot has now been banned in France for being too intense, the Verge reports.

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The ARPP, France's advertising regulatory agency, says the ad "discredit[s] the automobile sector ... while creating a climate of anxiety," as well as breaches advertising and marketing guidelines on not tapping into people's feelings of "fear and suffering." The regulators have instructed VanMoof to rework the commercial for reconsideration in France. But VanMoof doesn't seem especially apologetic, describing the ARPP's decision in a blog post as "perplexing when you consider that the reflected images weren't created for this commercialit's all archival documentary footage that's freely available in the public domain." The post continues: "If everyday footage of real world transport is going to create a 'climate of anxiety,' maybe someone should try to do something about that world. Y'know ... by offering alternative means of transportation. Or something." (Read more commercials stories.)
(Newser)  Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for the coronavirus, an illness he has repeatedly downplayed as a threat to public health. "It came back positive," the 65-year-old told reporters Tuesday, per the Guardian. Bolsonaro was tested Monday after developing a fever and cough. The diagnosis will test the president's own prediction in March, notes the Washington Post: "With my history as an athlete, if I were infected by the virus, I wouldn't need to worry," he said. "I wouldn't feel anything or, if very affected, it would be like a little flu or little cold." Brazil has the second-most cases in the world, at 1.6 million. The nation has registered about 65,000 deaths. (Read more Jair Bolsonaro stories.)
(Newser)  Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $150 million to settle claims that it broke compliance rules in its dealings with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, New York state announced Tuesday. The penalty was announced in a release by Superintendent of Financial Services Linda A. Lacewell. Despite knowing Mr. Epsteins terrible criminal history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions, Lacewell said. According to the release, the agreement marks the first enforcement action by a regulator against a financial institution for dealings with the financier, the AP reports. Epstein, who killed himself last August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, pleaded guilty to criminal sex abuse charges in Florida over a decade ago and was a registered sex offender before his July 2019 arrest.

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Lacewell said the bank failed to properly monitor Epstein's account activity despite publicly available information about Epstein's crimes. Lacewell said the bank processed hundreds of transactions totaling millions of dollars that, at the very least, should have prompted additional scrutiny in light of Mr. Epsteins history." She said some payments that should have drawn scrutiny included money paid to people publicly alleged to have been Mr. Epsteins co-conspirators in sexually abusing young women. In a statement, the German bank said the settlement with New York state reflects our unreserved and transparent cooperation with our regulator." (Epstein's ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested last week and brought to New York City to face charges she recruited girls for Epstein to abuse.)
(Newser)  A California doctor was shot dead on Friday while off-roading in a new four-wheel drive Jeep with his 15-year-old sonwho fled the gunman and survived a more than 30-hour ordeal in the Tahoe National Forest. Ari Gershman, a 45-year-old pulmonary doctor from Danville, was shot by a "random gunman" who drove up behind them on an ATV, per a GoFundMe campaign for the family. NBC Bay Area reports Gershman was struck in the chest. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the father and son were in remote Sierra County wilderness some 100 miles northeast of Sacramento when they were shot at; the boy called 911 after fleeing. The suspected gunman, who allegedly shot two other people prior to shooting Gershman, was arrested Saturday after trying to evade police on an ATV. The other two victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

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In the teen's call to police, he said he had become lost. He was eventually found safe by a search party. The GoFundMe page notes that Ari's wife, Paige, "is in the fight of her life right now undergoing Chemo treatments for Cancer." It says that Gershman, a father of three, "died doing what he loved with his son in an area he had hoped to retire in one day." The campaign has raised more than $225,000 as of this writing. (Read more California stories.)
(Newser)  Dutch police arrested six men after discovering shipping containers that had been converted into a makeshift prison and sound-proofed "torture chamber" complete with a dentist's chair, and tools including pliers, scalpels, and handcuffs, a high-ranking officer announced Tuesday. Authorities said police conducted the raid before the torture chamber could be used and alerted potential victims, who went into hiding. The grisly discovery was made last month by officers investigating leads generated by data from encrypted phones used by drug traffickers, the AP reports. The communications network was cracked recently by French police. Detectives discovered the seven converted sea containers in a warehouse in Wouwse Plantage, a small village in the southwestern Netherlands.

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They were tipped off by messages from an EncroChat phone including photos of the containers. "Six of the containers were intended as cells in which people could be tied up and one container was intended as a torture chamber, Andy Kraag, head of the police's National Investigation Service, said in a video released by police. A search of the containers uncovered bags containing tools that were likely intended to torture victims or at least put them under pressure," the police statement said. In searches of other properties, officers found police uniforms and body armor, stolen vehicles, firearms, and drugs. Police say the encrypted messages have led to the arrest of more than 100 suspects, the seizure of drugs including more than 17,000 pounds of cocaine, and the dismantling of 19 drug labs.

(Read more Netherlands stories.)
(Newser)  The US is on its way out of the World Health Organization. The State Department and the United Nations say the Trump administration formally notified the UN Monday of its intention to withdraw from the WHO, triggering a 12-month withdrawal process that will end with the US exiting on July 6, 2021, the AP reports. President Trump said in May that he planned to pull the US out of the WHO because of its flawed response to the pandemic. The withdrawal process, however, could be halted if there is a change in administration. Joe Biden has said he supports the WHO, and if he wins in November, "it would be staggering if he didnt immediately tear up all the decisions by Trump" withdrawing from the WHO and cutting off US funding to the organization, the Guardian notes.

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The decision to pull the US out of the UN's public health agency in the middle of a pandemic was strongly criticized by lawmakers including Sen. Robert Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, CNN reports. "To call Trump's response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice," he tweeted. "This won't protect American lives or interestsit leaves Americans sick & America alone." The US is currently around $200 million behind on its dues to the WHO and officials say that under the terms of the withdrawal agreement, the US needs to meet its financial obligations before its exit can be finalized. (Read more World Health Organization stories.)
COVID-19 may have felt like a death sentence for some businesses but it hasn't all been bad news.

The Detail looks at how consumer spending has changed because of the coronavirus and the resulting financial implosion.

There were 37,500 fewer jobs in April compared to March - that's the largest fall since Statistics NZ first started counting jobs 20 years ago.

Greg Harford from Retail NZ says with less money coming into households and uncertainty around employment, it's natural that consumer spending has slowed down.

Figures from Paymark - New Zealands biggest eftpos service provider - are now showing a trend towards a flatline for spending.

But that's after massive growth during and right out of lockdown.

For the last eight weeks consumers have been spending more on retail and non-retail goods per week this year compared to the same time last year.

There was a sharp fall in spending during level four but at the start of May, we were spending an average of $54 per transaction compared to about $42 in 2019.

Greg Harford says while it will be an "extraordinarily difficult" next period for retailers, if businesses can tap into the digital space and provide great customer experiences, they'll be able to survive.
On Monday, New Zealand laboratories undertook 1641 COVID-19 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 416,924.

But Hipkins says the number of tests completed in recent times "does not meet the Government's expectation", and says he has instructed health officials to ramp up the rate of testing over the next week.

"I'm not going to instruct doctors on who should be tested - they need to use their judgement on that," he said.

"But in doing so, the health officials who oversee the system need to be making sure that we're still preserving a sufficient rate of testing to be confident that should anything happen, we pick that up."

Testing capacity is not an issue for the Government, Hipkins says, with health officials able to carry out 13,000 tests a day if required. He says increased testing is to ensure Kiwis can be confident that there is no community transmission.

Earlier in the press conference, Hipkins revealed the person who was receiving treatment in Auckland City Hospital after contracting the disease has now been discharged, and has been returned to a quarantine facility.

The number of Kiwis who have downloaded the NZ COVID Tracer app has increased to 590,000, Hipkins added, and there have been 1.36 million poster scans to date.
Prospective pet parents looking to adopt a furry friend may be out of luck if a kitten is on their wishlist, as the SPCA currently has a shortage.

One Reddit user took to the forum to question the lack of cats up for adoption through the SPCA, wondering whether the shortage had anything to do with a "post-lockdown rush".

The user said they are aware that July is not 'kitten season' - the time of year when the majority of litters are born and shelters are inundated - which typically stretches over the summer months. Last season saw SPCA centres flooded with felines as early as September.
Hipkins says he's pleased more information has come to light, but feels let down politicians are involved.

"This is a very disappointing situation. It does have a ring of dirty politics about it and I think that could be very sad for the forthcoming election campaign," he says.

"I was disappointed because sometimes Members of Parliament are given information inappropriately - that does happen from time to time - and I do think New Zealanders have to rely on the judgment of Members of Parliament to do the right thing."

He says MPs should act with care when given sensitive information, regardless of how they received it.

"I think if a Member of Parliament can't accept that receiving people's health information is something they should treat with a degree of confidence, then that says quite a lot about their own levels of personal integrity and judgement."

Hipkins wouldn't comment when asked whether Walker should stand down as MP for Clutha-Southland, saying it's an internal matter for the National Party.

He says he wants to be careful not to prejudice the investigation into the leak, which is still ongoing. He also hadn't spoken to Michael Heron QC, who's leading the inquiry, since it was important the investigation was conducted independently.

The ARHT has access to people's confidential health information because of the work they do, he says.

"All New Zealanders are entitled to know that any information about them that that organisation has will be treated with the utmost of confidence and with their privacy being respected."

Walker said in a statement he admitted to leaking details to "expose the Government's shortcomings".

"It was never intended that the personal details would be made public, and they have not been, either by me or the persons I forwarded them to," he says.

"I sincerely apologise for how I have handled this information and to the individuals impacted by this. I will be fully cooperating with the Michael Heron QC inquiry."

Boag said she regrets passing on the information, and she has since resigned as acting CEO of ARHT.

"My actions were mine alone and should not reflect at all on the professionalism, integrity and outstanding reputation of the Rescue Helicopter staff."
Hamish Walker looks to be on borrowed time as a National MP after it was revealed he leaked details of New Zealand's COVID-19 patients, with the party leader saying he has no confidence in him.



National leader Todd Muller says Walker's actions were "completely unacceptable". The Clutha-Southland MP outed himself on Tuesday as the person who leaked information about New Zealand's active COVID-19 cases to three media outlets.

Muller said he was provided information about Walker's involvement on Monday.

So what happened from there? Here's Muller's recount of how the saga unfolded.
Walker said by exposing the privacy issue he hoped the Government would improve protocols. National leader Todd Muller condemned Walker for his "error" and stripped him of his portfolios.

It's not the first time Walker has been in the headlines in recent days. Last week, he sent out a statement with comments on Kiwis arriving back in the country from Asia and was accused of racism.

Duncan said Walker had now made two "serious errors of judgement". It was also revealed on Tuesday the personal details were sent to Walker by former National Party President Michelle Boag.

Boag said in a statement on Tuesday the information became available to her in her role as acting chief executive of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust. She's since resigned from that role.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday night after revelations Walker was behind the leak, Health Minister Chris Hipkins said he was disappointed.

"I want to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible so that if there are any weaknesses in the system, they can be rectified as quickly as possible."

Hipkins said he's grateful the leaked personal details were not published.

"I do want to, again, thank the media for the fact that they received what should be personal and confidential information about people [and] not published it."

Walker said in his statement on Tuesday he's received legal advice and had not committed a criminal offence.

"I sincerely apologise for how I have handled this information and to the individuals impacted by this," he said.
"I've demoted him, I've stripped him from his portfolios and I wrote last night to the board outlining my concerns, and they're meeting today [Wednesday]," Muller told The AM Show.

He said he's made it clear to The National Party board that Walker's judgement is "not what New Zealanders would expect and certainly not what I expect".

"His approach is completely unacceptable; not reflective of The National Party I want to lead," Muller said.

Asked by host Duncan Garner if he still had confidence in Walker, Muller said, "In terms of judgement, he's left himself seriously wanting and in that context, I don't".

Walker said his intention behind leaking the COVID-19 patient details was to show holes in Government security systems. Muller said he'd raised "serious concerns" about Walker's actions in the letter to The National Party Board on Tuesday night.

He said after finding out Walker's involvement on Monday, he immediately told him to make contact with his chief press secretary and chief of staff.

"Then, of course, we found out the inquiry was happening and it became very clear to me that we needed to inform that inquiry of what we knew," Muller said.
By Anneke Smith for RNZ

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says it's not her place to decide if Sir John Key should apologise over false claims brides were leaving New Zealand for ISIS in 2015.

The Islamic Women's Council says the later-disproven comment to the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee led to a spike in hostility towards the Muslim community.

It has refreshed a call that Key should publicly apologise, having publicly released its submissions to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attacks on Christchurch Mosques today.

The former prime minister - now chair of the local operations of ANZ Bank - had not responded to RNZ's requests for comment.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today said it was not up to her to decide whether Key should say sorry.

"That's not a judgment I can make. I think only individuals who are being asked can make that judgement so I will leave that for Mr Key."

The Islamic Women's Council released its submission this morning, hoping to set a tone of transparency and accountability ahead of the Commission handing its report to the Governor General at the end of the month.

The 170-page document details the lengths the council went to to warn officials of a rising tide of Islamophobia in the years leading up to the March attacks.

It concludes the past National and current coalition governments failed to take them seriously and should be held responsible for their culpability in the massacre.
But in a statement released on Tuesday, Peters "scoffed" at suggestions a team of six political operatives had been dispatched to Auckland, because "it is impossible to see how they would even gain entry into the country".

Banks was one of the largest donors to the UK Independence Party, which The Telegraph described as the UK's version of New Zealand First. Banks helped former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage's pro-Brexit campaign.

The insurance executive was cleared nine months ago of any criminality by the UK's National Crime Agency over 8 million (NZ$15.2 million) in EU referendum campaign funding.

Banks described Peters as a "more seasoned version of Farage with massive government experience" and likened him to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"He is one of very few current politicians that speaks fluent human and can relate to anyone, he's in the same mould as Boris they speak truth on behalf of the ordinary people. He is always on the side of the people."

Andy Wigmore, communications director for Leave.EU who describes himself on Twitter as the "Bad Boy of Brexit", told The Telegraph New Zealand could expect "trouble" from them at the September election.
The national carrier said it would need to contact some passengers travelling in the next three weeks - to move their booking because of isolation capacity constraints.

Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran told RNZ's Checkpoint he agreed to the three-week booking freeze on an "ethical" basis.

It had been a simple decision to provide the right support to the Government, he said.

Foran said he was confident that rival airlines would "do what's right" and limit their capacity. All the airlines have a role to play given the current situation with almost 7000 people in managed isolation, he said.

"We may have to look at other solutions around that [the three weeks] because there's a lot of New Zealanders who live overseas who are obviously looking to come home and managing that through the entire supply chain is important here.

"It'll be looked at day-by-day across all the teams and we'll come up with the right answer."

He said he was expecting about 5000 people to travel home to New Zealand on the airline in the next three weeks, and he was not expecting hundreds of people to have to change flights.

He believes the airline will not lose much revenue over the decision because passengers will just delay their travel for a couple of weeks.

After the hiatus the Government wants Air New Zealand to match its daily arrivals according to beds available in isolation.

Foran said discussions are already taking place with the Government on capacity limits beyond the three weeks, depending on whether more rooms became available for the managed isolation process.

"Our job is to move people around and they've [the Government] got a responsibility to greater New Zealand around this and we'll work with them."

He is hopeful of a trans-Tasman bubble before the end of the year.

"I think we've got two Governments and two nations that are close in terms of their thinking and how they'd want to operate and I think there's a lot of benefits if we can get that bubble operating."

Meanwhile, Health Minister Chris Hipkins hasn't ruled out using cruise ships to isolate the increasing number of people returning to New Zealand.

He said every option is on the table at this point as long as they meet the relevant isolation criteria.

RNZ
"There is a high concentration where sewage is 4C, which is the ideal temperature for it to be stabled and presumably activated. And meatpacking plants are often at 4C," he told The Telegraph.

"These outbreaks need to be investigated properly."

The expert believes the inquiry could unveil possible new pathways of transmission , such as shared bathroom facilities or sewerage systems.

"There is quite a lot of evidence of huge amounts of the virus in sewage all over the place, and an increasing amount of evidence there is faecal transmission," he told The Telegraph.

Dr Jefferson also cited "strange" similarities between COVID-19 and the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918, noting that more than 20 percent of Western Samoa's population died of the disease despite having no international interaction. His theory is disputed, however, by the common explanation that the flu reached Western Samoa through New Zealand cargo ships, such as the SS Talune.

"The explanation could only be that these agents don't come or go anywhere. They are always here and something ignites them, maybe human density or environmental conditions, and this is what we should look for."
In April, the WHO published an timeline of its response to the virus, which was first detected in China's Hubei Province in December 2019.

The first record in the chronology claims the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported a cluster of pneumonia cases on December 31, leading to the identification of a novel coronavirus.

"31 Dec 2019: Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, China, reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province. A novel coronavirus was eventually identified," the timeline begins.

However, the record failed to directly specify who notified the UN health body of the outbreak.

On April 20, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom told a press conference that the first report of the illness - later known as COVID-19 - came from China. Yet as noted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), Adhanom failed to specify whether the report had come directly from Chinese authorities, or from another source.

Now, the WHO has released an updated timeline. Published on June 30, the new chronology offers greater detail regarding the crucial first days of its response.

The first record, again dated December 31, now indicates it was the WHO's office in China that notified its regional point of contact of a case of "viral pneumonia" - after finding a media declaration on the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission's website.

"31 Dec 2019: WHO's Country Office in the Peoples Republic of China picked up a media statement by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission from their website on cases of 'viral pneumonia' in Wuhan, People's Republic of China," says the record.

"The Country Office notified the International Health Regulations (IHR) focal point in the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office about the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission media statement of the cases and provided a translation of it."

That same day, the organisation's epidemic intelligence from open sources platform picked up another news report on ProMED - a programme of the International Society for Infectious Diseases - regarding the same Wuhan-based cluster of pneumonia cases stemming from an "unknown cause".

"Several health authorities from around the world contacted WHO seeking additional information," the December 31 record concludes.

On January 1, the WHO said it requested information on the reported cluster of unusual pneumonia cases from Chinese authorities.

According to the updated timeline, Chinese officials provided information to the WHO on the cluster of cases on January 3.
One of Jeffrey Epstein's victims says she was threatened by his alleged co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell after she went to the authorities.



On Thursday, Maxwell was arrested and charged for her role in the sexual exploitation of numerous young girls.

Maria Farmer told 60 Minutes on Sunday that she reported Epstein and Maxwell for sexual assault in 1996. Farmer said the FBI interviewed her but didn't do anything.

After going to authorities, Farmer said she was threatened and intimidated by Maxwell.

"[She said] I'm going to burn your art and then I'm going to burn your career. And then I'm going to burn you and the house you live in," she told 60 Minutes.

Farmer also revealed that the lack of action from the FBI left her living in fear for years.
A new map has exposed a near-perfect split between East and West when it comes to those willing to criticise China over its implementation of strict new security laws for Hong Kong.

New Zealand was one of a swathe of countries to denounce the contentious legislation, which critics say silences dissenters and undermines the 'one country, two systems' framework China agreed to when the UK handed Hong Kong over to them in 1997.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters' expression of "deep disappointment" at the new national security law matched similar statements by the likes of Australia, Canada and the UK last week.
"Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealander, split the atom thank you very much," wrote one person.

In 1917 Rutherford said he had "broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter" by using an alpha particle to knock a proton out of a nitrogen atom.

While he called it "playing with marbles" papers reported it as "splitting the atom".

Some argue Rutherford was not the first to split the atom and rather it was his students Ernest Walton and John Cockcroft.

In the early 1930s Cockcroft and Walton were under the supervision of Rutherford at Cambridge University. Rutherford had been investigating atoms for more than 20 years and encouraged his two students to work together to use electricity to see inside the atom's nucleus.

In 1932, more than a decade after Rutherford's breakthrough, Walton and Cockcroft managed to split an atom in two. The pair (neither of whom were from the US) went on to win the Nobel Prize in physics in 1951 for their work, which was inspired by Rutherford.

America invented the telephone
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TDT | Manama

A Thank You initiative aimed at honouring ideal drivers is set to expand in the summer with a traffic safety campaign. This was announced yesterday by Traffic Culture Director Salah Mohammed Shahab, who noted that the initiative presses on with the cooperation of the private sector.

The director revealed that the Thank You initiatives summer traffic safety campaign will include various activities such as tyres inspection at public roads. This will be done in cooperation with the local agent of international tyre manufacturer Pirelli. The inspections aim to enhance awareness of the importance of tyre safety.

The Traffic Culture director added that, in cooperation with Bahrain National Insurance (BNI), ideal drivers would be honoured with one-year on-the-road assistance. He urged drivers to carry out regular maintenance of their vehicles and avoid leaving inflammable items at the car.
TDT | Manama

The real growth of Bahrains oil sector had contributed to mitigating the repercussions of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis during the first quarter of this year, according to the Kingdoms quarterly economic report.

The report was reviewed yesterday during the regular weekly Cabinet session, chaired by His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and attended by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier.

The report, presented by the Minister of Finance and National Economy, reflected the local economys performance and the main economic indicators of vital sectors, in the midst of the spread of the coronavirus since the beginning of this year.

It stated that the oil sector grew by 1.8 per cent at constant prices, while the non-oil sector, where the repercussions of the pandemic were more evident, recorded a decline in annual growth of 1.7 per cent at constant prices. Bahrains economy recorded a year-on-year real gross domestic product (GDP) decline rate of 1.7 per cent in Q1, the report added.

The performance of the nonoil sectors varied during Q1 of this year, with the manufacturing sector achieving positive real growth of 4.8 per cent, followed by the social and personal services sector which went up by 1.3 per cent, then the construction sector which posted a growth of 0.3 per cent.

Regarding the financial projects sector, which is the largest non-oil sector contributing to Bahrains GDP, figures showed that it had contributed by only 16.7 per cent, marking a decrease of 1.6 per cent. The hotel and restaurants sector recorded the largest decline of 36 per cent at constant prices, and the transportation and telecommunications sector also declined by 6.3 per cent.

The tourism and aviation sector was also affected by the restrictions imposed on travel, and the government services sector also recorded a decline by 2.9 per cent. The same was true about the real estate activities sector, as well as the business services and trade sectors, with both posting a decline by 0.4 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively.

Bahrain-US agreements, initiatives approved The Cabinet approved a letter of agreement between the Kingdom and the US, within the framework of training programmes between the two friendly countries in the field of combatting terrorism and the cooperation between competent authorities in this regard.

The session also approved the joint statement between Bahrains Interior Ministry and both the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Customs and Border Protection, to develop the International Expedited Traveller Initiative. The Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs recommended the approval of the initiative.

The session further approved a memorandum of cooperation between the Interior Ministry and the US Customs and Border Protection, which aimed to enhance cooperation between the two sides in the exchange of information and data on travellers.

School re-opening plan should take students health, interests into account HRH the Prime Minister gave directives to ensure that the plan to re-open public and private educational institutions should be based on the expected situation of COVID-19 spread, while taking into account students interests, safety and the right to continue their education.

The Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, was requested to take the necessary procedures to achieve that goal.

Directives to study situation of overseas Bahraini workers HRH the Premier gave directives to the Ministry of Works and Social Development to coordinate with the relevant authorities and study the situation of laid-off Bahrainis who had been working overseas and have returned home, and those who cannot return to their work abroad because of the current circumstances.

Some LMRA fees to be reduced Based on a recommendation by the Government Executive Committee, led by HRH the Crown Prince, the Cabinet approved a decision to reduce some fees imposed by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority on all kinds of work permits for one year, and all monthly fees related to them by 50 per month for three months, starting from this month.

Meanwhile, business owners who are involved in commercial activities that have been most affected by the impacts of COVID-19, as will be determined by an edict by the Deputy Premier and Ministerial Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs and Fiscal Balance chairman, will be exempted from those fees for the same three-month period.

The measures aim to maintain sustainable growth, in general, and achieve the stability of the labour market for Bahrains small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular. Future Generations Reserve Funds report, financial statements approved The Cabinet approved the Future Generations Reserve Funds annual report and audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019, ahead of its referral to the Representatives Council.

The report, presented by the Finance Minister, showed the funds returns have increased by 17.3 per cent over the past year, its assets have amounted to $918million, and investment revenues have reached $79million, marking an annual growth of about 10 per cent.
TDT | Manama

The Ministry of Health announced yesterday that the coronavirus (COVID-19) has claimed the life of a 92-year-old Bahraini man, bringing the overall number of virus-related deaths in the Kingdom to 98. The Health Ministry expressed its condolences to the victims family.

Meanwhile, it was announced early this morning that out of 9,945 COVID-19 tests conducted yesterday, 454 new cases were detected, including 273 expatriate workers, 179 contacts of active cases, and two travel-related cases. There were also 529 additional recoveries from the virus yesterday, the Health Ministry said.

Their release from isolation and treatment brought the Kingdoms total number of discharged individuals to 25,178. The total number of current active cases went to 4,545, with 54 in critical condition and 39 receiving treatment. The remaining 4,491 cases are stable. The total tested increased to 612,096.
Anthony Larry Masters, 50, was sentenced to 30 years in prison today, for robbing a bank in Cape Coral. Masters was found guilty of one count of robbery following a one-day trial on Feb. 27, 2020. The defendant was sentenced as a habitual felony offender and habitual violent felony offender, which doubled his possible prison time, according to the State Attorneys Office. He was sentenced to the maximum sentence with those enhancements.

The defendant robbed the Synovus Bank in Cape Coral on May 28, 2019. He slid a threatening note to the bank teller. Masters was handed a small amount of money and fled in his truck.

The Cape Coral Police Department investigated the bank robbery and were able to identify and apprehend Masters soon after the crime.

Assistant State Attorney Erin Hughes prosecuted the case.

Source: State Attorneys Office
TDT | Manama

The solid deep-rooted relations between Bahrain and Russia were reviewed yesterday, along with ways to bolster joint cooperation to achieve mutual interests. The two friendly countries discussed this yesterday when His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa held a phone call with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

With the backing of their strong Bahraini-Russian relations, they agreed to activate joint committees to serve shared interests and achieve the two friendly countries aspirations. HM King Hamad hailed President Putins key role to enhance bilateral relations and consolidate regional and global peace and security.

The Russian President thanked and appreciated HM the King for his dedicated efforts and support to enhance relations and cooperation with his country. He wished Bahrain and its people further progress and prosperity, under HM the Kings leadership.
Berlin

Germanys finance minister says he wants to revamp the oversight system for the countrys financial industry in the wake of the accounting scandal at payment systems provider Wirecard. The Munich-based Wirecard filed for bankruptcy recently after auditors couldnt find accounts in the Philippines that were supposed to contain 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion). The companys former CEO was arrested and released on bail, while its former chief operating officer is on the run, The Associated Press reports.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told German weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview published Sunday that he wants to empower the countrys financial supervisory authority, BaFin, to conduct unannounced checks at any moment.

He also proposed ensuring that BaFin has oversight of large payment processing companies  even if they dont fall neatly into the category of a financial institution  and discuss whether auditors need to rotate more frequently

German authorities have been criticized for failing to step in sooner despite reports of irregularities dating back at least five years. Fabio De Masi, a lawmaker with the opposition Left party, largely welcomed the proposals but called for a lower threshold of liability for auditors failings.
Bogota

Peru's President Martin Vizcarra on Sunday said he will call a referendum on parliamentary immunity to be held together with upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. In a televised speech, Vizcarra said the popular vote was necessary after the measure did not get the support needed in Congress despite being a campaign promise of "almost all candidates" in the most recent election, according to Deutsche press agency (dpa).

"Once again, disagreements, interests and political calculations prevailed," the president said. "For this reason... I announce that I will submit the reform on the elimination of parliamentary immunity to a referendum, so that the Peruvian people decide freely and democratically at the polls whether this measure should be implemented or eliminated."

Peruvians went to the polls in January to elect a Congress that will only serve for slightly over a year in the wake of a power struggle between Vizcarra and the previous parliament over his anti-corruption reforms. Vizcarra has been so far unsuccessful in getting Congress to pass measures aimed at reforming parliamentary immunity and preventing convicted people from running for office, among other things.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for April 2021. Vizcarra, who was former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's deputy and rose to power in 2018 after Kuczynski's resignation ahead of an impeachment vote, has promised to respect the constitutional rule that bans presidents from seeking immediate re-election.

Four former Peruvian presidents became implicated in a continent-wide corruption scandal involving the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
Companies associated with President Donald Trump and members of his administration were among recipients of small-business Covid loans, newly released data show.

Loan recipients included a law firm run by one of Trump's key defenders in the Russia probe, a Kushner family real estate project and the publisher of the National Enquirer.

Irongate Azrep, a Trump Organization partner in a hotel and residential tower in Waikiki, Hawaii, received a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program in the range of $2 million to $5 million, according to the data released on Monday, which shows loan ranges. Calls to Trump Waikiki weren't returned.

Trump International Hotel & Tower at Waikiki isn't owned by Trump or his company, according to its website. Irongate uses the Trump name under license from Trump Marks Waikiki, which is owned by Trump.

Companies controlled by Trump, heads of his departments and their families were barred from receiving bailout money from some programs authorized by the CARES Act, which created coronavirus relief facilities earlier this year. But Congress exempted the PPP from those provisions.

Also, in administering the program, the Small Business Administration waived ethics rules that otherwise would have required certain officials to seek approval from the agency's Standards of Conduct Committee if they sought aid for a company in which they or a "household member" were an owner, officer, director or shareholder with at least a 10% stake.

Companies owned by the family of Jared Kushner, the White House senior adviser and Trump son-in-law, also received several PPP loans. Princeton Forrestal, a Kushner Cos. affiliate that bought the Princeton Marriott Hotel in 2018, received a loan of between $1 million and $2 million, according to the SBA data.

Peter Febo, chief operating officer of Kushner Cos., acknowledged the loans to Princeton Forrestal and other company hotels but declined to say which ones or what amounts were received.

Before joining the Trump administration in 2017, Kushner stepped down as the CEO of Kushner Cos. and divested his stake, including to members of his family.

Companies that appear to match those associated with two Trump cabinet officials also received PPP loans. A company with a name matching one listed on the 2017 financial disclosure of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos received at least $6 million, the data show. The loans were made to Renaissance Acquisition Company, which operates Indianapolis-based RenPSG, a provider of services to nonprofits.

A spokesman for the Education Department declined to comment about DeVos's finances. RenPSG didn't respond to a request for comment.

Perdue, a Bonaire, Georgia-based trucking company founded by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, received a PPP loan of between $150,000 and $350,000. When Perdue joined the government in 2017, he disclosed $598,591 of passive ownership income from the company. That year, he signed a government ethics agreement in which he resigned from business roles and restructured family trusts. An Agriculture Department spokeswoman didn't respond to a request for comment.

The law firm of one of Trump's top lawyers, Marc Kasowitz, also appears to have received a PPP loan, according to the SBA data. Kasowitz Benson Torres received between $5 million and $10 million to retain 402 jobs, the data show. Kasowitz represented Trump before he became president in a wide range of lawsuits over a period of 15 years, according to the firm's website. In 2017, after Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate Russian attempts to interfere with the election, Kasowitz helped coordinate the president's first responses to the probe. Kasowitz didn't immediately respond to email and phone requests for comment.

Forgivable loans financed by the federal government also benefited a media company run by Trump's longtime friend David Pecker. American Media, the publisher of the National Enquirer, received a loan in April from Bank of America of between $2 million and $5 million, records show.

American Media is owned by Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey-based hedge fund that oversees about $4 billion. Hedge funds are prohibited from receiving PPP loans, but businesses they own are eligible for the funds.

"American Media made the decision to apply for PPP support in an effort to secure jobs that might have been lost as we and other publishers continue to navigate the current economic climate created by the Covid-19 pandemic," Jon Hammond, a spokesman for the company, said. A spokesman for Chatham declined to comment.
Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media

DANBURY  An event planned for Sunday afternoon aims to highlight Black voices in the community and push for progress.

A group called Community for Change is hosting the event, Voices for Change, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the Danbury Green. Community leaders will speak.
Amid a resurgent pandemic and rising hospitalizations, President Donald Trump pitted America against the world on Tuesday, moving to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization while his FBI director accused China of hacking U.S. health-care companies that are researching the novel coronavirus.

The virus's rampage across the South and West continued to drive up hospitalizations, with patients filling intensive care units and federal health officials moving to shore up testing in hot spots. The border-ignoring virus also infected another world leader, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly dismissed it as a "little cold."

The Trump administration on Tuesday formally notified the United Nations that it is withdrawing the United States from the WHO, a move that prompted swift criticism from Democrats and showed Trump's impulse to isolate the country even during a public health crisis. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., wrote on Twitter that Trump's decision "leaves Americans sick & America alone."

FBI Director Christopher Wray, meanwhile, blasted China for its alleged efforts to steal U.S. technology and said China is trying to penetrate companies that are researching how to defeat the virus.

"At this very moment, China is working to compromise American health-care organizations, pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions conducting essential covid research," Wray said in remarks at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.

His remarks came as cases and hospitalizations in the United States continued to mount. More than 50 hospitals in Florida said their ICUs are full, according to data from Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration. In another hot spot, Arizona reported 117 deaths on Tuesday, a daily record for the state, as more than 3,000 people were being treated in hospitals and ICU beds neared capacity. Texas canceled its annual state fair, the longest-running fair in the country, as more than 8,000 Texans were hospitalized on Monday, a third higher than last week.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, issued an order Tuesday requiring residents to wear masks in public in seven counties, including those that are home to Cincinnati and Cleveland.

Trump administration health officials announced Tuesday that they are moving medical support into three areas of "recent and intense" outbreaks in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. That includes Jacksonville, Fla., the site of the Republican National Convention, where Trump is expected to be formally nominated next month as the GOP candidate.

Trump's handling of the pandemic, which has been most extensive and deadliest in the United States, drew renewed criticism from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday. Biden issued a plan for how he would respond to such pandemics, creating a sharp contrast with the Trump administration's approach.

"Donald Trump needs to do his job," Biden wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Biden's plan calls for increasing federal stockpiles of medical supplies and requiring companies to develop strategies to address supply chain disruptions, among other measures, as a way to limit the nation's dependence on other countries in times of crisis.

The blueprint is meant to serve as a rebuttal to Trump's positioning himself as an "America first" president, according to a senior Biden campaign official who noted the president's tagline and was critical of his record. Biden's plan would initiate a 100-day review period upon taking office to "identify critical national security risks across America's international supply chains."

The United States has reported nearly 3 million confirmed virus cases to date, meaning nearly 1 in every 110 Americans has been found to have the virus, with large swaths of the country not having been tested.

At least 128,000 deaths have been linked to the virus nationwide, with the United States having more than twice as many reported deaths as any other country and the nation accounting for nearly a quarter of all virus-related deaths worldwide.

More than 890 U.S. deaths were reported Tuesday, the highest total in 12 days, amid signs the country's death rate might be creeping up after falling for the past three months.

Trump has repeatedly complained that not enough attention is being paid to the country's death rate.

"We have the lowest Mortality Rate in the World. The Fake News should be reporting these most important of facts, but they don't!" Trump tweeted.

Scientists say many countries have lower death rates than the United States.

The nation's top infectious-disease expert, Anthony Fauci, said Tuesday that although the fatality rate of the coronavirus has dropped, Americans should not be complacent.

"It's a false narrative to take comfort in a lower rate of death," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a Facebook Live news conference with Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala. "There's so many other things that are very dangerous and bad about this virus."

The lower mortality rate is a result of two factors, he said. The country has gotten better at treating people, particularly through therapies that work in the advanced stages of the disease. And, Fauci said, the mean age of those getting infected has dropped by about 15 years.

Compared with the older population, young people generally face less-severe consequences from the virus, unless they have underlying medical complications, he said. Still, some young people have been hospitalized or have required intensive care, and there could be long-term health implications.

"The death rate is lower, I admit that, because people in general who are young are healthier," Fauci said. "But that doesn't mean that you could not get seriously ill."

In Brazil, home to the world's second-worst outbreak, President Bolsonaro became at least the third world leader to contract the virus. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was treated in intensive care in April and has since recovered. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was hospitalized last month, said last week that he was leaving the hospital and returning to work.

Bolsonaro, 65, has repeatedly played down the seriousness of the pandemic, even as Brazil has reported more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and 65,000 deaths. He has been a skeptic of the pandemic as he has pushed Brazilians to get back to work and saying that with his own "history as an athlete, if I were infected by the virus, I wouldn't need to worry."

He was tested after developing symptoms that included a fever.

Tensions about how to handle border-hopping during the outbreak also flared again this week.

New federal guidance that international students must take classes in person to legally stay in the United States this fall has left university officials scrambling to adapt while making students fearful of deportation. The guidance from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said that foreign students won't be allowed to have visas for programs that are fully online during the fall semester, nor will they be allowed into the country. Though some universities, including Harvard, have pledged to create an on-campus experience for students - especially those in their first year - many have said classes will be online only even if students are on campus.

The White House, meanwhile, has been pushing for schools to open in the fall. Trump said he would pressure governors to open buildings because in-person education is essential for the well-being of students, parents, and the country. "We want to reopen the schools," Trump said. "We don't want people to make political statements or do it for political reasons. They think it's going to be good for them politically, so they keep schools closed. No way."

The Trump administration is also seeking to expand testing in hard-hit areas. The Department of Health and Human Services said that it is dispatching private contractors to three communities - Edinburg, Texas; Baton Rouge; and Jacksonville - to administer 5,000 free tests per day in coming weeks.

"The Trump administration is doubling down on support to areas hard hit by covid-19," the illness caused by the virus, said Brett Giroir, an HHS assistant secretary who is the administration's coordinator for diagnostic testing for the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also published a study on Tuesday that offered further evidence that the virus disproportionately affects workers of color. The study looked at workers in 329 U.S. meat and poultry facilities across 23 states and found that the majority of cases occurred among Hispanic employees (56 percent), followed by 19 percent in black employees, 13 percent in white employees and 12 percent in Asian employees.

The rates are disproportionate to employee demographics at the facilities. The workforce breakdown is 39 percent white, 30 percent Hispanic, 25 percent black and 6 percent Asian, the report said.

Meat and poultry plant workers are particularly vulnerable to the rapid spread of the virus because of the working and living conditions that are common in the industry: prolonged close contact among co-workers, eight- to 12-hour shifts, shared workspaces, group housing and shared transportation.

- - -

The Washington Post's Emily Rauhala, Devlin Barrett, Amy Goldstein, Brittany Shammas, Sean Sullivan and Terrence McCoy contributed to this report.
HARTFORD  Minority lawmakers on Tuesday brought out an ambitious legislative agenda, including police transparency, ballot access and housing equity, but conceded it could be too much for one special session of the General Assembly.

Their voices for bringing legislators back to Hartford multiple times before the end of the year, to address deep issues of justice, are gaining momentum.

At a news conference on the Capitol steps, members of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus stressed the need to make progress while the Black Lives Matter protests are still active.

It remains to be seen what will make the final cut for debate during the week of July 20, a list thats already impossibly long for just a few days of lawmaking. Rep. Brandon McGee, D-Hartford, chairman of the caucus, announced an additional, ambitious list of goals on Tuesday.

That includes coverage for telehealth visits with physicians, economic supports, statewide oversight of violent police incidents, Workers Compensation eligibility for front-line workers in the pandemic and more financial relief to the states most-vulnerable.

Home ownership is the foundation of wealth, McGee said.

Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, co-chair of the budget-setting Appropriations Committee, said that health benefits in particular are important for the under-served minority neighborhoods It is dramatically under-funded and under-funded in our community, she said.

When will it all heppen? House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said that there will likely be a follow-up special session in September for other issues. But those issues could be more mundane, including the approval of school construction projects and real estate conveyances.

Ritter, who attended the caucuss news conference, said that the legislature has a hard deadline of July 31 to approve mail-in voting for the November election, which is currently hindered by state law and a state Constitution that prohibits most voters from using absentee ballots unless they are actually ill on election day.

Changing state law to include fear of illness could be a seemingly easy fix for the obstacle, but GOP lawmakers charge that it could be used to possibly foster election fraud.

Senate Democrats also have an ambitious agenda for the likely special session this month and beyond. Much of that agenda aligns with the goals outlined Tuesday by the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus.

Gov. Ned Lamont, speaking with reporters in New Haven a couple hours later, warned that the upcoming special session would be better left to short-term goals.

Im pretty cautious what you can do on a two or three-day special session, Lamont said. I like what were focused on right now, which is voting and voting rights and absentee (ballots) as well as police accountability. There may be a few other things we can get done without big public hearings, but I think the public has the right to weigh in on bigger issues and bigger decisions, and thatll probably have to wait until the fall.

Lamont said that while he is in constant contact with legislative leadership, large subjects might be better left to the 2021 General Assembly. I think for some of these bigger issues the public has the right to be heard and this is not the ideal time to have them packing a hearing room, he said.

kdixon@ctpost.com
Cannabis-infused beverage expert signs LOI with the popular U.S. health and beauty brand

VANCOUVER, BC, July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - Emerging leader in infused cannabis beverages, BevCanna Enterprises Inc. (CSE: BEV) (OTCQ: BVNNF) (FSE: 7BC) ("BevCanna" or the "Company") announced today that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent (the "LOI") to manufacture white-label CBD wellness beverages for influential US health and beauty brand Marianna Naturals Corp. ("Marianna").

Under the proposed definitive agreement contemplated in the LOI, BevCanna will become the exclusive Canadian manufacturing and distribution partner for Marianna's new line of CBD-based wellness beverages. BevCanna will leverage its extensive experience in developing and launching beverages in the Canadian market to bring the popular brand to Canada, and will maintain responsibility and compliance with Health Canada. BevCanna will manufacture the beverage line through its pending standard processing license, and the subsequent receipt of its sales license.

Marianna will hold responsibility for national sales and marketing efforts to launch the product line in Canada. The white label agreement will be for an initial term of three years with a subsequent three-year renewal option.

"We're very pleased to add a highly successful brand like Marianna to our growing portfolio of white-label partners," said John Campbell, Chief Strategic Officer at BevCanna. "The proposed partnership fits well with our strategy of building out this vertical and our goal of achieving a consistent revenue stream for the business."

"We've been looking for a partner that has the right combination of beverage manufacturing and regulatory expertise to bring our CBD beverage line to the Canadian market," said Joel DeBellefeuille, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Marianna. "BevCanna fit the bill perfectly. We think that our customers will love the finished product."

About BevCanna Enterprises Inc.

BevCanna Enterprises Inc. (CSE:BEV, Q:BVNNF, FSE:7BC) develops and manufactures cannabinoid-infused beverages and consumer products for in-house brands and white label clients. With decades of experience creating, branding and distributing iconic brands that resonate with consumers on a global scale, the team demonstrates an expertise unmatched in the emerging cannabis beverage category. Based in British Columbia, Canada, BevCanna has a 292-acre outdoor cultivation site in the fertile Okanagan Valley and the exclusive rights to a pristine spring water aquifer, as well as a world-class 40,000-square-foot, HACCP certified manufacturing facility, with a current bottling capacity of up to 210M bottles per annum.

About Marianna Naturals Corp.

Marianna Naturals Corp. and Beauty Kitchen manufacture fresh handmade CBD & non-CBD beauty care, personal care, and cosmetics products. Beauty Kitchen's founder and CEO, Heather Marianna, skyrocketed in popularity with the launch of her Beauty Kitchen YouTube series in 2012 where she showcased simple, do-it-yourself beauty recipes made with common kitchen household ingredients. The series generated a powerful following of more than 4 million viewers. Beauty Kitchen is regularly featured in: Forbes, The Source, MTV, Bravo, The New York Post, People, Flipsnack, Vegas, Star Magazine, Radar Online and many more media outlets.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

John Campbell, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer

Director, BevCanna Enterprises Inc.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. Forward-looking statements made in this news release relate to: the proposed business relationship between the Company and Marianna; that BevCanna will become the exclusive Canadian manufacturing and distribution partner for Marianna's new line of CBD-based wellness beverages; that BevCanna will leverage its extensive experience in developing and launching beverages in the Canadian market to bring the popular brand to Canada, and will maintain responsibility and compliance with Health Canada; that BevCanna will manufacture the beverage line through its pending standard processing license, and the subsequent receipt of its sales license; that Marianna will hold responsibility for national sales and marketing efforts to launch the product line in Canada; that the proposed definitive white label agreement will be for an initial term of three years with a subsequent three-year renewal option; that the proposed partnership fits well with BevCanna's strategy of building out this vertical and its goal of achieving a consistent revenue stream for the business; the belief that Marianna's customers will love the finished product; and other matters relating to the Company's business plans.

There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including the inability of the parties to enter into the proposed definitive agreement on the terms announced or at all; the inability of the Company to obtain necessary licences from Health Canada with respect to cannabis; and adverse market conditions. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws, and the Company does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.

SOURCE BevCanna Enterprises Inc.

For further information: For BevCanna media enquiries or interviews, please contact: Wynn Theriault, Thirty Dash Communications Inc., 416-710-3370, [email protected]; For Marianna media enquiries or interviews, please contact: Joel DeBellefeuille, Chief Executive Officer, Director, Marianna Naturals, 514-434-2640, [email protected]; Media inquiries: [email protected]; For investor enquiries, please contact: Luca Leone, BevCanna Enterprises Inc., 604-880-6618, [email protected]

Related Links

https://www.bevcanna.com/


OTTAWA, ON, July 7, 2020 /CNW/ - How can I deal with witnessing the suffering of patients due to delays in care? Is going to work putting my family at risk? How can I cope with discharging someone early to avoid the risk of them becoming infected? What will happen to my patients with mental health conditions when I have to postpone appointments? These are the types of agonizing challenges frontline health care workers are asking every day as Canada responds to the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe.

The balancing act that health care workers must confront each day is behind a rise in what is called moral injury. To provide support and guidance  and help prepare health care workplaces, employers, and leaders for the next wave  the Canadian Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Mental Health Conditions, based at The Royal in Ottawa, has teamed up with the Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health to co-develop a resource guide on moral injury.

The result of this trans-global partnership is a groundbreaking guide that addresses the challenges of moral injury: Moral Stress Amongst Healthcare Workers During COVID-19: A Guide to Moral Injury. Launching with an easily accessible platform of helpful resources, the guide is a "clarion call to action to support our frontline health care workers who are facing an extreme and unprecedented work and life experience," says Dr. Patrick Smith, CEO of the Canadian Centre.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is causing intense physical and mental stress for today's health care workers. They are dealing with feelings of guilt and shame: guilt when they triage which patients receive treatment; shame because they think they're not providing optimum care for all their patients when, in fact, they are giving the best care possible under the circumstances. On top of this, they're worried they too will become infected and in turn infect loved ones," explains Dr. Smith.

An added wrinkle is that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is new, and there are no clear answers yet on how to treat it.

The current pandemic is a high-stakes situation that is compromising the well-being of health care workers. As Dr. Smith points out: "Along with working long hours with few breaks, health care workers are also confronted with the racial disparities of the pandemic, as the coronavirus is disproportionately affecting racialized communities. All these factors and experiences can lead to moral injury, which can cause individuals to question their actions and the actions of others."

The breach of a person's personal and ethical code is at the heart of a moral injury and can result in long-lasting emotional and psychological damage, and can even lead to suicide. More than advice for frontline health care workers, the Guide to Moral Injury is a framework for health care organizations. It offers a 'map' for how to implement preventative and early intervention structures to support health care workers before they are morally injured  how to identify risk factors; how to prepare, manage exposure, and design jobs using a whole-of-organization approach; why peer support is so important as a protective factor.

"Health care organizations must consider the role of managers and leaders, well-being support services, and individual coping resources, in how an individual will be supported before, during, and after an event like the COVID-19 pandemic," says Dr. Smith. "We need to have supports developed and ready at the organizational, team, and individual levels before our health care workers need them  not after the fact."

The type of responses required at each of these three levels is mapped out in the guide. In addition, the Canadian Centre is working with partner organizations across the country to develop tangible toolkits to help prepare leaders, frontline workers, and peer support organizations.

The mission of the Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Mental Health Conditions is to increase Canadian expertise related to military and veteran mental health, suicide prevention, and substance use disorders, ultimately making this knowledge available to any first responders, family members, service providers, and researchers across Canada. The Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health engages in cutting-edge research and treatment approaches that has led to improved workplace management of traumatic stress, as well as greater support for trauma-affected individuals, families, and communities. Psychological trauma comes in many forms and impacts people from all walks of life. When it comes to moral injury as a result of a global pandemic, both leading-edge institutions are bringing their collective muscle to bear on an issue that is affecting millions of health care workers around the world.

MEDIA BACKGROUNDER DOCUMENT HERE: https://www.moralinjuryguide.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/media-backgrounder-en.doc

SOURCE Centre of Excellence on PTSD

For further information: For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Gloria Galloway 613-447-6648, [email protected]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 30, 2020 /CNW/ -- Mydecine Innovations Group Inc. (CSE: MYCO) (OTC: MYCOF) (FSE:0NF) ("Mydecine" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has added world renowned drug discovery expert Dr. Denton Hoyer to its Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Hoyer has been involved in drug discovery at leading pharmaceutical companies and research institutions for the last 30 years. He holds numerous patents and has been published extensively in the field of medicinal chemistry and drug research. Dr. Hoyer has unparalleled expertise in computational chemistry enabled probe molecule design, drug design and optimization, synthetic planning and execution, evaluation of chemical novelty and intellectual property assessment and strategies.

As part of his role with the company, Dr. Hoyer will directly work with Mydecine CSO Rob Roscow in developing research strategies, computational assessment of drug properties, formulation and pharmacokinetic studies as well as synthetic chemistry of drug substances.

"Dr. Hoyer's decades of experience in drug discovery, genetics, pharmacology and intellectual property are going to be instrumental to our long term success," expressed Rob Roscow.

Most recently, Dr. Hoyer served as the Director of Chemistry for the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, where he led a team of scientists collaborating with Yale investigators to translate academic research into novel therapies for diseases across multiple therapeutic areas.

During his time at Pfizer, Dr. Hoyer held a joint appointment to both medicinal and computational groups developing a unique perspective and approach to lead finding and optimization. His deep knowledge of ADME and in-silico filtering provided Pfizer with novel properties screens and improved the quality of their screening collections. While at Novartis, Dr. Hoyer worked on compounding physical properties and ADME and created a novel approach to solubility determinations, later dubbed "kinetic" solubility.

Dr. Hoyer TSX obtained his Ph.D. with A. I. Meyers at Colorado State University developing new synthetic methodology followed by post-doctoral studies in Chemical Biology with Peter G. Schultz at the University of California, Berkeley.

"Dr. Hoyer will provide Mydecine strategic support with the entire process of drug discovery from target conception, through drug design and selection of clinical candidates. He will be instrumental to our R&D efforts at our Innovation center in Denver as well as the University of Alberta," added Mydecine CEO Josh Bartch.

About Mydecine Innovations Group Inc.

Mydecine Innovations Group is a life sciences company dedicated to the development and commercialization of adaptive pathway medicines, natural health products and digital health solutions. Mydecine's experienced cross functional teams have the capabilities to oversee all areas of drug development including synthesis, drug delivery system development, clinical trial execution, through to product commercialization and marketing. By leveraging strategic partnerships with scientific, medical, military, and clinical organizations Mydecine is at the forefront of the efficient development of psychedelic derived medicines and therapeutic solutions. Our trailblazing portfolio of companies is focused on providing innovative and effective treatment options that can help millions of people live healthier lives.

For further information about Mydecine Innovations Group Inc., please consult the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or visit the Company's website at http://mydecine.com/ . For further information about We Are Kured, please visit their website at www.wearekured.com.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to completion of planned improvements at both the Canadian and US sites on schedule and on budget, the availability of financing needed to complete the Company's planned improvements on commercially reasonable terms, planned occupancy by the tenant-growers, commencement of operations, differences in yield on expected harvests, delays in obtaining statutory approval for marijuana production plans, issues that may arise throughout the grow period, outdoor crops affected by weather, the ability to mitigate the risk of loss through appropriate insurance policies, and the risks presented by federal statutes that may contradict local and state legislation respecting legalized marijuana. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell securities and the Company is not soliciting an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. These securities have not and will not be registered under United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to a U.S. Person unless so registered, or an exemption from registration is relied upon.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors



Joshua Bartch

Corporate Communications

For Further Information Contact

Chief Executive Officer

250-488-6728

SOURCE Mydecine Innovations Group Inc.
Takeda's new OnePath patient-centric program provides personalized patient care and support

TORONTO, July 7, 2020 /CNW/ - As part of its on-going effort and commitment to provide care for Canadian patients, Takeda Canada Inc. is proud to introduce the new OnePath Patient Support Program. With Takeda's acquisition of Shire, Takeda Canada has now unified both previous patient programs to create one enterprise Patient Services solution across the organization.

The OnePath Patient Support Program offers a personalized treatment support plan to each patient. OnePath Care Managers provide reimbursement navigation, coordinate medication, and offer support with product education and training to ensure patient's needs are met throughout their treatment journey.

"As patients' needs continue to evolve, we're committed to strengthening our programs to meet those needs in a personalized manner," says Gamze Yuceland, General Manager, Takeda Canada Inc. "OnePath brings Takeda's business priorities of Patient, Trust, Reputation, and Business to life, demonstrating our commitment to do what we can to provide better health and a brighter future to Canadians."

Takeda is committed to a seamless program transition to OnePath to ensure patients have support at every step of their care journey. If patients have any questions or concerns, they are encouraged to reach out to the OnePath program at 1-844-691-7284 or email [email protected].

Being placed on a new therapy can be confusing and sometimes overwhelming for many Canadians. The patient journey is filled with managing treatment information and lifestyle modifications, ensuring consistent access to care, and the need for empowering support to ensure patients can lead the best quality of life possible. OnePath is an example of Takeda Canada's positive and impactful way to deliver effective patient care, with maximum benefits and guidance that leaves patients and caregivers feeling confident in their therapeutic journey.

For more information, please visit www.OnePath.ca.

About Takeda Canada Inc.

Takeda Canada Inc. is the Canadian marketing and sales organization of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, headquartered in Japan. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader committed to bringing Better Health and a Brighter Future to patients by translating science into highly-innovative medicines. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Gastroenterology (GI), Rare Diseases and Neuroscience. We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in people's lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in health care in approximately 80 countries and regions.

Additional information about Takeda Canada is available at www.takeda.com/en-ca.

SOURCE Takeda Canada Inc.

For further information: Media Contact: Amanda Jacobs, [email protected], +1 647 798 2231
While hearing plea challenging Delhi University Open Book Examinations (OBE) the Delhi High Court on Monday said that administrative authorities who are in charge of conducting examinations in universities, including the UGC and the Centre, ought to also bear in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in enormous mental distress and agony to students. The remark came from the single-judge bench of Justice Prathibha M Singh while expressing its unhappiness with Delhi University (DU) observing that mock tests are not being conducted in time and students are facing technical glitches during mock tests.

The court said that there are families which are suffering medical illnesses and giving of examinations is not just a technical issue but the state of mental preparedness of the students also needs to be assessed. It observed that the exam schedule has been completely upset due to the postponement of the exams till July 10, 2020. It noted that the date sheet for some of the courses has been uploaded but for some courses, the date sheet also has not yet been announced, though it is submitted even today that the examinations will commence on July 10th, 2020.

The court also observed that the directions given by the HC earlier have not been observed in letter and spirit. It also slammed DU for not meeting its assurance given to the Delhi HC earlier. The court also took into account that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused a considerable disturbance in the schedules for studies and examinations across educational institutions and thereafter various methods of imparting education have been adopted.

Also read: MPBSE 10th Result 2020: Girls outperform boys, 65.87 percent passing percentage

Also read: Students express excitement after JEE Main, JEE Advanced and NEET entrance exams get postponed

The court saw, a large number of states, universities and institutions have cancelled the final year exams and students in most universities and institutions been promoted on the basis of past performance coupled with internal assessments wherever available. It has asked UGC and MHRD to take a specific stand as to whether they recommend cancellation of final year examinations and to apprise it to the court on July 7, the next date fixed for hearing.

The court has directed DU to place on record the data related to the number of students who are studying in the final year of DU and the number of students who are registered for the final year examinations to be conducted through the online process. DU has also apprised the court about a state-wise break-up of the students and from where they have to take the examinations.

The court has also asked DU to inform about its preparedness of the website portal for the handling the traffic during examinations, keeping in mind the recent technical glitches faced by students during the mock exams. The court was hearing a petition filed by several students including one Anupam through advocates Akash Sinha, Shubham Saket, Indrajeet Singh and Gaurav Prakash Shah.

The petitioners have sought quashing and withdrawal of the notifications dated 14th May 2020, 30th May 2020 and 27th June 2020 in respect of undergraduate and postgraduate students, including students of the School of Open Learning and Non-Collegiate Women Education Board. The petition also sought to direct DU to evaluate the final year students based on the previous years or semesters results like the respondent university has planned to promote the first and second-year students.

In another hearing before a division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and S Prasad, Delhi University told the High Court that those under-graduate students, who could not appear in open book Examinations, will be provisionally granted admission in the post-graduate courses offered by DU subject to the condition that they meet the eligibility norms after the results of the under-graduate course are declared and subject to their appearing for the entrance examination.

Senior advocate Sachin Duttas, appearing for DU, submission came when a division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and S Prasad asked the stand of the university on this issue. The court asked about the status of those students who are studying in the final year of the undergraduate course and propose to seek admission in the post-graduate courses in the event they are not in the position to take the exams through the OBE system and instead elect to await the physical exams proposed to be conducted in September.

DU told the court that students who are unable to appear in OBE will be afforded an opportunity to sit in the examinations physically, in September subject to conditions normalising. DU, currently conducting the mock examinations from July 4 to July 8 and thereafter, the OBE shall commence from July 10. The counsel appearing for DU stated that if students are not in a position to sit for the OBE exam commencing on July 10, all the students, whether in the PWD category or otherwise will be afforded an opportunity to sit in the examinations physically.

This is irrespective of the fact that they have filled up their applications online or otherwise, for sitting in the examinations and even reached the stage of downloading the question papers for participating in the OBE but could not upload their answer-sheets for any reason, he further added. The court directed DU to file an affidavit clarifying its stand so that it can pass appropriate orders on the next date. The court also said that affidavit filed by the university will clarify and to avoid any ambiguity.

The court has listed the matter for July 9 for further hearing. The court had earlier issued a show-cause notice to Delhi University asking it to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against it and its officers for withholding material information and misleading the court. The online OBE was scheduled to start from July 1 but later had been deferred for July 10.

Also read: MP Board Exams 2020: Girl, who cycled 24 km daily to reach school, scores 98%

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TN HSE +2 results Live Update: TN Board postpones declaration of Class 12th Results at the last moment. Earlier notification had promised declaration of results at 5:00 PM on Tuesday.

The Tamil Nadu HSE results 2020 will not be declared today as notified earlier. The exams for 10+2 academic level were conducted by the Directorate of Government Examination (TNDGE) in March, which keeps over 9 lakh students waiting for the official announcement of their results, keeping them from pursuing higher studies amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to official sources, Board authorities are also discussing modes to conduct pending examinations, which is one of the reasons deterring the Tamil Nadu Board from declaring the results at the moment.

Students can access their results on official websites at tnresults.nic.in and dge.tn.gov.in, as and when declared. Click on the link HSE +2 result on the homepage, login using the registration number, and download and keep the result saved for future reference. Students are advised to take a print-out of the result for future reference.

Also read: US asks foreign students to leave if university classes are fully online

Also read: UGC Guidelines 2020: Final year exams to be held by September end after MHAs nod, students demand cancellation

The Tamil Nadu board mandates a minimum requirement of 35 marks out of 100 for each student to pass the exam. In certain practically-oriented subjects with only 70 marks reserved for theoretical assessment, it is essential that each student secures a minimum of 15 marks in theory to pass the exam, in the composition of 35 passing marks.

The last-moment calling-off of the results comes across as a shock to over 9 lakh students, who were waiting the entire day for the declaration. Earlier, the TNDGE had promoted Tamil Nadus 9.7 lakh class 10 students on the basis of school attendance and quarterly and half-yearly assessment.

The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic had also compelled the Board to postpone the pending exams for Class 10th and 12th students, along with the unanticipated cancellation of the SSLC and plus one exam. The TNDGE, however, decided to conduct the pending HSE, VHSE exams later. It is hoped the delays in conduction of exams and declaration of results arent gaping. and leave minimal impact on students vying to pursue courses further in their academic careers.

Also read: Mental preparedness of students also need to be assessed: Delhi HC tells UGC on OBE

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UGC Guidelines 2020: UGC released its revised guidelines on Monday, July 6. The new guidelines state that all the universities have to conduct the final year exams by the end of September 2020. Here's how students reacted to new guidelines of the University Grants Commission.

Union Human Resources Development (HRD) minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank greenlit the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines for university examinations yesterday, i.e. July 6. The guidelines on examinations and the academic calendar have been revisited but the final year exams have not been canceled.

UGC said that the exams would still be conducted by the end of September. Students have been outraged by these guidelines, demanding UGC to revert them, cancel the exams, and grade them according to previous performance. A campaign to cancel final year exams has been started on social media as #StudentsLivesMatter.

As per new UGC Guidelines, Universities and Institutions are to conduct final year exams by the end of September. Also, the Universities and Institutions may select any mode of examination they deem satisfactory, be it pen and paper, online or a blend of both. UGC has made it compulsory for students even with a single backlog to attempt the examinations.

Also read: MP Board Exams 2020: Girl, who cycled 24 km daily to reach school, scores 98%

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

Heres how social media is reacting to these guidelines:

#UGC is playing with the lives of students. Forget their education, their life is at stake now. These frequent alterations of the guidelines is just torture. You can't expect us to appear for exams in this situation.#StudentsLivesMatters #cancelfinalyearexams #UGCGuidelines pic.twitter.com/xijb47eAXc  Mukesh Kumar (@the_change_93) July 7, 2020

#UGC announced new guidelines to institutions and colleges to compulsorily conduct exams of final year students by September. Like seriously ? Despite the spike in covid-19 cases in india.Even stepping out of home just to by groceries is super challenging these days and 1/2  Smit padhiar (@padhiarsmit) July 6, 2020

It is very Disappointing decision by #ugc and HRD ministry, This seems that govt. Has no care for students. Very shameful Act is done by Govt. And UGC.#ugc_release_guidelines #NoExamsInCovid #cancelfinalyearexam @HRDMinistry @DrRPNishank @PMOIndia  Rishabh (@RISHABHDEE) July 7, 2020

This decision will lead to mindless extended uncertainty for no discernable benefit. If IIT Bombay can cancel final year exams and extrapolate from previous assessments, why can't other univs? Education much more than exams and this narrow-minded view will endanger student health https://t.co/gwquWGb9uC  Ruchi Gupta (@guptar) July 6, 2020

The Ministry of Home Affairs, today allow universities and educational institutions to conduct end term exams Dear,UGC please think about students life & future and not your fees and administration status

Within 1 month India lead in top 3 worst hit country#Cancel_Exam2020 pic.twitter.com/4CZtll4kC9  Bala (@Balacivil98) July 7, 2020

Also read: DU Online Exams 2020: AAPs Sanjay Singh writes to HRD Minister demanding OBE cancellation

Guidelines concerning the intermediate semesters stay unchanged as per the guidelines released on April 29, 2020. As per the guidelines, if required, details containing information about the admissions and academic Calendar shall be issued to universities and institutes.

Also read: Students express excitement after JEE Main, JEE Advanced and NEET entrance exams get postponed

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Fans have gone gaga over Sushant Singh Rajput's impactful dialogues in the film trailer of Dil Bechara. One of their favourites is where he talks about living life to the fullest.

With online video streaming service Disney+ Hotstar dropping the much-awaited trailer of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajputs last film  Dil Bechara  on Monday, netizens showered their love on films dialogues, which speaks volumes about seizing the day.

Adapted from John Greens famous novel The Fault In Our Stars, the heartwarming trailer has several power-packed dialogues that beautifully defines love and life. Fans of the late actor were seen going gaga over a particular scene from the trailer where Rajput delivers an important message about living the life to the fullest.

Janm kab lena hai aur marna kab hai hum decide nahi kar sakte, par kaise jeena hai vo hum decide kar sakte hain, Rajput delivers the dialogue right in the middle of the trailer. Terming the dialogue as their favourite, from the flick, several social media users have posted screengrabs of the dialogue lauding Rajput for his dialogue delivery.

This Dialogue from #DilBecharaTrailer is heartbreaking when he says "Janam kab lena hai aur marna kab hai, hum decide nahi kar sake par jeena kaise hai wo hum decide kar skte hai" #SushantSinghRajput pic.twitter.com/gQK2BUvDtu  Maggi (@JainMaggii) July 6, 2020

 It was all goosebumps nd tears through out the trailer. Never thought we will have to see it without u around us. It's not "SERI" for us.

 Every bit of dialogue totally opposite to his death.

 Don't forget we still have to give him justice.

 Go watch #DilBecharaTrailer pic.twitter.com/1clr28MKxu   (@Cursedstories1) July 6, 2020

Also Read: Dil Bechara trailer: Sushant Singh Rajput, Sanjana Sanghi starrer promises an emotional rollercoaster ride

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While the trailer introduces late actor Sushant Singh Rajput as a chirpy, cheerful college student, full of zeal to live life, his co-star Sanjana Sanghis character is introduced as a shy, and quiet girl battling cancer. As the trailer proceeds, the duo is seen drawing closer, sharing light-hearted banter before finally falling in love and deciding to live the remaining part of Sanjanas life to the fullest.

Besides the heart-melting visuals, the trailer hints at an equally mesmerising soundtrack of the film. The trailer video of the film raked in over 10 lakh views within just 6 hours of its release and has received a positive response from netizens including Bollywood celebrities

Directed by Mukesh Chhabra and bankrolled by Fox Star Studios the film is set to release on the streaming platform on July 24.

Also Read: Dil Bechara: Sanjana Sanghi recalls memories with Sushant Singh Rajput

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Journalist Tarun sisodia, who worked with a Hindi daily, is reported to have taken his life by jumping from the fourth floor of AIIMS Trauma Centre after being tested Covid positive, on Monday.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday expressed condolences over the death of a journalist, who jumped off the fourth floor of AIIMS Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center (JPNATC) on Monday, and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Deeply shocked & saddened by the death of young journalist Shri Tarun Sisodia ji. It was a most unfortunate incident. I have no words to express my grief. My condolences to his whole family, esp his wife & young children. May God give them the strength to bear this irreparable loss, Harsh Vardhan tweeted.

I ordered AIIMS Director to immediately constitute an official inquiry into this incident, following which a high-level committee has been set up & shall submit its report within 48 hours, he said in another tweet.

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Also read: Grand welcome to corona conquerors in Rachakonda Commissionerate of Hyderabad

Deeply shocked & saddened by the death of young journalist Shri Tarun Sisodia ji.

It was a most unfortunate incident. I have no words to express my grief.

My condolences to his whole family,esp his wife & young children

May God give them the strength to bear this irreparable loss pic.twitter.com/nAUb0ky0AO  Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) July 6, 2020

The inquiry committee consists of Chief of Neuroscience Centre, Prof Padma, Head of Psychiatry Dept Prof RK Chaddha, Dy Dir(Admn) Sh Panda & Head, Physical Medicine & Rehab Dr U Singh. My deep condolences to media community that is shaken by the tragic loss of an esteemed colleague, the minister tweeted.

The 37-year-old journalist, who was admitted to JPNATC on June 24 with COVID-19, was making significant recovery from his COVID symptoms, an official release by AIIMS said.

It said the he was stable on room air today and was to be shifted to general ward from the ICU.

The journalist, who worked for a Hindi daily, had undergone surgery for frontal lobe meningioma (a type of brain tumour) at GB Pant Hospital New Delhi in March this year.

While he was in JPNATC for treatment of COVID-19, he was having bouts of disorientation for which he was seen by neurologist and psychiatrist and put on medication, the release said, adding that the family members were regularly counselled regarding his condition.

AIIMS said that at around 1.55 pm today he ran out of TC-1 where he was admitted and hospital attendants ran after him and tried to stop him.

He ran to the fourth floor where he broke a windowpane and jumped out. He was immediately moved to the ICU in the trauma centre in an ambulance. He later succumbed to his injuries at 3.35 pm on July 6, 2020, the release said.

Also read: Rahul takes jibe at Centre over Covid-19, demonetization and GST

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Indian Army sources assure mutual agreement to disengage will be brought to its logical conclusion in a few days; deployed military on both ends to move back from friction points, reduce pressure on the Line of Actual Control amid ongoing talks for peaceful resolution of the Indo-China border dispute.

The disengagement process between armies of India and China at friction points Hot Springs and Gogra began on Monday and is expected to be completed at both locations in next few days, said Indian Army sources.

The Chinese Army had started dismantling its structures since yesterday, the sources said.

The Army sources further added, under the mutual disengagement, both sides will disengage and move back by 1-1.5 km from the friction points.

After the disengagement process is completed, the two Armies are likely to hold further talks to take the process further.

Also read: India China stand-off: NSA Doval, Chinese FM discuss restoration of peace

Also read: India-China standoff: IAF conducts intensive night-time operations at LAC

India and China have agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest the complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquility.

Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary QuestionNational Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi had a frank and in-depth exchange telephone conversation on Sunday during which they agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously, according to a statement by Ministry of External Affairs released on Monday.

They re-affirmed that both sides should strictly respect and observe the LAC 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 tranquility in border areas.

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.

India has also moved 1-2 Km from the location. 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.

Also read: Galwan skirmish: Chinese Army moves back tents, troops by 1-2 km

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Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has written to PM Modi seeking his intervention, CBI probe, in allegations against CM Pinarayi Vijayan's office of misuse of diplomatic immunity in smuggling gold to UAE, citing implications in the larger context of India's security and on ties between the two countries.

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging his intervention in the probe into the alleged role of the Kerala Chief Ministers Office in the smuggling of gold through the diplomatic baggage of UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.

In his letter, Chennithala has expressed concern at the misuse of diplomatic immunity of the UAE Consulate, Thiruvananthapuram, by gold smuggling cartels with the collusion with officials working under the Kerala government.

He alleged that these officials have deep-rooted connections with decision-makers at the office of the Chief Minister of Kerala. The Congress leader asked for the prime ministers intervention to investigate the scandal as it has implications on Indias national security and the potential to irreparably damage the age-old friendly ties between India and the UAE.

Also read: HPC finds fault with LG company of Visakhapatnam for gas leak, submits report to CM

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The UAE government has condemned the misuse of diplomatic channels of their consulate in an official communique and has unequivocally affirmed that its mission and diplomatic staff have no role in it. The issue of misusing diplomatic channels is a violation of the clauses of Geneva Convention of the UN which grants immunity to diplomatic baggage, the letter read.

Media reports of the influence of the smuggling cartel at the office of Chief Minister of Kerala and the nexus between politicians, government officials and the smugglers points to a grave situation warranting an investigation by an agency which has authority and freedom to act impartially.

In this context, I request an investigation into the matter by agencies like CBI and Enforcement Directorate. I further beseech that steps may kindly be taken without delay in the matter and justice be ensured, the letter sent by the Congress leader read.

On Sunday, the Thiruvananthapuram customs department seized 30 kilos of gold smuggled in diplomatic baggage. It was discovered that two former employees of the consulate Sarith Nair and Swapna Suresh are the main accused in the racket. The customs sources said Swapna is on the run while Sarith Kumar, a former consulate PRO, was taken into custody and after the interrogation his arrest was recorded.

Swapna was employed in Space Park and Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITL), which comes under the IT department.

Also read: Triple Lockdown! Thiruvananthapuram announces restrictions due to Covid-19 surge

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On June 29, Reddit, one of the largest social networking and message board websites in the U.S., banned its biggest community devoted to U.S. President Donald Trump as part of an overhaul of its hate speech policies, according to The New York Times.

The community, called The_Donald, is home to more than 790,000 users who post memes, viral videos and messages of support for Trump. Reddit executives said the group, which has been highly influential in cultivating Trumps online base, had consistently broken its rules by allowing people to target and harass others with hate speech.

Trump supporters believed the ban was politically driven. However, to strengthen self-supervision, U.S. social media platforms that have claimed to be neutral in the face of whatever users publish have begun to ban remarks that fan hatred, engage in personal attacks and disseminate false information.

(Source: Donald Trump's Twitter account)

On May 26, Twitter labeled two tweets from Donald Trump making false statements about mail-in voting as potentially misleading. It was the first time the platform had fact-checked the president.

Trump responded on Twitter by saying the company was now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election and that he, as President, will not allow it to happen. On the night of May 28, he signed an executive order on social media companies.

Later, social media platforms started fighting back. Twitter began placing warnings on some of the presidents tweets, Snap has said it will stop promoting Mr. Trump's Snapchat account, Twitch banned Trumps account for hateful conduct and YouTube suspended six leading white nationalist accounts.

While other social media companies were taking steps to restrict or ban Trumps remarks or accounts, Facebook chose to take a hands-off approach to inflammatory posts, a move that brought serious consequences for the social media giant.

On June 17, a coalition of six organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), called on Facebooks advertisers to hit pause on ad spending on Facebook and Instagram for July 2020 to demand that Facebook address racism across their platforms via the Stop Hate for Profit campaign.

The ad boycott caused Facebooks shares to fall by 8.3 percent, removed $56 billion from the companys market value, and led to a $7.2 billion drop in Zuckerbergs personal wealth.

Under this pressure, Zuckerberg said on June 26 that Facebook will be incorporating new policies under which the company will ban ads that claim people from a specific race, ethnicity, nationality, caste, gender, sexual orientation or immigration origin are a threat to the physical safety or health of anyone else.

Facing the pressure from these social media platforms, Trumps campaign team and allies have created accounts on Parler, which sells itself as a sanctuary for free speech. Parler also kicked off its #Twexit campaign, calling for disgruntled Twitter users to vote with the feet and leave the more powerful, ever-present platform.

According to a report by CNBC, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale has also been on Parler since 2018. Eric Trump, the presidents son, and his wife, Lara, joined on the same day in May.

Two days after The Wall Street Journal named Parler as a possible alternative to Facebook and Twitter, Parler became the top-ranked iPhone app in the news category, ahead of Twitter and Reddit, and 24th overall, just behind Venmo and WhatsApp, according to App Annie. User growth surged to 1.5 million from 1 million over the course of about a week.

A Pew Research Center report indicated that about 72 percent of American adults had used at least one social media platform as of 2019. Time spent on social media increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports, 37 percent of voters under 40 say social media influences their politics.

"Social media is a contributing factor to the political divide in our country," explained Nathaniel Ivers, the department chairman and associate professor in the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University.

With the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election approaching, social media platforms will no doubt become a battlefield for U.S. politicians and people to express their political views. Therefore, how social media platforms will strike a balance between free speech and political correctness will become a major issue.
Delhi crosses 1 lakh mark, but Kejriwal reassures people that the recovery rate is constantly improving. India now stands third, surpassing Russia, in the global rank of countries worst-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

With a spike of 22,252 cases, Indias COVID-19 count breached the seven lakh mark and reached 7,19,665 on Tuesday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With as many as 467 deaths reported in the last 24 hours due to coronavirus, the death toll has reached 20,160.

Out of the total number of cases, 2,59,557 are active and 4,39,948 have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Also read: Health Minister orders inquiry into suicide of Covid positive journalist at AIIMS

Also read: Covid-19 cases in Delhi reach one lakh, Kejriwal says no need to panic

Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state due to COVID-19 with 2,11,987 cases, out of which 87,699 are active, 1,15,262 have been cured/discharged and 9,026 have died.

It is followed by Tamil Nadu (1,14,978) and Delhi (1,00,823).

However, reassurances from the political domain are also flowing unrestrained. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that despite Delhis COVID-19 cases having almost reached the 1-lakh mark, people must not panic as the recovery rate in the national capital now stands at 72 per cent.

The number of COVID-19 cases have almost reached the one lakh mark in Delhi. However, there is no need to be intimidated by the number one lakh as almost 72,000 people have also recovered from the virus, said the Delhi Chief Minister.

He further said that Delhis COVID-19 recovery rate now stands at 72 per cent which is pretty big because it signifies that even though people are testing positive, they are recovering as well.

Close to 20,000-24,000 samples are being tested in the national capital on a daily basis, he added.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 2,41,430 samples were tested for COVID-19 on July 6, taking the total number of samples tested till Monday to 1,02,11,092.

Also read: Triple Lockdown! Thiruvananthapuram announces restrictions due to Covid-19 surge

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Chinese-American activist, Rushan Abbas, who believes his sister is locked in an Uyghur detention camp, alleges China to be conducting crimes against humanity, genocide, fears retaliatory action against his activism.

Rushan Abbas, a Uighur American activist, whose sister went missing in China almost two years ago and is believed to be locked in a detention camp, said that the Chinese regime must be held accountable for its crime against humanity which it manifests in many forms including mass rape, organ harvesting and sterilisation.

Gulshan Abbas, a retired Uighur medical doctor, went missing two years ago and her family began a search to find her. Nearly two years later, they got to know that she was apprehended and sent to one of the facilities that the Chinese Communist Party calls vocational schools, the dreaded transformation through education camps.

Rushan, who is the founder and Executive Director of the non-profit Campaign for Uighurs, believes that her sister was detained for a clear retaliatory action for my public activism. The activist called for the immediate release of her sister as she has committed no crime.

Also read: Bubonic plague in China! Authorities issue high alert warning

Also read: Amid India China stand-off, countries unite against Beijings bully tactics

Rushan, who was born in the capital of Xinjiang in Urumqi, moved to the United States and attended Washington State University in 1989 where she pursued studies in Plant Pathology. She became a vocal activist and advocate for the human rights of Uighurs.

On September 5, 2018, Rushan Abbas participated in a panel discussion named Chinas War on Terrorism and the Xinjiang Emergency. She talked about the fate of her in-laws and conditions of Chinas camps. Six days later, Rushans sister and aunt were detained by the Chinese government as retaliation for her speech at Hudson Institute.

In a video, Rushan said, My sister Dr Abbas was abducted by the Chinese regime, a clear retaliatory action for my public activism. We have had no contact from her since and the Chinese government has issued no statement regarding her current state or her whereabouts, the only news I have had about her came from an inquiry by Radio Free Asia who published an article on June 3.

After 21 months, confirming that she has been detained by contacting the hospital she used to work, my sister has committed no crime. She is a retired medical doctor who has always been a good citizen, the activist said.

The Uighurs are a majority in the Xinjiang province, situated in the western part of China and is officially designated as an autonomous region. Many international human rights organisations have accused Beijing of cracking down on the Uighurs by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forceful re-education or indoctrination.

Rushan lists few crimes committed by the Chinese regime including kidnapping, forced marriage, mass rape, mandatory births control, forced abortion, forced sterilisation, arrest beating, torture, child abduction, brainwashing, organ harvesting, crematoria and genocide.

My sister must be released and unconditionally. China must be held accountable for its crime against humanity, she said.

Last month, a US report issued by the Department of State said that China uses counter-terrorism as a pretext to detain and carry out a repressive campaign against millions of Uighurs and members of other Muslim minority groups in internment camps in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region located in the northwestern part of the country.

The report said that the Chinese Communist Party has detained more than one million Uighurs and members of other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang since April 2017 because of their religion and ethnicity, and subjected them to political, linguistic, and cultural indoctrination as well as forced disappearance, torture, physical abuse  including forced sterilisation and sexual abuse  and prolonged detention without trial.

The Chinese authorities also developed new legal guidelines and law enforcement tools to expand their capabilities to carry out this repressive campaign, which included pervasive, arbitrary, high-tech surveillance, the collection of personal data including DNA samples, compulsory stays by Chinese government officials in Uighur homes and controls on the expression of cultural or religious observations, the report highlighted.

People in the internment camps have described being subjected to forced political indoctrination, torture, beatings and denial of food and medicine, and say they have been prohibited from practising their religion or speaking their language.

Now, as Beijing denies these accounts, it also refuses to allow independent inspections into the regions, at the same time, which further fuels reports related to Chinas atrocities on the minority Muslims.

Classified documents known as the China Cables, accessed last year, by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, threw light on how the Chinese government uses technology to control Uighurs worldwide.

China put a million or more Uighurs and other Muslim minorities into detention camps and prisons in Xinjiang over the last three years under President Xi Jinpings directives to show absolutely no mercy in the struggle against terrorism, infiltration and separatism, revealed the leaked documents released in US media.

Over 400 pages of documents of the Chinese government released by The New York Times, however, do not record Xi directly ordering the creation of the detention facilities. They mention that he ascribed Xinjiangs instability to the widespread influence of toxic beliefs and demanded they be eradicated, as per an article by Austin Ramzy for the US daily.

Also read: Chinas secrecy, deceptions and cover-ups led to Covid-19 spread: Trump

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London-based legal representatives of Uyghur groups have filed complaint in the International Criminal Court for illegal repatriation of Uyghur Muslims in Cambodia and Tajikistan, persecution and genocide; list contains senior CCP leaders, Xi Jinping.

As Chinas genocide and crimes against the Uighurs continue, the ethnic community has finally approached the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeking justice.

The New York Times reported that a team of London-based lawyers representing two Uighur activist groups have filed a complaint against China for repatriating thousands of Uighurs through unlawful arrests in or deportation from Cambodia and Tajikistan. This is for the first time that an international courts help is being taken against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The two Uighur groups are the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM). They campaign for independence for Xinjiang, which they call as East Turkestan, the name of two short-lived Uighur republics.

Also read: Uighur activist pushes for accountability from China

Also read: Bubonic plague in China! Authorities issue high alert warning

The EETGE said, Uighur victims have been unlawfully deported into occupied East Turkistan from Tajikistan and Cambodia. Upon return to China, they have been subjected to crimes together with many other detained Uighurs including murder, unlawful imprisonment, torture, forced birth control and sterilisation and forced marriages.

The 80-page complaint includes a list of more than 30 Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, whom the exiled Uighurs have held responsible.

The crimes committed against the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Turkic peoples which should be investigated include  massacres, mass internment camps, torture, disappearances, forced birth control and sterilisation, forcible transfer of children from their families to Chinese state orphanages and boarding schools, measures aimed at eliminating the use of the Uyghur and other Turkic languages in schools, enhanced surveillance of Uighurs and other Turkic peoples significantly beyond that experienced by Han Chinese, repressive measures against Islam, and organ harvesting, the ETGE said.

This can become a critical case because for so long it has been assumed that nothing could be done to hold China accountable at an international court, Rodney Dixon, a British lawyer representing the cases, was quoted as saying.

The ETGE has listed witness accounts and descriptions of brutal torture through electrocution, humiliation in the form of being forced to eat pork and drink alcohol, mandatory insertion of IUD birth control for Uighur women of child-bearing age  of which there is recent evidence of a major increase. An estimated 500,000 Uighur children being separated from their families and sent to orphanage camps, where there have been credible reports of attempted suicide by the children.

The applicants believe that with the courts order the victims of genocide and several other atrocities will finally see justice.

However, it is hard to say when the ethnic community will get justice as China does not recognise the courts jurisdiction because it is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

Speaking on the jurisdiction issue, Dixon said, The filing on behalf of the East Turkistan government in exile confirms that the ICC has jurisdiction over international crimes allegedly committed against the Uighur and other Turkic peoples. For too long it was assumed that nothing could be done by the worlds criminal court.

There is now a clear legal pathway to justice for the millions of Uighurs who are allegedly being persecuted on mass by the Chinese authorities. It is a breakthrough and momentous opportunity which we urge the ICC Prosecutor to pursue without delay. This chance should not be squandered, added Dixon.

Also read: Amid India China stand-off, countries unite against Beijings bully tactics

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STAMFORD  Embattled clothing retailer Brooks Brothers has permanently closed its store at Stamford Town Center, ending a 38-year run for one of the malls original tenants.

The last day of operations for the shop, which had operated at the Town Center since the downtown shopping centers 1982 opening, was June 17. In recent weeks, the company has also permanently closed its womens store in downtown Westport and its establishment in downtown Darien.

As one of our original tenants, we naturally have a special place in our hearts for Brooks Brothers, Stamford Town Center General Manager Dan Stolzenbach said. We are sorry to see them close due to these unprecedented external factors.

A message left for Brooks Brothers was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Reflecting industrywide struggles in recent months, Brooks Brothers has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. In response to the pandemic, its U.S. stores remain temporarily closed, according to its website.

Elsewhere in Connecticut, Brooks Brothers still operates a mens store in downtown Westport, as well as establishments on Greenwich Avenue in Greenwich, at Danbury Fair mall, Westfarms mall in Farmington, Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, the Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor, the Clinton Crossing Premium Outlet and Tanger Outlet Center Foxwoods in Mashantucket.

In recent weeks, a possible company sale or bankruptcy has been reported in a number of outlets.

Authentic Brands Group and mall landlord Simon Property Group have entered into talks to buy Brooks Brothers, Bloomberg reported last month. Coincidentally, Simon agreed earlier this year to acquire Stamford Town Centers co-owner, Taubman Centers, for $3.6 billion. But Simon announced last month that it was pulling out of that deal.

Founded in 1818 and based in New York City, Brooks Brothers represents one of the oldest U.S. retailers. It helped to popularize sartorial staples such as argyle socks, Harris tweeds and Shetland sweaters.

For Stamford Town Center, the closing deals another blow to a mall already struggling to keep marquee tenants. Other departures this year have included Apple, Clarks, H&M, Papyrus and Uniqlo.

Apple, Clarks and H&M have opened stores eight miles east at the SoNo Collection mall in Norwalk, which debuted last October.

Empty space is also mounting in the malls restaurant row on Tresser Boulevard. Cheesecake Factory is planning to close in early August, creating the third vacancy in the dining hub.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late Monday that the United States is considering banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, one of the world's most popular online platforms.

Noting that India had recently banned dozens of Chinese apps, Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Pompeo whether the Trump administration was exploring similar action against TikTok, which has around 30 million active American users.

"We're certainly looking at it," Pompeo said, adding that the administration was taking the issue "very seriously." "With the respect to Chinese apps on people's cellphones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right."

He added, "I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at."

Pompeo's interview comes amid rising tensions with China, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed for America's escalating coronavirus pandemic. It also follows an underwhelming crowd at Trump's rally in Tulsa that some blamed on a disruptive campaign led by TikTok users.

Ingraham also asked the secretary of state on Monday whether he would recommend Americans download TikTok or other Chinese social media apps to their phones.

"Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party," Pompeo replied.

In an email to The Washington Post early Tuesday, a TikTok spokesperson denied that the popular video-sharing giant, with hundreds of millions of users worldwide, is influenced by any foreign government.

"TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users," the spokesperson said in an email. "We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked."

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before Pompeo's interview, TikTok said Monday night that it would stop operating its app in Hong Kong, citing "recent events." Beijing last week passed new national security laws in the territory, classifying a wide range of crimes as terrorism and secession and criminalizing dissent - posing a problem for tech companies that operate there. Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp said earlier that they will no longer process data requests from law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong until they assess the political changes.

Chinese state media, however, said that TikTok's Chinese version will continue to operate in Hong Kong.

On Fox News, Pompeo included the push against TikTok with the administration's work against Huawei, the Chinese company that has long dominated global sales of equipment for wireless networks. The Trump administration has labeled Huawei gear a security threat, urging allies not to use it in their 5G networks, The Post's Jeanne Whalen reported. But a lack of alternatives to this point has rendered the campaign ineffective.

Some countries have already taken action against TikTok. India, which had nearly 200 million TikTok users, announced last week it was banning more than 50 Chinese mobile apps, including the video-sharing platform. As The Post's Joanna Slater reported, the ban was a consequence of the deadly clashes that killed 20 Indian soldiers last month, the most serious conflict between China and India in more than a half-century.

In announcing the ban, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said Chinese apps represented a threat to citizens' privacy and national security. The agency noted it had received complaints that the apps were "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data" to servers outside the nation, an activity that, the ministry said, "ultimately impinges on the sovereignty and security of India."

- - -

The Washington Post's Shibani Mahtani in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
DEAR ABBY: In middle school, I had a crush on a boy. He didn't even know I existed. Through a chance meeting many years later, he noticed me, but there were complications. He didn't know how to tell his ex it was too late for her, and it became a love triangle. She saw the error of her ways and left. He and I have been together ever since. He still talked to her as they had been friends forever, but two months ago he stopped.

Meanwhile, through all of this, she has been cyber-stalking and manipulating me. She has created multiple Facebook accounts to torture me, sent me a video of my boyfriend doing sexual things and tried to make me believe it was current. (It was five years old.)

He cut off contact with her, and it was glorious until last week, when she helped him get back in touch with his son, whom he hasn't seen in 10-plus years. I see it for the manipulation it is, but he sees it as her redemption. He doesn't care that it hurts me, and he refuses to get rid of her.

She has slandered me all over Facebook, and I don't think he should expect me to be OK with this or for him to even WANT a person like that in his life. He was amazing without her influence. How do I get him back to that person? I miss him so much!

 Anguished in Arizona

DEAR ANGUISHED: Let me get this straight. This man cheated on his ex with you, and you expected her to play fair? I wish you had mentioned why your boyfriend hasn't seen his son in more than 10 years. It might have been the most interesting paragraph in your letter. Were he and his ex married? Just living together while she was "in denial"?

From where I sit, she is doing everything she can to fight for "her man." He appears to have fences to mend with his son and with her, and you may have to accept it. It looks like he has already made up his mind about that, and unless you can accept it, your romance will be over. Only you can decide whether staying with this person is worth the drama.

DEAR ABBY: My sister-in-law moved into the house next door three years ago. While I enjoy her company and like her as a person, I'm having difficulty expressing my frustration with one particular issue.

I have a beautiful hedge that separates our driveways and provides privacy. She regularly leaves her garbage can lids on top of my hedge as well as various other things she's discarding (eventually). Today I noticed a large portion of the shrub showing what appears to be a chemical burn. (She has been known to use toxic chemicals to rid her yard of weeds, etc.) I don't want to offend her, but at the same time, I'm struggling to find the words to properly address my desire for her to mind the property line. Help!

 Related to my neighbor

DEAR RELATED: This is something you should have addressed when the problem started. Approach her calmly and say something like this: "It bothers me that you leave your trash can lids and other items on my hedge. When you do, it makes me feel disrespected. Something you left on the hedge has damaged it. My hedge was expensive to install, and this is upsetting me. Please don't do it again."
WALLINGFORD  The upper parking lot at the Toyota Oakdale Theater was filled with cars and people in a celebratory mood.

But instead of getting ready for the latest concert performance at the storied music venue, the cars in the lot were filled with graduating seniors from Mark T. Sheehan High School and their parents.

And row by row, each of the 168 students was called to a portable stage at the top of the lot where they received a diploma in much the same way they would have if the ceremony had been held on the school grounds, a few miles away on the west side of town.

But because of the social distancing requirements associated with the coronavirus pandemic that forced Wallingford students to do online learning for the last three months of the school year, the hope of traditional graduation disappeared. School officials polled the senior class weeks ago about their preferences for graduation, and holding the so-called drive-in ceremony at the Oakdale was the top choice.

It was so important to keep this in town, Superintendent of Schools Salvatore Menzo Jr. said after the ceremony. Menzo said officials at Oakdale Theater, which is owned by concert promoter Live Nation, only charged the town a really minimal amount for the cost of the labor associated with setting up the parking lot for the event and providing security.

Sheehan senior class president Grace Waldron recalled the day everything changed in the school district, March 12. That was when district officials announced classes would be going online and Waldron got the announcement in the midst of a college visit to Michigan as she got off the plane from Connecticut.

I had my cellphone off for the flight and when we landed I turned it back on and that was the first message I got, she said. Through my tears, I remember thinking that adulthood had been forced upon me without my consent.

But despite the initial disappointment, Waldron challenged her classmates to continue overcoming adversity as they move forward with their lives.

When I think back to my years at Sheehan, I will not let it be defined by the three months that we lost out on, she said.

Menzo echoed Waldrons comments.

Dont make this about what ifs, the superintendent said. Make it about what you can do and will be doing going forward. 

Menzo called the last three months he spent working with the Sheehan seniors and district officials to make a graduation ceremony happen a real honor.

They never said no, they never said stop, he said of members of the graduating class. They all kept persevering.

Mondays graduation ceremony was the third of four graduation ceremonies the district organized this year for Sheehan and the towns other high school, Lyman Hall. Two smaller, alternative drive-up graduations, for those who couldnt make to Mondays event, were held last month at the respective high schools, closer to the time when seniors from both schools would normally be graduating.

The majority of the graduating class of Lyman Hall was to graduate Tuesday at the Oakdale with the ceremony starting at 5:30 p.m.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
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* Grant Crawford of Cheshire, professor of mechanical engineering at Quinnipiac University, recently received the 2020 American Society for Engineering Education Ralph Coats Roe Award. The award, which includes a $10,000 honorarium, recognizes a mechanical engineering educator who is known for outstanding teaching and leadership in the classroom and who has made notable professional contributions. Crawford served in the U.S. Army for nearly 30 years before coming to Quinnipiac in 2014.

* Mark Gius, of Southington, professor of economics at Quinnipiac University, was recently appointed to the Connecticut Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan, fact-finding federal agency. Its mission is to inform the development of national civil rights policy and enhance enforcement of federal civil rights laws. It pursues this mission by studying alleged deprivations of voting rights and alleged discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, age, disability or national origin, or in the administration of justice. It plays a vital role in advancing civil rights through objective and comprehensive investigation, research and analysis on issues of fundamental concern to the federal government and the public. Gius, who joined the Quinnipiac faculty in 1994, has his bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees from The Pennsylvania State University.
MILFORD  The Greatest Bluefish Tournament on Earth will kick off at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 29, throughout Long Island Sound. The tournament offers anglers up to $40,000 in cash prizes. The grand prize of $25,000 goes to the heaviest bluefish, second place takes home $7,500 and third place gets $2,500. In addition, there are cash prizes for 4th through 20th place. The tournament also offers a port prize for the heaviest fish at each participating weigh-in station in Connecticut and New York. WICC600am broadcasts hourly update results all weekend long. The most up-to-date information can be found at www.bluefishtournament.com or @bluefishtournament on Facebook.

Registration is $36 which has been reduced from previous years--anglers can register by calling 203-366-BLUE or apply in person at any one of the 21 registration stations around the sound in CT and NY. Registration is also offered online and includes a unique 2020 Greatest Bluefish Tournament t-shirt. To get a complete list of registration/weigh-in stations, FAQs, rules on the Tournament or to register visit bluefishtournament.com. The fishing tournament is open to all ages including children.

Registration locations include AW Marina New London, Bobby Js Milford, Captains Cove Seaport Bridgeport, Dees Bait & Tackle New Haven, Fishermans Paradise Milford, Fishermans World East Norwalk, Fishin Factory Milldale, J&B Niantic, Petes Place Bait & Tackle Stamford, Rivers End Bait & Tackle Old Saybrook, Shoreline Bait Runners Bait and Tackle, Sportmans Den Cos Cob, and Teds Bait & Tackle Old Saybrook.

Deadline to register is Aug. 28. Registration is required to participate. The tournament begins Aug. 29 ends Aug. 30 at 5 p.m. The first-place winner will be interviewed live on WICC600, and all winners are announced immediately after the tournament.

Beach parking stickers mailed with tax bills

WEST HAVEN  City tax bills  real estate, personal property, motor vehicle and sewer  have been mailed and are payable in two installments: July and January. Included in the mailing are the new two-year beach parking stickers. Taxes are due July 1. Payments after Aug. 3 are considered delinquent and subject to interest, Tax Collector Dorothy Chambrelli said.

Taxpayers can make a payment on the city website at https://www.mytaxbill.org/inet/bill/home.do?town=westhaven. Sewer bills are on the same page but under a separate heading. Tax payment history can also be viewed and printed. The fees for credit cards and electronic checks are available at http://cityofwesthaven.com/276/Payments.

Current taxes can be paid by the drop box at the Main Street entrance of City Hall. Current taxes can also be paid by mail  check or money order, no cash  to the tax office lockbox: City of West Haven, Tax Collector, P.O. Box 150461, Hartford 06115-0461. When paying by lockbox or drop box, the canceled check is the receipt.

After Aug. 3, taxes with interest can be paid by mail to the City of West Haven, Tax Collector, P.O. Box 401, West Haven 06516. In-person payments are not offered at the moment because City Hall remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. For beach sticker information, call the tax office at 203-937-3525.

MAC announces new recreated campaign

MILFORD - The Milford Arts Council presents a new campaign they are calling The MAC: Recreated - a slate of online and outdoor events straight from the heart of the arts. These programs include the same quality arts experiences and opportunities that have enriched, enlightened, and entertained the community for nearly 50 years, presented in new and different ways.

Some of the new programs include: Homebound with Eastbound, one-act plays that are presented online once a month by Eastbound Theatre; Explore Your Inner Creative online and outdoor classes and tutorials that enrich the creative spirit; Artist to Artist sessions that provide a safe and supportive place for artists to share life and art with each other every Tuesday evening by Zoom; Movement classes five ways/five days - tap, tango, nia, bodyart, and dance exercise online Mondays through Fridays; and Open Mic Online every second Wednesday of the month re-starting this Fall.

The new MAC Summer Pop Up series premiered in June, offering a spontaneous visual or performing arts experience in a surprise natural setting on Saturdays at 11 a.m.. The community can look out for location clues all week long as to the surprise setting of the event at milfordarts.org, Milford Arts Council Facebook, or milford.arts on Instagram.

The MACs Sandsculpt Contest is ON (line) as well. The MAC will feature sandsculpt creations on their website and social platforms during the months of July and August, continuing this 43 year old tradition in a new and different way. Stay tuned for details at https://milfordarts.org/sand-sculpt-lp

Veterans, elderly exemptions, renters rebates resume

NORTH HAVEN  North Haven Assessor's Office has resumed taking applications for Additional Veterans Exemptions from June 29 through Oct. 1, 2020. Applications will be processed by appointment only. Call the Assessor's Office at 203-239-5321 ext. 610 or e-mail assessor@northhaven-ct.gov.

Only one person at a time will be allowed to enter the building to process applications.

Veterans receiving the base $3,000 exemption only need to apply once unless they move out of town. Veterans receiving income-based exemptions must reapply every two years.

The Assessors office is also accepting applications for the Renters Rebate Program, June 29 through Oct. 2, by appointment only. Call the Assessor's Office at 203-239-5321 ext. 610 or e-mail assessor@northhaven-ct.gov.

If there are any questions, please contact the North Haven Assessors Office at 203-239-5321.
NEW HAVEN  Carter Winstanleys $100 million biotech research building that will feature a public plaza, a biotech training program for students and a workforce pipeline got final approval from the Board of Alders.

The state-owned site at 101 College St., which will support the 10-story, estimated 500,000-square-foot specialized lab, research and incubator space will be transferred to Winstanley Enterprises.

It will be the second major lab building on reclaimed land that was the Route 34 connector, where the goal is to keep research companies here and attract more to create a critical mass in this growing sector.

Construction is expected to start this summer and will be carried out at the same time the Downtown Crossing infrastructure project advances.

There is no shortage of companies looking for this type of research space, including some 30 companies coming out of research at Yale University, according to state officials. A total of 75 companies have emerged in the last 15 years from research at Yale, with 50 in the New Haven area.

Winstanley is donating $400,000 to a community fund under the Together We Grow agenda that will provide access to jobs, through construction and permanent workforce ladders, local supply chain development and environmental sustainability.

The project is expected to create between 700 and 1,000 permanent jobs at all skill levels supporting some 3,000 jobs in the regional economy and generating more than $250 million in wages, according to one study. There are commitments to hire minorities and women, a city rule that applies to all property the city sells.

Planning for New Havens future amid the challenges associated with the COVID-19 public health crisis is difficult but vital for our future, Mayor Justin Elicker said in a statement.

Our foremost priority continues to be managing and mitigating the devastating effects of this pandemic. However, we must continue to move forward to further establish New Haven as a significant bio-cluster hub in the state and innovation is the key to spark growth and create a significant rebound for our local economy, Elicker said.

Winstanley has developed more than 1 million square feet of laboratory and office space at five city locations.

The 101 College St. project will remain taxable for the next 30 years regardless of who may buy it in the future.

A new feature connected with the project establishes a pilot program, SOURCE NHV, which is designed to connect small, local businesses to middle-markets through a brokerage service.

The alders also adopted a zoning ordinance text amendment for green ordinances and standards for public plazas in commercial developments in the BD-3 zone. This directly benefits the 101 College St. development.

It features a scorecard that gives points to increase the height and width of a building, when the impact of these structures are mitigated by such sustainable options as installing green roofs, or building privately owned public plazas, now commonly seen in large cities across the country.

The BD-3 zone applies to some 38.4 acres downtown in the area of George Street, Martin Luther King Boulevard, South Frontage Road, Lafayette Street, Congress Avenue and Amistad Street.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577
After due consideration of all of the circumstances, we remain fully committed to bringing this significant artist and very relevant program to the Lehigh Valley when we are able  and will announce a rescheduled date as soon as it is confirmed, The Bach Choir explained in the news release.
WASHINGTON (AP)  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.

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TRUMP: 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.

THE FACTS: 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami, and Alexandra Jaffe, Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

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EDITOR'S NOTE  A look at the veracity of claims by political figures.

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Find AP Fact Checks at http://apnews.com/APFactCheck

Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck
I was at a surf competition on Oahus North Shore in early February, watching a crew of Brazilians do battle with Banzai Pipeline, when the heats live commentary was interrupted by a PSA. With a banal, I know youve heard this a thousand times before intonation, a voice reminded the thousands of spectators gathered along the beach to only use reef-safe sunscreens while enjoying the Volcom Pipe Pro. The broadcaster listed a couple chemicals that seemed difficult to pronounce, thanked a brand or two and then promptly transitioned to talking about acai bowls. That, apparently, was that.

In Hawaii, as my confused/curious self later learned, sunscreens containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate were banned in the summer of 2018 (exactly two years ago this past week) by the states Senate Bill 2571. The law still hasnt gone into effect, and wont until January 1st, 2021, but the islands have steadily incorporated sustainable sunscreens into their new normal. As Governor David Ige noted at the time, Hawaii was the first region in the world to take such a strong stance against the chemicals. It may be possible  similar to the plastic-bag ban in New York City  for certain corner shops to subvert the new rule, for a time. But over-the-counter sale of sunscreens with those exact chemicals will soon be banned, period, and you can expect Hawaiis half-thousand hotels to observe the rule accordingly.

Its time to replaced outdated sunscreens. (Robert Landau/Getty Images)

No other state has formally banned sunscreen with harmful chemicals, but Key West, Florida, which is home to the only living coral barrier reef in the States (and the third largest reef in the world, after the Great Barrier and Belize Barrier reefs) took action in early 2019. The Key West City Commission voted for pretty much the exact same conclusion that was reached in Hawaii several months before  bans on oxybenzone and octinoxate, enforced at the start of 2021  and Key West Mayor Teri Johnston summed up her reasoning succinctly: There are thousands of sunscreens out there, and we have one reef.

Most casual beachgoers probably have some understanding that spray sunscreen isnt ideal for the environment. Canistered sunscreen has long been associated with chlorofluorocarbons, which played a not-insignificant role in ripping a hole in the stratosphere. The industry phased CFCs out decades ago, giving the sky a reprieve, but sunscreen has shifted gears to damaging the sea instead, and specifically coral reefs. As of the beginning of this year, over 70% of sunscreens sold in America contained oxybenzone, and 8% contained octinoxate. And when people whove applied those sunscreens swim, snorkel or surf in areas near coral reefs, the chemicals can awaken viruses in the coral.

According to the National Park Service: Coral then becomes sick and expels its life-giving algae. Without these algae, the coral bleaches (turns white), and often dies. We may not realize that the products covering our skin wash off when we enter the water, [but it does] and it adds up. Research tells us that 4,000 to 6,000 tons of sunscreen enters reef areas annually. This does not spread out rapidly or evenly over the entire ocean, but concentrates on popular tourist sites. It is estimated that 90% of snorkeling and diving tourists are concentrated on 10% of the worlds reefs.

A scientist in French Polynesia working on a coral nursery. (Photo by Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images).

If youre hard-pressed to care about the health of coral reefs from a purely compassionate perspective, its important to remember that the death of marine ecosystems has direct economic consequences, too. In the Florida Keys, for instance, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that the Florida Reef has an asset value of $8.5 billion and is responsible for 70,400 full and part-time jobs. Coral reefs are true crossroads of the ocean, gathering places vastly important to both those who travel halfway around the world to see them and those just looking to put a meal on the dinner table. And in an age when hurricanes and tsunamis only seem to grow stronger, one of the coral reefs primary functions  as a barrier, its right there in the names  is crucial. A study released in 2014 found that coral reefs can absorb a shocking 97% of wave energy, which directly impacts waterfront communities from storm surges.

Two minerals that havent been shown to bring the white death to coral reefs are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. In select sunscreens, these ingredients function as safe, effective alternatives to oxybenzone and octinoxate. The bans in Hawaii and Key West, then (along with a few other international destinations, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Caribbean island of Bonaire and the Pacific island of Palau), have given Big Sunscreen time to prioritize the inclusion of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in their products, and small-batch, all-natural purveyors an opportunity to highlight the good theyve been doing all along. (Consider one of the sunscreen industrys most famous names: Coppertone. When Hawaii passed the bill in 2018, parent-owner Bayer publicly opposed the law. Now they have a line of sunscreen called Pure & Simple with Zinc Oxide Protection proudly written across the bottle.)

Fascinatingly (and perhaps unsurprisingly), sunscreen made from minerals, not chemicals, is also far better than the skin. Cries from resistant Floridian lawmakers wary of melanoma ignore the fact that improving sunscreen products wont just help the environment  it will also prioritize skin health. Just as the oceans largest forests dont take kindly to oxybenzone and octinoxate, our bodys largest organ has a difficult time adjusting to them, too. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration never implanted sunscreen safety standards, and for years those chemicals and others have permeated the skin and fiddled with hormone levels in the endocrine system.

Making the switch easier: there are a ton of awesome, all-natural brands to choose from.

It could be some time before your state looks to ban sunscreens with toxic chemicals. Its been a bear of a year, and thats somewhat understandable. But you dont have to wait for an official bill to be signed into law to start applying reef safe lotion. (And you dont even have to wait for a day at the beach  after all, these WFH months have most of us spending more time in the sun during work hours, in less clothing, than were used to.) The time to add this to your day-to-day, planet-friendly checklist is right now. Coral reefs have given us so much; even today, as so many of them turn into crunchy graveyards, there are scientists finding potential life-saving steroids deep in their rinds. Theyve even been called the medicine chests of the sea.

In the interest of protecting those sacred, ancient ecosystems, consider sunscreens from the following brands:

And something to keep in mind: try, if you can, to stock up on these sunscreens before you head out on vacation this summer (or next). The majority of resort towns in America have little incentive to stock ingredient-conscious products from independent brands. They will probably upcharge the mineral-based options, leaving the garish orange can from Banana Boat (just $6!) looking awfully attractive. If you pick up reef-safe sunscreen now, youll get it a bit cheaper. But more importantly, youll get in the habit of protecting the ocean each time you protect your skin.

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The post Your Sunscreen Is Probably Hurting the Ocean. Here's What to Do About It. appeared first on InsideHook.
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.
St. Catharines is moving forward with developing a mandatory mask bylaw for public indoor spaces to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, but it wont be enacted just yet.

City council unanimously passed a motion Monday asking the city solicitor to prepare a draft bylaw for consideration at its July 13 meeting.

While Niagaras daily COVID-19 cases continue to remain low, Mayor Walter Sendzik said the area isnt an island  its a destination.

This whole thing where we live in a bubble, we dont, Sendzik said during the special council meeting.

Its important for the public to understand that were trying to protect our community because we dont know what other people in communities outside of Niagara are doing.

Sendzik said he drove around the Lincoln area on the weekend and saw licence plates from Quebec and New York state. Meanwhile, the Lord Mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake told him 50,000 to 60,000 vehicles are visiting there on the weekends.

What youre seeing in the GTA is, unfortunately, there are (COVID-19) increases that are much greater than what were experiencing here, Sendzik said.

The last thing we want to see are those increases shifting here because we didnt put in enough protections.

The date a bylaw would come into effect and expire will be determined jointly by Mayor Walter Sendzik and CAO Shelley Chemnitz, in consultation with Niagaras acting medical officer of health.

Dr. Mustafa Hirji is being asked to attend the meeting on July 13 to provide comment and answer questions.

The proposed bylaw would affect indoor spaces that are open to the public and where it is difficult to maintain physical distancing.

Operators of businesses and facilities would be responsible for ensuring no member of the public is permitted entry without a face covering.

The bylaw will include exceptions for people under two years old, people with underlying medical conditions which inhibit the ability to wear masks and for people who are unable to remove masks without assistance. As well, masks wont have to be worn if wearing one would inhibit a persons ability to breathe.

Employees will not have to wear face coverings if they are in an area designated for them and not for the public or if they are working behind a physical barrier.

City solicitor Heather Salter said other municipalities or health units in Ontario have implemented similar policies or are considering them.

In areas like Kingston and Guelph, the medical officer of health has exercised the authority to issue an order. In Toronto, the council passed a municipal bylaw with the support of their medical officer of health.

Brampton has given direction to its staff to look at it and Waterloo has a council meeting about it.

Niagara Region is also considering making masks mandatory during a special regional council meeting this coming Wednesday.

Niagaras acting medical officer of health has indicated he does not intend to issue an order and any decisions on the matter should be made by the politicians.

As elected officials we have a responsibility to make sure that we put in safety measures for this type of virus, said St. Georges Coun. Kevin Townsend, who moved Sendziks motion for the temporary bylaw.

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Weve seen what its done south of the border. Weve seen spikes right here in Ontario. If we can get this bylaw, something developed around providing some sense of security and safety for the residents here in St. Catharines, I think that will allow us to move into Stage 3 much sooner than later.

The citys legal team will look at the bylaws and enforcement plans of other municipalities in detail this week as well as talk to the health department as it drafts a bylaw. The July 13 meeting will recommend what should be included and not included in the final version.

Many councillors expressed a desire to ensure that people who cant wear masks for health reasons are not discriminated against and singled out by other members of the public.
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 Trumps 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.
Dr. Ron Mergl will be remembered for his infectious smile, ability to make people feel at ease, tireless work ethic, and giving back to the community.

He always went above and beyond for everybody that he met, said his wife, Dr. June Mergl.

He bent over backwards for all his clients. He often gave them his cell number and we always got a lot of calls and he would go in to meet them, if possible.

Mergl, who was a longtime owner of Niagara Falls Animal Medical Centre and Virgil Animal Hospital with his wife, died Saturday from glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumour.

He was 61.

In a tribute posted to Niagara Falls Animal Medical Centres and Virgil Animal Hospitals Facebook pages Monday, June said her husband touched the lives of many individuals, both human and animal, and that his loss will leave a space that can never be filled.

His compassion and caring for all animals, large and small, and their owners for over 31 years at Niagara Falls Animal Medical Centre, and for over 35 years as a veterinarian in the Niagara region, will remain a cornerstone and tribute to him for many years to come.

She said her husband, who was born in Welland and grew up in Pelham, was more than a veterinarian. He was also a Christian, a philanthropist and a family man.

He contributed to, and participated in, so many foundations, boards, charity events, volunteer clubs and charities, that we have lost count.

Mergls volunteer ethic was ingrained in him.

He always believed you have to give back to the community thats given you so much.

June said her husband was an active participant  along with his family  at St. Andrews United Church for more than 25 years.

His pride and joy in the volunteer world, she said, was Rotary Club of Niagara Falls, where he was a past president and a multiple Paul Harris Fellow.

He was extremely generous with his time and his money  to a fault  and could not say no to any organization or extended family member that needed financial help.

Along with June, Mergl participated twice in Rotary International National Immunization Days against polio in India and Benin, Africa, spending a month at a time and using their own money to do so.

He also travelled to Malawi, in Africa, for Veterinarians Without Borders to vaccinate hyenas and dogs against rabies, which was killing the local children, and, with the help of Rotary International, started a lifesaving program of rabies vaccination in Uganda, that also saved many childrens lives.

June said although Mergl already had a bachelor of science and a doctor of veterinary medicine, he went back to school at Brock Univwersity, and received his masters of science in infectious and zoonotic diseases in 2010. He is listed as a co-author on several published articles as a result.

At one time, Mergl wrote a column for the Niagara Falls Review and, about four years ago, was honoured with an award of merit by the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association for all the work he had done in veterinary medicine and outside of his profession.

He was always attending veterinary conferences across the world to stay up to date in the latest advances in veterinary medicine, and to continue his high-quality level of care to his beloved patients and their wonderful clients.

June said her husband was also known for always being on the go.

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He was busy with everything. He was full of ideas and projects and always planning vacations and fun things to do with his entire family.

June, who has been a veterinarian for 35 years in Niagara, said she will continue to run both the Niagara Falls and Virgil clinics for the time being.

She said people who want to remember her husband can donate to the research section of the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, Rotary Club of Niagara Falls and Veterinarians Without Borders.
All Canadians should research their shared history with Indigenous communities to recognize and acknowledge the part all ancestors played, beginning with original contact which was welcoming, friendly and helpful.

The fact Indigenous people nursed ancestors of newcomers back to health upon arrival, recognizing they were near death, seeking a place of safety, fleeing discrimination, oppression and mass murder in Europe, seeking health, leaving behind famine and poverty, seeking freedom to practice their own religions and so much more in what was termed the new world (research Dismantle Doctrine of Discovery).

Descendants of those newcomers have benefited greatly through the generations, however, unfortunately, have lost their memories of how their great lives have come to be  basically due to their governments keeping the truth from them, lying to them about Indigenous people and ultimately benefiting at the expense and demise of the Indigenous populations under the false belief of the Doctrine of Discovery.

The waking up process is difficult for some yet there is now no reason to not take up the responsibility of not just correcting wrongs and ensuring history is rewritten in truth. This is happening all over Canada as First Peoples are given first priority.

All legislation, policies and regulations must be scrutinized and addressed with this view in mind and there can no longer be anything done without our consent, knowledge and involvement; nothing about us, without us.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared there is no relationship more important to Canada than that with Indigenous peoples. He is absolutely right as without the Indigenous peoples, there would be no Canada.

We nursed you when your ancestors arrived, we saved your skin in the War of 1812, the list goes on and on. When Canadians realize why the North West Mounted Police (now RCMP) was first established (to keep control of or kill the Indigenous people) and realize all policing in Canada flows from that earliest organization, they begin to see and understand how national policing later affected provincial policing and eventually regional policing up to this day.

Is it any wonder then policing all over Canada has not done justice to the Indigenous women who have been murdered or gone missing? The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls must not be an exercise in futility.

It represents a massive amount of work that started with Ontario Native Womens Association (ONWA) in the mid- to late-1980s and resulted in the first ever report, Breaking Free (1989), which first identified the need for Indigenous womens safety, followed by summits, resolutions to Native Women of Canada and partners joining in who all accepted the call to finally have a national inquiry for which ONWA pushed and took the lead all along the way.

Indigenous womens lives matter. They are the foundation of our families, communities and nations.

This is why we need a full investigation into each and every incident of policing involving Indigenous women and family members  now.

Every Canadian should be mortified with the latest, very public murder. It screams and begs the question: why was an officer able to get his gun out and kill a young Indigenous woman when he was on wellness check in the Maritimes? The only answer is he already had his gun out and my friends, that is the reality and it speaks volumes.

These incidents are inexcusable and need to be punished. There can be no impunity for law enforcement any longer  First Peoples are first priority. Lets get it right this time as the time to act is now. No more nice, patronizing and placating words. Lets see action.

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Ontarios towns and cities are issuing an urgent warning this week: Large property tax hikes, layoffs, cuts to human services and programs are all looming unless senior governments come up with money to help municipalities left financially crippled by the pandemic.

To a point, this is a tactic, admittedly. The Large Urban Mayors Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO), along with municipal leaders from across Canada, have been lobbying and working hard to get Queens Park and Ottawa to make some commitments, before those dire consequences come home to roost.

Guelphs Mayor Cam Guthrie, who chairs the LUMCO caucus, says for the past several months municipalities across Canada have been asking for $10 billion in emergency funding. About $4 billion of that would go to Ontario towns and cities. But first, the province and the feds have to agree, and that has not happened yet.

Its not entirely surprising. Any time you deal with matters of federal-provincial jurisdiction, the process is thorny and time consuming. But its more than fair for municipalities to point out the time for negotiating needs to be past, and action is needed now.

Municipalities are halfway through their budget years, which means they now have to plan for next year. Almost without exception, they are facing massive funding shortfalls. In Toronto, for example, the gap between revenue and the budget is $1.5 billion. Mayor John Tory says his city is losing $65 million every week and would need to increase property taxes 56 per cent to eliminate that gap. The situation in Waterloo Region, Hamilton, Niagara and Peterborough is, to one degree or another, as serious.

The choices, for municipalities, are stark. They are not permitted to run deficits (there are some exceptions such as British Columbia where deficits will be allowed to deal with the pandemic crisis). They can dramatically increase property taxes, their main form of revenue. If they do that at the same time as the pandemic is still hurting millions of taxpayers and businesses, the results could be catastrophic. They can lay off or otherwise cut staff. Does anyone really want to see more unemployment, especially among front line staff like firefighters, paramedics, public health workers and sanitation workers? Isnt that exactly what senior governments want to avoid in order not to jeopardize recovery? Or they can cut services  close libraries, fire stations, community and rec centres and all the programming that goes along with those facilities.

These are not appealing options. The province and Ottawa must understand this. As Guelphs Guthrie said: Cuts and property tax increases will hurt the very same people that the federal and provincial governments have spent billions on trying to help during this pandemic.

Cities and towns have nearly all the responsibility for front-line service delivery, but nearly none of the authority compared to senior governments, and nearly none of the revenue generation tools.

LUMCO estimates that Ontarios biggest cities are bleeding red ink at a rate of $100 million every week. Nationwide, that figure could reach $15 billion.

Although both senior governments have to help here, the bottom line is that only Ottawa can honestly afford it. The looming federal deficit  which could be as high as $250 billion  is already a significant challenge, but that doesnt get the federal government off the hook. It is going to have to pony up for municipalities, and the province needs to be a willing partner.

The time for talking, lobbying and posturing is up. Ontarios towns and cities need help now.
OTTAWA - Legendary investor Warren Buffetts decision to walk away from a proposed export terminal for liquefied natural gas in Quebec is being held up in a new report as a sign that the LNG sector in Canada and elsewhere is on shaky ground.

The Global Energy Monitor report released Monday says Buffetts move in March underscores the growing political and economic uncertainty that LNG projects are facing even as governments around the world tout liquefied natural gas as a clean alternative to coal power.

Canada has emerged as a major proponent of expanding liquefied natural gas as a way to fight climate change abroad and create jobs and revenue at home, with numerous multibillion-dollar projects to facilitate LNG exports to Asia and elsewhere in the works.

Yet Global Energy Monitor suggested Buffetts decision to withdraw investment firm Berkshire Hathaways planned $4-billion investment in an LNG export terminal in Saguenay, Que., is a sign of things to come.

Neither Buffett nor Berkshire Hathaway explained their reasons for the move, but the company behind the terminal project blamed the current Canadian context  an apparent reference to nationwide rail blockades and protests against the Coastal GasLink pipeline in B.C. at the time.

While many projects face opposition from local communities, the case of the Energie Saguenay LNG Terminal in Quebec shows the potential for a local protest to galvanize a national movement, said the Global Energy Monitor report.

Global Energy Monitor is an international non-governmental organization that catalogues fossil-fuel infrastructure around the world and advocates for more investments in renewable energy.

Mondays report goes on to suggest that political opposition is only one of many new challenges to the LNG sector, with another being a dramatic drop in the price of gas due to an oversupply at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has sent demand plummeting.

The result: plans to build pipelines, terminals and other infrastructure in Canada and around the world have been put on hold  or dropped entirely.

The report lists 13 LNG projects in Canada alone that have been cancelled or suspended in recent years. That includes a $10-billion LNG export facility in Nova Scotia, which is now in limbo as the company behind the project tries to decide whether to move ahead or not.

Pieridae Energy, the company behind the Nova Scotia project, announced in May a delay in making a final decision on proceeding. Spokesman James Millar said that was due to technical obstacles created by COVID-19, not market conditions.

One project apparently not affected is LNG Canadas Coastal GasLink pipeline, which was the target of this years protests and blockades over a route that crosses traditional Wetsuweten territory in British Columbia. The company said last month that it plans to have 2,500 people working on the 670-kilometre pipeline from Dawson Creek to Kitimat by September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2020.
Investors in Canada are piling back into exchange-traded funds at levels not seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canadian ETFs attracted net flows of $4 billion in June, the most since February. About $2.5 billion went into equity funds, with the money spread among regions in a remarkable display of risk appetite on the part of ETF investors after waves of pandemic-induced volatility, Daniel Straus, vice president of ETFs and financial products research at National Bank of Canada, said in a report.

The strong June brought ETF inflows to $22.4 billion for the first half of 2020, more than double the amount in the first half of last year, Straus said. Its the largest amount of new ETF money in a half-year calendar period in the past decade, making it one for the history books, he added.

Two-thirds of that money went into equity funds.

A third of the new capital in June, or $1.3 billion, flowed into fixed income  the most of any month this year  and the rest into multi-asset and commodity ETFs.

Last year, fixed income dominated inflows, but this year equity ETFs has attracted $15 billion so far, surpassing all other asset classes, he noted. The S&P/TSX Composite Index is down almost eight per cent so far this year.

While the risk-on momentum has returned, some investors are still looking for shelter. In the first half of the year, almost $1.4 billion flowed into two high-interest savings ETFs: CI First Asset High Interest Savings received $991 million in new capital and Horizons Cash Maximizer ETF got $396 million. Last year, the so-called cash ETFs garnered $2.6 billion in capital.

These ETFs will be popular in any market environment, given that theyre easier to use than opening up a new bank account and they are very efficient for advisers since they can bulk trade for all their client accounts in one order, said Steve Hawkins, chief executive officer at HorizonsETFs Management (Canada) Inc.

Tax advantage

Two of Horizons ETFs are in the top spots for total inflows this year. Its Horizons S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF and Horizons Canadian Select Universe Bond ETF attracted $2.5 billion in capital for the first half of 2020, according to the report, making up about 10 per cent of inflows.

Last year, HorizonsETFs reorganized a slew of ETFs into a corporate fund structure to make them more tax efficient for investors. Both of the top ETFs are part of the companys corporate-class funds that arent expected to pay any taxable distributions, Hawkins said.
EDMONTONAlbertas ethics commissioner says Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer did not break the rules when he hired Steve Allan to run a public inquiry into whether foreign money is bankrolling anti-oil protests in Canada.

Marguerite Trussler, in a report issued Monday, said Allan was on balance a good choice in a small pool of qualified candidates.

The commissioner also noted that while Allan and Schweitzer knew each other in passing and Allan had contributed to Schweitzers political campaigns, he gave money to other parties as well.

They were simply acquaintances in Calgary who occasionally communicated about issues such as economic strategy and flood mitigation, said Trussler in the report, adding that Allan had seen his home destroyed in the 2013 Calgary flood.

They were not friends and their relationship was not close.

Trussler said the roster of quality candidates with forensic accounting experience who were able to work within the inquirys then-$2.5-million budget was limited.

Schweitzers spokesperson, Jonah Mozeson, said in a statement Monday, Im glad the ethics commissioner confirmed what we always knew was true: no conflict.

Its unfortunate that some choose to ignore facts to tar their political opponents.

Trussler launched the investigation after a complaint was laid late last year by a third party, Democracy Watch.

The complaint centred around Schweitzers role in hiring Allan, who had an office in Schweitzers former Calgary law firm, Dentons.

Allan was hired in July 2019 to head up the public inquiry to fulfil an election promise of Premier Jason Kenney, who has said he believes foreign funders are pulling the strings on domestic protesters to undermine Albertas oil and gas industry.

Trussler noted that Schweitzer was put in charge of recruiting because public inquiries fall under his mandate as justice minister.

She said Allan had helped out on a fundraiser for Schweitzers failed bid for the leadership of the United Conservatives, which was won by Kenney in 2017.

Schweitzer, a one-time partner at Dentons, severed all connection to the firm after being named justice minister in April 2019.

Trussler said her mandate was not to investigate Allan, but she questioned his decision to hire Dentons to do legal work for the inquiry because Allan has a close friend who worked there. Allans son is a Dentons partner and the law firm gave Allan free office space after his home was destroyed.

It does stretch credibility that Mr. Allan did not consider whether or not there may possibly be a conflict of interest in his engaging of Dentons as counsel for the inquiry, Trussler wrote.

Allan could not be immediately reached for comment.

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Allans report was due this week, but was extended by the government until Oct. 30. Also, an extra $1 million was added to the inquirys $2.5-million budget.

The inquiry has been the focus of critics, who say it is not fact-finding but out to prove a predetermined conclusion and, in doing so, is harming the reputations of people who legitimately and lawfully question the expansion of oil and gas operations.

Late last year, the environmental law firm Ecojustice launched legal action asking a court to strike down the inquiry, saying the process is politically motivated, prejudges conclusions and is outside provincial jurisdiction.

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OTTAWAChina is threatening retaliation against Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned a new security law giving Beijing more control over Hong Kong.

In a Monday news conference, a spokesperson for Chinas foreign ministry said Canada had seriously violated international law and basic norms governing international relations, and grossly interfered in Chinas internal affairs.

Zhao Lijian said Hong Kongs affairs are internal Chinese business and other countries have no right to get involved, and China reserves the right to further react.

China urges the Canadian side to immediately correct its mistakes and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and Chinas other internal affairs in any way so as to avoid further damage to China-Canada relations, Zhao said in a translated transcript posted to the Chinese foreign ministrys website.

The new security law gives Beijing much tighter control over protests and other forms of dissent in Hong Kong, on the grounds that these activities are outside threats to Chinas security.

Last week, Canada joined other countries in restricting exports to Hong Kong and complaining that the new law violates the principle of one country, two systems that is meant to govern Hong Kongs place in China. Canada also suspended its extradition agreement with Hong Kong.

Trudeau said Canada would look at more measures, potentially including moves related to immigration. Britain, for instance, has created a path to citizenship for Hong Kong residents who have certain documents dating from when it was a British territory, prior to 1997.

Tensions between Canada and China have already been high, with China accusing Canada of malfeasance in detaining high-tech executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant and Canada accusing China of arbitrarily detaining Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor since late 2018.

Canadian exports of canola and meat to China have also been obstructed.

Bob Rae, newly tapped as Canadas next UN ambassador, said Monday that working to get Kovrig and Spavor freed is a top priority. He said he supports Trudeaus position that no swap of Mengs freedom for theirs is reasonable, partly because it would reward Chinas behaviour.

And he brushed off talk that China will warn its citizens against travelling to Canada.

Im a great reader of George Orwell, and I think to really appreciate the world today you have to read Nineteen Eighty-Four. Some strange things are going on, Rae said.

For some country to suggest that this is a bad time to come to Canada is, frankly, bizarre. They have their own reasons for saying it, I dont think we should take it entirely seriously. Sometimes humour is a good relief when youre facing these moments.

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Canada has had a relationship with Hong Kong for centuries, he said, including defending it from Japanese attack in the Second World War.

We have a stake here and we have interests. We have many Canadians of Hong Kong origin. So its not, were not meddling in anybody elses business. Were talking about our business, our relationships, which are important to us, and we shouldnt shy away from expressing those thoughts, Rae said.

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Steve Barkeys hoping Wednesdays the day.

If all goes well, his American partner will land at the Vancouver airport, successfully pass through border control and hop onto a connecting flight to Regina, where the cross-border couple will finally be reunited.

Then theyll hunker down in seclusion for two weeks in their RV at a friends farm in Grenfell, Sask., where Barkey has been waiting not-so-patiently for the past two weeks.

That sounds pretty simple, but in a world complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, cross-border romances can encounter some heavy-duty road blocks.

I just dont want this to go wrong, said Barkey, who hails from Barrie.

Its been an arduous couple of weeks for Barkey, 65, and Cathy Kolsch, 60, of California.

A late-in-life love bloomed for the pair two years ago, and for the past year and a half, theyve been travelling the world and living in their RV.

For many years, Barkey lived a regular life in Barrie as a salesperson for Purolator. When he retired, he decided to see the world, so he sold his home and his cottage and moved into his RV.

Kolsch joined him and they started a life together on wheels.

Their summers are spent in Barrie, split between their parked RV and his boat, which he docks at the Barrie Marina.

Last October, they left Barrie and headed south, parked the RV in California and then flew to Roatan, Honduras, where they met.

They spent much of the winter there and finally caught one of the last flights to California to fetch their RV on April 1.

But their trek across the continent back to Barrie came to an end in North Dakota when border officials told them they didnt have the documents they needed to prove they are a common-law couple and refused Kolsch entry into Canada. Immediate family members are permitted into Canada under pandemic rules.

Barkey, in turn, was refused re-entry into the U.S. through the closed border as a Canadian visitor.

She was forced to turn around and go back to California, while Barker continued on to his friends farm.

Ive got her medication, Ive got everything, he said, explaining that all of their belongings are in the RV, which is their home.

Now, Kolsch is trying to cross the border again so they can be together. And Barkey said theyve been diligently getting all the paperwork together prior to her Wednesday flight.

On Monday, Barkey started worrying that if they are unsuccessful this time, it could be weeks or months before they see each other again.

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So, he bit the bullet, dropped $1,500 and hired an immigration lawyer to ensure theyre complying with all the rules and not missing anything. He will also have an agent on hand at the Vancouver airport if Kolsch hits a snag.

Weve been together for a year and a half and we both realize we were meant to be together, he said. Were both retired and we want to spend our retirement travelling together.

If all goes following the well-laid plan, the happy couple will point their mobile home east and make the trek back to Barrie in two weeks time.
VANCOUVERA human rights watchdog is hoping a decision by regulators in the United Kingdom upholding a complaint against a TV network owned by Chinas government will pressure Canadas regulator to act on a similar grievance about broadcasting forced confessions that was filed last year.

Peter Dahlin, director of Safeguard Defenders, says the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has a complaint about China Global Television Network (CGTN) on file and he hopes the U.K. decision will cause the regulator to take it seriously.

It should force the CRTC to start a proper investigation into this, Dahlin said.

On Monday, Britains Ofcom, which regulates television in that country, upheld the complaint from British commercial investigator Peter Humphrey.

Humphrey and his wife, American Yu Yingzeng, were arrested in 2013 while working for a major pharmaceutical company in a legal battle with Chinas government.

Shortly after their arrests, Humphrey was charged by Chinese authorities with illegally obtaining personal information then selling it. He appeared on television in a cage during a segment presented to appear as though he was confessing to the crime  something he adamantly denies. The couple was released and deported in 2015.

The segment with Humphrey was broadcast into the U.K. via CGTNs international service, which is also available in Canada. The segments were broadcast on the channels shows China 24 and News Hour.

Ofcom found CGTN, operating under the name China Central Television News at the time, presented the segment in a way that could adversely affect viewers perception of Humphrey.

The Licensee 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, reads the decision.

It also found Humphrey was not given a chance to respond to the reports allegations and breached his expectation of privacy.

Safeguard Defenders filed a complaint late last year about numerous forced confessions it said have been broadcast into Canada by CGTN and China Central Television Four (CCTV-4), also owned by mainland Chinas government.

The complaint deals with about 30 confessions involving nearly 60 people, including Humphreys case.

Dahlin has complained the CRTC seems disinterested in pursuing the case. The regulator has not been in touch with his group to ask for additional information about the complaint, he said.

Last month, the CRTC told the Star it is not responsible for licensing foreign networks and had no applications underway to remove either channel from Canadian services. It said the complaint filed by Safeguard Defenders is open.

It did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

At the time of the commissions decision to allow the two channels in 2006, the CRTC said that though the channel had aired some abusive content from 1999-2001  without specifying  it had no recent examples of such abusive content between then and 2006.

When the CRTC approved CCTV-4 in Canada, it added a warning to its decision.

Removal of a service from the lists of eligible satellite services authorized for digital distribution is a remedy that the Commission will be prepared to exercise if it finds that abusive comment has been aired on the service while it is distributed in Canada, it wrote in the decision.

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Reach in the United Kingdom, Humphrey said it is extraordinary more action does not appear to have been taken by the CRTC.

I find it very strange that the CRTC has shown a lack of enthusiasm for investigating this complaint, he said. I would ask the question of whether there is political influence restraining the CRTC from doing so.

Ofcom has started the process of determining what penalties CGTN will face in the U.K. The penalty could be a fine, or regulators could go as far as revoking the networks licence to be carried in the country.

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OTTAWALegendary investor Warren Buffetts decision to walk away from a proposed export terminal for liquefied natural gas in Quebec is being held up in a new report as a sign that the LNG sector in Canada and elsewhere is on shaky ground.

The Global Energy Monitor report released Monday says Buffetts move in March underscores the growing political and economic uncertainty that LNG projects are facing even as governments around the world tout liquefied natural gas as a clean alternative to coal power.

Canada has emerged as a major proponent of expanding liquefied natural gas as a way to fight climate change abroad and create jobs and revenue at home, with numerous multibillion-dollar projects to facilitate LNG exports to Asia and elsewhere in the works.

Yet Global Energy Monitor suggested Buffetts decision to withdraw investment firm Berkshire Hathaways planned $4-billion investment in an LNG export terminal in Saguenay, Que., is a sign of things to come.

Neither Buffett nor Berkshire Hathaway explained their reasons for the move, but the company behind the terminal project blamed the current Canadian context  an apparent reference to countrywide rail blockades and protests against the Coastal GasLink pipeline in B.C. at the time.

While many projects face opposition from local communities, the case of the Energie Saguenay LNG Terminal in Quebec shows the potential for a local protest to galvanize a national movement, said the Global Energy Monitor report.

Global Energy Monitor is an international non-governmental organization that catalogues fossil-fuel infrastructure around the world and advocates for more investments in renewable energy.

Mondays report goes on to suggest that political opposition is only one of many new challenges to the LNG sector, with another being a dramatic drop in the price of gas due to an oversupply at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has sent demand plummeting.

The result: plans to build pipelines, terminals and other infrastructure in Canada and around the world have been put on hold  or dropped entirely.

The report lists 13 LNG projects in Canada alone that have been cancelled or suspended in recent years. That includes a $10-billion LNG export facility in Nova Scotia, which is now in limbo as the company behind the project tries to decide whether to move ahead or not.

One of those apparently not affected is LNG Canadas Coastal GasLink pipeline, which was the target of this years protests and blockades over a route that crosses traditional Wetsuweten territory in British Columbia. The company said last month that it plans to have 2,500 people working on the 670-kilometre pipeline from Dawson Creek to Kitimat by September.

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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.
A man accused of spearheading a scam operation that cost Americans hundreds of thousands of dollars lost his bid on Tuesday to stave off extradition to the United States.

In upholding an earlier ruling, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected arguments from Harry Cole that his identity as the man wanted on fraud and money-laundering charges was not proven.

Superior Court Justice Nancy Spies had ordered Cole extradited to face trial in the U.S. in June 2019. Cole, who is known by other names including Akintomide Ayoola Bolu and John King, argued on appeal that Spies was wrong in finding American authorities had established he was the person in question.

The problem, the Appeal Court noted, was that Coles own lawyer conceded more than once during the extradition hearing before Spies that identity was not an issue.

Even if counsel had not conceded the point on behalf of the appellant, there would be no reason to interfere with the extradition judges finding, the Appeal Court said.

Cole also questioned the evidence against him provided by the Americans, but the Appeal Court again found no errors with Spies judgment. It noted three people intimately involved in the operation of the alleged scam had pointed the finger at the accused.

Among other things, the witnesses said they had met Cole, repeatedly taken instructions from him, and regarded him as the prime mover in the fraud that allegedly operated from 2012 and 2016.

There is no reason to describe the identification evidence given by the three witnesses in this case as manifestly unreliable, the Appeal Court said. They were describing a person whom they had met at a meeting for the purpose of joining and participating in the fraudulent scheme.

According to the American indictment, Cole and others would send letters to older victims indicating they had won millions of dollars in a sweepstakes or lottery. The letter included a bogus cheque for about $8,000 (U.S.).

The letter instructed targets to deposit the cheque in a personal bank account, immediately withdraw thousands of dollars in cash or money orders, and send the money to a sweepstakes representative in the U.S. to collect on their prize. By the time the cheque bounced, the alleged scam artists would have received the cash or money order and would then send the ill-gotten gains to Canada or Nigeria.

A second alleged scam involved more than 1,000 phoney tax-refund claims using stolen identification information.

Documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division allege Cole acquired and distributed lists of potential victims, distributed scam letters and fraudulent cheques, and created a company in Canada to receive proceeds from the scheme.

The hundreds of identified victims sustained more than $900,000 in actual losses, and, if the scheme had been successful every time, the losses for all of the intended victims would have been in excess of $250 million, according to the filed charges.
KEY FACTS 5:53 p.m.: 92 new cases, one death in Ontario by Stars count

11:20 a.m.: Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro tests positive

7:40 a.m.: June home sales in Toronto just shy of year ago

5:45 a.m.: Its now mandatory to wear face masks in Toronto

The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Tuesday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

Face masks now mandatory in indoor places in Toronto

As of today, its now mandatory to wear face masks in Toronto.

Toronto city council voted to make masks mandatory in enclosed, public places last week following recommendations from the medical officer of health.

It will require the person or organization who owns or is responsible for the operation of a facility or business to have a policy to ensure masks or face coverings be worn by the public in the enclosed public spaces under their control, subject to some exemptions.

Torontos bylaw is meant to make masks mandatory in businesses like grocery stores and will not apply to children under the age of two or people who cant wear masks for medical reasons.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, the citys medical officer of health, said theyve seen that making masks mandatory improves compliance, and that though there is greater risk of COVID-19 transmission in enclosed spaces, wearing masks helps to prevent virus spread.

How Torontos COVID-19 mask push could take a lesson from safe-sex campaigns of the past

As Toronto and other jurisdictions move to make masks mandatory, Jill McDevitt, a sexologist, has been watching the accompanying debate with a sense of deja vu.

The conversation around masks during the COVID-19 pandemic has felt like a fraught one since the pandemic began  muddied by mixed messaging and early confusion about transmission.

Scrolling through Instagram recently, she saw post after post raging against people not wearing masks. She found herself shaking her head. Public shaming didnt make people practise safer sex, either, she said.

While condoms have become a pillar of public sexual health over the course of years, public health officials are struggling to sell the public on masks.

Read the full story from the Stars Alex Boyd and Douglas Quan here.

Read more on masks/face coverings here:

Masks are now mandatory. Heres some tips for how to deal with that

City council votes to make masks mandatory in public in Toronto

The great mask debate: Which of these COVID-19 face covering is right for you?

Should we wear masks to slow COVID-19? Canadas top public health doctor now says non-medical masks could prevent some spread

How do I know when its time to buy a new mask? A public health doctor answers

7:12 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford insists his push to extend the Progressive Conservative governments sweeping COVID-19 emergency authority well into next year is not a pandemic power play.

Thats something that is totally misunderstood, Ford said Tuesday. Were doing it to help the people. I dont want a power grab. Im just not into big government, Im just not. But we have to do it.

His comments came after he announced plans to delay the end of the July 15 official state of emergency until July 24.

Thats to ensure enough time for the new Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act to pass in the legislature.

Ontario has been in a state of emergency since March 17, which restricts civil liberties in order to curb the spread of the virus that has killed more than 2,700 people here.

Read Robert Benzies report.

5:53 p.m.: As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Ontarios regional health units are reporting a total of 38,076 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, including 2,735 deaths, according to the Stars latest count.

Those totals represent an increase of just 92 cases and one new death since Monday evening.

However, because Tuesday is the first off-day after Toronto Public Health switched to reporting only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting this week, the provincewide count of COVID-19 cases as reported by the 34 regional health units does not include any new infections in the city.

Prior to this week, Toronto had seen by far the most infections per day of any Ontario health unit.

On Monday, Medical Officer of Health Elieen de Villa explained that the unit made the change to thrice-weekly reporting because the pandemic is at the point where it is more valuable to dig deeper into the data to better inform our actions to further reduce virus spread in our city.

Both cases and deaths have fallen sharply in Ontario since May.

Amid the worst of the provinces epidemic, the health units reported as many as 94 deaths in a single day.

Earlier Tuesday, the province reported 131 patients are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, including 34 in an intensive care unit, of whom 24 are on a ventilator  numbers that are themselves near the lowest the province has reported since first publishing hospitalization data in early April.

The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of total deaths  2,691  may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, data reported by (the health units) should be considered the most up to date.

The Stars count includes some patients reported as probable COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test.

5:07 p.m.: Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was spotted Tuesday in a Pearson airport lounge not wearing a mandatory mask.

Two separate photos of the bare-faced party leader sitting comfortably in a waiting area circulated online but his office says he was wearing a mask for his trip. A spokesperson said the photos must have been taken after he doffed the covering to take a call but before he put it back on.

Torontos Pearson airport currently has a policy that masks must be worn at all times to curb the spread of COVID-19, with limited exceptions that include being at a food or beverage service location.

The photos shows Scheer in the lounge with several others, and while they are seated spaced apart, none is wearing a mask.

5:03 p.m.: At least eight Mississippi lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus after working for weeks in a Capitol where many people stood or sat close together and did not wear masks.

Among those who have publicly acknowledged having COVID-19 are Lt.-Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, and House Speaker Philip Gunn.

The state health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, said Tuesday there are also at least 11 other suspected cases of the virus among legislators and Capitol employees. In addition, Dobbs said the highly contagious virus is spreading at parties and other social gatherings around the state.

4:51 p.m.: The federal government says it plans to slowly reopen Service Canada centres it shuttered in late March over COVID concerns.

Up to 90 centres across the country will gradually reopen in July, starting with 14 on Wednesday. Further openings are to be guided by public health advice as well as how many Canadians each centre serves.

The government has spent the past few weeks upgrading the centres to put up clear barriers at counters, signs to encourage physical distancing and reduce seating in waiting areas.

Personal protective equipment will also be provided to staff at centres that reopen.

4:07 p.m.: The United States officially notified the United Nations secretary-general of the countrys withdrawal from the World Health Organization, setting in motion the countrys exit from the global body.

President Donald Trump in May said he would withdraw from the WHO, accusing the organization of failing in the coronavirus pandemic and being a puppet of China. Trump also announced a funding halt to the WHO in a move that has drawn concern, including from U.S. allies.

The move, effective July 6, 2021, was confirmed by a U.S. senior administration official and the U.N.

A spokesperson for the U.N. noted that exit conditions include giving a one-year notice and fully meeting financial obligations.

Read the full story.

3:18 p.m.: Death rates among immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa doubled in France and tripled in the Paris region at the height of France's coronavirus outbreak, according to a study from the French governments statistics agency.

The INSEE agencys findings are the closest France has come yet to acknowledging with numbers the virus's punishing and disproportionate impact on the countrys Black immigrants and the members of other systemically overlooked minority groups.

The study was the first in France to cross-reference deaths that occurred in March and April, when intensive care units were swamped with COVID-19 patients, with the regions of origin of the people who died.

3:15 p.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus promise to provide a $600 payment to disabled Canadians to help with additional costs in the COVID-19 pandemic remains in limbo.

The measure was contained in a piece of legislation that failed to pass in June and no replacement is on the agenda for a House of Commons sitting this week.

A spokesperson for Carla Qualtrough, the minister in charge of the file, says the government continues to work to find a solution but provided no details.

The opposition Conservatives and New Democrats say the Liberals have to find a way to make good on that pledge.

3:10 p.m.: The Ontario government must release information about the prevalence of COVID-19 in provincial jails as well as what preventative measures are taken to curb the spread, an activist coalition said.

In a letter to Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, the coalition of Black, Indigenous and legal groups said it was also filing a freedom-of-information request to obtain the data.

We are very concerned that there is no public information available about the current data related to COVID-19 testing and positive diagnoses in Ontario correctional facilities, the letter states. This information is vital for the health of all Ontarians, but especially for Indigenous and Black communities who are vastly over-represented inside these institutions.

1:45 p.m.: Just For Laughs says it wont be hosting live performances as part of its Toronto festival this fall because of concerns about COVID-19.

The JFL42 festival was set to take place at venues across Toronto from Sept. 24 to Oct. 3. Organizers say theyre exploring ways to host the festival in a different format.

Tuesdays decision impacts all in-person shows scheduled for this year, including a special performance from The Daily Show host Trevor Noah. The festival is set to return in 2021.

Organizers say people who purchased tickets to Noahs show can either see him perform next year, or request a refund until Aug. 7.

12 p.m.: After the first day with no COVID-19 fatalities since early in the pandemic, Ontario is reporting two new coronavirus deaths.

But only 112 new cases were reported across the province.

Our testing strategy is working, Health Minister Christine Elliott told the legislature on Tuesday.

So far, 1,559,529 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Ontario since January.

Read the full story from the Stars Robert Benzie.

11:20 a.m.: Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19 in an escalation of the health crisis that has engulfed Latin Americas largest economy.

Im perfectly well, Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil in a live interview, after announcing the result of his test.

He added he is taking hydroxichloroquine, an anti-malaria medicine hes been touting as being effective against the virus though its use hasnt been authorized by most health experts globally and could carry dangerous side effects.

The 65-year-old president, who during his campaign to reopen the economy called the virus just a little flu, has repeatedly disobeyed medical recommendations to avoid contamination, mingling in crowds without a face mask and giving people handshakes.

Late on Monday, however, a video posted on YouTube showed a masked Bolsonaro trying not to get too close to supporters who awaited him in front of the presidential palace. He told them he was following social distancing orders from a doctor after showing symptoms of the virus, and added that an exam had shown his lungs were clean.

Brazil has become a global hotspot for the virus, trailing only the U.S. with more than 65,000 confirmed deaths and over 1.62 million total cases. It has implemented an erratic response to the pandemic, with the president often clashing with state governors and even his health minister over quarantine measures and possible treatments. Brazils health ministry is currently headed by an interim chief after Bolsonaro fired his first minister and a second resigned.

Bolsonaro could be seen coughing during a Thursday broadcast on his social networks, when he sat next to six other people, none of whom wore a mask. Officials who were present included Regional Development Minister Rogerio Marinho and the chief executive officer of state-owned bank Caixa Economica Federal, Pedro Guimaraes. Since then, he has mingled with members of his administration and the general public, and had lunch with the U.S. ambassador to Brazil on Saturday.

11:10 a.m.: The U.S. government will pay vaccine maker Novavax $1.6 billion to expedite the development of 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by the beginning of next year, the company said Tuesday.

The deal is the largest that the Trump administration has made so far with a company as part of Operation Warp Speed, the sprawling federal effort to make coronavirus vaccines and treatments available to the American public as quickly as possible. In doing so, the government has placed a significant bet on Novavax, a company based in Maryland that has never brought a product to market.

Operation Warp Speed is a multiagency effort that seeks to carry out President Donald Trumps pledge to make a coronavirus vaccine available by the end of the year, but the full extent of the project is still unclear. Officials have declined to list which vaccines and treatments are part of Operation Warp Speed.

11 a.m.: The parliamentary budget office says it could cost more than $98 billion to provide almost all Canadians with a basic income for six months beginning this fall.

That figure is the upper range of the scenarios the budget watchdog was asked to research as part of a report out this morning.

The idea of providing a basic income to Canadians has taken on more steam as millions have watched their jobs or earnings evaporate in the COVID-19 pandemic, and the federal spending of about $174 billion to provide a financial floor for individuals and businesses.

The cost for the federal government could range between $47.5 billion and $98.1 billion for six months of a granted basic income beginning in October, depending on how much is clawed back as incomes rise.

Budget officer Yves Girouxs report says the average benefit to Canadians aged 18 to 64 would range between $4,500 and $4,800, with the number of recipients rising depending on the phase-out rate.

Girouxs report says the government could repeal $15 billion in tax measures to offset the overall cost of a basic income program.

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9:20 a.m.: Its been a long, 105-day stretch since Ontario marked a 24-hour period with no deaths related to COVID-19. And that period couldnt have come sooner, say doctors and epidemiologists who have been watching the pandemic unfold.

While the news Monday that we have reached a day with zero dead from the virus for the first time since mid-March is undoubtedly good, experts are warning that we should not begin to rest on our laurels lest the virus flare up amid relaxed restrictions.

One person in Ontario died from the virus on Sunday, a significant departure from the height of the pandemic in May, when more than 90 deaths were reported in one day.

Read the full story from the Stars Patty Winsa and Kenyon Wallace.

9 a.m.: Torontos COVID-19 mask push could take a lesson from safe-sex campaigns of the past.

For sexologist Jill McDevitt, the public shaming about people not wearing masks is a bad reminder. Public shaming didnt help promote the use of condoms for safe sex.

If were talking strategy, (shame) doesnt work, she says.

Read the full story from the Stars Alex Boyd and Douglas Quan.

8:20 a.m. Premier Doug Ford is moving to extend the Progressive Conservative governments COVID-19 emergency powers past the provinces state of emergency, which expires next week.

The Canadian Press first reported that Solicitor General Sylvia Jones will introduce the potentially controversial legislation on Tuesday.

It allows us to transition away from the declaration of emergency, which is an important signal to people that were on our way out, Jones told CPs Shawn Jeffords on Monday.

But it also allows us to ensure that  because frankly, we dont have a vaccine for COVID-19  that we still can keep in place the important tools we need, she said.

We want to make sure that were not over-using the declaration of emergency.

Jones said the bill will introduce additional reporting requirements to bolster oversight, including forcing the government to report any emergency order extensions to a legislative committee once every month and table a report on the use of the law six months after it expires next year.

8 a.m.: Saudi Arabia has issued guidelines for about 1,000 pilgrims who will be allowed to perform the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca later this month, an experience that will be unlike any before because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The pilgrims will be only be able to drink holy water from the Zamzam well in Mecca that is packaged in plastic bottles, and pebbles for casting away evil that are usually picked up by pilgrims along hajj routes will be sterilized and bagged ahead of time. Pilgrims will also have to bring their own prayer rugs.

The guidelines were announced Monday as Saudi authorities prepare for a very limited hajj, which for the first time will not include pilgrims from outside the country. Instead, the kingdom said that 70 per cent of pilgrims allowed to make the pilgrimage this year will be from among foreign residents of Saudi Arabia and 30 per cent would be Saudi citizens.

7:58 a.m. Global stock markets were mostly lower Tuesday as investors grew anxious that the recent rally has gone too far amid gloomy economic forecasts.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 fell 0.9 per cent, suggesting a pullback when U.S. markets open. The stock index closed higher for the fifth straight day on Monday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq hit a record.

The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.9 per cent Tuesday after reaching its highest level in nearly a month.

Some investors will be taking profit after yesterdays rally, said Sebastien Galy, a macro strategist at Nordea Asset Management. Theres been a real divergence between what the market believes and the reality of the economy.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday that unemployment rates in the worlds advanced economies will reach the highest level this year since the Great Depression.

7:40 a.m. The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says the number of homes sold in the region in June was just shy of the mark set a year ago as the average selling price rose nearly 12 per cent compared with June 2019.

Home sales plunged earlier this year as the COVID-19 pandemic forced buyers to the sidelines, however sales have picked up as businesses have started to reopen.

The real estate board says there were 8,701 homes sale in June, down 1.4 per cent compared with the same month last year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales in June were up 84 per cent compared with May.

The average selling price was $930,869, up 11.9 per cent compared with June 2019.

Toronto board president Lisa Patel says its still the early days of recovery, but barring any setbacks, she expects to see stronger market conditions in the second half of the year.

7:37 a.m.: Schools in Kenya will reopen in January and not September as planned earlier, with the number of the coronavirus infections in the country continuing to climb.

The East African nation has confirmed 8,067 virus infections since March when the first case was discovered, and the attendance of school in physical classrooms was suspended as part of measures to curb the spread. Kenya has tested almost 200,000 people, with about eight per cent of tests returning positive in recent days.

Schooling will remain one of Kenyas most-affected sectors by the virus after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday announced the lifting of restrictions on travel into and out of the nations two biggest cities. Kenyatta also said international passenger flights will resume from Aug. 1.

7:11 a.m.: Iran suffered its deadliest day of the coronavirus outbreak, as the countrys health minister said warnings about the spread of the disease had fallen on deaf ears.

Authorities reported on Tuesday that 200 people had died from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, a sharp spike from the previous high of 163 recorded on July 5. The total death toll reached 11,931 out of 245,688 known cases.

I repeatedly said to our people that its extremely dangerous to understate the situation, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said on state TV just before the latest figures were made public. Unfortunately, our pleas fell on deaf ears until we were gripped by a new wave of infections.

The virus began surging again in May, around a month after Iran first started to loosen lockdown measures on its population of 82 million in an effort to keep its sanctions-hit economy afloat. Curbs have been reintroduced in some of Irans busiest port cities on the Persian Gulf, and wearing face masks in enclosed public spaces became mandatory nationwide from July 5.

7 a.m.: The towns of Kingsville and Leamington, Ont., are joining the rest of the province in Stage 2 of the governments reopening plan.

Premier Doug Ford announced Monday that the communities, which were the final two towns in Stage 1 of the process, would move up as of 12:01 a.m.

Ford says COVID-19 outbreaks on local farms are under control and community spread of the virus is low.

Most of the Windsor-Essex region, except for those two towns, moved to the second stage of reopening on June 25.

The government dispatched a team from Emergency Management Ontario to the region last week to help co-ordinate health care and housing for hundreds of agri-food workers who have tested positive for the virus.

Ford said Monday he will be visiting the region soon, and thanked people in Kingsville and Leamington for their patience in recent weeks.

6:30 a.m.: South Korea confirmed 44 new cases of the coronavirus, a continuation of an uptick in new infections beyond the greater Seoul area.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday the additional cases took the national tally to 13,181 with 285 deaths.

It says 20 of the newly reported cases were locally infected patients, 12 of them in the Seoul metropolitan area and the rest eight from two central cities. The agency says 24 cases came from overseas.

6:30 a.m.: Australias second-largest city of Melbourne has been ordered into lockdown for a second time as coronavirus cases surge.

Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters that residents will be prohibited from leaving the metropolitan area for six weeks except to go to work or school, for care or care giving, for daily exercise, and for food and other essentials.

He said 191 more cases have been detected, the most in a single day. Australia has been among the worlds most successful countries in containing its coronavirus outbreak, with the exception of Melbourne.

The country has more than 8,500 cases and 106 deaths.

6:30 a.m.: Indias death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has crossed 20,000 and its cases have passed 700,000. The country reported 467 new deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 20,160.

It also recorded 22,252 new infections, increasing the total to 719,665. The rate of new virus infections and deaths in India are now rising at the fastest pace in the last four months. Health officials fear the number of deaths could rise significantly in the coming weeks.

India has 1.3 billion people and has the third-most cases after the United States and Brazil.

6:25 a.m.: Almost 11 million students began taking Chinas university entrance exam Tuesday after a delay as the country worked to bring down coronavirus infections.

The gruelling four-day exam known as gaokao can be a key determinant of a students future and was pushed back weeks from its scheduled date. The exam is believed to be the first mass gathering event since the virus outbreak and administrators are enforcing strict rules to prevent infections, including proof of wellness, social distancing and the wearing of masks.

All of the new infections China reported Tuesday were people returning from overseas. Shanghai authorities say the two cases confirmed there in the past 24 hours were students who had returned from schools in Britain and the United States.

6:24 a.m.: Saudi Arabia has issued guidelines for the 1,000 or so pilgrims that will be allowed to perform the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca later this month, an experience that will be unlike any before because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The pilgrims will be only be able to drink holy water from the Zamzam well in Mecca that is packaged in plastic bottles, and pebbles for casting away evil that are usually picked up by pilgrims along hajj routes will be sterilized and bagged ahead of time. Pilgrims will also have to bring their own prayer rugs.

The guidelines were announced on Monday as Saudi authorities prepare to carry out a very limited hajj, which for the first time will not include pilgrims from outside the country. Instead, the kingdom said that 70% of pilgrims allowed to participate this year will be from among foreign residents of Saudi Arabia while 30% would be Saudi citizens.

Saudi pilgrims will be selected from among health care workers and security personnel who have recovered from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. The government said their selection represents a token of appreciation for their role in providing care during the pandemic.

5:23 a.m.: A new poll suggests turbulence ahead for airlines seeking public support for their current COVID-19 plans.

Seventy-two per cent of Canadians surveyed by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies say theyre not comfortable flying since a decision by some airlines to relax their own in-flight physical distancing requirements.

As of July 1, Air Canada and WestJet both ended policies blocking the sale of adjacent seats.

The measure was seen to align with a guidance document for the aviation industry issued by Transport Canada in April to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Among other things, the department had suggested passengers should be widely spaced when possible, though they did not make it mandatory.

Airlines, however, are required to make passengers and aircrews wear masks.

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More coverage from Monday.
OTTAWAA new poll suggests turbulence ahead for airlines seeking public support for their current COVID-19 plans.

Seventy-two per cent of Canadians surveyed by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies say theyre not comfortable flying since a decision by some airlines to relax their own in-flight physical distancing requirements.

As of July 1, Air Canada and WestJet both ended policies blocking the sale of adjacent seats.

The measure was seen to align with a guidance document for the aviation industry issued by Transport Canada in April to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Among other things, the department had suggested passengers should be widely spaced when possible, though they did not make it mandatory.

Airlines, however, are required to make passengers and air crews wear masks.

Only 22 per cent of those surveyed said theyre comfortable getting aboard with no in-flight physical distancing and a requirement to wear masks.

Theres more to it to keep flights safe, WestJet said in a statement last week after critics attacked its plan.

What makes an airplane, and the entire journey, safe is the layers of enhanced cleaning, the wearing of masks and the hospital-grade HEPA filters that remove 99.999 per cent of all airborne particles, the airline said.

The hygiene standards we have now are world-class and backed by industry experts.

Critics have also previously pounced on the airlines for another move: refusing to fully refund tickets for flights cancelled due to the pandemic.

Thousands of people have beseeched Transport Minister Marc Garneau to compel airlines to issue refunds, but he has refused, arguing that mandating reimbursements from a sector thats lost more than 90 per cent of its revenue would cripple the industry.

But 72 per cent of those polled say they totally oppose his decision.

In lieu of refunds, the airlines have offered vouchers but the poll suggests that it may take a while before people will rebook previously cancelled trips: 85 per cent of those surveyed told pollsters they have no plans to travel outside the country by the end of the year.

The survey polled 1,517 people and cant be assigned a margin of error because online polls are not considered truly random.

Pollsters were in the field between July 3 and 5, a historically popular few days for Canadians and Americans to be on the move between the two countries, given the July 1 Canada Day holiday and the U.S.s July 4 Independence Day.

But the border remains closed to non-essential traffic, and the majority of Canadians surveyed said they feel it needs to stay that way. The current mutual closure agreement is due to expire July 21.

Of Canadians polled, 86 per cent said they totally disagreed with reopening the border at the end of July, allowing Americans back into the country.

Americans seem more eager both to head north and to welcome Canadians south; 50 per cent agreed the border should reopen and 36 per cent disagreed.

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The potential for cross-border transmission of the virus has been a key factor in the decision to keep the border closed. Currently, rates of COVID-19 infection in the U.S. continue to climb, while in Canada the curve appears to be on a downward trajectory nearly everywhere.

Still, the survey suggests Canadians dont feel they are out of the woods. Thirty-nine per cent believe the worst is yet to come, while 35 per cent believe the worst of the crisis has passed.

In the U.S., 42 per cent of those surveyed felt the darkest days are ahead, 25 per cent believe the U.S. is in the middle of the worst part now while 21 per cent think thats already passed.

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WASHINGTONFor Canadians in the U.S., its settling in that it could be a long time before they get to visit home. Even among my friends and people who love me, its like, Sorry for your loss, but we really dont want you to come home, says Michelle Stafford, originally from Toronto and now living in Virginia.

Americans are hearing much the same. The bottom line is, Canadians dont want Americans over there, says Rep. Brian Higgins, who represents Buffalo, NY residents in Congress.

Public opinion polls support that impression: in a Nanos survey reported Monday, 81 per cent of Canadians say the border should remain closed to non-essential travel for the foreseeable future. A Leger poll last month found a majority of Canadians think the current border restrictions should stay in place until at least the end of the year.

Though the restrictions are set to expire July 21, its likely theyll be extended, as they have been each month since they were introduced in March. People I spoke to in the U.S. understand why, with American coronavirus cases rising to record levels. The Washington Post reported the Trump administrations strategy is to hope Americans learn to accept tens of thousands of new cases a day.

But understanding it doesnt make it easier for many Canadians, who congregate online to commiserate about being separated from fiances, children, or ailing parents. While restrictions allow Canadians to return for certain reasons, two-week quarantine requirements mean many cannot feasibly do it.

The restrictions are also felt in border towns and cities. Forty-five per cent of people originating out of the Buffalo International Airport are from Southern Ontario. Ive see figures that 70 per cent of weekend retail activity in Buffalo and Western New York is from Southern Ontario, Rep. Higgins says, noting he and his friends grew up vacationing in Ontario towns such as Crystal Beach and Niagara on the Lake. So, yeah, theres a high, high level of frustration.

But Higgins says he explains to his constituents that the numbers are clear that Canada has reduced the spread of the virus dramatically more than the U.S. I think Canadian officials are concerned for the health and safety of their people. That, to me, is the only reason the border is not open. The work of reducing the risks that would allow loosening restrictions is up to Americans, he says.

Still, Higgins and 28 other members of the U.S. Congress have issued a letter to U.S. and Canadian border authorities calling for the two countries to develop guidelines that would govern how the border might gradually reopen. We are asking that the United States and Canada immediately craft a comprehensive framework for phased reopening of the border based on objective metrics and accounting for the varied circumstances across border regions, the letter reads.

Authorities are tight-lipped about the progress of any such negotiations.

A senior U.S. administration official speaking on background responded, We have been working with countries around the world to determine how we can safely reopen international travel while protecting the health of our citizens. We are very confident that we will figure out the best way to do this over the coming weeks.

Katherine Cuplinskas, press secretary for Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, wrote in a statement, Our absolute priority is the health and safety of Canadians. That is why we want to be clear that decisions about Canadas border are made by Canadians, for Canadians. She says conversations are ongoing, while both sides agree the current border measures have worked well in restricting non-essential travel while allowing essential crossings to continue unimpeded.

How long those measures will remain in place is anyones guess. I dont know, and anyone who thinks they know you should be skeptical of, Higgins says.

University of Toronto epidemiologist Colin Furness told CBC last week that he thinks the border restrictions could remain in place for another year or more.

It could be closed longer than that, Bill Anderson of the Cross Border Institute in Windsor says, because of the fact that in Canada, people are very, very nervous about it. But Anderson says the prospect of the virus persisting for years means its necessary for officials to start discussing ways to allow more people across the border for good economic or compassionate reasons  perhaps employing testing as a criteria for entry.

Chris Sands of the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington says he thinks theres some potential to expand existing trusted traveller programs such as Nexus to include some health information, or to introduce regional nuances into restrictions. My view is that both governments need to start communicating about the how, Sands says. That doesnt mean they have to rush to open, it just means they need to start talking to people about what it will take.

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Stafford and other Canadians in the U.S. Ive spoken to already realize the idea of going home is basically off the table for the summer, and possibly the rest of the year.

We have shifted gears, Stafford says. Rather than going month-to-month following the news for any piece of information, shes resigned to waiting. OK, its gonna be a long time. Thats actually given me a little bit more peace.
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelas government-stacked Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the takeover of opposition leader Juan Guaidos political party, the latest in a series of moves against President Nicolas Maduros critics ahead of upcoming legislative elections.

The decision removes Leopoldo Lopez, the founder of Popular Will, as the partys official leader and names in his place a lawmaker kicked out of the organization last year amid accusations hed conspired with Maduro allies.

Our fight continues on strongly, Lopez said in a series of tweets after the ruling. In spite of all the danger and to the ultimate consequences.

The decision comes less than a month after Venezuelas Supreme Court ordered the takeover of two other influential opposition parties and as Guaidos anti-Maduro movement has dipped in popularity and struggles to regain steam.

A new National Electoral Council  still tilted in Maduros favour  is pressing forward with plans to hold legislative elections in early December. The National Assembly is the only branch of government still dominated by the opposition. Many Maduro critics have indicated they will not participate, in belief the election will be rigged.

The electoral body recently released a list of the parties that will be permitted to run in the upcoming election  Popular Will not among them. The chief prosecutor, also a Maduro ally, has been urging the Supreme Court to declare the party a terrorist organization.

They want to make it quite clear that Guaido is history, said Phil Gunson, a Caracas-based analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Venezuelas opposition has floundered since drawing hundreds of thousands to the streets last year amidst widespread outrage over the oil-rich nations economic decline, mass migration and Maduros tightening grip on power.

The socialist leader was re-elected in 2018 in a vote criticized by the opposition and much of the international community as unfair. Several of the oppositions most popular leaders were barred from running. Despite Maduros low approval rating, he has managed to cling to power and protests have largely fizzled, a result of a growing sense of apathy, disillusionment with the opposition and fears of retribution.

Lopez, Guaidos political mentor, was detained in 2014 for leading anti-government protests and sentenced to nearly 14 years in jail. In 2017, he was granted permission to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. Last year, security forces adhering to an order from Guaido released Lopez, and shortly thereafter he appeared on a bridge with troops calling on the military to rise against Maduro.

The insurrection attempt failed and Lopez sought refuge in the Spanish Embassy, where he has remained for over a year since.

The government is likely to use the takeover of Popular Will and other opposition parties to provide a facade of democratic participation in the upcoming elections, Gunson said. Though the partys registration was revoked, the all-powerful constitutional Assembly could pave the way for its inclusion in the upcoming elections with the newly appointed leadership.

Seeing the traditional opposition parties on the ballot  despite being filled with Maduro-aligned minority factions  could give voters without access to information a misleading idea of whom they are actually casting a ballot for.

You may well be confused into voting for the party you always voted for, Gunson said.

The new Supreme Court-appointed leader of Popular Will is Jose Gregorio Noriega, one of several former members of the countrys mainstream opposition accused of taking bribes from Maduro allies with the aim of debilitating Guaido last year.

Noriega, who denied the bribe allegation, filed a complaint with the Supreme Court, saying his constitutional rights had been violated by being kicked out of Popular Will.

Guaido remains recognized by the U.S. and over 50 other nations as Venezuelas rightful president, though that could be called into question if he does not participate in the election and his term expires. He is a member of Popular Will, and became president of the National Assembly in part because of his party affiliation.

Lopez seemed to indicate Tuesday that he will stand against opposition participation in the upcoming December legislative vote.

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You cant fight for free elections, participating in fraudulent and farcical votes organized by those looking to silence the people, he wrote on Twitter. Our party, loyal to the fight for Venezuelas freedom, does not obey dictatorial impositions.

_

Armario reported from Bogota, Colombia.
BRUSSELS - The European Unions executive arm forecasts that the blocs economy will contract more than previously expected because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused lockdowns on business and public life that are only slowly being eased.

The 27-nation EU economy will contract by 8.3% this year, before growing 5.8% in 2021, according to the latest predictions released Tuesday by the European Commission.

The road to recovery is still paved with uncertainty, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told reporters in Brussels. This is mostly linked to the epidemiological uncertainty.

In the previous forecasts released in May, when most of the continent was still under lockdown, GDP was forecast to contract by about 7.5% this year and to bounce back by 6% next year.

The European Commission said the impact on economic activity in 2020 will be worse than expected because the lifting of lockdown measures is proceeding at a more gradual pace than assumed in our Spring forecast.

That was illustrated in separate data from Germany on Tuesday that showed industrial production rebounded in May but was far from making up for the collapse of the preceding months.

Gentiloni said that the EUs biggest challenge in the months to come will be to find the right balance between the necessity to reopen EU economies and the protection of citizens health. More than 178,000 deaths related to COVID-19 have been recorded across the continent according to the latest numbers from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

We have to live with the danger of local outbreaks that could lead to plans to re-enter local lockdowns slowing down the economic recovery, Gentiloni said.

The group of 19 EU nations that use the euro as their currency will see a record economic decline of 8.7% this year, and grow by 6.1% in 2021. In May it had forecast a 7.8% decline this year, and growth of 6.3% in 2021.

Although the EU as a whole has been hard-hit by the downturn, Gentiloni said the drop and the rebound will differ widely from one member country to another. For instance, while Polands economy is set to shrink by 4.6% this year, France, Italy and Spain are expected to experience double-digit drops.

To ensure a quick bounce back, Gentiloni urged member states to adopt as soon as possible a recovery fund aimed at pulling the EU out of the recession. EU governments leaders and heads of state will meet next week in Brussels to try to reach a compromise on the 750 billion-euro package proposed by the commission.

Backed by Germany and France, the money in the fund would be incorporated in the 2021-2027 EU budget. Two-thirds of the fund would take the form of grants to be made available to EU countries, while the rest would be made up of conditions-based loans for that governments can apply for.

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Gentiloni said the expected effects of the recovery plan have not been taken into account in the growth forecast, and that its quick implementation could help brighten the outlook.

Its important that an agreement is reached swiftly, he said. To inject new confidence and new financing into our economy in critical times.
ATHENS, Greece - Greek authorities say 25 unaccompanied migrant children are travelling from Athens to Portugal, where they will be given shelter as part of a relocation program worked out among several European Union countries.

Nearly 75,000 migrants and refugees, about a third of them children, travelled from Turkey to Greece last year, most crossing to Greek islands, adding strain on the countrys reception system.

Most children arrived with adult family members, but some 3,800 were unaccompanied, according to the Greek government.

Greece has repeatedly appealed to other EU member nations to help ease the burden on the countrys strained migrant reception system by agreeing to take in relocated minors, Germany, Luxembourg, and Finland are among the countries that have agreed to help.

Officials from Greeces Ministry of Migration Affairs and the International Organization for Migration, an organization affiliated with the United Nations, were at Athens International Airport Tuesday to see the children off to Portugal.
BAGHDAD - The killing of a prominent security analyst who had received threats from Iran-backed militias has struck fear in the hearts of outspoken Iraqis concerned that they, too, could be targeted by armed groups.

The death of Hisham al-Hashimi also highlighted the limits of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimis power to reign in armed groups acting outside the states authority, experts and Iraqi officials said Tuesday.

Iraqi mourners and relatives of al-Hashimi carried his body in a funeral procession hours after he was gunned down Monday night outside his home in Baghdads Zeyouneh neighbourhood. His casket, draped in the Iraqi flag, was taken to his family home before being driven to the burial site in the holy city of Najaf.

Al-Hashimi, a leading expert on the Islamic State group and other militant organizations, was a regular fixture on Iraqi television and his expertise was often sought by government officials, journalists and researchers.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killing, which comes weeks after he confided to close friends that he had received threats from militia groups. The slaying also coincides with a spate of rocket attacks targeting U.S. interests that has been blamed on Iran-backed armed groups.

Al-Kadhimi vowed to pursue al-Hashimis killers, saying Iraq would not sleep until they were brought to justice, during his weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

But critical voices in Iraq, especially those supporting anti-government protests and people outspoken against militia groups, are contemplating changing their online presence in the aftermath of al-Hashimis death.

Mariam, 26, an activist who participated in anti-government protests in Baghdads Tahrir Square that erupted in October, said she has stopped posting on social media for the time being.

What has shocked us is that they killed someone with Hishams connections and influence. Activists across Iraq have been killed with impunity for years, and especially during the protests, Mariam said, asking that her last name not be used for fear of retribution. With his death we are in disbelief, and we are being careful.

Al-Hashimis assassination was a message meant to silence critics, said Ruba Ali al-Hassani, an academic researcher at York Universitys Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

Analysts are being targeted not because of who they are but because of what they represent and what their voices represent, she said. Al-Hassani co-manages the Iraqi Network for Social Media, a network of bloggers that tracks social media at the height of the Iraq protests.

Al-Hassani said Iraqi activists in Baghdad and the countrys south, where mass protests were held in October, are being more careful with their online presence.

They are saying, we have to watch our words now, we cant say everything online, she said.

Al-Hashimi had received threats from Islamic State group militants. But close friends said he had been growing concerned about threats coming from Iran-aligned groups after being a vocal proponent of the protest movement in October. At the time, top leaders of the Popular Mobilization Forces said they could not help him ward off the threats. The PMF is a state umbrella group comprised of an array of militia groups, including Iran-backed ones.

This prompted al-Hashimi to relocate to Turkey temporarily with his family late last year. He returned in January, and as threats abated, he resumed making frequent media appearances in which he openly critcized militia groups.

Then, the menacing messages returned right as a government-imposed lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic shut down international airports.

During that time, close friends said, al-Hashimi never considered his life was in danger. He thought they just wanted to silence him, said Iraqi analyst Sajad Jiyad, a close friend.

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Authorities launched a raid last week in Baghdad, in which they detained 14 members of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah group, suspected of orchestrating the attacks targeting U.S. interests. All but one of the detainees were released days later in what was widely seen as a capitulation by the government.

Whether his government can bring al-Hashimis killers to court will be a big test for al-Kadhimis credibility, said Iraq analyst Fanar Haddad.

Hours after al-Hashimis killing, authorities fired the top police officer for Zeyouneh and launched an investigation into his activities, according to an order from the prime ministers office, seen by The Associated Press.
BEIRUT - Lebanese are buying candles in bulk, turning to traditional kerosene lamps and throwing away rotten food because of prolonged power cuts that plunged the country into darkness this week, adding to the gloom of a deepening economic crisis.

The countrys electricity company and the powerful operators of generators had been rationing power since late June as fuel supplies dwindle amid uncertainty over the next shipment.

At home I can live with the candle, but in my clinic what can I do? said Salim Abi Saleh, a gynecologist and the head of the physicians union in the northern city of Tripoli.

Lebanon has been shaken by a severe economic and financial crisis, made worse in recent months by the coronavirus and lockdown restrictions. The financial crisis features a collapse of the local currency, which lost more than 80% of its value, and severe shortage of dollars  dramatically impacting the countrys ability to import basic goods.

Fuel imports are subsidized, but lack of foreign currency was making it harder to secure resources. Government officials have promised new fuel shipments, including one due to arrive Tuesday.

But residents in parts of Lebanon reported nearly 20 hours of power cuts since last week. Some main streets have been lit only by commercial billboards, while others were left in pitch black. Flickering lights from candles were seen from windows, and Beiruts bustling nightlife has been cut short because of power outage and a dire economic crisis.

In a worrying development, private hospitals in Lebanon on Tuesday said that they would reduce operations to emergency procedures, including kidney dialysis and cancer patients, because of dwindling resources, including fuel.

A day before, Lebanons main hospital treating coronavirus patients, Rafik Hariri University hospital, said it was turning off air conditioning units in its administrative area and in certain corridors to reduce power use and ensure patients remain a priority. The hospital said it was operating at 85% capacity.

The summer months in Beirut are known for high levels of humidity, so no electricity meant more people were sleeping on balconies and cool floors.

People have stocked up on candles, buying in bulk. Some artisans told local media there is a rush on buying traditional kerosene lamps.

Lebanon has for decades struggled with power cuts and a huge public debt for the national electricity company that racks up a deficit of nearly $2 billion a year. The countrys electricity infrastructure has been in shambles since the end of the 15-year civil war and conflict with Israel.

Lebanon has largely relied on fuel shipped in on floating boats from neighbouring countries and imported diesel for the powerful generators cartel that provides for the incomplete national grid.

But the rationing has been so severe that residents reported only a couple of hours of electricity per day in some neighbourhoods. Generator providers shut down their machines to ration existing fuel.

There is no electricity. And the generator runs for two hours and then cuts for an hour. We have to throw out half of our products, said Rabie al-Kardali, owner of a traditional beans and Hummus restaurant.

Saleh, the gynecologist said he stored fuel that could last him for days, a habit learned from days of power cuts during the civil war that ended in 1990. We are now living week by week but how long can that last?

Government officials are marred in corrupt fuel deals and a much-coveted reform of the electricity sector has been evasive.

Meanwhile, generator providers have hiked their prices while some of the fuel was smuggle into Syria because it is more lucrative there.

Lebanons electricity policy has been inefficient and ineffective for decades  always on the brink of collapse, but staying afloat with last minute patchwork solutions, said Kareem Chehayeb, a Lebanese journalist and Nonresident Fellow at Washington-based Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

The economic crisis has made fuel imports more expensive causing a shortage, with external generator providers hiking their prices or seeking business in neighbouring Syria, he said. It is a wake-up call to decades of overspending and poor planning of a basic public service.

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Normally, Lebanons electricity company can provide no more than two-thirds of the summer power demand. Lebanons dire economic meltdown is rooted in decades of systemic corruption and mismanagement by Lebanons ruling elite, who critics say refuse to reform despite an uprising that erupted last October.

____

Associated Press writer Fadi Tawil contributed to this report.
ATLANTA - The mayor of Atlanta said Tuesday that she doesnt agree with the Georgia governors order to mobilize the National Guard in her city as a surge in violence became a political talking point.

Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency on Monday and authorized activation of up to 1,000 Guard troops after a weekend of gun violence in Atlanta left five people dead, including Secoriea Turner, an 8-year-old girl.

Police on Tuesday released a short video of an armed man who they described as a person of interest in the girls shooting. Atlanta Police Lt. Pete Malecki said the video comes from a surveillance camera near where Secoriea was shot while riding in the back seat of an SUV. The reward for information in the case was doubled to $20,000.

Kemps office said troops will provide support at sites such as the Capitol, governors mansion and the state Department of Public Safety headquarters  damaged by a group early Sunday  freeing state law enforcement to patrol other areas of the city.

Some National Guard troops guarded those sites Monday night, but there was no visible presence by mid-morning Tuesday.

Peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous, destructive agenda. Now, innocent Georgians are being targeted, shot, and left for dead, the Republican governor said.

But Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Kemp issued his order without asking if the city needed help. The city had already been co-ordinating with the Georgia State Patrol, and at no time was it mentioned that anyone felt there was a need for the National Guard to come in, she said on ABCs Good Morning America.

Maj. Gen. Tom Carden, who oversees the Georgia National Guard, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that troops stood guard at the three sites Monday night and will return Tuesday night. He said the first night was peaceful.

Carden declined to say how many troops were deployed, citing safety concerns. There were four Humvees with 10 to 12 armed troops outside the Georgia state capitol Tuesday evening.

Secoriea Turner was riding with her mother and another adult Saturday night near a Wendys that was burned after a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, was fatally shot by a white police officer in the restaurant parking lot last month. When the SUV Secoriea was in tried to enter a parking lot, they were confronted by a group of armed individuals blocking the entrance, police said. The girls mother, Charmaine Turner, said shots were fired and Secoriea was hit before they could make a U-turn.

The video released Tuesday shows a Black man in a white shirt and dark pants carrying an AR-15 rifle with a tan stock and grip.

Im going to ask, Im going to plead, for the assistance of the public in helping us get a person of interest identified in the case, Malecki told reporters. Im confident that somebody, somebody knows the name of this male.

Malecki said police believe numerous armed individuals were present at the barricade on University Avenue and that at least four people may have participated in the shooting. He said police believe at least eight gunshots were fired into the Jeep after Turner tried to drive across the barricade.

The fast food outlet was burned the night after Brooks death, and the site had become a focus of frequent demonstrations against police brutality. At least intermittently, armed people had manned a barricade on the street in front of the Wendys.

Police had removed barricades at least once before, but one journalist was assaulted near the site and gunmen threatened or turned back other people. Atlanta police helped sanitation crews clear the area Monday, despite some protesters who said they were not part of the violence.

Nikema Williams, a state senator and chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, called Kemps decision reckless. Critics of such mobilizations have said that deploying troops on city streets could provoke more violence.

His choice to deploy National Guard troops for todays selfish purpose is outrageous and will endanger lives, she said in a statement.

But Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia said Tuesday he agreed with the governors decision, and said lawless areas must not be allowed to exist in Atlanta or any other American city.

After what we saw this past weekend, I think it was the right move, said Collins, who is running for U.S. Senate.

Over the holiday period from Friday through Sunday, 31 people were shot in 11 different incidents, Atlanta police said.

When asked about the surge in violence, the mayor said she thinks people are anxious and frustrated about the coronavirus pandemic and high-profile cases of police brutality.

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I think its just a perfect storm of distress in America, said Bottoms, who learned Monday that she, her husband and one of their four children have tested positive for COVID-19.

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Amy and Jeff Martin and photographer John Bazemore contributed to this story.
Markley also joined forces with development partner Larry Masi, but Markley said he walked away for reasons he declined to discuss. Masi also declined to comment on the project Monday. Federal court records show Masis Dominion Development Group sued an investment banker involved in securing funding for the project, accusing her of improper conduct. The case ended with an undisclosed settlement, records show.
Bob Rae, Canadas next ambassador to the United Nations, had much to say about defeat when he spoke to the media on Monday.

It isnt everyone who would be reflecting on loss when gaining an important new job on the world stage.

But this is Raes fortune and forte. The former premier of Ontario, also the former interim leader of the Liberal party, has once again arrived in a role for which he is perfectly suited, at a less-than-perfect moment in history.

Rae comes to the job of UN ambassador in the shadow of Canadas unsuccessful bid for a seat on the security council. But he says he is determined nonetheless to keep Canada and the UN at the forefront of an uncertain global future.

We cant stop the world and try to get off, Rae said at the press conference. You dont take every defeat as a personal rejectionTheres no way we can pull away at this point. This will be the worst possible time for us to reduce in any way our commitments to international institutions.

Rae spoke of how the Liberal party had been down and out when he joined it in the mid-2000s, and written off for dead when he became interim leader in 2011.

Neither victory nor defeat are permanent, he said.

This is something that Rae also learned in his more distant past as the first and last New Democratic Party premier of Ontario in the 1990s  in the midst of a recession.

I do bear the bruises of my political past, he said. Failure is perhaps an event, but its not a person.

Beyond leadership of the Liberal party and the ups and downs of the political fates, Rae now has something else in common with Justin Trudeau, the man who appointed him to the UN post on Monday.

Both now are doing jobs that their fathers did before them. Raes father, Saul Rae, served as ambassador to the United Nations in the 1970s, when Pierre Trudeau was prime minister.

For me to be able to work in the same place as my father, and to be able to have his picture in my office, Rae said, is a wonderful moment for me.

Many long-time Liberals were heartened by the Rae appointment, seeing it as a welcome sign of Trudeau building bridges with the elders of experience.

After all, its more than Rae-Trudeau history that is thrown into the spotlight by this new appointment  it is also Liberal family history. A prime minister with a marked ambivalence to Liberal leaders of the past has accorded a rare recognition to one who came before him.

Rae, as Trudeaus immediate predecessor, had been widely expected to be appointed to some senior statesmans role immediately after the Liberals took power in 2015. Had Trudeau not run for leader in 2013, in fact, Rae may well have stuck around to try to turn his interim job into a permanent one. Instead, he graciously stepped away; a gesture that argued for some recognition in the eyes of many Liberals.

But the relationship between these two men has been a more slowly developing one. In 2017, Trudeau appointed Rae as a special envoy to Myanmar, to report on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in that country and Bangladesh. Rae delivered that report in 2018, and receded again to the sidelines, as an observer and pundit (he has been doing a podcast recently called Political Stripes.) More and more, though, he has also been offering quiet advice to the prime minister too.

Earlier this year, after the air crash in Ukraine that killed so many Canadians, Trudeau looked to Rae for advice because of his earlier work heading an inquiry into the 1985 Air India disaster. Rae was credited for impressing upon Trudeau the need to stay in close touch with the families of the crash victims in Ukraine; to make sure the nation grieved with them.

The two men have used their public pulpits to talk about mental illness  Trudeau with his mothers experience; Rae with his own depression.

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They are very different types of politicians, whose careers have followed very different routes, but they have clearly found a rapport that resulted in Raes appointment to the UN.

In the past year, Trudeau has seen quite a bit of loss  a majority government reduced to a minority; the loss at the UN Security Council; and of course, theres all the loss, both human and economic, piling up as the pandemic wears on.

Trudeaus new appointee to the UN is someone who understands defeat; who has thought about it deeply and how to come out better from it. The reflections he shared at his Monday news conference on that subject may well have won him that job, and the trust of the PM.

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

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New Jersey is now calling for travelers arriving from 19 other states to self-quarantine for 14 days to help prevent the coronavirus from spreading here.

The Garden State teamed up with two neighbors, Connecticut and New York, last month to announce a joint advisory calling for travelers from COVID-19 hotspots to voluntarily isolate themselves. That applies not just to out-of-state vacationers but residents who are returning home from a trip.

On Tuesday, the advisory expanded to include travelers from three more states: Delaware, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

The full list of states that qualify for quarantine:

Alabama

Arkansas

Arizona

California

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Iowa

Idaho

Kansas

Louisiana

Oklahoma

Mississippi

North Carolina

Nevada

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Thats 38% of the United States.

The advisory applies to anyone arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

Travelers and residents returning from those states should self-quarantine at their home, hotel, or other temporary lodging and should leave only to see medical care or obtain food and other essential items, officials say.

Delaware being added Tuesday is notable because numerous people travel back and forth between that state and New Jersey for work each day. They are exempt but are encouraged to work from home if possible.

If they cannot, then they should follow guidance re: self-monitoring for symptoms and should take precautions in the workplace, Alexandra Altman, a spokeswoman for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphys office, told NJ Advance Media.

People traveling for business in general  including truck drivers and government officials  are exempt from the advisory. But officials encourage people to postpone travel if possible.

Though self-quarantining is voluntary, officials say compliance is expected. Its unclear if anyone would face a penalty for not complying.

Tuesdays additions come a day after officials said New Jersey reported an alarming uptick in the its coronavirus rate of transmission.

Murphy said Monday the states transmission rate has exceeded the key mark of 1 for the first time in 10 days  meaning, on average, every newly infected resident is now passing COVID-19 to at least one other person. And the rate has now increased from 1.03 to 1.05, Murphys office told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday.

Officials said part of the reason is travelers bringing the virus from other states, in addition to the reopening of more indoor activity as New Jersey gradually lifts months of lockdown orders.

In order to responsibly continue down our road back to restart and recovery, we must remain vigilant in our collective effort to beat the virus and reduce the rate of transmission, Murphy said in a statement Tuesday. I urge those arriving from one of these 19 states to self-quarantine and get a COVID-19 test to prevent additional flareups across the state and ensure the health and safety of their fellow New Jerseyans.

People who need help finding a place to quarantine should contact the local health department, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichelli said Monday.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

New Jersey, a densely populated state of 9 million residents, has reported 15,281 known deaths attributed to COVID-19  13,425 lab-confirmed and 1,856 probable  with 173,878 known cases in a little more than four months since the states first case was announced March 4.

Officials on Tuesday reported 52 new deaths related to the virus and 310 new cases.

Once a coronavirus hotspot, New Jersey has seen its daily figures drop dramatically since peaking in April and remain relatively steady in recent weeks as cases surge in other states.

But with the state of transmission on the rise, Murphy said Monday that he was pumping the brakes on taking further steps to gradually reopen the state from lockdown restrictions.

He also said the state is considering making face coverings mandatory not just indoors but also outdoors when people are in public and its difficult to practice social distancing.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.
As a key indicator of the contagion inches upward, New Jersey is now calling for travelers from three more states  including neighboring Delaware  to help prevent the coronavirus from spreading by self-quarantining for 14 days after arriving.

Kansas and Oklahoma are the other additions, Gov. Phil Murphys administration announced Tuesday.

New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York teamed up last month to announce a joint advisory calling for travelers arriving from states with surging COVID-19 cases to voluntarily isolate themselves for two weeks. That includes not only visitors but residents who traveled to those states and are now returning home.

Murphy, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday three new states have qualified for quarantine. The list has now grown to include 19 states  or 38% of the U.S.

They are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.

Of course, numerous people travel back and forth between New Jersey and Delaware for work each day. They are exempt but are encouraged to work from home if possible.

If they cannot, then they should follow guidance regarding self-monitoring for symptoms and should take precautions in the workplace, Alexandra Altman, a spokeswoman for Murphys office, told NJ Advance Media.

The move comes a day after New Jersey reported an increase in its rate of coronavirus transmission.

Murphy said Monday the rate eclipsed the key mark of 1 for the first time in 10 weeks  meaning, on average, every newly infected resident is now passing COVID-19 to at least one other person. And the rate has now increased from 1.03 to 1.05, Murphys office told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday.

Officials said part of the reason is infected people arriving from coronavirus hotspots, in addition to the reopening of more indoor activity as New Jersey gradually lifts months of lockdown orders.

Murphy warned Monday that New Jerseys contact tracers have found outbreaks directly tied to travel to other COVID-19 hot spots nationwide. He pointed to 13 new cases in Hoboken, 12 of which were related to travel hot spots. He also noted several other new cases tied to people from Sussex and Warren counties who traveled to a wedding in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina last month.

In order to responsibly continue down our road back to restart and recovery, we must remain vigilant in our collective effort to beat the virus and reduce the rate of transmission, Murphy said in a statement Tuesday. I urge those arriving from one of these 19 states to self-quarantine and get a COVID-19 test to prevent additional flareups across the state and ensure the health and safety of their fellow New Jerseyans.

The quarantine applies to anyone arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

Travelers and residents returning from those states should self-quarantine at their home, hotel, or other temporary lodging and should leave only to see medical care or obtain food and other essential items, officials say.

People traveling for business  including truck drivers and government officials  are exempted from the advisory. But officials say people should still considering postponing that travel.

Though self-quarantining is voluntary, officials say compliance is expected. Its unclear if anyone would face a penalty for not complying.

Those who need help finding a place to quarantine should contact the local health department, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichelli said Monday.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

New Jersey, a densely populated state of 9 million residents, has reported 15,229 known deaths attributed to COVID-19  13,373 lab-confirmed and 1,856 probable  with 173,611 known cases in a little more than four months since the states first case was announced March 4.

Officials on Monday reported 20 new deaths related to the virus and 216 new cases.

Once a coronavirus hotspot, New Jersey has seen its daily figures drop dramatically since peaking in April and remain relatively steady in recent weeks as cases surge in other states.

But with the state of transmission on the rise, Murphy said Monday that he was pumping the brakes on taking further steps to gradually reopen the state from lockdown restrictions.

He also said the state is considering making face coverings mandatory not just indoors but also outdoors when people are in public and its difficult to practice social distancing.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.
UPDATE: (12:55 p.m.): DeSean Jackson and the NFL have both released statements regarding the wide receivers social media posts.

UPDATE (11:55 a.m.): The Eagles have released a statement saying they are disappointed in DeSean Jacksons social media posts and will continue to evaluate the situation.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE STATEMENTS

A former Eagles president says DeSean Jacksons roster spot should be in jeopardy after the wide receiver posted social media messages with quotes attributed to anti-Semites Louis Farrakhan and Adolf Hitler over the holiday weekend.

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Jackson posted multiple Instagram stories on Sunday, quoting Farrakhan, who delivered a three-hour Fourth of July speech on YouTube on Saturday, according to Crossing Broad. One of the posts contained a quote that Farrakhan attributed to Hitler, despite the dubious origin of the actual passage.

The post featured anti-Semitic rhetoric that accused Jews of trying to blackmail America.

Former Eagles president Joe Banner, who is Jewish, says Jackson should face consequences for his offensive social media post.

If a white player said anything about (African Americans) as outrageous as what DeSean Jackson said about Jews tonight there would at least be a serious conversation about cutting him and a need for a team meeting to discuss, Banner said in a tweet. Which would be totally appropriate. Absolutely indefensible.

If a white player said anything about AAs as outrageous as what Desean Jackson said about Jews tonight there would at least be a serious conversation about cutting him and a need for a team meeting to discuss. Which would be totally appropriate. Absolutely indefensible.  Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) July 7, 2020

Jackson shared the Hitler-attributed quote again on Monday with an updated message claiming that he has no hatred in my heart. The wide receiver also claimed he was misunderstood, despite again quoting the former Nazi party leader.

Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way, Jackson said in the follow-up Instagram post.

Instead of apologizing for the quote, Jackson further summarized his points by highlighting a specific paragraph from the passage.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson readdresses his controversial Instagram posts that used quotes attributed to Adolf Hitler.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson elaborates on his social media posts with anti-Semitic quotes.

Instead of denouncing the hateful rhetoric in the passages attributed to Hitler by Farrakhan, who has compared Jewish people to termites in the past, Jackson seemingly doubled down on backing the Nation of Islam leader. Jackson even called Farrakhan powerful in one of his posts.

Like Banner, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman are both Jewish. The Eagles typically keep an open dialogue with players regarding social issues, and Jacksons posts quoting Hitler will most likely be addressed internally, as Banner suggests.

Jackson was among the Eagles players who spoke to the team in May about social and racial injustice during the groups open forum at the start of the virtual offseason program.

NJ Advance Media reached out to the Eagles for comment late Monday night but has yet to hear back from the organization.

Get Eagles text messages from reporters: Cut through the clutter of social media and text directly with the Eagles beat writers. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now for a free trial.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Mike Kaye may be reached at mkaye@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
Jersey City Black community leaders are calling for the firing of the city police officer they say used excessive force with a baton during a chaotic fight on Bostwick Avenue that included the use of pepper spray by responding officers.

At a press conference on Bostwick Avenue Monday, Lincoln High School Principal Chris Gadsden and activists Pamela Johnson, Frank Gilmore and Nevin Perkins are also demanding an apology from the city to the Black community over the response to the May 5 incident, which ended with five people being arrested.

The group says Police Officer Bryant Rowan, who is seen in both the police body camera footage and independent videos recorded that day striking two people with his baton, used excessive force and should be fired.

We want the officer Officer Bryant Rowan Jr. to be fired or to be taken off the Jersey City Police force because of the excessive use of force on May 5, Gadsden said. We ask that Mayor Fulop, Director Shea and Chief Kelly give an apology to the black community here in Jersey City because of the narrative that they put out on that day.

The incident is being investigated by the Hudson County Prosecutors Office. No officers have been charged.

The demands come at a time when people across the country are calling for police to be better trained in de-escalating explosive situations to avoid unnecessary confrontations and tragedies. Last month city officials said it would spend $1 million on de-escalation training for all officers.

Last week the Hudson County Prosecutors Office released footage from 23 police body cameras that show how the violent scene played out. City officials say after police responded to the dispute in the street a man attempted to grab a police officers gun.

Monday afternoon city officials released a slow-motion 4-second clip from one of the body cameras that show a man lunging toward a police officers gun. In the video, the officer reacts and the man jumps back before police chase him down Bostwick Avenue and the situation escalates.

Independent video taken that day and posted on social media focused on the events that occurred after the man allegedly reached for the gun. Those videos show the same man being apprehended on a sidewalk down the block, and three or four people attacking the police officer trying to make the arrest.

The tapes we seen were beyond disturbing, Gilmore said. The mayor, the police chief and the public safety director at best flat out lied you can clearly see the action in the video of the young man pushing the officer.

In the footage released Thursday in response to an Open Public Records Act request by The Jersey Journal, 10 officers are seen attempting to pin several people on the ground. The police deployed pepper spray and one officer, identified as Rowan, can be seen striking a man repeatedly with a baton. Men and women can be heard screaming.City Spokesperson Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said administration has a record of disciplining and firing officers who use unnecessary force.

In this situation however, the facts are that several officers were assaulted by the public as verified by both the body cameras and independent video, Wallace-Scalcione said. Furthermore, an attempt by an individual to remove an officers handgun is also captured on video.

It is unfortunate that Chris Gadsen would like to exploit this situation with misinformation for personal gain and politicize violence against police officers.

After watching the 4-second clip released by the city, Gadsden said it shows the man did not grab his weapon, but pushed the officer and ran.

You have no documentation at all, he said. Whatever you saw, you did not see someone pull a weapon from an officers belt. It is sad they are going to defend that narrative.
CAIRO (AP)  An American medical student detained without trial in an Egyptian prison for nearly 500 days has been freed and returned to the United States, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.

The release of Mohamed Amashah, a dual Egyptian-American citizen from Jersey City, New Jersey, followed months of pressure from the Trump administration, according to the Freedom Initiative group, which advocated on his behalf.

"We welcome the release of U.S. citizen Mohamed Amashah from Egyptian custody, and thank Egypt for its cooperation in his repatriation," the State Department said.

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, said he'd personally raised the issue of "unjustly detained Americans" with Egypt's foreign ministry last week.

Like thousands of political prisoners in Egypt, Amashah, 24, had been held in pre-trial detention on charges of "misusing social media" and "aiding a terrorist group," according to the Freedom Initiative. Under broad counterterrorism laws, state prosecutors have used these vague charges to renew 15-day pretrial detention periods for months or years, often with little evidence.

In March of last year, Amashah stood alone in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring uprising, holding an Arabic sign that read: "Freedom for all the political prisoners."

He was swiftly arrested and sent to Cairo's notorious Tora prison complex, where he remained for 16 months. Before boarding a flight home late Sunday, he relinquished his Egyptian citizenship as a condition of his release.

Protesting has been illegal under Egyptian law since 2013, when President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, as defense minister, led the military's ouster Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, amid mass protests against his rule.

Over the years, el-Sissi has moved to quash dissent, silencing critics and jailing thousands.

In March, as the coronavirus spread in Egypt and raised the specter of unchecked contagion in the country's crowded prisons, Amashah and fellow inmates began a hunger strike to protest their unjust imprisonment, the Freedom Initiative said.

Amashah suffers from asthma and an autoimmune disease, making him particularly vulnerable to the virus. His deteriorating health stoked fear in Washington that he could end up like Mustafa Kassem, an auto parts dealer from New York whose recent death after a hunger strike in the same prison sent a chill through Egyptian-U.S. relations.

"No one wanted to take the risk of another Kassem," said Mohamed Soltan, founder of the Freedom Initiative.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators asked that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urge foreign governments to release Americans detainees, including Amashah, citing the risk posed by the pandemic.

"His case is welcomed progress and a step forward in the right direction," the Freedom Initiative said in a statement.

This spring, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights appealed for the release of pre-trial detainees in Egypt to save them from a possible viral outbreak.

Egypts prisons, estimated to hold 114,000 people, are overcrowded, unsanitary and suffer from a lack of resources, the human rights office said, adding that detainees are routinely denied access to critical medical care and treatment.
Jersey City officials and city activists are divided over body camera footage from the May 5 brawl on Bostwick Avenue.

The melee, which ended with police using pepper spray and batons, has led to calls for more police oversight  a sentiment that has been amplified after protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Last week, Jersey City released body camera footage of the incident.

But the shaky video provided little clarity, with city officials and activists divided over what they showed.

Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said the facts are that several officers were assaulted by the public as verified by both the body cameras and independent video.

In the footage above, at around the 52-second mark, the camera captures a seconds-long glimpse of an altercation between a police officer and a man. Wallace-Scalcione said the clip shows an attempt by an individual to remove an officers handgun.

But Jersey City activists disagree with that interpretation. Frank Educational Gilmore, who viewed the body camera video last week, said the footage does not show what Jersey City believes it does.

At best you can make the argument that he assaulted the officer, Gilmore said. (The) new narrative is these officers need better training. That new narrative has to be this officer got to go.

Activists are calling on the city to fire officer Bryant Rowan, who can be seen in separate body camera footage striking a man repeatedly with a baton.

But city officials have said that the attempt to grab an officers gun means that officers, including Rowan, were justified in their actions.

The Hudson County Prosecutors Office is investigating the incident.
I was never a fan of Tom Whelan when he was mayor of Jersey City, and he didnt like me either.

Shortly after election, he appointed people to what he called Mayors Advisory Council and I was among them. Dr. Arthur Wilson, a podiatrist with an office in Journal Square was elected chairman, and I was vice chair.

With the eagerness and naivete of youth, I thought we were really supposed to give advice to the mayor. Dr. Wilson knew better. During one, uh, difference of opinion, Whelan shouted at me, They said I had to listen to women. I have a wife and two sisters, what do I need you for?

So you know where I stood.

Nevertheless, we were occasionally cordial, and when I was elected president of New Jerseys 120 Junior Womans Clubs, he offered $1,000 as a prize for whichever club had the best civic project each year.

I accepted gladly but then had to decide what to call it. Despite gratitude for the gift, I still didnt admire him and certainly wasnt going to name it the Thomas J. Whelan award.

I asked a few friends, including Warren Murphy, former Jersey Journal reporter, PR director for the mayor, and later an acclaimed author. After thinking for a while, he suggested we name it for Woodrow Wilson. I asked why, and he said, Well, hes from New Jersey, hes famous, and since hes dead hes not likely to get indicted for anything and embarrass you.

Seemed like a good idea at the time. Not now, however. Now even Wilson is in trouble.

Princeton University just took his name off a building and a policy program and Governor Murphy scrapped his desk, the one thats been used by the states top executive since the 20s, to make a point. I know Wilson is deeply unpopular these days because he promoted segregation, and I support removal of his name from the university, but I dont know what good it will do to toss the mans desk out. It wont change a thing and sometimes a desk is only a desk.

Robert Byrne, until recently the City Clerk in Jersey City, was always kinda proud of Mayor Frank Hagues desk. You know, the famous one with the drawer that could slide out in front of someone asking for a favor, and then slide back so Hague could ever-so-innocently retrieve anything he found without ever having seen how stuff got there.

No one thought continuous use of that desk somehow implied approval of Hagues actions or that discarding it would change history.

We can change what needs to be changed, what makes a difference. Any of us, all of us. But not by merely changing furniture.

We must change our attitudes and our behavior.

Maybe Im still a little naive, but I do believe most of us have the right attitude. We live and let live, hating no one despite being a little uncomfortable around people who dont look, talk and dress like us. So its not our attitude thats the real problem.

Its our actions.

Remember all those teachers, preachers and doctors who said, Smile and youll feel better. They were generally right. Act like youre happy and you get a little happier.

Put that into use with your interactions with people. Smile at people and youll both feel better. Look for opportunities to help, not provocations to fight. Act like everyone is your good neighbor, and they probably will become so.

Forget the furniture, its people who can, should, and must change the world.

A former assemblywoman from Jersey City, Joan Quigley is the president and CEO of North Hudson Community Action Corp.

Send letters to the editor and guest columns for The Jersey Journal to jjletters@jjournal.com.
BALTIMORE (AP)  Two New Jersey men have been charged in Maryland with participating in a bank fraud scheme that led to more than $10 million in losses from hundreds of credit and debit card transactions, authorities said Monday.

Federal prosecutors in Baltimore said the fraud involved 76 businesses, including two associated with Dogar Singh, 67, of Carteret, New Jersey; and Rehan Afridi, 36, of West Deptford, New Jersey.

Singh and Afridi were charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a criminal complaint that was unsealed when they made their initial court appearances on Monday in New Jersey. U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois Goodman agreed to release them while they await trial. Singh and Afridi are scheduled to make their initial court appearances in Maryland on July 15. Federal onine court records dont list an attorney for either man.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

BBQ Tonite and Al Madina Kabob, two restaurants associated with Singh and Afridi, are among dozens of businesses in Maryland, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and Virginia linked to the scheme to make debit and credit card transactions, according to a news release. Prosecutors said the loss associated with Al Madina Kabob alone is approximately $470,000.

Last year, prosecutors said, Singh and Afridi opened bank accounts that received $776,900 in deposits from Al Madina Kabob that the bank ultimately rejected as fraudulent. But the two men withdrew or transferred approximately $232,000 before the funds were returned, according to prosecutors.
As transit systems added more service Monday morning as coronavirus restrictions are lifted, rules requiring face covering on trains buses and in stations on metro area transit systems arent being obeyed by everyone.

Even Gov. Phil Murphy, who signed an executive order on April 13 requiring passengers to wear masks, seemed to be caught off guard, when a reporter asked him if he saw photos of maskless passengers on NJ Transit.
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].
Strong thunderstorms packing heavy rain and large hail swept across New Jersey Monday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a series of flash flood warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings.

The entire state was under a severe thunderstorm watch until 11 p.m. Monday night, with lightning possible scattered wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour in some areas.

The heaviest hit parts of the state were Atlantic County, southwestern Burlington County and parts of Morris County, where rainfall totals were between 2 and 3 inches and there were reports of stranded vehicles, said Trent Davis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

Heavy rain inundated roads across the state, turning them into mini-rivers.

Video posted to social media showed flooded residential streets in Morristown, Morris County and Clifton, Passaic County, as well as part of Route 287 in North Jersey. Davis said part of the Philadelphia metro area was under a flash flood emergency, with a number of water rescues reported.

Street flooding in Clifton, NJ. During todays rain showers, 7-6-2020. pic.twitter.com/xPoOj1tbWs  dee m (@IamDee78) July 6, 2020

Its a good way to see how we tell people not to drive in flooded roadways. Yesterday was a pretty good example of that. We dont want you to be added to the statistics of water rescues, Davis said.

There were also reports of ping-pong-ball sized hail in Hamilton Township, Mercer County and Toms River, Ocean County. Parts of Middlesex County, particularly Edison, were hardest hit by hail. Hail of that size in the summer is unusual due to the warm weather, Davis said.

It tends to be harder to get large hail for us in the middle of summer because its so much warmer. It tends to be more (common) in the early to late spring when the atmosphere lower to the ground hasnt warmed up as much. We can usually see hail in the summer, but that size is pretty impressive, Davis said.

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The state has suspended the certification of a homemaker-home health aide who was arrested in May for allegedly inappropriately touching an 84-year-old patient at the Ocean County assisted living facility where he worked, the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office said Tuesday.

Michael A. Donaldson, 32, of Manchester, was charged with aggravated criminal sexual contact after his employer, Sunrise Senior Living in Jackson, told police that another employee caught Edwards placing his hand under the shirt of a woman who suffers from dementia, authorities said.

He had already been fired by the Jackson facility, but late last month, the New Jersey State Board of Nursing filed an order stating Donaldson voluntarily agreed to a temporary suspension of his certification, the attorney generals office said.

Its an egregious abuse of trust when any licensee sexually preys on a patient or client, but it is especially heinous when the victim is an elderly individual under their care, said Attorney General Gubrir Grewal. The actions announced today underscore both the need for our professional boards to remain vigilant in protecting vulnerable patients, as well as the importance of the review they are presently undertaking to better protect victims and hold licensees accountable for their actions.

The State Board of Nursing has also filed orders against eight other CHHAs charged with crimes since January, the attorney generals office said.

The attorney generals office has directed the state Division of Consumer Affairs to review how its 51 professional boards address allegations involving the sexual misconduct and abuse of licensees. The professional boards oversee 720,000 active licensed professionals across New Jersey.

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Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo.
Six lawsuits alleging former employees at a prestigious Morris County Catholic school sexually abused minors were filed Tuesday and more than a dozen additional lawsuits will be added in the coming weeks, an attorney representing the victims said.

The lawsuits, filed against Delbarton School, an all-boys school in Morristown, St. Marys Abbey and the order that runs the school, St. Benedicts of New Jersey, allege that minors dating back to the 1960s were sexually abused by former employees of the school. The suits were filed in state Superior Court in Morris County.

Greg Gianforcaro, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the new cases, said he expects additional lawsuits to be filed soon.

The Delbarton School has been the subject of a number of lawsuits in recent years by former students who allege they were sexually abused by clerics at the school. Gianforcaro said he has settled at least 15 cases on behalf of sexual abuse survivors against the Delbarton School since 2004.

This institution cared more about their reputation than they did about the students in the school, Gianforcaro said about the number of cases filed against the school.

The number of lawsuits filed against the Delbarton School and the order that runs it is expected to increase as a result of the New Jersey Child Sexual Abuse Act, which went into effect last December and vastly expanded the statue of limitations for victims to sue their alleged abusers and the institutions tasked with supervising them.

Tuesdays lawsuits were able to be filed because of the new law, Gianforcaro said.

The lawsuits name Timothy Brennan, Justin Capato, Donal Fox, Benedict Worry and Malachy Robert Flavin, who were monks of the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey, as well as Giacomo Pagano, a former lay teacher at the school.

In a letter to the Delbarton school community this week, Abbot Richard Cronin, the president of the Delbarton School, and Father Michael Tidd, the headmaster, said all six men have been accused in previous cases.

Brennan, who died last year, was the subject of at least nine lawsuits in recent years alleging he sexually abused children, according to previous reporting by NJ Advance Media.

In the new lawsuit, Brennan is accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old student at the Delbarton School from about 1984 to 1985.

Gianforcaro said another troubling revelation is that Worry, who is accused of sexually abusing a minor from about 1978 to 1979, continues to live on campus. Worry was named in a lawsuit in 2015 that eventually settled, according to online court records.

It shows there is a callous disregard for the safety of students, Gianforcaro said.

A spokesman for the Delbarton School confirmed to NJ Advance Media that Worry lives on the Morris Township campus with restrictions on his travel and has no student contact.

These accusations all date back several decades and name individuals who St. Marys Abbey/Delbarton School previously reported to the prosecutors office and were publicized in the media, the spokesman said in a statement. Because these cases are now involved in litigation, St. Marys Abbey/Delbarton School cannot comment further.

The other clerics accused in the lawsuits filed Tuesday  Fox, Capato and Flavin  are accused of sexually abusing minors in the 1980s, according to the lawsuits. Pagano, the lay teacher, is accused of sexual abuse of a minor from 1968 to 1969, according to the lawsuit.

Fox is believed to be dead, according to the attorneys in this case. The others could not be reached for comment. Donald Okner, who has represented the Delbarton School in previous cases alleging sexual abuse by clerics, declined to comment.

Prestige and secrecy can no longer obscure the peril hidden in the halls and history of Delbarton School, attorney Jeff Anderson said in a statement. These brave survivors are pulling back the curtain to expose a real, immediate threat to children entrusted to the care of the school and the Order of St. Benedict.

Top school officials acknowledged the new lawsuits in the letter to the school community this week and that more lawsuits against the school may be filed under the new state law.

We recognize the pain and suffering inflicted on victims of sexual abuse. We continue to encourage anyone who believes that he or she has been a victim of abuse at St. Marys Abbey or Delbarton School to contact law enforcement and to file a claim, the statement said.

The school leaders said St. Marys Abbey and Delbarton School are safe environments and touted their accreditation by Praesidium, an independent risk management and compliance organization that ensures best practices in abuse prevention.

However, Gianforcaro said he has reached out to Praesidium multiple times to ask the organization to interview more than a dozen clients he represents who alleged they were sexually abused by clerics at the school, but he has never heard back from the organization.

Unless and until they speak to the survivors of abuse, that accreditation means absolutely nothing, Gianforcaro said.

Praesidiums president Aaron Lundberg confirmed that the Delbarton School was accredited in June 2019. He declined to comment further.

In 2018, Delbarton school officials publicly acknowledged in a letter to the community that that 30 individuals had alleged abuse by 13 past or current priests and monks at the school, and one retired lay faculty member, over the course of three decades. The Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey has settled at least nine child sexual abuse suits since 2018, according to previous reporting by NJ Advance Media.

The school attempted to dismiss a lawsuit in May filed under the New Jersey Child Sexual Abuse Act, arguing the new law is unconstitutional because it removed statutes of limitation, but state Superior Court Judge Peter A. Bogaard rejected the argument.

This story has been updated with a comment from Praesidium.

Staff writer Rebecca Everett contributed to this report.

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Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com.
Atlantic Countys Board of Elections hasnt received more than 10,000 mail-in ballots since at least 2014, when Evelynn Caterson was first appointed commissioner.

That number has ballooned this year as a result of changes to New Jersey's primary election process aimed at safeguarding public health amid the coronavirus. The pandemic has led to a push for voting by mail as a safer alternative to voting in person but results may roll in slower.
By Joseph Fennelly

Our nation is suffering from an appalling lack of national leadership. We are paying a great price in lives, in illness, in failed governance, in racial injustice, in profound economic insecurity and the inability to plan our future.

These issues apply particularly to the young voters on whom we depend to better assure the nations ability to perpetuate the blessings of liberty for us and for posterity.

Fewer young people decide to vote. This decision to avoid voting is further aggravated by the profound disappointment of young voters at the loss of Senator Bernie Sanders primary battle that so excited them to be proactive. Even though former Vice President Joseph Biden is incorporating much of Senator Sanders aims and goals into his own vision will this inspire the young to vote? In addition, as the degree of social distancing and quarantine diminishes and other important aspects of life become more pressing the young voters may put voting concerns on the back burner.

Sadly, however, some voting statistics show that 18 to 29-year-old citizens trail the 30 to 44-year olds, who trail the 45 to 59-year-olds. Voters 65 and older are the Election Day rock stars.

The 2018 turnout for young voters skyrocketed, but in state after state, the youngest voters have been staying home during the primaries. Youth voting was down 18% in New Hampshire, 9% in North Carolina. Its not that the Democratic primary electorate was, on the whole, unmotivated. Before the coronavirus pandemic upended the country, overall turnout was exceeding the turnout in 2016. But among younger voters, turnout was flat or down in many states. Until young people start turning out at much higher rates they will have a tough time getting their concerns taken as serious and deserving.

So how can we motivate them to vote at a time when they are so overwhelmed? What beacon can we find to brighten up a path for the future of the young? Let us look to the medical profession and the first responders as a model of duty and self-sacrifice. There are countless stories of these good people, who while barely recovering from COVID-19 returned to work fatigued yet determined to serve. Numerous medical professionals separate themselves from their family weeks on end to protect them from becoming infected with the virus.

In the context of inspiring the young to vote, would it not be appropriate for all voters to take a Hippocratic-like oath based on a social contract that emphasizes a duty and a privilege to vote? Reinforcing this is to reflect upon the determination of doctors to do no harm. Not voting is to do harm. The opposite of love and dedication is indifference.

One example of an oath to serve comes from E. Menger, Ph.D., a distinguished adjunct professor at Portland State University many years ago who felt that those graduating should recite the following: " I solemnly pledge to commit myself to life - long learning, the ethical use of my knowledge and skills, the support of my community, especially its young, and work for the welfare and dignity of all people.

President Theodore Roosevelt observed that there are several duties that are part of being a citizen: The first duty of Americans is citizenship and, as I shall work in politics; second is that she should do that work in a practical manner; and lastly is that it shall be done in accord with the highest principles of honor and justice.

Using the Hippocratic Oath as a north star, as it is based on service to and protection of each other, is a timely frame of reference to all as we labor to shape an inclusive future

In 2018, Jon Meacham, was driven to write a book, The Soul of America, the Battle for Our Better Angels, He wrote it to encourage hope in these dark times. Our best hope lies in how active our youth are in their role as citizens. We as a nation stand on each others shoulders.

Dr. Joseph Fennelly is the former chairman of the bioethics committee of the Medical Society of New Jersey. He lives in Madison.

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For migrant farm laborers in South Jersey, this season is the cruelest yet. They already work under the most grueling of conditions, and when you factor in lifestyle  toiling elbow-to-elbow in packing houses, riding in overcrowded buses, and sleeping in cramped dorms that could house up to a hundred people  theyre as vulnerable to coronavirus spread as nursing home workers and the prison population.

So as picking season ramps up, it would be prudent to mandate all farm workers to be tested, which is strongly advised in guidelines the state set for growers more than a month ago.

Some farms, however, believe these are merely polite suggestions, judging by the 57 farms in South Jersey that barred medical teams from testing their workers on site, according to a report in the New York Times.

That is deplorable negligence, and as of yesterday, Gov. Murphy seemed willing to wait for those growers to comply with the Department of Healths free testing initiative, perhaps by using his devastating talent for friendly persuasion.

The testers themselves would tell you that this doesnt always work. Some of the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) reached out to farms through multiple certified letters, phone calls, and on-site visits  yet their offers to test workers are simply ignored. Some are blocked outright when they show up, according to Dr. Lori Talbot, a Cumberland County physician who treats migrant workers.

Many of these workers are just arriving from hot spots in the American South, but only 4,000 have been tested so far, and 338 cases reflects an 8.45 percent positivity rate, the DOH reported Monday  far higher than South Jerseys 3.4 percent average.

Dr. Talbot, who confirmed the 57 non-compliant farms in the region, calls that 8.45 rate alarming.

The only thing we can do is test and isolate  and if you dont get tested, you cant be isolated, she said. I understand these farms are under gun, because its the height of their season and they dont want to lose their workforce. But they are putting their own family and community and other workers at risk. This is the only resource we have to prevent the spread. Testing is free. To do anything else is unconscionable.

Gov. Murphy says the right things. He noted during his daily briefing Monday that farm workers are as vulnerable as long-term care workers and the prison population and that his objective has been from moment one to test the entirety of that community.

Except that isnt happening. On May 20, three state departments  Health, Agriculture and Labor  put together a 15-page guide for migrant workers, their employers, and their housing providers, and everyone agreed that it was solid list of parameters that should govern the industry at difficult time. Page 7 requires employers to screen workers, and if symptoms are shown, to get that worker tested.

But the guidelines have a critical omission: Nowhere does it state that farms will face penalties for failure to comply.

The guidance itself is adequate, if implemented. But its not mandatory, said Jessica Culley of the Farm Workers Support Committee. It left it up to employers, so were left with a patchwork of compliance. Some farms have taken extraordinary measures to protect the workers and give them access to testing, but others give more priority to their need to harvest and market their product over the health of workers.

Fortunately, Executive Director Peter Furey of the Farm Bureau, the trade organization that represents farmers, says that we encourage testing wherever possible, and we encourage farmers to allow health services to come onto their farms.

Hes virtually holding the door open for the governor. Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, who has a bill that mandates testing, even suggests that with the state of emergency now extended, it gives the administration power to make it happen.

Given the mistakes made in nursing homes and prisons, youd expect Murphy to grab that opportunity now. The alternative is to reignite another public health disaster.

NJ is at the height of blueberry picking season on its South Jersey farms. And those pretty pints many of you will soon be eating are being picked by migrant workers who are being blocked by farmers from getting tests for COVID-19.https://t.co/o4L02iWapU  NJ Spotlight (@njspotlight) July 3, 2020

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By Laurent Reyes, Emily A. Greenfield and Adrian Gale

Protests in response to the death of George Floyd and countless other Black people at the hands of police result, in large part, from the efforts of Black leaders like Zellie Thomas, a community organizer and teacher in Paterson, and Yolanda Yonnie Deaver, owner and founder of a Camden hair company.

But the fact remains that while civic participation is celebrated as a pillar of American democracy, many sociopolitical systems were designed to exclude Black people from participating. This is the result of policing systems that emerged from 18th century slave patrols; a prison complex that incarcerates Black people at five times the rate of white people; gerrymandering and the ongoing legacy of Jim Crow laws and redlining policies.

It is no wonder that rates of formal volunteering and voting are among the lowest in the Black community. While Black people in the U.S. have established a rich history of organizing within their churches, organizations and communities, much of the lifeblood for these efforts has been through foundations, individual donations and other private sources, including the sacrifice of much time among community leaders themselves.

As todays protest leaders inspire hope for transformative societal changes in the future, now is the time to develop a public system for funding community efforts that address structural inequalities. Its also time to eliminate anti-Black racism in U.S. policies and establish a system that could follow the tradition of the Great Society programs of the 1960s. Programs like the Community Action Program addressed poverty at the grassroots community level.

The current lack of public support for such efforts makes it difficult to expand local programs that work to redress race-based inequities. But we could change this by directing public funding toward the following types of programs:

Let us go beyond simply expressing appreciation for the Black leaders of yesterday, today and tomorrow. We, including our government at all levels, must invest in supporting the efforts of Black civic leaders for social change that will help our society achieve democratic values and eliminate racial inequities. Doing so will help ensure that todays historic moment becomes a sustainable effort to end white supremacy and the archaic foundations that uphold it.

Laurent Reyes, MSW, is a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers Universitys School of Social Work and a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Research Scholar.

Emily A. Greenfield, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Rutgers Universitys School of Social Work.

Adrian Gale, Ph.D. MSW, is an assistant professor at Rutgers Universitys School of Social Work.

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Its a New Jersey primary like no other.

Delayed more than a month due to the coronavirus, it is the first one in the state conducted largely by mail, with more than half of the states polling places shut down and access to voting booths severely restricted.

And there are lots of story lines to sort out. Here are five of them:

1. How will New Jersey handle an unprecedented number of absentee ballots?

Secretary of State Tahesha Way said postponing the primary from June 2 gave state and local elections officials more time to gear up for the millions of mail-in ballots they expect to receive.

But will that be enough? Problems surfaced during the May 12 local elections, also largely conducted by mail, and New Jersey Republicans, echoing President Donald Trumps attacks on vote-by-mail, have asked the U.S. Justice Department to monitor the primary.

GOP state Chairman Doug Steinhardt said the move to absentee ballots was ill considered and poorly executed to a degree that risks disenfranchisement.

Gov. Phil Murphy called the Republican objection a political talking point.

Still, there are reports of voters getting the wrong ballots. And so many other things could complicate matters further.

Just the sheer number of mail-in ballots could overwhelm the 21 county boards of elections that never before had to sift through so many absentee ballots, match them against signatures on file, and count them.

Ballots could be lost. A last-minute surge of ballots could be postmarked on Primary Day and not arrive until a week later, when they still will be counted. Voters could forget to sign their ballots, further delaying a count since they will have up to two weeks after the primary to correct their mistakes.

Or so many voters could decide to cast their ballots in person any way, swamping the limited number of polling places.

Even before the pandemic, however, New Jersey did not require voters to offer a reason for requesting absentee ballots, so election officials didnt need to change their procedures for handling them, just prepare for dealing with so much more mail.

2. How will turnout be affected?

The 2016 presidential primary attracted 28% of New Jerseys registered voters, according to the state Division of Elections.

Will the emphasis on vote-by-mail, where millions of ballots were sent to registered Democrats and Republicans, encourage turnout, since all thats needed is to fill out the ballot, sign it and mail it back?

Or will the paucity of in-person polling places on Primary Day discourage voters from casting ballots?

One Monmouth County elections commissioner, Eileen Kean, said she expected the former.

People who would have been too lazy to go to the poling precincts, since they got the ballot in the mail, theyre filing it out and mailing it in, Kean said. Since its convenient, the overall numbers will be higher.

Whatever the results, this will be a dry run for November, where the coronavirus pandemic is expected to require another emphasis on vote-by-mail rather than in-person voting.

And if turnout is up and the election goes smoothly, this could be a forerunner of how New Jersey will conduct its elections in the future. Five states, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah, currently mail ballots to every registered voter, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

3. Is the Kennedy name still magic?

The Kennedys remain an iconic family in Democratic politics, with Amy Kennedy, husband of former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., the latest family member seeking public office in the Democratic 2nd District House race.

Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Callahan Harrison, however, is the favorite candidate of most local party leaders and therefore has the important party line in most of the counties that make up the district.

Both candidates have been peppering the airwaves with TV spots saying they are the best to take on President Donald Trump. They are actually fighting to take on Republican incumbent Jeff Van Drew in the fall.

Van Drew won his seat two years ago as a Democrat but switched parties after voting against impeaching Trump.

Others in the Democratic scrap are veteran congressional aide Will Cunningham; former FBI agent Robert Turkavage, who ran as a Republican for the seat two years ago; and John Francis, an environmentalist and professor.

4. Will the next AOC come from Jersey?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became an instant sensation when she ousted 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley in the 2018 Democratic primary and went on to win a New York City congressional seat.

Her victory has helped inspire a number of younger, progressive challengers to New Jerseys four longest-serving Democratic incumbents: Reps. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist., Albio Sires, D-8th Dist., Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist., and Donald Payne Jr., D-10th Dist.

AOCs victory opened the floodgates, said Adam Green, an Edison native who co-founded the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

5. Who will win the latest round of Murphy vs. Sweeney?

Gov. Phil Murphy and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney rarely see eye-to-eye.

And that goes for South Jerseys hottest Democratic primary battle for the right to face party-switching Republican House member Jeff Van Drew in the fall.

Sweeney, D-Gloucester, was an early supporter of Brigid Callahan Harrison.

Murphy, who repeatedly has clashed with Sweeney, recently endorsed Amy Kennedy, drawing sharp words from the Senate president, who hails from South Jersey.

Murphy and his wife Tammy have each contributed the maximum of $2,800 to Kennedy for the primary and $2,800 for the general election.

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com.
Its primary election day in New Jersey and polls are open, but Gov. Phil Murphy is counting on most of us to have already mailed in our ballots to help avoid long lines and make it easy to social distance at the polls during the coronavirus pandemic.

This years election is unlike any other. Six million voters in New Jersey were either sent a postage-paid mail-in ballot or were sent an application that would allow them to request one.

We will ensure every vote is counted, Murphy said during his daily coronavirus briefing in Trenton when he announced the switch. Our goals are twofold: to maximize our democracy while minimizing the risk of illness. We want everyone to participate in a safe and fully democratic process.

Its unclear how many ballots have already been received by county election offices, but some officials have reported receiving more than double that they normally would.

Heres what you should know.

WHOS ON THE BALLOT?

President. While President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have sewn up their parties nomination, both them and the names of their convention delegates will appear on the ballot. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will be on the Democratic ballot as well.

Senate. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, who initially sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, instead is running for re-election. He faces a primary challenge from community activist Lawrence Hamm, who ran Sanders New Jersey campaign. Five Republicans are seeking their partys nod.

House. Rep. Jeff Van Drews switch to the Republican Party set up the states hottest congressional race in South Jerseys 2nd District. Five Democrats are vying for their partys nomination: Brigid Callahan Harrison, a Montclair State University political science professor; educator Amy Kennedy, wife of former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I.; veteran congressional aide Will Cunningham; former FBI agent Robert Turkavage, who ran as a Republican for the seat two years ago; and John Francis, an environmentalist and professor.

Several supporters of Sanders are running on the Not Me. Us. ballot line against several long-time incumbent Democrats. Other progressives have entered congressional primaries as well, including the first Muslim woman, writer Amani Al-Khatahtbeh.

Two Republicans, business executive David Richter and union official Kate Gibbs, want to run against Rep. Andy Kim, D-3rd Dist., and four GOP candidates are seeking the nomination against Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., who has a primary of his own.

State Legislature. There will be a special election for 25th Legislative District (Morris and Somerset counties).

Local Races. There are primaries for mayor, council and other municipal and county offices throughout the state. About 70 races are contested. Some of those challenges also are being waged by Sanders backers on the Not Me. Us. ballot line.

CAN I STILL VOTE IN PERSON?

Yes, but not at a machine except if you have a disability.

Instead, youll fill out a provisional paper ballot that will be checked to make sure the signatures match and that you didnt also send in an absentee ballot.

Polls will be open until 8 p.m., but dont expect to go to your regular polling place. Only about half as many sites will be in use. Click here for a list of in-person voting places, compiled by the League of Women Voters.

And Murphy urged New Jerseyans not to go to the polls if they feel sick and are awaiting the results of a test to see if they have the coronavirus.

If youre sick and youre awaiting a test, as much as I want you to vote, Im not wild about you going out into a public place, he said.

He told them to call their county clerk instead to get their advice.

I FORGOT TO MAIL IN MY BALLOT. WHAT DO I DO?

You can still drop it off at the post office, as long as its postmarked by today, and it will count as long as its received by July 14.

Or you can drop it off at one of the dropboxes in your county or at the county board of elections by 8 p.m. You cannot drop it off at a polling place. Heres where the dropboxes are.

If youre not enrolled in a political party and decide at the last minute that you want to vote, you have until 8 p.m. to go to your county clerks office and request a ballot.

WHAT IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH MY BALLOT?

If you forget to sign your mail-in ballot or your signatures dont appear to match, you will be contacted and asked to supply additional information. You have until 2 p.m. July 23 to supply the additional documentation in person, by fax, or by email. If you mail it in, the information must be received by the board of elections by the end of the day.

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY BALLOT IS REJECTED?

Your signature on the paper ballot will be matched with your signature on file. If there is a question as to whether they match, you will be contacted by mail and have until July 23 to verify that you submitted the ballot and offer additional identification, which could be a drivers license number, the last four Social Security digits, or a state-accepted form of identification with a name and address. If you forget to sign the ballot, the same verification process will apply.

WHEN WILL THE RESULTS BE ANNOUNCED?

County election offices have until July 14 to accept mail-in ballots postmarked on or before July 7. Provisional ballots will be counted last. County election offices have until July 24 to certify all results.

NJ Advance Media will be reporting results for all county and municipal races, as well as U.S. Senate and House seats, starting as soon as the results come in at 8 p.m on Tuesday. There are approximately 70 contested county or local races in the state this year.

WHAT IF I HAVE A PROBLEM AT THE POLLS?

The Secretary of State serves as the states chief election official. If you have concerns about voting and elections, call the state Division of Elections voting information and assistance line at 877-NJVOTER (877-658-6837).

Separately, the Attorney Generals Office of Public Integrity and Accountability investigates public corruption and election crimes. To report a potential crime, call 844-OPIA-TIPS. The Attorney Generals office has an anti-corruption reward program that will offer a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to a conviction for a crime involving public corruption. For more details, see http://nj.gov/oag/corruption/reward.html.

NJ Advance Media also created a tip line to report any election-related issues to us to look at.

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Tuesdays primary features N.J.s 1st Muslim woman candidate for Congress

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Biggest NJ primary battle features a Kennedy for the right to face party switcher backed by Trump

Bernie Sanders Movement lives in N.J. as allies challenge veteran Dems

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Residents who vote at Plainfield High School usually enter through the front, but this year voting took place in the cafeteria by the back entrance. Darryl Morgan, whose mother, Emily, is running for Councilwoman, made his own sign instructing people to enter through the back and asked the Board of Elections to put up signs at closed voting locations.

Its basic stuff, especially if youre changing a polling place or not having a polling place, then its incumbent on you to direct the people to the right places, Morgan said. They didnt do that.

This years delayed primary election was largely vote-by-mail after Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order in May requiring counties to send all six million voters a mail-in ballot or an application to request one.

Voters had the option to fill out a provisional ballot in-person but not to vote at a machine unless they have a disability.

About half of regular polling locations were closed, redirecting voters to places they dont typically vote. Several reported difficulty finding where to go, with little signage or flair designating entrances or voting locations.

Rosario Rodriguez, a Plainfield resident, visited three different locations before finding out where she should go.

Because she works a 12-hour night shift, Rodriguez said she didnt have time to fill out paperwork and preferred to just vote in-person. Yet, she was confused by where to enter at each location and spent hours on Tuesday morning looking for the correct spot.

For me, its very important, Rodriguez said, when asked why she spent hours looking for her correct polling location on Tuesday. I believe in this country.

At Plainfield High School and at three other nearby polling locations, very few people came to fill out their provisional ballots in-person. Robin Bright, a volunteer with the Regular Democratic Organization of Union County, predicted that 30 people had showed up by 11 a.m.

Bright works the polls every election and said that Plainfield High School usually receives more than 1,000 voters. This year, she wondered if the location would surpass the 100 voters mark.

Inside the Millville Memorial High School, the number of poll workers outnumber the people who were there to vote.

Sleepy polls did make for easy enforcement of social distancing and sanitation. Lines were non-existent at several locations and poll workers cleaned off each surface that voters touched. Those at Clarks Municipal Building were told to take their ballpoint pens home after using them to fill out ballots.

In Somerset County, the clerks office installed a 20 by 30 foot air-conditioned tent outside the County Administration building to allow unaffiliated voters to register for a party, assist people with provisional ballots and field queries from confused voters.

Jessica Chiocchi gets an application to vote from Jessica DeLucia, chief clerk for Somerset County. Somerset County Freeholders installed a 20 x 30 ft tent outside the County Administration building to help voters get and cast ballots in Somerville, N.J. July, 7, 2020 Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for

Reasons varied among voters that opted to vote in-person instead of mailing their ballots.

Some expressed distrust with mail-in voting. Others were unclear on how this years coronavirus-induced vote-by-mail primary was operating. Several also cited missing mail-in ballots.

Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi said there are multiple reasons why some voters never received their ballots in the mail: they can be incorrectly listed in the states voter registration system, they can forget to update their address, and ballots can be lost in the mail or accidentally thrown out.

Some voters are unaffiliated and expect to receive a ballot in the mail, though they actually received an application to register for a party and would only receive a ballot upon completion, she said.

On top of missing and misprinted ballots, New Jerseys Division of Elections polling place finder website temporarily shut down during the day.

Voters line up to vote after Somerset County Freeholders installed a 20 x 30 ft tent outside the County Administration building to help voters get and cast ballots in Somerville, N.J. July, 7, 2020 Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for

Meanwhile, workers across the state were busy counting mail-in ballots. At the Cape May County Board of Elections, in three different rooms, workers were busy going through totes with each towns name, and preparing the ballots to be scanned, a process that began at 3 p.m. Some of the workers leading up to this have been working 12-hour days for six days a week preparing and getting ready for the undertaking of counting the votes, with 40 extra people coming in to open the ballots.

By Tuesday afternoon, Republican Cape May County Registrar Doug Dunhour said there had already been 16,000 votes submitted.

Not a lot of people have a chance to go to the polls, Dunhour said. It is absolutely safe and most of us vote-by-mail. Everybodys privacy is well protected, he added, noting that counting machines also take pictures of each individual ballot that is scanned to also help ensure the accuracy of the election process. The machine is precise, and signatures are also matched up to ones taken during previous elections to verify the authenticity of a ballot, he said.

Despite hiccups across the state, Rajoppi praised her fellow county clerks and credited the states short notice on mail-in voting for any disorder.

It takes more than three weeks to run an all-mail statewide election, Rajoppi said. It takes years actually Weve had our challenges. If we have to do it in November, hopefully it will run smoother.

12 County erects giant tent to help voters

Staff reporter Chris Franklin contributed to this report.

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Josh Axelrod may be reached at jaxelrod@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
Tuttle was driving north on Route 33, near the Route 22 interchange, when he crossed into the oncoming lane about 3:30 a.m. and hit a Wind Gap EMS ambulance, state police said.
Tuition and fees at Rutgers will be holding steady for the fall 2020 semester, despite most classes being held online and access to on-campus housing being limited due to the coronavirus, prompting outrage from current students.

Unlike Princeton, which is offering students a 10% discount on remote education, Rutgers is charging the same per-credit rate for online courses as for the limited in-person classes.

Thats unacceptable, current student Shreya Patel said in an online petition calling for a tuition cut, which had over 12,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.

What we pay for as part of our tuition is to be taught by a professor in a class setting where we can actively engage, ask questions, and interact with our peers, the petition reads. How could the current decision made not impact tuition if we cannot utilize resources to the fullest extent?

In-state undergraduates at Rutgers pay $12,230 for tuition annually, while out-of-state students pay $29,012. The cost of attending the school will remain the same as it was for the 2019-2020 school year, the school said.

This action was taken in recognition of the economic stresses that confront every member of our community and despite cost increases in virtually every area of our operation, school spokeswoman Dory Devlin told NJ Advance Media.

The petition also called for the reduction of fees, saying some things wont be accessible to students only taking remote classes.

Students will also be charged full fees, including campus, computer, and school fees, the university said.

How will 70,000 students be expected to study in libraries or classrooms if the majority of schooling is already remote? Patel wrote.

The school defended its decision to continue charging fees, saying students would still have access to the same services. The health center, wellness counseling, library, and academic resources will remain open, and the school plans on increasing online services.

Tuition and fees are set at the minimum amount required to provide our 70,000 students with a world-class education. A robust Rutgers education, whether delivered in a remote, hybrid or in person fashion, is comprehensive and is provided by some of the finest scholars in American higher education, Devlin said.

While classes are remote, all offices are fully staffed and delivering the necessary services to support all our students, an online coronavirus FAQ web page reads.

All on-campus events will be canceled in the fall, but the school has yet to make a decision about fall sports. Most dining options will be closed, and the bus system will be operating on a reduced schedule.

This isnt the first time Rutgers handling of tuition during the coronavirus has come under fire.

A students father sued the school in May, alleging the switch to online school without refunds was a breach of contract. Students were offered partial refunds for room and board after being sent home mid-semester in March, but were not offered refunds for tuition.

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Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings Monday around New Jersey as thunderstorms swept through the region, leaving thousands of residents without power and stranding drivers.

More than 38,000 power outages were reported statewide, according to a tweet from Gov. Phil Murphy.

The flood warning was in place until 7 p.m. Monday for areas including Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and Essex counties, according to the weather service.

In Garfield, a weather spotter reported River Road was flooded with multiple stranded vehicles. Firefighters were with boats responded to reach the trapped motorists, according to the report issued shortly after 5 p.m. Streets were also flooded in Hackensack, a spokesman for the citys fire department posted on Twitter.

Multiple streets flooded throughout Hackensack and Bergen County please stay where you are in a safe area urgent. pic.twitter.com/YjVxbw4q2V  Justin Derevyanik (@justinhfd126) July 6, 2020

Firefighters in Hackensack responded to multiple emergencies caused by the storm, the fire department said.

Companies operating at multiple emergencies due to heavy rain. Multi-car MVA on Anderson Street, smoke in the basement on Main Street, add multiple people stuck in vehicles due to flooding over 17 people rescued @ABC7NY @CBSNewYork @NBCNewYork @1010WINS @HackensackPD @wpix pic.twitter.com/VyBKRUdLgJ  Hackensackfirenj (@HackensackFDNJ) July 6, 2020

As of shortly after 4 p.m., doppler radar showed thunderstorms bringing heavy rain to the region, according to forecasters. Up to an inch of rain was already reported in the area.

Some locations expected to see flooding included Jersey City, Paterson, Passaic, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Hoboken, Bloomfield, Paramus, Lyndhurst, Rutherford, Secaucus and Ridgewood, the weather services warning said.

The weather service also issued a flash flood warning around the Philadelphia-region, including areas of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties.

This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!, an alert from the weather service said. Life threatening flash flooding of low water crossings, small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

Flash Flood Warning including New Brunswick NJ, Perth Amboy NJ, Sayreville NJ until 7:45 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/kQx5jIFgT2  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) July 6, 2020

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Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com.
The glass door of a convenience store on Northampton Street was hit by the gunfire. Police took surveillance footage from the store, which showed a group of men and women talking outside, and then one of the men being pushed to the ground. The owner said it did not appear the man was shot because there was no blood outside his store, and the bullet damage, which he taped up, could have come from a ricochet.
Yes, including supporting particular candidates or parties for office

Yes, but only to promote particular issues and not political parties or candidates

No, religious leaders should focus on helping others in their faith and not politics

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Pioneering female police officer Yvonne Bechet died of natural causes on Sunday at her home in The Landing at Behrman Place. She was 86.

In January 1985, after 17 years in the New Orleans Police Department, Bechet, then a sergeant, became the NOPDs highest-ranking woman to date when she was named deputy chief under Superintendent Warren Woodfork by Mayor Dutch Morial. She was detailed to the Police Academy, which still uses some of the curriculum she created.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell praised her as an advocate for justice. She was among the first courageous advocates for reform of the NOPD, long before most got religion, Cantrell wrote in a statement. She didnt just talk the talk, she walked the lonely and often dangerous walk.

Before Bechet was named deputy chief, she served for two years as president of the Black Organization of Police, where she acted as a liaison between Black police officers and the attorneys who represented them in a racial discrimination lawsuit against the department.

Bechet is also fondly remembered for her wildly successful community-policing work in the 1970s, before the term was popularized nationwide. Much of her energy was focused on the citys 11 public-housing developments, where she hosted weekly talent shows. The winners from each complex would perform at the annual show in City Park Stadium, which would attract several thousand people for performances that lasted for hours.

Her goal was to create bonds between her officers and residents of the housing developments. And it worked, she said. The people trusted the police and the police then trusted the people, she told the radio program Unprisoned last year. We dont have that relationship today.

Former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, called Bechet a trailblazer who "embodied the spirit of community policing long before it became a watchword for modern policing."

Born in 1934, Bechet grew up in the Laffite public-housing complex, the daughter of a house painter and homemaker. Soon after she graduated from Joseph S. Clark Senior High School in the early 1950s, she married policeman Ronald John Bechet and had four children  three sons and a daughter. In 1961, her trailblazing began as she landed a job at the Michoud NASA plant and became one of the first women to install advanced electronics on the plants Apollo rockets.

In 1968, at age 34, she became one of five women to graduate from the Police Academy in a historic class. The women were issued skirts, one-inch heels and the cutest little sailor hats that didnt stay on their heads. And we carried our weapons in our purse, she told Unprisoned. I think we were probably the best-dressed female police officers in the country. But our uniforms were a hindrance.

She arrived at NOPDs Second District only to find that all but one officer had called in sick rather than work with a Black officer. She told Unprisoned that her boss was ready to suspend everyone involved, but she argued against that. I said these officers have families to support, she said, and requested that they be allowed to come back to work if they were willing to apologize.

In 1972, she went undercover for the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, wearing long-sleeve blouses despite the humidity to hide that she had no needle marks on her arm. She was awarded the NOPD Merit Award after serving as lead witness in the case, the largest federal drug bust the region had seen.

Not every female officer was on the streets as much as she was, she told the Times-Picayune in 1985.

Though she was always confident, she wasn't sure that those above her were able to look beyond the fact that she was a woman.

"I know it's no hindrance to me," she said in a 1985 interview. "But I wasn't always sure other people knew."

Bechet is survived by her brother Armand Olivier, Jr.; daughter Donna Bechet-Kilbourne; sons Ronald J. Bechet, Jr.; Terence Bechet; and David Bechet; 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A funeral is scheduled for Saturday at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church at 6828 Chef Menteur Hwy. Though the 10 a.m. funeral Mass will be private because of COVID-19 restrictions, public visitation starts at 8:30 a.m. with a rosary vigil service at 9:30 a.m. She will be interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Rhodes Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Cafe Porche & Snowbar is normally low key, a small Central City spot with good Creole flavors, a modern feel and a character all its own.

People come early for breakfast meetings, roll in from nearby hotels for brunch or head over from the CBD for lunch. Kids stop by after school for snowballs from a stand by the street built like a pint-sized shotgun, a fairy cottage trimmed in gingerbread and stocked with nectar.

Behind the scenes, always, is Coronella Porche-Jenneford. She runs the restaurant day to day while also working toward a bigger vision for her small cafe, one thats about reinvesting in her hometown and reaching out to draw people up, as others did for her.

Regular business has been cut to a sliver since the pandemic began, but that vision endures, enticingly close, now agonizingly in peril.

Im hopeful, but you have to be realistic, Porche-Jenneford said one morning, looking out past her patio to Baronne Street. How long can I hold on? I dont know. It doesnt look good.

Cafe Porche shows whats at risk in a crisis for local restaurants, beyond the prospect of staff losing jobs, proprietors losing livelihoods and people losing another delicious place to eat. Good local restaurants provide all those things, but also do so much more, because they are approachable, attainable and personal.

The restaurant is Porche-Jennefords second career, her give-back career.

Her father, the late Gilbert Porche, couldnt read or write but built a New Orleans family enterprise anyway. He had a grocery in the Lower 9th Ward called Porches and later developed a trucking business. He earned contracts with the local NASA facility and other big clients. As a teenager, the job of reading and managing those contracts fell to his daughter Coronella.

It launched her own career as an auditor and contract manager. She worked for health care firms and later for defense and aerospace contractors, toiling behind the scenes on high-profile projects including the International Space Station and the Pentagons Joint Strike Fighter program.

Throughout a career with different stops around the country she was often the only African American woman in the room, in her corporate team and sometimes even in her whole office. At pivotal moments, there were mentors and there were advocates. She didnt forget the difference they made.

After she retired, she determined that moving back home to New Orleans and building a restaurant could be a way to make that kind of difference for others.

Always in my heart of hearts I wanted my own business, she said. I wanted to come back, invest in my own community, mentor as Ive been mentored. Pulling somebody up can start by just saying come in, see how we do this, see whats possible.

In the years since she returned home, shes observed a city bursting with creative talent, but with too few avenues to tap it.

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There is so much talent in New Orleans. You see it in our food, in our art, in our ways of expressing the culture, she said. We need to put that into building our own businesses.

When she opened Cafe Porche & Snowbar in 2018, she added a modern version of the classic neighborhood restaurant to Central City. The cute-as-pie snowball stand is up front, the cafe with its small, open dining room, upstairs loft and neat patio stretches behind it.

She cooks grit cakes under a fried chicken-like coating, with shrimp and cream sauce for a special dubbed the Carol Bebelle (after the co-founder of the nearby Ashe Cultural Arts Center). At lunch, my own go-to is the Flying Dutchman, a length of po-boy bread packed with the kind of beef-and-shrimp dressing we normally get in stuffed peppers, topped with fat fried shrimp. Gumbo and red beans and pork chops are standards.

After two years, the business was just becoming profitable. She had refined the menu to suit the small kitchen, developed a handbook to train staff. The day was coming when the restaurant could be a stable platform for outreach and mentoring. It was all falling into place. Then it was plucked away, overnight.

I was at that turning point moment, thats what hurts so badly, Porche-Jenneford said. You do all the right things and you set yourself up for success, and then this.

With no end in sight for the pandemic, how will a restaurant like Cafe Porche make it? Its founder, an auditor after all, knows the odds are growing narrow. And yet, theres new hope whenever a regular returns, whenever the phone rings and whenever Porche-Jenneford takes her morning walk.

Thats how I start my day; I listen to the news, I talk to God and I go out and start over again, she said.

In my career, I saw how big dollars couldnt always save a project, but small progress, finding the pennies and nickels, could get the job done, she said. When we come through this, I need to be stronger and better and bigger. Im trying to get there now.

Cafe Porche & Snowbar

1625 Baronne St., (504) 930-4249

Cafe open 8:30 a.m.- 3 p.m., snowbar open 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. (both closed Thu.)

+19 For Black-owned New Orleans restaurants, a crisis, a movement and whats ahead It was just last fall when chefs Louis Brown II and Sam Faciane opened their Southern Charm Bistreaux, turning a former Gretna steakhouse into

+21 Could New Orleans eateries survive on fewer, but salaried workers? This restaurant group is trying it During lunch at the French Quarter restaurant Sylvain last week, customers ordered their first dishes and drinks at the door before heading to
When you mention Canal Street shopping to a New Orleanian of a certain age, you can expect them to wax nostalgic about the old Maison Blanche and D.H. Holmes buildings. Five and dimes like Woolworths and Kress might also creep into the conversation, along with Gus Mayer, Labiches and Marks Isaacs.

But for much of the first part of the 20th century, the corner of Canal and Carondelet was occupied by a pair of stores that  while not household names today  were located in what was then one of the most conspicuous buildings on New Orleans great retail strip.

That building no longer exists but it left behind a beloved legacy .

Today, that corner is home to a CVS Pharmacy. Its owners in 2009 renovated and moved into the four-story Modernist building originally built by Gus Mayer at 800 Canal St..

Before that, though, the corner of Canal and Carondelet was home to a striking Queen Anne-style building  also four stories  with a brick exterior tricked out with a raft of intricate architectural detailing, including sculptures, white marble cornices, pilasters and various other projections.

The highlight was a singular corner tower that stood taller than the height of the main building and which resembled in design something either from the Iberian Peninsula or the Dune Sea region of Tatooine.

With construction beginning in 1884, the elegant and costly edifice  as The Daily Picayune described it as it was nearing completion  was designed by the St. Louis firm Hinsdale and Marble for the Pickwick Club, the aristocratic social organization that would move there from its previous home on Exchange Alley.

On the ground floor was the clubhouse entrance, a ladies restaurant and retail space rented to various merchants over the years. Upstairs were all the amenities one would expect from any of the citys various clubs of the day: a dining room, a meeting room, a library, a game room, a 400-seat assembly hall.

What set the Pickwick building apart, however, was the wealth it proudly displayed.

Featuring grand archways and stained-glass windows, the building was outfitted in such a manner inside  brass figures, oak parquet floors, marble statues and peacock blue velvet upholstery  that, upon its completion on June 24, 1884, the Picayune referred to it as The Pickwick Palace.

The building is admirably planned and artistically and thoroughly furnished and appointed, the Picayune wrote. The establishment is an honor to the gentlemen who own and will use it, and an ornament to the city.

And it was. Until March 15, 1894. Thats the day  just 10 years after its completion  the building caught fire, causing extensive damage inside. The Pickwickians moved out and, after a renovation, Fellmans department store took up residence in the building in 1898.

Fellmans remained a part of the Canal Street retail landscape until the retirement of owner Leon Fellman in 1918. At that point, the business was turned over to Max and Leopold Feibelman, who continued its operation as a department store under their own family name until they moved out in 1931.

+3 1866 New Orleans massacre remembered as a city-led racial attack a year after the Civil War ended History tells us that the surrender of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox on May 9, 1865, finally ended hostilities in the long, blo

For the next 17 years, the building would be used for various businesses and functions, including as a USO hall during World War II. Finally, in summer 1948, the then-sagging and outmoded building was torn down to make way for the Gus Mayer building occupied by CVS today.

The legacy of the Pickwick Clubs stay at Canal and Carondelet can still be found all over the city, however.

In 1886  when it was still a Pickwickian palace  Belgian merchant Prosper Lamal, of the Belgian Encaustic Tile Co., installed blue-and-white tiles in the sidewalk at that corner. The tiles spelled out the streets name. He then took out an ad in the Picayune in November of that year. It read:

"I refer with satisfaction to work performed on the sidewalks of the Pickwick Club, New Orleans National Bank, Louisiana Exchange, and the interior of Crescent Hall. ... I call the attention of the public to the elegant style of street directory as illustrated at the corner of Canal and Carondelet streets."

The gambit apparently worked, and Lamal prospered. While they no longer exist at that corner today, those tiled street names are embedded in sidewalks throughout the city, a lasting alphabetic legacy of the era of the Pickwick Palace.

Know of a New Orleans building worth profiling in this column, or just curious about one? Contact Mike Scott at moviegoermike@gmail.com.
A former member of what was once New Orleans largest Carnival parading group has sued the krewe in small claims court, asking for the return of her deposit to ride.

Nonetta Pierre wants the Mystic Krewe of Nyx to return the $300 she paid as a deposit to take part in the 2021 parade. Pierre was one of many members who quit the all-female organization during a recent controversy.

In late May, as protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police cropped up across the country, Nyx Captain Julie Lea used the phrase All Lives Matter in a krewe social media post. The term, which is widely seen as a dismissal of the slogan Black Lives Matter, alienated many krewe members. Though Lea apologized for the post, she did not publicly ally the krewe with the anti-police brutality movement, as many members wished.

When a group of krewe members called for Lea to step down, she declined and  via her lawyer  asked that members who were unhappy with the krewe please resign from your membership.

According to Pierres attorney Taetrece Harrison, the fact that Lea invited members to quit entitles Pierre to a refund.

When she demanded that everyone leave, Harrison said, she was in breach of contract.

Harrison said that former Nyx members are frustrated that the krewe has not yet announced a refund policy in the wake of the widely publicized conflict that led to a mass resignation of members, officers, marching groups and bands.

The radio silence is deafening, Harrison said. If she (Lea) wanted to send an email to say, Heres the refund process, she could do that.

+4 27 Nyx float lieutenants quit after captain refuses to step down over 'All Lives Matter' post Escalating a controversy roiling New Orleans largest parading krewe, more than two dozen float lieutenants quit the Mystic Krewe of Nyx Monda

Lea co-founded Nyx in 2012 with the goal of uniting women of diverse backgrounds for fun, friendship, and the merriment of the Mardi Gras season, according to the club website. The 3,500 members paid $650 to $800 in annual dues.

Harrison, who was a charter member of the krewe but left in 2016, said she is representing Pierre at no charge.

I think whats happening at Nyx is egregious, she said.

Harrison said she expects 50 to 100 other former Nyx members to file similar lawsuits in the coming days.

Lea's lawyer, Ronald W. Morrison Jr., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

+11 The history of the Krewe of Nyx and Julie Lea: a rough ride and 'rotten at the top,' some say Last week's very public implosion of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx seemed to be a microcosm of the unrest that swept the country after the death of 
He already saved Private Ryan. Now, in the Baton Rouge-shot World War II naval thriller Greyhound, Tom Hanks is out to save a whole Allied convoy.

And while cinematographer-turned-director Aaron Schneiders film wont likely come close to displacing Saving Private Ryan on anybodys list of the best World War II films ever made, it stands on its own as a brisk and sturdily built sophomore effort that makes the most of its 91-minute running time.

You read that right: 91 minutes  which is fairly lean for most films but particularly so for an effects-laden, star-driven World War II drama.

Translation: Dont expect much by way of character development or more than merely a nod to anything resembling a romantic interest. After all, there are Nazis to drown, which tends to leave little time for much else.

In that regard, Greyhound almost feels like its actually only part of a larger film.

Fortunately, it feels like the best part.

Theres no narrative flab here. Theres no overwrought, underthought scenes of painfully unnecessary exposition. No Tarantinoesque sequences of cinematic self-indulgence that exist solely for the filmmaker to pay homage to himself.

Instead, Schneider (Get Low) puts his head down and gets right to work. He throws his audience directly into the action on his churning, impressively rendered CGI version of the frigid North Atlantic, and he doesnt let them come up for air until the closing credits roll.

Go ahead and splurge for the large soda on this one. Your bladder wont have time to interrupt before its over.

Based on a screenplay written by Hanks, which was in turn inspired by the C.S. Forester novel The Good Shephard, it tells the story of a veteran Navy captain who is given command of the U.S. destroyer Keeling  call sign: Greyhound  and tasked with escorting a 37-vessel Allied convoy across the Atlantic to deliver much-needed supplies to a besieged Britain.

The catch: For three days of its crossing, the convoy will be without any air cover whatsoever, making it a ripe target should any German U-boats come across it.

Of course, thats exactly what happens, setting up the aforementioned captain for a breathless, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with a pack of slavering U-boat captains determined to pick off Allied ships one by one.

The result is an economical but relentless high-seas thriller that benefits enormously from the presence of Hanks, who lets us know with little more than a look and a few tersely delivered lines that his Capt. Krause is a serious, dedicated and thoroughly honorable man.

With any other actor at the helm, Greyhound might have felt empty. Hanks, however, lends a weight and intensity to the proceedings that keep the film from foundering.

That being said, it does feel suspiciously like something is missing  as if scenes intended to tell us who Krause really is ended up on the cutting-room floor. I suppose well have to wait for the extended directors cut on home video to see what those scenes contained.

In the meantime, while Greyhound might play more like a feature-length climax than a full-on naval epic, it manages admirably to maintain interest and adrenaline in equal parts.

As an added bonus, local audiences will get to see the USS Kidd in action  kind of. The Kidd, of course, is the decommissioned Navy destroyer that has served as a museum on the Baton Rouge riverfront since 1982 and that, crucially, boasts the distinction of being the only U.S. destroyer still in her WWII configuration.

That as much as anything is what drew the production to Louisiana, although nobody should expect to be able to spot any tell-tale signs of where Greyhound was shot, given that nearly every minute of the film is set on the open sea.

(The Kidd does get a shout-out right around the 42-minute mark, however, when a sailor says, I got a buddy who was on the Kidd, but thats about it.)

Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani shine in New Orleans-shot Lovebirds,' but film never really soars When you get right down to it, there are really only two kinds of New Orleans-set movies. There are those that truly get the city, that carry 

Kind of like the ship on which it is set, Schneiders film had something of a tumultuous journey to the screen. Originally scheduled for a theatrical release via Sony Pictures in March 2019, it slid around the release calendar for a while until the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Sony to sell it to Apple TV+. It begins streaming on the premium content provider Friday, July 10.

For fans of World War II films, and of Tom Hanks, it will be worth the wait.
The Trump administration released details of almost 4.9 million loans to businesses  from sole proprietors to restaurant and hotel chains  under the federal governments largest coronavirus relief program so far, the $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program.

The data, including the names of the programs biggest borrowers, were posted Monday morning on the website of the Small Business Administration, which ran the program with the Treasury Department.

The disclosures, which come after members of Congress and others voiced concern about the level of transparency surrounding the PPP, dont provide full details for any loans. Names of companies that borrowed less than $150,000  a group that comprises the vast majority of the programs borrowers  werent made public. And larger borrowers loans were disclosed only in broad ranges of values, such as $5 million to $10 million.

The program, passed hurriedly by Congress in March, was designed to provide small firms with loans of as much as $10 million, based on a companys average monthly payroll before the pandemic. The loans can become grants if borrowers use the proceeds mostly to pay workers  with some spending allowed for rent and overhead costs.

+2 Here's how $7.3B in paycheck protection loans in Louisiana were split More than 73,800 Louisiana organizations were approved for $7.3 billion in potentially forgivable loans through the federal Paycheck Protectio

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For those loans below $150,000, the agencies are disclosing specific loan amounts along with industry codes, ZIP codes, number of jobs supported and other data  but no personally identifiable borrower information.

Below is a database of loans in excess of $150,000 for Louisiana organizations.

Can't see table below? Click here.
Louisiana is entering what could reasonably be called the second wave of COVID-19. This disease has claimed the lives of over 3,100 Louisianians in less than 4 months since the first case was diagnosed here, so it is reasonable to consider whether a surge in cases will result in a similarly horrific surge in deaths like we experienced in March and April.

One factor that might mean fewer coronavirus fatalities from the second wave compared to the first would be if younger people are largely driving the increasing cases statewide.

Older people, especially those over 70, are more likely to die from COVID-19. In Louisiana, 0.09% of people under 30 with confirmed cases have died, 0.85% of people between 30 and 49, 4.8% of people between 50 and 69, and 24.4% of people who are 70 and older.

So far, the data surrounding whether the recent increase in infections is mostly due to young people provides a resounding answer: maybe.

Coronavirus in Louisiana: More than 1,100 new cases reported Monday; see statewide data The Louisiana Dept. of Health reported 1,101 more coronavirus cases, 8 more deaths, and 38 new hospitalizations in its daily noon update Monday.

The headline case numbers seem to support the assertion that young people are driving the increase. There were 543 new reported cases of people under 30 in Louisiana in March, 2,998 in April, 3,073 in May, and 7,517 in June. People over 60, by contrast, had 1,792 reported cases in March, 8,041 in April, 3,272 in May, and 3,045 in June. The share of all Louisiana cases involving a person under 30 rose from 11% in the last week of March to 43% in the last week of June.

This should be an open and shut case, but we are missing a critical piece of information: how many tests are being conducted by age group.

In the earliest days of the outbreak, community testing was only available to healthcare workers and first responders showing symptoms. By late March it was available to anyone showing symptoms, but it wasnt until late April that symptom-free walk-up tests were available to anyone who wanted one.

The difficulty in getting tests early in the pandemic meant that older people  who were more likely to be seriously ill  were also more likely to get tested and confirmed. And since many people with COVID-19 show few or no symptoms, many people with mild cases were unlikely to have confirmed cases early in the pandemic.

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John Bel Edwards' staff member confirms coronavirus diagnosis, urges young people to 'do more' A State Capitol communications specialist for Gov. John Bel Edwards identified himself Thursday night as the staff member who tested positive 

Testing has skyrocketed since then with Louisiana reporting nearly as many tests in June as the state reported in March, April, and May combined.

Therefore, it is possible that a similar number of young people are being infected now as early in the outbreak, only now more of them are getting tested.

What we really need to know  but lack data on  is the age of people getting tests over time. If people under 30 are being tested today at the same rate today as they were in May then we are seeing a legitimate trend of rising cases in young people. Otherwise, we might just be seeing a trend of more people under 30 being tested

It is also important to remember that while reported cases for people under 30 are growing, reported cases for people above 30 are growing as well.

The number of new cases reported between June 30 and July 6 was the highest number reported statewide since April, but while cases are increasing, the share of all cases that are under 30 is dropping slightly. The percent of all cases featuring somebody under 30 fell from 46% between June 20 and 26 to 43% between June 30 and July 6.

All this is not to say that increasing coronavirus cases in younger people is not contributing to the second wave we are currently experiencing in Louisiana. There have been reports of super-spreader events mainly involving young people at high school graduation parties and college bars. Its also plausible that young people may be more driven to take advantage of the relatively widespread availability of testing for a variety of reasons  such as if they were more likely to be out protesting or are less likely to be working from home.

Ultimately, it is not possible right now to say with confidence whether the rise in reported cases among young people is because more young people are getting sick or more young people are getting tested.

My best guess is its some combination of the two.
People could confuse the group as being part of the government, though, because its cards include the seal of the U.S. Department of Justice. The cards threaten that any business or organization that refuses to allow the card bearer to enter without a mask, and without questions, could be fined.
Reports of Tulane University students partying in large groups over the Fourth of July weekend reached the dean of students, who issued a stern warning Tuesday.

"Do not host parties or gatherings with more than 15 people, including the host," Tulane Dean of Students Erica Woodley wrote in all capital letters in a mass email. "If you do, you will face suspension or expulsion from the university."

The partying came amid a statewide increase in diagnosed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

Coronavirus in Louisiana: 2,000+ more cases reported; hospitalizations surpass 1,000 The Louisiana Dept. of Health reported 2,040 more coronavirus cases, 23 more deaths and 61 more hospitalizations in its daily noon update Tuesday.

Woodley described the reported parties as disruptive, disrespectful, selfish, dangerous, indefensible and truly shameful. She wrote in the campus-wide email that the behavior is "not in line with Tulane values."

According to the email, students living in New Orleans hosted large gatherings without masks or social distancing over the holiday weekend and then posted about them on social media. The gatherings drew attention from neighbors.

"The actions of the individuals over the weekend were very publicly disrespectful to the Tulane University community and to the people of New Orleans, and have the potential to undermine our significant progress against this deadly disease," Woodley wrote.

+5 Are more young people in Louisiana catching coronavirus? The answer is complicated. Louisiana is entering what could reasonably be called the second wave of COVID-19. This disease has claimed the lives of over 3,100 Louisiania

University officials are finalizing an enforcement plan for the fall semester, according to Woodley, but "it is clear that this message had to be delivered immediately."

Woodley mentioned that the weekend partying came after super-spreader events gained attention across Louisiana.

In Baton Rouge, dozens of people tested positive for coronavirus after attending Tigerland bars near LSU's campus.

Coronavirus outbreak: Louisiana traces hundreds of cases to bars, more than 100 from Tigerland The Louisiana Department of Health has traced at least 230 cases of the coronavirus to bars across the state, including the more than 100 case

In New Orleans, a separate group became infected after attending graduation parties.

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Students and community members are able to "problematic behavior" in real time to the Tulane University Police Department at (504) 865-5381 or online.

Read the full email below:

Dear Student,

Over the weekend, in spite of our pleas to the contrary, many of our students living in New Orleans chose to have parties and large gatherings where social distancing wasn't being practiced and face masks weren't being worn. They then saw fit to post this all-over social media. This comes on the heels of national news attention about super spreader events. These events were disruptive to our neighbors and drew a lot of very negative attention to Tulane. The behaviors of the student hosts and those who chose to attend these parties was disrespectful, selfish and dangerous and not in line with Tulane values. This type of behavior is indefensible and truly shameful.

For those of you who are returning students, as you know, we are incredibly lucky that Tulane is in a city that is unlike any in the country, a city where culture and community matter and one that honors difference. After an initial surge of infections, the citizens of New Orleans came together to flatten the curve of this pandemic and reduce infections to a rate that allowed for our city to begin reopening. The actions of the individuals over the weekend were very publicly disrespectful to the Tulane University community and to the people of New Orleans, and have the potential to undermine our significant progress against this deadly disease.

The calculation is simple - If you want to have a residential experience at Tulane in the fall, you have to behave differently. This means, no large gatherings (+15 people), and at all times wearing masks in public spaces, practicing social distancing and washing your hands. We are finishing our complete enforcement plan for the fall, but it is clear that this message had to be delivered immediately. DO NOT HOST PARTIES OR GATHERINGS WITH MORE THAN 15 PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE HOST. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL FACE SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION FROM THE UNIVERSITY. All gatherings, of any size, must observe appropriate social distancing and attendees should wear masks. There is no room for error here. Peoples lives depend on your adherence to these rules. They aren't just nameless, faceless people  they are our people.

So please, make decisions with this in mind. We understand that it requires a different way of thinking about and approaching life  but we believe our students are conscientious enough and mature enough to adhere to the public health expectations of Tulane and the City of New Orleans. If we didn't, we would not be reopening. We need everyone's help to have a safe fall. Hold your friends and peers accountable and reach out when you need help with that. You can report problematic behavior by using our online report system. These reports are received in real time. You can also call the Tulane University Police at 504-865-5381.

Do you really want to be the reason that Tulane and New Orleans have to shut down again?

Erica Woodley

Dean of Students
The widow of a sea captain who died after contracting the coronavirus is suing the Lafayette-based owner of the vessel her husband was working on at the time, alleging the company's negligence in sending a co-worker to New Orleans amid the pandemic led to his death.

The case has been brought in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans under maritime law, specifically the 1920 Jones Act, which gives seamen who are not eligible for traditional federal worker's compensation some protection for the unique risks they face aboard vessels.

Kathy Norwood, whose husband Michael Norwood died of COVID-19 in a Mobile, Alabama, hospital in April, alleges that the owners of Rodi Marine LLC negligently exposed him to the virus while he was working on one of their offshore oil industry support vessels while in port in Mobile's Austal marine facility.

Three Rodi employees were working on the vessel in the Mobile shipyard, including Norwood, who is a licensed captain, and another vessel captain named John Reed. The third employee, a deckhand, wasn't named. According to the lawsuit, in late March, Rodi instructed Reed to travel to New Orleans "to perform vessel captain services" for the company. He returned to the vessel in Mobile and a few days later and after working several days there, he showed symptoms and was diagnosed with COVID-19, the suit alleges. Norwood then allegedly caught the virus from Reed and died.

Norwood's attorney, Paul Sterbcow, alleges that Reed was sent at a time when New Orleans was already known to be a coronavirus "hot spot" and after Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards had begun to shut down public gatherings and workplaces.

"Rodi had a duty under the Jones Act to provide a safe place to work and that means a boat that is not infected with a virus," said Sterbcow. "Either Rodi didnt take the steps necessary to uphold their duty or Reed, a captain and an employee of Rodi, violated whatever protocol they had."

Rodi's owners, Wade Guillory or Jody Jarrell, didn't respond to requests for comment. Their attorney, Kent Morrison, declined to comment.

While there are other civil cases where passengers are suing cruise ship operators for exposing them to the virus, Grady Hurley, a maritime lawyer at Jones Walker in New Orleans, said the Norwood case appears to be the first in the country to allege negligence under the Jones Act for death or injury of a maritime worker arising from the pandemic.

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"The case is interesting in that it is the first evoking COVID and the court will probably look at what should have been known under the circumstances and what reasonable precautions should have been taken," said Hurley, who is not involved in the case but has written on it for the National Law Review.

Hurley said that Rodi and its lawyers likely will look to whether the information from sources like the Coast Guard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other had issued specific guidelines and protocol about how seamen and other maritime workers should protect against the virus.

Norwood was 63 and had diabetes, which put him at particularly high risk, Sterbcow said.

"He had a big bullseye on his back," he said.

"The thing about the Jones Act and death claims is that they're not worth that much," said Arthur Crais, a maritime law professor at Loyola University. Unlike other negligence cases, say in other land-based employment or due to a car accident, plaintiffs in these maritime cases can only seek medical expenses and loss of income, or what are known as "pecuniary damages."

"It's an anachronism," said Crais, who added that it would take new legislation to fix after a Supreme Court decision upholding the law as it stands.

The Louisiana federal court is the country's most important for maritime law, hearing more cases than any other, Crais said. While the Norwood case might set a precedent for the care expected of maritime employers during a pandemic, Crais said he thinks it is unlikely that Norwood's lawyer will try to set another precedent by seeking punitive damages in the case.
A 27-year-old man who was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands was booked into the St. Tammany Parish jail Monday on charges of rape and sexual assault of a minor, according to Louisiana State Police.

Joseph William Haidler traveled to St. Tammany Parish in December of 2019, according to a news release, and on at least two occasions, using an alias, solicited an underage girl for sexual acts, photographs and video using a popular social media application.

Haidler is accused of picking up the victim from her home and taking her to a nearby location where he raped her.

Troopers from the State Police Special Victims Unit in New Orleans began an investigation in May. They obtained an arrest warrant for Haidler in St. Tammany Parish, and the U.S. Marshals Service, with the assistance of local law enforcement in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, arrested him in early June.

He was extradited from the St. Thomas Bureau of Corrections to Covington, where he was booked into St. Tammany Parish Jail on two counts each of trafficking of a child for sexual purposes, third-degree rape, aggravated kidnapping and computer-aided solicitation of a minor.
After more than a decade of pressure from environmental groups, federal wildlife managers have agreed to consider whether rare freshwater turtles found only in Louisiana and Mississippi should receive endangered species protections.

Pearl River and Pascagoula map turtles are at risk of extinction, say the Center for Biological Diversity and Healthy Gulf, two groups that sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in January to compel the agency to list the turtles under the Endangered Species Act, a landmark environmental law credited with saving the bald eagle and American alligator, among other species.

In an agreement that resolved the lawsuit on Thursday, July 2, Fish and Wildlife promised to determine the turtles protected status by Oct. 29, 2021.

The center and other environmental groups first petitioned for the turtles endangered protection in 2010.

Jason Totoiu, a lawyer for the center, said the turtles need help to live through the havoc were wreaking on rivers.

Also known as sawbacks for the ridges topping their shells, the turtles have suffered habitat loss from channel filling, dredging and the clearing of sandbanks and fallen trees. The turtles are collected for the pet trade, hunted for Asian food and medicinal markets, and are sometimes a target for gun enthusiasts, according to the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

A key threat for the Pearl River map turtle is the One Lake flood control project on the Pearl River near Jackson, Mississippi, said Andrew Whitehurst, Healthy Gulfs water program manager.

The Pearl River map turtle needs all the help it can get, so its good that the listing determination will proceed, he said.

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About 10 miles of the turtles habitat are in an area the One Lake project intends to dredge, dam and essentially turn into a 1,500-acre lake. The Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating the projects environmental impacts. Listing the turtles as an endangered species could halt or alter the project.

One Lakes supporters say the project is vital to protecting homes and businesses from flooding. But detractors, including some in St. Tammany Parish, fear the project could harm the lower reaches of the river and imperil other threatened species, including the sturgeon and mussels.

Theres some debate over whether the turtles are two separate species or whether theyre variations of another turtle species. According to the center, recent studies define the Pearl River and Pascagoula map turtles as distinct species.

Pearl River map turtles can live for 30 years and are found only in the creeks and rivers of the Pearl River drainage area in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Pascagoula map turtle has a small range in the Pascagoula river system in Mississippi.

The turtles, which can live 30 years, are considered some of the least-studied reptiles in North America.

The Pearl River population appears to have fallen below other turtle species protected by the ESA. According to a 2016 report by the U.S. Geological Survey, the ESA-listed ringed map turtle was more abundant than the Pearl River map turtle.

Very little is known about the natural history and ecology of the species, which will make conservation efforts challenging, the USGS report said.
North Augusta, SC (29841)

Today

Thunderstorms. High around 80F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 68F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
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Williamsport -- The Lycoming County United Ways mission is to mobilize the collective resources of our communities to change lives by fighting for the health, education, financial stability, and basic needs of every person in every community.

In simplest terms, they partner with community agencies who offer a service, help to link the agency with the individuals who are in need, and develop resources to ensure critical programs are funded.

As a result of a strong working partnership with United Way of Pennsylvania (UWP), the Lycoming County United Way (LCUW) was a successful sub-recipient of a $170,000 grant for 49,000 new books from First Books OMG Books Awards: Offering More Great Books to Spark Innovation.

Lycoming County United Way received $6,300 which allowed for the purchase of approximately 1,500 books for distribution to our community partners in Lycoming, Sullivan, and Tioga Counties.

After a successful launch of our efforts in February, we thought what better way to continue to spread the love of reading and find ways to reduce or prevent 'summer slide' than to focus this summer on getting more books into the hands of kids in our communities, stated Melyssa McHale, Resource Development Manager at the LCUW, and the staff member spearheading this project.

In addition to partnering with the Kiwanis Club of Williamsport to get books into a few local laundromats, the LCUW team is attending the City of Williamsports Summer Lunch Program at Brandon and Shaw Park, as well as locations including Family Promise, Firetree Place, Nurse Family Partnership, Saving Grace Shelter, and Sojourner Truth Ministries to distribute more of the books.

This is in addition to the initial spread the love initiative involving Mayor Derek Slaughter and United Way staff members reading to kids at Head Start and the River Valley Regional YMCA Childcare program.

Ronald Frick, President of LCUW, Alison Cleary, Community Impact Manager, Melyssa McHale, Resource Development Manager, and Corinne Stammel-Demmien, Resource Development Manager will participate in the book giveaways.

Distribution is currently scheduled to take place at the following places and times:

Tuesday, July 7: Brandon Park, from noon to 2 p.m.

Thursday, July 9: Shaw Park, from noon to 2 p.m.

We are thrilled to have access to the First Books OMG Books funding that has provided hundreds of books to kids across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Our partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and advocacy efforts around education are making it possible for us to leverage resources to help kids in our communities fall in love with reading, said Ron Frick, President of the Lycoming County United Way. Many of the kids receiving these books are kids most susceptible to falling behind during a normal summer and with the recent disruption caused by COVID-19, this becomes an even more important initiative, continued Frick.

Your annual ongoing investment in the Lycoming County United Way is helping support critical programs in Lycoming, Sullivan and Tioga Counties making it possible for those in need to have access to services. In addition to your financial support, volunteers and those advocating on behalf of the United Way are making a difference.

For further information on volunteering with the United Way, please contact Melyssa McHale at (570) 666-4379.

General questions regarding the Lycoming County United Way can be directed to Ron Frick, President at (570) 666-4382 or rfrick@lcuw.org.

To invest in the Lycoming County United Way, visit us at www.lcuw.org and click the orange GIVE button or text LIVE UNITED to 50155.
Lock Haven, Pa. - Mikhail T. Handy, 46, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to state prison for a maximum term of 168 months, with parole eligibility after 66 months for felony drug deliveries in Clinton County in November of 2019 and January of 2020.

On Monday, Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse outlined Handys significant criminal history for the Court, including his multiple prior drug convictions and state prison sentences, and asked President Judge Craig P. Miller to sentence Handy to a lengthy period of state incarceration.

Addressing the Court, Handy asked to be allowed to serve his sentences concurrently, expressing his intention to return home with his wife and children.

Handy was arrested following a Pennsylvania State Police Vice Unit investigation that involved the use of confidential informants making controlled buys from Handy in the Lock Haven area over the course of several months.

In November of 2019, Handy sold approximately 6 grams of crack cocaine to a confidential informant for $500.00 in the parking lot of the Lock Haven Weis

store. In January of 2020, Handy delivered another 7 grams of crack cocaine to a confidential informant for $600.00 inside the Sheetz store in Bald Eagle Township.

President Judge Craig P. Miller cited Handys extensive criminal record and prior state incarceration as a basis to impose sentences consecutively on 2 counts of Deliver of a controlled substance and 2 counts of Criminal Use of a Communication Facility.

Handy will also have to serve an additional period of incarceration for violating his State Parole.
(File photo/Xinhua)

With COVID-19 cases rising across the United States, US President Donald Trump is downplaying the threat of the coronavirus even as a top Trump administration health official on Sunday cast doubt on the safety of holding the Republican National Convention, or RNC, in Jacksonville, Florida, next month.

Florida reported 9,999 new infections on Sunday afternoon, taking the state's total number of cases to 200,111, according to the Florida Department of Health website.

Florida reported eight new deaths on Sunday; some 3,731 people have died of COVID-19 in the state so far.

This news came a day after state officials announced 11,445 new daily cases in Floridaan all-time high.

Speaking on CNN, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn refused to confirm Trump's claim on Saturday that"99 percent" of cases were "totally harmless", calling the COVID-19 situation a "serious problem".

With record numbers of people testing positive for the virus in Jacksonville and across Florida, Hahn was asked if it would be safe to hold the typically large political gathering in just seven weeks.

"I think it's too early to tell," Hahn told CNN. "We will have to see how this unfolds in Florida and elsewhere around the country."

Hahn, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, was asked to comment on his boss' statement made during the Fourth of July speech at the White House.

"I'm not going to get into who is right and who is wrong," he said. "It's a serious problem that we have. We have seen the surge in cases. We must do something to stem the tide."

The Republican Party moved most of the RNC's activities to Jacksonville from Charlotte, North Carolina, last month after a battle over coronavirus safety concerns with that state's Democratic governor.

Trump enjoys seeing large crowds at his rallies, but he has not embraced masks or social distancing measures at campaign events held since the country began reopening from the coronavirus shutdown. On Wednesday he endorsed mask wearing despite resisting wearing one himself in public.

"I'm all for masks. I think masks are good," Trump told Fox Business News.

Further spike

Coronavirus cases rose in 39 states, casting a shadow over the nation's Independence Day celebrations. Ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, public health experts warned that holiday parties could cause further spikes in infections that could overwhelm hospitals.

In the first four days of July alone, 15 states have reported record increases in new cases. There are more than 2.8 million cases with at least 129,900 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

Florida's cases have risen by over 10,000 for three of the past four days. Cases are also soaring in Arizona, California and Texas and trending upward in Midwestern states that once had infections declining, such as Iowa, Ohio and Michigan, according to a Reuters analysis.

"We opened way too early in Arizona," Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said on Sunday.

She said the city was in a "crisis related to testing", with people waiting in eight-hour lines in their cars to find out if they were infected.

Reuters contributed to this story.
We, the citizens, want to be in the room where it happens, when the legislative maps are redrawn after the census. But right now, only five people will be in that room, and you can bet they have their own interests in mind, not ours.
Montoursville  Pennsylvania State Police at Montoursville are seeking information on a lost firearm.

Police received a report of a lost firearm on June 14 from a Montoursville Borough resident on Sterling Drive. The firearm is a black Smith and Wesson semi-automatic handgun with serial number HPM2933. The firearm went missing when the owner moved from California to Pennsylvania.

Anyone with information is asked to contact PSP Montoursville at 570 368-5700.
Muncy, Pa.  A woman at the State Correctional Institute at Muncy has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) website. The statistic showed up on the site as of Thursday, July 2.

Maria Finn, Press Secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, said inmates who test positive with symptoms are put in isolation for at least 14 days. The inmate must be in isolation until they meet three conditions. Those conditions are: they must have at least three days with no fever and no medication; symptoms are improving consistently; and 14 days since the first symptoms appeared.

If an inmate tests positive without symptoms or is asymptomatic, they must be in isolation for 14 days which is the entire incubation period for COVID-19, according to Finn.

According to the DOC website, 276 women incarcerated at SCI-Muncy had negative test results. Nineteen staff members were tested and had negative results. Two staff members results are pending. The numbers from staff are self-reported, according to the website. There are currently 562 staff members at SCI-Muncy. SCI-Muncys total population as of July 6 was 1,123.

Pennsylvania state prisons have been under restrictions since March, when visitation was suspended. Inmates were quarantined in their cells. SCI-Muncy went into a less restrictive phase in June, when groups of 50 or less inmates were allowed to congregate in the dining room, chapel and other common areas with social distancing in place. Cosmetology services also were permitted to resume in this phase.

A representative from SCI-Muncy did not immediately return a request for comment.
Loyalsock -- Carl E. Fenstermacher, of Loyalsock Township (Former South Williamsport Resident) died Monday July 6, 2020 at the Gatehouse.

He was born December 14, 1931 in Williamsport, the Son of Milton J. and Clara M. (Marshall) Fenstermacher. He retired from the former Stroehmann Bros. Bakery in Williamsport, where he was employed for 25 years. He was a member of Messiah Lutheran Church in S. Williamsport for over 72 years, having served many years as a Choir member and Council member. He also served as Assistant Scout Master and Post Advisor for the Messiah Scout and Explorer groups. He graduated from the S. Williamsport High School (Class of 1950) and attended the Penn State University main campus and the Williamsport Community College.

He was married in 1952 to the former Betty L. Gehret of Williamsport; they celebrated 68 years of marriage on June 28, 2020. They have three Daughters, Debra L. Day (Thad), Carol A. Andrus (Bill) and Linda M. Bruce (Bob) all living in Williamsport.

A Mason since 1984, he was a member and Past Master of Masonic Lodge # 106 in Williamsport, where he served on the Masonic Temple Association for many years. He was a Past High Priest of Lycoming Royal Arch Chapter No. 222, a Past Thrice Illustrious Master of Adoniram Council No. 26, of Williamsport, receiving the Order of the Silver Trowel and served as former District Deputy Grand Master of The Grand Council of Royal & Select Master Masons of Pa. Also he was a member and Past Commander of Baldwin II Commandery No. 22 of Williamsport, receiving the Order of the Preceptor and Illustrious Knight of The Triangle. He also was a member, Past President and Secretary of the Howard Club of Knights Templar in Williamsport.

A member and Past Governor of Pa. York Rite College No. II, he received the Order of the Purple Cross and was a long time member of the degree team. He was a past member of the Zafar Grotto in S. Williamsport. A member of the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Susquehanna Forest No 199, he also had served on the Grand Fraternal Relations committee for several years. He was also a member and Past Sovereign Master of The Susquehanna Council No. 244, Allied Masonic Degrees in Williamsport. He was a member and Past Puissant Sovereign of the Williamsport Chapter of the Knights of the Red Cross of Constantine, and served on the degree team also. He was a member of the Scottish Rite, Valley of Williamsport, having served as Thrice Potent Master of the Lodge of Perfection, Membership Committee Chairman, and Assistant Chairman of the Wardrobe committee for many years and was Coroneted a Thirty Third Degree Mason in 2010 in Philadelphia. In 2019 the Valley honored Carl by naming the Spring Class after him. He was also a member of Penn Priory No.6, of the Knights of the York Cross of Honor.

He was a life member of the First Ward Fire Company having served for over 67 years. He served as a fireman, equipment driver and eventually as Chief. As a member he also served as the Representative to the West Branch Firemen's Association and the Williamsport Ambulance Association.

Surviving besides his wife and daughters are five grandchildren, Michael (Victoria) Bennett, Timothy(Jessica) Bennett, Sandra (Aaron) Willard, Nancy Kinney (Jacob Brown) and Seth (Kimberly) Day; nine great grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents he was predeceased in death by a sister Ann M. Schwanger.

A visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 9, with a Masonic service being held at 6 p.m. at Sanders Mortuary, 821 Diamond Street, Williamsport. Proper social distancing and adhering to CDC and state guidelines will be encouraged.

A celebration of Carl's life will be held privately at the Messiah Lutheran Church and a public memorial service will be announced at a later date. Burial will be held at the convenience of the family at Pleasant Hills Cemetery, Hughesville.

The family will provide flowers and ask that memorial contributions in Carls name may be made to the Messiah Lutheran Church, Capital Campaign, 324 Howard St., S. Williamsport, Pa. 17702

Online condolences may be made at www.SandersMortuary.com.

To plant a tree in memory of Carl Fenstermacher as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.




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Rome, GA (30161)

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Thunderstorms during the morning hours, then skies turning partly cloudy during the afternoon. High 81F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

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Clear skies. Low 57F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
A leak has confirmed that Xiaomi has a new family of devices in development, codenamed Gauguin. Apparently sporting 64 MP and 108 MP rear-facing cameras, the Gauguin and Gauguin Pro also have Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs. The specifications of the Gauguin family seemingly line-up with the Redmi K40 and Redmi K40 Pro, which are due to arrive in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 respectively.

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Xiaomi is apparently not only working on a device called the Redmi K30 Ultra, but also two smartphones codenamed Gauguin and Gaugin Pro. Revealed by XDA Developers courtesy of XDA Member kacskrz and XDA Senior Member Deic, the references to these codenames were spotted several times in MIUI 12 code.

According to the website, Gauguin and Gauguin Pro may be marketed under the same name, as Xiaomi does with devices like the Redmi K30 and Redmi K30 Pro. One of the ways that Xiaomi will distinguish the two devices is by their primary rear-facing cameras. XDA Developers states that Gauguin will feature a 64 MP sensor, whereas Gauguin Pro will have a 108 MP one instead. There is no word on the specific sensors being used though, for reference. Additionally, the website claims that there are references to China, Global and India versions of the Gauguin family.

These devices are supposedly based on Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs, meaning that they are unrelated to the MediaTek-powered Redmi K30 Ultra on which we reported last week. Digital Chat Station has corroborated XDA Developer's findings, although they have stated that Xiaomi may release regional variants with different specifications.
Advertised as "the only app to download MIUI 13 on your device" and apparently updated on June 23, the app created by Madhav Developers looks like a piece of code  possibly malignant  that should not have been allowed on Google Play. However, one thing is certain - MIUI 13 is not available for the public yet.

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A few months ago, some rumors concerning the development of MIUI 13 surfaced online. However, it seems they were only rumors and nothing's official yet, although it is rather safe to assume that Xiaomi will release the successor to MIUI 12 next year. Starting with MIUI 5, which was released back in March 2013, Xiaomi came up with a new major update for its Android-based operating system each year, although some versions took more than 12 months to come out and others  such as MIUI 12, which arrived in less than 7 months.

An app that surfaced on Google Play at the end of June claims to provide access to MIUI 13 and we strongly advise you not to fall for it. Released by Madhav Developers, a company that only has a Gmail address and a website under construction, MIUI 13 Update Download (Early Access) seems more like a placeholder for ads, nothing more.

Until now, the app has been installed by over 100 people but has no reviews or ratings so far. It is simply amazing how both Google and Xiaomi missed its existence and allowed it to stay on Google Play so far. The screenshots on the Google Play page of the app show what appear to be links to MIUI 12 builds  for example, the so-called "MIUI 13" for the Xiaomi Mi 9 SE OTA download screenshot shows 20.4.27 as its build number, which is a rather old MIUI 12 beta (more details about older MIUI 12 beta builds can be found on this page).

Madhav Developers also has an app called MIUI Custom ROM on Google Play, which seems to be nothing more but a ROM library-style app that provides links to various ROMs for Xiaomi handsets, including Resurrection Remix, LineageOS, RevengeOS, and so on.
Also in District Court Monday, Erick J. Coffey, 45, pleaded not guilty to three felony counts from an incident May 2 in which he struck a man with his Chevrolet pickup truck on the Newberry access and then left the scene.

Coffey pleaded not guilty to use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, first-degree assault, and failure to stop and render aid with no serious injury.

The man who was hit sustained a broken left shoulder and rib injuries, according to court documents. He also had abrasions on his face, knees and hands. Witnesses estimated that Coffey was going around 40 mph when he hit the man. According to court documents, Coffey wanted to confront him because he allegedly stole $1,800 from Coffey the previous week.

Coffey also pleaded not guilty to possession of methamphetamine from a Dec. 25 incident.

A status hearing for both cases was scheduled for Sept. 14.

In other court proceedings Monday (parties are all from North Platte unless noted):

 Fernando J. Vences, 38, admitted to violating conditions for his 24-month probation that stems from an initial conviction of driving under the influence  third offense on June 30, 2018.
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At least some afternoon campers and day users appeared to be heeding COVID-19 health warnings to stay in family groups and maintain safe distances between groups.

Nonetheless, there were suspected cases of COVID at the lake this weekend, Keystone-Lemoyne volunteer Fire Chief Ralph Moul wrote Sunday evening on his departments Facebook page.

Law enforcement and first-responder reports suggested a decline in the rowdiness that marred 2019s Fourth of July period and prompted a full prohibition of alcohol consumption and possession in Game and Parks-controlled areas.

Fireworks going awry sparked two limited grass fires late Friday, Moul said. One was reported at 10:48 p.m. MT near the west entrance to Lake Ogallala below the dam, with the other called in at 11:15 p.m. near North Shore Lodge.

Two men, ages 60 and 48, got into a fight and injured each other about 6:30 a.m. MT Saturday. They had to be taken with UTVs from Martin Bay to a nearby ambulance, Moul said.

A 3-year-old boy suffered minor injuries, the chief added, after being struck by a hit-and-run vehicle about 2:15 p.m. Saturday at the main Martin Bay entrance. He was taken to Ogallala Community Hospital.
Keokuk, IA (52632)

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Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 79F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

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Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 64F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
Millie Andrews, owner of Alterations by Millie, stocks her curbside mask display outside her shop on East Jackson Street in Front Royal on Monday. Andrews says she and her staff have made thousands of masks since March. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends cloth face coverings to help prevent those who have COVID-19 from spreading it to other people.
Two additional Lake County residents were reported dead due to COVID-19 Tuesday after a three-day period of no new virus-related deaths in the Region.

Death totals stood at 244 for Lake County, 37 for Porter County, 26 for LaPorte County, 10 for Newton County and two for Jasper County, the Indiana State Department of Health and local health departments reported.

There were 19 additional fatalities across the state, bringing the death total to 2,524. New deaths were reported between June 26 and Monday, the state health department said. All data were provisional and subject to change as more information is reported to the state.

ISDH listed another 193 deaths as probable, meaning there was no positive test on record but a physician listed COVID-19 as a contributing cause, based on X-rays, scans and other clinical symptoms. One of the deaths in Porter County's total was probable, county officials said.

Lake County had 34 new coronavirus cases since Monday, bringing the county's total to 5,212. Porter County added four cases, bringing its total to 769. LaPorte County subtracted one for a total of 579, the state reported.

Jasper and Newton counties saw no additional cases Monday, leaving their totals at 121 and 98, respectively.
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.
The human remains were found near the Leon River in Bell County, about 20 miles east of Fort Hood.

Natalie Khawam, the attorney representing the Guillen family, said Army officials told the family it took longer to identify the remains because Guillen was bludgeoned so terribly that they were unable to use dental records.

Her mom is distraught that they cant even bury her body because there are only fragments, Khawam said.

Guillen's family has said that they believe she was sexually harassed by Robinson and is calling for a congressional investigation. Army investigators said last week that they had no credible evidence that Guillen had been sexually harassed or assaulted.

Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, including Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, of New York, said Monday that they had requested a briefing on the Army's response and investigation into Guillen's disappearance.
"We are very thankful for the relentless effort Attorney General Curtis Hill has given to defending Indiana's pro-life laws in the courts," Fichter said.

Meanwhile, the Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged both laws on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK), the state's leading abortion provider, said politicians pursuing an anti-abortion agenda should keep out of private health care decisions.

"The lower courts have blocked these restrictions at every turn because of the unconstitutional burdens the laws would put on patients' access to an abortion," said Ken Falk, ACLU legal director.

"All Hoosiers, including members of the General Assembly, should know that we will continue to fight these unconstitutional attacks in Indiana to ensure access to reproductive care."

PPINK CEO Chris Charbonneau said she was disappointed the 7th Circuit has been asked to reconsider its earlier rulings.
INDIANAPOLIS  A Black man says a group of white men assaulted him and threatened to get a noose after claiming that he and his friends had trespassed on private property as they gathered at an Indiana lake over the Fourth of July weekend.

Vauhxx Booker, a local civil rights activist and member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, posted cellphone video on Facebook that shows part of the altercation. He said he called 911 Saturday after the men assaulted him and pinned him to a tree at Lake Monroe, south of Booker's hometown of Bloomington.

Law enforcement officers with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources responded and are investigating, said Capt. Jet Quillen. A final report will be forwarded to the Monroe County Prosecutors Office, Quillen continued, providing no other details about what happened or whether any arrests have been made.

The Monroe County Prosecutors Office did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment.
This interview includes spoilers for the fourth and fifth episodes of I May Destroy You.

In a show that confronts viewers again and again with raw depictions of events theyre unlikely to have seen on television, the sexual assault of a young man in the fourth episode of I May Destroy You stands out as an especially searing moment.

The show  created by and starring Michaela Coel, and aired on HBO in the United States  is billed as exploring the issue of consent and the impact of sexual assault on a female writer who lives in London. As the woman, Arabella (played by Coel), pieces together what happened on a night that someone spiked her drink and then reports the rape to the police in the first few episodes, her best friend, Kwame (Paapa Essiedu), is by her side.

Then, in the fourth episode, Kwame experiences his own trauma. Through an app, he finds a man who can host a date with him and Damon (Fehinti Balogun), who wants to explore his sexuality. But after consensual sex, the man who is hosting assaults Kwame.
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, the statement added. The suspension of data reviews also applies to the messaging app WhatsApp, the company said.

On Monday, a Google spokesman said the company had paused processing data requests from the Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday, and Twitter said it had also stopped processing the requests. Telegram, a messaging app popular with Hong Kongs protesters, said on Sunday that it would suspend the provision of user data until a consensus was reached on the new law. Telegram has offices in the Middle East and Europe.

Some people in Hong Kong reported being unable to download the TikTok app on Tuesday.

The national security law, adopted in part to quash the antigovernment demonstrations that have smoldered in Hong Kong for more than a year, was introduced last week on the anniversary of the citys return to Chinese control. Though officials insist that the sweeping and punitive new rules will affect only a small number of offenders, many worry that it will be used to widely curb dissent in Hong Kong, which, unlike mainland China, continues to have an array of civil liberties.

Riva Sciuto, a Google spokeswoman, said, Last Wednesday, when the law took effect, we paused production on any new data requests from Hong Kong authorities, and well continue to review the details of the new law.

The law has already cast a pall over the citys internet. Seeking safer ways to communicate, legions have downloaded the encrypted messaging app Signal, pushing it to the top of the list of app store downloads. Others, fearing prosecution for speech crimes, have deleted online posts, likes and even whole accounts.

The new rules announced by Hong Kong on Monday made clearer how the law would apply to online discussion.

The government said that if an internet company failed to comply with a court order to turn over data in cases related to national security, it could be fined almost $13,000 and an employee could face six months in prison. If a person is ordered to remove a post and he or she refuses, that person can face a jail sentence of one year. A separate provision also gave the police wide powers to order the deletion of internet posts that threaten national security. How widely the rules will be enforced remains unclear.
We are too fragmented, said Dr. Michael Mina, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvards T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We dont have a good way to load-balance the system.

Testing delays and shortages have increasingly become a problem in Texas, where cases are surging.

Cities like San Antonio and Austin have reverted to testing only those who are showing symptoms as a way to manage the demand and a backlog of tests.

Were now focused on the highest priorities, Mayor Steve Adler of Austin said on Monday.

Mr. Adler, a Democrat, said the testing crunch was the result of the demand for tests statewide, brought on by the uptick in coronavirus cases after Texas reopened in fast-moving phases starting on May 1. He attributed the problem in large part to a backlog at laboratories; in some cases, test results take four to six days, far longer than the 24 hours health experts recommend to most effectively isolate the ill and track people they have had contact with.

Local officials in Austin had not relied on the state when it came to testing for the most part, the mayor said. And without a national testing program, he said, city and county officials had to fend for themselves in the private market.

Maybe in retrospect if we had thought about this a half-year ago, we would have set up our own testing capacity, Mr. Adler said. I dont know what else wed do. We were out competing for tests. We were blocking up as many tests as we could block up on the market.

Mr. Adler said the testing system needed to be federalized, so that Austin and other cities would not have to compete for testing labs and supplies with other cities and other states.

The problem extends far beyond Texas and Arizona, among the hot spots that have led the country in rising cases in recent weeks.
This pandemic is among the worst crises ever to hit Princeton, or college education more broadly, Christopher L. Eisgruber, president of Princeton, said in his reopening announcement. Princetons preferred model of education emphasizes in-person engagement, but in-person engagement is what spreads this terrible virus.

Princeton is one of the few universities that has said it would offer a tuition discount this fall because of the limitations. Students, whether on campus or learning remotely, will be charged 10 percent less  $48,501 for the coming year, instead of $53,890, according to a spokesman, Ben Chang. It was unclear how students receiving financial aid  who account for more than 60 percent of undergraduates  would be affected.

Princeton said it was instituting the policy because most undergraduates would be on campus only half the year  freshmen and juniors in the fall, sophomores and seniors in the spring.

Harvard University announced on Monday that no more than 40 percent of its undergraduates would be allowed on campus at a time during the next academic year, but that tuition would remain the same. All first-year students would be allowed in the fall semester, along with some students in other years whose home environments are not conducive to learning; the freshmen would leave in the spring to make space for seniors to finish and graduate on campus.

At Harvard, all classes will be held online, even for students living on campus. While it is not discounting its tuition and fees  about $54,000 for the year  the university said it would offer a summer term next year of two tuition-free courses for all students who had to study away from campus for the full academic year.

Cutting down the number of students on campus will allow many colleges to offer everyone a single or double dormitory bedroom. Students are being told they will have to eat takeout meals from dining halls in their rooms, or perhaps make a reservation to eat.

Many universities are requiring behavioral contracts in which students agree to wear face masks in public, to be tested regularly for the coronavirus, and to limit travel and socializing. If they break the rules, they can be disciplined.
To some extent, Mr. Huntsmans loss was surprising given his political history: He was one of the most popular governors in the country when he left office. But he is also a moderate Republican who served as ambassador to China under Mr. Obama in addition to his posts in Republican administrations, and moderation and bipartisanship have not tended to play well in Republican primaries in the age of President Trump.

He also served as ambassador to Russia under Mr. Trump before resigning in August.

Mr. Huntsman ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 and placed third in the New Hampshire primary, but ended his campaign before the South Carolina primary and endorsed Mitt Romney. Mr. Romney lost in the general election but made his own political comeback in Utah, which elected him to the Senate in 2018.
Supporters of the compact see it as a way to functionally abolish the Electoral College without going through the extraordinarily difficult process of amending the Constitution to abolish it formally.

So if the Supreme Court has confirmed that electors can be required to vote in accordance with their states popular vote, does that mean they can also be required to vote in accordance with the national popular vote? Did proponents of a national popular vote just get a hidden victory?

In a word, no  but there could be some subtle benefits for them.

The kind of challenges that would be mounted against the National Popular Vote Compact involve different legal questions, said Richard L. Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine.

Those challenges would probably relate to the Compact Clause of the Constitution, which says in part that states cant enter into any agreement or compact with another state without congressional approval. Courts have generally found that this restriction applies only to interstate agreements that increase states power at the expense of the federal government, or that lessen the power of states that arent in the agreement.

The question, then, is whether or not the National Popular Vote Compact would be the kind of compact between states that could not be enacted without congressional approval, Professor Hasen said, and thats something that the court didnt speak to at all.
A naked man perched atop a bookcase asks his wife, Have you noticed, Myrna, that Im getting more and more neurotic?

An executive sitting behind a massive empty desk buzzes his intercom to tell his secretary, Miss Tompkins, connect me with somebody.

An angel greets a newly risen man with a questionnaire: And twelve: how did you learn about us  (a) church, (b) synagogue, (c) family member, (d) word of mouth?

Henry Martin brought a wry, genial sense of humor to nearly 700 cartoons published in The New Yorker over 35 years. They were set in conference rooms and homes, on desert islands and roadsides, at Heavens gate and in maternity wards.
Cate Blanchett was an executive producer as well as the star of Hulus Mrs. America, but the multi-Oscared actor actually made her debut as a television producer when the mini-series Stateless premiered in Australia in March. She also created the six-part drama, with the Australian writers Elise McCredie (a longtime friend) and Tony Ayres, and appears in a supporting role as a torch-singing hustler who runs a cultlike self-help racket out of her dance school.

All of this Blanchettness is a good thing, of course  shes predictably excellent as Pat, who gets to exercise her small-time song-and-dance talents in service of the scam, and warbles a creditable Lets Get Away From It All.

But its also a case of misdirection, because Stateless isnt about charismatic fraudsters, at least not directly. Its about the troubled history of Australias mandatory-detention system for immigrants without visas, specifically the centers where asylum seekers are warehoused while their cases are processed.

And while the series, available in the United States on Netflix beginning Wednesday, is well made, well acted and well intentioned, its probably less interesting as a social-problem drama than as an example of what even the Cate Blanchetts of the world have to do to get a social-problem drama made.
Whats Streaming

THE TRUTH (2020) Rent or buy on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu or YouTube. Lovers of French cinema will delight in this new drama by the writer and filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters). Catherine Deneuve plays Fabienne, an acclaimed French movie star who publishes a memoir titled The Truth. To celebrate its release, Fabiennes daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche), a screenwriter, visits from New York with her husband (Ethan Hawke) and their young daughter. What ensues is a thoughtful, comedic portrait of mother-daughter dynamics. Fabienne is wrapped up in her own image and is in denial over her fading legacy, while Lumir claims her mothers confessional book is riddled with lies. In her review for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis named the movie a Critics Pick and wrote, The drama is measured out in sips, in gazes, gestures, silences, off-handed humor and shocks of brutality.

JIM JEFFERIES: INTOLERANT (2020) Stream on Netflix. The Australian comedian Jim Jefferies may no longer have a spot on the late-night lineup  The Jim Jefferies Show on Comedy Central went off the air last year  but he is still keeping busy. In this new Netflix special, his latest since 2018s This Is Me Now, Jefferies recounts in excruciating detail a date during which he dismissed his lactose intolerance and indulged in cheese. It did not go well.
BONNIE

By Christina Schwarz

The outlaw archetype has long been a staple of American storytelling, championing unlikely heroes who, driven by an elusive notion of freedom, embrace lawlessness in pursuit of a higher justice. Bonnie and Clyde are no exception, and their tragic romance has been recycled countless times, most memorably in Arthur Penns visionary film of 1967, starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. In her absorbing fifth novel, Christina Schwarz trains her lens on Bonnie Parker, investigating how a girl from the humdrum plains of West Texas became one of the most notorious criminals of the 20th century.

The novel begins when Bonnies newly widowed mother, Emma, moves with her children back to her parents home in Cement City  the arid industrial town outside Dallas where the air has a sharp, unpleasant tang, and where Emma stitches overalls for the factory men. As the middle child, Bonnie is plucky, mischievous and bright enough to be restless. Early on, shes singled out for her writing talents and wins a literary contest, securing her private conviction that shes destined for better things, but in high school, an English teacher stifles her enthusiasm. Womanhood, like a colt, apparently required breaking, Bonnie surmises; in retaliation, she marries her high school sweetheart and drops out of school. The marriage doesnt last, and Bonnie moves home and starts waitressing as the Depression looms. In Clyde Barrow, whom she meets through a friend, she sees a man whos going places and admires his desire to be special, because it matched her own. When Clyde is arrested, he persuades her to bring him a gun so he can bust out of jail, but his freedom is short-lived and hes soon recaptured. He serves two more years in a harsher prison before he chops off two toes with an ax to get released.

Reunited at last, the young lovers set out across the drought-weary plains of Texas, getting by on Clydes robberies of grocery stores and, less frequently, of banks. With Clydes brother, Buck, and a young accomplice named W.D., they form the Barrow Gang, all crammed together in a stolen car along with Bucks wife, Blanche, whose parochial sniveling grates on Bonnies nerves. Unlike Blanche, Bonnie relishes her status as a partner who gets her fair share. Schwarz abandons the mythical excitement of the open road for its punishing realities: the gut-wrenching pressure of escape and the injuries that result, bullet-riddled cars, little food and rare sleep, and the dead they leave in their wake. Unwittingly, Bonnie achieves the fame shes always dreamed of when the papers publish her poetry and a picture, taken on a whim, depicting her as a hardened moll, brandishing a pistol and cigar. When she is nearly crippled in an automobile accident, her poignant, often heartbreaking downfall begins in earnest, with pills and booze her only recourse. As Bonnie discovers, she and Clyde were doomed to circle the edges of civilization and snap up scraps, like feral dogs.

Schwarz is a vivid storyteller, but keeps a polite distance from the darker impulses that shaped Parkers life. The couples supposed sexual bond lacks nuance, as though the author is blocking a scene rather than pursuing the complex emotions that drive it  and, like so many heroines before her, Bonnie accepts Clydes physical mistreatment as a preamble to tenderness, misconstruing her bruises as proof of his love. Ultimately, it is never fully established what motivates Bonnie, deep in her bones, to live such a reckless, unfulfilled life.
[ Return to the review of Notes on a Silencing. ]

Rape was serious, and I thoughtand wanted to thinkthat what happened to me didnt really count. I did not understand how the boys violation was of me, rather than only a part of me; I did not understand that self-esteem and safety werent held like treasure between a girls legs, but could be plundered in other ways. This conclusion was neatly congruent with my sense of my body and in particular with a wordless marrow urgency that pulsed, in those first days, with forgetting all about it. I had no purchase even on a name.

For years thereafter, I envied the monosyllabic force of the word rape. Say rape, and people get it. People know the telos of the encounter (intercourse) and the nature of the exchange (nonconsensual). Whereas I had no label. I did not think rape applied, and in any case I refused it, as my private way of caring for other girls; I considered it important to reserve the word for those who would use it to describe their own assaults. I meant this as a form of respect.

Twenty-five years after Id left St. Pauls, a detective with the Concord Police Department sent me the 1990 New Hampshire criminal statutes. The terms for the penetrative events of that night were felonious sexual assault (because I was under sixteen) and aggravated felonious sexual assault (because I was held down). I found some satisfaction in this clarity, but only some. I read the statutes over and over. Nowhere in them does the word rape appear. Legally, in New Hampshire as in many other jurisdictions, there are only degrees of assaultdescending circles of violation. This is a marker of evolving jurisprudence, because the legal term rape originated to describe a violation of property, not person, which is why it applied only to intercourse, and only to women.

I was looking for it, though. I was looking for the word for the worst thing. For the thing that had not quite happened to me, but which would, when it happened to a girl, trigger rescue, awaken the world, summon the cavalry. As an adult I knew better than to think rape would do it, but still I must have believed it was out there. Still.

Assault conjures violence, not violation. Hence the necessary modifier, sexual. But sexual assault puts sex right in the front window, even though the encounter isnt, to the victim at least, about sex at all, but about cruelty exacted in domination and shame. And this leaves the listener to wonder: if it wasnt rape, then what exactly went on? Which means a person, however kind and concerned for you, hears the term sexual assault and is left either guessing or trying not to guess which part of you was violated and in what ways or what you did or how far it (you) went.

So, assault. There are also encounter, incident, event, attack, happening, situation, night in question, time in that room. Little-known fact about victims: they can tell whether you believe them by which term you use when you ask what happened to them.

Victim is a whole other kettle of fish.

When I woke up the morning after the assault, my throat hurt. This often happened. We were five hundred teenagers in a New England boarding school dominated by architectural grandeur and mediocre plumbing. The buildings were either icy or boiling. In the cavernous bathrooms, we learned to yell Flushing! before the surge of cold water into the john caused every running shower on three floors to scald. Our windows breathed frost. We woke to glazed lawns and ran across them, athletes, with hair that was always wet. We ate like rats at the back of a bakery, arriving in Chapel with buttered bagels in our pockets. We were wealthy (except for the few, obvious, who were not), well-turned, and in the process of refinement, and our homesickness was a small candle beside the hard-banked fires of our own becoming. Our headmaster, the rector, told us from the pulpit that ours was a goodly heritage. Senators, bishops, authors, barons, moguls, ambassadors, peerless curators of life of all kinds had preceded usschoolboys then! We dragged our fingers along the letters of their names, carved in paneled halls.
QUITTER

A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery

By Erica C. Barnett

At the depth of her alcohol addiction, Erica C. Barnett passed out in the bathroom of the newspaper where she worked with a liter box of white wine tucked into her messenger bag  two days in a row.

There are many ways to recover from alcoholism, a key message of Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery, and even more ways to write about it. Barnetts account of her climb from hipster wino to memoirist emphasizes the relapse stage. Her challenge was to transform the chaos of a chronic, relapsing brain disease into literature without wearing her reader out. One can stomach only so many descriptions of warm hair-of-the-dog chardonnay.

Like many addicted people, Barnett grew up with a high level of what researchers call adverse child experiences. She didnt know her biological mother for decades, and she was temporarily raised by grandparents in rural Mississippi, where she became an insomniac at age 6 and tried to master tough-girl skills, including how to kill a man with a pen if she had to (an upward jab through the Adams apple).

Uprooted to live with her father and stepmother in suburban Texas, she took her first drink at 13. She lost her teenage best friend to suicide and suffered sexual harassment early in her journalism career, a time when I didnt know the first thing about paying my bills on time, talking through a disagreement without storming out the door, or which color of wine was the one you drank cold. Through it all, she portrays herself as a Type A overachiever who could hang with the boys both at the bar and in the bedroom. Until she couldnt.
Like I said, a doctor needs to reach a verdict based on the evidence at the crime scene. But as things stand, everything points toward the same explanation: that your ex-husband, Jack, has killed your daughter. So begins The Golden Cage, similar in name to two early-20th-century paintings: one of a shackled female, another of a high society woman confined to the household, a prisoner of the patriarchy. In the latter, the woman stares longingly at partygoers outside, envious of their freedom. The title of Camilla Lackbergs latest novel could not be more apt.

When we meet Faye, she seems to have a life others would envy: a happy marriage to Jack Adelheim, millionaire entrepreneur and chief executive of the thriving investment company Compare; an apartment in an affluent part of Stockholm where, when it comes to decor, absolutely no expense had been spared; designer clothes; afternoons spent hobnobbing with the elite; a perfect child.

The more discerning eye can see, however, that though Faye lives a lavish lifestyle, her personal freedoms are nil. Shes dependent on Jack, who is handsome and refined, a man from the upper crust who believes image is everything. What he wants from a wife is obedience, reverence, beauty. His wife appears happy to oblige.

Faye, a once prodigious student at the Stockholm School of Economics, where she met Jack and his future business partner, Henrik, is no doormat. In fact, Compares immense success is due largely to her own insights into the company, as well as personal sacrifices made so that Jack, and consequently her marriage, could succeed.
Joyfully driven, I say.

We share the building with five other schools and the track team has nowhere to practice so they practice in the hallways during the last four periods of the day. I leave the teacher workroom and wait, pressed against the hall wall, as kids fly by over hurdles. A girls toe catches on the bottom of a hurdle and it bangs against the hard, dark floor and she falls, hands flat on the cold tile, and she doesnt scream. I check in my bag for my pay stubs over and over. I check Twitter, check and recheck email, half read student work, and input grades. Im not as good a teacher as I wish I were. Im inconsistent, get distracted. I give fifty-seven comments on every three-page paper, and the next day I skim through to make sure everybody turned in their work, fix a few grammar or comprehension errors, and give almost everyone a B. No one reads my comments, and the work feels most productive when Im one-on-one with students, checking in before and after class and making time for conferences. Most of the writing is difficult to track and the reading of it, hour after hour, wears on my brain.

* * *

Our older daughters school calls three hours before the workdays over. They never remember that theyre supposed to call my husband, who is home during the week and takes care of them while Im at work. Our daughter got a bead stuck in her nose. I must come pick her up and take her to a doctor who can get it out. I almost tell the nurse to call my husband, then instead I say Ill be right there and message my boss that I have to leave. My cohomeroom teacher and I are the only people on the staff with kids and usually, when I say kids to any of my other coworkers, peoples eyes glaze over and they get antsy and uncomfortable and I get out of things.

* * *

Im not yet on the subway platform when our daughters school calls back to say they got the bead out. The other nurse, who had been on her lunch break, held her hand over our daughters face, her thumb pressed hard against her unobstructed nostril, and blew into our daughters mouth until the bead popped out.

So we dont need you, says the woman. Shes back in class, she says, all good.

But Im already out, and my coats on and I keep walking. I skip the subway. When I was very young and single, without children, I used to walk the city for days. I head north then west and walk into the Guggenheim. There is a retrospective of stark lines and colors. I cant remember the last time Ive been in a museum on a weekday, and I walk very slowly up the corkscrewing path and am alone and quiet. I look a long time at each painting. It feels like what I imagine people feel like when they imagine whatever god they might believe in standing close to them.

* * *

I walk from the museum to the train and take it downtown, where I get off and go to a coffee shop I used to go to before I worked full time. I was in grad school for six yearsEnglish literature, mid- to late twentieth century, British and American, forgotten or actively discarded female writers: Penelope Fitzgerald, Anita Brookner, Jean Rhys, Nella Larsen, Lucia Berlin. There was a time when I thought giving books to other peopleshowing them their richness, their quiet, secret, temporary safetycould be a useful way to spend ones life. I spent another five years as a part-time adjunct, waitress, admin assistant. Once, for six months, I wrote quizzes to accompany the bad books put out by an education corporation, but I was fired because I couldnt keep my sentences short enough.

Thisthe school, at thirty-fouris the first full-time job of my whole life.

I used to come here almost every day while I wrote my dissertation and to grade papers after. Even a year ago, I came once or twice a week. I know the name of the girl behind the counter because its the same as my name, different spelling, and we used to joke about this when she asked my name so she could call it when my coffee was ready. But this time when she asks my name and I tell her and I start to smile, thinking she remembers, she just nods and inputs it into the computer and counts out my change.

I tip her, too much, still smiling, hoping shell remember. I find a window seat. I have the same book I never read on the train and I open it and read it: Patrick Modiano, Paris Nocturne. Its strange and magic; theres a car crash and then almost nothing happens. I sip my coffee and break off tiny pieces of the cookie that Ive ordered. My husband texts me, Hows your day?
michael barbaro

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today: In a major speech at Mount Rushmore, President Trump said that the goal of nationwide protests is not, quote, a better America. Their goal, he said, is the end of America. Maggie Haberman on what that speech reveals about the presidents re-election campaign. Its Tuesday July 7. Maggie, heading into this July 4 weekend, what was our understanding of what this Mount Rushmore speech from President Trump, what it was for, what it was intended to do?

maggie haberman

So Michael, the month of June was pretty calamitous for President Trump politically and in terms of his legacy. It began with the federal government having protesters forcibly cleared using chemical irritants from Lafayette Park across from the White House, so that the president could then take a photo op. To mass protests across the country. To a huge spike in coronavirus cases in areas of the country where it really had not been that prevalent, and where the governors in those states were looking toward reopening. So the president tried for a reboot of his campaign with a rally in Tulsa on June 20. That rally was sparsely attended compared to what they had advertised as their likely attendance. And so Mount Rushmore and this event was supposed to be the reboot of the failed reboot. This was going to be an effort by the president to show he was in charge and trying to look toward the general election.

michael barbaro

And from your reporting, what was this reboot of the reboot going to look like in a speech?

maggie haberman

So the president needs an enemy to fight against. In 2018 during the midterms, you saw the president try to galvanize support against a looming threat, as he put it, of a caravan that was headed across the southern border with Mexico. And this was basically a threat of a foreign invasion. And he talked about this a lot and he tweeted about it a lot. And the main enemy that the U.S. is dealing with right now is the coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly. Thats an issue on which his polling is pretty bad. And his advisers know it. And another force that the country is dealing with right now is police brutality. Neither of those are issues that Donald Trump is seen as particularly strong on, or areas where he has shown he wants to lead. So instead, looking for this enemy, aides described in his speech he was going to go after a left-wing culture coming after people who dont agree with it. Now the threat is other Americans. The threat is people who dont think like you.

archived recording (donald trump) Well, thank you very much. And Governor Noem, Secretary Bernhardt, we very much appreciate it. Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and a very special hello to South Dakota.

michael barbaro

OK, lets talk about how this speech actually unfolds. I watched it. I know you did as well. So I want us to walk through it and pick out a few key passages that illuminate what hes actually up to here, kind of a close reading of this speech. So where do you think we should start?

maggie haberman

I would start just understanding what it looked like. He was standing at this podium, surrounded by flags, in front of this historic monument.

archived recording (donald trump) There could be no better place to celebrate Americas independence than beneath this magnificent, incredible, majestic mountain monument to the greatest Americans who have ever lived.

maggie haberman

And that was supposed to underscore this current conversation about monuments and statues around the country.

archived recording (donald trump) I am here as your president to proclaim before the country and before the world, this monument will never be desecrated. These heroes will never be defaced. Their legacy will never, ever be destroyed. Their achievements will never be forgotten. And Mount Rushmore will stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom.

maggie haberman

Much of the conversation has been around Confederate totems, Confederate statues, the Confederate flag. The president has resisted those conversations. But even members of his own party have said that it is time to remove some of those monuments. Where he is drawing the line is when the conversation moves to George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. Those are two of the faces on Mount Rushmore. And thats part of why hes choosing to have this conversation there.

michael barbaro

And what is he saying about that debate around statues to presidents like that?

maggie haberman

What he is suggesting is that the political left is trying to rewrite history 

archived recording (donald trump) 1776 represented the culmination of thousands of years of Western civilization and the triumph of not only spirit, but of wisdom, philosophy and reason. And yet 

maggie haberman

 by calling into question those men, by suggesting that their legacies need to be thought about again.

archived recording (donald trump) As we meet here tonight, there is a growing danger that threatens every blessing our ancestors fought so hard for, struggled. They bled to secure 

maggie haberman

And the reason that people are saying that their legacies need to be reconsidered is because they were slaveholders, and that you cant have an honest conversation about race if you do not acknowledge that.

archived recording (donald trump) Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children.

maggie haberman

What hes really trying to do is convince Republicans who are feeling shaky about him  and he hopes some independent voters  that the protests around the country have gone too far. He is trying to get them to see it the way he sees it, which is, this isnt just a movement about the Confederacy. Theyre coming for our whole history  our. They are coming for the history of white America.

archived recording (donald trump) 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.

maggie haberman

It is in keeping with what President Trump has done for many, many years now, which is an us versus them approach to his base of older, white voters.

archived recording (donald trump) 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.

michael barbaro

OK, what stands out next to you in this speech?

maggie haberman

So the president very quickly went on to talk about how a, quote unquote, political weapon of the Americans he is talking about in this speech is 

archived recording (donald trump) Cancel culture.

maggie haberman

 so-called cancel culture.

archived recording (donald trump) Driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees.

maggie haberman

He is describing it as anyone who disagrees with certain folks are going to get chased out of polite society. And thats not really what this.

archived recording (donald trump) This is the very definition of totalitarianism. And it is completely alien to our culture and to our values. And it has absolutely no place in the United States of America.

maggie haberman

So in part, this is appealing to a longstanding sense among conservatives that they are being attacked by the left for their beliefs. Also notice his emphasis on our values and our culture. He has used the words culture and values repeatedly to appeal to his base since 2017. This is the thing that he shares with his voters. It certainly is not geography  in many cases theyre in the Deep South. And he is a man from Queens. But this sense of our way of life is being taken over is what he has used time and again to appeal to people.

archived recording (donald trump) This attack on our liberty, our magnificent liberty, must be stopped. And it will be stopped very quickly. We will expose this dangerous movement, protect our nations children, end this radical assault and preserve our beloved American way of life. 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. Its not going to happen to us.

michael barbaro

So Maggie, what is the next passage in this speech that strikes you?

maggie haberman

Sure. So keeping up with these themes, the president went on and said 

archived recording (donald trump) This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution.

maggie haberman

 This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution. And then he went on a little bit later to say their goal is not a better America. Their goal is the end of America.

archived recording (donald trump) In so doing, they would destroy the very civilization that rescued billions from poverty, disease, violence and hunger, and that lifted humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery and progress.

maggie haberman

You would think that he was talking about the British the way that hes describing this 

archived recording (donald trump) In its place, they want power for themselves.

maggie haberman

 as opposed to talking about primarily Black people in this country, but not only, who have been trying to right historic wrongs. He is making it sound, once again, as if something is being taken from him and his supporters.

michael barbaro

In this case, American civilization?

maggie haberman

Yes. And he is trying to drive that home with everything he says.

michael barbaro

I mean, this feels like race baiting.

maggie haberman

I think it more than feels that way, Michael. I would argue it is race baiting. Look, I dont think that Donald Trump is suddenly a different person. I think this is who he has been for a very, very long time, going back decades. But I do think he is getting explicit in what he is saying, both as protests are growing in the country and as his own poll numbers are sinking.

archived recording (donald trump) But just as patriots did in centuries past, the American people will stand in their way. And we will win, and win quickly and with great dignity.

maggie haberman

He is not explicitly using the words black and white. But he is explicitly describing one version of America versus another. And that, I think, is different, along with the fact that we have really not seen a president before use an Independence Day speech to be so divisive and to pit Americans in two, the way he is here.

michael barbaro

So Maggie, how does this speech end?

archived recording (donald trump) Americans must never lose sight of this miraculous story.

maggie haberman

So the president concludes this speech by saying he wants to build 

archived recording (donald trump) I am signing an executive order to establish the National Garden of American Heroes.

maggie haberman

 a garden of statues.

archived recording (donald trump) A vast, outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live.

maggie haberman

And in this garden, he wants to put a variety of American figures  presidents, artists, sports figures.

archived recording (donald trump) From this night 

maggie haberman

And with that 

archived recording (donald trump)  and from this magnificent place 

maggie haberman

 the president applauded for himself and for the crowd.

archived recording (donald trump)  God bless your families. God bless our great military. And God bless America. Thank you very much.

maggie haberman

And there was a fireworks display over Mount Rushmore.

[music]

michael barbaro

Well be right back. Maggie, what most surprises me about this speech, and the fact that it is supposed to be a reset of a presidential campaign, is that the message seems to fly in the face of polling that shows Americans dont agree with this version of how to deal with race. And I want to read a question that The Times asked voters in six swing states about these protests. And here was the question: Would you rather have a candidate who says that we need to be tough on protests that go too far, or whether they would rather have a candidate who says we need to focus on the cause of those protests, even when they go too far? And voters told The Times in those swing states by a 40 percent margin that they would rather have a candidate who focuses on a cause of the protests, even when they go too far. So doesnt that suggest that the president, this speech, this message is profoundly out of sync with the electorate?

maggie haberman

Look, Michael, you read the polls. I read the polls. They all make clear that the president is wildly out of step with where the majority of voters are right now, where conservative voters are, where independent voters are, where a broad spectrum of voters are. This is a president who likes to do things his own way. He has ideas that he wants to put out there, regardless of how much it upsets his advisers, regardless of how scared senators are about losing their seats because his rhetoric is making things very hard for them. But he is not where the majority of Americans are in those polls.

michael barbaro

So Maggie, what is the thinking here? If the presidents re-election campaign has seen those polls that you and I have all seen, do they see something that were not seeing? Do they have a theory that extends beyond these poll numbers?

maggie haberman

Many of the people in the presidents campaign believe the direction that the polls are taking, even if they argue with some of the margins. Some of the people around the president share with him a belief or theory, or whatever you want to call it, that people are not being honest with the pollsters when they talk about how much support they have for these protests, and that the numbers will come around in President Trumps favor when we get to the fall.

michael barbaro

And help me understand that. When they say that they dont think the polls reflect the real support for this movement, what do they mean?

maggie haberman

They think that people are inclined to lie to pollsters on matters of race. Now there have been campaigns where that has happened. The margins that were talking about are so large that it would be really hard to fathom that. But that is the bet that some of his advisers are making. Now are they making that on science? Not necessarily. Are they making that on political research? Only on the margins. For the most part, this is wishcasting that the president is not doing himself the damage he seems to be doing.

michael barbaro

Maggie, campaigns tend to be defined by debates in their ranks about what is the right approach to a moment. So I have to imagine that inside the Trump campaign there is a debate about whether this is the right approach to this moment. Is that your sense?

maggie haberman

No, Michael. I dont think theres much of a debate going on.

michael barbaro

Why not?

maggie haberman

Because theres the way the president wants to campaign. And they try to shape it around that. This is what Donald J. Trump thinks his campaign message should be. Now, there are areas where his advisers have gotten him to stick to that script that was written out and say things that they consider to be less potentially divisive. So for instance, he spoke broadly about culture and history. But he did not explicitly give a defense of Confederate statues, which really turns off suburban voters, in particular suburban women. And his advisers were very pleased with that, that he stuck to the script and didnt say Confederate. But then on Monday morning, he tweets support of the Confederate flag being aired at NASCAR events. So it undoes a lot of what had taken place before.

michael barbaro

Maggie, when you talk to people in the Trump campaign and you present them with what seems like a pretty significant dilemma here  a president with a message and a national mood that seems very out of sync with it  what do they say?

maggie haberman

There is no evidence that this message is going to help the president win again. There is no evidence that this is a successful approach to the voters he needs in order to win. But advisers are pretty candid that he thinks this is how he won last time. And he is convinced he can do it again.

michael barbaro

Right, so what youre saying is the president is assuming that the country is more or less exactly where it was in 2016, and that this will all work out the same way and yield the same result  an electoral college victory based on white voters supporting him?

maggie haberman

Correct. The president is of the opinion  and again, this is not his campaign. There are people in the campaign who understand this is not the same electorate. But the president has convinced himself that nothing has changed, that he can turn Joe Biden into Hillary Clinton. And so far there is no reason to believe that either of those things is true.

michael barbaro

So Maggie, at this point, is this the message that you expect the Trump campaign to be using between now and November? A message of the left being the enemy and white America needing to be afraid of this movement seeking racial equality.

maggie haberman

The campaign itself, I think, would like to be delivering a less blunt instrument version of what the president is saying. But because the president is able to speak only the way hes comfortable, he will not change. And so yes, I think this is what you will see for the next few months.

michael barbaro

Thank you, Maggie.

maggie haberman

Thank you, Michael.

michael barbaro
They are the first sanctions that Britain has imposed since leaving the European Union in January  a move officials hope will cast the country as a human rights defender.

Among the 47 people who face travel bans and frozen assets in Britain: Russians accused of having involvement in the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, and Saudis accused of assassinating the Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The list did not include any Chinese officials.

What it means: Being blacklisted will probably not change the lives of those named and many are already blacklisted by the U.S. But sanctions are a weapon that Britain could use in the future on Chinese officials who are involved in Uighur internment or the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
People say you can make a lot of money, Zak Oyrzynski, a new laborer, said, but its down to the picker. At Hall Hunter, the company that runs the farm, the average weekly pay in 2019 was 414 (almost $520), according to the companys website.

A couple of young people dropped out because the pay was not what they expected, Mr. Oyrzynski said.

Farmers say they have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of interest in these jobs. They were afraid Britons would stay away from jobs usually performed by overseas workers.

But desk work this is not. Four-fifths of the people who initially expressed interest drop out before moving to the next stage, such as an interview, according to HOPS Labour Solutions, a recruiter for farm work.

It is a massive, massive challenge, said Tom Martin, whose family owns a farm in the county of Cambridgeshire. I hear about people who take on 10 people and at the end of the week they only have three left.
As Hong Kong grapples with a draconian new security law, the tiny territory is emerging as the front line in a global fight between the United States and China over censorship, surveillance and the future of the internet.

Long a bastion of online freedom on the digital border of Chinas tightly managed internet, Hong Kongs uneasy status changed radically in just a week. The new law mandates police censorship and covert digital surveillance, rules that can be applied to online speech across the world.

Now, the Hong Kong government is crafting web controls to appease the most prolific censor on the planet, the Chinese Communist Party. And the changes threaten to further inflame tensions between China and the United States, in which technology itself has become a means by which the two economic superpowers seek to spread influence and undercut each other.

Caught in the middle are the citys seven million residents, online records of rollicking political debate  some of which may now be illegal  and the worlds largest internet companies, which host, and by extension guard, that data.
When Chris and Shanelle Montana founded Du Nord Craft Spirits in 2013, they chose the Longfellow neighborhood in southern Minneapolis, in part because it was a little quieter, Mr. Montana said.

It didnt work out that way. Over the past four months, Du Nord has been buffeted and transformed by each new trauma to shake the city, and the world.

In mid-March, with the coronavirus converging on the United States, the couple, like many other distillers, ceased making their gin, vodka, whiskey and liqueurs, and began manufacturing much-needed hand sanitizer.

Mr. Montana handed out that sanitizer to protesters outside the nearby Third Precinct police station after the killing of George Floyd on May 25. The distiller was tear-gassed twice for his trouble.
MINNEAPOLIS  Before the coronavirus decimated the restaurant industry, Minneapolis and St. Paul were being hailed around the country for their up-and-coming culinary scene.

Ann Kim, the owner of three acclaimed restaurants including the Korean-influenced pizzeria Young Joni, won a James Beard award last year for Best Chef Midwest. Lauded chefs like Tim McKee, Alex Roberts, Doug Flicker and Gavin Kaysen have kept the region on the lips and must-visit lists of gastro-tourists. Minneapolis has large Southeast Asian and East African neighborhoods with mom-and-pop restaurants that rival any of their kind in the nation.

But Minnesota has a marked scarcity of food businesses owned or operated by African-Americans. Of the more than half-million businesses that the 2012 census reported in the state, about 20,000 were Black-owned.

There are so few African-American food and beverage establishments in the Twin Cities that they are nearly impossible to find if you dont know where to look  even on the Northside of Minneapolis, where more than half the residents are Black (in a city where less than 20 percent of the population is African-American).
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Image Alexandria Aquino, who lives in Dublin, and Dr. David Poon, who lives in Toronto, have been separated since the U.S.-Canada border closed.

When they first announced the border would be open only to essential travel, meaning you had to have a reason to come into Canada, they said it would only be a month, said Dr. David Edward-Ooi Poon, 34, a family physician in Toronto who co-founded the group Advocacy for Family Reunification at the Canadian Border in May. They have since extended that month to July 21, and we dont know whether it will be extended again.

Given the spike in coronavirus cases in the United States, Dr. Poon thinks another extension is likely. Many of the 2,400 or so lovelorn people who have joined the advocacy group think so, too. (Some, like Dr. Poon and his partner, Alexandria Aquino, a 24-year-old nurse who lives in Dublin, are advocating to allow people from Europe to come into Canada.) Theres a lot of pain, and a lot of people who are starting to feel their relationships are invalid, Dr. Poon said. In Canada, theres a big emphasis on promoting mental health. We feel the mental health of many of our members is suffering because of the long separation.

The group is not pushing for open borders. Covid is a challenge that must be taken very seriously, and well do whatever it takes to keep Canada safe, he said. We just want to be together. For now, though, togetherness in Canada requires legal marriage and a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period for anyone arriving from outside the country.

Travel restrictions to the United States are not as stringent. Though the land border within Canada is closed, making driving or walking over for nonessential reasons a violation, flights arriving from Canada are allowed. This has eased the burden of enforced separation for couples like Nuelsi Pales of Pittsburgh, and her fiance, Louis-Philippe Morand of Montreal. The couple had planned to be married in a Montreal courthouse this summer, though they had not set a date.
A 36-year-old man in Brazil may be the first to experience long-term remission from H.I.V. after treatment with only a specially designed cocktail of antiviral drugs, researchers said on Tuesday.

Just two people have been confirmed cured of H.I.V. so far, both after risky treatments involving bone-marrow transplants for their cancers.

The Brazilian patient, who was not identified, has not shown signs of lingering H.I.V. infection in blood tests that detect the virus, according to investigators at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, a prestigious research institution. He also does not seem to have detectable antibodies to the virus.

Although still an isolated case, this might represent the first long-term H.I.V. remission without a bone-marrow transplant, the scientists said. They presented the results at AIDS 2020, an annual medical conference held virtually this week because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Each of the participants got a shot every two months, either cabotegravir or a placebo. Each participant also took either Truvada or a placebo pill every day. (A separate study of cisgender women in sub-Saharan Africa was designed at the same time, but it has taken longer to enroll participants.)

The trial was expected to continue well into 2022, but it was stopped in May after an interim analysis showed that cabotegravir was highly effective.

In the final analysis, 13 participants who got the injections every eight weeks were infected with H.I.V., compared with 39 who were infected among those who took the daily pill. The shot was 66 percent more effective than Truvada.

In a subset of 372 people receiving Truvada, blood tests showed that just 75 percent faithfully took the pills. The injection proved more effective than the pills for these participants, too.

Even before the pandemic, some clinicians were concerned about how they could accommodate patients who might need shots every two months. Doctors at Dr. Gandhis clinic in San Francisco have considered quick appointments just for the shot, perhaps delivered in a pharmacy, from a mobile van or in a parking lot.

She and other experts praised ViiV Healthcare for testing the injectable in a diverse set of participants. Most H.I.V. trials have primarily enrolled older white gay men, who often join to gain access to new drugs.

Gilead tested Descovy in more than 5,000 cisgender men and 74 transgender women, and the F.D.A. approved it only for those groups, not cisgender women or transgender men.
Some say the administrations strategy  backing a variety of approaches, including some that are cutting-edge but may not work  is the best way to move quickly in the middle of a deadly pandemic. But critics say the public deserves to know more about how taxpayer money is being spent at this critical moment.

Its a black box, said Peter Maybarduk, the director of the global access to medicines program at Public Citizen, a public interest group. This could be one of the most important medical technologies of our time, and we know very little about how that money is being spent, and what conditions are being placed on it.

Officials have given varying estimates of how many treatments and vaccines are part of Operation Warp Speed, and have declined to give the full list of which companies are participating. Congress has appropriated nearly $10 billion to support development of a coronavirus treatment or vaccine, but Trump administration officials have said that billions more could ultimately be spent, without providing additional details. A flurry of contracts with vaccine and drug manufacturers were recently made public, but the documents were heavily redacted and provided little information about the arrangements with the companies.

Operation Warp Speed leaders analyze all possible therapeutics and vaccine partners, select the most promising candidates, and then follow standard protocol on contract awards and spending, said Michael Caputo, assistant secretary for public affairs at the department of health and human services. While these experts are moving quickly and focused on safety, were putting a lot of effort into assuring transparency while not tangling them up in constant media inquiries.

In an interview on Sunday, Novavaxs president and chief executive, Stanley C. Erck, initially said he was not sure where in the government the $1.6 billion was coming from. A Novavax spokeswoman later said the money was coming from a collaboration between the Health and Human Services Department and the Defense Department.
Building His Own Company

Matt Wilsey knew a lot about what it takes for a company to succeed. The 42-year-old tech entrepreneur and investor had a wide array of friends in Californias Silicon Valley. But he never thought hed have to use his business savvy to try to save his own child.

When Grace Wilsey was born in 2009, Mr. Wilsey and his wife, Kristen, now 39, knew right away she had some problems. She was floppy and did not seem to be alert. She did not develop normally  she did not sit up, or crawl. She did not learn to walk or talk.

When Grace was three, Mr. and Mrs. Wilsey found out why  Grace had a genetic disorder so rare only one other child in the world, a little boy in Utah, was known to have it. It was caused by a mutation in a gene, NGLY1, but scientists did not know what that gene did or why a mutation would result in such devastating effects. They didnt know how the disease would progress or if Grace would die young.

Mr. Wilsey sprung into action. He asked Stanford physicians for guidance and was told he needed a foundation with a good advisory committee. Having money is great, they said, but you have to know whom and what to spend it on.

He started a foundation and began cold calling and emailing scientific luminaries, asking if they would talk to him and agree to work on the project. So far, the foundation has raised $9 million, mostly from friends and family.

Carolyn Bertozzi, a chemist at Stanford, was one of his initial recruits.

He is really good at forming personal relationships, Dr. Bertozzi said. That allowed him to convince total strangers to join his team and work on his cause.

She was also touched by Mr. Wilseys story and intrigued by the scientific challenge.

Imagine you are a parent. No one had ever had this diagnosis before, and you have no idea what to expect.
The story that is told in the documentary Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado is the familiar myth of a dreamer who finds tremendous fame, only to be pulled from the clouds by the sordid realities of life on the ground. If the film tends toward convention, it is saved from cliche by the bejeweled and beguiling presence of Walter Mercado himself.

Mercado was a Puerto Rican astrologer and true Pisces whose career as a television and radio mystic began in 1969. At the height of his fame, Mercados image was broadcast to millions around the world every day. He was a one-man spectacular  an androgynous visionary clad in Armani and armored with Swarovski crystals who defied masculine expectations to preach the power of love and light.

The documentary was made in the months before Mercados death in November, and in it, he and his loved ones recall past successes and struggles. In practically papal regalia, the lively octogenarian sits for original interviews, as do key figures from his life.
The Manhattan district attorneys decision to charge a white woman with filing a false police report against a Black man in Central Park does not have the support of one key person: the victim himself.

The man, Christian Cooper, has not cooperated with the prosecutions investigation. The woman, Amy Cooper, lost her job and was publicly shamed after a video Mr. Cooper made on May 25 was posted online; it showed her calling 911 to claim an African-American man was threatening her. Those consequences alone, Mr. Cooper said at the time, were in his view perhaps too much punishment.

On the one hand, shes already paid a steep price, Mr. Cooper said in a statement on Tuesday. Thats not enough of a deterrent to others? Bringing her more misery just seems like piling on. But he added that he understood there was a greater principle at stake and that this should be defended. So if the DA feels the need to pursue charges, he should pursue charges. But he can do that without me.

Mr. Coopers decision not to cooperate may present some challenges for prosecutors. But it also reflects a wider debate among people who generally consider themselves allies in the growing movement to call attention to and fight racism, not just in policing, but in society.
Emma Sanders, one of the few surviving members of a group whose impassioned challenge to an all-white delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention brought an end to segregated delegations, died on June 24 in Brandon, Miss. She was 91.

Her death was confirmed by her son Everett Sanders.

Mrs. Sanders, an educator who went on to pursue a business career and to be a voice in state politics, was a founding member of Mississippis Freedom Democratic Party. Its slate, under the name Freedom Democrats, showed up in Atlantic City to challenge the states all-white official delegation, which had been empowered by the regular party organization to help choose a presidential nominee. (It was a foregone conclusion that President Lyndon B. Johnson, seeking a full term after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, would win the nomination.)

The convention was held in Atlantic City in August 1964, near the end of Freedom Summer, a voting-rights effort that had also swept up Ms. Sanders, a great-granddaughter of a slave. She was one of the people who helped organize local citizens and some of the 700 or so young people from the North who flooded Mississippi to help Black citizens surmount Jim Crow-era barriers that had kept their voter registration at 7 percent of those eligible.

The Sanders family, like others, housed and fed the volunteers in their home in Jackson as they went door-to-door to enlist potential voters or operated Freedom Schools for Black children. Their efforts that summer were met with racist hostility, and three of the activists in Mississippi  James E. Chaney, who was Black, and Andrew Goodman and Michael H. Schwerner, who were white  were murdered.
The chancellor acted quickly and decisively at the European level, too. There, the pandemic opened up old resentments between north and south, as Italy in particular sought financial and medical assistance some northern countries appeared unwilling to give. It looked like the European Union could unravel. I believe she understood that this could be Europes end, Mr. Gabriel said. She knew that if she didnt act, member states in need would look for help outside Europe  and China was fired up and ready to step in.

And thats what she did. For years, the chancellor was criticized for doing too little to speed up Europes integration. But on May 18, Ms. Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron of France proposed an ambitious recovery fund. They suggested that the European Commission should borrow 500 billion euros, $545 billion, from the financial markets and distribute them to member states in need. This, said Mr. Gabriel, who served as foreign minister under Ms. Merkel, was a paradigm shift.

The backlash from northern nations like Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden was enormous. The negotiations drag on. But Ms. Merkels position is clear. It is very much in all the member states own interests to maintain a strong European internal market, she noted dryly in a recent interview, and to stand united on the world stage. In other words: She saw that the crisis was a great opportunity to overcome reservations about deeper European integration, both in Germany and the continent, and jumped at it.

Most surprising, however, is how Ms. Merkel has successfully managed to connect with Germanys citizens. In previous crises, shes had to convince her party or other world leaders. This time, it was the German people.

That could have been tricky. Its established wisdom that Ms. Merkel struggles to relate to people: The very character traits people cherish most in her  her reliability, her diligence, her levelheadedness  also create a sense of distance. Her demeanor is soothing, but at times impermeable and impersonal. Shes the chancellor through and through. There is only one Angela Merkel, Mr. Braun, her chief of staff, told me. Behind the scenes, shes exactly what shes like in public.

So it came as a surprise when, on March 18, Ms. Merkel spoke directly and frankly to the German people in a televised speech. The chancellor, by general agreement not a gifted orator, only holds one televised speech a year, on New Years Eve. But whether it was what she said that evening  she invoked World War II  or simply the unusual format, it did the trick. For once, Angela Merkel reached the hearts and minds of Germanys citizens.

Before the pandemic, with a healthy economy and the government boasting a surplus of 19 billion, over $21 billion, Ms. Merkel was criticized for not doing enough. She wasnt leading her country and Europe; she was merely managing them. The criticism now seems excessive. As Germany held its breath during those terrifying weeks of lockdown, it saw Angela Merkel afresh. No longer overcautious and hesitant, she was instead the duteous and utterly capable leader who was there when her country needed her most.

Not that she seems to care much about her new popularity. When youre in politics, she said last month, you just have to adjust to new realities and situations. Thats our job.

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More funding could also help the W.H.O. become less dependent on China, Yu-Jie Chen and Jerome A. Cohen write in The Japan Times. Beijings influence is not primarily financial. Rather, it stems from Beijings talent for building coalitions within the organization, which affords it significant sway over the bodys decisions, including the selection of its leader. So in withdrawing funding, they argue, the United States would be forfeiting its primary point of leverage.

Experts also told The Times that while the W.H.O. has made some missteps during the pandemic, it has done well overall given its organizational constraints. Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said that the withdrawal will both harm global public health and harm the health of the American people.

The W.H.O. 2.0

Fixing the W.H.O. begins with funding, but it wont end there, writes Zeynep Tufekci in The Atlantic. We must save the W.H.O., but not by reflexively pretending that nothings wrong with it, just because President Trump is going after the organization, she argues. It needs to be restructured, and the first order of business is to make sure that its led by health professionals who are given the latitude to be independent and the means to resist bullying and pressure, and who demonstrate spine and an unfailing commitment to the Hippocratic oath when they count most.

The W.H.O. may even need to be transformed rather than fixed, according to Kelley Lee, a researcher at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia who published a book about the organization. As she explained in Vox, the W.H.O. and the United Nations were conceived during a period when nation-states  and particularly the United States  were the primary agents of global power. While states wont be going away anytime soon, the rise of the internet and multinational tech giants like Facebook mean they arent the only important actors on the world stage anymore.

As an analogy, she suggested, think of an old computer: You can upgrade it over the years, but at a certain point, youll need to buy a new one. Instead of trying to retrofit your Macintosh II to stream Netflix, you might be better off getting an iPad.

[Related: Can We Reimagine Global Health in the Post-Pandemic World?]

But what would this new, iPad version of the W.H.O. look like? Dr. Lee thinks it should probably take the form of a supranational authority that requires countries to cede power at the state level in exchange for global security. An example of such an institution is the World Trade Organization, which was created in the 1990s and has the power to enforce sanctions.

But even the World Trade Organization has been hobbled by the Trump administrations refusal to appoint judges, and right now many countries are seeking to wrest power from international institutions, not cede it. Some countries may decide that, no, were going to retreat into our castles, Dr. Lee said. And obviously that didnt work when the Black Plague came along.
Early on, the big challenge was to make sure the co-op members had the right information, took precautions to protect themselves and their customers, Ms. Morse said. This is where we really saw the power of the co-op. We had these systems in place. Everything was grounded in the workers experience, rather than we need to make as much money as possible; lets send people out even if they dont have adequate protective gear. So far none of Up & Gos workers has contracted Covid-19.

The gig economy, with platforms like Uber, Handy and TaskRabbit, seemed to offer opportunities for freelancers and unskilled workers when it took off after the 2008 recession. But economists soon warned against pitfalls, and the pandemic has disproportionately affected gig economy workers. As independent contractors, they do not qualify for basic protections like minimum wages. The pandemic has put many of them out of work with no safety net or forced some to consider working without adequate protection.

By contrast, the Up & Go worker-owners distribute the existing jobs fairly among themselves, and every worker has agreed to stay home should they develop any symptoms. A big difference is that we know our rights better, said Ms. Tapia. We are not only workers but entrepreneurs. That changed who I am and how I see myself. I am constantly learning new things  how to run a business, how to handle a democratic decision-making process, what good management is. She also appreciates that the co-op members decide collectively whether to approve new members and that if she falls ill, another worker will keep my spot open.

The 51 Up & Go worker-owners, only two of whom are men, speak very little English. Ms. Tapia knows enough English to arrange basic housekeeping but leaves more complex conversations and conflict resolution to professional customer representatives. It is exactly this clientele we want to serve with Up & Go, Ms. Morse emphasized. Historically, this type of work has been done by immigrants and predominantly by women. Racism and sexism have devalued this work.

Development costs are the biggest hurdle in copying the Up & Go model. Barclays and Robin Hood, an anti-poverty organization in New York City, funded the start-up with $500,000 and invested again this year. Tech experts from CoLab Cooperative improved the app. This financial and logistical support allows the Up & Go owners to keep 95 percent of their income; 5 percent goes to support the infrastructure.

Who owns the technology? Who decides how it is designed? How does it influence the quality of life for workers in the gig economy? Ms. Morse said. When we look at the change in the working world, these questions are important.

This model will work long-term only if enough consumers are willing to pay a higher fee to be certain that their housekeepers are legally documented and fairly paid. Ive seen $30 online specials for an initial cleaning, Ms. Morse said. Up & Go just cant do that.
I traveled to where cartel operatives were handing out food in the ramshackle village of La Loma de Concepcion in the hills of the Mexico State. Ireneo, a 58-year-old flower farmer, described how his two teenage nieces obtained some of the food bags, known as narco despensas. The word came from the gangsters close to nightfall in April and spread rapidly through the village. About 200 residents, many of them teenagers or children, trekked up a dirt path to a clearing and formed in two lines to receive their plastic bags of milk, sugar, soap, rice, beans and other rewards. In some of the bags was a note saying, Support from La Familia Michoacana, the M Comando, the name of the drug cartel that dominates the area.

The handouts have helped the family get through the difficult period, said Ireneo, who asked that his last name not be used. I believe that if someone comes with support, then you have to take what they give, wherever it comes from, he said as roosters crowed in the background.

Others have no illusions about the cartel charity. They give now what they take later from honest people, said Guadencio Jimenez, a 31-year-old farmer in the nearby village of Santiago. I am against these guys.

Cartels also dominate a portfolio of crimes in their turfs, including human smuggling and sex trafficking. They engage in kidnapping and extortion, which hamper business and can cause people to flee their homes.

The cartel food relief was boosted by social media and made headlines across the world. But it helps few Mexicans, with the handouts reaching what is probably only a few thousand families. Its symbolic, said Lorenzo Meyer, a political scientist. Its taking advantage of the crisis of coronavirus and sensation of emergency to say, Were here.

President Lopez Obrador, who calls himself a leftist, has promised to uplift the poor with generous social programs, handing out fertilizer to farmers and scholarships to students. In April, he criticized the cartels for giving with one hand and killing with the other. It would help if they thought of the suffering of the mothers of the victims, he said.

But official aid has been hampered by a policy of avoiding debt despite the severity of the looming recession. While the government struggles to provide aid countrywide, the cartels focus on small communities. There they buy themselves concentrated support so that they can later hide people or merchandise and recruit smugglers and killers.
This approach, he explained, would minimize the disruption of the decision; it also matches a strikingly similar remedy he ordered in 2010 in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (that case involved a challenge to the constitutionality of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which established the board and sought to reform corporate America after the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals). In addition, he made clear this holding applied only to the handful of agencies with an equivalent structure, and not to other independent agencies.

Chief Justice Roberts has hewed closely to precedent as well. In June Medical Services v. Russo, he voted to strike down Louisiana regulations governing abortion providers because they were virtually identical to ones in Texas that the court had struck down just four years ago. Although he disagreed with the courts earlier decision, he explained that the need for the court to follow precedent and decide like cases alike required this result.

And in Ramos v. Louisiana, he voted against requiring unanimous jury verdicts in state courts under the Sixth Amendment, as he believed this would have required overturning a 1972 precedent, imposing a potentially crushing burden on the courts and criminal justice systems of those states. Notably, this is the only dissenting vote the chief justice has cast thus far this term.

His aversion to disruption may have been most plain in his opinion rejecting the Trump administrations DACA rescission. The administration has the authority to rescind DACA, Chief Justice Roberts explained, but it failed to account adequately for the reliance interests of those who depended upon the program, including not just DACA recipients but their families, employers and communities.

Much as in King v. Burwell, where the chief justice was unwilling to accept an interpretation of the Affordable Care Acts text that risked depriving millions of Americans of subsidized health insurance, he was unwilling to greenlight a sloppy Trump administration effort that would have put thousands of law-abiding noncitizens at risk of deportation.

Even where Chief Justice Roberts has been responsible for disruptive opinions, he appears to have done so reluctantly. Four years before the Shelby County decision on the Voting Rights Act, he wrote a majority opinion in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder, adopting an implausible interpretation of the acts text so as to fend off a constitutional attack.

Writing for an 8-1 court, he justified stretching the statutes text because of underlying constitutional concerns about Section Five (the acts requiring of certain states to get federal approval of changes in their election laws)  concerns he likely hoped Congress would fix before another such challenge reached the court. Congresss failure to act, the chief justice would write in Shelby County, left him no choice but to reach the underlying constitutional question. Even if you find the explanation unpersuasive, you can see the gravitational pull of his minimalist ethic in his approach.
By inhabit I mean play the role that for most of our history was played by Mainline Protestantism  the whole collage of respectable denominations, Methodists and Lutherans and Episcopalians and Presbyterians and Baptists, their churches sharing town greens and their ministers hobnobbing, divided by mild class distinctions as much as by theological debates, competing amiably for congregants, eyeing Catholics and Jews and Mormons uneasily and looking down on fundamentalists, preaching liberty and middle-class morality and assimilation, secure in their Christianity and their Americanism.

This sketch is all cliche, but the cliches reflect an important, underremembered reality: For most of our history, American liberal democracy was a Protestant project, its principles undergirded by Protestant theological assumptions and its norms shaped and reshaped by currents in the Mainline churches.

To push a metaphor for a moment  if the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were the bones of the house that all Americans inhabited, then the Protestant Mainline was a combination interior decorator, building inspector, homeowners association and zoning committee. Any question that the liberal order didnt answer, across most of our history, was answered by Protestant consensus or litigated by intra-Protestant debate. (What were the limits of religious liberty? Should society regulate sex, and how? Should society regulate alcohol consumption, and how? What values should be taught in schools and universities?) And when the Mainline couldnt come to an agreement, as in the long theological dispute over slavery and racial equality  well, then part of the house burned down and had to be repeatedly reconstructed.

But all that belongs to the past, because in the decades after Eisenhower, the Mainline suddenly collapsed  declining numerically and losing overt influence in all the institutions, elite and local alike, that it once animated and defined. What took its place, in the upper echelons on the meritocracy, was an assumption that liberalism didnt need a religious ghost in its machine, that you could just have a liberal culture instead of a Protestant culture, and all the important questions could be worked out through reasoned arguments that required no theological priors, no Bible-bothering, no authority higher than the Supreme Court or capital-S Science.

This was a naive view, and to the extent it was actually operationalized it generated an arid, soulless liberalism, a meritocracy short on wisdom and memory, animated by unhappy status-seeking and aspiring only to its own perpetuation.
The Trump administrations response to this story raises critical questions about whether it is focusing sufficient attention on the plight of American soldiers deployed far from their homeland and on dangerous ground. John Boltons new book about his time as Mr. Trumps national security adviser is only the latest depiction of a president incapable of absorbing policy briefings.

But this issue is not solely a question of Mr. Trumps competence. From the various news accounts, others in the White House and Congress were also apparently advised of the claims, yet no one reacted until the allegations were made public in The Times.

Then theres the question of the motives behind the leaks and the solidity of the information. The Wall Street Journal, for one, reported that the National Security Agency  which specializes in electronic espionage  strongly dissented from other intelligence agencies over the strength of the intelligence. For agencies to differ in their assessments of intelligence is not unusual in the business of espionage, which by its nature often deals in circumstantial evidence. What the differences were in this case is not known, but they probably account for Mr. Trumps claim that the intelligence did not reach him because it didnt rise to that level.

Other questions abound: When did the reported payments begin? Were they payback for American support of Afghan militants against Soviet troops there in the 1980s, or something else? Were the payments a factor in the deaths of any American or other coalition troops? Was the intelligence tweaked by people seeking to hinder efforts to withdraw American troops?

Coalition forces suffered a spate of casualties in Afghanistan last summer and early fall, but there have been only a few deaths since. Four Americans were killed by hostile fire incidents early this year, but the Taliban has not attacked American positions since it signed an agreement with the United States in late February. (Five other Americans died this year in nonhostile accidents or crashes.) A spokesman for the Taliban said the reports of any deal with Russian intelligence agencies were baseless. Russian officials have said theyll respond if and when they hear concrete accusations.
A confirmed diagnosis may take time.

Diagnosis represents the first step on this rare disease journey. Sometimes doctors will notice something off about the child during a newborn screening, and a genetic test will identify a known mutation in the DNA. But not all conditions are so quickly detected, and it can take several years for parents to get a confirmed diagnosis.

About half of all children never get that far, according to Marshall Summar, M.D., the director of the Rare Disease Institute at Childrens National Hospital in Washington, D.C. When you sequence someones DNA, you are going to find a lot of changes, Dr. Summar said. Figuring out which change might be the one that is causing it is a tremendous challenge.

Genetic counselors warn parents beforehand that they may not get a definitive answer as to what condition their child could have. They may have to check back each year. Dr. Summar estimates that between five and 10 new rare diseases are described in the scientific literature every week, making it challenging for the medical field to keep up.

Meanwhile, the realization that a child may have a debilitating, lifelong condition weighs heavily. Some parents, particularly mothers, blame themselves, said Lemuel Pelentsov, Ph.D., a nurse who studies the needs of rare disease families at the University of South Australia, in Adelaide. In a 2016 study by Dr. Pelentsov and his colleagues, about 40 percent of the 300 rare parents surveyed reported being treated for depression and an equal number for anxiety. One of the things they do to combat that, he said, is get very invested in the childs disease.

Families will find support in each other.

When parents reach out to other parents, they are not simply looking for emotional support or advice. They are rebuilding a social life, one that will revolve around their childs disease. Many rare diseases have their own support groups. Global Genes is an umbrella group that supports 600 disease-specific foundations, as well as parents of children whose diseases are so rare they have no foundation.

We encourage folks to work together, said Kimberly Haugstad, the organizations executive director whose son has a rare form of hemophilia, a condition in which the blood doesnt clot normally. The parent is going to come from such different places in their own walk of life.

Some parents will start nonprofits or fund research.

Each year, Global Genes hosts a Rare Boot Camp to mentor and teach parents how to set up a nonprofit, create patient registries and fund research. After attending the boot camp, the Van Wyks and other parents founded GACI Global, an organization that connects families affected by GACI, along with medical professionals.
Ben Folds writes songs that twirl humor and misery together like flavors in a soft-serve cone. He never seems to take the easy way.

He named his 1990s alternative rock band Ben Folds Five, though it had just three members, a stroke of perversity questioned by every music journalist who interviewed him along the road to fame. And he put the piano, an instrument he plays with the intensity and grace of a Sumo wrestler, at the center of his trio, forcing him to drag a baby grand to gigs.

A solo artist since 2001, Mr. Folds, 53, also likes wrestling with real estate. After making vast improvements to an 8,700-square-foot three-story Victorian at 521 Warren Street in upstate Hudson, N.Y., that has been his home and creative refuge for the last four years, he put the rejuvenated building on the market this week for $2.8 million. Nicole Vidor is the listing broker.

Speaking from Sydney, Australia where he has been living since March, when the pandemic shut down his concert tour, Mr. Folds said he has a soft heart for big, needy properties.
Kathy Lueders, who was recently appointed associate administrator of the agencys human exploration and operations directorate, said that NASA, as part of efforts to reduce costly bureaucratic overhead, had not asked Boeing or SpaceX for a high-level management plan for how complex pieces of engineering would be put together and tested.

But that lack of knowledge meant that NASA did not fully understand how Boeing was designing the Starliners software and the testing process for verifying that it would work as intended. We thought we understood it, but we ended up finding out that over time, that kind of changed, Ms. Lueders said.

She also said that for the December test flight, NASA had focused on the highest priorities, in particular ensuring that Starliner did not pose any danger to the space station as it approached, and that might have caused software engineering to receive less attention.

Where do you apply the resources to make sure that youre getting kind of the biggest bang for your buck, to be able to really flesh out where you have problems in your systems? she said.

NASA is now overseeing software development more closely at both SpaceX and Boeing.

The Starliner spacecraft, launched on top of an Atlas 5 rocket on Dec. 20, encountered two major software problems during its flight. The first occurred minutes after the spacecraft had separated from the rocket, because the capsules clock had been set wrong. That caused the spacecraft to squander its propellant, and a planned docking at the International Space Station was called off.

Starliner also experienced a communications problem that prevented mission controllers from quickly regaining control. An investigation revealed that the spacecrafts radio receiver had been listening to too wide a swath of frequencies, which led to interference from other transmissions from Earth. Boeing engineers have added a filter to limit the frequencies.

The second software flaw would have fired the wrong thrusters as Starliner was preparing for re-entry. As Boeing engineers hastily combed through the Starliner software in the aftermath of the clock problem, they found that problem and fixed it. If it had not been fixed, two pieces of Starliner  the capsule that returns to Earth and the service module, which is discarded  might have collided. The capsule might have tumbled and burned up in the atmosphere instead of landing safely in White Sands, N.M.
The word simp isnt new. In fact, its pretty old.

But it has been dragged into fresh popularity. In the same way that older songs can find new audiences on TikTok, older slang emerges on the app to be championed by a broader, younger audience.

Too Short, the bawdy West Coast rapper who used the word in lyrics as early as 1985, said that he was not surprised that the word is more popular than ever.

It still means the same thing, he said. If I was in a room with a bunch of 20-somethings or even teenagers, I would expect them to know what Im talking about.

The Evolution of Simp

Simps new status as a prime insult  a misogynist one, that implies a person is unmanly  has lasted most of a year. Mel Magazine, an online journal quick to note new cultural trends, deeply dissected the resurgence in October.
The wave of criticism showed how far Facebook is from reassuring its detractors, which is likely to lead to continued problems for the Silicon Valley giant. For weeks, the social network has faced increasing pressure to tackle toxic speech and misinformation on its site, fueled by inflammatory posts from President Trump and a backdrop of racial unrest in the country.

Rivals like Twitter and Snap have recently moved to label or play down untruthful or incendiary posts from Mr. Trump on their platforms, but Facebook has resisted labeling his posts as hate speech or taking the messages down. Mr. Zuckerberg has defended the hands-off approach by stressing the importance of free speech and arguing that Facebook is not an arbiter of posts.

That position has caused anger. Facebooks own employees have pushed back, staging a virtual walkout last month to protest Mr. Zuckerbergs position. Several weeks ago, the civil rights groups also organized an effort called Stop Hate for Profit, urging hundreds of advertisers to stop spending on Facebook because it had failed to curtail the spread of noxious content.

As the ad boycott has grown, Facebook executives have taken an increasingly conciliatory tone with advertisers and others. The company has about eight million advertisers whose spending accounts for more than 98 percent of its annual $70.7 billion in revenue.

As part of its response, Facebook said it planned to release the final part of a yearslong audit of its civil rights policies and practices on Wednesday. The auditors have been examining how Facebook handles issues like hate speech, election interference and algorithmic bias.

But the audit is only as good as what Facebook ends up doing with the content, Mr. Robinson said. Otherwise, he said, its like going to the doctor, getting a new set of recommendations about your diet and then not doing anything about it and wondering why youre not getting any healthier.
SAN FRANCISCO  Magic Leap said on Tuesday that it had hired Peggy Johnson, a top executive at Microsoft, to be its chief executive, as the troubled augmented reality headset start-up shifts its focus from consumers to businesses.

Ms. Johnson, who starts at Magic Leap in August, is joining at a critical time for the once vaunted start-up. While Magic Leap had caused excitement with a virtual-reality headset intended to show people the technologys abilities, the product arrived after many delays to lukewarm reviews, and sales fell short of expectations.

In December, Magic Leap announced plans to focus on selling technology to businesses rather than consumers, aligning more closely with Ms. Johnsons experience at Microsoft.

In an interview on Monday, Ms. Johnson, 58, said she had reached out to Rony Abovitz, Magic Leaps founder and chief executive, who had announced in May that he would step down. She said she saw opportunities in Magic Leaps spatial technology, which projects digital images into the real world.
The battle lines in this years disputes are stark, with voting rights groups and Democrats aiming to ease restrictive regulations, and Republicans and conservatives playing defense, trying to preserve them. Our goal is to protect the laws that are already on the books, said Liz Harrington, the spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. When Democratic lawyers are going into states trying to strip away things like ballot security and signature verification, those are the main things were fighting against. And we are succeeding.

But the barriers to voting posed by the pandemic have raised the stakes.

Voting by mail is the prime battleground. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia allow excuse-free absentee voting, most likely ensuring that Novembers election in those places will be conducted largely by mail if the pandemic persists. Many of the remaining states loosened mail-balloting rules for primaries, and some have moved to do so for November as well. But Republicans  led vocally by Mr. Trump  have insisted, without evidence, that loosening absentee ballot rules invites widespread fraud.

We understand if people want to vote absentee, but theres a process for that, Ms. Harrington said. Easing rules can lead to errors, she said, citing reports that some ballots mailed to voters in Nevadas primary wound up in apartment lobbies or the trash.

Thats not the way a first-world country conducts elections, she said.

Voting rights advocates note that some states vote almost entirely by mail with almost no instances of fraud. This has nothing to do with the safety and security of the election, said Sylvia Albert, the director of voting and elections for Common Cause. Its clear their intention is to limit access to the ballot for people who they think wont vote for them.

The vote-by-mail legal battles run the gamut of election rules. There are fights over whether to let voters vote absentee at all, whether to automatically mail them ballots or ballot applications, whether to relax witness requirements for absentee ballots and even over how ballots should be collected.
Nurses who traveled from across the country to work in New York City hospitals saw the horrors of the coronavirus up close. They rushed patients to overcrowded intensive care units, monitored oxygen levels and held the hands of the sickest ones as they slipped away.

But now that many of the nurses have returned home to states in the South and the West, theyre facing a new challenge: persuading friends and family to take the virus seriously.

A few times Ive lost my temper, said Olumide Peter Kolade, a 31-year-old nurse from California who grew up in Texas and spent more than three months treating patients in New York. When someone tells me that they dont believe the virus is real, its an insult. I take it personally.

On the way to his 12-hour shifts in Brooklyn, Mr. Kolade would scroll through Instagram and Snapchat and see photos taken the previous night of his friends partying in Texas. A few, adamant that the coronavirus was a hoax or that deaths in New York were overstated, texted him videos promoting the false internet conspiracy theory that links the spread of the virus to the ultrafast wireless technology known as 5G.
The star wide receiver DeSean Jackson apologized Tuesday for sharing an anti-Semitic quotation attributed to Hitler, after that and other social media posts were widely condemned, including by his team.

In the series of posts, made on Instagram over the weekend, Jackson also praised Louis Farrakhan, a minister notorious for his history of anti-Semitic comments. Jacksons team, the Philadelphia Eagles, condemned the posts in a statement on Tuesday, calling them offensive, harmful and absolutely appalling.

They have no place in our society, and are not condoned or supported in any way by the organization, the team said. We reiterated to DeSean the importance of not only apologizing but also using his platform to take action to promote unity, equality and respect.

It was unclear whether Jackson, 33, would be disciplined for his posts. The team said it was continuing to evaluate the circumstances in weighing action. We take these matters very seriously and are committed to continuing to have productive and meaningful conversations with DeSean, the team said.
BETHEL, Alaska  When Rebecca Trimble was a little girl, she wore red, white and blue to Independence Day parades. In middle school, she was a flag-bearer for the Girl Scouts. During her teenage years, the Backstreet Boys blared from a boom box in her bedroom.

It was on the eve of getting married in 2012 that she realized there was something amiss in her all-American upbringing. Adopted as an infant from Mexico, she discovered that what she thought was a minor mix-up in her paperwork was something else entirely. Eventually, she realized that not only was she not American, she did not, in the governments view, belong in the United States at all.

This year, a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services arrived in the remote corner of western Alaska where Ms. Trimble cooks for homeless people and where her husband, John, is the only dentist in town.

You are not authorized to remain in the United States, it said, ordering her to depart the country within 33 days or face deportation.
Good morning.

(This article is part of the California Today newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.)

First, Thomas Fuller with an update on the virus.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state had stepped up a crackdown on businesses flouting coronavirus-related restrictions, inspecting nearly 6,000 businesses over the holiday weekend.

More than 50 businesses were cited, the governor said. The overwhelming majority of people were doing the right thing, Mr. Newsom said.

With infections surging in the state, the governor last week reversed his reopening plan, closing down indoor operations of many businesses in the hardest-hit counties.
You had two lightning rod candidates running last time, said the veteran Republican pollster Glen Bolger, who added that there was still time for Republicans to shape perceptions of Mr. Biden. At this point in time, Joe Biden isnt nearly as controversial as Hillary Clinton was, so I think third party candidates are a little bit slower to come out of the woodwork.

In 2016, voters who went third party spanned the ideological spectrum, from Republicans who did not believe Mr. Trump was a true conservative, to progressives who opposed Mrs. Clinton from the left. The Biden campaign has been working to improve Mr. Bidens standing with young liberals, aware of the need to engage and mobilize those voters who have long been skeptical of his relatively centrist policy stances. In part because of his difficulty gaining the confidence of young voters and liberals, Mr. Bidens net favorability rating nationwide remains stuck close to zero.

But Mr. Bidens team also sees significant opportunities to improve his favorability rating both with disaffected voters who have been moving away from the Democratic Party  voters without college degrees, for example  and with center-right moderates who, in the Trump era, have slipped farther from the Republican Party.

This year, a number of organizations have also mobilized to target Republican-leaning voters who dislike Mr. Trump but do not consider themselves Democrats, aiming to bring them into the Biden fold.

An organization called Republican Voters Against Trump has released testimonials from voters who have never voted for a Democrat before. And veterans of the George W. Bush administration announced a new political action committee last week in support of Mr. Biden; one of the leaders is Kristopher Purcell, who worked in the communications office under Mr. Bush.

Mr. Purcell submitted a write-in vote in 2016. This year, he said, will be the first time he votes for a Democrat for president.

We have seen over the last four years what a Trump presidency means for the country, and its increasingly negative, its increasingly damaging, Mr. Purcell said. We want to really focus on persuading historically Republican voters.
Here are some of the highlights from her manuscript:

Cheating on a College Entrance Test

As a high school student in Queens, Ms. Trump writes, Donald Trump paid someone to take a precollegiate test, the SAT, on his behalf. The high score the proxy earned for him, Ms. Trump adds, helped the young Mr. Trump to later gain admittance when he transferred as an undergraduate to the University of Pennsylvanias prestigious Wharton business school.

Mr. Trump has often boasted about attending Wharton, which he has referred to as the best school in the world and super genius stuff.

Sending a Brother to the Hospital Alone

It has long been part of the Trump familys lore that the eldest child of Fred Trump Sr., Fred Trump Jr., who was better known as Freddy, was the black sheep of the dynasty. Freddy Trump was a handsome, garrulous man and a heavy drinker who, after a miserable experience working for his father, left his job in real estate to pursue a passion for flying, becoming a pilot for Trans World Airlines.

Donald Trump has often remarked that his brothers departure from the family business opened space for him to move into and succeed. For me, it worked very well, Mr. Trump told The New York Times during his presidential campaign about serving under his father. For Fred, it wasnt something that was going to work.
For Democrats in New Jersey and across the country, Representative Jeff Van Drews switch to the Republican Party in December, after the impeachment vote against President Trump, was nothing short of a betrayal. Potential opponents began quickly jockeying to take on Mr. Van Drew in what will be one of Novembers most watched congressional races.

But the primary battle in South Jersey has turned toxic, fracturing the states Democratic establishment along lines both familiar and foreign to those who closely follow the political machinations of Trenton.

Backing Amy Kennedy, a mental health advocate and former teacher who is part of the Kennedy political diaspora, is Gov. Philip D. Murphy, along with progressive activists and labor unions who often side with him.

With Mr. Murphy supporting Ms. Kennedy, it is unsurprising to Trenton insiders that her opponent, Brigid Callahan Harrison, a professor at Montclair State University, has the backing of two fellow Democrats who are often at odds with the governor: Stephen M. Sweeney, the State Senate president; and George E. Norcross, the South Jersey power broker.
The version of the stimulus bill originally passed by the House included a provision that would have barred businesses from counting lobbyists salaries toward payroll calculations of how much money could be sought. But after negotiations between the House, the Senate and the administration, the restriction fell out of the final version of the legislation signed into law by Mr. Trump in March.

Yet the S.B.A. still made clear that applications would be subject to agency regulations prohibiting loans to any business that derives over 50 percent of its gross annual revenue from political or lobbying activity.

The American Association of Political Consultants sued the S.B.A. in April seeking to overturn the ban as an infringement on free speech rights. But a federal judge upheld the restriction.

Lawyers for politically oriented companies and nonprofit groups pointed out that the S.B.A. did not clearly define political or lobbying activity. They said they had advised their clients that they could still apply for the loans as long as they could reasonably argue that less than half of their revenue came from overtly partisan political activity or direct lobbying of government.

Its a very individualized determination based on the specific kinds of work firms do for clients, said Jason Torchinsky, a leading Republican political lawyer who argued the political consultants case against the S.B.A., and who represents a number of conservative nonprofit groups.

Polling conducted by corporations or advocacy groups to assess public attitudes on politically related issues might not be considered political activity by the S.B.A. Nor would advertising and government relations campaigns rallying support for issues without specifically advocating a vote for or against a bill or candidate.

For instance, loans of $350,000 to $1 million went to a pair of firms that have been paid a total of nearly $600,000 to do polling for the Biden campaign. But the firms  Anzalone Research and Lake Research Partners  also both conduct research outside of campaigns.
HEFEI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A bridge dating back over 480 years to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) collapsed in floodwaters Tuesday in east China's Anhui Province.

Zhenhai Bridge, a state-level cultural relics protection site located in Tunxi District in the city of Huangshan, was destroyed by the roaring Xin'an River at 9:50 a.m. during a heavy rainstorm starting Monday evening.

No casualties were reported as local people had been evacuated and traffic on the bridge had been blocked.

The bridge, 133 meters long and 15 meters wide, was initially constructed in 1536 and rebuilt several times in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
LUBEC, Maine  It was quiet when the tiny plane carrying Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, landed in Eastport just before noon on the Fourth of July. No blueberry-pie-eating contest, no parade and no Navy ship waiting in the harbor, its traditional place taken by a hulking cruise liner, docked amid the pandemic and yet to set sail.

Unlike previous years, Ms. Collins was not staying anyway; she was there to board a motorboat to visit Lubec, one of the easternmost towns in the contiguous United States with a population of about 1,300, for a small but hearty parade where enthusiastic waves and awkward elbow bumps took the place of handshakes.

Such were the lengths to which the senior senator from Maine was forced to go on Independence Day to connect in person with voters as she stares down the toughest re-election race of her career  and one that could determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate in November. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the race a tossup, and with President Trumps decline in national polls dragging down Senate Republicans around the country, Ms. Collins, 67, is facing ample headwinds.

She is toiling to find a way to defy those trends  she refused to say whether she would vote for Mr. Trump in November, and said she would not attack the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr.  but is well aware that doing so in a polarized political environment will be challenging.
MEXICO CITY  The risks could be enormous, but they havent swayed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico.

Mexican diplomats and opposition figures have warned Mr. Lopez Obrador against traveling to Washington this week to thank President Trump and celebrate the beginning of a new trade deal between the two countries and Canada.

The visit, they have said, was an incomprehensible choice in the middle of a pandemic and global economic crisis, coming with the risk of public humiliation at the hands of Mr. Trump, who has called Mexican immigrants rapists and animals and has said that Mexico is not our friend.

Still, Mr. Lopez Obrador said he would move ahead with plans to fly to Washington and greet Mr. Trump on Wednesday.
The State Department said on Tuesday that it was barring Chinese authorities from the United States who were found to have restricted journalists, tourists, or diplomats or other American officials from entering Tibetan areas.

The new visa restrictions are the latest set of sanctions that the Trump administration has imposed against Chinas government and political leaders over the last several years, most recently to punish Beijings crackdown against protesters in Hong Kong.

In a statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said international access to Tibet was a matter of regional and environmental security. He did not say who or how many Chinese officials were now being blocked from the United States in retaliation.

He said the United States remained committed to supporting meaningful autonomy for Tibetans, respect for their fundamental and unalienable human rights, and the preservation of their unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity.
LONDON  One day after sanctioning 20 Saudis for human rights violations, Britain on Tuesday sent a very different signal to the government in Riyadh, ending a moratorium on arm sales to Saudi Arabia over its involvement in the bloody conflict in Yemen.

A court ruling last year forced the British government to suspend sales of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia because of the risk they would be used in violation of international humanitarian law.

But after a review, Liz Truss, Britains international trade secretary, said on Tuesday that procedures had been revised to comply with the courts concerns, and that the suspension of licenses for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia was at an end.

Her decision prompted anger from opposition politicians and campaigners, protests that were sharpened by the timing of the announcement. On Monday, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, imposed sanctions on 47 people, including 25 Russians accused of aiding and abetting in the death of Sergei L. Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died after brutal treatment in detention in 2009.
MOSCOW  Russias secret police on Tuesday arrested a respected former reporter who worked in recent months as an adviser to the head of the countrys space agency, accusing him of treason for passing secrets to a NATO country.

Life News, a tabloid news site with close ties to the security apparatus, posted a video of the former reporter, Ivan I. Safronov, being bundled off a leafy Moscow street into a gray van by plainclothes officers of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., the domestic arm of what was known in Soviet times as the K.G.B.

The F.S.B. said that Mr. Safronov was suspected of working for the intelligence service of an unspecified NATO country, passing on classified information about military-technical cooperation, defense and the security of the Russian Federation.

What information that could be, however, was unclear. Mr. Safronov only started working at the space agency, Roscosmos, in May. Before that, he worked for more than a decade as a well-regarded journalist for Kommersant and then Vedomosti, both privately owned business newspapers with no obvious access to state secrets.
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For some, it is because they are uncomfortable, and for others, masks seem to have become a political issue.

As the current graph reveals, now is not the time to let our guard down.

Maldonado added that it is crucial to wear a mask in public spaces in order to help prevent the spread of the virus.

We all dislike wearing masks in this weather, and we all want to get back to business and back to normal, he said. However, not wearing a face mask inside a public building is simply irresponsible and selfish. I feel your pain as I also have family, friends and activities that I miss, but doing these few things to help stop the spread is a small price to pay to avoid another shelter-in-place order.

EAMC restrictions

EAMC is keeping its visitor restrictions in place at both EAMC and EAMC-Lanier due to the continued increase of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

The hospital also stresses that it is doing everything it can to keep its employees and patients safe from the virus.

EAMC and EAMC-Lanier both have rigorous disinfection processes, daily staff and physician screening, and other extreme measures in place to keep our patients and staff safe as we continue our routine services and manage the uptick in hospitalizations, the hospital said in a statement.

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Jeffrey Epstein

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing told colleagues today that taking on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a client was "a critical mistake that never should have happened."

The corporate mea culpa followed an announcement by the New York State Department of Financial Services that the German bank agreed to pay a $150M penalty for lack of oversight in dealings with the now-deceased sex trafficker, as well as Danske Bank Estonia and Federal Bank of the Middle East.

DB worked with Epstein and related entities from August 2013 until December 2018, which is the year that Sewing became CEO.

The Financial Services Dept. found that DB "processed hundreds of transactions totaling millions of dollars that, at the very least, should have prompted additional scrutiny in light of Mr. Epsteins history.

Those transactions include payments to people alleged to be Epstein's co-conspirators in sexually abusing young women and Russian models for such things as women's school tuitions, hotel and rent expenses.

In his letter to colleagues, Sewing thanked them "for their determined handling of these cases and the internal investigations, which the DFS acknowledged as "exemplary."'

At the same time, he stressed: "We all have to help ensure that this kind of thing does not happen again. It is our duty and our social responsibility to ensure that our banking services are used only for legitimate purposes."

He urged staffers to examine things critically, ask questions and speak up. He also wants them to read the DFS consent order and the client Q&A " so that we are aware of our mistakes and learn the appropriate lessons from the past."

The DFS announcement follows this month's arrest of Epstein's girlfriend and alleged procurer of young women, Ghislaine Maxwell, on federal charges.
Nine-time champion Flat jockey and Offaly native Pat Smullen recently presented a cheque from Cancer Trials Ireland to doctors in St Vincents University Hospital, Dublin to fund a state-of-the-art next generation sequencing (NGS) machine.

This donation is a direct result of the money raised on Pats behalf at last Septembers Longines Irish Champions Weekend which culminated in the Pat Smullen Champions Race for Cancer Trials Ireland at the Curragh.

Im delighted the generosity that people showed is having impacts like this, and I look forward to seeing more opportunities for people with pancreatic cancer open up very soon, said Pat.

Professor Ray McDermott, Clinical Lead for Cancer Trials Ireland, said: The sequencing machine enables users to define the genetic sequence of pancreatic cancer patients in Ireland. The NGS machine will enhance the diagnosis and management of pancreatic cancer in the hospital, and it will also allow the team to participate in more pancreatic research and clinical trials for the benefit of pancreatic cancer patients.

Providing further detail about the NGS machine, and its uses, Dr Niall Swan, Consultant Histopathologist and Clinical Director Diagnostics, commented: The Irish National Cancer Strategy 10-year plan has called for the introduction of precision diagnostics and therapeutics into the frontline of cancer care. Next generation sequencing (NGS) is the most important advance in terms of clinical cancer diagnostics today.

As St Vincents University Hospital is the national surgical centre for pancreatic cancer the laboratory will be able to specifically focus on new cancer therapies for these patients which will allow a broader understanding of the mutational profile of tumour samples to more precisely guide personalized treatment decisions.

NGS testing on-site will enable us to give a detailed report to our oncologists and patients within one week, thereby speeding up the treatment decision process rather than outsourcing requests.

The deciphering the genetic code of these tumours will allow the identification of clinically relevant genomic alterations, assist in guiding clinical decision making and help to enrol more of our Irish patients in international cancer clinical trials.

Cancer Trials Ireland CEO, Eibhlin Mulroe, said: Pats vision has made new pancreatic treatment on trials a reality. Patients will benefit from the support he inspired  and continues to inspire. Once again, thank you Pat.
Offaly TD Barry Cowen has made a statement to the Dail about the media storm surrounding his drink-driving ban in 2016.

Deputy Cowen was stopped and breath tested by gardai on his way home from the All-Ireland final. He was also driving ona learner permit at the time.

The Irish Independent reported the resultant three-month ban at the weekend. Deputy Cowen apologised for the incident in a statement on Sunday but chose to address colleagues in the Dail this evening.

Deputy Barry Cowen - speech from 7 Jul 2020 Dail Eireann - 7 Jul 2020 Posted by VideoParliament Ireland on Tuesday, July 7, 2020

He reiterated that he was profoundly sorry for his "stupid, stupid mistake" which he holds as a source of deep regret.

Formally on the record of this house, I sincerely, as I said earlier, want to apologise to my peers and my colleges.

It is a source of deep regret. My actions have reflected poorly on the work of elected representatives and on my part.

"My decision in September 2016 to drive home after consuming any alcohol was a stupid, stupid mistake. It never happened before September 18, 2016 and it has never happened since," Cowen added

"It was a mistake for which I am profoundly sorry.

"The emergence of this issue into the public domain has put an intense spotlight on me, and on the shame, more importantly, the shame of drink driving.

"The criticism that I have attracted for such a serious lack and lapse of judgment is fully deserved. This grave error, my subsequent humiliation, will hopefully serve to highlight the terrible dangers and consequences of drink driving.

"I have apologised to my family, to the Taoiseach, the government, to my constituents, and to the general public."

He also offered his help to a number of road safety groups who he contacted on Tuesday.
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.

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Parents and children arrive in September 2019 for the first day of school at Washington West Elementary.
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But because the new unit will be close to Nebraska Medicines emergency room, it will be able to handle some patients those centers cannot, namely those with medical complications as well as psychiatric and substance abuse problems. That could include patients who have attempted suicide and people with substance abuse issues who are detoxing, Sharma said.

After patients are assessed and their treatment has begun, most patients would be transferred to the appropriate level of care.

But with rapid evaluation and treatment, Jurjevich said, some patients who may have required inpatient admission in the past may not need it. If a patients condition can be stabilized, he or she could instead be connected with community-based resources.

Ultimately, Jurjevich said, the goal is that those who do need inpatient beds can get them more quickly.

Cates said the hospitals ER currently admits about half of patients who arrive needing behavioral health care to inpatient units. The other half go home.

With the addition of the emergency center, officials are hoping to discharge up to 80% of patients, cutting those requiring inpatient care to as low as 20%. That helps the whole community if were not sending patients who dont absolutely need it, he said.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln routinely talks about the need to improve race relations, and this time it will do something about it, UNLs leader said Tuesday.

UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green called for a deep look into how race relations can get better on campus and in the community at large.

The turning point for me is that we are continuing to talk about the same thing over and over, Green said in an interview. Too many of those conversations sound like conversations from 1966 and 1967. And Im appalled by that.

Green pledged to help lead tangible and intangible steps to enhance the campus climate, faculty recruitment and curriculum to enrich race relations at UNL and beyond. UNL is one of many institutions looking inward as protests nationwide have decried the treatment of black people by police and others.

He said one needs only to look at the number of black faculty members in fall 2010 and fall 2019 at UNL  24 each year  to recognize that there is work to do. In 2000 the number was 22.
Groene, the head of the Legislatures Education Committee, recently said the $250 million would be better spent, and would benefit more people, if it was used to reduce local property taxes by increasing state funding of K-12 schools.

Open Sky, while agreeing on decoupling, doesnt favor the property tax bill that Groene helped draft.

The group wants the money to be available to cover what it predicts will be rocky times ahead for the state budget, according to a spokesman.

The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Omaha-based Platte Institute, have both issued statements against decoupling.

The latest federal tax provisions were intended to help stimulate the very businesses that are in most need right now and to keep Nebraskans employed to the greatest extent possible, Nebraska Chamber President Bryan Slone said last month.

The issue of decoupling promises to be a hot one when the Legislature resumes its 2020 session on July 20.
Sayre, PA (18840)

Today

Cloudy. Periods of rain this morning. Cooler. High 63F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 44F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
The Vietnam War stretched painfully over a decade, and the conflict came to divide Americans bitterly. When our country staggered away from Southeast Asia in 1975, our exit brought no ticker-tape parades, no community events to express a nations gratitude. This cold silence did a great disservice to those who had served.

Thankfully, our society has since made progress on that score. Although Americans still disagree sharply over politics, we now share an encouraging consensus about the need to salute our military personnel, past and present. This is a healthy, constructive attitude for our country.

A fitting salute is planned in Sarpy County, for example, where plans are moving forward for a Vietnam War memorial to honor those who served during the era when Americans came to know such terms as Khe Sanh, Hue, Da Nang and the Tet Offensive. The nonprofit Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation heads the project after members of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 279 began discussions two years ago.
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Dish Nation 08 Jul 2020

The couple that kinda dances together stays together just ask J.Lo!Jennifer Lopez shared vid of her boo A-Rod trying to keep up for..
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All eyes are on the Brazilian leader, who has repeatedly downplayed the effect of the novel coronavirus, as he announced that he is getting tested for the virus. Follow DW for the latest
(Reuters) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late on Monday that the United States is "certainly looking at" banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok. "I don't want to get out in front of the President (Donald...
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia has warned its citizens they may be at risk of arbitrary detention in China, in an updated travel advisory. The travel advice for China on Australia's Smart Traveller website includes the warning, "Authorities have detained foreigners because they're...
Actor Terry Crews faced an angry backlash after voicing concerns about the radicalization of the BLM movement. His clash with CNNs Don Lemon on why black-on-black crime is not part of the agenda split society even further. Last Saturday, Crews, who is also a human rights activist, tweeted that he saw good people as allies regardless of the color of their skin, adding that he was prepared to die on this hill. He previously expressed concern that the Black Lives Matter movement might slide into black supremacy. Are all white people bad? No. Are all...
New Health Minister Chris Hipkins will front his first Covid-19 press conference this afternoon, providing an update of the number of new cases in the country. Hipkins has been in the job for less than a week and was appointed by...
A Chinese official has cautioned the UK government of interfering in its affairs amid Beijing's new security law in Hong Kong. The statement comes after the UK is set to decide whether to deny Huawei's involvement in the country's 5G infrastructure.
The weekly $600 unemployment benefit that aimed to support Americans through the coronavirus pandemic is set to expire of July 31. If Congress does not decide to extend the financial support, there are other proposals that could take its place.
United States President Donald Trump expressed his vision of a united America belonging to one family and one nation. The American leader also noted that his administration was facing a "radical left" revolution which aimed to undermine his government's efforts.
Novavax Inc., one of the front-runners in the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, will receive $1.6 billion from the U.S. government, the biggest contribution yet from the Operation Warp Speed program. The funds will allow the company to conduct advanced human studies and establish manufacturing to deliver 100 million doses as soon as late 2020, Gaithersburg, Md.-based Novavax said in a statement. Shares of Novavax rose as much as 41%, the highest since September 2016, in Tuesday trading. Novavax is among companies striving to develop an inoculation against the novel coronavirus thats spreading quickly in countries including the U.S., India and Mexico. President Donald Trumps Warp Speed...
Eurasia Review 21 Jun 2021

By Jim Garamone



U.S. leaders continually assess the progress of the retrograde from Afghanistan and the state of..
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Bottoms announced in a letter Thursday that she will not seek reelection this year, saying, "it is with deep emotions that I hold..
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The 2021 class at Boise State set new records in degrees and certificates with more than 3,600 awarded and a new record with 35..
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

The global real estate investment manager, Patrizia AG announced the final close of its seventh flagship trans-European real estate fund, Trans-European VII LP (TEP VII), at its hard cap, with EUR 750mn (USD 849mn), of total equity commitments.

In the latest round of fundraising, which was oversubscribed, a further EUR 116 million of new equity commitments were secured, following the previous close announced at the end of January 2020.

The Fund has total firepower of EUR 1.8bn ($2.03bn) including leverage and has already committed to multiple transactions across key European cities including Madrid, Paris, Barcelona, London, and Berlin, primarily in the logistics sector.

The Fund has a dry powder in excess of EUR 1.0bn to be deployed over the next three years.

Backed by both existing and new institutional investors from the UK, Europe, the US, the Middle East, and Asia, the fund is the largest in the Patrizia Trans-European series, surpassing its predecessor, TEP VI, which raised 430m of equity.

TEP VII will pursue a cash-flow driven, value-added strategy across the office, logistics, residential and retail sectors in both Europe and the UK. Having already committed to a number of investments, primarily in the logistics sector, in markets such as Madrid, Barcelona, Milan and Avignon, the program has in excess of 1bn of 'dry powder' to deploy over the next three years.

Paul Hampton, Fund Chairman of the TEP series at Patr......................

To view our full article Click here
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

Asset owners in Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands, which together manage more than $1 trillion of assets, have launched an online green-investing tool that measures companies against United Nations sustainable development goals.

"APG Asset Management NV, AustralianSuper, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and PGGM NV have jointly established the Sustainable Development Investments Asset Owner Platform (SDI AOP)," said a joint press release.

The SDI Asset Owner Platform will allow investors to assess 8,000 companies using the UN criteria, according to the release.

The platform's standard and artificial-intelligence driven data enable investors to assess companies on their contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The product will be available via distribution partner Qontigo.

The participating pension funds have set ambitious targets for investing in the UN's sustainable development goals, with both the AustralianSuper and the BCI joining the platform.

"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," AustralianSuper director of ESG and stewardship Andrew Gray said.

"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 outc......................

To view our full article Click here
The Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department released detailed loan-level data regarding the Paycheck Protection Program loans on Monday. The data includes information on loans from $150,000 to $10 million that was given to businesses and nonprofit organizations around the country.

According to the data, the average loan size was $107,000, and 86.5% of loans were for less than $150,000. Oregon reported around 600,000 jobs lost, and 77% of loan applications for small businesses in Oregon were approved.

Despite the majority of loans being for less than $150,000, some 1,048 Oregon businesses received $1 million or more in loans.

This searchable list shows those Oregon businesses and nonprofits that received $1 million or more in PPP loans. The amounts are shown as a range rather than exact numbers, as provided by SPA and the Treasury.

According to the data 54 Oregon businesses and nonprofits received between $5 million and $10 million, the maximum companies could borrow through the program. About 341 received $2 million to $5 million and 653 received $1-2 million. The companies that received the largest amounts include construction, steel and medical companies.

Large parts of the timber and natural resource industry in Oregon were approved for PPP loans, wrote Josh Lehner from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis.

Other areas of business have had to fight harder for larger loans due to competition between local businesses and larger firms.

On the other hand sectors like computer and electronic product manufacturing and metal manufacturing saw relatively lower dollar volumes in large part due to the presence of bigger firms that drive a lot of our statewide figures, although it certainly seems that the smaller firms in these industries did receive PPP loans, Lehner wrote.

Counties such as Clatsop, Deschutes, Hood River, Lincoln, Polk, Wallowa and Yamhill saw a large amount of PPP support for their local beverage firms as well, according to Lehner.

Of these businesses and nonprofits, only seven reported they were owned by a person of color, while 78 reported being owned by a white person. The rest were unanswered.

According to the Washington Post, Treasury and SBA officials say the program helped support about 51 million jobs and that it accounts for 84% of all employees working at small businesses, based on Census Bureau data.

The information provided has some more confusing aspects to it, including the section where businesses reported how many jobs they plan to retain with the money. In Oregon, 120 businesses left that unanswered, and 95 answered with zero. Seventeen businesses answered they plan to retain 500 jobs and the majority of businesses fell around the 100-employee range. Ten of the businesses that received between $5 million and $10 million answered either zero or left it blank.

-- Ty Vinson

tvinson@oregonian.com

503-221-4315; @ty_vinson_

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A 54-year-old man was charged with second-degree murder on Monday after his mother was found dead in a Southeast Portland apartment.

Portland police said Todd Allan Carr was jailed Sunday after officers responded to a reported disturbance at the residence earlier that morning.

They discovered the body of his mother, Sharon Carr, who also went by Sharon Tate, according to the Multnomah County District Attorneys Office. Law enforcement found more than one knife inside the residence, officials say.

The Oregon State Medical Examiners Office determined Carr, 73, died of blunt force trauma and homicidal violence.

According to the district attorneys office, police found Todd Carr upon their immediate arrival and arrested him there. He remains in the Multnomah County Detention Center.

Note: this story has been updated to correct the victims name after inaccurate information from law enforcement.

-- Celina Tebor

ctebor@oregonian.com

@CelinaTebor
Sports

Croatia ready to host India for training ahead of WC qualifiers

New Delhi, Jul 7 (Agencies) | Publish Date: 7/7/2020 9:49:07 AM IST

The Indian national team will be welcomed in Croatia to train before their 2022 World Cup qualifiers scheduled in October and November, according to Goal.

In a letter addressed to the President of AIFF (All India Football Federation), Praful Patel, his Croatian counterpart Davor Suker, has expressed the eagerness to assist India to help the Blue Tigers prepare better for the remaining fixtures.

The Croatian Federation would provide hospitality and help organise friendly games, provided the Indian team wishes to hold the preparatory camp in the European nation.

International travel is currently banned due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and if the situation improves, India might exercise the option of conducting the training camp abroad. Since the game against Qatar is scheduled to be held in Bhubaneswar, the AIFFs preference is to conduct the camp in Odisha. However, it depends on the state regulations and the Covid-19 situation which will play a major role in the team being able to play friendly matches.

It must be noted that football is back on in Croatia and the country has also eased restrictions on foreigners entering the country. The Blue Tigers, who are currently ranked 108th in the world and 19th in Asia, last played against Oman in the World Cup qualifiers (1-0 loss for India).

Before the lockdown started in March, national team head coach Igor Stimac had summoned 23 players for a camp that was supposed to start on March 9. He had also called up another 20 players to join on March 16, 2020, after the conclusion of the Indian Super League (ISL) season but the camp had to be eventually cancelled.

India are winless and have registered three draws after five rounds of fixtures in Group E. Qatar, who are unbeaten, are leading the group with 13 points and Oman are second with 12. The games remaining for India are against Qatar (H), Bangladesh (A) and Afghanistan (H). India could resume their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign on October 8 when they take on Qatar.

According to the tentative schedule worked out by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), India will then face Bangladesh on November 12, whereas their last group stage fixture against Afghanistan is likely to be played on November 17.
The Oregon Country Fair, a music and art festival typically held along winding paths through the woods, will take place in an interactive, 3D virtual world on July 10, 11 and 12.

Due to COVID-19, the fair shut down the physical event, but the organization still wanted to create a gathering space for its loyal fans.

It is such a community that we wanted to find a way to at least, a tiny bit, recreate that sense of ability to connect with one other and support each other during this time, operations manager Crystalyn Frank said.

Executive director Wally Bomgaars also said it was important to provide a place for the artisans and crafters who have been struggling during the pandemic to sell their goods.

While the online event will not feature the typical food and craft booths, the website will include access to the websites of artisans and the ability to purchase fair clothing. The online fair will also feature live music and recorded performances from previous fairs.

There are three different ways visitors can use the oregoncountryfair.org site during the fair dates. People can interact with vendors or view performances by clicking links, like a traditional website. The participants can also use a 2D map of this years virtual booth setup to search for and click on the vendors or performance areas. Or, using the Fair in the Clouds 3D experience, visitors can create an avatar and walk through a virtual recreation of the fair.

Two avatars are shown in the Fair in the Clouds 3D Experience. The photo was taken using the virtual camera, which will be available to use during the virtual fair.

Those who participate in the 3D experience can also interact with other attendees by having their avatars stand next to each other with their microphones on. The program uses 3D spatial audio, so the closer your avatar is to another, the louder their voice is.

The Fair in the Clouds features stages with various music acts. If a musical group is playing a screen will appear over the stage. Attendees can listen to the act by hovering their mouse over the video and adjusting the volume on their device.

The virtual event will also include recognized staples of the fair such as the main stage and the White Bird Clinic station.

Alesha Adamson, lead project manager for the 3D experience, said many people who have viewed the program ahead of time have cried because they are so connected to the fair and their memories there.

The fair, which normally takes place in Veneta, near Eugene, celebrated its 50th year in 2019. There are many people who have grown up attending the fair, Adamson said.

When Fair announced that we werent going to have a physical event this year, people were devastated, said Adamson, who goes by Salt. This little bit is a reprieve. Its like a salve for that wound of not having the physical fair.

-- Madison Smalstig l msmalstig@oregonian.com l @madi_smals l

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More than four months after closing amid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the Portland Art Museum is ready to reopen with new public health practices in place.

The downtown Portland museum announced Monday that it will reopen July 16. Under new safety guidelines, visitors will need to buy tickets online in advance using the museums new timed entry system, must wear face masks, and will need to keep at least six feet away from other groups.

Museum hours will also be reduced, to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

We have been thoughtfully planning for our reopening under the guidelines set forth by the Oregon Health Authority and Centers for Disease Control, and have made changes to best serve our staff and public in the safest possible way, museum director Brian Ferriso said in the announcement.

A limited number of galleries will initially be opened, and museum officials are compensating by cutting admission prices in half to $10 starting July 23, until the remaining galleries reopen. The museum is also offering free admission for its first four days open, July 16 to 19.

Because of ongoing state restrictions on large public gatherings, the museum will not yet resume in-person public programs, including tours and screenings at the Northwest Film Center, the museum said. The Museum Store will operate during the museums hours and will also offer curbside pickup.

Some exhibitions cut short by the pandemic will be extended, including Volcano! featuring art of Mount St. Helens, which opened Feb. 8 and will now run through Jan. 3, 2021.

The Portland Art Museum has struggled during its closure, laying off 123 employees and cutting pay to the museums senior leadership team, accumulating losses of roughly $1 million every month it remained closed, museum leaders said.

Our reopening plan includes a shared belief that each of us plays a role in a safe reopening. We are in this together, Ferriso said. Theres no better way to heal and to learn than making it possible for everyone to connect with art and the creative spirit.

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

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SEATTLE  A judge on Monday set a $1.2 million bail for the man accused of driving a Jaguar on to a closed Seattle freeway and hitting two protesters from Portland, killing one.

Dawit Kelete, who is Black, drove the car around vehicles that were parked on Interstate 5 to protect a group of Black Femme March demonstrators, part of the Black Lives Matter movement protesting racial inequality and police violence. The car hit two people and sped away at about 1:40 a.m. Saturday, police said.

Over the weekend, a judge found probable cause to hold Kelete on an investigation of vehicular assault but the King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office has yet to file charges against Kelete. A charging decision is expected by Wednesday afternoon, said spokesman Casey McNerthney.

The King County public defenders office said Kelete has not yet been assigned a lawyer because he hasnt been charged. Efforts to reach Keletes family were unsuccessful.

The Seattle man was the owner of the Jaguar XJL and was alone in the car, according to a Washington State Patrol report submitted to the court late Saturday.

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.

Summer Taylor, a 24-year-old veterinary clinic worker from Portland, suffered critical injuries and died Saturday night. Diaz Love, 32, also from Portland, was in serious condition.

Im alive and stable, Love posted on Facebook late Sunday. 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.

Love also said: 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 yall are sending me.

A GoFundMe page was started Saturday by Abby Annable, a friend of Loves from Portland, to raise money for their medical bills. After making the initial goal of $20,000 within hours, the goal was raised to $60,000.

As of Monday afternoon, the GoFundMe effort had raised nearly $67,000.

Doctors have told friends and family that Love could face six weeks of recovery before moving onto physical therapy, if surgeries are successful, Annable said. As of Sunday afternoon, Love was still in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center.

I have a whole list of well wishes and messages people sent me to pass on, Annable said. So hopefully theyll be able to read some of those and know that theres a huge community behind them in their recovery.

The GoFundMe page was organized by local fans of the My Favorite Murder podcast, called the Portland Murderinos Group, of which Love is a part. The group has organized over Facebook, where Love, Annable and other fans have also coordinated plans to attend protests in Portland and Seattle.

Annable said Love is the kind of person who jumps two feet in to causes they believe in, including the Black Lives Matter protests.

Diaz is very passionate, Annable said. When they find something they believe in, they go full force.

After Kelete, 27, was stopped by state troopers, he agreed to take a field sobriety test for drugs and alcohol. The tests showed he was not impaired, the state patrol said.

The driver was reserved and appeared sullen throughout his time in custody, Trooper James McGuire wrote in the arrest report. At one point he asked if the injured pedestrians were okay.

Kelete was booked into the King County Correctional Facility on Saturday morning on two counts of vehicular assault.

Seattle has been the site of prolonged unrest following the May police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests. Dozens of people were arrested last week in connection with protests as demonstrations continued after authorities cleared the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone in downtown Seattle.

The state patrol had closed a section of I-5 for 19 days in a row due to the protesters, troopers said. It had been closed to traffic for more than an hour before the crash.

The state patrol said going forward it wont allow protesters to enter I-5 and would arrest pedestrians on the freeway.

--The Associated Press and staff reports

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As founder and CEO of Minorities for Medical Marijuana, Roz McCarthy has spoken to hundreds of state and federal lawmakers, C-suite executives, mom-and-pop operators as well as advocacy groups eager to help shape the multi-billion dollar cannabis industry.

M4MM, as her Orlando-based nonprofit is known online, has been on the frontlines of advancing economic opportunity for people of color  especially for African Americans, who have been disproportionately affected by the so-called War on Drugs.

When we talk about legalization, it revolves around decriminalization of the plant, as well as economic opportunities that each state can look at as they are rolling out new medical programs and an adult-use program, said McCarthy, who will be a speaker for a special July 13 national webinar Cannabis Reform 2020: Americas Growing Pains & Possibilities. Register for tickets here.

At the end of the day, were talking about the bottomline, she said. If you want me to spend money with you, if you want to do business with me, you need to show me that the inside of your organization looks like the world that we live in.

Joining McCarthy on July 13 will be several industry power players, including Leo Bridgewater, national director at Reine Media, known primarily for his advocacy for veterans and cannabis reform including his work to pass legislation for additional recognition and coverage of medical treatment options; Karen OKeefe, director of state policies for Marijuana Policy Project; former Illinois state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, who is now senior advisor to the governor of Illinois for Cannabis Control; and, David Clapper, Ethos CFO and president of operations in Pennsylvania.

Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, chair of the influential House Committee on Rules, will join us as the keynote speaker for this special virtual event.

McCarthy spoke to Enrique Lavin, NJ Cannabis Insider publisher and editor, ahead of next weeks event. The Q&A was edited for space and clarity. The full conversation first appeared in NJ Cannabis Insider.

Q: With America facing another reckoning on race, what are you telling corporate cannabis companies they need to do right now to make a real impact?

A: I tell large cannabis companies that this is a reset button. You have individuals, activists, consumers, business owners, advocacy groups, Black, white, purple doesnt matter, who are really holding the industry to task. If we think about how this industry was built, it was really built on the backs of Black and brown people who were incarcerated. And were seeing the proliferation of new millionaires in this industry. Now people are holding these new organizations and these corporations accountable to the people who have been most harmed.

The George Floyd tragedy really amplified the systemic racism that is pervasive throughout the country. But even more so were going to be focused on cannabis. And there are some systemic, implicit bias things happening within our industry that we have to do away with to make a difference. We have to identify it, we have to root it out and then we have to do some type of action to make sure it doesnt happen again.

Q: What does accountability in the industry look like?

A: My question to the industry, to those corporations is, How do you take your intentions and put them into action? And what can we do to help you? I would say this: do what you do. If you make good weed, then make good weed. If you want to do social programs, come to the organizations who do social programs. Lend your support, your resources, your privilege, your relationship to help us do the work. Let us do the work and show a public-private partnership together.

Q: This industry has seen plenty of white-owned businesses buying the majority of licenses effectively shutting out Black and brown people. Here in New Jersey, theres been a concerted effort through legislation to set aside licenses to operate for minority owned businesses. Is regulation the answer?

A: Policy is a way to help to balance out the playing field. But its not only policy, there also has to be some type of systemic change within the industry. It really can start with our large corporations who spend millions of dollars lobbying. If they were to lobby for interest that support Black and brown businesses, not only do the Black and brown businesses win, they win.

Q: What are your thoughts on the New Jersey State Legislature possibly voting to decriminalize weed  bills that were reintroduced in direct response to the social unrest sparked by George Floyds killing?

A: For me, decriminalization should be a starting point and not the end point. If youre going to be looking at bringing on an adult-use bill, there should be social justice bills that are attached. And those consists of two things: decriminalization  you cant create an adult-use program for a state and not have the accompanying decriminalization bill. Take out the rehab stuff, it doesnt make any sense. If youre going to decriminalize, that means you should not be criminalized for possessing the plant. Period.

The second piece is on the expungement and clearing up records. If youve been pinched before for a personal use amount of the plant, you should have your record automatically cleared. We should not start talking about adult-use bills or expanding the medical program until we deal the social issues and the social harms of legalization. Lets work together through policy and through legislative language to make sense out of this. It should be pretty black and white in my opinion.

***

For the July 13 event, audience members will be able to post questions in advance of the webinar, which starts 1 p.m. EST (10 a.m. PST). After the live event, attendees will have an opportunity to continue the discussion and network in a closed forum, moderated by journalists covering marijuana and hemp industries.

To reserve tickets, go to advance360.com/cannabis-insider-live.

NJ Cannabis Insider, a local sponsor, is a weekly subscriber-based trade journal produced by NJ Advance Media, which has also produced several live events.

As with its May event, featuring Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Cannabis Insider has has partnered with Advance Local sister media groups across the country, including Staten Island Advance, Advance Media New York, PennLive, LehighValleyLive, MassLive, MLive, Advance Ohio and Oregonian Media Group.

For more information, you may reach us via email here.
The Oregon Health Authority reported 168 new confirmed and presumptive coronavirus infections Monday, ending an unprecedented four-day streak of 300 or more cases. Its the first time since last Tuesday that the count has been below 200.

The streak began Thursday when state officials reported the highest daily case count yet at 375 - the first time Oregon had seen a count over 300.

Disclosure of the cases Monday comes after a week of cautious messaging by state officials. They repeatedly urged Oregonians to practice physical distancing, wear a mask and stay home heading into the Fourth of July weekend, when large crowds and travel would inevitably increase the risk for infection.

The extent of spread over the holiday weekend likely will not be known for about a week.

In a press conference before the holiday, Dr. Paul Cieslak, Oregons medical director for communicable diseases, cited multi-group gatherings and workplace outbreaks as contributors to the record-breaking rise in cases.

State officials also released their weekly testing summary Monday showing that 5.3% of the nearly 40,000 recent tests conducted came back positive, the highest rate in months. The testing positivity rate has increased significantly since late May, the health authority said.

Where the new cases are by county: Benton (1), Clackamas (16), Clatsop (3), Columbia (3), Deschutes (2), Douglas (1), Hood River (1), Jackson (1), Jefferson (1), Josephine (3), Lane (10), Malheur (10), Marion (16), Morrow (4), Multnomah (41), Polk (1), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (16), Wasco (3) and Washington (34).

New fatalities: State officials reported no new deaths Monday from the coronavirus.

Prevalence of infections: State officials had not provided detailed daily statistics since Thursday. In the days since, Oregon reported 1,025 positive tests among 16,591 Oregonians tested, equal to a positivity rate of 6.2%.

Who got infected: State officials had not reported presumed or confirmed infections, by age, since Thursday. Since then, the state reported these increases among the following ages: 0-9 (63); 10-19 (109); 20-29 (282); 30-39 (193); 40-49 (189); 50-59 (108); 60-69 (82); 70-79 (45); 80 and older (34).

Whos in the hospital: The Oregon Health Authority reported 119 Oregonians are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus, up from 116 reported Thursday. Hundreds of hospital beds and ventilators remain available.

Since it began: Oregon has now reported 10,395 confirmed or presumed cases of COVID-19 and 215 deaths. In total, 267,228 Oregonians have been tested.

Correction: This story has been updated to state that Wasco County had three new reported coronavirus cases.

-- Bryce Dole, bdole@oregonian.com, 541-660-9844, @DoleBryce.
On the same day Gov. Kate Brown gave the official green light for Mike Schmidt to start his term as Multnomah County district attorney five months earlier than expected, a senior deputy district attorney announced her resignation.

Its unclear if Traci Andersons resignation Monday will be the first of others to come or if itll be an isolated departure. Anderson worked for the DAs Office for more than 20 years, overseeing its domestic violence unit. Her resignation is effective July 17, about two weeks before Schmidt takes office Aug. 1.

Anderson didnt return a request for comment Tuesday. Her resignation letter is three sentences long and offers no specifics about her reasons for leaving.

The DAs Office has seen unusual stability for four decades -- with no upheavals in leadership or sudden philosophical changes. Mike Schrunk led the office for 32 years from 1980 to 2012, followed by Rod Underhill for nearly eight years from 2013 to the present.

Underhill had worked as second-in-command under Schrunk and shared many of Schrunks approaches to criminal justice. He had planned to retire in December, but last month announced he would move up his departure to the end of July. That would give Schmidt more time to enact his own reforms in response to the May 25 death of George Floyd and nationwide calls for systemic change to the criminal justice system.

In places like San Francisco and Philadelphia, district attorneys who were elected as agents of change quickly purged some prosecutors from their offices. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin fired a half-dozen prosecutors within two days of his swearing in. Among those he dismissed were top-level supervisors. Likewise, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner fired more than 30 staffers right after he took office two years ago.

Schmidt on Tuesday said he has no plans for a large-scale shakeup. He said he asked Jeff Howes to remain as first assistant. The position serves as second-in-command and oversees the day-to-day management of the office. He said Howes accepted the offer.

Schmidt said he has talked with Underhills three chief deputies -- Don Rees, John Casalino and Kirsten Snowden. He said they will become acting chief deputies for now until he has had an opportunity to work with them.

I am going to take this interim time to thoughtfully evaluate what I have, he said. I know what I have is a lot of fantastic attorneys. I am not going in thinking I am going to fire a bunch of people.

Schmidt released the names of people serving on his transition advisory committee: Rukaiyah Adams, (Meyer Memorial Trust), Antoinette Edwards (Portland Office of Youth Violence Intervention, retired), Stephen Fowler (Resolutions NW), Mike Golub (Portland Timbers), Erin Greenawald (Oregon Crime Victims Law Center), Sybil Hebb (Oregon Law Center), Kayse Jama (Unite Oregon), Ricardo Lujan-Valerio (Latino Network), Kevin Modica (former Portland Police Bureau assistant chief and legislative assistant for state Sen. Lew Frederick), Eddy Morales (Gresham city councilor and East County Rising founder), Kaia Sand (Street Roots), Chanpone Sinlapasai (immigration attorney) and Lamar Wise (Oregon AFSCME).

Schmidt is a former Multnomah County deputy district attorney and current executive director of the states Criminal Justice Commission. He ran for office May 19 on a promise of sweeping reforms -- including prioritizing drug and mental health treatment over prison, holding police officers accountable for misconduct and seriously considering claims of wrongful convictions.

Mike Schmidt, 39, pictured here on Wed., May 20, 2020, won the Multnomah County District Attorney's race in Tuesday's election. Dave Killen / StaffThe Oregonian

Although Anderson couldnt be reached for comment Tuesday, the Multnomah County Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the union that Anderson leads as president, wrote a strongly worded letter to the editor endorsing Schmidts opponent, Ethan Knight, an assistant U.S. attorney.

Only Knight has the experience necessary to lead this office, read the April 7 letter, published on OregonLive.com. He has dedicated his 21-year-career as a prosecutor to advancing public safety and giving a voice to crime victims. He has prosecuted murder, terrorism, environmental crimes, domestic violence and sexual assault. His opponent, Mike Schmidt, spent only a few years as a prosecutor and never tried a violent felony.

Schmidt, however, beat out Knight by garnering more than 76 percent of the vote.

Anderson has spent nearly her entire law career at the Multnomah County DAs Office -- much of it in the domestic violence unit. That included prosecuting or overseeing the prosecution of some highly sensitive and difficult cases of assault or sexual abuse in which victims were reluctant to cooperate. She started in 1999 and left for about seven months in 2010 and 2011 to work as a chief deputy prosecutor in Deschutes County, before returning to Multnomah County.

Ryan Lufkin, a former prosecutor who worked in the office with Anderson, said Anderson has accepted a job at the private firm, Public Safety Labor Group in Northeast Portland, where Lufkin also works. The firm represents public safety unions on the West Coast, including those representing police, prosecutors, firefighters and parole and probation officers.

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

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After reading the Sunday article about downtown retailers (Downtown retailers still reeling from fiery riot and citys meek response: It was chaos, " June 27), I wondered why businesses would want to locate in Portland anyway, especially downtown. Portland police are unable to protect them against ongoing vandalism, looting and rioting. They can barely protect themselves, and its only going to get worse. Defunding the police and taking away their ability to control unruly crowds only guarantees that anarchy will continue and probably intensify. Couple this with the fact that Multnomah County is, and will continue to be, the last to reopen businesses due to the coronavirus, and you have a recipe for bankruptcy. I hope these businesses can relocate to safer areas, but it may already be too late for many.

Charles White, Beaverton
I am a middle-class, white, stay-at-home mom. I dont drink or smoke. I dont even wear heels. Yes, I am boring. On June 30, I became a rioter and was tear-gassed.

Hundreds of us marched peacefully to the Portland Police Association, only to be met by police in riot gear, protecting their union hall. Yes, we were loud. We blocked traffic. Some even threw a few water bottles. (I watched one of the 30 or so cops casually catch one of the bottles tossed his way.) We were not rioting, looting or burning anything. In the middle of this riot, as the crowd stood silently, a woman read a news story about the banning of tear gas, only to be drowned out by the police telling us we were an unlawful assembly and had to disperse. (I would really like to see a legal analysis of the polices use of that term.)

The police were itching for a fight. They started violently pushing back the peaceful crowd. Several times, they rushed the crowd with their batons, terrifying people and forcing them to run. Some protesters fell and were trampled. Soon after, our peaceful chanting was declared a riot and the police threw tear gas, though no lives were at risk. If the police were worried about their safety, why didnt they have their shields?

It was terrifying to witness the police bullying and terrorizing people. The only people in danger were the protesters. I was shaking for an hour.

Annie Capestany, Portland
A group of demonstrators gathered in Portland Monday afternoon to protest the killing of an Ethiopian musician and the subsequent clashes that have killed at least 160 people in the east African nation.

The protest was in response to the killing of an Oromo musician, Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, who was assassinated in Ethiopia on June 29, according to Al-Jazeera.

Photos on social media from those at the event showed at least 100 people standing in a crowd that stretched across the Burnside Bridge, holding Oromo Liberation Front flags and signs that read stop killing Oromo and other messages of solidarity for the group.

Protesters crossed the Burnside Bridge, briefly blocking traffic. TriMet announced on Twitter about 3:30 p.m. that it would temporarily halt some services because of the protest activity. The affected routes included eastbound service to stops from West Burnside and 4th Avenue to East Burnside and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and westbound service to stops from Northeast Couch and Grand Avenue to West Burnside and 5th Avenue.

Around 4:15 p.m., Portland police said the bridge was no longer blocked, and TriMet said it had restored regular service in both directions across the Burnside Bridge.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

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The Tigard-Tualatin School District has initiated an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment lodged by anonymous students through social media, the district said Tuesday.

Many of the complaints allege teachers and district staff were made aware of the harassment, but little action was taken.

We are aware of the recently created social media accounts that are dedicated to sharing the anonymous stories of alleged incidences of sexual harassment and assault experienced by current and former Tigard-Tualatin School District students in our school buildings and/or that have been reported to school staff, the district said in a statement. These allegations are very serious, and in accordance with state law and district policy require investigation.

The allegations come from at least two accounts on Instagram: @tigardtualatinclowns and @nsrc.official, the latter described in its bio on the social media platform as as an organization promoting and pushing for a nationwide reform of the United States Education System

The accounts have posted dozens of allegations, all anonymous, of harassment, groping, sexual assault and rape.

Ive been groped in the halls at (Tualatin High School) on more than one occasion and one of those times I told (Tualatin High School Principal Michael) Dellerba and all he said was Ill look into it, one person wrote. I gave him the name of the student and everything.

The district declined to comment on behalf of Dellerba, citing the ongoing investigation.

I was sexually assaulted by a fellow student at THS and I have spent months and months talking to the administrators about it all and they have barely done anything, another person wrote, noting that the same person who assaulted her had done the same to other girls at the school. They dont care.

I have been forced into a bathroom stall and forced to do disgusting things. I have evidence (text messages) and yet no one believed me, another person wrote. I contacted my school counselor and all he did was file a no contact order. I feel so alone, I cant go a day without thinking about the incident. Its torturing me knowing that no one cared nor believed me at all.

The district investigation comes amid a reckoning that dovetails with the larger movement calling for accountability of powerful institutions that have often failed to serve the people they are meant to protect.

In June, a Woodburn school resource police officer was put on administrative leave after posting an image of a vehicle running over protesters, the Woodburn Independent reported. Dan Holladay, the mayor of Oregon City, has repeatedly come under fire and recently received a vote of no confidence from the city commissioners after downplaying police violence against Black people and the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, the King County Sheriffs Office in Seattle said it placed a detective on leave over Facebook posts that ridiculed protesters who were struck by a car on a closed freeway, one fatally, over the weekend.

In the Tigard-Tualatin School District, officials said they would hire an outside investigator to look into the allegations.

This morning we initiated an external investigation of each one of the reports, the district said. Upon completion of this investigation, a report regarding the process and outcome will be shared with the School Board. We are also following up with all of the identified students and their families.

Officials also urged students with complaints to come forward but acknowledged that some may not trust school administrators, given the nature of the complaints.

We strongly encourage all students, regardless of the forum they choose, to speak out about abuse, the district said. If for any reason there is a lack of trust in our staff or systems, we strongly advise students to report abuses through the Safe Oregon school safety tip line.

Safe Oregon can be contacted through its website, by call or text at 844-472-3367 or by emailing tip@safeoregon.com.

-- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale

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MIT chemical engineering graduate student Sean Hunt and medical doctor Gaurab Chakrabarti started the company Solugen in 2016 producing hydrogen peroxide-based products for cleaning wastewater, which used gene-edited yeast that Chakrabarti discovered. It produces enzymes which are used to produce hydrogen peroxide. This bio-based, innovative product, along with other similar chemicals, have been marketed and sold for spa cleaning, disinfecting wipes, and gas and oil runoff wastewater treatments. (Photo : Pixabay)

MIT chemical engineering graduate student Sean Hunt and medical doctor Gaurab Chakrabarti started the company Solugen in 2016, producing hydrogen peroxide-based products for cleaning wastewater, which used gene-edited yeast that Chakrabarti discovered.

It produces enzymes that are used to produce hydrogen peroxide. This bio-based, innovative product, along with other similar chemicals, have been marketed and sold for spa cleaning, disinfecting wipes, and gas and oil runoff wastewater treatments.

It has reached a revenue of 12 million dollars in the past year, and this year it is expected to surpass 30 million dollars. It got 30 million dollars venture capital and 68 million dollars from investors Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, and others, and Solugen is now valued at 250 million dollars, earning it a spot on the list of Forbes' Next Billion Dollars Startups this year.

Solugen's first product for water treatment is PeroxyZen intended for pools, spas, and hot tubs. It is petroleum-free and is better than other traditional cleaners because the enzymatic process, which created the bioperoxide product, also produced organic acids that removed mineral buildup, which clogs and corrodes pipes.

In 2017, the business, together with Diamond Wipes, launched another bio-based product known as Ode to Clean. Diamond was in charge of manufacturing while Solugen was in charge of marketing and producing hydrogen peroxide. Being made with plant starch, it is biodegradable and has no toxic fumes.

By 2018, Solugen was marketing products for wastewater cleaning using the same chemical base and selling them to oil drillers. They also acquired a new Houston plant, which now produces around 4,000 gallons of product a week. Solugen is now aiming to provide multiple tanker trucks worth of product a day.

The innovative use of biodegradable enzymes in wastewater treatment prevents the buildup of mineral scales from and corrosion of water pipes. The product could increase the efficiency of water injectors by removing iron buildup without having to add more acid stimulant treatments.

The products are better than phosphates because manufacturing one ton of the wastewater treatment product sequesters 1.35 tons of carbon dioxide. In contrast, the phosphate HEDP emits three tons, according to Life Cycle Analysis. It is an attractive product for companies assessed by investors and governments on their impact on the environment.

Furthermore, the runoff of phosphate cleaners results in algal blooms that harm fisheries and local ecosystems, spurring the EU and the US to ban phosphates in detergents.

Solugen's Texas operations are considered essential and have been open despite the pandemic. The estimated demand for its wastewater cleanup product surged by a minimum of 50%.

Solugen has also started manufacturing hand sanitizers made from its organic hydrogen peroxide and alcohol. It produced over 100,000 gallons of the product and donated most of it to local health care centers. It is considering producing one million gallons by the end of the year because of the commercial opportunities.

Solugen's founders believe their innovation can also reinvent fertilizers with the addition of metals and essential minerals to the soil. They are expecting approval from the US EPA soon, and the company is poised to hire 20 more employees in mid-2021 to add to their 70 workers.
When times get tough, the Oregon wine industry rolls up its collective sleeves and gets to work. Whether it is coronavirus relief or fighting for social justice, Oregon wineries will find a way to help their communities.

The following wines are just three examples of Oregon wineries making a difference. The wines are excellent, and so are the causes they support. If you are looking to sip with a purpose this summer, track these bottles down before they disappear.

2015 Ensemble Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Ensemble is a wine offering from Melissa Rondeau and Greg McClellan of Suzor Wines in Dayton. Its sales have already raised thousands of dollars for Family Meal, a Portland-based nonprofit providing foodservice and agricultural workers with COVID-19 relief grants. At Family Meals request, Rondeau and McClellan will now donate $10 for each bottle of Ensemble sold between June 26 and July 10 to the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition.

The pinot noir grapes used to make the Ensemble hail from a pair of sustainably farmed vineyards free of synthetic herbicides or pesticides. They helped create a graceful pinot noir with a translucent garnet hue and aromas of Bing cherries, bittersweet dark chocolate, thyme and a wisp of pipe tobacco. Each sip brings more bright red cherries to go along with flavors like orange peel, mocha and cedar. The Ensemble is in a great place right now: consider buying lots of bottles.

The Ensemble Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is available at select stores in the Portland area or by direct purchase from Suzor Wines. Contact-free pick-up or delivery can be arranged with the winery.

Price: $25.

Suzor Wines, 11400 S.E. Westland Lane, Dayton, suzorwines.com or (503) 593-4999.

2015 Team Building Exercise Maes Vineyard Syrah

This brilliant syrah is a joint venture between Portland-based winemakers Jesse Skiles of Fausse Piste, Thomas Monroe of Division Winemaking Co., and Barnaby Tuttle of Teutonic Wine Co.

100% of the revenue from the wines sale will be donated to the Jon R. Tuttle Journalism and Production Diversity Internship at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). Jon Tuttle spent more than two decades reporting the news for KGW-TV and producing award-winning documentaries for OPB. Tuttle died in 1991, and a few years later OPB named this scholarship in his honor. Tuttle is the father of winemaker Barnaby Tuttle.

The grapes used to make this syrah are from the Applegate Valley in southern Oregon. The fruit was split equally, with each winemaker using their portion to produce a syrah representative of his house style. The three parts were then combined to create the Team Building Exercise Syrah.

Talk about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Blackberry fruit fills the air with every swirl of the glass, along with a meaty/smoky scent reminiscent of dripping pork fat exploding on campfire coals. Cassis and white pepper flavors slip and slide all over the palate. If you are a fan of syrah from Frances northern Rhone wine region, you will not be disappointed with this American cousin.

The Team Building Exercise Syrah is available for purchase and contact-free pick-up at Danyelle and Will Proutys Division Wines retail store in SE Portland.

Price: $30.

Division Wines, 3564 S.E. Division St., Portland, divisionwines.com or (503) 234-7281.

2017 Noel Family Vineyard Pinot Noir

Michael and Lisa Noels two-acres of organically farmed pinot noir vines are located in the Chehalem Mountains near Newberg. The Noels are donating 100% of their 2017 estate pinot noir sales to The Red Door Project in Portland.

Inspired by the work of playwright August Wilson, The Red Door Projects goal, according to their mission statement, is to change racial ecology through the arts. Their latest project, Evolve, seeks to bridge the divide between the police and communities of color.

This is a stunning wine worthy of the cause it fights for. From its pale ruby color to its long raspberry-laden finish, it does nothing but provide pure pinot pleasure. Scents of cherries and violets fill the nose, allowing a little room for bursts of fresh-turned earth and leather. The wines spicy red berry flavors play nicely with notes of orange pekoe tea and dark chocolate. Silky tannins and zippy acidity make this a wine you can sip all evening long.

The 2017 Noel Family Vineyard Pinot Noir is available through the winery. Free delivery from Salem to Portland is one of several delivery options available. Please contact the winery for more information.

Price: $20.

Noel Family Vineyard, noelfamilyvineyard.com or 503- 957-5468.

-- Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive. He can be reached at malberty0@gmail.com. To read more of his coverage, go to oregonlive.com/wine.

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Oskaloosa, IA (52577)

Today

Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 81F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 64F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Jesse Birsching, of Vassar, will receive $3,000 from the Midland Lions Club toward completing his education at the Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University. The scholarship is granted each year from an endowment by Roger Maier, a Midland teacher, and administered by the Midland Lions Club. Maier, who suffered from impaired vision, supported Lions who champion vision care and Helen Keller's legacy.

Birsching, a fourth year student at the Michigan College of Optometry (MCO) at Ferris State University, received his high school diploma from Michigan Lutheran Seminary. He attended Ferris State University for his undergraduate studies, and was accepted two years early into the Michigan College of Optometry where he received a bachelor's degree in vision science.
Dow Chemical Employees Credit Union awarded 10 scholarships worth $1,500 each to DCECU-affiliated students through two scholarship programs.

DCECU awarded eight of the scholarships to members in good standing through the Dow Chemical Employees Credit Union Members Endowed Scholarship program, which is administered by the Midland Area Community Foundation. The remaining two scholarships were awarded to family members of credit union employees through a separate scholarship fund with the foundation.

The 2020 scholarship winners and their intended fields of study and universities are:

 Joe Cummings of Bullock Creek High School, who will study biology at Saginaw Valley State University.

 Serena Fleming-Dittenber of Midland High School, who will study biology at Saginaw Valley State University.

 Ashley King of Heritage High School in Saginaw, who will study optometry at University of Michigan.

 Thomas Johnstone of Midland High School, who will study business/economics at Alma College.

 Allison Leslie of Herbert Henry Dow High School, who will study biochemistry at Ferris State University.

 Jaylynn Slabic of Gladwin High School, who will study healthcare administration at Northwood University.

 Hailee Swantek of Midland High School, who will study accounting at Michigan State University.

 Katelyn Taylor of Swan Valley High School (Saginaw), who will study kinesiology at Saginaw Valley State University.

 Brooke Ward of Coleman High School, who will study business/economics at Saginaw Valley State University.

 Audrey Xu of Herbert Henry Dow High School, who will study finance at University of Michigan.

Now in our eighth year of this scholarship program through the Midland Area Community Foundation, DCECU remains steadfastly committed to supporting the educational aspirations of students who are part of the credit union, said DCECU Vice President of Retail Operations Ken Roznowski, who helped organize the scholarship program. It is important to us to give back in every way we can, and we see this scholarship program as an investment in the future of our community  and our society as a whole.

Since DCECUs two scholarship programs with the foundation began in 2013, a total of $120,000 has been awarded.

DCECU members can apply for the Dow Chemical Employees Credit Union Members Endowed Scholarship each year between Dec. 1 and March 1 by visiting the Midland Area Community Foundation website at midlandfoundation.org/scholarships. Applicants must be planning to attend or already attending an accredited community college or four-year college or university. For more information regarding the scholarship, call the foundation at 989-839-9661.

For 2020, the foundation awarded a total of 320 scholarships worth more than $800,000 to 231 local students.

 Processed by Victoria Ritter, vritter@mdn.net
Concerns over the spillways at Edenville Dam predate Boyce Hydros ownership, which began in 2006.

At least three times before then, officials from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission warned the dam's spillways were not capable of passing floodwaters during the probable maximum flood, or the largest theoretically possible flooding event.

Though it was the cataclysmic flooding event on May 19 that pushed the conflicted history of the Edenville Dam into a national spotlight, concerns about the spillways had been a point of contention between FERC and the owners of the dam dating back nearly three decades.

The inability of the structure's spillways to pass 100% of the "probable maximum flood" was something dam owner Boyce Hydro spent "hundreds of thousands" to remedy since first acquiring the dams, according to a press release from the company in May.

Boyce Hydro's license to generate electricity with the Edenville Dam was revoked by FERC on Sept. 10, 2018, with FERC citing a "longstanding" failure on Boyce's part to increase the dam's spillway capacity to safely pass floodwaters in the revocation order. The State of Michigan took over as regulator of Edenville Dam after the FERC license was revoked.

Without state or local funding, the sale of electricity generated from the dams was Boyce Hydro's "only source or revenue," the company said in a press release. That money never came close to the amount needed to bring the spillways to compliance, according to the release.

Boyce Hydro Power LLC purchased the interests of Synex Michigan -- which included the deeds on all the land, equipment and offices connected with the Edenville, Sanford, Smallwood and Secord dams -- on March 17, 2006, according to documents from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Synex had previously foreclosed on the dams and their related properties in 2003, after former owner and FERC licensee Wolverine Power Corporation defaulted on a loan of at least $1 million from Synex Energy Resources.

Concerns about the spillways predate Boyce Hydro's ownership by at least a decade, with FERC identifying insufficient capacity in a letter to Wolverine Power in 1993, according to documents entered into the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

The documents were entered by Boyce Hydro in a lawsuit filed against the company by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

FERC reiterated the spillway concerns in letters to representatives from Wolverine Power, including then-general manager Sam Nott and president Greg Sunell in 1999 and 2004, respectively.

"The Edenville Project does not have sufficient spillway capacity to safely pass the flood flows," read the June 10, 2004 letter from FERC regional engineer Peggy Harding. "Failure of Edenville during flood flows constitutes a hazard to downstream life and property."

According to a Boyce Hydro press release, the cost estimate for constructing the modified spillway plans approved by FERC in 2012 exceeded $8 million, which Boyce did not have the ability to finance.
If President Donald Trump declares a major disaster for Michigan, that might happen anywhere between mid-July and mid-August, according to an aide to U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland.

"Our office is told a declaration typically occurs 60-90 days after the date of the disaster," David Russell, deputy chief of staff and communications director for Moolenaar, told the Daily News in an email response Monday night.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka.

Thursday, July 2

11:58 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Mills Township location in reference to a suspicious man standing under a light post at an intersection. The deputies checked the area and were unable to locate the man.

9:52 p.m.  A deputy was sent to the Sanford River basin for a report of four kids on the lake bed. Contact was made with a parent of the children. The father was informed of the rules/laws pertaining to the river basin, and said the kids would not be back out onto the basin.

8:29 p.m.  Charges are being sought against an 18-year-old Lee Township male for reckless driving and malicious destruction of property. The charges stem from a complaint of two vehicles doing doughnuts and burnouts on a Lee Township roadway.

7:41 p.m.  A deputy made contact with a 28-year-old Greendale Township woman who intentionally overdosed on prescription medication. The woman was transported to the MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland emergency room for treatment and a mental health evaluation.

7:06 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Jerome Township residence for a report of a dog bite. A 30-year-old woman's family dog bit a 2-year-old boy. The boy was transported to the ER by his mother for medical treatment, and received minor injuries. The deputy issued an isolation notice to the 30-year-old dog owner.

6:48 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Warren Township residence in reference to a 29-year-old woman who reported her 21-year-old ex-boyfriend had stolen her Playstation worth about $400 and some video games totaling approximately $180. The 21-year-old suspect has not returned phone calls.

3:52 p.m.  A deputy stopped an 18-year-old Midland boy for speeding and driving erratically in the City of Midland. The deputy cited the 18-year-old for driving with no insurance.

3:45 p.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 2800 block of East Ashman Street.

3:44 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to an Ingersoll Township residence in reference to an assault between a 43-year-old woman and a 48-year-old woman, who are roommates. Michigan State Police troopers arrived on-scene and informed the deputy they would handle the investigation.

3:15 p.m.  Officers responded to a report of trespassing in the 800 block of Joe Mann Boulevard.

2:35 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Hope Township residence after a possible breaking-and-entering. A 44-year-old woman called her doctor and said she had broken into the Hope Township residence to use the telephone. The deputy arrived at the residence and spoke with the 63-year-old female homeowner, who identified the 44-year-old as her daughter-in-law, and said she lives there. She said she has never broken in. The 44-year-old was there as well, and was laughing about the incident, stating her doctor must have misunderstood her.

2 p.m.  Officers responded to a weapons violatin in the 5200 block of Hedgewood Drive.

1:15 p.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 1000 block of South Saginaw Road.

1:13 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to the area of North Eastman Road near East Mier Road for the report of a two-vehicle traffic crash.

12:56 p.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Eastman Avenue and Harcrest Drive.

12:20 p.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Eastman Avenue and Joe Mann Boulevard.

12:12 p.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of East Wackerly Street and Whiffletree Lane.

12 p.m.  Officers responded to a report of trespassing in the 3100 block of James Savage Road.

6:09 a.m.  Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Jasper Township.

5:27 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Jerome Township residence in reference to a 40-year-old woman who reported a 30-year-old woman entering her residence without permission. The deputies arrived on-scene and discovered the 30-year-old had damaged the lawn with her vehicle. The 30-year-old was later arrested for operating under the influence of drugs.

1:36 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township mobile home park for a report of a suspicious man who was walking around people's lawns. The deputy found a 37-year-old man who was looking for his hat. The deputy found the man's hat, and he left the area.
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: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
LANZHOU, China, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Gansu Anti-Doping Agency was established on Tuesday within the Administration of Sport of Gansu province.

Ding Huiru, deputy director of Administration of Sport of Gansu province, explained that doping control officers in Gansu province would continue to improve the accuracy, specialization and scientificity on anti-doping under the General Administration of Sport of China's instruction.

At the founding ceremony, CHINADA sent a congratulatory letter to Gansu Anti-Doping Agency. By now, over 20 anti-doping agencies have been established in many of China's provinces.

According to the 2019 CHINADA Annual Report, the total test number is 20,314 in 2019, including 10,319 by the General Administration of Sport of China within the plan and 9,995 by paid tests outside the plan.
Summer has finally arrived in the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, liberating hundreds of thousands of northern stream fish from their wintering habitats.

Through the long winter, many have endured cramped, icy quarters with perilously low oxygen levels. Others have recently journeyed incredible distances from large rivers and lakes to small summer habitats upstream.

Northern stream fish come from a long line of hardy adapters. Their ancestors were well equipped to survive multiple ice ages and then go on to colonize some of the coldest newly accessible northern habitats. They thrive in some of the most dynamic conditions on the planet, from short intense summers, with up to 24 hours of sunlight, to long cold winters with limited light and food.

But the survival tools these fish have used for millennia  exceptional tolerance to cold, slow growth rates and long lifespans  could be a disadvantage as environmental conditions in the north warm and more fast-paced species move in.

Our research team set out to see how stream fishes were responding to unprecedented environmental changes across their northern ranges. Ultimately, we wanted to know how these changes might affect the hundreds of thousands of people in Alaska and northern Canada that rely on local fisheries for food, culture and economic security.



A good news story?

On the surface, the results from our study appear to provide a good news story. Warming temperatures were linked to higher numbers of fish, more species overall and, therefore, potentially more fishing opportunities for northerners.

Initially, we were surprised to learn that warming was increasing the distribution of cold-adapted fish. We reasoned that modest amounts of warming could lead to benefits such as increased food and winter habitat availability without reaching stressful levels for many species.

Yet, not all fish species fared equally well. Ecologically unique northern species  those that have evolved in colder, more nutrient-poor environments, such as Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden trout  were showing declines with warming.



Fish strandings and buried eggs

Recent news headlines run the gamut for Pacific salmon  from their increased escapades into the Arctic to massive pre-spawning die-offs in central Alaska. Similarly, results from our study revealed different outcomes for fish depending on local climatic conditions, including Pacific salmon.

We found that warmer spring and fall temperatures may be helping juvenile salmon by providing a longer and more plentiful growing season, and by supporting early egg development in northern regions that were previously too cold for survival.

In contrast, salmon declined in regions that were experiencing wetter fall conditions, pointing to an increased risk of flooding and sedimentation that could bury or dislodge incubating eggs.

Interestingly, we found that certain climatic combinations, such as warmer summer water temperatures with decreased summer rainfall, were important in determining where Pacific salmon could survive. Summer warming in drier watersheds led to declines, suggesting that lowered streamflows may have increased the risk of fish becoming stranded in subpar habitats that were too warm and crowded.



The fate of northern fisheries

The promise of a warmer and more accessible Arctic has attracted mounting interest in new economic opportunities, including fisheries. As warming rates at higher latitudes are already two to three times global levels, it seems probable that northern biodiversity will experience dramatic shifts in the coming decades.

Despite the many unknowns surrounding the future of Pacific salmon, many fisheries are currently thriving following warmer and more productive northern oceans, and some Arctic Indigenous communities are developing new salmon fisheries.

As warming continues, the commercial salmon fishing industry is poised to expand northwards, but its success will largely depend on extenuating factors such as changes to marine habitat and food sources and how many fish are caught during the freshwater stages of their journey.

Even with the potential for increased northern biodiversity, it is important to recognize that some northern communities may be unable to adapt or may lose individual species that are associated with important cultural values.

For example, many Yukon First Nations, including Trondek Hwechin, have voluntarily refrained from fishing their main traditional food of chinook salmon to help stocks recover. Other communities that rely on increasingly vulnerable northern-adapted species such as Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden trout may also be at risk to future changes.

Although climate change action is urgently required at the global level, there are still tools that environmental managers can employ locally to reduce some of the effects. For example, watersheds with an elevated risk of flooding during the salmon incubation period could have more stringent streamside habitat protections, such as preserving larger areas of streamside vegetation from development, actively revegetating disturbed areas and conducting site-specific erosion and sediment control studies. In dangerously warm and dry years, fishing quotas could be reduced to limit salmon die-offs.

Ultimately, we advise that getting ahead of these impending changes by preserving the integrity of large intact watersheds will be key for protecting these evolutionary superstars from new human-driven pressures.



This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. | Authors: Alyssa Murdoch, PhD candidate and Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Weston Fellow, York University, Canada; Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle, Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Conservation Planning Biologist and Adjunct Professor of Conservation Biology, University of Saskatchewan, and Sapna Sharma, Associate Professor and York University Research Chair in Global Change Biology, York University, Canada
Nia Peeples once said, Life is a moving, breathing thing. We have to be willing to constantly evolve. Perfection is in fact, constant transformation.

Every community needs constant transformation, especially now. Pretty much every local media company has taken their lumps during the past few years, this is even more true with the onset of COVID-19. Despite these challenging times, it has never been more important for a local community to have a voice that comes with a viable media company. But here is another observation, no media company can survive in a community with a dying business base as well. Both the community and the media company along with the local city unit of government desperately need each other to win  of that there is no question.

Before we discuss the strategy that can lead to a solid return for local businesses and the community, lets focus on the reality of print media. While newspaper audiences have declined in recent years along with local advertising, they still have the largest single audience in nearly every local community across the country. What other single media outlet captures or speaks to between 20-75% of its communitys audience? This number swells even larger when you count their digital and niche product reach.

To put that in perspective: More people across the country read a weekend newspaper than watch any given Super Bowl.

Make no mistake, it isnt just the percentage of audience they reach. More importantly, it is the make-up of the audience they reach. What media can still say they reach in excess of 50% of the above 50 crowd? Yes, that is the generational crowd having the largest amount of expendable income. This is the group most connected within the community. This is the group most likely to cast a ballot in the local elections. This is the group that largely embraces the ink on paper form of reading.

Enough about the demographics of a newspaper, what does this mean for local businesses in the community? Let me offer a path forward for local businesses, local media and the community.

It is no secret the local media derives its income from either advertising/marketing dollars or subscribers. Truth be told, the newspapers ultimate survival rests in the hands of the local community. That being the case, it behooves media companies to unequivocally embrace the concept of shopping and supporting hyper-local. You notice, I didnt say local. I said hyper-local. Hyper-local is defined as locally owned and operated businesses, not big boxes and nationally owned chains simply located in your community. They may provide some economic balance which is good, but they wont save the community as most of their dollars will not remain local.

A media company needs to work with the local businesses and their community to market and brand a hyper-local strategy. They need to work with the local businesses, chamber and the city to create rewards and incentives encouraging hyper-local spending. They need to constantly pound home in editorial content the need and desire to support their community by spending hyper-locally. In short, they hold the key to educating their community regarding hyper-local spending and the real dangers of spending local dollars with national establishments where the profits go to pave the roads in some far-off town where their corporate headquarters might be.

This partnership must be a two-way street. Local businesses need to work with the local media company on strategies creating win-win partnerships between them. The media companies need the business community to survive. Likewise, the business community and city need the media company to help change the mindset and shopping habits in the community. The bottom-line is if the mindset of shopping at big boxes and national chains (as well as digitally) doesnt change at least a bit, both media companies and local business face a very bleak future.

It is no secret, America was built on the backs of local business and to an extent, the media. Small business coupled with local media have always led to sustainable community success. Communities working together overcoming obstacles can still win. Time is short and of the essence. It is time for media companies to reach and take the lead in this battle for the hyper-local spending mentality. It is also time for the local business community to embrace the media working to solve this problem. United, you can stand. Divided, you will most assuredly fall.

John A. Newby is partnering with the Daily News for this "Building Main Street, Not Wall Street" column series dedicated to helping local communities and media companies combine synergies allowing them to not just survive, but thrive where truly-local is lost to Amazon, Wall Street chains and others. Readers can email Newby at john@360MediaAlliance.net.
Graveside services for William Parks Daniels, Jr., age 73, of Palestine is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday, June 20, 2021 at Bradford Cemetery in Troup under the direction of Herrington/Land of Memory Funeral Home. Mr. Parks passed away on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. View online at www.herringtonf
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland for the implementation of the project to boost levels of governance and decentralized management
Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The Nigerian Armed Forces said here Tuesday that troops of its Operation SAHEL SANITY Monday killed 46 armed bandits in Yar Gamji town in Batsari local government area of Katsina State, northwest region of the country
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The chairman of the presidential council of the government of national accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, Tuesday held discussions with a number of governmental officials over the return of Turkish companies and investments in Libya
BLOOMINGTON  A Bloomington man says he plans to contest the eviction notice he was served by his landlord, First Site Apartments, after he refused to take down a Black Lives Matter flag from his apartment balcony.

Donavon Burton, 22, said he and his fiancee, who resides with him and their son in the apartment at 6B Clobertin Court in southeast Bloomington, began displaying the flag last month because they were disturbed by videos they were seeing that showed the deaths of Black people while in police custody.

"It's for my first son. Thinking about him growing up in a world where there is so much injustice scares me," said Burton, who described himself as both African-American and Caucasian. "Also for myself, I don't think a big company can choose how I advocate for my own rights."

First Site, in its eviction notice, cited a provision in the lease that prohibits storing personal property on a patio or balcony. But Burton said he was told that his grill, a bag of charcoal and tomato plants were OK to have on the balcony, "but anything advertised over the balcony would not be allowed to stay up."

On June 25, Ulises Napoles, a vice president for First Site, and a maintenance technician removed the flag from the balcony and left it with his fiancee while Burton was at work, Burton said.

He put the flag back up after he was not satisfied with the landlord's explanation for why he couldn't display it, as others continue to store items like grills on their balconies. He said he has not seen any Confederate flags flying at his apartment complex, but there had been one expressing LGBT pride and some people have painted "Black Lives Matters" on their apartment windows.

On June 29, Burton received a 10-day notice of eviction from First Site for not removing the flag.

"Please keep your balcony/patio free of clutter at all times. Please do not store any personal belongings or furniture on your patio/balcony," the company said in its eviction notice. "Any balcony/patio found in an unsanitary condition or with personal belongings on it will be charged an initial fee of $75 plus the costs of clean up or repair."

Napoles said in email sent to The Pantagraph on Monday: "First Site supports an individuals right to freedom of speech and expression. However, First Site has a policy restricting personal items, regardless of content, including banners and flags, from being located on, or hanging from, balconies. First Site has an obligation to residents to enforce these policies, for the benefit of all residents.

"Mr. Burton was aware of this policy, was reminded that hanging items from the balcony was a lease violation, and was instructed on multiple occasions to remove personal property items from his balcony. Mr. Burton elected against complying and, as a result, was served with an eviction notice," Napoles stated.

Napoles said all residents have been reminded in recent weeks of the restriction on personal items on balconies, and the company "is in the midst of ensuring compliance with this policy."

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Burton said he has contacted an attorney to represent him in the eviction matter. "This Thursday will be 10 days exactly," said Burton, adding he doesn't think he will have to actually move out of his apartment by then.

"I wouldn't be expected to, even by First Site," he said. "They just have to legally give me a 10-day notice and then they will have to go to court and I will be served by a sheriff with a physical eviction notice. Even that will have a court date on it, and I won't have to move before the court date, which I will go to if I get served with that."

He also noted that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has extended during the COVID-19 pandemic the moratorium on evictions until July 31.

State law requires a landlord to file a lawsuit in court in order to evict anyone. A landlord must give the tenant a written notice stating the reason for the eviction. If the reason is for nonpayment, the landlord must give the tenant five days to pay the rent. If the eviction is for violating a provision in the lease, the landlord must give the tenant a 10-day notice. If the tenant remains in the rental unit after the eviction notice, the landlord can file a lawsuit to evict.

"As of right now, I am ahead on my rent, but they've been charging out of the money I pay for rent these fines for violating the lease," said Burton.

The fines total $125, "but I don't think I violated the lease so I don't want to pay the fines," Burton said. "They've also threatened me with their legal fees  whatever it costs to evict me. I, obviously, don't want to be evicted."

Burton said when he called Bloomington city officials about the incident, he was given a telephone number for Prairie State Legal Services and told to contact circuit court officials.

Bloomington Communications Manager Nora Dukowitz said the issue "has not been brought to the city."

"It seems to be a private property dispute," she said, adding that Burton could bring his concerns to the Human Relations Commission, which investigates allegations of discrimination.

Burton said he has not contacted the local commission.

Photos: Local Black Lives Matter chapter holds meeting in Miller Park

Contact Maria Nagle at (309) 820-3244. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Nagle

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A major global update based on data from more than 36,000 weather stations around the world confirms that, as the planet continues to warm, extreme weather events such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall are now more frequent, more intense, and longer.

The research is based on a dataset known as HadEX and analyses 29 indices of weather extremes, including the number of days above 25 or below 0, and consecutive dry days with less than 1mm of rain. This latest update compares the three decades between 1981 and 2010 to the 30 years prior, between 1951 and 1980.

Globally, the clearest index shows an increase in the number of above-average warm days.



For Australia, the team found a country-wide increase in warm temperature extremes and heatwaves and a decrease in most areas in cold temperature extremes such as the coldest nights. Broadly speaking, rainfall extremes have increased in the west and decreased in the east, but trends vary by season.

In New Zealand, temperate regions experience significantly more summer days and northern parts of the country are now frost-free.



Extreme temperatures

Unusually warm days are becoming more common throughout Australia. When we compare 1981-2010 with 1951-80, the increase is substantial: more than 20 days per year in the far north of Australia, and at least 10 days per year in most areas apart from the south coast. The increase occurs in all seasons but is largest in spring.

This increase in temperature extremes can have devastating impacts for human health, particularly for older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions. Excessive heat is not only an issue for people living in cities but also for rural communities that have already been exposed to days with temperatures above 50.

New Zealanders are also experiencing more days with temperatures of 25 or more. The climate stations show the frequency of unusually warm days has increased from 8% to 12% from 1950 to 2018, with an average of 19 to 24 days a year above 25 across the country. Unusually warm days, defined as days in the top 10% of historic records for the time of year, are also becoming more common in both countries.

During the summers of 2017-18 and 2018-19, marine heatwaves delivered 32 and 26 (respectively) days above 25 nationwide in New Zealand, well above the average of 20 days. This led to accelerated glacial melting in the Southern Alps and major disruption to marine ecosystems, with die-offs of bull kelp around the South Island coast and salmon in aquaculture farms in the Marlborough Sounds.



More heat, more rain, less frost

In many parts of New Zealand, cold extremes are changing faster than warm extremes.

Between 1950 and 2018, frost days (days below 0) have declined across New Zealand, particularly in northern parts of the country which has now become frost-free, enabling farmers to grow subtropical pasture grasses. At the same time, crops that require winter frosts to set fruit are no longer successful, or can only be grown with chemical treatments (currently under review) that simulate winter chilling.

Across New Zealand, the heat available for crop growth during the growing season is increasing, which means wine growers have to shift varieties further south.

In Australia, the situation is more complicated. In many parts of northern and eastern Australia, there has also been a large decrease in the number of cold nights. But in parts of southeast and southwest Australia, frost frequency has stabilised, or even increased in places, since the 1980s.

These areas have seen a large decrease in winter rainfall in recent decades. The higher number of dry, clear nights in winter, favourable for frost formation, has cancelled out the broader warming trend.

In Australia, extreme rainfall has become more frequent in many parts of northern and western Australia, especially the northwest, which has become wetter since the 1960s. In eastern and southern Australia the picture is more mixed, with little change in the number of days with 10mm or more of rain, even in those regions where total rainfall has declined.

In New Zealand, more extremely wet days contribute towards the annual rainfall total in the east of the North Island, with a smaller increase in the west and south of the South Island. For Australia, there are significant drying trends in parts of the southwest and northeast, but little change elsewhere.

Extremes of temperature and precipitation can have dramatic effects, as seen during two marine heatwaves in New Zealand and the hottest, driest year in Australia during 2019.



This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. | Jim Salinger, Honorary Associate, Tasmanian Institute for Agriculture, University of Tasmania and Lisa Alexander, Chief Investigator ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science and Associate Professor Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW
Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump levels scathing criticism of the president in her forthcoming book, accusing him of being a "sociopath" and charging that Trump's "hubris and willful ignorance" dating back to his early days threatens the country.

Mary Trump's book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," accuses Donald Trump's father of creating a toxic family dynamic that best explains how the president acts today. Mary Trump, whose father, Freddy Trump, died following struggles with alcoholism, writes that she could "no longer remain silent" following the past three years of Trump's presidency.

"Donald, following the lead of my grandfather and with the complicity, silence and inaction of his siblings, destroyed my father. I can't let him destroy my country," Mary Trump wrote in the book, a copy of which was obtained by CNN.

Mary Trump writes that some of the book is based on her own memory, and in parts she reconstructed some dialogue based on what she was told by some members of the family and others, as well as legal documents, bank statements, tax returns and other documents.

The White House declined to comment on the book.

Mary Trump's book is the second tell-all in as many months to present a withering portrait of the president, and like former national security adviser John Bolton's book, her book sparked an unsuccessful legal campaign to stop its publication.

Mary Trump's book comes at a challenging time in Trump's presidency as he struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic and presides over a country reckoning with systemic racism. He also trails his 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden in recent polling.

Mary Trump, a licensed clinical psychologist, offers both her take on Trump's actions in the White House as well as episodes throughout Trump's business career, Trump's handling of her father's struggle with alcoholism and infighting within the family. She writes that Trump's father, Fred Trump, "dismantled his oldest son," Trump's brother, Freddy Trump.

"The only reason Donald escaped the same fate is that his personality served his father's purpose. That's what sociopaths do: they co-opt others and use them toward their own ends  ruthlessly and efficiently, with no tolerance for dissent or resistance," Mary Trump writes.

Mary Trump writes that Trump even paid someone to take the SAT for him to help him get into the University of Pennsylvania. Trump was "worried that his grade point average, which put him far from the top of his class, would scuttle his efforts to get accepted."

She writes that he enlisted "a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker, to take his SATs for him," adding the test-taker was compensated for the effort.

"Donald, who never lacked for funds, paid his buddy well," Mary Trump writes.

Trump initially attended Fordham University in New York as an undergraduate before transferring to Penn's Wharton School.

Mary Trump says that she didn't take her uncle's run for president seriously at first and didn't think Donald Trump did either.

" 'He's a clown,' my aunt Maryanne said during one of our regular lunches at the time. 'This will never happen,' " Mary Trump wrote.

During the campaign, Mary Trump says her aunt, former federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry, accused Donald Trump of using Freddy Trump's death "for political purposes" by citing it while addressing the opioid crisis.

Mary Trump also claims that Donald Trump helped his sister to obtain an open seat in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey through his friend, famed lawyer Roy Cohn.

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"Maryanne thought it would be a great fit, and Donald thought it might be useful to have a close relative on the bench in a state in which he planned to do a lot of business," she writes. "Cohn gave Attorney General Ed Meese a call, and Maryanne was nominated in September and confirmed in October."

'Undermine an adversary'

Trump's niece further describes what she says is the psychological hold that Fred Trump, the president's father, had over his children. Fred's eldest son, Freddy, Mary's father, had a brief and tumultuous career as a pilot for TWA in the early 1960s, just before Mary was born. This came after Freddy left the Trump company, a move that angered Fred but that Freddy apparently hoped would ingratiate himself to his demanding father.

The stormy relationship she describes between Fred and Freddy Trump seems to echo accounts of how Donald, Freddy's younger brother, expects undying loyalty from those around him and seeks control over those people's lives and decisions.

Freddy, Mary writes, would tell friends about the "constant barrage of abuse" he was receiving from his father after getting the job at TWA.

"Donald may not have understood the origin of their father's contempt for Freddy and his decision to become a professional pilot, but he had the bull's unerring instinct for finding the most effective way to undermine an adversary," Mary Trump writes.

It was during this time that Freddy's drinking worsened, and within a few months he had quit the job at TWA, moved his family back to New York, and tried flying for smaller airlines. By the end of 1964, he had quit the business entirely and returned, hat in hand, to his father Fred for a job in the company. The way Mary describes it, Fred's torment, with an assist from Donald, had "slowly, inexorably dismantled" Freddy.

'Master of the universe'

Mary Trump recounts the president's rise to prominence in New York real estate as largely the result of Fred Trump's financial and behind-the-scenes support, which she said was necessary to compensate for Donald's shortcomings.

She also traces what she views as an aptitude toward authoritarians to Donald Trump's earlier days working with Cohn in the 1980s.

At the same time, she recounts Trump's apparent disinterest at her father's decline into depression and alcoholism, which she characterizes as spurred partly by her grandfather's decision to elevate Donald instead of Freddy as his right-hand man and successor.

Throughout, Mary Trump portrays the support Donald received from his father as critical to his attempts to create a brand for himself as a "master of the universe" with a preternatural ability for business.

"His comfort with portraying that image, along with his father's favor and the material security his father's wealth afforded him, gave him the unearned confidence to pull off what even at the beginning was a charade: selling himself not just as a rich playboy but as a brilliant, self-made businessman," she writes. "In those early days, that expensive endeavor was being enthusiastically, if clandestinely, funded by my grandfather."

As she tracks Donald's rise in his father's company, she also identifies some of the origins of his current behaviors, be it dishonesty or a lack of empathy. She cites Cohn, who had worked on Sen. Joseph McCarthy's committee investigating alleged communist activity in the U.S., as a formative model.

"Fred had also primed Donald to be drawn to men such as Cohn, as he would later be drawn to authoritarians such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un or anyone else, really, with a willingness to flatter and the power to enrich him," she writes.

Legal battle over book's publication

Mary Trump's book is being published two weeks early by Simon & Schuster on July 14, amid high demand following a court battle over its release. The publisher has already printed 75,000 copies of the book, according to court filings.

After Mary Trump's book was disclosed last month, the president's younger brother Robert took legal action to block its publication.

Robert Trump briefly won an injunction against Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster in New York State Supreme Court, but an appellate court lifted the temporary restraining order against the publisher the next day.

The restraining order is still in place against Mary Trump, so she is unable to comment publicly.

Her spokesman, Chris Bastardi, said Monday: "The act by a sitting president to muzzle a private citizen is just the latest in a series of disturbing behaviors."

CNN's Kevin Liptak, Michael Warren, Clare Foran, Holmes Lyband, Betsy Klein, Tara Subramaniam, Marshall Cohen, Katelyn Polantz and Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire  &  2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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Search below to see businesses in your community that received money from the Paycheck Protection Program meant to keep Americans employed during the pandemic. The program has been popular but also controversial.

The Paycheck Protection Program is the centerpiece of the federal governments plan to rescue an economy devastated by shutdowns and uncertainty. The program, which helps smaller businesses stay open and keep Americans employed during the pandemic, has been both popular and controversial.

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Demand was so great that a first infusion of $349 billion ran out in just two weeks. Many businesses couldnt navigate the application process rapidly enough to get one of those first loans before funding dried up. Meanwhile, several hundred companies traded on stock exchanges -- hardly the image of a small business -- received loans maxing out at $10 million each, causing a public backlash and leading dozens to return the money.

And the public may never know the identity of more than 85% of the nearly 5 million beneficiaries to date because the administration has refused to release details on loans under $150,000 -- the vast majority of borrowers.

Taxpayer money will pay off the loans if borrowers use them on payroll, rent and similar expenses. As of June 30, the program has loaned $520 billion to 4.85 million businesses across the U.S. Small businesses employ 60 million people nationwide.
As the Trump campaign flounders under the accumulated weight of the pandemic, the economic crisis, the mass protests and a Twitter account plugged straight into the presidents limbic system, I wonder: What if the parties mattered?

Im a subscriber to a counterintuitive school of thought popular among some political scientists. Their belief is that partisanship is so strong today because our parties are so weak. Both Democrats and Republicans have become incapable of defining and protecting their long-term interests on a time horizon longer than the news cycle.

Prior to the reforms of the early 1970s, our democratic system depended largely on the internally undemocratic nature of the parties. Under the pre-1972 system, independent socialist Bernie Sanders wouldnt have been allowed to run for president as a Democrat, and Donald Trump wouldnt have gotten within 100 miles of the Republican nomination.

Because we live in such an unthinkingly populist time in which even the president can whine that the system is rigged without irony or fear of correction, its difficult for many people to grasp how totally democratized the parties have become.

Consider two examples. In 1968, then-President Lyndon Johnson beat Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire primary, but by such a small margin  a mere seven points!  that Johnson dropped out of the race. Yes, he wanted to avoid humiliation, but he also believed it was the best way to help his party and his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, the candidate Johnson preferred over McCarthy. McCarthy received 39% of the vote in the primaries. Humphrey? Just 2 percent. Humphrey got the nomination  because the party mattered.

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On Aug. 7, 1974, a contingent of Republicans visited President Nixon to explain that, for the good of the party and the country, he should resign. He announced his resignation the next day.

Fast-forward to today. Right now, things look very bad for Trump. He can turn it around, of course. As poll mavens like to say, the polls are just a snapshot. The funny thing about that snapshot cliche is that people use it to make the point that things can get better. True enough. But they can also get worse. There are plenty of snapshots of the Titanic leaving port in Southampton.

Assume things do get worse for Trump. Maybe the pandemic will run rampant in red states, leaving Trump with the no-win choice of admitting failure or sticking with his wish-it-away strategy, as some core voters die before they get the chance to prove their patriotism by voting maskless and in person. The economy could tank again. He might even tweet a video of a supporter shouting, White power! (Whoops, bad example.)

Former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg told Politico over the weekend that if Trumps standing eroded much further, hed be facing a landslide Electoral College loss and would need to strongly reconsider whether he wants to continue to run as the Republican presidential nominee.

Nunbergs right. But notice what he doesnt say: that at some point the Republican Party would need to strongly consider throwing Trump overboard. In a sense it would be a silly thing to say, because no one thinks the GOP is capable of such a move.

If Trump were a somewhat normal president under similar circumstances, it would be easy to see Republican candidates breaking with the White House. But partisanship today doesnt just mean excessive loyalty to a party and its program. It implies a kind of secular faith. And on the right in particular it resembles a Trumpian cult of personality. Undemocratically defenestrating Trump for the good of the party would be like the Vatican firing the pope for the good of the church.

Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch.

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The newly released Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2020 report from BrandZ lists Apple as the number one technology brand for 2020 and second most valuable global brand. While the official PR press release was published on June 30th, our report is far more Apple Centric with additional information including more charts.

A BrandZ ranking of brand valuations lists the brands making the largest absolute $ contribution to the total value of their respective parent companies, considering both current and projected performance.

This is the true value of brand building and we want to isolate and reward the brands making the largest contributions to the success of their parent companies.

A company may have a huge overall business value but the absolute $ contribution made by the relevant brand(s) that the company owns may not be a comparatively large figureat least not a large enough figure to qualify for the given BrandZ ranking of brand values.

The brands that appear in this report are the most valuable brands in the world. They were selected for inclusion in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2020 based on the unique and objective BrandZ brand valuation methodology that combines extensive and ongoing consumer insights with rigorous financial analysis.

Apple: Top Technology Brand 2020

The BrandZ Technology Top 5 are listed as being Apple, Microsoft, Google, Tencent, and Facebook companies that proved to being extremely resilient, especially relative to brands in most other categories, with revenue and profit generally improving, although at a slower pace. Variations in performance depended on the business mix of the brands, with Google, Tencent, and Facebook more vulnerable to the downturn in advertising spending.

The pandemic added a counterpoint to consumer impatience with the iterative pace of device improvement and disappointment that their personal data had been inadequately protected or misused. Older consumers had maintained a co-dependent relationship with technology brands, unhappy with them, but not unhappy enough to leave. Younger consumers had been less bothered by the exchange of personal data for free services.

Apples sustained growth, even during the pandemic, validated its strategy of synergistically linking the incremental improvement of its devices, particularly wearables, with its increasing range of services, including iCloud, iTunes, Apple Books, Apple Pay, and AppleCare.

(Click on image to slightly Enlarge)

Apple launched a subscription streaming service, Apple TV+, which includes some original content and takes the brand into a competitive space where it faces other well-established content providers, including Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix, along with newer contenders like Disney+, AT&T TV, and Quibi, a short-form, mobile-first entry.

In partnership with Goldman Sachs, Apple introduced a credit card and that exists virtually on Apple Pay and physically in titanium. With the launch of an app called Attain, in collaboration with Aetna, a US health insurance provider, Apple deepened its involvement with healthcare. The app is designed to help users track their fitness and design regimes to improve personal health and wellness. It includes performance-based incentives, like discounts for Apple Watches.

Even as Apple shifted into services, several new iterative and shiny devices helped the company drive record sales and share price. AirPods Pro with noise cancellation achieved immediate popularity despite a price tag of almost $100 higher than the original AirPods, introduced in 2016. The iPhone 11 offered longer battery life, an improved camera, and prices that made the device more accessible.

Accessibility became more important to expand the audience for Apple services and also to compete with the availability of quality, lower-priced phones from Chinese brands such as Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi.

Apple Leads on Privacy and Trust

The BrandZ report further noted that "These services and devices illustrate how intertwined technology has become with every moment of peoples lives. Advances in AI and 5G promise to deliver greater consumer benefits in exchange for a more intimate relationship between consumer and brand. Trust will be fundamental, and brands face different challenges cultivating or restoring trust depending on how the use of customer data fits into their business model and how scrupulous they are about protecting it.

With a business model that does not rely on monetizing customer data, Apple addressed privacy directly in a Super Bowl ad promoting respect for privacy as an important attribute of the Apple brand. An iPhone ad featured doors shutting, blinds closing, locks locking, paper shredding, and an airline lavatory clicking to the red "occupied" sign. The ad ended with the line: "If privacy matters in your life, it should matter to the phone your life is on."

BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2020

With a 32 percent increase in value, Amazon remained the No. 1 most valuable brand. Although consumer reliance on home delivery during the pandemic stretched Amazons logistics capabilities, it also affirmed Amazons strength.

Corporate cultural change, open systems, and the growth of its cloud business helped generate a 30 percent increase in value for Microsoft that pushed the brand up one slot in the ranking to No. 3, just after Apple, swapping places with Google, which was impacted by declining ad revenue related to COVID-19.

A Few Other Companies of Interest and their Ranking
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More than a year into the pandemic that is recurring in its third wave, many people I talk to say they are experiencing a lack of motivation. I find that...




The national devolution policy promotes fair distribution of resources critical for the growth of provincial economies, but provincial ministers must as a result prioritise economic growth in their provinces, President Mnangagwa said yesterday.





The President met the 10 ministers of State for Provincial Affairs at State House in Harare to discuss progress in devolution and provincial growth and lay down the policy priorities in line with Vision 2030 that sees Zimbabwe reaching middle income status by 2030.





The provincial ministers are: Eng Oliver Chidau (Harare), Cde Ruth Ncube (Bulawayo), Cde Mary Mliswa-Chikoka (Mashonaland West), Cde Apollonia Munzverengi (Mashonaland East), Cde Monica Mavhunga (Mashonaland Central), Cde Ellen Gwaradzimba (Manicaland), Cde Larry Mavima (Midlands), Cde Ezra Chadzamira (Masvingo), Cde Abednico Ncube (Matabeleland South) and Cde Richard Moyo (Matabeleland North).





Vice President Kembo Mohadi and several Cabinet ministers also attended the meeting.





Devolution is provided for in Chapter 14 of the Constitution with its main goal being the equitable allocation of national resources and the participation of local communities in the determination of development priorities within their areas.





Government has since started the disbursement of devolution funds to local authorities as part of the policy.





We set out to implement devolution not merely as a political empowerment tool but as a means to achieve equitable economic development and equalisation for all parts of our country, President Mnangagwa said.





We boldly declared an end to red tape, bureaucracy and lopsided development associated with the perception of Harare province being bamba zonke.





By so doing, we envisaged the development of vibrant provincial economies with distinct provincial gross domestic product. This model is and still is an important building block to the achievement of Vision 2030. I, therefore, exhort us to keep in mind this goal and work tirelessly to achieve the desired results.





President Mnangagwa said the provincial ministers were important in the implementation of Government programmes and policies and must facilitate development in the context of national priorities and resources in their provinces.





He challenged them to take advantage of their competitive advantages in crafting their development policies, paying attention to strategies that promote production and value addition.





The ease of doing business reforms that have been implemented to date must be a stepping stone to the attraction of productive investments into the provinces and districts.





Provinces must identify, implement and track high impact flagship projects across all sectors of the economy. Opportunities must be created and facilitated for our citizens in the diaspora to invest and participate back in their home provinces, President Mnangagwa said.





Provinces should, in the future, have economic and social indicators to track their development in terms of productivity, employment creation, export earnings and import substitution initiatives as part of the periodic provincial reports and briefs they present.





Turning to the economic sectors, President Mnangagwa said agriculture remained central to Governments development agenda despite the effects of three successive droughts and the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai.





Government recently launched the Agricultural Recovery Plan, to ensure agriculture transformation and modernisation for the attainment of food self-sufficiency through smart agriculture practices.





In addition, the plan seeks to facilitate the diversification of food production and consumption, speeding irrigation and mechanisation programmes, the creation of green belts in areas such as Masvingo, Bulawayo Kraal, Kanyemba among others; improving and capacitating our extension services as well as the overall innovation and modernisation of agriculture, among other aspects, said the President.





He said the ongoing downsizing of farms to viable maximum sizes for each ecological zone will free more land for new farmers and pledged Governments continued support to farmers through the Presidential Input Scheme and the Command Agriculture Programme under the new financing model.





The President said vulnerable groups would continue to receive Government support.





Projects, which accelerate the improvement in the quality of life of the people must be timely implemented and constantly monitored. The rehabilitation and construction of roads, bridges, dams, water and sanitation infrastructure, which are important economic enablers must remain a priority.





In line with our modernisation and industrialisation agenda, deliberate strategies must be made at the provincial levels to attract and facilitate investments for the development of green energy solutions and ICT infrastructure, President Mnangagwa said.





Small and medium enterprises were an important sector and the re-opening of the sector in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic must continue to be monitored and within set health guidelines.




The Tax Justice Coalition (TJC) Ghana has urged the Government to intensify its efforts at mobilizing domestic revenues to help shore-up financial gap created as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.



This, the association said, should include the reinstatement of some scraped taxes, such as the nuisance taxes, taxing of the expanding digital economy and property taxation, enforce laws on rent tax and capital gains tax, as well as raise the corporate and marginal tax rates to at least 30 percent.



A statement issued and signed by Mr Bernard Anaba, the Acting National Coordinator and copied to the Ghana News Agency said, Government must also tighten and enforce the tax laws with regards to benefits in kind for public servants, including accommodation, vehicle, driver and fuel usages, among others, which affected only a few well-off individuals in the country.



It also appealed to the Government to use more digital technology in tax administration to curtail unwarranted tax concessions, exemptions, and waivers which had often been a drain on the countrys tax revenues, adding that with the pandemic affecting Government revenues, it must be more stringent in curtailing many of these unwarranted giveaways.



The TJC-Ghana commends the governments recent Digital Downstream Petroleum Products Measurement Project and encourages it to tackle more vigorously, corrupt officials and snub politicians who interfere with tax administration, the statement said.



It added that the recent Governments stimulus package had presented an opportunity to rope in more people and businesses who were showing up to register for the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), to benefit from the stimulus package.



The Government should use the opportunity to follow up these potential taxpayers for expansion of the tax net, it said.



On the Petroleum Holding Funds (PHFs), the association urged the Government to reverse its amendment action on the fund, to enable it to access the Ghana Stabilisation and Ghana Heritage Funds permanently.



Rather, it urged the Government to draw from the funds through a loan request to Parliament to be repaid.



Efficiency in expenditures should be the guiding principle for the Government at this difficult time. The TJC Ghana, therefore, calls for transparency and accountability and efficiency in how the COVID -19 funds are utilised, the statement said.



It said the TJC Ghana further calls on the government to shun political expediency and adopt a realistic targeting strategy for the granting of support to the poor and vulnerable and only do it when it is necessary.



The statement said the pandemic provided an opportunity for the government to implement these suggestions without the political backlash that it would have otherwise generated.

The Coalition commended Government for its actions against reducing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country's economy.

Source: GNA









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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday congratulated Ms. Valentina Mintah, Founder and Former Chief Executive of West Blue Consulting on her appointment as a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Executive Board.



The President assured Ms Mintah of the governments full support.



Ms. Valentina Mintahs appointment makes her the first black female to be elected to the ICC Executive Board in the organizations hundred years of existence.



ICC is the worlds largest business organization representing 45 million companies and one billion employees from all sectors and company sizes in over 130 countries.



President Akufo-Addo in his congratulatory letter lauded Ms. Mintahs achievement, promising her of governments support and urging her not to hesitate to contact any agency of the state for any assistance, she may require.



Portions of the message read: I write to congratulate you warmly, on behalf of the Government of the people of Ghana, and my behalf, on this outstanding achievement. It is a tribute to black women the world over, particularly to Ghanaians and African women.



I am glad to note that your personal mandate for this role will be to use ICT platform to drive the promotion of trade between Ghana and international economies, further cementing Ghanas economic potential among global partners.



This is very laudable, and you can be assured of the full support of Government to this end. Do not hesitate to contact any agency of the government for any assistance you may require. I wish you the best of luck and Gods blessings.



The new member, Ms Mintah, joins the ICC Executive Board, responsible for developing and implementing ICCs strategy, policy and programme of action, and for overseeing the financial affairs of the world business organization.



The seven-member Executive Board was announced at the 2020 meeting of the ICC World Council and Ms. Mintah would be on the board with some of the worlds most renowned giants including Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammad Al-Thani from Qatar, Sebastian Escarrer from Spain, Dario Gallina from Italy, Shinta Kamdani from Indonesia, Takeshi Niinami from Japan and Jane Sun from China.



The 2020 meeting of the ICC World Council also announced that it has elected MasterCard Chief Executive, Ajay Banga, as ICC Chairman and confirmed Maria Fernanda Garza, Chief Executive of Orestia as ICC First Vice-Chair.

Source: The Ghanaian Times









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Its big news that a sitting Member of Parliament representing Tema West constituency and the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry in Ghana, Mr. Carlos Ahenkorah, who tested positive for COVID-19 was found at some registrations centres (when he was supposed to be in isolation) and has received massive backlash from all Ghanaians including the President of Ghana.



He has done the honorable thing by resigning from his post and Ghanaians are calling for prosecution and even stripping him of his MP position and some are even asking for the withdrawal of his candidature for the upcoming elections.



I am so intrigued by the backlash and he so deserves all he is getting for being so irresponsible as a leader. But the focus of this piece is not on the one being crucified now by Ghanaians but the ones pointing the accusing fingers.



He is an MP and hence in the limelight so he should not have done what he did. But are we not doing worse? I ask where are all the 4941 active cases so far? I hope they are all in isolation? Food for thought! Positive cases are not all admitted, are they? They are advised to go home and isolate and report symptoms when they get any. Where do they get food when they are hungry? Just asking!



The COVID-19 cases in Ghana are on the rise, and for most people who said they did not believe in the disease, you are now beginning to realize it really exists and I only hope the death of the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie popularly known as Sir John a few days ago, should drum home the point. May his gentle soul rest in peace. We have lost 117 Ghanaians so far to this pandemic and you are still saying do not believe it exists in Ghana.



You are quick to ask for the head of the Tema West MP because he was found in public but I thought you were the one who did not believe in the existence of COVID-19 in Ghana? I thought you said its a white man or rich mans disease and cannot affect you so why are you bothered that he came to see how you were doing during the NPP primaries? Is that not what is expected of him as an MP to ensure the process in his constituency is running smoothly and you would have blamed him for not showing up and hence not vote for him? Right? Poor him that he fell for the politics.



What is my point? We as health workers have been drumming home the point of observing all the safety protocols but you do not listen. Those who try to follow the protocols are short of its effectiveness. You are here asking for someone to be crucified but you are not even wearing a face mask and if you are, it's sitting under your chin or hanging on one of your ears or in your pocket awaiting to see the police before you wear it. Shame on you! Why? Because you dont believe in the disease that has claimed the lives of some 117 well-meaning Ghanaians so far. I am afraid to say some are still battling for their lives in the various intensive care units and in isolation centres. Lord have mercy on us!



So far we have had three prominent doctors in this country losing their lives to COVID-19 and you still say you dont believe in the disease but I do hope the death of Sir John sends some shivers down your spine as he is the one you might know. Others have lost family members and therefore can relate better to what I am addressing. May the souls of all the departed rest in peace. Lets help to prevent more deaths.

We have over a hundred doctors so far infected with COVID-19 and some nurses, pharmacies and allied staff as well. Can you imagine the toll that COVID-19 has on the existing structures and health workforce in Ghana? You better protect yourselves or else when you come in with the disease or any other disease, there will not be a doctor or nurse to attend to you. You might be attended to by the hospital security or cleaner. We need to take this condition a bit more seriously as a country. Lets stop playing super-hero and mask up!



The government has placed our safety in our hands, the success or otherwise of the decision now depends on you and I. Our safety is now our responsibility and not anyone else. I have therefore decided to write this piece to drum home the point of not taking the disease for granted and heeding to all the safety protocols using the sad event of Carlos Ahenkorah as a focal point.



He may have tested and found to be positive, he did not look sick and because he said he knew his status he at least tried to keep to himself and ensure he was always wearing his face mask (or so he says!).



Can you for once imagine everyone around you is Carlos Ahenkorah, would you be close to him without a face mask? Would you lower your face mask so he can hear you better when you speak? Would you stand in front of him and say you cannot breathe so you want to let down your facemask or hang it on your ear? Would you stand very close to him and not maintain social distance? Would you keep silent when you realize he is trying to lower his facemask or is walking around without a face mask? Would you shake his hands, hug or even give him an elbow? I think your answers to most of these questions will be outright NO! I guess you may not accept the money he gives you.



Why then are we not paying heed to these safety protocols because we are either assuming the ones around us are not infected? Why are we assuming so? Is it because they do not look sick? I dont think Mr Ahenkorah looked sick, did he? Dont take things for granted at all.



The disease is real and spreading very fast. Please ensure you wash your hands frequently after touching anything, sanitize if you cannot wash your hands, wear your face mask always and stop giving excuses for why you should not wear your facemask and wear it well. Always keep your distance from everyone around you. They may be infected or you may infect them. Lets keep this virus from spreading. Its our only chance of survival.



Take note that you may be the next Carlos Ahenkorah with the virus. If you do not assume everyone around you is a Carlos Ahenkorah and just may be, unlike him, you may not lose only your position but your life. Mask up now and save your life and others around you.



Thank you.



Dr Elliot Koranteng Tannor

Senior Specialist Physician/Nephrologist

Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital

Senior Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity

Source: Daily Graphic









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The Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service Monday announced that as at July 6, six students, a teacher and spouse had tested positive for COVID-19 in Accra Girls Senior High School.



The two Services announced that the affected persons had been taken to a treatment centre for further management in accordance with the laid down protocols on the COVID-19 pandemic issued to all schools and were currently doing well.



This was in a joint statement signed by Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, Director General of GHS and Professor Kwasi Opoku-Agyemang, Director General of GES, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.



There were reports in the morning that the students had staged a demonstration to go home following the outbreak of the virus on campus.



As a result, parents and guardians besieged the school premises demanding the release of their wards.



Responding to the agitations, the statement said a team of experts from GHS at various levels led by national officers and their colleagues from GES had been to the school to put in the necessary control measures.



According to the statement, all contacts of confirmed cases had been identified and separated from non-contacts, testing of all contacts of confirmed cases had started and the school authorities with the support of the assembly were 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, and continuous public education sections for staff, students and parents on COVID-19 as part of steps instituted so far, " the statement added.



The management of the Services wished to state further that whilst it was understandable that parents would be anxious about their childrens welfare and may besiege the schools to remove them, it strongly advised against such move saying 'if a student is infected, there is a risk of further contagion in the community if he or she is taken out of school'.



"A team of 200 personnel, drawn from the GES, GES, 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 health protocols".



The statement further said school heads and selected school staff had been trained, and would continue to receive further training and support on Covid-19 issues and management.



It said, "All schools have been provided with the necessary logistics needed to fight this pandemic, including Veronica buckets, sanitisers, face masks, tissue paper and the schools have been disinfected as well".



The two bodies assured the public that If any student was affected, the parent would be notified and given the opportunity to visit, adding that in all schools where there have been incidence of suspected or positive cases, they had all been isolated or quarantined and managed appropriately.



"Management wishes to inform parents, guardians and the public to remain assured that in collaboration with the GHS, all is being done to ensure that our students remain safe and are able to prepare for their impending West African Senior School Certificate Examination in an environment devoid of anxiety, "it said.

Source: GNA









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The Wesley Senior High School at Konongo in the Ashanti Region has recorded one case of the coronavirus.



The case involving a student, has attracted the attention of health workers and contact tracers who have since been dispatched to the school.



According to a Citi News report, the student was diagnosed with malaria and asked to return home after being rushed to the Konongo Government hospital with symptoms of the virus.



An uncle of the student, Osei Kwadwo said his nephew was only informed about his status after he was left to travel his own subsequently to Kumasi from the school.



He is even more worried about the fact the affected student has had to stay home with his family; mother and siblings since his return from school. He believes the situation could have been better handled by the school authorities and health workers.



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.

This comes following reports about some 6 students at the Accra Girls Senior High School testing positive for the coronavirus.



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.



There have since been protests by these students and concerned parents who want their wards to return home following the development.



School authorities however say students will remain on campus for testing as they handle and manage the situation.









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Kenyas Education Cabinet Secretary (CS), George Magoha, has announced that stakeholders have shelved schools reopening until 2021.



Speaking to the press, Mr Magoha explained that Primary and secondary schools will resume next year in January with a phased reopening of colleges and universities on a case by case study.



He stated that that 2020s school calendar Should be considered lost owning to the coronavirus pandemic that saw all learning institutions through out the country close in mid March.



In consultation with Ministry of Health we have agreed schools to reopen when daily Covid-19 cases reduce consistently for 14 days. Social and physical distancing is the most critical factor in ensuring safety of learners, the CS said in his press statment.



Inter-county movement of students will cause severe challenges with high incidents of infections. We are happy to inform Kenyans that the president accepted the recommendations, he said.



Kenya follows an 8-4-4 system and students currently at the tail end of their studies are required to seat for their national exam in order to progress from primary education into secondary and high school into university.



KNUT secretary general Wilson Sossion said that they have engaged in the process saying that they support Magoha in every decision.



The directive also gave instructions for reopening of University and College institutions. He said the universities will only reopen only when they meet the requirements of government guidelines.



Members of the senate and faculty must agree how they are going to do a phased reopening, he said.



The institutions will undergo an inspection to decide if they have met the required regulations. Institutions that fail to adhere to the COVID-19 government guidelines will risk closure, CS Magoha cautioned.



President Uhuru Kenyatta had directed Magoha to notify the public on the resumption of the 2020 academic year.



President Uhuru in his address to the nation on Monday from Harambee House said the announcement should be made not later than Tuesday.



The proposal to reopen in September was among initial recommendations to President Kenyatta in May by a team formed by CS Magoha.



But this was followed by a second recommendation in June opposing the September reopening and instead of calling for reopening in January next year.



The January proposal was supported by stakeholders including teacher unions and CS Magoha who said schools will not be reopened until the infection curve is flattened.



Magoha explained the recommended January reopening was due to medical advice that the spike of the infection is expected to occur around the same time

Source: africa.cgtn.com









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A virologist and lead researcher at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Dr Michael Owusu, has noted that the Covid-19 cases keep rising in Ghana because some people still dont believe the virus exists in Ghana and are therefore going about their duties normally as though there is nothing at stake.



He told Alfred Ocansey on the Sunrise morning show on 3FM Monday, July 6 that Ghana risks losing several lives if this mindset is not changed.



Some people still dont believe that there is coronavirus in Ghana hence going about their routine activities normally, Dr Owusu said.



He added: We risk losing many lives and that is not good for us.



Ghanas Covid-19 case count currently stands at 20,085, according to updates by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) on its website as of Sunday, July 5.



These include 697 newly recorded cases and five more deaths.



With the additional five deaths, the total death toll is now 122 while 14,870 make up the discharged/recovered category of patients.



Of the total cases, 5,093 are active.



According to the GHS, these new numbers are from samples that were taken between June 16 and July 1.



Twenty-two persons are currently in severe condition while eight are in critical situations.



Dr Michael Owusu also asked the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) to postpone the voter registration exercise if people fail to adhere to the Covid-19 protocols.



He explained that one of the major factors in spreading covid-19 is large gatherings, therefore, if participants in the ongoing registration exercise will not adhere to the social distancing safety measure and others, then the EC will have to act and postpone the exercise.



The EC has some level of responsibility to ensure that the people who come over there also adhere to the precautions.



Once the EC evaluates the decision, they will have to improve as they go through this exercise and try to amend, or change or put things in order to ensure people do the right things.



If they are unable to ensure people do the right things then of course they will have to come back to Ghanaians and tell Ghanaians that from what they have seen people are not adhering and people are not obeying the rules and people cannot stick to what they have put out, therefore, they think they have to either close some of the centres or postpone it to some other date where they feel that people will be more careful.



The virus rises on gatherings, social gatherings is one of the major risk factors for spread of the virus and when you bring people together and they mingle and move about and they dont adhere to precautions the danger is that they will pick the virus and get back to their community, and we are going to have some spike.



He added: We have to support the EC to do what they are doing but then if they feel that people are not obeying and are not listening, they have the capacity to ensure that people do the right things.



They have to look at the alternative which could be either postponing some of registration, or closing some centers or arresting some people.

Source: 3news









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Indias death count due to COVID-19 crossed 20,000 on Tuesday with 467 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry.



Meanwhile, total cases in the country have reached 719,665.



Over the past day, 22,252 new cases were reported.



Indian Council for Medical Research has tested more than 10 million samples so far.



The capital of Delhi has become the third state to register over 100,000 coronavirus cases in the country after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.



Maharashtra has over 200,000 cases and Tamil Nadu has over 111,000 cases.

Source: BBC









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There has been an astronomical increase in Ghana's COVID-19 infection rate in the last 2 days due to some back logs.



According to updates provided by the Ghana Health Service, 891 new infections were detected in 73 districts

taking the count from 21,077 to 21,968 as at Tuesday morning.



Recoveries are up to 17,156 with the death count still standing at 129.



At a press briefing on Tuesday organized by the Information Ministry, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said these new cases are from samples dating back mainly from June 26 to July 3.



There are 4,683 active cases of which 22 are severe.



Six of the severe cases are in a critical condition and five are on ventilators.



For the bulk of the new cases, 571 were recorded in 24 districts in the Greater Accra Region, 93 cases from 18 districts in the Ashanti Region and 86 from five districts in the Western Region.









Source: Peacefmonline.com









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AMID rising tensions over the countrys worsening economic rot, analysts have once again implored President Emmerson Mnangagwa to hold talks with his political rivals and civil society leaders to end Zimbabwes myriad crises, the Daily News reports.





This comes as the church and other concerned groups are also ramping up their efforts to foster dialogue between Mnangagwa and his political foes  saying this is critical to avoid total chaos in the country.





It also comes as the opposition and pro-democracy organisations are mobilising for a massive protest on July 31  in a bid to force Mnangagwa and his government to act on the countrys deepening economic crisis, its worst in a decade.





Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, political analysts warned that the planned protests at the end of the month were likely to be met with State brutality  which was why national dialogue was critical.





Respected University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer, Eldred Masunungure, said the mooted national talks were important as Mnangagwa could not expect the countrys problems to go away on their own.





The call for demonstrations is warranted, defendable and legitimate because the situation has become desperate for Zimbabweans.





However, the heavy hand of the State awaits those that will partake in the planned demonstration, and in the face of Covid-19 authorities will not hesitate to use a hammer to kill a fly.





The State will likely go into its default mode of heavy-handedness to send a strong signal, like what happened with previous flash demonstrations, including the recent one in Warren Park, Masunungure told the Daily News.





The opposition, therefore, has limited options because the freedom to demonstrate is only on paper. The democratic space is under lock and key.





The reality is that nothing will change unless political gladiators in the country dialogue. ED should also realise that he has tried all he can to work on the economy on his own, and he has failed.





His own supporters probably agree on this abysmal failure and also on the fact that all that needed to go wrong since he came to power in 2017 has gone awfully wrong.





The only viable solution is thus a roundtable dialogue with the so-called enemies of the State (political rivals), Masunungure further told the Daily News.





He (ED) might have the stick, but the solution lies in him opening his mouth and calling his adversaries to speak with them, and that is not expensive. His current stance is the obstacle to commonsensical solutions.





So, he has to change his attitude and acknowledge that things are getting worse despite the fact that the other political gladiators from the opposition are also egoistic. He has more to lose, he added.





The International Crisis Groups senior consultant for southern Africa, Piers Pigou, also warned that the planned protests were likely to be met with force  like what happened in August 2018 and January last year when security forces killed innocent protesters.





In a context of selective adherence to lockdown provisions, it seems likely there will be a heavy-handed response, especially if permission is not secured.





It need not be so, and the authorities could put in place a more flexible approach that contains the parameters of protest to protect life and property, if and when needed.





Sadly, from previous experience it seems unlikely the security forces are equipped to respond with appropriate calibration, Pigou told the Daily News.





This takes Zimbabwe nowhere and reinforces the perception that this administration is not serious about reform.





Mnangagwa appears to support a notion of dialogue that is not in accordance with the sort of dialogue that is required, he added.





Another political analyst, Rashweat Mukundu, said authorities were likely to take advantage of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions  that outlaw gatherings of more than 50 people  to thwart the planned July 31 demonstrations.

It is within the constitutional rights of the citizens of Zimbabwe to protest, yet consideration has to be made of the current Covid-19 situation.





We must be careful that the pandemic situation does not become an excuse to take away citizen rights.





As has been stated in other forums, including calls by the South Africa International Relations minister, the two influential political leaders who must engage in dialogue are Nelson Chamisa and ED, Mukundu told the Daily News.





This has been Chamisas call that he wants to meet ED, yet ED has stuck to Polad, which for all intents and purposes is a body of political nonentities.





So, it is up to ED to be magnanimous and engage towards a reduction to end the crisis. Protests are unlikely to end but rather increase as the economic situation continues to worsen, he added.









Yesterday, the leader of Transform Zimbabwe (TZ), Jacob Ngarivhume  who is the main player behind the planned demonstrations  said preparations for the protests were gathering pace.









Some of you have felt that July 31 is too far to express our displeasure and desire to see action against looters. I agree. So, our work leading up to this big day has started.









We need volunteers in the legal fraternity to put strong pressure on law enforcement and the judiciary to do their job, stop (authorities from) targeting demonstrators and start going after the looters to recover millions of dollars being siphoned from the system daily.













We need volunteers to make posters, banners and flags to start waving every day in solidarity with our unions.

The banners, posters and flags can be any colour representing the diversity of this movement  but bearing the simple message LOOTERS MUST GO, Ngarivhume said.









Build Zimbabwe Alliance leader Noah Manyika also said it was now time to end the countrys nightmare.





There is time in the life of a broken nation when no sectarian interests, no wilful indifference can provide anyone with any safety.

That time is now and is the reason I support any action by any Zimbabwean to end the countrys nightmare, including what is being planned for July 31.









No tribe, politically-connected businessman, politician, soldier or police is safe from the ravages of Zanu PFs corrupt misrule, brutality and the pandemic that is only getting worse because of the conditions they have created.









There is no superman who is going to do what you can do for yourself, Manyika said.

This comes as Zimbabweans are reeling from the effects of the countrys dying economy, which has triggered panic and fears of a return to the horror situation of 2008. This comes as Zimbabweans are reeling from the effects of the countrys dying economy, which has triggered panic and fears of a return to the horror situation of 2008.









Despite being feted like a king when he replaced the late former president Robert Mugabe, following the nonagenarians stunning ouster by the military in the widely supported November 2017 putsch, Mnangagwa and his government have found the task of repairing the countrys broken economy very tough.









To underline how troubled the economy has become, the government all but signalled a return to dollarisation last month  after under pressure Finance minister Mthuli Ncube awarded civil servants and pensioners allowances in US dollars.









In 2008, Zimbabwe binned its worthless currency and introduced the multi-currency system which was anchored by the US dollar.

Despite this system having served the country well for more than a decade, Ncube rattled the markets in June last year when he prematurely and ill-advisedly ended the local use of the US dollar and other foreign currencies. Despite this system having served the country well for more than a decade, Ncube rattled the markets in June last year when he prematurely and ill-advisedly ended the local use of the US dollar and other foreign currencies.








The World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed Ghana is one of the countries driving the increase in Covid-19 cases in Africa.



WHO says about 190,000 people are expected to die from the virus on the continent.



Speaking to Daniel Dadzie on Prime Morning Monday, WHO Technical Officer for Africa, Dr Mary Stephen said the continent needs to institute urgent measures to avert health crisis.



We are seeing an increasing trend in Covid-19 cases; 10 countries are driving this outbreak with South Africa reporting the highest number of cases. Nigeria and Ghana are also part of these countries, she said.



As at Monday, July 6, 2020, Africas confirmed case count was 476,967 with active cases of 238,319. Some 227,282 persons have recovered while 11,366 have succumbed to Covid-19.



Out of the infections, Ghana contributed 20,085 including 122 deaths.



The WHO Technical Officer for Africa also called on African countries to ramp up their health systems in order to identify infected persons; isolate and treat them.



The Global Health Expert urged citizens to strictly adhere to the various precautionary measures as their respective countries take steps to fight the virus.



We need to ramp up all the capacities for detection, testing, isolation, treatment and contact tracing including preventive measures by the communities, she said.



She dismissed claims that the high number of Covid-19 cases a country records is as a result of increased testing.



The number of cases you will see depends on the kind of transmission pattern. If you have community transmission, you will pick quite a number of tests. Even if you do not test; they will eventually be presented at the hospitals or as community deaths, she revealed.



This may be in contrast with the governments claims that Ghanas spike in Covid-19 is due to enhanced contact tracing and testing.



But the WHO Technical Officer for Africa further said: If you have a country that is reporting sporadic number of cases, no matter how much you will test, there will still be so many cases. So it actually depends on the kind of transmission in the country.







Source: Emmanuel Dzivenu, Myjoyonline









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

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Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, the Minister of Health, has urged Ghanaians to prioritise personal preventive healthcare by ensuring regular medical check-ups to ensure a healthy body.



"The human body is like a car that requires periodic servicing, so you must not wait till sickness consumes your entire body before seeking medical treatment because this may become difficult to fight at a certain stage," he said.



Mr Agyemang-Manu gave the advice when he inaugurated a Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compound for the Sromani Community in the Dormaa Central Municipality of the Bono Region.



He said the facility would make healthcare readily accessible to the people, particularly in the detection of minor sicknesses like headaches and the provision of other services such as ante-natal and post-natal care.



Mr Agyemang-Manu, also the Member of Parliament for Dormaa Central, said the provision of the facility was timely, particularly in these COVID-19 times, as it would help contain the pandemic at the community level.



He advised pregnant women to visit it frequently for examination to prevent infant and maternal mortality.



Mr Drissa Ouattara, the Dormaa Central Municipal Chief Executive, expressed appreciation to the chiefs and people of Sromani for complementing government's efforts at providing socio-economic infrastructure and urged them to maintain that self-help spirit for their holistic progress.



He advised the people to adhere to social and physical distancing as well as observing the other health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.



Mr Stephen Nyarko-Ameyaw, the Dormaa Central Municipal Director of Health Services, commended the MP for leading efforts at providing similar facilities in areas like Antwirifo and Kofiasua in the Municipality.



He gave the assurance that professionals would be posted to the facility, who would work according to the rules, regulations and procedures spelt out by the Ghana Health Service.



He called on the chiefs and people to cooperate with the personnel to work within a safe and conducive environment to deliver to the best of their ability.



Mr Emmanuel Aguma, a philanthropist and an indigene of the community, donated six hospital beds, two wheel chairs, a walker, a weighing scale, and six mattresses among other items to the facility.



Nana Antwi Boasiako, the Chief of Sromani, thanked the Health Minister, the Director and Management of the Municipal Health Directorate and natives of the community for supporting in cash and kind towards the completion of the facility

Source: GNA









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A suit filed by the Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, challenging a surcharge against him by the Auditor-General is expected back in the High Court after an aspect of the case had been sent to the Supreme Court.



The Supreme Court had urged the parties to collaborate on the inspection of a document which was crucial to the case in order for it to continue at the High Court.



Following the Supreme Courts advice, all the parties have decided to go back to the High Court for the final determination of the suit.



In view of that, the acting Auditor-General, Mr Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, has written to the Office of the Senior Minister that the Audit Service had inspected the documents and, therefore, the case could go back to the High Court for final determination.



We wish to state that we are satisfied with the process and, therefore, propose that the lawyers inform the Supreme Court accordingly to enable the parties to go back to the High Court to continue with proceedings in that court, the letter, dated July 2, this year and signed by Mr Asiedu, said.



Mischief



A source told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the action by the acting Auditor-General was in fulfilment of the advice by the Supreme Court and did not mean that the Senior Minister had been cleared.



According to the source, it was the High Court that would make a determination on the case filed by the Senior Minister.



It is, therefore, disingenuous for some people to misconstrue or interpret the letter from the Office of the Auditor-General that Mr Osafo-Maafo has been cleared, it said.



Surcharge



The Auditor-General, Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo, had surcharged four officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Senior Minister for paying a UK firm, Kroll and Associates Limited, US$1 million in 2017 to recover assets from identified wrongdoers.



Mr Domelevo had concluded that Kroll and Associates was paid for no work done, following what he said was the persistent failure of the Senior Minister to provide proof of actual work done.



However, in their appeal at the Accra High Court, the Senior Minister and the four officials had argued that the Auditor-General refused to inspect the evidence of work done by Kroll and Associates before issuing the surcharge.



They, therefore, accused the Auditor-General of acting unreasonably, capriciously and maliciously.



Again, they argued that the findings by the Auditor-General were a breach of natural justice and their rights to fair hearing, as he had failed to serve the Senior Minister with any audit observations containing any breaches by him before proceeding to issue the notice of intention to disallow or surcharge.



Case at Supreme Court



Kroll and Associates also appealed against the surcharge and, therefore, the High Court consolidated its case and that of the Senior Minister.



Kroll had wanted to produce the document that was evidence of proof of the work it did, but it claimed the document was classified by the government of Ghana as a National Security document.



It, therefore, filed an application at the High Court for the court to make a reference to the Supreme Court for the apex court to decide whether or not the document could be produced in court.



Under Article 135 of the 1992 Constitution, it is only the Supreme Court that has exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether or not an official document will be injurious to the security of the state if it is produced in court.



As a result of the reference by the High Court, all the parties (Senior Minister, Kroll and Associates and the Auditor-General) appeared before the Supreme Court on June 24, this year.



Counsel for the Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Oppong, informed the court that there was no need for the case to be at the Supreme Court because from the onset his client had always maintained that the document was available for inspection by the Auditor-General.



He said it had never been hidden from the Auditor-General or the court, and that it had even been filed at the High Court for the eyes of the trial judge on the same day the High Court judge wrote the reference to the Supreme Court.



In response, counsel for Kroll and Associates, Mr Charles Zwennes, said if the document was before the High Court and his client could easily access it in order to prove the work it did for the government of Ghana, there would be no need for the case to be at the Supreme Court.



Counsel for the Auditor-General, Mr Odikro Nyame, denied the claim that his client had refused to inspect the document, as claimed by Mr Oppong, and said that the Auditor-General was always ready to inspect the document.



A seven-member panel of the court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, urged all the parties to collaborate and resolve the matter, since Mr Oppong had indicated that the document had been available for all the parties.



According to the court, if the parties failed to resolve the matter, each must file its submission within 10 days for it to make a determination, per Article 135 of the 1992 Constitution, on whether or not the document could be used for the purpose of the case at the High Court.



Inspection of document



Information available to the Daily Graphic reveals that following the direction by the Supreme Court, on July 2, three officials from the Audit Service went to the Office of the Senior Minister and inspected the document which Kroll and Associates claims contains evidence of work done.



It was based on that development that the acting Auditor-General wrote to the Senior Minister that the inspection had been done and, therefore, the suit could proceed at the High Court.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Nana Oye Lithur, former Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection on Monday described the selection of Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman as Running Mate of Former President John Dramani Mahama as game-changer in the political landscape of Ghana.



The dawn has broken and she has come! - Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman as the first-ever Running Mate of a major political party under the fourth republic. The main opposition party has broken the gender barrier and selected an accomplished woman as a potential Vice President of the country.



History is being made today; a historic day for women's empowerment and democracy in Ghana. At long last, the biggest political party in Ghana, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has nominated a woman as its Running Mate, Nana Oye stated in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.



She described the selection as unprecedented between the two leading Political Parties the NDC and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), it is the right choice, she is the right person for the tough job joining Former President Mahama to rescue Ghana.



When former President Mahama wins elections on December 7th, 2020, Prof Naana Opoku Agyeman will be the first female Vice President of Ghana. Deja vu? Yes. Live Pure, Speak True, Right, Wrong, Follow the King'. The motto of Prof Naana's alma mater, Wesley Girls High School resonates with me, as I quietly reflect on the significance of this historic announcement by the NDC.



Prof Naana is the epitome of our motto. Her achievements are unparalleled and will be chronicled throughout the coming days. I open another door for you, catch a glimpse of the other side of Prof Naana; the mother, sister, colleague, and friend.



Astute, accomplished, loyal, honest, high integrity, committed, intelligent, results-oriented, focused, decisive, forthright, a leader, caring, empathetic, fun, and inspiring. Her accolades will fill a book. Simply put, she is a gem, the former Gender Minister stated.

Nana Oye Lithur noted: I am happy for Ghana, I am very happy about the choice of Prof Naana as our Running Mate for the 2020 NDC Presidential ticket. She is the right choice. Prof Naana is a safe pair of hands.



Prof Naana is a God-fearing ethical leader, a patriotic daughter of Ghana who will lead Ghana boldly, courageously, passionately, and successfully. Her life achievements and successes as the first female Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and a Minister of Education speak volumes.



Nana Oye Lithur who is Gender Advocates explained that the Running Mate will perform with the same excellence as the first female Vice President of the Republic of Ghana.



We women of Ghana stand solidly behind you Prof Naana. May the good Lord guide and protect you to support Former President Mahama to lead Ghana to peace, stability, and prosperity. Prof Naana, women of Ghana are so proud of you!



Nana Oye Lithur recounted that Ghanaian Gender Advocates in 2015 pledged to work towards a female President or Vice President by 2030, which would be in tune with the framework of the UN Commission on the Status of Womens (CSW59) reinvigorated targets for the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.



She said the Ghana Women reinvigorated targets for the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action states that within the next 15 years 2015 women must occupy 60 percent of Ministerial portfolios especially Finance, Energy, Education, and Health.



Fifty percent of Vice-Chancellors and University Professors must be women, 60 percent of state corporation Chief Executive Officers; Ghana Club 100 Chief Executive Officers, and Bank Chief Executive Officers.



The former Gender Minister said the Ghana Women 2030 reinvigorated Beijing Declaration was touted at Ghanas side event at the CSW59 session at New York in March 2015.



Nana Oye Lithur commended the former President Mahama, the national leadership of the NDC, and rank and file for endorsement of Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman as Running Mate in conformity UN Women Agenda 2030.

Source: GNA









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The Electoral Commission (EC) has dismissed three of its electoral officials following the theft of eight registration forms in the ongoing voter registration exercise at the Sagnarigu Municipality in the Northern Region.



The three, according to the EC, are temporary officials who were handling the registration kits at the district office in the municipality.



The Police in the Northern Region on Saturday arrested a 44-year-old teacher, Alhassan Abdullai Mohammed, in the possession of eight Voter Registration Forms 1A belonging to the Commission.

According to the police, the eight forms were those with the EC serial numbers on them and not forms available online for printing.



A statement issued on Monday, July 6 and signed by the Ag. Director of Public Affairs, Mrs Sylvia Annoh, said the suspect is a polling agent of one of the political parties.



It added that the suspension of the three was to assure public that the Electoral Commission will not shield any staff; permanent or temporary, who engages in misconduct during the Voters Registration Exercise.







Source: Daily Graphic









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The Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) has given a further boost to the coronavirus fight by donating hygiene items to people of Kyebi and surrounding communities of the East Akim Municipal District in the Eastern Region. The items which include quantities of veronica buckets, gallons of alcohol based hand sanitizers, disposable hand towels, nose mask and dust bins were presented to the locals as part of efforts to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.



Speaking at the donation ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of GIADEC, Mr. Michael Ansah reiterated GIADECs commitment of continuous support in the fight against the virus and urged the beneficiaries to use the hygiene items judiciously.



With the outbreak of the pandemic in Ghana, we at GIADEC believe in formidable partnerships and so the little we can do to help curtail the spread of the virus is by distributing these PPEs to the people of Kyebi and its neighboring environs so that they can protect themselves from the virus. We have decided on the list of communities that will receive this donation and we will also engage the locals in the distribution process so as to make sure that everybody is better protected so that we can be able to defeat the virus he said



The Municipal Chief Executive of Abuakwa South Hon. Kojo Ofori-Safo who was also present at the event lauded GIADEC for recognising the need to provide such hygiene items as the fight against the virus intensifies. He also admonished the corporation to do more engagement and allow stakeholders to have an input in mining activities in their various localities.



The Okyenhemaa, Nana Adutwumwaa Dokua called on all locals to join hands to support GIADEC in its operations for the benefits of all. The Abontendom hene of Akyem Abuakwa traditional area who doubles as Kyebi Chief, Osabarima Kwabena urged locals to supports projects initiated by GIADEC as they intend to provide great value to beneficiaries of these projects.



GIADEC was established in 2018 through an Act of Parliament primarily to promote and develop Ghanas Bauxite Reserves and downstream industry.

Highlighting the role of GIADEC in making sure that communities within which they operates is protected Mr. Ansah noted that the corporation implores technology that would not cause havoc to the environment but will bring improvement and protect the natural resources.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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

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The Minister for Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, has reiterated that government is on course to ensure that railway in Ghana, especially the western rail line, is completed and restored to its former state.



He indicated that government envisaged that the railway system covered the entire country, by 2035.



Mr Ghartey gave the assurance when he addressed the standing committee of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, at Essikado, as part of stakeholders engagement on the state of Ghanas railway.



Railway is the heart beat of the Western Region, and we are on course to ensure that the projects are successful. Some feasibility studies have been completed and contracts signed for some of the projects to take off, he explained.



The minister indicated that the government had signed a 560 million dollar contract with Amandi Holdings Ltd, for the extension of about 102 km on the western rail line from Manso to Huni Valley (60km), and described it as the largest single contract to be signed.



This included 8km from Kojokrom to Takoradi Port and the 10 km stretch from Kojokrom to Takoradi and Kojokrom to Manso (22km) standard gauge line, Mr Ghartey said.



He said the reconstruction would improve passenger services and the haulage of all cargoes, adding that the narrow gauge system from Kojokrom through Eshiem (5 km), where a new 300-metre bridge was being constructed, would reach Manso (17km), but, the Huni Valley line (60km) would operate on the new 102 Km standard gauge line.



Mr Ghartey mentioned that haul huge volumes of manganese with 33 trains from Nsuta to the Takoradi port, posed a challenge to traffic and safety, as new trains would ply the standard gauge at the speed of 160 kilometres per hour.



The Managing Director of Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL), Mr John Essel, thanked the government for the injection of huge capital into the company for it to be self-reliant and efficient in its operations.



He said with the capital injection, GRCL would be able to pay salaries of staff and other related expenses up to March 2021.



Mr Essel announced that GRCL would take delivery of track tools, spare parts and equipment, imported by Ghana Manganese Company Limited, to facilitate the rehabilitation of five locomotives and several mineral wagons.



He said it was to augment the current fleet of trains, to increase the haulage of manganese ore from Nsuta to the Takoradi port for export.



The President of the WRHC, Ogyeawoho Yaw Gyebi II, commended Mr Ghartey for his efforts at improving the railway system.



He appealed to chiefs to support the railway sector by releasing lands for projects, and desist from demanding huge land compensation from the government.

Source: The Ghanaian Times









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The Coalition of Civil Society groups in Ghana has described the manner in which President Akufo-Addo asked the Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo to proceed on leave as "regrettable and inconsistent with both the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution".



The group held the view that not only does the president's action gravely affects the fight against corruption, but it also "weakens our quest for good democratic governance grounded in the principle of checks and balances, rule of law and the pursuit of public accountability".



Go On Leave!



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, June 29, 2020, asked Mr. Daniel Yaw Domelevo to take his accumulated annual leave of 123 days starting Wednesday, July 1, 2020.



But the Office of the President later added 44 more working days to the 132 annual leave days after Mr. Domelevo, in a letter to the Presidency, urged Akufo-Addo to reconsider the directive, claiming that it breaches the labour law and is unconstitutional.



Mr. Domelevo had made use of nine out of his 132 annual leave days since assuming office in December 2016.



The directive which explained that the President's decision was based on sections 20 (1) and 31 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), asked Mr Domelevo to hand over to the Deputy Auditor-General, Mr. Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, all matters relating to his office until his return from leave.



Embarrassing The Gov't?



Following the directive that Mr. Domelevo is to hand over his responsibilities to his Deputy, the Auditor-General said he had observed that his work was embarrassing the government based on the posturing of some ministers and correspondence he had had with the Chairman of the Audit Service Board who he noted works at the Office of the Senior Minister.



He also noted that several appointees of the President have not taken their annual leave since 2017.



The directive, therefore, that I proceed on leave, oblivious of the other workers similarly circumstanced, gives the impression that the decision is not taken in good faith, he added.



Criticisms



Although the action has been justified by the Presidency as appropriate and grounded in the law governing Public Service Commission, the decision has been criticised by some legal experts.



Critics say the proceed-on-leave directive is inappropriate because the nature of the law that creates the Auditor General's office is similar to those that created the office of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) Commissioner and the Chief Justice, and hence must not be under the control of the Executive.



CSOs Begin #BringBackDomelevo



But at a press conference held on Tuesday afternoon, the group which claims to represent close to 500 CSO members across the country, dismissed claims that the Auditor-General has been biased in his work. Questioning the properness of the directive, the group asked President Akufo-Addo to "reconsider", whiles launching a "campaign to #BringBackDomelevo beginning today."



"The action gravely weakens the Presidents fight against corruption and his standing in the eyes of the international community as someone committed to public accountability. We should not forget that it was the President and the NPP government that set up an Office of the Special Prosecutor with a carefully designed legal framework to ensure that Mr. Martin Amidu was not only formally independent but substantively independent.



"We believe our President listens and when he re-assesses the case we have made, he will reconsider. In this regard, we are calling on all well-meaning Ghanaians to join us in our campaign to #BringBackDomelevo beginning today.



"Second, as result of the gravity of the constitutional issues raised by this action, we have to at some point apply to the Supreme Court for interpretation of the Presidents powers in respect of independent governance institutions," portions of the statement read.

Below are details of the statement:

Members of the press, colleague leaders of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in Ghana, democracy and good governance activists and fellow Ghanaians, good morning and welcome to todays press conference.



The CSOs gathered here represent close to 500 CSO members across the country. The CSO Platform on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which has signed this statement alone represents 435 CSO members. We also have the Right to Information Coalition and the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition all endorsing this statement.



Short Statement on the Impact of Covid-19 Before I proceed with the statement, let me use this opportunity to say a few words about the COVID-19 Pandemic. First, we extend our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones to COVID-I9, particularly our frontline health professionals. We pray the good Lord strengthen and comfort you during these difficult times.



We must take these vims seriously and strictly observe the preventive protocols. In this regard, we want to wish the President and our leaders Gods protection. We need all our leaders to be healthy to lead us through these challenging times. CSOs have been doing their part to support through the CSO COVID-19 Fund. At the appropriate time we will share with citizens our plans for a much stronger citizen involvement in the response to the pandemic.



Statement



Fellow Ghanaians, it is with sadness, disappointment and extreme concern that we come to you today to share our thoughts on the decision taken by the President last Monday, 29 June 2020, directing the Auditor General, Mr. Daniel Domelevo to take his alleged accumulated leave of 123 days, beginning July 2020.



Following the Auditor Generals response to the Presidents directive, his annual leave for 2020. subsequently been added to his leave days; bringing the total leave days to 167. We find the entire episode and the justification for the Presidents action regrettable and inconsistent with both the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution.



In our estimation, such actions only weaken our quest for good democratic governance grounded in the principle of checks and balances, rule of law and the pursuit of public accountability. In the evening of Monday 29. June, 2020, news started filtering in that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had directed the Auditor General to take his alleged accumulated leave of 123 days effective 1 July 2020.



The statement indicated that the basis of the Presidents directive was Sections 20 (1) and 31 of the Labour Mt, 2003 (Act 65)). These provisions basically provide for a 15-day leave entitlement for a worker in a calendar year. Further, a worker or an employee cannot enter into any agreement to forgo a leave entitlement; such agreement would be void. Mr. Domelevo was said to have taken 9 out of a possible 132 days since his appointment in 2016.



To apparently strengthen the justification for such an action, the statement referred to a similar decision taken by the late President Mills in 2009 during the tenure of Mr. Edward Dua Agyeman (then Auditor General), now current Board Chair of the Ghana Audit Service.



On the 3rd July 2020, the Auditor General responded to the Presidents directive challenging the legal basis for the decision and expressing concern with what he considered to be an effort to interfere with his constitutional mandate. On the same day, the Presidency followed up with a reply restating and expanding its legal justifications. All the communication from the Presidency to the Auditor General and vice versa have been shared with the public.



Ladies and Gentlemen, context matters in discussing these issues. It is important to note that this current issue with the Auditor General is not an isolated event but part of an ongoing tussle between the Auditor General and the Audit Service Board led by its Chairman Mr. Edward Dua Agyemang, over the confines of the Auditor Generals constitutional independence. The Boards efforts to subjugate the Auditor General under its control has led to several clashes including a matter in 2017 over the purchase of vehicles the Audit Service which is now a subject of an EOCO investigation.



There was an attempt to resolve the impasse through a Committee set up by the President and led by the Presidents Secretary but it was unsuccessful. Mr. Isaac Wilberforce Mensah has taken the constitutional matters raised by the Board to the Supreme Court for interpretation. It is, therefore, no surprise that the Board Chairman is reported to have confirmed on several media platforms that it is the Board that referred the matter of the Auditor Generals alleged accumulated leave to the President.



This context indicates that at the heart of the matter is the independence of the Auditor General and that is what we should pay attention to. Th rents to the Independence of the Auditor General and other Independent Governance institutions First, sonic aspects of the decision of the President on the face of it may be grounded in law, however, when examined overall in the context of the 1992 Constitution, particularly in relation to the independence of t. Auditor General, it operates to interfere with the mandate of the Auditor General.



The framers of the 1992 Constitution could not have intended to create a simple employer-employee relationship between the appointing authority (in this case t. President) and the Auditor General thereby making the President a Human Resource Manager, administering the leave schedule of heads of Independent Governance Institutions, If this understanding is accepted then h means that the President can direct the Chief Justice, the Commissioners of the Electoral Commission and the Commissioners of the Commission for Human Rights must Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to proceed on leave when he sees fit.



That would be an absurdity and will operate to interfere with the independence of those offices. If this logic was to be extended, then it means the President can presumably direct the Auditor General as to which international conference he can and cannot attend, a matter which ordinarily would be managed as an HR function. Just imagine a situation where a President asks the Chair of the Electoral Commission to go on leave in the middle of her preparations for the voter registration exercise.



In a context like that, a their-minded person is likely to believe that the President is not acting in good faith. The second letter from the Presidency raises an even more serious constitutional question as to whether or not the President as the appointing authority has the power to unilaterally apply administrative sanctions against heads of independent governance institutions, In essence. can the President suspend the Auditor General or a Chicflusticc for insubordination?



This reading of Article 297 of the Constitution has to be in error. The Presidents power of appointment in relation to the Auditor General does not include the power to disappoint as clearly stated in Article 187 (13) and therefore does not give rise to disciplinary powers.



Fellow Ghanaians, as democrats, we should heed the warning from what has happened recently in other African jurisdictions, Just last month, it similar incident occurred in Malawi, when the President directed the Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda to take his accumulated leave ahead of his retirement, The Malawi Law Society, the Association of Magistrates and others sought an injunction in court to stop the Presidents order from being carried out. They believed the President will interfering with the independence of the Judiciary and rightly so.



The Accumulated leave Debate



Second, there is a debate as to whether annual leave can or cannot be accumulated. While that may not be an issue we like to spend ink on, we would like to refer to the Court of Appeals decision in the case of Samuel M.K Adrah v Electricity Company of Ghana (Civil Appeal No: HI/149/2017) in which the court indicated that there is no such thing as accumulated leave and workers are enjoined to take their annual leave. The court also stated that any agreement to forgo leave is void with no benefits accruing to the benefit of the employer or employee under such agreement.



This position of the law was expressed in simple terms by Deputy Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, on Joy FMs Super Morning Show on Monday 6th July 2020. His statement of a summary of the law was that [w]c all know that to accumulate leave is wrongful There is a prohibition of accumulation of leave. Weed, this position is fully supported by paragraph 4.25 of the binding Human Resource Management Policy Framework and Manual for the Ghana Public Services.



It states that unspent leave is forfeited and accrual of leave is prohibited with the only exception that where leave may accrue or accumulated it must not exceed leave periods for two years including the current year, and even so by agreement and approval of management. If indeed the Auditor General was being treated as any civil or public servant would have been treated, the legal basis for forcing the Auditor General to take accumulated leave is non-existent.



Handling Annual Leave as an HR Function Third, it is curious that a small matter of managing annual leave has escalated to this level. This is unfortunate but as we stated earlier, the context shows that the administration of leave has been added to the basket of actions and inactions being contested by the Audit Service Board. In our view, leave entitlements and schedules arc purely an IIR function handled within an organization.



For many public and private institutions, this is handled by an HR manager and often does not lead to directing a person to forcibly take their leave. Most managers at the highest levels hardly exhaust their leave and if they omit to take their leave even when offered, they lose it and do not accumulate it.



Therefore, it is disappointing that the President only chose one option once this matter was brought to his attention. For an Auditor General who the President has praised on several occasions for his dedication to work, the President could only see the option of dispensing with his services for six whole months.



The President could have taken the view that the entitlement extinguishes each year in accordance with the Public Service FIR Manual. The President could have decided to ask him to take some of his 2020 leave. These are all options that recognizes the importance and independence of the Office and consistent with the law.



None of these were done. In fact, at the time the Auditor General was receiving the letter from Jubilee House, it was already in the media that he has been asked to proceed on leave. On the whole, there were other options that would have mitigated any potential interference with the work of the Auditor-General and none was taken. Citizens Should Support and Protect the Independence of the Auditor General and His Office Fourth, we as citizens have to fight for public officers like Mr. Domelevo, not because they are saints and infallible but because they show us that the governance and society we clamour for is possible.



We wake up each day complaining about the problems of leadership and public service. We complain about the lack of accountability, sacrifice, leadership example and effectiveness in the way the public sector is managed. Since Mr. Domelevo took office, he has been exemplary. He has shown leadership and has been extremely productive. His achievements are there for all to see.



We need more of such men and women. Unfortunately, many of them have to fight this battle alone and often they lose out. This action is a warning and a huge discouragement to public office holders who desire to stand up and be counted.



It is shocking to read some media reports that Mr. Domelevo is serving a political party interest by his actions. This is the same Auditor General who upon the assumption into office of the new NPP government in 2017 conducted an audit of the liabilities accrued by Ministries, Departments and Agencies in 2016 during the tenure of President Mahama who appointed him and disallowed as much as GI.IC3.4 Billion; saving the count, lot of money.



As citizens, we have to make a choice whether we want an Auditor General who will hold everyone to account without fear or favour; one who will ensure our hard-earned taxpayers money is used the benefit of citizens and not go to individual pockets. If that is what we want then we must stand up and make our voices heard.



This is not an NPP or NDC matter. This is about Ghana; whether it is an NPP or NDC government, we want an independent Auditor General. When we get people like Mr. Domelevo who want to work and serve the public interest, we must protect them. Remedial Action Ladies and gentlemen, based on the issues we have raised in reaction to the Presidents decision, first. we believe the decision of the President is not proper and needs to be reconsidered.



The action gravely weakens the Presidents fight against corruption and his standing in the eyes of the international community as someone committed to public accountability. We should not forget that it was the President and the NPP government that set up an Office of the Special Prosecutor with a carefully designed legal framework to ensure that Mr. Martin Amidu was not only formally independent but substantively independent.



We believe our President listens and when he re-assesses the case we have made, he will reconsider. In this regard, we are calling on all well-meaning Ghanaians to join us in our campaign to #BringBackDomelevo beginning today.



Second, as result of the gravity of the constitutional issues raised by this action, we have to at some point apply to the Supreme Court for interpretation of the Presidents powers in respect of independent governance institutions.



Third, we are fully aware that one of the issues that deepened the conflict between the Auditor General and the Board is the Kroll Associates case in which the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo and four other officials of the Finance Ministry have been surcharged by the Auditor General, The Senior Minister has resorted to court action to clear his name.



We will all be watching closely how the matter is being handled in the temporary absence of the Auditor General. We are aware per the Supreme Courts instructions the documents requested by the Auditor General has now been inspected and the parties are due to return to court.



We will follow the process closely. Lastly, it is important to acknowledge the diligent work of the Audit Service for many years. It has been one of the performing public institutions over the years. Mr. Domelevos leadership has taken it to another level.



It is our expectation that the Service will continue to serve the public with distinction and professionalism in the temporary absence of the Auditor General.



Always Ghana First! God bless Ghana!!



Thank you.







Signed:



Coalition of CSOs Against Corruption

Source: Peacefmonline/Ghana









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Prospective pilgrims have asked the Ghana Hajj Board to refund all the money paid to the board in connection with this years Hajj, since the pilgrimage will not be possible because of the prevailing novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.



About 2,500 prospective pilgrims are said to have paid about GH50 million to the board as fare for this years Hajj.



In April this year, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia advised Muslims planning to take part in the 2020 Hajj to delay bookings due to the uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic.



However, before the announcement to restrict this years Hajj to only Muslims currently residing in Saudi Arabia, more than 2,500 people desirous of embarking on the pilgrimage from Ghana had already paid their money to the board through their respective agents.



Response



The Hajj Board has, meanwhile, said it has commenced processes to refund the money to all pilgrims after a meeting with Hajj agents in Accra.



In a joint release signed by the Chairman of the board, Sheikh I.C. Quaye, and the Chairman of the Ghana Hajj Agents Association, Alhaji Issah Sulemana, the board confirmed that it had received requests from pilgrims for refund and gave an assurance that refunds would be made as soon as the board received payments it had made to some service providers in Saudi Arabia to ensure that full refund for Ghanaian pilgrims who have paid their fees for Hajj 2020 is successfully concluded.



It further pleaded with those who paid money to the board through the bank to cooperate with the management in its efforts.



Payment of fees



In an interview, the Communications Director of the board, Dr Abubakar Ahmed Siddique, said some of the prospective pilgrims made payments as far back as February this year and confirmed that the board was in discussions with some service providers for a refund.



We have received indications from the Saudi authorities that refunds will be processed by September 2020, which is after the completion of the local Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Respectfully we ask all persons who have directly or via Hajj agents paid money to the Hajj Board through the bank to cooperate with management as we work to successfully address their concerns, he said.



He further explained that prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the board had made payments for services such as accommodation, transportation and feeding in Saudi Arabia to ensure a smooth Hajj for Ghanaian pilgrims.



Sheikh Quayes administration is credited for reforming the organisation of Hajj since 2017, but pressure on the board for the refund of this years Hajj money appears to be a major challenge.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for coronavirus.







He took the test, his fourth, on Monday after developing symptoms, including a high temperature.

Mr Bolsonaro has repeatedly played down the risks posed by the virus, calling it "a little flu" and saying that he would not be seriously affected by it.

He has also urged regional governors to ease lockdowns, which he says hurt the economy, and on Monday he watered down regulations on wearing face masks.

Back in April, he said that even if he were to be infected with the virus, he would "not have to worry as I wouldn't feel anything, at most it would be like a little flue or a little cold".

When he made the remark, the number of Covid-19-related deaths was still under 3,000 and the number of infections was around 40,000.

Source: BBC









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This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is in his third day of self-isolation against COVID-19 as he works from the Presidential Villa at the Jubilee House.



Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, updating the public on the case count and management situation in Accra on Tuesday, said the President was conducting state business through telephone and other technologies.



"The President is following up on COVID-19 response plan and other broader 2020 work plan of his administration," he added.



The Minister, on behalf of the President, expressed gratitude to Ghanaians for their best wishes.



President Akufo-Addo has, since Saturday, July 4, been in self-isolation after coming into contact with a close associate who tested positive for COVID-19.



He tested negative for the disease but out of the abundance of caution decided to self-isolate at the Jubilee House.



Meanwhile, Ghana has recorded 891 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total tally to 21,968 after 316,798 tests.



There have been seven more deaths, increasing the death toll to 129.



The recoveries and discharges had increased to 17,156 with the active cases standing at 4,683.



There are, however, 22 severe cases with six persons critically ill and five patients on ventilators.

Source: GNA









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Madam Rebecca Mensah, a Registration Officer at the E.P JSS Centre at Ho Kpodzi has said the failure of registrants to abide by the safety protocols makes the registration officials candidates of the COVID-19 virus.



She said Our lives are at risk as some registrants continue to flout the health protocols of social distancing and wearing of masks.



Madam Mensah said though the security officer at the Centre was doing his best to ensure that the people observed the protocols, some of the registrants were unwilling to comply, and this was when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the Centre on Tuesday.



We are at risk, see, weve arranged very nice chairs for them, but they are not adhering to the protocols and all of us are at risk, she said.



She said apart from the non-adherence to the health protocols of social distancing and wearing of masks, the registration process was proceeding smoothly.



Meanwhile as at 1038 hours, a total of 40 people had registered, with some in queue and others ambling to the centre to have their turn.



The situation was not different at the Ho Polytechnic Registration Centre as registrants gathered at the entrance of the auditorium, where the exercise was taking place with no adherence to the social distancing protocols.



Some of the registrants were also not in masks at the time the GNA visited the centre of which Mr Victor Tiodza, Registration Officer for Special Duties at the Centre described the situation as a challenge.



He urged the registrants to endeavour to observe the protocols to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.



A total of 54 people were issued with the new voters card as at 1103 hours today, while some 127 applicants were registered as at the close of Monday.



There were Veronica buckets, liquid soap, tissue paper, hand sanitizers and a thermometer gun at all the centres the GNA visited to enable people to observe the health safety protocols.

Source: GNA









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The Electoral Commission (EC) has appealed to political parties to help in the education of the electorate for them to understand the process of the new voters register compilation to allay their fears of not being registered.



Mr Daniels Ankamah Ofosu Kyeremeh, an Assistant Administrator at the Bono Regional Office of the EC who made the appeal, noted many applicants did not understand the registration process and were mad-rushing to the registration centres to be captured.



They also fear the time is limited and the exercise would not capture them.



Mr Kyeremeh was addressing members and supporters of the Bono Regional branch of the Progressive People's Party (PPP), at a meeting organised to elect its new regional executives in Sunyani.



The party elected 15-member executives by popular acclamation to steer its affairs for the next four years.



Mr Kyeremeh explained the period set for the compilation of the new voters registration was enough to register all eligible voters and advised Ghanaians to be patient with the EC.



They will ensure that all the electorate are registered to enable them to exercise their franchise in the Election 2020.



Mr Kyeremeh explained the EC had clustered the various registration centres and its officials were moving from one clustered centre to the other to register all eligible voters within the period stipulated for the exercise.



On behalf of the newly-elected executives, Mr Lucious Sanfaa, the Bono Regional Chairman of the PPP, thanked the Party delegates for the confidence reposed in them and promised to work hard to enhance its fortunes in the Election 2020.



He said the membership of the PPP in the region had increased and called on the party supporters to intensify the campaign to woo particularly floating voters for the Party to make a significant impact in the Election 2020.



Mr Sanfaa called on other political parties to develop interest, and monitor the on-going new voters registration exercise to help the EC to obtain credible voters register for the December 7, Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

Source: GNA









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The Family of Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, the nominated Vice Presidential Candidate of Mr John Dramamini Mahama had described her candidature as an opportunity for the country to clean its political space, which is full of insults and acrimony.



"We believe that her nomination holds the key to cleaning up the growing "political mess" because she is an epitome of truthfulness, decency, respect, humility, and strong mental fortitude to resolving all issues to ensure socio-economic cohesion.



The family members in separate interviews with the GNA at Komenda, her hometown on Tuesday, downplayed the notion that her reputation and pedigree in society will be soiled if she engaged deeply in partisan politics due to the nature of "dirty" politics being practiced in the country.



Mr Ebo Sam, a 62-year-old brother of Prof. Opoku-Agyeman told the GNA that her political ascension had come at an opportune time when the political landscape had descended so low and needed a reverse.



If Ghanaian politics will have a better future, then, it needs someone like my sister to tone down the partisan space and make it clean, Mr Sam indicated.



He indicated that Ghana needed the likes of Prof Opoku-Agyeman to calm nerves, and tone down the use of intemperate language to reduce the rising political tension in the country.



He expressed strong belief in her capabilities to perform as an outstanding Vice President if she gets the nod and would work tirelessly to deepen the country's democratic gains and to accelerate development.



Expressing gratitude to former President Mahama for the honour done the family, Mr Sam said the former University of Cape Coast Vice-Chancellor had distinguished herself in every position she had occupied, therefore, her new portfolio won't be different.



Madam Akua Oboh, a 96-year-old-old maternal Auntie said her new political appointment had brought fame and dignity to the family.



She described her as an affable and a cool-headed competent person who was capable of holding any political office and rallied the support of all to succeed.



Madam Yaa Amobi, a 53-year-old Auntie said Prof Opoku-Agyeman was a kind-hearted and a philanthropist committed to helping her community and all.



"Through her philanthropist gesture, our community can boast of an ultramodern school infrastructure in the community with ancillary facilities to facilitate teaching and learning among others," she said.



On the streets of Komenda, where he hails from, scores of people confirmed their happiness on hearing the news and pledged to support her to succeed in her new endeavours.



They wished her well and called on all residents in the area and Ghanaians at large to support her bid.



The National Executive Committee of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at a meeting, in Accra on Monday, July 6, endorsed the nomination of the first female as a running mate for the party in the 2020 Presidential election.

Source: GNA









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The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) says stigmatizing persons affected or infected with the coronavirus disease has a tendency to lower ones self esteem and cause mental health problems.



Stigmatizing COVID-19 patients and their relatives would not only prevent them from sharing their experience in the fight against the disease, but would scare people with its symptoms from seeking health care because stigma lowers peoples self-esteem, so please desist from it.



Mr Daniel Baya Laar, the Bawku Municipal Director of NCCE, who spoke in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Bawku, said negative attitudes such as name calling, ridiculing, stereotyping and insinuations among others made people affected by the virus feel inferior and that was a major hindrance to the efforts against the spread of the virus.



He therefore advised members of the public to desist from stigmatizing patients of COVID-19 and rather be sympathetic and caring, as that would encourage them to seek medical care early and be cured.



The Municipal Director said the coronavirus disease was fast spreading and as such the NCCE had intensified its sensitization programme across the length and breadth of the Municipality, covering over 60 activities within the second quarter of 2020.



We have covered over 60 activities for the second quarter on the coronavirus public education within the Municipality, on the laid down protocols by health experts and the directives of the government as well as stigmatization against COVID-19 patients.



The announcement, which was done on the street and various communities within the Municipality reminded the people that coronavirus is real.



The people were advised to wash their hands regularly with soap under running water, observe social distancing, rub hands with alcohol based hand sanitizer and wear nose mask at all times, he stated.



Mr Laar, said the various restrictions and protocols set out by government and health professionals were for the good of the people and it was imperative for everyone to strictly adhere to the protocols and practice personal hygiene to protect themselves from getting infected.



He said during the public education, the Commission observed that most of the registration and distribution centers of the Ghana card within the Municipality were not observing the protocols.



Almost all the centers visited were not observing the social distancing protocol and just a few were wearing nose masks and a few of the centers had veronica buckets, hand sanitizers and thermometer guns, he added.



He, however, indicated that due to the consistent sensitization by NCCE, many people were beginning to realize the threat of the virus and were gradually adhering to the protocols such as wearing of nose masks among others.

Source: GNA









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The Akuapem Queen mothers have indicated that the Mampong Akuapem Apesemakahene, Nana Yirenkyi I, is right to tell Rosemond Brown to stop using the name 'Akuapem'.



According to the Queen mothers, Rosemond brown is tarnishing the image of the Akuapem Stool and its people and that she has to stop using the name.



They said Mampong Apesemakahene Nana Yirenkyi had officially reported the matter to the Queen mothers and they have called Rosemond Brown to advise her to desist from her nudity using the 'Akuapem Name on several occasions.



Speaking to Journalist Akuapem Krontihemaa and the President of Akuapem Queen mothers Nana Oye 11 said they have requested Rosemond Brown to prove to them whether she is from Akuapem but she is not responding to them.



Nana Oye 11 said Akuapem has a good name and hence, they will not sit down for one person to tarnish that image.



Nana Oye 11 said Ghanaians should note that a real Akuapem will not behave the way Rosemond Brown is behaving and urged the young ones not to emulate her footsteps.





Source: peacefmonline.com









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Neenyi Ghartey VII, Paramount Chief of Effutu Traditional Area has called on his people to stay safe by diligently observing the laid down protocols of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect themselves and others from contracting the virus.



This is an infectious disease but it is sad to note that the protocols in place to help stop the spread of the virus are being flouted with impunity and it is about time for all of us to be ambassadors against the virus and live safe and healthy to contribute towards nation-building, he stated.



Neenyi Ghartey VII, who is also the President of Effutu Traditional Council made the call at a special traditional meeting held at Winneba, where newly enstooled and elevated chiefs were sworn in.



They were, Naase Akyere II (Akomuhen of the traditional area), Neenyi Kow Abowie II, (Gyaasehen of the traditional area), Neenyi Afedzie III (Walabeba Chief Fisherman), Neenyi Obuama, (Odikro of Walabeba), Neenyi Mbir, (Effutuman Apofuhen), Neenyi Afedzie I (Effutu Ekorfu Tufuhen), Neenyi Ackom I (Gyaasehen of Effutu Ekorfu) and Naase Aprekuwa I (Walabeba Nkosowohen).



They took the Oath of Office, Allegiance, and Secrecy before Neenyi Ghartey, Effutu Oma Odefe, entire members of the Traditional Council, and some members from their communities.



Neenyi Ghartey advised them not to lord their position over the people, but to service them wholeheartedly without discrimination, and use their rich expertise to support the paramountcy especially in the era of COVID-19.



The Omanhen said it was now frightening walking around town considering the attitude of some people who fail to adhere to the protocols adding, You dont know who come closer to you has the infection.



He noted that it was prudent for everyone to join the crusade in fighting the pandemic, which was no respecter of persons.



My people as you all will agree with me, Effutuman is a peaceful place and our hospitality is unique but we should not joke with the COVID-19 pandemic, let us protect ourselves very well to avoid the disease, he cautioned.



Neenyi Oprohn Ekwam I, Gyaasehen of Effutu Atekyedo, and Naase Akyere II, Akomuhen expressed their displeasure over the blatant disregard for the COVID-19 protocols by some politicians and students who should know better and be good examples for the communities.



According to them, lack of action by law enforcement agencies to sanction people had resulted in defaulters deliberately disrespecting the protocols and called for the needed minimum force to deal with recalcitrant people.



Later in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Naase Aprekuwa, Walabeba Nkosowohen known in private life as Dr. Yaqin Wang, a Chinese, who had partnered the people of Walabeba to better their lot thanked Neenyi Ghartey for the honour done her.

Source: GNA









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The CEO of Coscharis Boss, Cosmos Maduka has recounted his experience with his wife's uncle while seeking for her hand in marriage.



Maduka who noted that his wife comes from an upper class family in his community in an interview with Plus TV Africa, said he was shot thrice by his wife's uncle when he was broke.



He revealed that she is now the Vice President of Coscharis Motors and also uses a credit card that has no limit. Maduka further narrated how he taught his wife financial discipline.



Here is the video below;















View this post on Instagram



Cosmos Maduka Plus TV

A post shared by Lindaikejiblog (@lindaikejiblogofficial) on Jul 7, 2020 at 11:30am PDT













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Some popular home security cameras could allow would-be burglars to work out when you've left the building, according to a study published Monday.



Researchers found they could tell if someone was in, and even what they were doing in the home, just by looking at data uploaded by the camera and without monitoring the video footage itself.



The international study was carried out by researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the Chinese Academy of Science, using data provided by a large Chinese manufacturer of Internet Protocol (IP) security cameras.



Cameras like these allow users to monitor their homes remotely via a video feed on the internet, but the researchers say the traffic generated by the devices can reveal privacy-compromising information.



Study author Gareth Tyson from QMUL told CNN that data uploads of the unencrypted data increase when a camera is recording something moving, so an attacker could tell if the camera was uploading footage of someone in motion, and even different types of motion like running or sitting.



The risk is that "someone who is specifically targeting an individual household rocks up outside with a device to try and start passively monitoring traffic," he said.



Tyson told CNN that an attacker would require a decent level of technical knowledge to monitor the data themselves, but there is a chance that someone could develop a program that does so and sell it online.



Noting that he hasn't seen any direct evidence of this kind of attack taking place, he said one potential use would be if someone wanted to burgle your house.



"They monitor the camera traffic over an extended period of time, and by looking at the patterns that are generated by those cameras over maybe a week, they then start predicting the following week when you're most likely to be in the house," he said.



In order to reduce the privacy risk, companies could randomly inject data into their systems to make it harder for attackers to spot a pattern, he said.



Tyson said the team are trying to extend their research to work out how to maintain camera performance while reducing privacy risks.



At present, cameras are "fairly stupid items" in order to keep manufacturing costs down, said Tyson, uploading data whenever motion is detected.



"What we want to do is have a more intelligent system that allows the camera to understand what that motion is, assess the level of risk, and only upload it and alert the user in a case where the camera feels that it's worthy doing," he said.



For example, someone who owns a cat probably doesn't want to be alerted every time the camera detects the animal walking around, but they would certainly want to know if a human intruder were spotted.



Tyson said this is the first study to investigate the risks posed by video streaming traffic generated by the cameras.



The global market for the devices is expected to be worth $1.3 billion by 2023, according to the press release. Popular brands include Xiaomi and Nest, which is owned by Google.



While the study authors did not analyze data from those brands, they did find that their cameras present the same privacy risk. CNN has reached out to Nest and Xiaomi for comment on the research.



The study was published at the IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications, which brings together researchers in networking and related fields.

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.

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Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Google, and Telegram have all said they are pausing co-operation with requests for user information from the Hong Kong police.



Several countries have criticised China for imposing a new security law, which they say threatens the territorys long-standing autonomy.



The announcements are likely to put pressure on Apple to do likewise.



While the others services are blocked in mainland China, Apples are not.



However, Facebook, Google, and Twitter do generate revenue from selling advertising to Chinese clients.



Apple complied with the majority of requests it received from Hong Kongs government between January and June, before the new law came into effect, according to the firms latest transparency report.



Microsoft  which has also previously handed over data about its users to Hong Kongs authorities, and maintains a significant presence in mainland China  has not announced a change in policy either.



The BBC has asked the two companies for comment.



Right of privacy



Chat app Telegram  headquartered in London  was first to announce plans to halt co-operation.



We understand the right of privacy of our Hong Kong users, the firm told the Hong Kong Free Press on Sunday.



Accordingly, Telegram does not intend to process any data requests related to its Hong Kong users until an international consensus is reached in relation to the ongoing political changes in the city.



Facebook followed saying it would stop considering the requests, pending further assessment of the human rights issues.



No personal information about users in the region was held at or disclosed from, its Hong Kong office, it added.



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.



WhatsApp  which is owned by Facebook  said it believes in the right for people to have a private conversation online and we remain committed to providing private and secure messaging services to our users in Hong Kong.



Both platforms are blocked in mainland China but have benefited from Hong Kongs much broader access to the internet under its freedoms as a special administrative region.



Google said it paused production on any new data requests when the new rules came into effect last week.



Well continue to review the details of the new law, a spokeswoman told the BBC.



Twitter said it acted likewise.



WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption enabled by default  so it cannot read, or share with police officers, messages sent between two users.



On Facebook Messenger, however, encryption is not the default option  it has to be manually switched on by users.



Both platforms say they may disclose user data, in accordance with the law of the country in question.



But WhatsApp adds successful requests for this information must meet internationally recognised standards including human rights, due process, and the rule of law.

Source: BBC









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TikTok is perhaps the most troubling app in the world right now. A week after the app was banned in India, Bytedance-owned social network has decided to pull its apps from the Play Store and the App Store in Hong Kong amid political tensions.



While the company removed these apps from the stores, its not clear if citizens whove already downloaded them will be able to access TikTok.



The company cited Chinas controversial security law for Hong Kong that was passed last week. This rule enforces tighter content policing rules on citizens and tries to squash any dissent against the communist party in China. It also requires companies operating in Hong Kong to hand over user data and follow censorship guidelines of the Chinese government.



TikToks not the only app that has criticized the rule. Major tech firms such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter have also said that they wont comply with the Hong Kong governments data requests anymore. WhatsApp and Telegram messengers have also joined the chorus to deny data to authorities in Hong Kong.



In an effort to distance itself from its Chinese owners, TikTok has made some huge changes this year. Bytefdance roped in Disneys Kevin Mayer to head the short video app. It has also repeatedly assured various governments that it doesnt share any user data with the Chinese government.



Despite that, the app is under scrutiny in many countries. Yesterday, an Australian member of parliament demanded a nationwide ban the app over privacy and security concerns. Well have to wait and see if TikTok pulling out of Hong Kong will ease the worries of government officials in other countries.

Source: thenextweb.com









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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.



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.

Source: GNA









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National Democratic Congress (NDC) jubilant youth on Monday celebrated the approval of Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, a former Education Minister; as the running mate of former President John Dramani Mahama for the 2020 general election.



They sang and chanted the NDCs Anthem, as Mr Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Director of the NDC announced Prof Opoku-Agyemang as the running mate of their flagbearer at a press briefing in Accra.



The National Executive Committee of the NDC unanimously approved Prof Opoku-Agyemang to partner Mahama in this years election, after the flagbearer had consulted them on his choice of a running mate per Article 43 of the NDC's Constitution and Article 60(2) of Ghana's 1992 Constitution.



Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Eric Dadson, the Central Regional Youth Organiser of the NDC, described the decision as a cutting edge one, the approval of Prof Opoku-Agyemang as the running mate of Mahama; adding that the decision was a splendid one, which cuts through.



The precision is sweet and fantastic. I am certain that no Ghanaian anticipated this. We have taken commandeer of the political landscape and I am convinced that this decision would resonate down well with the average Ghanaian, he said.



He hailed the track record of Prof Opoku-Agyemang as an educationist, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, and a former Minister of Education.



He said the Mahama-Opoku-Agyemang ticket for the 2020 general election would deliver victory for the NDC.



Mr Promise Dumevi, an NDC supporter told the Ghana News Agency that the approval of Prof Opoku-Agyemang to partner Mahama was a perfect march.

He said having a womans Vice President in Ghana would lead to greater women empowerment in the country.

Source: GNA









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We can only conclude that the choice of Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman by John Dramani Mahama is a clear indication that he does not take the Ghanaian electorate seriously" a reaction from the ruling New Patriotic Party.



This follows John Mahama's selection of the University of Cape Coasts first female Vice-Chancellor as his running mate.



At a press conference, Director of Communications of the party, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, said Prof Naana Opoku Agyeman's performance as Education Minister was nothing to write home about; a signal that she is not fit for the running mate job.



We can only conclude that the choice of Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman by 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



Prof Opoku-Agyeman's record according to NPP



The Adenta MP also gave a number of reasons why the NPP believes Prof Opku-Agyemang brings nothing good to the table.



"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".





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 resigned 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.CONCLUSIONWe 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.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama, has selected Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate for the 2020 presidential elections.



Who is Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang?



We reproduce her CV below



Minister for Education

In-office

February 2013  January 2017

President John Dramani Mahama

Preceded by Lee Ocran

Succeeded by Matthew Opoku Prempeh

Personal details



Born - November 22, 1951 (age 68)

Cape Coast, Ghana

Political party

National Democratic Congress

Alma mater



Wesley Girls' Senior High School

University of Cape Coast

York University

Occupation Professor



Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang (born 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana) is a former Minister for Education in Ghana. She was appointed in 2013 by President John Mahama after

the 2012 Ghanaian general election and served until January 2017 when the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration was elected to power.



She is a member of the National Democratic Congress.



Professor Opoku-Agyemang, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Cape Coast, Ghana, was the first female Vice-Chancellor of a state University in Ghana.



She assumed duty on October 1, 2008, succeeding Emmanuel Addow-Obeng.



Biography



Born on 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang attended Anglican Girls' Secondary School at Koforidua and Aburi Presby Girls' School. She then had her secondary education at the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast from 1964 to 1971.



She completed B.Ed.(Hons) in English and French at the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and obtained her Masters and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively.



Professor Opoku-Agyemang taught and worked at the University of Cape Coast, starting in 1986.



She has held various academic positions including Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Warden of Adehye Hall, Valco Trust Fund Post-Graduate Hostel, and Dean of School of Graduate Studies and Research.



From 1997, she has held the position of Academic Director of the School for International Training in the History and Cultures of the African Diaspora. From 2008-2012 she was the University's Vice Chancellor.



In March, 2007, she was one of five scholars selected to deliver presentations during the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.



In October 2009, she was elected Ghana's representative to the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).



Ahead of the 2012 general elections, Jane Opoku Agyemang moderated the debate with Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.



Between February 2013 and January 2017 she served as the Education Minister of Ghana. On 26 October 2018, she became the Chancellor of the Women's University in Africa located in Zimbabwe.



She has served on many local and international boards and committees such as the Centre for Democratic Governance, (CDD-Ghana), the Editorial Board of The Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora (Africa World Press Inc. USA), the Africa Initiative in Canada, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons as Eminent Citizen.



Professional association



Opoku-Agyemang is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, University Teachers Association of Ghana, English Studies Association, African Studies Association, United States, African Literature Association, United States and International Fulbright Scholars Association, Commonwealth of Learning among others.



Awards and recognition



Opoku-Agyemang has been honoured with honorary degrees from the University of West Indies and Winston-Salem University.



She has also received an award for Global leadership from the University of South Florida in Tampa.



She has also received the Officer of the Order of the Volta award for Academic Distinction and Ghana Women of Excellence Award in the Education category.



She has been acknowledged for Outstanding Performance in Advancing International Education, School for International Training, Vermont, USA on two occasions.



#GhanaVotes2020

Source: Daily Graphic









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Featured Video
Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has served notice that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will not tolerate any attempt to undermine the choice of Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang as John Dramani Mahamas running mate due to gender.



Ablakwa argues that the running mate of the NDCs flagbearer should be judged based on her ability to deliver and nothing else.



Prof. Opoku-Agyemang was named as the running mate to John Mahama yesterday, July 6, 2020.



The former Deputy Minister of Education under the Mahama regime, speaking on the Point Blank segment on Eyewitness News said: Some of us will boldly confront these stereotypes and discrimination that have prevented women. Women are the majority of our population. They are 51 percent of our population and so they must be heard. If this is a true democracy in the sense of the word, it ought to be inclusive and participatory by giving women their fair share.



The New Patriotic Party (NPP) had ridiculed the NDC flagbearer over his choice of running mate ahead of the December 2020 polls.



According to the ruling party, John Mahamas decision to settle on former Education Minister, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is enough proof that he does not take the ordinary Ghanaian seriously.



At a press conference in Accra, Communications Director of the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa said per the partys observation, we 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.



The party also has cast doubt over the credibility of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as the choice of running mate.



At the same press conference, they questioned the integrity and commitment of madam Opoku-Agyemang during her tenure as Education Minister under the erstwhile Mahama-led administration.



Mr. Buaben Asamoa cited, among other things, cancellation of the teacher trainee allowance, freeze on education sector employment and their signing of the petition to have the Montie trio released as some of the decisions that ultimately make her unfit for the new role.



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.



We wonder what message candidate Mahama is sending to Ghanaians by picking Opoku-Agyemnag as Vice Presidential candidate when her stewardship in the past brought hardship to teachers and trauma to her colleague women. While we wish the NDC well in this regard, we also wish to tell the NDC that we are ready to tell Ghanaians about the dangers she poses to our growth and development as a country, he said.

Source: Citinews









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Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has described her nomination to partner Mr John Dramani Mahama as running mate in the December 7 presidential election as a victory for inclusive and participatory democracy.



Moments after the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) endorsed her as the running mate, she issued a statement in which she described her nomination as an honour.



She said her nomination had enhanced Ghanas credentials and recognised the towering role women had played over the ages.



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 public, it said.



She pledged to draw from the inspiration of all those who had come before her.



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, it said.



Prof. Opoku-Agyemang further pledged to diligently apply herself and dedicate all the energy and intellect I can muster to ensure a resounding victory for the NDC and for our country, Ghana.



Historic choice



Before Prof. Opoku-Agyemang issued her acceptance statement, Mr Mahama had come out with a statement that the time was ripe for the country to have its first female vice- president.



I am of the firm conviction that the time for women to take their rightful place in shaping the destiny of our nation is now. We must not hold them back any longer, neither must there be room for lip service and tokenism, he said.



Mr Mahama lauded Prof. Opoku-Agyemang for accepting to run with him for office, commending her for her courage to step out and make history as the first female running mate of the two major political parties that have dominated this Fourth Republic.





Touting the credentials of the politician and academic, Mr Mahama said of the woman who was the Minister of Education during his presidency: I have always admired her love for country, integrity, intellect, humility, empathy, impressive work ethic and her pursuit of excellence.



The Professor has distinguished herself in a long illustrious career which has brought her renown both home and abroad.



Endorsement



After months of waiting, the NEC of the NDC yesterday unanimously endorsed Prof. Opoku-Agyemang as the running mate for the partys flag bearer.



The NEC, which is the second highest decision-making body in the NDC, approved Mr Mahama's choice of running mate at a meeting with the flag bearer at the partys headquarters in Accra yesterday.



Yesterday's meeting was a requirement of the NDC constitution, which demands that the flag bearer presents his or her choice of a running mate for an election, in consultation with the Council of Elders of the party and the NEC.



Mood



About 10 a.m. yesterday, the sidewalks in front of the NDC at Adabraka were flooded with journalists ready to capture the events of the day.



Leading members of the party, including the General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah; the National Chairman, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, and a former Minister of Fisheries, Ms Hanny Sherry Ayitey, had all converged on the NDC headquarters.



Although the meeting was scheduled for 11 a.m., Mr Mahama arrived there about 2 p.m. to resounding cheers from a crowd that had gathered in front of the premises.



Declaration



About 3 p.m., the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Mr Sammy Gyamfi, emerged from the meeting and told the media that the decision to affirm Prof. Opoku-Agyemang as the running mate had been endorsed by the NEC.



The running mate of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the 2020 general election is Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang. That choice has been approved unanimously by the council," he said.



The Communications Director of the NDC, Mr Kakra Essamuah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview after the meeting that there would be an official announcement to outdoor Prof. Opoku-Agyemang on a later date.



Prof. Opoku-Agyemang's association with the NDC began in 1996 when, as the hostess of a Radio Gold programme, 'Platform', she interviewed then President Jerry John Rawlings in the build-up to that years presidential election.



Profile



Born in Cape Coast, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast attended the Anglican Girls' School in Koforidua and the Aburi Presby Girls' School.



She proceeded to the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast from 1964 to 1971. She completed a B.Ed.(Hons) degree in English and French at the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and obtained her masters and doctorate degrees from the York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and 1986, respectively.



She has chaired more than 20 boards and committees, among them the those of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, the Council of the University College of Education, Winneba, and the Academic Committee of the Ghana Council for Tertiary Education.



She is a recipient of the Ghana Women of Excellence Award.



She is a member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, the University Teachers Association of Ghana, the English Studies Association, the African Studies Association, USA, the African Literature Association, USA, and the International Fulbright Scholars Association.



Prof. Opoku-Agyemang is the recipient of four honorary doctorate degrees, the Global Leadership Award and many national and international awards.



She 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).

Source: Daily Graphic









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Featured Video
Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Communications Minister, has pleaded with political opponents to focus on the record of the NDC running mate Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang in public life rather than name-calling and invectives because of her gender.



Mrs Owusu-Ekuful in a statement on her Facebook page said she welcomes the selection of Prof Opoku Agyeman as the NDC's Vice Presidential Candidate for the 2020 elections.



She posted: "We should take her on for her record in public life and resist the temptation of calling her names and hurling invectives at her just because she is a woman".



Read the entire post below;



TAKE NAANA OPOKU AGYEMAN ON FOR HER RECORD IN PUBLIC LIFE AND SPARE HER THE INDECENT ATTACKS ;URSULA REACTS TO SELECTION OF NDC'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE



Ghana's Communications Minister and Member of Parliament for the Ablekuma West Constituency, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful who is a renowned gender advocate has said that though she welcomes the selection of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman as the NDC's Vice Presidential Candidate for the 2020 elections, gender advocates cannot vouch for her contribution to the cause of women empowerment in the country.



She said many women across the political divide have for years fought tirelessly for women and children's rights in this country and Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman is not one of them. 'You can easily mention former First Lady of the Republic, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, and some others in the NDC as shinning examples of female politicians who have contributed immensely to the advancement of women empowerment and inclusion in Ghana.'



The former Vice President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers explained that Prof. Jane Naana Opoku - Agyeman's record in public life would make it very difficult to rally the 'female Constituency' to support her bid. She mentioned that the NDC's Vice Presidential Candidate was one of the notable women who signed the infamous 'Montie three' petition for the release of three NDC communicators who had threatened to 'rape' the then Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Wood.



'That eposide is still fresh on the mind of every woman in this struggle. It was no mean a person than Ghana's first female Chief Justice who had been attacked by the NDC and there was Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman rising in defense of her party youth who had been convicted for their barbaric actions.' Mrs. Ekuful said in an interview with OMAN FM.



The Ablekuma West legislator went on to plead with political actors to spare the NDC' s Vice Presidential Candidate all the scathing attacks and abuses directed at female politicians in the Country.



'We should take her on for her record in public life and resist the temptation of calling her names and hurling invectives at her just because she is a 'woman'. Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful said in her interview on Monday.





Source: Daily Graphic









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Featured Video
A group calling itself 'Victory for Mahama' has expressed their displeasure in the choice of Prof. Jane Nanaa Opoku-Agyemang as running mate to John Dramani Mahama for the December 2020 election.



They claim the pairing is a wrong choice and feel the party is not ready for victory in the coming election.



We feel the NEC wants Mr. Mahama to lose to the NPP again with such a disastrous choice of a running mate. Its unfortunate to note that, Madam Jane has no recognizable constituency or is not known or could be tagged to any constituency or a region.



It beats our wildest imagination what actually the NEC considered before her selection.



The choice of a running mate should be a personality who could bring the NDC votes or help the government to succeed. But, Naanas choice brings the NDC nothing! We are highly disappointed, the group said in a statement signed by its coordinator, Rashid Musah.



Mahama picks Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang



The National Executive Committee (NEC) 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 in a Facebook post 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.



Read the statement below



NAANAS SELECTION WILL CAUSE NDC TEACHERS AND THE YOUTHS VOTES



The victory for Mahama writes to express our greatest dissatisfaction with the choice of Jane Nanaa Opoku-Agyemang as running mate to Mr. Mahama.



We feel the NEC wants Mr. Mahama to lose to the NPP again with such a disastrous choice of a running mate.



Its unfortunate to note that, Madam Jane has no recognizable constituency or is not known or could be tagged to any constituency or a region.



It beats our wildest imagination what actually the NEC considered before her selection.



The choice of a running mate should be a personality who could bring the NDC votes or help the government to succeed. But, Naanas choice brings the NDC nothing! We are highly disappointed.



Look at how she treated teachers and even trainee teachers? During her watch as a Minister, newly employed teachers worked for two years and were only paid 3 months take it or leave it salary arrears. A sad and very bad treated she melted out to teachers as a Minister.



As a minister, she was widely known to be an advocate against the free SHS and we all know how she advised President Mahama that the free SHS the NPP proposed was impossible.



Now free SHS exists! Do we think the youth who are enjoying free SHS would ever vote for the NDC?



Now teachers are paid their arrears in full by the current government and the Naana choice will only remind teachers never to consider the NDC with the fear of going back to that bad treatment they had from Naana as a Minister.



Again, trainee allowances she cancelled has been restored, do we think these trainees would vote for us the NDC?



Clearly, the NEC of our party without any consideration has approved such a terrible choice as a running mate to Mr. Mahama. This goes on to confirm the fact that the NEC wants Mr. Mahama to lose the 2020 elections.



Naana's choice as running only would remind Ghanaians of those bad decisions we took as a party in government.



We relied on her advise and lost terribly and we want to take this same person to our next crucial elections?



We are highly disappointed in the NEC for not helping Mr. Mahama make a reasonable choice as a running mate.





Signed

Rashid Musah

Victory for Mahama

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia has disclosed that he wouldnt have turned down an offer to partner John Dramani Mahama in this year's General elections, if the opportunity had presented itself.



According to him, though he had expressed interest, the party and flagbearer found it more convenient to appoint someone who is very capable like himself to assist the flagbearer.



Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia programme, he explained that the party which has the utmost respect for women settled on a female running mate who they believe has the competence to lead the country even in the absence of the President.



Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman has an impeccable record even in her days as vice-chancellor of a prestigious university.



"So there was a unanimous decision in accepting her when her name was proposed by flagbearer John Dramani Mahama at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting yesterday (Monday).



"I find it very laughable when people want to compare Veep Bawumia to Prof. Jane Opoku-Agyemang. The fact is Veep Bawumia is not a standard for Jane . . . the National Democratic Congress as a party believes the appointment of Prof. Jane is in the right order and will ensure our victory come 2020," he added.



Prof. Opoku-Agyemang is the third running mate the NDC is selecting from the Central Region after the late John Atta Mills was first selected in 1996 and the late Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur.



The NDC announced Prof. Opoku-Agyemangs selection on Monday, a decision that has since been touted by NDC MPs and spokespersons.



She previously served as the first female Vice-Chancellor of a public university in Ghana when she was appointed to head the University of Cape Coast in 2008.



When Mahama won the 20212 elections, she was appointed Minister for Education and served from 2013 to 2017 before the NDC was ousted in the 2016 polls.



Watch Video Below





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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

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NPP Member of Parliament for Adenta constituency, Yaw Buaben Asamoa has denied uttering disparaging remarks about NDC Flagbearer John Mahama's Running Mate, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang.



The National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Executive Council and Council of Elders on Monday, July 6, 2020 unanimously endorsed Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as Running Mate for Mr. Mahama as the party prepares for the Presidential elections this year.



Former President Mahama commended his Running Mate describing her as a distinguished scholar and role model.



Naana Jane is God-fearing, a distinguished scholar, a conscientious public servant, and a role model'', he said on his Facebook.



Some commentators have also described the NDC's choice as a suitable match for Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as President Nana Akufo-Addo competes with Mr. Mahama in the December polls.



Just moments following the announcement of Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang as Running Mate, a comment purported to be from Yaw Buaben Asamoa surfaced and went viral.



In a paraphrase, Mr. Buaben Asamoa is quoted as saying if Mr. Mahama has chosen a woman as Running Mate, it means he doesn't take Ghanaians seriously.



His comment has outraged many Ghanaians who think he has undermined women in the country.



Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Yaw Buaben Asamoa told host Kwami Sefa-Kayi that he never made such a statement and that what he meant was Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has set a bad precedence in the country.



He explained, under her leadership as Minister of Education during the erstwhile Mahama regime, she oversaw the cancellation of teacher trainee allowances and also failed to implement the gradual free SHS policy that the Mahama government promised Ghanaians among other failed projects in the education sector.



According to him, he was arguing on the lines of politics and her political precedence, hence his comment about the noble Professor had nothing to do with her gender.



''I never made any disparaging remark. The statement attributed to me isn't what I said. How can I undermine her? She is a fantastic woman who has worked so hard...In fact, she will be angry herself should anybody suggest she was picked as Running Mate because she is a woman'', he said.



He however opined that former President Mahama chose Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang because he knows he will lose the 2020 elections but doesn't want her to compete his re-election as Presidential candidate on the NDC ticket in 2024.



''He's selected someone who will be with him and when they lose the 2020 elections, that person will not compete with him in 2024.''





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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

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A Political Scientist has predicted a major upset in the upcoming general elections in Ghana as voters will most likely ditch the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for a new political party.



Rev LKB Trotsky, who predicted this in a statement, further tipped the Ghana Union Movement (GUM) to be the most favoured alternative party for voters due to its robust policies and incisive electioneering message to transform the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.



Both the NPP and the NDC had been accused of ruling the nation with deception, failing to solve Ghanas chronic unemployment issues, wrecking the economy, relying heavily on foreign loans, especially from the IMF and abandoning state enterprises to rot.



If the electoral process of Ghanas presidential and parliamentary polls is going to be free and fair, then, NPP and NDC will be kicked out in the 2020 December polls, Rev Trotsky said.



According to him accumulated failures of governance under NPPs Nana Akufo-Addo and NDCs John Mahama had largely proved to Ghanaians that both domineering political parties had been deceptive and corrupt.



The duo had also been severally indicted for failing to fight corruption, unemployment and stabilising the countrys fragile economy over the years.



While media reports in September 2018 claimed that over 60 scandals had rocked the Akufo-Addo's government, the Sun newspaper in the UK indicted the John Mahama-led administration in a 5 million Airbus corruption scandal in 2016.



These scandals are too many to publish here, I urge readers to check it out, Rev Trotsky said.



The ruling party is doomed to loose power and I tell you, the opposition NDC also has no chance of winning this 2020 election, " he said.



He, therefore, called on all eligible Ghanaian voters to register for their new biometric voter card in the ongoing registration exercise by the Electoral Commission to enable them express their will and wish come December 7.



In the Ghana Union Movement 28-page mini-manifesto titled: "A new Ghana," Founder and Flagbearer of GUM, Rev Christian Kwabena Andrews (Osofo Kiriabosom), said a GUM government would totally betray nepotism and impunity.



It would also run an administration that would be transparent, accountable, responsible and all-inclusive, actively involving religious leaders in the governance process.



The party had promised to cut down salaries, exgratia, allowances and other incentives of ministers, Members of Parliaments, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives and other government appointees, including executive officers and peg the number of ministers at not more than 60.



The government of Ghana Union Movement shall consist of 20 per cent appointment of Kings and Queens and not less than 30 per cent of our government appointment shall be made up of women, he added.



Rev Andrews also promised to have a representation of the drivers' union, Clergy, Chiefs, Market women, Business owners, in his government.



Some political analysts have described Rev Andrews as a powerful man of God, a heavyweight healer whom God had used to perform miracles, signs and wonders, saving lives here in Ghana and overseas.



Others also see him as the incarnate of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanas first president, with outstanding achievements in the Ghanaian social life, and could, therefore, cause a bombshell in Ghanas crucial presidential and parliamentary elections in December.



The policies of GUM largely dwell on stemming corruption, unemployment and establishing a disciplined Ghanaian society and rejuvenating collapsed and abandoned state enterprises since 1966.

Source: GNA









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

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The Egyptian security services are reported to have detained a young woman who has a big following on TikTok in the latest arrest of a female social media influencer.



Hadeer al-Hady is reported to have been accused of posting "indecent videos" online.



On TikTok, she has mainly posted videos of herself lip-syncing to well-known Egyptian songs.



Several other Egyptian women - and a smaller number of men - have been arrested in recent weeks on charges of "inciting debauchery".



Egypt's public prosecution office has said it is patrolling the internet as if it were one of the country's borders.

Source: BBC









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A well-known restaurant and bar on the West Shore has temporarily closed after one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19.

The Sierra Madre Saloon at 4035 Market St. in Hampden Township will remain shut for a few more days as additional employees are tested, said Bill Kokos, owner.

I decided out of an abundance of caution to go ahead and close so we could follow some of the protocols a little more closely, Kokos said.

The restaurant notified customers July 5 via a Facebook post that an employee who works in the kitchen had tested positive for the virus. The employee reported not feeling well on June 27 and was tested the following day.

Kokos said the person had not worked at the restaurant since June 26. He said because the employee worked in the back of the restaurant, exposure to customers was likely very limited.

Fortunately the restaurant had initiated a policy following CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health guidelines requiring employee that dont feel well to be tested, Kokos said.

Those protocols helped to contain this situation where it could have been a lot worse for cross contamination, if you will, he said.

In the meantime, Kokos noted the Sierra Madre has implemented protocols including hand sanitizer stations, table spacing, floor markers, plastic cups, single-use condiments and paper menus. As for masks, Kokos said the restaurant is following Pennsylvanias order requiring citizens wear face coverings when out in public.

However, he said as a business owner it is hard to enforce.

In Pennsylvania, diners must wear masks except while seated at their tables. People with certain health conditions are excluded. Kokos said hes trying to do the right thing but fears someone will report him if they see a customer or employee without a face covering.

Why are we the police, the enforcers of a circuitous policy, a policy that isnt necessarily straightforward? Kokos asked. Its hard to enforce because it was built that way.

READ MORE: Dunkin stores are being revamped in Pa.; heres what its like inside the store of the future

Sierra Madre is not the first restaurant in the area to close due to COVID-19.

Last week, the Brewhouse Grille in Lower Allen Township announced a temporary closure until July 6 after one if its employees tested positive. Meanwhile, Fiddlers Bar & Grill in South Middleton Township announced it will stay closed until July 12 following a positive test of one of its employees.

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People in New Jersey may soon be required to wear face coverings any time they venture into public, indoors or outdoors.

Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday the state is considering mandating that residents wear masks in outdoor public spaces, not just indoor ones, as the coronavirus rate of transmission has once again surpassed the key mark of 1 for the first time in 10 weeks.

Were constantly assessing and reassessing the variety of the advisories and recommendations that we have out there, Murphy said during a coronavirus briefing in Trenton. Were looking at outside masking as we speak.

The rate measures the number of people one infected resident passes COVID-19 to. It had fallen to 0.70 in early June but sits at 1.03, meaning every infected resident gives the virus to more than one other person.

The virus is a lot less lethal outdoors, but that does not mean it is not lethal, Murphy added. It does not mean that you cant still spread it.

The comments come a day after the governor said during a television interview Sunday there should be a national mandate to wear masks whenever someone is in public.

But while Murphy has required residents wear masks at indoor public spaces, he has only strongly recommended they do so when outside.

Asked Monday what it would take to change that, Murphy said its something were looking at in real time, though he stressed the obvious challenge is whether officials will be able to enforce it.

You want to put something in place that you believe you have a high likelihood of being able to enforce, he said. This one is more challenging than some others. Bear with us on masking.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP/file)AP

Whether to mask or not to mask has been the center of a country-wide culture war as the pandemic continues to spread in the U.S., with many states seeing surges in cases in recent days.

Murphy said said it would be helpful if the federal government gave natural parameters that everybody sticks to.

Were only as strong right now as a nation as the weakest link, Murphy added.

President Donald Trump has made mask wearing voluntary, but pressure has been building for him to make it mandatory.

Meanwhile, Murphy said Monday that New Jersey is hitting pause on gradually lifting lockdown restrictions with the transmission rate rising. He did not say he would rescind steps that have already happened but said were not gonna be jumping the gun on a whole lot more opening-up steps right now.

By Brent Johnson, NJ Advance Media Group, Edison, N.J. (TNS)

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The World Health Organization has acknowledged emerging evidence that the coronavirus can be transmitted through the air, according to an NBC News report.

Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, the WHOs technical lead on COVID-19, said in a Tuesday briefing that the organization has had active engagement with a group that scientists that urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease is spread.

COVID-19 was believed to be spread through respiratory droplets, but experts have recently added that tiny viral particles can spread when people sign, speak loudly or breath heavily, accord to the report.

Van Kerkhove said the WHO is now constructing a scientific brief to summarize everything that is known about coronavirus transmission, which will be released in the coming days.

On Monday, more than 230 scientists in various fields called for the WHO and other health officials to acknowledge evidence that suggests the coronavirus can spread in the air.

200 Scientists warn that we are ignoring important evidence on how the coronavirus spreads

A letter published this week in the journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, scientists from Australia and the U.S. wrote that studies have shown beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air.

The evidence could mean that people in certain indoor conditions could be at greater risk of being infected. The WHO earlier dismissed the possibility of airborne transmission of the disease, with the exception of certain high-risk medical procedures.

In a statement Monday, the U.N. Health Agency said it was reviewing the new evidence with technical experts.

Pennlives complete coronavirus coverage
Lightning from a strong electrical storm Monday afternoon struck 4 people, killing two 2 of them.

It happened around 2 p.m. in Granville Township, Bradford County, near Troy, Pa., as WNEP-TV reports.

"A total of four people were struck, two of which passed away from injuries," Bradford County Coroner Thomas Carman told the news station.

WBRE reports the four were standing in an open field under a wooden tree stand when they were struck, according to the coroner.

BREAKING: Bodies of 2 teen boys pulled from Susquehanna River: Just how crazy it is

The victims were not immediately identified, the coroner said.

The two surviving victims were taken by ambulance to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre. Their conditions were not immediately known.

The two dead are males who the coroner said lived in southern Pennsylvania.

At last report, he was still working on positive identifications for both of the deceased.

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Tim Ross and Vicky Perez wont forget the date they opened La Casa Blanca Restaurante and Pupseria.

It was March 18, the first day of Pennsylvanias coronavirus shutdown.

I cant make that story up, Ross said. It has been a little bit rough, but honestly Im trying to be optimistic.

The El Salvadorian restaurant arrived at the former Shakedown BBQ at 668 Firehouse Road in East Hanover Township. It sits off the beaten path across the street from where the couple lives and in the shadow of the Hollywood Casino Penn National Race Course.

Perez, who was raised in El Salvador, worked as a kitchen manager at Houlihans. Ross owns Next Level Interiors construction company. The two always wanted to open a restaurant and didnt think twice when the old Shakedown became available.

Translated, Casa Blanca means white house and plays on the buildings exterior color. Ross noted since the casino reopened a few weeks ago, business has grown. The BYOB restaurant has limited indoor and outdoor seating.

People are just now finding out we are open. In the beginning, with the shutdown there was no traffic at all, he said.

The menu is loaded with flavorful and colorful El Salvadorian foods including pupusas, thick tortillas stuffed with fillings such as pork and corn or spinach and corn. Ceviche with fish or shrimp is also a big seller.

Ross said customers travel for hours from places such as Lancaster and Allentown for the pupusas, the national dish of El Salvador. One family from Virginia has stopped on multiple occasions and on weekends, its not unusual cars line up back to the street to get into the parking lot.

The menu extends to Mexican, Peruvian and Puerto Rican influences such as quesadillas, tacos and tamales to mofongo, garlic-infused mashed plantains. Perez puts her own twist on the Puerto Rican mofongo with a sweet and spicy flavor, Ross said.

The amount of food for the prices is the biggest compliment we get. The food is different. You dont get the taste going to any other Spanish restaurant, he said.

Its open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday and Wednesday-Sunday. Its closed Tuesday. Phone is 469-4143.

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For the first time in 27 years, a male Asian elephant was born at the Saint Louis Zoo! We are excited to announce Asian elephant Rani gave birth to Rajas first son at 1:55pm 7/6/20. Mother and yet-to-be-named calf are doing well. More info: https://t.co/n7PDxMKHk3 pic.twitter.com/GrpyYUh0qt  Saint Louis Zoo (@stlzoo) July 6, 2020

Rani, a 23-year-old Asian elephant has given birth to a male calf  only the second male elephant ever born in the St. Louis Zoo.

In a news release, the zoo told Belleville News-Democrat, the baby was born at 1:55 p.m. on Monday. Both the baby and his mother were doing well Monday evening. The baby has not been named yet.

There are fewer than 35,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, and they are facing extinction due to poaching for ivory and habitat destruction. Given the shrinking population of Asian elephants, the St. Louis Zoo is committed to conserve this endangered species, according to the zoos website.

The babys father, 27-year-old Raja, was the first male elephant born at the zoo in 1992 and the birth of this calf is Rajas fifth offspring.

The zoos release also stated that an elephant pregnancy lasts approximately 22 months and a newborn weighs 250-350 pounds.

Rani received regular prenatal health checkups throughout her pregnancy by the zoos elephant care team and Dr. Sathya Chinnadurai, director of animal health.

Dr. Chinnadurai said, The veterinary staff has been working with the animal care team, as well as our Endocrinology and nutrition teams to monitor and care for Rani throughout her pregnancy. As with human pregnancies, one of the most important parts of prenatal health care is ultrasound monitoring of both the mother and the baby, also known as a sonogram.

Were thrilled to welcome Rajas first son into our three-generation elephant family, said Tim Thier, director of the zoos WildCare Institute Center for Asian Elephant Conservation.

Rani is part of a 10-member, three-generation elephant family at the zoos Rivers Edge and Elephant Woods habitats that include the new calf, Ranis mother Ellie, Ranis daughter Jade and other elephants Maliha, Priya, Donna, Sri, Pearl and Raja.

Rani and Ellie arrived at the Saint Louis Zoo in 2001 from the Jacksonville Zoo, where Rani was born in 1996.

Zoo officials have said that mother and baby are bonding away from public view and a debut date will be announced in the future.

For updates on Rani, Raja and their calf, visit the zoos elephant page.

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Ticks, Lyme disease, other tick-borne diseases and Pennsylvanias No. 1 position in all of that will be explained in detail in a free, 10-part webinar series from Penn State Extension that begins Thursday, July 9, with weekly installments scheduled through September 17.

After successfully piloting a workshop on vector-borne diseases last fall, extension staff had scheduled an in-person workshop for May. But that workshop was canceled in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and related restrictions and they have converted it to the upcoming webinar series.

We wanted to continue the series because of the prevalence of vector-borne diseases in Pennsylvania, said Erika Machtinger, assistant professor of entomology and part of the extension term hosting the webinar series. We also thought it was fitting because people might be spending more time outside.

Since ticks are a major concern in the commonwealth, the idea is that folks will get a basic and understandable foundation for how to protect themselves, their families and their animals from vector-borne diseases.

Several species of tick, and the pathogens associated with them, are of concern to people and animals in Pennsylvania.

Weve put together a great team to deliver this series, from insect taxonomists to integrated pest management specialists to wildlife biologists, said Machtinger. Well be delivering the spectrum of information from many angles.

Each webinar is one hour and will take place at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the scheduled dates. The webinars, which will be recorded for later viewing, include time for moderated question and answer sessions.

Dates and topics for webinar sessions are:

July 9: Vector-borne Disease Basics.

July 16: Ticks of Pennsylvania.

July 23: Protecting Pets from Tick-borne Diseases.

July 30: Tick Biology.

August 6: Tick Protection Around the Home.

August 13: Protecting Yourself from Tick Bites.

August 27: Lyme Disease and Other Tick-borne Diseases in Pennsylvania.

September 3: Tick Risks for Pennsylvania Cattle.

September 10: Protecting Your Horses from Tick Bites.

September 17: Hunters and Vector-borne Diseases: A Tick-ing Time Bomb.

To register for the webinar series, visit the Penn State Extension website.

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.
LAKELAND  Add U.S. coins along with toilet paper, bottled water and hand sanitizer to the list of daily essentials in short supply during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There is a national shortage. It's very similar to what's happened to the whole economy," said David Sullivan, regional president for Central Florida at Prime Meridian Bank in Lakeland. "People have changed normal spending patterns."

The Federal Reserve, which distributes coins to financial institutions in the U.S., started rationing its distributions on June 15.

"The COVID19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the supply chain and normal circulation patterns for U.S. coin," according to a June 11 statement from the Federal Reserve. "In the past few months, coin deposits from depository institutions to the Federal Reserve have declined significantly, and the U.S. Mint's production of coin also decreased due to measures put in place to protect its employees."

When the pandemic shut down the economy, it put fewer coins in circulation, so fewer coins returned to the Fed, Sullivan said. The cut in production of new coins at the U.S. mint exacerbated the shortage.

Retail businesses have been most affected when handling customers who pay in cash and require change, he said. But the impact has been muted because 75% to 80% of customers pay with a debit or credit card, Sullivan said.

Russ Colleran, owner and executive chef at Highland City Diner, said the coin shortage has affected his business to this point only in that he has to order coins in advance from his bank and can't make a same-day withdrawal.

So far, it has not affected customers, Colleran said.

Coins (File)

The Fed is rationing coins based on past withdrawals, Sullivan said.

"The temporary coin allocation methodology is based on historical order volume by coin denomination and depository institution endpoint, and current U.S. Mint production levels," according to the Fed statement. Order limits are unique by coin denomination and are the same across all Federal Reserve coin distribution locations."

Most banks are getting 40% of their average 2019 orders for nickels and dimes and 60% for quarters and pennies, Sullivan said. Each branch office gets that allocation.

"They're trying to level it out so no one bank is treated more favorably, which I think is a very good thing to do," he said.

According to information from Greg Littleton, president and CEO of Citizens Bank and Trust in Lake Wales, the company's weekly withdrawals have been limited to $1,000 for dimes and quarters, $200 for nickels and $50 for pennies.

"We're feeling a little bit of effect," Littleton said. "Some customers are hearing about it and beginning to hoard."

The Fed reported that coins in circulation in the U.S. totaled $47.8 billion in April 2020, up from $47.4 billion a year ago.

"The primary issue with coin is a dramatic deceleration of coin circulation through the supply chain," the report said. "While there is adequate coin in the economy, the slowed pace of circulation has meant that sufficient quantities of coin are not readily available where needed.

With establishments like retail shops, bank branches, transit authorities and laundromats closed, the typical places where coin enters our society have slowed or even stopped the normal circulation of coin.

When the rationing ends depends largely on the continued impact of COVID-19, Sullivan said.

In other words, who knows?

"As soon as the economy picks up and we return to normal, we expect this to self-correct," Sullivan said.

By Kevin Bouffard, The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla. (TNS)

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MIAMI  Three people, including a teenage girl, died Monday following a two-hour standoff at a home in Port St. Lucie, Fla., according to multiple reports.

Port St. Lucie police said the gunman was a neighbor who had an ongoing dispute with the victims over his dog.

City officers and St. Lucie County sheriffs deputies responded to the home early Monday afternoon after receiving reports of a shooting. They discovered a man inside a garage who was shot. He later died from his injuries, police say.

Once inside the home, officers traded gunfire with the shooter. An officer was shot in the arm while trying to apprehend the suspect, according to police. He is being treated with non-life-threatening injuries.

A wounded girl was also found inside the home. Law enforcement safely removed her from the scene and paramedics took her to a hospital. She later died from her injuries, police say.

The two victims are thought to be related. Police did not immediately release identifications.

A SWAT team then went inside their home and discovered the suspect dead upstairs in a bedroom, police say. The circumstances surrounding the shooters death are unclear.

St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara told reporters that a disagreement over the safety of the gunmans dogs led to the shooting. A judge had declared the dog dangerous in a court hearing earlier Monday, according to Mascara.

The court proceeding was this morning, Mascara said, WPTV reported. The case was granted for the victims in this case and they all came home from court and then the suspect armed himself and went to the victims house.

Police believe the home was a family residence and that three to four people managed to escape. Their whereabouts were unclear.

By C. Isaiah Smalls II, Miami Herald (TNS)

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The U.S. may ban Chinese social media apps including TikTok, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Pompeo about whether the United States would consider banning social media apps from China, especially TikTok, during an interview Monday night.

With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too, Laura, Pompeo said. I dont want to get out in front of the President [Donald Trump], but its something were looking at.

Were taking this very seriously, he added.

According to NBC, TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, which runs a separate app in China called Douyin. The company hired former Disney executive, Kevin Mayer, to be TikToks CEO earlier this year to rebuild trust with regulators and distance itself from China for more global appeal.

TikTok is a short-form video sharing app especially popular with millions of teenagers and young adults, raising concerns about violating childrens privacy laws and national security. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration have banned employees from using the app over questions about TikToks collection and handling of user data and personal information, locations and other content; Chinese laws compel companies to cooperate with Chinas government and intelligence collection, Sen. Chuck Schumer said in February.

The Associated Press reports ByteDance says all its TikTok data is stored in servers in the U.S. and insisted it would not remove content even if asked to do so by the Chinese government.

TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the US, a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.

Pompeo, however, said Americans should only download the app if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
A central Pennsylvania man isnt likely to ever again see the outside of a prison yard after a state appeals court panel rejected his appeal of his conviction for a home invasion murder.

Carl Varner, now 61, is serving a life-plus-88-year sentence for the killing during an October 2012 robbery at a Chambersburg home.

Varners claims that his lawyer was ineffective and that prosecutors committed misconduct during his Franklin County trial gained no traction with Judge Anne E. Lazarus, who wrote the Superior Court opinion denying Varners appeal of his first-degree murder conviction.

Police said Varner and an accomplice, Jason Shauf, burst into the home brandishing guns. Varner was accused of shooting the slaying victim, 29-year-old Victor Hugo Campos-Olguin, in the neck with a .22 caliber revolver.

Shauf, who also is serving a life prison term, testified against Varner.

On appeal, in which he represented himself, Varner complained his lawyer was ineffective for failing to call a key witness, for not trying to block the prosecutions introduction of another witness testimony and Varners criminal record, and for not objecting the prosecutors inflammatory tactics during Varners 2014 trial.

Lazarus found the supposedly key witness Varner cited would have just repeated other testimony that the victims of the home invasion had been drinking heavily and using drugs. The prosecution witness Varner wanted blocked was appropriately called to make an in-court identification of him as one of the gunmen, she concluded.

Nor did Lazarus find merit in Varners claims that one of the jurors for his trial should have been rejected because she knew Shauf or that Varners criminal record should not have been mentioned during his trial. The prosecutors comments and tactics  including showing the jurors a picture of the victim when he was still alive  didnt cross any legal line, either, or prejudice the jury against Varner, the judge found.
The York County Coroner has ruled the shooting death of a York teen a homicide, the office announced Monday night.

17-year-old Juan Rosario was shot in the area of Maple and Duke streets in York City at 12:22 a.m. Saturday, according to a previous coroners release.

Rosario was transported to Wellspan York Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 1 a.m., the coroners office said.

After Rosarios autopsy, the cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the torso, and the death was ruled a homicide.

York City police are investigating.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact police at 717-846-1234.

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While the governor and Department of Health are requiring masks to be worn outside as well as when entering a business, Hornings Amish Store in Lykens is instead offering oxygen testing to show lowered oxygen levels caused by wearing face masks and not requiring customers to wear them inside the store.

We offer oxygen testing so people can see how oxygen levels drop into danger zone within minutes of wearing a mask! according to a recent Facebook post. I see many people exhibiting symptoms of oxygen deficiency, especially older folks who think they must wear a mask!

Wearing a face mask is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Gov. Tom Wolf issued an order requiring people to wear masks in public. That order could be extended until there is a coronavirus vaccine.

A professor of biology at Texas A&M University-Texarkana said in a recent Associated Press story that masks dont meaningfully decrease oxygen in the body.

"The body is quite good at adjusting to keep oxygen levels where they need to be," he said.

Hornings Amish Store management refused to comment Monday when contacted.

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A Northeastern Pennsylvania family who watched as work crews, accompanied by armed federal marshals, destroyed their budding maple tree farm to make way for the failed Constitution Pipeline has settled with the company Williams for an undisclosed amount. A federal court has also vacated the eminent domain taking of about five acres, reversing an order it made more than five years ago.

Were really glad that its ended, said Catherine Holleran, co-owner of the 23-acre property that has been in the family for 50 years. Weve gotten our land returned to us. That was our main objective right from the first.

The Constitution Pipeline project would have carried Marcellus Shale gas from Pennsylvania to New York state. Though the project received federal approval and the necessary permits from Pennsylvania regulators, New York blocked the pipeline by not issuing permits. Williams dropped the project in February.

The Holleran family of New Milford fought a lengthy battle to prevent the company from building the pipeline across their property. But in March 2016, the crews arrived at the 23-acre farm in rural Susquehanna County along with the federal marshalls, who wore bullet proof vests and carried semi-automatic weapons. The crew spent several days clearing about 558 trees, including some that were hundreds of years old.

In a 2018 statement filed with the court, Holleran described how the company left the trees lying on the ground, and did not remove them for a full year after the clear cut. The stumps were left in the ground.

Holleran described the stress weathered by her and her family.

The entire ordeal has had an enormous emotional toll, Holleran wrote. The court proceedings followed by the armed guards on the property created immeasurable stress. After the trees came down, I experienced a terrible period of despair.

The Hollerans attorney Carolyn Elefant said the Hollerans are happy to have regained ownership of the farm.

My clients are relieved to move on from the stress and uncertainty of the past few years, Elefant said. It was heartbreaking for the family to watch their trees come down, but with full ownership of the property restored and compensation paid, they can reclaim their land and replant their trees.

Elefant said the family wants to continue to build upon their maple syrup business.

Holleran said she and her family want to work to change the Natural Gas Act, which governs how pipeline companies can seize private property through eminent domain. She said its difficult for individual landowners to take on large corporations, especially since the process is so legalistic and technical.

That can create a lot of hardship for families, she said. You have to have a lot of money, and you have to have resources to even go that route, which is why a lot of people dont.

Williams could not be reached for comment.

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HARBOR SPRINGS, MI -- The head of a casino company died in a watercraft accident while vacationing in Michigan, the company announced.

Richard J. Haskins is the president of Red Rock Resorts Inc. and Station Casinos LLC, which owns 20 casinos in Nevada. Its properties include the Palms Resort near the Las Vegas Strip.

The company did not provide details about the accident, but the Emmet County Sheriffs Office told 9&10 News that Haskins was on his jet ski on Little Traverse Bay when he collided with a 27-foot powerboat driven by a 77-year-old from Vero Beach, Florida.

He was pronounced dead at a launch area near Harbor Springs, according to the TV station.

"Words cannot express what Rich has meant to the company and to me in the 25 years he has been with Station Casinos, Frank Fertitta, III, CEO and Chairman of the Red Rock Resorts, Inc. said in a statement.

He was a trusted advisor, a brilliant strategist, a steady hand in good times and in bad and most important  a friend to all. It is very hard to imagine Station Casinos being the company it is today without Rich. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his children, his family and his loved ones.

Haskins joined Red Rock in 1995 as general counsel of the company's Midwest operations. He had served as president of Red Rock Resorts and Station Casinos since October 2015

The company said it will begin efforts to find a successor and will have further announcements in the coming days.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 995 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, the largest number of new cases in a single day in nearly two months.

Statewide, 91,299 Pennsylvanians have been infected with the virus, according to the health department. The department said it is seeing more positive cases among younger adults.

The new report marks the states largest number of new cases in one day since May 10, when the health department reported 1,295 new cases. That was the last time the health department reported more than 1,000 new cases in a single day.

Across Pennsylvania, 6,787 deaths have been tied to COVID-19, including 33 new fatalities reported Tuesday. More than two-thirds of the states coronavirus deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes.

The number of new cases has risen during the past few weeks, though it remains well below the peak weeks in April. Fewer people are in hospitals and fewer deaths are occurring from COVID-19, compared to earlier in the spring, according to the health department.

The numbers could reflect a backlog of results over the holiday weekend. In the past, Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine has noted high caseloads can be reported on Tuesdays partly because laboratories are catching up in processing tests over the weekend.

Nonetheless, Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday hes concerned about the uptick in new cases, particularly regarding the spike seen in Allegheny County. Officials in Allegheny, which includes the city of Pittsburgh, have said theyre alarmed by the number of new cases and that many of the new infections are occurring in younger adults.

Allegheny County is the big area of concern, Wolf said in a press conference Monday.

On Tuesday, Allegheny County reported 204 new coronavirus cases, with many of those infected being younger adults. The median age among the new reported cases Tuesday was 30, the countys health department said. Over the last week, the median age among the new cases in Allegheny County has ranged from 26 to 31.

Allegheny County officials last week suspended dine-in service at restaurants and bars, allowing takeout or delivery only. The county also closed casinos and is limiting gatherings to 25 or less.

Across Pennsylvania, the health department said it is seeing significant increases in COVID-19 cases among younger adults, particularly those 19 to 24 years old.

In most regions of Pennsylvania, those 19 to 24 make up about 15 percent of all new cases so far in July, up from 5 to 7 percent of new cases in April. In southwestern Pennsylvania, about 30 percent of the new cases in July involve those 19-24 years old, the state health department said.

Wolf said Monday the expanded mask order issued last week could remain in place until theres a vaccine. Last week, Levine signed a broader order requiring masks to be worn in all public places, with limited exceptions.

A closer look

Over the past week, the average number of daily new cases has regularly exceeded 600. Thats a far cry from April, when the health department regularly reported more than 1,000 new cases each day. But nonetheless, the number of new cases has ticked upward.

June 17-23: 3,213 new cases, an average of 459 per day

June 24-30: 3,910 new cases, an average of 558 per day

July 1-7: 4,693 new cases, an average of 670 per day

The state health department reports 637 coronavirus patients are being treated in hospitals Tuesday, up from about 600 on Monday. That still is far below the peak in the spring, when about 2,800 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals. Most who are infected suffer relatively mild symptoms and dont need to go to the hospital, but the virus poses more serious threats to those who are older and have health complications, health care officials said.

About 77 percent of those infected with the coronavirus in Pennsylvania have recovered, the health department estimates. The department bases that estimate by reviewing cases of those who are more than 30 days past the date of their first positive test.

Philadelphias totals include 288 new cases, but the figure represents cases over several weeks, the health department said.

The health department said 758,803 people have tested negative for COVID-19.

The governor noted the state has ramped up its testing and has also boosted its effort in contact tracing, the process of reaching out to everyone who has been in contact with someone who is infected.

Were in a very different place now than when this pandemic started, Wolf said in Mondays press conference.

Nursing homes

Across Pennsylvania, 4,626 deaths have occurred in nursing homes or personal care facilities. Those deaths represent 68 percent of the states COVID-19 deaths.

The health department said 18,003 residents in long-term care facilities have contracted COVID-19, along with 3,359 employees. A total of 21,362 cases have occurred in those facilities.

Cases have been found at 719 long-term care facilities in 55 counties.

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LEWISBURG  A central Pennsylvania rail authority was within its right to eliminate the lowest-ranked proposal to operate shortlines on its more than 200 miles of track, a Commonwealth Court panel has ruled.

A three-judge panel Monday affirmed the 2018 decision of Northumberland County Judge Charles H. Saylor that rejected the challenge of the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad of Port Clinton.

At issue was the process by which the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority in 2014 sought proposals for a company to operate five shortlines over its tracks in eight central Pennsylvania counties.

Reading, a private company that came in last in the authoritys preliminary rankings, contended the process was designed to eliminate it from consideration.

But Saylor ruled the company disqualified itself by not submitting the required financial documents. The Commonwealth Court panel agreed.

Also, defendants were the current shortline operator, Susquehanna Union Railroad Co. of Northumberland, better known as North Shore, and Carload Express based in Oakmont.

The authority in a disputed vote on July 8, 2015, selected Carload as the operator. It never awarded the seven-year, multimillion-dollar contract due to a legal issue of what constitutes a quorum.

Reading claimed in its suit the authority improperly competes with private enterprise but the panel disagreed, noting it just leases the track and does not operate the shortlines.

Its opinion makes note the authority was formed in 1983 in response to shipper concerns over Conrails threatened abandonment of 80 miles of rail lines while Reading was established in 1990.

Judge Anne E. Covey, writing for the panel, found the authority was within its right to seek proposals containing background information and operations, maintenance, marketing and financial plans instead of sealed bids.

The authoritys legal issue involving the 2015 vote to award Carload the contract is before the state Supreme Court.

The vote was 7 to 3 with six abstentions, five of whom did so because their employers were shippers. It is the authoritys position that nine votes are needed for a majority.

Clinton County Judge Michael F. Salisbury ruled in favor of the 16-member authority but a three-member Commonwealth Court panel overturned him saying contracts could be awarded by the majority of members present and voting.

It is authoritys contention a majority under the Municipalities Authorities Act is determined by the number present and the panel wrongly applied what is known as the common law quorum rule by adding and voting.

Susquehanna Union maintains five of the abstentions were not required because freight rates on shortlines are set by major railroads like Norfolk Southern.

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Shippensburg police are seeking three people accused of an assault where the weapon was Sheetz Boom Boom Sauce.

They said the incident occurred at 1:10 a.m. Tuesday outside the Sheetz convenience store in the 300 block of East King. Street.

The suspects, all male, threw the sauce from their car at passerby. Police said the sauce got into the victims eyes causing irritation and temporary blindness. The ingredients of Boom Boom Sauce include cayenne pepper.

The sauce tossers were driving a white Nissan with a missing right front hubcap and West Virginia license plates, investigators said. Anyone with information can call police at 717-532-7361.
In an attempt to assuage the publics demands for increased accountability of police officers, a spattering of departments across Pennsylvania post their use-of-force policies to their websites, making public the rules for when officers can use pepper spray, strike someone or fire their gun.

Publishing the policies makes for good optics in a time of heightened distrust between the public and law enforcement. But many cities and towns across the commonwealth still do not publish their policies online, with some going so far as to refuse to release the policies when asked.

Two of the states largest cities  Pittsburgh and Philadelphia  have posted their policies and training manuals online for years, while tertiary cities, such as Bethlehem and York, have only recently moved to put their policies online.

But at full-time police departments in smaller towns  as well as at the states second-largest police force, the Pennsylvania State Police  public visibility on how and when officers can use force is noticeably absent.

PA Post surveyed 35 of the states most populated cities and towns and found less than a third of their departments uploaded their use-of-force policy to the internet so that the public could access it.

That lack of transparency on how departments train their officers in dealing with high-stress confrontations is fueling calls for changes from criminal justice reform activists.

How does the police benefit from a lack of transparency? said DeRay Mckesson, an organizer with Campaign Zero, a national advocacy group that urges police reform, including implementing a model use-of-force policy. Its a simple idea that people should know when a public servant can use force against them.

Some law enforcement agencies are reticent  if not actively resistant  to releasing the documents to the public.

In response to reporters asking to see the policy for Bethel Park township, located just south of Pittsburgh, Chief Timothy OConnor said, Well guess what? Youre not getting ours.

Most of the department officials contacted by PA Post said members of the public would need to submit a request under Pennsylvanias open records law. But the states Right to Know law doesnt guarantee quick access to government information. Agencies have five business days to respond, but they can also take 30-day extensions. Appealing to the states Office of Open Records can delay access another month. Some cases drag on even longer.

And though the law does not specifically preclude police documents from being released, public records officers who interpret the law have sweeping authority to determine if the release of certain documents could cause harm.

 Sign up for The Context, our daily newsletter about governing and governments across Pennsylvania.

Last month, Columbia Borough Councilwoman Sharon Lintner said the citys mayor, attorney and chief of police all told her the policy wasnt eligible for public disclosure under the states Right to Know Act exemptions.

As an elected official, I feel like I have an obligation to know policies, said Lintner. Theres nothing complex about reading through it. So Im not sure why they are so reluctant to release it.

An LNP article last week reported on the denial of Lintners request. Afterwards, borough attorney Evan Gabel told PA Post that the city is reviewing a Right to Know request and could possibly release a redacted copy.

Gabel, echoing other departments across the state, said releasing the document in full would put officers lives at risk because people could use it to test officers training, perhaps in hopes of encouraging inappropriate use of force in hopes of suing the department.

I think our position is that we believe that it would give people who may have ill-will towards our police officers the know-how to see how far they can push things, Gabel said. I dont want to put our officers in that situation.

Alternatively, when asked if releasing the documents would give the public better understanding of how to conduct themselves to avoid a physical encounter with police, Gabel reiterated the town was worried about officer safety.

Similarly, Pennsylvania State Police  which provides coverage to two-thirds of the states municipalities as well as the states highways  justified not posting the agencys use-of-force policy, saying the agency doesnt post documents that would negatively impact trooper safety or operational security.

Spokesman for the state police, Ryan Tarkowski, said the use-of-force policy contains law enforcement sensitive information.

When asked for details, Tarkowski provided a redacted version of the agencys use-of-force regulations and a copy of a November 2016 Office of Open Records decision that upheld the agencys decision to redact the information.

In that case, state police said the redacted parts included information about handling firearms; assessing the target; determining a point of aim and determining actual and potential risks of discharging a weapon. The agency argued that releasing that information would provide a tactical advantage to armed criminals and endanger the Troopers personal safety.

Still, Tarkowski said in an email that the agency is reviewing the policy with the intention of making as much of it publicly available as feasible.

Protesters take a knee outside the Erie County Courthouse on June 19, 2020. Organizers said they gathered to protest excessive force by police, and they called for police reforms, funding for economic development initiatives and improved hiring practices in the city, county and public schools. Eries police department recently posted its use-of-force policy online, and the city says it is reviewing its policies and procedures. (Ed Mahon/PA Post).

But the scenario of criminals deliberately pushing police officers boundaries to trigger unnecessary use of force is ludicrous, said Arthur Rizer, director of criminal justice research at the R Street Institute, a conservative-leaning research organization based in Washington, D.C.

It is outrageous behavior by police departments to not already have this on their websites, he said.

Rizer  a former police officer and federal prosecutor  also mentioned that not publishing use-of-force policies hinders elected officials ability to set policy.

You cannot make good decisions without good data; garbage in, garbage out, he said.

Some police departments agree, saying theres no reason to keep them from the public.

It really is nothing to be ashamed of. These are the policies that we operate under, said Yorks commissioner, Osborne Robinson III. Last month, his department published its use-of-force policy on the citys website. These are the policies that the officers are familiar with, have been trained to do. So its really no secret.

He thinks other departments should strongly consider doing the same.

They have to be looking at being considered legitimate, being trustworthy, Robinson said. And a part of that is being transparent.

In June, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed a bill that would require police departments to post their use-of-force policies online.

Itll create a higher level of confidence amongst members of the public that law enforcement intends to act in good faith, said state Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia), the bills sponsor.

The measure would also require all law enforcement agencies to adopt use-of-force policies that would only allow choke holds in situations where deadly force is authorized.

Current law gives police officers the authority to use deadly force during an arrest only when two factors are simultaneously present  when someones actions could cause serious injury or death for the officer or others, and if a person is resisting or escaping arrest.

In Scranton, Police Chief Carl Graziano said he doesnt have any objections to Streets bill, and he said the department will provide the policy when people ask for it.

Even still, his department hasnt posted its use-of-force policy on its website and doesnt plan to do so until later this year after the agency finishes its two-year review of department policies.

The bill is now in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, which returns to session on Tuesday. Republican leaders have not committed to bringing it up for a vote. Caucus spokesman Mike Straub said members of the House Judiciary Committee will determine the next steps for the bill.

The chairman of the committee, Rep. Rob Kauffman (R-Franklin), could not be reached Thursday afternoon or Monday morning. In June, Kauffman brought two police reform bills up for a vote in the committee, although he declined to commit to action on any other bills.

Pennsylvanias largest police union, the state lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, supports Streets bill, said Les Neri, president of the group.

Transparency could help people better understand the decisions an officer makes, he said. If a high-profile incident occurs, including if an officer kills someone while on duty, then the public could go online, look at the use-of-force policies and see what departments trained officers to do.

They should be online for everybody to see, Neri said.

 PA Post is an independent newsroom covering policy and government in Pennsylvania. For more, go to www.papost.org.

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Gov. Tom Wolf has been urging Pennsylvania residents to wear masks for weeks and Pennsylvanias two U.S. senators are joining the call.

In a joint statement featuring Wolf and other lawmakers Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Pat Toomey and Bob Casey Jr. urged Pennsylvania residents to wear masks in public to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Toomey, a Lehigh County Republican, first began urging Pennsylvania residents to wear masks in public as early as March, well before the Wolf administration issued an order requiring masks in public places.

Since late March, I have been making the case for Pennsylvanians to wear masks when they venture out, Toomey said in the release. As the commonwealth continues to re-open, mask wearing has taken on increased significance, as studies continue to affirm that masks helps slow the spread of the coronavirus. Put simply, wearing a mask is an important step that we, as Pennsylvanians, can take to protect one another  as my mask protects you, and your mask protects me.

Casey, a Scranton Democrat, called on Pennsylvania residents to wear masks as a sign of showing they care for their neighbors and their community.

Public health experts continue to recommend mask-wearing in public, and ongoing research continues to support that recommendation, Casey said in the statement. When you wear a mask, you are sending a clear message to others in your community that you care about them and their well-being as much as your own. I know that if we each do our part, we will beat this virus and be able to start safely rebuilding together.

In late May, Casey said he likely had the coronavirus in the spring, after he learned he had a positive antibody test.

Last week, Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine issued an order expanding the requirement to wear masks in public places, with limited exceptions.

As we increasingly resume public activities in our commonwealth, we need to remain vigilant about taking precautions, especially wearing a mask that covers our noses and mouths while around other people, Wolf said in the statement.

Toomey visited Harrisburg and Lancaster Tuesday to meet with local business leaders and employers. While he reiterated the importance of wearing masks in public, Toomey told WPMT-TV (FOX43) he didnt see a need for a nationwide mandate to wear masks, since some states havent seen many cases.

I dont think we need to have the federal government to dictate a single policy, Toomey told WPMT. I think states can figure it out. He also added people can see the value in wearing masks.

I spoke with @SenToomey about Gov. Wolfs mask mandate and if he thinks one should be implemented nationwide by @realDonaldTrump

Hear what he had to say  @FOX43 pic.twitter.com/lxEhOH7GT1  Chelsea Koerbler (@ChelseaKoerbler) July 7, 2020

As other states see cases rising, they are imposing requirements to wear masks in public places.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has required residents to wear masks in public places, with some exceptions. North Carolina, Oregon and Kansas have also issued or expanded orders to wear masks in recent weeks.

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A growing share of Pennsylvanias new COVID-19 infections involves younger people  a trend thats been causing alarm in numerous parts of the country and interfering with plans to re-open bars and restaurants.

In the Pittsburgh region, people aged 19-24 accounted for about 30% of new cases since the beginning of July, according to data released Tuesday. Thats far greater than in April, when the group accounted for just 5% of cases, the state health department said.

In the Philadelphia and northeast regions, people aged 19-24 have accounted for about 15% of new cases in July, up from 5-6% in April. Elsewhere in the state, including the southcentral region, people aged 19-24 are accounting for about 14% of new cases, up from about 7% in April.

The health department on Tuesday called the change significant, saying there are more new cases among the younger age groups than among people aged 50-64 and over 65.

The spikes among younger people were noticed in the Philadelphia and Allegheny regions in late June.

On Tuesday, Allegheny County registered 204 more infections, leading the state and continuing a streak of big jumps. Officials said the median age of newly-infected people was 31.

In both the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas, many new cases are being attributed to young adults, with local officials determining much of the spread took place in bars.

Allegheny officials in particular traced new infections to young people who had gone to bars, restaurants and other social gatherings. Some had traveled to COVID-19 hotspots including Miami, Houston and Myrtle Beach.

The situation prompted a ban on onsite drinking in bars and restaurants in Allegheny.

A similar scenario is playing out in much of the country, with COVID-19 surges being blamed on young people and their inclination to party in large groups while disregarding face masks and social distancing.

So far, there are no corresponding spikes in the numbers of young people being hospitalized or dying, although more younger people are in intensive care in areas including Houston.

Still, its causing alarm for assorted reasons, since all those young people, including some who dont even know theyre infected, can carry the infection home to older or chronically-ill people who are more likely to become severely ill or die.

Theres also concern that the rise in cases among younger people will reverse benefits gained during the months of shutdowns and stay-at-home orders that had slowed the spread of the coronavirus especially among older, highly vulnerable people, including those in nursing homes.

Some of the rise among younger people is being attributed to things such as feeling invincible, disregarding the need to wear face masks, and growing sick of being cooped-up. Moreover, the growing body of research is showing the greatest risk of spread exists when people are packed together, especially if the ventilation is poor. Since much of the transmission results from droplets released when people breathe, talk, yell or sing, theres great potential for spread in such situations.

Pennsylvania registered 995 new cases on Tuesday, the largest one-day jump in nearly two months. Its possible the large number is partly due to reporting delays over the July 4 holiday.

Still, new infections have been trending upward in Pennsylvania since late June, with other worrisome signs appearing:

The average number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pennsylvania reached 637 on Monday, after averaging in the high-500s in recent days.

About 1,180 intensive care beds were available as of Tuesday, about 120 fewer than a few days earlier. Still, the supply remained far from seriously stretched.

Even with the surge in Allegheny County, Dauphin County had the highest rate of new cases during the seven days that ended July 2, with 88.4 cases per 100,000 people. Allegheny had 71.8 new cases per 100,000 people, and Philadelphia had 44.9. Dauphin officials said the surge might be connected to an aggressive effort to test all of its county prison inmates.

Dauphin County was tied with Sullivan County for the highest rate of positive COVID-19 cases during the previous seven days, with rates of 9.4%. Allegheny County, by comparison, had a 7.9% positive rate.

According to Covid Act Now, Pennsylvania has an infection rate of 1.11, meaning each infected person is infecting more than one additional person, and indicating rapid spread of disease. A rate of 0.9 or less reflects low rate of spread and overall decline, according to Covid ActNow; Pennsylvania was at that level from early May through about June 10.

Covid Act Now, as of Tuesday, considered Pennsylvania at risk of losing control of its outbreak. For comparison, New York and New Jersey each were rated as having controlled disease growth, a safer designation.

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All around the world, the United States has been seen as a beacon of hope to impoverished communities on continents from Africa to South America. Through the International Affairs Budget and other key pieces of legislation, we help strengthen the international community through monetary funds, programs, and sending aid workers. By building up the economies of other countries, we are securing Americas interest for years to come. This is through increasing stability, strengthening diplomatic relationships, and building local economies that can then purchase American products.

This work is done at the federal level, through funds appropriated by Congress. That is why, we as constituents, have an integral role to play. Our elected representatives, in both the House and Senate, must see our support for these programs. I grew up in a family that puts helping those in need as a top priority and that is why I am asking you to join the fight! The Reach Every Mother and Child Act, the Global Child Thrive Act, and the Global Health Security Act, are just a few examples of legislation that need your support, right now!

I am calling on all citizens, legislators, activists and community leaders to do their part in helping to build a better life for those around the world, many of them children.

America has liberated parts of the world from some of the largest atrocities known to man, as such we have the power to make a difference by lifting up our brothers and sisters that are hungry, penniless, and unable to escape the cycle of poverty that has haunted some families for generations. Please, call Congress, write letters and do your part to bring an end to poverty and suffering. Be the voice for those who cannot speak.

Andrew Miles, Gettysburg, Pa.
In a span of one week, June 21-26, there were 2 stories that broke, involving (who else?) President Trump. And like most news pertaining to the Trump administration, both stories are tied to a central question: Is Donald J. Trump intellectually, emotionally and morally fit to represent the national security interests of the United States?

The first story involved John Boltons interview with ABCs Martha Raddatz, on Sunday, June 21. Bolton, Trumps former National Security Advisor, resigned from the Trump administration Sept 10, 2019 because Trump wanted to invite the Taliban to Camp David on 9/11/2019. In the interview, Bolton reiterated some of the things in his just released book, The Room Where It Happen. A few of the main issues that stood out:

Jared Kushner was second only to Trump in the White House hierarchy.

In negotiations with Kim Sung Un of North Korea, Trump gave away too much.

Bolton also talked about Vladimir Putin who only knows two ways to deal with people; humiliate them or dominate them.

Putin plays Trump like a fiddle.

There were also a number of other issues that stood out in the interview. One was that Trump could not distinguish between the U.S. interests and his own personnel interests. In fact it was almost as if his interests superseded the interests of the United States. The second thing was that Trump was mainly concerned with props, photo-ops and how things appear to his base. He is not interested in doing the hard routine work to protect our country and to make things better for the United States.

Finally, Trump paid scant attention to the Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB). A U.S. president should be reading the PDB or at least the main parts of the PDB every day. Bolton said that Trump only looked at the PDBs once to two times a week. Even then, you had to break it down for him, drawing pictures and diagrams to try to get the concept across.

When it came to foreign policy issues, Trump got easily bored but if you started to talk about the re-election, he became laser-focused. And anytime a negative narrative came up about Putin, he got upset.

The second story that broke Friday, June 26, from the New York Times concerns a Russian plot to pay Taliban insurgents bounty to murder U.S. and coalition soldiers in Afghanistan. Subsequent reporting by CNN and the Washington Post adds additional evidence to collaborate this story. Reporting that came out last week, said that Rahmatullah Azizi, an Afghan drug dealer, acted as the go between a Russian military unit providing the money and the Taliban insurgents that murdered US soldiers. The narrative coming out of the White House has doubled down on the fact that Trump was not briefed on this because there wasnt sufficient consensus on this story. And of course, theres always the excuse that Trump doesnt pay attention to the PDBs and doesnt like to hear any bad news about Russia.

Taking that at face value and giving the Trump White House the benefit of the doubt about the president not knowing about this, this one simple fact remains. The president now knows, and as more evidence comes in by the day, the truth is, Russia paid bounties to the Taliban to murder U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. Instead of doubling down to verify this, Trump dismisses it as a hoax.

Once again, he refuses to confront Vladimir Putin.

In the summer of 2018 in Helsinki when the issue of Russian interference in our 2016 election came up, Trump sided with Putin who denied Russia had any involvement in that election. This went totally against all 17 agencies of our intelligence community who said Russia did interfere in the election. Another incident in Trump siding with Putin was the House Impeachment trial last year. In that trial, Trump was accused of withholding military weapons to Ukraine contingent upon Ukraine going a political errand for Trump. Specifically, Trump wanted Ukraine president Zelensky to launch an investigation into Joe Biden. This would have been to the determent of U.S. and Ukraine national security interests and to the benefit of Russia.

In the past three months, Trump has lobbied the G-7 group to re-admit Russia. He has also withdrawn 10,000 troops from NATO, weakening that alliance. At every step of his administration, when it comes down to either strengthening our allies and U.S. security or standing with Putin, Trump sides with Putin. The question we now find before us is this. Will Trump continue this policy of standing with Putin, or will he stand up for our brave soldiers in Afghanistan?

Maybe the bigger question is this. When will the American public have had enough?

Robert K. Bomberger, Lower Paxton Twp.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson posted an anti-Semitic message to social media Monday that he attributed to Adolf Hitler before writing in a follow-up Instagram post that he feels no hatred toward the Jewish community.

The original message, which Jackson posted on his Instagram story, said the white Jews knows that the Negroes are the real children of Israel and to keep Americas secret the Jews will blackmail America. [They] will extort America, their plan for world domination wont work if the Negroes know who they were.

While the origin of the quote is in dispute, Jackson posted a screenshot of a page attributing the message to Hitler.

Screenshot from DeSean Jackson's Instagram account.

After facing backlash, Jackson posted another message to his Instagram story that said some misinterpreted the intention of his message: Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way, Jackson wrote. I have no hatred in my heart towards no one!!

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson clarifies his stance on controversial Instagram posts that used quotes attributed to Adolf Hitler.

The 33-year-old Jackson also shared messages Monday from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled an anti-Semite.

Jackson is entering the second season of a three-year, $27.9 million contract he signed with Philadelphia last offseason.

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The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings Monday around New Jersey as thunderstorms swept through the region, leaving thousands of residents without power and stranding drivers.

More than 38,000 power outages were reported statewide, according to a tweet from Gov. Phil Murphy.

The flood warning was in place until 7 p.m. Monday for areas including Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and Essex counties, according to the weather service.

In Garfield, a weather spotter reported River Road was flooded with multiple stranded vehicles. Firefighters were with boats responded to reach the trapped motorists, according to the report issued shortly after 5 p.m. Streets were also flooded in Hackensack, a spokesman for the citys fire department posted on Twitter.

Multiple streets flooded throughout Hackensack and Bergen County please stay where you are in a safe area urgent. pic.twitter.com/YjVxbw4q2V  Justin Derevyanik (@justinhfd126) July 6, 2020

Firefighters in Hackensack responded to multiple emergencies caused by the storm, the fire department said.

Companies operating at multiple emergencies due to heavy rain. Multi-car MVA on Anderson Street, smoke in the basement on Main Street, add multiple people stuck in vehicles due to flooding over 17 people rescued @ABC7NY @CBSNewYork @NBCNewYork @1010WINS @HackensackPD @wpix pic.twitter.com/VyBKRUdLgJ  Hackensackfirenj (@HackensackFDNJ) July 6, 2020

As of shortly after 4 p.m., doppler radar showed thunderstorms bringing heavy rain to the region, according to forecasters. Up to an inch of rain was already reported in the area.

Some locations expected to see flooding included Jersey City, Paterson, Passaic, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Hoboken, Bloomfield, Paramus, Lyndhurst, Rutherford, Secaucus and Ridgewood, the weather services warning said.

The weather service also issued a flash flood warning around the Philadelphia-region, including areas of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties.

This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!, an alert from the weather service said. Life threatening flash flooding of low water crossings, small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

Flash Flood Warning including New Brunswick NJ, Perth Amboy NJ, Sayreville NJ until 7:45 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/kQx5jIFgT2  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) July 6, 2020

Northeast of Philadelphia, at least three cars were submerged on Willow Lane in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, NWS storm reports showed.

The Weather Channel website also reported that motorists also had to be rescued from flooded cars in Cheltenham, in Montgomery County, and in Philadelphia, the NWS said. Additional water rescues were reported in Melrose Park.

Tacony Creek in Cheltenham rose 6 feet in an hour and half, according to the NWS.

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Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com.

Information from The Weather Channel website contributed to this story.
Steve Zucker

(231) 439-9346

BOYNE CITY  The Boyne City Planning Commission recently approved a revised plan for a mobile home park in the city to add additional lots on its existing property.

The change will result in two fewer new lots being added to the Lakeview Village mobile home park, which is located between Lake and Park Streets on the citys north side, along with other changes from the original plan

In August of 2019 the planning commission gave its blessing to a development plan revision submitted by Northern Properties Mobile Home Park LLC, which owns the park and similar communities in Harbor Springs, Belmont, Rockford and Sparta. The earlier approved plan called for the addition of 11 double-wide sites near North Lake Street and 11 single-wide lots near Park Street. The previously approved plan also called for the existing office and maintenance building to be removed and a new 32-foot-by-32-foot garage and a new 30-foot-by-70-foot office and meeting center building to be constructed on Meadow Lane near the Lake Street entrance.

City planning director Scott McPherson noted that the company could not provide an exact timeline on when construction might begin because the revised plan still requires approval by state officials who regulate mobile home park operations.

Speaking to the News-Review in June, McPherson said when reviewing the previous plan version, state officials had concerns about building residential lots over an area of the park that is the site of two types of previously remediated (cleaned-up) industrial contamination.

Both sites are just north of the intersection of North Lake Street and the entrance road to the community, Lakeview Street. The contamination, according to a Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy database, stems from the Boyne City Chemical Plant and from leaking underground fuel storage tanks from a gas station that previously existed on the site.

The previous plan had called for several double-wide lots to be built on the area of the property where the contamination sites are located.

McPherson said the site doesnt pose any immediate hazard to people, but state officials had concerns about people having possible long-term exposure to vapors escaping from the soil in that area if living space were placed at those sites.

Under the revised plan, the mobile home sites have been removed from the area of concern near the Lake Street entrance to the park and would be replaced by a common-use area including an office and community building, parking lot, garage, and a pavilion and pickleball court at the far northwest edge of that area.

Additionally, where previously 11 single-wide lots had been planned to be added along Park Street, three more double wide lots would be added using space that had originally been planned for the office/community building and garage in the earlier plan. The new plan also would include another entrance into the community off Park Street to avoid creating a dead-end where the new lots are constructed.

Under the new plan a total of 19 new lots would be added to the community instead of 22 under the earlier plan. If it receives state approval and is constructed, the new plan would bring the communitys total number of lots to 170.

McPherson said the planning commission was generally supportive of the revised plan, and only required a few minor modifications, such as adding sidewalks to the plan for the new street sections and adding more landscape screening on both the Lake Street and Park Street sides of the park.
Steve Zucker

(231) 439-9346

CONWAY  An off-duty Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer recently teamed up with other local responders to locate a 3-year-old girl who wandered off from her home.

Emmet County Sheriff Pete Wallin said deputies from his department and other area agencies were called to the Conway Commons mobile home park around 7 p.m. on June 19 to a report of a missing 3-year-old girl.

Wallin noted that in addition to sheriffs deputies and local firefighters, the departments K-9 handler was also called in to assist in the search.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division Lt. James Gorno said conservation officer Brad Dohm got involved thanks to a call from his father.

Gorno said longtime Little Traverse Township Supervisor Bill Dohm had learned of the search for the missing girl and called his son, Brad, who was off duty but in the area, because of his extensive search and rescue skills.

In a recent news release about the event, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources law enforcement officials noted that Dohm has a military background and is a land navigation instructor with more than 20 years of experience. He teaches new conservation officers how to track missing individuals by looking for clues in the landscape, DNR officials noted.

According to the release, Dohm logged into service, reported to the scene and navigated and tracked a deteriorated trail that he believed was the girls path.

Wallin said the sheriffs office K-9 handler and dog were with Dohm as he searched.

Within 39 minutes of the time Dohm logged into service, the girl was located in a fenced field, south of Powers Road. She had walked a quarter of a mile through a thick, wooded area, across a small creek, barbed wire, electric fence and a grass pasture, officials noted.

Happy to see Dohm, the girl appeared to be in good condition  aside for countless bug bites. While carrying the toddler out of the woods, Dohm learned that her favorite color is pink, she was very hungry and wanted to see her mother, the release reads.

The girl was then reunited with her mother who was waiting with emergency medical services personnel.

Cpl. Dohm made excellent use of his search and rescue skills, assistant chief Steven Burton, DNR Law Enforcement Division said in the release. Were proud of Cpl. Dohms immediate response to jump into action and help. This search and rescue incident is a prime example of why we embed conservation officers throughout the state and provide them with the equipment they need to be successful.

Michigan conservation officers receive national accredited search and rescue training. They are fully commissioned state peace officers who provide natural resources protection, ensure recreational safety and protect residents by providing general law enforcement duties and lifesaving operations in the communities they serve.
Screenshot of the report by The Guardian

The US has bought up virtually all the stocks for the next three months of remdesivir, which can help patients recover from COVID-19, leaving none for most of the rest of the world, reported The Guardian on June 30.

Remdesivir is the first drug approved by licensing authorities in the US to treat COVID-19, and as it is under patent to Gilead, no other company in wealthy countries can make it. The Trump administration has now bought more than 500,000 doses, which is all of Gileads production for July and 90% of August and September, the report said.

The deal was announced as the pandemic spirals out of control in the US. According to Anthony Fauci, the countrys leading public health expert and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, coronavirus cases are expected to go up to 100,000 a day if the trend isnt turned around.

Alex Azar, US health and human services secretary, said President Trump has struck an amazing deal to ensure Americans have access to the first authorized therapeutic for COVID-19.

The move, made with an America first attitude, immediately met with a strong international backlash, with critics saying the US move to buy up so much stock from Gilead itself hinders international cooperation on COVID-19.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned there could be unintended negative consequences if the US continued to outbid its allies, said the report.

Thomas Senderovitz, head of the Danish Medicines Agency, told Danish broadcaster DR that the move could endanger Europeans and others down the road. I have never seen anything like that. That a company chooses to sell their stock to only one country. Its very strange and quite inappropriate, he said.

The trial that gave the result that allowed remdesivir to sell their drug wasnt just done in the US. There were patients participating through other European countries, in the UK as well, and internationally, Mexico and other places, Oxford Universitys Prof Peter Horby told BBC Radio 4.

Dr. Michael Ryan, the emergencies chief of the World Health Organization, said the agency was looking into the implications of the U.S. deal for remdesivir.

There are many people around the world who are very sick .... and we want to ensure that everybody has access to the necessary, life-saving interventions. Ryan said the WHO was fully committed to working toward equitable access for such treatments, according to a report by France 24.

Controversy remains

(Photo/Xinhua)

The effectiveness of remdesivir has long been a controversial issue. A study published by The Lancet on April 29 found that treatment with the antiviral drug does not speed recovery from COVID-19 compared with placebos in hospitalised patients who are critically ill.

Data published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that the drugs mortality rates were negligible, but it did show modest effects, shortening average recovery time to 11 days from 15 in hospitalized patients with the coronavirus.

While scientists are continuing to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the drug, it is now regarded by many as a beacon of hope in the pandemic. On July 3, the European Commission granted conditional marketing authorization for remdesivir, making it the first medicine authorized at EU level for treatment against COVID-19. South Korea, Japan, India and Singapore have also approved the drug for emergency use, wrote Reuters.

Meanwhile, countries around the world are actively looking for other safe, effective and economical treatments for COVID-19. On June 19, the Indian government approved Favipiravir, manufactured by Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, to treat mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 in the country, the first approved oral medication in India for the treatment of coronavirus.

The initial clinical trial results from the United Kingdom show that dexamethasone can be lifesaving for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19. For patients on ventilators, the treatment was shown to reduce mortality by about one third, and for patients requiring only oxygen, mortality was cut by about one fifth.
New book quotes Mike Pence's press secretary: 'Why do we need to have Little Havana?'
Staff reports

The Petoskey News-Review

To the editor:

Self-esteem, in moderation, everybody needs some. Too much? A by-product of believing me is more important than we. And things like this happen linking seemingly disparate groups.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people object to following best practices to slow the spread of the disease. Wear a face mask in public? No, it doesnt look good; it fogs my glasses. Social distancing? No, that prevents me from having fun. Follow the rules designed to benefit all? No, I know whats best for me because Im smart  smarter than those people making the rules or the scientists telling me what works best. Due to all those smart people, we now have a resurgence of the virus, particularly in southern Michigan. A restaurant in Dearborn Heights  my old hometown closed two weeks after reopening for dine-in service because too many smart people wouldnt follow the rules and were rude  even petulant  in their refusal to do so. Seems the smarter you are, the more discourteous, ill-mannered, and louder you need to be.

Since the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota by a police officer, there have been nationwide protests against racism and excessive force used by police. For the most part, particularly in Michigan, the protests have been peaceful. However, some protestors are not content with the pace of peaceful change like new laws regulating police training and conduct, and municipalities around the country removing statues of objectionable historic persons. Mississippi even did away with its state flag as a portion of it displayed the Confederate battle flag. No, smart people have decided that other statues need to come down now. Since they had the idea, it must be right. And since they are right, they are entitled to take action on their own.

Self-esteem. It should come with a warning label.

Anthony DamianoCheboygan
Staff reports

The Petoskey News-Review

To the editor:

As we approach the 244th anniversary of our country, it is fitting to consider our most important responsibility as citizens: our right to vote.

As a newly formed chapter of the League of Women Voters (under the auspices of LWV of Leelanau County), our Charlevoix-Emmet Unit set out to meet our township and municipal clerks in an effort to understand how our local voting districts have been impacted by the changes in voting laws brought about by Proposal 3, which voters overwhelmingly approved in 2018. What we are learning from these meetings is informative and humbling.

Many of our township clerks have full-time jobs in addition to their multiple duties as clerk. Many of them have years  even decades  of experience. And all of them are dedicated to assuring and protecting your right to vote.

Proposal 3 allows for absentee voting for all Michigan registered voters. As a result, our clerks have seen the number of requests for absentee ballots double and triple from prior years. Despite the hours of extra work this has created, our clerks are vigilant about the accuracy and security of voter ballots. They follow a multi-step process to authenticate voter signatures and follow up on incomplete ballot applications. Another process confirms that the voter did not vote in person at the polls. Absentee ballot voters can track the status of their ballot on line at the Michigan Voter Information Center. We are still in the process of meeting all Emmet and Charlevoix County clerks but we have no doubt their stories will be the same.

Despite recent disinformation in the media about absentee voting, Emmet and Charlevoix County voters can rest assured that the integrity of their vote is safe in the hands of our capable and committed clerks.

Robin Jordan, Chair League of Women Voters Charlevoix-Emmet Unit
William Redman, 73

Obituary

William Henry Redman, 73, of Boyne City, passed away Thursday, July 2, 2020 at home surrounded by loved ones after a courageous battle with cancer.

Bill was born in 1947 to Harry Maxwell Redman and Anna (Tague) Redman Gault and graduated from Ithaca High School in 1965. Bill and his young family settled in Boyne City in 1972 where he in 1977 he started a successful drywall company, Redman Enterprise, which he built on his core values of quality and integrity and remained deeply committed to until his final days. Bill always had a good story for any occasion and enjoyed sharing them everyone, making new friends along the way. Bill demonstrated how much he cared about people through his quiet and even surreptitious generosity. He relaxed by working on the lawn, spending the day in the car tracking down and negotiating a hot deal on a new toy, and found peace on the water both here in Michigan and in sunny Florida.

Bill is survived by his special honey and life partner Linda Dean, children Ben (Alejandro) and Nick (Julie), his beloved grandchildren TJ (Jessica), Jay and Corey, great-grandson Trent, siblings Linda, John, Tom, Allen, Bob and Tina, and by the mother of his children, Sandra Kay (Zimmerman) Argue. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Sherrie.

A celebration of Bills life will be held at the Redman Ranch on Saturday, July 11 from 4-7pm, 890 Pleasant Valley Road, Boyne City, MI 49712 - all are welcome, bring your stories! Due to the current health concerns regarding Covid-19 please wear a mask and practice social distancing when arriving for the celebration.

Family and friends wishing to share a thought or memory of Bill are encouraged to do so online at www.stonefuneralhomeinc.com.
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Authorities are closing honky tonks, bars and other drinking establishments in some parts of the U.S. to stem the surge of COVID-19 infections  a move backed by sound science about risk factors that go beyond wearing or not wearing masks.

In the words of one study, it comes down to the danger of heavy breathing in close proximity.

Crowded indoor spaces filled with people yelling, leaning close to hear one another and touching the same sticky surfaces are the opposite of social distancing, said Dr. David Hamer of the Boston University School of Medicine.

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Can you do social distancing at a bar? Can you wear a mask while drinking? Hamer said. Bars are the perfect place to break all those rules.

The rapid spread of a bar outbreak can swamp public health workers. In East Lansing, Michigan, an outbreak tied to a large brewpub near Michigan State University has spread to nearly 140 people in 12 counties, causing authorities to recruit nursing students and retirees to help with contact tracing.

In 12 days, we went from two identified cases to 128, and, honestly, I dont have todays numbers yet, Ingham County health officer Linda Vail said Wednesday before cases shot up again. She described her outlook as shocked and overwhelmed.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer responded by closing indoor seating in bars in parts of the state. Taverns will not have to close completely. They can sell to-go cocktails and keep outdoor patios open.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom took similar action, ordering bars and indoor restaurant dining to close again for the next three weeks in most of the state. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio delayed the citys resumption of indoor dining.

Two other factors at play in bars make them potential virus flashpoints. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, so people forget precautions, said Natalie Dean, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Florida.

Plus, the attractive, healthy person buying you a drink could be a silent carrier, shedding contagious virus with each breath.

Young people have less severe illness, so they may be infected and able to infect others inadvertently, Dean said, noting outbreaks in Japan and South Korea associated with restaurants, bars and karaoke parties.

In recent weeks, college towns across America have seen clusters of cases that have been traced back to bars. Bars and restaurants near the University of Iowa and Iowa State University closed only weeks after the governor allowed them to reopen.

As of last week, 90% of cases in the county that is home to Kansas State University involved people ages 18 to 24. Health officials said most of them spent time in a bar and restaurant district known as Aggieville.

Citing a similar spike, the Kansas county that includes the city of Lawrence and the University of Kansas also ordered bars and nightclubs to close beginning Friday for the next two weeks.

Congregation at a bar, inside, is bad news, Dr. Anthony Fauci told a Senate panel Tuesday. We really have got to stop that.

Texas, Arizona, Los Angeles and some Pennsylvania counties are closing bars to slow the spread of the virus. Florida and Colorado have told bars they cannot serve alcohol on site.

Most bar owners and employees feel that they have been unfairly singled out, particularly because restaurants are still open and serving alcohol. In Texas, bar owners said that on Friday after they were forced to close their doors, they noticed restaurants were still packed.

You can go into a restaurant and they have bars, and you can have as many drinks as you want, said Nikki Forsberg, owner of the Old Ironhorse Saloon in Blanco, Texas. It doesnt seem fair. Restaurants get this pass and the bars dont.

The bars manager, Tami Cooley, said although she did not wear a mask at work, she felt the tavern was taking every precaution to safely stay open. No one was allowed to drink or order at the bar, and tables were limited to six people. They closed for a few days after finding out one of the bartenders had been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

We were cautious at our bar. We social-distanced, sanitized the tables, chairs, bathrooms, doorknobs, she said. We did everything right.

In the Michigan bar outbreak investigation, huge concern now centers on the parents and grandparents exposed to the virus by their offspring who partied at the brewpub, Vail said. She worries about a climb in secondary cases if the people we asked to self-quarantine didnt do that ... Where is this secondary transmission going to land?

Saskia Popescu, an infectious diseases expert in Phoenix, said its difficult to disinfect surfaces at a bar enough to make a difference. Even sitting at a table with friends at a bar involves loud talking and laughing that could spread virus. Its not worth it, she concludes.

You can make a cocktail at home, Popescu said.
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.

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Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer.
In this June 24 a volunteer receives a COVID-19 test vaccine injection developed at the University of Oxford in Britain, at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. People on six continents are testing experimental shots as the race for a COVID-19 vaccine enters a defining summer, with even bigger studies poised to prove if any leading candidate really works  and possibly offer the public a reality check.  AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko
KAMPALA  The Government of Uganda, with technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), have launched a new project titled: Integrating Climate Resilience into Agricultural and Pastoral Production in Uganda, through a Farmer/Agro-pastoralist Field School approach. An inception workshop to kick start the projects implementation was held on 30 June 2020, via an online session involving different stakeholders at national and local government levels.

Although food security continues to be a key aspect for sustainable development, the impacts of climate change are reducing the capacity of natural resources such as soil and water, to sustain food demand of the growing populations globally and in Uganda. A significant transformation is therefore required to enhance agriculture, ensuring continuous crop and livestock production, while at the same time building resilience to climate shocks such as drought, floods and landslides. Agriculture in Uganda is largely rain-fed and many smallholder farmers have limited capacity to shield themselves from weather extremes and climate change effects, which devastate their fields.

The project, therefore, aims to reduce the vulnerability of Ugandas agriculture sector to the impacts of climate change by disseminating practical knowledge on climate-resilient agricultural practices that can be adopted at community level, and mainstreaming climate resilience into Ugandas agriculture sector policies and plans. Thirteen districts in Uganda, namely: Abim, Amolatar, Amudat, Amuria, Buyende, Kaberamaido, Kamuli, Katakwi, Kayunga, Luwero, Nakaseke, Nakasongola, and Napak will benefit from this project. The districts represent five Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) and three regions, located within Ugandas cattle corridor dryland dominated by livestock production with scarce water and pasture resources.

Representing the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF)  Pius Wakabi, the Assistant Commissioner for Soil and Water Conservation- Freddie Kabango thanked FAO and GEF for implementing this project in Uganda, where agriculture is mostly rain-fed and farmers are vulnerable to climate change risks. As a result, agriculture production and productivity of farming communities is affected and the impact on food security and household incomes is significant.

Despite the availability of water resources in Uganda, the current area under irrigation is low, he said. There is a desire to have a production area under irrigation at 1.5million hectares by 2040; but to achieve this, we need to sustainably use natural resources and come up with innovations and technologies to help farming communities to cope with climate change while meeting their needs he added.

He called for the concerted effort of all stakeholders and urged the district leaders to embrace and support effective implementation of the project.

According to Bob Natifu, Acting Commissioner Climate Change Department at the Ministry of Water and Environment, the Ministry wholly associates with the project because it promotes interventions at the core of Ugandas priorities for addressing climate change. Natifu represented the Ministrys Permanent Secretary- Alfred Okot Okidi.

By highlighting the link between agriculture and the environment, the project is timely and will support Uganda to overcome some of the key challenges in implementing climate change adaptation action, he said.

The workshop involved a number of stakeholders engaged in climate change interventions in Uganda, including government ministries, departments and agencies; district local governments; research institutions; academia; development partners; Civil Society organizations and the private sector. Workshop participants discussed the projects progress so far and deliberated on different modalities for implementation of the desired outcomes and approaches for using lessons from the project in other parts of Uganda.

By the end of the project (2024), it is expected that farmers, pastoralists, and supporting institutions such as MAAIF and community-based organizations, will have greater access to knowledge on climate change adaptation (land use planning, management of ecosystem services and use of genetic diversity to ensure resilience). About 40 master trainers and 120 Farmer Field School (FFS) facilitators will be trained (including in gender-responsive actions). These will enhance extension services to the target communities. These trainers will then support at least 7 500 farmers and pastoralists in the cattle corridor districts.

In his remarks, FAO Representative in Uganda- Antonio Querido, noted that in light of the current challenges caused by climate change in Uganda, sustainable agriculture must strike a balance between protecting and sustainably using natural resources while at the same time meeting societys growing needs by offering decent and resilient livelihoods.

The project will promote appropriate sustainable food and agriculture interventions, which recognize that farmers can realize greater outputs if facilitated to learn from each other, he said. The Farmer Field School approach, which is the key approach for the project, is a practical training methodology grounded in the principles of adult education will, therefore, support and build the capacities of smallholder farmers and rural communities in the adoption of resilient agricultural technologies and livelihoods practices he added.

The USD 6.8milion project will use innovative approaches and tools such as the FFS approach to implement climate change-adaptation practices. The FFS approach focuses on group learning by discovery, experimentation and observation, group analysis of results and better decision-making. Through this methodology, the project will support farmers to mobilize fellow farmers and pastoralists to access and adopt new technologies and practices, complement traditional extension services and interventions by different stakeholders. Other approaches include value addition, ICT for community engagement and Gender Action Learning System (GALS) to enhance the role played by women in addressing climate change.

The GEF supported project invests in strategic activities aligned with Ugandas National Climate Change Policy, building on on-going baseline investments for the agriculture and livestock sectors in the country. It also complements actions already taken by the country, including operation of a Climate Change Department in the Ministry of Water and Environment to coordinate implementation of climate actions as well as submitting results for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

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TORONTO  A Uganda immigrant identified as Salma Lakhani has become the first Muslim to be appointed lieutenant governor in Canada.

In a news release, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the appointment saying, Salma is devoted to supporting people in her community, from new immigrants and young people to women and families.

As lieutenant-governor of Alberta, I know she will serve the people of her province and our country well, and continue to be a source of inspiration for all Canadians, he added.

Salma Lakhani is a long time community advocate, a successful business owner, and has dedicated her life to helping those in need.

According to a statement released by the Trudeaus office through her work to advance education, health care, womens empowerment, human rights, and support for new immigrants, she continues to be a champion of diversity, pluralism, and inclusion.

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, Muslim World Intl reports.

In a statement by the government, Lakhani has also done work to advance womens rights, healthcare, education, and championed new immigrants.

PM Trudeau said: As Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, I know she will serve the people of her province and our country well, and continue to be a source of inspiration for all Canadians.

Each of the ten Canadian provinces has a Lieutenant Governor. Lieutenant Governor is appointed by the Governor-General, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, usually for a period of five years.

Lieutenant Governors are the highest-ranking officers of their province and represent Her Majesty the Queen in their jurisdictions.

The Lieutenant Governors constitutional duties include, among others: swearing in the provincial governments Executive Council (Premier and Cabinet); opening each session of the provincial legislative assembly; and providing Royal Assent to provincial bills.

The Lieutenant Governors ceremonial and community functions include, among others: promoting a sense of identity; representing The Queen in the province; acting as the provinces official host; supporting social causes; and recognizing outstanding citizens.

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Natural8 2020 WSOP Online Hand of the Week: Even Daniel Negreanu Gets Lucky

July 07, 2020 Chad Holloway

Natural8 is home to the WSOP 2020 Online with 54 Bracelet Events taking place from July 19th till September 6th. Win a Bracelet and join the exclusive Natural8 Winner's Circle where up to $700,000 in Sponsorship rewards are waiting to be claimed. Start your journey by exploring the WSOP Silk Road Micro-Stakes Tournaments or via the $5,000,000 WSOP Giveaway. The opportunities are endless.

The 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) online bracelet events will run from July 1st to September 6th and is comprised of 85 WSOP gold bracelets on the digital felt across two different clients: WSOP.com and GG Poker.

Each week, well highlight a Hand(s) of the Week, which very well could include bad beats, lucky suck outs, and game-changing swings.

In the first week of the 2020 WSOP online series on WSOP.com, Event #2: $1,000 No-Limit Holdem 8-Handed Deepstack, 919 entrants created an $873,050 prize pool. Up top was a gold bracelet and a $168,586 top prize, so when Daniel DNegs Negreanu made a deep run, the poker world got excited.

His journey proved to be a rollercoaster ride, first a big high followed by a quick low. Combined, the two hands made for a memorable highlight.

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Even Kid Poker Gets Lucky

In Level 32 (25,000/50,000/5,000), Negreanu was short and moved all in under the gun for 475,438. Action folded all the way around to Mark "victb" Ioli, who called from the big blind.

Daniel "DNegs" Negreanu:

Mark "victb" Ioli:

The six-time bracelet winner was in dire straits, but he got lucky when the flop paired his jack. The turn gave Ioli a Broadway draw but he missed when the bricked on the river.

The hand not only showed that even the worlds best poker players get lucky from time to time, but also put the six-time bracelet winner over the seven-figure mark in chips and gave him a real shot at his seventh piece of gold hardware.

Even Kid Poker Gets Coolered

Unfortunately for Negreanu, the poker gods giveth and the poker gods taketh. One level later with the blinds at 30,000/60,000/6,000, Negreanu open-jammed under the gun for 763,876 and got isolation from Matthew "Mendey" Mendez who came over the top for 2,002,612 from the small blind.

Daniel "dnegs" Negreanu:

Matthew "Mendey" Mendez:

Both players held made hands but Mendez held the better one. Negreanu couldn't find a set with the runout, and just like that his tournament ended in 18th place for $5,849.

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Negreanu went on to notch a small cash in the following event, giving him two cashes in three events, none of which he had to re-enter.

Negreanu briefly talked about his Event #2 bustout hand in his popular vlog:

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Jevon "Toboggan" Johnson and "Laika" Knight were training at Cape Canaveral for their first mission when the Space Shuttle program was retired in 2011.

They both were fighter pilots before becoming astronauts-in-training at NASA, where they first met with a shared goal of soaring among the stars and seeking new horizons. Both were adventurers drawn to the unknown.

With their debut experimental hip-hop album, the two Charleston residents have done just that without leaving Earth's orbit.

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Dubbed the Retired Astronauts, they've crossed into unique territory for the local music scene with a genre-bending disc that draws influences from Knight's past noise-rock band days and Johnson's lifetime spent honing the craft of rap. On the album cover, the two are pictured in pantsuits on Folly Beach with astronaut helmets on, giving off Daft Punk vibes at the Edge of America.

They chose this location for their album cover photo because it's a place on the edge of something beautiful, mysterious and thrilling all the same.

"It was the closest thing we could get to a lunar landing," Knight suggested.

The duo notes the similarities in space travel and music creation.

"The lack of control when you're flying and having to go with what the machine is telling you and take signals from your environment is similar to when Ive seen Toboggan freestyle," Knight shared. "It's that rush of what's next, and you dont know whats going to hit you until youre done."

In his early years, Johnson drew influence from Ice Cube, Biggie, Jay Z and OutKast. He studied the mannerisms and diction of his favorite rappers and then spun that research into his own, unique style. He's been rapping since age 12.

Knight is influenced by '90s and early 2000s noise and punk rock bands, from Polvo to Flint, drawn to the moments of beauty amid the dissonance.

The collaborative effort is groundbreaking, or perhaps in this case sound barrier-breaking. It's certainly different than any project I've heard come out of Charleston in the last decade. And part of the reason is a unique technique employed by Knight.

For the Retired Astronauts' self-titled disc, the instrumental backdrop with highlights of percussion and bass guitar, was fed through a 4-track Knight inherited from his stepfather who died two years ago  and then the sound was reversed.

"That seemed unique, different, which was why I was drawn to it," Johnson said. "It was something I wanted to put my lyrics on top of."

The duo experimented for about six months before reaching the final product, which was released on streaming platforms and in CD format on July 2.

In some places, the sound reversal technique creates a subtle unsettled feeling, like that provoked by the first track, "Bend Your Eyes," or the melancholy and mellow "Velvet Swells." In others, the effect is disconcerting, even jarring, as in "Motoric" and the frenetic "Let's Just See What Happens."

On some songs, like "Nassau" and "Song for a Cloud," Knight sings. His soft, papery vocals are delivered with a scratchy rasp-whisper above the discordant sonic backdrop. On other tracks, such as "Excusez Moi" and "The End," Johnson raps with a controlled and quick cadence full of quirky, quippy wordplay.

The duo is eagerly anticipating post-pandemic days when they can take to a local stage and share their music live. They plan to include instrumentalists in the project for a more organic sound.

"We want to be a part of Charleston's expanding and diversifying scene, which is why we're looking forward to playing live  in helmets," Knight said.
GREENVILLE  Two days after gunfire at a nightclub on the edge of Greenville left two dead and eight more injured, questions build without ready answers.

As of Monday evening, there were no charges or arrests in what Sheriff Hobart Lewis called the worst shooting incident in his law enforcement career. No suspects had yet been named. Images of four people of interest, which the Greenville County Sheriff's Office released late Sunday, also remained unidentified.

The Post and Courier reached out to the Sheriff's Office throughout the day Monday without a response, and is also waiting on an incident report for which it submitted a Freedom of Information request. What is known now comes from witness accounts and videos circulated from the event.

Mykala Bell, 23, and Clarence Sterling Johnson, 51, were killed in the shootings that broke out shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday during a concert at Lavish Lounge on White Horse Boulevard. The night's featured artist, Atlanta-based trap rapper Foogiano, was in the middle of an energetic set  caught on video and shared widely on social media  just before violence broke out.

A spokeswoman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigations told The Post and Courier on Monday the agency was not aiding in the investigation. Sheriff Lewis said Sunday that gang involvement was "probable" but rumors also swirled on social media that someone had tried to snatch a valuable necklace Foogiano was wearing on stage.

The artist himself posted a 3-minute video on Instagram at about 1 p.m. Monday during which he said he had spoken with the father of Bell's two infant children and said "we got a good understanding." Foogiano, whose legal name is Kwame Brown, denied any involvement in the incident and extended condolences to Bell's family. He said he spent Sunday night in South Carolina reaching out to people he said he "needed to talk to" and said he wasn't running from anyone.

"She lost her life for nothing," Foogiano said of Bell. "I did not take her life. I didn't shoot nobody."

The artist did not say what might have led to the shootings or who might have fired weapons into the crowd.

The Post and Courier reviewed two video clips taken from inside Lavish. A 44-second video clip posted to social media in the hours immediately following the shooting provides some sense of how the packed, jubilant scene felt before shots rang out. About 200 fans jump shoulder to shoulder and recite rap lyrics in unison at the start of the clip. The dark room is illuminated with stage lights flashing red, blue and green. Everyone in the crowd has their hands raised, a quarter of them holding cell phones with flashlights on.

Foogiano, holding a microphone in his right hand, enters the frame 10 seconds in. He crouches a second later to take a selfie with a woman in front of the stage.

The artist never stops smiling but there are also clues of trouble to come: red and black bandannas brandished on and off the stage, Foogiano increasingly crowded on all sides by fans and his security detail, and then smiles in the front row suddenly turning to frowns at the end of the clip.

How this transformed into a violent scene remains unknown.

A second video  this one 10 seconds long  starts with a man on stage pointing a gun out to a dispersing crowd. The person holding the camera is behind the stage to the gunman's left. Between six and 10 people move in and out of the camera's frame directly in front of the stage. Another dozen are moving in and out of the frame in the background. It is dark, but spotlights continue to flash green, red and blue. The gunman skips to the front of the stage and shuffles to his right, sweeping the gun from side to side. The camera zooms in on four people to his right. Three men watch the gunman. One of them yells and reaches out. A woman nearby is half turned away.

The gunman is out of the frame when a single shot rings out. The person filming the scene palms the camera and starts to run. Still filming, screams and more shots are audible.

"It went from them just having fun and partying to 10 to 15 seconds later, gunshots," said community organizer Traci Fant, who spoke with multiple people who had been at the concert. "I know it caught everyone off guard."

According to a statement from Sheriff Lewis, it was at about this time that two deputies patrolling the area saw a crowd surging out of Lavish. The deputies pulled into the parking lot and heard gunfire. They called for ambulances and rendered care to the victims. Blood was everywhere and bullet casings littered the floor of the club.

Ambulances started transporting victims to Prisma Health's Greenville Memorial Hospital two and a half miles away.

Fant described the scene she saw at the hospital shortly after the shootings. Her ringing phone woke her up at 2:45 a.m. Sunday. She had already missed four calls. The person on the line this time, she saw, was Robbie Fleming. Fleming was the father of Bell's two infant children.

"He said there had been a mass shooting, that about 10 people had been shot and that blood was everywhere," Fant said. "I was like, 'What's going on?' because I was literally awakened from a deep sleep."

By 3:15 a.m., Fant was at the hospital and a throng of wailing families and people coming from Lavish were crowded outside the emergency department's front doors. Coronavirus restrictions meant they could not go inside, Fant said, and they were anxious for information.

"I think that one or two people were transported there by car because you could still see droplets of blood on the pavement," she said. "It was a scene that I never would have imagined walking into, living in Greenville, South Carolina. When I got there, the police were trying to decipher who was immediate family, versus who was from the club, versus who was there from the community."

Fant helped police establish a line away from the hospital doors.

"They began to have a nurse come out and update everyone," Fant said. "She was asking people for pictures of their kids. 'Does this person have tattoos?' Things like that. From my understanding, a couple people lost their wallets there. Their purses were left in the club. So they were working on identifying everyone and trying to establish who was in surgery and who was stable, and who had passed."

Fant watched as the nurse called to Bell's parents and asked them to step inside with her. The sound of grieving mothers is something she said she cannot get out of her head.

"I had a feeling it was not going to be a good outcome," Fant said.

The people in the parking lot started holding hands at that moment, she said, and started to pray.

"There was one police officer there," she said. "He prayed with us and it was a beautiful thing. It was a good moment."

The crowd continued to wait for word on shooting victims and Fant said she saw three discharged  two in wheelchairs and one walking on his own. She kept waiting. But at 9:30 a.m. it was time to go. No more news was coming.

"It was hard to leave," she said.
COLUMBIA  As new cases of COVID-19 in South Carolina top 1,000 daily, testing sites are rapidly expanding into every corner of the state.

In all, 170 fixed testing sites are operating in places such as pharmacies, hospitals and health care centers, and 42 mobile facilities are scheduled through Aug. 4  arranged as partnerships between the state, local health care providers and community groups. All of the mobile sites, and some of the permanent ones, offer tests that are free to the test-taker, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

With the state approaching a half-million completed tests and 19 percent of them on average coming back positive over the previous 14 days, getting more testing capability online sits at the top of DHECs priority list, officials said.

Since May, 443 free testing events have been held statewide.

The framework for DHECs testing strategy is laid out in an action plan developed in conjunction with the Medical University of South Carolina and the state hospital association, which echoed the new testing strategy DHEC announced May 6.

It outlines three target demographics when it comes to testing availability: congregate living facilities such as nursing homes and jails, minority and rural communities that lack access to medical care, and urban areas where transmission threats are elevated because of population density and access to social venues.

The plan also set a goal of testing at least 110,000 people every month  a goal the state has so far surpassed. Since the May 6 announcement, more than 360,000 tests have been conducted to determine whether someone is currently infected with the virus that has no vaccine.

That brings the total tests to nearly 440,000 since the first South Carolinians were diagnosed in early March. As of Monday, 46,247 residents statewide have tested positive for the coronavirus that has killed more than 800 of them.

How to find a test site

DHECs website is updated daily as testing events and locations are added. That includes systems that offer telehealth options, which is important as many sites work on an appointment-only basis. It also provides a breakdown of locations that charge a testing fee.

Starting Tuesday, mobile clinics will be open in Horry, Lexington, Oconee and Sumter counties. A full schedule including hours of operation and testing times can be found at DHECs website. All are free.

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How long will you have to wait for a test?

That varies. While there isnt an overall wait time calculation, certain locations may be busier than others depending on the time of day and staffing levels.

DHEC urges people to take along a drivers license or identification card. Since not all locations are coordinated by the state, officials encourage people to call ahead. Some events may also require referrals or insurance.

When will results come back?

In general, turnaround times have been between 24 and 48 hours from when a specimen arrives at DHECs public health laboratory to when its reported back to a provider. But as the testing mounts, a delay of up to two additional days could be possible.

But tests processed by private labs could have even longer backlogs, and they handle about three-fourths of all diagnostic COVID-19 testing, DHEC officials said.

We dont have the specifics for private labs as to whether this is due to an increase in testing, supply shortage or a combination of both, DHEC spokeswoman Laura Renwick said.

Are testing thresholds being met?

By the end of 2020, DHEC expects to report at least 695,000 tests, or roughly 13 percent of the states population. Officials anticipate at least 140,000 people will be tested monthly this summer. Between September and December, DHEC projects 165,000 tests a month.
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.

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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.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 81F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
In southwestern Japan, emergency crews are searching for survivors and assessing the damage after days of torrential rain.

The extreme weather has left dozens of people dead on the island of Kyushu. Weather officials are asking people to remain on alert for landslides and rivers bursting their banks.

In Oita Prefecture, a major river overflowed in the city of Hita. Rescuers are searching for a woman in her 70s after her home was washed away. Authorities say more flooding is expected in several cities along the river.

In Fukuoka, Self-Defense Forces personnel rescued hundreds of residents in the city of Omuta. They had been stranded for hours after houses and other buildings were flooded.

A woman said, "t was scary... the water was up to my neck."

Another woman said, "The water came up to my waist. I was using all of my strength to wade through, but was almost swept away."

Rescue crews in the city found an elderly woman in a submerged house. She was later confirmed dead.

But the worst-hit prefecture is Kumamoto, where more than 50 people have died.

Rivers have flooded in a dozen places. An embankment along the Kuma river has collapsed, and a bridge has been swept away.

Many train and express bus services have been suspended across the region.

Thousands of homes are without electricity.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched an all-out effort to reopen schools this fall, arguing that some are keeping schools closed not because of the coronavirus pandemic, but for political reasons against the will of families.

"We want to reopen the schools. Everybody wants it. The moms want it, the dads want it, the kids want it. It's time to do it," Trump said at a White House event. "We're very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools."

Trump did not immediately explain how he would pressure governors, but he repeated an earlier claim that Democrats want to keep schools closed for political reasons and not health reasons.

At a White House roundtable hosted by Trump, speaker after speaker addressed the need to get students back in the classroom, both for academic and mental health reasons. They minimized the risk of the spread of COVID-19 among children but acknowledged that it was important to protect the vulnerable.

In making its case, the Trump administration has argued that keeping students at home carries greater risks than any tied to the coronavirus. Health officials say students need to be in schools this fall to continue their educational development and to access meal programs and services for mental and behavioral health.

"Children's mental health and social development must be as much of a priority as physical health," first lady Melania Trump said at the roundtable. "The same is true for parents. Many will be forced to make stressful choices between caring for their children and going back to work."

Trump made his remarks hours after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos assailed plans by some local districts to offer in-person instruction only a few days a week and said schools must be "fully operational."

Anything less, she says, would fail students and taxpayers.

DeVos made the comments during a call with governors. Audio of the call was obtained by The Associated Press.

"Ultimately, it's not a matter of if schools need to open, it's a matter of how. School must reopen, they must be fully operational. And how that happens is best left to education and community leaders," DeVos told governors.

But some are calling for greater caution as schools plan for the fall. Arne Duncan, who served as Education Secretary under former President Barack Obama, has said the focus should be on making sure students can return safely.

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"We all want children to go back to school," Duncan said on Twitter. "The question is whether we care enough about our children to ALLOW them to go to school safely. Our behavior, our commitment to shared sacrifice  or our selfishness  will determine what happens this fall for kids."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out guidance for schools last month, including staggering schedules, spreading out desks, having meals in classrooms instead of the cafeteria, adding physical barriers between bathroom sinks and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.

In the call with governors, DeVos slammed districts that plan to offer in-person instruction only a few days a week. She called out Fairfax County Public Schools, which is asking families to decide between fully remote instruction or two days a week in the classroom.

"A choice of two days per week in the classroom is not a choice at all," DeVos said, contending that the district's distance learning last spring was a "disaster."

Her criticism of schools' distance education efforts extended across the country. DeVos said she was disappointed in schools that "didn't figure out how to serve students or who just gave up and didn't try." She said more than one state education chief told her that they also were disappointed in districts that did "next to nothing to serve their students."

The same thing can't happen again this fall, she said, urging governors to play a role in getting schools to reopen.

"Students across the country have already fallen behind. We need to make sure that they catch up," DeVos said. "It's expected that it will look different depending on where you are, but what's clear is that students and their families need more options."

At a later panel discussion Tuesday, DeVos acknowledged that outbreaks may temporarily disrupt in-person instruction, but she said schools should be expected to provide five days of classroom instruction a week.

Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the CDC, said schools can operate safely by taking basic safety precautions. He noted that COVID-19 cases tend to be milder in young people, adding that the greatest risk is transmission from children to more vulnerable populations.

"It's clear that the greater risk to our society is to have these schools close," Redfield said. "The CDC encourages all schools to do what they need to reopen, and to have plans that anticipate that COVID-19 cases will in fact occur."

The Trump administration has drawn on recent recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which says schools should aim to start the school year with students "physically present in school." Keeping students at home can lead to social isolation, the organization said, and prevent schools from identifying learning deficits, abuse, depression and other issues.
The personal protective gear that was in dangerously short supply during the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. is running low again as the virus resumes its rapid spread and the number of hospitalized patients climbs.

A national nursing union is concerned that gear has to be reused. A doctors association warns that physicians' offices are closed because they cannot get masks and other supplies. And Democratic members of Congress are pushing the Trump administration to devise a national strategy to acquire and distribute gear in anticipation of the crisis worsening into the fall.

"We're five months into this and there are still shortages of gowns, hair covers, shoe covers, masks, N95 masks," said Deborah Burger, president of National Nurses United, who cited results from a survey of the union's members. "They're being doled out, and we're still being told to reuse them."

When the crisis first exploded in March and April in hot spots such as New York City, the situation was so desperate that nurses turned plastic garbage bags into protective gowns. The lack of equipment forced states and hospitals to compete against each other, the federal government and other countries in desperate, expensive bidding wars.

In general, supplies of protective gear are more robust now, and many states and major hospital chains say they are in better shape. But medical professionals and some lawmakers have cast doubt on those improvements as shortages begin to reappear.

In other virus-related developments Tuesday:

Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, said he has tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus' severity. The 65-year-old populist confirmed the test results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in the capital of Brasilia.

Bolsonaro has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him, and that the virus would be nothing more than a "little flu" were he to contract it.

When it comes to PPE, Dr. Aisha Terry said that she has good access as an associate professor of emergency medicine at George Washington University in Washington, but some non-academic and rural health facilities have much less.

"I think overall, production, distribution and access has improved," Terry said. "But the fear is that we will become complacent" and allow supplies to dwindle in some places.

In a letter to Congress last week, the health department in DuPage County, Illinois, near Chicago, said all hospitals in the county are reusing protective gear "in ways that were not originally intended and are probably less safe than the optimal use of PPE."

The DuPage County department is a supplier of last resort that steps in when facilities have less than two weeks' worth of gear. As of Monday, it had only nine days of some supplies at the current request level. A rise in new infections could make the supply go much faster.

The American Medical Association wrote to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress calling for a coordinated national strategy to buy and allocate gear.

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Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, released a memo last week ahead of a congressional committee hearing that raised concerns about looming problems in the supply chain. Her report was based on interviews with unnamed employees at medical supply companies, one of whom warned that raw material for gowns is not available at any price in the amounts needed, leading to an "unsustainable" situation.

Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, who is in charge of coronavirus-related supplies for the White House, told Congress last week that more than than one-fourth of the states have less than a 30-day supply.

"It would seem like in less than 30 days, we're going to have a real crisis," said Rep. Bill Foster, an Illinois Democrat.

FEMA, one of the main federal agencies in charge of the coronavirus response, would not break down which states have enough gear to last beyond 30 days and which do not. It referred those questions to individual states. In June, the government started replenishing its once-depleted stockpile with the goal of building up a two-month supply.

As of June 10, FEMA had distributed or directed private companies to distribute more than 74 million N95 masks and 66 million pairs of gloves, along with other gear. The agency said it changed its distribution method to send more equipment to hot spots.

Although all U.S. states and territories have received some protective gear from FEMA, an Associated Press analysis of the agency's own data found that the amounts varied widely when measured by population and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The AP analysis found that low-population, mostly rural states received the largest FEMA allocations per confirmed case. As of mid-June, for example, Montana had received 1,125 items of protective gear per case, compared with 32 items per case in Massachusetts, an early hot spot. States including California, Iowa and Nebraska, all of which have seen a surge in confirmed infections, received among the lowest amounts of protective gear from FEMA per case, according to the AP analysis.

Many states say the federal supplies make up a small part of their stockpiles after they spent millions of dollars to acquire equipment on their own. FEMA told the AP that its initial distributions were made on a per-capita basis, but also said the agency has tried to accommodate individual requests from the states.

Concerns extend beyond the amount of gear. In New Hampshire, an association representing nursing homes said most items sent by FEMA in early June were unusable, including child-size gloves, surgical masks with ear loops that broke when stretched and isolation gowns with no arm openings.

A nonprofit group called #GetUsPPE was established in March by physicians to help distribute donated protective gear.

The group had a 200 percent increase in requests during the last two weeks of June from medical providers in Texas, a state with a big surge in confirmed virus cases. State officials there have said their supplies are adequate.

"We anticipated that we would need to be around for a few weeks until someone else stepped in and solved this problem," said Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Rhode Island Hospital who was among the group's founders. "Here we are, still getting hundreds of thousands of requests a week."
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 79F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low near 70F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
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.
Valerie Schmitz knew her husband, David, would be training late at night.

As a pilot at Shaw Air Force Base, he worked unusual hours. But around midnight July 1, Valerie Schmitz woke up to hear their dog, Toby, barking at the door. Someone was ringing the bell. Why didn't her husband just unlock it?

"I opened the door and in front of me I see members of his squadron and a chaplain," Valerie Schmitz wrote in a public Facebook post. "My heart sank to my stomach. The looks on their faces said it all."

Col. Larry Sullivan, commander of the 20th Fighter Wing, confirmed that 1st Lt. David Schmitz from the 77th Fighter Squadron died around 11:30 p.m. June 30 while flying.

According to base officials, Schmitz was conducting a routine training mission in a F-16CM Fighting Falcon when the aircraft crashed on base. He was the only person aboard.

"He gave 110 percent effort in everything he did," Valerie wrote. "He didnt want to be just good enough. He had to be the best and so he always strived for that."

Schmitz, a California native, got his pilot license at 17, Sullivan said.

After high school graduation, he attended Mesa College and enrolled in Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at San Diego State.

Prior to graduation, he enlisted as a loadmaster on C-17s and never gave up on his lifelong goal of flying for the United States Air Force as a pilot, Sullivan said.

Schmitz was a student pilot graduate from the 8th Fighter Squadrons F-16 Basic Course in December.

Shaw Air Force Base has seen a flurry of deaths since 2019. At least three airmen died from suicide and two died from complications after physical fitness testing last year.

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Additionally, training deaths are a nationwide epidemic in our country's military.

Five years after the start of operations in Afghanistan and three years after the invasion of Iraq, a total of 16,652 active-duty personnel and reservists died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.

Nearly 32 percent of those fatalities were connected to accidents. By comparison, 16 percent died in combat in that same time frame. The rest includes self-inflicted deaths, homicides, illness and injury.

Following the death of Conor McDowell last year, a Citadel graduate who was killed in a rollover accident while training at Camp Pendleton, the Government Accountability Office began conducting an audit of safety standards in the Army and Marines.

In the wake of these training deaths, military bases and the communities around them, try to honor these service members.

On the Fourth of July, two F-16 fighter jets flew behind a massive C-17 transport plane from Charleston Air Force Base.

The rear door of the massive transport opened and two soldiers displayed an American flag to the pilots behind them.

It was a small display, a quick remembrance of a pilot who wanted to see life from the heights of the sky.

During this extremely difficult time, the outpouring of love and support from our communities to his family and our base has been much appreciated, the base said in a statement. Thank you.

In Valerie Schmitz's neighborhood in Sumter, red ribbons have been placed on mailboxes and street signs to remember and honor David. She said that she's heartbroken, but she's grateful she got to capture a part of his life in her heart.

"I am so incredibly lucky that you chose me to love and spend the rest of your life with," Valerie Schmitz wrote on Facebook. "I will cherish you for the rest of my life."
Donald Sparks June 19 op-ed regarding what to do with retired monuments seems like a possible way forward.

He highlights an area in Budapest where he came upon a fenced lot full of monuments to notable former regimes or individuals that were out of favor or worse, yet they could be gathered together with interpretive signage.

Some no doubt celebrated detestable people or movements, but this last round-up kept them as cautionary tales and historical touchstones.

Meanings change over time. For instance, the Statue of Liberty was given by France to celebrate the freeing of the slaves. Later came Ellis Island and, later still, the profound Emma Lazarus poem. Less mentioned is the craftsmanship and artistry that make the Statue of Liberty especially grand.

Monuments to bad people could be relegated to an outdoor Monument City per professor Sparks insightful observation.

RALPH CHARLES MULDROW

Professor of Art and Architectural History and Historic Preservation

College of Charleston

Moultrie Street

Charleston

Antibody testing issue

I was pleased that a recent Post and Courier article reported that COVID-19 antibody testing provides no clear answers, and that questions about test reliability justifiably cast doubt on how to interpret a negative or positive result. I was disappointed that it associated blood donation with COVID-19 antibody testing.

In addition to ABO blood type, blood centers perform 12 FDA licensed tests on all donations to check for transfusion-transmitted diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, Chagas disease, West Nile virus, syphilis and Zika.

This is a comprehensive panel and could be used to promote blood donations. Nevertheless, blood centers have always been careful not to promote blood donations by advertising this testing.

Why? Because the safety of our blood supply is based on donors who are incentivized by altruism (i.e., saving lives), and not by a free blood test. Peer-reviewed reports confirm that motivated test seeking donors will withhold disqualifying information to assure they can donate.

For example, to ensure they wont be disqualified, a COVID-19 test seeker might not divulge information such as taking antibiotics or recent travel to malaria areas.

An honest health history is fundamental to the safety of the blood supply. I dont know what changed in the C suites of blood centers resulting in their use of COVID-19 testing to incentivize donors. This testing has no impact on the safety of blood.

I suggest blood centers stay in their lane and leave COVID-19 testing to public health experts.

DAVE MILLER

Red Sunset Lane

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Folly Beach

Rid ourselves of racism

I am an older white guy, having grown up in the Jim Crow era in Charleston.

Driving into work recently, I saw an African American gentleman jogging on Folly Road. Ive seen him before and know who he is. As usual, he looked up and made eye contact with me as I drove past.

A little farther down the road, I passed a white runner who was just staring at the ground; he gave me no notice.

I think this is a perfect example of lingering effects of racial disparity around here. I can jog without fear that somebody will run me down or throw something at me because Im white.

Its the same with bicyclists. The law says you are supposed to ride with traffic. But African Americans often dont; they want to see you coming.

I remember on a school bus where kids would throw things at African Americans as we passed. I still regret that I didnt say something then.

But now when I see something, I speak up because I am so sick and tired of this. Everyone needs to speak out and act to rid ourselves of the original sin of racism. Do your part: Be a human being.

RICK STRINGER

McDonough Road

Folly Beach

Do the right thing

In light of the fact that our elected representatives have decided theres no need to lead in the fight against COVID-19, it is obvious that we need to take care of ourselves.

The logical mandate to adhere to the recommendations of the scientific community  wearing face masks, social distancing, hand-washing, etc.  will not be coming from Washington, D.C., or Columbia; it will be our personal responsibility dictated by common sense, decency and respect for our fellow human beings.

We need to stop waiting on nonleaders to do the right thing. We must take matters into our own hands and make the recommendations of medical professionals our own mandate to protect ourselves and our communities.

PATRICIA BELLOCK

Colonial Chatsworth Circle

North Charleston
COLUMBIA  Seven highway projects intended to ease traffic congestion, improve safety and drive business opportunities across South Carolina received crucial approval Tuesday from the state's road-funding bank, with the biggest chunk going to improve bridges that are drivers' only way in and out of Hilton Head Island.

The board of the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank, which partners with local governments to fund large highway projects, approved spending $362 million toward the full cost.

That includes $120 million to replace and upgrade the U.S. 278 bridges to Hilton Head Island, $75 million to upgrade two interchanges off Interstate 77 in York County, $49 million to relieve traffic on Woodruff Road in Greenville County, $41 million for upgrading Main and Bohicket Roads in Charleston County and $21.5 million to complete drainage improvements along Septima Clark Parkway in Charleston.

The bank board also approved $56.2 million for the state's southern entranceway, to create a new Exit 3 off Interstate 95 in rural Jasper County. Half of that funding will be provided through a 15-year loan instead of a grant. It's the only project of the seven with such a split arrangement.

The board is the first of three approvals needed to secure funding through the bank.

The I-95 project is "really something we are excited about," said John White, who chairs the road-funding board. "This is the first exit entering into South Carolina. Exit 3 will be the opportunity for people entering into South Carolina to get a flavor of South Carolina."

The exit is expected to open access to thousands of acres and attract tens of thousands of jobs to the poverty-stricken area near the long-planned Jasper port, not expected to open until at least 2035. White thanked local officials for making an impassioned plea for the differences the project could make in residents' life.

"Ten to 15 years from now, people will look back and say, 'Those folks had some vision,'" White said. "Go forward with Godspeed."

The York County projects will upgrade Exits 82 and 85 off I-77, which funnel traffic to major business routes in Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Tega Cay that are especially clogged during commuting hours. Traffic backs onto the interstate in both directions as South Carolinians head to jobs in the Charlotte area and North Carolinians drive to businesses that have moved south of the border over the last decade.

"It will completely reconfigure them so traffic can get on and off the interstate," said House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, one of the bank board's two legislators. "This will mitigate that traffic and allow for easier flow."

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Beaufort County officials also pointed, literally, to significant congestion on U.S. 278 in successfully arguing for the $120 million to keep traffic flowing to South Carolina's 10th largest municipality.

"Even a modest accident creates real turmoil," Hilton Head Town Manager Stephen Riley told the board during Monday's presentation, pointing to a photo of bumper-to-bumper traffic. "There aren't shoulders or breakdown lanes. ... We're the only community of our size that has but one way on and off."

The bank board called the $362 million "phase one" funding, saying it hopes to approve a second round this fall, depending on the economy.

"To those with applications still pending, dont give up hope," White said. "We hope to have a phase two sooner than later."

Earlier this year, the bank expected to be able to dole out $650 million. But the pandemic-caused economic crisis is expected to shrink the bank's borrowing capacity by $160 million, to $490 million. The board decided to spend no more than 75 percent of that, in case the outlook gets even worse, White said.

Projects not approved include a $34 million request to help restore and elevate the Low Battery seawall in Charleston, which Mayor John Tecklenburg told the board Monday further deteriorates with each passing storm that sends feet of water onto Murray Boulevard.

At least one board member questioned whether the request meets the definition of being an eligible transportation project.

Under a 2017 state law that changed how projects are chosen, the seven given the nod Tuesday must also be approved by the state Department of Transportation's board, as well as a legislative committee that approves state borrowing.

But Tuesday's vote was critical. Funding also depends on the bank and local officials signing off on an official contract.
In October of 2019, a 54-year-old man was arrested in a parking lot in Nerima, Tokyo for having two revolvers in his possession. Possession of firearms is a relatively rare crime in Japan anyway, but this case was especially odd due to the fact that each gun was only about 7 centimeters (2.76 inches) long.

The police were tipped off by customs officials in a Kawasaki post office who noticed small amounts of gunpowder in a package from the USA that was addressed to the suspect. After being caught slightly red-handed, the man admitted to purchasing the puny pistols, claiming, aI had them for self-defense.a

It would seem that the reason charges are only being pressed now is that the police werenat clear whether these revolvers were technically weapons. But after investigating them, they were judged to have alethal force.a
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From April 2022, the age of majority, or the age one is considered a legal adult, in Japan will lower from 20 to 18.

While this leaves the status of important annual rituals such as coming-of-age ceremonies in limbo, the shift will allow younger people a wider range of privileges such as the ability to vote, own a passport, and apply for a credit card.

However, the implications of the shift will also reverberate in another important part of Japanese society: juvenile criminal law.

Recently, the Abe administration has entered a round of inner party discussions over amending a law protecting the privacy of juvenile criminals. In prior years, if the perpetrator of a serious crime was younger than the age of 20, their names as well as photos were censored from mass media. Given the governmentas push to lower the age of legal adulthood to 18, it comes to no surprise that the age threshold for withholding a criminalas name from the news will be lowered as well.

While whether or not one believes teenagers should be tried as adults is dependent on oneas views on child development and crime, the topic of privacy is an essential issue in Japan, considering how even taking photos of private roads is a finable offense. And depending on oneas own individual opinion for the treatment of criminals, the removal of name concealment for criminals aged 18 and 19 may seem either fair or unethical.
Janet Colliton, Esq. is a Certified Elder Law Attorney and limits her practice to elder law, retirement and estate planning, Medicaid, Medicare, life care and special needs at 790 East Market St., Suite 250, West Chester, Pa., 19382, 610-436-6674 Call via Mitel , colliton@collitonlaw.com. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and, with Jeffrey Jones, CSA, co-founder of Life Transition Services LLC, a service for families with long term care needs. Tune in on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. to radio WCHE 1520, 50+ Planning Ahead, with Janet Colliton, Colliton Elder Law Associates, and Phil McFadden, Home Instead Senior Care.
@montcocourtnews on Twitter

Carl Hessler Jr. is a multi-media reporter who writes about crime and justice from the Montgomery County Courthouse for 21st Century Media Newspapers Greater Philadelphia area publications. Follow Carl on Twitter: @MontcoCourtNews
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Evan Brandt has been a staff reporter for The Mercury for more than 20 years. He covers municipal, school district, political, state government, federal government and environmental news.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 22, 2020 Inga Fricke, Director of Community Initiatives at Humane Pennsylvania, carries a bag of pet food to a car while wearing a mask that looks like dog's mouth. At the Spike's Pet Pantry location in Douglassville where Humane Berks County was giving out pet food to people Wednesday afternoon April 22, 2020.
Daniel Horowitz writes:

Sadly, fireworks were not the only munitions shot over the July 4 weekend. Statues werent the only things felled by anarchists and criminals roaming free in the streets. This weekend was a bloody one across the country, with endless shootings in Americas cities, including New York City, which was considered the safest American city for a generation. Once again, African-American victims, including a number of young children, paid the price while the anarchy was excused and even legitimized by the media and politicians.

Horowitz provides details that back up these statements.

Hes right to highlight New York City. Shootings there soared by 205 percent in June, making it the citys bloodiest month since 1996. The increase corresponds to the disbanding of New Yorks anti-crime unit of plainclothes cops.

And what about Atlanta? At least 93 people were shot in that city between May 31  about the time when the George Floyd protests began  and June 27. Thats roughly double the number from the same span a year ago.

Then came July 4th. That night alone, 23 people were shot and wounded. One of the victims was an eight year-old girl. She died.

Georgias governor, Brian Kemp, has declared a state of emergency. This will enable him to bring in up to 1,000 national guard troops. The idea is for these troops to protect state buildings, such as the Georgia State Capitol, Georgia Department of Public Safety Headquarters, and Governors Mansion, while local law enforcement concentrates on policing communities.

Unfortunately, with police morale at or near rock bottom in Atlanta, its questionable whether officers will engage in the kind of policing needed to stem the runaway violence.

For years, we have been warning against the double whammy of (1) pulling back from proactive policing and (2) allowing criminals back on the streets before they complete their sentences (or sentencing them too leniently in the first place). Proactive policing and stiff sentencing played a key role in dramatically reducing violent crime in the last years of the 20th century and the first decade-plus of this one. Now, successful attacks on both practices are bringing back to bad old days of unsafe streets and high murder rates.

And, as in the bad old days, Blacks are the victims, to a frightfully disproportionate degree.

UPDATE: Bill Otis has more at Crime & Consequences. He notes that in the 36 largest cities in the country, murder is up more than 20 percent in the first half of 2020 over the same period last year.
The short answer is: I hope so. One way or another, 2024 will be a vitally important election. If President Trump is re-elected, as I think he probably will be, the presidency will be open in 2024. If Trump loses, a senile Joe Biden will be ripe for the plucking in 2024, assuming he is still alive and functioning by then.

It isnt too early to think about the Republican ticket four years from now. Its no secret that I would like to see Tom Cotton running for the presidency, but we have other excellent potential candidates, like Marco Rubio, to name just one. And in the V-P slot, or possibly the presidency, my favorite choice is South Dakotas Kristi Noem.

Noem grew up on a farm near my home town. She served four terms in Congress as South Dakotas lone representative in the House, and then returned to her home state to run for Governor. In her first term, she faced the COVID issue and pursued a course different from almost all other governors: she went on television and said that Americans are free people, not subject to arbitrary orders from politicians. Whats more, South Dakotans are smart. They are better qualified to look after their own health than government can ever be. Therefore, she said, her administration would compile data, constantly put out information, issue recommendations based on the best knowledge available. But she would not order anyone to do anything. Freedom, she said, works.

In a sane world, that makes sense. But it caused the roof to fall in. The Washington Post, the Associated Press, and the entire phalanx of left-wing media denounced Noem for refusing to toe the line of liberal, dictatorial orthodoxy. I wrote about the Posts pathetically stupid smear here.

In short, I would like to see Governor Noem on the GOPs national ticket in 2024. Cotton/Noem would be the solidest ticket since the days of Calvin Coolidge. Or, who knows, maybe its Noem/Cotton.

If you want to get an up-close look at one of Americas hottest conservative politicians, I will interview her live, for free on Zoom, on Wednesday, day after tomorrow, at noon Central time, sponsored by Center of the American Experiment. I will ask her about her freedom-based response to the COVID epidemic, about her experience last Friday at Mount Rushmore with President Trump, and about the Democrats threats to destroy that famous monument. To which she has responded unequivocally:

Not on my watch. https://t.co/U6gGap5Ib6  Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) June 23, 2020



It will be a fun conversation with a woman who may become a major figure in national politics over the next few years. I certainly hope so. To register for Wednesdays event (for free), go here.

We have more than 1,500 people signed up for Wednesdays program. I would love to add another 1,000 Power Line readers.
Yes, no matter what

Yes, but it depends on variety

No, for medical reasons, uncertainty

No, principle

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Infectious disease experts are feeling a sense of distrust with Prime Minister Shinzo Abeas response to the COVID-19 epidemic, amid signs that the disease is beginning to spread again.

Concerns have risen because the Prime Ministeras Office has frequently ignored expert advice on the disease as he grew impatient over the uncontrollable crisis.

aWeave wona

On May 22, days before the government fully lifted a state of emergency over the pandemic, Abe and members of his Cabinet waited for information on new infection cases in Tokyo. When they learned that Tokyo marked only three new cases that day, health minister Katsunobu Kato said to Abe, aWeave won.a

aWe havenat seen the results from neighboring constituencies,a Abe replied, urging Kato to wait for numbers to arrive from the prefectures around Tokyo. But he signaled a sense of relief over the low infection numbers in the capital, as they indicated that economic activity could resume in the country.

Since the nation reported its first coronavirus case in mid-January, the prime minister has grappled with the conflicting goals of containing the virus and maintaining economic activity.

Infectious disease experts, believing coronavirus prevention to be of the highest importance, had called for lockdowns. Meanwhile, those close to Abe were consistently skeptical of powerful measures, fearing potential damage to the economy.

The prime minister initially prioritized coronavirus prevention measures, declaring a state of emergency over some parts of the country on April 7. He expanded the measure nationwide on April 16.

The transition to the nationwide state of emergency was triggered mainly by fears of an uncontrollable spike in the number of coronavirus cases.

Abe, however, shifted to putting priority on the economy once it became clear that the pandemic was causing severe economic damage.
A Nigerian LGBTQ right advocate, Pamela Adie, is set to release the first-ever gay movie in Nigeria titled Ife.

The story revolves around two lesbian partners, Ife and Adaora, who fell in love and struggled through the challenges of being in a same-sex relationship in Nigeria.

The movie directed by Uyai Ikpe-Etim is set to change the narrative and the representation of LGBT (Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) in Nollywood.

The story

The producer, Pamela Adie, told PREMIUM TIMES that the portrayal of same-sex relations in Nollywood is not the reality of everybody and their stories, especially lesbians, need to be told.

We only see stories about LGBT people that condemn us, to say that we are people to be beaten, sometimes even killed. That is the kind of narrative that we get from Nollywood but that is not the reality. We are human beings too, just like everybody else.

The idea was just to show that we are normal people who fall in love, who have their hearts broken, who break hearts, who have troubles, who triumph. We also aim to increase the visibility of the community, to tell the lesbian story too and to drive social acceptance, she said.

Ms Adie said that creating the project was easy for her and she had enough hands who were ready to work for her on the gay movie.

She said, We didnt really struggle to find actresses to play the roles. One of them already knew we wanted her to work for us, the other one was found through a call for an actor. We sent out an invitation for auditions and we added in our call what exactly we were looking for. She came for the audition and we were impressed.

For the crew, most of the heads of department were people that I already knew and I have been building a relationship with for a long time. They are people that understand my vision, where I am going with the movie. It was just a matter of a phone call or a personal message to say, hey its time to make that movie that I talked about.

DoP Speaks

The projects Director of Photography, Oluseyi Asurf, also spoke to this newspaper about his perspective of the storyline and why he took the job of producing a gay movie in a conservative society such as Nigeria.

Mr Asurf said he didnt think about rejecting the job because he had once produced an LGBT (gay) short movie, Hell or High Waters.

I think every story is worth being heard. It is my job as a storyteller, this is what I do. These are stories of real people, I know a few people that live like that with these challenges. I feel like their stories need to be heard. When I got this script, I felt really excited about it, he said.

Talking about the probable acceptance of the movie, Mr Asurf said people often judge Nigerians before they actually react to things and their reactions cannot be gauged before something happens.

When I was trying to make Hell or High Waters, there were some blocks like casting, it was difficult to get people who were difficult to play the roles but I eventually got someone.

When we finished, it felt like things were going to happen but nothing did. Nigerians are also humans. The day you remove the homophobic law that we have in Nigeria, you will realise how much of LGBT people we have in this country, he said.

He added that when his gay movie finally came out, it was pitched across different film festivals outside the country and it got great feedback.

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Acceptance

The Same-Sex Prohibition Act, signed into law in 2014, prohibits marriage or public show of same-sex amorous relationship. Defaulters are liable to serve a jail term ranging between 10  14 years.

Ms Adie said the movie is going to be released regardless of the belief of Nigerians who do not accept same-sex relationships. She said the movie has received massive approval from Nigerians since it was unveiled a week ago.

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We are not really concerned about people who dont like it. If you dont like it, dont like it, there is nothing we can do about that. When we released the poster a week ago, the reception we got was just amazing. People have been calling us about it.

We are not worried about any backlash. I mean, some people may not like it, not everybody will like what you like and thats okay, she said.

Release

The trailer of the movie will be out on Wednesday, July 15. The release date is undecided.

The producer told this newspaper that the movie is not going to be released on YouTube or any indigenous streaming platform.

Its not going to be on YouTube, we are building our own platform where people can pay to watch movies like an on-demand streaming platform. Maybe if Netflix decides to show it after a year of release, why not? For now, we dont plan to release it on any other site.

I intend to make more films that centre on stories about LGBTQ people, particularly Nigerian lesbian, bisexual, and queer women, she said.
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Nollywood actress, Lala Akindoju, has berated the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) after it shared a video showing its members visit to actress Regina Daniels who recently welcomed a baby.

The guild members who had gone to visit the new mum bearing gifts also christened her baby Nollywood baby of the year.

Ms Akindoju who was apparently not happy with the gesture took to her Twitter page to express her dissatisfaction, describing the move as shameful.

She wrote, 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. 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!

AGN Reacts

Actress Monalisa Chida-Coker, who is the AGN director of communication, said though the guild would not want to exchange words with Akindoju who is a non-member, it is important to clear the air on the issue.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Ms. Chinda-Coker explained why it was essential for the guild to make the courtesy visit to their member who just became a mother, describing Ms Akindojus comments as repugnant and uninformed.

The 46-year-old actress wrote that registering with the guild attracts special privileges, which include protection in their professional quests, welfare packages in their moments of need, a celebration of their triumphs and many more.

She added that it became important for the guild to visit the new mother because of the positions her husband and mother hold in the guild and that she broke the news of her delivery to them specially.

It is expedient to add that visiting Mrs Nwoko was not just ordinary but significant for us because beyond holding the leadership of our noble Guild in the highest esteem, she also reached out to us to break the good news upon delivery of her bouncing baby boy.

It is also pertinent to note that Mrs Nwokos Mother, Rita Daniel, is the able Vice President, South-South, in the current executive council of the Guild. Her husband, Rt. Hon. Prince Ned Nwoko is the current Chairman, National Board of Patrons of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, she said.

This is not the first time the guild will be tackled on administrative issues in recent times.

Earlier in the year, veteran actress, Hilda Dokubo, criticised them over the appointment of the controversial senator, Elisha Abbo, as one of the patrons of the guild.+98

Mr Abbo made the headlines in July 2019 after PREMIUM TIMES exclusively published a video of him physically assaulting a woman at a sex toy shop. He was later charged to court for the attack.

Protesting his appointment as a patron of the actors guild, Dokubo described the lawmaker as a sore thumb sticking out of the list of other patrons.
The UK government has released the statement below announcing sanctions on 25 Russians, 20 Saudis, two high-ranking Myanmar military generals and two North Korean organisations over different human rights abuses.

Details of the sanctions were contained in a statement by the British High Commission in Nigeria Tuesday morning.

The 25 Russians were sanctioned for their involvement in the mistreatment and death of auditor Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered widespread Russian corruption by a group of Russian tax and police officials while the 20 Saudi nationals were involved in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A total of 49 individuals and organisations were sanctioned.

Read the full statement below.

UK ANNOUNCES FIRST SANCTIONS UNDER NEW GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS REGIME

The new Magnitsky-style sanctions regime will target those who have been involved in some of the gravest human rights violations and abuses around the world

Forty-nine individuals and organisations involved in some of the most notorious human rights violations and abuses in recent years have been designated for sanctions under a powerful new regime established today by the UK, the Foreign Secretary has announced.

The individuals and organisations are the first wave of designations under the new regime, with further sanctions expected in the coming months.

From today, the ground-breaking global regime means the UK has new powers to stop those involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the country, channelling money through UK banks, or profiting from our economy.

The measures will target individuals and organisations, rather than nations.

It is the first time that the UK has sanctioned people or entities for human rights violations and abuses under a UK-only regime, and will allow the UK to work independently with allies such as the US, Canada, Australia and the European Union.

The UKs first wave of sanctions under this new regime targeted:

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

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20 Saudi nationals involved in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Two high-ranking Myanmar military generals involved in the systematic and brutal violence against the Rohingya people and other ethnic minorities

Two organisations involved in the forced labour, torture and murder that takes place in North Koreas gulags

Underlining the UKs position as a global force for good, this new regime showcases our commitment to the rules-based international system and to standing up for victims of human rights violations and abuses around the world.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, said:

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Today were designating 49 people and organisations for responsibility in some the worst human rights abuses in recent memory.

This is a demonstration of Global Britains commitment to acting as a force for good in the world.

Following his announcement in Parliament, the Foreign Secretary will meet with Sergei Magnitskys widow and son Natalia and Nikita, along with his friend and colleague Bill Browder, at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

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.

The suite of measures can also 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.

The UK will continue to utilise a range of tools to tackle serious human rights violations and abuses around the world, including the UN and EU multilateral sanctions regimes.

 The Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 is secondary legislation laid under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018

 As specified in the legislation, the Global Human Rights Sanctions 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.

 You can find a link to the legislation here.

 You can find the full list of designations here. Below you will find profiles of 12 high profile people designated.
More details have emerged on how Ibrahim Magu, acting EFCC chairman, was whisked away by security agents earlier today.

PREMIUM TIMES reported Mr Magus arrest on Monday afternoon at the Wuse II office of the EFCC.

Multiple sources told this newspaper that the security agents who arrested Mr Magu took him directly to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he was to appear before a presidential panel investigating alleged corruption and insurbordination.

The allegations were levelled 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.

In separate statements today, the SSS denied arresting Mr Magu while the EFCC said he was only invited for questioning.

Mr Magu was still in custody at the time of this report.

How the arrest took place

Sources familiar with the matter narrated to PREMIUM TIMES how Mr Magu was picked up.

He was reportedly arrested at the entrance of the Wuse II EFCC office by the security agents believed to be operatives of the Police Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CID).

One of the sources said the arrest was done in a Gestapo-like manner reminiscent of the SSS raid of the National Assembly in 2018.

A source said the EFCC bosss convoy was stopped by armed security agents but Mr Magus security details challenged them.

The incident led to a shouting match between the armed operatives from both groups for several minutes, the source said.

Magu and his convoy were driving to the EFCCs office in Wuse II. Unknown to Magu, the security agents had laid siege around the entrance of the commission office. As his convoy tried to gain entrance to the EFCCs building, the security agents blocked him with one of their vehicles.

With the type of vehicle that was used, it was clear that they were not criminals but security agents. Magus escorts then came out to challenge the security agents. That led to some shouting match for several minutes. Magu then agreed that he would go with them, a witness and security official said.

Another official said although the security agencies came with two official vehicles, they allowed Magu to stay in his own car on conditions that one of the security agents sits with him.

He was then driven away to the presidential panel afterwards, the witness said.

It was still Magus driver that drove the car (with Magu inside) with one officer, and one of the security agents that came to arrest him. The first security car that came for him was in front, the second was at the back of Magus car and his own convoy joined up to the Presidential Villa, the source added.

Magus unending troubles

Mr Magu, who was appointed as acting chief of the anti-graft agency in 2015 by President Muhammad Buhari was rejected twice by the 8th Assembly under the leadership of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

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This was after the SSS said the nominee lacked the integrity to lead the countrys anti-corruption agency.

The presidency has balked at resending Mr Maguss name for screening since then.
Amidst the rising cases of coronavirus across the country, more than 30 healthcare workers attached to two of the Lagos State isolation centres have been disengaged.

The affected workers who were part of the first set of volunteers at the infectious disease hospital (IDH), Yaba, and those drafted to the Onikan isolation centre, include medical doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

While the details of those disengaged health workers at the IDH are still sketchy as of the time of filing this report, those from the Onikan isolation centre include eight doctors, 12 nurses and two pharmacists.

However, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that three of the disengaged officials, comprising two nurses and a pharmacist, have tested positive for coronavirus. They are currently on admission at the isolation centre located at Agidingbi area of Lagos, where infected healthcare workers are being managed.

Many frontline health workers across the various isolation centres in the state have not received their remuneration in the last two months, sources said.

Investigations revealed that the affected officials were simply asked to exit the centre on June 30, after three months of engagement.

At the Onikan isolation centre, the affected workers were told to vacate the centre by their team lead, identified simply as Dr Adeshola, reportedly without any official communication from the government.

A state official, in a reaction on Monday, promised to look into the concerns raised by the disengaged staff.

Workers kick

Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that the healthcare workers were axed without any assurance they would undergo self quarantine before reuniting with their families

According to an official of one of the isolation centres, who asked not to be named, the team lead at Onikan centre was initially reluctant to break the news to the affected officials because he found the process inappropriate.

Isolation centre at Landmark, Oniru, Lagos State [PHOTO CREDIT: @jidesanwoolu]

One of the health workers told our reporter on the phone that: By June ending, we were told we would be leaving on June 30. Dr Adeshola could not show us any official document apart from a text message he claimed to have received from the COVID-19 task force team in the state.

On June 30 when we were supposed to pull out, alongside other colleagues in the system, we held a meeting with our team lead and complained bitterly about how we were being disengaged. There and then we insisted on being tested and the need for us to observe the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

The results of their coronavirus tests revealed that three of them were found to be positive, this newspaper learnt.

The infected colleagues cried when the results came. Mind you, they did not cry because they got infected, they cried because after three months of taking big risks, all that the state could do was to throw them out like a discarded item. So while the three positive cases were moved to the isolation centre in Agidigbi, the others were asked to vacate our hotel in Ikeja and should report back to their places of their primary assignments without two-month pay, another frontline worker, who is yet to be disengaged, said.

Meanwhile, when asked by the reporter for his comment on the development, the team lead said as a civil servant he was not authorised to speak to the media.

You know I am an employee of the government, I cannot talk to you. Thank you, Mr Adeshola said.

Used and dumped

The affected workers have condemned what they termed disappointing manner of their disengagement, saying they were simply used and dumped by the government.

According to one of them who is a medical doctor working at one of the states general hospitals, everything about the coronavirus management and frontline workers welfare in Lagos State has been shrouded in secrecy.

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According to the source, till the time of his disengagement, no one was sure of the exact amount to be paid and when to be paid.

The doctor said; For instance, the doctors who started the COVID-19 work at the IDH in Yaba as the pioneer responders received N675,000 each while the nurses received N480,000 each. But for us as the first set of volunteers who were drafted to open Onikan centre in April, our first pay came after six weeks and doctors received N574,000 while nurses received N380,000.

The payment for April was made in May, and since then we have received no penny apart from accommodation and feeding. What we learnt was that the initial payment was simply to encourage other volunteers and the gimmick worked. Many of our colleagues who were initially reluctant to volunteer soon began to lobby to be posted to isolation centres when they heard of the money involved, and the fact that none of us reported dead.

Another frontline worker, who was part of the public presentation of dummy insurance certificate presentations to healthcare workers by the government at a press briefing, said none of them could claim to have signed any document or knows anything about the insurance.

The whole thing is just fluke. How could you register me for insurance and I would not have the details? In fact, those who were publicly presented with certificates for photo showoff were asked to return the certificates and since then we have not heard anything. Everything is just to hoodwink the public. But it is unfortunate, the healthcare worker told our reporter.

PREMIUM TIMES recently reported how Nigerian health workers lamented their poor welfare conditions.

Medical Guild, NANNM kick

The chairman of the Medical Guild in Lagos, a body of medical doctors in the employ of Lagos State Government, Oluwajimi Sodipo, who confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES, said his group has proposed an acceptable terms of agreement to the government.

He also said the guild will follow up its implementation to the letter. He said the precedence set by the federal government by allegedly failing to observe her own part of the agreement would not be accepted in Lagos State.

He said; Well, as a medical guild, our position is that there should be an agreement with those working at the isolation centres and the government, such that people can have ideas of what their expectations are in terms of remuneration, support systems, and even their terms of engagement and possible disengagements. We cannot be in a position where people can be engaged and disengaged at will, because it will affect their morale.

Also speaking on the alleged opaque nature of the insurance scheme, Mr Sodipo said it would be good if the state could explain details of the insurance packages, alleging conflicting reports on the matter.

Some say it involves what is called morbidity and mortality insurance. But others have said that it is only when deaths are recorded among them that they can be covered. But again it is not very clear except they have documents explaining these details. These are important so that those who want to volunteer would do so with full disclosure while those not willing to do will not be forced to do so. This is because for everyone who volunteers they have other things that they are doing. It is a call to service but it is still a choice, he added.

In a similar development, the leadership of the states chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has said it would not tolerate the abuse of its members.

In a telephone interview with our reporter, the chairman of the union, Blessing Israel, said unavailability of the personal protective equipment (PPE) at various hospitals and some isolation centres in the state, have forced the healthcare workers to reuse items such as masks.

We are being taken for granted and we will not take it. As of June 20, a total of 480 nurses were already exposed and 90 confirmed positive with one death and 16 discharged. In all these, we are still being subjected to avoidable hardships. That is unacceptable, and if these things are not resolved soon, we will not hesitate to withdraw our members from isolation centres, she said.

Well pay this week Govt.

Meanwhile, the state government has acknowledged the challenges and pledged that all owed allowances will be paid before the week runs out. It also commented on the workers who had been withdrawn (sacked).

Speaking on the phone with our reporter, the states commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotosho, said the delay in the payment was not unconnected with the observations raised by the healthcare workers associations on the terms of agreement.

Mr Omotosho, who reiterated the commitment of the Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu-led administration to the welfare of the healthcare workers, said the state is doing its best to protect its residents.

He said: The governor who is the incident commander in the state has always shown his support for both health and education, and that is reflected in the states budget even before the COVID-19 hit us. And on the frontline workers, the governor has shown leadership by mobilising support for our heroes on the frontline. I think you know that his wife is a medical personnel, so how would he not demonstrate his love for them.

In my own capacity, I have also been visiting these centres and the healthcare workers have been appreciating us. They are in a good mood. But in the case of those who were withdrawn (sacked) I think you know that even in war, to reinvigorate forces, new men are posted while others are withdrawn to relate with their families.

The commissioner promised to look into the concerns raised by the disengaged staff.
The embattled acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, spent the night in police custody on the orders of a presidential panel probing alleged infractions against him.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Magu was arrested in front of the EFCC office in Abuja by security officials on Monday.

He was taken to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he appeared before a presidential panel investigating alleged corruption and insubordination.

The allegations of insubordination and relooting of recovered funds were levelled against him by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

In separate statements Monday, the SSS denied arresting the anti-graft chief while the EFCC said Mr Magu was only invited for questioning.

Similarly, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption has also described Mr Magu as a victim of power play in the presidency.

Detained

Security and family sources informed PREMIUM TIMES Mr Magu was not allowed to go back home because the panel ordered his detention.

The EFCC official was grilled for several hours by members of the panel in the presence of an EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo.

When the panel rose for the day, it decided to send Mr Magu to Area 10 Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the police, sources said. He spent the night there, in police custody.

This newspaper learnt that several options of sanctions against Mr Magu were being weighed, pending the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari.

They are planning to take him to court, PREMIUM TIMES was told Monday afternoon by a source who asked not to be named because he lacked the authority to speak officially

Another source at the presidency said there is a lobby group advocating for a soft-landing for Mr Magu, a police commissioner.

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According to this power bloc, disgracing Mr Magu will leave a dent on the EFCC and the governments fight against corruption, the source said.

You cannot claim successes in the fight against corruption and turn around to say the man leading the war is a corrupt, immoral person. That is part of the argument of Mr Magus sympathisers, said the source late on Monday.

Power struggle, unending crisis

Multiple sources have also said the ongoing investigations into the activities of the EFCC is majorly a battle between the AGF and the EFCC boss.

The alleged originating Malami memo, up to the current arrest  seems an outcome of power-play by power blocs in the corridors of power in which Malami appears to be an arrow-head or major agent of a power bloc that is not really interested in, or in support of, Buharis anti-corruption fight, Femi Odekunle, a member of the presidential advisory committee against corruption (PACAC), wrote in a statement Monday night.

Other sources, who asked not to be mentioned, accused the AGF of using insiders at the commission to sponsor media attacks against Mr Magu.

PREMIUM TIMES is yet to independently verify these allegations.

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However, Mr Malami has never been in support of Mr Magu for the EFCC top job. Both men have constantly played a cat and mouse game despite holding sensitive roles in the Buhari administration, especially in the fight against corruption.

Mr Magu, who was appointed acting chief of the anti-graft agency in 2015 by President Muhammad Buhari, was rejected twice by the 8th Assembly under the leadership of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

This was after the SSS, allegedly in collaboration with Mr Malami, said the nominee lacked the integrity to lead the countrys anti-corruption agency.

The presidency has baulked at resending Mr Maguss name for screening since then.
About 24 days after Nigerias index case of coronavirus, an Italian national, was confirmed on February 28, the West African country recorded its first fatality from the virus.

The victim, a former Managing Director of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Suleiman Achimugu, died on March 23 after showing symptoms of the virus following his return to the country from the United Kingdom, his family said.

The death which was reported widely on local media sparked fears resulting in panic buying of cleaning products and eventually the lockdown of Abuja and Lagos a week later on March 30 for 14 days initially.

Since then, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded more than 28,000 infections resulting in over 600 deaths.

Asides health workers and ordinary Nigerians, the virus has left in its wake prominent casualties who could hardly get the burial rites they would have been accorded in normal times.

But many Nigerians have continued to gloat that COVID-19 death victims  aside from the few public figures  have remained largely unannounced beyond the daily statistics on the NCDC dashboard.

They described the governments inability to put a face on those who succumbed to the contagion as a lack of transparency.

Beyond Numbers

However, it is more than just numbers on the NCDC dashboard for the families of the deceased. For them, life, as it were, will never be the same. The crude reality has been a mix of tears and unforgettable memories of their lost ones.

PREMIUM TIMES understands that putting faces to those who died of COVID-19 would raise the consciousness of everyone that the daily cases and fatalities are more than mere statistics.

This, we believe may help clear the disbelief about COVID-19, a rare strain of the coronavirus which has infected over 11 million globally causing over 500, 000 deaths.

In this series, PREMIUM TIMES will be profiling, as many as possible, Nigerians who died from coronavirus complications.

Culled from news reports, obituaries, the social media, friends and families of the deceased, this first part brings the profile of five prominent Nigerians who died after contracting the virus.

1. Suleiman Achimugu

Suleiman Achimugu is a former Managing Director of PPMC, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) subsidiary in charge of petroleum products marketing and distribution.

Mr Achimugus family said he died on March 23 after showing symptoms of the virus following his return to the country from the United Kingdom.

He is Nigerias first fatality.

The NCDC said the victim had underlying medical conditions  multiple myeloma and diabetes  and was undergoing chemotherapy before returning to Nigeria.

According to the World Health Organisation, patients with diabetes may be at extra risk for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) mortality.

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In a phone interview with Channels TV, Abubakar Achimugu, a family member of the deceased, said Mr Achimugu was on self-isolation for two weeks after his return, following the advisory by the WHO.

When he got back on March 10, his temperature was okay that he could still take extra precaution by self-isolation for 14 days. That was exactly what he did, he said

But after a week in isolation, he started experiencing unusual symptoms similar to those publicised on COVID-19, he added.

The late Achimugu was said to have informed the NCDC personally of his conditions after which he was immediately taken to the COVID-19 centre in Abuja where he tested positive.

He was experiencing symptoms that were alien to him. After the tests, a day after, the results were made available which came out positive, which was on Saturday.

Then they arranged that he be evacuated to the COVID-19 centre in Abuja, his brother said.

Mr Achimugu was buried according to Islamic rites on Sunday, six days after he tested positive to the virus.

2. Abba Kyari

On April 17, Nigerian presidents powerful Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari , succumbed to coronavirus at 69, becoming the most popular COVID-19 fatality in West Africa as of then.

His burial the following day at the military cemetery in Gudu in Abuja drew immediate backlash from Nigerians because senior government officials who attended the event did not adhere to health advisories and safety protocols against COVID-19.

Mr Kyari amassed more power than any previous chief of staff in Nigeria. Many who wish to deal with Mr Buhari had to go through Mr Kyari, including Nigerias top politicians and business owners.

He acted forcefully as a crucial gatekeeper to the presidency, President Muhammadu Buhari said of one of his closest allies, calling him a loyal friend in a tribute.

About a week before he tested positive for the virus, he was in Germany meeting with energy officials at Siemens on a deal to restore Nigerias electricity grid.

He was transferred from the capital Abuja to Lagos for medical care where he was confirmed dead.

Mr. Buhari, who was re-elected last year in his tribute to late Kyari, described the 67-year-old as a true Nigerian patriot My loyal friend and compatriot for the last 42 years. The two had met when Mr Kyari was in his 20s.

There are those who said of him that he must be secretive  because he did not have a high public profile. But Abba was the opposite: he simply had no need, nor did he seek, the cheap gratification of the crowd; for him, there was nothing to be found in popular adulation.

Mr Kyari rarely responded to criticisms in public.

The late official was survived by his wife, Kulu Kyari, and four children.

3. Abiola Ajimobi

Abiola Ajimobi, a two-term governor in Nigerias southwestern Oyo State died from underlying health conditions after contracting coronavirus.

He passed away in Lagos at the age of 70 on June 25. His death had been dispelled by the family a week before when his situation reportedly worsened and reports were rife that he had died.

His spokesperson, Bolaji Tunji, initially debunked the rumours which came at a period when Mr Ajimobi was asked to take up the position of acting chairman of the embattled All Progressives Congress (APC). His appointment was marred with controversies which eventually ended in the dissolution of the APC National Working Committee.

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Those familiar with how the former Oyo State governor contracted COVID-19 which triggered his underlying health conditions, claimed it started with a journey he never knew would be his last,

After he was named the APC Deputy National Chairman amid the controversy that followed, a call came that he had to make a very important journey to Abuja, where a meeting had been slated.

A prominent chieftain of the party from his part of the country would later volunteer his private jet for the emergency trip, since the regular commercial flights were no longer for the asking as a result of the lockdown.

Although unconfirmed reports had it that he might have been infected on that flight, it is still unclear how the septuagenarian contracted the contagion.

I still cant wrap my head around what happened. He was so healthy, he was neat, he took all the necessary precautions even while he sat with us in our open office he was always with his face mask, we always observe social distancing, Bolaji Tunji, the late Ajimobis aide, penned in a tribute for his late boss revealing how the politician made a journey of no-return from Ibadan to Abuja.

We were always quick to give him hands sanitiser any time he touched something

We had three spots where you had to wash hands before entering the premises. One at each of the main entrance gates and another by the entrance to our office. We observed all due protocols. So what happened? How did it happen? None of us was sick. So where did this come from? I am still trying to find answers, he wrote.

Mr Ajimobi was born on December 16, 1949, in Oyo State, South-west Nigeria.

He served as senator before his election as Oyo governor in 2011. In 2015, he became the first Oyo State governor to win re-election.

He was married to Florence. They have five children.

4. Wahab Adegbenro

The Ondo State commissioner of health, Wahab Adegbenro, died from COVID-19 complications on July 2 at the states infectious disease hospital.

He died two days after handing the positive test result of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to him. Many who spoke about the late Adegbenro said he was one of the most hard-working cabinet members of the state government.

Before venturing into politics, he ran his hospital in the state where he provided inexpensive healthcare, sometimes free, to many residents, thus earning a good reputation.

His popularity reflected in how hundreds of Ondo residents thronged his burial, a day after his death.

His principal, Mr Akeredolu, in a video said the state lost a dependable ally with fatherly mayhem. It is my fervent believe that he would be remembered for his official endeavour.

5. Bayo Osinowo

Before his death, Mr Osinowo was a senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District. He passed away on June 15 at the age of 64.

His death came at a time when he urged the public to be mindful of the deadly virus.

In a condolence message signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Lagos Governor, Gboyega Akosile, the governor said he was saddened by the death of the Lagos senator, but assured that the government will find a lasting solution to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While eulogising Mr Osinowos legacy, Mr Sanwo-Olu urged Nigerians to use his death as a reminder that the battle against the ravaging coronavirus pandemic is far from being won.
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A Nigeria army captain attached to the 353 Artillery Regiment, Ojo, Lagos, has been shot dead by men suspected to be armed bandits or kidnappers, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

GSM Abubakar, with army number N/13600, was traveling in his Honda Accord car on Sunday when he ran into a blockade mounted by the armed men along the notorious Okene -Lokoja highway, those familiar with the matter said.

Mr Abubakar, our sources said, was traveling from Lagos to the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, to participate in this years junior officers course.

He was in the company of his wife and mother when the incident happened.

The men opened fire on the officer who was dressed in mufti, killing him instantly. They then abducted his wife and mother.

Other officers traveling in other cars behind Captain Mohammed narrowly escaped the attack. They maneuvred their ways and sped away from the scene.

The officers remains have since been moved to the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, while the army has launched an operation to rescue his wife and mother.

A day before the incident that claimed Mr Abubakar, another group of criminals in Port Harcourt abducted M. Yohanna, a lieutenant attached to the military police detachment of the Army Sixth Division.

Ms Yohanna, army insiders said, was kidnapped at the GRA area of Port Harcourt and is yet to be seen.

The officer, with army number N/18288F, was a member of the 51 regular intake of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Her coursemates say they are praying for Gods intervention in her case.

Army spokesperson, Sagir Musa, could not be reached to comment for this story.

He did not answer or return calls made to his known telephone number.

A source close to him said he is away from Abuja for a key military operation in the North-West of Nigeria.

Nigerian army officers have their hands full fighting terrorism in the Northeast, banditry and cattle rustling in the northwest and kidnappings in the northcentral, southwest, southeast. and southsouth.

From time to time, they too become casualties of these criminal activities.
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The Ondo State House of Assembly has commenced impeachment proceedings against the deputy governor of the state, Agboola Ajayi, over alleged gross misconduct.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the assembly is currently in a rowdy session with armed police officers and officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps present at the complex in Akure.

Already, 14 lawmakers have supported the impeachment of Mr Ajayi, one of the lawmakers who did not want his name on print told our correspondent.

This newspaper on Monday reported that the deputy governor had dragged the House of Assembly to court over rhe planned impeachment.

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.

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.

UPDATE:

PREMIUM TIMES has just learnt that at least nine members of the Ondo State House of Assembly have dissociated themselves from the impeachment.

The members in a joint letter to the speaker, Bamidele Oleyelogun, on Tuesday said they did not support the impeachment and would not want to be associated with it.

The nine members are Iroju Ogundeji, Jamiu Suleiman, Rasheed Elegbeleye, Tomide Akinrinbido, Samuel Ademola, Favour Tomemowo, Festus Akingbaso, Adewale Williams and Torhukerhijo Success.

According to the letter, the members said we the underlisted elected Honourable members of the 9th session of the Ondo State House of Assembly hereby append our signatures to clarify that we have resolved not to partake in the impeachment process of the Ondo State, Deputy-Governor, H. E. Alfred Agboola Ajayi.

In view of the above, we hereby bring it he notice of Mr Speaker, Rt. Hon. Bamidele David Oleyelogun, the entire Honourable members of the Ondo State House of Assembly and the general public that we do not support the impeachment process and would not want to be associated with it based on personal conviction.
On the time to be spent with the new protocol, the minister said: The experience is quite nice, but it takes a bit of time which is why you will need to be at the airport three hours before your departure time for local flights. For international flights, we may do five hours.
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Ibrahim Magu has been suspended from office as the acting-chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Mr Magu was suspended on Tuesday by the Buhari administration amidst allegations of gross misconduct, two senior EFCC officials familiar with the development told PREMIUM TIMES.

The suspension was also confirmed by top officials at the presidency.

The officials, who spoke under anonymity because the matter was still developing and the memo conveying it was yet to be circulated to Mr Magu and other concerned parties, said the next most-senior EFCC official next to Mr Magu was asked to take charge.

But there are concerns that the next official, Ola Olukoyede, the agencys secretary, has no background as an operative.

This raises the possibility of Mohammed Abba, director of operations, being allowed to take charge because of his background as an operative.

Efforts to reach presidential spokespersons, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina, on the suspension have not been successful.

Mr Magu was recently accused of corruption, insubordination and abuse of office by Attorney-General Abubakar Malami.

Stemming from Mr Malamis allegations, Mr Magu was arrested on Monday morning by a police team outside his office in Abuja.

He was driven to the Presidential Villa where he appeared before a panel investigating the allegations against him.

After his appearance before the panel, he was taken into custody by the police, where he was held overnight by detectives.

Mr Magu has been leading the anti-graft agency in acting capacity since 2016, overseeing scores of high-profile corruption cases that have seen many politicians and businessmen convicted and sentenced to prison.

He strongly denied wrongdoing, with his aides arguing that he has run the office diligently and away from sharp practices.

Details shortly
A Nigerian professor, Cyril Otoikhian, has challenged the Nigerian government and other scientists working on COVID-19 to prove the existence of the virus in the country.

The professor of genetics at the Novena University, Delta State, in a Monday morning programme on Channels TV, shocked his interviewers when he argued that the virus does not exist as there has been no known evidence to prove its existence.

Mr Otoikhian claimed there was secrecy surrounding the diagnosis of the disease in the country. He said that suggested that the disease does not exist.

He claimed the controversy in Cross River State, where the government claimed for a prolonged period that there were no COVID-19 cases within its territory, was expected as the federal government has not been open in its handling of the pandemic.

There have been lots of unscientific claims about the existence of COVID-19 in Nigeria and elsewhere.

After he recovered from the disease, the founder of DAAR Communications, owners of African Independent Television and Raypower FM, Raymond Dokpesi, said the disease was not much different from malaria.

But because Mr Otoikhian is a scientist and researcher, his claim appeared to have shocked his interviewers and this reporter sensed utter disbelief in their eyes as the professor responded to questions.

The lecturer remained unconvinced that the COVID-19 exists despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirming it as the infectious disease ravaging the world.

The virus and the disease it caused were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

COVID-19 is now a pandemic, affecting many countries around the world. The disease has infected close to 12 million people and killed 541, 086 of them.

Nigeria as of Monday recorded over 29, 000 confirmed cases and 654 deaths.

Prof Otoikhans theory of COVID-19 non-existence

Despite the increasing figures of confirmed cases and deaths related to the disease, the professor of genetics claimed the virus is not real.

Why cant they bring whatever they are doing indoors, outside? Mr Otoikhian said. You say that it is real, then show it to use that it is real. If you bring it outside, then we set a flat table and all the scientists are there, the reagents and the camera is before everybody.

Then lets see what COVID-19 is, whether it exists. I have asked severally, let them bring somebody that is positive to COVID-19 and someone that died from COVID-19, carry out an autopsy on the dead body, show me exactly what you are calling COVID-19 inside the body or the positive person of COVID-19.

He said the developed world (is) already owning up to the truth about COVID-19. He did not elaborate on who and who has owned up on the non-existence of COVID-19.

Mr Otoikhian said everything about COVID-19 indicates it is not real at all.

He argued that the disease does not exist because if after all analysis being done, and COVID-19 is a virus and the first recommendation in the term of the treatment came from somebody who is not a medical doctor, who recommended chloroquine.

Counterclaim

Countering the claims that COVID-19 is not real, a virologist, Akayala Ishaku, who also spoke on the programme, said aside from the fact that WHO has declared the virus an international pandemic, evidence from samples and deaths of prominent people in the country has established that the virus is real.

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He also argued that the number of global deaths, especially in Europe and the US, points to the fact that the disease does exist.

Mr Ishaku said science is about facts and bringing facts together to get results.

Science is not mythology or extrapolations, or heresy, he said. What you have to do is bring the facts on the table. COVID-19 is real. It has been established that it is a viral infection and the first outbreak was in 2019, in Wuhan China.

It has also been established that bats are the reservoir for the virus and that the virus undergoes certain mutations and then transmitted to humans and has been established that there is human to human transmission.

If anybody claims within the faculty of knowledge that COVID-19 is not real, then he should tell us what is real. If in the palace of knowledge, you are not agreeing with a pre-positions or postulation, then you must come up with your own postulation.

Then you must come up with your postulation and bring up empirical evidence to establish what they feel is COVID-19 or not, he said.

Mr Ishaku argued that over 700 journals including the Lancet medical journal and Nature established that there is COVID-19.

He also said that in Nigeria, the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), at the Redeemers University, Ede, Osun State, headed by Christian Happi, a professor, has done some genomics studies establishing that COVID-19 is real in Nigeria.

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He said that the study established the disease is real and that Nigeria has over 20 clusters of the virus in the country.

If COVID-19 is not real, do you think that the world will close down airports and lose billions of dollars? he said.

Mr Ishaku said claims such as the one being pushed by Professor Otoikhian have exposed the vulnerability in our communication system and thereby throwing up the issue of trust in the system.

Not much is known about Professor Otoikhians education, research works and how he grew to become a professor.

He does not have an online profile, including on the website of Novena University where he teaches. When his name was plugged into Google Scholar, no scholarly publication came up.

When Mr Ishaku called attention to Mr Otoikhians lack of articles on journals, the professor claimed those who do not like him may have deleted his publications from the Internet.

WATCH VIDEO OF INTERVIEW BELOW
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The federal government has released 7,813 inmates from the Nigeria Correctional Service centres across the country since the outbreak of COVID-19 to curb the spread of the virus among inmates.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at an event to celebrate the achievement of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Service Reform and Decongestion, since its inception in October 2017.

Mr Malami said the measure was taken to reduce risk of inmates contracting the virus.

The Committee, since its inauguration, has visited and appraised about 39 prisons in 18 states and has released a total of 7,813.

It is pertinent to note the inadequacy of Nigerias correctional facilities, which are currently operating at more than 150 per cent of their capacity.

There is an ongoing construction of 3000-capacity maximum security custodial centres in Karshi, Abuja and in Janguza, Kano State, he added.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic has posed its own peculiar challenges in light of the worrisome and dilapidated state of the correctional centres nationwide.

As part of measures to decongest the custodial centres nationwide in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the dangers posed to the centres, my office, the Ministry of Interior in collaboration with Presidential Committee on Correctional Service and Decongestion, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy and State Executives and Other relevant stakeholders were galvanised to develop measures to overcome the challenges.

The initiatives we adopted have so far led to the release of the inmates while simultaneously reducing the instances of unnecessary test and we intend to sustain this momentum.

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The Chairman of the committee and Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Bello, said that during the visits to the correctional centres nationwide, a number of facilities were discovered to be in dire need of urgent rehabilitation.

We made recommendations as a matter of urgency to the relevant authorities for the renovation/construction of these facilities.

He said the committee, after a review of cases of inmates eligible for Prerogative of Mercy and condemned convicts on death row for over 10 years, has been writing letters of appeal to state governments to act on some special cases and to exercise their powers of clemency in deserving cases or commute to life sentence those condemned to death. (NAN)
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The minister of state for labour and employment, Festus Keyamo, has written a joint committee of the National Assembly in anticipation of his appearance before the committee to defend the 774,000-job recruitment exercise billed for October.

At his first coming a week ago, the minister sparred with the lawmakers when he rejected the move to hold the briefing behind closed doors.

He accused the lawmakers of planning to hijack the exercise, despite getting 15 per cent of the 774,000 job slots reserved for the lawmakers.

A day later, in a joint statement by both Houses of the National Assembly, called for a halt to the recruitment exercise until its modalities were explained to the lawmakers, while also inviting the labour minister, Chris Ngige.

Following the joint committees, Mr Keyamo, in a letter he wrote Monday, said he has obliged to appear before it on Tuesday, saying he was writing beforehand to to avoid a situation where any attempt to fully express myself during the session or to call in aid provisions of the law and the constitution as the basis of some of my actions so far may be misinterpreted as an affront to the joint committee.

I would rather express those thoughts here and keep a dignified silence if some of those issues become points of contention again, Vanguard quoted him saying in the letter.

Therefore, my writing in advance will absolve me of any accusation of impertinence as I most respectfully regret to say that I would be unable to say anything outside of these submissions in any closed-door session, he added.

He further maintained that the section 88 of the constitution that empowers the National Assembly to expose corruption, inefficiency and waste, means the plans for the Programme should be publicized.

Exposure, to my mind, will require a public inquiry, not a private one if we must keep strictly to the provisions of the constitution, he wrote, suggesting the hearing should be done before the cameras.

The 774,000 jobs

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.

Mr Keyamo said that the programme is expected to pay modest stipends for itinerant workers, who would undertake road rehabilitation and social housing construction, urban and rural sanitation, health extension and other critical services.

He added that of the sum appropriated, N46.44 billion was earmarked for the actual payment of the stipends to those to be engaged in the exercise, who will be paid through BVN.

At the end of the exercise, each beneficiary would have been paid N60,000 for services rendered, he noted.

The balance of N5.56 billion is for the purchase of tools and light equipment, the transportation, storage and security of this equipment in all the 774 LGAs in the country, he added in his letter.

That is approximately the sum of N7.183 million per LGA for the three-month period. The procurement of these items can only be done by the National Directorate of Employment, complying with strict procurement guidelines in the Public Procurement Act.

The minister said if properly informed and given the full rights of fair hearing (including giving me the opportunity to confront any witness) as provided for in section 36 of the 1999 constitution before reaching a decision that may affect my civil rights or obligations, he would clarify the grey areas before the committee.

It is only a full investigative hearing that can lead to your exposing corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution of any government programme. An interactive session cannot lead to such since that is not within the contemplation of Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution.
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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has condemned what it called the arbitrary arrest of the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, by security agents in Abuja.

The group expressed concerns that the arrest was the outcome of power-play at the highest levels of government.

PREMIUM TIMES reported Mr Magus arrest Monday afternoon at the Wuse II office of the EFCC in Abuja.

He is reportedly still in police custody on the orders of a presidential panel investigating allegations of corruption and insubordination levelled against him by the Attorney-General of the Federation. Abubakar Malami.

Sources told this newspaper that the security agents took him directly to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he is to appear before the panel sitting at the Banquet Hall of the villa.

In a statement on Monday, 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.

The State Security Service (SSS, also called DSS) also denied arresting the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency, EFCC.

However, in a statement by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, on Tuesday, SERAP urged for a fair trial of Mr Magu.

The statement reads in part:

The reported statement by a member of PACAC seems to suggest that Magus arrest may be politically motivated and aim to undermine the independence and freedom of action of the EFCC. If true, this would make a mockery of Buharis oft-repeated commitment to fight grand corruption and the impunity of perpetrators, which is fuelling widespread and systemic corruption in the country.

SERAP urges the authorities to afford Magu his constitutionally and internationally guaranteed fair trial rights. Magu must either be charged with a recognizable criminal offence or released immediately and allowed to do his job without fear of reprisals.

Nigerian authorities cannot continue to keep Magu in detention under suspicious circumstances without bringing any legitimate charges against him in violation of national and international law.

Nigerian authorities must support the independence and freedom of action of anti-corruption agencies and institutions if they are to be able to genuinely fight grand corruption, which has for many years turned public service for many into a kind of criminal enterprise.

Nigerian authorities should focus on addressing the impact of corruption such as political violence, and denial of access for millions of Nigerians to even the most basic health and education services, as well as other patterns of human rights violations.

Improving the independence of anti-corruption agencies and institutions is the most promising way to make tangible progress in the fight against corruption now and in the near future.

Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights to which Nigeria is a state party guarantee to everyone the right to liberty and security of person, and that no one should be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.

Similarly, Section 35(1) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) guarantees to every person the right to personal liberty and that no person should be arbitrarily deprived of such liberty.
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Nine of the 26-member Ondo State House of Assembly have dissociated themselves from the planned impeachment of the states Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi.

The lawmakers are Iroju Ogundeji, Jamiu Maito, Rasheed Elegbeleye, Tomide Akinribido, Samuel Ademola, Favour Tomomewo, Festus Akingbaso, Adewale Adewinle, and Torhukerhijo.

A letter dated July 7 and addressed to the Speaker of the House, David Oleyelogun, bore the signatures of the nine members cutting across the three senatorial districts of the state.

We the underlisted elected honourable members of the 9th session of the Ondo State House of Assembly hereby append our signatures to clarify that we have resolved not to partake in the impeachment process of the Ondo State Deputy Governor, H.E. Hon. Alfred Agboola Ajayi, the letter stated.

In view of the above, we hereby bring to the notice of Mr Speaker, Rt Hon. Bamidele David Oleyelogun, the entire Honourable members of the Ondo State House of Assembly and the general public that we dont not support the impeachment process and would not want to be associated with it based on personal convictions.

The letter followed a notice of impeachment signed by 14 of the lawmakers earlier on Tuesday, signalling the commencement of the process of impeachment of the deputy governor.

The constitution requires one-third of the members of the house of Assembly, that is nine members, to move a motion for impeachment.

However, it requires the consent of two-thirds of the 26 members, which is 18 members, to impeach the deputy governor.

A member of the House, Mr Akinribido, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on the development, said the group of nine was determined to ensure the impeachment process fails.

He said despite the uncertainty of politics, the nine members were convinced that the deputy governor has not done anything wrong deserving his impeachment.

The deputy governor has only exercised his constitution right of freedom of association, by defecting to another political party, said Mr Akinribido.

Our position, as we stated in the letter, is based on our personal conviction, and that remains our stand.

As far as we are concerned, the impeachment process is dead on arrival, Mr Akinribido said.

The deputy governor has been at conflict with the governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, with his focus on his governorship ambition.

He had since been listed as one of the aspirants vying for the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, and he is apparently one of the leading aspirants in his new party.
The Nigerian government has cautioned authorities and health officials in Kogi and Cross River States against playing politics with the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that such is capable of thwarting the national response against the contagion.

There should be no politics in responding to a disease that is as infectious as COVID-19, Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said during Mondays Presidential Task Force (PTF) press briefing.

We want to remove this disease from the realm of politics and religion, he noted.

The COVID-19 situation in both states has been enmeshed in controversies, accusations, and counter-accusations between the governments and federal health authorities.

The governments have continued to claim that their states are COVID-19 free despite being surrounded by states with confirmed cases, alleging that there is a plot to ensure they record cases.

Meanwhile, health authorities and federal officials believe the governments are discouraging tests for people with symptoms of COVID-19.

Authorities in Kogi rejected the two index cases of coronavirus reported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for the state late in May.

The Cross River government on the hand dismissed an internal hospital memo revealing how five cases of coronavirus were found in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) as a desperate attempt by mischief makers to ensure that the state records a case of COVID-19.

Cross River

On Monday, the NCDC finally confirmed five cases of COVID-19 in Cross River.

During the PTF briefing on the same day, the health minister said, A strong 17-man team of the Federal Ministry of Health, led by the Executive Director of National Primary Health Development Agency, left Abuja for Calabar this morning to engage with the Cross River State government in setting up their COVID-19 response and aligning it with the national response.

This is coming barely a day after doctors in the South-South state downed tools, demanding explanations from the NCDC on why the five confirmed cases from the UCTH were not reflected in its daily update of COVID-19 last week.

This was relayed in a letter addressed to Mr Ehanire by the state chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Agam Ayuk, on Sunday.

The association demanded that a vote of no confidence be passed on the Commissioner for Health, Betta Edu, over her handling of COVID-19 testing in the state.

We want to face this disease and the threat to the country. We know at one time that the health workers complained of not seeing progress in the states response, hence they embarked on strike. Some reasons were over payments, equipments, PPE and so on. The first response of the government is to make sure everyone has the PPE they need and pay as agreed, the health minister explained.

Also training, instructions and if possible your targets and that should solve the problem and take the entire COVID-19 response away from politics.

The official said agencies and many departments of the Ministry of Health, like NCDC, Hospital Services, Family Health, are represented in the delegation going to the state, to ensure the appropriate technical handshake between Federal and State service delivery pillars and also ensure that the disruption of routine medical services, which has been observed in many States, is minimized or eliminated.

We have also called on the NMA to suspend their strike action and receive the Ministrys delegation. At the request of His Excellency the Governor of Cross Rivers, a senior Immigration officer is on Board to study the border challenges with Cameroon, as well as a Port Health officer to assess risks posed by sea travelers arriving ports particularly from neighboring Central African countries of Congo, Gabon, Cameroon Angola etc.

Kogi

In May, a similar delegation comprising officials of NCDC and the Department of Hospital Services of the Federal Ministry of Health earlier sent to Kogi had to flee the North-Central state for fear of being quarantined by the Kogi State Government.

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The NMA chapter in the state had expressed concern over the stance of the Kogi government, warning that the consequences of not testing people for the COVID-19 may be too enormous to deal with.

With regards to the situation in Kogi, Mr Ehanire said arrangements are underway to beef up security at Federal Medical Center (FMC) Lokoja for the protection of staff and patients.

The Federal government will do all it can to attend to the needs of the citizens, while we seek ways to engage the State authorities, he noted.

COVID-19, the pneumonia-like disease, has infected more than 28, 000 people in Nigeria and claimed over 600 lives.

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, an accountant, has repeatedly described the deadly disease as a hoax.

In a video posted on his Facebook page on March 25 which went viral, he said Ninety per cent of the noise about COVID-19 is for political, economic, financial [or] material gain. The other 10% [relates to] ordinary flu, like the common colds Nigerians generally suffer.

On May 7, while the health commissioner of Kogi State, Saka Haruna, was claiming that false information was being circulated that the state already had COVID-19 cases, Benue State on its eastern border was recording its first cases.

Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade, who has a doctorate in environmental microbiology, also questioned the need for social distancing, saying that masks are sufficient protection.

You dont need social distancing when you are properly protected because for your mucal glands that secretes the mucus and the mucins already form a network of coats to attack the virus, he said in a video that went viral on social media on April 9.
The Senate on Tuesday passed the bill on sexual harassment in tertiary institutions after reading it for the third time.

The bill titled: A Bill for an Act to prevent, prohibit and redress Sexual Harassment of students in tertiary educational institutions and for matters concerned therewith, 2019, was sponsored by the Deputy Senate President,. Ovie Omo-Agege, and 106 other senators.

The passage of the bill followed the consideration of the report of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters  which was in charge of reviewing the bill and organising a public hearing on the legislation.

The bill

The bill was reintroduced in the Senate on October 9 and scaled second reading on November 6.

The bill, with 25 clauses, seeks to promote and protect ethical standards in tertiary institutions. It also seeks to protect students against sexual harassment as well as prevent sexual harassment of students by educators in tertiary institutions.

The bill also proposes up to 14 years jail term for offenders.

PREMIUM TIMES reported in detail the provisions of the bill.

The bill was reintroduced to the Senate two days after a BBC documentary exposed two lecturers of the University of Lagos, and a lecturer of the University of Ghana for sexual harassment. The documentary sparked reactions from many Nigerians who described the issue as a norm in Nigerian universities.

During the public hearing, lecturers, students, academic bodies and civil organisations raised concerns and proposed amendments to the bill.

One of such was the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Biodun Ogunyemi, who described the legislation as biased.

He said the bill will stigmatise lecturers in universities.

The passage

In his presentation, chairman of the committee, Bamidele Opeyemi, said sexual harassment has been made an offence by removing mutual consent as a defence in prosecution of sexual harassment cases in tertiary educational institutions.

The bill, he said, seeks to maintain the relationship that exists between educators and students with the aim of making tertiary institutions conducive centres of learning.

This bill seeks to tame the hydra-headed monster in the name of sexual harassment which has become a pandemic in our tertiary institutions.

The Senate, thereafter, resolved into the Committee of the Whole to consider and pass the bill.

In his remark, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the bill is an important and landmark legislation that the ninth Senate has passed.

We have to protect our daughters, sisters, mothers from sexual predators. From the recommendations, we wanted a fair means of offence that somebody is accused of.

We want tertiary institutions to be safe and peaceful learning environment for everyone, he said.

The bill will be transmitted to the House of Representatives for concurrence and then sent to the president for assent.

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The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has apologised to the National Assembly joint committee on labour following a clash between lawmakers and Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment.

The two sides were involved in a war of words last week over the planned employment of 774,000 Nigerians by the government.

This happened 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.

Mr Keyamo accused the lawmakers of wanting to sabotage the recruitment process despite receiving 15 per cent jobs slots.

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), according to the lawmakers, is meant to implement the recruitment under a special works programme.

They had accused Mr Keyamo of hijacking the programme from the NDE. The minister hit back, saying they were the ones trying to take over the project.

The committee later 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 invite Mr Ngige and other relevant officials of the ministry to brief the joint committee on the modalities for the implementation of the programme.

The minister appeared before members of the committee and the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Ngige said he regretted what happened last week.

We regret what has happened. I apologise on behalf of the ministry and I hope that the apology will be taken. I therefore ask that you forgive and forget and we start on a new page, he said .

Mr Ngige also noted that Mr Keyamo has prepared a position paper on how the programme would be implemented but nothing is sacrosanct there, we can still discuss.

Festus Keyamo [PHOTO CREDIT: Festus Keyamo on Facebook]

But in his response, Mr Lawan insisted that the committee was right to ask for details on how the programme will be implemented. He said all actions taken by the ministry on the planned employment are null and void.

The NDE was asked to implement this programme because they have the capacity to do so. Only the NDE can undertake this task. The money is supposed to be domiciled with them.

Your job is to supervise the NDE. We have the mandate to perform oversight. We stand by our committee, they were right to ask those questions. All previous actions taken before now are null and void. You need to go and start afresh.

You will have our support if the ministry does not go into it, he said.

Shortly after, both ministers and other delegates went into another meeting with the joint committee.

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At this point, the chairman of the committee, Godiya Akwashiki, noted that all activities including the inauguration of the 20-man committee, remains suspended.

The ministers were asked to return and report back with their plan on Monday.

We are not opposing the programme. Go back, get your work plan and report back on Monday, Mr Akwashiki said.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has described the controversy surrounding the planned employment of 774,000 Nigerians as an attempt by the National Assembly to bypass him in the implementation of the project.

He said this shortly after the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, apologised to the National Assembly joint committee on Labour following a clash between lawmakers and Mr Keyamo over the planned recruitment.

Fifty-two billion naira has been allocated for the Special Public Works Programme in the 2020 budget. It is aimed at employing 774,000 citizens, a thousand from each of the 774 local government areas in the country.

Mr Keyamo accused the lawmakers of wanting to sabotage the recruitment process despite receiving 15 per cent jobs slots.

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), according to the lawmakers, is meant to implement the recruitment under a special works programme.

They had accused Mr Keyamo of hijacking the programme from the NDE. The minister hit back, saying they were the ones trying to take over the project.

The committee later 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 invite Mr Ngige and other relevant officials of the ministry to brief the joint committee on the modalities for the implementation of the programme.

Mr Ngige appeared before members of the committee and the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, at the National Assembly on Tuesday and tendered an apology.

However, addressing journalists after the meeting, Mr Keyamo said the programme cannot be implemented without his approval according to the NDE Act.

First of all, may I say that this distinguished National Assembly, I believe that they are the lawmakers and they desire to comply strictly with the provisions of the law. Now it is important that all of you read the National Directorate of Employment Act. You can see that the whole struggle today has been how to bypass me in the execution of this programme and Im sure that you all saw that, he said.

Now with the provisions of the law, how they are going to do that, I dont know, I have to go back to my principal which is the president of the federal republic of Nigeria to give directives. By section 3 of the NDE Act, I am the chairman of the board. The minister is the chairman of the board of the NDE.

When you say go back and bring a plan, you are still coming back to me. Secondly, if you look at section 15 of the NDE Act, it said the minister may give directives of a general nature to the NDE. In other words, you cannot have a work plan without coming back to the minister.

He said by virtue of his appointment as minister, the president gave a directive in October last year asking him to go and supervise generally the activity of the NDE.

I dont see how you will supervise an agency and they go ahead without approval, the bulk must stop at a table.

Beyond the general mandate the president gave, the president also specifically instructed me by memo in May this year for me to go and supervise the execution of this project. How can you supervise a project without your final approval. That approval lies on my table, he said.

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Section 16(1) of the NDE Act, by instruction of the president, an inter-ministerial committee has already been proposed  which we accepted  that the committee must drive the selection process. Section 16(1) said the minister shall constitute committees for the NDE. The director-general of the NDE has no such powers to constitute committees under the law, he explained.

So when you say go back and bring a plan, are you asking the DG to go and break the law? Are you saying the DG should disobey the president? Are you saying the DG should disobey his immediate boss which is his minister?

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I will go back to the president for directives. The directives as to execution of a project is not binding on me. The directives of the national assembly are not binding on me. This is an issue that will go to the attorney-general at the end of the day for interpretation.

Both ministers and other delegates are expected to appear before the committee on Monday to show their work plan as well as discuss ways forward.
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Ramon Abbas, the Dubai-based Nigerian arrested last month for alleged Internet fraud, has secured the service of a top criminal defence attorney in Chicago.

Court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES showed Mr Abbas on Monday retained Gal Pissetzky, a senior partner at Chicago law firm Pissetzky & Berliner, to help extricate him from multi-million dollar fraud charges levelled against him by American authorities.

Mr Abbas, an Instagram sensation widely known as Hushpuppi, was arrested alongside dozens of his alleged co-conspirators following an overnight raid of his apartments in Dubai on June 10. Emirati police and prosecutors said about N16 billion was found in cash out of an estimated N168 billion online scams linked to the syndicate.

Following initial tussle over his custody between Nigeria and the United States, Mr Abbas was ultimately handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) on July 2. He arrived in the U.S. on July 3 and made an initial court appearance in Chicago.

Although American prosecutors said Mr Abbas would still be transferred to Los Angeles in the coming weeks, he has decided to hire a top lawyer in Chicago to guide him through the process of transfer to Los Angeles.

Mr Pissetzky made the first appearance on behalf of Mr Abbas at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on July 6, documents showed.

Mr Pissetzky was called to the bar in 2002 and has practiced in Chicago since 2002. His firms website said he has been retained in high-profile cases and also widely recognised by major American media outlets as a legal consultant on serious criminal matters.

Already, court hearings have commenced for Mr Abbas to be removed from Chicago to Los Angeles where he was indicted on June 25 and a warrant issued for his arrest.

ATTORNEY APPEARANCE FORM

NOTIFICATION OF DOCKET ENTRY

Mr Abbas has successfully argued for an adjournment of his removal hearing from July 7 to July 13, according to court documents.

The removal process appeared to have made it difficult for Mr Abbas to enter a plea, several days after he arrived on American soil. His plea may not be taken and he may not be entitled to bail until his matter is transferred to Los Angeles for proper prosecution.

RAMON OLORUNWA ABBAS, aka Ray Hushpuppi, [PHOTO CREDIT: Official Instagram account of Hushpuppi]

Mr Pissetzky would likely counsel Mr Abbas through the removal process in Chicago, but it was unclear whether or not he would follow the suspect to Los Angeles. The attorney was not available for comments when PREMIUM TIMES reached his office on Tuesday.
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A combined team of riot policemen and operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) are currently searching the residence of Ibrahim Magu, the suspended boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

A source close to the presidential panel set up to investigate Mr Magu said operatives were detailed to conduct searches at Mr Magus private home in Karu and his official residence in the Maitama District of the Nigerian capital.

A family source who asked not to be mentioned informed this newspaper that Mr Magu is still with the presidential panel.

As I speak with you our men are on their way to Maitama, having finished with his house in Karu, the source said.

A domestic staff at the residence confirmed the presence of the security men as of 7:30 pm.

He said the security operatives arrived in four vehicles and spent over an hour searching the house.

They searched the house but found nothing so they wrote a report and both of us signed, said a security guard in the house who was not authorised to speak.

Mr Magu was suspended on Tuesday by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration amidst allegations of gross misconduct, two senior EFCC officials familiar with the development told PREMIUM TIMES.

The suspension was also confirmed by top officials at the presidency

According to sources at the Presidency, the next most-senior EFCC official next to Mr Magu was asked to take charge.

Presidential spokespersons, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina are yet to comment on the development, after series of calls and text messages sent to their known telephone numbers.

Mr Magu was arrested in front of the EFCC office in Abuja by security officials on Monday, over allegations of corruption, insubordination and abuse of office by Attorney-General Abubakar Malami.

Abubakar Malami [Source  Abubakar Malami on facebook]

He was driven to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he appeared before a presidential panel investigating alleged corruption and insubordination.

After his appearance before the panel, he was taken into custody by the police, where he was held overnight by detectives.
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The Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Ibrahim Gambari, has met with the presidential probe panel investigating allegations of gross misconduct against the suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the agenda of the meeting between Mr Gambari and members of the panel headed by retired Justice Ayo Salami was unknown at the time of filing this report.

Sources had earlier confirmed that Mr Magu was on Tuesday afternoon suspended from office following the ongoing investigation by the presidential panel.

According to the sources, the suspension is meant to allow for probe into allegations against him.

Mr Magu, who appeared before the panel on Monday and Tuesday, has been given two days to present his defence lawyers.

The source had earlier maintained that the ongoing interrogation of Mr Magu is to clear him of weighty allegations leveled against him.

The source also stated that the probe of the anti-graft boss was an affirmation that nobody under the present administration is above scrutiny.

According to the source, the Buhari administration will not prejudge anyone because it can be counted on to uphold justice and fairness.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how security operatives raided the two Abuja homes of the embattled official on Tuesday.
GROMYKO AMEDU SOLICITORS

148 Acre Lane Brixton London SW2 5UT

Tel: +44(0)208 678 8996 / Fax: +44(0)208 678 0664

PRESS STATEMENT

The Many Lies of the Milan Prosecutor

We are Solicitors to Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Federal Republic of Nigeria (hereafter called Our Client) and we issue this statement on his firm instructions. Our clients attention has been drawn to the cocktail of lies dished out to a Milan court on Thursday, the 2nd of July, 2020, by Dr Sergio Spadaro, the Deputy Milan Prosecutor, in the ongoing criminal trial of Shell and ENI over their acquisition of OPL 245, originally granted to Malabu Oil and Gas Limited. Although, our client is not on trial in Italy, it would appear the Italian prosecutors, in their bid to get Shell and ENI convicted, no longer have any regard for the truth and are ready to destroy anyone just to achieve their aim. Unfortunately, they have picked the wrong victim in him.

In his submissions to the court, Spadaro said, among several misrepresentations and mischief, that a property valued at N700 million was sold to our client by Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, owner of Carlin International Nigeria Ltd, for N500 million. He also 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.

In the first place, the property in question, which is located at No. 271, Cadastral Zone A06 Maitama, Abuja, does not belong to our client. It is true that he was offered the property for N500 million by Alhaji Abubakar in 2012 when he was Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. It is also true that our client took a N300 million mortgage from Unity Bank, as Spadaro told the Milan court, but it is absolutely false to say our client bought the property for that amount. As all the documents in the possession of the Italian prosecutors show, our client was to make an equity contribution of N200 million to complete the N500 million before he could take possession of the property.

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. 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. This is very unprofessional. Our Client has instructed us as his lawyers to report them to the Italian bar for professional misconduct. Our client also informs us that they have been working hand-in-glove with one Olanrewaju Siraj, who purports to be a human rights activist and anti-corruption campaigner in Nigeria, but who is not better than Abu Lahab in the Holy Quran. Our client, thus believes that Siraj will surely face a similar judgment for all his evil deeds against him in the last five years.

Our client further informs us that another despicable lie Spadaro told the court was that the property in question was worth N700 million but was offered to him for N500 million. This is mischief at its peak. In fact, the property offered to our client for N500 million by Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar was just a portion of the larger property that one of his companies bought for N700 million. Ironically, the Italian prosecutors have all the documents and facts in their possession but have chosen to conceal the truth from the court in the most unprofessional manner just to achieve their evil agenda.

Our clients consolation in all this mischief by the Italian prosecutors is that they at least agreed that he took N300 million mortgage from Unity Bank and that the money was eventually returned to the bank. This fact is very important because the impression that mischief makers have been creating about him is that the N300 million was a kickback in the OPL 245 deal. The Italian prosecutors have now documented with the Milan court that, indeed, the N300 million was a mortgage from Unity Bank. They have also acknowledged that he paid interest on the mortgage. They have further acknowledged that the N300 million was returned to the bank. To prove ownership of the property in question is not difficult. The CBN, the owner, is a government institution.

In all these, our client is thankful to the Italians for their gradual backhanded exoneration of his name which they have been maligning globally since 2015. They first said he collected $801 million as bribe in the OPL 245 transaction. They later reduced it to N300 million which they said was the bribe paid into his account by Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar. Now they have said he actually took a N300 million mortgage from Unity Bank but that the N200 million difference in the price of the property was a gift to him. Our client is very certain that they will finally arrive at the truth: that he did not take one kobo from the OPL 245 transaction. But to reduce $801 million to N200 million is a major shift in the allegations.

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. 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.

The documentary evidence with the Italians clearly shows these facts: (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 (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. By this press statement, 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.

FO

Femi Oboro

Gromyko Amedu Solicitors

6th July 2020

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Gromyko Amedu (Principal Solicitor)

Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England & Wales

SRA No: 465793
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The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in Adamawa State have arrested an alleged leader of the Shila criminal gang in the state, Michael Linus.

Nuradeen Abdullahi, the Commandant of the Corps in the state, paraded the suspect on Tuesday in Yola.

Mr Abdullahi said that the command through its intelligence network arrested Mr Linus, a.k.a Damudu, an alleged ring leader of the Shila criminal gang, and two others who were on the Commands watch list.

He said before his arrest, Mr Linus was a notorious suspected criminal who terrorised citizens of the state.

Michael Linus, 22, is on our watchlist. He specialises in Shila criminal activities, recruiting minors into criminal activities and sales of hard drugs.

And, from records available, the suspect had inflicted injuries on many innocent people in the state.

Other two suspects are, Ibrahim Mohammed, 33, a false contractor, who specialised in visiting government schools in villages across the state and presenting himself as a contractor.

His target is aluminum zinc. He deceives the villagers that he will replace their schools old roofing sheets with new ones but ends up selling them, Mr Abdullahi said.

He said the third suspected criminal was Mustapha Ismail, a notorious car snatcher and thief.

Mr Abdullahi said that luck ran out on the suspect when he was arrested committing the crime and the car was recovered.

He also said the Command had recently arrested five other suspects at different locations in Yola South local government area.

Mr Abdullahi said the five suspects were arrested in connection with various crimes that included cybercrime, theft, and burglary.

Investigation is ongoing to unravel other perpetrators and, on completion, they will be charged to court for prosecution, he said.

Mr Abdullahi said the Command would not relent in its efforts to make the state free from criminals and their collaborators.

(NAN)
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Aminu Adisa Logun, the chief of staff to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara has died, the state government announced Tuesday evening.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, With total submission to the will of the Almighty Allah, we wish to announce the passing of the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kwara State Aminu Adisa Logun (min).

Logun, an industrialist, a public intellectual, and an elder statesman, died Tuesday evening of complications from COVID-19. He died only a few hours after the test of his result returned positive.

The entire government and the people of Kwara State have lost an outstanding public servant who diligently served the state at various times, including as Chief of Staff to the Governor from June 7, 2019 until he returned to his Lord.

The Governor has declared a seven-day mourning in honour of the late Chief of Staff.

The Governor commiserates with the family of the late Chief of Staff and the entire Ilorin Emirate for this tragic development.

We pray the Almighty Allah to grant him Al-Jannah Firdaus and give the family the fortitude to bear the huge loss.

Details about his Janazah will be made public by the family and the government in due course.

Mr Logun was a pioneer industrialist in Ilorin and an alumnus of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Jos. He hailed from Ilorin, the state capital.

He was chairman of the 80-member Kwara State Transition Committee appointed by Governor AbdulRazaq before his inauguration last year.

An alumnus of Barewa College, Zaria, Mr Logun attended Kings College, Lagos and earned a bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University of Technology and a Masters of Science (M.Sc.) from Birmingham University, both in the United Kingdom.

He worked at various times in Lever Brothers, Port Sunlight, UK; Cerekem Arhus, Denmark; North Brewery Limited Kano; Ajaokuta Steel Company; and Nigeria Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe. He was also a General Manager at the New Nigeria Development Company.
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Armed bandits on Monday shot dead at least 15 people at Ruma district in Bastari Local Government Area of Katsina State, a local official has said.

The district head of Batsari, Tukur Muazu, told PREMIUM TIMES that the victims were killed while cultivating their farmlands at Yar Gamji in Ruma district, an outskirt of Batsari council headquarters.

The traditional ruler said the attack happened in the community one year after gunmen attacked and killed at least 18 people in the same district.

Two residents were missing and were feared dead after Mondays attack, he said.

The police spokesperson in Katsina, Gambo Isah, did not respond to telephone calls.

The attack happened despite ongoing efforts by the authorities to forestall the rampant killing of innocent farmers in the north west state.

On Monday, the chief of army, Tukur Buratai, launched Operation Sahel Sanity in neighbouring Jibia Local Government Area of the state, in a bid to go after the killers.

Victims of Katsina Attack

We were deliberating with security personnel and other stakeholders at the council headquarters when the gunmen attacked, the soldiers promptly responded and rushed to the area, unfortunately, the bandits fled into the forest, the traditional ruler said.

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He added that the assailants appear determined not to allow farming activities in the area.

This cannot happen because the farming is the only means of livelihood of the locals, he said.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday confirmed five cases of coronavirus in Cross River State.

Cross River, before now, was the only Nigerian state without any confirmed case of the coronavirus.

The five cases are apparently the ones reported earlier in the state by the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar.

The Chief Medical Director of the UCTH, Ikpeme Ikpeme, had told the hospital staff via an internal memo that the tests were conducted in a laboratory approved by NCDC in Abakiliki, Ebonyi State.

Two of the samples came from the health workers in the UCTH, Mr Ikpeme said, adding that the workers were making tremendous progress along the path of recovery.

Mr Ikpeme said in the memo that the Cross River State government had been informed on the development.

The Commissioner for Information in Cross River, Asu Okang, however, dismissed the hospitals memo as desperate attempts by mischief-makers to ensure that the state records a case of COVID-19.

No hospital is empowered to announce cases of pandemic in the country asides the NCDC. So if a hospital uses one test kit and says we have COVID-19 (it) does not mean anything, Mr Okang told PREMIUM TIMES.

The point is that the NCDC is the body required to reflect cases of COVID-19 and announce it to members of the public. Not one small lab technician trying to assert their egos and hatch their mischief on the grounds of what they think and their state of mind could through an internal memo.

Ripples

Four days after the UCTHs memo, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in the state challenged the NCDC on why it did not publicly confirm the five cases of the coronavirus in the state.

The Association demands 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.

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Congress demands update of the NCDC situation report as a matter of urgent public health interest, the NMA said on July 5, in a letter to the minister of health.

The NMA letter was signed by its chairman and secretary, Agam Ayuk and Ezoke Epoke respectively.

The letter added, Congress demands explanations from NCDC, why, epidemiology code numbers have to be generated by Cross River State Ministry of Health before results of samples sent by UCTH to an NCDC approved Molecular Laboratory can be published by NCDC, despite having approved UCTH as an independent Test Centre.

The NMA said doctors in the state were withdrawing their services from public and private hospitals in the state until the NCDC and the state ministry of health give urgent attention to the issues the association raised.

The UCTH in June issued a similar memo to its staff, informing them about a patient who tested positive for the coronavirus in the hospital. The NCDC is yet to confirm the case.

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach the Cross River State government for their comment on the latest development in the state.

Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria is 29,286 as of July 6, according to data released by NCDC.

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Lagos State remains the epicentre of the infection with 11,367, followed by the FCT with 2,281.

Oyo occupies the third position on the table with 1,530 cases. Edo and Delta states occupy fourth and fifth positions with 1,435 and 1,285 respectively.
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A total number of 1,771 patients have recovered from coronavirus infection in Lagos, following the discharge of 31 more patients, the state governor announced on Monday.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the patients, comprising 16 females and 19 males, were discharged after testing negative to the infection.

31 more COVID-19 Lagos patients; 16 females and 19 males all Nigerians were discharged from our Isolation facilities today to reunite with the society.

The patients; 13 from Agidingbi, 8 from Onikan, 8 from Gbagada, 1 from Mainland Infectious Disease Hospita, Yaba and 1 from LUTH Isolation Centres wBabajide Sanwo-Oluere discharged after full recovery and testing negative to COVID-19.

This brings to 1771, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases that have been successfully managed and discharged from Lagos Isolation Centres, he said.

Meanwhile, the state health commissioner, Akin Abayomi, said the state has conducted a total number of 43,978 COVID-19 tests, with 11,264 confirmed cases.

Total COVID-19 positive cases in Lagos now stands at 11,264. Total number of 43,978 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Lagos till date.

6, 594 of the cases monitored in communities by COVID-19 Lagos response team have either fully recovered or positively responding to treatments, Mr Abayomi tweeted.

As of Monday, Lagos had 364 active cases admitted in isolation centres while 177 deaths have been recorded from the infection.

The state governor urged residents to continue practising good personal hygiene, physical distancing and use face masks.
Wole Soyinka, playwright and Nobel laureate, has described the amended 6th broadcasting code by the National Broadcasting Commission (NB...

Wole Soyinka, playwright and Nobel laureate, has described the amended 6th broadcasting code by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as an economic sabotage.





In a statement on Tuesday, Soyinka said it is better for the government to admit its war on arts and its producers instead of its tactics of slowly weakening the sector.





The NBC had reviewed some parts of the broadcasting code which affect content producers on web/online media.





This has generated different reactions, with the Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria (IBAN) calling for the suspension of the implementation of the amended code.





Some stakeholders, who have also called for the suspension of the implementation of the code, said the new broadcasting code place unfair and unrealistic burdens on the industry and would affect the development of the sector.





In a statement on Tuesday, Soyinka said after reading excerpts from the newly proposed NBC broadcasting code, he discovered some potentially dangerous aspects of the code.





I think it is about time the government come out openly and admit that it has declared war against the Arts and its producers, instead of its present tactics of piecemeal attrition, Soyinka said.





Just when we were reeling from the action of the Ministry of Youth and Development in joining hands with book pirates by providing a free-loading portal for the works of Nigerian authors, among others, along comes a new regulatory hit against the cinema and video enterprise, and its operators.





Let me quickly utilise the opening of this new flank to commend the Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission for his prompt attention to the complaint by Nigerian authors.





He added that some of the regulations restrict intellectual property rights with who they choose to work with.





Noting that the new code will place unfair burden on the sector, he, therefore, asked the government to desists from stifling the industry.





And now it is the turn of a sister industry to be placed under siege! I have just read excerpts of the newly proposed NBC broadcasting code and become aware of some potentially dangerous aspects of the code. Whilst one concedes that some of the regulations are well-intentioned, I shudder to imagine unintended consequences such as backhanded censorship in the age of digital media, he said.





These restrict intellectual property rights and their scope of exploitation with whomsoever one chooses to collaborate. It is economic sabotage writ large, directed against thousands of practitioners. Regulatory? This is strangulatory in effect!





Several practitioners voices have been raised in protest. For one such insiders detailed and passionate exposition on the deleterious provisions of this Code, I shall draw particular attention of policymakers to Chris Ihideros Why Does the NBC Want to Kill Local Content in Nigeria?





If I may invoke a contemporary tragic image to render graphically what Ihidero and others have pleaded on behalf of both creators and consumers of this artistic productivity:





Let government kindly take its knee off the neck of this industry. Please  let it breathe!




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A former Secretary to the Ondo State Government who resigned on Monday, Sunday Abegunde, has alleged that the governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, did not win the 2016 election to become governor. Mr Abegunde said he and other unnamed persons helped Mr Akeredolu become governor despite not winning the election.

He disclosed this while explaining the reason he resigned in an interview on Crest FM, Akure.

He granted the interview shortly after he tendered his resignation to the state governor.

A spokesman to the governor did not reply a request for comments sent to him by PREMIUM TIMES.

Conflict

Speaking on the fight between him and his former boss, he said I suffered in his (Akeredolu) administration because he didnt release any fund for my office grants. He has been telling lies that he was giving me N5 million every month even when he knew he didnt give me such money.

Where on earth did the governor give me such funds? Recently, I reported him to Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State and he promised to invite both of us to Abuja for settlement. I remember that I told Fayemi that I was going to spit on the face of Akeredolu if he repeated the lie that he was giving me N5 million monthly if we meet face to face, and I would then return to Akure to resign and as well Inform the public of his looting sprees.

Responding to question on how Mr Akeredolu emerged in 2016, he simply said: 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.

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He added that The Akeredolus administration is making the entire people of the state suffer and I cannot be part of that any longer. Everyone is suffering. He doesnt pay salaries at the right time. As a matter of fact, Akeredolu has not performed to the expectations of the masses apart from the roads he is rehabilitating.

Akeredolu has turned former Governor Mimiko to a saint with his own abysmal performance. We now see that Mimiko did well as governor because he gave his people enough funds to operate. I had worked with three governors, and I can say that in the history of Ondo State, Akeredolu is the worst governor.

Mr Abegunde, a two-term member of the House of Representatives, has been at loggerhead with his boss for months over the upcoming election. On several occasions, he reportedly shunned government meetings before he resigned.

He resigned from the government days after Mr Akeredolus estranged deputy, Agboola Ajayi, left the APC to PDP.

Mr Abegunde has since been replaced by Temitayo Oluwatuyi.

PREMIUM TIMES reached out to Segun Ajiboye, the governors CPS for a reaction but he did not not respond, even to reminders, as of the time of this report.
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An Abeokuta High Court in Ogun on Tuesday sentenced one Lukeman Kuti to death by hanging for armed robbery.

Mr Kuti, who was arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and armed robbery, had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

But delivering judgment, Justice Ayokunle Rotimi-Balogun said that the evidence tendered had convinced the court beyond reasonable doubt that the convict committed the offences.

She, thereafter, sentenced Mr Kuti to death by hanging.

Earlier at the trial, the prosecution counsel, Olalade Shittu, had told the court that the convict committed the offences on December 10, 2012, at 12 a.m. at Makun, in Sagamu area of Ogun.

Mrs Shittu said that the convict, while armed with dangerous weapons, including cutlass, entered into the apartment of one Mariam Shobande and robbed her of her BlackBerry phone, HP laptop and money.

She further stated that the convict gained entrance into the complainants apartment when she went to switch off her generator.

The convict held the complainant while leading her into the room, hit her with the cutlass on her body and caused her body injury and also beat her up.

The convict thereafter, carted away the complainants BlackBerry handset, HP laptop and N53,000, the prosecutor said.

Mrs Shittu said that the convict was arrested through the tracking of the blackberry phone he stole and which was later recovered from the lady he sold the phone to.

The prosecutor said that the offences contravened Sections 6(b) and 1(2)( a) of the Robbery and Firearms (special provisions) Act, Cap Rll, Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

(NAN)
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The Lagos State Government has launched the Jobs Initiative Lagos programme for youth in eight Lagos-based tertiary institutions.

According to a statement on Tuesday by the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Tokunbo Wahab, the programme is designed as a complementary training for students in final and penultimate year in entrepreneurship, employability and basic digital skills required for the workplace.

Mr Wahab noted that the essence of the programme is to fill the documented gaps in the current curriculum that is essential in the employment market and enhances the employability of graduates in Nigerias commercial hub.

He said candidates who register through www.jobsinlagos.ng and complete the programme will get an opportunity to be featured on jobs portal from where partner corporate organisations can select fresh graduates for recruitment.

Mr Wahab disclosed further that the initiative will run alongside a more robust digital skills campaign Digital Skills Initiative Lagos www.dsilagos.ng aimed at empowering over one million young people in the state by 2023 with digital skills, which will invariably position Lagos as the tech hub of Africa.

According to him, students in secondary schools in Lagos would have access to well-trained instructors while those out of school would be able to access digital skills training and various internship opportunities as they complete the programmes.

He said, The projects are being coordinated by LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited  an innovative development company that grows start-up teams, manages innovation programmes and facilitates impact projects in West Africa.

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Mr Wahab explained that the first phase of the Jobs Initiatives Lagos kicked off in June and will continue over the next four months leveraging on the virtual learning platform, while the Digital Skills Initiative Lagos will commence virtually until the ease of the lockdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He maintained that the two programmes are in sync with the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the present administration in Lagos State, wherein education is a key pillar with a multiplier effect on human capital development and ecosystem.

The programmes, which are initiatives of the Lagos State Ministry of Education, are being supervised and coordinated by the Office of Special Adviser to the Governor on Education.
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In the wake of the boat mishap that occurred at Ikorodu on Friday night, two Lagos State agencies involved in the rescue operations, the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), issued conflicting casualty figures, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

While LASWAs figures said five persons died, 14 rescued and two missing; LASEMA said six passengers died, seven rescued and nine still missing.

At the end of rescue operations on Sunday, LASEMA updated its figures to seven dead and 14 rescued.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted both agencies for clarification on the casualty figures discrepancies, both of them told this newspaper to stick to their figures.

the spokesperson of LASEMA, Nosa Okunbor, and the General Manager of LASWA, Oluwadamilola Emmanuel on the discrepancies between the released figures, both agencies told this newspaper to stick to their figures.

What we have is what we have come out with, Nosa Okunbor, the LASEMA spokesperson told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday.

We have six dead, all adult females including a just-graduated student, seven lives rescued and nine missing. Out of the nine people, seven are passengers and the remaining two people are the pilot and the assistant.

We had to pause the operation as at 6:20 p.m. because of nightfall and the incessant rain. I wonder where LASWA got their figures because we are the ones that have the divers, local ones, and the LASEMA rescue team from Lekki.

But Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, the LASWA general manager, insisted that PREMIUM TIMES should stick with the figures released by his agency.

The LASWAs figure is what you should stick to, whether LASEMA toldI dont want to get into any discussion but just stick to whatever LASWA gives you.

When asked about the discrepancies in the figures released, Mr Emmanuel reinforced that the figure from his agency should be followed.

LASWA is the regulatory agency for waterway operations, it ensures compliance to the maximum number of passengers in a boat and that the operators stick to the 6 p.m. closing hour.

The capsized boat, identified as Lalek Marine, had 20 passengers on board with a boat driver and an assistant, the boat left the jetty at 8:20pm, over two hours after the approved closing time and did not arrive at its destination.

A 20 capacity passenger boat with the name LALEK MARINE is suspected to have left Ebute Ero jetty around 8pm (After approved sailing time which is 6pm), and didnt arrive st its destination which was Ikorodu Terminal. The boat was said to have capsized at Owode Ibeshe, not too far away from Ikorodu.

The owner of the boat is under investigation by marine police, he left the Jetty at a late hour, Mr Emmanuel earlier said.
A group of aggrieved politicians from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has vowed to pursue its litigation against the party despite a recent directive from President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Buhari recently said all pending cases against the APC by its members be withdrawn to pave the way for reconciliation.

While demanding the dissolution of the National Working Committee which saw the exit of Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the party, the president, at a National Executive Council meeting had enjoined party members to withdraw cases in court instituted against the party without delay.

An APC caucus meeting held in Ado Ekiti on Saturday and chaired by the state governor, Kayode Fayemi, had also directed members to embrace a ceasefire and withdraw all pending cases in court.

Defiant

The Ekiti group, called Stakeholders Forum, had sued the partys executive committees from the ward to the state level.

The forum, which comprises the special adviser to the president on political matters, Babafemi Ojudu, Tony Adeniyi and others, had prior to Mr Buharis directive, approached an Abuja high court seeking the dissolution of the partys executive across the different tiers in the state.

The forum has now said it would not withdraw its litigation, arguing that it would amount to allowing illegality in the party in respect of the composition of the party executives, to continue.

A statement on Tuesday by the group and signed by its chairman, Mr Adeniyi, and its Secretary, Femi Adeleye, said a resolution of the forum on Saturday was to ensure that the cases run their courses at the courts.

The forum said while it is in support of reconciliation, Mr Fayemi and his group failed to invite members of the forum for such reconciliation.

We would have loved to be there to present our case but they refused to invite us and we are not bothered because we know Dr Fayemi do(es) not want genuine reconciliation, the statement said.

We are ready for genuine and sincere reconciliation where the injustices and illegalities perpetrated by the present leadership will be properly addressed.

We express our love for APC and affirm that this disagreement is not personal but patriotic.

We do not want to lose elections in Ekiti again. If we allow things to continue the way it is our fate in 2022 will be worse than the first coming of Dr Kayode Fayemi.

Our action is a wakeup call. We are also not against our party members holding executive offices, they said.

Threats of sanctions

Meanwhile, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Ade Ajayi, advised the aggrieved members to comply with the presidential and party directive to avert punishment.

The NEC is the highest decision making organ of the party, he said.

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It had taken a decision coupled with the presidential order by President Buhari, so I dont expect the leaders to gamble with these orders as loyal party men.

The State Executive Council and Ekiti stakeholders caucus had also taken a position and said all members must comply. It is for the sake of the party and the action was not selfish.

If they should defy the orders and fail to withdraw the case in court, then we will apply the partys constitution in dealing with the situation.

But we appeal to them to take the path of honour and withdraw the case honourably.
The rise in cases coincides with the summer tourism season that sees the population of Cape May County swell from under 100,000 in the winter months  25% of whom are 65 and older  to an estimated 750,000 in June, July and August as visitors flock to the county's 30 miles of beaches.

A spokesperson for the state Department of Health said Monday she could not provide numbers on how many people are diagnosed in New Jersey's 21 counties but live outside the state, because they don't collect that data.

"New Jersey reports case data on residents of the state," DOH spokesperson Nancy Kearney wrote in an email response to questions.

Thornton said county officials are concerned about what the rise in cases means for the county now that it is just entering the heart of the tourist season. He said one of the most important precautions visitors can take is wearing a mask, which he said reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to another person from 17% to 3%

"And maintaining that distance is absolutely necessary, Thornton said. "That six feet is critical."
A political activist, Timi Frank, has condemned the call for probe of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, ex-Senate President, Bukola...

A political activist, Timi Frank, has condemned the call for probe of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, ex-Senate President, Bukola Saraki, ex-Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Senator Dino Melaye and himself.





He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) demanded investigation of the Peoples Democratc Party (PDP) after the arrest of Ramon Abbas aka Hushpuppi, because it wanted the downfall of opposition leaders.





The Nigerian was recently arrested in Dubai and extradited to the United States where he is currently facing trial.





In a statement on Tuesday, Frank said in making the call, APC merely relied on images of the politicians with Hushpuppi at a public function.

Frank noted that photographs do not prove any of them had business dealings of any kind with him.





He stated that Hushpupi, like any other Nigerian, asked for photos with the PDP stalwarts, and they obliged.





Frank said it was beyond the comprehension of the APC, because Nigerians loathe them and run away from them whenever they come across them in foreign countries, hence they are trying to rope us into imaginary business dealings with Hushpuppi.





Does the APC think that the USA and its security agencies, like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) make arrests before investigation? Does the APC government not realise that the investigation was carried out before Hushpuppi was arrested?





Frank stressed that America is not Nigeria where APC militant wing, alias the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other security agencies, go about harassing innocent citizens even before any investigation is carried out.





He said the federal government and sycophantic town criers are very good at weaving lies, propaganda, stealing and embezzlement of public funds, supporting Boko Haram insurgents, bandits and protecting APC political Hushpuppis.





Frank mocked the cabals in the Villa, noting that before 2015, they were in debt and extreme poverty but have within the last five years of Buharis regime become multi-billionaires.





The outspoken critic noted that they acquired Etisalat, now known as 9Mobile, Keystone Bank, etc. Some of these APC political hushpuppies even had bullion vans in their houses during the 2019 presidential election campaigns.





He recalled how an APC governor opened a bank in his Babariga where he openly pocketed huge amounts of dollars without personal shame or repercussions from this government.





The activist alleged that billions of dollars have been taken away at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other government agencies under the APC regime.





The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, last week, called for the sack of the head of the EFCC over corruption allegations. The EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu, is presently being quizzed by a Presidential Panel. What can be more embarrassing to a country than for the head of its anti-graft crusade to be indicted for corruption?





Obaseki vs Ize-Iyamu: No free dollars for you to loot in Edo - PDP fires back at Ganduje NEWS:Obaseki vs Ize-Iyamu: No free dollars for you to loot in Edo - PDP fires back at Ganduje

Frank advised the government to bury their head in shame. This is the most corrupt democratic administration in the history of our beloved country. If Hushpuppi had been extradited to Nigeria, this corrupt and clueless Buhari-led APC regime would have set him free.





The former APC deputy spokesman added that the FBI does not need anybody to urge them to investigate any individual.





Frank warned the Buhari administration and the APC to stop wasting time sponsoring unnecessary protests.





He urged them to focus on delivering, the fake promises they made to Nigerians during their electioneering campaigns and to think of how to repay all the debts they have accumulated through incessant foreign and local loans.
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 Saturday, effective immediately.

Cunningham says media bias 'muzzled' him in Democratic primary Will Cunningham believes racial bias is driving the media to call the 2nd Congressional Dist

Simpler could not be reached for comment Monday. His Facebook page has been deleted. His telephone number has been disconnected.
Atlantic County public health officials on Tuesday reported 10 new COVID-19 cases, along with one additional death.

A 54-year old Galloway man from complications of the new coronavirus, according to a news release from Atlantic County spokeswoman Linda Gilmore. The new cases include three men, ages 25 to 34, and seven girls and women, ages 1 to 63.

Three of the positives were found in Galloway and two each were identified in Hammonton and Pleasantville. Atlantic City, Hamilton Township and Somers Point each had one new case, according to the release.

So far, Atlantic County has reported 3,045 cases with 211 death and 1,581 cleared as recovered. Cape May County has reported 788 cases with 69 deaths and 594 designated off quarantine. Cumberland County has reported 2,521 cases with 137 deaths.

Atlantic County health officials encouraged residents and visitors to follow the recommended federal and state guidelines to help reduce the spread of the disease by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and hygiene protocols such as frequent handwashing and disinfecting common-touch areas, according to the release. Those who are sick and have symptoms of COVID-19 or respiratory illness are advised to self-isolate and contact their healthcare provider.



A 79-year-old female from Ocean City and a 89-year-old female from Dennis Township died as the result of COVID-19 infections, the county's Department of Health announced on Tuesday.

The total positive cases of COVID-19 infection in Cape May County is now 800, including 71 deaths, the county health department said.

"My deepest sympathies go out to the families of the ones who past," said Cape May County Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton. "My thoughts and prayers are with you."

New Jersey has 173,878 total COVID-19 positive cases and 13, 425 deaths, the county health department said.



The state's Motor Vehicle Commission locations reopened Tuesday with long lines of residents.

New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Chief Administrator Sue Fulton today released the following statement:

As we reopen today, MVC agencies are experiencing extraordinarily high customer volumes. In anticipation of long lines due to social distancing restrictions, Agency management personnel were pre-deployed to our busiest agencies, beginning at 6:00 a.m., two hours before our start time. Additionally, all of our senior staff in operations are deployed to agencies to help process transactions. While we understand the frustration of our customers in this extremely challenging and difficult time, our employees are doing the best they can to keep everyone safe and work as efficiently as possible.

Our text notification systems are working as planned, and we remind everyone that expiration dates were extended. We ask everyone to check NJMVC.gov before you go to an agency, as some customers are in line for transactions that can be done online.



Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron on Tuesday announced that the city's Friday Night Fireworks have been postponed "for the time being."

"Unfortunately, many people feel that social distancing and masks are arbitrary rather than lifesaving," Byron said in the new release. "If we are going to do this, we have to do it right -- do it in a way that we can protect the most valuable part of Wildwood, which is the people."

Commissioner of Public Safety Steve Mikulski said the event wouldn't be possible at the current stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We simply cannot produce fireworks in a way that can guarantee public safety," Mikulski said, "and until we can, it is our duty to examine further possibilities as well as the facts."

The city's Board of Commissioners will continue to meet privately as it hears suggestions. The public is invited to email suggestions to infowildwoodnj@gmail.com and join the bi-weekly Zoom meetings at wildwoodnj.org.



The Cape May County Chamber of Commerce virtual monthly business meeting will be held July 16 on Zoom with Stockton University Economist Dr. Oliver Cooke as the guest speaker, according to a news release.

Cooke will offer insights on how the coronavirus has impacted the local economy, including effects from the shutdown and reduced capacity of many businesses these past sixteen weeks and the staggering unemployment numbers in the region, according to the release.

Cooke is an Associate Professor of Economics at the William J. Hughes Center Policy Scholar School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and is the author of the South Jersey Economic Review.

The Chamber meeting is sponsored by Burke Motor Group and is free to attend, but preregistration is required.



Rowan College of South Jersey officials said Tuesday that classes will be held remotely this fall, with the exception for those courses that require a hands-on component.

As we continue to practice social distancing, many students are likely questioning the impact on their current education plans.Taking classes online may not be every students first choice; however, at this point in time, it is the safest, stated RCSJ President Frederick Keating. The pandemic has caused our world to change, but that does not mean you must sit on the sidelines waiting for the return to normal. Do not allow lifes challenges to prevent you from achieving your dreams. Keep moving forward and making progress.

Adjustments have been made to the existing course schedule to provide three distinct online options for students taking courses during the fall semester: courses will be available in Live Online, Online and Hybrid formats, the last option only available for selective courses and programs requiring in-person instruction for accreditation or essential training purposes, according to a release from the college. All students will have access to the same support services online that are typically offered on campus, such as tutoring, advising, student life, and counseling and wellness.

Live Online  Students who benefit from the structure of a class schedule may attend class online at a set time via Zoom web conferencing. The Live Online class meetings are real-time (synchronous) and allow for face-to-face interaction with instructors and classmates while staying physically distanced and safe. Additional content and assignments are received through Blackboard.

Online  Students who appreciate more flexibility may use this option to complete all course work and communicate with instructors entirely online via eLearning. There is no specific time (asynchronous) designated for class, allowing students to view lessons and complete assignments on their own schedule while meeting course requirements and deadlines.

Hybrid  For the fall semester, hybrid classes will only be available to students taking select courses requiring hands-on instruction, such as nursing, health professions, selected engineering courses, forensics, auto technology, and other specific labs. A mix of online and face-to-face, schedules will be staggered to create smaller class sizes and rooms arranged for social distancing. Face masks will be required and classrooms sanitized before and after each use.

As the plan evolves, updates will be provided based on the latest information to keep students informed, with the hope of being back on RCSJs campuses by mid-January, officials said.



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Ocean Casino Resort launched its What Are You Social Distancing From? social media campaign Tuesday.

Guests will be asked What Are You Social Distancing From? during their visit to Ocean, and will provide an answer to this question to be featured in our campaign, according to a news release from the casinos.

This campaign is a reminder for guests to keep social distancing protocols in mind and have a little fun with sharing their random and fun answers, officials said.

The What Are You Social Distancing From? social media campaign kicks off with a TikTok video featuring our guests on Tuesday followed by every Tuesday.

To learn more, follow the casino on TikTok at OceanCasinoResort, on Twitter and Instagram @TheOceanAC or on Facebook at Ocean Casino Resort.



Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday expanded the list of states from which travelers to the state should quarantine for 14 days.

The updated advisory includes three additional states, Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma, bringing the total to 19 states, according to a news release. The travel advisory applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

As of Tuesday there are currently 19 states total that meet the criteria stated above: Alabama; Arkansas; Arizona; California; Delaware, Florida; Georgia; Iowa; Idaho; Kansas; Louisiana; Oklahoma, Mississippi; North Carolina; Nevada; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; and Utah.

Several outbreaks across New Jersey are directly tied to travel from COVID-19 hotspots nationwide, said Murphy. In order to responsibly continue down our road back to restart and recovery, we must remain vigilant in our collective effort to beat the virus and reduce the rate of transmission. I urge those arriving from one of these nineteen states to self-quarantine and get a COVID-19 test to prevent additional flareups across the state and ensure the health and safety of their fellow New Jerseyans.

Travelers and those residents who are returning from impacted states should self-quarantine at their home, hotel or other temporary lodging, officials said. Individuals should leave the place of self-quarantine only to seek medical care/treatment or to obtain food and other essential items.

Travelers and residents returning from impacted states typically will not need to check-in with public health officials, unless otherwise they are involved in contract tracing efforts or required to do so by their employer or any other federal, state or local law or order, according to the release. It is expected that individuals will follow the public health advisory to self-quarantine.



Ocean City officials on Tuesday announced a scavenger hunt to encourage people to explore the island and discover new places, all while maintaining a safe social distance from others and wearing a mask.

This new fun family oriented scavenger hunt will have people racing to solve the clue and post on social media, to win fun Ocean City, NJ prizes," said Michele Gillian, Executive Director of Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce. We are making it as contactless as possible."

Each week, a new clue will be posted on Facebook and Instagram, according to a news release. Participants need to like, share, and comment on the post, decipher the clue, go to the location in the clue, take their picture at the location wearing a mask or face covering, post the picture on the Chambers Facebook or Instagram page, using the hashtag #showusyourmaskocnj.

Winners will be chosen from the entries that follow the rules and will be awarded with fun OCNJ swag, officials said. The scavenger hunt will run through Labor Day.

The Downtown Merchants Association, Boardwalk Merchants Association and Back Bay businesses are all working with the Chamber to ensure Island-wide participation.

Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerces official pages are www.Facebook.com/OceanCityNJVacation and www.Instagram.com/oceancityvacation.

For more information, please contact Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, 1-800-Beach-NJ or visit www.OceanCityVacation.com.

Clue for week #1:

If you want to make it Personal

And find the perfect treasure

Head Downtown to Asbury

To help you is their pleasure

A puzzle piece or cutting board

A picture frame or plaque

Customize it with what you want

Making it perfect is their knack.



State officials have not scheduled a briefing Tuesday to update residents on the spread of COVID-19.

However, Gov. Phil Murphy is scheduled to appear at 6 p.m. on CBS 2 to discuss the state's coronavirus response.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

GALLERY: Atlantic County libraries reopen

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"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."
Officials have been anxious about the protest for a week, many condemning Youngs plans to shut down the city on the Fourth of July, which is also the first weekend casinos were open after being shuttered for almost four months to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. They cautioned that if the demonstration devolved into criminal activity, such as the May 31 protest that ended with looting and vandalism, arrests would be made.

The Atlantic City Police Department and our law enforcement partners have been preparing for this protest due to threats made by organizers, police chief Henry White said. While we respect and support those that exercise their First Amendment rights, we will not allow a major roadway to be blocked cutting off access for our community members, emergency personnel or visitors to the city of Atlantic City. We are grateful that the Atlantic City community did not participate in this misguided attempt to shut down the city.

Mayor Marty Small Sr. has largely condemned the protest, detailing his attempts to speak with Young ahead of the event.

Last week, tensions rose after an anonymous caller who identified himself as a member of the Pagans motorcycle club called in to WPG Talk Radio 95.5s Hurley in the Morning and said about 300 club members would be out to support the police.
SOMERS POINT  After several years in the planning stages, a $1.5 million transient marina on the citys bayfront is officially open.

City Council members Janice Johnston and Mike Owen talked about the plans for the marina last Thursday during a grand opening ceremony. Owen introduced Jen Boyce of Baycats in Ocean City, who is overseeing the operation of the marina as well as renting kayaks, paddle boards and catamarans, giving lessons and offering sunrise and sunset cruises.

The 26-slip marina at Bay and Higbee avenues is designed to bring visitors to town to spend money at local restaurants, the Gateway Theater, a nearby art gallery and other amenities. Johnston said the slips in the marina are free and visitors can pull in, tie off and stay for up to three days. The only charge would be if they need to hook up to electricity, which they could pay for via credit card using the kiosk at the marina. The Duke of Fluke charter boat also is moored at the marina and offers daily fishing and ecology tours.

Johnston said the marina was built with $1.5 million in grants from the state Department of Transportation and other agencies.

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"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 Springer's 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 Springer's, you must wear a mask."

A lingering issue, Humphreys said, is people sticking around to eat their ice cream, not a mask-friendly activity.

+2 Thursday trends drier, Friday trends wetter, how about the holiday weekend? A few changes to the Fourth of July weekend forecast will yield a dry Thursday and a few sto

"They stand around on the property and eat their ice cream," she said. "And it's like, 'Everybody just move along.'"

She said of her mask requirement, "If you're doing your part, we've set it up that it shouldn't be a risk no matter what. You should never be in front of our employees for more than 10 minutes."

As for the wait, that's always an issue at Springer's, as one commenter noted. "First of all, anyone who complains about waiting 30 minutes for a milkshake has clearly never been to Springer's before. #worththewait," wrote one woman.
PLEASANTVILLE  A 29-year-old Camden man was charged Sunday with unlawful possession of a weapon and other crimes after a more than 2-hour standoff with multiple police agencies at the Family Dollar store on West Delilah Road, according to a news release Monday by city police.

Junior English II was also charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, resisting arrest by flight, possession of a high-capacity magazine and obstruction of administration of law by flight, said Capt. Matthew Hartman in a written statement.

English was sent to the Atlantic County jail pending his detention hearing, Hartman said.

At 1:05 p.m. Sunday, police communications was advised of a distraught male in a silver Nissan, possibly armed with a handgun, at the Family Dollar store, Hartman said.

Patrol officers located the man in a vehicle parked on the east side of the building, Hartman said.

Patrol officers used high-risk tactics, due to the potential that the man was armed and attempted to make contact with him via the PA system of a patrol vehicle, with the intent of getting him to exit the vehicle, Hartman said.
Restaurants prepped, ordered and set up for an opening and now what? Lose everything they just did.

Sharon Holden

via Facebook

Summers done: Local eateries, officials frustrated over reversal on indoor dining

New Jersey is so corrupt and/or incompetent, does anyone have faith in the New Jersey systems?

Michael T. Woelfel

via Facebook

Primary ballots may not arrive in time, voters should prepare to go to polls

Glad we were able to experience this store, Barbara. Sad its closed.

Winnie Walenta Ottaviano

via Facebook

Lenox Warehouse store in Egg Harbor Township to close permanently

I am angry because they took out a statue of a historic figure in America.

Scott Brown
During the month of june, watch lovers had fun by participating en masse in the Watch Photo Awards on the theme metal. The idea was to take a picture of their watch (mechanical for men) at home, in a metallic-inspired setting.

The Watch Photo Awards jury selected the 10 best photos according to subject, creativity and composition. They will be published in several media and exhibited in Switzerland and abroad (notably during the exhibition of the Grand Prix dHorlogerie de Geneve at the Museum of Art and History in Geneva). The person behind the winning photo will receive a weekend for two at the 5-star Fairmont Grand Hotel in Geneva. A great way to enjoy your time as restrictions ease!
Ifeadayo Abegunde, former secretary to the Ondo state government, has described Rotimi Akeredolu as the worst governor in the history ...





Ifeadayo Abegunde, former secretary to the Ondo state government, has described Rotimi Akeredolu as the worst governor in the history of Ondo.





Abegunde resigned from Akeredolus cabinet earlier on Monday and the governor replaced him with Tayo Oluwatuyi, his commissioner for natural resources.





In an interview he granted Crest FM, Akure, shortly after his resignation, Abegunde alleged that he suffered under Akeredolu.





He accused the governor of spreading lies about releasing N5 million to his office on a monthly basis.





Abegunde said the governor starved his office of funds and he had told Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti, that if Akeredolu lies to his face about funding his office, he would spit on the governors face.





I suffered in his administration because he didnt release any fund for my office grants. He has been telling lies that he was giving me N5m every month even when he knew he didnt give me such money, he said.





Where on earth did the governor give me such funds? Recently, I reported him to Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State and he promised to invite both of us to Abuja for settlement. I remember that I told Fayemi that I was going to spit on the face of Akeredolu if he repeated the lie that he was giving me N5 million monthly if we meet face to face, and I would then return to Akure to resign and as well Inform the public of his looting sprees.





Akeredolu has turned Mimiko to a saint with his own abysmal performance. We now see that Mimiko did well as governor because he gave his people enough funds to operate. I had worked with three governors, and I can say that in the history of Ondo State, Akeredolu is the worst governor.





Abegunde also alleged that Akeredolu did not win the 2016 election but that he and some persons worked for the emergence of the governor.





the October 10 election as many of his pillars had left him. He said the governor would losethe October 10 election as many of his pillars had left him.




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 
3 players shortlisted for NASCO Player of the Month Award Three players have been shortlisted for the NASCO Player of the Month Award for

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Judiciary not above criticism  NDC tells CJ, stands with Dr Ayine The NDC has jumped to the defense of Dr Ayine after the Chief Justice seeks to

German watchdog probes Apple's market dominance The Federal Cartel Office (FCO) said the initial investigation will look at
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July 7, 2020

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has confirmed Washington is considering a ban on Chinese social media apps, including the ultra-popular TikTok, apparently inspired by a similar ban in India and Australias threat to do the same.

Speaking with Fox News, Pompeo affirmed were certainly looking at banning TikTok and other Chinese apps, following the lead of India, which banned 59 Chinese apps after border skirmishes with Beijing, and Australia, which has threatened to do the same. Americans should download the apps only if you want your information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, he smirked.

While acknowledging he [didnt] want to get out in front of the president, the US diplomat nevertheless appeared to threaten 30 million American TikTok users with the withdrawal of their favorite microblogging platform, before attempting to draw a connection between TikTok  recently found by Apple to be secretly accessing users clipboards, along with a plethora of other apps  and Huawei, US companies primary competitor for dominance of the telecommunications sector. Despite frequent accusations from Pompeo and others in the Trump administration, however, Huawei equipment has not been shown to include the dreaded backdoors to Beijing.

The Indian ban divorced TikTok from its largest market, a relationship parent company ByteDances Indian office is reportedly hurrying to mend. A US ban would no doubt be catastrophic as well  but it might be more disastrous for Washington, as legions of Tiktok-addicted American teenagers whove already taken credit for blocking millions from attending one of President Donald Trumps rallies are handed a big fat new reason to rebel against their government.

This article was posted: Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at 2:50 am

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Infowars.com Videos:
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to the invitation of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,...

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to the invitation of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, by the Department of State Services (DSS).





The PDP, in a statement shared on its official Twitter handle on Monday, said the development confirms malfeasance in EFCC.





The party said Magu should now step aside to forestall destruction of evidence against him.





The PDP asked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to show the genuineness of its war against corruption by allowing the unhindered investigation of the acting Chairman of EFCC.

The party said Nigerians were already aware that the EFCC boss has been pulled in for questioning.





The main opposition party noted that the fact that Magu has to be accompanied by his lawyer shows that the said invitation, is beyond the routine.





The PDP holds that the development around the @officialEFCC acting Chairman as well as the desperate attempt by the Commission to cover or waveoff his investigation, only raise more integrity questions regarding Magus activities in the EFCC, the statement added.





Only last month, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Abubakar Malami, released a memo in which he indicted Magu of alleged diversion of recovered funds and fraudulent sale of assets seized by the @officialEFCC.





The PDP it was keenly monitoring the development alongside Nigerians and indeed, the international community are and expect the Buhari-led presidency to muster the courage to carry out a comprehensive investigation and make its findings available to the public.





The PDP called on the Buhari administration to order Magu to step aside, adding that this will preserve the integrity of the office of the Chairman of the EFCC.





Moreover, with the allegations and investigation, Magu has lost the moral rectitude to continue to preside over the anti-corruption agency. He should step aside until he proves himself innocent.





Ibrahim Magu was on Monday invited by the Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations that he owns four properties.





In 2016, DSS accused the EFCC boss of living in a N40m mansion paid for by one Umar Mohammed, a retired Air Commodore.





However, the EFCC said Magu, was not arrested on Monday.





According to the EFCC, he only honoured an invitation by a Presidential Panel reviewing the activities of the agency.





The Head of Media, Dele Oyewale, said this in a statement on Monday.





He said the review was held at the Banquet Hall wing of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.





In the same vein, the Department of State Services (DSS) said it did not arrest Ibrahim Magu as widely.





But despite the rebuttal, it was gathered that DSS blocked Magu in Wuse traffic shortly after he left office.





He was then taken to the Presidential Villa.





Magu is being reportedly grilled over allegations against him.








ST. LOUIS, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced ICU Care, the nation's leading provider of high-acuity telemedicine, announced a recent tele-ICU services launch with Salem Regional Medical Center (SRMC), located in Salem, Ohio. Advanced ICU Care's sophisticated technology-enabled care services will provide the hospital's bedside teams with 24 x 7 x 365 clinical expertise supporting the delivery of the gold standard of critical care to patients.

Salem Regional Medical Center's search for a tele-ICU partner stemmed from its goal to provide an elevated level of critical care within its community. The hospital was impressed by Advanced ICU Care's clinical care reputation and proven patient results at nearly 100 hospitals. Its intensivist-led care teams, coupled with proprietary telemedicine technology, together ensure that the hospital's bedside teams will be supported around the clock in order to achieve the desired patient outcomes.

"Salem Regional Medical Center had been exploring the potential of tele-ICU prior to the COVID-19 pandemic," explained Anita Hackstedde, M.D., SRMC's President/CEO. "When looking for a service partner, the breadth of Advanced ICU Care's critical care experience as well as the sophistication of its technology offering was particularly attractive. When we experienced rising community demand for intensive care services during the pandemic, Advanced ICU Care worked with us to accelerate our launch date so we could maximize our ICU capacity. The organization's ability to rapidly scale support during the COVID-19 crisis has been impressive and we look forward to a long and impactful critical care collaboration with their team moving forward."

"Advanced ICU Care is pleased to initiate a tele-ICU partnership with Salem Regional Medical Center, arming its bedside team with remote clinical and technology resources to support the ability to deliver timely critical care to patients," said Advanced ICU Care CEO, Lou Silverman. "Our high-acuity telemedicine service model is enabled by continuing investment in innovation and technologies that deliver care benefits to bedside teams and our mutual patients. The resulting care is proven to improve clinical outcomes while reducing costly length of stays. We are committed to building on this success with Salem Regional Medical Center and its critical care team."

Advanced ICU Care treats more ICU patients and saves more lives than any other tele-ICU provider in the nation. Working with a talented team led by U.S. board-certified physicians, the company delivers high-acuity patient monitoring to both health systems and individual hospitals and has successfully implemented and managed more tele-ICU programs than any other organization.

About Salem Regional Medical Center (SRMC)

Salem Regional Medical Center is a not-for-profit, independent hospital located in Salem, Ohio. Serving its communities since 1913, SRMC is accredited by The Joint Commission and offers a broad range of health care specialties and innovative technologies, including signature services in cancer care, medical imaging and orthopaedics. The Hospital transformed cancer care in its region through a strategic partnership with University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, bringing world-class medical and radiation oncology services to more than 1,800 cancer patients since 2017. A leader in advanced medical imaging, SRMC was most recently chosen as a national showcase site by the Siemens Corporation to host their newest 3D PET/ CT scanner with the fastest and highest image quality available anywhere in the nation. SRMC's Orthopaedic program has also been recognized nationally with The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval Disease-Specific Certification for Hip and Knee Replacement Surgeries. Visit www.salemregional.com for more information.

About Advanced ICU Care

Advanced ICU Care treats more ICU patients and saves more lives than any other independent tele-ICU provider in the nation. Our clinical response platform leverages U.S. board-certified clinicians, nine technology-enabled care centers, and sophisticated connectivity and diagnostic technology and is contracted to deliver 24 x 7 x 365 clinical expertise and proven clinical results to patients in nearly 100 hospitals nationally. Serving a large and growing cohort of ICU patients, families, providers, hospitals and hospital systems since 2006, and adding in-patient telemetry monitoring services in 2016, the Advanced ICU Care team is proud to serve as a leader in telemedicine and honored to partner with our clients in defining and delivering the best of acute care to the patients we serve together. To learn more about our story, visit http://advancedicucare.com/.

SOURCE Advanced ICU Care

Related Links

http://www.advancedicucare.com


'Dogtor' Loki, a two-year-old Rottweiler, is a therapy dog owned by Caroline Benzel, a medical student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Loki is delivering care packages and smiles in an effort to give back to medical professionals working on the front lines in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. When the COVID-19 outbreak put a halt to in-person therapy visits, Caroline and Dogtor Loki took to their electronic devices to continue their therapy work virtually.

During the virtual visits, Caroline noticed the doctors and nurses being irritated from the constant use of the personal protective equipment and knew she had to do something. She began putting together care packages, which she calls "hero healing kits," and delivering them to front-line workers with Loki's help. The dynamic duo has personally delivered more than 5,500 kits and the campaign has taken off nationally, with similar projects started in eight other states. Through generous donations, Caroline and Loki have raised more than $80,000 for the kits, personal protective equipment, food and supplies for frontline workers.

The GO TEAM is an active group of 600+ handler/therapy dog teams working across the United States and Italy. These teams have volunteered with first responders and firefighters during times of crisis including shootings, suicides, floods, fires, and major disasters among other catastrophic events. Teams have also made special visits to countless schools, colleges, hospices, hospitals, and other special events.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, many of the teams around the country had to make changes to their normal routine. Several therapy teams paired up with teachers to do virtual Paws2Read sessions, and many began virtual therapy visits with their patients. Some have also participated in drive-by visits to assisted living homes, fire departments, graduations, birthdays and more. The Go Team therapy dogs have given out hundreds of trading cards which include photos and information of each dog on them and many are actively putting together care packages with essential items to deliver to seniors who may be unable to get out of their houses. As the country is slowly opening, the Go Team is following the city regulated COVID guidelines to plan their future visits. During this trying time, the Go Team therapy dogs have been bringing comfort and relief to people throughout the United States and beyond.

"We are thrilled to honor 'Dogtor' Loki and the Go Team Therapy Dogs with the AKC Paw of Courage awards," said AKC Executive Secretary Gina DiNardo. "These canine heroes are bringing comfort and smiles during tumultuous times and these awards give us a chance to recognize the important work they are doing."

Other 2020 Paw of Courage recipients included Jackson, an eight-year-old Golden Retriever owned by Bob Wharton, Molly, a ten-year-old Vizsla owned by Connie Priesz, and Phoebe a 10-year-old Belgian Tervuren owned by Dr. Pamela Regan. These therapy dogs have all adjusted to the changing times due to the global pandemic and continue their important work to comfort those in need. Read more about the previous winners here.

Any dog is eligible to receive an AKC Paw of Courage; the award is not specific to purebred dogs. Paw of Courage awards can be presented to Police K-9s, Military Working Dogs, Therapy Dogs, Service Dogs and other canines that work to make the lives of the people around them safer, easier or just simply happier. To nominate a dog for a Paw of Courage award, click here.

You can watch an exclusive interview with Caroline and 'Dogtor' Loki on AKC.TV here.

About the American Kennel Club

Founded in 1884, the American Kennel Club is a not-for-profit organization, which maintains the largest registry of purebred dogs in the world and oversees the sport of purebred dogs in the United States. The AKC is dedicated to upholding the integrity of its registry, promoting the sport of purebred dogs and breeding for type and function. Along with its more than 5,000 licensed and member clubs and its affiliated organizations, the AKC advocates for the purebred dog as a family companion, advances canine health and well-being, works to protect the rights of all dog owners and promotes responsible dog ownership. More than 22,000 competitions for AKC-registered purebred dogs are held under AKC rules and regulations each year including conformation, agility, obedience, rally, tracking, herding, lure coursing, coonhound events, hunt tests, field and earthdog tests. Affiliate AKC organizations include the AKC Humane Fund, AKC Canine Health Foundation, AKC Reunite and the AKC Museum of the Dog. For more information, visit www.akc.org.

AKC, American Kennel Club, the American Kennel Club seal and design, and all associated marks and logos are trademarks, registered trademarks and service marks of The American Kennel Club, Inc.

Become a fan of the American Kennel Club on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @AKCDogLovers

SOURCE American Kennel Club

Related Links

http://www.akc.org


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


HOUSTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Beecher Reagan, a global search and leadership firm specializing exclusively in senior professional services and the consulting talent market, announced the appointment of Georgina Pawley as partner of the EMEA's.

Pawley brings a wealth of expertise in human capital strategy and recruitment in the digital transformation space to Beecher Reagan's Consulting Practice. She works with professional services and Private Equity firms to build their C-Suite and Partner level placements.

"Georgina brings great experience that will bolster our professional services, private equity and EMEA search and leadership capabilities," says Clark Beecher, Managing Partner and Co-Founder. "She also represents a continued investment in diverse leaders in our firm. We are honored to have her join our dynamic team."

Previously, Pawley was a Partner at a US based executive search firm where she was instrumental in setting-up and building offices in Atlanta and New York. This included hiring internal teams across both offices, in addition to a heavy focus on new business development and existing client expansion.

Pawley possesses more than 15 years of experience including leadership level hires such as Global and Divisional C-Level positions as well as Advisory, Partner and Managing Director level hires within Professional Services and Private Equity organizations. Pawley brings a deep industry focus across Fintech and Insurtech, Life Sciences, Consumer Products, Retail and Travel.

"After 4 years working in the USA, I'm very excited to be returning to London as a partner with Beecher Reagan," says Pawley. "I look forward to working alongside John Wittorf in building and growing the organizations' European presence."

About Beecher Reagan

Founded in 2009 by Clark Beecher and Tim Reagan, Beecher Reagan, LLC is a global retained executive search and leadership advisory firm focused exclusively on senior professional services and the consulting talent market. The firm brings more than 100 years of combined experience to help professional services, Fortune 500, and alternative investment companies align search strategies to organizational goals. The partners at Beecher Reagan have long standing relationships within the consulting, professional services and private equity space. The Beecher Reagan team consists of strategic search professionals, global talent acquisition leaders and former consultants with first-hand experience and knowledge of the talent and industries we serve. www.beecherreagan.com

SOURCE Beecher Reagan

Related Links

http://www.beecherreagan.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


In the news release, Change Consultants Partner to Create 'New World New Rules - From Fear to Opportunity' Free Webinar Series, issued 07-Jul-2020 by New Way Network over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that the website in the first paragraph has been updated.

Change Consultants Partner to Create 'New World New Rules - From Fear to Opportunity' Free Webinar Series

Born out of the pandemic, the webinar series will cover topics intended to help businesses pivot and provide key business leaders with the necessary tools and processes to be successful in our post-COVID world

CHICAGO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Five consulting agencies, including Executive Partners, Shape Strategies, Consultants in Corporate Innovation, Value Creation Analytics and Christine J. Quinn, have announced today their formation of a new association offering a free webinar series entitled "New World New Rules - From Fear to Opportunity" with the purpose of arming business and industry leaders with the necessary tools and resources to be successful in the post-COVID-19 era. The network is comprised of future-minded consultants whose desire is to help organizations in various industries and categories navigate the immense changes the pandemic has wrought throughout business, government and educational institutions. To register for the webinar series, launching on July 23rd at 1:00pm CST, please visit the website .

This unique consultative network, born from the ongoing pandemic, will help businesses transition from the less relevant old world thinking to new world, new rules thinking by providing invaluable tips on how to find new opportunities in the current and post-COVID worlds. By utilizing real-life business cases and their decades of experience in business and organizational dynamics, they will address how businesses can shift their strategy to manage the ongoing challenges as well as the future with creativity, preparedness and resiliency. The network's unique philosophy on new ways of working will be explored throughout the duration of the webinar series.

"Due to the increasing anxiety and uncertainty that the pandemic has caused, business executives and leaders have to find new ways to navigate our post-COVID world," said Tom Drucker, President, Consultants in Corporate Innovation. "To do that, we have brought together a group of change experts that can first identify the necessary growth mindset that businesses need to have and then provide applicable solutions for businesses to implement so that they can continually thrive in the new world."

"The pandemic has created the opportunity to accelerate and change the way companies function," said Rob Oberwise, Managing Partner, Executive Partners. "Many may ask, 'What if we go back to the old way?' but the real question is 'Should we go back to the old way?' By definition, when you have new rules, you have to change the way you act in order to create new and improved results."

"We recognize that this is no small feat and that we cannot do this entirely on our own," said Dr. Christine Quinn, President, Christine J. Quinn. "Historically, consultants were hired to provide a solution, but in this case, we are seeking to co-create and collaborate together so as to help businesses re-position in order to thrive into the future."

About New Way Network

New Way Network brings together five successful independent consultancies, Executive Partners, Shape Strategies, Consultants in Corporate Innovation, Value Creation Analytics, and Christine J. Quinn, with the ultimate goal of helping businesses pivot to find new opportunities in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The network will host a webinar entitled "New World New Rules - From Fear to Opportunity" to provide organizations with the necessary tips, tools and resources to continue to thrive and grow in our post-COVID world. Learn more and register .

SOURCE New Way Network
CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy Renewables, a subsidiary of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), announced that its 200-megawatt alternating current (MWac) Holstein Solar project in Nolan County, Texas, has begun commercial operation. It is the largest solar project in Duke Energy Renewables' fleet.

"Texas is one of the fastest growing solar energy markets in the country. Holstein Solar supports the state's growth and is a great addition to our growing Texas solar energy portfolio," said Chris Fallon, vice president of Duke Energy Renewables. "We're pleased to support the state's expanding renewable energy industry by providing low-cost, clean energy resources to meet the growing needs of Texans."

Duke Energy Renewables acquired the project from 8minute Solar Energy, a leading developer of utility-scale solar projects. 8minute Solar Energy led the development of the project and brought the EPC, operation and maintenance (O&M), hedge, tax equity and debt counterparties to the project.

"We are changing the energy game in Texas. Holstein proves that in Texas, where cost is the top consideration, solar is a smart and reliable choice," said Dr. Tom Buttgenbach, president and CEO of 8minute Solar Energy. "We are proud to partner with Duke Energy Renewables on large-scale solar projects that now fulfill the promise of a future where energy is clean, abundant and affordable for all."

The Holstein Solar project is among four Duke Energy Renewables solar generation facilities in Texas. The 100-MWac Lapetus Solar project in Andrews County went into commercial operation in January 2020. Duke Energy Renewables is also working to complete construction of its 200-MWac Rambler Solar project in Tom Green County, which is slated to be in commercial operation by mid-2020. The addition of these projects will bring Duke Energy Renewables' total Texas solar energy portfolio to 514 MWac.

The 200-MWac Holstein Solar project contains over 709,000 solar panels across approximately 1,300 acres in Wingate, Texas. The facility will power the equivalent of 40,000 homes.

The project employed up to 400 workers during peak construction.

Much of the energy generated from the Holstein Solar project will be sold through a 12-year term hedge agreement to J. Aron & Company LLC, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs. This is the first Duke Energy Renewables solar project to utilize a hedge agreement.

The facility's design, procurement of inverters, balance of plant systems and construction of the project were performed by Blattner Energy. First Solar Energy Services will provide O&M services for the project under a five-year agreement.

As one of the nation's top renewable energy providers, Duke Energy currently owns, operates and contracts more than 8,000 MW of capacity and plans to double that by 2025.

Duke Energy Renewables

Duke Energy Renewables, a nonregulated unit of Duke Energy, operates wind and solar generation facilities across the U.S., with a total electric capacity of 3,000 megawatts. The power is sold to electric utilities, electric cooperatives, municipalities, and commercial and industrial customers. The unit also operates energy storage and microgrid projects. Visit Duke Energy Renewables for more information.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 30,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities, in addition to Duke Energy Renewables' capacity.

Duke Energy is transforming its customers' experience, modernizing the energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2020 "World's Most Admired Companies" list, and Forbes' 2019 "America's Best Employers" list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This document includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "continue," "should," "could," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "will," "potential," "forecast," "target," "outlook," "guidance," and similar expressions. Various factors may cause actual results to be materially different than the suggested outcomes within forward-looking statements; accordingly, there is no assurance that such results will be realized. These risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in Duke Energy's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and subsequent quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements might not occur or might occur to a different extent or at a different time than Duke Energy has described. Duke Energy expressly disclaims an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact: Jennifer Garber

Office: 980.373.0668 | 24-Hour: 800-559-3853

SOURCE Duke Energy

Related Links

http://www.duke-energy.com


DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DuPage Medical Group (DMG), the largest independent, multi-specialty physician group in Illinois, is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Nelson as its Chief Executive Officer, effective July 6, 2020. Nelson will report to the Board of Directors and work in close partnership with Paul Merrick, MD, the Chairman of the DuPage Medical Group physician organization.

Mr. Nelson is a seasoned leader with more than 30 years of healthcare experience at both payer and provider organizations. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare, a $190 billion division of UnitedHealth Group. During his 15-year tenure, he served in key leadership positions in both the Commercial and Government businesses and drove efforts that resulted in increased growth, employee engagement and customer satisfaction. Mr. Nelson also has significant provider experience, having served in a variety of executive roles with Henry Ford Health System and Intermountain Healthcare.

"Steve's long and successful track record of creating world-class performance by building culture and focusing on mission and purpose aligns well with the mission of DMG," said Merrick. "I am thrilled for him to join the organization and look forward to his partnership with the physicians of DMG. Together, we will transform the care delivery model in a way that the healthcare system demands, patients deserve and physicians desire."

"We are pleased to welcome Steve to DMG," said Mike Pacetti, who has served as interim co-CEO with Paul Merrick, MD, during the last 14 months. "Steve is a visionary healthcare leader who is aligned with our mission of taking great care of patients. He brings a track record of success and a passion for finding new and innovative ways to improve healthcare delivery and health outcomes. We conducted a selective and thoughtful search for a new CEO and are confident that Steve will lead our organization to its next phase of growth and success." Mr. Pacetti will now resume his role as Chief Financial Officer  a role he has held since 1999.

"DMG has a remarkable mission and meaningful history as a physician-led organization," said Nelson. "I am honored to have the unique opportunity to work side-by-side with these talented physicians and employees. Together, we will continue the work to transform the healthcare system resulting in a better patient and physician experience, more affordable care and world-class health outcomes."

Mr. Nelson will spend the coming weeks learning more about and engaging with physicians and employees across the organization, as well as meeting with key partners, local business leaders and associations.

Mr. Nelson serves on the Board of GENYOUth and Kadiant, the Dean's Advisory Board at the University of Michigan and he is an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan.

About DuPage Medical Group

DuPage Medical Group (DMG) is the largest independent, multi-specialty physician group in Illinois with more than 750 primary care and specialty care physicians in over 100 suburban Chicago locations. For more than 20 years, DMG has focused on making healthcare better for its patients and communities by offering high quality, compassionate healthcare. As a physician-led organization, DMG's physicians work together  utilizing leading-edge technology and innovative treatment options  to ensure that each patient receives accessible and efficient healthcare. For more information, visit www.dupagemedicalgroup.com.

Contact: Maria McGowan, DuPage Medical Group, (630) 545-7640, [email protected]

SOURCE DuPage Medical Group

Related Links

https://www.dupagemedicalgroup.com


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


The 2022 governorship election is still long. This is the right time for governance and when the time to play politics comes, then they should all go out and reach out to our people to canvas for votes, in a peaceful and civil manner, he advised.
TORONTO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Flower One Holdings Inc. ("Flower One" or the "Company") (CSE: FONE) (OTCQX: FLOOF) (FSE: F11), a leading cannabis cultivator, producer and innovator in Nevada, announced today that effective July 15, 2020, due to personal reasons, Geoff Miachika will be stepping down as Chief Financial Officer, a position he has held since June 2018. David Kane has been appointed Interim CFO, effective July 16, 2020. Mr. Miachika will continue to work with Flower One in an advisory capacity to ensure a smooth transition between himself and Mr. Kane.

Mr. Kane, a certified public accountant, joins Flower One with more than three decades of finance and accounting experience. Having began his career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young, Mr. Kane has held several roles as Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, Mr. Kane was Chief Financial Officer of Xtreme Cubes Corporation, a manufacturer of high-end modular structures, where he developed and implemented the Company's first ERP system and financial controls. Mr. Kane has also held CFO roles at Tryke Companies, a vertically integrated cannabis cultivator, manufacturer and retailer in Nevada; Aerovoice, a wholesale distributor of wireless handset and related accessories; EagleRider, a privately-held motorcycle rental and tour business; and Aquarium of the Pacific, a not-for-profit aquarium in California that has over 1.5 million visitors annually.

"David brings an exceptional level of finance and accounting depth to Flower One, having worked at the CFO level across multiple related business sectors, including in the cannabis and wholesale distribution markets," said Ken Villazor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Flower One. "In addition, David is a local Nevadan who will further enhance our Company's connectivity to and understanding of the Nevada market. David's appointment further strengthens our U.S. leadership and operations teams and is a strategically important step as we continue to grow our product offerings to the 70 cannabis retailers across Nevada. With Geoff remaining on as an advisor to our team, we believe David's transition to Interim CFO will be seamless."

Mr. Miachika, has been an integral part of Flower One's transition to a public company, actively assisting with the Company's public listings on the Canadian Securities Exchange, the OTCQX Markets and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Mr. Miachika also played an important role in the Company's debt and equity financings, as well as supported the Company's ability to execute and operationalize its 455,000 square foot flagship cultivation and manufacturing facility in Nevada in less than 18 months.

"Geoff has played a key role in transforming Flower One into an industry-leading player in the U.S. cannabis space," said Mr. Villazor. "On behalf of our entire team and Board of Directors, I want to thank Geoff for his many contributions to the Company over the past two years."

About Flower One Holdings Inc.

Flower One is the largest cannabis cultivator, producer, and full-service brand fulfillment partner in the state of Nevada. By combining more than 20 years of greenhouse operational excellence with best-in-class cannabis operators, Flower One offers consistent, reliable, and scalable fulfillment to a growing number of industry-leading cannabis brands. Flower One's flagship 400,000 square-foot greenhouse and 55,000 square-foot production facility is used for large scale cannabis cultivation, processing, and manufacturing. Flower One also owns and operates a second production facility in Las Vegas, with 25,000 square-feet of indoor cultivation and a commercial kitchen that will produce several of the nation's top-performing edible brands. Flower One produces a wide range of products ranging from wholesale flower, full-spectrum oils, and distillates to finished consumer packaged goods including flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, edibles, and topicals for the top-performing brands in cannabis.

The Company's common shares are traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the Company's symbol "FONE", in the United States on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol "FLOOF" and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "F11". For more information, visit: https://flowerone.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of United States securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other unknown factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from historical results or from any future actual results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements labeled with the terms "believes," "belief," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "potential," "should," "may," "will," "plans," "continue" or other similar expressions to be uncertain and forward-looking.

Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements relating to the Company's connectivity to and understanding of the Nevada market; potential growth; the Company's leadership as a cannabis cultivator, producer, innovator and full-service brand fulfillment partner; the Company's ability to offer consistent, reliable and scalable fulfilment to its brand partners; and the production of the nation's top-performing edibles brands.

The Company is indirectly involved in the manufacture, possession, use, sale and distribution of cannabis in the recreational and medicinal cannabis marketplaces in the United States through its subsidiary Cana Nevada Corp. Local state laws where Cana Nevada Corp. operates permit such activities; however, these activities are currently illegal under United States federal law. Additional information regarding this and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated June 23, 2020 (the "Annual Information Form") filed on its issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, the "Cautionary Statement regarding Forward-Looking Information" section contained in the Annual Information Form. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to assumptions and risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company's public securities filings with the Canadian securities commissions, including the Company's Annual Information Form.

Although Flower One has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects that are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under United States federal law; changes in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. Flower One Holdings disclaims and does not undertake any intention or obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE Flower One Holdings Inc.
AKRON, Ohio, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohio Edison, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), is completing upgrades to its electric system in the area that are expected to enhance electric service reliability for 193,000 customers in Trumbull and Mahoning counties.

The work includes installing more than 500 new utility poles and replacing 11 miles of existing power lines with thicker, more durable wire designed to withstand severe weather elements and tree debris. The work includes the creation of additional circuit ties, where adjacent distribution lines are interconnected so power can be re-routed to customers from another source if a line is damaged, resulting in faster power restoration.

Customers also will benefit from installation of more than 20 new automated reclosing devices that can help restore power to customers within seconds in the event of a power outage. These electrical devices allow utility personnel to automatically restore service to customers rather than sending a crew to investigate, which is especially helpful in rural or hard-to-access areas.

"We are committed to providing the highest quality of electric service to the communities we serve," said Ed Shuttleworth, regional president of Ohio Edison and Penn Power. "This work to modernize our distribution system is necessary to meet the growing energy demands of our customers for many years to come."

Part of Ohio Edison's Grid Modernization Plan, a three-year investment approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to modernize the electric distribution system in Ohio, the work began in March and is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

In addition to Ohio Edison's distribution system upgrades, the company plans to install about 72,000 smart meters in Trumbull County by the end of 2022, primarily in the Warren and Kinsman areas. Most of the installs are expected to begin early next year and continue through early 2022. This step toward a more modernized electric system will enable automated meter readings and may enhance the company's ability to respond to outages faster and more efficiently.

FirstEnergy's Ohio utilities, including Ohio Edison, have developed a comprehensive smart meter plan that was approved by the PUCO to identify several locations throughout the company's service area that will benefit from these efforts in the most cost-effective manner.

Ohio Edison serves more than one million customers across 34 Ohio counties. Follow Ohio Edison on Twitter @OhioEdison , on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OhioEdison, and online at www.ohioedison.com .

FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,500 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com . Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter: @FirstEnergyCorp.

Editor's Note: Photos of Ohio Edison crews restringing power lines and installing new equipment are available for download on Flickr.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.

Related Links

http://www.firstenergycorp.com


The Multicultural Marketplace mission is singular: provide an available-now, diverse and delivery-accountable marketplace media offering that ambitiously sees 100% of clients participating over the next 6-18 months.

The marketplace is determined by GroupM's proprietary 20-point eligibility criteria, clustered across five categories, including GroupM's industry-recognized brand safety guidelines. Analysis points include, and not limited to, traffic & targeting capabilities, content relevancy and recency, privacy policies, ad rendering, clutter and ownership.

This new marketplace expands and scales existing and in-progress initiatives by GroupM and agencies in support of multicultural owned and focused media and journalism. In 2020, Mindshare created its 'Inclusion' PMP series comprised of private marketplaces, starting with the LGBTQ Community and now the Black Community (the latter launching in another announcement shortly). In June, GroupM became the first holding company to join TripleLift's "Help Journalism" programmatic initiative, which drives clients' ad dollars to local news publishers.

Accessible to clients, the Multicultural Marketplace provides critical support to independent publishers owned by and/or serving these communities. Additionally, it takes into account the following:

Many of the Black and Hispanic owned and/or focused media are under financial pressure with the consolidation of digital spending around giant platforms.

In an increasingly price-oriented marketplace, the levels of effectiveness and audience engagement of these publishers may not be wholly recognized.

These publishers are often overlooked due to perceived complexities of buying them in a non-automated environment.

Gonzalo del Fa, President of GroupM Multicultural: "These publishers provide essential voices and content to the Black and Hispanic communities and society and maintain the overall diversity health of the media marketplace. Our Multicultural Marketplace will allow clients to plan and buy Black and Hispanic owned or focused media in an automated way, including programmatically, directly and at scale."

Susan Schiekofer, Chief Digital Investment Officer, GroupM: "At times, especially in a price-driven environment, media 'value' is distilled to efficiency alone, and audience engagement and content relationships may be overlooked. The current and future marketplace demands an accountable, accessible-now, and focused investment strategy that better balances efficiency, engagement and effectiveness in reaching the Black and Hispanic communities. The GroupM Multicultural Marketplace is our mechanic to achieve greater equity, while supporting the voices, content and editorial written for, by and/or owned by these communities."

About GroupM

GroupM is the world's leading media investment company responsible for more than $50B in annual media investment through agencies Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence and m/SIX, as well as the outcomes-driven programmatic audience company, Xaxis. GroupM's portfolio includes Data & Technology, Investment and Services, all united in vision to shape the next era of media where advertising works better for people. By leveraging all the benefits of scale, the company innovates, differentiates and generates sustained value for our clients wherever they do business.

Discover more about GroupM at www.groupm.com.

Follow @GroupMWorldwide on Twitter

Follow GroupM on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/groupm

Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE GroupM

Related Links

http://www.groupm.com


HOUSTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Patent litigation boutique Heim, Payne & Chorush has been recognized among the top intellectual property law firms by London-based publisher IAM for 2020. In addition, firm partners Michael Heim, Les Payne, Russell Chorush and Eric Enger were honored individually on the IAM 1000 global list of the most-respected practitioners.

Recognition by IAM: The World's Leading Patent Professionals is based on extensive independent research, including interviews with clients, in-house counsel and peers.

"Heim, Payne & Chorush's superhuman trial lawyers are incredibly attuned to market developments," the research staff wrote. "They know how judges are reacting to issues and how the PTAB is approaching them, and understand which patents are strong from an enforceability perspective. This underpins the agile boutique's immeasurable success when litigating against giants of industry and the legal big guns representing them."

IAM noted that the firm used previous wins "as a springboard" for new patent infringement filings, secured great outcomes in Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings, and handled major antitrust litigation.

IAM specifically recognized Messrs. Heim, Payne, Chorush and Enger. Mr. Heim also was recently singled out by Managing Intellectual Property among its 2020 IP Stars.

"When Michael Heim, Leslie Payne, Russell Chorush or Eric Enger is on the case, great outcomes are inevitable," the publication said. "Performing flawlessly in court, Heim also plays a valuable support role ... and is a shrewd strategic sounding board. Payne is a resolute captain of litigation teams and a tenacious advocate. Chorush works miracles in large antitrust cases in the pharmaceutical sector; he is a gifted scientist and impeccable patent attorney. Enger does a sterling job running complex cases; with him in charge, everything gets done right."

Heim, Payne & Chorush, LLP, represents plaintiffs and defendants in litigation across a broad range of technologies and business sectors. With a wide variety of technical and scientific backgrounds, firm attorneys handle all facets of intellectual property litigation for some of the largest energy and technology firms, as well as individuals and smaller companies. Heim, Payne & Chorush takes pride in its ability to partner with other attorneys and firms to bring the best possible trial team together for the benefit of the client. To learn more about the firm and the work it does, visit www.hpcllp.com.

Media Contact:

Robert Tharp

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE Heim, Payne & Chorush

Related Links

http://www.hpcllp.com


- Hg will become the main shareholder in F24 after acquiring stake from current majority owner, Armira.

- Executive board, Dr. Jorg Rahmer, Christian Gotz and Jochen Schutte, to remain significantly invested.

- Transaction marks the end of a successful first phase in F24's buy-and-build strategy, including three acquisitions and integrations.

- Together with Hg, F24 now commences its second phase of both organic and buy-and-build strategy, to accelerate further growth.

MUNICH and LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hg, Europe's leading software investor, today announces that it has entered into an agreement to invest in F24, a pan-European sector leader for emergency notification, crisis & incident management and critical communications, headquartered in Munich, Germany. Hg will invest in a stake currently owned by Armira and co-founder Ralf Meister, and will become the majority shareholder in the business. The Executive Board, Dr. Jorg Rahmer (spokesperson), Christian Gotz (co-founder and Executive Board member) and Jochen Schutte (Executive Board member) will remain significantly invested in the business, alongside Hg.

F24 partnered with Armira in 2017 and has since then more than doubled its sales by executing a successful growth strategy including three acquisitions and integrations. This transaction marks the end of the first phase of F24's buy-and-build strategy and a trusted cooperation between the two organisations. Following the transaction, the co-founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Ralf Meister, will also be leaving the company.

With F24, Hg continues its focus on businesses providing critical SaaS solutions across Europe. Hg's investment in F24 will be made from the Mercury 2 Fund.

Nick Jordan, Partner at Hg, states: "The effectiveness and speed with which businesses respond to crises can make or break their future success. Quality solutions that can add peace of mind, with a proven track-record, are highly valued by their customers. We recognise F24 as a true champion in this sector, with a global presence and serving clients across multiple industry verticals. We look forward to continuing their success and accelerating international growth."

Hg's investment marks the starting point of the second phase of F24's buy-and-build strategy to accelerate further growth.

Dr. Jorg Rahmer, Member of the Executive Board at F24, states: "This new partnership represents a crucial milestone for F24 in accelerating our growth and is evidence for the achievements of our business and team. We're very excited to welcome Hg, given the depth of experience they have in our sector and their knowledge base, which we'll be able to use for the benefit of the business and our customers."

Christian Gotz, co-founder and Executive Board member at F24, responsible for Sales, Marketing & PR, HR and Customer Service, adds: "F24 can look back on a history of more than 20 years. Technological progress has shaped us just as much as the constant desire to offer the best solutions for our customers. Together with Hg, we will further accelerate our growth trajectory and be even closer to our customers worldwide, enabling us to cover their constantly growing requirements."

F24 has an international customer base of more than 2,500 clients in over 100 countries served by more than 170 employees at 12 locations.

Benedikt Joeris, Director at Hg concludes: "F24 has best-in-class and well-invested SaaS solutions, managed by an impressive management team who have been growing the business since inception. We share their passion for technology and innovation and we look forward to seeing what we can achieve together."

The terms of the transaction are not disclosed. Hg was advised on the investment by Latham & Watkins, Deloitte, E&Y, McKinsey, PWC, Codex and GCA Altium. The former shareholders were advised by Raymond James as exclusive M&A advisor as well as Gleiss Lutz and Taxess.

About F24

F24 is the leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider for emergency notification and crisis management (FACT24) and for sensitive and critical communications (eCall) in Europe. With FACT24, the company is able to offer a highly innovative solution and help customers around the world to successfully and efficiently manage incidents, emergencies and critical situations. In addition, the eCall platform offers solutions for high-volume communications of critical to confidential content in the business Environment.

Founded in 2000, F24 AG has its headquarters in Munich, Germany. Along with its subsidiaries, it supports more than 2,500 companies and organisations in more than 100 countries around the globe as part of the daily communication of critical and confidential information or in the event of a crisis. This makes the F24 Group one of the world's leading SaaS providers for alerting and crisis management as well as critical communications for business customers.

F24 is the first company in the world to be certified by 'The British Standards Institution' (BSI) for its integrated information security (ISMS) and business continuity (BCMS) management systems. F24 is the first and only European company listed in the Gartner Report for emergency/mass notification services.

About Hg

Hg is a leading European investor in software and services, focused on backing businesses that change how we all do business. Deep technology expertise, complemented by vertical application specialisation and dedicated operational support, provides a compelling proposition to management teams looking to scale their businesses.

Hg has an investment team of over 140 professionals, plus a portfolio team of more than 30 operators, providing practical support to help our businesses to realise their growth ambitions.

Based in London, Munich and New York, Hg has a portfolio of over 30 software and technology businesses, comprising over 35,000 employees across the UK, US and Europe. For further details, please visit the Hg website: https://hgcapital.com/.

About Armira

Armira is an investment holding based in Munich focused on medium-sized "Mittelstand" companies in the German-speaking region. Armira invests in established, profitable companies with sales between EUR 50m and EUR 500m.

With its unique capital base from entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial families, Armira has the flexibility to deploy capital without a fixed term and can thus focus on the long-term development of its portfolio companies.

The Armira group currently generates sales of over EUR 1.5bn employing more than 8,000 people.

For further details:

Hg

Tom Eckersley

+44 (0)20 8396 0930

F24

Dr. Stefanie Hauer

+49 89 2323 638 75

SOURCE F24 AG

Related Links

https://www.fact24.com/


SAN FRANCISCO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' approval Tuesday of the Healthy Buildings ordinance puts hotel employees at greater risk of exposure to COVID-19, will delay those workers' return to work and adds costly and unnecessary cleaning requirements to a single industry while exempting the Supervisors' own offices.

Members of the Hotel Council of San Francisco, the California Hotel and Lodging Association, workplace safety experts and San Francisco's business community reiterated their strong opposition to the ordinance's mandates that require repeated cleaning of low-touch hotel walls and chandeliers that exceed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and California's Department of Public Health (CDPH) recommendations.

"This ordinance does little to serve the public good, harms the No. 1 industry in San Francisco and further delays the return of more than 25,000 San Francisco hotel employees to work,'' said Kevin Carroll, President and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco

"Today's supervisors' vote may be the death knell for several San Francisco hotels and their employees," said Lynn S. Mohrfeld, President and CEO of the California Hotel and Lodging Association. "The ordinance's overreaching and costly standards will delay San Francisco hotels' ability to reopen, pushing some of them to the breaking point of survival in an already overregulated, overtaxed city."

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.

The ordinance demands that employees 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, former chief of California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the state agency responsible for employee health and safety standards. "This ordinance appears well-intentioned, but some of its provisions could be thought out more carefully."

The ordinance will add $220,000 in costs for the average 250-room hotel, according to an independent study by the Hotel Asset Value Enhancement, which calculated costs per occupied room of the incremental cleaning and operating requirements such as labor, materials and laundry, unique to the ordinance. These costs are on top of an estimated $498,000 that the average 250-room hotel will incur to install the best practices for cleaning and social distancing as recommended by CDC, CDPH and the hotel associations and major hotel brands.

San Francisco hotels have worked closely with CDC recommendations, Gov. Newsom, CDPH, 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 hotel 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 hotel standards follow the CDC, CDPH and Cal/OSHA recommendations that have been utilized as guidance by 54 of 58 California counties.

Inquiries:

Pete Hillan: 831-227-5984/ [email protected]

David Perry: 415-676-7007/ [email protected]

SOURCE The California Hotel & Lodging Association
WASHINGTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA recently sat down with alumna and journalist Anna-Lysa Gayle of WJLA ABC 7 for a WHUT TV special titled, "Howard University Re-Opening Plan for Fall 2020." During the conversation, Dr. Frederick highlights the University's plan to return to campus in a hybrid format, while cautioning that the administration will continue to monitor the coronavirus spread and make adjustments accordingly. Watch the video here.

Gayle and Frederick's conversation touches on key points of the plan, including what the hybrid campus model entails, additional fall campus safety measures, and the need for the community buy-in to achieve a successful environment.

"We have a sacred obligation when students come to Howard University to protect them; it's the first priority. This is an urban city which comes with all of the risks of being in an urban city and now, the coronavirus is highest risk that rises to our attention at this point of time," said President Frederick. "However, being an urban campus, there are risks all the time and we take the responsibility of bringing students to campus very seriously. We will put the best effort forward to create a safe campus, but our student's participation in our process is key. We can put up all the safeguards, but if they don't social distance, if they don't wash their hands frequently, if they don't wear their masks, then those are risks that we are not going to be able to combat. We need everyone to commit to make sure that this works."

When asked about his concerns related to students adhering to the safety measures, Dr. Frederick says he's confident that Howard's predominantly African American population of scholars of are paying attention to how the virus is disproportionately impacting minority communities and will carry themselves appropriately.

"I'll tell you what my own gut instinct is, being a Howard alum, a faculty member and as someone who is currently still operating during this crisis and seeing patients who have contracted this virus. The disproportionate impact this has had on African Americans is something that I think our community needs to take seriously, and this movement around the social injustice and the systemic racism that has been occurring in our country has brought a lot of people to the party. A party that Howard University, in many ways, has been at since the very beginning and has continued. While everybody else comes and goes out of this particular issue, we've been steady. At the core of this particular issue is that Black Live Matter and one of the things I hope that people will recognize is that Howard's Black Lives Matter and they should be of paramount significance in our thoughts as we think about what we should be doing. So rather than have students and faculty and staff sign a pledge, I want to speak to their consciousness about who we are as a community and why we need to take care of each other."

The special is available to view on Howard's YouTube channel and will rebroadcast on WHUT TV on Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. EDT and Monday, July 13 at 9 a.m. EDT.

For the latest Fall Re-open Plan updates from Howard University, please bookmark howard.edu/reopen.

Media Contact: Alonda Thomas, [email protected]

SOURCE Howard University

Related Links

http://www.howard.edu


PITTSBURGH, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "I'm a nurse and I thought there could be a secure and convenient device to assist workers when delivering medication to patients around the hospital," said an inventor, from Hertford, N.C., "So I invented the BENJI BOND. My design reduces strain and it enables you to quickly travel around the medical facility."

The patent-pending invention provides a more efficient way to transport medication within a hospital or other facility. In doing so, it eliminates the need for the worker to constantly stand or walk long distances. As a result, it enhances comfort, convenience and mobility and it increases security and organization. The invention features an effective design that is easy to use so it is ideal for hospitals, medical facilities, nursing homes, jails, etc. Additionally, it saves time and effort.

The original design was submitted to the Virginia Beach sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 19-VIG-441, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp

Related Links

http://www.inventhelp.com


CHICAGO, June 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As local governments continue to lift restrictions to allow companies to bring employees back into workplaces, JLL has re-opened more than 75 offices in the United States, a little more than half of its total portfolio, including its flagship headquarters at the Aon Center in Chicago. The company is on track to re-open nearly 100 U.S. offices by the end of July.

JLL's Chief Human Resources Officer Mary Bilbrey discusses the firm's strategy for (re)entry.

The re-openings follow the company's moves outside the U.S., where most of its facilities have welcomed employees back in partial capacity over the past few months. JLL employs more than 94,000 people across 80 countries and, to date, has opened 84 offices in Asia Pacific and 78 offices in EMEA. The firm is utilizing learnings from those regions as it continues its re-entry in the U.S.

Consistent with its advice to clients, JLL is implementing shifts to reduce the number of employees in the office at one time. For example, at Aon Center the firm is bringing back no more than 25 percent of employees during Phase 1, which is also in compliance with both city and state restrictions.

"The majority of our employees have told us that they are eager to return to the office, and we are pleased that many of them now have that option in the United States," said Mary Bilbrey, JLL's Chief Human Resources Officer and Head of Corporate Real Estate. "Our people tell us that being in the office makes them happier and more productive."

Bilbrey acknowledges that a return to the office is a personal decision. "We recognize that some employees view re-entry differently depending on their personal circumstances  such as their commute, family obligations and personal health situation  and JLL will continue to support work-from-home arrangements for employees. It's all about listening to our employees' feedback and concerns as we navigate the 'next normal' together."

JLL employees' desire to return to the office reflects larger trends around the world. According to JLL's global survey of 3,000 office workers from corporate occupiers, 58 percent indicated that they missed the office. Despite some headlines around the future of technology companies' office needs, 69 percent of those people surveyed from the tech industry indicated that they'd like to return to the office. Younger employees were also more likely to have a desire to return, with 65 percent of those 35 and under indicating a yearn for a return to office life.

JLL is implementing a phased approach to re-entry that emphasizes employee health and safety as its top priorities. Revised space plans to promote social distancing, signage that outlines safe hygiene practices, rotational shifts, cleaning protocols and distribution of cloth face coverings to employees are some of the practices in place.

"We are taking an active and pioneering role in demonstrating effective re-entry strategies that support employee experience, engagement and safety," said John Gates, CEO, Markets, JLL. "We, along with many of our clients, are certainly rethinking space requirements, but not the need for the office."

Over the past few years, JLL's annual Occupancy Benchmarking Report has shown that organizations have been increasingly allocating less square footage to individual desks. However, the current need for social distancing has led to the requirement of greater "de-densification" of office space. As of mid-May, the JLL occupancy planning team had developed social distancing plans for nearly 150 million square feet of client space, with nearly half of those clients reporting a loss of 50 percent capacity or more for their floors.

"Ultimately, it could be the need to de-densify space, combined with office worker's desire for human interaction that drives the 'next normal' of offices around the country in the near-term, as longer term needs are being assessed," Gates concluded.

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $18.0 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 94,000 as of March 31, 2020. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.

Connect with us

https://www.linkedin.com/company/jll

https://www.facebook.com/jll

https://twitter.com/jll



Contact: Jesse Tron

Phone: +212-376-1215

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE JLL-IR
ATLANTA, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Krystal, the Southeast's original quick-service restaurant chain, is excited to serve customers new limited-time offers for the summer. Starting July 13, participating locations will feature best-seller Chili Cheese Pups for only $1. Select restaurants also will offer a combo deal including two Chili Cheese Pups and an order of small tots for $3.99, pricing may vary by location.

Krystal's Chili Cheese Pup is fully loaded with chili, sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese and topped with classic yellow mustard, creating the ultimate flavor combination.

To make the perfect summer meal, guests are encouraged to pair Chili Cheese Pups with a Krystal slushie. The frozen summer treat combines Sprite, crushed ice and either fruit punch, grape or lemonade flavors for an innovative and refreshing combination.

Krystal remains committed to the health and safety of guests and team members. Restaurants are following strict public health guidelines and taking extra precautions such as staying in contact with local health officials for the latest advisories. Krystal drive-thrus are open 6 a.m.-midnight, and restaurants are offering delivery through UberEATS, DoorDash and Grubhub.

About Krystal Restaurants LLC

Founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1932, Krystal Restaurants LLC is the original quick-service restaurant chain in the South and was selected to USA Today's 2019 Top-10 Best Regional Fast Food List. Krystal hamburgers are still served fresh and hot off the grill on the iconic square bun at 300 restaurants in 9 states. Krystal's Atlanta-based Restaurant Support Center serves a team of over 3,700 employees. For more information, visit krystal.com.

SOURCE Krystal Restaurants LLC

Related Links

https://www.krystal.com


The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has distanced itself from a statement credited to one of its members rega...

The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has distanced itself from a statement credited to one of its members regarding the case involving Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).





Femi Odekunle, a member of the committee, had said Magu is a victim of power play in the presidency.





Speaking after the EFCC boss appeared before the panel, Odekunle accused Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), of being the arrowhead of power blocs that want Magu out of office.





This is a preliminary reaction of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) to the alleged arrest of Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Odekunles statement read.

The real information reaching us is that he was only invited to appear before a Panel set up not long ago concerning some alleged memo by Malami, Attorney General and Minister of justice, regarding some alleged malfeasance by Magu, along with nominations for his replacement.





The alleged originating Malami memo, up to the current arrest seems an outcome of power-play by power blocs in the corridors of power in which Malami appears to be an arrow-head or major agent of a power bloc that is not really interested in, or in support of, Buharis anti-corruption fight.





But in a statement on Tuesday, PACAC said the claims made by Odekunle are his personal views, and do not reflect that of the committee.





The statement from Aghogho Agbahor, its spokesman, read: The attention of the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has been drawn to a statement circulating in the media space credited to one of its members Prof Femi Odekunle.





The press release is the personal opinion of the member under whose name it was released and not that of the committee.




ATLANTA, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Marine Products Corporation (NYSE: MPX) announced today that it will release its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 before the market opens. In conjunction with its earnings release, the Company will host a conference call to review the Company's financial and operating results on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Individuals wishing to participate in the conference call should dial toll-free (833) 968-2235 or (825) 312-2057 for international callers and use conference ID number 8297112. For interested individuals unable to join via telephone, the call also will be broadcast and archived for 90 days on the Company's investor website. Interested parties are encouraged to click on the webcast link 10-15 minutes prior to the start of the conference call.

Marine Products Corporation (NYSE: MPX) is a leading manufacturer of fiberglass boats under three brand names: Chaparral, Robalo and Vortex. Chaparral's sterndrive models include SSi and SSX, along with the Chaparral Surf Series. Chaparral's outboard offerings include various models, such as OSX Luxury Sportboats, the 257 SSX, and SunCoast Sportdecks. Robalo builds an array of outboard sport fishing boats, which include center consoles, dual consoles and Cayman Bay Boat models. Chaparral also offers jet powered boats under the Vortex brand name. The Company continues to diversify its product lines through product innovation. With premium brands, a solid capital structure, and a strong independent dealer network, Marine Products Corporation is prepared to capitalize on opportunities to increase its market share and to generate superior financial performance to build long-term shareholder value. For more information on Marine Products Corporation visit our website at MarineProductsCorp.com.

For information about Marine Products Corporation or this event, please contact:

Ben Palmer

Chief Financial Officer

(404) 321-7910

[email protected]

Jim Landers

Vice President, Corporate Finance

(404) 321-2162

[email protected]

SOURCE Marine Products Corporation

Related Links

http://www.marineproductscorp.com


SEATTLE, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In its first projections of COVID-19 deaths out to November 1, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington is forecasting more than 200,000 deaths in the United States.

The forecast shows 208,255 deaths (with a range of 186,087 to 244,541). Those numbers drop to 162,808 (157,217 to 171,193), if at least 95% of people wear masks in public.

"We can now see the projected trajectory of the epidemic into the fall, and many states are expected to experience significant increases in cases and deaths in September and October," said IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray. "However, as we all have come to recognize, wearing masks can substantially reduce transmission of the virus. Mask mandates delay the need for re-imposing closures of businesses and have huge economic benefits. Moreover, those who refuse masks are putting their lives, their families, their friends, and their communities at risk."

IHME's new projections include the re-imposition of strong social distancing mandates when deaths per day reach a level of 8 per one million people, comparing that with a forecast if no action is taken, and a forecast if social distancing mandates are combined with at least 95% mask wearing in public spaces. Florida and Massachusetts 17,472 (11,275 to 32,577) and 12,906 (11,017 to 16,873), respectively, are expected to reach 8 per million deaths by November 1. The forecast for Florida, which is expected to reach 8 per million deaths on October 1, differs by 6,173 deaths if the state does not re-impose social distancing mandates. If mask wearing reaches 95%, that number drops to 9,849 (7,921 to 14,052).

The projections may increase if the current surge in infections spreads more widely in at-risk populations. Current data from states reporting the age breakdown of cases suggest that more cases are being detected in young people, who have a lower risk of death.

The forecasts also show deaths beginning to increase again in many states in mid- to late September, due to the expected seasonality of COVID-19. Current data show a strong statistical relationship between COVID-19 transmission and pneumonia seasonality, which is included as a covariate in the model.

"The US didn't experience a true end to the first wave of the pandemic," Murray said. "This will not spare us from a second surge in the fall, which will hit particularly hard in states currently seeing high levels of infections."

The forecasts by state (assuming social distancing mandates will be re-imposed when deaths reach 8 per million) are:

Alabama : 3,443 (range of 2,117 to 6,260)

: 3,443 (range of 2,117 to 6,260) Alaska : 14 (range of 13 to 15)

: 14 (range of 13 to 15) Arizona : 5,553 (range of 3,905 to 8,621)

: 5,553 (range of 3,905 to 8,621) Arkansas : 724 (range of 431 to 1,371)

: 724 (range of 431 to 1,371) California : 16,827 (range of 13,131 to 24,278)

: 16,827 (range of 13,131 to 24,278) Colorado : 1,937 (range of 1,765 to 2,508)

: 1,937 (range of 1,765 to 2,508) Connecticut : 4,692 (range of 4,550 to 5,005)

: 4,692 (range of 4,550 to 5,005) Delaware : 606 (range of 568 to 683)

: 606 (range of 568 to 683) District of Columbia : 666 (range of 622 to 760)

: 666 (range of 622 to 760) Florida : 17,472 (range of 11,275 to 32,577)

: 17,472 (range of 11,275 to 32,577) Georgia : 3,857 (range of 3,298 to 5,031)

: 3,857 (range of 3,298 to 5,031) Hawaii : 18 (range of 17 to 19)

: 18 (range of 17 to 19) Idaho : 120 (range of 105 to 152)

: 120 (range of 105 to 152) Illinois : 8,907 (range of 8,177 to 9,994)

: 8,907 (range of 8,177 to 9,994) Indiana : 3,400 (range of 3,112 to 3,870)

: 3,400 (range of 3,112 to 3,870) Iowa : 841 (range of 796 to 925)

: 841 (range of 796 to 925) Kansas : 632 (range of 398 to 1,243)

: 632 (range of 398 to 1,243) Kentucky : 1,139 (range of 773 to 2,295)

: 1,139 (range of 773 to 2,295) Louisiana : 4,643 (range of 3,958 to 5,973)

: 4,643 (range of 3,958 to 5,973) Maine : 125 (range of 116 to 145)

: 125 (range of 116 to 145) Maryland : 3,880 (range of 3,685 to 4,213)

: 3,880 (range of 3,685 to 4,213) Massachusetts : 12,906 (range of 11,017 to 16,873)

: 12,906 (range of 11,017 to 16,873) Michigan : 7,114 (range of 6,757 to 7,912)

: 7,114 (range of 6,757 to 7,912) Minnesota : 1,951 (range of 1,774 to 2,345)

: 1,951 (range of 1,774 to 2,345) Mississippi : 2,438 (range of 1,805 to 3,807)

: 2,438 (range of 1,805 to 3,807) Missouri : 1,757 (range of 1,349 to 2,615)

: 1,757 (range of 1,349 to 2,615) Montana : 22 (range of 21 to 24)

: 22 (range of 21 to 24) Nebraska : 588 (range of 404 to 989)

: 588 (range of 404 to 989) Nevada : 1,304 (range of 731 to 3,366)

: 1,304 (range of 731 to 3,366) New Hampshire : 704 (range of 500 to 1,218)

: 704 (range of 500 to 1,218) New Jersey : 16,970 (range of 16,382 to 17,891)

: 16,970 (range of 16,382 to 17,891) New Mexico : 924 (range of 622 to 1,881)

: 924 (range of 622 to 1,881) New York : 32,221 (range of 32,022 to 32,468)

: 32,221 (range of 32,022 to 32,468) North Carolina : 2,351 (range of 1,856 to 3,487)

: 2,351 (range of 1,856 to 3,487) North Dakota : 97 (range of 90 to 110)

: 97 (range of 90 to 110) Ohio : 5,712 (range of 4,130 to 10,296)

: 5,712 (range of 4,130 to 10,296) Oklahoma : 587 (range of 497 to 790)

: 587 (range of 497 to 790) Oregon : 471 (range of 333 to 778)

: 471 (range of 333 to 778) Pennsylvania : 9,999 (range of 8,265 to 14,573)

: 9,999 (range of 8,265 to 14,573) Rhode Island : 1,282 (range of 1,161 to 1,492)

: 1,282 (range of 1,161 to 1,492) South Carolina : 4,059 (range of 2,175 to 8,225)

: 4,059 (range of 2,175 to 8,225) South Dakota : 242 (range of 143 to 476)

: 242 (range of 143 to 476) Tennessee : 1,908 (range of 1,098 to 3,714)

: 1,908 (range of 1,098 to 3,714) Texas : 13,450 (range of 8,967 to 22,738)

: 13,450 (range of 8,967 to 22,738) Utah : 396 (range of 276 to 636)

: 396 (range of 276 to 636) Vermont : 59 (range of 58 to 61)

: 59 (range of 58 to 61) Virginia : 5,190 (range of 3,364 to 9,878)

: 5,190 (range of 3,364 to 9,878) Washington : 2,510 (range of 2,048 to 3,331)

: 2,510 (range of 2,048 to 3,331) West Virginia : 118 (range of 105 to 143)

: 118 (range of 105 to 143) Wisconsin : 1,410 (range of 1,112 to 2,072)

: 1,410 (range of 1,112 to 2,072) Wyoming : 18 (range of 18 to 19)

: 18 (range of 18 to 19) Washington : 2,510 (range of 2,048 to 3,331)

IHME will continue to forecast for different scenarios, including planned intermittent mandates in the fall when deaths per day are expected to reach higher levels within each state, recognizing that solutions are not uniform across communities.

The new death projections and other information, such as hospital resources usage, are available at https://covid19.healthdata.org .

IHME wishes to warmly acknowledge the support of these and others who have made our COVID-19 estimation efforts possible. Thank you.

About the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent global health research organization at the University of Washington School of Medicine that provides rigorous and comparable measurement of the world's most important health problems and evaluates the strategies used to address them. IHME is committed to transparency and makes this information widely available so that policymakers have the evidence they need to make informed decisions on allocating resources to improve population health.

SOURCE Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

Related Links

http://www.healthdata.org


TUCSON, Ariz., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A just published peer-reviewed study from Henry Ford Health System showed that the death rate of hospitalized patients who received hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was cut in half, and there were no serious heart abnormalities.

The Association of American Physicians & Surgeons (AAPS) stated that these results should encourage widespread early use of this long-established drug to fight COVID-19.

"HCQ impressively improved survival. In contrast, the government-favored drug remdesivir has only been shown to decrease survivors' hospital stay by four days, with no demonstrable improvement in survival," notes AAPS.

Even before the Henry Ford study, there was substantial evidence of HCQ benefit, especially when used very early in out-patients in combination with zinc, in a compilation of studies prior to April 20, a more recent compilation, and a preprint by Dr. Vladimir Zelenko and colleagues released July 3. Yale epidemiologist Harvey Risch, M.D., wrote that HCQ is an "early outpatient treatment of symptomatic, high-risk Covid-19 patients that should be ramped-up immediately as key to the pandemic crisis."

Based on flawed studies and pronouncements from government officials, doctors have hesitated to use HCQ because of claimed lack of proof of efficacy, or purported danger of cardiac arrhythmias. Two studies, in Lancet and NEJM, were retracted because of questionable data. A study from Brazil, published in JAMA, is under investigation because researchers were giving patients lethal doses of chloroquine.

Researchers have been using HCQ too late, when patients may already have COVID-caused heart damage, and overdosing patients, states AAPS.

"If HCQ saves half the patients who would have died in hospital, then withholding HCQ is causing tens of thousands of preventable deaths," states AAPS.

"The federal government has agreed to buy 500,000 doses of remdesivir at more than $3,000 per course of treatment, without proof that it will save lives. Why won't it release HCQ, which costs about $20 per course of treatment, from the Strategic National Stockpile, and stop prohibiting or discouraging its use?" asks AAPS.

"Patients are dying needlessly every day."

AAPS has filed for a preliminary injunction to stop interference by the FDA with patient access to HCQ, and to prevent the government from wasting the HCQ which was donated to its stockpile. This lawsuit is pending in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, AAPS v. FDA, et al., 20-cv-493.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has represented physicians of all specialties in all states since 1943. The AAPS motto is omnia pro aegroto, meaning everything for the patient.

SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

Related Links

http://www.aapsonline.org


CALGARY, AB, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Pembina Pipeline Corporation ("Pembina" or the "Company") (TSX: PPL) (NYSE: PBA) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a common share cash dividend for July 2020 of $0.21 per share to be paid, subject to applicable law, on August 14, 2020 to shareholders of record on July 24, 2020. The common share dividends are designated "eligible dividends" for Canadian income tax purposes. For non-resident shareholders, Pembina's common share dividends should be considered "qualified dividends" and may be subject to Canadian withholding tax.

For shareholders receiving their common share dividends in U.S. funds, the July 2020 cash dividend is expected to be approximately U.S. $0.1548 per share (before deduction of any applicable Canadian withholding tax) based on a currency exchange rate of 0.7372. The actual U.S. dollar dividend will depend on the Canadian/U.S. dollar exchange rate on the payment date and will be subject to applicable withholding taxes.

Pembina's Board of Directors also declared quarterly dividends for the Company's preferred shares, Series 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25. Series 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 21 preferred share dividends are payable on September 1, 2020 to shareholders of record on August 4, 2020. Series 15, 17 and 19 preferred share dividends are payable on September 30, 2020 to shareholders of record on September 15, 2020. Series 23 and 25 preferred share dividends are payable on August 17, 2020 to shareholders of record on July 31, 2020.

Preferred Shares, Series 1 (PPL.PR.A) $0.306625 Preferred Shares, Series 3 (PPL.PR.C) $0.279875 Preferred Shares, Series 5 (PPL.PR.E) $0.285813 Preferred Shares, Series 7 (PPL.PR.G) $0.273750 Preferred Shares, Series 9 (PPL.PR.I) $0.296875 Preferred Shares, Series 11 (PPL.PR.K) $0.359375 Preferred Shares, Series 13 (PPL.PR.M) $0.359375 Preferred Shares, Series 15 (PPL.PR.O) $0.279000 Preferred Shares, Series 17 (PPL.PR.Q) $0.301313 Preferred Shares, Series 19 (PPL.PR.S) $0.292750 Preferred Shares, Series 21 (PPL.PF.A) $0.306250 Preferred Shares, Series 23 (PPL.PF.C) $0.328125 Preferred Shares, Series 25 (PPL.PF.E) $0.325000

Confirmation of Record and Payment Date Policy

Pembina pays cash dividends on its common shares in Canadian dollars on a monthly basis to shareholders of record on the 25th calendar day of each month (except for the December record date, which is December 31st), if, as and when determined by the Board of Directors. Should the record date fall on a weekend or a statutory holiday, the effective record date will be the previous business day. The dividend payment date is the 15th calendar day of the month following the record date. Should the payment date fall on a weekend or on a statutory holiday, the business day prior to the weekend or statutory holiday becomes the payment date.

Dividends on the preferred shares Series 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 21 are payable on the first calendar day of March, June, September and December in each year, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors to shareholders of record on the first calendar day of the preceding month, or, if such payment or record date is not a business day, the next succeeding business day after the weekend or statutory holiday. Dividends on the preferred shares Series 15, 17 and 19 are payable on the last calendar day of March, June, September and December in each year, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors to shareholders of record on the 15th calendar day of the same month, or, if such payment or record date is not a business day, the next succeeding business day after the weekend or statutory holiday. Dividends on the preferred shares Series 23 and 25 are payable on the 15th day of February, May, August and November in each year, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors to shareholders of record on the last business day of the preceding month, or, if such payment or record date is not a business day, the next succeeding business day after the weekend or statutory holiday.

Conference Call and Webcast Details for Second Quarter 2020 Results

Pembina will release its second quarter 2020 results on Thursday, August 6, 2020 after markets close. A conference call and webcast have been scheduled for Friday, August 7, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. MT (10:00 a.m. ET) for interested investors, analysts, brokers and media representatives.

The conference call dial-in numbers for Canada and the U.S. are 647-427-7450 or 888-231-8191. A recording of the conference call will be available for replay until August 17, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. ET. To access the replay, please dial either 416-849-0833 or 855-859-2056 and enter the password 8295027.

A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed on Pembina's website at www.pembina.com under Investor Centre, Presentation & Events, or by entering:

https://produceredition.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1290104&tp_key=f940364325 in your web browser. Shortly after the call, an audio archive will be posted on the website for a minimum of 90 days.

About Pembina

Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corporation is a leading transportation and midstream service provider that has been serving North America's energy industry for 65 years. Pembina owns an integrated system of pipelines that transport various hydrocarbon liquids and natural gas products produced primarily in western Canada. The Company also owns gas gathering and processing facilities; an oil and natural gas liquids infrastructure and logistics business; is growing an export terminals business; and is currently developing a petrochemical facility to convert propane into polypropylene. Pembina's integrated assets and commercial operations along the majority of the hydrocarbon value chain allow it to offer a full spectrum of midstream and marketing services to the energy sector. Pembina is committed to identifying additional opportunities to connect hydrocarbon production to new demand locations through the development of infrastructure that would extend Pembina's service offering even further along the hydrocarbon value chain. These new developments will contribute to ensuring that hydrocarbons produced in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and the other basins where Pembina operates can reach the highest value markets throughout the world.

Purpose of Pembina:

To be the leader in delivering integrated infrastructure solutions connecting global markets:

Customers choose us first for reliable and value-added services;

choose us first for reliable and value-added services; Investors receive sustainable industry-leading total returns;

receive sustainable industry-leading total returns; Employees say we are the 'employer of choice' and value our safe, respectful, collaborative and fair work culture; and

say we are the 'employer of choice' and value our safe, respectful, collaborative and fair work culture; and Communities welcome us and recognize the net positive impact of our social and environmental commitment.

Pembina is structured into three Divisions: Pipelines Division, Facilities Division and Marketing & New Ventures Division.

Pembina's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under PPL and PBA, respectively. For more information, visit www.pembina.com.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") that are based on Pembina's current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends. In this news release, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "should", "may", "will", "continue", "if", "to be", "expects", and similar expressions suggesting future events or future performance.

In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements relating to: future dividends which may be declared on Pembina's common shares and preferred shares; the timing and the amount of the dividend payments and the tax treatment thereof; and the timing for release of the Company's second quarter 2020 results. These forward-looking statements are being made by Pembina based on certain assumptions that Pembina has made in respect thereof as at the date of this news release, regarding, among other things: the ability of Pembina and any required third parties to effectively engage with stakeholders; oil and gas industry exploration and development activity levels; the success of Pembina's operations and growth projects; prevailing commodity prices, margins, volumes and exchange rates; that Pembina's future results of operations will be consistent with past performance and management expectations in relation thereto; the continued availability of capital at attractive prices to fund future capital requirements relating to existing assets and projects, including but not limited to future capital expenditures relating to expansion, upgrades and maintenance shutdowns; that any third party projects relating to Pembina's growth projects will be sanctioned and completed as expected; that any required commercial agreements can be reached; that all required regulatory and environmental approvals can be obtained on the necessary terms in a timely manner; that counterparties to material agreements will continue to perform in a timely manner; that there are no unforeseen events preventing the performance of contracts; that there are no unforeseen material construction, integrity or other costs related to current growth projects or current operations; prevailing interest and tax rates; and the availability of coverage under Pembina's insurance policies (including in respect of Pembina's business interruption insurance policy).

Although Pembina believes the expectations and material factors and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof, there can be no assurance that these expectations, factors and assumptions will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned that events or circumstances could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, forecasted or projected. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These known and unknown risks and uncertainties, include, but are not limited to: the regulatory environment and decisions; the ability of Pembina to raise sufficient capital (or to raise sufficient capital on favourable terms) to fund future expansions and growth projects and satisfy future commitments; failure to negotiate and conclude any required commercial agreements or failure to obtain project sanctioning; increased construction costs, or construction delays, on Pembina's expansion and growth projects; labour and material shortages; non-performance or default by counterparties to agreements which Pembina or one or more of its affiliates has entered into in respect of its business; the impact of competitive entities and pricing; reliance on key industry partners, alliances and agreements; the strength and operations of the oil and natural gas production industry and related commodity prices; the continuation or completion of third-party projects; actions by governmental or regulatory authorities including changes in tax laws and treatment, changes in royalty rates, climate change initiatives or policies or increased environmental regulation; the failure to realize the anticipated benefits or synergies of acquisitions (including the acquisition of Kinder Morgan Canada Limited and the U.S. portion of the Cochin Pipeline), integration issues or otherwise; adverse general economic and market conditions in Canada, North America and worldwide, including changes, or prolonged weaknesses, as applicable, in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, commodity prices, supply/demand trends and overall industry activity levels; risks relating to widespread epidemics or pandemic outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic; changes in credit ratings; counterparty credit risk; technology and cyber security risks; and certain other risks detailed from time to time in Pembina's public disclosure documents including, among other things, those detailed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Pembina's management's discussion and analysis and annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2019, and in Pembina's management's discussion and analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2020, all of which can be found under Pembina's profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov and are available on Pembina's website at www.pembina.com. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by the above statements and speak only as of the date of this document. Pembina does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, except as required by applicable laws.

SOURCE Pembina Pipeline Corporation

Related Links

http://www.pembina.com


The CollegeCentral.com/pactcjobs website makes it both FREE and easy for all employerslarge and small, public and privateto register just once and then post an unlimited number of jobs to Pennsylvania's community and technical college students and alumni! This is an extraordinarily useful resource for employers hiring in today's climate, even with temporarily closed or restricted campuses, and students accessing career services from home.

Employers posting jobs today can simultaneously reach tens of thousands of job seekers from Butler County Community College; Community College of Allegheny County; Community College of Beaver County; Delaware County Community College; HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College; Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.

With nearly 17,000 undergraduates*, the Community College of Allegheny County is the State's largest community college located in the western half of the state. Bob Kmetz, CCAC Career Services Director, points out, "The new Pennsylvania Community & Technical Colleges Jobs Consortium will make it very easy for employers to register once, post an unlimited number of jobs, and reach candidates across Pennsylvania."

Kmetz added: "Employers often have job opportunities at multiple locations across the state. Previously there was no simple solution but now, the Consortium is able to offer a user-friendly, streamlined resource to access talent with a single registration. Our graduates have the skills Pennsylvania employers need and are ready and willing to move directly into the workforce."

Tim Barshinger, assistant vice president for student progression at HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College, says, "We serve more than 18,000 undergraduates in Central Pennsylvania and are the first and largest community college in the state. Pennsylvania's emerging two-year workforce, funded by Pennsylvanians to specifically meet the needs of the state's workforce, finally have an easy path for our state's employers to hire and retain local community and technical college talent!

"Although both two-year and four-year colleges are crucial, employers have a key advantage by recruiting graduates from our combined community and technical college consortium," Barshinger continued. "Our graduates often have the specific skills employers need to fill their jobs in the region or in multiple locations across Pennsylvania. The broad range of talent that graduates from the community and technical college consortium bring to the workforce includes accounting, administration of justice, automotive technology, business, child development, computer information systems, culinary arts, hospitality, machining, marketing, music, nursing, theater arts, welding, and much more."

According to Joy Miller, CCN's Career Services Central (CSC) National Sales Manager, "The Consortium is launching at a time when employers need to target timely job postings in response to COVID-19 and now, business reopenings. Businesses and organizations are looking to hire college students and alumni willing and able to jump in to meet their state's, regions', or cities' specific hiring conditions. Pennsylvania's community and technical colleges are well positioned to help their State's economy rebound fast and to quickly fill the State's hiring needs in an era of rapid economic and technological change.

"More than 90,000 Pennsylvania employers have already registered to recruit students, alumni, and community residents attending College Central Network's CSC-powered institutions. Many employers post jobs at the closest community or technical colleges," Miller added. "But, with the Consortium, employers can easily extend their reach. Posting just once, they can go statewide or target a specific combination of regional Pennsylvania community and technical colleges."

CCN's Career Services Central is the exclusive online career office management platform for career centers at all eight schools participating in the Consortium. Joy Miller sums it up: "Community and technical colleges can have a greater impact on the State's economy. As many barriers as possible have been removed, simplifying the process and allowing employers to easily recruit the state's home-grown entry-level talent. The Pennsylvania Community & Technical Colleges Jobs Consortium website does exactly that, particularly with the added current complications of closed campuses and remote learning."

Statistics show that approximately 130,000 students attend Pennsylvania community and technical colleges.*

* "Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System," National Center for Education Statistics, accessed June 15, 2020, https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data.

About College Central Network

Founded in 1997, College Central Network (CCN) has over 22 years of experience connecting employers with qualified emerging talent candidates. More than one million employers have already registered to utilize the Network to post jobs and recruit students and alumni for entry-level jobs.

CollegeCentral.com is absolutely free for any student enrolled at a U.S. college; alumnus/a of a U.S. college; community resident taking classes at a U.S. college; or student attending one of our partner high schools. To learn more, visit: CollegeCentral.com.

About Career Services Central

Career Services Central (CSC) is CCN's intuitive and affordable career office management platform that works on any device and is trusted by hundreds of institutions and organizations across the U.S.

Thousands of career professionals use CSC daily to manage the entire career process for students, alumni, and community residents attending CSC-powered institutions, including appointments, career advice and job searching, resumes, career portfolios, experiential learning, on-campus recruiting, career events, and job fairs. To learn more, visit: CareerServicesCentral.com.

CONTACT:

Barbara Anderson

800-442-3614

[email protected]

SOURCE College Central Network

Related Links

https://www.collegecentral.com


CLEVELAND, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Resilience Capital Partners today announced that its portfolio company CR Brands, Inc. has completed the sale of its Biz Stain & Odor Eliminator and Dryel "at home dry cleaning" product lines to Scott's Liquid Gold, Inc. (OTC:SLGD).

Headquartered in West Chester, Ohio, CR Brands is an innovative consumer packaged goods company with a portfolio of affordable household cleaning and laundry products with superior performance qualities. Today, CR Brands enjoys national distribution and close customer relationships with many leading retailers. After acquiring CR Brands in 2012, Resilience brought in new leadership and implemented an ambitious growth plan that concentrated on growing the company's differentiated niche brands.

"The CR Brands team has successfully positioned Biz and Dryel for growth under their new ownership," said Bassem Mansour, co-CEO of Resilience Capital Partners. "This transaction will enable CR Brands to focus on initiatives to drive the continued growth of its remaining portfolio of licensed cleaning products with superior formulations under the Arm & Hammer and OxiClean brand names."

Added Tim Harrison, CEO of CR Brands, "We have worked for the past several years to strategically position the Biz and Dryel brands, and both have gained an enormous amount of consumer recognition. Both have exceptional growth prospects and will be excellent additions to Scott Liquid Gold's family of branded products." Going forward, CR Brands is focused on its growing suite of licensed cleaning products including its recently launched Arm & Hammer Essentials Disinfecting Wipes, Fruit & Vegetable Wash, and Garbage Disposal Cleaners, as well as OxiClean Stain Remover Pens.

The Arm & Hammer Essentials Disinfecting Wipes use citrus-based disinfection to clean without harsh chemicals. The Arm & Hammer Fruit & Vegetable Wash uses pure and simple ingredients to remove pesticide residue 4x better than water alone and has been approved for the US EPA's "Safer Choice" label. For more information, please visit www.armandhammercleans.com.

Jones Day served as legal counsel, and BellMark Partners, LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor, to Resilience Capital Partners and CR Brands.

About Resilience Capital Partners

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Resilience invests in niche-oriented manufacturing, value added distribution and business service companies with sustainable market positions. Resilience provides a flexible transaction approach to accommodate the needs of businesses and sellers.

Since its founding in 2001, Resilience has invested in 83 companies under 41 platforms. Resilience manages in excess of $480 million for its global investor base which includes pension funds, insurance companies, foundations and endowments, fund of funds and family offices.

For more information, please visit www.resiliencecapital.com.

Contact:

Bassem Mansour

Co-CEO, Resilience Capital Partners

216-292-4748

SOURCE Resilience Capital Partners

Related Links

http://www.resiliencecapital.com


LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (the "Company" or "Rexford Industrial") (NYSE: REXR), a real estate investment trust focused on creating value by investing in and operating industrial properties located in Southern California infill markets, today announced that the Company will release second quarter 2020 financial results after the market closes on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. A conference call will be held on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time to review the Company's second quarter results, discuss recent events and conduct a question-and-answer period.

Webcast:

The conference call will be available through visiting the Company's website at ir.rexfordindustrial.com . To listen to a live broadcast, go to the site at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

To Participate in the Telephone Conference Call:

Dial in at least 5 minutes prior to start time:

Domestic: 1-877-407-0789

International: 1-201-689-8562

Conference Call Playback:

Domestic: 1-844-512-2921

International: 1-412-317-6671

Pass code: 13706119

The playback can be accessed through August 22, 2020

About Rexford Industrial

Rexford Industrial, a real estate investment trust focused on creating value by investing in and operating industrial properties throughout Southern California infill markets, owns 233 properties with approximately 28.0 million rentable square feet and manages an additional 20 properties with approximately 1.0 million rentable square feet.

For additional information, visit www.rexfordindustrial.com.

Contact:

Investor Relations:

Stephen Swett

424-256-2153 ext 401

[email protected]

SOURCE Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.rexfordindustrial.com


DENVER, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- River and Mercantile (R&M), a leading actuarial and investment consulting firm, announced the addition of three actuarial professionals to the firm's Denver office, further strengthening their local presence.

Craig Pedersen, Andrew Lape and Caytee Sellers are focused on helping clients with their retirement planning needs, including areas such as pension concerns, defined benefit plans, and investment strategies.

"Bringing these three professionals on board is an instrumental step in allowing River and Mercantile to continue making strides in market expansion here in Denver and the Intermountain West," said Michael Clark, Managing Director at River and Mercantile, also based in Denver leading the firm's business in the West. "The strength of our talent has always been key to delivering value to our clients."

Craig Pedersen, Independent Consulting Actuary

Pedersen joins River and Mercantile with a remarkable background in actuarial consulting.

In his role he is focused in areas involving retiree medical plans, defined benefit plans and other post-employment benefit plans. With over 25 years of experience in retirement and health consulting, he has worked with many clients to help them understand and manage their post-employment benefits, financial requirements and the needs of their current, future and former employees. His previous experience includes actuarial consulting work at Philadelphia American Life Insurance Company, Towers Perrin, Mercer, Chicago Consulting Actuaries, Watson Wyatt, Towers Watson and Willis Towers Watson. Additionally, Pedersen serves as an adjunct instructor with the Colorado Community College System. He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary.

Andrew Lape, Associate Director and Consulting Actuary

A rising star in the actuarial consulting community, Lape is responsible for consulting with clients on their day-to-day retirement benefit needs including defined benefit pension, SERP, and retiree medical plans. He also consults on clients' plan design, administration, risk transfer opportunities, M&A, and overall risk management. Lape joined River and Mercantile earlier this year from Willis Towers Watson where he provided consulting services to retirement plans across multiple industries (including international organizations) and of various sizes. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary.

Caytee Sellers, Senior Actuarial Analyst

As an accomplished retirement actuarial analyst, Sellers provides support in a wide range of work including funding and accounting valuations for pension, SERP and retiree medical plans, along with preparation of benefit statements, government form filings and other plan administration. She also assists with pension risk transfers and other special projects. Sellers joined River and Mercantile from Willis Towers Watson where she assisted in multiple actuarial projects for mid to large U.S. and international corporations. She has experience in data clean-up, pension risk transfers and overall plan administration.

Sellers is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries.

"We are delighted to welcome Caytee, Craig and Andrew to the team," added Tom Cassara, Managing Director and head of River and Mercantile's US business. "We're excited to watch these professionals grow within our firm and expand our service offerings to clients in Denver and the rest of the Intermountain West."

River and Mercantile's three new actuaries in Denver add to its roster of more than 40 employees across the United States.

About River and Mercantile (R&M)

River and Mercantile (R&M) provides investment consulting, actuarial consulting and fiduciary investment management services to institutional investors. The firm provides services to defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, insurance companies, insurance captives, endowments, and foundations. Please visit www.riverandmercantile.us/solutions/ for more information.

SOURCE River and Mercantile

Related Links

http://www.riverandmercantile.us


ATLANTA, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rollins, Inc. (NYSE: ROL), a premier global consumer and commercial service company, provided a business update regarding second quarter 2020 financial results.

Rollins anticipates revenue growth for the quarter to reach low to mid-single digits over revenues for the second quarter of 2019, while residential pest control revenues are anticipated to reach high single to low double digit growth over revenues for the second quarter of 2019. While we experienced challenges in our commercial pest control business during the quarter, as pockets of the economy begin to recover, we have been encouraged by improvement in parts of our commercial pest control business. Our new service line, VitalClean disinfectant cleaning service, has been a contributor to this improvement.

Growth in our new residential pest control customers has been attributed to Rollins' experiencing multiple record setting sales days during the second quarter in the Covington, Georgia call center.

Eddie Northen, Rollins Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer stated, "There are still more unknowns than knowns for the future; however, for the second quarter we have seen strong improvement in our residential service line accompanied by appropriate cost containment for our revenue levels."

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc. is a premier global consumer and commercial services company. Through its family of leading brands, Orkin, HomeTeam Pest Defense, Clark Pest Control, Orkin Canada, Western Pest Services, Northwest Exterminating, Critter Control, The Industrial Fumigant Company, Trutech, Orkin Australia, Waltham Services, OPC Services, PermaTreat, Rollins UK, Aardwolf Pestkare, and Crane Pest Control, the Company provides essential pest control services and protection against termite damage, rodents and insects to more than two million customers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia from more than 700 locations. You can learn more about Rollins and its subsidiaries by visiting our web sites at www.orkin.com , www.pestdefense.com , www.clarkpest.com, www.orkincanada.ca , www.westernpest.com , www.callnorthwest.com, www.crittercontrol.com , www.indfumco.com , www.trutechinc.com , www.orkinau.com , www.walthamservices.com , www.opcpest.com , www.permatreat.com , www.safeguardpestcontrol.co.uk , www.aardwolfpestkare.com, www.cranepestcontrol.com and www.rollins.com . You can also find this and other news releases at www.rollins.com by accessing the news releases button.

CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding anticipated second quarter 2020 revenue growth levels, and revenue improvements. The actual results of the Company could differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements because of various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the extent and duration of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its potential impact on the financial health of the Company's business partners, customers, supply chains and suppliers, global economic conditions and capital and financial markets; economic and competitive conditions which may adversely affect the Company's business; the degree of success of the Company's pest and termite process, and pest control selling and treatment methods; the Company's ability to identify and integrate potential acquisitions; climate and weather trends; competitive factors and pricing practices; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled workers, and potential increases in labor costs; uncertainties of litigation; changes in various government laws and regulations, including environmental regulations; and the impact of the U. S. Government shutdown. All of the foregoing risks and uncertainties are beyond the ability of the Company to control, and in many cases the Company cannot predict the risks and uncertainties that could cause its actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. A more detailed discussion of potential risks facing the Company can be found in the Company's Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the year ended December 31, 2019.

For Further Information Contact

Eddie Northen (404) 888-2242

SOURCE Rollins, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.rollins.com


Agboola Ajayi, deputy governor of Ondo state, has filed a suit before a federal high court in Abuja to stop the alleged impeachment mo...





Agboola Ajayi, deputy governor of Ondo state, has filed a suit before a federal high court in Abuja to stop the alleged impeachment move by the state house of assembly.





Ajayi is at loggerheads with Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of the state.





He resigned his membership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).





Ajayi may be contesting the governorship election with the governor as the PDP granted him waiver to contest in the partys primary election.





The state assembly began impeachment proceedings against the deputy governor on Tuesday following his resignation and defection to the PDP.





Ajayi through his counsel, I. Olatoke filed the suit seeking to stop the impeachment process and to enforce his fundamental right of association.





Apart from the house of assembly, other defendants in the suit are the inspector-general of police, the state commissioner of police, Department of State Services (DSS), and David Oleyeloogun, speaker of the assembly.
FORT MILL, S.C., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Schaeffler was named a GM Supplier of the Year by General Motors during a virtual ceremony honoring the recipients of the company's 28th annual Supplier of the Year awards on Wednesday, June 24, 2020.

During the event, GM recognized 116 of its best suppliers from 15 countries that have consistently exceeded GM's expectations, created outstanding value or introduced innovations to the company. The awards ceremony was originally scheduled as a live-event to be held in March but was postponed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The recognition is for supplier performance in the 2019 calendar year.

"Our suppliers play a key role in delivering the products, services and experiences our customers deserve  and these award-winning suppliers went above and beyond our expectations," said Shilpan Amin, GM vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain.

"We also believe it's important at this point in time to thank our entire supply base for their efforts the last few months to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19," added Amin. "Not only have we been able to safely restart our manufacturing operations, our suppliers played a key role in assisting our initiatives to increase the supply of ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE) for frontline health care workers to help save lives and keep communities safe."

The Supplier of the Year award winners were chosen by a global team of GM purchasing, engineering, quality, manufacturing and logistics executives. Winners were selected based on performance criteria in Product Purchasing, Global Purchasing and Manufacturing Services, Customer Care and Aftersales, and Logistics.

"This award is a testament to the passion and commitment that each Schaeffler associate puts into every product and system solution we supply to our partners at General Motors, so I am enthusiastically accepting this honor on behalf of the entire Schaeffler team," said Schaeffler Americas CEO Marc McGrath. "Our partnership with General Motors is a cornerstone of our Automotive business in the Americas and throughout the world, and we look forward to further strengthening this bond by continuing to supply the Schaeffler products and technologies that help GM solve the complex transportation challenges of today and tomorrow."

About Schaeffler

The Schaeffler Group is a leading global supplier to the automotive and industrial sectors. Its portfolio includes high-precision components and systems for engine, transmission and chassis applications as well as rolling and plain bearing solutions for a large number of industrial applications. The Schaeffler Group is already shaping "Mobility for tomorrow" to a significant degree with innovative and sustainable technologies for electric mobility, digitalization and Industry 4.0. The technology company generated sales of approximately EUR 14.2 billion in 2018. With around 89,000 employees, Schaeffler is one of the world's largest family companies and, with approximately 170 locations in over 50 countries, has a worldwide network of manufacturing locations, R&D facilities and sales companies. With more than 2,400 patent applications in 2018, Schaeffler is Germany's second-most innovative company according to the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA).

Schaeffler is a recognized development partner for global automakers and suppliers. To serve the North American automotive market, Schaeffler operates development centers in Troy, MI; Fort Mill, SC; Wooster, OH; and Puebla, Mexico. The company's 600 North American engineers and technicians, who are supported by a team of more than 6,700 global R&D engineers, drive development in the region by utilizing state-of-the-art test and measurement equipment, computational tools and CAD systems. Schaeffler Automotive has headquarters in Fort Mill and manufacturing facilities in South Carolina; Missouri; Ohio; Ontario, Canada; Puebla and Irapuato, Mexico. For more information, please visit www.schaeffler.us .

About General Motors

General Motors is a global company committed to delivering safer, better and more sustainable ways for people to get around. General Motors, its subsidiaries and its joint venture entities, sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, Baojun and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety and security services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.

SOURCE Schaeffler

Related Links

http://www.schaeffler.us


TRONDHEIM, Norway, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aker BP will publish its financial report for the second quarter 2020 on Tuesday 14 July 2020. The company issues this statement to summarize its production and sales volumes and certain accounting-related topics for the quarter.

Oil and gas production and sales

Aker BP's net production in the second quarter 2020 was 209.8 thousand barrels of oil equivalents per day (mboepd). Net sold volumes, which are the basis for revenue recognition in the financial statement, were 232.0 mboepd due to overlift in the period.

Volumes (mboepd) Q2-20 Q1-20 Q4-19 Q3-19 Net production 209.8 208.1 191.1 146.1 Overlift/(underlift) 22.2 (0.6) (6.6) (2.9) Net sold volume 232.0 207.5 184.5 143.3 Of which liquids 198.2 174.3 151.4 113.4 Of which natural gas 33.8 33.2 33.1 29.8









Realized prices Q2-20 Q1-20 Q4-19 Q3-19 Liquids (USD/boe) 29.9 44.7 64.2 62.0 Natural gas (USD/scm) 0.08 0.14 0.17 0.16

Oil price hedging

The company is using oil put options for protection of near-term cash flow against sharp drops in the oil price. In the second quarter, the company realized gains on these instruments of USD 56 million before tax (subject to ordinary corporate tax). This had a positive cash flow impact in the quarter, however the effect on the income statement will be slightly negative as the instruments were already recognized at fair value in the previous quarter. Adjusted for the differences in taxation, the average realized liquids price including hedging was equivalent to USD 40.9 per barrel in the second quarter.

Reversal of impairments

Following the partial recovery in oil prices observed in the second quarter, the company expects to reverse parts of the impairments from the first quarter, amounting to USD 100-150 million.

Financial items

The USDNOK exchange rate decreased from 10.4 to 9.6 during the second quarter. This had a positive effect on financial items. Net financial expenses are hence estimated to approximately USD 30 million for the quarter, including interest expenses and currency-related effects.

Taxes

The company expects to report a positive pre-tax result for the second quarter. Still, a minor tax credit is expected. This is mainly caused by increased uplift introduced with the temporary changes to Norwegian petroleum tax, and by a positive currency effect on the value of the company's tax balances.

Cash tax payments in the second quarter amounted to USD 81 million.

Conference call and webcast

The company will host a conference call to present its second quarter 2020 results on 14 July 2020 at 08:30 CEST. The conference call will be available as a webcast on the company's website www.akerbp.com/en.

To participate in the conference call, please contact the conference call operator at the telephone numbers listed below. Please join the event 10 minutes prior to scheduled start time and provide the confirmation code or ask for Aker BP's quarterly presentation.

Phone number Norway +47-2350-0296 Phone number United Kingdom +44(0)330-336-9411 Confirmation code 5804762

Disclaimer

The information in this statement is based on a preliminary assessment of the company's second quarter 2020 financial results. The company has not completed its financial reporting and related review and control procedures. The estimates provided may therefore be subject to change and the financial statements finally approved and released by the company may deviate materially from the information herein.

For more information, please contact:



Kjetil Bakken

VP Investor Relations

Tel.: +47-918-89-889

Lars Mattis Hanssen

Senior IR Professional

Tel.: +47-994-59-460

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/aker-bp-asa/r/second-quarter-2020-trading-update,c3149933

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Aker BP ASA
CLEVELAND, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Senior Care Authority franchise owner Mary Molnar was recently honored with the Rising Star Award by the Cleveland Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). The award is given to a member who has demonstrated entrepreneurial creativity and determination to successfully manage a business they started less than five years ago.

Molnar started her Senior Care Authority franchise in 2018 with her husband, Mark. It was the first location to open in northeast Ohio. Molnar was motivated to open the business after a difficult experience finding her father-in-law, and then her mother, the right long-term senior care community. In addition, Molnar worked closely with seniors during her career as an occupational therapist.

"I witnessed firsthand how much families struggled to find the right type of care for their loved ones' care that suited their needs and budget. I want to act as the advocate that many families lack. I am thrilled to be able to provide this service," Molnar said.

Senior Care Authority provides personalized guidance and assistance to families seeking long-term care for seniors. The three-step process that advisors follow ensures they find the perfect match.

Assessment

An advisor conducts telephone and in-person assessments, reviewing the senior's needs based on several critical factors. The Advisor takes into account the different options available including independent living, assisted living, memory care or in-home care services and compares them with the senior's needs to find the best match.

Residence Visits

Based on the assessment, the Advisor will arrange for tours of highly rated communities and either accompany the family at the facility or coordinate a virtual tour, providing support every step of the way. As the family's advocate, the Advisor assists with negotiations, helps with making a final decision and completing the necessary paperwork

Ongoing Support

The Advisor stays in touch with the senior and their family to ensure a smooth transition, periodically reassessing their needs if they change. They are always available and happy to answer any questions the family may have.

The Molnars know the quality of local long-term care facilities because they have visited hundreds of them and created a scorecard for each. They made itemized lists that include cost, location, type of care offered, environmental factors and more.

Senior Care Authority also offers Eldercare Consulting, a fee-for-service offering for seniors and their families. The company keeps families updated on their loved one's health and any changes they observe, providing useful resources, and support everyone involved in care transitions. They conduct visits to make sure the senior is doing well, has fresh food and clean clothing and that they are taking their medications. Eldercare Consulting is ideal for seniors who need a bit of extra support.

"Mary provides essential services for families including consulting and placement in high-quality, compassionate long-term care communities that are the right fit for their needs and budget. We salute Mary, along with all of our franchisees, and we are thrilled to see Mary's noble efforts recognized," said Frank Samson, CEO of Senior Care Authority.

About Senior Care Authority

Senior Care Authority provides service and support nationwide to older adults and their families. They are familiar with all care options available and can help ease the stress of finding just the right solution.

Founded in 2009 and expanding in late 2014 through franchising, the company currently serves 75 locations in 24 states and Canada. The network is comprised of professionally trained and experienced local advisors who assist families with the overwhelming challenges associated with selecting the best options in assisted living, memory care, nursing care and other long-term care services. Learn more at seniorcareauthority.com.

About Senior Care Authority:

Senior Care Authority was founded in 2009 and expanded nationally in late 2014 through franchising, currently serving locations nationally in 25 states and Canada. The network is comprised of professionally trained and experienced local advisors who assist families with the overwhelming challenges associated with selecting the best options in assisted living, memory care, nursing care and navigating through a complex healthcare system.

Contact:

[email protected]

(707) 939-8744

Related Images

image1.jpeg

SOURCE Care Authority
ASHLAND, Va., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stegmann first released its EcoWool Clog fall 2019. Made with sustainably sourced heritage wools native to each region, the footwear line may be one of the most sustainable in the world. Its production financially supports heritage sheep breeds and their farmers as a part of the brand's species preservation initiative .

The EcoWool Clog line will be available online in four colors August 3, 2020:

The complete line of Stegmann EcoWool Clogs for women. There is also a men's line of EcoWool Clogs. The Stegmann EcoWool Clog for women in a new color sourced from Peruvian Alpacas. The shoe material is sustainably sourced and part of the company's species preservation initiative.

Stonesheep made with wool from Tyrolean Stone Sheep in Austria

Shetland made from wool from Shetland Sheep in Scotland

made from wool from Shetland Sheep in Alpaca made from the wool of Preuvian Alpacas in the Andes (New in 2020)

Juraschaf made from the wool of Juraschaf Sheep in Switzerland (New in 2020)

Stegmann felts, shapes and stitches all of its wool uppers by hand. Once formed, the EcoWool upper is paired with a sustainable cork/latex footbed sustainably sourced in Portugal. Stegmann's entire production line in Austria is clean, green, carbon neutral, chemical-free and zero-waste.

The EcoWool shoe reflects all of the signature comfort details Stegmann shoes are known for. The anatomical shape has orthopedic-level comfort features: arch, toe, metatarsal bar and heel cup support. It's the perfect travel and work shoe. Podiatrists themselves wear the EcoWool shoe:

"Stegmann shoes have an amazing design that contours to our arches and provides the right amount of support we deserve for all day wear and tear. I personally love the metatarsal support when standing for long periods of time." - Dr. Bradley Schaeffer of TLC's "My Feet are Killing Me"

Please see more information and images attached. We'd be happy to send samples to you and your team. Please let us know a good address, your shoe color preference, and size.

Share the Stegmann Shoe Experience: Order the new EcoWool Clogs August 3, 2020 at www.StegmannUSA.com. Earn commission by sharing our products with readers via ShareaSale or Amazon.com. Click here for our ShareASale invitation link.

More about Stegmann: Born and based in Austria, the Stegmann brand has been handcrafting wool felt comfort footwear since 1888. Famous for their iconic styling, seamless wool upper and contoured comfort sole, this stalwart brand is poised for growth in the US with fresh styles and finishes to bring sophisticated comfort to new admirers and loyal fans. For more information about Stegmann, visit stegmannusa.com .

Contact:

Lauren Nelson

Director of Marketing, Stegmann

[email protected]

(804) 798-1891

SOURCE Stegmann Clogs
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Money Experience , the innovative edtech company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, today announced that the Televerde Foundation , a nonprofit organization with the mission to provide currently and formerly incarcerated women the skills to join and succeed within the global workforce, will utilize its online personal finance course as part of the foundation's PATHS Program. Standing for Prepare, Achieve and Transform for Healthy Success, PATHS is a robust workforce development program that focuses on personal wellness, workplace readiness, employment strategies, financial literacy, lifelong learning and mentoring.

Televerde Foundation empowers currently and formerly incarcerated women with the skills they need to build rewarding professional careers and successfully reintegrate back into their communities. Using Money Experience's Essentials program, instructors will be able to blend classroom-based curriculum, software simulation and storytelling to offer these women a big picture look at how their decisions  particularly ones made once they're released from incarceration  can impact not only their near- and long-term lifestyle goals, but also their long-term financial health.

"Our entire mission is dedicated to the personal and professional development of currently and formerly incarcerated women," said Michelle Cirocco, executive director of Televerde Foundation. "Women have far fewer programming options - such as education, job training and 12-step programs - than men while in prison, which puts them at a severe disadvantage upon release. By working with innovative companies like Money Experience, we hope to change this. Lack of financial literacy is an obstacle for so many people, especially women, and Money Experience's program will help us teach that essential life skill that is needed to become successful upon release."

PATHS will officially launch Money Experience's curriculum in July. The Money Experience curriculum will be part of the overall PATHS course, which also includes an interactive teaching and journaling component from The Change Companies and Professional Development Curriculum designed and delivered by full-time MBA students from the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

"Financial literacy is vital when planning for the future and this is especially true for individuals released from incarceration," said Brilene Faherty, curriculum director at Money Experience. "Money Experience's Essentials program offers an engaging, personalized approach to financial literacy education that we hope will reduce recidivism by providing basic knowledge of managing one's finances."

About Televerde Foundation

Televerde Foundation provides training, education, personal and professional development programs to prepare currently and formerly incarcerated women for meaningful and rewarding careers and successful community reintegration.

Televerde Foundation uses best practices and certified, accredited curricula to ensure all program participants receive relevant, useful and reputable training and education. Partnering with a host of organizations, including government agencies, service providers, non-profits, faith-based organizations, community partners, higher-ed institutions and for-profit businesses, the Televerde Foundation provides a complete suite of services necessary for successful reentry and career development. For more information visit http://www.televerdefoundation.org or call 480-771-6670.

About Money Experience

Part of the family of companies founded by noted Boston tech entrepreneurs Jeet Singh and Joe Chung, Money Experience is an educational technology company addressing the need for personal finance education among young people and adults. Money Experience is headquartered at One Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. https://www.moneyexperience.com/

Media contacts:

Caitlin Snider for Money Experience

[email protected]agency.com

781-749-0077 x14

Jennifer Jewett for Televerde Foundation

[email protected]

617-913-2404

SOURCE Money Experience
CARMEL, Ind., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Transworld Business Advisors of Indiana (www.tworld.com/indiana) is excited to welcome Ms. Derrer to the Team! She has assumed the position of Business Advisor and will focus on serving clients in the State of Indiana with her strong financial and business background.

Ms. Derrer has over 20 years of business experience. She has successfully led multi million-dollar businesses, launched start-ups and executed turnarounds within the consumer electronics, automotive and utility industries. Ms. Derrer, also, holds an Indiana Real Estate License. Her credentials include a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee State University and an Executive M.B.A. from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Ms. Derrer has a unique blend of natural people skills, education and business experiences that delivers an incredible attention to detail, remarkable customer service, and outstanding results.

Ms. Derrer is a former board member and longtime WFYI supporter, a past United Way Loaned Executive as well as a regular donor to Dress for Success and local food banks.

Ms. Derrer joins a strong team in Transworld Business Advisor of Indiana which represents the largest business brokerage platform in the world with 40+ years' experience serving owners. All advisors have completed extensive training and are supported by a team with years of experience.

For more information about Transworld Business Advisors of Indiana, please visit www.tworld.com/indiana or contact Andrea directly at [email protected].

SOURCE Transworld Business Advisors of Indiana

Related Links

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WILMINGTON, Del., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ChristianaCare, one of the most dynamic health systems in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and ValueHealth, LLC, a nationally recognized tech-enabled surgical platform company, have entered into a joint venture partnership that will advance value-based care in Delaware and the surrounding region. The partnership will create a much-needed, value-based ambulatory and hyperspecialty surgical strategy to lower costs and deliver high-quality care for the communities ChristianaCare serves.

The joint venture will develop future sites in the region encompassing Delaware, Eastern Maryland, Southeast Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, with an initial focus on hip- and knee-replacement surgery.

"This partnership brings together two organizations that are transforming health care through leadership in value-based care," said Doug Azar, ChristianaCare Senior Vice President, Strategic Clinical Integration. "Many companies build ambulatory surgery centers, but ValueHealth is transforming care with its payor-led, tech-enabled, data-driven digital surgical platform. At ChristianaCare, we have been pioneers in implementing population health and risk-based models of care in the communities we serve, making a positive impact on health while reducing the overall cost of care. We're excited to join together to meet the surgical needs of our community."

The joint venture was developed to address the needs of the community and commercial payors for value-based healthcare delivery. In 2019, the Delaware legislature created the state's first Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery in the Department of Insurance to reduce health care costs by increasing the availability of high quality, cost-efficient health insurance products that have stable, predictable, and affordable rates. Today, as health systems begin to emerge from the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and seek opportunities to innovate and come back better than before, the need to design new models built on value-based care is more compelling than ever.

"Surgery will never be the same as it was pre-COVID," said ValueHealth Executive Chairman John R. Palumbo. "This type of joint venture creates the path forward to better outcomes: financial, clinical and experience. Outmigration of high-cost cases is one of the most strategic challenges health systems face. Combining ChristianaCare's statewide capabilities with ValueHealth's proven successes in the hyperspecialty surgical space and partnering with world-class surgeons helps us to achieve the highest level of quality care and patient experience while lowering costs."

ValueHealth's payor-led, tech-enabled, data-driven digital surgical platform, currently integrated into more than 30 health systems, includes patient steerage, payor bundles, and warranty contracts, as well as its nationally recognized Ambulatory Centers of Excellence (ACE) program, which designates ambulatory surgical centers that not only exceed national accrediting standards, but also meet ValueHealth's stricter clinical, quality, and financial measures. Don Bisbee, President of ValueHealth said, "The joint venture will allow us to continue to build a high value network for the employers in this market to which they can navigate their employees. This will equally benefit the payers as well as the healthcare consumer / patient."

ChristianaCare is nationally recognized for its surgical quality and safety. ChristianaCare has been honored for eight consecutive years by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress National Surgical Quality Improvement Program for achieving "meritorious" outcomes in surgical patient care. ChristianaCare also has been recognized with Healthgrades' America's 100 Best Hospitals Award for four years in a row and is ranked by Newsweek among the World's Best Hospitals.

About ValueHealth

ValueHealth has pioneered the ambulatory surgical space since 1997. Founded on the fundamentals of payment reform and consumerism, ValueHealth is a technology-enabled, data-driven healthcare services company with a surgical digital platform that accelerates the transition from fee-for-service to value-based surgical care while successfully positioning our provider partners to flourish in an emerging risk environment. Our high value networks of facilities provide employers across the country high quality sites of service to navigate their employees to, reducing cost to the payers, employers, and patients. Today, we operate in over 30 states and our nationally recognized Ambulatory Centers of Excellence (ACE) are leaders in the transition to value-based care. We're passionate about putting our proven experience to work for you as a trusted partner to help you achieve market share dominance and the highest clinical and safety performance. Learn more at valuehealth.com .

About ChristianaCare

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare is one of the country's most dynamic health care organizations, centered on improving health outcomes, making high-quality care more accessible and lowering health care costs. ChristianaCare includes an extensive network of outpatient services, home health care, urgent care centers, three hospitals (1,299 beds), a free-standing emergency department, a Level I trauma center and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a comprehensive stroke center and regional centers of excellence in heart and vascular care, cancer care and women's health. It also includes the pioneering Gene Editing Institute and was rated by IDG Computerworld as one of the nation's Best Places to Work in IT. ChristianaCare is a nonprofit teaching health system with more than 260 residents and fellows. With the unique CareVio data-powered care coordination service and a focus on population health and value-based care, ChristianaCare is shaping the future of health care. Learn how ChristianaCare delivers greater quality and value at https://christianacare.org.

Media Contacts:

Whitney Courser

Chief Growth Officer

ValueHealth

913-387-0674

[email protected]

Hiran Ratnayake

Senior Communications Manager

ChristianaCare

302-327-3327

[email protected]

SOURCE ValueHealth, LLC

Related Links

http://valuehealth.com


All three hotels are part of Wyndham's larger efforts to significantly expand its footprint across the Indian subcontinent and are complemented by additional properties in the region that either recently opened or are slated to open over the next nine months. Wyndham is currently one of the largest international hotel companies in India.

Nikhil Sharma, area director, Eurasia, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts said, "Over the last few years, Bhutan and Nepal have seen a steady increase in tourism, making them ideal destinations for us to expand into. What's more, they perfectly complement the opportunity and uptick of the midscale market in India, which we've strengthened today with the introduction of our Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham brand. As the Indian subcontinent continues making waves in the hospitality industry, Wyndham remains laser focused on tapping into its key markets and fulfilling our mission of making hotel travel possible for all."

Upcoming hotel openings include:

Ramada by Wyndham Valley Thimpu ( Bhutan )

Marking Wyndham's arrival into Bhutan , the Ramada by Wyndham Valley Thimpu will offer 41 spacious rooms, including many with panoramic views of the magnificent Himalayas. Tucked in the Thimpu valley by the free-flowing Raidak River, its location will provide easy access to special events at the Tasichho Dzong, the giant statue of Buddha Dordenma, and the sacred Memorial Chorten site. The hotel is expected to open in March 2021 .





Marking Wyndham's arrival into , the Ramada by Wyndham Valley Thimpu will offer 41 spacious rooms, including many with panoramic views of the magnificent Himalayas. Tucked in the Thimpu valley by the free-flowing Raidak River, its location will provide easy access to special events at the Tasichho Dzong, the giant statue of Buddha Dordenma, and the sacred Memorial Chorten site. The hotel is expected to open in . Ramada Encore by Wyndham Kathmandu Thamel ( Nepal )

Wyndham's first entry in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal , the Ramada Encore by Wyndham Kathmandu Thamel is situated in the Thamel district in the capital city of Kathmandu , which has been the centre of the tourist industry for over four decades. The hotel will offer 90 tastefully furnished guest rooms with a range of amenities to make for a comfortable stay and a rooftop with a scenic view of the city. The hotel is expected to open in August 2020 .





Wyndham's first entry in the Himalayan kingdom of , the Ramada Encore by Wyndham Kathmandu Thamel is situated in the Thamel district in the capital city of , which has been the centre of the tourist industry for over four decades. The hotel will offer 90 tastefully furnished guest rooms with a range of amenities to make for a comfortable stay and a rooftop with a scenic view of the city. The hotel is expected to open in . Ramada by Wyndham Mussoorie Mall Road ( India )

Spread across one acre of land, the Ramada by Wyndham Mussoorie Mall Road will offer 45 rooms all with key necessities for guests to enjoy their time. The hotel will be located at one of the most admired hill station destinations in Northern India , also referred to as the Queen of the Hills, popular amongst leisure as well as business travellers. The hotel is expected to open later this month.

Recent 2020 openings include:

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Dwarka ( India )

Marking the arrival of the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham brand in the Indian subcontinent, the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Dwarka is an eco-spiritual resort offering 202 spacious guest rooms and is in close proximity to Dwarkadhish Temple, Dwarka Beach and Gomti Ghat. The property, which opened in April 2020 , offers expansive outdoor access with an opportunity to focus on wellness and exploring nature.





Marking the arrival of the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham brand in the Indian subcontinent, the Hawthorn Suites by is an eco-spiritual resort offering 202 spacious guest rooms and is in close proximity to Dwarkadhish Temple, and Gomti Ghat. The property, which opened in , offers expansive outdoor access with an opportunity to focus on wellness and exploring nature. Ramada by Wyndham Aligarh GT Road ( India )

A new-construction hotel situated in Aligarh, in the western region of Uttar Pradesh state, the Ramada by Wyndham Aligarh GT Road opened in January 2020 and features 60 contemporary guest rooms, expansive lawn space, and a plethora of amenities. Situated in an ideal location with easy access to the Aligarh Junction Railway Station and Aligarh Bus Stand, the hotel makes a great home base for travel throughout the area.





A new-construction hotel situated in Aligarh, in the western region of Uttar Pradesh state, the Ramada by Wyndham Aligarh GT Road opened in and features 60 contemporary guest rooms, expansive lawn space, and a plethora of amenities. Situated in an ideal location with easy access to the Aligarh Junction Railway Station and Aligarh Bus Stand, the hotel makes a great home base for travel throughout the area. Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Pune Hinejwadi ( India )

Situated along the Pune Bangalore Highway, only an hour's drive away from popular weekend getaways like Lonavala, Khandala, and Lavasa, is the Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Pune Hinejwadi. The hotel, which opened in March 2020 , hosts 172 spacious guest rooms and offers an opportunity to explore majestic nearby attractions and outdoor adventures such as the Aga Khan Palace.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' properties around the world participate in Wyndham Rewards, the world's most generous rewards program with more than 30,000 hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. Designed for the everyday traveler, members earn a guaranteed 1,000 points with every qualified stay and may redeem points for a wide range of rewards, including free nights, gift cards, merchandise and more.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties, with 9,300 hotels across approximately 90 countries on six continents. Through its network of over 828,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveler, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 20 hotel brands, including Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, Microtel Inn & Suites, La Quinta, Baymont, Wingate, AmericInn, Hawthorn Suites, The Trademark Collection and Wyndham. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is also a leading provider of hotel management services. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers 83 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For more information, visit www.wyndhamhotels.com.

SOURCE Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Related Links

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ROCKLIN, Calif., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Suzon Lucore today announced 19 Faces of COVID-19, a new painting by local artist. 19 Faces of COVID-19 Painting. The COVID-19 painting captures some of these people living with the new normal or as many look at it, abnormal.

"Is it difficult to wear a mask? Most people say yes. To all, protect others, one may not think of one's self when wearing a mask," says Suzon Lucore, Artist and CEO at Connected Now, "The virus does not care if you are poor or rich; employed or homeless; protector or defender. It can take all types of people. It has."

Ordinary people doing their jobs, their duties and living their normal existence in not so normal times. The virus does not care if you are poor or rich; employed or homeless; protector or defender.

This painting evokes emotions that can trigger compassion for those who selflessly serve others.

Find one or more that you identify with

Show respect for those who show respect

Practice social distancing and wear a face covering

The 19 Faces of COVID-19 will be available starting Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at Dignity Health in Rocklin. For more information on the 19 Faces of COVID-19 painting, you may call Suzon Lucore 916-224-2130 or visit https://wehavecompassion.com.

About the Artist: Suzon Lucore attended CCAC (now CCA) in Oakland and San Francisco in the late 80's. Influenced by Mary Cassatt, Paul Cezanne, and Monet her loose style and freedom often captured portraits and iconic locations throughout California. Suzon was encouraged to go on to art school after receiving her AA from Yuba Community College and accepting a scholarship to the acclaimed art school. Although Suzon received her BFA in painting; illustration, film and media were also keen interests. Marketing is now her occupation which daily draws on her artistic talents.

Suzon lives in a Geodesic Dome in the foothills of the Sierra. She shows her work at various locations and currently has works of the homeless in the Midtown Association in Sacramento, CA and The Foresthill Bridge at Everybody's Inn in Foresthill, CA.

The painting will be at Dignity Health July 8, 2020. Mercy Medical; 550 W Ranch View Dr; Ste 3000, Rocklin, CA 95765

Media Contact

Suzon Lucore

Connected Now, LLC

916-224-2130

[email protected]

SOURCE Suzon Lucore

Related Links

https://wehavecompassion.com/


WALTHAM, Mass., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The unprecedented emergency authorization of remdesivir for treating COVID-19 only four months after the virus was discovered was enabled by decades of basic research on the drug's biological target and drugs with similar parent structures, and was supported by $6.5 billion in NIH funding, according to a study from Bentley University . The article, titled "Foundational research and NIH funding enabling Emergency Use Authorization of remdesivir for COVID-19," demonstrates the value of government funding for basic research and how it supported the ability to rapidly launch this product in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report from the Center for Integration of Science and Industry at Bentley University, posted on medRxiv today, examined published research related to the biological target for remdesivir  RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp)  as well as the chemistry of the drug's parent chemical structure  nucleoside analogs (NcAn)  through the end of 2019. Of the 6,567 research publications on RdRp identified, 1,263 had received NIH support totaling $1.9 billion. In addition, 11,073 research publications on NcAn were found, including 2,319 with NIH support totaling $4.6 billion. This work identified only 23 research publications on remdesivir itself before the end of 2019, six with NIH support totaling $46.5 million.

Typically, decades of basic research are required to establish the scientific foundation necessary for successful drug discovery and development. Of the 97 different investigational drugs targeted to RdRp that were tested in clinical trials for viruses such as influenza, hepatitis, Ebola, Zika, or Coronaviruses since 1989, the only three that have been approved first entered human trials only after RdRp research had passed a maturity threshold. The synthesis of remdesivir was based on decades of research optimizing the pharmaceutic properties of nucleoside analogs to make them useful as drug products.

"Although it appears that remdesivir was approved in record time, this drug would not be available today if the NIH and others had not invested billions of dollars over the past decades in basic research on how different viruses work and the chemistry of nucleosides," said Dr. Fred Ledley, Director of the Center for Integration of Science and Industry. "While Gilead Sciences is investing billions of dollars in bringing this drug to the public, the substantial public sector investment that made this drug possible also needs to be recognized."

On April 30, 2020, U.S. Representatives Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) requested an accounting of taxpayer investment in development of remdesivir as part of their consideration of pricing this product. While the Bentley study identified only $46.5 million in funding directly related to development of this drug prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it demonstrates that the NIH invested as much as $6.5 billion in the science that made this drug possible.

Dr. Ekaterina Galkina Cleary was the lead author on this work along with Dr. Zoe Folchman-Wagner, Dr. Matthew J. Jackson and Dr. Ledley. This work was supported by grants from the National Biomedical Research Foundation and the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

THE CENTER FOR INTEGRATION OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY at Bentley University focuses on understanding and accelerating the translation of scientific discoveries to create public value. The Center is an environment for thought leadership and interdisciplinary scholarship spanning basic science, data analytics, business and public policy. For more information, visit www.bentley.edu/sciindustry and follow us on Twitter @sciindustry.

BENTLEY UNIVERSITY is more than just one of the nation's top business schools. It is a lifelong-learning community that creates successful leaders who make business a force for positive change. With a combination of business and the arts and sciences and a flexible, personalized approach to education, Bentley provides students with critical thinking and practical skills that prepare them to lead successful, rewarding careers. Founded in 1917, the university enrolls 4,200 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate and PhD students and is set on 163 acres in Waltham, Massachusetts, 10 miles west of Boston. For more information, visit www.bentley.edu.

SOURCE Bentley University

Related Links

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Members of the Ondo State House of Assembly on Tuesday served impeachment notice on the Deputy Governor of the State, Agboola Ajayi on...





Members of the Ondo State House of Assembly on Tuesday served impeachment notice on the Deputy Governor of the State, Agboola Ajayi on allegation of gross misconduct.





Ajayi has been in running battle with the Governor of the State, Rotimi Akeredolu and had defected to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.





Reports had it that 14 lawmakers supported the impeachment of the deputy governor





There was, however, heavy security presence at the Ondo State House as the lawmakers were holding plenary.





The Nation reports that the lawmakers had resumed from recess on June 6th and placed an advertorial calling on members to resume sitting.





To however stall any impeachment move, Ajayi rushed to an Abuja High Court where he filed a suit seeking to stop the impeachment proceeding and enforced his fundamental right of association.





Other defendants in the suit were the Inspector General of Police, State Commissioner Of Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr David Oleyeloogun.
STOCKHOLM, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Electrolux said today it will report a smaller loss for the second quarter of 2020 than previously anticipated, with operating income estimated to be approximately SEK -100 million (1,219). This was driven by sales growth in June and successful cost mitigation actions. In the Q1 interim report published on May 7, 2020, Electrolux communicated that it expected a "significant" loss in the second quarter.

Net sales in the second quarter are estimated to be approximately SEK 23.5 billion (29.2), a decrease of 17% organically. In June, however, the Group had an organic sales growth of 3%, year-over-year. All figures in this press release are preliminary and unaudited, and the final report for the second quarter of 2020 will be published on July 17, 2020 at about 0800 CET.

In April, demand and production in several of Electrolux main markets were severely impacted by the strict countermeasures initiated by local authorities to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Electrolux Group sales in the month were down by approximately 30%.

As restrictions gradually have been lifted, markets primarily in Europe have developed more positively than expected in the latter part of the quarter. In addition, the APAC & MEA business area has been well positioned with its products; particularly in Australia, contributing to earnings during the quarter.

The strong execution on cost mitigation actions, including furloughs for employees in several markets and significantly reduced discretionary spending, has resulted in a more favorable net cost efficiency in the second quarter than previously anticipated.

Electrolux will not make any further comments until the second quarter interim report has been published.

CONTACT:

For further information, please contact:

Sophie Arnius, Head of Investor Relations, +46-70-590-80-72

Daniel Frykholm, Electrolux Press Hotline, +46-8-657-65-07.

This is information that AB Electrolux is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 2000 CET on July 7, 2020

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/electrolux/r/ab-electrolux-to-report-smaller-q2-loss-than-previously-anticipated--and-sales-growth-in-june,c3150441

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Electrolux
MINNEAPOLIS, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthEZ (or the "Company"), a leading independent third-party administrator (TPA) of self-funded medical plans, today announced that Abry Partners ("Abry"), one of the premier sector-focused private equity investment firms in North America, has acquired a majority stake in HealthEZ. With this transaction, Abry adds HealthEZ to its growing portfolio of healthcare services investments.

Abry's investment is intended to enable HealthEZ to provide more and enhanced services to its marquee client base as well as pursue strategic acquisitions.

Founded in 1982 by industry luminary Nazie Eftekhari, and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, HealthEZ is driven by the principles of simplifying and making more transparent the byzantine process of accessing and financing healthcare for employers, their employees and the physicians and other providers who treat them. HealthEZ has established a unique value proposition in the self-funded medical space with a particular focus on the small- and mid-sized business (SMB) market. The Company boasts many industry innovations including the nation's first captive PPO network, as well as proprietary patient payment technology. HealthEZ plays an important role at the center of the self-funded benefits space, and is a valuable partner to employers, employees, brokers, underwriters, and healthcare providers.

Nazie Eftekhari, HealthEZ's Founder and Chairwoman, commented on the transaction: "When I met the Abry team I knew they would be a good fit for our company, our clients, our members, and our team. They are a diverse and talented team, like us, like our clients and our team, like America and Americans. We look forward to working with the Abry team to make HealthEZ the best TPA in America."

T.J. Rose, Partner of Abry said, "We're incredibly impressed by the business Nazie and the HealthEZ team have built and we are proud to become her partner in the next phase of HealthEZ's growth. The HealthEZ team has done a tremendous job of helping small businesses navigate the complex self-insured landscape and we look forward to driving future growth through continued investment in technology and people."

Lincoln International LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to HealthEZ, while Norton Rose Fulbright LLP acted as exclusive legal counsel to the Company. Abry was advised by DLA Piper LLP.

About HealthEZ

HealthEZ is a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based independent third-party administrator of employer-sponsored, self-funded medical plans. The Company partners with SMB employers throughout the United States so that they can provide better access to healthcare for their employees while controlling costs and improving outcomes. For more information on HealthEZ, please visit www.healthez.com.

About Abry Partners

Abry is one of the most experienced and successful sector-focused private equity investment firms in North America. Since their founding in 1989, the firm has completed over $82.0 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity or preferred equity placements. Currently, the firm manages over $5.0 billion of capital across their active funds. For more information on Abry, please visit www.abry.com.

Contact: Chris Tofalli

Chris Tofalli Public Relations, LLC

904-834-4334

SOURCE Abry Partners

Related Links

http://www.abry.com


NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Hoc Ecuador Bondholder Group (the "Ad Hoc Group") is pleased to confirm it has reached an agreement in principle with the Republic of Ecuador ("Ecuador") on the commercial terms for the restructuring of all ten series of Ecuador's c.$17.4 billion in outstanding sovereign bonds. The Ad Hoc Group comprises major institutional holders of Ecuador's external sovereign debt including, among others, funds managed or advised by AllianceBernstein, Ashmore Investment Management Limited and Ashmore Investment Advisors Limited, BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. and its affiliates, BlueBay Asset Management LLP, and Wellington Management Company LLP. The Ad Hoc Group is supported by its international legal counsel, White & Case LLP. Funds managed or advised by members of the Ad Hoc Group holding approximately 45% of Ecuador's outstanding bonds are supportive of the agreement in principle, and additional support from group members is expected in the coming days as internal processes are completed.

The agreement in principle will provide Ecuador with significant, front-loaded debt relief in the coming years to help the country recover from the COVID crisis. It will also make a substantial contribution to ensuring the sustainability of Ecuador's external debt in the medium term, paving the way for the country to achieve strong, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth.

The formal launch of the restructuring process is expected to occur in the coming weeks, subject to agreement on definitive documentation and the preparation of an Invitation Memorandum by Ecuador.

The Ad Hoc Group is particularly gratified that following a collaborative and productive negotiation process, a consensus on the best way forward for Ecuador and its creditors has been found within a matter of weeks. The current restructuring process sets an important precedent for post-COVID emerging market sovereign debt resolutions, and demonstrates how a debtor-creditor relationship founded on principles of good faith and mutual understanding can lead to a positive outcome for all parties.

Contact: Erin Hershkowitz, +1 646 885 2200, [email protected]

SOURCE White & Case

Related Links

http://www.whitecase.com


"Families are facing unprecedented challenges as they work to care for their loved ones during this uncertain time," said Kris Engskov, Aegis Living President. "Our number one priority is to apply our 23 years of experience and deep clinical expertise to continue to innovate well ahead of this virus to ensure we are the safest place for our seniors and also a place where they can thrive  physically, mentally and emotionally  now and well into the future."

Aegis Living's commitments include:

Appointing a dedicated Infection Control & Safety Officer.

Accessing and applying the latest infection control research and highest operational standards per direction of the newly appointed Coronavirus Advisory Council.

Launching a research partnership with Fred Hutch to study the virus, identifying transmission insights and containment best practices.

to study the virus, identifying transmission insights and containment best practices. Deploying FDA-approved, virus-fighting technologies from Molekule, Inc. and Viking Pure to clean indoor air and kill the virus.

Dramatically increasing nursing care capacity to support its 32 communities and 2,500 residents.

Developing new clinical culinary expertise to define a Culinary Wellness Program designed to offer residents immune-boosting meals and nutritional supplements.

Creating new spaces, Aegis Chat Suites, for residents to connect virtually with their families and medical providers.

Continuing to explore new opportunities for safe in-person visits and engagement with programs like the recently announced Outdoor Living Room initiative.

Aegis Living commitments were driven by insights and experience gleaned over the past four months navigating the pandemic, coupled with medical expertise and direct feedback from residents, families and staff.

At the center of these new advancements is building the most qualified team to drive this work forward. Appointed as Infection Control & Safety Officer, Tom Laborde has a 22-year tenure at Aegis, most recently as their Chief Operating Officer. In his new position, Laborde will work closely with Aegis' senior management team to assess, develop and implement new infection control technologies and measures across all of Aegis' properties.

The company also recently hired Senior Vice President of Operations Tony Pisa to provide operational leadership in California and Nevada. Pisa joined Aegis after a successful career leading large-scale, multi-unit operations at Starbucks, Kinkos and Kizuki Ramen. His position is mirrored in Washington state by Executive Vice President of Operations John Carpentier. Aegis Living also announced Ashleigh Pedersen will join the team as Enterprise Culinary Service Director, helping evolve and develop its Culinary Wellness Program. Jennifer Alexy was appointed Senior Vice President of Sales.

"We hire people who have excelled in their careers, often in outside industries, who bring incredible insights and fresh thinking to senior living," said Dwayne J. Clark, Aegis Living founder and CEO. "I call it the weaving of the quiltwe're building a phenomenal team to take Aegis to the next level."

For more information on how Aegis Living is responding to the coronavirus crisis, visit: www.aegisliving.com/communications.

About Aegis Living

Aegis Living is a national leader in senior assisted living and memory care with a simple philosophy: make every day count. With more than 22 years of experience, it is known for its approach for supporting residents along the continuum of care, from light assistance to advanced dementia; an eye for innovation and staying on the frontlines of design; and an employee-centric company culture. With every community, Aegis Living creates a living environment where residents can feel at home and inspired to live life to the fullest. The privately held company is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and operates 32 communities in Washington, California and Nevada, with 7 additional communities in development.

For more information, visit www.aegisliving.com. Follow the company on Twitter @Aegisliving and Facebook at www.facebook.com/AegisLiving.

SOURCE Aegis Living

Related Links

https://www.aegisliving.com


DUBLIN, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AerCap Holdings N.V. ("AerCap") (NYSE: AER) has announced its major business transactions during the second quarter 2020:

Raised funding of $3 billion , including $2.5 billion of unsecured bonds.

Purchased 2 new aircraft, 2 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft.

2 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft. Executed sale transactions for 9 owned aircraft , including 3 Airbus A320 Family aircraft, 5 Boeing 737NGs and 1 Boeing 757.

, including 3 Airbus A320 Family aircraft, 5 Boeing 737NGs and 1 Boeing 757. Signed lease agreements for 10 aircraft, including 1 widebody aircraft and 9 narrowbody aircraft.

About AerCap

AerCap is the global leader in aircraft leasing with one of the most attractive order books in the industry. AerCap serves approximately 200 customers in approximately 80 countries with comprehensive fleet solutions. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and has its headquarters in Dublin with offices in Shannon, Los Angeles, Singapore, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Seattle and Toulouse.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements, estimates and forecasts with respect to future performance and events. These statements, estimates and forecasts are "forward-looking statements". In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negatives thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate or correct. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future performance or events described in the forward-looking statements in this press release might not occur. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results and we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to, and will not, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For more information regarding AerCap and to be added to our email distribution list, please visit www.aercap.com and follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/aercapnv.

SOURCE AerCap Holdings N.V.

Related Links

https://www.aercap.com/


LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The anti-rheumatics market size is expected to be worth around US$ 72 bn by 2027 and growing at a CAGR of 3% over the forecast period 2020  2027.

The development of warm, swollen and painful joints in rheumatoid arthritis is a medical condition which primarily affects a person's hands and wrists. The use of various medications known as anti-rheumatic medicines is the treatment of this disease. Moreover, these medicines are also used to modify the medical condition's course. For instance, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic medicines are anti-rheumatic medicines which slow the development of the disease. Drugs like anti-inflammatory and anti-steroid drugs are also being used in rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.

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Asia-Pacific is Witnessing High Growth and is Expected to Follow the Same Trend Over the Forecast Period

Asia Pacific is expected to propel the growth of global anti-rheumatics market and is likely to continue its dominance during forecast period due to rising healthcare expenditure in the region. Moreover, China and India's low manufacturing cost has led to a rise in production plants that draw pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies from around the world to the Asia-Pacific. The rheumatoid arthritis disease prevalence increases are expected to fuel the region demand during the forecast period. For instance, the number of rheumatoid Arthritis cases has risen from 183,272 in 2007 to 263,365 in 2017 only in India, as per the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Analyzing the number of cases in other major Asia-Pacific countries will require a large and consistent contribution from everyone for the care of rheumatoid arthritis.

Market dynamics

Increasing geriatric population is the key factor that drives the growth of global anti-rheumatics market. The total population is projected to hit 9.3 billion in 2050, according to the Global Population Prospects of the United Nations, and about 21% of the population is predicted to be 60 and older. In addition to the ageing and growing population, the development of the global anti-rheumatic market is driving due to increased buying capacity and access to affordable medical and prescription services for small and medium-sized families. The concentration of pharmaceutical companies on the demand for rare and specialist diseases are other factors that contribute to this development. Advanced biological advances, nucleic acid therapies and cell therapies have generated developments in the market that drive this development.

View Detail Information with Complete [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/anti-rheumatics-market

On the other hand, high cost and stringent regulations are projected to impact global anti-rheumatics industries growth opportunities in key markets. Anti-Rheumatic firms are forced to reduce R&D spending due to slowdown of growth in recent years and thus the global anti-rheumatic market is anticipated to hinder development as new product revenues are a major part of the pharmaceutical company's revenue owing to the exclusive use of medicines.. Generic producers' pricing is still a challenge for big brands. For instance, In 2013, Cipla released the Etacept Biosimilar of Ethanercept for treating rheumatic diseases, which is the cheaper alternative to the Enbrel brand of Amgen and Pfizer.

The global anti-rheumatics market includes prominent players such as Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Celegene Corporations, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., MedImmune, LLC, Biogen Inc., Celltrion Inc., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., Amgen Inc. and others.

Browse more Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals Industry Research [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/industry-categories/healthcare-and-pharmaceuticals

Recent Developments

In October 2019 , The World Arthritis Day, a global awareness day designed to raise awareness of the signs of rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders (RMDs), has been recognized by the European League against Rheuma (EULar).

, The World Arthritis Day, a global awareness day designed to raise awareness of the signs of rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders (RMDs), has been recognized by the European League against Rheuma (EULar). In December 2019 , Bristol-Myers Squibb announces U.S. FDA breakthrough therapy designation for ORENCIA (abatacept) a possible lifetime risk following stem cell transplantation, to help avoid acute graft- or host illness advanced data systems (ADS)

, Bristol-Myers Squibb announces U.S. FDA breakthrough therapy designation for ORENCIA (abatacept) a possible lifetime risk following stem cell transplantation, to help avoid acute graft- or host illness advanced data systems (ADS) In June 2019 , biogen to present new safety and efficacy data on biosimilars and estimates 1.8 billion euros in savings for the European healthcare system in 2019

Key Target Audience

Research and Development (R&D) Companies

Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Suppliers

Academic Medical Institutes and Universities

Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Manufacturers

Medical Research Laboratories

Market Segmentation

Market By Drug Class

Disease Modifying Anti-rheumatics Drugs (DMARD'S)

Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAID'S)

Corticosteroids

Uric Acid Drugs

Others

Market By Type

Prescription-based Drugs

Over-the-counter Drugs

Market By Distribution Channel

Retail Pharmacies

Online Pharmacies

Hospital Pharmacies

Market By End-User

Hospitals & Clinics

Ambulatory Surgical Centers

Healthcare Specialty Process

Anti-Rheumatics Market By Geography

North America

U.S.

Canada

Europe

UK

Germany

France

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

Australia

South Korea

Rest of Asia-Pacific

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

GCC

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

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About Us

Acumen Research and Consulting (ARC) is a global provider of market intelligence and consulting services to information technology, investment, telecommunication, manufacturing, and consumer technology markets. ARC helps investment communities, IT professionals, and business executives to make fact based decisions on technology purchases and develop firm growth strategies to sustain market competition. Among the industries served include aerospace and defense, information and communication technology (ICT), semiconductor and electronics, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, advanced materials, banking, finance services and insurance (BFSI), and others.

Our collective industry experience of over 100 years has helped us to offer appropriate market information and our global reach and regional connects ensures appropriate insights into regional markets to guarantee apt delivery of information.

Our regional market intelligence helps our clients to identify potential opportunities and develop growth strategies across regions and countries. Our services are geared towards offering best market research to our clients.

Contact Us:

Mr. Frank Wilson

Acumen Research and Consulting

17890, Castleton St #218, Rowland Heights, CA 91748 United States

Tel: +1-407-915-4157 OR +1-408-900-9135

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com

SOURCE Acumen Research and Consulting
The electrically heated catalyst ensures that the exhaust system quickly reaches its optimum operating temperature during a cold start. As a result, almost 100% of pollutants are removed from the exhaust gases. This plays an important role in the context of the pollutant tests, especially given future driving cycles where greater weight will be applied to the cold start phase. BENTELER's electrically heated catalytic converter consists of a stacked metal structure welded into the exhaust system between the turbocharger and the conventional catalytic converter. It is suitable for all cars with internal combustion engines  regardless of whether they are petrol, diesel or hybrid.

Manufacturing electrically heated catalysts calls for expertise in forming and high-temperature brazing  technologies that BENTELER counts among its core competencies. As an experienced partner to the automotive industry, the metal processing specialist can produce the product in large numbers  worldwide. "With our electrically heated catalysts we're paving the way for car manufacturers in the direction of low emission vehicles," explains Dr. Rainer Lubbers, Executive Vice President of BENTELER's Business Unit Engine and Exhaust Systems. "As a result, we're making a further contribution to sustainable mobility."

Cooperation with Silver Atena for a matched system solution

In cooperation with electronics specialist Silver Atena, BENTELER will also offer a coordinated system with a control unit. This regulates, amongst other things, the temperature in the catalytic converter. Car manufacturers benefit from the cooperation. The optimal interaction of the electrically heated catalyst from BENTELER and control units from Silver Atena means fewer interfaces  customers get pre-validated solutions that can be quickly adapted to their respective needs. The system from BENTELER and Silver Atena is modular and doesn't depend on a special system environment such as a specific installation space, a predefined catalyst type or higher-level control units.

"The cooperation with BENTELER shows once again how customers benefit from cooperations in the automotive industry," says Josef Mitterhuber, Managing Director of Silver Atena: "Together we offer car manufacturers a solution that means they don't need to worry about the EU-7 standard."

Background information:

EU-7 standard tightens CO 2 limits and reduces permissible exhaust emissions

Although the number of electric vehicles in Europe is increasing, the majority of cars still use combustion engine technology. To enable more sustainable mobility in this area, BENTELER also develops environmentally friendly and future-proof products that already comply with the emission levels the EU intends to make mandatory in a few years.

Exact specifications from the EU-7 standard have not yet been established. Nevertheless, car manufacturers will once again be faced with the challenge of reducing exhaust pollutants by half. The new EU-7 standard will also require the car's exhaust system to perform a high level of pollutant cleaning immediately after the engine is started. According to current information, the EU-7 standard will be introduced by 2025 at the latest. Given the multi-year development time required for vehicles, this is already impacting automobile manufacturers.

About BENTELER

BENTELER is a global, family-owned company serving customers in automotive technology, the energy sector and mechanical engineering. As innovative partner, we design, produce and distribute safety-relevant products, systems and services.

Under the management of the strategic holding BENTELER International AG, headquartered in Salzburg, Austria, the Group is organized into the Divisions BENTELER Automotive and BENTELER Steel/Tube. Our around 30,000 employees at 100 locations in 28 countries offer first-class manufacturing and distribution competence  all dedicated to delivering a first-class service wherever our customers need us.



BENTELER. The family of driven professionals. Since 1876.



www.benteler.com

About BENTELER Automotive

BENTELER Automotive is the development partner for the worlds leading automobile manufacturers. With around 26,000 employees and more than 70 plants in about 25 countries we develop tailored solutions for our customers. Our products include components and modules in the areas of chassis, body, engine and exhaust systems, as well as solutions for electric vehicles.

www.benteler-automotive.com

About Silver Atena

Silver Atena offers comprehensive solutions as development partner and supplier of prototypes and small series in the field of safety-relevant systems and power electronics. As a leading independent supplier in the automotive, aerospace, renewable energy and industrial sectors, Silver Atena offers solutions and variable business models to generate maximum benefit for its customers.

www.silver-atena.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1200437/BENTELER_Catalytic_Converter.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1200438/BENTELER_Metal_Processing_Specialist.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1039923/BENTELER_Logo.jpg

Press contacts:

BENTELER:

BENTELER International AG

Birgit Held

Vice President Corporate Communications/Marketing

Salzburg, Austria

Phone: +43-662-2283-101040 / Mobile: +43-664-8836-1890

Email: [email protected]

BENTELER Automotive

Yves Ostrowski

Head of Communications/Marketing

Paderborn, Germany

Phone: +49-5254-81-30-7610 / Mobile: +49-172-5727257

Email: [email protected]

Silver Atena:

Wolfgang Lachermeier

Head of Marketing

Phone: +49-89-189600-6917

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Benteler AG

Related Links

https://www.benteler.com


SAN CARLOS, Calif., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CAGE Bio Inc. today announced a research and development agreement with Nitto Denko Corporation for a transdermal formulation of undisclosed molecules. The goal of the partnership is to explore the potential for developing therapeutic products at Nitto using CAGE Bio's proprietary deep eutectic ionic liquid technology.

Under this agreement, the companies will evaluate novel formulations of drugs that have been notoriously difficult to formulate and deliver into the skin.

"Transdermal delivery of compounds with poor solubility, high charge, or high molecular weight has been an unmet challenge for drug delivery companies for decades. Our technology has demonstrated the ability to tackle this problem quite effectively. Combining our platform with the development capabilities of Nitto will bring high value products to improve patient care," said Nitin Joshi, CEO, CAGE Bio.

Dr. Yosuke Kamimura, Life Science Business Development Manager for Nitto Innovations, Inc., said, "Nitto remains committed to improving quality of life (QOL) through transdermal therapeutic system for various drugs. We are excited to partner with the CAGE Bio team and develop value-added products based on their ionic liquid platform to solve important health problems."

"We are excited to team-up with Nitto which has been a leader in transdermal drug delivery and patches that are often the most convenient dosage form," said Ravi Srinivasan, chairman of CAGE Bio.

About CAGE Bio (www.cagebio.com)

CAGE Bio, a resident company at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS @ MBC BioLabs (https://jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/locations/jlabs-mbc-biolabs), is a clinical stage startup exploiting its proprietary deep eutectic ionic liquid platform to develop products for dermatology, inflammation, and immunology. CAGE Bio has in-licensed technology developed by a research team led by Prof. Samir Mitragotri from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

About Nitto Denko Corporation

Founded in 1918, Nitto Denko Corporation is Japan's leading materials manufacturer, offering diversified industrial products to various business fields such as electronics, automobiles, ecology, and life science. Since its initial success with transdermal drug delivery patches in the late 1970s, Nitto had developed world class transdermal drug development and manufacturing technology. Currently, Nitto has been expanding its footprint in life science including siRNA-based drug discovery and biodegradable drug delivery systems, GLP/GMP-grade oligo-nucleotide manufacturing, and analytical and process development services. For more information about Nitto, visit their website (http://www.nitto.com/jp/en/)

Perry Chlan: (781) 795-5558

Nitin Joshi: (650) 996-1845

SOURCE CAGE Bio Inc.

Related Links

https://cagebio.com/


"We are excited to have Mr. Hernandez as part of our board of directors. We believe his long track record of community service and leadership will contribute to the continuous success of our organization and share our commitment to inspiring hope and healing among patients and families. We believe in the principle that all children deserve state-of-the-art pediatric care," said Michelle Boggs, President of Nicklaus Children's Hospital Foundation.

Nicklaus Children's Hospital Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of community, business and philanthropic leaders who serve voluntarily and without compensation. The Board and Foundation leadership are deeply committed to ensuring your donations are used in a fiscally prudent manner to benefit the children under care at Nicklaus Children's Hospital.

"Having seen first-hand the incredible work of Nicklaus Children's Hospital, I am honored and privileged to join its board of directors. I look forward to supporting Nicklaus team in its mission to provide state of the art healthcare services to our community," Hernandez said.

Hernandez is the founder of Louis Hernandez Jr.'s Foundation For A Bright Future, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on equal opportunity for all children. The foundation provides scholarships and support for education, healthcare, arts, and leadership development programs.

About Louis Hernandez Jr.

Louis Hernandez Jr. is a technology investor and executive, corporate board member, author, and philanthropist. He is the CEO and founder of Black Dragon Capital (BDC), a minority-led private equity firm that makes control investments in technology companies. BDC was formed by technology operating executives with a track record of building market leading companies and providing above market investment returns. Hernandez is an award-winning technology leader and has advised or served on the boards of global companies, including Edison International, HSBC Holdings, Infosys and KPMG. His Foundation focuses on equality to underprivileged and underrepresented groups in healthcare, education, leadership development and the arts.

About Nicklaus Children's Hospital Foundation

Nicklaus Children's Hospital Foundation (NCHF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization established to support the creation of a world-class pediatric hospital so no child needs to leave South Florida for superior medical care. "Funding World-Class Care" and following the principle that all children deserve state-of-the-art pediatric care, NCHF, now a part of the Nicklaus Children's Health System, has helped the 309-bed Nicklaus Children's Hospital become a leader in pediatric healthcare with nearly 800 attending physicians and more than 475 pediatric subspecialists.

Contact info:

Gina Rogoto

Black Dragon Capital, LLC

[email protected]

+1 (305) 539-9415

SOURCE Black Dragon Capital

Related Links

https://blackdragoncap.com


LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Blackout Coalition, in partnership with OneUnited Bank, is proud to announce the success of #BlackOutDay2020. Black America and its allies successfully demonstrated their understanding of how to use their spending power to create positive change in America. With over two million registering their support on social media, and millions more committed to the process, Black America and its allies are prepared to utilize their economic power to ensure corporations and governmental entities recognize and respect the political, social and economic rights of Black Americans.

Calvin Martyr, one of the founders of The Blackout Coalition, stated, "Black America and its allies can and will use our spending power to demonstrate that today is a new day in America. We believe in justice and equality for all Americans."

#BlackOutDay2020 started out as a big idea on social media and quickly caught fire, going from non-existence to becoming a nationwide conversation and movement to organize our spending power to create positive social change in America. Across the nation, America is mourning the deaths of too many innocent Black people who have been killed by racism. Peaceful protestors, including diverse ethnicities and generations, are fighting for justice for the many lives lost to police brutality and violence at the hands of vigilantes. Today elected officials, corporations and organizations are joining the movement to address systemic racism at all levels from the board room to senior management, staffing, policies and brand name. Change is in the air; Black America will no longer tolerate injustice and inequality.

In 2016, the #BankBlack and # BuyBlack Movements began with a simple text and call to action from rapper and activist Killer Mike to Black America to move its money to Black owned banks, to garner the economic spending power of Black America and re-channel it back into our communities. Since that time, while corporate America remained relatively silent, OneUnited Bank actively supported social justice movements including #BlackLivesMatter , #TakeAKnee , the #1619Project. and now the incredibly successful #BlackOutDay2020 . The Bank has consistently encouraged the Black community to use its considerable financial might more purposefully to send a message that is part protest, part progress. Today with the backdrop of proven systemic racism, the Black community is facing another pivotal moment in time.

"As the largest Black owned bank in America, we are compelled to play a leadership role to galvanize our community and allies in support of #BlackOutDay2020, and to fight for social and economic justice," stated Kevin Cohee, Chairman & CEO of OneUnited Bank. "We need to use our power  our spending power, our vote and our voice  to demand criminal justice reform and to close the racial wealth gap."

Media Inquiries: Suzan McDowell, Circle of One Marketing, [email protected], or by phone at 305-576-3790.

ONEUNITED BANK:

OneUnited Bank is the premier bank for urban communities, the largest Black-owned bank, the first Black internet bank and a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Its mission is to provide affordable financial services to support economic development in urban communities and maintain superior financial performance to maximize shareholder value. OneUnited is an FDIC insured bank and an equal housing lender.

SOURCE OneUnited Bank

Related Links

https://www.oneunited.com


The Presidency has refuted claims that Ibrahim Magu, the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was arres...

The Presidency has refuted claims that Ibrahim Magu, the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was arrested by the Department of State Service (DSS).

This was disclosed by Bashir Ahmad, the Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media.

He revealed that a statement from the Department of State Services (DSS), signed by its Public Relations Officer, Peter Afunanya, rebutted the alleged arrest of Mr Ibrahim Magu as widely reported by the media.

A statement from the Department of State Services (DSS), signed by its Public Relations Officer, Peter Afunanya, Ph.D, has rebutted the alleged arrest of Mr. Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman of the EFCC as widely reported by sections of the media.
CASTRO VALLEY, Calif., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Beyond Consulting today announced that it is once again Great Place to Work-Certified. This is the fifth consecutive year Blue Beyond has received this recognition.

"We are so honored to be named a Great Place to Work for the fifth year in a row," said Cheryl Fields Tyler, Founder and CEO of Blue Beyond Consulting. "This is truly a testament to the people at Blue Beyond, and how hard each and every person works to make our culture one where we all belong  and where we all can thrive. I'm so proud of how our team has shown up, cared for each other, and truly lived Blue Beyond's purpose and values during this time of uncertainty."

Using validated employee feedback gathered with Great Place to Work's rigorous, data-driven "For All" methodology, certification confirms that seven out of 10 employees have a consistently positive experience at Blue Beyond. Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue and increased innovation.

"We congratulate Blue Beyond Consulting on their certification," said Sarah Lewis-Kulin, Vice President of Best Workplace List Research at Great Place to Work. "Organizations that earn their employees' trust create great workplace cultures that deliver outstanding business results."

Great Place to Work CEO Michael C. Bush agreed at the 3rd annual Leadership Awards Gala earlier this year. "The financial performance of these organizations and the industry-leading commitment to corporate responsibility provide strong evidence that when you create a great place to work for all, it's better for business, better for people, and better for the world."

Fields Tyler was among those recognized at the gala on March 3, 2020, with a For All Leadership Award from Great Place to Work.

About Blue Beyond Consulting

Blue Beyond builds effective organizations where both the business and people thrive. The firm specializes in the people side of business  culture, talent management, employee engagement, communications, organizational effectiveness, leadership, and change management. Blue Beyond serves clients throughout North America, including global Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, universities, and small- and mid-sized firms. Founded in 2006, Blue Beyond is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with additional team members across the West Coast, the Midwest, and the Northeast. The company was ranked among the top 50 Best Small & Medium Workplaces by Great Place to Work and FORTUNE in 2017 and 2019, and named to FORTUNE's 2019 list of Best Workplaces in the Bay Area. Blue Beyond is a certified women-owned business by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). For more information, visit bluebeyondconsulting.com.

Media Contact

Darci Valentine

510-733-5417

[email protected]

SOURCE Blue Beyond Consulting

Related Links

http://www.bluebeyondconsulting.com


HALTOM CITY, Texas, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BMS CAT is proud to announce the acquisition of Jarvis Property Restoration founded in Detroit, with locations throughout Michigan and Florida.

"We are excited about the partnership, as it allows us the ability to merge Jarvis Restoration's rich history and the positive culture with Blackmon Mooring & BMS CAT. By combining teams, we can strengthen our national footprint by adding locations in Michigan and increasing our presence across Florida. More importantly, we will be able to deliver the most dependable service to our clients within our industry," said Tom Head, President & CEO of Blackmon Mooring & BMS CAT.

Bill Jarvis, former owner of Jarvis Property Restoration, and Matt Jarvis will remain with the company in leadership roles, assisting with the integration of Jarvis and BMS CAT.

"By combining their list of locations with ours, we will be able to better service our customers throughout Michigan and Florida, as well as across the nation. This relationship will add value for our customers, since we have access to more equipment, manpower and other resources," Bill says. "Our team is excited about the professional development opportunities that BMS CAT brings to the table. By staffing highly-trained professionals, we can become the leading experts in the disaster restoration industry," Matt stated.

Today's announcement is the second in a strategic plan of acquisitions to support BMS CAT growth. The company previously acquired North Carolina-based Diamond Restoration in January 2020. BMS CAT has grown from a privately-owned Texas startup in 1948 to one of the largest national restoration companies in the country.

About Blackmon Mooring & BMS CAT

Started in 1948 as a furniture and dye shop, Blackmon Mooring has grown to become a leader in each service area it practices  from fire and water restoration to storm damage recovery. The earliest founders of Blackmon Mooring built their business on reliability, quality and superior customer service. In 1981, the company expanded its reach globally with the addition of the BMS CAT division and since then, it has responded to some of the world's most devastating disasters. Today, the company follows the same principles it was founded upon, and always remembers that the customer is the cornerstone of the business. www.blackmonmooring.com

SOURCE Blackmon Mooring & BMS CAT

Related Links

https://www.bmscat.com/


Tony Hickson, CBO at Cancer Research UK, said: "We are excited to be partnering with Abcam to expand our access to biological reagents and to create the tools our scientists need to help accelerate our understanding of cancer. Abcam's antibody development capabilities and "end-to-end" expertise will help provide our researchers with antibody reagents that can be applied from early-stage R&D right through to the clinic."

Dr John Baker, SVP Product Portfolio Innovation at Abcam, commented: "We are proud to be working with Cancer Research UK to support their scientists and to provide them with access to specific and validated reagents to help them achieve their next breakthrough faster."

Abcam will, upon request, supply unique antibodies developed within the terms of the agreement to Cancer Research UK-funded researchers for an agreed period of exclusivity in relation to that antibody. Subsequently, Abcam's global supply capability and co-location in major technology hubs throughout the world will enable these innovative reagents to be made readily accessible to the wider research and diagnostic development community.

Notes to Editors

About Cancer Research UK's Commercial Partnerships Team

Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Cancer Research UK's specialist Commercial Partnerships Team works closely with leading international cancer scientists and their institutes to protect intellectual property arising from their research and to establish links with commercial partners. Cancer Research UK's commercial activity operates through Cancer Research Technology Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cancer Research UK. It is the legal entity which pursues drug discovery research in themed alliance partnerships and delivers varied commercial partnering arrangements.

About Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.

Cancer Research UK's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.

Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.

Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years.

Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.

Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org . Follow us on Twitter and Facebook .

About Abcam plc

As a global life sciences company, Abcam identifies, develops, and distributes high-quality biological reagents and tools that are crucial to research, drug discovery and diagnostics. Working across the industry, the Company supports life scientists to achieve their mission, faster.

Abcam partners with life science organizations to co-create novel binders for use in drug discovery, in vitro diagnostics and therapeutics, driven by the Company's proprietary discovery platforms and world-leading antibody expertise.

By constantly innovating its binders and assays, Abcam is helping advance the global understanding of biology and causes of disease, which enables new treatments and improved health. The Company's pioneering data-sharing approach gives scientists increased confidence in their results by providing validation, user comments and peer-reviewed citations for its 110,000 products.

With twelve sites globally, many of Abcam's 1,400+ strong team are located in the world's leading life science research hubs, complementing a global network of services and support.

To find out more, please visit www.abcam.com and www.abcamplc.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1200684/Cancer_Research_Abcam.jpg

Contacts

At Cancer Research UK

Media:

Angharad Kolator Baldwin

Science Media

T: +44 (0)203 469 8300

E: [email protected]

At Abcam

Media:

Dr Lynne Trowbridge

VP External Communications

T: +44 (0)7815 167026

E: [email protected]

Dr Priya Kalia

Senior Consultant, External Communications

T: +44 (0)7703 769299

E: [email protected]

SOURCE Cancer Research UK; Abcam

Related Links

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org


MIAMI, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line will be notifying guests and travel agents on Tuesday of revisions to the delivery of its newest ship, Mardi Gras, as well as the transformed Carnival Radiance  both resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic  and new itineraries for Carnival Breeze and Carnival Magic that are all part of an updated deployment plan from November 2020 to May 2021.

The key points of the changes:

Mardi Gras , the first LNG-powered ship to operate in the Western Hemisphere and featuring the first roller coaster at sea, will now enter into service from Port Canaveral, Fla. on Feb. 6, 2021 . Itineraries out of Port Canaveral for departures from Nov. 14, 2020 to Jan. 30, 2021 have been cancelled.

, the first LNG-powered ship to operate in the Western Hemisphere and featuring the first roller coaster at sea, will now enter into service from Port Canaveral, Fla. on . Itineraries out of Port Canaveral for departures from to have been cancelled. Carnival Radiance's $200 million dry dock at the Cadiz, Spain shipyard was suspended this spring when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a nationwide lockdown. Carnival is now evaluating shipyard options to complete the transformation, but the ship is likely not going to be completed until the spring.

dry dock at the Cadiz, shipyard was suspended this spring when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a nationwide lockdown. Carnival is now evaluating shipyard options to complete the transformation, but the ship is likely not going to be completed until the spring. As a result of the delayed arrival of Carnival Radiance, Carnival Breeze will be redeployed from Fort Lauderdale to Port Canaveral and will assume the itineraries for Carnival Radiance from Nov. 8, 2020 to Apr. 24, 2021 . Consequently, guests on 18 Carnival Breeze sailings from Fort Lauderdale scheduled to operate from Nov. 7, 2020 to Mar. 7, 2021 are being notified that their cruises have been cancelled.

to Port Canaveral and will assume the itineraries for Carnival Radiance from to . Consequently, guests on 18 Carnival Breeze sailings from scheduled to operate from to are being notified that their cruises have been cancelled. Carnival Magic's transatlantic and European itineraries from Mar. 13, 2021 to May 3, 2021 have been cancelled. Seven sailings previously scheduled for Carnival Breeze from Fort. Lauderdale from Mar. 13 to Apr. 24, 2021 will move to Miami and those guests will sail on the same itinerary, but on Carnival Magic operating from PortMiami.

"We continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global commerce, public health and our cruise operations. In addition to our current pause in service, there have been many other unintended consequences, including shipyard, dry dock and ship delivery delays, and related changes to our deployment plans for our fleet," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "While we had hoped to make up construction time on Mardi Gras over the summer, it's clear we will need extra time to complete this magnificent ship. We share our guests' disappointment and appreciate their patience as we work through this unprecedented time in our business and the lives of so many people. We remain committed to working with government, public health and industry officials to support the response to the pandemic and to return to operations when the time is right."

Guest and travel agent notifications will be emailed over the course of the day on Tuesday, July 7. Carnival expressed its appreciation for their guests' and travel agent partners' patience as it completes the notification process.

SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line

Related Links

http://www.carnivalcorp.com


OAKLAND, Calif., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Self-Insurers' Security Fund's Board of Trustees has approved and implemented the 2020/21 Alternative Security Program (ASP), which frees $6.5 billion in working capital and provides California self-insured businesses greater financial flexibility.

The ASP is a first-in-the-nation, innovative program operated by the non-profit California Self-Insurers' Security Fund. The program provides a financial backstop to replace security deposits required to collateralize self-insured workers' compensation liabilities.

Tim East, CASISF Board Chair & CEO

"Self-insurance and the ASP provide a one-of-a-kind innovative program by the California Self-Insurers' Security Fund. It supports businesses by helping lower their workers' compensation costs and freeing up their working capital," said Board Chair & CEO Tim East. "Workers' compensation represents a considerable expense for businesses, and this program benefits both the businesses and the larger California economy."

"Self-insurance creates tremendous advantages and, in many cases, substantial cost savings for California employers," continued Mr. East. "It is now possible for a company wanting to enter self-insurance to easily move from initial application to fully self-insured within 30 days."

Moreover, there has been no increase in the Security Fund's general assessment from last year. These continuing savings make the program and costs even more competitive for California self-insured businesses.

"The Fund's historically sound and rigorous credit monitoring practices have positioned the Fund to address the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic," said Dan Sovocool, a partner at Nixon Peabody LLP and the Security Fund's outside General Counsel. "The Fund continues to be a strong resource and partner for California's self-insured employers."

All employers in California are required to have workers' compensation insurance to cover their employees in the event of work-related injuries or illnesses. Employers may satisfy this requirement by obtaining an insurance policy or gaining authority from the DIR's Office of Self Insurance Plans (OSIP) to self-insure the businesses' workers' compensation liabilities.

Self-insured employers maintain a deposit equal to their estimated liabilities. Employers may post the deposit in cash, letters of credit, surety bonds, or securities. The use of these instruments limits the employer's ability to use their cash or credit line. In contrast, the Security Fund's ASP allows employer members to free up their cash or line of credit, allowing them to reinvest this capital back into their businesses. The ASP provides the member with a low-cost substitute for collateral with no balance sheet impact.

California currently has more than 3,500 private employers protecting more than 2.2 million workers representing a total payroll of nearly $113 billion through self-insurance workers' compensation plans.

A self-insurance plan protects one of every eight California workers. Self-insured private employers in California represent large and midsized private companies and industry groups.

The California Self-Insurers' Security Fund (CASISF) has been proudly serving its members for 36 years since its founding on July 6, 1994. We are a member-driven non-profit organization with leadership by a volunteer Board of Trustees representing members serving members. The Security Fund is a strategic partner supporting California self-insured workers' compensation programs. "We are California Workers' Comp Experts" with a singular focus on self-insurance.

More information on California's workers' compensation self-insurance program is available at CASISF's website  www.securityfund.org or by emailing [email protected] . For media inquiries, contact Becky Lysaght (510)879-6035. #CASISF #CASISF36Years

SOURCE California Self-Insurers' Security Fund (CASISF)

Related Links

https://www.securityfund.org


NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- It is with profound sadness that CircleBlack and Long Arc Capital announce the passing of CircleBlack Founder and Chief Executive Officer John Michel, who died suddenly over the holiday weekend.

John Michel, 62, was known and respected as an innovator and entrepreneur in financial technology, from being one of the creators of the Merrill Edge platform during his 14 years with Merrill Lynch to building Bloomberg LLC's first direct-to-consumer offering. He started CircleBlack, a leading provider of enterprise software solutions for wealth management firms, in 2013 and has been its CEO since.

"John helped build some of the most innovative technologies to fill the white spaces in investing," said Martin Beaulieu, a Director of CircleBlack and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Artivest. "As a well-known financial innovator, he was passionate through his entire career about finding a better way for people to manage their wealth and lives."

Long Arc Capital recently acquired a majority equity stake in CircleBlack. Terms of the transaction were not announced. The investment allows CircleBlack to leverage Long Arc Capital's deep industry experience and operating and business development capabilities to enhance its platform and build on CircleBlack's strong momentum.

"John was a visionary who built a number of successful businesses enabled by technology," said Gaurav Bhandari, Managing Partner of Long Arc Capital. "In getting to know him and the business he had built at CircleBlack over the past year, it was clear John had developed a powerful proposition addressing an important gap in the market. His loss shocks and saddens all of the Long Arc team, and we know his legacy of innovation will be a cornerstone of CircleBlack's continued growth in the years to come."

Michel graduated from the United States Military Academy and served in the Army for six years. He joined Merrill Lynch in 1987, with a focus on creating new ways for advisors to capture younger, affluent clients. Eventually, he led Merrill Lynch's Merrill Lynch Direct business, which became Merrill Edge. In 2010, Michel was tapped to lead Bloomberg Wealth, the company's effort to provide data and technology to allow investors to manage their own money. In 2013, Michel left Bloomberg and founded CircleBlack.

"We are all personally devastated to have lost a giant of a man like my father so unexpectedly," said Jay Michel, John Michel's son and CircleBlack's Managing Director of marketing. "He built CircleBlack with the idea that people could live their lives to the fullest if advisors could give them a more transparent view of their wealth. Nothing can replace him in our hearts, but his values and legacy will clearly live on in everything we do, professionally and personally."

Long Arc Capital and CircleBlack will be announcing more information about the Company and its strategic plans in the near future.

About Long Arc Capital

Long Arc Capital LP ("Long Arc") is a private equity firm based in New York dedicated to building and scaling breakthrough businesses. Founded in 2016, Long Arc has six Partners with significant investing and operating experience. The firm has a philosophy of "active ownership" and partners with entrepreneurs and management teams to build successful businesses.

About CircleBlack

Founded by John Michel and a team of experienced financial innovators in 2014, CircleBlack provides financial advisors with technology that aggregates data, integrates other financial applications seamlessly, provides actionable intelligence about client portfolios and helps advisors better manage clients' wealth which helps grow and deepen advisor-client relationships. CircleBlack's platform leverages three pending patents that help sustain CircleBlack's unique competitive advantages. CircleBlack believes in making wealth management better, for both the investor and the advisor. The platform is built for the 21st Century in a web-based application format that can be taken anywhere and accessed anytime, through a computer, tablet or smartphone. For more information about CircleBlack, visit www.circleblack.com.

SOURCE Long Arc Capital; CircleBlack
DURHAM, N.C., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cypress Creek Renewables, a leading renewable energy independent power producer, today announced that its Operations and Maintenance Services division has surpassed 3,000MW of solar and storage under management. In just the past six months the company has added 802MW across 69 utility-scale and distributed projects.

Recognized by Wood Mackenzie as the fourth largest utility-scale O&M provider in US by managed capacity, Cypress Creek operates 393 projects in 19 states, with a large presence in the Carolinas and a growing presence in Texas, Oregon, New York and throughout the Northeast and Southeast. Almost half of the 3,000MW portfolio that the company's O&M Services division now operates are for third-party owners.

"Cypress Creek O&M Services is a key driver to the company's mission of powering a sustainable future, one project at time," said Sarah Slusser, CEO of Cypress Creek Renewables. "Our team pushes the boundaries of performance across 393 projects and is significantly contributing to Cypress Creek growth as a leading U.S. solar independent power producer."

At the core of Cypress Creek's O&M capabilities is the 24/7/365 Cypress Creek Control Center (C4) in Durham, North Carolina. This facility allows the team to securely operate solar sites and maximize production. The C4 is just one of a handful of North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)  Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) compliant control centers in the country operated by a solar energy-only company. In March 2020, SERC Reliability Corporation conducted a Reliability Standards and Requirements audit, making Cypress Creek one of the first solar-specific companies to be audited. SERC completed the audit with no findings.

"As a large solar asset owner, we bring an owner's perspective to each project we operate, whether it is on behalf of Cypress Creek or third-party customers," said Marc Fioravanti, Senior Vice President of Operations. "Much of our recent growth has come from repeat business with customers across 19 states because our team of engineers, technicians and business professionals have proven our ability to gain the most value from solar assets across the country."

To speak directly with a member of Cypress Creek's O&M Services team, please send a message. Services offered by Cypress Creek's 120-person O&M Services team include:

24/7/365 Operations and Engineering

Cypress Creek's team of experienced Operators and Operations Engineers provide 24/7/365 monitoring and compliance services, including North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) requirements. The skilled team is responsible for overall site performance and supports predictive maintenance and root cause investigations.

Account Management

A dedicated team ensures customer satisfaction and commercial compliance. The Account Management team has a strong track record of seamlessly onboarding new projects, building expertise in new markets and maintaining strong and responsive relationships with third-party owners.

Special Projects

The Special Projects Group within Cypress Creek O&M Services offers technical, financial and operational services for Cypress Creek's fleet and solar facilities owned by third parties. The seven-person team conducts root cause analysis and corrective action plans to investigate plant underperformance and systemic plant issues with the goal of increasing plant availability and production.

Field Services and Predictive Maintenance

Dedicated engineers and trained technicians work to optimize daily performance at sites, utilizing aerial thermography and state-of-the-art technology to identify and correct site-level anomalies. Cypress Creek's dedicated vegetation maintenance team monitors the growth rate of vegetation to reduce shading and optimize mowing intervals.

About Cypress Creek Renewables

Cypress Creek Renewables is powering a sustainable future, one project at a time. We develop, finance, own and operate utility-scale and distributed facilities across the US. With more than 9.8GW of solar developed and more than 3.2GW under management, Cypress Creek is one of the country's leading solar and storage companies. For more information about Cypress Creek, please visit www.ccrenew.com.

SOURCE Cypress Creek Renewables

Related Links

https://ccrenew.com/


"With the rise in popularity of mobile pop-ups for food, fashion and more, we saw an excellent opportunity to offer our customers a similar type of convenient experience," said DHL Express U.S. CEO Greg Hewitt. "That growing need for convenience combined with the local demand for our international shipping services led us to develop this mobile, flexible shipping solution. The new DHL ServicePoint is part of our overall retail strategy to be closer and more accessible to consumers, using an innovative mobile model to complement our retail shipping network."

Although the new pop-up store will remain in its Silver Spring location for the foreseeable future, it can be relocated as needed, based on changes in local shipping trends. The entire unit is built on a hydraulic lift platform and intelligently wired to accommodate all of the essential amenities, such as HVAC, security and computer systems  including a fast, efficient Point-of-Sale system that can process shipments on their way to destinations in both the U.S. and any of the 220 countries and territories DHL serves. Supplies such as bubble wrap, packing tape and DHL-branded boxes are available, and in the coming months, customers will also be able to pick up incoming packages at this location



In response to social-distancing restrictions, this DHL ServicePoint also offers convenient safety features, including Call Ahead service (labels and packaging are ready when the customer arrives, to reduce wait time) and an easy-access service window, which saves visitors from having to enter the store.





DHL worked with Flexetail to create this mobile DHL ServicePoint location. By designing and building flexible mobile shops such as this one, Flexetail gives brands an affordable opportunity to test products, explore new markets and launch new lines.





As part of its overall retail strategy, DHL has plans to launch additional mobile DHL ServicePoint locations in other major markets by the end of the year. The company also recently opened its first fully branded, company-owned U.S. retail store in Miami, following with another in Chicago.

In addition to new company-owned stores, over 7,100 independently owned DHL ServicePoint Partner stores operate in the U.S. market. They provide DHL Express international express shipping services (among other brands), global knowledge and expert advice to help businesses reach the international marketplace.

Media Contact:

DHL Express U.S. Communications

Robert Mintz

Phone: +1 (425) 984-4249

E-mail: [email protected]



Follow us on:

The Web: www.dhl-usa.com/express

Twitter: www.twitter.com/DHLUS

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dhlus

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DHLExpress

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/DHLExpress

YouTube: www.youtube.com



DHL  The logistics company for the world

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 380,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as "The logistics company for the world".

DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 63 billion Euros in 2019.

SOURCE DHL

Related Links

http://www.dhl-usa.com


Anyone can nominate a friend or family member -- age 60 to 69 -- who has achieved remarkable levels of fitness, pursued a new hobby or helped their community. The candidate you admire might be "giving back" to a charity, fighting a chronic condition or caring for someone who is.

Here's how it works:

Log on to www.Buffalo60Strong.com to submit an application form, 200-400 word essay, head shot and full-length photo by Monday, August 31 . Instead of the essay, you can upload a smart phone video describing the candidate .

www.Buffalo60Strong.com to submit an application form, 200-400 word essay, head shot and full-length photo by . Instead of the essay, you can upload a smart phone video describing the candidate Or download an application at www.Buffalo60Strong.com and mail the completed form, a 200-400 word essay, head-shot and full-length photo to: Buffalo 60 Strong Contest, c/o Buffalo Medical Group Administration, 325 Essjay Road, Williamsville, NY 14221. The entry must be postmarked by Thursday, August 27, 2020 .

www.Buffalo60Strong.com and mail the completed form, a 200-400 word essay, head-shot and full-length photo to: 60 Strong Contest, c/o Buffalo Medical Group Administration, 325 Essjay Road, 14221. The entry must be postmarked by Those who nominate winning candidates receive a $50 gift certificate.

Buffalo 60 Strong candidates must be between ages 60 and 69 on September 1, 2020, and a resident of the following counties in Western New York: Alleghany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagra, Orleans & Wyoming.

Celebrity judges will select 12 winners who exemplify how life after 60 can be a vibrant and active time. Contestants are judged on health/fitness/wellness, community involvement, volunteerism and how they are inspirational.

Winners must be available Thursday, October 1, through Saturday, October 3. Questions? Email us at [email protected]. All proceeds from the calendar will benefit Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo to provide medical care, social, emotional and spiritual guidance and comfort for families and their loved ones facing end-of-life.

About Senior Care Advantage One

Buffalo Medical Group is proud to announce the Buffalo 60 Strong Contest in conjunction with the launch of Senior Care Advantage One, a program designed to provide seamless and greater coordination of care for their senior patients.

SOURCE Senior Care Advantage One
SALT LAKE CITY, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Extra Space Storage Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE: EXR) announced today it will release financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 after the market closes. The Company will host a conference call at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 to discuss its financial results. Hosting the call will be Extra Space Storage's CEO, Joe Margolis. Joining him will be Scott Stubbs, Executive Vice President and CFO.

During the conference call, company officers will review operating performance, discuss recent events, and conduct a question-and-answer period. The question-and-answer period will be limited to registered financial analysts. All other participants will have listen-only capability.

To Participate in the Telephone Conference Call: Dial in at least five minutes prior to start time.

Domestic: 855-791-2026 International: 631-485-4899



Conference ID: 4349759





Conference Call Playback:



Domestic: 855-859-2056 International: 404-537-3406



Conference ID: 4349759



The playback can be accessed beginning on August 5, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET through August 10, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The conference call will also be available on the Company's website under Investor Relations at www.extraspace.com. To listen to a live broadcast, go to the site at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the call will also be available for 30 days on the Company's website.

Full Text of the Earnings Report and Supplemental Data

The full text of the earnings report and supplemental data will be available at the Company's website at http://ir.extraspace.com immediately following the earnings release to the wire services after the market close on Tuesday, August 4, 2020.

For those without Internet access, the earnings release will be available by mail or fax, on request. To receive a copy, please call Extra Space Storage Investor Relations at (801) 365-1759.

About Extra Space Storage Inc.

Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, and a member of the S&P 500. As of March 31, 2020, the Company owned and/or operated 1,852 self-storage properties, which comprise approximately 1.3 million units and approximately 143.0 million square feet of rentable storage space offering customers conveniently located and secure storage units across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. The Company is the second largest owner and/or operator of self-storage properties in the United States and is the largest self-storage management company in the United States.

For more information, please visit www.extraspace.com.

SOURCE Extra Space Storage Inc.

Related Links

http://www.extraspace.com


The U.S. Government has said that foreign students will not be allowed to remain in the country if their institutions move classes ful...





The U.S. Government has said that foreign students will not be allowed to remain in the country if their institutions move classes fully online.





In a statement on Monday, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said affected students would face immigration consequences, including deportation, if they failed to comply.





It, however, gave those concerned the option of transferring to a school with in-person instruction to retain their lawful status.





The rule, according to the agency, applies to holders of F-1 and M-1 visas, which are issued to academic and vocational students, respectively.





ICE said: Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may take a full online course load and remain in the United States.





The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the U.S.





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.





If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.





It is not clear how many people are affected, but official data show that there were 1.09 million international students in the U.S. as of the 2018/2019 session.





The ICE announcement comes as some universities, including Harvard, announce plans to move their lectures online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.





Critics say the latest move is in furtherance of President Donald Trumps exploitation of the pandemic to limit legal immigration to the U.S.





Already, the Trump administration has suspended migrant visas or green cards for new immigrants.





Recently, the president signed an executive order suspending temporary work visas for skilled workers, managers and au pairs through until the end of the year.
NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- More than half of financial services companies plan to accelerate implementation of their next generation technology strategies, according to a new global survey of 500 financial services C-Suite executives and their direct reports released today by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), a global fintech leader.

(PRNewsfoto/Broadridge Financial Solutions,)

"Financial services players have shown they can adapt and change during the pandemic. Going forward, they will continue to drive digitization and mutualization to improve client experience, resiliency, and cost," said Tim Gokey, CEO of Broadridge. "Prior investments in digital, cloud, and mutualized technologies have enabled companies to be more resilient during the crisis, and executives are taking careful note as they plan for the future."

Virtually all financial services companies expect the pandemic to affect their operating model and strategy toward next-generation technology. In the next six months, companies plan to focus on:

Increasing cybersecurity and risk management (63%)

Enhancing multi-channel client communications (60%)

Improving customer engagement and experience (53%)

Making significant cost reductions (45%)

Prior investments that were most beneficial in managing the pandemic were interactive digital technologies (72%)  defined as digitizing customer and employee experiences, workflows and operations along with cloud technologies (59%).

As a result of the pandemic, many firms have reprioritized their investment strategies. Businesses may never return to the old "normal", leaving firms little choice but to accelerate their digital transformation.

58% plan to increase investment in interactive digital technologies

54% plan to increase investment in artificial intelligence (AI)

49% plan to improve their ability to quickly gather and analyze data moving forward

The pandemic has also changed the role of fintech service providers, with 70% of respondents stating that fintech providers' ability to offer innovative uses of next-generation technology is now more important as a result of the outbreak. Almost half of respondents agree that the pandemic increased the need to mutualize  in other words, share or outsource  processing functions to reduce costs and increase resiliency.

Commercial and investment banks and broker-dealers agree most strongly (54% and 49%, respectively)

Sell-side companies believe this more strongly than buy-side companies (49% and 42%, respectively)

Hedge funds were least likely to agree (36%)

Leveraging next-gen technologies is part of Broadridge's investment in The ABCDs of Innovation - AI, blockchain, the Cloud and digital  helping clients understand and apply these technologies by simplifying the complex to help them be Ready for Next. To see the full Broadridge Next-gen Technology Pulse survey report click here.

Methodology

This Broadridge survey was conducted by ESI ThoughtLab to assess the adoption of next generation technologies. C-Suite executives and their direct reports from 500 financial institutions globally were surveyed, with fielding completed June 1, 2020. The survey was administered to executives from buy-side and sell-side firms, including universal banks (20%), commercial or investment banks (16%), broker-dealers (14%), investment/asset managers (15%), insurance companies (13%), hedge funds (11%) and wealth managers (11%). Responses were split evenly among the APAC, EMEA and North American regions. For further details on survey methodology, please contact a Broadridge media representative.

About Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR), a $4 billion global Fintech leader, is a leading provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions to banks, broker-dealers, asset and wealth managers and corporate issuers. Broadridge's infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for over 50 percent of public companies and mutual funds globally, and processes on average more than U.S.$7 trillion in fixed income and equity securities trades per day. Broadridge is part of the S&P 500 Index and employs over 11,000 associates in 18 countries.

For more information about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com.

Media Contacts:

Matthew Luongo

Prosek Partners

+1 646.818.9279

[email protected]

Linda Namias

Broadridge Financial Solutions

+1 631-254-77711

[email protected]

SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.broadridge.com


WASHINGTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Indiana leveraged more than $1 billion in federal funds to advance over $1.9 billion 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 2,135 Indiana 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 three projects receiving federal funding in the state during 2018 included:

PR69, New Road Construction, From S of Bloomington via SR37 corridor to SR39, Monroe County , PLC-37991

via SR37 corridor to SR39, , PLC-37991 I65, Added Travel Lanes, From US 50 to SR 58, Bartholomew County , SR-28940

, SR-28940 I69, Added Travel Lanes, From 0.8 miles N of SR 38 to 0.5 miles N of SR 9/SR 109, Madison County , R-39093

"This dashboard focuses on specific state-level 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.

"The dashboard spotlights the important role the federal highway program plays in our state," says Richard Hedgecock, President, Indiana Constructors, Inc. "Passage of a long-term bill by Congress with increased investment is the right medicine to significantly boost our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic."

In FY 2018, 44 percent of projects costs were for reconstruction or repair work on existing highways, according to the ARTBA analysis. Planning, design and construction engineering (18 percent of funds), new construction (15 percent) and added capacity (12 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).

Indiana Constructors, Inc. is the voice of the highway, heavy and utility construction industry in Indiana.

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


DUBLIN, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Food Flavors Market by Type (Chocolate & Browns, Vanilla, Fruit & Nut, Dairy, Spices), Application (Beverages, Dairy, Confectionery, Bakery, Meat, Savory & Snacks), Origin (Natural, Nature identical, Artificial), Form, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global flavors market is projected to grow from USD 15.69 billion in 2019 to reach USD 20.72 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 4.8% in terms of value.



Factors such as the growth in environmental concerns and the rise in demand for bioethanol and advancement tools to optimize industrial production are projected to drive the growth of the food flavors industry during the forecast period. However, the growth of the food flavors market is inhibited by factors, such as high adaptation costs involved for small- & medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the stringent regulatory framework for the use of food flavors inhibits the growth of this market.



By type, the natural segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



Natural flavors are estimated to form the dominant segment by origin for the food flavors market. Customers are showing a preference for natural flavors over synthetic flavor for food & beverage options. The processed food manufacturers prefer the natural segment due to high demand among customers. The popularity of organic flavors and food are also driving this segment.



By form, the liquid & gel segment is estimated to account for the largest share.



The liquid & gel forms of the food flavor are dominating the market. The liquid and gel forms are easy to blend with the ingredients and, therefore, are preferred by the manufacturers. It provides uniform texture and color to the end product. Also, it is more stable than the dry form; therefore, it is driving the market.



The Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



The food flavors market in the Asia Pacific region is largely driven by industrial shift and technological advancements that have made enzymes available for a wide range of applications. Developed markets such as North America and Western Europe are becoming mature, which has led to faster growth in developing markets such as Asia Pacific. Furthermore, the changing consumer preference in the food & beverage industry has contributed to the growth of the food flavors market in this region.



The food flavors market is segmented region-wise, with a detailed analysis of each region. These regions include Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, South America, and RoW (South Africa, the Middle East, and Others in Africa).



Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Flavors Market

4.2 Flavors Market: Key Regional Submarkets

4.3 North America: Flavors Market, by Key Application & Country

4.4 Flavors Market, by Type & Region

4.5 Flavors Market, by Form

4.6 Flavors Market, by Origin



5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Yc-Ycc Shift

5.3 Market Dynamics

5.3.1 Drivers

5.3.1.1 Shift in Consumer Base

5.3.1.1.1 Consumer Inclination Toward Clean-Label Products to Drive the Natural Food Flavors Market

5.3.1.1.2 Consumer Interest in Organic Products

5.3.1.2 Continuous Demand for Sweet Flavors

5.3.1.3 Technological Advancements in the Flavor Industry

5.3.1.3.1 Microencapsulation Technology: a Major Advancement in the Flavor Industry

5.3.1.3.2 Non-Thermal Treatments: Hpp & Pef to Enhance the Flavor Retention

5.3.1.4 Growth in Trade, Investment, and Expenditure in the Processed Food & Beverages Market

5.3.2 Restraints

5.3.2.1 Restraints Related to Natural Flavors

5.3.2.1.1 Lower Stability

5.3.2.1.2 Limited Availability

5.3.2.2 Side-Effects of Added Flavors, Both Natural and Synthetic

5.3.2.3 Stringent Regulations and Government Policies

5.3.2.4 Reduced Beverage Production in Q2 of 2020 Due to COVID-19 Outbreak Restrained Flavors Businesses

5.3.3 Opportunities

5.3.3.1 Emerging Markets

5.3.3.2 Innovative Raw Material Sources

5.3.3.3 Use in Functional Foods

5.3.3.4 Increase in Popularity of Novel Flavors

5.3.3.5 Launch of Advanced Flavors

5.3.3.5.1 Therapeutic Flavor Systems

5.3.3.5.2 Vegan Flavor Systems

5.3.3.5.3 Certified Flavor Systems

5.3.3.5.4 Multifunctional Flavors

5.3.3.6 Floral Flavors to Gain Market Attention

5.3.4 Challenges

5.3.4.1 Compliance With Quality and Regulatory Standards



6 Industry Trends

6.1 Industry Insights

6.2 Value Chain Analysis

6.3 Ecosystem Map

6.3.1 Flavors, Colors, and Fragrances: Ecosystem View

6.3.2 Flavors, Colors, and Fragrances: Market Map



7 Regulations in the Food Flavors Market

7.1 Introduction

7.2 International Body for Food Safety Standards and Regulations

7.2.1 International Organization of the Flavor Industry (Iofi)

7.2.1.1 International Flavor Legislation

7.2.1.2 US Department of Health and Human Services

7.2.1.3 Flavor Extract Manufacturers Association

7.3 North America

7.3.1 US Regulations

7.3.1.1 US Department of Agriculture

7.3.1.2 Ffdca Section 201(S) Limitations

7.3.2 Canada

7.3.2.1 Canadian Food and Drugs Law

7.3.2.2 Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)

7.3.3 Mexico

7.3.3.1 Mexican Food Regulations

7.4 South America

7.4.1 Brazil

7.4.1.1 Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa)

7.4.1.2 Brazilian Food and Regulations and Standards

7.4.2 Argentina

7.4.2.1 the Argentina Food Safety Act the Following Issues Must Be Considered When Selecting a Food Additive:

7.4.3 Rest of South America

7.5 Europe

7.5.1 Natural Flavors Defined in the Eu in Regulation (Ec) 1334/2008

7.5.1.1 Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (Berlin, Germany)

7.5.2 UK Regulation

7.5.2.1 in Regulation 2(1)

7.5.3 France

7.5.3.1 Food and Agriculture Imports Regulations and Standards

7.5.4 Italy

7.5.5 Eu Regulations

7.6 Asia-Pacific

7.6.1 China

7.6.2 India

7.6.3 Japan

7.6.3.1 Japan Flavor and Fragrance Materials Association'S (Jffma)

7.6.3.2 Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

7.6.3.3 Japan Food Chemical Research Foundation (Jfcrf)

7.6.4 Korea

7.6.4.1 Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Mfds)

7.6.5 Australia & New Zealand

7.6.5.1 Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - Standard 1.3.1 - Food Additives

7.7 Rest of the World

7.7.1 South Africa

7.7.1.1 South African Association of the Flavor & Fragrance Industry (Saafi)

7.7.2 Middle East

7.7.2.1 Food, Agricultural, and Water Import Regulations and Standards - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

7.7.2.1.1 Codex Alimentarius



8 Patent Analysis

8.1 Overview



9 Flavors Market, by Type

9.1 Introduction

9.1.1 COVID-19 Impact on the Flavors Market, by Type

9.1.1.1 Optimistic Scenario

9.1.1.2 Pessimistic Scenario

9.2 Chocolate & Brown

9.3 Vanilla

9.4 Fruit & Nut

9.5 Dairy

9.6 Spice & Savory

9.7 Other Flavors



10 Food Flavors Market, by Application

10.1 Introduction

10.1.1 COVID-19 Impact on the Flavors Market, by Application

10.1.1.1 Optimistic Scenario

10.1.1.2 Pessimistic Scenario

10.2 Food

10.2.1 Dairy Products

10.2.1.1 Ice Cream

10.2.1.2 Other Dairy Products

10.2.2 Confectionery Products

10.2.2.1 Chocolates

10.2.2.2 Other Confectionery Products

10.2.3 Bakery Products

10.2.4 Meat Products

10.2.5 Other Food Applications

10.3 Beverages

10.3.1 Juices & Juice Concentrates

10.3.2 Functional Drinks

10.3.3 Carbonated Soft Drinks

10.3.4 Other Drinks



11 Food Flavors Market, by Origin

11.1 Introduction

11.1.1 COVID-19 Impact on the Flavors Market, by Origin

11.1.1.1 Optimistic Scenario

11.1.1.2 Pessimistic Scenario

11.2 Nature-Identical

11.3 Natural

11.4 Artificial/Synthetic



12 Food Flavors Market, by Form

12.1 Introduction

12.1.1 COVID-19 Impact on the Flavors Market, by Form

12.1.1.1 Optimistic Scenario

12.1.1.2 Pessimistic Scenario

12.2 Liquid & Gel

12.3 Dry



13 Food Flavors Market, by Region

13.1 Introduction

13.2 North America

13.3 Europe

13.4 Asia-Pacific

13.5 South America

13.6 Rest of the World (Row)



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Market Evaluation Framework

14.2 Ranking of Key Players, 2020

14.3 Revenue Analysis

14.4 COVID-19 Specific Company Response

14.5 Key Market Developments

14.5.1 Expansions & Investments

14.5.2 Mergers & Acquisitions

14.5.3 Agreements, Collaborations, and Partnerships



15 Company Evaluation Matrix & Company Profiles

15.1 Overview

15.2 Company Evaluation Matrix: Definitions & Methodology

15.2.1 Stars

15.2.2 Emerging Leaders

15.2.3 Pervasive Players

15.2.4 Emerging Companies

15.3 Company Evaluation Matrix, 2019 (Overall Market)

15.4 Company Profiles

15.4.1 Dupont

15.4.2 Archer Daniels Midland (Adm)

15.4.3 Givaudan

15.4.4 Kerry Group

15.4.5 International Flavors and Fragrances (Iff)

15.4.6 Symrise

15.4.7 Mane

15.4.8 Taiyo International

15.4.9 Sensient

15.4.10 T. Hasegawa

15.4.11 Firmenich

15.4.12 Synergy Flavors

15.4.13 Robertet

15.4.14 Takasago

15.5 Competitive Leadership Mapping (Start-Up/SME)

15.5.1 Star

15.5.2 Emerging Leaders

15.5.3 Pervasive

15.5.4 Emerging Companies

15.6 Startups/SME Profiles

15.6.1 Amar Bio-Organics

15.6.2 Ossoro

15.6.3 Fabster

15.6.4 The Flavor Factory (TFF)

15.6.5 The Foodie Flavors

15.6.6 Besmoke Limited

15.6.7 Aromata Group

15.6.8 Create Flavors

15.6.9 Gulf Flavors & Food Ingredients Fzco

15.6.10 Seluz Fragrance & Flavor Company



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/af1lyd

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

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SOURCE Research and Markets

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Shares Outstanding: 222,530,846

Trading Symbols: TSX: GGD

OTCQX: GLGDF

HALIFAX, NS, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - GoGold Resources Inc. (TSX: GGD) (OTCQX: GLGDF) ("GoGold", "the Company") is pleased to release the assay results from 8 diamond drill holes at the Los Ricos South Project, including 4 at Rascadero, 1 at San Juan, and 3 at the East Vein.

Hole LRGG-20-183 was drilled on section 925N in the Rascadero area of the project and intersected the Los Ricos quartz vein from 70.5 to 92.5m for 18.4m of 889 g/t silver equivalent, consisting of 5.18 g/t gold and 500 g/t silver. The intersect included 3.2m of 4,335 g/t silver equivalent.

"As we approach the data cut-off for our initial resource, we are excited to see the high-grade intercepts at Rascadero in the northern end of Los Ricos South. After 16 months of drilling, these intercepts are among some of our best to date," said Brad Langille, President and CEO. "In the coming weeks, we will release the initial resource that will summarize the results of our drill program to date. Post resource, drilling at Los Ricos South will continue in addition to the recently initiated drilling at Los Ricos North."

Hole LRGG 20-180 was drilled on section 1050N in the Rascadero area of the project and intersected 41.0m of 269.8 g/t silver equivalent, consisting of 1.36 g/t gold and 168 g/t silver. The intersect included 4.0m of 2,184 g/t silver equivalent.

Detailed intersections are listed in Table 1, and the hole locations are shown in Table 2.

A longitudinal section summary of all the holes drilled at Los Ricos to date is available at https://gogoldresources.com/images/uploads/files/2020_07_07_Long_Section.pdf

Table 1: Drill Hole Intersections





















Hole ID Area Section From To Length1 Au Ag AuEq2 AgEq2





(m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) LRGG-20-176 San Juan 950N 160.0 168.8 8.8 0.23 43.6 0.81 61.1 LRGG-20-180 Rascadero 1050N 116.5 157.5 41.0 1.36 167.8 3.60 269.8

including

134.5 141.4 6.9 7.19 822.6 18.16 1,361.8

including

134.5 138.5 4.0 11.85 1294.9 29.12 2,184.0 LRGG-20-181 East Vein 100N 50.0 51.0 1.0 0.13 7.9 0.24 17.7 LRGG-20-182 East Vein 125N 72.6 75.6 3.0 0.33 40.3 0.87 65.1 LRGG-20-183 Rascadero3 925N 70.5 92.5 18.4 5.18 500.2 11.85 889.1

including

86.3 89.5 3.2 26.18 2,371.8 57.80 4,335.2 LRGG-20-184 East Vein 325N 170.5 176.5 6.1 0.26 36.1 0.74 55.6 LRGG-20-185 Rascadero 1050N 57.9 70.5 12.6 0.70 111.2 2.18 163.3 LRGG-20-186 Rascadero 1025N 55.4 72.5 17.1 0.21 39.3 0.74 55.2

1. Not true width 2. AuEq and AqEq converted using a silver to gold ratio of 75:1 3. Excluding 4.1m of open stopes from historical underground workings.

Table 2: Drill Hole Locations















Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation Azimuth Dip Length LRGG-20-176 610153 2328066 1310 50 -65 280.2 LRGG-20-180 610229 2328260 1334 0 -90 194.5 LRGG-20-181 610150 2327793 1394 50 -45 120.0 LRGG-20-182 611150 2327793 1394 50 -70 130.5 LRGG-20-183 610267 2328129 1340 50 -45 139.5 LRGG-20-184 610959 2327927 1468 50 -45 201.0 LRGG-20-185 610229 2328260 1334 50 -45 95.0 LRGG-20-186 610243 2328239 1344 50 -45 110.0

Los Ricos Exploration Projects

The Company's two exploration projects at its Los Ricos property are in Jalisco state, Mexico. The South Project began in March 2019 and includes the 'Main' area, which is focused on drilling around a number of historical mines including El Abra, El Troce, San Juan, and Rascadero. The South Project also includes the Cerro Colorado, Las Lamas and East Vein targets. The North Project was launched in March 2020 and includes drilling at the Monte del Favor, Salomon, La Trini, and Mololoa targets.

Procedure, Quality Assurance / Quality Control and Data Verification

The diamond drill core (HQ size) is geologically logged, photographed and marked for sampling. When the sample lengths are determined, the full core is sawn with a diamond blade core saw with one half of the core being bagged and tagged for assay. The remaining half portion is returned to the core trays for storage and/or for metallurgical test work.

The sealed and tagged sample bags are transported to the ActLabs facility in Zacatecas, Mexico. ActLabs crushes the samples and prepares 200-300 gram pulp samples with ninety percent passing Tyler 150 mesh (106m). The pulps are assayed for gold using a 50-gram charge by fire assay (Code 1A2-50) and over limits greater than 10 grams per tonne are re-assayed using a gravimetric finish (Code 1A3-50). Silver and multi-element analysis is completed using total digestion (Code 1F2 Total Digestion ICP). Over limits greater than 100 grams per tonne silver are re-assayed using a gravimetric finish (Code 8-Ag FA-GRAV Ag).

Quality assurance and quality control ("QA/QC") procedures monitor the chain-of-custody of the samples and includes the systematic insertion and monitoring of appropriate reference materials (certified standards, blanks and duplicates) into the sample strings. The results of the assaying of the QA/QC material included in each batch are tracked to ensure the integrity of the assay data. All results stated in this announcement have passed GoGold's QA/QC protocols.

Mr. David Duncan, P. Geo. is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the technical information of this release.

About GoGold Resources

GoGold Resources (TSX: GGD) is a Canadian-based silver and gold producer focused on operating, developing, exploring and acquiring high quality projects in Mexico. The Company operates the Parral Tailings mine in the state of Chihuahua and has the Los Ricos exploration project in the state of Jalisco. Headquartered in Halifax, NS, GoGold is building a portfolio of low cost, high margin projects. For more information visit gogoldresources.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT:

The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy of any of GoGold's securities in the United States.

This news release may contain "forward-looking information" as defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Parral tailings project, the Los Ricos project, future operating margins, future production and processing, and future plans and objectives of GoGold, constitute forward looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information is based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such information but which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions in connection with the continuance of GoGold and its subsidiaries as a going concern, general economic and market conditions, mineral prices, the accuracy of mineral resource estimates, and the performance of the Parral project There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from GoGold's expectations include exploration and development risks associated with GoGold's projects, the failure to establish estimated mineral resources or mineral reserves, volatility of commodity prices, variations of recovery rates, and global economic conditions. For additional information with respect to risk factors applicable to GoGold, reference should be made to GoGold's continuous disclosure materials filed from time to time with securities regulators, including, but not limited to, GoGold's Annual Information Form. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date of this release.

SOURCE GoGold Resources Inc.

Related Links

http://www.gogoldresources.com/


HEATHROW, Fla., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GCR Inc. (GCR), a leading public sector software and services firm, is opening a Center of Excellence in Heathrow that will focus on innovation in GovTech. It is the cornerstone of a significant investment in the company's State Government business unit, PCC, which will centralize and grow its software development operations in the location.

"There is so much opportunity in GovTech, especially with emerging technologies that have the power to disrupt the technological status quo and radically transform the way governments do business," said Tom Amburgey, the CEO of GCR. "For decades PCC has been leading the charge, and we are doubling down on that legacy with an eye toward revolutionizing the GovTech space with new energy, new vision, and new products."

The Center of Excellence will house the talent of a major software development company, including systems architects, developers, testers, business analysts, product managers, and administrative staff. GCR will base up to 75 employees there within the first year with plans to grow into the hundreds over the next few years.

"We're committed to innovation that will help governments dramatically improve the way they serve the public," said Matt Blakely, GCR's Chief Technology Officer who founded and led MB3, a grants management software company acquired by GCR in 2018. "Locating our software development operations in the Center of Excellence will allow us to create a common culture and facilitate an exchange of ideas that will spark new technological advancements."

Over recent weeks, GCR named Mike Wons president of PCC and hired a new Vice President of Development and a new Vice President of IT Security along with dozens others for the Heathrow location.

GCR's Center of Excellence will focus on overcoming the unique IT challenges facing state and local governments.

"Governments deliver hundreds of adjoining services, and the goal must be to bring them together on a common platform that is modern and frictionless in order to deliver a single, quality user experience," said Wons, a software developer by trade with more than 20 years in senior roles, including with leading GovTech companies and as the first-ever statewide CTO for Illinois.

"We are going to build on PCC's strengths to expand our suite of products, creating new enterprise solutions and building an open API structure that uses advanced technology to make connectivity easy and implementation quick," he said.

GCR chose Heathrow after an in-depth site selection process that involved more than a dozen leading locations across the country. The State of Florida and Seminole County provided an incentive that totaled $1.5 million through the Florida Qualified Targeted Industry program - a performance-based business incentive that provides companies a tax refund once new jobs are created.

"We're thrilled to be part of the Central Florida community, and we are grateful for the leadership of the State of Florida, Seminole County, and the Orlando Economic Partnership for their exceptional work in welcoming GCR," said Amburgey. "Central Florida quickly became the clear frontrunner with its deep skilled-talent pool, proximity to airports and universities, and livability."

About GCR

GCR improves, expedites, and digitally transforms public sector offerings in the areas of critical infrastructure, land and grants management, elections, and government business services. Together with its subsidiaries, PCC Technology Inc. and MB3, GCR is recognized as one of the top government technology and service providers in the country.

About PCC

PCC, founded in 1995 and acquired by GCR in 2016, is a leading provider of software to the state and local government market, and the premier provider of solutions for Secretaries of State across the country. It develops and implements the highest quality software solutions to support corporate registration, voter registration, election administration, ethics and disclosure, and land management, among others.

Contact:

Malinda Kelley

(504) 304-0747

[email protected]

SOURCE GCR Inc.

Related Links

http://www.gcrincorporated.com


PHOENIX, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Homie, a real estate tech disruptor that operates in the greater Phoenix area, announced today that it has partnered with #LovePup and Johnjay and Rich to assist with finding homeless pets their forever home.

This April, Homie launched a charitable platform called Homie Helps devoted to assisting local communities in need and ensuring that everyone (and all lovable pets) have a place to call home. Through this strategic partnership, Homie and #LovePup have created interactive fundraising initiatives to assist with raising money for the Phoenix-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

"What makes better sense than homes and dogs? Homie is a great company, and #LovePup is a dog rescue. Together we will make happy families," said Johnjay Van Es, a radio personality on the Johnjay & Rich show on KISS FM.

Homie is making an upfront donation to the non-profit of $5,000 and has committed to donating an additional $500 to LovePup for every home bought or sold when Johnjay and Rich are mentioned.

"We are also giving away an amazing dog house! Win-win all the way around," said Van Es.

During the month of July, #LovePup is giving away a custom Homie-sponsored dog house donated by Paradigm Shift Design to help raise additional funds for the foundation.* You can follow along on #LovePup's Instagram or Facebook page for more details.

Arizona locals can help raise money for the #LovePup foundation by:

Buying or selling with Homie - Save thousands when you buy or sell with Homie and give back to LovePup. Visit www.homie.com/buy or www.homie.com/sell to get started. Enter the dog house giveaway - Follow along on LovePup's Instagram or Facebook page for more information on how to donate and enter. Adopt or donate - Visit LovePup on the web at www.lovepupfoundation.org . Learn more about how to provide an upfront donation or apply to adopt a furry friend.

About Homie

Homie is a real estate technology company changing the way real estate is bought and sold by eliminating high fees and commissions. The company simplified an outdated and overcomplicated process through a combination of technology and full-service real estate agent support. Homie is the #1 listing brokerage office in the state of Utah and is growing quickly in Arizona and Nevada. With real estate and home loans, the Homie Tech family is making every aspect of buying and selling a home simple, affordable, and enjoyable. Finally, the way modern real estate should be. To learn more, visit www.homie.com .

About #LovePup

The LovePup Foundation is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization that rescues dogs in need while also being a resource for the greater animal welfare community. Every rescued dog receives complete medical care, (including vaccines, spay/neuter, and microchip) love, and structure before being placed in an adoptive forever home. Since its inception around 2013, #LovePup has rescued and adopted out over 1,000 dogs and has provided funding for microchips for over 10,000 dogs adopted from the Maricopa County Animal Care & Control shelters. LovePup operates out of Phoenix, Arizona but also assists dogs and communities nationwide through its programs and events. To learn more, visit www.lovepupfoundation.org .

* Terms and conditions apply. For more information visit: www.homie.com/contest-terms

SOURCE Homie

Related Links

http://www.homie.com


WASHINGTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of esteemed Howard University alumni and partners announced today the launch of THE INITIATIVE: Advancing the Blue and Black Partnership ("The Initiative"), a newly-formed organization dedicated to ending systemic police brutality through collaborations that result in healthy and scalable community policing models.

Formed following the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last May, The Initiative seeks to end the over-policing and deadly violence that disproportionately impacts Black and Brown communities by engaging all stakeholders who are committed to resolving this issue. This effort will include local communities, leaders from the Black community, and progressive police leaders, to build and implement a community policing model that will serve diverse populations through proven, trust-building practices.

The Initiative also will advocate for judicial, legislative, and police reforms that include the voice of the community. The ultimate goal is to adapt and scale this model in different cities across the country.



Leading The Initiative will be its executive director, Nadine Jones, a graduate of Howard University School of Law and a current vice president, corporate counsel at Kuehne + Nagel Inc., a multi-billion dollar global transport and logistics company based in Schindellegi, Switzerland. The company is supporting this work by enabling Jones to dedicate her time to launch The Initiative.

"The death of Mr. Floyd and so many others who preceded and followed him makes it clear that an action-oriented, collaborative approach that is measurable and scalable is necessary to create meaningful and lasting change," said Jones. "The Initiative will form coalitions of state and local leaders, the Black and Brown communities being served, and progressive police departments to create scalable, healthy, community policing solutions. That is what sets us apart  we will build a model that is sustainable and scalable."

Jones will be joined by a governing board and an advisory council that includes sponsor representatives from Microsoft, ECP Investment Advisors, G6 Hospitality/Motel6, and CAVA. These partners will advance The Initiative's mission through financial and in-kind donations, networking with local stakeholders, and strategic operational guidance.



"The Initiative builds on the voices that have clearly told us that we cannot tolerate systemic police abuse against people of color," said Ama Romaine, a graduate of the Howard University School of Law who is a founder of The Initiative, its board chair, and the general counsel and chief compliance officer at G6 Hospitality, operators of the Motel 6 franchise. "Through dialogue and partnerships with local communities and police who are committed to healthy policing, we are determined to create change that will move our civil rights forward."

Additionally, The Initiative will encourage students at universities across the United States to get involved and will allocate a portion of all funds raised to the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at the Howard University School of Law. The Fund will support undergraduate and law students who pursue studies in the field of community organizing and movement lawyering. Up to 75% of all proceeds from The Initiative's Founding Sponsors will support Howard's Civil Rights Center, which builds on the University's strong commitment to civil rights.

"The Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center is Howard University's flagship institutional setting for the study and practice of civil rights, human rights, and racial justice law and advocacy. Ending systemic brutality is not only core to our mission, but it was one of the reasons the center was founded in the first place," said Justin Hansford, Executive Director, Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University School of Law. "We understand that in order to make a difference, we must use our heads, our hands, and our hearts. So we use these three tools to accomplish our work: thinking, acting, and connecting."

As The Initiative moves into new cities, it will establish partnerships with local colleges and universities that have dedicated civil rights curriculum focused on ending police violence, eradicating racism, and promoting social justice. Through this focus on education and advocacy, The Initiative seeks to make long-term investments in the community leaders of tomorrow.

Says Jones, "We want to see a generation of Black and Brown kids who can't conceive of the police being anything other than guardians of a community in the same way that Black and Brown kids today can't conceive of not being allowed to drink from any water fountain they want or from using any public bathroom."

About THE INITIATIVE: Advancing the Blue And Black Partnership

THE INITIATIVE: Advancing The Blue And Black Partnership ("The Initiative") was founded by a group of Howard University Alumni and friends committed to changing the narrative on police violence in the Black community. The Initiative identifies and funds programs that bring police and diverse communities together, intending to build productive relationships. The Initiative's approach involves partnering with stakeholders to evolve legal and institutional practices to eliminate indiscriminate killing and violent policing of Black and Brown people in our society. Visit https://theblueandblackpartnership.org/ for more information.

Media Inquiries

Contact Nadine Jones: [email protected]

SOURCE The Initiative

Related Links

https://theblueandblackpartnership.org


SELBYVILLE, Del., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Market Insights, Inc. has recently added a new report on the impact sound insulation acoustic mat market which estimates the market valuation for impact sound insulation acoustic mat will cross USD 4.3 billion by 2026. The growth for the products in commercial buildings shall augment the market growth during the forecast period. Moreover, increasing penetration of the product mainly in the developing regions of Asia Pacific shall open up new opportunities in the market in the coming years.

Impact Sound Insulation Acoustic Mat Market size is forecast to exceed USD 4.3 billion by 2026; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights.

The construction industry in developed markets will have a more positive outlook as soon as the global pandemic crisis subdues, and household incomes improve. In developed regions such as Europe and North America, the remodeling of old infrastructure has not met the pack of deterioration. This has increased the demand for soft coverings used for dust-binding, good impact noise-reducing effect, and as insulators providing comfort & warmth with pleasing aesthetics.

Request a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/4765

The growing demand for innovative acoustic solutions in both residential and commercial sectors shall also positively contribute to the overall market size. Proficient players in the market such as Getzner Limited are constantly investing in research and development expenditure for development of products with excellent impact sound insulation characteristics. The company mostly produces acoustic mats of impact insulation using recyclable materials which not only reduces their production cost but also adheres to the stringent environmental regulations.

Commercial is likely to account for close to 65% of the global impact sound insulation acoustic mat market in 2026. Rubber and foam materials are widely used in the commercial sector to ensure high degree of impact insulation in the buildings.

Industrial application is another major segment and is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 7% during the review period. This growth can be attributed to the propelling usage of rubber acoustic products in several production and warehousing facilities. Proliferating industrialization in emerging economies coupled with the development of new products for application in the industrial sector will further support industry growth over the projected timeframe.

Browse key industry insights spread across 172 pages with 149 market data tables & 26 figures & charts from the report, "Impact Sound Insulation Acoustic Mat Market Share & Forecast, 2020-2026" in detail along with the table of contents:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/impact-sound-insulation-acoustic-mat-market

Some of the major findings in impact sound insulation acoustic mat market report include:

Rubber and Foam are the most revenue-generating sector of the overall market.



The rubber was the major material in 2019 and shall exhibit a CAGR of over 7.5% during 2020-2026.



Proficient Industry participants are focused on capacity expansion and joint venture strategies to earn a larger market share in the market.



The market is highly fragmented in nature and has a medium barrier level for new entrants.

The North America impact sound insulation acoustic flooring mat market will showcase considerable growth and generate revenues of over USD 1.5 billion in 2026. The massive regional market will be due to adopt these products in several residential and commercial development projects. Growing commercial and residential development projects across the region coupled with the presence of several global acoustic product manufacturers in the region will further support market growth over the projected timeframe.

The recovery of the real-estate sector in the region is expected to drive the demand for acoustic flooring insulation products. Europe was the largest revenue-generating region in 2019 and is anticipated to continue leading throughout the forecast period.

Browse complete report table of contents @ https://www.gminsights.com/toc/detail/impact-sound-insulation-acoustic-mat-market

Partial chapters of report table of contents (TOC):

Chapter 3. Impact Sound Insulation Acoustic Mat Industry Insights

3.1 Industry segmentation

3.2 Industry size and forecast, 2016  2026

3.2.1 COVID-19 impact on industry landscape

3.3 Industry ecosystem analysis

3.3.1 Value addition at each stage

3.3.2 Distribution channel analysis

3.3.3 Value chain disruption analysis (COVID-19 impact)

3.3.4 Vendor matrix

3.3.4.1 List of key manufactures/distributors

3.3.4.2 List of key potential customers

3.4 Raw material trends

3.4.1 COVID-19 impact on raw materials, by region

3.4.1.1 North America

3.4.1.2 Europe

3.4.1.3 Asia Pacific

3.4.1.4 Latin America

3.4.1.5 Middle East & Africa

3.5 Technology trends

3.5.1 Flooring mats with higher rates of impact noise reduction

3.6 Key trends

3.7 Industry impact forces

3.7.1 Growth drivers

3.7.1.1 Growing construction industry across the globe

3.7.1.2 Excellent impact sound insulation properties of flooring mat products

3.7.2 Industry pitfalls & challenges

3.7.2.1 Higher costs of materials and availability of substitutes

3.8 Regulatory landscape

3.8.1 North America

3.8.2 Europe

3.8.3 Asia Pacific

3.8.4 Latin America

3.8.5 Middle East & Africa

3.9 Growth potential analysis

3.10 Competitive landscape, 2019

3.10.1 Company market share analysis, 2019

3.10.2 Strategy dashboard

3.10.3 Patent analysis

3.11 Porter's analysis

3.11.1 Threat of new entrants

3.11.2 Threat of substitutes

3.11.3 Industry rivalry

3.11.4 Supplier's power

3.11.5 Buyer's power

3.12 Regional price trends

3.12.1 Cost structure analysis

3.12.1.1 R&D Cost

3.12.1.2 Manufacturing Cost

3.12.1.3 Raw Material Cost

3.12.1.4 Distribution Cost

3.12.1.5 Operating Cost

3.12.1.6 Miscellaneous Cost

3.12.2 Price by material

3.12.3 COVID-19 impact on pricing

3.12.3.1 North America

3.12.3.2 Europe

3.12.3.3 Asia Pacific

3.12.3.4 Latin America

3.12.3.5 Middle East & Africa

3.13 PESTEL analysis

3.14 COVID-19 impact on Impact Sound Insulation Acoustic Mat demand, by application

3.14.1 Residential

3.14.2 Commercial

3.14.3 Industrial

Browse related report:

Acoustic Insulation Market Size By Product (Fiberglass/Glass Wool, Mineral Wool, Plastic Foam [EPS, XPS]), By Application (Building & Construction, Industrial, Transportation), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2019  2025

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/acoustic-insulation-market

About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.

Contact Us:

Arun Hegde

Corporate Sales, USA

Global Market Insights, Inc.

Phone: 1-302-846-7766

Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688

Email: [email protected]

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Impact Sound Insulation Acoustic Mat Market size worth $4.3 Bn by 2026

Impact Sound Insulation Acoustic Mat Market size is forecast to exceed USD 4.3 billion by 2026; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights.

Related Links

HVAC and Construction

Automotive Acoustic Materials Market

SOURCE Global Market Insights, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.gminsights.com


SAN FRANCISCO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global insoluble sulfur market size is projected to reach USD 1.2 billion by 2027 registering a CAGR of 2.9%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising demand for the product from global multinational tire manufacturers is projected to remain the key factor driving industry growth. Insoluble sulfur is a key element used in the rubber processing sector as it acts as an excellent vulcanizing agent.

However, the recent global pandemic has caused disruptions in the value chain of the rubber industry, in terms of feedstock procurement and distribution. The first quarter of 2020 observed significant downfall in the product consumption in the tire manufacturing sector. However, the market is projected to pick up pace by the end of 2020 and the product demand in is anticipated to start reflecting steady growth by the end of 2021.

Key suggestions from the report:

High dispersion grade segment is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 2.7%, in terms of volume, from 2020 to 2027 due to increasing demand for the product from rubber industries as a dispersion agent

Footwear application segment is expected to witness the maximum CAGR of 3.7%, in terms of volume, from 2020 to 2027 due to the rising number of footwear manufacturers in Asia Pacific

North America accounted for the largest market share in 2019 owing to presence of a large number of tire manufacturers in the region coupled with increased rubber production capacity in U.S.

The industry is highly concentrated with four companies accounting for about 60% of the global market share

Read 101 page research report with ToC on "Insoluble Sulfur Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Grade (High Dispersion, High Stability), By Application (Tire Manufacturing, Footwear), By Region (Asia Pacific, North America), And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/insoluble-sulfur-market

In addition, Asia Pacific was observed to be the key consumer of various rubber products due to fast pace industrialization across China, India, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and multiple other Asian countries. The requirement for the product was also observed to be steadily growing from the footwear manufacturers in the region. China, followed by India, Vietnam, and Indonesia are the leading producers of footwear in the region which generates heavy demand for insoluble sulfur to maintain production consistency.

Moreover, looking at the high market opportunity, leading product formulators, such as Eastman Chemical Company, Oriental Carbon & Chemicals Ltd., and Nynas AB, have been focusing on expanding their current product holding as well as establish long-term relations with the end-use markets, especially tire manufacturers, to increase their market presence and simultaneously cater a broader customer base.

Europe has reflected a surge in the number of automobiles manufactured as well as number of vehicles on road since 2016. This has directly led to increased demand for tire replacements in the region as well as new product manufacturing to cater to the growing needs, especially from countries, such as Germany, Italy, France, and U.K. This eventually led to increasing demand for insoluble sulfur from the sector across these countries and the trend is likely to project similar patterns from 2022 to 2027 across these countries.

Grand View Research has segmented the global insoluble sulfur market on the basis of grade, application, and region:

Insoluble Sulfur Grade Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

High Dispersion



High Stability



Regular Grade

Insoluble Sulfur Application Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

Tire Manufacturing



Industrial



Footwear



Others

Insoluble Sulfur Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

North America



U.S.





Canada





Mexico



Europe



Germany





U.K.





France





The Netherlands





Spain



Asia Pacific



China





India





Japan





Thailand



Central & South America



Brazil





Argentina



Middle East & Africa

&

South Africa

List of Key Players of Insoluble Sulfur Market:

Eastman Chemical Company



Nynas AB



Oriental Carbon & Chemical Ltd



Lions Industries



Shikoku Chemicals Corporation

Find more research reports on Organic Chemicals Industry, by Grand View Research:

Fermentation Chemicals Market  Environment-friendliness of fermentation chemicals along with cost benefits over their synthetic or petroleum derived counterparts is expected to drive the demand.

Flow Chemistry Market  Rising investments in the application industry by reactor manufacturers and end users are expected to drive the growth.

Polyphenols Market  The market is anticipated to be driven by growth in the global functional food and beverages industry, along with technological advancements in the polyphenol extraction process.

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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.
SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the California State Senate have taken $2,353,000 in campaign contributions from insurance companies and insurance industry trade associations in the last two election cycles, according to data reported to the California Secretary of State. Of that total, $1.1 million was given to the thirteen Senators who sit on the Insurance Committee that will soon vote on the insurance industry's top priority in Sacramento this year. In the last decade, property-casualty insurers have given $32.5 million to candidates for the Legislature and statewide office and spent an additional $34 million on ballot measures.

The insurance industry bill, AB 2167 is an attack on California's effective rate regulation that could cost homeowners billions more for their home insurance. It passed out of the Assembly in June and will be voted on in the Senate Insurance Committee as early as next week.

"California homeowners have been ravaged by wildfires, insurance claims abuses and outright refusals to sell them insurance. Now the insurance industry is throwing its weight around to win the right to raise rates at will," said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog. "Will the Senate reject the insurance industry's influence peddling to stop this power grab that will gut consumer protections and cost homeowners billions?"

AB 2167 would allow homeowners insurance companies to hike rates as high as they desire by exempting them from the protections of California's rate regulation law, voter-approved Proposition 103. Nothing in the bill requires insurance companies to sell or renew insurance in communities the insurance companies claim are "wildfire risks" at a price that anyone will be able to afford.

Download a Q&A explaining AB 2167's provisions .

CA SENATE INSURANCE INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTIONS 2017-2020 SENATOR

Ben Allen (D) 26 $ 14,300.00 Bob Archuleta (D) 32* $ 52,900.00 Toni Atkins (D) 39 $ 211,900.00 Patricia Bates (R) 36* $ 110,100.00 Jim Beall (D) 15 $ 1,300.00 Andreas Borgeas (R) 8* $ 58,019.75 Steven Bradford (D) 35 $ 46,500.00 Anna Caballero (D) 12 $ 96,230.30 Ling Ling Chang (R) 29 $ 31,900.00 Brian Dahle (R) 1 $ 130,300.00 Bill Dodd (D) 3* $ 80,450.63 Maria Elena Durazo (D) 24 $ 18,800.00 Cathleen Galgiani (D) 5* $ 11,500.00 Steven Glazer (D) 7* $ 161,686.77 Lena Gonzalez (D) 33 $ 21,000.00 Shannon Grove (R) 16 $ 25,100.00 Robert Hertzberg (D) 18 $ 79,730.00 Jerry Hill (D) 13 $ 19,500.00 Ben Hueso (D) 40* $ 41,799.99 Melissa Hurtado (D) 14 $ 24,200.00 Hannah-Beth Jackson (D) 19 $ - Brian Jones (R) 38* $ 42,150.00 Connie Leyva (D) 20 $ 39,300.00 Mike McGuire (D) 2 $ 13,365.00 Melissa Melendez (R) 28 $ 48,605.24 Holly Mitchell (D) 30* $ 73,250.00 Bill Monning (D) 17 $ 27,100.00 John Moorlach (R) 37* $ 81,372.08 Mike Morrell (R) 23 $ 43,100.00 Jim Nielsen (R) 4 $ 40,250.00 Richard Pan (D) 6 $ 90,107.06 Anthony Portantino (D) 25* $ 171,300.00 Richard Roth (D) 31* $ 82,699.63 Susan Rubio (D) 22* $ 158,346.31 Nancy Skinner (D) 9 $ 22,325.00 Henry Stern (D) 27 $ 52,100.00 Thomas Umberg (D) 34 $ 9,000.00 Bob Wieckowski (D) 10 $ 6,250.00 Scott Wiener (D) 11 $ 37,800.00 Scott Wilk (R ) 21 $ 77,642.50 TOTALS: $ 2,353,280.26

* Senator is a member of Senate Insurance Committee

AB 2167 is authored by Anaheim Assemblyman Tom Daly, who received $206,323 in insurance industry campaign contributions between 2017 and 2020. The bill would override Proposition 103's protections against unnecessary and unjustified rate increases. Its Senate companion bill is SB 292, by Senate Insurance Committee Chair Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin), who has taken $158,346 in contributions from insurers and their trade associations since 2017.

Secretary of State data also reveals that insurance companies and their trade associations have given the California Democratic Party $1.9 million since 2017.

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog

Related Links

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org


Festus Keyamo, minister of state for labour and employment, says members of the national assembly are trying to bypass him in the recrui...

Festus Keyamo, minister of state for labour and employment, says members of the national assembly are trying to bypass him in the recruitment of 774,000 citizens.





The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) is meant to recruit 774,000 people under a special works programme.





The junior minister had engaged in a shouting match with some federal lawmakers when he appeared before them over the recruitment process last week.





Subsequently, the lawmakers put the recruitment process on hold but Keyamo said they do not have such powers.





At a meeting, on Tuesday, Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, apologised to Senate President Ahmad Lawan over the outburst of Keyamo, who was also in attendance.





Responding, Lawan said the labour ministry would enjoy legislative support as long as it is involved in the process.





The joint committee of the national assembly chaired by Godiya Akwashiki, senator representing Nasarawa north, then directed the NDE to submit a work plan on the implementation of the programme.





The panel asked the directorate to submit the plan on Monday.





But speaking with journalists after leaving the meeting, the junior minister said he would go back to President Muhammadu Buhari for further directives.





He said the directives of the national assembly were not binding on him.





You can see that the whole struggle today has been how to bypass me in the execution of this programme and Im sure that you all saw that, the lawyer said.





Now with the provisions of the law, how they are going to do that, I dont know, I have to go back to my principal which is the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to give directives.





By section 3 of the NDE act, I am the chairman of the board. The minister is the chairman of the board of the NDE. When you say go back and bring a plan, you are still coming back to me. Secondly, if you look at section 15 of the NDE act, it said the minister may give directives of a general nature to the NDE. In other words, you cannot have a work plan without coming back to the minister.





The third point is that by virtue of my appointment as a minister, the president gave a directive in October last year saying that I should go and supervise generally the activity of the NDE. I dont see how you will supervise an agency and they go ahead without approval, the bulk must stop at a table.





The fourth one, beyond the general mandate the president gave, the president also specifically instructed me by memo in May this year for me to go and supervise the execution of this project. How can you supervise a project without your final approval. That approval lies on my table.





Section 16(1) of the NDE act, by instruction of the president, an inter-ministerial committee has already been proposed  which we accepted  that the committee must drive the selection process. Section 16(1) said the minister shall constitute committees for the NDE. The director-general of the NDE has no such powers to constitute committees under the law.





So when you say go back and bring a plan, are you asking the DG to go and break the law? Are you saying the DG should disobey the president? Are you saying the DG should disobey his immediate boss which is his minister?





I will go back to the president for directives. The directives as to execution of a project is not binding on me. The directives of the national assembly are not binding on me.





The minister said at the end of the day, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of federation (AGF), would have to interpret the relevant laws under contention.




OMAHA, Neb., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At Kugler Vision , new processes and enhanced technologies have reduced scheduling barriers and simplified life for its patients. In the era of COVID-19, most people have experienced longer waits and added complexities in many parts of their daily lives. At Kugler Vision, seeking crisp, clear vision without glasses and contact lenses isn't one of them.

The 2020 Kugler Vision EyeAnalysis LASIK consultation has set the gold standard regionally for positive patient experience, featuring state-of-the-art diagnostic testing that is the most advanced in the state of Nebraska. "While the pandemic has brought challenges for every small business, this doesn't have to be negative. We saw the partial shutdown in April as an excellent opportunity to reevaluate and refine our processes," says Lance Kugler, MD . "COVID-19 has prompted a wave of creativity and adaptability that will positively shape the patient experience for years to come."

One important addition to the Kugler Vision patient experience has been embracing telehealth technology that brings patients and surgeons together digitally. The new Kugler Vision systems integration of telehealth is inspired in part by the care model of Dr. Kugler's colleagues at Iconvista in Argentina. In Argentina, vision correction surgeons have been relying on telemedicine for decades in response to geographic constraints.

Patients can now video chat with their Kugler Vision surgeon from the comfort of their own home or office. Through telehealth visits with Dr. Kugler and his team, new patients can navigate their laser vision correction options remotely, and returning patients can take advantage of personalized, post-operative care from home. Some eye diagnostics can even be done from home through this virtual doctor consultation method, dramatically reducing time spent in the office. Most patients no longer even need to have their eyes dilated.

The new 2020 EyeAnalysis consists of two parts: a virtually contact-free in-office diagnostics appointment, followed by a private telehealth consultation with a surgeon that is scheduled at the patient's convenience. This has accelerated the process and provided patients more freedom and flexibility. The new Kugler Vision 2020 EyeAnalysis also provides safe social distancing, reducing patient and team member exposure throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Being less hands-on doesn't mean that the care provided by Kugler Vision is any less engaging and personalized than usual. The practice prides itself on customer service, and patient satisfaction is one of the core tenets of the Kugler Vision model of care. "We invest a lot of time and energy into getting to know each and every one of our patients. When you're seeing the Kugler Vision team for your vision needs, you're never just a number," says Dr. Kugler.

Dr. Kugler is available for comment on the new 2020 EyeAnalysis LASIK consultation process and the introduction of telehealth for eye care in Nebraska. Exclusive demonstrations of the telehealth technology and patient experience are available for media outlets upon request.

SOURCE Kugler Vision

Related Links

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Prior to joining CRDF Global, Dr. Fischer was an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Director of the Elizabeth R. Griffin Program at Georgetown University. She led a multidisciplinary team to promote evidence-based biosafety and biosecurity practices, and to help partner nations strengthen their capacities to detect and characterize disease threats rapidly, reliably, accurately, and safely. Before she joined Georgetown, Dr. Fischer held leadership positions at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health and the Global Health Security Program at the Stimson Center. Her international experience includes serving as a microbiologist supporting a collaborative partnership between the US CDC and the Thai Ministry of Public Health aimed at strengthening Thailand's ability to detect and respond to emerging infections. Dr. Fischer currently serves as the Chair of the Global Health Security Agenda Consortium, a voluntary alliance of non-governmental institutions committed to strengthening global capacities to prevent, detect, and respond to biological events.

Dr. Fischer received a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Vanderbilt University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Washington and the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, reports, and training programs throughout her career.

"I am pleased to welcome Julie to CRDF Global's global health team. The current COVID-19 pandemic is a stark example of the importance of multi-sectoral, international collaborative efforts that strengthen the health and safety of our communities and frontline health workers. Her technical research experience will strengthen CRDF Global's ability to develop innovative solutions to help countries better prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats," said Mark Callaghan, Director of Global Health at CRDF Global.

About CRDF Global

Established in 1995, CRDF Global is an independent nonprofit organization that promotes safety, security, and sustainability through international development and foreign assistance missions across the globe. We are a recognized leader in strategic capacity building programs that combine technical expertise with locally driven solutions in the areas of CBRNE security and nonproliferation, global health, strategic trade controls, cybersecurity, innovation, and international professional exchanges.

SOURCE CRDF Global
OMAHA, Neb., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lindsay Corporation (NYSE: LNN), a leading global manufacturer and distributor of irrigation and infrastructure equipment and technology, announces the acquisition of Net Irrigate, LLC, an agriculture Internet of Things technology company that provides remote monitoring solutions for irrigation customers. Net Irrigate will join Lindsay's FieldNET brand of remote irrigation monitoring and control solutions.

The acquisition furthers the two companies' shared goals of delivering innovative real-world solutions to help growers increase water and energy efficiency and exercise more sustainable farming practices while operating and maintaining irrigation systems.

"We are excited to welcome Net Irrigate customers and employees to the Lindsay family, and eager to combine the expertise of our teams and strengths of our products," said Randy Wood, President of the Irrigation Division at Lindsay. "Net Irrigate was an early pioneer in the Industrial Internet of Things space, particularly related to remote monitoring of center pivot irrigation systems. As such, they have built a large customer base that will now have access to additional functionality and solutions with Lindsay's industry-leading FieldNET irrigation technology offering."

Founded in 2006, Net Irrigate builds customized remote monitoring devices and reporting software for large farms and government agencies associated with ground and surface water conservation. In 2010, the company released its flagship WireRat brand, which led to the reduction of copper theft on center pivots in several areas of the United States and Canada. Net Irrigate has deployed more than 10,000 monitoring devices, including its CircleScout remote irrigation management hardware and software solution, across 2,000+ agricultural enterprises.

"We believe this integration will enhance the existing Net Irrigate customer experience, and we are excited about the opportunity to bring more capabilities to Lindsay," said Eddie DeSalle, founder of Net Irrigate. "Caring for Net Irrigate customers is our top priority through this integration. They can rest assured that existing Net Irrigate products will continue to be supported and work as expected this season. We are looking forward to introducing them to the excellent FieldNET Support Team who, along with the Net Irrigate team, will ensure customers are well supported. Meanwhile, our respective teams internally are working diligently to help deliver the best possible experience, leveraging everything FieldNET has to offer."

Integration work is in the early stages, and both companies are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for Net Irrigate customers and employees. For more information about FieldNET, visit www.myfieldnet.com.

About Lindsay Corporation

Lindsay Corporation (NYSE: LNN) is a leading global manufacturer and distributor of irrigation and infrastructure equipment and technology. Established in 1955, the company has been at the forefront of research and development of innovative solutions to meet the food, fuel, fiber and transportation needs of the world's rapidly growing population. The Lindsay family of irrigation brands includes Zimmatic center pivot and lateral move agricultural irrigation systems and FieldNET remote irrigation management and scheduling technology as well as irrigation consulting and design and industrial IoT solutions. Also a global leader in the transportation industry, Lindsay Transportation Solutions manufactures equipment to improve road safety and keep traffic moving on the world's roads, bridges and tunnels, through the Barrier Systems, Road Zipper and Snoline brands. For more information about Lindsay Corporation, visit www.Lindsay.com.

FieldNET, FieldNET Advisor, FieldNET Pivot Watch, Zimmatic, Barrier Systems, Road Zipper, Snoline, WireRat and CircleScout are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lindsay Corporation and/or its affiliates.

SOURCE Lindsay Corporation

Related Links

http://www.lindsay.com


PLANTATION, Fla., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Magic Leap today announced the appointment of Peggy Johnson, a veteran tech executive and Executive Vice President of Business Development at Microsoft, as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective August 1, 2020. In her new role, Ms. Johnson will draw on more than 30 years of experience at the highest levels of technology and business to accelerate Magic Leap's growth and bring transformative enterprise solutions to market.

In addition to her technical background as an electrical engineer, Ms. Johnson brings to Magic Leap a proven track record of leading and growing businesses, building strategic partnerships and executing successful transactions. In her recent role at Microsoft, Ms. Johnson oversaw the development, collaboration, and growth of Microsoft's relationships with external partners and enterprises of all sizes around the world. She also led Microsoft's corporate venture fund, M12, where she identified compelling strategic investment opportunities and worked closely with companies to unlock value and drive growth.

"Since its founding in 2011, Magic Leap has pioneered the field of spatial computing, and I have long admired the relentless efforts and accomplishments of this exceptional team. Magic Leap's technological foundation is undeniable, and there is no question that has the potential to shape the future of XR and computing," said Ms. Johnson.

"As CEO, I look forward to strategically building enduring relationships that connect Magic Leap's game-changing technology and pipeline to the wide-ranging digital needs of enterprises of all sizes and industries," explained Ms. Johnson. "It is with great pride and sincere appreciation to the Magic Leap Board, Rony and the entire team, as well as to Satya Nadella at Microsoft, that I assume the role of leading this visionary business into the future."

Prior to joining Microsoft in 2014, Ms. Johnson spent 24 years at Qualcomm, where she held various leadership positions, and served as a member of Qualcomm's Executive Committee. Today, Ms. Johnson serves on the Board of Directors of BlackRock, Inc., and has been recognized by multiple organizations, including as Business Insider's "#1 Most Powerful Female Engineer in 2017," one of Silicon Republic's "40 Powerful Women Leading Tech Around the World" and a 2013 Hall of Fame inductee by Women in Technology International.

Rony Abovitz, Founder and Magic Leap's first Chief Executive Officer of Magic Leap, said, "As a company that has been a leader in transforming what will become the next era of computing, we have been fortunate to have a number of extremely qualified candidates express interest in the position of CEO. However, as soon as Peggy raised her hand there was no question in my mind, or the Board's, that she was absolutely the best person to lead this company into the future. As Magic Leap drives towards commercializing spatial computing for enterprise, I can't think of a better and more capable leader than Peggy Johnson to carry our mission forward."

"We have come a long way, from starting up in my garage to creating a new medium and redefining the future of computing. Now, under Peggy, who brings with her to Magic Leap three decades of experience identifying and executing strategic partnerships at the highest levels of business, Magic Leap can take another giant step forward in our journey," said Mr. Abovitz. "On behalf of the Magic Leap Board, I want to thank our investors for their continued support and partnership. We have strong confidence and belief in Peggy's ability to lead Magic Leap forward as the Company focuses on commercial success."

About Peggy Johnson

Peggy Johnson most recently served as Executive Vice President of Business Development at Microsoft, where she was responsible for driving strategic partnerships and transactions to accelerate growth for Microsoft and its customers. In this role, she also managed Microsoft's relationship with the venture capital community and oversaw strategic investments through the company's corporate venture fund, M12. At M12, Ms. Johnson worked with external partners around the world, ranging from start-ups to large-scale enterprises, to identify areas of collaboration, drive innovation and unlock shared value. Before joining Microsoft in 2014, Ms. Johnson spent 24 years at Qualcomm, where she held various leadership positions across engineering, sales, marketing and business development. She also served as a member of the Executive Committee and ran Qualcomm's Internet Services business unit. Prior to Qualcomm, she worked as an engineer for General Electric's Military Electronics Division. Ms. Johnson received her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from San Diego State University and currently serves on the board of directors for BlackRock, Inc., and on the advisory board for the nonprofit Huntington's Disease Society of America San Diego Chapter. She has been recognized by multiple organizations, including Business Insider ("#1 Most Powerful Female Engineer in 2017"), Silicon Republic ("40 Powerful Women Leading Tech Around the World"), Connected World Magazine ("2014 Women of M2M List"), Women in Technology International ("2013 Hall of Fame Award") and STEM ("100 Women Leaders in STEM, 2012).

About Magic Leap

Magic Leap is a spatial computing company building the next computing platform. Our vision is to create infinite realities in our world. Through the use of our spatial computing technologies, products, platforms, and services we are bringing the physical and digital worlds together as one. Magic Leap's spatial computing wearable, Magic Leap 1, is the most advanced XR device on the market today. Magic Leap is proudly headquartered in Plantation, Florida with additional offices across the globe.

Julia Gaynor

[email protected]

SOURCE Magic Leap, Inc.
STAINES-UPON-THAMES, United Kingdom, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mallinckrodt plc (NYSE: MNK), a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will, as expected, hold a virtual meeting to review data on terlipressin, an investigational agent being evaluated for the treatment of hepatorenal syndrome type 1 (HRS-1). The company announced the FDA accepted for review its New Drug Application (NDA) for terlipressin in April.

HRS-1 is an acute and life-threatening syndrome involving acute kidney failure in people with cirrhosis.1 The condition has a median survival time of approximately two weeks and greater than 80 percent mortality within three months if left untreated.2,3 At present, there are no approved drug therapies for HRS-1 in the U.S.,4 and it is estimated to affect between 30,000 and 40,000 patients in the U.S. annually.5,6

"We look forward to engaging the advisory committee panel in a robust discussion of the clinical evidence to support the safety and efficacy profile of terlipressin," said Steven Romano, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Mallinckrodt. "And we are extremely grateful to all the patients and healthcare professionals who made the data collection possible. If approved, we believe terlipressin has the potential to address a critical unmet need in HRS-1."

The terlipressin NDA is based, in part, on results from the Phase 3 CONFIRM trial, which was the largest-ever prospective study (n=300) conducted in patients with HRS-1, and the culmination of a sustained, 17-year effort to develop terlipressin for potential use in the U.S. and Canada. Initial results were presented at The Liver Meeting 2019, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

About Terlipressin

Terlipressin is a potent vasopressin analogue selective for V1 receptors being investigated for the treatment of HRS-1 in the U.S. and Canada. It is an investigational product in these countries as the safety and efficacy have not been established with, nor has approval been granted by, regulatory authorities in either country. Terlipressin is approved for use outside the U.S. and Canada.

ABOUT MALLINCKRODT

Mallinckrodt is a global business consisting of multiple wholly owned subsidiaries that develop, manufacture, market and distribute specialty pharmaceutical products and therapies. The company's Specialty Brands reportable segment's areas of focus include autoimmune and rare diseases in specialty areas like neurology, rheumatology, nephrology, pulmonology and ophthalmology; immunotherapy and neonatal respiratory critical care therapies; analgesics and gastrointestinal products. Its Specialty Generics reportable segment includes specialty generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients. To learn more about Mallinckrodt, visit www.mallinckrodt.com.

Mallinckrodt uses its website as a channel of distribution of important company information, such as press releases, investor presentations and other financial information. It also uses its website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the Investor Relations page of the website for important and time-critical information. Visitors to the website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is made available on the Investor Relations page of the website.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELATED TO FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release includes forward-looking statements with regard to terlipressin, including the anticipated regulatory review process and its potential impact on patients. The statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: satisfaction of regulatory and other requirements; actions of regulatory bodies and other governmental authorities; changes in laws and regulations; issues with product quality, manufacturing or supply, or patient safety issues; and other risks identified and described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" section of Mallinckrodt's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC, all of which are available on its website. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date hereof and Mallinckrodt does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

CONTACT

For Trade Media Inquiries

Caren Begun

Green Room Communications

201-396-8551

[email protected]

For Financial/Dailies Media Inquiries

Ron Bartlett

H+K Strategies

Senior Vice President

813-545-2399

[email protected]

Investor Relations

Daniel J. Speciale, CPA

Vice President, Finance and IRO

314-654-3638

[email protected]

Mallinckrodt, the "M" brand mark and the Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals logo are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company. Other brands are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company or their respective owners.  2020 Mallinckrodt. US-2000671 06/20

References

1 National Organization for Rare Disorders. Hepatorenal Syndrome. Available at: https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/hepatorenal-syndrome/. Accessed June 12, 2020.

2 Colle I and Laterre PF. Hepatorenal syndrome: the clinical impact of vasoactive therapy, Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. (2018) 12:2, 173-188, DOI: 10.1080/17474124.2018.1417034.

3 Gines P, Sola E, Angeli P, et al. Hepatorenal syndrome. Nature Reviews. (2018) 4:23.

4 Boyer TD, Medicis JJ, Pappas SC, et al. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study to confirm the reversal of hepatorenal syndrome type 1 with terlipressin: the REVERSE trial design. Open Access Journal of Clinical Trials 2012:4. https://www.dovepress.com/a-randomized-placebo-controlled-double-blind-study-to-confirm-the-reve-peer-reviewed-article-OAJCT.

5 C Pant, B S Jani, M Desai, A Deshpande, Prashant Pandya, Ryan Taylor, R Gilroy, M Olyaee. Hepatorenal syndrome in hospitalized patients with chronic liver disease: results from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample 20022012. Journal of Investigative Medicine 2016; 64:3338.

6 United States Census Bureau: Quick Facts. Available at: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045218. Accessed June 12, 2020.

SOURCE Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals

Related Links

http://www.mallinckrodt.com


DENVER and MANCHESTER, England, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Matillion, the leading provider of data transformation for cloud data warehouses (CDWs), today launched Matillion Exchange , a marketplace for Matillion ETL users and partners to publish and download Shared Jobs to reduce development time and solve business challenges faster.

In a recent study from IDG , data professionals cited faster time-to-value as the top reason enterprises migrate their data to cloud platforms for implementing analytics projects. On Matillion Exchange, users can download and reuse helpful ETL workflows to load and transform their business-critical data, created by the Matillion ecosystem of data professionals, including recognized Matillion partners , to expedite the ETL development process. Customers can leverage reusable jobs to speed up data consolidation and business reporting for advanced analytics and machine learning to inform their data-dependent projects.

Unlike third-party platforms, Matillion Exchange provides user-generated, proven ETL solutions in the form of Shared Jobs . Users download and import Shared Jobs created by other customers, partners and ISVs into their Matillion ETL infrastructure to reduce development time and resources, and lower the technical barrier required to build and implement sophisticated data transformation components. For customers looking to solve for bespoke business requirements, Matillion Exchange offers a wide variety of ETL workflows that can be modified to meet their specific needs.

"Our customers often share with us their need to accelerate time to value to enable faster decision making. Matillion Exchange enables users and partners to share knowledge while making sophisticated use cases more accessible by leveraging the code and logic created by experts to innovate quickly," said Matthew Scullion, CEO. "In addition to publishing their own jobs, this marketplace enables our partners to rapidly build solutions for their customers, and ISVs to deploy data analytics solutions using our leading data transformation software."

For Matillion ETL customers looking to further collaborate and discuss ETL, ELT, and data transformation best practices, they can also sign up for the new Matillion ETL Community . The community brings together data-minded individuals to connect and contribute to data transformation best practices. The community provides discussion topics, user groups, and an Ideas Portal for raising feature requests to the internal Matillion product team so that users can directly influence the product roadmap.

Sign up for the Matillion Exchange at https://exchange.matillion.com/ .

Matillion's software is used by more than 800 global customers including Siemens, Slack, DocuSign, and Cisco, and earned the 2020 Top Rated Data Integration Software award by TrustRadius, which is based on unbiased feedback by way of customers' user satisfaction scores alone. For further data transformation industry updates and perspectives, follow Matillion on Twitter @Matillion and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/matillion-limited/ .

About Matillion

Matillion is data transformation for cloud data warehouses. Only Matillion is purpose-built for Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, Microsoft Azure Synapse, and Snowflake, enabling businesses to achieve new levels of simplicity, speed, scale, and savings. Trusted by companies of all sizes to meet their data integration and transformation needs, Matillion products are highly rated across the AWS, GCP and Microsoft Azure Marketplaces. Dual-headquartered in Manchester, UK and Denver, Colorado, Matillion also has offices in New York City and Seattle. Learn more about how you can unlock the potential of your data with Matillion's cloud-native approach to data transformation. Visit us at www.matillion.com .

Media Contact:

Nonfiction Agency for Matillion

Katie Pierini

[email protected]

SOURCE Matillion

Related Links

https://www.matillion.com


NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A new textbook, Medical Marijuana: A Clinical Handbook (Wolters Kluwer, September 2020), provides an objective look at the history and science of the plant and strips away the cultural and political baggage that often clouds any meaningful examination of cannabis's therapeutic value.

The authors, Drs. Samoon Ahmad and Kevin P. Hill, wrote the book to provide clinicians with the most accurate information available on cannabis and empower them to give their patients the best advice on treatment. Cannabis continues to be the single most misunderstood plant on Earth. It has been cultivated and used for thousands of years yet remains not just enigmatic but deeply polarizing.

"Both sides of the argument often fail to see through the fog of the culture war, and both sides are at times guilty of being more intent on winning a political argument than approaching the issue with a clear head and an agenda couched solely in the tradition of empiricism and science," Drs. Ahmad and Hill write in Medical Marijuana. "This book hopes to change that."

Both authors have extensive clinical experience and impressive resumes. Dr. Hill is an addiction specialist and currently Director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard University, and author of Marijuana: The Unbiased Truth About the World's Most Popular Weed. Dr. Ahmad is a practicing physician in New York City, Founder of the Integrative Center for Wellness, and a Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He has also written extensively about PTSD and coauthored multiple books, including recent editions of Kaplan & Sadock's Pocket Handbook of Clinical Psychiatry and Kaplan & Sadock's Pocket Handbook of Psychiatric Drug Treatment.

The authors focus on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the intoxicating substance in cannabis and typically the focal point of medical marijuana programs. They also examine the relevant science on many other cannabinoids found in the plant, especially cannabidiol (CBD). Included in the book is detailed analysis of local and federal laws governing the use of cannabis and a state-by-state guide for clinicians and patients. They have also created a companion website, cannabistextbook.com, that will monitor changes to local, state, and federal regulations as they occur, and share recently published cannabis-related research.

"This timely medical marijuana clinical handbook is the most comprehensive and best book on the topic in my opinion," said Stephen Ross, M.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Addictive Disorders and Experimental Therapeutics Research Laboratory at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. "Excellently written, the book provides an enormous amount of concise and clinically relevant information on everything related to medical cannabis including historical and regulatory aspects, the dizzying diversity of the many cannabis constituent components, review of the endocannabinoid system, relevant pharmacology, therapeutic preparations and the existing and potential clinical applications of medical cannabis throughout medicine, psychiatry and neurology."

The book enables clinicians to easily find information that is pertinent to specific body systems and disciplines. It also provides a wealth of information about the plant itself. The book begins by examining its classification, morphology, history and constituents. It then moves on to a cultural history of cannabis in the United States to provide a context for the regulations and laws currently governing its use. The book then describes the body's endocannabinoid system and the pharmacological profile of CBD and THC before moving on to specific applications for cannabis in specialty practices such as:

Endocrinology

Oncology

Gastroenterology

Neurology

Psychiatry

Gynecology

Rheumatology

Internal medicine

Ophthalmology

Hepatology

Dermatology

Finally, the authors describe the dangers of excessive cannabis use and potential adverse effects.

"It is our hope that we can eliminate unwarranted stigmas that continue to hound this quirky plant and to dispel any notions that cannabis is either a miracle drug or the devil's weed," the authors write. "If nothing else, we hope to provide our peers in the medical community with some degree of clarity so that they can make decisions based on the best available evidence and pass on accurate information to [their] patients."

About the Authors

Samoon Ahmad, M.D. is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and serves as Unit Chief of Bellevue Medical Center's Inpatient Unit. A practicing physician for over twenty-five years, Dr. Ahmad has dedicated his professional life to helping individuals find balance in their mental and physical well-being. He founded the Integrative Center for Wellness to execute his innovative vision of incorporating psychiatric treatments with holistic therapiesincluding nutritional therapy, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, and plant-based medicinesto emphasize wellness of both the body and the mind. He specializes in treating patients with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, stuttering, and weight management issues.

Kevin P. Hill, M.D., M.H.S. is an addiction psychiatrist and Director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hill has conducted clinical research and written on a wide variety of topics including medical cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), and addiction to alcohol, cannabis, and opioids. As a leading cannabis expert, he has spoken nationally and appeared often on radio and television on the topics of cannabis policy and treatment, offering a balanced, evidence-based stance on these issues.

Reviews

"Drs. Ahmad and Hill are to be congratulated on producing a book that is a complete and thorough guide to cannabis, is most timely and highly informative, and will appeal to a large audience."

-Benjamin Sadock, MD, Menas S. Gregory Professor of Psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health

"This timely medical marijuana clinical handbook is the most comprehensive and best book on the topic."

-Stephen Ross, MD, Director of the Addictive Disorders and Experimental Therapeutics Research Laboratory and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine

"The authors have written an extremely comprehensive book that will give readers

a more nuanced appreciation of cannabis. This includes its potential therapeutic value, its effects on the endocannabinoid system, and the parts it has played in cultures throughout the world."

-Joyce Cenali, Founding Partner & COO of Big Rock Partners, a strategic advisory firm

"Though written primarily for healthcare practitioners and clinicians,

anyone hoping to gain a greater understanding about cannabis and its therapeutic applications

will find this work extremely informative and helpful."

-Marion Mariathasan, CEO of Simplifya, the leading regulatory and compliance software platform serving the cannabis industry

Medical Marijuana: A Clinical Handbook

By Samoon Ahmad, M.D., and Kevin P. Hill, M.D., M.H.S.

Publisher: Wolters Kluwer

Publication Date: September 2020

Price: $69.99

ISBN: 9781975141899

Contacts:

Kimberly Macleod

[email protected]

917-587-0069



Joe Flattery

[email protected]

917-474-2689

SOURCE Integrative Center for Wellness
Lu has over 4 million followers on his Kuaishou account, where he posts videos under the name 'Xiao Xianren'. Lu rose to fame chasing his passion for modelling whilst working as a waiter and a factory worker in Nanning, the capital of Guanxi.

"I have had a supermodel dream since I was ten, (while I was) still in primary school. I saw a fashion show on TV when I felt it was so cool to do that on the runway," said Lu. Since then, he practiced the catwalk every day.

Without access to any professional training, he learned to catwalk by imitation from fashion show videos. Without a team assisting him, by his aesthetic talents, Lu designed and made couture using ready materials, from bamboo sticks, plastic bags to even an air conditioner. He turned everywhere into his runway, ranging from a narrow alley to a derelict factory.

"From couture designing and making, to filming, clipping, and posting, these were extremely time-consuming but barely received feedback online at the beginning as a result. But I still enjoyed the process," said Lu.

"The early dozens of videos I posted even didn't receive much 'likes'," Lu recalled. "But I believed what I've done would be recognized by the world someday." Lu persisted in posting his fashion works onto Kuaishou where he hoped to be seen by more people.

Lu's early works were ridiculed as many thought of him as a funny clown dressed in bizarre costumes. However, Lu's perseverance, coupled with Kuaishou's visibility algorithms, enabled Lu to be seen, which eventually helped him to enter mainstream fame.

Lu's fans were also one reason how he rose to fame. On his videos, comments such as "He's undeniably talented every piece he made is wearable" or "This kid needs to be on an international runway," appear every few seconds. Lu counts other supermodels amongst his fans. Jin Dachuan, one of the most well-known Asian supermodels, has praised Lu, saying that he was amazed to see Lu's supermodel temperament.

Lu's big break came in August 2019, where Lu's fans uploaded his videos from Kuaishou to YouTube. As that video became viral, more people became curious about Lu and his international career took off from there. As his following grew on Kuaishou and other social media platforms, media outlets started taking notice. Goldthread reached out to him for his first editorial photoshoot with Elle magazine. The spring-summer 2020 edition of London Fashion Week invited Lu to walk.

"I like staying in nature. That was my runway. I enjoyed the freedom to perform alone. I will miss the experience of the catwalk in forests forever." Lu said.

When Lu worked in that village restaurant, he never expected that his dream would come into truth. The hills, trees, and fields were his only audience. However, by posting his videos on social media such as Kuaishou, Lu found his voice and a dedicated following.

In this social media era, countless amateur stars on Kuaishou have become famous by their efforts and talents, just like Lu. Lu's story serves to inspire even more content creators as his efforts and persistence to his dream make it possible to perform at the prestigious Milan Fashion Week, where it started from a willingness to post videos on Kuaishou.

Lu recalls suffering for his art. He once wore seven-centimeter-high heels on a mountain for a video that took over 5 hours to film. "At the end of the day, going through this process has helped me grow to appreciate that fashion plays a part in everyone's lives," said Lu.

About Kuaishou Technology

Kuaishou Technology, headquartered in Beijing, China, runs Kuaishou, one of the world's leading short video social platforms since 2011, boasting more than 300 million daily active users so far. Users can use the platform to create and share videos with friends and their communities through posts, likes and comments. Known for its active and vibrant community of more than 20 billion daily views, the app is available on iOS and Android.

SOURCE Kuaishou Technology
NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation ("BNY Mellon") (NYSE: BK) announced today that Mitchell Harris, CEO of BNY Mellon Investment Management, which includes the Wealth and Investment Management businesses, has announced his intention to retire effective October 1, 2020. The Company has appointed Hanneke Smits as CEO of BNY Mellon Investment Management, and Catherine Keating will continue in her role as CEO of BNY Mellon Wealth Management. Both Ms. Smits and Ms. Keating, leading their respective parts of the Investment and Wealth Management business, will report Todd Gibbons, CEO of BNY Mellon, and Ms. Smits will join BNY Mellon's Executive Committee.

"Mitchell has been instrumental in driving our Investment Management business over the last four years as CEO and we wish him all the best in retirement. During a period of tremendous change in the investment landscape, he helped reposition our multi-boutique model and launch new investment capabilities, leaving us well positioned to meet the evolving investment needs of our clients," said Todd Gibbons, CEO of BNY Mellon. "We are delighted to elevate Hanneke into the CEO role for Investment Management. She has spearheaded Newton's business momentum and client-centric culture, and we look forward to her leadership within Investment Management. Mitchell has cultivated a strong bench of leaders, including Hanneke and Catherine, who will continue to drive the execution of our strategic priorities to deliver leading investment solutions to our clients underpinned by exceptional investment performance."

Ms. Smits said, "I am deeply honored to serve as CEO of BNY Mellon Investment Management. We have made great progress in building a diversified investment portfolio to help our clients achieve their investment goals. We will build on this strong foundation to continue to drive performance and innovation across our investment products, while also serving as a trusted partner for our clients in today's rapidly changing investment environment."

Ms. Smits will continue as CEO of Newton until October 1 and a search is currently underway to replace her as CEO of Newton. Over the next several months, Mitchell will work closely with Hanneke and Catherine to ensure a smooth transition of leadership.

Ms. Smits has been CEO of Newton Investment Management, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, since August 2016. Her career spans close to three decades in financial services, including serving as a member of the Executive Committee at private equity firm Adams Street Partners from 2001 to 2014, and Chief Investment Officer from 2008 to 2014. Hanneke is a Non-Executive Director to the Court of the Bank of England and serves on the board of the Investment Association. She is Chair of Impetus a venture philanthropy organization that supports charities that aim to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people, and as part of this appointment, she is Trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation, founded in 2011 by The Sutton Trust in partnership with Impetus. She is co-founder and former Chair of Level 20, a not-for-profit organization set up in 2015 to inspire women to join and succeed in the private equity industry. Originally from the Netherlands, Hanneke has a BBA from Nijenrode University and a MBA from the London Business School.

About BNY Mellon Investment Management and BNY Mellon Wealth Management

BNY Mellon Investment Management and BNY Mellon Wealth Management are part of BNY Mellon and are respectively one of the world's largest investment firms and one of the top U.S. wealth managers, with $1.8 trillion in total assets under management as of March 31, 2020.

Through an investor-first approach, BNY Mellon brings to clients the best of both worlds: specialist expertise from eight world-class investment firms offering solutions across every major asset class, backed by the strength, stability, and global presence of BNY Mellon, one of the world's most trusted investment partners. Additional information on BNY Mellon Investment Management is available on www.im.bnymellon.com and on www.bnymellonwealth.com for BNY Mellon Wealth Management.

About BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries. As of March 31, 2020, BNY Mellon had $35.2 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.8 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.

Contacts:

Media

Manny Goncalves

+1 973 809 1114

[email protected]

Analysts

Magda Palczynska

+1 212 635 8529

[email protected]

SOURCE BNY Mellon

Related Links

https://www.bnymellon.com


DALLAS, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Resolute Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation ("Resolute"), a Dallas-based healthcare provider specializing in inpatient rehabilitation services, today announced the company's launch, extending its operational expertise to acute-care hospital systems and individual hospitals in the U.S. through rehabilitation partnerships.

The company was created to help health systems transform rehabilitation services and, in turn, enhance value throughout the system. Resolute brings together interdisciplinary capabilities, from specialized expertise in inpatient rehabilitation, to in-depth knowledge of health system operations, including finance, marketing, and other key functions. Drawing on these cross-functional capabilities, Resolute provides its hospital partners with comprehensive solutions in rehabilitation that benefit the partner system. The company tailors its services to each hospital's individual needs. However, all Resolute partnerships incorporate the common objectives of: advancing clinical programs through rehabilitation services; enhancing continuum of care; and improving patient outcomes.

Resolute designed its offerings specially to meet the needs of health systems today, and that intent can be seen in the partnership model. The approach promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing, which helps the company understand and address the individual needs of each hospital partner. Additionally, this model gives health systems the experienced operational partner they need to be successful in inpatient rehabilitation, while allowing them to retain ownership of the rehabilitation unit.

To carry out this approach, Resolute assembled an experienced leadership team with professional backgrounds across key areas of the healthcare industry. The company's president, Julie Feasel, brings over 25 years of healthcare industry experience to the role, covering inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, long-term acute care hospitals, and home health. Feasel previously served as executive vice president for Cornerstone Specialty Hospitals, and prior to that held various leadership positions at Kindred Healthcare. At Kindred, she was an instrumental part of the successful launch of PeopleFirst, the start of Kindred's rehabilitation offerings.

In her role at Resolute, Feasel plans to focus on creating alignment between the company and its health system partners, using its partners' missions to guide Resolute's work. While the company has identified a range of potential partners, Feasel plans to pursue initial partnership opportunities with hospitals where resources have been allocated away from rehabilitation. In those situations, Resolute's expertise can produce transformative results; it can maximize value in rehabilitation, strengthen adjacent services, and deliver these benefits through a cost-effective partnership that is especially valuable for a resource-constrained hospital.

"Hospital systems are focused on medical care initiatives, advancing technology platforms, and designing physician integration into their systems, and those initiatives demand resources," said Feasel. "We formed Resolute around that dynamic. We operate withinand in many cases enhancethose focus areas, creating a seamless connection between rehabilitation and clinical programs."

Resolute currently manages rehabilitation units in 17 different hospitals across five states. The company delivers a range of services, developing customized programs for each hospital partner. Programs are designed to maximize efficiency in day-to-day rehabilitation operations, while positioning the hospital for growth opportunities.

Resolute began operating in January, and currently employs more than 200 rehabilitation therapists and personnel. The company is equipped to scale its team to support new partnerships and expand into new markets.

"Resolute has unique expertise in this space, which provides countless opportunities for collaboration," said Leslie Boney, the company's chief development officer. "We are excited to partner with health systems to turn rehabilitation units into functions that promote patient outcomes."

The company is currently pursuing new partnerships, with plans to grow its footprint beyond its current operations, which include locations in Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

About Resolute Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Resolute Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation operates inpatient rehabilitation units in partnership with health systems. The company provides solutions to address the individual needs of each hospital. Taking a comprehensive approach to rehabilitation performance, the company makes improvements in rehabilitation operations that enhance continuity of care, promote patient outcomes, and create system-wide value. Resolute's partners include acute care hospital systems and individual acute care hospitals. The company currently manages rehabilitation units in 17 different hospitals across five states, employing more than 200 rehabilitation therapists and personnel.

For more information visit www.ResoluteRehabilitation.com

CONTACT

Leslie Boney

Chief Development Officer

[email protected]

SOURCE Resolute Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Related Links

https://www.resoluterehabilitation.com


HOLLAND, Mich., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Open Source Imaging Consortium (OSIC) announced today the launch of the $55,000 OSIC Pulmonary Fibrosis Progression, an AI-focused challenge to predict lung function decline in people living with pulmonary fibrosis. The competition is administered by Kaggle, the world's largest data science community platform, and runs through October 6, 2020.

OSIC  a global, not-for-profit collaborative effort between academia, industry and philanthropy  was created to enable rapid advances in the fight against fibrosing interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and other respiratory conditions including emphysema. Its mission is to bring together radiologists, clinicians and computational scientists from around the world to improve imaging-based approaches to diagnosis, prognosis and therapy.

IPF has no known cause and no known cure, and is characterized by scarring of the lungs leading to an irreversible decline in pulmonary function that is easily identified on computerized tomographic (CT) chest imaging. People living with IPF have an average life expectancy of three to five years after diagnosis. The first Kaggle challenge will focus on this devastating disease.

Challenge participants will be given a CT scan of an IPF patient's lungs and asked to use machine learning techniques to predict the severity of lung function decline, as measured by spirometry. The Pulmonary Fibrosis Progression challenge is led by Dr. Simon Walsh, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London & OSIC's lead radiologist, and Dr. David Barber, University College London & OSIC's lead computational scientist.

"The heterogeneity of outcome in this disease complicates clinical decision making for individual patients, increasing their anxiety and fear," said Dr. Kevin Brown, National Jewish Health & OSIC's lead pulmonologist. "Success in this challenge will help clinicians provide clarity to our patients, and ultimately improve treatment trial design and accelerate the clinical development of novel therapies."

"OSIC was created to bring divergent groups together to look at new ways of fighting complex lung disease," said Elizabeth Estes, the consortium's executive director. "In addition to utilizing expertise from academia, industry and philanthropy, we wanted to introduce clinicians to the broader artificial intelligence and machine learning community to see if new eyes and new tools could help us move forward, faster. We are excited to see the progress that can be made for patients all over the world."

OSIC is supported by a myriad of collaborative academic and industry institutions, including founding members Boehringer Ingelheim, Siemens Healthineers, CSL Behring, FLUIDDA, Galapagos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Universite de Lyon, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, and National Jewish Health. All members work in pre-competitive areas for mutual benefit and, most importantly, the benefit of patients.

For more information on OSIC or the Pulmonary Fibrosis Progression challenge, please visit www.OSICILD.org.

SOURCE Open Source Imaging Consortium (OSIC)

Related Links

https://www.osicild.org


NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Owl Rock Capital Corporation (NYSE: ORCC) ("ORCC") today announced it will release its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 after market close. ORCC invites all interested persons to its webcast / conference call on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its second quarter ended June 30, 2020 financial results.

Conference Call Information:

The conference call will be broadcast live at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the Investor Resources section of ORCC's website at www.owlrockcapitalcorporation.com. Please visit the website to test your connection before the webcast.

Participants are also invited to access the conference call by dialing one of the following numbers:

Domestic: (866) 393-4306

International: (734) 385-2616

Conference ID: 4578626

All callers will need to enter the Conference ID followed by the # sign and reference "Owl Rock Capital Corporation" once connected with the operator. All callers are asked to dial in 10-15 minutes prior to the call so that name and company information can be collected.

Replay Information:

An archived replay will be available for 14 days via a webcast link located on the Investor Resources section of ORCC's website, and via the dial-in numbers listed below:

Domestic: (855) 859-2056

International: (404) 537-3406

Conference ID: 4578626

About Owl Rock Capital Corporation

Owl Rock Capital Corporation (ORCC) is a specialty finance company focused on lending to U.S. middle-market companies. As of March 31, 2020, ORCC had investments in 101 portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of $8.9 billion. ORCC has elected to be regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. ORCC is externally managed by Owl Rock Capital Advisors LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser that is an affiliate of Owl Rock Capital Partners. Owl Rock Capital Partners, together with its subsidiaries, is a New York based direct lending platform with approximately $17.3 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2020.

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking statements" that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors and undue reliance should not be placed thereon. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about ORCC, its current and prospective portfolio investments, its industry, its beliefs and opinions, and its assumptions. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "will," "may," "continue," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "would," "could," "should," "targets," "projects," "outlook," "potential," "predicts" and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond ORCC's control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in ORCC's filings with the SEC. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date on which ORCC makes them. ORCC does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or any other information contained herein, except as required by applicable law.

Investor Contact:

Dana Sclafani

212-651-4705

[email protected]

Media Contact:



Prosek Partners

David Wells / Kelly Smith Aceituno / Josh Clarkson

[email protected]

SOURCE Owl Rock Capital Corporation

Related Links

https://www.owlrockcapitalcorporation.com


Founded in 2014, P4S is a full-service protection, training, and consultation service provider for clients across the country. The P4S portfolio includes verticals in commercial real estate, retail, agriculture, cultural properties, higher education, healthcare, corporate campuses, and global operation centers, amongst others.

P4P will further grow the P4 companies' footprint of service offerings through customized Integrated Guarding Solutions specifically for organizations and facilities that require highly trained public security officers. These solutions incorporate security technology with analytics, training, consultation, and security program development - all while adhering to the highest level of professional guidelines established by P4S over the last several years.

"I am extremely proud of the team we have built for our P4 sister companies; P4 Protective Services and P4 Security Solutions," said P4 CEO and Founder, Lawrence Doria, a 40+ year security industry veteran. "Our 'Dream Team' has been personally vetted as the best of the best leading industry experts who specialize in a range of industries."

Areas of focus include guarding solutions, off-duty police services, executive protection, security training and consultation, municipal law enforcement consultation and cannabis security solutions.

P4 companies' executive leadership team includes Doria, COO and Co-Founder Adam Johnson, in addition to Executive Vice Presidents and Principals, Steve Vitale and Paul Ohm. Leadership at the P4 companies prides itself on bringing together security industry subject matter experts with specialized backgrounds, who possess industry designations that cover all facets of security. Every P4S team member is personally selected and vetted relating to their expertise and contributions in their respective fields.

About P4 Companies

Headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois with offices in Chicago's River North neighborhood, P4 Security Solutions (P4S) and P4 Protective Services (P4P) are sister companies that provide full-service protection, training, and consultation. The two companies work collaboratively to provide best-in-class security solutions to a variety of vertical markets.

P4S was founded in 2014, and offers Protective Services including Integrated Guarding Solutions, Off-Duty Police Services, Executive Protection and Protective Operations, in addition to Cannabis Dispensary and Cultivation Center Security. Consultation Services include Security Assessments and Emergency Management Support, Municipal and Law Enforcement Consultation, Business Support Services, Security Planning for Higher Education Institutions, and Cannabis Dispensary and Cultivation Center Security. Training offerings include Emergency Management, Human Resources and Tactical Training. Learn more at p4secure.com/.

P4P was founded in 2020, and specializes in Integrated Guarding Solutions, Strategic Security Solutions and Rapid Response. What differentiates P4P from P4S is the workforce provided to clients; P4P will meet the demand to provide civilian security officers that are trained at the highest levels to provide a boutique style approach to every client no matter the scope of work or location of their security needs. Learn more at p4protective.com/.

The P4 companies' executive leadership team is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive teams of subject matter experts in the security industry. It is comprised of some of the most recognizable names who are proven leaders within the security trade.

CEO/President and Founder Lawrence Doria





COO and Co-Founder Adam Johnson





Executive Vice President and Principal Steve Vitale





Executive Vice President and Principal Paul Ohm





Vice President of National Accounts Kevin Conway





Senior Vice President of Consultation Services Daniel S. McDevitt

Complete profiles of the P4 Companies Executive Leadership Team can be found here: p4protective.com/about-us/leadership-team/

Please Note: The members of the P4 executive leadership team are subject matter experts for a variety of security-related services, and can be available to the news media (television, radio or print) to provide expert commentary/insight, as well as context for issues/current events that relate to areas of focus for a vast range of security solutions.

SOURCE P4 Security Solutions

Related Links

http://www.p4secure.com


"At Bowflex, we are constantly improving the shopping experience for our North American customers," said Paul McLay, Director Sales and Service, Bowflex. "We recognize that today's customers are looking for flexible payment options as part of a fast and easy checkout experience and we are pleased to bring PayBright to our Canadian customers."

Toronto-based PayBright is partnered with over 6,000 domestic and international merchants, enabling them to offer flexible installment payments to their Canadian customers. Merchants that partner with PayBright are seeing increased checkout conversion of 10-25%, increased customer traffic and loyalty, and average order values that are as much as 100% higher than orders completed using traditional payment methods.

"We are proud to partner with Bowflex and help them deliver a superior digital shopping experience for Canadians," says Wayne Pommen, President and CEO of PayBright. "In 2020, Canadians are spending on products that contribute to their health and well-being. They are also shopping online more than ever before, and they are choosing flexible pay-later options wherever merchants offer them. We are thrilled to welcome Bowflex to our growing roster of merchants whose customers enjoy more payment choice at checkout."

PayBright was the first integrated installment payment solution for e-commerce, in-app, and in-store sales in Canada that does not require customers to sign up for a credit card. Unlike other pay-later payment methods, PayBright does not charge hidden fees, retroactive interest, or revolving interest charges.

About PayBright

PayBright is Canada's leading provider of installment payment plans for e-commerce and in-store purchases. Through partnerships with over 6,000 domestic and international retailers, PayBright allows Canadian consumers to buy now and pay later in a quick and easy experience. PayBright is fully integrated with leading retail partners including Wayfair, Samsung, eBay, TaylorMade, Endy, The Source, and Lenovo. PayBright's installment plans range from 4 bi-weekly interest-free payments for smaller purchases, and up to 60 months for larger purchases. Headquartered in Toronto, PayBright has provided Canadians with over $2B in spending power since inception. For more information, visit www.paybright.com .

About Nautilus, Inc.

Nautilus, Inc. (NYSE:NLS) is the global leader in innovative home fitness solutions. The company's diverse brand portfolio includes Bowflex, Nautilus, Schwinn, and Octane Fitness, and a broad selection of exercise bikes, cardio equipment and strength training products. Nautilus, Inc. utilizes technology to develop personalized, connected fitness solutions that empower and motivate people to live a healthy lifestyle. The company sells its products through direct and retail channels, as well as in commercial channels. Nautilus, Inc. uses the investor relations page of its website ( www.nautilusinc.com/investors ) to make information available to its investors and the market.

SOURCE PayBright
NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --



Pet Food Global Market Opportunities And Strategies To 2030: COVID 19 Impact and Recovery provides the strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global pet food market.







Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05921880/?utm_source=PRN







Description:

Where is the largest and fastest growing market for the pet food market? How does the market relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The global pet food market report to 2023 report answers all these questions and many more.



The report covers the following chapters

 Executive Summary  The executive summary section of the report gives a brief overview and summary of the report

 Report Structure  This section gives the structure of the report and the information covered in the various sections.

 Introduction  This section gives the segmentation of the pet food market by geography and by product type covered in this report.

 Market Characteristics  The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the pet food market. This chapter includes different goods covered in the report and basic definitions.

 Supply Chain  The supply chain section of the report defines and explains the key players in the pet food industry supply chain.

 Product Analysis  The product/service analysis section of the report describes the leading products/services in the market along with key features and differentiators for those products.

 Customer Information  This chapters covers recent customers' trends/preferences in the global pet food market.

 Trends And Strategies  This chapter describes the major trends shaping the global pet food market. This section highlights likely future developments in the market and suggests approaches companies can take to exploit these opportunities.

 Impact Of COVID-19 On The Pet Food Market  This chapter describes the COVID-19 impact on supply side, demand side factors and regulatory inventions. The section also provides brief overview of COVID impact in all the regions.

 Effect Of COVID-19 On Major Pet Food Manufacturers  This section provides an insight on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the different pet food manufacturers across the world.

 Regulatory Landscape  This section provides recent updates related to pet food manufacturing in developed countries.

 Global Market Size And Growth  This section contains the global historic (2015  2019) and forecast (2019-2023), (2023-2025), and (2025-2030) market values, and drivers and restraints that support and restrain the growth of the market in the historic and forecast periods.

 Global Macro Comparison  The global pet food market comparison with macro-economic factors gives the pet food market size, percentage of GDP, and average pet food market expenditure.

 Regional Analysis  This section contains the historic (2015  2019), and forecast (2019-2023), (2023-2025), and (2025-2030) market values and growth and market share comparison by region.

 Segmentation  This section contains the market values (2015  2030) and analysis for different segments in the market.

 Regional Market Size and Growth  This section contains the region's market size (2019), historic and forecast (2015  2023), (2023-2025), and (2025-2030) market values, and growth and market share comparison of major countries within the region. This report includes information on all the regions (Asia Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa).

 Competitive Landscape  This section covers details on the competitive landscape of the global pet food market, estimated market shares and company profiles of the leading players.

 Key Mergers And Acquisitions  This chapter gives the information on recent mergers and acquisitions in the market covered in the report. This section gives key financial details of mergers and acquisitions which have shaped the market in recent years.

 Market Background  This section describes the animal and pet food market of which the pet food market is a segment. This chapter includes the animal and pet food market 2015-23 values, and regional analyses for the animal and pet food market.

 Recommendations  This section includes conclusions and recommendations based on findings of the research. This section gives information on growth opportunities across countries, segments and strategies to be followed in those markets. It gives an understanding of where there is significant business to be gained by competitors in the next five years.

Appendix  This section includes details on the NAICS codes covered, abbreviations and currencies codes used in this report.



Markets Covered:

The global Pet Food market is segmented into -

By Type Of Animal Food: Dog Food; Cat Food; Other Pet Food

By Type Of Dog Food: Dry Dog Food; Wet Dog Food; Dog Treats And Mixers

By Type Of Cat Food: Dry Cat Food; Wet Cat Food; Cat Treats And Mixers

By Type Of Other Pet Food: Bird Food; Fish Food; Small Mammal/Reptile Food

By Distribution Channel: Specialized Pet Shops; Internet Sales; Hypermarkets; Others

By Type Of Ingredient: Animal Derivatives; Plant Derivatives; Synthetic



Companies Mentioned: Mars, Incorporated; Nestle S.A.; The J.M. Smucker Company; Colgate-Palmolive Company; Diamond Pet Foods Inc.



Countries: China, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa



Regions: Asia Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa



Time series: Five years historic and forecast.



Data: Ratios of market size and growth to related markets, GDP proportions, expenditure per capita



Data segmentations: country and regional historic and forecast data, market share of competitors, market segments.



Sourcing and Referencing: Data and analysis throughout the report is sourced using end notes.



Reasons to Purchase

 Outperform competitors using accurate up to date demand-side dynamics information.

 Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates.

 Identify growth segments for investment.

 Facilitate decision making on the basis of historic and forecast data and the drivers and restraints on the market.

 Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.

 Stay abreast of the latest customer and market research findings

 Benchmark performance against key competitors.

 Develop strategies based on likely future developments.

 Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.

 Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis

 Gain a global perspective on the development of the market.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05921880/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

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SEATTLE, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PitchBook, the premier data provider for the private and public equity markets, released a new product feature, PitchBook Custom Benchmarks, which provides limited partners (LPs), general partners (GPs) and service providers (SPs) with a solution to compare funds and understand larger trends in fund performance. Now available in the PitchBook Platform, the tool incorporates performance data from over 5,000 funds and offers customers a way to easily visualize key data points such as IRR and cash multiples (TVPI, DPI, RVPI). The PitchBook Custom Benchmarks tool equips clients with the ability to easily tailor benchmarks to specific peer groups, strategies or geographies to better compare performance across multiple funds and investors. This new release underscores PitchBook's commitment to serving its customers by providing holistic research and analysis on the evolving capital markets.

For more information about PitchBook Custom Benchmarks, click here.

"Both LPs and GPs have a desire to evaluate fund performance on a regular basis and benchmarks are a core way to see the full picture and compare performance across investors," said Michael Mott, lead product manager at PitchBook. "Given benchmarks are completely customizable within the PitchBook Custom Benchmarks tool, LPs are able to use it to make strategic allocation decisions and conduct better due diligence when considering potential commitments and investors, while GPs are able to understand how their fund compares with the broader landscape and better define and communicate their approach to LPs.

Benchmarks are used when trying to understand how a fund's performance compares to its peers. Existing providers of benchmarking data offer high-level analysis of fund performance, but don't allow users to drill deeper into the specific funds making up the performance. With PitchBook's Custom Benchmark feature, users can view the underlying funds of a benchmark to better understand which investors and funds are driving specific performance numbers. Customers can easily set their benchmark criteria to create customized and targeted peer groups and can now aggregate vintage years together (i.e. 2012-2014) to compare. Users will also be able to add or remove specific funds from the Benchmark data set within the tool. PitchBook Custom Benchmarks will continue to evolve as new funds and features are added.

For more information about PitchBook, click here.

About PitchBook

PitchBook is a financial data and software company that provides transparency into the capital markets to help professionals discover and execute opportunities with confidence and efficiency. PitchBook collects and analyzes detailed data on the entire venture capital, private equity and M&A landscapeincluding public and private companies, investors, funds, investments, exits and people. The company's data and analysis are available through the PitchBook Platform, industry news and in-depth reports. Founded in 2007, PitchBook has offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York and London and serves more than 45,000 professionals around the world. In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook, which now operates as an independent subsidiary.

SOURCE PitchBook

Related Links

https://pitchbook.com/


HOPKINTON, Mass., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PowerOptions, the largest energy-buying consortium in New England, has expanded its relationship with Solect Energy to offer large scale solar and storage to its members, PowerOptions CEO Heather Takle announced today. Solect, one of the top ten commercial solar developers in the U.S., has been PowerOptions' partner for the Small Systems Solar Program for more than four years, and will continue in that role as well.



Solect Energy is now able to offer solar photovoltaic (PV) and storage solutions of any size to PowerOptions' members looking to reduce their electricity costs and transition to renewable energy resources. Offerings include rooftop solar energy systems, solar canopies for parking lots, ground mounts, net metering solutions, and battery storage systems. Solect's PV+Storage on-site Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) will provide an offset of peak demand charges when utility power is most expensive. Additionally, the program will secure incentives and cost-savings through utility, state, and ISO New England programs available for solar and battery configurations.



PowerOptions' membership is comprised of more than 450 members from nonprofit organizations and public entities, such as state agencies, cities, towns and schools, across Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.



Every PowerOptions program is subject to a robust competitive procurement process. Leveraging the collective demand of the consortium allows PowerOptions to negotiate contract agreements with energy solutions providers that provide its members with optimal pricing and strong customer protections. Programs include competitive supply for electricity, natural gas, and solar, among others.



Through PowerOptions' partnership with Solect, members can contract for solar and storage PPAs, at building sites and offsite locations. PPAs are a highly effective tool for municipal, state and nonprofits that are not eligible for the federal Investment Tax Credit, enabling those entities to not invest capital yet still receive the benefits of solar and storage systems for their facilities.



Municipal entities, schools and nonprofits going solar through the PowerOptions/Solect partnership benefit from no capital investment, no ongoing operating and maintenance costs, and eliminates the competitive bidding process because PowerOptions has already undertaken the required steps on behalf of its members. The result of this partnership is the ability to create substantial savings for members electing to participate.



"Over the past four years, Solect has proven to be a strong solar partner. The expanded solar and storage program will provide our members greater opportunities for sustainable solar power and significant savings under the recently revised Massachusetts' SMART 2.0 incentive regime," said PowerOptions President & CEO Heather M. Takle.



"Solect is proud to partner with PowerOptions to bring the financial benefits of solar to those that otherwise might not be able to benefit. Solect has earned the trust and confidence of PowerOptions and its members over the past four years, and we look forward to extending that strong working relationship to even more PowerOptions members," said Solect Energy CEO Ken Driscoll.



"Solect's solar and storage PPAs are delivering fantastic benefits for communities, agencies, school districts and institutions. I'm proud to be part of a team doing great work with our customers. As the solar and storage technology developer, integrator, financier and services manager, we work hard to deliver. We truly consider each and every project a public-private partnership," said Solect Energy Vice President and General Manager of Development Matt Shortsleeve.



Under the PowerOptions Small Systems Solar Program, Solect has installed more than 80 projects totaling 15 megawatts of solar energy, saving tens of millions of dollars over the life of the agreement for cities, towns, schools, state agencies and nonprofits in Massachusetts. The Small Systems Solar Program applies to solar energy systems of less than 300 kilowatts capacity and this program will continue in conjunction with the Large-Scale Solar program.



To learn more, visit https://info.solect.com/smart2.0/poweroptions.



About PowerOptions



Established in 1998, PowerOptions is the largest energy buying consortium in New England, serving nonprofits and the public sector in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. With more than 450 members, collective strength yields optimal pricing and stability for the entire membership of organizations both large and small. Any nonprofit or public entity is eligible to join PowerOptions and benefit from programs for electricity supply, natural gas supply, solar and electric vehicle charging stations. For more information, go to www.poweroptions.org.



About Solect Energy



Solect Energy of Hopkinton, Mass., is one of the top ten commercial solar developers in the U.S., according to Solar Power World. The company provides commercial and industrial businesses, cities and towns, and nonprofits throughout New England and Illinois with customized strategies for improving their financial performance through solar and storage technologies. Solect's services include solar financing, design, engineering, installation, operations and maintenance services, and system monitoring. The company installs rooftop and canopy systems, as well as solar energy storage systems that provide businesses with some emergency backup electricity in the case of power outages, and the ability to shift load by using stored solar at times when utility prices are at a premium. Solect has installed more than 500 projects representing more than 100 megawatts. The company, which was founded in 2009, employs approximately 70 people. More information at www.solect.com.



CONTACTS:

Liam Sullivan

PowerOptions

617.428.4250

[email protected]



Caitlyn Collins

Solect Energy

508.598.3511 x717

[email protected]



PRLog ID: www.prlog.org/12829134

SOURCE Solect Energy

Related Links

http://www.solect.com


NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Pressure Sensitive Tapes market is forecast to reach USD 82.94 Billion by 2027, according to a new report by Reports and Data. Increasing concerns regarding the light-weighting of automobiles across the globe have led to the increasing adoption of tapes. Traditionally used products, such as fasteners and adhesives, are being replaced by pressure sensitive tapes, due to the benefits they offer.

The increasing population in the developing countries, which leads to an increase in industrialization and urbanization, is expected to lead to a rise in government spending on infrastructure and construction. This, in turn, will foster the demand for the pressure sensitive tapes market, as these find extensive uses in the construction industry. The growth in the aircraft industry is also expected to lead to an increased demand for the product, as pressure sensitive tapes are extensively used in making aircraft interiors and avionics.

Request free sample of this research report at: https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/3222

Frequent fluctuations in raw material prices have a significant impact on the manufacturers' procurement cost, which can hamper the demand for the market. Increasing sanctions on the import of crude oil affect the overall oil prices, which can also lead to reduced market size for pressure sensitive tapes. The market also faces a threat from the increasing number of substitutes present for the product, such as sealants and fasteners. The growing use of these in various industries can lead to reduced demand for Pressure Sensitive Tapes.

The COVID-19 impact:

The COVID-19 Pandemic has led to lockdowns among many countries around the globe. This has led to the shutting down of major industries temporarily. Industries, such as construction and aerospace, which find extensive uses for Pressure Sensitive Tapes, have currently halted operations. This has led to a decline in the demand for the product. Major players involved in the market have also halted operations currently, which has led to a decrease from the supply side. It is expected that once the situation becomes normal again, and the industries start functioning again, the demand for the market will rise. Manufacturers who are not able to operate currently are involved in innovations so that once the industries open, innovations would help them gain a greater market share and lead to a rise in the overall demand for the market.

To identify the key trends in the industry, click on the link below: https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/pressure-sensitive-tapes-market

Further key findings from the report suggest

Consumer Tapes occupied 22.2% of the market share in 2019. This finds extensive applications in attaching, temporary mounting, and bonding. Plastic backing with a medium to strong adhesive is used for manufacturing the product. Increasing demand from residential and commercial interior modifications is expected to drive the growth for this segment.

In terms of material, Foam occupied 17.8% of the market share in 2019. It is one of the majorly used products in the specialty products market. In finds increasing applications in mounting and bonding applications in various cars in the mid to high-end range. It provides benefits, such as superior water, aging, and UV resistance, which leads to increasing demand for the product.

In terms of End-Use, the Medical industry occupied 8.40% of the market share in 2019. Pressure Sensitive Tapes are used in the industry to secure dressings and bandages on wounds. These are also used to prevent injuries in sports.

The market in Latin America is witnessing a decline in demand due to the low manufacturing ability of the region, along with a rapid economic decline in many countries.

is witnessing a decline in demand due to the low manufacturing ability of the region, along with a rapid economic decline in many countries. In terms of Technology, Hot Melt occupies a significant market share. This is primarily due to the extensive use of the technology in Specialty products, as it provides benefits, such as superior product performance and long life, in both outdoor and indoor products. The technology provides a strong bond between the tape and the surface on which it is applied, as it uses a durable resin or synthetic adhesive.

Key participants include Scapa Group PLC, Sika AG, Arkema Group, DOW Corning, 3M , H.B. Fuller, Avery Dennison Corporation, Tesa, Intertape, and Henkel AG & Company KGAA, among others.

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For the purpose of this report, Reports and Data have segmented into the global Pressure Sensitive Tapes market on the basis of product, Material, End-Use, and region:

Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2017-2027)

Specialty Tapes

Packaging Tapes

Consumer Tapes

Material Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2017-2027)

Woven/Nonwoven

Polyvinyl Chloride

Polypropylene

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

Foam

Metal

Others

End-Use Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2017-2027)

Automotive

Aerospace

White Goods

Electronics

Semiconductors

Electrical

Paper and Printing

Construction

Medical

Hygiene

Retail and Graphics

Others

Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2017-2027)

North America

The U.S.

Europe

U.K



France

Asia Pacific

China



India



Japan

MEA

Latin America

Brazil

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PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Proven Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a service provider to the healthcare and life-science industries, announced today that it is the exclusive authorized U.S. distributor of the Clungene SARS-CoV-2 Virus (COVID-19) IgG/IgM Rapid Test Cassette.

"Hangzhou Clongene Biotech, the company that manufactures this product, has an established track record producing effective diagnostic tests, and we are extremely pleased with the performance of the Clungene SARS-CoV-2 Virus (COVID-19) IgG/IgM Rapid Test Cassette to reveal the presence of COVID-19 antibodies," Proven Pharma CEO Scott Wise said.

The test has been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and is awaiting approval. The FDA is currently allowing the test to be made available in the U.S. as the agency reviews its EUA application.

The FDA is allowing Clungene SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM Rapid Serology Test to be made available under its new policy dated May 4, 2020. (Policy for Coronavirus Disease-2019 Tests During the Public Health Emergency). As required, the completed EUA template and associated documentation were submitted on May 15, 2020 to the FDA. The submission (EUA#201121) included updated validation reports and additional clinical data. Clungene's establishment registration & device number on the FDA's website is 3009414546.

The test, which should be administered by healthcare professionals, produces Rapid Point of Care results in 15 minutes from whole blood drawn with a finger prick. The diagnostic cassette does not require laboratory equipment or instrumentation, and users do not need to ship the sample to a lab. The manufacturer has performed two clinical studies of the test, both of which were submitted to the FDA, and Proven Pharma is in the process of conducting a third trial in the U.S.

Proven Pharma has distributed Hangzhou Clongene Biotech products in the U.S. since 2018. Proven Pharma has performed multiple site visits of the Hangzhou Clongene Biotech facilities for quality assurance and supply chain efficiencies. Founded in 2004, Clongene is registered to sell 24 products in the U.S., according to the FDA, including the Clungene SARS-CoV-2 Virus (COVID-19) IgG/IgM Rapid Test Cassette.

Contact: Scott Wise  [email protected]

ABOUT PROVEN PHARMA

Established in 2012, Proven Pharma is a service provider to the healthcare and life science industries. The company offers a wide range of solutions that include specialty distribution, comparator sourcing for clinical trials, dedicated inside sales teams, marketing support, digital transformation, and technology consulting. Their solutions are informed by more than two decades of extensive experience across many areas of the healthcare landscape.

In an industry full of uncertainty, Proven Pharma provides confidence to its customers. The company delivers on-time, every time  using recognized best practice and process to ensure safety and compliance every step of the way. Prove Pharma is dedicated to constantly improving its customers' experience so those customers can improve the lives of their patients. The company's success results from the honesty, integrity and dependability of its team.

About Hangzhou Clongene Biotech

Hangzhou Clongene Biotech is a high-tech, leading manufacturer of biological raw materials and in vitro diagnostic products. The company has a solid reputation for offering diversified services and superior flexibility to professional distributors and partnering affiliates in the global market.

Founded in 2004, Hangzhou Clongene Biotech is equipped with state-of-the-art ISO 13485:2016 accredited China GMP compliant R&D and manufacturing facilities covering 19,000 square meters in Hangzhou, China. Their products have obtained CE certificates, FSC certificates, and US FDA 510(k) Clearances.

SOURCE Proven Pharma
Egypts popular Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh have received 4,208 tourists in the first week of the resumption of international flights, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Anany said on Tuesday.

The tourist hubs have received visitors from different countries including Ukraine, Russia, Belgium, Germany, Belarus, and Switzerland, a cabinet statement quoted the minister as saying during a Tuesday meeting.

Egypt resumed regular international flights on 1 July after more than three months of closure over the coronavirus pandemic.

The government hopes to revive the country's vital tourism industry, a major source of foreign currency that has been hard hit by the pandemic shutdown.

Earlier on Tuesday, Hurghada International Airport received 180 tourists from Belarus, Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Airport staff handed out souvenirs to the tourists, and ensured that arrivals undergo safety procedures before leaving the airport, including having their temperatures measured by thermal cameras.

Hurghada was set to receive two other flights from Ukraine and Belarus on Tuesday.

Foreign tourists are now allowed to visit three coastal tourist hotspots: South Sinai, where the popular seaside resort of Sharm El-Sheikh is located, the Red Sea governorate, home to the city of Hurghada, and Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean. More destinations are planned to open for visitors in later stages of the reopening, officials said.

In an attempt to lure foreign tourists, the country has exempted tourists visiting these areas from visa fees until the end of October.

Egypt has allowed over 400 hotels nationwide to reopen at a reduced occupancy rate of 50 percent after they met hygiene and safety protocols, according to the tourism ministry.

During Tuesdays cabinet meeting, officials discussed plans to upgrade several squares in Khedivial Cairo along the lines of the recent renovation of downtowns iconic Tahrir Square. These include Talaat Harb, Opera, Attaba and other major squares in central Cairo.

Short link:


SAN MATEO, Calif., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rakuten Medical, Inc. (Rakuten Medical) announced they have entered a multi-year deal with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany under which Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will provide cetuximab to Rakuten Medical for its ASP-1929 program. Rakuten Medical uses cetuximab in an intermediate form as the antibody component in its product candidate ASP-1929, an investigational antibody-dye conjugate being studied for the treatment of recurrent, locoregional head and neck cancers. Under this agreement, Rakuten Medical may use cetuximab to produce ASP-1929 for clinical trials and commercial sales.

Earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rakuten Medical and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany memorialized their intent to join forces to explore ways to help patients conquer cancer. "Rakuten Medical is excited to partner with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company," said Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO of Rakuten Medical. "Rakuten Medical is committed to partnering with world class companies such as Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in order to carry forward its mission to conquer cancer."

Rakuten Medical's ASP-1929 combines cetuximab and a light activatable dye, IRDye 700DX. Cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody, targets and binds specifically to the epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR), which are overexpressed in several cancers. After binding to EGFR-expressing cancer cells, ASP-1929 is locally activated by non-thermal red light (690 nm) illumination emitted by an investigational laser device system. Pre-clinical data indicate that illumination of ASP-1929 induces a biophysical process that compromises cell membrane integrity, leading to cancer cell death and tumor necrosis.

About Rakuten Medical, Inc.

Rakuten Medical, Inc. is a global biotechnology company developing precision, cell-targeting investigational therapies on its IlluminoxTM platform, which, in pre-clinical studies have shown to lead to rapid and selective cell killing and tumor necrosis. Illuminox therapies have not yet been approved as safe or effective by any regulatory authority. Rakuten Medical is committed to its mission to conquer cancer and aims to realize a society where cancer patients can lead fulfilling lives. Headquartered in the United States, Rakuten Medical has 6 locations in 5 countries, including Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and Taiwan. For more information, visit www.rakuten-med.com.

About ASP-1929

Since 2013, Rakuten Medical, Inc. has been using an exclusively licensed antibody complex to develop new cancer therapies based on its IlluminoxTM technology platform. Rakuten Medical's first pipeline drug developed on Illuminox is ASP-1929, an antibody-drug conjugate comprised of the antibody cetuximab and IRDye 700DX, a light activatable dye. ASP-1929 binds to epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR), a cancer antigen expressed in multiple types of solid tumors, including head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and pancreatic cancer. After binding to cancer cells, ASP-1929 is locally activated by non-thermal red light (690 nm) illumination emitted by an investigational laser device system. Pre-clinical data indicate that Illuminox technology induces a biophysical process that compromises cell membrane integrity, leading to cancer cell death and tumor necrosis. ASP-1929, has achieved Fast Track designation from the FDA and Sakigake Designation from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare and is currently under investigation in a global phase 3 clinical trial for recurrent head and neck cancer. Rakuten Medical, Inc. is moving forward with product development by conducting clinical trials of monotherapy and combination therapy with other drugs. ASP-1929 has not yet been approved by any regulatory authority.

About Illuminox

The Illuminox platform is an investigational platform based on a cancer therapy called photoimmunotherapy, which was developed by Dr. Hisataka Kobayashi and team from the National Cancer Institute in the United States. Rakuten Medical is developing the Illuminox platform as a technology consisting of a drug, device and other related components. The drug component of the platform consists of a targeting moiety conjugated with one or more dyes leading to selective cell surface binding. The device component consists of a light source that locally illuminates the targeted cells with non-thermal light to transiently activate the drug. Pre-clinical data have shown that this activation elicits rapid and selective necrosis of targeted cells through a biophysical process that compromises the membrane integrity of the targeted cells. Therapies developed on Illuminox may also result in local and systemic innate and adaptive immune activation due to immunogenic cell death of the targeted cells and/or the removal of immunosuppressive elements within the microenvironment. Illuminox therapies have not yet been approved as safe or effective by any regulatory authority.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward looking statements that correspond to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include various risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that may cause Rakuten Medical's business plans and results to differ from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these statements. These "forward looking statements" contain information about the status and development of our products, including ASP-1929, and other regulatory and marketing authorization efforts. The approval and commercial success of the product may not be achieved. Forward looking statements relate to the potential benefits, efficacy, and safety of ASP-1929, and the status of regulatory filings. Such statements may include words such as "expect," "believe," "hope," "estimate," "looks as though," "anticipate," "intend," "may," "suggest," "plan," "strategy," "will," and "do", and are based on our current beliefs. In addition, this press release uses terms such as "important," "notable," and "abnormal" to express opinions about clinical trial data. Ongoing clinical trial studies include various risks and uncertainties, in particular, problems that arise during the manufacturing stage of ASP-1929, the occurrence of adverse safety events, situations in failure to demonstrate therapeutic benefits, and other various risks and uncertainties, both reasonable and unreasonable. For this reason, actual results, including regulatory approvals and uncertainties in the commercialization process of ASP-1929, may differ from published information. Except to the extent required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update this or any other forward-looking statement, whether because of new information, future developments or events, changes in assumptions, changes in the factors affecting forward-looking statements. If one or more forward-looking statement(s) is updated, no inference should be drawn that additional updates will be made to those or other forward-looking statements.

For corporate partnering, please contact [email protected]

SOURCE Rakuten Medical, Inc.
WALTHAM, Mass., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) will issue its second quarter 2020 earnings on Tuesday, July 28, prior to the stock market opening. A conference call will take place at 8:30 a.m. ET.

A presentation corresponding with the conference call will be available on the company's website at http://www.rtx.com for downloading prior to the call. To listen to the earnings call by phone, dial (866) 219-7829 between 8:10 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. ET. Please limit your use of the phone's speaker mode to optimize the audio quality of the call for all participants.

Analysts who wish to ask a question following the prepared remarks should press "1" on their phone during the call. Your name will be placed in queue. To remove yourself from the queue, press "#." If you need assistance, press "*0" to reach the conference operator.

The call will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.rtx.com. A recording will be archived later on the site and will be available for replay by phone from 11:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, July 28, to 11:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, August 11. For a replay, dial (855) 859-2056. At the prompt for a conference ID number, enter 4609655.

About Raytheon Technologies

Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an aerospace and defense company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. With 195,000 employees and four industry-leading businesses  Collins Aerospace Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Raytheon Missiles & Defense  the company delivers solutions that push the boundaries in avionics, cybersecurity, directed energy, electric propulsion, hypersonics, and quantum physics. The company, formed in 2020 through the combination of Raytheon Company and the United Technologies Corporation aerospace businesses, is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts

Media Contact

Michele Quintaglie

C: 860.493.4364

[email protected]



Investor Contact

Kelsey DeBriyn

C: 781.522.5141

[email protected]

SOURCE Raytheon Technologies
"Technology supporting early and accurate diagnosis and management of lung and respiratory disease has become of increasing importance amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, especially as evidence builds for long-term lung damage," said Susan Wood, PhD, president and CEO of VIDA. "Todd's depth of expertise further strengthens our leadership team and positions us well for accelerated market expansion in the pulmonary clinical setting."

Johnson has over 25 years' experience in the clinical imaging and healthcare IT industries. Throughout his career, he has been responsible for accelerating medical technologies, including advanced clinical applications, enterprise imaging, and data solutions -- all with the goal of optimizing the delivery of patient care in radiology, cardiology, oncology, and dentistry.

"VIDA has married a deep clinical background with advanced AI technology and lab services to modernize the treatment of lung disease both in drug discovery and in the clinical setting," said Johnson. "I'm thrilled to be joining this exceptional company at a time when it is more important than ever to focus on and improve care for patients with or at-risk of lung disease."

Prior to joining VIDA, Johnson worked for Evident Inc. as the chief technology officer, where he leveraged SaaS technologies to transform the dental industry in the way it shares and communicates clinical data. He also led the enterprise and radiology imaging suite and the rapid transition to leverage web technologies at Change Healthcare (formerly McKesson Imaging). In addition, Johnson has held multiple leadership positions during his 17 years at Vital Images/Toshiba, including work on Toshiba's clinical imaging informatics platform, global product development execution, and strategic partnerships.

Johnson earned a bachelor of science in biomedical and electrical engineering from the University of Iowa, and a master's in business administration from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

About VIDA

VIDA provides the new standard of pulmonary care by using AI-powered CT imaging software and services to aid the early detection, evaluation, and treatment planning of patients with or at risk of respiratory and lung diseases, including emphysema and airway obstructive diseases (COPD), asthma, interstitial lung disease, COVID-19 and lung cancer. VIDA's software is FDA cleared, CE-marked, Health Canada licensed and TGA registered for clinical use in the US, European Economic Area, Canada and Australia. Learn more at vidalung.ai.

SOURCE VIDA Diagnostics, Inc.

Related Links

https://vidalung.ai


PHOENIX, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Edna Products (https://www.projectsafehands.com/) recently announced the official release of the Safe Hands Project, a common-sense product and legislative effort developed by Jimi Bethel. Bethel is an inventor and author with over 30 years of experience serving in law enforcement, including four years with Homeland Security. Safe Hands offers a pair of highly visible, connected half-mitts that cover only the fingers of each hand, leaving the thumbs exposed and making it impossible to conceal a weapon. Intended to be carried in a motorist's car and used voluntarily, Safe Hands displays compliance during traffic stops: ensuring both civilian and law enforcement safety.

Project Safe Hands Project Safe Hands

"Project Safe Hands is the answer to a continuing tragic problem in the United States: civilian and officer deaths related to traffic stops gone bad," said Jimi Bethel. "The police shoot and kill around a 1,000 people a year according to the Washington Post in the United States  many of those during what should be routine traffic stops. We all remember the tragic case of Philando Castile. And now, the whole country is afire with protests and anger related to other excessive police-force issues. The black community is justifiably upset and concerned. But as a former cop and an African American, I can see both sides of this issue pretty clearly."

Safe Hands are created from high-visibility mesh and are connected by a four-inch cord, keeping the hands in close proximity to each other. Safe Hands come with a built-in clip to fasten them to a car's sun visor for quick access during a traffic stop. The driver simply slips on the mitts, puts their hands out of the window, and waits for further instructions by the officer. Accidental shootings are eliminated because safety and compliance are ensured.

"We have black parents who tell their children every day that they have to be careful of the police  and that's just unacceptable to me. We have to begin developing trust again. There are both bad and good cops out there  though most are good," said Bethel. "But too many routine traffic stops turn deadly, based on misunderstandings, fear, and accidents. And until we can root out this problem entirely, we need a reliable way to maintain both officer and civilian safety during these high-stress and tense traffic-stop encounters. That's why I'm calling on Congress to take up this issue, and mandate the use of Safe Hands in motor vehicles."

To learn more or donate, go online to www.projectsafehands.com, click the Gofundme or PayPal button on the website.

Media Contact:

James Bethel, CEO of Edna Products

301-213-0212

[email protected]

SOURCE Edna Products

Related Links

http://www.projectsafehands.com


OMAHA, Neb., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading in-home care franchise Right at Home is proud to announce that Kimberly Speaks has been named this year's recipient of its National Caregiver of the Year award.

Speaks has been a member of the Right at Home family for seven years, working as a caregiver in Hilton Head, South Carolina, for franchisee Gregg Fulton. She quickly became one of the most valuable members of the Right at Home Hilton Head care team. Speaks lacked formal caregiver training when she started at Right at Home, but she took every opportunity to expand her professional care knowledge and eventually became a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA).

"There is no one more deserving of this year's award than Kimberly, as she leaves a profound impact on all of the clients she serves and their families and medical providers," Fulton said. "Everyone knows and commends Kimberly for her positive attitude, professional care and unending patience. She is a huge asset to the Hilton Head team and to the Right at Home brand."

Speaks' natural passion for caregiving and desire to learn truly embody Right at Home's mission "to improve the quality of life for those we serve," making her more than deserving of this esteemed recognition.

"Kimberly lives out our belief to provide the Right Care for the Right Reasons in the Right Way," said Mike Flair, Vice President of Operational Excellence and Learning at Right at Home. "She is the Right Person in the caregiving role, and we couldn't be luckier to have her as a valued member of our team."

Right at Home caregivers are nominated for the award by Right at Home franchisees. Caregivers are selected by an independent group of professionals in the healthcare industry based on the following criteria: character, client impact, brand ambassadorship, team spirit and professional development. Speaks has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to providing compassionate and personalized care that has made an impact on both clients and their loved ones, and her commitment to going above and beyond the call of duty was mentioned numerous times.

"Kim has consistently cared for my mom beyond 40 hours each week," Right at Home Hilton Head client Aisha said. "In addition to preparing and serving meals, housekeeping, laundry, and my mother's activities of daily living, she regularly agrees to come in a few hours early to assist my mom at her various medical appointments. She has developed a professional and much respected rapport with my mom's medical team. Kim takes perfect notes and provides excellent updates to both Mom's nurse and me."

Glowing reviews of Speaks' caregiving are abundant. Another one of Speaks' clients, Iman, echoed a similar sentiment when recounting Speaks' care for her mother.

"Over the last three years, I can honestly say that I have always seen Kim patiently attending to my mother," Iman said. "This has not always been an easy task. My mom's Alzheimer's has changed her personality, at times, for the worst. Yet Kim is ready to assist my mom and give my dad a much-needed break."

In addition to honoring Speaks on a national scale, Right at Home recognized four caregivers at the regional level for their outstanding commitment to their clients. This year's Region Caregivers of the Year are:

West Region Caregiver of the Year: Aleta Pesce of Northwest Orange County, California (franchisees Grace and Vernon Atwood ).

of (franchisees ). Central Region Caregiver of the Year: Ernestine Lyons of Southwest Kansas City, Kansas (franchisees Kami and Scott Sjoberg ).

of (franchisees ). Northeast Region Caregiver of the Year: Karl Beaucamp of Lima, Ohio (franchisee Sandra Bullock ).

of (franchisee ). Southeast Region Caregiver of the Year: Fletcher Hester of Durham - Chapel Hill, North Carolina (franchisee Ken Helmuth ).

Going the extra mile to provide exceptional care for those in need of at-home assistance often comes down to the little, everyday things. Right at Home is proud to recognize the exemplary caregivers within its system whose purpose-driven work betters the lives of those they are entrusted to serve.

ABOUT RIGHT AT HOME:

Founded in 1995, Right at Home offers in-home companionship and personal care to seniors and adults with a disability who want to continue to live independently. Most Right at Home offices are independently owned and operated and directly employ and supervise all caregiving staff, each of whom is thoroughly screened, trained, and bonded/insured prior to entering a client's home. Right at Home's global headquarters is based in Omaha, Nebraska, with more than 500 franchise locations in the U.S. and seven other countries. For more information on Right at Home, visit About Right at Home at http://www.rightathome.net/about-us or read the Right at Home franchising blog at http://www.rightathomefranchise.com/blog/. To learn more about franchising opportunities, please visit http://www.rightathomefranchise.com/.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Lauren Turner

No Limit Agency

312-526-3996

[email protected]

SOURCE Right at Home

Related Links

http://www.rightathome.net


TORONTO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Rubicon Minerals Corporation (TSX: RMX) (OTCQX: RBYCF) ("Rubicon" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has now completed its corporate name change to Battle North Gold Corporation ("Battle North" or the "Company") to better reflect the Company's culture of perseverance, determination, tenacity and resilience, as part of the Northern Ontario community of Red Lake. We believe the new name provides a fresh perspective on the Company's significant accomplishments in recent years and its renewed long-term potential. The Company has also changed the name of its flagship project in the prolific Red Lake gold mining district to the Bateman Gold Project (the "Project"), formerly known as the "Phoenix Gold Project".

The new corporate name is effective immediately; however, the Company will begin trading on the TSX under its new name and new ticker symbol  BNAU  on or about July 9, 2020, with a new CUSIP 07160B106 and ISIN CA07160B1067. The Company expects to begin trading under its new name on the OTCQX at or about the same time, and under a new ticker symbol later this month, until which time the Company will continue to trade under the current OTCQX symbol (RBYCF). The website address has been changed to www.battlenorthgold.com. Any visitors to our current website address and any communication to our current electronic mail addresses will be redirected accordingly.

Battle North Gold: A New Perspective on a Canadian Gold Developer

Battle North CEO George Ogilvie, P.Eng., states, "This is the dawn of a new era for Battle North Gold, its shareholders and stakeholders. We believe the new name provides a fresh look at the Company's potential to create value. Fueled by our perseverance and determination, we have significantly de-risked and advanced our shovel-ready Bateman Gold Project in Red Lake. We are now just months away from the completion of the Feasibility Study for the Project, the results of which, we believe, are highly anticipated and closely watched by our investors and the many that follow the Company. This will be the maiden Feasibility Study (which will include Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve estimates) for the Bateman Gold Project and is a significant milestone warranting the re-branding of the Company."

"In addition, we are pleased with the progress of our multi-faceted exploration programs. We have completed more than 8,000 metres of orientated drilling at the Bateman Gold Project since the data cut-off date of the NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate in January, targeting the conversion of the Inferred Mineral Resource estimates at depth into the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource categories at the F2 Gold Zone. We have also commenced infill drilling at the McFinley and Pen Zones, both of which are within 550 metres from the Bateman Gold Project existing infrastructure, including a production shaft and a permitted milling facility. All of our current exploration programs are designed with the intent to add incremental mill feed to our operational 1,800-tonne-per-day, state-of-the-art mill facility. We expect to release the details of our exploration results in the coming weeks."

"We plan to review the data with respect to our 28,000-hectare regional land package in Red Lake with the goal of initiating a regional exploration campaign in the near future."

About Battle North Gold Corporation

Battle North Gold is a Canadian gold mine developer led by an accomplished management team with successful underground gold mine operations, finance, and capital markets experience. Battle North owns the significantly de-risked and shovel-ready Bateman Gold Project, located in the renowned Red Lake gold district in Ontario, Canada and controls the second largest and strategic exploration ground in the district. Battle North also owns a large gold exploration land package on the Long Canyon gold trend near the Nevada-Utah border in the United States. Battle North's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the OTCQX markets. For more information, please visit our website at www.battlenorthgold.com.

BATTLE NORTH GOLD CORPORATION

George Ogilvie, P.Eng.

President, CEO, and Director

Cautionary Statement regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" and "forward looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "assumption", "believe", "designed", "estimate", "expects", "exploration", "feasibility", "forward", "future", "intent", "may", "milestone", "plan", "potential", "program", "progress", "project", "risk", "strategic", "study", "target", "to maturity", and "will", or variations of such words, and similar such words, expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results can, could, may, should, will (or not) be begin, achieved or occur, or are expected, in the future including trading of the Company's common shares under new ticker symbols on the TSX and the OTCQX market; the Feasibility Study for the Project including timing of its delivery and its results; ongoing and future exploration programs or campaigns; and Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates including any conversion of current Mineral Resource estimates into other categories. In some cases, forward-looking information may be stated in the present tense, such as in respect of current matters that may be continuing, or that may have a future impact or effect. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and represent management's best judgment based on facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable. If such opinions and estimates prove to be incorrect, actual and future results may be materially different than expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, those described in the Company's annual information form dated March 27, 2020 under the heading "Risk Factors" and the Company's other continuous disclosure documents including, but not limited to, the current Technical Report for the Project, all available under its profile at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.battlenorthgold.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Rubicon 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 applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

SOURCE Rubicon Minerals Corporation

Related Links

www.rubiconminerals.com


SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SafeBreach, provider of the leading breach-and-attack simulation (BAS) platform to validate security controls, visualize security risk and prioritize remediations, today announced its experts will present novel insights on Stuxnet printer spool vulnerability and an update on HTTP Request Smuggling with four new attack variants at the Black Hat USA 2020 virtual event from August 1 - 6. One of the premier cybersecurity events in the world, the annual Black Hat USA Conference gathers the smartest researchers and hackers to demonstrate new exploits, cover trends, and discuss cybersecurity policy issues.

Black Hat 2020 Sessions Featuring SafeBreach Lab's Research:

SafeBreach's VP of Security Research Amit Klein will present "HTTP Request Smuggling in 2020  New Variants, New Defenses and New Challenges" on the AppSec and Network Security topic track on August 5th at 10am PT. The talk will demonstrate four new HTTP Request Smuggling attack variants that work against COTS, popular, present-day web servers and HTTP proxy servers, and discuss the shortcomings of existing free, open-source solutions for HTTP Request Smuggling.

SafeBreach Labs Security Researcher Peleg Hadar and Research Team Leader Tomer Bar will present "A Decade After Stuxnet's Printer Vulnerability: Printing is Still the Stairway to Heaven" in the Cloud & Platform Security and Exploit Development topic track on August 6th at 11am PT. The talk will analyze two past Stuxnet's vulnerabilities and how they were partially patched (even multiple times) and provide a live demo of two 0-day vulnerabilities discovered in the Windows Print Spooler, which was the third disclosed Stuxnet vulnerability and was thought to be patched.

The researchers will also present at the DEF CON (R) Conference .

About SafeBreach: SafeBreach is the world's most widely used breach-and-attack-simulation platform. The company's patented platform provides a near real-time "hacker's view" of an enterprise's security posture to proactively predict attacks, validate security controls, and improve security operations center (SOC) analyst response capabilities. SafeBreach automatically and safely executes thousands of breach methods validating network, endpoint, cloud, and email security controls by leveraging its extensive and growing Hacker's Playbook of research and real-world investigative data. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the company is funded by Sequoia Capital, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, OCV Partners, DNX Ventures, Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, PayPal and investor Shlomo Kramer. For more information, visit www.safebreach.com or follow us on Twitter @SafeBreach.

Contact: Corinna Krueger, [email protected], VP of Marketing

SOURCE SafeBreach

Related Links

safebreach.com


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In DUI cases, the believability of a government's forensic test, that claims to show a person's alcohol concentration, is often the difference between innocence and guilt. History, particularly in Scottsdale DUI cases, has revealed many instances where these test results appeared believable, but were later found to be unreliable. The fundamental challenge, when defending DUI cases, is that most people automatically assume these blood and breath tests are correct  unless proven wrong.

This has been the dilemma in Scottsdale DUI cases for almost a decade due to the systemic scandals that have occurred in their crime laboratory.

To identify and understand the significance of reoccurring lab errors in Scottsdale DUI cases requires an understanding of many different areas of forensic science and sub-specialties including:

Blood alcohol testing using head-space gas chromatography,

Drug blood testing using mass spectrometry,

Metrology (the science of measurement).

To help clients defend these cases, and bridge the knowledge gap most Scottsdale DUI Attorneys suffer from, Mr. Koplow has created a definitive guide. In his Definitive Guide to Scottsdale DUI Cases, Mr. Koplow provides specific information relating to issues with the Scottsdale Crime Lab.

The guide also provides a repository to DUI specific scientific concepts for all DUI cases such as:

Whether blood alcohol test results represent a true value or not?

What is the error rate of the laboratory's measurement system?

Does the proposed blood alcohol measurement comply with required ISO 17025 standards?

If these are the kinds of questions you want answers to then view the definitive guide: HERE

ABOUT LAWRENCE KOPLOW:

Mr. Koplow is a former DUI and vehicular crimes prosecutor who focuses his private practice to the defense of these cases. He is one of the most sought after DUI lawyers in the United States. Beyond the individual clients he decides to take on, a significant portion of his caseload comes from other attorneys that have retained him as co-counsel in DUI and impaired driving matters.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Lawrence Koplow

KOPLOW LAW FIRM

2501 N. 7th Street

Phoenix, AZ 85006

(602) 494-3444

ArizonaDUIcenter.com

Related Links

https://arizonaduicenter.com/what-i-help/

https://arizonaduicenter.com/how-i-help/

SOURCE KOPLOW LAW FIRM
LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seechum, a new Social Connections Mobile App, officially launched globally on the App Store, after a short beta release in the UK. The launch comes off the back of a successful seed funding round which closed at the end of 2019.

Seechum is the world's first on-demand, video-based Social Connection Mobile App, enabling entertaining social experiences between individuals from more than 180 countries.

Home Screen Chum Profile

In a social media-disrupted world, Seechum provides a timely platform for authentic human connection. Understanding that communication styles will become more personal, and content will be tailored to more specific, relevant topics, Seechum has developed a first-of-its-kind, social science-based, AI-driven search engine algorithm which matches members who seek social connections with other people (Chums).

Through machine learning and driven by personality indicators within categories of information, common interests and experiences, the app identifies 'personal chemistry' and matches users based on "common ground' - a vital ingredient for establishing long-term, sustainable social connections.

Seechum created a patent-pending scheduling and automated video-calling technology for connecting two parties simultaneously and privately. The platform initiates calls to both parties without the need to share phone numbers or emails, ensuring complete control of personal contact information and therefore eliminates users' deception risks which are widely associated with traditional social media

Seechum charges $10 (or 10 pounds in the UK and 10 Euros in the EU) per 45 minutes of social connection call with a Chum, with a one free call trial to each/all new users.

Founder and CEO Moses Gotlieb explains why he has started Social Connection:

"Not knowing that a global pandemic could make Seechum's global release historical, the ability to connect individuals in isolated communicates from all over the world has become more relevant than ever before. A basic human need is a connection and social distancing does not mean a social shutdown. Even before COVID -19, our society was experiencing a massive loneliness epidemic. Social isolation became common, and we are encountering social media fatigue from a constant exposure to biased content, influencer hegemony as well as mental health issues related to the unrealistic pressures of fitting in. People wish for a boundless world where they feel they can belong, and be accepted, just as they are. Seechum's social connections available - anytime, anywhere, is leading a new paradigm.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

To schedule meetings or interview with Social Connection's Founder Moses Gottlieb, as well as with anyone from the team for commentary and opinions on Social Isolation or Seechum, please contact our Avi at +44 755 500 9623 or [email protected].

Media kit link: https://www.seechum.com/press-and-media

ABOUT SOCIAL CONNECTION:

Social Connection, Inc. is the holding company of Seechum Limited, the developer and operator of the Seechum App, the world's first on-demand, video-based Social Connection Mobile App, enabling entertaining social experiences between individuals from more than 180 countries. Founded by serial entrepreneur Moses Gottlieb in 2019 - the company's purpose is to enable authentic human connections through technology.

http://www.seechum.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeechumApp

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seechum.app

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seechum

SOURCE Social Connection, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.seechum.com


LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The following release is being issued by SEIU United Healthcare Workers - West:

A union of healthcare workers has filed a formal objection with the California attorney general to the sale of St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood to Prime Healthcare, a corporation with a history of allegations involving Medicare fraud, bilking taxpayers, and misdiagnosing patients in a scheme to jack up their reimbursements and profits.

In written opposition submitted to the attorney general of California, whose office must approve the sale, Service Employees International Union  United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) calls for a rejection of Prime's acquisition of St. Francis, saying the sale is "not in the public interest" and likely to have a "negative impact on the availability and accessibility of healthcare in the community." The filing calls on Verity Health System, the current owner of St. Francis, to find a new purchaser that will better serve the community.

"Prime's shocking history of deceit, fraud and repeated elimination of health services that patients depend on is simply out of step with owning a hospital like St. Francis, which is a lifeline to the people of Lynwood and surrounding communities," said Mauricio Medina, a certified nursing assistant at St. Francis and a member of SEIU-UHW. "My co-workers and I have endured multiple sales of our hospital and the dangers of treating patients with COVID-19, too often without the proper protective equipment. After all of that, it's outrageous to think that our hospital will now be sold to a corporation with such a checkered past."

The filing raises new issues beyond Prime Healthcare's $65 million settlement in 2018 with the U.S. Department of Justice based on allegations of Medicare fraud.

As part of its settlement in 2018, Prime entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement ("CIA"), a document outlining the obligations that a company involved in healthcare makes with a federal government agency or a state government as part of a civil settlement. But recent activities raise troubling questions about whether Prime is in violation of the CIA:

The union's filing with the attorney general reveals an arbitration in which Prime's current chief medical officer, a certifying official under the CIA, was found liable for $1 million in punitive damages, plus compensatory damages, for claims of embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duty, including claims that he fraudulently diverted or attempted to divert Medicare reimbursements to his personal accounts. The arbitration award was confirmed in a judgment by the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Among other legal proceedings, a whistleblower suit is pending in the Central District of California under the federal False Claims Act and other federal and state laws, where the court recently denied a motion to dismiss the case. The suit claims Prime illegally compensated a co-defendant doctor for referrals to a Prime-owned hospital, and that Prime has submitted inflated claims for medical devices to private insurers and government health programs. The case is set for trial in 2021.

Prime also has disclosed that the company is currently under investigation by the IRS for the 2012 tax year and by the California Franchise Tax Board for the years 2009 to 2016. The disclosures were made in the company's 2018 audited financial statements.

An analysis by SEIU-UHW further shows that Prime has a history of cutting services at hospitals it acquires, including maternity and cancer services.

"We cannot trust Prime. They turned their backs on this community just a few years ago because they would not go along with a requirement to retain all of the services our patients need," Medina said, referring to 2015, when the attorney general approved Prime's proposed acquisition of the Daughters of Charity Health System, which then included St. Francis Medical Center. Prime walked away, declaring that the attorney general's conditions, which were designed to ensure the continuation of essential healthcare services, were too "onerous."

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is one of the largest unions of hospital workers in the United States, with 97,000 members, including approximately 1,000 at St. Francis. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.

St. Francis Medical Center is a 384-bed general acute care hospital serving 1.7 million people. It is a critically important provider of health and trauma care to the community of Southeast Los Angeles and a key safety-net provider. SFMC treats a substantially higher number of patients covered by Medi-Cal relative to hospitals in both Los Angeles County and California overall. SFMC has reported positive net income for the past four fiscal years, ranging from $70.4 million in FY 2015 to $18.7 million in FY 2019.

SOURCE SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West

Related Links

http://www.seiu-uhw.org


When Carsyns condition didnt improve, her mom and dad, a physicians assistant, gave her oxygen from her grandfathers tank, but eventually took her to Gulf Coast Medical Center in south Fort Myers, according to NBC 2. Carsyn was transferred to another hospital, where she was diagnosed with coronavirus, but her parents refused to have her intubated.
LENEXA, Kan., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shamrock Roofing and Construction has opened nominations for its "Roof 4 a Hero" campaign, whereby a new replacement roof will be rewarded to a veteran or active first responder (police, fire, EMT, or healthcare worker) living in the Kansas City, Missouri region.

"My father was a 23-year veteran who inspired me to help other veterans like him," said Garen Armstrong, president of Shamrock Roofing and Construction, who founded the program in 2017. "This year, given the COVID-19 pandemic, we have opened this opportunity up to first responders, who now more than ever are putting their lives on the line every day to serve our communities."

Entrants must be honorably or medically discharged or active military or first responders currently living in Johnson, Wyandotte, or Leavenworth Counties in Kansas or Jackson, Platte or Clay Counties in Missouri. Entrants must own their own home with insurance and submit a DD214. Friends, family, caregivers or recipients of service may submit an entry on behalf of a veteran or first responder. The entry must share why the nominee is in need of a new roof.

To make a nomination, visit https://shamrockroofer.com/roof-hero-giveaway/. The winner will be announced at the end of the summer.

About Shamrock Roofing and Construction

Based in Lenexa, Shamrock Roofing and Construction was founded over a decade ago with a mission to provide affordable and best quality of workmanship and service. The founders of the company have been dedicated to the industry during their entire careers. With the use of best quality products and materials supplied through our network of genuine suppliers and manufacturers, Shamrock Roofing provides long lasting and durable roofing solutions.

For more information about Shamrock Roofing and Construction, visit www.shamrockroofer.com.

CONTACT:

Hillary Reynolds

(954) 815-1186

[email protected]

SOURCE Shamrock Roofing & Construction

Related Links

http://www.shamrockroofer.com


Sony/ATV Chairman and CEO Jon Platt stated, "Bobby is a gifted young songwriter with a bright future ahead of him. We're proud to support his career, and I'm confident we will have major success together as a team."

Sony/ATV Vice President, Creative Mike Jackson said, "We are glad to have Bobby Sessions and his team become part of Sony/ATV as he celebrates his #1 hit "Savage Remix" by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyonce. He is a powerful songwriter as well as an artist with initiative, and I look forward to supporting his career."

Bobby Sessions said, "I'm thrilled to join the Sony/ATV family and continue their iconic tradition. Incredible songs will manifest from this relationship, and I'm excited for the world to hear them!"

In 2017, Bobby released his sophomore project Grateful, which included legendary singles "First World Problems" and "Grateful," and immediately led to his first major label deal with Def Jam in 2018. Since signing with Def Jam, Bobby has gained notoriety by using his platform to advocate for civil and criminal justice reform in the United States with the release of RVLTN, which was lauded for his sharp, unapologetic lyrics about current U.S. society.

Bobby Sessions was born and raised in Pleasant Grove, Dallas Texas, and later relocated to Rowlett, where he began experimenting with music and poetry. After a few years of college in Denton, TX, Bobby channeled his poetic strength over a beat in 2010 and shifted his focus to rap music. Soon after, his rap music quickly became popular and earned him a deal with the Dallas label High Standardz, as well as his first hit single entitled "Black America" which elevated Bobby to the national stage.

SOURCE Sony/ATV

Related Links

sonyatv.com


Reed uncovers scandal, fraud, avarice, and vast lies in the highest seats of power, including evidence of a secret deal between Putin and U.S. President Bill Clinton to avert a nuclear war. This book reveals how Putin, a former KGB officer whose father was a submariner, was catapulted to power by a secret Kursk submarine mission. The following year, only months into his presidency, Putin leveraged the Kursk incident to wrest control from oligarchs and gain dominance over lucrative Arctic resources and sea routes.

Reed divulges heretofore secret information about an espionage mission he conducted aboard a U.S. submarine during the Cold War, and details about a serious collision his sub had with a Soviet submarine deep inside a Russian harbor. Reed and his shipmates barely avoided catastrophe while dodging depth charges and torpedoes during a three-day ordeal. Reed uses this experience and his inside knowledge to reveal how a single historical eventthe demise of a Russian submarine twenty years agocreated a domino effect that now pits NATO countries against Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. New weapons, technologies, and submarines have emerged from the ashes of the Kursk disaster and now threaten sea lanes that are vital to global economies.

Reed is the New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning RED NOVEMBER and a decorated U.S. Navy diver and submariner. Reed served with an officer who later became an admiral in charge of NATO submarine operations and is often featured as a go-to naval military expert on TV, radio, and in print.

For more information, please visit

www.wcraigreed.com/press

SOURCE W. Craig Reed

Related Links

http://wcraigreed.com


HOUSTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Talos Energy Inc. ("Talos" or the "Company") (NYSE: TALO) intends to release second quarter 2020 results for the period ended June 30, 2020 on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 after the U.S. financial market closes. In addition to this release, Talos Energy will host a conference call, which will be broadcast live over the internet, on Thursday, August 6, 2020 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time (9:00 AM Central Time).

Listeners can access the conference call live over the Internet through a webcast link on the Company's website at: https://www.talosenergy.com/investors. Alternatively, the conference call can be accessed by dialing (888) 348-8927 (U.S. toll-free), (855) 669-9657 (Canada toll-free) or (412) 902-4263 (international).

Please dial in approximately 15 minutes before the teleconference is scheduled to begin and ask to be joined into the Talos Energy call. A replay of the call will be available one hour after the conclusion of the conference through August 13, 2020 and can be accessed by dialing (877) 344-7529 and using access code 10146030.

ABOUT TALOS ENERGY

Talos Energy (NYSE: TALO) is a technically driven independent exploration and production company focused on safely and efficiently maximizing cash-flows and long-term value through our operations, currently in the United States Gulf of Mexico and offshore Mexico. As one of the US Gulf's largest public independent producers, we leverage decades of geology, geophysics and offshore operations expertise towards the acquisition, exploration, exploitation and development of assets in key geological trends that are present in many offshore basins around the world. Our activities in offshore Mexico provide high impact exploration opportunities in an oil rich emerging basin. For more information, visit www.talosenergy.com.

INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT

Sergio Maiworm

+1.713.328.3008

[email protected]

SOURCE Talos Energy

Related Links

https://www.talosenergy.com


TAMPA, Fla., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Eat Right Lifestyle Delivery Meal Plans announced today that the company has expanded its fresh meal delivery service based in Tampa, Florida to nationwide shipping. The company is safely delivering contact free and fully vacuum sealed meals to over 40,000 zip codes; including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

"With nationwide delivery we are changing the times of people having to wait until the middle of the week to receive their meals. Instead, using our cutting-edge vacuum seal technology that preserves meals up to 17 days without freezing, we deliver an entire weeks' worth of meals every Friday, so our members are ready to kick off their week right," said co-founder Cameron Fulks.

Due to COVID-19, business has increased significantly. This nationwide operation will allow Eat Right to hire an additional 30 plus team members located in the Tampa Bay community. The company plans on increasing its work force by 75 team members within the next 12 months.

"During these times we're proud to be able to offer amazing and great paying positions to those in need, including Veterans," said Fulks.

When Colby Fox and Fulks started Eat Right in 2017, they decided not to build the company on old technology. Instead, they invested over $250,000 in a custom software that uses GPS data to direct drivers in the field, allowing them to make more than twice as many drops each night, safely and efficiently. The tool has now allowed the company to expand from the state of Florida and Dallas to members throughout the nation.

Eat Right's technology was developed to rapidly grow the meal delivery service, and it has performed seamlessly. The meal delivery company uses an AI technology to order all the ingredients required by company chefs based on customer orders and current inventory.

"We knew we couldn't run this company on a spreadsheet, we needed something much more powerful," Fox said. "Since our members are all communicating via text message these days, we had to build our system to interact with them through that medium. The software we needed wasn't available, so we built it."

About Eat Right

Eat Right is a nationwide meal delivery service, focusing on its member's health and overall lifestyle. Founded by former US Army veteran, Cameron Fulks, the company delivers more than 14,000 fresh, never-frozen meals created and prepared by area chefs to members throughout the United States. The company offers high-tech support to anyone who desires to live a healthier life and enjoy all of the benefits that brings with it. For more information about the company, visit online at https://www.eatright.life/.

SOURCE Eat Right

Related Links

https://www.eatright.life


According to the lawsuit, a former OPD police officer (who is Caucasian) violated City ordinances when he unilaterally changed critical "Trailer Safety Requirements" from four tires per axle to only two tires per axle even though neither the current Chief of Police nor any predecessor had formally established any new or additional safety and equipment criteria for use in determining whether an operator's overweight truck satisfies the safety requirements mandated by law. Neither the public nor any independent truck driver was ever notified of this potential or actual change nor was it posted on the Port's website until four years later.

This secret change only occurred after the Port entered into a lucrative arrangement for the construction of a cold storage facility at the Port with a joint venture between Dreisbach and conglomerate Lineage Logistics. These changes, made without critical public hearings and comment, allegedly allowed Dreisbach alone to receive special permits from the OPD to utilize special chassis which give Dreisbach a huge, disproportionate economic advantage over African American, Mexican American and other racial minority truckers at the Port.

Former Oakland City Council member and trucking industry expert Ignacio De La Fuente summed up the concerns of more than 50 independent minority truckers supporting the lawsuit as follows: "As if local law enforcement agencies have not done enough damage to the African American, Mexican American and minority communities, the OPD has clandestinely and unfairly rigged the system in favor of the City's partner (Dreisbach) at the expense of small, minority, independent truckers trying to get by in this already economically challenging time."

Mr. Fajardo is represented by Eduardo G. Roy, a prominent Bay Area, African American and Hispanic attorney, who cautioned: "It is time for the Oakland City Mayor and Acting Police Chief to immediately put the brakes on the Dreisbach's illegal special permits and the improper favoritism, and investigate the systemic unfairness and disproportionate impact these illegal and unsafe policies and practices are having on our African American, Mexican American, and minority communities. We have uncovered much evidence to show the City before any further changes or policies are considered by the Acting Police Chief." Mr. Roy is also representing Dreisbach competitor PCC Logistics and Pacific Transload Systems in a separate lawsuit against Dreisbach that has been pending since December of 2018 and is set for trial in February of next year in the Alameda Superior Court, Case No. RG18931876.

Contact:

Eduardo G. Roy

Attorney at Law

Prometheus Partners L.L.P.

(415) 5270255

[email protected]

SOURCE Prometheus Partners

Related Links

http://prometheus-law.com/


In a sign that the increase is related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the change continued and intensified a trend that began the month before, in March 2020, when the pandemic started its rapid escalation in the United States. The April 2019 to April 2020 increase of 8,336 percent almost doubled the 4,347 percent growth from March 2019 to March 2020.

In the Northeast, the region of the country where the pandemic hit hardest in March and April, telehealth growth was even more pronounced. Telehealth claim lines in the Northeast increased 26,209 percent from 0.07 percent of medical claim lines in April 2019 to 19.69 percent in April 2020. This increase was even larger than the already sizable 15,503 percent growth in the Northeast from March 2019 to March 2020.

The swift growth of telehealth in March and April of this year fulfills expert predictions related to COVID-19. Telehealth permits healthcare services to be delivered without in-person contact, reducing the risk of disease transmission, and frees up in-person healthcare resources for COVID-19 patients. For those reasons, federal and state regulations related to telehealth have been relaxed, and private payors have expanded access to telehealth. In addition, with fewer elective procedures occurring around the country due to widespread restrictions, the telehealth share of total medical claim lines was expected to increase.

Telehealth grew markedly from April 2019 to April 2020 in other US census regions, but not as much as in the Northeast. In the West, the increase as a percentage of medical claim lines was 3,967 percent; in the Midwest, 6,754 percent; and in the South, 6,039 percent. In each region, the increase from April 2019 to April 2020 was greater than from March 2019 to March 2020.

Nationally and in all regions except the Midwest, telehealth had a greater share of medical claim lines in urban than rural areas in April 2019 and April 2020. In the Midwest, telehealth had a greater share in rural areas in April 2019, but the greater percentage shifted to urban areas in April 2020.

Other notable findings of the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker concern the top five telehealth diagnoses:

In the Midwest, diabetes mellitus appeared as one of the top five diagnoses in April 2020 , a position it had not occupied in April 2019 . This suggests that because in-person care was less accessible during the pandemic, telehealth was being used increasingly to treat chronic conditions like diabetes as well as acute ones.

, a position it had not occupied in . This suggests that because in-person care was less accessible during the pandemic, telehealth was being used increasingly to treat chronic conditions like diabetes as well as acute ones. Joint/soft tissue disorders and issues were not in the top five diagnoses in April 2019 nationally or in any region except the West, but in April 2020 they were in the top five nationally and in every region. This suggests that telehealth was being used during the pandemic for conditions for which it was previously less commonly used.

nationally or in any region except the West, but in they were in the top five nationally and in every region. This suggests that telehealth was being used during the pandemic for conditions for which it was previously less commonly used. Hypertension climbed from number four in the top five diagnoses nationally in March 2020 to number three in April 2020 . This may be related to increased stress during the pandemic and to increased telemonitoring of patients with hypertension.

Launched in May as a free service, the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker uses FAIR Health data to track how telehealth is evolving on a monthly basis. An interactive map of the four US census regions allows the user to view an infographic on telehealth in a specific month in each region, or in the nation as a whole. In addition to data on the volume of claim lines, urban versus rural usage, and diagnoses, each infographic includes findings on the top five telehealth procedure codes.

FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information. FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "Month by month, FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker is showing the impact of COVID-19 on telehealth. Our data indicate that this venue of care is being transformed at a rapid pace."

For the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, click here.

Follow us on Twitter @FAIRHealth

About FAIR Health

FAIR Health, a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 31 billion claim records contributed by payors and administrators who insure or process claims for private insurance plans covering more than 150 million individuals. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data productsincluding benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indicesto commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D; FAIR Health includes among the private claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish and an English/Spanish mobile app, which enable consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offer a rich educational platform on health insurance. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Dr. Marty Makary's book The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Careand How to Fix It and Elisabeth Rosenthal's book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

Contact:

Dean Sicoli

Chief Communications Officer

FAIR Health

646-664-1645

[email protected]

1 A claim line is an individual service or procedure listed on an insurance claim.

SOURCE FAIR Health

Related Links

www.fairhealth.org


"The Well at Sunset will fill a need in the neighborhood and surrounding areas," said Orville Power, managing partner for Mana Investments. "We're so grateful the City of Livermore embraced this project."

"It's been a very successful collaboration with the local stakeholders who helped to bring this vision to life," said Sean Rohland, managing director for Hunter Street Partners. "We're excited to welcome new tenants, as well as Livermore residents and visitors to enjoy everything the new plaza will offer."

The 78,747-square-foot complex features 10 single-story office buildings on nearly 13.5 acres of land. The complex also includes six 800-square-foot courtyard suites catering to smaller tenants. Additionally, the suites offer direct access, no hallways or elevators, making the spaces safe for tenants and visitors alike.

Redevelopment of The Well at Sunset also resulted in updated architectural elements with an agrarian theme, enhanced landscape and additional outdoor features. This approach included developing an outside office concept and pediatric play area for visitors of the center's medical office.

"The Well at Sunset is bringing a vibrant change to the City of Livermore and specifically the Sunset neighborhood," said Adam Van de Water, Director, Innovation & Economic Development at the City of Livermore Office of Innovation and Economic Development. "This reimagined site is breathing new life into the plaza, creating something special for residents in the area to enjoy again."

Suites will be move-in ready in by the end of the summer. Lee & Associates East Bay, The Well at Sunset leasing agents, are currently in negotiations with six potential tenants in the lifestyle space, including an insurance company, a medical spa, realtor, dentist and a cafe. The new plan also includes future senior housing units. Lee & Associates look forward to diversifying the plaza further to meet various needs of visitors in one place.

"We're seeing strong interest from existing Livermore tenants who want to upgrade to a new lifestyle-focused center," said Jessica Mauser, managing principal of Lee & Associates East Bay. "The site offers abundant amenities like walking trails, cafe spaces with potential for outdoor seating and multiple plazas, so tenants can work and play all in one place. They also have the opportunity to enjoy a car-free commute as the plaza is conveniently located to allow tenants to ride their bike to work."

For more information on The Well at Sunset, visit thewellatsunset.com. For more information regarding leasing and sale opportunities, please contact Mark Rinkle, Jessica Mauser or Sean Offers of Lee & Associates East Bay at (925) 460-6200.

ABOUT MANA INVESTMENTS

Mana Investments is a California-based alternative investment firm with a focus on adding value within the real estate sector. The firm targets acquisitions throughout the western United States and prides themselves on enhancement through thoughtful design. For more information, visit manainv.com.

ABOUT HUNTER STREET PARTNERS

Hunter Street Partners is a Minneapolis-based alternative investment management firm that provides capital solutions to operating partner teams and lower middle market companies across corporate finance, real estate, and specialty finance. The firm is focused on fundamentals-driven, asset-oriented credit and equity opportunities. Learn more about Hunter Street Partners at hunterst.com.

Media Contact:

Augustine Agency

Jaime Hayden

[email protected]

SOURCE Hunter Street Partners; Mana Investments

Related Links

http://www.hunterst.com


TSX: TML

OTCQX: TSRMF

TORONTO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Treasury Metals Inc. (TSX: TML) ("Treasury" or the "Company") is pleased to report further results from the drill program underway at the Goldlund Gold Project ("Goldlund" or the "Project"). Drilling by First Mining Gold Corp. ("First Mining") continues to define mineralization in the eastern portion of the defined resource area at Goldlund (the "Main Zone") and supports the potential for resource expansion at the Project.

Treasury Metals is in the process of closing a definitive share purchase agreement with First Mining and Tamaka Gold Corporation to acquire Goldlund (the "Transaction"), after which First Mining will hold a large equity position in Treasury. Goldlund is located adjacent to Treasury's Goliath Gold Project, which is advancing towards a construction decision in northwestern Ontario. Treasury's acquisition of Tamaka Gold Corporation, which includes Goldlund, is expected to close in mid-August 2020, which will allow for numerous potential co-development opportunities for Treasury's Goliath Gold Project and Goldlund (see press release dated June 3, 2020 in connection with the Transaction).

Latest highlights from holes drilled at Goldlund Main Zone include:

Hole GL-20-018 intersected 5.42 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au") over 10.0 metres ("m")

Including 22.03 g/t Au over 2.0 m

Hole GL-20-025 intersected 1.82 g/t Au over 31.2 m

Including 3.08 g/t Au over 16.0 m and 20.12 g/t Au over 1.0 m

and 20.12 g/t Au over Hole GL-20-027 intersected 1.39 g/t Au over 38.7 m

Including 5.22 g/t Au over 1.6 m and 19.54 g/t Au over 1.3 m

and 19.54 g/t Au over Hole GL-20-028 intersected 2.51 g/t Au over 22.0 m

Including 3.58 g/t Au over 15.0 m , 5.46 g/t Au over 9.6 m and 24.08 g/t Au over 1.6 m

Greg Ferron, CEO of Treasury Metals, stated, "Drilling at Goldlund continues to return strong results, supporting the potential for resource growth at the Main Zone. We are excited to close the Goldlund Gold acquisition in mid-August as we positively integrate the two projects and create a district-scale opportunity within Treasury Metals. These results demonstrate the growth potential from the regional consolidation within this multi-million ounce gold district in Ontario."

The 13 holes highlighted in this news release are all located in the northeast portion of the Goldlund deposit. Drilling in this area was focused on outlining and extending new mineralization between Zone 2 and Zone 3, as well as defining mineralization in Zone 2. Drill results from this northeast area have confirmed the continuity of higher-grade mineralization over approximately 400 metres of strike length, with mineralization remaining open in both directions. Drill intercepts up to 22 metres wide were encountered within the main mineralized zone, which averages approximately 10 metres in thickness with grades up to 5.46 g/t gold over 9.6 metres (hole GL-20-028), 3.08 g/t gold over 16.0 metres (hole GL-20-025), and 2.98 g/t gold over 10.0 metres (GL-20-029). Drilling also intersected a number of narrow, one to seven-metre wide, parallel mineralized zones in the suite of mafic volcanics between Zones 2 and 3, which could potentially add new areas of mineralization to the currently identified resource.

To date, a total of 46 holes (approximately 8,588 metres) have been completed at the Main Zone as part of the 2019 - 2020 drill program. This news release incorporates results from a further 13 holes completed to date, following on from First Mining's March 2, 2020 and May 6, 2020 news releases, which announced the results of prior holes. Drilling has been completed on approximate 50 metre spacing, with the overall goal of the drill program to define and extend mineralization in the eastern and western portions of the Main Zone area. The remainder of the drill program will continue to focus on defining mineralization to the northeast, with results from the remainder of the program to be released as available.

Select assay results from these 13 holes from the Main Zone drill program are reported below:

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length

(m) Au g/t Target GL-20-017 87.00 93.00 6.00 1.67 Main Zone (Zone 3) including 88.00 89.00 1.00 8.49

GL-20-018 126.00 136.00 10.00 5.42 Main Zone (Zone 3) including 129.00 131.00 2.00 22.03

and including 135.00 136.00 1.00 5.10

GL-20-025 23.00 54.18 31.18 1.82 Main Zone (Zone 2 and 3) including 23.00 39.00 16.00 3.08

and including 24.00 25.00 1.00 20.12

and including 33.05 33.65 0.60 7.58

and including 35.00 36.00 1.00 6.03

and 118.00 134.00 16.00 1.54

including 126.00 134.00 8.00 2.95

GL-20-027 28.00 66.71 38.71 1.39 Main Zone (Zone 2) including 31.00 32.61 1.61 5.22

and including 35.67 37.01 1.34 19.54

and including 37.01 38.00 0.99 3.01

and including 55.45 57.00 1.55 4.42

GL-20-028 16.03 38.00 21.97 2.51 Main Zone (Zone 2) including 20.00 35.00 15.00 3.58

and including 20.00 29.55 9.55 5.46

and including 28.00 29.55 1.55 24.08



Notes: Assaying for the Goldlund 2019-2020 drill program is being completed by SGS Canada Inc. ("SGS") at their laboratories in Red Lake, Ontario and Vancouver, BC. Prepared 50 g samples are analyzed for gold by lead fusion fire assay with an atomic absorption spectrometry finish. Multi-element analysis is also being completed on selected holes by two-acid aqua regia digestion with ICP-MS and AES finish

Reported widths are drilled core lengths; true widths are unknown at this time. Assay values are uncut

Drill Result Details

A plan map showing the drill hole locations and assay status at the Main Zone can be viewed at: http://www.firstmininggold.com/_resources/maps/2020-07-07-Goldlund-NR-Plan-Map.pdf.

A cross section showing drill results and highlights for holes GL-20-027 and GL-20-028 can be viewed at: http://www.firstmininggold.com/_resources/maps/2020-07-07-Goldlund-NR-Cross-Section.pdf.

A complete list of the 2019 and 2020 drill results to date, including hole details, can be viewed at: http://www.firstmininggold.com/_resources/news/2020-07-FF-NR-Goldlund-2019and2020-Drill-Results.pdf.

Drill Hole Locations

Hole ID Azimuth  Dip  Final Depth (m) UTM East UTM North GL-20-017 155 -65 179 547702 5528089 GL-20-018 155 -70 200 547648 5528051 GL-20-019 335 -60 182 547648 5528051 GL-20-020 335 -50 140 547752 5528112 GL-20-021 155 -60 161 547750 5528119 GL-20-022 155 -60 164 547774 5528159 GL-20-023 335 -70 200 547847 5528149 GL-20-024 155 -70 200 547847 5528149 GL-20-025 335 -68 182 547873 5528180 GL-20-026 145 -60 179 547865 5528182 GL-20-027 335 -70 143 547932 5528278 GL-20-028 335 -50 104 547932 5528278 GL-20-029 155 -45 203 547992 5528465

Treasury Metals has not independently verified the data in the press release issued July 7, 2020, by First Mining. As per the First Mining press release and at the request of IIROC, below is the QA/QC on these drill results and the First Mining drill program.

QA/QC Procedures

"The QA/QC program for the 2019-2020 drilling program at Goldlund consists of the submission of duplicate samples and the insertion of Certified Reference Materials and blanks at regular intervals. These are inserted at a rate of one standard for every 20 samples (5% of total) and one blank for every 30 samples (3% of total). The standards used in the 2019-2020 Goldlund drilling program range in grade from 0.5 g/t Au to 9.0 g/t Au, and are sourced from CDN Resource Laboratories in Langley, BC. Blanks have been sourced locally from barren granitic material.

Field duplicates from quartered core, as well as 'coarse' or 'pulp' duplicates taken from coarse reject material or pulverized splits, are also submitted at regular intervals with an insertion rate of 4% for field duplicates and 4% for coarse or pulp duplicates. Additional selected duplicates are being submitted to an umpire lab for check assaying. SGS also undertakes its own internal coarse and pulp duplicate analysis to ensure proper sample preparation and equipment calibration.

Qualified Person

Hazel Mullin, P.Geo., Director, Data Management and Technical Services of First Mining, is a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), and she has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release."

About Treasury Metals Inc.

Treasury Metals Inc. is a gold focused company with assets in Canada and is listed on the TSX under the symbol "TML" and on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol TSRMF. Treasury's flagship Goliath Gold Project is located in a multimillion ounce gold district in Northwestern Ontario. The project benefits substantially from excellent access to the Trans-Canada Highway, related power and rail infrastructure, and close proximity to several communities including Dryden, Ontario. Treasury plans on the initial development of an open pit gold mine with subsequent underground operations. The Company also owns several other projects throughout Canada, including Lara Polymetallic Project, Weebigee Gold Project, and grassroots gold exploration properties Gold Rock/Thunder Cloud and Shining Tree properties.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expect, are forward-looking statements. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Treasury and First Mining disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws. These forward looking statements are typically identified by words such as "plan", " expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" or other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "should" or "could" occur.

Since forward-looking information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, exploration and production for precious metals; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of resource estimates; health, safety and environmental risks; worldwide demand for gold and base metals; gold price and other commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations; environmental risks; competition; incorrect assessment of the value of acquisitions; ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; and changes in legislation, including but not limited to tax laws, royalties and environmental regulations.

Actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking information and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward looking information will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits may be derived therefrom and accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward looking information.

SOURCE Treasury Metals Inc.

Related Links

www.treasurymetals.com


The news comes as the Sunshine State reported more than 7,300 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total confirmed cases to nearly 214,000, including 3,841 deaths, according to data released by the Florida Department of Health. The death rate rose nearly 19% from the previous week.
TSX: TML

OTCQX: TSRMF

TORONTO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Treasury Metals Inc. (TSX: TML) ("Treasury" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has closed a $11.52 million bought deal private placement (the "Offering") of 32,000,000 subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.36 per Subscription Receipt (the "Issue Price"). The Offering was led by Haywood Securities Inc., and included PI Financial Corp., Sprott Capital Partners LP, and Canaccord Genuity Corp. (collectively, the "Underwriters").

Greg Ferron, CEO of Treasury, stated: "Completion of this financing comes at a transformational time for shareholders as we positively integrate the Goldlund gold project into our development timeline. The proceeds from the financing will fund the completion of a combined Goliath-Goldlund economic study expected within 2020, advance key engineering and environmental baseline data on Goldlund, and complete 25,000 metres of infill and expansion drilling program on the combined projects."

The Offering was completed in connection with the Company's previously announced transaction (the Transaction") wherein Treasury will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Tamaka Gold Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Mining Gold Corp., which holds a 100% interest in the Goldlund Gold Project ("Goldlund"), located immediately adjacent to Treasury's Goliath Gold Project ("Goliath") in Northwestern Ontario. Please refer to the Company's press release dated June 3, 2020 for further information regarding the Transaction. It is currently anticipated that the Transaction will close in early August.

The Subscription Receipts were issued pursuant to a subscription receipt agreement (the "Subscription Receipt Agreement") entered into by the Company, the Underwriters, and TSX Trust Company as subscription receipt agent. Pursuant to the Subscription Receipt Agreement, the gross proceeds from the Offering (less 50% of the Underwriters' cash commission and all of the Underwriters' expenses) (the "Escrowed Funds") will be held in escrow pending satisfaction of certain conditions, including, amongst others, (a) the satisfaction or waiver of each of the conditions precedent to the Transaction; and (b) the receipt of all required shareholder and regulatory approvals in connection with the Transaction and the Offering ("Escrow Release Conditions"). If the Escrow Release Conditions have not been satisfied on or prior to the date that is 90 days after the closing date of the Offering, the holders of Subscription Receipts will receive a cash amount equal to the Issue Price of the Subscription Receipts and any interest that has been earned on the Escrowed Funds.

The Company has agreed to use its commercially reasonable efforts to obtain a receipt from the Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") on behalf of the applicable provincial securities regulatory authorities (the "Securities Commissions") for a (final) prospectus (the "Qualifying Prospectus") qualifying the distribution of the common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") and Warrants (as defined herein) underlying the units issuable upon conversion of the Subscription Receipts and the Underwriters' compensation options ("Compensation Options") issuable upon conversion of the Underwriters' compensation option receipts (the "Compensation Option Receipts") by 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on August 18, 2020 (the "Qualification Deadline").

Pursuant to the terms of the Subscription Receipt Agreement, each Subscription Receipt shall automatically convert into one unit (a "Unit") or one Penalty Unit (as defined below), as applicable, for no additional consideration, upon the later of (the "Automatic Conversion Date"):

the date when the Escrowed Funds are released; and

the date which is the earlier of:

four months and one day after the closing of the Offering; and



the second business day following the filing of the Qualifying Prospectus.

Each Unit will be comprised of one Common Share plus one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole such purchase warrant, a "Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to acquire one Common Share at a price of $0.60 for a period of 24 months from the Automatic Conversion Date (the "Expiry Date"). If, after the Automatic Conversion Date and before the Expiry Date, the closing price of the Common Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") is equal to or greater than $1.00 per Common Share for a period of twenty (20) consecutive trading days during the exercise period, the Company may elect to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to a date that is not less than 30 calendar days from the date when written notice is delivered to the Warrant holders.

In the event the Company has not received a receipt from the OSC on behalf of the Securities Commissions for the Qualifying Prospectus before the Qualification Deadline, each Subscription Receipt will thereafter entitle the holder to receive upon the conversion thereof, for no additional consideration, one penalty unit (a "Penalty Unit"), each Penalty Unit to be comprised of 1.1 Common Shares and 0.55 of a Warrant.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used for the exploration and development of the Goliath and Goldlund projects, and for general corporate purposes.

The Offering constituted a related party transaction within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101") as an insider of the Company subscribed for an aggregate of 90,000 Subscription Receipts. The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as the fair market value of the participation in the Offering by insiders does not exceed 25% of the market capitalization of the Company, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101. The participants in the Offering and the extent of such participation were not finalized until shortly prior to the completion of the Offering. Accordingly, the Company was not able to publicly disclose details of the nature and extent of related party participation in the Offering pursuant to a material change report filed at least 21 days prior to the completion of the Offering.

The Subscription Receipts issued under the Offering were offered by way of private placement exemptions in all the provinces of Canada except Quebec and in the United States on a private placement basis pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Subscription Receipts, Compensation Option Receipts and the Common Shares and Warrants underlying the Subscription Receipts and the Compensation Options underlying the Compensation Option Receipts are subject to a statutory four-month hold period in accordance with Canadian securities legislation, subject to qualification of the Warrants, Common Shares and Compensation Options under the Qualifying Prospectus.

The Offering was conditionally approved by the TSX on July 6, 2020. Closing of the Transaction remains subject to certain regulatory approvals including approval of the TSX and the shareholders of Treasury.

To view further details about the Transaction and the Goliath and Goldlund projects, please visit the Company's website at www.treasurymetals.com.

The securities referred to in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities, nor a solicitation for offers to buy any securities. Any public offering of securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus containing detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements.

About Treasury Metals Inc.

Treasury Metals Inc. is a gold focused company with assets in Canada and is listed on the TSX under the symbol "TML" and on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol TSRMF. Treasury's flagship Goliath Gold Project is located in Northwestern Ontario. The project benefits substantially from excellent access to the Trans-Canada Highway, related power and rail infrastructure, and close proximity to several communities including Dryden, Ontario. Treasury plans on the initial development of an open pit gold mine with subsequent underground operations. The Company also owns several other projects throughout Canada, including Lara Polymetallic Project, Weebigee Gold Project, and grassroots gold exploration properties Gold Rock/Thunder Cloud and Shining Tree properties.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release contains "forward-looking statements", and "forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. Except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements, which include expectations about the timing and completion of the Transaction, the use of proceeds from the Offering, the satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions and management's expectations with respect to the Offering and the Transaction, the issuance of a receipt for a Qualifying Prospectus, the necessary approvals for the Offering including the approval of the TSX and shareholders of Treasury and are based on the Company's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs, which may prove to be incorrect. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of conditional or future tenses or by the use of such words such as "will", "expects", "may", "should", "estimates", "anticipates", "believes", "projects", "plans", and similar expressions, including variations thereof and negative forms. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them.

Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: risks and uncertainties relating to the completion of the Transaction and the Offering as described herein, the ability of the Company to satisfy all Escrow Release Conditions, obtaining necessary TSX and Treasury shareholder approval of the Offering in connection with the Transaction and management's ability to anticipate and manage the foregoing factors and risks. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. 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, except to the extent required by securities legislation.

Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Treasury Metals Inc.

Related Links

www.treasurymetals.com


The Plain cream cheese has a rich, creamy texture, with just five ingredients, and is perfect for a 'schmear' on a bagel. A hint of sweetness and real strawberries make the Strawberry cream cheese the perfect sweet spread. Fresh chives and onions bring a savory, yet balanced, taste to this classic variation.

"As more consumers look to reduce their dairy intake, the introduction of delicious and creamy plant-based cheeses that match the rich flavors and consistency of dairy cheese is driving category growth. Treeline appeals to a broad spectrum of consumers from flexitarians to vegans," says Treeline CEO Justin Lambeth. An added benefit of Treeline's new cream cheeses is their low levels of saturated fat compared to dairy cream cheese and many other plant-based cream cheeses.

With an array of cheeses, Treeline has reinvented non-dairy cheese with an artisanal process, drawing on traditional dairy cheese-making methods. Treeline ferments, or cultures, creamy cashew nuts with a healthy probiotic, known as L. Acidophilus. This produces a creamy consistency, smooth texture and the rich, natural flavors normally associated with fine dairy cheeses.

In addition to the new cream cheeses, Treeline makes 4 flavors of soft French-Style cheese - Herb Garlic, Scallion, Sea Salt & Pepper and Chipotle-Serrano  and 2 varieties of aged cheese wheels: Classic and Cracked Pepper Aged Cheese.

All Treeline Cheeses are completely natural, without artificial ingredients, stabilizers, and thickeners. All Treeline products are vegan, certified non-GMO, gluten-free, and Kosher Parve.

Treeline is available online at www.treelinecheese.com and nationwide in over 3,000 stores, including local health food stores, co-ops and 'chain' stores such as Whole Foods, Sprouts, Kroger, Fred Meyer, Ralphs and Wegmans.

About Treeline

With manufacturing facilities in Kingston, New York, Treeline was founded in 2012 by Michael Schwarz, a former intellectual property attorney, who set out to produce vegan, cruelty-free cheeses that rival the best-tasting cheeses from France and Italy. More at: www.treelinecheese.com. You can follow Treeline on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn at @treelinecheese.

SOURCE Treeline Cheese

Related Links

http://www.treelinecheese.com


CLEVELAND, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 6, Uber Technologies Incorporated (San Francisco, CA) announced that it had agreed to acquire Postmates Incorporated (San Francisco, CA) for $2.65 billion in stock. This deal, if completed, would combine two of the largest third-party online foodservice delivery firms. Uber sees the two companies as complementary in terms of both their geographic focus and their relationships with foodservice providers.

Uber's UberEats unit has been the bright spot for the company recently, seeing exponential growth in contrast to the sharp declines in the company's flagship ride-hailing unit as stay-at-home orders and sharp reductions in travel for business and pleasure. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted on a recent earnings call that "a higher and higher percentage of our Rides customers are using Eats."

According to The Freedonia Group's National Online Consumer Survey conducted in May 2020, 30% of adults note that they are using restaurant delivery more because of the coronavirus pandemic and 51% note that they are using restaurant curb-side pick-up options more.

Jennifer Mapes-Christ, consumer and commercial group leader for the Freedonia Group, notes "This combination of Uber and Postmates will enable the two companies to expand to a more comprehensive delivery service, as both are working to build networks to deliver groceries and other essentials."

According to Packaged Facts analyst Cara Rasch, "The shift to more convenience options via carryout and delivery precede even the COVID-19 outbreak which caused dine-in services at restaurants to be widely shuttered. The advent of apps and web portals allowing users to order from local restaurants and stores via the internet or a mobile application has caused carryout, and especially delivery, of restaurant food to expand rapidly."

Furthermore, she notes, "Online order services can be offered by third parties or proprietary, in-house applications. However, third-party apps  such as UberEats and Postmates  have a number of advantages, including consumer convenience of being able to order from a variety of restaurants using one app. While some restaurants consider the commissions that third-party online delivery companies charge to be a burden, they allow a restaurant to participate in delivery without investing in their own app or delivery staff."

However, Rasch notes, "Profitability difficulties and labor issues have challenged the third-party delivery industry, which is still in its infancy. In the longer run, third-party digital delivery operators will be faced with more foodservice operators developing their own delivery services. Foodservice companies may also combine with other local foodservice providers to offer the service at a lower fee level and to have more control of the delivery process."

Mapes-Christ comments, "It is that increasing competition with the restaurants themselves that is leading companies like Uber to think more broadly about on-demand delivery. Last-mile delivery in e-commerce more broadly is a challenge but quick service continues to be an increasing consumer priority."

For more information, see the following data-rich market analysis reports from The Freedonia Group's off-the-shelf research catalog, including US Foodservice Single-Use Products, Pouches, Global Foodservice Single-Use Products, Global Foodservice, Global E-Commerce, Retail Bags, and Global Single-Use Packaging Regulations.

Additional analysis of the food delivery industry can be found in Food & Beverage reports from Packaged Facts, The Freedonia Group's sister publisher. Key titles include Food Carryout & Delivery, Food Carryout and Delivery: Special COVID-19 Consumer Insights, Food Market Outlook 2020: Home Cooking, Grocery Shopping, & Food Trends in the Coronavirus Age, Office Coffee Service, Online Grocery Shopping, Meal Kits, Eating Trends: Restaurant Use, and Global Food E-Commerce.

About The Freedonia Group  The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com, is a leading international industrial research company publishing more than 100 studies annually. Since 1985 we have provided research to customers ranging in size from global conglomerates to one-person consulting firms. More than 90% of the industrial companies in the Fortune 500 use Freedonia Group research to help with their strategic planning. Each study includes product and market analyses and forecasts, in-depth discussions of important industry trends, and market share information. Studies can be purchased at www.freedoniagroup.com and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.

Press Contact:

Corinne Gangloff

+1 440.842.2400

[email protected]

SOURCE The Freedonia Group
LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Platts, the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets published a research paper under the Energy Comment series of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, focused on global crude oil benchmarks.

Written by Jonty Rushforth, Head of Pricing, S&P Global Platts and Vera Blei, Head of Oil Markets, S&P Global Platts, the research paper - Yields vs. sulphur: What is driving crude benchmarks in 2020? examined the core question of what a crude benchmark, and in particular the Asian benchmarks Dubai and Oman should represent.

The crude oil market has witnessed some of the highest volatility in living memory, casting a spotlight on the value of different benchmarks and the quality definitions and yield of crude that is delivered into them.

The major global oil benchmarks, Brent, WTI and Dubai/Oman  must reflect the physical realities of the crude markets, both in terms of comparative crudes and also in terms of refining economics. They have to evolve in order to provide consistent and stable price indications to the broader market segments they represent. Importantly, they should not be beholden to buy or sell-side imbalances or regulatory interference in order to avoid becoming disconnected from the wider market complex.

Vera Blei, Head of Oil Markets, S&P Global Platts and co-author of the report said: "For a crude benchmark to be robust it must have a variety of often disparate characteristics. These include abundance in production volume, steady quality, diversity of buyers and sellers, geographic relevance and absence of interference, from political forces for example. Many crudes around the world share some of these characteristics but only a handful fulfil all criteria".

The paper examined the performance of crude benchmarks, in particular the Asian crude benchmarks Dubai and Oman, following the introduction of the IMO sulfur marine cap in January 2019 and the demand destruction caused by COVID-19 on transportation fuels in the first half of 2020. It focused on the fundamental question whether market focus should move from the sweet-sour spread, to light versus heavy?  or the spread between crudes that produce a lot of gasoline, and those that produce more diesel or other heavier products. In the 'new normal', is sulfur suddenly irrelevant? and should benchmarks be constructed to a particular yield instead?

"The traditional definitions of the Dubai and Oman benchmarks around sulfur and gravity have withstood the test of time over the last 40 years", added Blei. "They did so because they evolved and adapted to the changing market fundamentals and thereby maintained all the key attributes that ensured their robustness and relevance to the wider market they represented".

Both Platts Dubai and Platts Oman offer an alternative delivery mechanism, which means that more than one crude grade can help form the daily value of the assessment and ensure sufficient liquidity for the benchmark. For Platts Dubai, this includes the alternative delivery of Oman, Upper Zakum, Al Shaheen and Murban. For Platts Oman, Murban is also acceptable as an alternative deliverable grade.

Murban, which is among the lighter and sweeter crude grades across the Middle East, has the highest yield of gasoline among all the crudes in the Platts Dubai and Platts Oman alternative delivery mechanisms. This explains why it is has typically been valued the highest. However, with gasoline demand decimated due to COVID-19, Murban was more competitively valued versus the other grades as it yield values shifted to reflect the economics of refining the grade.

"Murban proved itself relatively protected from the impact of price controls in China that affect the Oman grade, and hence provided an important level of protection for refiners across Asia. Without that protection, refiners outside of China would have faced crude prices well above the economics of the oil they were processing", said Jonty Rushforth, Head of Pricing, S&P Global Platts and co-author of the report. "That Murban, and by extension Platts Dubai and Oman, was weaker as a result of low refinery margins is exactly what one would expect in an efficient crude market".

The full report can be downloaded from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies here.

About S&P Global Platts

At S&P Global Platts, we provide the insights; you make better-informed trading and business decisions with confidence. We're the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Customers in over 150 countries look to our expertise in news, pricing and analytics to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to markets. S&P Global Platts coverage includes oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, metals, agriculture and shipping.

S&P Global Platts is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.platts.com.

SOURCE S&P Global Platts

Related Links

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vestcom, the leading technology enabled service provider of shelf-edge media solutions for Retailers and CPGs, announced two new appointments within their Commercial Leadership team today.

Shachar ("Shock") Torem will move into the role of SVP & General Manager, CPG & Retail Media Solutions. Shock will manage strategy and execution for a commercial team that delivers Vestcom's leading in-store media solutions which drive shopper engagement, spend efficiencies, and sales lift to a growing list of 400+ CPG clients. Shock joined Vestcom last year and had been leading the retail solutions team. He brings 25+ years of industry experience having led Sales teams for media and promotional marketing solutions at companies such as Catalina and Quotient, as well as working in various sales, trade and shopper marketing functions at leading CPGs such as Coca-Cola and General Mills.

Mark Sciortino will take on the role of SVP & General Manager, Retailer Technology and Solutions, extending the delivery of Vestcom's industry-leading solutions that help retailers further enable store team members, increase efficiencies, and ultimately maximize their impact at the shelf-edge across 60,000+ stores nationwide. Over the past two years at Vestcom, Mark has served as SVP of Strategy & Corporate Development guiding client, product, and communications strategies. Mark brings 15+ years of experience in retail, marketing, strategy and technology having served in leadership roles at Walgreens, Boston Consulting Group, and beginning his career in software development at Cintas.

"We're fortunate to have such an exceptional leadership team with incredible depth of cross-functional industry experience," said John Lawlor, CEO of Vestcom. "At such a pivotal time of evolution within the retail industry, we have never been better positioned to serve retailers and brands alike. These exciting changes will bolster our efforts to accelerate our clients' growth through better engaging shoppers at the shelf-edge."

About Vestcom:

Vestcom is the industry leader in technology-driven shelf-edge media solutions for Retailers and CPGs. Our data-integrated media solutions engage shoppers where it matters most  the point of decision  increasing sales and loyalty. Our patented shelf-edge innovation has been trusted by top retailers for more than 30 years to drive productivity and profitable growth. Learn more at www.vestcom.com

SOURCE Vestcom

Related Links

http://www.vestcom.com


St. Marcus School , founded in 1872, is the largest urban Lutheran school in the U.S. "What makes St. Marcus so unique," says Superintendent Henry Tyson, "is demonstrated by our exceptional results in a place that's proven tough to get good results." The government does not give enough financial support to deliver an exceptional education to each child, explains Tyson, but WHR's philanthropic contributions have helped to bridge that gap. "Access to great education in a city where a great education is hard to find is transformational," says Tyson.

The school, with two campuses just four blocks apart, is located in a predominantly low-income, inner-city neighborhood with a vision of working to ensure that every family has access to high-quality education in the city of Milwaukee. Its 2019-2020 State Report Card received five stars meaning "significantly exceeds expectations." Few schools in the inner city and even fewer that are low income and predominantly African American receive this type of State Report Card, explains Tyson. St. Marcus follows graduates for eight years and reports a 90% high school graduation rate.

WHR's employees also participate in the St. Marcus Christmas Angels program. "Lots of our families are on tight budgets and they cannot always bless and celebrate their children during the holidays with presents, and that can be upsetting. WHR has stepped in and said, 'we will give and share what we have with people who have a lot less,'" says Tyson. Tyson believes the City of Milwaukee and our country have significant segregation. "It's so beneficial for employees of WHR to meet and interact with our families, since it creates bridges. Anytime you can build bridges, it's transformational for the students and their families." WHR is a suburban company west of Milwaukee, Wis.

WHR Founder and Owner, Roger Thrun, who is originally from Chicago and raised lower middle class, reflects on WHR's philanthropic efforts with both St. Marcus and Mayo Clinic. "It doesn't matter what color someone's skin is, all that matters is that our money and efforts are going to great causes and that we can help someone," says Thrun. "I feel fortunate that WHR is able to help people in other communities and I can see tangible results from our philanthropic efforts. I know that St. Marcus School is influencing and shaping kids to be successful for the rest of their lives." A cancer survivor himself, Thrun understands how important it is to receive good healthcare. "I also know that on any given day, someone is getting a personalized cancer plan that WHR paid for through our research funding program. This program saves lives."

Mayo Clinic's Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgeon, Surgical Oncologist, Dr. Mark J. Truty's, M.D., M.S., revolutionary research practice has found a proven way to help pancreatic cancer patients who have been told elsewhere that they are out of options. "There is such a stigma associated with pancreatic cancer," says Truty. With the standard level of care, the survival rate is 5% after 5 years, dependent on the cancer Stage, explains Truty. His research practice has found a way to significantly increase those survival odds, giving patients much more time to enjoy their lives  even for some patients who have been told their cancer was inoperable. "WHR's generous philanthropic contributions have made a massive impact and help to keep my program alive," says Truty. The contributions have also drawn attention to Truty's program. Many researchers are clamoring for support but having a benefactor like WHR points a finger at the program and makes it easier. "Lots of medical research is going into discovery but I want to see something translational," says Truty, who explains his research directly helps patients now.

Pancreatic cancer treatment is typically done serially. One drug is used, and if that doesn't work, a second drug is tried. "The clock is ticking and time is lost with this method of treatment," says Truty. His approach addresses the problem quite differently. A patient is given personalized chemotherapy treatments that have already been proven in Truty's research lab to provide a high probability of effectiveness for that individual in shrinking the tumor before surgery. "The standard level of care is not good enough, we need to give patients something exceptional," says Truty. He is grateful for WHR's support saying, "WHR's owner Roger Thrun understands there's something more important than just running a successful business, Roger understands the importance of giving back."

"Yes, we buy real estate, yes, we help transferees find movers, but when you boil it down, we're just helping people. Dr. Truty of Mayo Clinic and Henry Tyson of St. Marcus School are truly making a difference in people's lives. Dr. Truty is saving lives and St. Marcus School is influencing kids who are already at a serious disadvantage and providing them with a positive launching pad for the rest of their lives," says Thrun. Thrun is grateful for all his employees and clients. He is proud WHR is still going strong 25 years later and able to make such a positive impact in other communities.

About WHR Group Inc.

WHR Group Inc. (WHR) is a privately owned, client-driven global relocation management company distinguished by its best-in-class service delivery and cutting-edge, proprietary technology. WHR has offices in Pewaukee, Wis. (global headquarters), Zurich, Switzerland, and Singapore. With its 100% client retention rate for the past decade, WHR continues to position itself as the trusted provider in employee relocation. To learn more about WHR, visit http://www.whrg.com, or follow @WHRGroup on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Media Contact

Mindy Stroiman, Corporate Writer

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 262-523-7510

SOURCE WHR Group

Related Links

http://whrg.com


NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wickr, Inc. , the secure collaboration platform known for its robust end-to-end encryption and the ability to securely operate on Zero Trust Networks (ZTN), announced the company has been awarded a $35 million dollar contract from the United States Air Force to provide its Wickr-based recall, alert and messaging (Wickr RAM) throughout the United States Department of Defense (DoD).

With this new Air Force contract, Wickr further extends its services across all three major DoD departments, expanding to provide secure communications for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force with end-to-end encrypted file, video, chat, text and voice services for end-users.

"Providing secure communications to the tactical edge and higher on government & personal devices for data up to IL4 FOUO to include PII & PHI is greatly improving situational awareness and enabling commanders to have more complete decision making data," said Dan Skinner Head of Federal Operations, Wickr.

To meet Department of Defense (DOD) security requirements, Wickr RAM enables full administrative and compliance controls. The contract names Wickr RAM as a DoD approved Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) certified application suite, and is additionally Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) FedRAMP certified, an imperative criteria to consider when selecting a collaboration service that ensures the highest levels of security for nationally recognized government entities.

"Wickr is honored to be the recipients of this contract that will be used to enhance Air Force security and meet the government's needs for their most essential, private communication with the utmost secure communication and collaboration tools," said Joel Wallenstrom, CEO of Wickr. "We hope that this partnership will continue to inform the global encryption discussion and highlight the need for true security in government agencies."

Wickr RAM, the self-hosted end-to-end encrypted collaboration platform designed for and accredited by the DoD, is the only collaboration service with full functionality to meet all security criteria of the National Security Agency (NSA), and require an Air Force Cloud One and Air Force Special Operations Command cloud certified fully managed service provider.

The application suite, built for secure communication and collaboration control and deployed to address the requirements to serve recall, alert, and messaging, includes servers that run in a DOD approved cloud data center and client applications that run on government issued, personal, and temporary computers and mobile devices with a DoD validated secure mobile application. Combined with its end-to-end encryption and zero trust infrastructure, Wickr RAM ensures privacy for the Air Force, Navy, and Army in the harshest environments.

The Air Force is obligating over eight million dollars for fiscal operations and maintenance funds to be performed at the Air Force Installation Contracting Center in Hurlburt Field, Florida and is expected to be completed May 31, 2022.

To learn more about Wickr RAM, visit https://wickr.com/secure-communication-for-the-military/

About Wickr:

Wickr's mission is to secure the world's most critical communications. Wickr provides the highest standard of encryption trusted by millions worldwide. In the workplace and out in the field, Wickr enables end users to communicate securely and protect their privacy while providing IT organizations the administrative controls needed to deploy at scale and provides flexible options and controls for information governance and compliance for regulated industries. To learn more, visit www.wickr.com .

Media Contact:

Danielle Ostrovsky

Hi-Touch PR

410-302-9459

[email protected]

SOURCE Wickr
DUBLIN, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Orthopedic Prosthetic Implants - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis and the looming economic recession, the Orthopedic Prosthetic Implants market worldwide will grow by a projected US$2.7 Billion, during the analysis period, driven by a revised compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.1%. Knee Prosthesis, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, is forecast to grow at over 2.2% and reach a market size of US$10.6 Billion by the end of the analysis period.



The Knee Prosthesis market will be reset to a new normal which going forwards in a post COVID-19 era will be continuously redefined and redesigned. Staying on top of trends and accurate analysis is paramount now more than ever to manage uncertainty, change and continuously adapt to new and evolving market conditions.



As part of the new emerging geographic scenario, the United States is forecast to readjust to a 1.2% CAGR. Within Europe, Germany will add over US$55.6 Million to the region's size over the next 7 to 8 years. In addition, over US$67.3 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of European markets. In Japan, the Knee Prosthesis segment will reach a market size of US$560 Million by the close of the analysis period. Blamed for the pandemic, significant political and economic challenges confront China. Amid the growing push for decoupling and economic distancing, the changing relationship between China and the rest of the world will influence competition and opportunities in the Orthopedic Prosthetic Implants market. Against this backdrop and the changing geopolitical, business and consumer sentiments, the world's second largest economy will grow at 4.4% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$975 Million in terms of addressable market opportunity.

The global analysis and forecast periods covered within the report are 2020-2027 (Current & Future Analysis) and 2012-2019 (Historic Review). Research estimates are provided for 2020, while research projections cover the period 2021-2027.

Key Topics Covered:





I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW

Orthopedic Prosthetic Implants: Reconstructive Devices for the Joint Pain Epidemiology

Growth Drivers in a Nutshell

Key Market Growth Inhibitors

Rising Prevalence of Osteoporosis, Arthritis and Other Orthopedic Disorders: Foundation for Market Growth

Osteoporosis and Other Bone Related Health Concerns: Fast Facts

Developed Markets: Traditional Revenue Contributors

Asia-Pacific Continues to Drive Current and Future Market Growth

Knee Prosthesis Garners a Larger Pie in the Global Orthopedic Implants Market

Shoulder Prosthesis: The Fastest Growing Product Segment

Hip Prosthesis to Register Moderate Growth

Positive Outlook for the Healthcare IndustrySignals Promising Growth in Demand

Global Competitor Market Shares

Orthopedic Prosthetic Implants Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %): 2018 & 2029

Impact of Covid-19 and a Looming Global Recession

2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS

3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

Demographic Statistics of Aging Populace: Unfurling the Market Potential

Advanced Materials & Technologies: Spearheading Growth

Newer Technologies Find Increasing Acceptance

Myriad Benefits of Minimally Invasive Techniques for Joint Replacements Drive Market Adoption

Growing Prominence of Trabecular Metal Technology Benefit Market Prospects

Trend towards Higher-Priced Implants Augurs Well for Market Expansion

Robotic-Assisted Surgery Facilitate Easier and Safe Hip and Knee Replacements

Spurt in Medical Tourism Offers Lucrative Market Growth Opportunities

Increasing Cases of Trauma Underpins Market Growth

Risks of Total Hip Replacement on a Decline

Osteoporosis & Arthritis Risk among the Expanding Diabetics Population Lends Traction toMarket Growth

Rise in Global Obesity Epidemic Boosts Market Growth

Facts & Statistics on the Rising Obesity Levels: Important Opportunity Indicators

Growing Number of Revision Orthopedic Surgeries

Cost Containment Issues

Rising Production Cost: A Key Challenge

Developing Countries Offer Significant Growth Opportunities

China and India Turbo Charge Future Market Growth

and India Turbo Charge Future Market Growth Rural Populations in Low-Income & Developing Countries: Huge Untapped Market Potential

Steadily Increasing Healthcare Spending in Developing Countries: Opportunities in Store

Favorable Demographic & Economic Trends Strengthen Market Prospects

Advancements in Stemless Shoulder Arthroplasty

Novel Implant Designs for Ankle Replacement Surgeries

Reliable Surfaces for Load Bearing: Need ofthe Hour for Joint Replacement Surgeries

3D Printing in Orthopedics

Novel Techniques for Improving Outcomes of Hip Replacement Surgeries

Advancements in Total Hip Replacements

Anterior Approach

Liner Advancements for Longer-lasting Replacements

Tracing History of Hip Replacement Advancements

4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



III. MARKET ANALYSIS



GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS



IV. COMPETITION



Companies Mentioned





Aesculap Implant Systems, LLC

Amplitude Surgical

B. Braun Melsungen AG

Baumer S.A

ConforMIS, Inc.

Corin Group PLC

DePuy Synthes Companies

DJO Global, Inc.

Exactech, Inc.

Extremity Medical, LLC

Integra LifeSciences Corporation

Medacta International

Smith & Nephew Plc

Stryker Corporation

Waldemar Link GmbH & Co. KG

Wright Medical Group N.V.

Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xb2j6p

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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SOURCE Research and Markets

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The Hilton Hotel in Shenzhen's Shekou District, where the event was held, was teeming with guests Wednesday. Peng Hao, head of Wuhan Development Zone, made a detailed introduction on the region's investment advantages, highlighting its science and technology innovation headquarters base in particular.

Attending enterprises include senior management from Sky-well New Energy Automobile Group Co. Ltd., Sunac China Holdings Limited, Huawei and other locally headquartered leading firms in industrial, real estate and other sectors.

Wuhan Development Zone is a national development zone with strong comprehensive competitiveness in the country's central and western regions. With an annual output of more than 1 million cars and 17 million air conditioners, it is the main venue, engine and pillar for Wuhan's industrial and economic development. In recent years, Wuhan Development Zone has continuously promoted industrial transformation and upgrading, developed a diversified industrial support system, and stepped up investment promotion and capital introduction. Statistics showed that in the past three years, the region has signed 252 major projects worth over 100 million yuan, with a signed amount of 682.1 billion yuan in total. Among them, there are 49 projects invested by the world's Fortune 500 enterprises and 33 projects invested by centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

As the core area for Wuhan Development Zone's future transformation and upgrading and high-quality development, the region's science and technology innovation headquarters base is accelerating planning and construction. Located near the Yangtze River and South Taizi Lake, the base boasts superior geographical, transport and infrastructure conditions.

According to relevant plans, the base seeks to focus on headquarters economy, scientific research and development, and smart manufacturing in terms of industry introduction. Cooperation opportunities are open to Fortune 500 firms, large central SOEs, leading private enterprises, industry leaders, large multinational companies, well-known universities and research institutes. The development of emerging industries such as next-generation automobiles, smart homes, smart manufacturing, testing and design will be highlighted. The base aims to form a modern headquarters economic agglomeration area facing central China and radiating the whole country, and establish clusters of industrial research and development institutions and a national industrial incubation acceleration platform.

In terms of planning and layout, Wuhan Development Zone science and technology innovation headquarters base will take water as the axis to create an overall spatial structure with one axis connecting six lakes and three belts connecting four sections.

The central belt will connect sections of wealth gathering, science and technology innovation and ecological development to promote headquarters economy, research and development, smart manufacturing and waterfront businesses. The base will feature the functions of office, research and development test, commercial and residential uses. By connecting decision-making with R&D and industrial application, the base will attract high-end industry clusters and professionals.

The invitation to Wuhan Development Zone has won applause and recognition from Shenzhen's entrepreneurs.

"Wuhan is a natural investment destination for large domestic enterprises and groups as long as they want to make a nationwide presence. We are optimistic about Wuhan and will continue to invest in Wuhan," said Zhang Jinshun, vice chairman of Baoneng Group.

"Wuhan has a very good investment environment and the people are very enthusiastic. It is a safe bet to invest in Wuhan," said Jiang Tiefeng, general manager of China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings Co,.Ltd.

Many entrepreneurs expressed their willingness to strengthen all-round cooperation with Wuhan Development Zone to seek common development and achieve win-win results.

Focusing on the artificial intelligence industry, Shenzhen Galaxy Industry Group plans to work with China Construction Second Engineering Bureau and Wuhan Real Estate Group to invest in the construction of an international intellectual port in Wuhan Development Zone, and to build projects such as China university venture capital research institute (Central China branch), national institute of entrepreneurship, Wuhan university entrepreneurship manager training base, an incubator, a fashion shopping street and COCO PARK Phase I.

On next-generation automobiles, DeepRoute, a Shenzhen-based self-driving startup, will build a production base, R&D test center and operation center for intelligent Internet-connected automobiles in Wuhan Development Zone. It has also set up relevant technical teams around the technological transformation of core components and the development of L4-level self-driving algorithm in-depth learning technology to carry out commercial pilot operations. Another Shenzhen-headquartered self-driving start-up AutoX will set its central China regional operation headquarters in Wuhan Development Zone. The first batch of the company's 20 self-driving vehicles will run on urban roads in Wuhan Development Zone.

To promote scientific and technological innovation, China Science and Technology Development Institute plans to build an innovation and entrepreneurship service platform and an industrial engine platform in Wuhan Development Zone. Giving full play to the advantages of the institute's scientific and technological innovation strengths and other resources, the investment projects aim at strategic emerging industries such as intelligent Internet-connected automobiles, industrial robots, new materials and new energy. Efforts will be made to introduce and cultivate high-quality teams and projects at home and abroad, create a good ecological environment for innovation and entrepreneurship, and strive to build it into a national incubator within four years. In line with the development concept of integration of industry growth and city development, R&F Group plans to build a scientific and technological innovation center in Wuhan Development Zone to create a characteristic industrial demonstration area to gather scientific and technological innovation industries, innovation ideas and new talents.

Focusing on the automobile services market, China Zhengtong Group gathers and integrates the advantageous resources of its subsidiaries and related parties and plans to build and introduce a number of key projects such as the group's wealth settlement center, Dongzheng finance central China headquarters base and Zhengtong logistics headquarters base. It aims to build an industrial cluster in the automotive aftermarket, development and introduce benchmarking high-end office areas, enterprise headquarters bases, financial towns and various commercial supporting industries and formats, and create diversified urban space.

Peng Hao said Wuhan Development Zone will issue the best policies, create the best environment and provide the best services for investors. All-round support will be offered in terms of new research and development, innovation and entrepreneurship in the district. Comprehensive talent services and supporting special policies on children's schooling, house purchase and medical treatment will be provided. The zone will be a good caretaker for enterprises and talents investing and working in the district by improving the service mechanism and offering targeted services.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=366877

Caption: A signing ceremony is held in Shenzhen for investment projects inked between Shenzhen-based enterprises and Wuhan Development Zone.

SOURCE The Publicity Department of Wuhan Development Zone
ADDISON, Ill., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Xentris Wireless, a leader in designing, engineering and manufacturing high quality, innovative wireless accessories, is proud to announce an expansion of its product development, testing and manufacturing facility at its headquarters in Addison, Illinois.

Through a series of recent strategic investments, Xentris Wireless has expanded its capabilities to include ruggedized charging solutions for the Warfighter. Xentris Wireless's goal is to quickly deliver the best Soldier-accepted, safe charging solutions for the Warfighter by leveraging its knowledge of rapid consumer product development in conjunction with newly acquired knowledge of military power solutions.

"We are proud to announce the launch of our military product line  EXO Charge. Charging solutions for the mobile device industry is the foundation on which Xentris Wireless was built. Our name has become synonymous with high quality mobile accessories developed at the forefront of emerging technologies," states David Bailey, President and CEO.

"As we move forward with EXO Charge, you can count on Xentris Wireless to deliver enhanced charging solutions that improve the agility of the modern Warfighter. Our focus will be solutions that make the Soldier faster, lighter and more lethal. EXO Charge will always be about providing the absolute best solutions for the Warfighter," continued Bailey.

Xentris Wireless's mission is to provide users the best charging solutions possible. The EXO Charge division will work both independently and collaboratively with the consumer division to design, develop and deliver solutions to enhance the lethality of today's Warfighter. With over 30 years of experience, Xentris Wireless has built a reputation as a reliable partner with a proven track record of excellence. Xentris Wireless is small business certified and is privately owned with an ISO 9001:2015 certified facility in Addison, Illinois.

For updates and additional information, visit www.exocharge.com.

About Xentris Wireless:

Xentris Wireless is a leader in designing, engineering, manufacturing and distributing high quality, innovative wireless accessories supplying a full line of products to a wide range of customers and top wireless companies  including the largest wireless carriers, retailers and dealer agents. With more than 30 years of experience, Xentris Wireless continues to provide exceptional product, sales, logistics and marketing solutions to the ever-changing wireless industry with proven success and continued commitment.

SOURCE Xentris Wireless
Sonora wanted to avoid people [living in the U.S.] that want to come spend the weekend and will leave us with a larger burden of Covid, governor Claudia Pavlovich Arellano said in a statement.
HOUSTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Connie Pfeiffer, a widely respected appellate specialist with a practice in state and federal courts, has joined Yetter Coleman LLP as the new leader of its appellate team, the firm announced today.

Recognized among the "Top 100 Lawyers in Texas" by Texas Super Lawyers, Ms. Pfeiffer has served as lead appellate counsel in scores of appeals for both plaintiffs and defendants. Her practice focuses on business disputes, legal malpractice and fiduciary claims, and statutory and procedural issues. She joins Yetter Coleman from a leading trial boutique, Beck Redden LLP, where she was a partner.

Reagan Simpson, who has led the firm's appellate practice for the past decade, said, "Year after year, Connie is recognized among the most respected lawyers in Texas. Connie's arrival at Yetter Coleman reflects the strong next generation of our firm and appellate team. Her skills, record, and relationships with clients are extraordinary. She perfectly fits with our firm's commitment to deliver leading-edge service to our clients for decades to come."

A board-certified appellate specialist, Ms. Pfeiffer has a long list of accolades. She is recognized among the "Top 50 Women Lawyers in Texas" by Texas Super Lawyers. The prestigious legal directory Chambers USA recognizes her among the top-ranked lawyers in Texas, where interviewees describe her as "an outstanding appellate lawyer." Best Lawyers has named Ms. Pfeiffer the "Appellate Lawyer of the Year," and Texas Lawyer named her the "Appellate Lawyer of the Week" for a high-profile win in the Texas Supreme Court.

Yetter Coleman partner Collin Cox said, "Connie will be the perfect captain for our 10-person appellate team. Every day, our trial and appellate specialists work side by side to protect our clients. Connie is a tenacious advocate and a wonderful colleague. She is respected by the entire bar. All of us are excited to work with her."

Ms. Pfeiffer said, "Yetter Coleman is a firm with an impressive history and a vision for the future. Reagan Simpson, and the late Greg Coleman before him, built a team of amazing appellate lawyers. I'm honored to help lead our team forward and am looking forward to working closely with Reagan, who has been a respected professional friend and someone I've admired my entire career. I'm also excited to work with the other appellate partners, April Farris and Dori Goldman, who each recently argued and won cases before the Texas Supreme Court."

Ms. Pfeiffer brings to the firm unique experience with the federal judiciary. She has served since 2013 on the bipartisan Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee (FJEC), which screens and recommends nominees for vacancies on the federal bench and in U.S. attorney offices in Texas. She was appointed to the committee by the U.S. Senators for Texas.

Ms. Pfeiffer holds a J.D., with honors, from The University of Texas School of Law, and a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Tennessee.

About Yetter Coleman LLP

Yetter Coleman is a law firm built to handle high-stakes business and technology litigation from investigating claims and filing suit through final resolution on appeal. Founded in 1997, the firm's trial and appellate talent offer clients a unique, integrated team approach from which the best strategic decisions are developed for every stage of litigation. The firm has earned a reputation as one of America's best litigation-only firms, including recognition on the American Lawyer list of National Litigation Boutique Firms of the Year in 2019, 2009 and 2005. More information is available at YetterColeman.com.

CONTACT: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for Yetter Coleman LLP, 281.703.6000, [email protected].

SOURCE Yetter Coleman LLP
New York, July 7 : International students in the US are panicking after a shock announcement by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday afternoon that slams the door shut on students with F-1 and M-1 visas if their universities move to online-only instruction during the Fall 2020 semester which begins early September, immediately after Labor Day weekend.

F-1 students pursue academic coursework and M-1 nonimmigrant students attend vocational courses in the United States.

Students enrolled in US universities that are moving to an online-only education model will be barred from getting F-1 visas, stopped from entering the US on F-1 visas and not allowed to maintain F-1 status in the Fall semester, according to immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta's explanation of the one-pager ICE statement.

"So Trump is forcing foreign students to study in unsafe conditions during Covid-19," Mehta tweeted.

The language of the statement terms the new rules as "modifications to temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester".

"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", the first line of the July 6 statement says.

"The US Department of State 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. 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. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings." The Trump administration says it had allowed only a "temporary exemption" for online courses limited to the spring and summer semesters.

The ICE announcement comes at a time when the US leads the world in coronavirus caseload. Covid-19 has sickened more than 2.9 million Americans and killed more than 130,000 till date.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New York, July 7 : International students in the US are panicking and universities are scrambling to make sense of a new policy announcement by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that says foreign students in the US will be forced to leave the country or transfer to another college if their universities offer only online classes this Fall.

"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", the first line of the July 6 statement says.

Officials in the International Students Office at the University of Southern California told IANS they are still "analysing the new information" and swamped by a flood of enquiries from worried students.

According to immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta, the latest one pager policy announcement means three things: Students enrolled in US universities that are moving to an online-only education model will be barred from getting F-1 visas, they will be stopped from entering the US on F-1 visas and not allowed to maintain F-1 status in the Fall semester.

ICE is now turning the screws on universities to re-open despite the coronavirus roaring back across 40 of 50 states.

"So Trump is forcing foreign students to study in unsafe conditions during Covid-19", Mehta tweeted.

Fall 2020 semester begins early September in the US, immediately after Labor Day weekend. By that time, America's death toll is projected to have crossed the grim milestone of 170,000, according to at least a couple of predictive models.

The new policy incentivises in-person classes during the ongoing pandemic which has already killed 130,000 Americans. The ICE announcement comes amidst heated debate across the country on what the coming Fall school session is going to look like.

A vaccine against the coronavirus will not be available until at least year end or later.

The announcement leaves the door open for "hybrid" models of online plus in-person classes as a way for students to remain in the US.

It says, "Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools adopting a hybrid model, that is, a mixture of online and in person classes, will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online." Andrew Ng, co-founder of Coursera and a Stanford computer science faculty member described this latest development as a "lose-lose" situation for both students and universities.

In a tweet, Ng termed the policy as a "horrible" one which will hurt the US, students and universities.

"Pushes universities to offer in-person classes even if unsafe or no pedagogical benefit, or students to leave US amidst pandemic and risk inability to return," Ng tweeted.

"Most of my current PhD students are international. This is an unnecessary crisis" tweeted Paula Kagan, Professor at DePaul College of Science and Health.

The language of the ICE statement terms the new rules as "modifications to temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester." "The US Department of State 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. 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. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings." The Trump administration says it had allowed only a "temporary exemption" for online courses limited to the spring and summer semesters.

The ICE announcement comes at a time when the US leads the world in coronavirus caseload. Covid-19 has sickened more than 2.9 million Americans and killed more than 130,000 till date.

According to US Department of Commerce 2018 data, the student population contributed $45 billion to the US economy.

Nearly 390,000 foreigners received student visas in Fiscal Year 2019, according to publicly available US government data. F-1 students pursue academic coursework and M-1 nonimmigrant students attend vocational courses in the United States.

(Nikhila Natarajan is on Twitter @byniknat)
Srinagar, July 7 : One terrorist was killed and one army jawan also died in action and a policeman of the special operations group of Jammu and Kashmir police was injured in an ongoing encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Tuesday, officials said.

According to details on a credible police input, an operation was launched on Monday night at Gasoo, Pulwama by the police along with local security forces unit.

While the cordon was being put around the target house, the operation party came under fire in which one police and one army jawan got injured.

The injured army jawan later succumbed to his injuries. The Police special operation group jawan has been shifted to hospital.

One terrorist has been killed so far. The operation is going on.
New Delhi, July 7 : A frontrunner candidate for Air Indias Director Operations post has come under criticism from certain section of the airline for his past record of siding with unions against the national carrier.

According to sources, the current Executive Director for Operations Captain R.S. Sandhu has in the past been allegedly hand-in-glove with a particular pilots' union.

"He was terminated once due to his close association with one of the pilots' unions. He had sided with this union during a strike. Now as a member of senior management, how can we trust him not to repeat the past incident," sources said adding that he is one of the frontrunner candidate for the post.

"After the strike, he was reinstated back but only after a deal was struck between the management and the union. These past incidents are serious and must not be ignored." The event in reference is from 2011, when a pilots' union of erstwhile Indian Airlines' went to strike.

Subsequently, Sandhu was terminated as a deputy general manager operations in April 2011, when he openly sided with the erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots' demand to get parity with those from IPG.

However, in May after a settlement was reached between the union and the airline, Sandhu was re-instated.

Interestingly, this past incident among some others have been in public knowledge but it is only now that some quarters of the airline have started to speak about these.

Nevertheless, another source in the airline said the post of Director Operations is vacant since March-end and the selection process has been stalled due to the pandemic and airline's divestment process.

"Therefore, no recruitment to this position is taking place as of now," the second source said.

Last year in December, Ministry of Civil Aviation had invited application for three director level posts including that of Director (Operations).

At present, executive director-level officials are officiating these positions.

Till March, Captain Amitabh Singh was officiating as operations director.

In 2018, Captain A. K. Kathpalia was removed from this post, after his alcohol direction test results came positive after operating a flight.

As a result, his flying licence was suspended for three years.

The post in question is both coveted and controversial as the incumbent is always under scanner of all the employees, the second source added.
Washington, July 7 : America's top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci warned "the current state is really not good" due to the fresh spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

"We had been in a situation (where) we were averaging about 20,000 new cases a day," Xinhua news agency quoted Fauci, Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as saying on Monday.

In a livestream with Director of the US National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, Fauci said a series of circumstances associated with various states and cities trying to open up, in the sense of getting back to some form of normality, has led to a situation where the country now has record-breaking cases.

He said the average age of people getting infected now is 15 years younger than it was a few months ago, but young people must understand they are not "in a vacuum".

"Innocently, they could infect someone who'd infect someone, and then all of a sudden someone's grandmother or grandfather, or aunt who's getting chemotherapy for breast cancer gets infected.

"You're part of the propagation of the pandemic so it's your responsibility to yourself, as well as to society, to avoid infection," Fauci added.

The US currently accounts for the world's highest number of infections and fatalities at 2,935,008 and 130,277, respectively, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

The worst-hit states due to the fresh outbreak are California, Arizona, Texas and Florida.

Nearly two dozen states have paused their reopenings to combat the virus spread while others have taken extra measures to keep it out of their borders, said a CNN report.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut issued a travel advisory that requires people arriving from eight states with high coronavirus rates to quarantine for two weeks.
Agra, July 7 : Eleven new cases have taken the Covid-19 tally in Agra to 1,306, while 1,081 have been discharged upon recovery. Fortunately, no death has been reported in the past two days. The death toll remains at 90 in the Taj city.

The recovery rate is more or less stable at 82.77 per cent, though the number of containment zones has gone up to 74.

Meanwhile, on the second day of the statewide Covid surveillance programme, members of 980 teams surveyed 58,986 homes and contacted 3.30 lakh people to get their latest health status.

The SN Medical College has initiated work on the Plasma Bank. The ICMR has given green light to the project. The wait is now for donors who do not seem to be forthcoming though the number of recovered cases is fairly high, a doctor said.

However, Agra district authorities have expressed concern over resurfacing of Covid-19 cases after the Unlock-1 from posh areas that had become virtually free of the dreaded infection.

An official said the opening of markets and shops and with domestic help returning to work in posh colonies, the interaction has increased and some people have become complacent too. This laxity has spurted the surge in urban areas of the district.

Cases have been reported from Kamla Nagar, Jaipur House colony, Vibhav Nagar, Natrajpuram, Vasant Vihar, Avas Vikas colony and North Idgah colony. Many big houses appear deserted as residents have moved out to safer places.

The chief cause of worry is the general laxity in following the guidelines of Unlock-1. The markets are crowded with people without masks, who hardly maintain the social distancing norm. Even at the sample collection centre at the Employment Exchange, people are not able to follow social distancing, a health worker said.

A senior district official said it was worrisome that cases of Covid-19 were resurfacing from posh colonies. People need to be doubly careful and follow the guidelines strictly.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Ottawa, July 7 : An armed man was arrested last week near Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's residence for threatening to harm him, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The man, identified as Corey Hurren, was accused of threatening to "cause death or bodily harm" to Trudeau, in addition to 21 charges related to weapons, Xinhua news agency quoted the RCMP as saying on Monday.

The 21 charges include careless use of a firearm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm and unauthorized possession in a motor vehicle.

Armed with two shotguns, a rifle and a revolver, Hurren allegedly rammed his truck through a gate at Governor General Julie Payette's residence, where Trudeau and his family have also been living while the Prime Minister's official residence in Ottawa awaits renovations.

Neither Trudeau nor Payette were present on the grounds at the time of the incident.

The RCMP said Hurren, a Canadian Armed Forces reservist from rural Manitoba, had with him a prohibited M-14 rifle, plus the shotguns and a revolver.

The truck Hurren was driving broke down not far into the Governor General's official estate.

He allegedly got out and headed in the direction of Trudeau's residence.

Police arrested him without anybody being hurt.

The RCMP said it has bolstered security on the grounds at Rideau Hall since the incident and will conduct a review of security arrangements, CBC News said in a report on Monday.
Kanpur, July 7 : The police have arrested one Kshama Dubey, along with two others, from Bikru village, late on Monday night, for allegedly helping Vikas Dubey and his men in spotting the policemen who were hiding near her house when the shootout took place on Friday (July 3).

Kshama Dubey is the wife of Vikas Dubey's nephew, Sanjay Dubey, and she did not open the doors of their house when one of the cops knocked looking for a hideout to save his life during the shootout.

SSP Kanpur Dinesh Kumar Prabhu said, "Instead, Kshama informed Vikas and his aides about the location of the policemen. Armed with semi-automatic weapons, Vikas's aides reached her house through roofs and shot dead all the policemen, who were standing near the door of her house." The police have also arrested Rekha Agnihotri, wife of Dubey's cook, Daya Shankar, who was earlier arrested following a brief encounter on Sunday.

Rekha, who also worked as a maid at Vikas's house, helped shooters zero in on a group of other policemen, who had taken refuge behind a wall opposite Vikas's house. "When shooters opened fire at policemen, Rekha was cheering them and yelling that none of the policemen should return alive," said the official.

Suresh Verma, the third person arrested on Monday night, was also applauding the shooters.

The SSP said, "We have arrested the three from their hideouts and booked them under Section 120B. They would be produced in the court and will be sent to jail later." According to police, the three were giving information to Dubey and his henchmen when the shootout occurred at the criminal's residence in Bikru village in Kanpur on July 3.

Police said that they were giving all information about the police personnel's location to Dubey during the encounter.

The SSP said that they were part of the gang that laid a trap for the police team which was raiding Bikru village.

The gangster and his men attacked the police team and killed eight police personnel. The incident had led to national outrage even as Vikas Dubey remains out of reach of the police.
Lucknow, July 7 : Corona patients at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) in Lucknow, now wake up to a mix of Bollywood songs that are being played in the wards every morning.

Doctor Srikesh Singh, spokesperson for the RMLIMS, said, "The FM radio plays in the common area accessed by both patients and doctors. Anyone can come, listen and even dance a bit if they want. The songs are proving to be mood lifters and help in wiping off the melancholic atmosphere in the corona wards." The 200-bed COVID hospital of the institute is in its women and child wing block on the Shaheed Path. Patients are provided with cubicles where they stay during their treatment. The nursing station is in front of the cubicles and the speakers for music have been put up here.

Doctor Devashish Shukla, senior psychiatrist with the RMLIMS, said "Music therapy has a positive impact on patients suffering from depression. With the current pandemic situation, anxiety levels go up, especially in patients suffering from corona. Hence, music will help to give patients the confidence they need for recovery." Doctor Abhishek Shukla, an expert in geriatric medicine and founder of Aastha Geriatric Hospital, said, "Among elderly patients, music helps elevate the willpower, especially in times of sickness." Srikesh Singh said, "Patients, at times, were seen enjoying music individually on their phones so we decided to play music for all. It does not feel like a hospital when you wake up and listen to music." The music is played at a low volume so that it does not disturb those wanting to take a nap during the day. At night, the radio is switched off so that patients can have a sound sleep.

"There has been a positive feedback not only from patients, but also the medical staff who feel relaxed even while working under tremendous pressure," said Singh.
FILE - In this March 29 photo, customers wait in line to enter the Home Depot store at Midtown Place in Atlanta. The Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represents Target, Home Depot and other major chains, says different rules around the country have made it confusing for shoppers and often lead to conflict between customers and workers trying to enforce store rules. (Curtis Compton/AP)
Lucknow, July 7 : Former Deputy Mayor of Lucknow and senior BJP leader Abhay Seth has died of COVID-19 infection, a health official said on Tuesday.

He was 66.

Seth was the first politician to have died due to the disease in the city on Monday.

He was undergoing treatment at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) after testing positive for COVID-19 on June 27.

SGPGIMS Medical Superintendent R.K. Singh said, "The patient had a history of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. He slipped into a state of respiratory shock due to the infection and died." Seth's son Alok said, "We had taken him to Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences first after he developed cough and fever. He tested positive for coronavirus there and was V shifted to SGPGIMS. On Sunday night, he was put on a ventilator after his oxygen level fell drastically." Seth, who was in the business of real estate, is survived by his wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandson.

A grassroots worker of the BJP, he rose to become Deputy Administrator of Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) and served for a brief period from May to November 2002 before being elected as Deputy Mayor, a post he held till February 2006.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has condoled the death of the Former Deputy Mayor.

A condolence meeting, led by Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia was held at LMC office on Monday evening.
Lucknow, July 7 : A pregnant 22-year-old woman, who was refused admission to the Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) till she cleared the corona test, delivered her baby while standing in queue for the test on Monday.

The woman, Palak, was in labour when she arrived at the hospital but was asked to go to the triage area where tests are done through the TruNat machine.

She could barely stand and when her amniotic sac ruptured, she collapsed and delivered the baby on the spot.

The incident led to panic and the medical staff shifted the woman and the new born to a ward.

The institute has ordered an investigation into the incident and a faculty member and two senior and two junior residents of the obstetrics and gynaecology department have been asked to go off duty.

The woman's husband, Raman Dixit, a daily wager, told reporters that Palak was nine months pregnant and labour pains started on Monday after which he rushed her to the hospital.

"However, staff in the emergency ward of gynaecology did not admit her saying that as per protocol, she first needed to undergo a Covid-19 test. The test costs Rs 1,500 and I was not carrying so much cash. I made my wife stand along with a relative in the queue for Covid-19 test and went home to bring the money. When I returned, I found that my wife had already given birth to a boy and was admitted in the ward," said husband, Raman.

Dr Srikesh Singh, spokesperson of RMLIMS, said that the woman and her baby are doing fine.

Officiating director of RMLIMS, Prof Nuzhat Hussain, said, "A three-member committee will submit its report on the incident in three days. Till then, the five staff members will remain off duty. The head of obstetrics and gynaecology has been asked to explain why instead of providing emergency care when the woman was in labour pain, she was sent for Covid-19 testing."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Baghdad, July 7 : Hisham al-Hashimi, a well-known Iraqi political and security expert, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the capital Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

The incident took place on Monday in Zaiyouna district when the gunmen on two motorcycles opened fire at al-Hashimi's car near his house, the source told Xinhua news agency.

Al-Hashimi was shot more than 20 times and was transferred to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, the source said.

The attackers managed to flee before the arrival of security forces.

Al-Hashimi, who specialized in the affairs of the Sunni and Shia armed groups, is known for his support for the anti-government protests that broke out last October and his strong criticism of armed groups and militias.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held an outlawed militant group responsible for the assassination and pledged to pursue the killers.

"We pledge to pursue the killers to bring them to justice, and we will not allow the assassinations to return to Iraq to undermine security and stability," al-Kadhimi was quoted as saying in a statement following the incident.

The Iraqi leader described al-Hashimi as an opinion-maker and a supportive voice for the Iraqi forces during the war against the Islamic State (IS) terror group, according to the statement.

The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after the Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017, but sporadic attacks occurred in the war-ravaged country.
Tel Aviv, July 7 : Israeli flag carrier, El Al announced that it has decided to accept the Ministry of Finance's plan to save the airline from shutting down.

According to plan, the airline will receive a $250 million bank loan with a 75 per cent state guarantee, along with a $150 million share issue, reports Xinhua news agency.

The state made a commitment to purchase the shares, or 61 per cent of the company.

By doing so, the airline will return to state-owned, 15 years after it was privatized.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, El Al planes were grounded in March, and 5,800 workers were put on unpaid leaves.

The company ended the first quarter of 2020 with a $140 million loss, and the continued sky closure means that it would have no revenue soon.

On Monday, Israel's Minister of Transport, Miri Regev, told the Hebrew-language news website Ynet that "this is the first step in getting El Al back on the runway".

"We are committed to rehabilitate the firm to maintain Israel's aviation independence."
Jaipur, July 7 : No sanitation worker should be forced to enter into sewage chambers to clean the sewer lines, said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot while addressing a video conference with public representatives and urban bodies.

The entire cleaning work should be done by machines and there should be no deaths during cleaning of sewerage lines, he instructed all district collectors and civic authorities on Monday.

Gehlot said that the sanitation workers, who have been risking their lives to keep us safe, played a strong role in keeping the city, streets and neighbourhood free from the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The government was able to check the spread of the pandemic due to the dedication with which the sanitation workers and the public representatives of the urban bodies worked, he added.

The CM said that Rajasthan's pride "increased" in the nation owing to hard work by doctors, nurses, anganwadi workers, police, sanitation workers and urban bodies. In fact, Rajasthan was the first state to provide insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh to government and non-government personnel engaged in Covid-19 battle, he said.

The CM also took suggestions from the civic body mayors, chairpersons, councillors and others and released two posters to create awareness among the people against the virus.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Berlin, July 7 : German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected calls to do away with face mask requirement in shops across the country, government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said.

"Wherever the minimum distance cannot be guaranteed in public life, masks are an important and, from today's perspective, still indispensable means," Xinhua news agency quoted Seibert as saying on Monday.

The wearing of masks is still necessary in order to "keep the number of infections low and to protect other people and ourselves", he added.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Minister for Economic Affairs Harry Glawe has triggered a debate about abolishing the requirement to cover the mouth and nose in shops.

"If the incidence of infection remains so low, I see no reason to continue to make masks mandatory for retail," Glawe told the German newspaper Welt on Sunday.

Other federal states in Germany are also considering the abolition of the face mask obligation in shops.

"We are currently looking into whether we can do without compulsory masks when shopping," Saxony's Social Affairs Minister Petra Koepping told the paper.

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn called for caution on Sunday and warned that the coronavirus was still there.

However, he also said he understood "the impatience and the desire for normality".

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the number of new COVID-19 infections in Germany increased by 219 within one day to 196,554, with 9,012 confirmed deaths on Monday.

Except for a few local outbreaks, such as at a German meat processing plant where more than 1,500 employees tested positive, the number of new cases has been on a steady decline.

With 48,744 cases, Bavaria is one of the most affected states in Germany, according to the RKI.

Last week, Bavaria was the first German state to approve free COVID-19 tests for all its 13 million inhabitants.

Bavaria's Minister President Markus Soeder stressed on Monday that his state would "by no means relax or abolish the obligation to wear masks".

Wearing a face mask is "one of the very few protective equipment" against the coronavirus, he said.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, July 7 : Designer Gaurang Shah, who is known for his exquisite handcrafted jamdani masterpieces and signature sarees, was previously against the idea of selling his creations online. Reason? He never wanted his customers to feel cheated after they find variations in colour and texture compared to what they order by seeing photographs and on video calls.

But amid the lockdown, Shah decided to launch his first e-store to fuel brand growth and to tap consumers yearning his signature weaves from places where he doesn't have an offline presence or a physical store.

"Over the years, people know my work, my designs, what structure I give to my sarees, and my style of working. I got calls from many brides and regular clients who said they were ready to buy on video calls. They have started understanding that there will be little variation in colours, texture in video and photographs and the actual saree when they receive it. So I thought it was the right time to go online and start selling through e-store. And by God's grace, we have got very good response," Shah tells IANSlife.

The lockdown which lasted for almost three months brought almost all the businesses on halt and luxurious fashion industry was no different. It infact will be among the last of the businesses to get back on track.

Shah, owns six Indian and two international physical stores, informs that in April and May, the revenue from the stores was zero.

"People are not buying right now. They don't have any occasion to buy clothes for. Weddings are also now limited to 50 people only. People are saving money because they have to put it into their companies or they have to pay salaries. There is not much liquid cash and people don't want to spend right now," Shah asserts.

He, however, is hopeful that the in the next couple of months, things will get back to normal.

Looking at the positive side of the lockdown, the Hyderabad-based designer says it gave him a lot of time to think and create new designs. The lockdown has given me a lot of time to explore new ideas, he says. "From my end, I am doing a lot of things." Shah, who has community of 800 weavers working for him, says he has been working with them continuously to develop a piece from scratch. "I had time, and I had my weavers with me. When I am developing a new saree, a new design, it takes a lot of time from conception to execution stage. I work from the yarn stage or the yielding stage." Adding, "What I do takes a lot of patience. Giving an idea to a weaver to having him/her develop the piece, needs a lot - time, money and over all patience. Today not many designers are doing this because this is very laborious process. They just go buy fabrics and cut and make them." When one starts working with weavers, they need to give them work continuously which is difficult for designers today, he adds.

"Today they (designers) do one collection and then they do away with the weavers. That is not sustainability. Being sustainable means you have to continuously provide them work. Everyone talks about sustainability but sustainability in true words is developing new things and providing your weavers with work," he concludes.

(Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in)
New York, July 7 : More than 40 shooting incidents took place in New York City during the Independence Day weekend, killing at least nine people, local authorities said.

On Monday, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) confirmed that from July 3 to 5, 63 people were shot in 44 incidents, leading to at least nine fatalities, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the NYPD, the majority of the shootings occurred between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, killing three people and injuring 34 others.

The NYPD released its citywide crime report for June on Monday, showing that there were 205 shooting incidents the previous month, a 130.3 per cent increase from a year ago.

Meanwhile, 528 shootings were recorded citywide in the first six months of this year, compared with 362 a year ago, the report showed.

"The sharp increase in shootings and violence in New York puts innocent people at risk and tears at the fabric of life in our city," said New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea in the report.

The NYPD is also facing challenges, including deep budget cuts and a surge of retirements, according to the report.

Facing mounting pressure from protesters who call for "defunding the police", New York City slashed $1 billion from the NYPD budget for the fiscal year 2021, and diverted the funding to youth and social services.

In an interview with local news channel NY1 on Monday, Shea blamed the surge in gun violence on the city's efforts to decrease the population on Rikers Island, where a notorious jail complex is located with some 10,000 beds.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of prisoners have been released from the jail to avoid the clustering of infections.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday that a number of reasons have contributed to the spike in shootings, including coronavirus-led court closures, economic damages, and that "people have been pent up for months and months".

He said he would talk to community leaders on how to deploy police and the approaches they take, among other topics.

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo also said he is "very concerned" about the rising number of shootings in the city.

"And again, it's the communities that in many ways need the most, pay the highest price." Meanwhile, the Fourth of July weekend witnessed a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, forcing to tighten measures to curb the spread of the virus.

The US currently accounts for the world's highest number of infections and fatalities at 2,935,008 and 130,277, respectively.
London, July 7 : The novel coronavirus has existed worldwide and broke out whenever and wherever favourable conditions occurred before it emerged in China last December leading to the ongoing global pandemic, an Oxford University expert said.

"I think the virus was already here -- here meaning everywhere. We may be seeing a dormant virus that has been activated by environmental conditions," Xinhua news agency quoted Tom Jefferson, a senior associate tutor at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) at Oxford and a visiting professor at Newcastle University, as saying.

"There was a case in the Falkland Islands in early February. Now 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, when they started sailing towards the Weddell Sea, they got the first case. Was it in prepared food that was defrosted and activated?" "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 hadn't had any communication with the outside world," Jefferson added.

"The explanation for this could only be that these agents don't 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," he stressed.

Last week, Spanish virologists announced the discovery of traces of the novel coronavirus in a sample of Barcelona waste water collected in March 2019, nine months before COVID-19 was identified in China.

The Italian National Institute of Health said last month that sewage water from Milan and Turin showed coronavirus traces on December 18, 2019.

By Tuesday morning, the total number of global COVID-19 cases stood at 11,590,195, while the fatalities rose to 537,429, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Washington, July 7 : US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Washington was looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.

In a Fox News interview on Monday, Pompeo said that "we're taking this very seriously".

"With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the US will get this one right too... I don't want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it's something we're looking at," he said in the interview.

India has already banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, saying these apps opened the way for "elements hostile to national security and defence" to exploit them to "ultimately impinge upon the sovereignty and integrity of India".

Pompeo said people should only download the app "if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party".

TikTok which has a flourishing presence in the US was yet to comment.

TikTok, owned by China-based startup ByteDance, has been repeatedly criticized by US leaders "of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China".

Pompeo earlier welcomed India's move, saying the "clean app" policy will promote New Delhi's national security against the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) spying on the country.

"We welcome India's ban on certain mobile apps that can serve as appendages of the CCP's surveillance state. India's 'clean app' approach will boost India's sovereignty, and will also boost India's integrity and national security as the Indian government itself has stated," he said while briefing reporters in Washington earlier this month.

Nikki Haley, the first Indian-American to serve in the US cabinet, had also praised India's decision, saying New Delhi "is continuing to show it won't back down from China's aggression".

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Paris Louvre Museum reopened on Monday after a four-month lockdown, albeit without anything resembling the massive crowds that its used to. While as many as 50,000 visitors can see some of the most famous paintings in the world on its busiest days, the museum told ABC that it was only expecting about 7,000 on its first day back.
New Delhi, July 7 : With parity between the prices of petrol and diesel, there is no economic logic for buying diesel cars as with the same running cost, the acquisition cost differential is very high.

In an interview with IANS, Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India Limited said that under BS VI, the differential between diesel and petrol cars is to the tune of Rs 1.25 to Rs 2 lakh. Srivastava said that at the same running cost, with petrol and diesel at the same price, or even diesel higher in some states, there is no economic logic for buying diesel cars.

He said that till 7-8 years back, diesel was cheaper by Rs 32 compared to petrol and diesel cars were 60 per cent of total sales.

Thereafter, the government allowed free float of fuel prices and last year the differential fell to Rs 7 and diesel car share fell to 28 per cent.

Srivastava said in the last quarter, it was only 17 per cent, the share has been falling due to the convergence between the petrol and diesel prices. In the smaller cars segment, it was only 5 per cent.

Currently, there is almost parity in diesel and petrol prices and in some states, diesel is even higher.

Srivastava said there is no economic logic now for diesel cars to be bought. In BS VI vehicles, the differential is Rs 1.25-2 lakh, meaning that diesel cars are more expensive.

Srivastava said that with a similar running cost why would consumers want to pay extra. In higher segment for SUVs, some consumers still prefer diesel vehicles but in small cars and sedans there is no no economic logic, he said.

Srivastava said the new fuel option that is gaining traction is CNG as the running cost is low compared to petrol and diesel at only Rs 1.5 per km. Even last year, CNG gained 6-7 market share and in some of the models, the CNG penetration is as high as 70 per cent.

The government policy to boost the network is also a positive as the outlets at 2100 in the country are expected to go up to 3000-3500 this year.

On the demand dynamics, Srivastava said June was a good representative month after a long gap. The enquiries, bookings are at 80-85 per cent of pre-Covid levels. "It's a good comeback", he said but added that part of this is also large pent up demand from the previous months.

Maruti has opened 2800 of its showrooms. On the supply side, industry is at 50 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

On the emerging consumer trends, Srivastava said consumers are shifting the choice downwards due to income loss and uncertainty in jobs and business loss. This is being reflected in bookings with a higher percentage of bookings towards smaller cars. This share was 55 per cent earlier but now it is higher at about 65 per cent.

He added that during times of stress, people tend to shift towards the established brands and are less experimental.

Also, the demand for pre-owned cars is increasing, the only issue there is that supply is less as people are holding on to their vehicles for longer time and they are not being sold in used cars.

Srivastava said another trend is that consumers are apprehensive of public transport and want to have their own vehicles.

On financing of cars, Srivastava said 80 per cent of retail sale is through financing. The post Covid liquidity of banks is good thanks to government measures. However, some of the banks are little more cautious in lending and are reviewing credit worthy of business and individuals as income levels will be impacted.

Maruti has rolled out financing arrangements with more flexibility on tenure, EMIs and cash down requirements to help consumers.

On the future triggers for demand, Srivastava said the current spike in demand has an element of pent up demand and the long term demand will be linked to fundamentals of economy and how the Covid situation evolves.

There could be an upside if the vaccine comes earlier and a downside, if the number of cases goes up. Srivastava said there is uncertainty and demand situation is difficult to predict.

He said there is revival of rural demand with a good crop and encouraging monsoons. In addition, the Covid effect on rural areas is much less while it is more in the larger cities.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be contacted at sanjeev.s@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Dublin, July 7 : Ireland has released a Covid-19 contact tracing app which is based the Exposure Notification API developed by Apple and Google, to help contract trace as well as slow the spread of coronavirus.

Users in Ireland can download the 'Covid Tracker Ireland' app from the App Store as well as Google Play and it will send a notification to a user if they recently came into contact with another user tested positive for Covid-19.

"It allows every single person to play an extra part. It will allow us to get on with contact tracing in a matter of hours, it will allow people who have the app to completely control their own data, there will be no centralisation of data," Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said in a statement to The Journal.

"The people themselves can choose if they want to anonymously share with close contacts that they have tested positive. It's a very, very powerful tool. We'll be getting into more of the detail tomorrow and we'll be really encouraging as many people as possible to download and use it," Donnelly added.

Apart from Ireland, several other countries have released apps that use Apple and Google's Exposure Notification API, including Switzerland, Latvia, Italy, Germany, Poland, and Saudi Arabia, while other countries, such as the UK, have such apps in the works.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Kabul, July 7 : The Afghan government has suspended the release of the last batch of Taliban inmates over their involvement in serious crimes, it was reported on Tuesday.

The Afghan government on Monday once again stated its firm stance of not releasing nearly 600 Taliban prisoners who are reportedly guilty of serious crimes beyond membership in the Taliban, Tolo news said in a report.

The government called on the group to not request specific individuals for release.

On Sunday, the Afghan government revealed that one of the main reasons behind the delay in the intra-Afghan negotiations was its refusal to release 597 prisoners out of the 5,000 inmates that were to be freed as part of the US-Taliban agreement signed in February.

These individuals are accused of serious "moral crimes," and are on a list that was given to the government by the Taliban, said Ahmad Rashid Totakhil, who heads up the prisoner release process.

In early March, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani issued a decree to release 5,000 Taliban inmates on parole, and the Taliban agreed to release 1,000 soldiers but the exchange of prisoners was repeatedly delayed.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said: "The US has agreed with the Taliban about the release of 5,000 prisoners... We do not expect the Taliban to tell us who should be released." So far, more than 4,000 Taliban prisoners and over 500 Afghan security force members were released.

According to the Afghan government, the process will continue this week.
Colombo, July 7 : The Sri Lankan Elections Commission (EC) has increased the voting time for the upcoming parliamentary polls by an hour, it was reported on Tuesday.

In a statement on Monday, the Commission said the revised polling time will now be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Daily Financial Times newspaper reported.

The statement did not mention the reason for the extension but it was likely that the decision was made to give the public enough time to vote while adhering to social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sri Lanka is set to hold its parliamentary elections on August 5, after they were postponed twice due to restrictions linked to the pandemic.

The elections were initially set to be held on April 25, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had dissolved Parliament in March following his landslide victory in the November 2019 presidential polls.

The date was shifted to June 20 after lockdown measures were announced in mid-March.

The elections are set be held under strict health protocols with campaign meetings limited to a maximum of 100 people, while the Elections Commission has recommended using the print and electronic media for campaign purposes and cutting down physical meetings to avoid exposure to the virus.

The Commission has also limited house-to-house campaigns to a maximum of three people.

Rajapaksa was sworn-in as President after an easy victory in the November 16, 2019 polls on the back of an agenda focused on national security.

Soon after, he appointed his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister and dissolved the opposition-majority Parliament.

The President's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party has to win majority in the house in order to secure the government's full control in the semi-presidential representative democracy.
Mumbai, July 7 : Leading managed hosting and multi-Cloud hybrid IT solution provider Netmagic Solutions on Tuesday announced its partnership with Google Cloud to create a Centre of excellence (CoE) that will enable their customers to accelerate their hybrid Cloud journey.

Netmagic said the CoE will help its customers to modernise their mission-critical IT infrastructure and applications that leverage the advanced capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and analytics at scale.

The CoE will serve as a multi-disciplinary customer showcase hub to develop and deliver solutions, leveraging Google Cloud's modern application platform, Anthos, for consistent development and operations experience across hybrid and multi-Cloud environments.

"We are extremely pleased to partner with Google Cloud to enable our customers to enhance their digital experiences capitalising on the capabilities, value and benefits of an open, collaborative and secure Cloud platform," Sharad Sanghi, MD and CEO of Netmagic, said in a statement.

Mumbai-headquartered Netmagic is an NTT company. NTT Ltd. is a leading global technology services company bringing together 28 brands including NTT Communications, Dimension Data and NTT Security.

"We're excited to partner with Netmagic and help businesses make a smooth transition to the cloud," said Karan Bajwa, Managing Director of Google Cloud India.

"The CoE will help businesses leverage Google Cloud's leading infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions to build for the future; and Netmagic, as a managed hosting and hybrid cloud IT solution provider, is uniquely positioned to help customers along this path."
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviews the ongoing projects with BRO (Border Road Organisation) DG Lt Gen Harpal Singh and other senior officials at a meeting in South Block in New Delhi on July 7, 2020. (Photo: IANS/DPRO) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviews the ongoing projects with BRO (Border Road Organisation) DG Lt Gen Harpal Singh and other senior officials at a meeting in South Block in New Delhi on July 7, 2020. (Photo: IANS/DPRO) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviews the ongoing projects with BRO (Border Road Organisation) DG Lt Gen Harpal Singh and other senior officials at a meeting in South Block in New Delhi on July 7, 2020. (Photo: IANS/DPRO) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviews the ongoing projects with BRO (Border Road Organisation) DG Lt Gen Harpal Singh and other senior officials at a meeting in South Block in New Delhi on July 7, 2020. (Photo: IANS/DPRO) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, July 7 : Amid ongoing tension at the borders with China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a review meeting with Border Roads Origination (BRO) officials on Tuesday to discuss the improvement of infrastructure near Line of Actual Control with China and Line of Control with Pakistan, sources said.

"Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the ongoing projects with DG BRO (Border Road Organisation) and other senior officials at a meeting in South Block today," the Ministry of Defence said.

During the meeting, Singh has directed that all border infrastructures to be fast tracked so that movement of forces should not be affected.

DG, Border Roads Organisation, Lieutenant General Harpal Singh briefed the minister that since inception the organisation have been a leading road construction agency involved in construction of roads, bridges, tunnels and airfields in remote border areas and have also undertaken construction in friendly foreign countries like Bhutan, Myanmar, Afghanistan in line with our overall strategic objectives.

The officer also briefed the minister that there has been a major surge in outcomes in BRO work in the last few years.

The BRO has executed about 30 per cent more work in 2019-20 as compared to 2018-19. The officer said that the BRO has executed 1,273 kilometres formation cutting, 2,214 kilometres of surfacing, Rs 1,715 crore of permanent work, 2,979 kilometres of major bridges, Rs 689 crore of tunnel work and 2,498 kilometres of re-surfacing in 2019-20.

In the last two years since 2017-18 there has been a surge of 44 per cent in formation cutting, 15 per cent in surfacing, 55 per cent in permanent work, 17 per cent in major bridges and 49 per cent in resurfacing works.

The overall expenditure for 2019-20 was Rs 7,867 crore as compared to Rs 5,458 crore in 2017-18 and Rs 6,859 crore in 2018-19, the officer explained.

Last month, the government approved an additional Rs 1,691 crore for highway projects by the Border Roads Organisation in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

Further, amid escalated tension between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Lt Gen Harpal Singh had made a visit to the under-construction 8.8 km-long Atal Rohtang Tunnel that is set for a September opening.
Kanpur, July 7 : The case of a letter, purportedly written by slain circle officer Devendra Mishra (who was killed in an ambush by gangster Vikas Dubey on Friday) apparently exposed the nexus between suspended police officer Vinay Tiwari and the gangster, and it is getting curious by the hour.

The letter was released on the social media, allegedly by an IPS officer, and it did not bear the number or the date that is mandatory for all official letters.

The IPS officer, later, even sought an inquiry into the letter.

None of the officials, till late on Monday, agreeed to comment on the veracity of the letter though IG Kanpur Mohit Agarwal said that he would probe the matter.

On Monday night itself, it was said that the letter is not traceable and efforts would be made to locate it.

The letter, if found and verified, could prove to be damning evidence against policemen who helped the criminal and even tipped him off about the raid which led to the killing of eight police personnel.

The undated letter was reportedly written three months ago by Devendra Kumar Mishra, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) who was shot dead in the ambush by Vikas Dubey and his men. He had addressed it to the then Kanpur SSP Anant Deo Tiwari.

Tiwari is now DIG STF and is probing the Kanpur incident.

The officer had complained in it about policemen helping the gangster, especially Vinay Tiwari, the police officer in charge of the Chaubeypur police station, who is now under suspension.

Mishra had reportedly accused Vinay Tiwari of helping the criminal and shielding him against any possible police action. The letter called for strict action against the police officer.

SSP Kanpur Dinesh Kumar Prabhu, said: "I am aware that such a letter is viral on social media. The preliminary search was conducted at the DSP's office and the offices of the Kanpur SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police) dispatch and receiving section. So far there are no records of this letter and we have found no file. But we are looking at it with more details." Meanwhile, an audio clip of a conversation between the slain DSP and the then SSP is also going viral in which Mishra can be heard complaining to the then SSP about Vinay Tiwari.

Anant Deo Tiwari takes Vinay Tiwari on a conference call and can be heard pulling him up for not reporting to the circle officer-Devendra Mishra.

Mishra led a team of 50 policemen from three police stations in a raid to arrest Vikas Dubey in an attempt to murder case. Dubey is charged in 60 cases including murder, kidnapping, extortion and rioting.

When the policemen approached the village early on Friday, they were fired upon from rooftops.

Vikas Dubey was allegedly alerted to the raid by policemen and was ready with an armed gang to attack the police. Four policemen have been suspended on suspicion of links with the criminal after call records of more than 100 policemen were scanned after the killing.

Four days after the ambush, Vikas Dubey has still not been arrested by the UP police. On Monday, the bounty on him was raised to Rs 2.5 lakh.

Three more persons in the Bikru village where the ambush took place were arrested late on Monday night.

Meanwhile, the entire Chaubeypur police station which is under suspicion has been taken off duty and 10 policemen form other police stations have been posted there.

Lucknow range IG Laxmi Singh reached Kanpur on Tuesday and will investigate the role of police personnel in the case and also.
Seoul, July 7 : US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who is also Washington's chief nuclear envoy, arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for talks about denuclearizing North Korea, as the communist nation again rejected the possibility of resuming negotiations with America.

Biegun landed at the US Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Biegun's three-day visit comes after the North made clear in a statement earlier in the day that it has "no intention to sit face to face" with the US, saying there were still people talking about such a possibility even after First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui echoed the remarks on July 4.

In Seoul, Biegun is expected to hold talks with Lee Do-hoon, Seoul's nuclear envoy, about ways to break the impasse in the nuclear negotiations.

Also expected to be on the agenda are inter-Korean relations in the wake of the North's blowing up of a joint liaison office.

Other officials he is also scheduled to meet include Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young.

The US Department of State said Monday that Biegun will travel to Seoul and Tokyo from Tuesday to Friday "to continue close allied cooperation" on bilateral and other issues and to "further strengthen coordination on the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea".

Nuclear talks between the US and the North have stalled since the no-deal summit in Hanoi last year between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The two sides held working-level talks later that year, but no progress was made.
Kanpur, July 7 : Om Prakash Rajbhar, former Uttar Pradesh Minister and President of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), has sought the resignation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on moral grounds, following the killing of eight policemen in the state.

Rajbhar, a former BJP ally, told reporters on Tuesday that the "Kanpur incident is actually an act of terrorism. The government should immediately recommend a CBI inquiry into the case because the role of the police and politicians is suspect." He said that the Yogi government was providing patronage to criminals and this had been confirmed by the gangster who is heard naming politicians of the ruling party in a video clip that has gone viral.

"Why is the BJP quiet on this issue?" he asked.
Ujjain, July 7 : Former chief minister and Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath arrived here for 'Darshan' of Mahakal before the start of his campaign for the mini-midterm elections involving 24 assembly seats in the state.

The Ujjain visit was due on July 3 but was washed out due to heavy rains.

There are striking similarities between his present campaign and the one he led in 2018 to bring the Congress back into power after 15 years. He had started the campaign with a 'pooja' at Ujjain. The key difference of course is the absence of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who blindsided him and his departure with a big chunk of the party caused the current campaign. Scindia was the campaign convener then.

Kamal Nath has few more pilgrimages lined up in the next few days before he gets to the war-room to be set up in Gwalior, the Scindia bastion.

Shortly after the 'pooja' and meeting with the party colleagues, Kamal Nath left for Badnawar to address the first rally -- 'Loktantra Bachao' (save democracy) rally.

Though Scindia and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh were the senior leaders in the party, Jyotiraditya was presented as the youth face to draw the electorate. Singh was asked to bring about patch up between various factions. Kamal Nath was thus the key campaigner. He retains that status. Kamal Nath who drew good crowds in 2018 under Shivraj Chouhan's rule has made a striking start with Ujjain Congress leaders responding in large numbers despite the lockdown curbs. The temple town, once part of the Gwalior state has responded with hundreds of billboards greeting him.

Kamal Nath plans to list the achievements of his party and development works during the 15-month rule to seek return to power.

Kamal Nath held a one-on-one discussion with prospective candidates to set the selection process rolling. The party plans to have 24 call centres, one in each constituency that will witness the by-elections. The party workers will receive voters' feedback and inputs for the prospective candidates and the agenda to be set on local issues. The same strategy will be adopted in all 24 constituencies this time also.

Unlike in 2018 when the main war room was at Bhopal, the party is expected to hire a bungalow in Gwalior where Kamal Nath plans to move to lead the campaign.
About 20 minutes before the flight was set to depart JFK, Bellosi was seen entering the area where the drugs were stashed and set off the transponder. When he was apprehended by agents minutes later, they found him with an empty tool bag and cutouts in the lining of his jacket  large enough to hide the bricks of cocaine that had been under the cockpit, prosecutors said.
Phoenix, July 7 : A woman in the US state of Arizona, which has witnessed a recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, was arrested for smashing down a display of face masks at a store here.

A video clip posted on Twitter on Sunday showed the woman, now named "QAnon Karen" by internet followers, smashing down the display at a Target retail outlet in Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

In the video, with over 4 million views so far, the woman can be heard saying "finally we meet the end of the road" as she approaches the mask display and tears it down.

After she was approached by two store employees wearing masks and asked to stop, the woman asked: "Why? You let everyone else do it. I can't do it because I'm a blonde white woman?" Another video posted later showed police arresting the woman at her home.

She claimed to be a spokesperson for QAnon and the White House and wanted the police to "call (President) Donald Trump and ask him" because she can't share any "classified information".

QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory detailing a supposed secret plot by an alleged "deep state" against Trump and his supporters.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Arizona exceeded 100,000 on Monday.

Rapidly increasing cases and hospitalizations have made the Grand Canyon State one of the worst COVID-19 hotspots in the nation.

The state has no mandate to wear mask; however, major cities in the state all ordered mask wearing to contain the fatal disease.

The US currently accounts for the world's highest number of infections and fatalities at 2,935,008 and 130,277, respectively, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
Lucknow, July 7 : The Samajwadi Party (SP) has demanded that the call detail records of gangster Vikas Dubey, the main accused in the killing of eight policemen in Kanpur, should be made public.

"The state government should make the call details of the gangster public so that people can know the names of leaders who were in touch with the criminal. Vikas Dubey is now being termed as a terrorist and it is important for everyone to know about those leaders who were giving him protection," said SP MLC Sunil Singh Sajan.

Sajan claimed that the police had failed to trace Dubey even after five days of the killing of police personnel.

"He could be hiding in the house of a BJP leader for all you know. Thorough searches must be carried out and his links must be made public without delay," he said.

The SP leader said that the fact that Vikas Dubey's name was not included in the top criminal list of Kanpur, shows that he enjoyed patronage from the ruling party.

It is noteworthy that in a video clip that went viral on Monday, Dubey was seen talking about his links with BJP MLAs Abhijeet Sanga and Bhagwati Sagar.

He said that the two leaders had helped him when he faced police action in 2017.

Abhijeet Sanga has vehemently denied having any links with the gangster. "My constituency is Bithoor in Kanpur and people from the adjoining village come to me for help. In fact, several times I have recommended action in cases where Vikas Dubey was supporting the other parties," he said.

Sanga further said that it was typical of Dubey to align himself with political leaders belonging to the ruling parties.

Bhagwati Sagar, BJP MLA from Bilhaur, meanwhile, said that he had not pleaded in any case against Dubey. He said that this was an attempt to malign his image.

Both the MLAs said that Dubey video should be investigated.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Bhadohi : , July 7 (IANS) A criminal carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head was killed by the police in an encounter in Bhadohi district in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The criminal, identified as Deepak Gupta, had over 14 cases of heinous crimes registered against him.

According to the police spokesman, a police team was patrolling near the Chakia village around 1.30 a.m. on Tuesday when two persons on a motorcycle were intercepted by them.

The two fell down and started running and fired at the police in which a crime branch official Ajay Singh Sengar was injured. The police also fired at the criminals and Deepak received two bullet injuries.

Deepak was taken to the hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

The other criminal managed to flee but police teams are searching for him.

Further investigation in the matter is underway.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, July 7 : Business resumption is faltering in India and a flattening mobility curve amid a rising pandemic curve is a key risk, according to a research by foreign brokerage, Nomura.

Nomura Indian Business Resumption Index (NIBRI), a weekly tracker of the pace at which economic activity is normalising - moderated to 69.2 for the week ending July 5 from 70.5 on June 28.

Activity has recovered from the lows of around 45 at end April and rose sharply from May until mid-June, but the pace of increase has slowed since.

This is the first time the index has fallen in the post-lockdown phase (since May) on a week-on-week basis.

Nomura said the slowdown was primarily driven by a continued flattening of Google's mobility indices along with a downtick in labour participation and power demand.

The CMIE's weekly data suggest that, over the past 15 days, the overall unemployment rate inched up by 0.4 percentage points to 8.9 per cent for the week ending July 5 as the participation rate fell by 1.5 pp to 40.4 per cent.

Power demand contracted by 5.8 per cent week-on-week (seasonally adjusted) for the week ending July 5 after growth of 4.1 per cent in the prior week.

"Overall, the NIBRI suggests that, while business resumption continued in June, activity remains about 30pp below pre-pandemic levels. So the normalisation is still far from complete, and activity appears to be plateauing at a lower level", Nomura said.
Kanpur, July 7 : The Kanpur police has released photograph of accomplices of Vikas Dubey who were a part of his team that attacked and killed eight policemen in Bikru village on Friday.

All the accomplices are absconding along with the gangster. One of them Daya Shankar Agnihotri was arrested on Sunday after a brief encounter.

The photographs are being released so that people can recognise them and inform the police," said the police spokesman.

Meanwhile the social media is now flooded with photographs of Vikas Dubey with various leaders.

Photographs of the then SSP Anant Deo Tiwari with a local businessman Jai Bajpai, allegedly the main financer of Vikas Dubey, are also doing the rounds.

Jai Bajpai has been detained and is under interrogation. He is the owner of three luxury cars that were used by Vikas Dubey and do not have registration number plates.

The Kanpur police is now preparing to interrogate social media star Annu Awasthi whose photographs with the gangster have also gone viral.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Patna, July 7 : Ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, state Congress Election Campaign Committee Chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Singh has said that the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) comprising his party, RJD, HAM etc will decide its chief ministerial candidate through consultations.

However, he pointed out, the chief ministerial candidate will be from the largest party in the Mahagathbandhan.

On the formation of a coordination committee in the Grand Alliance, Singh said: "The panel must be set up to build a consensus among constituents of the alliance. The Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress have been together for many years. There is coordination, only then they have been able to work together." Speaking to IANS, he reiterated that no party had left the Mahagathbandhan on the issue of coordination committee. "Everyone involved in the alliance will fight the elections together, because the people of Bihar are looking for an alternative." The people of Bihar, Singh added, were unhappy with the JU-D-led government and were looking for an alternative.

The former Union minister denied there was any dispute in the Grand Alliance over the candidate for the chief minister's post.

"Within the next one month, everything will be clear from seat distribution to the leader of the alliance. None of the ally parties is going anywhere," Singh asserted.

As for Congress organisational structure in place for the coming elections, he admitted the fact that no new organisational committees had so far been formed even at the district level to strategise for the poll campaign.

Emphasising the need for change in the Congress, he said former party president Rahul Gandhi had recently held a virtual meeting with leaders of Bihar in order to revamp the party ahead of the Assembly polls.

Singh lamented that the Nitish Kumar's government had talked about making Patna similar to Tokyo and Singapore but even two hours of rain causes waterlogging in the state capital.

The Congress leader alleged that not even a needle factory was set up in Bihar during the last 15 years.

Quoting NITI Aayog reports, he said Bihar lagged behind other states in terms of industrialization, health, and education.

The former Union minister claimed that all sugar mills in Bihar at present were closed or were on the verge of closure while during the Congress rule 27 per cent sugar produced in the country came from Bihar.

On June 24, leaders of the Grand Alliance partners in the state held a virtual meeting to discuss their poll preparation and pledged to fight the battle unitedly. Representatives of the Congress, RJD, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), Vikashsheel Insan Party (VIP), and Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) had participated.
New Delhi, July 7 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the Centre that it should ensure complete compliance with its verdict granting a permanent commission to eligible women officers in the army and also making provisions for them in command posts.

A bench headed by Justice D. Y. Chandrachud gave one more month to the Centre to implement its verdict. The Centre's application contended that efforts are on to ensure substantial compliance with the February 17 verdict of the top court. During the hearing on the matter, Justice Chandrachud told senior advocate R. Balasubramanian, representing the defence ministry, that the order must be fully complied with, and there is nothing called 'substantial compliance' after the court's verdict.

Senior advocates Meenakshi Lekhi and Meenakshi Arora, representing women officers, contended before the top court that the government was attempting to overextend the verdict. The women officers through their advocates submitted before the bench that the physical standard criteria, which was discontinued by the army in 2011, has been reintroduced and this would eventually deny benefits of the permanent commission to women officers, being in service for 10 years and more.

And these criteria would eventually defeat the purpose of the verdict, contended the advocates for the women officers. This process would eventually lead to a 40 or a 45-year-old woman officer physically competing with her male counterparts, added the advocates. The Centre's counsel assured the bench that the government will comply with the court orders in letter and spirit.

In an application, the Ministry of Defence said: "The applicants have commenced the process of substantial compliance of the directions issued by this court, in earnest and in letter and spirit. However, in view of the corona pandemic and the ensuing lockdown coupled with exigencies of service, the applicant has not been able to complete the same and requires some more time to complete the entire process." The top court had delivered the verdict on February 17, where it made clear that women officers had to be treated at par with their male counterparts. Seeking an extension the Centre prayed before the apex court, "This court may kindly be pleased to extend the period of three months granted to the applicant, to comply with the judgement and order on February 17, by a further period of six months." The Centre, in its application, said: "On account of the complete lockdown, all offices of the government were closed and the personnel were not functioning. Thereafter, in mid April, the lockdown was partially lifted and only essential government (functionaries) were permitted to attend their official duties. Thus, on account of lack of staff, closure of hospitals, including the army hospitals and non-availability of other requirements necessary to comply." The apex court had asked the Centre to comply with its order within three months, which expired on May 17.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Los Angeles, July 7 : After facing backlash online, actress Halle Berry has pulled out of a transgender role she was supposed to play in an upcoming film.

Over the weekend, the Oscar-winning actress revealed she would "probably" play a transgender man in her next film.

"(The film is about) a character where the woman is a trans character, so she's a woman that transitioned into a man. She's a character in a project I love that I might be doing," Berry said during an Instagram Live interview.

The news was met with a wave of criticism on social media, some slammed Berry for repeatedly using the wrong gender while talking about the character in the interview.

On Monday, Berry apologised and tweeted that she was no longer considering the role, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

"Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss my consideration of an upcoming role as a transgender man, and I'd like to apologise for those remarks. As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories," she wrote on Twitter.

"I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake. I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera," she added.

Berry's decision to pull out was met with praise from GLAAD, with the organisation tweeting: "We are pleased that @halleberry listened to the concerns of transgender people and learned from them. Other powerful people should do the same. A good place to start is by watching @Disclosure_Doc to learn about trans representation in media." Many Hollywood stars have faced similar backlash because of not giving opportunities to transgenders. In 2018, Scarlett Johansson dropped out of "Rub & Tug", the movie that would have seen her play a transgender man.
Thiruvananthapuram, July 7 : The office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in increasingly coming under fire in the 30 kg gold smuggling case involving the former PRO of the UAE consulate and a woman.

On Tuesday senior IAS officer and secretary to Vijayan, M. Sivasankar was removed from office.

M. Sivasankar is currently in the dock and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a probe by the CBI or Enforcement Directorate (ED) to unravel the gold smuggling case, where the name of the UAE Consulate also figures.

"I write this letter as Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly with utmost concern at the misuse of diplomatic immunity of UAE Consulate, here by international gold smuggling cartels with the collusion of officials working under Government of Kerala who have deep rooted connections with decision makers at the office of Chief Minister. I solicit your immediate intervention to investigate into his nefarious act, which has serious implications on India's national security and the potential to irreparably damage the age old friendly ties between India and the UAE. In this contest I request an investigation into the matter by agencies like CBI and the ED," said Chennithala.

Later speaking to the media Chennithala said Vijayan now fears that fingers are being pointed at him and hence he has made his secretary the scapegoat.

Chennithala's demand came soon after Sivasankar was removed as the CM's secretary and later applied for long leave. However, he has not been removed from the post of IT secretary.

Vijayan apart from holding the Home portfolio also heads the IT department.

CPI-M State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said wrongdoers will not be protected and every aspect will be looked into.

Vijayan reacted on Monday denying any involvement in the case and rubbished remarks on the involvement of his office.

The CPI-M and the Left Front are shocked at the turn of events while the Congress and the BJP have taken to the streets across the state demanding the resignation of Vijayan.

On Tuesday, Vijayan was closeted with the state police chief and the chief secretary.

What has stung many is the way a woman Swapna Suresh has made inroads into the seat of power.

She was earlier working with Air India's ground handling agency after which she joined the UAE Consulate here. Here she came in touch with its PRO Sarith who is currently under arrest in the gold smuggling case, while Swapna is on the run.

Sarith and Swapna are now no longer with the UAE Consulate.

Various reports have come out that Swapna and Sivasankar were good friends and he was a regular visitor at her house. It was through these contacts that she got a plush job in the IT department which is looked after by Vijayan and Sivasankar.

"Just look at her salary, it's mind boggling. What sort of interview or test was done to recruit her in the IT department, when she is only an ordinary graduate and one does not know what her experience is. It's a shame on what we are seeing in Kerala which involves links with smugglers," said former State Minister and senior RSP leader Shibhu Baby John.

Senior BJP leader P.K. Krishnadas came down heavily on Vijayan and said he is continuing to protect Sivasankar.

"Sivasankar is only removed as Vijayan's secretary, while he continues to hold the IT secretary post and this is because he is getting lot of support from Vijayan's daughter (who has an IT firm). The Special Branch police had informed Vijayan about Swapna's not too clean record as she had a case against her, but all this was overlooked and she was appointed in a high paying job with practically no qualifications for such a job," Krishnadas.

The UAE consulate, however, denied any involvement of its personnel in this case and said that the person who is in custody was dismissed from the consulate much earlier.

On Sunday, the Air Customs attached to the Thiruvananthapuram airport had made a seizure of 30 kg of gold that arrived on a cargo flight and was kept in a warehouse here for release. The baggage had arrived from Dubai and is understood to have been marked to the UAE Consulate which has its office in the heart of the city.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
July 07 : The trailer of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's last film 'Dil Bechara' was released yesterday and it went viral. The trailer didnt just receive a massive 21 million hits but got massive support and love from fraternity.

Bollywood celebrities such as Mrunal Thakur, Farhan Akhtar, Bhumi Pednekar, Kriti Sanon and more shared and praised the trailer on social media.

Farhan Akhtar took to his social media profile and wrote, Just watched #DilBecharaTrailer...it does, of course, remind us that we have lost a talented actor way too soon but it also brings a smile to the face with it's charming, bittersweet feel ...my best wishes to @CastingChhabra and the team. Look forward to it"

Just watched #DilBecharaTrailer .. it does of course remind us that weve lost a talented actor way too soon but it also brings a smile to the face with its charming, bittersweet feel .. my best wishes to @CastingChhabra & the team. Look forward to it https://t.co/oFsK2Rwobq  Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) July 6, 2020

Actress Bhumi Pednekar who worked with Sushant in Sonchiriya, wrote, "#DilBechara Overwhelmed with millions of emotions...Can't wait you watch it"

Sushant's close friend and hid 'Raabta' co-star Kriti Sanon, on the other hand, said that it will be hard for her to watch the film but she will not miss it. She shared, #DilBechara Its gonna be really hard to watch this one.. but how can I not?"

Actress Mrunal Thakur shared, The trailer is out guys ...@CastingChhabra @itsSSR @sanjanasanghi96 #DilBecharaTrailer

Dil Bechara is a coming-of-age romantic drama film which is the directorial debut of Mukesh Chhabra. Based on John Green's 2012 novel The Fault in Our Stars, it stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Saif Ali Khan and debutante Sanjana Sanghi.

The film's release has been postponed multiple times, due to post-production delays and then again due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India. It will release on 24 July 2020 on Disney+ Hotstar.

Watch the trailer on YouTube

Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery
I did so well in school, applied to scholarships, was a part of anything at College of Staten Island. I just took advantage of every scholarship opportunity. I pay my tuition independently, she said. I cant just turn around and go back.
New Delhi, July 7 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday disposed off a petition against the suspension of legal interviews in prisons after the jail authorities informed that a fresh circular has been issued permitting legal interviews with jail inmates via video conference.

"The respondents have issued a circular extending the facility of legal interviews through video conferencing to all inmates across jails. Looking at the said development, we are not inclined to pass any further directions," said a division bench of the High Court presided over by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan.

The court, however, asked the authorities to consider the additional suggestions submitted by petitioner Sarthak Maggo in order to make the said system "user friendly".

The directions were passed while the court was hearing a petition filed by Maggo seeking directions to the jail authorities to setup a web link for legal mulakats and for conducting regular legal mulakats telephonically or through video conference to ensure access to justice to the inmates of the Tihar Prison Complex.

In its circular, the jail authorities stated that the applications received through email from the private counsels shall be considered by the Superintendent of Jails. To this, the petitioner suggested that the contact information of the Superintendents of all Jails shall be mentioned along with the above.

"This would ensure that Counsels are not tendering their applications for Virtual Mulakats with prisoners to inappropriate authority, and that the Mulakats are not delayed due to administrative reasons. Moreover, it is suggested that for coordination purposes and to avoid delays in applications by Counsels, the email IDs and telephone lines are manned, and prompt responses are received," the petitioner said.

The petitioner also suggested that a transparent mechanism may be set up wherein the Counsels and other applicants are given full disclosure of the reasons for rejection of their application. The jail authorities in the circular had stated that the Superintendent would take a decision on the request on the merit or verification of vakalatnama and identity of applicant.

The petitioner stated that there would be some counsels who would need urgent consultation and such requests may be accepted and the slot may be given within a period of 48 hours or a shorter period of time as the court may deem fit.

The plea filed by Maggo had alleged that the discontinuation of these legal interviews has led to delays in both access and administration of justice because both the advocates and inmates are struggling to establish connection for the purpose of seeking appropriate remedies.

"The physical legal mulakats were suspended vide order dated 25.03.2020. Thereafter telephonic legal mulakats were to be setup. However no such telephone setup has been provided so far," the petition read.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, July 7 : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed two companies in Andhra Pradesh to deposit with Visakhapatnam and Kurnool district authorities within two week the compensation amount to given to kin of those who died and those affected by the toxic gas leaks last month.

Benzimidazole gas leaked at Sainor Life Sciences Private Limited in Visakhapatnam district on June 30, which claimed two lives and left four others affected. Ammonia gas leak from Spy Agro Industry in Kurnool district on June 26 had claimed one life and affected three others.

These incident came in the wake of gas leak from LG Polymers factory in Visakhapatnam district on May 7, in which 12 persons had died and hundreds taken sick.

With regards to the first case, the Visakhapatnam District Magistrate told the court that the company had announced compensation of Rs 35 lakh to the bereaved families.

In an order on July 6, NGT Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel noted that no compensation had been paid to the injured.

"We fix an interim compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the four injured. An amount of Rs 20 lakh be deposited with the District Magistrate within two weeks," the bench stated.

Two employees -- shift incharge R. Narendra and chemist G. Gowri Shankar -- had died. Three of the four others taken ill have since been discharged from hospital. One is undergoing treatment at Care Hospital.

The tribunal also directed for the constitution of a committee to assess final compensation to be given to the victims and for restoration of environment and suggestions for precautions in future.

"The Chief Secretary, Andhra Pradesh, may identify and take appropriate action against persons responsible for failure to oversee the execution of on-site and off-site emergency plans and holding of mock drills as per the statutory requirement." The tribunal was apprised that Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board has issued closure order to the said company. The Factories Department has also issued prohibitory orders .

In connection with the second case, the bench directed Spy Agro to deposit Rs 15 lakh as interim compensation to the heirs of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh each for the injured with the Kurnool District Magistrate within two weeks.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Srinagar, July 7 : Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Tuesday that the senior hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani has dissociated himself from a strike call issued in his name from across the border.

In a statement, the police said the family sources of Geelani have said the letter purportedly issued by the octogenarian separatist leader is a 'fake' and has not been issued by him.

Police said the letter was published from Pakistan and police has taken action against those who are circulating the letter through different social media platforms to create a law and order situation in Kashmir.

Geelani has already resigned from the separatist conglomerate, All Party Hurriyat Conference, saying that the forum has been used by its constituents for personal purpose to add to their wealth.

Geelani also said that he would no longer be responsible or answerable for the conduct of the various Hurriyat constituents who have disappointed him.

Geelani was virtually sidelined when the Hurriyat elected Mohammad Hussain Khatib, a lesser known separatist leader now based in Muzaffarabad.

It is widely believed that Khatib's emergence has been part of a larger design from across the border to take control of both the separatist 'armed struggle' and the separatist political platform.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Washington, July 7 : The publisher of a tell-all memoir written by US President Donald Trumps niece Mary is planning to release the book on July 14 despite an ongoing litigation aimed at blocking the book, the media report.

On Monday, publisher Simon & Schuster announced that "due to high demand and extraordinary interest", it was moving up the book's publication date by two weeks, to July 14 from July 28, Politico news reported.

According to a BBC report, Mary Trump's upcoming book, "Too Much and Never Enough, How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" claims to reveal "a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse".

Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist, argues in the book that Donald Trump was emotionally hobbled at a young age because his mother fell ill and his hard-charging, real-estate-developer father made no effort to take over childrearing duties.

President Trump brother Robert has launched a legal drive to try to prevent publication of the book by contending that it violates a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in a 2001 settlement deal related to the estate of their father, Fred, who died in 1999.

Earlier this month, President Trump said that his niece was violating the NDA, which according to him is a "very powerful one" that "covers everything".

This is the second book that Trump and his associates were seeking to block.

Earlier this month, the US Justice Department was denied an injunction to block a memoir by John Bolton, the President's former National Security Adviser.

"The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir", is due to go on sale later this month.
San Francisco, July 7 : E-commerce giant Amazon became worth more than $1.5 trillion after its shares breached the $3,000 mark for the first time on Monday, beating expectations of many analysts.

The Covid-19 restrictions have dramatically increased demands for online delivery as well as Amazon's Cloud computing services.

Some traders expect the stock to run even higher in the coming days, according to a report in CNBC.

"While it's not cheap, it's not very expensive," Nancy Tengler, chief investment officer at Laffer Tengler Investments, told CNBC.

"The company is benefiting from super-fast sales growth, up 26 per cent year over year, and that's been able to support the price at these levels, according to our valuation work," Tengler was quoted as saying.

According to a study by Comparisun, a company which helps organisations compare different business products, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos could potentially become the world's first trillionaire as early as 2026, at which point he will be aged 62.

Despite losing an estimated $38 billion as part of his recent divorce, Bezos is still by far the world's richest person and his net worth has grown by 34 per cent on average over the last five years, said the study.
Tokyo, July 7 : The death toll due to the torrential rain in Japan's Kyushu region increased to 52 on Tuesday, with the government issuing its highest alert as the Chikugo river in Oita prefecture overflowed.

Kumamoto prefecture registered the highest number of victims at 51, while 11 people were reported missing, The Japan Times quoted authorities as saying.

The 52nd victim, a woman in Omuta Fukuoka prefecture, was found at her submerged home on Monday night and was confirmed dead Tuesday at a hospital.

In Omuta, about 200 people were left stranded at two evacuation centres after floodwaters surged in the area.

The Chikugo River, the largest in the Kyushu region, overflowed in Hita, Oita prefecture, prompting a local meteorological observatory and the land ministry to issue the highest-level alert to residents on Tuesday morning.

The death toll from the heavy rains that started in the early hours of July 4 is expected to climb as search efforts for the missing continued at sites hit by landslides and floods.
Bhubaneswar, July 7 : A day after at least four Maoists were gunned down, another Maoist was killed during an exchange of fire with security forces in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said on Tuesday.

The encounter took place in Sirla forest under Tumudibandha police limits on Monday evening.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of the District Voluntary Force (DVF) and Special Operations Group (SOG) carried out a search operation on Monday evening.

"On Monday at 6.30 p.m., Maoists opened fire from an advantageous position and lobbed grenades at SOG and DVF jawans. Police party immediately took cover and asked Maoists to stop firing and surrender. Some police personnel sustained injuries," the Odisha Police said in a statement.

The security personnel fired in retaliation and the Maoists fled from the spot.

During the post-operation search, the body of an armed Maoist along with a kitbag was found. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was seized from the area, the statement said.

Four Maoists were killed in an encounter with the security forces in the same forest on Sunday.

--IANS cd/bg
Gandhinagar, July 7 : Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Bharatsinh Solanki, who was undergoing treatment for coronavirus infection, was put on ventilator support on Tuesday after his health deteriorated, sources said.

He is admitted in a private hospital in Ahmedabad. According to sources, Solanki, 67, was given plasma therapy twice on Monday, but his health deteriorated.

Solanki, a minister in UPA II government at the Centre, was the second Congress nominee for one of the four seats of the Rajya Sabha in Gujarat for which elections were held on June 19.

He was found corona positive two days after the elections.

"Solanki was administered more oxygen; that is what I know of," Dr Manish Doshi, the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson, told the IANS.

The sources said Solanki is a comorbid patient with complications like asthma due to which his oxygen intake has to be increased.

The doctors at CIMS had consulted Dr Randeep Guleria, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director, and some other renowned medical professionals on Monday regarding treatment of the Congress leader.
Moscow, July 7 : Ivan Safronov, advisor to the CEO of Russia's Roscosmos on informational policy, was arrested on Tuesday over suspicion of treason, the state space agency said.

Confirming the arrest, Roscosmos told TASS News Agency that Safronov was charged with treason.

"Investigation is underway," it said, adding that the space agency fully cooperates with the probe.

Safronov, a former journalist, worked at the business dailies Kommersant and Vedomosti before joining Roscosmos in May.

In June 2019, court proceedings were held over the alleged disclosure by Kommersant of information constituting a state secret, the BBC said in a report.

The information reportedly had to do with an article co-authored by Safronov about Russia's deliveries of Su-35 fighter aircraft to Egypt.

The report was later removed from the Kommersant website.

Safronov's father, also named Ivan, was a well-known military commentator at Kommersant.

He died after falling from the fifth floor of a Moscow apartment building in 2007.

Ivan Safronov senior had been investigating claims of planned Russian arms sales to Syria and Iran at the time of his death, Kommersant said.
New Delhi, July 7 : The Delhi Police has filed a status report in response to a petition filed by Pinjra Tod activist Devangana Kalita, seeking the courts direction to the Delhi Police to not leak any allegations to the media pertaining to the petitioner, pending investigation and thereafter during trial.

The Delhi Police in its response filed through Central government standing counsel Amit Mahajan has stated the reason behind the sharing of the "brief note" by the investigators to the media.

"ethe brief note dated 02.06.2020, is required to be seen in this context which was in furtherance of the right of the citizen to know about the affairs of the society and the right of the journalist to ensure an informed society," the police said.

It also states that it was Devangana who herself has been guilty of frustrating a fair trial and impeding the ongoing investigation against her by starting a media campaign to gain sympathy and generate public opinion.

Kalita, who is currently in judicial custody in the Tihar Jail in a case relating to Delhi riots had earlier approached the high court seeking court's direction to the Delhi Police to not leak anyinformation.

Following this plea, the high court had passed interim order restraining the Delhi Police from circulating information, including to the media or on social media platforms.

The investigators have now informed the court that it became necessary and compelling for them to inform the public at large that the narrative peddled by the 'Pinjra Tod' and its affiliate groups that a particular community and its supporters, including the Kalita, were being victimized, maliciously prosecuted and oppressed by state machinery.

The Delhi Police in its response also slammed Devangana's claims that the police made an attempt to have a media trial against her saying it was "completely misconceived, concocted and false." "The evidence in this regard is to the contrary and manifests that the petitioner (Devangana) herself initiated media campaign/ trial against the investigating agency to discredit it and impede the ongoing investigations on the ground of victimization, state sponsored malicious prosecution etc," the police response read.

The police further told the court that the record manifest that the members of Pinjra Tod group through their social media account have been fervently and incessantly trying to present Kalita and other accused persons as victims of malicious prosecution by spreading misleading and false information about the action taken by the Investigating Agency against them.

"Social media in the present day has become one of the most powerful tool for dissemination of information both true and false," the police said "The petitioner and her group have a huge Social media presence through which they have been vociferously trying to impede the ongoing investigation against," it added.

The police has also stated in its affidavit that Kalita and her group had taken recourse to circulating detailed messages about her arrest etc. and started a media campaign in her favour.

"In this regard concerted and well-orchestrated efforts were continuously made by the members of Pinjra Tod Group and its associate and affiliate groups to gain sympathy and influence and swing public opinion in favour of the present petitioner as well as other activists of Pinjra Tod Group arrested by Delhi Police in connection with North East riots," the document read.

On June 11, the High Court restrained the Delhi Police from circulating information. "ethe respondent is restrained from issuing any such statements or circulating information regarding allegations and evidence allegedly collected against the petitioner or other accused, to any person, including to the media or on social media platforms," a single judge bench of the high court presided by Justice Vibhu Bakhru had said.

Initially, Devangana was nabbed for Jafrabad violence case, north-east violence case and then for Daryaganj violence case. However, the Delhi Police filed a charge sheet against her and co-accused Natasha in Jafrabad violence case on June 2.

The police said that both Natasha and Devangana were actively involved in hatching the conspiracy to cause riots near Jafrabad Metro Station in Delhi.

"They were also part of a larger conspiracy and were found to be connected to the 'India Against Hate' group and Umar Khalid. The message, found in the phone of an accused, on WhatsApp chat, reveals the conspiracy and the extent of preparation for causing riots," the statement by the police added.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Before I really dig in, I need to thank the people who helped get me here. First and foremost, I want to thank my closest peers for pushing me and always being by my side. Also, thank you to my teachers for challenging me and believing in me, not only as a student but as an individual. Especially Ms. Gufert, Ms.Aquino and Ms. Polanco who were way more than teachers to me. By the way, Polanco, I consider myself President of the National Honor Society. The staff for keeping positive energy in the hallways and allowing me to spill the tea, especially the best dean, Mr. Vidal, who I have been telling I would shout out in my speech since sophomore year, Juanita, for loving me like a daughter, and Ms. Garcia, even though I would always go and bother her, I know she loves me.
Washington, July 7 : A US judge has ordered the suspension of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, amid concerns over its environmental impact, the media reported on Tuesday.

On Monday, federal judge James E Boasberg, sitting at the District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled that the construction of the pipeline had fallen short of environmental standards, reports the BBC.

It therefore needed to undergo a more thorough environmental review than had been conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers before it could be allowed to continue working, he said.

The process is expected to take 13 months, according to the Financial Times.

"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," Judge Boasberg's ruling added.

The $3.7 billion 1,900 km-long pipeline, completed in 2017, can transport some 570,000 barrels of crude oil a day across four states, from North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois, where it can be shipped to refineries.

Monday's order is a major win for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has led the fight against the pipeline.

The Standing Rock Sioux and their supporters argued the project - which passed just north of the tribe's reservation - would contaminate drinking water and damage sacred burial sites.

The BBC quoted Chairman Mike Faith, of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, as saying it was a "historic day" for all those who had fought the pipeline.

"This pipeline should have never been built here," he said. "We told them that from the beginning."
Hyderabad, July 7 : The subject enrolment for Phase-I clinical trial of India's first indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 began at Nizam's Institute of Medical Science (NIMS) here on Tuesday.

On the direction of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), authorities at NIMS began the process to register 30-60 subjects for the trial.

Blood and swab samples of the subjects will be collected and if found fit they will be administered the first dose of the vaccine after a week.

NIMS Director Dr K. Manohar told reporters that healthy subjects will be screened and their blood and swab samples sent to ICMR-designated lab in New Delhi. After receiving the test reports, the Department of Medicine will analyse the same and issue the fitness certificates to the subjects.

The subjects would be administered two doses of the vaccine. There will be two vaccine dosage of three micrograms and six micrograms, and a placebo.

Each subject would be given the second dose of the same vaccine after 14 days.

For two days after administering the vaccine, the subjects would be monitored for two days in the ICCU at NIMS by a team of doctors, after which they would be sent home and monitored through videoconference or phone.

The phase-I clinical trial would go on for 28 days, after which the ICMR and the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) would accord permission for Phase-II trial with more subjects.

Phase-1 would have around 375 subjects across the country and Phase-II 875.

NIMS is one of the hospitals selected by the ICMR to undertake clinical trials of Covaxin, which it is developing in partnership with Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL).

Meanwhile, the Ethics Committee at King George Hospital (KGH) in Visakhapatnam will hold a crucial meeting on Tuesday to finalise the preparations for the clinical trials. KGH is also one of the hospitals selected by ICMR for the trials.

In a letter to the heads of the selected institutions last week, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava asked them to fast-track all approvals related to initiation of the clinical trials and ensure that the subject enrollment is initiated no later than July 7.

"It is envisaged to launch the vaccine for public health use latest by August 15, 2020 after completion of all clinical trials. BBIL is working expeditiously to meet the target; however, the final outcome will depend on the cooperation of all clinical trial sites involved in this project," reads the letter dated July 2.

He noted that this is the first indigenous vaccine being developed by India and is one of the top priority projects that is being monitored at the topmost level of the government.

"The vaccine is being derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2 isolated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. ICMR and BBIL are jointly working for the preclinical as well as clinical development of this vaccine," he wrote.

While experts raised doubts on the August 15 target, the ICMR defended it, saying its process is in accordance with the globally accepted norms to fast-track vaccine development for diseases of pandemic potential.

The research body said the Director's letter was intended to cut red tape, without bypassing any necessary process, and speed up recruitment of participants for human trials so that these phases can be completed at the earliest.

BBIL refused to comment on ICMR's August 15 deadline.

The company had announced on June 29 that it had successfully developed Covaxin, India's first vaccine candidate for COVID-19, in collaboration with the ICMR and NIV.

The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The indigenous, inactivated vaccine has been developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3(Bio-Safety Level 3) High Containment Facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, the company said.

The Drug Controller General of India - Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare granted permission to initiate Phase I and II human clinical trials after the company submitted results generated from preclinical studies, demonstrating safety and immune response.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
London, July 7 : Just days after reopening following a three-month closure, Three pubs in England have shut after customers tested positive for the novel coronavirus, it was reported on Tuesday.

They were among hundreds of venues that welcomed customers after three months as lockdown measures were eased, reports the BBC.

But crowds descending in some towns and cities prompted fears social distancing was being disregarded.

The Lighthouse Kitchen and Carvery in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, said it was "slowly" working through a list of customers who had left details at the weekend and staff were awaiting their own test results.

In Batley, West Yorkshire, the Fox and Hounds said a customer had called to say they had tested positive for coronavirus.

Meanwhile the landlord of the Village Home Pub in Alverstoke, Hampshire, said his team were awaiting test results after someone in a member of staff's "family bubble" tested positive.

All three pubs had previously posted about implementing new social distancing and safety guidelines in line with government advice.

Crowds were seen across England on "Super Saturday", as thousands flocked to enjoy a pint, reports the BBC.

There were reports of arrests and early venue closures around the country, but police said a majority of people had acted responsibly.

UK pub and hospitality trade bodies have published guidance for bars and restaurants on how to operate contact tracing.

Contact details only need to be taken from one person in a group and must be kept for 21 days.

Owners are also asked to note the arrival times of customers and how long they stay. People can refuse to give information, but owners can choose not to serve them.
Berlin, July 7 : A German court has ended a lockdown imposed to tackle a coronavirus outbreak at a meat packing facility, the media reported on Tuesday.

Officials in North Rhine-Westphalia state brought back restrictions around Gutersloh in June after more than 1,500 Tonnies plant workers tested positive, reports the BBC.

The lockdown was due to end on Wednesday, although there was an option to extend it once more.

But the state's Higher Administrative Court overturned the measures on Monday, calling them disproportionate.

While bringing in a lockdown at the start of the outbreak was "not unreasonable", a court statement said, that should have given authorities time to impose a more focused lockdown.

Restaurants, bars and gyms can now reopen in Gutersloh district, and up to 10 people can meet outside - in line with national restrictions.

Kindergartens will reopen on Wednesday, officials said.

Since the weekend there have been 44 new confirmed cases. Only two have no connection to the Tonnies facility.

"It is crucial for our citizens that the tightened restrictions, which they have endured in a very disciplined manner, are now a thing of the past," the BBC quoted Mayor Henning Schulz as saying.

Local officials imposed lockdowns in Gutersloh and the nearby Warendorf district on June 23 after the outbreak at the meatpacking plant - the first restrictions in Germany since the country began lifting nationwide measures in May.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the number of new COVID-19 infections in Germany increased by 219 within one day to 196,554, with 9,012 confirmed deaths.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, July 7 : With their next film "Yaara" scheduled for a July 30 release, to mark World Friendship Day, actors Vidyut Jammwal, Amit Sadh, Shruti Haasan, Vijay Varma, Kenny Basumatary and Sanjay Mishra are excited.

Talking about how he values friendship in life, Vidyut said: "Friendship is the only cement that holds the world together. 'Yaara' is a story of friends growing up together and their journeys." Amit added: "The film is extremely close to my heart. It gives a new meaning and outlook to what describes a bond between friends. The characters are really living their true self in the movie and everyone is free-spirited. This unforgettable story about friendship will definitely trigger a lot of emotions. All of us shared a great bond on the set, which translates naturally on screen." "Gully Boy" famed Vijay Varma mentioned: "It is a story of four notorious criminals and time will test their friendship. That's how the narrative of the film is shaped. The timing with Friendship Day is perfect!" The story of the Tigmanshu Dhulia film is set in North India, shows the rise and fall of a group of four friends who rustle operations across the Indo-Nepal border.

Sharing her experience of working with Dhulia, Shruti said: "Tigmanshu sir has been a fantastic guiding force throughout. This is a tale that will take you on an emotional ride. That's what friendship is all about, isn't it? The ups and downs. 'Yaara' beautifully portrays all aspects of friendship by wrapping the narrative in a bundle of history. The time will test their friendship and my character will be a catalyst to it." "Yaara" is a remake of the French film 'Gang Story', and it releases on Zee5.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kolkata, July 7 : A Sub-Inspector posted at Howrah police commissionerate adjoining Kolkata died of Covid-19 at a city-based hospital on Tuesday, a police official said.

Deceased Sub-Inspector Gautam Patnayak was posted at Chatterjeehat police station in Howrah's Shibpur area.

Police sources said that Patnayak had complained of ill-health last week and was admitted to a city hospital with suspected Covid-19 symptoms. But he initially tested negative.

Through doctors and medical staff advised him to undergo treatment at the hospital Patnayak forcibly got himself discharged and returned home. He again fell ill and was again admitted to Kolkata's MR Bangur Hospital where he tested Covid-19 positive about three days ago.

"His condition was critical. He died today," the official from the Howrah police commissionerate said.

Patnayak is the first corona casualty from the Howrah commissionerate.

Sources said that as many as 160 personnel of Howrah district police have tested corona positive in four months, of which many have been cured and discharged.

Strict guidelines are being followed at all police stations and investigation centres to tackle the pandemic amongst police in the district.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New July 7 : Vikas Dubey's plunge into crime coincided with Sunny Deol thriller "Arjun Pandit" which released in 1999. Taking a cue from the movie Dubey also became Vikas Pandit, and has been known so in political circles and even among the police personnel, who referred to him as 'Pandit'.

Local journalist who came to know him, on condition of anonymity said that he was fond of being called Pandit.

The Bollywood thriller though panned out to be much different. In the film Arjun (Sunny Deol) became a puppet in the hands of a powerful man and kept quiet about a crime he witnessed. He fell in love with Nisha only to turn into a ruthless gangster after being betrayed by her.

Vikas Dubey now absconding was fond of this movie and had seen it hundreds of times says some of the local journalists, who have been familiar with his modus operandi. He even called his victims and only introduced himself as Pandit.

However, after the June 3 killing of eight policemen in Kanpur's Bikru village in his own backyard, Dubey is a pariah both to the ruling and the opposition.

While, the Yogi Adityanath government has increased the bounty on his head to Rs 2.5 lakh, and 300 teams are chasing him under the supervision of STF, the opposition has also demanded a thorough probe.

Posters of all his accomplices are out and even his wife Richa Dubey is been chased. The family of Vikas Dubey has turned away from the gangster and some have even called for his death, including his mother.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Amaravati, July 7 : Andhra Pradesh surpassed its highest single-day tally yet again on Tuesday with 1,178 cases. With this, the state's Covid-19 tally zoomed to 21,197.

The bulk of new cases was detected in six of the state's 13 districts. Guntur reported 238 cases, followed by Anantapur (153), Visakhapatnam (123), East Godavari (112), Srikakulam (104) and Krishna (100).

State health officials said compared with 16,712 tests on Monday, 16,238 tests were conducted in the preceding 24 hours.

During the day, 762 people were discharged from hospitals, taking the cumulative tally of cured persons to 97,456. As on Tuesday, 11,200 people are receiving treatment at hospitals and Designated Covid Centres in the state.

The state reported 13 deaths during the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 252. Seven deaths were reported on Monday. Kurnool reported 4 deaths, followed Anantapur (3), Chittoor and Visakhapatnam (2 each), and Prakasam and West Godavari districts (One each).

Though there has been a decline in incidence of new cases among returnees from other states, Telangana continues to contribute the highest number of cases.

Of the 22 new cases reported in this category, 13 were Telangana returnees. Returnees from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat accounted for two cases each and Rajasthan one.

Till date, 2,257 returnees from other states have tested Covid-19 positive.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chandigarh, July 7 : Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana is thrilled as the Khurranas have got a new family home.

The Khurrana family -- parents P. Khurrana and Poonam, Ayushmann and his wife Tahira, and Aparshakti and his wife Akriti -- have bought a family house in Panchkula, a satellite town of Chandigarh.

"The Khurranas got a family home! The entire family decided to buy this new home in which the entire Khurrana family can now stay together. We are looking forward to making new and beautiful memories in our new address," said Ayushmann.

A source from Chandigarh said the family was looking for a spacious home where the entire Khurrana family could stay together. "The two sons, Ayushmann and Aparshakti, are now married plus Ayushmann and Tahira have two kids now. So, it was only logical for the entire family to invest in getting something bigger. They have just bought this property and it will take some time before they can move into it," added the source.

The entire Khurrana family is in Chandigarh as both the brothers and their respective wives decided to visit the parents to spend quality time with them. This gave them the opportunity to also finish all legal formalities.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, July 7 : Four days after gangster Vikas Dubey and his gang killed eight policemen in the most deadly shootout in recent years at Bikru village in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, several UP police teams looking for him have still found no trace of Dubey.

The Delhi police has also been put on high alert after speculation that Dubey might sneak into Delhi and find a way to surrender. The Special Cell of the Delhi police which has expertise in dealing with criminals with a notorious background is on alert for any input regarding the gangster. Police at the UP-Delhi border are on the lookout to check any possibility of the gangster crossing into Delhi.

Sources in the Special Cell said with all its technical resources, the Cell is on alert to scan any input related to the absconding gangster.

In the past too, the Special Cell has been successful in arresting top UP gangsters like Brijesh Singh and Babloo Srivastava among others.

Babloo Srivastava was arrested by the Special Cell in 1995. Wanted in 42 cases including murder and abductions in different parts of the country, Srivastava was extradited from Singapore.

Brijesh Singh, a Dawood aide, was arrested by the Special Cell from Bhubaneswar in 2008. He was wanted in over 50 cases of murder. The Special Cell also arrested Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo from Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station in the national capital in 2016.

Expertise in technical surveillance gives Delhi police an edge over the other states police when it comes to tracing the criminals who have mastered the art of evading arrest.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
As we move forward with our phased-in restoration of in-court operations in the five boroughs, we will continue to work diligently to meet the justice needs of those served by our New York City courts while remaining vigilant in protecting the health of our judges, professional workforce and all those who visit and use our courthouses, Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks said in a statement.
Hyderabad, July 7 : A policeman died and three others, including two constables, were injured when an escort vehicle in Andhra Pradesh Energy Minister B. Srinivas Reddy's convoy overturned near Hyderabad on Tuesday.

The minister escaped unhurt in the incident which occurred when he was returning to Vijayawada from Hyderabad.

According to police, the police escort vehicle in the minister's convoy overturned due to a tyre burst.

A head constable of the Andhra Pradesh Police, identified as Papa Rao was killed while two constables and the driver of the vehicle were injured.

When the convoy reached near Koheda village on the Outer Ring Road, the left rear tyre of the police escort vehicle suddenly burst. The vehicle somersaulted a few times before coming to a halt.

The minister escaped unhurt as the alert driver of his vehicle applied brakes to avoid colliding with the police vehicle.

The security personnel in the minister's convoy, with the help of the police and local villagers, rushed the injured to the hospital but the head constable succumbed on the way.

The injured were admitted to a hospital in Hayatnagar.

The minister condoled the death of the head constable and promised all assistance to the family.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Bengaluru, July 7 : Global software major Infosys flew some of its techies and their families from the US to the city in a chartered flight amid the Covid-19 pandemic, an official said on Tuesday.

"We can confirm that Infosys arranged a flight to get some employees and their families back to India," a company spokesperson told IANS here.

The special flight with the techies and their relatives landed in the city early Monday, said the spokesperson.

"We won't be able to share additional details since the flight has already landed in Bengaluru," said the spokesperson.

A couple of Infosys employees tweeted about the special flight.

"Welcoming Infoscions and family! Returning on a special fight from the US after the lockdown," tweeted an employee on Monday.

He said some teams had come together to make the special return flight possible.

Similarly, another employee tweeted: "Great effort to provide much needed relief to many Infoscions and their families to get home." Co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani also tweeted on the occasion: "Infosys: compassionate capitalism at work!"

The city-based $12.7-billion IT behemoth employs 2.4 lakh employees in 46 countries the world over.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, July 7 : For the first time, the Indian military finds itself stretched between the border with China where it is locked in an intense stand-off with the PLA and the border with Pakistan where it faces incessant cross-border firing from the hostile Pakistan army.

Pakistan increased bombardment of Indian territory, violating the Line of Control (LoC) ceasefire agreement as China started transgressions in eastern Ladakh, creating a two front war-like situation for India.

Last month when India and China were engaged in dispute at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, Pakistan increased its bombardment across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. As at Galwan valley near LAC, 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed on June 15 in their worst clash in over four decades, around 13 to 14 ceasefire violations were reported from various parts of LoC.

In June, a total 411 cases of ceasefire violation were reported. In May, 382 instances of ceasefire violation took place, and in April, 387 and in March, 411. February saw 366 ceasefire violations, and January, the number was 367.

However, in the first half of 2019, the figure of ceasefire violations was almost half this number. January saw 203 ceasefire violations, February 215, March 267, April 234 cases, May 221 and June 181 instances.

Altogether in 2019, there were a total 3,168 incidents of ceasefire violation, almost double the 1,629 incidents in 2018.

However, last year, Pakistan increased bombardment post abolition of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The provisions of Article 370, which granted special status to erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, were abrogated by Parliament on August 5.

In August last year, 307 cases of ceasefire violation took place. In September, the figure was 292 and all of a sudden in October, it increased to 351. In November, the numbers was 304 and in December, it was 297.

(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, July 7 : The Indian military sees no pullback of Chinese People's Liberation Army troops and materiel from Pangong Lake and Depsang in eastern Ladakh, sources said on Tuesday.

The disengagement of Indian and Chinese troops has happened in Galwan valley, Hot Springs and Gogra post in Ladakh sector. However, it has not been verified on the ground yet.

The disengagement started after a two-month military standoff and it is happening "as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders' meeting".

Sources said Chinese soldiers were seen removing tents and structures at patrolling point 14 in the Galwan valley where on June 15 Indian and PLA soldiers were engaged in brutal hand-to-hand fighting. A total of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed in the worst clash between the two armies in four decades.

As per the agreement between the Corps Commanders, a buffer zone of at least 1.5 km on both sides of the Line of Actual Control has to be created in these areas.

Sources said that in Galwan valley, the water level of the Galwan river has risen suddenly due to melting of snow, which could have forced the Chinese to move from the area faster. The Indian Army is reported to be using drones to verify Chinese movement as physical verification has been hindered by the rising waters of the Galwan river.

But at Finger 4 of Pangong lake, the most contentious issue between the two sides, sources said there was almost negligible pullback of Chinese troops with a similar situation at Depsang.

At Pangong Lake, Chinese troops have moved upto Finger 4 where they have brought over 120 vehicles and a dozen boats. The Chinese army has also opened up a new front in the area near the Depsang Bulge, a table-top plateau north of Galwan. They have built camps and deployed vehicles and troops.

The Pangong Lake is divided into 8 fingers. The mountainous spurs jutting out into the lake are referred to as fingers. India has been claiming fingers 1 to 8.

There is also an Indian post near Finger 4. India claims the entire stretch till Finger 8. The area between Finger 5 and 8 has been a matter of dispute as China also claims it. It has often witnessed confrontations.

China has made an attempt to change the status quo by putting up shelters and setting up a camp in areas that were under Indian control so far.

Military commanders from both sides are in constant touch with each other.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said both sides were "taking effective measures to disengage and ease the situation on the border".

"We hope India will meet China halfway and take concrete measures to carry out what both sides agreed to, continue to closely communicate through diplomatic and military channels, and work together to cool down the situation at the border," Zhao told a news conference.

However, India remains cautious and the army and air force are on high alert.

(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, July 7 : Congress leader and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, reacting to the disengagement at the LAC, cautioned the government that the May-June status cannot become the "new normal." He emphasised that status quo ante should be restored at the LAC.

"Disengagement" is welcome, but means little unless the status quo ante is restored, said Tharoor.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP said that "Otherwise we'll yet again see both sides declare peace, with China having changed the "facts" on the ground and moved the LAC closer to where it wants." "The May-June status cannot become the "new normal," added Tharoor.

Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had asked when national interest is paramount then "why has status quo ante not been insisted on?" He also raised questions on why was China allowed to "justify" the murder of 20 unarmed Indian soldiers in our territory? Why is there no mention of the territorial sovereignty of Galwan valley?

The Congress has been targeting the government on the Chinese incursions in the Galwan Valley for quite some time.

Indian and Chinese troops on Monday retreated two kilometres each along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley, where 20 Indians and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers were killed in a violent face-off last month.

The disengagement between India and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) happened as per the agreed terms in the Corps Commander's meeting.

With the retreat from both sides, a four kilometre no-man's land has been created. "Four kilometres in the highly mountainous terrain like Galwan valley, deprives both sides from seeing each other's installations and reinforcements," sources said.
New Delhi, July 7 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested seventh person in connection with the last year's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which 40 CRPF personnel were martyred.

Bilal Ahmed Kuchey, a resident of Hajibal of the Kakapora area in the Pulwama district, was taken into custody on July 5 for harbouring and extending logistic support to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists in the Pulwama attack.

Kuchey was produced before a NIA special court in Jammu on Monday and was remanded to the 10-day custody.

According to the NIA, the main perpetrators stayed in Kuchey's house and he introduced them to other 'over ground workers', who provided them safe stay and aided in the planning of the attack.

Kuchey, who runs a sawmill, is accused of providing high-end mobile phones, used by JeM terrorists to communicate with the Pakistan-based JeM leadership as well as among themselves for giving final touches to the plan and its execution.

The NIA said the mobile phone was also used for recording Adil Ahmed Dar's video clip that became viral after the attack.

Earlier this month, the NIA arrested sixth accused Iqbal Rather, 25, a resident of Budgam, who facilitated the attack and helped key conspirator Muhammad Umar Farooq reach Kashmir after he infiltrated into the Indian territory in April 2018.

On 14 February 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a suicide bomber at Lethpora in the Pulwama district, martyring 40 troopers.
Jaipur, July 7 : Close on the heels of the Haryana Chief Minister announcing reservation in jobs for local youths in his state, Rajasthan Congress MLA Harish Chandra Meena on Tuesday wrote to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot demanding 75 per cent reservation for local youths who according to him are roaming jobless during the corona crisis.

Meena is a former MP and a former IPS officer.

The Devli-Uniyara MLA urged the Chief Minister to bring an ordinance soon on this matter and said local youths should get reservation in jobs with salary up to or less than Rs 50,000 per month.

The MLA said that at a time when the youth of Rajasthan are wandering jobless on the streets in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, there are many youths from other states who have been working here and drawing a decent salary, taking away the rights of local youths.

Hence following the Haryana model, the Rajasthan government should bring a 'Rajasthan Rajya Sthaniya Ummedwar Rozgar Adhyadesh' so that "local youths can get jobs and people's trust in the state government gets stronger that it is taking decisions for public welfare under your guidance," he added in his letter.

Talking to IANS, Meena said Rajasthan is an agricultural state and there are a limited number of jobs, which too are taken away by outsiders. "Go to Neemrana, an industrial town on the border with Delhi, you will find that jobs there have been taken away by people from other states," he said.

"Haryana has a better literacy rate than Rajasthan and is more prosperous too. If they can do it, why can't Rajasthan? Meena asked.
Ranchi, July 7 : With one more person succumbing to coronavirus on Tuesday, the Covid-19 death toll in Jharkhand has gone up to 21.

A 58-year-old man, a resident of Dhanbad district, breathed his last at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) in Ranchi.

Meanwhile, with 40 new cases getting detected on Tuesday, Jharkhand's Covid tally has gone up to 2,854.

As per the data provided by the health department, the number of active cases in the state is 766, 2,068 persons have been cured and discharged from different hospitals.

Out of the total 2,854 cases which have been detected so far, 2,109 are migrant workers who have returned to the state from different coronavirus hotspots such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.

The recovery rate stands at 72.46 per cent in the state.

So far, 1,59,176 samples have been tested in the state, of which 1,56,322 have returned negative. The number of people under institutional quarantine is 45,643, while 2,81,305 persons are under home quarantine.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Agartala, July 7 : The Tripura government has cancelled 62,340 fake ration cards identified after computerisation of the PDS system, officials said here on Tuesday.

Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department Director Tapan Kumar Das said that after the cancellation, the number of ration cards has come down to around nine lakh that benefit 36 lakh people in the state.

"After the computerisation of the Public Distribution System (PDS) in Tripura, 62,340 fake ration cards involving 2,80,776 beneficiaries were identified," Das told IANS.

He said that PDS ration and other items are giving to beneficiaries after biometric authentication to prevent pilferage and frauds.

Tripura Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Monoj Kanti Deb said that after the BJP-led government came to power in the state in March 2018, these fake ration cards had been cancelled.

"These forged ration cards were issued during the previous (Left Front) government," Deb said at an official event.

The Minister claimed that of the 2.81 lakh persons found benefiting from fake ration cards, a large number may be Bangladeshi nationals.

"Despite a thorough inquiry, there was no trace of a majority of these 2.81 lakh people against whom PDS commodities were issued for many years." Das said that with 100 per cent Aadhaar number seeding, end-to-end computerisation of PDS was completed in Tripura in 2018 for transparency and quick services, and inter-state portability of ration cards system introduced last year.

"Tripura is the first state in northeast India to complete the digitalisation of the entire PDS. The central government has appreciated Tripura government's work in digitalisation," Das said.

The PDS computerisation is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and the National Informatics Centre and is being introduced in all states and union territories across the country.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Dharamsala, July 7 : Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Tuesday that climate change and the current Covid-19 pandemic are challenges which teach us to work together to create a peaceful world.

Thanking the people for their greetings on his 85th birthday, he said, "I am touched by your affection. I am in good health and look forward to live long to continue being of some service to humanity." "In the world in which we live today, nations are no longer isolated and self-sufficient as they once were," the spiritual leader said in a message.

"We have all become much more interdependent; therefore, there is a need to be even more aware of the oneness of humanity. The interests of others are our own. Climate change and the current pandemic, which threaten us all, are challenges that teach us that we must work together and make a concerted effort to reach our common goal of a more caring and more peaceful world," he said.

Tens of thousands of Tibetans and his well-wishers settled across the globe virtually celebrated the 85th birthday of the Dalai Lama on Monday.

In March 1959, the Dalai Lama had to leave his homeland as a final resort to seek freedom for his people.

From the first day he stepped into a life in exile, he has worked to protect his people, lead a political movement, and preserve the unique cultural identity of Tibet, said the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on the occasion of his birthday.

In 1959, the occupying Chinese troops suppressed the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa and forced the Dalai Lama and over 80,000 Tibetans into exile in India and other neighbouring countries.

On reaching India after a three-week-long treacherous journey, the Dalai Lama first took up residence for about a year in Mussoorie in Uttarakhand.

On March 10, 1960, just before moving to Dharamsala, which also serves as the headquarters of the exiled Tibetan establishment, the Dalai Lama had said: "For those of us in exile, I said that our priority must be resettlement and the continuity of our cultural traditions. We, Tibetans, would eventually prevail in regaining freedom for Tibet." Currently, India is home to around 100,000 Tibetans and the government-in-exile, which has never won recognition from any country.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan on Tuesday warned Israel against annexing parts of the Palestinian territories, saying that doing so could have consequences for bilateral relations.

In a statement distributed by the German Foreign Ministry, the countries, including Israel's two leading partners in the Middle East, said their foreign ministers had discussed how to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

They, along with most other European countries, oppose Israeli plans that envisage annexing parts of the occupied West Bank as part of a peace deal that is promoted by the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump.

The Palestinian Authority, which wants the West Bank for a future Palestinian state, opposes the move. The United States has yet to give its approval to the annexation plans.

"We concur that any annexation of Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 would be a violation of international law and imperil the foundations of the peace process," the European and Middle Eastern foreign ministers said after their video conference.

"We would not recognize any changes to the 1967 borders that are not agreed by both parties in the conflict," they added. "It could also have consequences for the relationship with Israel."

Israel had no immediate response. But in a separate statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had told British counterpart Boris Johnson on Monday that he was committed to Trump's "realistic" peace plan.

"Israel is prepared to conduct negotiations on the basis of President Trumps peace plan, which is both creative and realistic, and will not return to the failed formulas of the past," the statement said.

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Sanchezs family told the Daily News on Monday they didnt know of anyone whod want him dead, and were still trying to trying to sort out different accounts of his final hours.
New Delhi, July 7 : In a significant move, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday decided to provide monthly free ration to all PDS card holders till November 2020 in a bid to mitigate their economic hardships caused by the pandemic.

The Delhi government will continue to provide free food grains to the National Food Security (NFS) beneficiaries in the national capital, the government said in a statement, adding that the ration distribution for this month will start phase-wise from July 8 onwards.

In Delhi, more than 17.54 lakh households get ration under the Public Distribution System (PDS) covered by the National Food Security Act. This scheme benefits nearly 71,40,938 people who get subsidized food grains. These include 68,465 Antodya Anna Yojna (AAY) households with 2,78,954 beneficiaries.

NFS beneficiaries are provided five kg food grains every month, including four kg wheat and one kg rice.

Regular entitlement under AAY category is 25 kg wheat per household, 10 kg rice per, household and one kg sugar per household.

The price is Rs two per kg for wheat and Rs three per kg for rice, which shall not be charged from the NFS beneficiaries while obtaining the ration from July till November.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain said: "During the lockdown, the department has succeeded in its all-out efforts to meet the food requirements of the poor and vulnerable sections, including NFS beneficiaries. The Delhi government had earlier provided free ration to the NFS beneficiaries for April-June also." He cautioned that the ration beneficiaries should not pay anything for the food grains being provided to them. "In case beneficiaries face any problem in receiving ration free of cost at Fair Price Shops, they may contact officers of the F&S Department for immediate redressal," he said.

The beneficiaries can lodge complaints with the respective Assistant Commissioner, Food Supplies Officer (FSO) or Food Supplies Inspector (FSI). They may also complain on the helpline number 1967 and other grievance redressal portals, including PGMS.

Hussain said that for effective management at Fair Price Shops, the government has deployed Civil Defence Volunteers to ensure social distancing norms and orderly distribution of food grains.

Departmental Officials, including Assistant Commissioners, Food Supply Officers and Food Supply Inspectors have been deployed in the field round the clock to facilitate the distribution of food grains.

"All department Officials and the distribution teams of Fair Price Shops are working seven days a week. Members of the Vigilance Committee are also actively monitoring the distribution process. Area MLAs, including Ministers, are also inspecting the Fair Price Shops from time to time to motivate the staff and to ensure smooth distribution," said Hussain.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Mumbai, July 7 : Dismissing speculations, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut categorically said on Tuesday that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra will complete its full five-year term.

"There are no disagreements among the three allies - Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress -- and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is doing a great job, paying attention to the smallest details. It's not a 'khichdi' (mess), but formed by three parties with experience and senior leaders," Raut asserted.

His statements came at a media conference a day after the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narayan Rane slammed the coalition government on various counts and demanded President's rule in the state.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis had also attacked the government on several points, including its handling of the Covid-19 crisis, and other leaders have hinted at alleged differences among the ruling allies.

"There may be differences of opinion but there are no disagreements. I have personally discussed this with NCP President Sharad Pawar, NCP state chief Jayant Patil, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Congress state President Balasaheb Thorat, and all decisions in the state are taken consultation with the CM," Raut added.

He said even Pawar is satisfied with the performance of the state government and expressed confidence that it will last its full tenure, adding that Pawar visited the CM's residence on Monday as a "father figure".

On the recent friction pertaining to abrupt cancellation of transfers of 10 Deputy Commissioners of Police in Mumbai and 5 Sena councillors of Parner in Ahmednagar defecting to the NCP, Raut said these were small, localized issues and "must not be politicized".

Admitting that there may have been some communication gap owing to the corona crisis, Raut made it clear that all decisions are taken after discussions among the three partners and in consultation with the CM.
New Delhi, July 7 : Taking Indian fashion places, Rahul Mishra, is the first designer from the country to have presented at the Paris Haute Couture Week in 2019. Today at 9 pm IST, Mishra will present a digital showcase of his Haute Couture, Fall/Winter 20-21 collection titled "Butterfly people," with FAdAration de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.

Even before slow fashion became fashionable, this champion of traditional textiles and Indian crafts focused on the "3 E's - Environment, Employment and Empowerment." His philosophy is to create jobs via his design house to help local craftsmen in their own villages in order to develop a circular economic growth in their societies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis in the fashion industry, rendering millions of artisans and behind the scene workers jobless. In India, the migrant crisis which has reached devastating levels is a witness to this, with thousands of migrant workers being displaced during the lockdown. Mishra's collection is an ode to them and the belief that, "Maybe it is enough to live, to survive, to feed and support your family through the most unprecedented times in recent human history." IANSlife interviewed the designer ahead of his show to get a sense of the collection and the sentiment behind it.

Read Excerpts: Q: With the COVID-19 crisis, sustainability and eco fashion are in the spotlight like never before. Does the theme of this collection reflect this sentiment? Mishra: Sustainability and Green Fashion has been an important topic during this decade; it has been discussed in various international forums for a long time, so it's not something new or in focus because of the pandemic. I believe the 'COVID-19 break' as I like to call it, has put a break on manufacturing, production, retail and consumption, giving us a chance to think about what we want our future to be.

COVID-19 has helped us with the realization that maybe we have too many things, things which are locked in cupboards where we don't end up using 90 percent of them. The entire movement of sustainability and helping the environment is picking up pace, there are now campaigns like 'Who Made My Clothes' amongst others which focus on this.

So COVID-19 is a catalyst for the positive changes we need to bring about. We need to realise we need a far more harmonious relationship with nature and should have a better rhythm with our environment. One should move away from over production and over consumption and I feel this crisis will have a positive impact on the future.

The biggest disservice is if we go back to a pre coronavirus normal in the post COVID-19 era.

Q: With the global economic slowdown, how important is it for us to focus on supporting our local and traditional crafts and textile industry? Mishra: I think Gandhi Ji's talisman is important wherein he states that recall the face of the poorest and weakest man you have ever seen and before you contemplate a step in any direction, think about how it will impact him; this is the mainstay of our brand. Which is why whenever I always work on the slowest process when creating anything-- hand crafted garments which take thousands of hours to make thereby employing and empowering many artisans.

The biggest collective problem the world is going to face is unemployment. A big section of society will be jobless, so Gandhi Ji's philosophy should be used as a tool to bring happiness and equality in society.

My collection is an effort in this direction as all my work is. During the pandemic despite supporting all my artisans, there was an insecurity creeping in their minds about what the future will hold. So this couture collection gives them and me hope and an idea that no matter what, the beauty of creating things which are inclusive, slow, include handmade processes and involve people, will create blessings and well wishes of the hundreds of people we work with.

So a particular garment symbolizes so many blessings and goodwill, that as a designer I'm not worried whether it will sell or not; for me the beauty is what it has brought to everyone who has made it. In today's world this is what is needed.

Q: You have many firsts to your name, share with us the sense of pride and vindication you feel taking Indian fashion to places it's never been before.

Mishra: I am very thankful to have so many firsts attached to my name, it's due to the well wishes of all the people I work with and the entire team. Whether it's the Woolmark Prize in 2008, first Indian designer to be invited to Paris Haute Couture and now it is a privilege to be the first Indian designer to be part of digital haute couture show at the highest global platform in the field of fashion; it's a historic moment for me.

I am very thankful to the FAdAration de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, to be accepted on the Calendar for which one of the conditions is to have a studio or atelier in Paris; I think I'm the only designer on the Calendar who doesn't have this and they have made an exception for me. I am very thankful to them, and this has been possible because of the beautiful craftsmanship which is part of my brand which is a hundred percent made in India.

My aim is to represent 'true India', which is different from the image of India of a stereotypical and traditional 1960s or 70s era, like too much embroidery and overuse colour. In 2020 I'm trying to push the thought of a new India. My collection is based on Indian craftsmanship, Indian know-how and skills.

Q: Is it correct to assume that haute couture and the luxury segment will not be impacted by the economic slowdown and sentiments of the larger populace, being that they cater to a niche segment which remains relatively financially stable through times like this? Mishra: Through these times even I have often questioned why do we need another outfit, why do we need to create haute couture, the ultimate expression of luxury in the world?

My answer has been in front of me the entire time; the answer lies in the eyes of the artisans and the people I work with. My team's purpose. The existence of every piece of clothing which may even be pocket friendly should also have a larger purpose, else it is not sustainable.

For me haute couture becomes the finest and most needed form of fashion because it supports so many people who create it. It is made by humans and not machines, which creates employment and participation full of life and beauty.

So while I did question myself during this pandemic when people are facing the biggest crisis ever, why do we need haute couture, I think haute couture is needed more than ever before. It is needed by millions of people in craftsmanship and artisanal skills as it supports a huge number of skilled workers. It doesn't just employ them in the financial sense of taking care of the family's livelihood, but also brings him joy, satisfaction and a sense of achievement at an artistic level.

During the pandemic haute couture brings employment, engagement and empowerment for people. I do understand maybe it's not the best time for consumers to make a purchase, but on the other hand if such a large population of craftsmen need to be supported then the system needs to enable them.

One should support crafts in India which value handmade and artisanal creations, it could be the humble hand-woven sari or a hand-woven designer garment, this need is more than ever before.

Q: Last and certainly not the least, is there a silver lining in this crisis? Mishra: This crisis has brought with it two things, one we have started thinking a lot more rationally and secondly we have all slowed down in pace. This was really needed, especially to get back into rhythm with nature, which we lost long ago. This is the biggest silver lining, to bring the rhythm of production and consumption back into harmony with nature and environment in a sustainable fashion.

When it comes to my business, I'm happy although I started working mid May when there was nothing much happening, we started our store in June and got queries and people supported us. Often when you are sitting and doing nothing there is far more fear, when you start working the positivity of work and team effort can enable you to overcome crises. This team is one's support and it's your family, your silver lining in any crises.

The designer signs off that the goodwill of the people and good business practices will make it all worthwhile. Along with launching his haute couture collection in the most prestigious of shows at Paris Haute Couture Week amidst the toughest of times, Mishra will also be launching his E-commerce platform where people from across the globe can get access to his beautifully hand crafted garments.
New Delhi, July 7 : Although the government made an amendment to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to protect buyers of bankrupt companies, there seems to be no relief for some with litigations continuing and penalties being enforced by regulators for misdeeds of the insolvent firm's previous management.

Experts feel clarity is required in the IBC's Section 32A, introduced in December, which provides protection and immunity to buyers from criminal proceedings against the bankrupt firm's previous promoters.

The clarity, they feel, will come only when a court of law passes an order interpreting this section and settling the issues ones and for all.

In a recent order against Monnet Ispat & Energy, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposed penalty for violation of disclosure norms 5 years ago. The company was acquired by a consortium, comprising JSW Steel and AION Investments Private II, in 2018 through the insolvency route.

Industry insiders and experts say the penalty should have been imposed on the company's earlier management.

Also, the much prolonged resolution of Bhushan Power and Steel case still hangs fire as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not released the Rs 4,000 crore assets, attached as part of criminal proceedings against the former promoters.

JSW Steel is again the acquirer and it's not ready to pay the Rs 19,700 crore offered amount to banks unless the ED releases the attached assets.

Legal issues also surfaced for Tata Steel BSL, formerly known as Bhushan Steel, the bankrupt company acquired by Tata Steel.

Noting that such confusions and legal tangles have continued even after introduction of Section 32A, Manoj Kumar of Corporate Professionals told IANS, "This section needs proper reinterpretation. Hence it should go to some court of law. It can't be settled at the tribunal level." According to him, interpretation of regulators is different. Litigations are continuing in several sectors and it's very difficult to conclude. An order clarifying or giving a proper interpretation by a court of law or the Supreme Court can solve the issue.

Daizy Chawla, Senior Partner, Singh & Associates, said as the recent amendments were in place the authorities, like the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and the SEBI, would like the courts to decide and close the matter once and for all, instead of they themselves deciding.

"Recently in the Tata Steel BSL case, the Delhi High Court set aside the SFIO's summons to the new management, which has taken over the corporate debtor (Bhushan Steel). In future, the SFIO can internally refer to the decision, if it does not challenge it in the apex court, as and when it would like to proceed against a new management with regard to offences/non-compliances prior to the corporate insolvency resolution process period," Chawla said.

These were procedural issues that might continue due to precedence available within the authorities, but gradually come to an end, she said.
New Delhi, July 7 : When 'Swadeshi is the trending word across India, how can an age old Indian festival - Raksha Bandhan, be far behind? Riding high on anti-China sentiments, an array of 'Sangh Parivar members have begun efforts to make this year's Rakhi a "China-less, Swadeshi affair", come August 3.

"This year's Rakhi will be much more Swadeshi than other years. This year, (after the India-China border tensions), you won't find a single person who will advocate buying a Chinese Rakhi. We have got 13 lakh people to sign our online forms supporting Swadeshi," claimed Ashwani Mahajan, the co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) and the man who forced India to pull out of international agreements like RCEP.

Speaking to IANS, he said to match the growing demand for domestic products, many Indian manufacturers have stepped up their production. Mahajan added that this year's response will determine whether Indian Rakhi makers can bet on going full throttle next year. "It is all about the demand and supply ratio. Even if someone cannot get hold of an Indian Rakhi due to huge demand in the market this year, they should rather wear a 'dhaga' (thread) than buy a Chinese product," he suggested.

Meanwhile, the Vishva Hindu Parishad has much more elaborate plans for this year's Raksha Bandhan where it has already asked two RSS offshoots -- Durga Vahini and Matri Shakti -- to start making Rakhis on their own, the way they made masks earlier during the lockdown. None of these Rakhis will be for sale. However, they will be distributed for free among friends, family and acquaintances of thousands of its members all across India.

The VHP will also kick off a nationwide campaign for 'Swadeshi Raksha Bandhan', 3-4 days ahead of D-Day, connecting it to India's handling of the pandemic. "Members of the Durga Vahini and Matri Shakti in each state will tie the Rakhis they make to 3 segments of society -- health workers, sanitation workers and security personnel. This will not only be our way to show respect for the service they rendered during the pandemic but will also highlight the message of a 'Make in India' Rakhi," said VHP's Secretary General Milind Parande, while speaking to IANS.

He added that members of these two affiliates from border states like West Bengal, Rajasthan and Assam have also been urged to tie 'homemade' Rakhis to the Army and paramilitary personnel, whereever permission for doing the same is granted.

In this multi-pronged effort by the VHP, SJM, Matri Shakti and Durga Vahini, India's traders association has come forward to ensure that this year, markets are flooded with local Rakhis.

Praveen Khandelwal, National Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), told IANS about the plan of action. "We have asked all our state units to prepare a list of all Rakhi makers, data pertaining to local demand and supply ratio which will be here with us by the end of this week. They will not only ensure that the production capacity is multiplied in comparison to previous years, but also that their surplus products can be sent to other states where there is a growing demand. The central office will open a coordination desk for that purpose." Khandelwal added that the All India Transport Welfare Association has been roped in for logistical support.

India launched an economic offensive against China ever since 20 Indian Army men, including an officer, were killed last month during a violent face-off with Chinese People's Liberation Army troops at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh region. These are the first casualties faced by the Indian Army in a clash with the PLA since 1975 when an Indian patrol was ambushed by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh.

Ever since, India has banned 59 Chinese Apps citing national security. Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had asserted that no Chinese company would be allowed to bid for any highway project and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade curtailed the FDI of Chinese companies into India.

Sailing on these sentiments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a call to 1.3 billion Indians to be "vocal for local" -- suggesting that they should not only use domestic products but also promote them. If preparations by the 'Sangh Parivar' and India's traders body are anything to go by, this year's Raksha Bandhan will be "the most Swadeshi Raksha Bandhan in recent history", as Mahajan put it.

(Anindya Banerjee can be contacted at Anindya.b@ians.in)
Mumbai, July 7 : Actor Sidharth Malhotra, who will soon play Kargil hero Vikram Batra on the big screen, has paid a tribute to the martyr on his 21st death anniversary.

"Salute to the Indian army for their undying service to the nation and To our Kargil hero #VikramBatra who laid down his life today, 21 years ago," Sidharth tweeted on Tuesday.

Sidharth will bring Batra's story alive in the film "Shershaah". The film chronicles the story of Captain Vikram Batra, who sacrificed his life for the country in 1999.

The project is special to Sidharth. "If I had the means then the Vikram Batra film would have been produced by me but because it is made on such a massive scale and I am not well equipped (he is not producing it). Maybe in the future (he will produce films)," the "Student of the Year" actor had earlier told IANS.

The Kargil hero was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest war-time gallantry award.

"Everyone knows about his heroic stories from newspapers and articles. When you meet people who have lived with him, his family or have known him personally, you feel an immense kind of pressure. First, you hope to do justice to his personal life and family," said Sidharth.

"It's something that is very close to my heart. It's like a passion project. It's being directed by Vishnu Varadhan, who is a prolific director from south. He is making his Hindi debut with this film," he added.
New Delhi, July 7 : The Indian government and the World Bank on Tuesday signed a loan agreement to enhance support for the Namami Gange programme that seeks to rejuvenate the Ganga.

The Second National Ganga River Basin Project will help stem pollution in the iconic river and strengthen the management of the river basin which is home to more than 500 million people.

The $400 million operation comprises a loan of $381 million and a proposed guarantee of up to $19 million.

The agreement for the $381 million loan was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the government, and Qaiser Khan, Acting Country Director (India), on behalf of the World Bank. The guarantee instrument will be processed separately.

Khare said that the Ganga is India's most important cultural, economic and environmental resource, and the government's Namami Gange programme seeks to ensure that the river returns to a pollution-free, ecologically healthy state.

The new project will extend the government's and World Bank's engagement in this critical national programme to make the Ganga a clean, healthy river.

The World Bank has been supporting the government's efforts since 2011 through the ongoing National Ganga River Basin Project, which helped set up the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as the nodal agency to manage the river, and financed sewage treatment infrastructure in several riverside towns and cities.

Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, said that the continuity provided by the Second National Ganga River Basin Project will consolidate the momentum achieved under the first World Bank project, and help NMCG introduce further innovations, and benchmark its initiatives against global best practices in river rejuvenation.

"The government's Namami Gange Programme has revitalized India's efforts to rejuvenating the Ganga," Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India, said. "The first World Bank project helped build critical sewage infrastructure in 20 pollution hotspots along the river, and this Project will help scale this up to the tributaries. It will also help government strengthen the institutions needed to manage a river basin as large and complex as the Ganga Basin." The sprawling Ganga Basin provides over one-third of India's surface water, includes the country's largest irrigated area, and is key to India's water and food security. Over 40 per cent of India's GDP is generated in the densely populated basin. But the Ganga river is today is facing pressures from human and economic activity that impact its water quality and flows.

Over 80 per cent of the pollution load in the Ganga comes from untreated domestic wastewater from towns and cities along the river and its tributaries. For this, sewage networks and treatment plants in select urban areas would be built to help control pollution discharges. These infrastructure investments and the jobs they will generate will also help India's economic recovery from the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) crisis.

To ensure that these infrastructure assets function effectively and are well maintained, the project will build on the innovative Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) of public private partnership introduced under the ongoing NGRBP, and which has become the solution of choice for sewage treatment investments in the Ganga Basin.

Under this model, the government pays a private operator 40 per cent of the capital cost to build a sewage treatment plant during the construction period; the remaining 60 per cent is paid as performance-linked payments over 15 years to ensure that the operator runs and maintains the plant efficiently.

The $400 million operation includes a proposed Guarantee of up to $19 million to backstop the government's payment obligations for three Hybrid-Annuity-Model Public Private Partnership (HAM-PPP) investments on the Ganga's tributaries.

The $381 million variable spread loan has a maturity of 18.5 years including a grace period of 5 years. The $19 million Guarantee Expiry Date will be 18 years from the Guarantee Effectiveness Date.
New Delhi, July 7 : Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and his Swedish counterpart Lena Hallengren on Tuesday discussed via video link the status and plans to handle coronavirus and decided to co-operate in the field of health and medicine.

They discussed the containment measures for Covid-19 in the two countries and agreed to hold the Joint Working Group's (JWG) next meeting by autumn and stay in touch digitally till the end of crisis.

They directed their senior officials to do the follow-up.

Hallengren congratulated Vardhan on being elected Chair of the WHO Executive Board and praised India for increasing the testing capacity to diagnose and treat the cases early.

Vardhan spoke about the decade of vibrant Indo-Swedish partnership that oversaw 10 JWG level bilateral meetings and mentioned recent achievements of India, like the Ayushman Bharat Yojana that covered 550 million people.

Maternal and infant mortality had been reduced and India had made giant strides in its target to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025, he said. The digital health programme promised to integrate IT with the healthcare system, he said and mentioned pioneering research by India in antibiotic resistance.

On the lessons learnt in handling the Covid-19 pandemic, Vardhan said India had over 61 per cent recovery rate and mortality rate was as low as 2.78 per cent despite being a country of 1.35 billion people. "2.5 lakh people are being tested every day. From a single lab four months back, the country has over 1,100 labs for testing Covid-19," he said.

"India's pro-active, pre-emptive and graded approach ensured a plateaued graph and significant number of unoccupied beds at any point of time in the three-tiered Covid health infrastructure assembled by the government," the Minister said.

Vardhan said India had used the outbreak as an opportunity and since January 8, a day after China alerted the world on the novel pathogen, the government had coordinated among its different branches for point of entry surveillance at sea, land and airports.

It strengthened community surveillance, issued detailed health and travel advisories, and also evacuated thousands of citizens and foreign nationals.

India now has over 100 PPE manufacturing units producing 500,000 PPE kits a day. It also ramped up production of N95 masks and ventilators. India has supplied hydrochloroxyquine to more than 100 countries, Vardhan informed Hallengren, Swedish Minister for Health and Social Affairs.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Guwahati, July 7 : A door-to-door Covid-19 testing programme has been launched here on Tuesday following a surge in Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks.

Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is personally monitoring the programme in the Pandu area of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), and is asking people to cooperate, not panic.

"In the state, 786 new cases were detected on Monday night. Of this, 598 were from Guwahati alone. We aim to conduct 3,000 tests in the Ward No 2 (Pandu area) in two days," he said.

According to the Health and Family Welfare Department officials, the state government has procured 200,000 rapid antigen testing kits for quick testing.

The pilot project was launched in the Pandu area as it turned into a hotspot of 'community transmission". "Among the 33,000 population, majority have no travel history. It caused concern to the authorities," said an official.

After withdrawal of travel restrictions, 3,11,217 people returned to Assam by road, trains and air from different parts of the country, which raised the number of coronavirus cases, they said.

"With a big rise in Covid-19 cases, Guwahati, Assam's main commercial city, has entered 'real pandemic phase' with community transmission being witnessed," the Health Minister said.

In just 11 days, the coronavirus cases in the Kamrup (Metro) district jumped to 2,741 from 63. Guwahati, headquarters of the Kamrup (Metro) district, houses 11.20 lakh people.

The state government announced a 14-day "complete lockdown" in the district since June 28 midnight to check the Covid-19's spread.

Hinting at extension of the "complete lockdown" for another week, beyond July 12, Sarma announced some lockdown relaxations. He said standalone groceries would be allowed to open for certain duration, but strict health and hygiene care must be maintained.

According to him, the number of Covid-19 cases in Assam climbed to 12,522. Of this, 4,623 are active cases as 7,882 people have been discharged, three migrated to other states and 15 people died.

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New Delhi, July 7 : The Congress has questioned the government on reports of withdrawal of Indian troops from Galwan valley in Ladakh.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the country wants response on it.

Surjewala said in a tweet "Respected Prime Minister, do you remember your words and do your words mean something and will you tell that why are our forces leaving our motherland?" The Congress leader was commenting on reports of Indian and Chinese troops have retreated two kilometres each along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian and unknown number of Chinese soldiers were killed in a violent face-off last month.

The Congress questioned the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement during the all-party meting held in June where the party said that the Prime Minister had claimed no one had occupied Indian territory and so it demanded Modi should apologise for that statement.

The reports say that disengagement between Indian and People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops happened as per the agreed terms in the Corps Commanders' meeting.

With the retreat from both sides, a four kilometre no-man zone has been created. "Four kilometres in the highly mountainous terrain like Galwan valley, deprives both sides to see each other's installations and reinforcements," sources said.

The two sides have also agreed, sources said, not to do any aerial surveillance of the retreated area, to rebuild trust which was badly damaged due to the June 15 clash.
I felt sick, said mom Meredith Fisher, 49, mother of two sons ages 10 and six. I felt disgusted and sad ... Of course Im saddened, and repulsed, and scared. But at the same time, its not like I didnt know there are people who hold deeply racist beliefs.
New Delhi, July 7 : The Bar Council of India (BCI) has moved a plea in the Supreme Court, seeking a direction to the Centre, states and Union Territories to arrange financial assistance, by way of interest-free loan of up to Rs 3 lakh each, to advocates enrolled with the respective Bar Council.

This loan should be repayable in reasonable monthly installments at least 12 months after normal court functioning commences, it said, adding that it has estimated that almost about 25 per cent to 30 per cent of the enrolled advocates would be in need of immediate financial help.

The BCI filed the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking a direction to provide financial assistance including disbursal of soft loans to financially needy advocates enrolled with the various state Bar Councils in view of unprecedented crisis being faced by a large section of legal practitioners currently. According to the BCI, there are presently about 16 lakh advocates enrolled with the different state Bar Councils in the country.

The BCI cited the Disaster Management Act, which provides for meeting contingencies rising during disaster. "The provisions of the said Act, in particular Section 13, provide for grant of financial relief including loans on concessional terms to persons affected by disaster. The government has already taken steps in this regard for giving relief to certain sections of the society including entrepreneurs. In the circumstances, it is necessary that appropriate relief is given to the suffering lawyers also," it said.

The lawyers' body argued that a significant section is first-generation lawyers, where no other member of the family is in the legal profession. "These advocates are solely dependent on the regular, though meagre, income they earn from appearing in different courts and various tribunals as well as before the quasi-judicial authorities. This significant section of lawyers has no real savings to fall back on and they are dependent on the regular functioning of the courts and tribunals for their livelihood," argued the plea.

The BCI insisted this section is particularly vulnerable financially, as they are relative beginners in the profession and therefore, their financial position is very precarious. "The prolonged closure of the courts and tribunals all over the country since March, due to the lock-down declared by the government of India and the various state governments to combat Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in depriving majority of the advocates their only source of income. The situation of some of them is so grim that it may not be an exaggeration to say that they face virtual starvation and they require urgent and immediate financial aid and succour," contended the lawyers' body.
San Francisco, July 7 : Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President of Business Development at Microsoft, is joining struggling augmented reality (AR) start-up Magic Leap as its CEO, the company announced on Tuesday.

Johnson, who will begin her new role on August 1, comes to Magic Leap after a 30-year career at the highest levels of technology and business at Microsoft and chip giant Qualcomm.

"As CEO, I look forward to strategically building enduring relationships that connect Magic Leap's game-changing technology and pipeline to the wide-ranging digital needs of enterprises of all sizes and industries," said Johnson.

"It is with great pride and sincere appreciation to the Magic Leap Board, Rony Abovitz (Magic Leap founder) and the entire team, as well as to Satya Nadella at Microsoft, that I assume the role of leading this visionary business into the future," she added.

Since its founding in 2011, Magic Leap has pioneered the field of spatial computing. Magic Leap's spatial computing wearable, Magic Leap 1, is the most advanced XR device on the market.

Magic Leap competes directly with Microsoft's own HoloLens augmented-reality technology.

However, in April, the troubled company laid off nearly 600 of its 1,900-strong workforce.

Johnson brings to Magic Leap a proven track record of leading and growing businesses, building strategic partnerships and executing successful transactions.

In her recent role at Microsoft, she oversaw the development, collaboration, and growth of Microsoft's relationships with external partners and enterprises of all sizes around the world.

She also led Microsoft's corporate venture fund, M12, where she identified compelling strategic investment opportunities and worked closely with companies to unlock value and drive growth.

Prior to joining Microsoft in 2014, Johnson spent 24 years at Qualcomm, where she held various leadership positions, and served as a member of Qualcomm's Executive Committee.

"As Magic Leap drives towards commercializing spatial computing for enterprise, I can't think of a better and more capable leader than Peggy Johnson to carry our mission forward," said Abovitz, Founder and Magic Leap's first CEO.
Bengaluru, July 7 : In view of the surging coronavirus cases in Karnataka, Chief Secretary T.M. Vijaya Bhaskar on Tuesday warned 1,246 state employees of action if they ignored the assigned work of tracing contacts of positive patients, which is important to control the pandemic.

"As contact-tracing is a very important part of controlling the spread of Covid-19, any disobedience in following the order will attract punishment under Section 56 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005," Bhaskar said in an official order in Kannada.

The A, B and C Group employees from various departments were deployed to speed up contact-tracing due to shortage of manpower and told to report to task force head V. Manjula, a senior IAS officer.

According to Section 56, officials shall face imprisonment of up to one year, unless they have obtained "written permission" of a superior official or other lawful excuse to not carry out work assigned to them under the Act.

"Failure of an officer in duty or his connivance at the contravention of the provision of this Act is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 1 year or with fine," says Section 56.

In a related development, Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar warned of criminal cases against private hospitals which refuse to treat coronavirus patients in the state.

With Covid cases surging by the day and state-run hospitals running out of beds, the Karnataka government has directed private hospitals across the state to keep 50 per cent of their beds reserved for corona infected patients on priority.

"No hospital can refuse to admit patients for corona treatment and if anyone is found doing it, legal action will be taken against them. Citizens can register their complaints at 1912 helpline," asserted Sudhakar.

Karnataka has set up fever clinics and Covid care centres in addition to designated state-run hospitals and even roped in private hospitals, medical colleges and corporate hospitals for treating corona patients across the state.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Thiruvananthapuram July 7 : The seizure of 30 kg of gold from a diplomatic consignment at the Trivandrum International Airport has snowballed into a major political controversy in Kerala as the prime suspect of the smuggling racket, Swapna Suresh, a woman who wears many hats, happens to be close to the ruling Left Democratic Front government in the state.

Swapna Suresh, a high-profile consultant with the Kerala IT department, is reportedly on the run after her name emerged in the investigation of a gold smuggling scandal which links her with top smugglers operating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Speaking on the multi-crore gold smuggling scandal, Sumit Kumar, Customs Commissioner, said that various leads are being pursued by the investigators to unravel the names of those who profited from the racket.

"It's a (gold smuggling) case which has links to other countries. We are in the process of identifying the kingpin," Sumit Kumar, a senior IRS officer, told IANS without taking the name of Swapna Suresh.

Soon after Swapna Suresh's name cropped up in the smuggling racket, state BJP chief K. Surendran alleged that IT Secretary and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office exerted pressure for the release of Swapna.

The BJP also alleged that the Kerala IT Secretary was patronising Swapna, who's known for her top-level connections. The IT Secretary, who also happens to be the Secretary to the Chief Minister, was a frequent visitor to Swapna's residence.

Later, Chief Minister Vijayan's office denied any links with Swapna. The state government also terminated Swapna from the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd (KSITL). The IT Secretary, M Sivasankar, was also removed from the post of Secretary to CM.

Not content with the action, the opposition has now demanded a CBI probe into Swapna's appointment in KSITL, despite a Crime Branch probe pending against her.

Sources in the Customs said that Swapna was born and brought up in Abu Dhabi. In 2011, she got a job in a travel agency in Thiruvananthapuram. Two years later, she joined Air India SATS but left for Abu Dhabi in 2016 when the Crime Branch initiated a probe against her in a forgery case.

Swapna then secured a job in the UAE Consulate. As Swapna is fluent in Arabic, she got in touch with Arab businessmen and led several delegations to Kerala.

Sources said that during her stint in the travel agency and later in AI SATS, Swapna got in touch with several officials at the airports and customs. She also got an insight into the delivery and handling of diplomatic consignments.

It is believed that due to her connections in Kerala as well as in the UAE, Swapna gradually got acquainted with various groups and allegedly used the system to smuggle gold through diplomatic consignments.

"It's too early to say that for how long diplomatic baggage was being used to smuggle gold into India. We have to wait for the interrogation of the prime suspect (Swapna) before we can assess the scale of smuggling racket," said a senior customs official.
Dhaka, July 7 : Six indigenous activists were shot dead on Tuesday in an ambush by a rival group in Bangladesh's restive Chittagong Hill Tracts where scores have died in an insurgency in recent years, police said.

The incident is alarming as it shows the power conflict between several insurgent groups in the hill tracts of Bangladesh, said an official to IANS.

Locals and police said the killing might have taken place over establishing supremacy by two regional groups in the area. Three injured persons were admitted to Sadar Hospital.

Last March, a 31-member committee of JSS reformist group was formed. After the formation of the new committee, a rivalry began between the reformists and JSS (Santu Larma) groups.

The incident took place at around 5 am on Tuesday near Baghmara Bazar in Rajbila union, 20 km from the district town.

Local Union Parisad member Se Pru Marma said an armed group stormed into the house of reformist JSS president in the morning and started firing indiscriminately, killing the five on the spot.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh have been affected by what has been described as 'genocide' or 'ethnic cleansing' for many years, say activists.

In the 1960s and 1970s, thousands were forced off their lands to make way for reservoirs and hydroelectric projects, a displacement made worse by massacres against the Jumma people (the collective name for all indigenous peoples in the region). In 1997 a peace accord recognised the rights of the Jumma people over their lands.
Mumbai, July 7 : In a freak accident, two Western Railway track officials, including a Senior Section Engineer, were hit and run over by a speeding suburban train near Khar station early on Tuesday morning, officials said.

The two officials are SSE Raj Kumar Sharma, 48, and his assistant track-man Nagesh Sawant, 40, said a WR spokesperson.

The incident happened during a track maintenance operation that was going on near Bandra shortly after midnight, when they were suddenly hit by an oncoming train on the slow line, he said.

Both had sustained severe trauma injuries with open skull fractures and were rushed by other colleagues to the Bhabha Hospital in Bandra, where they were declared dead on admission.

The WR said that since the two officials were on duty at the time of the accident, their families would be entitled to all compensation and benefits as applicable in such cases.
Srinagar, July 7 : Security forces have arrested a person with alleged links to proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba from Sopore in north Kashmir on Tuesday.

A Jammu and Kashmir Police statement said police along with 52RR and 177Bn CRPF team set up a checkpoint at Sangrama crossing after a credible input and arrested the accused Sajad Ahmad Khan of Dachi village in Uri block of Baramulla district.

The statement said that incriminating material and arms and ammunitions were seized from his possession.

An FIR has been registered and police investigation initiated.
Mumbai, July 7 : Mumbai's Covid deaths outstripped China as the city toll crossed the 5,000 mark on Tuesday, while Maharashtra raced past Saudi Arabia's total corona cases, health officials said.

For the second consecutive day, the Covid-19 cases in the state were in the 5,000 range, with 5,134 new patients.

The number of fatalities in the state was 224, taking the toll to 9,250.

The country's commercial capital has now catapulted past China which has notched 4,634 deaths and 83,565 cases, ranking at No 22 on the Worldometer.

At the current number of cases, Maharashtra (217,121) overtook Saudi Arabia which ranks No 13 on the Worldometer (217,108 cases), after whizzing past Turkey, and Germany over the weekend, and last month, shooting past Canada and France.

Tuesday's data works out to one death recorded roughly every 7 minutes and a staggering 214 new cases notched every hour in the state.

The recovery rate in the state changed marginally from Monday's 54.37 per cent to 54.06 per cent, while the mortality rate remained unchanged at 4.26 per cent.

The Health Department said of the total number of cases declared till date, 89,294 are active.

On the positive side, 3,296 fully cured patients returned home on Tuesday - taking the number of those discharged today to 118,558.

Of the total fatalities in the state on Tuesday, Mumbai alone accounted for 64 deaths, pulling up the city toll from to 5,002 now, while the number of Covid-19 positive patients shot up by 785 cases to touch 86,509.

There were also 54 fatalities in Thane, 37 in Pune, 13 in Nashik, 10 each in Palghar and Solapur, nine in Raigad, eight in Jalgaon, five in Aurangabad, three in Latur, two each in Dhule, Yavatmal and Jalna, and one each in Ahmednagar, Nanded, Osmanabad, and Satara. One was from another state.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday inaugurated jumbo Covid care facilities of 3,520-beds in Bandra Kurla Complex and Mahalaxmi Race Court, including 120 ICU beds.

Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray said that the state is first in the country with a majority of all beds having either ICU or oxygen facilities, even as BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation announced a healthy 44-day doubling rate for the city.

The minister also announced the deployment of robotic technology for the care of patients and security of the doctors, nurses and other health staffers, with a robot named 'Gollar' joining duty at the Poddar Hospital, giving food, water and medicines to the Corona patients there.

After touring Thane for two days, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis will go on a tour of a few other districts in northern Maharashtra from Wednesday while calling for more tests, ventilators, ICU beds, and other facilities to curb the Covid cases and fatalities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

The MMR (Thane Division) continues to see deaths and cases pile up, with a total of 6,652 Covid-19 fatalities so far, while a staggering 2,632 new patients, pushed up the number of positive cases to 151,770.

Thane cases have shot past the 50,000 mark to touch 50,829 with 1,381 fatalities - to emerge as the second worst-hit district after Mumbai in the state.

Pune district raced past the 30,000 mark by notching 30,131 patients and 926 deaths till now.

The Pune division (comprising Pune, Solapur and Satara districts), which has recorded 34,901 patients and 1,292 fatalities, remains behind MMR and Thane district.

Nashik division has 652 fatalities and 12,623 positive cases, followed by Aurangabad division with 342 deaths and 8,267 cases, and Akola division with 149 fatalities and 3,274 cases.

Kolhapur division has notched 57 deaths and 2,464 patients, Latur division 60 fatalities and 1,366 cases, and finally Nagpur division recorded 20 deaths and 2,311 cases.

Among the eight divisions in the state, two - Kolhapur and Nagpur - have recorded zero fatalities on Tuesday, though both had new Covid cases, while Chandrapur and Bhandara are the only two districts with zero Covid deaths so far.

Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home quarantine increased to 631,985 now, while those in institutional quarantine went down to 45,463 (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Thiruvananthapuram, July 7 : As Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came under fire in the gold smuggling case involving the former PRO of the UAE consulate here and a Kerala woman on Tuesday, Vijayan said he is ready for any probe and it is the Centre's call.

"We have no say in it, we are ready for any probe and the Centre can decide whichever agency should probe this," said Vijayan.

Swapna Suresh, a high-profile consultant with the Kerala IT department, is reportedly on the run after her name emerged in the investigation of the gold smuggling scandal which links her with top smugglers operating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

On Tuesday senior IAS officer and secretary to Vijayan, M. Sivasankar was removed from office and in the evening was divested of the IT secretary's post too.

Sivasankar is currently in the dock and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a probe by the CBI or Enforcement Directorate (ED) to unravel the gold smuggling case in which the UAE consulate also figures.

"I write this letter as Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly with utmost concern at the misuse of diplomatic immunity of UAE consulate, here by international gold smuggling cartels with the collusion of officials working under government of Kerala who have deep rooted connections with decision makers at the office of Chief Minister. I solicit your immediate intervention to investigate into his nefarious act, which has serious implications on India's national security and has the potential to irreparably damage the age-old friendly ties between India and the UAE. In this contest I request an investigation into the matter by agencies like CBI and the ED," wrote Chennithala.

Reacting to Sivasankar being booted out of the posts, Vijayan said the Left is a "special breed" and the opposition Congress-led UDF can never match the ruling alliance.

"We do things differently and the reason why Sivasankar was asked to go is because of the report that he knew that woman," said Vijayan and added that this woman never worked in any government organisation and hence the government has nothing to do with it.

"The Congress opposition is trying to create what happened when they were in office during the solar scam (when a woman named Saritha Nair dealing in solar panels had alleged links with three staff of then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy) and hence they think of that. But we are of a different breed. We do not get soiled with such things," said Vijayan.

"We ordered a judicial probe and just see what he (Vijayan) is doing now. I have nothing against anyone as I am a strong believer in God and truth will always triumph," said Chandy.

State Congress president and former Union minister Mullapally Ramachandran demanded a probe under COFEPOSA and demanded Vijayan also should be covered under it.

Earlier in the day speaking to the media Chennithala said Vijayan now fears that fingers are being pointed at him and hence he has made his secretary the scapegoat.

Chennithala's demand came soon after Sivasankar was removed as the CM's secretary and later applied for long leave. Vijayan apart from holding the Home portfolio also heads the IT department.

CPI-M State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said wrongdoers will not be protected and every aspect will be looked into.

The CPI-M and the Left Front are shocked at the turn of events while the Congress and the BJP have taken to the streets across the state demanding the resignation of Vijayan.

On Tuesday morning, Vijayan was closeted with the state police chief and the chief secretary.

What has stung many is the way the woman named Swapna Suresh made inroads into the seat of power.

She was earlier working with Air India's ground handling agency after which she joined the UAE consulate here. There she came in touch with its PRO Sarith who is currently under arrest in the gold smuggling case, while Swapna is on the run.

Sarith and Swapna are now no longer with the UAE consulate.

Various reports have come out that Swapna and Sivasankar were good friends and he was a regular visitor at her house. It was through these contacts that she got a plush job in the IT department which is looked after by Vijayan and Sivasankar.

"Just look at her salary, it's mind boggling. What sort of interview or test was done to recruit her in the IT department, when she is only an ordinary graduate and one does not know what her experience is. It's a shame on what we are seeing in Kerala which involves links with smugglers," said former state minister and senior RSP leader Shibhu Baby John.

Senior BJP leader P.K. Krishnadas also came down heavily on Vijayan and alleged he is continuing to protect Sivasankar.

"Sivasankar was only removed as Vijayan's secretary, while he continues to hold the IT secretary post and this is because he is getting lot of support from Vijayan's daughter (who owns an IT firm). The Special Branch police had informed Vijayan about Swapna's not too clean record as she had a case against her, but all this was overlooked and she was appointed in a high paying job with practically no qualifications for such a job," Krishnadas claimed.

The UAE consulate, however, denied any involvement of its personnel in this case and said that the person who is in custody was dismissed from the consulate much earlier.

On Sunday, the Air Customs attached to the Thiruvananthapuram airport had made a seizure of 30 kgs of gold that arrived on a cargo flight and was kept in a warehouse here for release. The baggage had arrived from Dubai and is understood to have been marked to the UAE consulate which has its office in the heart of the state capital.
Jaipur, July 7 : The Rajasthan government on Tuesday issued an order extending the deadline for school fee submission till the time they reopen. Schools are shut across the country every since the imposition of lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the schools are running online classes and have been demanding fees even during the lockdown, which the parents are objecting to.

As per the Rajasthan government's initial guidelines, schools were barred from collecting fees from students for three months -- from March 15 to June 15 -- in view of the Covid-induced lockdown and the subsequent closure of schools.

Since June 15, parents have been staging protests in front of different schools demanding fee waiver and suspension of online classes for primary students.

Lending ear to their demand, the state government, as per the latest orders, has now barred schools from collecting fees till the time they reopen.

The order also said that the schools cannot delete the name of any student for non-payment of fees.

It needs to be mentioned here that the All Rajasthan Private School Parents Forum has been staging protests in front of different schools, as part of its 'No School, No fee' campaign. They also demanded a fee cut for online classes and suspension of such classes for primary students.

Despite the latest order, the Forum members are still not satisfied.

Soon after the state Education Minister shared the news of fee deferment on Twitter, the Forum tweeted, "Does Minister Sir has some big plan so that Parents will pay full fee in one single instalment. Why can't our minister waive fees as few states have done?" Sunil Yadav, chairperson of the Forum, said, "Deferment of fee shall not work. We request the government to issue an order of fee waiver. Also, the state government should issue a detailed guideline on online classes. Parents' patience level is now getting exhausted." Many parents were retweeting his tweet till the time of filing of this report.
He loved working at the News, said Rollos son, Anthony. He was very proud to have worked there. Even though it was an hour and a half to get in there each way, he loved being there.
New Delhi, July 7 : A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to several Malaysian nationals chargesheeted for attending the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin in mid-March in alleged violation of visa norms and Covid-19 guidelines issued by the Indian government.

"All the accused persons mentioned in Column A no. A11 A of the chargesheet are admitted to bail on personal bond of Rs 10,000 each. The counsel for all the accused shall file the personal bond on behalf of all the accused persons for today itself," said Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur of Saket Court.

As of now, the police have filed chargesheets against 121 of the 125 Malaysian nationals. All the accused appeared before the court through video conferencing. On Monday, the court took cognisance of the 59 chargesheets filed in the matter.

After the court announced its order, Advocate Hari Haran moved the plea bargaining application on behalf of each accused.

"The plea bargaining applications moved by all the accused persons in the present chargesheet be marked to Siddharth Malik, MM, South East for 08.07.2020 for disposal as per the law," Gurmohina Kaur added.

Plea bargaining is a pretrial negotiation between the accused and the prosecution where the accused agrees to plead guilty in exchange for certain concessions by the prosecution.

It is a bargain where a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge and the prosecutors in return drop the more serious charges.

The Crime Branch has named more than 900 foreign nationals, including over 120 Malaysians, in connection with the case. An FIR was registered against Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi and six others on March 31.

The case pertains to a congregation at the Banglewali Masjid in Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin area in mid-March, in which a large number of foreign nationals had participated.

The accused persons have been charged under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Epidemic Diseases Act, the Disaster Management Act, and also for violating the prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Centre has cancelled their visas and blacklisted them. The foreign nationals have not been arrested yet.

Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court had issued a slew of suggestions to a city court for speedy disposal of the cases related to several foreign nationals connected to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.
Beijing, July 7 : China is imposing checks on large banking withdrawals following fears of bank runs and rising bad debts among the lenders.

As per media reports, limits on businesses and individuals withdrawing large amounts of cash, without prior approval, will first be launched as a pilot project in Hebei province, and then extended to other regions, according to the People's Bank of China.

The new restrictions require lenders to report withdrawals of upwards of 100,000-300,000 yuan for individuals, and 500,000 yuan for businesses.

There has been mounting fear of bank runs and only last month action had to be taken to avert two bank runs. Last year, the government had seized several banks.

There are reports that many local banks have been unable to pay back customers as large number of people gathered to withdraw their deposits.

The two-year pilot programme for curbing transactions will be expanded to Zhejiang and Shenzhen province in October this year, encompassing 70 million people in three provinces.

There are reports that after a group of depositors rushed to withdraw cash, Baoding Bank in the Baoding city of Hebei province said that people should not believe in or spread rumours.

The Yangquan commercial bank also released a similar statement after the depositors rushed to the local branches in anticipation of the bank's inability to pay back.
Chennai, July 7 : The controversy over the selection of Indian chess team to play in the upcoming FIDE Online Chess Olympiad has resulted in the resignation of chief of the Selection Committee of All India Chess Federation (AICF) Grandmaster R.B. Ramesh.

While confirming his resignation to IANS from the selection committee, he declined to comment further on the issue.

In a statement AICF Secretary Vijay Deshpande (President P.R.Venketrama Raja faction) said Ramesh had resigned over interference by Bharat Singh Chauhan in the team selection process for the first Online Chess Olympiad.

The AICF is divided into two factions -- one led by Raja and the other by secretary Chauhan.

The leaders of the two factions with their respective supporters had removed each other from their posts.

However, the central government recognises Raja and Chauhan as AICF's President and Secretary.

In the statement Deshpande said Ramesh was entrusted with the task of selecting the Indian team for the online Olympiad slated to be held from July 22 to August 30.

The statement said, acting on the suggestion of the selection committee, Raja had forwarded the list of players to represent the country to FIDE, the global chess body.

According to the statement, Chauhan insisted on including the name of a Delhi player (Tania Sachdev) and when pointed out by Ramesh that she did not qualify on technical grounds, the former had forwarded the confidential mails directly to the player concerned.

"Protesting against this, the ex-British Chess Champion (Ramesh) tendered his resignation immediately," Deshpande said.

According to the statement, Ramesh's resignation has not been accepted.

When contacted for his reaction Chauhan told IANS: "The list of players suggested by us were approved by Ramesh. The players were informed about their selection and their consent to participate in the tournament were obtained.

"When a selected player is dropped then equity demands that the player be informed and which is what I did," Chauhan said.

Sachdev had to be dropped as she had not played a minimum of nine games over the relevant period but had played seven games.

Earlier the two factions had chosen two different sets of team members for the online Olympiad.

While the two lists had common names when it came to senior players, in the case of junior players, the lists had different names, raising the hopes and ambitions of eight players.

The players selected by the Chauhan faction are: (For Open Board) GM V. Anand (Elo rating 2,753) and GM Vidit Gujrathi (2,726); (U-20 Open Board) GM Nihal Sarin (2,620); (Women's Boards) GM Koneru Humpy (2,586), GM Harika Dronavalli (2,515); (U-20 Girl) WGM R. Vaishali (2,393).

The reserve players are: GMs P. Harikrishna (2,719), B. Adhiban (2,659), R. Praggnanandhaa (2,508), IMs Bhakti Kulkarni (2,391), Tania Sachdev (2,392) and WIM Divya Deshmukh (2,305).

On the other hand, the U-20 players selected by the Raja faction are: Aradhya Garg (2,198), Mitrabha Guha (2,445), Srishti Pandey (2,026) and Arpita Mukherjee (2,206) and this was seen as a deviation from the set rules.

When asked about the list submitted by Raja faction, Deshpande said "This is not the final list. The selection committee will go through the list and can also suggest other names." Deshpande in his statement said the final list of players approved by Ramesh who would represent India are:

Men

Viswanathan Anand Vidit Santosh Gujarati P. Harikrishna - Reserve

4. Aravindh Chidambaram - Reserve Women:

Koneru Humpy Dronavali Harika Bhakti Kulkarni - Reserve

4. R. Vaishali - Reserve Juniors:

Nihal Sarin

2. R. Pragnanandhaa - Reserve Junior Girls:
New Delhi, July 7 : A Delhi Police head constable posted at the Paschim Vihar (West) police station in outer Delhi died of Covid-19 at a hospital on Tuesday.

The head constable was admitted to the hospital due to liver complications and had tested positive for Covid-19 on June 25, the police said. On Tuesday, his condition deteriorated before he breathed his last.

More than 10 Delhi police personnel have died of Covid-19 till date, while around 2,000 have tested positive of which about 1,300 have recovered.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, July 7 : Yes Bank on Tuesday said that its Capital Raising Committee of the Board of Directors has approved raising funds by way of a further public offering.

The committee took the decision at its two-hour long meeting on Tuesday.

"The Capital Raising Committee of the Board of Directors of the Bank ('CRC"'), at its meeting held earlier today i.e., July 7, 2020, has approved raising funds by way of a further public offering," the bank said in a regulatory filing.

It further said that post closure of the requisite formalities with the Registrar of Companies, Maharashtra at Mumbai, the details in respect of the offer will be disseminated in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018.

The bank's CRC will again meet on or after July 10 to consider and approve, amongst other things, the price band and discount, if any, as permitted under the provisions of the SEBI ICDR Regulations.
Visakhapatnam, July 7 : LG Polymers Managing Director and CEO, Sunkey Jeong and Technical Director D.S. Kim were among 12 officials of the company arrested by Visakhapatnam police on Tuesday, in connection with the styrene gas leak tragedy that left 15 dead and hundreds hospitalised in May this year.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, R.V.S.N. Murthy, who is also the investigation officer, said the accused were booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

They were also booked under Indian Penal Code's Sections 278 (Making atmosphere noxious to health), 284 (Negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 285 (Negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) read with section 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

The gas leak from LG Polymers plant on the intervening night of May 6 and 7 affected Venkatapuram and five other villages.

According to police, while 12 people died on May 7 and 8, three more villagers succumbed on May 25 and afterwards. A total of 34 animals also died in the incident.

The development comes a day after the High Powered Committee (HPC) submitted its probe report to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The HPC probe report had listed several lapses on the part of the LG Polymers management, which led to the styrene gas leakage.

The other accused arrested on Tuesday are LG Polymers' and Additional Director (Operations) P.P. Chandra Mohan Rao, HOD, SMH (in-charge) K. Srinivas Kiran Kumar, team leader production Raju Satyanarayana, engineers C. Chandrasekhar, K. Gowri Sankara Nagendra Ramu, K. Chakrapani, operator Muddu Rajesh, night duty officer (operations) P. Balaji, incharge GPPS S. Atchyut and safety officer in night shift K. Venkata Narasimha Ramesh Patnaik.

According to the investigating official, the investigations disclosed that the incident at M6 styrene storage tank took place due to negligence of the accused who were also having knowledge that their acts are likely to cause death.

"The investigations so far made disclosed that the accident occurred to the poor design of M6 Tank, inadequate refrigeration and cooling system, absence of circulation systems, inadequate measurement parameters, weak safety protocol, poor safety awareness, inadequate risk assessment and response, poor management, slackness of management, insufficient knowledge amongst staff, insufficient understanding of the chemical properties of styrene, especially during storage under idle conditions and total breakdown of the emergency response procedures," the police said.

Meanwhile, in a related development in the case, the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) suspended environmental engineers R. Lakshmi Naryana and P. Prasada Rao for negligence.

Acting on the report of the HPC, APPCB suspended Prasada Rao, environmental engineer, regional office, Visakhapatnam, for gross negligence in allowing operation of LG Polymers without environmental clearance, allowing import and storage of huge quantity of styrene without verifying safety and environmental issues. Lakshmi Narayana, environmental engineer, zonal office, Visakhapatnam, was also suspended on the same charges.
Bengaluru, July 7 : Karnataka Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi would discuss measures to control the flood situation during the southwest monsoon rains with his Maharashtra counterpart Jayant Patil, an official said on Tuesday.

"Jarkiholi is meeting Patil in Mumbai on Wednesday to finalise a mechanism to monitor and control the situation in the event of monsoon rains flooding the state's northwest districts from Krishna and Bhima rivers and their tributaries in southern Maharashtra," the official told IANS here.

Heavy and widespread monsoon rains in August 2019 resulted in Krishna overflowing from Maharashtra and flooding Bagalkot, Vijapura and Belagavi districts, resulting in a trail of death and damage in the state's northwest region.

"The states will also ensure coordination between their officials to avoid flooding if the rivers and their tributaries go into spate due to heavy rains in their catchment areas," added the official.

The two ministers will also discuss sharing of the Krishna water during summer and notifications of the Krishna Tribunal award for both the states.

State Textile Minister Shrimant Patil and Water Resources Secretary Rakesh Singh will also participate in the talks with Maharashtra.

Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa sought water from Koyana and Ujjain reservoirs of the two rivers in the neighbouring state in May to meet the drinking needs of the people in the northwest districts.

With the onset of summer, Bagalakot, Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Vijayapura and Yadigiri districts face acute shortage of drinking water as they are in the country's second most arid region after Rajasthan.

As one of the largest dams in Maharashtra's south-west region, Koyana reservoir is located across its river at Mahabaleshwar in Satara district, while Ujjani dam is across Bhima, a tributary of Krishna river in Solapur district.
New Delhi, July 7 : As much as 90 per cent of private equity and venture capital investors envisage a decline in fund-raising activities over the next 6 to 12 months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, a Crisil Research survey showed on Tuesday.

According to the survey report, though the market is sitting on sufficient un-invested capital, or 'dry powder,' good investment opportunities are seen as difficult to find in the current environment.

"About 58 per cent surveyed expect investment value to decline over the coming 12 months," the report said.

"About half of them see a moderate recovery thereafter, while a fifth foresee a strong recovery." As per the survey, two-thirds of investors see mergers and acquisitions (M&As) rising over the next 6-12 months, extending up to the next 1-2 years, and more than three-fourths see a rise in M&A activity in the 1-2 years, compared with 2019.

"With exit options limited because of weak capital market and low interest in secondary transactions from other funds, investors would look at M&As as a strategic route to check out," said Rahul Prithiani, Director, Crisil Research.

"M&A transactions with stronger players would be the more-likely option subject to demand contours and growth opportunities, extent of synergy, and availability of capital for acquisition." Resultantly, investment decisions are expected to be delayed given the due-diligence criticality and including new parameters for evaluation in the post-pandemic world.

"Investors expect to focus on segments minimally impacted by the pandemic or those with promising opportunities, such as technology, e-commerce and healthcare," the report said.

"Over a longer term, these segments would see positive structural changes, which will drive stronger growth due to changing consumer behaviour." Accordingly, e-commerce, technology, information technology and IT-enabled services, financial services, and lately, infrastructure and real estate have dominated the private investment market.

"Healthcare is a key sector that will garner even more interest and attention post pandemic," the report said.
Shillong/Itanagar, July 7 : An eight-month-old baby, who was brought from Arunachal Pradesh to Shillong with Covid-19 symptoms, died before being testing positive while a 40-year-old Buddhist monk, who was suffering from kidney-related ailments, succumbed to the disease in Arunachal Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.

Meghalaya Health and Family Welfare Minister A. L. Hek said in Shillong that the baby, brought to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, died on Monday night within hours of testing positive.

However, the baby's parents and their driver, however, tested negative. The baby is the second Covid-19 patient to die in Meghalaya. The state's first death, of a veteran doctor, was on April 15. So far, Meghalaya has reported 95 Covid-19 cases. Of them, 50 are undergoing treatment and 43 have recovered, besides the two deaths.

Officials of the Health and Family Welfare Department in Itanagar said that the monk, who tested positive on June 19 shortly after his return from New Delhi, died at the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences at Naharlagun on Monday night.

The monk had been staying in the border town of Tawang and shifted to Arunachal's lone medical college after he was detected positive. According to the officials, the monk's two brothers also tested positive.

This is the second Covid-19 death in Arunachal Pradesh. A 43-year-old woman died on June 25.

The northeastern state so far detected 270 Covid-19 cases, out of which 176 case are active, while 92 persons have been discharged after their recovery and two have died. Arunachal Pradesh, which remained coronavirus free until May 23, witnessed a sudden increase in cases after natives started returning from different parts of the country.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Ujjain/Badnawar/Bhopal, July 8 : Blowing the traditional conch before the war cry and whispering "earnest wishes" for public welfare in the ears of Lord Shiva's vehicle Nandi, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath tried to reach out to devout Hindus as he on Tuesday launched the campaign for the mini-midterm elections involving 24 assembly seats.

In Badnawar, Kamal Nath, who is also the state Congress chief, visited the Baijnath Temple before addressing the first Loktantra Bachao rally.

Barbs and counter-barbs between the Congress and the BJP have gone on for quite some time in Madhya Pradesh. By picking on Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the BJP's recent acquisition Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kamal Nath seems to have focussed on voter's sympathy for a "wronged party." The BJP's quick reaction through virtual rallies intensified the battle. Leader after leader from the BJP kept blaming the Congress of spreading lies and indulging in corruption.

About the BJP's allegations of corruption, Kamal Nath said his party would welcome a thorough investigations into the 15-month rule of his government. "We have the public as our witness. The farmers will decide if our government was true to the promise or not." Asked about the "Tiger zinda hai" comment from Scindia and Chouhan, Kamal Nath said the public will soon hand its verdict on who is a tiger or a cat or a mouse, as it knows everything. He said people of Madhya Pradesh are straightforward and sensible. They know who the betrayer is and where the state is headed under the new government which earned the power under a deal and is still haggling with the wheelers and dealers.

There are striking similarities between his present campaign and the one he led in 2018 to bring the Congress back into power after 15 years. Kamal Nath had started the campaign with a pooja at Ujjain. The key difference of course is the absence of Scindia, who blindsided him and his departure with a big chunk of the party caused the current campaign. Scindia was the campaign convenor then.

Though Kamal Nath and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh were the senior leaders in the party, Scindia was presented as the youth face to draw the electorate. Digvijaya Singh was asked to bring about a patch up between various factions. Kamal Nath was thus the key campaigner. He retains that status.

Kamal Nath who drew good crowds in 2018 under Chouhan's rule has made a striking start with Ujjain Congress leaders responding in large numbers despite the lockdown curbs. The temple town responded with hundreds of billboards greeting him.

Kamal Nath also held a one-on-one discussion with prospective candidates to set the selection process rolling. The party plans to have 24 call centres, one in each constituency that will witness the by-elections. The party workers will receive voters' feedback and inputs for the prospective candidates and the agenda will be set on local issues.
The only question they asked me was why we had not filed a report sooner, she said. If the lieutenant had done his job the man would have been caught.
New Delhi, July 8 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Delhi University to clarify whether there would be a change in the schedule of the online Open Book Examinations which are slated to commence from July 10.

While passing the said directions, a single judge bench of the high court presided by Justice Pratibha M. Singh remarked: "Can you imagine the mental trauma of a student, how can you expect them to prepare like this?" The remarks came after the officials of the Delhi University sought more to time to respond to the query of the court regarding any change in the date sheet and schedule of the examinations.

During the course of the hearing, through its counsel Sachin Dutta and Dean Examinations Vinay Gupta, Delhi University told the bench that since the situation is extraordinary, a tentative schedule can only be given.

"Evaluation of papers would begin from August first week and would continue till mid-September and the declaration of results would be done within the said month," the Delhi University told the court adding that the degree would be immediately available at the time of declaration of results and it would be uploaded online so that students can download it, except in some PG courses where the process is done manually.

In order to show its preparations for the examinations, the varsity informed the court that during the mock tests conducted by it, 4.86 lakh papers have been downloaded and attempted which shows that the students are able to attempt the paper. It was further submitted by the DU that 4.68 lakh files have been uploaded.

The DU further informed the court that there are around 2.45 lakh students who are studying in the final year of the varsity, out of which 1.86 lakh belongs to Delhi and 59,000 students are from outside the national capital.

"So far, 1.58 lakh students have registered for the online examination," the varsity's dean of Examination submitted before the court.

Professor Gupta stated that date sheets have already been uploaded on the website and in the online exams, in case the varsity's portal is not accessible, question papers will be emailed to the students.

If any student is unable to upload the answer sheets due to technical snag, they can also email it to the university and the window will be open for 30 minutes after the exams time is over. Moreover, after the said time limit concludes, a committee will examine the technical glitch and decide whether to accept the answer sheets or not, the DU told the bench.

The court was hearing a petition filed by one Anupam and several students of the final year of the Delhi University seeking cancellation of the examinations in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The plea sought quashing and withdrawal of the notifications of May 14, May 30, June 27 in respect of undergraduate and postgraduate students, including students of the School of Open Learning and Non-Collegiate Women Education Board.

"... the UGC and the Central Government, ought to also bear in mind that the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in enormous mental distress and agony to students. There are families which are suffering medical illnesses and giving of examinations is not just a technological issue but the state of mental preparedness of the students also needs to be assessed," said the court on Monday.
New York, July 8 : In stark contrast to advice from America's top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci, the White House is aggressively pushing for nationwide school reopenings this Fall, underlining that its top priority during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is having students "physically present" in school.

"Our country has got to get back, and it's got to get back as soon as possible. And I don't consider our country coming back if the schools are closed," US President Donald Trump said.

The coronavirus is blamed for more than 130,000 deaths in America, it has sickened more than 2.9 million people here since the first case was reported early January.

Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are both insisting that schools must plan for fully operational, in-person instruction when schools begin this September.

DeVos went a step further today describing distance education and limited edition in-person classes as a disaster. Fauci, meanwhile, is recommending that school re-openings must be customised to infection trends at the hyper local level.

"This Fall, get the children back in school - headlined a White House email sent out early Tuesday afternoon.

The White House followed up on the email with a 90 minute livestream of a "national dialogue" on reopening America's schools, with top administration officials in attendance all parroting three identical themes: Reopen schools, students areA smarter than we think, public health recommendations must not be used as a reason to keep schools closed.

The White House is championing the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) view that the risk of Covid-19 to children was initially overestimated and has proven to be minimal. The country's most powerful office is telling Americans that they must not use public health recommendations as a way to avoid reopening schools.

According to the AAP: "No child or adolescents should be excluded from school unless required in order to adhere to local public health mandates or because of unique medical needs." The AAP recommendation aligns with the current White House mood in election year - that Covid-19 risks can at best be mitigated, not eliminated entirely.

This White House push to reopen K-12 education comes a day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued new rules that say foreign students who attend online only classes this Fall would have to leave the country. That policy guidance has instantly sparked panic across the international student community in the US.

Meanwhile, K-12 school systems across all 50 states are grappling with the same questions about public health safety tied to school reopenings.

Policy makers are framing the challenge as one that will be critical to help local economies recover. That, they say, can happen only when parents can send their children to school and themselves get back to work.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published guidance for schools last month, including staggered schedules, greater distance between desks, meals in classrooms and physical barriers between bathroom sinks and protocols for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.

Speaking to IANS, Dr. Suresh Reddy, president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) is advocating a conservative approach to school reopening, and likened the virus to a wild beast. aceWe have to be very careful for the next one year. This is like a wild animal. We're able to sit on it now but we still don't have control. This is a very dangerous virus. It is affecting every system. Treatment protocols are not clear. There's still too much we don't know."


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Luiz Martins, CMO at 6Connex The 6Connex virtual events platform leverages state-of-the-art features and functionality to enable teams to connect with target audiences worldwide, and Im eager to showcase the team and the technology.

6Connex, the global leader of cloud-based virtual events, today announced Luiz Martins joined the thriving software company as Chief Marketing Officer. Bringing 25 years of sales and marketing leadership experience in the technology industry, Luiz will spearhead all marketing efforts and help strengthen the brand as 6Connex continues to grow in size and expands its client base.

From my first conversations with Ruben and the team, I was excited about the opportunity to grow the 6Connex brand. The international demand for virtual event solutions that can effectively reach customers, talent, and internal employee communities globally has been growing exponentially, and this is intensifying as companies have switched to online event formats during the pandemic. The 6Connex virtual events platform leverages state-of-the-art features and functionality to enable teams to connect with target audiences worldwide, and Im eager to showcase the team and the technology, commented Luiz.

Before joining 6Connex, Luiz served as VP of Global Marketing at Esko, a $1B Danaher operation, where he led a global marketing team and had direct responsibility for P&L in LATAM. He has also held leadership positions for other multinational companies such as 1WorldSync, where he developed a proven track record of driving innovation and market adoption across the technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products.

We are excited to welcome Luiz and his impressive industry experience to our growing 6Connex team, said Ruben Castano, CEO of 6Connex. Since March, our virtual events business has grown by more than 20 fold and our employee team has tripled in size. We know Luiz will be an important player in our continued expansion by building more corporate awareness and strengthening our internal resources.

Earlier in his career, Luiz was a partner and manager for a startup company funded by J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley. Prior to this role, he was a sales director for Mitsubishi Americas for 10 years, where he established distribution and grew the market share for technology products.

Luiz holds a bachelors degree in business and an MBA in marketing from Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

To meet customer needs and deliver on its aggressive product roadmap, 6Connex also hired Henry Tran as CTO in June. Henry is overseeing the companys product strategy and development and is leading the engineering and infrastructure teams.
American Advanced Practice Network (American-APN) join forces with CM&F Group, Inc. (CM&F) to help Nurse Practitioners improve their practices. American-APN aims to enable Nurse Practitioners to succeed in independent practice. Working with CareSpan Integrated Networks (CSIN), American-APN supports its member Nurse Practitioners with next-generation technology and business services that enable them to manage their practices better. CM&F ensures that NPs are covered by affordable best-in-class professional insurance products.

The collaboration aims to boost a Nurse Practitioners overall ability to establish, operate and sustain an effective and efficient independent clinical practice. The collaboration offers American-APNs integrated digital healthcare platform, CareSpan, to enable NPs to succeed in the new world of virtual care. American-APN also offers NPs the unifying network and clinical guidance for the practice of primary, specialty and acute care. CM&F is a long-standing leader in providing peace of mind with insurance products that are reliable, affordable and comprehensive with Malpractice and Cyber Liability coverage options.

Our NP-centric network, integrated digital care platform and business services afford CM&F practitioners to move into the integrated digital care arena quickly and professionally. CareSpan is the first cloud-based clinic that offers NPs a complete and secure clinic-in-the-cloud that allows health care delivery consistent with the standards of an in-person exam. American-APN offers business services support (such as revenue cycle management, credentialing, contract negotiation) so that NPs can focus on treating patients, explains Melissa Magstadt, MS, MBA, APRN and President of American-APN. CM&F understands and is committed to introducing this leading-edge telehealth technology to its clients, Magstadt continued.

We expect American-APN, with the integrated CareSpan digital healthcare platform, to add significant value for our NP clients. It is a technology platform built for NPs by NPs, and that is going to go a long way for Nurse Practitioners opening their own business for the first time or deciding to diversify strategically with telehealth in their clinical offerings. They just get it said William G. F. Sullivan, Executive Vice President, CM&F. Sullivan offers, CM&F is pleased to host a Webinar delivered by American-APNs members, Melissa Magstadt and Lorraine Bock, on dates in July and August. American-APN will present an in-depth continuing education hour on Integrated Digital Healthcare.

To sign up and select a date for the CM&F hosted webinar go to: https://www.americanapn.com/cmf/

About American Advanced Practice Network

American-APN is the first professional group practice without walls that brings highly qualified nurse practitioners to those in need of health care under a collaborative care system that uses cutting-edge digital technologies. American-APN was created for and by Advanced Practice Nurses and Nurse Practitioners. It is owned and operated exclusively by its nurse practitioner membership with its own executive leadership and Board of Directors. Members of the network enjoy extensive economic, professional and personal benefits due to the collaborative care opportunities and economies of scale that American-APN provides. For further information please visit: http://www.americanapn.com

About CM&F Group

CM&F Group offers professional liability insurance that protects NPs if any malpractice claims arise due to negligence accusations. NPs should be able to do their job without constant fear of litigation. CM&F provides low-cost coverage that is portable, and will go wherever you go, eliminating risk by ensuring you are always protected. Nurse Practitioner malpractice insurance through CM&F allows NPs to devote all their attention to clients, and ultimately provide patients with a better experience. CM&F invites clients to review Malpractice and Cyber Liability offerings at the American-APN Partner Page here: https://www.cmfgroup.com/about-cm-f/cmf-partners/aapn-carespan-np-malpractice-insurance/.

About CareSpan Integrated Networks

CareSpan Integrated Networks (CSIN) is a subsidiary of CareSpan Holdings, Inc. CSIN has created a business support infrastructure for its professional network partners and is the first to deploy a comprehensive, integrated digital healthcare Clinic-in-the-Cloud creating unfettered access to care for the underserved and with an emphasis on the care of chronic illness. CSIN integrates technology for remote monitoring, evaluation, diagnosis and treatment, care collaboration and coordination, and analytics, while creating high levels of patient engagement. CareSpan is dedicated to the future of integrated digital care, using sophisticated digital diagnostic and clinical decision support tools in collaboration with primary, specialty and mental health providers to drive better outcomes with a patient-centered approach. For further information please visit: https://www.carespanhealth.com
Continued growth is forecast. The population of potential applicants increases by the day. The number of people in America age 65 or above is estimated to grow to 82 million by 2040 and 98 million by 2060.

We are proud to announce that our Life Settlement Brokerage, American Life Settlements, received its Registered Trademark on December 10, 2019. July 10, 2000, was confirmed as our service marks first use in commerce, making us among the oldest Life Settlement Brokerages. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office categorized our company as providing Financial services, namely, insurance policy brokerage, settlement, and loan services. Many exclusive and enforceable rights were conferred to us as a result.

American Life Settlements: What we do.

American Life Settlements is a family-owned Life Settlement Brokerage based in Carmel, Indiana. During our 20 years in business, we have helped people from ages 32 to 93 with lifespans up to 23 more years or less than 5 sell their life policies. Life Settlement Brokers owe a fiduciary duty to policy owners. This requires orchestrating competition among a great many Life and Viatical Settlement Providers, including TV advertisers. Each Provider utilizes doctors, actuaries, and life insurance underwriters. Larger cases may require Providers to buy Lifespan Estimate Reports. All these efforts require comprehensive medical records of active conditions that may impact longevity. This process ultimately reveals each policys true market value, which is not possible with a calculator or quick quote by phone without any hard facts. American Life Settlements, with decades in the business and a nationwide network of buyers, is unequaled in both industry expertise and dedicated customer care. The event of our Registered Trademark validates our many years of hard work delivering great results for our clients.

Current Business Climate: Continued growth is forecast.

Here are the facts: The population of potential applicants increases by the day. The number of people in America age 65 or above is estimated to grow from 52 million (2018) to 82 million by 2040 and 98 million by 2060.

Average Life Settlement payouts range from 4 to 8 times the cash surrender value. Most people do not know that Convertible Term policies are the easiest to sell for top dollar. Yet only $3.8 billion of Life Settlements were transacted in 2018 while some $200 billion of life insurance was terminated without quotes.

Why are seniors leaving a fortune on the table? The primary reason is that there are not enough licensed professionals advising clients about Life Settlements.

Our Company's Difference: American Life Settlements helps licensed professionals to transact Life Settlements.

Licensed professionals may add Life Settlements to their practice in a compliant and appropriate manner. These include, but are not limited to, life insurance agents, securities representatives, investment advisers, financial and estate planners, accountants of every variety, and attorneys. Those who cannot accept Life Settlement compensation may have it added to client payouts. Being able to advise about Life Settlements is of particular importance to those who already owe a fiduciary duty to their clients.

American Life Settlements does not sell products or financial advice. Clients are free to use or invest their money as they choose. Thus, we do not compete with Advisors who associate with us.

Company History: Making the transition from selling life insurance to brokering Life Settlements.

Our life insurance agency of 1987 began transacting Life Settlements in 1998. One of our first clients was our President and Founders close friend of many years, a retired Marine Colonel from the Korean Conflict who started up a business after retiring from his corporate VP position. His Life Settlement of our Convertible Term policy saved his home from foreclosure and enabled him to rebuild his savings. Bringing cash to the living was far more rewarding than delivering death claims. With encouragement from him, his wife, and other happy clients, Morris Heins founded American Life Settlements before launching his first Website in 2000.

More Information:

Website: https://americanlifesettlements.com

Licensed Professionals: https://americanlifesettlements.com/company/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morris-heins/

Phone: 888-247-3659
We have a proven approach to harmonizing ISO 27001/27701 with SOC 2 reporting, providing our clients with global security assurance acceptance and even greater efficiencies in testing, monitoring and compliance.

Credentials streamline critical privacy compliance and risk management strategies

Aprio, LLP, a nationally-recognized top 50 CPA-led business advisory firm, has been accredited as an ISO 27701 Certifying Body by the ANSI-ASQ Accreditation Board (ANAB). This accreditation builds upon Aprios 2015 achievement as an ISO 27001 Certifying Body and makes Aprio the first full-service CPA firm in the nation to receive ANABs ISO 27701 certification.

Before COVID-19, security and privacy risks were at an all-time high. The pandemic-driven shift to remote service models has only heightened these risks for businesses, said Dan Schroeder, Aprios Partner-in-Charge of Information Assurance Services. ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 provide certifiable standards that enable our clients to improve risk management while simultaneously simplifying security and privacy compliance reporting.

As jurisdictions around the globe continue to enact data privacy regulations to address the increase in cyber threats, the ISO 27701 accreditation adds to Aprios growing list of information risk management audit and attestation services. Aprio services include ISO 27001 certification, PCI DSS compliance, SOC reporting, LADMF certification, and GDPR compliance. For those ISO 27001 certified or seeking to achieve certification, the addition of ISO 27701 enables the management of both security and privacy within one framework, providing time and cost-saving advantages.

Simply put, you cant have information privacy without security, and ISO 27701 represents the first internationally accepted data privacy certification, Schroeder continued. We have a proven approach to harmonizing ISO 27001/27701 with SOC 2 reporting, providing our clients with global security assurance acceptance and even greater efficiencies in testing, monitoring and compliance.

Aprio provides ISO readiness, monitoring, audit and certification attestation services for market-leading companies in digital healthcare, fintech, crypto payment, data analytics and cloud services. For more information on Aprios Information Assurance and Risk Management Services, visit https://www.aprio.com/service/information-assurance/.

About Aprio

Aprio is a premier full-service, CPA-led business advisory firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, that advises clients and associates on how to achieve whats next. Aprios associates work as integrated teams across advisory, assurance, tax, outsourced accounting solutions and private client services, bringing the best thinking and personal commitment to each client. Across practices, Aprio brings together proven expertise, deep understanding and strategic foresight for industries including Manufacturing and Distribution; Non-Profit and Education; Professional Services; Real Estate and Construction; Retail, Franchise and Hospitality; and Technology and Biosciences. In 65 years, Aprio has grown to over 550 team members. To serve clients wherever life or business may take them, Aprios teams speak more than 30 languages and work with clients in over 40 countries. In addition to its Atlanta headquarters, Aprio also operates in Birmingham, Ala. and Charlotte, Greensboro, Mt. Airy and Asheboro N.C. For more, visit https://www.aprio.com.
HLAC is a nonprofit organization that inspects and accredits laundries that process reusable textiles for hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities. HLAC Accreditation Standards should be part of any discussion by those in charge of infection prevention at any type of senior living facility, big and small. - Linda McCurdy, HLAC

The Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) warns that improperly laundered linens can raise the risk of the spread of infection in senior living facilities and that its standards provide viable infection control safeguards to those facilities looking to tackle pandemic challenges and beyond. This, as the senior living industry finds itself under the microscope with new reports claiming that nursing homes, veterans homes, assisted living and similar long-term care facilities have accounted for more than 43,000 COVID-19 related resident and staff deaths.

Ensuring that laundry is processed according to the highest standards in infection prevention must be a critical component of any infection-prevention program, said Linda McCurdy, HLAC board president. HLAC Accreditation Standards should be part of any discussion by those in charge of infection prevention at any type of senior living facility, big and small. HLAC is a nonprofit organization formed 15 years ago to inspect and accredit laundries processing healthcare textiles (HCTs) for hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities, including assisted-living establishments.

As weve said in the past, the healthcare textile is the one common factor of every patient experience in their hospital or long-term care facility encounter, McCurdy said. Every patients and virtually every employees skin ultimately will touch a sheet, towel, bed pad, washcloth, bedspread, or blanket. No one is immune from this. If infection prevention is the goal, these scenarios demand the kinds of safeguards HLAC provides.

McCurdys comments come as the infection plans of senior living facilities contend with increased scrutiny and heightened regulatory attention from organizations like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Most recently, a report on a state-by-state analysis of COVID-19 fatalities noted, it is clear that the most underappreciated aspect of the novel coronavirus pandemic is its effect on a specific population of Americans: those living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Likewise, in its guidelines, Preparing for COVID-19 in Nursing Homes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, advises: Given their congregate nature and resident population served  nursing home populations are at high risk of being affected by respiratory pathogens like COVID-19 and other pathogens, including multidrug-resistant organisms.  As demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a strong infection prevention and control (IPC) program is critical to protect both residents and healthcare personnel (HCP).

To this, HLACs McCurdy advised, And any such IPC program would be wise to include a laundry component.

She added, Getting the lions share of the attention has been the challenges facing traditional nursing homes, but when it comes to infection prevention, its important not to overlook those senior living communities offering assisted living, independent living, continuing care and memory care services. And, again, HLACs standards offer viable safeguards for increased protection to the 2 million seniors and 1 million employees who live and work in these communities.

According to McCurdy, HLAC-accredited laundries process HCTs based on the highest standards for patient safety and infection prevention. These HLAC Accreditation Standards have been developed based on federal regulations and guidelines as well as best industry practices. HLAC accreditation affirms that a laundry organization that processes HCTs has successfully passed an inspection of the following: its facility, policies and procedures, training programs, and its relationship with its healthcare customers.

Earlier, and in a similar urging, HLAC called upon hospitals to review how they launder their reusable linens. We said then, that hospital using reusable HCTs should be asking, Is our healthcare laundry HLAC accredited? The same holds for senior living facilities, McCurdy said.

She added that HLAC accreditation is available to senior-living facilities that launder on-premise upon passing inspection. For such facilities, having your laundry HLAC accredited and processed according to its highest standards makes a powerful statement in these difficult times.

For more information, http://www.hlacnet.org.


It is in the companys best interest to insure key employees for any business losses a death or incapacitation might cause.

Any employee that drives a company vehicle as part of their job must be insured to protect the company and because its the law. Insuring key employees for several aspects of business, including auto insurance, is critical to business continuity and Atascadero's John Donovan Insurance Agent and his team work diligently to ensure key employees are well insured and the business well protected in the event of a key person loss.

A key employee is one who has a major ownership position, a major decision making role, or one who brings an invaluable skill that is critical to the success of the business. In short, a key employee is one whose death or incapacitation could leave the business at a serious financial loss.

Every business carries insurance to protect against the loss of assets such as real property, office and manufacturing equipment and vehicles. A key employee is an asset who contributes to the success of the business. It might seem cold and uncaring to look at someone as an asset, but doing so does not diminish that person. In fact, recognizing the critical role a key employee fills in a business is an honor to that persons training, knowledge and skill. It is important to protect the business in the event that person dies or is incapacitated and no longer to able to contribute to the businesss products and financial future.

Along with workers compensation insurance, other business liability insurance such as driver and auto insurance for company vehicles a key employee drives and a benefits package that includes medical and dental insurance, it is in the companys best interest to insure key employees for any business losses a death or incapacitation might cause.



As an example, an engineer working for a manufacturing company has developed several products or manufacturing processes that have made the company a leader in its industry. Even though there is a team working with this engineer, if he or she is taken out of the picture, that loss is, at best, creating a slow-down in production and at the worst, production might come to a temporary halt.

The loss of a partner who has a significant client base in a legal or marketing firm might cause some of those clients to take their business elsewhere. Even if clients stay with the firm, there may be a time lag while the new account executive gets up to speed.

Certain kinds of contracts may require that key employees be insured as a guarantee that delivery of goods or services continue and that the client is protected.

When a key employee dies the business needs the financial resources to cover the expenses of finding, hiring and training a new employee, to continue the long range programs and projects that are compromised by the death and to assure creditors and customers that the business will continue.

The basic methods to evaluate a key employee and determine how much insurance is needed to:



Estimate the cost of finding, hiring and training a replacement, including agency fees, moving expenses and the management teams time for interviewing prospective replacements.

Determine the amount of profit the key employee brings to the business and how many years it might take a new employee to reach that same level of performance.

Choosing the best way to insure key employees is only part of an entire business package. John Donovan and the team in Atascadero can help with auto insurance, liability, employee benefits, and key employee insurance coverage to protect your business.

John Donovan State Farm Insurance Agent

8420 El Camino Real, Suite A

Atascadero, CA 93422

(805) 466-7744
Some of the bewilderment arises when both employers and employees confuse payroll taxes and payroll deductions

Both the Federal government and the State of California require that certain taxes be deducted from each paycheck. The payroll taxes are sometimes confusing to both employees and employers, especially new employers and Atascaderos payroll firm, North County Tax and Accounting has taken some of the mystery out of these taxes.

Some of the bewilderment arises when both employers and employees confuse payroll taxes and payroll deductions. There are also some taxes associated with wages paid that California employers pay but do not deduct from the employees paycheck.

Taxes deducted from the employees paycheck



Income withholding taxes for both federal and state, and sometimes local city or county taxes

A percentage of Social Security and Medicare, collectively known as FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act). Employer and employee share equally in paying these taxes, each paying 6.2-percent of Social Security tax and 1.45-percent of the Medicare tax for earnings up to $137,700. An additional .9-percent Medicare tax may apply for earnings exceeding $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for joint filers.

California state disability insurance (SDI) is withheld for the first $122.909 in wages for a calendar year. The SDI tax rate is 1-percent of the gross pay. Meaning, if the pay is $500, the SDI deduction is $5.

While it is true that certain taxes are deducted from the employees paycheck, the difference is that payroll taxes are required by law. Payroll deductions are voluntary deductions that an employee authorizes to be withheld. Medical insurance and 401(k) contributions are examples of voluntary deductions.

The employer deducts state and federal income tax, FICA taxes and SDI and pays those funds to the appropriate government agency on the employees behalf. Paying quarterly taxes that are associated with payroll are important to avoid penalties and other problems. The Atascadero payroll firm can help make getting taxes paid on time much easier.

Taxes paid by the employer

While the employer and employee share equally in paying the FICA taxes, there are other taxes associated with employee wages for which the employer is fully responsible. These include:



Federal unemployment (FUTA), is a tax paid by employers. The tax is 6-percent of the first $7000 in wages for each employee for a calendar year. Employers owe FUTA for any employee who has been paid at least $1500 during a calendar year.

California employers receive a 5.4 percent FUTA tax credit because California administers a state unemployment fund in addition to FUTA, meaning California employers pay a .06 percent rate on employee earnings up to $7000



California unemployment insurance (UI) is funded by employers who pay unemployment taxes on up to $7000 in wages paid to each employee. The tax rate varies for employer depending on the amount of UI benefits paid to former employees. The current cap is 6.3-percent. Employers in their first three years of business pay 3.4-percent that increases over time.

California unemployment training tax (ETT) funds programs that help businesses develop the skills of workers who directly produce or deliver goods and services. The tax rate is 1-percent for the first $7000 earned by each employee.

Getting the employee payroll deductions right and the employer tax obligations right are only part of best payroll practices.

There are laws requiring when employees are to be paid, how employees that are being laid-off or terminated are to be paid, how and when overtime is paid and how and when commissions are paid. Aside from the legal ramifications, employers want to honor their employees hard word by paying correctly and on time. Employees appreciate having their work and loyalty respected with timely paychecks.

Payroll is a critical operation of business and can overload small business owners who need to be focusing on building business instead of bookkeeping, accounting and getting payroll out on time. The Atascadero payroll firm, North County Tax and Accounting, provides expert payroll services for companies of all sizes. The firms professional services are designed to deliver reliable, cost-effective solutions to payroll challenges.

North County Tax & Accounting

5905 Capistrano Ave., Suite A

Atascadero, CA 93422

(805) 466-7121
We just got off the phone with the father of Jose Cepeda, the first person murdered last night, family friend Susan Deer Cloud wrote on Facebook Sunday night. It was awful. The father is a friend and was sobbing his heart out. He and his wife dont really know what happened. We are so shook up by this.
Angela M. Iaria I consider it an honor to be President of such a dynamic association that encourages networking with my fellow professionals in the legal community. I look forward to collaborating with our members to overcome the challenges we are currently experiencing in our world Iaria commented.

DAWL was formed in 1980 by the Honorable Helen C. Kinney, DuPage Countys first female Assistant States Attorney and first female Judge. In 1982, the Association formally incorporated and has since grown into an organization of women and men, lawyers and non-lawyers, who reside and work throughout Northern Illinois. The Association plays an active role in the community, while fostering a close connection between its members.

Angela joined Lillig & Thorsness, Ltd. in 2010 and specializes in the areas of civil litigation, family law, child custody and support, estate administration, foreclosures, real estate transactions and real estate litigation in DuPage, Kane, Will, Cook and surrounding counties. Angela has conducted multiple bench and jury trials in state and federal court for cases involving breach of contract disputes, breach of fiduciary duties, premises liability, and real estate disputes. Angela's practice also involves uncontested and contested divorce and post-decree conflicts (including child support, child-related expenses and child custody issues), in addition to pre- and post-nuptial agreements and estate administration.

Angela is admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois and the State of Wisconsin in addition to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She is also a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the DuPage County Bar Association, and the Wisconsin State Bar Association.

After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Angela received her Juris Doctorate degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School at Western Michigan University.

I consider it an honor to be President of such a dynamic association that encourages networking with my fellow professionals in the legal community. I look forward to collaborating with our members to overcome the challenges we are currently experiencing in our world. Together, we can face the future with optimism and determination, Iaria commented.

About Lillig & Thorsness, Ltd.

Lillig & Thorsness, Ltd. was founded in Oak Brook, IL in 1978. Since then, it has become one of the premier business-oriented law firms in Chicagos western suburbs. Their skilled attorneys take pride in providing the qualified legal services at reasonable rates, with a customized approach to each clients needs.

The distinguished legal team at Lillig & Thorsness, Ltd. concentrates in business law; financial institution law; litigation; commercial and residential real estate; estate and estate tax planning; probate and estate settlement; and family law matters.

To learn more about Lillig & Thorsness, Ltd., visit https://www.lilliglaw.com/ or call 630-571-1900.

About DuPage Association of Women Lawyers

The mission of the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers (DAWL) is to promote and foster the interests of women lawyers; encourage a spirit of friendship and helpfulness; and maintain the honor and dignity of the profession.

To learn more about DAWL, visit https://www.dawl.org/.
Avantra, a leading AIOps and automation platform for SAP, today announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud to enable enterprises to accelerate the migration of their SAP workloads to the cloud.

Avantra, which provides automated build and run capabilities to support enterprises and managed service providers (MSPs) on their digital transformation journey, joins a select number of independent software vendor partners in Google Cloud's SAP Technology Partner Portfolio to help support mission-critical SAP workloads.

The partnership will empower enterprises to automate their IT operations, resulting in improved business experience. Enterprise and MSPs will also benefit from:



Reduced cost to serve  Avantras full-stack automation frees up IT resources and empowers operations teams to focus on innovation

Improved business experience  actionable insights enable better visibility and faster decisions whether in the cloud, hybrid or multi-cloud or on-premises, ensuring critical systems and processes are stable and performant

Governance and compliance  gain complete transparency and visibility across SAP landscapes, enforcing and tracking compliance, security, and support audit requirements

Were delighted to partner with Avantra to help enterprises in their SAP migrations to Google Cloud, said Rob Enslin, President, Cloud Sales at Google Cloud. Businesses can now leverage Avantras automation and AIOps capabilities to increase efficiencies while decreasing risk of costly downtime in their SAP migrations and operations.

With immediate efficiency and automation benefits, enterprises deploying Avantra return their investment and start saving costs on SAP operations in less than three months.

SAP applications are moving ever more rapidly to the cloud, said John Appleby, Chief Executive Officer, Avantra. By combining Avantras AIOps solution with Google Clouds trusted and secure infrastructure, enterprises can improve business experience, reduce the risk of downtime, and accelerate their journey to the cloud.

Avantra is now available on Google Cloud marketplace. The new integrated solution is now offered for free with a 30-day trial.

Supporting Resources



Keep up with Avantra news by visiting the companys website

Follow Avantra on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube

About Avantra

Avantra is the industry-leading AIOps platform for SAP automation operations: helping companies transform into a self-healing enterprise. Avantra helps SAP customers to improve business experience, performance, and compliance, focus valuable resources on digital transformation, and reduce operational cost. Avantra delivers a unified operations platform, whether on-premises, in the cloud, SaaS or hybrid, for both Build and Run operations.

Founded in Switzerland in 2000 with a global presence, Enterprises as well as Managed Service Providers trust Avantra to provide them unmatched intelligence and insight into their landscape health. Learn more at avantra.com.

Media Contacts:

US  Tawanda Carlton, Media Frenzy Global, avantra@mediafrenzyglobal.com

UK  Aaron Frank, Berkeley Communications, avantra@berkeleypr.com

DACH  Laura Jane Hoffmann, ELLJOT Communications, info@elljot-communications.com
Brett Trembly Brett started the Trembly Law Firm in 2011 with one goal in mind: to change the way legal services were delivered to South Florida business owners.

Brett Trembly, a leading attorney in Business Law and Business Litigation in the South Florida area, has joined the exclusive Haute Lawyer Network by Haute Living.

The Haute Lawyer Network, well known for its exclusive and luxurious lifestyle publication Haute Living, is privileged to present Mr. Brett Trembly as a member and expert in his field.

Haute Lawyer offers a prominent collective of leading attorneys. The invitation-only network features only two lawyers per market. This partnership allows Haute Lawyer to connect its affluent readers with industry-leading attorneys in their area.

ABOUT BRETT TREMBLY:

Brett started the Trembly Law Firm in 2011 with one goal in mind: to change the way legal services were delivered to South Florida business owners. Fast forward to 2020, and Trembly Law has grown from just Brett to a team of 23 incredible and tireless staff members all dedicated to the firms mission of protecting the economy, one business at a time.

Trembly law serves over 250 businesses in South Florida as outside general counsel, helping employers with employment law, contracts, disputes, litigation, compliance, and trademarks. Trembly Law has reached Inc. 5000 eligibility and has been named to the Law Firm 500 for four straight years, which recognizes the fastest-growing private law firms in the country.

Mr. Trembly authored the book The Danger Zones, which is due out in 2020, and has been featured in both television and print news outlets in Miami speaking about business and law. He is a regular speaker at CLE events, bar panels, and business associations in South Florida. Bretts goal is to be owner or part-owner of three businesses on the Inc. 5000 list by 2022.

Visit Brett Trembly's website:https://tremblylaw.com/

For more on Brett Trembly, visit his Haute Lawyer profile: https://hauteliving.com/hautelawyer/member/brett-trembly/
The long-feared perfect storm had arrived: a desecrated police department, empowered criminals, leadership that vilifies law enforcement, empty jails, prosecutorial indifference, streets flooded with recently-released inmates and the city rocked to its core by violent riots.

The following is an opinion piece written by Patrick Brosnan, a former NYPD Robbery/Gun Squad Detective and current CEO of Brosnan Risk Consultants.

When I think of the alleged leader in Albany, the alleged leader in New York Citys City Hall and the burning, looted husk that is New York City, I cant help but think of the Monopoly board game.

I am sure that Monopoly inventor Elizabeth Magie had no idea that Gov. Cuomo and Mayor Deblasio would take her idea for theGet-out-of-jail-free card literally and use it to destroy the Empire States criminal justice system by kneeling before a leftist and law-enforcement hating ideology that thrives on hysteria and anarchy.

The gradual dismantling of New York Citys criminal justice system began Jan. 1 with the embarrassingly ill-conceived Bail Elimination Act, a.k.a. Bail Reform. The impact of this sneaky little trick was swift and terrifying: robberies, shootings and burglaries skyrocketed. Sensing a return to the crime-plagued 80s and 90s, many New Yorkers were horrified and calls for the repeal, or at least reform of, the Bail Elimination Act, intensified. Those calls fell on deaf ears as handcuffs were removed from criminals and placed on police officers, prosecutors and judges. Felons were released onto the streets by the thousands.

On March 13, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic and New York City quickly became the epicenter. Crime dropped briefly as even the bad guys knew they had to hunker down. But Politicians masquerading as compassionate reformers saw a photo op and threw the doors to the jailhouse wide open. More than 2,000 inmates, many convicted of serious felonies, were released. The number of inmates at Rikers island plummeted by 42 percent and prosecutors, salivating at an opportunity to participate in the get out of jail free mania, refused to press charges on many crimes, especially violent assaults on NYPD officers. The desecration of New Yorks Finest was gaining traction.

Then, on May 25, the indefensible killing of George Floyd threw a match on this simmering fire. Protests erupted throughout the country, many were peaceful, but opportunistic criminals looted and burned cities for days. Rioting for fun and profit was in full swing.

When the dust settled, the carnage and destruction was unprecedented. In New York City alone, 815 businesses were looted and destroyed, 478 police officers injured and 196 police vehicles torched. Lawlessness and hysteria roiled the city night after night against a backdrop of burning stores and police vehicles.

The long-feared perfect storm had arrived: a desecrated police department, empowered criminals, leadership that vilifies law enforcement, empty jails, prosecutorial indifference, streets flooded with recently-released inmates and the city rocked to its core by violent riots.

In the ashes of this madness, a new type of felon has risen: the Empowered Criminal. To be sure, he has been metastasizing for many months, nurtured by a clueless mayor who refuses to acknowledge how empowering his anti-police rhetoric and policies are to the bad guys. In recent weeks, New Yorkers have watched, with growing horror, the evolution of the Empowered Criminal: A violent attack on a police precinct, a sniper attack on two officers in the Bronx, police cars torched, officers teeth knocked out with brass knuckles and numerous other violent and barbaric assaults on law enforcement.

The die has been cast. This is Lawless New York City. Empowered Criminals can now strut, sneering, from Staten Island to the Bronx to commit burglaries, robberies and rapes with impunity, confident in the fact they will be released without bail in a few hours. Like a time machine in a science fiction movie, the city has been hurled back to the crime-plagued 80s and 90s. In Manhattan North alone, murders have skyrocketed 87 percent. Citywide, shootings have skyrocketed a jaw-dropping 142 percent and in Deblasios twisted version of The Summer of Love, 112 New Yorkers were shot, six dead, in the nine days leading up to June 28th.

To accelerate the desecration of New Yorks Finest, 600 citywide anti-crime patrols were eliminated overnight in June, reversing decades of extraordinary crime fighting. That particular bit of genius planning resulted in a 205 percent increase in shootings during the first two weeks, and nailed the credit for the bloodiest June in 24 years. To remove the men and women who actually make the gun arrests that have kept New Yorkers safe is irrational; to do so during a 142 percent increase in shootings is madness. Guns that had been hidden in garbage cans and stuffed in mailboxes and glove compartments will now be in waistbands, readily available to mete out street justice, correct a perceived slight, shoot an innocent New Yorker or kill a cop.

I do not make this observation as an academic, but as a field practitioner who, in the 80s and 90s, personally arrested over 900 felons and seized over 300 loaded guns as a robbery detective in the south Bronx. I had a front row seat then, and now, to how barbaric this city can become when its police are debased and the fundamental tenets of law enforcement desecrated.

The completion of the desecration of New Yorks Finest occurred on June 7th when the Mayor caved in overnight to the terrifying and irrational calls to defund the NYPD. Overnight, $1.5 billion dollars vanished from the NYPDs budget. Reminiscent of the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, this knee-jerk response to the rallying masses delivered a crushing blow to the NYPD, further shattering morale and bringing hiring to a screeching halt.

Reductions to the NYPDs operating budget have very serious consequences and therefore demand measured and pragmatic assessment, not emotion-driven acquiescence. Reduced or eliminated police services at any time place New Yorkers in danger; doing so during an unprecedented increase in violent crime is reckless and very dangerous. The proof is in the pudding: 37 New Yorkers shot and three killed in 18 hours on the July 4 weekend  the 2020 Summer of Love in Lawless New York City.

The desecration of a storied and legendary police department is now complete. New York City is on very thin ice and, if history is any indicator, New Yorkers may look back wistfully at July 2020 as the good old days. The Big Apple has been cored.

Patrick J. Brosnan is a retired NYPD Detective and the CEO and founder of Brosnan Risk Consultants, a national security and intelligence firm headquartered in NY
University of Saint Joseph Macao researchers investigate ways to enhance local water quality through the use of native wetland plants, especially mangroves, as natural purifiers for water pollution. Researchers at the University of St. Joseph Macao will also explore potential co-benefits generated for the city such as the reduction of water-related risks, ecosystem rehabilitation, and maintenance, as well as enhancement and protection of biodiversity in the local coastal wetland ecosystems.

Clean the World Foundation, a global leader in water, sanitation, hygiene, and sustainability has partnered with Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) to facilitate The Drop by Drop Project. A collaboration between Clean the World Foundation and initiative co-founder Sands, The Drop by Drop Project will reinvest capital from water stewardship efforts into three innovative projects supporting local water champions in Las Vegas, Macao, and Singapore. Managed and operated by Clean the World Foundation, The Drop by Drop Project will be supported by water savings from Sands conservation programs.

One of the first organizations selected for funding is the the University of St. Joseph Macao (USJ), Institute of Science and Environment, which is investigating ways to enhance local water quality through the use of native wetland plants, especially mangroves, as natural purifiers for water pollution. The research study, entitled Nature-based Solutions for a Cleaner and Safer Macao, will also explore potential co-benefits generated for the city such as the reduction of water-related risks (e.g. flooding due to impact of storm surge), ecosystem rehabilitation and maintenance, as well as enhancement and protection of biodiversity in the local coastal wetland ecosystems.

We are very excited to support this innovative project which aligns extraordinarily well with Sands ECO360s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, said Katarina Tesarova, senior vice president of global sustainability at Sands. Ecosystem services create benefits for both environment and communities and we look forward to supporting and exploring this topic together with USJ.

The study will assess how native wetland plant species can be utilized for phytoremediation, which is the process by which plants and technology combine to clean contaminated soil, air, and water. The study also investigates the efficiency of the selected wetland mangroves and other plants in the removal of water pollutants through tank experiments. In tandem, public awareness campaigns will promote the concept of nature-based solutions through public talks, organized field trips for students and other members of the local community, mangrove exhibitions (with interactive, engaging activities), and nature-based solutions workshops. The project is being managed by USJ researcher, Karen Tagulao.

We are excited to see the results of this important study aimed at enhancing coastal water quality in Macao. This is exactly why Sands developed The Drop by Drop Project. Through this impactful initiative, resources are allocated to the improvement of global water systems, one drop at a time, said Sam Stephens, executive director of Clean the World Foundation. For more information on The Drop by Drop Project, please visit: http://cleantheworldfoundation.org/dropbydrop

About Clean the World

Clean the World Foundation is an international development and global health nonprofit operating hygiene-focused emergency relief initiatives, and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) education programs, targeting vulnerable communities in the United States and around the world. Clean the World Foundation is the 501(c)(3) non-profit sector of Clean the Worlds social enterprise responsible for all soap and hygiene kit distribution both domestically and globally as part of many of its comprehensive WASH programs. Clean the World Foundation engages volunteers, donors, and other outcome-focused organizations around the world to provide hygiene supplies and education curriculum to support its global health programs. Since 2009, Clean the World Foundation has served over 10 million individuals through its global WASH programs. A copy of the official registration and financial information for Clean the World Foundation may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services by visiting https://www.fdacs.gov/ConsumerServices. For more information, visit us online: https://www.cleantheworldfoundation.org.

About Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. is the world's pre-eminent developer and operator of world-class Integrated Resorts. We created the meetings, incentives, convention, and exhibition (MICE)-based Integrated Resort. Our industry-leading Integrated Resorts provide substantial contributions to our host communities including growth in leisure and business tourism, sustained job creation, and ongoing financial opportunities for local small and medium-sized businesses. Our properties include The Venetian Resort and Sands Expo in Las Vegas and the iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Through majority ownership in Sands China Ltd., we have developed the largest portfolio of properties on the Cotai Strip in Macao, including The Venetian Macao, The Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Sands Cotai Central, and The Parisian Macao, as well as the Sands Macao on the Macao Peninsula.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Sandie Beauchamp

Clean the World

info@cleantheworld.org

407-574-8353

Kristin Koca

Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Kristin.koca@sands.com

702-414-3218
ClearBlade has been focused on Edge Computing for many years and is honored to receive the Compass Intelligence IoT Data: Edge Computing Company of the Year award. We see this award as tremendous validation of our production scale and thought leadership in edge data.

Compass Intelligence recently announced the results of its 8th Annual Compass Intelligence Awards in IoT, Mobile, and Emerging Tech. ClearBlade, the industry-leading Industrial IoT Platform and Edge Computing software company, was announced as the award recipient of the 2020 IoT Data: Edge Computing Company of the Year award. This honor further validates the successes and client deployment of the ClearBlade Edge Platform, a lean and scalable software solution providing faster, reliable, and more secure Internet of Things. Along with other award recipients ClearBlade joins a respected list of voted-in companies including Microsoft, Verizon Connect, Rockwell Automation, and others including NimbeLink, who was recently announced as a ClearBlade partner to provide IoT edge solutions for asset tracking and monitoring.

ClearBlade has been focused on Edge Computing for many years and is honored to receive the Compass Intelligence IoT Data: Edge Computing Company of the Year award. We see this award as tremendous validation of our production scale and thought leadership in edge data, shares Eric Simone, CEO of ClearBlade. ClearBlade has been leading the industry in providing Edge Solutions in the industries of rail, industrial, and healthcare among others. We are excited to recognize ClearBlade for their superior efforts and accomplishments in IoT, states Stephanie Atkinson, CEO of Compass Intelligence.

Compass Intelligence, a market research and advisory firm serving tech clients for 15+ years, believes edge data, analytics, and intelligence is hyper essential to any edge strategy, and the need for real-time critical intelligence closer to the end-point or company/government asset is a major driver for needed speed and agility. As companies and governments identify critical communications and mass IoT needs across their organization, an important part of the equation is the data and how important the data intelligence is for decision-making and response.

Edge data is also expected to have a major impact in the asset tracking and monitoring industry, as the digital and physical supply chain and real-time secure delivery of goods and products is becoming even more critical during the pandemic. Having vital delivery and product intelligence provides for both operational improvements to the bottom-line, and also delivers new levels of customer service options that enhance the overall customer experience. Data intelligence further enables remote workforces and mobile operations, along with supporting in more predictive actions, alerting, and real-time delivery.

Click here to view all the winners of the Compass Intelligence 2020 awards - https://www.compassintelligence.com/press-releases/winners-announced-for-the-8th-annual-compass-intelligence-awards-in-iot-mobile-and-emerging-tech

About ClearBlade

ClearBlade is the industry-leading Edge Computing software company that enables enterprises to rapidly engineer and run secure, real-time, scalable IoT applications. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, ClearBlade is an award-winning, fully scalable, secure, flexible and autonomous IoT edge platform that enables companies to ingest, analyze, adapt and act on any data in real-time and at extreme scale. ClearBlade provides a consistent platform across edge, cloud and on-premise environments. For more information, please visit https://www.clearblade.com.

About Compass Intelligence

Compass Intelligence is a market research and advisory firm specializing in metrics-driven market intelligence and insights for the mobile, IoT, and high-tech industries serving tech clients for more than 15 years. Compass Intelligence provides executive insights, market sizing/forecasting and modeling, competitive analysis, strategic consulting, advisory services, trending analysis, and survey research services. Compass Intelligence helps guide strategic business decisions and supports in the success of our clients through delivering content engagement, go to market planning, competitive positioning, and strategic advisory. For more information, please visit http://www.compassintel.com.
Coastal Bridge Advisors Receives 2020 Los Angeles Award "We take great pride in the work we do for our clients and are honored to be selected for this award for the third year in a row."

Coastal Bridge Advisors has been selected for the 2020 Los Angeles Award in the Financial Institutions category by the Los Angeles Award Program. This marks the third consecutive year that Coastal Bridge Advisors has won the Los Angeles Award in this category and, as a result, has qualified the firm for entry into the Los Angeles Award Program Business Hall of Fame.

The roots of our business in Los Angeles go back thirty years, and the last five our team has been working in our current Century City office, where we continue to support our wonderful West Coast clientele. We take great pride in the work we do for our clients and are honored to be selected for this award for the third year in a row, says Founding Partner of Coastal Bridge Advisors, Kevin Burns.

Each year, the Los Angeles Award Program identifies companies that have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Los Angeles area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2020 Los Angeles Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Los Angeles Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Los Angeles Award Program:

The Los Angeles Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Los Angeles area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Los Angeles Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Award Program

CONTACT:

Los Angeles Award Program

Email: PublicRelations@ranking-2020.com

URL: http://www.ranking-2020.com

About Coastal Bridge Advisors:

Coastal Bridge Advisors is an independent Registered Investment Adviser founded in 2008 with the aim to provide better client service, personalized and sophisticated guidance, as well as coordinated advice delivery. We strive to Uncomplicate It for clients, which means explaining even the most complex concepts in a way that delivers the simple clarity they deserve. Were focused on helping our clients more clearly plan for retirement, more simply transfer wealth to future generations, and more effortlessly enjoy the lifestyle they want today.

Important Disclosures:

Coastal Bridge Advisors was previously awarded the Los Angeles Award for Financial Institutions in 2018 and 2019. The same criteria was used to determine the award recipients in each of these prior years. Please note that Coastal Bridge Advisors receipt of the awards mentioned herein may not be representative of any one clients experience because the award reflects an average of all, or a sample of all, of the experiences of the firms clients and that Coastal Bridge Advisors receipt of the award is not indicative of the firms future performance.

More information about the firm can be found at http://www.coastalbridgeadvisors.com

Contact: Christine Smith at 203-742-5957 or csmith@coastalbridgeadvisors.com
Fujax selects Eka's Cloud Platform to Optimize Trading Supply Chain Operations Each asset class in metals and mining is governed by unique characteristics. Hosted on its Cloud Platform, Ekas CTRM solutions for metals and mining address the vast differences of multiple commodities, providing true depth of functionality for each asset class.

Eka Software Solutions announced today that Fujax Resources has selected Ekas Cloud Platform to enhance reliability and quality control at every step in their supply chain.

Headquartered in Seychelles, Fujax is a leading minerals trading company specializing in supplying metals and coal directly from mines to customers in Asia and Europe. Until now, the company was primarily using spreadsheets to manage their trading and risk operations and forced to spend valuable time manually updating and reconciling data. Automation and scale were key focus areas for Fujax as they evaluated solutions to help them focus on more important goals.

Cyril Secchi, Managing Director, Fujax Resources said, At Fujax, our customers depend on us for direct and time-sensitive shipments that help them run their industrial and energy operations. We needed a solution that integrated seamlessly with our enhanced distribution system, allowed us to scale and provided functional depth for our business. Ekas cloud platform for metals and mining fit our requirements perfectly as it addressed every business requirement we had.

Each asset class in metals and mining is governed by unique characteristics, including differences in production, processing, pricing and valuation, transportation and more. Ekas CTRM solutions for metals and mining address the vast differences of multiple commodities, providing true depth of functionality for each asset class.

The platform provides companies trading metals world-wide a robust, feature-rich solution designed to manage the complexities of the concentrates business.

The need to digitalize supply chains has never been more prevalent, and Ekas Cloud Platform is designed for businesses that need to grow and quickly adapt to market forces. Our deep expertise in the metals and mining industry and intense customer focus allow us to address crucial pain points that these businesses typically face, said Manav Garg, CEO and founder, Eka Software Solutions.

Ekas Cloud Platform is highly flexible in its design, with enhanced capabilities to manage contract terms and conditions, pricing, assaying, umpiring, and settlements as well as risk management including hedging, P&L, and mark-to-market computations. The advanced analytics layer processes data and transactions to provide insights previously unavailable.

About Eka Software Solutions

Eka Software Solutions is a global leader in providing digital commodity management solutions driven by Cloud, Blockchain, Machine Learning and Analytics. The companys best-of-breed solutions serve the entire trading value chain across agriculture, energy, metals and mining and manufacturing markets. Eka is reimagining commodity management with a new age architecture that breaks monolithic ETRM and CTRM systems into bite sized chunks of powerful, enterprise grade apps, thereby enabling faster implementation, adoption and decision making. Ekas mobile-first, enterprise apps are embedded with commodity specific algorithms that empower businesses to stay on top of volatile markets by letting them scale at will, go live faster, and achieve better value for their investments. Eka has offices across the Americas, Asia, Australia, and EMEA serving 100+ customers globally across multiple commodity segments. For more information, visit http://www.eka1.com.
EverFX, The European online brand specialized in CFDs for forex, commodities, stocks, and other instruments, proud to present the EverFX Academy, an enhanced and comprehensive package of educational resources for traders that are eager to learn the delicate art of online trading.

Compliant with international regulatory standards and regulated by CySEC among other financial regulators, EverFX well-known for its high-quality trading services and now is aiming to take its offer to the next level with the enhanced EverFX Academy feature.

EverFX values education

Education is almost everything in trading, this according to EverFX, and by learning every aspect of the industry, including history and market cycles, traders can have a broader view of any new event that takes place and also be able to anticipate what more professional traders might be planning."

Thats exactly the main reason EverFX clients now have access to a broad selection of educational resources, both in written and video content, in order for them to be provided with great informative content and valuable trading knowledge.

The EverFX Academy brings all the useful educational resources in one place, enabling traders to learn the basics and increasingly advanced trading-related knowledge. Technical and fundamental analysis, reading the market sentiment, risk management, candlestick patterns, and a lot more could be found inside the educational ecosystem created by EverFX. Finding all the necessary educational content under one rooftop had been an almost impossible task for the trading community, this until the EverFX Academy had been launched.

A trader who wishes to get more professional is a trader that must give attention constantly to how financial markets work, monetary policy, how to manage risk, trading psychology, crowd behavior, reading charts, as stated by EverFX, and many other skills that can be developed with the right resources." EverFX main goal is enabling access to all required educational content so any committed individual can learn from basically scratch everything needs to be known about trading.

EverFX known for competitive services

By trading with EverFX, traders can benefit from competitive services, including coverage of markets like forex, indices, stocks, and a wide selection of commodities. At the same time, the broker stands out against competitors thanks to several trading capabilities.

Its clients have free access to ZuluTrade, a leading mirror trading platform that is revolutionizing the way people trade. Traders can now copy the positions of professional traders from over 192 countries across the globe. Until EverFX customers manage to cover all the educational resources from the EverFX Academy, they are able to use professional trading ideas to enhance their trading performance.

The positive feedbacks and reputation which have been tied to the EverFX brand, are the fruit of the brands commitment to ensuring its clients the best service and all the necessary resources, for a fine-tuned trading experience. The enhanced EverFX Academy feature brings the brand one step ahead of competitors.

About EverFX

EverFX is an online trading brand specialized in providing access to a wide range of trading tools, its offer including forex, metals, shares, energies, indices, and commodities. Through a diversified trading offer, the broker wants to serve customers wanting to trade benefiting from high-quality trading conditions.

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Many autoimmune diseases cause joint paint or swelling. "The goal," Dr. Gaman says, "is to listen to the patient, gather all the right information through extensive testing, and then develop a plan to help them live a healthier and longer life."

The National Institutes of Health reports that as much as 7% of the American population is suffering from some sort of autoimmune disease, equal to about 23.5 million Americans. They also report that the prevalence of such diseases continues to rise.

Executive Medicine of Texas, a company that's renowned for their half-day executive physicals and all-inclusive concierge packages, knows first-hand how much damage an untreated autoimmune condition can do. "Autoimmune diseases are notorious for causing chronic inflammation. We know that this inflammation can lead to heart disease, cancer, and a number of other serious health complications," says Walter Gaman, MD. "That's why we have to get these patients diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.

Dr. Gaman, one of the founders of the practice, knows first hand how complicated these conditions can be, as he has dealt with his own diagnosis of celiac disease for almost two decades. "I was diagnosed long before patients were being screened so regularly for the disease. Sometimes we study conditions because we want to, and sometimes it's because we have to. Mine started as the latter, but now I study and treat autoimmune disease because I know I can make a difference in the lives of these patients."

Lyme disease, another common autoimmune condition, accounts for much of the rise in this category of illness. The Center for Disease Control reported that there are approximately 329,000 new cases per year in the United States. Mark Anderson, MD said, "When our CEO came down with neuro lyme disease a few years back, it certainly got our attention. Subsequently, we began to see more patients with lyme-like symptoms, many of which tested positive. While not all have long term affects from this disease, many do. That's why proper management is so important."

Celiac and lyme disease are not the only illnesses that fall into this category, there are over 80 conditions that belong to the autoimmune family. Since symptoms can be wide-spread and often mimic other conditions, patients are often misdiagnosed prior to finding the correct diagnosis and form of treatment.

The Autoimmune Concierge Program at Executive Medicine starts with a half-day exam with over one hundred different lab values, some of which are specific for these types of conditions. Because autoimmune disease can cause a host of other health problems, the patients are also screened for cardiac and autonomic nervous system abnormalities. "The goal," Dr. Gaman says, "is to listen to the patient, gather all the right information through extensive testing, and then develop a plan to help them live a healthier and longer life. Part of that plan will be to significantly reduce inflammation and repairing damage when possible."

About:Executive Medicine of Texas is a luxury medical practice that focuses on preventative and proactive medicine. Their clients come from all over the globe and include individuals, as well as many corporate clients. Located in Southlake, Texas, half-way between Dallas and Fort Worth, many patients fly in to DFW airport or one of the many private airports within the area. You can obtain a FREE copy of their award-winning book Age to Perfection: How to Thrive to 100, Happy, Healthy, and Wise by clicking HERE.
Shootings have gone up all over the city and Queens is no exception. Were not going to be able to prosecute our way out of this. Were going to have to reach out to the community and all its leaders, she said, echoing statements she made to the Daily News last week.
Patrick Crouch CPA We are excited to have a firm with Frazier & Deeters capabilities and reputation on the board.

Frazier & Deeter, one of the nations largest accounting and advisory firms, announced today that Patrick Crouch has been named a board member of the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA), Tampa Bay Chapter.

The AM&AA operates as a local resource for networking, education, marketing, developing professional opportunities and thought leadership. Members are able to make face to face connections with each other, potential members and other alliance opportunities.

Were thrilled to have Patrick join the Advisory Board, said Silvana Capaldi, Founding Chair of the Tampa Bay Advisory Board. We are excited to have a firm with Frazier & Deeters capabilities and reputation on the board.

The Tampa Bay Chapter of the AM&AA provides members with a robust network of knowledgeable professionals with whom they can share valuable information and resources, said Patrick Crouch, Audit Partner at Frazier & Deeter. I am excited to take on this important role.

As a Partner in the Assurance & Advisory practice of Frazier & Deeter, Patrick Crouch works with both public and private companies primarily in the middle-market. His industry expertise includes technology, construction, transportation and logistics, real estate and manufacturing and distribution.

Crouch also works closely with Frazier & Deeters Transaction Advisory Services Group to service the needs of private equity groups and private equity-backed companies. This collaboration helps his clients when going through an acquisition or an exit. After spending 9 years in the firms Atlanta office, Crouch relocated to the Tampa office in 2017.

About Frazier & Deeter

Frazier & Deeter is an award-winning accounting and advisory firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The firm provides a wide range of tax, audit, accounting and advisory services to serve the emerging needs of clients as they evolve. Frazier & Deeter and its FD family of brands have nine offices across the United States and one in the United Kingdom. The firm has been recognized repeatedly as a Best of the Best Accounting firm, a Best Firm to Work For in the U.S. and a Best Firm for Women in Leadership. Frazier & Deeters brand promise is investing in relationships to make a difference.
The GWS announced that it take place November 811 at The Breakers, an iconic hotel on 140 oceanfront acres in Palm Beach, FL. Were committed to creating a model for how a conference should be convened at a time like this. Safety is paramount, wellness will be brought to life in unique ways, and it may be the most important Summit in our history.

The Global Wellness Summit (GWS), the foremost gathering of international leaders in the $4.5 trillion global wellness economy, today announced that its 2020 conference would move from Tel Aviv, Israel, to the US, by far the largest wellness market. It will now take place November 811 at The Breakers, an iconic hotel on 140 oceanfront acres in Palm Beach, FL, which has received numerous awards for its commitment to guest and employee wellness and diversity.

The 2021 Summit will be held in Tel Aviv, November 1518.

COVID-19 brutally exposed the importance of preventative wellness and the cost of chronic conditions to the world, along with terrible inequities in access to both healthcare and wellness. The conference theme of Resetting the World with Wellness is a global call to actionto wellness businesses, government leaders, and the medical and technology worldsto recognize that more comprehensive and inclusive wellness concepts could remake the world post-pandemic. The consumer mindset has also undergone a wellness reset during the crisis: Its become a bigger focus in peoples lives and commands a bigger share of wallet (even if that wallet may have shrunk).

Now is the time to reset the world with wellness because its the only concept with prevention and total wellbeing at its core: Its a framework that can address the immense physical, mental, social and environmental unwellness all around us, said Susie Ellis, GWS chairman and CEO. The wellness industry can now have its biggest impact on the world stage and take a much bigger seat at the health table. But it needs to be responsible and creative to meet the new opportunities and challenges, which is why we feel its crucial to bring the brightest minds together to chart that future.

The GWS is built on a culture of collaboration, and its time to bring wellness leaders safely together again, in person. Joining Together. Shaping the Future is not just our tagline; its the hallmark of what weve done for over a decade, said Nancy Davis, chief creative officer and executive director of the GWS. Were committed to creating a model for how a conference should be convened at a time like this. Safety is paramount, wellness will be brought to life in unique ways, and it may be the most important Summit in our history.

Working to Set New Standards for a Safe Conference

Every aspect of the Summit is being curated to deliver a safe, hygienic way for people to begin to meet again. Dr. Richard Carmona, the 17th Surgeon General of the US and distinguished professor at the University of Arizonas College of Public Health, will serve as medical advisor and is working closely with the GWS team, The Breakers, and local and federal government agencies to ensure that the GWS exceeds all standards for a safe gathering.

The Breakers, the site of the successful 2017 GWS, is a sprawling beachfront property that will enable appropriate physical distancing and generous use of outdoor space. They have exceeded all recommended CDC and World Health Organization guidelines and have implemented intensive hygiene protocols for guests during COVID-19: mandatory masks in all indoor and public areas; daily health screenings and personal protective equipment for all staff; 100 percent touchless guest transactions; daily disinfection of HVAC/air filtration systems with UV light and ionization technologies; intensive cleaning practices throughout the property, including electrostatic spray cleaning; and theyre one of the only US hotels with a dedicated food safety manager.

Unprecedented Focus on Wellness Technology

COVID-19 radically accelerated the migration of health and wellness solutions and experiences online, while igniting a rush of innovation in all kinds of wellness technology, including new mental wellness platforms, digital fitness and beauty solutions, femtech, work solutions, technology for healthy homes and communities, and platforms that bring wellness to underserved populations. Investment and consumer adoption is in overdrive: Venture capitalists poured $3.1 billion into digital health in Q1, 2020,* the top 10 mental wellness apps are seeing a combined 10 million downloads a month under COVID-19,** and funding for the at-home fitness sector quadrupled in Q1.***

The conference will place an unprecedented focus on technology innovations that are transforming the wellness space, featuring keynotes from leaders and investors across this booming space and launching its first Tech Innovation Pavilion, showcasing early-stage start-ups as well as established companies that have executed a virtual pivot in response to the crisis. This programming is being realized in partnership with Welltech1, the Israeli wellness technology fund and the first marquis sponsor of the Pavilion.

Im thrilled to help lead the Tech Innovation Pavilion, an important and timely new GWS initiative, said Amir Alroy, co-founder of Welltech1. We can attest that in the past few months, the demand for wellness technology has dramatically increased, and we cannot ignore how new solutions could foster better lives for the world population and for companies and organizations in the aftermath of COVID-19.

Well Spaces, Homes & Communities

Concepts bringing wellness into the home and wellness real estate and community projects were a fast-rising trend and $134 billion market pre-pandemic. COVID-19 has significantly ramped up the interest in well homes, communities, cities, architecture and design, with the growing awareness that reimagining the built environment is one of the most powerful weapons in improving peoples health (and in mitigating pathogens). Keynotes and panels will explore the many directions this trend and market is taking.

Delegates will be able to experience a post-Summit (November 1113) immersion experience on wellness real estate and communities at the pioneering, award-winning development Serenbe (right outside Atlanta), one of the first wellness communities in the US. Space is limited, and its only open to registered delegates.

Mental Wellness: Key Topic, New Research

The UN recently warned of a looming mental health crisis born of the isolation, the fear, the uncertainty, the economic turmoil wrought by the pandemic. Mental wellness has been a much more powerful focus for individuals, the wellness industry, businesses and governments these last few years, and the conference will explore how COVID-19 is spurring growth and innovation across the mental wellness landscape. The Global Wellness Institute will release the first research report on the dynamic, multi-sector mental wellness space and market.

To learn more or to register, click here.

*Rock Health, May 2020

**Sensor Tower, May 2020

***CB Insights, June 2020

About the Global Wellness Summit: The Global Wellness Summit is an invitation-only international gathering that brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $4.5 trillion global wellness economy. Held in a different location each year, Summits have taken place in the US, Switzerland, Turkey, Bali, India, Morocco, Mexico, Austria, Italy and Singapore. The 14th annual Summit will take place at The Breakers Palm Beach, FL, from November 811, 2020. The 2021 GWS will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 1518.


"Expect to see provocative analysis ahead of Novembers US elections, as well as insights into the increasingly fraught relations between the US and China."

As the world ricochets from crisis to crisis amidst an unprecedented global health pandemic, GZERO WORLD with Ian Bremmer is at the center of the conversation about What comes next? Season 3 of the award-winning weekly interview program launches on US public television stations nationwide beginning on Friday, July 10 (check local listings), featuring newsmaker discussions on how the COVID-19 pandemic will further shape the worlds politics, health, economy, and the tenure of various leaders. Expect to see provocative analysis ahead of Novembers US elections, as well as insights into the increasingly fraught relations between the US and China. Each week, Bremmer interviews key players on the world stage about news, trends and events that are relentlessly shaping how we live. All of that leavened with the political satire of Puppet Regime. Episodes of GZERO WORLD with Ian Bremmer are also available to stream at http://www.gzeromedia.com. For full details, see the public television announcement below.

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Press Contacts:

Gregory Roth, GZERO Media, 917-622-4734, roth@eurasiagroup.net

Dorean Rose Pugh, WNET, 212.560.3005, pughd@wnet.org

Press materials: http://www.thirteen.org/pressroom or http://www.aptonline.org

Website: thirteen.org/gzeroworld

GZERO WORLD with Ian Bremmer Launches Season 3

Beginning July 10 on Public Television

New season of the public affairs series focuses on geopolitical impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, police reform, inequality and U.S. presidential election

(NEW YORK, NY  July 6, 2020) 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). Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and embattled Filipina journalist Maria Ressa are among the programs 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.

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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 Americas flagship PBS station: parent company of New Yorks 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, childrens 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 nations 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. APTs diverse catalog includes prominent documentaries, performance, dramas, how-to programs, classic movies, childrens series and news and current affairs programs. Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders, Americas Test Kitchen From Cooks Illustrated, AfroPoP, Rick Steves Europe, Christopher Kimballs Milk Street Television, Front and Center, Lidias Kitchen, Kevin Beltons New Orleans Kitchen, Simply Ming, The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, James Pattersons Kid Stew and NHK Newsline are a sampling of APTs 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 televisions premier news, science and documentary channel. To find out more about APTs programs and services, visit APTonline.org.
The crime committed is bad enough, but the apparent cover-up by their wives and Anguillan authorities has made this situation all the more painful for us. All we seek is for the true story to come out.

Red Banyan, a crisis management firm focused on managing complex, high-stakes communications issues, is humbled by the opportunity to help Debanee MacPherson-Udall, who is continuing her tireless efforts to uncover the facts about what happened to her brother Casey MacPherson and his friend Caleb Guillory one fateful night on the Caribbean island Anguilla.

A cover story in People Magazine by Jeff Truesdell highlights the murky and suspicious circumstances that have raised serious questions about how the deaths were handled by Anguillan authorities.

Debanee MacPherson Udall, Caseys sister, has been relentless about pursuing justice, and will not give up until she knows what happened to these young men whose lives were cut way too short, said Red Banyan Founder and CEO Evan Nierman.

I am not going to stop my efforts to raise awareness about this tragedy until I achieve justice for my incredible brother Casey and his friend Caleb, said Debanee MacPherson-Udall. The crime committed is bad enough, but the apparent cover-up by their wives and Anguillan authorities has made this situation all the more painful for us. All we seek is for the true story to come out.

MacPherson-Udall has retained renowned private investigator TJ Ward, best known for his work on the Natalee Holloway case. He suspects foul play in the deaths of Casey and Caleb, and believes the Anguillan government is trying to protect its tourism industry.

We need these witnesses to return to Anguilla and share what they know, Ward said. There are too many missing holes and too many inconsistencies. It's time to find out what really happened to Casey and Caleb and its the least these two men deserve.

Red Banyan is honored to be helping Debanee MacPherson-Udall, even in a small way, on her quest to uncover the facts about what happened to her brother and his friend in Anguilla.

When you believe in your clients and are working to help achieve justice, it makes you proud to go to work every day, said Nierman. We will continue to support Debanee and admire her tenacity and commitment to pursuing the whole truth about what transpired during that tragic night in Anguilla.

Debanee MacPherson-Udall and TJ Ward are both available to journalists for interviews and have gathered additional information in recent days that they are prepared to share.
We are committed to helping cannabis producers navigate the sometimes complicated waters of complying with CDPH regulations. Our software will help them more easily meet these requirements for quality and batch management said Dr. Richard Soltero, President of InstantGMP.

InstantGMP TNT is an all-in-one manufacturing and quality system that is fully integrated with METRC in California. It comes with a complete set of Standard Operating Procedures that work together with electronic batch records and logs for incidents, customer complaints, CAPAs, change control, vendor management and with document management. Guided workflows and autonomous operations coupled with a Learning Management System make this the fastest way to get started in managing quality for a cannabis processor in California.

InstantGMP TNT is different from Seed to Sale software. We help your brand make an impact on the industry by delivering the built-in Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) structure needed for processors, manufacturers, extractors, and/or infusers to achieve a competitive edge. While Seed to Sale options focusing primarily on state regulatory compliance, they dont maintain the standards regulated by the CDPH like our unique batch manufacturing software does. Simply stated: no one else does it like us.

InstantGMP TNT key features include:



Full CDPH and equivalent online documentation, with actionable 4xxxx based SOPs and METRC integration to address and enhance key compliance tasks

Resource visibility (inventory, equipment, facilities, etc.) for better uptime and coordinated operations that can slash your processing time

Configurability..built in to realize the ongoing flow of industry best practices.and your own

Complete, integrated Quality system to resolve customer complaints, deviations, and to automate vendor management

InstantGMP TNT was developed by a team of experts in quality, regulatory affairs and compliance management at InstantGMP, Inc.

About InstantGMP, Inc.

Founded by pharmaceutical industry veteran Dr. Richard Soltero, InstantGMP, Inc., offers affordable all-in-one manufacturing and quality software. The company develops cloud-based electronic batch record software and standard operating procedures specific to industries that are required to follow FDA manufacturing regulations and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). As a manufacturing software company, InstantGMP pioneered accessible, easy-to-use electronic batch record software for products manufactured using GMPs. The Companys updated software simplifies the documentation and approval procedures for quality processes that keep all quality documentation organized in electronic format while providing for quality checks and workflow processes to make compliance with FDA requirements easy.
Stundenglass

A time honored tradition dating back to the 16th century is reimagined as a contactless experience for today through industrial design and fluid flow physics with the introduction of Stundenglass. A versatile hookah, Stundenglass features a patented 360 degree gravity system that elicits an immersive and powerful experience without having to share contact by generating kinetic motion activation via cascading water, opposing airflow technology and the natural force of gravity. Stundenglass launches on July 10th at stundenglass.com.

Throughout history, from the invention of the hookah to the gravity bong, imaginative smokers have been using their ingenuity to create coveted smoking devices, said Tracey Huston, founder of Stundenglass. With ritual, pleasure and durability in mind, I engineered Stundenglass using pure physics to deliver the most smooth, consistent and vaporous draws.

Stundenglass, which means hourglass in German, features two borosilicate glass globes that sit on either side of a sleek metal base made of aircraft grade aluminum, surgical grade stainless steel, and high quality Teflon seals. It features gravitationally delivered water filtration: once the bottom chamber is filled with water and the other with smoke, the device is flipped, pulling the water through the two way aluminum steel upstem and pushing smoke out, delivering a contactless experience. The strength depends on how far the unit is flipped, using gravity to control the ignition of materials and output of smoke.

Stundenglass Features:



Contactless smoke delivery system

Precision machined hardware

Percolated water filtration

45 adjustable mouthpiece

Aluminum hookah bowl kit and a glass bowl

Connects to any smoking or vaporization device with a 14mm male joint

3-foot silicone hose that can be connected for direct draws

Versatile design for multiple use with hookah, flower, oil accessories

360 Rotatable activation

Removable glass globes that are durable and dishwasher safe

A patented design backed by an extended 10-year warranty*, the Stundenglass Gravity Hookah comes packaged in a reusable craft box with a handle, allowing for safe storage and transportation. Super durable, futuristic in design and superb in function, the Stundenglass Gravity Hookah stands alone at the pinnacle of smoking and vaporization devices. Stundenglass retails for $499.95 and is available to purchase via Sezzle with 4 Interest Free payments beginning July 10th at stundenglass.com.

About Stundenglass

Forward thinking functionality, precision craftsmanship and a transformative design aesthetic establish Stundenglass as the defining smoking culture piece. The patented 360 degree system is the first-of-its-kind gravity hookah water pipe revolutionizing consumption through design and physics - leading the industry forward with an immersive experience. Established in 2012 by Tracey Huston, a self taught inventor, Stundenglass provides the most powerful and efficient smoke filtration experience without a battery or motor, using simply pure fluid physics. Visit https://stundenglass.com.

For inquiries, please contact:

Grenco Science media inquiries

Georgia Mack

917.916.6083

georgia@riopr.com
LMS is an extension of our efforts to help customers mitigate risk while empowering employees and contractors with the training needed to safely and successfully do their jobs.

ISN, the global leader in contractor management services, is proud to announce its new, integrated Learning Management System (LMS) Platform which provides complimentary, high-quality, computer-based training materials from third-party providers for contractor customers to satisfy Hiring Client requirements.* ISN fast-tracked the launch of LMS to help contractor customers prioritize employee trainings during this challenging time. More than 11,500 trainings have been completed by more than 4,500 employees across more than 1,800 contractor companies this year.

The LMS Platform is included in all US and Canadian subscriptions for contractors and suppliers. The LMS Platform features more than 40 training topics in areas including COVID-19 workplace safety, first aid, respiratory protection, confined space, heat stress, bloodborne pathogens, fall protection and more.

As employers continue to face changing environments with in-person training, quality employee and contractor training systems have become a top priority for employers, said Adam Logan, Senior Director, Products at ISN. With LMS, ISN customers can streamline many of their return to work training requirements and processes through an integrated and easy-to-use platform regardless of location.

The LMS Platform features training courses from approved third-party providers that can automatically sync with ISNetworlds Training Qualifications (TQ) Tool. Approved providers include the National Safety Council, United Academy, MEA Energy Association, Vubiz, Danatec by We Know Training and others. All training is automatically integrated with the ISNetworld platform.

At ISN, we understand that creating a safe and healthy work environment begins with training resources accessible to both on-site and remote employees and contractors, said Brian Callahan, President and COO of ISN. LMS is an extension of our efforts to help customers mitigate risk while empowering employees and contractors with the training needed to safely and successfully do their jobs.

Now more than ever workers require quality training to be safe, said Patrick D. Van Beek, President of the MEA Energy Association. Creating opportunities to utilize online learning content allows for the acquisition of knowledge necessary to continuously demonstrate safe actions and behaviors. Online learning systems provide a significant library of safety content to learners. We should seek to educate, connect, and have learning empower all workers.

For more information, visit http://www.isn.com.

About ISN

Established in 2001, ISN is the global leader in contractor and supplier information management. ISNs global platform, ISNetworld, includes data-driven products and services that help companies manage risk and strengthen relationships. ISNs goal is to bring together a network of nearly 650 Hiring Clients and 75,000 active contractors to promote continual improvement in contractor management and strive for a safe work environment for everyone.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ISN has additional offices in Los Angeles, Midland, New York City, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Mexico City, London, Sydney, Perth and Auckland. ISN takes pride in leading efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of contractor management systems and in serving as a forum for sharing industry best practices among its members.

For more information, visit http://www.isn.com.

*Usage allotment is based on contractor subscription tier size.
Stanley Bastek, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Atlas Roofing Both Kirk and Stan have played pivotal roles in Atlas. ...There is no better time to make the transition. Ken Farrish, President of Atlas Roofing

Atlas Roofing Corporation, one of the nations leading building materials manufacturers, is excited to announce Stanley Bastek as the new Vice President of Sales & Marketing for its Shingle and Underlayment Division. Bastek first began his career in the Atlas corporate headquarters 14 years ago.

The appointment comes as Kirk Villar, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, announces his retirement, after 22 years with Atlas. One of the things I wanted to do is leave the company better than when I started, and at a time when we were doing extremely well. I am excited about where Atlas is headed, and now look forward to exciting times where my wife and I get to go do some things that weve been wanting to do.

Both Kirk and Stan have played pivotal roles in Atlas. Its tough to lose Kirk. He lives and breathes Atlas and has invested so much into this company says Ken Farrish, President of Atlas Roofing. That said, there is no better time to make the transition. Our business is in a really good place and we are positioned for success with Stan as the new VP.

The success of Atlas has come part and parcel with the leadership displayed by both gentlemen. While Bastek is credited with establishing the Atlas Shingles & Underlayment division as a contractor focused marketing force, Villar made several strategic decisions over the last ten years, partnering with 3M and Scotchgard, changing to the HP42 Technology shingle format, and investing in sales team development; all of which has positioned Atlas for success in the years to come.

Villar came to Atlas in 1998 and leaves a 20+ year legacy of sales & marketing team development. Weve spent countless hours interviewing, hiring, and training because we understand the importance of making the right hire and finding people that fit our culture... A culture that Im very proud of, states Kirk Villar.

Kirk has driven us to focus on being the best through differentiation in all areas of the business. From our people to our products to our marketing. Its been such a privilege to work under his leadership. Bastek said.

A graduate of University of Michigan, Bastek also earned his MBA from Shorter University in Georgia. He began his career in the Atlas Roofing corporate office as an administrative assistant, working his way through the marketing and sales management ranks to his most recent position of National Sales Director. Probably like a lot of people, I had no intentions of getting into the construction industry, largely because I was not exposed to it growing up. I can tell you from first hand experience that this is a great industry for people to build a career, and I will continue Atlas leadership with a focus on developing great people.

About Atlas

Atlas is an innovative, customer-oriented provider of asphalt shingles, roof underlayments, rigid foam, geofoam, cold chain, protective packaging, lost foam, and cutting-edge coated and paper facers and underlayments for a diverse set of markets. Atlas has grown from a single asphalt shingle manufacturing facility to 36 facilities in North America with worldwide product distribution. Products from the companys four major divisions, Polyiso Roof & Wall Insulation, Shingle & Underlayment, Molded Products and Web Technologies, are manufactured in state-of-the-art facilities and shipped from its network of manufacturing plants and distribution facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

For more information, please visit http://www.atlasroofing.com.
Lee Spirits Company a leading distiller of pre-prohibition American dry gin, fine liqueurs, North American blended whiskey, refreshing canned gin cocktails and vodka, is pleased to announce for the first time, beginning today, it will make its Navy Strength Gin for sale by the bottle in both its tasting rooms: Brooklyns on Boulder Street and their recently announced distillery and tasting room in Monument, Colorado.

Dating back to the 16th Century, before the invention of the hydrometer, spirits ABV were not easily measured. It was during that time the British Royal Navy created a fairly simple method to ensure the spirits they were buying and enjoying were high proof or even alcohol based. The sailors would mix a small sample of gin with gunpowder to form a paste and try to light it. If the spirit was over a certain strength, the powder would light, and if under it wouldnt. This gave the sailors certainty that the liquid was indeed alcohol and thus the name was bornNavy Strength Gin. To read more about the history of Navy Strength Gin, click here.

We have been distilling navy strength gin for years and our bartenders have utilized it in our tasting rooms for cocktails, said Cole Chapman, Lee Spirit Companys head distiller. This product now offers users the ability to create amazing gin cocktails with a little extra punch while not disturbing any of the flavor profiles from the botanicals used in our product. We hope consumers are able to have a fun time mixing new cocktails with this product at home now that it is sold in our tasting rooms.

Lee Spirits creates many unique and fun recipes with its Navy Strength Gin and encourages consumers to try mixing its popular Doris Day cocktail at home which was first created by Robin Jones, head bartender of the companys Monument tasting room:

Doris Day

 oz Navy Strength Gin

 oz Strawberry Ginger Gin

 oz Noilly Prat

 oz Creme de Cacao

 oz Creme de Noyaux

Lee Spirits Navy Gin is available in 1-liter bottles. It is 115% proof making it the strongest navy gin produced in N. America. The product sells for $37 per bottle and is created in the exact same manner as the companys popular American dry gin (90% proof) but is proofed down with less water ensuring a higher ABV without compromising any flavor notes.

About Lee Spirits Company:

Lee Spirits Company is an award-winning Colorado-based distillery whose mission is to create the finest gin, liqueurs, vodka and blended whiskey to empower spirit-lovers to make authentic pre-prohibition classic cocktails.

In 2013, Lee Spirits Company founders and cousins Ian and Nick Lee had an idea to develop and manufacture the finest gin in Colorado and the United States along with accompanying liqueurs and whiskey that would fit into classic cocktail recipes exactly as originally written. To connect with Lee Spirits, visit their website or social media page.
Local Marketing Solutions Group offers the broadest and most efficient marketing and sales solutions to national and international brands that drive revenue through local sales and marketing channels. There is a growing need for businesses to capture, organize, expand, and leverage their data pool so that information is clean, current, unique, authentic, and referenceable, Croke said. LMSG Data Intelligence will offer clients this through our ability to manage big data and apply AI.

Local Marketing Solutions Group, Inc. (LMSG) President and CEO Al Croke announced today the launch of a new business solution initiative, LMSG Data Intelligence, which will leverage all known and accessible data to drive better outcomes for the LMSG family of businesses and their clients.

Data intelligence focuses on capture, processing, analysis and interaction with information to promote better decision-making and to achieve better outcomes. Data Intelligence helps businesses understand data, uncover explanations, identify and resolve issues, and predict future trends to improve decision-making.

There is a growing need for businesses to capture, organize, expand, and leverage their data pool so that information is clean, current, unique, authentic, and referenceable, Croke said. LMSG Data Intelligence will offer clients a means of accomplishing this through our ability to manage big data and apply artificial intelligence (AI) to create the right user access and analytical tools to deliver maximum value. Access to big data tools and AI will be critical for companies of all sizes.

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ABOUT LOCAL MARKETING SOLUTIONS GROUP, INC.

Local Marketing Solutions Group, Inc. (lmsg.co) was recently named for the third consecutive year to the annual Inc. 5000. It was formed in 2012 by the executive management team of JGSullivan Interactive Inc. The purpose of the holding company is to continue the expansion of offering the broadest and most efficient marketing and sales solutions to national and international brands that drive revenue through local sales and marketing channels. The company provides marketing automation technology and supporting sales and marketing services capabilities, allowing corporate sales and marketing to control brand image and to ultimately facilitate use of product and service content and materials from national to local channels. Corporate brands include JGSullivan Interactive (Chicago), DuFour Advertising (Sheboygan, Wis.), KMA One (Atlanta), Webly Guys (Chicago), Godwin (Jackson, Miss.) and Money Mailer (Cypress, CA).

To find out more about LMSG Data Intelligence, email dataintelligence@lmsg.co or call 312.475.2179.
A group of individuals physically assaulted and denounced and threatened with racial epithets one Black resident of Bloomington on nearby Indiana state park land at Lake Monroe, they said. These separate incidents exemplify the persistence of racism and bias in our country and our own community. They deserve nothing less than our collective condemnation. They require that we come together as a whole, and recognize that racism damages all of us, not just our residents of color. We deserve better, and we must make it happen.
Marian is a wonderful university that is dedicated to educating the whole student, which means youre not just a student ID number, youre part of our Marian family, said Dr. Kimberly Udlis, the Chief Nurse Administrator for the Marian University Nursing Department.

The nursing school at Marian University, one of the highest-rated and most affordable private schools in Wisconsin, has made a remarkable number of recent accomplishments. They include updating the nursing school curriculum, raising the NCLEX-RN scores of nursing school graduates to among the best in the state and investing more than $1 million in technology improvements.

The department also has placed nursing experts in leadership and faculty positions. That starts with Dr. Kimberly Udlis, (PhD, FNP-BC, FAANP), the Associate Dean and Chief Nurse Administrator for the Marian University Nursing Department.

Under the leadership of Udlis, the nursing department now has four high fidelity simulators that allow students to experience patient care scenarios in obstetrics, pediatrics, acute care and medical surgical. Also, Marian University nursing graduates recently achieved a NCLEX pass rate of 96%, according to official statistics from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) NCLEX Program Report.

Udlis credits the success of her team to trust, vision, and grit. She said the nursing school focuses on supporting students, guiding them and giving them the resources they need to attain their academic goals.

Marian is a wonderful university that is dedicated to educating the whole student, which means youre not just a student ID number, youre part of our Marian family, said Dr. Udlis, who previously served as Graduate Program Director at Bellin College and assistant director of advanced nursing practice at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The Marian University approach to education attracted Udlis. After meeting the departments faculty and staff, Udlis said, I was so impressed with their dedication, determination, and true sense of caring for their students and each other. I went home and told my husband that I really wanted this position. I wanted to be part of this amazing team.

Asked what she is most proud of since taking her current position in 2017, Udlis said it is the departments team and their dedication to students.

I know our students, both undergraduate and graduate, have the best faculty and staff to support their success. We see the outcomes of this dedication in our NCLEX-RN pass rates and FNP certification pass rates, Udlis said. But Im most proud of seeing the success of our graduates and the wonderful work that our alumni are doing in the community.

About Marian University

Marian University is a regionally accredited, co-educational Catholic University that inspires personal and professional success through an engaging, values-based education. Founded in 1936 by the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes as a college for teachers, Marian University has grown to offer a full slate of degrees but the focus to liberal arts excellence and a focus on students has never changed. Marian University maintains a commitment to the core values of community, learning, service, social justice and spiritual traditions. Marian University has been named a High Lifetime Return on Investment (ROI) College among all public and private Wisconsin colleges and universities by Affordable Colleges Online (ACO).
Its an honor to lead our dedicated staff during this transition. I will ensure we remain focused on our mission to serve our participants, employees, and federal customers as we continue to be nimble, pivoting our operations during these unprecedented times, so we dont miss a beat, said Kautz.

The Board of Directors of Melwood is pleased to announce the appointment of Larysa Kautz as Interim President & CEO effective July 1, 2020, following Cari DeSantis departure for her planned retirement. Kautz has served on Melwoods C-Suite since 2014 and is one of Melwoods most senior and seasoned leaders.

Larysa has a deep understanding of every facet of Melwoods operations. She has already made important contributions to the success of Melwood during her tenure, including leading our AbilityOne public policy and advocacy efforts. The Board is confident that she will successfully lead our organization during this time of transition, together with our newly elected Board Chair, Don Hathway, said Steve Martin, Chair of the Melwood Board of Directors.

Kautz, who holds more than 17 years of corporate and nonprofit experience, brings a broad range of skills acquired through her leadership positions with a variety of tax-exempt organizations. After receiving her law degrees from Yale (JD) and Georgetown (LLM), she focused her career on affordable housing development, venture philanthropy, and advising national and international nonprofits. As the mother of a child on the autism spectrum, she is passionate about Melwoods mission of inclusion.

Its an honor to have Melwoods Board place its trust in me to lead our dedicated staff and volunteers during this transition. I will ensure we remain focused on our mission to serve Melwoods most important stakeholders  our participants, employees and federal customers. We have been forward-looking and innovative in analyzing and adapting to the critical changes to the environment in which we operate. We will continue to be nimble in pivoting our operations during these unprecedented times, so we dont miss a beat, said Kautz upon accepting the Interim President & CEO position.

Kautz currently serves on the Virginia DBVI State Rehabilitation Council and the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board. She has previously volunteered as a consultant for President Obamas Office of White House Counsel and Virginia Governor Northams Transition Team on the Policy Council on Workforce Development. She was named one of the 2017 Leading Women in Maryland by The Daily Record, has been honored by the Association of Corporate Counsel with the 2019 In-House Innovator Award, and is an alumna of the Arlington Leadership Center for Excellence.

Kautz will be leading the $110M nonprofit until the Board of Directors concludes the formal search process for a permanent President & CEO.

About Melwood

Melwood is one of the largest employers of people of differing abilities in the country, employing more than 1,600 workers  nearly 1,000 of whom are people of differing abilities. Melwood offers job placement, job training, life skills for independence, and support services to more than 2,500 people each year in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Melwood also provides employment and support services to veterans and active-duty military members who have experienced service-related trauma or injury. For more information, visit http://www.Melwood.org.
VPLS, a technology solutions provider offering edge-to-cloud computing and services, announces that Mohamed Arab has joined the organization in the role of Vice President of Cloud and Managed Services. In his new role, Mohamed will oversee the companys strategic direction, operational management, and technical product innovation.

Prior to joining VPLS, Mohamed served as the Vice President of Technology at Hivelocity Hosting, a provider of cloud hosting, bare metal, and colocation services. During his tenure there, he grew the companys West Coast business by fourfold. He was also similarly instrumental as the CTO at Rack Alley, a company which he founded, grew, and eventually divested in 2017. Mohamed brings decades of experience in the area of internet technologies, specifically design, security, support, and sales.

We are excited to welcome Mohamed to the VPLS family, stated Arman Khalili, CEO of VPLS. Mohamed brings not only years of valuable industry experience to our organization, but also a passion for growing and developing high-performing technical and services teams. He is a strategic addition to the VPLS executive team and will be a key driver in helping to expand our offerings and global footprint.

I am thrilled at the opportunity to join the team, said Mohamed Arab. Having worked in the tech industry for more than 20 years, Ive enjoyed tackling challenges that clients faced when it came to their IT projects. I look forward to working with my new team and delivering cutting-edge solutions and services to our clients as well as contributing to VPLSs rapid growth.

About VPLS

VPLS understands the technology and IT challenges that businesses and teams face in todays competitive global environment. Trusted by more than 7,000 enterprise clients worldwide, VPLS is a leading provider of cloud, colocation, hosting, backup and DRaaS, data center, and security solutions. With this robust portfolio of IT solutions and a team of industry experts, VPLS partners with businesses to solve their most complex technology challenges.

Our carrier-neutral data centers are HIPAA, IDS, ISAE, SSAE, SOC2, and PCI DSS compliant, and supported by a global network backbone with over 400 Gbps of transit capacity, making VPLS the ideal on-ramp to the internet and public clouds like Amazon, Azure, Google and Oracle. VPLSs network and security operations centers in Reston, VA; Los Angeles, CA; Orange, CA; and Bangkok, Thailand provide 24/7 managed service support offering help desk, managed server, managed security, managed switch, and managed wireless services.

VPLSs team of solution technologists, with over 200 IT certifications and growing, strategically partner with brands like Cisco, Dell, Extreme, Fortinet, HPE, Palo Alto Networks, Ruckus, and Supermicro, to deliver the ideal hardware and software for your IT environment.

Learn more about VPLS at http://www.vpls.com.
It's likely that matters will continue to evolve in the future, and therefore it's important to continue to stay abreast of the latest developments, while working with an attorney who's able to keep informed on further operational changes.

The coronavirus pandemic remains an ongoing dilemma for the entire country, however the worst-hit regions have shifted over the past several months. This has allowed the Northeast and mid-Atlantic of the country to progress with its reopening schedules, and in Maryland, this includes the resumption of court services, inclusive of the circuit system which oversees family law proceedings. Divorce lawyers in Maryland at the Law Offices of Brandon Bernstein advise on the specifics of the reopening, with essential information to know.

"The Montgomery County, Maryland Circuit Court is currently in Phase II of an intricately detailed five phase reopening, with Phase III set to begin on July 20th," says Brandon Bernstein, a seven-time Super Lawyers Rising Star as a Maryland family law attorney. "At each step of the reopening, there is an expanded list of services and proceedings, including those handled in-person, as well as the continuation of remote proceedings."

As it pertains to family law proceedings, Phase II encourages remote hearings whenever possibly, and begins handling certain matters such as mediations, protective orders, and non-emergency guardianships. Starting July 20th in Phase III, additional Maryland family law proceedings slated to resume include pendente lite hearings, adoptions, child support, settlement hearings, and court-ordered mediation.

Phase IV begins on August 31, and includes the resumption of in-person civil trials, and for Maryland family law cases, in-person hearings and trials. The final step, Phase V, is scheduled for October 5th. At this point, the court system will be considered "fully operational, assuming it is consistent with the health of the courthouse and surrounding community," as noted in this reopening document.

Remote services will remain in place until at least the end of Phase IV, and there's a possibility that this could be extended further into the future depending on certain ongoing conditions of the pandemic.

"It's likely that matters will continue to evolve in the future, and therefore it's important to continue to stay abreast of the latest developments, while working with an attorney who's able to keep informed on further operational changes, is able to proactively reschedule and schedule cases, and is able to handle matters with the court, and with clients, remotely as may be needed or recommended," Mr. Bernstein says.

The Law Offices of Brandon Bernstein provides a full range of services as family law attorneys in Maryland. The office is currently conducting virtual lawyer consultations for the safety and convenience of its clients, and is committed to following the latest best practices as dictated by health officials. More information is available at BrandonBernsteinLaw.com or by calling 240.395.1418.

Disclaimer: Attorney advertising

About the Law Offices of Brandon Bernstein, LLC

The Law Offices of Brandon Bernstein, LLC is located in downtown Bethesda, and serves clients throughout the state as a divorce attorney in Maryland, covering a broad range of family law matters, and aggressively protecting the best interests of his clients at all times. He has been named a Maryland Rising Star by Super Lawyers for seven consecutive years. The core pillars of his practice are Integrity, Experience, and Results. For a free attorney consultation, prospective clients can visit his website at BrandonBernsteinLaw.com, or call the office directly at 240.395.1418.
A delivery courier for Mensajeros Urbanos in Colombia "The companys express delivery services are blossoming rapidly and we see a lot of synergies with our business strategy and expansion objectives," said Patrick Hruby, CEO of Movile Group

Movile Group, an ecosystem of leading technology companies in Latin America, today announced a new investment in Mensajeros Urbanos, a Colombian express delivery platform. The company aims to expand its operations in the ten cities where it operates in Colombia, in addition to Mexico, where it started operations in the beginning of 2020.

Mensajeros Urbanos is a leader for express deliveries in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries with more than 1.2 million deliveries per month. With the new investment, the companys planned expansion will focus on three fronts: new services, technology and an increased footprint in Latin America. The company will open 50 urban warehouses within the major cities it serves to reduce delivery time windows further and provide certain items for same-day delivery. In addition, new features will include the ability for customers to check if the products they wish to purchase are available for same-day delivery.

AI technology will increasingly support the delivery process through improvements in logistics efficiency and the designation of delivery partners to ensure products reach consumers in a safe and quick manner. "This is an ideal time for us to expand our operations and introduce innovative new services. Moviles investment will allow us to grow our footprint, increase our logistics efficiency and provide superior customer service," said Santiago Pineda, CEO of Mensajeros Urbanos.

For Movile, this is another step in the expansion and growth of its Latin American operations following the announcement in early April that iFood, a Movile Group company, merged its Colombian operations with Domicilios.com. "We have been supporting Mensajeros Urbanos for several years now and the teams ability to execute with streamlined resources and build a solid leader in last mile logistics in Colombia and now Mexico continues to impress us. The companys express delivery services are blossoming rapidly and we see a lot of synergies with our business strategy and expansion objectives, said Patrick Hruby, CEO of Movile Group.

About Mensajeros Urbanos

Mensajeros Urbanos is a technology company that connects the largest and most diverse logistics network (bikes, motorcycles, cars, vans, trucks and micro-warehouses) in Latin America with relevant companies of various industries, such as, courier, e-commerce, restaurants, pharmacies, supermarkets, convenience stores, retailers and CPG companies, for more than seven years. With our tech solutions, we optimize our clients' time and costs throughout their last-mile process connecting companies to a vast and diverse network of logistics resources with our AI-powered platform to achieve greater efficiency in their supply chain.

About Movile Group

Movile Group is an ecosystem of leading technology companies in Latin America, and has a big dream to make the lives of 1 billion people better through its applications. With global operations, the company has more than 4,000 employees at seven companies including iFood, Mensajeros Urbanos, MovilePay, PlayKids, Sympla, Wavy and Zoop. In 2019, Movile began supporting the 1Bi Foundation, with the objective of promoting technology projects for social impact. In addition, it was nominated as the technology company most desired by Brazilian professionals according to LinkedIn's Top Companies ranking in Brazil.

Media Contacts

Brazil:

Olivia Nercessian

+55 11 95433-0000

olivia.nercessian@movile.com

United States:

Chris Knight

+1 (415) 786-9226 c.

chris@divinogroup.net
"We are excited by the opportunity to collaboratively support OEM agnostic solutions that enable the deployment of mixed autonomous fleets within the same operation, said Wilder Pando, CEO, MS4M.

ASI Mining and MS4M, a provider of real-time mine management and optimization solutions, have entered into an agreement to ensure compatibility between ASI Minings Mobius Platform and MS4Ms ControlSense fleet management system (FMS) software for autonomous vehicles.

ASI Minings Traffic Management System (TMS) is designed to work with a variety of FMS providers. This latest compatibility announcement will give existing MS4M users the ability to implement ASI Minings Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) using an open FMS/TMS interface. Future MS4M customers will also have assurance of a pathway to AHS by leveraging this same interface.

MS4Ms rapidly expanding client base includes 11 sites worldwide with primary production fleets ranging from 20 to over 100 units. As each of these sites consider future plans for autonomous operations, this interface will play a critical role in their ability to extend the benefits of autonomous functionality using Mobius as an autonomy platform. In addition, mines can further extend functionality via the growing list of Mobius-supported partner OEM vehicles and equipment.

ASI Mining is pleased to work with MS4M and offer greater interoperability for all MS4M customers wishing to deploy automation solutions without having to replace the FMS, as is common with other AHS providers, said Drew Larsen, Director of Business Development, ASI Mining.

We are excited by the opportunity to collaboratively support OEM agnostic solutions that enable the deployment of mixed autonomous fleets within the same operation, said Wilder Pando, CEO, MS4M. Integration of our world-class mine management and optimization suite of products with ASI Minings traffic management and onboard autonomy will provide mines with a significant degree of flexibility and optionality as automation migration paths are developed and implemented. Beyond supporting a staged approach in the presence of mixed fleets, this will mitigate the dependency on a single solution provider.

ASI Mining looks forward to working with MS4M to expand automation options for mine operators seeking to extend their capabilities. This collaboration gives mine operators a robust OEM-independent TMS and FMS combination.

As mining technology matures, an increasing number of mines are seeking ways to automate on their own terms, without the requirement to replace infrastructure or fleets ahead of schedule. Interfaces between systems from ASI Mining and MS4M help make that possible.

Mine operators interested in an OEM-independent approach using solutions from MS4M and ASI Mining can learn more at http://www.ASIMining.com.

About ASI Mining

ASI Mining is partially owned by Epiroc, which acquired 34% of the company in 2018. ASI Mining is recognized for its products and solutions in robotics and autonomous vehicle technology including autonomous haulage, semi-autonomous blasting, drilling, dozing, loading and other applications. In addition to providing solutions for some of the worlds largest mining corporations, ASI Mining is also an automation partner for several global mining vehicle manufacturers. ASI Minings majority parent (66% shareholder), Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) is a world leader in industrial vehicle automation. ASI serves clients across the world in the mining, agriculture, automotive, government, and manufacturing industries with remote control, teleoperation, and fully automated solutions from its headquarters and 100-acre proving ground in northern Utah. Learn more at http://www.ASIMining.com.
How to Flip Your Biz & Cash Out Big Im now in a position to help business owners refine their exit strategies and do some course correction before they list their business for sale."

Entrepreneur, best-selling author and motivational speaker Anthony Caliendo, The Main Man, has written the ultimate guide for main street business owners looking to sell their business and make maximum dollar; in other words: flip it and cash out. BIG. And hes released it just in the nick of time.

The year 2020 is going to be one for the history books. Caliendo wants business owners to know that now is the right time to seriously start thinking about their exit strategies and start prepping their businesses for sale to serious buyers that will take them to their next level of profitability. But Caliendos approach is different. Instead of bombarding business owners with incomprehensible details that will confuse and demotivate them, he tells them the real story and the real talk way to approach the business sales process.

Not only does Caliendo tell business owners the true story about selling their businesses, he helps them get it done. Caliendo, known as The Main Man in the South Florida mortgage and real estate markets for almost 2 decades, is also a premier business broker, listing and selling millions in sales volume over the past several years.

Caliendo says, Ive sold businesses that probably shouldnt have sold, or sold for much less, because the owners were unknowingly killing the value of their businesses year after year. With that said, Im now in a position to help business owners refine their exit strategies and do some course correction before they list. Im all about helping them maximize the value so they can reap the rewards of all their years of sacrifice, dedication and hard work as business owners.

How to Flip Your Business & Cash Out Big, published by Tiger Shark Media USA is available in paperback on Amazon, and will also be available on Walmart.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other global online retailers. Caliendo is also offering the eBook for free download at http://www.flipyourbiz.com specifically for business sellers looking to get started with the sales process today, further motivating them to take action by offering them a free business valuation worth $2500. A lot of business owners want to sell, but have no idea how much their business is even worth, says Caliendo. This is the starting point of the sales process  the business valuation. Without it, there is no sale!

Sellers will be thoroughly informed yet delightfully entertained by Caliendos style of delivery in this book. He doesnt just talk about being the best in the business, he candidly backs it up by illustrating how his own successes and failures in business ownership have catapulted him to the top of his game, which landed him smack dab in the middle of the business brokering industry. This book will give readers the insight and the tools they need to get started and The Main Man will be on the other end, ready to take their calls personally, so they can Flip Their Biz & Cash Out Big!

About the Author

Anthony Caliendo The Main Man is a successful entrepreneur and award-winning, best-selling author & motivational speaker. He is the author of the international best-selling, multi-award-winning book, The Sales Assassin: Master Your Black Belt in Sales. He is also a featured Thought Leader and co-author of the book Cracking the Code to Success with Brian Tracy and The Recipe for Success with Jack Canfield. Hes generated hundreds of millions in sales revenues in a string of successful companies including mortgage, real estate, consumer goods and business brokering. Hes sold millions in businesses and real estate.

Caliendo has showcased his sales strategies on radio and on CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX and a contributing writer in industry mags including Salesforce, Small Biz Daily, The Canadian Business Journal, Focus Magazine, TK Business Magazine, AMA Playbook, In Business Magazine and Digital Journal. He lives and works in South Florida with his wife, Lynette and their eight children and 2 grandchildren.

For more information please visit http://www.flipyourbiz.com or contact Anthony Caliendo at 1-800-THE-MAINMAN.
As a pediatric urologist, Im delighted to be participating in this new series developed specifically by and for my peers and I hope they will find it a valuable and interesting new resource." - Dr. Aaron Martin, Board-certified Pediatric Urologist of Childrens Hospital New Orleans

Palette Life Sciences, a fully integrated global life sciences company dedicated to improving patient outcomes, today announced the launch of a new podcast series, The PedSpace, created specifically for and presented by pediatric urology healthcare professionals. The podcast series is a featured resource in Palette's new Deflux Learning Center, an online platform that provides information, education and training globally for pediatric urologists and their peers who treat vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and other pediatric urology conditions. VUR, sometimes referred to as urinary or bladder reflux, is a serious pediatric urinary condition in which urine flows from the bladder through one or both ureters toward the kidneys.

The PedSpace podcast series features physicians discussing the field of pediatric urology, compelling VUR-related information, Deflux as a treatment option, broader topics such as telemedicine and more. In the first episode, The Art of a Telemedicine Visit, Dr. Aaron Martin, Board-certified Pediatric Urologist at Childrens Hospital New Orleans discusses best practices for virtual patient care. In the second episode, Telemedicine and VUR, Dr. Martin discusses telemedicine in the context of VUR. In the third episode, Improving the VUR Grading System, Dr. Christopher Cooper, Board-Certified Pediatric Urologist at Stead Family Childrens Hospital in Iowa, discusses the limitations of the current VUR grading system, asserting that not all VUR is created equal, and asking if the old method of grading is obsolete.

As a pediatric urologist, Im delighted to be participating in this new series developed specifically by and for my peers, and I hope they will find it a valuable and interesting new resource, said Dr. Aaron Martin, Board-certified Pediatric Urologist of Childrens Hospital New Orleans.

"Palette Life Sciences is dedicated to supporting learning and collaboration among pediatric urologists. Through the launch of The PedSpace podcast series and our Deflux Learning Center, we hope to play an important role in improving patient outcomes, said Rich Low, head of marketing, Palette Life Sciences. These are just two examples of how we are making significant new investments in physician education and training, fostering peer-to-peer collaboration for the ultimate benefit of our young patients and their caregivers."

In addition to The PedSpace podcast series, the Deflux Learning Center contains comprehensive VUR and Deflux-related information, education, training, tools and resources to support healthcare professionals who treat VUR. The PedSpace can also be subscribed to via Apple, Google, or Spotify podcasts.

About Deflux

Deflux is a minimally invasive, outpatient treatment that has been proven safe and effective in children with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). VUR is a serious pediatric urinary condition in which urine refluxes from the bladder through one or both ureters toward the kidneys, due to an abnormality at the junction of the ureter and the bladder. Deflux is an injectable gel bulking agent made from two tissue-friendly polysaccharides; Non-Animal Stabilized Hyaluronic Acid (NASHA) and dextranomer (Dx) microspheres. The product is administered via injection around the ureteral opening to prevent urine reflux. Deflux is indicated in the United States for children with VUR grades II-IV, and is indicated outside of the United States for all grades of VUR. For more information, visit https://deflux.com.

About Palette Life Sciences AB

Palette Life Sciences is a fully integrated life sciences company. Palette Life Sciences products improve patient outcomes in urology and urogynecology disorders, colorectal conditions, radiotherapy, and interventional oncology procedures. The companys portfolio of available products includes Deflux, Solesta and Barrigel. Palette Life Sciences moves rapidly to leverage novel applications of existing technologies to create breakthrough medical solutions. This focus enables the company to serve those often overlooked by traditional medical companies and improve patient quality of life. Led by experienced healthcare executives, Palette Life Sciences is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in Santa Barbara, California, and Dallas, Texas. Learn more at https://www.palettelifesciences.com.
Bruce has built his career on delivering solutions clients depend on to minimize tax impact and anticipate and address compliance challenges, said Ned McCrory, Partner-in-Charge, Rhode Island.

PKF OConnor Davies, LLP, one of the nations largest accounting, tax and advisory firms, announced today it has hired Bruce Desrosiers to serve as Partner in the firms tax practice. Desrosiers has 25 years of experience helping clients navigate complex tax and compliance challenges and has expertise in the areas of estates and trusts, income tax compliance, cost-segregation analysis, and estate administration. This hire reflects PKF OConnor Davies commitment to continually deepening and enhancing its offerings and expertise in core business areas, including tax strategy and compliance.

Bruce has built his career on delivering solutions clients depend on to minimize tax impact and anticipate and address compliance challenges, said Ned McCrory, Partner-in-Charge, Rhode Island. As the world gets a little more uncertain every day, hes exactly the kind of expert were looking to add to our strong tax team in Rhode Island and beyond. Were excited to have him aboard.

Desrosiers began his career at a Big Four accounting firm and more recently served as tax partner and director of tax services for noted accounting and advisory firms in Providence, Rhode Island. He specializes in advising partnerships, corporations, individuals, estates, trusts, not-for-profit organizations and private foundations, as well as navigating complex real estate investing, operation and construction issues, including the complexities of estate administration following the death of an owner.

Over the course of my career, Ive always prided myself on delivering superior solutions and peace of mind to clients, whether thats in the midst of an IRS audit or during a complex real estate transaction, Desrosiers said. PKF OConnor Davies has some of the best tax experts and advisors in the business. Im looking forward to joining a terrific team and getting to work solving the unique challenges of our clients.

Desrosiers is a frequent lecturer and established thought leader on a wide range of tax issues and evolving tax law. He is the co-author of The Practice of Cost Segregation Analysis: Maximizing Tax Benefits for Building Acquisitions and Construction. He earned his Master of Science in taxation from Bryant University. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Rhode Island and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants.

PKF OConnor Davies has 12 offices in five states and continues to expand through organic growth and acquisitions on the East Coast. It has supported this growth with a strategic combination of promoting from within coupled with tactical external hires.

About PKF OConnor Davies, LLP

PKF OConnor Davies, LLP is a full-service certified public accounting and advisory firm with a long history of serving clients both domestically and internationally. With roots tracing to 1891, 12 offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Rhode Island and more than 800 professionals led by over 100 partners, the Firm provides a complete range of accounting, auditing, tax and management advisory services.

PKF OConnor Davies is a top-ranked firm according to Accounting Todays 2020 Top 100 Firms list, and the Firm is also recognized as a Leader in Audit and Accounting, a Pacesetter in Growth and one of the Top Firms in the Mid-Atlantic. In 2021 rankings, PKF O'Connor Davies was named one of Vault's Accounting 50, a ranking of the 50 best accounting employers to work for in North America, and ranked among the top 50 most prestigious accounting firms in America in a complementary Vault survey. The Firm is the 12th largest accounting firm in the New York Metropolitan area, according to Crains New York Business, and the 10th top accounting firm in New Jersey according to NJBizs 2019 rankings.

PKF OConnor Davies is enrolled in the AICPA Peer Review Program and has central memberships in the Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center (EBPAQC), Government Audit Quality Center (GAQC) and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

By consistently delivering proactive, thorough and efficient service, PKF O'Connor Davies has built long-lasting, valuable relationships with its clients. Partners are closely involved in the day-to-day management of engagements, ensuring a high degree of client service and cost effectiveness. The Firms seasoned professional staff members employ a team approach to all engagements to provide clients with the utmost quality and timely services aimed at helping them succeed. Continuity of staffing and attention to detail in all client engagements make the Firm stand out among its competitors.

PKF OConnor Davies is the lead North American representative of the international association of PKF member firms. PKF International is a network of legally independent member firms providing accounting, tax, and business advisory services in over 400 locations in 150 countries around the world. With its tradition, experience and focus on the future, PKF OConnor Davies is ready to help clients meet todays ever-changing economic conditions and manage the growing complexities of the regulatory environment.

For more information, visit http://www.PKFOD.com.

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I was thrilled to be invited on Franchise Business Radio, a program I have listened to and found to be very insightful on many important topics related to the franchise industry."

Karen Murray, franchise practice leader and vice president at Powers Brand Communications, the Philadelphia-based public relations and content marketing firm, appears on the latest episode of Franchise Business Radio, a national podcast that brings together franchise professionals to connect, educate and collaborate to serve the franchise community and those considering franchise ownership. Program host Pam Currie hosted a discussion focused on public relations approaches to maximize a local franchise grand opening with Murray and Don Powers, founder of Fitness Machine Technicians, a franchise specializing in the maintenance and repair of exercise equipment for gyms, corporations, hotels, and private residences.

Karen brings more than 20 years of PR experience to her role at Powers, working with a variety of national and regional clients on communication components ranging from media relations and digital content, to event planning and community outreach. She has particular expertise driving awareness for both franchisor brands and local franchisees through targeted media and community outreach.

I was thrilled to be invited on Franchise Business Radio, a program I have listened to and found to be very insightful on many important topics related to the franchise industry, said Murray. I enjoyed the lively discussion with Pam, an influential leader in the franchise world, and Don, who has proven how to build a successful franchise from the ground up, to more than 90 territories today.

During the podcast, which spotlights leaders in the franchise industry as well as experts in related fields, Karen shared the value of PR when opening a new location and the impact it has on growing brand awareness and ultimately driving business. Powers provided examples of how different marketing tactics have helped Fitness Machine Technicians grow on a national scale as well as on the local level, focusing on the consistent value of public relations.

Specific topics covered included:



What Does the Franchisee Need to Know About PR as They Open in a New Market?

How to Maximize Your Local Grand Opening with PR

How to Sustain Momentum

Franchisor PR: Promoting Your Brand on a Regional and National Level

About Powers Brand Communications LLC

Founded in 2012 and based in Wayne, Pa., Powers Brand Communications is a public relations and content marketing firm that represents clients ranging from emerging growth companies to national brands. In addition to serving clients in the Consumer/Retail and B2B space, we offer a team dedicated to franchise brands working with both franchisors and franchisees. For more information, visit https://powersbc.com.
My family cares deeply about him, and we are seeking medical and professional help as he manages this crisis, the mayor wrote. My heart goes out to the children who were involved. While my life, in many regards, is public, my family members remain private individuals. I ask that you respect my familys privacy and pray that my brother gets the treatment he needs and that justice is served.
Sensors Expo & Conference, produced by Questex, announced today Sensors Innovation Week, a complimentary digital event series taking place July 16-17. Through a series of live video roundtables, tech talks, fireside chats, and keynotes featuring subject matter experts from top OEM companies and suppliers, attendees from all over the globe will be able to access top notch industry panels and education. In partnership with Fierce Electronics, the industry leading editorial team will be augmenting these digital events with a variety of featured content, special reports and breaking news across the site all week.

Quick Links:



Free registration is available here.

View the Agenda here.

Were excited to bring Sensors Innovation Week to attendees all over the world through these online events. Weve brought together a top-notch speaker lineup featuring visionaries from Yole Developpement, Valentium, Jetperch, Millibat, New York Power Authority, CNH Industrial, Halliburton, The Aerospace Corp. and more. This is a first of its kind event that is a must attend for engineers who are looking to get a competitive edge on all of the latest trends and technology applications that are impacting our industry and the world today, noted Karen Field, Head of Content for Fierce Electronics and Sensors Expo & Conference, at Questex.

With topics ranging from How Innovative Sensing Technology is Helping to Combat a Pandemic, to Youve Got the Power, Use it Wisely to Create Energy-Efficient Sensor Designs, to IoT & Wireless: Hey Network, Its Me, Sensor!, and AI and Machine Learning: Making Sense out of Sensor Data, attendees will access one-of-a-kind content addressing the latest sensing challenges and innovative design approaches. In addition to these sessions, sponsors will also be highlighting their latest offerings and solutions in technical and interactive Tech Talk sessions. Sponsors to date include ams AG, Bluetooth, CommScope, Infineon, Omron, and STMicroelectronics. If you are interested in speaking or sponsoring, click here for more information.

The Bluetooth SIG is excited to continue our partnership with Sensors Expo & Conference by participating in the first Sensors Innovation Week. The virtual event gives our members the ability to share the latest advancements in Bluetooth technology with a global audience of engineers. Its an opportunity we wanted to capitalize on, says Jim Katsandres, Director, Developer Relations of the Bluetooth SIG.

Registration is free for all attendees, and speakers and sponsors will continue to be added in the coming weeks. Stay up-to-date on the latest announcements with the hashtag #SensorsInnovationWeek. Additional virtual events are planned throughout the year, including Embedded Innovation Week on September 28-October 1, MedTech Innovation Week on October 19-22, and AutonomousTech Innovation Week on December 14-17. To learn more, visit here.

About Sensors Expo & Conference and Fierce Electronics

Sensors Expo & Conference, produced and managed by Questex, is one of the world's largest and most important gatherings of engineers and scientists involved in the development and deployment of sensor systems. For more information, visit http://www.sensorsexpo.com. Sensors Expo & Conference is supported by the event's official publication, Fierce Electronics, the primary news and information source for design engineers and engineering management, covering the business and technology aspects related to the entire electronics industry; focusing on sensors, embedded systems, power management, analog, components, and IoT. For more information, visit http://www.fierceelectronics.com.

About Questex

Questex helps people live better and longer. Questex brings people together in the markets that help people live better: travel, hospitality and wellness; the industries that help people live longer: life science and healthcare; and the technologies that enable and fuel these new experiences. We live in the experience economy  connecting our ecosystem through live events, surrounded by data insights and digital communities. We deliver experience and real results. It happens here. For more information, visit http://www.questex.com.
Rentec Direct honored with 2020 Ingenuity Award at the Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc. (SOREDI) annual meeting. Rentec Direct will continue to operate under the premises of thoughtful growth and innovation with the mission to solve problems and create efficiencies in the property management industry, said Nathan Miller, President of Rentec Direct.

Rentec Direct was named the winner of the 2020 Ingenuity Award at the Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc. (SOREDI) annual meeting. The highest-rated property management software company was selected as this years Ingenuity Award recipient due to its demonstrated success in business growth, innovation, and leadership in creativity and problem-solving.

We feel honored to be recognized in our region as a company that is dedicated to supporting business growth in Southern Oregon, said Nathan Miller, President of Rentec Direct. Rentec Direct will continue to operate under the premises of thoughtful growth and innovation with the mission to solve problems and create efficiencies in the property management industry.

Each year, SOREDI recognizes companies in the Southern Oregon region that demonstrate excellence in one of five categories: Collaboration, Prosperity, Tenacity, Ingenuity and Inspiration. These are the defining characteristics that SOREDI recognizes as vital to successful business growth in its region. Each winner of the Ingenuity Award has accomplished an extra measure of creative problem-solving and introduced a new product, business model or invention that changed their identity or access to the market. Previous winners of the Ingenuity Award include Rising Sun Farms, BioMed Diagnostics, MaskIT and ICWUSA.

The 2020 Prosper Awards took place on Thursday, June 25 via a live virtual celebration hosted by SOREDI Executive Director Colleen Padilla.

To learn more about Rentec Direct, visit https://www.rentecdirect.com/.

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About Rentec Direct

Rentec Direct offers industry-leading property management software and tenant screening solutions for real estate professionals. Features include online rent payments, tenant and owner portals, the industrys largest vacancy listing syndication network, full property, tenant, and owner accounting, 1099-MISC reporting and more. Rentec Direct received the Real Estate Company of the Year Award in the 2019 American Business Awards, has been named to the Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies for three years in a row (as of 2019), and was also included on the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Entreprenuer360 list for Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America. http://www.rentecdirect.com
Saudi Water Academy is the first Accredited Provider in Saudi Arabia and proudly joins nearly 500 organizations around the globe that have matriculated through a rigorous peer-reviewed process by experts in continuing education

The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has awarded the Saudi Water Academy the prestigious Accredited Provider accreditation. IACET Accredited Providers are the only organizations approved to offer IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The accreditation period extends for five years and includes all programs offered or created during that time.

The Saudi Water Academy (SWA) is proud of our educational programs which annually educate and train over 4,000 Engineers, Operators and Technicians in crucial technical and management skills so that our clients are able to maintain relevancy in a continually evolving work environment, stated Mossa Ibrahim Assiri, General Manager, the Saudi Water Academy. In addition, he added, Our accreditation with IACET is a demonstration of our commitment to quality adult education and high standards for all of our programs. We are very pleased to join such a prestigious organization as well as an elite group of organizations that offer excellent continuing education and training programs.

In the onset of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Sauds Vision 2030, we are encouraged and pleased to recognize the Saudi Water Academy as an IACET Accredited Provider, stated Casandra Blassingame, IACETs CEO. Blassingame added, Saudi Water Academy is the first Accredited Provider in Saudi Arabia and proudly joins nearly 500 organizations around the globe that have matriculated through a rigorous peer-reviewed process by experts in continuing education thereby ensuring the highest possible standards are met. During these unprecedented times, the Royal Familys strategic plan to reinforce and diversify the capabilities of the Saudi economy is amazing and progressive.

Saudi Water Academys offerings include:



An extensive technical curriculum for Engineers, Operators and Technicians covering 16 classifications in Maintenance and Operations skills with over 200 individual courses. In keeping with our commitment to providing advanced learning opportunities, SWA has introduced a globally recognized Executive Leadership program for the development of future leaders in their industries

In response to the change in the current environment we are proud to announce that our first group of live Virtual classrooms are scheduled to start in May covering the following subject: RO Desalination Process

In order to achieve Accredited Provider accreditation, Saudi Water Academy completed a rigorous application process, including a review by an IACET site visitor, and successfully demonstrated adherence to the ANSI/IACET 2018-1 Standard addressing the design, development, administration, and evaluation of its programs. SWA has pledged its continued compliance with the Standard and is now authorized to use the IACET name and Accredited Provider logo on promotional course material. In addition, Saudi Water Academy is now linked to the IACET web site and is recognized as offering the highest quality continuing education and training programs.

The Saudi Water Academy takes great pride in earning this prestigious global accreditation and being the first in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to achieve this honor. We continue our journey in discovering and implementing the highest quality standards in our training programs for the benefit of our learners and accelerating their opportunities for sustainable careers in their chosen fields.

Driving SWAs vision to bring global water security is our continual commitment to qualify and develop the worlds leading water professionals. Through the constant application of advanced learning platforms and evolving technologies throughout our academy, we will serve as a global model for developing water professionals for the growth and sustainability of world water security.

About IACET: The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) is a non-profit association dedicated to quality continuing education and training programs. IACET is the only standard-setting organization approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for continuing education and training. The ANSI/IACET Standard is the core of thousands of educational programs worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.iacet.org or reach out to info@iacet.org / 703-763-0705 ext. 107

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTACTS

International Association for Continuing Education and Training

Website: https://www.iacet.org/

Twitter: @IACETorg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IACETOrg

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iacet/

Saudi Water Academy

Website: http://www.swacademy.com/

Twitter: @Saudiwacd
With healthcare systems being forced to focus on safer environments, reduce infections, increase patient satisfaction, and lower costs, the time is right for SkyDance to introduce a product which meets every one of those needs.

SkyDance Vascular (SkyDance), a company aiming to transform the market for Peripheral Intravenous Catheters (PIV), has engaged Thasis LLC (Thasis) to assist with its fund-raising strategy and develop the appropriate marketing communications, platforms, and materials to clearly represent its entry into the market.

SkyDance has designed its PIV to eliminate catheter exposure to infection-causing skin bacteria, maintain needle stick safety during use, and reduce the risk of complications that arise from the regular use of current PIV technology. The patent-pending Osprey PIV is the only protected catheter delivery system that utilizes Skin Avoidance Technology (SAT).

Using SAT, Osprey creates a physical barrier between the skin and catheter by housing the catheter inside of the needle. It is then deployed when the targeted vein is reached with the tip of the needle. This unique design is intended to contribute to minimizing the potential risk of infection, while also reducing the potential of other catheter complications, such as phlebitis, infiltration, and extravasation.

The catheter was invented 75 years ago and while there have been improvements, none have shown the potential to reduce infection or complications as dramatically as Osprey is expected to, said Bill Bold, Chief Executive Officer of SkyDance. With healthcare systems being forced to focus on safer environments, reduce infections, increase patient satisfaction, and lower costs, the time is right for SkyDance to introduce a product which meets every one of those needs.

Thasis will work with SkyDance to develop its fund-raising value proposition and go-to-market messaging. The company will develop the material required for the investor community, including a new website, collateral, a social media program, and more.

It is not often that we find a company that can truly transform an established product, such as a catheter, said David Moss, CEO/Founder of Thasis. In addition, it is exciting to work with a management team that has built and successfully exited other companies in this industry.

In coming weeks, the two teams will collaboratively build a refreshed image that more effectively expresses the value proposition for the investment community and starts focusing on the future release of the product.

The management team at SkyDance has been working in the vascular industry for most of our careers. Leveraging that experience, our work here will have the potential to impact the lives of millions of people, along with helping the healthcare system reduce costs and litigation, Bold said. We are excited to work with Thasis to make this a reality.

About SkyDance Vascular

SkyDance Vascular, founded in 2017, is working to redesign the Peripheral Intravenous Catheter (PIV). The new product called Osprey, to be launched in 2021, is expected to provide a positive impact on PIV bloodstream infections utilizing a uniquely designed process called Skin Avoidance Technology. Its goal will be to deliver greater first attempt success and lower complication rates, improve dwell times, greater completion of therapy rates, and improve patient satisfaction. The company has assembled an executive leadership group comprised of individuals with decades of executive, clinical, regulatory, and engineering experience, and who together have built and successfully exited other companies in the vascular access space. For more information, visit http://www.skydancevascular.com or contact Bill Bold at bill.bold@ospreyvascular.com.

About Thasis LLC

Founded in 2019, Thasis is a consulting and digital marketing agency that helps early- to mid-stage companies perfect the strategies and tools they need to raise funds, go-to-market, and accelerate growth. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company also serves as the U.S. extension of the Lisbon Project Group, a Portuguese creative design and digital marketing agency. For more information, visit http://www.thasis.com or contact David Moss at david.moss@thasis.com. https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmoss59/
Earning global certification to ISO 14001 showcases our commitment to sustainability, energy efficiency, and waste reduction.

Smith, a global distributor of electronic components and semiconductors, today announces its certification to the ISO 14001 standard at its warehouse in Amsterdam. The ISO 14001 certification establishes an environmental management system to address potential risks and opportunities, as well as fulfill compliance requirements, as they relate to environmental concerns and initiatives.

Smiths Houston headquarters and distribution center in Hong Kong achieved ISO 14001 certification in 2005 and 2010, respectively. The ISO 14001 standard outlines a systemic approach to planning, implementing, documenting, and evaluating the organizations environmental management procedures. Achieving this certification in Amsterdam helps strengthen Smiths global environmental practices and commitment to reducing waste, increasing efficiency, and improving overall impact to the environment.

Smiths customers can rest assured that their supply chain partner is dedicated to meeting their needs while simultaneously upholding international environmental standards, said Art Figueroa, Smiths Vice President of Operations and Quality, NA & EU. Earning global certification to ISO 14001 showcases our commitment to sustainability, energy efficiency, and waste reduction.

Operating our business in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way is one of Smiths top priorities, said Figueroa. As always, we will continue to develop and implement new, innovative processes to help us better protect and more positively impact our environment.

About Smith

Founded in 1984, Smith sources, manages, and distributes the electronic components that go into everything from mobile phones and computers to appliances and directional drilling systems. In 16 cities around the world, Smiths legion of employees communicates in 50 languages and dialects and buys and sells components 24 hours per day, with global annual sales in excess of $1.35 billion. Smith is always moving: helping manufacturers navigate market shifts; customizing supply chain solutions; testing components using cutting-edge technology. The support of Smiths flexible Intelligent DistributionTM model optimizes customers supply chains from beginning to end, including offering customized options for IT asset disposition that deliver maximum ROI, sustainability, and security. Smiths testing and logistics hubs in Houston, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam cover critical areas like quality management, counterfeit prevention, and environmental safety. Smiths operations, purchasing, and sales worldwide are seamlessly integrated with the companys global IT infrastructure, offering real-time, global inventory and logistics visibility. Smith is the leading independent distributor of electronic components and ranks number nine among all global distributors. For more information, please visit https://www.smithweb.com or reach out to a Smith representative any time of day at +1 713.430.3000.

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White label marketing service specialists, yourlabel, expands across Europe and adds to its product line, giving marketing agencies and media companies the opportunity to diversify their service portfolio and create new revenue streams without the extra costs and investments that usually come with growth.

The white label service model is simple, yet effective. When a company partners with yourlabel they can pick and choose from a wide range of marketing services to re-sell to their clients. When the company gets a new order, yourlabels team of marketing experts step into action. Acting as an extension of the company, yourlabel fulfills the service and provides all necessary support. Many companies choose to outsource marketing services because it is a cost-effective, efficient, and practical avenue for revenue generation and sustainable growth.

The initial expansion of yourlabel is focused on the UK and offers several unique benefits to the marketplace. As opposed to outsourcing to local providers, yourlabel offers companies access to fresh, unique and innovative perspectives on marketing strategies and services that are not otherwise found in Europe. The favourable exchange rate also makes yourlabel a cost-effective solution for European companies.

Our expansion into Europe is the first step in getting Canada recognized as a valuable supplier of marketing solutions in the international stage. Our team will bring a wealth of fresh ideas and expertise to the European community. In an already extremely competitive marketplace, agencies who adopt yourlabel early will be able to stand out in the crowd says Vimal Siva, CEO at yourlabel.

The synergy between the UK and Canada extends beyond just sharing a language, with a time-change of only 5 hours, companies in the UK can tap into yourlabel resources and support during business hours and receive responses in a timely manner. All factors that are a necessity in the fast-paced realm of online marketing.

Renowned in the marketing industry for their extensive white label marketing services, yourlabel is synonymous with excellence in expertise and support. With a full complement of online marketing services available, including PPC, SEO, reputation management, social media management, content development, website design and development, marketing agencies and media companies have the unique opportunity to brand themselves as a one-stop-shop for marketing services, and offer a comprehensive range of marketing services to their clients.

More about yourlabel white label services:

A division of Canadian owned and operated OutReach Media, yourlabel is a fast-expanding white label marketing outsourcing provider that is changing the way marketing agencies and media companies do business. While yourlabel handles the logistics and fulfillment behind the scenes, companies can focus on their sales and client relationships.
My love for dogs has helped me navigate my business into a global brand, explained Jennifer Kirk, owner of PoshPuppyBoutique.com. But I am most honored to be able to help rescue and protect dogs around the world.

Jennifer Kirk, owner and founder of PoshPuppyBoutique.com, one of the largest online pet boutiques since 2007, and board member on the VanderpumpDogs Foundation, was surprised to see record growth of 61% in her online retail store this spring during peak of stay-at-home orders for COVID-19 compared to the same period last spring. This directly reflects the rapid rate of pet adoption at shelters nationwide as these orders took effect across the country. According to an April 10, 2020 article in Wired, the Humane Society of the U.S. is quoted saying that pet adoptions and fosters were up as much as 90% in some U.S. cities and some New York City shelters are seeing application numbers at 10 times the normal rate. Clearly, new pet owners were looking for ways to outfit their home with supplies to make their new friend comfortable and purchasing primarily online to comply with orders. Surprisingly, it was not bedding or puppy pads that were the most popular, it was toys and fashion accessories.

PoshPuppyBoutique.coms Jennifer Kirk is a renowned pet retail and grooming business expert in the pet products industry. The success of her company has taken her around the world with the connections she has made in Hollywood over the years. After the boutique was featured in two major Disney childrens films (Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 and 3) Jennifer Kirk connected with Lisa Vanderpump of reality TV fame on Bravos The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Vanderpump Rules to featured her dog fashion line on the site. As Vanderpump prepared to launch her new foundation in 2016, Kirk was approached by Dr. John Sessa, co-founder of StopYulinForever.org, co-founder of Vanderpump Pets, and the executive director of the Vanderpump Dogs Foundation, to become an ongoing advisor and consultant on the rescue center, grooming salon, and retail site. Soon after it officially opened, Kirk was invited to join the organizations board of directors, flanked by other board members Lance Bass and Leona Lewis, where she continues to consult and helps raise funds to support proper care and treatment of dogs around the globe during their annual fund-raisers.

My love for dogs has helped me navigate my business into a global brand, explained Jennifer Kirk, owner of PoshPuppyBoutique.com. But I am most honored to be able to help rescue and protect dogs around the world.

About PoshPuppyBoutique.com

PoshPuppyBoutique.com is the leading online purveyor of quality pet products from the practical to the most lavish and fun items to pamper the most discerning pets. Opened in 2007, PoshPuppyBoutique has made a splash in two major Hollywood childrens live action animal feature films and have been featured on Good Morning America, Tori Spellings STORIbook Weddings, and various national talk shows.
When local businesses do well, Indianapolis does well, said Mayor Joe Hogsett. Thats why were doing our part to provide them with resources and programs through the pandemic and beyond. Our partnership with TruLocal is yet another tool to empower Indianapolis business owners

TruLocal, a new community-focused, e-commerce company that empowers local businesses and communities to thrive, announced today the launch of its digital marketplace that enables easy and convenient online transactions between locally-owned, brick and mortar retailers and local consumers. TruLocals solution provides local retailers with an entirely new marketing channel, robust digital capabilities, and a scalable process to connect with consumers within their communities. Through TruLocals marketplace, consumers can find what they want in local inventories, comparison shop conveniently, and choose to pick-up purchases or have them delivered on the same day. As a result, consumers get the products they want with the same convenience and safety they are used to, and their dollars are spent at small businesses that create local jobs, boost their local economies, and make up the unique fabric of their communities. TruLocals digital marketplace will be available in August 2020 in Fort Myers, FL, Indianapolis, IN, and Tucson, AZ. Please visit TruLocal.com for updates and additional information.

TruLocals digital marketplace is focused on a sector long-overlooked by e-commerce behemoths and enables small, locally owned businesses to increase sales and compete more effectively in omni-channel e-commerce. The company is currently in discussions with several other municipalities to expand its digital marketplace to additional markets across the U.S. as consumer shopping journeys evolve and more small businesses recognize the growing importance of e-commerce transactions.

At TruLocal, we recognize the synergy between communities and their retailers, particularly in creating the distinct characteristics of local culture, and we want to empower that relationship to help rebuild local economies, said Susan Hollingshead, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of TruLocal. We provide the technology infrastructure, operational expertise, and marketing support that bridges local retailers and consumers so they can conduct e-commerce locally, versus seeing those valuable dollars leave their communities.

When local businesses do well, Indianapolis does well, said Mayor Joe Hogsett. Thats why were doing our part to provide them with resources and programs through the pandemic and beyond. Our partnership with TruLocal is yet another tool to empower Indianapolis business owners and stabilize and grow our local economy.

Our local retailers are a vital component of our economy and a critical part of what makes Tucson the unique city that it is, said Mayor Regina Romero, City of Tucson. We are working to support small businesses in any way we can, and this partnership with TruLocal is a great way to connect local consumers and businesses in a joint effort to rebuild and strengthen our economy.

"Partnering with TruLocal was a no-brainer for us, said Shannon Riggs, co-owner of Tucsons Pop Cycle, a store that sells local art made from recycled materials, re-used products, and refurbished goods. Setup is easy and straightforward and its critical for my business and any small retailer for that matter, to have firm footing in the e-commerce space, now more than ever.

About TruLocal

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, TruLocal is a new community-focused, e-commerce company that bridges brick and mortar retailers with local consumers to increase sales and strengthen local economies. Through TruLocals marketplace, consumers can find what they want in local inventories, comparison shop conveniently, and choose to pick-up purchases or have them delivered on the same day. As a result, consumers get the products they want with the same convenience and safety they are used to, and their dollars are spent at locally owned, small businesses that create local jobs, boost their local economies, and make up the unique fabric of their communities. TruLocal launches starting in Summer 2020. Initial launch cities include Indianapolis, IN, Tucson, AZ, and Fort Myers, FL. For more information, visit TruLocal.com

CONTACT:

Rex Ordona

Rex@trulocal.com
We are honored to join forces with Matrix42 to combine asset intelligence, IT service management, and security solutions in order to advance the global digital workplace in the current business climate"

Matrix42, a leading provider of digital workspace management solutions, today announced their acquisition of FireScope,a leader in the secure enterprise asset discovery and monitoring marketplace. As the leading providers of asset intelligence and service management solutions, this acquisition will result in creating one powerful provider of secure, cloud-based digital work environments for the global workforce.

During a global pandemic that is affecting companies of all sizes, this joint powerhouse of workspace management capabilities is crucial to the success of international and national business. According to an April 2020 Gartner report, policies for device management, remote access and support for remote work have not scaled with the sudden spike in demand. And, the capacity of client and app virtualization infrastructure, network carrier service contracts and VPN infrastructure are not designed to support 100% of the organization working remotely.

Matrix42, based in Frankfurt Germany, is purchasing US-based FireScope for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition bolsters Matrix42s entry into the US market, as well as expanding opportunities for FireScopes solutions throughout the EMEA region. FireScope is a leading provider of visibility and intelligence for connected assets, with success in the North American market since 2006. As a partner of Matrix42 since 2018, FireScope counts Fortune 500 corporations such as Marriott Vacation Resorts, Sutter Health and Crown Media among its customers.

The digital workplace is moving more and more towards the Cloud, therefore developing into a mixed workspace with both on-premise and cloud integration, said Oliver Bendig, CEO of Matrix42. For this reason, it is extremely important to create greater transparency over devices, apps, data, data center infrastructures, and cloud workloads for customers to enable simple and secure management of their digital work environments.

Bendig continued: This makes FireScope technology the ideal addition to our product strategy and our product portfolio. In the last few quarters we have been able to successfully integrate FireScope technology with our software within the scope of our partnership. Successful projects with European customers were only one of many reasons that affirmed our decision to acquire the company.

We are honored to join forces with Matrix42 to combine asset intelligence, IT service management, and security solutions in order to advance the global digital workplace in the current business climate, said Steven Cotton, CEO of FireScope. During the ongoing pandemic, a high level of transparency and security regarding the business device and application landscape is very important to enable better use and secure management of workstations at home.

FireScopes technology detects data streams between any type of end device or application and analyzes them in terms of communication and performance. Matrix42 is seamlessly integrating FireScope into its enterprise service management and secure unified endpoint management products. The resulting transparency will make cloud transformations secure and plannable for organizations. With the aid of FireScope, Matrix42 will help customers to integrate cloud and edge computing into the management of complex work environments.

The recent merger between Matrix42 and FireScope provides a powerful integrated SaaS based ITSM and ITAM comprehensive solution ideal for small to mid-sized enterprise organizations, said Jonathan Lavigne, founder and CEO of Latest Solutions. This merger truly amplifies the offering to deliver a tightly integrated, cloud-based ITSM/ITAM solution that provides a superior value alternative to other solutions in the marketplace.

Matrix42 is also launching its entry into the US market with its extended portfolio. The existing North American customer base  which is supported from FireScopes offices in Dallas and Los Angeles  is to be rapidly developed with the entire Matrix42 portfolio. Steven Cotton, founder and CEO of FireScope, will become part of the Matrix42 management team as Vice President and General Manager of the Americas, and will be responsible for the development and expansion of US business. Matrix42 will continue to rely on the partner-focused approach that the company has consistently taken since 2016.

About Matrix42

Matrix42 supports organizations in digitalizing their employees work environments and making them more secure. Our digital workspace experience software manages devices, applications, processes, and services in a simple, secure, and compliant manner. This innovative software seamlessly integrates physical, virtual, mobile, and cloud-based work environments into existing infrastructures.

Matrix42 AG is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and sells and implements software solutions worldwide with the help of local and global partners. For further information, visit https://www.matrix42.com/en/.

About FireScope

FireScope is an innovative cloud-based asset intelligence and IT service management solution provider. FireScopes Secure Discovery and Dependency Mapping (SDDM) and Service Performance and Analytics solutions help companies discover the technology assets touching their network  both owned and unowned - and maps their inter-dependencies to provide a clear understanding of the business impact of those assets. FireScopes tools provide persistent observation, dependency mapping and performance monitoring to uncover the true business intelligence of your assets, services and cloud migrations.

http://www.FireScope.com

Press Relations

Matrix42

Gisela Dauer

Senior Communication Manager

Tel.: (+49-69) 66773-8378

Cell: (+49-172) 274-1151

Fax: (+49-69) 66773-8380

gisela.dauer@matrix42.com

Maisberger GmbH

Sabine Tritschler

Claudius-Keller-Strasse 3c

81669 Munich, Germany

Tel: (+49-89) 4195-9972

E-mail: matrix42@maisberger.com

Website: https://www.maisberger.de/en/
One of our charming cottages available for rental during pandemic. We want to get back to work and see happy guests enjoying their time here!

Craigville Retreat Center on Cape Cod in Centerville, Massachusetts, announced its re-opening to small family groups looking for self-contained vacation options during the pandemic. With eight lodging options currently available for vacationers to utilize, the retreat center can accommodate small groups (1-15 people) looking to getaway.

With new re-opening protocols in place, the staff onsite is able to offer extra safe and sanitized lodging in the 5 cottages and 3 apartments. The cottages each hold between eight to fifteen guests while the apartments can lodge two to three people each.

The Shelter-in-Place order has been challenging and many people are looking for a self-contained vacation option. Craigville Retreat Center is happy to offer a solution to those looking to reconnect to nature in a home away from home. As a nonprofit, options are charming and reasonably priced. Each cottage and apartment has its own kitchen or kitchenette for guests to do their own cooking as meal service is currently on hold.

Site Director Matthew CastleMan says, We want to get back to work and see happy guests enjoying their time here. We are grateful to have started re-opening. When we are fully open, we will be inviting nonprofit groups that are looking for event space such as the Craigville Inn, Lodge, and Manor which house much larger groups.

Craigville Retreat Center overlooks the salt marsh of Nantucket Sound and the Red Lily Pond. It is located in the small village of Craigville in Centerville on Cape Cod. This historic retreat offers wildlife viewing and local beaches.

For those looking for more information about booking a vacation in one of the cottages or apartments contact:

UCCR

800-678-510

http://www.uccr.org/craigville

reservations@uccr.org
When a felon brings a loaded gun to a populated area and uses the gun to threaten and endanger strangers, this conduct will not be tolerated, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cornelius Vandenberg wrote in the governments sentencing memorandum. 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.
Fed by our belief that retail experiences play a role in defining our broader social interactions, we have been asking ourselves how corporate Diversity and Inclusion policies translate into the physical retail environment and customer experience. For businesses with a retail presence, how do they deliver inclusive experiences to their customers?

There isn't a straightforward answer to such a complicated question. Every business is different and brands are exclusive by nature. Every brand has its own distinct offer and individual target market, which requires a specific solution.

For much of a business' marketing activities, it is totally reasonable that they focus on their own target market. But when it comes to branded physical environments, we believe that companies can only gain by making these as inclusive as reasonably possible. A brand can choose their target market, but they can't choose the customers who arrive at their doors.

Designers, both makers and thinkers, are uniquely positioned to help companies translate complex ideas and corporate policies into the built environments around us. To encourage further discussions, we have identified a number of insights that will help you understand how your retail experiences can become more inclusive beyond your own target markets. As a starting point, we defined Diversity' as the mixture of individuals in society; the range of human differences, and Inclusion as the practice of providing equal access and opportunities to people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised.

Accessible doesn't mean inclusive

When we take a more in-depth look into what is required to comply with the disability regulations, we understand the attention and focus on access' but feel further conversations to define inclusive' interactions are desperately needed. Inclusion is not necessarily achieved by merely providing access. Real inclusion is achieved when a single design solution allows access to the total scope of differences. An inclusive solution makes those with differences feel part of the same community, rather than having their differences highlighted and held up to define them.

In our store design for Canadian telecommunications brand Rogers' we designed a round cafe table that could be used for consultation and payment interactions by both wheelchair users and non-wheelchair users alike. This was central to the store concept. Yet, we were required by the disability regulations to have an additional flip down' table, at the high service counter, specifically for wheelchair users. To us, this is counter to the spirit of Inclusion because it makes wheelchair users the other' and normalises the able-bodied. When people are treated differently to others, even if it's considered, they may not feel equal or genuinely included.

Its not just about the physical differences

Discussions around Inclusion and accessibility mostly focus on our physical differences, and we often forget this is only one aspect. This needs to change. As societies acknowledge diversity in all its shapes and forms, our understanding of the impact the built environment can have on these differences also needs to evolve. A concept of increasing awareness is neurodiversity', a term that normalises the variances of brain functions and behavioural traits in society. We must be more inclusive of these differences when designing a retail experience.

The British supermarket chain Morrisons has a nationwide Quieter Hour' where the store is adapted to suit different sensory stimulation of autistic shoppers. During this hour some of the lights are dimmed, there are no announcements made over speakers, and the barcode scanners make no sounds. How would you adapt your environment to be inclusive of autistic customers?

You must consider all touchpoints

Translating an Inclusive' brand positioning into retail action is complex. Many retail brands are making great efforts to be diverse and inclusive but are struggling to translate these policies onto the shop floor. When businesses create brands with inclusive' positioning, they need to be extra sure that their brand promise is represented throughout the store experience and at each moment of the customer journey. It's no longer good enough for businesses to say they are inclusive, its how they act that matters. When a brands marketing claims are reinforced by its in-store actions, they become more authentic to their values, and a deeper customer connection is achieved.

Let's consider a global leader in brand inclusiveness, MAC Cosmetics. Inclusion and diversity are integrated explicitly into their brand promise; all ages, all races, all genders. We admire the high bar they set for themselves, but during one visit to our local London MAC store, we recognised some opportunities to translate this promise better and create a more inclusive experience across all the physical touchpoints in-store. Some subtle changes to the store environment can easily help bring the inclusive' brand promise to the centre of the customer experience.

The promotional images displayed in-store featured young women exclusively and the product names (Prissy Princess', Mischief Minx', Basic Bitch') are heavily marketed to females. These should better reflect the brand's positioning of all genders. And although we found store staff to be exemplary representatives of the brands inclusive positioning, and they reflected well the ethnic diversity of their customers, in the store we visited there were no older women nor men working. Should a brand appealing to all genders and ages ensure that both male and female of varying ages are always represented in-store? If there is no representation in-store of the brand position in either the promotional imagery or the staff, is the brand position then diminished? We believe that by increasing the diversity in-store through at least one touchpoint the minority consumers will be empowered, without affecting the majority. Would women, being the majority customer base for MAC, be turned off by some representation of men in-store?

Staff diversity is crucial for any retail inclusion' strategy

Staff diversity is paramount when delivering an inclusive retail environment for customers. It's not reasonable to expect all stores to reflect the diversity of society, but stores should certainly reflect the diversity of their own target market. There is great power in customers seeing themselves reflected in the experience. They want to feel they are understood by the person representing the brand and serving them. Based on their gender, ethnicity or age, an absence of appropriate staff diversity can be a barrier for many customers. As the population ages, older retail employees will be in demand to reflect the customer profile and meet the needs of older consumers in their stores. We already see this as under-utilised in tech-related retail, where having an older staff member can vastly change the Inclusivity of the store experience for older customers.

We encountered a great example of age-diverse staff recently when visiting Londons Tate Modern museum. Two older women wearing bags displaying ASK ME were helpful to customers of all ages, yet additionally, they were able to convey information through the lens of their age group to their peers. Retail can learn from looking at how other public spaces, like museums, are being staffed.

You cannot prioritise everybody!

We should expect a brand to be inclusive of their own target market. Granted, this is an easier task for brands with a particular niche target than for brands that have a wide market appeal. Those with a broader target market require their retail environments and experiences to be inclusive of many individual differences in society.

Consider how a large national based telecommunications and media company, with the broadest of customer segments, would create an inclusive retail experience. With such a vast market appeal and the need to be inclusive of so many, they run the risk of becoming so generic that nobody can identify with them anymore. Retail environments and physical experiences that service a broad target market need to take specific care on many levels.

When considering store seating, how would a broad appealing brand account for a wide variety of ages  from an older woman to a young father carrying an infant. What about the in-store commercial messages? They would need to be relevant and legible to the elderly, but equally relatable for younger generations and accessible for the diverse variety of cultures in society.

Consider creating an engaging waiting experience that is entirely different for a Gen Z than for a family with three children or an older couple. Designing for those individuals is one thing, but appealing to all of them in a single store is a real challenge. And all are important. Provide a bad waiting experience for a family and they may lose selling a full suite of home services; a bad experience for a Gen Z and they may lose a loyal customer for decades. No matter who, all customers expect to be the top priority.

The proof is in the pudding. Actions speak louder than words. What you do is more important than what you say. All of these cannot be truer here. It is no longer good enough for any business to say they are diverse and inclusive, businesses need to act and behave inclusively. They don't just need to be inclusive; they need to translate their corporate inclusion' policy (or brand value/market position) into everything they do as a business. Branded retail environments and experiences can play a fundamental role in conveying a brands inclusive and diverse values to their customers and this translates directly into customers having a positive perception about the inclusivity and accessibility of your brand.

Businesses and brands will increasingly strive to be more diverse and inclusive, not just because of a larger moral duty to society, but because they will benefit from it, as will their customers. Today there is undeniable evidence showing that when solutions go beyond a business' target market to include the wider diversities within the community, both businesses and society benefit. Inclusive design isnt just about elevating the experience of those more vulnerable, its about actualising the full potential of those in the margins to impact society as others can. It creates shared experiences and often unforeseen innovation that all of society benefits from. When we design considering the margins of society we design for everybody and all of society prospers.

The insights above are indented to trigger a wider discourse around Inclusion and diversity within the retail landscape. There are many questions to answer still, and we will continue our path to understanding how these complex social issues better translate into the physical world around us.

Ian Johnston is Founder of Quinine, a leading retail experience consultancy devoted to the power of design to drive innovation and growth. The consultancy helps brands create world-class social, cultural and commercial experiences that enrich and delight their customers everyday lives. Learn more about Quinine.
James Patterson introduces a mystifying new character into his Maximum Ride universe in Hawk, a YA novel he wrote with Gabrielle Charbonnet, out this month from Little, Browns Jimmy Patterson imprint. The original nine-book Maximum Ride series, published between 2005 and 2015, has sold more than 13 million copies. Hawk centers on a 17-year-old who was abandoned by her parents in a post-apocalyptic New York City a decade earlier, with instructions to wait on a specific street corner until they come back for her. Dubbed Hawk for the bird perched on her shoulder, the girl awaits their return at the appointed spotday after day, year after yearuntil an unexpected occurrence dramatically changesand endangersher life. Patterson spoke with PW about what sparked his revisit to this fictional world, his current works in progress, and his finely tuned collaborative technique.

Did you believe, when you published Maximum Ride Forever as the final book in that series, that you were leaving Maxs realm permanently?

Yes. I thought that Id said all that I had to say about Maxand maybe even a little too much! But whenever I speak at colleges and high schools, the series that most often comes up in questions is Maximum Ride. Still, I thought Id said enough about her, and then one day I was walking down Fifth Avenue in New York City and saw a woman in her 20s who appeared to be homeless, standing on a corner soliciting change, and she had a Hawk on her shoulder. And thats where this book was born. I dont want to spoiler alert myself, but eventually readers learn how Hawk is connected to Max. Revisiting Maxs world really got my juices running. Im excited about this book and I hope kids will be too, and Im happy to have a chance to introduce new readers to Max.

Did Hawks character and personality crystalize easily for you?

I would say so. Hawk has some of Max in her. There are similarities, but it was important to me that she be her own person. My son is now 22, and just graduated from college. One of the things he is dealing with is becoming his own person and discovering lifes pluses and minuses on his ownand figuring out what will help him find happiness. So through him, that struggle is fresh and relevant to me right now, and I could easily identify with Hawks struggle as a young woman finding her way.

You have written in so many genres, for young readers and adults. Are you equally at home writing in all of the domains youve exploredand what is your current creative focus?

If I can get emotional about a story, I am there and am delighted to write it, whatever the genrethough I will say that I wont ever write a military novel or a romance. I am just finishing my autobiography, which is a new and different challenge for me. I also recently wrote The House of Kennedy [with Cynthia Fagen], which Little, Brown published in April. Obviously there has been a lot written about the Kennedys, so the big challenge with that book was, how do you make their story fresh and interesting?

I have The Last Days of John Lennon [written with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge] coming out in December from Little, Brown, which was especially interesting to write since Lennons life has some connections to mine. I was living on the Upper West Side when he was murdered outside his building in the neighborhood. I was in the crowd when people gathered in Central Park after his death, and hanging in my office is a photo Harry Benson took at the event, with people holding a banner that said a single word: Why? And my home in Palm Beach is connected by a bridge to a house that Lennon and Yoko Ono once owned for several years.

I also wrote a book with Kwame Alexander, Becoming Muhammad Ali, which Jimmy Patterson Books will publish in October. I am very excited about this book, since Ali is such a strong role model for kids. Even as a child he was so smart, particularly about civil rights.

Given your cache of bestselling books written in tandem with others, you have a solid track record as a collaborator. Does that process change from book to book, and coauthor to coauthor?

It does change a little bit with each coauthor, but some things stay the same. I always start with an outline and I always want to involve a coauthor in creating that outline. It is vital to the success of the book. If writers are just looking for a payday, it is a disaster. If they are committed to making the book as good as it can bea story they can be proud ofit is a success. When collaborating with another author, it is important to be in constant touch and read their scripts oftensince occasionally books wander or march in place, and its a lot easier to review stories every two weeks and talk it through if somethings not quite right. When writing scenes, a lot of authors know how to write a beginning and an end, which can work. But if they are masters, and can write middles as well, then the story really works.

Hawk by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. Little, Brown/Patterson, $18.99 July 6 ISBN 978-0-316-49440-3
Robert P. Jones, director of the Public Religion Research Institute, draws on polling and statistics to interpret faith and culture in the United States. In books such as The End of White Christian America (Simon & Schuster, 2016) Jones both crunches the numbers and interprets what demographic shifts might mean for the future.

His latest book, White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, (S&S, Aug.) focus on the legacy of structural racism in American Christianity. Drawing from U.S. history, statistical research, and his own upbringing in Mississippi, Jones explains in stark relief the ways in which white supremacy has defined white Christianity.

PW spoke with Jones about what his research tells us about race and religion in our current historical moment.

(This conversation has been edited for clarity and length)

In what ways has white supremacy marked American Christianity?

All white Christians, including evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Catholics, and the Orthodox, must reckon with the fact that to be baptized into our religions often means that were being baptized into a religion that has white supremacy in its DNA. Take for example the actions of white supremacist terrorist Dylan Roof, who shockingly saw no contradiction between his violence and his Christianity That disturbing reality needs to be taken seriously and reckoned with, because so much of white Christianity in this nation developed in a way to bolster white supremacy.

What explains the evangelical enthusiasm for Donald Trump?

First thing is that we need to expand the lens. White evangelicals seem hypocritical as values voters, but its worth remembering that 64% of white Catholics voted for him, and that 57% of mainline Protestants, who are supposedly more liberal, voted for him as well. His attraction for those voters is based in nostalgia, since Trump is appealing to a demographic past, to what seems to his supporters as a lost world of white Christian dominance. Those voters have shifted the political goalposts from values to nostalgia and, for them, the end is more important than the means.

What role has Christianity played in memorialized displays of white supremacy?

You see this with the long endurance of Lost Cause mythology, no more so than in the prevalence of Confederate memorials. Its important to remember that those markers often date from much later than the Civil War, and that they were placed to reaffirm white dominance. This memorializing was done with the explicit support of white Christians, who figuratively baptized those Confederate statues in Christian symbolism.

You argue that white supremacy isnt just damaging to minorities, but white people as well. What do you mean by that?

When the pastor of a white Baptist church in Macon, GA, preached about the churchs historical role in slaveryincluding evidence that slaves were sold to pay for church expensesthere were audible gasps coming from the pews, for example. The story white Christians often tell themselves is that were good people who do good things. And theres truth to that, but it isnt the whole story.

What gives you hope for the future beyond anti-racist statements from church leaders?

Whats in part required are community solutions, conceived of by Black and by white Christians [who have] actually done their homework. The good news is these sorts of things are happening, and youre beginning to see change at the grassroots level. Im pleasantly surprised to see Confederate memorials coming down and the elimination of the Confederate symbol from the Mississippi state flag. The Mississippi Baptist Convention was one of the groups advocating for the latter change, which would have been unthinkable even a few years ago. I dont pretend that everything is going to instantly change, but right now there is a crack in the dam. Theres no going back.
West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis pats a protester on the back during a protest in late May.
Rantoul, IL (61866)

Today

Sunshine and a few clouds. High 74F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 59F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
TrendForce said that its research had found that the TV panel market has seen its demand rebound quickly, in turn resulting in a higher-than-expected spike in TV panel quotes in July. It predicted that other than for 75-inch panels, prices for all sizes of TV panels are likely to go into a noticeable uptrend in July, with a projected 8-10% month-on-month increase in 32-inch and 55-inch panels. Prices for 43-inch, 50-inch, and 65-inch panels, which are panel sizes with equally strong demand momentum, are expected to see average rises of 6-8%, resulting in a rarely seen bull market for the display panel industry in recent years.The study also noted a marked trend of price differences existing among the different panel suppliers and purchasers are worth investigating. First said TrendForce, the differences in panel quotes from panel suppliers exist mainly due to the supply dominance of BOE and TCL CSOT, following Korean manufacturers exit from the LCD manufacturing business. BOE and TCL CSOT now hold increased influence over panel prices, including the magnitude of price hikes.With regards to the purchasing end of the market  and in particular the four major brands including Samsung , LGE, TCL and Hisense  TrendForce said that Chinese brands were far more ambitious than their Korean counterparts in expanding market share overseas and therefore exhibiting much higher stock-up demand. As such, Chinese brands were found to be more accepting of rising panel prices relative to their competitors.Going forward, the study concluded by predicting that given the return of consumer confidence, as well as the TV brands sales promotions following the pandemics gradual slowdown, the demand for TV panels was likely to remain strong in the third quarter of 2020, but the large-scale price hikes in panel quotes will lead to decreased profitability for TV brands, in turn potentially becoming the greatest impediment against the sustained rise in panel prices in the future.
Today

Steady light rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 73F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

A mainly sunny sky. High near 75F. Winds light and variable.
Beth Hahn, president of Shillington-based Berkshire Systems Group Inc. and SAH Inc., used the coronavirus pandemic slowdown to conduct training at the companies.
Coronavirus

25 new cases for Berks

25 more coronavirus positives for Berks County; state overall most in nearly 2 months
The trio went under a wooden shelter on the path to wait out the storm. Lightning struck a nearby tree and traveled into the shelter, hitting the young girl who was sitting on a bench.
The Animal Rescue League of Berks County in Cumru Township will be among more than 160 shelters in the U.S. participating in the Bissell Pet Foundation's Empty the Shelters event.
People set off consumer fireworks on Chestnut Street in West Reading on Saturday night in celebration of the Fourth of July.
This superbattlefield allowed for the efficient destruction of an opponents forces. To use the earlier example, it was far easier to destroy Me-262s by preventing their construction, destroying them in factories, or bombing them on the ground than it was to shoot them down in air combat. OBrien argues the failure of Germany and Japan to either protect their own phases of production and deployment or attack the Allied equivalents practically guaranteed their eventual defeat. Or, put another way, the inability of Germany to stop Allied forces in the Battle of the Atlantic or the Japanese to protect their own sea lines of communication from American interdiction sealed their respective fates.[14] It was not the individual battles that won or lost the war, OBrien argues, but rather the destruction of the systems to make battle.[15]

The question for American planners today is twofold. Is OBriens theory of victory in warfare still applicable? And, if it is, what does it mean for how America thinks about fighting wars?

The Superbattlefield Today

The superbattlefield is just as relevant today as it was during World War II. The 2018 National Defense Strategy has specifically tasked the armed forces with evolving innovative operational concepts to sharpen our competitive advantages and enhance our lethality. The goal: deter aggression or, if necessary, use contact, blunt, and, ultimately, surge forces to defeat an adversary while protecting the homeland.[16] What the National Defense Strategy misses is the need to win on the superbattlefield to enable these actions. For example, while the National Defense Strategys unclassified summary mentions lethality twenty times, it mentions industry (essentially production in OBriens framing) just once and deployment only three times. This overemphasis of the battlefield leaves American forces underprepared in the event of a sustained conflict.

while the National Defense Strategys unclassified summary mentions lethality twenty times, it mentions industry (essentially production in OBriens framing) just once and deployment only three times.

It would be risky to assume a war will be short enough to preclude the need to resupply forward forces or produce and deploy new ones. As a conflict grows in duration, each phasepre-production, production, and deploymentwill increase in importance relative to individual battles. For example, in a hypothetical conflict with China, the American military would need to deploy and sustain forces thousands of miles away from the continental United States (deployment). Simultaneously, the United States would need to produce significant numbers of weapons and platforms to sustain operations, replace inevitable losses, and build up forces to achieve overmatch (production). To do this, America would require secure supply chains for system components and materials (pre-production). Experience in the campaign to counter the Islamic State showed how much of a burden even a relatively small campaign can have on weapons stockpiles and the U.S. industrial base.[17] A conflict with a peer or near-peer competitor would only further challenge Americas ability to wage war.

Chinese efforts, moreover, appear in line with preparing for war on a superbattlefield. As Jeffrey Engstrom writes:

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army now characterizes and understands modern warfare as a confrontation between opposing operational systems [a???a??] rather than merely opposing armies. Under this theory, warfare is no longer centered on the annihilation of enemy forces on the battlefield. Rather, it is won by the belligerent that can disrupt, paralyze, or destroy the operational capability of the enemys operational system.[18]

While Chinese documents often emphasize the information component of the confrontation between opposing systems, China is also building a robust set of kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities to target the deployment phase of American intervention.[19] Counter-intervention concepts and base strike capabilities all aim at the efficient destruction of American and Allied forces before they reach the battlefield: destroy the harbors and runways necessary to support military action, eliminate ships in port and planes on the ground, and otherwise target Americas ability to sustain military action.[20]

China also would likely target the production and pre-production phases. So far, Chinese capabilities seem to indicate a lack of desire to kinetically strike the continental United States. However, as some analysts have written, Chinese strikes on the continental United States could have significant detrimental effects on American war-making capability.[21] Or, China could non-kinetically attack the American homeland. If this were the case, then the production phase of the superbattlefield would be a probable target. Even disrupting a production line, without inflicting kinetic damage, could cause the loss of numerous smart weapons or aircraft relative to production targets.[22] Finally, China likely would pressure U.S. defense supply chains to target the pre-production phase of the superbattlefield.[23] In summary, a conflict between America and China could take on much of the nature, if not the character, of the superbattlefield of the Second World War.

Americas current response appears inadequate. Today, American planners spend significant energy on increasing the lethality of the existing force and worrying about fait accompli scenarios. Ultimately, lethality is necessary but not sufficient to win a protracted conflict against China. Instead, the United States military must develop a theory of victory on the superbattlefield of today and the future.
Egypts Minister of State for Military Production Mohamed El-Assar passed away on Monday at the age of 74, the Egyptian presidency announced.

"Egypt has lost one of its unique military icons a fighter who gave his life to serve his homeland and a wise man who took part in running the country during a difficult period," the presidency said.

El-Assar was a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces during the 2011 Revolution, when the army sided with the Egyptians' demand to oust Hosni Mubarak.

He was named the military production minister in 2015.

In late June, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi promoted El-Assar to the honorary rank of lieutenant-general, and bestowed upon him the Nile sash.

The presidential statement added that President El-Sisi expressed condolences in his name and on behalf of the Egyptian people and government.

The president's official social media accounts said El-Assar was a unique statesman and spared no effort for his homeland.

The president added that El-Assar was always at the forefront of Egypt's men who defended it in critical moments of its history

The Amed Forces mourned the death of El-Assar, offering condolences to his family.

Egyptian cabinet said he did his best to serve his country in every field he worked in and in every position he occupied.

The General Intelligence also mourned El-Assar in a statement, saying El-Assar "dies after a long journey of struggle, work, and sacrifice for the nation."

Other mourners included the trade and industry minister, petroleum minister, public enterprise minister, the Federation of Egyptian Industries, various political parties, members of parliament, and the Saudi Ambassador to Egypt, Osama Al Nugali.

A military funeral is scheduled for El-Assar on Tuesday.

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Previously, hundreds of square miles of oyster beds and reefs dotted the Hudson, allowing filter feeders to gobble up algae. Now, however, those beds are gone, and algae has bloomed and consumed the dissolved oxygen.
The Air Force recently announced its "new bomber vision" in which "dynamic force employment" replaces continuous bomber presence at Guam. The new vision is for bombers to pop up unexpectedly around the world, thus demonstrating a perpetual ability to project power. [1]

The new vision can depict national resolve in the absence of a hot war. However, during an actual conflict, deploying bombers (or fighters) to bases that are not robustly defended against a range of attacks could be a quick way to lose the use of that base and, depending on the severity of the attack and in-place sheltering, many aircraft and trained personnel.

Air Force Chief General Charles Brown wants the Air Force to develop more mobile airbase defenses in light of longer-ranged Chinese missile threats. Given the panoply of existing and potential threats, General Brown is fortunate to be closely connected to the new Space Force, which can complement current land- and sea-based defenses to provide substantially better protection of potential Air Force bases.

Looking first at threats and defense capabilities

China and Russia have long-range kinetic attack capabilities with missiles launched from land or sea. North Korea and Iran have regional kinetic attack capabilities with missiles launched from land, future longer-range missiles appear possible, and both are developing sea-launched missiles. [2a, 2b, 2c]

The current land-based and properly placed sea-based missile defenses could be effective against unsophisticated North Korean and Iranian missile attacks. However, if China or Russia were to mount sophisticated attacks with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, or hypersonic missilesparticularly in combinationsuch defenses would likely be severely challenged or defeated.

It is openly acknowledged that the U.S. cannot currently defend against hypersonic missiles, which have much lower trajectories than ordinary ballistic missiles. [3]

China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran with nuclear developments, could also launch missiles or deploy satellites containing high-altitude electromagnetic (HEMP) warheads. Chinas classification of HEMP attack in military doctrine as electronic warfare or information warfare indicates that HEMP is not even considered a form of nuclear attack, but would be equivalent to non-nuclear EMP weapons and cyber warfare. Insufficiently hardened essential electronics in Air Force, Army, and Navy systems at or defending airbases could be disabled by a HEMP field (10-100 kilovolts/meter). [4], [5]

What, specifically, does Space Force offer?

Space Force operates throughout the ultimate global "high ground," which enables looking down and attacking hostile missiles during launch when they are most vulnerable, as well as in flight all along their paths to targets. These look-down capabilities, which are slowly advancing, include developing new LEO (low earth orbit) satellites. [6]

But more than sensors are important for countering advanced missiles! Space-based missile-defense systems, which were proven cost-effective decades ago, could be quickly deployed to provide global coverage of Air Force bases and potential missile-launch avenues toward those bases. Spaceplanes, which also have other mission capabilities (such as countering attacks on U.S. satellites), could significantly assist the missile-defense mission during its development and deployment and their ability to closely observe and, if necessary, eliminate satellites determined to be HEMP-capable. [7]

Space-based defenses could be deployed on top of an optimal combination of land- and sea-based defenses, as determined for different airbase locations. The space-based layer of, for example, 1,000 interceptors and a squadron of space planes, would enormously complement the Earth-based defenses, seriously complicate an attackers planning, and greatly improve Americas ability to deter or defeat missile and satellite attacks on global U.S. interests.

This kind of space-based layer could have relatively short initial deployment timelines (space planes, 2-3 years; interceptors, 5 years) and relatively modest costsin the range of 3-4% of the approximate $1 trillion likely needed to simultaneously modernize Americas nuclear arsenal to sustain MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) and catch up, at scale, in the arms race for hypersonic weapons.

Throughout history attacking forces, routinely had to re-evaluate their tactics and strategies for penetrating enemy defenses, which could deter or defeat prior planned attacks. Why should adversaries planning to attack U.S. airbases have the luxury of not confronting the strongest array of defenses?

Regarding America's nuclear deterrent, adding space-based defenses would not diminish the need for a capable triad of bombers plus land- and sea-based missiles; rather, it would balance and complement that purely offensive posture a substantial defensive component to increase deterrence.

To those who oppose space-based defenses because they could be perceived as weaponizing space, there is no malevolence to using space to defend America against other nations weapons that threaten us by flying through or existing in space. Indeed, robust space-based defenses could revolutionize the threat environment presently dominated by offensive missile systems and strategies, deterring and making less likely the use of space for offensive weapons.

Norm Haller has led and assisted analyses, planning, and preparing reports for DoD and Congress on nuclear and non-nuclear forces for deterrence and defense against missile attacks; now a consultant, he served in the Air Force, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission as the Chairmans Executive Assistant.

Dr. Peter Vincent Pry is executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security. He served on the Congressional EMP Commission as chief of staff, the Congressional Strategic Posture Commission, the House Armed Services Committee, and the CIA. He is author of "Blackout Wars," and also of "The Power and the Light," available on Amazon.com.



Notes:



2a. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/korea-watch/why-iran-north-korea-missile-alliance-pure-trouble-157351

2b. https://www.newsweek.com/iran-north-korea-build-new-submarines-1486146

2c Ralph Savelsberg, New Iranian Missile Could Strike Central Europe Breaking Defense (June 29, 2020).
June was National Ocean Month for the United States, a time to reflect on the economic, national security, and environmental impacts of the worlds oceans on our country. Throughout our nation's history, the oceans have served to protect our shores and facilitate our economic prosperity. Because our national identity, wealth, and security are so inextricably linked to the oceans, safeguarding the freedom of the seas has been a long-standing imperative for the United States. Protecting it, as well as its guarantee under customary international law, is as important today as it was in the early days of the Republic.

In a 1941 fireside chat, President Franklin D. Roosevelt assured the American people, Generation after generation, America has battled for the general policy of the freedom of the seas. Presidents from both parties have reaffirmed this policy into the modern era. The current National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy identify open and free access to common domains as critical to the United States national security, but freedom of the seas affects all nations.

The term, freedom of the seas, includes all of the rights, freedoms, and internationally lawful uses of the sea and airspace (including for military ships and aircraft) reflected in international law. All of these rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the seas are enshrined in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC). This treaty contains a clear and comprehensive set of rules applicable across a global domain and is vital to stabilizing the economic and security interests of all countries, whether or not they have a coastline.

Navigation rights and freedoms are guaranteed to all States under international law, but they are still threatened by countries that refuse to abide by the law and try to infringe on those rights and freedoms. Some countries invoke national laws, regulations, or pronouncements that unlawfully attempt to restrict the exercise of these rights and freedoms. Left unchallenged, these excessive maritime claims undermine international lawparticularly in contested areas like the South China Sea, where the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is also depriving other nations of access to natural resources both marine life and fossil fuels.

Contrary to PRC talking points, routine regional patrols planned and conducted consistent with international law do not increase the risk of miscalculation and conflict; rather, it is the unlawful restriction of navigation rights and freedoms that heightens tensions at sea. The PRC has mischaracterized Americas dedication to freedom of the seas as unnecessarily provocative and aggressive, warning that the United States freedom of navigation voyages were prone to cause unexpected incidents. Following USS Mustins lawful freedom of navigation voyage through the South China Sea in May of this year, the PRC lashed out, accusing the United States of violating Chinese sovereignty and raising regional security risks. The British Government faced similar censure when HMS Albion lawfully sailed through the Paracel Islands in 2018. The PRCs characterization of the purpose and intent of freedom of navigation voyages is not only misplaced, but it also seeks to redirect attention away from the PRCs excessive maritime claims, several of which an international tribunal, regarding the Philippines' maritime claims, roundly rejected in 2016.

Recognizing the importance of defending international law, as well as of peace and international order for the benefit of all countries, the United States has sustained for more than 40 years a robust Freedom of Navigation Program. The program has two parts: U.S. Department of State outreach to protest unlawful restrictions on navigation rights and freedoms and U.S. Department of Defense freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs). The latter involves sailing or flying in compliance with international law but in a way that challenges unlawful restrictions on navigation rights and freedoms. FONOPs are routinely executed as peaceful, objective protests against these unlawful restrictions and do not address competing territorial sovereignty claims or maritime boundary disputes.

The U.S. Department of Defense conducts FONOPs in full conformity with international law and impartiality, regularity, and transparency around the globe. The Freedom of Navigation Program is country-agnostic and has challenged unlawful restrictions on navigation rights and freedoms made by allies, partners, adversaries, and competitors. In Fiscal Year 2019, the U.S. Department of Defense challenged the unlawful restrictions of more than 20 countries, often multiple times. The U.S. Department of Defense also submits an annual report to Congress documenting FONOPs and makes those reports publicly available on the Departments website.

The United States is not alone in recognizing and acting on the importance of defending international law. Many nations share our viewpoint, including some whose unlawful restrictions the United States has challenged. We welcome and encourage other States to take a proactive and continuing role in upholding the international law of the sea by publicly protesting unlawful restrictions on navigation rights and freedoms through diplomatic channels, conducting FONOPs when feasible, or by other appropriate legal means within their capabilities. Our rule-of-law message to offending States is more compelling when delivered, and demonstrated, in unison.

The freedom of the seas should matter to all countrieseven those without maritime borderswho benefit from the economic and security dividends of upholding international law. Countries that continue to assert the primacy of their unlawful maritime restrictions undermine the rights and freedoms that benefit all. So long as they do, the United States will continue to champion the international law of the sea through our Freedom of Navigation Program.

David F. Lasseter is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction and oversees Oceans Policy for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Twenty Indian soldiers are murdered in a surprise cross-border attack by the Peoples Liberation Army. A Philippine fishing boat is sunk in its own territorial waters by increasingly predatory Chinese ships. Peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong are beaten bloody by riot police on Beijings orders. Australias farmers and miners are hit with trade sanctions after Canberra suggests that the virus, which came out of China, may have come from . . . China.
What, to an American, is this Fourth of July? Six weeks into the wave of rioting and nihilism sweeping the nation, as our long-simmering cold civil war gets hotter, it seems hard to find cause for celebration on our beloved countrys 244th birthday.

Elites and their coalition of the aggrieved have ramped up the assault on patriotic Middle America. What began as an urban intifada has since become another wave in the unfolding post-1960s Cultural Revolution. The aim, as always, remains the overthrow of the countrys culture, way of life, and republican ideals.

The jubilation with which elites embraced the orgy of protests, rioting, looting, arson, and vandalism gives us a glimpse into an ugly future: if the cause is deemed just and if the mobs anger is sufficiently righteous, then the laws no longer apply. The media-Democratic-corporate complex will bless it all, while tepid opposition on the right will either keep quiet or, like Mitt Romney, join the protests themselves.

First Amendment notwithstanding, the U.S. is acting like a budding totalitarian theocracy, one in which all must kneel at the altar of wokeness. Those who refuse are not punished by the statenot yet, anywaybut by corporate America and the media. They run the risk of losing their livelihoods and being forever defamed on the internet.

How long until those accused of racism are denied, say, banking services? In the meantime, it is increasingly unclear whether heretics who defend themselves against assault can expect equal protection under the law. Even relatives of the accused are fair game.

None of this is in any way comparable to being sent to the gulag, but the Land of the Free this is not. Woke propaganda is now all pervasive, its lies and distortions embedded into every corner of our public life. And unlike the educated elites in the late Soviet Union who had lost all faith in Communism, our elites actually believe the lies about systemic racism and the Legalized Genocide of Colored People.

Underlying this revolution is a bedrock belief that whites are uniquely evilthe cancer of human history, in Susan Sontags infamous formulation. It is the white race and it aloneits ideologies and inventionswhich eradicates autonomous civilizations wherever it spreads, she wrote. This is the self-evident truth of Woke America.

According to the official history taught in our schools and universities, the white man alone is guilty of crimes against nonwhite humanity. Slavery, genocide, colonialism, imperialism, and apartheid are his exclusive prerogative. Whatever accomplishments he has claimed were either stolen from people of color (as the 1987 book Black Athena argues) or built on their oppression (the development of America).

The cause of white evil appears to be not biological but historical. Whereas Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam taught that white people are born devils by nature, our Church of Diversity teaches that whites have acted and continue to act like devils. The new hierarchical racial dichotomywhite bad, nonwhite goodis based on a one-sided historical record of oppression. The horrors that nonwhites have visited upon one another or on whites are, of course, ignored.

Because whites choose to be evil, they must be held responsible for their actions and punished. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the woke foot soldier. In this post-Christian world, forgiveness is reserved for the crimes committed by the historically oppressed. For whites, only infinite penance will suffice.

This new vision is not yet enshrined in our laws, and it remains imprudent for those with political aspirations to affirm it publicly. But it finds increasing expression among the woke vanguard in the academy, on social media, in the press, and among the Antifa and BLM vandals. At worst, a virulently antiwhite tweet may have to be deleted, but no one gets canceled for demonizing whites.

If there is hope, it lies in the majority of Americans of all races who do not believe this racist nonsense, who still cling to the colorblind republican creed of equal rights under equal law. They have been falsely taught to look beyond the founding to defend it, but at least the belief is not dead, however obscured its provenance may be.

In truth, the creed finds its clearest and most eloquent articulation in the good old self-evident truths proclaimed by our Founders. All men are created equal has always meant all men. And it still means all men. Nowhere in the Declaration of Independence, or in the Constitution for that matter, are people classified by raceor ethnicity, religion, sex, or any of the other categories used to pit us against one another today.

What the country needs are more Americansthe more prominent, the betterto reassert the Founders creed and pledge, in its defense, if not their lives and fortunes, at the very least their sacred honor.
Donald Trump takes Kanye West seriously.

In an Oval Office interview Tuesday, the president told RealClearPolitics he has been watching intently as the music mogul mulls a bid for the White House. The two are friendly, and Trump welcomed him to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue before the 2018 midterms. They havent talked about presidential ambitions.

And West has not registered as a candidate or put together a campaign committee or taken any of the traditional steps involved with a run for office. He has only tweeted.

We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future, West wrote on the Fourth of July. I am running for president of the United States, he declared before adding the hashtag 2020Vision.

This leaves everyone, including Trump, wondering whether West will actually do it.

He may. Its very interesting, the president said from behind the Resolute Desk before noting that the artist, who famously and controversially donned a red MAGA hat in the Oval Office, has a real voice.

West, shown above meeting with Trump in October 2018, needs to work on his timing, though.

As Trump noted, the window of opportunity may have passed: Itd have to be limited to certain states because in some states the deadline has been missed.

But the celebrity president does not object to having another celebrity on the ballot in November 2020 and then again in November of 2024. If he did it, Trump said, he would have to view this as a trial run for whats going to happen in four years.

It was retweeted more than half a million times, and liked more than a million times.

But presidential campaigns take time and planning, not just viral moments. Usually candidates begin laying the groundwork years before formally announcing a run. West would have just four months, and for that reason many are tempted to dismiss his political flirtation as a stunt. But his money and his name recognition, combined with political arithmetic, could make him a factor.

As some have already noted, Trump won his first term with a straight flush and by narrow margins in midwestern states. He won Michigan by 10,000 votes, while election officials recorded nearly 9,000 write-in ballots there. He also won in Wisconsin by 23,000 votes. Meanwhile, voters wrote in the name of another candidate 35,150 times.

If the rapper actually means what he tweets, then those numbers should make campaigns nervous. The president seemed relaxed Tuesday morning though, and likely with good reason.

While West has publicly backed Trump in the past, he isnt likely to steal away many voters on the right. He said in a May 2018 interview with radio host Charlamagne Tha God that his presidency would be a mix of the Trump campaign, and maybe the Bernie Sanders principles.

I think both are needed, the rapper added.

At least in theory, an independent bid by West could also throw the youth vote into flux. While Millennials generally skew Democratic, a vocal contingent has made known its unhappiness with Joe Biden. This bloc could find an alternative in the popular musician, sapping votes away from the left in a close election.

This would certainly please the president, though he didnt address any strategic details other than to say that a Kanye West candidacy in 2020 would be a great trial run.
Good morning. Its Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Thirty-nine years ago today, President Reagan chose Sandra Day OConnor to be the Supreme Courts first female justice. Although those in the right-to-life movement expressed reservations about her ambiguously stated views about abortion, Reagans first high court nominee sailed through the Senate confirmation process. Time would show that social conservatives doubts about OConnor were not misplaced; even so, Reagan never second-guessed himself about his choice.

Ill have more about this historic justice in a moment. First, Id point you to RealClearPolitics front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters and contributors, including the following:

* * *

YouGov Polling: Biden Skeptics Are Moderate Democrats. David Brady and Brett Parker report on the latest findings.

Will the Coronavirus Economy Hurt Dems' Chances in November? Savannah Shoemake warns that a lack of job-saving and job-creating strategies could cost her party dearly.

The Way to Repair U.S. Politics: More Competition. Mort Kondracke reviews a new book on political reform titled The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy.

The Difference Nancy Reagan Made. Mark Weinberg had this tribute to the former first lady yesterday on what would have been her 99th birthday.

Still Time for Mnuchin to Delay the Tax Deadline. In RealClearMarkets, Andrew Wilford warns that COVID-impacted businesses skating by on loans arent in a position to handle the impending tax expense.

Post-Pandemic, a Sustained Recovery Will Depend on Energy. David Holt asserts that a key lesson from the crisis is that America must not rely on other nations for critical supplies -- and that starts with energy sources.

Britain Must Avoid the Trap of Economic Nationalism. In RealClearPolicy, Patrick OConnor and Donald Boudreaux write that optimism about the U.K. emerging from Brexit as a torch bearer for free trade and openness is waning.

Its Time for Israel to Take the BDS Movement Seriously. In RealClearWorld, Ronnie Olesker argues that the rise of Black Lives Matter may foreshadow a tipping point in global support for the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement.

Breaking Down Human Consciousness. RealClearScience editor Ross Pomeroy highlights the 10 properties of human consciousness outlined recently by visual neuroscientist Christopher Tyler.

* * *

As California governor in pre-Roe v. Wade America, Ronald Reagan signed a bill codifying instances when abortion was permissible. One of the allowable exceptions was the health of the pregnant woman, language that proved so elastic it essentially legalized abortion in the state.

Gov. Reagan felt hed been deceived by pro-choice advocates, and the experience hardened his views against abortion. But he was never the equivalent of a single-issue voter on that question. Nor was he a single-issue president.

The idea of naming a woman to the Supreme Court arose in October 1980, when the Reagan campaigns internal polls showed a solidifying support for the Republican nominee, with one nagging hiccup: an emerging gender gap. Longtime Reagan adviser Stuart K. Spencer broached the subject of breaking the all-male bastion of the U.S. Supreme Court. Reagan immediately embraced this gambit, albeit with a loophole: He merely announced that one of the first Supreme Court justices of his administration would be a woman.

This vague campaign promise attracted little attention, but weeks after his inauguration, the White House received word from Justice Potter Stewart that he planned to retire when the courts term ended that June. Earlier this year, Joe Biden left himself no wiggle room when vowing to choose a female running mate. Reagans aides were relieved, at least initially, that the 1980 GOP nominee had left himself a convenient rhetorical escape hatch. Thats not how the Gipper saw it, however. At the first meeting to discuss Justice Stewarts replacement, Reagan reminded those present of his campaign promise, telling them flatly that he wanted a female justice. When an aide reminded the president about his one of the first hedge, Reagan responded by pointing out that President Carter had not had any Supreme Court vacancies to fill, adding that this one might be his only chance.

After this exchange, it was clear that Reagan considered his campaign promise unambiguous, and Attorney General William French Smith, who had once been Reagans lawyer in Hollywood, got the message, wrote Reagans premier biographer. Although Smith had a list of 20 candidates, including eight men, he never sent it to Reagan. The attorney general narrowed the list to four women, one of them a moderately conservative Arizona appeals court judge named Sandra Day OConnor.

The president met with OConnor, was charmed by her, and cancelled the other meetings. On this date in 1981, he went to the White House briefing room to introduce his first high court nominee. She is truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity, and devotion to the public good which have characterized the 101 brethren who have preceded her, Reagan said. I commend her to you, and I urge the Senate's swift bipartisan confirmation so that as soon as possible she may take her seat on the court and her place in history.

Instead of focusing on the historical element, the White House press corps focused on the immediate: namely, questions about OConnor's stance on abortion. Reagan basically deflected those queries -- or tried to -- until he gave a one-word answer (Yes) to the question of whether he was satisfied with her right-to-life position.

Sandra Day OConnor would go ahead and vote to uphold Roe v. Wade, to the chagrin of social conservatives, and be an unpredictable swing vote in many important cases. But Reagan never wavered in his support. One entry in his diary near the end of his presidency -- two weeks before his vice president would be elected to replace him -- Reagan revealed that he still regarded her warmly. It came in a 1988 diary entry that nicely captured his upbeat approach to life:

"Wouldn't you know -- the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. We boarded Marine 1 at 11:30 AM & were at the W.H. a few mins. after 12. So lunch -- and an afternoon of TV. (The Red Skins won), a lot of reading. Nancy & I called Sandra Day O'Connor in the hospital. Shes just had a mastectomy. Nancy was most helpful to her. Then I called Lew Wasserman to thank him for all he's done to help us on the Library & my office. Dinner & to bed -- well not quite that simple. Nancy had to appear at the Nat. Horseshow -- but she was back around 10 p.m.

Carl M. Cannon

Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics

@CarlCannon (Twitter)

ccannon@realclearpolitics.com
The United States has been invaded by an enemy thats killed more than 129,000 Americans so far and may take 160,000 before the end of July. Youd think our political leaders would be united on how to combat the COVID-19 crisis.

But its turned into yet another partisan battleover mask-wearing, social distancing, whether to trust scientists, how soon to reopen the economy and whether more federal aid is needed to cope with the consequences.

The same is true about Americas other big crisiswhat to do in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd. And about larger issues of racial inequity. The Democratic House and Republican Senate are at odds over what should be the first step, police reform.

You could blame it all on Donald Trump, arguably the most divisive president in U.S. history. But as Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter convincingly assert in their important new book, The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy, our national political system is designed to produce polarization. It did so before Trump and will continue doing so when hes gone.

And, without change, policy paralysis (and with it, national decline) will continue to be the inevitable consequence.

They take a novel approach to U.S. politicsanalyzing it as an industry.

Porter is a celebrated Harvard Business School professor, author of 19 books on markets and competition, but he gives full credit to Gehl, a former Wisconsin business-woman-turned-political-reformer for applying his ideas to politics.

Their aim is to reform elections by making them more competitive, open to more independent and moderate candidates. They urge citizens to establish free market politics, acting principally at the state level.

Right now, U.S. politics is controlled iron-fistedly by a duopolyof, by and for the Republican and Democratic parties, their donors, allied special interests and scores of vendors, pollsters, ad writers, idea suppliers and friendly media outlets.

As encouragement, the authors show that Americans have reformed politics before, when the Progressive Movement of the early 20th century undid the polarization, paralysis, wealth concentration, monopolies control of politics, boss rule and labor strife of the late 19th century Gilded Age.

U.S. politics, they show, is a highly successful industry. It generates heaps of money. Counting federal and state parties, politicians and lobbyists, they estimate its a $100 billion big business.

And, at the federal level alone, elected officials are responsible for doling out another $3.5 trillion a year. Its obviously a powerful industry.

To be successful, they write, an industry has to satisfy its customersand the political industry does. Except, those it serves are not the American people. The political-industrial complex serves itself. As Gehl says, American politics is not broken. Its fixed.

The public, on the receiving end of what the complex produces, is deeply dissatisfied with what its getting. Only 10% of voters told Gallup they had great confidence in the federal governmentand that was in in 2019, before the COVID debacle.

Right now 68% think the country is on the wrong track and only 24% think its headed in the right direction. Only 25% identify as Republicans, just 31% as Democrats. A plurality, 40%, identify as independent. Consistently, a majority says a third party is needed.

And why not? The federal government has failed to solve any significant problemthe national debt, climate change, immigration reform, infrastructure, affordable health care, rising income inequality and declining social mobility, failing schools, and inadequate public and private investment.

The result is that the U.S. ranks 22d out of 36 advanced countries (the larger the number, the worse the showing) in secondary school enrollment, 35th in maternal mortality, 33d in child mortality, 35th in homicide rates, 26th in discrimination and violence against minorities, 32d on political rights, 23rd on freedom of expression, and 26th in overall social progress, according to the 2019 Social Progress Index developed by Porter.

Any private industry producing such unsatisfactory results, Gehl and Porter write, would soon find competitors entering the market to challenge them.

But the Democratic and Republican duopoly systematically uses its power to freeze out independent or third party competition. And it marginalizes moderates within party ranks who might be tempted to compromise with the opposition party to produce results.

It uses devices such as gerrymandering to ensure that 90% of House seats are safe for a states dominant party. Theyve enacted sore loser laws in 44 statesboth red- and blue-dominated--that forbid a candidate who loses a party primary from competing in a general election.

Party politicians also establish onerous ballot access requirements. And campaign finance laws allow an individual to contribute up to $855,000 a year to Democratic and GOP national committees, but only $5,600 over a two-year period to independent candidate committees.

At the presidential level, the Commission on Presidential Debates, controlled by the two parties, has set qualifications so high that only a self-financing billionaire is likely to earn enough name recognition to make it to the debate stage.

Different from other reform groups concentrating on issues like making voting easier, banning gerrymandering, limiting campaign spending and replacing the Electoral College, Gehl and Porter focus on two big election flawspartisan primary elections and first-past-the-post plurality voting.

Party primaries are usually low-turnout affairs dominated by the most ideologically committed partisans. Hence the only challenge a member of Congress need fear is to be primaried by a more extreme left- or right-winger. And moderates lose or never run, so both House and Senate party caucuses become ever more polarized.

Plurality voting, whereby the leading candidate wins office even if he or she receives less than a majority of votes, creates the spoiler effect. Independent candidates dont run (as Michael Bloomberg didnt in 2016 and Howard Schultz didnt this year) because to do so might elect the least desirable candidate.

In Congress, legislating by committee has been dropped in favor of party-leadership decision-making. Party leaders hand out committee assignments and chairmanships based on party loyalty and fundraising records. In the House, under the so-called Hastert Rule, a bill cannot come to the floor unless it is supported by a majority of members of the majority partyeven if it has enough bipartisan support to pass.

The leadership-dominated House Rules Committee decides how much debate a bill will get and how many amendments will be in order. Closed rules disallow any amendments.

Gehl identifies herself as a former Democrat turned homeless centrist Independent. Porter is a lifelong Massachusetts Republican.

They are equally critical of Republicans and Democrats. GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell boasts that he is the grim reaper who kills Democratic bills. Harry Reid, the former Democratic leader, was just as partisan.

Gehl and Porter advocate expanding competition by switching to nonpartisan primaries putting the top five vote-getters on the general election ballot, with the winner then chosen using ranked choice voting (RCV).

A robustand increasingly successfulcitizen-led political reform movement has developed, which the authors hope to enlist (with others, including business executives and philanthropists) to save our democracy by working on their proposed reforms.

So far, the movement has taken up RCVwhereby voters rank candidates, and the votes cast for losing candidates are assigned to higher-ranked candidates until one has a majority.

But while 22 states conduct open primaries not limited to party members, only two (California and Washington) produce top two general election finalists. Alaska is voting this year on a top four system and it may be on Californias 2024 ballot.

Gehl and Porter think top five (or four) plus RCV will encourage more candidates to runand, to win, they will have to avoid negative campaigning and extreme positions to become voters second choice.

Once a cadre of moderate free market winners is electedfrom as few as 10 states, they saythey can use their balance-of-power position to force legislative reform.

The authors are less specific about legislative reform than about election reform, but clearly they have in mind reversing policies that now reward partisan loyalists who constantly fight with the opposition, but effectively collude to produce no good result.

Gehl and Porter are under no illusions about how difficult a time reformers will have. Democrats and/or Republicans and attached special interests have fought every change that would dilute their powerand work to reverse many that voters install.

But, the authors say, its worth the fight. Just look around at what the duopoly has produced and remember all the changes for the better the Progressive Movement brought about.
While there has been much debate over Jerusalems possible decision to apply Israeli law to the Jordan Valley, the moves underlying security imperative is not often recognized. As a retired Israeli major general, I believe that Israeli sovereignty over the valley is critical to Israels ability to defend itself by itself. The benefits outweigh the potential costs, and the move would not preclude a future agreement with the Palestinians.

Israel faces myriad security threats. In Lebanon, Hezbollah has amassed an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles, while the Assad regime, Iranian forces, and Shiite militias have solidified their hold over Syria. ISIS remains active in the Sinai, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are entrenched in the Gaza Strip, and extremist cells are routinely uncovered in the West Bank. Iran proudly broadcasts its violent opposition to Israels existence while continuing to develop its nuclear capability and ballistic missiles.

This context is critical to understanding the Jordan Valleys centrality within Israels defense strategy, as outlined in a new report by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.. The valley is a natural barrier and Israels longest border, separating Jordan from Israel and the West Bank. Compared to the pre-1967 armistice lines, it provides Israel with much-needed strategic depth, allowing IDF forces to more efficiently neutralize threats in Palestinian Authority territory. Through Israels close security relationship with Jordan, this depth also extends east.

Ties between Jerusalem and Amman are anchored by a 1994 peace treaty, and include extensive military and intelligence cooperation. Israel also supplies water and natural gas to the kingdom, which has limited natural resources. Despite hostility from parts of the Jordanian public, the monarchy -- itself grappling with a beleaguered economy, influx of refugees, and Islamist opponents -- has long recognized the value of this relationship in a volatile region. A decade has not yet passed since the so-called Arab Spring, which most sharply demonstrated how quickly countries can plunge into years of chaos, with severe regional consequences.

By applying Israeli law to the Jordan Valley, Israel would be able to permanently contribute to Jordans stability and its own. IDF forces already routinely thwart arms smuggling and other terrorist activities along the Jordan river. Continued Israeli presence will prevent the valley, and by extension the West Bank, from devolving into a terrorist haven akin to Gaza. Such a scenario in a territory adjacent to Jordan, whose population is majority Palestinian, would dangerously undermine Jordanian security. For Israel, when compounded with existing threats, it could be disastrous.

The territorys topography likewise presents a clear advantage, allowing Israeli troops to effectively monitor incoming threats, whether from Jordan, Iraq, or Syria. It also requires any invading forces to launch an uphill attack when proceeding westward, making defense easier and granting Israel valuable time to mobilize reserve troops.

While such a scenario in the quiet border region may be currently difficult to imagine, Syrias violent unraveling and the turbulent power changes in Egypt were also difficult to predict a decade ago. No Middle Eastern country is impervious to sudden, violent changes. Israel must have defensible borders. The valley can provide those.

Some have argued that, should the valley turn into a hotbed of terrorism without Israeli presence, the IDF would be able to easily reassert control. This rationale is undercut by past experience. During Operation "Defensive Shield, launched amid the Second Palestinian Intifada, Israeli forces engaged in a major incursion to remove terrorist elements from the West Bank. Thirty IDF soldiers died. Gaza, where Israel carried out three major operations in six years, is another case study. Once Israeli forces withdraw, it becomes far more difficult to uproot a territorys terrorist infrastructure and leadership.

Other critics have cautioned that applying Israeli law to the valley could harm the countrys security, at least in the short term, by destabilizing Jordan. The move will certainly create challenges for King Abdullah, who said it would hurt prospects of "peace and stability in the region."

These concerns are valid, yet they should not deter policymakers in Jerusalem from acting on widespread domestic support and fulfilling Israels historic and natural rights. Jordan still relies on security and intelligence cooperation with Israel, as well as supplies of water and natural gas. With Syria and Iraq as neighbors, it also needs a stable border -- something only permanent Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley can provide.

Moreover, such a move does not rule out a future agreement with the Palestinian Authority. Rather, it establishes a reality on the ground that can shape a sustainable arrangement that Israel can accept. No Israeli majority will agree to returning to the indefensible pre-1967 lines. Until Palestinian leaders decide to pursue a lasting solution, Israel must act to secure its interests with American coordination. Applying Israeli law to the Jordan Valley ranks high among those interests.

IDF MG (ret.) Yaacov Ayish is a former Israeli Defense Attache to the United States and Canada, and former head of the IDF General Staff Operations Branch. He is Senior Vice President for Israeli Affairs at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA).
Five days after the killing of George Floyd, Israeli police fatally shot Eyal al-Hallaq, a 32-year old, unarmed Palestinian man, in Jerusalem. The handful of outraged op-eds and protests in response has fallen well short of the global support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The invocation of Palestine in BLM rallies was far more widespread when the movement first emerged. This time around, it has so far mostly been limited to intellectual circles. Yet the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement, or BDS, which has had limited economic or diplomatic impact in its first 15 years of calling for economic, political, and academic sanctions against Israel, may now finally be positioned for a BLM moment.

Activists have long connected oppression of Blacks in the United States and Israeli oppression of Palestinians. At times, this connection slips into antisemitic tropes that blame Jews for societal ailments in other parts of the world. Such was the case last week, when British Labour politician Rebecca Long-Bailey retweeted an unsupported claim that Minnesota police learned the chokehold technique that killed Floyd through training with Israeli forces. But to dismiss the entire BDS movement as antisemitic is a strawman fallacy.

Israel has for some time treated the BDS movement as a threat to national security. It has taken aggressive measures in an attempt to blunt the movement's success. Its response to BDS, marked by subtle and overt attempts to limit free speech, has drawn accusations of illiberalism. Such an approach is antithetical to the value system that drives citizens to march in the streets today, and whose hearts and minds Israel must win if it hopes to effectively combat the BDS movement tomorrow.

In 2018, the Pew Research Center found that nearly twice as many liberal Democrats sympathize with the Palestinians than with Israel, and since 2001, the share of liberal Democrats who sympathize with Israel has dropped from 48 percent in 2001 to 19 percent in 2018. Younger, more diverse liberals -- those marching in support of BLM -- are even less sympathetic to Israel than previous generations.

The BDS movement has been able to penetrate previously pro-Israeli strongholds in American politics. Recently elected members of Congress who support BDS include Democrats Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Longtime Democrat and staunch Israeli supporter Eliot Engel lost his primary for New Yorks 16th District to progressive school principal Jamaal Bowman. Bowman has expressed support for conditioning U.S. military aid to Israel on the latters protection of Palestinian human rights.

Israels plan to annex parts of the West Bank while denying Palestinian residents citizenship is a flashpoint for more strident protests; BDS organizations held demonstrations across the United States against Israel. Bernie Sanders signed on to Ocasio-Cortezs letter threatening to cut U.S. military aid to Israel should the latter go forward with its plans to annex parts of the West Bank. Not only are U.S. liberals overwhelmingly opposed to the plan, but the European Union has threatened to sanction Israel over the issue.

Currently, 29 U.S. states prohibit boycotts of Israel, but that might change. Younger Americans, especially the growing progressive ranks of the Democratic Party, are keenly aware of the similarities between the BLM and BDS movements, and this could signal a reckoning for Israel.

Given international outrage over the oppression of minorities in the United States, it could be only a matter of time before the clamor for Palestinian equality reaches a tipping point similar to BLM. It would be a mistake for Israeli officials to underestimate this possibility as they press on with annexation plans -- plans that can be seen as yet another encroachment on the beleaguered human rights of Palestinians.

Instead of debating the extent of the annexation of Palestinian territory, its time for Israelis to prepare for their own BLM moment, which might come in the form of a consolidated and effective BDS campaign.

Ronnie Olesker is an associate professor of government at St. Lawrence University and affiliated professor at the University of Haifa. The views expressed are the author's own.
Partial remains of Gil Cunha, who went missing on the morning of his 50th birthday, were pulled from the water after they were discovered south of Long Island, the Suffolk County Police Department said in a statement emailed to the Daily News.
Traverse City, MI (49684)

Today

Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. High 68F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 51F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Georgias medical amnesty law provides immunity from charges and arrests related to drug use or possession to people who report a potential overdose in good faith or for individuals in need of medical assistance.
Protesters silently fill the back of the Athens-Clarke County City Hall Commission Chambers on Feb. 4 to protest the local government and the University of Georgia's removal of Linnentown's black community in the 1960s. Several protesters took the podium and voice their grievances to the ACC mayor and commission. (Photo/Foster Steinbeck)
In the University of Georgias three-phase plan to prepare for a return to in-person classes in the fall, Phase Two will begin on July 20 and Phase Three on Aug. 10, according to an ArchNews email sent to faculty and staff on Tuesday.

Phase One allowed the limited presence of essential staff and supervisors on campus beginning June 15 following Georgia Department of Public Health social distancing guidelines, according to a May 28 email sent to faculty and staff.

During Phase Two, supervisors and administrative faculty who didnt return during Phase One will be allowed on campus. Mission critical personnel who worked remotely during reduced campus operations will also be allowed on campus, according to the email.

University vice presidents, deans, department heads and directors will decide which employees can return on July 20. Rotating weekly schedules and a combination of telework and on-campus work are recommended, according to the email.

July 17 will be the last day that Non-Closure Emergency Leave can be utilized, which is a University System of Georgia policy that allows employee leave due to unforeseen reduced operations of USG institutions.

Phase Three will begin on Aug. 10 when all faculty and staff will return for fall semester unless they have been approved for telework. Any rotating schedules and telework during Phases One and Two will resume regular, in-person schedules on campus unless otherwise directed to support social distancing in unique and densely populated work environments, according to the email.

New resources for the fall semester

The email detailed new developments and measures that will be implemented regarding face coverings, test screenings, labs and more.

Surveillance and screening of positive COVID-19 cases will be administered through a notification application. The app will provide a daily reminder to members of the campus community to check for symptoms prior to coming to campus each day, according to the email.

The DPH will be notified of any self-reported positive cases so contact tracing and cleaning of the impacted areas can begin. The app will be tested in Phase Two and launched in Phase Three, according to the email.

UGA is also sending 60,000 digital thermometers to all faculty, staff and students, according to the email. All faculty, staff and students will be required to self-monitor and take their temperature every morning before coming to campus.

Effective July 15, the university will require all faculty, staff, students and visitors to wear a face covering while inside campus facilities and buildings where 6 feet of social distance isnt possible, according to the email. Masks arent a substitute for social distance, according to USGs recently updated coronavirus guidelines.

Accommodations may be made for those unable to wear a face covering due to documented health reasons.

The university purchased 150,000 face masks, two for every faculty, staff and students, including extras. The masks are now being delivered to individuals and departments via mail. The university will launch an awareness campaign to encourage the UGA community to wear face coverings especially in classrooms, labs, study areas, student life facilities, buses, and other spaces where social distancing may not always be possible, according to the email.

The email also announced that the Veterinary Diagnostic Labs at the Athens and Tifton campuses are now certified to support human coronavirus testing. The labs previously performed tests only on animal tissues.

The university is working with the DPH for contact tracing. Anyone in the UGA community can call the Northeast Health District Screening Hotline at 706-340-0996 for an appointment at the DPHs testing site located at 1030 Mitchell Bridge Road. All USG employees are eligible for free COVID-19 virtual screenings through Augusta University Health Systems AU Health Express Care app, which is available at www.augustahealth.org/COVID19.

Over 4,000 gallons of hand sanitizer have been ordered and will be available for distribution in classrooms, offices and common areas across campus, according to the email. UGA also ordered over 2.5 million individual sanitizing wipes.

More than 4,500 supervisors have completed a mandatory supervisor training module on health and safety precautions and individual responsibility. Employees returning during Phase Two will have access to the training module prior to their return through the Professional Education Portal. In early August, the training module for students will be in place via eLearning Commons.
As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories, she posted on Twitter. I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake. I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera.
July 07, 2020 08:59 IST

For a product initially positioned as a "closet mate" which could help improve a woman's marital prospects, HUL Chairman Sanjiv Mehta says the communication now is all about women's empowerment.

Viveat Susan Pinto reports.

Photograph: Kind courtesy hul.co.in

What's in a name? A lot, if it is Fair & Lovely, Hindustan Unilever's skin-lightening brand which created an entire market out of its fairness proposition for over four decades in India.

The Rs 2,000 crore brand, which enjoys a 40 per cent share of the fairness market, pegged at Rs 5,000 crore, will now have a new identity.

HUL has set the process in motion, applying to the Controller General of Patent Design and Trademark to get the name 'Glow & Lovely' registered, industry sources said.

An HUL spokesperson, when contacted, said the company would not be able to confirm the new name.

"Trademark protection is an important aspect for any brand and in this case, we had applied for several trademarks in 2018. Some of them have received registration, while some applications are pending. We may choose to register other brand names too," the spokesperson said.

Brand experts concur with the view, saying HUL could consider other options such as 'Care & Lovely' as a substitute for Fair & Lovely.

"The change being initiated by HUL is at the marketing level. The formulation of the product remains intact, implying that the fairness attribute will not vanish. But HUL, at the same time, will no longer use fairness openly," says N Chandramouli, chief executive officer of Mumbai-based advisory firm TRA Research, which comes out with the annual Brand Trust Report.

An oblique reference to fairness, says K V Sridhar, veteran ad man and global chief creative officer of Nihilent HyperCollective, is fraught with challenges.

"Yes, there could be a short-term impact in terms of market share. But a holistic view of beauty can also lend itself a presence to many more categories, which fairness could not have. That is something that HUL could be considering," he said.

HUL's Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta says a shift in strategy with regard to Fair & Lovely was initiated a few years ago.

From a fairness cream, HUL has been pushing Fair & Lovely as a skincare brand, focussing on 'radiance' and 'skin clarity' since early 2019.

It will now formalise this process, as Mehta adds, breaking away from its "narrow definition of beauty", even though some experts say Fair & Lovely has been compelled to do this, following the 'Black Lives Matter' global movement.

"BlackLivesMatter is a movement that is alive in the West. In India, the criticism against fairness creams has been on for years. So what's changed? I think global majors have been forced to react with protests around products promoting gender discrimination simply growing. It was becoming untenable for them to promote purpose-led advertising when the name of a brand promotes colourism," says Santosh Desai, MD and chief executive officer, Futurebrands India.

For a product initially positioned as a "closet mate" which could help improve a woman's marital prospects, HUL Chairman Mehta says the communication now is all about women's empowerment.

"The advertising narrative has shifted from the coy bride (of the 1970s and 1980s) to the confident young wedding planner in commercials today who has no qualms of looking and feeling good, even as she goes about organising the weddings of others," says Mehta.

The packaging has also reflected the change, with the cameo of two faces as well as the shade guides on the back of the pack making way for an "inclusive" measure of healthy skin, Mehta adds.

These cosmetic changes apart, where will HUL take Fair & Lovely? Brand experts hazard a guess.

"There is room for the brand to move into the larger grooming space," says Harish Bijoor, chief executive officer, Harish Bijoor Consults.

"HUL has taken the first few steps by getting into soaps last year, this could be extended into lotions, moisturisers, skin cleansers, even as the latent attribute of healthy, glowing skin remains."

Feature Production: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Source:

July 07, 2020 15:11 IST

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.

IMAGE: A woman wearing a mask blows bubbles as she sells toys on a footpath in Mumbai. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

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 COVID-19 outbreak.

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.

"They (street vendors) are an unregulated sector as of now and permitting them to carry on with their business amid the COVID-19 outbreak would lead to further spread of the disease among the society at large," Kumbhakoni said.

The advocate general was responding to a public interest litigation filed by one Manoj Oswal, raising concerns of street vendors being without income due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Oswal's advocate Ashish Verma argued that since hotels and restaurants are allowed to operate, street vendors should also be allowed to conduct their business activities.

The court last month asked the government to clarify its position on the issue and said the government could consider framing a policy.

The bench on Tuesday directed the government to file an affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.
July 07, 2020 12:51 IST

'Whatever modelling we have, people are saying end of July or beginning of August we will see a peak of COVID-19 in Maharashtra.'

'After which the decline will begin.'

IMAGE: Paramedics check the temperature and pulse rate of residents in Malvani, north west Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo

On July 6, an open letter written by 239 global scientists to the World Health Organisation startled the world. It stated that 'there is a real risk that the coronavirus can be airborne, meaning it can spread through microscopic particles that linger in the air.'

The claim in the letter is a significant departure from the WHO's belief so far that COVID-19 is spread primarily by large respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

The letter has created fissures in the scientific community, with many questioning WHO'S efficiency in handling the pandemic, while others assert that the evidence stated in the letter is unconvincing.

The letter has further aggravated the panic among a public already battered by fears about how and where the coronavirus can strike.

Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com spoke to Dr Pradip Awate, Maharashtra's disease surveillance officer, who been tracking the pandemic in Mumbai and Maharashtra, the nation's worst affected city and state, to find out what he thinks about this new theory that the virus could be airborne and if he has encountered any evidence of this in his long battle against COVID-19.

200 experts have written to WHO, saying there is evidence that coronavirus is airborne. What is your opinion?

This is not an issue of belief; it's quite a technical issue. We know this virus for the past six months -- from December 2019.

And what we know is that this is a lower respiratory infection and that is why as per the size of the droplet, it is a fomite-borne (surface-borne) infection and not an airborne infection.

Now these scientists are claiming that if the droplet is smaller, it can glide for a certain distance in the air.

It depends on the air flow and all those things, which can add the airborne infection aspect to transmission.

So, this is a very technical issue and it has to be practically proved by different modelling of the transmission.

Does this mean that the droplets remain in the air and are capable of infecting people many hours later?

The size of the droplets matter.

For example, in tuberculosis, the droplets remain in the air and are known to spread.

As of today, with whatever information and knowledge we have regarding COVID-19, it has not been proved, or at least advocated by WHO, that such things can happen.

However, since new things are coming up, they should be judged by scientific methods.

The scientists say that the virus spreads more in crowded places with poor ventilation. In such a scenario, what should be done?

This is true, as we saw this happening in Mumbai and Pune.

This happened specially in slums where the population density is heavy. The same thing happens in influenza too.

Influenza is also a droplet infection and it is but natural that a dense population is more conducive for the transmission of this kind of droplet infection.

Does ultra-violet light help to kill this virus indoors?

As per the information that has been given by the apex bodies -- WHO and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (in the United States)-- ultra-violet light does not help.

Dr Benedetta Allegranzi, WHO's technical lead of infection prevention and control, said the evidence for the virus spreading by air is unconvincing, there is no solid evidence. Why is WHO taking such a stand?

Sometimes, someone directly coughs or sneezes into your face and at that time if you are too close with that person then I agree, in such times, airborne infection does play a role.

But whatever transmission dynamics we are looking at for COVID-19 in different countries, it has not been proved that the major reason is airborne infection.

These scientists also say that WHO is out of step with science.

That is why we need to have further research and modelling. Only then will we get the answers.

As of now, there are two different schools of thought and they need to substantiate their findings by solid scientific methods.

Mumbai has witnessed more than 100 days of lockdown. What are the key findings in this time for you? How is the virus behaving? Have you come across anything unusual in its behaviour, spread, etc?

There are no unusual things happening.

We are now doing aggressive contact tracing and segregation of patients which has helped in the reduction of numbers. These are our key observations.

What about the symptoms of diarrhoea in COVID-19 patients? Is the virus mutating?

What happens is that the COVID-19 virus has certain virus specific receptors in our body.

Why a particular virus is causing a respiratory problem and why another virus is causing diarrhoea is because those receptors are in particular organs of the human body.

Sometimes you can have diarrhoea, and as of today there are not many cases if you see the percentage of COVID-19 cases, but there are exceptions, where people are suffering from diarrhoea.

After 100 days of lockdown, Mumbai is nowhere near flattening the curve. Why is it so?

Looking at the size of our population, it looks like it will take more time. Only then will the number of cases descend.

When do you see it happening?

Whatever modelling we have, people are saying end of July or beginning of August we will see a peak of COVID-19 in Maharashtra. After which the decline will begin.

But this is also modelling and no modelling is perfect.

India is now the third worst-hit nation.

It is because of the population of our country.

We have surpassed Russia. Russia has only 14 crore (140 million) population which is close to the population of Maharashtra (11.5 crore/115).

India has 10 times more people than Russia and these things matter when you make a statement like India has surpassed Russia.

Moreover, we are doing more and more tests so more cases are coming out.

Only around one crore (10 million) people have been tested in India out of a population of 130 crore (1.3 billion). Should it matter?

Initially, it was only 2,000 COVID-19 tests per million at the national level. Now nearly 6,500 tests per million are happening at the national level.

In Maharashtra it is 7,800 tests per million. There is a four-fold increase in testing.

Do you think only a miracle can save us?

Though the number of cases are in lakhs, one thing is sure -- we are observing that about 75 per cent people suffering are mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic.

Only 15 per cent of the population needs medical help.

And only 5 per cent require ICU and 1.5 to 2 percent of COVID-19 patients need ventilators.

This is definitely a public health crisis, but at the same time, the recovery of patients is very good in Mumbai city and even in Maharashtra state. And recovery too is faster.
July 07, 2020 07:35 IST

'The Chinese staying put in Pangong Tso, and creating a buffer zone on Indian territory in other areas,' a senior serving general tells Ajai Shukla.

IMAGE: An Indian soldier stands guard in Ladakh. Photograph: PTI Photo

Chinese troops, who occupied Indian-claimed territory in the vicinity of Patrolling Point 14 (PP14) in the Galwan River valley in Ladakh, have withdrawn about 2 km into China's side of the Line of Actual Control, government sources told the media on Monday.

The development echoes a similar claim made after senior Indian and Chinese military commanders met on June 6 near Chushul.

However, when Indian soldiers went to verify the 'withdrawal', they ran into Chinese troops, resulting in 20 Indian deaths.

The claim that Chinese troops had pulled back came a day after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke on the phone to China State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi.

In a press release on Monday, New Delhi stated that the two officials '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.'

On the question of easing the current border face-off between the two countries, the ministry of external affairs release referred only to 'a positive consensus'.

While Beijing's official readout of the conversation had no mention of any agreement to 'disengage' or 'de-escalate', when asked whether China had pulled back equipment in the Galwan Valley, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said both sides were 'taking effective measures to disengage and ease the situation on the border'.

Beijing stated that Wang had told Doval that India and China 'have long-term strategic interests' in the 'realisation of development and revitalisation' and that the two 'do not pose a threat to each other'.

China's statement, however, blamed Indian troops for the June 15 clash and reiterated Beijing's previously stated claim over the Galwan River valley.

'The merits of the recent incident in the Galvan (Galwan) Valley in the western section of the China-India border are clear, and China will continue to vigorously defend its territorial sovereignty and safeguard peace in the border areas,' said a Chinese ministry of foreign affairs press release.

New Delhi's statement said diplomatic and military dialogue would continue, including under the framework of the 'Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination' and at the level of special representatives -- Doval and Wang.

Within India's military, there is worry that a 'mutual pullback agreement' would effectively result in the loss of Indian territory.

With Chinese troops already having intruded more than 2 km into areas that India has traditionally claimed, occupied and patrolled, a mutual pullback of 2 kilometres would create a 4-kilometre-deep 'buffer zone' that would lie entirely in Indian territory.

Senior military officers point out that Indian troops have historically patrolled up to the areas of PP14, PP15, PP17 and PP17A.

A 'mutual pullback' and 'buffer zone' agreement would mean these areas would now be out of bounds.

Meanwhile, the Chinese remain unwilling to discuss a pullout from the Pangong Tso area, say government sources.

Here they have occupied 8 km of Indian territory between Finger 4 and Finger 8.

"This would be a double whammy for India: The Chinese staying put in Pangong Tso, and creating a buffer zone on Indian territory in other areas," said a senior serving general.
Last updated on: July 07, 2020 11:11 IST

In a decision that will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students in the United States, 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.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement 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.

"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 agency suggested that students currently enrolled in the US consider other measures, like transferring to schools with in-person instruction.

International students enrolled in academic programmes at US universities and colleges study on an F-1 visa and those enrolled in technical programmes at vocational or other recognised non-academic institutions, other than a language training programme come to the US on an M-1 visa.

India sent the largest number of students (2,51,290) to the US after China (4,78,732) in 2017 and 2018, according to the latest Student and Exchange Visitor Program 'SEVIS by the Numbers Report' 2018.

The number of students from India increased from 2017 to 2018 by 4,157.

The immigration agency said that the active students currently in the US enrolled in such programmes "must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status or potentially face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings".

It further said that students attending schools adopting a 'hybrid model', which includes a mixture of online and in-person classes, will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online.

These schools must certify to the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme that the course is not entirely online, that the student is not taking an entirely online course load for the fall 2020 semester, and that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in their degree programme.

The guidance is certain to cause severe anxiety and uncertainty for the hundreds of thousands of international students who are studying in the country and for those who were preparing to arrive in the US to begin their education when the new academic session begins in September.

International travel restrictions in place due to the pandemic have made it increasingly difficult for foreign students in the US to return to their home countries, while those outside America are uncertain if they will be able to travel to join their courses in American colleges and universities.

The Trump administration has made a number of changes to the US immigration system, citing the coronavirus pandemic.

On June 22, it issued a proclamation, dramatically curtailing legal immigration to the US till December 31. Under this, people with L-1, H-1B, H-2B and J-1 visas were affected.

Reacting to the latest US move, Harvard University President Larry Bacow expressed deep concern and said the new guidance issued imposed a "blunt, one-size-fits-all approach to a complex problem giving international students, particularly those in online programmes, few options beyond leaving the country or transferring schools."

The guidance "undermines the thoughtful approach taken on behalf of students by so many institutions, including Harvard, to plan for continuing academic programmes while balancing the health and safety challenges of the global pandemic."

"We will work closely with other colleges and universities around the country to chart a path forward," he said.

Before the ICE guidance was issued, Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences had said that it will bring up to 40 per cent of undergraduates to campus for the fall semester, including all first-year students.

Bacow, FAS Edgerley Family Dean Claudine Gay, and Danoff Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana co-authored a message to the FAS community that described the path forward, allowing first-years the opportunity to adjust to college academics and to begin creating connections with faculty and other classmates, while learning on campus in September.

It said the college will address gaps in students' home learning environments and identify those who need to return to campus to continue to progress academically. Students on campus will move out before Thanksgiving in November and complete reading and exams periods from home.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted that "kicking international students out of the US during a global pandemic because their colleges are moving classes online for physical distancing hurts students. It's senseless, cruel, and xenophobic. @ICEgov and @DHSgov must drop this policy immediately".

New York-based immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta tweeted that "students who attend schools that operate completely online will not be allowed to receive F-1 visas or enter in F-1 status or maintain F-1 status in the fall 2020 semester. So Trump is forcing foreign students to study in unsafe conditions during COVID-19."
Source:

Edited By:

July 07, 2020 20:42 IST

In a demonstration of its aerial prowess, the Indian Air Force is carrying out night time combat air patrols over the mountainous eastern Ladakh region as part of its decision to maintain a high-level of readiness notwithstanding disengagement of troops by China from a number of friction points in the area, government sources said on Tuesday.

The frequency of day and night operations by frontline fighter jets is a signal that India will continue to put pressure on China until the status quo ante is restored in all the areas in eastern Ladakh including Pangong Tso, Gogra and Hot Springs, they said.

"There is no question of lowering our guard at this juncture," said a senior official on condition of anonymity.

The sources said both the Army and the IAF will maintain their high alert level along the Line of Actual Control even as China has begun pulling back troops from several areas as part of a mutual disengagement process.

The disengagement process began on Monday morning after a nearly two-hour telephonic conversation between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday during which they agreed on an expeditious withdrawal of troops from the area.

Doval and Wang are Special Representatives for the boundary talks.

In the last few days, the IAF significantly enhanced deployment of its frontline jets, attack helicopters and transport fleet in all its key bases guarding the airspace along the LAC in view of heightened border tension with China.

The IAF has also pressed into service a fleet of C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft as well as C-130J Super Hercules in transporting heavy military equipment and weaponry to several forward bases to further ramp up India's military preparedness in the region.

The IAF is also using its Ilyushin-76 fleet to transport troops to various areas along the LAC, the 3,500 km de facto border between India and China, the sources said.

They said the force has already moved a sizeable number of its frontline Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 aircraft to several key air bases including Leh and Srinagar.

It has also deployed Apache attack choppers and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to transport troops to various forward locations.

The frontline fighter jets have increased their sorties in Ladakh and nearby areas.

Last month, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria made a quiet visit to Ladakh and Srinagar air bases to review the Indian Air Force's preparedness to deal with any eventualities in the region.

The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks.

The tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15.

The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details.

India has been insisting on restoration of status quo ante 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.

However, there was no visible sign of end to the standoff though the two sides agreed to initiate disengagement of the forces from the region.

Following the Galwan Valley clashes, the Army has sent thousands of additional troops to forward locations along the border besides moving in heavy weapons.
Source:

Edited By:

Last updated on: July 07, 2020 22:30 IST

Chinese military removed temporary infrastructure and continued gradual withdrawal of troops from face-off sites in Hot Springs and Gogra in eastern Ladakh for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, and the Indian Army is keeping a strict vigil on their rearward movement, government sources said.

Gogra and Hot Springs are among the key friction points where the two armies were in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation for the last eight weeks.

The sources said the mutual disengagement of troops at the two friction points is likely to be completed within two days, and that there has been 'substantial' withdrawal of forces by Chinese military from the areas.

The disengagement process began on Monday morning after a nearly two-hour telephonic conversation between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday during which they agreed on an expeditious withdrawal of troops from the area.

Doval and Wang are Special Representatives for the boundary talks.

The sources said the Indian Army is not lowering its guard in view of the disengagement process in the area and will continue to maintain high-level of alertness to deal with any eventualities.

They said the two two Armies are expected to hold further talks later this week after the first phase of disengagement process is completed.

As per the decisions arrived at corps commander-level talks on June 30, the two sides would create a minimum buffer zone of three kilometer in most of the areas where they were locked in a standoff.

"There has been substantial withdrawal of Chinese troops from Hot Springs and Gogra. The Chinese mliitary has dismantled temporary infrastructure too in the areas," said a source.

The Chinese military has already removed tents and withdrew its personnel from patrolling point 14 in Galwan Valley, the sources said adding the Indian Army is carrying out a thorough verification of the Chinese pull back.

On the situation in Pangong Tso, they said a 'marginal thinning out of troops' has been observed in the area.

The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in the bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last eight weeks.

The tension escalated manifold after the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley on June 15.

The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details.

According to an American intelligence report the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35.

Both sides have held several rounds of diplomatic and military talks in the last few weeks to ease tension in the region.

However, there was no visible sign of any end to the standoff till Sunday evening.

Sources said the breakthrough was achieved at the Doval-Wang meeting.

On June 30, the Indian and Chinese armies held the third round of Lt General-level talks during which both sides agreed on an 'expeditious, phased and step wise' de-escalation as a 'priority' to end the standoff.

In the talks on June 22, the two sides arrived at a 'mutual consensus' to 'disengage' from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh.

The first round of the Lieutenant General talks was held on June 6 during which both sides finalised an agreement to disengage gradually from all the standoff points beginning with Galwan Valley.

However, the situation deteriorated following the Galwan Valley clashes as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC.

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Ladakh during which he said the era of expansionism is over and that the history is proof that 'expansionists' have either lost or perished, in comments which were seen as a clear message to China that India is not going to back off and would deal with the situation with a firm hand.

Tensions had escalated in eastern Ladakh around two months back after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on May 5 and 6. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.
Source:

Edited By:

July 07, 2020 18:48 IST

India's total number of coronavirus cases and fatalities per million population is one of the lowest in the world, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday even as the country's infection tally went past the 7 lakh-mark and the death toll rose to 20,160.

IMAGE: A technician works to convert a building of the National Institute of Ageing into a dedicated COVID-19 care centre in Chennai. Photograph: PTI Photo

Referring to the 'WHO Situation Report-168' dated July 6, the ministry said India's COVID-19 cases per million population is 505.37 as against the global average of 1,453.25.

Chile has witnessed 15,459.8 COVID-19 cases per million population, while Peru has 9,070.8 cases per million people.

The United States, Brazil, Spain, Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy and Mexico have 8,560.5, 7,419.1, 5,358.7, 4,713.5, 4,204.4, 3,996.1 and 1,955.8 cases per million, respectively, according to the WHO report.

"The WHO Situation Report also shows that India has one of the lowest deaths (due to COVID-19) per million population. India's cases of death per million population is 14.27 while the global average is more than its four times, at 68.29," the ministry said.

The United Kingdom has 651.4 COVID-19 related deaths per million population, while the metric for Spain, Italy, France, the USA, Peru, Brazil and Mexico is 607.1, 576.6, 456.7, 391.0, 315.8, 302.3 and 235.5 deaths, respectively, the WHO report said.

India has ramped up its hospital infrastructure to adequately and effectively manage coronavirus cases, the ministry said.

The preparedness includes arrangement of oxygen support, ICU and ventilator facilities. As on July 7, there are 1,201 dedicated COVID hospitals, 2,611 COVID healthcare centres and 9,909 COVID care centres to look after patients with very severe' to very mild' coronavirus symptoms, it said.

"Such level of preparedness has shown results in continuously improving the recovery rate and resulting in low case fatality rate, the ministry said.

"Early detection and timely effective clinical management of COVID-19 cases have resulted in increasing daily recoveries," it said.

During the last 24 hours, a total of 15,515 COVID-19 patients have been cured, taking the cumulative figure of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients in the country to 4,39,947 as on Tuesday.

"Coordinated efforts at all levels of the national and state governments for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19 are showing encouraging results with consistently increasing gap between recoveries and active cases. Presently, there are 2,59,557 active cases and all are under medical supervision.

"As on date, the number of recovered cases exceeded that of the active cases by 1,80,390 on Tuesday. The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has increased to 61.13 per cent," it said.

Enhanced focus on Test, Trace, Treat augmented with various measures has facilitated widespread COVID-19 testing by states and Union territories.

This has resulted in more than 2 lakh tests being conducted per day, the ministry said.

It also said that during the last 24 hours, 2,41,430 samples have been tested.

With this, the total number of samples tested for COVID-19 nationwide stands at 1,02,11,092.

According to the health ministry, the testing lab network of the country continues to expand with more number of laboratories being added in various states and UTs.

With 793 labs in the government sector and 322 private labs, there are as many as 1,115 labs in the country, it added.
Source:

Edited By:

July 07, 2020 14:03 IST

Police on Tuesday said there was no record of Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra having written a letter weeks before his death alleging links between the now suspended Chaubeypur station officer and gangster Vikas Dubey.





The purported letter, which surfaced on social media on Monday, alleged that station officer Vinay Tiwari had got a serious charge against Dubey dropped. However, the letter carried no serial number or date.



Bilhaur Circle Officer Devendra Mishra was among the eight policemen killed in an ambush by the gangster's henchmen at Bikru village near Kanpur early Friday morning.

Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar Prabhu said that there was no record of the letter in which Mishra was supposed to have made the serious allegations against Tiwari.



The SSP said records at the offices of CO Bilhaur and SP rural were checked, but no such letter was found.



He further said that all office records were thoroughly checked in the confidential section of his own office, including police office and SSP camp office, but there was no entry of any letter.



"I also questioned the clerks who deal with the section, but they denied having any information regarding the letter," SSP asserted.

The SSP, however, claimed that the matter is under investigation and efforts are on to probe the charges.



The police suspect that Tiwari may have tipped off Dubey that a police team was on its way to arrest him.



According to the purported letter circulating on social media, Mishra had written that Dubey was booked on charges of rioting, extortion and criminal intimidation in a case.



"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 said.



It mentioned that it also came to light from other sources that Tiwari used to visit Dubey frequently.



Mishra's alleged letter to the SSP said that if the station officer does not change his style of working, then a serious incident could occur.



Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday started house searches in Bikru villages in which they seized several documents related to Dubey, a senior police official said.
Source:

Edited By:

Last updated on: July 07, 2020 11:28 IST

India's COVID-19 tally raced past the seven-lakh mark on Tuesday after a single-day spike of 22,252 infections, five days after crossing the six-lakh post, while the death toll breached the 20,000 mark, according to the Union health ministry data.

IMAGE: Health workers wearing PPE kits arrive to conduct medical checkup of the residents in a COVID-19 containment zone at Malad in Mumbai. Photograph: PTI Photo

It took 110 days for coronavirus infections in the country to reach the one-lakh, while just 49 days more to go past the seven-lakh mark.

This is the fifth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 20,000.

The country's coronavirus infection caseload increased to 7,19,665 on Tuesday, while the death toll climbed to 20,160 with 467 persons succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of recoveries stands at 4,39,947, while there are 2,59,557 active cases of coronavirus infection presently in the country. "Thus, around 61.13 per cent of patients have recovered so far," an official said. The total number of confirmed cases included foreigners.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a cumulative total of 1,02,11,092 samples have been tested up to July 6 with 2,41,430 samples being tested on Monday.

Of the 467 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 204 are from Maharashtra, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 48 from Delhi, 29 from Karnataka, 24 from Uttar Pradesh, 22 from West Bengal, 17 from Gujarat, 11 each from Telangana and Haryana, nine from Madhya Pradesh, seven from Andhra Pradesh, six from Jammu and Kashmir, five each from Rajasthan and Punjab, two each from Bihar, Kerala and Odisha and one each from Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.

IMAGE: Suspected coronavirus patients arrive at a government hospital for tests during Unlock 2, in New Delhi. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo

Of the total 20,160 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 9,026 fatalities followed by Delhi with 3,115 deaths, Gujarat with 1,960, Tamil Nadu with 1,571, Uttar Pradesh with 809, West Bengal with 779, Madhya Pradesh with 617, Rajasthan with 461 and Karnataka with 401.

The COVID-19 death toll reached 306 in Telangana, 276 in Haryana, 239 in Andhra Pradesh, 169 in Punjab, 138 in Jammu and Kashmir, 97 in Bihar, 42 in Uttarakhand, 38 in Odisha and 27 in Kerala.

Jharkhand has registered 20 deaths, Chhattisgarh and Assam 14 each, Puducherry 12, Himachal Pradesh 11, Goa seven, Chandigarh six, Arunachal Pradesh two and Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry.

More than 70 per cent deaths took place due to co-morbidities, it said.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 2,11,987 followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,14,978, Delhi at 1,00,823, Gujarat at 36,772, Uttar Pradesh at 28,636, Telangana at 25,733 and Karnataka at 25,317, according to the ministry data.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 22,987 in West Bengal, 20,688 in Rajasthan, 20,019 in Andhra Pradesh, 17,504 in Haryana and 15,284 in Madhya Pradesh.

IMAGE: People buy vegetables near the toll gate on the National Highway 4 in Bengaluru. Photograph: /Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

It has risen to 12,160 in Assam, 12,125 in Bihar, 9,526 in Odisha and 8,675 in Jammu and Kashmir. Punjab has reported 6,491 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 5,622 cases.

A total of 3,305 people have been infected by the virus in Chhattisgarh, 3,161 in Uttarakhand, 2,847 in Jharkhand, 1,813 in Goa, 1,680 in Tripura, 1,390 in Manipur, 1,077 in Himachal Pradesh and 1,005 in Ladakh.

Puducherry has recorded 802 COVID-19 cases, Nagaland 625, Chandigarh 489 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 297 cases.

Arunachal Pradesh reported 270 cases, Mizoram has 197 cases, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 141, Sikkim has registered 125 infections so far, while Meghalaya has recorded 80 cases.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said, adding that 5,034 cases are being reassigned to states.

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.
Teenagers, unsupervised around food, is not a way to run a business, wrote another. And for them, in the time we are in, thinking they can do this, video and post it and not think there will not be any repercussions speaks to their privilege, upbringing and poor management by the company as a whole.
Source:

Edited By:

July 07, 2020 23:39 IST

Police on Tuesday arrested three more people for the killing of eight policemen in an ambush at a village near Kanpur, amid a simmering controversy over gangster Vikas Dubey's alleged links with police and politicians.

IMAGE: Police and forensic team members investigate the site where eight police personnel lost their lives after being fired upon by criminals, in Kanpur, last week. Photograph: PTI Photo

Police appointed an inspector general to probe into an unverified letter that surfaced on social media, purportedly written weeks before his death by Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra.

It had alleged links between the Chaubeypur station officer and the gangster.

Also, Inspector General (Civil Defence) Amitabh Thakur asked Uttar Pradesh police chief to probe the then Kanpur Senior Superintendent of Police Anant Deo, now a deputy inspector general, to whom the purported letter was sent.

Police said there is no trace of the letter in their records, but they will continue to investigate the matter.

DSP Devendra Mishra, posted as the Bilhaur circle officer, was among the eight policemen gunned down allegedly by the henchmen of Vikas Dubey in his Bikru village when they went to arrest him past midnight last Thursday.

Chaubeypur station officer Vinay Tiwari, mentioned in Mishra's unverified letter, is among the four policemen suspended for their possible role in tipping off the gangster about his arrest.

Police on Tuesday said they have arrested three more people -- Dubey's relative Shama, neighbor Suresh Verma and domestic help Rekha.

Rekha's husband Dayashankar Agnihotri, a key member of the Dubey's gang, is already behind bars, arrested Sunday after an encounter in which police shot him in the leg.

Police have named 21 people in the first information report registered after the attack. The FIR also mentioned 50-60 unidentified people.

The Kanpur police released the photos of 15 criminals said to be close to Dubey.

They are putting up posters carrying the pictures of these alleged criminals, most of them carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 for their arrest.

Vikas Dubey, with a reward of Rs 2.5 lakh on him, remains elusive.

His posters too have been plastered at road toll plazas, including those in Unnao, Kanpur Nagar, Auraiya, Fatehpur and areas near the India-Nepal border.

Police have issued alerts in Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich and Gorakhpur to stop Vikas Dubey from escaping across the border intro Nepal.

Lucknow Range IG Lakshmi Singh on Tuesday began a probe into the letter purportedly sent by DSP Devendra Mishra by visiting the office of Circle Officer (Bilhaur), the post held by him. The IG questioned the staff, checked records and computer data, said an official.

She also seized a computer hard disk, pen drives and some documents, the official added.

The then Kanpur SSP Anant Deo, to whom the letter was supposedly sent, called it a fake. He said the signature on it did not match that of the slain officer. The letter was also undated and carried no serial number.

But Inspector General (Civil Defence) Amitabh Thakur has sought an inquiry into the alleged closeness between Deo and Jai Bajpai, a 'frontman' of gangster Dubey.

In his letter to Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police H C Awasthy, he sought the removal of Deo from the Special Task Force, where he is now posted as Deputy Inspector General, while an inquiry is on.

A video clip from 2017, apparently shot while Dubey was being interrogated by the STF after his arrest in Lucknow, has also appeared on social media.

In the clip, the alleged gangster suggests he has links with two local Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs, Bhagwati Sagar and Abhijeet Sanga, and the district panchayat chief.

He is heard claiming that Sagar and Sanga had helped him in the past when he faced police action. Both leaders denied this.

"My constituency is Bithoor in Kanpur and people from the adjoining village come to me for help," said Sanga.

He added that on several occasions he had recommended action in support of people who were against Dubey.

Bilhaur MLA Sagar also denied ever helping Dubey. He said the clip was being circulated to malign his image.

The two MLAs said Dubey usually associated himself with leaders belonging to the ruling party in the state.

They demanded an inquiry into the matter.
July 07, 2020 09:41 IST

'My biggest fear is if I get infected will I get admission in a good hospital and how much money will the hospital charge for my treatment.'

Photographs: Kind courtesy Jitendra Laxman Shelatkar

Jitendra Laxman Shelatkar, 46, has been an ambulance operator since 1998.

With a huge EMI burden on his shoulders and without much work since the lockdown began, Jitendra began ferrying COVID-19 positive patients only from the last week of May, as non-COVID patients had dried up in the face of hospitals refusing admissions to them.

"One feels excruciatingly hot once inside the PPE kit leading to loss of water from our bodies. That would sometimes lead to suffocation, breathing issues, regular thirstiness, skin irritation, dizziness and nausea," Jitendra Shelatkar tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com in our continuing series on COVID-19 Warriors.

While I started my journey as an ambulance operator in 1998, it was only in 2002-2003 that I began to see the scary side of it. It was then that I began taking AIDS patients to hospitals.

At that time precautions meant using only masks and gloves. There were no sanitisers or personal protection equipment (PPE) kits then.

Doctors would often advise us to take care as there was not much awareness about how the AIDS virus infected people and there were lot of misconceptions too.

There was more fear and less awareness about how a person got infected by AIDS and so there were insecurities and fears.

More than the fear of contracting AIDS the social stigma linked to AIDS was scarier.

There were also risks associated with carrying patients suffering from Open Cox, a type of TB, to hospitals.

I have been ferrying COVID-19 patients since the last week of May.

In the beginning, I had no idea about PPE kits, sanitisers, etc. Private ambulance operators had no guidelines issued by the BMC (BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation) or the state health ministry if we could ferry COVID-19 patients.

If a person tested positive for COVID, the pathological lab/doctors would contact the BMC, which in turn would contact 108 and take COVID positive patients to hospitals.

Later, as the number of cases began ballooning, private ambulances were roped in.

I took my first positive patient from a private hospital in Malad East to a nursing home in Malad West (both in north west Mumbai).

This patient was serious but had recovered completely. Since he could not cope with the huge medical expenses, which were around Rs 18,000 per day at this hospital, the doctors there suggested that he move to some other hospital and quarantine himself for the remaining period of recovery.

Since then, I have been taking at least one COVID-19 patient per week to various hospitals for treatment.

The challenges

There was this positive patient suffering from Alzheimer's who would not do what we asked him to do while being shifted to the hospital. He, perhaps, was unable to understand what we were telling him.

Despite several efforts he would not walk on his own to the ambulance. Left with no choice we -- my assistant and I -- had no choice but to haul him up on my shoulder into the ambulance.

We have been taught by medical professionals on how to don and doff the PPE kit.

Driving the ambulance with the entire PPE kit is a big task. At least, for the first few days till we began to acclimatise ourselves to wearing PPE kits for several hours -- from the time we took the patients from their homes and got them admitted into hospitals.

One feels excruciatingly hot once inside the PPE kit -- especially in May and June -- leading to loss of water from our bodies. That would sometimes lead to suffocation, breathing issues, regular thirstiness, skin irritation, dizziness and nausea.

Even if we have to wear it for not more than two hours generally, it becomes unbearable.

I had purple patches all over my skin for the first few times I donned the PPE. I had to take medicines to take care of it.

We purchase the PPE kit on our own and then bill the patient for it. In the beginning as I bought few pieces I had to shell out Rs 2,400 per PPE kit. Then I purchased 20 PPE kits in bulk and had the price reduced to Rs 1,600. I still have four left with me.

Carrying patients on the stretcher as well as walking is a task after wearing the PPE kit. We charge Rs 4,000 per patient.

The state government has taken a good decision to cap the prices that ambulance operators can charge. I have seen patients and their families being looted by some operators who charge even Rs 25,000 to carry COVID-19 patients to the hospital. The government should have acted much before this.

For the first few calls, we were called by hospital doctors to get COVID positive patients from their homes to the hospitals. Now, we get direct calls from the relatives of the patients or from the BMC about the details of the patient who needs to be taken to the hospital.

While some patients are fit enough to walk on their own into the ambulance there are times we have to stretcher them, or as I told you earlier haul them to the vehicle.

The very first experience

When I reached the hospital to shift this patient I was asked to wait for some time as the discharge formalities were under process.

The patient's son called us around 10 am to reach the hospital by 10.30 am all geared in PPE suits. When we reached there a few minutes before 10.30, the patient's son was busy with discharge formalities.

He would come out every 15 minutes and ask me to wait for another 15 minutes. This continued for almost three hours before the patient was finally discharged by 1.30 pm.

My assistant and I had to remain inside the PPE kit for almost four hours, including the time by when we got him admitted to the other hospital.

And the next one...

There was this patient in Goregaon (north west Mumbai) whose relative called us for our services. The patient, an 80-year-old lady, though not suffering from COVID, was quite critical and needed oxygen support, which is available in my ambulance.

I wasn't donning the PPE kit at that time because the patient's relative had assured us that his mother was not COVID positive.

We first took her to a hospital in Kandivali (north west Mumbai) because the patient's kin knew some doctor in that hospital. When the doctors checked that her oxygen saturation level had dropped to 65 they advised the relative to take her to some other hospital.

From there we took her to another nearby hospital which also refused admission saying they did not have adequate equipment to deal with the lady's situation.

At the next hospital, the hospital's nursing staff scanned her chest with an X-ray and they said the lady could be a suspected COVID-19 patient.

They also refused admission to her.

From there we went to two more hospitals in Malad, which too refused to admit her.

The family was about to take her back home when her daughter objected to bringing a suspected COVID-19 patient home. She had some contacts at an Andheri East hospital (north west Mumbai) and so she asked us to take her mother there. They too refused her admission.

From there we took her to another hospital in Andheri West. When they too refused to take her, we took her to a big hospital in Versova. They too did not budge despite desperate pleas from the lady's son.

Despite the lady being very serious none of the hospitals allowed the ambulance to enter their hospital premises. At all the hospitals, we were asked to move from the main gate.

All the hospitals said they did not have beds to treat or admit non-COVID patients and since she had not done her test they would not admit her.

From there we moved her to yet another private hospital in Vile Parle (north west Mumbai) and then again, when they did not take her, we took her to a nearby municipal hospital.

While we were allowed inside the premises of this municipal hospital and they showed signs of admitting her but only if we took her along with my ambulance's oxygen cylinder; they said they did not have enough oxygen cylinders in the hospital.

We were made to wait there for almost 90 minutes after which they refused admission because they did not have enough oxygen cylinders.

We were trying to get her admitted to a hospital around 9.30 pm the previous night and till 6 am the next day we kept running from hospital-to-hospital without any success.

By then my oxygen cylinder had almost emptied out so we called for a cylinder from the first hospital in Kandivali where we had taken her the previous night.

This cylinder was taken to her home in Goregaon where we took this lady after more than eight harrowing hours as the family, now completely fed up and drained of energies, decided to take her home and treat her there.

Two days later, the lady passed away.

And yet one more...

One day I got a call at around 1 pm from a patient's relative, a girl I know from Panvel (a township on the outskirts of Mumbai), who was not with the COVID patient.

She requested me to take her father from Goregaon to a big BMC-run hospital in Mumbai Central and said that one of his relatives would accompany the patient.

The patient and his son, who was with him, were from Uttar Pradesh and since they were new to the city were completely lost about the admission procedure at this hospital.

The patient's son could neither read nor write and so could not fill the various forms that had to be filled for his father's admission.

The daughter informed me that I had to take him to this hospital and contact a doctor she knew there who would help with the admission process.

I completed all the formalities beginning from his admission process to the time he was shifted to a ward all the while wearing the PPE suit.

That day I donned the PPE kit around 12.45 pm and remained in it till about 6 pm when the admission process was completed.

Once we reached the hospital's casualty ward, the staff was quite rude. Thankfully, one of the other patient's relatives asked us to take him to a ward where they checked the fever of incoming patients.

Since the doctors and medical staff were attending other patients this man, who had breathing problems and was using oxygen, had to wait for his turn.

Once we took him inside this fever clinic they checked his temperature, oxygen saturation and other vital parameters and after filling some forms, which I had to fill, they asked us to take the patient to room 3 or 4 but did not pinpoint the exact location where these rooms were.

After we reached room 3, which was at the far end from the fever clinic, they too conducted some tests and asked us to proceed to room 4 for the registration process.

After registration, they asked us to take the patient to ward no. 3 on the sixth floor.

As luck would have it, this was a female patient ward. When we came across a medical staff, who was wearing a PPE kit, she told us to take him to another room and find any vacant bed and out him up there.

We did find a vacant bed, but it was not properly done. When we told the staff there about it they sent for help which arrived 30 minutes later and then we finally got him admitted.

They asked us to keep the patient's clothes separately for which we had no carry bag. So, I went downstairs and brought one.

Personal fears

There have been instances when the patient was not tested for COVID-19, and so was apparently negative, but turned positive two days later when tests were done.

At such times, if the patient is not positive we don't wear PPE suits or face shields or other protective gear to avoid getting infected.

Ever since I began ferrying positive patients to hospitals there is a constant fear about getting infected.

In the beginning when there was not much awareness I have no idea how many positive patients I may have taken to hospitals unknowingly. But I would carry on a few days later if I didn't show any symptoms.

While that fear always remain hidden somewhere inside me that I too can get infected, I now know that the death rate is not too high and a healthy person like me has a higher probability of getting cured even if I am infected gives some hope and dispels some fears.

My biggest fear is if I get infected will I get admission in a good hospital and how much money will the hospital charge for my treatment.

If I get infected, how will I manage a minimum of Rs 6 lakh to Rs 7 lakh, or, maximum of Rs 13 lakh to Rs 14 lakh, that I hear from many people is the average cost of treatment of COVID-19 at small and big private hospitals.

I have to pay EMIs worth Rs 80,000 for a gold loan and home loan I have taken and since the last three months there isn't enough income because hospitals are not treating non-COVID patients.

If I get infected, all my dreams for myself and my family will be ruined.

I definitely don't feel like a warrior fighting some unknown disease, but it really feels good to see smiles on the faces of relatives as well as COVID-19 positive patients when they get admitted to a hospital when they most need it.

Disposing off the PPE kits

We sanitise ourselves as well as the PPE kit before donning it using sprays. We wear just one glove first; then cap, goggle, mask, shoes, face shield and then don the entire PPE suit.

When we go to the patient's house we wear the second pair of gloves.

While doffing the PPE kit we spray ourselves with sanitiser and remove the gloves in the end.

We make sure to wear two sets of gloves and two masks.

While removing the outer pair of gloves, we do not touch the outer surface that had come in contact with a positive patient.

We roll and fold the gloves to ensure that we don't touch the outer surface.

Then we remove the face shield first; then the entire suit; then shoes, cap and goggles.

We dispose off the entire PPE suit, the pair of outer gloves, and the outer face mask properly inside a designated bin at the hospital where the patient is admitted.

Every hospital has the facility for disposing off the PPE kit.

Once we reach home, we sanitise ourselves, our gloves and mask again and then dispose off the inner pair of gloves and face mask in a bin after carefully tucking it inside a plastic bag.

We take a hot water bath and also wash our clothes using hot water.
Greenville, NC (27833)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 81F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms early, mainly cloudy overnight with a few showers. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Beckley, WV (25801)

Today

A steady rain early...then remaining cloudy with a few showers. Thunder possible. High 67F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low around 45F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
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.
LITCHFIELD  The Litchfield Jazz Festival will mark its 25th year as a live-streamed and free of charge event, from the sound stages of Telefunken Elektroakustik in South Windsor.

In this landmark year for Connecticuts premier jazz fest, a world-wide audience is expected.

Sets will be live and the audience will be live, just not in the same room. Cant always have what you want, said festival founder Vita Muir. Artist talks between sets will give the virtual audience a chance to chat with the stars.

Program choices were inspired by iconic musicians who hit the Century Mark in 2020.This years Litchfield Jazz Festival salutes two of these: Charlie Parker and Art Blakey.

While it would have been sweet to do Bird, Brubeck and Blakey, we had to pass since we jumped the gun and saluted our dear friend Dave in 2018, Muir said.

This year the fest master of ceremonies is saxophonist and William College professor, Kris Allen, a long-time Litchfield Jazz Camp faculty member who will also lead a 2020 Charlie Parker tribute.

The Festival begins at 1 p.m., and the last set ends around 6:30 p.m. The schedule:

Litchfields Own Legends, 1 p.m. Featuring vocalists Nicole Zuraitis and Anson Jones, Jen Allen - piano, Luques Curtis - bass, and Dan Pugach - drums

Many of the younger set making waves in the jazz sea these days began their musical journey at Litchfield Jazz Camp and remain on faculty there. Opening the festival is rising-star vocalist Nicole Zuraitis. A 2019 Grammy nominee, she tours internationally, heads our Jazz Camp vocal programs each summer, and is helping to raise the next generation. Her bandmates here include protege vocalist Anson Jones, pianist Jen Allen, bassist and member of the Eddie Palmieri band, Luques Curtis and Nicoles husband and another 2019 Grammy nominee and leader of the Dan Pugach Nonet, drummer Dan Pugach.

The Charlie Parker Centennial Tribute, 2:45 p.m. Featuring Kris Allen, alto sax, Bruce Harris, trumpet, Jen Allen, piano, Zwe Bell le Pere, bass, Jonathan Barber, drums. Inspired by Parker, contemporary players have moved the music through Parker and beyond. Parker himself once told DownBeat Magazine, They teach you theres a boundary line to music, but, man, theres no boundary line to art.

Art Blakey Centennial Tribute, 5 p.m. Featuring Valery Ponomarev, trumpet, Don Braden, saxophone, Carl Allen, drums, Robin Eubanks, trombone, Zaccai Curtis, piano.

Art Blakey built more than a band in 1955. He built an institution that became Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers and thrived for 35 years. The first iteration, co-led by Blakey and pianist Horace Silver, included trumpeter Kenny Dorham, bassist Doug Watkins and tenor sax, Hank Mobley. Members included at one time or another, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, Freddie Hubbard, Valery Ponomarev, Reggie Workman and others.

The 25th Litchfield Jazz Festival is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and Telefunken Elektroakustik. To view the festival, visit Litchfield Jazz Festivals Facebook page. Access to the concerts is free.

Litchfield Jazz Festival was established in 1996 and celebrates 25 consecutive years of bringing great jazz music to the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. Litchfield Jazz Festival is presented by the not-for-profit Litchfield Performing Arts. Their mission is to educate and inspire young people to be confident, creative, expressive individuals through challenging programs in jazz music and the performing arts and to share the passion and magic of the arts with the wider community.
According to police, Kodie went missing Monday afternoon around 4 p.m. and may have threatened to harm herself. Her family told police they believed she consumed pills prior to her disappearance.
Stacker distills the week's news from around the world into key facts and figures. Click through to read more about some of the biggest headlines of the last week.

This article was first published on Stacker
As we continue to see, theyre not hearing us, so we are going to be out here every day and we are going to utilize every disruptive, non-violent demonstration tactic that we have in order to make sure that they hear us loud and clear, said a demonstrator, Jacob Raiford, at a protest Sunday outside a Phoenix police station, according to KPHO/KTVK.
TORRINGTON  Just a few weeks after the City Council heard a pitch from a solar array company to use 66 acres on East Pearl Road, a second company has come forward with another proposal.

US Solar, whose new markets manager, Peter Schmitt, met on Zoom with council members, is eyeing the citys landfill site on Vista Road.

We are proposing a solar development on the landfill, Schmitt said. We think it provides a good opportunity to use something thats well-tucked away. My understanding is that Torrington was approached before, but not for this site.

The council this week approved having Mayor Elinor Carbone sign a non-binding letter of intent, which would be in place for 60 days, contingent to enter into a lease agreement for the landfill property, subject to a public hearing, that is required by law, the mayor said in her motion.

The public hearing to discuss the lease option and solar plan with US Solar will be held on July 20, before the City Councils next regular meeting.

Schmitt said that US Solar sells energy from its solar sites directly to Eversource, and establishes a long-term lease with the property owner, paying rent in exchange for using the land. In Torringtons case, US Solar is seeking a 20-year lease.

US Solar is also looking at property in Shelton; much of its holdings are in Minnesota, but the company is expanding its reach into Connecticut, Schmitt said.

Ive been in conversations with the mayor (Elinor Carbone) and (Corporation Counsel Vic) Muschell, and what were doing requires a public hearing, Schmitt said.

He said the hope was to secure a letter of intent with Torrington.

Our preference is to have terms in place for the lease ... the letter of intent allows us to go to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, to show were on the right trajectory, Schmitt said.

The first proposal was made by Verogy, which wants to install a field of solar panels on property on Pearl Road. That company made its presentation in June. Verogy, a Hartford-based firm that works with the solar energy industry, hopes to put an array of solar panels on 11 acres of a 66-acre property at 236 E. Pearl Road, across from the St. Peter Cemetery and near Bishop Donnelly Field. A total of 7,150 panels would be installed on the 11 acres.

One of the advantages of using US Solar, Schmitt said, is that the company uses pollinator friendly habitats, meaning it plants sites with vegetation that attracts bees and other insects.

Landfills can present a bit of a challenge, but using a pollinator friendly habitat makes us very environmentally focused, he said. In Minnesota, where we have many sites, we do the same thing ... and because we operate our sites long term, it encourages us to build a higher quality project. You can always pick up the phone and talk to us.

What were looking at is a 20-year lease on 15 acres, Schmitt said. Wed be applying through the state, and would cover all the required permits. What we ask for in return is a signed lease to complete our applications. All costs and work would be covered by US Solar. Its a clean and easy transaction.

Council member Ann Ruwet, whose family owns a farm on East Pearl Road, said she was all for it. Ruwet had expressed her opposition to the Verogy plan last month, saying it wasnt the right fit for the area, which is residential but has farmland.

This is very timely, because Verogy is looking at open space. Weve wanted to see use of the landfill, she said. A 20-year lease is appealing.

Council member Paul Cavagnero asked whether having two companies applying to the siting council at the same time would be problematic for the city. He and Ruwet asked if US Solar had communicated with the siting council.

We havent presented anything to them yet, but weve worked with them in the past, Schmitt said. Our application shouldnt be problematic for the siting council, because our project is very different from the one Verogy is proposing.

How can we find that out ... so many on the City Council are so much more in favor of (a solar plan for the landfill), Cavagnero asked.

Carbone said she would contact the siting council. These types of projects dont go to them for approval until the end of the process, she said. The (applying companies) have to do the local work first. But I will reach out to them to ask if it would be disfavorable to have two applications going at the same time.

When you have a conversation with the siting council, let them know its a different application from Verogy, Ruwet said. Indicate to them that were interested in a solar option, but were just opposed to the location of the (Verogy) proposal.

Verogy is in the process of gaining local approval for its proposed solar array before it applies for permits from the Connecticut Siting Council. In Verogys case, the plans have already been presented to the public through its website, www.verogy.com/torrington-solar-one, where residents can see the entire project.

During its presentation to the council, Verogys development director, Brian Fitzgerald, ran through details of the proposal, saying the array would not be visible from the road because it would be installed on the interior of the 66 acres and would be surrounded by trees, planted to create a screening effect. The merits of having a solar array, Fitzgerald said, include tax revenue for the city, clean energy for Eversource, and ultimately some savings for the community.

During that meeting, council members asked if Verogy would consider the landfill for its solar array. Verogy said it had not, and that the East Pearl Road site was a better fit.
To the Editor:

(A recent) headline contained some good news, tempered with considerable caution, but good news nonetheless. School will open later this year. As I read the article, it was clear that many concessions to necessity and adaptations to suit the occasion will require implementation on all sides.

If an effective COVID-19 vaccine is developed, who would hesitate to protect our children and grandchildren with its use?

Because of the so-called religious exemption , in some Connecticut schools, the vulnerability to measles rises to 20 percent or more of the school population. There are certain medical exemptions from specific vaccines that rely on herd immunity to protect a few people. Selfishly claiming a religious exemption: is tantamount to not wearing a mask and coughing in a crowd.

The governor and the legislature need to address this issue IMMEDIATELY. We already have one epidemic. Do we really want another?

Brock Putnam, Litchfield
A 41-year-old Bangladeshi man, hiding inside an empty goods train, was apprehended by BSF personnel from along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal on Monday, officials said. They said that this seems to be a case of human trafficking as the man, who worked in a jewellery shop in Cumilla district of the neighbouring country, told BSF personnel that he was sent to this side by some touts promising to get him employment here.

He also said that he wanted to visit Ajmer Sharif dargah in Rajasthan after earning some money, officials said. The man was intercepted from an empty rail wagon that came to the Indian side at Petrapole in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal at about 1:30 pm, they said.

The man from Bangladesh has been handed over to the local police even as the BSF has asked railway authorities that they should check every wagon before the start of a journey from either side of the border in order to thwart human trafficking bids. Since June 20, BSF troops in this border area have apprehended at least six Bangladesh residents who were being trafficked to either side of the border.

PTI had reported on Sunday that the border force has sounded an alert all along the 4,096 km long India-Bangladesh front to check cross-border human trafficking instances that may witness a spurt in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the linked lockdown. The force has noticed some innovative methods to push the poor and vulnerable from across the border by luring them with job opportunities in cities like Kolkata, Guwahati, some other towns in northeast India and as far as Delhi and Mumbai.
As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to grapple the world, the Swedish Minister for Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren called upon Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, to discuss co-operation in the field of health and medicine. According to sources, both the health ministers discussed the status and containment measures for COVID-19 in their respective countries.

Dr Harsh Vardhan emphasised on the Indo-Swedish partnership which oversaw ten bilateral meetings at the joint working group level. He also mentioned the path-breaking achievements of the Government of India in recent years and further said that India has undertaken pioneering research in antibiotic resistance.

Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that India has rather used the Novel Coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led from the front and has adopted various approach. Furthermore, he stated that India has supplied Hydrochloroxyquine to more than 100 countries.

READ: Tejashwi takes a dig at Nitish Kumar over Coronavirus; questions facility for common man

READ: Coronavirus Live Updates: India's tally crosses 7 lakh-mark, recovery rate soars to 61.13%

WHO Lauds India's Efforts

Asserting that India should also focus on data management originating from the pandemic, World Health Organisation (WHO) lauded the Indian government for its efforts in tackling COVID-19. According to WHO, India's big challenge is "population", its geographic diversity, heterogeneity.

The world nodal health agency further extolled the Indian government's strong political leadership to focus on important things like developing diagnostics and being able to scale that up, also being very systematic about the lockdown measures and unlocking in an organised manner.

Speaking to ANI, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at WHO highlighted India's achievement, stating that, India is doing more than 200 thousand tests a day and is now developing testing kits.

READ: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tests Coronavirus positive after fourth test

READ: Only one new Coronavirus case found in Mumbai's Dharavi area
The UAE Embassy on Tuesday gave its first official reaction on the gold smuggling by an employee in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Speaking to a private news publication, the UAE Ambassador to India affirmed that his country would fully cooperate with the Indian Customs authorities to investigate the matter. Moreover, he called for strict legal action against those involved in the gold smuggling racket.

UAE looks forward to fully cooperating with Indian customs authorities to thoroughly investigate the matter&urges stringent legal action against those involved,says UAE Ambassador to Gulf News on alleged Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling by an employee at UAE Consulate in Kerala  ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2020

Read: Kerala IT Secretary Removed As CM's Secretary

Gold smuggling racket busted

On July 5, Customs officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate. Sarith Kumar, who worked at the UAE Consulate was arrested in this regard. Reportedly, he told the Customs about the role of Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee now working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited.

The case took a political turn after photos with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan surfaced. It has been alleged that Swapna has links with the CM and has been seen with him at parties when she was working at the UAE Consulate. Following the backlash over her appointment, she was sacked by the state government. Moreover, Principal Secretary to CM M Sivasankar has been replaced after his role in hiring Suresh came under the scanner.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala lashed out at the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government over the gold smuggling controversy. He claimed that the IT Secretary M Sivasankar had direct involvement in this racket. Thereafter, the senior Congress leader indicated that the responsibility lies with the CM.

Congress' Ramesh Chennithala remarked, "A gold smuggling case came to light on the Thiruvananthapuram airport yesterday. I was told by the news, the main accused is an employee in the IT department of Kerala. It has been reported that she worked in the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram afterwards she is now working in the IT department of the state government. IT secretaries have direct involvement in this, it is clear. The IT Secretary is also the secretary of the Chief Minister."

Read: Kerala Implements Triple Lockdown In Thiruvananthapuram As COVID Cases Surge In Capital

Read: Gold Smuggling Case: Opposition Attacks 'corrupt' Kerala Govt, Demands CBI Probe
The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra Police to investigate the alleged assault of a woman by her father-in law in the state.

The video of the incident was shared by Mohna Ansari, a member of Human Rights Commission of Nepal, on Twitter who appealed to NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma to look into the matter.

"Dear Rekha Ji, our police said that this video is from Maharashtra. Please save this women @sharmarekha @NCWIndia," Ansari said in a tweet. Taking cognizance, Sharma wrote to Maharashtra police and sought investigation into the matter.

"The Commission takes serious note of the domestic violence perpetrated against a woman in the domestic setup and is concerned about the safety of the woman in her own family," she said in the letter to Maharashtra Director General of Police Subodh Kumar Jaiswal.

"Considering the gravity of the matter, it is requested that investigation be done in the matter. A detailed action taken report may be apprised to the Commission at an early date," she added.
Cops said theyre investigating the incident, but it might take awhile given that the surface street is surrounded by woods and there are no surveillance cameras under the highway.
Tamil Nadu government is set to launch a new TV channel to showcase the important events which will happen in the temples of Tamil Nadu. The government of Tamil Nadu has already started a dry run of its new TV Channel 'Thirukovil', which will showcase the important Hindu temples which come under the ministry of Hindu religion and charitable endowments. The 24-hour channel is to carry content about Hindu Ideology and showcase important events of temples which will happen in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Earlier in March this year, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy had announced that a TV channel will be launched under the new initiative of the Hindu and Religious Charitable Endowments Department. The channel will be launched at an estimated cost of Rs.8.77 crore. The channel has begun with its dry run and has sent samples out to the HR&CE department with a set of instructions to follow while shooting the temples and the events.

Read: 'Bob-Cut Sengamalam': Elephant In Tamil Nadu Wins Hearts For Fringe Haircut; See Pic

BJP opposes the idea of the new channel

Regional Commissioners of the HRCE department have been informed to record all the important events of the temple in 4K resolution. A letter dated June 23 which was sent by the department secretary to all the commissioners was out on Monday which had 19 sets of instructions that needed to be followed by the officials while shooting the video for the channel. However, the saffron party BJP has opposed this idea for now and says it is unwanted for now,

"The government has to focus to control the scam which is happening in the idol smuggling and should recover all the temple lands from the politicians which runs to several thousand crores. That must be the first work of the government and not to start a TV channel," says BJP senior and spokesperson leader Narayana Thirupathi.

Read: Tamil Nadu Crosses One Lakh COVID-19 Mark; More Tests, Early Detection

The principal opposition party DMK has not reacted yet on the matter. Meanwhile, there is criticism on social media as to why should government initiate such a work when everyone is fighting against a pandemic now. Hindu religious scholar Rangarajan, who is been fighting in the court against various scams happening in the HR&CE department says, "The government cannot start a channel which will spread the ideologies of any religion with the taxpayer money. This is totally unconstitutional and should be challenged in the court." There are around 40,000 temples that come under the control of the HR&CE department of the Tamil Nadu government.

Read: DMK Defector V P Duraisamy Appointed Vice-president Of BJP Tamil Nadu Unit

Read: Tamil Nadu CM Orders Rs 3,000 Stipend For Junior Lawyers
Gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the killing of 8 policemen in Kanpur is on the run and there is a continuous manhunt by the UP police to nab him. There are speculations that Dubey may try to flee to Nepal via the Indo Nepal porous borders in UP, Uttarakhand, and Bihar.

Since the incident has taken place in UP, Dubey might try to take the escape route to Nepal via the porous border of Bihar. Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey has assured all possible help to the UP Govt to nab the culprit to ensure justice for the martyred jawans. The DGP said that the Indo Nepal border in Bihar has been sealed and adequate forces have been deployed.

READ: Kanpur encounter: Report sent to MHA; UP Police readies multiple teams to nab Vikas Dubey

Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey while speaking to Republic TV said that " our policemen are alert on the Indo Nepal border. STF has also been sounded alert. We are keeping a tab on everything. The day Vikas Dubey tries to enter Bihar, he will realize what is Bihar police and what is STF. On the Indo-Nepal border, people keep visiting from one side to another and we are keeping a tab on all the possible link and contacts so that we get to know his movements. We are in touch with UP police and both the police cooperate with each other. Our team of 40 STF personnel are camping on UP Border under the leadership of a DSP. One team is liaoning with the UP police on the Gorakhpur border. We have activated all our systems. We have no sympathy for such criminals. Vikas dubey will have to pay the price if he enters Bihar ."

Expressing his angst over giving a caste colour and projecting Dubey as the Hero of the Brahmin community, The DGP of Bihar further added, "I saw a Facebook post that caste colour is being given for a professional gangster and he is being termed as Robinhood of Brahmins. Where will be the society go if all the caste starts portraying the criminals of their caste as their hero. It's a shame that it's being given a caste colour. Someday some criminals will unfurl the national flag on the Red fort. Hero worship of criminals should not be done else criminals will get patronage. The 8 policemen who were martyred are real Heros ".

As the manhunt of Gangster Vikas Dubey is on, but like many other dreaded gangsters Dubey it is expected that Dubey might have escaped to Nepal. Earlier Dawood Ibrahim, Yasin Bhatkal, Chota Shakeel, Ejaz Lakdawala and many other gangsters have taken refuge in Nepal. Indo Nepal borders in UP, Uttarakhand and Bihar have been sealed.

READ: Kanpur encounter: Vikas Dubey hiding in forest areas of UP-MP border, say sources

READ: Priyanka Vadra cites slain DSP's letter on police-Vikas Dubey links, slams UP Home Dept

READ: Sushant Singh Rajputs close friend Vikas Gupta re-edits 'Dil Bechara' trailer; see post
Police seized a huge quantity of cough syrup and arrested two persons in Manipur's Thoubal district on Monday, an officer said.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team raided a house at Lilong Tharaorok area in the early hours of Monday and seized 485 bottles of cough syrups, the officer said.

The two persons have been arrested and an FIR has been lodged at Lilong police station against them. The police is investigating as to how they got hold of such huge quantity of cough syrups, he said.

In Manipur cough syrups are not allowed to be sold without a doctor's prescription as some people misuse it as a form of intoxicant, the officer added.
Three more people including a close relative of gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the attack in which eight police personnel were killed have been arrested, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

According to the police, the total number of arrests in the case now stands at four. Dubey's relative Shama, his neighbour Suresh Verma, and maid Rekha were arrested in the case, an official police spokesperson said. Rekhas husband, Daya Shankar Agnihotri, is a key member of the Dubey gang and was arrested in a pre-dawn encounter in Kalyanpur on Sunday.

Agnihotri, who was involved in the ambush, was carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 along with 17 others who continue to remain elusive. Ten police constables have been sent to Chaubeypur Police Station from the reserve police lines, said SSP, Kanpur Dinesh Kumar P.

This is in replacement for the police personnel who were suspended for their alleged involvement in the encounter. Station Officer (SO) Chaubeypur, Vinay Tiwari, sub-inspectors Kunwarpal and Krishna Kumar Sharma and constable Rajiv were suspended for their alleged involvement in passing on information to Dubey about police movement.

Meanwhile, a 2017 video of Dubey has gone viral on social media in which he suggested he was close to local politicians including some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs. The video was allegedly shot while Dubey was being interrogated by the Uttar Pradesh STF in 2017 after his arrest from Krishna Nagar.

In the clip, Dubey claims to have close links with two local BJP MLAs, Bhagwati Sagar and Abhijeet Sanga and the chief of the Zila panchayat. He also claims in the video that Sagar and Sanga had helped him in the past when he faced police action. However, both the BJP leaders denied having any links with Dubey.

"My constituency is Bithoor in Kanpur and people from the adjoining village come to me for help, said Sanga, adding that on several occasions, he had recommended action supporting people who were against Dubey.

Sagar, who is the MLA from Bilhaur, denied helping Dubey ever and said that the video was being circulated to malign his image. Both the BJP leaders alleged that Dubey usually associates himself with the leaders belonging to the ruling party in the state and demanded an inquiry into the matter.

The Uttar Pradesh Police said Dubey's photographs have been put all over the state mainly at toll plazas including those in Unnao, Kanpur Nagar, Auraiya, Fatehpur and areas near India-Nepal border so that people may tip off the police if they spot the gangster. The reward on Dubey has already been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh, they said.

The border areas of Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich and Gorakhpur that lead towards Nepal have been alerted to prevent Dubey from fleeing to the neighbouring country to evade arrest, said a senior officer.

Police also suspect that he may be hiding in Madhya Pradesh's Chambal ravines, the officer added. Dubey and his men killed eight policemen mostly in their 20s and 30s, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra (54) in an ambush at Bikru village in Chaubeypur area on July 3.

The others are Mahesh Kumar Yadav (42), Sub-Inspector Anoop Kumar Singh (32), Sub-Inspector Nebu Lal (48) and Constables Jitendra Pal (26), Sultan Singh (34), Bablu Kumar (23) and Rahul Kumar (24).
On Sunday, July 5, the NIA made the 7th arrest in the Pulwama terror attack case in which 40 CRPF personnel were martyred in a terror attack on February 14, 2019. The arrested individual- Bilal Ahmed Kuchey who runs a sawmill has been accused of harbouring and extending support to the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists involved in the Pulwama attack. As per the NIA, the main perpetrators stayed in this terror associate's house.

Kuchey introduced the terrorists to other Over Ground Workers who provided them safe houses during the planning of the attack. The NIA also accused him of providing the JeM terrorists with high-end mobile phones. These phones were used for communication with the Pakistan-based JeM leadership and giving final touches to the planning and execution of the attack. Moreover, one of the phone provided by Kuchey was used for recording the video clip of Adil Ahmed Dar, which went viral after the terror attack.

Read: J&K's Pulwama Youth Get Employment Under The JKSRLM 'Umeed' Scheme; Praise Administration

NIA arrests seventh person in connection with attack on CRPF convoy that killed 40 personnel in Pulwama last year: officials  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 7, 2020

Read: IED Blast In J-K's Pulwama Leaves CRPF Personnel Injured

After his arrest, Kuchey was produced before the NIA Special Court in Jammu on July 6. He has been remanded to NIA custody for 10 days to ensure his custodial interrogation. The investigation in the case is currently in progress. Earlier this month, Budgam resident Iqbal Rather had been arrested by the NIA for facilitating key conspirator Muhammad Umar Farooq's journey to Kashmir after he infiltrated into Indian territory in April 2018.

The Pulwama terror attack

At around 3 pm on February 14, 2019, a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist drove an explosive-laden SUV into a convoy of vehicles carrying CRPF personnel on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in South Kashmirs Pulwama district. This resulted in the killing of 40 CRPF personnel. As per reports, around 80 kg of explosives were used for the attack. India responded decisively in the early hours of February 26 when Indian Air Force fighter jets bombed Pakistan's terror camp in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

However, several leaders of the Congress party cast aspersions on the authenticity of the strikes. On the first anniversary of the Pulwama terror attack, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi indirectly charged BJP of benefiting from this tragedy. He questioned the Centre on the inquiry result and the lack of accountability for the security lapses.

Read: NIA Arrests Key Conspirator Behind Pulwama Attack In Which 40 CRPF Soldiers Were Martyred
In the latest development in the manhunt for Kanpur encounter accused Vikas Dubey, the police has managed to recover several bombs during the search operations carried out Bikaru village. As per sources, the police received intelligence to carry out a raid in a house in the village during which several bombs were found. In addition to this, police sources in a massive revelation have said that the wanted gangster has broken legs and wears metal prosthetics in place of them.

While speaking exclusively to Republic TV, Bihars Director General of Police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey assured that all efforts were being made to nab the criminal. "We are on high alert, he cannot pass safely if he enters Bihar. I am ashamed of the people who are making him a hero. We condemn the attack on our 8 cops, if he enters Bihar and India-Nepal border, he will not be spared at all. All the police, STF are on high alert," said the Bihar DGP.

"All the possible links and connections are under the scanner. This is not the matter of UP police only, he killed 8 cops, this is the matter of police department. We are in close touch with UP police, our teams are constituted, hunt to nab him is on. Around 40 teams are constituted to nab him. We have to carry out a close watch on his connections in the police," he added.

Read: Kanpur Encounter Case: Vikas Dubey's Location Traced By UP Police; Close Aide Arrested

Read: 'Will Drag Vikas Dubey Back Even From Hell,' Says UP DyCM In Kanpur Case; 5 Cops Suspended

Meanwhile, in a significant development to the Kanpur encounter case the location of Vikas Dubey has been traced by the police, sources said on Tuesday. Vikas Dubey's last location was traced near Amheda police outpost in Bijnor, where nearly 10 people were spotted in three cars. Upon receiving the information about the history-sheeter's hideout, cops have sealed the Bijnor border.

Kanpur encounter

The encounter took place when a police team was approaching to arrest Vikas Dubey, a 47-year-old gangster who has 60 cases registered against him - ranging from murder to kidnapping and robbery, in Bikaru village under the Chaubeypur police station on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. As the police team was about to reach the gangster's hideout they were fired at from a building rooftop by alleged AK-47 guns, leaving Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra, three sub-inspectors and four constables dead. While two criminals were killed in the encounter, Dubey and his remaining associates fled from the scene.

Read: Will Nab Kanpur Encounter Main Accused, If He's Found In Madhya Pradesh: IG Gwalior Range

Read: Vikas Dubey May Surrender In Delhi; Kanpur Cop-killing Gangster Last In Bijnor: Sources
Stating that the recent tension between India and China has dented all diplomatic effort that was applied in 18 Modi-Xi meetings in the past, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said that talks at this juncture are a waste. Terming the bureaucratic level of talks as 'zilch', Swamy slammed the media for announcing 'hour-by-hour' meetings of NSA Ajit Doval with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In a tweet on Tuesday morning, Swamy added that China's aggression was not stopped even after Xi Jinping has held as many as 18 meetings with Prime Minister Modi.

Swamy was referring to the fact that PM Narendra Modi and China's President has met 18 times since 2014. These include two informal summits - Wuhan and Mamallapuram, one-on-one meetings and meetings on the sidelines of the multilateral summits. Notably, PM Modi has visited China five times as the PM - the most by any Indian PM. Swamy's remarks came after it was reported on Monday that NSA Ajit Doval held a two-hour-long video call with Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi.

READ | NSA Ajit Doval held 2-hour call with China's Foreign Min; de-escalation 'progress' at LAC

It remains to be seen, however, if there is any truth to Swamy's remarks, as the Doval-Yi meet was followed by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lijian Zhao confirming that both countries have progressed in disengaging and de-escalating the border situation.

READ | Disengagement with China starts in Eastern Ladakh on agreed terms; PLA removing structures

NSA Ajit Doval held 2-hour call with China's Foreign Min

In a major breakthrough at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), sources reported that NSA Ajit Doval held a two-hour-long video call with Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi on Sunday on border tensions and steps for disengagement. Sources added that Doval and Yi, who are India and China Special Representatives for Boundary Talks, had a cordial conversation on Sunday focusing on maintaining peace and working together to avoid such incidents in the future.

READ | China confirms de-escalation 'progress' in Ladakh, says 'talks with India will continue'

China confirms pullback

After sources confirmed that Chinese Army had removed tents from Patrol point 14, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lijian Zhao confirmed that both countries have progressed in disengaging and de-escalating the border situation in June 30 Military commander-level talks. Previously, China had put the onus completely on India, accusing India of trying to change the status quo at the LAC. Zhao had in fact claimed that the 'entire Galwan Valley' belonged to China, which contradicted previous India-Chinese agreements.

READ | Donald Trump accuses China of causing 'great damage' to US and rest of the world
Ethiopia, Africas second-largest country by population, is not only struggling to avoid a war with Egypt but also to pull itself out of the economic crunch caused due to the ongoing pandemic. Apart from this, it is reportedly on the verge of transitioning to democracy or descent into violence.

On July 6, at least 166 people were killed after iconic musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was murdered in Addis Ababa. The Prime Minister, who was earlier, awarded Nobel Prize, responded by sending in security forces and shutting the internet. According to reports, nearly 2300 people were arrested in response to the violence in the capital.

Read: More Than 80 Reported Killed This Week In Ethiopia's Unrest

Read: 'Several' Killed In Ethiopia Unrest After Singer Shot Dead

Addis Ababa is also the sight where an uprising from 2014 to 2017 swept Abiy Ahmed to power, making him the first leader from the suppressed Oromia state. Abiy was awarded the Nobel Prize and global acclaim for his efforts in the first year of his premiership toward peace with neighbouring Eritrea and democracy at home.

Ethiopia's crisis is grave concern

The Oromo people are the countrys largest ethnic group but have faced decades of discrimination, exclusion from politics and operation. While many have dubbed Ahmeds position as a victory for the community, many have said that it might cause hindrance for their demands like great autonomy for Oromia.

Meanwhile, the situation in Ethiopia is getting more complex with each passing day. While some want the nation to be decentralised, some want it to be coherent. Experts suggest that these grievances were forcefully suppressed before came to power, he gave greater freedom to civilians and press, released political prisoners and dissidents.

Also, Ethiopia's crisis is a matter of grave concern. First, the nation is set to fill the reservoir of its Grand Renaissance Dam this month. Egypt has threatened a war however, it is unlikely. Secondly, the country which was earlier speeding towards economic bloom has suffered a severe blow sue to the COVID-19. The IMF expects growth to fall from 9% to 1.9% this year. Lastly, Abiy was selected by a committee in Norway, but he still hasn't been elected by the people of Ethiopia. Neither his victory, not peace are guaranteed.

Read: Ethiopian Police Patrol Oromia Area And Capital After Unrest

Read: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia Return To Talks Over Disputed Dam

Image credits: AP
The meeting of Chinas Ambassador Hou Yanqi with Nepals President Bidya Bhandari and other senior officials, violating diplomatic protocols, have raised concerns about possible Chinese meddling in countrys internal affairs. A political turmoil in underway in Nepal as Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been facing opposition from within the party for his style of functioning and anti-India statements.

According to local media reports, some Foreign Ministry officials have raised the issue of repetitive violation of diplomatic code of conduct by the Presidents Office. The under-secretary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted at the Presidents Office, was reportedly not informed about the meeting between Bhandari and Hou.

"As per the diplomatic code of conduct, Foreign Ministry officials should be present at such meetings, but we were not informed...So there is no institutional record of the meetings and we don't know what the talking points were," the ministry official was quoted by the Post.

Read: Nepal's Political Crisis Enters Endgame; PM Oli-Prachanda To Hold High-stakes Party Talks

Crucial talks between Oli and the ruling party's executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on the issue of power-sharing has been deferred until July 8. Oli recently met with the opposition Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba the same day he met Chief of Army Staff General Purna Chandra Thapa, triggering speculations of Oli seeking his support to save his government if the ruling party splits.

'Ready to exchange views'

Political analysts believe that Hou has been trying to shore up the position of Oli and urged party leaders, in earlier meetings, to remain united and avoid any split. She also reportedly met senior politician Madhav Kumar Nepal, who heads the foreign relations department of NCP but the details of the meeting have been kept secret.

"The embassy keeps good relationships with Nepali leaders and is ready to exchange views on issues of common interest at any convenient time," Chinese Embassy spokesperson Zhang Si was quoted as saying.

Read: Oxford Expert Claims Coronavirus Existed Worldwide Before Emerging In China

(With ANI inputs)
Tomas Kapler was shocked by the news that hospital doctors in northern Italy had to make harrowing decisions on which COVID-19 patients get the best care.

The online business consultant had nothing to do with lung ventilators before. To see their availability became a matter of life and death and prompted him to act. "It was a disturbing feeling for me that because of a lack of equipment the doctors had to decide whether a person gets a chance to live," Kapler told The Associated Press. "That seemed so horrific to me that it was an impulse to do something."

With the pandemic spreading, the ventilators became a precious commodity. Their price was skyrocketing and so was demand that the traditional makers were unable to immediately meet.

As a member of an informal group of volunteers formed by IT companies and experts who offered to help the state fight the pandemic, he moved to action. Working around the clock, he coordinated a team of 30 who developed a fully functional ventilator, Corovent, in just days.

Time did matter. The pandemic struck Czech Republic slightly later than in western Europe but time was running out quickly with the number of infected rising.

The challenge was the components for the ventilators were in as critical short supply as the actual ventilators. Kapler had an idea, to make the ventilators out of parts found in common machines. A crowd-funding campaign ensured the necessary finances in several hours.

Kapler approached Karel Roubik, professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Czech Technical University with a request for help. Roubik didn't have to think twice about it.

"You (I) normally wouldn't like to do something useless but in this case it didn't matter at all. And if it can be be used where there are none available, it is satisfying that it can serve a purpose." he said.

Roubik was in touch with his colleagues through Skype while his post-graduate student, Vaclav Ort, tested the new design in their lab in Kladno, west of Prague.

The hours were so long for Ort he sometimes slept on a rollaway bed in the lab. "The first five days when we were working on the principals I used to sit in the lab until three in the morning. At seven in the morning I was back at work," he said.

They had a working prototype in five days, something that would normally take a year.

Roubik said they applied a simple design that makes the machine reliable, inexpensive, easy to make in mass and operate.

That cooperation continued after MICO, a company in energy and chemistry based in Trebic, 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Kladno, offered its production capacity.

"I thought it (making the ventilators) was something I can contribute to.I didn't do anything more than those people who were making the face masks," MICO's chief executive, Jiri Denner said. "They did the maximum they could. And I did the maximum I could."

With the certification for emergency use in the EU approved, the ventilator was ready in April but not needed. The Czech Republic managed to contain the outbreak but the health systems were still struggling elsewhere in the world.

MICO has submitted a request for approval for emergency use in countries from the United States to Brazil, Russia and others. Meanwhile, a process of the EU certification for common hospital use has been under way.

Kapler said it was an overall positive experience for him even though he had to quit his job to work on the project and has been without pay for several months.

"The task was to develop a ventilator that would save lives of COVID-19 patients and would be possible to make in mass and quickly. That was what we wanted to do. Originally, we thought it would be just an emergency ventilator for the Czech Republic. Burt it later turned out that the ventilators will be needed in the entire world. And the world will need them more than the Czech Republic."

A slogan on the ventilator's box sums up their effort: "Powered by Czech heart."
TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S., a spokesperson said. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.
Protesters took to the streets in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Tuesday to demonstrate against the killing of a Chechen activist over the weekend.

The activist was named locally as Anzor Umarov.

Austrian media has reported that the killing of the 43-year-old ethnic Chechen, who had lived in Austria for more than a decade, was being considered as a possible political assassination.

Around 50 people took part in Tuesday's protest. They accused Russia - and Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov - of being responsible for the death.

Austrian authorities said the motive remained unclear, but that a political motive was possible.

A 47-year-old Russian man was detained in Linz late Saturday, shortly after the killing.

Another Russian who came to the scene with the victim was detained in connection with the killing in Gerasdorf, the Vienna suburb where the crime took place, police said.

Saturday's killing follows several other attacks on Chechens abroad in recent years.
In yet another deal with China, Imran Khan-led Pakistan on Monday signed USD 1.5 billion agreement for a hydropower project with a Chinese company, in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under Xi Jinping regime's ambitious CPEC project.

The agreement with China Gezhouba for "Azad Pattan Hydropower Project" was signed on Monday with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan present at the location. The project is located in Sadhanoti district of PoK on Jhelum river and is expected to be completed in 2026.

"A part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with an investment of USD 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.

Even as Chinese investments in Pakistan has put the country under China's burden, Imran Khan asserted 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.

READ | Pakistan foreign minister dials Chinese counterpart as PM Modi visits Leh; raises Kashmir

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).

READ | Pakistan PM Imran Khan calls for an 'emergency security meeting' as PM Modi visits Leh

India's stand on PoK

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.

Pakistan has illegally occupied PoK after the incursion in 1947. In a thunderous declaration, while moving a resolution last year for revoking Article 370 that stripped J&K of its special rights and divided the state into two Union Territories, Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Aksai Chin are part of India and said: "we are ready to give our lives for it". Subsequently, foreign minister S Jaishankar said that India will soon have jurisdiction over the territory. Moreover, Army chief General MM Naravane said that Indian Army is ready to reclaim PoK if Centre orders.

READ | PM Modi's FULL Ladakh Speech

Pak foreign minister raises Kashmir issue, again

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a telephonic conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, just a day after PM Modi visited Leh. Moreover, Imran Khan called for an emergency meeting with top security personnel and reviewed "internal and external security situation & expressed the resolve that sovereignty of the country would be protected at all costs."

Alleging that India is imperiling peace in the region, Qureshi, during his telephonic conversation with Wang, underscored that the regional security situation was deteriorating. In the face of Indian provocations, Pakistan was exercising restraint, he said. He also accused India of committing ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC). Moreover, blatantly interfering with India's internal matter, Quereshi also raised J&K's new domicile laws in his discussion with Wang Yi.

(with PTI inputs)

READ | Coronavirus Live Updates
US prosecutors have charged seven people, several of whom are of Pakistani origin, for bank fraud amounting to USD3.5 million over two years. Five of them were arrested Monday, the Department of Justice said. The criminal complaint unsealed in a federal court in New Jersey charges them with conspiracy to commit bank fraud through a scheme that used hundreds of fraudulent accounts to defraud several major banks causing losses of over USD3.5 million.

According to the Department of Justice, those charged include Rana Shar, 36; Awaise Dar, 32; Shamser Farooq, 26; Habib Majid, 34; Naveed Arif, 42; Ali Abbas, 38; and Erm Ayaz, 36. To accomplish the conspiracy's unlawful objective, the defendants established bank accounts associated with sham entities that had no legitimate purpose, and thereafter would issue checks payable to other sham entities associated with the criminal organization, knowing that the accounts on which the checks were drawn contained insufficient funds.

They would also conduct numerous fraudulent credit card and debit card transactions between shell companies to fraudulently credit payee accounts and fraudulently overdraw payor accounts. Alternatively, they would use these shell companies to execute temporary refund credits, commonly referred to as charge-backs, to checking accounts associated with the criminal organization, where no prior legitimate transaction had occurred, federal; prosecutors alleged.

Read - Sons Of Ex-Panama Leader Arrested In Guatemala

Read - Noida: 12 Arrested, 775 Vehicles Penalised For Violating COVID-19 Curbs

Banks left with losses

According to court papers, in each one of these instances, members of the criminal organization withdrew the funds (through ATMs or bank tellers) that banks and/or merchant processors had credited to the payee bank accounts at the time of the fraudulent transaction. Because they withdrew the credited funds from the payee accounts before the banks could recognize the fraudulent transactions, the banks and merchant processors were left with substantial losses, prosecutors alleged.

The investigation has identified approximately 200 bank accounts and 75 merchant credit card processing accounts used to facilitate the schemes, they alleged. The bank fraud conspiracy count carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of USD1 million.

Read - Gold Worth Over Rs 50 Lakh Seized At Airport, 2 Arrested

Read - Huge Quantity Of Cough Syrup Seized In Manipur, 2 Arrested

Image: Representative/Pixabay
Authorities in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba have reported that over a dozen bodies have been left abandoned on streets or veiled in public locations without the causes of death immediately known.

Due to a recent spike of Covid-19 related deaths, funeral services in the central Bolivian city have been left overwhelmed with bodies piling up, waiting for cremation or burial, as new coronavirus cases rapidly multiply in one of the epicentres of the pandemic in the South American country.

Local authorities are working overtime to dig mass graves to cope with the accelerating impact of the global pandemic.

Despite having relatively low per capita cases of Covid-19 during the early regional expansion of the virus in recent weeks numbers have begun to grow quickly, a toll that is reaching all sectors of society,

On Sunday, Maria Eidy Roca, Bolivia's Health Minister, announced she taking 'a short break' after testing positive for COVID-19, also stating measures previously put in place have been critical in saving 'more than one million infections and the loss of thousands of lives in this country during May to July.'

According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, Bolivia has recorded more than 39,297 COVID-19 cases and 1,434 related deaths.

However, 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.

(Representative Image)
Protesters held another rally in Manila on Tuesday to denounce the signing of the Philippine government's new anti-terror law.

More than 100 protesters gathered at the state university compound to rally against the widely opposed new law which critics fear could be used against human rights campaigners.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Anti-Terrorism Act last week to show the government's commitment to stamping out terrorism, according to his spokesman.

The law allows the detention of suspects for up to 24 days without charge and empowers a government anti-terrorism council to designate suspects or groups as suspected terrorists who could then be subject to arrest and surveillance.

Opposition to the law has been mounting.

"They are targeting the ordinary people who would dare speak about their situation," said protester organiser Jean Enriquez .
North Korea on Tuesday said it had no immediate intent to resume a dialogue with the United States as US deputy secretary of state Stephen Biegun arrived in South Korea for discussions on stalled nuclear diplomacy.

A military plane believed to be carrying the US envoy landed at an American air base near Seoul.

Another plane - a US charter aircraft - was seen on the tarmac at the same time.

The State Department said Biegun, who is also President Donald Trumps special representative for North Korea, would discuss cooperation on a range of issues in meetings this week with officials in South Korea and Japan, including the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.

South Korea's call for renewed talks between Pyongyang and Washington has been dismissed by the North as

nonsensical.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have met three times since embarking on nuclear diplomacy in 2018.

But negotiations have faltered since their second summit in February last year in Vietnam, where the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capability.
A family feud at the top of Singapore's political system could shape the outcome of general elections on July 10.

The prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, is seeking to preserve the rule of his People's Action Party (PAP), which has been in power since 1959.

But his estranged brother, Lee Hsien Yang, is campaigning for the opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP).

He joined opposition candidate Dr. Ang Yong Guan at a walkabout in a market on Tuesday.

Lee Hsien Yang is not running in Friday's general election, but said last week when the campaign period started that he hopes to be a "catalyst for change."

He brought his family feud into politics by joining the opposition, saying the governing party has "lost its way" from when his father, Lee Kuan Yew, was prime minister.

The Lee brothers' father Lee Kuan Yew was Singapore's first and longest-serving prime minister who turned it into an affluent city-state. The brothers have engaged in a public spat since 2017 over the late patriarch's family home.

Even with Lee Hsien Yang's star power, the opposition is unlikely to seriously threaten the ruling party.

It won a landslide victory in 2015 with 69.9% of total votes and won 83 out of 89 parliamentary seats.
Duckworth is on the short list to be the Democratic vice presidential nominee on Joe Bidens ticket. Some analysts say her stock has risen in recent days, although most acknowledge that the veepstakes odds are mostly speculation.
Singapore has reported five imported COVID-19 cases from India, the Ministry of Health said, as the country's total infections rose to 44,983 after 183 new patients were detected on Monday with majority being foreigners living in dormitories. Singapore reported seven imported cases on Sunday, the ministry said.

Out of these, five imported cases were from India. They were placed on a 14-day stay-home notice on their return here on June 20 and 23, A total of 183 new cases were detected on Monday, including 23 from the community. The rest were foreigners living in dormitories. With this, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached 44,983.

Based on investigations so far, three of the 23 cases in the community, are Singaporeans (citizens) or Permanent Residents (foreigners) and 20 are foreigners holding work passes but living outside the dorms, the ministry said. These cases were identified after periodic screening of workers in essential services who are living outside the dormitories, and some may be past infections, it said.

In addition, there are three imported cases, all of whom had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore. Their details have not been revealed yet.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of seven cases per day in the week before, to an average of 10 per day in the past week.

Singapore has 212 cases in hospitals, two of whom are in critical condition. As many as 4,121 patients with mild symptoms are isolated and cared for at community facilities. In all, 40,441 patients have fully recovered from the infection. On Sunday, 324 patients were discharged from hospital.
Two sons of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli were arrested Monday in Guatemala as they tried to board a private plane out of the country.

Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli were supposedly headed to Panama with stops scheduled in El Salvador and Nicaragua, said Guatemala Interior Ministry spokesman Vinicio Pacheco.

He said there was an international order from Interpol for their arrests on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Panamanian government seeks both for allegedly receiving more than $20 million in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

The government initially sought their arrest in 2017.

In recent days, word circulated they were planning to return due to fears of the coronavirus.

They have denied any illegal activity.

The brothers had been detained in Florida in 2018 for immigration reasons but were released on $1 million bond for each.

Ricardo Martinelli, who governed from 2009 to 2014, was detained in the U.S. and Panama for more than two years on allegations of political espionage and misuse of public funds.

A court found him not guilty in 2019, and he was released.

(Image Credit Pixabay)
Thailand has denied claims by animal rights campaigners that the country's coconut-picking monkeys - long a popular tourist attraction - are being abused.

Thailand's commerce minister Jurin Laksanawisit rejected the allegations made by British campaign group PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - and said that coconut harvesting by monkeys was not a major part of the industry.

Jurin said PETA's campaign was affecting sales in Britain as well as other European countries.

Thailand exported $395 million worth of coconut milk in 2019, including $71 million to the European Union and the UK.

Monkeys tended to be used only to reach very high trees that would otherwise be out of reach, said Nukul Luk-In, president of the Coconut Farmers Association.

PETA said an undercover investigation of eight Thai farms found that monkeys were forced to gather as many as 1,000 coconuts a day and were treated cruelly.

It said its campaign had led several major retail outlets to remove products from companies alleged to use Thai coconuts harvested by monkeys.
An Oxford University expert has made a sensational claim on novel coronavirus outbreak, saying the virus existed across the globe before it first emerged in Wuhan. According to Chinas state-run Xinhua news agency, Tom Jefferson, a senior associate tutor at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) at Oxford, said that the novel coronavirus broke out whenever and wherever it found favourable conditions.

Jefferson opined that the virus was omnipresent in a dormant state and got activate by favourable environmental conditions. He wondered how the coronavirus reached Falklands Islands, a remote archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf, or passengers on a cruise ship, that travelled from South Georgia to Buenos Aires, suddenly tested positive on the eighth day.

Referring to the Spanish Flu of 1918, Jefferson said that around 30 per cent of the population of Western Samoa died of the disease while they had no communication with the outside world. He stressed at the possibility of such viruses being omnipresent and something triggers their outbreak.

"The explanation for this could only be that these agents don't 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," he was quoted as saying.

Read: Beaches In Spain Forced To Close And Turn Away Tourists Amid COVID-19 Scare

Strange reports from Italy, Spain

The origin of SARS-CoV-2 is not known but preliminary studies suggested that the bats could be the source since the coronavirus present in bats has a genome that is 96 per cent identical to the novel coronavirus. It is believed that pangolin was the immediate host because the bat coronavirus cannot bind to receptors in human cells, however, there has not been any concrete evidence.

However, recent reports from Spain and Italy, claiming to have traces of novel coronavirus from sewage water before the virus outbreak in China, have left experts wondering about the origin. A renowned Chinese virologist claimed that the novel coronavirus is just the tip of the iceberg and called for an advanced study of the unknown viruses.

Read: China Hawks New Battle Tanks; Netizens Say 'you Too Should Not Trust Chinese Products'

Read: China Accuses US Of Unilateralism After Joining Global Arms Trade Treaty At UN

(With agency inputs)
As Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama celebrated his 85th birthday on Monday, The United States has called out China's oppression in Tibet and has thanked India for hosting the Dalai Lama since 1959. The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs extended birthday wishes to Dalai Lama and thanked India for backing Tibetans and their freedom struggle. Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi also expressed her gratitude to the Tibetan spiritual leader and said that aspirations of Tibetan people remain unfulfilled because of 'the oppressive Chinese regime.'

Happy 85th birthday to His Holiness @DalaiLama, who has inspired the world through his peace & kindness, and as a symbol of the struggle for Tibetans and their heritage. We thank India for hosting His Holiness and Tibetans in freedom since 1959 & wish His Holiness happiness.  State_SCA (@State_SCA) July 6, 2020

This comes right after US President Donald Trump has named and shamed China by saying that it has not only caused a great damage to America but also to the rest of the world. He has since the outbreak of COVID blamed the country for hiding information about the potential threat of the virus. Trump administration has also sided with India amid the border tensions along the LAC and Chinese incursion in South China Sea region as well as its Hong Kong security bill that essentially undermines one country, two systems doctrine between Hong Kong and China.

READ | BJP MP for Bharat Ratna to Dalai Lama; says China should free Tibet

'America remains committed to opposing the acceleration of Beijings aggression'

Pelosi said: The Dalai Lama is a messenger of hope, whose spiritual guidance has been a vital force to advance warm-heartedness and compassion, promote religious harmony, secure human rights and preserve the language and culture of the Tibetan people. Sadly, the aspirations of His Holiness and the Tibetan people remain unfulfilled as the oppressive Chinese regime continues its disgraceful campaign of persecution," Pelosi said.

Referring to the Tibet Policy and Support Act that was passed by House Democrats in January this year to defend the rights of Tibetans, she noted that the US Congress has long spoken with one voice in defence of those persecuted by Beijing and will continue to do so. Citing violation of the religious freedom, she added, "The Senate must pass this bipartisan legislation and support the bond of friendship that has existed between the United States, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people for decades.

Pelosi also slammed China on other issues, "America remains committed to opposing the acceleration of Beijings aggression toward the people of Tibet, as well as its brutal campaign against the Uyghur people, its suppression of free speech and assault on the one country, two systems doctrine in Hong Kong, and its violent efforts to undermine religious freedom and human rights throughout China," she said.

READ | Delhi crosses 1-lakh mark with 1379 new COVID cases; positivity drops to 15.33% from 30%

Dalai Lama's 85th birthday

The Dalai Lama on Monday turned 85, his birthday celebrated through prayers here at the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile which also condoled the deaths of Indian soldiers in the recent clash with Chinese troops. In his message to the Buddhist community from his home in McLeodganj, the Tibetan spiritual leader asked people to recite the om mani padme hum mantra.

The Dalai Lama has been living in India ever since he fled Tibet in 1959 following a crackdown on an uprising by the local population. The Tibetan government-in-exile operates from Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. Over 1,60,000 Tibetans live in India.

READ | Prayers mark Dalai Lama's 85th birthday

This year, the celebrations remained a low-key affair due to restrictions imposed by the government in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The Dalai Lama's private secretary Sachin Seton Samadup said no function was organised to celebrate the occasion on Monday. Samadup said he neither made any foreign visit nor gave any sermon since January due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Prayers marked the occasion at the community's main temple in McLeodganj.

READ | India-China agree to 'complete disengagement at LAC', no unilateral change to be attempted
The United States on Monday issued new guidelines which state that international students will be forced to leave the country or transfer to another college if their schools offer classes entirely online in the fall due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The guidelines, issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, provide additional pressure for universities to reopen even amid growing concerns about the recent spread of COVID-19 among young adults. Colleges received the guidance the same day that some institutions, including Harvard University, announced that all instruction will be offered remotely, Associated Press reported.

'Schools must open in the fall!!!'

President Donald Trump has insisted that schools and colleges return to in-person instruction as soon as possible. Soon after the guidance was released, Trump repeated on Twitter that schools must reopen this fall, adding that Democrats want to keep schools closed for political reasons, not for health reasons.

SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020

Corrupt Joe Biden and the Democrats dont want to open schools in the Fall for political reasons, not for health reasons! They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020

"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.

'Must depart the country or take other measures'

"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," it added.

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.

READ | US: Chicago's July Fourth weekend ends with 17 dead, 70 wounded

According to media reports, nearly 400,000 foreigners received student visas in the 12-month period that ended September 30, down more than 40% from four years earlier. Last year, universities in the U.S. attracted nearly 1.1 million students from abroad.

READ | US: California beaches reopen after weekend virus closure

That accounted for 5.5% of the total US higher education population, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE), 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 AFP.

READ | American student released after 486 days in Egyptian prison

READ | Trump claims 39% drop in COVID-19 deaths in US, reiterates 'China virus' line

(With agency inputs)
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Protesters call in Phnom Penh for government authorities to intervene in land-rights disputes, Jan. 13, 2020.

Cambodias government is unable to resolve the countrys myriad land disputes because many of them involve senior officials, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng said in a rare acknowledgement Tuesday, as a rights group urged authorities to take action against all perpetrators of illegal land grabs equally.

Speaking at a conference that included provincial governors and local authorities from across the country, Sar Kheng did not disclose the names of the involved officials but said that at least one of the disputes involved one of Cambodias deputy prime ministers.

They are grabbing land and causing problems [for us] to resolve [the disputes]they are all senior government officials, he said, adding that several of the cases were further complicated because residents lacked land titles.

Cambodias land issues date from the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, which forced large-scale evacuations and relocations, followed by a period of mass confusion over land rights and the formation of squatter communities when the refugees returned in the 1990s after a decade of civil war.

Sar Kheng specifically raised the example of Mondulkiri province, where he said several senior officials are competing with each other to grab land, resulting in many unresolved disputes.

Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service on Tuesday, a member of the indigenous Punong community in Mondulkiri named Kroeung Tola said disputes in the region are on the rise because local authorities are too frightened to take action against the well-connected.

The rich and powerfulif they want land, they just point their fingers take it all, he said.

The situation is complicated because these are the people who are involved in the disputes.

Another villager named Nin Channa said powerful people backed by court officials are clearing land to grab from a local mountain and residents have been ordered not to complain.

She said that the local forest and water resources, as well as an indigenous graveyard, had been destroyed in the process.

No one will listen to our concerns and the local authorities are pressuring us, she said.

They are encroaching on and clearing our land, affecting our wells and burial grounds.

The acknowledgement of complicity in land grabs by senior government officials follows a July 3 order issued by Prime Minister Hun Sen instructing the Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, and Land Management to register the land of villagers who have lived in protected or conservation areas for at least 10 years. He also called on local authorities to protect some portion of forests for community use.

Eang Mengly, Mondulkiri provincial coordinator for Cambodian rights group Adhoc, told RFA that local authorities fear retribution for taking action against government officials and their relatives who illegally clear land and urged the central government to step in.

The national authorities must take immediate action, without discrimination, he said.

The government recently detained former Ministry of Justice Undersecretary of State Seng Sovannara for illegally grabbing around 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of land in Mondulkiri.

Battambang grab

Also on Tuesday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court ordered Battambang provincial deputy governor Sou Arafat and business tycoon (Okhna) Sorng Thorn detained in Prey Sar Prison pending trial for corruption and an illegal land grab that displaced some 300 families in the provinces Koas Krala district beginning in 2015.

Yin Mengly, Adhocs provincial coordinator in Battambang, welcomed the move, calling it a positive step that would provide hope for the villagers and allow them to earn a living again.

He noted that seven villagers had been sentenced to one year in jail and handed fines after Sorng Thorn filed a complaint against them.

Yin Mengly said that following the courts actions, many local authorities are rushing to resolve land disputes, but he criticized them for waiting until the central government had intervened.

We want a substantive resolution, not a quick one, he said.

A villager representative named Morm Kat told RFA that Sorng Thorns interference had prevented residents from cultivating their farms, pushing several of them further into poverty.

The villagers couldnt even step on the land, he said.

Sorng Thorn had controlled around 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of land, some 100 hectares (250 acres) of which belonged to the 300 families.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Thousands of ethnic Mongolian parents and activists have signed a petition to authorities calling for an end to the withdrawal of Mongolian-medium classes in schools in China's Inner Mongolia region, RFA has learned.



The letter, which has been circulating on the WeChat social media platform since Monday, is addressed to the education bureau of the regional government, which has announced plans to stop offering some classes in the Mongolian language in Tongliao city when schools resume on Sept. 1.



Classes teaching ruling Chinese Communist Party ideology, history, and politics in Mongolian-medium schools will now be taught in Chinese.



The policy is being rolled out in Tongliao after meeting with fierce resistance from parents in the region's Ujimqin Banner in 2018.



Nomin, a U.S.-based ethnic Mongolian formerly resident in the region, said there is ample research to support the benefits of mother-tongue education, including by experts based in Beijing.



She added that the new plan had been rolled out without consultation with ethnic Mongolian families, schools, teachers, or students.



"Mongolians from all over Inner Mongolia are signing online petitions right now to oppose this [policy]," Nomin said. "As of Tuesday, there were more than 4,200 signatures."



She said parents had taken their children to the regional education bureau to complain about the policy, but were turned away by an official, who said the bureau "doesn't deal with this kind of problem."



"They went to complain at the local government, but the education bureau told them to go to the ministry of education. They were just being passed around from pillar to post," Nomin said.



The letter was signed by farmers, members of nomadic communities, parents, and professionals. Veteran Mongolian rights activist Hada said he was among them, adding that Beijing has been trying for years to dislodge Mongolian-medium education in the region's schools.



"But every time they encounter strong opposition from the vast majority of Mongolians, so they have been unsuccessful," he said.



"It is well known that they actually succeeded during the Cultural Revolution, when all classes except Mongolian were taught in Chinese," he said.



"They wanted to start with elementary education, but have been forced to give up because of fierce protests," Hada said.



The policy has seen widespread testing and assessment of teachers' skills ahead of September's start date, in a bid to assess which teachers are capable of delivering lessons in Chinese.



'A kind of cultural genocide'



Exile Mongolian activist Xi Haiming, who currently lives in Germany, said Mongolians should have the right to learn in their native language.



"The Communist Party wants to deprive us of this right, which is ... crazy and brutal," Xi said. "They want to carry out a kind of cultural genocide of Mongolians."



Repeated calls to the Tongliao municipal education bureau rang unanswered during office hours on Tuesday.



China's 5.8 million-strong ethnic Mongolian community has long complained about oppressive policies in the region, which borders the independent country of Mongolia.



Ethnic Mongolian children have previously had much more opportunity to learn their native language and its cursive, flowing script during their early schooling than in recent years.



According to research carried out by veteran ethnic Mongolian activist Hada in 2016, the regional capital Hohhot only offers 3,000 Mongolian-medium primary school places to serve an ethnic Mongolian population of some 210,000.



The number of Mongolian-medium primary school places across the whole region fell from 110,000 in the early 1980s to just 19,000 in 2009.



Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 5 and Carrier Air Wing 17 fly in formation over the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier (R) strike force during operations in the South China Sea with the USS Ronald Reagan (L), July 6, 2020.

For the first time in several years, the United States has deployed two aircraft carriers in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy said Monday, right after China flexed its own naval muscle with a military exercise in the disputed Paracel Islands.

The military maneuvers point to rising tensions in the region, as the U.S. pushes back against an increasingly assertive China that has been ratcheting up pressure on other claimant nations. A U.S. analyst warned that with the current pattern activity, there was a danger of escalation.

This is heightened because both the United States and China as well as most other claimants tend to assess the escalation potential to be quite low -- hence the very real possibility of provocative behavior by one or more states triggering an unintended escalatory spiral, said Andrew Scobell, a senior political scientist for the U.S.-based RAND Corporation and a professor at Marine Corps University.

The American deployment of the aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan, and their accompanying strike groups, began with drills in the Philippine Sea on June 28. The ships then moved west into the South China Sea on July 4, Americas Independence Day.

Committed to our allies and a free and open Indo-Pacific, [the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier] brings a flexibility and combat lethality unmatched anywhere in the world, said that vessels commanding officer, Capt. Pat Hannifin, in a statement released by the U.S. Navy. These operations with Nimitz demonstrate that we are but one component of a much larger and equally committed naval force.

Rear Adm. James Kirk, commander of the Carrier Strike Group Eleven, whose flagship is the USS Nimitz, told Reuters that the aircraft carrier was within sight of a Chinese naval exercise that took place in the Paracel Islands from July 1-5. That drill had drawn criticism from Vietnam and the Philippines, both of which issued statements condemning it. The United States issued its own on July 2.

The Paracels are in the north of the South China Sea and claimed by China, Vietnam, and Taiwan, although China occupies all of its features.

The U.S. Navy said in its press release that it was the first so-called dual carrier exercise in the South China Sea since 2014. However, Scobell noted that two U.S. aircraft carriers had also operated in the area in 2016 - a month before a landmark ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in a case brought by the Philippines that undermined the legal basis for Chinas expansive territorial claims in South China Sea.

He said the timing of the current exercise was critical.

These signals are particularly important ones to disabuse friends and foes that even at this challenging time for the United States  in the midst of a pandemic, economic crisis, and political polarization at home -- the U.S. Navy stands ready and fully capable of operating in the Western Pacific, Scobell said.

China, which had been chided by its neighbors for its military drills in the Paracels last week, claimed the U.S. military exercise was intended to cause division among nations in the region.

"It is completely out of ulterior motives that the US flexes its muscles by purposely sending powerful military force to the relevant waters for large-scale exercises, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a news conference in Beijing on Monday. "The U.S. intends to drive a wedge between regional countries, promote militarization of the South China Sea and undermine peace and stability in the region.

Despite the show of U.S. naval power, China at the weekend sent a coastguard ship, numbered 5402, to Vanguard Bank in the Spratly Islands, which lie south of the Spratlys, close to an area where Vietnam plans to explore for oil, satellite imagery and ship-tracking software shows.

Vanguard Bank was the site of a prolonged standoff between China and Vietnam last year, and Chinas decision to send a ship there could presage another confrontation at sea.

The coastguard ship deployment comes just a week after a Chinese survey ship was spotted within Vietnams exclusive economic zone  which the U.S. responded to by sending the littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords to the area on July 1. The Navy released a photo showing the Giffords patrolling near the Chinese survey ship and a Vietnamese coastguard vessel.
Mexican military officials had spotted the plane after it flew into the countrys airspace, the BBC reported. The authorities followed the aircraft with their own jets ahead of the crash-landing.
Educational authorities in North Korea have ordered all primary and secondary schools on vacation from July 1, likely in response to growing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus that undercut official claims of success against the pandemic, RFA has learned.

The North Korean school year typically begins in January or February, after the Lunar New Year. But this year COVID-19 caused a delay to the start of the spring session. The first day of school was pushed back to late March, then late April, then finally to June 1.

North Korea says that it has been successful in preventing the spread of COVID-19, but the early vacation appears to indicate otherwise.

In the aftermath of the coronavirus, schools here in Pyongyang have stopped classes and began early vacations, a resident of the capital told RFAs Korean Service July 1.

While the country has not outwardly acknowledged a single confirmed case of COVID-19 within its borders, the government admitted to its citizens in public lectures earlier this year that the virus was spreading in three parts of the country, including the capital Pyongyang.

Students from the provinces who are attending Pyongyang No.1 Senior Middle School, are all returning home, the Pyongyang resident said.

The middle and high school is the countrys most prestigious, and gifted students from all over the country board there when school is in session.

Classes were being held as normal at Pyongyang No.1 Senior Middle School, but somehow school authorities suddenly ordered the students from the provinces to return home, saying that they were to be on vacation from July 1, said the source.

The source said that the reason for the abrupt closure was due to the coronavirus spreading in the capital.

What I know is that the school explained to the students that the suspension of classes and the early vacation were part of emergency measures related to the spread of the coronavirus, the source said.

They gave assignments to students in certain classes so that the students can work on supplementary lessons back home, the source added.

As students of Pyongyang No.1 Senior Middle School, they are really discouraged, since they have to go on vacation only one month after school started on June 1. The [families of] students from the provinces had a hard time preparing funds for room and board and classes, but [the students] have lost their opportunity to study yet again, said the source.

The source said that the authorities had at that time not officially announced that schools were closing.

They only notified the students from the provincial areas that they have to stop classes and go on vacation due to coronavirus, the source said.

Schools are also closing early outside of Pyongyang. A resident of North Hamgyong Province, home of the Rason special economic zone, told RFA on June 30 that schools there were also on break starting July 1.

The vacation started again, only a month after elementary, middle, and high schools in Rason opened after the repeated postponement of the beginning of the school year.

The fact that the schools are closing yet again goes against what the local authorities have been telling the people about North Korean successes against the spread of COVID-19.

Although the party is promoting its excellent coronavirus quarantine performance, the people are highly concerned about the spread of coronavirus due to the unprecedented suspension of classes, the second source said.

Students returning to the area from schools in Pyongyang was even more alarming, according to the second source.

If even the capital is not safe from the coronavirus, how can we believe in our socialist medical system thats supposed to be superior to the rest of the world? the second source said.

Unless the spread of the coronavirus stops, students will not be able to go back to school until early September.

The second source said that primary and secondary schools are on break, but universities are still in session.

An NK News report published Tuesday addressed conflicting information over the school closures. It noted that there has been no official announcement from educational authorities regarding the early vacation or its reasons, and it remains unclear if universities in some areas are also closing or not.

State media have, however, indirectly acknowledged the early vacation is prompted by COVID-19. In a July 5 Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report that detailed various efforts against the virus, the media outlet said, The educational sector is also taking due measures to let all the educational institutions across the country ensure summer vacation on the anti-epidemic principles.

According to a Daily NK report from last week, the Ministry of Education had ordered the schools closed on June 22 and mobilized staff and students of universities, elementary, middle and high schools to disinfect classrooms on June 29 and 30. Authorities then installed paper seals on classroom doors in schools to ensure that quarantine measures would not be breached.

Reported by Jieun Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Over 800 health-care workers in southern provinces of Laos are calling on authorities to pay them for extra hours worked this year in hospitals and quarantine centers while trying to control the spread of coronavirus, according to sources in the one-party communist state.



However, official sources say that only regular salaries and special disbursements for disease control will be paid as Laos struggles to keep its economy on track amid business shutdowns and sharp reductions in the collection of taxes.



In the Outhoumphone district of Savannakhet province, 110 doctors and nurses have not yet been paid for overtime hours worked since March at centers set up to house over 3,000 Lao workers returning from Thailand, sources say.



I havent received any overtime pay since December, one nurse told RFAs Lao Service on July 1.



Weve been checking returned workers for signs of infection with COVID, but we barely have enough money now to buy food, the nurse said, adding, Weve been waiting for our pay month after month, but nothing has ever come.



In Savannakhets Champhone district meanwhile, almost 200 doctors and nurses have still not been paid for overtime worked between January and June, one doctor said, telling RFA that pay for extra hours worked has always been paid in the past with the approval of upper-level managers.



Here in Champhone, 182 doctors and nurses received just one month of overtime pay in December 2019, but we havent received any overtime pay yet for work weve done this year. Working for the government and the [ruling] Party is leaving us depressed, he said.



If we dont receive our pay, we still have to work anyway, he said. It is impossible for us not to do our jobs.



Government 'short on funds'



In Champassak province, in the countrys southwest, 550 doctors and nurses working in the provincial hospital have still not been paid for overtime worked from January to June, but understand the province has no funds with which to pay them during the present shutdown, one doctor said.



The authorities dont have our money yet because of COVID-19. Even though our pay has been cut, we just go ahead with our duties and do our jobs well, and we plant vegetables when were at home he said.



We use our regular salaries to live as usual, and we will receive [the rest] whenever it is given to us, he said. We understand that the government needs to have an income, so we will be given our pay sooner or later depending on their circumstances.



Reductions in state revenue, including a three-month drop in income tax payments, have left the Lao government unable now to pay for overtime worked by doctors and nurses for the last six to seven months, a government official in Savannakhet told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity.



Income tax collected has fallen short of earlier projections, with only 33 to 34 percent collected during these last six months of what we usually get, the official said.



Additionally, the Ministry of Finance has announced that health care workers will now receive only their regular pay in addition to special disbursements to control coronavirus spread, he said.



Calls from RFA seeking comment from officials in the capital Vientiane rang unanswered.



Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Manichanh Phimphachanh. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Taiwan would welcome a visit by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, adding that any invitation would be handled under relevant rules if a request to visit is received.



The Dalai Lama is welcome to come to Taiwan again to propagate the Buddhist teachings, spokeswoman Joanne Ou said, adding that an application by the Dalai Lama to visit would be handled in accordance with the principle of mutual respect and at a time of convenience for both sides.



A visit to Taiwan by the Dalai Lama would be his first since 2009 and would certainly anger Beijing, which claims self-governing Taiwan as a renegade province and regards the Tibetan spiritual leader as a dangerous separatist intent on splitting Tibet from Chinese rule.



As the political scenario changes, it may be that Ill be able to visit you in Taiwan again soon. I hope so, the Dalai Lama said In a video message sent to supporters in Taiwan on July 6, his birthday, and referring apparently to recent moves by Taiwans president Tsai Ing-wen to further distance Taiwan from China.



Whatever happens, Ill remain with you in spirit, the Dalai Lama said.



Greetings and well wishes poured in from around the world on Sunday, the Dalai Lamas 85th birthday, with Tibetans in Tibet defying Chinese prohibitions on celebrations by offering prayers and posting images of the revered spiritual leader online.



Many devotees in different parts of Tibet have made ritual offerings of juniper smoke to celebrate the birthday of the Dalai Lama, a source in Tibet told RFAs Tibet Service, adding that other Tibetans have gone online to post images of the Buddhist deity of compassion, Chenresig, with whom the Dalai Lama is identified.



Western politicians and foreign dignitaries including former U.S. President George Bush, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Nobel laureates, and European politicians meanwhile sent video messages voicing admiration and support.



The esteem in which you are held by the people of the United States is a demonstration of the deep and enduring affinity between Americans and Tibetans, said U.S. Ambassador to India Kenneth Ian Juster in a statement at celebrations held in Dharamsala, India, by Tibets government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration.



I believe the warm feelings between Americans and Tibetans spring in part from the recognition that yours is a just and noble strugglea struggle to secure for your people the same self-evident and unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that our Founding Fathers enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, Juster said.



Regarded by Chinese leaders as a dangerous separatist, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India in the midst of a failed 1959 Tibetan national uprising against rule by China, which marched into the formerly independent Himalayan country in 1950.



Displays by Tibetans of the Dalai Lamas photo, public celebrations of his birthday, and the sharing of his teachings on mobile phones or other social medial are often harshly punished.



Chinese authorities meanwhile maintain a tight grip on Tibet and on Tibetan-populated regions of western China, restricting Tibetans political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identities, and subjecting Tibetans to imprisonment, torture, and extrajudicial killings.



Reported by RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to respond to strong evidence of the forced sterilization of Uyghur Muslims and ethnic Kazakhs in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region by condemning the population control policy and imposing sanctions on Chinese officials responsible.

The letter dated July 2 was sent by Representative James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the chairman and cochair of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC).

They and 76 other members of the House and Senate who signed the letter asked the Trump administration officials to make a determination as to whether the Chinese government is responsible for perpetrating atrocity crimes, including genocide, against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

These human rights abuses demand a response from the United States as well as the international community because evidence strongly indicates that the Chinese government is intentionally working to destroy and essentially wipe out Uyghur families, culture, and religious adherence, and encouraging violence against women, the letter said.

Therefore, we urge you not only to condemn this heinous policy, but also to sanction those Chinese officials responsible for these crimes, it said.

The letter was issued in response to a June 29 report about a dramatic increase in recent years in the number of forced sterilizations and abortions targeting Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), which may amount to a government-led campaign of genocide under United Nations definitions.

The population control measures include fines on Uyghur women with three or more children, required pregnancy tests and examinations, and the forced implantation of intrauterine devices or sterilization surgery, the report by German researcher Adrian Zenz said.

An uptick in the forced population control policies occurred in tandem with Chinas campaign of mass incarceration of Uyghurs launched in the region in April 2017.

Women who refuse to undergo the procedures are detained in a network of internment camps, believed to hold up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.

The letter asks the Trump administration officials to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act on individuals or entities complicit in the implementation of the policy, including government officials or bodies working with the Ministry of Health or other ministries.

The U.S. law, named after a Russian corruption whistleblower who died in prison, calls for the seizure of assets and a U.S. travel ban for foreign officials who violate human rights.

Chinese authorities responsible for forced sterilizations and other coercive measures targeting Uyghur women should not benefit from access to the United States or our financial systems, the letter said.

Uyghur-American attorney Nury Turkel, a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom,said that the fastest punitive measure that can be taken among them will be under the Global Magnitsky sanction regime.

The U.S. has used this sanction only on one Chinese official so far, he added.



In June, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 which had passed almost unanimously in both houses of Congress in late May.

The legislation highlights arbitrary incarceration, forced labor, and other rights abuses in the XUAR and provides for sanctions against Chinese officials deemed responsible for them under the Magnitsky Act, although such measures have not yet been taken.

One of the most critical clauses in the newly signed Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act mandates the administration to implement the Magnitsky sanctions, Turkel said. In the past, its been up to the president to apply it or not when he deems it right or proper to apply it, but now hes obligated to apply it.

The letter also asks Pompeo and Mnuchin to work with U.S. allies and partners to hold a U.N. Security Council briefing and appoint a special rapporteur on the situation in the XUAR.
Austrian police are investigating whether the murder of a Chechen asylum seeker outside the capital, Vienna, over the weekend was a political assassination or related to organized crime.



Police have arrested two Russians from Chechnya as part of a widening probe into the July 4 murder of the victim, only identified by investigators as a 43-year-old Russian man.



Local media reported he was fatally shot five times outside an automobile-repair shop next to a shopping center in the Vienna suburb of Gerasdorf.



Though Austrian police have not named the victim, sources in the Chechen diaspora have told RFE/RL that the victim was Mamikhan Umarov. He settled in Austria in 2005 and received asylum two years later.



Umarov, who was also known as Anzor of Vienna and had taken up the alias Martin Beck, was a former Chechen separatist and critic of Chechnya's leader Ramzan Kadyrov.



Austrian police said they had offered Umarov protection, which he declined.



The main suspect, identified by RFE/RL as 47-year-old Sarali Akhtaev, was captured by police several hours after the crime about 200 kilometers west of the capital in Linz following a large-scale police manhunt.

Police have also arrested a second man, identified by RFE/RL as 37-year-old Salman Magamadov, whom they initially considered a witness.



Both men are Russian citizens of Chechen origin who received asylum after they came to Austria in the early 2000s.

Political Motive Or Argument?



An Austrian regional intelligence and anti-terrorism body is investigating the high-profile case. Roland Scherscher, the counterterrorism agency's head, said a political motive or an argument could be behind the killing.



In interviews and social-media posts, Umarov has said he was a former mercenary, who served in the security service under the separatist government that controlled Chechnya in the late 1990s between two devastating wars against federal forces.



Umarov frequently accused the Russian security forces of carrying out the assassinations of former Chechen separatists in European countries, and, in some cases, posted what he said were audio recordings of officials discussing such plots.



In February, he created his own YouTube channel, posting 30 video addresses to his subscribers over that time period, with the last one uploaded on July 2.



Most of his videos, which are conducted in the Chechen language, end with insulting remarks about Kadyrov as well as his family and associates. A majority of the videos received in excess of 250,000 views.

Umarov was expected to be a key witness in a Ukrainian probe into an October 2017 assassination attempt against Adam Osmayev, a Chechen commander who fought against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, but he was not allowed entry into Ukraine to testify. Osmayev's wife, Amina Okuyeva, was killed in that attack in Kyiv.

Around the same time of that assassination attempt, Ukrainian lawmaker Ihor Mosiychuk of the nationalist opposition Radical Party, who had ties to Osmayev and Okuyeva, was targeted in a bombing that killed two people and left him wounded in Kyiv.



Umarov is known to have been in touch with Mosiychuk and had warned about the 2017 attack beforehand.

Rights Abuses

Rights groups have accused Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya since 2007, of numerous human rights abuses, including kidnappings, tortures, extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and the targeted killings of political and personal rivals both in Russia and abroad.



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 Daudov, 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. Prosecutors in Germany have filed murder charges against a Russian national in that case and accused the Russian government of ordering the killing.

Austria's Kurier newspaper reported that police are also considering the Umarov case as possibly linked to organized crime or revenge by Chechen clans.

Umarov has a criminal history in Austria and became a police informant, the Kurier said. In 2017, he was among 22 Chechens who were arrested on weapons charges in Vienna.

He was also tied to extortion and insurance fraud in a case involving a blown-up pizzeria. He was in prison until late summer 2019, when he was conditionally released.
Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov says no one was surprised to hear that Mamikhan Umarov had been killed. "All the world knew [he was in danger]," Abdurakhmanov told Current Time. "Umarov himself knew it very well."

Another member of the Chechen diaspora in Europe, who asked not to be identified out of concerns for his own safety, agreed. "This murder, unfortunately, was predictable," the source said, describing Umarov as Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan's Kadyrov's "personal enemy No. 1."

"I heard that the 'Kadyrovtsy' were looking for a way to get him," the source said, using the term for security forces controlled by Kadyrov. "Now we are all asking ourselves who is next."

Law enforcement officials in Austria have not identified the 43-year-old asylum seeker from Russia who was shot dead outside Vienna on July 4, but word spread quickly among Chechens living in Europe that it was Umarov, a vlogger who was intensely critical of Kadyrov, the strongman who has headed Russia's Chechnya region for about 15 years.

If confirmed, Umarov's killing will add another name to a growing list of Kadyrov critics who have been killed or attacked in Europe within the last nine months.

In February, Abdurakhmanov himself was attacked by a hammer-wielding assailant as he slept in his apartment in Sweden. Abdurakhmanov was able to overpower his assailant and hand him over to the authorities.

Another Kadyrov critic  44-year-old blogger Imran Aliyev  was found dead in a hotel room in Lille, France, in January. He had been stabbed more than 130 times.

In August 2019, an ethnic Chechen who was a Georgian national, 40-year-old Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was shot dead in Berlin.

Representatives of the Chechen diaspora in Europe told RFE/RL that authorities in Europe had been unresponsive to their warnings and appeals for help.

"We have the impression that the authorities think: the Chechens are killing other Chechens and working things out among themselves and it isn't a danger to our citizens," said Mansur Sadulayev, director of the Sweden-based human rights foundation Vayfond. "Although shootings in public places are definitely a danger. The assailant who killed Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin last year and the one who shot [Umarov] did so in public places.

"You can't expect security from the police when migrations services are presenting residency, visas, and passports to pro-Kadyrov Chechens," Sadulayev added. "When they allow such people to live in Europe and don't react to warnings about threats."

At the same time, many genuinely persecuted Chechens "wait for asylum for years and live every day under the threat of being deported [back to Russia]," he noted.

What Is To Be Done?

"This is the third scandalous murder of a Chechen refugee in the last year," said Dzhambulat Suleimanov, head of the Chechen diaspora organization Bart Marsho. "There must be some reaction from this side. This chain of murders is itself a call for reaction."

Musa Lomayev, a Chechen refugee who lives in Finland, said there was only so much that law enforcement can do. "The European [security and intelligence] services know perfectly well that Kadyrov's critics are being targeted by his killers," he said. "But they can't do anything about the overall problem. The most they can do is put a target in a safe apartment and give him a couple of guards. That means the target gives up his freedom and lives in isolation."

Blogger Abdurakhmanov said Kadyrov and his agents had created a network in Europe for carrying out such attacks. "Of course, Kadyrov doesn't call someone up and offer them money," he told Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. "There is a whole chain of intermediaries. The information is passed from person to person. There will be someone from Kadyrov's circle who will contact an intermediary and that intermediary will start looking for someone to actually carry the assignment out."

"As we can see from the recent killings and attacks, this network is operating and having successes," he concluded.

"In recent years, beginning in the late 2000s and the early 2010s, Kadyrov and the Russian secret services have rather successfully built a system of control over the diaspora both through criminal networks and through pressure on relatives [in Chechnya]," said Denis Sokolov, a Moscow-based specialist on the North Caucasus. "It would be a mistake to think there isn't a good number of agents in Austria, France, Belgium, and Germany. There is a fair number of people there who are willing to carry out practically any assignment -- either out of fear or for money."

The member of the Chechen diaspora who is cited above and asked not to be identified told RFE/RL that the risk of being caught and imprisoned in Europe was not enough to deter many of Kadyrov's potential agents.

"They understand that if they are sent to a European prison, it will be like a resort compared to Russian prisons," he said. "And in the meantime, a grateful [Kadyrov] will be taking care of their families."

'No One Is Safe'

In addition to critics and foes of Kadyrov, who was first appointed to head Chechnya in 2007 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, perceived enemies of Putin and his government have been attacked or died in circumstances that have led to charges of involvement by the Russian state.

"What happened in Vienna shows that no one [in Europe] is safe, unfortunately," Abdurakhmanov said. "The measures European countries have taken so far in response to these crimes are having no effect on Russia. Russia continues to eliminate its enemies in Europe and in other countries."

"It is clear that expelling a couple of diplomats in response to a political killing is not working," he added, apparently referring to measures taken in response to incidents such as the 2018 nerve-agent poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England.

"It is an ineffective measure that does not stop Russia. That means some more convincing actions must be taken."

Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by Anna Peisakhova of RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service. Alina Pinchuk of RFE/RL's Russian Service and Irina Romaliiskaya of Current Time contributed to this report
BELGRADE -- President Aleksandar Vucic has called on Serbs to refrain from attending anti-government protests in order to curb the further spreading of the coronavirus infections.

Vucic's call on July 8 came after police said 24 people were detained and some 60 police officers and demonstrators were injured in clashes that erupted in Belgrade overnight as Serbs rallied to protest the decision to reimpose lockdown measures amid a new surge of coronavirus infections.

Several opposition parties have urged their supporters to protest again on later on July 8.

Serbian authorities have incrementally ramped up anti-pandemic measures amid a COVID-19 spike since rapidly reopening weeks before June 21 elections in which Vucic and his ruling Progressive Party allies scored a victory.

"There are no free beds in our hospitals, we will open new hospitals," Vucic said in his address to the nation on July 8.

The demonstrations late on July 7 turned violent when a group of protesters broke into the parliament building while others threw stones, bottles, and other projectiles at the officers, prompting officers to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Footage showed police kicking and beating people with truncheons.

Police chief Vladimir Rebic said on July 8 that 43 police officers and 17 demonstrators were injured in the rioting, while five police vehicles were set on fire.

A right-wing independent member of parliament, Srdjan Nogo, was among those detained, with police blaming far-right nationalists for stirring up the violence.

The protests were prompted by Vucic's statement on July 7 that gatherings will be limited to five people from the following day, and that he will request that a government task force declare a nationwide weekend curfew.



"Be prepared for a curfew starting on [July 10], probably from 6 p.m., until [July 13], 5 a.m.," Vucic said. "I personally would like to have this for all of Serbia. But whether the task force and Prime Minister [Ana] Brnabic will listen to me, that we will have to see."

There was initial confusion when Vucic appeared to be asserting a lockdown only in the capital and not nationally, but he later clarified his remarks to say that he will propose both to the task force.



"All regulations will be announced after a task-force meeting" on July 8, he said.

Thirteen COVID-19 deaths were reported in Serbia in the previous 24 hours, Serbia's deadliest day so far in the coronavirus epidemic, with 299 new infections logged.



Speaking after the protests, Brnabic condemned "the violent attack on the parliament building, in a moment when our country and health system is facing the strongest blow from the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic," according to public broadcaster RTS.



Officials say 330 people have died of COVID-19, while the total number of registered cases since the first coronavirus infection was detected in Serbia on March 6 is 16,719.



After initially mocking the gravity of the global coronavirus outbreak in February and March, Vucic declared a state of emergency on March 15 and imposed a strict lockdown and reported case numbers stayed relatively low.



Lawmakers announced an end to the state of emergency in early May and gradually reopened most areas of society ahead of the June 21 elections.



But the government reimposed the obligation to wear face masks on city and intercity public transportation just two days after the elections.



They followed up with a state of emergency in the capital, including a mask requirement for all public transport and enclosed public spaces, on July 3.

With reporting by AFP
Russian authorities have detained seven Crimean Tatar activists after searching their homes in different parts of Ukraine's Russia-controlled Crimea region. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement that it detained "three leaders and four members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group" in Crimea on July 7. Since Russia forcibly annexed Crimea in March 2014, the authorities have prosecuted dozens of Crimean Tatars for allegedly belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia but not in Ukraine.
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- Russian authorities have detained seven Crimean Tatar activists after searching their homes in different parts of Ukraine's Moscow-controlled Crimea region.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement that it had detained "three leaders and four members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group" in Crimea on July 7.

Since Russia forcibly annexed Crimea in March 2014, Russian authorities have prosecuted dozens of Crimean Tatars for allegedly belonging to the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group, which is banned in Russia but not in Ukraine.

The Crimean Solidarity rights group that has members in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine said on July 7 that FSB officers had detained Seyran Hayretdinov, Emil Ziyadinov, Ismet Ibragimov, Alim Sufyanov, Vadim Bektemirov, and a legally blind activist, Aleksandr Sizikov, after their homes were searched.

Ukrainian Ombudswoman Lyudmila Densyova said that the seventh man detained by the FSB in Crimea was Zekirya Muratov.

The house belonging to another Crimean Tatar activist, Dilyaver Memetov, was searched without his presence and Russia-controlled authorities are looking for him, the Crimean Solidarity said.

The authorities of the exiled Ukrainian regional authorities of Crimea condemned the searches and detainments and launched a probe into them.

The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine also voiced concern over the searches and detainments.

"Russia has no right to harass and detain Ukrainians on Ukrainian soil. Russia must free all Ukrainian political prisoners," the embassy wrote on Facebook.

Moscows takeover of the peninsula was vocally opposed by many Crimean Tatars, who are a sizable minority in the region.

Exiled from their homeland to Central Asia by the Soviet authorities under dictator Josef Stalin during World War II, many Crimean Tatars are very wary of Russia and Moscow's rule.

Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they describe as a campaign of repression by the Moscow-imposed authorities in Crimea who are targeting members of the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar community and others who have spoken out against Moscow's takeover of the peninsula.

In its annual report on religious freedom worldwide, released in April 2019, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said that "[in] Russian-occupied Crimea, the Russian authorities continued to kidnap, torture, and imprison Crimean Tatar Muslims at will."

Russia took control of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after sending in troops, seizing key facilities, and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries. Moscow also backs separatists in a war against government forces that has killed some 13,200 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax
PETROZAVODSK, Russia -- Prosecutors have asked a court in Russia's northwestern Karelia region to sentence Yury Dmitriyev, a Russian historian and human rights activist, to 15 years in prison on charges of sexually assaulting his adopted daughter -- an allegation he and his supporters deny.

The prosecution argued its case in Petrozavodsk City Court against the 64-year-old head of the Karelia branch of the Moscow-based human rights group Memorial as the high-profile trial entered its final stage on July 7.

Supporters of Dmitriyev, who is also a renowned gulag researcher, have said the charges were brought against him because of his research into a side of history that complicates the Kremlin's glorification of the Soviet past.

Dmitriyev's decades-long efforts to expose the extent of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's crimes have been viewed with hostility by the government of President Vladimir Putin.

In May, dozens of Russian scholars, historians, writers, poets, opposition politicians, artists, and actors signed an open letter asking the Karelia Supreme Court to release Dmitriyev, expressing concerns over the researcher's health as cases of the coronavirus have been found in the detention center where he is being held.

The European Union has called on the Russian authorities to release Dmitriyev and reconsider the charges against him.

Dmitriyev was arrested in 2016 on child-pornography charges based on photographs of his adopted daughter that authorities found on his computer.

He has proclaimed his innocence, contending that the images were not pornographic and were made at the request of social workers concerned about the childs development. He says the case is an attempt to thwart his research into extrajudicial executions in Karelia under Stalin.

A local court acquitted Dmitriyev in April 2018, but the Karelia Supreme Court subsequently upheld an appeal by prosecutors and ordered a new trial.

The historian was rearrested in June 2018 and is currently on trial on the more severe charge of "violent acts of a sexual nature committed against a person under 14 years of age."
An Egyptian court extended late on Monday the detention of alleged serial rapist Ahmed Bassam Zaki for 15 days pending investigation into allegations made by dozens of women over the past few days.

Zaki was arrested on Saturday after dozens of women took to social media to accuse him of rape, sexual assault, and blackmail.

The countrys prosecutor-general had ordered earlier on Monday that Zaki be detained for four days pending investigations into the case, which has sparked outrage in the country.

Zaki is facing charges of attempting to have sex with two females without their consent and committing "indecent assault against them and a third girl using force and threat. One of the three females was a minor at the time, the office of the prosecutor-general said in a statement on Monday.

Zaki is also accused of using blackmail in attempts to coerce women into granting him sexual favours.

Zaki, who is in his early twenties, was arrested one day after the public prosecution received an official complaint from a woman who claimed the man blackmailed her in November 2016 in an attempt to force her to have sex with him.

The young woman was encouraged to file charges after an online campaign was launched last week where dozens of women anonymously accused Zaki of committing a multitude of sexual crimes. Some of the victims shared messages and recorded phone calls with him that purportedly support their claims.

Prosecutors questioned the woman who filed charges against Zaki, where she alleged that Zaki attempted to coerce her into engaging in a sexual relationship by threatening to use his influence to defame her and claim she was involved in prostitution and drug use.

Prosecutors also questioned four other young women and an underage female who said that Zaki sexually assaulted them after luring them to his gated community and other places.

The women told investigators that they managed to resist the assault and flee, but Zaki continued stalking and extorting them using photos he took during the assault.

The victims also submitted to the prosecution what they said were online messages Zaki had sent them.

Zaki confessed that he blackmailed six women with whom he had previously been in a relationship, using explicit images of them that they had shared with him. He has denied all the other accusations made against him on social media over the past few days.

Under the Egyptian penal code, rape and sexual assault can be punished with jail terms of up to a life sentence. The addition of aggravating circumstances could lead to the death penalty.

Following the attention the case has garnered, Egypts top Muslim authorities of Al-Azhar and Dar Al-Ifta issued statements saying that sexual harassment violates religious teachings. They also condemned any attempt to blame victims and called on the public to support abused women and encourage them to come forward.

The National Council of Women, which had lodged an official complaint with the prosecutor-general over this case, has hailed the authorities for moving swiftly to arrest Zaki.

The council had said earlier that it had been contacted by several victims who recounted they were blackmailed by Zaki.

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"Even indirectly, such things make our children accustomed to that  flag," she told the longtime Russian leader. "It would be very good to have a commission to make sure that those values that we enshrined in our constitution were upheld."
In Belgrade, protesters stormed the parliament after President Aleksandar Vucic announced a weekend curfew would be reimposed because of an "alarming" surge in COVID-19 cases. Police quickly pushed the protesters out. The president's statement prompted more than 1,000 demonstrators to gather in front of the parliament.
A 46-year-old U.S. citizen has pleaded guilty after fleeing the country with her daughter and national-security materials that she hoped to offer Russia in exchange for Moscow's assistance.



The U.S. Attorneys Office in the Northern District of West Virginia said in a statement on July 6 that Elizabeth Shirley, who once served at the U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserves, and Navy Reserves, had admitted to unlawfully retaining a document containing national-defense information and to international parental kidnapping.



The statement said that, in July 2019, Shirley took her six-year-old daughter to Mexico with the intent of making contact with representatives of the government of Russia to request help in resettling in a country that would not extradite her to the United States.



While in Mexico, the statement said Shirley prepared a written message to Russian government officials, referencing "an urgent need" to have "items shipped from the USA related to [her] lifes work before they are seized and destroyed."



"When Shirley took classified information from her work with the Intelligence Community and later fled to Mexico, she violated the confidence placed in her by the American people," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said.



"She doubled down on this betrayal when she sought to offer classified information to the Russian government," he added in the statement.



Shirley had held TOP SECRET/SCI security clearances at various times since 1994.



Mexican police arrested Shirley at the request of the United States in August last year.



She faces up to 10 years in prison for illegally holding classified information and up to three years for illegally taking her child, of whom she was the noncustodial parent, to Mexico with the intent to interfere with the custodial father's parental rights.



"Given Shirleys troubling conduct after fleeing the United States, the damage to national security could have been far greater had law enforcement not acted swiftly. Shirley will now be held accountable for betraying the trust of the American people," Demers added.



Russia has not commented on the situation.
A UN expert has concluded that a U.S drone strike that killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq early this year constituted an "arbitrary killing" that was "unlawful."

"Major General Soleimani was in charge of Iran military strategy, and actions, in Syria and Iraq. But absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the U.S. was unlawful," Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, wrote in the report released on July 7.

The assassination of Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad's airport in the early hours of January 3 brought the United States and Iran close to a military conflict. Several others died in the attack as well.

In retaliation for the killing, an Iranian ballistic-missile strike on January 8 targeted U.S. bases in Iraq housing U.S. forces, leaving some 110 U.S. troops suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

In her report, Callamard said the targeted killing was "the first known incident in which a state invoked self-defense as a justification for an attack against a state-actor, in the territory of another state."

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump justified the killing by saying that Soleimani was in the process of orchestrating attacks on Americans and others in the region.

In a tweet, Trump said that Soleimani had "killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more...but got caught!"

"No evidence has been provided that General Soleimani specifically was planning an imminent attack against U.S. interests, particularly in Iraq, for which immediate action was necessary and would have been justified," the independent rights expert said.

She added that the United States also provided no evidence that the harm caused to the country was "proportionate to the harm allegedly averted."

The report on targeted killings through armed drones, around half of which deals with the Soleimani case, is to be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on July 9.

Callamard called for accountability for targeted killings by armed drones and for greater regulation of the weapons.

The United States is not a member of the council, having withdrawn in 2018.
The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 538,000, with more than 11.6 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the respiratory illness.

Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.

Serbia

After a record daily COVID-19 death toll in Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic has announced a return to strict limits on physical gatherings and plans to reimpose a three-day curfew in the Balkan country starting on July 10.

He said on July 7 that the situation in the capital, Belgrade, was critical and that hospitals in the city of around 1.3 million are almost full.

Serbian authorities have incrementally ramped up anti-pandemic measures amid a COVID-19 spike since rapidly reopening weeks before June 21 elections that gave a landslide victory to Vucic and his ruling Progressive Party allies.

Vucic told a press conference on July 7 that gatherings will be limited to five people from the following day, and he said he will request that a government task force declare a nationwide weekend curfew ahead of a reassessment of the situation.

RFE/RL's Coronavirus Crisis Archive Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.

"Be prepared for a curfew starting on [July 10], probably from 6 p.m., until [July 13], 5 a.m.," Vucic said. "I personally would like to have this for all of Serbia. But whether the task force and Prime Minister [Ana] Brnabic will listen to me, that we will have to see."

There was initial confusion when Vucic appeared to be asserting a lockdown only in the capital and not nationally, but he later clarified his remarks to say that he will propose both to the task force.

Thirteen COVID-19 deaths were reported in Serbia in the previous 24 hours, officials said on July 7, with 299 new infections logged.

"We have to protect citizens, so I don't care about political reactions and protests," Vucic said. "The anger should be directed to me, not doctors."

Officials say 330 people have died of COVID-19, while the total number of registered cases since the first coronavirus infection was detected in Serbia on March 6 is 16,719.

In Belgrade, where around 80 percent of the confirmed infections are reported, officials have transformed the Stark Arena venue into a makeshift hospital.

Amid the curfew, Vucic said, officials would create possibilities of going outdoors for pet owners and "mothers with children," along with separate hours for the elderly.

"All regulations will be announced after a task-force meeting" on July 8, he said.

After the presumed weekend curfew, he said, "on [July 13] we will see what to do next."

Despite mounting cases in Serbia and many other parts of the Balkans, the European Council on June 30 included Serbia on a list of 15 countries from which it was lifting restrictions on nonessential travel into the EU.

But on July 6, Greece banned the entry of tourists from Serbia because of the spike in coronavirus cases in the country.

After initially mocking the gravity of the global coronavirus outbreak in February and March, Vucic declared a state of emergency on March 15 and imposed a strict lockdown and reported case numbers stayed relatively low.

Lawmakers declared an end to the state of emergency in early May and gradually reopened most areas of society ahead of the June 21 elections.

But as cases soared, the government reimposed the obligation to wear face masks on city and intercity public transportation just two days after the elections.

They followed up with a state of emergency in the capital, including a mask requirement for all public transport and enclosed public spaces, on July 3.

Emergencies have also been declared in a number of western Serbian municipalities where spikes and complaints of insufficient medical equipment have prompted protests.

Vucic has rejected as "not authentic" a recent report -- purportedly leaked from a key database -- suggesting that Serbia's infection and death figures are around twice what authorities are reporting.

Turkmenistan

A long-delayed mission from the World Health Organization (WHO) has arrived in Turkmenistan, the only Central Asian nation that has not officially registered a single coronavirus case.



Catherine Smallwood, the mission's leader, said her group will work with Turkmen authorities on aspects of COVID-19 preparedness and response, namely coordination and control systems at the national level, epidemiology and surveillance, laboratory services, patient management, infection prevention and control, and risk communication.



The mission, which arrived late on July 6, will be in Turkmenistan for 10 days.

The WHO has been trying to send a mission to Turkmenistan for more than two months to investigate Ashgabat's claims that there are no coronavirus cases in the country.



Smallwood said that her group's trip to the energy-rich, mostly desert country of some 6 million people, was postponed due to travel restrictions imposed over the pandemic.



"Turkmenistan managed to establish a national multisectoral COVID-19 task force; approving a COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan; and developing COVID-19 guidelines for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Reorganization of facilities and staff at all levels of the health system is a critical step the government has been taking: this includes repurposing facilities and training healthcare workers," Smallwood said, stressing that the WHO has helped, and will assist Ashgabat deal with the long-term impact of the pandemic.



Although Turkmen officials insist that there is no coronavirus in the country, multiple reports have quoted medical personnel, unnamed officials, and local residents as saying that a significant number of people have been hospitalized with symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Balkan and Turkmen services, and Turkmenportal
GAMBIER -- It had been a fairly quiet day, a little warm, growing cloudy.

Alex Ransom was walking down Middle Path through Gambier, on his usual afternoon walk to the post office. A briskly walking man suddenly strode past him, clearly in a hurry. The man stuck out in his suit and long coat, and Ransom didn't recognize him as a local, especially with his tense manner.

As the brisk walker reached the intersection of Chase Avenue and Brooklyn Street, a big black Chevy car roared past Ransom and screeched to a halt outside the People's Bank of Gambier, in those days located on the corner of that intersection. The brisk walker crossed the road and got to the sedan just as three well-dressed men hopped out. He joined them as they rushed up the steps into the bank. Another man got out of the car, holding a machine gun, and perched on the Chevy's running board.

Put Your Hands Up

Inside the bank, banker Ray Brown was preparing to close the books by 2:30 p.m. and lock up the vault. His clerk, Alice Hill, was doing paperwork for a couple of customers. The robbers burst through the front door into the bank lobby, shouting, Put your hands up!

While the clerk and customers did so, banker Brown dropped behind the counter and grabbed the revolver he kept for just such a situation. Raising the gun above the counter, he made three blind shots before the big, gray-haired leader of the gang calmly aimed and shot right through Brown's hand, sending Brown's gun flying.

With a gun in his other hand, the big guy also kept customer Grant Dwyer, a Kenyon College student, covered.

I was afraid he'd get his hands mixed up, Dwyer later quipped to a reporter.

Seeing the car and hearing shots in the bank, the old men that hung out on the bench in front of Frank Hagaman's hardware store across the street rushed inside to tell Frank. Hagaman grabbed a rifle and quickly set the bench men up with guns. He told them to go down to the basement windows and cover him.

While Hagaman made it outside and behind a tree without getting spotted, the wing man with the machine gun spotted the old fellows lining up at the basement windows of the hardware store and sprayed the building with a burst of machine gun fire. The retirees took cover on the far side of the basement.

In the bank, the heavyset man ordered everyone down on the floor while the other men grabbed $714 out of the drawers at the counter, missing the $5 bill that Alice Hall was clutching in her hand.

With machine gun fire sounding outside, they opted to ignore the vault. The criminals grabbed Brown and pushed him out the door in front of them, then dragged him into the black Chevy as they piled in.

As the car roared west on Brooklyn, Hagaman tried unsuccessfully to shoot out its tires. The gang took a hard left onto Ward, then right on Wiggin Street, nearly running over Reverend Lewis Bailey's dog.

The Chase

At the bank, mail carrier Frank Armstrong and Kenyon security guard Paul Ralston jumped into Armstrong's car and followed hot on the robbers' trail, also nearly hitting Rev. Bailey's dog. This angered Bailey so much, he jumped in his car and took off after the two reckless vehicles, presumably careful to avoid his dog as he did so.

In the black Chevy, banker Brown looked down at his profusely bleeding hand. The man who shot him looked at it, too.

You made one mistake buddy, but you're lucky it turned out OK, the bank robber said.

At the bottom of College Hill, the robbers crossed onto Glen Road (today Laymon Road) and pushed Brown out of the car as soon as they crossed the bridge over the Kokosing River. They sped off toward the railroad tracks. Armstrong and Ralston, following slightly behind, saw the banker and stopped, but Brown would have none of it.

Don't mind me, he shouted at them, Go get those --------! The newspaper deleted whatever expletive was actually uttered.

As the pursuers started back up, they saw that the robbers had stopped just over the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks (today the Kokosing Gap Trail).

One man jumped out of the car with an automatic rifle. Ralston, who was driving Armstrong's car, saw what was happening and slammed on the brakes. The two men bailed out of the vehicle into the ditches as bullets went flying, one of them demolishing the speedometer.

Ralston and Armstrong got back in the car and returned to help banker Brown. They took him to the hospital on East High Street in Mount Vernon. The Rev. Bailey, meanwhile, was apprised of the situation, and he opted to follow the gangsters at a safe distance, tracking them across back roads to Sycamore Road before he lost the trail. From there, the gang presumably hit Ohio Route 13 and made quick time exiting the county.

Identities Revealed

Just six days later, headlines were made nationwide when the gang associated with notorious outlaw John Dillinger broke into the Allen County Jail in Lima, Ohio, to break out their colleague. In the process, the gang murdered Allen County Sheriff Jesse Sarber, then went on a new series of bank robberies.

When pictures were circulated in the media, J.R. Brown recognized the mug shot of Dillinger's right-hand man, Fat Charlie Makley, as the heavyset man with graying hair who had shot him.

While the exact roster for the robbery will never be known (and even eyewitnesses disagreed on whether there were four robbers or five), it seems probable that Makley was the trigger man.

Makley had a cousin in Delaware County who offered the fugitive and his friends a place to lay low, and thus Makley is thought by most crime researchers to have been responsible for the spate of bank robberies in central Ohio during this period. The lookout man on the running board with the machine gun was probably Ed Shouse, who often served in that role.

It may well be that the brisk walker who made sure the coast was clear was the true brains of the gang, Harry Pierpont. Pierpont had been a normal-enough kid growing up in Muncie and Indianapolis, Indiana. After a severe head injury in 1921, however, Pierpont's personality changed and the 19-year old became a career criminal.

Most historians believe that Pierpont was actually in charge of the gang, deploying Makley and Dillinger to lead certain raids. The FBI attempted to generate tension in the group by telling the media that it was Dillinger's gang, but Pierpont had no interest in fame and may even have welcomed the deflection of attention to the vain Dillinger.

Less than three months later, Makley and Pierpont were arrested and imprisoned. Dillinger was shot and killed by the FBI in July 1934, ending any hope Makley and Pierpont had of being sprung from the Ohio State Penitentiary, where they were on death row for killing Sheriff Sarber.

On Sept. 22, 1934, the two attempted to break out of prison with fake guns carved from soap and blackened with shoe polish, but the attempt failed. Makley was killed during the attempt, and the severely wounded Pierpont was kept alive just long enough to carry out his death sentence in Ohio's electric chair.

Banker Brown kept working at the People's Bank of Gambier until he retired in 1967, and according to local legend, he greatly enjoyed retelling the story of the day he tangled with the Dillinger gang and lived to tell the tale.
Editor's note: Richland Source's parent company, Richland Times, LLC, participated in the Paycheck Protection Program.

After pressure from consumer advocates and governmental watchdog groups, the Small Business Administration and United States Department of Treasury released information on Paycheck Protection Program grantees of all sizes.

The complete data set is available for download at the Treasury Department website and includes breakdowns by state for loans under $150,000 and a nationwide file for loans over $150,000.

The program totaled more than $500 billion in loans to companies and non-profits to help them weather the economic storm generated by COVID-19 shutdowns. It got off to a rocky start when first announced due to a flurry of changing requirements, but quickly became a lifeline for organizations across the country. The government's data shows that over 600,000 nationwide employers received loans in excess of $150,000.

The financial lifeline extended to north central Ohio.

Some spreadsheet wrangling in the Richland Source newsroom produced a breakout by region. It reveals that more than 500 area employers took advantage of the short-term loan program at the $150,000+ level. Applicant-supplied information asserts that the PPP allowed for the retention of nearly 28,000 jobs across Knox, Richland, Ashland, and Crawford counties and their neighboring communities.

Mansfield companies retained 7,013 jobs due to PPP. Ashland and Mount Vernon employers followed up those numbers with 4,874 and 2,726 respectively.

Understanding the exact amount disbursed is not possible because the government did not disclose the the exact amount loaned to individual employers. However, based upon the ranges provided, it's reasonable to surmise the regional total to be between $200 to 400 million.
MANSFIELD - Father Daniel Orr knew when he came to Grace Episcopal Church in 2015 that many of those deservingly served by the churchs food pantry were among the hard-working volunteers at the pantry.

What he didnt expect was the explosive coronavirus and the complex pressure it would create for volunteers and the pantrys operation. Volunteers became even more essential, even though the face and the number of those volunteers changed dramatically.

The net result of this complicated reality has been a surprising one-third reduction in volume of recipients at the pantry in March and April. Orr said one contributing factor to the decline in participation was the arrival of stimulus checks that were likely used to purchase food instead of waiting in a pantry line during bad weather.

But the largest factor in the decline, Orr said, was a dramatic reduction in the number of available volunteers, forcing the cancellation of some food distributions. The dangerous reality of the virus caused church and pantry officials to protect about two-thirds of volunteers by excusing them from service obligations. Those excused volunteers were over age 70 or suffered with some underlying health issues. Although some new volunteers came forward, pantry officials still had to reduce operations to every other week, or three weeks operating during a five-week period.

This clearly affected recipient volume, Orr said, emphasizing that it was done to protect volunteers and did not change the pantrys determination to provide healthy food for those in need. With the continued availability of public assistance, the number of recipients remains about 10-15 percent below normal as spring ends.

The other story is that we have had a lot of new people, Orr said.

The pantry provided aid to 394 new individuals and 113 new households during this challenging time.

Many of the critical volunteers who regularly help all year long are from the churchs neighborhood at Third and Bowman Sts. They come on a regular basis and work to unload trucks and sort food items delivered primarily by the Cleveland Food Bank. Before leaving, they gather their fair share of the food items for their personal use. These volunteers clearly want to earn what they receive, Orr indicated.

This special human commitment by volunteers/recipients is a big part of what attracted Orr to Mansfield. It is a strength of a very strong pantry.

The Grace pantry traces its history back to 1999. It began then by helping workers at nearby AK steel who had been hit with a layoff. Now, the pantry has a much larger group to serve. Last year, the pantry distributed 475,000 pounds of food items. This volume places it near the top of the list of pantries in the Cleveland region.

Also, the pantry served an estimated 45,863 visitors last year. Orr pointed out that there is duplication in this total since people visit the pantry multiple times in a year. The unduplicated total of people served last year is estimated at 6,750.

The food trucks arrive every Wednesday between 10 a.m. and noon. Distribution is every other Wednesday 3 to 6 p.m. and every Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon. When the Pandemic hit, the pantry had to turn itself inside out and serve in the parking lot. The third week they served in snow, the fifth in rain.

Orr said this experience with the virus has been rewarding, but emphasized it has also been challenging. With supply chains disrupted, Orr said sometimes there is more perishable product than can be given away. Also, moving the pantry distribution outdoors presented challenges.

There just were not enough wheeled devices to move food outside, Orr said, adding

Masks and other items were in short supply.

But, facing challenges and providing aid have been a part of the pantrys growth. A history of the pantry completed by the church estimates 4 million pounds of food have been distributed since the 1999 beginning. The pantry does not serve hot meals.

Orr, an Arkansas native who now directs the pantry, recognizes that volunteers, including both church members and neighborhood residents, are the strength of the pantry. He said about 40 volunteers helped to unload trucks one afternoon before the virus outbreak.

But the surprising element for him continues to be the power of the commitment of the workers who are also recipients. A puzzle for him is why these hard-working and reliable volunteers arent part of the communitys paid workforce.

Orr tells the story of a volunteer/recipient named Clarence Baughman whose surprising work ethic stands as an example of caring generosity.

Clarence was known to Mansfielders as a guy they often saw wandering around town, picking up aluminm cans. Those who saw him probably wondered if he was homeless. Orr said he was a regular worker and recipient at the Grace food pantry, being active for 15 years. His involvement was so regular that his funeral was held at the church.

When word of his death and the planned funeral got around the community, Orr said four other service ministries asked to speak at the funeral and describe all of the work Clarence had done for them.

We didnt realize how much he had accomplished around the community, Orr said, pointing out Clarence had told him the cans he picked up were given to the Boy Scouts. He added the capabilities of many volunteers has created other community discussions on how these Grace volunteers might help with other community projects such as litter clean-up at nearby North Lake Park.

The strong work ethic of volunteers like Clarence possess makes Orr wonder what factors stop them from holding a regular job.

These are great people, Orr emphasized, adding there must be other complex factors in their lives. The employment question has remained in his mind since his arrival. He said an OSU Mansfield sociologist,Terri Winnick, also connected with the church, is examining this human puzzle. He pointed out it is common to aid recipients beyond Mansfield .

Orr said he was lured to Grace Episcopal by current Rector Joe Ashby. The two had met and became friends by participating in bike riding events. He repeated that the pantry was a big part of why he came to Mansfield.

Orr, now associate priest at Grace Episcopal, came to Ohio when his father took a position teaching environmental studies at Oberlin College. Orr graduated from Oberlin with a degree in religion and history, explaining the history focused on religion. He attended a seminary in South Carolina and finished at Yale Divinity School.

Orr was married in 1997. He and his wife, Ann, have two children. His daughter, Molly, 18, is a senior in high school. His son, Lewis, 20, recently returned from Chile where he was visiting a friend who was a high school exchange student.

The family lives in Green Springs so that he and his wife have equal travel distance from their jobs. His wife is the northwest Ohio staff representative for Mansfield native and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Orr, 48, said that Ashby was a key player in the development of the pantry, adding that the rector has always, during his 14-year tenure, maintained a church focus on the importance of community.

Ashby said the pantry partnered with the Cleveland Food Bank in 2003, which lead to the creation of the pantry as it exists today. The Grace pantry also receives a significant amount of donated food from local grocery stores. The participating grocers can now receive tax credits for the food they donate. This offers an incentive for donating food items instead of throwing them away, Orr pointed out.

The Panera restaurant donates most of its day-old bread to the pantry, Orr said. Panera is the only donor who does not seek credit for donations. The priest added Grace church often purchases holiday meats and makes them available. One of the significant partners in this and other efforts is KV Market, located a couple of blocks away on West Fourth Street.

The priest also pointed out national economic issues can result in earned windfalls for the pantry. When the national dairy business hit hard times a few years ago, the U.S. government purchased milk to help dairy farmers. That milk found its way to local pantries. The trade war with China also resulted in some food products reaching pantries instead of the original destination of China.

Orr said it is still too early to tell what the trends will be from the pandemic, but the pantry is adapting rapidly and the community is stepping up. He said contributions have come in from around the region, pointing out Taylor Metals loaned the pantry an extra pallet jack to move food and materials. He also said the Richland County Foundation gave emergency grants to local agencies.

Orr also said it is worth celebrating that this crisis has brought out new and younger volunteers. Among those new helpers were staffers from the Animal Medical Center of Ontario, members from the YMCA , employees from Ohio State Mansfield and new members from Grace Episcopal, Orr said. The priest also said a local handyman put the pantrys chest freezers on wheels. He added plans are underway for wheeled cooler pallets.

Orr is particularly appreciative of all of the prayers that have been said for good weather, emphasizing it is likely the pantry will continue its new outdoor operation on a more permanent basis.

Orr has great hope for the world as he watches what people do for one another at the pantry. He said that the good work there is about more than food. He described a woman who has been making periodic trips to the church to unload her car trunk that is filled with shoes, childrens clothes or other items . He said she has been a recovering alcoholic for at least five years and now spends her drinking money on donations.

Recipients get food, but they also get hugs prayers and helping hands, Orr said.There is something happening here that is good for the community. This is a place of hope, he concluded.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tom Brennan is the retired editor of the News Journal and chairman of the Mansfield in Bloom steering committee. This organization works to support community efforts in areas such as landscaping, community health/vitality, urban forestry and others. If you wish to volunteer to assist Mansfield in Bloom, please call 419-755-7234 and ask for Patrick Clinage.
MANSFIELD -- The first step toward a $35 million overhaul of the Mansfield water treatment plant was approved Tuesday morning by the city's Board of Control.

The board approved city engineer Bob Bianchi's request to spend up to $40,000 with the Brickler & Eckler law firm to draw up paperwork needed to prepare for a bidding process.

Bianchi said the project will likely be issued as a mandate from the Ohio EPA through a notice of violations.

He said the project would likely be presented to Mansfield City Council either at its July 21 meeting or an August session. He said the timeframe for the project depends on council approval, a process he said that could take weeks or months.

Public Works Director Dave Remy said an engineering study of the work required reveals the expected price tag "is in the neighborhood" of $35 million.

Remy first broached the topic at a June 16 council meeting.

"We have got some hard situations to consider," Remy said during the council meeting. "We don't want to hide anything from anybody. We want to be as transparent as possible."

An issue with the main water line at the plant in late December led to a four-day, citywide boil advisory.

Remy said the main line, which is 350 feet in length and 48 inches in diameter, had not been cleared of calcium carbonate buildups for 10 to 15 years.

Council approved a $58,000 contract with a Cincinnati-based company that cleaned the line with divers in May.

The Board of Control, consisting of Remy, Mayor Tim Theaker and Finance Director Linn Steward, also voted unanimously to:

-- approve a $24,000 contract with Jackson Well Services for cleaning and rehab work at two of the city's 10 wells on Brumenshenkel and Owens roads.

-- approved purchase of a new pickup truck for the water department foreman, using money from the sewer fund, and for a new dump truck, using money from the street department.
UPDATE: 6:45 p.m. MANSFIELD -- A man sought for murder is spending Tuesday night in the Richland County Jail after being captured in the wooded area between the Longview trailer park and Caldwell Road in Mansfield, according to a Tuesday night press release from the U.S. Marshals Service.

Members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) arrested Martrell Weaver, 24, who was wanted out of Indiana by the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Allen County Sheriffs Office for murder in Fort Wayne and a probation violation on an assault.

The charges stem from an incident on June 24, in which Weaver allegedly shot a female victim, Amanda Hoglund, four times at a residence on the 1900 block of Clarmarnic Drive, according to Alan Edwards of the United States Marshals Service.

The Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force reached out to the NOVFTF and provided information that Weaver may be hiding in the Mansfield area with family. Members of the NOVFTF conducted numerous interviews and were able to follow leads to Weaver was arrested by the task force officers without incident and transported to the Richland County Jail. He will remain in Richland County until he can be extradited back to Indiana to face his pending charges.

Our task force and the United States Marshals Service across the country will stop at nothing to track down violent fugitives like this," U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated. "Both cities, Fort Wayne and Mansfield, are safer tonight with this man off the streets.

Weaver was seen in Mansfield on July 6 and was considered armed and dangerous before his apprehension.
At least 14 of the Kumamoto victims lived in a nursing home next to the Kuma River, which is also dubbed the raging river as it is linked to another river upstream and susceptible to flooding.
12:51 p.m.: The statue of J.E.B Stuart has been hauled away on a flatbed truck to be put into storage.

10:45 a.m.: It took workers roughly three hours to remove the J.E.B Stuart statue from its pedestal along Monument Avenue on Tuesday morning.

7:55 a.m.: Crews have arrived at Stuart Circle on Tuesday morning and are preparing to take the statue of Confederate officer J.E.B Stuart down from its pedestal.

Roads around the circle have been blocked and a cherry picker, or elevated work platform, is parked near the monument. There are also seven cars from the Richmond Sheriff's Department on the scene.

At about 8:21 a.m., a large crane arrived. A member of the Connecticut crew contracted to take the Stuart statue down said this is the only statue they are scheduled to remove today.

The statue of J.E.B Stuart, by British-American sculptor Frederick Moynihan, was unveiled at the beginning of a Confederate reunion on May 30, 1907, at Lombardy and Monument.
No one answered the door at the home when a reporter knocked on Tuesday.

It was like something out of the Wild West, said Julie Urena, who lives in Chesterfield County but owns a rental home in Oregon Hill. Her son lived there for five years while at school at VCU, and her daughter stayed there recently. She said the situation has given her pause about who might be renting her home. I saw what had happened, and it was very scary.

The neighborhood group has long grappled with encroachment from VCU, whose students find the low rent and proximity of Oregon Hill appealing.

In his letter to residents, Woodson told them to stay vigilant of problem party houses.

Woodson said he filed a zoning complaint against the property owner, whom he alleges is renting the home room by room, which is not allowed.

Like a lot of people, I was disturbed to learn from neighbors that some 80 rounds were shot in Oregon Hill from people who were around a house party on Albemarle, said Scott Berger, a longtime resident who runs the neighborhoods website. He said he was two blocks away and heard the gunshots, but didnt realize how close they really were.
Gov. Ralph Northam wants school systems across Virginia to change the names of schools honoring Confederate leaders.

In a July 6 letter to the heads of school boards in the state, Northam says the names and mascots have a traumatizing impact on students, families, teachers and staff of all backgrounds.

When our public schools are named after individuals who advanced slavery and systemic racism, and we allow those names to remain on school property, we tacitly endorse their values as our own, Northam wrote. This is no longer acceptable.

The names have come under increased scrutiny during ongoing civil unrest spurred by the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police in May. Protesters have highlighted racial disparities in education, including the disproportionate rates at which students of color graduate and face discipline in school, with the names, which opponents say are symbols of a racially unjust system that school leaders are tasked with fixing.

Now is the time to change them to reflect the inclusive, diverse, and welcoming school community every child deserves, and that we, as leaders of the Commonwealth, have a civic duty to foster, Northam said.
Hanover County appears intent to live on in infamy as the Prince Edward County of the 21st Century.

In 1959, Prince Edward became the poster child for Massive Resistance, closing its public schools and establishing a private all-white academy  Black students be damned.

Racist intransigence was wrong in Prince Edward then.

Its wrong in Hanover County now.

The overwhelming majority of longtime residents in Prince Edward County regret that Massive Resistance not only happened, but that it played such a leading role in creating it and sustaining it, says Justin Reid, a Prince Edward native and director of community initiatives for Virginia Humanities. I think honestly there were many people who felt that way while it was happening, but because of peer pressure and intimidation and fear of retribution, were simply afraid to speak out.

If the majority of white residents who knew and felt what was happening was wrong had had the courage to speak out, we would have been able to prevent so much heartache.

Which brings us to the heartache experienced by generations of students of color in Hanover.
Richmond officials said Monday that they are wary of the increasing COVID-19 cases as the city and state continue to loosen the restrictions meant to curb the virus  but recently improvements have stalled.

Dr. Danny Avula, director of the Richmond and Henrico County health districts, said at a City Hall news conference that a sharp decline in cases the city had been recording has slowed.

The citys significant downward trend  in case counts, hospitalization rates and percents of positivity  has started to plateau in the last week, week and a half, Avula said.

He said hes concerned that the case count will increase as Phase Three continues, which allows for all restaurants and nonessential businesses to open at full capacity.

There had been 2,288 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 29 deaths within the city limits as of Monday morning, according to state data, with no virus-related deaths here in the past two weeks.

Around the Richmond region, there were 8,448 confirmed cases as of Monday morning. The Virginia Department of Health reported 3,026 in Chesterfield County, 2,685 in Henrico and 449 in Hanover County. But state health officials have said there is a lag in reporting statewide numbers.
Welcome to the new version of the old Virginia Electric & Power Co.

Dominion Energys double-barreled decision on Sunday to abandon the $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline and sell its natural gas transmission and storage operations for almost $10 billion is part of a new company commitment to focus on the old business of running state-regulated electric and natural gas utilities.

The sale of these gas transmission and storage assets further positions the company as a pure-play, state-regulated utility operating in some of the most attractive regions in the United States, said Tom Farrell, the companys chairman, president and CEO, in a call with energy stock analysts on Monday, the morning after announcing Dominions plans.

Dominion, a holding company originally spawned by VEPCO more than 30 years ago as a way to take advantage of deregulated markets, paid a steep price for the strategic change in direction. The value of its stock fell by more than $9 a share, and its credit was downgraded by Credit Suisse on Monday.

Dominion also said Monday that it is taking pre-tax charges of up to $3.2 billion from the cancellation of the pipeline, which will save the company in taxes by reducing its earnings.
We will evaluate the best way forward for resolving easement agreements with landowners, Ruby said. They will, of course, keep any compensation theyve received.

FERC said it has no jurisdiction over the easements, but Greg Buppert, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said, I think its a bad idea to keep a pipeline right of way in that area on the books.

Richard Averitt is one of the Nelson landowners who was still fighting Dominion in court over right of way for the pipeline to cross 100 acres of land along Spruce Creek where he and his wife want to build a boutique resort along state Route 151 near the old village of Wintergreen. The right of way would have taken about 5 acres of the property.

We kept them off our land, Averitt said Tuesday.

His sister, Dawn, had negotiated an easement agreement with the pipeline company to cross 135 acres of property where both families live on the other side of the highway. The pipeline would have passed within 300 feet of her house and directly across from his front door.

The cancellation of the pipeline already has lifted the uncertainty that has hung over the Averitts plans to build Spruce Creek Resort, originally estimated at a cost of $35 million.
Staten Island: As I watched the fireworks this July 4, I finally got that there are two Americas. My world has been rocked by the inequality I finally see. I think I knew about these two Americas for a long time, and the deep divide between them, but I didnt want to know, and so all I gave it was lip service. I finally get that I know nothing of what black and brown people feel, because Im white. And Im ready to get busy, knowing, as they do, its messy business. But there is no other way. There can be no peace, if there is no equality. We are at the precipice of a racial equality sea change, and I have to do more than just hope that we dont squander the opportunity, as we have others. God bless America for all. Dorothy Gallie
Gov. Ralph Northam and Lane released the initial guidance in early June, allowing for a phased reopening of school buildings, which closed for the rest of the academic year in mid-March. The state and its schools are in the third reopening phase, which allows for in-person instruction to be offered to all students.

Reopening schools has become an increasingly divisive topic, with local school boards tasked with deciding how and when to bring students back. Some parents have argued for a full reopening, a position President Donald Trump has also taken, while others have said reopening could lead to the further spread of a virus that has killed nearly 1,900 people in the state, according to data from the Virginia Department of Health.

As Virginia enters Phase 3 [of its reopening plan] and we prepare for the start of the school year, it remains clear that schools, working together with local health departments, have an important role in slowing the spread of diseases and protecting vulnerable students and staff, Lane and Oliver said in the Monday letter.
An amendment was proposed to include the removal of Washingtons name, but that motion failed.

Faculty members also discussed the importance of having wider discussions about the overall campus climate, said Zoila Ponce de Leon, an assistant professor of politics.

A name change is a symbolic gesture, but what we really need to invest our energy in is changing our behavior as faculty and students, Ponce de Leon said. The members of our community who come from diverse backgrounds dont feel comfortable because of how we treat people  it isnt just the name.

The special faculty meeting was held after more than 200 faculty members signed a petition calling for the removal of all references to the Confederacy from the campus, as well as from the schools name. That petition has already been sent to the board.

Formal conversations among faculty members about the name change began at a virtual meeting on June 24.

We feel like were going to end up on the wrong side of this as an institution and that it will harm us, said Jim Casey, an alum and professor of economics who organized the initial meeting. Everyone who was in that conversation feels that the best thing for our institution is to drop our affiliation with Lee.
It has been a bad week for energy production in the United States.

On Sunday, Dominion Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. announced they were scrapping plans to build a 600-mile natural gas pipeline that had been in the works since 2014. The decision to cancel construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) ends a six-year battle between the two companies and scores of environmental groups.

The $8 billion project would have created a 42-inch-wide pipeline connecting Marcellus shale fields in West Virginia to energy markets in coastal Virginia and North Carolina. The pipeline, which would have stretched 600 miles  much of that through Virginia  was more than 3 years behind schedule and $3 billion over budget. The two energy companies say further delays and court costs would have wiped out any hope of economic viability for the endeavor.

On Sunday, Dominion also announced it was selling the rest of its natural-gas transmission and storage network to Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for $9.7 billion  which includes $4 billion in cash and the assumption of $5.7 billion in debt.
With four months to go until divided America decides the presidential race, voters in the heartland are focused on an economy in trouble, the 
Playa del Carmen police arrest armed male after resident complaint

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  One male arrested and a vehicle seized was the result of a complaint after Playa del Carmen residents reported gunfire.

Residents of Villas del Sol made the report to authorities Monday night after hearing firearm denotations. Police responded to the report, implementing an operation after learning that a lone gunman had entered the residential area of colonia Pescadores.

In their search, they were successful in locating a male and a white SUV, which is where police discovered two firearms, a 9 mm and a rifle. The detained was not identified. There were no reports of injuries.
The debates were having over Confederate statues, monuments, military bases and high schools are very different than any we might indulge over Hamilton. These memorials were meant to honor men we now roundly agree were in fact dishonorable, traitors, and the losers of a war that tore our country apart. Our monuments must be reflective not only of the nation we once were, but the nation we strive to be. Because they are earnest reflections of our aspirations, they must be honest.
Brian Deurloo, president and founder of Frog Creek Partners, displays a newly installed Gutter Bin stormwater filtration system on Main Street in Sheridan. Deurloo has developed a new way to filter contaminants such as cigarette butts, plastics and heavy metals out of stormwater before it enters municipal storm drains.
Rocky Mount, NC (27804)

Today

Showers and scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 80F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Rutland, VT (05701)

Today

Rain showers early becoming more intermittent for the afternoon. Cooler. High around 65F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy early, then clearing overnight. Low near 45F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
However, what people think is not worthless. As a political resource, ideas are less obvious than money, votes and force, but they can over time be decisive. Having a clear idea of what needs to be done, being able to articulate and defend it, using it to refute and delegitimate alternatives, winning over support with it, are tools any activist would want. Analysts who doubt the political importance of ideas nonetheless write books and articles, make speeches and engage in debate, all of which involve ideas.
Danvers, MA (01923)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to cloudy skies and rain during the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 83F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Becoming partly cloudy after some evening rain. Low 52F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
None of this new. When I was incarcerated on Rikers and in state prison in the early 1980s, the guards treated us inhumanely. They would beat you if you didnt move fast enough or if they didnt like your answer to a question. It was an ugly and dangerous place. And just like today, all too often the good COs  and there are many of them  remain silent in the wake of acts of brutality by fellow guards.
The coastal enclave of Del Mar, among the first California cities to ban single-use plastic bags, polystyrene take-out containers and cigarettes in public places, is now taking aim at wood-burning fireplaces.

City council members have asked staffers to draw up regulations that would ban wood-burning fireplaces in all new residential construction. They also plan to require any homeowner who spends more than 50 percent of the value of their house on a remodeling project to include a retrofit of any existing fireplace to burn only natural gas.

The health impacts are really profound here, said Councilman Dwight Worden. Whats coming out of fireplaces is really worse than cigarettes, which we dont allow.

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Wood smoke may be hazardous, but it is not a significant pollutant in San Diego County, said Robert Kard, a director at the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, which works with cities and other agencies throughout the county to improve air quality.

We just dont have that problem, Kard said.

Smoke is more of a problem in regions that often get stagnant air, such as the states Central Valley, known for its tule fogs, and Los Angeles, with its smog, he said, and some cities there ban or restrict wood burning when air conditions are poor. In San Francisco, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has prohibited wood-burning fireplaces and stoves in new construction since 2016.

Del Mar would be the first city in San Diego County to ban wood-burning fireplaces, Kard said.

We think it is a great idea, he said. Gas is a lot cleaner. You are not polluting your indoor air, and you are not bothering your neighbors. Its never good to breathe smoke.

Except for people living in the mountains or the desert, almost no one in the county heats their home with a fireplace.

We are really long past needing a traditional fireplace, Kard said.

Del Mar City Council members on Monday voted 4-1 for the proposal, noting the adverse effects of wood smoke on peoples health and the environment.

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Only Mayor Terry Sinnott opposed the idea, saying the ban would be difficult to enforce and that instead he would rather promote incentives for people to burn natural gas instead of wood in their fireplaces.

Councilman Dave Druker emphasized that the ban would only be on new construction.

We are not going to go back and make everybody take out their wood-burning fireplaces, Druker said.

At a recent meeting, no one spoke in favor of a flaming hearth, its cozy warmth or its familiar smell, but two Del Mar residents supported the fireplace ban.

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We on the Design Review Board have been struggling with this for years, said board member Bill Michalsky. We want to protect the neighbor upwind.

Its not the overall air quality that matters as much as the fireplace next door, said Rick Ehrenfeld, a former Del Mar planning commissioner and review board member.

If Im sitting next to someone whos smoking a cigarette, I dont care what the overall air quality is, Ehrenfeld said.

A ban on wood-burning fireplaces in new residential construction will eventually eliminate them in all homes, he said.

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Pizza shops and other restaurants that use wood for cooking would not be affected by the proposed ban.

The council also considered requiring a catalytic converter or some other device on fireplaces to control smoke, but decided an outright ban would be easier to enact and enforce.

I say we either ban them or allow them, Druker said. Keep it simple.

A spokesman for the San Diego County Building Industry Association, Senior Public Policy Advisory Mike McSweeney, said Tuesday he hadnt heard of Del Mars proposal, and that he would need to discuss it with association members before taking a stance.

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It sounds like a solution in search of a problem, McSweeney said.

City staff members are expected to present a proposed ordinance to the council next month. The work will be done in-house, using examples adopted in other jurisdictions, so the costs should be limited to staff time.

Worden suggested the staff also look at ways the city could provide incentives for people to convert existing wood-burning fireplaces to natural gas.

Del Mars council unanimously voted in February 2016 to ban single-use plastic bags, and followed that up a few months later with a prohibition on take-out food containers made of polystyrene, also known as Styrofoam.

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In 2014, the city banned the use of battery-powered e-cigarettes in all places where public smoking is prohibited.

Smoking has been prohibited at the citys beaches and parks since 2006.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

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Twitter: @phildiehl
The San Ysidro school board on Thursday approved an agreement to settle a lawsuit against former Superintendent Manuel Paul, who spent time in prison for requesting political contributions from contractors who wanted to be considered for work on district projects.

The settlement represents the end of a 3-year-old court case in which the school district sued Paul to recover more than $200,000 he received as a payout when he resigned in 2013 amid pay-to-play allegations.

The settlement was approved unanimously behind closed doors, with trustee Rodolfo Linares absent. The board did not release details of the agreement.

A district spokesman said the agreement was missing signatures and not yet finalized.

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Trustee Marcos Diaz said he believes the resolution in the case against Paul allows the district to close a chapter and focucs on other matters.

We needed to put it behind us, he said in an interview. I think it was one of the many issues that kept us from moving forward.

Asked if he was pleased with the settlement, he said: As can be under the circumstances. Im just glad that its behind us.

He added that he considered settling the lawsuit the best option, saying legal fees led to diminishing returns.

Paul, who led the district of about 5,000 students for six years, spent two months in prison in 2015 after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in San Diego federal court.

In a plea deal, Paul admitted he demanded campaign contributions from contractors as a price for them to be considered for work on district projects.

In 2010, two months before school board elections, the superintendent accepted $2,500 in cash from a contractor in Pauls Mercedes-Benz in the parking lot of a steak house.

He admitted he spent the money at a print shop in Tijuana on campaign signs for trustee Yolanda Hernandez.

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The political contribution first came to light in 2012, when Paul admitted to the transaction in a deposition for a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the district over a solar panel project.

Paul, who attended San Ysidro schools and worked for the district for more than 30 years, resigned in 2013 after he was indicted in a wider corruption probe by the District Attorneys Office. The case involved 15 educators and contractors across South County.

In that case, Paul pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to probation, community service and fined.

The district, which serves some of the poorest students in the county, brought its lawsuit against Paul a month after he was sentenced to federal prison. The district sought to recover the $211,247.22 paid out to Paul as part of a severance agreement, the salary he was paid while on administrative leave for six months, and other damages, as well as attorney fees.

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Filed on Feb. 2, 2015, in San Diego Superior Court, the lawsuit cited state law that requires public officials who are convicted of a crime linked to their positions to reimburse pay related to the termination of their employment contracts.

Pauls attorney, Dennis Grady, has said the statute does not apply because the severance pay approved by the school board was part of a retirement agreement, not an employment contract.

Grady did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Paul, who was named superintendent in 2007, has been blamed for financial problems that were so dire the district was at risk of being taken over by the state.

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According to court records, the district put forward a draft settlement agreement on July 9. In the weeks that followed, the parties in the case engaged in discussions about the settlement and actively revised the agreement.

The districts lawyer, William Trejo, said in Aug. 15 court documents the proposed settlement agreement included a provision for the case to be dismissed permanently.

Superintendent Gina Potter, who stepped into the position in May, released a statement Thursday night in response to the approved settlement.

Our district is diligently working to bring resolution to issues of the past, so we can move forward and rebuild our district with a keen focus on providing our children with the best education possible, Potter said.

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Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez

UPDATES:

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10:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Superintendent Gina Potter and trustee Marcos Diaz. This article was originally published at 7:50 p.m.
The Sun claims the story was based on 14 incidents in which the former actress accused him of violence in multiple locations, including Los Angeles, Australia, Japan, the Bahamas and on a private jet. Depp denies all accusations and has claimed that Heard attacked him with a bottle of vodka, a cigarette and other objects. He also says that she or one of her friends once defecated on his bed.
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.

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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.

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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 litre 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.

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"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 litres of oil produced. This is higher than other oil-producing crops, such as palm (3.8 species per million litres), 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.

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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 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 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.
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.

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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.

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"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 in -- the colony -- has 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 acting -- nature 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.
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."
We all can describe our ideal partner. Perhaps they are funny, attractive and inquisitive. Or maybe they are down-to-earth, intelligent and thoughtful. But do we actually have special insight into ourselves, or are we just describing positive qualities that everyone likes?

New research coming out of the University of California, Davis, suggests that people's ideal partner preferences do not reflect any unique personal insight. The paper, "Negligible Evidence That People Desire Partners Who Uniquely Fit Their Ideals," was published last week in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

"The people in our study could very easily list their top three attributes in an ideal partner," noted Jehan Sparks, former UC Davis doctoral student and lead author of the study. "We wanted to see whether those top three attributes really mattered for the person who listed them. As it turns out, they didn't."

In the research, more than 700 participants nominated their top three ideals in a romantic partner -- attributes like funny, attractive or inquisitive. Then they reported their romantic desire for a series of people they knew personally: Some were blind date partners, others were romantic partners, and others were friends.

Participants experienced more romantic desire to the extent that these personal acquaintances possessed the top three attributes. If Vanessa listed funny, attractive and inquisitive, she experienced more desire for partners who were funny, attractive and inquisitive.

"On the surface, this looks promising," notes Paul Eastwick, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Psychology and co-author.

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"You say you want these three attributes, and you like the people who possess those attributes. But the story doesn't end there." -- Professor Paul Eastwick, UC Davis

What would a stranger say?

The researchers included a twist: Each participant also considered the extent to which the same personal acquaintances possessed three attributes nominated by some other random person in the study. For example, if Kris listed down-to-earth, intelligent and thoughtful as her own top three attributes, Vanessa also experienced more desire for acquaintances who were down-to-earth, intelligent and thoughtful.

"So in the end, we want partners who have positive qualities," said Sparks, "but the qualities you specifically list do not actually have special predictive power for you." The authors take these findings to mean that people don't have special insight into what they personally want in a partner.

Eastwick compared it to ordering food at a restaurant. "Why do we order off the menu for ourselves? Because it seems obvious that I will like what I get to pick. Our findings suggest that, in the romantic domain, you might as well let a random stranger order for you -- you're just as likely to end up liking what you get."

The findings have implications for the way people approach online dating. People commonly spend many hours perusing online dating profiles in the search of someone who specifically matches their ideals. Sparks and colleagues' research suggests that this effort may be misplaced.

"It's really easy to spend time hunting around online for someone who seems to match your ideals," notes Sparks. "But our research suggests an alternative approach: Don't be too picky ahead of time about whether a partner matches your ideals on paper. Or, even better, let your friends pick your dates for you."
Rice University chemical engineers found an efficient catalyst for destroying PFAS "forever" chemicals where they least expected.

"It was the control," said Rice Professor Michael Wong, referring to the part of a scientific experiment where researchers don't expect surprises. The control group is the yardstick of experimental science, the baseline by which variables are measured.

"We haven't yet tested this at a full scale, but in our benchtop tests in the lab, we could get rid of 99% of PFOA in four hours," Wong said of boron nitride, the light-activated catalyst he and his students stumbled upon and spent more than a year testing.

Their study, which is available online in the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, found boron nitride destroyed PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) at a faster clip than any previously reported photocatalyst. PFOA is one of the most prevalent PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a family of more than 4,000 compounds developed in the 20th century to make coatings for waterproof clothing, food packaging, nonstick pans and countless other uses. PFAS have been dubbed forever chemicals for their tendency to linger in the environment, and scientists have found them in the blood of virtually all Americans, including newborns.

Catalysts are Wong's specialty. They are compounds that bring about chemical reactions without taking part or being consumed in those reactions. His lab has created catalysts for destroying a number of pollutants, including TCE and nitrates, and he said he tasked his team with finding new catalysts to address PFAS about 18 months ago.

"We tried a lot of things," said Wong, chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Rice's Brown School of Engineering. "We tried several materials that I thought were going to work. None of them did. This wasn't supposed to work, and it did."

The catalyst, boron nitride powder, or BN, is a commercially available synthetic mineral that's widely used in makeup, skin care products, thermal pastes that cool computer chips and other consumer and industrial products.

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The discovery began with dozens of failed experiments on more likely PFAS catalysts. Wong said he asked two members of his lab, visiting graduate student Lijie Duan of China's Tsinghua University and Rice graduate student Bo Wang, to do final experiments on one set of candidate compounds before moving on to others.

"There was literature that suggested one of them might be a photocatalyst, meaning it would be activated by light of a particular wavelength," Wong said. "We don't use light very often in our group, but I said, 'Let's go ahead and doodle around with it.' The sun is free energy. Let's see what we can do with light."

As before, none of the experimental groups performed well, but Duan noticed something unusual with the boron nitride control. She and Wang repeated the experiments numerous times to rule out unexpected errors, problems with sample preparation and other explanations for the strange result. They kept seeing the same thing.

"Here's the observation," Wong said. "You take a flask of water that contains some PFOA, you throw in your BN powder, and you seal it up. That's it. You don't need to add any hydrogen or purge it with oxygen. It's just the air we breathe, the contaminated water and the BN powder. You expose that to ultraviolet light, specifically to UV-C light with a wavelength of 254 nanometers, come back in four hours, and 99% of the PFOA has been transformed into fluoride, carbon dioxide and hydrogen."

The problem was the light. The 254-nanometer wavelength, which is commonly used in germicidal lamps, is too small to activate the bandgap in boron nitride. While that was unquestionably true, the experiments suggested it could not be.

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"If you take away the light, you don't get catalysis," Wong said. "If you leave out the BN powder and only use the light, you don't get a reaction."

So boron nitride was clearly absorbing the light and catalyzing a reaction that destroyed PFOA, despite that fact that it should have been optically impossible for boron nitride to absorb 254-nanometer UV-C light.

"It's not supposed to work," Wong said. "That's why no one ever thought to look for this, and that's why it took so long for us to publish the results. We needed some sort of explanation for this contradiction."

Wong said he, Duan, Wang and co-authors offered a plausible explanation in the study.

"We concluded that our material does absorb the 254-nanometer light, and it's because of atomic defects in our powder," he said. "The defects change the bandgap. They shrink it enough for the powder to absorb just enough light to create the reactive oxidizing species that chew up the PFOA."

Wong said more experimental evidence will be needed to confirm the explanation. But in light of the results with PFOA, he wondered if the boron nitride catalyst might also work on other PFAS compounds.

"So I asked my students to do one more thing," Wong said. "I had them replace PFOA in the tests with GenX."

GenX is also a forever chemical. When PFOA was banned, GenX was one of the most widely used chemicals to replace it. And a growing body of evidence suggests that GenX could be just as big an environmental problem as its predecessor.

"It's a similar story to PFOA," Wong said. "They're finding GenX everywhere now. But one difference between the two is that people have previously reported some success with catalysts for degrading PFOA. They haven't for GenX."

Wong and colleagues found that boron nitride powder also destroys GenX. The results weren't as good as with PFOA: With two hours exposure to 254-nanometer light, BN destroyed about 20% of the GenX in water samples. But Wong said the team has ideas about how to improve the catalyst for GenX.

He said the project has already attracted the attention of several industrial partners in the Rice-based Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT). NEWT is an interdisciplinary engineering research center funded by the National Science Foundation to develop off-grid water treatment systems that both protect human lives and support sustainable economic development.

"The research has been fun, a true team effort," Wong said. "We've filed patents on this, and NEWT's interest in further testing and development of the technology is a big vote of confidence."

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (EEC-1449500) and the China Scholarship Council.
Climate change will intensify winds that steer hurricanes north over Texas in the final 25 years of this century, increasing the odds for fast-moving storms like 2008's Ike compared with slow-movers like 2017's Harvey, according to new research.

The study published online July 3 in Nature Communications examined regional atmospheric wind patterns that are likely to exist over Texas from 2075-2100 as Earth's climate changes due to increased greenhouse emissions.

The research began in Houston as Harvey deluged the city with 30-40 inches of rain over five days. Rice University researchers riding out the storm began collaborating with colleagues from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and Harvard University to explore whether climate change would increase the likelihood of slow-moving rainmakers like Harvey.

"We find that the probability of having strong northward steering winds will increase with climate change, meaning hurricanes over Texas will be more likely to move like Ike than Harvey," said study lead author Pedram Hassanzadeh of Rice.

Harvey caused an estimated $125 billion in damage, matching 2005's Katrina as the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Ike was marked by coastal flooding and high winds that caused $38 billion damage across several states. It was the second-costliest U.S. hurricane at the time and has since moved to sixth. Ike struck Galveston around 2 a.m. Sept. 13, 2008, crossed Texas in less than one day and caused record power outages from Arkansas to Ohio on Sept. 14.

Hassanzadeh, a fluid dynamicist, atmospheric modeler and assistant professor of both mechanical engineering and Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, said the findings don't suggest that slow-moving storms like Harvey won't happen in late 21st century. Rather, they suggest that storms during the period will be more likely to be fast-moving than slow-moving. The study found the chances that a Texas hurricane will be fast-moving as opposed to slow-moving will rise by about 50% in the last quarter of the 21st century compared with the final quarter of the 20th century.

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"These results are very interesting, given that a previous study that considered the Atlantic basin as a whole noticed a trend for slower-moving storms in the past 30 years," said study co-author Suzana Camargo, LDEO's Marie Tharp Lamont Research Professor. "By contrast, our study focused on changes at the end of the 21st century and shows that we need to consider much smaller regional scales, as their trends might differ from the average across much larger regions."

Hassanzadeh said the researchers used more than a dozen different computer models to produce several hundred simulations and found that "all of them agreed on an increase in northward steering winds over Texas."

Steering winds are strong currents in the lower 10 kilometers of the atmosphere that move hurricanes.

"It doesn't happen a lot, in studying the climate system, that you get such a robust regional signal in wind patterns," he said.

Harvey was the first hurricane Hassanzadeh experienced. He'd moved to Houston the previous year and was stunned by the slow-motion destruction that played out as bayous, creeks and rivers in and around the city topped their banks.

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"I was sitting at home watching, just looking at the rain when (study co-author) Laurence (Yeung) emailed a bunch of us, asking 'What's going on? Why is this thing not moving?'" Hassanzadeh recalled. "That got things going. People started replying. That's the good thing about being surrounded by smart people. Laurence got us started, and things took off."

Yeung, an atmospheric chemist, Hassanzadeh and two other Rice professors on the original email, atmospheric scientist Dan Cohan and flooding expert Phil Bedient, won one of the first grants from Rice's Houston Engagement and Recovery Effort (HERE), a research fund Rice established in response to Harvey.

"Without that, we couldn't have done this work," Hassanzadeh said. The HERE grant allowed Rice co-author Ebrahim Nabizadeh, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, to work for several months, analyzing the first of hundreds of computer simulations based on large-scale climate models.

The day Harvey made landfall, Hassanzadeh also had reached out to Columbia's Chia-Ying Lee, an expert in both tropical storms and climate downscaling, procedures that use known information at large scales to make projections at local scales. Lee and Camargo used information from the large-scale simulations to make a regional model that simulated storms' tracks over Texas in a warming climate.

"One challenge of studying the impact of climate change on hurricanes at a regional level is the lack of data," said Lee, a Lamont Assistant Research Professor at LDEO. "At Columbia University, we have developed a downscaling model that uses physics-based statistics to connect large-scale atmospheric conditions to the formation, movement and intensity of hurricanes. The model's physical basis allowed us to account for the impact of climate change, and its statistical features allowed us to simulate a sufficient number of Texas storms."

Hassanzadeh said, "Once we found that robust signal, where all the models agreed, we thought, 'There should be a robust mechanism that's causing this.'"

He reached out to tropical climate dynamicist Ding Ma of Harvard to get another perspective.

"We were able to show that changes in two important processes were joining forces and resulting in the strong signal from the models," said Ma, a postdoctoral researcher in Earth and planetary sciences.

One of the processes was the Atlantic subtropical high, or Bermuda high, a semipermanent area of high pressure that forms over the Atlantic Ocean during the summer, and the other was the North American monsoon, an uptick in rainfall and thunderstorms over the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico that typically occurs between July and September. Hassanzadeh said recent studies have shown that each of these are projected to change as Earth's climate warms.

"The subtropical high is a clockwise circulation to the east that is projected to intensify and shift westward, producing more northward winds over Texas," he said. "The North American monsoon, to the west, produces a clockwise circulation high in the troposphere. That circulation is expected to weaken, resulting in increased, high-level northward winds over Texas."

Hassanzadeh said the increased northward winds from both east and west "gives you a strong reinforcing effect over the whole troposphere, up to about 10 kilometers, over Texas. This has important implications for the movement of future Texas hurricanes."

Models showed that the effect extended into western Louisiana, but the picture became murkier as the researchers looked further east, he said.

"You don't have the robust signal like you do over Texas," Hassanzadeh said. "If you look at Florida, for instance, there's a lot of variation in the models. This shows how important it is to conduct studies that focus on climate impacts in specific regions. If we had looked at all of North America, for example, and tried to average over the whole region, we would have missed this localized mechanism over Texas."
A newly-identified, fast-growing species of algae poses a major threat to coral reefs and the ocean ecosystem. It was previously discovered in Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument by a team of researchers from the University of Hawai?i, Western Australian Herbarium, College of Charleston and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Newly-named Chondria tumulosa by UH researchers, the alga has no known origin and has been observed smothering entire reefs and the corals, native algae and other organisms that live in one of the northern atolls. It also has a "tumbleweed-like" growth and appears to easily detach and spread.

"I think this is a warning of the kinds of changes that are to come for the northwestern Hawaiian Islands," said UH Manoa College of Natural Sciences Interim Associate Dean and Professor Alison Sherwood, the lead researcher on the project. "We have, not until now, seen a major issue like this where we have a nuisance species that's come in and made such profound changes over a short period of time to the reefs."

It was not widespread when first detected by NOAA divers in 2016 but a 2019 visit to the same area revealed that it is now covering up to several thousand square meters at the Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

"Until we understand whether it is native or introduced, and until we better understand what is driving this outbreak, it is critically important that research divers and research ships do not inadvertently transport this species to other islands," said Randall Kosaki, NOAA research coordinator at Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument. "Thus, all of our dive gear was soaked in bleach, and all of our dive boats were sprayed down with bleach prior to returning to Honolulu."

The findings were featured in a PLOS ONE article, "Taxonomic determination of the cryptogenic red alga, Chondria tumulosa sp. nov., (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) from Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument, Hawai?i, USA: a new species displaying invasive characteristics."

'Nuisance' not 'invasive'

Although Chondria tumulosa displays invasive characteristics, researchers are calling it a "nuisance alga" because they have not identified it as being introduced from another region.

"The main Hawaiian Islands are impacted by several well-known invasive seaweeds, but reports of nuisance algae in Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument are far fewer, and none have been present at the level of abundance seen in this new alga," Sherwood said.

Next steps

Researchers will conduct mapping and molecular analyses, and will develop mitigation strategies to assist in the development of appropriate management actions.

"This is a highly destructive seaweed with the potential to overgrow entire reefs," College of Charleston Assistant Professor Heather Spalding said. "We need to figure out where it's currently found, and what we can do to manage it. This type of research needs trained divers in the water as quickly as possible. The sooner we can get back to Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument, the better."
Im lucky to be alive, Hart captioned a photo showing him on a yacht. There will never be another day that just goes by in my life thats not treated with the highest level of respect and appreciation.
I truly enjoyed having the opportunity to discuss current issues with our membership Tuesday, Kirby said. It is such an honor to serve in the S.C. House of Representatives and the support and encouragement I receive from Pee Dee Realtors is greatly appreciated. We are going through very difficult times during this pandemic. It is comforting to know that Realtors are leading the way for our communities by being role models of service. Thank you again for the honor and opportunity to represent not only my House district  but the unified voices of our Realtor family. Be safe and diligent. We will get through this time of crisis Together! 
MULLINS, S.C.  Mullins native Marcus D. Howard, founder of the Pee Dee Mobile Farmers Market, organized service giving back to his community with the help of volunteers. Pee Dee Mobile Farmers Market presented a free fresh food drive by pick-up service at Mt. Olive Baptist Church. The event was a relief effort to assist families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We had about 300 boxes and we had some extra food that we gave out, Howard said. The goal is to make sure that we get our folks access to healthy foods. The goal is to go to different communities in Florence, Mullins, Dillon, Cheraw and Bennettsville to help them make the healthy choice the easiest choice.

More than 400 cars were provided boxes of contactless produces.

Howard said the giveaway is to support families with limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

The organization is partnering with Eat Smart Move More South Carolina, Harvest Hope Food Bank, and the Pick 42 Foundation, Inc. to increase access to healthy food during a difficult time. Senior citizens are strongly encouraged to attend the drive but all are welcomed, he said.
Yeah, its a little heartbreaking, for sure, Theron, 44, told The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview. I really love that character [Furiosa], and Im so grateful that I had a small part in creating her. She will forever be someone I think of and reflect on fondly. Obviously, I would love to see that story continue, and if he feels like he has to go about it this way, then I trust him in that manner.
When we were in the hospital, I said: Im 63, I have type 2 diabetes, I had a stent in my heart  am I a red-flag case? " Hanks said. 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. Im not one who wakes up in the morning wondering if Im going to see the end of the day or not. Im pretty calm about that.
Across Seattle and the United States, neighbors are stepping up to provide food support in the midst of the novel coronavirus.

Have you ever seen the free little neighborhood libraries propped up in a small wooden and windowed box for exchanging good reads? This mini pantry movement works pretty much the same way, just with food.

Formerly known as Little Free Pantry, the movement activates neighbor engagement of food insecurity via dry goods.

Little Free Pantry is not an organization, it's not even a nonprofit.

"Like you, we are neighbors with jobs, familiesresponsibilities; we dont have a lot of time, and our budgets are nearly maxed," the mini pantry movement's website reads. "But we see our neighbors daily struggles and feel called to do something in a way that reflects our shared valuescompassion, generosity, and trust."

Jessica McClard launched the grassroots mini pantry movement on May 2016 in Fayetteville, AR, when she planted the Little Free Pantry Pilot, a wooden box on a post containing food, personal care, and paper items accessible to everyone, all the time, no questions asked.

She hoped her spin on the Little Free Library concept would pique local awareness of food insecurity while creating a space for neighbors to help meet neighborhood food needs.

A little over a month later, CrystalRock Cathedral Womens Ministries planted Blessing Box in Ardmore, Oklahoma. By August 2016, the movement was global. Throughout the U.S. and internationally, the grassroots mini pantry movement continues growing and moving.

Now, it's growing throughout the Evergreen State and Emerald City.

A grassroots, crowdsourced solution to immediate and local needs, Little Free Pantry has been spotted across Seattle and Washington, from the tiny Olympic Peninsula town of Forks, to Bellingham, Centralia and Bainbridge Island.

In the Seattle area alone, Little Free Pantry marks more than 30 known mini pantries officially in operation, with plenty more in the works.

The quaint, yet neighborhood-nourishing boxes rest at just around 3-by-3 feet. Regularly, residents stock the neighborhood pantries with non-perishable food items, alongside hygiene and sanitizing products.

By the motto "Give What You Can. Take What You Need," those in need can take what they like anonymously.

The concept is inspired by the Little Free Libraries initiative, a community-based book exchange.

Any community member can build boxes in front of their home. Molly Harmon, personal chef and leader of the Little Free Pantry initiative in Seattle, is one of those community members.

According to Food Tank, Harmon began using her Little Free Library as a food pantry in 2014 to support her community. But, with COVID-19, she saw an opportunity to help more people.

She applied for and received a grant from The Awesome Foundation to build six more pantries around her neighborhood.

In an attempt to expand the project further, she also set up a GoFundMe page with an overwhelmingly positive response.

Since then, her team of roughly 40 volunteers has raised over $4,000 and built 74 more Little Free Pantries in the Seattle Metro Area.

With families and individuals feeling the economic effects of COVID-19, Harmon tells Food Tank that she notices a greater number of people turning to the pantries for basic necessities. And while Harmon stresses that pantries do not replace food banks, they can be a compelling tool to provide food to those in need.

[Little Free Pantries] have a powerful scope because they fit directly in the neighborhoods, and theyre kind of a safety net for those who may not be able to access resources from a food bank or are recently unemployed and have never had to resource from a food bank. Theres that anonymous access point for people, Harmon told Food Tank. There is absolutely no barrier to this food.

For those wishing to get involved and follow the project, Harmon encourages community members to follow the project's Instagram.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

King County approved to move to Phase 2 amid coronavirus pandemic

King County is applying to move to Phase 1.5. Here's what that means

A comprehensive list of COVID-19 resources for Washington residents

Inslee announces non-urgent medical, dental care can resume in Washington

Here's what we know about the opening of Washington's businesses

Update: Washington coronavirus cases per county

Will summer camps be canceled this year? Here's what we know
As Washington has started to reopen, confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have risen across the state.

Public health officials continue to warn people the threat from the virus is far from over and residents are urged to avoid large social gatherings, wear masks and wash their hands often to slow the spread of the virus.

According to an analysis using data from the Washington State Department of Health, the vast majority of counties in the state - 30 of the 34 counties in Phase 2 or 3 - have had more cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks between June 21 and July 4 than they did when they applied for and entered Phase 2 of the state's reopening plan. In Phase 2, restaurants, hair salons and retail stores could open at limited capacities.

Stephen Hawes, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington, said what the state is seeing now - a rise in cases as things start to reopen - is to be expected.

"I think this is fairly predictable," he said. "As restrictions have been lifted and there's been more interaction between people, and businesses have opened and there's more again, interactions. This is the key to transmission. So, it makes perfect sense."

He said other states that have opened more quickly though, such as Florida or Texas, have seen much larger increases in the number of confirmed cases of the virus. Washington has been more cautious than several other states in its reopening as Gov. Jay Inslee has said multiple times he will rely on data and science when making decisions about opening up the state.

"I think compared to some of the other states which were less cautious, those states are experiencing quite high increases," Hawes said. "Washington has not been one of those states even though the trends suggest that there are increasing numbers of cases, it's not at the same magnitude as some of the other states."

Over the past several weeks, testing has also increased significantly across the state. In some counties, such as King County, the rate of positive tests has remained steady, though far more cases are being reported.
Dozens of colleges have said they plan to offer at least some classes in person this fall, but some say it's too risky. The University of Southern California last week reversed course on a plan to bring students to campus, saying classes will be hosted primarily or exclusively online. Harvard on Monday said it will invite first-year students to live on campus, but classes will stay online.
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

Considering leisure travel to Alaska? It is once again possible with several new policies and guidelines in place.

While many Alaska businesses have already opened under the Reopen Alaska Responsibly Plan, guests are encouraged to verify operational status of specific businesses of interest prior to making travel arrangements. It's also important to know what to expect on your next flight and what to pack if you're planning to travel during the pandemic.

For the immediate future, Alaska travelers will want to stay informed with the latest safety mandates issued by the State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. At present, guests are required to complete a health declaration form and arrive with proof of a qualifying negative COVID-19 test. With these checkmarks in place, a visitor can explore and enjoy all the 49th state has to offer.

If a visitor has not yet tested for the coronavirus, tests are available upon arrival, but guests will then need to self-quarantine until results come in. After arrival, follow the latest CDC guidelines for travelers.

What will you see and do on your next Alaska adventure? See our suggestions below for planning your next voyage North to the Future.
SE Washington Interagency Incident Management

MOSES LAKE, Wash. -- Over 200 firefighters are battling a wildfire that is burning in the Saddle Mountain area of Eastern Washington Tuesday.

The fire was sparked on Monday afternoon on the western end of the mountain and has grown quickly, according to a spokesperson with the SE Washington Interagency Incident Management Team.
Her criticism of schools distance education efforts extended across the country. DeVos said she was disappointed in schools that didnt figure out how to serve students or who just gave up and didnt try. She said more than one state education chief told her that they also were disappointed in districts that did next to nothing to serve their students.
The Seattle City Council on Monday passed a new tax on big businesses with highly paid employees that would help provide relief during the city's coronavirus recovery and create more affordable housing moving forward.

The"JumpStart Seattle" Tax, proposed last month by Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, would apply to businesses with annual payrolls of $7 million or higher with employees who make $150,000 or more annually. The tax is expected to raise more than $200 million a year.

Under the legislation, which passed in a 7-2 vote, companies would be taxed between 0.7% and 2.4%, depending on the size of their annual payrolls and the salaries of their employees. Certain businesses, such as grocery stores, would be exempt.

During the council meeting Monday, many city residents called into the council demanding they pass the tax and praising the "Tax Amazon" movement. The plan received support from dozens of organizations in the city, including several that work with people experiencing homelessness, such as Compass Housing Alliance, the Downtown Emergency Services Center and Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness.

It has also faced some pushback. Last week, officials from the Downtown Seattle Association, along with the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, sent a letter to City Council opposing the tax. They called on the city to focus on getting businesses open and workers "back on their feet" rather than new taxes.

The bill passed Monday with a few amendments, including adding a 20-year sunset clause, an addition Councilmember Kshama Sawant strongly opposed.

"This is extremely problematic and furthermore completely tone deaf to bring this amendment at the last second," Sawant said during the meeting. "The public has spoken very clearly against any kind of sunset clause."

The tax wouldn't go into effect immediately. But the city could start using its emergency and rainy day funds for coronavirus relief and would use revenue from the tax in the future to replenish them. The funds would go toward a number of issues. More immediately, as the economy reels from the coronavirus pandemic, money would help provide resources to small businesses, along with people struggling to pay for rent and food. Moving forward, the plan would help fund city services and more affordable housing.

Ahead of the passage of the bill, Sawant celebrated the tax.

"The Amazon tax is perhaps the bigest progessive win in Seattle since socialists and labor unions led the way on the $15 minimum wage, which passed first here and then was won in cities and states across the country," she said.

Mosqueda said it's clear the city needs to invest in communities of color, small businesses and community health to create a "more robust and resilient economy."

"We are in the midst of a health and economic crisis that even a strong economy like Seattle may not be able to recover from quickly. We have over a million people statewide who have filed for unemployment this year; countless businesses shuttered temporarily and some potentially forever; our immigrant and refugee families have been left out of federal aid, and our homeless neighbors continue to suffer in our streets in the midst of a global pandemic, Mosqueda said in a statement after the tax passed.

"JumpStart Seattle will do just that  jump start our recovery with a relief plan that centers workers, small businesses and our most vulnerable community members."

Seattle faces a huge shortage of affordable housing, one that could become worse as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to leave thousands of people without work, struggling to afford their rent and other basic necessities. According to the 2020 Point-in-Time count released last week, homelessness also rose 5% over 2019, with more than 11,700 people experiencing homelessness on a given night in King County. The count is meant to be a snapshot of homelessness, and is often seen as an imprecise undercount that doesn't represent the full scope of homelessness in the region.

Councilmembers have been discussing taxes on big businesses for years. A "head tax" proposal a few years ago in Seattle drew intense controversy, so much so that the City Council repealed the policy less than a month after passing it. That legislation would have imposed a $275 tax per employee for hundreds of businesses.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers considered a bill that would allow King County to impose a payroll tax on large businesses with employees making $150,000 or more. Officials estimated that proposal would bring in $121 million each year to go toward services including constructing and maintaining affordable housing and providing for housing, shelter and other homelessness interventions. That proposal did not advance.

RELATED:
The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained a consent judgment against Chicago resident Zvi Feiner and his company FNR Healthcare, LLC for operating a fraudulent scheme that targeted investors in the Orthodox Jewish community in the Chicago area.

The SEC's complaint, filed on September 19, 2019, alleged that Feiner, FNR, and Feiner's partner, Erez Baver, raised more than $10 million from at least 62 investors to acquire nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout the Midwest. According to the complaint, the defendants falsely told investors that the investments were low-risk and would generate high returns, and also misappropriated investor funds to pay distributions to earlier investors and for their personal use. The complaint also named Feiner's company Netzach Investments LLC and Baver's company Cedarbrook Management, Inc. as relief defendants for the purposes of recovering investor funds that those companies received from the fraud.

On June 24, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a judgment that permanently enjoins Feiner and FNR from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, Feiner, FNR, and Netzach consented to entry of the judgment ordering them to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest. Baver and Cedarbrook previously settled the SEC's charges by agreeing to permanent injunctive relief and to pay a total of $2,253,734 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. The amounts of disgorgement and prejudgment interest to be paid by all defendants and relief defendants, together with the appropriateness and amounts of any civil penalties imposed against Feiner, FNR, and Baver, will be determined by the court upon motion by the SEC.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that a court has appointed Kevin Kent, Esq. of Conrad O'Brien as Receiver over the assets of defendant Brenda Smith and entities she controls, including defendants Broad Reach Capital, LP, Broad Reach Partners, LLC, and Bristol Advisors, LLC. The SEC had moved on May 19, 2020 for the appointment of a receiver.

In its complaint, filed on August 27, 2019, the SEC alleged that Brenda Smith and her fund Broad Reach Capital, LP raised approximately $105 million from approximately 40 investors based on false representations that she would invest their money in publicly traded securities through various trading strategies that she championed as providing consistently high returns. According to the complaint, Smith and her entities made false statements to investors concerning supposed positive returns their investments were generating. In addition, the complaint states that Smith and the entities she controlled provided investors fabricated documents that inflated Broad Reach's assets. As alleged, however, Smith largely used investors' money to repay other investors and for her own personal investments. The SEC obtained an emergency asset freeze at the time it filed the complaint, and later obtained a preliminary injunction extending the freeze.

Smith was arrested on August 27, 2019, and was indicted for securities fraud and other charges on June 2, 2020 in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

The SEC's continuing investigation is being conducted by Burk Burnett, Dustin Ruta, and Scott A. Thompson in the Philadelphia Regional Office, and supervised by Regional Director Kelly L. Gibson. The SEC's litigation is being led by John V. Donnelly III and Mark R. Sylvester. The matter arose out of a referral from the Philadelphia Regional Office's National Examination Program and an examination conducted by Aidan Busch, Andy Groum, Michael Nally, and Brian Carroll, under the supervision of Eric Whitman. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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.
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Publix has confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel 30 of its grocery stores across Orange, Seminole, Lake, Osceola and Volusia counties have had workers test positive for the virus throughout the course of the pandemic.
While biking around Lake Merritt on a recent spring morning, Morgan Tyson saw something that made him stop: Two men at a pull-up bar were laughing, lifting dumbbells and blasting 1990s hip-hop from a speaker  and they had the whole place to themselves.

Tyson, 68, has never been a member of a gym, and he hadnt lifted a weight since 2018 when he finished nearly four decades in San Quentin State Prison. He asked the men if he could join their workout.

I told them that if my past is a problem, I could leave, Tyson said. But they opened their arms to me.

That workout group of just three in April has now grown to more than 30 men and women gathering daily on a vast lawn near Lake Merritt in Oakland, creating a sense of community that many felt had disappeared after months of sheltering in place due to the coronavirus and seeing news of police brutality and racial divisiveness.

As the pandemic threatens the futures of gyms nationwide, and issues of racial injustice claim a national spotlight, the Lakeshore Park group has united people across age, race, professional backgrounds and life experiences. The regulars relish new friendships formed in an era of self-isolation. Many say they intend to swear off gyms altogether.

Brandon Bailey, a 40-year-old Oakland personal trainer, started coming to the park in late March to do pull-ups with his friend, Ron Stewart. Tyson joined them and others quickly followed, bringing their own friends and equipment. The group now draws people from East Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville in search of sunshine and solidarity.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Its a beautiful thing that started organically happening, Bailey said. Its new friends, its no judgment. Its what we all need right now.

At 10 oclock on the dot on a recent morning, Tyson was the first to arrive, helping Bailey and Stewart unload free weights from their cars. As they began their workout, others walked up and greeted them, chatting through squats and push-ups.

An hour later, Tyson was cheering on 34-year-old Gabi Cole as she squatted low to the ground, two 20-pound dumbbells held close to her chest.

Cole is a furloughed corporate sales representative at the fitness company Equinox. In May, when her best friend passed away unexpectedly, she flew home to Minneapolis to grieve. Days later, George Floyd was killed by police just blocks away from her house. His death was the second memorial she attended that month.

Two weeks ago, Cole came back to Oakland, anguished and confused. Then her friend texted her about the workout group at the park.

People may not know what each other are going through, but its unspoken that were here for each other, Cole said. Here, nobody wears headphones. Nobody shuts anybody out.

Many came out to the field after losing their jobs due to the pandemic, in search of a new routine and relief from the stress of financial uncertainty. Newcomers include an unemployed pro wrestling host, an out-of-work barber, an on-call nurse and a civil engineer who starts his work day at 5 a.m. to make time for the workout.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Bailey dips fluidly between the different groups, checking in and offering feedback on form. Hes happy, he said, to see the group maintain the same camaraderie as it has brought in new people.

As the day heated up, the groups workout grew in numbers and complexity. A rowing machine emerged from the back of a car. A homemade squat rack, assembled from bolts and two-by-fours, took over the center of the field. Two women did push-ups in rhythm and an 8-year-old girl chased a pink hula hoop not far from her mother lifting weights.

Around noon, an off-duty ambulance pulled into a nearby parking lot and two EMTs emerged. They stopped to chat with Bailey and do a few pull-ups each before driving on.

Theres something here for everyone, Bailey said.

Just before 1, Oakland resident Change Mollaire, 54, put away 10-pound weights and reflected on what brought him to the group. Weeks ago, after getting laid off from his sales job at Foot Locker, Mollaire had no interest in working out.

But during a walk around the lake, he glimpsed something disarming: strangers gathered in a field, talking to each other and helping each other.

Look around: You see people here of all ages, all races, all backgrounds, Mollaire said, gesturing at the various moving bodies. Theres so much division in the world right now. Here, you find fellowship.

Brett Simpson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: brett.simpson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @brettvsimpson
Clifford Bolden, San Franciscos only Death Row inmate, had his sentence for a 1986 murder reduced to life with the possibility of parole Tuesday in a plea agreement with District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

Bolden, then 32, was convicted of robbing and fatally stabbing Henry Michael Pedersen, 46, whom he had met in a Castro neighborhood bar in September 1986. He was tried and sentenced to death in 1991, four years before the election of District Attorney Terence Hallinan, the first in a series of chief San Francisco prosecutors who have opposed the death penalty and refused to seek it in court. That practice has been continued by Kamala Harris, George Gascon and Boudin.

I hope that other prosecutors and political leaders in the country follow our lead  one that is consistent with Governor (Gavin) Newsoms moratorium on the death penalty  and end this barbaric practice, Boudin said in a statement.

Newsom has declared a moratorium on executions but has not commuted any death sentences or tried to prevent local prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. California last executed a prisoner in January 2006 and has 722 inmates on Death Row.

Bolden was resentenced to 47 years to life in prison on Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Loretta Georgi. He is now 65 and will be eligible for parole consideration at age 79.

This settlement recognizes the failures of the criminal justice system, while also acknowledging that Mr. Bolden ... is a reformed person who has not received a disciplinary write-up in over 25 years, said his current lawyers, Jonathan Aminoff and Patricia Young, deputy federal public defenders in Los Angeles. As a result of this resolution, Mr. Bolden will have a future opportunity to demonstrate to a parole board that he is not a threat to anyone and deserves to spend his remaining years outside of prison walls.

His lawyers also want the prison system to transfer Bolden out of San Quentin, which is facing an outbreak of COVID-19 that already has been blamed in the deaths of a number of Death Row inmates.

At Boldens trial, prosecution witnesses said he had met Pedersen at the Pendulum bar on 18th Street the day of the murder. Bolden had been paroled from San Quentin State Prison earlier in the year, after serving about seven years for two manslaughter convictions.

Pedersen was found dead in the bathtub of his Corbett Avenue apartment. Police said they had found Boldens fingerprints in Pedersens apartment. They also said some of Pedersens possessions had been discovered in Boldens clothing or his apartment, the basis for the robbery conviction that made it a capital case.

In a court filing supporting the plea agreement, Boudins office cited new defense evidence that Bolden had been suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the crime, but the jury had never learned about it.

The district attorneys office also released a statement from the noted death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean: Over the years, even as so many prosecutors demeaned and terminated human life by seeking death, the DAs of San Francisco have gleamed as a beacon of humanity by refusing to be a part of the culture of death. I thank God for you.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
It looks increasingly likely that few if any San Francisco students will be back full-time in classrooms this fall, but families wont know for sure until the end of July, less than three weeks before the first day of school.

Reopening to all students will be virtually impossible by Aug. 17, given staffing and facilities challenges as well as shortfalls in funding to hire the necessary custodians and nurses and in critical supplies like soap and hand sanitizer, according to administrators and community members involved in the planning process.

San Francisco health officials have yet to release the public health guidelines for reopening, which will identify the conditions required to bring students back into school buildings. Other counties, including Santa Clara and Marin, have released theirs.

San Francisco appears well behind many of its district counterparts statewide in coming up with a plan.

Administrators just started polling parents about their concerns this week, a process that wont be completed until July 24, yet the school board is expected to make a final decision on whether or how to reopen just four days after that. That uncertainty is difficult for parents, eager to know if they can return to work and whether their kids will have the structure and academic support that many felt was missing during distance learning.

Alida Fisher, a parent of three city students and a community member on the districts logistics committee, said based on current conditions, there is no way that all students will be back in class in mid-August. The logistics committee, composed of district staff and community members, was charged with providing guidance on transportation, meals, cleaning and other issues to the school board.

Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle 2018

Its an impossible task. Its a herculean task, she said. I just dont think weve got the human capital and the human capacity to do it.

For months, district officials in San Francisco and across the state have been grappling with how and when to reopen schools, decisions that depend on local COVID-19 case counts, finances and available space in schools to socially distance, among myriad factors.

The state passed a bill recently requiring schools to do at least some in-person learning if local health officials allow it and if schools can meet the necessary criteria to do so.

But increasingly, and despite spikes in positive cases across the country, health officials, politicians and parents have been urging schools to reopen to alleviate the burden on families and the economy.

President Trump also weighed in on the issue Monday, tweeting in all caps, SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!

Yet opening  or not  will be a local decision, one made by each districts leadership, with guidance from state and local health officials.

Some districts, including several in Marin County, currently expect to reopen fully to students with health measures in place, while others say they expect to start the school year with distance learning or do a combination, rotating students between virtual and in-person classrooms on alternate days or mornings and afternoons. Many districts are still in the process of formulating a plan. Oakland families should know more about the districts reopening on Friday.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

But San Francisco arguably has more hurdles to clear before reopening to students, including a $20 million budget shortfall, transportation issues, facilities issues and a lack of safety supplies.

Many city students and staff, for example, take Muni to schools, yet the transportation agency said last week that it expects to cut 40 of its 68 lines for at least the near future because of the pandemic.

If we do reopen, how do we get kids to school? asked Fisher. There are so many factors outside our control.

For example, there are 7.8 million square feet of space in district schools, but only enough custodians to clean 3.2 million square feet each day, Fisher said.

Hiring enough custodians to clean schools, not to mention enough nurses to monitor students, will be difficult to impossible without additional funding. Yet school officials dont know if help will be coming from the federal government, given coronavirus relief funds are on hold in Congress.

The logistics around this are mind-boggling, said school board President Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez said his best guess right now is that the district will partially reopen to students in August, focusing on those with the most needs, including those in special education programs, foster youth, English learners, those in public housing, and perhaps preschoolers and kindergartners.

Then, within a month or two, it will phase in more students to in-person learning, which would require configuring classrooms with desks 6 feet apart, or with about 12 students.

But the to-do list before that happens is long. Take facilities, he said.

One of the barriers we have is ventilation, he said, referring to health advisories urging access to outside air to reduce transmission. We have entire buildings where the windows dont open.

The list of factors involved in a final decision is seemingly endless, district officials said. How many teachers, for example, cant do in-person learning because of their age or health issues? Will there be enough substitutes? Can the first day of school move into September?

Were looking at all this, Superintendent Vince Matthews said in a virtual town hall meeting Tuesday.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

The district is also looking at what health and safety supplies are on its shelves. Currently, it doesnt have enough reusable masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfectant, wipes, hand soap or thermometers.

Even if the district can overcome logistical challenges, its unclear how the spiking case count could affect schools reopening in counties across California.

San Francisco health reopening guidelines coming out Wednesday will include the most recent and best science, which shows children are less likely to get or transmit the coronavirus. That means the biggest concern in reopening schools is adult transmission of the virus rather than exposure to or from students, Jeanne Lee, physician specialist at the San Francisco Department of Health, said during the town hall.

The question is whether schools can be made as safe if not safer than a trip to the store, she said.

Can we reduce the risk in schools to less than the staff see when they go out into the community? Lee asked. I think thats reasonable.

The guidelines will recommend keeping staff and students 6 feet apart, although physical distancing among younger students can be relaxed, she said. Masks are key to preventing transmission.

But the onus, Lee said, will fall on the adults, not the children.

The riskiest thing we can do at work is to eat lunch with a colleague, she said. This is how staff get exposed.

The superintendent said he hopes to have an update for the board on Tuesday in terms of what direction or scenarios are most likely, with a detailed plan on July 28.

While the district only recently sent out the parent survey and just launched working groups, officials said they have been gathering data and working on reopening for months.

Sanchez said hes been hearing from a lot of parents. They want schools open.

At least for the time being, his message to them: Prepare for the possibility of distance learning.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
When Hal Wilkes first pledged to play his bagpipes on his Castro district rooftop every night at sunset as long as San Franciscans were instructed to stay home, he didnt know what he was getting himself into.

He figured our strange shelter-in-place reality would last a month. Thirty performances? No problem.

But as our weird purgatory between staying almost entirely at home and re-entering semi-normal life drags on, Wilkes had to call it quits. Hed run out of new songs to play. And any good performer knows when its time to leave the stage  especially when youre playing the bagpipes.

On Sunday, Wilkes donned a red plaid kilt, and due to his rooftop perch and the windy evening, the appropriate undergarments. Usually, he plays in jeans and a sweater, but this was an important night. It would be Sunset Serenade No. 111  his final show.

Ive never played more consistently in my entire life, Wilkes explained. You just feel like its kind of time. You dont want it to go on and on and on. But no one said Shut up! Its been so nice.

Theres plenty to be anxious and depressed about these days, and Wilkes acknowledged hes been horrified by the spike in coronavirus cases around the country and many of our fellow Americans refusal to wear masks and avoid crowded bars, restaurants and gyms.

But kindhearted, generous San Franciscans like Wilkes have made our harrowing spring and summer a little easier to take. Hes one of several artists and musicians whove donated their time and talent to entertain and console us. Theyve reminded us that COVID-19 can snatch away so much, but it cant rob of us music, art, love or community.

Now Playing: Hal Wilkes plays his 111th and final bagpipe performance to delight his weary neighbors. Video: San Francisco Chronicle

In fact, Wilkes neighbors near 18th and Sanchez Streets are exponentially more neighborly than they were before March 17, the first night the Pied Piper of the Castro played for them, his music carrying from the valley in which his apartment building sits to the hills all around it.

Before the pandemic, his neighbors in this typically bustling city barely even said hello. Now that time has slowed and there are few places to be but home, theyve become fast friends.

Theyve held socially distanced rooftop and backyard potlucks. They share a text chain and always ask if anybody needs anything when they head to the grocery store. They wrap homemade cookies, cakes and bread in aluminum foil and toss it to each other deck to deck, Wilkes said.

Bethany Fisher moved into the building nine months ago and knew nobody before the nightly piping performances.

I didnt even know we had a roof deck! she said with a laugh.

We live on the first floor, explained her partner, Boston Nyer. We got to meet all these really great people, and that will last.

The piper even knows his neighbors farther afield now, too.

Like the 6-year-old girl with curly red hair who lives in the purple house a couple of blocks away. Her mother wrote him a note about how the little girl loves his bagpipes. On her birthday, Wilkes piped Happy Birthday, and the girls mother sent him a picture of her daughters beaming smile in response.

Other neighbors have left bottles of whiskey, his drink of choice, on his front step. Flowers. Notes of thanks.

After this column featured Wilkes in March, he received calls from journalists around the Bay Area and even in Europe. He was featured in numerous papers and news shows, and a documentary filmmaker recorded him using a drone.

People are looking for little bit of light, something positive, he said.

And so he kept playing. Hes played so many nights in a row that when he started March 17, sunset occurred at 7:19 pm., and when he stopped July 5, the sun set at 8:35 pm. He played in the damp mist. He played in the cold. He played in seemingly gale-force winds that nearly knocked him over. He played so long, a whole new city icon, the illuminated pink triangle on Twin Peaks, was added to his nightly backdrop.

One night, he admitted, he thought the pink lights looked like a mans six-pack abs.

Starving people think of food, he said with a wink.

He thought about stopping at Sunset Serenade No. 100, but he really wanted to pipe Yankee Doodle Dandy on the Fourth of July. He realized July 5 would mark show No. 111, and that was that.

His good friend and neighbor, Ruth Nott, let the whole neighborhood know Sunday would be the final show via a Nextdoor post. Neighbors responded in big numbers.

One wrote, I have heard those pipes several times at 17th and Church. This is another example of why I love this city. Imperfections and all. Another wrote, Its part of what makes S.F. the unique place we cherish. And another wrote, Thanks for your service. We needed it.

And so just before sunset on Sunday, Wilkes walked up his back wooden steps to his roof.

Its weird. A little strange, he said before he played. I like routines. I feel a little melancholy.

Usually he played just one song. But on this night, it was four, played back to back in one long melody. He played Farewell to Oban, a traditional piping song. And then Teddy ONeill, an Irish song. And then Amazing Grace to honor those whove died of the virus and their loved ones. And finally Auld Lang Syne to remember better years gone by and to hope for a happier tomorrow.

Unseen neighbors in far-flung homes cheered loudly and hollered their thanks, the noise surprisingly loud.

Thats it! Thats it! he hollered back, clearly choking up. Take care of yourself! Stay safe! Stay healthy!

He raised his whiskey glass to a few neighbors gathered on the rooftop to listen.

I want to make a toast, he said. To everyones health and wisdom. One without the other cannot work.

Wilkes, whos in his 50s, has played the pipes professionally since he was a teenager. He has played for the British royal family. For politicians and celebrities. At weddings and parties. A few performances have even included rides in helicopters and on yachts.

But his simple sunset serenades played for free to delight his sheltering neighbors will always stand out in his mind.

This will probably be the most meaningful, he said. I call it the paycheck of the heart.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
A federal judge in San Francisco has cast doubt on Bayers $1.25 billion plan to resolve future lawsuits over Monsantos Roundup herbicide with a scientific panel that would determine whether the product causes cancer.

Bayer, Monsantos parent company, announced a nearly $10 billion settlement on June 24 of up to 125,000 suits filed against Monsanto by U.S. residents. The plaintiffs alleged they had been diagnosed with cancer or other illnesses after spraying Roundup, the worlds most widely used herbicide, or a related product. The agreement followed three Bay Area trials that resulted in $190 million in damages to four herbicide users diagnosed with cancer.

That settlement does not require judicial review. But Bayer and a group of plaintiffs lawyers need court approval for a proposed $1.25 billion settlement of future suits by cancer patients who have not yet gone to court and by others who have not yet been diagnosed. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said in an order Monday that he had questions about the legality and fairness of the agreement and was tentatively inclined to reject it.

Chhabria criticized the central feature of the proposed settlement, the creation of a panel of five scientists chosen by Bayer and plaintiffs lawyers. The panel would take up to four years to determine whether Roundup or its active ingredient, glyphosate, causes cancer and, if so, at what dosage levels. The conclusions would be binding on both sides in future suits.

Chhabria said it is legally questionable whether the responsibility to determine a factual question in a lawsuit like causation of an illness can be transferred from judges and juries to a panel of scientists. He also said its unclear how potential future plaintiffs would benefit.

Thus far, judges have been allowing these cases to go to juries, and juries have been reaching verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs, awarding significant compensatory and punitive damages, Chhabria said.

A panels conclusions might soon be outdated, he said.

For example, Chhabria said, Imagine the panel decides in 2023 that Roundup is not capable of causing cancer. Then imagine that a new, reliable study is published in 2028 which strongly undermines the panels conclusion. If a Roundup user is diagnosed with (non-Hodgkins lymphoma) in 2030, is it appropriate to tell them that theyre bound by the 2023 decision of the panel because they did not opt out of a settlement in 2020?

Chhabria said he would make a final decision on the settlement after a hearing on July 24, and surmised that the company and plaintiffs lawyers already had a Plan B in waiting.

We appreciate the judges order raising his preliminary concerns with the proposed class settlement, which we take seriously and will address at the preliminary approval hearing on July 24, Bayer said.

Fletch Trammell, a Houston lawyer who says he represents 5,000 victims who have not joined the settlement, said he was relieved by the judges comments.

He clearly sees the proposed class for what it is  a self-serving attempt by Bayer, with the aid of a complicit law firm, to evade liability for its actions, Trammell said. The bottom line is that as long as Bayer remains unwilling to compensate Roundup cancer victims fairly, it should have to face them in front of judges and juries.

Trammell identified the complicit law firm as Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein of San Francisco, one of the plaintiffs firms that negotiated the $1.25 billion agreement with Bayer. A partner at the firm was not immediately available for comment.

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Chhabrias order emphasizes just how sacrosanct the jury system is, said Brett Wisner, a lawyer for Roundup users whose firm took part in the nearly $10 billion agreement to settle pending cases but was not involved in the proposed settlement of future cases.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly found Roundup to be safe for use, most recently in August, and most regulatory agencies in other countries have concurred. But the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization, said in 2015 that glyphosate was a probable cause of human cancer.

California health officials relied on that finding in 2017 when they added glyphosate to the products covered by Proposition 65, a 1986 ballot measure requiring the state to publicly list chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects.

In the first case in the nation to go to trial, a San Francisco jury awarded $289 million in damages in 2018 to Dewayne Lee Johnson, a former groundskeeper and pest-control manager for the Benicia Unified School District, who has been diagnosed with a terminal case of non-Hodgkins lymphoma after spraying a highly concentrated form of glyphosate for four years. A judge later reduced his damages to $78.5 million.

Other trials have resulted in $25.2 million in damages to Edwin Hardeman, who sprayed Roundup on his property in Sonoma County for more than 26 years, and $86.2 million to Alva and Alberta Pilliod, a Livermore couple who sprayed the herbicide on their properties for more than 30 years. Hardemans and the Pilliods cancers are in remission.

Bayer has appealed all three verdicts and says the settlement will not affect the appeals.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
An 18-year-old man was killed in a shooting Sunday night in San Franciscos Bayview, authorities said.

Officers responded just after 11 p.m. to the 100 block of Giants Drive, according to San Francisco police.

The San Francisco medical examiners office identified the victim as city resident Jerome Mallory.

Police did not release more information about the shooting, saying the investigation is pending.

Mallorys death marked the 23rd killing this year in San Francisco.

Alejandro Serrano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @serrano_alej
A Danville doctor was shot and killed over the holiday weekend while off-roading with his 15-year-old son, who escaped the gunman and was rescued after spending more than a day lost in the remote Sierra County wilderness, according to police and a fundraising account established for the family.

Two other unnamed people were also shot by the gunman earlier in the day, according to the Sierra County Sheriffs Office. The unnamed gunman was arrested Saturday after leading deputies on a chase in his all-terrain vehicle before he was taken into custody on Saddleback Road, about a mile north of Highway 49.

Ari Gershman, a 45-year-old pulmonary doctor, was driving his new four-wheel-drive Jeep with his son when he was shot by a random gunman near Downieville, according to a GoFundMe page for the family. The boy called police after escaping and spent 30 hours alone in the Tahoe National Forest before a search party found him Saturday, the fundraising account and deputies said.

At about 4 p.m. Friday, Sierra County deputies received a call that two people had been shot in a remote area of northwestern Sierra County. While responding, deputies learned that both victims were being taken out of the area by private vehicle and received initial medical treatment in Cal-Ida, an unincorporated community in Sierra County. Both victims were taken to the hospital by helicopter with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Sheriffs Office.

Shortly after the pair were sent to the hospital, the Sheriffs Office got a call from the boy that his father was shot in the same area as the first shooting and he was lost after escaping, according to investigators and the fundraising account.

Deputies found Gershman dead and launched a search for his son, the Sheriffs Office said.

The GoFundMe page has raised more than $96,000.

Gershman left behind his wife, Paige, and two sons and a daughter. He was an avid bicyclist, vegetarian and outdoorsman.

He was a devoted and loving father and fantastic friend that was willing to drop anything for his friends and family. He was witty and wise. He died doing what he loved with his son in an area he had hoped to retire in one day, according to the fundraising page.

Matthias Gafni is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni
San Francisco police, local officials and the family of slain 6-year-old Jace Young pleaded Tuesday for the Bayview community to help identify the person responsible for the killing that occurred as a crowd gathered to watch Fourth of July fireworks.

At a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening that drew hundreds of people, Jaces father, Jason Young, begged anyone with information  or who knows someone with information  to pick up the phone.

Im tired of this happening to my friends and these people that I know, said Young, who wore a Justice for Jace face mask. Im not going to stop fighting, Im not going to stop pushing, until one of these streets in West Point is changed to Jace Way.

Jaces death has shattered a community that for generations has lived in fear of gun violence and bloodshed. When speaking to reporters and community leaders, Young noted that some of the loved ones surrounding him were already suffering the losses of their own sons and daughters.

Supporters have seized on the killing as a wake-up call for San Francisco, and say that more services and funding need to be directed toward San Franciscos Black youth.

Earlier in the day, Young stood beside San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott, Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Shamann Walton, who joined the familys pleas for witnesses to come forward.

Young spoke of the two San Franciscos. One side of the city is a place where people ride cable cars and celebrate in the streets without judgment or fear, he said, while the other side of the city can be a death penalty for young Black people.

Jace, the father said, was from that different part of San Francisco.

Still, Young said, he was bound to make something of himself, and it was evident to everyone who met him.

The boy told you what was on his mind, right or wrong, Young said. He wanted nothing more in life but his chargers, some milk, and to build on his computer, from the time he woke up to the time he went to sleep.

Justice for Jace! Young yelled, thrusting his fist in the air as police, politicians and community members followed his lead. Justice for Jace!

At about 10:44 p.m. Saturday, San Francisco police were dispatched to a call of a shooting on Whitfield Court, near the 1200 block of Ingalls Street, where they found Jace suffering from a gunshot wound.

A second, 39-year-old male victim, also suffered a gunshot wound and was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police on Tuesday said investigators were continuing to review video surveillance footage of the area, interviewing witnesses and following up on tips from members of the community.

Scott said it was premature to elaborate on any of the leads, but said there were currently no suspects and no persons of interest.

The chief said detectives are sensitive to would-be witnesses concerns about coming forward, and stressed that they would never want to put someones safety in jeopardy.

But were going to keep trying, he said. Somebody saw something. We know that. There were a lot of people out there.

The murder also revived a discussion about gun violence in the citys predominantly Black neighborhoods  conversations that have been overshadowed of late by a deadly pandemic and a national reckoning on police violence in communities of color.

Mayor London Breeds voice cracked as she spoke about the pain that Jaces parents were now suffering.

I want us to remember this. I want us to remember what this feels like, she said, her voice rising in anger. Never forget how this hurts. How this tears at our hearts and our souls.

Breed said residents should be outraged not just when theres a police shooting, but any time someone dies as a result of violence.

We are here because we want justice, she said. We are here because we need yall to put down the guns.

Accountability, Breed said, starts with us.

Supervisor Walton, whose District 10 represents San Franciscos Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, echoed Breeds statements, saying hes tired of having to bury young Black people.

If one message resonates, it should be the message of: stop killing each other, Walton said. Of ending gun violence right here and right now.

Investigators do not believe the shooting was random, but neither Jace nor the other victim appears to have been the intended target.

Jaces killing came less than 24 hours before another shooting Sunday in the Bayview. The fatal shooting of 18-year-old Jerome Mallory marked San Franciscos 23rd homicide of the year. No one has been arrested in connection to that killing.

In a brief interview with the Chronicle, Breed said there was always an urgency to direct more funding to the Black community, but that the recent uprising only calls more attention to it.

The fact is, the kid that shot Jace should have never picked up a gun in the first place, she said. And thats what were trying to stop here.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Megan Cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
A Carmel Valley restaurant has been flooded with praise and gifts following a viral video in which a server ordered a man to leave after he made racist remarks and cursed at a family celebrating a birthday on the Fourth of July.

The verbal attack occurred Saturday when a family dining at Lucia Restaurant & Bar in Monterey County sang Happy Birthday and took photographs, according to an Instagram user who posted a video of the exchange online. The man told the family to go back to whatever fing Asian country youre from during the tirade.

ABC7 identifed the man as Solid8 CEO Michael Lofthouse and published a statement in which he apologized.

My behavior in the video is appalling, Lofthouse said. This was clearly a moment where I lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments. I would like to deeply apologize to the Chan family. I can only imagine the stress and pain they feel. I was taught to respect people of all races, and I will take the time to reflect on my actions and work to better understand the inequality that so many of those around me face every day.

By Tuesday morning, the video had nearly 350,000 views on Instagram, while the same video posted by several users on Twitter had collectively garnered more than a million views.

At the start of the nearly minute-long video, a woman can be heard saying, Whoa, OK, say that again, as the camera focuses on Lofthouse sitting at a nearby table.

Lofthouse stares at the camera before grinning. He then raises his hand with an extended middle finger. A voice from outside of the cameras field of view tells the man to leave.

Trumps going to f you, the man tells the family, referring to President Trump, who has repeatedly expressed anti-immigrant views and used racist language against Asians when referring to the coronavirus.

Lofthouse then starts to stand up and says, You fers need to leave.

A waitress orders Lofthouse not to talk to guests like that, but he responds: Fing Asian piece of shit. The waitress again shouts several times at Lofthouse to leave.

I already put my fing money down, he says, gesturing at the table, but the server interrupts him.

No, you do not talk to our guests like that, she says. Get out  now.

Who are these fers? he says, smiling and pointing at the family again.

They are valued guests, the woman responds.

Oh, are they? he asks.

Get out, the server yells, as Lofthouse chuckles.

Koleen Hamblin, a spokeswoman for Bernardus Lodge & Spa, which includes the restaurant, said the company has received letters and flowers from people applauding the swift reaction of the server, who was not available for an interview Tuesday. Others have offered to buy the family a stay or meal at the resort.

Its been unbelievable, the outpouring of support, Hamblin said, adding that the man in the video will be banned from the establishment.

The Instagram user who posted the video said the man also yelled F you, Asians, Go back to whatever fing Asian country youre from and You dont belong here. The Chronicle was unsuccessful Tuesday in reaching the woman who posted the video.

This is the face of the man who relentlessly harassed my family and I completely UNPROVOKED, UNWARRANTED, and UNCONSCIONABLE, she wrote in a caption.

Sean Damery, vice president and general manager of Bernardus Lodge & Spa, called the episode an extremely unfortunate situation and apologized to the family. He said he was proud of the staff in keeping with Bernardus Lodges core values.

Lofthouse was escorted off the property without further escalation, Damery said in a statement.

Alejandro Serrano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @serrano_alej
I know we always have a concern about beds and what is available in the county for our residents, said Dr. Raul Pino, health officer at the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, during a press briefing on Monday. Although we have seen an increase in the number of hospitalizations, the systems are reporting that they are not concerned about the need for surge yet as a system. It could be that a hospital has more cases than another and things have to reshuffled on readjust[ed].
While the coronavirus has forced many Bay Area restaurants to close, Mama Papa Lithuania is permanently shutting its doors for a different reason: politics.

Owner Vaidas Sukys is running for a parliament seat in Lithuania  he described it as the equivalent of congress, with the election looming in October. He said he wouldnt trust leaving the Alameda restaurant to anyone else when he moves, so Mama Papa Lithuania will close July 31.

When Sukys opened Mama Papa Lithuania, which he believed was the first Lithuanian restaurant on the West Coast, his Lithuanian friends thought he was crazy. Would Alameda residents really want to eat his moms potato dumplings and cabbage rolls? As it turned out, the answer was a resounding yes. Mama Papa Lithuania stayed popular ever since it opened, even through the pandemic.

People loved the cozy interior with its distinctive wood furniture and frilly curtains as well as the comforting dishes like meat-filled dumplings or crispy potato pancakes served with sour cream.

Sukys hopes he can be inspiration for other people looking at their cuisines as something they dont want to advertise to the rest the world because they dont have the confidence, he said.

Despite the success of Mama Papa Lithuania, Sukys said operating a restaurant in the Bay Area has gotten tougher over the years due to rising minimum wage and the labor shortage. Meanwhile, his relatives still live in Lithuania, and the upcoming election started reminding him that he doesnt consider himself a career restaurateur.

I was representing my small culture on the West Coast and now its an opportunity to do bigger things, he said. This patriotism is boiling inside of me to help this country, to go and do some changes and bring the knowledge Ive gained through all of these years.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Mama Papa Lithuania. 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-9 p.m. daily. 1241 Park St., Alameda. www.mamapapalithuania.com

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
As the coronavirus rages through Californias crowded state prisons, threatening those inside and straining community hospitals, pressure is building on Gov. Gavin Newsom to avert a wider public-health crisis by drastically cutting prison populations  including at San Quentin in Marin County, now home to one of the countrys biggest COVID-19 outbreaks.

Since last week, two federal judges who monitor Californias prison complex, Kimberly J. Mueller of Sacramento and Jon S. Tigar of Oakland, have signaled that they are losing patience with the states handling of the pandemic. Both judges said in recent court filings that they may reconvene a special three-judge panel that has the power to order releases of incarcerated people.

The moves came as the San Quentin outbreak grew more deadly, with four incarcerated people dying of likely COVID-19 complications over the July 4 holiday weekend. In total, there had been more than 1,500 confirmed infections and at least six deaths at San Quentin as of Monday afternoon.

California Correctional Health Care Services, the federal organization that monitors prison medical care in the state, announced a leadership shake-up on Monday, after CCHCS admitted to transferring infected men to the prison  a mistake first reported by The Chronicle.

During a hearing Thursday, Tigar said that releases of medically vulnerable prison residents need to happen immediately. Many people in state custody pose little danger to the public, he argued, especially the old and infirm, and keeping them locked up during a pandemic is a greater risk to public health than letting them go.

I say to the state: Please, Tigar said. Release enough inmates. Particularly medically vulnerable inmates. To give our prison health workers a chance to protect inmates, staff, and our communities. The hearing was first reported by Courthouse News Service.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a UCSF infectious disease expert and physician, also called on Newsom to quickly release large numbers of incarcerated people, particularly at San Quentin. Chin-Hong said the outbreak at San Quentin is now so dangerous that the state should consider evacuating the facility.

From a medical perspective, he said, keeping vulnerable people inside the prison is like keeping someone in a burning house without evacuating them and putting out the fire.

The goal of a large release isnt just to save incarcerated people and prison employees, Chin-Hong added. Its also to conserve limited medical resources for everyone in the Bay Area. He said the outbreak is starting to affect UCSF, even though the university is not near the epicenter.

As of Friday, according to a UCSF spokesperson, five of the 21 COVID-19 patients being cared for in the universitys hospital system were from San Quentin. While other hospitals are treating more San Quentin patients, even that small number at UCSF is worrisome, Chin-Hong said, because every hospital has limited resources for dealing with the disease  including intensive-care beds and investigational therapies like remdesivir.

We have a moral obligation to treat everyone the same, Chin-Hong said. If you have a lot more people in the community filling up your ICU beds, that means the next few people are going to be at risk for getting suboptimal care.

For the past three months, Newsom and the state corrections department have resisted large-scale releases, arguing that more incremental actions could decompress the system and get the outbreaks under control. In April, the state released 3,500 people in custody who were within two months of getting out and were not incarcerated for violent crimes, and a release of similar scope began on Wednesday.

But justice-reform groups say this wont be nearly enough to stop the outbreaks. They argue that many incarcerated for violent crimes happen to be the safest to release, because they have served decades in prison already, for crimes committed in their youth, and now they are too old and too sick to be a danger.

Judge Tigar made the same point during Thursdays hearing.

Tigar has said before that he lacks the authority to unilaterally order population reductions in California prisons, thanks to a Clinton-era law called the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which limits the power of federal judges to cap prison population. But Newsom and the state corrections department can order releases. And so can a three-judge panel that includes Tigar, Mueller and Kim McLane Wardlaw of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Early last week, Tigar toured two state prisons for men in Vacaville: Solano and the California Medical Facility. During the Thursday hearing, he called the experience gravely concerning, saying that people at CMF are living on top of each other and that he was struck by the age and frailty of many of the incarcerated men. He described an 89-year-old man with hypertension and lung disease who has received only one disciplinary write-up during 37 years of incarceration, for smoking a cigarette.

These men all have a family waiting for them, Tigar said. So do many other inmates.  And I know that a large number of such inmates can be safely released back into their communities.

Tigar also urged Newsom to tour the prisons, saying that if he did, the governor would come to the same conclusion I have about the need for older and medically vulnerable people to be released.

Jason Fagone and Megan Cassidy are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jason.fagone@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfagone, @meganrcassidy
San Quentin State Prisons coronavirus outbreak is straining hospitals in Marin County, which is already dealing with spiking community cases. But the state is making progress to provide more medical care on site, the countys health officer said.

Hospitals in Marin shoulder the burden of caring for the sickest inmates, the countys health officer, Dr. Matt Willis, said. Of 31 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in the county Monday, 12 came from San Quentin. The majority were split evenly between Marin General Hospital and Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center, with one at Novato Community Hospital. At Marin General, half of the intensive care unit was filled with coronavirus patients from the prison, just 4 miles away.

It is frankly a challenge to find beds for these individuals, Willis said. I think the hospitals recognize that everyone deserves the highest standard of care regardless of where theyre coming from. But we also have a limited number of beds and there are some unique challenges to inmate care specifically because they require corrections officers as well to be with them.

The San Quentin outbreak, the largest in Californias prisons, is filling beds at hospitals in Marin County and around the Bay Area, colliding with spiking hospitalizations from the community. Although the influx puts a strain on resources, hospitals arent in danger of reaching capacity or triggering their surge plans, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is isolating infected individuals and setting up beds to provide more medical care on site.

Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle

On Tuesday, 1,369 San Quentin inmates had tested positive, according to the department. Six have died of the disease. As of Monday, 62 had been transferred to local medical facilities.

The massive outbreak prompted the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to set up an incident command center at the prison, where Willis spent the long weekend and said he saw signs of progress. On Monday, the department began moving infected inmates into tents to isolate them. That helps solve the problem of hundreds of inmates housed in open-air cells in the same room, contradicting best public health practices to separate sick and healthy individuals.

The department also is building an alternate care site with more than 100 beds it plans to start filling Wednesday, Willis said. That hopefully will reduce the number of transfers, up to 10 a day, to local hospitals. A majority of inmates infected with COVID-19 are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms that require only a nurse to monitor their oxygen, he added.

The build-out of the alternative care site at San Quentin is really the most important solution to this problem to make sure inmates get the standard of care they deserve while protecting regional health care resources, Willis said.

Marins hospital patients rose from a weekly average of six in late June to 25 this past week. Its a relatively low number compared with other counties such as Alameda, with 146 patients this weekend, but Marin has a smaller population and fewer hospital beds. As of Monday, 11% of Marins hospital beds were filled with COVID-19 patients. By comparison, Alameda Countys ratio was half of that last week.

Willis said there is flexibility in that capacity  for example, hospitals could stop elective surgeries to free up beds. The county is not yet in danger of filling up or triggering surge plans, which include an alternate care site with up to 80 beds, he said. The site is currently empty and not staffed.

Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the burden on Marin County spilling across the Bay Area in a news conference Monday.

Weve ... had a relationship with San Quentin and Marin General, Newsom said. It certainly put some strain on Marin General in particular, thats why weve been working with St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco and Seton Medical Center in San Mateo County to absorb some of that responsibility.

Neither hospital would disclose exactly how many inmates it was treating. San Mateo County Health Chief Louise Rogers told the county Board of Supervisors last week that 12 inmates had been transferred and the number could go as high as 50. In San Francisco, where St. Francis Hospital is located, patients transferred from San Quentin, Imperial County and Fresno County numbered 16 last weekend. Alameda Health System was treating 17 inmates Monday.

Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

In Marin County, San Quentin transfers collide with cases rising in the community, especially among Latino essential workers and their families. The hospitalization rate is relatively low, but the high number of cases means that some do end up in the hospital, Willis said. After leaving San Quentin on Monday, he stopped at Latino community organization Canal Alliance in San Rafael to discuss how to partner more to contain the virus and support infected individuals.

Nurse Lynn Warner at Marin General Hospital said theres enough space since the hospital outfitted every room with the capability to convert to the correct air flow to treat COVID-19 patients. What shes concerned about is having enough personal protective equipment. She said the hospital asks nurses to reuse N95 masks, a policy change during the pandemic now ubiquitous across Bay Area medical facilities, but one she thinks doesnt provide enough protection.

I hope all their preparedness does allow for us to have enough staff ... and enough equipment available. Thats whats most important in nurses minds, to safely care for the patient so she can go back safely to her family and community, she said. We are trying to provide best patient care to anyone who needs to be seen in the hospital during this unprecedented time.

An added issue with inmate patients is protective equipment for guards. A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman said the state provides staff members with N95s when they are assigned to medical transportation and guarding. Hospitals provide any other personal protective equipment for guards inside COVID-19 patients rooms. Willis said he was confident the prison system would replenish that supply.

Marin General Hospital did not respond to a request for comment about its capacity. Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health said theyre ready for the surge.

Our Kaiser Permanente facilities, physicians and staff continue to be prepared and equipped to care for patients suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 with safety and compassion, including any patients referred to us from San Quentin, said a joint statement from Tarek Salaway, senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser Permanente Marin-Sonoma, and Dr. Naveen Kumar, physician in chief at Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center.

Sutter spokeswoman Ashley Boarman said the systems hospitals, including Novato Community Hospital, were prepared to double or triple capacity.

We are using the strength of our network to provide safe care for these prisoners with the same compassion we would any other patient, Boarman said.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench
Officials with Jackson, who attended a news conference with DeSantis in Miami, said the hospital still had plenty of beds but that it needed more nurses to relieve its overworked staff. The medical personnel, most of them nurses, are under contract with the state, DeSantis said.
The Bay Areas shelter-in-place orders and the recent increase in COVID-19 case numbers have revealed something nature lovers have known for a long time: Local open space for walking, hiking and nature contemplation is at a premium.

One place that easily could be opened soon to provide more hiking and walking space is known as Tesla Park. Its 3,100 acres of pristine land located outside of Livermore, in eastern Alameda County.

Tesla is beautiful, with panoramic views of Mount Diablo, the Central Valley and the Sierra mountains. It has abundant wildlife, including a variety of rare, threatened and protected species (the California red-legged frog, Alameda whipsnake, and Golden eagle are three examples, in addition to many rare native plants).

Tesla is so rich and biologically diverse that, for decades, it was a nature study area for University of California professors. Some of Californias earliest naturalists, including John Muir and Joseph Grinnell, recognized the conservation value of the area.

Its also already owned by the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

So why isnt it open to the public?

Unfortunately, since the late 1990s, Tesla has sat unopened behind locked gates. The state parks department is hanging tight to irrational plans to open Tesla to damaging off-road vehicle recreation, a plan that faces intense local opposition. Such use would destroy Teslas ecological value and limit its recreational value to all but a relatively limited group of off-road vehicle enthusiasts. Anyone else trying to enjoy the area would be assaulted by noise, dust, vehicle exhaust and the destruction of natural scenery.

An increase in air pollution is a significant and unavoidable impact of opening the area to off-road vehicle use. In our new normal of physical distancing, that likely will require park officials to offer access to the park only on a limited basis. Not that this will matter for those seeking a hiking respite  the last place where most people will want to recreate is in a hot spot for air pollution, with visibly scarred hills.

The COVID-19 crisis has presented an opportunity to rethink how we do things and reveals what is most important.

The state parks department can re-designate Tesla as a non-motorized park and preserve. This decision would solve two problems at once: The department could end the ongoing dispute over Teslas future, and provide more hiking and walking space close to the Bay Area population. This would increase access for a much larger number of people, and preserve a biologically rich and scenic gem for all time.

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed AB1086, a bill that would have allowed the sale of Tesla to a local agency for conservation. The parks department opposed losing any of its acreage.

But Newsom has the power to act without legislation, and with full reimbursement to the state. With the stroke of a pen, he can  and should  administratively designate Tesla as a non-motorized park and preserve within the state parks system.

The coronavirus pandemic will ease eventually. But designating Tesla Park as non-motorized open space now ensures that it will always be here when we need it.

Dick Schneider is chair of the Sierra Club Tri-Valley Regional Group, which covers eastern Alameda County. He co-authored Measure D, the Save Agriculture and Open Space Lands Initiative, passed by Alameda County voters in 2000.
SACRAMENTO  California is suing to stop a Trump administration regulation that would require states to give more of their federal coronavirus relief money to private schools.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed suit Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Betsy DeVos, alleging that her rule violated Congress intent and would unlawfully divert tens of millions of dollars away from the neediest public school students.

Ultimately, its a shakedown of low-income schools across the country, Becerra said during a news conference.

The Cares Act, which Congress passed in March, included more than $13 billion for K-12 schools to deal with the costs of the coronavirus pandemic, such as cleaning facilities, buying new technology and doing outreach to disadvantaged students. California received more than $1.6 billion through that provision.

The money was set to be distributed the same way the federal government hands out its regular Title I funding to help children from low-income families meet state academic standards, based on how many eligible students a school district serves. Some of that aid is reserved for low-income students at private schools who are struggling academically.

But last month, DeVos issued a rule requiring states to provide equitable services for private schools. If states want to use Cares Act dollars on services that broadly benefit all students, they must allocate the money based on total student population.

That would shift tens of millions of dollars away from public districts to private schools in California, Becerra said, benefiting some institutions that charge tens of thousands of dollars per year in tuition and dont need the help.

Tony Thurmond, Californias superintendent of public instruction, lambasted DeVos for breaking with the tradition of directing federal aid to the neediest students.

This new rule, he said, brings politics into a conversation when it should only be, How do we support people during the pandemic?

The federal rule does give states the option of focusing their Cares Act funding only on low-income students, but states would have to distribute the money based on how much schools received through the Title I program last year.

The lawsuit calls this a poison pill, unfairly limiting how schools can spend the federal coronavirus aid and leaving out numerous low-income students at schools that do not qualify for Title I.

This is going to hurt the children who are most in need, and its going to get in the way of critical work to ensure students have food to eat, Becerra said, referring to the expansion of free meal programs at California schools during the coronavirus pandemic.

Angela Morabito, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said the pandemic has affected all students.

There is no reasonable explanation for debating the use of federal funding to serve both public and private K-12 students when federal funding, including Cares Act funding, flows to both public and private higher education institutions, she said in a statement.

Advocates for private schools warn that many are struggling to survive as the pandemic has wiped out their enrollment and fundraising efforts.

Becerra, who filed the suit in federal court, was joined by the attorneys general for Michigan, Maine, New Mexico, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff
Top California Democratic leaders are demanding that the party stop accepting campaign contributions from law enforcement unions, The Chronicle has learned  the latest sign in how the Black Lives Matter movement is reshaping politics since the death of George Floyd.

Since 2017, the state party  the largest in the nation  has accepted $1.8 million from four police unions and other organizations representing law enforcement employees, according to a letter signed by the chairs of eight of the partys caucuses, including those representing African Americans, Latinos, and progressive and young members.

Over that same period, the letter said, 266 Black and brown lives have been ended at the hands of law enforcement in California. The party accepted just over $7,000 per death; the price for our silence.

It is no secret that law enforcement organizations engage their vast financial, lobbying and advocacy resources to limit the culpability of law enforcement officers that engage in unlawful violence against our Black siblings and friends, the letter continued. We must refuse to be a conduit for those financial contributions.

Some top Democrats say that the party needs to align its rhetoric on racial justice with its financing sources.

Equity and equality are really important for all of us, but for far too long, the Democratic Party has not demonstrated that for Black lives matter, Taisha Brown, chair of the partys African American caucus, told The Chronicle on Monday.

Were at a point in this country where we have to do what we say. We cant just say something, and then two weeks later go back to what we were doing before, Brown said.

Said another letter signer, Amar Shergill, chairman of the California Democratic Partys 800-member progressive caucus: Its been clear for many years that law enforcement organizations are obstacles to legislative changes to save Black lives.

Cutting off the flow of political contributions from police unions to politicians is a key element in the movement to defund the police, Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing, told The Chronicles Its All Political podcast.

The way to do that is to go after the campaign contributions and endorsements that they hand out and to make those politically toxic for elected officials, Vitale said.

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association contributed $929,500 to the state party over the past three years, the most of any union cited in the letter. But the unions leader did not want to get involved in the Democratic Partys internal squabble.

We are proud to support organizations and candidates across the political spectrum, but we certainly wont get involved in an internal decision like this, Glen Stailey, president of the 30,000-member California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said Monday.

The state partys executive board is scheduled to discuss the proposal at its July 24-26 meetings, which will be conducted online. The party is not currently soliciting or accepting contributions from law enforcement, officials said.

Some police reformers have been critical of police unions contributing more than half the nearly $4 million raised for the Reducing Crime and Keeping California Safe Act, which is scheduled to be on the ballot before voters in November.

The ballot initiative would roll back provisions in three measures that were aimed at reducing the states prison population, including Proposition 47, a voter-approved 2014 initiative that reclassified several felony crimes as misdemeanors.

It is a measured approach to correct the problems we had with Prop. 47, Brian Marvel, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, the states largest law enforcement labor organization, representing more than 77,000 public safety workers, told The Chronicle last month.

Prop. 47 has also helped to steer money away from incarceration. The law required that the state spend the money it saved by not imprisoning more nonviolent felons on social and educational programs  an example of defund the police initiatives that many reformers are calling for now. This year, the state will redirect nearly $103 million in this way, according to the California Department of Finance.

I find it extremely hypocritical that (police unions) are putting so much money behind efforts to repeal Prop. 47, said George Gascon, co-author of the 2014 initiative and a former San Francisco district attorney, who is now running to be Los Angeles County district attorney.

Police unions say, We want to be part of the reform, he said, but theyre spending real money on fighting that reform.

Law enforcement wouldnt be the first sector from which the state party has refused to accept contributions. It has previously banned contributions from tobacco companies and gun manufacturers, as well as for-profit prison and oil companies.

While the contributions from police unions represent a relatively small fraction of the $40 million the party spent on political activities in 2018, the symbolism of a ban is large. The racial justice movement has exploded in weeks since Floyd was killed while in police custody, with more than 2,000 U.S. cities holding demonstrations in support of police reform and racial justice.

However, it will not be easy or quick to untangle law enforcements contributions to the party. Several unions that are a key part of the Democratic Partys base in California  including those representing teachers and service workers  also represent law enforcement employees.

Brown said that state party Chairman Rusty Hicks was supportive when she and Shergill presented him with the letter last month.

We have a process to align the financing with the values outlined in our partys platform, Hicks said Monday. This issue is a part of that process.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
If youre a Black person who has worked in Bay Area restaurants for some time, youve likely experienced one or more of the following: Been passed up for promotions in favor of white colleagues with less experience. Fired with no legitimate reason given. Noticed youre one of few Black people in the room  and the only ones being bullied.

Ive gone through tons of experiences at many different jobs where I see other Black people working and being uncomfortable, going to management and either having management give lip service and do nothing or say theyll look into it and instead retaliate by taking hours away, said Malcolm Thompson, who has worked at 10 Bay Area restaurants over the past decade. For me, it always seemed like a better idea to find another job.

The discomfort they feel can lead many Black workers to rapidly bounce from place to place or leave the industry altogether. This adds to structural inequities in restaurants, where people of color tend to labor in the kitchen for low wages while white individuals occupy higher-paying front-of-house jobs (such as server positions that make lucrative tips) and management roles.

Being a person of color in the kitchen, you have to prove yourself but you have to also make sure you dont outshine your white counterparts, because next thing you know, youre out of a job for no reason, said Oakland chef Joseph Hall, who recently left restaurants for catering because of discrimination.

The Chronicle interviewed seven Black chefs and servers in the Bay Area hospitality industry, who described consistently experiencing discrimination, sometimes over decades of service. The experiences they relate fly in the face of the liberal political stances and calls for inclusivity that many Bay Area restaurants have long espoused. Now, just as the #MeToo movement inspired women to speak out against rampant sexual harassment in restaurants, the Black Lives Matter movement is motivating Black workers to demand more equity from the industry, to no longer allow improper or unjust behavior just because its common.

De facto segregation among restaurant staffs is a problem nationwide, but the Bay Area has the widest wage gap of any metropolitan area between white workers and people of color in upscale establishments, according to a 2019 report by Restaurant Opportunities Center United, a restaurant worker advocacy nonprofit. People of color are half as likely to be hired for a front-of-house job at a fine dining restaurant as white people, according to a 2015 report by the nonprofit. Among San Franciscos estimated 27,000 restaurant workers, just 3% are Black, according to census data.

Implicit bias plagues the industry, even in restaurants run by well-meaning owners, said Teofilo L. Reyes, deputy director of programs at Restaurant Opportunities Center United. Most restaurants have informal hiring practices, which leads to white workers recommending their white friends for jobs and promotions. Owners often say they struggle to find qualified applicants of color, which might be due to what Reyes called self-selection bias.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

People who have to put up with implicit bias for their whole lives dont apply for positions they think they wont be hired for, he said. It creates a vicious circle that amplifies the problem.

Maya Simone says she was qualified for the front-of-house positions she began applying for in 2017. She got lots of interviews, she said, but no calls back, and says she knows why.

I would see their faces drop when they would see I was a Black person, she said, describing the interview process. Because I was going to be the face of the restaurant, as soon as they saw me they werent hiring me.

After negative experiences at multiple Oakland restaurants, Simone found a haven in Alchemy Collective Cafe, a majority Black and queer worker-owned coffee shop in Berkeley. Shes swapped war stories with Rex Campbell, a trans person who recently went public with their time as a cook at Oaklands hit Cambodian restaurant Nyum Bai.

When Nyum Bai posted on Instagram about Black Lives Matter in June, stating the restaurant will promote equal rights for everyone, Campbell was appalled. While working at Nyum Bai for six months, they said, they were sexually assaulted by a fellow cook and, despite reporting it to owner Nite Yun, Campbell was still scheduled to work alongside their alleged assailant. That led Campbell to quit.

Hollow echoes of support for Black people are bulls if you actively harm Black folks who work for you, Campbell wrote on Nyum Bais post.

Yun deleted the comment and called Campbell, wanting to apologize in person, she told The Chronicle. But deleting it backfired. It was seen as an attempt to silence Campbell, and the post drew hundreds of angry comments and calls to boycott the restaurant. Yun has since deactivated Nyum Bais Instagram account.

Campbell told The Chronicle they found Nyum Bais work culture toxic, with racially insensitive remarks being common and their preferred personal pronouns not taken seriously. Even beyond the assault, Campbell felt discriminated against, unable to shake the feeling that Yun mentored other cooks more and didnt believe them when Campbell requested time off for health issues.

I think its so embedded in our culture to dismiss what Black people say and make them question their own intuition around their capacity. Thats the legacy of slavery itself, Campbell said.

Within days of the social media fallout, Nyum Bai employees formed a collective and presented Yun with a list of demands, including the firing of Campbells alleged assailant and training for managers on anti-racism and LGBTQ issues. The alleged assailant was laid off when shelter-in-place closed restaurants; Yun said he will not be invited back.

What Im learning right now is at Nyum Bai, we were just working with our heads cut off, not really paying attention to what is a healthy kitchen culture, Yun said. Looking back, I didnt have the capacity to do the emotional work with (Campbell), and I think thats where I failed as a leader. But my intention was never to hurt them or make them feel its an unsafe workplace.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

Yun plans to provide mandatory diversity training for staff and herself, to hire a human resources department for the first time and provide an outlet for anonymous feedback. Shes also convened an advisory board of members of the Black community and restaurant industry to hold Nyum Bai accountable.

Its too late for Campbell, who has left the industry for good. Other Black cooks say they have left restaurants for similar reasons.

Kyle Anthony McGrath spent years working as a private chef, aiming to avoid the discrimination he saw at restaurants. But when the San Francisco native moved back to the Bay Area last year, restaurant jobs seemed like the quickest employment option.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

But his recent experience at Belcampo, the local restaurant chain and farm devoted to humanely raised meat, wound up being his final straw. Earlier this year, he worked as the junior sous chef at the Oakland location, where he said other cooks hazed him, cracking jokes and calling him names that made him feel unwelcome. Each night, hed return home to Fairfield and vent to his mom, who corroborated his story.

After about three weeks, he noticed two knives missing from his personal knife kit, which hed had since culinary school. He believes they were stolen. His knife kit is unique  a silver barbecue tool box  and wouldnt be mixed up with anyone elses collection.

I assume it was to try to get a reaction out of me, he said. But why wouldnt I be angry if my knives were stolen?

McGrath reported it to the head chef, but nothing happened for two weeks, he said. So he made a formal complaint to the general manager. Two days later, he said, he was fired.

Anya Fernald, CEO of Belcampo, said McGrath was fired for multiple instances of misconduct, that Belcampo has a strong record of Black leadership and that she was unaware of any hazing.

We do not tolerate this type of behavior, she said by email. Our company policies advocate for a diverse and inclusive environment at work and offer our team members clear and actionable steps to take to report discrimination.

McGrath disputes Fernalds claims. He was written up for just one verbal altercation the day before he was fired, he said. Another employee called McGrath mayate, the Spanish equivalent of the N-word, he said, and he told the person he wouldnt call him that if they were out on the streets.

Its tough to have a passion that you cant explore because you dont fit the mold, he said. I dont get the opportunity to show what I can do and what I can bring to the table because I keep getting shut down. I keep getting classified as this big, angry Black chef with a bad attitude.

After leaving Belcampo, McGrath focused on catering and pop-ups under the moniker Properly Seasoned, serving barbecue rubbed with the Ethiopian spice mix berbere. He just secured a spot for the pop-up within Crooked City Cider in Oakland, which is scheduled to launch in August. For Black cooks tired of feeling disrespected in restaurants, these alternative venues and catering have become a lifeline  even more so with the industry ravaged by the coronavirus.

Not just employees but also Black business owners in the Bay Area food industry report they cant always escape racial bias. Oaklands Montperi Catering owner Lamont Perriman recalls running an ad for his business years ago and gaining little traction for a few months.

Was it really that people couldnt believe I was cooking the food I was listing, or was it because they didnt want to hire me because I was Black? he said.

He decided to remove his photo, he said, just to see what would happen.

His phone started to ring.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
Erasing Robert E. Lees name from a towering national park sequoia took just weeks. Removing his boss name from a remote California mountain has taken years.

The campaign to rename Jeff Davis Peak, a distinctive, butte-like crag in the Mokelumne Wilderness south of Lake Tahoe, began in 2017 following the violent Charlottesville, Va., protests.

On Tuesday, the Alpine County supervisors are expected to strip the president of the Confederacys name from the peak, according to supervisors Chairman Ron Hames. Instead, the volcanic plug would be called Sentinel Rock, based on a map from the 1880s.

The treeless ridge it sits on, Squaw Ridge, would also lose its name. Many Native Americans consider the word "squaw" an ethnic and sexual slur.

The ridge would henceforth be known as Da-ek Dow Go-et Mountain, a name proposed by the Hung-A-Lel-Ti Woodfords Washoe Tribe. According to a letter sent by council chairman Irvin Jim Jr., a tribal elder named Dinah Pete provided the name.

Da-ek Dow Go-et translates as "saddle between two points."

The story goes that settlers of nearby Summit City, a mining boom town that went bust and vanished long ago, were Rebel sympathizers who named the peak after Jefferson Davis, the slave-owning leader of the South during the Civil War. Davis never set foot in California.

Anthony Oertel, a San Rafael insurance salesman and history buff, was the first to suggest a name change for Jeff Davis Peak. He recommended "Fred Bee Peak," after Frederick Bee, a leading 19th-century Northern California businessman and pioneer who strung the first telegraph wires over the Sierra Nevada. However, the supervisors felt the other choices  Sentinel Rock and Da-ek Dow Go-et Mountain  had closer local ties.

Before the Jeff Davis Peak name change becomes official, the U.S. Board on Geographical Names, which has final say in the matter, must give its blessing. Board researcher Jennifer Runyon said the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names gave its approval contingent on consensus between the Washoe Tribe and the Alpine supervisors.

The U.S. BGN could sign off on the change at its meeting Thursday, July 9.

ALSO: Christopher Columbus statue is quietly removed from SFs Pioneer Park

The peak reminds some people of the the sandstone towers of Monument Valley. Rock climbers sometimes test their skills on its near-vertical slopes, but the crag's remote location keeps most away.

Settlers also named a nearby creek after Davis. Changing its name could also turn into a long, drawn-out process.



Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate
UC Berkeley may rename two of its halls, one currently honoring a famed anthropologist and the other a pair of brothers who fought for the Confederacy.

The Building Name Review Committee is reviewing proposals to remove the names of Joseph and John LeConte and Alfred Kroeber from campus. The renaming of LeConte Hall seems almost a foregone conclusion; the faculty of the Department of Physics already overwhelmingly voted in favor of removing the name in mid-June. The LeConte brothers grew up on a plantation with 200 enslaved individuals and, when the Civil War broke out, they used their scientific acumen to help the Confederacy manufacture gunpowder.

After the war, Joseph LeConte used his platform as a respected natural scientist to advocate for white supremacy. He argued Black people were inherently inferior and called "the sudden enfranchisement of the negro ... the greatest political crime ever committed." In his work, he fought for what he perceived as racial purity.

"I regard the light-haired blue-eyed Teutonic and the negro as the extreme types, and their mixture as producing the worst effect," he once wrote. " It seems probable then that the mixture of extreme races produces an inferior result."

The LeConte name was already removed from a Berkeley elementary school in 2018.

There will likely be far more controversy over the Kroeber Hall proposal.

Kroeber is one of California's most famous early anthropologists, his name inextricably linked with that of Ishi, an Indigenous man believed to be the last survivor of the Yahi tribe and written about in "Ishi in Two Worlds." That book was written by his wife Theodora. The Kroebers were also parents to fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin.

"Alfred Kroeber was a complex human being who sought to create and share knowledge and was influential in the overall development of his field," reads the Kroeber Hall un-naming proposal. "Challenging his legacy may not be universally popular."

The proposal says Kroeber's work with Ishi had a "troubling power dynamic." Ishi lived in the UC anthropology museum, where he was tasked with performing for and interacting with visitors. It also criticizes Kroeber's practice of taking Indigenous remains and funerary items without consent, which is now illegal in California.

"Alfred Kroeber is not an appropriate symbol for the University of California, Berkeley or any welcoming campus," the proposal argues. "Celebrating his legacy with the honorific naming of Kroeber Hall sends a harmful message to Native American students, faculty, and staff at UC Berkeley, deters prospective students, and hinders repair of a damaged relationship with Native Californians and all Indigenous people."

One Cal anthropologist has already spoken out against the proposal. Professor Nancy Scheper-Hughes wrote on the Berkeley blog she is "deeply distressed" about the proposal to rename Kroeber Hall. "Kroeber had many faults but he was neither a neo-colonialist, nor a racist, nor a fascist," she wrote.

The Building Name Review Committee says there is also a proposal in the works to potentially rename Barrows Hall, which honors former President of the University of California David Prescott Barrows. Barrows was a virulent anti-communist and a colonizer of the Philippines in the early 1900s.

The Kroeber and LeConte proposals are currently open for comments from the campus community. Comments will be open for up to five weeks, at which point the committee will determine if the changes should be made. Deciding on a new name for the buildings will be addressed after a formal un-naming is approved.

Katie Dowd is the SFGATE managing editor. Email her: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd
The Crews Fire northeast of Gilroy in rural Santa Clara County grew to more than 5,400 acres by sunset on Monday, racing across hillsides covered in tinder-dry brush and tall grass. The blaze that was only 2,000 acres Monday morning doubled in size in less than 10 hours.

Overnight, winds died down and firefighters strengthened control lines. The fire didn't grow in size from Monday night into Tuesday morning and is 20% contained, Cal Fire said.
Instead, as he sees it, the path to reelection lies with the instincts that brought him to power in the first place. With enough racist demagoguery, Trump seems to think, hell close the gap with Biden and eke out another win in the Electoral College. But it is one thing to run a backlash campaign, as Trump did four years ago, in a growing economy in which most people arent acutely worried about their lives and futures. In that environment, where material needs are mostly met, voters can afford to either look past racial animus or embrace it as a kind of luxury political good. When conditions are on the decline, however, they want actual solutions, and the politics of resentment are, by themselves, a much harder sell.
3 1 of 3 Saturday Night Live/NBC Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Tubi Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Tom Hanks went on the Today show this morning to speak out regarding Americas reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the first celebrities to contract the illness, the Bay Area native no longer has any lingering symptoms, but didnt want that to downplay his message about the seriousness of the virus.

Hanks equated the sacrifices required of modern Americans to those who lived through the World War II era: "There was a sensibility that permeated all of society, which was, do your part. Were all in this together."
Commission Chairman Leslie Campione authored the boards one-page letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis citing the generals lack of a direct connection to Lake County for the decision that the Lake County Historical Courthouse is not an appropriate location for this particular artifact. The letter also cited the role the historic courthouse played in the Groveland Four tragedy and the division and strife created in our community over the decision to place the Smith statue in this particular location.
janniswerner/Getty Images/iStockphoto

A doctor from Danville was shot to death by an unidentified gunman during a trip to Sierra County with his 15-year-old son over the weekend.

According to a fundraising page set up for the family, 45-year-old, Ari Gershman, a pulmonary doctor, was off-roading in a new four-wheel drive Jeep with his son Jack near Downieville when a gunman opened fire. The gunman killed Gershman, but his son escaped and called police. The fundraising page says the son hid for over 30 hours in the Tahoe National Forest before a search team found him.
In Arizona, Republican Sen. Martha McSally's ads warn that Joe Biden "voted to send our jobs to China" and would create "government-controlled health insurance." In Montana, an ad for Republican Sen. Steve Daines warns that Gov. Steve Bullock, his Democratic opponent in November, would "help Biden and Pelosi pass government-controlled health care" if he joined the Senate. And in Georgia and Oklahoma, ads run during last month's primaries tied Biden to antifa and attacked Carly Fiorina for endorsing him.

These commercials, which run a total of three minutes, represent something rare this year: attacks by down-ballot candidates on Democratic nominee for president. According to Ad Analytics, which tracks TV buys, no other commercials by Republican candidates for House or Senate have bothered with Biden, focusing more frequently on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Four months after Super Tuesday, four months before the general election, Biden has not become the focus of Republican or conservative attacks at the level of recent Democratic nominees. That's not for a lack of trying by President Donald Trump's campaign, which has spent tens of millions of dollars attacking Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. But the early summer period that's typically used to define a presidential challenger has left Biden largely undamaged, with Democrats down the ballot happily associating themselves with him.

"Hillary Clinton had 30 years of hard negatives against her, and Nancy Pelosi was a leader on liberal issues like Obamacare," said Matt Gorman, a Republican strategist whose stints at the National Republican Congressional Committee produced countless attacks on Pelosi. "They were in the spotlight in a way that a vice president operating in Barack Obama's shadow just wasn't. And Biden has been adept at not always taking the bait on stuff like 'defund the police' or the Green New Deal. He just doesn't come off as polarizing."

Biden's image, and the troubles that Republicans might have in muddying it, was one of the major arguments for his candidacy. That didn't always inspire Democratic primary voters. In the run-up to Iowa's caucuses, former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack urged voters to "think about the people in the middle" and pick Biden to appeal to them, even if they were more in agreement with another candidate.

That argument didn't sell in Iowa or New Hampshire, but it clicked in South Carolina and quickly got Biden the nomination. The months since then have been a study in Republican frustration, with Biden's personal favorable rating holding steady in the high 40s and no particular personal attack on Biden breaking through with focus groups.

"You can try to paint him as a radical, but it's not going to work," Vilsack's husband, former agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack and Iowa governor, said in an interview. "There may be a lot of reasons, both in terms of race and in terms of gender, that made Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton susceptible to that kind of stuff. Joe Biden is a white guy."

That's one theory for why Biden, despite two previous runs for president, has simply not churned up much voter anger. No recent Democratic nominee has entered the summer of a presidential election without a clear effort to portray them as dangerous. By this point in 2016, the conservative publisher Regnery was selling eight books about Hillary Clinton; by this point in 2012, it was selling 13 books about Barack Obama.

The publisher is offering just one book about this year's nominee, the upcoming "The Biden Deception," which asks whether Biden is a "crypto-socialist." That's it, and no other books critical of Biden, specifically, are being published right now. Dinesh D'Souza, who produced election-year books and documentaries about both Obama and Clinton, is now selling "The United States of Socialism," in which Biden appears only a few times as a "socialist lite," with more attention paid to the business dealings of Biden's son Hunter and brother Jimmy than to Biden's own record. Peter Schweizer, whose "Clinton Cash" and related 2016 articles provided ammo for the Trump campaign, dealt briefly with Biden in a book about "America's progressive elite."

David Freddoso, a conservative journalist who published "The Case Against Barack Obama" for Regnery in August 2008, watched it hit the New York Times bestseller list, then published two more takedowns of the 44th president. He doubted that there would be as much interest in a similar Biden book.

"There was a real hunger for knowledge about Obama in 2008," Freddoso said. "He was intriguing and unknown. People perceived him as something different, and as someone with a future. Biden can't pretend to be any of those things. He's also running against an incumbent who is everyone's center of attention. If your goal is to generate interest and sell books, you're probably better off this time writing about Trump."

There has been digging into Biden's record, but none of it has stirred conservative passions. The Republican National Committee briefly campaigned for the release of Biden's Senate papers, which are being held by the University of Delaware until after his career in "public life" is over. But it has not mentioned that issue since May 12, a night-and-day difference with the demands Clinton faced for her emails or that Obama faced for his birth and college records.

The conservative group Judicial Watch has sued for those papers and for Hunter Biden's business records, but neither effort has gotten much attention. In a recent seven-minute segment with Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs repeatedly pivoted to other stories, asking Fitton about the Supreme Court's electoral college ruling and the president's July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore.

"I want to take up the Biden issue, and I'm talking about the Hunter Biden issue, with 10 percent ownership in that private equity, Chinese, private equity firm," Dobbs said. "But I want to get a sense, from you, as to the president taking on, for the first time, corporate America and its role in this left-wing fascism that is being bred in this country."

Republican attacks on Biden have adjusted to the candidate's outrage-deficient image. In its own advertising, the Trump campaign portrays Biden as "weak" and "declining," arguing that he would not truly be running the country if he won the election. In a Fourth of July tweet, sometimes-Trump-adviser Newt Gingrich wrote that he was not "afraid of Joe Biden" but afraid of the Democrats his win would empower.

"Precisely because Biden is weak he would be dominated by Pelosi and Schumer," Gingrich wrote. In a column three days later, former senator from New Hampshire Judd Gregg went further, arguing without evidence that "the socialist/progressive wing of the Democratic Party" would engineer a "coup" if Biden won, installing a new left-wing president that the country had never gotten to vet.

"Within a few months of assuming the presidency, Biden may find himself being the next statue toppled as the socialist/progressive movement moves closer to power," Gregg wrote. "Replacing him with his vice president could be deemed necessary to the cause."

At the start of the year, Republicans hoped to be running against those other Democrats. Before the South Carolina primary, as Biden reeled, Republicans prepared to mourn him: a Democrat they could do business with, defeated by his party's radical left.

"I'd say he's probably the most likely one to have a chance at beating Donald Trump," former House speaker Paul Ryan told CNBC in February. "But I don't see Joe getting the nomination, I just don't see him getting there. I think it's going be one of these progressives, which I think will be much easier to beat."

Five months later, the Democratic nominee has given Republicans little to work with, and even his critics inside the party are delighted. At his June 30 news conference in Wilmington, Del., Biden distanced himself from protesters who've torn down, or called for the removal, of statues celebrating America's founders. In lieu of a gaffe, Republicans accused him of being too meek to condemn those protesters.

"Dems support the riots. The vandals. The anarchists," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted. "That's their base. And they're terrified to offend them."

That inspired a response from Ocasio-Cortez, who had endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for president, and once said that in another country, she and Biden would belong to different political parties.

"Yes, that is precisely why the party nominated . . . Joe Biden," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "Is it me, or is the GOP losing their touch with the conspiracy-theory-as-campaign-rhetoric technique?"
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First, county commissioners stripped Columbus Day from the paid-holiday calendar. Then, a construction crew hauled the 22-foot-tall bronze statue of Christopher Columbus from the city hall plaza by order of the mayor.

Now, some activists in Ohio's capital city of Columbus are confident that they can bring down another honor to the Italian explorer, one that would be harder to remove - the city's name.

"Once I started to learn, as a young adult, about what he really stood for and the history of genocide against indigenous people in the Americas, it just felt like, 'Wow, this is not a name I can feel proud of,' " said Seth Josephson, a supporter of changing the state capital's name. "I love the place of Columbus, Ohio, where I've lived my whole life . . . but I want to feel proud of the name."

Across the country, tributes to Christopher Columbus, whose 15th-century expeditions launched the era of European colonization of the Americas, are meeting undignified ends. Last month, protesters in Minneapolis pulled down a Columbus statue that had stood in front of the state capitol for nearly 90 years. Boston demonstrators beheaded their Columbus statue, which stood in a park on the city's North End, and the city removed its remains the next day.

More recently, Baltimore protesters tore down a Columbus statue on Independence Day and tossed its pieces into the Inner Harbor, matching a similar fate met by a statue in Richmond that was toppled and dragged into a city park lake last month.

And it's not just statues. A couple of GOP senators have proposed getting rid of the Columbus holiday to make Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery, a federal holiday instead.

In Columbus, Ohio, the mountainous statue in front of the city hall - a gift from his birthplace of Genoa, Italy, in 1955 - was removed early last Wednesday morning. But efforts to change the city's name have persisted for decades.

Josephson said the cause has existed since at least the late 1990s, but he believes the conversation is finally progressing, with the politically conscious city enmeshed in protests for police restructuring and racial justice.

"It's certainly not something that's new," said Josephson, 40, of the renaming campaign. "What's new is the sense that that actually could happen."

The nationwide demonstrations that followed the Memorial Day death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police have largely focused on police violence. But the movement also has triggered the removal of Confederate monuments and other tributes to historically oppressive figures.

Christopher Columbus has been a key target. His name has been adopted by numerous U.S. towns, counties and villages, including the nation's capital: the District of Columbia.

While lionized by many as the man who "discovered" America, others remember him for the genocide and the violent displacement of indigenous people that followed his arrival. That makes the explorer a natural target in the Black Lives Matter protests, Josephson said.

"Symbols - like the name of the city, the statues, the seal of the city, all those things - even though they don't materially affect people directly, they have a cumulative effect because they reinforce this narrative that says that some people's lives don't matter," Josephson said.

The statue's removal from the city hall came nearly two weeks after Mayor Andrew Ginther (D) announced that it would be placed in storage.

"For many people in our community, the statue represents patriarchy, oppression and divisiveness. That does not represent our great city, and we will no longer live in the shadow of our ugly past," Ginther said in a news release on June 18. "Now is the right time to replace this statue with artwork that demonstrates our enduring fight to end racism and celebrate the themes of diversity and inclusion."

But Ginther is not considering changing the city's name, spokeswoman Robin Davis said. Neither the city's charter nor its laws provide a process for changing the name, according to the city attorney's office, but state law says a person can petition the court for a hearing on the matter if they show three-quarters of the city's residents desire the name change.

Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce said that a name change is worthy of conversation, but he expects it would be challenging given the name has been in place for more than two centuries.

The discussion, he said, should start with recognition of the true history behind the name.

"Unfortunately, the way the story has been told over time in history, we glorify Christopher Columbus's arrival here, and quite frankly, there was really not a lot of glory to it," Boyce said.

He said the city has become "a more diverse, more inclusive place" during his lifetime, an image at odds with Christopher Columbus's legacy.

"The history of how he did those things and what he did to the people that he discovered is not something that I think the name of the city should reflect," he said.

Supporters of the name change are using online petitions and social media to spread the word about their cause. A petition to adopt the name Flavortown, in homage to native son and restaurateur Guy Fieri, gained popularity on social platforms with more than 120,000 signees. It also caught the attention of media outlets, including Fox News, where commentators questioned whether the protesters' goals were still on social and racial justice.

"It's gone from a very specific thing where we talked about use of force by police, police brutality, needing police reform to now obviously ripping down statues and talking about renaming towns," said Tom Bevan, president of RealClearPolitics. "I'm not sure this is helping achieve any of the goals."

Tyler Woodbridge, who created the petition, released a letter saying he would be taking a step back from his involvement and apologizing for taking away any attention from the Black Lives Matter movement. He also apologized to black and indigenous communities, emphasizing a name change movement should be led by those most affected by Columbus' legacy.

"As a white male, I don't have a say in this besides my rejection of Columbus and the misguided hero-worship thereof," Woodbridge wrote. "My hope was that leading the charge with an audacious and celebrity-attached name such as Flavortown would call attention to the cause and lead the way for perhaps other names as well. I hope the viral meme helped achieve this."

Columbus activist Lisa Factora-Borchers said she believes a name change and taking down monuments that celebrate oppression is a critical step, but who leads the efforts for change is important to her.

"I think renaming the city is part of many public policies that have to be looked at. And those changes need to be led by black and brown communities of Columbus," Factora-Borchers, 41, said.

She has been sharing the #renameColumbus hashtag campaign on her social platforms.

"With the political climate that we're in, I think it's only going to keep gaining momentum," she said.

But some activists fear the effort to change the city's name could overshadow the central goals of the Black Lives Matter protests, including ending police violence. Scott Woods, 49, a writer and nonprofit arts organizer, said he's not against a name change, but he doesn't consider it "remotely a priority."

"The statues weren't even on the BLM list, so a name change is energy better spent elsewhere," Woods said in a direct message on Facebook.

Some have opposed the statue removal and potential city name change. The Columbus Piave Club, an Italian American social group, posted pictures of the statue removal on its Facebook page Wednesday and demanded that the plaque it had purchased for the mantle be returned, along with the $200 the club paid to lay a wreath at the statue's feet on Columbus Day each year.

The club played an instrumental role in facilitating the Columbus statue as a gift from Genoa, Italy, in 1955. Since the statue removal, the club has been in contact with Genoa and the city wants the Columbus statue back, said club spokesman Joseph Contino.

Contino said pop culture has misrepresented the explorer for years.

"He wasn't a genocidal murderer. He was not a slave trader, by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "There's a lot of cut and paste from all sorts of Spanish or conquistador history that is kind of roped around his neck, so to speak."

The club started a petition titled "Cancel Columbus Name Change" that has garnered more than 1,000 signatures.

The native community largely supports the name change movement, but believes there are more pressing matters affecting the community. For Jett Hannan, president of the Native American and indigenous Peoples Cohort at Ohio State University, changing the city's name would be laudable. But while he appreciates sentiments that Christopher Columbus shouldn't be honored, he believes attention should be on helping Native American tribes in more tangible ways.

"Renaming a state capitol, just in my personal perspective, somewhat goes on the back burner compared to poverty and lack of education, low access to health care," said Hannan, a member of the Secwepemc Nation of British Columbia, Canada. "These are things that are really impacting our community right now, especially because of covid-19."
Homicide detectives are working to determine the identity of the remains, how long the head was there and where the rest of the body is located. The Tampa Bay Times reported the head was severely decomposed, and the jogger told police she did not see the remains when she last ran through the area on Sunday.
Cybersecurity and privacy advocates are rallying to defend strong encryption, which is facing its harshest assault in decades from the Trump administration and Congress.

A coalition of dozens of top cybersecurity and Internet freedom groups, academics and experts sent a blistering letter this morning to the sponsors of an anti-encryption Senate bill they say would make hundreds of millions of Americans more vulnerable to hacking.

The bill, called the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, is the harshest among a number of efforts to weaken encryption across the Justice Department and Congress.

It would effectively require tech companies to weaken access to their secure systems to ensure law enforcement with a warrant can track terrorists, sexual predators and other criminals. But that would also make it far easier for cybercriminals and adversary nations to hack into troves of government, financial and health records, the authors write. They include the Internet Society, the Wikimedia Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology as well as experts at the American Civil Liberties Union, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The bill "states that strong encryption is dangerous and it facilitates 'criminal activity,' without acknowledging that end-to-end encryption protects all people and is vital to many sectors of the economy, from banking to healthcare," the letter states. End-to-end is the strongest form of encryption in which communications are completely garbled as they travel between the sender and recipient and can't be deciphered even by the company that owns the platform.

The bill's sponsors are Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark.

The calls reflect a dramatic shift during the past six years as lawmakers and officials have grown increasingly skeptical that strong encryption is as important as experts say. Cybersecurity experts, meanwhile, have grown more concerned they may lose a fight they view as vital to the future of the Internet.

The letter also points to the dramatic shift to telework during the pandemic.

That has opened up a bevy of new opportunities for hackers and made strong encryption even more vital, they say.

Weakening encryption "would put the safety and security of Internet users in danger at a moment when a devastating pandemic has made secure technologies more critical than ever to the everyday lives of Americans," they write.

Those methods include using legally authorized hacking to exploit errors in how criminals use encryption. In rare cases, investigators have also used previously unknown bugs to break into encrypted devices and services.

"Interviews with hundreds of federal, state, and local law enforcement officials have shown that the largest barrier to law enforcement when dealing with modern communications systems is not encryption," the authors write. "Rather, it is an inability to leverage the data they currently have or could have access to."

That argument got a major boost this week when European law enforcement revealed an investigation that led to hundreds of arrests by cracking an encrypted service called Encrochat used by drug traffickers and other criminals. By hacking into the networks, police said they were able to read millions of messages in "real time, over the shoulder of the unsuspecting senders."

In two high-profile cases where Apple refused to help the FBI crack into encrypted iPhones, investigators ultimately gained access by working with secretive hacking tool brokers.

Those phones belonged to Syed Farook, who killed 14 people and injured others during a workplace shooting San Bernardino, Calif., in 2015 and Ahmed Mohammed al-Shamrani, who killed three people and injured eight others in a shooting at a Pensacola, Fla., military base in 2019.

In the San Bernardino case, then-FBI Director James Comey suggested the price tag for the access was more than $1 million.

Facebook also paid more than $100,000 for a hacking tool that revealed the messages of notorious sexual predator Buster Hernandez as part of an effort to help the FBI build a case against him, Vice reported recently.

Facebook has been a major target in Justice's push against encryption because of plans to expand end-to-end encryption across its messaging platforms - a move that Attorney General William P. Barr says will lead to a major expansion in sharing child pornography.

That bill, called the EARN IT Act, threatens to remove tech companies' liability protections for what users share on their platform unless they get far better at stemming the spread of child pornography.

The companies feared that would force them to stop using end-to-end encryption, but a last-minute amendment from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., went a long way toward addressing those concerns. It basically bars civil and criminal cases against companies for violating the bill's rules merely because they use encryption.

Encryption advocates still have heartburn about the bill, though.

They worry it will open the door for lengthy litigation in which firms must prove that it's just encryption that's preventing them from combating the spread of child sexual abuse material and not something else, the Center for Democracy and Technology's Greg Nojeim notes.

The amendment also fails to exempt other cybersecurity protections beyond encryption that make data more secure but might also inhibit law enforcement investigations, Riana Pfefferkorn, associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at Stanford's Center for Internet and Society, writes.
In Central Florida, however, the Lake and Osceola county school districts have announced plans that would give parents a five-day-a-week option, and Seminole County is working on such a proposal, too. Those districts are letting parents choose if they want their children back on campus or if theyd prefer for them to study online when the 2020-21 school year begins.
WASHINGTON - University officials scrambled Monday to adapt to new federal guidance that does not allow international students to stay in the country if they are taking classes online only. It also left some students expressing fears on social media that they risked being deported.

"Our institutions right now are struggling to figure out what the fall is going to look like, how best to serve their students, while keeping everybody safe," said Sarah Spreitzer, director of government relations for the American Council on Education. "This is just going to make things more complicated. "

When universities rapidly shut down this spring in response to the coronavirus pandemic - many in response to governors' orders - federal agencies granted flexibility to existing requirements that international students must take classes in person. The major associations of universities had asked federal officials to extend that flexibility into the fall, as the continued spread of the disease has led many schools to offer classes online only in an effort to prevent further spread of the disease.

On Monday, the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program announced, "The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States."

"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," the announcement said. "If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings. "

A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond Monday to messages seeking comment.

An outpouring of questions and concerns followed the announcement, with one expert describing blindsided university officials holding emergency conference calls, contacting her on social media and even her son's email address as they frantically sought answers.

They are trying to figure out the impact it might have "in real time," said Lizbet Boroughs, associate vice president of federal affairs at the Association of American Universities, which represents 63 leading research universities in the United States, "because many of our universities are starting in four to five weeks." Many campuses moved up the start of the fall semester in response to the pandemic.

University leaders have many questions, including what this might mean for graduate students, several people said. Boroughs also noted tweets from students alarmed about the decision.

"If their labs close and they're not able to work full-time on dissertation research . . . do they have to leave the country?" Boroughs asked. "We know there are many PhD candidates who are involved in critical research to respond to this covid pandemic. "

Monday's announcement requires universities to certify by July 15 whether they will be fully open, operate on a hybrid model or offer online-only classes.

"What is just, to me, absolutely staggering is we have been asking for this guidance since April," Boroughs said. Now universities have "nine days to respond. There's just tremendous concern about trying to protect current students who are members of their communities, and their educational investment."

Spreitzer said it appeared that schools that jumped to online-only courses in the fall because of a surge in infections would put their international students in jeopardy. She wondered whether the announcement would lead schools to alter their plans.

The University of Southern California dramatically revised its fall semester plans last week amid an "alarming spike" in cases in the region and intensified restrictions from the governor, recommending undergraduates take all classes online and reconsider living on or near campus. A university spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Boroughs said she wondered about the impact on international students enrolled in the California State University System, which had announced that classes would be held online this fall for safety reasons. Would they have to leave the country, she asked, and if so, how would they do so with few international flights and with closed borders. Toni Molle, a spokeswoman, said the California State University System is reviewing the policy.

A spokeswoman for the Institute of International Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, called the guidelines horrifying, saying they raised more questions than they answered and did more harm than good. "Iron-clad federal rules are not the answer at this time of great uncertainty," he said in a statement.

"The guidance is unworkable and deeply harmful," said Craig Lindwarm, vice president of governmental affairs for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. He was concerned not just for the short-term impact of the announcement but for the message it would send long-term about the contributions international students make to the United States.

"There is a global competition for the best and brightest students, and the United States continues to lose ground in this competition." One reason for that, he said, is the policy and messaging of the federal government. "That needs to be addressed."
Much will need to be determined in the coming days, such as whose gun got into the hand of a child or the children and whether there would be any charge filed against the guns owner. For now, police cannot say much.
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.

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The Washington Post's Carol Morello contributed to this report.
As the nation faces a pandemic, financial catastrophe and massive social justice demonstrations, it is also confronting a spike in violence in some of its major cities.

Tragedies struck in urban centers thousands of miles apart, with 65 people shot over the weekend in New York and 87 in Chicago and homicides climbing from Miami to Milwaukee. Although the summer months in the United States often augur more violence, the recent toll has been particularly devastating in communities where the victims included young children.

"You shot and killed a baby," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, said at a news conference after Secoriea Turner, an 8-year-old, was killed during the holiday weekend. The young girl was fatally shot while riding in a car with her mother on Saturday night, at a time when revelers and demonstrators across the country were marking the Fourth of July with celebration and protest.

That same night, 11-year-old Davon McNeal was at an anti-violence cookout in Washington when bullets struck him. In Chicago, 7-year-old Natalia Wallace was outside her family's house during a holiday gathering as the shooting began. Both children were killed.

The burst of bloodshed came at a particularly fraught time in the nation's relationship with its police forces, amid waves of demonstrations decrying police tactics, brutality and racism after the death of George Floyd while in custody in Minneapolis in late May. In the upheaval since, police have been facing calls for their departments to be defunded and their operations to be stripped down, putting them on the defensive as they have been at the center of a political and social tempest.

In New York, where police officials have bristled in the face of criticism, Chief Terence Monahan described the Fourth of July holiday as "one of the most violent weekends we've had in recent history" and called June record-setting.

"This is a tough summer," Monahan said at a briefing about crime statistics Monday. "It's quite obvious a lot of people are walking around with guns."

Some law enforcement officials and their political allies have sought to link the recent violence with anti-brutality protests. On Monday, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said on Fox News that the demonstrations have "now led to a lot of violence continuing to happen across this country. It's sad to me that we're not hearing Democrats talk about the seven children that were killed this past weekend, most of them African American. We're not hearing about things that are happening across this country as the violence continues to spread out of control."

The confluence of pandemic, social justice protests and violence was perhaps nowhere more stark than in Atlanta, where a wave of activism resurged after a police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks on June 12 next to a Wendy's restaurant on University Avenue. The location had become the center of protests and block parties, with police keeping a hands-off approach as it became a gathering spot.

On Monday morning, officers were cleaning off the memorials and tents that had been erected there, reflecting the changed environment since an 8-year-old girl was struck and killed by gunfire across the street on Saturday night.

In total, Atlanta saw more than 20 injuries and five killings over the July Fourth holiday weekend, while the Georgia Department of Public Safety headquarters was vandalized. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, on Monday declared a state of emergency and ordered up to 1,000 Georgia National Guard troops to defend state buildings.

Gerald Griggs, vice president of the Atlanta NAACP and an attorney, blamed police for much of the recent crime, suggesting they have not been doing enough.

"A lot of the onus for the violence falls right at the feet of law enforcement," he said. "There are certain elements in our community that don't take a break when the police take a break. You're sworn to protect and defend, but when there are a few rogue [police] being held accountable you decide to shirk your responsibility? That speaks volumes about why people were protesting to begin with."

Although experts caution about putting too much stock in a small sampling of crime data - with the pandemic providing an unprecedented variable - so far the crime statistics show a worrying toll in some of the country's most densely populated regions.

Halfway through the year, some city police departments have found an increase in homicides during the same period of 2019, while reports of other crimes fluctuated across cities.

Atlanta's police said there have been 50 homicides there through late June, up from 46 the previous year. Rapes, robberies, burglaries and larcenies all declined by double-digit percentages, police said, while aggravated assaults increased slightly.

Other cities have similarly seen reports of some violent crimes increase as others fell. In Philadelphia, police reported 210 homicides through Sunday night, up from 165 over that date a year earlier. They also said instances of shootings and the number of shooting victims went up while reports of rapes and robberies declined.

The Miami-Dade Police Department reported an increase in homicides through late June - up to 46 from 36 at that point last year - along with more aggravated assaults and fewer reports of sex offenses, robberies and burglaries. In Los Angeles, police data through mid-June showed that homicides rose slightly to 119 from 113, while reports of rape and robbery both fell.

In Chicago, a city where gun violence surged in 2016 and has declined in the years since, homicides and shooting victims both went up in the first half of 2020 over last year. By the start of July, the city had at least 329 homicides and more than 1,600 shooting victims.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, children were the most prominent victims of gun violence, as had been the case during the two prior weekends. They ranged in age from as young as 20 months to 14 years old. None were intended targets, but all were in what wound up being the wrong place at the wrong time, said David Brown, Chicago's police superintendent.

"We cannot allow this to be normalized in this city," Brown said Monday. "We cannot get used to hearing about children being gunned down in Chicago every weekend."

There were 87 shooting victims over the holiday weekend, and 17 people were slain, Brown said. Two of those killed were children, both on Saturday, as the nation celebrated its independence.

Brown blamed a host of ills for the resurgent violence, saying that sentences are not long enough for gun crimes and that courts have been letting people back onto the streets too soon after they commit crimes.

"We must keep violent offenders in jail longer," said Brown, who took over the police department earlier this year.

The Rev. Ira Acree, of Greater St. John Bible Church on the West Side, said "people are just overwhelmed right now." Acree gave the eulogy Friday for 13-year-old Amaria Jones, who was fatally shot on Father's Day weekend.

Aysha Butler, a community organizer on the South Side, said she believes the way to curb the violence is to confront systemic racism.

"In every single system we have an attack on poor communities," she said. "You push these people so down underneath this world that when they react, it is vengeance and no one is safe."

Children were killed in several cities over the weekend. In the District of Columbia, 11-year-old Davon McNeal was joining his mother - who works as a "violence interrupter" for the city - at a cookout meant to build community trust when men began shooting in a nearby street.

In Hoover, Ala., police said an argument Friday at a shopping mall between a 22-year-old from Birmingham and a "group of males" turned deadly when the two sides pulled out guns and fired at each other. No one involved in the argument was hurt, authorities said. But their bullets killed an 8-year-old boy and injured three other people, police said.

"Every homicide is a tragedy," said Richard Berk, a professor of statistics and criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. "It particularly is a tragedy when you see these kids get shot."

Berk said the rise in violence raises questions about how policing practices might be able to change amid the protests, saying it could be necessary for some give-and-take between what protesters and police both want to see as the result.

"This focus on increases or decreases, it misses the fundamental point," Berk said. "Whatever the change is, there's just too many damn people getting killed."

At a crime statistics briefing at New York police headquarters Monday, Monahan said his officers are afraid to carry out arrests now because of a new law passed amid the recent protests making it a misdemeanor for them to apply pressure to someone's back or chest while taking someone into custody.

Monahan also laid out grim figures of recent violence: 11 homicides over the Fourth of July weekend. Last month, there was a 130% increase in shootings citywide - with 205 - compared with June 2019, during which there were 89, according to department statistics. Monahan said all of the homicide victims in June and so far in July were part of minority communities.

In Minneapolis, where officials say they have faced an unprecedented surge of violence since Floyd's death on May 25, a 7-year-old boy was shot outside a neighborhood market during a drive-by-shooting in Minneapolis, blocks from where a youth football team narrowly escaped injury during a shootout on June 22 in the city park where they were practicing.

On Sunday night, a woman who was five months pregnant was shot while inside her car a block from the Minneapolis memorial marking the spot where Floyd died.

Relatives and friends identified her as Laneesha Columbus, 27, a mother of two. She was rushed to the Hennepin County Medical Center, where doctors delivered her daughter, who was placed in a neonatal intensive care unit. Columbus was later pronounced dead, according to police. The baby remained in intensive care Monday.

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Jacobs and Ben Guarino reported from New York, and Mark Guarino reported from Chicago. The Washington Post's Holly Bailey in Minneapolis and Haisten Willis in Atlanta contributed to this report.
The residents of the home in Tampa were shocked to see the 8-foot-9 gator sprawled out in front of their front door on June 30 and were unable to get the animal to move despite their efforts, reads a Facebook post by Croc Encounters, an organization that rescues reptiles.
These 57 people should not be confused with the large number of peaceful protesters in our community, Warren said. The defendants weve charged took advantage of the pain in our community and tried to turn it into a quick buck or set out to cause chaos. None of us will stand for that.
Without visitors, he said, he has been cut off from help, and donations, and hes concerned that even though the path to his sanctuary will soon be temporarily open to vehicles again, the people wont come back, and he may have to close. He is also worried about hurricane season.
Peter Tsai retired two years ago, but the materials scientist says he's never been busier.

When the novel coronavirus began gripping the globe in March, Tsai was summoned from his short-lived retirement. He was in urgent demand because he is the inventor who, in 1995, patented the filtration material used in disposable N95 respirators.

The coveted masks are in short supply and are desperately needed by health-care workers and others who require protection from the highly contagious coronavirus.

Tsai started receiving a ceaseless torrent of calls and queries from national labs, companies and health-care workers in need of help.

"Everyone was asking me about the respirators," said Tsai, 68, who is originally from Taiwan and now lives in Knoxville, Tenn.

Mainly, people wanted to know how to scale up production in the wake of a mass shortage and how to sterilize the masks for reuse.

N95 masks have become a critical commodity as the pandemic has fueled a global scarcity of the virus-blocking equipment. Unlike other forms of personal protective equipment, including homemade masks and cloth covers, N95 masks actually filter out contaminants, making them the most protective masks on the market.

Tsai immediately hit the drawing board. He set up a makeshift laboratory in his home, where he lives with his wife and daughter, and experimented with different methods to decontaminate the masks.

"I started working almost 20 hours a day," he said, adding that he's doing it mostly on a volunteer basis. "But I didn't mind."

He tried everything he could think of to cheaply sterilize the masks without losing filtration efficacy: He boiled them, steamed them, baked them in the oven and even left them out in the sunlight for extended periods of time. Then he ran tests.

After trying multiple approaches in his home, he published an emergency medical report, which proposed a variety of methods for cleaning and reusing N95 masks without compromising the electrostatic charge required for the filtration system to function.

His central finding was that N95 masks can be heated at 158 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 minutes using a dry heat method without diminishing the filtration technology, and his hypothesis was validated by the National Institutes of Health.

After the first report was published in April, he continued to experiment, eagerly sharing his findings with the scientific community and anyone who asked.

He's spread the word about the optimal material to use for homemade masks. His suggestion: nonwoven fabrics, such as car towels.

Among the many companies and research groups that reached out to Tsai was N95DECON - a collaborative group of volunteer scientists, engineers and clinicians from across the country focused on mask decontamination and reuse.

Oak Ridge National Lab, a Tennessee-based laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Energy Department, got in touch, too. The team at Oak Ridge was searching for ways to scale production of N95 masks.

"Dr. Tsai was immediately willing to collaborate with us on our lab-wide covid-19 effort," said Merlin Theodore, the director of the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at the lab. Soon after the team contacted Tsai, "he showed up at the lab ready to get to work," she said.

The goal was to convert the lab's carbon-fiber-processing facility into a filtration-cloth facility to produce the filter technology needed for N95 masks. The conversion process was complex, but with Tsai's help, "we quickly got the system up and running," said Lonnie Love, a scientist at Oak Ridge.

"He came in and described exactly what was needed to build his charging system and scale it," he said. "Tsai has been really critical for us to solve this problem fast."

Theodore agreed. "Dr. Tsai shaved off several months to a year of time for us," she said, confirming that Oak Ridge Lab reached its target in only a few weeks.

The facility is now able to produce material for 9,000 masks an hour, and Oak Ridge is working closely with industry partners to teach them how to make Tsai's filtration material for widespread distribution.

"What we're doing is creating the recipe to make the product, then sharing the recipe but not the product," Love said.

While Oak Ridge does provide the filter material to other labs to study, it does not sell the product directly for widespread distribution. Rather, the team teaches industry partners how to scale production.

For instance, Cummins Filtration, a corporation that manufactures engines and filtration products, started exploring how to use its fuel-filtration technology to support health-care facilities. The company wanted to pivot from manufacturing air, fuel and lubrication filtration products mostly for car parts to supply the filter media used in respirators instead.

With Tsai's method, Oak Ridge Lab provided Cummins with guidance on how to produce the filters. Now, Cummins is producing enough filtration media to make about 1 million respirator masks a day.

"Dr. Peter Tsai is indeed a very esteemed researcher in the field of nonwovens," said Chis Holm, the director of filter media technology and intellectual property at Cummins Filtration. Tsai's guidance, he said, has been essential to the corporation's coronavirus efforts.

"If I can have this opportunity to help the community, then it will be a good memory for the rest of my life," Tsai said. "I'm happy to do it."

Tsai came to the United States in 1981 to pursue his doctoral degree in a variety of subjects at Kansas State University, where he completed more than 500 credits, despite needing 90 to graduate. His thirsty intellect drove him to take courses in subjects ranging from chemical engineering to physics and math.

His breakthrough on the mask came when he was leading a research team at the University of Tennessee in 1992. The team's goal was to develop an electrostatic charging technology - coincidentally called corona charging - to filter out unwanted particles. His invention eventually became the foundation of the N95 respiratory mask.

Over the course of his career in textile manufacturing, engineering and teaching at the University of Tennessee, Tsai has earned 12 U.S. patents in filtration technology, including his latest hydrostatic charging method, which makes respiratory masks twice as efficient as his initial invention.

Tsai's colleagues say he's a pleasure to work with.

"I'm taking this opportunity to soak up all the knowledge I can get," Oak Ridge's Theodore said. "And he's not hesitant to share it, which is what I adore most about him."

According to Theodore, Tsai never fails to answer her calls, no matter the hour. "We have conversations late at night and practically any time, she said. "He always makes himself available."

Theodore said Tsai repeatedly rejected payment for his work, but Oak Ridge policy requires compensation.

"That's what struck me the most about him," Theodore said. "He didn't care about the money. He just wanted to help as many people as he could."

"He's very humble and unassuming despite being a pioneer in this area of filtration," Love said. "Just when he's ready to relax, all hell breaks loose, and he's become critical."

Tsai, however, said that it's the health-care workers who are "the real heroes" and that he's just doing his job.

Although Tsai technically retired in 2018, "he never stopped working and thinking of ways to improve his technology," said Maha Krishnamurthy, the vice president of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation.

"He couldn't actually quit," she said. "It's a quality of all great researchers - you can never shut your brain off."
The vast Arctic Siberia region, already warming faster than the rest of the world, experienced record heat and fires for the second straight year in June, adding to concerns of climate scientists.

Average land temperatures last month were the highest ever recorded, more than 5 degrees Celsius above normal and slightly above the June 2019 mark, according to the monthly report by Europe's Copernicus Earth observation agency. Nowhere else in the world have temperatures in June and in the last 12 months varied the most compared to the historical average.

"What is worrisome is that the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world," said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. "The exceptionally high temperatures in Arctic Siberia that have occurred now in June 2020 are equally a cause for concern."

The warming climate means that lakes in the Arctic are covered by ice over shorter periods of time. That is leading to an increase of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas that traps 32 times more heat than carbon dioxide, according to a separate paper by researchers at Purdue University in Indiana made public on Monday.

Methane, trapped in the organic matter sitting in the bottom of Arctic lakes, bubbles into the atmosphere when lakes become ice-free. The amount of methane released by Arctic lakes could rise to as much as 60% of all methane released due to melting in the Arctic region by the end of the century, the researchers found.

Temperatures varied widely within the region, according to Copernicus. A heatwave in western Siberia eased in June, but unusually high temperatures were recorded in Russia's east. A meteorological station in the town of Verkhoyansk, in eastern Siberia, registered a new record for the region - 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) on June 20.

Buontempo said in an emailed statement that many factors contribute to the high temperatures. Changing wind patterns have contributed to mild winter and spring temperatures over western Siberia, and to high temperatures over Arctic Siberia, the agency said. Satellite data indicates that snow cover and soil moisture reached record lows for June in the Siberian Arctic, both likely playing a role as well.

Scientists also believe that the drier soil has contributed to increased fire activity, which last month surpassed the previous record, set in June 2019. They have been concentrated in the far northeast of Siberia. Fires there, as well as in Alaska and the Yukon Territories in the U.S. and Canada respectively, have been increasing since the second week of June and have resulted in the highest estimated carbon emissions on record for that month.

"Higher temperatures and drier surface conditions are providing ideal conditions for these fires to burn and to persist for so long over such a large area," said Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. If this year's fires continue to progress like last year "we could see intense activity for the next few weeks."
Morales centerpiece issue is cannabis. He wants to make it easier for people to get for medical treatment, something he came to know about after an accident in New Jersey left him with the choice of treating pain with opioids or marijuana, according to a profile in Florida Politics. He chose marijuana and is now advocate for its use in medical treatment and for recreational use, something Sabatini has supported as well.
President Donald Trump has made his position clear: "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!" he tweeted Monday. As covid-19 surges in parts of the U.S., many teachers aren't convinced.

The pandemic's ever-shifting nature has robbed school districts of the ability to plan with certainty -- not only for instruction, but to provide protective equipment and intensive cleaning. Even if a sustained decline in infections allows them to open their doors, many are preparing a mix of in-person and remote education that is certain to fall short of the president's expectations.

"The reality is that they have to map out several scenarios for the fall with the real possibility that they don't know what the scenario will be on the first day of school," said Bethany Gross, associate director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington at Bothell, which has been tracking districts' responses to the coronavirus shutdown.

Trump was to host a gathering of health and education leaders, students and parents, at an event called a "National Dialogue on Safely Reopening America's Schools" Tuesday in Washington.

The event comes as many students approach five months without setting foot in a classroom. Proponents of returning say distance learning is hobbling children's development and the economy, with parents trying to juggle work and their offspring. Many teachers say they're well aware of the benefits of face-to-face instruction, but worry about endangering students and peers.

"The Trump Administration is committed to working in partnership with university presidents, superintendents, principals, counselors, teachers, health professionals, parents, and students to ensure in-person learning resumes in a safe and healthy way," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

Trump's demand that schools open this fall was a reminder of how politicized the issue has become. "It's not surprising," said Douglas Harris, chair of the Department of Economics at Tulane University in New Orleans and a public-education expert. "The economy can't really open back up again until kids go back to school."

Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, the nation's biggest teachers union, said schools need a massive allocation of federal stimulus funds to purchase protective equipment and hire cleaners. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday predicted Congress this month will pass one final rescue package.

Teachers agree that remote instruction isn't optimal, said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. The real debate, she said, is around how to return to school safely -- and the need for money to do it right.

"Either you have to be a moron about not understanding how government or schools work, or you have to be really callous and craven that you'd wait till the end, till it's almost too late," Weingarten said.

To maintain social distancing, schools will have to use lunchrooms, gyms, libraries and trailers as classrooms. Some are considering rotating classes in mornings and afternoons or three days a week. Others may keep older pupils online, while using high-school classrooms for younger children who don't learn well via Zoom, Garcia said.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Monday reiterated that no decision has been made on whether students across the state will be able to return for in-person learning in the fall.

"We obviously very much would like to," Cuomo said, adding that New York City and 700 school districts are in the process of developing reopening plans that must be submitted to the state.

In Texas, where covid-19 cases have surged since the state embarked on one of the country's most aggressive reopening plans, most teachers surveyed by the Houston Federation of Teachers have said they would prefer to not return to in-person learning until it is "safe," according to Andy Dewey, the group's executive vice president.

"The definition of safe is where we have disagreement," he said by phone Monday. "The problem is this: The district hasn't given us any guidance on it because the district says the state hasn't given any guidance on it."

The latest survey conducted by the El Paso branch of the AFT showed that just 7% of 790 respondents were in favor of full face-to-face learning at the start of the school year. About 20% said they supported a "hybrid" return, while roughly 72% said they favored remote learning. The city and surrounding area's two main school districts both plan to start the first few weeks of the year virtually.

Teachers for the Houston Independent School District have until the end of this week to decide whether they want to resign to avoid potentially being required to return to classrooms. After that, they risk having their teaching certificates suspended for a year if they defy an in-person start to the school year, with a permanent notation that could make it harder for them to get hired in other districts, Dewey said.

Leslie LaFollette, a third-grade teacher at Kiker Elementary in Austin, said she's prepared to move to Massachusetts, where her wife has family, if educators aren't allowed to stick to online learning.

"It's drastic, but I'm willing to do that if we lose the option," said LaFollette, 46. "I miss my kids, I want to be with them. But not to the detriment of their health and my health."

In Seattle, site of the first major U.S. outbreak, officials are pursuing a hybrid reopening. Parents have been asked to fill out a questionnaire with their preferences so the district can plan. In August, families must finalize their pick.

"We're focusing on making that as equitable and safe as possible," said Julie Popper, spokeswoman for the Seattle Educational Association, which represents some 6,000 members, including teachers and staff.

Before opening, the union wants to make sure Seattle is spending enough on staff and protective equipment to meet state health and safety rules, as well as adding custodial workers to disinfect, and having nurses and mental-health professionals in every school daily, Popper said.

In North Carolina, Angie Mangin is optimistic about getting her two incoming eighth-graders back to school, especially her daughter, after having them home-learning since March.

"My son wasn't too affected by the change, but my daughter needs that interaction with her peers," said Mangin, 54, who works in the insurance and risk department of Circle K convenience stores.

Tulane's Harris, who studies the economics of education and education policy, said there's simply no guarantee everyone is going back. "It's hard to imagine that schools will reopen fully in person on a large scale," he said.

Trump, who avoids wearing a mask in public and has convened rallies without social-distancing requirements, has urged local governments to reopen. Stacy Davis Gates, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union and executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said she didn't trust him to lead on education policy.

"President Trump has been virtually missing in action with respect to keeping Americans safe countrywide," Gates said. "It gives me a great amount of anxiety to know that he is going to set the standard for my children and America's children."
President Donald Trump's relentless attacks on the security of mail voting are driving suspicion among GOP voters toward absentee ballots - a dynamic alarming Republican strategists, who say it could undercut their own candidates, including Trump himself.

In several primaries this spring, Democratic voters have embraced mail ballots in far larger numbers than Republicans during a campaign season defined by the coronavirus pandemic. And when they urge their supporters to vote by mail, GOP campaigns around the country, are hearing from more and more Republican voters who say they do not trust absentee ballots, according to multiple strategists. In one particularly vivid example, a group of Michigan voters held a public burning of their absentee ballot applications last month.

The growing Republican antagonism toward voting by mail comes even as the Trump campaign is launching a major absentee-ballot program in every competitive state, according to multiple campaign advisers - a delicate balancing act, considering what one strategist described as the president's "imprecision" on the subject.

"It's very concerning for Republicans," said a top party operative who, like several others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid drawing Trump's ire. "I guarantee our Republican Senate candidates are having it drilled into them that they cannot accept this. They have to have sophisticated mail programs. If we don't adapt, we won't win."

The president, however, has been arguing the opposite. Nearly daily in recent weeks, and usually on Twitter, Trump has attacked mail balloting, leveling many unsubstantiated allegations. He has claimed without evidence that it will lead to widespread fraud and that foreign governments will try to dump millions of forged ballots into U.S. elections. He has accused Democrats of using the pandemic to expand mail balloting for political gain.

"Because of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, 2020 will be the most RIGGED Election in our nations history - unless this stupidity is ended," the president tweeted late last month. "We voted during World War One & World War Two with no problem, but now they are using Covid in order to cheat by using Mail-Ins!"

Veteran Republican campaign operatives, who note that the party has long had strong absentee-ballot programs in states including Arizona and Florida, have cringed at such comments.

"It does reduce the likelihood of Republicans embracing this process," said a senior GOP strategist. "Especially for older, more rural voters, that could be important for Republicans getting out the vote in 2020. I don't want 'I will not vote by mail' to become a political statement. But it may be too late."

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said the president is critical of universal mail balloting, not the kind of absentee voting available only to a narrow group of qualified voters, such as older voters or those out of the country on Election Day.

"What the president is talking about is efforts on the Democrats' part to weaken the integrity of our elections," Murtaugh said.

However, in 29 states - including Florida, where Trump himself voted by mail this year - there is no such distinction. Any voter is allowed to cast a ballot by mail.

Justin Clark, a senior Trump campaign adviser, said "people don't give voters enough credit," saying they are able to separate what the president is saying about absentee ballots vs. mass voting by mail.

"The president is absolutely right when he says vote by mail is less secure," he said, adding about Trump's stance: "I haven't seen any data or evidence that it is dampening voter turnout."

The campaign has launched what another adviser, Chris Carr, called an "aggressive" effort to get voters to cast ballots by mail, including direct contacts with those who have voted absentee in the past and a successful test run in a recent California election.

The president's message "doesn't mean we don't push absentee in a state that allows it," Carr said.

The challenge for Republicans is particularly acute because the pandemic has dramatically changed the way voters are casting ballots - with mail-voting rates in some states rocketing from below 10 percent in previous elections to upward of 70 percent in this year's primaries. A Democratic advantage is emerging in those turnout numbers.

In Virginia, 118,000 voters applied for absentee ballots for Democratic primaries June 23, while only 59,000 voters did so for the Republican primary - even though Republicans voted in a statewide Senate primary contest, while Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., was unopposed for his own nomination.

Mail voting also soared in Kentucky's June 23 primary; only about 10 percent of Democratic votes were cast on Election Day, while 20 percent of GOP votes were.

Similarly, in Georgia's June 9 primaries, about 600,000 voters cast mail ballots in Democratic primaries, while about 524,000 did so in Republican contests, according to the Georgia secretary of state's office.

"It's a legitimate question whether or not the president's rhetoric changes voter behavior on the Republican side," said Josh Holmes, a longtime adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "I think there's some evidence to suggest that it has."

Some of the surge in Georgia and Kentucky can be attributed to increased overall enthusiasm on the Democratic side; Democrats turned out in larger numbers than Republicans in Georgia, for instance, with 1.2 million votes compared with just under 1 million.

But the trend line concerns Republicans at a time when efforts to expand voting by mail for the fall are the subject of court battles around the country.

According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll in late May, a sharp partisan divide has emerged over whether to make it easier for people to cast an absentee ballot, with 87 percent of Democrats and 33 percent of Republicans saying it should be easier.

Democratic and Republican campaigns alike have long sought to "bank" votes before Election Day - amassing as many votes as early as possible, whether at early-voting sites or through absentee ballots. That way, a sudden turn of events - such as an economic collapse or a surge in coronavirus infections - is less likely to dampen turnout.

If Republican candidates lock down fewer votes than Democrats, they are more susceptible to the whims of Election Day - long lines, closed polling locations and the possibility that their voters decide to stay home.

And anti-mail-balloting sentiment has recently been cropping up in races around the country.

Last month, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, posted a simple message for her Facebook followers, exhorting them to vote in the next day's primary and offering a link with "information on how to return your absentee ballot," a process Iowa made easier to reduce the risks of coronavirus infection.

Not everyone welcomed the suggestion. "I will be voting, in person, for you," wrote one supporter. "Senator, I can't believe you'd support absentee ballots," wrote another. "We need in-person voting with ID or no voting at all."

Other Republicans officials are encountering similar pushback.

In Texas, Republican officials have offered a nuanced argument in opposing a Democratic push to allow anyone who fears coronavirus infection to vote absentee, saying the law limiting the practice to those out of the country, with disabilities or 65 and older should remain in place.

"The truth is, we don't have the infrastructure in place right now to accommodate universal mail-in ballots," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a recent interview with a Fox station in San Antonio that he posted on Facebook.

But dozens of commenters on Cornyn's post declared that the entire system is risky. One supporter said "there is no way" to safely vote by mail. Another said "STOP THE MAIL IN BALLOTS." Yet another described mail balloting as the "easiest way to cheat that I know of with the exception of crooked election judges stuffing the ballot boxes."

Spokesmen for Cornyn and Ernst declined to comment on whether they were worried that such sentiments will discourage Republicans from casting ballots by mail.

In perhaps the most dramatic sign of Republican skepticism about mail balloting, the campaign of one Republican senator seeking re-election this year recently sent a text urging roughly 100,000 to apply for absentee ballots - and received hundreds of negative replies, according to a person familiar with the responses.

One text said, "No thank you. I'll vote in person." Another said, "Absentee ballot? Nah. I'll be there in person. No one should legitimize this mail in voting hogwash."

In Michigan, where Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson decided to mail a ballot request form to every voter in the state, many Republicans have reacted negatively.

"I don't want you sending a ballot application with my name on it to somebody else who could do something bad with it, and then I show up on Election Day, and I'm not allowed to vote," said Joel Freeman, the chairman of the Kent County Republican Party in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Such concerns prompted one local activist, Michael Farage, to organize a protest June 13 in Grand Rapids, at which he and about 100 others burned their ballot applications before television cameras.

"I believe there is shady business going on," Farage said in an interview.

In fact, Michigan's absentee-ballot application is available to download on the secretary of state's website. Both parties have distributed the forms to supporters. To falsify an application, someone would have to know a voter's full name, address and birth year and forge that voter's signature. A Benson spokesman said such attempts have been rare.

Top Trump campaign officials and their conservative allies are discussing how to ensure GOP voters are receptive to their efforts to get them to vote absentee in the fall.

Conservative activist and Trump ally Leonard Leo is among those who have argued that Republicans need a "voter education" effort to teach them how to cast their ballots by mail, according to people familiar with his views.

"You have to educate the base about how to do it, how to get their ballot, when they have to mail it in by," said one GOP operative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. "You've probably got to start that outreach earlier than you normally do."

Carr and Bill Stepien, another top Trump campaign aide, are among those on the task of building an absentee-ballot "chase" program, according to people familiar with their roles.

Such efforts typically involve a series of contacts with voters, including text messages and social media ads urging them to apply for a ballot, as well as follow-up texts, phone calls and in some cases door knocks to urge them to turn in their ballots.

In some states that publish daily lists of the names of voters who have requested absentee ballots - as well as lists of those who have turned their ballots in - the operations can be even more sophisticated, with campaigns able to winnow their list of targeted voters and narrowly focus their resources on the ones who haven't yet acted.

"We may not always agree on what is handed down from a governor. Even if we don't like it, we are going to work within the rules," Carr said. "We are going to work within the law and execute successfully."

"The messaging changes by state and the particular state's rules," he added. "But I'm confident our people are going to show up."

But even as the campaign works to expand absentee balloting among its supporters, the president's rhetoric attacking the practice is unlikely to subside, a former senior administration official noted.

Trump regularly rants about voter fraud and mail ballots in the Oval Office, this official said - and will continue to do so until Election Day because "one, he truly believes it, and two, it gives him an out if he loses."

- - -

The Washington Post's Scott Clement and Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Without the rodeo, there are no entry fees or concession sales, the latter of which usually benefit a local group willing to take on hot dog duty. There is no prize money for competitors who come from around the country to try their luck on the back of a bull. And there is no work for the people who work a rodeo.
Every month, my email box fills with several queries and comments about travel. And with the travel world changing faster than I'm able to chronicle these days, my mailbox is overflowing.

In this post, I'll share those emails that might help out others with similar concerns or reactions. Take a read and let me know if you have a question of your own, or if you'd like to see this Q&A continue as a regular feature. Here's a link to my email.

Timing is off for Hawaii Covid-19 test.

Chris: I have flown to Maui every September for the past 30 years, so I've been following Hawaii's reluctant Gov. Ige. It would have been nice if he had worked out details with CVS before making the announcement about Covid-19 testing three days prior to travel. I called CVS today and was told that needing a test for travel was not one of their criteria for receiving a test. And test results are normally taking 2-4 days. I contacted Kaiser, my healthcare provider. Travel need is a criteria they would use to give me a test. But again, the turnaround is "normally 3-4 days." If you can't be assured of getting a test result back within three days of travel, who is going to commit time and money to a Hawaiian trip--no matter how low the airlines reduce the price? -- John

Thanks for this, John! The Hawaii testing situation is still a little murky two weeks after the governor's announcement that the quarantine will be lifted when testing is in place August 1. The state's official web page on the topic says, "These plans are in development and the process and requirements are to be determined in the coming weeks." Frustration locally is evident, too as the Honolulu Star Advertiser said, "The absence of critical details so late in the game has left some Hawaii residents crying foul regardless of whether they want Hawaii tourism to run onto the field or remain sidelined. Its also confusing for would-be travelers to Hawaii who cant decide if the entry gates are really open." We are monitoring the situation and will post more info on SFGATE as soon as we hear it. Best, Chris.

Best/worst airlines for mask enforcement?

Hi Chris: Could you please cover which airlines have the best or worst record, or what's been reported, for mask enforcement? Could some be more loose than others when it comes to letting some go who say they have a 'medical condition'? Any chance a doctor's note could be required? I don't want to sit next to someone without a mask. Do any airlines move maskless people to another section, or accommodate those who (like me) would like to be moved? This will affect my decision in choosing an airlines, more than a crowded airplane. Thank you! --Cindy

Thanks, Cindy: As the mask-wearing issue has heated up in recent weeks, airlines have become a lot more vocal about enforcement -- and I don't think that any of them are better about this than others. However, there are still no federal rules requiring the use of masks in flight, so a non-compliant traveler can't be arrested for breaking any mask wearing laws. However, onboard planes, passengers are required by law to follow the orders of captains and crew members, and if they choose not to wear masks, they can be removed from the plane. But it really comes down to individual behavior, and there's really not a way to ensure that the person next to you will remain masked for the entire flight. --Chris

Europe in September?

I have travel plans to fly to London during the first week in September. From there we will be traveling to Prague and many other countries for a three-week vacation. I know you dont have a crystal ball but do you have a gut feeling that traveling in Europe will be be easier by then being that is still three months away? Any information will be helpful. Thank you! --Rudy

Hey Rudy! Sorry for the late reply to your email. London sounds lovely right now. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think your trip is going to happen in September. As I wrote yesterday, Americans will have a tough time getting into Europe or just about anywhere until our Covid-19 infection and hospitalization rates go down. Some flights are available from the US to Europe now, but those are only for essential, repatriation or cargo travel. I'd put your trip off until next year if I were you. Let me know what you end up doing. --Chris

Covid-19 test complications for travel.

Good Afternoon: I was wondering if you could please tell me how long the mandatory Covid swab test will be in place? Also, what are other options for those people who are unable to have the test completed with a nasal swab due to past surgeries on the septum as well as issues or problems with the nasal passageway. --Brittanni

Hi Brittanni: You'll have to consult with your doctor about your issue with swabs and nasal surgery. We are still awaiting more details from the state of Hawaii about how all this will work. We read this week about a new Covid test in the works that tests your breath- - like a breathalyzer. We'll get a post up on SFGATE as soon as we hear more...Best, Chris

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Getting a passport.

Thank you, Chris! I really appreciate your updates. I sent my passport in for renewal mid April. I have a mentally ill brother overseas and worried that something may happen during the time it takes to renew. My other question on this is why did they cash everyones checks if theres no one to work on the passports?? Anyway thank you again. --Paul

Hi Paul! Sorry for the late reply. I hope everything is going okay for you and for your brother. Sounds like passport processing is slowly starting to crank up again, but with a big backlog, it's going to take a while. But since it sounds like you might have some essential travel in your future, you know you can still get passports expedited for essential travel, right? Best, Chris.

Andrew Watson/Getty Images/AWL Images RM

Beyond belief.

Thanks for the article on the yellow flag system Alaska Air is using. I havent flown since the pandemic began and shutter to think about the possibility of encountering someone refusing to wear their mask on a flight, especially if they are in proximity. Its amazing to me and extremely disconcerting that another individual might be so selfish and arrogant the would disobey flight rules to endanger the lives of others, including myself. That the federal government doesnt step in with strong laws and enforcement procedures, by this point especially, is beyond belief. Cheers, Tim

Thanks for your note, Tim! I too find it mindboggling that the federal government won't step in with requirements for all passengers to wear masks on planes, trains and ride-sharing automobiles. I think that if the requirement came from the federal government, and if it could be enforced, it would encourage more people to fly by providing a certain level of confidence that they are protected. Oh well... --Chris

When can we get out of here?

Hi Chris, I watched your interview on ABC 7 News this morning. Thank you for lending your opinion and comments. Although I appreciated your comments, I am interested more in international travel. Any thoughts as to the time frame on when Europe and Australia will lift travel restrictions to US Citizens? My family is there and I am feeling uneasy that I will not be able to travel to see them this year. I have been staying in and working from home since March 15th. I have done my part. I must say I am very upset that people have not taken this pandemic more seriously as we are surging throughout this entire country. Thank you Chris for any information you have time to send me. Best, --Laurie

Thanks for your note, Laurie! Glad you caught the ABC7 clip! Timetables for travel, quarantines and other information is changing from week to week. As you probably know, the EU has banned Americans from travel to Europe for the time being. Australia's borders are closed indefinitely. I wish I could be more hopeful about you getting to see your family, but I just don't think we'll be able to fly to Europe or Australia this year. --Chris.

PreCheck, CLEAR and Alaska Lounge at SFO

Excellent article about your Alaska Air flight to Palm Springs. I flew three round trips on Alaska in June. At SFO's Terminal 2, I was disappointed on my past two trips that there wasn't a dedicated TSA Precheck line. I have both TSA Pre and CLEAR. There was a fairly long line to get through security. Also, some folks dont understand the concept of social distancing. And some of the other TSA Pre travelers tried to cut the line. Im flying again on Tuesday and I dread going through security in Terminal 2. I was looking forward to the new Alaska Lounge at SFO. I hope it opens by the end of the year? Alaska extended Alaska Lounge membership six months. However, given the fact the only Alaska Lounge thats open is at SeaTac, I think a full year extension is more appropriate considering MVP was extended another year. Thank you. --Norm

Thanks for your take on the current situation, Norm! Thankfully for my one trip since the pandemic started, I was one of about five people in security, and one of two in the TSA PreCheck line which was open at midday when I was there. Based on the unpredictable lines as air travel creeps back, I bet there are times when TSA staff is overwhelmed not only with more travelers, but new processes which can slow things down. I too hope we'll see the opening of the SFO Alaska Lounge, which pre-Covid was expected to debut in October, but I have a feeling we may not be seeing the inside of that lounge this year...or ever. Stay tuned... --Chris

Chris McGinnis

United refund mess.

I had an unpleasant experience with United when I tried to get a refund instead of a credit voucher. My flight to Paris was canceled, but we were rebooked on another flight. The agents I spoke with said I couldn't get a refund because the new booking got me to my destination within six hours of the original flight. It didn't matter that my original reservation was for a shorter flight, and the new one had three stops. I tried quoting the FAA policies on canceled flights, and even United's own Q&A on what happens if you don't want the rebooking, all to no avail. Now I am waiting (3 weeks) for the electronic voucher to appear. I would never fly United again, if I had the choice. --Susan

Hi Susan: Yuck! Sorry to hear about this Susan. Did you ever find a suitable resolution? United has loosened its rules several times over the course of the pandemic, so I am hoping that you got your voucher...or refund? Let me know. --Chris

Yes, I finally got a refund due to the retroactive change in re-booking parameters. Really grateful for the information you have been providing.

Regards, Susan.

Amtrak Air?

Hi Chris? Do you know if Amtrak trains run on recycled air only Or do they intake fresh air also? Thx. -- Susan

Hey Susan: Short answer is I don't know for sure. But I think it would depend on the train type. And all are likely a little of both fresh and recycled are based on what I have seen on my few rides. Have you tried asking AMTRAK customer service? Best, Chris

Delta pulling out at Oakland?

Chris: You continue to report that among the other big name carriers, that Delta has pulled out of OAK; Delta has suspended the flights for Covid-19 protection reasons yet even back then, the articles all over Bay Area media, mentioned until (at least) September; a suspension is not the same as a permanent pull-out, as American has done for a second time now, although this time post-merge with US airways. Furthermore, until covid became more serious, Scott Kirby of United mentioned coming back to OAK. Kindly acknowledge the resuming of service for Delta at OAK September 8th, for as long as said date holds. Thank you. --David

Hi David: Thanks for your note. I'm always amazed at how closely our readers follow our weekly airline routes updates every Saturday. It's a lot of information to keep up with every week! I'll include your email in our Reader Questions post this week, and we'll cover it again when or if Delta touches down at OAK again in September. Best, Chris.

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You are now listening to the sounds of the New Generation. A podcast created for those who desire a new way of gaining information rather than reading a traditional newspaper. In our show we will discuss everything from sports, pop culture, politics, and local news. To stay up to date on our latest episodes every week be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast service. And dont worry, we keep it short.
The TV station spoke to Manny Shenkman, who was driving with his girlfriend who saw the lightning strike the lawn of one of his neighbors house. Shenkman said he looked in the mirror and saw a landscaper on the ground. Shenkman said her performed CPR on the victim while contacting emergency officials, who told FOX 35 the victim was talking later in the day.
SHELTON  The chief said six police officers are on paid administrative leave pending the results of two separate internal affairs investigations.

Chief Shawn Sequeira said no disciplinary action has been taken against any of the six officers at this point.

No officers are currently suspended, Sequeira said, and there is an active investigation. I cannot comment until the investigation is complete.

The chief said he would not name any of the six officers, but police union attorney Barbara Resnick identified two of them as union president John Napolean and vice president Lt. Dave Moore; she would not name the other officers.

Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

READ MORE: Chief: Internal affairs investigating six Shelton police officers put on leave

One of the two investigations, the police chief said, has been going on for seven months. The other stems from the closure of the police headquarters locker rooms and lower level bathrooms. It is unknown which investigation  or if it was both  led to Napolean and Moore being put on leave.

Last month, the union filed a grievance alleging three female patrol officers were denied use of their headquarters restrooms while the 49 men had access. The police chief then limited use of headquarters locker rooms and bathrooms for both men and women and set up portable toilets for patrol officers in the parking lot.

The police chief said his department is investigating photos posted on the police unions Facebook page, which the union describes as town officers changing clothes in the departments parking lot.

Sequeira, in a post on the departments Facebook page, said he was informed about the images of men and women with their faces blocked out which were posted on June 4 on the Support the Shelton Police Union Inc. Facebook page. The pictures appear to show male officers changing their pants and female officers in their bras as they change their shirts in public at the lot.

The union will be pursuing legal action in multiple venues regarding the officers being placed on administrative leave, Resnick said. The union has filed seven charges of illegal conduct against the city in the past month with the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations, Resnick said, and those cases are pending.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
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
SHELTON  Valley Shakespeare Festival has received a needed financial boost.

The Shelton-based organization is among 33 nonprofit arts organizations in Connecticuts 4th District to receive a Connecticut CARES Act emergency relief grant. The Connecticut Office of the Arts awarded $350,000 in grants statewide.

Congratulations to the 33 arts organizations on their CARES Act grants, said U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn. These grants will be used to preserve jobs and maintain Southwest Connecticuts vibrant creative sector.

The presence of artists and entrepreneurs in our communities boosts our economy by attracting tourism and encouraging economic investment, added Himes. It is vital that we continue cultivating and encouraging art in Connecticut and across the country.

Himes co-sponsored and voted for the CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27. The economic rescue package provided relief for individuals and businesses through a series of programs, including the CARES Act Emergency Relief Grant.

Through the program, the Connecticut Office of the Arts distributed $350,000 to 122 nonprofit arts organizations statewide in one-time grants ranging from $1,500 to $3,000 per organization. Recipients were randomly selected with attention to geographic distribution.

Valley Shakespeare Festival has been presenting free Shakespeare plays in Veterans Memorial Park in Shelton since 2013.

The Valley Shakespeare Festival has also started the popular Shakespeare in the Bar series as well as offering a touring company that goes through the community with a fully staged 70-minute production.

As Connecticut continues to reopen and in an effort to keep actors, crew and audiences safe, the organization, as stated on its website, has opted for a three-actor Cyrano as its free Shakespeare in the Park offering.

The event will run Sept. 3 to 6. Coronavirus guidelines will be posted on the organizations website soon.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
The cover of the upcoming book Cascadian Hotel by SUNY Oswegos Helen Knowles, Ph.D and L. Darlene Spargo.
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.

Text: IANS

Images: Instagram/Twitter
Fans of Telugu superstar Prabhas were in a mood to celebrate all through Monday, because the actor had started shooting for the first part of "Baahubali" seven years ago on this day.



The makers of the SS Rajamouli blockbuster took to social media to share some throwback photos from the sets where thousands of fans had gathered for the start of the shoot. In one of the photos, Prabhas is seen standing in front of a huge crowd.





"July 6, 2013. The moment when it all began! We started the shoot of #Baahubali on this day 7 years ago...," read a tweet on behalf of the makers.



The post made fans nostalgic. "Jai Prabhas Anna", wrote a follower, while another haled him as "man Of Masses".



"Really wish to go back in time to relive those days. When Baahubali mania was gripping the whole country and it was madness outside the multiplexes. Oh and my first genuine crush Prabhas gracing the screens. I've never felt like this for an actor before Heart suit #Baahubalidays," wrote another user.



The two-film "Baahubali" series narrates the story of two brothers at war over an ancient kingdom.



"Baahubali 2: The Conclusion" (2017) is one of the biggest Indian films at the box office, having done a global business of approximately Rs 1810 crore, while the first film, "Baahubali: The Beginning" (2015) minted over Rs 685 crore.



The series also stars Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia and Ramya Krishnan.
While vigil has been stepped up on the borders of the state to prevent the gangster from moving out, a series of abandoned cars-probably used as getaway vehicles by Dubey, have queered the pitch for investigators.

Lucknow, July 6 (IANS) Even as gangster Vikas Dubey continues to elude the state police, the Uttar Pradesh police has stepped up its efforts to nab the man who is the main accused in the killing of eight police personnel in Kanpur on Friday.

The Uttar Pradesh police have alerted their counterparts in adjoining states since it is believed that the gangster could be in hiding anywhere there.

Posters of Vikas Dubey have been put up in all adjoining district and along the UP-Nepal borders.

According to official sources, the Pilibhit police has sounded a high alert on the Indo-Nepal border in a bid to foil the gangster's possible attempt to escape to Nepal through the perforated border with the district.

Pilibhit superintendent of police Jai Prakash Yadav said that besides sealing the borders, the police are carrying out intensive search of vehicles and individuals.

The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), too, has alerted its personnel guarding the border.

Deputy commandant, 49th Battalion, Raman Singh said, "For the identification of Dubey, we have circulated his photographs among our personnel."

"Police are keeping a tight vigil on all suspected persons and vehicles. Police and the SSB are keeping a vigil on all activities on the border, though most of the border stretch is not conducive for travel at present due to Sharda river being in spate," said Singh.

The state government, on Monday, suspended inspector Kunwar Pal and constables K.K. Sharma and Rajiv after the call details revealed that the three were in touch with Vikas Dubey.

The state police, meanwhile, found an abandoned dark grey Ford EcoSport car on the highway near Aurraiyya on Sunday with an ignition key in place and ownership papers in the dashboard. The police suspect that the car may have been used by the gangster to get away after committing the crime on Friday.

The police have also found three black luxury cars abandoned in Kakadeo police circle in Kanpur.

The cars, apparently new, did not have registration number plates on them. The vehicles have been seized by the police.

An investigation has revealed that the cars were purchased by a local businessman Jai Bajpai but registered under different names.

The Audi car seized was registered in the name of Pramod Vishwakarma, a Bhartiya Yuva Janata Morcha (BYJM) leader, a Fortuner was in the name of one Rahul Singh and the third vehicle was in the name of one Kapil Singh.

Bajpai has been detained and is being interrogated. He could not explain why he had purchased the vehicles in the name of others.

A photograph of the businessman with Vikas Dubey at a birthday party has gone viral on the social media. Bajpai said that after the photograph wet viral, he became apprehensive and parked the cars at a lonely spot. Bajpai, police sources said, was close to Annu Awasthi, a social media star.

Earlier, on Friday evening, a white Bolero had been found abandoned in Etawah and it was also presumed that the vehicle was used by criminals to flee.

Another Ford car was recovered near Aurraiyya-Dibiyapur bypass. Documents recovered from the car, bearing a Lucknow registration number, shows it belonged to one Amit Dubey.

Three identity cards, a wallet, ID of an elite Lucknow school and an expensive footwear were found in the car, which are now being scanned by the forensics team along with finger print experts.

The vehicle, which is 59-months-old, is without an insurance cover or pollution certificate.

"The words, 'Pravakta Hindu Organization' are scribbled on the rear mirror," said a police official.

--IANS

amita/in
The apex court had taken suo motu cognizance of the condition of children under state protection in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report on the news reports that said more than 50 children in a shelter home in Kanpur were found infected with coronavirus.

A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao appointed advocate Gaurav Aggarwal as the amicus curiae in the matter.

The court asked other state governments too to file their responses with the amicus curiae, and posted the matter for further hearing on July 13.

The apex court noted that different state governments - Punjab, Uttarakhand, Tripura and UP - have not yet filed their responses in the matter.

Advocate Aparna Bhat had moved the top court to seek directions for "proper medical treatment and facilities" to 57 minor girls, who were found corona positive in the shelter home in Kanpur.

The bench was informed by the Tamil Nadu government's counsel that 35 children, who tested positive at a government-run shelter home at Royapurum in Chennai, have since recovered and are back at the facility.

On June 11, the bench took cognisance of the news report that 35 children in the children home in Royapurum had tested positive. "How did it happen? We are seeking a report. Next hearing on Monday," the bench told the state government counsel.

The bench said it is circulating a questionnaire to the state governments.

"The juvenile justice committees (JJC) of the High Courts will circulate the questionnaire and get data. The JJC will ensure that state governments provide the information sought," noted the bench.

In April, the top court had issued directions to the state governments and authorities concerned to take urgent measures to prevent Covid-19 outbreak in childcare institutions, children in need of care and protection, children in contact with the law in observation homes and children in foster and kinship.

--IANS

ss/tsb
Egypt held on Tuesday a military funeral procession for Minister of State for Military Production Mohamed El-Assar, who died on Monday at the age of 74.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi led the funeral procession, which included top government officials and military leaders.

The mourners included parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Defence Minister Mohamed Zaki and the chief-of-staff of the Army Mohamed Farid.

Leaders of main branches of the armed forces, as well as a number of former military leaders, were also present at the last farewell of the late minister.

The funeral procession started at El-Mosheer Tantawi mosque complex in New Cairo.

The president offered his condolences to the family of El-Assar at the event.

El-Assar graduated from the Military Technical College in 1967.

He served as the military production minister since 2015.

He was also a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces during the 2011 Revolution, when the army sided with the Egyptian peoples demand to oust president Hosni Mubarak.

In late June, President El-Sisi promoted El-Assar to the honorary rank of lieutenant-general, and bestowed upon him the Nile sash.

Short link:


Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], July 6 (ANI): A GoAir evacuation flight carrying Indians from Kuwait landed at Chandigarh International Airport on July 5.



According to Chandigarh International Airports Limited, the flight brought 177 passengers and arrived at Chandigarh at around 1930 hours.

The have Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that over 5 lakh stranded Indians returned safely to India from 137 countries under the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM). (ANI)


Pakistan made the gesture on Monday while participating in a virtual conference titled "Strengthening Consensus for Peace" hosted by the government of Afghanistan, Xinhua news agency quoted the Foreign Ministry here as saying.

Islamabad, July 7 (IANS) Pakistan has renewed its call for repatriation of the Afghan refugees and said the return of over two million refugees should be a part of the peace process in Afghanistan.

Pakistan hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration cards, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Besides registered refugees, Pakistan also hosts about a million unregistered refugees.

According to a statement from the Ministry, Pakistani participants in Monday'e event urged the international community to support a time-bound and well-resourced program for the return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with dignity and honour.

Pakistan stressed that the signing of a US-Taliban peace agreement had created an opportunity that must be seized by the Kabul leadership to work together and achieve an inclusive and comprehensive political settlement, it said.

The Pakistani side reiterated that there was a need for the international community to focus on ensuring an early start and successful completion of intra-Afghan talks.

--IANS

ksk/
The RTE report on Monday quoted Prime Minister Micheal Martin as saying that a "green list" of countries with virus levels similar to or lower than Ireland will be published by the government on July 20, reports Xinhua news agency.

Dublin, July 7 (IANS) Restrictions on international travellers to Ireland will remain in place until at least July 20, according to RTE, the national radio and TV broadcaster.

On July 20,the country is scheduled to move into the fourth phase in lifting the COVID-19 restrictions imposed since the late March.

Following the publication of the green list, the restrictions on visitors from those countries on the list will be eased, Martin told a press briefing held earlier in the day.

The green list will be reviewed on a two-week basis, he added.

Ireland had earlier announced that it plans to allow people from countries on the "green list" to visit the country starting from July 9 without requiring them to practice a 14-day self-isolation.

The postponement of the plan is due to the government's concern that an increase in the imported cases of COVID-19 could lead to a second wave of the disease in the country, said the

Earlier last week, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly told local media that COVID-19 cases related to international travel jumped to 17 per cent of the country's total in the last few weeks from just 2 per cent in the previous few months.

--IANS

ksk/
In a statement on Monday, the Commission said the revised polling time will now be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Daily Financial Times newspaper reported.

Colombo, July 7 (IANS) The Sri Lankan Elections Commission (EC) has increased the voting time for the upcoming parliamentary polls by an hour, it was reported on Tuesday.

The statement did not mention the reason for the extension but it was likely that the decision was made to give the public enough time to vote while adhering to social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sri Lanka is set to hold its parliamentary elections on August 5, after they were postponed twice due to restrictions linked to the pandemic.

The elections were initially set to be held on April 25, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had dissolved Parliament in March following his landslide victory in the November 2019 presidential polls.

The date was shifted to June 20 after lockdown measures were announced in mid-March.

The elections are set be held under strict health protocols with campaign meetings limited to a maximum of 100 people, while the Elections Commission has recommended using the print and electronic media for campaign purposes and cutting down physical meetings to avoid exposure to the virus.

The Commission has also limited house-to-house campaigns to a maximum of three people.

Rajapaksa was sworn-in as President after an easy victory in the November 16, 2019 polls on the back of an agenda focused on national security.

Soon after, he appointed his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister and dissolved the opposition-majority Parliament.

The President's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party has to win majority in the house in order to secure the government's full control in the semi-presidential representative democracy.

--IANS

ksk/
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows hinted in an interview on Monday that the President was readying executive action on immigration issues, but he did not offer specifics, reports Xinhua news agency.

Washington: US President Donald Trump is expected to refile paperwork this week to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, that offers protection for thousands of young immigrants and work lawfully.

The US Supreme Court, which ruled last month that the Trump administration failed to give an adequate justification for terminating the program as required by federal law, made clear that the President had the authority to rescind the program.

"We have to refile," the President told Fox News days after the ruling.

"And everything's going to work out for DACA and the young people, who aren't so young, if you want to know the truth."

DACA was established via an administrative memo in 2012 when Barack Obama was in office.

The Trump administration in 2017 rescinded DACA, which shields certain undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation.

The move was a central feature of the President's initial efforts to restrict immigration upon taking office, The Hill news website said in a report on Monday.

Trump's 2017 rescission of the program gave Congress six months to create a statutory replacement for DACA, while shutting down new applications and renewals, but without prematurely ending the two-year permits granted by the program.

It was unlikely that a new rescission would abruptly end benefits for current DACA recipients.

Trump has in recent weeks turned to immigration issues to appeal to his core supporters as he scuffles in polls, analysts observed.

If the Trump administration refiles this week, the new DACA policy will coincide with the official visit of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Mexico is the country of origin for a majority of DACA recipients.
To secure the financial health and survival of Air India, the national carrier's pilot unions have called for instituting measures like compulsory leave without pay.

The move, the unions say, will help the airline tide over the Covid-19 induced economic contraction.

Presently, the management has resorted to an across the board 10 per cent cut in allowances.

In a letter to the airline's CMD Rajiv Bansal, both the pilots unions - IPG and ICPA - said: "Since Air India is in financial distress on account of the pandemic, the employee strength should be brought at par with other market players through common sense measures like a 'compulsory leave without pay' till such time normal operations resume.

"Many airlines have invoked their employees to proceed on 'leave without pay'. The company may even consider permitting such employees to take on some temporary assignment or engagement during this period to tide over the current hardship."

As per the letter, Air India should be guided by how other players in the aviation sector are battling the adversities of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We understand that a leading private carrier has an employee strength of 250 in finance and 130 in HR, handling a fleet of 255 aircraft. This may be contrasted with Air India which has more than 1,600 employees in HR and Finance for a mere 125 aircraft," the letter said.

"This is nowhere in line with market standards and since operations have been scaled back, their workload has reduced drastically. It is prudent for Air India and the MoCA to take cognizance of this excess manpower to trim costs as our aircraft stand under-utilised."

On the management's decision for 10 per cent reduction in allowances on across the board basis, the unions said: "While prima facie appearing to be fair, this scheme distributes the financial burden across the various categories of employees in an extremely discriminatory manner amounting to treating unequal people equally."

The unions proposed that Class IV employees should be exempt from such a wage cut.

"Their liability can be borne by other employees who are earning higher salaries," the letter said.

In addition, the unions said that if any meaningful cost saving has to be effected, the financial burden must be fairly distributed between all employees, based on their job functions and emoluments.

"This necessitates defining austerity measures in the form of a percentage cut on total earnings rather than any particular salary head, which may differ widely across different categories of employees rendering the whole exercise discriminatory," the letter said.
Mount Damavand Day: The iconic mountain is grappling with environmental issues

07/07/20

By Faranak Bakhtiari, Tehran Times

Mount Damavand, the highest peak in Iran, is located northeastern Tehran, but today, it is facing many environmental problems and challenges. Environmental enthusiasts believe that with the inclusion of Damavand National Day in the official calendar of the country, more attention should be paid to this unique natural phenomenon, while unfortunately no action has been taken so far.

Mount Damavand, a potentially active volcano 5600-m high, is a stratovolcano which is the highest peak in Iran and the highest volcano in Asia, which is a significant mountain in Persian mythology and folklore; it is the symbol of Iranian resistance against despotism and foreign rule in Persian poetry and literature.



It is in the middle of the Alborz range, near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, in Amol County, Mazandaran province, 66 kilometers (41 miles) northeast of the city of Tehran.



Mount Damavand is the 12th most prominent peak in the world and the second most prominent in Asia after Mount Everest. It is part of the Volcanic Seven Summits mountaineering challenge.



The peak has been plagued by many environmental problems in recent years, including, road construction, high tourist traffic flow, poor mining, overgrazing of livestock in the pastures around the peak slopes, depletion of Dasht-e Shaghayegh (the plain of Iranian poppies) by tourists, land-use changes and construction.



View Larger Map

Excessive climbing, dumping of indestructible waste at heights where it is almost impossible for unprofessional people to collect and clean it, lack of sanitary services, legal and illegal hunting, overpopulation of herding dogs that led to the death of wildlife species, as well as the destruction of ancient artifacts in the area, are among the issues, if left unresolved, could pose a serious threat to this natural heritage.



Mountains are home of 15 percent of the world's population and a quarter of the world's land animals and plants, in addition to providing fresh water to half of humanity, so their conservation is a key factor for sustainable development.



Because all kinds of precious metals and stones, coal, and other raw materials are hidden in the heart of the mountains, they have always been encroached by humans; also due to agricultural lands which are used for forage production, herbs, livestock breeding, production of meat, dairy and all kinds of food.



Unfortunately, mountains are under threat from climate change and overexploitation, and Damavand is no exception.



Aerial view of Mount Damavand by Hansueli Krapf

Meanwhile, NGOs and environmental organizations have taken action to address these problems. Some local and indigenous peoples whose settlements are exposed to environmental damage have also taken action to prevent the threats, but yet the government and non-governmental organizations have not been able to work together and resolve the issue.



Formation of special working group to protect Damavand necessary



Environmental activist Hossein Abiri Golpayegani told IRNA on Friday that given the experience of more than three decades of environmental activity among environmental activists, especially in the mountainous sector, it is necessary that public organizations, government agencies, and locals form a special working group to protect and preserve Mount Damavand.



"This year, environmental activists are celebrating the Damavand National Day for the 16th year (of course, the ceremony is scheduled to be held online this year due to the coronavirus epidemic). During this time, they have gained good experience in defending Damavand's environment.



Also, for more than 15 years, activists from Tehran and Mazandaran have been visiting the slopes of Damavand peak for several weeks to guard the Shaghayegh plain.



However, environmental activists have not yet been able to properly sensitize local people to the effects of the destruction of natural areas around their residence. Therefore, locals' participation to defend Mount Damavand should be taken seriously," he explained.



He went on to say that "Mount Damavand seems to be no priority for responsible bodies such as Department of Environment (DOE), and the ministry of cultural heritage.



Although the DOE registered the upper part of the peak as a natural monument a few years ago, it has not done any protection measures for this 2500-m height so far.



Also, since 2008, Damavand has been nationally registered as the first natural and historical monument by the cultural heritage ministry, but has not carried out any protection program as it should."



To solve the problems of Mount Damavand, there is no choice but to gather governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and locals to cooperate; therefore, it is suggested that a working group be formed with the presence of the people and various organizations interested in preserving Damavand, responsible bodies such as the DOE, the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization, and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, he explained.



This working group can prepare instructions that must be implemented by all; for instance, related agencies will provide facilities, funds, and expertise to help identify problems in the region, and NGOs, as a line of communication between the government and locals, will hold training courses and promote culture among the people, he noted.



In this working group, locals will be tasked with protecting Damavand; once the protection of the environment becomes a culture for the people of the region, destruction will no longer continue but will be minimized, he further added.



The first program of Damavand National Day, which was held with the cooperation of the Tehran climb board, mountain climbing buffs, mountaineering groups and the media from June 22 to 24, 2004, was accompanied by hundreds of climbers to symbolically collect the waste in Damavand mountainous area.



And each year, a special program has been conducted to mark this day, meanwhile, the officials are expected to seriously consider the protection of Damavand, so that it will no longer be subject to deliberate and unintentional destruction.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues, colleges and universities across the United States are sharing plans for the fall semester.

According to The New York Times, Stanford University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins, Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania are making plans to return some students to campus, while also considering whether classes will continue remotely or whether there will be a hybrid model. NJ.com, the Advance/SILive.coms sister site, reported that the majority of classes at Rutgers University in New Jersey will be remote.

Some colleges are allowing just 40% to 60% of their students to return to campus and live in residence halls, divided by class year, according to The Times report.

In addition, the media outlet reported on the following school plans:

Stanford University is allowing its freshmen and sophomores on campus in the fall, while juniors and seniors study remotely at home.

The smaller number of those on campus will allow for residents to live in a single or double dorm. Students may need to eat takeout meals from dining halls or make a reservation to eat. Many universities are requiring behavioral contracts for students to agree to wear a face mask in public, get tested regularly for coronavirus, and limit travel and socializing, The Times reported.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Princeton University in New Jersey is offering a tuition discount in the fall for students whether they are on campus or learning remotely.

The college said this is because most undergraduates would be on campus for half the year -- with freshmen and juniors in the fall and sophomores and seniors in the spring. Students will be charged 10% less -- $48,501 for the 2020-2021 year, instead of $53,890, a spokesman told The Times.

Harvard University said no more than 40% of its undergraduate students will be allowed on campus during the 2020-2021 school year.

The school said it will have mainly freshmen and some students in special circumstances on campus in the fall. For the spring semester, freshmen will leave the campus and seniors will return to finish and graduate on campus.

All classes will be held online, including students who are living on campus. Tuition will remain the same at $54,000 a year, according to The New York Times. Harvard said it would offer a summer term next year of two tuition-free courses for students who are studying away from campus for the full school year.

Johns Hopkins is preparing for in-person and virtual classes -- requiring students and professors to wear a mask and social distance. It has created a studio system in which professors will teach a class virtually on camera, while speaking with students during live remote sessions using video conference tools like Zoom.

At Cornell University, all students will be allowed back to campus for a mix of in-person and online learning. The college based its decision on an analysis that found conducting a full semester remotely could result in more students becoming infected, compared to reopening the campus. According to The New York Times, this is because even if classes are conducted remotely, many students would return to off-campus housing and the university couldnt enforce testing requirements or behavior restrictions.

The University of Pennsylvania is doing a similar hybrid model with classroom instruction that is essential to the curriculum and can be provided safe, while other courses -- like large lecture classes -- will be online.

Rutgers University in New Jersey will also combine a majority of remote courses and a limited number of in-person courses in the fall.

According to NJ.com, the Advance/SILive.coms sister site, the majority of classes will be remote, while classes that benefit from direct access to campus facilities will take place in-person, such as lab work, clinical, and some arts instruction. President Jonathan Holloway said it remains a possibility that winter or spring 2021 classes could happen in person, according to NJ.com.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES RETHINK COLLEGE PLANS

And many high school graduates may not enroll in college in the fall due to the coronavirus, a survey found.

About 1 in 5 high school seniors planning to start college in the fall may not attend due to COVID-19, according to the National Student Survey from SimpsonScarborough, a higher education marketing, branding and research agency.

The survey asked 573 high school students who were expected to attend a four-year residential college for the fall 2020 semester.

More than half the respondents -- 53% -- said their familys finances were impacted by the pandemic. While 70% of students said they will continue to plan for college in the fall, COVID-19 is still influencing their decision process.

High school seniors on Staten Island are trying to plan for their first year of college during the global pandemic.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomos office announced Tuesday that visitors from three more states will fall under New Yorks coronavirus quarantine advisory.

Delaware, Kansas, and Oklahoma reached the virus metrics New York laid out in late June that trigger the advisory for visitors from those states to quarantine for two weeks.

Those states join Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah, Tennessee, and Texas.

As states around the country experience increasing community spread, New York is taking action to ensure the continued safety of our phased reopening, Cuomo said. Our entire response to this pandemic has been by the numbers, and weve set metrics for community spread just as we set metrics for everything.

New York laid out the metrics in late June along with New Jersey and Connecticut requiring states with either a seven-day rolling average of 10% statewide infection or a seven-day rolling average new-case rate of 10 per 100,000 residents.

Of the 56,736 tests conducted in New York on Monday, there were 588, or 1.04% positive. The seven-day rolling average for the percentage of positive tests in New York City, which was once the nations epicenter of the virus, was 1.1% as of Monday.

More than 130,000 Americans have died with the virus, and multiple states across the nation see rising infection rates.

When the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced the travel advisory, Cuomo said enforcement would be left to each state. In New York, Cuomo said the advisory will serve as a way to inform travelers that they should quarantine for 14 days.

He offered several mechanisms -- hotel clerks, business meetings and police officers stopping vehicles with license plate from affected states -- as ways New York could be notified of quarantine violations.

If you are violating the quarantine, you can be subject to a judicial order and mandatory quarantine, Cuomo said last week. You could have to pay the costs of quarantine. There are also fines that could go along with violating the quarantine -- $2,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second, up to $10,000 if you cause harm.

In late March, the federal government issued similar guidelines for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut residents, asking that they avoid non-essential travel and self-quarantine for 14 days if travel was necessary.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Months of lost revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll on restaurants; owners said delivery and take-out options have not been sustainable and indoor dining is indefinitely suspended.

Lack of social distancing compliance among New York City residents and enforcement by the local government are why indoor dining will be delayed when the five boroughs enter Phase 3 of the coronavirus reopening on Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.

Restaurants in all other regions of the state have been allowed to open the indoor sections of their establishments when entering Phase 3, but New York City businesses will be denied that opportunity.

Restaurants are also struggling with the rising cost of supplies and new expenses for personal protective equipment (PPE) have also been economically hard to deal with.

Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) co-sponsored bipartisan legislation, The Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed To Survive (RESTAURANTS) Act, that would establish a $120 billion grant program for independent restaurants.

The grant, through the U.S. Treasury Department, is maxed at $10 million, does not need to be paid back and would be made available through the remainder of the year.

Restaurants that are publicly traded or part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name are ineligible for the grant.

Our restaurants have been hit incredibly hard by this pandemic and the economic shutdown. Theyre doing everything they can to play by the rules, do the right thing, and safely stay in business  but unfortunately for far too many that still wont be enough to survive, Rose said.

Rob DeLuca, owner of DeLucas Italian Restaurant and who started the Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue (I.R.O.A.R.), said, Restaurants are the backbones of their communities. Were some of the hardest working people in America. We support so many families through our establishments. We need the government to come together to get this bill passed. Every other industry has been bailed out, except us. We need the governments help.

DeLuca said the details need to be worked out to ensure its right the first time, but said the bill looks great overall.

ROSE CALLED FOR INCREASED CAPACITY DURING PHASE 2

Last month Rose asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio to allow Phase 2 of the reopening plan to include 50% capacity for indoor dining and for Phase 3 to allow 75% capacity for indoor dining.

Instead, Phase 3, which began on Monday, July 6, did not include any indoor dining.

It is unclear when indoor dining will resume in NYC.

In a press conference last week, de Blasio said he is working with the state to figure out when the city can move forward with indoor dining.

Restaurant owners are on life support and desperate for a light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone is already out in the streets -- what we need are clear rules and reopening guidelines to bring structure and safety to what has become the Wild West, Rose said.

He cited a recent study that said over 70% of restaurants citywide did not pay Mays rent in its entirety and said the industry has been decimated by the pandemic.

While hes urging the mayor and governor to take action, Rose still highlighted the need to reopen safely and responsibly through the use of clear safety guidelines, precautions and close monitoring of COVID-19 data.

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It appears that Advance columnist Tom Wrobleski is giving at least tacit approval to keeping the statues of Confederate traitors on their pedestals across the country.

Think about it - did the Germans erect statues of Nazi war criminals after WWII? No, and it wasnt because they wanted to erase their history or bury the past. They actually teach their students from a very early age about how the Nazis took the world to the brink of disaster.

They honor the past by telling the truth about their painful history. They have erected memorials to the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities. Why do Mr. Wrobleski and others feel the need to honor the traitors who started the Civil War to perpetuate slavery with statues that celebrate the vanquished Confederacy - it makes absolutely no logical sense.

I was drafted into the Army and stationed at Fort Gordon (Georgia) and Ft. Hood (Texas) before being deployed to Vietnam. I was shocked to learn that both of those military installations were named after Confederate generals who led military units in the killing of United States soldiers. I find this to be contemptible and it needs to be rectified - its more than cosmetic.

(Jeremiah OLeary, Jr. is a St. George resident.)
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- New York City will open cool streets in vulnerable neighborhoods adding spray caps to fire hydrants in every borough in the city except for Staten Island.

City Hall said Port Richmond was the only neighborhood on Staten Island which met its Heat Vulnerability Index ranking requirements, ranking at 4, but said there were already cooling elements like spray showers available there.

The city is using the Heat Vulnerability Index to determine where to place cool streets and is putting cool streets in areas with an HVI of 4 or 5 which it describes as the most heat burdened communities, to serve vulnerable residents during extreme heat events.

Cool streets will be offered on the citys network of open streets that are in the most heat-burdened neighborhoods. During heat advisories, the city will install spray caps on fire hydrants on open streets to ensure heat-burdened communities are within 1/4 mile of an outdoor cooling element.

The index measures how the risk of heat-related illness or death varies across neighborhoods. It looks at a number of neighborhood risk factors that increase heat vulnerability including less access to home air conditioning, a lack of green space, hotter surface temperatures and areas where there are more low-income residents.

However, City Hall did say it was looking at options for expanding the program and would have more to say throughout summer.

COUNCILWOMAN ROSE SAYS ITS INCOMPREHENSIBLE NO ISLAND NEIGHBORHOOD QUALIFIED FOR PROGRAM

News of Staten Island getting left out of the cool streets program upset North Shore Councilwoman Debi Rose who said it was incomprehensible that no Island neighborhood qualified for the program.

Her office said she plans to speak to the de Blasio administration about its decision not to include Staten Island in the initiative.

It is incomprehensible to me that no Staten Island neighborhood qualified for this initiative, Rose said. I know each of my neighborhoods well, and even where we do have cooling elements, they are not sufficient to reach all the people in the neighborhood.

This ignores the real, on-the-ground needs of my constituents, Rose continued. This is a needed resource as temperatures rise, and it is not a citywide initiative until Staten Island is included.

Staten Island only has four open streets, the fewest number of open streets in the city. One of those streets is located on at Bank Street, another at Silver Lake Park and two more in Stapleton on Canal Street from Bay Street to Front St and another on Water St from Bay Street to Front Street.

New Yorkers are in for a long, hot summer, and staying cool is an essential part of physical health, mental health, and public safety, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. Were excited to build on our popular Open Streets program and find creative ways to fight back against COVID-19 by giving New Yorkers the public space they deserve.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Department of City Planning (DCP) is recommending zoning amendments that would remove the need for homeowners to wade through some of the citys tedious and expensive approval processes to make renovations to a home that exists in three of Staten Islands special districts.

Marisa Lago, DCP director, last week announced preliminary recommendations to amend rules pertaining to Special Hillsides Preservation District, Special Natural Area District and Special South Richmond Development District.

The proposed new rules aim to make home improvement projects less costly and burdensome by creating a more predictable process for small properties, under one acre. Homeowner applications to renovate their home, including adding a deck or a swimming pool, have, for decades, been extremely burdensome and costly in these special district areas, said DCP.

The agency has provided online guidebooks outlining existing rules and the reasons for updated proposals. The changes are meant to clean up and streamline decades-old zoning rules, which have resulted in tree-lined streets and the preservation of natural features that have come to define these districts.

The changes outlined in these easy-to-read guidebooks will make home renovations more affordable for many families, while ensuring that development on larger and ecologically sensitive properties receives a higher level of review, said Lago.

Taking into account 50 years of experience and advances in environmental science, were charting a path forward for more predictable and affordable development, and a more vibrant, ecologically sound Staten Island for decades to come, she added.

SAVING TIME AND MONEY

DCP said the proposed changes remove the need for City Planning Commission (CPC) approvals to be granted for sites under one acre in these special districts. And, in turn, this will help individual homeowners save time and money, while maintaining a strong public review process for larger developments and sites.

Rather than a homeowner having to spend a significant amount of time and money going through New York Citys months-long public review process, they will be able to go directly to the Department of Buildings to finalize their permits, said DCP in a written statement.

CPC oversight will be shifted to sites that are one acre or larger, developments that require new private roads, and ecologically sensitive sites (such as those with wetlands or along the cliff face) that propose four or more zoning lots or new buildings, or eight or more dwelling units, according to DCP.

As development and natural feature preservation is less predictable in these instances, applications fitting these criteria will be subject to a public review process with input from the local Community Board and a binding vote by the CPC.

These changes are based on feedback from Staten Island communities, including requests to simplify an earlier version of rule revisions for these special districts last year. DCP restarted conversations with the Staten Island Special Districts Working Group of local stakeholders, which includes representatives from local civic groups, Community Boards, Council Members, environmental groups and architecture groups, in the summer of 2019.

To provide an overview of these preliminary recommendations as outlined in online guidebooks and an opportunity for discussion, DCP is hosting webinars on July 29, and Aug. 12. Both events will run from 5 to 7 p.m. Details will be posted in the coming weeks on DCPs web page.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Trump administration formally notified the United Nations that the United States will withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021, the New York Times reported.

The decision, which was submitted to the United Nations secretary general, would go into effect on July 6, 2021 due to legal requirements to give the organization one years notice if a country intends to withdraw, the Times reported.

In the meantime, the United States would be required to meet all financial obligations for the current year the report said.

The move comes after President Donald Trump initially announced in April that he intended to halt funding to the WHO, claiming the organization made a series of mistakes in relation to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said he would rejoin the WHO on his first day as president, should he be elected.

Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health. On my first day as President, I will rejoin the @WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage. https://t.co/8uazVIgPZB  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 7, 2020

The New York Times report indicated that approximately $500 million of the WHOs approximately $6 billion budget comes from the United States.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A male teacher has sued an award-winning Richmond Valley dance school, alleging he was wrongfully fired earlier this year over false accusations of sexual misconduct against him that had been posted online.

Alonzo Williams $15-million suit was filed as he faces misdemeanor sexual-abuse charges in both Manhattan and New Rochelle stemming from alleged incidents in 2018 and 2019, respectively, court records show.

Williams was only recently arrested on those charges and vigorously denies them, said his lawyer Ambrose W. Wotorson Jr.

As for Williams termination, a civil complaint and Wotorson allege Star Struck Dance acted on and disclosed defamatory accusations against Williams that were posted anonymously on Instagram by two women, one of whom he had previously fired from his own dance company.

Wotorson said those women also lodged the criminal complaints against Williams.

Star Struck libeled Williams by communicating to one or more third parties that he was terminated, in part, because of allegations of sexual misconduct against him which are false and the product of gender discrimination and bias, the civil complaint alleges.

The school failed to investigate the claims or give Williams a chance to respond to them, alleges the civil complaint.

The Westchester County resident has been unable to get a comparable job since his dismissal in January from Star Struck, said the civil complaint.

He had six months left on his one-year contract.

Mr. Williams had a good relationship with Star Struck, and he was surprised they didnt even bother to ask his side of the story, said Wotorson.

They may not have taken the actions they took had they known about the two people who made the Instagram post, Wotorson said.

In response, Allyn Crawford, Star Strucks lawyer said, We have not been served with the (civil) complaint, but were confident that our client did nothing wrong, and that the schools position will be vindicated at the end of the case.

The suit was recently filed in state Supreme Court, St. George. Star Struck is the sole defendant.

Williams seeks $5 million each for breach of contract, loss of reputation, and punitive damages. The latter claim is for Star Strucks egregious acts and reckless disregard for plaintiffs livelihood and peace of mind, the civil complaint maintains.

Wotorson said Williams ran his company, Rhythm City, off-Island, and supplemented his income by teaching at other dance schools.

He had a one-year oral contract to work with Star Struck starting in June 2019, said Wotorson.

However, he was terminated on Jan. 2, alleges the civil complaint.

Star Struck told one or more third parties Williams was fired because of the allegations contained in the Instagram post, the civil complaint alleges.

Those third parties arent identified.

Such accusations suggest Williams is a serial sexual harasser of his own students and/or staff, said the civil complaint.

Those allegations are maliciously false, implausible and defamatory, the civil complaint contends.

Wotorson said the allegations against Williams were posted by the Instagram account Protect NYC Dancers, just days before the plaintiff was sacked.

Star Struck never gave Williams the opportunity to refute the accusations, said the complaint.

Despite the anonymity of the post, the civil complaint and Wotorson allege two former disgruntled employees of Williams at Rhythm City dance studio created and administer the Instagram account.

Williams had fired one of the women for gender-based misconduct in November or December of 2018, the lawsuit alleges.

Those two women have filed the criminal complaints against him, leading to Williams recent arrests, said Wotorson.

A complaint in Manhattan Criminal Court alleges Williams grabbed a womans private parts over her clothing on a Manhattan street on Sept. 1, 2018.

Williams surrendered to authorities last month on June 10 after they reached out to him about that criminal complaint, said Wotorson.

Subsequently, on June 22, Williams turned himself in to New Rochelle authorities after learning they, too, wanted to speak to him on a criminal matter.

According to information from the Westchester County district attorneys office, Williams is accused of forcibly sexually touching a victim against the victims will inside his New Rochelle home sometime between Sept. 25 and 30 of 2018.

Williams is charged in both cases with misdemeanor counts of forcible touching and sexual abuse.

Both cases are pending; the latter in New Rochelle City Court.

Wotorson said Williams vigorously denies the charges in both matters.

In fact, Williams has evidence, such as videos and text messages, showing he was out of state on Sept. 1, 2018, said the lawyer.

Williams may also have similar evidence with respect to the New Rochelle case, Wotorson said.

Both cases are on shaky ground at this point, said Wotorson, adding one of the complainants had a long list of employment grievances against Williams.

We believe thats whats behind this, the attorney said.

Wotorson said Williams had sued the two women in Manhattan federal court earlier this year, but is removing the case to Bronx state Supreme Court. It is a defamation suit.

Star Struck is a well-known and highly regarded dance school.

It has an enrollment of more than 800 students, comprised of girls and boys from age 2 through adult, according to its website.

School dancers have won numerous awards over the years, including at national competitions.

In 2013, its Struck Boyz dance team competed on the TV-show Americas Got Talent, advancing to the semi-finals, Advance/SILive.com reports show.

In 2017, two of the schools students danced in the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade, the Advance/SILive.com previously reported.
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Virgin Australias administrator Deloitte has cast doubt on whether its sale of the airline to Bain Capital is as watertight as originally presented, with court documents revealing the transaction is conditional and could still be terminated.

Details of the deal struck on June 26 remain shrouded in secrecy, with Bain and Deloitte refusing to say how much the private equity firm will pay Virgin's creditors  which are owed $6.8 billion  or how many of Virgin's 9000 workers will lose their jobs.

The sale of Virgin Australia to Bain Capital is being challenged by some of the airline's largest bondholders. Credit:Getty

The question of just how binding the Bain agreement is comes as two of Virgin's largest bondholders try to derail the deal in favour of their own proposal to swap bondholder's $2 billion of debt for ownership of the airline.

Deloitte said when announcing the sale to Bain that the binding agreement secured Virgins future, created certainty for workers and creditors, and was subject only to minimal conditions such as regulatory approvals. But documents filed in the Federal Court reveal the sale is still conditional and far from certain, with a significant number of steps and conditions before the transaction can be completed.
Virgin Australia's administrator Deloitte has defended its fire sale of the airline to Bain Capital, saying doing so avoided the company being liquidated, as bondholders step up their own efforts to take control of the company.

One of Virgin's largest bondholders, Broad Peak Investment, lodged an interlocutory process in the Federal Court on Tuesday seeking access to the secret sale agreement signed on June 26 between Deloitte and Bain.

Bondholders are challenging the deal to sell Virgin to Bain Capital. Credit:Edwina Pickles

Bain and Deloitte have refused to say how much the private equity firm will pay Virgin's creditors, which are owed a combined $6.8 billion, or how many of Virgin's 9000 workers will lose their jobs.

Broad Peak, a Singaporean hedge fund, was part of a group of bondholders that proposed swapping their $2 billion in debts for ownership of Virgin. Deloitte passed over the proposal and a rival bid from Cyrus Capital in favour of Bain.
It will take years for the global economy to recover from the jobs taken away by the pandemic, and in Europe, the recession will be significantly deeper than forecast just two months ago.

Those were the findings from two reports, from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Commission, that provided the latest readings on how widespread and deep the economic effects of the coronavirus will be.

The OECD predicts that employment in Europe, the United States and other developed economies won't return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022 at the earliest. Credit:AP

The OECD looked at jobs; the commission measured economic contraction. Experts conceded that the spread of the virus was unpredictable, making forecasts tenuous. But both reached similarly brutal conclusions.

The number of job losses has been 10 times greater than the hit inflicted during the first months of 2008 global financial crisis, OECD economists said, making it unlikely that employment in Europe, the United States and other developed economies will return to pre-pandemic levels before 2022 at the earliest.
For the first time in a century, the border between our two most populous states is shutting, with police and military on the northern side of the boundary enforcing the closure.

Does that strike you as economically disastrous at a time when we are already battling a brutal recession?

Closing state borders can harm individual industries, but help contain the virus. Credit:Getty

Some in the business community are clearly nervous, with Australian Industry Group chief Innes Willox warning of massive disruptions and even citing Cold War Germany.

"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," Willox said on Monday.
For the UK, and many other jurisdictions, trade with China has long been something of a one-way street. China has got far more out of it than the UK, which makes the regime's apparent determination to jeopardise what remains of Western goodwill all the more puzzling.

China's potentially vast internal market is plainly something worth aspiring to, but may be ultimately unobtainable. If access is based more on genuflection and obedience than on internationally agreed rules, it may in any case not be worth pursuing. If there is any economic sense at all in Beijing's growing geopolitical assertiveness, it is presumably based on a similar calculation - that having leveraged Western markets so aggressively to turbocharge China's economic development, a critical mass has now been reached where Western markets are no longer needed quite as much as they used to be to keep the growth machine whirring.

Nonetheless, the West plays a dangerous game if the intention is completely to ostracise the Chinese dragon. An entirely self-sufficient China, pushed into alliance with some of the more obvious adversaries, such as Russia and Iran, would not at all be in Western interests. It's a minor point, but what too is to become of many of our universities once stripped of the 100,000 Chinese students who pay top dollar to study in Britain. It is also largely fantasy to think that all, or even most, trade with China can cease without very considerable economic cost. Where do the Sinophobes think Britain's stockpile of PPE for winter's anticipated second spike in COVID-19 comes from? Where do they imagine the Nokia and Ericsson kit proffered as an alternative to Huawei is assembled? Not in Scandinavia, still less Britain and the US, that's for sure. Commercial priorities must never come before the wider national interest, but I do worry that some of our more gung-ho politicians have not fully thought through the economic and diplomatic consequences of their demands.

However much we might crave it, complete decoupling of the UK economy from China seems both impractical and to be frank about it, therefore unlikely. And if, out of loyalty to Trump's America, we do go that route, what happens if and when the US finally reaches a new accommodation with China?
On a typical Sunday, patrons at Julien Cornu's Parisian cheese shop used to load up on camembert and chevre for the week, with about half the customers digging into their pockets for euro notes and coins.

But in the era of the coronavirus, cash is no longer a la mode at La Fromagerie, as social distancing requirements and concerns over hygiene prompt nearly everyone who walks through his door to pay with plastic.

People are using cards and contactless payments because they dont want to have to touch anything.": Julien Cornu at his Parisian cheese shop. Credit:Elliott Verdier/ The New York Times

"People are using cards and contactless payments because they don't want to have to touch anything," Cornu said, as a line of mask-wearing shoppers stood three feet apart before approaching the register and swiping contactless cards over a reader.

While cash is still accepted, even older shoppers  his toughest clientele when it comes to adopting digital habits  are voluntarily making the switch.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size There's not much Dudley Kingsnorth doesn't know about the high-tech metals used to make everything from batteries to MRI machines to fighter jets. The mining industry veteran has been studying rare earths  those critical minerals with unpronounceable names like 'praseodymium' and 'yttrium'  since the 1960s. Rare earths are used in lots of high tech products such as wind turbines and electric vehicles. Credit:Bloomberg And for years he's been ringing alarm bells, because Australia and its strategic allies could soon be locked out of the market by China's growing dominance in mining and manufacturing of the stuff, set to reach 95 per cent of the market by 2025. The risk is not just that Australia will miss out on resources jobs, but that China will be the only nation with a solid supply of the essential materials needed for high-tech defence equipment and renewables technology. According to Professor Kingsnorth China is on a quest to sell end products rather than precursor materials and to do that it is manipulating prices by tinkering with taxes and quotas, which is subsequently strangling investment in Australian critical mineral projects. "France will sell you a bottle of wine, but it won't sell you grapes," Professor Kingsnorth said.

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"China doesn't really want to sell you rare earths, it wants to sell you a wind turbine or an electric vehicle. China has to find jobs for 200 million people between 2015 and 2025. If you're Chinese and you sell rare earths, you don't get your GST refunded, but if you sell a vehicle, you do. They are manipulating the prices, but they're able to do that because they're vertically integrated. A metallurgist by training and pioneer of Australia's lithium industry, Professor Kingsworth is now a consultant and runs WA School of Mines Critical Minerals Initiative at Curtin University. In 2014, he raised the alarm with NATO after China cut off Japan from its supply of rare earths in 2010. In response, the Japanese government underwrote Lynas Corporation's Mount Weld rare earths mine in Western Australia's Goldfields region, which became the only facility in decades to come online and stay in production. Concern has since grown around the world, with the Pentagon telling reporters in 2019 it wanted to work with the Australian government to establish a processing facility to meet growing demand. A working group between the US and Australia was set up in February to work on the issue.

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Jeffrey Wilson, a trade expert and director of research at the Perth USAsia Centre, put this down to China's willingness to flex its market muscle. He said there would be 200 rare earth discoveries  at least half a dozen in WA alone  that showed potential. France will sell you a bottle of wine, but it won't sell you grapes. Professor Kingsnorth "They've got the rocks, they've got the whole thing set up, but the real barrier is that they go to the board and the board says, 'so you want us to spend half a billion dollars on this mine that the Chinese could just flush out overnight?'" Dr Wilson said. "It's this huge barrier to any of these Australian companies really entering the market because they feel this would happen and certainly there is form for it." The Lynas Mt Weld mine in Western Australia. Credit:Bloomberg A moral problem as well as economic The problem faced by Australia and its allies is not just strategic. According to Dr Wilson, China doesn't enforce its environmental laws. Cobalt is not a rare earth but it is equally as important for new technologies and China processes about 70 per cent of the worlds supply, though much of it is mined by child slaves in the Congo.

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"There's no way we can price compete with those guys who are pouring sulfuric acid into the water table once they're done with it, he said. "Most of the buyers turned around and said, not my problem, mate, you compete with the Chinese or we'll just keep giving them the contracts." Dr Wilson said there was deep frustration in the resources sector at downstream manufacturers unwilling to pay a premium for critical minerals that had been sustainably mined. "Big companies are trying to phase out dodgy cobalt, but you offer them the whole thing from paddock-to-plate style, it's clean and you can brand it as having no child slave labour cobalt in it, but the guys say there's a recession on at the moment," he said. A still from the film Rare Earthenware of a radioactive lake in Inner Mongolia that collects rare earth waste. Credit:Toby Smith and Unknown Fields But there was some hope, Professor Kingsnorth said, even if there were only a handful of shovel-ready projects that could be brought on stream before 2024, with room for another three or four projects around 2026 or 2028. Too good for Australia to miss out on

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Gold and critical mineral miner Alkane has a ready-to-go specialty metal and rare earths project in Dubbo it says could make $350 million a year over 70 years and mitigate global supply chain risks. Later this month the company plans to spin off the project under a demerged entity called Australian Strategic Metals to get the mine under way and move into higher-value environmentally friendly processing of the materials. Alkane is unique in that it is one of the few Australian rare earth miners with minimal Chinese involvement thanks to its gold business paying for much of the Dubbo projects development. Chairman and major shareholder Ian Gandel is enthusiastic about keeping the benefits of the mine in Australia. WA School of Mines Professor Dudley Kingsnorth. Credit:Michel O'Sullivan Other companies may do anything just to get it into production but this is too good a quality resource, it is too good a project for Australia to miss out on, he said. What I mean by that is Australia will end up with very large royalties and I hope it is going to feed a whole lot of downstream industries for Australia within Australia, which can be exported from Australia at a higher value.

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Lands and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt will not wade into the sale of the Jubilee Downs cattle station in Western Australia's Kimberley after a local native title group in the region was knocked out of the bidding process.

Last week the Yi-Martuwarra Ngurrara native title group voiced disappointment its consortium's $25 million bid had been knocked back because it couldn't compete with bids which have reached at least $30 million.

The property comes with 11,000 head of cattle. Credit:Fairfax Media

Elders Real Estate is managing the sale and said it received eight expressions of interest for the station, which also includes the Quanbun Downs lease and 11,000 head of cattle. Three EOIs were around the $30 million mark.

The Yi-Martuwarra Ngurrara consortium, which includes global environmental land buyer The Nature Conservancy, speculated the higher bids came from wealthy individuals with pastoral interests in the Kimberley.
Some of Australia's leading astronomers have told the federal government that a massive $100 million instrument to detect supernovas, neutron stars and the birth of black holes should be built here.

The instrument, made up of two intersecting arms each about four kilometres in length, would be specifically designed to capture gravitational waves coming from some of the most extreme events in the galaxy: neutron star collisions.

An artists impression of a black hole about to swallow a neutron star. Credit:Carl Knox, OzGrav ARC Centre of Excellence

Astronomers believe these collisions often leave behind a single rapidly spinning neutron star, which exists for only seconds before collapsing under the weight of its own gravity into a black hole.

"It's rotating a thousand times every second. It has the strongest magnetic fields in the universe, the highest temperature in the universe," said OzGrav and Monash University astronomer Dr Paul Lasky, one of the experts who has driven the project since its conception two years ago.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has flagged the possibility of "ring-fencing" communities on the border between New South Wales and Victoria or moving the border ahead of Wednesday's closure.

Mr Barilaro said he was concerned about the economic impact of the border closure on those living in border communities like Albury-Wodonga and Echuca-Moama.

"It is an issue when you look at that bordering community, that border is a seamless border.

"We've got to save lives and stop the pandemic from coming into New South Wales, that has got to be our number one priority.
The NSW Auditor-General is facing Opposition calls to investigate the state government's handling of a council grants program that has been called a Coalition pork barrelling fund.

Labor local government spokesperson Greg Warren has written to Auditor-General Margaret Crawford over the Stronger Communities Fund, a scheme created to help merged councils, after it was revealed Premier Gladys Berejiklian approved more than $100 million going to Coalition seats.

Labor MP Greg Warren is calling for the NSW Auditor-General to investigate the state government's handling of the Stronger Communities Fund. Credit:Brendan Esposito

Mr Warren said there was a serious need for an investigation "to ensure full probity and financial prudency by the government".

"I note my serious concerns in relation to the administration of the SCF, particularly the alleged politicisation of its distribution by the highest levels of government, including the Premier, Deputy Premier, relevant ministers and government members," Mr Warren said.
The urgent closure of more than 50 sealed roads, dirt tracks and river crossings along the NSW and Victorian border is likely to last weeks rather than days as authorities work to stem the growing Victorian outbreak of COVID-19.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott and NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller delivered a rough outline on Tuesday of the joint-agency operation, under which travel will be restricted between the two states indefinitely.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller. Credit:Jessica Hromas

From 12.01am on Wednesday, Victorians will not be allowed across the 55 border crossings unless they have a permit and NSW Police will be given sweeping turn-back powers to allow them to force people home.

The border closure represents a major logistical challenge for both states due to the fact about 50,000 vehicles cross the border for work, health and education purposes each day.
For 30 years Caroline Henry and her husband Kel have operated an oyster farm in the South Coast town of Wonboyn, tucked off the Princes Highway about a half-hour drive from the Victorian border.

"It's a great lifestyle," Ms Henry said. "But this year has been really taxing on your emotions."

"We were finally getting back on top": Caroline Henry at Wonboyn Rock Oysters near the Victorian border. Credit:Angi High

Bushfires razed the region in January, closing the main highway until mid-February, and debris from surrounding burnt-out areas still threatens to wash into the water and ruin the couple's oysters. Coronavirus restrictions introduced within two months of the fire season have since kept customers away for most of the year. "We were finally getting back on top," Ms Henry said.

But most of the tourists who returned to Wonboyn when restrictions eased last month came from Victoria. "They won't be able to come any more. That will restrain the sales, they usually buy a few dozen oysters every day," Ms Henry said.
More than 700 people have been refused entry at Queensland's road and airport borders since Friday midday, Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said on Tuesday. He said in the same time frame, more than 180,000 passes had been issued online for border crossings. Police have met 115 flights at airports statewide, 17 from Victoria, and refused entry to 33 people. More than 9200 passengers had been processed and 63 were now in mandatory quarantine after travelling from Victoria hot spots. At the road borders, 9977 vehicles had been intercepted as of Monday, with 709 people in 240 vehicles refused entry after being told they would have to enter mandatory hotel quarantine for 14 days at their own expense.

Mr Gollschewski said only a small number of exemptions had been issued, particularly for people such as medical experts travelling between states with "risk management" in place to handle their ability to move around Queensland. The Premier said all people coming in to Queensland from interstate still needed to have a valid border pass, and they faced fines of up to $4000 if they lied on those passes, especially about visiting Victoria in the two weeks prior. Despite the warning, the Queensland government is launching stage two of its Good to Go campaign encouraging people to visit the state for a holiday. With July 10 approaching, we know we can capture the second week of the NSW and ACT school holidays, Tourism Minister Kate Jones said. Loading

Queensland has so much to offer and we hope with this campaign we can crack that billion-dollar injection into Queenslands economy, supporting the tourism industry across our state. It comes as some southern premiers call for Queensland to take more international flights, with media reports on Tuesday indicating the unnamed leaders were not happy with the perceived lower number of flights coming into Queensland compared with NSW and Victoria. Ms Palaszczuk on Tuesday rejected that claim, saying Queensland was taking its fair share of international arrivals, and pointed out the incoming flights were directed where to land by the federal government. Queensland came under increasing fire over the past few months from southern leaders, in particular NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, calling for it to open its borders early. Victoria has now experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases and Ms Berejiklian has been forced to close her state's border with Victoria as a result.

Ms Palaszczuk said the interstate rivalry on COVID-19 response had to end. Im not going to comment on another premier, all I will say is the Premier of NSW was fine to come out and say negative things when it suited her, but I will back her in this decision, Ms Palaszczuk said. With the large number of cases and community transmission in Victoria, I support what the NSW government is doing, that will ease some of the pressure on our border, because we were having to manage everything. We all need to work together on this, and I think the time of picking fights with premiers on these issues now I think is justifiably at an end. Mr Gollschewski said Queensland Police had had "very detailed" discussions with NSW Police, passing on lessons learned around border closures and the particular challenges posed when processes were changed and people were not yet up to speed on new requirements.
Victorians have rushed across the Murray River into New South Wales ahead of tonight's looming border closure, as authorities confirm a permit system will allow local residents to move between Albury and Wodonga.

Authorities are preparing to shut the border at midnight tonight to contain new outbreaks of coronavirus in Victoria.

Wodonga mayor Annie Speedie said authorities had confirmed the permit system would be set up but said it remained unclear how it would operate.

Wodonga mayor Anna Speedie in April this year. Credit:Simon Dallinger

"We have no detail," she said. "The clock is ticking. People need to access their workplaces tomorrow."
Watching the recent rise in Victorias COVID-19 numbers, its time to discuss the reality  namely, that the Victorian Health Department is one of the worst-funded and dysfunctionally organised in the nation.

This is in no way a criticism of the staff there  they are incredible. The question is, how can they stand it? The answer of course is because they care. People like the current Chief Health Officer, Professor Brett Sutton, and many others are outstanding  but the system they work in is paper thin.

Victoria's diligent healthcare workers are hampered by fundamental failings with the system. Credit:Jason South

The problem goes back years  arguably to the Kennett era when the Victorian health system was fundamentally changed with each public hospital becoming a separate operating entity and the central Department of Health was gutted. Victorias system is different from other states and territories where there is an overarching health structure and clear lines of authority, a central source of guidelines and standards, and central oversight.

The Victorian Chief Health Officer (CHO) position is much lower down the organisational structure than in other states and has far less real authority than most Victorians assume. For instance, most states have a Chief Medical Officer (CMO) who has overarching responsibility for all sectors of the health system  so that when an outbreak occurs that requires both public health interventions in the community (the usual role of a CHO) and co-ordination with hospitals to manage sick patients requiring hospital admission (as is the case with COVID-19), they have the necessary team structure to do this in a co-ordinated, integrated manner.
Senior students at Al-Taqwa College are believed to be the major source of Victorias second-largest COVID-19 cluster, which has exploded from just a handful of family-related cases eight days ago to 90.

More than 2000 students and hundreds of staff at the large school in Truganina have been sent into quarantine and are being tested for the virus.

Al-Taqwa College in Truganina has been linked with 90 cases. Credit:Craig Abraham

Confirmed cases linked with the school emerged during the first week of school holidays, but it is believed the virus was transmitted by students after they returned to face-to-face learning during term two.

Victorias Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said most cases in school settings had involved a student who acquired the virus outside of school, such as from a family gathering.
International arrivals to Western Australia are set to be capped at 525 passengers a week, Health Minister Roger Cook announced on Tuesday.

While there have been no new cases in WA overnight, Premier Mark McGowan on Monday sought support from the federal government to cap arrivals so that the state didn't end up in a situation like Victoria, with hotels and security staff overwhelmed.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook gives an update. Credit:Nine News Perth

There are 12 active coronavirus cases in WA, of those 10 are West Australians but all are in hotel quarantine and "represent very low public health risk".

Mr Cook said the federal government had approved the cap of 525 passengers a week  or 75 a day  which significantly reduced arrivals, given there were 245 arrivals from Singapore and Doha on Tuesday.
Police are searching bushland in Perth's north for clues to the disappearance of a North Beach teenager more than two decades ago.

Cold Case Homicide Squad detectives combed the bushland near a pine plantation along Old Yanchep Road on Tuesday looking for clues into the case of 14-year-old Radina Djukich, who went missing in 1992.

Police charged a man last year over the presumed death of 14-year-old Radina Djukich. Credit:Nine News Perth

Radina's body has never been found, but last year a man was charged with her manslaughter.

Ronald Joseph Buckland, 70, is alleged to have killed Radina by injecting her with a deadly substance in North Beach between May 15-16, 1992.
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has promised Victoria all the help it requires from the Commonwealth after the state was plunged into a further six weeks of economic uncertainty through strict coronavirus lockdown measures.

The state's most senior member of the Morrison government said the situation in Victoria was "serious" and the latest COVID-19 outbreak was at "a critical point".

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has promised Victoria all the help it needs to get through another severe lockdown. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Industry groups on Tuesday night warned the Andrews government's decision to shut down Melbourne for at least six weeks was a "retrograde step" that will cause untold damage to the economy and employment.

Mr Frydenberg told The Age and the Herald that from the beginning the federal and state governments had prioritised the protection of lives based on medical advice, while also providing significant economic support to cushion the blow to those affected.
Medical staff at the Royal Melbourne Hospital are concerned about the risk of contracting the coronavirus during a training course for the hospital's new digital record system, after two nurses who attended the group sessions tested positive to COVID-19.

Chief executive Christine Kilpatrick wrote to staff on Monday advising the hospital was working with the Victorian health department "to implement all appropriate measures, including contact tracing and cleaning" after the link to the training sessions was made.

Medical staff at the Royal Melbourne hospital are concerned about the risk of being infected with COVID-19 during training sessions. Credit:Michel O'Sullivan

A doctor at the Royal Melbourne, who spoke to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on condition of anonymity, said the hospital was "putting staff in danger in order to satisfy their own timeline goals regarding the electronic medical record project" and should cancel the in-person training until Victoria's escalating COVID-19 outbreak was brought under control.

Only about 15 per cent of staff have completed the training so far, the doctor said.
Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong is calling for Australia to introduce its own Magnitsky Act to target human rights abusers after the United Kingdom unveiled its much-anticipated laws.

The adoption of the new sanctions regime in the UK has also sparked one Liberal MP to warn that Australia now risked becoming a safe haven for bad actors unless it passed its own laws.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong wants an Australian Magnitsky Act. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The UK is imposing sanctions on 49 people and organisations behind some of the most "notorious" human rights abuses in recent years, including individuals in Saudi Arabia, Russia, Myanmar and North Korea.

The new laws, based on the United States Magnitsky Act that targets individuals rather than whole countries, will include asset freezes and travel bans.
Australians living in and travelling to China may be arbitrarily detained, the Department of Foreign Affairs has warned as the relationship between the two countries deteriorates.

The upgraded travel advice on Tuesday follows a similar warning for Hong Kong last week after Beijing implemented sweeping new national security laws designed to prevent and punish attempts to undermine the Chinese state.

Protesters hold up blank papers during a demonstration in a mall in Hong Kong, which could be in violation of new legislation. Credit:Getty Images

DFAT on Thursday told up to 100,000 Australians living in Hong Kong and those planning on travelling to the Chinese territory that new laws could be interpreted broadly. Residents have been warned by Hong Kong police that pro-independence chants, flags and as of Tuesday - blank pieces of paper raised in defiance - could be in violation of the new legislation.

"You can break the law without intending to," the department said. "The maximum penalty under this law in Hong Kong is life imprisonment."
Seoul/Singapore: China is forging ahead in the race to develop a vaccine to help control the COVID-19 pandemic, with Sinovac Biotech's experimental vaccine set to become the country's second and the world's third to enter final stage testing later this month.

While a laggard in the global vaccine industry, China, where the new coronavirus is thought to have originated, has brought state, military and private sectors together in a quest to combat a disease that has killed over 500,000 people worldwide.

Many other countries, including the United States, are coordinating closely with the private sector to try to win the vaccine development race, while China still faces many challenges.

Its success in driving down COVID-19 infections makes it harder to conduct large-scale vaccine trials, and so far only a few other countries have agreed to work with it. After past vaccine scandals, Beijing will also have to convince the world it has met all safety and quality requirements.
The world's largest social media companies have found themselves in the middle of a tit-for-tat escalation over the future of Hong Kong, as Facebook, WhatsApp and Google refuse to disclose information to the Chinese government and the United States threatens to ban Beijing-based TikTok.

TikTok announced it would stop operations in Hong Kong on Tuesday less than an hour after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was looking at banning the Chinese social media app over data and national security concerns.

TikTok, which has 1.6 million Australian users, maintains the decision was due to Hong Kong's new national security laws, which would have compelled it to hand the information of pro-democracy protesters to the Chinese government.

TikTok has been accused of censoring content relating to the Hong Kong protests.

But the chief executive of its China businesses, Kelly Zhang Nan, told Chinese media on Tuesday that the mainland version of the site, Douyin, would continue to operate in Hong Kong. Douyin is censored by Beijing and has suspended users for speaking Cantonese while publicising crackdowns on protesters.
Jerusalem: Israel launched a spy satellite on Monday that could help monitor Iran's nuclear activity, as Israeli officials remained evasive about incidents at Iranian industrial facilities that have raised suspicions of foreign sabotage.

Israel's defence ministry said the Ofek 16 satellite was transmitting data after successfully launching, joining an array of spy satellites the country has placed into orbit since 1988.

"The investment of Israel in space technology is considered essential and strategic for intelligence purposes," an Israeli defence official said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "The success of the Ofek 16 satellite very much increases our ability to act against Israel's enemies, near and far alike. It greatly expands our ability to act on land, at sea, in the air and also in space."
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Sint Maarten Christian Party - SMCP is hereby announcing the resignation of Member and Candidate Mr. Michael Orlando Somersall who in keeping with the Articles of Association of SMCP submitted his resignation in writing on Thursday, the 25th of June 2020.

Michael Somersall has been a member of the Sint Maarten Christian Party since the 28th of July 2016 and contested elections as such in September of 2016, February of 2018, and January of this year 2020.

With his appointment to the position of Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary in 2018, Michael Somersall sacrificed his business and relocated his family to take up residency in The Netherlands, where he proudly served the people of Sint Maarten from the 25th of June. During his tenure as Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary, he worked diligently to regain the respect of the Dutch and other countries for Sint Maartens representatives in The Netherlands. Michael Somersall relinquished this position on the 19th of November due to the change of Government.

As a member of SMCP, Michael Somersall has proven to be a true team player, committed to serving the people of Sint Maarten, dedicated to the Sint Maarten Christian Party, bringing his full potential and giving his all to making Sint Maarten a more resilient island and people.

The Sint Maarten Christian Party is certainly better, for having had Michael Somersall serve this association as member and candidate and wishes him and his family Godspeed and all the best as he further serves Sint Maarten and its people.

The Board of SMCP
PHILIPSBURG:--- The United Democratic (UD) party continues to observe with much concern the ongoing developments and the Government reactionary management of the affairs of the country.

UD Leader MP Sarah Wescot was chided by the coalition members for not

voting along with them on the motion in support of the governments acceptance of the Corona liquidity assistance and the conditions attached to this assistance by the Netherlands.

Coalition members beat their chest, boasting that these conditions could never be honored if unlawful.

Government nevertheless proceeded to act and react, oblivious to the questions by the UD as to the legality of their actions to secure the assistance from the Netherlands.

It is shameful that our own General Audit Chamber had to publicly chastise the government on a matter that is so obvious, namely tinkering with the vacation allowance of the civil servants with total disregard for relevant laws and regulations.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. More actions by this government are against prevailing laws and regulations.

We are still in a democratic state of law. Government too has to abide by the laws of the land. If a countrys government succumbs to this kind of pressure, our democracy is under threat. Today its for liquidity assistance. Tomorrow it could be for anything, if government is left unchecked, commented UD leader, MP Sarah Wescot.

THE GOVERNMENT CAN NOT IGNORE THE COUNTRYS LAWS, ESPECIALLY NOT WHERE THEY ALSO ACT AS EMPLOYER.

We call on the government to rethink its handling of the Corona assistance and conditions imposed by the Netherlands.

We call on the government to take heed of the General Audit Chambers call and pay the vacation allowance to civil servants according to law.

We call on the government to inform the Dutch government of the real threat of government acting contra legem (against the law) by carrying out the

conditions laid out by the Dutch government without requisite due diligence.
In July the airline will resume service to 13 destinations in the region from its Miami and Charlotte hubs

MIAMI:--- American Airlines today resumed scheduled service to eight destinations in the Caribbean previously suspended in March due to coronavirus (COVID-19) travel restrictions. The airline resumed its operations from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Santo Domingo (SDQ), Santiago (STI), Puerto Plata (POP) and Punta Cana (PUJ) in the Dominican Republic; Port-au-Prince, Haiti (PAP); as well as to Eleuthera (ELH), Georgetown (GGT) and Nassau (NAS) in the Bahamas.

In the coming weeks, the airline is also planning to relaunch service to St. Lucia (UVF), Aruba (AUA), St. Vincent (SVD), St. Maarten (SXM) and Providenciales (PLS), some with service from both MIA and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).

American has a long and proud history in the Caribbean and we are thrilled to continue resuming our operations, flying this month a schedule that includes up to 42 daily flights to 19 destinations in the region, said Jose Freig, Managing Director for the Caribbean and Latin America. We are looking forward to safely serving our customers in the Caribbean and to help restart travel and tourism in the region.

Scheduled resumption of service in July

Destination Origin City Frequency Aircraft Resumption Date SDQ MIA 3x daily B737-800 July 7 STI MIA 1x daily A319 July 7 POP MIA 1x daily A319 July 7 PUJ MIA 1x daily B737-800 July 7 PAP MIA 1x daily A319 July 7 ELH MIA 1x daily ERJ145 July 7 GGT MIA 1x daily ERJ145 July 7 NAS MIA 2x daily B737-800/ ERJ145 July 7 UVF MIA 1x daily B737-800 July 9 AUA MIA CLT 1x daily 1x daily B737-800 A321 July 10 SVD MIA 1x daily B737-800 July 11 SXM MIA CLT 1x daily 1x daily B737-800 A319 July 15 July 16 PLS MIA CLT 2x daily 1x daily B737-800/ERJ175 A320 July 22 July 23

While American has continued flying a limited schedule in the region, with flights to San Juan (SJU), St. Thomas (STT) and St. Croix (STX), in June the airline resumed service to Antigua (ANU) and to Kingston (KIN) and Montego Bay (MBJ) in Jamaica. With these flights, the airline will be operating up to 42 daily flights in the Caribbean during the month of July, with additional increases scheduled for August.

Americans Clean Commitment has multiple layers

As American adds more flights to its summer schedule, the airline is taking several new actions as it continues to focus on the well-being and safety of customers and team members. These include creating a new Travel Health Advisory Panel including world-renowned Vanderbilt University Medical Center to advise on health and cleaning matters as travelers return over the summer.

American also announced that it is working with the Global Biorisk Advisory Council for GBAC STARTM Accreditation (GBAC STAR) for its fleet of aircraft and customer lounges. GBAC STAR Accreditation demonstrates that proper cleaning and disinfection work practices, procedures, and systems are in place to prepare for, respond to, and recover from pandemics. The Travel Health Advisory Panel and GBAC STAR Accreditation build on Americans commitment to the safety and well-being of its customers and team members.

American has implemented multiple layers of protection for customers that include clean airports and airplanes, looking out for the health of team members, and requirements for customers to wear face coverings.

American disinfects every aircraft, including hand-cleaning seat buckles, seats, tray tables, and other surfaces. The airline also applies an electrostatic spray inside the aircraft every seven days which kills 99.9999% of viruses and bacteria within 10 minutes. American is the only network airline to use a product on EPA List N which provides continued seven-day protection against bacteria, mold, and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. And the HEPA filtration system onboard Americans fleet provides a complete air change every two to four minutes, similar to the standard for hospitals.

American has also expanded the frequency of cleaning in airport areas under its control, including gate areas, ticket counters, passenger services counters, baggage service offices, and team member rooms. Customers on many flights receive sanitizing wipes or gel, and American has limited food and beverage delivery to reduce interactions between flight attendants and customers.

COVID-19 symptom checklist for travelers

In May, American began requiring all customers and team members on board to wear a face-covering unless there is a medical reason why they cannot. In June, American said it would limit flight privileges for customers who refuse to wear a face-covering without a medical reason. In addition, American is asking customers during the check-in process to certify that they have been free of COVID-19 symptoms for the past 14 days.

Flexibility for customers

American is providing customers additional flexibility for travel by extending its offer to waive change fees. This offer applies to tickets that meet the following criteria:

 Any ticket for travel through Sept. 30, 2020, will not incur change fees prior to travel.

Customers must pay any fare difference, if applicable, at the time of ticketing of the new fare. Fare rules may apply depending on the ticket.

 All AAdvantage award tickets are included in this offer.

 Customers are allowed to change their origin and destination cities as part of this offer.

 Travel must be completed by Dec. 31, 2021.

For the latest on Americans changes to scheduled service and other information related to

COVID-19, please visit the Newsroom.
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Jerry Oleksiak has announced that people who exhaust their regular unemployment compensation (UC) and federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) may now qualify for 13 additional weeks of payments through the states Unemployment Compensation Extended Benefits program.

Extended Benefits (EB) are additional UC benefits payable to qualified workers whenever the states unemployment rate reaches a certain level determined by law. The last time the EB program was triggered in Pennsylvania was 2009.

The current EB period began May 3, 2020, but benefits are not payable until an individual has exhausted PEUC benefits. EB payments will begin with the week ending July 4, 2020 and are payable only for weeks of unemployment during an EB period.

Important information about the EB program follows and will be sent by mail to all individuals who potentially qualify for the additional benefits.

A person may be eligible for EB if:

They are totally or partially unemployed;

Have exhausted their regular state benefits on their most recent UC claim, or their most recent UC benefit year has ended; and,

They have received the maximum amount of PEUC that they were eligible to receive.

Additional eligibility information is available at https://www.uc.pa.gov/unemployment-benefits/Pages/State-Extended-Benefits-(EB).aspx

Those who have collected the maximum amount of PEUC they are eligible to receive will have an EB Notice of Financial Determination will be mailed to them.

You must complete your weekly EB online certification in order to claim EB for weeks you are totally or partially unemployed.

Each EB online certification corresponds to one specific week, as indicated on the web form. Individuals who opt to use paper claim forms should only use the form that is specifically dated for the week of unemployment they are claiming.

Those who do not receive their Financial Determination within two weeks after receiving their final PEUC payment should call the UC Service Center at 1-888-313-7284.

EB weekly benefit payment amounts are the same as regular UC.

The total amount of EB you may have received is 50 percent of the amount of regular UC you were financially eligible to receive on your most recent claim. Example:

If you were financially eligible for 26 weeks of regular UC, you may receive up to 13 weeks of EB.

There is an additional wage test for EB eligibility, so not all individuals will financially qualify.

EB may only be paid for weeks ending during an EB period.

If you are entitled to Trade Readjustment Allowances, you may receive fewer weeks of EB.

EB is currently fully federally-funded through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Public Law (Pub. L.) 116-127, specifically Division D, the Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020 (EUISAA).

Since March 15, more than $21.5 billion in benefits has been paid:

$9.6 billion from regular UC

$9.6 billion from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program (extra $600 per week)

$2.2 billion issued so far to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claimants (self-employed, gig workers, independent contractors)

$129 million through Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program (extended benefits)

Of the eligible claimants that applied for benefits between March 15 and May 30, and who filed for continued claims, 90.2 percent received payment as of June 29.
Turkeys are shown before the Thanksgiving holiday at Ashley Farms in Flanders, N.J., Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018. Two of the three people charged following a protest at a southern Alberta turkey farm have received conditional discharges in court. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Seth Wenig
Happy, engaged employees are the key to a profitable business

It is a truism that in the physical security industry your workforce and your reputation are the businesss largest and most important assets. Managing your workforce with empathy to ensure happy, engaged employees can be a balancing act. However, providing flexible working practices that are still profitable for your business is achievable, and something that every security business should be aiming for. SmartTask CEO, Paul Ridden discusses the hidden benefits of an engaged workforce and the role that good workforce management has to play. The importance of an engaged workforce cant be stressed enough because motivated employees are what makes a business successful. Highly engaged staff According to Gallup, disengaged employees are a drain on any business. On average, they have 37% higher absenteeism, 18% lower productivity and 15% lower profitability. When the impact to the bottom line is calculated, you're looking at the cost of 34% of a disengaged employee's annual salary. Conversely, highly engaged staff show a 40% reduction in absenteeism, and almost 60% less turnover. Engaged employees show up every day with enthusiasm and purpose Engaged employees show up every day with enthusiasm and purpose. They tend to work harder, treat customers well (leading to more business), and, are more likely to remain with the company. Employee engagement is determined by factors such as feeling clear about your role at work, and having the right tools to enable you to do your job to the best of your ability. Being recognised for your hard work and diligence is also a key factor. Enabling security businesses Workforce management, when done well, can make a significant difference to all of these factors, and therefore help to foster an engaged workforce, which is good for business. Traditionally, workforce management and time & attendance (clocking on and off) systems may have seemed a bit big brother, however, this is no longer the case. In a world where almost everyone carries a smartphone, people are quite used to the idea of constant connectivity. This can be harnessed to enable security businesses to run more smoothly and efficiently, benefitting everyone. Indeed, being able to prove that a contracted service has been delivered is not only good for customer service, and invoicing, it is also provides recognition for hardworking staff. Workforce management solution Staff that feel empowered in such a way are more likely to feel happy and engaged Providing Flexibility and Work/life Balance - While we all know that contracts are contracts, and security businesses must deliver, ditching paper based systems in favour of an electronic workforce management solution, can provide additional flexibility to workers, supporting work/life balance. For example, shifts and rosters, which can be designed in a fraction of the time with a purpose-built solution, can be published further in advance, giving employees enough notice of work patterns to plan their lives around their shifts. People are more easily able to swap shifts or sign up for additional work, and the control room still has oversight to see exactly who is working where and when. In addition, staff can see their accrued holiday entitlement more easily, and request leave from their smartphones. Staff feel more in control of their lives when they can discuss their work patterns and holidays with family while at home simply by referring to an app on their device. Staff that feel empowered in such a way are more likely to feel happy and engaged with the business. Delivering work schedules Task lists for completion while onsite sent directly to their mobile device is convenient for all Convenience and Duty of Care - Using an app to deliver work schedules and assignment instructions provides your employees with the tools and information they need to do their job while removing the stress of dealing with paper-based forms. Task lists for completion while onsite sent directly to their mobile device is convenient for all, and helps to prove compliance with any regulatory requirements, including Duty of Care. Check calls are part of daily life for security workers. Remembering to make them can be cumbersome, but with an app, they can be built into the employees Actions for the day/shift, with an automated prompt to make the call. Managing finances better Payroll Visibility and additional Services for Staff - With an online time & attendance solution where people clock in and out electronically, they are able to check their hours accrued and see what their salary will be. If a shift is missed, for example, they are able to query with the payroll department much sooner, leading to more accurate and timely pay. Additional services can be provided, such as pay in advance schemes, where workers are able to draw down a percentage of their earned salary before payday. This enables staff to manage their finances better and avoid taking payday loans. Keeping electronic records The benefits to the business of a workforce management solution are many The benefits to the business of a workforce management solution are many. Saving time on back office processes such as designing rosters, managing shifts/attendance/service delivery, holidays and absence. Reducing reliance on manual systems, keeping electronic records provides audit trails, proves compliance and streamlines invoices for all work completed. Having detailed records also means better analysis of the business. Managing rosters and schedules is one thing, ensuring that every shift is profitable is much more complex. However, with electronic workforce management all the variables, fixed costs, recurring costs, salaried people, hourly people and the cost of equipment required, that go into costing a shift can be analysed to ensure every shift is profitable. Providing better safeguards In a post-COVID world, people have embraced technology at a pace not previously imagined. Technology has enabled us to keep in contact with loved ones, enabled those that can to work remotely, and provides better safeguards to key workers that cannot work remotely. In a post-COVID world, people have embraced technology at a pace not previously imagined Providing people with the right tools to do their job is a major step forward in empowering your workforce to do well. Electronic systems that reduce paperwork, also reduce the drudgery of form filling. At head office that frees people up for more proactive, strategic and customer facing work, that really makes a difference to your business. Affordable software solutions Out in the field, electronic systems keep people safer, more informed and helps them to manage their work/life balance. A winning combination for everyone. Paul has spent most of his working life in the computer industry, with the last ten years spent focusing on software solutions for the security, cleaning, FM and logistics sectors. Part of Pauls role is to use his passion and entrepreneurial approach to build a technology team that can develop and deliver affordable software solutions that take advantage of the latest technologies and help deliver value to all SmartTask users, large and small.
Mary Beth Spalding

South Bend Tribune

SOUTH BEND  The month of July is looking like it will be a dry one, with the heat cranked up high at least this week and next.

In fact, dry conditions in Indiana could soon slide into early drought, and although South Bend might take a shade longer to reach that designation, some area crops are already showing signs of stress.

Most of Indiana currently is classified as abnormally dry, and the Climate Prediction Center last week said drought conditions are likely to develop in July, according to Todd Holsten, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Webster, Ind. The centers weekly update is expected Thursday.

I imagine when its updated that a large portion of northern Indiana will probably be in whats considered a moderate drought, Holsten said.

Dry conditions will get worse before they get better, he said. Although there might be a chance of rain later this week, the soonest he expects any real relief might be toward the end of the month.

Meanwhile, temperatures that already are at least in the low 90s are forecast to spike into the middle to upper 90s next week and maybe flirt with the century mark, he said.

When meteorological summer began June 1, much of the state was already missing rain because of a cold, dry spring, according to Holsten.

June rainfall was spotty, Holsten said, leaving most areas parched and with deficits of up to 4 inches, but soaking a few locations. The South Bend area, for instance, saw slightly above normal precipitation with 4.5 inches of rain.

I wont be surprised if places that have been dry and have missed out on these spotty rains, theyre going to be the places that go over 100 next week, he said.

Rain last month did get some area corn and soybean crops off to a good start, said Gideon Nobbe, executive director of the Farm Service Agency serving St. Joseph and Marshall counties. But its been hit and miss.

It is hot and it is dry, Nobbe said. Irrigation is going. Well find out in the fall how much its going to cause a yield drop if any.

The heat combined with no rain or a lack of irrigation could hurt corn and soybean pollination and dent yields, he said.

Leaves of thirsty corn plants are starting to look like pineapple, he said, as they roll up tight during the day to conserve moisture and unfurl after dark.

Anytime it does that, Nobbe said, its causing stress on that crop that could potentially cause a yield loss.

Holsten said the bulls-eye of the developing drought zone is in northeast and east-central Indiana extending into northwest Ohio.

He thinks while most of northern Indiana is likely to soon get a moderate drought designation, it could take the South Bend area another week or so to hit that mark thanks to the earlier rainfall.

Also, theres a chance of rain Friday, he said, as a cold front swings through and drops temperatures into a more normal range of the upper 80s for the weekend.

An abnormally strong subtropical ridge currently sitting in the middle of the U.S. is a weather pattern that reminds Holsten of the summer of 2012, when July and August were very dry, very hot.

I wish I could tell everybody theres some relief down the road, but it doesnt appear that way, Holsten said. Usually this time of year when these ridges get that strong it takes a long time for them to break down and the drought cycles underneath them can be pretty vicious.
"We pushed each other's buttons in the best of ways," Kloots wrote. "He would always look at me and say, 'I'm the luckiest.' Well darling, I was the luckiest to get to spend five years with you and to share a son that will always remind me of you.
Bruce Morlan is a Bridgewater Township resident who tends his real turf with nothing but water, sun, some maths, and an occasional mowing to keep the weeds down.
Governor not sure yet if students will be back at school this fall
"It's there for them to go out and market the city around the country, try to bring new business to town and help support existing businesses without using tax dollars," Robertson said about the authority credit card. "Steve really still has several days to make good on the expenses or explain them. If he was out there meeting with people, we have no problem with that."
T HE scale of the effort by City banks to funnel money to struggling firms was laid bare today by government statistics showing that more than 1 million bounce back loans have been handed out.

Figures out today show what 1.01 million of the loans have been made at a total of nearly 31 billion.

The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) is controversial since banks have been encouraged, or indeed ordered, to employ far more relaxed affordability criteria than usual.

The government has told banks simply to back firms to prevent the mass unemployment that would sink the economy.

While the loans are 100% guaranteed by the taxpayer, banks are still obliged to try and reclaim the loans first.

One bank analyst said: The banks are owed a lot of money. How much do they get back from the actual borrowers?

Stephen Pegge, managing director of commercial finance at UK Finance, said: The banking and finance industry is continuing to deliver on our plan to help businesses of all sizes get through these challenging times.

Just over three months since the first of the Covid-19 lending schemes launched, over one million businesses have been supported thanks to the tireless efforts of staff working on the ground.

Businesses large and small and from all parts of the economy have taken advantage of the scheme and of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

Bikes-to-car parts seller Halfords, which has seen its motoring arm hit by the lockdown keeping cars off the road, today secured 25 million through CBILS.

It will use the funding, which was equally split between HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds, to bolster its balance sheet as it handles the fallout from Covid and the gradual return of traffic to the roads.

Pegge added: Todays figures represent part of an unparalleled package of support from the industry which includes commercial lending, capital repayment holidays, extended overdrafts and asset-based finance.
South Africa: Heavy fine imposed on Durban company

No company should ever think it can operate in South Africa and not comply with the labour laws that have been designed to protect both workers and employers.

This was a warning from the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, issued after the conclusion of a trial of a company that was fined for being in breach of the labour laws and disregarded COVID-19 pandemic regulations.

The Chen Lu Fragrance Company appeared in the Durban Specialised Criminal Court last Thursday for various charges, including locking in 14 employees in the Durban factory, to ensure that they met the target of producing surgical masks.

The company was accused of using the lockdown fears of unemployment to force workers into long hours and was fined R20 000, of which R15 000 was suspended for five years.

The company was also fined R50 000, of which R35 000 was suspended for five years, for failure to trade under lockdown with a required licence.

The company was further ordered by the Chinese Consulate to donate masks worth R200 000 to the South African Police Service and the office of the KwaZulu-Natal Premier.

Nxesi welcomed the courts heavy fine against the company, noting that during this time of COVID-19, it is important for the workers to stand up for their rights and report abuse, as workers in Chen Lu Fragrances CC did.

Our Inspection and Enforcement Services does a good service but working hand in hand with workers, it is possible to end workplace exploitation. We appeal to workers to report abusive behaviour at work.

The operations of the company were in direct conflict with the COVID-19 regulations. They did not even provide for physical distancing and thus put lives of many workers and their extended families at risk, Nxesi said.

Over 1 000 claims received from Compensation Fund



The Minister said the department is also aware that there are companies that have taken advantage of the emergency nature of work during the pandemic, and are using it as an excuse to exploit workers.

Every day the Compensation Fund is receiving claims of workers, who have contracted the virus for being exposed at work. A total of 1 215 claims have been received so far and it is actions of companies like this that expose workers to fatal dangers of the pandemic.

At least 98 claims have been received from KwaZulu-Natal and it is our plea that companies need to do right by their employees who remain their most valuable asset and not expose them unnecessarily to danger," the Minister said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
"We've been a little shy promoting ourselves," said Nicole Newsome, digital marketing specialist. "People know they can put an ad in the paper or online, but what they don't know is that we do a lot of digital solutions. We're not losing sight of print; we're just making sure they know we're a full media company."
U K productivity tumbled in the first three months this year as coronavirus forced workers into their homes.

Official stats from the Office of National Statistics showed labour productivity fell by 0.6% from January through to March compared with the same period a year ago.

Output per worker was down by 3.1% over the same period, reflecting the impact of the governments job retention scheme, under which furloughed workers still count as employed for statistical purposes.

The ONS said about the stats: "This reflects the impact of "furlough" schemes, which reduced hours worked but preserved workers' employment statuses."

Labour costs jumped by 6.2%, its fastest rate since 2006, also as a result of the furlough scheme.

Productivity fell across the whole economy. Output per hour was hardest hit in the property sector, with a slump of 10.5%.

Productivity was a major problem for the UK economy even before coronavirus struck. The UK has some of the worst worker output rates in the developed world, with many economists blaming a lack of investment in skills and IT by senior managers and executives.

The ONS added: "Low labour productivity growth looks set to continue into the new decade as the UK economy faces further disruption.

"This sustained period of weak growth has been labelled the UK's "productivity puzzle" and is arguably the defining economic question of our times."

Output per worker fell more than output per hour / ONS

The ONS said it was too early to know if working from home increases or decreases productivity.

The statistics body said: "The coronavirus pandemic has forced employers and employees to adjust to new working schedules and arrangements, such as working from home, which may have either positive or negative impacts on the productivity of different parts of the economy."
If there is a good moment to be an ambitious chancellor, insulated from the austerity years (he has been in Parliament for only the past five years), with a fair wind from No 10 to spend, spend, spend and spookily high approval ratings from Conservative activists, this week is it for dishy Rishi. Plus, the wider public do not hate him. So Sunak has his chance to shine, after the Covid crisis has left many other frontline ministers involved looking damaged or war-weary. This is also the first salvo in the underlying battle to shape the ground for the next election. The governments claim to competence has taken a knock during the pandemic, a fact not lost on a more astute new Labour leader. Sunaks sweeping measures are intended to show it is bold about a recovery plan.

His main asset is a first-class financial brain. Crucially for a government that smarts from the reputation of being hamstrung economically by an uncertain Brexit aftermath and the habit of glossing over the very serious downsides of a no-deal, Sunak is Brexiteer enough to pass muster in a party emotionally in thrall to the 2016 referendum result, but restrained enough not to sound deluded.

Yet it is worth asking how connected he really is to the bigger story which will determine the UKs economic future beyond this years emergency giveaways. Budgets that rely on a massive splurge can really work only once  everything else is about correction, dilution or sorting out unforeseen consequences. A no-deal Brexit is not something this Chancellor wants, but he has to say he would live with it to keep the PM and Dominic Cummings happy. How long can this delicate evasion last?

Anne McElvoy

Sunaks press conference referencing no-deal talks in April was spookily reminiscent of Tony Blairs ability to say nothing for well over a minute, very fluently. If plans were afoot to move Frost from that role to National Security Adviser, its pretty clear the Chancellor knew nothing of it. So there is no Sunak-Johnson axis  more a tentative deal of mutual usefulness. Johnson needs an expansionist mini-budget this week and had set his course before the Covid crisis against austerity. Sunak will deliver on that.

But there is always a reckoning for high borrowing, because demands on spending will always outstrip the capacity to grant it. The Chancellors test will be to show that a debt to GDP ratio of 100 per cent has brought in more than just a stay of execution on unemployment and a very large interest payment.

The Sunak fiscal recipe will need to show results and he needs a relative period of stability and better growth than predicted to avoid disappointment. His allies admit life will be easier if a trade deal, however limited, is achieved by the end of the year, but his own evasions tell us that this is an outcome he knows he has little chance of influencing.

So Sunak has one big opportunity as Chancellor, which is to create a stimulus plan for a pandemic-ravaged economy that predicts more or less accurately where he has the best chances of bang for his buck. It was a very Rishi thing to do, one of his backbench proponents murmurs, to claim limelight for the large arts bailout by heading to the Globe Theatre yesterday. Hamlets Polonius might have whispered his warning from the wings: Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend.

In truth, Sunak has no option but to be a big-time borrower. The crown prince Chancellor is about to define himself as the man who can save the British economy. No small downside risk, that one.
O n Wednesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will make his Financial Statement to Parliament, laying out the measures the Government proposes to rebuild the economy and deal with the devastating effects of the Covid pandemic.

Children and young people must be at the heart of that statement. Their education, health and social well-being have taken the biggest hit from the crisis. The Institute for Public Policy Research calculates that by the end of this year, 200,000 more children will fall into poverty as parents became unemployed, had hours reduced, or were furloughed, forcing reliance on an inadequate welfare safety net.

Poverty in childhood has a lifelong scarring effect on childrens life chances, harming their health, educational attainment, and future employment prospects. It also costs the UK economy dearly, running to billions of pounds each year.

Meanwhile, missing their friends, lacking routine, and in some cases, a troubled and unsafe home environment are damaging childrens wellbeing, physical and mental health. Vulnerable children who are out of school or nursery dont just miss out on formal learning. Away from the sight of teachers and education professionals who know them, theyre at greater risk of abuse and neglect.

I welcome the return of children to school in September. By then, many will have faced a six-month gap in their learning, with the most disadvantaged children least likely to have had access to resources for quality home study during that time. Catch-up funding announced by the Government is essential to ensuring those children make up lost ground (and should be extended to post-16 students). It must cover a broad curriculum that recognises not just core subjects but the arts and humanities, technical and digital skills, problem-solving and teamwork, sport and health.

Access to resources for learning is also important, yet there are reports that not all the promised laptops for children who lack digital access have been delivered, functionality is limited, and internet access is still not available to all. That must be put right.

By the end of this year, 200,000 more children will fall into poverty as parents become unemployed

By the end of this year, 200,000 more children will fall into poverty as parents become unemployed

For some children, unsettled and distressed by the Covid crisis, returning to school will be especially difficult. They must receive trauma-informed support at school.

Hungry children struggle to learn, so its deeply worrying that the Trussell Trust reported last month that the number of food parcels issued to families with children nearly doubled compared with the same period last year. Labour forced the Government into a vitally necessary climbdown, as ministers agreed to fund food vouchers over the summer holiday for children eligible for free school meals. But problems with the voucher scheme continue - that funding must reach every eligible child.

These are the immediate steps that government must take to protect and support children and young people now. But the Financial Statement must also look to their long-term needs. Investment in early years education pays the greatest dividends. The Chancellor must put child care and early years funding on a sustainable footing, including rebuilding Labours bold and innovative Sure Start. The cost of school - trips, equipment, uniforms and so on  limits the educational participation of the poorest children, and must be addressed. Funding for post-16 students in sixth-forms, colleges and universities is essential to rebuilding the economy and securing the skills we need.

Most importantly, parents need adequate incomes to provide for their children if theyre to thrive. Scrapping the five-week wait, two-child limit and benefit cap in universal credit, and creating "jobs, jobs, jobs", as Labour has called for, must be top of the Chancellors spending plans.
Michaela Coels critically acclaimed BBC series I May Destroy You has been hailed as one of the best shows of the year, but Coel has revealed she was originally in talks with Netflix to run the programme.

In a viral interview profile with Vulture, Coel revealed she had been offered $1 million by the streaming service for the show - but ultimately turned it down when it wouldnt give her "any percentage of the copyright."

The initial Netflix deal, which was negotiated in spring 2017 with the help of her American agency CAA, fell apart after she asked to retain 5 percent of I May Destroy Yous copyright. (She later fired CAA, who encouraged her to take the deal, after learning the agency "would be making an undisclosed amount on the back end".)

(BBC/Various Artists Ltd and FALKNA/Natalie Seery) / BBC

Coel recalled speaking with a Netflix executive and asking for 5 percent of her rights: There was just silence on the phone. And she said, Its not how we do things here. Nobody does that, its not a big deal. I said, If its not a big deal, then Id really like to have 5 percent of my rights. Silence.

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After some negotiation, the executive negotiated Coel down to 0.5 percent but said she still had to run it up the chain.

Coel recounted: Then she paused and said, Michaela? I just want you to know Im really proud of you. Youre doing the right thing. And she hung up."

At the 2018 Edinburgh International Television Festival, Coel previously touched on a deal with an unnamed streaming service.

She said: A streaming service, that I came very close to producing this show with, wanted me to create the show - to write every single word of it, be the sole director and the lead actress. This streaming service wanted me to do this whilst withholding 100 percent of the rights as their property.

BBC/Various Artists Ltd and FALKNA/Laura Radford

So I thought, let me plea for two percent, and when that was rejected I grew uncomfortable with the prospect of dedicating two and a half years of my life to a show exploring exploitation and loss of power whilst also losing all of my rights, she continued.

I rejected their deal, registered my own production company and hoped one day I would meet another broadcaster or streaming service who would allow me to retain a portion of my rights.

The Chewing Gum creator said that before that point, she worried people thought she was paranoid and killing off all my agents - but the talk with the Netflix executive was a turning point.

Coel revealed: And then she said those words to me, and I finally realised  Im not crazy. This is crazy.

Negotiation: Michaela Coel / Mike Marsland/WireImage

Eventually, the show found a home at the BBC in conjunction with HBO where she was able to retain the rights to her work, including full creative control and a production role.

Coels I May Destroy You is a powerful exploration of sexual assault, trauma and the questions of consent that come with it.
Actor and #MeToo activist Rose McGowan has called for Bill Clinton and Prince Andrews arrest, following the news that Jeffrey Epsteins alleged partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell is in police custody.

On Friday, she posted a picture of Epstein, Maxwell and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein (who she alleged raped her) with their faces crossed out in red.

She wrote: Now get Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew.

Both Clinton and Prince Andrew have both denied claims regarding their friendships with Epstein.

In Clintons case, a spokesperson said any stories relating to the former presidents alleged visits to Epsteins private Caribbean island (where underage girls were reportedly sex trafficked to and engaged in intercourse with Epsteins connections) were a lie the first time it was told, and it isnt true today no matter how many times its repeated.

Prince Andrew has also categorically denied having sex with Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she had been forced to have intercourse with the royal on multiple occasions. After repeatedly refusing her claims, he took part in a car crash BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis to double down on his denial.

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REUTERS

The picture followed McGowan sharing a BBC News alert about Maxwell being charged in the US, after she was arrested in New Hampshire on six different charges including conspiracy to entice minors, conspiracy to transport minors with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two perjury charges.

McGowan has become a figurehead of the #MeToo movement founded by activist Tarana Burke, sharing her own stories as well as campaigning alongside other high profile figures.

AP
Vogue Portugal has removed one of its four covers for July/August 2020 and said it deeply apologises after the image prompted a huge backlash online.

Titled 'The Madness Issue', the cover showed a psychiatric hospital with a woman sitting naked in a bathtub as two nurses dressed in old-fashioned uniforms poured water over her head.

After the magazine was accused of insensitivity for its stereotypical and outdated portrayal of mental illness, Vogue Portugal announced that it would be removing the image and offered an apology.

On such an important issue such as mental health we cannot be divided, the magazine wrote on Instagram a few days after the cover was released on social media.

Vogue Portugal has taken the decision to pull one of the four covers of our July/August issue, which depicts a scene of a psychiatric hospital as well as the inside cover story based around the topic of mental health, the publication continued.

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Vogue Portugal deeply apologises for any offence or upset caused by this photo shoot. On reflection, we realise that the subject of mental health needs a more thoughtful approach. We sincerely apologise for this.

The cover was immediately met with criticism on social media when Vogue Portugal posted it to Instagram late last week. Many people called it offensive and distasteful, while one person condemned the magazine for glamorizing A depiction of mental health treatment that harks back to archaic, traumatic therapies.

Portuguese model Sara Sampaio also weighed in on the row, sharing a video to her IGTV over the weekend explaining why the cover was damaging to anyone with mental health issues.

That cover was very triggering for me because of the way usually mental health is treated in the news, especially in Portugal, Sampaio said, sharing that she had previously experienced mistreatment from the Portuguese press after opening up about panic attacks.

I had an incredible response from my friends, but I was immediately followed by a s**t ton of articles from [the] Portugal press saying that my career was over because of my panic attacks, that my career was in danger because of my panic attacks, Sampaio explained. "Obviously, everything was false, but as someone who is going through really high anxiety and panic attacks, having to deal with that on top was very damaging, she said.

There are so many magazines in Portugal that still use those clickbait titles and articles, and those are very damaging - not just for me, but for everyone that suffers from the same thing, she explained.
E urostar will launch its direct Netherlands to London service later this year following new agreements on border procedures.

There is currently a direct London to Netherlands Eurostar route, but returning passengers have to stop in Brussels for security checks.

The Home Office has now said UK Border Force officials will be deployed at stations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam to carry out checks before boarding, as already happens in France and Belgium.

These new border checks will be possible due to existing agreements between the UK, France and Belgium signed in 1993 being modified to include the Netherlands.

Representatives from all four countries signed the treaties at a ceremony in Brussels on Tuesday (July 7).

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Home Secretary Priti Patel said: This important treaty shows that, while we have left the European Union, our links with Europe are stronger than ever.

It will enable vital security and immigration checks to be carried out in the Netherlands, protecting the UKs border and providing faster and more efficient journeys for passengers.

A spokesperson for Eurostar told the Standard: This is a great milestone which allows us to progress our plans to introduce direct services from the Netherlands to the UK later this year. We will update as soon as possible when we are able to put tickets on sale and confirm a start date.

The treaties were due to be signed ahead of direct trains from the Netherlands to London starting in April 2020, but the launch was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Outbound services from London will resume on Thursday , with direct trains to London beginning later this year.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: As we begin to emerge from one of the greatest international challenges of our time, were working hard to support the recovery of international transport and tourism sectors.

Investment in modern, convenient and more environmentally friendly high-speed rail links between major European cities will help drive this recovery so these sectors can flourish once again.
A man has been arrested in Spain on suspicion of murder after a law student was killed in a drive-by shooting in Blackburn.

A 30-year-old man from Manchester was being held on suspicion of the murder of Aya Hachem after a European Arrest Warrant was executed in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol on Saturday, Lancashire Police said.

Miss Hachem, 19, was gunned down on a shopping trip near her home in Blackburn on the afternoon of May 17.

The first of two shots fired from a passing vehicle hit a building.

Police at the scene on King Street, Blackburn / PA

However, the second struck the teenager in the chest.

Police said the man, who is now subject to the extradition process, was also held on suspicion of the attempted murder of a man officers believe was the target of the shooting.

Aya Hachem, 19, was gunned down near her home in Blackburn / PA

A 33-year-old man from Manchester was also arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Warrants were executed at addresses in Grassmere Road and Moss Lane in Partington, Manchester, the force spokesman said.

Six men and one woman have already been charged with murder, alleged to have arisen out of a dispute between two rival tyre firms, RI Tyres and Quick Shine.

The defendants are also accused of the attempted murder of the alleged intended target, the owner and manager of Quick Shine.
A woman has described the moment she was allegedly chased around a former MPs house after he groped her, chanting Im a naughty Tory.

The alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said it felt as though Charlie Elphicke was racing her around his home in central London, in 2007, trying to grab her bottom.

Moments earlier, she had rejected Elphickes advances as they shared a 40 bottle of wine.

The politicians children were meanwhile asleep upstairs and his wife, Natalie Elphicke, was away on business, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Elphicke attends court alongside his wife, Dover MP Natalie Elphicke / PA

Giving evidence via video-link, the woman said she thought of Elphicke  who did not become an MP until three years later  as asexual, so found it odd when he began asking her about her sexual preferences.

She said: He started talking about what we (the alleged victim and her boyfriend) liked in a sexual way.

I sort of wagged my finger at him and said We dont need to talk about that kind of thing.

He was like a totally asexual person, to me. He started saying Do you like silk and leather? and bondage.

He was jovial, jokey, excited maybe, in an animated way. I was just thinking Oh god, how embarrassing.

She said the conversation continued for a couple of sentences before he basically jumped on her, the court heard.

She said: He tried to kiss me and I moved my head, he pushed me down by my shoulders, he had his knee between my legs and he was groping my breast.

The witness said she told Elphicke to get off and she ran away.

I just thought Ive got to get out of here, she told the jury.

My adrenaline was going. I was just shocked  really, really shocked.

I never thought in a million years that he was that kind of person, that he would do anything like that.

She said Elphicke then pursued her around his home as she moved away.

She said: He was saying really bizarre things that are embarrassing like Im a naughty Tory.

He was trying to grope me and trying to grab my bum.

He was following me, it was like a race, she said. I couldnt understand what was happening.

The witness told jurors she managed to get away from Elphicke and got into a taxi.

She said: I was feeling really shocked and scared  the whole thing was really embarrassing and odd and scary.

Elphicke denies three counts of sexual assault against two women, between 2007 and 2016.

Jurors have been told of a second woman who said she found herself in Elphickes company, sharing a bottle of champagne in Westminster, when he allegedly assaulted her.

The young woman, a parliamentary worker, said he tried to kiss her before groping her.

He had his mouth open, continually trying to kiss me, she said. It was like a disgusting slobbery mess.

The prosecutor said the woman clearly rejected Elphicke, told him he was married, and that there was a large age gap.

Ms Marshall told jurors he also said to the woman: Oh, Im naughty sometimes, arent I?

I can be so badly behaved, but I cant help it.

Elphicke was elected as MP for Dover in 2010 and held the seat until standing down at the general election in December 2019. His wife, Natalie, succeeded him.
A retired music teacher who died after being attacked near her home was a top clarinettist who travelled the world, her devastated son said today.

Rosemary Hill, 87, was assaulted from behind while walking in Reigate, Surrey on June 21. She suffered head injuries and died in hospital five days later.

Police are investigated and appealed for witnesses to come forward.

A 45-year-old man from Reigate arrested on suspicion of attempted murder was later detained under the Mental Health Act. He remains in hospital.

Mother-of-three Mrs Hill, originally from Croydon, was an accomplished clarinet player who had attended the Royal College of Music, travelled the world with orchestras and was funny and talented, her family said.

She later became a music teacher at Keir Starmers former school Reigate Grammar where she worked for more than 20 years.

Her son Jonathan Few, 54, a cello teacher at the Whitgift School who has played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, said: Mum passed on her love of music to me. Music was her life.

She was very talented and had travelled with my father who played the French horn.

She was compassionate, caring and funny. Ive had her former students and her colleagues coming up to me to say they are going to miss her. We are all totally shocked and devastated by what happened.

Mrs Hill took up the clarinet at Croydon High School in the 1940s after coming back to London following her evacuation during the war.

At 17, she attended the Royal College of Music and was taught by distinguished clarinet teacher and performer Frederick Thurston.

She met husband Raymond Few when she won a place at the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra in 1954.

A year later, they married and left the UK for the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra in Beirut.

Mrs Hill later played with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under celebrated conductor Andrzej Panufnik, the Festival Ballet, Ballet Rambert and the New Zealand Broadcasting Company Symphony Orchestra.

In 1979, she began work at Reigate Grammar School until her retirement. Mrs Hills husband died in 1993 and she went on to marry Richard Hill.

When he passed away in January her youngest son Jonathan moved from his home in Crystal Palace to care for his mother during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Few said: I didnt like the idea of mum alone with everything going on so I moved to be with her and help out for a while.

We were having conversations and going on walks, it was nice despite what was happening in the world. She lived a very fulfilled life and was very happy. She will be very missed by everyone who knew her.

Surrey Police said: Detectives are continuing to investigate the assault that took place on Warren Road in Reigate at 5.40pm on Sunday, June 21.

If you have any information which could assist our investigation, please contact us on 101, quoting Operation Baritone.
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T wo cyclists have been rushed to hospital after a collision with a van in Wandsworth, south-west London.

Police and ambulance workers attended the scene on Wandsworth High Street on Tuesday evening

Officers cordoned off the high street for around two hours before letting traffic through again.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: "Police were called to Wandsworth High Street, SW18, shortly before 16.00hrs on Tuesday, 6 July to reports of a van in collision with two cyclists.

"Officers attended along with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service.

"The cyclists, a man and a woman, were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital.

The spokesman added that the woman was seriously injured, but that the cyclists' lives were not in danger.
C oronavirus patients suffering mild symptoms may carry protective antibodies for just a matter of weeks, new research suggests.

A study of almost 70,000 people in Spain found that 14 per cent who initially positive for antibodies then showed a negative result two months later.

The apparent antibody disappearance was predominantly seen among those reporting very mild symptoms or who had been asymptomatic, according to the analysis published in the Lancet journal.

Immunity can be incomplete, it can be transitory, it can last for just a short time and then disappear, one of the reports co-authors Raquel Yotti told The Times.

We must keep protecting ourselves and protecting others.

Other researchers told the paper that the findings were in line with a growing body of evidence that largely symptom-free coronavirus sufferers may not amass lasting antibodies, although other elements of the immune system may still protect them.

No symptoms suggests a mild infection, which never really gets the immune system going well enough to generate immunological memory, Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, explained.

Prof Jones said this means anyone who tests positive for antibodies should not assume they are protected.

They may be, but it is not clear, he added.

The research also suggested that just 5.2 per cent of the Spanish population have developed antibodies against the disease, despite the country being one of the worst affected in Europe.

This pours water on hopes that herd immunity could offer wide-scale protection against the disease and therefore quash the need for constant lockdowns.

Around 70 to 90 per cent of a population needs to be immune to protect the uninfected.

"Despite the high impact of Covid-19 in Spain, prevalence estimates remain low and are clearly insufficient to provide herd immunity," the study's authors wrote in the report.

"In this situation, social distance measures and efforts to identify and isolate new cases and their contacts are imperative for future epidemic control."

The study is thought to be the largest of its kind on the disease in Europe, however, China and the US have conducted similar analyses.

The key finding from these representative cohorts is that most of the population appears to have remained unexposed" to the coronavirus, "even in areas with widespread virus circulation," a Lancet commentary alongside Spains findings concluded.
N o one should leave the house without a face covering, a leading UK scientist has said.

Professor Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, president of the Royal Society, said the UK "way behind" many other countries in using coverings to protect against the spread of coronavirus.

He pointed to mounting evidence suggesting masks protect both the wearer and those around them.

Not wearing one should be considered "anti-social", in much the same way as drink driving or failing to wear a seatbelt, Prof Ramakrishnan said.

"Not doing so increases the risk for everyone, from NHS workers to your grandmother," he added.

It comes as two new reports on face coverings were published by the scientific body, including one which found the UK was slower to take up wearing them compared with other countries.

Authors of the second report said new evidence strongly supports the use of masks where physical distancing of more than one metre cannot be maintained  such as in shops and office buildings.

However, in late April, only around a quarter of people in the UK wore face coverings, compared to 83.4 per cent in Italy, 65.8 per cent in the US and 63.8 per cent in Spain, according to one of the reports.

Prof Ramakrishnan claimed the public remained "sceptical" about their benefits because "the message has not been clear enough" from the Government.

Whatever the reasons, we need to overcome our reservations and wear face coverings whenever we are around others in public, he stressed.

It used to be quite normal to have quite a few drinks and drive home, and it also used to be normal to drive without seat belts.

Today both of those would be considered anti-social, and not wearing face coverings in public should be regarded in the same way.

TODO: define component type apester

If all of us wear one, we protect each other and thereby ourselves, reducing transmission.

Face coverings mandatory on public transport as lockdown eases 1 /17 Face coverings mandatory on public transport as lockdown eases Nigel Howard Jeremy Selwyn Daniel Hambury PA PA Nigel Howard Nigel Howard Jeremy Selwyn Daniel Hambury Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Nigel Howard Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Nigel Howard Nigel Howard

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that it was inconsistent for ministers to recommend the wearing of masks while in hospitals or when using public transport but not in other places.

Prof Ramakrishnan said: I think what we would like for the Government is to be a bit stronger and clearer about the messaging and require it whenever you are in crowded public spaces where you cannot get more than two metres away from the next person.

If youre in a crowded setting, you ought to wear a mask.

Prof Ramakrishnan said: The virus has not been eliminated, so, as we lift lockdown and people increasingly interact with each other, we need to use every tool we have to reduce the risk of a second wave of infection.

There are no silver bullets, but alongside hand washing and physical distancing, we also need everyone to start wearing face coverings, particularly indoors in enclosed public spaces where physical distancing is often not possible

However, experts on the government's scientific advisory group, Sage, remain divided over their benefits.

Some voice ongoing concerns that they might offer a false sense of security, and cite reports that masks dont seem to slow the spread of flu when worn in Asian countries.

But there remains a consensus that they may reduce the risk of an infected person passing the virus on to someone else.

Professor Paul Edelstein, of the University of Pennsylvania, who co-wrote the second report said evidence that masks and face coverings protect other people is becoming "clearer all the time".

He added that there was also "some evidence" they protect the wearer, too.

"There are people without symptoms going about their daily business who are unknowingly breathing out droplets that are carrying the virus," Prof Edelstein said.

"If they had their faces covered the majority of those droplets would be caught before they can infect other people, he added.

Wearing face coverings can help save lives and prevent disabling illnesses."

Professor Melinda Mills, of the University of Oxford, who led the first report, said: "What is clear is that it isnt the publics fault for not wearing masks in the UK.
B oris Johnson today paid tribute to the spirit of London on the 15th anniversary of the 7/7 attacks as a city stronger than any hate-filled ideology.

The terror attacks on three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus in 2005 claimed the lives of 52 victims, with more than 700 people were injured.

In a special video message, the Prime Minister said he was reminded of the way diverse communities in the capital came together in the hours and days afterwards.

Because when this city was attacked by those who sought to divide us, London responded with the simple truth that whoever you are, wherever you are from, whatever the colour of your skin or the name of the god you worship, if you choose to come to London and make your life here then you are a Londoner, he said.

Boris Johnson pays tribute to the 7/7 attack victims

And when you really need it, when you think you cant go on, when you have been knocked down and cant get back on your feet, then this city and its people will extend a hand and hold a total stranger close as if they were family.

That is the kind of city London is, those are the kind of people Londoners are.

Flowers from Boris Johnson at the 7/7 memorial in Hyde Park on the 15th anniversary of the London bombings / Jeremy Selwyn

The video was made by campaigners representing families of the victims and survivors because coronavirus prevented the annual gathering of those affected by the attack.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick and London Mayor Sadiq Khan laid wreaths at the 7/7 memorial in Hyde Park at 8.50am today - the time the first bomb went off.

A message on the wreath laid by Mr Khan said: Fifteen years have passed, but the 52 innocent people who lost their lives on 7/7 remain in our hearts.

Those who seek to divide our communities and destroy our way of life will never, ever succeed.

Sadiq Khan approaches to lay a wreath at the London Bombing Memorial in Hyde Park, London / PA

A second group, including London Fire Brigade Commissioner Andy Roe and London Ambulance Service chief executive Garrett Emmerson, laid wreaths at 9.47am - when the bomb on the bus exploded in Tavistock Square.
B oris Johnson today said London would never forget the 7/7 bombings as he and other leading figure lay floral tributes to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the tragedy.

A series of co-ordinated explosions ripped through three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus on July 7 2005, killing 52 people, as well as the bombers, and injuring more than 700 people.

On Tuesday morning, the Prime Minister placed flowers at the Hyde Park memorial, alongside a handwritten note. He also spoke in a video that was created to replace memorial events that had to be cancelled because of the pandemic.

"No one who is in London on the 7 July, 2005, will ever forget what they experienced that day," said Mr Johnson in the video.

The Prime Minister's floral tribute for the victims of the London bombings / Jeremy Selwyn

In the note left alongside the flowers, he added: "We grieve for those who were lost. We remember those who were injured. We defy those who would defy us."

The full 30-minute film, due to be published at midday today, also included a message from the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

7/7 London bombings (2005) - In pictures 1 /15 7/7 London bombings (2005) - In pictures Carnage The destroyed number 30 bus that was being driven by George Psaradakis when it exploded in Tavistock Square PA Walking wounded Victims leave Edgware Road Tube station to be treated at the London Hilton Metropole following the terrorist attacks PA Plotters (L-R): Shehzad Tanweer, Germaine Lindsay and Mohammed Sidique Khan in Luton Train Station on June 28 during an apparent dry run of their devastating attack on the capital Metropolitan Police Shock Blast survivors leave Edgware Road Tube station PA Final journey The four London bombers arrive at Luton train station at 7.21am on Thursday, July 7, 2005 Metropolitan Police Devastation Damage to the the Circle line train blown up at Aldgate Tube station Metropolitan Police Murderers The July 7 bombers: Hasib Hussain, Shehzad Tanweer, Jermaine Lindsay and Mohammad Sidique Khan PA Remember Thirty of the 52 bomb victims PA Hero Stephen Hockin, who rescued casualties from the scene of the Edgware Road bombing PA Driver Jeff Porter, who was driving a train in the opposite direction past the ill-fated Edgware Road Tube as it exploded PA Tavistock Square The scene nearby after the number 30 bus exploded PA Rescue Firefighters bring up the injured at Aldgate Tube station after the Circle line blast that killed seven PA Cordon Police near Edgware Road Tube station following the blast that killed six PA Scars An injured Tube passenger after being treated near Edgware Road station PA Memorial The July 7 memorial in Hyde Park, which has one pole for every one of the 52 victims PA

Mr Khan said: "The indiscriminate targeting of Londoners on our public transport system was an act of unspeakable evil."

He added: Our capital will never forget the terrible events of that day, and my thoughts are with all those whose lives were changed forever.

Boris Johnson left a message at the memorial for the victims of the terror attack / Jeremy Selwyn

As we mark 15 years since the attack on our city, I want again to pay tribute to the heroic efforts of our emergency services and transport workers, who ran towards danger to save lives, on that awful day."

Mr Khan also laid a wreath at the memorial at 8.50am  the time the first bomb went off. He left a message which read: Fifteen years have passed, but the 52 innocent people who lost their lives on 7/7 remain in our hearts.

Sadiq Khan laying a wreath / PA

Those who seek to divide our communities and destroy our way of life will never, ever succeed."

Met Commissioner Cressida Dick, British Transport Police Chief Constable Paul Crowther, City of London Police Commissioner Ian Dyson and Transport for London (TfL) Commissioner Mike Brown were also among the group who paid tribute to the victims at that time.

A second group, including London Fire Brigade Commissioner Andy Roe and London Ambulance Service chief executive Garrett Emmerson, will lay wreaths at 9.47am  when the bomb on the bus exploded in Tavistock Square.

Mr Brown said: We will never forget those innocent victims who lost their lives in the most tragic circumstances 15 years ago.

We stand united with our colleagues from the emergency services and the city as a whole in remembering them today.

Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick / PA

The resilience of great world cities like ours continues to be tested but Londoners have shown time and time again that our strength lies in our diversity, resourcefulness and spirit of togetherness.

The film features many of the elements that would take place at the 7/7 Memorial in Hyde Park. It includes short speeches from those affected by the atrocity, reading of the names of those killed, music from the London International Gospel Choir and the laying of flowers at the memorial.
S adiq Khan will have two offices under plans to move City Hall  including a central London base to avoid having to travel to and from the East End, it emerged today.

He suggested converting The Crystal, a small conference centre in the Royal Docks beside the Emirates cable car, and renaming it City Hall.

Today, under questioning from the London Assembly, Mr Khans most senior aide admitted the Mayor would also have an office at the Palestra skyscraper building in Southwark that is currently home to Transport for London.

David Bellamy, the Mayors chief of staff, said this would make it easier for the Mayor to attend regular meetings in central London, such as at Scotland Yard.

The Mayor has meetings all round the place, Mr Bellamy said. Its a matter for whoever is elected in the elections next year about how they balance the time across the GLA group.

Absolutely the Mayors main office is going to be at The Crystal in this proposal.

Sadiq Khan will have two offices under plans to move City Hall / PA

Susan Hall, leader of the GLA Conservatives, said she had heard from two sources that there would only be space for 150 of the GLAs 1,190 staff at The Crystal.

Mr Bellamy said this was an underestimate and depended on how the conference centre were reconfigured, but admitted GLA employees would be expected to work from home two or three days a week.

At present, the Mayors office is on the eighth floor of the glass testicle City Hall building designed by Norman Foster at a cost of 43m. It was opened by the Queen in 2002.

City Hall would not be moved to The Crystal until December 2021, the assemblys budget committee was told today. This means that Mr Khan will have to be re-elected next May if he wants to be the first mayor in the new home of the GLA.

The Crystal has been proposed as it is currently owned by the GLA, meaning it would enable major savings in rent.

However only a limited amount of money would be saved over the current and next financial years. Mr Khan is trying to save 493m due to an expected drop in business rates and council tax due to the impact of coronavirus.

The 55m in savings that would result from moving to The Crystal would take until December 2026 to realise, the GLAs executive director of resources, David Gallie, said.

The GLA currently pays 11.1 million a year in rent and rates for City Hall and this is due to increase to 12.6 million by the end of next year. It has until September to decide whether to use a break clause to get out of the deal with City Hall's private landlords.

Work is underway to establish how to redesign The Crystal to accommodate a chamber and committee rooms for meetings of the London Assembly, which scrutinises the Mayor, and provide desk space for the growing army of GLA civil servants.

The Crystals floor space is only 60 per cent of that available at City Hall, which Mr Bellamy said was originally designed to accommodate 426 people  the mayor, 25 assembly members and 400 staff.

As a result, 300 desks for GLA staff would be squeezed into the Palestra and at least 150 desks into the London Fire Brigade headquarters in Union Street, nearby in Southwark.

It would cost up to 8m to refurbish The Crystal and to get the Palestra and the fire brigade HQ ready for the influx of GLA staff.

A further 10m would have to be spent returning City Hall to the state it was in when it was first occupied, under the terms of the lease.
S ir Keir Starmer today attacked Downing Streets new White House style TV briefings saying they risk unbalancing the political discourse.

In an interview with the Standard, Sir Keir said the televised briefings were obviously a political move and that Labour is considering a right of reply.

Downing Street has said they will be fronted by a political appointee as opposed to a civil servant, which raises questions as to whether the opposition party is entitled to a response.

No 10 will introduce White House-style press briefings "later this year" / AP

The Labour leader said: Its obviously a political move. Nobody can quarrel with greater transparency but this is political and one of the greatest things in our democracy is balance and hearing both sides.

We are exploring, and keen to explore, just how the political balance is maintained if you move to this style of briefing. Thats the risk of it, that it unbalances the political discourse.

Pressed on whether Labour would be seeking a right to reply to the new briefings, he added: Thats the discussion we are having amongst ourselves.

Our democracy thrives on balance and in particular the opposition being able to hold the Government to account. So that needs to be addressed.

In May, Sir Keir gave a broadcast after the PMs address to the nation about lockdown under a precedent set by former Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell, who was given a right to reply at the height of the Suez crisis.

Downing Streets new televised broadcasts will replace off-camera afternoon briefings for journalists, which are currently hosted by a senior civil servant.

They are expected to start in October with work starting soon to make Number 9 ready for cameras.

The move is expected to prove controversial and concerns have been raised by journalists about a reduction in the scrutiny of Government.

It comes as Downing Street prepares a major overhaul government communications as a part of Dominic Cummings drive to reform Whitehall.

Communications will soon be managed by the Cabinet Office instead of individual departments, with a significant reduction in the number of press officers.

Sir Keir made the comments on a visit to pub BrewDog in Tower Hill to discuss how their reopening over the weekend had gone.
B ritain is to resume sales of arms to Saudi Arabia, the UK government has announced.

Sales of weapons to the Middle Eastern country, which currently leads a coalition of states accused of committing war crimes during a protracted conflict in Yemen, had been banned in June 2019 by an Order of the UK Court of Appeal.

The order prevented any new licenses for the export of arms or military equipment to Saudi Arabia for possible use in Yemen.

But in a statement on Tuesday, international trade secretary Liz Truss said British arms sales to Saudi Arabia would resume following the completion of a court-ordered government review into military export licenses granted to the country.

Ms Truss admitted that the decision was being made despite the review finding that Saudi Arabia may have used British arms in incidents that breached international humanitarian law (IHL) in Yemen.

Ms Truss issued the statement online on Tuesday / Reuters

Ms Truss said that although the review found credible incidents of concern that have been termed possible breaches of IHL, the government has classified them as isolated incidents.

The minister also expressed her belief that Saudi Arabia has a genuine intent and the capacity to comply with human rights laws going forward.

It reads: "The incidents which have been assessed to be possible violations of IHL occurred at different times, in different circumstances and for different reasons.

Having now re-taken the decisions that were the subject of judicial review on the correct legal basis, as required by the Order of the Court of Appeal of 20 June, it follows that the undertaking that my predecessor gave to the Court  that we would not grant any new licences for the export of arms or military equipment to Saudi Arabia for possible use in Yemen  falls away.

"The broader commitment that was given to Parliament, relating to licences for Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, also no longer applies.

Britain has historically been a major supplier of arms to the Gulf kingdom, with leading company, BAE Systems, reported to have sold 15bn-worth of arms in five years  including the type of aircraft used in bombing missions.

In the statement, Ms Truss adds: I have concluded that, notwithstanding the isolated incidents which have been factored into the analysis as historic violations of IHL, Saudi Arabia has a genuine intent and the capacity to comply with IHL.

On that basis, I have assessed that there is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL.

The Government will now begin the process of clearing the backlog of licence applications for Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners that has built up since 20 June last year.

Five years of war has seen more than 100,000 people killed in Yemen, according to The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (Acled), a well- regarded database project that tracks the ongoing conflict.

Yemen is the Arab worlds poorest nation. In October 2018, the United Nations reported that 14 million of its citizens were on the brink of famine, and Covid-19 has stretched resources even further recent months, leaving thousands of families facing starvation.

The ongoing conflict has been termed a proxy war, as long-term rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have each backed one faction in the countrys civil war.

Houthi rebels, aligned with Iran, took over the capital from the internationally recognised government of Yemen in 2014.

In 2015, Saudi-led airstrikes, which allegedly included use of British-made weapons, were launched in a mission to prevent the Houthi rebels from taking the south of the country.

Since then the airstrikes have bombed hospitals, schools, school buses, community gatherings and food supply chains, and the UN and humanitarian groups have accused the Saudi-led coalition of breaching IHL and committing war crimes.

The rebels have used drones and missiles to attack Saudi Arabia in the war, which has seen Saudi involvement reduce in recent months.

The total number of displaced Yemenis is now up to four million, according to reports.

Anti-weapon sales lobby group, Campaign Against the Arms Trade, has said it is considering taking legal steps over the decision.

The group states the UK has licensed at least 5.3 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the conflict began in 2015.

Spokesperson Andrew Smith labelled the decision disgraceful and morally bankrupt.

He said: The government claims that these are isolated incidents, but how many hundreds of isolated incidents would it take for the Government to stop supplying the weaponry?

"We will be considering this new decision with our lawyers, and will be exploring all options available to challenge it.

Rosa Curling of Leigh Day Solicitors, the firm which took the original case to court, said: "Our client welcomes the Secretary of State's decision to finally accept the judgement handed down by the Court of Appeal and to agree that any decision concerning licence applications must include an assessment of whether IHL breaches have occurred.

But CAAT is also deeply alarmed by the decision that, despite her new procedure, the Secretary of State has decided licences can continue to be granted and that there is no clear risk the Saudi led coalition in Yemen might use such licensed, military equipment in breach of IHL.

"My client's view is the evidence remains overwhelming that such a risk does in fact exist. We are considering her decision carefully with our client.

A government spokesperson said: The Government has retaken the licensing decisions as required by the Court of Appeal. All existing and new applications for Saudi Arabia for possible use in the conflict in Yemen will be assessed against the revised methodology which considers whether there is a clear risk the equipment might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.
T oday marks the 15th anniversary of the tragic 7/7 terror attack in London which left scores dead after a series of explosions ripped through the capital.

The attacks on three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus killed 52 people as well as the bombers, and more than 700 people were injured.

Marking the anniversary on Tuesday, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: Our capital will never forget the terrible events of that day, and my thoughts are with all those whose lives were changed forever."

Virtual commemorations are being held today to remember those who lost their lives in the attack, with planned physical commemoration events cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

7/7 London bombings (2005) - In pictures 1 /15 7/7 London bombings (2005) - In pictures Carnage The destroyed number 30 bus that was being driven by George Psaradakis when it exploded in Tavistock Square PA Walking wounded Victims leave Edgware Road Tube station to be treated at the London Hilton Metropole following the terrorist attacks PA Plotters (L-R): Shehzad Tanweer, Germaine Lindsay and Mohammed Sidique Khan in Luton Train Station on June 28 during an apparent dry run of their devastating attack on the capital Metropolitan Police Shock Blast survivors leave Edgware Road Tube station PA Final journey The four London bombers arrive at Luton train station at 7.21am on Thursday, July 7, 2005 Metropolitan Police Devastation Damage to the the Circle line train blown up at Aldgate Tube station Metropolitan Police Murderers The July 7 bombers: Hasib Hussain, Shehzad Tanweer, Jermaine Lindsay and Mohammad Sidique Khan PA Remember Thirty of the 52 bomb victims PA Hero Stephen Hockin, who rescued casualties from the scene of the Edgware Road bombing PA Driver Jeff Porter, who was driving a train in the opposite direction past the ill-fated Edgware Road Tube as it exploded PA Tavistock Square The scene nearby after the number 30 bus exploded PA Rescue Firefighters bring up the injured at Aldgate Tube station after the Circle line blast that killed seven PA Cordon Police near Edgware Road Tube station following the blast that killed six PA Scars An injured Tube passenger after being treated near Edgware Road station PA Memorial The July 7 memorial in Hyde Park, which has one pole for every one of the 52 victims PA

Here, we explain what happened during, and profile the victims of, the 7/7 bombings:

When did the 7/7 bombings take place?

The 7/7 bombings took place during the morning of the 7th of July, in 2005.

Three of the four bombs went off just before 8:50am on Tube trains at Edgware Road, Aldgate and Russell Square that had departed from London's King's Cross station.

A fourth device was detonated about an hour later on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square, not far from King's Cross.

The four people identified as responsible for the attack were: Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30; Shehzad Tanweer, 22; Germaine Lindsay, 19 and Hasib Hussain, 18.

Who were the victims of the 7/7 bombings?

A total of 52 people lost their lives as a result of the 7/7 bombings.

At Russell Square, 26 people were killed. They were:

James Adams, 32

Mr Adams was a church deacon from Bretton, in Peterborough. A mortgage adviser, he was caught in the Piccadilly Line Tube blast while on his way to work in the Strand.

Samantha Badham, 35

Ms Badham, a web designer, was killed while taking the Tube to work with her partner, Lee Harris. The pair had plans to meet friends that evening.

Philip Beer, 22

Mr Beer was a hair stylist from Hertfordshire and was on his way to work at a salon in Knightsbridge when he was killed.

Anna Brandt, 41

A Polish national, Ms Brandt had been living in London for three years before she was killed in the terror attack. The mother-of-two was travelling from her home in Wood Green to Hammersmith, where she worked as a cleaner, at the time of her death.

Ciaran Cassidy, 22

Mr Cassidy, who was raised in north London, was on his way to work on the morning of the attacks. A shop assistant and passionate Arsenal fan, he was planning a trip to Australia, for which he had been saving for several months, prior to his death.

Rachelle Chung For Yuen, 27

An accountant from Mauritius, Mrs Chung For Yuen was travelling to work in Piccadilly Circus when she was killed. She had settled in Britain five years earlier, in 2000, and later married her husband Billy in the capital in May 2004.

Elizabeth Daplyn, 26

Ms Daplyn was a hospital administrator from Highgate, north London, where she lived with her partner. She was a talented artist and musician.

Arthur Frederick, 60

Mr Frederick was a museum security guard living in north London prior to his death. He was born in Grenada before moving to island of Montserrat as a young man. After a 31-year career as a police officer there, he moved to London in 1997.

Karolina Gluck, 29

Ms Gluck was a Polish national who had moved to London three years prior to her death, to follow her twin sister, Magda. She boarded the Tube at Finsbury Park and was heading to work in Russell Square, where she worked as a receptionist at the Goodenough College before she was killed.

Gamze Gunoral, 24

A Turkish national, Ms Gunoral was staying at her aunt's house in north London while she was in the capital to study English. She had previously graduated from the University of Marmara, in Istanbul, where she was also born, as an actuary.

Lee Harris, 30

Mr Harris was an architect who lived in Tottenham with his partner, Ms Badham. Ms Badham died in the blast, while Mr Harris was taken to the Royal Free Hospital with serious head injuries sustained in the terror attack. He was in a coma for eight days before passing away on July 15.

Ojara Ikeagwu, 56

A mother-of-three, Mrs Ikeagwu was travelling from her home in Luton to her job as a social worker with Hounslow social services in west London when the attack took place. She had moved to England in 1976 with her husband.

Emily Jenkins, 24

Ms Jenkins, an aspiring midwife, was on her way to work when the attack occurred. She had grown up in Kew, south-west London, before later travelling widely and living in South America, Spain and Australia prior to her death.

Helen Jones, 28

Ms Jones was born in Templand, Dumfriesshire, but moved to London for work. She was commuting to work from her home in Holloway, where she had bought a flat only two weeks before the attack.

Susan Levy, 53

Ms Levy was the first victim of the attack to be formally identified. She was travelling from her home in Hertfordshire to the capital, where she worked as a legal secretary, when she died.

Shelley Mather, 26

Ms Mather, who was the only New Zealander to die in the attack, had been living in the capital for three years. She left her native country in 2002 for a tour of Europe and enjoyed the experience so much that she opted to become a tour guide.

Michael Matsushita, 37

A Vietnamese-American who had moved to Islington a month prior to the attack, Mr Matsushita was travelling to a new job in IT recruitment based in Holborn when he was killed. Prior to arriving in London, he had lived in New York for many years after emigrating as a child to the United States from Vietnam.

James Mayes, 28

Mr Mayes worked as an analyst at the Healthcare Commission prior to his death. He was travelling to a seminar in Holborn at the time of the attack.

Behnaz Mozakka, 47

An Iranian-born mother-of-two, Ms Mozakka was commuting from Finchley to her job as a biomedical officer at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital when she was killed. She was born in the Iranian city of Shiraz before moving to the capital Tehran, where she met her husband, and eventually relocating in London.

Mihaela Otto, 46

Mother-of-two Ms Otto was a dental technician from Mill Hill, north London, and on her way to her place of work in Knightsbridge when she was killed. She was brought up in Romania and moved to London in 1984, following in the footsteps of her sister.

Atique Sharifi, 24

An Afghan national, Mr Sharifi fled to London from conflict in his home country three years prior to the terror attack. He had been studying English at West Thames College prior to his death.

Ihab Slimane, 24

Mr Slimane was in the capital studying English at the time of the terror attack. From Lyon, in France, he was of Tunisian origin and had managed to secure work as a waiter at a French restaurant in the West End prior to his death.

Christian Small, 28

Mr Small was travelling to his job in advertising sales in Holborn from his flat in Walthamstow at the time of the attack. He was a keen sportsman and had been on a trip to West Africa to research his family origins prior to his death.

Monika Suchocka, 23

A Polish national, Ms Suchocka was a trainee accountant who was living in Archway, north London. She had only arrived in London two months prior to the terror attack having first went abroad in 2002 to study in Germany, before she travelled to the United States to study English in the summer of 2003.

Mala Trivedi, 51

Ms Trivedi, a radiographer, was travelling to her place of work at Great Ormond Street hospital from her home in Wembley when she was killed. A mother-of-one, she was born and educated in Nairobi, Kenya, where she also met her husband in 1968.

Adrian Johnson, 37

A father-of-two from Nottinghamshire, Mr Johnson was travelling to work in London at the time of the terror attack. He was a sports enthusiast and enjoyed golf, playing hockey at county level and supporting Mansfield Town Football Club.

At Tavistock Square, 13 people were killed. They were:

Anthony Fatayi-Williams, 26

Mr Fatayi-Williams was an oil executive from Hendon, north-west London. Born to Nigerian parents, he divided his childhood between Britain, France and Nigeria and attended school in Sevenoaks, Kent, Paris and Lagos. He was travelling to work when he was killed.

Jamie Gordon, 30

Mr Gordon was travelling to work at the time of the terror attack. He was born in London to a Zimbabwean mother and a Scottish father before moving to Harare as a child. He later returned to England to complete his education and begin a career in finance prior to his death.

Giles Hart, 55

Born in Khartoum, Sudan, to English parents, Mr Hart was a prominent pro-democracy activist prior to his death. A British Telecom engineer and father-of-two, he was travelling to his job in Islington when he was killed. Mr Hart was posthumously granted the Knights Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, for his services to democracy, in the wake of the terror attack.

Marie Hartley, 34

Mother-of-two Ms Hartley was born and educated in Lanashire before later joining Hambledon Studios as an artist, where she worked until her death. She was travelling to London from Oswaldtwistle to try to recruit new artists at an art exhibition in Islington at the time of the terror attack.

Miriam Hyman, 31

Ms Hyamn was a freelance picture editor from Barnet, north London. She was born, graduated and died all within one square mile in London, having been born in University College Hospital and having graduated from University College London. Ms Hyman was on her way to work in Canary Wharf when she was killed.

Shahara Islam, 20

Ms Islam grew up in east London and worked as a cashier for the Co-operative Bank in Islington prior to her death. Her family described her as "an Eastender, a Londoner and British, but above all a true Muslim and proud to be so," after she was killed.

Neetu Jain, 37

Ms Jain had just started a new job with an IT firm when she was caught up in the terror attack. She was born in Delhi before moving to England as a child. Ms Jain was preparing to marry her partner when she was killed.

Sam Ly, 28

The only Australian killed in the bombings, Mr Ly was in the UK on a working holiday with his long-term girlfriend, Mandy Ha. He was born in Vietnam before his family went on to settle in Melbourne, Australia. Mr Ly was recovered from the wreckage of the bus with serious injuries, but died in hospital a week later.

Shyanuja Parathasangary, 30

A Sri Lankan national, Ms Parathasangary was heading for work at the Royal Mail's Old Street branch when she was killed. She had earlier moved to England as a child before graduating from London's South Bank University. Ms Parathasangary was refurbishing a house a couple of doors away from their parents with her sister prior to the terror attacks.

Anat Rosenberg, 39

An Israeli charity administrator from north London, Ms Rosenberg was travelling to work from her boyfriend's property in Marylebone when she was killed. She had moved to London after being born in the Israeli coastal town of Hadera and attending high school in Jerusalem.

Philip Russell, 28

Mr Russell was commuting to his job as a financier for JP Morgan Asset Management at the time of the terror attack. Born in the Kent village of Pembury, he had shown an early interest in music before later studying a degree in business studies at Kingston University.

William Wise, 54

Mr Wise was an IT specialist from Notting Hill, west London. The son of a GP, he grew up in Hertfordshire

Gladys Wundowa, 50

Mother-of-two Ms Wundowa had already been working at her job as a cleaner at University College London for several hours before she was killed. After being born in Ghana, she later moved to London in 1983 as the maid of a Lebanese family. Three years later, she met her husband.

At Aldgate, seven people were killed. They were:

Lee Baisden, 34

Mr Baisden was standing right next to the Mr Tanweer when the latter detonated his explosive device. An accontant for the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority, he had recently set up a new home with his boyfriend. He was travelling to his place of work in Westminster at the time he was killed.

Benedetta Ciaccia, 30

Ms Ciaccia was an IT business analyst from Norwich who worked for a publishing company. She was commuting to her job at Pearson Publishing in cental London from her home, which she lived in with her fiance, when she was killed. Ms Ciaccia had been born in Rome before later moving to England at the age of 19.

Richard Ellery, 21

Mr Ellery was on a rare trip to the capital when he was killed. The eldest of three children, he was born and raised in Southampton before moving to Ipswich after leaving school at 18 and taking up a job at a branch of Jessops Cameras in the city.

Richard Gray, 41

Father-of-two Mr Gray was travelling to work in the capital from Ipswich when he was killed. He was standing opposite Mr Tanweer when the latter detonated his explosive device. Born in Wiltshire, Mr Gray was a passionate hockey player and worked as a tax manager with chartered accountants FW Smith Riches.

Anne Moffat, 48

Ms Moffat was commuting from Harlow, Essex, to her job as head of marketing and communications for Girlguiding UK in the capital when she was killed. She had earlier in life studied art before moving to London, but later returned to her family home in Old Harlow to look after her ailing mother.

Carrie Taylor, 24

Aspiring novelist Ms Taylor was travelling to work at the Royal Society of Arts at the time of the terror attack. She was born in Sidcup, Kent, and grew up in Billericay, before discovering a passion for drama at a young age and going on to study it at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Fiona Stevenson, 29

Ms Stevenson was a solicitor living in central London, who was originally from Little Baddow, in Essex. She was killed just two weeks after buying a new flat in the Barbican complex in the City of London. Ms Stevenson had dreamed of becoming a lawyer since childhood.

At Edgware Road, six people were killed. They were:

Michael Stanley Brewster, 52

Father-of-two Mr Brewster was a senior project manager for Derbyshire County Council. He had been in London attending a conference prior to his death. He was a keen cyclist who also played football and golf and took part in triathlons to raise money for a local hospital.

Jonathan Downey, 34

Mr Downey grew up in Northamptonshire, lived in Milton Keynes and worked in human resources for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Prior to his death, he was planning to move to Ireland with his wife.

David Graham Foulkes, 22

Mr Foulkes was a media sales manager for the Guardian newspaper based in Manchester, where he lived with his parents and sister. He had been making plans to move in with his girlfriend before he was killed. Mr Foulkes was in London for a meeting with a colleague when the terror attack took place.

Colin William Morley, 52

Father-of-three Mr Morley was from Finchley, north London. He worked in advertising and marketing having earlier grown up and been educated in Surrey, Leeds and Liverpool. Mr Morley and his wife had been planning to move to St Albans in the spring of 2006.

Jennifer Vanda Nicholson, 24

Ms Nicholson was from Reading, Berkshire. A talented musician who played the piano and sang in choirs, she was travelling to her job at a music publishing company in central London when she was killed. Ms Nicholson was making plans to marry her boyfriend and have children prior to her death.

Laura Webb, 29

Ms Webb worked as a personal assistant with DDB Europe, an advertising company, based in Paddington. She lived in Islington having been brought up in Kingston Vale, Surrey. Ms Webb was the third child and only daughter of her parents.

What has been said today?

Sadiq Khan approaches to lay a wreath at the London Bombing Memorial in Hyde Park, London / PA

On the 15th anniversary of the terror attack, senior politicians have paid tribute to those killed on that fateful day in July, 2007.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, shared a heartfelt message thanking the city's emergency services, saying: Our capital will never forget the terrible events of that day, and my thoughts are with all those whose lives were changed forever.

"As we mark 15 years since the attack on our city, I want again to pay tribute to the heroic efforts of our emergency services and transport workers, who ran towards danger to save lives, on that awful day.

"The way that our city responded and stood united in the aftermath of the attack showed the world that our values of decency, tolerance and mutual respect will always overcome the hate of the terrorists.

"Today, we reaffirm our commitment to upholding these values. To those who wish to divide us and spread hatred, we send a clear message that they will never succeed, and that we are stronger together."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also attended a memorial held at London's Hyde Park.

Placing flowers alongside a handwritten note, Mr Johnson wrote: "We grieve for those who were lost. We remember those who were injured. We defy those who would defy us."

In a special video message, the Prime Minister later said he was reminded of the way diverse communities in the capital came together in the hours and days after the attacks.

Because when this city was attacked by those who sought to divide us, London responded with the simple truth that whoever you are, wherever you are from, whatever the colour of your skin or the name of the god you worship, if you choose to come to London and make your life here then you are a Londoner, he said.

And when you really need it, when you think you cant go on, when you have been knocked down and cant get back on your feet, then this city and its people will extend a hand and hold a total stranger close as if they were family.
A lawyer who survived the 7/7 bombings told today how lockdown brought back painful memories of her recovery from the terror attack 15 years ago.

Thelma Stober, 52, was caught in one of the explosions while travelling to work on the Circle line between Liverpool Street and Aldgate on July 7, 2005.

She lost half of her lower left leg and spent a year off work recovering and learning to walk again.

Before the explosion Mrs Stober, below, had been a senior lawyer on Londons bid team for the Olympics, which the city had won the day before the deadly attack by four suicide bombers that killed 52 people and left more than 700 injured.

Mrs Stober, now head of legal for the Local Government Association, said she had found the past months more difficult because they brought back memories of her rehabilitation.

She said: I was at home for a whole year after 7/7. I didnt know I would have to learn to walk again. I thought it would be like a new pair of boots. It wasnt like that and that sent me into a depression.

"Being locked at home during the pandemic and the uncertainty of not knowing when it is going to end brings back some of the memories.

"I would ask doctors will I be able to walk in three months? They couldnt give me an answer.

"Equally with Covid you just dont know when it will be over.

Todays 15-year anniversary will be particularly hard because the pandemic means she cannot meet fellow survivors. 7/7 brought us all together, said Mrs Stober.

We are like a family, there is something that binds us even though we are all from different parts of the world, different religions, different ethnicities, different ages.
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.
T he majority of people who tested positive for coronavirus showed no symptoms on the day of their test, an Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey revealed.

The ONS data showed that of those who tested positive, just 33 per cent reported any evidence of symptoms at the time of or before their swab test.

That figure dropped to 22 per cent when including those who tested positive and only reported evidence of symptoms at the time of their swab test.

While the ONS survey includes a total of just 120 positive infections, it highlights the importance of asymptomatic transmission and how people who are not experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 could still be carriers of the disease.

The Prime Minister spoke on Monday of how asymptomatic transmission had played a role in the spread of coronavirus in care homes.

Boris Johnson said: "We discovered too many care homes didnt really follow the procedures in the way that they could have but were learning lessons the whole time.

Most important is to fund them properly but we will also be looking at ways to make sure the care sector long term is properly organised and supported.

Coronavirus infecting a cell - In pictures 1 /7 Coronavirus infecting a cell - In pictures Coronavirus infecting a cell EPA An image captured and color-enhanced at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA and made available by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows a colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (red) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow) EPA The SARS-COV-2 virus begin the infection process of cytoplasm of the cell, inside which is the nucleus, responsible for storing the genetic material of the cell EPA Tthe SARS-COV-2 virus particles after infection and viral replication inside the cell (white circle in the left corner) EPA A series of dark spots, which are viral particles of the SARS-COV-2 virus, trying to infect the cytoplasm of the cell, inside which is the nucleus, responsible for storing the genetic material of the cell EPA An arrow pointing to a novel coronavirus particle attached to cell membranes, displaying its typical glycoprotein spike 'corona' on the viral surface (issued 02 April 2020), seen in an electron microscope image, the first black and white portrait of the SARS-CoV2 virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease EPA An image captured and color-enhanced at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA and made available by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows a colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (purple) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow) EPA

His comments sparked furious backlash from care homes who said Mr Johnson was playing the "blame game".

The latest ONS data also revealed that key workers in health or social care roles were more likely to test positive for Covid-19.

People from ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to have a positive antibody test while white people were least likely to test positive for antibodies, indicating they do not have a past infection.

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It comes as the number of people dying with the virus in England and Wales has fallen for the 10th consecutive week.

Tuesdays ONS figures show there were 8,979 deaths from all causes in England and Wales registered in the week ending June 26  314 deaths fewer than the five year average.

It is the second week in a row that weekly deaths have been below the average for this time of year.

Before the week ending June 19, the last time deaths were below average was before the lockdown in the week ending March 13.

The figures show that registered deaths involving coronavirus had dropped in all but one region in England and Wales in the week ending June 26.

All regions except the North West, East Midlands and North East saw overall registered deaths below that which would usually be expected for this time of year.
N early one in six Britons will refuse a coronavirus vaccine if and when one becomes available in the UK, according to a recent survey.

The findings come amid a significant rise in anti-vaccination sentiment on social media.

In a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of research group Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), only 6 per cent of people polled said they would definitely not get vaccinated.

A further 10 per cent also said they would probably not, meaning at least 16 per cent are not open to getting inoculated against Covid-19.

Meanwhile, another 15 per cent said they did not know if they would, taking the numbers of those who may not get vaccinated against the deadly disease up to almost a third of the population.

Out of the 1,663 people questioned in Britain, 38 per cent said they would definitely get vaccinated and another 31 per cent declared they probably would  a total of 69 per cent.

An engineer works at the Quality Control Laboratory on an experimental vaccine for the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Sinovac Biotech facilities in Beijing (file photo) / AFP via Getty Images

With scientists predicting that more than three-quarters of the population would need to be vaccinated in order to have success in suppressing coronavirus, the findings could represent a threat to the ability to contain Covid-19.

CCDH said its polling results come amid a dramatic rise in the popularity of anti-vaccine social media pages and channels.

Around 7.7 million more social media users started following such accounts since the outbreak of coronavirus, it added.

In its poll, carried out between June 24-25, CCDH found that members of the public who relied on social media more than traditional media for information were less likely to say they would get vaccinated.

Last year, the UK lost its measles-free status due to experiencing a fall in the number of parents ensuring their children were vaccinated.

The findings come amid a significant rise in anti-vaccination sentiment on social media / REUTERS

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the time that the UK was suddenly going in the wrong direction.

He said: "People have been listening to that superstitious mumbo jumbo on the internet, all that anti-vax stuff.

In a report published by the group on Tuesday, The Anti-Vax Industry, the authors state that the total following for anti-vax advocates and groups online is up to 57 million across both the US and UK.

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The report analysed more than 400 anti-vax Facebook groups and pages, YouTube channels, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

It found they were publishing false conspiracy theories, including that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had created the coronavirus pandemic, that vaccines cause Covid-19, and that tests for the coronavirus vaccine had caused women to become infertile.

CCDH said its research indicated that social media companies had chosen to adopt lenient policies on anti-vaccine content, with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube promising only to reduce the ease with which users could find anti-vaccine content but refusing to remove pages or groups which promoted anti-vax content.

Imran Ahmed, chief executive of CCDH, said: Our hope for a return to normal life rests with scientists developing a successful vaccine for coronavirus.

Dr Elisa Granato, 32, was one of two people trial the new vaccine at Oxford University / PA

But social media companies irresponsible decision to continue to publish anti-vaccine propaganda means a vaccine may not be effective in containing the virus.

The price for their greed is a cost paid in lives.

There is simply no responsible justification for publishing lies and conspiracy theories about vaccines.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /61 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

Jo Stevens, Labours shadow culture secretary, said: This poll lays bare just how dangerous disinformation online can be.

The rapid spread of false information about vaccinations could literally be a question of life and death.

Social media companies must ensure this content has no place on their platforms and ministers must do more to promote the benefits of vaccines and counter the harmful, dangerous myths which surround them before a coronavirus vaccine becomes available.

A Facebook spokeswoman said: We are working to stop harmful misinformation from spreading on our platforms and have removed hundreds of thousands of pieces of Covid-19-related misinformation.

We reduce vaccine misinformation in News Feed, we dont show it in search results or recommend it to you on Facebook or Instagram, we dont allow it in ads, and we connect people with authoritative information from recognised health experts.

A Government spokesman added: The science is clear  vaccines save lives, which is why we are leading a global effort to find a Covid-19 vaccine.
S hadow justice secretary David Lammy has described video of a police stop and search involving athlete Bianca Williams as shocking".

The Team GB sprinter has said Metropolitan Police officers racially profiled her and her partner Ricardo dos Santos  a Portuguese 400m sprinter  when they pulled them from their Mercedes in a London street.

They were then handcuffed and separated from their three-month-old son. Ms Williams said they now plan to sue Scotland Yard.

Mr Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham criticised the police on Tuesday, saying that "anyone in their right mind would be alarmed" by watching the footage.

David Lammy has slammed the video footage as "shocking" / REUTERS

He said such incidents are diminishing trust among black populations in the criminal justice system.

However, the Met said on Monday its Directorate of Professional Standards had revisited body-worn footage and social media videos of Saturdays incident and they found no misconduct issues.

Speaking on Tuesday at the launch of a new public art display celebrating the work of artist Khadija Saye, who died in the Grenfell Tower fire, Mr Lammy said: Im afraid there has been far too much footage now of what feels like incredibly heavy-handed policing of black people not just in London but across the country and this is a moment I think to pause and ask ourselves deep questions that are coming up in relation to black lives matter.

Bianca Williams and Ricardo dos Santos criticised the police (Bianca Williams ) / Bianca Williams

Why is it that this is persistently happening? Its diminishing trust among black populations in the criminal justice system.

These are issues I raised in the review I was asked to do by David Cameron and its very, very concerning that here we are three years later and these issues remain perennial.

Ms Williams has said she is considering legal action against the Met, saying: 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.

Bianca Williams says they are planning to sue the Met police

Footage of the incident was shared widely on Twitter after being posted by former Olympic medallist Linford Christie, who questioned why the vehicle had been stopped.

Nothing was found in the search, which the Met said was carried out by officers patrolling the area in response to an increase in violence involving weapons.

The force also said the vehicle was seen driving suspiciously, including on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver sped off when asked to stop.

But this account was rejected by Ms Williams.

In a statement on Monday, Commander for Central West Helen Harper said while no misconduct issues had been found, that does not mean there isnt something to be learnt from every interaction we have with the public.

She continued: 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.

Mr Lammys intervention comes after his boss, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, said on Monday that he could see no justification for the use of handcuffs during the incident.

Sir Keir Starmer reacts to Bianca Williams being stopped by police

Sir Keir added that he would feel uncomfortable if he were a senior officer watching the footage.
M att Hancock has praised three pubs for closing down again after drinkers tested positive for coronavirus.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the Health Secretary said that the closures, just days after pubs were allowed to reopen on Saturday, showed that the UK's contact tracing system was working.

The Fox and Hounds in Batley, West Yorkshire, the Lighthouse in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, and the Village Home in Gosport, Hampshire, reopened on July 4, but have since decided to close again after finding out about customers testing positive for Covid-19.

Mr Hancock told MPs the pubs were doing the right thing by their customers and by their communities.

Fox and Hounds in Batley, West Yorkshire / PA

This is NHS Test and Trace working precisely as intended, he added. Three pubs shut so that others can be open.

Jess Green, who runs The Lighthouse, said she rang at least 90 people who had left their contact details during their visit on Saturday after she found out that one of the pub's regulars had tested positive.

Ms Green told BBC Radio 4s 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 every one of our customers.

We took it upon ourselves, because obviously test and trace can do all that, but we took it upon ourselves to do it because we knew that we had done it before it got out there.

Ms Green, who said the calls took her all day on Monday, said the experience was stressful".

Super Saturday - in pictures 1 /50 Super Saturday - in pictures A police officer watches on from an elevated position as revellers drink in the street outside the bars in Soho, London AFP via Getty Images Soho REUTERS Borough Market, London PA Soho REUTERS Soho PA Soho AFP via Getty Images Soho PA REUTERS Newcastle REUTERS Soho REUTERS Soho AFP via Getty Images Soho AFP via Getty Images Soho PA Soho PA A street cleaner sweeps a street in Soho PA Soho PA Soho PA Borough Market REUTERS Soho PA Newcastle REUTERS London AP Central London REUTERS London AP Manchester AP Customers give a toast with their drinks at the Shakespeare's Head pub in Holborn, London PA Miya Towse has her hair cut at The Chair salon shortly after midnight and reopening in Canterbury Getty Images Louise Wilson and Jennifer Arnold were married at Runcorn Town Hall Registry Office at one minute past midnight Halton Borough Council/PA Wire Michael Robinson, 61, has the first drink at the reopening The Toll Gate, a Wetherspoons pub in Hornsey, north London PA Clare Streeter wears a face mask as she has her hair cut as the first customer back at the strike of midnight in Canterbury Getty Images A member of the public has her temperature checked at the entrance to Alton Towers Getty Images One of the first drinkers at the reopening of the Rochester Castle pub in Stoke Newington, north London, PA Andrew Slawinaki, 51, reading his paper while having a pint of Guinness at the reopening The Toll Gate PA Robert observes social distancing queuing for a pint at The Mossy Well in Muswell Hill in London Getty Images A customer sanitises their hands at The Mossy Well Getty Images PA Customers drink beer at The Holland Tringham Wetherspoons pub in London REUTERS Customers walking into the Shakespeares Head pub in Holborn, London PA A member of bar staff pulls a pint at the Shakespeares Head pub in Holborn, London PA Customers queue to order a drink at The Holland Tringham REUTERS A worker carries a beer at The Holland Tringham REUTERS Bar staff waits for customers at the Rochester Castle pub in Stoke Newington, north London PA Miya Towse has her hair cut at The Chair salon Getty Images Owner Carole Rickaby cuts customer Sandra Jacobs' hair at Tusk Hair stylists in Camden just after midnight Getty Images A customer has her hair washed at Tusk Hair stylists in Camden Getty Images Customers have their hair washed and cut in Canterbury Getty Images Jonathan Callister has his hair cut shortly after midnight in Canterbury Getty Images The Chair salon owner, Katie Hancock, wears a protective face shield as she washes and cuts the hair of Clare Streeter Getty Images Jennifer and Louise Arnold-Wilson married at Runcorn Town Hall Registry Office at one minute past midnight Halton Borough Council/PA Wire Runcorn Town Hall Registry Office, where Jennifer and Louise were married at one minute past midnight Halton Borough Council/PA Wire Members of the public queue to enter Alton Towers Getty Images

The Fox and Hounds in Batley also said it would be closed until further notice after a customer told them on Monday that they had tested positive for coronavirus.

The pub said on its Facebook page that all staff had since taken a test and added that it would be fully deep cleaned and when safe to do so we will reopen our doors.

PA

The Village Home in Gosport said it had also had a case of coronavirus in the pub, adding that some of us are in isolation.

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.

Meanwhile a second pub in Gosport also closed its doors after the Village Home said it had had a confirmed case.

In a statement on Facebook, the Fighting Cocks said that the pub itself had not had a confirmed case itself but had closed as a precaution.

The statement read: Following a local confirmed case of Covid-19, we have made the very difficult decision to temporarily close our doors to ensure the safety of both our staff and customers.

The Village Home Pub in Alverstoke, Hampshire / PA

To confirm, we have not had any reported cases of suspected nor confirmed corona virus, but have decided to err on the side of caution.

This decision hasnt been made lightly and whilst we have made every effort to adhere to government guidelines, including the track and trace system, numerous sanitation stations and taking temperatures prior to each shift, we cannot guarantee that someone who has been in contact with a confirmed case has not been in the pub nor will they come in over the coming days.

We are awaiting further guidance from Environmental Health and also our brewery, but for the meantime, we want to ensure that we are taking every precaution to keep you all safe.
H ollywood star Johnny Depp today insisted claims that he is a wife-beater are extreme and shocking lies as his blockbuster libel trial against The Sun newspaper started at the High Court.

The 57-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star is going face-to-face with his ex-wife Amber Heard in an explosive three-week showdown which will pick over their volatile marriage.

Mr Depp has been publicly accused of repeatedly attacking Ms Heard, 34, in drugs and drink binges, but the actor insists it was actually Ms Heard who was often the abuser in their relationship.

Mr Depp is suing The Suns publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article which dubbed him a wife beater.

Mr Depp arriving at court in a face covering / .Jeremy Selwyn

Opening his case this morning, Mr Depps lawyer David Sherborne told the court: He is not and never has been a wife beater.

The barrister accused Ms Heard of concocting a catalogue of ever more extreme and shocking lies, saying Mr Depp will bring evidence to suggest that she was the violent one.

Mr Depps account as you will hear is completely different," he told the court. He says he did not attack Ms Heard on these occasions or at all. Ms Heard has invented these stories of serious violence.

He is not and never has been a wife-beater.

Amber Heard arriving at court / Jeremy Selwyn

Mr Depp will claim that when Ms Heard appeared at an LA courthouse with a bruise on her face in 2016, seeking a restraining order against her husband and first blowing the lid off their volatile marriage, this was a calculated lie between her and her friends.

Ms Heard has concocted a catalogue of ever more extreme and shocking lies about him, said Mr Sherborne in his written submissions.

From Mr Depps knowledge of her and her ability to tell convincing lies, and from material which has emerged in the aftermath of their marriage, it is clear that Ms Heard is someone who was prepared to go to extreme lengths when she was not getting her own way and to characterise herself as a spokesperson for domestic violence, exploiting the rising popular movement for speaking out against violence against women for her own ends.

Ms Heard, the star of Aquaman and London Fields, is at court today to watch as Mr Depp starts to give his evidence, and will herself go into the witness box later in the trial.

Mr Depp has denied ever being violent to Ms Heard / AFP via Getty Images

She arrived at court this morning dressed all in black, holding hands with two female companions and partially covering her face with a red scarf. Depp wore a black and white patterned face covering and white rimmed sunglasses as he arrived at the High Court.

The case stems from an article by Mr Wootton which called celebrated author JK Rowling a Hollywood hypocrite for standing by Mr Depp as a star of her Fantastic Beasts film series despite claims of domestic abuse.

Mr Depp sued for libel, setting in train a string of explosive revelations about their troubled marriage in pre-trial hearings as well as in parallel legal proceedings he has brought against Ms Heard in the United States.

The UK case will centre on 14 alleged incidents involving the warring pair, as well as evidence of drugs binges and allegations that Ms Heard had affairs with Elon Musk and James Franco towards the end of the marriage.

Ms Heard obtained a restraining order against Mr Depp shortly after the couple split / Jeremy Selwyn

Mr Sherborne said no one from The Sun, including Mr Wootton, will give evidence at the libel trial, despite having mounted a full-scale attack on the star in the disputed article including reference to disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

They are allegations which (Mr Depp) absolutely denies, and which, at the time of publication, he had already publicly denied, said Mr Sherborne.

The principal issue at trial will be the defence of truth. In advancing that defence, the defendants rely upon 14 alleged incidents when they contend that the claimant was guilty of domestic violence against Ms Heard.

They claim that on five of those occasions, the claimant inflicted some sort of injury on Ms Heard.

Johnny Depp's libel claim against The Sun to go ahead this week

The claimants position is clear; Ms Heards allegations are complete lies. The Claimant was not violent towards Ms Heard, it was she who was violent to him.

In one of the contested incidents Mr Depp is accused of holding his wife hostage over the course of three days, when she says he took a cocktail of drink and drugs and subjected her to repeated violent abuse.

However Mr Depp insists she severed part of his finger by throwing a vodka bottle at him during an explosive row, and he had actually tried to avoid a confrontation.

In written submission to the court at the start of the trial, The Suns lawyers said they will argue that Mr Depp frequently lost control of himself during the relationship, partly because of his heavy drug and alcohol use, and also that his memory has been impaired by his heavy use of drugs, including prescription drugs and alcohol, throughout that relationship.

They wrote: The defendants will demonstrate that the description of Mr Depp as a wife beater is entirely accurate and truthful.

They will show that the sting of the articles is correct  namely that the Claimant beat his wife Amber Heard causing her to suffer significant injury and on occasion leading to her fearing for her life.

This defence is supported by witness testimony, medical evidence, photographs, video, audio recordings, digital evidence and Mr Depps own texts.

The three week trial in front of Mr Justice Nicol, is also due to hear recordings of arguments during the marriage, which ended acrimoniously in 2016, while Mr Depps former partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder are due to give evidence to support his case.
I ran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said the regime is still committed to the 2015 nuclear deal and called on European nations to save the agreement.

Under the deal signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, Iran agreed to roll back its nuclear programme, including building stocks of weapons-grade materials.

In return sanctions would be slowly lifted. But President Trump pulled America out two years ago, and Iran slowed compliance, particularly access for inspection.

Its possible to save the agreement, if the Europeans fulfil all they signed up to, Mr Zarif told a select audience yesterday.

After all it was the Americans that walked away from this  Iran is compliant, the diplomat claimed over a webinar link from Tehran.

The nuclear agreement was a major accomplishment of diplomacy, which everyone entered with their eyes open. Its a good compromise, a reasonable solution.

Mr Zarif did not mention an incident last week at Natanz, one of the main nuclear sites.

A whole building was demolished by what looked like an explosion and then devastating fire.

A new super-fast set of centrifuges was believed to be under construction there to produce weapons-grade fuel.

It was suggested that the blast resulted from a cyber attack, along the lines of the Stuxnet malware developed by Israel.
B razilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who has downplayed the risks of Covid-19 despite his country's spiralling death toll, has tested positive for the virus.

Mr Bolsonaro confirmed the test results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in capital Brasilia.

"I'm well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations," Mr Bolsonaro said.

Since the start of the outbreak the far-right president has insisted that negative economic impacts of social isolation will be worse than the harm caused by the virus.

The president has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a "little flu" were he to contract it.

Mr Bolsonaro tested negative three times after meeting Mr Trump / BRAZILIAN PRESIDENCY/AFP via Get

He has also repeatedly said that there is no way to prevent 70% of the population falling ill with COVID-19, and that local authorities' measures to shut down economic activity would ultimately cause more hardship than allowing the virus to run its course.

Cities and states last month began lifting restrictions that had been imposed to control the spread of the virus, as their statistical curves of deaths began to decline along with the occupation rate of its intensive-care units. Brazil, the world's sixth most populous nation, with more than 210 million people, is one of the global hot spots of the pandemic.

On Monday, Mr Bolsonaro told supporters in Brasilia that he underwent an X-ray of his lungs that showed they were clean, and that he would be tested for Covid-19. On Tuesday, he told CNN Brasil that his fever had subsided.

Over the weekend, the Brazilian leader celebrated the U.S. Independence Day with the nation's ambassador to Brazil, then shared pictures on social media showing him with his arm around the ambassador alongside several ministers and aides. None wore masks, despite being in close quarters.

The Brazillian President said his lungs were 'clean' / AP

The U.S. Embassy said on Twitter on Monday that Ambassador Todd Chapman is not showing any Covid-19 symptoms but would be tested.

Mr Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with the U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida. Multiple members of his delegation to the U.S. were later reported to be infected with the virus.

More than 65,000 Brazilians have so far died from COVID-19 and more than 1,500,000 have been infected. Both numbers are the world's second-highest totals, and are considered to be undercounts to the lack of widespread testing.

Last month a Brazilian federal judge ordered Mr Bolsonaro to comply with local rules to wear a face mask whenever he is outdoors in the capital of Brasilia.

Brazils federal district requires 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 US dollars.
R ussia will respond with reciprocal measures to British sanctions, the Kremlin has announced.

Britain imposed sanctions on 25 Russians, including the country's top state investigator, on Monday.

It comes as part of post-Brexit measures that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said were aimed at stopping the laundering of "blood money".

Mr Raab announced that individuals linked to the killings of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi will be among the first to face UK sanctions for human rights abuses.

Russian Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in jail (AP)

In a Commons statement, Mr Raab said that two senior Burmese generals involved in the suppression of the minority Rohingya population and two organisations linked with North Koreas gulags will also be subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

The measures  imposed under the provisions of the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations  mark the first time the UK has imposed its own sanctions since leaving the European Union at the end of last year.

The initial list includes:

A total of 20 Saudi nationals linked to the killing and dismemberment of Mr Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

25 Russian nationals linked to the mistreatment of Mr Magnitsky, who died in police custody in 2009 after exposing allegations of widespread corruption.

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.

North Koreas Ministry of State Security Bureau 7 and the Ministry of Peoples Security Correctional Bureau, which run prison camps linked to numerous violations including murder, torture and enslavement.

Mr Raab told MPs that sanctions were aimed at the perpetrators of the very worst human rights abuses.

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 henchmen of dictators will not be free to waltz into this country to buy up property on the Kings Road, to do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge or frankly to siphon dirty money through British banks or other financial institutions, he said.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced the new sanctions in the Commons (file photo) / AFP via Getty Images

The Saudis on the list include the 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.

The Russians include Aleksey Vasilyevich Anichin  who was a deputy minister in the Interior Ministry involved in investigating Mr Magnitsky  and Oleg Silchenko, one of the ministrys investigators.

Mr Silchenko was said to have made six applications to extend the lawyers detention, despite his deteriorating medical condition, refused access to his family and engaged in oppressive questioning and other mistreatment to pressurise him to retract his allegations of corruption.

The sanctions regime  contained in secondary legislation under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018  covers those involved in assassinations and extra-judicial killing, those involved in torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and those linked to slavery, servitude or forced labour.
T he United States has formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

The withdrawal notification fulfils President Donald Trump's vow in late May to terminate U.S. participation in the WHO.

Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised the organisation over its response to the coronavirus pandemic and has accused it of bowing to Chinese influence.

However, the pullout won't take effect until next year, meaning it could be rescinded under a new administration of if circumstances change.

The withdrawal notice was sent to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday and will take effect in a year, on July 6, 2021, the US State Department and the United Nations said on Tuesday.

President Trump has criticised WHO'S reponse to the pandemic / REUTERS

Under the terms of the withdrawal, the U.S. must meet its financial obligations to the WHO before it can be finalised.

The US, which is the agency's largest donor and provides it with more than $400 million per year, currently owes the WHO some $200 million in current and past dues.

In late May, less than two weeks after warning the WHO that it had 30 days to reform or lose US support, Mr Trump announced his administration was leaving the organisation due to what he said was its inadequate response to the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in China's Wuhan province late last year.

The president said in a White House announcement that Chinese officials "ignored" their reporting obligations to the WHO and pressured the organization to mislead the public about an outbreak that has now killed more than 130,000 Americans.

New York's Coronavirus outbreak - In pictures 1 /26 New York's Coronavirus outbreak - In pictures The Supermoon rises behind the Empire State Building while it glows red in solidarity with those infected with coronavirus as the outbreak of the disease (COVID-19) continues in the Manhattan borough of New York City Reuters A nearly empty Times Square AFP via Getty Images Riders, some wearing masks and gloves as a protective measure over coronavirus concerns, enter a New York City subway train AP People try to keep a social distance while they enjoy a sunny day at Central Park Reuters Nadia, a 4-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo, that the zoo said on April 5, 2020 has tested positive for coronavirus disease WCS/Handout via Reuters People wear face masks AFP via Getty Images A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan Reuters US President Donald Trump looks on during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on March 31, 2020, in Washington, DC AFP via Getty Images Felix Hassebroek waves to his classmates, who he has not seen in 2 weeks through a livestream video meet up during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brooklyn, New York Reuters Friends and neighbors, Sarah and Elizabeth, talk about their weekends from opposite sides of the road as they maintain social distance in a neighborhood in Syracuse, New York Reuters Light morning traffic seen on the FDR drive on March 24, 2020 in New York City AFP via Getty Images A subway customer uses a tissue to protect her hand while holding onto a pole AP Workers construct what is believed to be a makeshift morgue behind a hospital during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the Manhattan borough of New York City Reuters Beds separated by black fabric are set up as a temporary field hospital for Covid-19 patients in Queens, New York AFP via Getty Images New York's Hart Island where the department of corrections is dealing with more burials Reuters Medical workers wait for patients at a special coronavirus intake area in New York Getty Images Patients wear personal protective equipment while maintaining social distancing as they wait in line for a COVID-19 test at Elmhurst Hospital Center AP The One World Trade Center tower in Manhattan is seen illuminated in blue light Reuters Pictures drawn by children as part of the Quarantine Rainbow Project in Brooklyn, New York Reuters U.S. Army National Guard personnel load boxes of free food provided by multiple New York City agencies into a taxi for distribution to local residents in the Harlem neighbourhood of Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID19) in New York Reuters Traders work during the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 17, 2020 at Wall Street in New York City AFP via Getty Images A man in a wheelchair crosses a nearly empty 7th Avenue in Times Square in Manhattan Reuters Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images REUTERS

"We have detailed the reforms that it must make and engaged with them directly, but they have refused to act," Trump said at the time. "Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating the relationship."

The withdrawal notification was widely denounced as misguided, certain to undermine an important institution that is leading vaccine development efforts and drug trials to address the COVID-19 outbreak.
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.
K ate Garraway has told fans that her husband recovering fully from coronavirus and coming home is not nearly in sight.

Derek Draper was hospitalised with the virus in March and soon placed in an induced coma.

While he has since tested negative for Covid-19, the virus has had an extraordinarily damaging effect on his body. On Monday, Garraway, 53, revealed that Draper, also 53, has woken up from the coma and while thanking fans for their support, she reiterated that there is still a long way to go.

Writing on Instagram, she said: 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, she continued. Thank you everyone for your lovely good wishes and for sending me your stories of how youve been coping too.

Garraway told fans who are also having a rough time to keep the hope alive and keep moving forward.

Celebrities make a show of thanks for frontline NHS key workers 1 /7 Celebrities make a show of thanks for frontline NHS key workers Daniel Craig and Phoebe Waller-Bridge were among stars featuring in celebrity show of thanks to the NHS NHS/Twitter PA PA PA PA PA Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge was among stars who join in a show of thanks for NHS workers on the frontline of the Covid-19 crisis NHS/Twitter

The presenter temporarily stepped down from her Good Morning Britain and Smooth Radio commitments when Draper was first hospitalised.

She has since made one appearance via video link on GMB, in early June, during which she shared an emotional update on her husbands health.

Garraway said: "Hes very, very sick and as time goes on its a virus, its a little bit like a computer virus, the doctors manage one bit extraordinarily well and there seems to be hope and then there is something else.

Its affected him from the top of his head to the tip of his toes.
Ogden jazz icon Joe McQueen may be gone, but his memory and legacy live on. One physical reminder of his life, McQueen's lifelong home at 3158 Grant Ave., has now become available for sale. The house received extensive remodeling, but as investor Richard Casperson has said, "Joe's energy is 
Administrators said they are considering several different sets of guidelines, including those from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as recent changes from the Virginia Department of Education.
Im rooted in the premise that historical novelists must adhere to historical accuracy, whether thats uncomfortable or not as long as it doesnt get in the way of a good story, she said from her summer home in McConnor, Washington, just north of Seattle. Readers need to trust the author that the facts are accurate. I often check them two or three times as Im doing research.

She added that setting is also a character in any good story, so she needed to stop along the trail and take in the weather, the wind, the sunsets, the flora and fauna, everything the early settlers experienced on their trip west.

The immenseness of the sky and the land was especially memorable to me, Sweeney said.

The narrative for her second novel, Answer Creek, opens at Chimney Rock, one of the prominent landmarks along the Oregon and California Trails. It follows the journey of the ill-fated Donner Party on their way to California.

The story, told by the fictional protagonist Ada Weeks, tells of how the small group of families was trapped on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the winter of 1846.
We know theres private sector out there, weve heard from a few of them, commissioner Randal Miller said. And we know theres probably not enough, but we have to get started some time, somehow, some way, and we have to get it going, otherwise theres going to be a complete village overrun by it.

Veenendaal said the USDA would help as much it can.

Im saying we can give you the help that allows us with the funds that we have and the ability and the people that we have, he said.

Banner County commissioner Bob Post suggested that the counties involved should come together to request help on a federal level above and beyond what Nebraska sees.

Sanders said the commissioners are looking for help before the prairie dogs become a greater issue than they are today.

Im willing to take any help that we can get at this point, he said, because I feel like weve let Lodgepole down. Were going to let other communities down. We cant do this any longer. ... I dont want to eradicate (prairie dogs). God put them here for a reason. I get it, but theyre out of control.

If we dont do something to start to get together today to figure out how to control it, were going to have people dying. I know plague moves in. Its happened right here in this county. ... I dont want to see that happen, and it darn sure could.

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On July 6, 2019, video footage of Englebert was recorded at two businesses in Gering, including near Dominos Pizza, where the route for Monday evenings walk began.

While the walkers may not have had a personal connection to Englebert, they all wanted to let his family know he is loved.

I feel like hes one of my kids, Robin Otzel said.

I have boys around the same age, Melissa Schanaman said.

The group made their way to Martha Road, toward an area of Terrytown where he was recorded walking past an apartment complex. He was last seen in the area of Terry Boulevard and Stable Club Road in Terrytown.

Ream led supporters to the pavilion at Terrys Lake for a prayer vigil led by Rev. Tyson Lambertson of The Rock Church. They then followed the route back to their cars.

Ream said shed hoped to have more participants than the handful who came, but she was grateful for those who did show up for Englebert. Regardless of attendance, Englebert remains in the hearts and prayers of many community members,

A lot of people love that kid, she said. Weve kind of adopted him.

Kamie Stephen is a reporter with the Star-Herald. She can be reached at 308-632-9041 or via email at kamie.stephen@starherald.com.

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Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough speaks at a ceremony announcing the SFDs class rating being dropped to a Class 3, ushering it into the top handful of departments in the state.
Municipal leaders have renewed their call for financial help from the province and federal government for the COVID-19 crisis, saying time is running out before they have to make drastic cuts to services.

Associations representing Ontario mayors and chairs put out a joint call this week for funding they say is needed to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs and lost revenues.

Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati said his city is crippled by a lack of revenues and overwhelmed by pandemic expenses.

Were not able to collect revenues. Were not allowed to have a deficit. Were in a real, not just unenviable, but impossible situation that we cant get ourselves out of because its not through our own doing or our own making, he said Tuesday.

Its much bigger. Its a global crisis and we need our upper levels of government to plug the hole and make us whole.

Niagara Falls is facing a $4-million gap to date due to COVID-19.

Diodati said if upper levels dont help out, the only other option is double-digit property tax increases, which is going to create a whole other host of challenges for everybody in the community.

St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik said his city will have to look at service cuts as it inches closer to budget time this fall.

What does that mean? Is it closing libraries? Is it reducing transit? Is it closing community centres? Sendzik asked.

The reality is, depending on the depth of the deficit that were facing, we could be left with these long-term decisions that will have a detrimental impact on the expectations of health and vibrancy of our community.

St. Catharines is facing an estimated $10.5-million year-end loss from COVID-19. Thats been reduced to approximately $6.6 million with mitigation efforts by staff that included temporary layoffs.

Sendzik said there have been no indications from the federal or provincial government about what kind of funding or programs could be available to municipalities.

Without any certainty, we now have to prepare for cutting significant services across the board. Thats why were saying the time is now for the federal and provincial governments to step up and provide some kind of relief.

Welland seems to be in a slightly better position.

Mayor Frank Campion said revenues are down and costs are up, but with layoffs and cutbacks, including reducing transit services substantially, the city lowered an approximate $4-million impact to $350,000 by the end of the year.

Thats an amount he said the city should be able to absorb.

Theres a lot of pain associated with getting there, Campion said. We, unfortunately, did have to lay off a lot of people.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has been asking for at least $10 billion in emergency relief for municipalities across the country. That would include $4 billion for Ontario municipalities to offset lost transit revenues and added costs.

The push by the federation is supported by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Large Urban Mayors Caucus of Ontario and Mayors and Regional Chairs of Ontario, which put out the joint call for action this week.

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Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch, the official opposition critic for municipal affairs, sent a letter to Premier Doug Ford last week urging his government to work with the federal government and provide emergency operating relief to municipalities.

It seems the federal and provincial government are batting the ball back and forth while municipalities are getting into a dire situation in terms of not knowing what their budgets are going to look like, and having to choose between tax hikes and pretty severe service cuts if they dont get some emergency funds, Burch said Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark said the province has been working with municipal partners to track COVID-19 related expenses so it can help municipalities get back on their feet to continue delivering services.

Given the national scale and magnitude of the shortfalls facing Canadian municipalities, it is imperative that the federal government step up and join us in developing a plan to help our municipalities recover from the impacts of COVID-19, said Julie ODriscoll in an email.

She said the province will continue to work with Ottawa and push for a joint funding program.

A spokeswoman for Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the federal government recognizes cities continue to face financial pressures.

Press secretary Katherine Cuplinskas said thats why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that support for municipalities is part of the $14-billion safe restart proposal the government made to Canadas premiers.

We very much look forward to concluding this agreement with them to ensure a safe economic restart for all Canadians, she said in an email.

Cuplinskas said the prime minister and deputy prime minister continue to express to the Premiers the federal governments eagerness to hear from the provinces and territories on ways it can help.

St. Catharines city Coun. Mat Siscoe, chair of the St. Catharines budget committee, said the financial crisis should be looked at as an opportunity to re-jig on a grand scale how different levels of government operate.

Siscoe said municipalities are responsible for 60 per cent of the infrastructure people use on a regular basis but municipalities collect less than 10 per cent of the taxes people pay.

Theres an imbalance there that needs to be addressed and needs to be fixed in the next couple of years and this crisis has drawn attention to that fact.
Municipal councils can lean on public health data to track the spread of COVID-19 in Niagara when making decisions about masking bylaws to limit spread of the virus, says the regions top public health official.

Dr. Mustafa Hirji, Niagaras acting medical officer of health, said recently published key COVID-19 indicators on his departments website can aid in the decisions several councils are posed to make.

There is no single indicator. You have to look at them holistically, said Hirji, whose department has joined a growing number of public health units in Ontario in publishing key data points to track the virus as the economy reopens. But it is data that can be used in decision making.

The indicators track public health and hospital capacities, the spread of the virus and contact tracing. The metrics were suggested by all 34 of Ontarios public health units as a way to use data to track the impact of the novel coronavirus as the economy reopens and use them to determine if a region should move forward into the next phase or take a step back.

Ontarios Health Ministry has declined to answer questions about how or if the metrics are being used in its decision making.

St. Catharines city council voted Monday night to develop a mandatory masking bylaw for the city, and regional council is set to debate the issue Wednesday. Niagara Falls is also to discuss the issue this month.

Hirji said while the data is useful tool for decision-makers, the issue of masking is a political one.

What level of risk are we willing to take as a community? Hirji said.

Once masking orders are in place, it will take weeks for data to reflect any impact.

In Niagaras specific case, it may be hard to determine the qualitative impact of masks because the peninsulas case count has been steadily, if slowly, falling for more than a month. If a month after an order is in place, Hirji said, cases fall further, it will be hard to definitively attribute that to masks.

Hirji also said concern some councillors have over how to handle people who cannot wear masks for medical reasons is going to be tricky, no matter what model of enforcement is chosen.

He said there are people with lung and heart conditions who may react badly to wearing a mask.

Now for others who say, I get claustrophobic wearing a mask, or if someone refuses to wear one because it is uncomfortable for them, will that be accepted as a reasonable reason not to wear one? That is a decision for councillors to make, Hirji said.

I think the best option may be to rely on an honour system and see how that goes and make changes accordingly.

Hirji said it could be possible for public health to issue to family doctors bracelets that indicate a person cannot wear a mask for medical reasons. Physicians could give them to appropriate patients. But that is an option that will have some cost to it and will take time to implement.

There were five new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Niagara Tuesday. One involving a person who travelled to the United States, and another three tied to community transmission with an unknown source. Hirji said another case is still being investigated.

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The new cases, the biggest daily jump in more than a week, brings the historic total of COVID-19 cases to 769, with 28 of them active. Two people are in St. Catharines hospital being treated, one of them in the intensive care unit.

To date, 61 people with COVID-19 have died in Niagara.
Gap Inc., which introduced face masks to its stores and website earlier this year, is now selling them directly to employers.

The owner of the Old Navy and Banana Republic brands is offering the masks in bulk, with the city of New York, the state of California and Kaiser Permanente among the clients putting in orders so far. Gap says the masks are both high quality and fashionable.

Its the latest move by the San Francisco-based retailer to adapt its business model amid the COVID-19 outbreak that has turned the apparel market on its head. It follows last months announcement that Gap is teaming up with Kanye West to create an apparel line called Yeezy Gap in a multi-year partnership.

Gap says it has sold about 10 million of the non-medical grade face masks. The company is requiring a minimum of 100,000 masks per order.

As we start to consider returning to work, and how you would do that safely, this just made so much sense, said John Strain, Gaps chief digital and technology officer.

While Strain declined to give growth projections for the program, noting that its still in its early stages, the current volume of orders is a great indication, he said. We are excited about the potential.

Strain said he expects corporations will return to a new special website for the business to put in repeat orders.

Like many in the retail sectors, Gap is struggling to rebound from the pandemic shutdowns that have reduced sales and changed consumer behaviour. Gaps net sales fell last quarter, with its namesake brand declining 50 per cent. Revenue was challenged for the company even before the coronavirus outbreak.
Sweeping reforms are required to prevent further COVID-19 outbreak among migrant farm labourers, experts have warned the provincial government, as the number of workers diagnosed with the virus surpasses 1,000.

In a letter sent to the ministries of labour, health and agriculture, a group of academics and clinicians have called for a concerted and collaborative strategy that includes more robust workplace inspections, stronger anti-reprisal protections for workers, and a reversal of public health guidelines allowing those who have tested positive but are asymptomatic to keep working.

The recommendations from the Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group also call for collaboration with the provincial workers compensation board to promote and support employer compliance in reporting illnesses.

A Star tally of media reports and public health unit data puts the number of farm workers diagnosed with the virus at more than 1,000  after an outbreak announced Monday at a York Region mushroom farm saw 30 workers diagnosed, and a recent outbreak at Nature Fresh Farms in Leamington involved almost 200.

According to data published by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, it has so far registered around 515 COVID-19 related claims from the agricultural sector (around 98 per cent of the claims processed to date have been accepted).

Three migrant workers have died from the virus  most recently, 55-year-old father of four Juan Lopez Chaparro.

Urgent action is needed to prevent further illness and deaths among this essential workforce, the working groups letter sent Monday says.

Now is the time for the Ontario government to show true leadership to prevent further tragedies, deaths and outbreaks in our fields, nurseries, greenhouses and packing plants.

Among the recommendations is a call for stronger enforcement, including proactive, unannounced, comprehensive and ongoing on-site inspections by the ministry of labour. The working group said inspectors should also engage with migrant workers without supervisors present and in their own language.

In order for migrant workers to understand why inspections are taking place, and apprehend their rights in the context of inspections and beyond, as well as to comprehend fully the questions that inspectors are asking, they need to be conducted in languages that workers understand, said Leah Vosko, a professor and Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Gender and Work at York University.

The letter says migrant workers need clear information on their right to refuse unsafe work and stronger anti-reprisal protection. In a June 22 webinar for farming-sector safety stakeholders, labour ministry staff said no work refusals have been filed to date by migrant workers, according to the letter.

Most workers know of an individual who has been deported or kicked out of the temporary agricultural program they are enrolled in which has a huge chilling effect on reporting, and creates a very coercive workplace dynamic, said Susana Caxaj, an assistant professor at Western Universitys Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing.

Many workers I have worked with, both in research and in a personal capacity, have told me about not seeking medical care, not reporting a workplace injury, not reporting harassment or discrimination, not pursuing a complaint to recover lack of payment, because fear of long-term loss of employment.

A Star investigation recently found long-standing complaints about living and working conditions at one Norfolk Country farm were some 200 migrant workers were recently diagnosed with the virus.

The recommendations made by the working group, which includes academics from across Canada as well as occupational health experts, also calls for a reversal of recent public health guidance allowing asymptomatic workers who have tested positive for the virus to continue working when deemed critical to operations.

Some 760 doctors and health professionals also signed a letter to the government last week demanding an immediate reversal of the guidelines, calling them a specific and demonstrated public health risk to migrant workers.

Caxaj said providing accessible, comprehensive health care to migrant workers should be a priority for the ministry.

Even before the pandemic, migrant agricultural workers in many regions of the province  and the country  depend on employers discretion and employer-provided transportation to access health services, she said. We know of countless cases where workers have reported health concerns and requested medical care and have been encouraged instead to self-medicate or wait it out.

The Ministry of Health directed the Stars queries about the working groups recommendations to the Ministry of Labour.

In a statement, the provinces labour minister Monte McNaughton said worker safety laws apply to all workers in Ontario, including migrant workers, temporary workers and undocumented workers.

Outsourcing labour does not allow farmers to outsource their health and safety responsibilities, the statement said.

Janet Deline, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, said inspections have increased to protect migrant workers, and that all inspections are unannounced, comprehensive and focused on ensuring full compliance with our health and safety regulation.

While the WSIB is an arms-length organization, Deline said both the board and the ministry are reaching out to employers to inform them of their obligations to report illness.

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Eligibility for compensation is not determined by immigration status and the WSIB has interpreters to help foreign workers file claims. Health and safety information from our ministry is also available in multiple languages, including Spanish, Deline said.

The working groups letter calls future migrant worker deaths preventable.

We urge the provincial government to show strong leadership in implementing measures to avoid further needless tragedies, it says.
During a meeting Monday, the county commissioners agreed to pay $16,500 in attorneys fees and give such property owners access to the area during future health emergencies, according to Chuck Kitchen, an attorney for the group suing the county.
There were a handful of noisy protesters, and a few people muttered under their breath, but the first day of mandatory mask-wearing in Toronto seemed to go pretty smoothly, retailers say.

The City of Toronto made masks mandatory starting Tuesday in indoor public spaces  including shops, malls, and public transit  in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. Waiting in line outside the Yonge and Summerhill LCBO, customer Clio Gogan said he didnt mind sporting a mask his friend had sewn.

It fogs my glasses up, but everybodys got to do their part. I probably wont browse as much as usual, but its fine, said Gogan, adding that he was looking forward to getting his purchases home.

Weather like this, Im definitely grabbing some cold beer, he added with a chuckle.

The LCBO announced Tuesday morning that it would be turning away shoppers who didnt have a mask  you need to bring your own. In a press release, the LCBO urged customers to don a mask, even if when theyre not in an area where face coverings are mandatory, and suggested a few other steps to help slow the spread of the global pandemic, including following physical distancing guidance, shopping alone and paying with debit or credit cards.

In an email, an LCBO spokesperson said the vast majority of customers had been co-operative throughout the pandemic. We anticipate the same regarding the city bylaw, the spokesperson said.

Many other retailers and coffee shops were offering customers a free mask if they didnt bring their own.

Starbucks spokesperson Carly Suppa said the vast majority of customers have been wearing masks, even before they became mandatory. Those who refuse to use a mask still wont go coffeeless, Suppa added.

Should a customer decline to wear a facial covering, we will make the moment right and ask the customer to wait outside of the store while we prepare their order and bring it out to them, Suppa said.

Tim Hortons is also providing masks wherever possible to customers who dont have their own.

At a midtown Loblaws store, most customers brought their own masks but there were a few exceptions, according to one worker who asked not to be named because he wasnt authorized to speak to the media.

It was pretty good, but there were a few people moaning about how it was too hot to be wearing a mask. Theres always at least one, right? I was like sorry man, no choice, said the employee, who handed out masks to people who didnt have one.

Customers of the Sobeys grocery chain who showed up maskless were likewise offered free ones, said spokesperson Natasha Compton: We will not let down our guard when it comes to safety.

At Cadillac Fairview-owned malls  including the Eaton Centre  maskless shoppers were also being offered free masks, but if theres a run on protective gear, that could change, said company spokesperson Janine Ramparas.

Our goal will be to distribute masks for those who show up without a mask, but this will be based on our ability to keep up with supply and demand, Ramparas said.

Meanwhile, a few dozen antimask protesters got onto the subway at Dundas and University on Tuesday morning, chanting hugs over mask, we dont have to ask.

Before boarding the subway, some of the protesters, including Letitia Montana  who was recently filmed getting ejected from a hospital for not wearing a mask  spoke to reporters. Montana said mandatory mask-wearing was the start down a slippery slope of losing freedoms.

Is that the world we want to live in? That is what has led to the greatest atrocities throughout history, that have oppressed minorities, that have oppressed dissidents, said Montana.

Studies have shown that physical distancing and the proper use of face masks can reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and the World Health Organization issued guidance in June that governments should encourage the general public to wear masks in specific situations and settings as part of a comprehensive approach to suppress SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, the citys medical officer of health, said theyve seen that making masks mandatory improves compliance, and that though there is greater risk of COVID-19 transmission in enclosed spaces, wearing masks helps to prevent virus spread.

I wear my cloth mask to protect you and you wear one to protect me, she said at a press conference on June 30.

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At Queens Park, Premier Doug Ford expressed concern about the antimask protests.

You go into a hospital, you have to wear a mask. You know, I saw the video on that. Thats unfortunate. But wear a mask. Youre protecting everyone in the hospitals. These are front-line heroes who are working, and they just cant chance it, said Ford.

If youre going into a mall or wherever  every time I go into a large area, as soon as I step out of my car and Im going into a group or a store the mask goes on instantly. So just follow the guidelines, he said, dismissing most of the criticism of masks as just nonsense.

With files from Robert Benzie

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Three employees of Paris-based game developer Ubisoft have resigned, been fired or placed on leave after allegations of harassment within the company, sexual and otherwise, surfaced on social media.

Maxime Beland, Toronto-based vice-president of editorial, has resigned after being placed on administrative leave, while another unnamed Toronto employee was fired, according to Ubisoft.

And in Paris, vice-president of editorial and creative services Tommy Francois has been placed on disciplinary leave.

The company has not disclosed the specific allegations against the three departing employees. Anonymous allegations that have surfaced online point to problems with Ubisofts culture.

Beland did not respond to a message seeking comment Monday afternoon and Francois did not respond to a request made on Tuesday.

Senior managers at Ubisoft offices around the globe have been accused of acts of sexual harassment that went unpunished by the company, according to dozens of anonymous messages relayed by popular streamer Denny Von Doom and designer Meghna Jayanth on Twitter.

The alleged conduct ranged from bullying, spitting on someone and fondling in an elevator, to an incident where a female employee was choked at a staff party. Several of the anonymous allegations specified that the problem is not a single act or a single person, but a highly sexualized culture enabled through constant parties and drinking sessions, as one accuser put it.

Women are pitted against each other and then your issues are minimized. Your work opinions are overlooked and I have experience(d) being laughed at when I went to my boss about issues and told not to tell him when I mentioned that during a monthly party, a colleague came to my desk as I was still working and told me he wanted me to give him a blow job, the same anonymous accuser stated.

Some feared that reporting incidents would put a bullseye on their back, wrote another. Ive seen a lot of womens careers get destroyed by speaking up.

Especially for women, theres a lot of pressure to not rock the boat and to kind of be one of the guys, said a third anonymous accuser, in an interview with gaming site Kotaku.

The Star has not been able to independently verify the allegations. However, in an email to the Star, Ubisoft Toronto spokesperson Heather Steele confirmed the departures and said all three employees remain under investigation. She did not respond directly to questions about specific conduct.

Other investigations are ongoing and will be conducted rigorously. Ubisoft will not tolerate workplace misconduct and will continue taking disciplinary actions against anyone who engages in harassment, discrimination and other behaviours that infringe on our Code of Fair Conduct, she wrote.

In a letter to staff titled Change Starts Today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot detailed a structural shift, including new appointments and an overhaul of HR processes.

The letter, published on the Ubisoft website July 2, does not specify the types of allegations made against the three employees.

No one should ever feel harassed or disrespected at work, and the types of inappropriate behaviour we have recently learned about cannot and will not be tolerated, wrote Guillemot in the letter.

It lists what the company is doing to address the allegations and change its internal processes, including: the appointment of a head of workplace culture; employee listening sessions and an employee survey; investigations into the allegations by third parties; a review of the companys policies and procedures; and the creation of a new head of diversity and inclusion.

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Ubisoft has also set up an anonymous platform for employees and others to report harassment, discrimination and other inappropriate behaviours.

Guillemot said Ubisoft will begin its online sessions, which will be externally moderated, on Monday.
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas surpassed 10,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day Tuesday for the first time, crossing a sobering milestone rarely seen since the pandemic first hit the U.S. in March.

The record high of 10,028 new cases in Texas served as another alarming new measure of the swift resurgence of COVID-19 nationwide and the failures of the countrys response. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas aggressively began one of Americas fastest reopenings in May but has begun reversing course in recent weeks, ordering bars closed and mandating face coverings.

New York and Florida are the only other states to record more than 10,000 new cases in a single day. New York hit that grim total back in April, when New York City hospitals were overwhelmed and hundreds of people were dying every day. Florida topped 10,000 confirmed cases last week.

The record mark in Texas partly reflects a lag in testing results from the Fourth of July weekend, when newly reported cases were far below what Texas has seen in recent weeks. But Abbott said the numbers should still be an alarm bell for everybody who is skeptical about whether the virus is a threat.

We have rapid spread of COVID-19 in the state of Texas right now, Abbott told San Antonio television station KENS.

Later in the interview, Abbott was noncommittal about whether he would attend his own partys convention next week in Houston, which the Texas GOP has remained bent on holding even as the mayor, doctors and businesses pressure the party to cancel. Houston has emerged as one of the nations hot zones in the pandemic. However, Republican activists, some of whom have called the fears overblown, have resolved to press forward with the indoor three-day convention.

Texas surged past 8,000 statewide hospitalizations for the first time over the long holiday weekend  a more than quadruple increase on the past month. On Tuesday, the number of hospitalizations soared past 9,000. Texas also set a new high for deaths in a single day with 60.

Mayors in some of the biggest cities in the state and U.S.  including Austin, San Antonio and Houston  have warned that hospitals could soon become overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. Along the Texas-Mexico border, some cities imposed curfew orders in hopes of cutting down on large parties or social gatherings as cases have skyrocketed.

Many of us are running at capacity and have created new wards, said Todd Mann, the chief executive officer at McAllen Medical Center, which on Tuesday had more than 130 coronavirus patients taking up more than half of the facilitys beds. The physical space is obviously limited, and most of the hospitals are running out of that pretty quickly.

The record count was reported on a day that also saw the State Fair of Texas cancelled for the the first time since World War II. Fair organizers said the event, which draws more than a million visitors to Dallas each fall, was not feasible during the pandemic.

It also came as President Donald Trump leaned on governors to reopen schools this fall, arguing that some are keeping schools closed not because of the risks from the coronavirus pandemic but for political reasons. Texas education officials announced Tuesday that face coverings will be mandatory for students older than 10 years old and that school districts must offer on-campus learning to any family that wants their child in a classroom.

Deaths remain lower in Texas compared to other big states. As of Tuesday, Texas has confirmed that at least 2,715 people have died due to COVID-19. But fatalities have climbed in recent days, and in addition to an alarming acceleration in new cases in Texas, the seven-day infection rate has climbed to 13.5%.

The number of infections is likely far higher because many people havent been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected without feeling sick.

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This story was first published on July 7. It was updated on July 8 to correct the name of McAllen Medical Center CEO Todd Mann, who had been erroneously referred to as Michael Mann.
The provinces plan to end academic streaming in Grade 9 gets top marks from experts, who said the move is long overdue but cautioned it must come with smaller classes and more supports for students.

Premier Doug Ford said Ontario is the only province in the entire country that does this. Its not fair to certain groups of students  50 per cent of Black students dont go on to the academic side of high school, which is unfair when one in five, or the vast majority of students, 80 per cent, go on to the academic level.

Ford, whose Etobicoke North riding has the largest Black community in the province, also said its unfair to have kids in Grade 8 make decisions about Grade 9 that impact the rest of their high school career and the post-secondary schools that theyre going to.

He said, I just dont think its right. Its a broken system.

The governments plan to do away with applied and academic courses in at least the first year of high school, first revealed in the Star on Monday, is meant to help address systemic racism in the system, given racialized and low-income students are more likely to end up in applied classes  which research has shown leaves them less likely to graduate from high school or go on to post-secondary education.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce is expected to release details of the change this week. Ontario is the only province to divide students this way in Grade 9.

University of Toronto Professor Ann Lopez said the current system impacts Black and Indigenous and racialized youth in very detrimental ways and that the announcement, while seemingly ad hoc, is a way to start dealing with systemic and anti-Black racism.

As a Black educator and grandmother, she said she knows full well the devastating impact of streaming and she called this a window of opportunity  but said the changes cant be piecemeal and must fit into a larger plan.

Lopez  who teaches educational leadership and policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and has received numerous awards  said she worries because this provincial government does not have a track record of engaging in anti-racist education, anti-oppressive work, nor has it put the resources in schools to do so. It also eliminated the anti-racism secretariat, she noted.

Annie Kidder, of research and advocacy group People for Education, has long pushed to end streaming. The announcement, she said, is exciting to see, but the proof is in the pudding.

There is quite a lot of agreement that streaming is problematic, she said. I think at the same time, people are saying, Just a minute, how is this going to be supported? How is this going to be implemented, especially in the middle of COVID? Those questions are really important questions.

When the Toronto board began destreaming Grade 9 and 10  a process still underway  it did so with smaller classes and supports for students.

And Kidder said that while some argue there is a value to the more hands-on applied classes, the evidence is really strong about not grouping students  the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) says that, researchers say it.

People for Education has found teens who take Grade 9 applied math have almost no chance of going to university.

High school teachers union leader Harvey Bischof said any changes must be made in consultation with educators.

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Catholic teachers believe every student deserves the opportunity to realize their full potential and we recognize the equity concerns related to streaming, added Liz Stuart, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association.

However, once again, we see the Ford government charging ahead with a policy announcement before any genuine consultation or planning has been carried out. Research and experience suggests that to have the intended effect, destreaming should be accompanied by reduced class sizes, strict guidelines around class composition, training for teachers and supports for students.
And while it would be nice to believe it can be restored by choosing a decent and selfless man to replace a craven and self-interested one, we should brace for the likelihood that that will not be the case. At least, not immediately. The damage is too deep  again, not just to our concrete national interests, but also to the way we see our country, to the expectations we hold for our leaders. And for ourselves.
DUBLIN  Aircraft lessor Avolon on Tuesday announced the cancellation of an additional 27 Boeing 737 Max planes after cancelling 75 of the jets in April.

It also canceled one Airbus A330neo widebody jet, the fifth it has canceled since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, and deferred the delivery of three A320neo aircraft until 2022.

The Dublin-based lessor said it has reduced it near-term commitments by over 140 aircraft since the start of the year as it grapples with the fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Max has been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes in five months. However, Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last week completed certification test flights, a key milestone toward the plane's return to service.

Rival lessor BOC Aviation last week said it had canceled an order for 30 Max jets while Norwegian Air canceled orders for 92.

On the one hand such cancellations can help clear production slots to deal with a large backlog of Max deliveries, but they also underscore uncertainty over underlying demand for the Max, analysts have said.

The cancellation of five A330neo from one of plane's launch customers is also embarrassing for Airbus.
Am I missing something here? Why attack trained firefighters who were trying to save a persons life, I do not get it. To add insult to injury, the mob allegedly followed and attacked emergency medical services vehicles at the hospital. Why? The mob that was involved in these actions are very ungrateful, very unappreciative, very disrespectful, and maybe, just maybe, someday they or their family will need the help of trained first responders and maybe, I doubt it, they will say thank you. A wave of the hand, a positive nod of ones head, and a thank you would have been nice. Maybe next time.
U.S. carriers, suffering the industrys worst crisis as the coronavirus pandemic crushes demand, have until Sept. 30 to decide whether to take the loan. They can furlough or eliminate jobs starting Oct. 1.

Travel has picked up in some areas over the past two months as economies open up and travel restrictions loosen, though a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in some U.S. states has triggered more restrictions and started to weigh on bookings again.

In an internal presentation on Monday, United said reservations for travel within the coming month quickly began to slide after New York, New Jersey and Connecticut said they would require people arriving from hot-spot states to quarantine for 14 days, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The slump was most pronounced at Uniteds Newark hub, where near-term net bookings were just about 16% of year-ago levels as of July 1.

United told employees to prepare to receive notifications of potential furloughs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as the WARN Act, as soon as this week, the person said.
The missing information from early in the pandemic leads to some puzzling results on the website.

For example, a nursing home that had one of the first major reported outbreaks in the country  Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington  shows no confirmed COVID-19 cases and no deaths on the CMS data page.

A spokesman for Life Care Centers of America, a major chain, said the company is providing the information the government requested.

We are reporting what CMS is asking us to report to them, said Tim Killian. We are not evading them in any way.

The Kirkland facility is now COVID-free and it has been for some time, Killian added. The data showing no cases is a snapshot of what is currently in the facility.

The company said its cumulative count shows 100 residents tested positive, and 34 died. You can ask us directly and well give you the exact numbers, said Killian.

But consumer advocate Brooks said that information should be on the government website.

As it stands, the site doesnt tell the whole picture, he said. You are not going to be able to look at a home and make an informed decision."
Update: July 7

Gateway Arch National Park announced Tuesday that it will delay indefinitely its phased reopening of tram rides to the top of the Arch, documentary screenings and National Park Service programming. These attractions were scheduled to reopen Wednesday.

The change is in response to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Missouri and guidance from the White House, CDC and public health authorities.

The visitor center, museum, store and cafe at the Gateway Arch remain open. The Old Courthouse remains closed.

Original story: June 30

St. Louis will seem a little like St. Louis again, as it will be possible to take a tram ride to the top of the Gateway Arch starting Wednesday, July 8.

The documentary showings about the building of the arch and outdoor programming from the National Park Service will start again too, the Gateway Arch National Park also announced Tuesday.

The museum and visitor center reopened earlier this month after closing March 18 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The grounds have remained open.
On Oct. 23, 1980, four workers were shot and killed during an early morning robbery at Pope's cafeteria in Des Peres. Here is our original coverage of that event.
Naturally, this has elicited a variety of responses, from the sympathetic and supportive, to the curious and compassionate, to the bitter and resentful, the angry and obscene. And it speaks volumes that so many Americans express vehement opposition to making the words of the Declaration  that all men are created equal  ring true for all.
Early and sensitive detection dramatically reduces risks of virus transmission. Currently, if a donor with a higher risk for acquiring HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C tested negative within the last month since potential exposure, the risk of undetected infection is less than one in 1 million.

Still, organs from increased-risk donors are routinely underused. Medical professionals say the terminology is a likely culprit.

Area experts in organ transplantation say that while getting rid of the increased risk label might not increase the organ supply, it could help recipients make better-informed and unbiased decisions.

According to Dr. William Chapman, surgical director of the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Transplant Center, 10% to 25% of organs transplanted at BJC come from increased-risk donors.

I think this is a big improvement in the designations and the definitions that will help encourage more donors to be considered and utilized, especially by those recipients who maybe in the past were scared off by this designation, Chapman said. He also said the new guidelines may make some people more likely to donate.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Nova Hart and his father-in-law, J.H. Jackson, saw the mysterious thing soaring noiselessly over their July 4th picnic near Creve Coeur Lake, in what is now Maryland Heights. Hart said it was silver-gray and round.

"Our wives saw it too, and so did some people in an automobile who stopped when they saw us looking up," said Hart, then of 3969A St. Ferdinand Avenue in St. Louis. "I can say it certainly was strange, and none of us drinks a drop."

Hart and Jackson were the first St. Louisans to report one of the flying saucers that suddenly were all over the American sky in the summer of 1947. Some newspapers called them "flying discs." Eventually, the accepted term became unidentified flying object, or UFOs.

The first sighting was made June 25, 1947, by a private pilot, Kenneth Arnold, who said he saw nine saucers zipping at 1,200 mph east of Seattle. Another aviator spotted them over Bakersfield, Calif. Sightings poured in from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Idaho and Kentucky. Among the witnesses were the Idaho lieutenant governor and a Weather Bureau meteorologist. Thus began an enduring national craze.
According to the Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team, certain circumstances such as heart attacks and strokes that occur within 24 hours of a strenuous duty-related event may qualify for federal benefits.

Fitzgerald said BackStoppers, a locally based group that supports the families of emergency personnel who die while on duty, was helping Wehlages father with funeral expenses. Wehlage was divorced and had no children, the fire chief said.

The fire was reported just before 8 p.m. June 27 at 13644 State Road E. Lightning hit the home and a small fire began in the attic, the chief said. Wehlage was the lieutenant on the first truck to arrive. He and his crew went inside the home to extinguish the flames, Fitzgerald said.

Neither Wehlage nor any other firefighter was hurt fighting the blaze. He finished his shift and went home about 7 a.m. the next day. Fitzgerald went to Wehlages home the following Tuesday and found him dead after becoming concerned when he failed to appear for work.

Fitzgerald worked with Wehlage for 16 years and said the lieutenant had a kind heart.
ST. LOUIS  A 4-year-old St. Louis County boy who suffered a gunshot wound to the head over the weekend, possibly from a stray bullet, remains in grave condition, police said Monday.

Police said the boy, Michael Goodlow III, of the 2300 block of Sandra Sue Drive, was shot about 10 p.m. Saturday in the 4200 block of Page Boulevard in the Vandeventer neighborhood of St. Louis.

Police initially reported Monday the boy had died but corrected the information Monday evening.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson in a Facebook Live briefing Monday addressed a violent holiday weekend in which several people were shot and killed.

The prevalence of gun violence in our city and in our region ... its just devastating our communities and our families, she said. Its not just happening in St. Louis. Its happening across the country, in big cities across the country. We know that in Missouri, we have very lax, lenient gun laws and we know way too many differences are settled with gunfire rather than with words.
The deputy was in uniform and driving his personal vehicle. The pickup crashed in a yard of a home several feet from the sidewalk and the suspect ran off, Panus said. Thats when the deputy ran after the man and shot him, she said.

Wicks said a detective came to her home on Tuesday to notify her of her sons death. The detective told her that the deputy had shot Burgess once in the chest but there is no camera footage in the back of the homes to show what happened.

My son is gone. He cant tell his story, she said.

She said her son had been battling drugs. She said she noticed needle marks in his arm months ago and he admitted using heroin. He was having hallucinating problems. You think thats what led him to take that car?

Burgess was scheduled to stand trial in St. Louis next month on drug charges.

Wicks said her son apologized to her for using drugs and planned to go to rehab Monday. She said she texted him Monday to ask if hed gone but got no reply. Her text was sent more than an hour after he died.

Wicks said her son had grown paranoid. Hed say drones were following him around ... He always said the police are trying to kill him.
This is the damage that made them come out and attack us viciously, Gray said. This is the property damage that caused dozens of police officers to come out in full riot gear and initiate contact with nonviolent protesters.  This is the property damage that resulted in people being beaten and pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed.

Police Chief Timothy Fagan later contested Grays characterization of why police made arrests and pushed protesters off of the property, arguing that officers didnt come to the front of the building until protesters pried a piece of plywood away from a window of police headquarters.

Once theyve removed the plywood to expose the building, things have changed a little, Fagan said. Police departments around the country have been damaged. Some have burned. There were windows smashed in Ferguson. We cannot allow the building to be exposed in that manner.  The notion that somehow we came outside and police decided to have a confrontation for writing on plywood with Magic Marker is ridiculous.

Gray said he didnt see protesters remove the plywood, and that Expect Us would not tolerate it if they did.
Dr. Alex Garza, head of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said in a briefing on Facebook that most of the hospital data is showing increased transmission of the virus, including an increase in patients in hospitals.

Garza said there has been an increase in younger people testing positive, although people from those groups dont typically end up in the hospital.

New COVID-19 cases in St. Louis County are most present in people ages 10 to 30 years old, who are more likely than older adults to carry the virus without showing symptoms and transfer it without knowing, Page said. He implored residents, including teens and young adults, to follow county orders requiring masks in public places and to follow social distancing guidelines.

Im calling on all of our teens and young adults to think about the ones that they love when theyre out and about, Page said. Please be responsible, protect those that you love, and remember we must all do our part.

Illinois officials reported 147,865 total cases as of Monday, with 7,026 deaths. They said 1,395 were in the hospital, with 321 patients in the ICU and 151 were on ventilators in the state.

School guidelines
The commission found that, Grain Belt will not selectively sell to particular retail customers, but the electricity it transmits will serve the general public, the court noted. We find that the commission had the statutory authority to approve the sale of Grain Belt to Invenergy.

Invenergy spokeswoman Beth Conley said the decision was good for Missouris economy.

This $500 million private investment and the 1,500 construction jobs the Grain Belt Express will create are more important now than ever as Missouri emerges from the current economic crisis, Conley said.

The decision is the second blow to the landowners in recent months.

In May, the Missouri Legislature failed to approve a law that would have prevented the company from using eminent domain to build the high-voltage line.

The measure moved out of the House, but was blocked in the Senate for the second year.
(CNN) -- Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Army veteran who lost both of her legs while serving in Iraq, rebuked Tucker Carlson after the conservative Fox News host attacked her on Monday night and suggested that she hates America.

"Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?" Duckworth wrote on Twitter.

Duckworth was awarded the Purple Heart after she lost her legs in 2004 when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the helicopter she was co-piloting during the Iraq War.

Duckworth later retired from the Illinois Army National Guard as a lieutenant colonel and went on to serve as the assistant secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Obama administration.

When she was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, she became the first female double-amputee to serve in the chamber and she was the first senator to give birth while in office.

But Carlson, whose controversial comments over the years have prompted multiple advertiser boycotts, sought to question her patriotism on his Fox News program.

"You're not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military," Carlson said, acknowledging that he was aware of her service.
While issues around Israel and Palestine are often contentious on campus, this is not. Its precisely because of our shared Jewish values that we feel compelled to speak out in united opposition to annexation. Now, we call on communal and organizational leaders to follow the example of young activists and to voice their clear opposition to the annexation and the danger it poses to Israelis, Palestinians and the U.S.-Israel relationship. And we are proud to stand with so many organizations that have already spoken out, from the Anti-Defamation League to the Central Conference of American Rabbis, from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism to the Union for Reform Judaism, from J Street to the Israel Policy Forum.
Joyce Meyer Ministries, the flashy Fenton-based televangelist church once hauled before Congress over its lavish finances, got millions of dollars in federal pandemic relief funds. So did the Church of Scientology, among other religious entities. Aid money also went to the anti-tax advocacy group of Grover Norquist, who never met a government-spending program he liked  until now, apparently. Billionaire Kanye West was among the many mega-wealthy luminaries whose companies raked in taxpayer help intended to prevent struggling small businesses from going under.

America still doesnt know where most of the money from the Paycheck Protection Program is going. The relatively little information released Monday raises more questions than it answers.

The $660 billion program offers loans to small businesses impacted by the pandemic. By keeping employees on the payroll through the recession, business owners can get the loans forgiven. This is a good idea that, its increasingly clear, has been undermined by gross mismanagement.
The main type of travel during the re-opening period will be "visiting friends and relatives," or VFR, in industry jargon, one of the three big travel groups the industry uses. (The others are leisure travel and business travel, in case you cared.) So say the industry "experts." Although I don't know when the country will be truly "re-opened," even if it isn't yet, many of you will be traveling with kids or arranging for kids to travel fairly soon. Here's a checklist of arrangements you need to consider.

1. ID. Even if you're just taking a road trip, it's a good idea for each kid to have government-approved photo ID of one sort or another. And if you're flying, you need the obvious ID required by TSA. Fortunately, TSA has again relaxed the need for REAL-ID compliant state ID; the new deadline is October, 2021.

2. Consent Forms. When my wife and I were guardians of a grandson, we would occasionally ask him to invite a friend along on a family trip: We had long since learned that on such trips two kids are easier than one. But I remember the first time we took one of our grandson's buddies on a trip to Oregon, we were surprised to find that the operator of a tame jetboat excursion on the Rogue River refused to allow the friend on the trip because we didn't have notarized permission from his parents. You can face this problem in unsuspecting places, including some adventure/thrill rides.
Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

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Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that his country will start filling the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to tap into the current heavy rain season, despite Egypt and Sudan earlier saying that the three countries had agreed to delay the filling until a trilateral agreement on the disputed project is reached.

According to Al-Arabiya news website, Abiy said that disagreements between his country and Egypt over the giant hydropower project on the Blue Nile will be resolved within the African Union (AU), which is currently mediating ongoing talks on a potential agreement.

"Ethiopia will not harm Egypt and will start filling the dam to tap into the [current] heavy rain season. We will not deprive Egypt of water and will reach an agreement soon," the Ethiopian premier was quoted by Al-Arabiya as saying on Tuesday.

Over the past few days, Addis Ababa has witnessed large demonstrations following the murder of popular singer Hachalu Hundessa, who was shot dead by unknown attackers in the country's capital last week. The unrest has left dozens dead, injured and arrested.

The prime minister said that recent domestic unrest would not derail his plan to start filling the dam

"The desire of the breaking news is to make the Ethiopian government take its eye off the dam," Abiy was quoted as saying by AFP during a question-and-answer session with lawmakers on Tuesday, without giving evidence to support the claim.

"If Ethiopia doesn't fill the dam, it means Ethiopia has agreed to demolish the dam," he said.

"On other points we can reach an agreement slowly over time, but for the filling of the dam we can reach and sign an agreement this year," he added.

Ethiopia had repeatedly said it would begin filling the dam in July regardless of whether an agreement is reached with the downstream countries.

Both Egypt and Sudan said late last month that the three nations had agreed during the new round of negotiations to delay the filling of the dam's reservoir until an accord is reached. But Ethiopia undermined the announcement by the two downstream countries, saying shortly after that it was on track to begin the filling within weeks.

The African Union last month called on the three nations to refrain from taking any action that may "jeopardise or complicate" its efforts to find an acceptable solution to all outstanding matters over the decade-long dispute over the $4.8 billion dam.

The AU-brokered talks come in response to a call from South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, the current chairperson of the AU, and is being held online in the attendance of 11 observers representing the EU, the US, the AU Commission, South Africa and the AU's legal and technical experts. They are due to end on 11 July.

Egypt said after the fourth day of the online talks that "fundamental" technical and legal differences over the dam still exist.

Egypt, which relies on the Nile for 95 percent of its freshwater, fears the dam will significantly cut the rivers flow, especially during the filling stages through periods of drought and dry years, while Ethiopia says the project is key to its development efforts.

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 resolve the stalemate to preserve international peace and stability.

The Security Council urged the three countries to avoid adopting any unilateral actions and conduct talks on the basis of mutual understanding.

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With parades, festivals, concerts and many other summer activities cancelled due to COVID-19, it seems many Americans let off some steam during their own Fourth of July celebrations.

All weekend long Vincennes residents heard the tale-tell sounds of firecrackers and bottle rockets and cannon-like explosions  fireworks with names like the Atomic Bomb, American Spirit Artillery Shells and Demon tubes.

What seems to be a notable uptick in the use of recreational fireworks this year had some residents taking to social media to complain about the noise and the duration of these colorful pyrotechnics.

And some, made calls to the Vincennes Police Department.

Vincennes Police Chief Bob Dunham says while officers havent received a lot of complaints from upset residents, he knows many have turned to voicing their frustrations on Facebook, which was echoed by city council president Tim Salters.

Weve gotten a handful of complaints this year, but then you see numerous complaints on social media. People are simply communicating more though those mediums, Salters said.

The noise complaints often site an ordinance approved by city council six years ago, one that tightened regulations regarding the use of fireworks, restricting the hours for personal fireworks displays.

Residents can set off their own personal fireworks  as long as its on their own properties  between 5 p.m. and two hours after sunset from June 29 through July 3, from 10 a.m. to midnight on July 4, and again between 5 p.m. and two hours after sunset or about 11 p.m.  through July 9.

The legislation came about because people often started celebrating the nations birthday a little early  sometimes in the middle of June  and city council members and police officers alike were fielding complaints right and left about the noise.

Though police do respond to calls about fireworks, Dunham says its difficult to enforce because often times, by the time an officer arrives on scene, the individuals have already gone inside.

The exact location, too, can often be difficult to determine.

This year, community leaders and residents alike noticed a clear spike in the number of residential firework displays, with many retailers across the state and region actually selling out of merchandise by July 4.

This year compared to last year, we have definitely seen an uptick, but this has been such an abnormal year because everything being shut down said Salters.

The city councilman says while he appreciates the revelry and celebration of the countrys freedom, he also feels for individuals who may not be so keen on the explosive festivities.

I feel bad for people who struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Salters said. I feel for people whose kids wont go to sleep. For the dogs who despise them.

The fear felt by animals is of great concern to Leah Vantlin, director of the Vincennes Animal Shelter, 1128 River Road.

Fireworks alarm some people and they alarm many animals, too, Vantlin said. Fourth of July is the number one day dogs go missing.

Local resident A.J. Lane said his own pet dog, uncharacteristically chewed up his window blinds, and animal shelter employee Aimee Hamilton explained that a scared dog doesnt behave the way he would typically would.

A scared animal that doesnt usually get out of the fence or doesnt usually break a cable or slip out of a collar, might do so if they hear a firework close by, Hamilton said.

Resident Emilie Prince said she nearly had a panic attack at the outset of her neighbors fireworks display over the weekend.

Because to me it didnt sound like fireworks, it sounded like gunshots, she said.

What nearly all city officials and residents seemed to agree on is that fireworks, when used responsibly and during reasonable hours, are still a fun way to mark our nations independence.

Its the Fourth of July, and I totally understand that people want to celebrate, Vantlin said. I dont think theres anything wrong with that, but I do think they need to stick to the designated hours.

Chief Dunham agrees Independence Day celebrations can be fun and festive, but residents should always respect their neighbors.

You may not have to get up at 6 a.m., but your neighbor may have to, he said. Its all about common courtesy and respect, remembering you have to live side-by-side the next day.

Salters shares Dunhams sentiment, encouraging people to remember that we all live here. Were friends, were colleagues, and we run into one another at the grocery store.

Were part of a big community, he said.

City officials also advise those who choose to use fireworks recreationally to always read warning labels and to take great care. Adults, too, should always be present with children, and fireworks should only be set off on your own property or in an area where you have permission to be, and only in a large open area with access to water.

For more information about the citys fireworks ordinance, contact the police department at 812-882-1630.
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 Defense Ministrys Space and Satellite Administration, mentioned at least two others: the Ofek 5, launched in 2002, and the Ofek 11, launched in 2016.

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 defense 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.

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 Defense Ministrys Space and Satellite Administration, mentioned at least two others: the Ofek 5, launched in 2002, and the Ofek 11, launched in 2016.

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 defense 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.
Changes to the SunCommercial's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition, by default, is now presented in Text view.
Huge success of a pilot programme featuring rural mayors connecting youth in their regions with local small businesses has led to it being scaled up around the country.

A collaboration between the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs and the Ministry of Social Development, the MTFJ Community Recovery Programme has helped rural councils assist small to medium sized businesses with recruitment, training and subsidies.

This will help them to take on young workers or those who have been displaced due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

The programme will provide up to $500,000 per rural council to create a minimum of 50 sustainable employment positions.

The Minister of Social Development, Hon Carmel Sepuloni says its great to be extending this programme with confidence, knowing that these partnerships had good success, with the MTFJ well connected to the needs of their own communities.

This programme is one part of our all-of-government approach, connecting employers and the people looking for work, and with a particular focus on young people not in education, employment or training.

We know that young people in rural communities may have limited access to skills development  for example getting a drivers licence to improve their chances of getting a job, and this is something this funding can support.

The programme focuses on NEETs, an acronym for young people not in education, employment or training.

At the forefront of redundancies due to COVID, the number of young people under 30 seeking unemployment support has rising from 4.1 per cent to 6.5 per cent, twice as much as those aged 30 to 64 between the months of February and April 2020.

Young people in rural communities tend to have limited access to services and skill development opportunities, for example, accessing a driver licencing facility, which is a barrier to employment.

The high cost of youth unemployment impacts the potential contribution to economic growth and development in New Zealand.

Not only do the impacts of youth unemployment result in a loss of income, but also in wage scarring which studies show is when a young person experiences unemployment early in life, it reduces their probability of future career prospects and potential earnings later in life.

The pilot was a real success across the first four councils, and that showed us it could work right across the country, says MTFJ Chair and Otorohanga Mayor Max Baxter.

Partnering with MSD is a big win for the Taskforce  its an endorsement of the work were doing and the belief that we have, that mayors can successfully connect youth and businesses. This programme has big net benefits not just for youth, but for our entire country, both socially and economically.

This is an exciting new partnership between local and central government that will deliver real benefits to our rural regions in their COVID recovery, says LGNZ president Dave Cull.

It is in everybodys best interest to support young people into employment. When young people succeed, so does the entire country.
Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX:ALK) is an ASX and OTCQX (US) listed multi-commodity mining and exploration company with a focus on gold, copper, zirconium, niobium and rare earths. Our projects and operations are located in the Central West of New South Wales, in eastern Australia.

Alkane Resources meets upgraded FY2020 guidance for Tomingley Gold Operations

Alkane Resources Limited (ASX:ALK) has met the FY2020 gold production guidance of between 30,000 ounces to 35,000 ounces.at its Tomingley Gold Operations in Central West New South Wales.

The operations produced 33,507 ounces of gold for the 12 months to June 30, 2020, with preliminary all in sustaining costs (AISC) of $1357 per ounce produced, which also fell within cost guidance of $1,250 to $1,400 per ounce.

Guidance for the 2020 financial year was upgraded following the September 2019 quarter.



"Great potential"

Alkane managing director Nic Earner said: "The team at Tomingley Gold Operations continues to perform very well, consistently meeting or exceeding guidance.

"With an updated mine plan soon to be released and the great potential being shown very close to the mine, through our exploration at Roswell and San Antonio, we remain buoyant about the longer-term prospects at Tomingley.

"The board and management acknowledge and thank the team at Tomingley for their strong and continued safety and production performance."

The updated Tomingley Gold Operations mine plan is undergoing final review and approval and will be released along with FY2021 guidance.
Aotearoa: What it Means to me is the theme for this years Greerton Village Yarn Bombing.

Greerton Mainstreet Manager Sally Benning says its an appropriate theme considering how lucky and proud we are to be New Zealanders living here with the pandemic across the world.

In August last year the theme was set with no knowledge of Covid19 and how it would put our country into lockdown.

During the lockdown local and national yarn bombers have been very busy knitting tree sleeves to express their love for Aotearoa.

Over the last few days, trees all around the Greerton Village have been dressed, with help from Greerton Lions, resulting in a colourful array of trunks along Chadwick and Cameron Roads.

They are depicting New Zealand icons, says Sally. Things that we connect to in New Zealand, including our very own Prime Minister.

The knitted and crocheted masterpieces celebrate iconic NZ lollies, foods, sports, culture, wildlife events and people, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern featured on one of the larger trees, located outside Greerton Primary School.

This is a creation by Kiwicoast Lions, says Michelle Cliff of the Jacinda Adern tree.

Were known as the pink ladies in Te Puke. This tree is celebrating some incredible leadership, and just the kindness that was shown to the nation through the COVID period.

Michelle Cliff with the Jacinda Ardern tree.

The Jacinda Adern tree was the second tree that the Lions team have completed for the Greerton Village yarn bombing.

Wed already done Aotearoa, our Southern Alps piece, says Michelle. And then during lockdown I thought it would be really good to do something just to celebrate and to confirm what weve all been going through. And to honour the direction that was shown.

I personally really appreciated it. So its saying hey thanks and good job.

The Stitch and Butch group travelled up from Wellington to wrap their tree in a brightly coloured piece of knitting called Aotearoa - Embracing a Rainbow of Differences, and the Arohanui Art and Education Trust created Aroha of NZ featuring a knitted rugby player and pohutukawa flowers.

The Rugby Tots Tauranga team, who are supporting Homes of Hope also went with a rugby theme in their piece Where Rugby Begins which stretches between two trees.

The First Timers team, all actual first-timers in the yarnbombing event have utilised some innovative assistance to create their masterpiece The Natural Environment and are raising funds for SPCA Tauranga.

Peter Miller, Julie Kitchen, Christine Grinlinton and Carole McFetridge from Pacific Coast Lifestyle Village in Papamoa have entered the competition for the first time.

Aunty Google and Uncle You Tube are appreciated, says Priscilla Te Arihi, who along with Josie Takiari and Ailleen Te Arihi were busy attaching their piece to a tree. We have a variety of different skillsets.

One of their team who helped make the pukekos is dyslexic.

She cant read patterns and things like that. We are literally first-timers at this, says Priscilla.

Knitters from the Pacific Coast Lifestyle Village in Papamoa have also entered the competition for the first time.

It was really good to have something to do during lockdown, says Julie Kitchen from Pacific Coast Village. I had a dozen people help me. They all came forward. Weve never done it before.

Their theme is all about manuka honey, with honey bees buzzing all over the tree, and they are seeking to raise funds for Alzheimer's Tauranga.

Weve done the bees and the manuka flowers and weve made a beehive.

Herb Sellars and Lynne Lawson.

During the knitting Julie says a lot of manuka honey was eaten by the knitters.

We think manuka honey is really special for New Zealand.

Lynne Lawson, her mate Herb Sellars, Lynnes mum, and Alzheimers volunteers undertook an exciting mission of yarnbombing their tree with NZ town icons, including the Sky Tower, L&P bottle, the Mount, kiwifruit, a big bikes, a big apple, carrot, gumboot, bull, kiwi, golden shears, daffodil, beehive, crayfish, donut, border collie, takahe, and a brown trout.

I hope you enjoy the yarn bombing. We have enjoyed making it, says Lynne in a message pinned to the tree.

Betty Power has created NZ Lollies which is drawing a lot of attention and she is supporting the Blind Foundation Tauranga. Carol Power has knitted a giant Marmite Jar, and supporting Turning Point Recovery Service. Karen Wood has created Pukekos to help support SPCA Tauranga.

There will be $2000 prize money in total, says Sally Benning, who always looks forward to seeing the Greerton Village trees coloured up for winter. Some will go to local charities and some will go to the creators and knitters of these installations.

Entertainer Rowan Ford Dawson, dressed as Charlie 4 Square balanced a shopping trolley on his chin and rode his unicycle while pushing the shopping trolley around the village on Monday, as yarn bombers completed final touches to their works of art.

Other pieces include a stunning The Edmonds Cookbook by Marilyn Mouat who is raising funds for TECT Rescue Helicopter, and Wendy Pedersens Aotearoa  The Long White Cloud with The Incubator Creative Hub as her chosen charity. Some schools are also involved, including Tauranga Special Primary School with Kaka Bird, Te Puke High School and Multicultural Love and Greerton Village Primary School with Maori Gods. They are raising funds for Make a Wish Tauranga, Breast Cancer Tauranga, and Kids Can respectively.

Christine Williams and Robyn Slater from Kiwicoast Lions dressing their A Panoramic Scene of NZ tree.

With this COVID-19 year being a significant time in NZ history, the public is encouraged to take selfies with the trees to celebrate our wonderful country and people, says yarn bombing coordinator Carol Power.

We would love you to place them on Instagram and Facebook to show the world how proud we are to be Kiwis. While you are here you can vote for your favourite tree in various shops around the village.

The winning tree will take away a significant amount of money for their chosen NZ charity thanks to the generous sponsorship of Crockford Real Estate t/a Ray White Greerton.

Thank you to the wonderful yarn bombers local and from around Aotearoa who have created once again another amazing display of creative yarn art. We value your creativity effort and hours of hard work, says Carol.

The trees are on full display now in Greerton Village until August 11, in perfect time for the school holidays.

Manual voting is available at eight locations in Greerton Village - look out for the window posters to see where, or to vote online click here. Voting closes at 10am on Friday August 14, and winners will be announced on Monday August 17.
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Albany, N.Y.  New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will now require 14-day self-quarantines for travelers from three more states where the coronavirus is still spreading rapidly, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.

ABC reports travelers from Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma will now be required to quarantine themselves for two weeks. The travel advisory applies to people coming from any state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or higher than a 10% test positivity rate, both based on a rolling seven-day average.

As states around the country experience increasing community spread, New York is taking action to ensure the continued safety of our phased reopening, Cuomo said. Our entire response to this pandemic has been by the numbers, and weve set metrics for community spread just as we set metrics for everything.

States already on the list include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Thats a total of 19 states now, including Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Cuomo first announced the quarantine policy last month with Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Ned Lamont of Connecticut. The quarantine is voluntary, but Cuomo said New York state will use random checks to monitor compliance and has asked airlines to have incoming travelers fill out a form to help with enforcement.

Murphy said Tuesday that several outbreaks in New Jersey are directly tied to travel from other Covid-19 hotspots.

I urge those arriving from one of these nineteen states to self-quarantine and get a COVID-19 test to prevent additional flareups across the state and ensure the health and safety of their fellow New Jerseyans, Murphy said.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

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McMahon: Coronavirus rate is half what it was 2 months ago, but still requires vigilance

New York State Fair canceled for 2020: A really tough one, Cuomo says

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
Syracuse, N.Y.  A Syracuse teenager charged in the shooting death of another teenager at the huge Rye Day party last month had just graduated from Nottingham High School, making high honors in his last semester, a lawyer said Tuesday.

But Handsome Rice, 18, also had a different kind of history, too: he had been convicted of first-degree assault  causing wounds that could have led to death  at age 14, prosecutors revealed.

And police accused Rice of being a known member of the 110 street gang. They say 110 staged a shootout with its decades-old rival gang, Bricktown, in the middle of a June 20 birthday party in which 400 to 500 people were celebrating peacefully.

Chariel Osorio, 17, who had just graduated Corcoran High School himself hours earlier, was shot and died days later. Eight others suffered gunshot wounds.

Both sides of Rices past  his criminal record as a young teenager and his quest for redemption  were central to bail arguments made to County Court Judge Stephen Dougherty via a remote hearing.

Rices lawyer, Ken Moynihan, said that hed been doing all the right things after serving time as a juvenile delinquent in the assault case. Center for Community Alternatives had been helping him readjust to life outside detention.

Hes been a great success for them. Theyre heartbroken that we have to be here today, Moynihan said of CCA. They were really looking forward to his continued success.

But prosecutor Lauren Phelps alleged that Rice had been seen on clear video footage shooting into a large Rye Day crowd.

Its not so clear, Moynihan challenged. The defense lawyer says that an officer who identified Rice did so only by his clothing  a white shirt and red cap  based on cameras showing Rice in an outfit matching that description at a nearby convenience store.

County Court Judge Stephen Dougherty said he didnt know enough to comment on the strength of the prosecutions case. But he stated the obvious:

Heres what we cant have: People get together for celebration of someones birthday, and next thing you know, nine people are being shot.

Perhaps the biggest challenge in the prosecutions case is determining who exactly fired the fatal bullet that killed Chariel Osorio. Authorities have already acknowledged that their best evidence is security video, which shows several people firing guns. But which one was the murder weapon?

Phelps, the prosecutor, acknowledged Tuesday that prosecutors dont know. Still, Rice is charged with murder, even though authorities cannot tie him directly to the fatal shot. Hes charged with depraved indifference, meaning that he didnt intend to kill Chariel, but acted with such wanton disregard for life that his actions amounted to murder.

Its almost identical to a situation on the Fourth of July 2015 when several people opened fire as families picnicked at Thornden Park. One man, Azhawn Harvey, was struck by gunfire and killed.

Police were only able to apprehend one of the suspects, Shaquez Collins, and could never tie him directly to Harveys death, but still charged him with depraved-indifference murder for firing into a crowd.

Collins eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and illegal weapons possession, getting 13 years in prison.

In the Rye Day shootings, Rice also faces illegal weapon possession, in addition to murder. That means that he could be sentenced to 15 years in prison, if proven that he possessed an illegal handgun that day, regardless of whether he fired the fatal bullet or not. If convicted of murder, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

Also in court Tuesday was a co-defendant, Eric Williams, 36. Williams is a father of seven who previously served five years in prison for illegal weapon possession.

Williams was only charged with attempted murder, not murder, because he is accused of firing into a different area of the crowd than the location of the teens murder, Phelps said. Williams is accused of trying to cause someones death, also through depraved indifference.

His lawyer, Graeme Spicer, argued that Williams children made him unlikely to flee if released from jail. He also pointed out that Williams illegal weapon conviction came in 2004  which was 16 years ago.

Before the pandemic, Williams was working as a line cook at Tullys on Seventh North Street, Spicer said.

The lawyer also challenged the evidence against Williams, noting that he couldnt be tied to actually injuring anyone. Even if he did fire a gun at a crowd, that amounted to reckless endangerment, not attempted murder, Spicer argued. Reckless endangerment carries a maximum 7-year prison sentence; attempted murder is punishable by up to 25 years.

Dougherty noted that the charge could be debated down the road. But he again repeated that society cant tolerate people showing up to a peaceful gathering with guns in a planned shootout.

For Rice, Dougherty set bail at $200,000 cash, $400,000 bond or $750,000 partially secured bond (a 10% payment to the court  or $75,000  would bail him out).

For Williams, Dougherty set bail at $100,000 cash, $250,000 bond or $500,000 partially secured bond (a $50,000 payment to the court would bail him out).

A third adult has also been charged in the Rye Day shooting: Devar Williams, 20 (unrelated to Eric Williams). Court papers accuse Devar Williams of also shooting into the crowd where Chariel was present. Hes charged with depraved-indifference murder, too, as well as illegal weapon possession.

Devar Williams is alleged to have been part of the Bricktown gang. Rice was linked to the 110 gang.

A fourth person, 16-year-old Lamar Cepada has also been charged with murder, as well, in connection to the Rye Day shootout.

All four of the cases against the alleged shooters remain on hold now due to the pandemic. Grand juries  tasked with indicting defendants  begin again later this month. No jury trials are allowed yet under the courts phased reopening plan.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.
Syracuse, N.Y.  For the fourth day in a row, the temperature is set to top 90 degrees in Central New York.

It will feel even worse.

Its expected to hit 91 degrees today in the Syracuse area, continuing a heat wave streak that could tie a record. If temperatures climb past 90 degrees today through Saturday, the region will tie the record of eight straight 90-plus days set in 1973.

The National Weather Service has again issued a heat advisory for CNY. It starts at 1 p.m. and ends at 8 p.m.

Hot temperatures and high humidity could make it feel like a brutal 96 degrees in the Syracuse area, making for a punishingly high heat index, according to the weather service. The sky will be mostly clear, providing few clouds to give Central New Yorkers even a slight reprieve from the heat.

RELATED STORY: Heat wave streak this week could challenge a record for Syracuse

The heat wave isnt just uncomfortable. It can be dangerous.

Residents should watch out for heat exhaustion and heat stroke, advised the weather service. People with lung and heart disease should also be wary about the significantly degraded air quality, Onondaga County Health Department officials said in a news release.

Extreme heat conditions can be dangerous or even deadly, said Dr. Indu Gupta, health commissioner of Onondaga County. During times like these, we need to look out for each other. Check in on your family, friends and neighbors often.

To keep cool and healthy during the heat wave, the health department and the weather service encourage residents to:

Drink water often and avoid drinking a lot of alcohol

Stay in an air-conditioned place

Keep shades and curtains closed

Take cool showers or baths

Do work outside during the early morning or evening

Wear loose clothing that covers as much skin as possible

Wear a wide-brimmed hat

Use sunscreen

Do not leave children or pets in cars

Staff writer Samantha House covers crime, breaking news and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com.
Syracuse, N.Y.  Two challengers have beaten a sitting Syracuse City Court judge in the Democratic primary for the 10-year judgeship.

Shadia Tadros and Felicia Pitts Davis will represent Democrats on the ballot in November, seeking to fill two slots currently filled by Judge Ted Limpert and retiring Judge Kate Rosenthal.

Limpert, seeking a second 10-year term, conceded the race Monday after a second day of absentee ballots left him all but mathematically eliminated.

Limpert vowed to continue campaigning after winning ballot lines for the Independence and Working Families parties. A combat veteran, he noted his work presiding over Human Trafficking and Veterans Courts, which seek to solve problems involving prostitution and veterans issues.

But Tadros and Pitts Davis will carry the coveted Democratic ballot lines in a city thats overwhelmingly Democratic. Republicans do not have candidates running for City Court in the fall.

Both of the Democratic winners touted their experience running local law firms, including appearances before City Court judges.

They also came with the name recognition and experience of waging competitive primary campaigns two years ago for the same job. They each came up just short to now-Judge Ann Magnarelli.

Tadros is a first-generation Arab-American. She grew up on the South Side after her family emigrated from Jordan. Pitts Davis is an African-American. She grew up on the South Side after her family moved from the American South in the 1960s looking for work.

Both women took big leads during in-person voting in June. And though Limpert has actually gained votes on each of them in the massive pandemic absentee count, it wont be enough to catch them, he confirmed.

Pitts Davis had a 1,617-vote advantage on Limpert after Primary Day. Tadros ended that day with a 1,449-vote lead over Limpert.

There were 6,155 absentee ballots cast. As of Monday, 57% of those had been counted. Of the absentees counted, Limpert gained 349 votes on Pitts Davis and 109 votes on Tadros.

That left him 1,340 votes behind Tadros and 1,268 votes behind Pitts Davis, with roughly 2,650 ballots left to be counted.

While Limpert could theoretically win if he got virtually all the rest of the votes from the remaining absentee ballots, thats highly unlikely given that the other challengers would also likely get more votes.

Its a pick two race, meaning that voters could select any two of the five primary candidates.

Besides Limpert, Tadros and Pitts Davis, the primary ballot also included Jeff Leibo, a party designee and a Department of Motor Vehicles administrative judge, and Jason Zeigler, a former Republican judicial candidate who collected enough signatures to run as a Democrat this year.

Both Leibo and Zeigler came in far behind the three top candidates.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.
Erin Tiernan | Boston Herald

The Trump administration is moving to expel foreign students from the United States this fall if their colleges or universities opt for online learning only as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

Students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced in a press release.

The eagerly awaited policy update issued Monday by ICEs Student and Exchange Visitor Program applies to students with F-1 or M-1 visas  which are for academic and vocational international students, respectively. ICE suspended its student visa regulations this spring and summer, temporarily allowing international students to take more online classes as the pandemic shuttered colleges across the country.

The updated guidance comes as schools across the country consider how to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic and it was announced the same day that Harvard University unveiled its plan to conduct all classes online this fall.

Harvard will allow first-year students and some others on campus, up to 40% of the total undergraduate population. Other schools have laid out a range of possibilities for fall instructions from telling students to stay home and attend classes remotely, to a hybrid approach where students should expect to take at least some classes in person.

Harvard President Larry Bacow in a statement said this new guidance undermines the well-being of students and faculty saying it, imposes a blunt, one-size-fits-all approach to a complex problem, giving international students  few options beyond leaving the country or transferring schools.

More than 1.1 million foreign students hold active student visas  including nearly 40,000 in Boston alone, federal data shows. The order is expected to have far-reaching implications for both students and higher education institutions across the country.

UMass Executive Director of Communications John Hoey condemned the move in an email to the Herald saying the ruling will be extremely disruptive for international students and the colleges and universities they attend across the country.

Hoey said university lawyers are still assessing whether its nearly 11,000 international students across its five campuses will be affected. UMass plans to roll out a hybrid teaching model this fall.

The public health emergency that resulted in the waiver of these rules for the spring and summer semesters continues. Therefore, it remains imperative that we retain the flexibility to safely educate all of our students, Hoey said.

Professor Abu Jalal, who chairs the finance department at Suffolk University, said this is another big, big hit to the bottom line for colleges and universities that were already facing budget crises amid rising expenses and falling revenues.

It also threatens revenue from tuition because international students will likely postpone college rather than miss out on the American campus experience, Jalal said.

This is going to be a big nightmare in terms of planning courses, Jalal added, noting schools will scramble to come up with costly hybrid teaching models that allow for both remote and in-person learning.

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New York State Fair canceled for 2020: A really tough one, Cuomo says

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
Historic. Unprecedented. Unexpected.

A failure for some. A success for others. A challenge for everybody.

Thats how shutting down more than 7,000 schools in New York state because of the coronavirus pandemic and switching to online teaching has been described.

In a matter of days, schools for the first time ever had to figure out how to teach more than 2.6 million students online.

It was expected to last a few weeks, but instead schools were shuttered for more than three months, the rest of the academic year.

It is highly likely that online learning will return in the fall in New York state, most likely as a hybrid of in-class and online learning to accommodate social distancing, experts said. If the pandemic worsens schools might be all online again.

What did schools, teachers and parents learn this spring? What worked? What didnt? What might they try to do differently when classes start in two months?

Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard talked to more than two dozen students, teachers, superintendents and experts about how online learning went in Central New York and elsewhere.

Mitch Parsons, a 17-year-old who just graduated from Jamesville-DeWitt High School, said having more time to complete assignments on your own schedule was much less stressful. But contacting teachers was often frustrating.

Its just really hard if you have questions or dont understand something not to have that one-on-one with your teacher,' he said. Zoom or email isnt the same.

Many students said there seemed to be a lot of busywork  assignments like reading a book or watching a lesson and then answering questions. Learning new material took a hit, they said.

Experts agree distance learning isnt ideal, but they say it was the best educators could do. Many teachers had to transform lessons into a digital format in days.

Remote learning is not the equivalent of face-to-face instruction,' said Kevin Casey, executive director of the School Administrators Association of New York.

Duplicating the classroom experience online isnt feasible, said Robert N. Lowry Jr., deputy director for advocacy research and communications with the New York State Council of School Superintendents.

Students cant get the same hands-on attention, so some kids dont fully participate and fall behind, he said.

Lowry pointed out that many teachers are parents, too  and so they are doing double duty taking care of their children and teaching their students.

Parents, too, are now expected to be part-time teachers, which was made even more challenging if they were still working or have more than one child.

Students are typically in school for 6 hours a day, but most kids did not work online for that long. And getting some students to stay engaged online is difficult, experts say.

Given how quickly teachers had to shift to online learning, superintendents said, their staffs did a tremendous job of adapting. Teachers often worked to be creative with kids and online lessons, they said.

Here are some of the major challenges and lessons learned, according to the superintendents, teachers, students and parents interviewed.

No Internet

Not every student has access to the internet, and while schools provided paper packets to students who dont have online access, its more difficult to teach without Google Classroom, Zoom or some other platform.

Its hard for students and parents to have the technical savvy to run all the different programs teachers are using.

The Syracuse City School district, with 19,300 students, gave out more than 12,000 study packets to students before schools closed March 16. And a partnership with public access television station WCNY provided daily programming for homebound students.

Syracuse Schools Superintendent Jaime Alicea said teachers were using various online platforms. The district is surveying students, staff and parents to see which platform was the most effective.

One teacher at H.W. Smith, a K-8 school in Syracuse, said it was tough setting up kids to get online and start working, and a lot of time was spent contacting kids weekly, especially those in high-risk situations, or abuse and neglect situations.

Schools tried different ways to get kids online if they didnt have the internet. Nationally, some had kids working on buses that had internet service. Others suggested students hook into service in parking lots of schools or libraries. And some cell phone companies provided free or discounted service.

Hard to get kids tune in

Most schools can tell who is participating through tools that show the teacher and principal who is connecting via their school-provided computers and how long they stay online.

Syracuses Alicea said data shows about 70% of the districts students were online doing work, but thats not including Zoom or Facebook Live, which some teachers used.

Alicea also said data showed many students didnt start work until 1 or 2 p.m., rather than in the morning.

But what to do about those kids who dont participate? Thats usually left up to the teachers to reach out by phone and chat with the parents to see what the issue is.

Ben Kochan, 10th grade English teacher at Henninger High School in Syracuse, said losing personal contact with students means teachers cant work directly with students to go over material and make sure they understand it.N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syracuse

Ben Kochan, a 10th grade English teacher at Henninger High School in Syracuse, said losing personal contact with students means teachers cant work directly with them and make sure they understand material.

You can assign them stuff, but its not going to ensure that theyre doing the work,' he said. Youre not able to expand upon what theyre seeing and what youre seeing in the book. Youre not able to discuss. You cant make the same connection you can in person.

Educators are worried too that it will be harder this fall to connect with and engage with students if you havent met them in person yet. This spring, teachers at least had known their students for months before the sudden switch to online learning.

Parents, teachers doing double-duty

Some parents said they were overwhelmed with the demands of trying to work and help teach their children. They may have several children all trying to complete remote learning and assignments. Others are working outside the home and are forced to help their children at night, weekends or take time off from the job.

Many parents worry their kids are falling behind. The parents arent used to being teachers and trying to teach subjects like math and science.

Fayetteville-Manlius parent Monica Browning said she was overwhelmed and frustrated. With four children  two in school  and she and her husband working full-time, they couldnt keep up.

It was a total disaster for us,' she said. My kids are good students in school, but at home it was a full-time job for us to keep them on track.

For example, using Google classroom and then switching to different web applications and back to Google classroom was too complex for a second-grader. The Brownings said they spent two hours each night and most of Saturdays helping their kids catch up.

Browning said the teachers did a great job trying to meet the curriculum, but she knows her children fell behind academically.

By early June, I was just done with it, she said. Here my child is trying to learn to play the tuba virtually. It just doesnt work.

Lack of socialization hurts

It is hard on children and teens who havent been able to see their friends for months. Many use Zoom or SnapChat to keep in touch, but its not the same, kids say.

Many students said they felt isolated at home.

Educators agree and said when school resumes in the fall, students mental health must be addressed.

How do you grade students?

District officials say its difficult to issue grades, particularly with elementary-age children.

Instead, some schools have switched from assigning a traditional grade to just providing individual comments to parents on students progress and engagement.

In Liverpool, for example, students in grades K to 6 were given an N/A. (not applicable) grade. Instead, teachers gave parents feedback on how their children performed.

Middle and high schools took different approaches in the last quarter  some gave letter grades and others switched to pass/fail or comments.

Learning gaps, students falling behind

Rick Chapman, director of elementary education for Liverpool, said kids worlds were turned upside down with schools closed. Some children couldnt access online work easily and there were a lot of home issues with parents working or having less income if they didnt work, he said.

We expected most kids would have learning gaps  thats to be expected when you arent in school physically,' he aid. We will assess where everyone is when we return.

Liam Adams, 14, who just completed ninth grade at North Syracuse Junior High, said most of the material was review. Although he had more flexibility on when to complete his assignments, he said each teacher seemed to think theirs was the only class, so there was more work than in school.

Once it was announced Regents were canceled, Adams said he noticed a marked drop in new material. He said he and his friends worry whatever they did learn will be forgotten by the time they return to school.

Cjala Surratt of Syracuse said she saw successes and shortcomings of online learning during the pandemic that proved challenging to students including her daughters Sarhia Rahim, 17, and Safia Rahim, 8.N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syracuse

Cjala Surratt, a Syracuse parent of two daughters 7 and 16, said any discussion of how schools are doing likely depends on the district.

Part of the reason the city schools, in particular, are struggling is because what has happened in this pandemic is that those disparities that were already present in our schools are only being exacerbated,' she said. So this isnt just the pandemic. This is a piling on of things we needed to fix before.

Her oldest daughter is a junior at Syracuse Academy of Science, a publicly funded charter school, and some of her schoolmates are the primary caregivers in their families  helping younger siblings navigate distance learning, Surratt said.

"I have a child who is an 11th grader," Surratt said. "Will she be prepared to go into 12th grade and ultimately on to college? Will our children, when they go back, be prepared to pick up where they left off?

I know that we all know, collectively, that the answer is no.

Mark Potter, Liverpool school superintendent, said the district is conducting a survey on distance learning and how it progressed.

He acknowledged that while data shows about 80% of students engaged in online learning thats compared to estimates of 95% engagement in classrooms. The district reaches out to kids, but its not the same as being there in person, he said.

Kayla Worley, junior at Henninger, said its hard to focus at home.

I think I do better just sitting in a classroom, where theres not as many distractions as being at home, she said.

April McCaslin, whose second- and fourth-graders attend school in the East Syracuse Minoa district, said the remote learning was a mix. Her sixth-grader flourished working independently, while her second-grader really needs that in-classroom instruction and socialization to succeed.

Danielle Culkin, whose child is also in the ESM district, said she had to take time off from her job to help her fourth-grader do her work.

I just hope this will be over and there will be school,' she said. And Im worried shes going to be behind in her learning.

Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard staff writers Nolan Weidner and Mike Curtis contributed to this article.

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Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com
President Donald Trump cheated on his SATs, his niece Mary Trump says in a new tell-all book.

The New York Times obtained a copy of the book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man, which alleges Donald Trump paid a proxy to take the SAT for him to help him get into the University of Pennsylvanias prestigious Wharton business school. She says his grade point average was too low, so he asked Joe Shapiro, a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test-taker, to help him get a high score.

Wharton has not commented on the claims, but UPenn has instituted a policy of revoking college degrees if a graduate is found to have falsified records or cheated on an exam.

Business Insider notes Trump criticized President Barack Obama in 2011 for not releasing his college transcripts while Trump has claimed he was a genius who graduated first in his class at Wharton, but has not released any evidence. Trump was not on the deans list in 1968, the year Trump graduated, according to records obtained by Penns student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Trump also did not attend Whartons prestigious MBA program, and graduated from UPenn  where his children Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump also attended  after transferring from Fordham University.

According to the Associated Press, Mary Trumps book will be released on July 14 after a New York appellate court cleared the way for its publication following a legal challenge by Trumps brother, Robert. Mary Trump is the daughter of Fred Trump Jr., the presidents elder brother, who died in 1981. She has a doctorate in psychology.

This combination photo shows the cover art for "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man", left, and a portrait of author Mary L. Trump, Ph.D. The book, written by the niece of President Donald J. Trump, was originally set for release on July 28, but will now arrive on July 14. (Simon & Schuster, left, and Peter Serling/Simon & Schuster via AP)AP

The Chicago Sun-Times reports the book details three generations of the Trump family, suggesting her grandfather Fred Trump hindered Donalds development and ability to experience the entire spectrum of human emotion. She also suspects her uncle, the 45th U.S. president, may have a long undiagnosed learning disability that for decades has interfered with his ability to process information.

Mary Trump added that shes not writing the book for revenge or profit, but felt compelled to come forward after events of the past three years forced my hand.

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, the books back cover says.
Seminole, FL (33772)

Today

Cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 87F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Cloudy skies after midnight. Low 78F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters believes the commission should have rules that govern what Zoom backgrounds should be allowed during a virtual meeting. Peters says the Black Lives Matter background being used by Commissioner Ken Welch is offensive to some of her constituents.
Halle Berry Exits Role as Trans Character by Dana Andersen . Published Tue 07 Jul 2020 18:02

Halle Berry has become the most recent actor to drop out of a role, due to online backlash.



The actor participated in an Instagram live interview on Friday, where she told fans she had not yet been officially cast, but was preparing for the role of a trans character.



Berry said in the interview [Its] a character where the woman is a trans character, so shes a woman that transitioned into a man.



Shes a character in a project I love that I might be doing, who this woman was is so interesting to me, and that will probably be my next project



Social media users noticed immediately that Berry misgendered the character, consistently gendering the character of a trans man as a woman and she.



During the interview, Berry also added that she wanted to take a deep dive into that world, presumably meaning the trans and LGBT+ community.



On Monday evening, following opposition from trans groups and activists online, the star issued an apology, as well as pulling out of the role, explaining the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories.



Berrys apology read Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss my consideration of an upcoming role as a transgender man, and Id like to apologize for those remarks. As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories,



I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake. I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera.



Many social media users, especially on Twitter, have praised the star, for clearly educating herself, and listening to the opinions of the trans community.



Many cisgender actors have come under fire for playing trans characters in the last few years, including Eddie Redmayne for playing Lili in The Danish Girl, and Scarlett Johansson, who left the role she was set to play in Rub And Tug, after receiving backlash from the trans community.



Perhaps all this controversy is what will finally push Hollywood to cast trans actors, both in roles as their gender, and roles as trans characters.
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The next generation of Intel mobile processors will include malware protection built into the chip, the company announced Monday.

The protection, provided by Intel's Control-Flow Enforcement Technology (CET), will first be available in the company's "Tiger Lake" mobile processors, Vice President of Intel's Client Computing Group Tom Garrison revealed.

CET is designed to protect against the misuse of legitimate code through control-flow hijacking attacks, which is widely used in large classes of malware, he explained.

Of the 1.097 vulnerabilities Trend Micro discovered through its Zero Day Initiative from 2019 to today, 63.2 percent were related to memory safety.

"As more proactive protections are built into the Windows OS, attackers are shifting their efforts to exploit memory safety vulnerabilities by hijacking the integrity of the control flow," noted David Weston, director of Enterprise and OS Security at Microsoft.

"As an opt-in feature in Windows 10, Microsoft has worked with Intel to offer hardware-enforced stack protection that builds on the extensive exploit protection built into Windows 10," he explained, " to enforce code integrity as well as terminate any malicious code."

Chip-Level Attacks

With control-flow protections built into Intel's hardware, it will be possible to detect memory attacks earlier in the process, noted Ray Vinson, senior product manager at Spirent, a telecommunications testing company in Sunnyvale, California.

"The attacker is making chip-level calls to initiate the memory attack. Software sees those calls, but only after they're made," he told TechNewsWorld.

"By addressing the attack at the chip level, you're preventing the calls from ever taking place and preventing any resources from being taken up by the attack," Vinson explained.

"Memory overflow and software overflow attacks have been around as threats for years. By addressing this at the chip level, it starts to take this out as an option for the hacker," he added.

Among the leading malware attacks currently mounted by hackers are "fileless" attacks, where malicious code is loaded directly into memory, noted James McQuiggan, security awareness advocate for KnowBe4, a security awareness training provider in Clearwater, Florida.

"This style is difficult for antimalware applications to detect, since they look for binary, executable applications running from a hard drive," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Having the hardware join the fight against malicious software can decrease the successful attacks against endpoints in an organization's infrastructure," McQuiggan said. "It adds another layer of protection between the human and the operating system's protective software to secure the endpoint and prevent a malware attack."

Building security into the hardware architecture makes it much harder for an attacker to write successful exploits, said Nilesh Dherange, CTO of Gurucul, a risk intelligence company at El Segundo, California.

"This is a good move, potentially mitigating entire families of malware threats," he told TechNewsWorld.

No Silver Bullet

There can be advantages and disadvantages to baking security into hardware, noted Malek Ben Salem, Americas Security R&D lead for Accenture, a professional services company based in Dublin.

"Software is more flexible. You can deploy it on more architectures, and you can deploy it faster," she told TechNewsWorld.

"In hardware, though, you get less performance degradation, and it's more effective in these kinds of attacks," Ben Salem continued.

Organizations should take care not to embrace the technology too rapidly, cautioned KnowBe4's McQuiggan.

"What impact will the hardware have from falsely stopping instructions because it was considered an attack?" he asked. "While this is a new technology, organizations will want to make sure it's adequately configured for their environments and not just expect it to stop all malware."

CET is no silver bullet against all attacks, warned Chris Clements, vice president of solutions architecture at Cerberus Sentinel, a cybersecurity consulting and penetration testing company in Scottsdale, Arizona.

"Attackers routinely find ways to circumvent security protections, and depending on Intel's implementation, the safeguards may turn out to be trivial to bypass," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Further, many breaches and ransomware attacks come not from cybercriminals exploiting vulnerable software, but rather from configuration errors like open S3 buckets, weak user passwords, and social engineering attacks like phishing," Clements continued. "In these cases, no advanced exploit development is necessary to compromise their victim's systems or data."

Living in a Software-Defined World

Added security in silicon is always a welcome addition, especially when dealing with memory re-use and buffer overflows, but it needs to be put in perspective.

"There is a long history of chipmakers over-reaching on embedding security in the chip and promising security gains that haven't been there. McAfee's acquisition by Intel was such a case," observed Greg Young, vice president of cybersecurity at Trend Micro, a cybersecurity solutions provider headquartered in Tokyo.

"So, hardware-assisted control flow is good, especially for embedded devices, but not a game-changer, as infrastructure and endpoints have never been self-defending and the bulk of attacks don't involve this vector," he told TechNewsWorld.

"It's a software-defined world, and with so much software in the stack, there's a lot of vulnerabilities to go after that don't involve the chip," Young said.

There's another potential snag for CET, Dherange pointed out.

"The implementation, as described, is an opt-in solution, which means that some developers won't expend the effort needed to integrate with CET," he said. "That would leave their applications potentially vulnerable."

Nevertheless, "given the prevalence of 'memory safety' vulnerabilities that CET addresses, this could be of huge benefit. The challenge will be how tightly developers adhere to it," Dherange maintained.

CET isn't the only way to combat memory-based attacks, said Joe Saunders, CEO of RunSafe Security, an embedded systems security company in McLean, Virginia.

"Once developers start deploying on such hardware, they will need to consider the tradeoffs in performance overhead when considering enabling these protections at the hardware level," he told TechNewsWorld.

"There are alternative approaches, such as function-level load time randomization, that eliminate memory-based attacks without overhead performance impact or trade off," Saunders said.

CET won't eliminate software protections and malware and antivirus tools, Accenture's Ben Salem explained.

"This is another layer of defense that's monitoring what's happening in real time," she said, "compared to software tools that are looking at malware files upline or in a sandbox environment."

John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.




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Qualcomm on Wednesday announced its Robotics RB5 platform, with 5G and 4G connectivity, on-device AI and machine learning, superior computing and intelligent sensing capabilities.

The platform's Qualcomm QRB5165 processor, which is customized for robotics applications, offers a heterogeneous computing architecture coupled with the 5th-generation Qualcomm AI Engine -- with its new Hexagon Tensor Accelerator -- that delivers 15 Tera Trillion Operations Per Second (TOPS) of AI performance.

"The QRB5165 has an octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 858 matched with an Adreno 650 GPU and a digital signal processor," Ray Wang, a principal analyst at Constellation Research, told TechNewsWorld.

This makes it "super fast," Wang remarked. Its processing rate is 2 Gigapixels per second, it can perform 8K video recording at 30 fps, and handle 200-megapixel photos.

"When paired with the AI engine, it has the speed to improve industrial robots, military applications, and even retail and hospitality scenarios," Wang added. "You get seven concurrent video cameras that can do things like object detection and classification, self-navigation, and path planning."

Interest in the RB5

At least 20 companies, including LG, drone maker Skydio, security robot maker NXT Robotics, and China's delivery robot and drone maker Meitun, had an early look at the technology and will likely use it, Qualcomm said.

More than 30 hardware and software companies are working on ancillary technology to enable various robotics applications. They include drone mapper AirMap; Canonical, which publishes Ubuntu; robot fleet manager InOrbit; and Intel with its RealSense technology for depth and tracking cameras.

Commercial products based on the RB5 platform are expected to be available in 2020, said Dev Singh, head of Qualcomm's robotics, drones and intelligent machines business.

This is realistic because "they've been working with over 50 OEMs and partners well before the announcement," Francis Sideco, a senior analyst with Tirias Research, told TechNewsWorld.

Qualcomm "is pretty reliable in their predictions," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at The Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld. "They're used to a smartphone cadence and this timeframe would easily fit within the 6-month smartphone window."

The RB5's main selling point is that it "has low power consumption for an SoC with such high capability," remarked Chris Taylor, a research director at Strategy Analytics.

"In terms of total cost of ownership, the RB5 probably hits a sweet spot for many of the applications Qualcomm talks about compared to existing solutions using more conventional chips," Taylor told TechNewsWorld.

The platform is available with multiple options, and has an option for extended lifecycle until 2029, Singh stated.

"The battle for the autonomous enterprise starts with robotics platforms in hardware," Constellation Research's Wang remarked. "Qualcomm has done a good job assembling an ecosystem for the RB5."

Robotics development platforms "will be key to accelerate edge computing, the Internet of Things, and automation," he noted. "The post-pandemic playbook shows a huge interest in improving robotics, customer facing automation, and ambient experiences."

RB5 Hardware Dev Kit

Thundercomm, a joint venture between Chinese firm Thunder Software Technology Co. Ltd. and Qualcomm (Guizhou) Investment Co. Ltd., is taking pre-orders for the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 hardware development kit, based on the QRB5165 processor.

The kit consists of a robotics-focused development board that complies with the 96Boards open hardware spec to support a range of mezzanine-board expansions for developing proof-of-concepts and rapid prototyping.

Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Development Kit

It supports Linux, Ubuntu and Robot Operating System (ROS) 2 and has pre-integrated drivers for various cameras, sensors and connectivity.

The board supports the 5th generation Qualcomm AI engine. It can operate between -340 degrees and +105 degrees Celsius. It communicates through industrial protocols such as EtherCAT and time-sensitive networking (TSN), and supports security at almost every layer.

The kit will be available in late July.

Thin Competition

The main competitor to the RB5 is Nvidia's ISAAC SDK.

"Nvidia's is the best known," Enderle said. "Their Jetson offerings are similar in concept."

Intel "has the making of one used in their drone swarms, but they haven't packaged it up as well yet," Enderle remarked.

However, the mix of low-power AI and connectivity "is unique to Qualcomm," Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias Research, told TechNewsWorld.

Robotics is compute-intensive so CPU vendor platforms "have the home court advantage," noted Holger Mueller, a principal analyst at Constellation Research.

That said, "The main problem is the lack of common standards for robotic automation at present," Mueller told TechNewsWorld.

Potential Market

"There's a lot of interest in 5G in robotics and drones," Krewell said. 5G has lower latency and higher bandwidth, "which can reduce connectivity lag."

There is some debate, however, about whether 5G will take off here in the United States.

The United States Federal Communications Commission has a plan to boost 5G, but there are conflicting reports about the market for the technology.

"One of the impacts of COVID-19 is the need for more remote interactions," observed Tirias Research's Sideco. "Robots and drones help with this demand and those with 5G and AI even more so."

Some believe the pandemic will push the demand for 5G but others point out that building out 5G networks is not proceeding as rapidly as hoped.

"The pandemic slowed manufacturing and some wrongly concluded it spread COVID-19, which has delayed deployment and resulted in the destruction of some 5G towers," Enderle said.

However, "We should have decent coverage of major cities and some rural areas in the U.S. by year end."

Lack of coverage won't be a problem because "5G robotics can use 4G, WiFi or no connectivity at all," Strategy Analytics' Taylor added.

Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard.




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Apple may launch an augmented reality line of smart glasses in the spring of 2021, according to Jon Prosser, host of the video blog Front Page Tech.

The new peepers will be called "Apple Glass" and sell for US$499, with prescription lenses costing more, Prosser claimed.

Both lenses are displays that support gesture interaction.

The glasses will work in conjunction with an iPhone.

Early prototypes supported the LiDAR sensor for 3D scanning and wireless charging, said Prosser.

Apple originally planned to unveil the specs at its fall event, but it may postpone the announcement until March 2021, with release planned for late 2021 or early 2022, he added.

"These rumors have been building up for quite some time, but this is the most cohesive information we've had on this so far," said George Jijiashvili, senior analyst at Omdia, a research and consulting firm in London.

"I think Apple has been working on AR glasses behind closed doors, and they will release them because they have all the right pieces to make it work," he told TechNewsWorld.

Phone Dependency

Incorporating gesture control into the glasses is a good move, observed San Jose, California-based Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research, a high-tech research and advisory firm.

"Gesture control allows the Apple Glass to be controlled without resorting to using a controller that is easily lost," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Gesture control is a key control method in Microsoft's HoloLens today," Krewell added.

At this stage of smart glasses development, pairing them with a smartphone is an important design choice, noted David MacQueen, executive director for the global wireless practice at Strategy Analytics, a research, advisory and analytics firm based in Newton, Massachusetts.

"The only way to get the price point down to a consumer-friendly level is to offload as much of the processing power, sensors and such to a paired phone," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Nreal and Samsung teased similar 'smartphone paired' AR glasses at CE earlier this year," MacQueen added.

Most smart devices depend on a smartphone, at least for initial setup, said Julie Ask, principal analyst at Forrester Research, a market research company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"A smartphone dependency will permit the glasses to be wireless like AirPods or similar devices," she told TechNewsWorld.

No Content Worries

Content long has been a major hangup for devices taking consumers to virtual realms, but that doesn't seem to be the case with Apple.

"If you asked me about anybody but Apple, I'd say content would be an issue, but because it's Apple, it's going to be less of an issue," said Tuong Nguyen, senior principal analyst at Gartner, a research and advisory company based in Stamford, Connecticut.

"Apple isn't going to be launching only a piece of hardware," he told TechNewsWorld. "They'll launch a piece of hardware that extends their overall ecosystem and ties into any existing services that they have."

"Apple doesn't launch a single product. They provide ecosystems of experience," Nguyen added.

Content will not be an issue for the glasses by the time they're released, predicted Eleftheria Kouri, research analyst at ABI Research, a technology advisory company based in Oyster Bay, New York.

"I am expecting that initially Apple will rely on available AR applications before developers familiarize themselves with the device and build new applications," she told TechNewsWorld.

Apple's ARKit developers kit already supports numerous AR applications, including gaming, product visualization, educational content and more, which will be available for the AR smart glasses, too.

"It is anticipated that Apple will leverage Apple TV and Apple Music, allowing users to broadcast content in the AR device," Kouri said.

"Similarly, users will be able to play AR games from Apple Arcade," she added. "Also, it is expected that the integration of the LiDAR sensor in the latest iPad Pro and upcoming iPhone 12 Pro will enrich the available AR applications and better prepare consumers for the AR smart glasses."

Surprising Price

Among the first wave of apps for the glasses would be room modeling apps -- how this piece of furniture will look in that corner of the room; information on outdoor objects like buildings and monuments; navigation apps; and "how to" apps, Forrester's Ask said.

"What we've seen on the phone is a lot of Pokemon GO clones, marketing, and AR used as a gimmick. To make these devices take off, we really need to see AR applications move beyond that, to give consumers a real reason to use the glasses," Strategy Analytics' MacQueen said.

"It doesn't surprise me that one of the most popular iPhone apps is a simple measuring tape," he noted. "That's something that offers genuine utility to an end user."

The pricing of Apple's AR glasses -- assuming Prosser's information is correct -- surprised many Apple watchers.

"Everyone expected the price to be higher," Omdia's Jijiashvili said. "If you look at similar devices, they're selling from $1,500 to three grand. $499 is a very attractive price, but it depends on how much capability the smart glasses have."

Quest Killer?

The $499 model of the glasses will be a "basic edition," ABI's Kouri said.

"The basic edition will be an 'assistive reality' device with monocular vision that will not support embedded cameras and spatial understanding," she predicted.

"An assistive reality device without embedded cameras will be a 'socially acceptable' one which will allow users to familiarize themselves with AR smartglasses and not be concerned about privacy issues and video recording in public places," Kouri explained.

Apple also is working on a virtual reality headset along the lines of Facebook's Occulus Quest, according to Prosser.

"Apple wouldn't compete with a headset," Gartner's Nguyen said. "They're competing with an experience."

"There's also an opportunity to resonate with a business audience," he added. "With Oculus, Facebook has focused on games and movies. There's still an opportunity for Apple, as well as anyone else in the market, because it's still in its early days."

Although some reports have maintained that Apple will release its VR headset ahead of its AR glasses, Jijiashvili doubts that will be the case.

"I think Apple will focus on AR in the near term," he predicted, "and VR is something further in the future."

John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.




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A new virtual reality headset designed for mobility will serve as an entry point into a new virtual world, its maker announced Tuesday.

The US$599 Mova headset from XRSpace, founded by former HTC chief Peter Chou, will support 5G and be the exclusive on-ramp to Manova, a social reality platform that aims to defy the boundaries of space and time to bring people together.

Users can roam Manova as full-body avatars with a user's personal features to socialize, work and play in a number of public and private spaces, according to XRSpace.

The battery-powered Mova headset is built around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. The unit comes in two colors, white and orange. It is 20 percent lighter than any other VR headset on the market, XRSpace claims.

It pairs a set of optical sensors with proprietary scanning technology that allows hand gestures to control objects and navigate virtual worlds.

"Gestures are getting better and are a more natural way to control the headset," said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research, a high-tech research and advisory firm based in Phoenix, Arizona.

XRSpace touts the absence of wires and controllers in its promotional material for Mova, but it's likely that controllers will be introduced later to provide the more accurate control needed for some games and detailed work, he told TechNewsWorld.

Mova also has space scanning applications for creating real world physical locations inside the device.

"Our mission is to bring people together through the power of 5G XR, surpassing the limited experience of smartphones today," Chou said. "The singular goal of XRSpace is to take XR to the masses by redefining how people connect, socialize, and collaborate by simplifying the hardware and user experience."

Not Priced for Masses

There are some doubters about XRSpace taking virtual and augmented reality to the masses, considering the Mova's $599 price tag.

"VR is already a niche market," said Tuong Nguyen, senior principal analyst at Gartner, a research and advisory company based in Stamford, Connecticut.

"Six hundred dollars will limit the headset to niche adopters, so XRSpace is going for a niche within a niche," he told TechNewsWorld. "I don't expect it to get much traction."

VR is having a moment right now, as people look for new experiences due to the isolation wrought by the pandemic over the past few months, observed Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research, a consumer technology advisory firm in New York City.

However, that moment could be fleeting.

"In general, it hasn't reached the mainstream," Rubin told TechNewsWorld. "Part of that is due to price, so this is not going to be a democratizing headset."

Big Gamble

Introducing an expensive VR headset at this time could be risky business for XRSpace.

"I think it is a big gamble. The trend is toward relatively less expensive headsets to hit more mainstream adoption price points," Krewell said.

"It's a huge gamble to go with a new hardware release," maintained J. P. Gownder, principal analyst at Forrester Research, a market research company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"Although the founder has a background in hardware at HTC, VR is a terribly tricky -- and disappointing -- market for consumers," he told TechNewsWorld. "Oculus and HTC Vive have spent years honing their offerings and, as importantly, their relationships with developers."

Developers can make or break headset sales, Tirias' Krewell noted.

"XRSpace has to face off with more established VR competitors who already have a pretty good library of content," he said. "As we've seen with the launch of Half Life: Alyx, good content can drive more headset sales."

Made With Mobility in Mind

The addition of 5G to Mova's repertoire may be a mixed bag for the device.

5G eventually will be a boon for virtual reality because it will deliver high bandwidth and massive collaborative experiences with low latency, Gartner's Nguyen noted.

"If you look at where we are in 5G, we're barely getting started. Including 5G is reasonable, but how many people who buy the headset are going to be able to use 5G?" he wondered.

"It's hard to judge how 5G will appeal to consumers," said Krewell. "5G is just rolling out, but it's important to the sales channels of the wireless carriers. The Mova headset may well be sold bundled with a 5G data plan subsidy."

The Mova clearly is designed with mobility in mind, observed David MacQueen, executive director for the global wireless practice at Strategy Analytics, a research, advisory and analytics firm based in Newton, Massachusetts.

"The inclusion of 5G and using gesture control as the default means you don't have to carry controllers around," he told TechNewsWorld.

AR, VR Convergence

It's unusual that Mova was launched with a single, consumer-focused application, suggested MacQueen.

"The use-cases for VR which require mobility tend not to be consumer, and are more in the prosumer and enterprise areas, for uses such as drone control," he explained.

There is an opportunity for the headset with mobile carriers, MacQueen noted. "Many carriers are looking to VR to demonstrate the benefits of 5G, and as one of the first headsets to feature VR connectivity, Mova could see some traction amongst carriers."

How the carriers position the device likely will depend on their local markets, he explained. In China, where home PC and console ownership is very low, and carriers often have well-developed consumer content plays, a standalone device with built-in connectivity may fare well. In North America and Western Europe, it might struggle as a consumer device.

The price point of the headset is high, MacQueen acknowledged, "but the component cost must be relatively high, too. The 5G connectivity module is likely to be the main driver of the high price relative to the competition right now."

Many VR headsets will have 5G in the future, Rubin said.

"It makes sense for augmented reality because that experience can take place anywhere," he pointed out.

"For virtual reality, because it's a more immersive experience that tends to take place in the confines of a room, 5G may not be as critical," Rubin said.

"It's widely accepted by companies on both VR and AR sides of this technology that the two will converge," he continued."Today we think of VR as this thing where you have blinders on, and you're creating a world unto itself, whereas augmented reality takes place in the real world with overlays of digital objects. In the future, there will be more of a spectrum of experiences."

John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.


Police complete probe into actor Efremov accused of fatal road traffic accident

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

10:09 07/07/2020

MOSCOW, July 7 (RAPSI)  Investigation into a fatal road traffic accident case against actor Mikhail Efremov has been completed, the press service chief of the Moscow Main Directorate of the Interior Ministry Vladimir Vasenin has told RAPSI.

On June 9, Moscows Tagansky District Court ordered Efremov to be put under house arrest until August 9. In particular, he was banned from communicating with other case parties, using mobile phone and Internet.

The famous actor stands charged with commiting a traffic offense in a drunken state that led to a victims death. He could face from 5 to 12 years behind bars if conficted.

On the evening of June 8, Efremov driving his car crossed into the oncoming lane in central Moscow and collided with a delivery service vehicle. He was arrested on the scene. Alcohol and drugs were reportedly found in his blood. Victim Sergey Zakharov was taken to hospital where he died early in the morning of June 9.


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Switzerland this week launched a pilot program for SwissCovid, a contact tracing app based on Apple and Google's jointly developed APIs.

The APIs will work with iOS 13.5 and devices running Android 6.0 or higher.

The pilot involves several thousand workers at Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne, ETH Zurich, the Swiss Army, and staff at some hospitals and cantonal administrations.

The app will monitor people in real-world situations, notifying participants who have been in contact with someone who was diagnosed COVID-positive.

It will run until the Swiss Parliament debates its legal basis in June. The aim is to launch it nationwide in mid-June.

However, the app was publicly available in the Google Play Store for several hours on Monday.

Access was restricted on Tuesday, according to EFPL spokesperson Emmanuel Barraud.

Although the number of unauthorized downloads has not been disclosed, the unintended access should not affect the pilot's effectiveness, Barraud said.

How SwissCovid Works

SwissCovid uses Bluetooth Low-Energy beacons to exchange and record the ephemeral proximity identifiers of phones in a user's vicinity. The identifiers are kept on the phone unless the user tests positive for COVID-19.

The app signals a user who has been in prolonged contact with one or more people who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. The user must have been in contact with a COVID-positive person for more than 15 minutes or must have been less than two meters away -- about six feet.

SwissCovid indicates the day of exposure the risk and tells the user what procedures to follow.

Users who test positive are given a single-use code by their doctor, which lets them voluntarily send their phone's ephemeral keys, for the days they are contagious, to a server managed by the Swiss administration.

SwissCovid uses the Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP3T) protocol to minimize the collection and sharing of information.

The protocol, from EPFL's Security & Privacy Engineering Laboratory, is the joint work of 25 academics from research institutions across Europe.

"Our goal is to offer a solution that can be adopted in Europe and around the world," said Carmela Troncoso, an assistant professor at EFPL and head of its SPRING Lab.

The EU plans to adopt common rules for using mobile apps to track the spread of the coronavirus.

Security and Privacy

Contact tracing has raised a number of concerns about security and privacy.

Researchers uncovered seven security flaws in the UK's app. A security flaw in Qatar's Ehteraz mandatory tracing app exposed the personal information of more than 1 million people.

In the United States, Democrat and Republican lawmakers have released competing bills targeting privacy in COVID-19 contact tracing apps.

Apple and Google have tried to forestall obstacles stemming from privacy and security concerns by requiring public health authorities (PHAs) to sign legal agreements governing use of the Apple-Google API:

Apps built using the APIs can be used only to fight the coronavirus epidemic;

The amount of data collected must be minimized;

The PHAs must get user consent at multiple stages;

Users can turn exposure notifications on and off;

They cannot ask permission to use a smartphone's location services;

They cannot employ user data collected for things like targeted advertising; and

The API will be available for only one app per country or region, depending on the government's approach.

All metadata associated with Bluetooth will be encrypted.

Centralized vs. Decentralized

There is considerable debate in Europe over whether to adopt a centralized or decentralized approach. The UK has taken a centralized approach, while SwissCovid is decentralized, storing personal data it collects only on users' phones.

"Governments prefer centralized proximity tracking because they receive the richest amount of information. They have more detailed information on users and citizens to understand deeper trends," noted Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

However, the success of that approach relies on trust in the collector, and "privacy advocates are worried about the social graph moving into the hands of governments," Wang told TechNewsWorld. "Privacy advocates prefer the decentralized approach."

Decentralized models "tend to be faster. They can be more resilient to a massive breach if the data is also decentralized, and they can better conform to localized regulations and concerns," remarked Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

However, they are more difficult to secure overall because of their increased complexity, greater contact surface, and numerous weak links, Enderle told TechNewsWorld. Further, analysis "is often slower and less comprehensive."

Centralized systems are easier to secure and manage, faster to analyze, and less expensive to deploy, Enderle said. They often are also more robust.

On the other hand, centralized systems don't conform as well to local rules such as moving data, Enderle pointed out. They make it easier to capture the entire database if breached, and can be destroyed totally in a catastrophic event.

Coming to America

There is no clear-cut indication as to which approach would be best in the U.S.

"I think the question is which solutions protects the rights of people best," said Mike Jude, research director at IDC.

"Obviously, this would be a decentralized application," he told TechNewsWorld. "However, that's a very American point offer -- that freedom is more important than centralized control."

Still, both approaches are dangerous because "we're building an infrastructure that can easily be perverted by a police state," Jude said. "Any system like this can and will be used for nefarious purposes."

A group of 200 scientists worldwide expressed concern that tracking apps could be misused for surveillance purposes.

Despite issues in the U.S., "if the COVID-19 vaccine doesn't pan out," Jude said, "or there's a second wave that's more intense than the first, people might demand contact tracing."

Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard.




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Amazon is rolling out a system that combines artificial intelligence and augmented reality to help workers maintain social distancing in the workplace, the company revealed Tuesday in its Covid-19 blog.

The new system has been deployed at a handful of Amazon buildings, but the company plans to deploy hundreds of the units in the coming weeks, the giant online retailer's leader of robotics initiatives Brad Porter revealed in the blog.

He explained that his team uses augmented reality to create a magic-mirror-like tool that enables workers to see their physical distance from each other.

Inspired by existing use cases, like radar speed check signs, the system, named "Distance Assistant," gives workers real-time feedback about their social distancing with the use of a 50-inch display, camera and computing device.

"The standalone unit uses machine learning models to differentiate people from their surroundings," Porter wrote. "Combined with depth sensors, it creates an accurate distance measurement between associates."

He explained that as people walk past the camera, a monitor displays live video with visual overlays to show if associates are within six feet of each another.

Green circles are displayed around workers who are six feet apart, while red circles are shown around those too close together.

The on-screen indicators are designed to remind and encourage workers to maintain appropriate distance from others, Porter noted.

The self-contained device requires only a standard electrical outlet, and can be quickly deployed to building entrances and other high-visibility areas, he added.

What's more, Amazon plans to open source the technology so it will be free for other businesses to use.

"Nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our employees and we'll continue to innovate to keep them as safe as possible," Porter wrote.

Worker Lawsuits

Some employees, though, don't think Amazon is doing all it can to protect them from Covid-19. Two lawsuits were filed against the company this month by workers alleging Amazon is putting workers and the public at risk by conditions it's fostering in its warehouses.

In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, it's alleged that Amazon "failed to implement reasonable safety protocols, placing essential workers at needless risk of Covid-19 infection and endangering public health."

It added that "cramped conditions, re-use of employee protective suits without cleaning, and quotas that make it impossible for workers to practice social distancing or sanitization" have exposed workers and the public to risk of catching the coronavirus.

In the other lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., it's alleged Amazon is fostering the spread of the coronavirus by mandating unsafe working conditions, that caused at least one employee to contract the virus, bring it home, and see her cousin die.

The lawsuit also contends that Amazon's JFK8 fulfillment center, which employs some 5,000 people on Staten Island, has become a "place of danger" by impeding efforts to stop the virus from spreading and by boosting productivity at the expense of safety.

In a statement to the press, Amazon noted it spent US$4 billion from April to June on coronavirus initiatives, including $800 million during the first half of the year on temperature checks, masks, gloves, enhanced cleaning and sanitization, extended pay and benefits options, testing and more.

AR a Valuable Tool

As for Distance Assistant, it shows how artificial intelligence and augmented reality can be worthwhile additions to the workplace.

"AR can be a valuable tool and assist people to maintain a social distance, not only in the workplace but in any location, including airports, shopping malls and other public places," Eleftheria Kouri, a research analyst for ABI Research, a technology advisory company based in Oyster Bay, N.Y. told the E-Commerce Times.

Amazon isn't alone is applying AR to social distancing. Kouri noted that Google has launched a web-based AR app called Sodar to help people maintain a two meter distance between each other.

Meanwhile, Snapchat, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, has introduced new lenses that assist users in visualizing distances.

AR smart glasses have already made inroads in the workplace and could be programmed to add social distancing to their repertoire.

If the glasses support spatial understanding, they can play an important role and assist employees in maintaining social distancing by overlaying safe virtual paths on the ground in a user's field of view, Kouri observed.

"AR smart glasses are more efficient because they provide immediate feedback and notifications regarding social distancing, consequently a user is more proactive in maintaining a distance," she explained.

She also pointed out that glasses can be used hands-free, unlike a cellphone, and are hard to ignore, unlike a 50-inch display.

Fever-Detecting Glasses

Smart glasses could take AR beyond social distancing.

"On the back of this global pandemic, we're seeing increased activity around AR glasses, which includes headset makers exploring thermal imaging for disease detection," said George Jijiashvili, a senior analyst with Omdia, a research and consulting firm in London.

"Nreal and Vuzix are examples of AR headset companies who have revealed thermal imagining capabilities as part of the effort against the pandemic," he told the E-Commerce Times.

"It is important to highlight that the rollout and integration of AR glasses into workplaces has so far been relatively slow, due to the complexities of system integration and the initial cost," he added. "However, the growing demand for innovative safety solutions in the current climate could accelerate AR's adoption."

The pandemic isn't only driving rapid development of safety solutions. "I've heard from multiple organizations that digital transformation plans that they expected to take years to complete have been done in a matter of months because of the coronavirus," said Liz Miller, vice president and a principal analyst with Constellation Research, a technology research and advisory firm in Cupertino, Calif.

"With the coronavirus, you have to be digital, whether that's empowering a digital workforce or utilizing new tools to manage and interrogate data differently," she told the E-Commerce Times.

Tug-of-War with Tech

While AI and AR tools can contribute to keeping workers safe and productive, those contributions can come at a price for the individual.

"These AR solutions for measuring a safe social distance will raise similar privacy concerns as did the introduction of smart glasses and surveillance cameras in the working environment," Kouri said.

"What Covid has done is elevate the awareness of many consumers to what privacy truly means to them," Miller added.

Josh Crandall, CEO and co-founder of NetPop Research, a market research and strategy consulting firm in San Francisco sees solutions like Distance Assistant camped on the frontier of humanity's tug-of-war with tech.

"On the one hand, using AI to maintain social distancing is undeniably beneficial," he told the E-Commerce Times. "It'll keep us safer in pandemic times."

"On the other hand," he continued, "we are becoming further entwined and dependent on data-driven, computerized solutions that are generic, devoid of contextual knowledge."

"Without recognizing and appreciating the context in which decisions are made can lead to bias and false outcomes," he said. "Thus, the application of this technology, while beneficial on the face of it, may lead to false accusations, social stigma or worse."

"Silicon Valley has a long history of benefiting off of user data for profit," he added, "and look where we are today."

John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.




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In these trying times, kids have to deal with a lot of stuff they weren't prepared for: a significant loss of weeks of education, damaged GPAs, and no assurance they'll be going back in the fall.

However, some schools were able to pivot because they already had implemented remote programs that were mature, easily implemented, and designed by teachers for teachers. That's because some school districts have a critical mass of students who are widely spread geographically, or for other reasons can't make it to school.

These schools deployed LanSchool, a little known tool and service that Lenovo recently -- perhaps prophetically -- bought. As a result, they are doing fine.

I'll share some observations about this approach to education and close with my product of the week: Lenovo's new VR Headset that offers the performance and ruggedness needed for use in education.

The Problem With Remote Education

Faced with an unanticipated lockdown, the only tool many schools could use readily was something like Zoom, which turned out to be woefully unsecure even though it was impressively easy to use. Another issue with Zoom is that it was never designed to be an education solution -- it merely allows one person to talk remotely with many others.

That undoubtedly is part of the problem. To keep kids focused and interested in remote lessons, it's critical to have tools that go beyond ordinary communications to help teachers ensure better student attention and performance.

The problems with remote schooling are similar to those associated with working from home, with a few exceptions. Students usually aren't as mature, and most lack the attention span of an adult. They don't have their careers to or income to worry about, so they tend to be less focused, in general, on accomplishing their tasks.

With a solution like Zoom, which is just a communications tool, it's likely that the lessons won't work, because the students aren't engaged. The level of acting out in the classroom will make it virtually impossible to hold class, let alone instill any knowledge.

Tech companies sell to schools, but they typically don't create focused educational tools. Generally, they sell PCs that are priced lower for the market but are specified by the school itself, and there isn't much engagement beyond that.

Lack of engagement makes it difficult for those companies to offer effective help when a school has to pivot to remote operations, because their answers typically will be to buy new Windows PCs, Chromebooks or iPads. While these tools are critical to remote learning, they fall well short of what a solution should be.

Lack of engagement speaks to why so many schools, after trying to operate remotely, gave up. Their programs weren't working.

Lack of engagement likely impacted sales to the education market as well. Lenovo came up with the idea of buying a company -- LanSchool, created by teachers for teachers -- and selling its product to schools to increase engagement. Lenovo realized that while technology was becoming more prevalent in schools, the OEMs weren't advancing as quickly in understanding the changes affecting education and weren't positioning effectively.

Approaches to education have changed a great deal in recent years. Teachers' responsibilities have shifted from teaching core STEM to helping students develop life skills like critical thinking, collaboration and digital literacy. (Schools also are teaching kids to use technology -- which means that older folks typically will rely more on younger ones to help them get their tech to work.)

Lenovo also knows from market data that schools were moving to the cloud to reduce costs and improve security. They already knew that schools were using Chromebooks heavily in K-12 (16 percent penetration) but that purchasing was problematic. When many schools recently tried to buy PCs at once, they found they were unable to.

The LanSchool Approach

LanSchool is a classroom orchestration solution provider. Classroom orchestration goes well beyond managed hardware to include all aspects of education. LanSchool is a complete offering that was created from scratch over time, specifically to address the problems school districts and teachers faced with remote learning. The teachers who were in the middle of the problems developed the approach.

Those teachers, particularly in disaster areas, learned the hard way that continuity was essential. Their experiences made them uniquely qualified to set up a program designed to ensure that schools not only stayed operational but also remained effective.

LanSchool has 12 million global users. It operates in 75-plus countries, and supports 14 languages. Thanks to its international scope, lessons learned both from schools that had to shift to remote early, as well as from those that have shifted back to their traditional models, have propagated across borders to help others prepare better.

Many teachers using the system have expressed that the most significant benefit to them is that they feel like teachers again instead of like failing babysitters.

The software in the program empowers teachers to accelerated the application of technology in these new virtual classrooms. It avoids the need for aggressive behavior management by using a combination of interaction tools and security monitoring, providing a decent balance between instruction and technology.

What is interesting is that based on teacher testimonials, it is so easy to use that it takes the fear of technology out of the process, liberating teachers to focus on teaching.

Individual components of the solution include a comprehensive, secure communications suite for personal and group communications across a variety of mediums. The teacher can even control the students' hardware remotely, doing things like blocking websites and blanking their screens when they are misbehaving, or just to get their attention.

Collaboration tools include easy-to-use screen sharing, digital material distribution, quiz and poll administration, and methods to reward students for outstanding work. Multitasking tools enable teachers to manage multiple classroom activities. There are customization options to addree the unique needs of the teacher using the system.

One recent change was the launch of LanSchool Air, which better supports education's move to the cloud and is particularly well suited for schools to continue providing students with an education despite having to shut down their campuses.

Wrapping Up: Kids Are Our Greatest Asset

Our kids are our greatest asset, and they have been hard hit by COVID-19. With all of the other drama going on, it is easy to forget that we are not ready for our kids to return to school. We know that most of the remote learning shifts that we attempted at the end of spring failed. We can assume that unless the problem is approached more capably, trying again without better working tools will have a similar outcome.

School districts suddenly sweating bullets should consider an approach like LanSchool. Efforts to meet the challenges of remote learning on their own could increase the odds of another failure.

Virtual reality headsets mostly have been junk, with complex installations, high prices and low resolution. They have the added "benefit" of not being very robust either. In other words, they sucked on all fronts.

Now VR is essential to education, because the headset ties the student more tightly to the teacher, who can control what the student sees and hears almost absolutely. If you need to engage deeply and command the full attention of younger students, a VR solution is compelling.

However, if the headset optics are of low quality, children won't be able to wear it for long -- nor would you want them to. If a headset is fragile, kids being kids will end it. In short, most headsets in the market suck at what they are supposed to do, and they'll break doing it -- but that may be a positive feature.

The Lenovo Mirage VR S3 is designed for the professional market. It is robust enough for multiple users, it has optical performance that is in line with best-in-class (4K), and it has a hands-free control that is ergonomically designed and can be held by young or old hands.

Lenovo Mirage VR S3 Standalone Headset with ThinkReality

It is wireless, so there are no cords to break or trip over. It has a hygienic faceplate -- kind of critical for multiple users right now -- as well as integrated sound and three hours of battery life. It's not a good idea to stay in VR for longer than three hours.

The price is US$450, which is not that much more than the cheap VR headsets we've been seeing in the consumer market. Because the Lenovo Mirage VR S3 headset is an excellent tool for the education market, it is my product of the week. (Now you can justify getting one.)

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network.

Rob Enderle has been an ECT News Network columnist since 2003. His areas of interest include AI, autonomous driving, drones, personal technology, emerging technology, regulation, litigation, M&E, and technology in politics. He has an MBA in human resources, marketing and computer science. He is also a certified management accountant. Enderle currently is president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, a consultancy that serves the technology industry. He formerly served as a senior research fellow at Giga Information Group and Forrester. Email Rob.




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Apple will announce a new processor for its Mac computer line at its virtual World Wide Developers Conference later this month, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Fulfilling a years-long rumor, the company will begin using an ARM chip based on Apple's A14 processor, which will be featured in the next iPhone.

Although the next generation of Macs will run on a mobile chip, the computers will continue to use macOS and not Apple's mobile operating system, iOS, Bloomberg noted.

ARM chips tested inside Apple reportedly have shown sizable improvements over Intel-powered versions, especially in graphics performance and artificial intelligence.

The Apple processors are more power-efficient than Intel's, which could lead to lighter, thinner Macs.

In addition to the main processor, Apple's ARM SoC (system on a chip) for the Mac will have a graphics processing unit and a neural engine for handling machine learning functions, Bloomberg noted.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company reportedly will produce the new processors using five nanometer technology, which it already uses to produce chips for Intel rivals Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices.

"Apple likes to make their own components. They did it first for the iPhone and iPad, and now they're extending that to the Mac," said Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research, a technology market research and consulting firm in Foster City, California.

"Apple just wants to control the whole experience, and they feel that if they design the chips, they can design the software to best take advantage of those chips, and they can get the best possible performance and experience for their users," he told TechNewsWorld.

Better Cost Control

Users, developers and Apple itself will benefit from the company's move away from Intel chips in favor of designing its own processors, maintained Linn Huang, research vice president for devices and displays at IDC, a market research company in Framingham, Massachusetts.

"Intel supply disruptions over the course of the last two years, as well as its slowness to land on 10 nanometer, have been a thorn in the side of Apple, which likes its supply chain the way it likes its ecosystem -- tightly integrated," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Moving towards their own platform allows them to be in more control of their feature set and roadmap," Huang added.

Bringing Macs into the ARM fold can help Apple manage some of its costs, maintained San Jose, California-based Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research, a high-tech research and advisory firm.

"It allows Apple to spread the development costs of its A-series ARM processors over more chips," he told TechNewsWorld. "This would really be an opportunity for Apple to differentiate itself from the rest of the PC industry even further."

5G Roadmap

Apple will benefit from severing ties with Intel, suggested David McQueen, research director at ABI Research, a technology advisory company headquartered in Oyster Bay, New York.

"Apple now won't be beholden to Intel's chipset launch dates and update cycles," he told TechNewsWorld.

Moving to ARM-based chips can bring efficiencies and better battery life without sacrificing performance, McQueen added.

"Some of Apple's A chips already perform well in benchmarks against those from Intel," he said. "The move may also help cut out some size constraints, possibly allowing Macs to be made thinner, while also negating a need for fans."

In addition, the move could pave the way to make all of Apple's devices 5G-enabled, potentially using its own 5G modems in the future, the fruits of its billion dollar deal to obtain Intel's smartphone modem business last year, McQueen speculated.

ARM-based PCs will be able to behave more like smartphones and smart speakers, noted Frank E. Gillett, principal analyst at Forrester Research, a market research company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"The PC may be able to gauge a user's emotions and ask to help. It could sense when a user approaches and starts up the computer, before it's touched," he told TechNewsWorld.

"All those things require low-power background processing, which has been difficult to add to the Intel architecture, which wasn't designed for those things," Gillett said.

Heavy Lifting for Developers

One potential drawback to Apple's move is that as a chip maker, the company would have to keep up with demand for its chips and stay ahead of the curve in chip technology, ABI's McQueen pointed out.

"But it seems to have done pretty well so far at that with its A series of processors for iPhones and iPads, and the advantages seem to outweigh any challenges," he said.

However, Apple's plan does raise some questions.

"It's a risky and expensive move for Apple, and right now I'm scratching my head on why Apple would do this," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, a technology analyst and advisory firm in Austin, Texas.

"There's no clear benefit for developers or for users, and it appears Apple is trying to boost profits," he told TechNewsWorld.

"All things equal, Apple's new CPUs would need to outperform Intel's to translate the X86-Intel-AMD world to ARM," Moorhead noted. "To get a strategic benefit, Apple needs developers to rewrite applications to take advantage of its GPUs and NPUs, which is a heavy lift."

An Apple First

ARM adoption across the Apple line could be beneficial to developers, however, suggested Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a technology advisory firm in Campbell, California.

"Developers would have a single processor platform to develop for, which would make their development for Apple devices easier and more consistent," he told TechNewsWorld.

The biggest impact of the move could be on Apple's development community, which now develops applications for ARM devices on MacBooks running X86 processors, noted IDC's Huang.

"In the future, developers could build iOS apps on ARM architecture and then deploy into ARM servers," he said. "Consequently, the biggest ripple might not be for Apple or its users, but for the developer ecosystem."

When ARM-based Macs roll off the production line, it will be the first time in the 36-year history of the company that the computers will be based on a chip made by Apple.

It has changed processors twice in the past. In the early 1990s, it went from a Motorola processor to one made by IBM, the PowePC chip. Then in 2005, the company announced a switch from IBM to Intel at its WWDC, and the new Intel Macs began appearing in January 2006.

To cushion the blow of the change on users during the PowerPC to X86 transition, Apple included an emulation program called "Rosetta" in all Macs.

"Apple will likely provide an x86 to ARM emulation layer, much as Microsoft has done in the Windows-on-ARM versions of Windows," observed Tirias' Krewell.

"Apple's done this before, and they've been successful doing it," said Technalysis' O'Donnell. "The difference now from the past is that so much software is Web- and cloud-based. That makes things theoretically easier."

John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.


It could be a long way to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, basing from a study done in Spain showing that the concept of "herd immunity" in "unachievable."

CNN reported that there is a study on antibodies done in Spain, and revealed only five percent were able to develop antibodies while the other 95 percent remained prone to the virus.

In other words, what epidemiologists suggested as several individuals possibly getting immune from the virus is now a myth.

Herd immunity and COVID-19

However, in order to achieve "herd immunity," mathematical graphs show that at least around 60 to 70 percent of individuals must be immune from the COVID-19 virus for this to happen. However, this is not the case.

Health specialists say there are two paths toward herd immunity against the coronavirus, and these are infection and vaccines. The latter is touted the ideal approach, but the effects may deteriorate over time. Infection is the second approach, but because there is still several information unknown about the virus, the level of immunity to future infections is still being studied.

According to Mayo Clinic, "Even if infection with the COVID-19 virus creates long-lasting immunity, a large number of people would have to become infected to reach the herd immunity threshold. Experts estimate that in the U.S., 70% of the population - more than 200 million people - would have to recover from COVID-19 to halt the epidemic."

Having said this, health experts believe that maintaining good public health measures is necessary to achieve maximum results, even if herd immunity is close to impossibility.

For Isabella Eckerle, head of the Geneva Center of Emerging Viral Diseases, and Benjamin Meyer, University of Geneva virologist, the approaches to herd immunity is not only unethical but also is "unachievable."

The study was reportedly conducted over a nationwide representative sampling with more than 61,000 respondents. It provides an addition to a previous study in Geneva which involved 2,766 respondents. .

More COVID-19 updates

With more cases unfolding each day, the White House on Monday claimed the U.S. is a worldwide "leader" in the fight against the coronavirus. The infections nationwide are about to reach three million. It remains to be the country with the most number of daily fresh cases.

"I think the world is looking at us as a leader in COVID-19," the White House press secretary revealed.

If going to be asked about controlling the infections, the country has not succeeded in this yet, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci and included in his comments for the Congress. The EU maintains travel restrictions and regulations for those traveling to the United States.

Also Read: Ozone Layer Hole Mysteriously Fixed Itself During Coronavirus Lockdown

The states of Arizona, Florida, and Texas are changing up plans and reopening the economy, balancing this out in line with the rising infections. There are businesses that have reopened but at the same time, they are managing these new cases.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
It seems Karen is all over America nowadays. In today's slang, Karen refers to an entitled woman who is referred to as a "Karen." It seems a lot of maskless Karens are showing up at supermarkets and stores that require a mask while in the middle of coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, a Karen entered a Starbucks store in California without the proper face covering, so one of the employees told her that he could not serve her coffee unless she put on a mask.

Instead of abiding the rule, she left the store and but her emotions on Facebook. She tried to get the employee fired but failed miserably as her post went viral with netizens siding with the employee.

Also, a woman who refused to put on a mask in Trader Joe's as she claimed to have a breathing problem was asked by an employee to leave the store. Also, another

Most recently, an old 'Karen' went viral as she threw tantrums on the floor like a child in Costco when she was asked to put a mask on.

As the store's policy requires a mask, an employee asked her to put on a mask. "I just need you to put that on for now while you're in the building. That's all," the employee told the woman. "Just temporarily while you're in here, and then you can take it right back off," she added.

New Costco Karen Sighting throws 3-yr-old type tantrum sits on the floor and wont leave because this is America.. tries to lie about medical condition then changes her mind  pic.twitter.com/GLDmPDnGar  ONLY iN LVNV  (@OnlyInLVNV) July 2, 2020

When the woman responded to the simple request: "I will not," she was asked to leave. While the employee escorted her to the door, the woman, in the middle of the large warehouse, sat on the floor.

"Can I get you a chair? Outside? There's a place to sit," the employee asked the woman as she continues to courteously ask her to leave.

"I am an American. I have constitutional rights," the woman responded. The viral video published on Twitter by Only in LVNV already has more than 68,000 views and over 1,100 shares.

Why are masks required?

Last month, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said that wearing masks give more freedom and protection against coronavirus. Since masks protect people from inhaling the virus, he added that it reduces the viral spread leading more places and stores to reopen.

According to the World Health Organization review on 172 studies from 16 countries and six continents, wearing a mask lowers the risk of transmitting coronavirus to 3.1%, compared to 17.4% for those without a face mask or an N95 respirator.

Medical experts said COVID-19 can be acquired through droplets from a coronavirus patient's speech, sneeze, or cough. However, an asymptomatic person may still transmit the disease.

Nowadays, scientists claim that coronavirus is now airborne, so masks may be more helpful than ever.

However, WHO said that using "a mask alone is insufficient to provide an adequate level of protection or source control." The agency also recommends utilizing other personal and community level measures to control the transmission of respiratory viruses." Thus, the review suggests that a physical distancing policy of at least one to two meters is also necessary.

Read also: The Bubonic Plague That Wiped Millions in the Past Has Resurfaced in China's Inner Mongolia Amid COVID-19

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
When Amy Cooper, a woman from New York who is white, phoned 911 from Central Park's isolated patch on Memorial Day, she reported an "African-American" man was giving her life threats, emphasizing the race in the phone call. She was with her dog unleashed.

The story came out on the New York Times and featured the viral video of the phone conversation when she labeled these people with racial tones.

Moments prior to the call, the man named Christian Cooper had requested for her to leash her dog, which she refused to do. Cooper is an avid bird-watcher.

On Monday, Amy was charged out of the false report and misdemeanor that may sentence her to up to a year in jail. According to the New York Times, this is "the latest fallout from an encounter that resonated across the country and provoked intense discussions about how Black people are harmed when sham reports to the police are made about them by white people."

The viral video has been watched more than 40 million times, and is regarded as an example of racial treatment in the city, in the midst of its "progressive ideals."

This pending charge against Amy seems to be one of the first that a white person in the country has faced for wrongfully phoning police authorities to complain about a Black individual.

Manhattan's district attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. said, "We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable," said Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney.

On Monday, Amy was requested to appear with the police authorities and is scheduled to be arraigned this October 14. If she is convicted, she might either face sentence via community service, counseling, or conditional discharge, instead of serving the required number of months in prison.

As of press time, she has not issued comments about the incident, but her lawyer, Robert Barnes has reiterated that she is not guilty of the race-related crime. The lawyer also criticized what he named as a "cancel culture epidemic" of the times, the report added.

"She lost her job, her home, and her public life," Barnes noted. "Now some demand her freedom? How many lives are we going to destroy over misunderstood 60-second videos on social media?"

The man whom she referred to also defended himself, saying he "had zero involvement" in the case against Amy.

"I have no reaction," Cooper said.

People are not usually charged out of a false police report according to legal specialists, however, Amy's case is different. The evidence against her was strong enough to produce a case, especially that she made a false report targeted against Black citizens.

"To the extent that this woman was arguably deploying racial stereotypes and weaponizing them, it will make people think twice. It is a big deal," Harvard Law School professor Nancy Gertner commented.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
St. Petersburg outpatient clinic with 43 COVID-19 infected employees fined $1,400

12:39 07/07/2020

ST. PETERSBURG, July 7 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov)  An outpatient clinic in St. Petersburg where 43 employees had been infected with coronavirus was fined 100,000 rubles ($1,400) by the Frunzensky District Court, the United press service of the citys courts told RAPSI on Tuesday.

The organization was found guilty of violation sanitary rules committed at times of the emergency.

According to the St. Petersburg Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the sanitary and epidemiological inquiry revealed absence of the required month personal protection devices supply including protective outerwear suits, respirators, medical masks, gloves, high overshoes and protective glasses in the outpatient clinic. Moreover, information on the positive COVID-19 tests passed by the medical employees was not filed with the Center in time, the statement reads. As a result, 43 coronavirus cases among the medics were recorded.




Over the next few weeks, there's hope for a significant discovery over our night sky! Comet NEOWISE is gaining popularity and enthusiasm among professional astronomers quite quickly. Clear comet observation with a naked eye is an incredibly rare occurrence, perhaps happening just a handful of times in a lifetime. Comet Hale-Bopp came back in 1997 with the last significant sighting in our area.

There was not much fanfare when Comet NEOWISE (named for the space telescope discovered it) was first located back in March. It was barely visible through a telescope. The thinking was, like its predecessors, comets ATLAS and SWAN, it probably wouldn't survive its journey past the Earth.

ALSO READ: Astronomers Solve Mystery of X-Shaped Radio Galaxies

Did Comet NEOWISE reemerge?

Comet NEOWISE has reemerged in recent days from its journey around the sun looking brighter than everybody expected, almost as though it had experienced a recent outburst.

#nh #comet pic.twitter.com/hsiRfLGkBH Some pics of #cometNEOWISE which could be seen at my location from about 0330 EDT up until sunrise (but was far easier to spot when it was darker). It could be easily seen by the naked eye here however, binoculars certainly help narrow things down better. #nhwx  Ryan Knapp (@WXKnapper) July 6, 2020

However, astronauts captured a breathtaking natural light display from a comet that was also dazzling skywatchers on Earth. The streaker, named Comet NEOWISE or C/2020 F3, was first on the scene in late March.

The icy lump was quite weak in our skies at that point, and astronomers weren't sure that would change. But as time went by, the Comet glowed immensely, seducing skywatchers even after they were disappointed by two other recent comets that faded away.

           7   C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE).       ,     !# # #NEOWISE pic.twitter.com/zo7INtT01l  Ivan Vagner (@ivan_mks63) July 4, 2020

"Last night's fireworks, for real. Because Science," NASA astronaut Bob Behnken said in a tweet posted from the International Space Station on Sunday (July 5), the day after Americans celebrated the Fourth of July with artificial firework displays.

The Comet was also photographed by Behnken 's colleagues onboard the orbiting laboratory, Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, with his tail in sharp brightness against the blackness of space seen over Earth's glowing blue atmosphere

In particular, Vagner reflected on the spectacular tail of Comet NEOWISE, the distinctive feature of comets as compared with their rocker counterparts, asteroids. A comet's tail is formed by radiation from the sun that pushes dust out of the fuzzy blob that surrounds the Comet as its ice warms and turns to gas.

While Comet NEOWISE may not live brightly up to the stunning Comet Hale-Bopp, it appears to be visible to the naked eye for the next few weeks!

How do you see that, then?

According to Eddie Irizarry, ambassador of the NASA solar system, it will remain visible just before and around the first light until July 11. Then, hopefully, the Comet will dip below the horizon as it transitions from being an early riser to a sensation of cocktail time. Maybe the best chance, too, will come out in the evening sky, starting around July 12.

It will start to be visible again about July 15 and 16 in the evening. It should be slightly easier to see when it's a little higher in the sky during the second half of July. It will be closer to the Northeastern horizon until that time.

Looking at the northwest horizon in the evening, on July 22 (about 64 million miles), the Comet would gradually climb higher and higher as it makes its closest pass by Earth.

Comet NEOWISE will appear around 30 degrees (or three fists) above the horizon in the evenings during the last week of July.

Right now, the advice being given by those who have already observed the Comet is to use binoculars or a telescope to find it in the sky first. If you have found it and its split tail logo, you will be able to track it with your naked eye.

Again, to see the Comet with the naked eye, you will need ideal viewing conditions. You need a clear view of the horizon, close to a cloudless sky, free of haze, and free from light pollution. The use of binoculars or a telescope is sure to help!

Happy looking!

ALSO READ: Astronomers Claim They Found the Edge of the Milky Way Galaxy

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Sony was supposed to launch its newest wearable, the Reon Pocket simultaneously with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but due to the pandemic, they are having it on sale right now independently, BGR reported.

And to make it even more interesting, it works as a wearable air conditioner. Sounds amazing?

Helping you battle out the heat is this new Sony wearable that you can wear by suspending the device on the back right below the neck.

Whether you are at home waiting for businesses and offices to open in the COVID-19 pandemic or outside waiting in the queue, the wearable works to freshen you up so you do not sweat a lot. This is also ideal while waiting for your next job interview, since you always have to look very presentable.

Also Read: Five Sony Smartphones Jumping Straight From Android 5.0 Lollipop To Android 6.0 Marshmallow

23 degrees Fahrenheit

How better is this wearable than the other item popular, the handheld battery-operated electric fan? Well, it follows the size of a computer mouse or even smaller, and utilizes the Peltier effect to pump heat and keep the body with 23 degrees Fahrenheit in the hot weather. Basically speaking, it is like being inside an air-conditioned room.

The sides of the Sony Reon Pocket resting against your back will remain cool to the touch even when heat is removed, since it has a small fan venting air away from the body.

It works with an iOS and Android mobile app that lets you customize and adjust the settings. Moreover, it also lets you set this on the automatic mode that utilizes motion sensors and temperature to detect the activity of the person, their mood, and as it changes depending on these conditions.

Two hours of battery life

During the winter months, wearers may also adjust the gadget to work as a heater, helping to raise the body temperature to as much as 14 degrees Fahrenheit. With the compact size, the battery life though is just for around two to four hours depending on how they are utilized. Re-charge to wear it again.

Last summer, the company announced it is launching two different versions of the Reon Pocket. One of these is the LIte version that strictly controls the device manually, and the Standard version that has the auto-bells and whistles going along with the app.

However, a year later, this version was the one launched. It is available on the official online store of Sony, selling at around $120. You can also purchase this from Amazon Japan but more expensive at $160. The t-shirt holders are at $20 each.

Heat stroke, sunburn and skin-related rashes are among the most common diseases this summer. And considering the effects of climate change, the sun's heat may provide vitamins but when it is too much, it may cause illnesses. Products of this kind prevent these from happening.



Sonys Reon Pocket wearable Air Conditioner now on sale in Japan pic.twitter.com/GlA86edFAT Wearable AC: Sonys Reon Pocket wearable Air Conditioner now on sale in Japan https://t.co/jcNQjLR551  Mihir Jha  (@MihirkJha) July 6, 2020

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
About 2.5 million tests are believed to be missing in a testing system, which is branded as "absolute chaos."

Based on figures released on Monday, July 6, data show the government has released 10.6 million home testing kits, but only 8 million were returned.

The number of tests issued by the government shown in its official figures seems inaccurate as opposed to the number of tests returned, which earned criticisms from the public.

This prompted Department for Health to stop daily reporting on the number of tests administered, which triggered a backlash from critics who said ministers are "embarrassed".

According to recently published data, there were a total of 10,505,758 antigen and antibody tests released at a testing center or via the post. However, only 8,058,510 have been returned for and processing. This means over 20% were never returned.

"How can 2.5 million tests be unaccounted for? The testing system is in absolute chaos with ministers unable to keep a track of how many people are being tested," said Shadow Health Minister Justin Madders.

Lib Dem Health Chief Munira Wilson, meanwhile said, "[These] abysmal figures expose the fact that millions of tests may not have even been opened," while claiming that ministers have been inflating the Covid-19 testing figures for months.

"As lockdown measures are relaxed it is vital in order to maintain public confidence that the Government demonstrates they have control over the testing system," Wilson said. "This starts with providing accurate numbers," she added.

Wilson also said the government has continued to fail "to offer regular repeat testing to frontline NHS and care staff"while they have spent taxpayers money by sending out millions of tests that are now unaccounted for.

"Ministers must come clean about the reasons so many tests have not been processed and what they are doing to sort this out," she added.

"It will be the case that some members of the public may order a test and then for whatever reason they choose not to return that test," the Prime Minister's spokesman said.

COVID-19 tests are missing

Meanwhile, the Sun reported that missing tests were either lost in the post or not returned. A spokesman from the Department of Health said many of the unreturned tests had been sent to care homes for future use.

Earlier this year, the Sun also revealed that only the tests sent out are counted, but not how many are swabbed.

"We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have," the PM said during a visit to Yorkshire. However, blaming care home providers for coronavirus deaths sparked anger from care providers who claim they were "neither accurate nor welcome."

Since March, almost 20,000 people have died from COVID-19 in care homes. Johnson's government has been repeatedly criticized for being slow to react to status in care homes. Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall branded the testing strategy "slow, confused, and chaotic".

Meanwhile, the PM's spokesman said that some members of the public may order a test, but for whatever reason, choose not to return that test.

"[If] people are ordering tests, it is entirely right that we should provide them with one," the PM's spokesman added.

Read also: 239 Scientists Made the Same Claim About COVID-19 That WHO Previously Denied; Here's an Experiment to Prove it

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Residents of Tokyo, Japan were surprised early Thursday morning when the skies welcomed an explosive extraterrestrial object with a sonic boom. The explosion was with about 165 tons of TNT, Global News reported.

Videos of the spectacle, and phenomenon showed bright hues of green and purple lights flying across the skies for just about seconds before the light shattered.

One of the locals who witnessed the event said, "I thought a person living (in the condo) above knocked down a shelf."

Also Read: China Plans To Capture An Asteroid And Bring It Down To Earth

The impact of the explosion appeared and felt like a tiny asteroid colliding with air as picked by with infrasound monitoring stations set up across the globe, which the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization oversees, the report added.

According to the International Meteor Organization, the meteoroid or the spectacle in the skies was seen from the large area of Japan's Kanto region.

Official blog posts from the IMO stated, "We were able to calculate a source energy of the entering asteroid of about (165 tons or 150 metric tonnes) of TNT."

Now, these could have been risky, challenging the last century's World War atomic explosion. The organization estimated that the space rock could be at approximately five feet in diameter with a massive 1.8 tons. To compare, this meteoroid that went to explode over Russia in 2013 and blew out thousands of windows at Chelyabinsk city was about 20 times more massive however.

These fireballs are common astronomical occurrences, but they can create a sonic boom more so if it passes over large cities worldwide. However, these are rare events.



Other astronomy news

Meanwhile, in other space news. The lunar eclipse during the weekend was watched by millions of people around the globe.

"When stars like our own Sun, a yellow dwarf star, run out of fuel, they turn into a white dwarf. In fact, 90 percent of all stars in the universe end up as white dwarf stars," Passant Rabie wrote on Inverse.

Rabie referred to a study published Monday in the Nature Astronomy Journal suggesting that white dwarf stars are the main sources of the Milky Way's carbon atoms, a crucial life's chemical element.

In the Universe, there are stars that explode as supernova and then transform into a neutron star or blackhole, while most of the stars turn into white dwarfs, which is a basic form. Nevertheless, a new study showed that these white dwarfs may contribute tons in life more than what was previously believed.

The report added, "The scientists behind the new study used observations of white dwarfs in open star clusters, groups of a few thousand stars formed around the same time, in the Milky Way by the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii in 2018."

Speculations whether a doomsday is happening, or whether the fireball was a sign of doomsday went around the news. However, astronomers are making it clear that this is far from happening.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
TikTok is one of the leading video-sharing social networking services. With more and more creators uploading their content and users watching their videos TikTok amassed 800 million active users till now.

As you might know, the Government of India has recently banned 59 Chinese apps, and the list includes the controversial hotbed Tiktok as well.

In this article, we have compiled a list of some of the best TikTok alternatives that can be used on both iOS and Android.

Is There Another App Like TikTok?

Yes, there are many apps like TikTok that can be used to both create and watch short-form videos. A majority of these Android applications like TikTok come with an inbuilt video recorder and editor.

Moreover, some feature-packed TikTok lookalikes even allow creators to monetize their content and earn rewards or money.

Best TikTok Alternatives/ Apps Like TikTok

1. Dubsmash

Released on November 14, 2014, Dubsmash is one of the oldest video-sharing social media service application in existence. Due to the unforeseen rise in the vogue of Musical.ly (later known as TikTok), Dubsmash was left behind.

Dubsmash still boasts a respectable one hundred million installs and the application is still used by many to create fun lip sync videos and memes to famous movie and TV dialogues. Similar to TikTok, Dubsmash is available on both Android and iOS.

Using Dubsmash you can even add stickers and text overlays to make your content more engaging.

As far as the user interface is concerned, it is mostly similar to that of TikTok. In the explore section you will be greeted by short-form videos created by other users on the platform and once you follow your favorite creators their content will start appearing in your personal feed.

Download Dubsmash For Android

Download Dubsmash For iOS

2. Funimate

If you are scouting for apps like TikTok that arent social media then Funimate might impress you. As its Google Playstore description reads, Funimate is a video editor & video maker.

Similar to TikTok the app allows users to create entertaining lip-sync videos, slow-motion videos, fan edit videos, and much more.

The content created on Funimate can later be shared on any other social media platform like Instagram, Youtube, and others. Additionally, you can even share your creative music videos on Funimate, and grow your fan base on the platform.

Funimate is a free to use application, but you can unlock several video effects and features by buying the pro version of the app.

Download Funimate For Android

Download Funimate For iOS

3. Mitron

Mitron is one of the best TikTok alternatives in India. Due to its resemblance to the Pakistani app TicTic, this Indian TikTok alternative has been in news for quite some time now. As a matter of fact, Mitron was removed from the Google Playstore as it violated Googles spam and minimum functionality policy.

Thankfully, the developers have made the necessary changes and the app can now be directly downloaded from the Playstore. Mitron can be used to create, edit, and share videos, and thanks to its UI resemblance with TikTok, most TikTok users will feel right at home.

It is worth noting that Mitron has been in existence for only a few months. Due to this very reason, the application is yet not as feature-packed as TikTok. Lastly, the Mitron app is presently only available for Android.

Download Mitron For Android

4. Chingari

Chingari is also an Indian alternative to TikTok. You can effortlessly find regional content in different languages like Punjabi, Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, Bangla, and many more on Chingari.

In addition to creating and watching videos, Chingari can also be used to watch the news and play several small games. Chingari allows users to download their favorite videos for offline viewing.

Chingari boasts a massive user base of around 1 million users and after the anti-china sentiment, its popularity has been rising drastically. Similar to TikTok, Chingari is available on both Android and iOS.

Despite being two years old, Chingari is still not flawless and users have reported several problems. Overall, its a great alternative to TikTok.

Download Chingari For Android

Download Chingari For iOS

5. Zili  Funny Videos

Zili  Funny Videos is the next app like TikTok. The UI of Zili is also similar to that of TikTok and there are dedicated for you and the following sections. Zili also packs a powerful set of special effects, background music, text editing tools, stickers, and filters that will take the quality of your videos to a new horizon.

Based on your preference, you can download the videos on Zili and even share it with WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media platforms.

A word of caution, theres a lot of adult content on this platform which puts it in the category of apps like TikTok for adults. As for downsides, Zili doesnt pack a dedicated messaging service and the download speeds of this service are also terrible.

Download Zili For Android

BONUS:

How to download TikTok videos without watermark

CONCLUSION

So these were the five best alternatives to TikTok that are worth checking out. Do share any of your personal recommendations for the best Android and iOS apps like TikTok in the comments section of this article.
Emma Best, the co-founder of the Wikileaks-style Distributed Denial of Secrets (or DDoSecrets), has confirmed today that its primary public download server has been seized by the German authorities.

In a series of tweets, Emma has confirmed the confiscation of its DDoSecrets server:

We have received official confirmation that #DDoSecrets primary public download server was seized by German authorities (Department of Public Prosecution Zwickau file number AZ 210 AR 396/20) We are working to obtain additional information, but presume it is re #BlueLeaks.

We have received official confirmation that #DDoSecrets' primary public download server was seized by German authorities (Department of Public Prosecution Zwickau file number AZ 210 AR 396/20) We are working to obtain additional information, but presume it is re #BlueLeaks.  Emma Best ????? (Mx. Yzptlk) (@NatSecGeek) July 7, 2020

The server was used ONLY to distribute data to the public. It had no contact with sources and was involved in nothing more than enlightening the public through journalistic publishing

DDoSecrets was served with the following notice:

Emma has told Techworm that only the data and search server has been seized. The index is hosted elsewhere.

They are planning to switch to a new server to host the public downloads.

For those unaware, earlier, social media platform Twitter had banned the DDoSecrets account for leaking nearly 269GB of data trove called BlueLeaks, which belonged to more than 200 U.S. police departments, fusion centers, and other law enforcement training and support resources.

The data trove contained highly sensitive information such as ACH routing numbers, international bank account numbers (IBANs), and other financial data as well as personally identifiable information (PII) and images of suspects listed in Requests for Information (RFIs) and other law enforcement and government agency reports.

On June 24, 2020, Emma had confirmed the news of shutting down of its official twitter account of the DDoSecrets collective made of activists, journalists, and technologists.

The entire @DDoSecrets domain is being blocked by Twitter. If you attempt to tweet any link to ddosecrets[dot]com, the tweet will fail and Twitter will not send it, flagging it as potentially harmful. This is active censorship of journalism. #BlueLeaks pic.twitter.com/krbF5VmgRE  ? #GrumpyCuntSec ? (@brazenqueer) June 23, 2020

Weve worked with many national outlets on various projects, and our previous releases had been lauded as a mini-Panama papers, among others things so its disheartening to see Twitter side with the police against researchers, journalists, and the public, Emma had told Motherboard in an online chat.

Twitter had banned the DDoSecrets account for violating the companys distribution of hacked materials policy. It also banned the account from sharing the related links on its platform.

Currently, there is not much information provided by the German authorities behind the confiscation of the server. However, Emma says that nothing is over and it is not going to stop its work.

Here's my official comment about the seizure: https://t.co/w2qlByViaY  Emma Best ????? (Mx. Yzptlk) (@NatSecGeek) July 7, 2020

A new .onion URL will be coming soon for DDoSecrets, Emma said in another tweet.

Out of an abundance, we will be announcing a new .onion URL for #DDoSecrets.  Emma Best ????? (Mx. Yzptlk) (@NatSecGeek) July 7, 2020

Keep watching this space for more information, as this is a developing story!
DuckDuckGo, the flag bearers of privacy in the search engine space, has been caught gathering site visits via their Android app.

An ethical hacker, who goes by the username of @cowereth has revisited the issue that was reported a year back on Github as a bug. It was brushed under the carpet then due to various overlapping reasons.

The Issue at Hand  Again

DuckDuckGo stores the favicons(a small website icon that shows in the address bar or bookmark tabs) of the websites on a different internal server hosted at a subdomain icons.duckduckgo.com.

In general, when you visit a website the hostnames of the visited website calls its own server or checks with the local browser cache(whichever is latest) to fetch the favicon.

However, in the Duckduckgo Android browser, instead of calling up for the favicon from the visited website server or the browsers cache(local client, for a predetermined time), it calls their server as mentioned earlier to request the favicon of the website.

In easier words, it transfers the users browsing data to one of its servers without the users consent.

The @DuckDuckGo android browser sneakily gathers *ALL DOMAINS* you're visiting, and their only answer is : "trust us, we have a privacy policy". Reminds me the good ol' "don't be evil". The issue : https://t.co/99AgRxfJn5

The (re-)answer, this morning : https://t.co/TIThLXvK13  ? Seb ? (@cowreth) July 2, 2020

DuckDuckGos official reason on the issue

DuckDuckGo has brushed this a regular thing, citing error reports based on favicon display being a complex exercise for their android browser app.

The purpose of the request you observed is to retrieve a websites favicon so that it can be displayed in certain places within the app or on the results page. We use an internal favicon service because it can be complicated to locate a favicon for a website. They can be stored in a variety of locations and in a variety of formats. The service understands these edge cases and simplifies retrieval within our apps and our search engine. At DuckDuckGo, we do not collect or share personal information. Thats our privacy policy in a nutshell. For more detailed information on that, you can checkout our privacy policy at https://DuckDuckGo.com/privacy. The favicon service, as with all our services, adheres to this privacy policy in that the requests are anonymous and do not collect or share any personal information.

Furthermore, they have also stated the usage policy addressing the uncertainty over Favicons, in their privacy policy section.

Different service is used because the favicon is saved in different formats and sizes.

Furthermore, DDG reiterates on the promises to not collect any user information.

Also Read  DuckDuckGo banned by the Indian Government

What is the norm?

While DDG is correct on the different ways of favicon being referenced in HTML, it is not a convincing reason for storing users data(of favicons and hostnames of websites visited) on a different service instead of the users end(the host).

The Concern from users and experts

The DuckDuckGo Android browser app could use the retrieved used data to tailor user profiles based on individuals, find out the IP address from which a particular website is visited.

Other major browsers stores the favicons and other related stuff on their storage itself, relying less on the websites server.

That has been the norm since Internet explorer, the browser which introduced favicons. W3 also states it for favicons, which sets the web standards for the Internet.

DuckDuckGo CEO Acknowledges the Issue

After the criticism started pouring in, the CEO of DDG, Gabriel Weinberg posted on Hacker News, acknowledging the issue, while reassuring the users on not using the favicons for anything other than displaying them on their Android browser.

After that, he replied to comments on the thread, reassuring the companys commitment to user privacy.

DuckDuckGo has committed an update to fix the issue soon.
From Alan Turing and the team helping win WWII for the allies to cyber warfare for supremacy in the modern world, the pursuit of world domination has nudged in different directions by hacking. It has risen as the unlikely constant in the shifting world order.

China has been at the forefront of digital and economic transformation. The Red Dragon reaped the benefits of authoritarian political structure to build state-sponsored technological infrastructure. The same infrastructure that would put cold war prepped Russian tech finesse to test.

USA and China have locked horns for long in the cyberspace over the latters notorious activities in Cyber-Warfare, termed Network Warfare in Beijing.

Recently over growing concerns with China spying through its exported devices, the FCC declared Huawei and ZTE as national security threats, effectively barring companies from using subsidies to purchase them in the USA.

A former Chinese Hacker with an Inside Scoop

Sharpwinner, a former hacker who worked with the elite hacker group RedHackers Alliance, spilled some interesting detail on the Chinese hacking system, in his autobiography.

He talks about Hollywoods portrayal of Chinese hackers, sitting in the congested rooms, and launching attacks over their targets, mainly big-shot companies. The reality is a mirror opposite of the general perception, Sharpwinner said in his book.

Imagine high-rise apartments, half-smoked expensive cigars with sophisticated network tools in various cities across the East Asian country. You would simmer to a mark, pretty close to the reality.

State-sponsored and Coordinated Cyber Warfare by China

For a second, imagine a world where the entire countrys technical resources are at your disposal with immunity to wreak havoc on the pre-planned targets. It does sound like a Michael Bay movie in foresight, but it is a reality that renowned Chinese cyber attackers are accustomed with.

The Chinese government is believed to have organized several levels of cyber-experts in the following manner:

PLAs Authorized forces  Network warfare specialist: Under the Wing of Ministry of State Security.

Specialized Military Network Warfare Forces  Specialized in network attack and defense.

Online Blue Army  A military expansion for cyberspace in 2011 by the Ministry of Defence to protect Chinas cyberspace from alleged cyber espionage by the west.

An American mouthpiece on the global political affairs has claimed that there are over 50,000 state-backed hackers in Chinas cyber espionage team.

Claws of the Digital Dragon on the West

(Then and Now)

Operation Aurora of 2007 forced West to stand and notice the notoriety of Chinas cyber warfare capabilities and the succeeding threats it posed.

The attacks were advanced persistent threats by the renowned Chinese hacking squad, Elderwood Group, based in Beijing, China. Google took cognizance of the cyber attack on their Gmail accounts, in their official blog post on the incident. According to Google, the primary goal of the attack was to gain access to email accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

While the attack could not succeed on a level it was meant to be, several other companies in the health, chemical, finance, and other sectors were also in the crosshair. The ramifications were undisclosed by the other victims.

The companies included Northrop Grumman, Symantec, Yahoo, Dow Chemical, Adobe Systems, and 28 others.

The Era of Modern Pandemic

In the Covid era, Australia has been on the receiving end of the brunt, allegedly by Chinese hackers. The massive cyberattack targeted Australias core sectors, such as oil, education, health, and political organizations, amongst other essential industries. Experts have connected the dots of the incident to Australias stance on the investigation into Coronavirus origin. The stand ruffled quite a lot of feathers in Beijing.

Rising tension in South-East Asia witnessed border disputes between India and China at Galwan valley. Amid the soaring conflict, India has witnessed a 200% rise in the cyber-attacks from China.

While no groups have come forward to take responsibility for the cyberattacks, there has been a grey undertone over State-sanctioned cyber attacks.

The Counter

In retaliation, India has banned 59 Chinese apps, including the likes of TikTok, SHAREit. Furthermore, Indias state-run telecom PSUs have gradually started reducing dependence on digital hardware from China.

Other sectors to follow the tectonic shift of trade which is in the pipeline, according to the industry chatter.

The Elite Hacking Groups of China

Honker Union, meaning red guest, are an old hacking group from mainland China is known for hacking into US government websites, databases. It was formed after the USA bombed Chinas embassy in Yugoslavia.

They have been under the radar since their last attack on Japan in 2012. The attack was a result of Japan government buying an island inside China. For the next two weeks, it followed a series of attacks of banks, universities, schools, and other state-sponsored organizations.

They have been under the radar since their last attack on Japan in 2012. The attack was a result of Japan government buying an island inside China. For the next two weeks, it followed a series of attacks of banks, universities, schools, and other state-sponsored organizations. APT40 is a key hacking group for the state authorities of China. It has been wildly active in the last decade. They mainly target countries that are important to Chinas Belt and Road initiative.

An expert from FireEye has revealed that APT40 hides behind the cloak of 13 shell companies, and the group operates from the Hainan province of China.https://twitter.com/ItsReallyNick/status/1215327957989888001 In a post on Mr. Gu by IntrusionTruth, a key figure in the hacker group appears to be behind recruitments for the group. The recruitment strategy of APT40, which feels like straight out of a Netflix special, is all about grass-root raw talent scouting. A university professor, who is a former military soldier, help recruit young talents for Mr. Gu from the university. The process involves a seminar which encourage students of any specialism with interest in cybersecurity to attend a session hosted by Hainan Xiandun(alleged front company)

Gothic Pandas(also known as APT3, Buckeye, UPS Team, and TG-0110) is a cyberespionage group from China. They have been active for over half a decade.The Pandas have shown interest in stealing international trade secrets and supply chain information from countries like India, Brazil, Japan, Canada, and the USA.

Over to You

It is a never-ending piece when you are writing about cybersecurity, network warfare originating from China. I will talk about their recent attacks as things take shape. Watch out this space for more.
The U.S. government is certainly looking at banning Chinese apps, including the most popular video-sharing platform, TikTok, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News in an interview on Monday.

We have worked on this very issue for a long time. Whether it was the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure weve gone all over the world and were making real progress getting that out. We declared ZTE a danger to American national security, Pompeo told Fox News in the interview.

With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cell phones, I can assure you the US will get this one right too I dont want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but its something were looking at.

Pompeos comments come amidst rising tensions in bilateral ties with Beijing on a variety of issues, including trade, national security, and technology.

The U.S. has expressed concern over TikToks handling of users data collection, saying they are worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

With regards to downloading of TikTok, Pompeo said Americans should only download the app if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

TikTok has said previously that it operates separately from its China-based parent company, ByteDance Ltd. It also said that the US user data isnt stored or processed on the Chinese servers and it has never provided data to the Chinese government. Instead, data of its American users is stored on servers in the U.S., with a backup in Singapore. Additionally, the data centers are located entirely outside of China, and that none of the data is thus subject to Chinese laws, it added.

TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked, a TikTok spokesperson said in reaction to Pompeos interview in a statement to CNBC.

Last month, the Government of India announced a ban on 59 Chinese mobile applications, including TikTok, WeChat, Shareit, UC Browser, in apparent reprisal for a border battle. The Indian IT Ministry cited that these apps are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.

This move by India was welcomed by Pompeo earlier this month, saying the clean app policy will encourage New Delhis national security against the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) snooping on the country.

We welcome Indias ban on certain mobile apps that can serve as appendages of the CCPs surveillance state. Indias clean app approach will boost Indias sovereignty, and will also boost Indias integrity and national security as the Indian government itself has stated, Pompeo said.

SensorTower, an app analytics platform, said that countries like India, Brazil, and the U.S. accounted for 27.5%, 9.6%, and 8.2% of TikToks download in the first half of this year, respectively.

According to the Global Times, a Chinese news organisation, the ban on TikTok in India could cost ByteDance more than $6 billion loss in revenue. With India already banning TikTok, and the U.S. considering banning the app, this could be a major blow to the company.
Grammy award-winning artist Maria Schneider on Thursday filed a class-action lawsuit against YouTube (as well as Google and Alphabet, Inc.) in California federal court accusing the giant video-sharing platform of failing to protect her and other ordinary creators from unauthorised copying and use of their work, reports TorrentFreak.

According to Schneider, YouTubes system for policing copyright infringement protects the behemoths of the creative industry such as major studios and record labels, but leaves small producers like her to basically to look out for themselves.

YouTube also restricts access to its takedown tools, profits from infringement, and fails to terminate repeat infringers, Schneider added.

YouTube, the largest video-sharing website in the world, is replete with videos infringing on the rights of copyright holders. YouTube has facilitated and induced this hotbed of copyright infringement through its development and implementation of a copyright enforcement system that protects only the most powerful copyright owners such as major studios and record labels, states the 44-page complaint.

Plaintiffs and the Class are the ordinary creators of copyrighted works. They are denied any meaningful opportunity to prevent YouTubes public display of works that infringe their copyrightsno matter how many times their works have previously been pirated on the platform. They are thus left behind by YouTubes copyright enforcement system and instead are provided no meaningful ability to police the extensive infringement of their copyrighted work, it adds.

A vast library of pirated content draws users to the site, and the growth in users incentivizes the posting of more content on YouTube, which in turn enables defendants to reap more advertising revenue.

The lawsuit criticizes YouTube for preventing smaller artists from accessing its Content ID, a digital tool that searches out unauthorized use of copyrighted material. According to Schneider, the tool is only provided to large content providers.

Others, including herself, are relegated to vastly inferior and time-consuming manual means of trying to police and manage their copyrights, such as scanning the entirety of YouTube postings, searching for keywords, titles, and other potential identifiers, continues the complaint. They must then file individual takedown notices with YouTube via a web-form, email, or postal mail for each video their searches identify.

Content ID is not only unavailable to Plaintiffs and the Class, but it actually insulates the vast majority of known and repeated copyright infringers from YouTubes repeat infringer policy, thereby encouraging its users continuing upload of infringing content, the complaint reads.

YouTube has consistently claimed that it protected the rights holders by Americas Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) safe harbor against copyright infringement lawsuits. However, Schneider argues that YouTubes non-Content ID systems for dealing with infringing content are insufficient for the company to enjoy safe harbour protection under the rules set out in DCMA.

If a rights holder does not have the economic clout to qualify for Content ID. YouTube refuses to add their works to the Content ID catalogue for prepublication protection even if those works have previously been infringed on YouTube hundreds or even thousands of times. Through its use of these systems, YouTube exerts significant control over which infringing videos may be published on its site and which infringing videos are never viewed by the public, the lawsuit continues.

The DMCA provides a safe harbor against copyright infringement claims for entities such as YouTube so long as they formulate and reasonably enforce a policy of terminating repeat copyright infringers from their platform.

YouTube intends to take advantage of this safe harbor by having a policy that assesses a copyright strike against the uploader when an ordinary rights holder files a takedown notice and terminating uploaders when they accrue three active copyright strikes within 90 days. However, when infringing content is uploaded and identified by the Content ID system, no copyright strikes are issued.

While YouTube declined to comment on the suit, it does maintain that its committed to protecting intellectual property rights and stopping privacy.

Schneider is now asking for monetary damages, attorneys fees, costs, and expenses, and an order that directs Google to give content providers better equipment to control copyright infringement. She has also asked the court to declare the lawsuit as a class-action to represent other YouTube content providers.
Tips sought

Anyone with information should call Dubuque Police Department Cpl. Justin Stair at 563-589-4474, Investigator Kurt Rosenthal at 563-587-3808, non-emergency dispatch at 563-589-4415 or Crime Stoppers at 800-747-0117 or 563-588-0714. Crime Stoppers might award a cash reward of up to $2,000 if the supplied information leads to an arrest.

Anonymous tips also can be submitted at cityofdubuque.org/police or through the MyDBQ smartphone app at www.cityofdubuque.org/MyDBQ.
Rockport, TX (78382)

Today

Thunderstorms in the morning, then skies turning partly cloudy late. High 89F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low 81F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Coils of barbed wire removed from the Valley Floor fence lines lies along the bike path. The removal of barbed wire is spelled out in the Valley Floor management plan. Monday, the Open Space Commission directed town staff to removed any remaining sheep fencing and replace it with single strand wire. (Photo by Suzanne Cheavens/Telluride Daily Planet)
Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email please call (208) 542-6777 for help.
Changes to The Messenger's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition by default is now presented in Text view.
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
Betty Dickson needed help to ID an insect invader when hundreds of little striped bugs were suddenly finding their way into her home and barn. OSU Extension Educator helped to ID the invaders and cautioned about the danger to livestock especially horses.
Vikas Dubey's plunge into crime coincided with Sunny Deol thriller "Arjun Pandit" which released in 1999. Taking a cue from the movie Dubey also became Vikas Pandit, and has been known so in political circles and even among the police personnel, who referred to him as 'Pandit'.

Local journalist who came to know him, on condition of anonymity said that he was fond of being called Pandit.

The Bollywood thriller though panned out to be much different. In the film Arjun (Sunny Deol) became a puppet in the hands of a powerful man and kept quiet about a crime he witnessed. He fell in love with Nisha only to turn into a ruthless gangster after being betrayed by her.

Vikas Dubey now absconding was fond of this movie and had seen it hundreds of times says some of the local journalists, who have been familiar with his modus operandi. He even called his victims and only introduced himself as Pandit.

However, after the June 3 killing of eight policemen in Kanpur's Bikru village in his own backyard, Dubey is a pariah both to the ruling and the opposition.

While, the Yogi Adityanath government has increased the bounty on his head to Rs 2.5 lakh, and 300 teams are chasing him under the supervision of STF, the opposition has also demanded a thorough probe.

Posters of all his accomplices are out and even his wife Richa Dubey is been chased. The family of Vikas Dubey has turned away from the gangster and some have even called for his death, including his mother.
While other restaurants are pulling back in these uncertain times of the coronavirus, Peter Sclafani is going full-speed ahead.

Well, as fast as the 50% occupancy rules will let him as he adds more restaurants to his growing empire.

The well-known local chef, who ran the kitchen at Ruffino's for more than 20 years, most recently became a partner with his wife Michelle in four Baton Rouge area restaurants  three locations of Portobello's Grill and P-Beau's in Denham Springs.

Add his partnership in Phil's Oyster Bar to the equation, and Sclafani is halfway to his goal of owning 10 restaurants. But he's not in any hurry to get there.

"The opportunity will present itself when the time comes," Sclafani said.

In June, the Sclafanis became partners with Kiva and Candice Guidroz in Portobello's Grills at 7622 Old Hammond Highway, 15440 George O'Neal Road and 25420 La. 1 in Plaquemine, as well as P-Beau's in Denham Springs.

"I bought in before the lockdown," Sclafani said. "Kiva and I had talked about a rebrand. It's not that Portobello's was broken, it didn't need to be fixed, it needed a little face-lift and a little new life breathed into it. So, we decided we would do that. We thought we'd start doing all those things maybe around the Fourth of July, because restaurants are typically slow in the summer."

Then came the coronavirus, and restaurants were shuttered to try to stem the spread and resulting hospitalizations.

So Sclafani decided to focus on remodeling the Portobello's Bocage location on Old Hammond Highway and work on tweaking its menu with a few new dishes.

"We were closed and it's hard when you're open and operating to close and do a remodel," Sclafani said. "So, I'm like, now we're closed, we just don't have any money. So we just had to find a way to make the money work and start on Portobello's 2.0."

The renovated restaurant has a warm, modern vibe with an expanded front dining room, and a larger bar area that features a wall of wines. The kitchen also was remodeled.

"I think we did a really good job with the design," he said. "It's traditional yet modern at the same time. I think that's what I'd like the menu to represent, as well. What I want is for a group to come here and say everybody found something they liked. I want everybody to come and feel comfortable here and to have some safe things, but if someone wants to be adventuresome, they can say, 'That's crazy, let me try that.' "

On the menu went some of Sclafani's creations, including crawfish cheesecake, heirloom tomato salad and butter steak, which is created with the sous vide method of cooking. A prime rib-eye cap is vacuum-sealed in a bag with seasoning a little bit of butter and set in a temperature-moderated water bath for several days. When the steak is ordered, it is removed from the bag, seared and served up with an earthy wild mushroom bread pudding.

"We can serve better ingredients, and we can charge for them as long as we're giving a good value," Sclafani said. "So, that's what I want to do. I want to try to bring in great quality products and improve service. We're Portobello's, we're Louisiana inspired. Let the product be the star."

He's also planning to eventually remodel the other Portobello's locations and P-Beau's.

While Sclafani was busy overseeing the Bocage remodel and his restaurant consulting business, Deep South Hospitality, his partner at Phil's Oyster Bar, Anthony Piazza, was taking care of takeout and delivery orders at the Government Street mainstay.

+6 'What's normal now?' Juban's Restaurant Group fights through pandemic with new concepts, closures As managing partner of four restaurants, Michael Boudreaux would like nothing better than to see things go back to how they were before the co

Sclafani started his consulting business in 2017 after leaving Ruffino's, where he was a co-owner and executive chef. He had come to Baton Rouge to work for T.J. Moran, at what was then DiNardo's and later became Ruffino's, when Moran partnered with Ruffin Rodrigue.

Moran, who owned numerous restaurants including Ruth's Chris, TJ Ribs and Ninfa's, was his mentor in the restaurant business, Sclafani said.

"He always said, 'Peter, value is a feeling, it's not a number,' " Sclafani recalled.

The split from Ruffino's was amicable, and the new business gave Sclafani a chance to use his expertise to tweak the operations of local restaurants.

It was the consulting business that led him to buy a stake in Phil's Oyster Bar. He said the restaurant reminded him of Sclafani's, the restaurant his grandfather owned off Causeway Boulevard in Metairie. Sclafani's dad eventually opened his own restaurant, too.

"My earliest memories are running around tables that I couldn't even see over," Sclafani said. "And then like all family businesses, you end up working there.

"When I got to Phil's, it made me feel like I was at home. It's the kind of restaurant that I grew up with. Phil's is all about family. All of the Piazza family works there, they treat their team members like family and their customers are like family, and that just really felt natural to me."

Sclafani often jokes that the restaurant business is like a disease.

"It gets in your blood and there's no cure for it," he said with a smile. "People who are in this industry love it. We don't do it for money. We do it because we love serving people. We love making people happy with food, and we love telling the stories of the products and the producers."
The East Feliciana Police Jury has rejected a proposal to uproot a more than century-old statue of a Confederate soldier from its perch in front of the parish's antebellum courthouse and move it to a cemetery.

Police jurors swept aside a resolution that sought to remove and potentially relocate the Confederate monument in a 5-3 decision at its Monday evening meeting, a vote that in ways mirrored the community's divide over the structure and its location.

This problem arose three times in the past five years," said Police Jury President Louis Kent. "Its coming up again and we have to be prepared to face it again."

The monument has towered in front of the parish courthouse as a tribute to Confederate soldiers since it was erected in 1909 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy's local chapter.

Recently, the statue has become a divisive public landmark that's seen renewed calls for its removal amid nationwide protests against racism and police brutality following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

+6 Fate of Confederate statue in Clinton draws split response ahead of police jury vote The East Feliciana Police Jury will decide next week whether to uproot a statue of a Confederate soldier from the courthouse following a publi

Tristan George, a 21-year-old who grew up in Clinton, said he wasn't surprised that the police jury's decision was split between the five White and three Black members.

"It shows they're not ready for change he said," he said. "It's disappointing."

George was among several people who've called for the removal of the statue, saying it's a relic of slavery and a painful reminder of policies that denied Black residents of their civil rights. They've also expressed concerns about the statue's location in front of the courthouse, saying it should be moved elsewhere.

Those in favor of keeping the statue in place have argued the monument serves as a memorial site for families whose ancestors who died during the Civil War and never had a resting spot. Others have said it should remain in place because it's a part of the parish's history.

Some jurors in East Feliciana Parish say the fate of the Clinton statute should be put to the voters instead.

Police Jury Vice President Keith Mills, who voted in support of keeping the statue in place, said the police jury shouldn't be the ones making that call.

"That statue was there long before I was here, and I have never known of it being a problem until it was all brought up," said Mills, the police jury's vice president. "I hate that this is causing a divide like it has."

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Parish leaders took no action on the proposal at their last meeting, in order to allow residents to weigh in during a public hearing last week in a larger venue that could accommodate social distancing.

Concerns about the statue in Clinton have arisen in the past, including a similar push to remove it in 2016.

At that time, lawyers representing a Black man charged with a gun offense argued the statue is a "symbol of racial intolerance" and demanded his case to be moved to another parish.

A district judge denied the request, and a state appeals court in Baton Rouge upheld the lower court's decision in a 2-1 vote that split along racial lines among the 3-judge panel.

The state Supreme Court last year declined to hear the case.

East Feliciana Parish officials have also grown concerned with recent unrest that's seen protesters in other cities, including in New Orleans, forcibly remove statues with ties to the Confederacy, slavery or colonialism.

Jody Moreau, the East Feliciana Parish homeland security director, had citing worries the courthouse statue could be targeted and toppled.

+6 36-hour flurry of activity leads to removal of Iberville's century-old Confederate statue At the beginning of this week, the idea of asking the Iberville Parish Council whether to remove a statue of a Confederate soldier in Plaquemi

Other municipalities across the country have begun mulling or even taking action on removing Confederate and other monuments.

The Iberville Parish Council last month voted to remove a similar statue in Plaquemine. East Baton Rouge's mayor-president has said she also plans to create a committee to review streets and other landmarks with ties to slavery.

George said he plans to continue pressing the issue to move the statue.

"People are still holding on times of the past," he said. "I believe this year has been a year of change and I think it's time everyone realize that."
Livingston Parish Schools on Tuesday announced three possible reopening plans for the 2020-21 school year that largely mirror those being considered by surrounding districts.

School for Livingston Parish students starts on Aug. 7, but it's still to be determined whether the instruction will be in the classroom, over computers or through a combination of both, district officials said. Their decision will be made no later than July 17, after district officials have been able to mull over state recommendations set to be released two days prior.

Superintendent Joe Murphy said the leadership team created a COVID Committee of administrators representing elementary, middle and high schools to develop the reopening plans.

Under Phase 1, all students would be learning in a virtual environment except for very small groups with specific needs requiring face-to-face instruction.

Under Phase 2, students would return in a blended format that encompasses both in-person and virtual instruction, with officials maximizing the number of days students could attend school in person while staying within guidelines.

Under Phase 3, students would be back in their classrooms but adhering to social distancing guidelines. There would be some restriction on activities during the school day.

The latter phase is the most popular among families and education professionals in Livingston Parish, district officials said in a news release, based on feedback from principals.

Murphy said in the release that officials are prepared to implement any of the three models and will announce which phase school will open with in August after state officials have released recommended guidelines.

Ascension Parish is also waiting for the state guidelines, which are expected to be finalized by July 15.

First look: Here's how Louisiana public schools can safely open amid coronavirus, officials say Public school students in the third grade and older along with adults should wear face masks "to the maximum extent possible" when schools reo

Livingston Parish school leaders will release a transportation survey to parents this week to determine how students will get to and from schools during the phased reopening.

Be assured that Livingston Schools is working on a fully functional plan that is focused on what is in the best interest of the education, health and well-being of all our students, employees and surrounding communities, Murphy said.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended students be physically present in school as much as possible, as cited in The New York Times, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that remote learning is the safest option.

Livingston Parish has not outlined what the protocol would be for mask-wearing should students return to their classrooms.

If and how to implement mask-wearing in schools has been a frequent topic across the state as officials and educators question whether students  particularly elementary-aged students  will be able to wear a mask for the entire school day.

Some parents have already said they won't allow their children to return to classrooms if face coverings are required.

Neighboring Tangipahoa Parish released its back-to-school plan months ago and it includes offering online learning and a blended model whether the coronavirus is still forcing closures or not.

+2 Tangipahoa Parish to offer virtual schooling option in 2020-21 regardless of coronavirus Tangipahoa Parish families will have a choice of enrolling their child in a virtual or traditional schooling model for the 2020-21 school year

Meanwhile, Livingston Parish announced a new virtual program Monday, but officials said it is not in response to the pandemic.

The district began accepting applications for the virtual school Tuesday after three years of researching online options.

Livingston Virtual will provide students with a rigorous, independent format that is reinforced through face-to-face instructional support and access to social interactions, including extracurricular activities at their in-district campuses and unique community activities," Assistant Superintendent Jody Purvis said in a statement.

Livingston Virtual will be offered for students in grades 6 through 12 who are "well-suited for rigorous online instruction or who may find it to be a better alternative to current home school, charter or private instruction formats." The program is not intended as a social distancing option for parents concerned about the coronavirus.
State health officials say their best chance at fighting the resurgence of coronavirus cases in the Baton Rouge area is testing as many people as possible to get a more accurate snapshot of the disease's presence in the community, especially among those infected who aren't displaying symptoms.

Starting Tuesday, the federal government is backing free COVID-19 testing to about 60,000 people over 12 days at three new sites opening in East Baton Rouge Parish and one in Ascension Parish.

"We're trying to flood the market in concentrated areas with access to testing with fast turnaround times," said Kim Hood, COVID-19 community testing coordinator for the state health department. "This initiative is giving us a boost to testing access in a single region to see if we can identify asymptomatic cases, intervene and get people quarantined to try and slow down this continued spread we're seeing."

Baton Rouge was one of three cities identified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as COVID-19 hotspots after recent spikes in reported cases and hospitalizations since business re-openings began. Jacksonville, Florida, and McAllen, Texas, are the other two launching similar surge testing efforts this week, Hood said.

The new test sites are coming online at a time when many medical facilities are running out of testing kits as new cases surge in the state and across the nation.

Hood said test kits for the sites are being allocated directly by the federal health department, which will supply what's needed to meet the 5,000-per-day test goal they've set for the next 12 days.

People should get their results within three to five days, Hood said.

Coronavirus outbreak: Louisiana traces hundreds of cases to bars, more than 100 from Tigerland The Louisiana Department of Health has traced at least 230 cases of the coronavirus to bars across the state, including the more than 100 case

"We've contracted with a single lab that's giving us a considerably shorter turnaround for results than we've seen with a lot of the larger commercial labs," she said.

The new regional testing sites are operating a little differently than many previous ones.

Most notably, they're open to everyone, not just those living in East Baton Rouge Parish or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. And people don't have to pay or get doctors orders to receive the tests  which have been requirements for many of the drive-thru facilities that opened in Baton Rouge after the virus broke out in the area in March.

"With this surge in testing, we can learn how many people there are who are asymptomatic and walking around with a virus that can be spread," said Dr. Dawn Marcelle, the Louisiana Department of Health medical director for Region 2, which includes most of the Baton Rouge area. "These are people we otherwise might miss if they're not in the hospital or haven't been admitted to an emergency room where they would get tested."

Louisiana health officials on Monday reported 1,101 new coronavirus cases in its daily statewide report, with Region 2 accounting for more than 140 of those diagnoses.

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Marcelle noted that research shows the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, especially among young people, is being caused by the "community spread" of the virus outside of high-risk settings such as prisons and nursing homes.

A White House report last week cited Jefferson, Lafayette and East Baton Rouge parishes as having the highest number of new coronavirus cases in the state over a three-week period. That same report singled out Baton Rouge as having the most newly diagnosed cases, recommending that the government implement a mask order and that people who took part in recent protests against police brutality or attended social gatherings get tested.

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome followed many of the recommendations in the report, signing an executive order late last week requiring that masks or face coverings be worn in businesses and anywhere in public where social distancing can't occur.

"When our numbers are so high that the federal government has concerns and is looking at our city in particular, that should be a wake-up call," Broome said Monday. "People got a little relaxed in terms of adhering to the mandates in Phase 2, and that's what brought us to where we are today."

Susan Hassig, a Tulane University epidemiologist, said the only way to contain the virus and revive the positive trends that prompted the governor to lift his stay-at-home order is the earlier identification of those who are infected. That allows health workers to alert others who were exposed to the virus to the need to take precautions, such as self-isolation.

"If we wait to test sick people when they show up at hospitals, it's too late," she said. "Just testing is valuable. But the real value for the community comes from them letting the health department know who they've spent time with after they've tested positive. Then we can chop off those chains to keep the virus from spreading and spreading."

The new testing sites will be open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week starting Tuesday and ending July 18.

The test sites are:

Alex Box Stadium parking lot at LSU, on Gourrier Avenue.

The FG Clark Activity Center parking lot at Southern University, 801 Harding Blvd.

Cortana Mall, 9701 Cortana Place.

The Lamar Dixon Expo Center, 9039 S. St. Landry Ave., Gonzales.

Also, starting Wednesday a mobile testing site will be at Healing Place Church, 19202 Highland Road in Baton Rouge, through July 18  with the exception of July 12.

Pre-registration isn't required but is encouraged. People can do so at www.DoINeedaCOVID19test.com. Those who don't do so earlier can register on site, but it will take longer, officials said.

Test results will be provided by email, and people who test positive will also be contacted by phone. There will not be a phone number to call for results.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, here on Monday, visited the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital to review its preparedness to treat coronavirus patients.

As the national capital is witnessing a steady increase in Covid-19 cases, the state government has ramped up installation of ICU beds in the COVID dedicated hospitals, like the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital from 45 to 200, and in the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital from 60 to 180.

Briefing the media after the visit, Kejriwal said, "We might need ICU beds in the coming days. At present, we have 1,900 ICU beds. Of this, 750 beds are vacant. We are increasing the capacity for any spike in cases."

The Chief Minister said more ICU beds would mean better treatment of critical patients and fewer deaths.

On Sunday, the Delhi government had announced nearly three-fold increase in the number of ICU beds in LNJP, Rajiv Gandhi and GTB hospitals.

"The RGSS Hospital accepted the challenge. Till a few days ago, there were only 45 ICU beds, which have been increased to 200. We have also told the doctors to raise it to 500 and assured them full government support for that," Kejriwal said.

At the LNJP Hospital, the number of ICU beds has been increased from 60 to 180. In the coming days, the number of beds would be increased in all Delhi government hospitals for the better treatment of the people, he added.

Kejriwal also said the RGSS Hospital had been equipped with various facilities, including video link.
A federal judge has denied a request from Baton Rouge jail inmates seeking the immediate release of medically vulnerable prisoners who are at heightened risk for severe illness or death from the coronavirus.

That was one element in an ongoing lawsuit alleging conditions inside the jail are unconstitutional because inmates can't protect themselves against the coronavirus.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs called East Baton Rouge Parish Prison a "dilapidated warehouse of caged humanity" and claimed jail staff are not capable of providing adequate medical care, arguing release is the only effective way to protect medically vulnerable inmates  those with underlying conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes that are known to exacerbate the effects of coronavirus.

+3 Lawsuit: Baton Rouge inmates seek release due to coronavirus risk, potential 'death sentence' A group of inmates in Baton Rouge's jail filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday seeking their release to home confinement because the coro

But U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson ruled last week their legal argument is inappropriate. He also disagreed with their claim that steps are not being taken to mitigate the spread of coronavirus inside the jail.

Jackson noted the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, has "implemented screening and hygiene procedures, distributed masks and cleaning supplies, and even reduced the prison population" where possible. He also noted that no inmates have died from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

Local judges, prosecutors and public defenders worked with law enforcement to reduce arrests, resolve cases and release people awaiting trial during the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. Those efforts caused the jail population to reach a historic low, though the numbers have been creeping back up since Louisiana started reopening and arrests increased.

Cases inside the jail have also trailed off and officials now believe the virus has been eradicated from the detention center, at least for now. Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks said Monday the last remaining positive case had received a negative test.

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Of course people are still being booked into jail every day, so that could change in the future. But officials have implemented a new booking process that involves screening inmates for symptoms and quarantining them for 14 days before placing them in general population, Hicks said.

Mass testing has not been conducted in Parish Prison despite recommendations from the governor that tests be administered to asymptomatic people in congregate settings.

+4 85% of inmates in St. Gabriel women's prison got coronavirus  but most showed no symptoms Results from a rare example of mass testing  conducted last month at a women's prison building in St. Gabriel  add to a growing collection o

The federal lawsuit, meanwhile, will continue to proceed, now focusing on questions of whether the jail's conditions and its health care program are constitutional.

Several civil rights attorneys and organizations teamed up on the lawsuit, including the Advancement Project and the Center for Constitutional Rights.

"We are disappointed by the judge's ruling. We think people need to be released immediately for their safety," said David Utter, an attorney on the case who also represents multiple families of people who have died in Parish Prison before the coronavirus. "But we look forward to proceeding to next steps of this important case."
The announcement this weekend that East Baton Rouge Parish schools will not reopen in August with daily face-to-face instruction is being met with a mix of praise, criticism and confusion.

Instead, two options remain on the table:

Option 1 means only distance education for the first month of school, through Sept. 9.

Option 2 is billed as a hybrid approach, with two days a week of in-person and three days of distance learning.

Its all an effort to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has seen a resurgence in the parish and elsewhere in the state in recent weeks.

Online forums lit up with comments after the official announcement Sunday afternoon.

I dont understand how parents will be able to educate their child at home three days a week when they are either working from home themselves or having to go to their workplace, said one parent.

An educator urged upset parents to understand their predicament: Many teachers are ready to quit or retire over the unsafe conditions we will be forced into. This means less teachers and a sub (substitute teacher) shortage.

+3 When Louisiana schools re-open, will students be required to wear masks? And how will that work? Wearing masks is a key strategy in Louisianas effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus when long-closed schools reopen in a few 

Superintendent Warren Drake first announced the tentative school reopening plan in an email to employees on Friday. Drake said the two options were not settled on lightly and that the options are still subject to change.

We share all of your concerns about the return to schools, and we recognize that there is not a perfect, one-size-fits-all solution, Drake said.

Students are set to return to school on Aug. 6 for the 2020-21 school year. The East Baton Rouge Parish school system, with more than 41,000 students, is the second-largest traditional school district in Louisiana.

As recently as June 24, the school system was still publicly considering daily face-to-face instruction as a third reopening option.

Deb McElgin, who sits on the board for the parent-teacher organization at Mayfair Lab School, said she recently visited the south Baton Rouge school and came away thinking they were going to start with the face-to-face option. She said shes not upset thats no longer the plan.

I was a little surprised, but I was also grateful that they are taking (the virus) seriously, said McElgin. The virus is real and it is changing. I think we have to be more careful than ever.

McElgin said her family could make either Option 1 or 2 work for their two children, who both go to Mayfair, but said she and her husband are fortunate they can both work from home, something she knows many families cant do. She said she wishes the state would better harmonize school reopening plans with how businesses are operating so that if schoolchildren have to stay home, their parents can as well.

The school system is also offering families the option of virtual education regardless of what reopening option the school system elects to go with.

All students will have the option to select a 100% virtual learning experience if it is preferred, Drake said in his announcement.

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Jason Andreasen said his family is planning to go the full digital route with his two children, who both attend McKinley Middle School in Baton Rouge.

We will pursue the virtual learning option until we feel like its safe to send them to a school setting, Andreasen said. As much as wed love to have them experience the interactions and experiences of being in school, theres just too much unknown and were seeing the cases continuing to go up.

He said they wont be alone.

The majority of folks that weve talked to have expressed an interest in keeping things in the virtual realm for now, Andreasen said.

+2 East Baton Rouge schools to make full shift to digital education from home starting Monday After weeks of limited online coursework since the coronavirus shut down schools across Louisiana, East Baton Rouge Parish schools are going l

Students in Baton Rouge, like those across the country, spent the final months of the 2019-20 school year learning virtually. East Baton Rouge Parish, which has a sizable divide between students who have access to computers and those who don't, got off to a later start with virtual education than some other neighboring school districts.

Walter Geno McLaughlin recalled those as occasionally tough times as he was trying to work from home while helping his three children.

Its difficult to be the parent and the teacher, McLaughlin said.

But as he faces the school year, he said, hes leaning toward continuing with full-time distance learning for his two children who remain in school  his oldest graduated in May.

Im not committed to putting them at risk, McLaughlin said. I have to think about the entire household. I dont know if its worth it.

At the same time, McLaughlin said, he knows that many parents in Baton Rouge cant be home to help their kids.

A lot of those parents are essential workers, he said.

Baton Rouge schools to offer enhanced online summer school after coronavirus disruptions After months of teaching online because of the coronavirus pandemic, East Baton Rouge Parish schools are planning to offer both their regular 

Starting Tuesday, Baton Rouge parents will get a trial run on what virtual instruction will look like this fall. Thats when a special Strong Start summer program begins. Many school districts across Louisiana are experimenting through July with their own Strong Start summer programs in hopes of addressing those kids who fell behind in the spring as well as a chance to improve their digital instruction skills and experience.

Andreasen said hes hopeful Strong Start will be a good harbinger of the 2020-21 school year, but its too early to tell.

I might have a better idea of what that looks like a week from now, he said.
Hundreds of cars lined up in the Cortana Mall parking lot Tuesday morning to receive a free COVID-19 test on the first day of a push by the federal government to test 60,000 people in the Baton Rouge region.

The site experienced initial wait times of up to two hours, and there were reports of some initial confusion at the testing site. But, by noon, the wait time had dropped to around an hour.

The site continued to operate as afternoon showers fell, but city-parish officials said they ended up closing operations earlier than expected on Tuesday.

Several test sites in East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes opened this week as new cases surge in Louisiana and across the nation, causing many medical facilities to run out of testing kits. Across all of the local sites, 745 tests were completed Tuesday, well off the 5,000-per-day goal federal health officials have set for the surge testing program.

Mark Armstrong, spokesman for the East Baton Rouge city-parish government, called Tuesday a good first-day, soft opening and said officials have plans to get the testing message out over the next several days.

"We've got big ideas for moving forward to keep the message out there," he said.

Armstrong said the testing program is one of the most important things residents across the capital area parishes, not just those in Ascension and East Baton Rouge, can do right now besides social distancing and other safety measures.

New cases have been on a sharp rise in the capital area since mid-June, a little more than a week after the state had entered Phase 2 of eased social distancing measures. Those changes included the opening of bars and expanded capacity for restaurants, gyms, nail salons and other businesses.

Since July 1, East Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes have all exceeded their previous highs for new cases on a seven-day rolling average. East Baton Rouge Parish, for example, hit a seven-day average of 158 new cases per day on Tuesday, having blown past its old record average of nearly 104 cases per day five days earlier.

Smaller parishes that had seen sharper rises in cases relative to their populations earlier in the pandemic, such as West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana, St. James and Iberville, haven't experienced as sharp a rise in cases during the latest period.

Deaths tied to the COVID-19 illness in East Baton Rouge and the region have not had a corresponding increase with the new rise in cases and remain at their lowest levels since the outbreak began, but hospitalizations from the illness have also started a sharp rise in the Baton Rouge area. Hospital capacities, however, remain generally in solid standing, the latest state health data show.

Coronavirus in Louisiana: Nearly 2,000 more cases reported; hospitalizations surpass 1,000 The Louisiana Dept. of Health reported 1,936 more coronavirus cases, 23 more deaths and 61 more hospitalizations in its daily noon update Tuesday.

Felisha Covington, 45, said she spent the last week and a half trying to get a COVID-19 test. She booked two appointments at a CVS pharmacy, but she said both were canceled unexpectedly.

"I can't take a chance," Covington said after getting tested at the Cortana Mall site Tuesday. She noted she has high blood pressure, an underlying condition that places her at high risk.

Wallace Rennault, 39, decided to get tested Tuesday after spending the Fourth of July on the Comite River with a friend who a few days later said she felt like she had been "hit by a truck."

Rennault doesn't have health insurance, but that didn't matter. The tests are free and available to any Louisiana resident age 5 and older  regardless of health coverage status.

Louisiana COVID numbers: Data on cases, deaths, hospitalizations, vaccines Editor's Note: Due to changes in the importance of various metrics used to track the pandemic, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate r

The site at Alex Box Stadium opened Tuesday to a line of about 50 cars. Patients wove around barricades in a line of vehicles, waiting to have their pre-registration forms cross-checked with an ID.

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The tests are self-administered. An official walks up to each vehicle with an aluminum tray holding the swab and specimen container, instructing each person in how to collect the sample.

The patient inserts the swab into each nostril for several seconds, then puts the used swab into the container, which then goes into a plastic bag. That bag is then placed back on the tray so the worker doesn't have to touch anything.

Results should be available within three to five business days.

Major coronavirus testing push in Baton Rouge: See info on locations, hours of operation, more Amid a fight against surging coronavirus cases, the city of Baton Rouge -- with the help of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services -- wil

The increasing numbers of cases have come as daily testing has been on steady rise, even before the surge testing that began on Tuesday. While it can be expected that more tests may result in reports of more new cases, the ratio of new cases per test has also been rising in East Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes.

The higher share of positive cases per test may be suggestive of increasing community spread of the virus, not just a result of increased testing.

Gov. John Bel Edwards has said White House and federal health officials identified Baton Rouge as one of the three places in the nation for this latest testing effort because of the sharp increase in the rate of positive cases per test.

The 5,000-test-per-day level federal officials want to reach would nearly triple the previous level of testing in the 12-parish capital region.

The earlier increases in testing have already contributed to the kinds of delays in results that happened in the early days of the pandemic, when long lag times left patients without a clear diagnosis. Some at the Cortana site said they came out because of such delays.

Chaundra Muse, 43, said she was tested on June 26 and didn't get her results until six days later. Her employer said she needed to retest before returning to work next week.

The new testing sites will be open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week through July 18.

The test sites are:

Alex Box Stadium parking lot at LSU, on Gourrier Avenue.

The FG Clark Activity Center parking lot at Southern University, 801 Harding Blvd.

Cortana Mall, 9701 Cortana Place.

Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, 9039 S. St. Landry Ave., Gonzales.

Staff writer Emma Kennedy contributed to this report.
Shreveport City Court Judge Lee Irvin has stepped down from the bench, sending a one-sentence retirement letter to state government officials that skirted the details of the Judiciary Commission investigation that's been hanging over him for months.

Irvin has been suspended from the bench since late January, when it became public that the Judiciary Commission had opened two files regarding possible ethical misconduct." The Louisiana Secretary of State's Office received his resignation letter on Tuesday, and the letter said his retirement became effective July 2.

+2 After reportedly presiding over girlfriend's DWI case, Shreveport judge under investigation A Shreveport judge has been suspended from the bench amid a Judiciary Commission investigation into whether he gave preferential treatment to 

Shreveport television station KTBS reported late last year that Irvin presided over a DWI case where the defendant was a romantic partner of his.

But that didn't become public knowledge until a shooting at Irvin's house one night that led to a subsequent criminal investigation.

KTBS reported that an ex-girlfriend of Irvin's showed up at his house last fall, and still had a key to let herself in. The former girlfriend found the judge with his new girlfriend  the defendant from his courtroom. The former girlfriend then shot herself in the head, but survived, according to KTBS.

Irvin's new girlfriend was appearing in his courtroom for DWI, hit-and-run and public drunkenness cases, Shreveport City Court records show. Irvin only recused himself after she had already made several courtroom appearances and pleaded not guilty in an arraignment. The Supreme Court waited two months after the shooting and recusal to temporarily disqualify Irvin from the bench while they investigated.

Retiring means that Irvin will no longer face a Judiciary Commission investigation, which could have led to repercussions ranging from a secret "admonishment" from the Judiciary Commission to the Supreme Court publicly kicking him off the bench.

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The Judiciary Commission conducts investigations in full secrecy, though they have recently agreed to allow some misconduct hearings to become public.

Details of their investigation into Irvin's conduct became public because they moved in January to temporarily disqualify him from the bench. In many Judiciary Commission probes, the public never finds out that a judge has been under investigation.

Louisiana Supreme Court to make hearings public for judges accused of wrongdoing The Louisiana Supreme Court announced Monday that it will begin allowing members of the public to attend hearings against judges who have been

Irvin's attorney, Ronald Miciotto, said Tuesday that the judge will still receive his full retirement. He said Irvin's decision to retire was unrelated to the Judiciary Commission investigation and that Irvin, 64, is "not to my knowledge" under any further investigations.

Irvin's retirement follows other high-profile resignations this year from judges who were accused of misconduct.

Assumption Parish Judge Jessie LeBlanc resigned in February after the public became aware of her sending racist text messages, and she also admitted to having an affair with a former top Assumption Parish sheriff's deputy. LeBlanc apologized for the texts.

Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Byron C. Williams also resigned in February, after a lengthy Judiciary Commission investigation into allegations of groping and other inappropriate sexual behavior that he denied.
The corporate regulator has told company directors to clearly disclose to investors all positive or negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic amid concerns stimulus packages could boost profits and prop up executive bonuses.

In a memorandum released on Tuesday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) revealed its focus for the upcoming corporate reporting season, putting both company directors and auditors on notice over how to declare the pandemic's impact.

ASIC chairman James Shipton. Credit:Eamon Gallagher

Financial reports should "tell the story" of how the business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with clear, useful and meaningful disclosure "vital", the regulator said. Companies should highlight both the negative and positive impacts, such as the value of any government stimulus packages.

"In the current environment, the quality of financial reports and related disclosures is more important than ever for investors and to maintain confident and informed markets," ASIC chair James Shipton said.
Egypt's Court of Cassation on Tuesday postponed the hearing of an appeal against a 3-year-jail term by Mubarak-era politician Safwat El-Sherif for an illicit gains conviction until 15 September.

The country's top appeals court ordered El-Sherif remain in detention.

In September 2018, a Cairo criminal court sentenced El-Sherif to three years in prison and an EGP 99 million (approx. $5.5 million) fine in a retrial on the charges of illicit gains. His sons were acquitted in the same ruling.

El-Sherif and one of his sons were given five-year terms and a EGP 209 million fine (approx. $11.7 million) in May 2016 on charges of corruption and illicit gains. His second son was given a ten-year jail term in absentia.

In December 2016 the Court of Cassation accepted their appeal and ordered a retrial.

The Court of Cassation will itself conduct a second retrial to uphold the courts decision or accept the appeal and give a final verdict not subject to more appeals.

El-Sherif held various public posts under president Hosni Mubarak, including head of Egypt's State Information body, the head of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, information minister, and the speaker of Egypt's upper house of parliament, which was abolished in 2011 and will be re-established this year.

In 2012, a court also acquitted El-Sherif and other high-level Mubarak associates of organising the so-called "Battle of the Camel," a deadly mob attack against anti-regime protesters during the uprising in 2011.

Many Mubarak-era figures have been pushing to reach settlements in corruption cases with the Egyptian government, including late business tycoon Hussein Salem in 2016 and steel mogul Ahmed Ezz earlier this year.

Short link:


A doctor who put his penis on the hands and feet of sleeping women at a Sydney clinic will remain on bail until September, to allow him to see a psychiatrist in an attempt to explain his "unusual" actions.

Ali Khorami, a 49-year-old GP from Sydney's west who is currently prohibited from providing health services, worked at the Woolcock Clinic in Glebe in 2018 as an overnight technician supervising sleep studies.

Ali Khorami arrives at court on Tuesday. Credit:Peter Rae

In July and August of that year he assaulted four women and one teenage girl after claiming they suffered from low blood pressure, which required him to continually enter their rooms throughout the night to perform tests.

Fruit juice was given to one of the women on the pretence it would help her low blood pressure, however a routine urine test revealed the drink was spiked with the sleeping drug Temazepam. The camera in the woman's room was turned off three times during the night, including once for 30 minutes.
A rail lobby group fears not enough trains will run through South Bank and South Brisbane stations as many services are sent underground for the Cross River Rail project.

It believes the existing 19 inbound trains per hour to South Bank and South Brisbane will be reduced to "eight or 10".

Park Road train station next to the under-construction underground Boggo Road train station. Credit:Tony Moore

The group, Rail Back on Track, also believes up to 10,000 rail passengers a day on the Gold Coast or Beenleigh lines will have to switch trains at Boggo Road Station if they want to get to South Bank or South Brisbane.

At present, trains run through South Bank and South Brisbane stations, cross the Merivale Bridge to Roma Street and run north to Central Station or west along the Ipswich line.
The public sector union has formally challenged the federal government to reveal its plans for a Centrelink office in Melbourne's inner-city which the union claims will shut for good in six weeks with no steps taken to extend its lease.

Services Australia extended the lease on the Abbotsford office in late May after an outcry from community groups, Labor and the Greens following the sudden announcement that it would close.

The Centrelink and Medicare offices in Abbotsford. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Shutting the Abbotsford office would have left clients in the City of Yarra facing a six-kilometre journey to the nearest welfare office in South Melbourne.

In May, Government Services Minister Stuart Robert and Salta Properties  the developer owned by billionaire Sam Tarascio which is the office building's landlord  agreed to extend the lease for three more months.
"We have to be realistic about the circumstances we confront ... this is not over. A sense of complacency has crept into us ... each of us knows someone who has not been following the rules as well as they should have." Retail businesses will remain open subject to density limits, markets can open for food and drink sales only, and hairdressers will be allowed to remain open. Restaurants and cafes must return to takeaway and delivery services only, while beauty and nail salons will be forced to close as will entertainment and cultural venues. People will not be allowed any visitors to their homes and public gatherings will be restricted to two people outside your household.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the lockdown was required to avoid thousands of new cases per day and "absolutely catastrophic outcomes". "I know that we will already see deaths from the cases that have already. What I do not want to see is any more deaths than are already predicted," he said. Number plate recognition used to police Melbourne's boundary Limits will apply to people's daily exercise in the lockdown zone.

"You cannot leave metropolitan Melbourne to get your daily exercise. You can't be going on a four-hour bushwalk, hundreds of kilometres away from Melbourne. You can't be going fishing outside a metropolitan area down into regional Victoria," Mr Andrews said. Loading "Regional Victoria has very, very few cases and vast parts of regional Victoria have no cases. This is designed to keep it that way." Numberplate recognition technology will be used by police to ensure people are not travelling into regional Victoria for non-essential reasons. The "hard boundary", as Mr Andrews described it, will be manned by police and 260 Australian Defence Force troops.

Mr Andrews said checkpoints similar to booze buses will be set up at points along the perimeter, similar to the way the borders of the 12 locked down postcodes have been patrolled over the past week. CHO surprised at school outbreaks School holidays will be pushed out by a week to allow teachers and schools to prepare for the possibility of another stint of distance learning, except for year 11 and 12 students and year 10 students who are doing VCE subjects. Special schools, which had difficulty during the last period of remote learning, will return to face-to-face learning as planned next week. Professor Sutton said he was surprised to see so many cases in schools.

"The great majority of cases that turned up in those schools were from kids who acquired it at home, or acquired it outside of school and then been subsequently identified, and the schools closed as a result," he said. "Al-Taqwa college [in suburban Truganina] is probably a different example. There seems to have been transmission in the school that was quite substantial." How 'rule-breakers' spread the virus in Melbourne The Premier said a sense of complacency had contributed to the spread of the virus across Melbourne.

"We have to a certain extent allowed our frustration to get the better of us and that means that regardless of what the index case is, regardless of who patient zero is and how they became infected, the virus then spreads," Mr Andrews said. "I'll take you back to an example: a person gets infected, they're in a family of six, or seven or eight or even 10 people, they then go home, theyre unwell. They dont get tested for quite some time. Theyre wildly infectious, they go and visit other families. "Small, large, north, south, doesnt matter where it happened, but all of a sudden you have a virus out there and it runs so quickly that even the delay in taking a test and getting it processed is enough to see a doubling and a doubling again." The Premier added: "The mildness of it, that's the real devil to it. The fact that so many people can have it and not even feel unwell or if they do, the symptoms are so mild that theyre not a prompt to go and get tested. "This is binary. It is life and death ... And I dont want to hear any more of this stuff from younger people or from otherwise healthy people regardless of their age, that 'it wont affect me'. Well, it will, it will affect you."

Crisis cabinet meeting Mr Andrews gathered his crisis cabinet in Melbourne on Tuesday morning to discuss the escalating second coronavirus surge which has now spread beyond the states capital and into its regions. The latest figure of 191 new cases was enough to convince the Premier and his colleagues to push forward with the drastic new restrictions. There are now 772 active cases of the deadly virus in Victoria, with about 438 of them attributed to community transmission.
Victoria has recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus, the highest number in a single day since the pandemic began.

Of them, 37 new cases are linked to outbreaks and 154 are under investigation. No cases have been detected in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

The overall total has increased by 164, after 27 cases were reclassified  largely due to duplication, the Health Department said.

That brings the total number of cases recorded in the state to date to 2824. At least 438 cases may be the result of unknown community transmission.
Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/06/2020 -- Future Market Insights (FMI) offers a 9-year forecast of the refractometers market between 2018 and 2027. In terms of value, the refractometers market is expected to register a high CAGR during the forecast period. This study demonstrates the global refractometers market dynamics and trends across six regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Japan, APEJ and MEA, which influence the current nature and the future status of the refractometers market over the forecast period.



Report Description



This research report provides a detailed analysis of the refractometers market and offers insights on the various factors driving the popularity of refractometers. The report includes an extensive analysis of the key industry drivers, challenges, market trends and market structure. The market study provides a comprehensive assessment of the stakeholder strategies and imperatives for succeeding in the business. The report segregates the market based on technology, application and different regions globally.



The refractometers market is expected to witness significant value growth during the forecast period owing to the rising importance of food quality and the availability of refractometers in various sizes and types.



The report starts with an overview of the refractometers market in terms of value. In addition, this section includes an analysis of the key trends, drivers and challenges from the supply, demand and economy side, which are influencing the refractometers market. A detailed analysis has been provided for every segment in terms of the market size analysis for refractometers across different regions.



The next section of the refractometers market report contains a detailed analysis of the refractometers market across various countries in the region. It provides a market outlook for 20182027, and sets the forecast within the context of the refractometers market, which includes the latest technological developments as well as offerings in the refractometers market. This study discusses the key trends within countries contributing to growth of the market, as well as analyses the degrees at which the drivers are influencing the refractometers market in each region. Key regions and countries assessed in this report include North America (U.S. & Canada), Latin America (Brazil, Mexico & the rest of Latin America), Europe (Germany, U.K., Spain, France, Russia & the rest of Europe), Japan, APEJ (China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia & the rest of APEJ) and MEA (GCC Countries, Israel, South Africa & the rest of MEA). This report evaluates the present scenario as well as the growth prospects of the market across various regions globally for the period 2018 2027. We have considered 2017 as the base year, and provided data for the remaining 12 months.



Download a Sample Report with Table of Contents and Figures: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1739



To offer an accurate forecast, we have started by sizing the current market, which forms the basis of how the market will grow in the future. Given the characteristics of the refractometers market, we have triangulated the outcome of different types of analysis based on the technology trends.



As previously highlighted, the global refractometers market is split into a number of segments. All the segments in terms of product type, substance used, end-user and different regions are analysed in terms of basis points to understand the relative contributions of individual segments to market growth. This detailed information is important for the identification of various key trends in the global refractometers market.



In addition, another key feature of this report is the analysis of all key segments in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify the potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective in the global refractometers market.



In the final section of the report, we have included a competitive landscape to provide clients a dashboard view based on the categories of providers in the value chain, their presence in the refractometers market and key differentiators. This section is primarily designed to provide clients an objective and detailed comparative assessment of the key providers specific to a market segment in the refractometers supply chain and the potential players for the same. Report audiences can gain segment-specific vendor insights to identify and evaluate the key competitors based on an in-depth assessment of their capabilities and success in the marketplace. The detailed profiles of providers are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long-term and short-term strategies, key offerings and recent developments in the refractometers market. Some of the key competitors covered in the report are Thermo Fisher Scientific AMETEK; Shimadzu Corporation; Anton Paar GmbH; Cole-Parmer Instrument Company, LLC; KRuSS Optronic GmbH; Hanna Equipments India Pvt. Ltd.; ATAGO; Rudolph Research Analytical; MISCO Refractometer and Xylem Analytics.



Key Segments



 By Product Type



o Handheld Refractometers



o Digital Refractometers



o Abbe Refractometers



 By Substance Used



o Solid



o Liquid



o Gas



 By End-Use



o Food Processing



o Gemmology



o Research Centres



o Oil Industry



o Paint



o Pharmaceuticals



o Educational Research



Key Regions



 North America



o U.S.



o Canada



 Latin America



o Brazil



o Mexico



o Rest of Latin America



 Europe



o Germany



o U.K.



o France



o Spain



o Russia



o Rest of Europe



 APEJ



o China



o India



o Malaysia



o Singapore



o Australia



o Rest of APEJ



 Japan



 MEA



o GCC Countries



o Israel



o South Africa



o Rest of MEA



Download Methodology of this Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1739



Key Companies



Rudolph Research Analytical, Thermo Fisher Scientific, KRuSS Optronic GmbH, Shimadzu Corporation, Anton Paar GmbH, ATAGO, AMETEK, Mettler-Toledo International Inc., Hanna Equipments India Pvt. Ltd., MISCO Refractometer, Xylem Analytics and Cole-Parmer Instrument Company, LLC.
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The dramatic hard lockdown of housing estates in Melbourne's inner-suburbs on the weekend shocked the city.

Residents in the North Melbourne towers were confronted with police swarming their estates, sometimes before they were even aware of the announcement from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

On Saturday night, we asked readers to send us their messages of support to those residents, and we were met with a deluge.

By Monday morning we had received more than 700 such messages and the graphic attached here presents them to you  but also to those in lockdown.

If you want to read more closely, you can stop and start the rolling messages by hitting the pause/play button.

Underneath the graphic we have also posted some of the children's artwork that was submitted to us.
As some states and territories in Australia move to loosen their borders to all but Victoria, Western Australia  which has likely eliminated coronavirus locally  faces the complex decision of when to remove its last line of defence.

Premier Mark McGowans island within an island strategy to effectively shut WA off from the rest of the country took effect on April 6, two weeks after international borders were closed.

Premier Mark McGowan has been pushed hard to re-open WA's borders. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The last time WA recorded a local case of coronavirus that was contracted by an unknown means was three months ago, on April 11. The last 50 cases in the state have been overseas travellers whose infections were detected and contained at the border.

No other state or territory, except New South Wales and Victoria, has recorded an untraceable community transmission case for at least five weeks.
Federal Labor MPs have warned a five-day lock-down of public housing towers in Melbourne's inner northern suburbs will further entrench disadvantage and exclusion within its communities.

Peter Khalil, the member for Wills, and former Labor leader Bill Shorten both expressed concern over the welfare of almost 3000 residents in nine public housing towers in Flemington and North Melbourne.

Labor MP Bill Shorten delivers food to the Flemington Towers Government Housing complex. Credit:Getty

Mr Shorten, whose seat of Maribyrnong includes four of the towers, said the Andrews government needed to "do a better job" communicating with residents.

"These are not prisoners. They haven't broken any laws," Mr Shorten said on Tuesday.
Regional Editor

Derek Draplin is a regional editor at The Center Square. He previously worked as an opinion producer at Forbes, and as a reporter at Michigan Capitol Confidential and The Detroit News. Hes also an editor at The Daily Caller.
Up for debate:

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Check out the latest developments on bills pending before state lawmakers in four key topics.
Fixing the computers in Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development could cost between $45 million and $80 million.
In this May 27, 2020 photo, Aaron Rainboth, a teacher at the Frederickson KinderCare daycare center in Tacoma, Wash., wears a mask as he takes the temperature of Benjamin Simpson, 4, after he complained of feeling hot following an outdoor play period, but found it to be normal.
Illinois state Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, wears a face mask as he confers with a staff member at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield, Ill., during the spring legislative session Thursday, May 21, 2020. Bailey was removed from the floor Wednesday for not complying with House rules that required face coverings.
People from a support organization for immigrant and working class communities unfold banners May 21, 2020, including one advocating rent cancelation, on a subway platform in the Queens borough of New York.
Staff Reporter

Tim Gruver is a politics and public policy reporter. He is a University of Washington alum and the recipient of the 2017 Pioneer News Award for Reporting. His work has appeared in Politico, the Kitsap Daily News, and the Northwest Asian Weekly.
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Towanda, PA (18848)

Today

Cloudy with rain ending for the afternoon. Cooler. High 64F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 45F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Oneonta, NY (13820)

Today

Showers early, then cloudy in the afternoon. Cooler. High 59F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 40F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
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EVENT TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR

First Baptist Church College Station is hosting a virtual Vacation Bible School: Concrete & Cranes. Beginning Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., supplies, including hard hats, will be available for pickup from the church before getting on the churchs YouTube channel to participate For more information, visit the churchs VBS@Home Facebook page.

TUESDAY

EVENTS

South Brazos County Farmers Market, noon to 5:30 p.m. Baylor Scott & White Hospital. A year-round open-air market offering locally grown seasonal produce, herbs, olive oil, honey, eggs, fresh ground whole corn meal and grits, jams and jellies, pickles and more.

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Lululemon Run Club, 6 to 8:30 p.m. Century Square. The run will start at Lululemon and end at Mos Irish Pub.

CLUBS

Afternoon Book Club, 6 to 7 p.m. Zoom. Larry J. Ringers Afternoon Book Club will discuss People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. For more information or to get a Zoom invitation, contact Hilary at handerson@bryantx.gov or 764-3416.
I have crossover capabilities with those deep roots, Morgan said in an interview.

Jetton said in an interview that the debate over general-election viability hasnt been a huge part of the runoff but noted he has been on the front lines of the fight to keep Fort Bend County red. He said he has been voting in Republican primaries and been part of the party for the last decade, contrasting himself with Morgan, who Jetton said has been not as involved in a lot of the work thats been done to try to hold the GOP line in the politically changing county.

Ive been in the trenches working on this for a long time, Jetton said.

Morgans lack of a Republican primary voting history before March has drawn fire in the runoff, and a recent mailer against him said, With so much at stake, we cant gamble on a REPUBLICAN IN NAME ONLY. Morgan took to Facebook to denounce the mailer last week.

Miller has remained a factor in the race, given his support for Morgan. The candidate said Millers controversial remarks from last year do not come up much on the campaign trail and that he does not believe they would be an issue for him in the general election.
5 Years Later, FBI Still Mum on Mystery CrowdStrike Contract

Five years ago, on July 8, 2015, the FBI granted an emergency, yearlong, no-bid contract to the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

Beyond its price tag of $150,000, little else is known about the CrowdStrike contract, although it followed two days after the intelligence community inspector general sent the bureau a referral to investigate whether then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used an unauthorized private email server to send classified information during her time as secretary of state.

Two days after the CrowdStrike contract, the FBI formally opened the Clinton email investigation, codenamed Midyear Exam.

CrowdStrikes involvement with the FBI within days of opening the Clinton email probe would likely go unnoticed had the cybersecurity firm not played a key role in the investigation of the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2016. The theft and release of tens of thousands of DNC emails that year served as the predicate for the FBIs investigation of the Trump campaign which eventually morphed into the special counsels Russia investigation.

The FBI would neither confirm nor deny to The Epoch Times if the July 2015 CrowdStrike contract was related to its Clinton-email investigation. The bureau has for years slow-walked requests for information about the contract under the Freedom of Information Act, some of which date back to 2017. Likewise, CrowdStrike neither confirmed nor denied whether that contract was connected to the Clinton email probe.

As a matter of corporate policy, CrowdStrike doesnt comment on customer contracts so we are not able to share further information, Ilina Cashiola, the director of public relations at CrowdStrike, told The Epoch Times in an email.



The watchdog report on the Clinton email investigation completed by the Department of Justice Inspector General made no mention of CrowdStrike.

While there is no direct evidence that CrowdStrikes contract with the FBI involved work on the Clinton email probe, the timing of events as well as the firms previous work for the FBI appear to leave that open as a possibility. If CrowdStrike indeed worked on Midyear Exam, questions would inevitably arise about the private firms involvement in the origins of the two of the most consequential and politically charged investigations of the 2016 presidential election.

Many questions remain unanswered about CrowdStrikes involvement in the FBIs investigation of the DNC hack. The firm has repeatedly declined to explain how the hackers managed to breach the DNCs email server weeks after the committee engaged CrowdStrike to protect its systems. While the breach happened under the watchful guise of CrowdStrikes Falcon software, the firm hasnt explained why it has no evidence that the hackers stole tens of thousands of emails from the DNCs Microsoft Exchange server in late May of 2016, as alleged by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Both the FBI and CrowdStrike have declined to release the firms final report on the analysis of the DNCs hack.

It remains unclear if the DNC fully cooperated with the FBIs investigation. Then-FBI Director James Comey and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told Congress that the DNC declined the FBIs requests to examine the physical systems.

Meanwhile, representatives from the DNC, its IT contractor, CrowdStrike, and the DNCs outside law firm, Perkins Coie, all told Congress that the DNC cooperated fully with the FBIs requests. The DNC created software images of 38 computer systems as part of the investigation and provided 26 of the images to CrowdStrike. The FBI received some or all of those images via CrowdStrike.

The bureau didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times to confirm whether the hacked email server was among the images it received.

The Clinton and Trump investigations werent the only politically charged cyber-incidents CrowdStrike was involved in during the 2016 election. After Bernie Sanders campaign staffers appeared to have improperly accessed Clinton campaign data in December 2015, the two campaigns hired CrowdStrike to determine what had transpired.

The Sanders campaign sued the DNC for briefly blocking the Sanders campaign from accessing the VoteBuilder system on which the alleged breach occurred. After a five-week investigation, CrowdStrike determined that four Sanders campaign staffers gained unauthorized access to Clinton campaign data.

The Sanders campaign announced the results of the CrowdStrike inquiry and dropped its lawsuit on April 29, 2016, the same day that the IT contractor, The MIS Department, informed the FBI about the breach of its system.

The next day, the DNC contacted CrowdStrike for help with the hack. The MIS Department discovered the intrusion on April 28, the day prior to the announcement of the results of CrowdStrikes Sanders-Clinton inquiry.

In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, CrowdStrike Services President Shawn Henry said the firms work with the DNC prior to 2016 involved providing the committee with intelligence. Henry previously worked for the FBI.

The FBIs Clinton email investigation was rife with abnormalities, including Comeys unprecedented public exoneration statement on July 5, 2016. The CrowdStrike contract expired two days after that statement.

The DOJ inspector general also found that the intense anti-Trump bias expressed by key FBI officials working on Midyear Examincluding Peter Strzok and Lisa Pagehad clouded the outcome of the investigation. Strzok and Page would go on to investigate the Trump campaign in connection to the DNC hack.
Eileen Guggenheim, on left, in New York City in a file photograph. On right, Jeffrey Epstein poses for a sex offender mugshot after being charged with procuring a minor for prostitution, in Florida on July 25, 2013. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Endometriosis Foundation of America; Florida Department of Law Enforcement via Getty Images)

Alleged Epstein Victim Disputes Investigation That Cleared High-Level Art Academy Chair

A woman who says she and her sister were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein is disputing a purportedly independent investigation that cleared Eileen Guggenheim of wrongdoing.

Guggenheim, the former dean of students at the New York Academy of Art, is now the academys chair.

For years the Guggenheim and the board of the New York Academy of Art sought to curry favor with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Since Epsteins arrest almost one year ago, we have watched as other institutions with ties to Epstein have engaged in critical self-examination to do an accounting of how their organizations benefited from the predator he was, Annie Farmer said in a statement sent to The Epoch Times.

In sharp contrast, the Academy has gone into a bunker and sought to protect itself rather than exploring the important questions and issues to protect their students moving forward. The Academys insinuations that my sister Maria Farmer is somehow responsible for the abuse that both she and I suffered is offensive and unacceptable. The Academy is retreating to the tired and intolerable act of victim-blaming, and its wrong at many levels.

Farmers lawyer, Sigrid McCawley, added, The Academy never contacted Ms. Farmer or her counsel until after their investigation was completed, and insofar as we are aware ignored other potential witnesses and evidence as well. We regret the Academys decision to whitewash these serious charges.

Alleged Jeffrey Epstein victim Annie Farmer stands outside court in New York City on July 15, 2019. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

Maria Farmer filed a civil lawsuit against Epsteins estate last year, alleging Epstein sexually assaulted her and her sister, Annie, in 1996, one year after she graduated from the academy. Farmer also publicly accused Guggenheim and the academy of enabling Epstein, who was sometimes at the school watching artists work.

Farmer recounted one show in 1995 attended by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate who was recently arrested on a number of charges.

Farmer said Guggenheim urged her to sell one of her paintings to the pair.

The academys Board of Trustees said last week that an independent investigation cleared Guggenheim of wrongdoing and that the chair will remain in her position.

Guggenheim played no role in introducing either Farmer to Epstein and did not play a role in Maria Farmers decision to sell the painting, the investigation found, according to the board.

Guggenheim also wasnt involved with Farmers decision to work for Epstein.

Guggenheim was told by Farmer that an uncomfortable incident happened in 1996 but Farmer didnt provide details that warranted action from Guggenheim, according to the board.

Based on the findings of the investigation, the Board of Trustees now believes that critical aspects of Farmers allegations against Guggenheim are untrue, the board said in a statement.

Correction: A previous version of this article misattributed a quote. It was from Annie Farmer. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
A man in a facemask walks down the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on July 6, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

America Should Shed the Mask of Zero

Commentary

There are two contagions raging in America as she celebrates her 244th birthday.

The first is the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which has bedeviled the nation and the world since its effects began to be felt in the West early in the new year. Hardly as deadly as at first fearedand as first predicted by a series of expertsthe CCP virus has been borne aloft not on winds of disease but by a malignant huffing and puffing of a national media that almost immediately recognized it as a potent political weapon against the United States and its president, Donald Trump.

What began as an admonition, Two Weeks to Flatten the Curve, has since morphed into a semi-permanent series of lockdowns, issued in direct violation of the Constitution, especially by various petty tyrants in states such as California, New York, and Illinoisthe bluest of the left-wing blue states.

Dire warnings, and even police action, against Americans who chose not to take a knee before arbitrary tyranny were quickly forgotten, however, when the death of a criminal in Minneapolis police custody, however occasioned, was seized upon by the institutional left as the pretext for widespread riots and other civil disorder in order to affect the outcome of this falls election.

Right on cue, the media temporarily abandoned its self-appointed roles as hall monitors against the kind of traditional Americans they despise and switched to their preferred mode as cheerleaders for progressivism of any kind. As the cities went up in flames, statues were ripped down, and hordes of rage-filled protesters filled the streets, shoulder-to-shoulder against systemic racism, The New York Times, CNN, and the like cared not one whit about the social distancing they were insisting upon just a few days earlier.

Indeed, a recent NY Times story summed up the medias hypocrisy: Public health experts decried the anti-lockdown protests last spring as dangerous gatherings in a pandemic. Health experts seem less comfortable doing so now that the marches are against racism.

How about that!

I certainly condemned the anti-lockdown protests at the time, and Im not condemning the protests now, and I struggle with that, said an epidemiologist at the University of TexasHouston. I have a hard time articulating why that is OK.

The reason should be obvious: Your attitude toward the pandemic is directly related to your politics at this divisive moment, and all principles are to be forged accordingly.

Second Wave

So now were back to the bogus pandemic, just in time for the media to begin crowing about the dreaded second wave that is sure to kill everybody that the first wave somehow missed. That the death toll from the CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, in the United States currently stands at just under an attributed 133,000out of a population of 328 millionfor a fatality rate of 0.0004 seems not to matter to the fear-mongers, who by now have lost interest in the actual fatalities and instead insist on the equation infection equals death.

Having insisted for months that the United States was lagging in testing for antibodies, they are similarly silent at the fact that the United States has now tested more people (37 million) than any other country except China, where the problem originated and whose official statistics should be habitually disbelieved.

Under the principle of herd immunitywhich flattening the curve did nothing to promote, but only extended the length of time it took for the virus to wreak its havocthe more people who exhibit antibodies and had either minor or no symptoms the better. But that does not further the Narrative, which is that Trump is personally responsible for everything thats going wrong in America right now.

Which brings us back to masks. Forget what the experts sayfrom Dr. Anthony Fauci on down, they have been widely inconsistent on the entire coronavirus subject, when not actually flat-out wrong.

The bottom line, experts say, is that masks might help keep people with COVID-19 from unknowingly passing along the virus, the website LiveScience.com reported. But the evidence for the efficacy of surgical or homemade masks is limited, and masks arent the most important protection against the coronavirus.

Clinical studies are as conflicted as the bonzes of medicine. An April study by South Korean researchers published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concluded that both surgical and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARSCoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface.

Obviously, that couldnt stand, and the study was retracted last month after protests: We had not fully recognized the concept of limit of detection (LOD) of the in-house reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction used in the study (2.63 log copies/mL), and we regret our failure to express the values below LOD as <LOD (value), the offending researchers explained, helpfully. You do the math.

Masks as Signifiers

And yet masks have become a political signifier, a visible symbol of our deeply divided shirts-and-skins America. On the left, failure to wear a mask in public is now tantamount to being a racist serial killer who also hates gays, communists, transsexuals, and the privileged thug children of Antifa. On the right, the mask-wearers are deemed skittish Henny-Pennys, virtue-signaling cowards, and petty busybodies afraid of their own shadows.

Count me on the right. With no clear proof that masks do anything material to stop the spread of a disease that raised hell in the unprotected nursing homes of Andrew Cuomos New York state, and which disproportionately affects the very elderly, the obese, the comorbid and the generally unhealthy, there is no serious argument to make them mandatory. If youre sick, have a fever, and a dry coughstay home. The economic well-being of the United States can no longer be held hostage to the medical problems of a few.

On the contrary, let us say it loud: Masks are un-American. Their connotations are almost wholly invidious; they are the apparel of bank robbers, Islamic extremists, and the Ku Klux Klan; and throughout our history they have rightfully been banned in public placesincluding Cuomos New York, where an 1845 law against them was enacted in the interests of public safety. Aside from Halloween and costume parties, there has never been a time or place in this country when masks were acceptable.

On rare occasions, we have celebrated masked menthe Lone Ranger, Zorro, and latterly, the superheroes so beloved of childish modern movie audiences. Those figures, however, were fictional characters (the Hispanic vigilante Zorro, the forerunner of Batman, was created by an American Anglo in 1919) with bounties on their heads, or whose lives or missions were otherwise in danger.

Today, the masked apparatchiks who are less afraid of contracting the virus than making sure the rest of us conform to their brand of conventional wisdom, are more brutish than brave, more scolds than superheroes, more zeroes than Zorros. Indeed, the figure they most resemble is the Phantom of the Operaa beneficent genius until so memorably unmasked as a monster by a horrified Mary Philbin in the 1925 silent movie classic of the same name. Their goal is shame and fearnot health.

Luckily, the left has unmasked itself. As Trump said at Mount Rushmore on July 3: Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children. 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.

Many of these people have no idea why they are doing this, but some know exactly what they are doing. They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive. 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.

So wear your mask if you will, and in good faith. But permit the rest of us to take our masks off, and reveal the true faces of our brand of patriotism. While the Karens of this world hide their faces and rat their fellow Americans out, we have nothing to be ashamed ofand nothing to lose, as their beloved Karl Marx famously said, but our chains.

Michael Walsh is the editor of The-Pipeline.org and the author of The Devils Pleasure Palace and The Fiery Angel, both published by Encounter Books. His latest book, Last Stands, a cultural study of military history from the Greeks to the Korean War, will be published in December by St. Martins Press. Follow him on Twitter @dkahanerules.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Audrey Strauss, acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks to the media at a press conference to announce the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime girlfriend and accused accomplice of deceased accused sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, in New York City, on July 2, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Arrest Puts Spotlight on Ghislaine Maxwell, Longtime Epstein Associate

NEW YORKThe recent arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and longtime associate of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has placed her at the center of attention.

The 58-year-old is scheduled to attend a bail hearing in Manhattan on July 14. Multiple alleged victims have accused Maxwell in court filings of facilitating a sex-trafficking operation that brought girls to Epsteins Manhattan mansion.

Epstein described Maxwella longtime member of Epsteins inner circleas his best friend in a 2003 Vanity Fair piece. He said Maxwell wasnt on his payroll, though she appeared to organize much of his life, according to the magazine.

Maxwell is the daughter of late British media magnate Robert Maxwell, who founded a publishing house and owned tabloids including the Daily Mirror. It emerged after Robert Maxwells mysterious death in 1991 that he had looted hundreds of millions of dollars from employee pension funds to prop up his crumbling business empire.

Robert Maxwell, whom Ghislaine has accused of sexually abusing her, may have also been a Soviet spy. According to heavily redacted reports, Robert Maxwell and his business partner Kurt Wallersteiner ran an Anglo-Continental Exchange firm in London in 1953, where both had allegedly been recruited by the Soviet intelligence service for espionage purposes.

Ghislaine Maxwell, who was born in France, later moved to New York in the early 1990s where she worked selling real estate. Around that time, she began her romantic relationship with Epstein, a financier who lived a lavish lifestyle and attended high society parties.

In 2013 and 2014, Maxwell spoke at the United Nations in her capacity as the founder of the TerraMar Project, an oceanic conservation group. She largely disappeared from public view in 2016 and was particularly elusive after Epstein was charged with sex trafficking.

At an August 2019 hearing following Epsteins death, ruled a suicide in a federal detention center in New York, some accusers urged federal prosecutors to go after Maxwell, The Epoch Times previously reported.

I will no longer cover up what needs to be brought to light, one accuser, Theresa Helm, testified at the time. Helm said she was recruited 17 years ago from California and was brought to New York.

Ghislaine Maxwell  they need to be held accountable, Helm said. All of them.

Nearly 2,000 pages of documents from a lawsuit by one of Epsteins accusers, Virginia Giuffre, relating to Epstein were unsealed on Aug. 9, 2019, revealing allegations against a number of rich and powerful men and more information on the role Maxwell allegedly played.

In a 2016 deposition, Giuffre claimed she was directed by Maxwell to have sex with a number of powerful men.

According to the documents, Juan Alessi, Epsteins former house manager, testified that during the 10-year period Maxwell was at Epsteins house, there were probably over 100 females he was told were massage therapists that entered the home.

Alessi said Maxwell, Epstein, and their friends were the ones who brought in the girls. He said their friends would relay to other friends they knew a massage therapist and they would send [them] to the house.

In announcing the charges, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss said Maxwell herself in some cases participated in the sexual abuse of young children.

Maxwell has previously denied claims she recruited and directed young girls to have sex with Epstein and other men.

Julie Rendelman, a New York criminal defense attorney and former homicide prosecutor, told The Epoch Times that Maxwells attorneys will have an uphill battle in getting the Court to grant her release pending trial, noting the prosecution has indicated they believe Maxwell is an extreme flight risk.

Reuters contributed to this report.
At Least 3 Dead, Including Teenager, After Active Shooter Incident in Florida

At least three people, including a teenage girl, were killed on July 6 following an active shooting incident at a home in Port St. Lucie, Florida, according to reports.

According to Port St. Lucie police, the suspect and gunman was a neighbor and is among those dead, alongside a teenager and another man. Police said the gunman had an ongoing dispute with the victims over his dog, the Miami Herald reported.

Officers and St. Lucie County sheriffs deputies on Monday afternoon responded to reports of an active shooting at a home near Southeast Morningside Boulevard. Upon their arrival, they discovered an injured man inside a garage who later succumbed to his injuries.

Police officers then exchanged gunfire with the gunman. One officer was injured in the arm while attempting to apprehend the suspect, sustaining non-life threatening injuries, police said.

3rd UPDATE: 3 people dead on scene, including suspect. 2 victims transported to hospital for treatment. 1 PSL Ofcr shot- non-life-threatening, other PSL Offcr being medically treated; both doing well. PSLPD investigating homicide, SLCSO investigating Ofcr/Dep involved shooting. https://t.co/oJ0pQPq1yz pic.twitter.com/3OnEygtfXo  Port St. Lucie PD (@PSLPolice) July 6, 2020

A teenage girl, 13, was also found critically injured inside the home, and was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to police.

The two victims are believed to be related. However, police have not yet released their identities.

The gunman was later found by a SWAT team dead in a bedroom upstairs. It is not yet clear how the suspect died or whether he was a licensed firearms holder.

During a press briefing, St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said that a dispute over the gunmans dog led to the shooting.

When the call came out  the caller said theres someone in our house and shooting my parents, Mascara said.

The dog had been declared dangerous by a judge in a court hearing Monday before the shooting, Mascara added.

The court proceeding was this morning, Mascara said, WPTV reported. The case was granted for the victims in this case and they all came home from court and then the suspect armed himself and went to the victims house.

The dog was declared dangerous today in court, and he owned the dog and he went over there to confront his neighbors and this is what happened, said Port St. Lucie Police Department Assistant Chief Richard Del Toro.

Neighbor Frank Didonna, 81, told USA Today he heard the gunshots.

All the sudden I heard about four or five shots, one after the other, boom, boom, boom, Didonna said.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor of Atlanta, Ga., speaks at the Concordia Summit in Manhattan, N.Y., on Sept. 24, 2018. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Atlanta Mayor Doesnt Agree With Governors Decision to Send in National Guard

The Democratic mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, said she does not agree with Gov. Brian Kemps decision to declare a state of emergency and activate the National Guard.

The irony of that is that I asked Gov. Kemp to allow us to mandate masks in Atlanta  but he has called in the National Guard without asking if we needed the National Guard, Bottoms said in an interview on Tuesday morning.

Kemp, a Republican, made the emergency declaration on Monday evening after an especially violent weekend across Atlanta that left a young girl and others dead.

The governor argued that it was necessary to deploy up to 1,000 National Guard troops to secure certain buildings, including the governors mansion, the state capitol, the Department of Public Safety headquarters, and the Georgia World Congress Center. He added that the troops will free up state troopers from those locations to patrol the streets 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 said in a statement on Monday. This lawlessness must be stopped and order restored in our capital city.

But Bottoms insisted in the interview with ABCs Good Morning America that her office has been coordinating with the Georgia State Patrol  and we have provided assistance to them, and they have provided assistance to us.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp speaks to the media during a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Ga., on April 27, 2020. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

At no time was it mentioned that anyone felt that there was a need for the National Guard to come here, she said.

Kemp said that he had to declare an emergency because the safety of our citizens comes first, while later adding that it will allow troops to protect state property and dispatch state law enforcement officers to patrol our streets. 

Enough with the tough talk, the Republican governor concluded. We must protect the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians.

Across Atlanta over the July 4 weekend, around 31 people were shot and five people died, including an 8-year-old girl. The Georgia State Patrol headquarters were also vandalized by protesters over the same time period, officials said.

They were armed with bricks, landscaping bricks, Molotov cocktails, fireworks. Their one mission was to destruct property and that is exactly what they did, Lt. Stephanie L. Stallings, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Public Safety, told WSB-TV.

She said that between 60 and 100 vandals dressed in dark clothing came to the headquarters in the early-morning hours to cause havoc.
Aussie Government Proposes New Legal Protections for Personal Data

A week after the Australian government announced it would beef up the nations cyber security, the government services minister is proposing assigning special status for the data of Australians to better protect and manage it.

Minister Stuart Roberts told the National Press Club on July 7: This will include considering whether certain data sets of concern to the public should be declared sovereign data sets and should only be hosted in Australia, in an accredited Australian data centre, across Australian networks and only accessed by the Australian government and our Australian service providers.

Roberts is also promising new legislation around data availability and transparencylooking to streamline services so that Australians do not have to share the same information repeatedly with different agencies.

An upgraded MyGov platform, now in a trial mode, aims to be the Netflix of service delivery.

Stuart said individuals who do not want to use online portals will be able to access reimagined telephone helplines, fitted with biometric services. A biometric service uses the unique features of a person, including voice recognition or fingerprints, as part of its security.

Stuart says 1.5 million people have already signed up for this service.

Rob Nicholls, director of the Cybersecurity and Data Governance Research Network at the University of New South Wales, told The Epoch Times on July 7 that the concept of sovereign data sets was reminiscent of data retention obligations for telecommunications companies introduced by the government in 2015.

The laws require telcos to hold customer data for two years and onshore. The personal health data of Australians are also kept onshore, including information collected by the COVID Safe App.

In general, there is an obligation under privacy law to be able to access and change customers personal information. It is easier to do this when the data is stored in Australia, he said.

Cybersecurity has come under the spotlight in recent weeks following Prime Minister Scott Morrisons announcement on June 30 of a new $1.35 billion cybersecurity package over the next ten years.

The package (Cyber Enhanced Situational Awareness and Response) will look to increase recruitment, counter foreign criminals online, and identify emerging cyber threats.

The cybersecurity package follows a warning announced by the prime minister on June 18, revealing Australia was under a sustained cyber-attack from a sophisticated state-based cyber actor.

Roberts is also spruiking government plans for a new entitlement calculation engine that will calculate welfare entitlements faster and more accurately.

It is being earmarked for aged care, veterans support, and health system payments.
A Queensland police officer moves a stop sign at a vehicle checkpoint on the Pacific Highway on the Queensland - New South Wales border, in Brisbane on April 15, 2020. (Patrick Hamilton/AFP via Getty Images)

Aussie States Border Closure a Berlin Wall to Economic Recovery Says Industry Chief

The head of a peak Australian industry group has criticised the decision to close the border between New South Wales and Victoria arguing it will set back economic recovery.

Chief executive of the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) Innes Willox said on July 6: The ill-considered closure of the NSW-Victoria border would pull the rug out from under any recovery and is chaos in the making.

The Ai Group is one of Australias oldest peak body employers with a 150-year history of working on behalf of businesses across Australia. It represents more than 60,000 businesses, with more than 1 million employees.

Willox argued: 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 countrys main economic artery.

It is a sledge-hammer approach when what is required is a focused strategy that is community and hot-spot based and not based on arbitrary borders that split communities, he said.

Willoxs main concern is for the freight hub that exists in the twin border cities: Albury and Wodonga; which he fears will be divided by a show me your papers please attitude that will slow down trucks.

Freight must be waved through without any delay and police on both sides of the border should be given clear and consistent instructions rather than the vague directions that caused massive traffic jams and huge economic cost elsewhere, he said.

The federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt said in an interview on ABC Radio on July 7, that decision to close the border was difficult but that it was out of necessity.

It represents a ring of containment for Victoria, which fits in with what weve also been doing at the local levels, said Hunt.

These are the steps that we always planned in the case of outbreaks, and now is the time to enact them in order to contain that spread, he said.

In response to Willoxs comments, Hunt explained that the border closure stems from the federal governments knowledge that the outbreak in Melbourne is not just in the northern and western suburbs of Melbourne.

Nobody is being punished, everybody is being protected, said Hunt.

Hunt also acknowledge that although social distancing requirements were difficult and challenging, they were fundamental to protecting Australians.

Around the country, there is effectively zero community transmission in seven out of eight states and territorieswe want to keep it that way, he said.

Hunt then emphasised that the federal governments primary focus would be to make sure the Victorian government could contain the spread of the outbreak to protect Victorians and the rest of Australia.

Victoria is currently experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. There are 772 active cases in Victoria and 191 new cases were diagnosed in the past 24 hours.

The outbreak occurred after failures in hotel quarantine allowed the virus to spread within certain suburbs in the city of Melbourne.

Currently, the Victorian government has restricted 12 Melbourne suburbs and placed nine public housing estates under hard lockdown.
Australia to Fund $1.35 Billion for Cyber Security

On Tuesday, the Australian government announced a further $1.35 billion (Australian dollars) in funding to boost cybersecurity and created over 500 new jobs at the Australian Signals Directorate. This is the largest single investment in cybersecurity in Australias history.

Australias Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds: Today, myself and the prime minister have announced that we are making the largest single investment in cybersecurity in Australias history. On Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds attended a large conference. Reynolds stated that the government will allocate $1.35 billion to enhance cybersecurity.
A South Korean man holds a placard during a rally to support Hong Kong's protest over extradition law in front of Chinese embassy in Seoul, South Korea, on June 17, 2019. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Australians May Face Arbitrary Detention in China, Government Advises Against Travel

The Australian federal governments travel advisory site, SmartTraveller, has updated its travel advice on July 7, telling Aussies not to travel to China or they may face arbitrary detention.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trades advisory site stated that authorities in the communist nation have detained foreigners for allegedly endangering national security.

Chinas strict national security laws can be interpreted broadly. This means that a traveller could break the law without realising it, the site warned.

The government advised Australians to research local laws in China as they are much harsher than they are in Australia.

Some of the existing government advice warns Australians that the Chinese regime strictly controls demonstrations and tells travellers to avoid them.

Dont photograph or video protests, the advice reads.

Travellers were also advised to note that the Australian government cant intervene in the Chinese regimes justice process.

We also cant help if youre a dual national and you dont travel on your Australian passport, the advice reads.

According to the government travel advisory, China has suspended all visas on arrival, including transit visas. Travellers who are transiting onto international flights should double-check whether their transit visa is still valid.

Foreign Minister Says the Eyes of the World Remain on Hong Kong

On July 1, the foreign affairs minister, Senator Marise Payne, issued a statement expressing Australias concern for the judicial process and the rights and freedoms enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) legislated a new National Security Law.

Senator Payne noted with concern that Beijing imposed the law without the direct participation of Hong Kongs people, legislature, or the judiciary.

The people of Hong Kong have protested for a number of years against the CCPs encroaching power over the city.

The CCPs new National Security Law undermines the One Party Two Systems framework and the citys high degree of autonomy guaranteed in the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration and Hong Kongs Basic Law.

Australia has a substantial stake in Hong Kongs success. The city is home to our largest commercial presence in Asia and one of our biggest expatriate communities globally, the foreign affairs minister said in a statement.

Payne said: The eyes of the world will remain on Hong Kong.
Beijing Residents Resist Forced Demolition Amid Epidemic

The CCP virus epidemic in Beijing is getting worse. On Jun. 22, a large number of armed police tried to break into a residential community in Changping District, Beijing, and forcibly demolish their villas. Property owners tied white cloths to their heads in a signal they would resist to the death. Hundreds confronted armed police.

One resident told The Epoch Times that the local community was marked for demolition 7 days after a courts decision. On June 22nd, police armed with shields and batons went to confront the owners. The two sides clashed.
Benedict Rogers, a UK human rights activist, speaks at a rally commemorating the 20th anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong in China, on the West lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington on July 18, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Beijings National Security Law Is an All-Out Assault on Hong Kong, Says Human Rights Activist

The new national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing crushes the citys freedoms, its autonomy, and the independence of its judiciary, putting it on the pathway to becoming just another Chinese city, said human rights activist Benedict Rogers, founder of Hong Kong Watch, in an interview with The Epoch Times American Thought Leaders program.

Its an all-out assault on Hong Kong, Rogers said.

The law, which was passed by Chinas National Peoples Congress in an unusually rapid and secretive process, criminalizes subversion of state power, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, with sentences of up to life in prison. The problem is that the Chinese communist regime will likely adopt broad interpretations of these offenses, he said.

The regimes definition of terrorism could include peaceful protesters. The definition of subversion really includes any form of criticism or dissent from the regime, he said.

And collusion with foreign forces could include communications with foreign journalists, activists, and government officials.

The law empowers Beijing to intervene in Hong Kongs judicial process with the creation of a national security committee and a national security office that answer to Beijing. Some trials will be allowed to take place behind closed doors, and violators could potentially be extradited to the mainland for trial.

This is the worst law I think Ive ever seen in many years of human rights work. And it exceeds our worst fears, Rogers said.

Since the law was passed, Hongkongers have told Rogers its now too dangerous for them to contact him. Many Hongkongers have rushed to delete social media accounts. Joshua Wong, the face of the Umbrella Movement in 2014, as well as pro-democracy activists Nathan Law and Agnes Chow, announced they were withdrawing from the pro-democracy Demosisto group that they co-founded.

Article 38 stipulates that the national security law applies to violations committed not just in Hong Kong, but also outside the Region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the Region. This means the law technically applies to even non-Hongkongers outside Hong Kongs borders.

What I do in London criticizing the regime, and what you do in Washington, and this very conversation were having now could in theory be a criminal offense under this law, he said.

The law may also endanger religious believers in Hong Kong, Rogers said, considering the large-scale persecutions of people of faith in China, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, house Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners. There have been many cases of arrested religious believers being charged with subversion of state power, which is also one of the offenses listed in the national security law.

Some religious leaders in Hong Kong, such as Cardinal Joseph Zen, have openly criticized the Chinese regimes suppression of religious freedoms. How long will it be before they end up in the same way that so many Catholic bishops and cardinals and clergy in mainland China have ended upin prison, in house arrest, or even in danger of their lives? Rogers asked.

Hong Kong has also been the only place in China where practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline have been able to freely practice their faith without fear of imprisonment, torture, or high-pressure brainwashing sessions.

I would imagine Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong must be feeling very worried, he said.

Holding Beijing Accountable

Rogers argued for a three-pronged approach for the rest of the world to stand up to the Chinese regimes encroachments on Hong Kong. First, countries should impose sanctions against individuals and entities that are part of the Chinese Communist Party regime in Beijing and its proxies in Hong Kong who are responsible for serious human rights violations and who are responsible for this law, he said.

In the United States, Congress has passed bills imposing sanctions on Chinese officials who implemented the security law as well as the banks and firms that do business with them.

Rogerss second proposal was for the United Nations to establish a special envoy or a special rapporteur for human rights in Hong Kong to monitor and report on the situation. Many have criticized the Chinese regimes outsized influence on the U.N. and thus see it as ineffective in curbing human rights abuses in China. But Rogers argued its important for countries to continue engaging with the U.N. to push Chinas influence back and reshape the U.N. into what it should be.

Third, the international community together should come up with a lifeboat rescue package, he said. Since the law was passed, Taiwan has opened a new office to help Hongkongers seeking asylum, and the British government has opened a pathway to citizenship to Hong Kong residents who hold British National (Overseas) status. An estimated 3 million Hongkongers, about 40 percent of the citys population, are eligible.

In the United States, a bipartisan group of senators have introduced the Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act for Hongkongers at risk of persecution.

It remains to be seen how many Hongkongers will choose to flee. Some, like the prominent pro-democracy activist Nathan Law, have already left.

Ive always seen Hong Kong as the front line in the fight for freedom against authoritarianism, Rogers said.

If the regime is allowed to just get away with this with impunity, then its not going to stop with Hong Kong. Taiwan will be next.

And actually our own societies will be further threatened as well.

American Thought Leaders is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook, YouTube, and The Epoch Times website.
Black Sheriff Warns Rioters: Ill Deputize Every Lawful Gun Owner in This County to Protect This County

A Florida sheriff issued a strongly worded warning to anyone who may be considering violently protesting in his county, saying he would deputize lawful gun owners for help.

If you threaten to come to Clay County and think for one second that well bend our backs for you, youre sadly mistaken, Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels said in a video message posted on Facebook.

Tearing up Clay Countythats not going to be acceptable. And if we cant handle youyou know what Ill do? Im going to exercise the power and authority as the sheriff, and Ill make special deputies of every lawful gun owner in this county and Ill deputize them for this one purposeto stand in the gap between lawlessness and civility.

Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels says he will deputize the countys lawful gun owners to stand in the gap between lawlessness and civility. (Courtesy of Clay County Sheriffs Office)

Thats what were sworn to do and thats what were gonna do. Youve been warned, he said.

The sheriff added that the constitutional rights of protesters will be protected as long as they remain under the umbrellas of peaceful protest or peaceful march.

The message comes as tens of thousands of Americans have protested in recent weeksfollowing George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May. Protesters have decried police brutality and racism and called for reform.

The majority of those demonstrations have remained peaceful. But some, in the early days of unrest, ended in looting and damage. Officials in different parts of the United States hinted that the violence may have been instigated by outside groups who infiltrated the protests with an ulterior motive.

In his Facebook video, the sheriff said that while he had seen images of protests across the country, the relationships between police and the community in Clay County are great and not strained.

Look folks, dont fall victim to subjecting yourself to this conversation that law enforcement is bad. That law enforcement is the enemy of the citizens that were sworn to protect and serve, Daniels said.

The sheriff said officers take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, adding, we end that (oath) with so help me God.

But God is absent from the medias message, or Black Lives Matter, or any other group out there thats making themselves a spectacle.

Harold Rutledge, who will be challenging Daniels in the elections, told WJXT the message seemed like the sheriff challenged rioters and looters to come to Clay County and cause mayhem.

Part of the problem in policing is that some officers need more training in how to interact with all people and all situations, including how to keep calm and how to de-escalate situations. Threatening to make special deputies of every lawful gun owner in this county and Ill deputize them is going to make the problem worse, the statement said.

At least three other candidates also on the ballot all condemned the message.

CNN Wire contributed to this report.
An examination of the more distant and recent past are necessary to understand the series of explosions that have rocked Iran in recent days





by Yossi Melman





Understanding the series of explosions and fires that have rocked Iran over the past week, particularly the explosion at the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, requires us to travel back in time 18 years.









In August 2002, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an umbrella group of exiles and opponents of the Islamic regime, revealed that Iran was building an underground uranium enrichment facility near Natanz. At the same time, it was revealed that the government had set up a workshop in one of Tehrans industrial zones that was masquerading as an electronic watch factory run by the Kalaye Electric Company, but was actually constructing centrifuges.





Unlike Israel, Iran is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and as a member state is obligated to report to the International Atomic Energy Agency on any facility, equipment or nuclear material on its territory, even if it is for peaceful means. The Iranians usual practice has been to deny the existence of banned facilities, only admitting to their existence when forced to. And even when acknowledging them, the Islamic republic made every effort to buy time, until finally being forced to let international nuclear inspectors into the Tehran workshop, the Natanz facility and other sites linked to its nuclear program.





Since then, IAEA inspectors have paid visits to the facilities at varying intervals.





According to foreign reports, Israeli intelligence  the Mossad and the Israeli armys Unit 8200, with the help of other espionage agencies  exposed the illegal activity at Natanz and laundered the information via Iranian opposition groups. It later became clear to the CIA and Britains MI6, from information supplied by the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi, that Iranian nuclear scientists had built centrifuges to enrich uranium based on knowledge and technology secretly acquired from Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistans nuclear bomb.





The discovery of the Natanz facility was a wake-up call for intelligence communities in Israel, the United States and elsewhere, indicating Irans determination to pursue its nuclear program through every possible channel  uranium enrichment, laser enrichment and plutonium production. According to foreign reports, against this backdrop, operational-intelligence cooperation grew between Israel and the United States during President George W. Bushs time in office.





Among other efforts, they would carry out various programs to step up intelligence gathering (via agents, wiretapping and computer hacking), and through increased infiltration of Irans procurement networks around the world  in an effort to have the Iranians provided with faulty information and technology  to sabotaging equipment on its way to Iran and damaging the nuclear facilities themselves.





Journalist James Risen wrote about one of these programs in his 2006 book State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration. According to the book, the Mossad and the CIA plotted to sabotage the electric grid near Irans nuclear sites through the use of electromagnetic pulses. Experts working for the CIA went to a testing site in Nevada to try out their technology on a model they had set up there. The book stated that the Mossad volunteered to smuggle the necessary equipment into Iran via agents in the country.





But when it tested out the technology and assessed its viability, the CIA decided to scrap the program on the grounds that it was not feasible and was too dangerous. Carrying out the plan would have required smuggling trucks into Iran and loading them with heavy equipment. Subsequently, according to reports, Mossad directors (Meir Dagan and Tamir Pardo), Israeli army intelligence chiefs (Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, Amos Yadlin and Aviv Kochavi), along with commanders of Unit 8200, got together with the Americans and other espionage agencies to find other creative ways to damage, disrupt and delay Irans plans.





It was clear to those involved in the work that it was necessary to assemble a wide-ranging set of tools that would make systematic, coordinated, international operations possible and force Iran to suspend its nuclear program at the very least. No one ever imagined that Iran would give up its plans for the nuclear option, if not the construction of an actual atomic bomb.





According to foreign reports, this toolbox included inserting a computer virus into electricity boxes manufactured by the German company Siemens, which were connected to the computers running the Natanz centrifuges. The virus was dubbed Stuxnet and the joint operation by the Mossad, the CIA, Unit 8200 and its U.S. counterpart at the National Security Agency, was called Operation Olympic Games (as revealed in the United States in 2011).





More advanced centrifuges





In 2009, it was discovered that the Iranians had built another uranium enrichment site at Fordo, near the city of Qom, which was built even deeper in the ground than the Natanz facility and would be difficult to destroy. (The Israel Air Force does not have bunker-busting bombs as the United States does).





It also turned out that Iranian experts had managed to develop centrifuges that were more advanced than those acquired from Pakistan. The Iranian ones were capable of enriching larger quantities of uranium in less time.





As the other operations were proceeding, nuclear scientists who were part of Irans nuclear weaponization team, responsible for the most critical stage of nuclear weapons production, began to disappear one after another. The U.S. secretary of state at the time, Hillary Clinton, declared that her country was not involved in the deaths or assassinations. From her statement and prior precedents and analyses, the international media attributed the assassinations to the Mossad.





According to foreign reports, these operations were a mix of Mossad, Iranian agents and others assigned to the task. It was clear that the assassinated scientists would be replaced by others, but the targeted killings also had a psychological aspect  consisting of a threat that it was hoped would dissuade Iranian scientists working at universities from joining the secret military project.





In addition to the killings and sabotage, the United States and other Western powers (and later, following a UN Security Council resolution, Russia and China) increased diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran. Here, too, the Mossad played an important role, being involved in gathering information that would be the basis for targeting Iranian companies and the financial sectors upon which sanctions could be imposed.





Irans economy was hit hard and in 2013 the Iranians agreed to enter negotiations, which in July 2015 produced the international nuclear agreement with the six major powers, which was signed in Vienna (the JCPOA).





Most senior Israeli defense and intelligence officials expressed the view that, despite its shortcomings, the deal was the least bad of all available options. But Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu thought otherwise and began to do all he could to scuttle the agreement. Threats made by Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak, backed by visible air force exercises, created the impression that a military strike was imminent and unavoidable. It was one of the most successful deception operations in history.





Netanyahu also appeared before members of Congress in March 2015 to speak out against the agreement, a deal then-President Barack Obama supported. Its possible that without Netanyahus involvement, a better agreement could have been achieved.





Main task





In 2016, Yossi Cohen was appointed as director of the Mossad. As he has told associates, his main task was to obtain information proving that Iran was violating the nuclear deal. One of his major accomplishments was the break-in at Irans nuclear archive in January 2018 and the theft of its contents, which were brought back to Israel. (On Sunday, Netanyahu extended Cohens term as director by another six months, until June 2021.) But even this impressive intelligence coup didnt yield diplomatic results. The world seemingly wasnt impressed by the findings and stuck to its position that the nuclear agreement should be respected.





On the other hand, President Donald Trump, with backing and persuasion from Netanyahu, announced in 2018 that the United States would be unilaterally withdrawing from the agreement. Following that, Iran began violating the deal  including, most significantly, with its renewed efforts to develop advanced centrifuges.





This is the backdrop for recent events in Iran: four explosions and fires, which occurred at an X-ray lab in Tehran; a missile base at Parchin (where the weaponization program was based); a power plant in Ahvaz, an area that is home to Irans Arab minority; and the enrichment plant at Natanz.





Speaking Sunday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi reiterated Israels traditional responses on the subject. Ashkenazi said Israel would not permit Iran to develop nuclear weapons, while Gantz explained that not every unusual event is linked to Israel. The defense minister noted that Iran has had a history of major accidents due to faulty maintenance and outdated equipment, as a result of the sanctions against the country.





Gantz and Ashkenazi both know what the late head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, used to frequently say: that Iran is a mosaic of ethnic groups (including Arabs, Kurds, Baluchis and Azeris) who are not pleased with the regime and have formed underground groups. According to foreign reports, some of these groups are gaining assistance from the CIA and the Mossad.





Its possible that a combination of the comments by the two Israeli ministers along with Dagans view might provide an explanation as to what is currently happening in Iran. Israel is doing absolutely everything it can to prevent Iran from moving ahead with its nuclear program, while Iran is prone to accidents and is exposed to terrorist attacks.





Whether or not Israel is responsible for these events, the fact the Iranians are accusing Israel only enhances the prestige of Israeli intelligence, while simultaneously damaging Irans own morale and its self-image. The major question is, if Iran retaliates, whom would it retaliate against, and how? A cyberattack on Israeli installations, as occurred earlier this year, is just one option.





The writer writes for Haaretz, where this piece first appeared.




Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrives at the flag-raising ceremony before a ministerial meeting at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, on May 12, 2020. (Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images)

Brazils President Announces He Tested Positive for COVID-19

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19.

Everyone knew that it would reach a considerable part of the population sooner or later. It was positive for me, Bolsonaro told reporters, referring to the test he took on Monday. It came back positive, he said.

Bolsonaros diagnosis came just three days after he had lunch at the home of the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, Todd Chapman, in Brasilia.

Earlier on Tuesday, his press office told CNN that Bolsonaro was receiving a dose of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin.

On Monday, the Brazilian leader said that he took the COVID-19 test, and it found that his lungs are clean after reports said he was suffering from a fever. Ive done a lung screening, my lung is clean, OK? I went to do a COVID exam a while ago, but everything is okay, he told reporters.

But he also warned people not to get too close to him: You cant get very close [to me], OK? Recommendation for everyone.

Brazil has reported more than 1.6 million cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, leading to more than 60,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The mayor of Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon area, was taken to a hospital in Sao Paulo after falling ill with the virus.

The doctors are optimistic and so are we, Arthur Virgilio, the mayor, told The Guardian this week.

Bolsonaro has previously tested negative for the virus three times, including after he returned from a meeting with President Donald Trump in Florida in March. Several members of his entourage tested positive for the virus.

People walk with bags at a popular shopping street amid the CCP virus outbreak, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 19, 2020. (Amanda Perobelli/Reuters)

Our life has to go on. Jobs should be maintained, Bolsonaro in March as cases started to rise. He has maintained that the economic troubles caused by lockdowns would be far greater than the CCP virus itself.

On Monday night Bolsonaros son, Carlos, accused critics of seeking the presidents death.

The immense number of people rooting for the death of the head of the executive right now should trigger an immediate show of solidarity from other [political] leaders, Carlos Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter.

Last month, meanwhile, Bolsonaro said Brazil may be pulled out of the UNs World Health Organization (WHO) after it issued warnings about the rise of the virus in Latin America.

Bolsonaro said Brazil will consider leaving the organization unless it stops being a partisan political organization, Reuters reported.
Rescue workers are seen at the site where a bus carrying students plunged into a reservoir, in Anshun, Guizhou province, China, on July 7, 2020. (China Daily via Reuters)

Bus Plunges Into Reservoir in China, at Least 21 Dead

BEIJINGA public bus carrying students to an exam plunged into a reservoir in China on Tuesday after making a sudden swerve across five other lanes of traffic, leaving at least 21 dead and 16 injured, a video on state media showed.

The video on CCTVs social media account showed the bus moving at a slow pace on the inside lane of its side of the road before it made a 90-degree turn and smashed through the guardrail onto the other side of the six-lane dual carriageway and into the water.

CCTV said some of the passengers on the public bus were students scheduled to take the gaokao, or national college entrance examination.

The cause of the incident in Anshun in the southwestern Guizhou Province is under investigation, state media reported.

It was not immediately clear how many people had been on board the bus or how many of them were students.

The Epoch Times obtained a list of the injured who were sent to the local Anshun 73 Hospital. Among 15 patients, there was one male 13-year-old, one male 17-year-old, one female 17-year-old, and one female 14-year-old.

State media showed photos of the bus half-submerged in the water by the side of the road as recovery efforts continued.

The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks during the company's event in New Delhi, India on Jan. 15, 2020. (Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images)

CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google to Testify Before Congressional Panel

The CEOs of four of the largest technology companies in the world have agreed to appear before a congressional panel later this month.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook will face questioning from lawmakers in Washington on July 27 at noon.

Since last June, the Subcommittee has been investigating the dominance of a small number of digital platforms and the adequacy of existing antitrust laws and enforcement, House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline (D-R.I.) said in a joint statement.

Given the central role these corporations play in the lives of the American people, it is critical that their CEOs are forthcoming. As we have said from the start, their testimony is essential for us to complete this investigation.

The hearing is part of the Judiciary Committees probe of competition in the digital marketplace.

Lawmakers have been looking into the issue since last year.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) speaks in Washington on June 25, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Nadler, Cicilline, and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the ranking member of the Antitrust Subcommittee, in September 2019 sent document requests to the four tech companies as part of the probe.

The documents requested will provide the Committee with a better understanding of the degree to which these intermediaries enjoy market power, how they are using that market power, whether they are using their market power in ways that have harmed consumers and competition, and how Congress should respond, Nadler said at the time.

The investigation is focusing on documenting competition problems in digital markets, examining whether dominant firms are engaging in anti-competitive conduct, and assessing whether existing antitrust laws, competition policies, and current enforcement levels are adequate to address these issues.

The investigation isnt linked to the Trump administrations efforts to curb the power of social media platforms, which are shielded from most liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Those efforts are opposed by Nadler, who said in May that Trump was wasting taxpayer dollars dealing with internet companies who are finally trying to address misinformation on their platforms.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifies before the House Judiciary Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington on Dec. 11, 2018. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Twitter in particular has increasingly become involved in politics, hiding and placing warnings on some content that President Donald Trump has posted in recent months while taking no action against his presumed challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden.

The Department of Justice in mid-June unveiled a series of legislative proposals that are meant to update what the agency said was outdated immunity for online platforms.

Attorney General William Barr called the censorship of some content by tech companies very disturbing, adding: These companies held themselves out as open to all comers. Thats how they built up all their membership and their networks, saying, you know, we have a wide variety of views. People can come in and post their views and their positions and their statements.

Then they have switched. Now theyre being more selective, and theyre starting to censor different viewpoints, he said.

The Department of Justice is also conducting an antitrust review into the platforms, which started last year.

Janita Kan contributed to this report.
People observe the rising water level of a river at the flood-hit Zhuoshui ancient town, following heavy rainfall in Chongqing's Qianjiang district, China, on June 28, 2020. (China Daily via Reuters)

China Raises Emergency Level as Heavy Rain Triggers Floods

SHANGHAIChina raised its national emergency response level on Tuesday as days of torrential rain triggered flood warnings across the country, killing more than 100 people and disrupting the first day of national college exams.

State television reported the Chinese governments office for flood control raised the response level to III from IV on its four-tier scale, and said 13,117 emergency response and rescue staff had been deployed to deal with the floods.

As of last Friday, authorities confirmed at least 119 people were dead or missing nationwide as a result of the rainstorms, while the emergency ministry estimated economic losses to be in excess of 40 billion yuan ($5.7 billion).

House is inundated by flood water, while a villager stands in front of his mudslide-buried house and truck in Yiliang county, Zhaotong city in Yunnan, China on July 1, 2020. (Provided to The Epoch Times by interviewee)

Guizhou, Anhui, Hunan, and Hubei provinces were expected to record 250280 millimeters (1011 inches) of rain on Tuesday, according to the China Meteorological Administration. In the central city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus epidemic first erupted in December, a record-breaking 426 millimeters (16.8 inches) of rain fell on Sunday, the official China Daily reported, and authorities were using giant pumps to remove water from flooded roads.

A woman looking at the aftermath of flooding caused by heavy rainfall in Mianning county, in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in southwestern Sichuan province, China, on June 28, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

State-run media Xinhua reported that a key reservoir for flood control in southeastern Zhejiang Province opened its spillways for the first time in nine years to lower water levels.

With nearly 11 million students set to sit their college exams, the weather agency warned parents to heed forecasts and prepare school journeys carefully.

Exams in some parts of Anhui Province were postponed as a result of the worst flooding for 50 years, the local government reported.

The city of Qianjiang in the central province of Hubei became the first city to issue a Level I flood response alert on Monday after roads and farmland were inundated.

Authorities in Hubei and neighboring Hunan Province have also issued orange flood alertsthe second highestwith some rivers 23 meters higher than warning levels, according to water ministry data.

State media also reported that 21 people died and another 15 were injured after a bus crashed into a reservoir in southwest Guizhou Province. It was not clear how many people were in the bus at the time of the crash or what caused the accident.

Rescue workers are seen at the site where a bus carrying students plunged into a reservoir, in Anshun, Guizhou province, China, on July 7, 2020. (China Daily via Reuters)

By David Stanway
A normally busy Main Street is deserted as the small businesses that line the business district remain closed after the governor instituted a shelter-in-place order in an attempt to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in Rockton, Ill., on March 24, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Congress Looking at Narrowed Parameters for Distributing Remaining PPP Funding

Lawmakers are considering stricter parameters for small businesses to qualify for the second round of PPP funding. Lawmakers will iron out the specifics of these restrictions upon returning from recess on July 20.

Congress extended the deadline for small businesses to apply for the potentially forgivable loans from June 30 to Aug. 8. Approximately $130 billion in allocated funding has not been used.

The $670 billion PPP fund was created by Congress in March to provide pandemic relief to small businesses with 500 or fewer employees. These loans are forgivable if the businesses use funds for payroll costs and expenses such as interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) chairman of the Small Business Committee was recently asked by reporters about including a method to measure which businesses qualify for additional PPP funds.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) talks to reporters after the Senate voted on the budget agreement at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Aug. 1, 2019. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

I think everyone understands thatll have to be a part of it in the second round  So I think thatll most definitely, in my view, be a part of it, said Rubio.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told The Hill she also agrees that additional restrictions would be included in the second round of PPP aid.

It would have a revenue-loss test  and it would probably also have a lower number of employees as a ceiling to qualify, Collins told The Hill about the next coronavirus bill.

Collins indicated that it was their goal to have a draft by the time lawmakers return to Washington on July 20.

Since implementing the pandemic relief for small businesses, lawmakers have been looking at ways to improve the program to ensure those businesses that most need the funds actually get them.

Lawmakers recently changed the loan application date, since the effects of the pandemic continue to be felt and businesses are still not fully reopened. Congress also changed the allocation that the Treasury had established using 75 percent of the funds for payroll to 60 percent after businesses needs were taken into account.

The PPP has gotten bipartisan praise as being successful, but it has also come under fire because, during the programs initial stage, some large corporations disclosed that they were able to use loopholes to qualify for funds.

We have all heard the stories  stories of big businesses with thousands of employees that found loopholes to qualify for these loans, universities with massive endowments accepting these loans, and even small businesses taking these loans when they havent seen a downturn in their revenue, said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said he supports using the remainder of the money in the PPP to create a new round of the program but wants a more targeted approach.

Lets try and direct future financial aid to those workers those businesses that truly need it, and particularly those businesses that really are viable, can reopen, might need more capital, we just need to be smarter about how we approach it moving in the future, Johnson said on CNBC.

The pandemic required, we had to do something massive I think, by and large, that worked, but now we need to focus and really direct what were going to do in the future, based on what were dealing with right now, added Johnson.

Lawmakers are currently negotiating ways to repurpose the leftover funds that would help smaller, hardest-hit businesses to tap into a more targeted second round of assistance. Senate Democrats have introduced a bill to permit small businesses to take out a second loan if they have 100 employees or fewer, including sole proprietorships and self-employed individuals, and have used up an initial PPP loan, or be on pace to exhaust the loan.

The first round was to get money out quickly to save small businesses. The second round needs to be targeted to those small businesses that really need the help. Thats why our legislation targets it to small businesses under 100 workers, those that have economic needs that can be demonstrated, said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Small Business Committee.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Jan. 16, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Cardin and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) are working with Rubio and Collins on what the second round of PPP should look like.

Similarly, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee, told reporters on June 30 that hes working on a more targeted approach for the $130 billion.

My preference is that we hold on to the $130 billion that was in use and rather than having a revert, using that to fund the second round of assistance to small businesses. Obviously well have to be more targeted at truly small businesses, Rubio told reporters.

Im very concerned that a lot of minority businesses, particularly black-owned businesses already struggling to begin with, have access to capital.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks at a reporter as he listens to a question during a news conference outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, on June 29, 2020. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Conservative MPs Call For Emergency Meeting Over WE Charity Scandal

Three Conservative MPs are calling for an emergency meeting to discuss Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus decision to give WE Charity a sole-sourced contract for the Canada Student Service Grant as well as other sole-source contracts the Liberal government has given the organization.

Kelly Block, Kelly McCauley, and Ziad Aboultaif, all members of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, sent a letter on July 7 to the chair of the committee requesting the emergency meeting.

Canadians deserve to know why Justin Trudeau handed a $900 million sole-sourced contract to an organization with close ties to his family and the Liberal Party of Canada, said Block. While the Liberals abruptly backtracked and announced that WE Charity will no longer be managing the student grant program, there are a number of outstanding questions regarding Justin Trudeaus claim that this charity was the best and only organization able to deliver the program.

At the emergency meeting, Conservative MPs intend to put forward a motion to undertake an emergency study into the awarding of the contract and prior contracts the federal government awarded to WE Charity. The study would also include an inquiry into why the federal public service wasnt given the job of administering the Canada Student Service Grant.

Last week the federal ethics commissioner also launched an investigation into the Trudeau governments now-scrapped $900-million contract with WE Charity.

Since WE Charity was announced as the manager of the $912 million grant last month, the sole-sourced deal has been criticized because of Trudeaus close relationship with the organization, founded by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Trudeau, his wife, and his mother have all been involved in WE events and activities.

After a public backlash over the apparent conflict of interest, the Liberals announced July 3 that the Toronto-based youth organization would no longer be managing the program, and public servants will administer the pandemic-related grants instead.
French Junior Industry Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher, le French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, French Junior Minister of Public Action and Accounts Olivier Dussopt, and French Junior Minister of Small and Medium Entreprises Alain Griset arrive to attend the first weekly cabinet meeting after the government reshuffle, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on July 7, 2020. (Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)

Conservatives Rise to Prominence in New Macron Government

PARISPresident Emmanuel Macrons reshuffled government took office on Tuesday, with conservatives given prominent roles in efforts to rescue Frances coronavirus-ravaged economy from the worst depression in decades.

Reappointed as finance minister, Bruno Le Maire promised a company-focused recovery plan to revive growth, but said he would not lose control over spending.

Le Maire said he faced a crushing task confronted by the severest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. My road map is clear and simple: it will be recoverymorning, noon, and night.

The coronavirus crisis has unravelled the hard-fought gains of a liberal economic reform agenda that provoked waves of protests during Macrons first three years in office.

Before the pandemic hit, French growth was among the highest in the euro zone, unemployment was falling and foreign investors were rewarding Macron for deregulating parts of the economy.

French President Emmanuel Macron (back row, center), French Prime Minister Jean Castex (3rd-L), and the newly appointed ministers attend the first weekly cabinet meeting after the government reshuffle, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France, on July 7, 2020. (Ian Langsdon/AFP via Getty Images)

But now the jobless rate is rising, the government forecasts the economy will shrink by 11 percent and debt is spiraling higher.

It is out of the question that economic stimulus gets done at the expense of well-managed public accounts over the long term, Le Maire continued.

The reshuffle saw former conservatives, including Le Maire, in control of the most influential ministriesa sign Macron will seek to consolidate support among centre-right voters ahead of a possible re-election bid.

An Odoxa-Dentsu consulting poll showed eight in 10 people believed the reshuffle would not lead to a shift in policy direction.

Macron redrew the political landscape when he swept to power three years ago, carving out a niche in the centre ground and poaching ministers from the left and right.

On Monday, he let go of several former Socialist ministers, while promoting others from conservative ranks.

By Michel Rose and Leigh Thomas
Cinderella Castle is seen at the end of an empty Main Street at Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando, Fla., on March 16, 2020. (Gregg Newton/Reuters)

Disney Says Walt Disney World Reopening Is on Track for Saturday

Walt Disney Co will stick to its plans to reopen its Walt Disney World theme parks in Orlando, Florida, to a limited number of guests on Saturday, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Floridas coronavirus cases have soared in the last month, with the states daily count topping 10,000 three times in the last week. The death rate from COVID-19 rose nearly 19 percent in the last week from the week prior, bringing the states death toll to more than 3,800.

Some workers have signed a petition asking Disney to delay Walt Disney Worlds reopening. The resort, home to the worlds most-visited theme parks, was closed to guests in March.

In a statement on Tuesday, Disneys Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Pamela Hymel, said new requirements from temperature checks, to face coverings and extra sanitation would enable guests to enjoy Disney World responsibly.

While COVID-19, and the risk of contracting it, is present in public places, there are many important ways that we can all help promote each others safety, Hymel said.

By Lisa Richwine
Wife of displaced Yazidi Nayef al-Hamo sits with her neighbours on the road as she heads back to Sinjar following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and economic crisis, near Dohuk, Iraq July 3, 2020. (Ari Jalal/Reuters)

Displaced Yazidis Head Back to Sinjar as Coronavirus Lockdown Bites

SHARYA, IraqHundreds of Yazidi families driven from their hometown of Sinjar in northern Iraq years ago are now returning as the impact of coronavirus lockdown measures makes their lives in exile even harder.

Many have lost their jobs and aid from donors in Sharya, where they have been living since they fled Sinjar in 2014.

Mahma Khalil, the mayor of Sinjar but now in exile in Dohuk in Iraqs Kurdistan region, said more than 1,200 displaced families have returned from their temporary homes to Sinjar since June. Most had relatives there who serve in the military or police, he said.

Overrun by Islamic State in 2014 and liberated by an array of forces the following year, little has been rebuilt in Sinjar.

Water is scarce and power intermittent in the city, whose former occupiers killed thousands of Yazidis and forced many women into sexual slavery.

Despite the devastation that makes the city still largely unfit for habitation, members of this ancient minority feel they have no other choice.

The situation has become really bad, Yazidi community leader Jameel Elias Hassan al-Hamo said outside his makeshift home in Sharya, just south of Dohuk.

Young men from his community who used to earn up to $17 a day working at restaurants and factories can no longer find work because of the lockdowns impact on the economy, al-Hamo said.

As he spoke, men carried pieces of furniture, blankets, and bags of food out of his home and piled them onto the back of a pickup truck.

The coronavirus outbreak has worsened Iraqs economic crisis, pushing oil prices down in a country that depends on crude export for more than 90 percent of its revenue. Restrictions on travel and curfews have driven many out of work.

Al-Hamos daughter-in-law Gole Zeblo Ismaeel said that the monthly aid packages they used to depend on became scarcer as the crisis impacted the work of humanitarian organizations.

Another reason for their return was the restriction on internal travel between semi-autonomous Kurdistan and neighboring Iraqi regions, imposed since March to curb the spread of the virus. Al-Hamo said that most Yazidi families in Sharya have a son enrolled in armed forces stationed in Sinjar, who have been unable to visit for weeks.

Some havent seen their families for over three months now, he said. Although their hometown is destroyed, al-Hamo said they have been promised support by local aid organizations upon their return, and he believed he will be reunited with the rest of his family soon.

I registered over 400 names and phone numbers of relatives, members of the tribe, and of the community. They said that once we, the sheikhs and tribal leaders, go back, they will follow us, he said.

Khalil said he has been pleading for funds from the central government to step up reconstruction efforts in Sinjar, but he believed it wouldnt happen any time soon.

By Kawa Omar
Dutch head of National Investigation Andy Kraag speaks during a press conference at the Eurojust office, on the dismantling of an encrypted criminal communication network, in The Hague, on July 2, 2020. (Sem van der Wal /ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

Dutch Police Arrest 6 Men, Uncover Makeshift Torture Chamber

THE HAGUEDutch police arrested six men after discovering sea containers that had been converted into a makeshift prison and sound-proofed torture chamber complete with a dentists chair, tools including pliers, scalpels, and handcuffs, a high ranking officer announced Tuesday.

Authorities said police conducted the raid before the torture chamber could be used and alerted potential victims, who went into hiding.

The grisly discovery was made last month by officers investigating leads generated by data from encrypted phones used by criminals that were cracked recently by French police. Detectives in Britain and the Netherlands have already arrested hundreds of suspects based on the encrypted messages.

Tuesdays announcement gave a chilling insight into the increasingly violent Dutch criminal underworld, which is involved in the large scale production and trafficking of drugs.

A view of a sea container equipped as a torture chamber in Wouwse Plantage, Netherlands, is shown in this grab taken from video made available by the Netherlands Police on July 7, 2020. (Netherlands Police via AP)

Dutch police said last week that their investigations, code-named 26Lemont, based on millions of messages from the EncroChat phones, had led to the arrest of more than 100 suspects and seizure of more than 8,000 kilograms (17,600 pounds) of cocaine and 1,200 kilograms (2,600 pounds) of crystal meth as well as the dismantling of 19 synthetic drugs labs and seizure of dozens of firearms.

On June 22, Dutch national police force officers arrested six men on suspicion of crimes including preparing kidnappings and serious assault. Detectives also discovered the seven converted sea containers in a warehouse in Wouwse Plantage, a small village in the southwestern Netherlands, close to the border with Belgium, according to a statement released Tuesday.

They were tipped off by messages from an EncroChat phone including photos of the container and dentists chair with belts attached to the arm and foot supports. The messages called the warehouse the treatment room and the ebi, a reference to a top security Dutch prison. The messages also reaveled identities of potential victims, who were warned and went into hiding, police said.

Video released by the police showed a heavily armed arrest team blasting open a door at the warehouse and discovering the improvised prison. Another armed team detained a suspect in Rotterdam.

Six of the containers were intended as cells in which people could be tied up and one container was intended as a torture chamber, Andy Kraag, head of the polices National Investigation Service, said in a video released by police, adding that the police operation prevented a number of violent crimes.

A search of the containers uncovered bags containing tools including hedge cutters, scalpels, and pliers. The tools were likely intended to torture victims or at least put them under pressure, the police statement said.

In searches of other properties, including what police described as a base for the criminals near the port city of Rotterdam, officers found police uniforms and body armor, stolen vehicles, 25 firearms and drugs.

A court in Amsterdam ordered the six suspects held for 90 days as investigations continue.

This is a great result of the 26Lemont investigation, Kraag said. And, take it from me, many more results will follow.

By Mike Corder
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had a phone call on Tuesday with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in which the pair discussed the latest developments concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis, and developments in Palestine and Libya, the Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman said.

According to the Egyptian foreign ministry, Shoukry stressed Egypt's rejection of any unilateral action on the mega-dam before a comprehensive, fair and well-balanced agreement is reached between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.

Last week, talks on the dam between Cairo, Addis Ababa and Khartoum resumed in response to a call from South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, the current chair of the AU.

Following the first session of the AU-brokered talks, Egypt and Sudan said that three countries had agreed to delay the filling until a trilateral agreement on the disputed project is reached. The AU-brokered talks are due to end on 11 July.

Shoukry and Raab also discussed the latest regional developments, including the situation in Palestine, where Shoukry stressed the importance of reaching a two-state solution and warned that any unilateral action could weaken the chances of peace and affect the stability of the region.

Israel is considering annexing parts of the occupied West Bank under a US-plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace, a move that has been rejected by the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank.

The Egyptian and British officials also discussed the situation in Libya, and Shoukry warned of the grave consequences of any illegitimate foreign interference in the North African country.

Shoukry underlined the need to contain the crisis by working to bring about a comprehensive political settlement that ensures the restoration of the Libyan state and national state institutions.

Shoukry and Raab also agreed on the importance of continuing their consultations and coordination on all issues of mutual concern during the period ahead, the Egyptian spokesman concluded.

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Bloodthirsty private hospital bosses pursue aggressive marketing tactics. They force their part-time doctors and nurses, who also work in state hospitals, to divert patients from the state hospitals to their private hospitals. Swindlers, con artists and cheats are hired on commission by these private hospitals for this purpose as well.





by Arsalan Ghani









Woman in Gujarat, India ( Unflah photo) Based on officially submitted figures, India ranks 154 among 195 Countries in the Global Healthcare Index in terms of access and quality measures. Counting unofficial figures, it would rank even lower. Official government figures show India's doctor-to-population ratio is 1:1,655. For reference, the WHO recommends 1:1,000. In the government sector, there is one medical doctor per 11,000 people on average. In poor states such as Bihar, this number is 28,391, while in the capital city Delhi, the ratio is one doctor to every 2,203 people. The bed-to-population ratio is 0.5 per 1,000 on average, against the WHO recommendation of 3.5 per 1,000. The situation in rural areas is much grimmer. About 60 percent of the Indian healthcare system is in the hands of private profiteers who are benefitting from peoples illnesses. The COVID-19 crisis is hitting India hard. Despite only spending 1.2 percent of GDP on healthcare, Modi is assuring his fellow countrymen that they do not need to worry; that India is equipped with the required infrastructure to cope with the pandemic. This is a blatant lie. The Indian healthcare system was devastated even before COVID-19, and it is certainly no better under the current crisis. With the coronavirus hitting all major towns and villages, the rottenness of the Indian healthcare system is laid bare. Here, we will analyse the situation facing the health system in India, the states inability to address the pandemic, the role of the private sector, the limits of Indian 'democracy' and the revolutionary road forward.Based on officially submitted figures, India ranks 154 among 195 Countries in the Global Healthcare Index in terms of access and quality measures. Counting unofficial figures, it would rank even lower. Official government figures show India's doctor-to-population ratio is 1:1,655. For reference, the WHO recommends 1:1,000. In the government sector, there is one medical doctor per 11,000 people on average. In poor states such as Bihar, this number is 28,391, while in the capital city Delhi, the ratio is one doctor to every 2,203 people. The bed-to-population ratio is 0.5 per 1,000 on average, against the WHO recommendation of 3.5 per 1,000. The situation in rural areas is much grimmer. About 60 percent of the Indian healthcare system is in the hands of private profiteers who are benefitting from peoples illnesses.





Disease prevention for poor: a myth





India is not only a country that houses a quarter of the world's poor but also contains the highest numbers of people with chronic hunger: one of the significant factors contributing to disease vulnerability. Prevention of diseases is impossible in India. The Food and Agricultural Organisation estimates that 195 million people in India are undernourished, which is around 14.5 percent of the population. This is the official figure, but the reality is much worse. 70 percent of minor deaths are linked to hunger. More than 50 percent of the population lack access to clean drinking water. Pollution, traditionally considered an urban issue, is now ravaging villages and households in small towns, comprising 68 percent of the total population. While vehicles and uncontrolled industrial emissions are destroying the urban atmosphere, poisonous pesticide spray is doing the same to villages.





If the poor somehow manage to escape hunger, they still are vulnerable to diseases, given the condition of their food. In order to reduce costs and increase profits, dangerous chemicals and additives are introduced to food ingredients and sold to ordinary people by fatcats. This includes adulterations to spices, poisonous pesticide-ridden vegetables, chemically enhanced meat and milk, and oils dangerously high in saturated fats, in addition to a lack of hygiene in street foods. The Centre for Science and Environment Delhi estimates that 2 million deaths every year are caused worldwide by diarrhoea arising from contaminated food and water, 1.5 million of them children, and 700,000 of these in South Asia alone.





Access to quality public healthcare is a class issue in India, with the affluent having access to a clean environment, inside and outside their houses, while poor working-class people are forced to live in densely crowded and often polluted urban areas. The rich can afford to buy organic and pesticide-free, uncontaminated food, while the poor cannot even think of such luxuries. All state laws, regulations and control against food contamination only to help the rich. The poor are forced to eat unregulated and cheaply available, dangerous foods that test the limits of their immune systems.





Rural farmers and their families are exposed to dangerous pesticides on a daily basis. Poisonous sprays and byproducts from factories heavily contaminate rivers from which people obtain water for their daily use. Cancer is rife in rural Punjab and Haryana, considered breadwinner states, caused by poisonous pesticide sprays on farming lands. The irony is that there is no proper cancer treatment hospital in Punjab. The state runs a regular train known as the 'cancer train' through major farming villages across the states, collecting cancer patients and driving them hundreds of miles down to treatment centres in Bikaner Rajasthan.





The Indian government is fully aware of the public health crises, but turns a blind eye, because it is unable and unwilling to do anything under the present capitalist system of private profit production. Sick people are left at the mercy of the rotten healthcare system.





Wrecked government-run hospitals





The situation in government hospitals is worse than one could ever imagine. Treatment is free, but people are treated like animals. The buildings of almost all state-run hospitals are crumbling due to corruption in the maintenance funds. Hardly any medical equipment is maintained properly.





In 2017, in Gorakhpur Uttar Pradesh, about 63 children were suffocated to death in front of their helpless parents, because the hospital ran out of liquid oxygen cylinders and the private contractor refused to supply oxygen because of a previous unpaid bill of $107,000. This incident provoked a nationwide protest.





The poor regions in India seldom have any proper functioning healthcare infrastructure. These regions are often infested with deadly disease outbreaks, with children most at risk. 80 percent of Primary Health Centres lack a qualified doctor, if they somehow exist in villages. Patients and their carers have to travel tens to hundreds of miles to reach a hospital with a qualified doctor. This gives rise to chronic overcrowding in state hospitals, which cannot refuse to take in new patients by law.





The leeching private hospitals





Private profiteering hospitals and treatment centres fill capacity gaps in the state healthcare system. But they are no better than their state-managed counterparts. In fact, they are much worse. Apart from a few large private hospitals, the majority are located in residential houses and makeshift office spaces. Only 10 percent of the 1 million doctors in India work in the public health sector, the rest are in the private sector. After spending tens of millions of rupees on medical college fees and other living expenses to become a doctor, the potentially lucrative private sector seems an attractive prospect for newly qualified medics, where they can earn high salaries and commissions from pharmaceutical companies. But still, doctors are in limited supply in most of the private hospitals as well. This does not stop private hospitals from regular functioning and performing complicated operations in the absence of doctors. If treatment goes wrong and the patient is near death, they are shifted to a state hospital to avoid liability and a bad reputation.





Bloodthirsty private hospital bosses pursue aggressive marketing tactics. They force their part-time doctors and nurses, who also work in state hospitals, to divert patients from the state hospitals to their private hospitals. Swindlers, con artists and cheats are hired on commission by these private hospitals for this purpose as well. Also, there is a whole fleet of private-run ambulances at the disposal of the swindlers, parked outside of state hospitals, ready to pick up incoming patients and their families, and redirect them to private hospitals.





In a private hospital, a patient gets everything  except proper treatment  at a high cost. Minor illnesses are diagnosed as major ones, and the patient ends up spending days in an expensive ward with daily mounting bills. If patients exhaust their supply of money in the middle of their treatments, they are kicked out of the hospital and/or immediately shifted to a state hospital. Hardly any poor people come out of hospital without colossal debts. Several private hospitals also employ the services of thugs for debt recovery from patients and their families. In a lot of cases, local police officers extend their services as debt collectors on behalf of the private hospitals for a commission.





Private hospitals in rural areas are hotbeds for the illegal human organ trade. The government has formed teams to do surprise checks in PHCs and hospitals for quality control, but due to rampant corruption and political connections, nothing happens to improve private hospitals conduct.





Several NGOs and philanthropists are active in healthcare and often provide free or low-cost treatment facilities to the poor. Large Indian capitalists such as Nadar, Ambani, Piramal, Premji, Godrej, Adani and others have opened charity hospitals. But only a tiny percentage of patients are treated free of cost; for the rest of the patients at these facilities, it is a rip-off. Often, charity is used as a vehicle to evade taxes by these big capitalists. Several international charities are linked to pharmaceutical multinationals, who use them as a means to penetrate into Indian markets or for drug trials.





The malpractice committed by private hospitals in their lust for profits has dire implications given the current pandemic. The New Meerut Hospital, a private facility in Uttar Pradesh, recently had its license revoked by the local government after a video came to light of an employee telling the relative of a patient that, for Rs 2,500, the hospital will provide a negative COVID-19 test report, so the patient will be able to go back to work and avoid quarantine. It transpired that the hosptial manager was behind this scheme. There have been 27,000 cases of COVID-19 and 785 deaths in Uttar Pradesh so far. Private sector crooks are willing to exploit the desperation of sufferering people, and push these numbers even higher in exchange for a quick profit.





Fake medicines and quackery





The pharmaceutical industry in India is appalling. International agencies suggest that 20 percent of medicines sold in India are fake, and a lot more are substandard  but the real figure is much higher. The inability of the government to regulate the pharmaceutical sector is encouraging all types of profiteeringmafiosi to venture in the medicine manufacturing business. The poor can only access cheap, adulterated medicines with limited effects. Patients are supposed to get free medicines during their treatment in a state hospital, but due to rampant corruption, there is hardly any stock of free medicines. Patients have to visit pharmacies, which mushroom around hospitals, selling substandard medicines at high prices. Often patients and their families decide to abandon hospital treatment and let the patient suffer or die because they cannot afford the expense. Despite India's considerable exports of medicines to the USA and UK (80 percent of Britain's NHS generic medicines are imported from India), Indians at home are deprived of essential and lifesaving medicines.





The majority of Indians are going to quacks for cheap and unscientific treatments, the market for which is thriving. These snake oil salesmen often use a combination of various herbs with alleged magical properties to treat real illness. Their 'treatments' are not only ineffective but often aggravate the illnesses of their patients, who then end up in hospital. The ruling class knows that they cannot provide effective healthcare to the population under capitalism; therefore, they are at the forefront of promoting such an unscientific approach to treatment, and keeping masses ignorant and reliant on 'magic'.





Various kinds of fake medicines are promoted in print and electronic media, including social media. Quacks who make fortunes for themselves also financially support politicians from the ruling parties. Prime Minister Modi himself is a staunch supporter of these magic treatments, and regularly promotes fake medicines and regimes to cure serious illness, resulting in more deaths.





A famous multimillionaire quack named Baba Ram Dev is promoting such fake medicinal products in combination with yoga, and has even declared existing products called Coronil and Swasari as medicines to cure COVID-19.





One of the major panaceas churned out by BJP leaders is cow urine, which, according to them, can be used to treat all kinds of diseases, including COVID-19. This unscientific approach also permeates through the medical fraternity and many of them also firmly believe in such miracles, resulting in fatal methods of treatment for the poor patients. Religious leaders from Muslim, Buddhist and other communities also promote similar quackery which only adds to the general level of ignorance, in turn exacerbating unhygienic living and the spread of disease.





Hopeless healthcare for Indian women





The lives of women are much worse as they have to endure all of this ignorance and deprivation, in addition to the oppression that comes with being a woman. A large number of women die during childbirth due to unscientific methods of care during delivery. Womens health is the lowest priority in typical, poor Indian households. The general atmosphere of prejudice and oppression towards women in society forces women to hide their illnesses due to shame, and many even prefer to die rather than disclose their medical problems. The lack of female doctors across the country also worsens their plight as many families will not allow any male doctor to touch their female relatives due to family honour.





The development of technology under capitalism has only served to worsen the oppression of women rather than overcome it. The ultrasound machine, which should help the women in pregnancy identify problems with the baby or themselves, has become an instrument for more barbaric oppression towards women. Every year in India, hundreds of thousands of sex-selective abortions are carried out. Female foetuses that are detected early through ultrasound technology are forcefully aborted. The practice has reached such horrific levels that, in some states, like Haryana, the disproportion in population ratio between males and females have reached levels never seen in history. The birth of a female, still seen as stigma and dishonour, results in a lack of interest in their healthcare and wellbeing. This results in a life filled with sickness and disease for most of the women living in poverty.





The option of surrogacy has also become twisted under class society. This technology should be a boon for women who have medical issues and can't bear children, but under capitalism, it is being used by rich women to avoid the pain of childbirth, by hiring poor women to endure the suffering for a meagre sum of money, and then handing over the child to its 'mother'.





A sick and disgusting concept still prevails in India, where menstrual periods are considered impure and therefore, women are not allowed in temples or mosques. In a country where 90-100 women are raped each day  often by strangers  if the lives of these women are spared by their relatives, who accuse them of dishonouring their families, they suffer psychological and mental trauma for the whole of their lives, which goes untreated.





The lack of toilets across India has been an issue discussed frequently in politics, and open defecation is a routine for millions of people across the country. But for women, this is a particular nightmare, as they have to wait for midnight or other odd hours to relieve themselves. Many face sexual assaults even during this process. In this situation, safe and hygienic living has become a luxury for a significant majority of the population. Modi launched a campaign named 'Swachh Bharat Mission' in 2014 to build 90 million toilets in cities and towns, with a budget of $8.7 billion. Since its inception, the project has been riddled with massive corruption, wasteful spending and did not manage to address the sanitation issue at all, as fields and rivers are still being polluted as a result of this project. Rural people are being forced to use these toilets, threatening their electricity connections and public food subsidy entitlements, again disproportionately affecting women.





Given all these circumstances, the Indian healthcare system cannot cope with the COVID-19 crisis. There are insufficient doctors, non-existent care centres, scant hospital beds, a lack of medical equipment such as ventilators and PPE, and preventive medicines are often out of reach of the majority. Given the already chronic overcrowding of state hospitals, the situation is accelerating towards a total collapse, with rising COVID-19 cases. There are reports of two and even three patients sharing a single hospital bed. There isn't enough oxygen available in hospitals. Ventilators and oxygen masks are only given to preferred patients, while the rest are left to suffocate and die. The official figures at the start of July 2020 state that 200,000 COVID-19 patients are under treatment, with 16,000 deaths. However, given the condition of hospitals and lack of data collection, the actual figure is likely much higher. Private hospitals, pharmacies and quacks are making a killing off the crisis out of COVID-19 tests and fake treatments. And even if the life of a poor working-class person is saved through COVID-19 treatments, they will be saddled with crippling debt.





Political parties: pouring old wines in a new bottle





The political parties are totally inept at addressing the crisis faced by the Indian healthcare system. The Congress Party continuously put free health in its election manifestos, such as in 2014 and 2019, however, they didn't manage to get significant traction on this. This is because, during the Congress-led governments, massive cuts to healthcare were made and privatisation was encouraged in the sector. For example, Congress promised free healthcare for all in 2009, but after assuming office, it did nothing to fulfil that promise but instead brought the concept of health insurance for low-income families under the name of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY). It's akin to bringing the American healthcare model and bolting it on to a wrecked Indian healthcare system. This measure only benefited the private insurance industries and providers.





The BJP promised 'health assurance for all' in its 2014 manifesto. But on assuming power, it revamped RSBY with some cosmetic changes, such as the Ayushman Bharat (PMJAY), just before the election season of 2019, which is now being sold to the people as universal healthcare. These schemes, far from providing free and quality healthcare, are just a vehicle to shower masses of public funds on private healthcare profiteers and leeching insurance companies, without any improvements being made.





The disgusting condition of the communist parties is extremely visible when it comes to healthcare. On the one hand, they oppose the private healthcare system in words; but in reality are seen promoting large corporate-owned hospitals. They aren't calling for a complete nationalisation but talking about extending the same health insurance scheme. Furthermore, they are habitually aligned with right-wing parties, including Congress, and in doing so are continuously compromising and watering down their manifesto and promises. Despite having control of West Bengal and having complete autonomy on healthcare implementation for many decades, the communist parties led a massive privatisation programme, starting from public-private partnerships in healthcare at the behest of the World Bank and DFID. Such betrayals by the Stalinists not only cost them the West Bengal state government but also resulted in a complete wipe-out from the Indian political landscape. People see them as no different from other right-wing parties who are following similar privatisation and anti-worker programmes.





The revolutionary way forward





The Indian working-class deserves free healthcare. There are enough resources in the country to fund free healthcare for all. No charity, philanthropy or misplaced faith in right-wing political parties will resolve Indias healthcare crisis. Also, international development organisations and banks are only interested in profits and worker exploitation. One cannot expect the Indian healthcare system to run better under the present decaying capitalist system. Only the complete overthrow of capitalism will enable free healthcare in India. This is not possible through the currently rotten parliamentary politics or adopting the road of Stalinism, but through building a revolutionary organisation in India on Bolshevik lines.





It is the task of Indian youth and workers to overthrow this decaying capitalist system, which cannot be reformed and has not the slightest capacity to improve the lives of masses. Rather, in its death throes, it will murder millions more. The only way forward is to build a genuine Marxist tendency in India that can connect with the ongoing struggles of the workers and students on the basis of correct ideas for the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, through the mass action of Indian working class. In the recent period, we have seen historic general strikes in India, which were able to paralyse the whole country. But what we saw also were shameless betrayals of the leaders who cashed on the anger of millions of working-class people to further their careers. The mainstream political parties, including so-called communist parties, criminally defuse the anger of masses with petty reforms and limited demands.





In the coming period, events on a much larger scale will be seen, bringing class struggle to the top of the political agenda, challenging the rule of government and big business who are making fortunes off the suffering and illness of the working-class. Only by overthrowing the bourgeois state and replacing it with a workers state, that could nationalise the commanding heights of the economy under the democratic control of workers, will we be able to provide free and scientifically sound healthcare to all people of India. Nothing less than this strategy can solve this burning issue of healthcare. Socialist revolution in India will be only the beginning of a process towards a socialist federation of South Asia and the world.
Silhouettes of laptop users are seen next to a screen projection of a Facebook logo, on March 28, 2018. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Facebook, Others Block Requests on Hong Kong User Data

HONG KONGSocial media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google, and Twitter say they will deny law enforcement requests for user data in Hong Kong while studying ramifications of a national security law enacted last week.

Facebook and its messaging app WhatsApp said in separate statements Monday that they would freeze the review of government requests for user data in Hong Kong, pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts.

The policy changes follow the rollout last week of laws prohibiting what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities, or as foreign intervention in the territorys internal affairs. The legislation criminalizes some pro-democracy slogans like the widely used Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time, which the Hong Kong government says has separatist connotations.

The fear is that the new law erodes the freedoms of the semi-autonomous city, which has operated under a one country, two systems framework after Britain handed the colony to China in 1997. That framework has allowed Hong Kong and its people freedoms not found in mainland China, such as unrestricted internet access.

This photo illustration shows apps for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social networks on a smartphone, taken on March 22, 2018. (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

Spokesman Mike Ravdonikas said Monday that Telegram understands the importance of protecting the right to privacy of our Hong Kong users. Telegram has been used broadly to spread pro-democracy messages and information about the protests in Hong Kong.

Telegram has never shared any data with the Hong Kong authorities in the past and does not intend to process any data requests related to its Hong Kong users until an international consensus is reached in relation to the ongoing political changes in the city, he said.

Twitter also paused all data and information requests from Hong Kong authorities after the law went into effect last week, the company said. It is studying the implications of the security law.

Like many public interest organizations, civil society leaders and entities, and industry peers, we have grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law, the company said in a statement.

Twitter emphasized that it was committed to protecting the people using our service and their freedom of expression.

A Twitter logo is displayed on a mobile phone in Arlington, Va. on May 27, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images)

Likewise, Google said in a statement that it too had paused production on any new data requests from Hong Kong authorities and will continue reviewing details of the new law.

Social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp have operated freely in Hong Kong, while they are blocked in the mainland by Chinas Great Firewall.

Though social platforms have yet to be blocked in Hong Kong, users have begun scrubbing their accounts and deleting pro-democracy posts out of fear of retribution. That retreat has extended to the streets of Hong Kong as well.

Many of the shops and stores that publicly stood in solidarity with protesters have removed the pro-democracy sticky notes and artwork that adorned their walls.

Hong Kongs government late Monday issued implementation rules of Article 43 of the national security law, which give the citys police force sweeping powers in enforcing the legislation and come into effect Tuesday.

Under the rules, platforms, publishers, and internet service providers may be ordered to take down any electronic message published that is likely to constitute an offense endangering national security or is likely to cause the occurrence of an offense endangering national security.

Police officers maintain orders as a 23-year-old man, Tong Ying-kit, arrives at a court in Hong Kong, China, on July 6, 2020. (Vincent Yu/AP Photo)

Service providers who do not comply with such requests could face fines of up to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,903) and receive jail terms of up to six months.

Individuals who post such messages may also be asked to remove the messages or face similar fines and a jail term of one year.

Critics see the security law as Beijings boldest step yet to erase the legal firewall between the former British colony and the mainlands authoritarian Communist Party system.

After the law took effect on June 30, local authorities moved swiftly to implement its sweeping conditions, with police arresting 10 people on suspicion of violating the security law.

The implementation rules allow Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to authorize police to intercept communications and conduct surveillance to prevent and detect offenses endangering national security.

The sweeping new rules allow police to conduct searches for evidence without a warrant in exceptional circumstances and to seek warrants requiring a person suspected of violating the national security law to surrender their travel documents, thus restricting them from leaving Hong Kong.

Additionally, under the rules, written notices or restraining orders may be issued to freeze or confiscate property if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the property is related to an offense endangering national security.

By Zen Soo
FBI Director: One New China-Related Investigation Is Opened Every 10 Hours

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is opening a new China-related counterintelligence case about once every 10 hours as it pushes back against Beijings expansive campaign to steal American intellectual property (IP) and influence policymakers, FBI director Christopher Wray said in a speech on July 7.

Wray warned that Beijings counterintelligence and economic espionage operations are the greatest long-term threat to the United States economic and national security.

Its stealing of U.S. technology and trade secrets is on a scale so massive that it represents one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history, he said in a speech given at the Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute.

His remarks come as the Trump administration ramps up its actions and rhetoric against the Chinese regime in a range of issues from its coverup of the CCP virus outbreak to its tightening grip on Hong Kong to national security risks posed by Chinese telecom companies.

White House national security adviser Robert OBrien recently warned that the United States would push back against Beijings malign activities. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney-General William Barr are expected to address similar issues in speeches in the coming weeks.

In one of the most detailed speeches by a U.S. official on the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the FBI director detailed the regimes broad, diverse campaign to steal American IP and exert undue influence over U.S. officials at all levels of government.

China is engaged in a whole-of state-effort to become the worlds only superpower by any means necessary, Wray said.

It can execute that campaign with authoritarian efficiency, he added. Theyre calculating, theyre persistent, theyre patient, and theyre not subject to the righteous constraints of an open democratic society, or the rule of law.

Expansive Campaign

The campaign employs a wide range of techniquesfrom cyber hacking to acquisitions of foreign companies to physical theftand involves a full breadth of actors, spanning intelligence services, private firms, graduate students, and researchers, the FBI director said. The targeted U.S. companies range from Fortune 100 companies to startups, in a variety of industries from aviation to agriculture.

U.S. pharmaceutical companies and research institutes have especially been targeted during the pandemic, Wray noted. He said its not unusual for the FBI to see cyber intrusions tracing back to China after a company or research body makes an announcement about promising COVID-19 researchsometimes almost the next day.

Wray said that almost half of the FBIs nearly 5,000 counterintelligence investigations across the country are connected to China, adding that in the past decade, there has been roughly a 1,300 percent increase in economic espionage cases linked to the regime.

In recent months, federal authorities have cracked down on academics who have allegedly hidden their links to Chinese state-backed recruitment programs, such as the Thousand Talents Plana policy that Wray said facilitates the transfer of sensitive American technology and know-how to China.

The former chair of Harvard Universitys chemistry department, Charles Leiber, was indicted in June on charges of making false statements about funding he received from China. Prosecutors allege Lieber lied about years of participation in the Thousand Talents Plan while working on sensitive U.S. research.

In May alone, a Chinese-born former researcher at the Cleveland Clinic was charged for lying about funding from China, including the Thousand Talents Plan, and a Malaysian-born professor at the University of Arkansas was also charged for failing to disclose ties to China while receiving funding from NASA. In addition, a Chinese-born former professor at Emory University was convicted for failing to report payments totaling at least $500,000 that he received from the Thousand Talents Plan.

The regimes efforts to steal personal data has also impacted ordinary Americans, Wray said. For instance, in February, four members of the Chinese military were indicted for hacking U.S. credit-reporting agency Equifax. The hackone of the largest on recordexposed the sensitive personal information of 145 million Americans, more than 40 percent of the U.S. population. The director said that cyberattacks targeting personal information go into feeding the regimes development of artificial intelligence tools and intelligence operations.

Malign Influence

Wray said the CCP is also engaged in a highly sophisticated campaign to influence U.S. officials at each level of government, persuading them to take policy positions in line with those of the regime, such as on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Beijings handling of the pandemic.

Its methods, he noted, include Chinese diplomats applying direct pressure, such as economic threats, as well as indirect and covert means, including blackmail and using middlemen to convince targets.

Earlier this year, a Chinese consulate official tried to convince a Wisconsin state senator to introduce a resolution applauding the regimes efforts to contain the pandemic. The approach backfired after the senator, angered by the influence attempt, introduced a resolution condemning the CCPs coverup of the outbreak and Beijings disinformation campaign instead.

The director warned that when direct influence efforts dont work, the regime will then try to co-opt people close to the official, such as a political donor or business person, to exert pressure on the targeted policymaker.

China will work relentlessly to identify the people closest to that officialthe people that official trusts most, Wray said.

The co-opted middlemen may then whisper in the officials ear and try to sway the officials travel plans or public positions on Chinese policy, he added. These intermediaries, of course, arent telling the American official that theyre Chinese Communist Party pawnsand worse still, some of these intermediaries may not even realize theyre being used as pawns, because they, too, have been deceived.
A fire set by protesters burns in the background as opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline leave their main protest camp near Cannon Ball, N.D., on Feb. 22, 2017. (Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune/AP)

Federal Judge Denies Emergency Request to Delay Dakota Access Pipeline Shut Down

A federal judge has denied an emergency request to delay the process of shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline while the projects attorneys appeal the decision in order to keep the oil pipeline running.

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg on Monday ordered the underground oil pipeline to be shut down and emptied by Aug. 5, while the U.S. government conducts an in-depth environmental impact review. The court had previously ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had violated federal environmental law when it granted a permit for an easement to construct a segment of the 1,172-mile pipeline beneath Lake Oahe, a large reservoir behind a dam on the Missouri River.

Following the order, the pipeline owners, Dakota Access, which is controlled by its parent company Energy Transfer, filed an emergency motion to temporarily stay Boasbergs order as well as a notice to appeal the decision to the circuit court. Although Boasberg rejected the application for an emergency stay, he said the court will set a status hearing to discuss the schedule for briefing on a separate request to stay the courts decision while the case plays out in the appeals court once he receives that request.

Energy Transfer said in a statement on Monday that if the emergency motion for a provisional stay is denied, the company intends to pursue a stay and expedited appeal with the appeals court.

We believe that the ruling issued this morning from Judge Boasberg is not supported by the law or the facts of the case. Furthermore, we believe that Judge Boasberg has exceeded his authority in ordering the shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been safely operating for more than three years. We will be immediately pursuing all available legal and administrative processes and are 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, Lisa Coleman, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

Dakota Accesss attorneys argued in their application that an emergency stay was warranted because the company needs some certainty from a ruling on the forthcoming stay motion. They argue that the process of shutting down a major interstate pipeline involves a number of time-consuming and expensive steps and requires well more than 30 days to complete.

A provisional stay is, therefore, necessary to ensure that Dakota Access is not required to take these steps before this Court (or the D.C. Circuit, if needed) rules on the forthcoming motion for stay pending appeal, the attorneys wrote (pdf).

Lawyers for Native American tribes suing the government over the pipeline opposed the emergency request, arguing that Dakota Access failed to show that it is entitled to a stay and had asked the court to rule without allowing the other parties to be heard. They also called the companys expedited briefing schedule unfair (pdf).

In his ruling on Monday, Boasberg wrote that he was mindful of the disruption the shutdown would cause to the pipeline and the oil industry but determined that the gravity of the federal governments deficiencies outweighs the negative effects of halting the oil flow for about 13 months, which is the amount of time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated an environmental impact statement would take.

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, Boasberg, an Obama appointee, wrote in his ruling (pdf).

The pipeline had drawn widespread opposition and months of protests from environmental activists, veterans, clergy, and members of at least 200 other tribes. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which says the pipeline passes through its ancestral lands, brought a lawsuit against the federal government in 2016 in an attempt to block the construction. The tribe is worried that the construction and possible oil leaks would lead to the destruction of its sacred sites and pollute its land and water. Several other tribes joined Standing Rock in their lawsuit.

The pipeline owners and its supporters argue that shutting the pipeline down would have serious repercussions for the North Dakota oil industry. They say there is currently no viable alternative method to transport 570,000 barrels of crude oil that the Dakota Access Pipeline is able to carry each day, and that this would drive up prices of the oil.

They also say the shutdown would also have a reverberating effect on North Dakotas economy, which heavily relies on oil and gas taxes.
HK Legislative Council Requires Candidates to Support Security Law

Hong Kongs Legislative Council election will be held in September. On June 19, Hong Kongs pro-democracy camp expressed concerns about being disqualified.

On June 22, the Nikkei Asian Reviewa Japanese news media company, reported that a member of the Chinese Communist Party Standing Committee, Tam Yiu-Chung, revealed that all elected candidates must support the Hong Kong National Security Law, or else they may be disqualified. Members of Taiwans Legislative Yuan criticized the CCP for violating and changing their agreements with the people of Hong Kong.

Secretary-general of the pro-democracy party Demosisto, Joshua Wong: Its not just me that faces the problem of being disqualified, the entire election is at risk of being disqualified with the National Security Laws legislation.

On June 19, Joshua Wong said that the Legislative Council could be disqualified as a result of the re-election in September. According to a report from Nikkei Asian Review, Tam Yiu-Chung, a member of the Standing Committee of the CCPs National Peoples Congress (NPC) and a representative of Hong Kong, has openly threatened the people of Hong Kong saying that all candidates must sign a pledge of allegiance to the Hong Kong Basic Law, which includes Hong Kongs National Security Lawor else they may be disqualified.
Hong Kong Leader Refuses to Guarantee Press Freedom Under Beijings National Security Law

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam unashamedly defended Beijings newly-implemented national security law on July 7, but failed to address specific concerns such as the impact of the new law on press freedom in the city.

Speaking at her weekly press conference on Tuesday, the pro-Beijing chief executive of the former British colony branded the mass demonstrations that have gripped Hong Kong since June last year as an escalating national security risk for Beijing, which she explained was the reason behind the central Chinese governments push for the law.

Millions of Hongkongers have taken to the streets in the past year to push back against Beijings encroachment in their daily affairs, while calling for greater democracy in the citys political system, such as universal suffrage. The Hong Kong leader, also known as the chief executive, is elected by a 1,200-member election committeea mostly pro-Beijing body chosen by a small group of eligible voters. There are roughly seven million Hong Kong residents.

Beijing formally enacted the law after ceremonial votes on June 30. The law criminalizes individuals for any acts of subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces against the communist party state, with maximum penalties of life imprisonment.

On Monday night, the Hong Kong government gazetted details of Article 43 of the law, which includes police being able to search private properties without a warrant, and requiring internet service providers to remove messages from their platforms.

Chinas new security law in Hong Kong is even more restrictive than previously thought. The people of #HongKong are being treated as prisoners in their own country. The US will continue speaking up against these efforts to restrict human rights. https://t.co/ITjPQpvgzh  Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) July 6, 2020

Lam claimed that the national security law respects and protects human rights, and that the law was relatively mild compared to national security laws in other countries. She also claimed that the laws offenses are clearly defineda position only echoed by the central government in Beijing.

On July 1, the Hong Kong Bar Association issued a statement expressing its concerns about the law, including how crimes that constitute terrorist acts and colluding with foreign forces are vaguely defined. The association also questioned whether media criticism or picketing might be punished for subversion under the law.

Lam attempted to ease concerns about the law. She said her government was doing more to protect human rights by deciding to announce details about Article 43. Taking a page from the playbook of Chinas state-run media, Lam said the law targets only a small group of people in Hong Kong. She stated that her government will vigorously implement the law.

She again called some Hong Kong protesters radicals and warned them not to violate this law or crossing the red line because the sequence is serious.

Lam slammed all criticisms about how the law signified the death of the one country, two systems agreement, labeling it an unfounded allegation.

One country, two systems is a framework by which Beijing promised to preserve Hong Kongs autonomy upon the citys transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China in 1997, in accordance with the 1984-signed handover agreement, the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

One country, two systems is now a lie & the freedom-loving citizens of Hong Kong are losing their rights. One lesson is we must ensure #Taiwan has ability to defend itself. Taiwan is being isolated economically and diplomatically, and it is unacceptable. @MOFA_Taiwan https://t.co/pGsRsoFFnP  Rep. Don Bacon (@RepDonBacon) July 7, 2020

Just a few hours before Lams press conference, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a press statement criticizing the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) Orwellian censorship in Hong Kong, such as removing books critical of the Party from library shelves and banning unfavorable political slogans.

On July 2, the Hong Kong government declared the popular protest slogan Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times illegal under the national security law since it connotes the idea of a Hong Kong separate from China.

The United States condemns Beijings repeated failure to live up to its obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and these latest assaults on the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, Pompeo stated.

When asked by a reporter whether she could 100 percent guarantee press freedom under the law, Lam avoided directly addressing the question.

If the Foreign Correspondents Club or all reporters in Hong Kong can give me a 100 percent guarantee, that they will not commit any offenses under this piece of national legislation, then I can do the same, Lam said.

Its not a question of me standing here to give you a guarantee of what you may or may not do in the days and weeks and years ahead, she added.

Lam did not respond when asked if she was going to make the unofficial anthem of the mass protest movement Glory to Hong Kong illegal since it contains the banned protest slogan revolution of our times.

Chris Yeung, chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, holds up its annual report in a press conference in Hong Kong on July 7, 2020. (Bill Cox/The Epoch Times)

About an hour after Lams press conference, the local trade group Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) held a press conference to release its 2020 annual report.

The national security law poses particular challenges to media organizations and journalists. Press freedom is on the verge of crisis, stated Chris Yeung, chairperson of HKJA, according to a press release.

The chilling effect was observed soon after the law was implemented. Various shops and restaurants had their protest slogans or signs removed. The press always bears the brunt. It is expected that self-censorship will be more serious than ever, HKJA stated.
People read books at Hong Kong Central Library after democracy activists' books were taken down due to national security law in Hong Kong, on July 6, 2020. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Hong Kong Libraries Pull Pro-Democracy Books for Review Under Beijings Security Law

Books written by prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures have been removed from library shelves across the city in the wake of Beijings national security law, which came into effect last week.

A government department said Sunday that books have been pulled from the shelves of public libraries for review to see whether they violate the Chinese communist regimes new draconian law, which was imposed at 11 p.m. on June 30 after ceremonial votes.

The sweeping legislation stipulates that offenders, if convicted of secession, subversion, terrorism, or collusion with foreign forces, could be imprisoned for life. Critics fear the law will be used to crack down on those critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Public Hong Kong libraries will review whether certain books violate the stipulations of the National Security Law, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which runs the libraries, said in a statement.

While legal advice will be sought in the process of the review, the books will not be available for borrowing and reference in libraries.

No sooner is Xi Jinpings national security law imposed on Hong Kong than they figuratively are burning books, removing pro-democracy titles from libraries. Once more, the Chinese Communist Party is afraid of the free exchange of ideas. https://t.co/bDYtT6BEud pic.twitter.com/m1wJeWYobU  Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) July 5, 2020

A search for books by young activist Joshua Wong or pro-democracy politician Tanya Chan on the public libraries website showed the books, including Unfree Speech, co-authored by Wong, either unavailable or under review.

1/ More than just punitive measures, the national security law also imposes a mainland-style censorship regime upon this international financial city. Although my books are published years before Hong Kongs anti-extradition movement, they are now prone to book censorship. https://t.co/2fbyvtcH95  Joshua Wong   (@joshuawongcf) July 4, 2020

The national security law  imposes a mainland-style censorship regime upon this international financial city, Wong tweeted on Saturday, adding his titles are now prone to book censorship.

According to the South China Morning Post, at least nine books have either been marked as under review, or are unavailable.

Concerns have been raised that the legislature breaches Hong Kongs Basic Law, which guarantees that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights can remain in force in the territory.

Under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which set the terms of Hong Kongs transfer to Chinese rule in 1997, the regime agreed to grant the city autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in the mainland, under the formula of one country, two systems.

On Monday night, the Hong Kong government published details of Article 43 of the law, which includes police being able to search private properties without a warrant and requiring internet service providers to remove messages from their platforms.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks to the media about the new national security law introduced to the city at her weekly press conference in Hong Kong on July 7, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday meanwhile refused to guarantee press freedom under Beijings legislation.

Speaking at her weekly press conference on Tuesday, the pro-Beijing chief executive of the former British colony claimed that the national security law respects and protects human rights, and that the law was relatively mild compared to national security laws in other countries. She also claimed that the laws offenses are clearly defineda position only echoed by the central government in Beijing.

Lam attempted to ease concerns about the law. She said her government was doing more to protect human rights by deciding to announce details about Article 43. Taking a page from the playbook of Chinas state-run media, Lam said the law targets only a small group of people in Hong Kong. She stated that her government will vigorously implement the law.

She again called some Hong Kong protesters radicals and warned them not to violate this law or crossing the red line because the sequence is serious.

With the ink barely dry on the draconian National Security Law, HK authorities are now removing books from libraries, banning political slogans, and requiring censorship in schools. The U.S. condemns these Orwellian assaults on the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people.  Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) July 7, 2020

Just a few hours before Lams press conference, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a press statement criticizing the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) Orwellian censorship in Hong Kong, such as removing books critical of the party from library shelves and banning unfavorable political slogans.

With the ink barely dry on the draconian National Security Law, HK authorities are now removing books from libraries, banning political slogans, and requiring censorship in schools, he added in a Twitter post. The U.S. condemns these Orwellian assaults on the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people.

On July 2, the Hong Kong government declared the popular protest slogan Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times illegal under the national security law since it connotes the idea of a Hong Kong separate from China.

Frank Fang and Reuters contributed to this report.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) talks with reporters as he heads for a meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 02, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

If President Vetoes Defense Bill, Senate Likely to Override: Sen. Grassley

The defense funding package set for a vote at the end of July and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is warning that Congress would likely override a veto by President Trump if he declines to sign the huge defense funding legislation amid the dispute over renaming Army bases named for Confederate leaders.

While speaking with Iowa reporters on Monday, Grassley said he hoped Trump wouldnt veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), over military base renaming conflict.

If it came to overriding a veto, wed probably override the veto, Grassley told Iowa reporters. Grassley remarks were confirmed by a report in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

There shouldnt be a knee-jerk reaction to renaming bases. And I imagine that in my lifetime, theres been a lot of bases that have had their names changed. Im not aware of it. But the extent to which its a thoughtful process and not a knee-jerk reaction, I wouldnt have any objection to it, Grassley told reporters.

Trump has warned that he will veto the bill over Sen. Elizabeth Warrens amendment to eliminate all confederate names from military bases and other assets over a three-year period from the passing of the NDAA.

I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won two World Wars, is in the Bill! Trump said in a Tweet on June 30.

Earlier in June, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that the President opposes renaming military bases and other assets and she quoted a tweet from the President.

[M]y Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations. Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military! she read.

These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom, Trump also tweeted.

The President will not be signing legislation that renames Americas forts, its important to note, you know Fort Bragg, for example, its one of the largest military installations. Its home to 10s of thousands of brave American soldiers. And when you think of Fort Bragg we think of the brave soldiers that deployed from there, McEnany added.

Past efforts to rename military installations have stalled on the grounds that these places represent an American tradition but on Tuesday Warren argued that these names represent an ugly past and the names of traitors should not be honored.

As part of the debate on the Military funding bill, Warren gave a speech on the Senate floor on June 30, detailing the reason for her proposal.

This bill denies those honors to military leaders who killed U.S. soldiers in defense of the idea that black people are not people, but instead are property to be bought and sold, Warren said.

While those like the President call the Confederate history, part of American tradition, Warren and the left say the confederate names and monuments represent a history of white supremacy.

Warrens amendment stipulates that all names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor Confederate States of America, be removed no later than three years after the date of the enactment of the bill.

Republican Senators have offered their own amendment for the renaming of Confederate military assets. Sen. Tom Cottons (R-Ark.) amendment would commission a study and allow the Defense Secretary to choose which asset to rename. Cotton called Warrens amendment too broad and Warren said in her speech, it is not time to study the problem but to take action.
A man is rescued by police officers after his car became stuck on a flooded road caused by torrential rain in Omuta, Fukuoka prefecture, southern Japan, on July 7, 2020. (Kyodo/Reuters)

More Than 50 Dead as Japan Boosts Rescue Efforts and Warns of More Rain in Flood-Hit Areas

TOKYOJapan on Tuesday warned of more heavy rain on the southwestern island of Kyushu and bolstered rescue operations as the death toll in flood-hit areas rose past 50 with about a dozen people reported missing.

The government said it would double rescue and relief personnel as heavy rain destroyed homes and caused landslides in what is shaping up to be Japans worst natural disaster since Typhoon Hagibis killed 90 people in October.

A rain front was expected to remain over the area until Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular news briefing.

Local residents are rescued by Japan Self-Defense Force soldiers using a boat on a flooded road, caused by heavy rain in Omuta, Fukuoka prefecture, southern Japan, on July 7, 2020. (Kyodo/via Reuters)

Rain is expected over a wide front stretching from western to eastern Japan, he said.

Police, Self-Defense Force (SDF), and Coast Guard units were carrying out search and rescue efforts, said Suga, urging people to take necessary precautions to keep safe.

The death toll has risen to 56 with missing, according to public broadcaster NHK. It showed swollen rivers, destroyed homes, roads covered in landslides, and stranded residents being plucked to safety by military helicopters.

Police officers search missing people at the site of a landslide caused by heavy rain in Tsunagi town, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, on July 7, 2020. (Kyodo/Reuters)

Kyodo News reported at least 71 landslides across 12 prefectures, citing the land ministry, and said more than 1.3 million people had been ordered to leave their homes.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government would double rescue and relief personnel, from day-earlier levels, to 80,000, including some 20,000 SDF troops.

Some companies in the region have temporarily halted operations but Suga said he did not expect major disruptions to supply chains, as happened two years ago when deadly floods also hit Kyushu.

Local residents are rescued by Japan Self-Defense Force soldiers using a rubber boat on a flooded road, caused by heavy rain in Omuta, Fukuoka prefecture, southern Japan, on July 7, 2020. (Kyodo/Reuters)

The government will continue to liaise with local firms, Suga said, adding, We want to quickly take the necessary steps such as support for small and mid-sized firms depending on the situation ahead.

Carmakers Toyota Motor and Mazda Motor, and electronics conglomerate Panasonic Corp all halted operations at certain plants on Monday due to heavy rain.

Mazda canceled the second shift at its plants in Hiroshima, and Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Tuesday, with plans to open on Wednesday. Panasonic said its sensor plant in Kagoshima was operating normally on Tuesday.

Toyota said it would keep all three of its Kyushu plants closed on Tuesday after halting production the previous evening for safety reasons, with plans to restart on Wednesday.

By Tim Kelly, Naomi Tajitsu, Makiko Yamazaki, Chang-Ran Kim, Chris Gallagher
Airplanes of German carrier Lufthansa are parked at the Berlin Schoenefeld airport, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Schoenefeld, Germany, on May 26, 2020. Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Lufthansa to Cut Leadership Positions, 1,000 Admin Jobs

BERLINGermanys Lufthansa airlines will cut 20 percent of its leadership positions and 1,000 administrative jobs in a restructuring plan that it announced on Tuesday to cope with fallout from the coronavirus crisis.

Lufthansa Group, which employs about 138,000 people, said it would also halve its investment in new aircraft, although it said that meant it could still add up to 80 new planes by 2023.

Shareholders backed a 9 billion euro ($10.2 billion) government bailout last month, securing the future of Germanys flagship carrier after it was brought to the brink of collapse by the travel slump caused by the pandemic.

Lufthansas flags flutter in front of a temporary closed First Class Terminal at Frankfurt Airport, in Germany, on June 25, 2020. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

Lufthansa said on Tuesday it wanted to reduce government loans and equity stakes as soon as possible to avoid an increase in interest charges, adding that higher rates would increase the financial burden on the company and demand more cost cuts.

The airline said it had staff in 22,000 full-time positions it no longer needed but would try to avoid forced layoffs.

Lufthansa said it was trying to reach agreement with trade unions on layoff plans, but had only been successful so far with the UFO union representing German cabin crew. It said it was still in talks with unions representing pilots and ground staff.

The company said it would speed up longstanding plans to make its core Lufthansa airline a separate corporate entity, aiming to give the unit a clearer direction, a spokesman said.

Lufthansa decided in April to cut 100 aircraft from its fleet of about 760 and not to resume operations of its budget carrier Germanwings.

It said on Tuesday it had already phased out 22 aircraft, including six Airbus A380, 11 Airbus A320, and five Boeing 747-400.

By Emma Thomasson
Authorities continue their investigation of a shooting at Riverchase Galleria shopping mall in Hoover, Ala.,on July 3, 2020. (Carol Robinson/The Birmingham News via AP)

Man Charged in Alabama Mall Shooting That Left 8-Year-Old Boy Dead

HOOVER, Ala.A man has been arrested on a murder charge in connection with a recent shooting at an Alabama shopping mall that left an 8-year-old boy dead and three other people injured, authorities said July 5.

Hoover police announced the arrest of Montez Coleman, 22, in connection with the July 3 shooting at the Riverchase Galleria Mall. The boy was identified by police as Royta Giles Jr., a rising third-grader at a local elementary school.

Coleman, who had been sought on a capital murder warrant, also is charged with three counts of second-degree assault in the wounding of a man, woman, and girlall innocent bystanders, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said. They were each treated for gunshot wounds and subsequently released from medical care.

Our community is heartbroken, Derzis said at a news conference, AL.com reported. The officers who were on the scene will forever bear the image of an innocent child who died in their arms.

Hoover is a suburban community about 10 miles south of Birmingham, Alabamas biggest city.

Derzis told reporters the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office issued a capital murder warrant against Coleman on July 4 and that he was taken into custody without incident.

It wasnt immediately known if Coleman had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Officers who arrived at the mall immediately after the shooting were alerted to reports of someone with a firearm running through the parking deck of a nearby hotel, Derzis said, adding investigators later identified that person as Coleman.

He said an investigation determined Coleman had gotten into an argument with a group of other males near the mall food court on the first floor and fired a handgun that had been concealed in a backpack. Derzis said several of the others had handguns and immediately returned fire.

At least three people fired guns, according to police, adding that multiple shots were fired in seconds and that the boy was shot in the head. Police havent said publicly who fired the shots that struck the boy and the other victims. The mall was evacuated afterward.

Derzis said investigators are seeking to identify the others involved in the shooting and asked for the help of the public as they released surveillance video at the news conference.
The horror of the coronavirus pandemic proves that progressives have been justified in demanding a single-payer health care system.





by Sonali Kolhatkar





A pandemic is not the time to be having discussions about how to design a national health care system. The fact that the United States, which has 4 percent of the worlds population, leads the world with 25 percent of all coronavirus infections, indicates at a glance that something about our nations health care is irredeemably broken. In just a few months, more than 40 million Americans became unemployed in a country where a majority are expected to obtain health care through employer-provided insurance. Even the New York Times has pointed out that, Nothing illuminates the problems with an employer-based health care system quite like massive unemployment in the middle of a highly contagious and potentially deadly disease outbreak.





Hope for the better future ( Image courtesy: Unflash)

The Times has hardly been a champion of the nationalized health care system that progressive activists have demanded for years. The unimaginably large (and growing) death toll from COVID-19 should not be, as the papers editorial board member Jeneen Interlandi says, an opportunity to look at health care reform with fresh eyesand to maybe, finally, rebuild the nations health care system in a way that works for all Americans. We, as a nation, should have figured this out a long time ago.





As Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations leading infectious disease expert, pointed out at a recent Senate hearing, left unchecked the coronavirus could spread to 100,000 people per day. Republican Senator Rand Paul was not happy with this grim assessment, instead demanding that the scientist instead offer up more optimism to the American people about the disease. But that is precisely how opponents of a single-payer health care system have painted our deeply flawed employer-based system for many yearswith a veneer of positivity that was never matched by reality.





As FiveThirtyEight points out in examining pre-pandemic surveys of health care, Americans tend to have a much rosier view of the health care they personally receive than the health care system in general or the cost of health care. This should come as no surprise given the massive amount of propaganda that health insurers have paid for to convince people that the current system is good enough. However, no amount of optimism is going to help us survive the current COVID-19 crisis. There is no rosy way to view tens of thousands of dead Americansespecially in contrast with other nations that have managed to control the outbreak. In the words of one New Zealand health expert, It really does feel like the U.S. has given up.





In Arizona, one of the new hotspots of the disease, health care providers have taken to rationing health carein a manner reminiscent of many developing nations or socialist regimes that the United States has criticized in the past. One report explained that Arizonas rationing plan, would see patients rated on a scoring system to determine who should be prioritized based on the severity of their condition. In Houston, Texas, which is considered another COVID-19 epicenter, pediatricians are now taking on adult patients as hospital beds fill up to capacity.





There is little to no information about how the nations uninsured are expected to pay for COVID-19 treatments if they are hospitalized. Contrast that with a nation like the UK where theres no question about any other entity besides the National Health Service (NHS) picking up the tab for any and all patients. During the current crisis, the UK government has even recruited all private hospitals to bolster the NHSs capacity, forcing them to place lives over profits. Imagine the United States ever taking such a step to prioritize the health care of Americans!





The Wall Street Journal, aghast that a free-market system of the type that it has relentlessly promoted has not worked in the realm of health care, declared in an op-ed, Rationing Care Is a Surrender to Death. But op-ed writer Allen C. Guelzo, a fellow of the right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation, had no answers beyond standard capitalism pablum saying vaguely that we need to, Improvise, innovate, imagine.





Its not just our health care in the form of treatments and hospitalizations that is showing itself to be wholly inadequate in the face of a pandemic. The pharmaceutical industry, which has also preyed upon Americans for far too long, is charging outrageous prices for drugs that taxpayers paid to help them develop. Amidst the worst medical crisis in modern history, the drug manufacturer Gilead has set the price for remdesivira drug that has shown modest success in COVID-19 treatmentat a whopping $3,120 per patient. Infuriatingly, that same company, which made good use of U.S. tax dollars in its research and development, is licensing the drug to generic manufacturers outside the U.S. to produce remdesivir at a substantially lower cost to non-American patients.





The shocking extent of the coronavirus crisis in the United States is explained in large part by a libertarian economic approach. It is the same sort of approach that successive administrations have taken in addressing our health care needs and can be boiled down to the adage, survival of the fittest. Rather than imposing rules and regulations to protect Americans through a nationalized health care system and an aggressive cost-control mechanism for lifesaving drugs, Americans have been left at the mercy of their employers, health insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and private hospitals. Similarly, instead of taking a strong federal approach to controlling the spread of the coronavirus as other nations have successfully done, the Trump administration has washed its hands of any responsibility for the virus spread. An absence of strong federal guidelines on how people need to protect themselves has resulted in a culture war of comical proportions where Fox News-fed Republicans claim that rules requiring protective face masks are akin to practicing the devils laws.





Such hyperbolic language is reminiscent of the hysteria over so-called death panels in the early years of the Obama administration. That phrase was used to cast the most modest of government regulations of our health care system as a scenario where dispassionate committees of technocrats would decide who gets to live or die. Never mind that such a description was a more apt one for our existing system of care where corporate executives decide which treatments to pay for and which to forego.





Just as progressives were right more than a decade ago that a single-payer or Medicare for All system was best poised to meet our health care needs, that same rallying cry for such a universal and free health care plan remains more relevant and appropriate than ever. Even the New York Times agrees, admitting perhaps a bit reluctantly that, A single-payer system in which one entity (usually the federal government) covers every citizen regardless of age or employment status, could work. But is it too late?





Had the nation gone down a different path in 2008 or anytime in the decade following it, we would have been better poised to take on the current crisis. There is little comfort to be had in being right on the issue of health care under our current grim circumstances.





This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.





Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of Rising Up With Sonali, a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations.
Food is delivered to the Flemington Towers Government Housing complex in Melbourne, Australia on July 6, 2020. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Melbourne Public Housing Residents Virtually Under House Arrest: Aussie MP

Liberal Party opposition spokesman for housing Tim Smith has urged Victorias Labor government to outline its plans to stop the spread of the CCP virus at the nine locked-down public housing towers in Melbourne, the states capital city.

The 3000 residents of the towers in Flemington and North Melbourne who are virtually under house arrest are paying for Daniel Andrews catastrophically poor leadership, he said in a statement, the AAP reported.

Residents at nine public housing estates in Flemington, Kensington, and North Melbourne are locked down due to a localised outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Monday that thousands of meals, supplies, and personal care packs had been deliveredprovided by charities and companies and facilitated by the government.

We know this is tough on our public housing residents and thats why were doing everything we can to provide support  whether thats food, mental health support or just help paying the bills, said Andrews.

However, some residents reportedly experienced longer than preferred waiting times, and some rejected the food.

You will find boxes of food that have been left right in front of the lift because it is pork. But the vast majority of people living in the towers are Muslim, they cant eat it, Ahmed Dini, a resident of the North Melbourne, told The Guardian on July 6.

The Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged there were some delays with accepting donations and deliveries, which caused confusion at some housing estates that are in lockdown.

We apologise for the inconvenience and frustration caused and thank the residents for their co-operation and patience.

Abdiraham Ibrahim, a father of five living in a Flemington tower, said supplies were more accessible on Tuesday. He had earlier relied on friends to deliver necessities, such as milk and baby formula.

If the government are not providing what we need, they shouldnt be stopping people from bringing it, he told AAP.

Victorias Housing Minister Richard Wynne said on Monday that the government is working as quickly as possible to ensure every household has what they need.

The governments statement said that 400 activity boxes had been provided to entertain kids, rent relief had been provided, and additional payments of either $750 or $1500 made to help residents.
Missing 10-Year-Old Wisconsin Girl Found Dead, Say Police

A 10-year-old Wisconsin girl who was the subject of an AMBER Alert was found dead, said police.

Kodie B. Dutcher, of Baraboo, was found near a county highway in the city, officials told TMJ4 and WEAU-TV. No other details were released, officials said.

She was found dead less than a mile away from her home, the Baraboo Police Department said.

An AMBER Alert was issued on Monday night after she was seen earlier in the day.

Officials had said that Kodie had threatened self-harm. A spokesperson for the Baraboo Police Department, Lt. Ryan La Broscian, told WEAU that Kodies family believes she took pills, but its not clear if it had to do with her cause of death.

We believe that she did leave on her own. And we do believe that she may be in danger due to the ingestion of some medications, a local police captain told WKOW before she was found.

La Broscian said Kodie and her family moved to Wisconsin in April, and she was in school for about two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes to be suspended for the year.

He said the girl had a Snapchat account but noted that nothing unusual was posted there. She left behind her shoes and cellular phone.

Anyone with information on the girls death can call the Baraboo Police Department at (608) 963-5622.

According to Department of Justice guidelines for AMBER Alerts, they require that there be a reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred. The law enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death. There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert to assist in the recovery of the child. The abduction is of a child aged 17 years or younger. The childs name and other critical data elements, including the Child Abduction flag, have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mike Duheme points toward a map with timestamps indicating the path of Corey Barclay Hurren, who breached the gates of Rideau Hall on the morning of July 2, during a news conference at the RCMP National Division in Ottawa on July 3, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

New Details Suggest Man Accused in Rideau Hall Attack Wanted to Harm PM

New details are emerging about the attack on Rideau Hall last week, suggesting the intruder may have been attempting to harm Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Court documents released July 6 outline the allegations against Corey Barclay Hurren, who was arrested on July 2 and charged with 22 offences after he crashed his truck through the gates of Rideau Hall.

Hurren, who was allegedly armed with two shotguns, a rifle, and a revolver, has been charged with uttering threats against Trudeau. The court documents dont specify how the threat was communicated, but some media reports say a note was found in his truck.

Hurren did knowingly utter a threat to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or convey a threat to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or cause Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to receive a threat to cause death or bodily harm to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the charge sheet states, according to media reports.

The other 21 charges all relate to Hurrens firearms and ammunition.

Trudeau was not at home when the incident occurred on the morning of July 2. He and his family live in a house on the grounds of Rideau Hall, which sits on an 88-acre wooded estate.

Police said Hurren, 46, had driven 2,000 km from his home province of Manitoba to Ottawa. His truck broke down after he hit the gates and he was later arrested without incident. RCMP officers spoke with Hurren for about 90 minutes during the low-key armed standoff.

Hurren, who is an active-duty reservist with the Canadian Rangers, is next due in court on July 17.

Last year, in an unrelated incident, Trudeau donned a bulletproof vest for an election campaign rally in October after officials detected an unnamed security threat.
Police gather at the scene where two New York City officers were shot in a confrontation, in New York on June 3, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Police Handcuffed as Shootings Soar to 24-Year-High in New York

BROOKLYNNew York City is spiraling into a rule-of-law crisis, according to the citys police department, citing the recent surge in shootings and a paralyzed justice system that cant keep repeat offenders off the streets.

While the NYPD has sounded the alarm for months, city leaders seem to be headed in the opposite direction, slashing the departments budget by $1 billion.

I hope Im not the only oneit takes a long time to turn the shipthat sees the iceberg directly in front of us, NYPD Commissioner Dermont Shea told NY1 on June 22.

The problem is the result of multiple compounding factors, several current and former NYPD leaders said. First, the city passed a bail reform law that allowed more criminals to immediately get back on the streets. Then the city went into lockdown in response to the CCP virus pandemic, resulting in the shutdown of the court system, which created a sizable backlog of cases. It then released hundreds from its jails, saying it would mitigate the spread of the virus among inmates.

Finally, protests sparked by the death of George Floyd during his arrest in Minneapolis in May quickly turned violent, fueling resentment toward police and elevating calls for abolishing police altogether.

There were 250 victims of shootings across the city between June 1 and June 28an increase of nearly 160 percent from the same period last year, and the largest number for that four-week time frame since 1996.

On the Fourth of July weekend, 39 people were shot across the city, including two men in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. A 20-year-old died after a dispute during a party that spilled out into the street ended with bullets flying.

Three days later, the street had been cleared and there was no evidence of a crime scene. Three men fixing a car on the street said the incident was a celebration gone wrong.

Their energy in the city is all messed up, one said, declining to provide his name.

When asked if the city should do something about the shootings, he said: We should do something about it. We need to stop acting stupid.

The city needs to reopen recreation facilities, said two women sitting on the stairs of a house near the scene of the crime.

Frustration among the youth runs high as the virus lockdown forced them to stay inside even as the summer came, they said.

New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

One said shes never seen anything like this on the block in the 28 years shes lived there.

Indeed, crime has been on the decline in the city for decades, even as the rest of the country saw a major spike in violence in 20152016. Much of those improvements now seem erased in a matter of a few months.

When you ask the police department now to somehow wave a magic wand and fix [this] when youre putting all the dangerous people back on the street, youre seeing whats happened, Shea said. And the shame is, again, this is not a surprise. We knew this was coming. We warned people. We asked people to change and fix the law. We asked people to do many things, but I cant remember the last law that was passed that actually helped law enforcement, and thats a shame.

He pointed out that a month or two ago, he was already warning people of a storm on the horizon.

Meanwhile, the City Council, at Mayor Bill de Blasios recommendation, passed a $1 billion NYPD budget cut amid a massive budget shortfall caused by the virus lockdown as well as calls from some politicians to defund the police completely.

Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik called the move ludicrous.

It defies common sense, it defies logic, and it defies sound management, he told The Epoch Times.

De Blasio said the money will instead go to affordable housing and youth programs and so address the underlying issues that lead to criminality, such as a lack of recreation or jobs for young people in poor neighborhoods.

Kerik called it ridiculous.

Youre never going to have jobs, youre never going to have good schools, youre never going to have after-school programs if you dont reduce the crime, because nobody wants to live, work, visit, or go to school where theyre not safe, he said.

Bail Reform

The NYPD has repeatedly complained that last years bail reform has allowed criminals to stay out of jail even after getting repeatedly arrested.

[It] basically diminished the authority of the courts to keep people in jail pending trial, Kerik said. So you have people now that get arrested and theyre back on the street in six hours.

Anthony Robinson, 29, a father of three, is fatally shot in a drive-by shooting as he held hands with his daughter, Khloe. (Screenshot/NYPD)

We cannot expect the police to go out there and fix laws that are broken. We cannot stop our way out of this problem, Shea said. We need bad people held accountable, and right now we have a lack of accountability.

Michael LiPetri, NYPD chief of crime control strategies, voiced similar concerns.

We have arrested individuals more than 20 times since the pandemic started and we see them continuing and continuing to get right back out, he told Fox News. When we look at pre-pandemic and beginning of the year, we did see a large number of people released on their own recognizance, by judges across the city, who were carrying an illegal firearm.

Court Backlog

As the city was hit hard by the CCP virus pandemic, most city services have been shut down or significantly curtailed. Courts only adjudicate the most pressing cases, and even those are conducted virtually. Cases have thus started to pile up.

We have over 1,000 people that have been indicted on a gun possession charge, where the cases are open, and they are walking around the streets of New York today, LiPetri told The New York Post in June.

The lockdown was no excuse, according to Kerik.

If you were doing it right and you were aggressive, lockdown or not lockdown, you can handle that, he said.

At worst, the suspects would simply sit longer in pre-trial detention. But then again, that system has been virtually crippled by the bail reform.

Weve been trending this way for a while. And the shootings are just the latest symptom, Shea said. We need the criminal justice system to start working, quite frankly.

The city, however, went out of its way to release many people already locked up.

Releasing Prisoners

As part of his promise to shut down the citys notorious jail on Rikers Island, de Blasio has dramatically reduced the jail population. Hundreds were released as part of the campaign to stop the spread of the virus.

But the city cant expect to release large numbers of inmates and face no repercussions, according to Shea.

Theres literally almost no one in jail when you look at the levels. You cannot have the releases that weve had, the continued population declines with really, wheres the aftermath? he said. Where are the questions about supervision, parole, etc.?

While the city jails are far from empty, the jail population has nearly halved since 2019.

There were more than 8,000 people on average in city jails between January and March 2019 (pdf).

That number dropped to less than 5,500 in the same period this year (pdf) and, as of July 6, the inmate count has dropped to less than 4,000.

The whole idea of closing Rikers Island was nonsensical to Kerik, who used to run the jail system and accomplished massive reductions of inmate-on-inmate violence.

They had corruption, they had assaults by staff, they had violence in the system, all that stuff they had had nothing to do with the facilities, he said.

If de Blasio spends billions on new facilities, but puts the same staff and inmates inside, hows that going to help you? Kerik asked rhetorically.

It doesnt help, it doesnt do anything. Its stupidity.

The solution is to change the management and make everybody accountable to do their job, he said.

Crime Control Unit

In June, Shea announced the NYPD will eliminate its plainclothes anti-crime units, about 600 officers, and will transfer those personnel to detective assignments and neighborhood policing.

Shea noted that the move is not without risk, questioning whether the decision would result in fewer guns being taken off the streets of New York City. But he said the risk rests squarely on my shoulders.

According to Kerik, this is another factor fueling shootings, because anti-crime units specialized in discovering guns.

Your whole sole function in life is to go look for guns, Kerik said. Because youre in plain clothes, you can walk around communities, you can respond to jobs.

Inhibiting Police

Piece by piece, de Blasio has whittled away a unit by unit, and on top of that handcuffed the police, Kerik said.

He referred specifically to de Blasios instruction to handle the rioting after Floyds death with a light touch.

Combined with the other issues, theres a resentment brewing within the NYPD.

On June 26, the commander for the Bronx precinct resigned in protest of the citys management.

More recently, two NYPD chiefs put out public statements, one criticizing the Manhattan district attorney, the other criticizing the city politicians. This was particularly significant, because officers of this rank rarely put out public statements, Kerik noted.

I was shocked, he said. You know why? It had to be endorsed by the police commissioner.

Broken Windows

Shea voiced support for quality-of-life policing, also called broken windows policing. The strategy focuses on arrests for minor offenses, particularly in cases in which the officers know from experience that the conduct is likely about to escalate into more serious crimes.

We cannot step away from quality-of-life policing, and we also need to support our police officers that are out there doing a very difficult job, he said, noting that almost every shooting the weekend before had three common nexuses: alcohol, marijuana, and dice games.

We tie it to street lawlessness right now, LiPetri said. The small amount of individuals that are out there causing mayhem, they feel empowered. We see an increase in dice games on the street. Were seeing an increase in house parties [that are] then getting violent. So the individuals that are causing these quality-of-life conditions are the very people that are then part of the violence after the fact.

Kerik doubts dice games are a significant factor in street violence. He commented, however, on going after minor crimes.

In the 1990s, under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, he remembered, the NYPD started to arrest people for trivial crimes like skipping subway fares. As it turned out, a large portion of those arrested were sought by police for more serious crimes.

Kerik said the methods the NYPD adopted at the time might not have been nice, but violent crime did drop by 60 percent.

The two women in Brooklyn, however, saw the other side of the coin. The incessant stops by police, constant probing for minor infractions leaves emotional scars, they said, recalling several incidents of their own.

Shea acknowledged just putting people away doesnt always work.

You cant arrest yourself out of every situation, he said, bringing attention to approaches like the precision policing model, which focused on the most notorious criminals who commit a large share of violent crimes, and the neighborhood community officer (NCO) program, which designates certain officers as liaisons for their communities who people can call with problems that havent yet raised to the level of a crime.

The NCO program started in 2014 and appeared to make a difference, according to Shea.

Our NCO program  was seeing unbelievable results, he said. Were not hearing much about that lately.

Update: The article has been updated with information.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore, on June 12, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

North Korea Rejects Talks as US Envoy Arrives in Seoul

SEOUL, South KoreaNorth Korea on Tuesday said it has no immediate intent to resume a dialogue with the United States as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun arrived in South Korea for discussions on stalled nuclear diplomacy.

In a statement released through the Norths official Korean Central News Agency, senior North Korean foreign ministry official Kwon Jong Gun also ridiculed nonsensical calls by South Korea for revived negotiations between the United States and North Korea, saying it has lost its relevance as a mediator.

The State Department said Biegun, who is also President Donald Trumps special representative for North Korea, will discuss cooperation on a range of issues in meetings this week with officials in South Korea and Japan, including the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.

Kwons statement came hours before Biegun arrived at a U.S. air base near Seoul. The U.S. Embassy said Biegun, members of his delegation, and the military air crew were being tested for COVID-19 at the base and would proceed to Seoul after confirmation that all had negative test results.

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun (C) arrives at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, on Dec. 15, 2019. (Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have met three times since embarking on high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018. But negotiations have faltered since their second summit in February last year in Vietnam, where the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capability.

Amid the stalemate in talks, North Korea has repeatedly said in recent months that it would no longer give Trump the gift of high-profile meetings he could boast of as foreign policy achievements unless it gets something substantial in return.

North Korea has also been dialing up pressure on the South, cutting off virtually all cooperation and blowing up an inter-Korean liaison office in its territory last month, following months of frustration over Seouls unwillingness to defy U.S.-led sanctions and restart joint economic projects that would help the Norths broken economy.

Explicitly speaking once again, we have no intention to sit face-to-face with U.S., Kwon said in the statement.

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands before their one-on-one chat during the second U.S.-North Korea summit at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam on Feb. 27, 2019. (Leah Millis/Reuters)

Some analysts believe North Korea will avoid serious talks with the Americans for now and instead focus on pressuring the South in a bid to increase its bargaining power before an eventual return to negotiations after the U.S. presidential election in November.

North Korean vice-minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son Hui (C) arrives for a press conference at Melia hotel, following the U.S.-North Korea summit, in Hanoi, Vietnam, early on March 1, 2019. (Huy Phong /AFP via Getty Images)

Kwons statement came days after North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Sun Hui, whom Biegun has described as his potential counterpart when talks resume, insisted the North wont resume negotiations unless Washington discards what it describes as hostile policies. She criticized the Trump administration for considering diplomacy with the North as nothing more than a tool for grappling its political crisis.

Without naming him outright, Kwon also took a jab at Moon, who in a video conference with European leaders last week expressed hope that Trump and Kim would meet again before the U.S. elections.

(Choes) statement also mentioned the meddlesome man who had again indicated his intention to arbitrate between the DPRK and the U.S., Kwon said, referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

We feel sorry to see (the South) trying so hard to become the mediator but it may try as much as it wants if it cherishes so strong wish to try it to the end. Time will show whether its efforts will succeed or it will only suffer a loss and ridicule.

Biegun is to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-Wha and other South Korean officials on Wednesday before leaving for Japan on Thursday, Kangs ministry said.

By Kim Tong-Hyung
A man gestures to the cameras in an inner-city hotel where travellers returned from overseas are staying in isolation in Melbourne on March 30, 2020. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

Northern Territory Brings Back Mandatory Quarantine

Mandatory supervised quarantine for Melbourne residents who visit the Northern Territory could be in place for a year due to a new coronavirus outbreak in the nations second-most populous city.

The Territory government responded to the spike in Victoria by announcing on Sunday that arrivals from designated COVID-19 hot spots would be put into forced quarantine.

That was expanded on Monday to all of Melbourne.

Melbourne has been ordered back into lockdown for six weeks after Victoria was hit with a record 191 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, following an increase of 127 cases on Monday, which was also a record.

The NT borders were due to reopen on July 17 but Melburnians and residents from any other areas deemed to be coronavirus hot spots must now go into supervised quarantine for 14 days at their own cost and face testing.

Visitors to the NT from interstate currently must go into unsupervised self-quarantine.

NT Police have been increasingly issuing fines to people for breaching quarantine, with 121 penalties so far.

Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT chief executive John Paterson called for the borders to be shut to all of Victoria immediately, rather than Melbourne from July 17, citing concerns over indigenous communities.

The NSW border will be closed to Victoria from Wednesday.

NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the situation was rapidly evolving which meant there was still plenty of time to make changes in the next 10 days if there were outbreaks in new areas.

The government made its decisions based on medical advice while recognising the restrictions had caused an economic crisis and could be in place long-term, she said.

This could be in place for many months, it could be in place for up to a year, she told reporters.

In terms of people potentially planning travel, they should be aware that these their local government areas could be defined as a hot spot and therefore (would be) going into forced quarantine if they are planning any travel interstate post-July 17.

This will allow some travel between Australian jurisdictions, we know that coronavirus has had a huge impact and people havent been able to visit loved ones who may be seriously ill and had impacts on people attending funerals.

We need to make sure the measures we put in place stand us into the future  we need to be practical, were going to be living with this for some time to come until a vaccine is rolled out.

Last week a man in his 30s became the first positive case in Darwin in almost three months, after travelling from Pakistan to Melbourne where he completed quarantine but then stayed with relatives in one of the citys infection hot spots.

By Greg Roberts
Pedestrians walk past a closed business in Montreal on April 24, 2020. Pandemic protocols have led to an increase in depression, stress, and suicide. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)

Pandemic Prevention Measures Fuel Mental Health Crisis

Closed businesses and social isolation due to pandemic protocols have led to an increase in depression, stress, and suicide, according to surveys and mental health experts.

Im seeing a level of fear that Ive not seen in my clinical experience over 20 years, Dr. Roger McIntyre, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Toronto, told the Epoch Times.

I did a clinic today. I spoke to half a dozen people who lost their jobs. They cant pay their bills. Theyre having nightmares. Theyre feeling like they could be without their homes, so home insecurity. Theyve got food insecurity. This is an all-out assault on their well-being.

Exacerbating the situation is the fact that access to the health-care system has been quite disrupted, McIntyre said.

There have been some supply chain hiccups with some medications, and my patients have other physical problems like heart disease and diabetes and other problems and theyre not getting care for that.

Ontarios independent Financial Accountability Office calculated that by the end of April more than 50,000 operations and treatments had been postponed due to the pandemic. Dozens died waiting for heart surgery, according to a University Health Network report.

All of this comes while its more difficult to connect to loved ones. Social distancing means no shoulder to cry on, and its left some distressed people calling for helpliterally.

Stephanie MacKendrick, CEO of Crisis Services Canada, says the number of calls to suicide prevention lines and regional crisis centres spiked in March and have remained high.

What you have is kind of a perfect storm for anxiety. You have isolation, you have concerns about finances, MacKendrick said.

Youre isolated from normal social interactions that help to alleviate those things.  So youre getting a lot of things all at once. Its not one thingits all of the things that come with the pandemic.

In May, a survey by the Canadian Mental Health Association in partnership with the University of British Columbia found that six percent of Canadians had thoughts of suicide. This number is much higher than the 2.5 percent who reported suicidal thoughts in 2019. Drastic measures designed to save lives have in many ways made it harder to live.

When we strain all the parts of daily livinghealth care, childcare, schooling, job securitywe see the direct, negative effects on peoples mental health, said lead researcher Emily Jenkins, a professor of nursing at UBC who studies mental health and substance use.

Parents of children under 18 were especially vulnerable, the survey showed. Nearly three in ten drank more alcohol. Twelve percent feared emotional domestic violence and nine percent had suicidal thoughts. Roughly half reported declining mental health and anxiety, and almost one-quarter thought their childrens mental health had worsened.

With bars closed and those social venues for drinking not an option, much of this increased [alcohol] use is likely taking place alone or in isolation within the home, Jenkins said. That could contribute to some of what were seeing around the increase in intimate partner violence.

Although youth is an advantage against the virus, its a liability during an economic shutdown.

In mental health, the older you got, the less likely people were to report a deterioration. So weve hypothesized that maybe that younger age demographic has been most impacted by layoffs, due to maybe just entering the job market, not having that same level of skill or experience or work history.

McIntyre says unemployment is bad for mental health, since losing your job is not just losing moneythats critical of coursebut you lose your [way of] life, you lose your structure, you lose part of who you are for many people. So its terrible.

In mid-April, pollster Angus Reid found half of Canadians reported a deterioration in mental health, while one in ten said it had worsened a lot. At that time, three-quarters of Canadians still thought it was too soon to lift restrictions on social distancing and businesses.

McIntyre believes the lockdown was an emergency measure that should have been lifted earlier.

The definition of health according to World Health Organization is physical health and mental health and social well being. And it didnt make sense to me to have a government response to the virus that didnt recognize all three, he says.

Sitting at home protecting yourself from the virus is not in itself sufficient if youre destroying your mental health and your social well-being. It makes no sense to anybody. So we need to have smart containment and start moving this thing forward for people.

A recent study conducted by McIntyre showed that for every one percent rise in unemployment, there is a one percent rise in suicides. Unless unemployment drops below 15 percent, he expects an extra 2,000 suicides by the end of 2021.

A Mental Health Index issued July 6 by Morneau Shepell showed nearly 30 percent of Canadians employed during the past six months suffered more mental stress in June than May. Compared to last year, respondents had more anxiety, depression, and isolation, and lower productivity and optimism. Less than one in five expected to return to pre-pandemic spending patterns.

Crisis Services Canada is available 24/7 toll-free at 1-833-456-4566 or by text at 45645.
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during the daily briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House in Washington April 17, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

People Without CCP Virus Symptoms Should Still Get Tested: Redfield

People without CCP virus symptoms should get tested if they think they were exposed to the virus, said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Anyone who thinks they may be infectedindependent of symptomsshould get a test, Redfield told ABC News on July 3.

Redfields comments came in the wake of a fresh surge of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus cases. On Sunday, Florida surpassed 200,000 cases, recording its highest number in a single day on July 4 with 11,458 casessurpassing New Yorks highest daily surge 11,434 in mid-April.

Cases of infection were overall on the rise in 34 states over the past week, with 12 recording an increase of more than 50 percent, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Three statesKentucky, New Hampshire, and Vermontare reporting a decline in cases.

Redfield said its difficult to use traditional methods of tracking outbreaks because of the number of asymptomatic cases of infection. He said a large number of infected people, particularly those younger than 45, dont show symptoms, according to studies.

Several studies have documented SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients who never develop symptoms (asymptomatic) and in patients not yet symptomatic (pre-symptomatic), the CDC noted in its Interim Clinical Guidance for Management of Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Disease on June 30.

The CDC pointed to a study that said as many as 13 percent of transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed cases of the CCP virus in children were asymptomatic. The RT-PCR is a genome-based test developed to rapidly detect COVID-19, the disease the CCP virus causes.

Another study of skilled nursing facility residents who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 after contact with a healthcare worker with COVID-19 demonstrated that half of the residents were asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic at the time of contact tracing, evaluation, and testing, said the CDC.

The federal agency also noted that virologic studies have reported that a large quantity of viral RNA and viable viruses have been cultured from asymptomatic carriers.

Were challenged with this virus, Redfield told ABC News.

In an overview of the testing for the virus, updated on July 2, the CDC recommended broader testing.

Expanded testing might include testing of individuals on the same unit or shift as someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection, or even testing all individuals within a shared setting (e.g., facility-wide testing), said the CDC.
Screenshot from bodycam footage from a police-involved shooting in Phoenix, Ariz., on July 4. (Phoenix Police Department )

Phoenix Police Release Footage From Fatal Shooting That Triggered Protests

The Phoenix Police Department released an officers body cam video from an officer-involved shooting on July 4 that caused protests.

The video, according to the department, shows police officers speaking with an armed man for about 10 minutes before the shooting. The footage also belongs to an officer who wasnt involved in the shooting but arrived on the scene to assist.

James Porter Garcia, 28, was identified by activists and Phoenix City Councilman Carlos Garcia as the man who was killed in the incident.

It does not shock us that despite all the scrutiny from community Phoenix PD continues to respond violently to calls. But, we must all continue to ask for transparency and accountability, Garcia, the council member, wrote on Facebook Sunday.

The department said in a statement that some claims about the shooting are misinformation, suggesting that people claimed officers shot an unarmed man sleeping in his driveway.

The investigation into this shooting is still in the early stages, said Sgt. Mercedes Fortune, Phoenix police spokeswoman, in a YouTube video. Releasing body-worn camera [BWC] footage from the officers directly involved before all witness and officer interviews are completed could compromise the investigation.

In the footage, the arriving officer after Garcia was shot before he was heard saying to other officers, Wheres the gun?

Its in his lap, he is told by another officer. He didnt let go of it.

So we retrieve the gun and get him out and get him out to fire, the officer stated, referring to paramedics.

Fortune said that Garcia refused orders to get out of the vehicle, rolled up the windows, and pulled a gun.

The man repeatedly told [the] officer to shoot him and lifted the gun towards officers, she said. Thats when two officers fired their weapons.

Later, the spokeswoman said that other body camera footage isnt being released to the public because an investigation is needed.

Steven Merry, a friend of Garcia, told Fox10 that he saw the shooting.

They put the gun on his head like this and theyre still telling him not to move, to get his hand off a gun he [didnt] have and then they shot him again. They made sure he was dead, Merry said, according to the report.

Black Lives Matter protesters and other demonstrators accused the department of brutality after the incident.

We want every single video. The family demands every video, the full 911 call, the dispatching, everything, Viri Hernandez, an activist, told the news outlets.

Police said that someone called 911 on 1 p.m. Saturday to report a stabbing suspect.

Officers talked to the 911 caller who pointed out a specific home where he said the stabbing suspect was, officials said, according to AZCentral. Officers talked to several people including a man inside of the vehicle in the driveway, police said.
Police Seeking Car That Hit Woman Who Stood in Front of It at Protest

Police officers in Bloomington, Indiana, are searching for a driver who struck a woman standing in front of the vehicle during a protest late Monday.

Video footage from the scene showed an electric scooter lying on the street, blocking the road. A man exits the passenger side of a red Toyota, grabs the scooter, and throws it out of the way.

That prompted a woman to get in front of the car and try to stop it from moving forward.

The vehicle then began to accelerate, causing the woman to go up onto the hood of the car. Another person grabbed the car and clung to the side.

Both fell off when the vehicle turned from Walnut Street onto 6th Street, the Bloomington Police Department said in a statement sent to The Epoch Times.

The 35-year-old man suffered abrasions to his arms and the 29-year-old woman was rushed to the hospital with a laceration to her head.

Officers were provided with cellphone footage from several people.

Police were working to identify the driver and the passenger and locate their whereabouts, the statement said.

Police hadnt found them as of Tuesday morning, a spokesman said.

People getting hit by vehicles during protests have become a regular occurrence; in some cases, police find the protesters at fault for obstructing roadways. It wasnt clear if the driver was facing criminal charges.

One woman who witnessed the incident Monday said she couldnt believe what unfolded.

You see a human in front of the car, but this person just hit the gas as hard as they could and they kept going, and then they tried to throw people off the car at high speeds. It didnt make any sense. Ive never been that infuriated in my life. Like I was mad, Erin Parks told WTHR.

Geoff Stewart, who said he was the man clinging to the car, said the vehicle came to a stop but the driver was revving the engine.

We tried to stop her and let her know that the crowd is clearing up just wait a second, Stewart told RTV 6. But, she and her passenger both wanted to go right away so they started to push, they pushed into the woman that was with me and when she pushed again both of us went on the vehicle.

People gathered on Monday to protest after Vauhxx Booker, a civil rights activist, claimed he was nearly lynched.

I was attacked by five white men (with confederate flags) who literally threatened to lynch me in front of numerous witnesses, Booker said in a Facebook post.

In a separate incident, a sheriffs deputy in a neighboring county questioned and detained a black resident walking down the Bloomington street where they live in an apparent example of racial profiling, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton and City Clerk Nicole Bolden said in a joint statement.

These separate incidents exemplify the persistence of racism and bias in our country and our own community. They deserve nothing less than our collective condemnation. They require that we come together as a whole, and recognize that racism damages all of us, not just our residents of color, they said.
After his disastrous handling of the COVID-19 epidemic, Trump is trying to improve his waning electoral chances by reserving all of Gileads stock of remdesivir.





by Prabir Purkayastha





The U.S. has bought up almost all of the stock of remdesivir from Gilead, making it nearly impossible for this COVID-19 drug to be available anywhere else in the world. After making America sick again, Trump is trying to compensate for his administrations failure by buying Gileads production for the next three months for the U.S., leaving nothing for the rest of the world.





Image courtesy: Unflash

This makes it all the more urgent for India and other countries that featured prominently in previous drug license fights against Big Pharma in the U.S. and around the world for more than a decade to break Gileads patent and issue compulsory licenses to manufacture the drug locally. The patent laws of most countries and the World Trade Organizations 2001 Doha Declaration have clear provisions for compulsory licensing during a health emergency or an epidemic. COVID-19 obviously qualifies on both accounts.





On July 1, the U.S. reached a point of more than 50,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, about 23 percent of the 218,000 new cases worldwide that day, making it the global leader on how not to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. As of July 1, Brazil and India were in second and third place, respectively, for new cases.





Remdesivir is the only drug that in drug trials has shown some benefit in fighting the virus infection. Remdesivir works by reducing the replication of the virus in the human body, and this helps in shortening the hospital stay of the patient by about 25 percent. If the patient progresses to a more serious stage, needing oxygen support or ventilation, remdesivir is of little help. Here, anti-inflammatory drugs like dexamethasone become important. Dexamethasone has shown efficacy treating COVID-19 patients in clinical trials, and, unlike remdesivir, it works by reducing lung inflammation arising out of the infection, rather than by fighting the infection itself. Dexamethasone is off-patent and is widely available at low costs.





But if remdesivir cuts down the infectious period, not only is it beneficial to the patients who receive it, but it is also useful for society. By reducing the patients infectious period, it lowers the rate of virus transmission.





I have argued previously that after the battle for access to cheap AIDS drugs, the next big battle would be fought over COVID-19 medicines and vaccines. In the World Health Assembly, the U.S. was the only country that opposed the resolution that all medicines and vaccines should be put in a common patent pool, and accessible to all countries at reasonable costs.





We now know the reason for the U.S. opposition. It wants control over medicines and vaccines for the fight against the pandemic. One reason is to make U.S. citizens feel that Trump is looking after them by providing medicines, even if his administration has failed miserably in the fight against COVID-19. The second reason is that by controlling the medicine for the rest of the world, Trump can bargain with them and try to regain the global hegemon status that the U.S. has lost.





With this step, the U.S. has also made clear its intention regarding COVID-19 vaccines. The U.S. has backed a set of five companies with a $13 billion purse, as a part of its Operation Warp Speed to support vaccine development. One of these five is Moderna, a U.S. biotech company, and one of the frontrunners in the current vaccine trials. The other four backed by the U.S. are AstraZeneca (in consortium with Oxford University); Johnson & Johnson; Merck; and Pfizer with BioNTech. If any of these vaccines succeed and others do not, we can expect the U.S. will guard that vaccine as it is doing with COVID-19 medicine in the case of remdesivir. Fortunately for the world, there are a total of 17 vaccines in the World Health Organizations list of ongoing clinical trials, and another 132 in the pipeline.





Apart from the U.S. buying up almost all of the remdesivir stock, the other issue in making remdesivir accessible to those who need it is the price at which Gilead is selling this drug. For U.S. patients, the cost is about $3,000 for a typical five-day course (which consists of six vials of the drugtwo on the first day, and one per day after that). Gilead has granted a handful of licenses to drug manufacturers in other countriesincluding three Indian companies, Cipla, Hetero and Jubilantto sell generic remdesivir. This means a full course of remdesivir to Indian patients will cost about $400 (at $66 per vial, for six vials).





What is the actual cost of a course of remdesivir? According to an article in the Journal of Virus Eradication by Hill et al in April, the active pharmaceutical ingredient for one days treatment should not cost more than $1. If we add to that the cost of making it into the typical five-day course of six injections, the total cost should not be more than $6. Calculations by two authors from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review in the U.S. use Hills data to estimate that the price of remdesivir for a full course of treatment (they use a longer course of 10 days) in the U.S. should be less than $10.





Why should a full course of remdesivir, costing less than $10 to produce, be priced at $3,000, or 300 times its cost of production, in the U.S.? Even at Gileads concessional price of $400 for India, it is still 40 times the cost of its production! Gileads argument is that because its medicine decreases the duration of hospitalization, it saves COVID-19 patients about $12,000 each in hospital billsand by charging only one-fourth of that, even if it is 300 times the cost of production, Gilead is doing the customers a big favor.





As we know from the results of the clinical trials, remdesivir fights the virus, but if the patient becomes seriously ill, it does not have a statistically significant impact on mortality rates. If it did, Gileads price probably would have factored in lifetime earnings saved by remdesivir, and its price would probably have been even 10 times higher!





But even if remdesivir becomes significantly cheaper, it is uncertain that it can get to countries outside the U.S. thanks to the U.S.s plan to buy almost all of Gileads stock of the drug. So what can the rest of the world do? It may need to prepare to fight a long battle, as India and other countries did during the AIDS epidemic against the U.S. and its drug cartel allies like Switzerland, France, the UK and Germany.





Big Pharma priced AIDS drugs around $10,000-15,000 for a years worth of treatment in the U.S. and Europe, and a concessional price of $4,000 for poor countries. Indian companies were manufacturing the generic version of these drugs at a fraction of these prices, but countries who wanted to import AIDS drugs from India faced lawsuits and political pressure from the U.S.





This battle was fought for nearly a decade. In the World Trade Organizations Doha Round in 2001, the Doha Declaration accepted that in the case of a health emergency or an epidemic, any country has the right to issue a compulsory license for producing lifesaving drugs. And the license to produce the drug could be issued even to a company outside the countrys borders. Indian generic drug manufacturer Cipla could then supply the AIDS drugs at $350 for a years course to a number of countries, which would otherwise have been completely bankrupted by patented drugs higher pricesor else they would see their AIDS patients die in large numbers without medicines.





The victory to secure cheap generic AIDS drugs sets a precedent for the current pandemic. COVID-19 has already killed an estimated half a million and infected more than 10 million. No one can dispute that is both a health emergency and a pandemic. The remedy of using a compulsory license already exists in most countries patent laws and in the Doha Declaration.





Why, then, are other countries not starting the manufacture of remdesivir? Are they hoping that Gilead and the U.S. will behave better than they did earlier during the AIDS epidemic? Or are they afraid of the threat of retaliatory sanctions from the U.S.?





Every year, the U.S. Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issues a Special 301 Report that it has used to threaten trade sanctions against countries that dont comply with its patents. India figures prominently in this report year after year, for daring to issue a compulsory license in 2012 to Natco to sell the cancer drug nexavar for less than 3 percent of Bayers price of more than $65,000 a year. After India issued the compulsory license on Nexavar, Marijn Dekkers, the CEO of Bayer, said, We did not develop this medicine for Indians We developed it for Western patients who can afford it.





In April, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi buckled under Trumps threat and exported hydroxychloroquine to the U.S. even though it was under an export ban at that time. Will heand the leaders of other countriesbe willing to stand up to the U.S. on remdesivir? Or will they agree with Trump that remdesivir should be reserved for only U.S. patients, even if they have the capacity to produce it for their people?





This article was produced in partnership by Newsclick and Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.





Prabir Purkayastha is the founding editor of Newsclick.in, a digital media platform. He is an activist for science and the Free Software movement.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a joint news conference on the International Criminal Court at the State Department in Washington on June 11, 2020. (Yuri Gripas/AFP via Getty Images)

Pompeo Says US Considering Ban on Chinese Social Media Apps, Including TikTok

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late on Monday that the United States is certainly looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.

I dont want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but its something were looking at, Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News.

U.S. lawmakers have raised national security concerns over TikToks handling of user data, saying they were worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

The app, which is not available in China, has sought to distance itself from its China-based owner ByteDance to appeal to a global audience and claims to be independent of the Chinese regime.

Read More Australia Says No Such Thing as Private Chinese Company, Will Guard National Interest

Pompeos remarks also come amid increasing U.S.-China tensions over the handling of the CCP virus, or coronavirus, outbreak, Chinas actions in Hong Kong, and nearly two-years of difficult trade negotiations.

TikTok, a short-form video app, was recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps after a border clash between India and China.

Reuters reported late on Monday that TikTok would exit the Hong Kong market within days, deciding to do so after Chinas establishment of a sweeping new national security law for the semi-autonomous city.
A Qantas Boeing 747 during a fly past at the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 15, 2015. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

Qantas Offers One Last Chance to Fly on Its 747 Queen of the Skies

The last Qantas Boeing 747 will fly Australians in one last round of farewell flights before retiring from her throne after serving for nearly 50 years.

Qantas announced on July 6 that the iconic Queen of the Skies will be making three final flights departing from Sydney, Canberra, and Brisbane. The COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria will see Melbourne miss out on the event.

The one-hour flights will go on sale at midday on Wednesday, July 8.

Qantas 747 Fleet Captain Owen Weaver said the 747 has a special place in the hearts of many Australians.

Since the first 747 joined the Qantas fleet in 1971, these aircraft have operated numerous rescue flights to bring Australians home during times of crisis and provided a safe passage for many travellers taking their first international flight to or from Australia, Weaver said in a media release.

Qantas 747 broke a record in 1989, making its way into both Australian and Qantas history books by flying non-stop from London to Sydney. The record still stands.

There is an enormous amount of nostalgia and affection associated with our 747 and for those who miss out on a seat on the flight, they will at least be able to catch a glimpse of the aircraft as it takes to Australian skies for the last time, Weaver said.

Due to travel restrictions imposed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Qantas announced last week that it would be retiring its grounded 747s.

The airline had already planned to phase out the inefficient four-engine vessel for a newer, more fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner by the end of this year.

The 747 will roam Australian skies on Monday, July 13 in Sydney; Wednesday, July 15 in Brisbane; and Friday, July 17 in Canberra. Economy fares cost $400 and a small number of Business Class tickets will be available for $747.

Seats will be limited to maximise passenger comfort and will operate with Fly Well protocols in place.

A previous version of this article featured an image of an A380. The Epoch Times has corrected the error.
An Australian farmer drives his truck across a drought-affected paddock as he feeds his sheep on his property in Boggabri, Australia, on Oct. 4, 2019. (David Gray/Stringer/Getty Images)

Regional Australia to Benefit From Future Drought Fund

The Morrison government will invest billions into a forward-thinking Future Drought Fund that will provide 100 million a year to help rural and regional Australia become more prepared and resilient to the impacts of drought.

Announced on July 1, the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud said that the Morrison government will invest $3.9 billion, which will grow to $5 billion, in the forward-thinking fund.

Established in legislation in 2019, the Future Drought Fund will provide a range of programs to build drought resilience into the Australian agriculture sector.

Drought is an enduring feature of the Australian landscape. It has economic, environmental, and social impacts on our farmers, communities, and landscape, said Littleproud.

Speaking in an interview on 2SM on July 1, Littleproud said: Thats what the future fund is about, its about the future, its about understanding that your very next drought starts the very first day after it stops raining.

The federal government is set to roll out eight Future Drought Fund programs (pdf) costing a total of $89.6 million in July 2020. Among the programs listed by the Department of Agriculture, the fund will provide $20.3 million for a Drought Resilience Research and Adoption program, $20 million to a Farm Business Resilience program, and $15 million to a Natural Resource Management (NRM) Drought Resilience program.

There will also be a further $10 million allotted to Climate Services for Agriculture program, and another $3 million will be given to a Drought Resilience Self-Assessment Tool.

These programs will give farmers and communities the tools they need to prepare for, manage, and sustain their livelihoods during droughts, explained Littleproud.

Designed through consultation with farming communities, the programs are created to tackle issues like the restoration and creation of natural resources such as soil, vegetation, and water retention.

They will also grant farmers access to vital research, climate tools, and strategic business management training so they can prepare for, manage, and sustain their livelihoods during a drought.

The peak body for Australian farmers the National Farmers Federation (NFF) welcomed Littleprouds announcement.

In a media release on July 1, NFF President Fiona Simpson said the start of the Future Drought Fund was a milestone day in the nations approach to drought policy.

The NFF and our members have continued to call on governments at all levels to recognise drought as an ever-present challenge, even during seasonally good years, said Simpson

The activation of the Future Drought Fund is an important milestone in Australias approach to drought, she said

Agriculture, Simpson explained, is one of the most volatile sectors in the Australian economy, and for too long, as a country, we have been reactive towards drought.

This has made Australia unable to get drought preparedness, management, and recovery right as a nation, Simpson revealed.

It is important that drought policy in Australia is a collaborative effort, with formal input from governments, communities, farmers, and other stakeholders, she said.

Simpson said that the NFF was particularly pleased with the creation of the $20 million national Farm Business Resilience Program.

The NFF has been advocating for the roll-out of this sort of program for some time. It will give farmers key tools and insights to manage their financial risks, Simson said.
In this file photo, a morning commuter walks in front of the China Central Television (CCTV) building in Beijing on Dec. 2, 2015. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Regulator Rules Chinese State Broadcaster Violated UK Laws

Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, which aired a forced confession extracted from a British citizen in 2013, is guilty of serious violations of British broadcasting regulations and may face sanctions, Ofcom, the United Kingdoms broadcast regulator, ruled on Monday.

The regulator has put China Global Television Network (CGTN) on notice that it intends to consider imposing a statutory sanction on the broadcaster.

This is the second Ofcom ruling against CGTN in two months. On May 26, the regulator found the network in serious failure of compliance with UK impartiality laws during its coverage of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong last year.

Journalists follow the progress on a television screen of the trial of British investigator Peter Humphrey (C) linked to beleaguered pharmaceutical giant GSK and his wife, at the Shanghai Intermediate Court on Aug. 8, 2014. (Johannes Eisele /AFP via Getty Images)

Ofcom launched the investigation in 2019 after Peter Humphrey, a British corporate investigator, filed a complaint against CGTN, saying its British license should be revoked because it aired his forced confession while he was imprisoned in China.

The British regulator found (pdf) that CGTNs broadcasts constituted unfair treatment of Humphrey and unwarranted infringement of privacy.

The programmes included footage of Mr Humphrey which had the potential materially and adversely to affect viewers perception of him, the ruling stated.

CGTN, which is owned by China Central Television (CCTV), also unwarrantably infringed Mr Humphreys privacy in respect of the obtaining of the material included in the programmes and in the programmes as broadcast, Ofcom said.

Humphrey ran a corporate due diligence firm in China that the Chinese state alleged had bought and sold personal data, charges that Humphrey said are false.

In his submission to Ofcom, Humphrey said he was drugged, secured to a metal chair, and then placed inside a small cage.

CCTV journalists then aimed their cameras at me and recorded me reading out the answers already prepared for me by the police. No questions were asked, he said.

Simon Cheng, a former British Consulate employee, poses for a photograph in London, Britain, on July 2, 2020. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)

According to human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders, CGTN and its Chinese-language counterpart CCTV have aired numerous forced confessions, which amount to known and intentional distortion of facts and clear lies, and violate Ofcoms rules on impartiality and accuracy.

Ofcom has an ongoing investigation into an alleged forced confession aired by CGTN from Simon Cheng, a former British Consulate employee in Hong Kong, who was detained for 15 days in August 2019 by mainland Chinese police.

Cheng said secret police tortured him to obtain information about the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Shortly after he broke his silence to international media, CGTN broadcast a report with Cheng purportedly confessing to soliciting prostitutes.

After a lengthy interrogation, Cheng said he agreed to confess to the minor offense of soliciting prostitution to avoid harsher treatment and a heavy sentence on national security charges.

John Smithies and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A statue of Jefferson Davis, second from left, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, is on display in Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington in a June 24, 2015, file photograph. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)

Removal of Confederate Statues Inserted Into Funding Bill

A House panel on Monday released a funding bill that includes a directive to remove all Confederate statues and busts from public areas in the U.S. Capitol.

The House Appropriations Committee included language directing the architect of the building to remove statues or busts in the U.S. Capitol that represent figures who participated in the Confederate Army or government, as well as the statues of individuals with unambiguous records of racial intolerance, a summary released by the panel said.

Statues of three menCharles Aycock, John C. Calhoun, and James Paul Clarkewere specifically mentioned, while the bust of a fourth, Roger B. Taney, was also singled out in the draft (pdf).

The statues and bust should be kept in storage until arrangements are made to return them to the states that sent them to the capitol, according to the bill.

Aycock, a Democrat, served as the governor of North Carolina from 1901 to 1905. The statue was given by the state in 1932.

House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) speaks in Washington on May 28, 2020. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Calhoun, a Democrat, of South Carolina was vice president from 1825 to 1832. His statue arrived in Washington in 1910.

Clarke, a Democrat, was a U.S. senator representing Arkansas for 13 years. His statue arrived in 1921.

Taney, who switched from the Federalist Party to the Democratic-Republican Party, was the chief justice of the Supreme Court for nearly three decades. A statue of Taney was removed from outside the Maryland State House in Annapolis in 2017 by order of Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican.

Each state sends two statues to be presented in the U.S. Capitol and the law at present forbids removal of the statues without the states approval.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) started pushing to remove Confederate statues last month, saying they pay homage to hate.

Two women take pictures in front of the statue of US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney in a photograph before it was removed, in Annapolis, Md., on Aug. 16, 2017. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library, argued that states have already started replacing some of the statues in question. He later blocked a bill that would remove all Confederate statues from the capitol.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in March introduced legislation with Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) to remove the bust of Taney and replace it with a bust of Thurgood Marshall, former associate justice of the Supreme Court.

The representatives noted that Taney wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott v. Sanford case, which said African Americans couldnt be citizens of the United States.

In Maryland we made the decision to remove a statue of Taney from the State House grounds, reflecting his shameful contribution to the evil system of slavery and its defense, and we ought to do the same here, Hoyer said in a statement.

Hoyer said a vote on the legislation will take place later this month.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is seen onscreen at the closing of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on July 21, 2016. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

Republican National Convention Participants Will Be Tested Daily for New Virus

People attending the Republican National Convention will be tested for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus on a daily basis, a Republican familiar with the matter told The Epoch Times.

The plan for administering testing and other health protocols will be rolled out in the coming weeks. We are committed to holding a safe event, and will be closely coordinating with state and local officials in the months ahead, Republican National Committee spokeswoman Mandi Merritt said in a statement.

The convention is scheduled for Aug. 24 to Aug. 27. Portions of the convention will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina while the other parts will happen in Jacksonville, Florida.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to give a speech accepting the partys nomination on the last day of the convention in Jacksonville.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said last week that all attendees would be tested.

Attendees are body temperature screened prior to a political rally for President Donald Trump in Tulsa, Okla., on June 20, 2020. (Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Were going to test everybody, McDaniel told Fox News. Were going to have temperature checks, were going to sanitize.

Results for some tests can be returned in as rapidly as 15 minutes while other results take hours to process.

A rising case count in Florida has prompted renewed criticism of the event, which is expected to draw thousands to various Jacksonville venues.

Florida reported 7,347 new cases of COVID-19, the disease the CCP virus causes, on Tuesday.

The positivity rate for tests has also climbed in recent days, as has the number of people in hospitals, with the average of daily hospitalizations hitting 380 on Monday. Hospital capacity remains strong.

Duval County, which includes Jacksonville, has seen 9,711 positive cases out of approximately 957,755 residents, and just 70 deaths with COVID-19 so far.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters on Tuesday, As weve seen more traffic in hospitals in the past few weeks, were seeing a smaller number of residents of long-term care facilities admitted.

Florida Gov, Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference in Miami, Fla., on June 8, 2020. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)

Those residents of the long-term care facilities, when theyre admitted, they have a much, much higher rate of mortality. So to see that decline, that is something very, very positive.

DeSantis was at a hospital in Miami that the state converted to a 150-bed nursing home dedicated to COVID-19, the 12th such facility in the state. The governor has focused on the older population, which is more vulnerable to the new disease.

Two older GOP lawmakersSens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), 86, and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), 80arent attending the RNC.

Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, was asked on Sunday whether it was safe to hold Trumps speech in Florida.

I think its too early to tell. We will have to see how this unfolds in Florida and elsewhere around the country, Hahn said during an appearance on CNNs State of the Union.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, a Republican, issued an order on June 29 for people to wear masks both inside and outside when social distancing isnt possible.

Currys order came after hundreds of doctors said in a letter that the Republican National Convention would be unequivocally provocative of disease, predictably harmful, and medically disrespectful to the citizens of this city, much less the rest of the country.

They said they want the event postponed. If not, they said, it should be significantly reduced in terms of crowd size.
Roger Stone Asks Appeals Court to Delay the Start of His Prison Sentence

Roger Stone, a former political adviser to President Donald Trump, is lodging a last-ditch effort to delay the start of his prison sentence by asking a federal appeals court to further postpone when he has to report to prison for another 51 days.

In a court filing to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, Stones attorneys requested an emergency stay on a lower courts ruling that puts him under home confinement in his Fort Lauderdale home and orders him to report to prison on July 14. The attorneys are also asking the court to grant their request to allow Stone to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons custody on Sept. 3.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in her order on June 26, partly granting Stones request to postpone his surrender date, that the July 14 date affords Stone 75 days beyond his original reporting date. Jackson says that the courts accommodations would address Stones medical concerns amid the spike in cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

Stones attorneys argue that the 67-year-old suffers from undisclosed medical issues that would leave him vulnerable in the prison system amid the CCP virus pandemic. FCI Jesup, the prison complex where Stone is designated to serve his term, reported that five staff members have tested positive for the virus and six inmates have tested COVID-19 positive and are awaiting confirmation, according to latest number provided to Stones attorneys.

Federal prosecutors, in this case, do not oppose Stones request to extend his surrender date and agree to a brief delay to allow the D.C. Circuit court to consider the matter, but the prosecutors have told Stones attorneys that they intend to defend the lower courts decision.

His attorneys also ask the court to reinstate Stones bail conditions to before the June 26 order and to decide on the emergency request on or before July 13.

Stone was sentenced on Feb. 20 to three years four months in prison. He was convicted in November 2019 on all seven counts he was charged with, including obstruction, witness tampering, and making false statements to Congress.

In a statement on social media on Monday, Stone said he recognizes that the chances of his bid in the appeals court being unsuccessful would be overwhelming but he was determined to pursue every option in the legal system, including calling on Trump to grant him a pardon.

I recognize that the chances are overwhelming that the appeals court will remand the matter back to Judge Jackson but it is vitally important that the American people see all of the false claims in her most recent ruling and I want the president to know that I have, in good faith, exhausted all of my legal remedies and that an only an act of clemency by the Presideny [sic] will provide Justice in my case, he wrote.

There has been widespread speculation that Stone may be in line for a presidential pardon. Trump on July 3 retweeted a post by social and political commentator Lori Hendry calling for Stone to be pardoned.

While the president said in February that he wouldnt be pardoning Stone, he seemed to leave open the possibility for a later time. Im not going to do anything in terms of the great powers bestowed upon a president of the United States, I want the process play out, I think thats the best thing to do, Trump said at a Hope for Prisoners graduation ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada, in February. Because Id love to see Roger exonerated and Id love to see it happen because I personally think he was treated very unfairly.

At some point Ill make a determination, Trump said, but Roger Stone and everybody has to be treated fairly. And this has not been a fair process.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
Miles of unused pipe, prepared for the Keystone XL pipeline, sit in a lot outside Gascoyne, N.D., on Oct. 14, 2014. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Supreme Court Greenlights Pipeline Projects, Except for Keystone XL

The Supreme Court stayed a lower court ruling and allowed a slew of pipeline projects to move forward under a fast-track permitting process but left out the controversial, long-delayed expansion of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.

The 1,200-mile Keystone XL Pipeline, which is now temporarily held up by the high court, would link Canadian oil sands fields to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The project would add to the existing Keystone pipeline, finished in 2013, which runs from Alberta, Canada, to Illinois, Texas, and Oklahoma.

When completed, Keystone XL is supposed to move as much as 830,000 barrels of crude oil from Alberta to Montana, Oklahoma, and Texas, stretching 875 miles through Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska.

The Trump administrations efforts to promote Keystone, which it views as a big job-creator, were supported by a coalition of 18 states.

The U.S. Department of Justice didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

The ruling, which could allow more than 70 pipeline projects to move forward, was a partial victory for the Trump administration, which has vigorously promoted the domestic energy industry. However, the exclusion of Keystone from the order is a high-profile setback for President Donald Trump, who promised during the 2016 campaign to move the Keystone project forward.

In 2015, then-President Barack Obama rejected the project, claiming it would contribute to climate change. Trump campaigned against Obamas nixing of the pipeline and took action to move the project forward days after being sworn in, promising it would create jobs, stimulate the economy, and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Jan. 24, 2017, ordering the State Department to take all actions necessary and appropriate to facilitate its expeditious review of the Keystone permit application.

Even if Keystone were to be victorious in pending litigation, it would still have to pass environmental and regulatory scrutiny. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who was Obamas vice president, vows to rescind the Keystone permit if he unseats Trump.

The ruling came late on July 6, hours after a federal judge in the nations capital ordered the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota shut down and emptied while the U.S. government completes an in-depth environmental impact review, as reported by The Epoch Times.

A day earlier, energy companies abandoned plans to build the $8 billion Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline, citing mounting costs and an uncertain regulatory environment. The decision to give up on the project came after the Supreme Court had allowed it to move forward on June 15, ruling 72 that the U.S. Forest Service had the authority to allow the pipeline to cross under the historic Appalachian Trail, as The Epoch Times also reported.

The new order arose out of a proceeding known as Army Corps of Engineers v. Northern Plains Resource Council. The request for a stay of an order by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was presented to Justice Elena Kagan, who referred it to the full Supreme Court, which granted part of the application. The one-paragraph order didnt provide a rationale for the decision.

The Supreme Court ruling reverses a lower court ruling that had required new oil and natural gas pipelines expected to be built across bodies of water to go through an arduous permitting process. The lower court had canceled a document called Nationwide Permit 12 that allowed work to move forward on multiple pipelines across water, and found the Corps of Engineers failed to properly assess the impact of the projects on endangered species. The lower court ruling, now reversed, had ordered projects covered under the permit to halt construction pending completion of the environmental impact study.

Environmentalists had complained that a Corps construction permit program was letting energy companies escape responsibility for damage to the water bodies, The Canadian Press (CP) reports.

Keystone developer TC Energy told the media outlet that it isnt flying the white flag on Keystone, but acknowledged it will have to delay big chunks of the sprawling project. The company began building a 530-kilometer (329 miles) section of the project in Alberta last week.

Environmentalists were pleased they were able to halt the project, if only temporarily.

Our focus was originally on Keystone, so were very happy the court order ensures it cant move forward under this unlawful permit, attorney Jared Margolis with the Center for Biological Diversity told the CP.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a press conference at the presidential office in Taipei on Jan. 22, 2020. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

Taiwan Officials Condemn Hong Kong Governments Plans for National Security Law

TAIPEI, TaiwanOfficials took turns on July 7 criticizing Beijing and the Hong Kong government, after the latter announced details about the newly-implemented national security law on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen raised concerns that a provision requiring Taiwan organizations and individuals to give up information to Hong Kong police would violate Taiwan citizens rights.

We will keep a close eye on the implementation of Hong Kongs national security law. When necessary, we will issue warnings or guidance for our citizens and relevant organizations to prevent them from being harmed by the law, said Tsai.

She added that if the security law harms Taiwans interests, the island would consider countermeasures.

Tsai also criticized the law for limiting freedoms in Hong Kong and restricting Hongkongers desire for democracy.

Hong Kongs latest move drew bipartisan criticism. The opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), issued a statement Tuesday night, noting that Taiwan does not have any obligation to work with the Hong Kong government in its politically [motivated] criminal Investigation and crime prevention.

Beijing formally enacted the law after ceremonial votes on June 30. The law criminalizes individuals for any acts of subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with maximum penalties of life imprisonment.

On Monday night, the Hong Kong government gazetted details of Article 43 of the law, which includes police being allowed to search private properties without a warrant, and requiring internet service providers to remove messages from their platforms.

Article 43 of the #NationalSecurityLaw for #HongKong pertains to foreign governments, as well as #Taiwan & social media. The legislation already deprives #HK people of freedom & basic rights. Now its going further! Democracies must act together & #StandWithHongKong.   Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan)  (@MOFA_Taiwan) July 7, 2020

The Hong Kong police commissioner could also require foreign and Taiwan organizations and individuals to provide information on individuals suspected of violating the security law while in Hong Kong. The information includes personal assets and source of income, as well as organizations expenditures in Hong Kong, according to the government gazette.

Failure to provide such information to Hong Kong police could lead to organizations and individuals being prosecuted and convicted under the security law, and be fined HK$100,000 (about $12,900) or spend six months in prison.

Taiwan is a sovereign, independent country. We will not be Chinas accomplice. We will protect the safety of our citizens, said Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.

Su elaborated that Beijings decision to adopt the law in Hong Kong showed the world how it has turned its back on promises made to Hong Kong.

Beijing promised to preserve Hong Kongs autonomy for 50 years after the citys transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China in 1997, under a framework called one country, two systems.

Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), a government agency that deals with cross-strait affairs, condemned the Hong Kong government in a press release issued Tuesday.

MAC said that the details about Article 43 were vaguely defined, creating panic among Taiwanese currently working in Hong Kong and killing any normal exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong.

We sternly warn Beijing and the Hong Kong government not to overstep their boundaries to violate human rights and hurt the lawful interests of our groups and institutes in Hong Kong, MAC stated.

Meanwhile, Liao Fu-te, a researcher at Taiwans leading government-run legal research institute Institutum Iurisprudentiae, said the country has a law governing personal data protection.

In an interview with the local branch of sister media NTD, Liao explained that people or organizations in Taiwan could violate the law if they decide to pass on information to Hong Kong, even if the request comes from Hong Kong police.

He recommended the Taiwanese government be aggressive in passing Magnitsky Act-style legislation to punish officials in Hong Kong who have violated human rights.

The United States Magnitsky Act stipulates economic sanctions on foreign violators of human rights.
People protest against the new national security law in Hong Kong on July 1, 2020, the 23rd anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

The Crushing of Freedom in Hong Kong Needs a Stronger Response from Canada

Commentary

The Canadian government has belatedly taken notice of the crushing of freedom in Hong Kong. And were against it, which actually is progress given our habitual stand on Chinese communism. But we still need a much more thorough rethink of whats going on in the world and where we stand in it.

In announcing various measures in response to the Politburos new and oppressive Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on July 3 that Canada joins the international community in reiterating its serious concern at the passage of national security legislation for Hong Kong by the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress of China.

Of course, when I say he said these things I mean someone wrote a piece of paper saying he said them and someone else sent it to the press gallery. But it is the Canadian government position. At a press conference the same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: Canada joins the international community in expressing its grave concern over the passage of national security legislation for Hong Kong by mainland China. Notice anything? Right. Its nearly verbatim.

Its also pablum. One is tempted to make a Yes Minister comment about the real meaning of expressing its grave concern. Its one step up from monitoring the situation, which means doing nothing. And we did take steps, including suspending our extradition treaty with Hong Kong. So let me instead finger that phrase Canada joins the international community.

What is this international community of which you speak? I have a strong aversion to this modern habit of referring to the X community or the Y community in all kinds of contexts, because it embodies a false collectivism that lumps people together on the basis of superficial characteristics where there is no commonality of views, interests, or anything else. But the international community is not merely a harmless self-deception of the sort Kurt Vonnegut had in mind when he coined the term granfalloon for pseudo-communities like Hoosiers, because thinking youre part of some vast beneficial global collective is not innocent.

As my National Post colleague John Ivison cautioned, Trudeau said Canada is joining the international community in expressing its growing concerns. Thats not strictly true. When the United Nations Human Rights Council took a vote, 53 countries supported Chinas crackdown, while only 27 countries criticized the law. However, Ivison added, Francois-Philippe Champagne, the global affairs minister, said Canada is in good company criticizing the law, alongside a number of liberal democracies.

Correct. If you look at the countries backing China and the ones criticizing it, you see exactly who youd expect to see. Or at least who youd expect to see if you were thinking clearly about international affairs, starting with Cuba reading the statement in favour and the U.K. reading the statement against. So we are in good company along with other liberal democracies. And in their company, we are outnumbered by gloating enemies.

The Global Times, an English-language puppet of the Peoples Daily, chortled that A total of 53 countries supported Chinas national security law for Hong Kong at the 44th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Tuesday, triumphing over 27 members that attacked and called for harsh measures against China The landslide victory was seen by experts as showing that Chinas achievements in human rights have won more supporters and become known by wider audiences. The double standards of some Western countries that tried to politicize the UNHRC and to use human rights-related issues as weapons to attack China, brought themselves more criticism within the international community.

Absurd? Sure. But also true. Such paragons of human rights as Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and North Korea backed China, along with a bunch of its soon-to-be-wholly-owned African subsidiaries. And they outnumbered the critical outcasts like Australia, Belgium, Estonia, France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. (The United States isnt on the list as it stomped out of the UNHRC in disgust in 2018, one of those things Donald Trump shocked the establishment by getting right.)

Way back in middle of the 1st century BC Gaius Julius Caesar wrote in The Conquest of Gaul that all men naturally love freedom and hate servitude. Perhaps they do. I hope so. But his statement is by no means the same as saying that all people naturally live under freedom or have the political and cultural habits and institutions necessary to create and sustain it.

Freedom is fragile even in places with many centuries of self-government built on Magna Carta, and Caesar himself had ominous plans for the Roman Republic. In most of the world it just doesnt exist, and the international community is dominated by tyrannies, autocracies, and kleptocracies.

I applaud Trudeaus actions and his statement up to a point. But it should have added and Satan will be lacing up his skates before we let Huawei into our 5G network or the diplomatic equivalent, and that were doubling our military budget. Because he and those around him need to think more deeply. But my concern is his feeling of cozy certainty that we are the world.

Were not. We are islands of liberty in a sea of tyranny. We are islands of honest government in a sea of mendacity. We are islands of prosperity in a sea of misery. And all these things are connected.

If Canadas foreign policy is to make any sense and do any good, it must regain the unfashionable, judgmental, and somewhat less than multicultural or relativist insight that most of the world is badly governed and that most governments are enemies of freedom. They hate and fear it at home and sneer at it abroad. And once you stop believing in this comfy lets-all-have-a-photo-op-then-a-banquet international community whose moral purity armours us against all possible threats, you realize we need more than just expressions of concern and even the useful small steps taken so far.

We need a robust military, strong alliances, bold deeds defended with clear words, and above all else an understanding that freedom is not free.

John Robson is a documentary filmmaker, National Post columnist, contributing editor to the Dorchester Review, and executive director of the Climate Discussion Nexus. His most recent documentary is The Environment: A True Story.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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The Real Farm-Table Food

In a farmer's kitchen, at an actual farm table, the food is not so fancy, but the dishes have meaning and history

The farm-to-table movement has pushed chefs to find creative ways to showcase the local harvest. Menus are loaded with information about where the ingredients came from and how they were treated, but the recipes themselves often struggle to keep the story going.

Dishes like roasted heirloom carrots or braised radicchio can sound pleasingly earthy, but are all too often boring, like overcooked, under-dressed salads. And some recipes try too hard, tap-dancing with foam-injections and quick pickles in dishes that dont add up to more than the sum of their parts.

But when the farmers who grow the food that feeds this movement sit down at their actual farm tables, its a different story. The food is not so fancy, but the dishes have meaning and history.

The recipes are adapted to the farm kitchen. Some come from farmer friends. Many are built and scheduled around seasonal surplus, and portion sizes at the farm table convey the true reality of life on a farm. I just got two recipes from my farmer friend Luci, one for beet greens and one for parsley, and I had to convert from bucket loads to cups.

Some of the ways Luci has of serving vegetables remind me of the menu of a fine Chinese restaurant, where dishes are named after a single vegetable like eggplant or pea greens, each with a simple, specific recipe that reflects the chefs personality. Lucis parsley and beet green recipes both contain ground meat, and like most of her recipes, healthy doses of fat. I am not a low-fat cook, she once announced, unprompted, mid-recitation.

Luci doesnt waste time or mince words, and barely needed a sentence to relay her parsley recipe to me over the phone.

Go out with a bucket and fill it halfway with parsley. Wash, chop, put in a kettle with hamburger, garlic, onions, and steam-saute it in chicken broth and fat with the lid on. Let it simmer so its nice and soupy-juicy and delicious and green. Serve over buttered rice, and everyone is happy.

Its an Italian recipe, she added, that she got from our mutual friend Sarah DeSilvey, a former farmhand of Lucis who returned home to Vermont and became a doctor. DeSilvey says it was her favorite dish growing up, her every birthday feast.

DeSilveys mom got the recipe from The Complete Book of Italian Pasta by Jack Scott, who enjoyed versions of this dish in many kitchens around Rome, usually over the straw-like noodle called bucatini. Scotts version contained a single tablespoon of parsley. DeSilveys mom used quite a bit more. Like a giant game of telephone between Italian cooks and their farmy overseas counterparts, this recipe has evolved at each stop (including mine).

You may not find meaty piles of parsley and beet greens on many farm-to-table menus, but these simple, veggie-centric recipes embody the essence of farm cooking, with a legitimacy that many farm-to-table restaurants can only crave.

For the farmers who grow the food that feeds the farm-to-table movement, simple, veggie-centric recipes rule. (Jukov Studio/Shutterstock)

Parsley

Beef with chicken stock, olive oil, and butter might seem an awkwardly redundant combination, but they all make parsley taste better, and vice-versa.

For a compromise between buttered rice and bucatini, I went with orzo, the pasta that looks like grains of rice. It carries the parsley sauce and sucks up the jus like rice, but has that springy, dreamy pasta feel, and, for fun, is more true to its Italian roots.

Serves 4

1 pound ground beef or similar red meat

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons butter, divided

1 cup orzo (or some other pasta or rice)

23 bunches parsley, preferably flat-leafed, which is much easier to clean

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups chicken broth

1 lemon

Red hot pepper flakes, to taste

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, fry the ground meat in the oil and two tablespoons of the butter. Break up the meat with a spatula and cook until nicely browned.

While the burger browns, put some water on for orzo and cook it.

Then, hold each parsley bunch by the leaves and mince the stems as finely as you can. Add the minced stems to the pan. When the meat is browned, stir in the garlic, onion, and black pepper.

When the onions disappear, add the parsley leaves and chicken broth. Simmer for five minutes.

Use the final tablespoon of butter on the orzo. At serving time, give each plate a squeeze of lemon and a dusting of hot pepper flakes.

Beet Greens

This recipe also came to me in units of bucket loads. Well call it the greens from one bunch of beets. I prefer the foliage of yellow beets, which are less earthy. You could also make this recipe with chard.

Serves 4

1 pound uncased sausage, preferably Italian or similar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 bunch beet greens

1/2 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon black pepper

Fry the sausage in the oil in a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. While it cooks, mince the stems of the beet greens.

When the sausage has browned, add the onions, garlic, and stems and cook until the onions disappear, about 10 minutes. Add the leaves, soy sauce, and black pepper. Give it a good stir and cook until the leaves wilt in the steam of the soy sauce.

Serve as a meaty veggie side dish, or on toast.

Ari LeVaux writes about food in Missoula, Montana.
Top CCP Officials in Beijing Grow Quiet as Epidemic Continues

Although Beijing is not officially under lockdown, authorities imposed measures to restrict activities amid the CCP virus outbreak. Locals are not allowed to leave the city without a negative result taken within seven days. Authorities claimed to have the situation under control, but residents are worried. Furthermore, top-level Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials have not made public appearances since the outbreak re-emerged in Beijing earlier this month.

On June 23, the officials of the China Railway Beijing Group announced at a press conference that travels out of Beijing will be restricted. In addition, anyone who visited Xinfadi food market since May 30, or who have had close contact with the markets employees and live in the communities near the market is not allowed to leave the city. They advised the public to remain in the city unless it is absolutely necessary. For those who need to leave Beijing, they will need to be tested negative on a nucleic acid test within seven days, or else they cannot board trains. Presently, a station in Beijing has decreased about 50 or 60 trains per day and the average daily passenger flow has dropped significantly.

Mr. Jiang, a Beijing resident, said: Indeed, no one can leave the city without a valid result of the nucleic acid test. This is basically the same as a lockdown. There are not many vehicles on the streets and we have all been staying at home. If they want to lock down the city, they can go ahead. There is nothing that can be done for the rest of the year now. I will be happy if I can survive, I have not been able to work for six months and soon I will have to borrow some money.
People walk through a shuttered business district in Brooklyn in New York City on May 12, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Treasury and SBA Release Detailed Paycheck Protection Data

Data release includes company names, loans per state, and more

Together with the Treasury Department, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) revealed detailed information Monday regarding the 4.9 million loans made to businesses across the United States during the CCP virus crisis as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

As of June 30, the PPP has seen over $521 billion lent through almost 4.9 million loans. According to the data (pdf), the PPP supports over 51 million American jobs. Over 96 percent of all applications were approved in Florida, for example, supporting some 3.2 million jobs. At $13.8 billion in loans, California was the state that received the highest number of dollars lent.

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 Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Mnuchin said the Treasury was particularly pleased that 27 percent of the PPPs had been lent in low- and moderate-income communities. The average amount lent was approximately $100,000, according to the Treasurys statement.

SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said that the PPP had been a success for small businesses. 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, she said.

BREAKING: SBA and @USTreasury have released loan-level data showing that 4.9M small businesses & nonprofits benefited from the #PaycheckProtectionProgram.  Full announcement: https://t.co/RjvgVEt71H

 Report: https://t.co/2Egh7r4puZ

 View the data: https://t.co/FOrWNqH7XR  SBA (@SBAgov) July 6, 2020

Carranza said that the jobs numbers released last week showed that the PPP is working for millions of small businesses. Todays data shows that small businesses of all types and across all industries benefited from this unprecedented program, she said.

The data released was broken down to include loan information that included zip codes, business types, demographic data, information on non-profit organizations, names of lenders, and five loan-amount ranges.

Todays 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, Mnuchin said.

President Donald Trump signs the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on April 24, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images)

The lowest range provided was from $150,000 to $350,000, and the highest range from $5 to $10 million. The names of the businesses involved were included for firms that obtained loans above $150,000, which accounted for 75 percent of loan dollars approved. Meanwhile, the SBA omitted the names of businesses with loan amounts under the $150,000 level.

Other data released included statistics regarding dollars lent per state, loan amounts, the top lenders, and loan distribution by industry. The loan data is also broken down according to the type of lender, such as community development financial institutions, or Farm Credit System institutions.

The Paycheck Protection Program was part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress with bipartisan support and signed into law by President Trump on March 27. It was intended to provide small businesses with the funding they would need to pay up to 8 weeks of payroll costsincluding benefits. However, funds could also be used to pay interest on utilities, mortgages, and rent.

The first applications to the program were accepted on April 3 under the CARES Act, but the first round of funding of some $349 billion ran out 13 days after the launch. Congress subsequently approved another $310 billion for PPP loans in April.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event with students, teachers, and administrators about how to safely re-open schools during the pandemic in the East Room at the White House in Washington on July 7, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump Calls on Schools to Reopen, Vows to Pressure Governors

In a White House summit on Tuesday, President Donald Trump again called on schools across the United States to bring students back to campuses in the upcoming fall semester.

We want to get our schools open, Trump told health experts, educators, students, and parents who participated in the discussion on how to safely reopen schools that have been closed since March. We want to get them open quickly, beautifully in the fall.

To reach this goal, the president said he will pressure state leaders he believes are politicizing the decision to reopen schools.

We dont want people to make political statements or do it for political reasons, they think its gonna be good for them politically, so they keep the schools closed, no way, Trump said, after noting that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered schools in his state to reopen next month.

Were very much going to put pressure on the governors and everybody else to open the schools, he continued. Its very important for our country, its very important for the well-being of the students and the parents.

Trump was joined by the first lady, who emphasized the physical and psychological impact on students during the months-long school closure. Melania Trump also urged educators and parents to follow guidelines from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention.

When children are out of school, theyre missing more than just stuff in the classroom, she said. Theyre missing the laughter of their friends, learning from their teachers and the joy of recess and play.

The Trump administration and Republican leaders have repeatedly stressed that schools should reopen and return to the normalcy before the pandemic.

SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!! Trump wrote on Twitter Monday.

To step back toward normalcy, our country will need K-12 and college students to resume their schooling, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is committed to granting legal protections for schools so that they dont have to worry about being sued if students get sick when they return.

Meanwhile, school systems are still looking at options and strategies when they reopen. Some districts are considering a hybrid model, meaning that students will go to school for traditional in-person learning for a few days and learn from home the rest of the week.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, however, rejects the idea of part-time reopening, saying on Tuesday that she expects schools to be fully operational in the fall.
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 in Washington on July 4, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Trump Must Overcome Deluge of Lies

Commentary

There has never in U.S. history been a presidential election remotely like the present one.

It isnt really between two candidates, but between one candidate representing a moderate traditional view of the national interest and the nature of American government, and a coalition of interest groups and factions nominally headed by the opposition presidential nominee, whose campaign is entirely conducted by a comprehensive deluge of lies in 90 percent of the national political media.

The incumbent is running on his record and on a traditional value system; his credibility is somewhat undermined by his frequent lapses into what he generously calls his constructive hyperbole, and by recourse to louche methods and language. (An example was his nonsensical tweet on July 5 about NASCAR and Bubba Wallace.)

Implicit in the promotion of his program is the destruction of what he has, for the past five years, described as a swamp of mediocrity that poorly served the national interest and that after the retirement of Ronald Reagan in 1987 was essentially sustained by both traditional parties.

His opponents defame the president and instead of an election, are trying to conduct a referendum on the president after they have succeeded in destroying him in public opinion.

His very eloquent address at Mount Rushmore on July 3 was his principal effort to date to turn the corner on the tactics of his opponents, deprive them of a rigged and artificial referendum, and present the election as a contest between traditional American patriotic values and media dishonesty, political corruption, and truckling to white-hating mob sentiment.

The Meaning of the Election

The extent to which it has become more of a contest over the meaning of the election than an election itself was well-illustrated when Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) represented the presidents address at Mount Rushmore a few minutes after it ended, as telling lies about dead traitors. She was referring to the presidents passing reference to U.S. military bases named after Confederate generals.

As President Lincoln established, Confederates were secessionists, not traitors. Trumps speech was almost entirely a celebration of the equality of all Americans and the greatness of those who subdued the Confederate insurrection and abolished slaveryall in the context of the revolutionary origins of the American pursuit of liberty, ultimately for all Americans.

Duckworth simply lied about the speech, serenely and justly confident that the national political media wouldnt expose her falsehood or report the speech accurately themselves.

The president must dig himself out from under his own occasionally inopportune remarks and debunk the barrage of defamations directed at him.

Michelle Goldberg (New York Times and Daily Beast) made a point similar to Duckworths in The Mercury News on July 3: that Trump had built his political career on racism and sexism and continues to do so. His large following is attracted by race-baiting and buttressed with dollops of misogyny.

This, too, is an outright lie. Trump was a progressive promoter of female executives in his development business, has many women in his administration in senior positions, had in racial terms an equal opportunity record as an employer, and has never uttered one word of disparagement of any ethnic group (his complaint about illegal immigration was about lack of process, lack of skill, and the presence of criminals, not ethnicity).

He had his moments as an energetic seeker of consensual heterosexual pleasures. But he is a paragon of uxorious fidelity compared to those two titans of recent Democratic lore, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, who were at times so profligate that misogynistic tendencies might be imputable to them. With the incumbent as with his predecessors, none of this has anything to do with their performance as president of the United States.

The racist charge against Trump is an insupportable, malicious, defamatory falsehood. Its in the same category as House Speaker Nancy Pelosis endless prattlings about Trumps supposedly inappropriate relations with Russia. There are and have been no such relations; Pelosi is simply lying.

Constructive Reform

The presidents challenge is to pierce the cloud of opprobrium in which the smear campaign of his media enemies has enshrouded him, to counter the Democratic medias equation of his espousal of liberty for all as white supremacy as the Big Lie that it is, and to expose the spearheads of the anti-Trump opposition, Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa, as the racist, Americophobic, Marxist hooligans and terrorists that they are.

Its startlingly indicative of the efficacy of the partisan national political medias anti-Trump campaign that even after the infamies that BLM committed following the murder of George Floyd (supposedly in respectful memory of him), BLM is somewhat more popular than the president himself. This is because the unobservant havent noticed that black lives matter less to BLM than to the president, and that BLM rejects the formulation that all lives matter.

Despite the presidents dip in the polls of 3 to 5 percent under the buffetings of the pandemic, the economic shutdown, and the post-Floyd riotsin which he was represented as President Chaoshe still has an incomparable platform for his reelection appeal.

Unlike black-supremacist BLM, he believes in racial equality, and believes that traditional African American economic disadvantage will best be combated by full employment, generous investment in enterprise zones to employ and train underskilled people, continued heavy assistance to African American universities and institutions, and penal reform that will eliminate what has long been the built-in bias against minorities in the U.S. criminal justice system.

This is a program of constructive reform that, with the near-elimination of illegal immigration, had brought the country to a position of unprecedented prosperity before the COVID-19 crisis and had generated swifter income growth in the lower 20 percent of the income scale in percentage terms than the most prosperous 10 percenta breakthrough in the income disparity crisis that afflicts all advanced societies. This progress can be regained.

By continuing to promote a proven and practical program of economic growth and equitable prosperity increases, and by espousing the traditional view of America as an always well-intentioned, but often imperfect country (as all countries are), striving throughout its history to be a more just and contented society, the president has a natural majority.

If he sticks to his message, strictly respects the facts, and economic and public health trends continue, he should redress the gap enjoyed by his opponent in the polls by the end of the summer. Then, the Democrats will have to cease pretending they are conducting a rigged referendum on Trump and will have to acquiesce in the publics selection of one of the two candidates.

We know that the president is a competent, if idiosyncratic, executive. Only a delusional optimist could imagine Joe Biden successfully executing the office in which the Democratic barons and media mouthpieces are desperately trying to insert him.

Conrad Black has been one of Canadas most prominent financiers for 40 years, and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world. He is the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, and, most recently Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other.

The views expressed herein are solely those of the author. As a nonpartisan public charity, The Epoch Times does not endorse these statements and takes no position on political candidates.
An arrangement of hydroxychloroquine pills is seen in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 6, 2020. (John Locher/AP Photo)

Trump Urges FDA to Act Now on Hydroxychloroquine After New Study Shows Positive Effect

President Donald Trump called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to act immediately on hydroxychloroquine after a new study showed the drug led to a lower mortality rate in COVID-19 patients.

Researchers at the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan analyzed records of over 2,500 patients and concluded 13 percent of those who received hydroxychloroquine alone died, versus 26.4 percent who received only standard of care.

The vast majority of patients were given the drug within 48 hours of admission.

Trump, a Republican, shared results from the study late Monday, accusing his political opponents of disparaging it because he promoted its use earlier this year.

Trump tagged the FDA and wrote: Act now.

President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during the Independence Day events at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, S.D., on July 3, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

The FDA issued a warning over hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in April, citing studies that suggested the drug could cause side effects in some patients. In June, the agency revoked emergency use authorization for the drug and the closely related chloroquine (CQ).

FDA Chief Scientist Denise Hinton wrote in a letter explaining the decision: It is no longer reasonable to believe that oral formulations of HCQ and CQ may be effective in treating COVID-19, nor is it reasonable to believe that the known and potential benefits of these products outweigh their known and potential risks.

The new findings prompted doctors from Henry Ford to send a request to the FDA, White House advisor Peter Navarro told reporters outside the White House on Tuesday morning.

The doctors want emergency use authorization to use the drug for early treatment of COVID-19 in a hospital setting, to allow doctors to prescribe the drug to patients in an outpatient setting, and as use as a prophylaxis, a method thats been found effective in India, Navarro said.

An FDA spokeswoman told The Epoch Times that the agency isnt allowed to comment on pending submissions.

Henry Ford didnt respond to a request for comment.

The headquarters of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seen in Silver Spring, Maryland in a file photograph. (Jason Reed/Reuters)

Navarro asked reporters to keep an open mind about hydroxychloroquine and accused some media outlets and a selection of people in the medical community of politicizing use of the drug because of Trumps promotion.

A major study claiming to show the drug led to a higher death rate was retracted last month.

The National Institutes of Health and World Health Organization halted studies this month on hydroxychloroquine, saying the drug shows no benefit against COVID-19.

Navarro said the FDAs moves on hydroxychloroquine were based on bad science. The types of studies the agency relied on were either poorly designed or doomed to failure because the drug was given as a late treatment, he said.

The decisions have negatively affected Americans ability to use the medicine to prevent infection of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, the advisor said, and have also made it difficult to recruit patients for randomized, double-blind trials that are crucial for testing the safety and efficacy of the drug, he added.

If the results of the Detroit study are confirmed in later studies, President Trump was absolutely right that hydroxychloroquine can save lives. And if, in fact, early treatment use can lead to a 50 percent reduction in mortality, thats tens of thousands of American lives that are at stake, Navarro said.

Just understand, you or a loved one, you life could be saved if that study is actually right.
Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative and Vice-President of the European Commission, left, and Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar speak during a joint press conference, in Ankara, Turkey on July 6, 2020. (Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)

Turkey Calls on EU to Be Honest in Dispute With Members

ANKARA, TurkeyThe Turkish foreign minister on June 6 called on the European Union to be an honest broker in disputes between Ankara and EU member states France, Greece, and Cyprus.

Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that Turkey would be forced to reciprocate against any decisions the bloc takes against the country.

In a joint news conference with visiting EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Cavusoglu also renewed a call on EU-member France to apologize to Turkey over its depiction of a standoff between ships from the two countries in the Mediterranean Sea that prompted Paris to suspend its involvement in a NATO naval operation.

Borrell arrived in Turkey for talks at a time when tensions with Ankara are running high over a slew of issues, including the standoff with France and Ankaras disputes with Greece and Cyprus over the exploitation of natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean region.

His visits come before an EU meeting where the bloc could take up measures against Turkey.

We want to work with the EU, Cavusoglu said, but added: If the EU takes additional decisions against Turkey, we will be forced to reciprocate. The situation will become tenser and this will serve no one.

Cavusoglu said: Our expectation is for the EU not to be a party to the problem but to be a part of the solution. If it approaches the issues as an honest broker rather than in solidarity (with EU) members in the eastern Mediterranean or on the issue of Cyprus, then it will contribute to a solution.

He was referring to a disagreement over the drilling for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean around Cyprus. Turkey dispatched warship-escorted vessels off Cyprus to drill for gas, insisting that its acting to protect its interests and those of Turkish Cypriots to the areas natural resources. The Greek Cypriot government of the ethnically split island has slammed Turkey for encroaching in its waters and economic rights. The EU has rallied to the defense of its member states, Greece and Cyprus.

Borrell said Turkey was a key partner for the EU even though relations are not passing through the best moment and called for increased cooperation and dialogue to overcome tensions.

Currently, the situation is far from being ideal  We have a mutual interest to get out of this situation and chart a new and positive trajectory, Borrell said.

Borrell also spoke of the need to overhaul a 2016 agreement between Turkey and the EU. The deal aimed to curb the massive flow of irregular migrants from Turkey to Europe but unraveled in late February when Turkey made good on a threat to open its borders. Ankara, fearing a new migration flow from northwestern Syria, said it could no longer hold back migrants who wanted to go to Europe.

Greek forces pushed back, leading to scenes of chaos and violence, the deaths of at least two migrants, and hundreds of injuries.

Cavusoglu said Turkey wouldnt accept a revision of the agreement that would be attached to new conditions.

Last week, France temporarily suspended its role in a NATO maritime security operation after Paris accused Turkey of violating a U.N. arms embargo in Libya where the two countries support warring sides. Frances temporary withdrawal from the Sea Guardian mission follows a dispute on whether a Turkish naval targeting radar lit up a French frigate in the Mediterranean in June.

France was not honest, Cavusoglu said. It needs to apologize to Turkey. And it needs to apologize to the EU and to NATO for deceiving them.

By Suzan Fraser
Members of Turkish Coast Guard Command stand guard next to migrants on the deck of a cargo ship during a raid in the Aegean port city of Izmir, Turkey, July 7, 2020. (Turkish Coast Guard Command/Handout via Reuters)

Turkey Raids Ship Carrying 276 Migrants; 8 Smugglers Held

ANKARA, TurkeyTurkish authorities on Tuesday foiled an attempt to smuggle 276 migrants to Europe on board a ship, and detained eight suspected, Turkeys state-run news agency reported.

Acting on a tipoff, police and coast guard teams carried out an operation on the ship that docked near the coast of Narlidere, close to the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, Anadolu Agency reported. The boat was preparing to sail with the 276 migrants, including 46 women and 59 children, on board.

The migrants were from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Syria, Somalia, and Iran, the report said.

It wasnt immediately known where the ships destination was. But Turkey, which hosts about 3.7 million Syrian refugees, is a main crossing point for migrants trying to reach Europe via Greek islands across from Turkeys Aegean coast. Others also try to sneak into Greece across a river along the border.

A Turkish Coast Guard Command boat is seen next to a cargo ship during a raid in the Aegean port city of Izmir, Turkey, July 7, 2020. (Turkish Coast Guard Command/Handout via Reuters)

Tuesdays incident comes as a search mission is underway in eastern Turkey for the wreck of a boat that sank in a lake on June 27, with dozens of migrants believed trapped inside.

So far, authorities have recovered 11 bodies. Five suspected smugglers have been detained in connection with the tragedy.
Uber to Buy Postmates for $2.65 Billion

Less than a month after Uber tried and failed to buy Grubhub, the ride-hailing company has won a different deal to bolster its food delivery business.

Uber said Monday it has agreed to buy Postmates for $2.65 billion in an all-stock deal, calling the startup highly complementary to Uber Eats, its meal delivery service.

Uber and Postmates have long shared a belief that platforms like ours can power much more than just food deliverythey can be a hugely important part of local commerce and communities, all the more important during crises like COVID-19, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement Monday.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021. Uber said it is committed to provide bridge financing to Postmates as it waits for approvals.

Shares of Uber were up 5 percent in early trading Monday following the news.

Postmates is considered a pioneer in the on-demand delivery industry, but it is one of the smaller competitors in the U.S. market. In May, the startup earned 8 percent of meal delivery sales in the United States, according to analytics firm Second Measure. DoorDash, which acquired premium restaurant delivery service Caviar last August, is the US leader in terms of sales, with a 44 percent share.

Postmates operates in thousands of cities across the United States and has a strong presence in big markets including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Phoenix. It has partnered with a number of brands like Sugarfish and has 10 million active customers.

Weve always admired Postmates, I guess, begrudgingly from afar in that it was a competitor who was able to compete aggressively and to be a leader in some very important markets with a much smaller capital base than a lot of its competition, including ourselves, Khosrowshahi said on a conference call Monday to discuss the deal.

Khosrowshahi said that Postmates has been able to use technology to group together orders efficiently in its markets.

Uber, which started as a ride-hailing service, has long dabbled in other categories, including meal deliveries with its Uber Eats service. But those efforts have arguably taken on new urgency as the pandemic has simultaneously cut demand for its core rides business while leading to skyrocketing demand for meal deliveries.

Uber Eats has been viewed as a bright spot for the company, especially as people increasingly stay at home.

At a time when our Rides business is down significantly due to shelter-in-place, our Eats business is surging, Khosrowshahi said on the companys first quarter earnings call in early May. Khosrowshahi said the companys rides business was down about 80 percent in the month of April.

Uber faces an enormous problem as it looks to bet more on food delivery: The market is incredibly crowded. That could make it harderand more costlyfor Uber to gain ground.

Last month, Uber lost in its bid to buy Grubhub to a Netherlands-based company, Just Eat Takeaway.com, whose offer valued Grubhub at $7.3 billion. DoorDash announced it raised $400 million in new financing, valuing the company at nearly $16 billion. Meanwhile, grocery delivery startup Instacart raised $325 million, bringing its valuation to nearly $14 billion.

The-CNN-Wire

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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab arrives at 10 Downing Street for a C-19 committee meeting in London, England on April 8, 2020. (Peter Summers/Getty Images)

UK Sanctions Russians, Saudis Under New Magnitsky Powers

LONDONBritain on July 6 announced economic sanctions against individuals and organizations from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, and North Korea under new UK powers to punish human rights offenders.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the sanctions targeted those behind some of the notorious human rights violations in recent years.

They include senior Saudi intelligence officials accused of involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and Russian authorities implicated in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in a Moscow prison after exposing a tax fraud scheme involving Russian officials.

Also on the list of 49 individuals and organizations is Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar armed forces, and Myanmar army commander Soe Win. They are accused of orchestrating systematic violence against Myanmars Rohingya minority.

North Korean organizationsthe Ministry of State Security Bureau and the Ministry of Peoples Security Correctional Bureauwere sanctioned for running prison camps in the authoritarian communist state.

Britain has previously imposed sanctions as part of the European Union or under the auspices of the United Nations. Since leaving the EU in January, it has implemented its own version of the United States Magnitsky Act, which allows authorities to ban or seize assets of individuals guilty of human rights abuses.

The UK law authorizes the British government to prevent sanctioned individuals from entering the country, channeling money through British banks, or profiting from the UK economy.

You cannot set foot in this country, and we will seize your blood-drenched ill-gotten gains if you try, Raab said as he announced the new sanctions.

Government and opposition lawmakers both welcomed the measures, though some questioned why no Chinese officials had been included, given Beijings new Hong Kong security law and repression in the western Xinjiang region. More than a million people in Xinjiangfrom ethnic groups that include Uighurs, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyzhave been held in a vast network of detention centers.

Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, who heads the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said there had been a remarkable silence on human rights violations in China.

Raab said more people would be added to the sanctions list, but he wouldnt preempt what the next wave of designations will be.
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University of Virginia Barricades Confederate Cemetery Amid Nationwide Toppling of Statues

In the wake of the nationwide movement to remove monuments that memorialize the Confederacy, the University of Virginia has installed barricades around its Confederate Cemetery, which hosts a statue of a Confederate soldier.

A UVA spokesperson told student newspaper The Cavalier Daily that campus police set up barricades outside the cemetery, which is typically open to the public, after a Virginia man was severely injured when a Confederate statue being torn down by protesters fell on him and struck him in the head.

Following an incident in Portsmouth in which a man was critically injured by a falling statue, the University Police Department, in coordination with Facilities Management, began assessing the structural integrity of a number of statues, the spokesperson wrote. As part of that assessment, barriers were erected to control vehicular access to the cemetery. These steps were taken out of concern for personal safety.

A statue of a Confederate soldier at University of Virginias Confederate Cemetery. (Shutterstock)

The Confederate Cemetery is part of the UVA graveyard and contains the remains of 1,097 Confederate soldiers who were brought to Charlottesvillewhich became a major hospital area due to its proximity to battle sitesand didnt survive their injuries. In 1893, a statue of a Confederate soldier was erected at the cemetery by the Ladies Confederate Memorial Association, a forerunner of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The inscription on the statues base reads, Fate denied them victory but crowned them with glorious immortality.

Currently, there has yet to be a movement to remove the Confederate Cemetery monument. However, a petition to remove a memorial fountain on campus has garnered over 1,700 signatures in the past month. Built in 1938, the fountain commemorates Frank Hume, a Confederate soldier from Virginia.

The city of Charlottesville, where the UVA is located, has drawn national attention in August 2017 when protesters rallied after city council voted to remove a statue of Confederate commander Robert E. Lee. The rally escalated into violence, which lead to the death of a counter-protester, as well as two state troopers who were killed in a helicopter crash while patrolling the rally.

The heavily contested Robert E. lee statue still stands, as the city is prevented from removing it unless the judge dissolves a key part of a 2019 ruling regarding the fate of the statue. The judge ruled that Charlottesvilles Lee statue, which honors a Civil war veteran, falls under the definition of war memorials in the state law, meaning that the localities have no authority to remove or relocate it.
Riot police stand guard during a clearance operation during a demonstration in a mall in Hong Kong on July 6, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

US Calls Out Chinese Regimes Orwellian Censorship on Hong Kong

The U.S. Department of State late Monday issued a statement strongly condemning the Chinese Communist Partys crackdown on free speech in Hong Kong, following reports that pro-democracy books have been pulled from libraries in the city.

The Chinese Communist Partys destruction of free Hong Kong continues, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. With the ink barely dry on the repressive National Security Law, local authoritiesin an Orwellian movehave now established a central government national security office, started removing books critical of the CCP from library shelves, banned political slogans, and are now requiring schools to enforce censorship.

Until now, Hong Kong flourished because it allowed free thinking and free speech, under an independent rule of law. No more.

The United States condemns Beijings repeated failure to live up to its obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and these latest assaults on the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the State Department, in Washington, on July 1, 2020. (Manuel Balce/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Hong Kong was handed back from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 with the express guarantee under the Sino-British Joint Declaration that the citys high degree of autonomy and essential freedoms would be preserved under the principle of one country, two systems until 2047.

However, after a national security law on Hong Kong became effective late on June 30, a growing number of Hongkongers are considering fleeing the city due to fears that the freedoms that had distinguished Hong Kong from Chinaincluding freedom of speechare now no more.

The draconian national security law became effective late on June 30 after ceremonial votes by Chinas rubber-stamp legislature. The legislation was written and passed behind closed doors without the consultation of Hong Kongs legislature or local government.

The law gives Beijing sweeping power to target individuals for any acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with maximum penalties of life imprisonment.

Under the new law, expressed political views that advocate for Hong Kongs independence or liberation are illegal.

On July 1, the morning after the law was enacted, Hong Kong police arrested 10 people under provisions of the new law. In some cases, they were arrested for holding flags, banners, and flyers that had slogans supportive of Hong Kong independence.

Protesters chant slogans during a rally against a new national security law in Hong Kong on July 1, 2020, on the 23rd anniversary of the citys handover from Britain to China. (Dale de la Rey/AFP via Getty Images)

On July 2, the Hong Kong government declared that the popular protest slogan Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our times is illegal because it connotes a pro-independent, separatist, and subversive message.

Public libraries have started to review books written by pro-democracy activists to see whether they violate the new law, and according to multiple reports, pro-democracy books have begun to disappear from libraries in Hong Kong.

The national security law also mandates that a new security bureau be established in the city. On July 3, Beijing appointed Zheng Yanxiong, known for his role in suppressing on 2011 anti-corruption protests in the southern village of Wukan, to head the new security bureauwhich directly answers to the central government.

We used to think of secret police as something abstract. Now, it is a very real fear, activist Nathan Law had said at a U.S. congressional hearing on July 1. Law fled Hong Kong to an unidentified location, saying that if he stayed, his speech and appearance would put my own safety in serious jeopardy, given the circumstances.

On July 4, Hong Kong police confiscated an American flag from a protester during a local demonstration celebrating July Fourth, citing breach of the new law.

Police remove a woman holding a US flag from outside the US consulate during a march to celebrate US Independence Day in Hong Kong on July 4, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

Hongkongers have been getting creative in voicing dissent in the wake of the new law. Examples include using CCP slogans in a satirical manner, relying on wordplay to communicate messages against the CCP, using Mao quotes for new Lennon walls, or simply holding blank pieces of paper.

The U.S. Congress on July 2 unanimously approved legislation that would impose sanctions on Chinese officials who violate Hong Kongs autonomy, as well as banks that do business with those officials.

Eva Fu and Reuters contributed to this report
President Donald Trump speaks during the Independence Day events at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, S.D., on July 3, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

US Files Notice to Officially Withdraw From World Health Organization

The United States is officially withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) amid lingering doubts about how the United Nations (UN) agency handled the emergence of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

The Trump administration gave notice to the United Nations and Congress of the withdrawal, which will go into effect next year.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Washington that the State Department submitted the notice after receiving guidance from President Donald Trump.

The President has made very clear we are not going to underwrite an organization that has historically been incompetent and not performed its fundamental function, Pompeo said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received notice from the United States about its withdrawal, a spokesman said.

Guterres is verifying whether the conditions for such a withdrawal are met, the spokesman said. Conditions include giving a one-year notice and fully meeting the payment of assessed financial obligations.

The Trump administration is working with Congress to get the money the U.S. owes to WHO, Pompeo said.

The withdrawal goes into effect July 6, 2021, a WHO spokesman told The Epoch Times.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in May that he hoped the United States wouldnt cut ties with the group.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), attends a news conference in Geneva, on June 25, 2020. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

He called America a longstanding and generous friend to WHO, adding, We hope it will continue to be so.

The United States was the groups largest funder, regularly pouring hundreds of millions of dollars on an annual basis into the organization.

Trump, a Republican who is up for reelection in November, announced in May that the United States would formally terminate its relationship with WHO.

We have detailed the reforms that it must take and have engaged with them directly but they have refused to act, Trump said. Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving, urgent global health needs.

Other international health groups could receive the funding, an administration official told reporters in April.

Trump said last month that he wasnt reconsidering his decision, calling the WHO a disaster.

A State Department spokesperson told the Associated Press that the U.S. would continue to seek reform of the WHO, but referred to Trumps June 15 response when asked if the administration might change its mind.

President Donald Trump participates in a meeting in Washington on June 26, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The formal withdrawal came after the WHO admitted CCP officials didnt report the emergence of the new virus from China to officials at the organization.

Democrats and some Republicans opposed the plan to withdraw from the WHO.

I disagree with the presidents decision, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said at the time. Certainly, there needs to be a good, hard look at mistakes the World Health Organization might have made in connection with coronavirus, but the time to do that is after the crisis has been dealt with, not in the middle of it.

Withdrawal could interfere with clinical trials for CCP virus vaccines, he said.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee concluded in a report released in June that the WHO enabled the CCP coverup by failing to investigate and publicize reports conflicting with the official CCP, while at the same time praising the CCPs response.

But Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the committees ranking member, also argued against withdrawal. The United States can affect more change within the organization as a member, he said.

Democrats were quick to criticize the Trump administration on Tuesday.

To call Trumps response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesnt do it justice. This wont protect American lives or interests  it leaves Americans sick & America alone, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a social media statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) added: With millions of lives at risk, the president is crippling the international effort to defeat the virus.

Correction: A previous version of this story said that Doctors Without Borders could receive government funding. The group does not accept U.S. government funding. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
(Clockwise from top L) Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Mexican President Pena Nieto participate in a signing ceremony for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Nov. 30, 2018. The new trade pact came into effect on July 1, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

USMCA: Auto Sector Can Adapt, but Dairy Industry Will Take a Hit

The ink was barely dry on the finalized United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement when it came into effect July 1, leaving Canadian industry struggling to change gears. While the automotive sector expects it can adapt, the dairy industry faces much greater uncertainty.

The real benefit of the USMCA was continuing to secure access to the U.S. market for products that theyre building here in Canada, because 85 percent of the production essentially goes down into the U.S. market, said David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada.

The new trade agreement guarantees that Canada can export 2.6 million passenger vehicles south every year, tariff-free. This leaves room for growth, as Canadian plants have shipped less than 2 million in recent years. The agreement also raises North American content requirements from 62.5 percent to 75 percent and guarantees that 40 percent of automobile content must be made by workers earning US$16 per hour or more.

Auto companies hope they dont grind their gears as they shift to the new requirements. The full details of USMCA regulations werent published until early June. Full comprehension of the trade deal will take timeas will full compliance.

While you can look at things on paper and think that you understand them, unless you have some concrete examples of how things work thats a little bit more of a challenge, Adams said.

Thats something that governments will continue to work on so they can provide greater clarity for the agreement and the regulations to be applied.

The provisions for the auto industry earned the USMCA praise from unions rarely heard regarding multilateral trade deals. Frankly, the deal we have with the United States, we are, I would argue, in better shape than we have been in the past 25 years, Unifor president Jerry Dias said in a past statement.

While the road ahead for the auto industry is blocked by fog and has a bit of an incline, for the dairy industry its full of potholes and might leave some vehicles in the ditch.

The USMCA opens 3.59 percent of Canadas dairy market to American competitionmaking it the latest trade deal to erode Canadas supply management system, says Jacques Lefebvre, CEO of the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

Combined with World Trade Organization decisions and trade deals with Europe and the Pacific region, Canada will lose 18 percent of its domestic milk production by 2024.

It is too early to fully assess the immediate impact on individual farms, Lefebvre said in an email. As with any business that would lose 18 percent of its market over a short period, some will undoubtedly consider their options.

The federal government announced $1.75 billion in compensation to dairy farmers for prior trade deals, and Lefebvre expects more money due to USMCA.

The federal government has committed to compensate farmers fully and fairly to mitigate the transfer of parts of our domestic milk production to foreign producers in successive trade agreements. We intend to hold government to its word, he said.

Dairy processors have their own problems. USMCA eliminated a pricing system that restricted American imports of skim milk powder, milk protein isolates, and infant formula. The new agreement also caps Canadas exports of those same products into the United States.

The implementation of the deal on July 1 added a $100 million cost to processors since their annual quota year didnt end until July 31. Don Plett, leader of the Opposition in the Senate, stated in April that Conservatives support for the USMCA was conditional on an Aug. 1 start date.

This date marks the beginning of the dairy calendar year, and had this date been respected, it would have allowed dairy industry to save about $100 million, said Pletts statement, noting that the early ratification of the deal betrayed dairy producers.

Going forward, lost market access due to the USMCA will cost processors $140 million annually and dairy farmers $190 million annually. The industry will forfeit an additional $50 million annually due to export caps on milk powder, proteins, and infant formula.

The dairy industry is in a mess, says Sylvain Charlebois, professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

There is a lot of tension between processors and producers right now. And of course, producers are complaining about prices dropping everywhere. And processors believe that prices are still too high and it hasnt allowed them to compete.

Charlebois says new technology allows milk to remain unspoiled for a whole year, but a system that resists change hampers opportunities for farmers.

When you talk to dairy farmers themselves, theyre absolutely terrified. They know whats going on, theyre not idiots. Dairy farmers are pretty smart people, they know something is wrong. But boards are politicized and they will do everything they can to protect the status quo.

Charlebois says trade changes and the pandemic only exposed and worsened existing problems.

The dairy industry has always failed to prepare itself appropriately for the real world, for an open economy, he said. They just dont want to compete and they want to stay home and continue to do what theyre doing, and thats no longer sustainable.
Wayne Gatt, chief executive officer of the Victoria Police Association, at the Flemington Towers Government Housing complex in Melbourne, Australia on July 6, 2020. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Victoria Police Stretched for Resources Due to Melbourne Towers Lockdown

Victorias police force are not resourced for the hard lockdown of the public housing towers in Australias southern city of Melbourne to continue more than five days, says an association chief.

Around 500 police officers have been stationed at nine public housing estates in the citys suburbs of Flemington, Kensington, and North Melbourne since the evening of July 4. They are enforcing a hard lockdown of the towers residents in an attempt, unprecedented for Australia, to stop the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

The order was made by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on July 4 after 108 new cases of the CCP virus were registered, the biggest jump since March 28.

Swarms of police were deployed with orders to form a perimeter around each of the nine public housing buildings.

There were reports that police were stationed on every storey of the building, but Victoria Police Association CEO Wayne Gatt said this did not happen.

Well thats not the case, thats not occurring at this point in time, we simply wouldnt have the resources to do that at this point in time, Gatt said to 3AW radio on July 6.

Police officers on shift this morning told Gatt that they need double the amount people to fulfill all their duties.

They barely got the resources they need to secure the outside of the premises properly, he said.

Officers are being called in from other police stations around the state, putting a strain on resources.

Weve been it with one emergency after another, we are four months into a pandemic and this one deployment is really stretching us, we need to think smart about this, we need to keep a handle on crime our day to day business, Gatt said.

To do everything thats being asked of them is a huge resources requirement, and if this goes on for more than five days and or extends to other towers or other places in Victoria, we are going to be significantly stretched for resources.

The Victorian government announced restrictions on two additional postcodes3031 and 3051an extension on the original ten hot zones identified at the end of last month.

Australian Defence Force Support

Gatt is eager to receive whatever support the government can spare to assist the police. He said he would accept and welcome skilled support from the Australian Defence Forces (ADF).

We say that if there is support there it should be welcome in with open arms, only the community suffers if we continue to say no, Gatt said.

In a press conference on July 6, Andrews stated that he has never turned down ADF support, and has always received support from the Commonwealth whenever he asked.

He refuted that police chiefs have requested ADF personnel to work alongside Victorias enforcement officers.

Thats not the position which has been put to me, any requests which have been put to me would get the seriousness they deserve, he said.

Andrews said ADF personnel cannot take on all responsibilities of Victorian police.

A member of the ADF is not a member of Victoria law enforcement, and do not as a function of Victoria law have the ability to do the work police and PCOs do, Andrews said.

A record number of CCP virus cases have been registered in Victoria, 127 cases, and one death as of 4 p.m. on July 6. This has prompted the decision to close the border between Victoria and New South Wales.
A sign is seen stuck to a window reading 'Treat us as humans not caged animals end this lockdown effective immediately' at the Flemington Public housing flats in Melbourne, Australia, on July 5, 2020. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Victoria Records 191 New COVID-19 Cases on July 7

Victoria has recorded 191 new cases of coronavirus, as the state prepares for the closure of its border with NSW.

It is the highest number of new diagnoses in the state since the start of the pandemic and follows an increase of 127 cases on July 6, which was also a record.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said 154 of the new cases are under investigation with only 37 linked back to known outbreaks.

None are associated with hotel quarantine.

It brings the states total number of cases to 2824, an increase of 164 after 27 cases were reclassified, mainly due to duplication.

There are 772 active cases, with more than half potentially from community transmission.

The number of people in intensive care has almost doubled within 24 hours, from five to nine.

Thirteen new cases have been linked to nine locked-down public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington, with the outbreak now totalling 69.

The Al-Taqwa College cluster has increased to 90 and four new cases relate to an outbreak among emergency department staff at Northern Hospital Epping.

The emergency department remains open with a temporary reduction in non-urgent elective surgery and outpatient appointments.

A new case has also been confirmed in a staff member at Assisi aged care at Rosanna.

A family of four that holidayed in the popular tourist town of Port Fairy has also tested positive for the virus.

The family cut their holiday short and returned to Melbourne after learning a relative had contracted coronavirus.

Moyne Shire Mayor Daniel Meade said two adults and two children were asymptomatic while in Port Fairy and a deep clean of their accommodation is being done.

Professor Sutton said it was more important than ever for all Victorians to follow health directions, particularly those in 12 postcodes where stay-at-home orders are in place.

It comes as the border between Victoria and NSW will close for the first time in a century at 11.59pm on Tuesday.

Benita Kolovos in melbourne
A nurse takes the temperature of an arriving rail passenger from Melbourne at Central Station on July 3, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Victorian Health Workers Told to Wear Face Masks

Health workers are being told to wear face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Victoria, as a union calls for them to be made mandatory on transport.

Victorias Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says it is a reasonable measure for workers in health settings to wear face masks.

Where community transmission isnt negligible  masks are a reasonable thing to wear where you cant physically distance. But were working up some communication materials and Ill have more to say on that in coming days, he said on Tuesday.

Professor Sutton said the advice was in line with statements made by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

Western Health has taken extra precautions, making all staff wear personal protective equipment whether or not they are on the front line.

Workers must wear a surgical mask, face shield or eye protections, a spokeswoman told AAP.

The measures have been in place since July 1 at its main facilities in COVID-19 hot spots, including Footscray and Joan Kirner Womens and Childrens hospitals.

This was extended to Williamstown and Sunbury Day hospitals on Tuesday.

Since the end of June, visitors and outpatients must wear a supplied surgical mask too.

It comes after Northern Hospital confirmed on Monday that seven emergency department workers tested positive to the virus in five days.

The Rail, Bus and Tram Union has called for masks to be mandatory on Victorias public transport.

By Christine McGinn
Protesters hold up blank papers during a demonstration in a mall in Hong Kong on July 6, 2020, in response to a new national security law introduced in the city which makes political views, slogans and signs advocating Hong Kongs independence or liberation illegal. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

White House Silent on Signing of Veto-Proof Hong Kong Sanctions Bill

The White House remained silent as of July 7 about whether President Donald Trump would sign the veto-proof bill authorizing the U.S. government to sanction a broad range of people and entities tied to the Chinese Communist Partys de facto takeover of Hong Kong.

The House and Senate passed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act on July 1 and 2 respectively in response to the Chinese Communist Partys implementation of a draconian national security law in Hong Kong.

Five days later, amid an intensifying crackdown in Hong Kong which included the banning of books, the White House was yet to respond to requests to clarify if and when the bill would be signed.

A senior administration official, without addressing the signing of the bill, told The Epoch Times that the administration continues to implement the Presidents directive to end Hong Kongs special status and take strong and meaningful action against CCP officials involved in smothering Hong Kongs freedom.

As an example, the official pointed to the visa restrictions on Chinese officials and their families issued by the State Department on June 26 and the ban on defense equipments and dual-use technology exports to Hong Kong announced on June 31.

The United States will continue to take strong action against CCP officials complicit in the evisceration of Hong Kongs freedom, the official said.

The bill directs the U.S. government to issue mandatory punitive sanctions on foreign persons and financial institutions involved in degrading Hong Kong autonomy. Once enacted, it would be a death sentence for financial institutions, according to Gordon Chang, a China expert and author.

This bill authorizes the government to cut off the sanctioned banks from their dollar accounts. Thats a death sentence to an international bank. This is extremely severe, Chang told The Epoch Times.

According to a former senior Department of Defense official, bills of similar significance to the one before the president undergo close vetting before the presidents signature. The White House could be going back to the bills sponsors in Congress to clarify certain points and fix non-substantive errors.

No lawmaker in the Senate or House opposed the measure.

I dont know, Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, told The Epoch Times when asked about the delay from the White House.

I personally think we ought to be pushing back hard on China in terms of what theyre doing. Going back on agreement they had with the British, when the British turned over Hong Kong with China, the violation of the civil and I would say human rights of the citizens of Hong Kong, Johnson added. I hope the president signs that soon.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters on Monday that the president is considering an executive order on China. Peter Navarro, the White House director of trade and manufacturing policy, on Tuesday declined to share details about the order.

The Department of State, in response to a question about its June 26 visa restrictions tied to the developments in Hong Kong, declined to provide specifics, including if any CCP officials or family members have been denied entry to the United States.

We have already identified a number of officials under this new policy, and will continue to consider others, a State Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times. Visa records are confidential under U.S. law, therefore, we will not discuss or disclose individual applications of this visa policy.

The CCP issued a threat to retaliate with visa restrictions of its own, prompting a harsh response from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The Chinese Communist Partys threats to retaliate by restricting visas for U.S. citizens exposes once again how Beijing refuses to take responsibility for its own choices, Pompeo said. If China wants to regain the trust of Hong Kongers and the international community, it should honor the promises it made to the Hong Kong people and to the United Kingdom in the U.N.-registered 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
The World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters building in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 11, 2015. (Raphael Satter/The Canadian Press)

WHO Monitoring Bubonic Plague Case in Chinas Inner Mongolia

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it is monitoring a bubonic plague outbreak that was reported in Chinas Inner Mongolia.

The U.N. organization said Tuesday it is monitoring the situation but doesnt consider it to be high-risk.

Spokeswoman Margaret Harris told the BBC: Bubonic plague has been with us and is always with us, for centuries. We are looking at the case numbers in China  At the moment, we are not considering it high risk but were watching it, monitoring it carefully.

Harris said the WHO was informed by Chinese regime officials about the case in Bayannur, Inner Mongolia.

Local Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials issued a level three early warning for plague prevention after the plague case was reported, according to a statement on Sunday.

At present, there is a risk of a human plague epidemic spreading in our city, the city government wrote. The general public is requested to strictly follow  requirements for plague prevention and control, and effectively do personal protection to improve self-protection awareness.

Local people also cannot partake in the unauthorized hunting or unauthorized carrying of epidemic animals or their products from the epidemic area.

It is believed that a herdsman in the area contracted the plague from a marmot, a type of large rodent. Marmots are believed to have caused a plague epidemic in 1911 in mainland China.

If you have a history of living in the plague epidemic source, you should go to a designated hospital in a timely manner if you experience fever and other uncomfortable symptoms, the regimes statement added.

A marmot in a file photo. (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

CCP authorities also said people shouldnt eat any marmots.

Russian officials also issued warnings on Tuesday that people who live near Mongolia should not eat marmots, according to the state-run TASS news agency.

They are curbing illegal hunting on marmots and conducting an awareness campaign with breeders about the strict rules, Russian consumer watchdog agency Rospotrebnadzor said, the Moscow Times reported.

Mongolia last week quarantined its western region of Khovd near the Russian border after several cases of the plague were reported in the country.

The Russia-Mongolia border has been closed since March due to the outbreak of the CCP virus, a novel coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. Russia also closed its border with China earlier this year.

The plague is transmitted through fleas and infected animals. During the Black Death in the Middle Ages, some 50 million people in Europe died from the disease.

The bubonic plague is one of the three forms of the disease, and it causes fever, coughing, chills, and swollen lymph nodes.
Healdsburg, CA (95448)

Today

Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 76F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 53F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
A 37-year-old Bridgeport man was charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, breach of peace and possession of a narcotic with intent to sell. He was given a court date of Aug. 11.

July 5

A 33-year-old Murray Street woman was charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct. She was given a court date of July 6.

A 31-year-old West Norwalk Road woman was charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct. She was given a court date of July 6.

A 57-year-old Merritt Place man was charged with third-degree assault and breach of peace. He was held on $500 bond and given a court date of Aug. 11.

July 4

A 32-year-old Fort Point Street man was charged with simple trespass. He was held on $92 bond and given a court date of July 17.

A 46-year-old Fort Point Street man was charged with simple trespass. He was held on $92 bond and given a court date of July 17.

A 57-year-old Clearview Drive woman was charged with third-degree assault. She was given a court date of Aug. 3.

A 41-year-old Taylor Avenue man was charged with simple trespass. He was held on $92 bond and given a court date of July 17.
The city of Norwalk is asking residents to conserve water, as stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic have pushed some areas of the county close to drought.

As a result of hot and dry conditions coupled with unprecedented high water demands, parts of southern Fairfield County are hitting initial drought triggers, said Michele DeLuca, deputy director of the citys office of emergency management.

As more people are working from home amid the pandemic, water usage is at an all-time high, DeLuca said in a press release Tuesday.

The release said if residents and businesses conserve water now, it may limit the need for stricter restrictions later on.

The requests come as the federal government is monitoring abnormally dry conditions across most of New England and parts of upstate New York, according to a database maintained by a partnership of two federal agencies and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Moderate drought conditions are impacting a small area of northwestern Connecticut, most of Massachusetts, and the southern halves of Vermont and New Hampshire, according to the database.

The city included a list of 20 suggestions for residents to conserve water in their homes. The list includes steps such as shutting off the water while brushing teeth or shaving (saving 1 to 5 gallons of water every minute), to fixing leaky toilets and dripping faucets (a drip can waste 2,700 gallons over the course of a year), to using an automatic drive-through car wash that recycles its water.

The release also included a full list of more than 100 ways to conserve water.

Norwalk residents, business owners, and community leaders continue to work hard to stop the spread of COVID-19, Mayor Harry Rilling said in the statement. Now, with the hot weather upon us, I know we can bring that same effort to another community challenge: conserving water.
Close to 50 people, including members of five motorcycle groups, conveyed their appreciation to members of local law enforcement at an Independence Day gathering called Back the Blue.

The turnout included 17 members of the Grand Island chapter of American Legion Riders. Other American Legion Riders chapters came from Aurora and Dannebrog. Also on hand were the Patriot Guard Riders and Christian Motorcyclist Association.

With everything going on around the country, officers just dont get the support that they need, said Greg Martin, commander of the Grand Island chapter of the American Legion Riders. Attendees gathered to let officers know that the public is still with them, Martin said.

The law enforcement supporters believe that one bad apple doesnt ruin the whole bunch, Martin said.

Martin thanked officers for all they do and told them Weve got your back, no matter what. In law enforcement terminology, the phrase is we have your six.

A number of officers came out of the Law Enforcement Center to shake hands with the group. Others stopped as they were driving by.

We had water and sodas for them if they wanted something to drink, Martin said.
Police/Sheriff

Anyone with information about any crime in the state may call the Grand Island-Hall County Crime Stoppers, (308) 381-8822. Callers will remain anonymous.

A reward of up to $1,000 will be paid after law enforcement agencies have determined the seriousness of the crime and the usefulness of the information.

Inmate custody status can be obtained by calling the VINE hotline at (877) NE 4 VINE or by visiting www.vinelink.com. Information is available 24 hours a day.

If you see a crime happening, call the Grand Island-Hall County Emergency Center  911.

Grand Island Police

The following felonies were reported:

 Thursday evening, officers responded to Resident Suites Inn, 2114 W. Second St., regarding a civil dispute. Eva Marshall told police a male took her vehicle for a test drive and did not return it. She said she was given the mans license and a $100 bill as one-third of the down payment for the vehicle. The $100 bill given to her was counterfeit. The man later returned and paid her with legitimate currency for the vehicle.
VENICE  It survived two world wars, The Great Depression, 21 U.S. Presidents and multiple floods as its triple trusses have hulked over the Mississippi River since the Reconstruction Era.

Of all the Mississippi River bridges at St. Louis, only the Eads Bridge is older than the Merchants Bridge, which was finished in 1890. The Merchants Bridge is the link between eastern and western rail freight, it carries more than 40 gross tons every year and serves six Class I Railroads.

The bridge is one of St. Louis Regional Freightways priority projects for 2021.

Current restrictions are that two trains cannot pass each other at the same time on the bridge due to load restrictions. The bridge, which spans the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Venice is owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA).

In terms of the Merchants Bridge, its one of the main east-west rail corridors in the region. Its an absolute vital artery in order to maintain efficient rail movement across the Mississippi River, commercial manager at Watco Terminal and Port Services, Ryan Krull said in June.

The TRAA is already heavily involved in rehabilitating the 130-year-old bridge for the 21st Century and beyond. Funding was announced in the spring of 2018. Walsh Construction Co. from Chicago began working on the bridge and its approaches in 2019 and the project, weather-permitting, should be complete in 2022.

Work on the railroad bridge directly employs 150 people, with as many as 1,100 total jobs if suppliers and related companies are added.

The replacement spans will be wide enough to handle two locomotives weighing 315,000 pounds each. The new double track will provide more reliable movements and reduce delays for motorists and first responders as trains will no longer have to wait for each other on the approaches.

All three main spans need to be removed and replaced, the existing river piers needs to be seismically retrofitted and the eastern approach needs to be improved, despite both approaches being rebuilt 15 years ago (watch embedded video). When necessary during construction, trains will be re-routed across the MacArthur Bridge, which TRAA also owns and is the other railroad bridge in downtown St. Louis, just south of the Poplar Street Bridge.

The TRAA and local elected officials hoped for federal aid to cover one-third of the bridges estimated $222 million cost, but that application was rejected. Rather than give up on the project, TRAA announced it will fund the remainder of the work due to the aged bridges condition and crucial roles it serves. Later, the Federal Railroad Administration gave $21.5 million in grants, or about 10 percent, toward the project.

The bridge links the nations eastern and western freight rail networks, it carries more than 40 million gross tons every year and serves six Class I railroads plus Amtrak. This region is the second-largest freight rail interchange location in the country and the third-largest such interchange location by tonnage. Area manufacturing and logistics companies served included U.S. Steel, Conoco Phillips, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, World Wide Technologies, General Motors, Hersheys, Unilever, Bunge, FedEx, Boeing and more.

More Information At 130 years, the Merchants Bridge is the second-oldest crossing the Mississippi River at St. Louis. Only the Eads Bridge is older (1874). Its largest span is 517.5 feet long while the total bridge length is 4,340 feet, or 0.8 of a mile. The Merchants Bridge has three, 18-panel Pennsylvania through-truss main spans. The bridge's chief engineer was E. L. Corthell while George S. Morison of New Bedford, Massachusetts served as consulting engineer. Henry Williams Parkhurst of Chicago was the resident engineer and Union Bridge Co. of Buffalo, New York and Athens, Pennsylvania served as the contractor. The bridge handles traffic from these railroads: BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Canadian National, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific. See More Collapse

With improvements to the bridge, an estimated 185,676 truck loads could be diverted from area highways to rail, reducing vehicle miles traveled by trucks by 74 million miles and saving $63 million in roadway damage over 20 years.
West-central Illinois school districts are using federal economic relief funds to prepare for the start of next school year, whether it involves in-person or remote learning.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security  or CARES  Act is a $2 trillion economic relief package intended to protect Americans from the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. The bill includes $13.2 billion for K-12 schools.

West-central Illinois districts are using their allotments to improve student access to computers and the internet in case of remote learning and to buy sanitary equipment for campuses in case students return.

Under Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan, schools can reopen. But districts still are deliberating how to safely welcome back students and follow social-distancing guideline from the Illinois Department of Education.

Jacksonville School District 117, which received $970,000 from the CARES Act, intends to spend the money on technology to better facilitate remote learning or to a hybrid model under which students alternate days in the classroom.

Triopia schools Superintendent Adam Dean said his district has received about $40,000 in CARES money, the majority of which  around $31,000  will be used to buy 118 Chromebook laptops. The laptops are intended to bridge the districts digital divide between students who dont have access to a computer at home and those who do.

If students are able to return to classrooms at the start of the school year, having a personal Chromebook that doesnt need to be wiped down at the end of each period still will be helpful for students and teachers, Dean said.

Cleaning supplies also will be purchased for Triopia schools, though a survey found that there wasnt a large need for Wi-Fi access.

Dean said the CARES funding is helpful but still not be enough to overhaul the districts $4.5 million budget.

Its not necessarily a difference-maker, Dean said. But we appreciate the help with remote or school learning.

The Waverly School District received approximately $65,000 in CARES funds. After a spring survey found that parents in the district consider internet access to be an issue, the district will use its funding to provide internet hotspots devices and routers that parents in rural areas can check out, Superintendent Dustin Day said. Laptops and cleaning supplies also are on the districts shopping list.

The district is preparing for the possibility that students will need to return to remote learning, especially as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country, Day said, adding that the district has three possible plans  a return to face-to-face teaching, continued remote learning and a hybrid model that blends the two.

With an influx in coronavirus cases, there is a possibility of remote learning coming back before too long, Day said. Everyone wants kids to come back, but we want them to be able to come back safely.

In Greene County, the Carrollton School District will spend the approximately $104,000 allotted to the district on transportation costs for meal deliveries the last two months of this past school year and cleaning supplies and Chromebooks for the upcoming year. Greenfield schools will spend its $74,000 on masks, cleaning supplies, temperature kiosk equipment and Chromebooks.

Western School District in Pike County will spend the $58,145 it received through the CARES Act on 145 Chromebooks to help students with remote learning.
On June 16, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Vote by Mail into law ensuring the right of all Illinois registered voters to vote from the safety of their homes during the pandemic. All registered voters with a drivers license or state ID can now vote by mail without going to a polling place.

The League of Women Voters encourages all voters to request their vote by mail (VBM) ballot applications now. The new law requires election officials to mail VBM applications to any voter who cast a ballot in 2018-2020 and those who have registered since then.

Applications must be mailed starting Aug. 1, but will not be sent to those who have already applied, saving postage, printing costs, and time. We urge voters to apply electronically now. Another side benefit is helping to decrease the environmental impact by saving paper. To apply for the application electronically go to the county clerks web page and filling out the information. Remember this step is for the application to receive a ballot to vote by mail.

Ballots will be mailed to applicants on Sept. 24 after ballots have been officially certified. Ballots must be received by Nov. 2, 2020. Voting by mail is a secure, smart, common way to vote. Currently, five states vote exclusively by mail and many others have partial absentee voting by mail. Voter fraud is not an issue.

Important dates to remember: Applications may be made electronically until July 31, 2020. Aug. 1, 2020 election officials will mail applications to registered voters who have not applied electronically. Sept. 24, 2020 ballots will be mailed to all of those who applied (either electronically or mailed in). Mail-in ballots must be received by Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.

The right to vote is a privilege and right. It is our duty to do so. With the uncertainty of the pandemic, VBM is a safe way to exercise this right. Protect your fellow citizens, family members, election officials and friends by choosing this method. Tell your friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers about this option. Whatever the choice you make the League of Women Voters of the Edwardsville Area reminds you to vote. If you do not vote you do not have a voice.

JoAnn Nabe is currently the Co-President of the League of Women Voters of the Edwardsville Area. She has been in League for 40 plus years. She resides in Edwardsville.
Community. Its a simple word that encompasses so many things. Physical community: houses, schools, businesses, parks and churches. Social community: gatherings, celebrations and block parties. Emotional community: heritage, milestones, and history.

Our country is going through some very tough times with the pandemic and the rollercoaster of financial and emotional hardship it has created. Racial tensions continue to plague our world, bringing to light the inequities and conflicts of perception and reality.

These struggles have left us raw, exposed, and hurt on every level of our community. It will be years before these struggles are resolved. There will be people who are irrevocably hurt by the pandemic with the loss of loved ones and businesses. Brides and grooms and graduates have had to postpone, downscale or virtualize their celebrations. Others are challenged to face their internal prejudices and examine the institutional racism that exists in our society.

The healing will not be fast and it will not be easy, but I have faith in our community. Over the past three months, I have witnessed an incredible outpouring of care and concern for those who have experienced trauma. Loved ones are painting windows of their loved ones in the nursing home, waving and smiling to let them know they are loved. Children are learning to sew masks and leaving chalk messages to their neighbors. College kids, displaced in the spring, have donned their volunteer hats to deliver meals to the homebound. Schools are working with families to determine how to educate children next year in a safe manner. Hundreds have peacefully assembled on our courthouse steps to protest race inequality. Community leaders have organized community discussions to improve racial relations and the quality of life for all citizens.

As we seek to rebuild our community, let us be open to the opportunities to improve ourselves, to listen intently, to talk with consideration, and to support each other. Our schools and businesses may operate a little differently, our gatherings may be socially distanced and virtual, our history and heritage may be seen with a different lens, but if we work together, our community will be better than ever.

Sara Berkbigler is the Executive Director of Main Street Community Center. She has over 25 years in nonprofit management and fundraising. She and her husband, Jeff, reside in Edwardsville and have three sons. She is Secretary of the Metro East Community Rotary Club, Treasurer of Rebuilding Together SWIL, serves on the St. Johns Community Care Advisory Council, and is a Founding Board Member of the Boys & Girls Club of Carbondale.
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Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 08:11 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066450165 1 Editorial #Editorial,bank-bali-case,djoko-tjandra,BLBI-case,corruption-case,graft,graft-suspect Free

No wonder many people have dubbed fugitive tycoon Djoko Sugiharto Tjandra Joker as he has turned the Indonesian justice system into a laughing stock. However, he could have not committed this mockery of justice had the system been imbued with uncompromising integrity and adherence to the maxim of equality before the law.

For the last 11 years Djoko has managed to evade justice, which would have been impossible without the help of others and a flawed bureaucracy. It must be underlined that Djoko is only one of several such fugitives who remain off the hook. The list includes corruption convict Eddy Tanzil who fled Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta in 1996 and most recently Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) member Harun Masiku.

These people have much in common. Not only have they been involved in corruption cases, they are connected in one way or another with the powerful.

Djoko fled to Papua New Guinea in 2009 on a chartered flight, despite a travel ban having been slapped on him by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). As in previous cases of obstruction of justice, Djoko escaped only one day before the Supreme Court found him guilty of embezzling state bailout funds during the 1998 Asian financial crisis and sentenced him to two years imprisonment.

And now he has sneaked back into the country unnoticed, with some reports saying he has been in Indonesia for three months. While the Directorate General of Immigration admitted to not having detected Djokos return, Attorney General ST Burhanuddin expressed his surprise at Djokos entry and admitted the intelligence failure during a hearing with the House of Representatives on June 29. Burhanuddins predecessor Muhammad Prasetyo once said that Djoko had obtained Papua New Guinean citizenship, although reports said he did not live in the neighboring country.

Djoko came home to file a case review with the Supreme Court. For this purpose, he applied for an electronic ID card at South Grogol subdistrict office in South Jakarta. It took him less than an hour to secure the document, while local residents have said that usually the process takes about one month.

That the countrys population and registry system did not alert officials about Djoko being a fugitive should raise many eyebrows. Worse, a public official like the South Grogol subdistrict head claims to be unaware of the legal status of Djoko, who has often made the headlines while on the run.

State prosecutors were supposed to arrest Djoko when he attended his case review hearing, originally scheduled to commence on June 29, but twice the plan failed because the graft convict asked for delays for health reasons, the latest being on Monday. Of course, he will try to resist detention like he has done for 11 years, unless state prosecutors take bold measures such as forcible arrest given that he is a fugitive.

The irregularities surrounding Djokos return speak volumes about not only the poor coordination among state institutions, but also the entrenched legal loopholes that enable an individual to stand above justice. Its our job to make sure Joker does not have the last laugh.
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Linkedin Ivan Sini (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 16:27 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406648a589 3 Opinion IVF,in-vitro-fertilization,medical-tourism,hospital,medicine,medical-cost Free

Indonesia's healthcare reimbursement system is divided into the government-subsidized universal healthcare program through the Healthcare and Social Security Agency and private health insurance or self-paid schemes. Improving BPJS Kesehatan will require a comprehensive financial and political strategy.

With the current reimbursement rate, most hospitals are trying to adapt by adjusting their costs. Obviously, they have limited options when compared to the globally competitive, high-quality services and rapidly evolving medical technologies of the healthcare services and facilities of our neighboring countries.

Our regional competitors have acknowledged and have been exploiting the stigma of poor quality on Indonesia's medical services for some time now. Oliver Wyman in 2018 estimated that Indonesia lost about US$48 billion in annual revenue from outbound medical tourism, due to a lack of trust in the local health system and infrastructure. This figure is extremely ironic, given that the BPJS is still running up a major deficit at present.

Over 1,800 private hospitals that are mostly dependent on the BPJS scheme will not be able to withstand the pressure of cost savings, which will eventually put their medical service quality at risk. Most of these private hospitals lack good quality human resources and medical staff due to a supply shortage.

However, we are seeing many changes toward improvement that are allowing better positioning for local hospitals in providing competitive healthcare products. More domestic clients are staying in Indonesia to obtain their medical treatment, and this trend shows increasing confidence in local services. More and more clients these days are choosing Indonesian institutions for many specialty health services such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and heart, minimal invasive and robotic surgery.

There is no doubt that the pandemic has changed both the domestic and regional landscape of healthcare services. The movement of people has been restricted and the priority activities are health and economic survival.

Many Indonesian hospitals are struggling to cope with a shortage of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), hospital beds and ventilators. They are therefore obliged to prioritize COVID-19 mitigation by generally limiting the provision of non-COVID facilities and services. This is also happening in neighbouring countries.

And given that arranging travel is extremely difficult, nonemergency and elective procedures are not prioritized and mostly deferred. Agencies that provide medical evacuation services are in the same position as other travel agencies, which have been left with no choice between stranded markets and closed healthcare destinations.

The Asia-Pacific IVF market was valued at $8.1 billion in 2018, and is projected to grow 11.6 percent annually in 2019-2028 according to a report by Allied Market Research. The Chinese market spent over $1 billion on outbound medical tourism since the recent relaxation of the one child policy.

This has created a new industry to accommodate the demand for medical travel. Medical agencies play a very important role in co-promoting borderless health care in exchange for significant commission fees.

It is unsurprising, however, that IVF businesses in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have been affected during the pandemic, as their major income derives from medical travellers, while medical agencies are struggling to sustain the economy.

Indonesia has a big healthcare market and as stated above, outbound medical tourism has resulted in a great loss of revenue. It has quality medical services that are quite competitive in the region.

However, all stakeholders must contribute equally to achieve the objective of empowering Indonesian medical services to serve our own community. The pricing policy is largely driven by high taxes and inefficient logistics. Good quality medical and nursing staff is essential in this industry, and we need to evaluate how they can be recognized internationally.

Government policy will play an important role in providing a vibrant environment that is conducive to domestic medical tourism. The agenda must therefore be clear that our priority is to promote Indonesia's medical services to retain our own citizens from traveling abroad for outbound medical tourism, and to attract inbound medical travelers from overseas in the longer term.

The pandemic has given us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove the quality of our medical services. All stakeholders have a common interest in achieving this objective, and despite our present focus on the healthcare burdens of COVID-19, collective and coordinated efforts are needed for Indonesia to win in the medical tourism industry.

***

The writer is an Australia-trained gynecologist and in vitro fertilization (IVF) specialist in Indonesia. He chairs the Bundamedik healthcare group, is secretary-general of the Indonesian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology-Indonesian IVF Association (Perfitri-POGI) and founded the Indonesian Medical Tourism Board.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Melani Dewi Astuti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 13:30 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40664745e1 3 Opinion tax,dispute-settlement,Tax-Court,agreement Free

As the government stepped up its tax efforts with stronger enforcement, the number of tax disputes increased 52.37 percent to 152,494 cases in 2018. But the Directorate General of Taxation (DGT) rejected most of these cases.

This is plausible because the DGT faces a dilemma. Since the majority of dispute cases related to larger amounts of taxes that taxpayers were due to pay, accepting them would mean that the DGT would collect fewer tax receipts.

The number of appeals taxpayers filed against the DGT's rejection of their disputes with the Tax Court also increased to 9,657 in 2018 from 5,533 in 2017, according to the DGT 2018 report. But the court also decided in favor of the DGT in 64.60 percent of the 6,034 appeals heard in 2018, whereas the tax office lost about 50 percent of the 24,195 appeals the court heard in 2012-2017.

Notwithstanding that taxpayers won a fairly high number of appeals at the Tax Court, the appellate process is usually a lengthy one until a final binding decision is issued. The entire process may take 2.5 to 5 years from the objection to the appeal and to the final stage at the Supreme Court.

Alternatively, instead of going through the domestic tax dispute settlement mechanism through the DGT and the Tax Court, the taxpayer could also request the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) within three years of receiving the DGT's Tax Assessment Letter. The MAP is a dispute resolution mechanism for settling disputes between the parties of an internationally tax treaty.

Under the MAP, the tax dispute is to be settled by the competent authorities of the two states as stipulated in the bilateral tax treaty. At the DGT, it is the Directorate of International Taxation that handles dispute cases under the MAP facility. Ministry of Finance Regulation (PMK) No. 49/2019 stipulates that cases to be resolved under MAP shall conclude 24 months from the first round of consultations. This is much faster than the domestic resolution mechanism which goes from objection, to appeal, to Tax Court proceedings, and if necessary, to a judicial review at the Supreme Court.

In addition, the performance of countries worldwide in applying the MAP facility is reviewed regularly by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). One of the review standards is that the MAP should conclude in an average timeframe of 24 months.

Accordingly, the Indonesian government will attempt to speed up the dispute resolution process to meet the 24-month average timeframe. Since the Tax Court Law does not prescribe a maximum duration for dispute resolution at the Tax Court, the domestic mechanism carries no certainty as regards the dispute settlement timeframe.

The taxpayer can file under the domestic mechanism and the MAP facility simultaneously, provided that the Tax Court has not issued a decision. Accordingly, the taxpayer may request the MAP facility while pursuing an objection or appeal. The MAP will be halted if the Tax Court has issued a decision in a dispute case for which the taxpayer has also requested the MAP.

Resolving tax disputes under the MAP could be beneficial for the taxpayer, as the procedure eliminates the possibility of double taxation. This is because the MAP is pursued between the competent authorities in Indonesia and in the country of residence of the foreign taxpayer named in a MAP case filed by an Indonesian taxpayer.

On the other hand, pursuing a dispute settlement at the Tax Court will not protect the taxpayer from double taxation. For instance, if the taxpayer loses their appeal at the Tax Court, they must pay their tax in accordance with the Tax Court's decision. Meanwhile, the Indonesian taxpayer's transaction partner residing in another country will still be taxed on the same income source. This second country will not grant credit for the tax paid in Indonesia under the Tax Court's decision.

Indonesia processed 35 MAP cases in 2017 (including cases dating from Jan. 1, 2016) and 49 MAP cases in 2018 (including the 2017 ending inventory), with 13 settled in 2017 and 14 cases in 2018.

The OECD reviewed Indonesia's MAP performance in 2018, and found that the average timeframe for concluding a dispute case was 24 months. Prior to 2016, the average conclusion timeframe was over 40 months, so it can be assumed that the government tried to accelerate the process. Moreover, the review found that Indonesia met all requirements of the OECD's minimum standards for base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS).

Resolving a tax dispute through the MAP facility offers advantages to the taxpayer in that the facility provides more certainty and a shorter process while eliminating the possibility of double taxation.

***

The writer is analyst at the Fiscal Policy Agency, Ministry pf Finance. The view expressed here is personal.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 79F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall may reach one inch..

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Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
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Linkedin H Muhaimin Iskandar (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 15:37 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40664848f7 3 Opinion Non-Aligned-Movement,Indonesia,international-relations,Indonesian-foreign-policy Free

When preparing for the establishment of Indonesia as an independent nation state, our founding fathers did not concern themselves merely with the fate of Indonesia, while ignoring the rest of the world. The profound religious, philosophical, ethical and political principles upon which they established our nation were not designed to promote the interests of Indonesia alone. Our founding fathers contemplated the future of the entire world, proffering a set of noble aspirations that others could embrace, while striving to create a more dignified and auspicious future for all human beings, and for civilization as a whole.

The first paragraph of the preamble of Indonesias 1945 Constitution, which constitutes the point of departure for the entire train of thought subsequently elaborated within the body of this foundational text, reads: Independence is the right of every nation, and for that reason, colonialism must be abolished throughout the earth, for it is inconsistent with humanitarianism and justice (emphasis added). This statement is of profound significance, above and beyond the obvious fact that our founding fathers were concerned for the welfare of humanity and held high aspirations in regard to the future of global civilization. For the preamble enshrines the establishment of a truly just and harmonious world order as central to the identity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, constituting a vital national interest to be actively pursued as the highest goal of Indonesian foreign policy.

We live in an anxious world. A world of fear and anger, which has borne the cumulative weight of injustice, enmity and violence for thousands of years and shows few signs of abating. Nor should we forget that our own communal struggle to improve our nations fate is inextricably tied to geopolitical dynamics occurring far beyond our borders.

In our nations history, we have been blessed with many remarkable presidents, including the late Ir Soekarno and Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid, affectionately known as Gus Dur, whom we so deeply love and revere. Soekarno and Gus Dur completely devoted their lives, and gave the very best they had, to this nation and its people. Of course, living at different times and facing very different challenges, there are also many differences between the ideas they articulated. Yet both great leaders agreed, and constantly emphasized, that our struggle for the future of this nation cannot be divorced from, and must be accompanied by, a struggle for the future of all humanity, and civilization as a whole.

Fear, anger and hatred are rapidly spreading and overshadowing the earth, merely destabilizing some nations while casting others, with tens of millions of inhabitants, into the utter abyss of darkness and ruin. It is clear that one factor contributing to this tragedy is a profound conflict of values triggered by globalization, combined with the rapid intermixing of cultures. We live in a time when geographic boundaries no longer prevent the people of one nation from encountering many others; nor one ethnic or religious group from interacting with countless others; nor any given individual from observing and communicating with others throughout the world.

On the one hand, this offers an historically unique opportunity for the diverse peoples and cultures of the world to come to know and respect one another. Yet it also harbors the seeds of unparalleled global disaster. For if humanity does not establish a common ground for managing its differences through peaceful dialogue, the eruption of violent conflict will be inevitable, as we already witness occurring throughout the world today. Everywhere we turn our gaze, we see religions, including Islam, being weaponized to serve all-too-worldly goals and agendas. This poses an extraordinary threat to humanity, and to civilization as a whole.

When religions are deliberately placed upon a collision course, it becomes extremely difficult to prevent universal conflict.

When religions are deliberately placed upon a collision course, it becomes extremely difficult to prevent universal conflict, for every religion claims to espouse a universal mission. When various religious groups live side by side, closely intermixed as they do in our modern world, religious conflict will inevitably provoke social unrest and violence, which in turn will lead to widespread enmity or even the expulsion of minorities unable to defend themselves, something that we can clearly see happening in various regions of the world today.

There is no logical end to this cycle of mutual enmity and violence once it spirals out of control, other than the collapse of the prevailing socioeconomic-political system wherever such chaos occurs. As Gus Dur warned in a 2005 article published in The Wall Street Journal: The entire edifice of modern civilization is built on economic and technological foundations that terrorists hope to collapse like so many fishing huts in the wake of a tsunami. Just two small, well-placed bombs devastated Balis tourist economy in 2002 and sent much of its population back to the rice fields and out to sea, to fill their empty bellies. What would be the effect of a global economic crisis in the wake of attacks far more devastating than those of Bali and 9/11? It is time for people of goodwill from every faith and nation to recognize that a terrible danger threatens humanity. We cannot afford to continue business as usual in the face of this existential threat. Rather, we must set aside our international and partisan bickering, and join together to confront the danger that lies before us.

Our founding fathers developed, and offered to the world, a set of universal principles that can illuminate the path out of darkness and avert the cataclysm that would inevitably accompany a global clash of civilizations. These principles are:

First, to treat others justly and as equalswithout regard to ethnicity or religion; without enmity or hatred; and without seeking to marginalize or eliminate others.

Second, to accept and respect the sovereign nation state as a political system that binds the people of each and every nation, without propagating or pursuing a supremacist agenda vis-a-vis other nations.

Third, to accept and respect a nations laws as binding upon all its inhabitants, which provides no space for anyone to cite religion as justification for inciting violence and/or participating in armed rebellion against the duly constituted authority of the nation state. As the 2019 National Conference of Nahdlatul Ulama Religious Scholars decreed, in a ruling that also abolished the legal category of infidel (kafir) within the modern nation state: If it is concluded that any element of positive (i.e., statutory and/or regulatory) law contravenes the highest principles and purposes of religion, this should beand may only becorrected by constitutional means. The existence of such laws and regulations may not be employed as a justification for defying a legitimate government.

Fourth, to preserve and strengthen a rules-based international order founded upon justice, freedom and enduring peace.

If the governments, religions and people of the world are prepared to accept these four principles as the common ground for our life together, then we will be able to find a peaceful solution to whatever differences we may have, without violence or destruction.

What we need now is a genuine, sincere and concrete effort to offer these principles to the world, and invite people of every faith and nation to accept these principles as the cornerstone of a truly global civilization that fosters cooperation, mutual respect and the blossoming of human creativity throughout the world.

Allow me to take this opportunity to say that the National Awakening Party is determined to ensure that Indonesia plays its full part in this effort, and that PKB will carry the banner of Indonesias contribution, for the future of humanity and global civilization.

***

H Muhaimin Iskandar is chairman of Indonesias National Awakening Party (or PKB) and deputy chairman of Indonesias Peoples Consultative Assembly. This essay is adapted from a speech delivered at the Centrist Democrat International Eurasia Forum on January 24 in Yogyakarta.

The original article was published in Strategic Review.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Oliver Tonby and Philia Wibowo (The Jakarta Post) Singapore/Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 10:51 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066465088 3 Opinion business,McKinsey,Indonesia,COVID-19,pandemic,healthcare,telemedicine,consumer-behaviour,consumer-goods Free

As Asia grapples with the impact of COVID-19, the regions top corporate executives are deeply concerned about the impact on business performance and livelihoods in a volatile post- pandemic environment. For many of Asias largest companies, this complicates the underperformance challenge they were already facing pre-COVID-19.

Over the past decade, the regions corporate giants have grown rapidly in scale. Asia today is home to 43 percent of the worlds largest 5,000 companies by revenue (G5000), with Indonesia represented by 36 companies.

But scale has not translated to value. Between 2005-2007 and 2015-2017, economic profit generated by Asias largest companies fell from US$150 billion to a loss of $207 billion.

Nearly half of this decline is due to a cyclical downturn in the energy and materials sectors. Another third can be explained by the allocation of capital to value-destroying sectors, particularly in China. The remainder of the decline is due to the underperformance of Asian firms.

When we measured the G5000 companies on profit, mapped by country and sector, Asia is under-represented in the top quintile (16 percent) and over-represented in the bottom quintile (24 percent). In other words, the region has a higher concentration of companies that destroy economic value and a lower share of companies that create it.

Even before COVID-19, Asian companies operate in a hyper-competitive environment, and it is hard even for leading companies to maintain their pre-eminence. In China, only 36 percent of the companies in the top 20 percent for economic profit maintained that position over a period of ten years, compared with 53 percent in North America.

Today, the pandemic has badly hit many sectors, including travel and hospitality; put pressure on many consumer-facing businesses; and disrupted the many global supply chains that run through Asia. This wide impact adds another layer to the regions general performance malaise.

Left unaddressed, this will prolong COVID-19s impact on livelihoods. The performance of large companies affects not just investors and executives, but also workers, consumers and whole economies. For example, South Koreas biggest company Samsung directly employs more than 180,000 people and generated revenues amounting to 12.5 percent of the countrys GDP last year.

As Asian companies position themselves for life after the pandemic, they need to improve their profit performance in what may very well be tough economic conditions.

We conducted a simulation that suggests Asia could unlock $440 billion of additional economic profit by lifting about 200 of the regions companies out of the bottom quintile of performers into the middle and boosting an additional 250 companies from the middle of the curve into the top quintile. A further $180 billion could be generated if an additional $3 trillion to $4 trillion were to be allocated to sectors that create value rather than destroy it.

There are many bright spots across Asia. COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital health and emerging economies like Indonesia have the potential to reinvent care delivery and lead on digital health solutions. Most of these countries have less than one doctor per 1,000 citizens, compared with more than 2.6 in the United States, 2.4 in Japan, and 1.8 in China.

As the population grows in these regions, innovative healthcare solutions offering both scale and efficiency will be critical. The combination of large and digitally savvy consumer bases with major digital giants is leading to the formation of a new ecosystem. For example, Indonesian digital health firm, Halodoc, is partnering with pharmacies, laboratories, and ride-hailing service, Gojek, to provide medicine delivery in the country.

The consumer goods sector also holds much promise. In many product categories, Asia is the worlds largest consumer goods market, accounting for 43 percent of food sales and 47 percent of apparel sales. Yet, this sector also represents one of the largest gaps in economic profit performance between large Asian firms and those in the rest of the world  Asia accounts for only 10 percent of the profit generated by G5000 consumer goods companies worldwide.

There is clearly an opportunity here given expectations that the regions middle-class consumers will return to spending when the pandemic subsides  and consumer goods companies must be prepared when they do. Southeast Asia, for example, is home to some 80 million households in the consuming class. This is on track to double to 163 million households by 2030, with Indonesia alone generating tens of millions of newly prosperous consumers.

At this point in time, embracing digital is non-negotiable. Use of e-commerce, which was already rapidly expanding in Asia, exploded during COVID-19, alongside spikes in delivery services and e-payments. For Indonesia, this is not particularly surprising.

Even before COVID- 19, the country had already achieved one of worlds highest penetration in mobile commerce. In 2019, 76 percent of Internet users in Indonesia made purchases via mobile, edging out China (74 percent) and well ahead of the United States (44 percent).

COVID-19 has changed everything about the way we live and work  and it will fundamentally alter the performance challenge facing corporate Asia. But the region has coped with adversity before and emerged stronger for it. The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, for example, hit Indonesia hard but the country returned to positive per capita GDP growth within a year or two.

***

Oliver Tonby is McKinseys Asia chairman and Phillia Wibowo is managing partner in McKinseys Indonesia office

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Armando G. Alvarez (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 11:37 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066469032 3 Opinion Indonesia,ASEAN,WTO,international-trade Free

Mexico and Indonesia are two large developing countries and two vibrating middle powers deeply committed with a strong and comprehensive multilateral trade system.

However, global trade faces many challenges nowadays, such as the erosion of multilateral institutions, the economic crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of unilateral protectionist measures.

Given this scenario, Mexico is determined to continue promoting multilateral cooperation schemes with Indonesia and Southeast Asian nations to strengthen an international trade system based on robust institutions, fair principles and clear rules.

The World Trade Organization is essential for global economic governance and has been central to world trade and economic development over the past seven decades. The WTO remains a cornerstone of the multilateral trading system, and its proper functioning is vital to give certainty in the context of increasing adversity.

According to the vision of Mexico, the WTO faces three significant challenges. First, to reaffirm its relevance given the limited progress made in negotiations amid the paralysis of its appellate body and the urgent need to modernize the administration of existing agreements.

Second, the organization needs to continue promoting traditional matters of trade negotiation, such as fisheries and agriculture, and has to deal with the revitalization of 21st-century economic issues taking into account e-commerce and the development of an ambitious sustainable vision.

Finally, the WTO has to mitigate, in the short term, the economic impact of the pandemic by encouraging its members to limit barriers that restrict the flow of goods and to take measures that contribute to the recovery of economic activities. However, at the same time, members should follow international protocols to preserve public health at the global level.

In these circumstances and facing the imminent election of a new director-general of the WTO, Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has nominated Dr Jesus Seade, current undersecretary for North America at the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, to head the WTO at this crucial moment.

The Mexican government considers Seade the ideal candidate for such a responsibility given his extensive experience as a negotiator and facilitator of trade at the highest level, comprehensive career and academic background, as well as his deep understanding and strong ties with regions worldwide.

Seade, a chemical engineer from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and master and PhD in economics from the University of Oxford, has an in-depth knowledge of the WTO as he took part in the negotiations that gave birth to the organization. As Mexican ambassador to the GATT (former WTO, 1989-1993), he played a central role at the Uruguay Round, the series of foundational WTO negotiations. His appointment by consensus to serve as deputy director general of the GATT (1993-1994) and later of the WTO, the organization he helped to create, strengthened his unique set of experience in reaching trade agreements on a global scale.

He possesses first-hand knowledge of the economic dynamics of Asia and has proven to be an expert on the regions trade and financial systems after having served as vice president and senior lecturer in economics at Lingnan University in Hong Kong (2007-2016); senior advisor to the ministries of financial services, and trade and industry; and deputy vice president for global affairs at CUHK-Shenzen University (2017) in China.

Also in Asia, Seade has worked closely, both bilaterally and in the multilateral arena, with countries of ASEAN. As a candidate to the WTO, he is fully aware of the accelerated growth experienced by the countries of this region in the last decades and is conscious of the leading role that these economies will play in the global stage in the near future. Dr Seade would seek to join efforts at the WTO with ASEAN member states to improve and strengthen the rules governing trade for the benefit of all parties.

With Indonesia, Mexico shares a tradition of supporting the international multilateral system based on rules and principles. This situation has been demonstrated through the close and intense collaboration in organizations and fora in which both countries share memberships, such as the United Nations, ASEAN, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Group of 20 and MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia Korea, Turkey and Australia).

Following this spirit of collaboration, Jesus Seade has been keen at learning in detail Indonesias trade priorities and concerns to build consensus and help to solve trade disputes within the frame of the WTO.

Mexico hopes that Indonesia and the rest of the ASEAN countries will support the candidacy of Seade in the WTO. He is a global man whose experience, vision and skills will help build a strong, inclusive and open multilateral trading system and face some of the most critical challenges of our time.

***

Ambassador of Mexico to Indonesia

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Retno LP Marsudi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 08:15 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406645092c 3 Opinion Retno-Marsudi,Peacekeeping,Women,gender-inclusive,Indonesian-foreign-policy,foreign-affairs,peace-and-conflict-resolution Free

The issue of women, peace and security is one of the priorities of Indonesias foreign policy. This priority is manifested also in our support for the empowerment of women as agents of peace.

Last year, Indonesia held two major initiatives to promote womens contribution to peace and security.

The first was an event called Regional Training for Women, Peace and Security held in Jakarta from April 8 to 9, 2019. The training, attended by 60 young female diplomats from the region, was aimed at strengthening their capacity in peacemaking processes.

The second was the Dialogue on the Role of Women in Building and Sustaining Peace, held from Nov. 26 to 30. A platform designed to support Afghan womens participation in their countrys peace process, the event was attended by 38 Afghan women from different backgrounds and regions, including conflict regions.

As a concrete follow-up to the dialogue, I inaugurated the first meeting of the Afghanistan-Indonesia Womens Solidarity Network in Kabul on March 1, 2020. Needless to say, I was moved by the determination of Afghan women to play an active role in their countrys peace process, refusing to only be victims, and opting to be agents of peace.

I witnessed similar courage during my personal interaction with women affected by conflicts in different parts of the world, from Palestine to Rakhine state in Myanmar.

Women have unique skills and perspectives to offer in peace processes. They can build trust between parties, help reduce confrontation and communicate better with victims of conflict. Involving women will also help ensure their specific concerns are addressed in peace processes.

When given the opportunity, women deliver results. Research shows that womens participation increases the probability of a peace agreement lasting at least two years by 20 percent, and lasting 15 years by 35 percent.

Indeed, there has been growing recognition for womens important role in peace and security.

This year, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which reaffirms the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution and calls for their equal participation and full involvement, including at decision-making levels.

Regrettably, we continue to see different realities on the ground, where women remain under-represented in peacebuilding efforts.

According to figures compiled by the UN Women, between 1992 and 2018, women only constituted 13 percent of negotiators, 3 percent of mediators and 4 percent of signatories in major peace processes.

Currently, women only make up 6 percent of uniformed personnel in the UN Peace Operations. We risk losing a bigger chance of peace if women are not afforded equal opportunity.

The state of our world right now has the potential to breed more conflicts.

Geopolitical uncertainty has become a reality for some time. Great power rivalries are intensifying. Trust between countries is diminishing. More countries are resorting to unilateralism, undermining of rules-based order and international law.

We are looking at the possible need for more peacemakers in the future. And this time, we must include more women throughout the whole spectrum of peace, from prevention to resolution.

I propose three important ways to do this.

First, changing the culture and mindset. Many societies still have structural barriers to a greater participation of women.

Education is important in raising awareness and understanding on womens contribution to peace and security.

Support from the closest people, including the family, is very important. Without my familys support, I would not be the women I am today.

Next, we have to change the mindset of our male counterparts, convince them that together we can achieve many feats. A safe and enabling environment is important, and this is where affirmative action by the government is needed.

Second , enhancing womens capacity to contribute to peace and security.

Preventing and resolving conflicts are not easy undertakings. Constant improvement on capacity, experience and credentials is needed.

This is the rationale for the regional training Indonesia organized last year. I am hoping to see the deployment of female mediators from our region to conflict situations in the future.

Indonesia is also the proponent for enhanced training for female peacekeepers. There are currently 159 of them from Indonesia in seven UN Peace Operations. We are committed to improving their capacity to effectively fulfill their mandates in the field.

Third, fostering networks of like-minded people.

Women must support and empower other women. This is where networks are relevant, to provide a platform for mentoring opportunities, exchanges of lessons learned, training and other forms of collaboration.

The regional training course last year was meant to kick-start the preparations toward the establishment of the Southeast Asia Network of Women Peace Negotiators and Mediators later this year.

Recently, no fewer than 800 people took part in a seminar Indonesia held to promote regular dialogue on women, peace and security in the region and explore possible contributions of the Southeast Asia Network to our regional peace and security.

Many other regions already have their own women mediator network: Africa, the Arab world, the Mediterranean, the Nordic countries and the Commonwealth. It is about time our region had its own.

The Southeast Asia Network will reinforce the existing ASEAN Women Peace Registry, which already maintains a pool of female experts in peace processes.

Moving forward, Indonesia will continue promoting women, peace and security issue, both at the regional and global levels.

We will strive to mainstream this issue in ASEAN. Just two weeks ago, I proposed to include it in the action lines of the ASEAN Political and Security Community Blueprint.

Meanwhile, at the global level, we will continue our active involvement on this issue in the United Nations and the Women Foreign Ministers Network.

***

The writer is Indonesian foreign minister.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
As he turns 80 on July 7, Ringo Starr reflects on the major turning points in his life.

If Id have gone and lived in Houston because of Lightnin Hopkins, who knows where I would have been? he asked aloud, referring to what would have happened if, at 19, he immigrated to the United States just to be where his country blues musician idol lived.

And if Id have stayed with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, what would have happened there? Ringo was with the band until he decided to join the Beatles to replace drummer Pete Best.

There was also the matter of Ringo being sickly as a child. He suffered from appendicitis, then a ruptured appendix, pleurisy, food allergies and tuberculosis. Lying in a hospital bed, the 13-year-old was given a little drum by a music teacher. In that instant, Ringo decided that it was the only thing he wanted to do in lifeto be a drummer.

He ended up playing drums for the greatest band in rock history, alongside Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. In this recent video call, the man who was considered the Beatles heart and soul suddenly showed up on my laptop screen, half an hour early. He thought the interview was at 11:30 in the morning. It was set at noon.

In the few minutes that he stayed and then promised to return at noon, the Beatle, who is known for his happy-go-lucky personality, was easygoing and charismatic as we engaged in small talk.

Wearing a short-sleeved black polo shirt with white palm prints, the bearded man who was born as Richard Henry Parkin Starkey Jr. wore tinted glasses. His dark short hair gave him a youthful look.

Behind him in a corner of his Los Angeles home were walls decorated with a black guitar with white stars, a flag emblazoned with Trojan Jamaica, the reggae label, and further behind, a wall with prints of faces, including what looked like George Harrisons.

A few minutes before noon, Ringo appeared again on my screen, with the most disarming smile and giving us the peace sign. Peace and love is his mantra. He also wore a necklace with a peace sign pendant.

I asked right away a question to finally clear the matter about the Beatles unfortunate experience in Manila. In early July 1966, the bands two concerts in one day were enthusiastically received by thousands of screaming fans.

Read also: Paul McCartney says The Beatles refused to play for a segregated audience in 1964

The concert promoter apparently did not tell the Beatles that he promised then First Lady Imelda Marcos that they would show up in a reception at the Malacanang Palace. The group refused to go to Imeldas event.

In a piece dated Nov. 3, 2018, a PDI editorial looked back at that incident: Claiming to be incensed at the way the Fab Four had offended the sensibilities of the First Family, particularly Imelda Marcos and her children, when they allegedly snubbed an invitation to join the Marcoses and their friends at a get-together in Malacanang, concerned citizens lined up all along the exit route of the world-famous band and inflicted physical punishment on them. The Beatles were kicked, pummeled, pushed, abused and cursed, chased to their plane seats and given indelible memories of Filipino hospitality.

Yeah, it was hell, Ringo recalled. We didnt understand it. We came with 25 outriders getting us to the hotel. I was sharing a room with John (Lennon). We put the TV on in the morning and it was like, what the hells going on? They didnt like us. They showed pictures of all the children. Someone with the TV camera going past these kids being miserable because we didnt turn up.

And weve told them. We are not turning up. Anyway, we left back to the airport with one motorbike and we did get pushed around. But we got on the plane and were off to the next round. We were young lads. We came, we played. Thats all were there for. There was a hassle. Though it didnt mean we didnt still love the people in the Philippines. It was just a couple of them we didnt love (laughs). So thats my story.

Cutting to the present, Ringo was asked about the escalation of racial issues since the death of George Floyd. The Beatles were noted for refusing to play to segregated audiences.

It is crazy again, he agreed. And we did refuse to play in Mississippi. All our heroes are from Ray Charles to Lightnin Hopkins. Stevie Wonder was one of them. The acts we loved were African-American. We said no, we play to people, people are people. That was a first for us and a first for them.

This year has been such an eye-opener because of George Floyd. They killed him but the weeks after, all the parades in LA, all over America, and it went to England, France. Its so huge now We want change.

Ringo smiled when the chat turned to meeting Yoko Ono for the first time. I remember it well because I walked into the studio and Yoko was in bed, Ringo began with a laugh. We never had our wives (in the studio). My wife Maureen (Cox)God rest her soulin the eight years and all the studio time we did  she was there more than 45 minutes over all that time. They (wives) would come in, say hi and leave. Because we were working.

I went and asked him (John), Whats going on here? Were in the studio and Yoko is here.

John said, What were planning is to know exactlywhat Im doing, shell know and Ill know what shes doing. We will know each other. So I was fine after that  shes a lot of fun.

Ringo added about the woman who was controversial in the bands lore. Ive never felt uncomfortable with her. I played on the Plastic Onos first records, Johns and hers. Thats what its about. Were supporting each other. I saw her the summer before in New York. If Im there, we say hi.

As he clearly showed in his affable demeanor on our computer screen, Ringo is comfortable in being part of a band so popular and well-loved that it has sold a whopping 600 million worldwide. But even as early as the 60s, as the Liverpudlian band began to rise, Ringo had to adjust to the new reality.

In the beginning, we wanted to make good music and play to audiences, which we did, said the man who also tried being a railway messenger, barman and engineering firm apprentice. But we got so big that the price to pay was that you couldnt go into a restaurant. It actually happened to me. I was eating a meal in a restaurant. Ive got the fork into my mouth and some woman pushed it out and said, Sign this. I said, No, Im having dinner. And she told methis was like in 67You ruined your whole career (laughs).

And what was the strangest request he got from a female fan? With a laugh, he obliged with, The weirdest ever was, Have you got a light (laughs)? Like Im going to get into that. Get off (laughs).

In the never-ending journey of the legendary band, Peter Jackson came up with a new documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, which he created from footage captured by Michael Lindsay-Hoggs for a 1970 documentary on the group.

We made the documentary (Let It Be) a long time ago, Ringo explained. We did the last live show on the roof of the Apple (Corps Limited, a London corporation, not the company cofounded by Steve Jobs) building. We found 56 or 57 hours of unused footage. We asked Peter Jackson, could he help us here? Its now 46 minutes long (in The Beatles: Get Back) and its incredible.

Read also: Ringo Starr 'emotional' as Beatles come together in new recording

So its a shame because it should have been out this year. Were all in limbo, in a way.

On how he is going to mark his big 80th milestone, Ringo shared, Im going to celebrate it a little differently than I have for the last 12 years, when we have the peace and love moment. Last year, we celebrated it in Nice. But we started in 2008 in Chicago.

Ive asked several of my friends to send me footage from a show theyve done. Im using some of mine from the All-Starrs last year. Ill be there introducing.

He added, Oh yeah, we have friends in the videos. One of them you might know well. Have a guess.

Paul McCartney? Ah, you got that one, he quipped with a grin. The virtual charity concert will hit YouTube on July 7 to benefit Black Lives Matter Global Network and other worthy causes.

As for his plans beyond the big birthday, Ringo answered, With the All-Starr, we do one tour a year. Now, Im doing two tours a year.

I have many blessings. My children are blessings. Ive got eight grandkids now and a great grandson. Im an only child and I look around the table and I go, what? All these people are related to methats far out. And Barbara (actress Bach, his second wife) is in my lifethats another blessing.

Im here, the road Ive taken was made up of good choices and there were some other choices And were in a great business because we dont have to retire. And I plan to go on longer than 80.

On July 7th is my birthday. I hope youll spread the word. Everybody goes, Peace and love, wherever you are.

Flashing the peace sign with his fingers, Ringo ended our chat with, I love you, peace and love, remember on the 7th of July at noon.
In a classic case of "poacher turning gamekeeper", the fishermen of Senegal have joined forces to protect one of the ocean's most endangered species -- the sea turtle.

Three species can be found on the Senegal coast in west Africa. The most populous is the green turtle and they are joined by the loggerhead and leatherhead which can weigh over 600 kilograms.

They are all beautiful creatures but each is threatened by pollution, poaching and, even now, the fishing net.

"Once we were the biggest eaters of turtles, now we have become their biggest protectors," says Abdou Karim Sall, a fisherman who is now the manager of a protected marine zone through which the turtles pass.

Some 30 years ago, turtle meat was sold in the streets of Joal, one of the most important fishing ports in Senegal, and in Fadiouth, the port's sister village built on an artificial island made from heaps of shells.

"We ate them in the street, we cooked them at home," says the 56-year-old Sall who leads the management committee for the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Joal-Fadiouth, two hours south of Dakar.

Founded in 2004, and backed by the government, local authorities and several associations, the MPA stretches over 147 square kilometers and is made up of sandy beaches along a marine strip eight kilometers wide, as well as a network of mangroves and an area of savannah.

It is an area for the protection of endangered migratory species, such as the sea turtle.

Its objectives are the conservation of biodiversity, as well as the improvement of fishing yields and socio-economic benefits for the local population.

The sea turtles navigate their way along this tropical stretch of the Atlantic during their migration of more than a thousand kilometers between the volcanic archipelago of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, just south of Senegal, where they return to lay eggs when they reach sexual maturity.

The green turtles are predominantly herbivorous while the other species like to snack on crab and sea urchin.

They all graze on the sea grass beds that grow abundantly in the shallow waters of the Senegalese "Petite cote" (small coast), especially in front of Joal.

Through their presence the turtles help maintain a fragile biotope, a breeding ground and nursery for many species of fish and this, in turns, boosts the economy -- the fishing sector directly or indirectly supports about 500,000 Senegalese.

Read also: Indonesia, home to six rare turtle species

Trapped in a net

The sea turtles' long voyage is not without risk.

Plastic is an increasing danger as they often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish which is one of their favorite foods, even for the green turtle. And, in spite of the efforts of Sall and the other protectors, they also get caught in fishermen's nets.

On a dugout canoe with a multicolored hull at the limit of the protected area, four young bare-chested lads haul in their nets. It is the start of the migration period and they have snagged a 100-kilogram turtle.

It takes a big pull to haul it in. They untangle the turtle from the nets and release it back into the water.

"It's not to our advantage to eat them, because they help save marine species. Wherever you find turtles you will find shrimp and octopus in abundance," explains the boss Gamar Kane.

Since 2000, Sall, as head of the local fishermen's association and manager of the MPA, has made local populations aware of the protection of turtles, in particular by organizing "cinema debates".

Even former turtle sellers have been "converted" by receiving "three small canoes to take tourists to sea," he said.

According to Sall, turtle numbers have "decreased by around 30 percent in the past 20 years" but the 500-odd visitors who come each year are almost guaranteed a memorable photo of some of the thousands that still line the coast. With luck, they might also spot a manatee (sea cow) grazing peacefully in the depths.

Rather than imposing restrictions, the MPA is trying to educate the communities in the economic benefits so that they join the project.

"It's after they are told: 'It's an endangered species'," he says.

Read also: Cambodian conservationists hopeful for revival of rare royal turtle

Protect the nests

From June to October, a few dozen turtles stop to lay eggs on the beaches of Joal. About 20 MPA agents and village volunteers protect their nests with fences.

About 45 days later, "people come at 6:00 am so that predators do not take the young", says Sall.

The danger lies largely at the feet of monitor lizards who like the eggs, the birds who swoop down just after the young turtles have hatched and the monkfish who move in once they enter the sea. The chances of survival for a young turtle are no greater than one in a thousand, says Sall.

But the fisherman-conservator agrees, "awareness has not worked 100 percent".

"Not all fishermen have turned away from turtles and when the fishing is not good, some even hunt them," he says.

They can take dozens a day, or more, to pay for fuel for their outbiard engines. And there remains a taste among the human population for turtle flesh -- and other parts.

At the end of June, the corpse of a young green turtle was found on a beach in Dakar, its belly cut down its entire length.

"Its tail and reproductive system were removed for 'medicinal' reasons," said Charlotte Thomas, an official with the Senegalese NGO Oceanium.

The struggle to protect the sea turtle goes on.
Now that we are in July, many of us will soon be spending days in the sun. It is a prospect that can be unnerving for parents, who need to worry about providing their children with sufficient sun protection. Here is a list of questions you should ask to make sure that you are opting for the right sunscreen.

Summer vacation is just around the corner, and whether you are headed for the beach or the mountains or perhaps even both, it will soon be time to pick up a suitcase loaded with swimwear, lightweight outfits, and an arsenal of hot weather accessories that includes several sun protection items. Along with a hat, dark glasses and perhaps even a beach umbrella, you will also need sunscreen. But how can you be sure that you have the right one? And in particular the right one for your children? Here are some of the questions that you should ask before letting the kids loose in the midday heat.

Does it have to be sunscreen for kids?

In recent years, sunscreens sold especially for children are taking up more and more shelf space in supermarkets and pharmacies. However, labels that say a product is for children should not distract attention from one all-important criterion: A products sun-protection factor (SPF). As a rule of thumb, multiplying the amount of time that it would take to get sunburned when not wearing any product by a sunscreens SPF will give you the amount of time that it will protect you from getting burned. For example, in a situation where you would expect to develop sunburn in ten minutes, an SPF of 15 will offer 150 minutes of protection.

In 2017, a study conducted by French consumer association 60 millions de consommateurs warned parents about the marketing of special sunscreen for children. In particular, it pointed out that Sunscreens for children are neither better nor worse than other products. And it is important to be aware of this, especially when you consider that products intended for children are often more expensive.

Read also: How necessary is it to wear hair sunscreen?

Should you choose an SPF based on your skin type?

According to dermatologist Pierre-Andre Becherel, who spoke to ETX Studio: just because people dont get sunburned does not mean that their skin is well protected. The toxic effects of exposure to the sun are cumulative. This means that the long-term risks of developing cancer are the same for people of all skin types. The assumption that dark skin does not burn should not give people a false sense of security. With this in mind: The best policy is to always opt for an SPF of 50 or higher.

What about organic creams?

To avoid chemical substances that are potentially harmful to health and to preserve the environment, certain consumers prefer to buy organic sunscreen. But does it provide all of the necessary protection?

In a bid to answer this question, French consumers association UFC Que Choisir tested 20 different brands of conventional and organic sunscreen sold by pharmacies and online retailers. In its report published in 2019, the association pointed out that to be truly effective, a sunscreen should protect against UVB rays that cause sunburn, and also UVA rays, which penetrate more deeply into the skin. However, the associations investigation showed that not all organic creams are equally effective: Approximately half of those tested did not provide adequate protection against UVA.

Finally, limiting time spent exposed to the sun is the best strategy to protect against its potentially harmful effects. Sunscreen is useful, but so too is anti-UV clothing. A long-sleeved T-shirt with long trousers, a hat and sunglasses remains the most effective protection of all.
A virtual tour takes tourists to Jakartas landmarks safely from the comfort of their own homes during the pandemic.

The tour, dubbed Wisata Keliling Jakarta (Jakarta Touring), took place from June 22 to 28 as a part of the capitals anniversary celebrations and it was organized by tourism tech company Atourin, the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Tour Guide Association (HPI) and tour operator Wisata Kreatif Jakarta.

On the last day, the tour took visitors to Jakarta landmarks influenced by foreign cultures.

Tour guide Ira Lathief dressed in traditional Betawi clothing and took the participants on tour with Google maps along with slides featuring pictures and videos she had taken herself.

She explained that Jakarta was a melting pot of many cultures, not only from different parts of Indonesia but also ones that came from abroad.

People may know the popular Chinatown and Dutchtown [Kota Tua] but aside from those two, there are still more areas in Jakarta that are influenced by foreign culture, Ira said during the virtual tour via Zoom conference call.

There is the Portuguese village, Little India, Little Arabia, Little Tokyo and Little Korea, she added.

The tour started in Kota Tua, a popular area in West Jakarta. The influence on the area dates back to 17th century Dutch colonial rule, leaving behind numerous historical gems.

Old Town: Fathahillah Square was once used by the Dutch for public events, including public executions. It is now a communal leisure area. (JP/Adityastha Wratsangka)

Kota Tua features Fathahillah Square, which was once used for events, including public executions, but is now a public leisure area where families go around and ride bicycles.

The tour of Kota Tua covered historical sites like dungeons that once held historical figures who opposed the Dutch, such as Javanese Prince Diponegoro and war leader Tjut Nyak Dien, and the Wayang Museum (Puppet Museum), to culinary spots such as Cafe Batavia that serves Betawi and Dutch cuisine and beverages.

After Kota Tua, Ira took the tour to the Chinese influenced areas located in West Jakarta. She took participants to historical Chinese homes, as well as iconic coffee and tea houses.

Fusion culture: Ira Lathief, tour guide for Wisata Keliling Jakarta, took the tour to Pantjoran Tea House. A Chinese influenced tea house where communal free tea is served. (JP/Adityastha Wratsangka)

On Jl. Gajah Mada, Ira showed participants an old Chinese mansion called Gedung Candra Naya (Candra Naya Mansion). The mansion was once the home of Chinese mayor Khow Kim Man, who Ira said was the last person to hold the position in colonial Batavia.

Although the mansion is surrounded by tall, modern buildings, the large Chinese doors, curved roof, red lampions and Chinese calligraphy helps retain the mansions historical facade.

Ira then took the tour to the Chinatown of Glodok, West Jakarta, where Chinese cuisine and snacks to herbal medicine and cheap electronics goods can be found. She showed the tour a stall that serves freshly baked pia, vegetarian dishes and the legendary coffee house Kopi Es Tak Kie (Tak Kie Ice Coffee).

Colorful: The Liong (dragon) dance is performed during the Cap Go Meh Festival at Pancoran Chinatown Point, in Glodok, West Jakarta, on Feb. 8. (JP/Galih Gumelar)

Kopi Es Tak Kie, founded in 1927, is run by a descendent of Chinese wanderer Liong Kwie Tjong .

The tour takes people to lesser-known areas of the city, like the Portuguese influenced Kampung Tugu (Tugu Village).

People usually come here to visit Tugu Church but there is more than the church, Ira said.

We usually set up tours here, especially during celebrations, as the village has its own unique culture and celebrations.

According to Ira, the village was built by former Portuguese prisoners who were taken by the Dutch to Batavia from Malacca. They were given freedom in exchange for converting to Christianity.

Built 359 years ago, the people of Tugu identify themselves as ethnic Betawi.

Kampung Tugu is also where the kroncong style music originated from. It was born from the Portugueses love for music and celebrations, Ira said.

After visiting Tugu, Ira took the tour to Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, where a community of ethnic Indians and immigrants influenced the area, building what Ira called Little India.

While Pasar Baru is influenced by both the Indians and Chinese, the majority of the stalls there sell Indian textiles owned by ethnic Indians.

There also stands a Sikh temple for people worship. Sikhism originated from the Punjab region of India in the 15thcentury.

Ira then took the tour to Cikini, Central Jakarta where Little Arabia is located. The area was influenced by Arab travelers and tourists that would stay in Jakarta for long periods of time.

Arab tourists and travelers would stay in Jakarta for at least one month, Ira said. Instead of hotels, they would rent apartments, that is why Little Arabia is located in the apartment-filled areas like Rasuna Said and Cikini.

One of the notable landmarks of the area is the mansion of Raden Saleh. After living in Europe for 20 years, the painter returned to Jakarta and built a mansion in the area in 1852.

In South Jakarta, Ira introduced the tour to Little Korea and Little Tokyo.

Little Korea is located in Senopati, where there are several authentic Korean restaurants along with Korean grocery stores owned by expatriates.

Little Tokyo is located in Melawai. Not only is the area filled with authentic Japanese restaurants, the aesthetics of the buildings also resemble that found in Tokyo.

The influence on the area started with Japanese grocery stores that were owned by expatriates, she said.

Every May, except for this year, they hold a Japanese-style festival in the area.

The total duration of the tour was two hours, ending in Little Tokyo. Participants get to have a short discussion session after the tour.

Ira specifically told participants from Jakarta and its surrounding areas to never forget where they are from, even when they move or travel far away.

Nadya, a Jakarta native currently in Bali, participated in the event throughout the whole week.

Im very happy to have participated. I live in Jakarta but I am stuck in Bali and through this virtual tour I was able to relieve my longing for Jakarta, she said at the end of tour.

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
Johnny Depp begins legal action against a British tabloid on Tuesday in a case that is likely to delve into the private lives of the Hollywood star, his ex-wife actress Amber Heard and a number of other well-known figures.

Depp, the 57-year-old star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, is suing the Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, for libel over an article Wootton wrote in 2018 calling him a "wife beater".

The case, which will be heard at London's High Court, is set to last for three weeks, and both actors are expected to give evidence.

The couple met on the set of the 2011 film "The Rum Diary" and married in February 2015. But she filed for divorce after just 15 months and days later obtained a restraining order against him. She has accused him of physical abuse during their relationship, allegations he denies.

Their divorce was finalized in 2017 when the restraining order was dismissed and Depp agreed to pay her a previously announced sum of $7 million.

Last week, the Sun failed in a bid to have the libel case thrown out despite the judge concluding that Depp had not fully complied with a court order by not supplying details of mobile phone texts to his assistant which the paper's legal team said referred to obtaining drugs for the actor.

The judge, Andrew Nicol, has also ruled that Heard, who is expected to attend the trial, can be in court to hear her ex-husband testify.

In his judgements, Nicol has said the Sun would rely on witness statements from Heard and others, arguing that its stories were true.

"In those articles, it is said, the Defendants accused the Claimant of multiple acts of physical violence against Ms Heard, some of which, it is alleged the articles said, put Ms Heard in fear of her life," Nicol said.
Big names from Hollywood, music and politics lined up on Monday to praise the talent and the legacy of Italian maestro Ennio Morricone, after the iconic composer died aged 91, with Antonio Banderas saluting "a big master of cinema".

Antonio Banderas

"With great sadness, we say goodbye to a big master of cinema. His music will keep playing in our memories. Rest in peace #EnnioMorricone."

With great sadness, we say goodbye to a big master of cinema. His music will keep playing in our memories. Rest in peace #EnnioMorricone. pic.twitter.com/KWwJbfHzRx  Antonio Banderas (@antoniobanderas) July 6, 2020

Monica Bellucci

"There are people who have the ability to make the world better because they know how to create beauty".

Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor

Morricone was "a master for whom I nurtured friendship and admiration".

Metallica

"Your career was legendary, your compositions were timeless. Thank you for setting the mood for so many of our shows since 1983," when the rock band started using "The Ecstasy of Gold" from the score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as its walk-on music.

R.I.P. Ennio Morricone

Your career was legendary, your compositions were timeless. Thank you for setting the mood for so many of our shows since 1983. pic.twitter.com/ac1QZ9QLPs  Metallica (@Metallica) July 6, 2020

Edgar Wright, British screenwriter and producer

"He could make an average movie into a must see, a good movie into art, and a great movie into legend."

Hans Zimmer, German composer

"Ennio was an icon and icons just don't go away, icons are forever."

Ennio was an icon and icons just dont go away"

On #BBCBreakfast composer @HansZimmer reflects on the death of the film and TV music composer Ennio Morricone.https://t.co/poOdCoTrLs pic.twitter.com/njNK0irIch  BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) July 6, 2020

John Carpenter

"A friend and collaborator, his talent was inestimable. I will miss him."

Goldfrapp

"Sad to hear about the passing of Ennio Morricone today. He was a huge inspiration for Goldfrapp too, in particular Felt Mountain."

Yo-Yo Ma

"I'll never forget the way Ennio Morricone described music as 'energy, space, and time.' It is, perhaps, the most concise and accurate description I've ever heard. We'll truly miss him."

I'll never forget the way Ennio Morricone described music as energy, space, and time. It is, perhaps, the most concise and accurate description Ive ever heard. We'll truly miss him. This is the Love Theme from "Cinema Paradiso." #EnnioMorricone pic.twitter.com/kpbkodhHrh  Yo-Yo Ma (@YoYo_Ma) July 6, 2020

Britain's Royal Philharmonic Society

"If proof were needed of orchestral music's enduring power and currency, imagine so many of the all-time great films without Ennio Morricone's colossal scores, giving so many of them their soul."

Jean-Michel Jarre, French musician

"Ennio Morricone was a source of constant inspiration, like a member of my family... he was omnipresent in my life."

Giuseppe Conte, Italian prime minister

"He made us dream, he moved us and made us think, writing unforgettable notes that will remain forever in the history of music and cinema."
Web hosting service now available for RAC affiliated clubs

The Radio Amateurs of Canada is pleased to announce it is now offering a new benefit to our Affiliated Clubs: the ability to host your clubs website on the RAC server.

And depending on how you choose to set up your domain, in some cases there will be no cost for this new service!

Radio Amateurs of Canada runs our IT services using OVHcloud, a Montreal-based internet service provider (ISP) that offers affordable high-performance dedicated servers and a wide range of cloud-based services.

Our new web hosting service will include the following:

1) 400 MB of storage space

2) Unlimited email aliases

3) Two MySQL Databases

4) A Free SSL Certificate

5) A Website Builder program, powered by SitePad, for those who have limited coding experience or who want to use the built-in, easy-to-use drop and drag tools and templates to design their sites. You can try a sample demo at sitepad.com/demo.

6) For clubs that do not want to pay the extra cost to have their own domain name (clubname.ca), RAC now provides the opportunity to show your affiliation with RAC using MyRAC in your domain name  clubname.myrac.ca  and at no cost!

7) Already have a domain? You can transfer your current domain name over to the RAC domain name service for $20/yr for .ca/.com to cover extending your registration.

Self-Administered Support

RAC is a volunteer-based organization and does not have dedicated staff to provide any site support so it is important that you have someone who has some basic coding experience and is familiar with website functions to administer the site.

If you choose to take advantage of this new web hosting benefit, RAC will be happy to set up the initial hosting requirements and provide you with the necessary administrator credentials, but it will be up to your club to create your own site using the SitePad tools provided or to transfer an existing site using the FTP and cPanel administration interface.

If you have any questions about the new Web Hosting Service please contact:

Jeff Dale, VA3ISP

RAC System Administrator

sysadmin@rac.ca

Not currently an Affiliated Club? It only costs $27.95 per year (plus GST/HST) to become one and to enjoy the other benefits  including affordable $5 million liability insurance for the clubs and their members.

For more information about the new RAC Web Hosting Service for Affiliated Clubs please visit:

https://www.rac.ca/rac-affiliated-club-program/web-hosting-service/

For more information about the RAC Affiliated Clubs Program please visit:

https://www.rac.ca/rac-affiliated-club-program/

Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA

President, Radio Amateurs of Canada
As museums and galleries are emerging from their coronavirus lockdowns, most are still puzzling over how to reconfigure their spaces in line with new health and safety regulations. Uncertainty also remains whether people will actually visit cultural institutions in the coming weeks.

At a time when research suggests that nearly 13 percent of museums worldwide may never reopen, American Civil War Museum CEO Christy Coleman took to Twitter to ask potential museum-goers "what would it take for you to feel comfortable visiting your local organization?"

While many of the responses discussed levels of rules for hygiene and social distancing, one respondent stated that "museums are one of the few public spaces I will go to before there is a vaccine," echoing the results of various reports on the attendance of museums in the COVID-19 era.

A new survey by IMPACTS suggests that American adults are increasingly comfortable with the idea of going to a museum in the near future, although visitors' stated intentions to visit a cultural organization vary according to their state of residence.

Surveyed respondents in California, Oregon, and Washington are among the most likely to visit a cultural institution within the next three months, pending the lift of coronavirus-related restrictions.

Similarly, a new study by WolfBrown, conducted with 3,778 respondents living in Southeast Michigan, finds that 75% of them would be comfortable visiting an art institution as soon as it is allowed.

Although the public's expressed interest in visiting cultural sites varies throughout the United States, results are more encouraging in some countries in Europe.

Read also: Louvre museum reopens after 16-week virus shutdown

As French museums are reopening en masse after more than three months of lockdown, a study by l'Oeil du Public notes that most of those surveyed are ready to comply with new social distancing regulation and see art in person (50 percent).

Some 7,000 art enthusiasts have reserved tickets for a long-awaited tete-a-tete with the "Mona Lisa," as the Louvre in Paris unlocked its doors for the first time in months this Monday, July 6. Meanwhile, the Centre George Pompidou, also in Paris, reportedly welcomed about 3,000 visitors for its official reopening on July 1.

While social distancing may feel like second nature to some art aficionados in France, British people are more anxious at the idea of returning to cultural institutions amidst the pandemic.

According to a new poll from Ipsos MORI, 49 percent of the public say that they are "not very comfortable" or "not at all comfortable" with visiting an indoor museum or exhibition after coronavirus-related restrictions are eased.

Only 34 percent of people said they were "very" or "fairly" comfortable going to a museum after lockdown, although 59% of Britons surveyed are comfortable at the idea of going to cinemas and theaters as soon as they reopen on July 4.

In London the National Gallery is set to reopen on July 8 and the Royal Academy of Arts on July 9, while more sites have plans to reopen later this month.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell said Monday that the fashion industry must start "enforcing inclusion" on the catwalk and beyond.

The British-born star, who has been outspoken about the racism she has encountered in the industry, made the comments in a video to open the virus-hit Paris fashion week, which has been forced online.

Wearing a T-shirt with the legend, "Phenomenally Black", Campbell said the "time has come to build a more equitable industry with a good form of checks and balances".

The lessons of the Black Lives Matter movement must also be applied to fashion, she said.

"This is a conversation that is starting now and will last as long as is needed," she added.

"It is up to us and you to start enforcing inclusion of the multitude of identities that compose our countries," Campbell added in a message addressed to the industry's movers and shakers.

"It is more now than ever compulsory to include them in a permanent way and not a transient one."

Campbell, 50, has never made of secret of the prejudice she faced in her early days on the catwalk, where she was the sole black supermodel in the 1990s.

'Blonde, blue-eye girls sell'

"I may be considered one of the top models in the world, but in no way do I make the same money as any of them," she said at the time.

She was not signed by a cosmetics company until 1999.

In a famously frank interview around the same time with The Guardian newspaper said that "this business is about selling, and blonde and blue-eyed girls are what sells".

"The fight for equality and diversity has been a long fight in society and in the fashion industry," Campbell said in the video, made for the French fashion and haute couture federation, which runs Paris fashion week.

"We still have a long way to go, and the time has come to collectively call the fashion world to task regarding inequality," she added.

In her call to arms Monday, Campbell quoted the late South African leader Nelson Mandela -- whom she met several times and greatly admired.

"He said that vision without action is merely daydreaming; but vision with action can change the world," she added.

Although Paris runway shows are hugely more visibly diverse than they were a decade ago, black designers are still few and far between.

Black designers breaking through

That has not stopped the American Virgil Abloh from becoming one of the hottest designers of the moment, heading up Louis Vuitton menswear as well as his own starry Off-White label.

And Olivier Rousteing became the first black designer to run a major Paris house when he took over at Balmain in 2011, aged just 25.

He has since put diversity at the heart of the brand.

African designers are also now breaking through, with the Cameroonian creator Imane Ayissi -- a former model and dancer -- showing in the elite Paris couture line-up Tuesday.

And Campbell walked the Paris women's catwalk in February to support the young Nigerian designer Kenneth Ize, who was making his debut.

Campbell was his "fairy godmother", said the 29-year-old.

"Naomi made this happen. She has been part of the journey since day one," he said.
All museums managed by the Education and Culture Ministry in Jakarta have reopened following their temporary closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ministrys museums outside the capital city are still closed, such as Balai Kirti Presidential Museum in West Java and Vredeburg Museum in Yogyakarta.

Below is the list of reopened museums, along with their health precautions, as compiled by kompas.com:

The National Museum

The National Museum in Central Jakarta reopened to the public on June 16 under COVID-19 health protocols, including the requirement to wear a face mask, wash hands regularly and maintain physical distancing. Visitors are allowed to explore the museum for a maximum of 90 minutes. It is open from Tuesday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Entrance tickets start from Rp 5,000 for domestic visitors (adult) (less than 50 US cents) and Rp 10,000 for foreign visitors.

The Museum of National Awakening

Located at Jl. Dr. Abdul Rahman Saleh No. 26 in Senen, Central Jakarta, the Museum of National Awakening also reopened on June 16. Several areas of the museum are still closed, such as the audio-visual room and the library.

People can visit the museum from Tuesdays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aside from practicing general health protocols, visitors have to keep a distance of at least 1 meter. Those who need a guide are advised to contact the museum at least two days prior to their visit on +6221-3847-975 or e-mail at museumkebangkitannasional@gmail.com.

The Youth Pledge Museum

The Youth Pledge Museum (Museum Sumpah Pemuda) in Central Jakarta has reopened, while maintaining health protocols during its operation.

The museum, which displays a violin previously owned by the countrys national anthem composer WR Soepratman, limits visiting times to 60 minutes. The Youth Pledge Museum is open from Tuesdays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Basoeki Abdullah Museum

Renowned painter Basoeki Abdullah is known as the countrys late realism maestro. Launched in 2001, the Basoeki Abdullah Museum is situated in a residential area in Fatmawati, South Jakarta, and it houses paintings and private collections of the late artist, such as sculptures, masks, shadow puppets and others.

Visitors are required to follow health protocols, including spending a maximum of 60 minutes to explore the museum.

The Drafting of the Proclamation Text Museum

The Drafting of the Proclamation Text Museum (Museum Perumusan Naskah Proklamasi) is one of the essential places to visit for those who wish to learn about Indonesias struggle for independence.

Situated in Menteng, Central Jakarta, the museum is divided into several rooms, including one where the signing of the Proclamation Text took place. Visitors must adhere to health protocols when visiting the museum.

For group visits, which have a maximum of 20 people, it is advised to contact the management at least three days before visiting on +6281316-845-557 (WhatsApp).

Other historical places in Jakarta that have reopened are the Taman Prasasti Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Textile Museum, the National Gallery of Indonesia and the Betawi Cultural Heritage. (wir/wng)
Halle Berry has dropped the idea of portraying a transgender man in an upcoming film, People magazine reports.

In an Instagram live interview conducted with hairstylist Christin Brown last Friday, the Catwoman and X-Men actress shared that she might be considering the role - " a character where the woman is a trans character, so she's a woman that transitioned into a man."

The 53-year-old added: "I want to experience that world, understand that world. Who this woman was is so interesting to me, and that will probably be my next project, and that will require me cutting all of my hair off."

She went on to call the story a "female story", which drew criticism from people who said that she had misgendered the character, who was a transgender man.

In response to her comments, trans activist Serena Daniari tweeted: "It absolutely is NOT a female story, it is a story about a man. And why is the aspect of physical transition the focal point for her? Cis(gender) people's understanding of trans issues is really myopic. Girl watch Disclosure on Netflix."

Read also: Trans anger as J.K. Rowling compares hormone treatment to gay conversion therapy

Cisgender refers to people whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth while Disclosure is a documentary about Hollywood's impact on the transgender community.

In response to all the backlash, Berry posted an apology on her Twitter, admitting her mistake.

"As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories," her apologetic statement read.

"I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and I will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake. I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera."
A Hong Kong museum chronicling the crackdown by Chinese troops on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square is raising funds to digitalize its collection as concerns over a new national security law create uncertainty over its future.

The sweeping legislation, which came into force in the Chinese-ruled city last week, punishes crimes related to secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with punishments of up to life in prison.

Lee Cheuk-yan, chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, who manages the museum, said it was not clear whether the museum would be treated as subversive or undermining the Chinese government.

"We hope that the physical artifacts will not be confiscated in the future, and that is exactly what really worries us," Lee said.

Beijing's crackdown in 1989 still remains taboo in the mainland and public discussion is censored. The annual June 4 anniversaries, commemorated in Hong Kong by tens of thousands of people, are not acknowledged by the Chinese government.

The museum, in a bustling commercial area in the city's Kowloon district, plays video footage of troops opening fire on protesters as well as cartoon images and graphics of the event.

Colorful posters also depict Hong Kong's own protest movements, including those of recent years.

Read also: Democracy activists' books unavailable in Hong Kong libraries after new law

Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters denounce what they see as China's gradual erosion of those freedoms by Communist Party rulers in Beijing, a charge China denies.

"It's really important to have a place at least to remember what happened, because I feel like we don't have to forget the history," said German Moles, 22, a student from Spain who was visiting the museum.

Lee, who organizes Hong Kong's annual Tiananmen vigil, said the museum was aiming to go online in September 2021.

Police cancelled the vigil this year, citing the coronavirus.

"We believe you can ban the rally but you cannot ban the heart, the remembrance, our memories... we will continue to remind the world what had happened 31 years ago," Lee said.
US-based animal rights protection group PETA has been accused of double standards and cultural racism after it claimed that the use of monkeys in harvesting coconuts in Thailand is cruel, and its call to ban Thai coconut products.

BREAKING: PETA's latest investigation has revealed that monkeys in Thailand are chained, confined to cramped cages, and forced to climb trees and pick coconuts for coconut milk and other products.



This cruelty must end! Take action now: https://t.co/nJSFv8deeO pic.twitter.com/OMF062Evfu  PETA Asia (@PETAAsia) July 3, 2020

In his Facebook post today, Mr. Atthawich Suwanpakdee, secretary-general of the Kla Party, asked about the difference between the use of monkeys to pick coconuts in Thailand and the use of pigs in the search for truffles in Europe.

He said that the use of monkeys and pigs are two different cultures and both are respectable, adding that, in Thailand, monkeys and men work together to pick coconuts, with the animals being properly trained at special schools.

In the West, Mr. Atthawich said pigs have been used for generations to find truffles, which are an expensive delicacy served in restaurants.

PETAs concern over animal cruelty is understandable, but its campaign for countries to ban coconut products from Thailand is cruel and an insult to our culture.

Nowadays, one should respect racial and cultural diversity, said the Kla party Secretary-General.

Read also: Video shows abusive taming of baby elephant for Thai tourism

Thai TV celebrity, Ms. Narakorn Tiyanont, has called on PETA to look at the way western farmers raise geese to produce foie gras, or goose liver, which is a delicacy in French cuisine. She says the geese are force-fed using metal tubes to fatten the liver. Ms. Narakorn also cited the brutal treatment of cows in the dairy industry.

Meanwhile, in a statement to Thai PBS World, PETA senior vice president Jason Baker confirmed their findings of cruel treatment of monkeys in the harvesting of coconuts in Thailand.

When the government tries to explain away extreme cruelty to monkeys, it only makes the public angrier. The world doesnt want to see these animals being deprived of their natural lives and exploited by the coconut industry. The government can lead the industry to operate humanely, with an animal-free method, which the rest of the region has already adopted, or it can be responsible for the industrys downfall, because the writing is on the wall.

Increasing numbers of consumers are speaking with their wallets, and retailers are listening. Our investigator was told repeatedly that these monkeys are taken from their families in nature, kept chained-up, abusively trained and forced to climb trees. They should be with their families, not enslaved, the statement said.
Legendary theater troupe Teater Koma has announced that it will reschedule its 160th production, Sampek Engtay, to Jan. 30-31, 2021, at Ciputra Artpreneur Theater in South Jakarta.

Sampek Engtay was initially scheduled to be held from March 28 to 29 before being rescheduled to Aug. 15-16 at Ciputra Artpreneur Theater. It was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the health and safety of the actors, crew and audience being the theater's main concern. There is also the possibility that a new policy might be applied for art performances during the outbreak.

Considering the current situation, wed like to apologize that our performance has had to be postponed, said Teater Komas manager, Ratna Riantiarno, on the troupes Instagram account.

Purchased tickets will remain valid for the new dates. More information is available on Loket.com and customer service on (+62) 021 80600822 or by e-mail at support@loket.com.

Sampek Engtay is among the troupes highly anticipated performances and the first early bird tickets offered in March had sold out. This years performance was planned to commemorate the storys 32nd anniversary with several upgrades, including the characters costumes and makeup as well as background music and staging.

Sampek Engtay tells the story of Engtay, a woman who disguises herself as a man to receive a formal education. She later meets Sampek who also studies at the same school and becomes his roommate. One day, Engtay realizes that she has fallen in love with Sampek. She feels conflicted as her parents ask her to return home to marry Macun, the son of a rich landowner from Rangkasbitung in Lebak, Banten. (wir/wng)
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling angered the trans community on Monday for comparing hormone treatment for people seeking to transition gender to gay conversion therapy, fueling a row over transgender rights.

"We are watching a new kind of conversion therapy for young gay people," the author tweeted on Sunday, referring to hormone prescriptions for youths questioning their gender identity as the "new anti-depressants".

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. 5/11  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 5, 2020

Her comment sparked a furious reaction from trans rights campaigners, who have criticized Rowling's remarks on transgender issues repeatedly in recent weeks.

"The suggestion that anyone would subject a child to gender-changing treatment to avoid them growing up gay or lesbian is a slander on all the caring parents," said Christine Burns, an advocate who has campaigned for trans rights since the 1990s.

"The notion is so far down the fantasy rabbit hole that it's impossible to address in a sentence or two. It's a lie that relies on a mountain of lies. The scandal is that these lies go unchallenged," Burns told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Rowling's public relations manager said on Monday that she would not be commenting further.

Rowling, whose Harry Potter series has sold more than 500 million books, waded into the debate over whether trans rights encroach on those of other women with a June tweet over a headline about "people who menstruate".

Read also: Harry Potter fan sites step back from Rowling over transgender views

"'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" Rowling tweeted.

The author, who has also penned the popular Cormoran Strike detective series under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, followed the tweet with a 3,600-word essay, in which she disclosed she had been a victim of domestic abuse and sexual assault.

In response to Rowling's latest comments, model and trans activist Munroe Bergdorf said the writer was "dangerous" and a "threat to LGBT people".

J.K. 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.  Protect Trans Kids / BLM  (@MunroeBergdorf) July 5, 2020

"J.K. 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," Bergdorf said on Twitter.

"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."

Scott Leibowitz, child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus Ohio, said Rowling's comments sent a worrying message to trans youth, many of whom would have come into contact with the author through her books.

"For a trans young person wanting acceptance from family members, a statement like this can give skeptical parents a reason to reject this aspect of them, thinking they will 'grow out of it', because a famous person said so," Leibowitz said.
Donald Trump's niece will release her unflattering book on the US president on July 14, her publisher announced Monday, after a judge lifted a temporary ban on publication.

Simon & Schuster has brought forward the release of the memoir by two weeks, according to an update on its website.

In her 240-page book, Mary Trump dubs America's leader "the world's most dangerous man."

It is set to be the latest bombshell book to dish dirt on Trump after former aide John Bolton's tome, which describes Trump as corrupt and incompetent, hit shelves last month.

Last Wednesday, an appeals court judge in New York ruled that Simon & Schuster is allowed to release Mary Trump's book "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man."

The president's brother Robert Trump had asked for the restraining order, arguing that Mary was violating a non-disclosure agreement signed in 2001 after the settlement over the estate of Fred Trump -- the father of Donald and Robert and of Mary's father Fred Trump Jr.

Judge Alan Scheinkman postponed addressing whether the author had violated the agreement preventing her from revealing family secrets by writing the book. A hearing on that matter could take place this Friday.

Nevertheless Simon & Schuster "is not a party to the agreement," so the block of their publication of the book "is vacated," the judge ruled.

In the book, Mary, a clinical psychologist, recounts what she witnessed of the "toxic family" in the home of her grandparents, according to her publisher.

"She describes a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse," Simon & Schuster says in a blurb about the book.

The Daily Beast has reported it will reveal that Mary Trump was the crucial source for explosive New York Times reporting on Trump's finances, which suggested the billionaire paid little in tax for decades.

In late June, a judge refused to block the release of Bolton's book, titled "The Room Where It Happened," saying it was too late for the restraining order sought by the Trump administration.

Trump has characterized the portrait of 17 months up close with the leader, until Bolton was fired in September, as "fiction."
Art collective Gudskul Ekosistem is staging a virtual exhibition called MeRetas Batas (Hacking the Boundaries) until July 25 on its website.

Featured are artworks by participants of Gudskuls Fashion Branding and Identity short course, namely Bethany Burton, Monika Fransiska and Ruth Priscilla. Their mentors, Ayu Dilamar and Monica Hapsari, are both curators and participants of the exhibition.

MeRetas Batas aims to explore the idea of exceeding our limits, exploring our identity and transforming our problems into strength.

Both Ayu and I agree that the technical aspects and skills taught at universities or vocational schools barely explore a persons identity. Who are you, whats your purpose, whats your character, whats the purpose of your brand? Monica said during the opening of the exhibition on Sunday. We have numerous references but it can be confusing when we dont know who we are and our characteristics can be vague.

Participants were free to express their personal brands and personalities as long as they could be beneficial for other people.

"Xperimen BaTas" by Ayu Dilamar. (Gudskul Ekosistem/File)

Ruth Priscilla or RudeRuth, a housewife who doesnt have a background in fashion, embraced the memory of her mother in the form of a sunflower and tenun (traditional handwoven fabric) in Ina. On a virtual tour of Ruths exhibition area, a video of a woman dancing in a costume made by Ruth is shown. She also displays memorabilia of her mother.

Read also: #MuseumAtHome brings Indonesian art museums, gallery to screens

In Xperimen BaTas, Ayu Dilamar and her brand UGLYISM experiments with multi-functional clothes that can also be used as bags. Each cloth displayed is made from blacu fabric that has rough fibers.

Id like to explore the functions of the clothes, so can offer more than just being worn, Ayu said. I was inspired by my friend who said, Why dont you use bags as clothes?

Posters displayed in visual exhibition Di Rumah Tak Berarti Melemah. (Gudskul Ekosistem/File)

Aside from MeRetas Batas, Gudskul Ekosistem is also holding a virtual poster and graphic exhibition titled Di Rumah Tak Berarti Melemah (Staying at Home Doesnt Mean Getting Weaker).

Graphic art collective Grafis Huru-Hara (GHH) serves as a curator for the exhibition, which features artworks from 36 artists. Through this exhibition, each artist wishes to convey positive messages on their own terms.

Both MeRetas Batas and Di Rumah Tak Berarti Melemah are the result of a collaboration between Gudskul Ekosistem, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and Serrum Art Handling, which plans and stages art exhibitions. (wir/wng)
Shaheed Al-Hafed, 06 July 2020 (SPS) - The Permanent Office of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front has praised the position expressed by the European Union on Western Sahara.



At its meeting today, Monday, chaired by President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Mr. Brahim Ghali, the Permanent Office noted the position expressed by the European Union, which asserts that the Kingdom of Morocco has no sovereignty over Western Sahara.



The Permanent Office stressed the need for the EU's practices to be consistent with this position, in conformity with the charter and resolutions of the United Nations, considering Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco as separate and distinct countries, and consequently the EU refrains from signing any agreement with the Moroccan occupation state that includes these parts, as this is a flagrant violation of international law, through blunt and shameful participation in the illegal plundering and exploitation of the natural wealth of the Sahrawi people. (SPS)



062/SPS/T
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Linkedin Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 07:25 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406644b809 1 Business export,safeguard-measure,Philippines,Trade-Ministry,Glass Free

Indonesian exports of clear and tinted float glass may now enter the Philippine market free from safeguard tariffs, the Trade Ministry announced on Monday.

Philippine's Trade and Industry Department and Tariff Commission issued on June 30 its decision to drop a safeguard investigation that was started in February 2019 on imports of clear and tinted float glass from all countries, including Indonesia.

Srie Agustina, the acting director general of international trade at the Indonesian Trade Ministry, said on Monday that the Philippines would impose a safeguard tariff only if it could find evidence that a rise in glass imports caused serious injury or threatened injury to its domestic industry, in line with the rules set by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In the case of Indonesian glass, the investigation has not found such evidence, Srie said in a statement.

However, the Philippines had already imposed a temporary safeguard tariff of 2,385 pesos (US$57.43) per ton between October 2019 and May, leading to a severe drop in Indonesian glass exports.

The value of Indonesian glass exports fell by 79 percent year-on-year to $270,400 in the January-April period overall. Indonesia still managed to book an annual increase in glass exports of 56.8 percent to $635,000 in 2019, the ministry said.

The newly issued decision to cancel the tariff is expected to lead to a recovery in Indonesian glass exports, said Indonesian Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto.

This decision will definitely boost Indonesian glass exports to the Philippines again, said Agus.

Prior to the decision, Indonesia had submitted a written argument against the tariff to the Philippines, was represented in hearings and worked with Philippine importers, said Pradnyawati, the director of trade safeguards at the ministry.

We should be proud of Indonesias successful joint effort against the investigation, said Pradnyawati. But we have to remain wary because the Philippines has been actively using safeguard instruments lately, such as a special agricultural safeguard against our instant coffee.

Instant coffee, which is one of the top-four Indonesian exports to the Philippines, saw an export decline of 15.24 percent yoy to $2.07 billion in the January-April period.
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Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 09:26 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066459eeb 1 City air-pollution,air-pollution-lawsuit,Jakarta-air-pollution,Jakarta-air-quality,lawsuit,pollution,Jakarta-administration Free

Activists have criticized the slow process of a historic Jakarta air pollution lawsuit, which remains unresolved a year after it was first filed on July 4, 2019.

The lawsuit, directed at seven state officials, initially received a positive response from the Jakarta administration. However, no agreement has been reached even after five mediation meetings inside the courtroom and two outside the courtroom.

The activists, grouped under the Coalition for the Clean Air Initiative, urged the government officials to show a serious attitude in guaranteeing the right to healthy living.

Read also: Activists lambaste sluggish progress in air pollution lawsuit

One of the plaintiffs, Khalisah, argued that the governments handling of air pollution under Government Regulation (PP) No. 41/1999 on air pollution control was outdated and did not meet current standards.

The provisions in the PP are far below the quality standards set by the World Health Organization. The government should not ignore WHO recommendations, especially during the current pandemic, Khalisah said in a statement on Monday.

Another plaintiff, urban analyst Elisa Sutanudjaja, said that besides encouraging a new normal in dealing with the government response to COVID-19, the government should also encourage a new norm of reducing air pollution levels.

[The government should] prioritize non-motorized transportation, as well as public transportation, instead of motorized vehicles, Elisa said.

Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) advocacy team member Ayu Eza Tiara said there were many reports predicting that, by 2030, air pollution levels in the city could increase up to 30-fold, damaging residents physical and psychological health, as well as the economy.

There is no excuse for the government to ignore the right to a clean and healthy environment. There is no need to wait for a legally binding ruling for the government to start thinking about the right efforts, Ayu said.

The lawsuit from the citizens should be a strong warning for the government to overcome the air pollution issue, and carry out the duties and functions as mandated in the Constitution.

Read also: Air pollution returns as activity back to normal

The lawsuit was filed against seven state officials, namely the president of the Republic of Indonesia, the environment and forestry minister, the home minister, the health minister and the governors of Jakarta, Banten and West Java.

The move was made in response to the severe air pollution in Jakarta, which stems mostly from vehicle emissions, factories and coal-fired power plants.
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Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 09:31 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406645aac5 1 Business Knight-Frank-Indonesia,office-space,property,work-from-home,Jones-Lang-LaSalle Free

The office market in Jakarta has remained resilient due to the flexibility of landlords and tenants during the health crisis, despite the growing trend of working from home, property consulting firm Knight Frank has stated.

Jakartas Premium and Grade-A office occupancy rates remained stable at around 76 percent in late May. The same level was seen in the second half of 2019, according to the companys data.

Knight Frank business development director Martin Wijaya told The Jakarta Post in an online interview on June 19 that both office property owners and tenants in Jakarta had been able to compromise in terms of payment, which contributed to the citys stable office occupancy rate.

The key is flexibility with both parties. Thats what makes us resilient in the office market sector, he said.

While landlords are able to be flexible with the payment, tenants commitment to honor the contracts, amid possible fines for termination, have been some of the main factors that have maintained the office occupancy rate in Jakarta, the firm stated.

Companies all over the country have remote working arrangements for their employees to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, lowering the use of office space during the pandemic. The governments large scale social restrictions (PSBB) in several regions have also forced offices and businesses to shut, although the government began gradually reopening the economy in June.

The monthly rental ask price in Jakarta has also been relatively stagnant, Knight Frank data show. For Premium office space, the ask price was Rp 439,000 (US$30.2) per square meter in late May, while in the second half of 2019, the price was Rp 441,000 per sq m.

For Grade-A office space, the monthly ask price in late May stood at Rp 352,000 per sq m. In the second half of 2019, it was Rp 354,000 per sq m.

The office occupancy rate is relatively stagnant compared to the previous period with around 400,000 sq m of space available throughout the year, Knight Frank senior researcher Syarifah Syaukat said during the interview.

According to the companys records, office space demand is currently dominated by sectors that have not been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the financial sector, e-commerce, food and beverage and insurance.

Tenants are also reluctant to unilaterally end their rent, as the majority of rent contracts include a hefty penalty for early termination, which could see tenants lose their security deposits and require that they pay fees for the rest of their lease term.

While landlords typically do not approve of rent price cuts, they usually allow for rent payment deferment for cash-strapped tenants, according to the firms associate tenant director, Rina Martianti.

However, despite the relative resiliency, new tenants are starting to take shorter lease terms, down from five years to three years, to minimize risks. In addition, companies are postponing their decision to relocate, upgrade or expand.

Property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Indonesia head of research James Taylor said in May that Jakarta might experience the most significant impact from the pandemic on new leasing deals in the second quarter, as businesses continued to implement work-from-home arrangements.

However, we expect tenant demand to return once the worst of the crisis has passed. In some ways, COVID-19 is accelerating changes to the workplace that were already coming, he said in a statement on May 26.

Leasing activity in the Asia-Pacific dropped 9 percent in the first quarter of 2020 from the previous quarter in 2019, despite a 14 percent year-on-year increase, JLL data show.
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Linkedin Sausan Atika and Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 09:37 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406645d90c 1 National health,COVID-19,dki-jakarta,referral-hospitals,healthcare-infrastructure Free

The emergence of new COVID-19 cases in Jakarta, the first national epicenter of the outbreak, is showing no signs of slowing down despite claims that the capital was far more prepared for the disease thanks to improvements in its healthcare system.

Jakarta now has 67 referral hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients, with a total capacity of 4,555 beds and 659 intensive care (ICU) rooms, according to the citys health agency.

It has come a long way from having only eight referral hospitals with 904 beds and 80 ICUs in March when the first two cases were officially announced in Indonesia.

In the early days of the epidemic, hospitals were operating beyond their capacity and patients had to wait for hours to receive treatment; many were even rejected.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has said that in March and April, the city would not have been able to treat 6,000 patients at the same time  considered the worst-case scenario  because it did not have an adequate system.

But the capital has made notable improvements in its healthcare system, having sped up the referral process and monitoring of medical workers and inventory.

[The improvements] helped speed up treatment for patients and ensured that everyone coming into our health facilities would get fast and proper treatment without a long wait, Anies told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

One innovation that helped with the improvement is the information dashboard on dkitanggapcovid.id, which integrates data from the 67 referral hospitals, said Sulung Mulia Putra, head of referral health services at the Jakarta Health Agency.

The monitoring system, accessible only to health agency officials and hospitals, has improved the monitoring of COVID-19 patients, medical workers and availability of personal protective equipment in hospitals, he said.

The improved system was not without flaws when it was launched in April, he added, largely because of hospitals limited capacity.

Patient inflow was exceptionally high [at the time].

But the systems effects on hospitals were increasingly seen.

Dian Ekowati, president director of city-owned Tarakan Hospital in Central Jakarta, said the system helped the hospital quickly refer patients to other facilities when it had yet to install a dedicated operating room for COVID-19 patients.

And while the idea of integrating hospital data had been around for the past few years, it was only after COVID-19 hit the country that hospitals became more disciplined in reporting or sharing their information, said Mohammad Syahril, president director of the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in North Jakarta.

He said it used to be common to refer patients to other hospitals without first informing the destination facility, which would delay treatment.

They were either full or didnt have the [necessary] equipment, so patients would have to be referred to other hospitals.

But with the onset of the outbreak, there was no more room for delays as officials worked to quickly suppress death rates.

Jakarta has officially recorded 658 COVID-19 deaths, but the probable number of total deaths reached 2,152 on Monday, according to data from corona.jakarta.go.id.

The city health agency and hospitals have started evaluating existing referral systems, namely the Referral Integrated System (Sisrute) and the Integrated Emergency Management System (SPGDT) that was developed by the Health Ministry, Syahril said.

With these platforms, hospitals must first submit information on the patient as well as a reason for their referral to other facilities. Then, they wait, he said.

But now, hospitals regularly update data on patients, human resources and the availability of medical equipment through the ministrys RS Online app.

The city's COVID-19 dashboard has been integrated with RS Online, said Sulung from the Jakarta Health Agency.

The Indonesian Hospital Association's (PERSI) Jakarta chapter chairman, Koesmedi Priharto, warned against complacency now that the city was forging new norms rather than ushering in a new normal.

He said COVID-19 still left so much to be learned, while standard operating procedures for the treatment of the disease continued to evolve.

As one solution, Koesmedi urged the Jakarta administration to start mapping hospitals for COVID-19 patients and those for patients seeking other forms of treatment, so that the latter would not be worried about seeking medical attention.

Prepare hospitals for non-COVID-19 patients, because theyll have to carry out triage [and emergency assessment for sorting patients] upfront, he said.

If patients have COVID-19 symptoms, then the hospital must refer them to the [appropriate facility]. In this case, preparing a referral system becomes very important.

Sulung said his agency did not rule out the possibility of improving its existing monitoring system for hospitals under its authority, which includes facilities reserved for non-COVID-19 patients.
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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 08:27 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066451643 1 Business gold-mining,antam,reserves,smelter,metal,MIND-ID,gold-prices Free

National diversified miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) has set aside Rp 80 billion (US$5.54 million) this year to find new gold, nickel and bauxite deposits amid dwindling reserves.

The funds, 56 percent of which had been used as of May, would be used for exploring existing mining sites (IUP) for new deposits, Antam corporate secretary Kunto Hendrapawoko told The Jakarta Post on July 3.

He named gold mining sites at Mount Pongkor in West Java and in Cibaliung, Banten, as areas of particular focus for finding gold deposits.

Antam actively continues exploring for reserves and gold resources, he said via email.

Read also: Gold price up 20 percent so far this year as investors turn to precious metal to protect wealth

However, the metal exploration fund makes up a relatively small 5.3 percent of the companys total Rp 1.5 trillion in capital expenditure for this year. Most of the funds were earmarked for two multimillion-dollar metal smelter projects in North Maluku and West Kalimantan.

Antams parent company, MIND ID, raised the issue of dwindling gold reserves during a hearing with lawmakers at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday.

PT Antams gold reserves, in two to three years, will be on the wane, said MIND ID president director Orias Petrus Moedak at the hearing.

MIND ID, a holding company for all national miners, is concerned about Antams gold reserve count as the precious metal is one of its best-selling products, particularly during COVID-19, as people hoard gold as a safe-haven asset.

Gold prices are projected to rise 15 percent year-on-year to $1,600 per troy ounce in 2020, according to the World Banks estimate. The prices of coal, tin, aluminum and nickel, all of which are top MIND ID products, are expected to slump in comparison.

We need serious efforts to explore gold reserves from Antam or from an exploration company working with Antam, added Orias.

Read also: A shock like no other: Commodity slide to pressure Indonesia

Due to weak commodity prices, he expected MIND ID to fall short of its year-end profit target of Rp 2.1 trillion. Thus, the holding company has rolled out cost-cutting measures.

Publicly listed Antam itself booked an Rp 281.83 billion net loss from January to March this year, turning around an Rp 176.1 billion net profit from the same period last year, due to weak prices.

Gold, nickel and bauxite contributed to over 80 percent of the companys Rp 6.2 trillion sales in the first quarter. The precious metal alone contributed over 60 percent.

Shares in Antam, traded at the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the code ANTM, rose 6.67 percent on Monday to Rp 640 apiece, as the broader benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) increased 0.3 percent during the day. So far this year, the companys stocks have fallen 23 percent, in line with the JCIs 20 percent drop during the same period.
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Linkedin Alya Nurbaiti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 08:30 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40664519d7 1 National Papua,West-Papua,special-autonomy,special-autonomy-fund,referendum Free

Sixteen groups in Papua have voiced opposition over the potential continuation of its special autonomy (Otsus) status, with the transfer of Otsus funds from the central government set to end next year.

Protesting under a movement called Petisi Rakyat Papua (Petition by Papuans), the groups also demanded a referendum to determine their own fate.

The administration of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri passed a law on special autonomy in Papua and West Papua provinces to guarantee Papuans the right to manage their own region politically, economically and culturally. The law also stipulated the allocation of special autonomy funds, valid for 20 years.

As the transfer of funds will end in 2021, the House of Representatives has included deliberation of Papuas special autonomy status in this years National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) priority list.

The House proposed the bill without discussing it with indigenous Papuans, who are the subject of the bill. Papuans are the ones who get to determine whether they want a second phase of special autonomy or independence, Victor Yeimo, National Committee of West Papua (KNPB) spokesperson and one of the petitions initiator, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The executive director of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Markus Haluk, said that even though the ULMWP already had a petition bearing the signatures of 1.8 million Papuans who demanded a referendum, a more recent petition would express their opposition to Papuan bureaucrats who made compromises over the Otsus with elites in Jakarta.

Activist and former Papuan prisoner Sayang Mandabayan expressed distrust over Papuan representatives in the House.

Enough of the political compromises. We refuse the unilateral [deliberation of the bill] by the special House committee, she said.

The groups lambasted the Otsus for failing to bring about significant change in Papua and legitimizing colonialism.

Ever since before the Otsus until today, almost 20 years after the Otsus, racism toward Papuans, land grabbing, military operations, rights abuse, and social and economic inequality keep happening in Papua, Papuan Students Alliance head John Gobay said.

The government has allocated US$7.4 billion in Otsus funds to grow Papuas economy. Despite the hefty budget, the National Development Planning Agency noted that Papua was home to almost a million impoverished people and over 6,000 underdeveloped villages. Papua and West Papua also has the lowest human development index in the country, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

A researcher on Papua studies at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Aisah Putri Budiatri, said expressions of opposition to the special autonomy status occurred in 2005 and 2010 when Papuans symbolically returned the system to the government.

Besides its perceived inability to address the problems in Papua, the special autonomy has weak legitimacy as the deliberation did not include all parties such as the pro-Papuan independence group, Aisah told the Post.

She added that while the Otsus law was pretty comprehensive as it included regulations related to human rights violations in Papua, there had been a lack of results.

For example, the government has yet to form the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR), as stipulated in the law, she said.

Jayapura city secretary Frans Pekey said that, before deliberation over extending the Otsus law, there should be a thorough evaluation of it and how it had been implemented to determine whether it was effective.

If it is shown to have failed, we should evaluate and revise it through the existing mechanism. Lets be realistic, Papua is still a part of Indonesia and Papuans need education, health care and other basic infrastructure to thrive, he said.

Mandabayang said, however, neither the special autonomy law nor a developmental approach was a solution to racism toward Papuans.

In January, Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian urged the House to immediately deliberate the bill as he argued the special autonomy fund would accelerate Papuas development and help resolve the issues of discrimination in the province.

The ministrys regional autonomy director general Akmal Malik did not respond to the Posts queries on Tuesday regarding the recent protests against the continuation of special autonomy status.

LIPIs Papua Research Team has since 2009 analyzed the root causes of the conflict in Papua, determining that it all stems from the marginalization and discrimination of indigenous Papuans, development failures, disputes over political identity, the annexation of Papua and violence against Papuans.

As of today, the government has yet to use dialogue to address the issues in Papua. With the deadline to end special autonomy funds getting closer, now is the time for the President to carry out dialogue to rebuild the trust that leads to reconciliation in Papua, Aisah said.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that the Home Affairs Ministry did not respond to The Jakarta Post's request for comment
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Linkedin Kim Harrisberg (Thomson Reuters Foundation) Johannesburg, South Africa  Tue, July 7, 2020 11:30 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40664678ba 2 World coronavirus,coronavirus-effect,COVID-19,coronavirus-restrictions,COVID-19-lockdown,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus,HIV,HIV-AIDS Free

Coronavirus lockdowns have hindered the fight against HIV infection in women and girls globally by limiting their access to education and protection from sexual violence, the United Nations warned on Monday.

Governments' focus on tackling the pandemic has also shifted attention and resources away from protecting vulnerable populations from HIV, according to a study by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).

"This pandemic thrives on inequalities and COVID-19 is threatening to throw us off course," said Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, in a press briefing.

"Lockdowns have brought a higher risk of violence against girls. Millions are out of school today. Women in the informal sector have had their income taken away," Byanyima said.

The United Nations had earlier warned of a surge in domestic violence under lockdowns, with calls to helplines doubling or tripling in some countries, as lockdowns trapped many women indoors with their abusers.

UNAIDS highlighted the risk of domestic violence and HIV infection for women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa, who already accounted for 59% of new HIV infections in the region in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to nationwide lockdowns, progress was seen through individual programs helping women in sub-Saharan Africa fight HIV infection.

That progress will be hindered as medical supplies become more difficult to access. UNAIDS predicted this could cause half a million AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2021.

"Everything has focused on COVID-19 as if the HIV pandemic is finished," said Gracia Violeta Ross, founder of the Bolivian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

"Those of us who survived HIV and fought for life and access to treatment and care cannot afford losing the gains that took so much effort to win," said Ross.

UNAIDS urged countries to increase investment in both HIV and COVID-19, citing the Ebola outbreak in western Africa as an example of what could go wrong.

It is estimated that disrupted healthcare services that were redirected to fighting Ebola caused 10,600 deaths from malaria, AIDS-related illness and tuberculosis.

"We must not forget the HIV/AIDS response," Eswatini Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini said in the briefing. "We must ensure that no one is left behind."
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Linkedin Francesco Guarascio (Reuters) Brussels, Belgium  Tue, July 7, 2020 08:00 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406644e9dd 2 World EU,European-Union,remdesivir,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-drugs,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

Germany has only a few hundred doses of COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir, Health Minister Jens Spahn told European Union lawmakers on Monday, saying he was working to ensure the drug could be produced in Europe.

The European Commission, the EU executive arm, said on Monday it was discussing ways of ramping up the production capacity of Gilead Sciences Inc, the US company that produces remdesivir, the only drug granted a conditional marketing authorization by the EU for its use in COVID-19 patients.

"We do not have a huge inventory now, (it's) a few hundred doses that we have," Spahn said at a video-conference hearing organized by the European Parliament. Germany is the EU's largest country and currently holds the EU presidency.

Last week Spahn said Germany had sufficient reserves of remdesivir to treat the limited number of COVID-19 patients the country currently has.

He said boosting the drug's availability in Europe was not only a matter of acquiring doses from the company, but also of moving production to Europe.

Concerns over the availability of the drug increased after the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said last week it had secured nearly all supplies of remdesivir over the next three months.

A spokesman for the European Commission told Reuters that on Monday the EU executive had talks with Gilead about its production capacity, but declined to elaborate as discussions were confidential.

Last week Brussels said it was in talks with Gilead to obtain doses of remdesivir for the 27 European Union countries.

Spahn urged Gilead to guarantee sufficient supplies to Europe.

"We expect from an international company like Gilead that you cannot just wish for access to the EU market and high prices for other products. I also expect supplies to Europe and into the European Union," he told lawmakers.

Spahn said he had discussed the matter with the US health secretary and with Gilead.

France's drugs regulator told Reuters on Monday it had taken steps with Gilead to obtain sufficient doses of remdesivir.

The Netherlands' health ministry said the country had sufficient doses of the drug at the moment, and Gilead had agreed to increase supplies in the near future.
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Linkedin Douglas Busvine and Arno Schuetze (Reuters) Berlin/Frankfurt, Germany  Tue, July 7, 2020 10:14 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40664619f2 2 World Germany,Wirecard,Fraud,fraud-cases,payment-system,payment-service-providers Free

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.
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Linkedin Tri Indah Oktavianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 15:59 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066485601 1 National Indonesia,Norway,carbon-trade,emission,greenhouse-gas,Green-Sukuk,greenhouse-gas-reduction Free

The government is speeding up efforts to issue a regulation on carbon trading as part of Indonesias commitment to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

The government has spent the last year preparing the emission-trading system for the future domestic carbon market, the Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said.

"The process has been long ongoing. It has been discussed within the Cabinet Secretariat and the State Secretariat. Soon it will be passed onto the Law and Human Rights Ministry to be discussed at the ministerial level," she said after a limited Cabinet meeting with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Monday.

Siti mentioned that the set of regulations would stipulate at least three main issues including guidelines and plans on carbon trading, carbon offsets and the commodity market, which will be based in Jakarta.

Indonesia's total forested land covers approximately 94.1 million hectares, which stores about 200 tons of carbon per ha, according to the official ministry data. Meanwhile, about 22.5 million ha of peatland in Indonesia can store more than 1,000 tons of carbons per ha, Siti said.

Mangrove land in Indonesia, which covers about 3.31 million ha, potentially stores about 227 tons of carbon per ha.

While Siti did not give further details on the regulation as it was still in a deliberation process, she said that among many other forms of the carbon market, Indonesia's green bonds and green sukuk (Islamic bonds) had gained the attention of the international markets.

Ever since 2018, Indonesia has been actively introducing green sukuk to the worldwide market as an instrument to collect US$1.25 billion in funds to finance environmentally friendly projects.

"The most tangible thing we should do is to restore our environment. For example, we are still discussing the plan of vast mangrove reforestation in Tarakan [North Kalimantan] or Balikpapan [East Kalimantan] with the President," she said.

Siti revealed that movement on the regulation was made after the government confirmed receipt of a US$56 million grant from Norway as the first payment for Indonesia's success in reducing carbon emissions under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) cooperation scheme.

Her deputy minister and the deputy foreign minister had represented the government on the joint conservation group meeting on July 2 between Indonesia and Norway, she said, adding that both countries vowed to strengthen the commitment to reducing global emissions.

The government launched in October a public service agency tasked with managing and disbursing funds related to environmental protection and conservation, named the Indonesian Environmental Estate Fund (BPDLH).

Siti said the agency would support climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, which included carbon trading.

President Jokowi has also instructed his Cabinet to remain consistent in implementing environmental-recovery programs in order to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Indonesia aims to independently reduce emissions by 29 percent by 2030, or 40 percent in the same year with international support.
The Egyptian Embassy in Berlin announced on Tuesday the resumption of EgyptAir flights from and to Egypt after a nearly four-month hiatus over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In a multi-language press release published on its website, the embassy said the national flag carrier of Egypt has already resumed flights from Berlin and Frankfurt airports on July 1.

The embassy called on expats willing to return to Egypt on board EgyptAir flights to contact the airline's offices in Berlin and Frankfurt to get information about travel procedures.

Last month, Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar Enaba said that Egypt will gradually resume international flights at all its airports with countries that have reopened their airports as of July 1.

Egypt had halted all international flights on March 19 in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

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Chahid El Hafed (Dignity Camps), July 6, 2020 (SPS) - The Frente POLISARIO, through its Permanent Bureau, welcomed on Monday the position expressed by the European Union on Western Sahara.

At its meeting yesterday chaired by the President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Frente POLISARIO, Mr. Brahim Gali, the Permanent Bureau of the POLISARIO took note of the position expressed by the European Union, which states that the Kingdom of Morocco does not have sovereignty over Western Sahara.

In this sense, the Permanent Bureau underscored the need for EU practices to be consistent with this position, in accordance with the letter and the resolutions of the United Nations, considering Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco as separate and distinct countries, and therefore the EU to refrain from signing any agreement with the Moroccan occupation that includes the Occupied Zones of Western Sahara, as it is a flagrant violation of international law.

The Frente POLISARIO expressed its satisfaction with the stability of the health situation in the Dignity Camps and in the Liberated Territories that have not yet recorded any case of COVID19.SPS

125/090/TRA
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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 17:28 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406648d96b 1 Business Indonesia-agriculture,AgricultureProductivity,agricultural-commodities,agribusiness,fertilizer,united-states Free

An Indonesian fertilizer producer has obtained a patent from the United States for its coal-based fertilizer production technique.

The patent was granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on June 16 to R. Umar Hasan Saputra, an Indonesian citizen who owns Glogens Organic Micro-Carbon Fertilizer, according to the Foreign Ministrys website.

The patent allows the business to enter the US agricultural market, which currently is one of the largest in the world. The company will also be able to expand its investment by establishing a factory in the US to supply the country and the world market.

Umar said the US patent would highlight the quality of his companys product, which in Indonesia is marketed under the brand Futura by his company, PT Saputra Global Harvest.

He added that the fertilizer was manufactured using low-calorie coal that could be found in many countries. The fertilizer is organic, ecofriendly and can repair the condition of the soil. It is easier to produce than chemical-based fertilizers and is therefore less costly.

Read also: 'It's like the Pentagon': New ministry's control center to improve agriculture data collection

Umar said his company had been developing the product for 11 years before it was adopted by farmers in Indonesia. He said the fertilizer could increase the productivity of various types of plants.

Umar said Glogens would apply for a license to sell the product in the US. The company was preparing a plot of land in California for a trial of the product on rice and a plot in Indiana for a trial on corn.

Meri Binsar Simorangkir, the Indonesian Consul General in Chicago, said on Monday that the Indonesian Consulate General in Chicago and the Indonesian Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) would help the company get certifications needed in the US. The institutions would also help to promote the brand in the US market, especially in the Midwest, the breadbasket of the US, which produces significant amounts of soybeans, corn and wheat.

The Midwest is a potential market for Futura, said Meri.

His company is also cooperating with the government of Zimbabwe to procure land for research and development. Umar is considering marketing his product in Africa, particularly in Kenya, Zambia, Namibia and Ghana.

The Indonesian government has expressed hope that Umars achievement will open other doors for the sale of coal-based fertilizer in Europe, Asia and Australia. (asp)
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Linkedin Michel Rose (Reuters) Paris, France  Tue, July 7, 2020 10:24 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066462230 2 World France,Emmanuel-Macron,Cabinet-reshuffle,coronavirus,economic-impact,recovery Free

France is creating three beefed-up ministries to spearhead its recovery from coronavirus turmoil as Emmanuel Macron attempts to recast his presidency less than two years before a possible re-election bid.

In a cabinet reshuffle days after voters punished Macron and his party in local elections, the president and his new prime minister, Jean Castex, are putting the focus on tackling the pandemic's social and economic fallout, and the environment.

Macron, 42, swept into power in 2017 promising to cut corporate taxes and ease regulation to drive growth and create jobs, while protecting the most vulnerable. But the worst depression in decades has reversed some hard-fought gains and left Macron with 21 months to persuade voters that his reforms will leave them better off.

On the eve of the reshuffle, Macron said his 2017 campaign promises remained central to his policymaking. But he said they must "adapt to international upheavals and the crisis we are living through: a new path must be drawn."

Political rivals denounced the reshuffle as window-dressing that would not deliver the "new path" Macron promises.

Bruno Le Maire, who spent heavily to keep flagship companies afloat and save jobs during the lockdown, will stay at the helm of a finance ministry tasked with steering France out of the downturn, and now has full control of the budget.

Elisabeth Borne will take charge of an enhanced labor and social affairs ministry just as the depression unravels gains on unemployment.Macron wants to reset relations with unions and voters after waves of protests.

Borne, who successfully pushed through changes to French railways in the face of union opposition, will be in charge of seeing sensitive pension reforms over the line.

Greener policies?

A week after the Green party seized control of some of France's biggest cities, including Lyon and Bordeaux, establishing themselves as a real political force, Macron also named former ecologist Barbara Pompili as environment minister.

Pompili's ministry will oversee energy and housing as Macron seeks more emphasis on green policies to drive the economic rebound and build a sustainable future for companies like Air France and Renault.

In 2018, she chaired a parliamentary committee that delivered a report critical of France's nuclear power industry. A senior source inside state-owned utility EDF described her appointment as disastrous for the sector.

But Greenpeace France said it was skeptical how much influence over environmental policymaking Pompili would have. A presidential aide said the theme for the main economic briefs was "continuity", in a sign Macron will not veer left and will seek to consolidate his center-right base ahead of 2022.

Macron's appointment of Castex, a little-known senior civil servant, as prime minister was taken as a sign by rivals he was intent on taking back full control of policy ahead of elections in 20022.

They said the changes fell short of the reinvention Macron had promised.

"It's a game of musical chairs," Alexis Corbiere, a lawmaker for the far-left France Unbowed party, told BFM TV. "Let's be frank, it's a roadmap for more of the same."
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Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 16:13 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406648744a 1 Business martina-berto,make-up,healthcare-product,stock-prices,Indonesia-Stock-Exchange,jakarta-composite-index,Martha-Tilaar-Group,Cosmetics Free

Publicly listed cosmetics firm PT Martina Berto is targeting Rp 564 billion (US$39.09 million) in sales this year, 4.92 percent higher than last years figure, despite slumping demand for cosmetics.

President director Bryan David Emil said on Monday that the company was optimistic it would achieve the target as it would focus on producing skin care, personal care, herbal and hygiene-related products this year to offset the low demand for makeup.

We wont be focusing on makeup products because peoples faces will be covered by masks, he said during a virtual public showcase. Thats why well focus on producing hygiene products, soaps, shampoos and hand sanitizers instead this year.

The company, part of cosmetics giant Martha Tilaar Group, has shifted its business focus to healthcare goods since the height of the pandemic by producing in-demand products such as hand sanitizers, hand gel, disinfectant and bottled herbal drinks.

The company's sales fell 38.2 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 87.06 billion in the first quarter of this year because of a pandemic-induced decline in consumption. Cosmetics sales, which previously made up more than 82 percent of Martina Bertos total sales, fell by almost 35 percent yoy during the period.

We hope the easing PSBB [large-scale social restrictions] policy will boost peoples consumption by December, Bryan said.

To achieve its sales target, the company plans to launch a new herbal product, among others, in the second half of this year. However, Bryan declined to go into detail as the products were still under development.

Martina Berto vice chairwoman Wulan Tilaar said on June 4 that the company had seen a 50 percent increase in revenue from its red ginger product, an ingredient commonly found in jamu (traditional herbal medicine), during the pandemic.

Bryan thought the companys shift to health care and hygiene would help it overcome its losses from earlier this year.

The company, which sells the Sari Ayu and PAC cosmetics brands, recorded a loss of Rp 24.24 billion in the first three months of this year.

The production shift is part of Martina Bertos so-called survival program, as the company has been forced to temporarily close its outlets and spas because of social distancing measures.

As part of the program, Bryan said, the company would conserve its cash by increasing efficiency.

Weve conducted the efforts by adjusting raw material purchases for production and laying off contract workers so we can conserve cash during this time, he said.

The company has restructured its loans and delayed interest and debt payments to suppliers. It has also adjusted this years capital expenditure (capex) for the current situation, he said, without going into detail about the figure.

Martina Bertos shares, traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) under the stock symbol MBTO, closed at Rp 68 per share on Tuesday, unchanged from its previous close, as the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) declined by 0.04 percent.

Martina Berto stock has lost 27.66 percent of its value since the beginning of the year.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 17:49 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406648fcf8 1 National animal-conservation,bear-attack,human-animal-conflict Free

Officers from the Riau Natural Resource Conservation Center (BBKSDA) installed a trap on Tuesday to capture and relocate two sun bears that were seen wandering around Kampung Sengkemang in Siak, Riau.

Our team installed a trap on the route where bear sightings have been common. We were helped by public order officers, community leaders and the people of Kampung Sengkemang, BBKSDA Riau spokesperson Dian Indirati said, as quoted by kompas.co.

Read also: Two sun bears break out of rescue center in Yogyakarta

Dian explained that the bears, a mother and cub, had been roaming throughout the settlement for the past few days. The pair ate seven chickens that belonged to the villagers, causing a stir in the community. The bears are capable of attacking humans when they feel threatened.

We urge the public to remain calm, stay cautious and contact officers immediately if they see the animals inside the trap or if they appear in other locations, Dian said.

Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Conservation and Resources Unit head Heru Sutmantoro said he received a report about a conflict between humans and bears on Sunday.

We received a report that there were two bears that had entered the Kampung Sengkemang settlement in Siak regency, Heru said. (dpk)
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters)  Tue, July 7, 2020 09:14 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066458c61 2 World new-york,governor,Andrew-Cuomo,Donald-Trump,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-infection,COVID-19-death-toll,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday called on President Donald Trump to not be a "co-conspirator" of the coronavirus and acknowledge the "major problem" it poses as cases spiked in dozens of states after some rushed to reopen.

The number of US coronavirus deaths exceeded 130,000 on Monday, following a massive surge of new cases that has put Trumps handling of the crisis under the microscope and derailed efforts to restart the economy.

"So, Mr. President, don't be a co-conspirator of COVID," Cuomo said at a news briefing. "Acknowledge to the American people that COVID exists, it is a major problem, it's going to continue until we admit it and each of us stands up to do our part."

Cuomo said Trump was "enabling" the virus if he failed to acknowledge the severity of the situation, and slammed the president's comments that the spike in US cases was due to increased testing.

"He makes up facts. He makes up science," Cuomo said, citing several past Trump statements on the virus such it would disappear like a miracle as the weather got warmer.

"He said all those things, none of them were true," Cuomo continued. "And now we have a problem in 38 states because some people believe him."

Cuomo said coronavirus hospitalizations in New York dropped to 817 - the lowest since March 18 - and nine people died from COVID-19 on Sunday.

"The numbers have actually declined since we started reopening," Cuomo said.

Cuomo warned about complacency now that the worst seemed to be over in New York, pointing to reports of some July Fourth celebrations, including in Manhattan and on Fire Island and upstate, where revelers ignored social distancing and face covering rules.

"That curve was purely a function of what we did," Cuomo said. "If we change what we're doing, you're going to change the trajectory of the virus."
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Linkedin Hengky Ola Sura (The Jakarta Post) Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara  Tue, July 7, 2020 14:55 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406647b8d9 1 National Felix-Nesi,author,anti-sexual-harassment,campaign,vandalism,suspect,NTT,East-Nusa-Tenggara Free

Award-winning author Felix K. Nesi has said he will continue his fight against sexual abuse despite being recently named as a suspect in a vandalism case.

"I will continue fighting in the campaign against sexual abuse. We in East Nusa Tenggara are a little late in uncovering sexual abuse cases, but that's okay," Felix, who won a literary award from the Jakarta Arts Council in 2018, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

On Friday night, Felix was temporarily detained by the Insana Police in North Central Timor regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), for allegedly vandalizing a parish clergy house.

Felix told the Post that he had used his motorcycle helmet to smash a window of the clergy house at the SMK Bitauni Catholic vocational school in a fit of rage on learning that the parish church had retained a priest whom he accused of mistreating a woman.

When I heard [that the priest] who had just had a problem with a woman in another parish had been transferred to a junior high school full of women, I went to SMK Bitauni, Felix recounted in a Facebook post.

Read also: NTT leaders declare campaign to end bride 'kidnapping' practice

I met with [the school principal]. I told him, Please, Father principal, move [that priest] away from here, he wrote.

Felix said that a couple of months later, he had checked in with the principal again and discovered that the priest, whom he called Romo A, was still at the school. He said he was overwhelmed with disappointment and damaged the school's property.

He told the Post that he had only learned about his suspect status from journalists.

North Central Timor Police chief Adj Sr. Com. Nelson Filipe Diaz Quintas said that police had questioned witnesses about the incident.

"Yes, [Felix] has been named as a suspect" [in the case]," Nelson confirmed with the Post. (nal)
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Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 17:48 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406648f992 1 Politics rahayu-saraswati,Prabowo-Subianto,Gerindra-Party,PDI-P,2020-regional-elections,South-Tangerang,Tangerang,Banten,mayor Free

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) central executive board has recommended Rahayu Sara Saraswati Djojohadikusumo, the niece of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, to be its nominee for deputy mayor in the upcoming 2020 South Tangerang mayoral election in Banten.

A statement on PDI-P letterhead seen by The Jakarta Post on Monday said that the partys executive board was set to nominate Sara to run for deputy mayor with the current regional secretary of South Tangerang, Muhammad.

The letter, dated June 30, was signed by the chairman of the PDI-Ps central board of elections, Bambang Wuryanto, and the partys secretary-general, Hasto Kristiyanto.

Gerindra Party deputy chairman Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said that neither the party nor Sara had received the letter but confirmed that the party was planning to nominate Sara to run in the 2020 South Tangerang race.

If the letter is true, our elections division will meet and confer with the PDI-P regarding the matter, he said.

Read also: PDI-P maintains close ties, sees future with Gerindra

Dasco said the Gerindra Party had yet to issue its official recommendation for Sara and that the party had planned to nominate her for mayor instead of deputy mayor.

But were open to other options, he said.

He added that Gerindra and the PDI-P would collaborate in several other local elections.

Sara served as a member of the House of Representatives for the 2014-2019 legislative term but failed to secure reelection last year.

She was a member of House Commission VIII overseeing social affairs and worked consistently to pass the long-awaited sexual violence eradication bill.
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Linkedin Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 14:57 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406647bd52 1 Business IA-CEPA,export,Australia,Indonesia,textile-industry,automotive Free

The Indonesian government and industry players are gearing up to boost export of key products to neighboring Australia, amid slowing trade during the ongoing health crisis, as the trade pact between the two countries took effect on July 5.

The Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), which was signed last year and ratified by the House of Representatives in February, eliminates trade tariffs between the countries.

The Trade Ministry expects a boost in the export of some Indonesian products to Australia, such as textiles, automotive products, electronics, fish products and communication tools, as the trade pact is now in effect.

The Indonesian Textile Association (API) expects the IA-CEPA to raise the value of Indonesias annual textile export to Australia by 2 to 7 percent from the level before the trade deal, according to Rizal Tanzil Rakhman, the secretary-general of the association.



We welcome the IA-CEPA and hope it can grow our export to Australia, Rizal told The Jakarta Post via text message on Monday. Although its population is relatively small, its income per capita is high and it is a potential market for high-end clothing.

As global trade was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesias export fell 28.95 percent year-on-year (yoy) to $10.53 billion in May. However, the country's export to Australia still rose 15.69 percent yoy to $920 million in the January-May period, when export to major trade partners was mostly down.



The value of Indonesias textile export to Australia was slightly down by 1 percent to $250.9 million in 2019 from a year earlier, according to the API, quoting data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The trade deal was expected to help the post-pandemic economic recovery of both countries, in terms of trade and investment. Bilateral trade between the two countries was worth US$7.8 billion in 2019.

The government also issued three new regulations this year to support the implementation of the deal, including a finance ministerial regulation on customs tariff, the Trade Ministry stated on July 5.



The trade deal is also expected to reduce the input cost of many Indonesian businesses that buy their raw materials or intermediate goods from Australia, such as the food and beverage industry.

Australia imported $2.11 billion worth of Indonesian products, 1.36 percent of the latters total non-oil-and-gas exports, throughout 2019.

On the other hand, Australia shipped $4.67 billion worth of commodities to Indonesia, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.56 billion on Indonesias side.

Unlike the textile industry, the auto industry may not immediately benefit from the trade deal because it prioritizes trade of electric vehicles (EVs), which Indonesia has not produced, according to Kukuh Kumara, the secretary-general of the Association of Indonesian Automakers (Gaikindo). The Jokowi administration has set a target to start producing EVs in 2021 or 2022.

We do not have the products with a specification that Australian consumers need, Kukuh told the Post in a phone interview on Monday.

Indonesian auto industries mostly produce multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) or sedans like the Toyota Camry, while Australians prefer sport utility vehicles (SUV), Kukuh added.



Australian ranchers, among others, also benefit from the trade deal, which guarantees a live male cattle export quota from Australia to Indonesia at 575,000 heads in the first year of the implementation. The quota will grow by 4 percent every year.



The trade deal, therefore, solves the uncertainty issue that Australian ranchers face in planning production since they need two to three years to raise a cattle until it is ready to be slaughtered, according to Valeska, the country manager of Meat & Livestock Australias (MLA) Indonesia office.



An uncertainty, either in the form of regulation or the trade situation, will make it difficult for the ranchers to make a long-term plan, Valeska said in a virtual discussion on Monday.



Australia was Indonesias largest source of beef import. The value of Indonesias beef import from the country grew 12.5 percent to $362.2 million in 2019 from 2018.

Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) economist Bhima Yudhistira warned that with Indonesia's past trade pacts, such as the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), only around 35 percent of the countrys business players had utilized it to boost their exports.

Has the information been disseminated well? Do small and medium businesses get a chance to export [their products] to Australia? he told the Post on Tuesday.

Bhima said there was also a chance that the trade deal would widen the trade deficit, as Australia seemed to be more ready to export to Indonesia.

Indonesian products that are exported to Australia are still fragmented, unfocused, he said. Australia is focused, in livestock and agriculture. I fear that the trade deficit will increase after the IA-CEPA.
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Cairo, Egypt  Tue, July 7, 2020 07:20 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406644aee0 2 World Saudi-Arabia,haj-pilgrims,haj-pilgrimage,coronavirus,coronavirus-effect,COVID-19,coronavirus-prevention,COVID-19-protocol,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

Saudi Arabia announced health protocols to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in the 2020 haj season, banning gatherings and meetings between pilgrims, the state news agency said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia decided in June to limit the number of domestic pilgrims attending the haj 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.

Priority will be given to non-Saudi pilgrims who will be allotted 70% of available slots, the ministry that oversees pilgrimages said in a statement. Those selected must test negative for the virus, must be first-time pilgrims between 20 and 50 years old and have no chronic medical conditions.

Saudi healthcare workers and security personnel who have recovered from the novel coronavirus will be given the rest of the slots, "in recognition of their role in caring for society at all stages of the pandemic," the statement said.

Touching the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam, will be banned during the haj 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) said.

Also, access to holy haj sites at Mona, Muzdalifah and Arafat will be limited to those with haj permits starting Sunday July 19 till Aug. 2 2020, and wearing masks at all times will be mandatory for both pilgrims and organizers.
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Linkedin Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7, 2020 16:48 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406648b257 1 National students,#students,entrance-exam,state-universities,state-university-entrance-test,SBMPTN,#SBMPTN,UTBK-SBMPTN-2020,UTBK,computer-based-test,#COVID19,COVID-19 Free

After graduating from high school, an achievement she could only celebrate with her friends via TikTok, 18-year-old Daariin Ariij Nabiila Mumtaz had to sit the highly competitive annual state university entrance test (SBMPTN), wearing a mask and a face shield for protection.

Prior to entering the test venue on Sunday, she had to undergo a body temperature check, wash her hands at least twice and clean her desk and computer with disinfectant wipes.

As Indonesia scrambles to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, some 703,875 test-takers are trying to keep themselves together in order to earn a place in one of the countrys state universities, all while following strict health protocols that one expert has criticized as "misguided".

Taking a computer-based exam (UTBK) is one of three ways high school graduates can earn one of the limited number of places offered at state universities in Indonesia, which has been trying to increase its university participation rate from the current 30.29 percent. The exams will be held in two batches, from July 5 to 14 and from July 20 to 29 at 74 test centers in cities across the country, including in the COVID-19 epicenters of Surabaya in East Java and Jakarta, with rooms at universities and schools being used as test venues.

The Institution of University Entrance Exams (LTMPT), formed in 2019 to oversee the exams, requires body temperature checks on site and has advised test-takers to wear masks, face shields and gloves. It also reduced the number of participants in each room and the number of sessions to just two from four a day.

But some local administrations and universities are now requiring test-takers to also undergo a rapid antibody test before sitting the entrance exam.

LTMPT issued a circular on July 5, the first day of the exams, stating that those would had recorded reactive rapid test results  indicating virus exposure  or those with a temperature above 37.5 degrees Celsius would be required to take the more conclusive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on their own before proceeding with the entrance exam. If the PCR result comes back negative, they may reschedule their UTBK test to the second batch of exams, but if positive, they will not be allowed to take the test at all.

Read also: Computer-based university entrance test to be held in two phases during pandemic

LTMPT head Mohammad Nasih, who is also the rector of Airlangga University in Surabaya, said those with a fever or who tested positive for COVID-19 should "focus on their health first". Only once they recovery could they reschedule their exams "if there is still time".

He pointed to the Surabaya administration and the University of Halu Oleo in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, as examples of entities that had made nonreactive rapid test results or negative PCR tests results a requirement to sit the exam.

Other universities, such as Soedirman University and Sebelas Maret University (UNS) in Central Java, another province hit hard by the outbreak, have instituted a similar requirement, but only for test-takers traveling from other regions.

One high school graduate from Ngawi, East Java, could not take the UNS admission tests on Sunday after failing to present evidence of a rapid test result, rector Jamal Wiwoho said, as reported by tribunnews.com.

Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city that accounts for half of East Java's COVID-19 cases and deaths, drew criticism for announcing the new requirement only three days before the first batch of exams started, prompting test-takers to swarm testing facilities in the city.

A petition on change.org urging Surabaya to conduct free rapid tests for UTBK test-takers made the rounds on social media, citing that "the prices for rapid and swab tests are very expensive" and that "the decision was issued so suddenly that test-takers scheduled for the UBTK's first batch were confused". At least 9,927 people had signed the petition as of Tuesday.

"It is too sudden. I was hoping they'd provide free tests. I paid Rp 200,000 [US$13.9] for mine [rapid antibody test], which is already discounted from the normal price of Rp 400,000 for UTBK test-takers, said 18-year-old test-taker Firmansyah Putra Pratama from Surabaya. The prices vary, some places charge more than Rp 300,000."

The Surabaya administration said it would offer provide free rapid tests at community health centers for test-takers from low-income families, while some universities are providing the tests, with some test kits coming from the East Java administration.

Indonesia, which has one of the lowest testing rates in the world, is currently prioritizing its free PCR tests for people with symptoms or who have been in contact with confirmed cases. But even now some have to wait a week or more for their test results as labs are not evenly distributed across the archipelago.

Those seeking to undergo swabs tests on their own accord face prices that range into the millions of rupiah.

Health Ministry director general for health services Bambang Wibowo told a hearing with lawmakers in June that PCR tests were indeed "quite pricey" and that government facilities might spend up to Rp 1.2 million per PCR test and that the prices charged by private facilities could be higher.

The more commonly found rapid antibody tests are cheaper in comparison, and also give faster results, but experts have warned that such tests produce inconclusive results and, therefore, should not be used for diagnosis.

Read also: Hundreds of thousands of rapid test kits imported from Netherlands made in China: Report

Epidemiologist Windhu Purnomo from Airlangga University said the test requirement was "confusing" and demonstrated a "misguided" understanding of the function of rapid tests. He said the tests could be used for COVID-19 surveillance and mass screening, but not to terminate transmission chains, let alone for making decisions on whether test-takers could sit the exams.

"Rapid tests cannot be carried out just once, he said. It cannot be assumed that nonreactive results mean someone is free of the virus and cannot transmit the virus; they might have it but their antibodies have not yet formed. And those with reactive results may not actually have an active infection but still are required to go home, isolate and reschedule.
What are the most promising coronavirus drugs?





by Anwar A. Khan





According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. Older people and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.













The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect ourselves and others from infection by washing our or your hands or using an alcohol-based rub frequently and not touching our or your face.





The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so its important that you also practice respiratory etiquette, for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow.





The baneful CORONAVIRUS or COVID-19 is affecting 213 countries and territories around the world.





As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, the World Health Organization (WHO) says it is supporting countries in their containment and mitigation efforts such as by providing technical guidance, laboratory capacity strengthening for testing, equipment for hospitals and healthcare workers, and creating awareness and addressing misinformation, but its averments are notquintessentially seeable!





Until on 2nd July, global total cases of coronavirus are 10,357,662 and total deaths are figuratively to 508,055and in Bangladesh - Infection:153277, Recovery: 66442 and Death:1926.





Bangladesh records highest daily COVID-19 deaths, cases. Top bureaucrat, doctor died from pandemic, while politicians, police also contracted virus, according to local reports.





There are a significant number of studies under way into potential treatments for Covid-19. And some progress has been made in the search for effective medicines.





What work is being done to find treatments?





More than 150 different drugs are being researched around the world. Most are existing drugs that are being trialled against the virus.





The WHO has launched the Solidarity trial aimed at assessing the most promising treatments

The UK says its Recovery trial is the world's biggest, with more than 11,000 patients taking part. One of the drugs, it is looking at - dexamethasone - has been shown to help save the lives of patients seriously ill with coronavirus.





And multiple research centres around the world are attempting to use survivours' blood as a treatment.





What types of drugs might work? There are three broad approaches being investigated:





1.Antiviral drugs that directly affect the coronavirus's ability to thrive inside the body;





2.Drugs that can calm the immune system - patients become seriously ill when their immune system overreacts and starts causing collateral damage to the body; and





3. Antibodies, either from survivours' blood or made in a lab, that can attack the virus.





What are the most promising coronavirus drugs?





Dexamethasone, the first drug shown to save the lives of people with Covid-19, has been hailed as a breakthrough. Initial findings showed the low-cost steroid cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators and a fifth for those on oxygen.





Coronavirus infection triggers inflammation as the body tries to fight it off. This can prompt the immune system to go into overdrive, and it is this reaction that can prove fatal. Dexamethasone damps down this response.





What is dexamethasone and how does it work?





Clinical trials of Remdesivir, an antiviral drug originally developed to treat Ebola in the African countries, have also been encouraging. A US-led trial of more than 1,000 people worldwide found Remdesivir cut the duration of symptoms from 15 days to 11. Some were given the drug and others were given a placebo (dummy) treatment.





It is one of the four drugs in the Solidarity trial and its manufacturer, Gilead, is also organising trials. But, although Remdesivir may aid recovery and possibly stop people having to be treated in intensive care - studies have so far not given any clear indication whether it can prevent deaths from coronavirus.





It is thought that antivirals may be more effective in the early stages, and immune drugs later in the disease. The UK government has made both Dexamethasone and Remdesivir available on the National Health Service (NHS).





However, the US has bought almost all of Gilead's forthcoming supply of the drug. The Department of Health and Human Services says it has secured 500,000 doses, which amounts to 100% of Gilead's production in July, 90% of it in August and 90% in September. Gilead has also donated an unknown quantity of Remdesivir to South Korea.





The world is shutting down. Places that were once teeming with the hustle and bustle of daily life have become ghost-towns with massive restrictions put on our lives - from lockdowns and school, college and universities closures to travel restrictions and bans on mass gatherings.





It is an unparalleled global response to a disease. But when will it end and when will we be able to get on with our lives?





British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he believes the UK can "turn the tide" against the outbreak within the next 12 weeks and the country can "send coronavirus packing". But even if the number of cases starts to fall in the next three months, then we will still be far from the end.

It can take a long time for the tide to go out - possibly years.





It is clear the current strategy of shutting down large parts of society is not sustainable in the long-term. The social and economic damage would be catastrophic.





What countries need is an "exit strategy" - a way of lifting the restrictions and getting back to normal? But the coronavirus is not going to disappear, as it appears!





If you lift the restrictions that are holding the virus back, then cases will inevitably soar. "We do have a big problem in what the exit strategy is and how we get out of this," says Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh. It is not just the UK; no country has an exit strategy.





It is a massive scientific and societal challenge!





Coronavirus: How to cope with living alone in self-isolation:





After years of living with others, Lucia (pseudo name), the photographer was excited to finally have a place to herself. She had recently moved back to Italy from New York. She enjoyed spending time on long, meandering walks with her camera, and going out for food with friends.





But within a couple of months Milan, where she lived, had become the epicentre of Europe's coronavirus outbreak. She and millions of other Italians were ordered into lockdown, told to stay home unless absolutely necessary.





The first few weeks were the hardest, as the monotony of days isolated in her apartment took its toll. But now more than months on, Lucia is adjusting to being alone. She still misses her freedom and physical contact with others, but feels fortunate that she and her loved ones are healthy, when so many across her country have died.





"Sometimes I get worried about the future, about how life will be after this end," she says. "I wonder if there will ever be a real life outside our homes."





There are millions more stories like this around the world. As governments scramble to contain the deadly Covid-19 pandemic by restricting public life, many living alone have had to accept that they might not spend time with anyone else for a long time. She says, I know because I'm among them.





Weeks into the UK lockdown, my friend Asifs ordinary life in London goes on but it looks and feels different. Trips to the office have become a rarity. I feel lucky to have a cat for company and the ability to go outside for walks when others can't, but it's hard not knowing when I'll next see my close friends or family, who live hundreds of miles away, he tones in an uncheerful modality!

These days the same screens that host our work meetings carry the burden of our social lives too. With the exception of conversations over the telecom or chance encounters with neighbours by the bins, all of our human contact is now online.





With so many other people across the world living by themselves through this strange experience, I decided to try to find expert advice and others self-isolating alone. That's how I have found Lucia, Aparna and Angie: three women continents apart, going through the same.





Angie, from Maine, has lived by herself for four years. Getting her own space became an important part of her growth and healing after a divorce. But as the US became gripped by coronavirus and local restrictions hit, the downfalls of her living situation became apparent.





A couple of weeks ago, when Angie was laid-off from work, she was left to deal with it alone. "In normal circumstances, if you were to lose your job, you'd be met with a hug by a family member or invited over by a friend for cheering up," she says.





Coronavirus: How to protect your mental health?





There is plenty of research to suggest our social relationships can be as important to our physical health as our mental one. Research links pervasive loneliness to higher mortality rates and other health complications.





Professor Naomi Eisenberger is a social psychologist at UCLA known for her research on how the brain behaves when it experiences social rejection and disconnect. She says our current situation, with billions of people cut-off from their normal lives, is unprecedented. She stresses the importance of people living alone trying to stay connected with those we care about. "One of the things I've heard from people is that it's interesting that now you start realising who you actually feel close to, because it doesn't matter who lives near you or who is easy to get to," she says.Her research group is also looking into whether the virtual communication we are all currently filling our schedules with is enough to feel truly connected.





Professor Stephanie Cacioppo, an expert in behavioural neuroscience and psychiatry at the University of Chicago, is also full of practical tips for those living alone. She and her late husband were known for their pioneering research that draws a distinction between being alone and feeling lonely.





She says adjusting our mindset and expectations is key to avoiding feelings of loneliness. This means accepting events are beyond our control and knowing that being away from the people and things we love is only temporary.





"Right now, you live alone. And right now, you have no choice. So, you can either scream all day long or make the most of it," Dr Cacioppo says.





-The End 





The writer is an independent political observer based in Dhaka, Bangladesh who writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs.
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Linkedin Lisa Shumaker and Doina Chiacu (Reuters)  Tue, July 7, 2020 07:14 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406644a232 2 World US,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-death-toll,COVID-19-infection,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

The number of US coronavirus deaths exceeded 130,000 on Monday, following a surge of new cases that has put President Donald Trump's handling of the crisis under the microscope and derailed efforts to restart the economy.

The overall rate of increase in US deaths has been on a downward trend despite case numbers surging to record levels in recent days, but health experts warn fatalities are a lagging indicator, showing up weeks or even months after cases rise.

Nationally, cases are approaching 3 million, the highest tally in the world and double the infections reported in the second most-affected country Brazil. Case numbers are rising in 39 US states, according to a Reuters analysis.

Sixteen states have posted new record daily case counts this month. Florida confirmed a record high 11,000 in a single day, more than any European country reported in a single day at the height of the crisis there.

As health experts cautioned the public not to gather in crowds to celebrate Independence Day over the weekend, US President Donald Trump asserted without providing evidence that 99% of US coronavirus cases were totally harmless.

At least five states have already bucked the downward trend in the national death rate, a Reuters analysis showed. Arizona had 449 deaths in the last two weeks of June, up from 259 deaths in the first two weeks of the month. The state posted a 300% rise in cases over the full month, the most in the country.

Steve Adler, the Democratic mayor of Austin, Texas, on Monday criticized the Republican Trump's comment over the weekend that the virus was mostly harmless.

"It's incredibly disruptive and the messaging coming from the president of the United States is dangerous," Adler told CNN. "One of the biggest challenges we have is the messaging coming out of Washington that would suggest that masks don't work or it's not necessary, or that the virus is going away on its own."

Soaring case numbers and packed hospitals in Texas have prompted some mayors and other local leaders to consider launching a new round of stay-at-home orders. Cities are getting together and lobbying the state's governor to restore the authority to impose local anti-coronavirus measures, Adler said.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Monday defended Trump's comment over the weekend, saying the president was not trying to play down the deaths.

"But it's really to look statistically to know that whatever risks that you may have or I may have, or my, my children or my grandchildren may have, let's look at that appropriately and I think that's what he's trying to do," he told reporters outside the White House.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has forecast between 140,000 to 160,000 coronavirus deaths by July 25 in projections that are based on 24 independent forecasts.
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Washington, United States  Tue, July 7, 2020 09:46 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406645ed12 2 World White-House,coronavirus,coronavirus-prevention,face-masks,Donald-Trump,US-presidential-election,US-presidential-race,COVID-19,COVID-19-infection,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free

Donald Trump's re-election campaign made the decision to "strongly encourage" masks at the Republican president's next rally as a precautionary measure, the White House chief of staff said on Monday.

The Trump campaign plans an outdoor rally on Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

"Obviously we're looking forward to being in the Granite State and back with the folks up in New Hampshire, and as we look at that it's more a factor of precaution," Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said in an interview with Fox News.

In announcing Saturday's rally in Portsmouth, the campaign said, "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 change comes after Trump's indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month drew widespread attention for not imposing coronavirus restrictions, including social distancing and masks.

Masks were handed out in Tulsa but not specifically encouraged. Trump has refused to wear a mask in public or recommend that others do so, in contrast to the messaging from US health experts on the White House coronavirus task force.

At least eight members of the campaigns staff who were in Tulsa for the June 20 rally tested positive.

In addition, Kimberly Guilfoyle, a senior campaign official and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., has tested positive and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said last week he had contracted the virus. Both attended the Tulsa rally.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany added on Fox, "So the campaign has been very clear that not only will we be giving out masks but we recommend the wearing of those masks. It's very important to follow the CDC guidelines."

Trump's pre-July 4 holiday event at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Friday drew 7,500 people, packed into an outdoor amphitheater. Masks were not required and many people did not wear them.
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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 7 2020

Top national gas distributor PGN is channeling price-reduced natural gas to a major oleochemical plant in North Sumatra owned by a subsidiary of consumer giant PT Unilever Indonesia, giving a boost to the plants production.

PT Unilever Oleochemical Indonesia (UOI), which owns the plant in Sei Mangkei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), has been paying US$6 per million British thermal unit (mmbtu) of gas since June 1. It was paying $8 per mmbtu before the government offered the price incentive.

Eighty-five percent of our products are exported so we can become more competitive, Sancoyo Antarikso, corporate secretary of PT Unilever Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The Rp 2 trillion (US$137.6 million) plant, which began operations in 2015, processes crude palm oil in...
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Linkedin Andrian Bagus Santoso (The Jakarta Post) Industry Analyst at Bank Mandiri  Wed, July 8 2020

COVID-19 is not only a threat to human health but also to the economy, including the natural rubber sector. Global natural rubber import quantity in the period from January to April was recorded at 2 million tons, or declining by 19.7 percent year-on-year (yoy). Natural rubber import quantity from China, as the biggest consumer, weakened by 4.9 percent yoy in the same period. Similarly, natural rubber import quantity from the United States and Japan also dropped 9.2 percent yoy and 13 percent yoy, respectively.

From the producer side, all top four natural rubber producers experienced declining performance. Natural rubber export quantity from Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam decreased 11.3 percent yoy, 8.3 percent yoy and 54.4 percent yoy respectively from January to April. Similarly, Indonesias natural rubber export quantity declined 13.6 percent yoy to only 0.9 million...
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Linkedin Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, July 8 2020

After graduating from high school, an achievement she could only celebrate with her friends via TikTok, 18-year-old Daariin Ariij Nabiila Mumtaz had to sit the highly competitive annual state university entrance test (SBMPTN), wearing a mask and a face shield for protection.

Prior to entering the test venue on Sunday, she had to undergo a body temperature check, wash her hands at least twice and clean her desk and computer with disinfectant wipes.

As Indonesia scrambles to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, some 703,875 test-takers are trying to keep themselves together in order to earn a place in one of the countrys state universities, all while following strict health protocols that one expert has criticized as "misguided".

Taking a computer-based exam (UTBK) is one of three ways high school graduates can earn one of the limited number...
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Linkedin Galih Gumelar (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, July 8 2020

Immigration authorities have once again found themselves under scrutiny after failing to detect the arrival of high-profile graft convict and fugitive Djoko Soegiarto Tjandra, who is believed to have returned to Indonesia after spending about 10 years overseas.

Antigraft activists warned that other convicts could make use of holes in the immigration system to escape or reenter the country and avoid prosecution.

Djoko was involved in the Bank Bali scandal, which saw hundreds of billions of rupiah embezzled from state bailout funds for the 1998 Asian financial crisis. He was acquitted in 2000 but later convicted in 2009 after the Attorney Generals Office (AGO) filed a request for review.

Djoko fled the country to Papua New Guinea on June 10, 2009, a day before the Supreme Court issued its ruling. Indonesian authorities learned that Djoko had reentere...
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, July 8 2020

The government and Bank Indonesia (BI) agreed to a burden-sharing scheme worth Rp 574.59 trillion (US$39.7 billion) on Monday to finance the nations COVID-19 response and bolster economic recovery efforts.

The scheme will see the central bank buying Rp 397.5 trillion in government bonds at a maximum coupon rate to correspond with the benchmark BI seven-day reverse repo rate (7DRRR) to fund health care and social safety nets. The central bank will then return the bond yield to the government in full on the same day it is paid.

Read also: Government open to possibility of BI buying zero-coupon b...
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Linkedin Alya Nurbaiti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, July 8 2020

Sixteen groups in Papua have voiced opposition over the potential continuation of its special autonomy (Otsus) status, with the transfer of Otsus funds from the central government set to end next year.

Protesting under a movement called Petisi Rakyat Papua (Petition by Papuans), the groups also demanded a referendum to determine their own fate.

The administration of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri passed a law on special autonomy in Papua and West Papua provinces to guarantee Papuans the right to manage their own region politically, economically and culturally. The law also stipulated the allocation of special autonomy funds, valid for 20 years.

As the transfer of funds will end in 2021, the House of Representatives has included deliberation of Papuas special autonomy status in this years National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) prio...
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Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, July 8 2020

Riza Roidila Mufti

The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia are battling with challenges ranging from an unstable internet connection and logistics disruptions to financing difficulties and weakening purchasing power as they cope with the COVID-19 crisis, a recent survey shows.

Conducted by Sea Insights, the study found that 50 percent of business owners saw an uptick in the use of digital media  such as social media, e-commerce and online learning  for their operations during the pandemic. However, 63 percent of 2,200 business owners who participated in the survey said it had been difficult to work from home.

According to the survey, the three main challenges of working from home are an unstable internet connection and high internet costs. Some SMEs also need phy...
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, July 8 2020

Perempuan Pelestari Budaya Indonesia (Indonesian Women for Cultural Preservation/PPBI) has held a virtual fashion show featuring Alorese woven fabric to raise funds for underprivileged children in Alor regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

The woven fabrics, boasting tribal motifs with natural colorings, were presented by women from all walks of life who paired them with everyday fashion items including white shirts and white sneakers.

These woven fabrics are precious and we dont have the heart to cut and sew them, so we just match them with what we have in our wardrobe, Diah Kusumawardani Wijayanti, chairperson of the PPBI and founder of the Yayasan Belantara Budaya foundation, said at the opening of the fashion show, which was live-streamed from fX Sudirman on Saturday.

Diah said afterwards that all the woven fabrics presented at the s...
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Tue, July 7, 2020 12:18 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406646effe 2 SE Asia Malaysia,Al-Jazeera,undocumented-worker,migrant-workers,documentary Free

Malaysian police on Monday opened an investigation into a documentary by news broadcaster Al Jazeera on the country's arrests of undocumented migrants, which authorities have accused of being an attempt to tarnish Malaysia's image.

"Locked up in Malaysia's Lockdown", produced by the Qatar-based station's 101 East news program, focused on the plight of thousands of undocumented migrants detained during raids carried out in areas under tight coronavirus lockdowns.

The documentary, which aired last week, sparked an immediate backlash online while several officials decried the report as being inaccurate, misleading and unfair.

Defense minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob this week called on Al Jazeera to apologize to Malaysians, and said allegations of racism and discrimination against undocumented migrants were untrue.

Authorities had previously defended the arrests as necessary to uphold the law and stem the spread of the pandemic.

Police opened a probe into the Al Jazeera documentary following a complaint by Malaysia's immigration department, deputy director of the police criminal investigations department Mior Faridalathrash Wahid told Reuters in a text message.

Spokespeople for Al Jazeera did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The investigation is the latest in a recent series of clampdowns against reporters and activists that rights groups have said were aimed at stifling dissent of the government.

In May, a journalist from the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post was questioned by police over her reporting on the migrant arrests.

Last week, Malaysia's Federal Court allowed prosecutors to move ahead with contempt proceedings against news portal Malaysiakini over comments posted by its readers on the judiciary. Malaysiakini has denied wrongdoing, saying it could not be held responsible for readers' comments.
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Hanoi, Vietnam  Tue, July 7, 2020 18:15 350 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40664918c7 2 SE Asia Vietnam,anti-government,Facebook,social-media,social-media-post,freedom-of-expression Free

A court in Vietnam on Tuesday sentenced a man to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of uploading anti-state posts on his Facebook account, the security ministry said.

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam's ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism.

Nguyen Quoc Duc Vuong, 29, was charged with "making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the state" at a one-day trial in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, the Ministry of Public Security said in a news release.

Vuong was accused of livestreaming 110 hours of videos and writing 366 posts on his Facebook account to smear the image of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam's founding leader, and spread anti-state propaganda, the ministry said.

Reuters could not reach Vuong's lawyer for comment.

Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, said Vuong's sentencing was "outrageous and unacceptable".

"Vietnam must recognize that expressing political views contrary to Communist Party line should not be a crime," he said in an email statement.

The court will also place Vuong under three years of house arrest after serving his jail term, the ministry said.

Arrests of political activists in Vietnam have steadily increased since late last year as Vietnam gears up for a key Party congress in January 2021.
Ireland will judge whether to ease quarantine restrictions on people traveling from abroad from July 20 on the amount of new COVID-19 cases, the trend and the quality of testing and tracing in qualifying countries, the government said on Monday.

Ireland, which has been more cautious than much of Europe on the reopening of its economy and air travel, has advised its citizens against non-essential travel since March and requires anyone arriving in the country to self-isolate for 14 days.

The outgoing government had promised to produce by July 9 a "green list" of exempt countries with similar or lower COVID-19 risk to Ireland, but the new administration delayed that date amid increased warnings from public health officials.

"We know we are still dealing with a very internationally volatile situation, as witnessed in Spain, as witnessed in the UK and that is informing our view as second waves are emerging," Prime Minister Micheal Martin told a news conference

"On July 20, we'll be in a position to say whether any country or whether a number of countries make the green list ... At the moment there would be a number of countries in that position but that can change."

The criteria will be three-fold: new cases over the past 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants, currently three in Ireland, if the trend suggests the virus is on the rise or suppressed elsewhere and whether the quality of testing, surveillance and tracing means Ireland is comparing like with like with other countries.

The government will also tighten regulations that require incoming travelers to provide the address at which they will self-isolate, moving to an electronic system capturing passenger data directly from airlines and ferry operators.

With 4,000 daily passengers now arriving in Dublin airport compared to 1,200 a week ago, call back and symptom checking services will also be ramped up, Martin added.
Salida, CO (81201)

Today

Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. A stray afternoon thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 57F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
Nagadeepa is a very important island, in the North, because of its religious significance to both Buddhists and Hindus. Thousands of Buddhist devotees, on every full moon Poya day, especially soon after Poson full moon Poya day, visit Nagadeepa.





by Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne





There are a number of tiny islands in Palk Bay and Palk Strait. The biggest among them is Delft Island (Nedunthivu) with about 4,800 inhabitants. Another important island is Nainativu or Nagadeepa, and as per historical details, it belonged to the 'Naga' tribe, the ancient seafarers who were very wealthy. Other islands, in the North, are Karainagar, Kayts, Mandativu, Pungudutivu, Analativu, Eluvativu, Kakarativu, Palitivu, Iranativu (North and South) and the famous Kachchtivu ("tivu" means 'island' in Tamil). Kayts, Karainagar, Mandiativu, and Pungudutivu are connected by causeways of the Jaffna peninsula. You have to travel by boats to other islands. Most of these islands, other than Kayts, Karainagar and Delft, have very few inhabitants, most of whom are mainly fishermen. Due to their remoteness, these islands are very beautiful and well-protected.













The Mahawansa (Great Chronicle) written by Buddhist monks and Manimekalai, a Tamil epic written by Kulavanikan Cittalaic Catanar, probably around the 6th Century, mention Nagadeepa.





Nagadeepa is a very important island, in the North, because of its religious significance to both Buddhists and Hindus. Thousands of Buddhist devotees, on every full moon Poya day, especially soon after Poson full moon Poya day, visit Nagadeepa. Further, thousands of Hindu devotees, a large number from overseas, also visit Nagadeepa during the 16-day Mahostavam festive season celebrated during the Tamil month of Aani (June/July). The religious importance of this island is due to two world- famous religious sites, belonging to Buddhists and Hindus. Nagadeepa Purana Rajamaha Viharaya, the place which the Buddha visited five years after his enlightenment, to settle a dispute between two Naga kings, Choolodara and Mahodara, is the Buddhist religious site.





Less than 500 meters away from this Buddhist site is the Nagapooshani Amman Kovil, an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Parvathi, who is known as Nagapooshani, or Bhuvaneswari, and her consort, Shiva, who is named here as Nayinaar. If you visit the Nagapooshani Amman Temple Museum, you can see the "Nainativu Tamil slab inscription of the Great King Parakramabahu I," part of it is broken, though, written on a four-foot-tall and a two-and-a-half-foot long granite in Medieval Tamil with a few lines in Sanskrit, the only Tamil inscription erected by the great Sinhala king, read as "that foreigners should come and stay in Uratturai (ancient port of Kayts)that they should be protected  Those who suffered shipwreck, based on cargo carry (horses, elephants or general cargo), half to one-fourth of value has to be paid to the State Treasury."





As a young naval officer (22 years old), I had the fortune of protecting this island, its people and the religious sites, from terrorists, from 1985 to 87.





As a Buddhist, to protect a place visited by the Buddha from evil forces, was a great responsibility. I was appointed the Officer-in-Charge of Naval Detachment Nainativu in mid-1985. I took over command just a few months before the LTTE massacred 146 Buddhist devotees at the Sri Maha Bodhi, on 14 May 1985. It was obvious that the terrorists next target was Nagadeepa, the most prominent Buddhist shrine in the Northern Province.





The responsibility for protecting Nagadeepa fell on a young officer and 20 sailors. Fortunately, the Security Forces Commander Jaffna and Commanding Officer of SLNS Elara, decided to reinforce our detachment with an Army infantry platoon. First to come was Sri Lanka Light Infantry (CLI) platoon, under Second Lieutenant Amal Karunasekara, who is a Major General now. As per Amals explanation, he had heard, soon after they landed, at Nagadeepa Temple jetty, a conversation between two sailors, on duty at a bunker, near the jetty. "Machan ada Ude Kaamath paan, sausages, bittara, butter and Jam. Kaatada mehema kanna Puluwan! " (See, today breakfast also sausages, eggs, butter and jam with bread! Who can eat like this my friend! ). With a tribute to our supply officer, in our motherbase SLNS Elara, LT (then) Bandula Dahanayaka, that was how we ate those days. Amal was surprised to hear the sailors were whingeing such food his soldiers were not lucky to have.





Thanks, Navy for making us fit, strong and happy. That's why once Napoleon said "Army marches on its stomach. "





We were in a very remote island. No electricity. We had a small generator which was barely sufficient to light up only a section of the perimeter. Our detachment was next to the Nagadeepa Purana Rajamaha Viharaya. Our prime task was to protect the religious site and two Buddhist monks living there. "Loku Hamuduruwo" was Rajakeeya Panditha Most Venerable Brahmanawatte Dhammakitti Tissa Nayaka Thera of Amarapura Nikaya. A learned scholar, who was fluent in all three languages Sinhala, Tamil and English. He was very influential and all islanders greatly respected him. He had direct links to the then President J R Jayewardene at that time. He had developed Nagadeepa Island singlehandedly during 40 years. Nagadeepa has five schools, a fully-fledged hospital and a dental surgery. A large number of islanders were well educated, and some of them have served, or serving, as GAs, AGAs, doctors, engineers, accountants and prominent businessmen in various parts of the country and abroad. A large number of them are living in Canada and the UK. Loku Hamuduruwo had witnessed the destruction of the Nagadeepa Temple by Tamil mob that came in boats, from the mainland, during the Sinhala-Tamil riots, in 1958.





Loku Hamuduruwo was determined not to leave the temple at any cost thereafter. So, our orders were very clear, "Protect the temple and priests at any cost". I was with several SLA Officers at NagadeepaSecond Lieutenant Amal Karunasekara, late Lieutenant Dharmapriya Silva, Lieutenant Sajith Wijekoon, Lieutenant Susantha Senaviratne, late Lieutenant Thilak Senaviratne, Lieutenant LBR Marks and Lieutenant Jagath Pakshaweera. They and their Army men were fed by the Navy.





My best friend was "Podi Hamuduruwo" the junior priest, Nawadagala Padumakitti Tissa Thera. He was one year my senior and our bond was unique. He was like an elder brother to me. A fearless monk, who protected the temple well and looked after high priest with utmost respect. He was the link between us  the military and the chief priest. A few days, after I took over the detachment, I happened to visit him in the temple. He was cooking lunch (Dawal Dana) for him and Loku Hamuduruwo. I was shocked to see the menu. Normally, lunch was provided by a person called Kandaiah, who had prepared alms for the monks for 25 years. That day, he had gone out of the island with his family. So, Podi Hamuduruwo was cooking lunchdhal curry, one vegetable and rice.





I immediately ordered my supply sailor to offer meals and tea daily. The Navy has been doing so ever since.





Podi Hamuduruwo was worried about the prospect of a terrorist attack. We gave him some lessions in self-defence. So, when "Action Stations" was sounded, Podi Hamuduruwo would take the high priest to the bunker close to the temple.





On 1st October 1990, the LTTE forcibly expelled the Tamil speaking Muslims from the Northern Province, an atrocious act amounting to ethnic cleansing. Within the next 24 hours, 72,000 Muslims were forcibly expelled from their homes of centuries. They were allowed to take only what they could carry in a shopping bag each. The tiny Muslim community, living on the Southside of Nagadeepa, also had to leave their houses. They were fishermen and lobster divers. The Loku Hamuduruwo told them not to leave. He promised them that with the support of the military, he would look after them and protect them. On the request of Loku Hamuduruwo, the Muslims decided to stay back. Even today, during the holy month of Ramadan, the first Iftar (meal to break the fast at Sunset) is organized by the Nagadeepa Buddhist temple with support of the Navy. Ethnic harmony on this tiny island is a great example to the whole country.





I am glad that our Podi Hamuduruwo is the high priest of Nagadeepa Purana Rajamaha Viharaya, today, after the demise of his teacher, 17 years ago. He is Praveenacharya Dhamma Keerthi Sri Venerable Nawadagala Padumakitti Tissa Thera, Chief Incumbent of Nagadeepa Purana Rajamaha Viharaya, Dambakolapatuna Viharaya and the Chief Sanganayaka of Northern Province. The priests (Loku Hamuduruwo and Podi Hamuduruwo) are national heroes. They never left the temple for their safety and comfort during trying times. They protected this holy Buddhist site, in the North, for future generations and looked after the inhabitants of the island. They encouraged us, gave us the morale and spiritual support to fight the terrorists and to protect the holy place.





Please visit Nagadeepa. The boat trip from Kurikadduwan Jetty, in Pungudutivu, to the Temple Jetty, in Nagadeepa, is enjoyable provided the sea is calm. Road connection from Jaffna town to Kurikadduwan Jetty is very good. You can visit the newly built three-story building in Nagadeepa Temple and the first-floor Museum, which provides information about how Ven. Randombe Somatissa Thera from Balapitiya visited Nagadeepa, in 1931, and found ruins of stupa and Viharaya, destroyed by the Portuguese and the Dutch and how he was supported by Tamil Buddhists in Nagadeepa in the task. Interestingly, some land deeds refers to the place as "Buddha Walluwa" (in Tamil, Buddhas land)."





Also, visit ancient Buddhist ruins of a stupa in Delft Island, where not a single Buddhist lives but well protected. Never forget, there are Tamil Buddhists also. The 2012 Sri Lankan census revealed that here are 22,254 Tamil Buddhists in Sri Lanka (roughly 1% of Sri Lankan Tamils in Sri Lanka). Ven. Buddhagosha Thera was a Tamil Buddhist monk. Venerable Bodhidharma, was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk from Kanchipuram, South India; he lived during the 6th Century.





(The writer retired from Sri Lanka Navy and he is Former Chief of Defence Staff, Sri Lanka )
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There arent a lot of volunteers trying to jump in the line of fire when it comes to being hit with the prongs of a taser, but two new Brownstown Township officers were willing to go down for the count.
Trenton police said human remains have been discovered in a fire pit at a house in the 5500 block of Wilson, a house recently owned by a man who died in a shootout with police in Tennessee late last month.

According to Steven Voss, director of police and fire services, Mark Alan Eberly, 57, sold the house and the new homeowners closed on the property in May.

Voss said there was at least one human skull found in the fire pit.

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It is too soon, according to police, to determine if there are more remains in the pit.

He lived there with a female, and were trying to locate her, Voss said.

The Michigan State Crime Lab was at the residence late Monday conducting an investigation.

Once we told them what we had and the circumstances, they came right away, Voss said.

Eberly had a few run-ins with Trenton police, but nothing that rose to the level of a felony.

After a brush with the law in Tennessee for driving with a revoked license, Eberly listed himself as homeless.

Just days later, he was pulled over by Tennessee Deputy Tim Tutor. When the deputy approached, Eberly suddenly opened fire, shooting the officer in the upper chest area.

Tutor had on a bulletproof vest and was not seriously injured, but returned fire.

Police in Tennessee's Cumberland County investigating the case said they could not confirm if the officer shot Eberly or if he died of a self-inflicted wound.

According to Sgt. Gary Howard, Cumberland County police information officer, the motive for shooting Tutor is unknown, but Voss said the discovery of human remains in Trenton might have had something to do with his state of mind at the time.

Suspect leads officers to Wyandotte mans body in Romulus hotel; he called police to explain The Romulus Police Department has confirmed that a 911 call led officers to a 39-year-old Wyandotte mans body inside a hotel.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, and Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, have been called upon to use their good offices to investigate the roles of Major General John Enenche and Major General Adeyemi Yekini on the planned genocide against the Tiv people of Taraba State.

The Tiv Youth Forum in Taraba State made the call on Saturday while addressing a news conference on the protracted crisis between the Jukun and Tiv in Taraba State.

They equally accused the Nigerians Army of unprofessional conduct in the crises.

The spokesperson and President, Taraba State chapter of the Tiv Youth Forum, Katyo Aondona, told newsmen: We specifically request that these two officers who are current serving as Coordinator of Defence Media Operations and Commander, Operation Whirl Stroke should be replaced immediately with more competent and professional officers.

The full statement at the news briefing:

Our attention has been drawn to the latest killing of Tiv people in Taraba State, more especially in Wukari, Takum and Donga LGAs by a combine team of Nigerian Army personnel and Jukun militias. It is in the light of the above, coupled with the unprofessional and unethical conduct of some personnel of the Nigerian Army that we wish to address this world press conference this morning. On the 29th June, 2020, upon the arrival of Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku in Takum for the local government elections, the first time since his inauguration for a second term in office, there was a bloody and coordinated attacks on Tiv villages of Tse-Juku, Tyomom, Akinde, Tse Kule, Utile and Ananum by a combine team of Nigerian Army personnel and armed Jukun militias.

The said attacks which lasted for over 24 hours led to the destruction of property worth millions of naira and not fewer than twenty-five (25) defenceless Tiv people including women and children were killed in a highly gruesome manner with several others sustaining varying degrees of injuries. It is unfortunate that immediately after these attacks, the military high command through the Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. John Enenche held a press conference acknowledging the attacks and applauding the army personnel for killing innocent and helpless civilians who have been tagged as criminals and bandits by Gov. Darius Dickson Ishaku and one Bako Benjamin, the self-acclaimed President of Jukun Development Association of Nigeria (JDAN) who is also the central coordinator of Jukun militias who are charged with the responsibility of totally evicting the Tiv people out of Taraba State.

We also wish to put on record that, these helpless and defenceless Tiv women and children were killed using heavy and sophisticated weapons which ordinarily shouldnt be used in civil situations. These are weapons that are meant to protect the citizenry, the personnel of the Nigerian Army who are supposed to protect and defend the citizens have rather availed themselves and are used by Jukun militias as tools and agents of destruction. WHAT AN UNFORTUNATE SCENARIO!

This is not the first time the personnel of Nigerian army are colluding with the Jukun militias to attack our people in Taraba State. Some Tiv communities such as Tor Iorshagher, Gborgbor, Ikyaior, Deke and Tse Dzor all in Wukari LGA of Taraba State were destroyed by personnel of Nigerian Army and Jukun militias in 2019. These attacks were masterminded and coordinated by one Major Salisu of 93 battalion Takum.

Similarly, the burning down of Ananum town in Donga LGA of Taraba State was also coordinated by one Lieutenant Oteke of the same 93 battalion Takum in which more than twenty-five (25) people were killed and property worth millions of naira destroyed during the attack.

Recall that, on the 7th August, 2019, three police officers of the IRT and a civilian who were on an official assignment from the Force Headquarters Abuja were killed by these same Nigerian Army personnel. The army claimed they were informed by residents that the police officers were kidnappers. Gentlemen of the press, this means that, the military high command have lost their intelligence gathering capacity and now resort to depending on residents and militias in gathering information and taking action even without verification. THIS IS STILL UNFORTUNATE. The Nigerian army high command must do something immediately to redeem its image in the eyes of the common man. The situation that led to the death of three IRT team members in Ibi last year is not different from the Tse-Juku case, and we demand a public apology from the army and compensation for the families.

Gentlemen of the press, immediately after the attack on Tse-Juku, the army officer who coordinated the attack called one of the resident of the area threatening him that they (the army) will be coming back to further destroy the entire community if his missing army personnel and weapons were not recovered. To any sane mind, this means the army knew the people they had attacked. If these people were bandits as claimed, the army officer wouldnt have made that phone call. Expect if the military high command is telling the whole world that their personnel have contacts with bandits and are at liberty to negotiate with bandits when then need arises.

We also wish to put on record that, Gen. John Enenches press release was a sham aimed at deceiving Nigerians that the army were performing their duties. If the said community is a criminal hideout as claimed, what about the women and children of less than ten years that were gruesomely killed during the said attack on Tse-Juku. There is a coordinated ethnic cleansing going on in Taraba State and the Nigerian army cannot claim ignorance of this fact.

Bandits does not exist in Taraba State, the and their governor are using these names to tarnished our good image to the general public, if there are bandits in the state then the Jukun are the one, because they are the one who have evicted the Tiv out of their ancestral homes in Taraba State. Since the arrest of Wadume last year in Ibi, more than eighty people in the state have been arrested, no single Tiv man or woman made Wadume list but to the Jukun all kidnapping activities in the state are done by Tiv.

On the part of His Excellency, Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku, it is rather unfortunate to have somebody like him governing our dear Taraba State. He has continually displayed nonchalant attitude towards governance. He was in Takum when the attack on Tse-Juku and other villages happened. He never found it a point of duty to visit those areas that were attacked, he never found it a point of duty to even condemn this dastardly act by his kinsmen and some personnel of the Nigerian army. He rather went on air to carelessly say that, bandits have taken over the Jukun-Tiv crisis. WHAT A CARELESS STATEMENT FROM A MAN WHO IS SUSTAINING HIMSELF WITH TAX PAYERS MONEY.

In enlightened climes, leaders are known for taking proactive and bold steps in addressing crises and emergency situations. For instance, the Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed has recently suspended the Emir of Misau and a Local Government Chairman for their role in the continued farmers-herdsmen crisis in their domain. In Taraba State however, Gov. Darius Dickson Ishaku have rather continued to reinforce the armed Jukun militia structure by revalidating the appointment of Daniel Adigrace, Shiban Tikari and Nashuka Ipeyen as Chairmen of Wukari, Takum and Donga local government areas respectively.

To Gov. Darius Dickson Ishaku, we still want to restate that, since he has chosen to pay the Tiv people of Taraba State evil for good, the blood of our great grand-parents, our fathers, mothers, wives, uncles, sisters and children that have being killed since the beginning of this crisis on 1st April, 2019 to date shall continue to haunt you and give you sleepless nights.

We call on President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, the United Nations, European Union and other International bodies to come to our aid as the Tiv people of Taraba State have being earmarked for total elimination and annihilation especially now that some personnel of the Nigerian army have chosen personal interest by conniving with Jukun militias rather than the national interest of protecting lives and livelihoods.

We equally wish to call on the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin and Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Yusuf Buratai to use their good offices to investigate the roles of Maj. Gen. John Enenche and Major Gen. Adeyemi Yekini on this planned genocide against the Tiv people of Taraba State. We specifically request that these two officers who are currently serving as Coordinator of Defence Media Operations and Commander, Operation Whirl Stroke should be replaced immediately with more competent and professional officers.

God bless you all.
As the genocide in Ambazonia territory of Southern Cameroun receives world attention, the United Nations Secretary General has called for immediate ceasefire between the government of La Republique du Cameroun (LRC) and the Interim Government of Ambazonia.

The call by the UN for a ceasefire is a confidence-building measure to create a viable environment for a successful and sustainable dialogue/peace negotiations proposed by H.E Sisiku AyukTabe and his Ambazonia team. In the light of the proposed ceasefire, the following should be considered as part of the conditions to successfully impliment a ceasefire.

1) The military should be ordered back to the barracks. This action will make it possible for our people who have been traumatised for years to be psychologically liberated and go about their businesses without fear of sudden aggression.

2) There must be consideration of unconditional release of all detainees and imprisoned as a result of this crisis as well as declaration of general amnesty to them.

3) The ceasefire process must factor a general amnesty to Ambazonians in the diaspora to visit home without embarrassment by La Republique du Cameroun (LRC) authorities.

4) The government should accept to participate in a genuine, open and inclusive dialogue without preconditions. They must provide timetable and venue in the presence of an independent and impartial mediators acceptable to both parties.
The rising disparity in education between those in the urban and rural areas in Nigeria has shown clearly that the lockdown order by the Federal government on schools is not the best option to address the challenges occasioned by Coronavirus in the system.

President Mohammadu Buhari had on 29th June, 2020, approved the recommendation of the Presidential Task Force on COVID19 (PTF COVID-19) on Safe Reopening of Schools for students in graduating classes (Primary 6, JS3, SS3). This is done in order to prepare the students for their examination and brige the gap created by COVID-19 in education.

In an attempt to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 in Nigeria, the Federal Government had in March, ordered the lockdown of schools and closure of many social platforms. This prompted some state governments to commenced digital lectures, while some private schools continue to teach their students online.

Unfortunately, because of the epileptic power supply and other inadequacies in the country, some students continue to stay at home without learning either online or offline. While some continue to advance in education.

This is complicated by the hardship caused by the lockdown on the economic activities due to the upsurge in the number of cases tested positive of the virus. In order to minimize the loss caused by this lockdown, some employers withheld the salaries of workers, placed some on half salary and in some cases disengaged some who happen to be the parents of these students.

Because of the paucity of funds, some parents could not afford to buy generator to power their television set. While those that have, struggle to fuel it. This has really affected the objective of the digital lectures, widen the education gap between students across the country and shows that the lockdown order in education will be counter-productive at the long run if not quickly replaced with a better method.

Infact, the rate at which coronavirus continues to spread worldwide shows clearly that the lockdown order in education is unsustainable because of the future effect on the students, country and the world at large.

For instance, the number of people that were tested positive of the virus in March when the lockdown order was seen to be the best solution was not up to 3 millions, today, it has passed 11 millions worldwide.

Most countries that started this lockdown order in education have replaced it with social distancing after realizing that coronavirus is not going to stop in the nearest future. This also should be adopted in Nigeria.

Though, looking at the shortage of manpower, dilapidated infrastructure and other challenges drawing back the wheel of education system in Nigeria even before the importation of coronavirus, it will be easy to jump to conclusion that social distancing might not work in the country. But the question barely comes to mind is: when is coronavirus going to end in Nigeria?

This is the reason social distancing method needs to replace the lockdown order in education before it will be too late. Social distancing will reduce the growing inequality in education and prevent mass failure in future.

To do this, the government needs to overhaul the education system by employing more teachers, divide the school hours into three section for instance, morning section, afternoon session and evening section. Make each section 3 hours in order to avoid break time and place the teachers on shift.

Send teachers above 50 years on compulsory leave and stop the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development from disengaging N-Power Volunteers because this the time we need more hands in education.

Organize meetings with stakeholders in education and put in place measures such as water point, sanitizers, among others in order to prevent the spread of the virus in schools.

Create temporary health centers in schools and ask those under the N-power health scheme to mount them so that they can be checking the temperature of the students as the come and leave the school premises on daily basis.

Set up monitoring team that will contain government officials, Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) members and people from the N-power Scheme to ensure compliance.

Use the fund budgeted for the home feeding programme to purchase face shade, nose mask and distribute them free to the students because the major disseater that needs urgent attention now in education is the lockdown.

Though, this would consume more money but it worth it, because the way covid-19 is growing in the country, it is obvious that the virus might not leave in the nearest future and if the lockdown order continues, there would be a lot of out of school children which will increase crime rate in future. This is because an idle mind is the laboratory of the devil.

Therefore, government should lift ban on schools and put in place measures that will engender social distancing, hygienic living among students, so that the nation will not because of the COVID-19 sow the seed of inequality which might increase different types of crime threatening the peace and unity in Nigeria.

Femi Oluwasanmi writes from Ibafo, Ogun State.
This is the weirdest presidential election I have ever seen. Its going to be less work for Museveni compared in the past. The opposition is all over the place. I have observed Peng Peng (based in Sweden) and Fred Lumbuye (based in Turkey) for some time. They make up stories, and love trading insults. Yesterday, they had a live video insulting Socialite Zari Hassan, Dr. Kiiza Besigye and several others. They said Besigye is sponsoring the extension of Musevenis term, as he negotiates a transition govt, as if Besigye brought Corvid. They apparently have no other ideas than those above. Their attempt to sound rational, while selling Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bad Bobi, is just part of their usual shtick. I wonder how long it will be before they can find something else to say. They love making up facts about people. They then believe their own fantasies. They often accuse others of being moles in opposition, yet, I remember, one of them (Peng) admitting to work for Brian White ( NRM) at some point, and having been paid for it.

Anyway, like many Bobis bloggers, anyone who disagrees with them falls into one of their little minds compartments listed above. Maybe these labels help them deal with a world full of people that they hate. Well Peng does have some affection for his juices and smokes. He is not completely loveless.

Peng Peng

Peng is like the spoiled child that never grew up. He thinks the only way to get attention is by acting out and in general being mean and shouting at everyone. Interestingly, a lot of Ugandans love and believe in his stuffI am just guessing, but I think maybe he has never garnered any attention in his life except by this method. There are always those types around. In real life we just walk away from them and try never to see them again. Here on Facebook, and WhatsApp, he can be a constant nuisance and he knows it and is unavoidable. His repertoire has become boring and damaging to the youths following him. Maybe he will come up with another original insult to Zari and Besigye, or someone else. It is boring. Spending three days to just say Zari is that, Besigye is a mole, e.t.c. Like I said, they have their own facts in their heads. They create them to suit their mood and anger. Maybe one of his juices can calm him down.

The really sad part is that most of Bobis bloggers try to sow discord among people who, for whatever reason, were getting along. What is the point? To win something or other? If you review their exchanges in this thread, or anywhere else, they personalize their remarks.e.g. they attack old people (age discrimination), insult families, body parts, e.t.c. They rarely discuss issues or attract people to their movement.

Insults are a sign of the degeneration of our morals not really desperation for change. Most young Ugandans cheer up those who kuwemula or use foul language. Enemies are made, friends are made. The difference is how they are made. Zari started off by appealing to Ugandans to look into candidates  credentials she didnt even mention a name, but PP have ended up making an enemy out of her. The derogatory element is in their hearts  almost said mind  which stipulates that everyone who disagrees with righteous Bobi Wine is evil, Muhozi or Museveni project, and thus only capable of derogatory terms.

It is sad that Ugandas largest problem now is the ignorance of the young generation. I used to look at poverty as our number one issue because it is so bad; but listening to Peng and the way he attacked Sister Zari, I realise that we have got a bigger problem as a country. Why should you insult anyone for not supporting someone you support, or for having a different viewpoint? Everyone has a right to their opinions and beliefs, right or wrong. Revolutions involve self-control and convincing people to your side Museveni was very good at it in the 1980s when Baganda were desperate for change.

The bottom line is that the People Power movement has been subjected to complete control by those who founded it and ran it, meaning anyone who might have a viewpoint differing from theirs is either a mole (as you keep referring to a lot of people) at the outset, or has to kowtow to the founders point(s) of view or be dismissed. So rather than being an all-inclusive group, its turning out to be a narrowly constructed social club, and if thats the best they can muster, good for them, they deserve a home and it isnt among normal (more or less) humans because clearly they are unable to interact rationally in a (more or less) normal environment. Bavuma buvumi bantu!
If someone is aggrieved by the work of justice expert Yasmin Sooka, is it wrong for the aggrieved party to seek justice against her? How can it be a threat to her life? In which book of law has it been said?





Editorial





There are people spreading outrageous lies about the lives of others to gain personal benefits. Once that ugly habit is revealed on the public domain, those people behave as ideological monsters. Then they will try their best to deceive the international community particularly those who are funding them. They will scheme to destroy the people who reveal the truth. This ruthlessness has transcended the boundaries of countries and the parameters of civilizations.





Yasmin Sooka

We have no personal issues with any of these people as we do not intend to disturb their liberty. But we have fundamental issues about acts of these people on common socio-political issues.





An open letter related to transitional justice expert Yasmin Sooka is being shared on social media networks. The letter was published by a group claiming to be standing for this expert Yasmin Sooka.





Alas..!





According to the letter, the Head of Sri Lankas State Intelligence Service has threatened her life and attempted to assassinate her character. We tried extremely hard to find the nature of the threat in the letter of demand issued by the head of Sri Lankas intelligence chief. But the letter by a group of human rights defenders, interestingly, reveals nothing about the threat but bragged about the noble and notable service of expert Yasmin Sooka.





Weve read about Yasmin Sooka as well as about the head of Sri Lanka's intelligence through media reports. We have no personal preference or displeasure with anyone. But the case is very important to understand the credibility of each party. Sooka represents the civil society and not hundred maybe thousands of NGOs and other social groups are behind her. The head of Intelligence in Sri Lanka as a common man who worked for the State is demanding justice.





As a transitional justice expert, Yasmin Sooka has held a variety of responsible positions. But how much respect she has for those positions is unclear. As we previously reported, there are questions about her nature of expertise. Some reports she has published about Sri Lankan affairs are false and ultra motivated with political objectives. She has also published inaccurate photographs of some targeted person. These are not small mistakes.





As an expert by all mean she has deliberately ignored that justice is all about fairness. How can one claim that she an expert injustice if she relies only on one side story? If you are an expert in any subject area you should prove it by your actions rather than by boasting or bragging about positions you have held. If you are a genuine expert you should come forward and prove it by yourself rather than using proxies to defend you.





Bottom line is that transitional justice expert Yasmin Sooka tries to avoid the real problem by stating that Sri Lanka's intelligence chief is threatening her. The strange letter published by a group of human rights defenders is nothing but a mask of an ugly face. This is very obscene.





Why cant she come forward to prove herself is clear than using proxies? If someone is aggrieved by the work of justice expert Yasmin Sooka, is it wrong for the aggrieved party to seek justice against her? How can it be a threat to her life? In which book of law has it been said?





In fact, according to the reports published in media, the Sri Lankan intelligence chief is demanding justice. Is it wrong? If you are a true expert on the said subject why cant you come forward and face the real issue without playing jiggery-pokery? If someone avoids the real problem by using the outsiders as her first line of defence and spreading lies instead of defending truth is nothing but a shameful to the very meaning of humanity.





Those who are standing for human rights or any related issues of human liberty have two main choices. Do you want to be a modern Goebbels disguised as human rights defender? Or, Do you want to stand with the principles of true reconciliation like how late-Mandela lived his life? The choice is yours!





If you have the desire to find a solution to the complex problems and crises in the world, the first and foremost step is to practice how to respect the truth. Please, don't try to live a life with a load of lies, because we have seen and experienced such putrid characters over and over again on the down lane of civilization. They have entertained their desires at the plight of humanity while exploiting great opportunities.





What the world needs is not hypocrites who have profound philosophical answers to the problems of others, but people who live in conscience who can produce credible social reforms. Kindly dont take this personal, but, if you are willing to, try to get the very crisis of principles we are questioning!
The Muslim Students' Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Unit has commenced a series of computer-based test (CBT) mock examinations for secondary school pupils.

In a statement, the Amir, MSSN Lagos, Dr. Saheed Ashafa said the mock examination was specifically designed for secondary school students (JSS and SSS) and scheduled to hold from July 6th to 10th.

The examination started on Monday, briefly before the Federal Government announced dates for 2020 WASSCE.

Ashafa noted that the initiative was intended to prepare the pupils ahead of their examinations.

He noted that MSSNLagos had academically engaged the pupils since schools were shut in the country.

The examination, he said, would also enable the organisers to assess the pupils on what they have been taught in the online classes.

He expressed the optimism that the mock examination would further "boost the pupils preparation for the forthcoming national and West African examinations respectively."

He noted that the calendar for the remaining activities of MSSNLAGOS Free Online Tutorials will run through Week 12 (June 22 - 26) covering lectures and Week 13 (June 29 - July 3), the last week of lectures.

According to him, "the mock examinations will hold on the Edmodo platform. To partake, you can sign up an account on Edmodo (in Play Store or visit edmodo.com) and join with any of the following codes if you haven't: JSS class: g5g7mt, Science class: xth9bg, Business class: jb63b5 and Humanity class: b5jgnd.

"To adequately revise and prepare yourself well for the examination, we have got "Success Box app" for you from Chronicles Software Development. You visit the link below to access it. It is free. (http://successbox.net/learningcontinues?gr=YWxpQGNocm9uaWNsZXNvZnQuY29t)

He urged participants to follow these steps to download the application:

i. Click on the link and make registration accordingly.

ii. Take note of and copy the "Activation code" on the successful registration page.

iii. Click on the download link on the page to download the app.

iv. Open and register it. Then upgrade with the "activation code" you copied earlier to allow you have access to questions.

Ashafa however, said that the MSSN Lagos learning platforms (Edmodo and WhatsApp) will still be left opened even after the examination to address any challenge pupils may have in their studies.

He asked students to access videos of MSSNLAGOS online tutorials through this link: https://sng.ng/MSSNLAGOS_tutorials
The State of Michigan has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Education Secretary Betsy Devos over a federal rule that would, allegedly, unfairly limit the ability of public schools to use federal funds provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

On Tuesday, the lawsuit, a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, was announced by Attorney General Dana Nessel, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenges the U.S. Department of Educations rule, issued July 1, which requires school districts to choose between two methods for allocating federal CARES Act dollars, which are mainly provided to cover expenses related to COVID-19 including personal protective equipment and technology for remote learning.

The U.S. Department of Education published an interim final rule on July 1 to clarify requirements for allocating CARES Act money to private schools, which contradicts CARES Act allocation requirements, according to the lawsuit. The federal rule required school districts to choose from two allocation options including: distribute funds only to Title I-participating public schools and allocate funds based on low-income enrollment and be subject to additional funding limitations or distribute funds based on total student enrollment in public and private schools, regardless of student need.

Nessel said DeVos has decided to use this public health crisis as another opportunity to advance her personal privatization agenda. The attorneys general of California, the District of Columbia, Maine, New Mexico, and Wisconsin joined Nessel in filing the lawsuit.

Instead of sending relief money to the students most in need as required under the CARES Act, she has abused the Department of Educations rule-making power to redirect money to private schools. At a time when Michigan schools are facing an unprecedented crisis, every single child deserves the chance to succeed. But, yet again, Secretary DeVos has decided to tip the scales in favor of private schools, leaving the States public-school students behind.

At the heart of the lawsuit, the states argue that the new rule unfairly allocates CARES Act dollars towards private schools, with more affluent students, and takes away funding from districts with higher numbers of low-income students. The CARES Act was originally designed to support schools with low-income students in public and private schools, with allocations based on the amount of Title I funding each state and school district received in the most recent fiscal year.

DeVoss interpretation not only contradicts the plain language of the CARES Act but could mean that  in districts with large private school populations  public schools serving low-income students would receive less relief money, which would instead be diverted to their private school peers, reads the lawsuit.

The CARES Act, approved by Congress in late March, allocated $30.75 billion for K-12 schools and higher education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately $13.2 billion was distributed to State Education Agencies (SEAs), such as the Michigan Department of Education, which received around $390 million. The SEAs are then charged with allocating those dollars to school districts, which distribute money to individual schools.

In response to the lawsuit, Angela Morabito, pres secretary for the U.S. Department of Education, provided The Oakland Press with this statement via email:

While the Department does not comment on pending litigation, the Secretary has said many times, this pandemic affected all students, and the CARES Act requires that funding should be used to help all students. There is no reasonable explanation for debating the use of federal funding to serve both public and private K-12 students when federal funding, including CARES Act funding, flows to both public and private higher education institutions.

David Hecker, president of AFT Michigan, said DeVos is trying to undermine public schools and ignore the needs of economically disadvantaged students. He added that the new rule ignores both the language and the spirit of the CARES Act and will make it more difficult for public school districts to provide the education all students deserve during these difficult times.

Dr. Michael Rice, State Superintendent, said actions made by DeVos would have diverted $16 million from public schools to private schools, adding its unacceptable, particularly in the midst of a pandemic and given a significant decline in state revenue.
Trenton police said human remains have been discovered in a fire pit at a house in the 5500 block of Wilson, a house recently owned by a man who died in a shootout with police in Tennessee late last month.

According to Steven Voss, director of police and fire services, Mark Alan Eberly, 57, sold the house and the new homeowners closed on the property in May.

Voss said there was at least one human skull found in the fire pit.

It is too soon, according to police, to determine if there are more remains in the pit.

He lived there with a female, and were trying to locate her, Voss said.

The Michigan State Crime Lab was at the residence late Monday conducting an investigation.

Once we told them what we had and the circumstances, they came right away, Voss said.

Eberly had a few run-ins with Trenton police, but nothing that rose to the level of a felony.

After a brush with the law in Tennessee for driving with a revoked license, Eberly listed himself as homeless.

Just days later, he was pulled over by Tennessee Deputy Tim Tutor. When the deputy approached, Eberly suddenly opened fire, shooting the officer in the upper chest area.

Tutor had on a bulletproof vest and was not seriously injured, but returned fire.

Police in Tennessees Cumberland County investigating the case said they could not confirm if the officer shot Eberly or if he died of a self-inflicted wound.

According to Sgt. Gary Howard, Cumberland County police information officer, the motive for shooting Tutor is unknown, but Voss said the discovery of human remains in Trenton might have had something to do with his state of mind at the time.

Suspect leads officers to Wyandotte mans body in Romulus hotel; he called police to explain

Ladder truck shielding Allen Park firefighters working on I-94 hit, but lives likely saved
City police are searching for a suspect after a purse snatcher robbed a woman on a walking path near Parkhill Road late Monday night.

It happened at about 11:50 p.m. when a man came up behind the woman, assaulted her and then grabbed her purse and fled south on the path, crossing Parkhill Road, police said.

The robber had a thick build, was taller than six feet and was wearing a dark hoodie and dark-coloured pants.

Anyone with information can call city police at 705-876-1122 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 or online at stopcrimehere.ca
Several townships in Peterborough County announced burn bans on Monday as hot, dry weather continued in the Peterborough area.

The high temperature reached 30.4 C, feeling more like 36 C with the humidex, on Monday afternoon at the Peterborough Airport.

High temperatures of 34, 31, 33 and 32 C are forecast for the next four days in Peterborough and the Kawarthas, although there is a 30 per cent chance of showers each day.

Peterborough has been under a heat warning from Environment Canada and an extended heat alert from Peterborough Public Health since late last week.

Selwyn, Cavan Monaghan, Douro-Dummer, Otonabee-South Monaghamn, Asphodel-Norwood, Havelock-Belmont-Methuen and North Kawartha all listed fire bans in effect as of Monday.

Selwyn is allowing small supervrised campfires, but fireworks and the burning of brush are not permitted until further notice.

Cavan Monaghan is also allowing campfires, but only between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.
A rally was held at City Hall on Monday by some business owners protesting confusion downtown after parking spaces were annexed to make way for patios to allow restaurants to serve customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About a dozen business owners and supporters rallied in front of City Hall over the recent narrowing of parts of George, Hunter and Charlotte streets.

The protesters were upset with how the city went ahead with the plans with what they said was little to no consultation.

They say the narrowing of the streets has limited foot traffic downtown this summer because of reductions to the parking out front of their brick and mortar stores that they depend on to make a living.

We are not saying as a group of people, tear everything out, said Mike Seeley, owner of The Antique Shop located at 277 George St. N.

We get the severity of COVID, we understand it. There are some places that are ludicrous, just nonsensical.

Bob Zipay, owner of Frameland Frame it for You located at 426 George St. N., said his business, among others, has probably lost about 50 to 60 per cent of business since the start of the modifications to the downtown streets.

A lot of customers are complaining about the time it takes for them finding a parking spot, Zipay said. Some people have to go around the block about three times until they find a spot.

Seeley said people are getting confused by the way George Street has been blocked off and it is going to cause more issues.

It has been a two-week experiment now, he said. People arent getting used to it, what people are doing is avoiding it, they are not coming downtown.

Seeley is not the only business owner who feels this way by the narrowing of the roads for more walking space for people who dont seem to be coming.

Zipay said hes had people come into his shop wanting to do more shopping in the downtown, but due to the confusion, they will not come back downtown until after everything is over.

We are definitely seeing a downturn in the number of people walking up and down the streets, he said. Most of these new lanes are being used by bikes, skateboards and e-bikes. There isnt a lot of people walking up and down.

Normally we would have a lot of walk-by traffic, Zipay said. Now it is none existent.

Seeley said now that the roads are closed, it is difficult for people and businesses.

We did zero yesterday, he said. We have been here 42 years, how much longer can it happen, not much longer.

People are not coming downtown, and I think this is contributing to it, he said. It is not the only factor, we get the COVID thing, we get there is no tourists coming, who is going to come for a vacation or for a day, what are you going to do. It is really difficult.

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Katharine LeClair, owner of Pipe Dreamz, located at 416 George St. N., said she is upset with how the city is dealing with the narrowing of the streets.

LeClair said she is disturbed by a statement Mayor Diane Therrien made after their last rally that she had spoken to the head of the DBIA about surveys being sent around to business owners.

Last time we did this the mayor was told by (DBIA executive director) Terry Guiel that we were all talked to about this, she said. They sent out all these emails and a survey and I havent talked to a single business owner that has received it. I definitely did not.
The John Howard Society wants to convert a large two-storey house on Stewart Street from its administrative offices into a group home, and councillors gave preliminary approval on Monday for a special zoning amendment to make it possible.

The approval was unanimous at the virtual committee meeting, but not final: a ratification vote at a council meeting is needed (the next virtual council meeting is July 27).

The house will accommodate seven to 10 men whove been released from jail as they transition back to community life, plus two staff supervisors who would be on-site 24 hours daily.

Coun. Keith Riel said the group home is long overdue in the city at a time or worsening opioid crisis.

Mayor Diane Therrien also spoke in support of the plan.

This will be a good addition to our community and help a lot of people, she said of the group home. Im happy to support this.

City staff recommended in a report that councillors grant a special zoning amendment  which is needed, to set up a group home of 10 people  because the home fills a need for specialized housing in the community.

They also recommend it because it is ideally located near downtown amenities such as transit and social services.

City subdivision planner Brad Appleby said at the committee meeting Monday that the city received one letter of concern about the proposed group home: the letter said it could decrease area property values because people wont want to buy or rent near a group home for ex-convicts.

But Appleby reminded councillors that the house will have 24-hour staff supervision. Planning consultant Kevin Duguay, the hired planner for the John Howard Society, said in the meeting that many group homes operate effectively in neighbourhoods.

One concerned citizen, Richard Barker, was expected to speak to councillors on Monday but was not present on the phone when it was his turn to speak.

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City council will be sending a letter to the Peterborough Police Services Board to ask who anonymously donated a light-armoured vehicle (LAV) to the service, what the ongoing maintenance costs will be for the LAV and how much it will cost to eventually replace it.

Peterborough Police recently accepted an anonymously donated LAV.

Coun. Dean Pappas made the motion under new business at a committee meeting late on Monday night because he wants details.

Pappas said he wants to know who made the donation, for example, since its not listed on the police website.

Pappas also noted that the city will be on the hook to maintain the LAV and to eventually replace it, so hed like to know those costs.

I think those are fair questions  and the citizens want the answers, he said.

The Examiner received several letters to the editor about the topic after police announced in June it was accepting the donation, with many citizens writing that its unnecessary to have a LAV in Peterborough and others supporting the need for it.

The police board also received letters from citizens concerned that a LAV is a step toward militarization of police.

But Coun. Lesley Parnell didnt see it that way on Monday.

This is a very generous gift to city police to protect us. This is not a weapon that will be used against us, she said.

Its very unfortunate this donation has become so political. If the donor wants to be anonymous, we have to respect that. Its from his or her goodwill.... It is a gift, we should not be alarmed... I dont really understand why Coun. Pappas brought this up.

Parnell was one of just two councillors who voted against asking the police board for more information. The other opposing vote came from Coun. Henry Clarke, a former police board member.

Clarke said he received training in what city council can ask of police and what it cannot ask  and council has no say in exactly how police chooses to spend its budget.

If Pappas wanted more information, Clarke said, he should have asked Coun. Gary Baldwin, the police board chair, in a phone call.

This is not the proper venue, Clarke said.

Baldwin said he could have told Pappas that the police board doesnt list donations on its website because donations are discussed in closed session.

Baldwin also said Pappas ought to know council has no input on individual item costs for police  and if he didnt know, he should have asked Baldwin instead of bringing it up the way he did in a meeting.

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But Pappas said that as an elected official, he has every right to bring out concerns in open sessions  and that he felt that in the interest of transparency hed bring forward his question in public rather than in a private phone conversation.

Mayor Diane Therrien, who is on the police board, didnt comment. She voted in favour of asking the police board for more information.
I am writing this letter as I cannot fathom how Peterborough Transit would change bus routes and stops that disadvantage certain segments of the population. I do understand that the transit system needed to change to a grid system as having all routes coming into the Simcoe Street terminal was not practical, especially during a pandemic. However, to completely remove some subdivisions from reasonably accessible transit disadvantages certain aspects of the population.

While I cannot comment on all of the route changes, I will comment on one. The part of Spillsbury Drive that runs from south of Sir Sanford Fleming Drive to Airport Road, was previously serviced by three bus stops. That meant residents, including seniors, young moms with strollers, students and disabled individuals only had to walk a maximum distance of approximately 300 metres to the nearest stop. I was appalled to discover that effective June 28, this area no longer had a reasonable distance to walk to the nearest stop.

One new stop at the corner of Sir Sanford Fleming Drive and Spillsbury Drive will have pedestrians needing to cross a busy intersection. Although there are lights, requiring pedestrians, especially seniors and young mothers with strollers to cross this busy intersection is more hazardous.

The new stop on the southbound side of Airport Road is definitely not user-friendly. This stop is forcing pedestrians to cross over Airport Road to either embark or disembark. Myself and other residents have complained to the police as traffic on Airport Road regularly travel at speeds well above the posted speed limit of 50 km/h, many at 80 km/h. Unlike the other stop, there is no crossing aid here. People will be jaywalking. At night, this will be a tragedy in the making. This is also a heavily travelled truck route. Furthermore, the area designated for this stop has no concrete landing, is almost in the farmer's field and the grass and foliage are quite high. I'm told there may be poison ivy there as well. This will become even more treacherous in the winter after snowplowing is completed.

Last year, two new bus shelters were constructed on Spillsbury Drive at Clancy Drive. These new stops were well needed as there are many Fleming students living in the area. The new stops came with new concrete pads and lighted shelters. Both were needed and the many students I saw getting on the bus in inclement weather appreciated them. Now they must walk almost 100 meters where there is no concrete pads and no shelters. What will become of these shelters? I'm incensed to think they will be removed after the monies that were spent on them.

School buses travel on Spillsbury Drive as we don't expect young children to walk across busy intersections. We shouldn't expect seniors, mothers with young children in strollers and physically and developmentally challenged folks to do it.
Kanye Wests Yeezy brand borrowed at least $2 million (U.S.) from the government to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, according to government data.

The streetwear brand Yeezy LLC was listed as being granted between $2 million and $5 million from the Paycheck Protection Program meant to help small businesses keep workers employed during the COVID-19 induced shutdown.

The revelation was made on Monday after the Small Business Association released a spreadsheet of all the companies that were granted more than $150,000 from the loan program.

Kanye West, who recently said hes running for president and previously claimed to be a billionaire, started the company in 2007. The spreadsheet showed that the fashion company out of La Palma, California, would use the forgivable loan to save 106 jobs. At the end of June, Yeezy and Gap announced a 10-year deal for Yeezy Gap apparel line.

Yeezy didnt immediately respond to request for comment.

The government-backed forgivable loan plan kicked off on April 3 and ran out of money less than two weeks later before the Trump administration sent out another round. The program initially faced backlash after billions of dollars went to big corporations, leaving many small businesses behind. Some big companies responded by returning the money.

On June 19, the SBA announced plans to release data on which companies received aid, how much they got and where they were located. Only businesses that received over $150,000 were included in the now-public list.

Lifting the veil on how the funds were allocated is meant to strike the appropriate balance of providing public transparency while protecting the payroll and personal income information of small businesses, sole proprietors, and independent contractors, said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin in a press release.

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CHICAGO - One of Chicagos bloodiest holiday weekends in memory ended with 17 people fatally shot, including a 7-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, and 70 more wounded, despite a concerted effort to quell the violence with an additional 1,200 police officers on the streets.

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 around 7 p.m. Saturday. Seven-year-old Natalia Wallace was standing on the sidewalk outside her grandmothers house in Austin on the citys West Side during a Fourth of July party when, according to police, shots were fired from a car. The child was shot in the head.

Natalias death came amid a spate of shootings around the United States that left 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.

The violence in Chicago and New York caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who tweeted: The federal government ready, willing and able to help, if asked. Later, he returned to a familiar theme, suggesting the shootings were related to their status as so-called sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants.

Perhaps they will have to start changing their ways (and thinking!) Trump wrote.

Reginald Merrill, 33, was charged with murder in Natalias death. He was in jail awaiting a bond hearing Tuesday. It wasnt known how many, if any, arrests have been made in the other weekend homicides.

The likelihood that other suspects remain at large points to a longstanding problem in Chicago: Law enforcements inability to bring more homicide suspects to justice. For years, the majority of homicides in Chicago have gone unsolved and the departments homicide case clearance rate is far lower than that of departments in Los Angeles and New York.

Last year, a police research group recommended significant changes in the way the department investigates homicides. It has implemented a number of the recommendations by hiring 300 detectives, expanding to five the number of centres where homicide detectives are assigned, and setting up a cold case unit in each of them. But after climbing to 49% late last year, the clearance rate has dropped to 39.9%  still higher than the 33% clearance rate of 2016.

While the department expects the rate to recover, Police Superintendent David Brown suggested Monday that a major hurdle is the failure of the countys criminal justice system to keep violent offenders behind bars.

Brown said the program in which detainees are fitted with electronic bracelets to monitor their whereabouts has been expanded so dramatically that it is now impossible to track them all.

Its clearly not working, he said.

Brown also lamented a drastic reduction in the number of inmates in the county jail, saying it has left Chicago and other communities at greater risk of violent crime. Even before the coronavirus prompted the release of more than 1,600 detainees, an order to judges to set bail amounts that defendants can afford resulted in a reduction of 1,500 detainees in 2017 alone.

We must keep violent offenders in jail longer, he said.

Witnesses are reluctant to come forward because of legitimate safety concerns when so many gang members are released shortly after being arrested, Brown said.

Gangsters threaten not just you if you come forward, they threaten your family, he said.

Police say warring gangs drive much of the citys gun violence.

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About three hours after Natalia was shot, a group of young men police believe are gang members jumped from a vehicle in the Englewood neighbourhood on the South Side and opened fire on a rival gang member.

They shot and killed him and they stand over him and keep shooting before fleeing in the car, Deputy Chief Brendan Deenihan told reporters Monday morning.

Fourteen-year-old Vernado Jones Jr., who was nearby, was fatally shot in the armpit.

He had nothing to do with gang-on-gang violence. He was not the intended target, Deenihan said.

Brown lamented the growing roster of the youngest victims.

We cannot get used to hearing about children being gunned down in Chicago every weekend, he said.

This year, the department counted the July Fourth weekend shootings from 6 p.m. 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 Chicago. Police statistics show there have been 32 homicide victims under the age of 18 this year compared to 20 by this point in 2019.

A week earlier, Chicagos 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 that pierced a window and struck her in the head as she sat on a couch at home.

Chicago has counted 1,782 shooting victims this year, 550 more than during the same period last year. And the weekend brought the number of homicides for 2020 to 353, which is 99 more than were recorded for the same period last year.
SEATTLE - A judge on Monday set a $1.2 million bail for the man accused of driving a Jaguar on to a closed Seattle freeway and hitting two protesters, killing one and seriously injuring the other.

Dawit Kelete, who is Black, drove the car around vehicles that were parked on Interstate 5 to protect a group of Black Femme March demonstrators, part of the Black Lives Matter movement protesting racial inequality and police violence. The car hit two people and sped away about 1:40 a.m. Saturday, police said.

Over the weekend, a judge found probable cause to hold Kelete on an investigation of vehicular assault.

But the King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office has yet to file charges against Kelete. It says its waiting for additional required information from the State Patrol.

A charging decision is expected by Wednesday afternoon, spokesman Casey McNerthney said.

Keletes lawyer, John Henry Browne, said the crash was a horrible, horrible accident and was not intentional.

Theres absolutely nothing political about this case whatsoever, Browne told The Associated Press. My client is in tears. Hes very remorseful. He feels tremendous guilt.

Kelete is originally from Eritrea and is a U.S. citizen, Browne said. He lives with his family in Seattle, and theyre very religious, he said.

Kelete was the owner of the Jaguar XJL and was alone in the car, according to a Washington State Patrol report submitted to the court late Saturday.

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.

Summer Taylor, a 24-year-old veterinary clinic worker, suffered critical injuries and died Saturday night. Diaz Love, 32, from Portland, Oregon, was in serious condition.

Im alive and stable, Love posted on Facebook late Sunday. 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.

Love also said: 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 yall are sending me.

After Kelete was stopped by state troopers, he agreed to take a field sobriety test for drugs and alcohol. The tests showed he was not impaired, the state patrol said.

The driver was reserved and appeared sullen throughout his time in custody, Trooper James McGuire wrote in the arrest report. At one point he asked if the injured pedestrians were okay.

Kelete, 27, was booked into the King County Correctional Facility on Saturday morning on two counts of vehicular assault.

Seattle has been the site of prolonged unrest following the May police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests. Dozens of people were arrested last week in connection with protests as demonstrations continued after authorities cleared the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone in downtown Seattle.

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The state patrol had closed a section of I-5 for 19 days in a row because of the protesters, troopers said. It had been closed to traffic for more than an hour before the crash.

The state patrol said going forward it wont allow protesters to enter I-5 and would arrest pedestrians on the freeway.
INDIANAPOLIS - The FBI said Tuesday its investigating the reported assault of a Black man by a group of white men at a southern Indiana lake.

Vauhxx Booker, a civil rights activist and member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, said the men pinned him against a tree, shouted racial slurs and one of them threatened to get a noose at Monroe Lake near Bloomington over the Fourth of July weekend.

Much of the assault was captured on cellphone video by Bookers acquaintances.

The FBI is investigating. We have no further comment, spokeswoman Chris Bavender said.

Bookers attorney, Katherine Liell, said the FBI was questioning witnesses and that charging decisions could be made soon.

We want this investigated as a hate crime. It was clearly racially motivated, Liell said. We will continue our quest every day until some justice is served.

Booker said hes pleased the FBI got involved.

Im sad that this happened, honestly, Booker said. I just wanted to have a good time with some friends.

Liell also complained that law enforcement officers with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources did not move rapidly enough in response to reports of the attack. She said their failure to make arrests at the scene warrants further investigation from other law enforcement agencies.

Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton said at the news conference that police continue to search for two people accused of knocking a woman unconscious and dragging a man with their car at a protest over the assault on Booker.

Police Capt. Ryan Pedigo told The Associated Press that the confrontation happened near the Monroe County courthouse in Bloomington on Monday evening.

A male passenger got out of a red Toyota car and went to move an electric scooter that had been left in the road near the protest site, Pedigo said. A 29-year-old woman approached the car and placed her hands on the hood, he said.

The driver accelerated into the woman, launching her onto the hood. A 35-year-old man then grabbed the drivers side of the car and held on as the vehicle continued to accelerate. Both were eventually flung to the ground and the car fled the scene, Pedigo said.

The woman was knocked unconscious and suffered a cut to her head, while the man scraped his arm. She was transported by ambulance to a hospital but her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, Pedigo said. Authorities have not released the identities of the injured nor said if they were participating in the protest.

The red Toyota has not been located and investigators are still trying to determine the identities and location of the male passenger and female driver, police said in a news release.

Several protesters provided police with cellphone footage, Pedigo said.

The event last evening is being actively and aggressively investigated right now, Hamilton said. We are taking whatever steps it takes to bring justice to that event.

The protesters had gathered in Bloomington, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) southwest of Indianapolis, to demand arrests in the assault on Booker.

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This story has been corrected to show that Chris Bavender is an FBI spokeswoman

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Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Theres a big pile of studies (and almost as many Star editorials) going back many years decrying the practice of streaming  making young teens choose between academic and applied tracks in high school.

They all come to the same conclusion: its unfair to make students as young as 13 or 14 commit to a path that will have a huge impact on whether they finish school or go on to post-secondary education, indeed what kind of life they will have.

Even worse, its a practice that reinforces some deep inequities in society. Those studies show it has a disproportionate impact on Black, Indigenous and poor students. It limits their opportunities now and in the future.

Ontario education ministers have been promising to do something about this for almost as long as the studies and editorials have been highlighting the problems. So its good to hear the current minister, Stephen Lecce, finally commit to ending streaming for Grade 9 students.

Lecce is expected to spell out his plan in more detail this week. Educators, parents and students will be listening carefully to make sure this isnt another vague promise, but a clear commitment with a definite timeline.

The early signs are good. In an interview with the Stars Kristin Rushowy, Lecce spoke out forcefully on the need to end streaming for students in Grade 9, the first year of high school. The time is now to end this practice, he said, and start giving racialized kids in schools a fair chance at success.

Importantly, the minister didnt stop there. He also promises to introduce a ban on suspending young students, from junior kindergarten up to Grade 3, to improve diversity in hiring and promotions, and to work with the Ontario College of Teachers to make it easier to hold educators accountable for racist words and actions.

All those would be important steps in fighting inequities in education. Black and Indigenous students are disproportionately targeted by suspensions, for example, and in one appalling case a six-year-old Black girl in the Peel District School Board was handcuffed and suspended.

Much will depend on the details of Lecces plan, and even more on how thoroughly and how quickly it is implemented. But it does show an awareness that ending streaming for Grade 9 students should be only one part of a wider vision for reform aimed at tackling racism and other systemic barriers in education.

The fact that almost half of Black students opt for applied courses in Grade 9 that limit their chances for future academic success is a problem in itself. But its also a symptom of other issues that hold them back even earlier and set them up for failure.

Those problems are, by their nature, deep-seated and difficult to tackle. But its encouraging that in the year since he took over the education portfolio Lecce has shown that hes prepared to take them on.

When the Peel school board stumbled repeatedly over problems involving racism, Lecce was quick to act. The boards leadership showed it was incapable of responding effectively, so the minister sent in reviewers and an investigator and finally put the board under provincial supervision last month.

This was a strong action  the first time the province has taken direct control of a school board for other than financial reasons. Lecces words, and especially his actions, showed he was serious about confronting deep-seated inequities that have plagued our school system for many years.

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He will have to challenge other parts of the system, as well, such as entrenched seniority rules that slow down efforts to get greater diversity among teachers and school principals. Teachers unions should work with the government to eliminate barriers to reform.

All this is a good beginning, but only a beginning. Expectations for change are high, and Lecce must meet them.
China censors Hong Kong internet, Taiwan fears it will be next

WORLD: China has unveiled new powers to censor Hong Kongs internet and access user data using its feared national security law  but US tech giants have put up some resistance citing rights concerns.

Chinesepoliticstechnology

By AFP

Tuesday 7 July 2020, 06:00PM

Certain political views, slogans and signs became illegal in Hong Kong overnight with the passage of Chinas new national security law for the city. Photo: AFP

The online censorship plans were contained in a 116-page government document released last night (July 6) that also revealed expanded powers for police, allowing warrantless raids and surveillance for some national security investigations.

China imposed the law on semi-autonomous Hong Kong a week ago, targeting subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces  its wording kept secret until the moment it was enacted.

Despite assurances that only a small number of people would be targeted by the law, the new details show it is the most radical change in Hong Kongs freedoms and rights since Britain handed the city back to China in 1997.

Late yesterday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke out against Orwellian moves to censor activists, schools and libraries since the law was enacted.

Until now, Hong Kong flourished because it allowed free thinking and free speech, under an independent rule of law. No more, Pompeo said.

Restore stability

Under its handover deal with the British, Beijing promised to guarantee until at least 2047 certain liberties and autonomy not seen on the authoritarian mainland.

Years of rising concerns that Chinas ruling Communist Party was steadily eroding those freedoms birthed a popular pro-democracy movement, which led to massive and often violent protests for seven months last year.

China has made no secret of its desire to use the law to crush that democracy movement.

The Hong Kong government will vigorously implement this law, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, the citys Beijing-appointed leader, told reporters today (July 7).

And I forewarn those radicals not to attempt to violate this law, or cross the red line, because the consequences of breaching this law are very serious.

With pro-democracy books quickly pulled out of libraries and schools, the government signalled in the document released on Monday night that it would also expect obedience online.

Police were granted powers to control and remove online information if there were reasonable grounds to suspect the data breaches the national security law.

Internet firms and service providers can be ordered to remove the information and their equipment can be seized. Executives can also be hit with fines and up to one year in jail if they refuse to comply.

The companies are also expected to provide identification records and decryption assistance.

Big tech unease

However the biggest American tech companies offered some resistance.

Facebook, Google and Twitter said Monday they had put a hold on requests by Hong Kongs government or police force for information on users.

Facebook and its popular messaging service WhatsApp would deny requests until it had conducted a review of the law that entailed formal human rights due diligence and consultations with human rights experts, the company said in a statement.

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, a Facebook spokesman said.

Twitter and Google told AFP that they too would not comply with information requests by Hong Kong authorities in the immediate future.

Twitter told AFP it had grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law.

Tik Tok, which is owned by Chinese company Byte Dance, announced it was pulling out of Hong Kong altogether.

In light of recent events, weve decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong, TikTok told AFP.

Tik Tok has become wildly popular amongst youngsters around the world. However many Hong Kongers have distrusted it because of its Chinese ownership.

ByteDance has consistently denied sharing any user data with authorities in China, and was adamant it did not intend to begin to agree to such requests.

In less than a week since the law was enacted, democracy activists and many ordinary people have scrubbed their online profiles of anything that China may deem incriminating.

Last nights document also revealed that judicial oversight that previously governed police surveillance powers in Hong Kong had been eliminated when it comes to national security investigations.

Police officers will be able to conduct a search without a warrant if they deem a threat to national security is urgent.

The new rules are scary, as they grant powers to the police force that are normally guarded by the judiciary, barrister Anson Wong Yu-yat told the South China Morning Post.

Were next

Meanwhile, the imposition of the sweeping national security law on Hong Kong has sent chills through Taiwan, deepening fears that Beijing will focus next on seizing the democratic self-ruled island.

China and Taiwan split in 1949 after nationalist forces lost a civil war to Mao Zedongs communists, fleeing to the island which Beijing has since vowed to seize one day, by force if necessary.

The law makes me dislike China even more, 18-year-old student Sylvia Chang told AFP, walking through National Taiwan University in Taipei.

They had promised 50 years unchanged for Hong Kong but they are getting all the more heavy-handed... I am worried Hong Kong today could be Taiwan tomorrow.

Over the years China has used a mixture of threats and inducements, including a promise Taiwan could have the One Country, Two Systems model that governs Hong Kong, supposedly guaranteeing key civil liberties and a degree of autonomy for 50 years after the citys 1997 handover.

Both Taiwans two largest political parties long ago rejected the offer, and the new security law has incinerated what little remaining faith many Taiwanese may have had in Beijings outreach.

Some now fear even transiting through Hong Kong, worried that their social media profiles could see them open to prosecution under the legislation.

The law makes China look so bad, distancing themselves even further from Hong Kongers, not to mention people across the strait in Taiwan, Alexander Huang, a political analyst at Tamkang University in Taipei, told AFP.

Hong Kong today, Taiwan tomorrow

Beijing has taken an especially hard line towards Taiwan since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), ramping up military, economic and diplomatic pressure.

Tsai views Taiwan as a de facto independent nation and not part of one China.

But the pressure campaign has done little to endear China to Taiwans 23 million people.

In January, Tsai won a second term with a historic landslide and polls consistently show a growing distrust of China.

A record 67% now self-identify as Taiwanese instead of either Taiwanese-Chinese or Chinese  a 10% increase on the year before  according to a routine poll conducted by the National Chengchi University.

In 1992, that figure was just 18%.

In recent decades Taiwan has morphed from a brutal autocracy into one of Asias most progressive democracies.

Younger Taiwanese tend to be especially wary of its huge authoritarian neighbour.

Social media is filled with messages of support for Hong Kongs democracy movement. Some back Taiwanese independence, or highlight Chinas rights abuses in regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang.

Wendy Peng, a 26-year-old magazine editor who said she often shared pro-Hong Kong democracy messages on social media, said she would now avoid visiting the city.

The national security law makes me wonder how far would China go. Right now I dont see a bottom line and theres probably none. I think its possible they will target Taiwan next, she said.

Universal jurisdiction

Pengs fears are not unfounded.

As well as allowing Chinas security apparatus to set up shop openly in Hong Kong for the first time, Beijings security law claims universal jurisdiction.

Article 38 says security crimes can be committed anywhere in the world by people of any nationality.

Hong Kong police have made clear that support for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet or Xinjiang independence is now illegal.

University employee Patrick Wu, 31, said he would now avoid even transiting through Hong Kong.

Its like a blanket law, whatever China wants to define and interpret, he told AFP. I dont know if the Likes or messages I have left on social media will be prosecutable.

Last week Chen Ming-tong, the minister for Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council, accused Beijing of aiming to become a supremely powerful heavenly empire by ordering subjects all over the world to obey its law.

Lin Fei-fan, deputy secretary-general of the ruling DPP, warned that regular Taiwanese people might now face arrest in manufactured cases if they went to Hong Kong.

He cited Chinas jailing of Taiwanese NGO worker Lee Ming-che under the mainlands own subversion laws.

Lee was arrested in 2017 during a trip to the mainland and held incommunicado for months before his eventual fate was made public.

Sung Chen-en, a political commentator and columnist in Taipei, said Beijings new security law creates a great uncertainty about what can be said far beyond Hong Kongs borders.

If everyone is watching his own expression of opinions, it creates a chilling effect on democracy, he told AFP.

If everybody is exercising constraint, there is no freedom at all.
HK government tells schools to remove books breaching security law

WORLD: Hong Kongs government yesterday (July 6) ordered schools to review and remove any books that might breach a sweeping new security law that Beijing imposed last week on the restless city.

Chinesepolitics

By AFP

Tuesday 7 July 2020, 10:02AM

Hong Kongs libraries said they were also pulling titles deemed to breach the law for a review. Photo: AFP

In accordance with the four types of offences clearly stipulated in the law, the school management and teachers should review teaching and learning materials in a timely manner, including books, the Education Bureau said.

If they find outdated content or content that may concern the four aforementioned offences, they should remove them, the bureau added.

Last week China enacted a security law outlawing four national security crimes: subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.

Authorities promptly declared political views espousing independence or self-autonomy would be viewed as illegal under the new law.

Rights groups and legal analysts have warned the broad wording of the law, which was kept secret until it was passed, would have a chilling effect of political freedoms in the semi-autonomous hub.

The order for schools to review and remove any contraband books comes two days after Hong Kongs libraries said they were also pulling titles deemed to breach the law for a review.

Among those withdrawn from shelves was one by prominent activist Joshua Wong, another by pro-democracy lawmaker Tanya Chan and multiple other titles written by Chin Wan, a scholar who is seen as the godfather of a localist movement advocating greater self-determination for the city.

Hong Kong has some of Asias best universities and a campus culture where topics that would be taboo on the mainland are still discussed and written about.

But Beijing has made clear it wants education in the city to become more patriotic especially after a year of huge, often violent and largely youth-led pro-democracy protests.
Phuket Town Mayor Somjai praises reopening of Lard Yai walking street

PHUKET: Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana has praised the reopening of the Lard Yai Walking Street Market, saying the return of the popular market will help local residents and vendors regain a form of income.

Tuesday 7 July 2020, 12:21PM

The market reopened on Sunday (July 5), with Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew as the guest of honour at the reopening ceremony.

The Lard Yai Walking Street market was just one of the major mass-gathering events across the island that were cancelled or postponed in March to help stave off the spread of the COVID-19. Also announced as cancelled at the time were the official Songkran Thai New Year festivities in Patong, along with the annual Phuket Bike Week event.

The reopening on Sunday saw all visitors and vendors abiding by the new normal health regulations.

All people entering the market must register their attendance at the market, either through the Thai Chana online platform or by filling out a registration attendance form. All visitors and vendors must also wear a face mask, and keep at least one metre distance from each other. They must also have their temperatures checked and alcohol gel is provided for visitors to cleanse their hands before being allowed into the market area.

Mayor Somjai pointed out that the market has been held every Sunday since its launch on Sept 2, 2013

The Phuket Old Town shopping area covers approximately 210 rai in the heart of the old town area, including Thalang Rd, Soi Rommani, Yaowarat Rd, Krabi Rd, Dibuk Rd, Phang Nga Rd, Rassada Rd and a part of Thepkrasattri Rd and Phuket Rd. she said.

The area was declared a Fine Arts Environmental Conservation Area in 1992, she added.

Phuket Walking Street Market was created to highlight the continuous development and conservation of ways of life, traditions, and valuable architecture in the area, and has now become a major attraction for tourists and local residents alike, Mayor Somjai explained.

Making Phukets Old Town area known to both Thai and foreign tourists stimulates the economy and income distribution. It helps to build tourism, she said.

Mayor Somjai called for people to join the market, to create a community economy together.
Taweesilp frets as survey shows Thais relaxed about virus risk

THAILAND: The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) yesterday (July 6) warned there was still a risk of new COVID-19 infections, citing the fact that more than 3,000 illegal migrant workers have been caught trying to sneak into Thailand.

CoronavirusCOVID-19healthSafetyimmigration

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 7 July 2020, 08:58AM

Tourists enjoy a day out at the Dream World amusement park in Pathum Thani province. Photo: Apichit Jinakul.

The warning came despite the fact that Thailand yesterday recorded its 42nd consecutive day in which there have been no new local transmissions.

More than 3,000 illegal migrant workers had been detained while attempting to sneak into Thailand over the past month alone, said CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin, citing a report supplied by security authorities.

Many of them had been caught and detained by the Immigration Bureau, including some who had made their way into the inner provinces, while some had been sent back to their own countries, he added.

So, while travelling during this long holiday, it is very important for everyone to never down let his or her guard [against COVID-19] as more of those who illegally entered the country may be around you, said Dr Taweesilp.

He also responded to findings from a new survey conducted by Suan Dusit Poll, which showed that two-thirds of people were feeling relaxed about the COVID-19 situation.

He said that was worrying and everyone was still being urged to wear face masks, wash their hands frequently and maintain social distancing until an effective vaccine was found.

As for the governments programme to allow in foreign patients seeking treatment for non-COVID-19 conditions, he said a total of 1,169 such people from 34 countries and 1,521 accompanying friends and family had registered to visit Thailand for such a reason over the next three months.

All of those people would be required to prove that they had tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of leaving their countries, plus undergo a mandatory COVID-19 screening test at the airport upon arriving in Thailand to confirm they were still free of the virus and stay in hospital for at least 14 days before leaving, he said.

I would like everyone to believe in the safety standards of this system, which will help reinvigorate the countrys economy, he said.

Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said three patients  from Myanmar, the Maldives and Qatar  had arrived in Thailand under the medical programme in the first five days of July.

The CCSA yesterday reported five new confirmed COVID-19 cases  four Thai men and a Thai woman who had returned from Kuwait.

As the number grows of Thais left stranded overseas due to COVID-19 lockdowns, there has been a call for priority to be given to repatriate 49 Thai nationals now stuck in the UK and needing urgent medical care.

The CCSA is trying to coordinate with British authorities to give precedence to those in most urgent need, said Dr Taweesilp.
Southern Pines, NC (28387)

Today

Showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 78F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Cloudy skies after midnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
The coronavirus vaccines have been hailed as a "light at the end of the tunne" that will bring finality to the ongoing pandemic. Millions of Americans plan to take the vaccination, but many others are skeptical and may opt against it.

You voted:
J.T. Fey

Public Opinion Staff Writer

Wages and benefits of Codington County employees wont be studied perhaps for the rest of the year.

On a split vote Tuesday, county commissioners defeated a motion to spend $25,715 for a wage and benefits study from McGrath Human Resources Group of Wonder Lake, Illinois.

Commissioners Troy VanDusen, Charlie Waterman and Myron Johnson each spoke and voted against a motion by Lee Gabel to approve a contract with McGrath. Gabel and Brenda Hanten voted in favor.

Gabel and Hanten both pointed out that the county is overdue for a wage study, with the most recent one being done in 1997. Gabel said he had been contacted by some employees interested in knowing how their wages compared with those of employees of similar-sized counties, and he also said that the study would be only a recommendation to the commissioners, and not a mandate.

Johnson and VanDusen didnt disagree that a study needs to be done.

Were in the middle of a pandemic, VanDusen said. Im not saying our county employees dont deserve to be compensated. Im saying this isnt the right time.

VanDusen said the City of Watertowns recent wage study left many city employees unhappy with the results, and Johnson said the last county wage study also had a similar effect on county employees.

The county has 92 full-time employees and another 50 part-time, including those who serve on boards and commissions.

No vote was needed with the commissioners decision to abandon their efforts to retrieve funds they believe are owed to the county and the City of Watertown by Dakota Sioux Casino.

A dispute arose in 2019 between the county and city on one side and the DSC on the other. The county maintained the emergency services and road repair costs provided to the casino were governed by a memorandum of understanding and based on the number of slot machines. Casino officials said the costs were regulated by a compact it had with the State of South Dakota, and that recent declines in gaming revenues lowered those costs owed by the casino.

The bottom line is that the county maintained it was owed about $250,000 from the casino for 2019 and 2020. Casino officials were offering to pay $90,000.

Its time to move on, said Johnson. Its time to take what theyll give us and run with it.

Roberts County officials have also accepted the payments from the casino.

The commissioners will request that States Attorney Becky Morlock Reeves and City of Watertown Attorney Matt Roby to draft a letter works out the details updated payments from Dakota Sioux officials.

The side-dump trailer requested by County Highway Superintendent Rick Hartley has been put on hold. Hartley provided three proposals at the June 23 meeting and said he needed more time to study the different specifications.

At Tuesdays meeting Hartley said he preferred a Trail King trailer offered by Butler Machinery of Sioux Falls. Waterman asked about a Demco trailer offered by Peterson Motors of Watertown, which brought about a detailed comparison of specifications and actual prices.

Hanten said the conversation had gotten confusing and said perhaps bids should be taken. Hartley agreed.

Rick, isnt this an emergency? Waterman asked. Hartley said it was but he could hire the work done for the time being.

The commissioners also:

 Heard from Emergency Management Director Jamie Torstenson that his sources are saying the fire risk in the county remains low and thus no burn ban is needed. Reports were also provided by Becky Goens and Jodi Loehrer of the Extension Office, Sarah Peterson of the Welfare Office and Todd Rose of the Veterans Service Office.

 Approved 5-0 a final agreement that turns over human resource and contract negotiation duties to Multi Business Solutions of Fergus Falls, Minn.

 Approved 5-0 to apply for a potential $1.8 million grant from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The county must provide coronavirus-related expenses to the state and federal governments. Those expenses will include approximately $900,000 in salaries from the Sheriffs Office.

 Approved 5-0 fireworks discharge requests from Kathleen Dagel in Waverly Township on July 10 and Darci Thronvold in Elmira Township on July 11.

 Approved 5-0 a contract with Banner Engineering of Brookings to establish 2020 haul road agreements with contractors building wind towers in Codington County.

 Approved 5-0 to provide a National Association of Counties Leadership Academy scholarship to an interested county employee. There is no cost to the county.
Staff Reports

Watertown Public Opinion

The Mellette House is the latest Watertown attraction to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restored home of South Dakotas first governor, Arthur Mellette, will not be open to public tours this summer, according to Prudy Calvin, president of the Mellette Memorial Associations volunteer board of directors. The Mellette Memorial Association is the nonprofit group that maintains the Mellette House.

People are not traveling this summer as they usually do, Calvin said. No attraction in town has group tours booked. Visitors are just not interested in being in a bus and traveling.

Calvin also noted that it would be difficult to maintain proper social distance during tours of the house, especially the upstairs.

The closure will be difficult for the Mellette Memorial Associations finances because donations from visitors are needed to meet ongoing expenses. Even when closed, the 135-year-old Italianate-style house requires continuous maintenance.

We also continue to have expenses such as utilities, yard care, etc. Calvin said.

Donations to the Mellette House may be sent to: Mellette House, PO Box 212, Watertown, SD 57201.

The Mellette House, at 421 Fifth Ave. NW, on Prospect Hill, would normally be open daily (except Mondays) from May 1 to Oct. 1
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.
Cal Thomas

Syndicated Columnist

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.

DC, 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.

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 DC, 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 Trump would certainly veto it. The prospect of DC 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.

Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist based in Washington D.C. His columns are distributed by Tribune Content Agency. Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.
KITCHENER  A Kitchener man is facing a dangerous driving charge after police say he drove aggressively around officers, and attempted to drive into a cruiser with his car.

Police media spokesperson Cherri Greeno said officers pulled a car over near Westmount Road and Karn Street at around 1 a.m. Sunday. The driver was ticketed for not having their headlights on.

Officers then pulled into a nearby lot near to complete their notes when car they pulled over, a white Mazda 3, showed up again and drove at them aggressively and then parked behind them, Greeno said.

Officers began to drive away when they heard what they thought were gunshots, she said. The sounds may have been fireworks.

Officers at the scene called for assistance and when the backup arrived, the suspect drove at that cruiser head-on.

Those officers were able to manoeuvre around the vehicle to avoid a collision.

The suspect then did a U-turn and followed officers in an aggressive manner until stopping at a Husky gas station at the Victoria Street and Westmount Road, she said.

Police surrounded the vehicle and initially the suspect would not get out, Greeno said. When officers eventually got the suspect out, they moved in to arrest him quickly, working under the assumption that he had a gun.

No weapons were found.

The suspect was refusing to comply with the arrest and was being assaultive toward officers, Greeno said. No officers were injured during the arrest and eventually the man was taken into custody.

A 38-year-old Kitchener man is facing a charge of dangerous driving.

A video of the arrest was captured by bystanders from the other side of Westmount. It shows the accuseds vehicle parked at the gas station and police approaching with guns drawn. Officers call for the man to get out of the vehicle but he doesnt.

The bystanders say they know the man and tell officers he suffers from a mental illness. An officer in another video said the man in the vehicle fired two shots at a cruiser.

Eventually police surround the car and pull the accused out. After a brief struggle on the ground, hes taken into custody.

The crowd of people filming the arrest protested loudly against police while the accused was on the ground.

Tweets from members of the Somali community criticized police for the way they handled the arrest, calling for more mental health training for officers.

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Greeno said this call began as a traffic stop, not a mental health call.

Efforts were made to speak with witnesses of the arrest, but these were not immediately successful.
KITCHENER  An informal settlement for the homeless will be allowed to stay at an industrial site for up to one year, even though it doesnt meet current zoning rules.

Kitchener council voted unanimously Monday to allow the so-called Better Tent City to stay at Lot42, a 17-acre (seven-hectare) event site at 41 Ardelt Pl. in Kitchener. The settlement was created in mid-April as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which left the homeless unable to self-isolate or shelter in place.

Council also voted to have staff investigate which city-owned properties could be used for similar temporary shelters, until more permanent housing becomes available.

Coun. Debbie Chapman, who sits on the committee working on the citys affordable housing strategy, said with anywhere from 250-750 homeless people in the region, more creative housing is needed.

Without temporary homes like those at Lot42, these people would otherwise be moved from one (tent) encampment to another to another, she said. This gives them a roof over their heads, which gives them a better chance to get their feet back on the ground and get the supports they need.

About 20 people live in 12 one-room cabins, with another 18 or so tenting inside the Lot42 building, which also provides washrooms for residents. The settlement was set up by Lot42 owner Ron Doyle with the help of Jeff Willmer, a former city planner who retired as the top bureaucrat at the City of Kitchener in 2017.

The site is zoned heavy industrial, and residential uses arent allowed. But council voted not to have the city enforce its zoning bylaw on the site for one year. It also approved spending up to $5,000 for an architect or engineer to inspect the site and ensure it meets safety requirements.

In a letter to council, Willmer calls the project a success so far.

The community provides a safe place to be for those who might otherwise be tenting in urban woodlots or parks, or living rough under a bridge, or sleeping in the doorway of a downtown business. Now that they are living at Lot42 each of these people already feels more like a person and less like a problem. They are willing to help out where needed and feel good about contributing to a place of their own, he said.

Residents manage the site with no paid staff. The residents work together to keep the premises clean and orderly, and are responsible for managing the community much like a family or a co-operative.

Before the year is up, the city wants a plan for a more sustainable housing solution, worked out with the region and other community agencies.

Our intent is to find a roof over everyones head before the winter, said Karen Cooper, who is leading the citys affordable housing strategy.

At the end of the year, Willmer says, the city and site organizers can evaluate the project, see if its still needed, and work to find other possible sites or managers. Organizations in Canada and around the world are asking about how this project is working, he said.

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Those lessons will be valuable, said Coun. Sarah Marsh, noting that inevitably there will be some opposition, no matter where such temporary housing is located.

More details on the affordable housing strategy are expected in September.
KITCHENER  Police are looking for a suspect in a robbery at Greenfield Avenue and Kingsway Drive in Kitchener.

A group of male teenagers robbed another teen at knifepoint at 2 a.m. on Monday, said Waterloo Regional Police.

Two people have been arrested and police continue to look for a third suspect.

Police describe the suspect as a male in his teens who is five feet nine inches tall with a thin build and curly hair. He was wearing a black shirt, grey pants and a face mask.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 519-570-9777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
KITCHENER  An investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving an inmate and a correctional officer at Grand Valley Institution for Women has led to an arrest.

On May 20, Waterloo Regional Police was contacted by the prison regarding an allegation of a historical sexual assault involving an inmate and a correctional officer, said police, noting the special victims unit led the investigation.

Police say the alleged sexual assault occurred in 2016 on a date between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31.

On July 1, a 56-year-old male correctional officer was arrested and charged with sexual assault. He will make his first court appearance in August.

The correctional officer has not been in the workplace since 2017, said Correctional Service Canada (CSC) spokesperson, Kyle Lawlor, in an email.

The CSC said it will continue to work with police throughout the investigation.

CSC employees are expected to carry out their duties with professionalism and consistently with our policies and mission  and of course, the law, said Lawlor. Offenders have a number of avenues to report inappropriate behaviours from staff, whether they are a victim or a witness. We do not tolerate any breach of our policies and all allegations are thoroughly investigated regardless of the source.

The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, which advocates for women in the justice system, said it learned of the charge on Tuesday.

For years, CAEFS has been calling attention to how the power structures inherent to the prisons make those held inside incredibly vulnerable to abuse by CSC employees, Emilie Coyle, the associations executive director, said in a news release.

This is particularly concerning for incarcerated women as most of them have experienced abuse prior to their prison sentence, including sexual abuse, and have extensive histories of trauma which is further perpetuated through their experience of incarceration.

The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said it is not commenting on the matter.
QUEENS PARK  The introduction of a seniors advocate in Ontario is the goal of a private members bill tabled Tuesday by Laura Mae Lindo, member of provincial parliament for Kitchener Centre.

An official announcement from Lindo and a group of interested stakeholders is expected Wednesday.

The bill comes in direct response to the devastation left by COVID-19 in the provinces long-term care homes, backed specifically on Lindos experience working with residents and staff at Forest Heights Revera through the pandemic.

The Kitchener facility, which was the hardest hit home in Waterloo Region, saw 178 cases in residents, 73 in staff and 51 deaths. Forest Heights officially declared the outbreak over on June 30.

From every person that Ive spoken to, nobody is happy with what happened to people in long-term care homes and to their families, said Lindo. I dont think anybody from any side would stand up and say you know what, people shouldnt have an independent place to raise issues.

The advocate, functioning as an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, would be expected to monitor the provision of seniors services, analyze the policies of the provincial government and advocate in the interests of seniors.

The position would be appointed by the assembly for a five-year term, with the option of reappointment.

Lindo said Tuesday the bill borrows from the protocols set out for the British Columbia Seniors Advocate, which was introduced in that province in 2013.

The bill would allow the advocate to advise the minister, public officials and people who fund or deliver services on matters related to seniors. The advocate would also be responsible for an annual report, made available to the public through a website, and sent to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to bring before the assembly.

Any report under this section may include recommendations relevant to preventing and mitigating the systemic challenges faced by seniors, the bill reads.

The advocate would also be allowed to create an advisory council.

After tabling the bill on Tuesday, Lindo will likely be forced to wait until the house officially resumes  expected this fall. Procedure follows that Lindo will be notified of her position on the docket to discuss the bill, which functions as its first reading and introduction. The bill will then need to be debated and pass through second and third readings before making it to royal assent.

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Theres an urgency to table the Seniors Advocate Bill now because I hear from a lot of medical doctors, personal support workers and nurses that were in the preparation mode for the second wave (of COVID-19), said Lindo.

There hasnt been a pandemic that hasnt had a second or third wave. So, I want to table this now so we have the opportunity to debate these things.
OTTAWAChinas ambassador to Canada said Canadians should prepare for retaliation after Ottawa protested the Asian nations security crackdown in Hong Kong.

In an exclusive interview with the Star, Ambassador Cong Peiwu accused the Liberal government of interfering in Chinas internal affairs by suspending the Canada-Hong Kong extradition treaty and stopping military and dual-use exports to the city.

Cong was reiterating and reinforcing the official line from Beijing. On Monday, a spokesperson for Chinas Foreign Ministry condemned the Canadian response, reserved the right to further react, and warned Canada would bear the consequences.

Id like to suggest you just wait and see, Cong said when asked what specific consequences Beijing was contemplating.

As I have told you, we are resolute in safeguarding our national security and sovereignty. We will not just sit idly by.

It was another in a growing list of warnings and retaliatory actions made against Canada by the Chinese government, which is facing international condemnation for a draconian new national security law imposed on Hong Kong. The new law, which came into effect last week, gives Beijing more power to silence political dissent, as well as limit the activities of non-governmental organizations, media and foreign governments in Hong Kong.

The Canadian government condemned the crackdown, and on Friday announced it was suspending its extradition agreement with Hong Kong, as well as military or dual use exports  such as equipment used by police to quell pro-democracy demonstrations in the city.

Canadas foreign affairs minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, has accused the Chinese government of coercive diplomacy and arbitrary detention  a reference to Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who have languished in Chinese detention for more than 570 days and are now facing espionage charges. In a move widely seen as retaliation, they were detained by Chinese authorities just days after Canadian police arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in December 2018.

But Beijings aggressive diplomatic posture is yielding diminishing returns, according to Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a University of Ottawa professor and former civil servant who worked on Canada-China relations.

McCuaig-Johnston said China has taken a similar approach with Canadas allies  including the U.K., U.S., France, Germany, and others  trying to mute criticism on everything from human rights to Huawei to Hong Kong.

I think they are overplaying their hand, McCuaig-Johnston said in an interview.

Western countries are not amused by these kinds of threats. Thats why some of the threats are very specific, like threats to Germanys auto industry if they dont (allow) Huawei (into 5G networks), threats to stop work on building nuclear reactors and high-speed rail systems in the U.K.

For countries like Canada, there are quite a few ways they can hurt us  through their companies, by kidnapping our citizens  but I think Canada and other countries are working more closely together to collaborate on common approaches, McCuaig-Johnston said.

Champagne told the Star in an interview Friday that Ottawa is working on a new framework for Canada-China relations based on clear rules and standards, Canadian interests, and values and principles including human rights.

But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government have repeatedly said that securing the release of Spavor and Kovrig is their top priority.

Detained shortly after Mengs arrest, the two were held without charges for more than a year. In June, Chinese authorities announced both men would be charged with stealing state secrets.

Meng faces possible extradition to the United States, where the high-powered telecom executive is wanted on fraud charges.

On Tuesday, Cong repeated lines from the Chinese government suggesting the facts of the cases against Kovrig and Spavor were clear  despite Chinese authorities releasing almost no facts about what the two men are alleged to have done.

Kovrig and Spavors extended detention  it could still be years before they face trial  has led some prominent Canadian political figures and legal thinkers to argue that Canada should engage in a prisoner swap: the two Michaels for Meng. Others, including Canadas former ambassador to China, David Mulroney, have argued that would encourage more hostage diplomacy from Beijing.

Asked repeatedly about the issue Tuesday, Cong kept returning to what China views as the political nature of the fraud charges against Meng.

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So my suggestion and my hope is that the Canadian side will reflect on its policy and it will take measures to correct the political decision (and) release Meng as soon as possible, Cong said.

Because we believe that is the main obstacle in our bilateral relationship. And so that means we can bring our relations back on track.

When asked if Canadians should take that to mean releasing Meng would put an end to Chinas retaliatory actions, Cong said: if Canada takes the measures to remove the main obstacle, the Meng case, it helps our relationship to be back on track, and thats conducive to the great potential of our co-operation.

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Hamilton is following the lead of other municipalities in making masks mandatory in public indoor spaces to curb the spread of coronavirus.

A bylaw is heading to Fridays board of health discussion. If it passes there, it will require a final nod of approval by council July 17.

I expect that council will unanimously support this going forward, but I know that theres broad community support for this as well, Mayor Fred Eisenberger said Tuesday.

The bylaw aims to make masks obligatory for everyone except children under the age of two and people with underlying health conditions that prevent them from covering their faces.

Eisenberger said the legislation would include commercial areas, retail spaces, places of worship and public transit.

This may be our new paradigm, new norm.

Its already taking root in other Ontario municipalities.

On Tuesday, regulations making masks mandatory in indoor spaces in Toronto took effect after that city passed a bylaw last week.

Burlington civic leaders expect to discuss a proposed mandatory mask bylaw Thursday with a final vote at council July 13.

Thats also when a health unit order requires face-coverings in public indoor spaces in Simcoe County and Muskoka.

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamiltons medical officer of health, said strong evidence in recent weeks showing that masks help reduce virus spread convinced officials to recommend the proposed bylaw.

Some additional studies have continued to come out that suggest that masks do make a significant difference.

Richardson described masks as a form of source control, which means, my mask is protecting you and your mask is protecting me.

If approved, the mask bylaw would add teeth to a policy since June 22 that required most transit riders to wear them, said Paul Johnson, director of the citys Emergency Operations Centre.

Estimates by HSR supervisors put the compliance rate around 70 per cent in the early days, but that has since slipped to around 60 per cent as ridership increases, he said.

Johnson said the city doesnt have enough bylaw officers to inspect every indoor space or bus, nor is there a plan to hire new ones.

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There will be an emphasis on education, but egregious cases will still require a heavier hand, he suggested.

Johnson recalled how bylaw cracked down on businesses packing people into their lobby or house parties of 30 people or more even before social bubbles were sanctioned.
As the heat wave refuses to loosen its grip on Hamilton, residents have been flocking to the citys beaches in unprecedented numbers, according to the Hamilton Conservation Authority.

Over the weekend, as well as on July 1, the organization temporarily closed beaches at Valens Lake, Christie Lake and Fifty Point due to high visitation numbers.

Gord Costie, director of conservation areas services, said the demand within the parks has gone from high to extreme.

These are unprecedented closures that I havent seen in my 30-year career here, he said, noting the ongoing impact of COVID-19 as an additional factor.

People are looking for temperature relief in an outdoor setting  weve become the go-to spot for families, said Costie.

Due to COVID-19 closures, beaches have been one of the only public and open sources of reprieve from the heat  with the exception of city splash pads.

Monday marked reopening day for 10 of the citys public pools, with an additional four set to open on July 13.

Those reopenings come as the city continues to experience a weeklong heat wave with daytime temperatures upwards of 30 C.

Costie said as those other spots to beat the heat reopen, his team is hoping the demand at the parks will spread out.

The conservation areas are operating at near-normal capacity levels and staff have been keeping an eye on when the parking lots and grounds become too oversubscribed, said Costie.

When that happens, the gates are closed and are only reopened once some visitors have left, he added.

Staff have also been redirecting visitors to their less busy, non-traditional summer parks, which include Westfield Heritage Village, Eramosa Karst and Dundas Valley.

Costie said his staff have called in the citys bylaw officers to patrol the beaches, as well as waterfalls, in hopes of staying proactive.

He said they are hoping to avoid joining the company of Wasaga Beach, which will see the main part of its sandy shoreline closed and its parking limited as of July 9 due to overcrowding on Canada Day.

Just west of Hamilton, Halton Conservation has implemented a booking system for its parks which include Rattlesnake Point and Hilton Falls.

When asked if the organization would consider doing the same, Costie said they continue to watch the situation very closely.

At this point we need to be patient and observe whats happening, said Costie. Things could change dramatically with the other reopenings.

Waterfalls to reopen mid-July

Many of the citys 100-plus waterfalls and their associated parking lots are set to open July 15 after being closed to the public for more than three months.

Costie expects their reopening may also drive some traffic away from the beaches.

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Spencer Gorge Conservation Area, which includes Tew Falls and Websters Falls, will remain closed until September, according to Costie.

He said when it does reopen, there will be a reservation system in place for visitors to pre-book parking, but there will be no shuttle.

Those without a booking will be prohibited from visiting, Costie added.
More than two hours into the sentencing hearing, Sara Hoangs family heard her name mentioned for the first time.

Until then, all the talk was about the men who killed her.

Sara died when her car was hit by two strangers drag racing like they owned the road. Or like they were above the law. Or like nobody else mattered.

But Sara did matter. Deeply and to many people.

Her sister, Mary, wept softly as the Crown read her victim impact statement aloud.

She and Sara will never again get to eat, travel, hang out and just do life together.

Her brother, Eli, a Toronto paramedic, addressed the court, while the men in the prisoners box looked down.

Sara Hoang was my sister, my best friend, my support system and an amazing person. She was kind, generous, loving  a truly good person.

Monday was the reopening of Ontarios courthouses, four months after the pandemic forced an emergency closure. Everything about the routine at Hamiltons John Sopinka Courthouse was unlike it has ever been: scanning QI health survey codes to be allowed entry; a mandatory mask protocol in all public areas; long delays due to rigid cleaning procedures; limited capacities for courtrooms to accommodate physical distancing; and continual technology problems as court operated partially in person and partially virtual.

The sentencing in Saras case was supposed to happen in March. Instead, it became a test of the new COVID-19 courthouse and of new COVID-19 laws.

Sara, a 25-year-old early-childhood educator, was pulling out of the parking lot at Sams Queenston Bakery on Queenston Road at about 5:30 p.m. on June 13, 2018. Her Toyota Yaris was slammed into pieces. A video of the crash  played over and over at trial  horrifyingly showed her arm flinging out the window.

The hearing began with complicated submissions by deputy Crown attorney Janet Booy and defence lawyers Stephen Bernstein and Geoffrey Read over how much extra credit the offenders  Ahmad Durani and Warren Lewis  ought to get for time already served.

Booy was in the courtroom along with Justice Bernd Zabel of the Ontario Court of Justice, both offenders and court staff.

The defence lawyers participated by Zoom.

Both defence counsel indicated they were not satisfied with the COVID preparations that were put into place by the Ontario government, Zabel said.

Factored into the pretrial custody equation is coronavirus as it relates to the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre. Prisoners have been without programming (like Alcoholics Anonymous), they have been denied all visits except from lawyers, they have less time out of their cells and the book cart hasnt been operating.

Then there are the number of nights theyve had to sleep on the floor in overcrowded cells since they were arrested more than two years ago. (Lewis was released on bail  twice.)

For those hardships, the defence both asked Zabel to consider an enhanced credit of three days for every day served. The usual ratio is one and a half days for each day.

Booy suggested the judge stick with the usual formula, but subtract 60 days from each sentence.

Lewis, 35 at the time of the crash, was convicted by Zabel of criminal negligence causing death by street racing, impaired driving causing death and breach of probation. It was Lewis silver Mercedes that struck Saras car. His speedometer was stuck at 126 km/h after the crash, which happened in a 50 km/h zone.

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He has a previous conviction for dangerous driving and fleeing from police in the same Queenston Road neighbourhood.

Booy is asking for eight to 10 years.

Durani, 23 when he was arrested, was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death by street racing and failing to remain at the scene of the accident. The Crown is asking for five to six years. His lawyer is asking for two years less a day. His lawyer was doing his sentencing submissions when the day ended and the matter was adjourned until July 13.

Both men have previous criminal records.

And previous tragedies.

Durani, who had nobody in the court to support him, was raised in Canada after his parents came here from Afghanistan, according to a pre-sentence report. When he was in Grade 10, his sister was in a serious motor vehicle accident and he had to drop out of school to take care of her and her child because other family members had jobs.

Lewis had one supporter in the courtroom.

His pre-sentence report said he had a brother murdered in 2003.

Both men are fathers.

You would hope that their rough pasts and losses would mean theyd understand how precious life is.

But it doesnt always work that way.

EDITORS NOTE: An earlier version of this story said that Reid was released on bail twice. It was Warren Lewis that was released on bail, twice. The Spectator regrets the error.
he Alberta-based western separatist party Wexit Canada has a new interim leader.

Instead of a guy in a ball cap, the new guy  former Conservative MP Jay Hill  has considerable experience in government; having served as the MP for Prince George-Peace River from 1993 until his retirement in 2010, Secretary of State in the Harper government, and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. Hill began his political career with the Reform Party of Canada, which was folded into the Canadian Alliance in 2000.

Now Hill is back in the saddle and wants to ride out of Canada  with the West in tow.

Wexit was founded by a group of disgruntled Albertans, led by former RCMP officer Peter Downing, following the 2019 re-election of the Trudeau Liberals. The name Wexit is a portmanteau taken from Brexit, the UK withdrawal from the European Union (EU), characterized by many as a fiasco. Brexit was inspired by Grexit, which had referred to the 2012 possible exit of Greece from the EU, due to the financial collapse of Greeces economy. Wexit therefore, owes its etymological origins to failure. Grexit had also spawned the term Graccident.

Poor association, however Wexit does communicate the general raison detre of the party, and will role off of millennial tongues more easily than the Western Canada Party, the Western Independence Party, or the Western Block Party. It will also probably play better in the environment of truthiness prevailing on social media, fit comfortably into the average tweet, prove more thumb-friendly for texters, and respect contemporary linguistic limitations.

In any event, with the addition of Jay Hill, Wexit Canada has upped its game. Overnight, these western separatists have graduated from fledgling extremist niche party to serious political contender.

The original Wexit constitution was clear, Alberta is a sovereign republic, and has no subordination or obligation to the British monarchy, Government of Canada, or United Nations. The platform included Universal Declaration of Independence from Canada and secession from the British Commonwealth, establishment of an Alberta Constitution, delivery of all essential national government services, head of state to be an elected president of Alberta with an appointed cabinet, withdrawal from United Nations agreements that erode Alberta sovereignty, including but not limited to the UN Compact on Migration, the Paris Climate Accord, and Agenda 2030. These statements have since been removed from the Wexit Canada website, perhaps for revision.

Incendiary former leader Peter Downing had pulled no punches describing the partys approach: Anybody who stands in the way of western self-determination, Alberta self-determination, youre our enemy and were going to run you over. He characterized the rest of the country as, the parasite of Eastern Canada.

As an experienced politician, Hill is somewhat more diplomatic, but the message is the same; Western Canada is never gonna get a fair shake from the rest of Canada. Confederation does not work. It cannot work. It is not structured to work. Those in the Golden Triangle of Quebec, Toronto, Ottawa, they dont care about the West except as a cash cow to feed Quebec and the Maritimes.

Perhaps Hill is right, but a recent Abacus poll showed that only 13 per cent of Canadians would vote for separation. The same Abacus poll showed that 75 per cent of Albertans feel that the province has been treated unfairly by the rest of Canada.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has spoken out against separatism,   the whole notion of separation is irrational. Making Alberta a landlocked place within this continent, leaving the Canadian federation, leaving any argument for market access for coastal pipelines, leaving NAFTA as the broader market in North America, none of that makes sense to me.

The low support for Western separatism should not be cause for complacency in Ottawa. With a large majority of Albertans feeling poorly treated, a credible leader at the helm of Wexit Canada, and the precedent of a provincial separatist party already in Parliament, Canada needs to consider revision of an electoral system that re-elected a scandal-ridden government with less than a third of the popular vote.

After all, according to Abacus, Alberta has a buyer lined up to the south; 41 per cent of Americans think that the U.S. should offer to buy Alberta for its resources, while 17 per cent support invasion.

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Ken Grafton is a writer based in Wakefield, Que. His background includes global executive level experience in engineering and telecommunications.

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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.

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Christian Allaire is rewriting the rules of fashion journalism. Allaire, who is Ojibway, is the fashion and style writer at Vogue. When his first Indigenous-focused fashion article for the venerable fashion title, How 6 Indigenous Designers Are Using Fashion to Reclaim Their Future went live, Indigenous people sent him a over a hundred tweets, DMs and comments.

It opened the floodgates. I started receiving a ton of pitches and started being introduced to so many great new artists and designers, says the writer by phone, from his parents home in Nipissing, Ontario, where hes riding out COVID-19. Indigenous designers dont get the same coverage as others, so once we saw that it resonated, and there was talent out there to write about, I just really ran with it, which is a dream.

Speaking about fashion, Allaire is simultaneously funny and serious, admitting that he thought hed be in Ontario for a weekend and only packed two wild printed shirts and jeans. Three months later, This is not the look, he jokes.

Allaire can trace his love of fashion to cultural events and powwows he attended on his home community of Nipissing First Nation in Ontario. Years later, ignited by beautiful regalia at powwows, he decided to pursue a career in fashion journalism.

I knew that it was a very competitive field and what sets me apart from the thousand other fashion writers out there [is that] I come from a culture that really is not respected in the fashion industry and their designs are often appropriated or copied without any recognition, he says. I write about authentic design and what that means today. A lot of people think its an old, traditional bygone craft, but theres still designers doing it today. I knew from day one thats what I was going to do.

At Ryerson University in Toronto, Allaire was determined to get his fashionable feet in the door and aggressively pursued internships, completing several stints at Flare and Interview magazines, with the latter bringing him to New York City, his new home.

After covering New York and Milan fashion weeks and interviewing Christian Louboutin for Footwear News, Allaire went freelance in 2017. Soon after, an opportunity opened on Vogues production team during fashion month. The month-long gig involved tasks like building online galleries for runway shows. The next fashion season, he returned to do it again.

I just sort of stuck around, he recalls, beginning with working for the site as a contract writer before transitioning to a full-time employee for the digital arm of Vogue last summer. His first print piece, on Choctaw artist Jeffrey Gibson, appeared in the May 2020 issue. He captioned his Instagram post on the achievement as Babys first print story!

I think Ive gotten to where I am based on two things: hard work and luck. I have always been driven and always took internships whenever I could, started writing for free, networked my ass off. But every job I have gotten has also been thanks to the relationships I built and just good timing in general, says the 28-year-old.

The Vogue gig has brought Allaire to the Met Gala twice, and he made sure to wear an Indigenous-made piece at the huge fashion event, a custom-made red beaded flower pin made by Toronto-based Skye Paul of Running Fox Beads, for the 2019 theme of Camp. It would be campy for me to wear something very traditional, which was beadwork in my eyes, in a new fun way, so I paired it with a frilly shirt and sequined boots.

Allaire jokingly likens picking his favourite designers to that of picking a favourite child. Still, his eye for beautiful work and understanding of the culture has brought incredible designers like Jamie Okuma, Warren Steven Scott, Keri Ataumbi, Liandra Swim and Tania Larsson into the fashion conversation. Although it has long upheld Western-centric notions of fashion, a name like Vogue still carries the kind of mainstream legitimacy that money cant buy and can bring invaluable awareness to designers.

Allaire has recently covered Indigenous designers from South Africa and Australia, as the publication broadens its coverage of brands outside of North America. Its American Vogue and we will obviously spotlight American designers, but I think people are interested in hearing about brands from countries that they dont live in. Shopping is not focused on where you live but on your emotional ties to a designers story.

Sharing those stories will be something hell continue to do. Indigenous brands seem like such a small market, but I literally cant keep up. In May, Allaire included 15 Indigenous designers in a story on sustainable fashion. One of those designers was Tania Larsson, a Gwichin fine jewelry designer from Yellowknife. He is a person who is changing our history, Larsson says by phone Hes impacting us in such a huge way, and I know that its going to ripple through ages.

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The writer, meanwhile, often underestimates the profound effect his stories have but does admit to frequently hearing about the significance of his stories from the people he covers and readers alike. I want to give a platform for the voices who havent really been heard. Theres always a new brand, and thats inspiring because it means that someone can feel more confident than ever to pursue fashion design and find resources.

For Larsson, Allaires work goes beyond fashion. Its like sharing our culture, which for the longest time has been under attack. With Allaire on Vogues masthead, representation of Indigenous designers can finally turn a new page.
EDMONTONThe Alberta government is proposing legislation that would accelerate approval of private clinics to get more surgeries done.

A bill introduced Monday also says the province should have more latitude to pay doctors in other ways, such as salaries, rather than just the current fee-for-service model.

Our proposed changes will provide more voice and choice to Albertans and physicians, Health Minister Tyler Shandro said prior to introducing the bill in the house.

They will strengthen the roles, responsibilities and accountability of our health partners, and this modernization sets us on the path to meet our commitment to build a sustainable, accessible public health system.

The proposed legislation gives legal teeth to commitments previously announced by Shandro, including a promise made late last year to have more private clinics carry out surgeries to reduce backlogs and long wait lists.

There are 43 such private clinics  most of them in Edmonton and Calgary  performing 15 per cent of surgeries, mainly knee and hip replacements, and cataract removals. The bill is paid by the provincial government under medicare.

Many of those surgeries are recommended to be done within four months, but too many are taking longer, Shandro has said.

The United Conservative government aims to have 80,000 more surgeries done over the next three years. Some 300,000 surgeries are performed in Alberta each year.

The legislation would reduce what Shandro calls needless administrative duplication to get the private clinics approved.

When the clinics were created two decades ago, he said, the government was dealing with 17 different health authorities, which meant another level of oversight was needed to co-ordinate them.

Since then, Shandro noted, the authorities have been collapsed into one, Alberta Health Services, so a lot of the vestigial requirements arent needed.

Opposition NDP health critic David Shepherd said direct publicly funded is the best value for money and that Shandros plan will erode it.

Bill 30 is another step in (Premier) Jason Kenneys rush to bring (a) failed American-style model of increased private profit into our public health-care system, said Shepherd.

This is not patient-centred or person-centred care. This is profit-centred care.

Shandro has also promised to explore different ways to pay doctors in keeping with a commitment to keep funding for physician compensation around the current $5.4-billion level. That represents one-quarter of all health operational spending.

The bill would give the government authority to use contracts instead of ministerial orders for alternative pay agreements, which could include salaries rather than fees for service.

The bill also calls for the number of public members on health professional college committees to increase to 50 per cent from 25 per cent.

The 50-50 split would apply to college councils, tribunals and complaints committees.

The Health Quality Council of Alberta, which monitors the health system and makes recommendations for improvements, would be expanded beyond its mandate of patient safety to include broader health service quality.

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The proposed changes for physicians are set against a backdrop of acrimonious relations between Shandro and the doctors representative, the Alberta Medical Association.

The two sides locked horns after Shandro cancelled a master agreement with doctors earlier this year and unilaterally imposed changes to fees and billing.

The association, alleging breaches of charter rights because it was not given the option of third-party arbitration, is taking the province to court.

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CALGARYA Saskatchewan man who had a heart attack after a hike in the Rocky Mountains says it was divine intervention that the same cardiac surgeon who helped resuscitate him near the trail would operate on him days later.

Darrell Parker, his wife Shirley, and their son and daughter-in-law were hiking on June 20 at Grassi Lakes, a popular trail near Canmore, Alta.

Dr. Corey Adams and his family, who had recently moved to Calgary from St. Johns, N.L., were enjoying their first hike in the Rockies in that day along with some friends.

I dont have a lot of recollection of that day itself, Parker, 60, said Monday while recovering at home in Paradise Hill, Sask. I lost 99 per cent of it during the event.

His wife said they hiked to the end of a trail and back, sat down for a snack and started making their way back to their truck.

Darrell fell behind us and we never thought anything of it, she said. He usually walks slower than we do.

Their son, Travis, went back to look and saw that Parker had collapsed by the road and people were trying to help him.

Adams was two cars behind the commotion.

At first he thought there had been a crash, but then someone told him that a man was unconscious.

A bystander was performing CPR when Adams and his wife, who is a gynecologist, asked if they could help.

We repositioned him and actually found that he was completely blue and had no pulse, Adams said.

They tried to resuscitate Parker for 20 minutes. When paramedics arrived, they used defibrillators to shock his heart into restarting. They also inserted a breathing tube.

Once Parker was stable enough, he was rushed to hospital in Canmore and from there to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.

He woke up after a few days in an induced coma in the intensive care unit. Adams came to visit and explained what had happened.

It felt like there was some divine intervention happening, Parker said.

Adams, with the Libin Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Calgary, performed five bypasses on Parker during a more than four-hour operation nine days after the heart attack.

Im very encouraged with his prognosis, Adams said. I bet you next year this time hes back doing that hike again.

Parker was discharged from hospital Sunday. He said he had no idea he had heart blockages and frequently goes for long walks.

He figures it will be three months before he can return to work in the oilfields, where hes often alone in remote locations.

If this would have happened to me at work, it probably wouldnt have ended up the same way. If this would have happened to me at my home, it wouldnt have turned out the same way, he said.

It was the best place in the world for this to happen, where it happened. The right people were there ... its a divine event that saved my life somehow.

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He said his three children and four grandchildren cant wait to visit.

Adams said Parker owes his survival to a group of strangers who pitched in to help.

It was a very good team effort and thats the reason in my mind why Darrell is here today, he said.

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Morocco on Tuesday arrested four alleged members of a "terrorist cell" linked to the Islamic State group who had plotted to attack "sensitive sites" in the kingdom, the interior ministry said.

The men, aged between 21 and 26, were arrested in the northeastern city of Nador, said a ministry statement.

The suspects, "including the brother of a fighter of Daesh", the Arabic acronym for IS, had been "in close contact" with members of another cell dismantled in December in a joint operation with Spain, it said.

The four had planned to "carry out terrorist attacks targeting sensitive sites in the kingdom," the ministry said.

The arrests was carried out by anti-terrorism body the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations, which had taken the suspects into custody "for further investigation".

Morocco last suffered a bloody Islamist attack in late 2018 when two Scandinavian tourists were beheaded in the name of IS in the High Atlas mountains.

The perpetrators were sentenced to death, Morocco's first use of capital punishment since 1993.

Last year, 79 people were arrested in the country on "terrorism" charges, according to an official report.

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EDMONTONA hospital in Edmonton is tightening restrictions as COVID-19 cases continue to increase at the facility.

An outbreak at the Misericordia Community Hospital was first declared by Albertas chief medical officer of health on June 23 when six patients and two staff on one unit tested positive.

Alberta Health Services said in a news release Monday that there are now 18 patients and 14 staff members with COVID-19. Eight new cases were identified on the weekend.

Two patients linked to this outbreak have passed away, and our sympathies are with their family members and loved ones at this difficult time, said the release.

The health authority said the Misericordia, which is run by the Catholic health provider Covenant Health, is closed to new admissions and to transfers of surgical and medicine patients.

EMS personnel will take patients to other hospitals in Edmonton, unless there is an emergency for which the Misericordia is the closest acute-care site.

Officials said women in labour can go to the hospital if it was the planned birth site and day surgeries will still take place. Surgeries requiring an overnight stay will be postponed or completed at another hospital.

They said patients who have tested positive are being cared for together on three units, including the hospitals designated COVID-19 unit. However, eight units are now included in the outbreak restrictions as a precaution.

Alberta Health Services said the Misericordia is still safe for patients.

We are taking this situation extremely seriously and have taken swift action, Dr. David Zygun, medical director for the Edmonton zone, said in the release. We are taking these significant measures to ensure the safety of patients, staff, physicians, and volunteers.

Dr. Marcia Johnson, the provinces deputy chief medical officer of health, added that AHS and Covenant Health have brought in aggressive outbreak protocols and are doing widespread testing and contact tracing for patients and staff who might have been exposed.

Health officials are working around the clock to prevent further spread of this virus, she said.

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On Monday, Alberta reported another 130 COVID-19 cases from the weekend for a total of 8,389. Of those, 607 cases were active, 7,627 people had recovered and 155 had died.

Fifty-seven people were in hospital, six of them in intensive care.

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EDMONTONAn Alberta grand chief has joined in calls demanding a speechwriter for Jason Kenney resign after controversial columns came to light in which he criticized Indigenous people in Canada.

Paul Bunner has been under fire since June after local media outlets and the Opposition began publicizing articles hed written dating back to the late 1990s.

In 2013, Bunner wrote a column for the C2C Journal in which he wrote about residential schools and Indigenous people using a bogus genocide story to get money from the federal government.

Theres been a growing chorus of voices demanding Bunners removal, including Treaty 6 chiefs, the Blackfoot Confederacy and the regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Marlene Poitras.

The premiers office has so far rebuffed those calls.

On Monday, Arthur Noskey, grand chief with Treaty 8 First Nations, which cover a vast swath of northern Alberta, stood outside of the provincial legislature building and said he was amazed at the level of disrespect brandished by Premier Kenney.

In the late 1990s, Bunner wrote some articles that were considered anti-gay. He has also written more recently saying Canada should have more restrictions about abortion.

Indigenous leaders across the province, the NDP, and many on social media have called for Bunners resignation.

Noskey said the article calling the experiences of Indigenous peoples in residential schools a bogus genocide was unconscionable.

Standing with Noskey on Monday was Adam North Peigan, president of the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta.

Bunners views on residential schools are offensive and demonizing, he said.

During the legislative session on Monday, the Opposition NDP demanded that Bunner lose his employment as speechwriter. Noskey watched on from the public gallery.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Rick Wilson responded by standing in the house and saying hed met with Alberta chiefs about the issue and that we need reconcili-action not just reconciliation.

Rather than symbolic gestures, this governments taking real action so that Indigenous communities can be true partners in prosperity with us.

The United Conservative government has endeavoured to open partnership opportunities with Indigenous communities in Alberta on things such as energy projects and pipelines.

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But Noskey said, I dont think theres a partnership in place when asked about that assertion often made by elected officials in Alberta.

Bunner was a speechwriter for prime minister Stephen Harper for several years. He has not spoken publicly about his columns.

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MONTREALQuebecs health minister threatened owners of bars and other venues across the province on Monday, saying he wont hesitate to shut them down if COVID-19 public health directives are not followed.

Describing the scenes at some establishments over the weekend as unacceptable, Christian Dube told a news conference that by Thursday, hell release a list of actions the government will take to penalize those who he said are threatening the provinces progress in containing the coronavirus.

Your responsibility is to ensure that public health directives are complied with, Dube said. If the rules are not respected, we will close your venue. He didnt single out any bars or clubs, but local media published videos from some Montreal-area venues with crowded dance floors and little physical distancing.

Dubes warning came a day after health authorities urged people who ate at a restaurant last Tuesday on Montreals south shore to get tested for COVID-19. The Mile Public House noted Monday the infected patrons hadnt yet been diagnosed and they didnt catch the virus at the restaurant.

On Monday, Dr. Julie Loslier, a regional health director, told Radio-Canada that some of the cases at the bar were tied to a cluster of 20 cases on Montreals south shore.

The slight rise in infections in the Montreal area was worrisome enough for Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante, who said Monday that the city intends to make masks mandatory in all indoor public places.

Our intention is that the wearing of face coverings will be mandatory in enclosed public places as of July 27, as is the case for public transit, Plante wrote in a social media post.

Plante said the outbreaks could undermine the citys efforts and could seriously hurt businesses trying to regain their footing after a prolonged closure due to the pandemic. A setback would be a disaster for human lives and for our economy, she said.

Dube said the government is considering increasing the presence of police around places where people gather, such as bars and nightclubs. He added Quebec is also studying measures such as further limiting the occupancy of some venues and operating hours.

His message to owners and managers of bars, night clubs, beaches, swimming pools and racing venues was a simple one.

Your responsibility is to ensure that public health directives are complied with, Dube said. If the rules are not respected, we will close your venue.

Obviously this is not a step we look forward to taking, but we only need to look across the border to see what is happening in some American states, Dube said, regarding a marked increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in several southern parts of the U.S. that reopened bars, restaurants and beaches.

There is no question of permitting a minority of offenders to endanger Quebecs health and recovery.

Dr. Horacio Arruda, Quebecs director of public health, said his biggest concern is about small outbreaks around the province that could cause the number of cases to rise before the arrival of what he expects will be a second wave of infection in the fall.

Its clear if there are places where there are outbreaks we cannot control and there is transmission, we will have to do intervention, Arruda said. It could be regionally, it could be specific, or it could be a complete shutdown of this sector, which is something were not looking for, and why were asking people to respect things.

Arruda said he didnt regret opening bars  among the last establishments to reopen in Quebec  saying most owners have applied the rules and most patrons have respected them. But he said he isnt above being the bad guy when it comes to closing down businesses.

Im telling you, if people dont do what is supposed to be done, because its not only your life but the life of others (at risk), I will be a bad boy, Arruda said.

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Quebec reported three new deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, for a total of 5,577. The province also reported 74 more cases of the coronavirus, for a total of 55,937, including 25,378 cases that are considered recovered.

Hospitalizations rose slightly for the first time in more than a week to reach 377, an increase of six. Of those patients, 25 are in intensive care, one less than the prior day.

Public health authorities conducted 6,122 tests on Saturday, the last day for which numbers are available.

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As Toronto and other jurisdictions move to make masks mandatory, Jill McDevitt has been watching the accompanying debate with a sense of deja vu.

The conversation around masks during the COVID-19 pandemic has felt like a fraught one since the pandemic began  muddied by mixed messaging and early confusion about transmission.

Torontos new rules, which come into effect on Tuesday, require facilities or businesses to have a policy to ensure masks or face coverings be worn by the public in the enclosed public spaces under their control.

Where some see a fresh challenge, McDevitt  a sexologist  sees reminders of past lessons.

Scrolling through Instagram recently, she saw post after post raging against people not wearing masks. She found herself shaking her head. Public shaming didnt make people practise safer sex, either, she said.

Weve already tried this with condoms, and its going to fail, she said. They might deserve to be shamed, I dont know. But if were talking strategy, (shame) doesnt work.

While condoms have become a pillar of public sexual health over the course of years, public health officials are struggling to sell the public on masks.

In some countries, such as China, citizens were already well accustomed to masks thanks to past outbreaks such as SARS. Others, such as Venezuela, Vietnam and the Czech Republic, moved swiftly to make cloth face coverings mandatory in many public spaces. Meanwhile, the United States has camped out at the other end of the global spectrum, with some anti-lockdown protesters taking mask mandates as an attack on their liberty.

In Canada, its been a moving target.

In late March, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, told Canadians that wearing masks could give people a false sense of security and that there were no benefits for asymptomatic people to wear them. But by early April, the messaging had changed to say that wearing non-medical masks could be an additional measure for protecting others around you. By late May, her position evolved again when she recommended that Canadians wear non-medical masks in situations where physical distancing of two metres was not possible, and she applied the advice to people who didnt have symptoms.

Some public health observers say its unfair to criticize Tam and other officials  that they went with the best evidence before them and that evidence changed.

For a long time, we didnt know much about COVID-19 and the reliable evidence was quite limited, said Katherine Fierlbeck, a Dalhousie University professor of political science specializing in health policy.

As evidence mounted about how it was spread, then I think public policy followed suit, she said. We should be grateful for officials who are flexible in changing their strategies and positions based on best available evidence.

But Amir Attaran, a professor of law and medicine at the University of Ottawa, doesnt buy that argument.

Technically speaking, we may not have possessed evidence showing that masks worked to prevent the spread of this particular strain of coronavirus. But, he said, we did have evidence of its effectiveness for other respiratory infections.

Attaran said the current rollout of mandatory rules is coming months too late.

One of the best arguments in favour of mask wearing, he said, came early out of Hong Kong, which has reported only seven deaths during the pandemic.

Hong Kong did not achieve that because it has lower population density. No way  its just about the most densely populated piece of the planet, he said. For Toronto to have an ongoing difficulty when Hong Kong put it down early and firmly, you can only find one conceivable explanation, which is masking.

Last week, Toronto city council voted to make masks mandatory in enclosed, public places following recommendations from the medical officer of health.

Cynthia Carr, a Winnipeg-based epidemiologist, said the current science supports masking. While masks wont prevent the spread of coronavirus entirely, she points to a widely reported study headed by a computer scientist from University of California, Berkeley that suggests U.S. cases would drop significantly if 80 per cent of the population wore masks.

Just like a vaccine, not everybody has to be immunized to break the chain, Carr said. Masking, as part of a comprehensive strategy, including social distance and hygiene, thats what were seeing now is the best way to break the chain of transmission.

Will there be ugly scenes? There have been a few already. Days before Torontos new bylaw came into effect, a local woman drew online ridicule after she posted a video of herself refusing to wear a mask at St. Josephs hospital. In the video, staff can be heard saying, please wear a mask, its policy, but she refuses. The video ends before the woman says three security guards escorted her out. But a recent survey suggested that she might be an outlier.

A poll of 1,500 Canadians by the research firm Abacus Data found that most respondents would not object to mandatory mask-wearing policies. Only 14 per cent said they would oppose such a move, while a good majority would be supportive (62 per cent) or go along with it (24 per cent).

While those opposed tended to skew Conservative, Abacus officials said it would be an exaggeration to say there was a deep political cultural divide and that hesitation to use masks seems more a function of where one lives, social conditioning, and population density than a philosophical or political barrier.

The poll found that about one-third of Canadians already wear a mask when entering a public place such as a retail store, whereas about a quarter never do.

Men were much less likely to wear masks than women, and resistance was highest among the 45-59 age set. Mask wearing was most common in Ontario and Quebec and least common in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

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A group is now working to get broad mask-wearing buy-in from the Canadian population.

Amy Tan is a University of Calgary professor of family medicine and organizer with Masks4Canada, a group representing health-care workers, front-line physicians, scientists and other concerned citizens that is advocating for the adoption of mask-wearing in all indoor spaces, crowded places (whether indoor or outdoor) and on public transit.

Asked about American-style resistance from civil libertarians, Tan said there is a chance there could be a spillover effect from the United States into Canada, but she hopes that appeals to Canadians sense of altruism will win out.

Fierlbeck, who is from rural Alberta, said there are some parts of Canada, including the Prairies, that have a bit more of a libertarian streak and stroppy constituents, so some politicians will have to weigh whether its worth it to take the political gamble of implementing mask-wearing policies.

Leaders and health officials, she said, need to lay out the rationale in plain language as well as the potential repercussions for society and individuals if they dont comply. No one wants to be spoken down to.

Tan acknowledges the science on mask-wearing wasnt there in the early stages of the pandemic and understands the desire among Canadas top health officials at the time to take a measured approach; they were having to make rapid-fire responses under a deluge of information from around the world.

But now the science firmly says mask-wearing helps and should be made mandatory.

We need to be very much clearing up the message, she said. This is a relatively small inconvenience for a potential great benefit.

McDevitt, who is also a California-based sex educator, recently made a list of things that mask advocates could learn from sexual health educators that was shared widely.

While condoms in some form have been around for thousands of years, it wasnt until HIV began to spread in the early 1980s that they became a matter of urgent public health policy, and advocates have learned a lot of lessons since then, she says.

The big one is that you cant judge people into changing their behaviour, she said. Its going to make them feel more and more validated that people dont understand whatever they feel is their particular reason why they dont want to wear one or feel like they cant wear one, she said.

The analogy to condoms here is like a latex allergy, right? If someone is allergic to condoms, an educator will work with them to find out whether theyre trying to prevent pregnancy or an STI, and work with them to find another solution. We dont tell people to shut up and wear it anyway, she said.

It also doesnt help the cause to pretend that wearing a mask isnt exactly fun, she says.

Much of the messaging has been like, Wear it and deal with it, otherwise, youre rude and you dont care about other people, McDevitt said. But, can we acknowledge and have some empathy for the fact that this is not pleasant for people? She notes that condom companies have made major strides in fit and comfort in recent decades, which has helped.

Going forward, she said, itll be important to make sure that the messaging is consistent, and masks are readily available. But a recent trip to the post office gave her hope.

Although the office had a sign encouraging everyone to wear masks, it wasnt required. When McDevitt walked in, the lineup was a sea of masks. But while she was waiting a man entered without one.

Hes standing there and more people come in line behind him wearing masks, and he finally says, Can you hold my spot so I can go and get a mask on? I dont want to be the only one with out one.

The moment sent her sexologist brain spinning, McDevitt says, because she realized she was watching the normalization of public health in real time. The man realized wearing a mask had become normal, and it made him adapt his own behaviour without anyone else having to do anything.

No one wants to be the only one out, she said. When were like, hey, all the cool kids are doing it, its silly, but it works.

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MONCTON, N.B.New Brunswick RCMP say no criminal charges will be laid after women at The Moncton Hospital were allegedly given a labour-inducing drug without their consent last year.

We conducted a very thorough, very complex investigation during the year, Sgt. Mathieu Roy said Tuesday. In March, we presented our file and our findings to the Crown prosecutor, and after an extensive and careful review determined that no charges be laid.

Police have not released the name of the nurse at the centre of the allegations because she was never formally charged.

The women who were given the labour-inducing drug, however, have launched a class-action lawsuit against the nurse, Nicole Ruest, who worked at The Moncton Hospital. She has since been fired.

The lawsuit, which has not been tested in court, alleges Ruest improperly gave patients the labour-inducing drug oxytocin, leading to an unusually high number of emergency C-sections and instrument-assisted deliveries at The Moncton Hospital.

Ruest denies the allegations. A statement of defence filed in court says the nurse did not breach any duty of care owed to the plaintiff or to any proposed class member, nor did she fall below the applicable standard of care.

At all material times, Ms. Ruest provided nursing care that met or exceeded the applicable standard of care.

Horizon CEO Karen McGrath issued a statement Tuesday recognizing that no charges would be laid, but declined further comment.

Ruest could not be reached Tuesday for comment. Her lawyer, Andrew Faith, issued a statement stating: In refusing to lay charges after over a year of investigation, the Crown Prosecutors Office has acknowledged what Nicole Ruest has known all along: the allegations against her were unfounded.

Nicole lost her job and has been prohibited from serving her community since March 2019 on the strength of unsubstantiated claims. Nicole has always maintained her innocence and intends to vigorously reclaim her dignity and reputation-and most importantly, her role as a care provider in the months and years ahead.

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MONTREALAuthorities in Quebec say they prefer that bars and restaurants follow public health directives instead of being forced by the government to collect the personal information of their patrons in case of an COVID-19 outbreak.

We arent there yet, Premier Francois Legault told reporters Tuesday when asked about requiring private businesses to keep a register of customers. New Brunswick, for example, requires bars, restaurants and other venues to collect such data to make it easier to trace people after an outbreak.

Maybe in places like bars, if there is spread of the virus, we can ask for a register to trace people who were in contact with infected people, Legault said. But our first wish is for people to respect the two-metre rule and that there is no spread.

On Monday, Legaults health minister, Christian Dube, threatened owners of bars and restaurants with closure after reports that some in the Montreal area werent following public health guidelines to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Dr. Horacio Arruda, the provinces director of public health, told reporters Tuesday that forcing businesses to collect the personal data of their patrons is not the Quebec way of doing things  for now.

We could look at that, he said, referring to a register. We arent in the same culture of (collecting) personal information of individuals. Arruda, like Legault, said he would prefer businesses just follow the rules.

On Monday, regional health authorities on Montreals South Shore said infected people who went to a bar in the area last week were tied to a cluster of 20 cases. In response to the outbreak, Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante announced Monday her council would pass a bylaw requiring mask-wearing in indoor public places.

Legault said he wasnt ready to give the same order provincewide. And he questioned how that Montreal bylaw would be applied.

How would we do that in stores? he asked, regarding the bylaws enforcement. Its something Id like to discuss with (Plante).

Meanwhile, Quebec reported 13 new deaths Tuesday attributed to the coronavirus, for a total of 5,590. The province said nine of those deaths occurred in the past 24 hours, while another four occurred before June 29.

Quebec also announced 60 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 55,997, including 25,458 cases that are considered recovered.

After posting a slight increase Monday, health authorities said hospitalizations diminished by 30 patients, for a total of 347. Among those in hospital, 26 patients are in intensive care, an increase of one.

Public health authorities conducted 5,318 COVID-19 tests on July 5, the last day for which data is available, representing a significant decrease compared with the past week.

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Americas Newspapers and its members have a vested interest in helping the general public understand the essential role of a free press. Dean Ridings is CEO of Americas Newspapers.
Dozens of prominent writers  from J.K. Rowling and Margaret Atwood to Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Ignatieff  have signed an open letter that argues social movements pushing to advance justice and equality should be careful not to let freedom go down the drain in the process.

The letter, which appeared on the Harpers Magazine website Tuesday, starts by expressing support for movements such as Black Lives Matter for attempting to advance equality and inclusion while pushing back against what the letter calls illiberal forces on the political right, which have a strong ally in Donald Trump.

The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted, a portion of the letter reads. While we have come to expect this on the radical right, censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty.

The letter goes on to promote open debate  even of the fiery and controversial variety. The writers argue that censorship has appeared in the U.S. in the form of editors resigning for publishing controversial opinions, which happened in the case of James Bennet, former New York Times opinion editor last month.

The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away, the letter reads. We refuse any false choice between justice and freedom, which cannot exist without each other.

Early criticisms of the letter on social media pointed out that most of the signatories have prominent platforms and would rarely  if ever  face censorship themselves.

The letter comes as one of the prominent signatories, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, is facing a hailstorm of criticism over her comments on transgender identities, which many have viewed as discriminatory against trans people. Rowling maintains she does not discriminate against trans people, but believes some gender rights advocates promote language that could hurt women.

The letter was signed by 153 writers and publishing professionals, primarily from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

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A famed historian and academic has resigned from her position at Massey College, the fourth professor to quit following a controversy surrounding the brief appointment of columnist Margaret Wente as a member of the college, the Star has learned.

Margaret MacMillan, who was a senior fellow at Massey, confirmed her resignation in a brief email to the Star on Monday.

MacMillan did not offer a reason for her decision, other than noting that she hopes the college will be able to sort out its issues in private.

Massey College principal Nathalie Des Rosiers told the Star that MacMillan resigned because she was upset with the colleges decision to review Wentes appointment to the colleges elite Quadrangle Society following public backlash.

Des Rosiers said MacMillan did not believe the college needed to reconsider Wentes appointment.

The governing boards decision to appoint Wente, who spent decades writing for the Globe and Mail before taking a buyout in 2019, was met with fervent opposition from members of the college and the broader public who accused Wente of plagiarizing material in some of her columns and promoting pseudo-science claiming genetic racial differences.

Alissa Trotz, a former member of the colleges governing board and a professor of women and gender studies and Caribbean studies, wrote in her resignation letter that she was dismayed by Wentes appointment.

Margaret Wente is someone who has demonstrated consistent and outright hostility to questions of equity, women and gender studies and anti-racism, and moreover someone who has demonstrated such a glaring lack of professional integrity, Trotz wrote.

Wente resigned from the Quadrangle Society shortly after the college announced it would review her appointment.

In her resignation letter, which Wente shared with the Star last month, she called the accusations false and outrageous.

I do not wish to be a member of the Quadrangle Society. The accusations against me are false and outrageous. My record speaks for itself, the email read.

In 2014, Wente penned a column with the headline, What if race is more than a social construct? where she wrote positively about a book that claims that societal outcomes are influenced by genetic racial differences, a claim that goes against the scientific consensus.

The fact that there are some genetic differences between human population groups is acknowledged by a wide range of mainstream scientists including David Reich and Steven Pinker, Wente wrote in an email to the Star on Tuesday.

In 2012, the Globe and Mail reported that Wente was disciplined after she was found to have copied one sentence in a 2009 column from another column in the Ottawa Citizen.

The Globe and Mail also apologized in 2016 after Wente was found to have copied sentences in two more of her columns.

In her email to the Star, Wente wrote that she was accused of plagiarism on social media several years ago.

I had indeed made a serious error, and apologized, she wrote. Although those allegations were repeated, independent experts found me guilty of nothing more than carelessness.

Wentes brief appointment to Massey College also prompted resignations from senior fellows Rick Halpern, a historian, and George Dei, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

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While Trotz, Halpern and Dei resigned due to their concerns with Wentes columns, Des Rosiers told the Star that MacMillan resigned due to her concerns with the colleges decision to reconsider Wentes appointment.

Des Rosiers said she spoke with MacMillan shortly following her resignation.

I think after explaining the context to (MacMillan) with respect to plagiarism, it made a bit more sense to her, said Des Rosiers. But she decided not to withdraw her resignation.

A recipient of the Order of Canada and a leading expert on history and international relations, MacMillan holds degrees from the University of Toronto and University of Oxford, and is widely known for her critically acclaimed book, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World.

With files from Tom Yun
Toronto police scuffled with protesters in front of Mayor John Torys condo on Monday evening as hundreds gathered to protest a provincial bill that some say will make it easier for landlords to evict tenants.

The protest, organized by Peoples Defence Toronto and Parkdale Organize, was labelled as an Emergency Action Against Mass Evictions in Toronto, in reference to Bill 184.

Several advocacy groups say the bill, officially called the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, would provide a number of new avenues for landlords to both evict and collect unpaid rent from current and past tenants.

The question is now put to the people of Toronto, the description of the event reads. Will we let (the Ford government) destroy racialized and working class neighbourhoods throughout our city? We know what they want, they are coming for our homes. We know what we have to do, get ready for a fight.

Const. Alex Li with Toronto police said officers encountered hostile and unruly protesters near Bloor Street West and Bedford Road. Li disputed posts on social media that protesters were hit with tear gas. We havent had any mention of tear gas from our units, Li said.

Sam Nithiananthan, a member of Peoples Defence, told the Star that, contrary to statements issued by the police, pepper spray was used on protesters.

There was a significant police presence  protesters had asked if they could step in and deliver a letter to Mayor Tory, and in response, police stepped in and grabbed protesters. There was pepper spray that was used, Nithiananthan said.

Nithiananthan said that even though the protest was organized against a provincial bill, ralliers marched to Torys condo because Toronto tenants pay the highest amount of rent in the province, and said that the city will have to deal with the homeless crisis that will come of this.

He said that protesters wanted to draw attention to the potential consequences of Bill 184.

Were not going to allow evictions of our neighbours to happen  were standing up for our neighbours, he said.

Toronto police said on Twitter that theyd be remaining at the scene of the protest to ensure the safety of everyone. The protest started at Queens Park and weaved its way north to Bloor.

A spokesperson for Toronto paramedics said that they didnt receive any reports of injuries.

Li said no arrests were made. Nithiananthan said police arrested and then released a handful of people after protesters said they wouldn't disperse until everyone was released.

Lawvin Hadisi, spokesperson for Mayor Tory, confirmed to the Star that the mayor was at home when protesters approached.

He was actually in the middle of a webinar with the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce, Hadisi said.

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If passed, Bill 184 will apply to when the province first announced the COVID-19 state of emergency. The legislations was introduced on March 12, and on Monday, ordered for a third hearing.

According to Julie Driscoll, a spokesperson for the minister of municipalities and housing, Bill 184 is meant to strengthen protections for tenants and make it easier to resolve landlord and tenant disputes.

However, many housing advocates claim the bill will give landlords more ways to evict tenants. Critics have said the bill allows landlords to evict tenants if a repayment plan is rejected and that it may lead to vulnerable tenants signing an unfair repayment agreement with their landlord.

When rent is overdue, we want to encourage landlords and tenants to work together to come up with repayment agreements  rather than resorting to evictions, Driscoll said, noting that the bill increases maximum fines to discourage unlawful evictions, and allows the Landlord and Tenant Board to order up to a years rent in compensation to tenants for eviction notices issued in bad faith.
Chanting no justice, no peace, no racist police, about 200 people braved the sweltering heat Monday afternoon to protest systemic anti-Black racism in the Toronto Police Service.

The rally, which took place outside 55 Division on Coxwell Avenue, was organized in response to a violent, racially charged assault allegedly committed against East York residents Mark Austin and Candace Zinkweg in Dentonia Park.

Austin said his partner was knocked to the ground and kicked in the head by two white people during the June 25 incident. He said he was called the n-word and threatened with future gun violence by a third white person.

Austin is alleging Toronto police, which issued a news release Monday afternoon, failed to respond promptly and appropriately to the situation because of the colour of his skin. In the news release, police said that assaults occurred between two groups of people which began with an altercation between dogs in a park.

Why are you not serving and protecting me? Austin, who works at the University of Toronto as a health and safety coordinator with United Steelworkers, Local 1998, said during the protest.

Rally organizers demanded Toronto police immediately lay charges on the assailants, and publicly apologize for their shocking inaction in the face of a clear case of violent assault, racist abuse and ongoing threats to this couple.

We refuse to tolerate this kind of injustice in the community. Enough is enough. . . . This rally is just the beginning, said Roopchand Doon, vice-president of USWs Toronto Area Council.

The police are setting an example to racists that its OK to attack people in a park.

Toronto police have not responded to several requests for comment on these specific allegations.

This is an active investigation, spokesperson Connie Osborne wrote in a Monday email to toronto.com.

Our Hate Crime Unit is also reviewing the matter as part of the investigation.

The protest was put together by the United Steelworkers (USW) Toronto Area Council, the Black Action Defence Committee, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and Toronto East Anti-Hate Mobilization.

Since the incident, Austin said hes spent a lot of time reflecting and writing about what happened to him and his partner, who is recovering from a concussion she sustained that day.

This (experience) has affected us substantially. This has changed our lives forever, said Austin, who said he forgives those who assaulted them, but still wants to see justice served.

On Friday, Marty Warren, USWs Ontario director, wrote a letter to Mayor John Tory, Ward 19 City Coun. Brad Bradford and the Toronto Police Services Board demanding police investigate this case and press charges against the assailants.

They are also asking police to recognize the racial profiling that happened in this incident with Mark assumed equally guilty as the attacker and develop, with input from community, a plan for addressing racism within the Toronto Police Service and racism around the city.

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In a statement to toronto.com, Bradford, who didnt attend the protest, said hes spoken with the victims, police and the mayor about the June 25 incident and said Warrens letter needs to be addressed, as does systemic racism in all institutions.

The investigations on this are active and Im grateful to everyone who has been advocate on this issue to make sure the racial dynamics are fully understood and addressed through the police response, he wrote.

As we heard from our police chief last week at council, racism exists not just in policing, but all dimensions of our society. I know from the leadership of 55 Division that this is not only something theyre aware of, but proactively addressing through their response within the existing legal framework of justice for our communities.

Anyone with information on the June 25 incident is asked to contact police at 416-808-5500, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.222tips.com.
By the time she reached the end of Grade 8, Toluwanimi Oseivhi had no doubt whatsoever about what stream she would pick for high school. Her marks were excellent, she knew which courses she loved, and her parents who immigrated from Nigeria definitely expected her to go to university.

So she picked all academic courses and, to her total shock and bemusement, her teacher told her she had to take applied classes instead.

She actually changed the forms and put down all applied courses, said Oseivhi, recalling it was demoralizing to be told she was not equipped to handle academic courses despite her efforts and great performance.

To have that choice made for me, it made me feel small especially as a child of immigrants. But its also motivational. It builds your confidence and the desire to do better and prove everyone wrong.

With her insistence and the advocacy of her parents who were also educators, Oseivhi ended up getting into the academic stream. She graduated high school in 2009, enrolled at the University of Toronto and later got a masters degree in education from York University.

Oseivhi called the Grade 9 streaming system, which on Monday the Ontario government announced will be cancelled, discriminatory toward students from both poor and racialized communities.

I do know that it does happen to a lot of Black and brown kids in the system, she said.

Ontario is the only province in Canada that still divides students into the hands-on applied or university/college-track academic streams starting in Grade 9, a practice Education Minister Stephen Lecce called systemic and racist. He said the practice needs to end in order to give racialized students a fair chance at success.

For years education advocates have called the streaming system into question, pointing out that Black and Indigenous students as well as those from low-income neighbourhoods are overrepresented in the applied stream. Being left out of the academic stream impacts many of these students and limits their options for post-secondary education.

In 2015, People for Education, a Toronto-based advocacy and research group, published a report that was critical of the streaming system. The report indicated that Grade 8 was too early for kids to be deciding on courses that are potentially going to determine their life careers, and recommended delaying such decisions until later in high school.

People for Educations executive director Annie Kidder told the Star the provinces decision to scrap the streaming system is a step in the right direction, but just one in the process of understanding systemic racism and its different facets. Government needs to look at practices that need to continue to change in order to give children a fair opportunity to excel in their education.

We need to look at ourselves and understand how unconscious bias can have an impact on other people, she said, noting society should have the same high expectations of its students regardless of their families income or racial backgrounds.

When you divide students, when you group students apart from each other, it has a disproportionate effect on students who were already disadvantaged.

Bernisha Thomas knows first hand how being streamed into applied or academic courses has little to do with a students ability to excel in those subjects. She grew up in Scarborough and at 14 when she finished Grade 8 and it was time to choose her high school courses, she remembers being told that academic was for those going to university while applied was for those going to college and into the workforce.

I didnt even know what that meant. I had no idea what I wanted to do, Thomas said. She said she was a straight-A student and was confused when it was decided for her to go into the applied stream, where she was often sent into the resource class for extra help.

It made me question myself. It made me think that I was not as smart as I always thought I was heading into high school.

She said streaming is a form of discrimination because students who are sent into the general/applied track instead of the academic/advanced one are made to feel like subpar or average, that theres nothing really special about you.

Thomas said she ultimately ended up going to Centennial College afterwards, simply because she was made to believe that maybe university would be too hard for her. She took a project management program, where one of her general education diploma teachers once told her she should be in university instead.

It was the first time since high school that somebody had told me I was good enough and capable enough, she said.

Years later, it was quite telling to her when her son was at the same stage in Grade 8 to make the choice and the school decided to put him into the applied stream and send him to the resource class for extra help.

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My son never needed extra help, Thomas said, noting her son just finished his first year in college, studying marketing. He also applied and has been accepted into a joint college and university program at Ontario Tech University.

Ive really never seen any change in the school system between when I went and when he went until this week when they announced theyre getting rid of streaming. Its long overdue.

Correction - July 15, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that referred to Ontario Tech University by its former name.
An otherwise meek, kind and ordinary man  who snapped when he stabbed a co-worker and one-time lover 126 times, killing her  will be eligible to apply for parole after serving 12 years of a life sentence for second-degree murder, a judge has decided.

Last December, a Toronto jury convicted Nicholas Johnson, now 27, of killing Virgil Jack, 31, on Aug. 18, 2017, and leaving her dead, floating in a North York creek.

Prosecutor Allison MacPherson asked that Johnson be ordered ineligible to apply for parole for 17 years, arguing that case law for an intimate-partner homicide supported that range. Defence lawyer Tony Bryant argued 12 years was appropriate.

Superior Court Justice Faye McWatt said that while the attack was brutal, she rejected the Crowns argument the case was one of domestic abuse or an intimate-partner relationship, saying she found Johnson and Jacks contact may not have been any more than one sexual encounter and a possible friendship through work.

Summarizing the evidence heard at trial, McWatt said that within days of having sex with Johnson while his spouse was away, Jack falsely claimed she was pregnant. What followed was a barrage of angry texts and ruses as Jack sought to destroy Johnsons relationship with his spouse, who really was pregnant.

The deceased wreaked havoc in the couples life, McWatt said, reading her decision in court Tuesday.

The judge said she found it startling that Johnson was gullible enough to believe Jack in this unfortunate escapade. The explanation, she said, lies in a psychological report submitted by the defence that found he is intellectually delayed to some extent and obviously reacted with deadly results to the situation Ms. Jack created.

The report found Johnson suffers from a mild to moderate level of intellectual developmental disorder and lacked coping strategies.

He could not understand that her claim could not have been true when they had slept together only days before she announced the pregnancy to him and led him to non-existent medical visits to get confirmation of her condition.

McWatt noted that even at the time of the statements Johnson gave to police shortly after the crime, and then some months later, Johnson still believed Jack was pregnant.

Bryant said after court his client was pleased the judge accepted the doctors findings with respect to his intellectual disabilities and the impact they had on his decision making.

The tempo and content of text messages sent by Jack were coming at a pace that would be very, very difficult to get a grip on, Byrant said.

Johnson, whom McWatt described as a somewhat meek, kind and ordinary man, had no criminal record, nor any contact with the criminal justice system until this offence. He was 24 at the time of the killing. Jamaican-born, Johnson arrived in Canada at the age of 14 and met Jack working on a factory line at a computer parts company.

Bryant has already filed an appeal over how Johnsons jury was selected.

Days before Johnson was supposed to be sentenced last winter, an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling in the murder trial of Pardeep Singh Chouhan found the judge had improperly applied new jury selection rules.

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Bryant sought a mistrial, arguing Johnsons jury had also been improperly selected  a motion that McWatt dismissed. Johnson has subsequently filed an appeal on that issue and is expected to join an estimated half a dozen other appellants in Toronto.

In May, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to review the Chouhan ruling. If it is left to stand, it could result in dozens of convictions having to be retried at a time when the court system is facing an unprecedented case backlog created by the global pandemic.
A Toronto police officer and his son both face charges in connection with the death of a former Liberian warlord in a quiet residential neighbourhood in London, Ont.

The officer, Trevor Gregory, 46, was arrested Tuesday in Toronto in relation to the fatal shooting of Bill Horrace. The shooting occurred June 21 at 4:40 a.m. Hes charged with breach of trust.

Horrace was shot to death after four men  three of whom wore medical masks  burst into the home at 232 Pochard Lane where he was staying, police say. The suspects arrived in two vehicles. Relatives of Horrace were in the home at the time but they were not injured.

The father of four was pronounced dead soon after arrival in hospital.

Gregory was charged with breach of trust on Tuesday and released with a court date of Sept. 29.

His son, Keiron Gregory, 21, is wanted on a charge of second-degree murder in Horraces death.

Toronto police said Trevor Gregory is a detective constable at 53 division in midtown, with 21 years of service and has been suspended with pay in accordance with the Police Services Act.

London police Det. Supt. Chris Newton declined to offer further details Tuesday on the charge against Trevor Gregory.

Unfortunately for me to comment on any details with the breach of trust, I would be discussing evidence, which I'm not prepared to do at this time, Newton told The Canadian Press.

We do have a significant contingent of police officers in the (Greater Toronto Area) actively investigating this crime and we are getting daily, almost hourly, physical evidence as well as intelligence from other police services in the area.

Horraces death was just Londons second homicide of 2020 and Newton told the Star at the time that it wasnt a random attack.

It was a targeted attack, Newton said.

Newton earlier told the Star that investigators had heard that Horrace was wanted for war crimes in Liberia and had fought under former Liberian president Charles Taylor, now serving a 50-year-term in a British prison for atrocities in the West African nation of Sierra Leone.

Newton said at the time that his investigators were looking for evidence about his death, not his political past.

Were concentrating on his death and the evidence relating to how he died, Newton said at the time.

The evidence is leading to other priorities, he said, adding that he was aware of reports the former general had been involved in counterfeiting while in Canada.

Thats another aspect of the investigation that we are following, Newton said.

Taylor was found guilty in 2012 by the Special Court for Sierra Leone on 11 counts including planning, aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity, and sentenced to 50 years in a British prison.

Horrace never stood trial for war crimes and moved to Toronto. He did not have Canadian citizenship.

In an email to the Star, Liberian human rights activist Hassan Bility said he is aware of the new developments, and I sympathize with, and feel sorry for, his family.

Bility, a former editor who was tortured by the Taylor regime, called the slaying sad and regrettable in an interview with FrontPageAfrica. Even though Mr. Horrace stood accused of committing war-related crimes in Liberia, during Liberias first civil war, this is really not what we wanted, Bility said. He was never tried and found guilty.

Bility, who was tortured in 2002 after being arrested by Taylors forces, said he wanted justice and not revenge to prevail.

The brick house where Horrace lived was on a quiet street in the east end of London. It was purchased last summer for $283,500.

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Correction - July 8, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Charles Taylor is serving a 50-year-term in a British prison for committing atrocities in the West African nation of Liberia. In fact, the prison term is for atrocities committed in neighbouring Sierra Leone. As well, he was found guilty in 2012 by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, not the International Criminal Court. The trial took place in The Hague.

Update -July 10, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version to update the spelling of Bill Horrace's surname from the previous spelling provided by the police.
TANZANIA, Tanzania - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic provides new opportunities for the Islamic State extremist group, al-Qaida and their affiliates as well as neo-Nazis, white supremacists and hate groups.

The U.N. chief said its too early to fully assess the implications of the coronavirus pandemic on terrorism, but all these groups seek to exploit divisions, local conflicts, failures in governing, and other grievances to advance their aims.

Guterres told the launch of United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week that the Islamic State group, which once controlled a vast swath of Syria and Iraq, is trying to reassert itself in both countries, while thousands of foreign terrorist fighters battle in the region.

The pandemic has also highlighted vulnerabilities to new and emerging forms of terrorism, such as misuse of digital technology, cyber attacks and bio-terrorism, he said.

Josep Borrell, the European Unions top diplomat, told the virtual meeting that a global understanding of the pandemics implications on counter-terrorism efforts across the world is needed.

It is true that, in some places, the crisis has led to a reduction of terrorist activity, mainly due to the mobilization of state security services, he said. But in other regions, terrorism and human suffering caused by it continue unabated.

Former American diplomat Richard Haas, who heads the Council on Foreign Relations, said he believes COVID-19 will add to the challenges of counter-terrorism.

It will perhaps create an environment where more countries become weak or fail, he said, and recruitment for terrorist organizations will quite possibly go up.

Tunisias U.N. Ambassador Kais Kabtani, who chairs the U.N. Security Councils counter-terrorism committee, said its recent report on COVID-19 described how the pandemic may have temporarily limited operations of terrorist groups because of lockdowns and travel restrictions  but also how groups including the Islamic State are exploiting increased social isolation and online use to spread their propaganda through virtual platforms.

With global attention focused on tackling the pandemic, Kabtani said, terrorist groups are also seeking to capitalize by undermining state authority and launching new attacks.

The report by the committees executive directorate said the global population, including over 1 billion students, is spending more time on the internet as a result of COVID-19.

The increase in the number of young people engaging in unsupervised Internet usage  particularly on gaming platforms  offers terrorist groups an opportunity to expose a greater number of people to their ideas, although the relationship between online activity and radicalization to violence is not fully understood, the experts report said. The reported rise in cyber crime could also lead to increased connectivity between terrorist and criminal actors.

The U.N. experts said a wide variety of terrorist groups have already integrated COVID-19 into their propaganda to exploit divisions and weaknesses among their enemies including by intensifying hatred for certain groups, resulting in racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant hate speech.

These narratives have been fused with an array of new or existing conspiracy theories, particularly by the extreme right, including through the linkage of 5G technology to the spread of the virus, the experts said.

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On the negative side, they said the pandemic in addition to limiting the movement of terrorists may disrupt their supply chains making it difficult for them to get food, medicine, money and weapons.

With the overwhelming global focus on COVID-19, the experts said terrorists may seek even more `attention grabbing targets or techniques  as with the May 2020 attack on a maternity hospital in Afghanistan.
NAIROBI, Kenya - Burundian refugees in Tanzania say they fear being forced to return to their country now that a new president has taken power and invited them home.

Hundreds of thousands of Burundians fled during the bloody political turmoil that followed former President Pierre Nkurunzizas decision to seek a third term in 2015. Nkurunziza decided not to run again in Mays election and died days later in what the government called a heart attack.

New President Evariste Ndayishimiye is now being watched closely for any breaks with his predecessor, whose rule slid into repression in its final years. At his swearing-in, Ndayishimiye declared that Burundians should feel free to speak out. Burundians should be able to listen to each other, but outsiders should not dictate what to do.

He invited all those in exile to return and build a new nation.

Shortly afterward, Tanzanias director of the department of refugees visited camps for Burundians in western Tanzania where close to 200,000 remain, refugees told The Associated Press.

He carried one message: Go back to your country, there is peace now, refugees said.

They said the official, Sudi Mwakibasi, urged refugees to take up the new presidents offer and go home and participate in the countrys development.

A coalition of refugees human rights defenders denounced the Tanzanian officials position.

We are not assured by the new government team, said Leopold Sharangabo, the coalitions vice-president. He noted the new appointment in Burundi of a prime minister, Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, who is under U.S. sanctions for his alleged role in rights abuses. He called the appointment an insult to refugees.

These people harassed us, killed us, tortured us and forced us into exile. How can we be asked to go back under their regime? he asked.

The danger we fled is still there, said another refugee, Apollinaire Makokwe.

Sharangabo accused Tanzanian authorities of destroying markets in the camps in past efforts to make people leave. Some refugees noted that a request from Tanzanian authorities is normally an order.

Even before Burundis change in power, Tanzanias President John Magufuli told refugees to go home, claiming the country had calmed. Tanzanias government later denied it was expelling refugees.

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A spokesman with the United Nations refugee agency in Tanzania, Edward Ogolla, said in an email that we expect that there will be calls for refugees from Burundi to go back home from senior government officials in Tanzania and Burundi. UNHCR continues to stand by the position that all returns must be voluntary and the result of a free and informed choice by refugees.

Ogolla said the UNHCR will continue to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees and that 85,396 have returned since September 2017.
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TANZANIA, Tanzania - Russia and China vetoed a U.N. resolution Tuesday that would maintain two border crossing points from Turkey to deliver humanitarian aid to Syrias mainly rebel-held northwest for a year, which the United Nations says is crucial to save millions of lives.

Russia, Syrias close ally, immediately circulated a draft Security Council resolution that would authorize the delivery of aid through a single crossing point from Turkey for six months.

Germanys U.N. Ambassador Chistoph Heusgen, the current council president, announced the 13-2 result of the vote at a virtual meeting which saw the United States attack Russia and China over their vetoes.

Were ashamed by what this council has to do right now because of the cynical attempts of the Russian Federation and the Peoples Republic of China to put politics above the lives of the Syrian people, U.S. Minister-Counselor Rodney Hunter said.

Chinas U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun blamed unilateral sanctions against Syria, which have been imposed by the U.S. and the European Union, for exacerbating the countrys humanitarian situation and urged that they be lifted. He also rejected the U.S. heaping blame on China, saying its once again demonstrating the hypocritical approach adopted by this country while they are imposing unilateral sanctions.

Hunter retorted that U.S. sanctions have humanitarian exemptions and they in no way harm the people of Syria.

The only thing thats harming the people of Syria and preventing them from getting the assistance that they need is the Assad regime being helped out by the Peoples Republic of China and the Russian Federation, he said.

The defeated resolution, drafted by Germany and Belgium, had dropped a call for the re-opening of an Iraqi crossing to the northeast to deliver medical supplies for the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, Russias U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said: Do not waste your time on efforts to reopen the closed cross-border points.

Russia has argued that aid should be delivered from within Syria across conflict-lines. But U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock has insisted that the two crossings from Turkey to the northwest remain a lifeline for millions of civilians whom the U.N. cannot reach by other means.

In January, Russia scored a victory for Syria, using its veto threat to force the Security Council to adopt a resolution reducing the number of crossing points for aid deliveries from four to just two, from Turkey to the northwest. It also cut in half the year-long mandate that had been in place since cross-border deliveries began in 2014 to six months, as Russia insisted.

The draft resolution which the 15 council members voted on by email because of the COVID-19 pandemic would have extended the mandate for the two border crossings from Turkey to the northwest  Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa  for a year.

The Russian-drafted resolution would only authorize cross-border deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing.

Nebenzia assured the council that if its resolution is adopted, cross-border aid deliveries will continue.

But Belgiums U.N. Ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve said this is not yet over.

We will in the coming hours and days further engage in efforts with all parties to come to consensus, he said.

Chinas Zhang echoed the hope that we will find a way out and narrow our differences.

U.N. humanitarian chief Lowcock told the council on June 29 that An estimated 2.8 million people in the northwest  70 per cent of the regions population  require humanitarian assistance.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres latest report to the Security Council circulated Tuesday said cross-border operations in the northwest continued at record levels in response to the catastrophic deterioration of the humanitarian situation that occurred when almost 1 million civilians were displaced between December 2019 and March 2020.

The U.N. chief said the U.N. World Food Program delivered food to 1.3 million people in April and more than 1.3 million in May through the two border crossings, and the U.N. World Health Organization delivered over 420,000 emergency health kits and essential medicines to the northwest in May.

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The cross border crossings are vital to the well being of the civilians in north west Syria. And we very much hope that these will be extended, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday. Lives depend on it.

In northeast Syria, Guterres said despite increasing quantities of assistance reaching the region, medical supplies from those deliveries did not reach the majority of medical facilities that had previously depended on the cross-border delivery of supplies.

Kurdish fighters, who allied with the US-led coalition in fighting to defeat Islamic State militants, control most of oil-rich northeast Syria. But Turkey invaded areas along its borders and now controls sliver of lands there. Tensions have persisted between Turkish-allied fighters and Kurdish groups, which Ankara considers terrorists. There are also hundreds of U.S. troops still stationed in northeast Syria.
MEXICO CITY - For his first foreign trip as president, Mexicos Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador travels to Washington Tuesday to meet with President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly taken shots at Mexico and Mexican migrants to rally his base.

The visit, coming just four months before U.S. elections, has many Mexicans cringing. Trump has insulted them, threatened crippling tariffs to strongarm Mexico into playing an uncomfortable role in U.S. immigration policy and insisted they will pay for a border wall meant to keep migrants out of the U.S.

But Lopez Obrador has had a surprisingly warm relationship with Trump. He likes to point out that more recently Trump helped Mexico reach a deal with other oil-producing nations to cut production and aided Mexico in obtaining more ventilators to face the coronavirus pandemic. Both presidents talk about a blossoming friendship that seems to stem from their pursuit of unapologetically nationalist agendas.

Lopez Obrador hints at the real reason for the trip when he reels off U.S. economic statistics  the size of the U.S. pandemic stimulus package, the number of jobs the U.S. got back in June. Mexicos economy was in recession before the pandemic, has shed about 1 million jobs since and is forecast to contract this year by as much as 10%.

This helps us by being neighbours, Lopez Obrador said Tuesday, before departing. This is about the economy, its about jobs, its about well-being.

By late Tuesday his flight had arrived in Dulles International Airport after a layover in Atlanta.

There is no doubt Trump will try to use the visit to his advantage. The encounter will draw attention to a trade accord replacing one Trump said was a bad deal and will allow the president to bash former Vice-President Joe Biden for voting in favour of the old North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump could stir his base with sharp words for Mexico or simply play up Lopez Obradors desire to express his gratitude.

In 2016, Trump, then a candidate for the presidency, visited Lopez Obradors predecessor, an invitation for which President Enrique Pena Nieto was harshly criticized, inlcuding by Lopez Obrador. Trump left that visit and flew to Arizona where he railed against immigrants.

Lopez Obrador, a pragmatist and nationalist above all, knows there is no more important ally than the behemoth to the north, especially as Mexicos economy plunges deeper into recession. If Trump wins a second term, Lopez Obrador could be calculating hell have a friend for the remaining four years of his administration. If the Democrats take office, he trusts they will respect the importance of the bilateral relationship and not hold a grudge.

Maybe hes making the right bet and we dont know it, said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, associate professor at George Mason Universitys Schar School of Policy and Government. She expects Trump to use the visit to rally his base, perhaps even reviving the claim that Mexico will pay for the border wall, a topic Lopez Obrador repeatedly dodged Tuesday.

Hes conscious of what can happen, she said. It happened to Pena Nieto. It can easily happen to him.

Lopez Obrador insists that he has no desire to be drawn into U.S. domestic politics. He says hes going to mark the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which took effect July 1.

There is no way (Lopez Obrador) can spin this visit in his favour, said Tony Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Payan said the trade accord doesnt merit wading into U.S. political waters. The (trade) agreement is done, finished and in force, he said. There is no need to thank anyone. There is no need to express any kind of gratitude. There is no need for a pilgrimage.

Thats a decision Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apparently reached in deciding not to attend the meeting.

On Monday, Lopez Obrador added another reason.

If we have a good relationship with the United States government, we are going to avoid mistreatment of Mexicans living in the U.S., Lopez Obrador said. Lopez Obrador has repeatedly raised the importance of the remittances sent home by migrants and praised them as heroes.

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Payan said immigration is always on the bilateral agenda, but he sees little chance for Mexico winning any concessions from Trump, whose administration continues to curtail legal and illegal immigration.

I think Trump is more interested in restricting access to the American labour market today more than ever, Payan said.

Mexicos worrisome level of violence  2019 saw the highest number of murders on record  could be an opening. Lopez Obrador could ask for more U.S. assistance in intelligence or tracking drug traffickers financial transactions. He says he wont undermine Mexicos sovereignty and has been a harsh critic of the Merida Initiative that brought U.S. financial and material support to Mexico as his predecessors battled the cartels.

For Trump, the visit is an opportunity to criticize his opponent for supporting NAFTA more than two decades ago, possibling helping garner votes in the Midwest states where workers blamed the old trade deal for prompting U.S. companies to shift manufacturing to Mexico, where labour costs were lower.

Trump said replacing the disastrous NAFTA trade deal was one of the biggest promises he made to his supporters in 2016. Trade was perhaps the single biggest reason he ran for president in the first place, Trump says.

He is fond of saying that after NAFTA was created, the U.S. lost one in four manufacturing jobs while asserting that the new deal will create nearly 100,000 new, high-paying American auto jobs, boost exports for U.S. farmers and ranchers and increase trade with Mexico and Canada.

Trump is correct that the United States has lost nearly 4 million factory jobs since that pact took effect in January 1994. But most economists attribute the losses more to the recessions of 2001 and 2007-2009, automation and low-cost competition from China.

Biden has said he didnt regret voting for NAFTA during his time in the Senate. Fair trade is important, Biden has said. Not free trade. Fair trade. And I think that back in the time during the Clinton administration, it made sense at the moment.

From Lopez Obradors perspective, a good relationship with whoever occupies the White House is Mexicos best policy.

Were going to offer our opinion, but were not planning for confrontation, Lopez Obrador said Tuesday. Were going to look to convince, were going to seek understanding.

__ AP writer Deb Riechmann in Washington contributed to this report.
SRINAGAR, India - Indian and Chinese soldiers have backed away from the site of a deadly clash last month in the Galwan Valley along the undemarcated border, Indian security officials said, a sign of the countries progress in disengaging from a months-long standoff.

The two sides also appeared to have dismantled recent construction along the river valley high in the Karakoram mountains, satellite images showed.

Three Indian security officials familiar with the developments said soldiers on both sides have moved back about a kilometre (0.6 mile) from the site of their clash on June 15, when military personnel fought with rocks, clubs and their fists in hand-to-hand combat that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter and in keeping with government regulations.

The two sides have also moved apart at two locations in the Hot Spring area, out of at least five places where Indian officials said the Chinese had crossed the Line of Actual Control, the area of the border that remains disputed following a 1962 war that ended in an uneasy truce.

They said soldiers continued to stand at close range at two other sites along the 3,380-kilometre (2,100-mile) line of control, at Depsang and Pangong Lake. At the picturesque lake, the Chinese were 8 kilometres (5 miles) within the disputed border area, the officials said.

Satellite images from June 28 appeared to show that the Indians had built a wall on their side of the Galwan Valley and the Chinese had expanded a camp at the end of a long road connected to Chinese military bases farther from the poorly defined border, according to experts.

But images released on Monday by Maxar, a Colorado-based satellite imagery company, showed those recent additions now gone.

There are no structures or vehicles visible within 1.3 kilometres (0.8 mile) of the LAC in the valley, said Nathan Ruser, an imagery analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

However, Ruser said satellite images showed a large tent structure of about 900 square meters (9,687 square feet) appeared just under a mile (1.6 kilometres) from the Line of Actual Control. The tent did not appear in June 28 images of the same area.

The purpose of the tent and its possible contents, if any, were unclear.

The countries special representatives on the border issue, Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, agreed in a phone call Sunday that maintenance of peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of our bilateral relations, and to complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously, Indias foreign ministry said in a statement Monday.

The phone call came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unannounced visit to a military base in the Indian territory of Ladakh, visiting injured soldiers and praising their bravery.

The face-off began in early May, first at three places including Pangong Lake, and then escalated to two other places in Depsang and Galwan in June.

India and China have blamed each other for provoking the June 15 brawl in the Galwan Valley, the Asian giants most violent encounter in 45 years, and have staked fresh claims to the area where it occurred.

Chinas ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, told the Press Trust of India news agency that there were casualties between the two sides, but Chinese officials have not detailed any deaths or injuries on their side.

The countries went to war in 1962 over their competing claims to the arid border region, with the conflict spilling over into Ladakh.

Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda, a former head of the Indian militarys Northern Command which controls Ladakh, said the beginning of disengagement was a good, positive step.

Good that some stalemate is broken but its going to be a long and protracted negotiation for a substantial disengagement at military level. The full de-escalation will be hard bargaining at diplomatic level, he said.

Hooda said it remained unclear what China wanted to achieve in the standoff.

Ill be looking at what Chinese demands are going to be as a cost for complete disengagement. We know neither side will quietly go back, he said, adding that India hoped to restore status quo ante, the position the two countries were in April.

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The coming winter would pose an extreme challenge for both sides if the face-off continues, Hooda said. The vast undemarcated border region becomes inhospitable during winter months, when temperatures can drop to minus 50 Celsius (minus 58 Fahrenheit).

___

Schmall reported from New Delhi and McNeil reported from Beijing.
BERLIN - Germanys interior minister called on his European Union colleagues Tuesday to agree on a better and more just solution for the distribution of migrants rescued while attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said ahead of a video conference with his EU counterparts that all European member states need to take in rescued migrants. Germany has long pushed for quotas so that all of the blocs 27 members accept some of the migrants that initially land in Italy, Malta or Greece, but many countries refuse to take any rescued migrants.

When a ship arrives, there are phone calls across all of Europe: who is willing to take them, Seehofer told German public broadcaster ARD. Germany has taken some of those migrants in the past, but insists that all EU countries participate.

Seehofer said later Tuesday after conferring with his EU colleagues that it was a very constructive exchange of views. He added: I think we will get a greater readiness in Europe to show solidarity if we succeed in showing the member states that there is a long-term solution.

Earlier this week, a rescue ship with 180 migrants was allowed to sail to an Italian port after being denied entry for days. By early Tuesday, the migrants were allowed to leave the rescue ship that had docked in Sicily and transfer to a quarantine ship.

Many of the migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, smuggled via Libya and other northern African countries on flimsy dinghies or rickety fishing boats, are fleeing poverty, not war or persecution, and are ultimately found ineligible for asylum. Many come from sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite diplomatic efforts by EU authorities in Brussels to encourage countries to share the burden of caring for some of the asylum-seekers, only a handful of member nations have agreed on a voluntary basis to accept a share of migrants rescued on the Mediterranean.

Germany, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, is trying to push again for a solution of the migrant problem.

We are not just an economic and a security union, but also a community of values, Seehofer said ahead of the talks. And Im convinced that rescuing people from dying by drowning also belongs to our community of values.
ROME - Doctors at the Vaticans pediatric hospital said Tuesday they have successfully separated conjoined twins whose skulls were fused back-to-back, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect.

The twins, Ervina and Prefina Bangalo, were born June 29, 2018 in Mbaiki, Central African Republic with their heads attached and sharing critical blood vessels around their brains. Such cases of conjoined twins occur once in every 2 million births or so.

The Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital, which is Vatican-owned but operates within the Italian public health system, brought the twins and their mother to Italy soon after their birth. The hospital said the toddlers are recovering well a month after their third and definitive separation surgery on June 5.

Video released by the hospital showed the girls waving along to music from their beds, clapping and holding markers, as well as celebrating their second birthday in their mothers arms as hospital staff sang Happy Birthday to them in Italian.

The key goal of the surgery was to obtain a separation with the girls in perfect condition. So the objective we gave ourselves was very ambitious, and we did everything to reach it, Dr. Carlo Marras, chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Bambino Gesu, said.

Marras led the team that worked for nearly two years planning and executing the separation.

At a press conference to announce the outcome of the sisters surgery, Marras said the prognosis was these girls can have a normal life after a phase of rehabilitation.

There have been successful separation surgeries in the past of twins joined at the head, but most have been for twins whose heads were fused vertically, at the top. Ervina and Previnas skulls were joined back-to-back in what is known as total posterior craniopagus.

That made the surgery particularly challenging since the back of the head is a far more critical place for blood supply to the brain and drainage of blood away from it, said Dr. Jesse Taylor, head of plastic surgery at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia who has participated in some separation surgeries.

Its one of those configurations that I think a lot of centres, when they see it, say, You know, were not sure that this can be done safely, Taylor said. The venous drainage tends to be the main limiting step for separability in twins connected at the back of the head.

He said in typical separation surgeries, doctors can borrow some blood vessels to give to each twin. But when it comes to the back of the head, you dont have a lot of wiggle room for borrowing veins, Taylor explained.

Marras said that indeed, the most complicated aspect of the Bangalo twins separation was to give each child autonomous venous drainage systems  procedures that began with two surgeries in May and June 2019. The final, 18-hour surgery last month to physically separate them involved a team of 30 doctors and nurses, who made use of 3-D imaging and neurosimulators.

Before the separation surgery, members of the Vatican hospitals staff gave the girls mirrors so they could see one another. They knew what each other sounded like, but the mirrors helped them associate facial expressions with their personalities and sounds, Marras said.

It was an experience that wasnt just professional but above all human: to think that you can arrive at something that we had only imagined, with all the possibilities of failure. It was a magical moment. Marvelous, he said.

Marras said there was only one previously known case of a separation of twins conjoined at the back of the head, performed in the United States during the 1980s. He said the outcome in that case was poor.

He was referring to the 1987 surgery at Johns Hopkins University by a team led by Dr. Ben Carson, who is now U.S. President Donald Trumps housing secretary. Both twins suffered serious neurological problems; an Associated Press story from 1989, two years after the surgery, said one of the boys was in a vegetative state and the other had severe developmental delays.

In the case of the sisters from Central African Republic, Marras said the girls so far have suffered no neurological harm.

The twins mother, Ermine Nzotto, wiped tears from her eyes as she watched a video prepared by the hospital of the twins before and after their separation. Nzotto said she never went to school but hopes her daughters would study to become doctors.

Its a joy, that I can see my girls run and play like other children. May they tomorrow study and learn to become doctors to save the other children of this world, she said through an interpreter.

The mother thanked Marras, the hospital president and Pope Francis, who visited Central African Republics capital of Bangui in 2015 and has since strongly supported Bambino Gesus collaboration with the pediatric hospital there.

Nzotto said she also hopes that Francis will now baptize her girls.

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Hospital President Mariella Enoc had met the twins soon after they were born during a visit to the Central African Republic and was the driving force behind bringing them to Rome and seeing if they could be separated.

She said deciding to do so created ethical and economic questions, since the cost of 1 million euros ($1.1 million) paid for primarily by the hospital foundation could have been spent on less-risky procedures that might have benefited more children.

But Enoc said: When you find a life that can be saved, you have to save it.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A coronavirus outbreak in the California Legislature has indefinitely delayed the state Assemblys return to work from a scheduled summer recess, highlighting the rapid spread of the virus in a state that has imposed new restrictions on bars and restaurants following a surge of cases and hospitalizations.

Speaker Anthony Rendons office confirmed five people who work in the state Assembly have tested positive for the coronavirus. That includes Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, a Democrat from Inglewood, who is believed to have been infected while on the Assembly floor last month when lawmakers returned to the state capitol in Sacramento to approve a $202.1 billion budget.

The Assembly will remain in recess until further notice, Rendon said. We have taken this decision, as we did in March, to protect members, staff and the public from exposure, and it comes in light of recent news of positive coronavirus tests in the Capitol.

Many state legislatures shut down earlier this year as the pandemic took hold of the U.S., including California, where lawmakers missed nearly two months of work in its first unscheduled recess in 158 years. But many legislatures eventually returned to work with restrictions in place to limit the spread of the virus.

In California, those restrictions included mandatory masks for lawmakers on the floor, plus physical distancing in the chamber. Burke said both she and the person who exposed her to the virus were wearing masks.

Currently, my daughter and I have no symptoms, but will be remaining in quarantine until released by a doctor, Burke wrote in a message posted to her Twitter account.

The delay comes as more young people are getting the coronavirus in California, fueling a surge of hospitalizations across the state and prompting Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration to step up enforcement of new restrictions on bars and restaurants.

Statewide, coronavirus hospitalizations have increased 56% in the past two weeks while the number of confirmed cases has jumped 53%. In Los Angeles County, where one quarter of the states population lives, people between the ages of 18 and 40 now account for 25% of all coronavirus hospitalizations  up from about 10% in April.

Unfortunately where we are today is different than where we were two, three or four weeks ago. Cases are surging, hospitalizations are increasing and mostly this is a reflection of a lot more community spread, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.

Overall, about 56% of the states nearly 74,000 hospital beds are occupied, leaving some 32,000 beds available for new patients. But the number of coronavirus hospitalizations has steadily increased in the past few weeks, now accounting for 8% of all hospitalizations in California compared to about 6% a month ago.

Hospitals in Imperial County are overwhelmed, forcing the transfer of 500 patients to medical facilities in other counties.

In response, Newsom has ordered bars, indoor restaurant dining and other indoor businesses to close for the next three weeks in 23 of the states 58 counties. Over the busy Independence Day weekend, Newsoms administration deployed strike teams of state inspectors to enforce those rules. But the teams only issued 52 citations because most business owners complied with state directives, Newsom said.

The overwhelming majority of people were doing the right thing, he said. Even if people were out of compliance, the engagement got people back into compliance very quickly.

Newsom had sent a letter Friday urging local police and sheriffs to enforce the state health orders. He warned local elected officials again Monday that they risk losing out on $2.5 billion in state funding if they refuse to ensure compliance.

In West Hollywood, where city officials authorized law enforcement to fine people $300 for not wearing facial coverings, deputies stopped more than 100 people but did not fine anyone over the weekend, according to Los Angeles County Sheriffs Capt. Edward Ramirez, who oversees the West Hollywood station.

San Diego County, added to the state watch list on Friday because of its increasing number of cases, announced Monday it would comply with Newsoms order by barring indoor dining and re-closing movie theatres, card rooms, museums, bowling alleys and other family entertainment venues.

The county has seen more than 21 outbreaks of at least three people from different households, including 16 at restaurants.

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We have to fight to slow the spread to save our economy, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said.

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. ___

Associated Press reporters John Antczak and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles and Julie Watson in San Diego contributed to this report.
NEW ORLEANS - One of the critically endangered gorillas in the New Orleans zoo is expecting her first baby, and already is being trained with a doll to hold her future offspring.

Thirteen-year-old Tumanis training doll doesnt look anything like a gorilla because a stuffed toy could easily be torn apart, the Audubon Zoos chief veterinarian, Dr. Robert McLean, said Monday. Instead, a rugged section of canvas firehose tubing has been woven roughly to the proportions and weight of a 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) newborn gorilla.

I havent seen it myself, McLean said. Apparently its pretty ugly but it does the job.

Tumani, father Okpara, and females Alafia and Praline are western lowland gorillas. Although there were an estimated 362,000 in the wild in 2016, their numbers were falling about 2.7% a year, making them critically endangered, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. At that rate, their numbers could plummet more than 80% by 2082. Habitat loss, disease  including the Ebola virus  and illegal hunting for meat are among reasons their population is falling so fast.

About 350 of the gorillas are in facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The last gorilla born at the Audubon Zoo was Praline, now 24.

Tumanis pregnancy is a huge deal and we want to share that news with the public. It seems to be going well, McLean said.

The due date is anywhere between mid-July and Aug. 20, based on her mating with Okpara, a 26-year-old silverback who came to New Orleans in 2017 from the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. Veterinarians dont know the babys sex.

The 160-pound (72-kilogram) expectant mother is receiving twice monthly ultrasounds and has undergone training on how to pick up the doll, including how to hold it to her chest where a baby gorilla could nurse.

We dont want the baby by itself. We want it with the mother at all times, McLean explained. If the babys on the ground, we want to be able to say, Hey, pick it up.

She also has been taught not to play with a baby bottle and its foot-long (30-centimetre) flexible hose leading to the nipple, which could be used if Tumani has a problem lactating or nursing.

Alafia, who has successfully raised a baby, also has been trained to do all the same things just in case she has to step in as the infants foster mother.

McLean said both Alafias experience at Seattles Woodland Park Zoo and the fact that Tumani saw younger brothers and sisters raised at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she lived until 2017, are in favour of successful motherhood.

But we still dont know how theyll respond, he said.
TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday visitors from three more states must quarantine for two weeks under an advisory aimed at travellers from COVID-19 hotspots.

Residents from neighbouring Delaware as well as Kansas and Oklahoma should self-quarantine for 14 days if visiting New Jersey, according to the governor.

The new states bring the total to 19.

The advisory covers states with a positive test rate above 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average, or states with a 10% or higher positivity rate over the same period.

The news comes a day after Murphy said the rate of transmission ticked up to about 1.0, meaning the average number of people infected by each infectious person.

Several outbreaks across New Jersey are directly tied to travel from COVID-19 hotspots nationwide, Murphy said in an emailed statement. In order to responsibly continue down our road back to restart and recovery, we must remain vigilant in our collective effort to beat the virus.

New Jersey is in the midst of reopening and has seen its transmission and positivity rates fall from peaks in April, though Murphy said Monday the uptick in the latest figures mean the economic restart is likely to slow down.

He already abandoned plans to allow dining indoors to resume.

The travel advisory cannot be constitutionally enforced, Murphy has said, though hes urged people to use caution when considering a trip to the state.

Electronic billboards on New Jerseys highways urge travellers to call 511 to determine their quarantine status.

Murphy and fellow Democratic governors of Connecticut and New York announced last month they would jointly institute the travel advisory aimed at preventing a COVID-19 flareup in their states.

As of Monday, there were 20 more deaths announced, increasing the statewide total to more than 13,300, plus 1,854 likely coronavirus-related deaths, Murphy said.

More than 200 positive cases were reported, bringing the total amount of cases to about 173,600.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness or death.

___

HURRY UP AND WAIT

New Jerseys Motor Vehicle Commission branches reopened Tuesday to long lines and a slew of unsatisfied customers.

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The offices have been closed since mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials had urged people to wait a week or more before doing their business and to check whether they could conduct their transactions online. But that didnt stop thousands from lining up, some in the wee hours of the morning, at locations around the state.

Large crowds outside offices from Toms River to Oakland and Wallington to Eatontown prompted police to send thousands of people home. Pictures posted on Twitter showed people standing in long lines in the hot sun.

In Newark, some customers said theyd lined up starting at 4 a.m. Others remained outside even after the gates to the office were closed around noon.
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Prosecutors in Iowa have filed a rarely used leak charge against Black Lives Matter protesters accused of stealing a confidential police document and displaying it during a television news broadcast.

Two protesters are charged with unauthorized dissemination of intelligence data, a felony that carries up to five years in prison.

The Iowa Judicial Branch says its only the second time that the charge has been filed since 2010. Its intended to punish officers and others who share information that could undermine criminal investigations or violate privacy protections.

The document in question was a Des Moines Police Department bulletin that officers and state troopers had with them while patrolling a July 1 protest at the Iowa Capitol. The bulletin included photos of suspects who were wanted in the destruction of a Des Moines police car during a June 20 protest.

Alexandria Dea, 26, took the intelligence bulletin from an officers back pocket during a confrontation between officers and protesters, which began after officers arrested three of the suspects inside the Capitol, the criminal complaint against her alleges.

Protesters later gathered at the Polk County Jail to demand the release of those arrested during the clash. While there, 21-year-old Viet Tran discussed and displayed the bulletin during an interview that was broadcast on WOI-TV, an ABC affiliate, according to a complaint.

The first page of the four-page document has a notice warning that it shouldnt be shared or released publicly, and that doing so would violate Iowa code.

Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said it was difficult to assess whether any harm resulted from its dissemination. But he said such bulletins contain confidential information such as drivers license numbers that must be protected under the law.

This is my first experience with it ever being applied to anyone outside law enforcement, but obviously the circumstances were pretty unique, Parizek said. Those documents are not supposed to be shared. Its actually written on them. As soon as they did that, the charge was appropriate.

Tran remained jailed Tuesday on a complaint alleging he violated the terms of his probation from an assault case when he interfered with officers at the July 1 protest.

The television story didnt show the name or face of the person speaking about the document, but Parizek said police identified the source as Tran.

The reporter who included the bulletin in her story and tweeted photos of the document has not been charged.

It wouldnt be appropriate to hold a reporter accountable for trying to do their job, Parizek said. They get more leeway than the average person would.

Reporter Eva Andersen and the station declined comment.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, a long-serving Democrat whose office filed the charges, didnt return a phone message.

His office also charged Dea with felony theft for allegedly stealing the bulletin and throwing an officers radio that had fallen to the ground. That charge carries up to 10 years in prison.

Dea, who is free after posting $15,000 bond, declined comment. But her friend and fellow protester Jaylen Cavil said the charges were baseless.

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They are attempting to scare and silence us by stacking these fabricated felony charges on young people, he said. They know that this can ruin peoples lives, and thats why theyre doing it.

The law defines intelligence data as information compiled in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor possible criminal activity. Anyone who improperly obtains or shares it can be charged.

In the last time the law was used, a Wayne County sheriffs office employee was charged in 2016 with leaking information to suspects in drug and drunk driving cases. Ultimately, prosecutors dropped two counts and she pleaded guilty to interference with official acts.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A vast majority of Alaska State Troopers are white, making the primary statewide law enforcement agency substantially less diverse than Alaskas population.

Alaska Public Media reported Monday that about 87% of the states 355 troopers are white, compared to 65% of Alaskas population.

The figures released by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavys administration in response to a public records request showed Alaska Natives and Native Americans have the next largest representation among troopers at 5%, while those groups represent about 20% of the overall population.

Representation among the Alaska State Troopers has not changed significantly in recent years, although agency spokeswoman Megan Peters said in an email that our efforts have been significant.

The Department of Public Safety, which oversees the troopers, declined to make leaders available for questions. But Peters acknowledged increased diversity could make the law enforcement agency more effective.

The agency is confident its hiring process is fair, but there is a deficit in the amount of people of colour applying for positions, Peters said.

One of the biggest barriers is the negative experience many residents have during interactions with troopers, which Peters said generally occur when people are having a really bad day.

In order to create a relationship with a potential trooper that results in a job application, we must have significant contact with the applicant in a positive way, and that isnt happening often enough, Peters said.

Positive interactions with troopers most often occur during their off-duty hours, while funding for programs to support those efforts is difficult to obtain, she said.

The agency plans to devote extra time to applicants from diverse groups while continuing to recruit within the nations military branches and target those groups through advertising, Peters said.

The recruitment efforts should continue, but the agency needs to make more systemic change so people from diverse backgrounds want to work there, said Charlene Apok, director of gender, justice and healing at Native Movement, a Native advocacy group.

They need to do their part with the active recruiting and hiring. But it needs to be paired with trainings across the institution, so that it doesnt only perpetuate violence, Apok said.

Agency statements about diversification efforts appear to be defensive and an effort to perpetuate the way that theyre doing their work right now, Apok said.
RICHMOND, Va. - Richard Averitt and his wife have spent six years and more than six figures fighting to keep the Atlantic Coast Pipeline off their picturesque central Virginia property.

In all that time, Averitt said he couldnt recall meeting a single person who thought they would succeed. The massive interstate natural gas pipeline designed to start in West Virginia and run at least through Virginia and North Carolina was being developed by some of the countrys biggest and most politically powerful energy companies with support of lawmakers and governors from both parties, labour unions and the Trump administration.

But on Sunday, Duke Energy and Dominion Energy announced they had pulled the plug on the $8 billion project, citing uncertainties about costs, permitting and litigation.

When Averitt found out, he rushed to his parents nearby home to share the news. He and his family popped a bottle of Champagne and shouted from their front porch in delight.

It was a fight worth winning, said Averitt, who now wants to restart stalled plans to develop some of the land into a resort.

Environmental advocates and other opponents of the ACP called the decision to scrap the project a historic David-beats-Goliath win that  along with a recent blow to the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline  marks a turning point in the climate fight, illustrating the time has passed for energy companies to invest in massive fossil fuel infrastructure projects.

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was an anvil that would have stymied investment in renewable energy for decades, harmed vulnerable communities, and crushed mountainsides, Greg Buppert, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, which for the past six years has represented conservation groups opposing the project, said in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette laid blame at the feet of the well-funded, obstructionist environmental lobby that he said had killed the project.

Prominent conservation groups including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defence Council and SELC did fight the pipeline, but the effort also included smaller, grassroots organizations, including more than 50 in Virginia and West Virginia that banded together to form the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance.

In addition to lawsuits that led to the suspension or dismissal of many permits, pipeline opponents waged a fight that included organized aerial surveillance, marches, letter-writing campaigns and protests outside the Virginia governors mansion. In Union Hill  a historic African American community  former Vice-President Al Gore and social justice advocate the Rev. William Barber joined a fight against plans for a compressor station.

This is a testament to perseverance, thats for sure, said David Sligh, who was deeply involved in the effort as conservation director of Wild Virginia.

The pipeline was publicly announced in September 2014. Lead developer Dominion poured time and resources into an influence campaign involving direct mail, community meetings, ads and social media campaigns along the pipelines route. The company also gave $2 million in grants in communities affected by the pipeline, something Dominion described as a separate charity effort.

Getting the project built would have involved tree removal and blasting and levelling some ridgetops as the pipe, 42 inches (1 metre) in diameter for much of its path, crossed mountains, hundreds of water bodies and other sensitive terrain and burrowed underneath the Appalachian Trail.

Dominion and Duke said in their announcement that a key reason they were abandoning the pipeline was a decision by a Montana judge in a case over the Keystone XL that would potentially keep the ACP tied up in court too.

In the Keystone case, an April ruling from a federal judge dealing with a type of permit used to approve oil and gas pipelines and other utility work through wetlands and streams had threatened to delay not just that project but more than 70 other pipelines across the U.S. and add as much as $2 billion in costs, according to industry representatives.

It is a bit shocking, but it underscores the growing challenges and the escalating cost when it comes to constructing new pipeline capacity, said Rich Redash, head of global gas planning at S&P Global Platts, of the pipeline cancellation.

Natural gas was once seen as a cleaner-burning transition fuel away from coal, but many communities are now aiming to use 100% renewables. Companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook are also increasingly buying renewable generation.

But some utilities say they need to keep natural gas in the mix because they cant always rely on solar and wind energy, which fluctuate with the winds and the clouds, throughout the day.

Beyond the arguments over the gas itself, many landowners say the projects demise is a win for property rights.

In mostly rural Halifax County, North Carolina, Valerie Williams and her son spent years trying to keep the ACP off the more than 100-acre (40-hectare) family farm they jointly own.

She called Sundays news a miracle.

Purchased by her grandparents in 1916, the farm has provided food, recreation, shelter and protection to her family during the years of segregation, Williams said. She promised her late father she would never let it be split up.

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That was my drive, my total drive: defence of our heritage, our history, our tradition, our memory, because the farm really is the family tree, she said.

___

Associated Press writer Cathy Bussewitz in New York contributed to this report.
NEW YORK - The last few weeks I spent in New York City, the soundtrack of my days went like this: police helicopters circling, firecrackers startling, uniform chants for justice rising into the air.

The noise was constant  particularly following what had been months of silence as the city that never sleeps went into a deep slumber. Since mid-March, the only sound wed heard came from ambulances carrying the thousands of people who would become victims to a startling virus as the city became the epicenter.

I had dreamt of living in New York City since I was 13. I had come here from Southern California for the first time with my middle school choir class. We stayed in a hotel near Times Square, and I remembered the noise  the constant, looping sound of a city in motion. The subway rumbled underneath our feet as New Yorkers existed outside, creating a cacophony.

It was beautiful. I remember thinking: This is what life must sound like.

Now, more than a decade later, my time with New York is limited but also, somehow infinite. The days now have no beginning or end. We are not working from home but, rather, living at work. And now I find myself with too much time to recollect about a whirlwind romance with the only place I have ever felt at home.

In a 1967 essay, Goodbye to All That, Joan Didion wrote: I am not sure that it is possible for anyone brought up in the East to appreciate entirely what New York, the idea of New York, means to those of us who came out of the West and the South.

In many ways, I am so lucky. I got to have New York City for three beautiful and challenging years. For some, that may seem short, but I came alive here. I moved into a 300-square-foot apartment in the East Village in the summer of 2017, and life as I knew it changed.

I attended my dream school in New York. I met the girl who is now my best friend at a coffee shop near Washington Square Park. I fell in love for the first time while waiting for a table on the Upper West Side. I had my first national byline on the third floor of 30 Rock. I experienced my first heartbreak in an apartment deep in Bushwick. I graduated with my masters on a blistering hot summer day at Yankee Stadium.

I moved to four apartments in three years. I cried on every train line in the citys subway system but one. I truly lived in New York. And now, as the city is battered and broken down, as buildings remain closed and most stores are boarded up, I am leaving. Not because of the virus, but to start a new job.

Like many, I have spent these past three months mourning the life we had before this virus. The memories and lives lost. But I am also mourning the noise of a city in motion. And now, I wonder, will the sidewalks of New York ever be filled to the brim again? Will there be a day when the neighbourhood barber shops, restaurants, and dive bars are busy again?

I dont know. But I know one thing. The other night, as protests erupted in each of the citys five boroughs, a beautiful sound poured into the corners and crevices of my Brooklyn neighbourhood. It interrupted the chants, the helicopters and the fireworks. It was the sound of Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have A Dream speech.

It echoed off the brownstones and spilled into the bodegas. It was the new soundtrack of a city in motion.

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Virus Diary, an occasional feature, showcases the coronavirus pandemic through the eyes of Associated Press journalists around the world. Farnoush Amiri works for the AP/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/FarnoushAmiri
Big number: $272 million, the estimated amount Toronto could raise each year by implementing a $4 per trip toll on the Gardiner and Don Valley Parkway. If Queens Park gave Toronto authority to issue tolls or taxes like this, city hall would be in a position to deal with budget pressures related to COVID-19.

In his quest to get Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford to pony up some cash to deal with the estimated $1.5 billion (or more) pandemic-related fiscal hole Toronto will be in at the end of the year, Mayor John Tory has been trying all kinds of strategies.

Some days he takes a stern approach, laying out scenarios of doom if the city doesnt receive funds  closure of subway lines and library branches, laid off firefighters, shuttered homeless shelters. Other days he plays the role of ego-soothing mediator, praising Ford while admonishing Trudeau, or vice versa.

On days when one of the governments has announced a bit of funding  like last Thursdays provincial announcement of $150 million in shelter and housing funds for Ontario municipalities  hes like a patient dad lavishing encouragement on a child who has managed to put a sock on, describing it as a really great start toward finally getting dressed.

I wont knock the mayor for any of this. Hes doing what he has to do in the face of a $1.5-billion problem. But lets be real: its demeaning to see the leader of Canadas largest city have to ask for money like this.

It doesnt need to be this way. The provincial government could empower Toronto to solve this problem mostly by itself by making two changes to legislation.

The first move would be to permit Toronto to run operating budget deficits. Currently, unlike provincial and federal governments, Toronto is not allowed to pass a budget that is not balanced. If the government of Prince Edward Island, population 157,000, can be trusted to run deficits when times are tough, Toronto, with a population of almost 3 million, can probably handle it.

But dont stop there. Allowing city hall to post deficits without the tools to increase revenue to pay down those deficits over time would just make the situation worse. Instead, the provincial legislature could pass an amendment to the City of Toronto Act expanding the kinds of taxes and fees Toronto is permitted to implement.

Dont be restrictive. Give the city options and let Toronto council make choices.

For example, council might choose to re-examine highway tolls. A toll on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway, something Tory advanced in 2016 before he was blocked by then-premier Kathleen Wynne, could raise about $272 million a year if tolls were set at about four bucks a trip according to estimates. Thats enough to pay down $1.5 billion of pandemic debt in about six years.

Or if tolls arent your thing, try something new  most cities of Torontos size arent as reliant on property taxes to pay for services. A 2016 study by KPMG looked at alternatives and found a Toronto sales tax of 1 per cent could raise a similar amount to highway tolls  about $261 million. A 1 per cent municipal income tax could raise between $580 million and $926 million, depending on implementation. A parking levy that taxes all parking spots in Toronto to the tune of $1.50 per day could raise about $535 million. Not too shabby.

There are downsides to any new tax or toll, of course. Implementation would need to be carefully balanced to make sure economic recovery from COVID-19 isnt hindered.

But there are also upsides. Tolls or taxes that generate revenue that grows with the economy would motivate city hall to encourage economic activity. Local politicians would have a budgetary reason to push for events and policies that convince people to come to Toronto and spend money at local businesses.

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Its a longshot that Ford would ever even consider making these moves, but there could be an upside for Queens Park too. For decades, Toronto mayors have spent much of their time in office cajoling Ontario premiers for funding for various things.

A move to empower Toronto could finally change that relationship. The premier could focus on province-wide issues and the mayor could stop with the asking and start with the doing.
Nearly three months after the worst mass killing in Canadian history, too many questions remain surrounding the Nova Scotia shooter, his past, his motives and the police response.

On the night of April 18 and the early morning of April 19, the gunman, wearing an RCMP uniform and driving a replica RCMP cruiser, murdered 22 people in central and northern Nova Scotia before being shot and killed by police at a gas station 100 kilometres from his home in Portapique, N.S.

The RCMP has come under heavy criticism of its handling of the massacre, which played out over 13 hours while the gunman eluded police.

Most puzzling to the residents of Nova Scotia is why the Mounties relied on Twitter to warn the public that an armed man was on the loose instead of using the provincial Alert Ready system and why the crucial fact that he was driving a mock RCMP vehicle was not shared with the public until the next morning.

The RCMP is also accused of failing to accept help offered by the nearby Truro Police Service.

Investigations by various news outlets reveal unsettling behaviour in the gunmans past that should have served as a warning to police long before he set out on this tragic shooting spree. This includes an assault on a 15-year-old boy in 2001, death threats against his parents in 2010, a police bulletin issued a year later warning that he had guns and wanted to kill an officer. And in 2013 a weapons complaint by a neighbour, who also reported a violent attack on his spouse.

Meanwhile in the courts, a consortium of news agencies are fighting for public access to the information the RCMP submitted to obtain search warrants in the case. Some documents have been released to journalists but are heavily redacted. The Crown is fighting the journalists efforts to have the complete information publicly released.

The public deserves answers. The only way to make sure Canadians get answers to their questions about how this could have happened, what mistakes were made and what can be done to make sure this never happens again is through an independent public inquiry.

The families of the victims, Nova Scotia senators and Dalhousie University law professors are among the many demanding an inquiry into the massacre.

Trust in the RCMP has dangerously eroded in Nova Scotia and across the country.

In recent weeks, the RCMP has been under an additional and long-overdue spotlight focused on the forces violent, abusive relationship with Indigenous and Black communities.

The encouraging news is that the Nova Scotia RCMP has said it welcomes an inquiry and Nova Scotias Department of Justice said a federal-provincial inquiry is forthcoming. Details have not been released but are expected later this month.

The delay appears to hinge on the provinces desire to have the inquiry include a restorative justice approach, which provincial Justice Minister Mark Furey says is necessary to encourage people to come forward.

Its hard to argue with wanting to get the process right, because a flawed inquiry would be a tragic waste. But the province also cannot bog down the process to the point of dangerous delay. Lengthy delays erode trust, which could undermine the process before it even begins.

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The federal and Nova Scotia governments must act soon and must ensure the independent inquiry is transparent, broad in scope and entrusted with powers to compel witnesses to testify, make recommendations and hold the powerful to account.

Mistakes were clearly made before and during the Nova Scotia massacre. We must learn from them to avoid another mass slaughter of innocent souls.
Airlines have ended social distancing on flights  health experts say thats wildly inappropriate and could lead to second wave, July 2

It is disappointing to read suggestions WestJet is trading economics for health and safety. This is utterly false.

WestJets blocked middle seat was enacted at the beginning to provide essential travellers with peace of mind while our extra hygiene measures were planned and implemented.

With the many safeguards in place, we are certain travel can be undertaken safely while allowing economies to begin growing and putting Canadians back to work.
It still seems beyond belief. An Armed Forces soldier with four guns  some illegal and, absurdly, some not allegedly set out to assassinate the prime minister of Canada at Rideau Hall last week. This isnt getting the news coverage it deserves.

Every detail of the story makes it more frightening. The gunman, Corey Hurren, 46, is facing 22 charges after he was allegedly caught carrying a loaded Norinco M14 rifle, a Hi-Standard revolver, a Lakefield Mossberg shotgun and a Dominion Arms shotgun on July 2.

The M14 was one of the guns banned by Ottawa in May, with a two-year amnesty. A variant was used to kill three Moncton RCMP officers in 2014. The revolver is illegal, as is the high-capacity magazine he carried.

Hurren, a heavyset, bearded white man from northern Manitoba, seems to have fallen for the online conspiracy theories that bedevil millions of foolish and violent Americans. The pandemic has left such people with time on their hands, never a good thing in the Trump era. They become grievance warriors.

Heres the trademark: Hurrens alleged anger was not directed at structures, or COVID-restricted plants that sold him meat for his sausage-making business, or newly impoverished customers, but at one man, the prime minister.

Thankfully, both the prime minister and the Governor General were elsewhere that day. But police say he had threatened the PM, though he allegedly claimed that he just wanted to talk. And then what? Why would he approach Trudeaus Rideau Cottage home or Rideau Hall, home of the Governor General?

If he didnt intend to use the guns, why did he drive them (illegally) all the way from Manitoba? Why did he slam his truck through the gates of Rideau Hall? What catastrophe did we escape, more by luck than good management?

Canada is a good country, perhaps to the point of naivete. I dont think the notion of assassination has soaked into our minds because it seems so . . . un-Canadian. Equally, we assume all government officials are carefully guarded, especially in such fraught times.

Not so. The RCMP, under fire for many years for brutal sexism and racism, is being revealed as frighteningly incompetent. I am not just referring to the failure of the Nova Scotia RCMP to protect 22 citizens from hideous death at the hands of another violent, misogynist injustice collector.

How did they let the gunman get that close to Trudeaus home? There should have been an alarm system and CCTV at the fence surrounding the huge Ottawa grounds, plus a guardhouse at every entrance. Why was the gunman given the gift of 13 minutes running alone to his target?

Trudeau praised security staff. I want to thank the extraordinary members of the police services and the RCMP who did their job. Well, they took their time about it. Im grateful they talked Hurren down rather than shooting at him. But it may be that the RCMP is no longer fit for purpose.

Hurren will have his span of time in court to explain that he was not a Lee Harvey Oswald or even a hateful Nova Scotia killer denturist. But he is what is known on social media as a gunnie, believing citizens should have all the guns they want, and easily to hand. I hear from gunnies when I write about gun control. They are almost always male and they are enraged and irrational.

When Nova Scotia Liberal MP Lenore Zann recently called for increased gun control and an analysis of the misogyny behind the mass shooting, she was savaged by violent angry gun owners. All through May, they used vile, disgusting language that on at least 15 occasions specifically targeted her gender.

One caller left the Nazi anthem on the phone, Canadian Press reported, and another warned there was going to be blood spilt on the ground. Thats gunnie style, always the personal attack, especially on women.

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What if the Trudeau family had been home, or casually picnicking that day? I hope they live full-time at Harrington Lake now. When all this  Trump, COVID-19, lockdown  is over, can we give our PM an actual house to live in, guarded, bulletproof and impregnable?

Assassination. It can happen in Canada, too.
Please note The Sun Chronicle is providing this story and all of our local coronavirus coverage for free so that all readers have access to this important information about the pandemic. Please visit our dedicated coronavirus coverage page for more stories. If you'd like to support our mission, please subscribe.
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for covid-19 in an escalation of the health crisis that has engulfed Latin America's largest economy.

"I'm perfectly well," Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil in a live interview, after announcing the result of his test. He added he is taking hydroxichloroquine, an anti-malaria medicine he's been touting as being effective against the virus though its use hasn't been authorized by most health experts globally and could carry dangerous side effects.

The 65-year-old president, who during his campaign to reopen the economy called the virus "just a little flu," has repeatedly disobeyed medical recommendations to avoid contamination, mingling in crowds without a face mask and giving handshakes.

Late on Monday, however, a video posted on YouTube showed a masked Bolsonaro trying not to get too close to supporters who awaited him in front of the presidential palace. He told them he was following social distancing orders from a doctor after showing symptoms of the virus, and added that an exam had shown his lungs were "clean."

Brazil has become a global hotspot for the virus, trailing only the U.S. with more than 65,000 confirmed deaths and over 1.62 million total cases. It has implemented an erratic response to the pandemic, with the president often clashing with state governors and even his health minister over quarantine measures and possible treatments. Brazil's health ministry is currently headed by an interim chief after Bolsonaro fired his first minister and a second resigned.

Bolsonaro could be seen coughing during a Thursday broadcast on his social networks, when he sat next to six other people, none of whom wore a mask. Officials who were present included Regional Development Minister Rogerio Marinho and the chief executive officer of state-owned bank Caixa Economica Federal, Pedro Guimaraes. Since then, he has mingled with members of his administration and the general public, and had lunch with the U.S. ambassador to Brazil on Saturday.

It is not the first time Bolsonaro has been tested for covid-19. In March, after multiple members of his delegation to a U.S. visit contracted the virus, he said he tested negative.

On June 25, he said during a Facebook live broadcast that he thought he had already contracted the virus.

Bolsonaro joins other world leaders who have been contaminated by the virus, including Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, both of whom were hospitalized during the treatment.
PITTSFIELD  A Jacksonville man has pleaded guilty to seven felonies related to a series of home invasions and residential burglaries in Pike County in 2019.

Edwin L. Powell, 29, of Jacksonville pleaded guilty last week to three counts of home invasion, one count of possession of a weapon by a felon, one count of possession of a stolen firearm and two counts of felony theft. In exchange, for the plea, his sentence will be capped at 40 years in prison. Because of the home invasion plea, the minimum prison time he could receive is 26 years.
Its the idea that drives campaigns to vaccinate every American against illnesses such as the flu or measles.

However, even without a vaccine, the term herd immunity has surfaced as a strategy to combat COVID-19. On Monday, national media personalities including Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh brought it to the forefront.

The idea is that when enough people become infected with the virus or vaccinated against it, the spreading stops.



On Monday, sister station WTAE-TV spoke with Dr. Mark Roberts, the chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh, about herd immunity.



The problem is that in the absence of a vaccine, the only way to develop herd immunity is to get people to be infected and recovered, said Roberts.

He said a vaccine is necessary for herd immunity to work.

The problem is we are way, way below the level thats required of herd immunity for COVID-19, Roberts said.

About 1.2 million people live in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. According to Roberts, for herd immunity, 60% or about 700,000 people need to contract and recover from the virus.

However, he said 1% of COVID-19 cases are fatal.

Thats a huge number of deaths in Allegheny County to achieve herd immunity, Roberts said.

Roberts said if we continue without vaccine, eventually we will achieve herd immunity but it comes at a cost of lives lost and overwhelmed hospitals.
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The black city council members had just left a recent meeting when they were met in the parking lot by younger activists of color with a piercing question.

Why did the council - which is newly dominated by black members - refuse a request to write "Black Lives Matter" in yellow paint near the historic Market House, where slaves were once sold? Why did they vote to write "Black lives do matter"?

"What's the 'do' for?" a young black woman asked.

Council member Christopher Davis, 47, an African American Army veteran and pastor, noted the mix of black and white residents in the city: "I want to keep people together, number one, and move us forward."

The activists pressed for a better answer. Davis grew frustrated.

"You guys want everything," he said. "You guys want the world to capitulate."

Fayetteville is the birthplace of George Floyd, whose May 25 death in the custody of Minneapolis police ignited national protests over police abuse and long-standing racial inequities. It is adjacent to Fort Bragg, whose naming in honor of a Confederate general is now spurring conflict in Washington.

And as protests have grown here, the city has also become home to a clash between the urgent demands of younger activists pushing for swift change and the careful pragmatism of their elders, conditioned by decades spent deliberately nudging Fayetteville and its residents to transform.

It is a generational and cultural division more than a racial one, seen elsewhere in recent weeks in places such as Atlanta, where African American Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tore into young protesters and they responded by ignoring her pleas to stand down.

The divisions are not always predictable. In Fayetteville, many young activists have cared little about renaming Fort Bragg or what the city does with the Market House - even as a diverse coalition calls for it to be torn down - but they have become particularly incensed over the words painted on the street around the structure, which they say symbolize the overcautiousness of a council not wanting to offend.

The activists see their elected leaders, especially those who are black, as timid in the face of this historic moment, unnecessarily compromising on matters as simple but meaningful as a three-word slogan. They're tired of words that to them sound empty, like "unity" and "task force."

"Something that I have learned is that everybody who is African American is not truly African American," said Myahtaeyarra Warren, 22, one of the black activists questioning council members in the parking lot. "A lot of people think: 'OK, well you're black, so let me vote for you.' Or, 'Oh, you're a Democrat, so let me vote for you.' Or, 'Oh, you're black and a Democrat, that makes it even better.' But I think we need to pay close attention not just to skin color but the things that they're saying."

Many of the older black elected officials see the demands of youth as contrary to the realities of a city tenuously balanced in matters of race. Up until late last year, the Fayetteville City Council was half white and half black in a city of 210,000 where about 42% of residents are black, 38% are white and 12% are Latino or Hispanic. Following the November election, the nonpartisan council now has just two white members - and eight black ones. To them, that progress confirms their more careful strategy.

Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin, the second African American to lead the city and a member of the council, said the activists don't understand the need to avoid division.

"You have these kids that show up in the street demanding change in a system, and they point to the fact that you have this leadership, but systematic change will take awhile," said Colvin, who is 47. "The system will take some time to change. People's hearts can't be changed by us changing laws."

Although the city and surrounding Cumberland County overwhelmingly votes for Democrats, many registered Democrats describe themselves as moderates or conservative Democrats. No Democratic candidate has yet to receive as many votes in the county as Barack Obama did in 2012. This year, North Carolina is a target for both President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden, who hopes to flip the state Trump won in 2016.

Five days after Floyd was killed, hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Fayetteville, which is dominated by the Market House. The two-story structure was constructed in 1832 with an open-air market on the ground floor and an enclosed town hall above. A placard near the market reads: "Occasionally, estate sales of small numbers of slaves occurred here."

City officials have long been sensitive to its presence, and every time there is a national discussion about systemic racism, Fayetteville resumes its debate about what to do with the structure. A few years ago, the city removed the Market House from its logo and most of its marketing materials, and it is now removing it from the city's seal.

At the protest, a few people lit a small fire in the Market House that caused some damage. The mayor said he knew that his community would have to once again discuss what to do with the Market House - but now was not the time.

"It was very sensitive, and the last thing that I want to do is inflame any emotions on either side of that," said Colvin, whose grandmother told him that his great-great-grandfather was sold at the Market House. "So I've intentionally kind of held that conversation until some of that died down."

But then more than 120,000 people signed a petition calling for the demolition of the Market House. A diverse coalition of local religious leaders signed a letter calling for the same - forcing the formal conversation. The council has organized a review committee to study the issue and provide a recommendation.

"We'll have to at some point try to come up with a compromise, a solution that doesn't cause a divide in our community for several years," Colvin said. "It's going to be very difficult, and we have to be very strategic with how we do it."

In late June, two weeks after thousands gathered to mourn Floyd at a memorial service in nearby Raeford, N.C., the council met and took up the question of painting messages of solidarity in yellow paint on downtown streets, as many larger cities have done.

While some members wanted to paint "Black Lives Matter," others advocated for less-charged phrases like: "Equality now," "End racism," "One nation, one people" and "Choose love."

Council member Johnny Dawkins, the only white man on the council and the son of Fayetteville's longest-serving mayor, said he couldn't vote for "Black Lives Matter." He said he believes the organization was founded by Marxists. Yet, he said, the council needed "to show some type of willingness to acknowledge across this city that black lives matter."

"I'm a praying man, so I prayed on it, and it came to me that I could say 'Black lives do matter' or 'Black lives must matter,'" said Dawkins, 61, who plans to vote for Trump a second time this fall.

Davis, the black veteran and pastor, agreed with Dawkins's reservations.

"I feel uncomfortable saying 'Black lives matter,'" Davis said at the meeting. "I am down for 'Black lives do matter.' . . . I am upset that unity is not a part of what we're doing because at the end of the day, we're a city that's half one and half the other." (He did not respond to later requests for comment.)

Several other black members said while they would prefer "Black Lives Matter" - which was also the preference of leaders of the downtown district - they didn't have a problem with adding "do." That wording was approved unanimously.

Council member Tisha Waddell, who is black, said she was "amenable" to others' desires to "delineate from the movement."

"I hope that we will make this move, and we will move on," said Waddell, who is 41.

Council member Shakeyla Ingram, a 29-year-old black woman elected in November, had been pushing for "Black Lives Matter" behind the scenes and didn't understand why her fellow members were falling in line behind the "do" option. She debated voting against the watered-down expression.

"But then I said: 'Do' means something. . . . When you say 'Black lives do matter,' you emphasize that, you make sure that it has meaning," she said after the meeting. "So that's why I was able to support it."

It was late in the night when members walked to the parking lot, where a few activists were waiting. Ingram and Davis stopped to answer questions while armed police officers watched.

After their conversation about the wording to be painted near the Market House, Mario Benavente, a 30-year-old Latino law school student, asked Davis how council members could stand by as the police arrested protesters for failing to disperse - throwing into the legal system more people of color, including the black activist standing next to him.

"When a police officer asks you to leave an area, you have to obey," Davis said.

"So Rosa Parks should have gotten up?" Benavente responded.

Davis countered that Martin Luther King Jr. "got arrested for his cause."

Benavente noted that back then, King "had the worse kind of representatives elected, he had the worst kinds of juries, worse kind of judges - we don't live in that age any more."

"You need law, order and you need a smooth hand to transition this," Davis said. "I'm not for breaking the law. I'm not going to support that."

The conversation turned to police reforms. Davis said the city's police department is already better than most and that change takes time.

"Policy ain't like a microwave - I know a lot of you are microwave kids. I'm 47, OK? It don't happen overnight," he said. "It takes time to develop policy, it takes time to vet policy."

As the activists pushed him to say how much time, a heavy rain ended the conversation.

A week later, volunteers painted the words on the circular roadway that surrounds the Market House: "Black lives do matter."
A grim but predictable story has played out for many servicewomen and female veterans, as a desperate search for Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen ended with confirmation of her death.

Before she went missing in April, Guillen confided in her family that she had been sexually harassed but feared surfacing the incidents to her leaders, her sisters and mother have said. On Sunday, the family announced that remains discovered days earlier in a shallow grave in Texas near Fort Hood belonged to the 20-year-old, who authorities say was killed by a fellow soldier.

"It's shocking and heartbreaking," Martina Chesonis, an officer in the Air Force Reserve, said of Guillen's death. "And not surprising."

For some women in uniform, the case is emblematic of a military culture that they say has downplayed or ignored allegations of sexual harassment and assault and created an atmosphere that pressures men and women to keep accusations quiet.

"You know if it's not you, it's one of your peers who has experienced it," Chesonis said. "Her murder is rare, but the experiences of sexual harassment and being afraid of reprisal - that's not unique."

Fort Hood did not return a request for comment on the command climate at her unit, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, but officials there say they take sexual harassment allegations seriously.

In interviews, several service members listed other assault and harassment incidents that have drawn public attention - including the murder of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, and the Tailhook, Aberdeen and Marines United scandals. But they said the Guillen case has galvanized calls for congressional involvement and accountability faster than any other in recent history.

The moment, women have said, has been accelerated in the larger reckoning over identity and values in the United States.

"This is a version of the military's #MeToo," said Chesonis, the director of communications for the Service Women's Action Network, an advocacy group. "Women feel empowered in shared experiences, and the hashtag is doing the same thing."

The movement, which includes activists and celebrities as well as other service members, has helped spur calls for action. Nearly 90 lawmakers signed a letter Monday demanding that the Pentagon's inspector general launch an independent investigation into Guillen's disappearance and death.

More than 2,500 servicewomen and veterans have signed a letter demanding a similar investigation and the relief of Guillen's chain of command.

The push for greater scrutiny has been buttressed by the #IAmVanessaGuillen hashtag on social media, where servicewomen and veterans have expressed sorrow and frustration by detailing their own harrowing moments of rape and harassment, unified by themes of indifference or hostility within their chain of command and frustrations with an entrenched culture.

Kayla Whitacre, a Marine Corps veteran, recounted a moment she was a young private first class when a male colleague approached her barracks room and attempted to enter.

"I hurried behind my door, dug my feet in and pushed as hard as I could," she wrote on Facebook. "We struggled like that for what felt like forever. I finally shoved it closed. He stood outside my window and stared at me until I closed the curtain.

The death of Guillen, a first generation American with Mexican roots, has doubly scarred Latino veterans, said Pam Campos-Palma, who served as an Air Force intelligence analyst.

"There is a deep burden" among minority women in the military, she said, "and a pain of loving your country and serving in uniform for a military which doesn't love you back."

There were 6,236 sexual assaults recorded in the military last year, a 3% rise from 2018 figures, the Defense Department said in an April report. Officials pointed to optimistic signs from surveys that the culture has begun to reject casual sexual harassment, but acknowledged it was occurring slowly.

Anuradha Bhagwati, a former Marine Corps officer, detailed personal moments of sexual harassment in the service and her later fight against it in her memoir "Unbecoming."

After the assault and harassment, she said, comes the "silence of peers and platoon sergeants, all the way to generals."

"You talk to these families and there is this idea of giving daughters to the larger good," Bhagwati said. "This is so far from the end of the other end of the spectrum," she said of the Guillen murder.

Rates of violent crimes are lower among service members than they are for civilians, analysts have said, owing to more severe punishment for offenders, lack of pre-service criminal records and other circumstances.

But researchers in the 1990s found that "military rape rates are not reduced nearly as much as military rates of 'other' violent crime, relative to civilian rates."

That dynamic continues to play out. A 2019 Pentagon review of sexual assault at military service academies found the crime's prevalence "is comparable to rates observed in civilian colleges."

The data is unsurprising and surprising, Chesonis said, because cadets are heavily scrutinized upon enrollment, pointing to systemic issues learned in civil culture before they set foot inside the academies. Those leaders then go on to become leaders, from platoons to divisions.

"Sexual assault and harassment are horrendous crimes, period," she said. "But when they are brought into military culture where we rely on each other for life and death, its especially damaging."

Katie Cook, an officer in the Marine Corps Reserve, detailed her experience as a Naval Academy midshipman. She was a witness in a rape allegation, she wrote on Twitter, and male students belittled the victim and Cook was pressured to retract her statements, she wrote.

Cook had more positive experiences later in the service, she said in an interview, including commanders who took allegations seriously and fostered a climate where survivors could seek help or justice.

"As a leader I'm so distraught she didn't have advocacy and protection and a chain of command that she trusted," Cook said of Guillen.

"I know sailors and Marines who are her," she said. "You see someone the U.S. military let down."
Lines for coronavirus tests have stretched around city blocks and tests ran out altogether in at least one site on Monday, new evidence that the country is still struggling to create a sufficient testing system months into its battle with COVID-19.

At a testing site in New Orleans, a line formed at dawn. But city officials ran out of tests five minutes after the doors opened at 8 a.m., and many people had to be turned away.

In Phoenix, where temperatures have topped 100 degrees, residents have waited in cars for as long as eight hours to get tested.

And in San Antonio and other large cities with mounting caseloads of the virus, officials have reluctantly announced new limits to testing: The demand has grown too great, they say, so only people showing symptoms may now be tested  a return to restrictions that were in place in many parts of the country during earlier days of the virus.

Its terrifying, and clearly an evidence of a failure of the system, said Dr. Morgan Katz, an infectious-disease expert at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

In the early months of the nations outbreak, testing posed a significant problem, as supplies fell far short and officials raced to understand how to best handle the virus. Since then, the United States has vastly ramped up its testing capability, conducting nearly 15 million tests in June, about three times as many as it had in April. But in recent weeks, as cases have surged in many states, the demand for testing has soared, surpassing capacity and creating a new testing crisis.

In many cities, officials said a combination of factors was now fueling the problem: a shortage of certain supplies, backlogs at laboratories that process the tests, and skyrocketing growth of the virus as cases climb in almost 40 states and the nation approaches a grim new milestone of 3 million total cases.

Fast, widely available testing is crucial to controlling the virus over the long term in the United States, experts say, particularly as the country reopens. With a virus that can spread through asymptomatic people, screening large numbers of people is seen as essential to identifying those who are carrying the virus and helping stop them from spreading it to others.

But the images of long lines at testing sites and complaints from mayors about the lack of a coordinated, overarching federal testing system have placed the White House on the defensive.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that our great testing program continues to lead the World, by FAR! Vice President Mike Pence said last week that the country had so improved its testing capacity that we will literally test anyone who comes into a testing site or comes to their local pharmacy.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services said federal officials had been working closely with states to develop and meet testing goals since early April. So far, she said, the federal government has distributed about 26 million swabs nationwide, among other equipment, and was on track to meet all the needs for July.

But testing in the United States has not kept pace with other countries, notably in Asia, which have been more aggressive. Chinese officials who were monitoring infections in Wuhan, where the pandemic began, tested 6.5 million people in a matter of days in May.

In Arizona, where reported cases have grown to more than 100,000, a shortage of testing has alarmed local officials, who say they feel ill-equipped to help residents on their own.

The United States of America needs a more robust national testing strategy, Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix said in an interview.

Gallego, a Democrat, said she had been scrambling to lobby for help from anyone she could think of  the federal government, private companies like Walgreens, even a middle school friend who works at a European testing company. As the crisis has intensified in her state in recent weeks, she suggested that testing resources could be shifted from states with decreasing needs to those struggling like hers.

Arizona once had a stockpile of supplies, state officials say, but the surge in cases since Memorial Day has drained even basic items for testing, like swabs.

That really speaks to the national and global supply chain issues, said Daniel Ruiz, Arizonas chief operating officer. Its not that these things are in a warehouse ready to be delivered.

All along, the United States has struggled with issues tied to testing. In February, the federal government shipped a tainted testing kit to states, delaying a broader testing strategy and leaving states blind to a virus that was already beginning to circulate. Later, testing supplies became a choke point, and states called on the federal government to use the Defense Production Act to force additional production.

Many places have been able to overcome some of the supply constraints that defined the earlier days of the outbreak, in part with their own resources. New York City, once faced with severe shortages as an epicenter of the virus, is now testing 30,000 people a day, officials say, an expansion that included the city building its own testing kits and partnering with private labs.

But even as Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week that anyone in New York state who wanted a test could get one, officials in other states have been left seeking a more robust testing system, and setting new limits on who can take one.

We are too fragmented, said Dr. Michael Mina, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvards T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We dont have a good way to load-balance the system.

Testing delays and shortages have increasingly become a problem in Texas, where cases are surging.

Cities like San Antonio and Austin have reverted to testing only those who are showing symptoms as a way to manage the demand and a backlog of tests.

Were now focused on the highest priorities, Mayor Steve Adler of Austin said Monday.

Adler, a Democrat, said the testing crunch was the result of the demand for tests statewide, brought on by the uptick in coronavirus cases after Texas reopened in fast-moving phases starting on May 1. He attributed the problem in large part to a backlog at laboratories; in some cases, test results take four to six days, far longer than the 24 hours health experts recommend to most effectively isolate the ill and track people they have had contact with.

Local officials in Austin had not relied on the state when it came to testing for the most part, the mayor said. And without a national testing program, he said, city and county officials had to fend for themselves in the private market.

Maybe in retrospect if we had thought about this a half-year ago, we would have set up our own testing capacity, Adler said. I dont know what else wed do. We were out competing for tests. We were blocking up as many tests as we could block up on the market.

Adler said the testing system needed to be federalized, so that Austin and other cities would not have to compete for testing labs and supplies with other cities and other states.

The problem extends far beyond Texas and Arizona, among the hot spots that have led the country in rising cases in recent weeks.

In Idaho, where cases were also climbing, the state lab was so inundated that state officials sent a memo to nursing homes and long-term care facilities, saying the state could no longer meet all their testing needs. That has left the facilities in a crisis, desperate to find other labs to process tests for a particularly vulnerable population.

Everyone is scrambling, said Robert Vande Merwe, the executive director of the Idaho Health Care Association.

Louisiana has also seen testing delays.

Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the director of the New Orleans Health Department, said the problem her agency was seeing now was different than the one it experienced in March, when states competed over swabs and test tubes. Now the problem is a shortage of reagents, she said, which are the chemical ingredients needed to detect whether the coronavirus is present in a sample.

The supply chain issues have led officials in New Orleans to reduce the tests they carry out: At one site on Monday, officials handed out just 150 tickets for testing, which were gone in minutes.

We are telling everyone to do all the things you are supposed to do, and if they have any concerns about exposure or close contact or are feeling sick, there will be a test for you, Avegno said.

And yet were starting to have to turn them away, she said. That is not what we want to do.

The urgent demand for tests also was affecting regions outside of those hardest hit.

In Omaha, a drive-through testing site in the parking lot of a former grocery store abruptly closed on Saturday.

Lab supplies fell short in the city, partly because they were needed in communities with bigger outbreaks than in Nebraska, where cases are prevalent but remain steady.

Were getting put down on the priority list, said Dr. Anne OKeefe, senior epidemiologist with the Douglas County Health Department in Omaha, citing a decision by the manufacturers of high-volume testing machines to prioritize supplies for those machines for other states before Nebraska.

The site in Omaha had tested nearly 3,500 people since it opened on June 17. Officials said they did not know when it would reopen.

We really wanted to provide that extra capacity, to give people better options, OKeefe said. Were very, very disappointed that we cant do it.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Officials in Mississippi are investigating after a boot was found with human remains inside.

The Natchez Democrat reported Monday afternoon that the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks officials reported a man's boot being found along with human remains along the Mississippi River bank near Anna's Bottom.



Adams County Coroner James Lee said a man who was working along the bank found the boot. He said the boot appeared to have human remains intact.

The remains were taken to the Mississippi State Crime Lab to be analyzed.

This case is very interesting to me because after being published, we may be able to identify the remains by forensic analysis, Lee told the newspaper. I am very sorry that someone lost a loved one this way, but it is my duty to identify the remains to the best of my ability.
Polish President Andrzej Duda is tilting further to the right in pursuit of ultraconservative voters he needs to win Sunday's runoff election.

Opinion polls show the incumbent has lost his lead over Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski and is in a dead heat just five days before the vote. The ballot is set to determine the fate of the east European nation's nativist makeover after Duda and his allies in the ruling Law & Justice party upended Poland's reputation as a model democracy.

As moderates flock to the challenger, the president is trying to tap voters who backed a nationalist candidate in the election's first round more than a week ago. To brush up his ultraconservative credentials, Duda proposed outlawing adoption by gay couples, criticized mandatory vaccinations and bashed Germany.

"Voters from the center are likely beyond Duda's reach, so he's turning sharply to the right," said Anna Materska-Sosnowska, a political scientist at Warsaw University. "Radical polarization always mobilizes supporters."

The campaign has become so bitter that the candidates couldn't agree on rules for a debate after public television was criticized for its pro-Duda questions during a discussion between 11 candidates before the June 28 first round.

In a surreal development on Monday evening, Duda and Trzaskowski held two, wholly separate debates some 250 miles (400 km) apart, complete with empty podiums for their absent counterpart.

The Warsaw mayor took questions from 20 news outlets, including public television and pro-government publications, while Duda presided over a town hall meeting, where he replied to prerecorded questions from local residents, some of whom had links to the ruling party.

When asked about a potential vaccine for the coronavirus, Duda said he was "absolutely against any mandatory vaccinations." He later tweeted that his words were being manipulated and that he didn't have in mind compulsory shots for diseases such as polio and tuberculosis.

Duda's radicalized campaign earned a sharp rebuke from the U.S. envoy in Warsaw on Monday after a senior Law & Justice legislator alleged links between the founders of a now U.S.-owned television channel in Poland and the country's pre-1989 communist military spy network.

"Shame on you for perpetuating what you know is an absolute lie," Ambassador Georgette Mosbacher, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said on Twitter regarding the allegation. "This is beneath a representative of the Polish people."

The reprimand undermined Duda's international credibility, which he's largely built on his relationship with Trump and promises of more American troops to be stationed on Polish soil. Duda visited the White House days before the first round, earning rave reviews from public broadcasters.

Duda has also hit out at Germany, his country's biggest trading partner, for alleged interference in the election after Poland's best-selling tabloid, owned by a Swiss-German media group, printed a critical article about the president's pardon of a convicted child molester.

An average of the last five opinion polls show Duda with 48.1% and Trzaskowski with 47.7% support. The president won 43.5% of the vote in the first round on June 28, followed by the mayor with 30.5%.

The far-right candidate advocating a total ban on abortion and an exit from the E.U. was fourth with 6.8% -- meaning that jointly with his electorate, Duda could get the 50% he needs to win the runoff. But the often rebellious fringe voters may be hard to reach for Duda, who's campaigning as the candidate of continuity, Materska-Sosnowska said.

Duda's child-adoption initiative is largely symbolic since Article 18 of Poland's constitution defines marriage as a "union of a man and a woman," and married couples are preferred foster parents over single adults. While there's no explicit ban on gays adopting children in Poland, such decisions are practically unheard of.

"Children must be safe and protected from adoption by same-sex couples," Duda said. Trzaskowski replied that he's also against adoption by gay couples, but called the topic a nonexistent issue.

Much like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Duda and Law & Justice have positioned themselves as the defenders of traditional family values against sinister and often foreign forces seeking to undermine them, including the LGBT movement.

Much of public media's election coverage has sought to paint Trzaskowski, the son of a famous jazz pianist who speaks five languages, as out of touch with regular voters. Law & Justice deputy chief Joachim Brudzinski called the Warsaw mayor's supporters "elitist boors" who mistakenly claim that they're "real Europeans."
Republican operative Roger Stone made a naked appeal to President Donald Trump to grant him a pardon or commute his sentence before he starts a 40-month prison term on July 14.

"I want the president to know that I have exhausted all my legal remedies and that only an act of clemency will provide justice in my case and save my life!" Stone, 67, said in a statement sent by text Tuesday.

Stone's statement came after the U.S. government was ordered by a federal appeals court to respond to his request to delay the start of his 40-month prison term as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington on Tuesday ordered the government to file its response by July 9. Stone, who is due to report to prison on July 14, filed an emergency appeal on Monday after U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied his motion to set a Sept. 3 surrender date.

The Justice Department didn't oppose Stone's request to Jackson.

Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress during the Russia investigation, claims in his appeals court filing that his age and an underlying health condition made him particularly vulnerable to Covid-19.

Current conditions inside federal prisons would "render Stone at grave risk of serious complications if infected with Covid-19," his lawyer, Seth Ginsberg, said in his filing with the appeals court on Monday

Jackson denied Stone's request but extended his surrender date by two weeks, ordering him to remain confined to his home during that time. She noted in her ruling that in similar cases the U.S. had opposed so-called compassionate release from jails where there isn't yet an outbreak, even when an inmate older than Stone had the same condition.

Stone said Tuesday he didn't think the Justice Department would support his bid for further delay and a presidential act was the only thing that could keep from prison.

"I want to live long enough for my appeal to be heard because my appeal will expose the misconduct of the judge, the misconduct of the jury forewoman, the misconduct of at least one other juror and the criminal misconduct of the prosecutors; therefore I am highly confident of exoneration on appeal," Stone said.
Editors Note: This is the second story in a six-part series on the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Kent State University shootings, the student protests at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the riots at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and their connection to the civil unrest and social climate of 2020.

EDWARDSVILLE  As Paul Gaston watched protests unfold and voices being uplifted across the United States after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, his thoughts drifted back 50 years.

In May 1970, Gaston was a young instructor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) when the campus hosted protests after the shooting deaths of four unarmed students by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University.

Nearly 30 years later, Gaston began an eight-year stint as provost at Kent State.

With his unique connection to both schools, Gaston thinks about how much has changed since 1970, while at the same time, so many of the same problems remain.

We are now experiencing deep divisions again and witnessing violent disruption, said Gaston, who is a trustees professor emeritus at Kent State. My hope is that once again an unspeakable tragedy may in time prompt greater awareness of racial injustice, economic inequality, and the use of disproportionate force in law enforcementand that such awareness will create a shared resolve to make the nation stronger. Once again.

Check out the other stories in this series:

 Voices of Change: SIUE marks 50 years since Kent State unrest

The Kent State killings took place during a peace rally against the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into neutral Cambodia by the United States military forces as well as the National Guard presence on campus. The incident marked the first time that a student had been slain in an anti-war gathering in United States history.

The fatal shootings triggered immediate and massive outrage on campuses around the country. More than 4 million students participated in organized walkouts at hundreds of universities, including SIUE.

While he wasnt an active participant, the mostly peaceful protests on the Edwardsville campus left a lasting impression on Gaston, who began his career as a college instructor during the 1969-70 school year at SIUE.

Because he was completing his Ph.D. dissertation that year, Gaston faced the challenge of balancing full-time teaching with full-time research and writing.

The fall and winter quarters gave me the opportunity to become acquainted with colleagues, to learn my way around the SIUE library, and to send chapters regularly to my advisor at the University of Virginia, Gaston said. But there was little opportunity for anything else.

As the spring quarter began at SIUE in late March, there were no indications that it might face an interruption.

Demonstrations about the Vietnam War continued throughout the country, but that was nothing new.

I myself had taken part in the march on the Pentagon in October 1967, Gaston said. Still deeply divided in 1970, the nation appeared unable to make progress one way or the other. Victory in the war appeared less and less likely. Peace seemed a distant prospect.

That sense of relative calm changed on May 4, 1970, when National Guard troops fired on students at Kent State University, killing four and wounding nine others.

The impact on SIUE was immediate.

Students gathered in protestpeacefully, as I recall, compared to protests on many other campuses, but volatile, Gaston said. Some walked out of classes. There were threats that the presidents office might be occupied.

Unlike SIU Carbondale, which eventually closed for the remainder of the quarter after a week of rioting, the protests at SIUE remained peaceful, thanks in part to Chancellor John S. Rendleman.

On May 5, Rendleman manned a microphone for more than an hour during the lunch period in the Goshen Lounge of the University Center, responding to questions from students, including student strikers who were observing the National Association of Students day-long strike.

Let us build here a university that is different. Let us not shriek at each other. Let us be polite, Rendleman said in a press release issued that day by SIUE.

Rendleman wore a black armband to signify his personal concern with the slayings of the four Kent State students and his opposition to the war in Asia. He called for the university to be a place where all viewpoints are shared.

When asked by a faculty member why he did not respond positively to the strikers request to close the school, Rendleman replied, I dont think the university as an institution has an ideological viewpoint.

Earlier in the day, when striking students wanted the U.S. and Illinois flags flown at half-mast, the university administration eventually removed the flags completely.

I dont think the flag being flown up or down is worth someones head being busted, Rendleman said.

At the same time, Rendleman made it clear that sufficient force would be called to put down a disturbance that involved violence or property damage, and that he had no intention of allowing the university to be closed.

Fortunately, Rendleman never had to use that force.

The protests continued for more than a week, including a May 5 march to the Madison County Courthouse and the U.S. Selective Service office in downtown Edwardsville, where SIUE professor Laud Humphreys was charged with destroying a picture of President Richard Nixon and tearing up a draft memorandum.

But other than the symbolic act of destruction by Humphreys, the protests at SIUE remained relatively calm and orderly.

Through a decision I still admire for its thoughtfulness and realism, John Rendleman offered students an option, Gaston said. They could continue with their classes according to the schedule. Or they could accept the grades they had earned as of May 4, leave the campus, and devote themselves to social activism or to working for peace.

I do not know how many of those who left the university at that point did so for the approved reasons. I do believe to this day that the presidents decision spared the campus and its community further unrest that might have proved explosive.

Gaston was a professor at SIUE from 1969 to 1983 and was associate provost from 1983 to 1988. After five years as Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and five years as provost at North Kentucky University, Gastons next career stop led him to the school that inspired the protests at SIUE.

In 1999, Gaston accepted an appointment as provost at Kent State. At once, he immersed himself in the memories of May 4, 1970.

In my first week, a professor who had been present at the shootings walked me to the historic site and directed me through the event, step by step, said Gaston, who was provost at Kent State from 1999 to 2007 and trustees professor from 2007 to 2017. During that year, as it planned for the 30th anniversary of the shootings, the university decided that while it would continue to mourn a tragedy, it would begin to recognize and honor a legacy.

History had shown that the May 4 shootings had prompted a profound reevaluation of the war by the American people. It was a pivotal event.

Since that time, Kent State has continued to make the commemoration of that legacy more widely available, most recently through the dedication of a visitors center that tells the story of May 4 clearly and in detail while offering reminders (headlines, television broadcasts, photographs) of the environment of that time.

From witnessing the protests at SIUE to honoring the memory of Kent State students, Gaston learned the importance of paying attention to the needs and concerns of others.

The lesson I take away from it, and one that I have tried to follow, is thats important to listen to students and its important to listen to communities, Gaston said. They have as much of a stake and sometimes more than leadership does.

I thought the signal strength of the (SIUE) administration in those days was to really pay attention to what the students were saying. They took their idealism seriously and empowered them to do what they said they wanted to do, which was to make a stand in favor of ending the war and in favor of freedom and placing that priority above all others.
The white woman who falsely claimed she was threatened by a black birdwatcher who asked her to leash her dog in Manhattan's Central Park was charged Monday with filing a false report, the Manhattan district attorney said.

Amy Cooper, 41, gained national notoriety in late May after she was captured in a now-infamous video threatening to call police on the man, stating, "I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life."

The exchange went viral after it was posted online, drawing comparisons to the case of Emmett Till and sparking discourse about the ways that white people weaponize authorities against black people who have done nothing wrong.

Cooper was charged Monday with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said - a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail or three years' probation and a fine of up to $1,000.

"Our office will provide the public with additional information as the case proceeds," Vance said in a statement. "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."

The man Cooper called the police on, Christian Cooper, who is not related to her, declined to comment on the charges. After the incident in May, he told The Washington Post, "I don't think there's any African American person in America who hasn't experienced something like this at some point."

Christian Cooper, a 57-year-old science editor, previously told The Post that he has been a birder his entire life and enjoyed going to Central Park to look at wildfowl. Perturbed by pet owners who in recent days let their unleashed dogs dig up the soil, he said, he occasionally reminded them to keep their dogs on leashes.

When he asked Amy Cooper to do the same on May 25, she refused, so he offered a treat to the dog - a tactic he had previously used to get the attention of pet owners who did not leash their dogs. He then began recording.

"Please call the cops," Christian Cooper responded as Amy Cooper whipped out her phone. "Please tell them whatever you'd like."

While on the phone with police, Amy Cooper alleged that an "African American man" was "recording me and threatening me and my dog."

Amy Cooper, who lost her job soon after the incident, said in a public apology the following day that she had made false assumptions about Christian Cooper, "when, in fact, I was the one who was acting inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash."

She alleged that she felt threatened when Christian Cooper confronted her "in an area where there was no one else nearby," saying he made a comment that she would "not like" what he was 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 added.

The announcement of Amy Cooper's charge caught the attention of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Monday evening, who in a tweet responded: "Good."

"Her racist behavior could have had dire consequences for a Black man," de Blasio added. "Glad she'll face consequences of her own."

Robert Barnes, a California-based attorney, said in a tweet Monday that he was representing Amy Cooper. He wrote that his client would "be found not guilty of this misdemeanor charge" and said more information would follow. In a statement to NBC, he added: "The rush to judgment by some in the public, in this cancel culture epidemic, will be proven as wrong as cancel culture itself."

His office did not return a request for comment from The Washington Post.

- - -

The Washington Post's Shayna Jacobs and Teo Armus contributed to this report.
Although this Fourth of July has passed, its worth taking stock of the state of freedom  and of our attitudes toward it  at home and around the world.

In Russia, Vladimir Putin just won a plebiscite ratifying his right to stay in power until the year 2036. In Hong Kong, a new security law came into effect, effectively putting an end to the right of peaceful protest. In Poland, a runoff election will decide if the country continues its slide toward illiberalism.

In the United States, these stories barely make a dent on public consciousness. Conservatives and liberals alike have ceased to care much about the denial of freedom to others.

We also have our own problems with freedom.

For once, the main problem isnt Donald Trump. The president may be an instinctual fascist, a wannabe autocrat. But, after nearly four years in power, hes been unmasked as a light-weight one.

Trump may have privately praised Xi Jinping for building concentration camps for Uighurs. Congress still passed legislation to impose sanctions on China for them. He may want to bring Russia back to the Group of 7. The other six wont let him. He may have sought to abolish Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals for the Dreamers. John Roberts decided otherwise. He may call the press an enemy of the American people. That enemy still operates without restraint when it comes to slamming him.

To adapt the Lloyd Bentsen line, Donald John Trump, youre no Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The more serious problem today comes from the left: from liberal elites who, when tested, lack the courage of their liberal convictions; from so-called progressives whose core convictions were never liberal to begin with; from administrative types at nonprofits and corporations who, with only vague convictions of their own, dont want to be on the wrong side of a PR headache.

This has been the great cultural story of the last few years. It is typified by incidents such as The New Yorkers David Remnick thinking it would be a good idea to interview Steve Bannon for the magazines annual festival  until a Twitter mob and some members of his own staff decided otherwise. Or by The Washington Post devoting 3,000 words to destroying the life of a private person of no particular note because in 2018 she wore blackface, with ironic intent, at a Halloween party. Or by big corporations pulling ads from Facebook while demanding the company do more to censor forms of speech they deem impermissible.

These stories matter because an idea is at risk. Thats the idea that people who cannot speak freely will not be able to think clearly and that no society can long flourish when contrarians are treated as heretics.

That idea, old as Socrates, formerly had powerful institutional defenders, especially in the form of universities, news media, book publishers, free-speech groups and major philanthropies.

But those defenders are, on account of one excuse or another, capitulating to people who claim free speech for themselves (but not for others), who believe all the old patriarchal hierarchies must go (so that new intersectional hierarchies may arise), who are in a perpetual fervor to rewrite the past (all the better to control the future), and who demand cringing public apologies from those who have sinned against an ever-more radical ideological standard (while those apologies wont save them from being fired).

As in so much else, George Orwell was here before us. In connection to the recent vandalism of monuments and destruction of statues, a line from 1984 has been making the rounds  every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. But the Orwell essay to which I keep returning is a little jewel from 1946, The Prevention of Literature.

Orwells concern then was not just with Russian totalitarianism but with the arguments used by much of the Western intelligentsia to justify repression.

What is sinister, he wrote, is that the conscious enemies of liberty are those to whom liberty ought to mean most. He was particularly calling out Western scientists who admired the Soviet Union for its technical prowess and were utterly indifferent to Josef Stalins persecution of writers and artists. They do not see that any attack on intellectual liberty, and on the concept of objective truth, threatens in the long run every department of thought.

Every department of thought. Right now, all the Twitter furors, the angry rows over publication decisions, the canceled speeches and books, the semantic battles about which words take an uppercase and which dont, may seem remote to those who care about more tangible issues: depression, disease, police abuse, urban decline. Yet the issue that counts the most is whether the institutions that are supposed to champion liberal ideals will muster the moral confidence to survive.

As this July 4 passes, its very much in doubt.

Bret Stephens is a New York Times columnist.
With many students facing bleak prospects for solid summer internships, one Scranton-based program is expanding to keep them on track while helping small business owners hire extra help.

The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center and the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerces Small Business Internship Fund are now arranging paid micro-internships.

The traditional summer internship will probably pick up again at some point, SBDC Director Lisa Hall Zielinski said, but for now college students may have to stitch together smaller, project-based internships to meet credit requirements.

We took a look at it and said: what do our small businesses need right now? Hall Zielinski said.

They found most, if not all, need help with quick, project-based tasks as they swat off the pandemics financial blows.

Many of them seek help managing social media accounts, which have become a key conduit to consumers. The micro-internship program is all virtual, which lines up with what the National Association of Colleges and Employers found in an April survey.

About 22% of employers had revoked offers to interns, the survey found; however, 46% of employers moved internships to be entirely remote.

Every college and university is handling them a little differently. So students must find out what their schools are looking for, but the program has already started the process for a number of small businesses requests for interns.

The chamber funded the traditional small business internship program a few years ago to match qualified college students with its small business members and help them pay their interns a stipend.
Christopher L. Paris is no stranger to challenge. The Dunmore man who led a rural state police barracks through a deadly ambush nearly six years ago was recently promoted to one of the top positions in the agency  lieutenant colonel. Paris, 43, assumed responsibility earlier this year for training troopers and holding them accountable. The promotion comes at a time when police accountability is in the forefront of public discussion.

We want to be sure were doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason regardless of whos watching, Paris said during an interview.

A Scranton native, Paris joined the state police in May 1999 and began his career outside Philadelphia.

By 2013, Paris was a lieutenant in charge of the Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County. A year later, tragedy struck.

On Sept. 12, 2014, Eric Matthew Frein fired at two troopers in the barracks from across the street using a rifle. The shots killed Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II and wounded Trooper Alex Douglass.

The sniper attack set off a massive manhunt for Frein that spanned the Poconos and lasted 48 days. Frein was tried and found guilty in 2017 and remains on death row.

Paris leadership through the manhunt was a demonstration of his character, Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin said.

I find Lt. Col. Paris to be an exceptional leader who cares deeply about the community that he serves and is an outstanding person in law enforcement, Tonkin said.

A year later, Paris rose to the rank of captain and commanded Troop R, which covers Lackawanna, Wayne, Susquehanna and Pike Counties. He held that position until 2018, when he was promoted again to major and tasked with heading the departments Bureau of Integrity and Professional Standards, which includes the internal affairs division.

As one of three who hold the rank of lieutenant colonel in the state police, Paris is the Deputy Commissioner of Administration and Professional Responsibility. His responsibilities include human resources for the roughly 4,700 enlisted troopers and 1,600 civilians, training and education, internal affairs and discipline. The job comes with a salary of $160,841, according to the government employee salary database PennWatch.com.I like the fact that I feel I am making a contribution to a team effort that has a noble mission, Paris said.

Paris was promoted to the position in an acting capacity in January and was officially confirmed in June. He faced a challenge almost immediately when the COVID-19 pandemic reached Pennsylvania in March. Some troopers were exposed to the virus and needed to be quarantined, but the agency was largely spared.We havent had any mass call-offs, Paris said. Troopers want to be doing their job.

However, that job has come under increased scrutiny since the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Floyds death touched off a wave of protests against police brutality across the country, including in Scranton, and has caused many to rethink the role the police should play in society.

Paris said that the state police is ahead of the curve on many of the reforms proposed, including implicit bias training and deescalation training.

When a trooper uses force, those under Paris command closely examine it. Public trust with the police reached a low point with the killing of Floyd. Paris said that the state police have a very wide net to try and capture complaints made by the public against troopers.We want a very thorough complete and competent internal affairs investigation, he said.

Though law enforcement is at a crisis point, Paris said there will always be situations where police officers are necessary. He worries that there is a lot of good work thats being done thats overshadowed.

Every persons interaction with the state police is their own frame of reference for us, Paris said. Somebody may have a traffic citation, somebody may have a crash, somebody may have a call for service  theyre broken down with a flat tire on the side of the road  somebody might be involved in a domestic violent incident, somebody may be the victim of a crime, a violent crime, a property crime. Each one of those individually is an opportunity for us to demonstrate professionalism, to give the best police service that we can.
The books are always available.

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down physical libraries, the Little Free Libraries at two pocket parks in Clarks Summit remained open.

The libraries are maintained by members of the Rotary Club of the Abingtons.

When the libraries closed, there was more use than ever before, Rotarian Eileen Christian said. The coronavirus doesnt seem to have dissuaded people who are looking for something to do.

Christian started the boroughs first free library at the pocket park on Depot Street in June 2015. Increased use led to recent improvements to the library box.

There was so much wear and tear on the doorknob that half of it broke off and had to be replaced, Christian said.

The second free library, located in the Clarks Summit/Abington Area Veterans Park on State Street, was built in 2018. Mayor Herman Johnson played a big role in establishing it while he was still on council, Christian said.

We came to the conclusion that it should have an American flag painted on it, Johnson said. It came out beautifully and its a good community service for people in the Abingtons.

The library boxes were designed by architect Ned Connell and constructed by Harry Mumford, both Rotarians, Christian said.

While the boxes may not be fully stocked at all times, the Rotarians try to provide something for everyone.

I see families looking for books for all ages, Christian said. Sometimes we have what theyre looking for, sometimes we dont. Weve not been able to keep childrens books, theyre always gone in just a few hours.

Recently, the shelves have been more empty than ever, Christian said.

To meet the demand, Christian has asked Rotarians to keep books in their cars and fill the boxes when needed.

One of the Rotarys missions is literacy, Christian said. The parks allow people to pick up all kinds of different books at no cost. Weve always had a steady flow of exchanges.
The Salvation Army Scranton Corps is offering a free Camp in a Box experience featuring Bible-themed crafts, games and more for children whose summer plans were dashed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The local corps usually sends children to Camp Ladore, a weeklong summer camp in Waymart owned and operated by the Salvation Army. Dozens of children also participate in the corps Vacation Bible School, which organizers originally planned to hold this month.

With Camp Ladore closed and Bible school canceled by the pandemic, Salvation Army Maj. Karen Schmig is providing an alternative  boxes packed with days of activities children can complete at their own pace.

Camp in a Box participants will receive two boxes, one this month and another in August, filled with lessons, games, crafts and snacks. The July box contains an eight-day curriculum focused on two Bible stories, Jonah and the Whale and Noahs Ark. The August box is still being developed, but will feature a similar five-day curriculum with a biblical theme.

Schmig, a pastor and administrator who runs the local corps with her husband, Maj. Bob Schmig, said many expected Camp in a Box participants usually take part in other Salvation Army programs put on hold this year by the pandemic.

Its really important to have the kids continue to be interactive, Karen Schmig said. Theyre feeling that disconnect from the world and from their church, so I think its really important to keep them engaged. Not only that, but (also) to let them know that we care about them, we miss them and were there to try to give them something to do during the summer to feel connected.

About 15 children have registered for the alternative camp program so far, and organizers expect a total of about 50 kids.

Scranton resident Madeline Cotto has four children participating in the camp program, ages 10, 12, 13 and 15.

I just like that theyre doing this  because it gives children something to do, Cotto said. It stimulates their minds.

Cotto praised the Salvation Army, noting the local corps, its work and programs make her love Scranton.

Camp in a Box participants do not need access to a computer to complete the activities, and children who know how to read should need minimal parental supervision. Schmig said she may modify some of the lessons and activities for older children depending on the ages of those who sign up.

To register, visit the Salvation Army Scranton Citadel Corps Facebook page and click the Camp in a Box link to fill out and submit the online form. Boxes may be picked up at the Salvation Armys Scranton Corps, 500 S. Washington Ave. Organizers will deliver boxes to the homes of Scranton-area participants who lack transportation.

For information, call the local corps at 570-969-6399.
Editor: Edward Zindell (Wildlife cultivated, June 15) attempts to defend the indefensible, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and archery hunting.

The commission that has a long history of corruption and questionable tactics, including a former executive officer who was an alleged poacher and thief. The same agency was recently found to have some $75 million in game funds.

Despite what the commissions website says, it employs game management, not wildlife management. Its primary focus is propagating the several dozen game species for the shrinking number of hunters as opposed to managing the hundreds of species statewide, for all Pennsylvanians.

Cherry picking a handful of non-game species programs is a poor defense of the agency, especially when even a cursory view of its website or print publications proves the truth. Im surprised Zindell missed the two most publicized recovery programs in recent years. Those would be the reintroduction of fishers and river otters, both of which were touted as non-game programs yet are now deemed game species to be harvested by sportsmen.

As for the controlled hunts to which he refers, at least he admits one of the sites was fenced in and the other was a housing development. Both are areas where deer become virtually domesticated via constant interaction with humans from birth. Yet despite these seeming advantages over truly wild deer in rural areas the hunters are still incapable of making clean kill shots. Its not a matter of skill or technology, its simply that bows and arrows are primitive and long-obsolete methods of killing for necessity and are employed only for killing for pleasure.

DAVID KVERAGAS

NEWTON TWP.

Editor: In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Democratic National Convention delegate committed to Joe Biden.

More important, however, I am a citizen of the United States. I am appalled by the actions of our president. Not a day goes by that he does not do something ridiculous by violating the spirit and the law of this country.

What he has done now is to overlook or let pass the outrageous behavior of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, his friend. It is hard to believe, but it sounds like Putin has the goods on Trump, who gives him a pass for the most egregious behavior. Our intelligence agencies told the president that our Russian enemies had placed a bounty on the lives of our soldiers. It has been proved that Trump had access to intelligence information about this scheme and did nothing about it for months.

How could he stand and address the cadets at West Point recently knowing what he knew? Our soldiers have been in jeopardy all this time. Imagine if you were the parents, spouses or children of these brave souls.

The president has a duty to notify our soldiers and protect them. From what we can tell, he has done no such thing. A July 1 poll reported that 75% of our citizens feel that Trump is taking us in the wrong direction. There are approximately 120 days left before Nov. 3, an election in which it is vital that everyone votes either by mail or in person. It is obvious that Biden is the better choice, having served the people of this country for more than 40 years with compassion, empathy and unselfishness.

JIM CONNORS

SCRANTON

Editor: A traveler comes upon a man sitting on a wall, hitting himself in the head with a hammer. Why are you doing that? the traveler asks. Because it feels so good when I stop, the self-abuser replies.

Im certain many have heard that parable, but its relationship to todays events seems eerily prophetic.

President Donald Trump took to the air recently, bragging about the record setting increase in jobs; you know, the same ones he lost by his lack of a timely response to the COVID-19 pandemic. His initial denial seemed analogous to hitting the American populace in their collective heads with a hammer.

Apparently, according to him, two denials make an amelioration, the second denial being his ignorance of the steady uptick in coronavirus cases and deaths caused by the premature reopening of the country. This pseudo-recovery is as illegitimate as his presidency.

No doubt the man hitting himself in the head with the hammer stopped before inflicting permanent damage. We can only hope our so-called omnipotent leader does likewise.

EARL BAILEY

SCRANTON

Editor: The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us many lessons, including not taking for granted jobs, family and life milestones.

For horsemen and staff at the Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono near Wilkes-Barre, the pandemic has hit hard. Beginning in mid-March, they were unable to conduct or participate in live horse racing. They were left without the ability to earn a living. Still, members of this horse-racing community continued to keep one another  and the horses in their care  safe.

In June we at the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Association were thrilled to see live racing return there. The resumption of harness racing enables those who work in the areas industry to again earn income and support their families. Studies show that the industrys economic impact ranges from $721.5 million to $1.6 billion annually and supports as many as 23,000 jobs. In addition, the industry is responsible for the preservation of more than 100,000 acres of open space. This is why the resumption of racing is important to the Pennsylvania economy and land preservation.

Staff at the Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono provide an environment that meets all Centers for Disease Control and state guidelines for sanitation and employee wellness. On the track, staff follow protocols that the Pennsylvania Department of Health has reviewed and approved. This sense of normalcy is a welcome sight for Pennsylvania horse-racing fans.

As the Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono resumes operations, we encourage Pennsylvanians to engage with this great sport and its knowledgeable supporters. Multiple generations enjoy the excitement of racing, wagering and winning  all of which benefit the local economy.

We encourage online visits to PennHorseRacing.com, the organizations website, to learn about watching remotely and to find out how to support Pennsylvanias professional horse racing community and racetracks.

PETE PETERSON

PRESIDENT, PENNSYLVANIA HORSE RACING ASSOCIATION,

YORK
In March and April, this sort of widespread testing did not happen in hospitals, DeSantis said. There also were fewer people coming to hospitals. Now all those people are being tested and they are capturing a certain percentage of people in the community who are largely asymptomatic.
There were buses that did not have the necessary security labeling and protocols.
EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence scored the 100th goal of her career in a 16-1 win against Lincoln. St. Lawrence finished her career with 104 goals, eight short of the school record. The team did not play last season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

JOSH MOONEY, Stonington track & field, sophomore: Mooney scored in three events at the State Open meet. Mooney was second in the 110 hurdles, fourth in the javelin and fifth in the 300 hurdles. He scored all 17 of Stoningtons points.

ALEX STOEHR, Westerly softball, freshman: Stoehr hit three triples and a double in a doubleheader sweep of Barrington. For the week, she was 7 for 13 with four doubles, two triples and three RBIs. Stoehr is hitting .333 for the season.

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Since 2018, Mad Robot has been a blissed-out hub for hookah smokers, burlesque shows, drag bingo, rare beer tastings and stand-up comedy nights. Its one-barrel brewery pumped out limited-release suds, and its beer shop sold barley and hops to aspiring home brewers. But Mad Robot faced challenges even before the pandemic, he says. When nearby breweries like Crazy Uncle Mikes and Prosperity Brewers opened, touting their own oddball music and open-mike nights, they began to siphon off his regular patrons, Steen says.
Insurance firm, insurefor.com, has become the first to offer protection to travelers who catch coronavirus prior to their holiday.

At a time when many Britons are preparing to head abroad for the first time in months, the new product promises to protect holidaymakers against Covid-19 related issues both pre-departure and whilst abroad.

This includes cover for consumers who have to cancel their holiday before they even depart due to testing positive for the virus, even if this is at the airport, and therefore cannot travel.

It also covers emergency medical care and repatriation should they contract the virus whilst travelling.

Insurer has become first to offer protection to those who catch the virus prior to their holiday

The policy will be welcome news for those who are planning to head abroad again now the UK is beginning to lift travel restrictions and create air bridges, allowing consumers to fly to a number of countries around the world.

However, it should be noted that the advice given by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) remains that people should still not travel unless it is an essential trip.

What are you covered for?

The first of its kind, the policy covers customers who have been hospitalised within 28 days of their holiday and those who are have not been allowed to board their flight as a result of a positive coronavirus test or raised temperature.

The policy can also be cancelled prior to the trip if the UK or a customer's local area enters lockdown again within 14 days of purchase.

Whilst abroad, the insurer will cover consumers if they have checked in at their holiday accommodation but it then needs to close as a result of the coronavirus.

For those who catch the virus abroad, the policy will include medical cover and repatriation costs if a consumer needs to return home.

It will also cover customers for additional accommodation and travelling costs if they contract coronavirus whilst they are abroad.

A number of airlines are to resume flights to countries across the world as restrictions ease

What are you not covered for?

Consumers will not be covered, however, if they have come in contact with someone who has had coronavirus but have themselves not been diagnosed.

If they are asked to self-isolate, then they would still not be covered under this policy.

For those who are shielding or have been asked to stay inside by their doctor, they would also not be able to make a claim.

Looking for insurance Anyone who is looking to head abroad in the coming weeks and months may find it difficult to find travel insurance. However, there are still some smaller firms who are selling policies to new customers. Use price comparison services to see what is available and ensure you read through your policy carefully before purchasing to see if it covers you for all eventualities. Keep an eye out as more insurers start to offer protection against Covid-19. > Compare travel insurance policies with our Compare the Market powered search

Anyone who decides they don't want to travel because they are worried will similarly not be covered as this is called disinclination to travel and insurers do not pay out for this.

Travellers that manage to get overseas but are then turned away from the country due to having the virus or showing symptoms of having it would too not be covered.

Antony Martin, Managing Director at insurefor.com, said: 'We are excited to launch our new COVID-19 protection product.

'There has been a great deal of confusion around travel insurance recently and the right policy to choose, and we noticed a gap in the market for a solid COVID-protection policy so we wanted to create a robust product which clearly states what is and isn't included.

'As the world is starting to open up for travel again, we feel it is really important to drive consumer confidence by offering pre-departure cover for the elements that are not covered under Package Travel Regulations as well as cover during their trips.

'Many people cannot wait to travel but must ensure they are protected in case of further unprecedented circumstances around COVID-19.'

What are other insurers doing?

Most other major insurers are still not selling new policies to customers after postponing all sales in March although they say they are constantly reviewing the ever changing situation.

This is making it difficult for consumers who have booked holidays in recent times to protect their trips.

However, some insurers are beginning to change their policies to reflect the current situation with Saga and Staysure both offering travel cover against customers contracting coronavirus.

The two insurers, that specialise in covering the over-50s, say they will pay the medical expenses and repatriation fees for customers if they fall ill with the virus during a trip abroad, a major concern particularly for an age group most vulnerable to it.

A major restriction to this is that the companies will only do so if the customers are travelling to a country that has been deemed safe by the Government  which is currently none, as it has advised against all non-essential travel and it's not clear when this will change.

There is some indication, however, that more insurers will start to offer the same protection as Saga and Staysure in the coming weeks.

Sally Jaques at GoCompare Travel Insurance, said: 'In the coming weeks we're being advised most insurers returning to the market will cover Covid-19 medical claims while abroad, providing there are no FCO restrictions at time of travel.

'Those booking holidays at the moment, and then needing to cancel due to Covid-19 prior to travel are unlikely to be covered, but those cancelling for unrelated reasons should still receive the benefits of having travel insurance in place.

'For those auto-renewing annual cover, we are urging people not to accept the new premium without first comparing prices and cover elsewhere. It definitely isn't the time to just accept what your insurer wants to charge you as they try to recoup losses from Covid-19 claims.'

Helen Chambers, head of travel insurance at MoneySuperMarket added: 'A high number of providers will now cover your medical expenses or repatriation if you contract Covid on your trip, including all policies displayed on the MoneySuperMarket website.

'We actively removed any providers that could not cover this. An increasing number of providers, including Coverwise, Cover for you, Southdowns and Cedar Tree, will cover you for your cancellation if you have a positive test for Covid and can't take your trip.

'However, something we haven't seen is providers offering cover for cancellation if an FCO ban on travel is put in place, and we know that this is something customers want.

'One final point worth making is that although a lot of people will be looking to take out Scheduled Airline Failure to cover them if their airline goes bust, due to Covid being excluded from these claims, any airline going bust at this time will probably not be covered.

'It is more important than ever that customers take the time to compare the cost of their travel insurance policy, and understand exactly what it covers them for. Read the Ts and Cs of your policy before you commit to a purchase to ensure you have the cover you need.'
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.


Goldman Sachs' Marcus will soon launch a cash Isa, This is Money has learned, but in a blow for those hoping it will drive up tax-free rates it plans to make it available only to existing customers.

The UK savings arm of the Wall Street bank posted a job advert on Thursday for an Isa operations team leader on LinkedIn, calling for a 'savings specialist with experience of working with Isas'.

Responsibilities would include 'managing incoming Isa queries and supporting an Isa transfer service.'

The bank posted a job advert on LinkedIn on Thursday calling for a 'savings specialist with experience of working with Isas'

When contacted by This is Money, Marcus said it planned to introduce a tax-free cash savings account in the near future but planned at this stage to offer it only to existing customers. It gave no further details.

The news that it may only be open to existing Marcus savers is a setback for those hoping the bank's intervention could help boost competition in the Isa market, where best buy rates have often lagged regular easy-access accounts over the last few years.

Marcus is also just 4billion under a ceiling which would require it to ring fence its UK business from the rest of Goldman Sachs.

This means it may be unlikely to launch a best buy rate and hoover up billions of pounds of Isa cash.

However, one savings expert told us there might still be a way for newcomers to access the account.

If Marcus' new tax-free savings account launches with a lucrative offer, then its still-available one-year fixed-rate could still prove a way in despite its own low rate.

Savers could potentially open the fixed-rate bond, the only one open to new applicants, deposit 1, and therefore be considered an existing customer for the purpose of opening its new cash Isa, according to James Blower, founder of The Savings Guru.

Recent figures from the taxman found money was paid into almost 8.5million cash Isas in 2018-19, up 1.4million on the year before, helping reverse a five-year decline in Isa subscriptions.

There was a 7.3billion rise in the amount of money held in cash Isas, meaning 65 per cent of Britain's 67.5billion Isa savings were held in cash last year, as savers pulled money out of riskier investments.

But the coronavirus has hit tax-free savings rates hard, with the average Isa rate falling from 0.85 per cent in January to 0.37 per cent at the end of June, according to Moneyfacts.

Marcus shut its easy-access account paying 1.05% to newcomers on 10 June, after it was inundated with savings that left it close to breaching banking rules

Currently no Isa pays 1 per cent, compared to two easy-access accounts, and the best rate without any kind of catch is just 0.65 per cent.

And such has been the fall in Isa rates that the average rate on older, closed accounts no longer available to new savers actually beats the average rate you can earn from an on-sale Isa.

Closed easy-access Isas now pay an average of 0.5 per cent, according to the analyst Savings Champion, although old accounts could easily be in line for the chop as banks aim to reduce the cost of their back books.

In January the average closed easy-access Isa paid 0.76 per cent.

Marcus shook up the savings market when it launched its easy-access account in September 2018, paying a best buy rate of 1.5 per cent. It has topped our best buy tables almost always since, but it closed the account to newcomers early last month.

It still pays 1.05 per cent to those who already hold an account.

After a five year decline, Isa subscriptions bounced back in 2018-19, thanks largely to a resurgence in those saving money in cash

65% of Britain's 67.5bn Isa savings were held in cash last year, the biggest sum since 2016, as investors bailed out of riskier alternatives

It shut the doors after a 4billion influx from savers in March, April and May took deposit levels to 21billion, just under the 25billion limit that would require it to ring fence its UK operations.

It said at the time the decision was made so it could more easily manage the money coming in, and plans to initially open its cash Isa only to existing customers for the same reason.

Marcus' managing director Des McDaid hinted in May 2019 that the bank could enter the Isa race this year, saying in an interview that it would 'likely' launch new products including joint accounts and fixed-term deposits.

Earlier this year it put on hold plans to launch a stocks and shares Isa in partnership with Nutmeg.

The Isa would mark just the third savings account Marcus has launched since 2018, after it launched a one-year fixed-rate bond at the end of March. It originally paid 1.45 per cent, but those who sign up now will earn just 0.7 per cent interest.
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.'
What is Rishi Sunak expected to announce in his mini-Budget? Increase stamp duty threshold from 125,000 to between 300,000 and 500,000 for six months to boost housing market. Homeowners to receive 2bn in financial incentives to insulate homes. Schools, hospitals and other public buildings to get 1bn to make them greener and more energy efficient. Some 50m to fund retrofitting of social housing with insulation, double glazing and heat pumps. Nature conservation schemes given 40m to plant trees, clean up rivers and create new green spaces. Advertisement

Rishi Sunak will not delay a stamp duty cut slated for his mini-Budget tomorrow after warnings that the housing market would be wrecked for months.

The Chancellor's crucial coronavirus recovery package is expected to include a six-month 'holiday' from paying the charge on most homes to kickstart the market.

However, economists voiced alarm at the idea that the move could be announced to the House of Commons, but not implemented until the Autumn.

Fears were raised that purchases would grind to a halt as people would simply wait in order save thousands of pounds.

Sources told MailOnline that there would not be any delay in the implementation of a stamp duty cut.

Treasury officials have been looking at a temporary six-month increase in the stamp duty threshold from the current level of 125,000 to an amount between 300,000 and 500,000 to stimulate demand.

But economists and property experts warned that a delay until Autumn, as had originally been mooted, could put the housing market into the deep freeze.

The stamp duty move is expected to be the centrepiece of Mr Sunak's financial address tomorrow as he sets out his vision for the recovering UK economy.

Announcements are also expected to include 2 billion for homeowners to spend on better insulating their homes and 1 billion to make schools and hospitals greener.

Mr Sunak is under mounting pressure to announce a fresh wave of financial support for British businesses as many sectors of the economy continue to struggle.

Rishi Sunak, pictured during a visit to Shakespeare's Globe theatre yesterday, is considering a six-month stamp-duty 'holiday' on most homes to kick start Britain's dormant market

Economists and property experts have warned that delaying stamp duty changes could put the housing market into the deep freeze (File photo)

What are the current rules on stamp duty? Stamp duty must be paid when people buy residential property over a certain price. The current property value threshold at which stamp duty must start to be paid is 125,000. But there are different rules for first time buyers if the property is worth less than 500,000. The amount of stamp duty paid gradually increases based on the value of the property. So no stamp duty is owed on the first 125,000 of a property's value. Stamp duty worth two per cent is paid on the next 125,000, then five per cent is owed on the next 675,000. For more expensive properties, stamp duty at 10 per cent is charged on the following 575,000 and anything above a property value ceiling of 1.5 million is charged at 12 per cent. So if someone bought a house at a price of 275,000 they would pay zero per cent on the first 125,000, two per cent on the next 125,000 (worth 2,500) and five per cent on the final 25,000 (worth 1,250), giving a final stamp duty bill of 3,750. First time buyers can currently claim a discount so they do not have to pay any tax on property's worth up to 300,000 and five per cent on the portion from 300,001 to 500,000. Advertisement

The latest news on Mr Sunak's stamp duty plans came as:

Former chancellor Philip Hammond said the move would bring forward demand in the housing market rather than actually increase it.

A house prices index showed house prices have been falling for four months in a row - the first time this has happened since 2010.

However, despite four months of prices edging downwards, house prices were actually higher in June when compared with a year ago.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies warned if the policy was announced and then delayed it could 'ruin the housing market for months to come'.

Homeowners will receive 2 billion in financial incentives to insulate their homes as part of an economic recovery scheme set to be announced by the Chancellor.

New official data showed high street footfall was down 50 per cent year on year in the third week of non-essential shops reopening in England and Northern Ireland, prompting serious concerns about the long term future of town and city centres.

Paul Johnson, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said any uncertainty about a potential change to stamp duty rules would distort the housing market by encouraging people to delay their decisions.

He said Mr Sunak must choose to either launch the duty holiday tomorrow - or decisively rule it out.

'To do otherwise could ruin the housing market for months to come,' said Mr Johnson.

His comments were echoed by buying agent Henry Pryor, who said: 'Either announce that you are changing stamp duty or announce that you are not.'

Economist Julian Jessop urged the Treasury to 'stop flying kites' over potential cuts in both stamp duty and VAT.

He said: 'The announcement of a stamp duty holiday, but not until the autumn, could kill the housing market in the meantime.

UK house prices fall for four months in a row House prices have been falling for four months in a row - marking the first time this has happened since 2010. Property values in June were 0.1 per cent lower than in May, according to a an index published by Halifax. The decline in June followed month-on-month price falls of 0.2 per cent in May, 0.6 per cent in April and 0.3 per cent in March. Despite four months of prices edging downwards, house prices were actually higher in June when compared with a year earlier. Across the UK, property values in June were 2.5 per cent higher than in the same month a year ago. The average house price last month was 237,616. Russell Galley, managing director, Halifax, said: 'Average house prices fell by 0.1 per cent in June as the UK property market continued to emerge from lockdown. 'Though only a small decrease, it is notable as the first time since 2010 - when the housing market was struggling to gain traction following the shock of the global financial crisis - that prices have fallen for four months in a row. 'Activity levels bounced back strongly in June, which is typically the busiest month for mortgage activity in the UK.' Advertisement

'There has been similar speculation of an across-the-board VAT cut, which could delay spending on other big ticket items too.'

Philip Hammond, the former Tory chancellor, said cutting stamp duty could help to bring forward demand for housing.

But he said that 'history tells us' such a move would simply shift demand in the short term rather than actually increase it.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Cutting stamp duty, reducing VAT in particular sectors, are certainly ways to bring forward or manage demand.

'But I think the Treasury officials who will have been working up all sorts of proposals for him during the lockdown will be telling him that the history tells us that cutting VAT or cutting stamp duty can bring forward demand but it doesn't overall increase the level of demand, it simply shifts the pattern of it.'

Mr Hammond said cutting stamp duty was undoubtedly 'one tool in his tool box' which Mr Sunak could choose to use tomorrow.

He said: 'Clearly, if people are told that a stamp duty holiday is coming in the autumn people will not complete house purchases ahead of the autumn if they can possibly avoid it.

'That doesn't mean to say that sales activity won't pick up but people will want to time their completions beyond an autumn budget if that is what the Chancellor is signalling.

What is Rishi Sunak likely to announce on stamp duty? Treasury officials have been working on plans to introduce a temporary six-month increase in the stamp duty threshold. This would see the point at which people have to start paying stamp duty rise from the current level of 125,000 to an amount between 300,000 and 500,000. It was originally thought the change could be announced tomorrow but not rolled out until the autumn. But concerns the delay could result in the housing market grinding to a halt as people wait for the discount mean the change is likely to be implemented immediately. Advertisement

'It is one tool in his tool box. He has many tools available to him. If he is clear eyed about what he is doing he would be pulling forward and to some extent pushing back from now into the autumn and pulling forward from next spring demand that would otherwise would have happened then.

'If that is what he wants to do then a temporary cut in stamp duty could be one of the tools that would help to do that.'

Mr Hammond's comments came as an index showed house prices have been falling for four months in a row - the first time this has happened since 2010.

Halifax said that property values in June were 0.1 per cent lower than they were in May.

The decline in June followed month-on-month price falls of 0.2 per cent in May, 0.6 per cent in April and 0.3 per cent in March.

However, despite four months of prices edging downwards, house prices were actually higher in June when compared with a year ago.

Across the UK, property values in June were 2.5 per cent higher than in the same month a year earlier. The average house price in June was 237,616.
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Germany and Belgium have asked the UN Security Council to vote to extend authorization for cross-border humanitarian aid in Syria despite a likely Russian veto, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

The German-Belgian draft resolution would extend for a year an authorization for aid to move into Syria, free from the control of the Damascus government, across two points on the Turkish border, while Russia wants one of the border crossings eliminated and only a six-month extension.

The vote was expected at the end of the day.

"There is going to be a Russian veto," predicted a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity, an expectation shared by other diplomatic sources.

The current UN authorization, which has been in effect since 2014 with periodic extensions, expires July 10.

If Russia uses its veto -- with China probably following suit -- it would be the 15th time it has done so since the start of the Syrian war in 2011.

Besides the western nations, which would like to see the authorization strengthened amid a spreading coronavirus epidemic in Syria, the UN secretariat also has demanded that the aid operation continue with at least two crossing points on the Turkish border. Those crossing enable aid to reach Syria's hard-hit northwestern Idlib region.

In January, Moscow, Syria's closest ally, succeeded in having the crossing points reduced from four to two and in limiting the authorization to six months instead of a year, as had been done previously.

Russia, like China, argues that the UN authorization violates Syria's sovereignty and that the aid could be distributed by the Syrian authorities.

The western nations and the UN secretariat reject that argument, insisting that the cross-border aid is the only credible option, and that the flow of relief supplies would face multiple obstacles if it had to pass through Damascus' control.

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After the war, the Jews remaining in Frankfurt were of two types. There were the few survivors who founded todays Frankfurt Jewish Community organization in 1947 and envisioned returning to the roots of the community that existed before the war. That group consisted mainly of assimilated Jews who saw themselves as German and were often married to non-Jews.
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We must act to significantly limit mass social events. If we dont do this, the price we will pay in two weeks could be super-dramatic and I think this is the point that must be made clear. All the restrictions are aimed at avoiding a lockdown. I feel everyones pain, but if we dont take these significant measures today, tomorrow we will pay a far steeper price in terms of health and the economy.
Thomasville, GA (31792)

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Thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall at times. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 76F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 2 to 3 inches of rain expected..

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Cloudy skies early with scattered thunderstorms developing late. Low around 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
DEAR ABBY: Three years ago, I found out my husband had sexually abused one of his nieces. He took a lie detector test, failed it and confessed. Learning the truth was devastating, and I felt like a fool for having believed him.

We have two children together, both teenage boys. I had to give my boys the bad news about what their father had done and the reason I could no longer be with him. He had to move out because he was restricted from being with minors. There were so many changes.

Then came the news that their father was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison. I was emotionally drained. I have always been honest with my boys and have never kept anything from them. Because I've had to give them so much bad news, I have tried my best to give them the happiest times that I could. Soon after, he was sent away.

I received word that when he gets out, he will be deported to Mexico. This is something I haven't told my boys yet. They are talking about having a life with their father. When he gets out, they will both be adults. My youngest talks about living with him. When they find out, they will be heartbroken.

They have been doing so well. We've come a long way, and we're finally in a happy place. I don't know how or when to tell them. Should I do it now or wait until closer to his release date? I'm just over the sadness.

 Emotionally drained

DEAR EMOTIONALLY DRAINED: Hang onto your happiness because you deserve all of it that is coming your way. You and your sons have been put through an ordeal not of your making. I see no reason to burden them further with this unhappy news until closer to the time of your husband's release. By then they will be older and better able to adjust to what it will mean if they choose to live with or spend time with their dad.

DEAR ABBY: I am an older woman who is not very attractive. I didn't inherit good looks. This bothers me because all my women friends are married or have been in relationships.

People say looks don't matter, but they are mistaken. The first thing someone sees is your face and physical presence. I keep myself neat and nicely groomed, but I'm not pretty. What do I do to lift myself from this depression? I'm ashamed of my face.

 Facing it in California

DEAR FACING IT: Everyone has strong points that make them unique. My mother used to say that the most effective cosmetic is a smile. You might have better luck if you focus less on what you think you don't have and start concentrating on what you do have to offer.

Not everyone is a beauty contest winner, and they manage to couple up and have healthy relationships with the opposite sex (and sometimes the same sex). Do you have a special talent, a pleasing personality or a good sense of humor? You appear to have a serious case of low self-esteem.

The solution to your problem might be as simple as widening your circle of acquaintances by getting involved in activities you enjoy. But before doing that, it might be in your interest to talk with a licensed mental health professional for help in becoming less critical of yourself.
Many of us have spent part of the past four months nurturing sourdough starters, over-caffeinated thanks to whipped coffee (speaking from experience), with a freezer full of bananas for banana bread, and took part in other quarantine food trends. (Are we at the ice cream-making stage yet?)

For me, Ive been pursuing pasta, with a goal to learn 100 different shapes.



While its certainly a hobby thats good to pursue when you spend most of our time at home, this was not a quarantine-fueled project. Two years ago, I spent three weeks in Italy to learn more about foods from the Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions, and I was on a mission to learn how to make fresh pasta. That hot August, I first took a class offered on Airbnb's Experiences platform in the Chianti hills of Tuscany. A class full of newlyweds and families is on vacation, I was the only one on my own.

I spent time with the program's hosts, Luca and Lorenzo, and learned the fundamentals of making pasta, how to work a hand-cranked pasta machine, and more. Later in the trip, I spent a couple of days in the kitchen of an agriturismo, a working farm and vineyard that hosts in the nearby Emilia-Romagna the region known for balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese, and other iconic Italian foods.

Afterwards, I was armed with recipes for two different types of pasta dough, a foundation of pasta shapes and the experience of making pasta in 90-degree heat.



Once I came home, I got to work learning more shapes. I learned all I could, from Italian cookbooks, to hours of learning from the sfoglinas from the Pasta Grannies channel on YouTube, which interviews and documents the pasta-making traditions and the women who make them. I made pasta whenever I could, trying out new shapes and gave it away to any friends and family who would take it. Fresh, frozen or dried, I tried to line up friends to take what I made or froze it for later. I could only eat so much.



The motivation to make pasta wasn't about sitting down to eat it, but about sharing and giving away. Research shows that cooking and baking can boost the maker's mood, and that's what pasta is for me. I get joy in making pasta and sharing it with people around me.



My love for making fresh pasta does not mean that dry pasta is not in our pantry. Dry pasta will always have a place in my home and as it does for all Italians! Since that three-week trip in Italy, I have continued to learn new shapes when I could; usually the cooler weather inspired me to check another one off of my list.



Due to the extra time at home due to the lockdown, I got back to and ramped up my pasta making journey: I procured a 50-pound bag of semolina flour from Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany. That, and my pasta books were all I needed to start and I got to work.



Building off of what I learned in Italy, during the quarantine, I committed to learning 100 different pasta shapes. Why 100? There are approximately 350 pasta shapes documented in Italian cuisine. While I'd love to try to make all of them at least once in my life, 100 felt like a nice round number, something I can put my heart into that wasnt a short term project.



Developing a mental Rolodex of shapes and techniques, I could tell you at least one pasta shape that is specific to Lazio (quaducci) to Basilicata (tapparelle). I learned that a single pasta shape may be known by a different name depending on the region that you are in. One example is capunti. Its also known as Strascinati. It has been found in the region of Campania, but also Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria. Sometimes its lot to keep up with but a lot of fun.



The pursuit of 100 pasta shapes also allows me to learn about a regions food traditions and the history is that the shapes come from, whether they are in relation to their texture or shape or are based in folklore. Cecamariti, a shape based in Rome for instance, translates into husband blinders, meaning that the man in the pasta makers life would go blind from how good the meal was. This was certainly a moment when food interests collided because one of the main ingredients called for active sourdough starter!



Learning 100 shapes gives me 100 different ways to share my craft with someone. My goal to make 100 different pasta shapes will give me 100 ways to be present, and 100 ways to feed someone. For me, making pasta allows me to be 100% present, in a world of fingers tapping on keyboards in our day jobs or clinging to our cell phones. I need both hands knead the dough, judge that its at the correct hydration or to bend, roll and shape it into its final form.



Currently, I am almost halfway there with 45 shapes and happy to take my time to get it right.

I keep a running tally to document the project, I keep a running list on my phone, making sure to take photos of the completed product and a short overhead video of me making it and sharing on my Instagram account. This documentation is not for social media brownie points, but to remind me of what it looks like to make that shape. I make it a point to make it at least twice (in small batches) before moving onto the next shape.



While I have been working throughout, I spend my free time researching or making new pasta shapes. I dry or freeze the pasta if we arent going to eat it right away or trade it with a friend for their baked goods, leaving it on the chair out our front porch that acts as the contact-free drop-off spot. During a time of much uncertainty, I may not always have the monetary means to feed folks, my hands have a way of providing a person some food.



While for the moment, our world does the delicate dance of re-opening while maintaining social distancing, I continue to stay home mostly and continue to learn and pursue my quest for knowledge through pasta. The kitchen's a bit warmer, so Ill just tell myself just like August in Italy.

Stephanie Gravalese is a freelance writer splitting her time between the greater Capital Region and western Massachusetts. You can reach her at sgravalese@gmail.com. stephanita.com, @stephanita
The summer camps issue has been one in a series of faceoffs between the Orthodox community and New Yorks elected officials during the pandemic. The battles  over access to city playgrounds, religious services and now summer camps  have rested on a common thread: The Orthodox community has seen a double standard in the government officials restrictions, with one set of rules applied to activities the officials deem essential and another set to those they do not.
ALBANY  Albany County officials issued a plea to restaurant owners and out-of-state travelers Tuesday, asking that they take the recommended health and safety precautions to prevent coronavirus spread after recent clusters of cases tied to these groups were detected in the Capital Region.

County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said the county is receiving complaints about people wearing masks incorrectly inside of restaurants and about people who have traveled out of state not following New York's 14-day quarantine rule once they return.

If you are wearing a mask, it is necessary to cover your nose and your mouth, she said. To have your nose hanging out is not wearing a mask. To have it under your chin is not wearing a mask. I have observed people wearing masks like this at a restaurant myself within the last week and its very important for restaurant owners and managers to take responsibility and ensure that they are appropriately monitoring their staff in and out of kitchen to make sure that they are wearing their masks appropriately.

Whalen said these complaints were not directed specifically at the two restaurants  Delmonicos Italian Steakhouse on Central Avenue and Phillys Bar and Lounge in Latham  that were forced to shut down last week after cases were detected among employees, but rather to restaurants in general.

On Friday, the county Health Department reported the restaurants had three cases each among staff. The department ordered them closed for two weeks so that the state Health Department could come in and conduct on-site testing for the remaining employees.

On Tuesday, County Executive Daniel McCoy said that 63 Delmonicos employees have since been tested and five more came back positive  for eight confirmed cases overall at the restaurant. At Philly Bar, 35 employees were tested and four came back positive  for seven confirmed cases overall.

Both restaurant owners have been very compliant, Whalen said. From the get-go, they have been responsive to doing whatever is necessary to protect both their staff and members of the public. So they are doing the right thing. They have indicated that they will do whatever is necessary.

Whalen said the county has also been fielding complaints about people who may have traveled to one of the states for which New York has issued a travel advisory. The advisory requires anyone returning to New York from states with significant coronavirus spread to quarantine for 14 days immediately upon their return.

Whalen said the county is specifically concerned about potential recent travelers to Atlanta, where the mayor, Keisha Lance-Bottoms, recently tested positive despite feeling no symptoms.

We know Albany has lots of ties to Atlanta, Whalen said. We have heard that there were many residents of Albany County that may have been in that vicinity for the Fourth of July. Please ensure that you get tested if you are asymptomatic.

States on New York's quarantine list include: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Earlier: Delaware, Kansas, Oklahoma added to New York's quarantine order

County officials are particularly concerned about young people who may be spreading the disease, she said. Individuals between the ages of 20 and 29 now have the most confirmed cases in the county at 352.

The concern, again, is that you can unknowingly transmit this infection to someone who could suffer much more severe consequences, Whalen said. We want to keep our numbers low, we want to keep our hospitals open to the public that needs them for other reasons, and we want to keep open.

The number of confirmed cases in the county rose by five on Tuesday to 1,953 and the number of people placed under quarantine rose by 11 to 234, McCoy said. There are now 53 active cases in the county  three of which were hospitalized Tuesday, he said.

Despite a recent small uptick in the number of daily positives, he said the regions numbers are still low compared to where it was and still heading in the right direction to remain open.

We have done so much work as a New York state and as the Albany County community in the past 16 weeks and I offer a warning that that work can be undone very quickly, Whalen said. We have seen exponential growth starting from small numbers of cases in other states and we dont want to go there. So please be mindful of these recommendations. Be mindful about masks, about social distancing, and getting tested and quarantined if you are back from travel.

Elsewhere in the Capital Region, Warren County reported an additional two cases among residents Tuesday  one of which originated in a household with previously diagnosed cases. A member of the household had been in Florida recently, the county reported. The source of infection for the second case remains under investigation.

The county's Health Services department is currently monitoring 45 people under precautionary quarantine as a result of the state's travel advisory.
In March, the Rio Jewish federation established its own crisis committee to advise the states 30,000 Jews. Along with being a state, Rio is Brazils second largest city and second largest Jewish community, behind Sao Paulo. Its home to some of the nations most famous landmarks, such as the Christ Redeemer statue and the Sugarloaf Mountain, and boasts some of the countrys most storied Jewish institutions, such as the Great Israelite Temple and Brazils largest Jewish day school, the 1,400-student Liessin.
ESSEX COUNTY  The doomed Adirondack bear who shut down Lake Colden-area camping would not be deterred.

Properly stored camp food didnt keep him from inspecting every parcel.

Campers clapping and shouting couldnt keep him from poking his nose into and around the tents.

Rubber bullets did not keep him away for long.

He wouldnt give up, backpacker Jordan Meeder, of Perkasie, Pa., said on the morning of July 4 at the lakes wooden dam, where other campers gathered to cook away from their tent sites.

On Monday morning the state captured the large male black bear at Marcy Dam and planned to kill it because of its strong conditioning to human foods.

Its too aggressive, state Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman David Winchell said.

The Adirondack Explorer was encamped at Colden on the night of July 3, and had a brief personal visit from the bear that evening. At that time a ranger was in pursuit, hazing it by clacking hiking sticks together, and the bear ambled across the Opalescent River, allowing for a fleeting video snippet of its retreat.

Some 20 minutes later, one of three assembled rangers shot the bear with rubber ammunition to haze it away for the core of the camping zone. It took three shots to move the bear downstream. He returned in the morning, methodically inspecting camp after camp and moving along after finding the campers required plastic food canisters locked. Rangers said then that they hoped to push it toward Marcy Dam, where Winchell later said the bear wound up in a trap by Monday morning.

Three young men on Saturday described the bears visit to their camp the night before, just as they had started eating dinner. The bear walked past them and the food in their hands, and instead examined their tent.

Meeder described a tenser confrontation with the bear on that same evening, when it approached growling and hissing at him and hiking partner Heidi Stevenson, of Souderton, Pa. They tried to yell and wave it away, but the bear wouldnt leave until it had sniffed every pack.

The incident did not deter them from planning to stay another night, their food stored securely away from camp, and they used Colden as a base from which to hike Algonquin Peak on the holiday. DEC then closed the area to camping on Sunday, and announced late Monday afternoon that it was reopening.

The capture comes after a successful raid  by the same bear, Winchell said  on campers food at the nearby Calamity Brook lean-to earlier last week.

The state requires campers to use bear-resistant canisters to store food in the Eastern High Peaks Wilderness, which includes Lake Colden. The department released a statement advising campers to be especially careful starting in June, when yearling bears seek out their own territories and may wander through areas where they smell and get hooked on human food sources.

For information about avoiding bear conflicts, visit DECs website.

It was a little scary, Stevenson said, but also interesting.

Brandon Loomis is the editor of the Adirondack Explorer, a nonprofit news magazine covering the Adirondack Park.
Critics pointed out that Nazi camps are maintained to show their horror, while statues of Confederate leaders exist to glorify them. One commenter noted that the Holocaust is remembered in schools, books, museums and storytelling and that slavery and the Civil War should be remembered in the same way. Others noted that there are no statues of Adolf Hitler in Germany.
President Donald Trump on Monday was critical of the recent announcements by the NFL's Washington Redskins and Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians that the franchises are considering name changes, calling them efforts to be "politically correct."

"They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct," Trump tweeted, along with a mention of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., whom he regularly calls "Pocahontas" in jeering reference to her claims of Native American heritage. "Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!"

The Redskins announced Friday that they were launching "a thorough review" of their 87-year-old name, which has come under renewed scrutiny during the racial reckoning taking place throughout the country since George Floyd was killed while in Minneapolis police custody in May. Within hours of the Redskins' statement, the Indians, who have used their name since 1915, announced they were "committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name."

"This moment has been 87 years in the making, and we have reached this moment thanks to decades of tireless efforts by tribal leaders, advocates, citizens and partners to educate America about the origins and meaning of the r-word," Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said after Redskins owner Daniel Snyder issued a statement saying the team's review of its name would be "conducted with the best interest of all in mind."

Trump, who earlier Monday tweeted that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace should apologize to those who stood beside him after his racing team discovered a noose in his garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway on June 21 and described the incident as a "hoax," has tweeted about the Redskins' name before, including in response to President Barack Obama's comments about the name.

In October 2013, Obama told the Associated Press, "If I were the owner of the team and I knew that there was a name of my team - even if it had a storied history - that was offending a sizable group of people, I'd think about changing it."

Two days later, Trump tweeted that Obama "needs to focus on his job!" The following day, Trump tweeted about the Redskins' name again.

"President should not be telling the Washington Redskins to change their name-our country has far bigger problems!" he said on Twitter. "FOCUS on them, not nonsense."
SARATOGA SPRINGS  With a vow to listen and learn, city police will host a series of monthly community conversations to address the countrys call to stamp out racial bias in policing.

Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton and Chief Shane Crooks said the public discussions, the first one set for Wednesday evening on Zoom, will underscore that they are prepared to have the difficult discussion and come up with solutions.

We have to talk it through, Dalton said. We decided to do them monthly because there are so many topics we can focus on. One conversation wouldnt do. We will do it as long as its needed.

Among the difficult subjects to likely arise will be the death of Darryl Mount Jr., the 21-year-old biracial man who fell into a coma and died nine months after he was pursued by city police. At the time of the incident, August 2013, police said he fell off of a scaffold in a city alley. But his mother, Patty Jackson, always refuted police claims, saying her sons face was smashed in, an injury that she said is inconsistent with a fall.

In a Times Union interview with Dalton and Crooks last week, both said they could not comment on the case as its still in litigation. However, Crooks did say that he would never lie to the public. His predecessor, Chief Gregory Veitch, admitted in a deposition that he intentionally misled a Saratogian reporter about an internal investigation of the case.

I have no intention of lying to anyone, Crooks said. If you dont like my answer, well thats too bad.

Dalton echoed that.

If that happened now, we would be as open, thorough and transparent, Dalton said. I wasnt the commissioner. Shane wasnt the chief. We can only talk about how we would handle it now. I know we would do as thorough and open an investigation as needed.

She also said that the Mount case will not be re-investigated. Crooks said the city must protect everyone involved and acknowledged too that even if more facts were revealed, You are not going to change some peoples minds, they have a predetermined mindset.

Thats the past and Dalton, who has been commissioner for six months, and Crooks, who has served as chief for nine, said they are looking to improve the department into the future. Dalton said she was heartened to see that many of the policies in place, including a ban on chokeholds, already meet Gov. Andrew Cuomos June executive order on police reforms.

Still, Crooks said the department morale is mixed because of the calls to defund the police.

Something like that hurts the police officers, Crooks said. They get a call. They dont ask what race, religion or sexual orientation the caller is. They go. They risk their lives.

He also said that social workers, who protesters are calling to replace police in certain situations, might not always be able to handle every situation. He said recently, police were called to make a welfare check on a man that family members were concerned about. Upon arrival, the man answered the door with a machete in his hand.

The calls to defund the police come at a time when the budget for policing is strained. The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated on the citys budget $48.7 million budget. Deficits estimates run as high as $17 million, a third of the city budget. Last spring, the polices $9.2 million budget was cut by 8 percent. To help ease the burden, a dozen officers voluntarily accepted the furlough, Dalton said, to save another officers job in the future.

The force has about 70 officers, and 59 are active.

Crooks said the cuts will mean less training for the police going forward and will end, for now, consideration of enrolling officers in racial bias training, something the department has never done. He said he regrets the loss of training, pointing to a recent incident that could have ended in an officer-involved shooting.

It would have been justified, Crooks said. But the reality-based training was the reason why we did not have a shooting. The officer was prepared.

For people of color, their focus is on ending racial profiling that sometimes ends in harassment, false arrests, beatings and deaths. In a city protest in 2018, that called for Justice for Darryl, many of the Black people at the rally said their experiences with city police has been negative. One woman said that her nephews, who have lived in the city their entire lives, have been stopped on the street and asked to show identification for seemingly no reason.

Dalton said she doesnt know about these claims, but this is why the city needs the conversations.

If there is a perception of bias, we absolutely need to know about it because we will absolutely address it, she said. Our department condemns everything that happened with George Floyd (the Black man in Minneapolis who died after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes.) That is everything we stand against.

Crooks said he was disgusted by what happened to Floyd and screamed at the officers when he saw the video. He also said that the department investigates every complaint, even anonymous ones, against an officer that is filed.

If you call about how I treated you, we do a full-blown personnel complaint. We do those on a regular basis, he said. "We have done several this year.

Both Dalton and Crooks demonstrated their desire to end racial bias by participating in the city's first Black Lives Matter protest in May. That led to criticism that they two are taking the sides of both police or the protesters. Many on the far-left and far-right say you can't do both.

People want to you to draw a line in the sand, Crooks said. If you are pro-police, you are racist. Thats 100 percent wrong.

Dalton went further saying that you can be both pro-police and abhor and want to end racism.

Saying I play both sides is the best compliment I can possibly receive, she said. You can believe in Black Lives Matter and the police department. Both of those things can exist in one person and that is what I represent.

She also admits not to be a "expert on race relations, but I'm willing to learn." Yet another reason for the community conversations where Crooks said he plans to "actively listen."

"You have to understand what the issues are," he said.
Farmington, WV (26555)

Today

Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. Cooler. High 68F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low 46F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
None of this was sufficient to curb the wrath of right wing fanatics who demanded that I be muted and forbidden to speak at my own discussion at my synagogue, and who shared vile comments including this almost unintelligible chat room gem from Rabbi Friedman who received no rebuke when he said, Barry is no real RabbI al pe halacha Jews have a right to all that Hashem gave us. Thus, all who are for Arabs are Rashaim Judenrat/Kapo! In case his point was not clear, he followed this up with an email expressing his sadness that I had not perished in the Nazi ovens.
[July 07, 2020] AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Wright National Flood Insurance Company

AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit of "a-" of Wright National Flood Insurance Company (WNFIC) (San Antonio, TX). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect WNFIC's balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as strongest, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The balance sheet assessment takes into consideration WNFIC's risk-adjusted capitalization, strong liquidity levels, the strong financial flexibility and support provided by its ultimate parent, Brown & Brown, Inc. [NYSE: BRO] and the financial support of the United States government, being the largest writer of federal flood insurance in the United States. The company maintains no risk or retention as the business is 100% ceded. The ratings also reflect WNFIC's consistent operating profitability and positive cash flows. Unlike traditional insurers, WNFIC is a federal flood insurer whose profits are driven by service fees and ceding commissions from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). WNFIC's consistent earnings are supported by a profitable NFIP flood model and careful expense management. Over the most recent five-year period, the company has produced a total return on equity that outperforms the commercial property composite. AM Best views WNFIC's earnings profile as adequate. Offsetting these positive rating factors are the challenges and risk related to its limited business profile and its heavy dependence on the NFIP, which is critical to its core business. Although a market leader, competitive pressures exist fro the private sector and potential changes in flood mapping. While AM Best does not expect any material changes to the NFIP program or potential changes in FEMA's rules related to the Write Your Own Program, these programs are critical to WNFIC. NFIP is up for reauthorization on Sept. 30, 2020.



AM Best views WNFIC's management as experienced and highly competent in the field of flood insurance. AM Best also views WNFIC's ERM practices as appropriate, given its conservative risk culture and defined risk controls, as well as the risk management support provided by Brown & Brown, Inc. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright  2020 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005854/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Anthology Emerges as New Company with Combination of Higher Education Technology Leaders Campus Management, Campus Labs, and iModules

Veritas Capital ("Veritas") and Leeds Equity Partners ("Leeds Equity"), two leading private investment firms, today announced the combination of education technology leaders Campus Management, Campus Labs, and iModules. Rebranded Anthology, the new company will help transform the higher education marketplace by connecting colleges and universities with real-time, cross-departmental data to drive actionable insights that advance institutional missions. Anthology's combined technology footprint in higher education includes more than 2,100 unique institutions in over 30 countries with 14 cloud-based solutions that support the entire student lifecycle. Anthology has nearly 1,400 employees worldwide and will be led by Chief Executive Officer Jim Milton. The company is headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, with offices globally in Buffalo, NY, Kansas City, MO, Bangalore, India, London, UK, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. "Anthology is harnessing the collective power of three industry leaders encompassing data-driven technology, decades of higher education expertise, and innovation-focused leadership to deliver a transformative data experience for institutions," said Jim Milton, CEO of Anthology. "I'm grateful to be leading Anthology in the development of industry-first solutions that will help institutions unify their data, improve student engagement, enhance operational efficiencies and propel online giving in support of their communities and unique missions." Anthology's innovative solutions are designed leveraging Microsoft (News - Alert) technology, including Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Office 365, and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Anthology will deliver innovative solutions in four key areas: Leverage industry-leading capabilities in Student Information System (SIS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), institutional effectiveness, and compliance solutions to aid institutions in managing operations and navigating changing regulation

Build upon existing leadership position in CRM solutions to support recruiting, enrollment, student success, and alumni engagement and deliver a holistic view of constituent relationships

Enhance understanding of the student experience with strong offerings in assessment management and student engagement

Deliver data visualization and analytic to empower decision-making by institutional administrators



"Going forward, Anthology will be best positioned to provide end-to-end software solutions and rich data insights to help each higher education institution execute its unique mission and vision," said Ramzi Musallam, CEO and Managing Partner of Veritas. "We recognize these industry leaders are incredibly complementary platforms with a shared commitment to student success."

"In working with Jim Milton for the past five years, and other members of the leadership teams at Campus Management, Campus Labs, and iModules, I know that Anthology is going to be a culturally rich company that embraces innovation and dares to disrupt the status quo. Leeds Equity is looking forward to working in concert with management and Veritas to drive and support Anthology in its mission to promote change and improve institutional effectiveness in higher education," said Jacques Galante, Partner at Leeds Equity. About Veritas Capital Veritas is a leading private investment firm that invests in companies that provide critical products and services, primarily technology and technology-enabled solutions, to government and commercial customers worldwide, including those operating in the healthcare, aerospace & defense, software, national security, communications, energy, government services and education industries. Veritas seeks to create value by strategically transforming the companies in which it invests through organic and inorganic means. For more information on Veritas, visit www.veritascapital.com. About Leeds Equity Partners Leeds Equity Partners, is a New York-based private equity firm dedicated exclusively to partnering with management teams in the education, training and information services industries (the "Knowledge Industries"). The firm was founded in 1993 and currently manages $2.5 billion of capital across a broad spectrum of companies within the Knowledge Industries. Leeds Equity seeks to leverage its sector-focused expertise and market insights to create long-term value for its partner companies. For additional information on Leeds Equity, see www.leedsequity.com. About Anthology Anthology exists to help higher education advance and thrive. Through a connected data experience that offers a holistic view, creates efficiencies, and provides intelligence, Anthology inspires constituents to reach their full potential using technology insights in admission and enrollment management; student success and retention; institutional and learning effectiveness; alumni and advancement; and enterprise applications and infrastructure. Anthology partners with more than 2,100 colleges and institutions in over 30 countries to address the needs of all constituents in higher education. Visit us at www.anthologyinc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005493/en/

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[July 06, 2020] AweSun Remote Desktop Expands Secure Remote Access Support For macOS

NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /RPNewswire/ -- AweRay Limited, a global remote desktop solutions provider, has expanded its secure remote access support for macOS. "We are very glad to announce that AweSun support for macOS that has long been expected by our users is now available! We are constantly working on expanding our remote desktop solutions and services to deliver better experiences to all our users in India and worldwide," said Joseph, CEO of AweRay Limited. AweSun Remote Desktop supports cross-platform remote access and support. Since its initial launch, AweSun solutions for remote desktop have already covered Windows, iOS and Android devices. And now, its support for macOS is also available. AweSun has been committed to offering remote desktop and remote work services to remote workers, technical supporters, freelancers and digital nomads in India and worldwide, empowering its users to remotely access and support computers or mobile devices from their local computers or mobile devices from home or anywhere. A wide range of remote desktop as well as remote work solutions are offered by AweSun that include multi-concurrent sessions, remote support for mobile devices, session recording, remote printing, whiteboard, file transfer, blank screen, clipboard sharing, etc. All these solutions are offered for FREE. AweSun serves as a perfect remote work tool that allows its users to work from home or anywhere. Users ca remotely access and control their office computer from home or on the go and thus keep connected and stay productive everywhere. All these will only take a few clicks.



In early May, AweSun officially released its 1.1 version with multiple new enhancements included; one of its highlights is that it empowers its users to remotely access and control Android devices. Support requesters only need to get AweSun Client app installed on their mobile devices. The newly-released support is available for Free for one year, which greatly expands its remote support availability among users with more diversified remote support needs. With the help of AweSun, users are able to keep in contact with their loved ones. Via secured connections between computers and mobile devices, it's getting much more convenient for users to help their family or friends with program setup, troubleshooting, or any other remote support needed.

Apart from its powerful FREE services, AweSun users can also choose to purchase AweSun's higher plans to better satisfy their remote access and support demands. For now, two subscription options are available: AweSun Pro and AweSun Game. These two cover all features included in the Free version and more with enhanced performance. The remote CMD feature in AweSun Pro, for instance, allows its users to perform operations using commands remotely, which is a very practical option for the tech-savvy. AweSun Game enables its users to play computer games remotely on their mobile devices with multiple game features included, such as keyboard customization and exclusive game link that ensures an amazing game playing experience for its game audiences. AweSun Pro and Game subscriptions are available for a first-purchase discount. AweSun provides an unlimited subscription plan that allows users to choose a monthly subscription. "We keep working on making new enhancements to empower our users to better offer or receive remote support under certain circumstances where remote desktop access is required. There are more surprises ahead," said Joseph. Explore more AweSun remote desktop and remote work solutions, go to AweRay.com Follow AweSun on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awesunremote/

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[July 07, 2020] Best Upon Request Announces New Board of Advisors

Best Upon Request (BEST), a national provider of concierge services for employees and patients, has added three new members to its Board of Advisors: Karen Carnahan, Jim Rolfes and Teresa Tanner. These thought leaders represent expertise in innovative thinking, strategic growth, human resources, organizational development and finance. Board members provide advice and support to BEST's CEO, Tillie Hidalgo Lima, with no fiduciary duties. Karen Carnahan served as chief operating officer of Shred-it, an international document destruction business that merged with a spinoff of Cintas Corporation's document management division, which she led as president and COO for six years. In Karen's 30-year career with Cintas, she was vice president and treasurer for 14 years and vice president of mergers and acquisitions for five years. Karen is the recipient of many awards, including Ohio Diversity Council's Glass Ceiling Award in 2013. "There are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything with 100% satisfaction," said Carnahan. "BEST helps relieve that stress, improve job satisfaction and productivity, and achieve work-life balance. I'm looking forward to being a part of their future success." Jim Rolfes is a founder of Jackson, Rolfes, Spurgeon & Company (JRS), a CPA firm that he helped grow, from its inception in 1985, to one of the largest firms in Cincinnati. In 2009, JRS merged with Plante Moran, the 11th largest CPA firm in the country, and Jim continued as the managing partner of the Cincinnati office through June 2018. Jim served as president of the International Group of Accounting firms and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs, the Kentucky Society of CPAs and the Ohio Society of CPAs.



Rolfes shared, "I have known Tillie and the Best Upon Request team for several years and am honored and excited about the opportunity to serve on their board of advisors. Tillie has built an extraordinary company and team and I look forward to working with them over the years to come." Teresa Tanner, former chief administrative officer of Fifth Third Bancorp, is a seasoned C-suite executive who transformed the culture of Fifth Third Bank over 15 years by consistently innovating new approaches such as the Maternity Concierge Program, powered by Best Upon Request, and Energy Power Purchase Agreement - things that have never been done before in the finance industry. She was one of the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking in 2017 and 2018. Her functional expertise includes human resources, bank operations, strategic sourcing, marketing and PR, real estate, security, business transformation and risk management.

"In my past experience working with BEST as their client, I loved the true partnership approach we had and our mutual accountability to each other's success," Tanner said. "Working with BEST to deliver innovative talent solutions is one of the reasons I'm excited to be a part of their board and help them grow with more organizations, and to promote a benefit that I know people rave about." "I'm pleased to welcome Teresa, Jim and Karen to my board of advisors," said Hidalgo Lima. "They each provide refreshing and strategic insights with their inspiring leadership. Their expertise in growth strategy and innovation will help shape the future of BEST." The new board members will serve three-year terms, with potential renewals, and board meetings are held four times a year. BEST's advisory board was established in 2005 and has benefited from the involvement of several leaders over the years. About Best Upon Request Best Upon Request partners with organizations nationwide to provide concierge services to its employees as an employer-paid benefit. By helping employees save time and decrease stress, BEST improves recruitment and retention, engagement and work-life integration. BEST also provides specialized concierge programs for working mothers and physicians. In healthcare, BEST serves patient families to improve the patient experience by attending to non-medical needs. Patient concierge programs are tailored for Emergency Departments, Mother/Baby Units, and children's hospitals. In business since 1989, BEST is a certified Minority and Women Business Enterprise, and Corporate Plus Member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005023/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Dable Partners with Nanyang Siang Pau to provide Personalized Content Recommendation

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dable, Asia's No.1 content discovery platform and a member company of the Born2Global Centre, has partnered with Nanyang Siang Pau, one of the oldest and most circulated Malaysian Chinese-language media on July 7. Dable is a technology-based startup in South Korea that uses big data and personalization technologies to recommend personalized content by analyzing media content consumed by visitors in real time. Dable has partnered with over 2,300 media across Asia, including in Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and Vietnam. Through this partnership, Dable will provide 'Dable News', which recommends interesting personalized content to visitors on Nanyang Siang Pau's websie. Nanyang Siang Pau is a leading Chinese media affiliated with the Media Chinese International media group that owns daily media such as Sinchew, Chinapress, Guang Ming Daily and more. Recently, Nanyang Siang Pau completed its website redesign and hopes to increase user satisfaction and improve media competitiveness by applying 'Dable News' on its website.



'Dable News' is a content recommendation solution which provides content that may intrigue readers through widgets, such as 'Content you may like', located on the right/bottom of the web page. 'Dable News' helps readers consume more content and increase time spent on the website by recommending content that may be of interest to readers. Dable, particularly offers various recommendation algorithms such as 'Popular Articles', 'Personalized Articles', 'Related Articles', 'Popular by Genders', 'Popular by Age' and 'Perused Articles' that are applied to contents within a widget. The media can enhance its recommendation result by applying the algorithms that fit the media visitor's characteristics. Additionally, Dable provides affiliated media partners with a free dashboard to check the performance of 'Dable News' recommendations and gain insights to help improve media competitiveness.

Dable also contributes to improving the media's revenue through 'Dable Native Ad'. Dable, first intrigues the user's interest in the area of 'Dable News' and then exposes 'Dable Native Ad', advertisements with the same UI as of the recommended content. 'Dable Native Ad' gains high advertising performance by grabbing the user's attention without interfering with one's content flow. Especially 'Dable Native Ad' can show effective advertisements by analyzing the interests of users, such as showing cosmetic ads to users who read beauty articles. Dable's CEO Lee Chae-hyun said, "We hope the visitors of Nanyang Siang Pau's website experience high satisfaction through 'Dable News', which proffers content they might enjoy. We also expect 'Dable Native Ad' to create a new revenue stream for Nanyang Siang Pau." "We will continue to expand our coverage in Malaysia through close partnerships with premium media brands, while providing various insights to upswing media competition." For more detailed information on Dable, please visit http://dable.io/en/. Media contact Dable

Karen D'cruz, Partnership Manager

media-my@dable.io Born2Global Centre

Jina Lee, PR Manager

jlee@born2global.com Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200706/2848796-1 SOURCE Born2Global Centre

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[July 07, 2020] Ex-HSBC Global Head of Custody, Colin Brooks, Joins Hex Trust's Advisory Board

HONG KONG, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hex Trust, the leading provider of bank-grade custody for digital assets, is delighted to announce the appointment of Colin Brooks to its Advisory Board. Colin brings over 30 years of unparalleled experience, knowledge and connections building institutional custody and securities businesses, including serving as HSBC's Head of Custody and Clearing for seven years, heading up a global business that covered over 50 markets in six continents. Colin was primarily responsible for building HSBC's Custody business from a small team to the biggest and most dominant sub-custodian in Asia. He was closely involved in all aspects of HSBC's securities business evolution, from a custody business operating in six individual markets in Asia, to its current form as a global business within HSBC's corporate and institutional banking division. Colin won the recognition "Custodian Banker of the Year" during The Asset Triple A Asset Servicing Awards 2011 for his contribution to the development of the custody business in Asia. As Hex Trust continues to scale its banking and financial institutional client base across Asia and Europe, Colin's experience and guidance will be invaluable to its expansion and to ensure Hex Trust continues to build the industry's leading platform for bank-grade digital asset custody. Colin was also appointed as a Senior Advisor to Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) to the securities business and then as Vice Chairman Securities Services based in Singapore, where his responsibilities included re-shaping the leadership team and driving forward a series of key change initiatives across multiple areas to effectively re-launch the SCB securities business. "Colin joins Hex Trust at a critical juncture for the entire digital assets industry. A new wave of adoption is taking place, spearheaded by banks, central banks and other financial institutions, which is transforming the market and the way service providers operate," said Alessio Quaglini, CEO of Hex Trust. "We cannot assume that the whole financial market will embrace from day one solutions designed by technology companies. The process has to be a two-way, with financial institutions sharing their expertise and providing inputs on their pain points and challenges in their business models. Technology companies, like Hex Trust, therefore need to build solutions that both address these challenges whilst complying with financial institutions' requirements and integrating within their technology and operating models. Colin's extensive experience in custody and securities services accumulated in leading financial institutions will play a critical role to develop and shape Hex Trust's service offerings to banks looking at entering the digital assets market." Colin Brooks, Advisor to Hex Trust: "I'm excited to join the Hex Trust Advisory Board to help the business scale, optimize its custody platform and operations, and onboard more banks and financial institutions as clients. As the banking sector adopts digital assets, they need specialist platforms like Hex Trust, which are specifically built to address their complex compliance needs, internal processes, and security requirements. Using my years in the traditional custody and securities industries, I'll be aiming to pass on my guidance and experience to take Hex Trust to the next level to make sure that the platforms we build correctly address both financial institutions' needs and the requirements of the highly regulated markets which they operate in. I'm looking forward to being part of Hex Trust's journey and participating in the revolution of blockchain technology reshaping the infrastructure of financial markets." About Colin Brooks Colin has over 30 years of experience in the securities industry, including 30 years in Asia. Colin started in the industry as a project manager with the London Stock Exchange in the mid 1980s, during and after the 'Big Bang' period. He then moved to Hong Kong in 1990 as part of a small team that established HSBC Securities Services, taking on several regional and global roles as the business expanded in scope and geographically. His last role being Global Head of Custody and Clearing from 2008 to 2015, heading up a global business that covered over 50 markets in 6 continents. Colin moved to Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) in 2015, first as Senior Advisor to the securities business and then as Vice Chairman Securities Services based in Singapore, where his responsibilities included re-shaping the leadership team and driving forward a series of key change initiatives across multiple areas to effectively re-launch the SCB securities business. Colin retired from SCB in 2020 after the successful completion of the re-launch. Colin has worked in a number of securities industry roles, including as a member of SWIFT's Securities Council and their Asia Pacific Advisory Group, Board member of International Securities Services Association (ISSA) and has been a regular speaker at industry conferences and contributor to industry articles. Colin has a BA (Hons) in Linguistic Science from the University of Reading, UK and also attended Universitat Tubingen in Germany. About Hex Trust Hex Trust is fully licenced, insured, and the leading provider of bank-grade custody for digital assets. Led by financial services experts and veteran banking technologists, Hex Trust has built a proprietary platform - Hex Safe - that delivers an infrastructure custody solution for banks, financial institutions, asset managers, and exchanges to safely, securely, and efficiently operate in the digital asset ecosystem. Through Hex Safe, clients can access liquidity providers, exchanges and lending & staking platforms, which allows custody clients to seamlessly access third-party services while holding assets in our highly-secure and regulated platform. The Hex Safe platform has been designed with a comprehensive compliance-first approach, with the highest level of security in the market, scalable for high transaction volumes, and providing seamless connectivity to third-party service providers in the ecosystem. ZeroKey(TM), a proprietary technology, enables seamless transacting and fast access to assets stored on multiple blockchains while maintaining the highest levels of security of cold storage solutions. As a registered Trust Company under the Hong Kong Trust Ordinance and holding a Trust or Company Service Provider (TCSP) license under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, Hex Trust offers a truly end-to-end digital asset servicing solution. Hex Trust has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and is establishing a presence in Europe with Germany the first location. To learn more, please visit: http://www.hextrust.com/ Homepage | LinkedIn | Twitter | Medium * * *







Media Contacts: Sam Ameen

Hex Trust

+852 9883 7479

sam.ameen@hextrust.com Victoria Baillie

Pink Tiger Media for Hex Trust

+852 5927 1923

victoria.baillie@pinktigermedia.com

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200707/2850074-1 SOURCE Hex Trust

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[July 07, 2020] HilltopSecurities Private Client Group Welcomes Three Financial Advisors Managing Over $140 Million, Opens New Office in North Texas

Hilltop Securities Inc. (HilltopSecurities) recently welcomed three new financial advisors managing more than $140 million in client assets to its Wealth Management Private Client Group. The financial advisors will serve clients out of the firm's new branch office in Sherman, Texas. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005029/en/ Reno Jones (Photo: Business Wire) Reno Jones, Eric Kloppers, and Jarett Brugger all join HilltopSecurities from Raymond James-along with Client Services Associate Emilee Porter-and bring approximately 45 years of combined financial services experience to the firm. "We're excited to welcome Reno, Eric, and Jarett to HilltopSecurities' new Private Client Group office in Sherman, Texas," said John Muschalek, head of HilltopSecurities Wealth Management and president of HilltopSecurities Independent Network. "As economic uncertainty and market volatility persist, it's important we continue adding experienced financial advisors who know how to guide clients through challenging times. We'reconfident they will deliver on HilltopSecurities' mission to be a trusted partner to our clients."



Jones rejoins the firm as senior vice president, financial advisor, after eight years with Raymond James. Prior to that, he served as a financial advisor with HilltopSecurities' legacy firm, Southwest Securities, for nearly a decade. Jones has more than 23 years of experience in financial services. "It's great to return to a company that I spent so many formative years with," said Jones. "Since I've been gone, HilltopSecurities has grown immensely. Their expanded suite of products and revamped advisor- and client-support platform give me the tools I need to help my clients build tailored financial plans."

Kloppers joins the firm as vice president, financial advisor, and Brugger joins the firm as financial advisor. Kloppers and Brugger each have more than 11 years of financial services experience. "I enjoyed my time at Raymond James," said Kloppers. "However, working with a regional firm is a completely different experience, and one I'm enjoying immensely. Being able to speak with executive leadership and division management to find the best way to serve my clients makes a big difference." "I'm excited to be part of a regional firm with such a strong reputation," said Brugger. "They provide me with the products, services, and financial strength of a national broker-dealer, but with the responsiveness of a small boutique practice. If I'm working on something for a client, I get an answer in hours, not days." About Hilltop Securities Inc. Hilltop Securities Inc. delivers forthright advice and tailored solutions to municipal issuers, institutions, broker-dealers, and individuals. The full-service investment bank and registered investment adviser is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with offices across the United States. Areas of focus include public finance; municipal and taxable fixed income underwriting, sales, and trading; retail brokerage services; securities clearing; structured finance; and securities lending. A wholly owned subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTH), HilltopSecurities' affiliates include Hilltop Securities Independent Network Inc., PlainsCapital Bank, and PrimeLending. Learn more at www.HilltopSecurities.com. Member: NYSE/FINRA/SIPC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005029/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Latest IBD/TIPP Poll Shows Economic Optimism Drops Again; Now at Lowest Level Since September 2015

The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, a leading national poll on consumer confidence, fell by 6.4% in July. The index's reading of 44.0 has dropped nearly 10 points, or 18.37%, in the last four months. It is now at its lowest point since September 2015. This also places the index in negative territory for the fourth consecutive month. For the IBD/TIPP indexes, a reading below 50.0 indicates pessimism. The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index has established a strong track record of foreshadowing the confidence indicators issued later each month by the University of Michigan and The Conference Board. IBD/TIPP surveyed 1,213 adults from June 27 to June 30. Due to COVID-19, the poll was conducted online using TechnoMetrica's network of online panels to provide the sample. In addition to the Economic Optimism Index, IBD/TIPP surveyed respondents on key political issues for the separate Presidential Leadership Index and National Outlook Index as well as the Financial Related Stress Index. This month, the Presidential Leadership Index fell 8.6%, going from 44.1 in June to 40.3 in July. All three components of the index declined, with the Leadership category slipping the most, dropping 11.9%, from 46.2 to 40.7. Leadership is now at its lowest point since December 2017. The National Outlook Index also experienced a significant decline. Its July reading of 38.5 is down 8.3% from last month's 42.0. The overall index reading is at its lowest since November 2013. Five of the index's six components fell, with Direction of Country dropping the most at 16.5%. (39.4 in June to 32.9 in July). This is the component's lowest mark since it hit 31.1, also in November 2013. The Morals & Ethics component declined by double digits as well, falling 13.9%, from 33.2 to 28.6. The only component to increase on this index was Quality of Life, which rose just 0.2% to 49.9, remaining in negative territory for the second consecutive month after a run of almost seven years in positive territory. July's Financial Related Stress Index improved by 0.8%, moving from 63.7 in June to 63.2 this month. The reading keeps the index above 50 for the fifth consecutive month. A reading over 50.0 equals more financial stress while a reading below 50.0 on this index would indicate consumers feel less stress. "As the pandemic rages on and social unrest continues, Americans are looking for leadership and a reason to feel hopeful that conditions will improve," said Ed Carson, IBD's news editor. "While people feel marginally better about their own financial prospects, general sentiment is in negative territory across all other categories -- in many cases, falling to the lowest levels we've sen in years."



The flagship IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index has three key components. This month, two of the three declined -- and they did so by double digits. The Six-Month Economic Outlook , a measure of how consumers feel about the economy's prospects in the next six months, fell for the first time in three months. It dropped by 12.0%, to 37.3 in July from 42.4 in June.

, a measure of how consumers feel about the economy's prospects in the next six months, fell for the first time in three months. It dropped by 12.0%, to 37.3 in July from 42.4 in June. The Personal Financial Outlook , a measure of how Americans feel about their own finances in the next six months, was the sole component to increase. It rose 2.6% to return to positive territory. The component moved from 49.8 in June to 51.1 in July.

, a measure of how Americans feel about their own finances in the next six months, was the sole component to increase. It rose 2.6% to return to positive territory. The component moved from 49.8 in June to 51.1 in July. Confidence in Federal Economic Policies, a proprietary IBD/TIPP measure of views on how government economic policies are working, dropped by 10.7%. Its July reading of 43.5 is the lowest since October 2017's 42.8. "This month, we saw the number of job-sensitive respondents decrease slightly. Fewer people reported job losses or their hours being cut. Yet Americans are still hurting. The majority of people, 59%, believe we are in a recession, and 40% worry that a family member may lose his or her job. Whether we are experiencing a pandemic-associated blip or facing longer-term financial difficulties remains to be seen," said Raghavan Mayur, president of TechnoMetrica, who directed the poll.

The Breakdown This month, just two of 21 demographic groups - such as age, income, race and party preference - that IBD/TIPP tracks were at or above 50, in positive territory, on the Economic Optimism Index. That was down from four in June, nine in May, six in April, 15 in March, 19 in February and 20 in January. Just two groups rose this month, the same as in June, after 17 climbed in May, 17 fell in April and all 21 groups retreated in March. Sixteen rose in February and 11 in January. On the Six-Month Economic Outlook component, just one of 21 groups that IBD/TIPP tracks scored in optimistic territory, versus two in June, three in May, one in April, seven in March, 14 in February and 12 in January. Optimism over the economy's six-month outlook fell among all three political groups and among both investors and non-investors alike. Optimism among Independents, a key swing vote in upcoming elections, tumbled to 29.3 in July from 38.6 in June. It's also below May's 37.4 and April's 29.9, and well below March's 42.7 and February's 57.5. On the Personal Financial component, 11 groups IBD/TIPP tracked were in optimistic territory, up from 10 in June but down from 13 in May and all 21 in March, February, January, December, November and October. Twelve groups improved after four did in June and 15 in May. All 21 groups fell in April, 17 in March, 12 in February and four in January. On the Federal Policies component, just one of the 21 demographic groups tracked was above 50, versus eight in June, 17 in May and 19 in April when Congress and President Trump agreed on a $2 trillion rescue package and the Federal Reserve embarked on massive monetary stimulus. No groups rose for a second straight month after six did in May, 17 in April and just one in March. ABOUT THE IBD/TIPP POLL The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index is the earliest take on consumer confidence each month and predicts with good reliability monthly changes in sentiment in well-known polls by The Conference Board and the University of Michigan. The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index is based on a survey of 900-plus adults chosen at random nationwide. The national poll is generally conducted in the first week of the month by live interviewers and both cell phone and landlines. For more information, go to www.tipponline.com. To license the IBD/TIPP Poll, please contact: IBDlicensing@investors.com. About IBD Investor's Business Daily (IBD) is a leading financial news and research organization recognized for proprietary stock screens, comparative performance ratings and a record of identifying stock leaders as they emerge. The company takes a data-first approach to investing, educating investors about how to invest successfully using tested methods and sound research. IBD has honed its approach over the last 50 years to help investors make smarter decisions. Its stock lists have outperformed the S&P, and its presidential poll, the most accurate over the past four election cycles, was one of only two national polls to accurately predict the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election. IBD offers a number of interactive stock research tools and provides information for investors of every level. To learn more about all that IBD has available, please visit www.investors.com.  2020 Investor's Business Daily, Inc. All rights reserved. Investor's Business Daily, IBD, CAN SLIM and their corresponding logos are registered trademarks of Investor's Business Daily, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005263/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Pennington Fund Publishes 2Q-2020 Growth, and Announces 2Q-Dividends

Pennington Fund is pleased to announce its Second Quarter Dividends for 2020. Dividends and Earnings, 2Q-2020: 2Q-REIF Dividends equaled 1.36% and 2Q-REIF Earnings were 3.80% 2Q-Commodities Fund Earnings 5.58% 2Q-Growth Fund Earnings 3.56% 2Q-Bond Fund Earnings 0.71% The Pennington Real Estate Investment Fund (REIF) grew 3.80 percent during the Second Quarter of 2020, and quarterly dividends amounting to 1.36% were distributed July 03, 2020. The Pennington REIF is a Fund-of-Funds that invests in Asian REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts). The Pennington REIF was designed to give investors the opportunity to profit from the Asian real estate market. The current portfolio is comprised of over 60 REITs in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia. These REITs invest in commercial properties in their respective countries. The Pennington REIF has consistently yielded high returns since its inception in 2009. See the REIF Fact Sheet:

http://www.pennington-trading.com/confidential/Fact_Sheet_Pennington_REIF.pdf See the REIF Data Sheet:

http://www.vanguardprotected.com/pages/reif2743.html The typical investment is $25,000-USD for a Full Position in the REIF. The Pennington Commodities Fund grew 5.58 percent during the Second Quarter of 2020. The Pennington Commodities Fund is an actively managed hedge fund involved in managed futuresand commodity trading. It invests directly into commodities such as precious metals and crude oil, as well as companies that cultivate these commodities, such as mining and offshore drilling companies.



The Pennington Commodities Fund has expanded rapidly since its inception in 2010. See the Commodities Fund Fact Sheet:

http://www.pennington-trading.com/confidential/Fact_Sheet_Pennington_Commodities_Fund.pdf

See the Commodities Fund Data Sheet:

http://www.vanguardprotected.com/pages/comm3538.html The minimum investment is $25,000-USD for the Pennington Commodities Fund. About Us: Pennington Fund is an Asian-based industry leader in both multi and single-strategy hedge fund investments with over two billion USD in total assets under management allocated between 6 sub-funds and our managed trading platform. Operating as a self-contained entrepreneurial group for over 20 years, we maintain strong partnerships with various Asian government sovereign funds and pension systems. NOTE: Pennington accepts only Accredited/Qualified Investors who are approved after submitting this online application form: http://www.pennington-trading.com/application_form.php Related Links: Pennington Trading Website: http://www.pennington-trading.com/ Pennington Fund Website: http://fund.pennington-trading.com/ Pennington Fund EurekaHedge Listings:

http://www.pennington-trading.com/pages/listing.html Pennington Managed Trading Platform: ("MTP")

https://www.pennington-trading.com/confidential/Managed_Trading_Platform.pdf View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005015/en/

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[July 07, 2020] SCIEX Honors 50 Years of Innovation With Virtual Product Experience Launch

SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, honors its 50th anniversary with the digital launch of pioneering products. On July 10th, the first of its kind SCIEX virtual product experience will introduce products that enable customers to Run Fast, Go Beyond and Power Up. "Half a century ago, SCIEX set out with a mission to develop analytical technologies for aerospace. Today, our technologies cover analysis of environmental hazards, biomarkers discovery, clinical diagnostics, drug development, food safety and more," says Inese Lowenstein, President of SCIEX. "Our 20K install base spans innovative labs and companies around the world. I am incredibly proud of the progress SCIEX has achieved and look forward to continued innovation in the next 50 years." Since 1970, the portfolio has grown through significant development and acquisitions, transitioning through the years from MDS SCIEX to Applied Biosystems to AB Sciex to SCIEX. Along the way, key integrations such as capillary electrophoresis from Beckman Life Sciences, have also strengthened the portfolio. The Run Fast, Go Beyond and Power Up experience on July 10th is as much the celebration of 50 years of progress as it is the answer to urgent needs voiced by customers. The challenging environment posed by the last few months has amplified these needs and we are proud to launch new products when customers need them most. To highlight a few insights from our customers: Lieve Dillen, Senior Principal Scientist for Assay Development and Analytical Support within the Development Bioanalysis group of Janssen R&D in Belgium: "One of the critical aspects for me is sensitivity. Within our department, the most challenging applications - independent of the analyte - almost all require increased sensitivity. Often, intrinsic sensitivity is compromised by carryover and/or contamination." Shane R. Needham, Co-Founder at Alturas Analytics: "The next 10 years I see that we are going to have an improvement in sensitivity and that will improve our efficiencyand productivity. We are definitely going to see more large molecule bioanalysis to support gene therapy programs with LC-MS."



Alex Krotulski, Research Scientist at The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education: "Ten years from now, high resolution mass spec is really going to be the way forensic labs go. Labs will also need to consider the complexity of the science that they are using for their screening capabilitiesstreamlined workflows, good software, good hardware to make these instruments robust is going to be really important. Software is the translator for scientists. Finding user friendly software is keymaking sure it is easy to learn, easy to use, robust and not going to crash." Bernard Bajema, Project Lead at Vitens: "You have to look for different substances in water and some substances are difficult to measure because of the sensitivity of the instruments. A very sensitive instrument can reduce your work and you can get cheaper tests developed."

To learn more and register for Run Fast, Go Beyond and Power Up, visit https://sciex.com/showcase-2. About SCIEX SCIEX delivers solutions for the precision detection and quantification of molecules, empowering our customers to protect and advance the wellness and safety of all. We have led the field of mass spectrometry for 50 years. From the launch of the first ever commercially successful triple quadrupole in 1981, we have developed groundbreaking technologies and solutions that influence life-changing research and outcomes. Today, as part of the Danaher (News - Alert) (NYSE: DHR) family of global life science and technology innovators, we continue to pioneer robust solutions in mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis. Our customers are able to quickly respond to environmental hazards, better understand biomarkers relevant to disease, improve patient care in the clinic, bring relevant drugs to market faster and keep food healthier and safer. That's why thousands of life science experts around the world choose SCIEX to get the answers they can trust to better inform critical decisions that positively impact lives. For more information, visit sciex.com. Let's connect: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Advances in human wellness depend on the power of precise science. The SCIEX clinical diagnostic portfolio is For In Vitro Diagnostic Use. Rx Only. Product(s) not available in all countries. For information on availability, please contact your local sales representative or refer to https://sciex.com/diagnostics. All other products are For Research Use Only. Not for use in Diagnostic Procedures. Trademarks and/or registered trademarks mentioned herein, including associated logos, are the property of AB Sciex Pte. Ltd. or their respective owners in the United States and/or certain other countries.  2020 DH Tech. Dev. Pte. Ltd. RUO-MKT-12-11920-A. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005235/en/

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A white substance in an unmarked envelope spilled onto the homeowner when they removed it from the mailbox, he said. After further investigation it was discovered that there were additional mailboxes with the same unmarked envelopes.
[July 07, 2020] Symetra Partners with Nassau Re/Imagine Insurtech Incubator

Symetra Life Insurance Company today announced a partnership with the Nassau Re/Imagine insurtech incubator based in Hartford, Connecticut, that will tap the creative and developmental opportunities in the region's deep insurance industry talent pipeline. The program currently supports 19 startups focused on solving critical problems for the life, annuity, reinsurance, and property & casualty sectors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005599/en/ Harry Monti, executive vice president of Symetra's Benefits Division, will join the Nassau Re/Imagine advisory board. (Photo: Business Wire) "At Symetra, part of our strategic focus is seeking out opportunities that empower the future as we transform our business to better meet evolving customer needs across all of our business lines," said Harry Monti, executive vice president, Benefits Division, who will join the Nassau Re/Imagine advisory board. "We like the inclusive, community-focused approach the Nasau Re/Imagine team has embraced to build their program. Our partnership gives our Enfield, Connecticut-based employees greater access to Hartford's vibrant innovation network, multiple brainstorming events and the kind of collaborative environment that can fuel viable business ideas."



The Nassau Re/Imagine partnership expands Symetra's footprint in the insurtech accelerator/incubator space. Through parent company Sumitomo Life, it is a participant in the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, California. Nassau Re/Imagine formally launched its program in early 2019. It actively supports individuals and teams committed to building a vibrant insurtech ecosystem within the Greater Hartford community. In return, the program provides business resources, access to potential clients, support for product commercialization, and introductions to investors. The support network includes insurance carriers, technology companies, academic institutions and professional service firms with a strong presence in the community.

"We have highly valued the time, energy and support from the leadership team at Symetra. We're thrilled to have the organization increase their support and add formal resources to our efforts," said Paul Tyler, head of Nassau Re/Imagine and Chief Marketing Officer at Nassau. About Symetra Symetra Life Insurance Company is a subsidiary of Symetra Financial Corporation, a diversified financial services company based in Bellevue, Washington. In business since 1957, Symetra provides employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through a national network of benefit consultants, financial institutions, and independent agents and advisors. For more information, visit www.symetra.com. About Nassau Re/Imagine Nassau Re/Imagine serves as incubator for companies intending to build a presence in Hartford. We actively support individuals and teams committed to building a vibrant insurtech ecosystem in the heart of our insurance community. In return, we provide business resources, access to potential clients, support for product commercialization, and introductions to investors. For more information, visit https://imagine.nsre.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005599/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Trans-Tec to Expand Reseller Relationship to Increase Both Geography and Aegis' FactoryLogix Solution Footprint

Aegis Software, a global provider of Manufacturing Execution System software (MES), announces that TransTechnology Pte Ltd will be joining Trans-Tec America, an Aegis Software partner for many years, in reselling the FactoryLogix software solution with their machines, supporting higher throughput and flexible assembly, in Asia. In addition to expanding the sales region to include eight countries in Asia, TransTechnology Pte Ltd will sell FactoryLogix for use with the entire Trans-Tec placement equipment offering. Pichet Tangrungroj, Sales Director, of TransTechnology Pte Ltd stated, "We are very excited to offer, our customers in Asia, the leading-edge Industry 4.0 Intelligent Factory solutions they require to achieve higher productivity, quality and revenues. Starting with superior data preparation and documentation for New Product Introduction (NPI) - this fully integrated solution can help you maximize uptime and throughput of your lines while improving your NPI process. Additionally, this can also lead to a path to full MES providing reference designator level traceability." "We are very honored and pleased to see our relationship with Trans-Tec expand further, both geographically and equipment. The synergies between our two companies has been mutually beneficial to date, and we look forward to even greater success with this recent expansion accelerating Industry 4.0 benefits for manufacturers around the globe,"said Jason Spera, CEO of Aegis Software.



Bob Miklosey, Managing Director Asia, of Aegis Software stated, "Our relationship with Trans-Tec has been very collaborative and successful to date, which is why we are so happy to be working together to expand this powerful, best-in-class, combination to Asia. We fully anticipate accelerated momentum as more and more companies recognize the transformation of joining intelligent design CAD and BOM data have on their operations and overall business." About TransTechnology

TransTechnology ("Trans-Tec") was founded in 1988, serving businesses for 32 years and counting. With their experience comes a wealth of knowledge and expertise passed down from one generation to the next. Starting out in Singapore, their expansion is steady throughout the Southeast Asian regions, bringing their influence across national boundaries. The heart of Trans-Tec is being an SMT solutions provider, excelling in providing a comprehensive range of technologies to improve productivity in a wide variety of businesses, as well as be a supporting partner in recommending and implementing cost-effective measures in assembly-line driven industries to maximize revenue. They are the market leader on a global scale in sales, distribution, service, and technical training for a full line of SMT electronic manufacturing equipment. Operating out of 42 offices in 12 countries, they represent more than 19 world-class brands in their range of SMT solutions. Learn more by visiting: https://trans-tec.com/ About Aegis Founded in 1997, Aegis Software uniquely delivers a comprehensive and flexible end-to-end manufacturing execution system (MES) platform giving manufacturers the speed, control, and visibility they require. Aegis has international sales and support offices in Germany, UK, and China, and partners with more than 37 manufacturing equipment suppliers. Since its inception, Aegis has been helping more than 2,000 factories across the military, aerospace, electronics, medical, and automotive industries, drive rapid and continuous innovation with the highest quality while reducing operational costs. Learn more by visiting: ?https://www.aiscorp.com. Speed, Control and Visibility for Manufacturing. Note: FactoryLogix is a registered trademark of Aegis Industrial Software. All other company and product names contained herein are trademarks of the respective holders. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005126/en/

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[July 06, 2020] Open-source process mining vendor Apromore raises AU$6.84 million in Series A funding

MELBOURNE, Australia, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Apromore, the leading developer of open-source process mining technology, today announced it has raised AU$6.84 million (EUR 4 million) in a Series A round led by German business process management specialist GBTEC. The Series A round also involved investment from Melbourne-based consulting and technology firm Leonardo and The University of Melbourne, which helped to incubate Apromore prior to spin off. The Series A investment will allow Apromore to strengthen its product development capacity and to expand into the realm of AI-driven automated process improvement, including robotic process mining, prescriptive process analytics, and automated decision optimisation. According to Gartner's 2019 Market Guide for Process Mining: "[Apromore] focuses significantly more than its competitors on intelligent support for model enhancement, and on predictive analytics."[1] It is anticipated the investment will allow Apromore to build on its success to date and further solidify its market position. Apromore's CEO, Prof. Marcello La Rosa, highlighted that "Apromore inherits a decade of R&D in the field of business process management and process mining, and we have packed the most advanced algorithms for process mining into Apromore's products. This investment will allow us to maintain our competitive advantage, by incorporating the latest research and innovations in the field of AI-driven automated process improvement into our product. It will also allow us to continue pursuing our mission of democratising process mining via a commercial open-source business model." The investment is coupled with a strategic partnership with GBTEC. The partnership will see GBTEC offering Apromore's process mining technology as a core component of its BIC Platform for business process modelling and automation. Commenting on the investment and the strategic partnership, GBTEC's CEO, Gregor Greinke, said: "The integration of Apromore into the BIC Platform will provide a one-stop shop for companies seeking to accelerate their digital transformation journey with full-lifecycle process optimisation. The analytics capabilities that Apromore brings into the BIC Platform are truly exceptional when it comes to identifying underperforming processes, rework loops, waste, and bottlenecks. By joining forces, we are certain to establish one of the best analytics and AI-driven process optimisation tools on the market." Leonardo's Managing Director Adam Mutton also commented on Apromore's potential: "Apromore is leading the way in innovative AI-driven process improvement  from automated discovery of actual as-is processes, to predictive process modelling based on live data to future directions involving integrated robotic process discovery, scripting and automation. Clients are excited by the ability to dramatically reduce discovery and analysis time, rapidly analyse large data sets and drill to specific issues and root-cause analysis to determine the highest priority improvements. Prof. Mark Cassidy, Dean of Melbourne School of Engineering, also added, "This is a clear demonstration of the strong commitment of the University of Melbourne's School of Engineering to turn world-class research into commercial innovation." Prof. Uwe Aickelin, Head of the School of Computing and Information Systems, added: "This successful spinoff is testimony to the quality and relevance of the research conducted in our school, and accentuates our position as a world-class hub for computing research". Apromore is the result of over a decade of extensive research and innovation at The University of Melbourne, University of Tartu (Estonia), and other research institutions across the globe. Gartner Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Apromore Pty Ltd

About GBTEC Software + Consulting AG

About Leonardo

About The University of Melbourne Contact:

Marcello La Rosa

Tel.: +61 3 8344 9887

E-Mail: info@apromore.com







[1] https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3939836/market-guide-for-process-mining

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200702/2847280-1 SOURCE Apromore

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[July 06, 2020] COVID-19 Impact & Recovery Analysis- Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Market 2019-2023 | Growing Demand for IP-Based CCTV Cameras to Boost Growth | Technavio

Technavio has been monitoring the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera market and it is poised to grow by USD 8.65 billion during 2019-2023, at a CAGR of 12% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005471/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please request Latest Free Sample Report of 2020-2024 on Covid-19 Impact The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will decelerate during the forecast period. Axis Communications (News - Alert) AB, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. Ltd., Hanwha Group, Panasonic Corp., and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. Ltd. are some of the major market participants. The growing demand for IP-based CCTV cameras 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. Growing demand for IP-based CCTV cameras has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Market is segmented as below: Product Dome Camera PTZ Camera Bullet Camera Box (News - Alert) Camera

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=IRTNTR31804 Closed-circuit Televsion (CCTV) Camera 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 closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera market report covers the following areas: Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Market size

Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Market trends

Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Market analysis This study identifies the introduction of deep learning technology as one of the prime reasons driving the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera market growth during the next few years.

Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera market, including some of the vendors such as Axis Communications AB, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. Ltd., Hanwha Group, Panasonic (News - Alert) Corp., and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. Ltd. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera 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 Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera 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 PRODUCT Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Dome camera - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PTZ camera - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Bullet camera - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Box camera - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by product PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

North America - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Europe - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

MEA - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

South America - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers

Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Introduction of deep learning technology

Integration of AI in CCTV cameras

Incorporation of video analytics in IP-based CCTV cameras PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview

Landscape disruption PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Axis Communications AB

Hangzhou Hikvision (News - Alert) Digital Technology Co. Ltd.

Hanwha Group

Panasonic Corp.

Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. Ltd. PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology

List of abbreviations

Definition of market positioning of vendors PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005471/en/

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[July 06, 2020] Profitap and NetAlly offer integrated solution to streamline packet capture and accelerate root cause analysis

EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands and COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Profitap, a worldwide expert in creating network analysis and traffic capture solutions, and NetAlly, a global leader in handheld testing solutions for wired and wireless access networks, today announced the release of a product workflow integration with the Profitap Booster for reliable aggregated traffic access and the NetAlly EtherScope nXG to capture and analyze this traffic at full line-rate.

When it comes to capturing packets and troubleshooting problems, network analysts must be able to get into the path of the pertinent packets. However, getting access in the right place and capturing every single packet you need without losing any data can be a difficult and cumbersome job, requiring a wide array of tools and a lot of time due to trial and error. By joining forces, Profitap and NetAlly have addressed these issues with their combination of the Booster and EtherScope nXG. The Profitap Booster provides fail-safe access up to four full-duplex in-line network links while also passing PoE, if present. By aggregating this into a single 10G output port, it offers the speed conversion required to forward the network traffic to the EtherScope nXG. This allows the user to capture and analyze data on multiple places in the network or on both sides of a device simultaneously without impacting the network itself. Geoffrey Kempenich, Managing Director at Profitap, explains, Successful packet analysis requires these two key steps: access to the right packets, and capturing at full line-rate. Profitap Booster provides the access, and the NetAlly EtherScope nXG delivers on capture  up to full 10Gbps in a powerful, compact analyzer. Remote analysis can also be performed with the ability to access the EtherScope nXG through the use of VNC or a secure web-based connection. This way, the solution can be controlled as if the analyst was sitting right in front of it. This means that packet capture filters can be created, and the capture started and analyzed, all without being at the remote location. The technical capabilities of Profitaps Booster provide our customers with a compact, high-performance solution to access the packets necessary for root cause analysis, says James Kahkoska, Chief Technology Oficer at NetAlly.



He continues, This professional-class packet capture setup ensures that the analyst can get the right packets the first time and reduce the time to resolution. The companies have released a joint application note detailing the capabilities of the product pairing, available from their websites.

https://www.netally.com/profitap-and-netally-packet-capture/

https://www.profitap.com/wp-content/uploads/Profitap-and-NetAlly-Solving-the-challenges-of-packet-capture.pdf About Profitap:

Profitap is a leading network monitoring and analysis technology manufacturer. Profitap supports data centers and enterprise networks with solutions to get full visibility into their mission critical IT infrastructure, and help filter, capture, and analyze data to reduce MTTR and meet performance and security goals. With a proven track record and customers in Telecom, Government, Aerospace, Industrial / Engineering and Financial markets, Profitaps solutions provide complete visibility and access to networks around the globe. To learn more about Profitap, visit https://www.profitap.com. About NetAlly:

The NetAlly family of network test and analysis solutions have been helping network engineers and technicians better deploy, manage, and maintain todays complex wired and wireless networks for decades. Since creating the industrys first handheld network analyzer in 1993, NetAlly continues to set the standard for portable network analysis. With tools that include EtherScope nXG , LinkRunner  , LinkSprinter , AirCheck , and more, NetAlly simplifies the complexities of network testing, provides instant visibility for efficient problem resolution, and enables seamless collaboration between site personnel and remote experts. To learn more and see how NetAlly helps network professionals get their jobs done fast, visit https://netally.com . Contact: Dan Klimke, NetAlly

Email: marketing@netally.com Contact: Rick van Werven, Profitap

Email: marketing@profitap.com

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[July 06, 2020] COVID-19 Impact & Recovery Analysis- Digital Twin Market 2019-2023 | Need for Predictive Maintenance to Boost Growth | Technavio

Technavio has been monitoring the digital twin market and it is poised to grow by USD 12.27 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 38% 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/20200706005467/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Digital Twin (News - Alert) Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please request Latest Free Sample Report of 2020-2024 on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. General Electric Co., IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp., PTC Inc., and Siemens AG (News - Alert) . are some of the major market participants. The need for predictive maintenance 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. Need for predictive maintenance has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Digital Twin Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Digital Twin Market is segmented as below: End-user Manufacturing Energy and Utilities Aerospace and Defense Automotive Healthcare Other End-users

Deployment On-premise Cloud

Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31933 Digital Twin Market 219-2023: Scope



Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our digital twin market report covers the following areas: Digital Twin Market size

Digital Twin Market trends

Digital Twin Market analysis This study identifies need for reduced time-to-market and improved decision making as one of the prime reasons driving the digital twin market growth during the next few years.

Digital Twin Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the digital twin market, including some of the vendors such as General Electric Co., IBM (News - Alert) Corp., Microsoft Corp., PTC Inc., and Siemens AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the digital twin 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 Digital Twin Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist digital twin market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the digital twin market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the digital twin market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of digital twin 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 DEPLOYMENT Market segmentation by deployment

Comparison by deployment

On-premise - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Cloud - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by deployment PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY END-USER Market segmentation by end-user

Comparison by end-user

Manufacturing - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Energy and utilities - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Aerospace and defense - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Automotive - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Other end-users - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by end-user PART 09: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Europe - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

MEA - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

South America - 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 Use of AI in digital twin

Increasing traction in the healthcare sector

Emergence of process twins PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview

Landscape disruption PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

General Electric Co.

IBM Corp.

Microsoft (News - Alert) Corp.

PTC Inc.

Siemens AG 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/20200706005467/en/

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[July 06, 2020] Syncro's Next-Gen MSP Platform Sees Massive Growth in 2020

KIRKLAND, Wash., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to recent studies, the growth of the Remote Monitoring & Management (RMM) and Professional Services Automation (PSA) software space is experiencing vast changes in 2020. With the bulk of MSPs finding segregated RMMs and PSAs too difficult to manage, they are turning toward the new generation of MSP platforms like SyncroMSP, who offer a completely unified solution that breaks free of the per-endpoint pricing of first-generation MSP platforms. Syncro is leading the movement of next-gen MSP platforms that are combining all of the solutions that MSPs need in one intuitive dashboard. This enables MSPs to make more money while spending less on onboarding, paid consultants, and training their employees. They claim that you can migrate your entire fleet of customers and assets in less than a day. That means you don't have to attend a university to be competent in their platform. Syncro's unique platform was designed from the ground up for MSPs, by MSPs. It combines a full-featured PSA and embedded RMM, enabling an experience that doesn't exist in competitive platformsthat opted to acquire an RMM or PSA, and then attempted to "integrate" the two together. Syncro says their ground-up approach has allowed them to deploy new features at a rate never seen before in the industry, pushing new updates at least once a week. These updates can be quite impactful as well, with Syncro pointing to the full-blown asynchronous Chat module they released last month as part of their weekly release schedule.



"Because we operated MSPs ourselves," CEO Robert Reichner said "our founding principles have always revolved around developing software that makes MSPs more money. We don't charge separately for an RMM and PSA because we're one of the few products on the market that offers a truly unified platform. One product, one price. We don't charge per endpoint, either, because we feel MSPs shouldn't be penalized for their success. Being a next-gen MSP platform means more than just offering industry-leading features that are approachable by any skill level, it also means we offer a modern, transparent, and fair pricing model." Syncro also recently announced that they're HIPAA Compliant, and are able to sign BAA Agreements, enabling MSPs who service Healthcare verticals to migrate to the Platform. This will likely convince even more MSPs to flock to Syncro's Next-Gen MSP Platform.

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12829022 Press release distributed by PRLog View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/syncros-next-gen-msp-platform-sees-massive-growth-in-2020-301088762.html SOURCE SyncroMSP.com

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[July 06, 2020] Meet the Village Supermodel on Kuaishou: from China's countryside to international runways

BEIJING, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kuaishou introduces the story of Lu Kaigang ('Xiao Xianren'), a 21-year-old villager in China who rose to fame after shooting and posting short-video on Kuaishou. Lu Kaigang, a 21-year-old villager from rural Guangxi, China, known for his countryside modelling videos on short-video platform Kuaishou, has captured international attention from the world's elite and exclusive fashion houses. He has received invitations to walk at the some of the largest fashion weeks on the global stage. Lu has over 4 million followers on his Kuaishou account, where he posts videos under the name 'Xiao Xianren'. Lu rose to fame chasing his passion for modelling whilst working as a waiter and a factory worker in Nanning, the capital of Guanxi. "I have had a supermodel dream since I was ten, (while I was) still in primary school. I saw a fashion show on TV when I felt it was so cool to do that on the runway," said Lu. Since then, he practiced the catwalk every day. Without access to any professional training, he learned to catwalk by imitation from fashion show videos. Without a team assisting him, by his aesthetic talents, Lu designed and made couture using ready materials, from bamboo sticks, plastic bags to even an air conditioner. He turned everywhere into his runway, ranging from a narrow alley to a derelict factory. "From couture designing and making, to filming, clipping, and posting, these were extremely time-consuming but barely received feedback online at the beginning as a result. But I still enjoyed the process," said Lu. "The early dozens of videos I posed even didn't receive much 'likes'," Lu recalled. "But I believed what I've done would be recognized by the world someday." Lu persisted in posting his fashion works onto Kuaishou where he hoped to be seen by more people.



Lu's early works were ridiculed as many thought of him as a funny clown dressed in bizarre costumes. However, Lu's perseverance, coupled with Kuaishou's visibility algorithms, enabled Lu to be seen, which eventually helped him to enter mainstream fame. Lu's fans were also one reason how he rose to fame. On his videos, comments such as "He's undeniably talented every piece he made is wearable" or "This kid needs to be on an international runway," appear every few seconds. Lu counts other supermodels amongst his fans. Jin Dachuan, one of the most well-known Asian supermodels, has praised Lu, saying that he was amazed to see Lu's supermodel temperament.

Lu's big break came in August 2019, where Lu's fans uploaded his videos from Kuaishou to YouTube. As that video became viral, more people became curious about Lu and his international career took off from there. As his following grew on Kuaishou and other social media platforms, media outlets started taking notice. Goldthread reached out to him for his first editorial photoshoot with Elle magazine. The spring-summer 2020 edition of London Fashion Week invited Lu to walk. "I like staying in nature. That was my runway. I enjoyed the freedom to perform alone. I will miss the experience of the catwalk in forests forever." Lu said. When Lu worked in that village restaurant, he never expected that his dream would come into truth. The hills, trees, and fields were his only audience. However, by posting his videos on social media such as Kuaishou, Lu found his voice and a dedicated following. In this social media era, countless amateur stars on Kuaishou have become famous by their efforts and talents, just like Lu. Lu's story serves to inspire even more content creators as his efforts and persistence to his dream make it possible to perform at the prestigious Milan Fashion Week, where it started from a willingness to post videos on Kuaishou. Lu recalls suffering for his art. He once wore seven-centimeter-high heels on a mountain for a video that took over 5 hours to film. "At the end of the day, going through this process has helped me grow to appreciate that fashion plays a part in everyone's lives," said Lu. About Kuaishou Technology Kuaishou Technology, headquartered in Beijing, China, runs Kuaishou, one of the world's leading short video social platforms since 2011, boasting more than 300 million daily active users so far. Users can use the platform to create and share videos with friends and their communities through posts, likes and comments. Known for its active and vibrant community of more than 20 billion daily views, the app is available on iOS and Android. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/meet-the-village-supermodel-on-kuaishou-from-chinas-countryside-to-international-runways-301088784.html SOURCE Kuaishou Technology

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[July 06, 2020] CenturyLink Expands Cloud Alliance with Dell and VMware in Asia Pacific

CenturyLink to offer customers in region unmatched hybrid cloud capabilities and flexibility based on Dell and VMware cloud solutions SINGAPORE, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) today announced it has expanded its global cloud alliance with Dell Technologies, Inc. and VMware, Inc. to offer a hybrid cloud solution designed to help digital businesses in Asia Pacific successfully modernize their application workloads and manage their cloud journey. According to IDC1 FutureScape: Worldwide Cloud 2020 Predictions - APEJ Implications, by 2021, over 90 percent of enterprises in Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) will rely on a mix of on-premises/dedicated private cloud, several public clouds and legacy platforms to meet their infrastructure needs. This collaboration immediately offers customers the benefits of a fully managed software-defined datacenter (SDDC) solution deployable in more than 2,200 CenturyLink network-connected private and public datacenters globally. This complete SDDC solution with built-in automation enables improved security and new levels of control and scalability across private and public clouds to deliver a consistent customer experience. Ignatius Wong, director, product management, hybrid cloud & IT solutions at CenturyLink Asia Pacific said: "This cloud alliance brings innovation from today's leading cloud technology providers for a scalable, secure and high-performance architecture to ensure a seamless transition to the cloud and help businesses looking to leverage a hybrid cloud strategy to meet the demands of a digital reality." IDC1 has also emphasized that as cloud services become core to enterprises, the IT environments they operate in grow moe complex. Multiple public cloud, private cloud and traditional systems need to be interconnected, integrated and collectively managed. Coupled with the relatively low skills in APEJ to manage cloud implementation across private and public clouds, the situation is forcing enterprises to seek a managed cloud services deployment model to help them effectively run and optimize their on- and off-premises cloud.



Wong added: "Customers adopting a multi and hybrid cloud approach can also use CenturyLink's Cloud Application Manager to coordinate the delivery of infrastructure, applications and services across the private or public cloud with greater agility, flexibility and control. CenturyLink can deliver an end-to-end solution to help customers achieve their multi and hybrid cloud vision, while also minimizing IT downtime and migration risk." Enterprises can also benefit from CenturyLink Cloud Connect solutions, which deliver secure, high-performance, and virtualized networking functionality to leading public and private clouds. This includes the ability to self-provision network connectivity to leading public clouds on demand utilizing CenturyLink's Cloud Connect Dynamic Connections.

"Cloud technology has brought immense and undeniable benefits to enterprises worldwide," said David Bate, vice president, cloud, VMware, Asia Pacific Japan. "Through this joint offering that VMware is bringing together with CenturyLink and Dell, our APAC customers will be able to achieve a higher level of flexibility and scalability in their cloud strategy. This is also in line with our aim to help customers build and deploy modern applications from the data center, to the cloud and the edge, and to offer the ability to migrate seamlessly between environments with no constraints." Key Facts: CenturyLink is a VMware Premier Cloud Provider Partner, as well as a Dell Technologies Global Platinum Partner.

CenturyLink Private Cloud on VMware Cloud Foundation is CenturyLink's managed private cloud service built on VMware Cloud Foundation and enabled by Dell Technologies' PowerEdge servers. Additional Resource: 1: IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Cloud 2020 Predictions  APEJ Implications (Doc # AP45762119, January 2020 )

) Learn more about CenturyLink's Hybrid Cloud Solutions: https://www.centurylink.com.sg/hybrid-it-cloud/hybrid-cloud.html

For more detail on Cloud Connect and Cloud Connect Dynamic Connections, visit: https://www.centurylink.com.sg/networking/cloud-connectivity.html About CenturyLink

CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is a technology leader delivering hybrid networking, cloud connectivity, and security solutions to customers around the world. Through its extensive global fiber network, CenturyLink provides secure and reliable services to meet the growing digital demands of businesses and consumers. CenturyLink strives to be the trusted connection to the networked world and is focused on delivering technology that enhances the customer experience. Learn more at http://news.centurylink.com/. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/628320/CENTURYLINK_Logo.jpg SOURCE CenturyLink, Inc.

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[July 06, 2020] Tata Communications wins eight awards at Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards

The recognitions highlight Tata Communications' unmatched service delivery in India MUMBAI, India, July 6, 2020 /CNW/ -- Tata Communications, a digital ecosystem enabler, received top honors at Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards, with eight wins in the 'Company of the Year' category. All the awards were for excellence in service provision, underlining the company's dominance in the Indian service provider market. Applauding Tata Communications' feat, Benoy CS, Vice President, Digital Transformation Practice, Frost & Sullivan, said, "Tata Communications' services are aligned with industry best practices and address vertical-specific needs. It is an ideal example of a service provider that has the best-in-class people, processes and technologies to offer customer-focused solutions and services." In its 19th edition, the 2020 India ICT Awards celebrated the achievements of the IT industry's best innovators, disruptors and leaders. The event honored industry professionals and corporates that created breakthrough business models and strategies through the innovative use of transformative technologies. "We are thrilled that our continued focus on delivering superior customer experiences has resulted in another year of wins at the prestigious Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards," said Sumeet Walia, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Tata Communications. "To have won eight awards, especially the 'Enterprise Data Service Provider of the Year' for the eleventh time, is a strong validation of our efforts and expertise. The economic disruption triggered by the pandemic has resulted in an accelerated shift towards a digital-first world, creating an essential need for every industry to align to the new models of working. Our large suite of solutions, services and partnerships have helped unlock infinite possibilities to enable a seamless digital transition for our customers. These awards are a testament to the customers' confidence in us as their trusted advisor. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our customers and enabling secure connected digital experiences for them." Accolades Won by Tata Communications at Frost & Sullivan's 2020 India ICT Awards: Enterprise Data Service Provider of the Year Tata Communications has demonstrated tremendous innovation in product launches and strategies along with strong service delivery and support. It has enhanced the IZO cloud enablement platform, which integrates IZO Internet WAN with Global MPLS VPN, to form IZO Hybrid WAN. This is fully linked to its security services, such as DDoS mitigation, virtual proxy secure web gateway and Unified Threat Management. The company's unique IZO SD-WAN service is available in 150+ countries globally and is continuously gaining traction among Indian enterprises. Tata Communications follows a multi-pronged strategy and has the vision to enable faster service delivery through automation and self-servicing/provisioning capabilities implemented through APIs and virtual platforms. Furthermore, it aims to enable automation and virtualisation to expedite customers' business transformation journeys. Enterprise Telecom Service Provider of the Year - Large Enterprise Segment Bolstered by its global network infrastructure and leadership in emerging markets, Tata Communications is continuously developing its service portfolio to include new technologies and innovations that simplify their enterprise customers' operations and help promote a competitive enterprise telecoms services business. The company has a vast portfolio of solutions and services aligned to the needs of large enterprise customers. Its focus on staying agile and delivering superior customer experiences has helped it position itself as a digital ecosystem enabler. Its international network coverage and partnerships help it serve Indian companies with a global footprint and global companies with India presence. Managed Multi Cloud Service Provider of the Year



Tata Communications has developed an integrated value proposition by combining its managed service prowess with multi-cloud capabilities. This is helping it tap newer opportunities in the emerging multi-cloud space. Its broad multi cloud portfolio enables digital transformation for enterprises by bringing together all enterprise workloads on a single pane, yet giving each workload a choice of platforms to run on multiple models such as public clouds, managed hosting, private cloud and cloud container services. It helps the organisations balance investments in on-premise private cloud technologies with effective utilisation of off-premise public cloud services to achieve an optimised total cost of ownership (TCO).

SDWAN Service Provider of the Year Tata Communications has been the frontrunner for efficiently leveraging and building innovative solutions using cutting-edge technologies such as Software Defined Networking/ Network-Function Virtualization and IoT. It has exhibited exceptional go-to-market strategies and service innovations by providing two different deployment models so customers can pick the one that best aligns with their SD-WAN deployment strategy. Tata Communications has maintained its SD-WAN leadership in India on the back of its customised SD-WAN solution suite, continuous addition of innovative features in SD-WAN service, strong R&D capabilities and collaborative business with customers. Unified Communications Service Provider of the Year India's Unified Communications & Collaboration (UCC) market is becoming increasingly cloud-oriented as more businesses are willing to shift to the hosted/cloud model as long as they have a strong service provider that can manage their UCC requirements end-to-end. Tata Communications has been a clear leader in identifying these changing preferences of Indian businesses and continues to build technology partnerships to provide best-in-class UCC experiences to its business customers. Managed Security Service Provider of the Year - Telecom As enterprises aim to build a 360-degree cyber security posture, the number of security tools within the IT ecosystem has increased at a rapid pace. Organisations are not only focused on perimeter security, but are extending the security elements beyond the enterprise network; notably to the cloud and mobile devices. They need service providers that have a broad range of capabilities to manage and monitor security concerns around these areas. Tata Communications has expanded its cyber security offerings in response to this and significantly improved its threat detection and response capabilities. It leverages next-generation technologies and security frameworks that are industry-compliant and dependable. Cloud Interconnect Service Provider of the Year A trendsetter in the cloud interconnect space in India, the company has a robust roadmap to further enhance its cloud interconnect offerings and improve customer experiences. It plans to develop expansive multi-cloud connectivity capabilities involving customer use cases such as distributed applications in multiple clouds. Additionally, Tata Communications is developing cost-effective approaches wherein a customer can connect to multiple cloud service providers through a single physical connection. This would be significantly more efficient than building multiple dedicated physical connections to different cloud service providers. Tata Communications intends to integrate its managed security services capabilities with cloud interconnect services. Moreover, it hopes to increase its existing interconnect capacity with cloud providers to address the rising demand for bandwidth. Video Managed Services Provider of the Year As the video managed services segment continues evolving due to the rapid advancement of technologies, service providers are being challenged to address customer demand on-the-go to remain relevant. The video managed services segment has, as a result, undergone a significant transformation in terms of the introduction of customised solutions by various players. The declining infrastructure cost of cloud-solutions and the rising demand for a wider range of video solutions at low costs are key issues that need to be addressed. Tata Communications provides managed video services to enterprises leveraging its flagship product, Video Connect, as a core service for live and file-based contribution and global distribution to broadcasters and aggregators. It has the largest dedicated fiber-based Video Connect managed service, which offers unprecedented reach, flexibility and reliability. With a focus on constant innovation, the company has become the managed service provider of choice for broadcasting solutions such as Live 4K, 8K, and 360-degree video. About the Awards Frost & Sullivan's India ICT Awards contenders were judged on a variety of parameters including revenue, market share, product diversity, vertical and horizontal diversity, major customer acquisitions, the efficacy of the innovation process, product service, and positioning. The judging process involved in-depth primary interviews with various industry participants and secondary research conducted by Frost & Sullivan analysts. An elite panel of jury members comprising some of the most prominent CIOs/CTOs from the industry evaluated the compiled data and incorporated the end-user perspective. Frost & Sullivan then presented the awards to the companies that received the number one industry rank in each category. About Frost & Sullivan For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact: Tarini Singh

P: +91-20 6718 9725

E: Tarini.Singh@frost.com Smriti Arora

P: +91 98192 76755

E: Smriti.Arora@tatacommunications.com About Tata Communications Tata Communications is a digital ecosystem enabler that powers today's fast-growing digital economy. The company enables the digital transformation of enterprises globally, including 300 of the Fortune 500  unlocking opportunities for businesses by enabling borderless growth, boosting product innovation and customer experience, improving productivity and efficiency, building agility and managing risk. With its solutions orientated approach and proven managed service capabilities and cutting-edge infrastructure, Tata Communications drives the next level of intelligence powered by cloud, mobility, Internet of Things (IoT), collaboration, security, and network services. Tata Communications carries around 30% of the world's internet routes and connects businesses to 60% of the world's cloud giants and 4 out of 5 mobile subscribers. The company's capabilities are underpinned by its global network, the world's largest wholly owned subsea fibre backbone and a Tier-1 IP network with connectivity to more than 200 countries and territories. Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India. www.tatacommunications.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tata-communications-wins-eight-awards-at-frost--sullivans-2020-india-ict-awards-301088374.html SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

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Heavy smoke was billowing from the single-family home when firefighters arrived. Fire Rescue personnel were able to contain the flames to a bedroom, but most of the home was damaged by smoke.
[July 07, 2020] iProov Provides Online Biometric Safeguarding for Intergenerational Mentoring Platform, bloomd

iProov, world-leaders in spoof-resistant biometric authentication technology, is continuing to provide services free of charge to start-ups supporting the coronavirus crisis. bloomd, a digital community which facilitates intergenerational exchange of knowledge, experience and companionship in a fun and safe way, has launched in the US and UK. The online community enables anyone looking for mentorship, knowledge-sharing or simply companionship, to connect with other people of different ages. The launch of the platform, originally planned for later this year, was brought forward to help support those impacted by loneliness or isolation during the pandemic. bloomd offers: Simple sign up - the bloomd platform is open to everyone over the age of 16, with a simple onboarding process stripped of any unnecessary steps that might put users off.

Usability - the web application has been designed with older generations in mind, who may find technology overwhelming. The platform allows them to easily share experiences via chat messages, phone or video calls, all without needing to share any personal contact information.

Security - the integration of iProov biometric authentication will act as a 'virtual doorkeeper' to reduce the risk of repeat trolling or fraudulent behavior, making bloomd safer and more authentic than other online forums. Andrew Bud, Founder and CEO, iProov said: "The idea of an intergenerational digital community allowing knowledge-sharing and companionship is inspired. The addition of biometric authentication ensures that members can be safeguarded as they partcipate, helping to protect them from abuse or criminal behavior."



"The bloomd vision of enabling the old and young to communicate safely online is very much aligned with iProov's mission and we are proud to be supporting their work." Niccolo Torrigiani, bloomd founder, said: "iProov has been the ideal partner for bloomd from the very start. I met with iProov's leadership early-on with a real challenge; how to make a digital community of intergenerational exchange secure, accessible and scalable. iProov's passion for the bloomd mission and its intersection with genuine presence, authenticity and online security has been inspiring."

"Together we have developed an innovative approach to security in digital communities that I am certain will become the norm. iProov has shown us immense flexibility and generosity - we are incredibly grateful for their support in creating a platform which will drive positive social change." bloomd is looking for people of all ages to participate in the community and share experiences and knowledge. To sign up, visit www.bloomd.com. iProov also recently supported the launch of bkynd, an online community aimed at connecting volunteers with people that need assistance with shopping. ENDS About iProov

Founded in 2011, iProov is the world leader in online facial biometric authentication, working with governments, banks and other enterprises to remotely verify customer identity. Used for onboarding, logon, and authentication, customers include the US Department of Homeland Security, the UK Home Office, the UK National Health Service (NHS), Rabobank, ING and others. iProov's unique patented technology provides Genuine Presence Assurance, ensuring that an online customer is the right person, a real person, and authenticating right now. This protects against spoof attacks from photos, videos, masks, replay attacks, and the emerging threat of deepfakes. For more information, please see www.iproov.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005321/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Chandigarh University Working in the Direction to Realize PM Modi's Dream of 'Stand India - Start-up India'

100+ Start-ups established at Chandigarh University Technology Business Incubator in just 3 years CHANDIGARH, India, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Entrepreneurs are the catalysts for bringing economic development for their respective nation of origin. While taking a risk for themselves, they choose not to be merely a job seeker after completing their academic learning which is considered a safer option; an entrepreneur chooses to be a job creator by making his or her smart & innovative idea into a reality and hence creating job opportunities for many others. Chandigarh University has taken an initiative to inculcate entrepreneurship skills amongst its students so that a pool of next-generation Indian entrepreneurs can make India a technological and economic powerhouse. "Chandigarh University has set-up a Technology Business Incubator (CU-TBI) at its campus to foster the spirit & skills of entrepreneurship amongst its students and we have witnessed outstanding results in last three years," said Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor, Chandigarh University. CU-TBI has been succssful in establishing 103 start-ups by the university students of different departments ever since its inception in the year 2016. "We are working towards the realization of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of 'Make in India' and 'Start-up India, 'Stand-up India' by preparing a pool of next generation of young entrepreneurs who through their innovative business ideas have the ability make Self-Reliant India," added Satnam Singh Sandhu. Chandigarh University has reserved an annual fund of Rs. 1.5 Crores to finance new start-ups and the university organizes National Level Innovation Day Competition on the birth anniversary of former President and Scientists Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam which encourages the Indian Youth participate with new business ideas and proposal each year.



While giving details about the start-ups at CU-TBI, Dr. R.S.Bawa, Pro-Chancellor, Chandigarh University, said, "The highest number of 30 start-ups has been established by our students has been in the field of Automobile Engineering which is followed by 20 start-ups in the field of Computer Science Engineering." The business ideas of the students are examined by expert committee comprising of successful Indian Entrepreneurs, Scientists of Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, Angel Investors and members of PSU Banks like SIDBI, IDBI and others who evaluate the projects on the basis of various parameters. "Young Entrepreneurs at CU-TBI are given every possible support in the form of training, assistance to get financial support from banks & other government agencies, registration of the their companies, providing infrastructure and other resource support to the students so that they are able to sustain during the initial years of the establishment of their respective ventures," said Dr. Bawa. Seeing the response of the students, we are sure that Chandigarh Technology Business Incubator will be able to establish 200+ start-ups in next two years," added Dr. Bawa.

About Chandigarh University Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and an autonomous educational institution approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC. Website: www.cuchd.in Media Contact:

Prabhdeep Singh

prabhdeep.singh@cumail.in

+91-8360473392

Chandigarh University Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1201139/Entrepreneurs_of_Chandigarh_University.jpg

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[July 07, 2020] Abakus Won "Global AI Service Innovation Golden i Award"

BEIJING, July 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2020 Innovative National Development Forum was held online on June 28th. At the event, the "Golden i Award", regarded by the industry as the bellwether in terms of innovation across the world of AI, was announced. Abakus won the "Global AI Service Innovation Golden i Award 2020" for its outstanding contribution for enabling the digital transformation of various industries with artificial intelligence. The Deloitte's White Paper on Global AI Development predicted that the global AI market is expected to exceed US$6 trillion by 2025. Widespread adoption of AI and other emerging technology means a growing portion of the world's population can enjoy the convenience brought by them. With enterprise-level AI applications and cloud technologies, Abakusprovides its customers with dedicated tech solutions and consumer products. The company also immerses itself in deep tech, exploring new possibilities that require both technology supremacy and business insights. Abakus has active business operations in the US, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.



Statistics show that 22% of Thais have only minimal savings in their bank accounts. Roadblocks such as no credit profile, insufficient personal qualifications and complicated loan application process make it difficult for many Thais to obtain loans from professional financial institutions or commercial banks. In response to the above pain points, Abakus and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) entered strategic cooperation to set up Monix, a fintech joint venture, and jointly launched the first 100% online digital credit product. The joint venture will provide loan service for Thai individuals and small and micro-businesses including SCB's existing customers to guarantee a fast, convenient and secure online credit service. The company also serves as a bridge between local financial institutions and users and vows to put people who are most in need first.

Abakus will continue its innovative approach and modulate its existing fintech products and services along with the changing demands. With years of expertise at hand, Abakus is uniquely poised to combine the insights of financial institutions and the technological knowhows into viable businesses, offering use-case specific solutions that provide the desired production efficiency boost. Abakus's official website: https://www.abakusglobal.com/en View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abakus-won-global-ai-service-innovation-golden-i-award-301088899.html SOURCE Abakus

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[July 07, 2020] Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Leverages Mphasis' Testing Centre of Excellence to Support Business Alignment Objectives

- The multi-year deal will see Mphasis transforming RBS's IT change function to provide speed and agility to product releases in lending domain LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mphasis (BSE: 526299) (NSE: MPHASIS), an Information Technology (IT) solutions provider specialising in cloud and cognitive services, has signed a multi-year deal with Royal Bank of Scotland plc, one of the largest international banking and financial services companies. Mphasis will work with RBS to deliver advanced transformation to testing services through its Testing Centre for Excellence (TCoE). The collaboration will see Mphasis co-invest and co-create speed to market solutions. As part of the new agreement, Mphasis will leverage its proprietary transformation capabilities, including accelerated micro-services development, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and DevOps integration, to provide User Interface (UI) enhancements, continuous improvement, environment management and automation-led efficiency gains. This will enable automated testing to optimise and streamline deliverables to provide full control of project scope, roll out new frameworks and tools. Mphasis will leverage its TCoE capabilities to drie Test Management (strategy and planning in alignment with the production workload models), Centralised management and control of tooling strategy and support and Adoption and standardisation of tools and processes, including metrics definition and compliance.



"We found Mphasis to be an agile, flexible technology partner well equipped to drive and implement next-gen practices at RBS. We are excited about the company's commitment to co-invest and co-create thus taking our partnership to another level. Their digital capabilities coupled with an impeccable global track record for consistent service delivery, makes it a perfect partner for our transformation agenda," said Trish Arksey, Lending Program Director, RBS. "As one of the early adopters of digital transformation, Royal Bank of Scotland has been extremely swift in pivoting towards the bank of tomorrow," said Dinesh Venugopal, President  Mphasis Direct and Digital. "We are excited to see RBS harness our solutions to deliver differentiated offerings to its customers through new digital experiences. As a partner to RBS, we remain committed to the success of this transformational initiative through our unique TCoE offering, with a view to wider next-gen modernisation as the next logical phase in the longer term."

Mphasis has been a long-standing technology partner of RBS, managing the performance and quality of critical applications at the group's corporate and institutional banking divisions. Mphasis brings an in-depth understanding of the processes and technologies relevant to banks in their innovation journey and has partnered with multiple large and mid-size commercial and retail banks globally. Mphasis' TCoE serves as a Test Innovation Hub and also manages new alliances and partnerships and enables companies to eventually transition to a TaaS (Testing-as-a-Service) model. About Mphasis Mphasis (BSE: 526299) (NSE: MPHASIS) applies next-generation technology to help enterprises transform businesses globally. Customer centricity is foundational to Mphasis and is reflected in Mphasis' Front2Back Transformation approach. Front2Back uses the exponential power of cloud and cognitive to provide a hyper-personalized (C=X2C2 TM =1) digital experience to clients and their end customers. Mphasis' Service Transformation approach helps "shrink the core" through the application of digital technologies across legacy environments within an enterprise, enabling businesses to stay ahead in a changing world. Mphasis' core reference architectures and tools, speed and innovation with domain expertise and specialization are key to building strong relationships with marquee clients. Click here to know more.

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[July 07, 2020] Cancer Research UK and Abcam Launch Custom Partnership to Accelerate Cancer Research

- Long-term partnership to facilitate cancer research through development of custom antibodies - Agreement to enable global access to resulting reagents and potential diagnostics LONDON and CAMBRIDGE, England, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Cancer Research UK, the world's largest independent funder of cancer research and Abcam plc, a global innovator in life science reagents and tools, are pleased to announce a new partnership for the development and commercialization of novel custom antibodies to support the acceleration of cancer research. Under the terms of the partnership, Abcam will develop custom protein-based reagents to targets identified by Cancer Research UK-funded researchers. The resulting antibodies will support research to further the understanding of cancer biology, help generate new diagnostic tools, and potentially be the basis for novel therapies. Tony Hickson, CBO at Cancer Research UK, said: "We are excited to be partnering with Abcam to expand our access to biological reagents and to create the tools our scientists need to help accelerate our understanding of cancer. Abcam's antibody development capabilities and "end-to-end" expertise will help provide our researchers with antibody reagents that can be applied from early-stage R&D right through to the clinic." Dr John Baker, SVP Product Portfolio Innovation at Abcam, commented: "We are proud to be working with Cancer Research UK to support their scientists and to provide them with access to specific and validated reagents to help them achieve their next breakthrough faster." Abcam will, upon request, supply unique antibodies developed within the terms of the agreement to Cancer Research UK-funded researchers for an agreed period of exclusivity in relation to that antibody. Subsequently, Abcam's global supply capability and co-location in major technology hubs throughout the world will enable these innovative reagents to be made readily accessible to the wider research and diagnostic development community. Notes to Editors About Cancer esearch UK's Commercial Partnerships Team



Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Cancer Research UK's specialist Commercial Partnerships Team works closely with leading international cancer scientists and their institutes to protect intellectual property arising from their research and to establish links with commercial partners. Cancer Research UK's commercial activity operates through Cancer Research Technology Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cancer Research UK. It is the legal entity which pursues drug discovery research in themed alliance partnerships and delivers varied commercial partnering arrangements. About Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.

Cancer Research UK's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.

Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.

Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years.

Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.

Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org . Follow us on Twitter and Facebook . About Abcam plc As a global life sciences company, Abcam identifies, develops, and distributes high-quality biological reagents and tools that are crucial to research, drug discovery and diagnostics. Working across the industry, the Company supports life scientists to achieve their mission, faster. Abcam partners with life science organizations to co-create novel binders for use in drug discovery, in vitro diagnostics and therapeutics, driven by the Company's proprietary discovery platforms and world-leading antibody expertise. By constantly innovating its binders and assays, Abcam is helping advance the global understanding of biology and causes of disease, which enables new treatments and improved health. The Company's pioneering data-sharing approach gives scientists increased confidence in their results by providing validation, user comments and peer-reviewed citations for its 110,000 products. With twelve sites globally, many of Abcam's 1,400+ strong team are located in the world's leading life science research hubs, complementing a global network of services and support. To find out more, please visit www.abcam.com and www.abcamplc.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1200684/Cancer_Research_Abcam.jpg Contacts At Cancer Research UK Media:

Angharad Kolator Baldwin

Science Media

T: +44 (0)203 469 8300

E: Angharad.KolatorBaldwin@cancer.org.uk At Abcam Media:

Dr Lynne Trowbridge

VP External Communications

T: +44 (0)7815 167026

E: external.comms@abcam.com Dr Priya Kalia

Senior Consultant, External Communications

T: +44 (0)7703 769299

E: external.comms@abcam.com

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[July 07, 2020] Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting in Starbreeze AB (publ)

STOCKHOLM, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The shareholders in Starbreeze AB (publ), reg.no. 556551-8932, (the "Company") are hereby convened to the Extraordinary General Meeting (the "Meeting") on Thursday 13 August 2020 at 2.00 p.m. at Mannheimer Swartling's offices, Norrlandsgatan 21, Stockholm, Sweden. Notice: Shareholders who wish to participate at the Extraordinary General Meeting shall Be registered under the shareholder's own name in the share register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB on Friday 7 August 2020 , and

, and Notify the Company no later than on Friday 7 August 2020, to address Starbreeze AB, "Extra bolagsstamma 2020", c/o Euroclear Sweden AB, Box 191, 101 23 Stockholm, or on the Company's website: www.starbreeze.com/investor-relations/corporate-governance/meetings-events/. Such notification shall include name, personal identification number or corporate registration number, address, telephone number and the name of any representative and/or advisor. If the shareholder intends to be represented by a representative, a proxy, in original, shall be presented at the Meeting along with any certificate of registration and other documents of authorization. Copies of such documents of authorization should also be included in the notification. A form of proxy is available at the Company and on the Company's website,www.starbreeze.com, and can also be sent to the shareholders upon request. A proxy is valid one year from the date of issue or such longer period stated in the proxy, however, not more than five years. To be entitled to participate in the Meeting, shareholders whose shares are registered in the name of a nominee must temporarily re-register their shares in their own names. Shareholders who wish to realize such re-registration must advise their nominees well in advance of Friday 7 August 2020, at which time such re-registration shall be executed. Information with regard to the coronavirus As part of the effort to minimize the risk of spreading the coronavirus, the Board of Directors has resolved that shareholders in the Company shall be able to exercise their voting rights at the Meeting in advance by so-called postal voting. The intention of the Board of Directors' resolution is to reduce the number of people gathered at the location of the Meeting. The Company encourages its shareholders to, in the manner stated below, exercise the possibility of postal voting. The Company has also decided to take the following measures due to the coronavirus: No beverages or food will be served,

The number of non-shareholders, Board members, corporate officers and guests present will be limited, and

The questions at the Meeting will be concentrated on matters on the agenda and other information that the participants are entitled to receive according to law, and the Meeting will as far as possible be minimized in time without restricting the rights of the shareholders. Further measures may be presented by the Board before the Meeting. Information will be announced and available on the Company's website. Please follow the recommendations regarding the coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease from the Public Health Agency. For up-to-date information, see www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se. Postal voting Shareholders who wish to exercise the possibility of postal voting shall, in addition to being included in the shareholder's register in accordance with the above, use a form for postal voting and notice of attendance, which is available at the Company's website, www.starbreeze.com. The postal voting form shall be sent to the Company by e-mail to GeneralMeetingServices@euroclear.eu or by regular mail to Starbreeze AB, "Extra bolagsstamma 2020", c/o Euroclear Sweden AB, Box 191, 101 23 Stockholm.

Shareholders who are natural persons may also give their notice and cast their postal votes digitally through BankID verification. Link to digital postal voting is available on the Company's website, www.starbreeze.com, and at https://anmalan.vpc.se/EuroclearProxy/.

The postal voting form must be the Company at hand no later than the same time as the notice of attendance to the Meeting, on Friday 7 August 2020 . If the shareholder is a legal entity, a copy of the certificate of registration or a similar document of authorization is to be attached. For those who wish to postal vote via a representative, a proxy should also be attached. The shareholder may not provide the postal vote with specific instructions or conditions. If so, the vote is invalid. Proposed agenda Opening of the Meeting Election of Chairman of the Meeting Preparation and approval of the voting list Approval of the agenda Determination as to whether the Meeting has been duly convened Election of one or two persons to verify the minutes Resolution on amendment of the Articles of Association Approval of the Board of Directors' resolution on a rights issue of new shares Closing of the Meeting Election of Chairman of the Meeting (item 2) It is proposed that attorney Patrik Marcelius shall be elected as Chairman of the Meeting. Resolution on amendment of the Articles of Association (item 7) For the purpose of enabling the rights issue of new shares, as resolved by the Board of Directors on 30 June 2020 subject to the approval by the Meeting, the Board of Directors proposes that the limits of the share capital and the number of shares in the Articles of Association shall be adjusted by the Meeting resolving to amend  4 and  5, p. 5.1 of the Articles of Association, as follows:









Current wording Proposed wording  4 Share capital shall be not less than SEK 3,000,000 and not more than SEK 12,000,000. Share capital shall be not less than SEK 7,000,000 and not more than SEK 28,000,000.  5, p. 5.1 The number of shares in the company shall be not less than 150,000,000 and not more than 600,000,000. Shares may be issued in two classes: Class A shares and Class B shares. Shares of each class may be issued up to an amount corresponding to a total of 100 percent of share capital. Each Class A share shall carry ten (10) votes and each Class B share shall carry one (1) vote. Otherwise, Class A shares and Class B shares carry equal rights to a share in the company's assets and profits. The number of shares in the company shall be not less than 350,000,000 and not more than 1,400,000,000. Shares may be issued in two classes: Class A shares and Class B shares. Shares of each class may be issued up to an amount corresponding to a total of 100 percent of share capital. Each Class A share shall carry ten (10) votes and each Class B share shall carry one (1) vote. Otherwise, Class A shares and Class B shares carry equal rights to a share in the company's assets and profits.

The resolution in accordance with the above proposal is conditional upon the Meeting approving the Board of Directors' resolution on a rights issue of new shares under item 8. Majority requirement Under the Swedish Companies Act (2005:551), the resolution of the Meeting on amendment of the Articles of Association requires the support of shareholders representing at least two-thirds of both the number of votes cast and the shares represented at the Meeting in order to be valid. Approval of the Board of Directors' resolution on a rights issue of new shares (item 8) The Board of Directors proposes that the Meeting approves the Board's resolution of 30 June 2020 on a rights issue of new Class A and Class B shares with preferential right for existing shareholders, on the following main terms and conditions: The Board of Directors, or whoever the Board of Directors may appoint among its members, is authorised to resolve, on 12 August 2020 at the latest, on the maximum amount by which the share capital shall be increased, the maximum number of new shares to be issued, the number of existing shares that shall entitle to subscription for a certain number of new shares and the subscription price per share. The company's shareholders shall have preferential right to subscribe for the new shares in proportion to the shares previously owned. The record date for entitlement to participate in the rights issue with preferential right shall be 20 August 2020. Owners of Class A and of Class B shares will have preferential right to subscribe for new shares of the same class in proportion to the number of shares previously owned (primary preferential right). Shares that have not been subscribed for with primary preferential right will be offered to all existing shareholders in proportion to the number of shares previously owned, irrespective of share class (secondary preferential right) and, to the extent that this is not possible, by drawing of lots. In the event that all shares are not subscribed for with primary or secondary preferential right, the Board of Director shall, up to the maximum amount of the rights issue, resolve to allot the remaining shares firstly to others who have applied for subscription of shares without preferential right (the general public in Sweden and "qualified investors"), pro rata in relation to submitted applications, and secondly to those who have entered into underwriting undertakings with the company, pro rata in relation to their respective underwriting amounts. To the extent allotment in accordance with the above cannot be made pro rata, allotment shall be made by drawing of lots. Subscription for new shares shall be made during the period as from 24 August 2020 up to and including 7 September 2020 , or, as regards the guarantors, up to and including 10 September 2020 . The Board of Directors shall be entitled to extend the period for subscription. Subscription for new shares by exercise of subscription rights shall be made by simultaneous cash payment. Subscription for new shares without subscription rights shall be made on a separate subscription list where allotted shares shall be paid in cash no later than two (2) banking days from dispatch of the contract note to the subscriber setting forth the allotment of shares. The Board of Directors shall be entitled to extend the period for payment. The new shares shall entitle to dividend as from the first record date for dividend to occur after the registration of the new share issue with the Swedish Companies Registration Office. Class A shares are subject to a provision pursuant to Chapter 4 Section 6 of the Swedish Companies Act (conversion clause). The resolution is conditional on amendment of the Articles of Association. In accordance with the Terms and conditions for Starbreeze AB (publ) convertible bond 2016:2021:1, item 10.C.(i), conversion shall have been executed on 10 July 2020 at the latest in order for share issued through conversion to entitle to participation in the rights issue. Number of shares and votes At the time of the issue of the notice there are a total of 362,304,633 shares in the Company, whereof 85,444,417shares of class A and 276,860,216 shares of class B, and in total 1,131,304,386 votes. The Company holds no own shares. Right to information The Board of Directors and the CEO shall, if any shareholder so requests and the Board believes that it can be done without significant harm to the Company, provide information regarding circumstances that may affect the assessment of items on the agenda, in accordance with Chapter 7 Section 32 of the Swedish Companies Act (2005:551). Documents Documents pursuant to Chapter 13 Section 6 of the Swedish Companies Act (2005:551) will no later than three weeks prior to the Meeting be available on the Company's website, www.starbreeze.com, and at the Company's office at Regeringsgatan 38, Stockholm, Sweden. The documents will further be sent free of charge toshareholders who request it and who state their address. Processing of personal data For information about the processing of your personal data, see https://www.euroclear.com/dam/ESw/Legal/Privacy-notice-bolagsstammor-engelska.pdf. Stockholm in July 2020 Starbreeze AB (publ) The Board of Directors For more information, please contact: Torgny Hellstrom, Chairman of the Board

torgny.hellstrom@starbreeze.com Maeva Sponbergs, EVP Communication

Phone number: +46(0)8-209-208, email: ir@starbreeze.com The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 10:00 CEST on 7 July 2020. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/starbreeze-ab/r/notice-of-extraordinary-general-meeting-in-starbreeze-ab--publ-,c3150004 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/14632/3150004/1275900.pdf Release View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/notice-of-extraordinary-general-meeting-in-starbreeze-ab-publ-301088929.html SOURCE Starbreeze AB

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[July 07, 2020] Legaltech Startup Clara Furthers Its Capabilities by Securing Rights to Incorporate Companies in the Cayman Islands and Abu Dhabi Global Market

LONDON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clara, the London-based legaltech company, today announced that it has secured the rights to incorporate companies in two of the world's most popular jurisdictions for raising venture capital: the Cayman Islands and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Clara's capacity to form Cayman and ADGM companies is a result of its acquisition of Foundra Corporate Services, a leading provider of company formation services in ADGM and its partnership with an affiliate in the Cayman Islands. With these deals, Clara takes another step towards providing startups with an automated, online solution for many of their legal needs. "Startups are looking for a new approach to help them overcome the pain and complexity of dealing with legal matters," said Patrick Rogers, CEO and Co-Founder of Clara. "These transactions will allow us to completely streamline the customer experience of incorporating Cayman and ADGM companies  adding further value to the Clara platform, which digitizes and automates startup legals." Thee developments will enable Clara to further enhance its offering to startups, creating a value chain of incorporation and ongoing management of companies. Clara's digital formations module, which has already been integrated with both DocuSign and Checkout.com, will be launched in August and will initially focus on Cayman and ADGM.



Under the terms of the transactions, Foundra and its Cayman affiliate will be re-branded as "Clara Formations". Clara is led by a team of seasoned lawyers and technologists who have worked at some of the top companies within their sectors. The company's platform automates many of the tasks currently performed by startup lawyers including: forming companies, drafting agreements, building cap tables, structuring data rooms and predictively educating founders on legal concepts. The company has raised US$3 million in seed financing from institutional investors, including 500 Startups and Techstars.

Foundra was established in 2018 and quickly became the leading provider of incorporation services for ADGM, which is one of the world's leading financial centers. To date the company has established more than 400 companies. "Clara is an ideal partner to advance our mission," said Kathryn Burke, Managing Director of Foundra. "With Clara's tech resources and global platform, we will be able to accelerate innovation in the company formation space. I could not be more excited for what lies ahead." Clara plans to add to the list of jurisdictions where they will be able to incorporate companies. They are currently considering: Delaware, Singapore, and the UK. About Clara Clara is a legal operating system that digitises and automates startup legal expertise. Clara educates and empowers founders to address many of the tasks currently performed by lawyers, including incorporating companies, drafting agreements, building cap tables and structuring data rooms. At the same time, Clara acts as a collaboration and information sharing tool for founders, investors and lawyers so that the key players in the global startup ecosystem can work together more efficiently. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/legaltech-startup-clara-furthers-its-capabilities-by-securing-rights-to-incorporate-companies-in-the-cayman-islands-and-abu-dhabi-global-market-301088973.html SOURCE Clara Technologies Limited

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[July 07, 2020] Finsbury, The Glover Park Group and Hering Schuppener to Form One Global Firm

Finsbury, The Glover Park Group (GPG) and Hering Schuppener are joining together to create the preeminent global strategic communications and public affairs consultancy. The new firm, Finsbury Glover Hering, will combine the complementary strengths of three of the world's most respected advisory firms to counsel chief executives, boards and leaders at public and private companies, leading institutions and nonprofit organizations. The combination formalizes the strategic partnership between the three WPP companies, which was formed by Finsbury and Hering Schuppener in 2016 and which GPG joined in 2017. At a time when companies and institutions face heightened expectations of purpose and transparency, as well as increased public and stakeholder scrutiny, Finsbury Glover Hering is uniquely equipped to provide integrated, tailored solutions to help organizations navigate the financial, legal, regulatory, societal and stakeholder complexities they must consider in shaping their communications. Clients will benefit from Finsbury Glover Hering's global network of nearly 700 experts in 18 offices in the world's major financial, government, business and cultural centers, where the firm builds on strong local foundations forged through decades of experience. The new firm will lead the industry in: Public affairs and issues management, with deep policy expertise, a reputation for results and unmatched networks in the world's capitals;

Capital markets communications, having advised on more than 1,500 transactions with a total value of more than $2 trillion over the past decade alone; and

Corporate, crisis and transformation communications, successfully positioning CEOs and other leaders, steering major public and private companies through high-stakes moments of change and helping launch or re-launch organizations to industry leader status. insbury Glover Hering will launch in early 2021. Finsbury founder Roland Rudd and GPG founder Carter Eskew will co-chair the new firm. Alexander Geiser, Managing Partner at Hering Schuppener, will serve as Chief Executive Officer with the support of seasoned global and regional management teams.



Finsbury Glover Hering will be driven by the highly entrepreneurial spirit that inspired its founder firms and intends to offer equity to recruit, retain and incentivize the best established and emerging talent in communications and public affairs. The management team will be investing in the new firm and will own 49.99% of the company alongside WPP, which will retain a majority interest. Mark Read, the CEO of WPP, will also join the Board of Directors of the newly integrated company. Mark Read said: "We see in Finsbury Glover Hering a tremendous opportunity to establish a new global powerhouse in the strategic communications industry alongside a very talented and highly respected group of leaders. It also aligns with WPP's strategy of creating simpler, stronger and more integrated client offers."

Roland Rudd, co-Chairman and founder of Finsbury, commented: "Each of our firms is best in class and together create a new global standard for strategic advice and communications - we'd like to thank our clients for the trust they have placed in us as individual firms over the last decades." "We founded GPG with a highly entrepreneurial spirit, and we're thrilled that we can now also offer a more sustainable value proposition to future generations," said co-Chairman Carter Eskew. CEO Alexander Geiser said: "With one global brand, balance sheet and governance, we are formally implementing what has long been reality for us. One firm, one team." The company will be headquartered in New York City, with operations in Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Dubai, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Riyadh, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. About Finsbury Glover Hering Finsbury Glover Hering is a new preeminent global strategic communications advisory firm, headquartered in New York City, with almost 700 multidisciplinary experts across the world's major financial, government, business and cultural centers. The company was formed through the merger of the leading strategic communications consultancies Finsbury, The Glover Park Group (GPG) and Hering Schuppener. The firm provides combined support in Government Relations & Policy and Advocacy, Corporate Reputation & Leadership Strategies, Crisis & Issues Management, Transaction & Financial Communications as well as Business Transformation, supported by Research and Insights, Digital Strategy, Media Planning and Creative Solutions. Finsbury Glover Hering serves its global client base from offices in Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Dubai, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Riyadh, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. Find more information visit www.fgh.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005391/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Brillio Expands Analytics Capabilities with Cognetik Acquisition

Brillio, a leading digital technology consulting and solutions company, today announced the acquisition of Cognetik, a data and insights company with deep expertise in improving digital experiences for its customers. Cognetik enables companies across the globe, including Facebook (News - Alert) , Pizza Hut and McDonald's to build and implement analytics solutions that optimize customer experience to increase loyalty, drive revenue and advance business transformation. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition of Cognetik strengthens Brillio's strategy to become the leading digital technology service provider in the world. The deal comes at an opportune time, when more than 75% of CEOs are looking to accelerate their company's digital transformation, according to a new Fortune 500 survey. "We're thrilled to welcome Cognetik to the Brillio family," said Raj Mamodia, Founder and CEO of Brillio. "This marks a significant milestone in Brillio's growth journey, which continues its forward momentum even in a challenging market." Adds Mamodia, "The industry depth and experience Cognetik brings in advanced analytics, particularly in the areas of customer experience personalization and web analytics , along with Brillio's existing strength in data science and data engineering, will ensure our customers leverage insights from data and become more relevant than ever." Cognetik's expertise further enhances Brillio's analytics business, which has already scaled rapidly and has been growing at a CAGR of 30% over the last three years. Cognetik's capabilities in customer and marketing analytics, customer experience, multi-channel experience optimization and experience within the Adobe (News - Alert) ecosystem strengthens Brillio's ability to provide clients with industry solutions for personalization and omni-channel experiences.



"Cognetik is very happy to bring its extremely talented team and customer analytics solutions to Brillio. We are excited about building the greatest analytics capabilities in the world with Brillio for our clients," said Daniel Herdean, CEO and co-founder of Cognetik. "Our organizations share the same 'fanaticism' around customer success, and we can't wait to roll up our sleeves and get to work together to deliver on it." Cognetik's delivery presence in Romania will expand Brillio's global delivery capability and enhance the company's ability to onboard best-in-class talent in the EU continent and service clients in development centers outside of India.

About Brillio At Brillio, our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We were founded on the philosophy that to be great at something, you need to be unreasonably focused. That's why we are relentless about delivering the technology-enabled solutions our customers need to thrive in today's digital economy. Simply put, we help our customers accelerate what matters to their business by leveraging our expertise in agile engineering to bring human-centric products to market at warp speed. Born in the digital age, we embrace the four superpowers of technology, enabling our customers to not only improve their current performance but to rethink their business in entirely new ways. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Brillio has exceptional employees worldwide and is trusted by hundreds of Fortune 2000 organizations across the globe. To learn more follow us @brillioglobal and visit our website at www.brillio.com. About Cognetik We are a customer and marketing analytics company that partners with some of the world's largest brands such as McDonald's, eBay (News - Alert) and Facebook. Our team of data scientists and data engineers are extremely passionate about leading our clients in using data to focus on building amazing customer experiences. To that end, we empower digital leaders with data to improve decision-making, optimize digital experiences, and help companies become data-driven organizations. Our Fortune 1000 clients trust Cognetik's insights to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives. Cognetik is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina with additional offices in the US and Romania. Please visit www.cognetik.com to learn more. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005224/en/

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[July 07, 2020] AMJ Hall Global Reports On SoftBank Climbing To 20-Year Record High Of $68 Billion

Finance executives at Seoul-based wealth management company AMJ Hall Global, have reported that SoftBank Group Corp. shares hit their highest level in 20 years, as a series of buybacks helped recover stock losses sustained during the coronavirus market rout. Director of Institutional Trading at AMJ Hall Global, Peter Cross, reported "On Tuesday, the stock grew 4.6% to 6,190 yen ($58), its highest level since March 2000. This is more than double the mid-March level of this year, which marked the virus-impacted lowest point for the company, whose market value has since surged by about $68 billion. The benchmark Topix index did not change much n the day."



SoftBank's recovery is something of a vindication for its founder Masayoshi Son, who announced his intentions to sell 4.5 trillion yen in assets to minimise debt and bankroll record share buybacks. Son has often complained that SoftBank's shares were trading lower than the value of its investment portfolio, even at their peak. According to the company's own calculations, even after the recent gains, the stock is still trading at a discount of around 50 per cent. "It's fair to say that part of today's strong move stemmed from the buyback activity, and a more positive global sentiment around tech also adding benefit," said Harry Jacobs, Director of Private Clients at AMJ Hall Global.

During the same period, SoftBank has also had a string of other wins, including merging its Sprint Corp. with T-Mobile (News - Alert) US Inc. and watching some gambles pay off. On Thursday, online home-insurance provider Lemonade Inc. climbed as much as 86 per cent in its U.S. initial public offering. With nearly 90 companies in its portfolio, SoftBank's Vision Fund lost approximately $18 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, as it wrote down the importance of investments in WeWork and Uber Technologies Inc., among others. Son himself said that he anticipates around 15 start-ups from the fund to go bankrupt while predicting that another 15 will prosper. About AMJ Hall Global AMJ Hall Global helps protect the financial future of our clients by providing astute and well-researched investment solutions in mature and emerging markets. Our team of investment professionals offers a diverse range of investment skills covering a wide variety of financial activities that include wealth and fund management and securities trading. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005452/en/

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How do you do that to somebody that age  just kick her to the curb like that? he said. My grandmother, who doesnt speak English, was denied the proper care and thrown out of the hospital in the middle of the night because she wasnt able to communicate properly and didnt know what was going on.
[July 07, 2020] Cubic Awarded Contract to Support the U.S. Air Force's Development of Advanced Battle Management System

Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB) today announced its Cubic Mission Solutions (CMS) business division was awarded a $950 million ceiling indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract for the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). The Air Force will use the contract for the maturation, demonstration and proliferation of capability across platforms and domains, leveraging open systems design, modern software and algorithm development in order to enable Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2). This contract is part of a multiple award, multi-level security effort to provide development and operation of systems as a unified force across all domans (air, land, sea, space, cyber, and electromagnetic spectrum) in an open architecture family of systems that enables capabilities via multiple integrated platforms.



"Cubic provides our military forces with the information advantage in the most demanding, disaggregated Joint All-Domain Operations," said Mike Twyman, president of Cubic Mission Solutions. "ABMS gives us a strategic avenue to continue delivering our comprehensive C4ISR solutions to our key customers and will help the Air Force achieve its vision for Joint All-Domain Operations over the next decade." Cubic offers a full range of innovative Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities, including advanced, wideband tactical communications and protected waveforms, edge computing solutions and scalable digital intelligence solutions.

About Cubic Corporation Cubic is a technology-driven, market-leading provider of integrated solutions that increase situational understanding for transportation, defense C4ISR and training customers worldwide to decrease urban congestion and improve the militaries' effectiveness and operational readiness. Our teams innovate to make a positive difference in people's lives. We simplify their daily journeys. We promote mission success and safety for those who serve their nation. For more information about Cubic, please visit the company's website at www.cubic.com or on Twitter (News - Alert) @CubicCorp. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005284/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Energy & Water Development Corporation Enters Into Partnership With Cicero Transact Group

MIAMI, FL, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Energy & Water Development Corp. (OTC: EAWD) ("EAWD" or the "Company") announces that it entered into a data purchase and service agreement with Cicero Transact Group, Inc. ("Cicero"). Cicero will supply targeted data to EAWD to align with its business verticals, and assist in building multiple network platforms for the Company to highlight its improved green-tech engineering solutions for Water and Energy Generation.

The data is anticipated to significantly benefit Energy and Water Development as it expands its internal infrastructure. Cicero will not only provide EAWD access to direct targeted data, but its team will advise EAWD how such targeted data can help the company successfully execute its business model. Ralph Hofmeier, CEO of EAWD, stated, "We are confident that our new working relationship with Cicero will better communicate our offerings and business strategy to address the worldwide demand for improved water and energy technologies. About Cicero Transact Group, Inc. Cicero is an exclusive online network of members from around the world who are dedicated to forging strategic business alliances. Its business platform offers a revolutionary new way to transact business with a global membership that covers every industry vertical. Invited members have premier access to our online platform, allowing an inside look at start-ups, entrepreneurs, and small and mid-cap companies looking for the necessary support togrow their businesses and effectively execute their business plans. Cicero's business platform allows its members to actively seek deals and opportunities that best suit its area of expertise. Members of Cicero Transact Group, Inc. have the ability to review, participate in, and earn income on high-quality deal flow by leveraging their business contacts and connections. For more details, visit https://www.cicerotransact.com .



About Energy and Water Development Corporation Energy and Water Development Corporation is a green-tech engineering solutions company focused on delivering water and energy to extreme environments. The Company offers design, construction, maintenance, and specialty consulting services to private companies, government entities and non-government organizations (NGOs). EAWD builds water and energy systems out of already-existing, proven technologies, utilizing their technical know-how to customize solutions to their clients needs. The Companys website is: www.eawctechnologies.com We invite you to visit our site or contact us for more information about our innovative water and energy generation systems such as the Self Sufficient Energy supplied Atmosphere Water Generation System.

Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements. The words believe, expect, should, intend, estimate, projects, variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Companys current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Companys filings. Contact Information: Energy and Water Development Corp.

Irma Velazquez, Chief Operating Officer

Email: velazquezi@eawctechnologies.com

Tel. +1 347 871 8927

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[July 07, 2020] John McAfee Launches World's First Private Cell Phone Data Service

NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology legend and two-time presidential candidate John McAfee has announced The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service, the first 4G data service to make connections to the network untraceable. McAfee is looking for members of the media interested in beta-testing the service, which is slated for global launch in September. The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service uses eSIM technology that allows data connections on a smartphone without a physical SIM card. Users of supported phones connect to a special network for data services. This network is configured to use a range of technologies and techniques to provide an untrackable and untraceable connection. Service is data-only but will support VOIP and other IP based communication platforms. At launch, The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service will support most of the latest flagship phones, including the Google Pixel 3 / 3 XL / 4Xl, Samsung Galaxy S20 / S20+ / Z Flip /Fold and the iPhone 11 / 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max / XS / XS Max / XR. Support for more phones will be added as eSIM technology gets added to mid-range andbudget models.



To use the data network, all owners of a supported phone need to do is scan a QR code supplied when they purchase service. No personal information is required for sign-up and all service is prepaid with no contract. The service includes a free app available for both Android and iOS that further enhances data protection and privacy. The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service is one component of a larger ecosystem, which also includes the Ghost cryptocurrency for private transactions and the GhostX Exchange for private cryptocurrency exchange. John McAfee explains that "the Ghost brand will encompass a range of practical, real world tools for people to protect our rights and take back our privacy. Privacy is a human right."

More information on The Ghost Cell Phone Data Service can be found at https://www.ghostbymcafee.com/ghostesim/. Members of the media interested in beta-testing the service should contact mcafeeghostphone@gmail.com for more information. Media Contact:

Rob Loggia

631.619.7878

243055@email4pr.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/john-mcafee-launches-worlds-first-private-cell-phone-data-service-301088956.html SOURCE Ghost By McAfee

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[July 07, 2020] One Technologies Named Among 'Best Places to Work in Texas' for Sixth Time

DALLAS, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- One Technologies, LLC has been honored by Texas Monthly magazine, the Texas Association of Business, Texas SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), and Best Companies Group with inclusion in the 2020 listing of "Best Places to Work in Texas." "We understand that we cannot accomplish our mission to help consumers better monitor their credit, and their overall financial lives, with analytics, technology, and Big Data alonewe also need the right people," said Carlos Medina, Senior Vice President of Operations and Business Development at One Technologies. "We are proud to provide our employees with a collaborative and inclusive environment where they can pursue challenging and fulfilling careers, while also having fun." The 100 "Best Places to Work in Texas" are determined using the results of a two-part survey. The first portion, worth one-fourth of a company's total score, evaluated nominated companies' workplace policies, systems, practices, philosophies, and demographics. The second part, accounting for three-quarters of every nominee's score, required employees to answer questions about their experience working for the company. Best Companies Group analyzed the data and determined the final rankings, which are published in the July 2020 issue of Texas Monthly. For more information about the "Best Places to Work in Texas" survey and awards program, pleae visit https://www.bestcompaniestx.com/.



This year marks the sixth occasion One Technologies has been honored as one of the "Best Places to Work in Texas," having also been recognized in 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2018. "As part of our ongoing effort to maintain a workplace culture where people know they are valued, we generously reward our employees with competitive benefits and perks for sharing our dedication to consumers," said Heather George, Vice President of Human Resources and Facilities at One Technologies. "Our company is, at its core, a people-focused organization where our team and our customers come first. We are glad to be recognized by our employees as well as the Texas business community for our commitment."

To learn more about careers at One Technologies, please visit https://onetechnologies.net/careers/. "One Technologies cares deeply about compliance, cybersecurity, and the customer experience, and it is very gratifying to be part of a company that actively invests in people like me, who live and breathe these values every single day," said Chau Ly, Manager of Marketing at One Technologies. "At One Technologies, I don't just feel like an employeeI feel like I am part of a community." About One Technologies One Technologies, LLC harnesses the power of technology, analytics and its people to create solutions that empower consumers to make more informed decisions about their financial lives. The firm's consumer credit products include ScoreSense , which enables members to seamlessly access, interact with, and understand their credit profiles from all three main bureaus using a single application. The ScoreSense platform is continually updated to give members deeper insights, personalized tools and one-on-one Customer Care support that can help them make the most sense of their credit. One Technologies is headquartered in Dallas and was established in October 2000. For more information, please visit https://onetechnologies.net/ . Media Contact

OT@jconnelly.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/one-technologies-named-among-best-places-to-work-in-texas-for-sixth-time-301088936.html SOURCE One Technologies, LLC

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[July 07, 2020] PCS Edventures! Reports Audited Record Results for Fiscal Year 2020 Ending March 31, 2020

BOISE, Idaho, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PCS Edventures!, Inc., (PCSV) a leading provider of K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education programs and drone products, today announced audited results of operations for its Fiscal Year 2020, which ended March 31, 2020.

Revenue was $5.00 million  a fiscal year record for the Company  and was up 3% from audited Fiscal Year 2019 revenue. Net income was $1.04 million  a fiscal year record for the Company  and was up 22% from audited Fiscal Year 2019 net income. Cash flow from operations was $0.86 million, and the Company ended the fiscal year with $133,800 in cash. Regarding the Companys profitability, Michael Bledsoe, President, commented, This is the second consecutive year of profitability for the Company, a result brought forth by focused effort of the Companys outstanding employees. Having achieved profitability will now allow the Company to utilize various lending programs only available to companies with positive 2019 EBITDA. We expect to secure funding within the next few months to refinance all of our outstanding debt. Consolidating under this funding will substantially reduce the Companys average annual interest on outstanding debt from 10% to under 4%. Mr. Bledsoe continued, There is no doubt that the pandemic has affected our sales, as it has for many other companies. On a preliminary basis, our evenue was down over 50% from the year ago period for the Companys first quarter of Fiscal Year 2021 (April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020). Almost all schools and after school programs  essentially our entire market  were closed during this period. I was encouraged to see that even with our market 90%+ shut down during the quarter, we still managed to produce sales orders and revenue that exceeded the levels the Company produced during the same period in 2016 and 2017. It is incredible to me that we could exceed our performance prior to 2018 with nearly our entire market closed. This demonstrates that our Company has undergone significant positive change from what it was prior to 2018.



Todd Hackett, CEO, said, I think that we can safely say that we have achieved our first strategic priority of profitability. In the two fiscal years since new operating management took over, our Company has generated 16% more sales than it did in the previous four fiscal years (excluding the non-core, low margin international contract business that we exited in 2018), dropping $1.9 million to the bottom line. Due to the pandemic, management delayed its plans to continue paying down debt, our second strategic priority, and instead we have been accumulating cash as a safety buffer. On a preliminary basis, we ended the quarter with over $950,000 in cash which we expect is sufficient to fund our operations until things return closer to normal. Company financial information and reports can be found at https://www.otcmarkets.com/ .

For more information about PCS Edventures!, Inc., visit our website. About PCS Edventures!, Inc. PCS Edventures!, Inc. (OTCPK: PCSV) is a Boise, Idaho company that designs and delivers technology-rich products and services for the K-12 market that develop 21st-century skills. PCS programs emphasize experiential learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM). https://www.edventures.com/ . This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934; actual results could differ materially from such statements. Contact Investor Contact: Michael Bledsoe 1.800.429.3110, mikeb@edventures.com

Investor Relations Web Site: pcsv.global

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[July 07, 2020] Award-Winning Payment Processor VizyPay Unveils New Online Ordering and Customer Loyalty Program, Incentivizing Consumer Spending Through Promotions and Discounts

DES MOINES, Iowa, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VizyPay , an award-winning leader in the payment processing industry, today launched its first customer loyalty program and online ordering system, called RUSH, which is available immediately. VizyPay clients can opt-into the service for a flat monthly fee, and businesses can leverage it with their customers to help boost sales, attract new customers and offer online ordering.

Loyalty Program

The RUSH loyalty program is fully customizable based on the businesses needs and seamlessly integrates with VizyPays current payment processing software. When a transaction is processed, the customer has the option to sign up for the loyalty program. Once signed on, the loyalty program can tap into the customers transactions and offer incentives based on this data. RUSH also enables businesses to send out notifications for larger promotions to all customers  such as happy hours, instant discounts and morehelping drive sales and incentivize customers to return. Now more than ever, we recognize that our clients need a better system to stay in touch with their customers and motivate them to shop, said Austin Mac Nab, CEO and co-founder of VizyPay. Businesses were forced to pivot to a digital-first approach when brick and mortar locations closed during COVID-1, and RUSH helps them encourage customers to come back and shop with them.



Customer Acquisition

The RUSH loyalty program not only connects customers with promotions, but can also prompt them to leave reviews after a purchase, helping increase the quality and quantity of reviews on Yelp, Facebook, Google and more. The program also offers an automated viral friend referral system, which further motivates existing customers to help generate new business. Online Ordering

RUSH also provides businesses the ability to create a fully branded app where customers can place orders directly, either for delivery or curbside pick-up, giving them the chance to cut out food delivery services that are notorious for high-service fees. When orders are placed online or through the mobile app, VizyPay does not charge merchants additional fees as many other delivery apps do. Customers will be able to load money on their e-wallet, receive text promotions, pay by credit card and seamlessly integrate with the loyalty program so they can earn rewards for every purchase.

We named this initiative RUSH as a nod to the industry term of a rush when a business is busy, Mac Nab went on to say. With the program were aiming to give our clients additional ways to drive more customers to their businesses and increase their rush periods. When signing up for the RUSH program, businesses will receive access to a marketing portal, a customer facing tablet, a branded mobile app, and branded key tags, all to help get them started. The program is available starting today, and interested businesses can reach out directly to VizyPay to learn more. For more information, visit https://www.vizypay.com/ About VizyPay

VizyPay was founded in West Des Moines, Iowa, by three entrepreneurs who each had either significant credit card processing experience or were previously small business owners. Their combined understanding of these different industries created the perfect cocktail for a credit card processing company that could truly look out for the business owner. VizyPay is growing rapidly by being honest and simple in an industry that is known for being complicated and deceitful. Their business model is unique and making a huge splash nationwide. Media Contact

Brittany Johnson

Uproar PR for VizyPay

bjohnson@uproarpr.com

312-878-4575 x246

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[July 07, 2020] Advisor Divisha Kapur Returns to Ameriprise After 23 Years to Build the Practice She Has Long Envisioned

Financial Advisor Divisha Kapur, ChFC, recently returned to the franchise channel of Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP) after spending 23 years at Hantz Financial Services and Vestax Securities. Kapur, who manages $105 million in client assets in Bingham Farms, Michigan, started her career with Ameriprise in 1993. She left Ameriprise in 1997 because she wanted more flexibility in the way she managed her practice. Fast forward to May 2020 and Kapur made the decision to rejoin Ameriprise because the firm was supportive of her vision to build a family office that clients can rely on for every decision in their financial journey - from tax planning to investments to sustaining wealth between generations and beyond. Ameriprise offers flexibility to form alliances with CPAs, has a broad product platform and industry-leading technology and tools, all of which will help make her vision a reality. "Before I started my search, I thought I knew Ameriprise," said Kapur. "I was pleasantly surprised to learn how Ameriprise evolved to become a leader in supporting independent advisors. The firm lets advisors decide how to design their practices, yet provides the support, infrastructure and financial planning expertise needed to exceed clients' expectations." p> Kapur is supported locally by Ameriprise franchise field vice president Tricia Kaye. "Divisha has the flexibility to build her team in a way that delivers the service she feels is best for her clients," said Kaye. "She found that Ameriprise is able to support her in delivering a consistent client experience that is built on our longstanding legacy of being a leader in financial planning."



Kapur's team, which operates under the name Team Divisha Financial, includes client service associates Sherri Hantz and Steven Pino. More than 4,000 financial advisors have joined Ameriprise since 2008.1 To find out why experienced financial advisors are joining Ameriprise, visit ameriprise.com/careers.

About Ameriprise Financial At Ameriprise Financial, we have been helping people feel confident about their financial future for more than 125 years. With extensive advisory, asset management and insurance capabilities and a nationwide network of approximately 10,000 financial advisors, we have the strength and expertise to serve the full range of individual and institutional investors' financial needs. For more information, or to find an Ameriprise financial advisor, visit ameriprise.com. Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Member FINRA and SIPC.  2020 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Company data as of August 2019. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005568/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Voya Investment Management Hires Tom Frost as Head of EMEA Insurance and Pension Solutions

Voya Investment Management, the asset management business of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) announced today it has hired Tom Frost as head of EMEA Insurance and Pension Solutions. Based in London, Frost reports to Charlie Shaffer, head of Distribution and John Simone, head of Insurance Solutions. In this new role, Frost is responsible for delivering asset management solutions to Insurance, Pension and Sovereign Wealth clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). "Investment Management has delivered back to back record years in asset raising - establishing a reputation across Europe and Asia for delivering hard to manufacture, differentiating solutions in Fixed Income and Credit to institutional investors," said Shaffer. "Tom's addition expands on this success - providing our clients with a proven partner with a demonstrated track record of innovation, client focus and a solutions mind set." Frost will also build upon the success of Voya's Insurance Solutions team. "By leveraging our 40 year history as an insurance balance sheet investor and asset manager, we built a $15bn external client insurance solutions busness from scratch in 5 years," said Simone, head of Insurance Solutions. "Our playbook is built around a deep understanding of our clients' priorities and requirements and a proven expertise in delivering solutions to meet their needs. Tom's demonstrated track record as a trusted client advisor will help us deliver these solutions to EMEA investors."



Prior to joining Voya, Frost was head of Business Development, EMEA for Interitus Advisory, a Private Equity firm in London. Prior to joining Interitus, Frost served as Head of Business Development for Caxton, a multi-strategy Hedge Fund in London. Prior to Caxton, Tom was a managing director and Head of UK Insurance and Pensions for Credit Suisse from 2008 to 2016 - where he worked closely with Shaffer in his role as global head of Distribution for Credit Suisse Asset Management. About Voya Investment Management

A leading, active asset management firm, Voya Investment Management manages, as of March 31, 2020, more than $210 billion for affiliated and external institutions as well as individual investors. With over 40 years of history in asset management, Voya Investment Management has the experience and resources to provide clients with investment solutions with an emphasis on equities, fixed income, and multi-asset strategies and solutions. Voya Investment Management was named in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 as a "Best Places to Work" by Pensions and Investments magazine. For more information, visit voyainvestments.com. Follow Voya Investment Management on Twitter (News - Alert) @VoyaInvestments. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005503/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Respiratory health AI trailblazer VIDA poised for increased scale with newest appointment to leadership team

CORALVILLE, Iowa, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VIDA Diagnostics, Inc. ("VIDA"), the leader in AI-powered lung imaging analysis, announced today that Todd Johnson has joined the company as chief technology officer. Johnson, a leader in enterprise imaging and advanced clinical applications, will apply his expertise to extend the breadth and depth of VIDA's LungPrint solutions, ensuring the company's AI (artificial intelligence) insights are accessible to a broader base of clinicians to improve the diagnosis and treatment of lung disease. "Technology supporting early and accurate diagnosis and management of lung and respiratory disease has become of increasing importance amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, especially as evidence builds for long-term lung damage," said Susan Wood, PhD, president and CEO of VIDA. "Todd's depth of expertise further strengthens our leadership team and positions us well for accelerated market expansion in the pulmonary clinical setting." Johnson has over 25 years' experience in the clinical imaging and healthcare IT industries. Throughot his career, he has been responsible for accelerating medical technologies, including advanced clinical applications, enterprise imaging, and data solutions -- all with the goal of optimizing the delivery of patient care in radiology, cardiology, oncology, and dentistry.



"VIDA has married a deep clinical background with advanced AI technology and lab services to modernize the treatment of lung disease both in drug discovery and in the clinical setting," said Johnson. "I'm thrilled to be joining this exceptional company at a time when it is more important than ever to focus on and improve care for patients with or at-risk of lung disease." Prior to joining VIDA, Johnson worked for Evident Inc. as the chief technology officer, where he leveraged SaaS technologies to transform the dental industry in the way it shares and communicates clinical data. He also led the enterprise and radiology imaging suite and the rapid transition to leverage web technologies at Change Healthcare (formerly McKesson Imaging). In addition, Johnson has held multiple leadership positions during his 17 years at Vital Images/Toshiba, including work on Toshiba's clinical imaging informatics platform, global product development execution, and strategic partnerships.

Johnson earned a bachelor of science in biomedical and electrical engineering from the University of Iowa, and a master's in business administration from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. About VIDA

VIDA provides the new standard of pulmonary care by using AI-powered CT imaging software and services to aid the early detection, evaluation, and treatment planning of patients with or at risk of respiratory and lung diseases, including emphysema and airway obstructive diseases (COPD), asthma, interstitial lung disease, COVID-19 and lung cancer. VIDA's software is FDA cleared, CE-marked, Health Canada licensed and TGA registered for clinical use in the US, European Economic Area, Canada and Australia. Learn more at vidalung.ai. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/respiratory-health-ai-trailblazer-vida-poised-for-increased-scale-with-newest-appointment-to-leadership-team-301089186.html SOURCE VIDA Diagnostics, Inc.

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[July 07, 2020] World AI Show - Jakarta 2020 organized by Trescon, to gather the most influential voices in artificial intelligence this July

JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Having hosted multiple high-level conferences across the world, World AI Show, organized by Trescon, has established itself as the world's biggest and most-elite AI show series. While it has proven itself as the quintessential AI event, WAIS has a reputation of getting global AI experts, investors and AI-based solution providers all under one roof - consistently, year-after-year. Due to the ongoing circumstances worldwide regarding COVID-19 and the constant uncertainty surrounding many things, Trescon, organizer of World AI Show has announced the virtual edition of World AI Show - Jakarta 2020. The summit will host global AI thought leaders who will be taking the centre stage. The virtual conference is taking place on 9 July 2020. "Virtual events are an excellent opportunity for everyone in the industry to come together during these difficult times. Affordable and intelligent AI solutions & strategies are the need of the hour," says Mohammed Saleem, CEO & Founder of Trescon. All the benefits of a physical conference and more Supported by the KEMKOMINFO (Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of Indonesia) and Jakarta Smart City, World AI Show will feature expert keynotes, private networking sessions, secure audio-visual meetings, investor connects & private meetings designed specifically to help meaningful interactions. The conference will use state-of-the-art technology to ensure sponsors are able to quickly chat and connect with potential investors and clients. Attendees will be able to communicate instantly with solution providers, download brochures and discuss proposals and projects via secure audio-visual chat rooms. Indonesia's Biggest Cofluence of Tech, Partnerships and Go-to-market Strategies



Eager to keep the momentum from its previous editions, World AI Show has put together a speaker line up like no other, giving attendees the opportunity to hear directly from government dignitaries like Dr Ir Hannan Riza, President, Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) Government, Indonesia, Setaji, West Java ICT Agency, Jakarta Provincial Government, Indonesia, Dr Nyoman Adhiarna, Director of Digital Economy, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology (KEMKOMINFO) Indonesia and more. World AI Show will also feature Yangqing Jia, Vice President of Alibaba Group, Senior Fellow of the Computing Platform BU, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, USA who will be talking about "What AI means from an organization perspective".

Other experts in the line-up include Dr Lukas, Co-founder and Chairperson, Indonesia AI Society, Indonesia, Juan Intan Kanggrawan, Head of Data Analytics, Jakarta Smart City, Indonesia, Sutowo Wong, Director, Analytics and information management, Ministry of Health, Singapore, Jay Jenkins, Head of Specialist Engineering - Southeast Asia, Google, Singapore, Syafri Bahar, VP Data Science, Gojek Indonesia and more. World AI Show - Jakarta 2020 is officially sponsored by Lead Sponsor - Alibaba Cloud, Platinum Sponsor - Darktrace and Silver Sponsor - Intetics. Founded in 2009, Alibaba Cloud is a global leader in cloud computing and artificial intelligence, providing services to thousands of enterprises, developers, and governments organizations in more than 200 countries and regions. In January 2017, Alibaba Cloud became the official cloud services partner of the Olympics. World AI Show - Jakarta 2020 will cover several important topics including - Leveraging Digital Transformation through Indonesia's AI National Strategy - Dr Hammam Riza, AI and Public Sector, The role of AI in a Post-Pandemic World, Coronavirus Outbreak: How Cloud Technologies, AI, Ml are helping us deal with the pandemic, Leveraging RPA to boost Digital Transformation, Enterprise AI, overcome organizational challenges in the wake of COVID-19 and many more. The 16th edition of World AI Show - Jakarta 2020 is designed to maximize networking opportunities while simultaneously offering hours of high-quality content streamed straight to participants' screen. More information about World AI Show will be out in the coming days. Visit https://jakarta.worldaishow.com/ to celebrate South East Asia's leading player in AI, its digital economy and adaptable technologies. About World AI Show World AI Show is a thought-leadership-driven, business-focused, global series of events taking place in strategic locations across the world. It connects top AI experts, enterprises, government representatives, data scientists, technology leaders, startups, investors, researchers, academicians, and global AI innovators - to discuss the impact of AI on commercial applications and the revolutionary ways it can transform businesses and government functions. For further details about the announcement, please contact: Kannan R

Corporate Communications Manager

marketing@tresconglobal.com

+91-9495747349 Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200707/2850266-1 SOURCE Trescon

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We have reason to believe that there were eyewitnesses who saw what happened, who for whatever reason have not come forward at this time, Tutler said. We do believe there are people out there who could help us with this case who we havent been able to speak with yet.
[July 07, 2020] Dynata Named #2 "Data & Analytics Provider" In 2020 GRIT Top 50

Industry survey ranks most dynamic and innovative companies in data, insights and market research DALLAS, July 7, 2020 /CNW/ -- Dynata, the world's largest first-party data and insights platform, ranked as the No. 2 "Data & Analytics Provider" and among the top 10 of the "Most Innovative Suppliers" in the 2020 edition of the GreenBook Research Industry Trends (GRIT) Report, considered a leading benchmark of the market research industry's top innovators. "We are honored to once again be acknowledged as a leader in data and analytics, recognized for the power of our unparalleled fully-permissioned first-party data," said Gary S. Laben, CEO of Dynata. "Our business is built on the reach and quality of our data, encompassing 62+ million consumers and B2B professionals. Our differentiated datasets ensure that we can deliver th insights our clients need across every industry and geography, with the solutions and expertise they need to solve their biggest challenges."



In addition to Dynata's ranking of ninth overall in the "Most Innovative Suppliers" category, the company placed fifth in "Full/Field Service Providers." Both rankings are a testimonial to the company's ongoing commitment to partnership and delivering innovative solutions to its clients. Last year the company launched Dynata Insights Platform, an end-to-end solution that allows clients to access every element of the marketing lifecycle, from market research to media, advertising, and CRM. Along with these rankings, Dynata was ranked in the top 10 for qualitative research. The 2020 GRIT Top 50 uses an aggregate of responses from market research suppliers, clients, and insights professionals, encompassing 2,098 completed interviews globally. As a peer-based survey, GreenBook considers it a good proxy for business growth, a useful snapshot for strategic planning, and a key metric used to assess a company's position in the marketplace.



About Dynata

Dynata is the world's largest first-party data and insights platform. With a reach that encompasses over 62 million consumers and business professionals globally, and an extensive library of individual profile attributes collected through surveys, Dynata is the cornerstone for precise, trustworthy quality data. The company has built innovative data services and solutions around its robust first-party data offering to bring the voice of the customer to the entire marketing continuum  from strategy, innovation, and branding to advertising, measurement, and optimization. Dynata serves nearly 6,000 market research, media and advertising agencies, publishers, consulting and investment firms and corporate customers in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Learn more at www.dynata.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dynata-named-2-data--analytics-provider-in-2020-grit-top-50-301089213.html SOURCE Dynata

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[July 07, 2020] Shoppers Drug Mart launches in-store virtual care service in B.C.

Patients in B.C. stores can connect virtually to physicians through new partnership with Maple TORONTO, July 7, 2020 /CNW/ - Shoppers Drug Mart and Canada's leading virtual care provider, Maple, have launched in-store virtual care across British Columbia locations. Online doctor visits at Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies are covered by B.C.'s Medical Services Plan (MSP), just like in-person appointments. The virtual care service is intended to support British Columbians who may not have access to a family doctor. It will also alleviate pressure on overburdened emergency rooms, hospitals and walk-in clinics, giving patients a way to safely and conveniently access care during their day-to-day routines. As of today, in-store virtual care is currently accessible in 12 stores across British Columbia and will expand to Shoppers Drug Mart locations across the province by August 4th. "Health is top of mind for everyone, particularly now, and this new service will help British Columbians get the medical care they need, when they need it," said Jeff Leger, President, Shoppers Drug Mart. "Even if you don't have a family doctor, you can get fast access to medical care in your neighbourhood and the support of your local pharmacist, all in one place." Many Canadians turn to their pharmacist as the first point of care for questions about their healthcare needs. Incorporating access to a physician at the pharmacy will help patients address a broader set of needs during their Shoppers Drug Mart visit. The end result for patients in B.C. will be a more convenient and comprehensiv healthcare experience.



Virtual visits work much like those that occur in person: the doctor can examine patients through video, while taking advantage of in-store tools such as rapid strep tests, ask questions about symptoms, review health history and determine a diagnosis and treatment plan. In this way, physicians can treat many conditions online including UTIs, strep throat, eye infections, sexual health issues, vomiting, diarrhea, skin issues and many more, providing treatment options and prescriptions as needed. "Providing flexible care options to keep patients out of hospital and clinics is more important than ever for Canadians," says Dr. Brett Belchetz, CEO and Co-Founder of Maple and a practicing ER physician. "In-store virtual care is the perfect solution for this need. We are pleased to partner with Shoppers Drug Mart to join the expertise of our physicians with their pharmacists in one easy stop, effectively moving care into our communities."

In-store virtual care will be offered 7 days a week, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific Time. Pharmacists will help patients get set up with an in-store tablet or using a QR code on their own device and the virtual doctor's visit takes place in the pharmacy's private counselling room. If the doctor provides a patient with a prescription, they will be able to select a local pharmacy from within the Maple app, to have it securely sent to, in minutes. About Shoppers Drug Mart:

Shoppers Drug Mart is one of the most recognized and trusted names in Canadian retailing. The company is the licensor of full-service retail drug stores operating under the name Shoppers Drug Mart (Pharmaprix in Quebec). With almost 1,300 Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores operating in prime locations in each province and two territories, the company is one of the most convenient retailers in Canada. The company also licenses or owns 47 medical clinic pharmacies operating under the name Shoppers Simply Pharmacy (Pharmaprix Simplement Sante in Quebec), and provides cosmetic dermatology services at two standalone locations, the Beauty Clinic. As well, the company owns and operates 43 corporate Wellwise by Shoppers Drug Mart stores and an ecommerce site Wellwise.ca, making it the largest Canadian retailer of home health care products and services. In addition to its retail store network, the company owns Shoppers Drug Mart Specialty Health Network Inc., a provider of specialty drug distribution, pharmacy and comprehensive patient support services, and MediSystem Inc., a provider of pharmaceutical products and services to long-term care facilities. Shoppers Drug Mart is an independent operating division of Loblaw Companies Limited. About Maple

Maple is a technology platform that tackles some of the world's most meaningful issues in healthcare, starting with timely and convenient access to doctors and other healthcare providers. It allows patients to connect directly with doctors for medical care in minutes from their smartphone or computer 24/7, and also provides custom technology solutions for hospitals and clinics seeking to advance their delivery of care. Learn more at getmaple.ca. SOURCE Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation

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[July 07, 2020] Merchants Insurance Group Online Quoting System Selected by 50+ Insurer CIOs for Novarica Impact Award

Merchants Insurance Group will receive an Impact Award from the Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council, a peer community of hundreds of insurer CIOs. More than fifty CIO council members reviewed dozens of case studies to select the winners for the 9th annual awards. Merchants developed an online quoting system integrated with its legacy back-end system via APIs to support a new line of business. Deployed over a two-year period, the system led to a 250% growth in completed quotes and enabled straight-through processing. "Delivering effective online quoting is critical for insurers in most lines of business, and Merchants' initiative shows the real business impact of leveraging APIs to enable this key digital function," says Matthew Josefowicz, President/CEO of Novarica and moderator of the Council. "We are honored to be recognized by Novarica for this award," said Stephen Cross, Vice President and CIO for Merchants. "Merchants Insurance Group is committed to innovation that improves the ease of doing business with our independent insurance agents." Merchants' case study, along with case studies of seven other winners, and more than 20 additional cases considered for Impact Awards, was published this week in Novarica's 9th Annual Impact Case Study Compendium, online at https://novarica.com/compendium2020/. Novarica has published more than 220 case studies through this program since 2012.



About the Novarica Impact Awards The Novarica Research Council Impact Awards are the largest purely peer-juried awards in insurance technology. CIO council members vote annually to recognize the efforts of their peers to use technology to drive business value in digital, data/analytics, core systems, and IT operations. No vendors, consultants, journalists, or members of the Novarica team participate in the selection committee, making the Novarica Impact Awards distinctive in being a purely peer-juried award.

The Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council is a free, moderated, knowledge-sharing community of more than 300 insurer CIOs and senior executives. In addition to recognizing successful initiatives through the Impact Awards, members participate in anonymized studies and private, vendor-free events. More information at https://novarica.com/council/ The Council is managed by Novarica, a research and advisory firm that helps more than 100 insurers make better decisions about technology projects and strategy through published research, advisory services, strategic consulting, and special programs. https://novarica.com/ About Merchants Insurance Group Merchants Insurance Group offers property and casualty insurance through a network of more than 1,000 independent insurance agents throughout the Northeast and North Central United States. With corporate headquarters and regional operations located in Buffalo, N.Y., Merchants also operates offices in Hauppauge, N.Y.; Mount Laurel, N.J.; and Bedford, N.H. Merchants' website can be accessed at www.merchantsgroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005663/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Telstra Announces Plans to Build up Its Network Infrastructure in the U.S.

Telstra, a leading global telecommunications and technology company, today announced plans to expand its network infrastructure in the U.S. by increasing bandwidth capacity on its trans-Pacific subsea cables; opening two new points-of-presence (PoPs) in the region; and upgrading many of its in-country circuits to enhance network resiliency and diversity. Telstra (News - Alert) Americas President Nicholas Collins said Telstra would: Increase bandwidth by more than 1.5 terabytes in the next six months

Open PoPs in Hillsboro, Oregon and Los Angeles, California

Upgrade in-country circuits, from bundles of 10G transit services to 100G "We've experienced incredible demand for connectivity into Asia-Pacific over the last year, as more U.S. businesses look for growth in Asia, one of the world's largest growth markets," said Nick Collins, President of Telstra, Americas. "To meet this need, ensure we deliver the best experience to our customers, and remain one of the most-trusted partners to deliver content, data and IP to and from the U.S. and Asia, we are committed to continually investing in our U.S. network infrastructure, at a time when connectivity and collaboration between the two high-growth regions continues to be important." The addition of 1.5 terabytes of capacity on multiple subsea cables from U.S. West Coast to Asia-Pacific is a direct result of increased demand from Telstra's U.S.-based customers and partners needing to carry data, content, and IP to and from Asia, especially as the world continues, in large part, to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Telstra has seen up to a 35 percent increase in traffic overall on its international netwok as well as a shift from 10G to 100G services on its trans-Pacific subsea cables. This is driven mostly by content providers, content delivery networks, and growing requirements from a range of businesses to support video, gaming, productivity, and enterprise apps as millions of people worldwide have shifted to almost solely digital interactions for work and play.



"While the COVID-19 pandemic certainly accelerated demand for bandwidth among technology and media companies, we've anticipated this growth for some time," Mr. Collins said. "That's specifically why at the beginning of our fiscal year in July 2019 we introduced a new business Technology and Media business segment in the U.S. with the goal of capitalizing on the growth potential in those industries."

The swelling of demand is particularly concentrated in areas of the U.S. with large concentrations of technology, media, content delivery and enterprise businesses, including the Pacific Northwest and Southern California. The two new PoPs in Hillsboro and Los Angeles will support increasing bandwidth requirements from organizations in the surrounding areas. This brings Telstra's total number of PoPs in the U.S. to 21, signaling an ongoing investment to support the company's sustained growth across the country. The company also recently launched PoPs in Atlanta, Seattle, Denver and Dallas and a new sales office in Chicago. To ensure U.S. network resiliency and diversity between all of Telstra's PoPs in the U.S., the company has also upgraded its backbone to include multiple new 100G transit services. About Telstra Telstra is a leading telecommunications and technology company with a proudly Australian heritage and a longstanding, growing international business. We have been operating in the Americas for over 25 years under the Telstra Enterprise division, which provides data and IP transit, internet connectivity, network application services such as unified communications and cloud, and managed services to over 500 businesses in 160 cities in the region. Our products and services are supported by one of the largest fiber optic submarine cable systems reaching Asia-Pacific and beyond, with licenses in Asia, Europe and the Americas, and access to more than 2,000 points-of-presence around the world. Through our unparalleled network reach and reliability as well as market-leading customer service and expertise, we connect businesses in the Americas to some of the world's fastest growing economies, including China, Southeast Asia, North Asia, and Australia. For more information, please visit www.telstra.com/americas. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005686/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Deadline Reminder: The Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Reminds Investors of Looming Deadline in the Class Action Lawsuit Against Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (BKD)

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith reminds investors of the upcoming August 24, 2020 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of investors who Brookdale Senior Living Inc. ("Brookdale" or the "Company") (NYSE: BKD) securities between August 10, 2016 and April 29, 2020, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors suffering losses on their Brookdale investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com. On April 30, 2020, Nashville Business Journal reported that a proposed class action lawsuit had been filed against Brookdale, accusing the Company of, among other things, purposeful "chronically insufficient staffing" at its facilities in an effort to meet financial benchmarks since at least April 24, 2016. According to the lawsuit, the Company misinformed both residents and their families in promising to provide daily living services and basic care. The lawsui also claims that the proposed class of plaintiffs "have not received the care and services they paid for."



On this news, the Company's share price fell $0.56 per share, or over 15%, over two trading sessions, to close at $3.12 per share on May 1, 2020. The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that Brookdale's financial performance was sustained by, among other things, the Company's purposeful understaffing of its senior living communities; (2) that the foregoing conduct subjected Brookdale to an increased risk of litigation and, once revealed, was foreseeably likely to have a material negative impact on the Company's financial results and reputation; (3) as a result, the Company's financial results were unsustainable; and (4) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Brookdale securities, you may move the Court no later than August 24, 2020, to ask the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff if you meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005267/en/

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[July 07, 2020] uLab Systems Announces CEO & CFO in Preparation for Aligner Launch

uLab Systems, the creator of uLab, the treatment planning software and aligner system designed for orthodontists, has announced two significant additions to their senior leadership team. Amir Abolfathi has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Nicola Downes has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer in preparation for uLab's full-scale aligner launch in September. Amir is a seasoned executive with an extensive track record launching new, disruptive products in the orthodontist space. Amir cofounded uLab Systems with Charlie Wen in 2016 with the goal of advancing the orthodontic industry with solutions that empower the orthodontist. Most recently, Amir served as the CEO of Tusker Medical, which was acquired by Smith & Nephew. Prior to that position, Amir was the CEO of Sonitus Medical and the VP of Research and Development at Align, where he helped bring the first clear aligners to market over 20 years ago. "Amir bings a significant amount of experience, both in leadership roles and in the orthodontic industry. He has the ideal background to lead uLab and to help the orthodontic community better meet the needs of their patients," said Chairman of the Board Mark Foley.



Nicola Downes further adds to the experience of the uLab leadership team. Nicola has more than 25 years of experience in finance, in both start-ups and global multimillion-dollar organizations. She served as VP Finance and then CFO of PneumRx, Inc. (acquired by BTG Plc and now Boston Scientific for $475M). Nicola was also the CFO of Autonomic Technologies Inc., where she assisted in the transition from a clinically driven company to a commercially driven company. About uLab Systems

Located in San Mateo, CA (News - Alert) , uLab Systems is led by a proven team of engineers and entrepreneurs with extensive experience bringing innovative new products to market. Its mission is to advance the orthodontic industry with digital treatment planning software and aligner products that let orthodontists take back control of their treatment plans. To learn more about uLab Systems, visit www.ulabsystems.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005012/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Top Morgan Stanley PWM Advisor Antoine Souma Joins Insigneo

Insigneo, the Miami-based Independent Broker-Dealer and RIA, has added a top Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Financial Advisor, Antoine Souma, to its ranks. Antoine is an industry veteran who, along with his team, formed Galliott Capital Advisors and joined Insigneo's network of independent advisors. Antoine and his team were referred to Insigneo by Sanctuary Wealth who collaborated on the transition. This is an important step as Insigneo continues to grow its US-based advisor network and positions itself as the true alternative for top US Financial Advisors with Global practices. Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) -based Galliott Capital Advisors is a globally oriented investment practice that represents Souma's more than two decades of highly personalized financial advising with a culturally sensitive awareness of clients' needs. The experienced team, which includes former Deutsche Bank, UBS and JPMorgan executives, adds strategic expertise in various regions to Insigneo's already wide international reach. Taking into consideration the changing digital landscape for investors, Miami-based Insigneo has set a path of rapid expansion, providing a robust platform for both U.S. and international advisors, coming from a wide variety of reputable financial institutions. Insigneo helps advisors with a state-of-the-art technology, excellent service, multi-custodian capabilities, value-added products and continuous innovation. "I was impressed by Insigneo's open platform and epertise. Their focus on my business needs and the flexibility of their platform are quite unique. I am looking forward for this partnership, and I'm very confident of delivering a uniquely customized client experience," Souma stated. "Insigneo's platform will allow us to continue expanding our global reach while enriching the lives of our clients worldwide to pursue the opportunities and goals they desire. The entire Galliott team is equally excited to work together in this new partnership."



Before launching Galliot this year, Souma was a founding member of The Souma Group at Morgan Stanley's PWM Century City branch managing over $1.4 billion of clients' wealth globally. He and his team concentrate on areas including Investment Management, Wealth Transfer & Philanthropy, Cash Management & Lending, Family Governance & Wealth Education and Lifestyle Advisory, in a discreet and culturally sensitive manner. "We are excited to welcome Antoine and the Galliott team to our family. These are top-caliber professionals with a proven track record and a fine set of loyal clients. And we are honored that they have chosen us for the next chapter of their very successful practice," said Daniel de Ontanon, CEO of Insigneo. "We feel that the flexibility and reach that our firm offers will be key for Antoine and Galliot to guide the families they serve through and past the COVID pandemic era."

Few people have lived an international life as Antoine Souma's, who was born in Lebanon, attended schools in France and the UK. Antoine holds both a BSc and a MSc. in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Before founding The Souma Group at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, Souma was Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Securities, and Vice President at Deutsche Bank and UBS Financial Services. About Insigneo Insigneo empowers Financial Advisors managing clients around the world with a comprehensive menu of services that focus on wealth management, multi-family offices and institutional services. Insigneo manages over 8 Billion in client assets with a growing list of over 150 financial advisors; serving more than 10,000 clients globally. Insigneo is an international leader for independent financial services. www.insigneo.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005735/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Reliant Launches 2020 Beat the Heat Program to Help Houstonians "Stay Cool in Your Home"

Today, Reliant was joined by City of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia to officially launch its Beat the Heat program to help residents "Stay Cool in Your Home" and avoid the summer heat while practicing social distancing. The 2020 edition of this annual program will provide residents across Houston with portable AC units, care packages, financial assistance and energy efficiency information for much-needed summer relief. "During these hot summer months, social distancing guidelines related to the COVID-19 pandemic will make it even harder for our seniors and vulnerable residents to get the help they need," said Elizabeth Killinger, president of Reliant. "For 15 years, we have welcomed our neighbors into Reliant's Beat the Heat cooling centers across the city. While this year's program looks different, we are pleased to expand our partnership with the City of Houston and provide new support for Harris County Precinct 2 through their nonprofit Precinct2gether to help even more residents stay cool while safe at home." "The COVID-19 public health crisis has changed our lives, but it will not change the city's commitment to helping Houstonians during the hot summer months. Although we won't be opening the cooling centers as usual to help keep people socially distant, I'm proud we have come up with a way to still make sure Houstonians can keep cool during the summer," said Mayor Sylvester Turner. "Staying home means also being able to stay cool in your own home. I want to thank Reliant for being a great partner as we work together to provide for our communities." How Houstonians Can Beat the Heat This Summer Reliant is bringing its annual Beat the Heat cooling centers inside Houston homes this year by providing portable air conditioning units to seniors and other vulnerable residents to "Stay Cool in Your Home." Health, safety and energy efficiency tips; energy assistance information; supplies, including a wall thermometer, mask, gloves, cooling cloths and bottled water; and important services and phone numbers will be shared, along with Zoom meeting links for activities to help keep seniors engaged. As needed, Reliant and the City of Houston will open emergency cooling centers while ensuring the appropriate social distancing and safety measures are in pace. Residents can sign up for AlertHouston notifications to be informed when emergency cooling centers are opened. For more details, visit the Beat the Heat website.



Community Assistance by Reliant In addition to kicking off this year's program, Reliant announced two donations totaling $80,000 to support seniors and vulnerable citizens across the city.

$60,000 to the Houston Health Department's Harris County Area Agency on Aging air conditioner program that will provide portable AC units to seniors to stay cool in their homes, and care packages for vulnerable residents and seniors who are participants in the department's meal programs. Harris County seniors, disabled individuals and families without means to cool their homes can call 832-393-4201 to qualify for the AC program.

$20,000 to Precinct2gether in East Harris County to provide additional portable AC units, helpful information and resources to vulnerable residents. "Over the last 3 to 4 months, my team has worked tirelessly around the clock to find ways to help our residents, especially our vulnerable communities. We've conducted numerous giveaways for masks, pet food, human food, and really ramped up our homebound meals for seniors. With the summer heat already here, I'm so proud we're able to partner with Reliant to provide yet another necessity for our seniors - air conditioning units. Being comfortable at home is a luxury many of us take for granted, so I'm happy to help provide them with some much-needed relief in these next few months," said Commissioner Adrian Garcia. Reliant is working to ensure customers across Texas have the power they need, regardless of hardships endured from COVID-19. Since 2005, Reliant and its customers have contributed more than $11 million through the CARE (Community Assistance by Reliant Energy) program for Texans who need help with summer electricity costs. The CARE program works with nonprofit social service agencies to provide funding to Reliant customers who qualify for assistance with their electricity bills. Customers who meet the agency criteria will receive assistance designed to help supplement what customers are able to pay. For anyone who needs help paying their electricity bill this summer, call 2-1-1 within Texas or visit 211texas.org. Reliant customers can also contact us directly at 1-866-222-7100 or find additional information at reliant.com/care. About Reliant Reliant powers, protects and simplifies life by bringing electricity, security and related services to homes and businesses across Texas. Serving customers and the community is at the core of what we do, and the company is recognized nationally for outstanding customer experience. Reliant is part of NRG, a Fortune 500 company that creates value by generating electricity and providing energy solutions to more than 3.7 million residential, small business and commercial customers across the U.S. and Canada. NRG's competitive residential electricity business, which includes Reliant, is one of the largest in the country. For more information about Reliant, visit reliant.com and connect with Reliant on Facebook at facebook.com/reliantenergy and Twitter (News - Alert) or Instagram @reliantenergy. PUCT Certificate #10007. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005204/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Cannae Holdings and Senator Investment Group Comment on CoreLogic's Rejection of Acquisition Proposal

Cannae Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNNE), ("Cannae") and Senator Investment Group, LP ("Senator"), which, directly or through affiliated entities, jointly own or have an economic interest equivalent to approximately 15% of the outstanding shares of CoreLogic, Inc. (NYSE: CLGX), (the "Company") today responded to CoreLogic's rejection of the group's proposal to acquire CoreLogic: "Unfortunately for all shareholders, CoreLogic has rejected our proposal without any sign of seriously considering it. While we still hope to engage constructively with the Company, we note that the list of defensive measures taken by the Board includes hiring defense advisory firms weeks ago despite public statements that they had no knowledge of our interest, raising guidance in a highly irregular evening announcement five days before the end of the quarter, refusing to engage with us, and now adopting a poison pill while summarily rejecting our proposal with the typical smokescreen of regulatory concerns and overly optimistic multi-year projections. Notably this is the same Company that for ten years enjoyed ironclad protection from acquisition offers due to a purchase right that only expired June 1st. We greatly appreciate the widespread support we have heard from shareholders, who rightfully expect the Company to initiate a sales process to maximize value. Our offer represents a compelling 37% premium above the unaffected price after which date the Company's trading volume rose over 2.6x.1 We note in the Company's release today it says it is "willing to meet" with us, however we have yet to hear back from them despite our multiple requests for a meeting. If CoreLogic elects to ignore its shareholders and instead continues with its current course of action, we will call a Special Meeting to replace the Board as early as July 28th. As for the Company's newly issued multi-year guidance and unsubstantiated references to "regulatory" concerns with our proposal, these are nothing more than misdirection. After years of poor organic growth, today's multi-year forecast implies wildly optimistic assumptions including mortgage originations well above consensus industry projections. As for "regulatory" concerns and "business overlaps", we thoroughly reviewed all potential regulatory and antitrust matters prior to making our proposal and determined that there are no material hurdles to our consummating a transaction. Further, as a demonstration of our confidence and to completely remove this distraction, we are committed to signing an acquisition agreement with a 'hell or high water' provision. Had the Board responded to our requests for a discussion, they would know that." Cannae has engaged Trasimene Capital Management, LLC as financial advisor and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as legal counsel. Senator has engaged Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP as legal counsel. CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING THE PARTICIPANTS Senator Investment Group LP, Cannae Holdings, Inc. and the other Participants (as defined below) may file a proxy statement and accompanying proxy card with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the " SEC (News - Alert) ") to be used to solicit proxies with respect to a special meeting of stockholders (the "Specal Meeting") of CoreLogic, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Company"). If the Participants file any such definitive proxy statement with the SEC, the Participants will mail such definitive proxy statement and a proxy card to each stockholder entitled to vote at the Special Meeting.



The participants in the proxy solicitation are (i) Senator Investment Group LP ("Senator"), the investment manager of the Senator Funds (as defined below), (ii) Senator Management LLC ("Senator GP"), the general partner of Senator, (iii) Senator GP LLC ("Senator GP LLC"), the general partner of SGOM (as defined below), (iv) Senator Master GP LLC ("Senator Master GP"), the general partner of SFS (as defined below), (v) Mr. Douglas Silverman ("Mr. Silverman"), the Chief Executive Officer of Senator, (vi) Senator Focused Strategies LP ("SFS"), (vii) Senator Global Opportunity Master Fund LP ("SGOM" and, together with SFS, the "Senator Funds"), (viii) Cannae Holdings, Inc. ("Cannae") and (ix) Cannae Holdings, LLC ("Cannae Holdings"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cannae (collectively, the "Participants"). THE PARTICIPANTS STRONGLY ADVISE ALL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. SUCH PROXY MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON (News - Alert) THE SEC'S WEBSITE AT WWW.SEC.GOV.

As of the date hereof, (i) SFS directly owns 2,176,190 shares of common stock, par value $0.00001 per share, of the Company (the "Common Stock"), (ii) SGOM directly owns 2,030,000 shares of Common Stock and (iii) Cannae Holdings directly owns 2,300,000 shares of Common Stock. Additionally, as of the date hereof, SFS is party to cash-settled total return swaps referencing 3,942,810 shares of Common Stock in the aggregate and total return swaps and over-the-counter forward purchase contracts referencing 1,435,000 shares of Common Stock in the aggregate. As described in the Schedule 13D filed with the SEC by Senator, Cannae and certain of their respective affiliates with respect to the Company, each of Senator, Senator GP, Senator GP LLC, Senator Master GP, Mr. Silverman, Cannae and Cannae Holdings may be deemed to have the shared power to vote or direct the vote of (and the shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of) 7,941,190 shares of Common Stock (the "Shares") and, therefore, each such Participant may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of all of the Shares. The Shares collectively represent approximately 10.0% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock based on 79,411,399 shares of Common Stock outstanding as of April 28, 2020, as reported in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 1, 2020. Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our expectations, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future financial and operating results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The risks and uncertainties which forward-looking statements are subject to include, but are not limited to: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, changes in the financial markets and changes in the conditions resulting from the outbreak of a pandemic such as the novel COVID-19 ("COVID-19"); the overall impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 and measures to curb its spread, including the effect of governmental or voluntary mitigation measures such as business shutdowns, social distancing, and stay-at-home orders; our potential inability to find suitable acquisition candidates, acquisitions in lines of business that will not necessarily be limited to our traditional areas of focus, or difficulties in integrating acquisitions; significant competition that our operating subsidiaries face; compliance with extensive government regulation of our operating subsidiaries; risks associated with our split-off from Fidelity National Financial, Inc., including limitations on our strategic and operating flexibility related to the tax-free nature of the split-off and the Investment Company Act of 1940; and risks and uncertainties related to the success of our externalization. This press release should be read in conjunction with the risks detailed in the "Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information," "Risk Factors" and other sections of Cannae's Form 10-Q,10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 1 Referencing June 15, 2020 closing price of $47.57. Given our substantial equity stake in the Company and the fact that we have regularly been in excess of 20% of the trading volume, we have undoubtedly had a significant positive impact on the stock price. Market speculation around the Company picked up notably after June 15 as evidenced by Gordon Haskett Research Advisors publishing notes on June 16 and on June 17th speculating about the volume and share price movements. From June 15th to June 25th, the Company's trading volume has risen more than 2.6x while peer volumes were flat, and the Company's stock price has increased 13% vs. peers. Furthermore, in the weeks preceding the publication of our bid Cannae has been regularly approached by investors inquiring whether an acquisition of CoreLogic, Inc. was imminent. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005768/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Accusoft Partners with TEAM Informatics on M-Connect for M-Files

TAMPA, Fla., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TEAM Informatics is developing a new product called M-Connect, which leverages Accusoft's PrizmDoc Viewer. M-Connect extends and enhances the capabilities of the M-Files Intelligent Information Management platform. As part of M-Connect's functionality, TEAM Informatics needed to provide the ability for users to access, view, collaborate, and search information within different document formats. They needed to control access to the documents, audit changes, and support a wide range of file formats in a web interface. "Accusoft has been a true partner through several TEAM product development initiatives," said Volker Schaberg, Chief Operating Officer at TEAM Informatics. "PrizmDoc Viewer does a great job of delivering this vital viewer functionality." TEAM Informatics has ben a partner of M-Files for a number of years and has developed several add-ons and includes these in many successful customer deployments globally.



"Accusoft is proud to partner with TEAM Informatics. We're happy to integrate our HTML5 document viewer into M-Connect to help M-Files users around the world," comments Megan Brooks, VP of Marketing at Accusoft. Together, the partners plan to launch M-Connect July 8, 2020.

About TEAM Informatics: TEAM is a global System Integrator, specializing in Intelligent Information Management (IIM) systems. Established more than 20 years ago and operating in the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand, TEAM has deep and broad expertise in IIM, offering Advisory, Implementation and Managed Support Services. TEAM has also built a suite of content services that extend these platforms to produce unique solutions such as automatic redaction, auto-classification, eSignature, and records management. Partnerships with M-Files, Oracle, Syl Search, Elasticsearch, HelloSign and many more bring TEAM to the forefront of an all-in-one enterprise content solution provider. Find out more at www.teamim.com . About Accusoft: Founded in 1991, Accusoft is a software development company specializing in content processing, conversion, and automation solutions. From out-of-the-box and configurable applications to APIs built for developers, Accusoft software enables users to solve their most complex workflow challenges and gain insights from content in any format, on any device. Backed by 40 patents, the company's flagship products, including OnTask, PrizmDoc Viewer, and ImageGear, are designed to improve productivity, provide actionable data, and deliver results that matter. The Accusoft team is dedicated to continuous innovation through customer-centric product development, new version release, and a passion for understanding industry trends that drive consumer demand. Visit us at www.accusoft.com .

CONTACT:

Megan Brooks

VP of Marketing

4001 N Riverside Drive

Tampa, Florida 33603

+1 (813) 875-7575

marketing@accusoft.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/accusoft-partners-with-team-informatics-on-m-connect-for-m-files-301089300.html SOURCE Accusoft

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas discussed Syria's humanitarian aid needs in a telephone call on Tuesday.

They discussed "the vital need to provide humanitarian assistance to all Syrians throughout the country without politicisation, discrimination or preconditions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Short link:


We have no idea what the long-term effect of this will be. This is not your usual virus that goes away, Alonso said. Its not a common cold. This virus has consequences to the body, and we have no idea what those consequences are going to be going forward.
[July 07, 2020] WISI Communications Launches 10G MicroPlug OLT Transceivers Powered by Tibit Communications

PETALUMA, Calif., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WISI Communications, a leading international technology developer based in Germany, is announcing the general availability of 10G SFP+ transceivers for 10G EPON and XGS-PON applications, developed by Tibit Communications. The revolutionary OLT solution embedded in a transceiver can plug directly into a remote node or Ethernet switch with SFP+ ports, making it ideal as an overlay technology or for new network builds. The MicroPlugTM OLT offers a cost-effective, scalable alternative to dedicated OLT equipment. It requires less space and power than any other OLT product, and its modular and remote management capabilities make it an ideal fit for virtualized PON (vPON) solutions and software-defined networking (SDN) implementations. The OLT and open-architecture management solution is uniquely designed to interoperate with a 3rd party ONUs to allow flexible, cost-effective pairing with a wide range of customer premise equipment. This interoperability includes pairing with Ethernet-pluggable ONU solutions for a plug-and-play PON deployment without manual provisioning and SLA configuration. This solution enables service providers to deploy high-bandwidth services in an agile, elastic, and dynamic way. "PON should be much simpler to deploy than it is today." said Richard Stanfield, CEO of Tibit Communications. "With WISI Communications as a strategic partner we will simplify the deployment and operation of next generation xPON networks. As a company with a 90-year history in communications, WISI has been one of the world's pioneers in broadband technology. This makes them the ideal prtner for the innovative 10G MicroPlugTM OLT Transceiver."



"WISI Communications is excited to partner with Tibit Communications to bring the market leading Pluggable 10G OLT / ONU MicroPlug to the European market," said Axel Sihn, Managing Director of WISI Gruppe. "The ability to flexibly deploy 10G PON technology, with WISI Communications' history of innovation and support, will simplify and accelerate 10G PON for FTTX deployments." About WISI Communications:

WISI employs 600 people globally with sites in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Bulgaria, UAE, Canada and China. In addition, WISI co-operates with more than 100 partners in all important international markets. Nine decades ago, the successful journey of this high-tech company started as one of the world's pioneers in RF and broadband technology. Today, new media drives the rapidly increasing demand for broadband services. Modern broadband networks need to be smart, powerful and scalable transport solutions. This is our business. As innovator and technology integrator for the key areas of communication we are committed to innovation, now and in the future. For additional information about WISI Communications visit https://www.wisi.de/en/wisi-group/ About Tibit Communications: Founded in 2014, Tibit Communications has introduced a fundamental change to the architecture and economics of PON solutions, which has been mostly constrained to proprietary, chassis-mounted architectures available from only a few global vendors. Tibit's MicroPlug OLT is the world's first pluggable OLT. The standard-based SFP+ form factor allows their device to plug into almost any 10G switch port, greatly expanding architecture options for carriers. All this is enabled by the Tibit bridge ASIC, the world's smallest and lowest power 10G OLT chipset, which supports a rich feature set across both ITU-T and IEEE 10G PON standards. PON should be much simpler to deploy than it is today. Watch for more news from Tibit in 2020 on how we're making that happen: info@tibitcom.com. Media Relations Contact Thomas Fuchs (fuchs media consult GmbH)

Tel.: + 49 2261 994 2395

Email: tfuchs@fuchsmc.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wisi-communications-launches-10g-microplug-olt-transceivers-powered-by-tibit-communications-301088919.html SOURCE Tibit Communications

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[July 07, 2020] Universal Robots Launches America's Largest Virtual Collaborative Robot Expo and Conference

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that resilient businesses-those that can emerge with plans for growth-share common traits. These companies can react quickly and decisively to protect workers while keeping business running, adapting processes and product lines, with many manufacturers now increasingly using collaborative robots to make those changes efficiently and cost-effectively. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005780/en/ The Cobot Expo is free to attend and open to anyone with an interest in collaborative robotics. The Expo is a unique and timely opportunity to visit more than 30 different booths, attend insightful keynotes, engage in interactive QAs, and live chat with automation experts. (Photo: Business Wire) "The crisis has accelerated the need for flexible automation," says Joe Campbell, senior manager of applications development with Universal Robots. "We're seeing an uptick in interest for collaborative robots due to social distancing requirements, reshoring to avoid long supply chains, and the need for rapid production line change-overs. The Cobot Expo is a timely opportunity to showcase and discuss how cobots can play a pivotal role in helping manufacturers successfully navigate the pandemic." The Cobot Expo is free to attend and is open for anyone with an interest in collaborative robotics, July 28-30, 9am-4pm EDT. Attendees are invited to visit booths that feature new insights and resources on the most common cobot applications such as machine tending, packaging and palletizing, product inspection, assembly, welding, dispensing, and finishing. Joining this lineup is ActiNav, the world's first autonomous bin picking kit for machine tending launched by Universal Robots this spring. Each application booth will be staffed with automation experts ready to engage in 1:1 conversation with attendees.



For expo visitors wondering how to get started with collaborative robots, numerous keynotes with live QAs will offer insights on critical topics such as how to identify good projects, choosing the right cobot model and peripherals, conducting risk assessment, whether to take a DIY approach or go with an integrator, and much more. The agenda also has presentations on cobot maintenance and programming and the many new ways cobots are quickly being deployed to address the COVID-19 crisis, including area disinfection, the manufacturing of test kits, face shields and ventilators, and in the handling of COVID-19 tests, protecting hospital staff from exposure. The Cobot Expo is also an unrivaled opportunity to meet the many UR+ partners presenting the industry's largest and most comprehensive ecosystem of new products certified to integrate seamlessly with the UR cobots. The rapidly expanding UR+ platform now includes over 250 UR+ components and application kits with more than 400 approved commercial developer companies in the UR+ program.

The UR+ partner booths include: ATI Industrial Automation, Energid, Flexibowl, Flexxbotics, Hexagon, Mircopsi/Nvidia, New Scale Robotics, OnRobot, Piab, Robotiq, Schmalz, Schunk, SMC, Vectis, Vention, VersaBuilt, Visumatic, Wiretank, and Zimmer. Alongside the UR+ partners will be booths hosted by Association for Advancing Automation (A3) and OEM partners showcasing products powered by UR cobots. The OEM partners include: Columbia Okura/Rocketfarm, Computech, Hirebotics, IRIS, Melton Machine, ONExia, and ProCobots/Easy Robotics. "With tradeshows and conferences cancelled, we are experiencing phenomenal interest from all industry stakeholders in participating in the Cobot Expo," says UR's Joe Campbell. "This truly is an extraordinary opportunity for an extraordinary time." The Cobot Expo is now open for registration at: urrobots.com/ExpoEntry Press kit with images of the Cobot Expo available here:

urrobots.com/ExpoPressKit About Universal Robots Universal Robots (UR) was founded in 2005 to make robot technology accessible to all by developing small, user-friendly, reasonably priced, flexible collaborative robots (cobots) that are safe to work side by side with people. Since the first cobot was launched in 2008, the company has experienced considerable growth with the user-friendly cobot now sold worldwide. The company, which is a part of Teradyne (News - Alert) Inc., is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, and has regional offices in the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Turkey, China, India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico. In 2019, Universal Robots had a revenue of USD 248 million. For more information, please visit www.universal-robots.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005780/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Habitat for Humanity of Greater Jonesboro Receives $57,000 in Grants

Seven banks have joined the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) to provide $57,000 in Partnership Grant Program ( PGP (News - Alert) ) funds to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Jonesboro. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005810/en/ Habitat for Humanity of Greater Jonesboro Micheal Sullivan said $57,000 in PGP funds will help offset administration and operational expenses. (Photo: Business Wire) PGP grants help qualified nonprofit organizations fund a variety of administrative activities that are critical to serving their communities. The following banks provided funding: Arvest Bank, BancorpSouth Bank, Centennial Bank, First Community Bank, First Security Bank, IBERIABANK and Simmons Bank. Habitat for Humanity of Greater Jonesboro builds new homes and rehabs existing homes to eliminate substandard housing conditions in the Greater Jonesboro area. It plans to use the PGP funds to offset administration and operational expenses, and it may hire another full-time employee. The nonprofit currently has one full-time employee - Director Micheal Sullivan - and three part-time staff members. "Due to COVID-19, these funds will als help make up lost revenue from our ReStore sales, fundraisers and individual giving," Mr. Sullivan said. "We'll be able to grow and serve more individuals and families because of the generous donations from these seven banks and FHLB Dallas."



Funding under FHLB Dallas' PGP was increased by $2 million in 2020 under FHLB Dallas' COVID-19 Relief Program to support community-based organizations (CBOs) involved in affordable housing activities, stimulating small business development or providing small businesses with technical assistance. The use of funds for these organizations was expanded to include COVID-19 relief. Through this unique grant program, FHLB Dallas member institutions contribute from $500 to $6,000 to a CBO, which FHLB Dallas matches at a new, higher 5:1 ratio (compared to the previous 3:1 ratio) resulting in a match of up to $30,000. If multiple member institutions contribute to the same CBO in one year, the maximum FHLB Dallas match for those member contributions is $60,000 per year. In both cases, the total grant to the CBO would be the sum of the member contributions plus the FHLB Dallas match. Grants are awarded annually through FHLB Dallas and its member institutions.

See the complete list of the 2020 PGP grant recipients. For more information about the 2020 PGP grants and other FHLB Dallas community investment products and programs, please visit fhlb.com/pgp. Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas, said Habitat for Humanity of Greater Jonesboro has served the community since 1992 and during that time has built 21 new homes and renovated several existing homes. "It's wonderful to see how seven of our member institutions combined their giving to make an impressive impact on a community organization that has a history of addressing affordable housing needs in the region," Mr. Hettrick said. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $83.8 billion as of March 31, 2020 is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 805 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005810/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Guru App for Microsoft Teams: Keeping You Connected, Engaged, and Aligned

PHILADELPHIA, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Guru, the collaborative knowledge management solution where answers find you, today announced its new Guru App for Microsoft Teams. With the Guru app, Teams users can search and share knowledge directly in the Teams interface, staying aligned and engaged. "One of our founding product principles at Guru is 'live where you work.' As more and more of our customers look to Microsoft to solve their messaging needs, we wanted to enable our users with the ability to surface contextual knowledge within Microsoft Teams," said Diane Ruth, VP of Ecosystem at Guru. "We're very excited to help Microsoft customers solve their collaboration needs." Teams users can now search for and share Guru knowledge, verify the accuracy of knowledge, receive important notifications, and collaborate directly on knowledgeall without leaving the Teams chat interface. With Guru and Teams, you can keep your teams connected, engaged, and aligned like never before. "Organizations are increasingly looking to be connected across distributed teams, and collaborate using a foundation of shared knowledge. With Guru's add-in for Microsoft Outlok and now the Guru App for Microsoft Teams, we're pleased to help our joint customers collaborate more quickly and easily," said Mike Ammerlaan, Director of Microsoft 365 Ecosystem marketing at Microsoft Corp.



Learn more about Guru's app for Teams and get started for free . About Guru

Guru is the collaborative knowledge management solution behind the next generation of knowledge workers. With hundreds of customers including leading enterprises such as Shopify, Square, and Zoom, Guru is reshaping the way teams create, find, and share institutional knowledge to deliver delightful customer experiences. Founded by enterprise software veterans Rick Nucci and Mitchell Stewart, Guru has offices in Philadelphia, PA, and San Francisco, CA, and is backed by leading venture capital firms Accel Partners, Thrive Capital, Emergence Capital, and FirstMark Capital, with additional funding from the Slack Fund and Michael Dell's MSD Capital. Learn more at www.getguru.com or follow @Guru_HQ on Twitter. Contact: Steven Mayernick, smayernick@getguru.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/guru-app-for-microsoft-teams-keeping-you-connected-engaged-and-aligned-301089408.html SOURCE Guru Technologies

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[July 07, 2020] IGEL First to Deliver Microsoft Teams Optimization with Citrix Workspace App Linux Client

SAN FRANCISCO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IGEL, provider of the next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces, today announced that IGEL OS is first to deliver Microsoft Teams optimization with the Citrix Workspace App Linux Client. Ideal for remote and distributed workforces, the combined solution of IGEL OS, Microsoft Teams and Citrix Workspace App empowers users with immersive, high-fidelity calling, online meetings, chat and collaboration directly from their Citrix virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) workspace. "With so many of today's digital workers working from home, Microsoft Teams has seen a tremendous increase in users  reporting over 75 million daily active users at the end of April," said Simon Townsend, CMO, IGEL. "Many of these users work via a Citrix VDI workspace. Now, with IGEL's expanded optimization of Microsoft Teams, these people can receive the crystal-clear voice, audio, and webcam experience they expect via their VDI or cloud endpoint, anywhere and anytime they want to work." "This fuels the collaboration for a remote and distributed workforce by simply enabling IGEL Linux-based end points with access to a full Windows desktop loaded with Microsoft Teams," said Pratik Vijay Shah, Director of Product Management, Citrix. "Supported on devices with x64 architecture platforms, like IGEL OS driven endpoints, this functionality has been highly sought after by admins. Because Microsoft Teams is optimized for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, you can expect call quality to be as high as if it were running natively on the endpoint." The brilliant, high-fidelity performance of this combined solution is enabled in part by "offloading" much of the multimedia processing to the Linux based IGEL-OS powered endpoint within the VDI or cloud session. Availablenow, IGEL OS offers this full offloading support for Microsoft Teams within Citrix VDI via Citrix Workspace App 2006.



IGEL OS is purpose-built for enterprise access to virtual environments. Built on a highly secure Linux distribution, it can run on any compatible x86-64 device to help protect organizations' hardware investments. Supporting more remote display protocols and attached peripheral devices than any alternative solution, IGEL OS is purpose-built for enterprise access to virtual environments of all types. This announcement extends IGEL's support for Microsoft Teams which can be run both natively on IGEL OS and/or offloaded in a Citrix environment as discussed above. For more information visit: https://www.igel.com/msteams. IGEL on Social Media

Twitter: www.twitter.com/IGEL_Technology

Facebook: www.facebook.com/igel.technology

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/igel-technology

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/IGELTechnologyTV

IGEL Community: www.igel.com/community

About IGEL

IGEL provides the next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces. The company's world-leading software products include IGEL OS, IGEL UD Pocket (UDP) and IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS). These solutions comprise a more secure, manageable and cost-effective endpoint management and control platform across nearly any x86-64 device. Easily acquired via just two feature-rich software offerings,  Workspace Edition and Enterprise Management Pack  IGEL software presents outstanding value per investment. Additionally, IGEL's German engineered endpoint solutions deliver the industry's best hardware warranty (5 years), software maintenance (3 years after end of life) and management functionality. IGEL enables enterprises to save vast amounts of money by extending the useful life of their existing endpoint devices while precisely controlling all devices running IGEL OS from a single dashboard interface. IGEL has offices worldwide and is represented by partners in over 50 countries. For more information on IGEL, visit http://www.igel.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/igel-first-to-deliver-microsoft-teams-optimization-with-citrix-workspace-app-linux-client-301089423.html SOURCE IGEL

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[July 07, 2020] Academic Research Moms Group Launches Scholarship Fund In Partnership with The HBCU Foundation & Meharry Medical College

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of women scientists in medical research and academics aptly named Academic Research Moms, or "ARM", decided to act in support of Black science and medical students by creating an ongoing fund jointly-managed by The HBCU Foundation and Meharry Medical College, that has already raised over $30,000 - earmarked to support graduate and postgraduate level HBCU (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) women in STEM (Science, Technology Engineering & Mathematics) studies. What started out as a small group of friends and colleagues has grown into an international network of over 2,600 women from around the world who provide professional & emotional support to one another, present work, share information, and provide each other with advice and consolation. With the renewed focus on the Black Lives Matter movement and increasing visibility of systemic racism, conversations within the group turned to current issues, and the additional burdens faced by black women and mothers in STEM fields: a minority within a minority. "We are grateful to The HBCU Foundation for offering us a place to establish these funds and for generously agreeing to expand the scope of their critical work supporting Black scholars to include post-undergraduate STEM trainees who are also mothers. Representation matters in the type of health-based research questions we choose, in the type of medical care that patients receive and in building mentorship for future generations," said a group spokesperson. "HBCUs have the most successful metric for producing Black doctors and scientists thus, by supporting medical and research trainee women through The HBCU Foundation we believe that more Black women will become leaders of research and medicine in ouracademic research institutions."



The Gofundme page for "The ARM Fund for Medical and Research Trainee Moms" can be found here, and donations are welcome. "We decided it was time to act on our shared experiences and a member of our group took the initiative to draw on our power and numbers to financially support Black science and medicine trainees with childcare. Collectively we are aware of how challenging it is to mother while in training, and our goal is to lift these women up during this challenging time."

On the significance of the efforts of groups like Academic Research Moms, The HBCU Foundation's CEO, Daniel Moss offered, "The rigors of post-undergraduate studies are already stressful enough for any student, however, coupled with the endless responsibilities and demands of parenthood and against the backdrop of a global health crisis, the path to completion of a post-undergrad degree for many of our Black mothers can seem doubly so. Our collaboration with Academic Research Moms and Meharry Medical College seeks to alleviate at least a portion of the heavy financial burden many of our student-moms face and get some of our brightest minds to and through training. We're very pleased to find that more and more individuals and organizations are passionately following the lead of groups like ARM and are initiating similar giving and volunteer campaigns on behalf of our students. We'd love to hear from them and share their stories." The HBCU Foundation is a nationally focused, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, whose aim is to provide scholarship aid to deserving students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The HBCU Foundation also partners with top organizations and institutions to create robust diversity recruiting programs targeting African American professional and student talent. To learn more, visit: www.thehbcufoundation.org Meharry Medical College was founded just 11 years after the end of the Civil War with the mission of educating African Americans to serve the underserved. Today, the nation's largest private, historically black academic health sciences center has trained thousands of health care professionals. Three out of every four Meharrians return to urban or rural communities to serve others by providing medical or dental services. For more about Meharry medical College, visit: www.mmc.edu View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/academic-research-moms-group-launches-scholarship-fund-in-partnership-with-the-hbcu-foundation--meharry-medical-college-301089428.html SOURCE The HBCU Foundation

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[July 07, 2020] Annual Raise Awards Open for Nominations

INDIANAPOLIS, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OneCause , a leader in mobile and social fundraising, announced it is accepting nominations for the 2020 Raise Awards . The annual awards celebrate individual fundraisers and nonprofit organizations who are shaping the future of fundraising with innovative ideas and impactful results. "Every day we hear incredible stories about how our nonprofit customers are shaping the future of fundraising  especially during COVID-19, as nonprofits need to find innovative ways to continue fundraising," said Steve Johns, chief executive officer for OneCause. "The Raise Awards is our opportunity to recognize those who exemplify the passion, innovation, and resilience of a true Fearless Fundraiser. We're eager to honor these individuals and organizations as well as their missions." The annual awards recognize nonprofit achievement in the following categories: Innovative Nonprofit of the Year: Recognizing innovation and creativity in fundraising by organizations who are thinking outside the box and implementing new ideas.





Recognizing innovation and creativity in fundraising by organizations who are thinking outside the box and implementing new ideas. Storyteller of the Year: Recognizing excellence in communicating purpose and vision through branding, narrative, and promotion that informs the mind and moves the heart.





Recognizing excellence in communicating purpose and vision through branding, narrative, and promotion that informs the mind and moves the heart. Fundraisers of the Year: Recognizing individuals who live out the organization's mission, are dedicated to the donor experience, and always give 100 percent to the cause. "I was amazed when I received the 2019 Fundraisers of the Year Award. I never thought I was doing anything that deserved such an honorI was just doing my job and wanted to help my people," said Alma Seda, executive director of March of Dimes Puerto Rico. "It made it all the more special to be surrounded by fellow fundraisers and highlight the good we all can do for the betterment of others. I'll never forget the inspiration in the room that day."



"It was my sincerest honor to receive the 2019 Fundraiser of the Year Raise Award. The recognition for the tireless efforts my team and I put forth was truly appreciated. Personally, the award was made that much more special in that it was determined by my peers in this wonderful unselfish vocation we have all chose," said Andy Stein, founder and executive chairman of Orphaned Starfish Foundation. "For our organization, this award signified the trust that so many have put, and continue to put, in our dedication and determination to help the most vulnerable children we serve and love throughout the world." Last year's Raise Awards recognized the Innovative Nonprofit of the Year: Children's Cancer Research Fund; Storyteller of the Year: Morning Light; and Fundraisers of the Year: Alma Seda with March of Dimes in Puerto Rico; Gwen Mysiak with P.U.N.T. Foundation, and Andrew Stein with Orphaned Starfish Foundation.

Nomination Process Award nominations are being accepted online through July 31 at: www.onecause.com/raise/awards/. The Raise Awards are open to both individual fundraisers and nonprofits. Applicants need not be OneCause customers to apply. Submissions should focus on specific achievements, campaigns, and events from the last 12 months. All entries will be reviewed by a committee of past award winners, nonprofit fundraising professionals, and industry experts. Award winners will be announced at the Virtual Raise 2020 conference , September 14-15. In addition to the award recognition, winners receive a cash donation to their mission on behalf of OneCause. About OneCause

OneCause creates user-friendly fundraising software that helps nonprofits engage donors, raise more money and save valuable time and resources. Our full suite of cloud-based fundraising solutions has powered 6,000 organizations, well over 20,000 fundraising events, and helped nonprofits raise more than $2 billion. OneCause has been recognized on the Inc. 500 list of Fastest Growing Companies, is a TechPoint MIRA award winner for Mobile Technology Excellence & Innovation, and is a nine-time Stevie Award winner for excellence and innovation in Customer Service. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/annual-raise-awards-open-for-nominations-301089441.html SOURCE OneCause

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[July 07, 2020] Gong Named One of America's Most Promising AI Companies by Forbes

SAN FRANCISCO, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gong, the revenue intelligence platform leveraging artificial intelligence to replace opinions with true customer reality, today announced that it has been named to the Forbes AI 50 list , recognizing the most promising privately held companies that use artificial intelligence to help businesses. Gong software records sales organizations' interactions with customers and prospects  via email, phone calls, web conference calls and more  and uses proprietary AI technology to analyze that data. The software then reveals insights that aid sales teams, executives and others. These insights can include tactics that differentiate top-rated salespeople from others, which deals have the best chances of closing and, for deals that are in danger, proven actions to get them back on track. Gong software goes beyond the word searches and supervised learning typically found in AI software. The company was recently awarded a U.S. patent for technology that helps understand topics in customer conversations. Company officials believe this is just the beginning of a much broader product road map.



"This award is important because it recognizes AI technology that benefits companies -- specifically, Gong's 1,000-plus customers -- in concrete ways," said Eilon Reshef, chief product officer of Gong. "AI has advanced to the point where it makes sales and marketing teams, product organizations and executives more productive and effective. This technology will only get better." The AI 50 list was developed by Forbes in partnership with venture firms Sequoia Capital and Meritech Capital. Some 400 privately held U.S. companies were evaluated for their work in machine learning, natural language processing or computer vision, from which the 50 final companies were selected.

To learn more about Gong's latest and greatest product developments, attend Celebrate Online - Unstoppable . Details about Gong's product can be found here . About Gong

Gong enables revenue teams to realize their fullest potential by unveiling their customer reality. The patented Gong Revenue Intelligence Platform captures and understands every customer interaction, then delivers insights at scale, empowering revenue teams to make decisions based on data instead of opinions. Over 1,000 innovative companies like AutoDesk, Service Titan, KeepTruckin, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Hubspot, and Drift trust Gong to power their customer reality. With Gong, customers experience improved win rates, increased deal sizes, and accelerated employee ramp-times. Gong is a private company headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.gong.io or follow us on LinkedIn. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gong-named-one-of-americas-most-promising-ai-companies-by-forbes-301089442.html SOURCE Gong

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[July 07, 2020] Levio strengthens its leading position in digital transformation - Jean Royer and Benoit Boivin join the management team

QUEBEC CITY, July 7, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Levio, a leader in digital transformation, announces the appointment of Mr. Jean Royer and Mr. Benoit Boivin as managing partners to support the development and growth of the organization. Mr. Jean Royer, a well-known member of the financial community, joined the organization on Monday as head of the company's expansion through mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Benoit Boivin, a renowned senior civil servant, will further develop the service offering in digital transformation and develop the business strategy with major clients. He will join the company at the end of August. With a long and extensive professional experience, these managers will bring tremendous value to Levio's business development. The Quebec-based firm, which is ranked 2nd among the fastest growing Canadian companies according to the Canadian Business 2019 Growth500 ranking, will use their expertise to support Levio in the implementation of its growth and development strategy and to reinforce its position as a leader in digital transformation and business and technology consulting in North America. Mr. Royer, with his vast experience in financing and corporate mergers and acquisitions, will be an important asset in supporting Levio's growth and development strategy across the continent. Given the fragmented nature of the IT services market, Levio wants to take this opportunity to act as a consolidator. Building on his 30-year career as Chief Financial Officer and Investment Banker in the financial services and marketing communications sector, Mr. Jean Royer will be one of the key players in achieving these ambitions. Mr. Benoit Boivin was involved in the implementation of the Government's IT Strategy (Strategie gouvernementale en RI, Renover l'Etat par les technologies de l'information) and has a keen knowledge of technologies. Through his career as a senior civil servant and his expertise in the development of structuring actions, Mr. Benoit Boivin will be a major player in building an increasingly reevant service offering, thus participating in the evolution of Levio's digital strategy.



Quotes "We are proud to welcome Jean Royer and Benoit Boivin to our management team. With their vast professional experience, these two renowned leaders will be major assets in consolidating Levio's position as a leading company in digital transformation and business and technology consulting in North America."

- Francois Dion, president and CEO of Levio "After many years of holding various responsibilities in all aspects of corporate finance, strategic planning and governance, I felt the need to reconnect with the entrepreneurial landscape. I am therefore pleased to partner with Levio, a team of experienced and passionate entrepreneurs who are determined to further build a leader in their field. The development of a leading company such as Levio is very exciting, especially since the business plan is essentially focused on growth. I found Levio to be an exciting new challenge." - Jean Royer, Partner, Mergers and Acquisitions "The contribution of information technology to organizational performance and transformation has always been my main motivation. My association with Levio gives me the opportunity to work in a company that is driven by the same objective. Moreover, being able to contribute to Levio's growth along with an ambitious team is very motivating." - Benoit Boivin, Partner, Strategies and Business Development Jean Royer Biography

Throughout his career, Mr. Jean Royer has assumed varied and growing responsibilities including leadership of the finance function, mergers and acquisitions transactions, public and private financing, corporate actuarial, reinsurance, investments, strategic planning, corporate governance, financial communications, information systems, risk management and pension funds. Prior to joining Levio, Mr. Jean Royer held the position of Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer, at Desjardins General Insurance and Financial Corporation from 2010 to 2020. Benoit Boivin Biography

With a degree in management and management information technology, Mr. Benoit Boivin has held various management positions in information technology, both for the public service and in private institutions. He was responsible for the Sous-secretariat du dirigeant principal de l'information from 2013 to 2019, before being appointed Chief Information Officer at the Secretariat du Conseil du tresor, Government of Quebec (2016-2019). Among his key accomplishments as a senior public servant is his contribution to building an engaged and dynamic community of information technology stakeholders. He has also helped develop structuring actions to support the leading role that information technology must play within organizations. About Levio

Levio is a consulting firm in the field of information technology and management of organizations. The company specializes in remedial, high risk, and complex enterprise IT and Digital Transformation projects. For the past 6 years, Levio has built its reputation on an outstanding team of consultants delivering large-scale solutions that take advantage of new technologies to help its clients achieve greater efficiency and profitability. For 6 years , Levio has built its reputation on an outstanding team of consultants who deliver large-scale solutions that take advantage of new technologies to help its clients gain in efficiency and profitability. Levio now has over 800 advisors in its offices in Quebec City, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Toronto, Chicago, Phoenix and Rabat. For more information, visit the website http://www.levioconsulting.com. Facebook @levioconseils; Instagram @Levio_conseils; LinkedIn @levio SOURCE Levio

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[July 07, 2020] Punchey Announces new MultiMedia Messaging Capability and Google Calendar Sync

MIAMI, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Punchey, Inc, the leading cloud-based payment and POS system for consumer facing businesses, today announced the introduction of MultiMedia Messaging on its platform. Punchey will be making the MMS capability available on all of their industry specific brands, including DetailPro and TattooPro . "Our team has worked very hard on this capability and we expect existing and prospective customers to greatly benefit from this feature as it is designed to increase engagement and overall consumer satisfaction," said Kunal Mehta, CEO of Punchey. "We have also introduced a Google calendar sync to our software brands, this capabilitywill make it easier for our customers to keep organized and make their businesses more efficient," continued Mr. Mehta.





Panos Stavrinides, Punchey's lead engineer stated "With our MMS release, users can now send and receive images and short videos along with their text messages to and from clients. These messages go into the client's records for future reference. The client's phone number is all that is needed now to send them a quick picture. Clients can send updates of their records directly from their phone." About Punchey, Inc Punchey, through its software in a box solutions, is the leading cloud-based point of sale system for businesses of any size and scale. For details on Punchey's flexible and scalable business solutions visit www.punchey.com Media Contact: info@punchey.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/punchey-announces-new-multimedia-messaging-capability-and-google-calendar-sync-301089490.html SOURCE Punchey, Inc

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Detectives said the victims, who range in age from 18 to 90, received calls from people posing as law enforcement. Police said that some of the calls had been spoofed, meaning the Caller ID appeared to show the call was from the Delray Beach Police Department. Each of the victims said the caller spoke with an accent.
[July 07, 2020] INTERalliance Creates a Virtual IT Camp Experience for Local Students

CINCINNATI, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati is accepting applications for the 2020 High School IT Careers Camp. This program, open to ALL high school students, allows students to learn from experienced professionals, interact with university professors, learn about topics as varied as software development and cybersecurity, and create a full-scale presentation at the end of the session.

In response to the COVID-19 restrictions, IT Career Camps will be interactive online this year. Students will be grouped virtually and will receive materials before the sessions start. Campers will still have plenty of interaction with companies, professors, and professionals, as well as opportunities to network remotely with peers. The first session, Gaming and Design Camp, runs from July 13th to the 17th, and is hosted by Mount St. Joseph and Miami University. The second session, IT Camp, runs from July 20th to the 24th, and will be hosted by Xavier University and Northern Kentucky University. Throughout the week, campers will interact with local companies and their hosting universities to learn about their culture and careers and explore their chosen theme. At the end of the week, parents are invited to the final presentation and awardsceremony. Sponsoring companies include Fifth Third, GE, Great American, Kroger Technology, P&G, Western & Southern, FIS, NKU, Miami University, Xavier University and more!



Students must pay $100 per session to attend, and the deadline to apply is July 10th. If students choose to attend both sessions, the cost will be discounted from $200 to $175. Camps are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. For scholarship questions or more information, visit www.interalliance.org . Beyond the regular IT Careers Camp offering, INTERalliance has also partnered with the Greater Cincinnati YMCA and the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative to host IT Day Camps throughout the summer. Twice a week, over 200 local students (ages 6-8 and 9-12) from five YMCA locations receive interactive virtual instruction to encourage interest in STEM. Hands-on activities range from lessons about algorithms to career presentations from sponsoring companies.

About the INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati: INTERalliance is a Cincinnati based non-profit that executes as a cooperation between business and educators -- working together to identify, nurture, train, employ, and retain the area's best IT talent. Beyond the IT Careers Camp, INTERalliance delivers TechOlympics, the nations largest technology conference for high school students, led by high school students. More information on IT Careers Camps, TechOlympics, and the other INTERalliance programs offered can be found at www.interalliance.org . Member companies of the INTERalliance include The Kroger Co., Procter & Gamble, Great American Insurance, Worldpay, GE, Vora Technologies, Fifth Third Bank, and Western & Southern Financial Group, among many others. Contact Information INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati Phone: 513-415-7707 heather.ackels@interalliance.org

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[July 07, 2020] Cymatic Wins Top Prize in the 2020 Fortress Cyber Security Awards

Cymatic today announced that the Business Intelligence Group awarded it top honors for application security in the 2020 Fortress Cyber Security Awards. The awards program identifies and rewards the world's leading companies and products that are working to keep data and electronic assets safe among a growing threat from hackers. Cymatic's next-generation client-side web application firewall, CymaticONE, is the only WAF solution that combines client-side WAF defenses with proprietary vulnerability, awareness, detection, and response (VADR) features to deliver instant and continuous in-session intelligence around devices, users, and locations. The platform debuted just 10 months ago and continues to gain accolades and recognition from dozens of prestigious industry and peer awards for excellence and innovation in cybersecurity. "As our reliance on networks continues to evolve, our identities and data have quickly become global currency, so security is more important than ever," said Maria Jimenez, chief nominations officer at the Business Intelligence Group. "We are proud to recognize all of our winners and finalists who are on the frontlines of the effort to prepare, defend and respond to this growing threat." CymaticONE is designed for speed, scale, and simplicity, deploying at the client with a single line of JavaScript and providing live, in-session streaming intelligence to combat growing attack vectors such as Magecart, cross-site scripting (XSS), code-injection attacks, session hijacking, account takeover, credential stuffing, bot attacks, poor user security hygiene, and more. The solution integrates with active security architectures and easily plugs into existing policy enforcement protocols.



"We are proud to be recognized as a top global innovator by the Business Intelligence Group," said Jason Hollander, Cymatic founder and chief executive. "We give our customers the power and control to assess and mitigate risk at the browser and on the fly, to meet growing global compliance and regulatory standards, and to detect and respond to OWASP Top 10 threats without lengthy or complex integration requirements." Only Cymatic provides universal in-session visibility and control to deliver compliance-driven security with first-look, first-strike capability that is earliest in the attack kill chain. The platform is designed to comply with standards that include the NIST Cyber Security Framework, PCI (News - Alert) , HIPAA, and more; it eliminates CAPTCHAs, dark web threats, forced MFA, shared accounts, IP threats, device vulnerabilities, and more to protect web applications from incursions.

Click here to request a demo of CymaticONE and remember: the Cymatic 20/20 dashboard is FREE through September 30, so jump-start your web application defense today. About Cymatic Cymatic offers the only web application firewall (WAF) solution that combines client-side WAF defenses with proprietary vulnerability, awareness, detection, and response (VADR) features to deliver instant and continuous in-session intelligence around devices, users, and locations. Cymatic's first-look, first-strike capability is earliest in the kill chain, reducing risk across applications, networks, and users while ensuring organizations are compliant with today's security-driven regulations. The solution is invisible and frictionless to users, deploys in minutes and operationalizes in seconds. Cymatic is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with offices in California and New York. Learn more at cymatic.io and follow Cymatic on Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005754/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Barclays Announces Changes to the Quarterly Composition of the CIBC Atlas Select MLP Index

Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays" or the "Issuer") announced today that during the next quarterly index rebalancing period, which will commence following the close of business on Friday, July 10, 2020 (the "Rebalancing Date"), the following changes will be made to the Index constituents. The following index constituents will be added to the Index: DCP Midstream LP (NYSE: DCP)

Holly Energy Partners LP (NYSE: HEP)

Western Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: WES)

Enlink Midstream LLC (NYSE: ENLC)

Targa Resources Corp (NYSE: TRGP) The iPath Select MLP ETNs (the "ETNs") are linked to the performance of the Volume-Weighted Average Price ("VWAP") level of the Index. The ETNs are listed on the CBOE BZX Exchange under the ticker symbol "ATMP." An investment in the ETNs involves significant risks, including possible loss of principal, and may not be suitable for all investors. The ETNs are riskier than ordinary unsecured debt securities and have no principal protection. The ETNs are speculative and may exhibit high volatility. The ETNs are also subject to certain investor fees, which will have a negative effect on the value of the ETNs. You are not guaranteed to receive coupon payments on the ETNs. You will receive a coupon payment on a coupon payment date only to the extent that the accrued dividend exceeds the accrued investor fee on the relevant coupon valuation date. In accordance with the Index's methodology (as described in the prospectus relating to the ETNs), the Index is rebalanced quarterly. The Index is designed to provide exposure to a basket of midstream US and Canadian master limited partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations that trade on major US exchanges (the "Index Constituents"). The Index Constituents are classified in the GICS Energy Sector or GICS Gas Utilities Industry according to the Global Industry Classification Standard ("GICS") and meet certain eligibility criteria. The Index currently includes 15 constituents and cash. The Index Constituents will be rebalanced on a capped, float-adjusted, capitalization-weighted basis across four Index business days starting on the Rebalancing Date. Constituent additions to and deletions from the Index do not reflect an opinion by Barclays Bank PLC on the investment merits of the respective securities. The target weights for the top Limited Partnership ("LP") and General Partnership ("GP") Index Constituents, effective after the rebalance on the Rebalancing Date, are reported in the table below. For more information regarding how an Index Constituent is classified as a LP or a GP, please see the prospectus relating to the ETNs.







LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS GENERAL PARTNERSHIPS Ticker Company Target (News - Alert)

Weight Ticker Company Target

Weight EPD Enterprise Products Partners 8.00% ENB Enbridge Inc. 4.00% ET Energy Transfer LP 8.00% KMI Kinder Morgan Inc. 4.00% MMP Magellan (News - Alert) Midstream Partners 8.00% OKE Oneok Inc. 4.00% PAA Plains All American Pipeline LP 8.00% PAGP Plains GP Holdings 4.00% MPLX MPLX LP 8.00% TRP TC Energy Corp. 4.00% WMB Williams Cos Inc. 4.00% LNG Cheniere Energy Inc. 4.00% TRGP Targa Resources Corp 4.00%

The Index Constituents are selected for inclusion in the Index using the CIBC Select MLP Strategy (the "Strategy") developed by CIBC Private Wealth Advisors, Inc. (the "Index Selection Agent"). The Strategy dynamically selects a basket of up to 100 Index Constituents based on their long-term credit rating, the portion of their cash flow driven by mid-stream operations and their size as measured by free-float market capitalization and average daily trading value. The Index Selection Agent provides the Index Constituents that are selected by the Strategy to Barclays Bank PLC, as index sponsor. For further information, please contact the Barclays ETN desk at 1-212-528-7990. The prospectus for the ETNs to which this communication relates can be found at: www.ipathetn.com/atmpprospectus About CIBC CIBC (NYSE: CM) (TSX: CM) is a leading North American financial institution with 10 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients. CIBC offers a full range of advice, solutions and services in the United States, across Canada and around the world. In the U.S., CIBC Bank USA provides commercial banking, private and personal banking and small business banking solutions and CIBC Private Wealth offers investment management, wealth strategies and legacy planning. Visit us at cibc.com/US. Private banking is offered by CIBC Bank USA, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender. CIBC Bank USA and CIBC Private Wealth Group, LLC are both indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of CIBC. The CIBC logo is a registered trademark of CIBC, used under license. Investment Products Offered are Not FDIC-Insured, May Lose Value and are Not Bank Guaranteed. About Barclays Barclays is a British universal bank. We are diversified by business, by different types of customer and client, and geography. Our businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by our service company which provides technology, operations and functional services across the Group. Barclays offers investment banking products and services in the US through Barclays Capital Inc. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website home.barclays. Selected Risk Considerations An investment in any ETNs linked to the CIBC Atlas Select MLP Index (the "ETNs") involves risks. Selected risks are summarized here, but we urge you to read the more detailed explanation of risks described under "Risk Factors" in the applicable prospectus supplement and pricing supplement. You May Lose Some or All of Your Principal: The ETNs are exposed to any decrease in the Volume Weighted Average Price ("VWAP") level between the inception date and the applicable valuation date. Additionally, if the VWAP level is insufficient to offset the negative effect of the investor fee and other applicable costs, you will lose some or all of your investment at maturity or upon redemption, even if the VWAP value has increased. Because the ETNs are subject to an investor fee and any other applicable costs, the return on the ETNs will always be lower than the total return on a direct investment in the index components. The ETNs are riskier than ordinary unsecured debt securities and have no principal protection. Credit of Barclays Bank PLC: The ETNs are unsecured debt obligations of the Issuer, Barclays Bank PLC, and are not, either directly or indirectly, an obligation of or guaranteed by any third party. Any payment to be made on the ETNs, including any payment at maturity or upon redemption, depends on the ability of Barclays Bank PLC to satisfy its obligations as they come due. As a result, the actual and perceived creditworthiness of Barclays Bank PLC will affect the market value, if any, of the ETNs prior to maturity or redemption. In addition, in the event Barclays Bank PLC were to default on its obligations, you may not receive any amounts owed to you under the terms of the ETNs. Issuer Redemption: Barclays Bank PLC will have the right to redeem or "call" the ETNs (in whole but not in part) at its sole discretion and without your consent on any trading day on or after the inception date until and including maturity. The Payment on the ETNs is Linked to the VWAP Level, Not to the Closing Level of the Index and Not to the Published Intraday Indicative Value of the ETNs: Your payment at maturity or upon early redemption is linked to the performance of the VWAP level, as compared to the initial VWAP level. Although the VWAP level is intended to track the performance of the Index, the calculation of the VWAP level is different from the calculation of the official closing level of the Index. Therefore, the payment at maturity or early redemption of your ETNs, may be different from the payment you would receive if such payment were determined by reference to the official closing level of the Index. No Guaranteed Coupon Payments: You are not guaranteed to receive coupon payments on the ETNs. You will receive a coupon payment on a coupon payment date only to the extent that the accrued dividend exceeds the accrued investor fee on the relevant coupon valuation date. The amount of the accrued dividend on any coupon valuation date depends in part on the aggregate cash value of distributions that a reference holder would have been entitled to receive in respect of the index constituents prior to the relevant coupon valuation date. Market and Volatility Risk: The return on the ETNs is linked to the performance of the VWAP level of the Index which, in turn, is linked to the performance of the master limited partnerships and other securities that are included as index constituents at any time. The prices of the index constituents may change unpredictably and, as a result, affect the level of the Index and the value of your ETNs in unforeseeable ways. Concentration Risk: The index constituents are companies in the Energy Sector or Gas Utilities Sector, as determined by the GICS classification system. In addition, many of the index constituents are smaller, non-diversified businesses that are exposed to the risks associated with such businesses, including the lack of capital funding to sustain or grow businesses and potential competition from larger, better financed and more diversified businesses. The ETNs are susceptible to general market fluctuations in the energy and gas MLP market and to volatile increases and decreases in value, as market confidence in, and perceptions regarding the index constituents change. Your investment may therefore carry risks similar to a concentrated securities investment in one industry or sector. A Trading Market for the ETNs May Not Develop: Although the ETNs are listed on NYSE Arca (News - Alert) , a trading market for the ETNs may not develop and the liquidity of the ETNs may be limited, as we are not required to maintain any listing of the ETNs. Restrictions on the Minimum Number of ETNs and Date Restrictions for Redemptions: You must redeem at least 50,000 ETNs at one time in order to exercise your right to redeem your ETNs on any redemption date. You may only redeem your ETNs on a redemption date if we receive a notice of redemption from you by certain dates and times as set forth in the pricing supplement. Uncertain Tax Treatment: Significant aspects of the tax treatment of the ETNs may be less favorable than a direct investment in MLPs and are uncertain. You should consult your own tax advisor about your own tax situation. The ETNs may be sold throughout the day on the exchange through any brokerage account. Commissions may apply and there are tax consequences in the event of sale, redemption or maturity of ETNs. CIBC Atlas Select MLP Index is a trademark of Barclays Bank PLC. 2020 Barclays Bank PLC. All rights reserved. All other trademarks, servicemarks or registered trademarks are the property, and used with the permission, of their respective owners. NOT FDIC INSURED NO BANK GUARANTEE MAY LOSE VALUE View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005829/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Schwab Announces Action on Google Integration

Today Schwab announced an integration with Google (News - Alert) , enabling Google Assistant users to easily and securely access certain Schwab account and portfolio updates across multiple devices through voice-enabled technology. To enable Schwab's Action on Google, Schwab clients are guided through a quick, simple configuration process. In just a few minutes, clients can follow on-screen prompts through the "Finance" section of Google Account settings where they will input Schwab credentials, consent, and choose accounts to link. The integration does not currently enable brokerage transactions. Schwab's Action on Google allows Schwab clients to: Track portfolio performance - With a simple request such as, "Hey Google, check my Charles Schwab portfolio," clients can get real-time updates on how their portfolio is performing

- With a simple request such as, "Hey Google, check my Charles Schwab portfolio," clients can get real-time updates on how their portfolio is performing Review account information - Ask Google for updates around any linked Schwab account or account type with a prompt such as, "Hey Google, how are my Schwab retirement accounts doing?"

- Ask Google for updates around any linked Schwab account or account type with a prompt such as, "Hey Google, how are my Schwab retirement accounts doing?" Get updates on positions - Clients can ask Google for updates, such as trade price or volume, on specific stocks in their portfolio

- Clients can ask Google for updates, such as trade price or volume, on specific stocks in their portfolio Access through multiple devices - Schwab's Action is available to Schwab clients through multiple Google Assistant devices such as the Google Assistant app for iOS users, Google Nest, and other smart speakers and Smart Displays "We're committed to increasing access to investing for every client with a focus on making both investing and planning easier, more modern, and more approachable," says Zack Gipson, senior vice president, Schwab Digital Services. "Consumers today expect the brands they do business with to be available whenever and wherever needed, and how they invest should be no different." More information about the Schwab Action on Google is available here. About Charles Schwab At Charles Schwab we believe in the power of investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow. We have a history of challenging the status quo in our industry, innovating in ways that benefit investors and the advisors and employers who serve them, and championing our clients' goals withpassion and integrity.



More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Disclosures:

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with more than 360 offices and 14.0 million active brokerage accounts, 1.7 million corporate retirement plan participants, 1.4 million banking accounts, and $4.0 trillion in client assets as of May 31, 2020. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, www.sipc.org), and affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent, fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through Schwab Advisor Services. Its banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and lending services and products. The Charles Schwab Corporation provides a full range of brokerage, banking and financial advisory services through its operating subsidiaries. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC), offers investment services and products, including Schwab brokerage accounts. Its banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank, SSB (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides deposit and lending services and products. Access to Electronic Services may be limited or unavailable during periods of peak demand, market volatility, systems upgrade, maintenance, or for other reasons. Brokerage Products: Not FDIC Insured  No Bank Guarantee  May Lose Value Google Disclosures: Google and Nest are trademarks of Google LLC. (0620-ORHH) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005893/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Delaware Enhanced Global Dividend and Income Fund Announces Distributions

Today, Delaware Enhanced Global Dividend and Income Fund (the "Fund"), a New York Stock Exchange-listed closed-end fund trading under the symbol "DEX," declares a monthly distribution of $0.0499 per share. The monthly distribution is payable July 24, 2020, to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 17, 2020. The ex-dividend date will be July 16, 2020. The Fund's primary investment objective is to seek current income, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund invests globally in dividend-paying or income-generating securities across multiple asset classes, including but not limited to: equity securities of large, well-established companies; securities issued by real estate companies (including real estate investment trusts and real estate industry operating companies); debt securities (such as government bonds; investment grade and high risk, high yield corporate bonds; and convertible bonds); and emerging market securities. The Fund also uses enhanced income strategies by engaging in dividend capture trading; option overwriting; and realization of gains on the sale of securities, dividend growth, and currency forwards. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest: (1) at most 60% of its net assets in securities of U.S. issuers; and (2) at least 40% of its net assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers, unless market conditions are not deemed favorable by the Manager, in which case, the Fund would invest at least 30% of its net assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers; and (3) the Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in securities issued by real estate companies (including real estate investment trusts and real estate industry operating companies). In addition, the Fund utilizes leveraging techniques in an attempt to obtain higher return for the Fund. The Fund has implemented a managed distribution policy. Under the policy, the Fund is managed with a goal of generating as much of the distribution as possible from net investment income and short-term capital gains. The balance of the distribution will then come from long-term capital gains to the extent permitted, and if necessary, areturn of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with 'yield' or 'income'. Even though the Fund may realize current year capital gains, such gains may be offset, in whole or in part, by the Fund's capital loss carryovers from prior years.



Under the Fund's managed distribution policy, the Fund makes monthly distributions to common shareholders at a targeted annual distribution rate of 6.5% of the Fund's average NAV per share. The Fund will calculate the average NAV per share from the previous three full months immediately prior to the distribution based on the number of business days in those three months on which the NAV is calculated. The distribution will be calculated as 6.5% of the prior three month's average NAV per share, divided by 12. The Fund will generally distribute amounts necessary to satisfy the Fund's managed distribution policy and the requirements prescribed by excise tax rules and Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. This distribution methodology is intended to provide shareholders with a consistent, but not guaranteed, income stream and a targeted annual distribution rate and is intended to narrow any discount between the market price and the NAV of the Fund's common shares, but there is no assurance that the policy will be successful in doing so. The methodology for determining monthly distributions under the Fund's managed distribution policy will be reviewed at least annually by the Fund's Board of Trustees, and the Fund will continue to evaluate its distribution in light of ongoing market conditions. You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's managed distribution policy. The amounts and sources of the Fund's distributions to be reported will be estimates and will not be provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

About Macquarie Investment Management Macquarie Investment Management, a member of Macquarie Group, is a global asset manager with offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As active managers, we prioritize autonomy and accountability at the team level in pursuit of opportunities that matter for clients. In the US, retail investors recognize our Delaware Funds by Macquarie as one of the longest standing mutual fund families, with more than 90 years in existence. Macquarie Investment Management is supported by the resources of Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG; ADR: MQBKY), a global provider of asset management, investment, banking, financial and advisory services. Advisory services are provided by Macquarie Investment Management Business Trust, a registered investment advisor. Macquarie Group refers to Macquarie Group Limited and its subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. For more information about Delaware Funds by Macquarie, visit delawarefunds.com or call 800 523-1918. Other than Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL), none of the entities referred to in this document are authorized deposit-taking institutions for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 (Commonwealth of Australia). The obligations of these entities do not represent deposits or other liabilities of MBL, a subsidiary of Macquarie Group Limited and an affiliate of Macquarie Investment Management. MBL does not guarantee or otherwise provide assurance in respect of the obligations of these entities, unless noted otherwise.  2020 Macquarie Management Holdings, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005895/en/

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[July 07, 2020] HilltopSecurities Expands Wealth Management Presence in Los Angeles, Opens Branch Office in Sherman Oaks

Hilltop Securities Inc. (HilltopSecurities) recently opened a new Wealth Management branch office in Sherman Oaks, California, located at 15301 Ventura Blvd, Building B, Suite 410. The Sherman Oaks branch is HilltopSecurities' second wealth management office in the greater Los Angeles area. The firm's Beverly Hills office was originally opened upon the founding of M.L. Stern & Co., an independent broker-dealer, in 1980. HilltopSecurities acquired M.L. Stern in 2008 and has operated the office ever since. Leading the branch is Senior Vice President and Branch Manager Peter Cappos, a 26-year veteran of the firm. "HilltopSecurities has a well-established presence in Southern California, particularly among high-net-worth individual investors," said John Muschalek, senior managing director and head of HilltopSecurities Wealth Management. "Our Sherman Oaks office reflects HilltopSecurities' commitment to grow brand recognition, serve our clients, and attract high quality financial professionals in the region." The Sherman Oaks branch houses 18 Private Client Group financial professionals and 10 support staff members who provide financial planning and ivestment management services to existing and prospective clients.



"Our new location in Sherman Oaks positions us to serve an expanded client base throughout Los Angeles," said Alan Lennick, Pacific coast regional director and senior vice president of practice management. "In the past year, HilltopSecurities has invested heavily in new technologies and marketing initiatives to better serve our wealth management clients and financial professionals. The new location represents another milestone as we grow our presence and capabilities in this important market." HilltopSecurities' Wealth Management division maintains a sizable presence in California, with additional Private Client Group offices in Del Mar, Monterey, Roseville, San Diego, and San Francisco, comprised of approximately 30 financial professionals and 17 support staff members.

About Hilltop Securities Inc. Hilltop Securities Inc. delivers forthright advice and tailored solutions to municipal issuers, institutions, broker-dealers, and individuals. The full-service investment bank and registered investment adviser is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with offices across the United States. Areas of focus include public finance; municipal and taxable fixed income underwriting, sales, and trading; retail brokerage services; securities clearing; structured finance; and securities lending. A wholly owned subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTH), HilltopSecurities' affiliates include Hilltop Securities Independent Network Inc., PlainsCapital Bank, and PrimeLending. Learn more at www.HilltopSecurities.com. Member: NYSE/FINRA/SIPC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200707005131/en/

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[July 07, 2020] Intermap Technologies Provides Business and Financial Update

Reports Preliminary Q2 Results and Planned Canadian Private Placement /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ DENVER, July 7, 2020 /CNW/ - Intermap Technologies Corporation ("Intermap" or the "Company") today announced preliminary financial results for the second quarter and an update on its AGM. It also announced its intention to complete a Private Placement of common shares in Canada, where proceeds from an issuance of the common shares to qualified investors will primarily be used to complete the previously announced Amended Settlement Agreement with Vertex/Pender Funds. Many of the Company's government and commercial customers experienced business interruption and delays as they transitioned to remote-work environments mandated in response to Covid-19. The Company continues to work closely with its customers and has not missed or delayed any contracted delivery milestones. Subsequent Events Subsequent to the quarter, the Company entered into three new software subscriptions. The first is with a global telecommunications operator for its 5G tower link planning network. The second is with a global beyond-line-of-sight commercial drone operator for its flight corridor route planning network. A third subscription is with a new "admitted-lines" insurance carrier, the Company's second admitted carrier client announced this year, for its European perils underwriting platform. In addition, the Company was notified about the final acceptance from United States Geological Survey (USGS) for the completion of the Alaska Statewide Mapping Initiative (3DEP), whereby Intermap was a subcontractor on the Dewberry team to collect 1,188,527 square kilometers of high-resolution, 3D elevation data covering 77% of the state, using Intermap's proprietary IFSAR sensors, and delivered ORI, DTM, and DSM models at 0.55m RMSE vertical accuracy (significantly better than the 1.83m RMSE contract specification), delivered under budget and months ahead of schedule. USGS will make the data products publicly available and are immediately accessible to more than 20 state and federal agencies. This successful program establishes a new model for effective public-private partnership (P3) and federal-state cooperation, with cooperative pooled funding. More information on Intermap's government work can be found here. Private Placement Intermap intends to complete a Private Placement in Canada of approximately 4,300,000 Class A common shares ("Common Shares") at a subscription price of $0.40 per share to qualified subscribers (the "Private Placement"). The Company expects that certain insiders of the Company will participate in the Private Placement. Individual subscriptions to the private placement will be subject to restrictions and caps. To accommodate demand, the Company may make available a limited quantity of unsecured notes, that will have a term of not more than three years and a coupon rate of not more than 12.0% per annum. The net proceeds of the Private Placement and any notes that are issued will be used to complete the Amended Settlement Agreement announced by Intermap on June 3, 2020 and described in the material change report dated June 10, 2020. "The Private Placement announced today creates value for shareholders by facilitating a material decrease in debt and a meaningful increase in the liquidity and float of our publicly traded stock while being sensitive not to disturb approximately $190 million of accumulated tax attributes," commented Patrick A. Blott, Intermap Chairman and CEO. "We continue to see a positive customer response as we aggressively position the Company for future growth and profitability by reducing fixed costs such as rent expense, automating our processes, developing our renewable subscription business with drone and government customers, and reinforcing our capital structure." Preliminary results and AGM update For the quarter ending June 30, 2020, the Company expects revenue to be $1.1 million, compared with $1.2 million for the first quarter of 2020. Revenue for the six months ending June 30, 2020 is expected to be $2.7 million, compared with $2.8 million last year. Net income will see a significant improvement due to the expected gain on the modification of $32.1 million of debt from the previously announced Amended Settlement Agreement. During the second quarter of 2020, the Company undertook a significant reduction in its facilities costs in the United States and Canada, reducing the annual cash cost by nearly 50% for its two primary business locations. The Company's cash balance at June 30, 2020, was approximately $1.1 million, compared with $300 thousand at the end of the first quarter and $860 thousand for the same period last year. The following table summarizes select projected financial information:









Three months ended

Six months ended

June 30,

June 30, U.S. $ millions

2020

2019

2020

2019

















Revenue:















Acquisition services $ 0.3 $ 1.1 $ 1.1 $ 1.2 Value-added data

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5 Software and solutions

0.6

0.5

1.2

1.1 Total revenue $ 1.1 $ 1.9 $ 2.7 $ 2.8 Operating income (loss) $ (1.4) $ (1.5) $ (2.4) $ (3.7) Financing costs $ (0.5) $ (0.7) $ (1.3) $ (1.4) Net income (loss) $ 31.0 $ (2.2) $ 29.2 $ (5.2) Adjusted EBITDA $ (0.9) $ (0.8) $ (1.5) $ (2.6)



June 30, June 30, Assets: 2020 2019 Cash, amounts receivable, unbilled revenue $ 2.3 $ 2.6 Total assets $ 7.5 $ 8.2 Liabilities:







Long-term liabilities $ - $ 30.7 Total liabilities $ 7.0 $ 37.7 Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized performance measure under IFRS and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. The term EBITDA consists of net income (loss) and excludes interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is included as a supplemental disclosure because management believes that such measurement provides a better assessment of the Company's operations on a continuing basis by eliminating certain non-cash charges and charges that are nonrecurring. The most directly comparable measure to adjusted EBITDA calculated in accordance with IFRS is net income (loss). A reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA is provided in the table below.



Three months ended

Six months ended



June 30,

June 30, U.S. $ millions

2020

2019



2020

2019



















Net income (loss) $ 30.9 $ (2.2)

$ 29.1 $ (5.1) Financing costs

0.5

0.7



1.3

1.4 Depreciation of property and equipment

0.3

0.3



0.6

0.6 Depreciation of right of use assets

0.1

0.1



0.2

0.2 EBITDA $ 31.8 $ (1.1)

$ 31.2 $ (2.9)



















Gain on modification of debt

(32.1)

-



(32.1)

- Gain on government programs

(0.6)

-



(0.6)

- Gain on disposal of equipment

(0.2)

-



(0.2)

- Share-based compensation

0.1

-



0.1

- Restructuring costs

-

0.3



-

0.3 Adjusted EBITDA $ (1.0) $ (0.8)

$ (1.6) $ (2.6) In connection with the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States and Canada have extended the closure of the border to non-essential travel through July 21, 2020. Therefore, the Company has elected to cancel the Annual General Meeting scheduled for July 10, 2020 and intends to reschedule it for September 24, 2020. While the Company prefers to hold an in-person meeting in Calgary, Alberta, as in years past, the global travel situation will play a role in the decision to potentially hold a virtual meeting. Further details on the Annual General Meeting will be provided as available. In connection with the Private Placement, the Company may issue warrants equal to not more than 10% of the Common Shares placed to certain qualified subscribers, ("Finders' Warrants"). The Finders' Warrants will be exercisable for two years at the same subscription price applicable to the issuance of the Common Shares under the Private Placement. The issuance of the Finders' Warrants will reduce the total number of Common Shares issued pursuant to the Private Placement on a one-for-one basis. Completion of the Private Placement is subject to the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The issuance of Common Shares to insiders pursuant to the Private Placement will be considered a related party transaction under Multilateral Instrument 61-101. The Company will be relying on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a) of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 on the basis that participation in the Private Placement by insiders does not exceed 25% of the fair market value of the Company's market capitalization. The Common Shares, Finders Warrants' and unsecured notes that may be issued in connection with the Private Placement have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. Persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration. This press release is not an offer or a solicitation of an offer of securities for sale in the United States, nor will there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. For more information about Intermap's geospatial solutions, visit intermap.com/investors to download a presentation. Intermap Reader Advisory

Certain information provided in this news release, including projected financial information and statements in relation to the Company's Q2 2020 results, the proposed Private Placement and use of proceeds constitutes forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate", "expect", "project", "estimate", "forecast", "will be", "will consider", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although Intermap believes that these statements are based on information and assumptions which are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are necessarily subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Intermap's forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties pertaining to, among other things, COVID-19 and its impact on both the Company's business and operations and those of its customers, cash available to fund operations, availability of capital, revenue fluctuations, nature of government contracts, economic conditions, loss of key customers, retention and availability of executive talent, competing technologies, common share price volatility, loss of proprietary information, software functionality, internet and system infrastructure functionality, information technology security, breakdown of strategic alliances, and international and political considerations, as well as those risks and uncertainties discussed Intermap's Annual Information Form and other securities filings. While the Company makes these forward-looking statements in good faith, should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from those expected. Accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that the Company will derive therefrom. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to Intermap or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements made herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities law. About Intermap Technologies

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Intermap (TSX: IMP) (ITMSF: BB) is a global leader in geospatial intelligence solutions. The Company's proprietary NEXTMap database and value-added geospatial data management, processing, analytics, fusion and orthorectification software and solutions are utilized across a range of industries that rely on accurate, high-resolution elevation data, including aviation, engineering, environmental planning, government markets, hydrology, insurance, land management, law enforcement and patrol, oil and gas, renewable energy, telecommunications, transportation and utilities. Intermap's commercial applications include location-based intelligence, risk assessment, geographic information systems, global positioning systems and 3D visualization. For more information, please visit www.intermap.com. SOURCE Intermap Technologies Corporation

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If real-life experiences truly help prepare people for their careers, then Emily Lowery, director of The Haven, the local homeless shelter, can look at each and every person who comes through the doors and honestly say, "I've been there."

Lowery is currently waiting to hear back from the State of North Carolina about her expungement application. Expungement is when your criminal history is erased or sealed from anyone requesting a background check. She has already received a governor's pardon from the State of South Carolina.

Not too long ago, but a lifetime for her, Lowery was a drug de...
In his recent letter, Bob Twomey expresses concern that there is something sinister happeningto revise, rewrite and abolish our nations history.

Twomey is referring to the legacy of slavery and the Civil War. He concedes that slavery was wrong, but that the Civil War was fought over states rights. He contends that we cant change that, so we must accept it.

I ask Mr. Twomey, Whose history is (re)presented in those sites? Whose point of view is accepted as the official history that those objects represent? White individuals and organizations with power, a...
Schools are currently grappling with how to reopen campuses  shuttered in March to stop the spread of the coronavirus  in the face of rising cases in Florida. The states total number of cases grew by 7,347 on Tuesday, down from the record 11,458 new cases on Saturday. The change came as fewer people were tested over the holiday weekend, due to the closing of state-supported testing sites. Still, the percentage of people infected reached 20.8% statewide, the highest yet for a single day.
The sound of fireworks have become a nightly occurrence across the region, with much of it attributed to a frustrated public that has been cooped up by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
Johnstown, PA (15901)

Today

Cloudy with occasional rain...mainly in the morning. Cooler. High 63F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

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Gerald Kirkham, 88, of Terre Haute, passed away Friday, June 18, 2021 in Terre Haute Regional Hospital. Gerald was born in New Goshen on June 9, 1933 to Cecil Kirkham and Fay Lake Kirkham. He was a member of the Lutheran Church and member of the American Legion in Sellersburg, IN. He was an 
U.S. Sen Mike Braun, a Hoosier with conservative credentials and strong record of support for President Donald Trump, recently found himself being cast as anti-police.

And the attack came from what should have been friendly territory for Braun, the right wing of the political spectrum, Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson.

At question was Brauns now-stalled legislation to modify the qualified immunity defense in civil court cases.

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Critics say qualified immunity, as applied today, has the effect of discarding intent or negligence when weighing the actions of public employees  including police officers  and provides an overly large blanket of immunity.

Those arguing for a redrafting of the immunity standard say the plaintiff is without recourse unless he or she can point to a previously decided case with nearly an identical set of facts in which it was ruled the officers actions violated a clearly established right.

The impact, critics say, is that it has become nearly impossible to hold officers accountable.

Braun said he'd presented his bill as an attempt to find a sweet spot in which good departments and officers would be protected from frivolous lawsuits but rogue departments or officers would face consequences.

On Carlsons show, however, that was equated to an attack on police, as well as support for Black Lives Matter  and not the sentiment or larger movement, but those who have called for or those who are engaged in violence.

Braun, in Terre Haute on Monday, said he found his exchange with Carlson disappointing and his position misstated.

He said he supports the right of non-violent demonstrators of any sort to bring their grievances forward and be heard, as is protected in the First Amendment.

Republicans, he said, need to be in such discussions and they need to be involved in the drafting of legislation to address social questions the public cares about.

To do otherwise, he said, would let opponents seize the issues, make election-season hay and take the legislation in directions conservatives cannot stomach.

One of my disappointments is that as Republicans we sometimes dont get engaged in the conversations, and then we have legislation that we bemoan, he said in an interview Monday on the Indiana State University campus.

Braun said he could see the irony of his getting beat up in a conservative venue and the larger parallel of Americans talking past each other on issues such as race and policing reforms.

The senator, however, did not distance himself from President Trump, who has been pilloried in the mainstream media of late for feeding culture wars.

The economy is the most import issue to most people because everything feeds from it, Braun said. All I can say is that President Trump needs to be reelected for the most important reason  because we had an economy that was working as well as it has for everyone, and proof is in the data where wages at the lower end of the spectrum were finally moving, and at a faster rate than [they]ever did before.

Similarly, Braun said that whether the presidents actions indicate it or not, Trump understands that the nation must work on solving the COVID-19 problem without simultaneously crashing the economy.

Its clearly something that until we get a vaccine and/or herd immunity, then all of us are going to have to do things a little differently, he said. But I dont think that means a one-size fits all [solution] that the other side would do. We cannot shut down the economy while we are trying to fight the disease.

Braun said his biggest legislative priority remains affordability in health care, particularly transparency in healthcare costs.

Braun is one of the sponsors of the PRICE Transparency Act. He says the legislation would codify certain health care price transparency rules and require hospitals and insurers to reveal discounted cash prices and negotiated rates to consumers before they receive medical care.

Braun said he expects a continued fight with the hospital and insurance lobbies, arguing they would prefer to keep their prices and negotiated rates secret until after patients get care.

At ISU, Braun toured the Health and Human Services building. That building received a $64-million renovation and addition funded by the state. As a state representative, Braun was on a committee that authorized those funds.

Braun met with Diann McKee, ISU's senior vice president of finance and administration; Provost Mike Licari; Caroline Mallory, dean of the College of Health and Human Services; and Greg Goode, executive director of government relations and university communication.

Contact Mark Fitton at mark.fitton@tribstar.com or 812-231-4333.
Update, 2 p.m.: Illinois State Police have released the identity of the driver killed in the crash on U.S. 40 this morning. Carl Napier, 64, of Marshall, Illinois, died.

---

Police are investigating a fatal crash that occurred early this morning on U.S. 40 west of the Indiana-Illinois state line near Weaver in Clark County, Illinois.

Illinois State Police said a 1999 Jeep Cherokee was westbound about 5:40 a.m. when the vehicle went off the north side of the road for an unknown reason.

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The Jeep flipped end-over-end multiple times, ejecting the driver, who was pronounced dead at the scene by the Clark County coroner.

The road remained open during the crash investigation. Notification of next of kin is pending, police said.
Employees have been telling me from the beginning of the coronavirus situation that theres no social distancing, no taking of temperature, the separation is less than six feet and no plexiglass shields, said Backman. Its a very bad disease, and nobody wants to see anyone suffer from it. I wish her a speedy recovery.
The failure of leadership at the national and state level has put us in the position we are in now, she said. If we had starved the virus from the beginning and completely shut down ... we would be in a different situation today, and we would have saved lives. "
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- Tedd Josiah's estranged wife revealed she and the producer are still technically married as they never finalised their divorce

- She claimed the producer has a fourth child with a Nigerian woman named Damilo

- According to her, when Tedd abandoned his family, he left for the UK and returned three years later with a mzungu lover

Days after renowned music producer Tedd Josiah admitted he was in a loveless marriage, his estranged first wife Cynthia has shared her side of the story.

The mother of two revealed she and the father of her children never finalised their divorce and are still technically married.

READ ALSO: Tedd Josiah discloses he left first wife because he didn't love her

READ ALSO: Narok: Sintofahamu mwili wa afisa wa serikali ukipatikana lojini

Through a close friend, Cynthia told Nairobi News their marriage was three years shy of a decade and they have kids aged 16 and 14.

The pair met back in the 90s and struck a friendship before moving in together and tying the knot in 2002.

READ ALSO: Love thy neighbour: Kind customer gifts restaurant worker a car

Tedd Josiah's first wife said he spaced out on his family when he left for the UK in 2008. Photo: Tedd Josiah

Source: Instagram

READ ALSO: Picha 9 za huzuni kutoka kwa mazishi ya mchekeshaji Kasee

Josiah has never officially divorced Cynthia till date. They met in the 1990s and became friends. Later, they moved in together in 2001 before wedding in 2002, the ladys friend said.

However, in 2008, Cynthia and Tedds union hit the fan forcing the latter to fly out to the UK where he started a new life after abandoning his family.

Apparently, Tedds wife tried her best to salvage what remained of their relationship but he was silent and evasive.

READ ALSO: Celebrity ni wana: Ex-TPF star Alvan Gatitu narrates sleeping outside after defaulting on rent

He never reached out and avoided participating in their kids lives.

Cynthia pulled herself together and started afresh as a single mum.

She raised the children all alone and even moved them from private to public schools because she could not afford it, the source said.

In 2011, Tedd shocked his whole family when he jetted back into the country with a white partner by his side.

He had a new girlfriend.

The producers former wife also insisted the chap has another child in Nigeria with a former lover named Damilo Yusuf.

He and Damilo dated then parted ways later forcing his lady to fly back to her country.

In a previous interview with NTV, Tedd admitted he was an inconsiderate husband back when he and Cynthia were married.

The music maestro claimed he was tired of living a lie and sleeping next to a woman he did not love.

The music guru added that he repaired his relationship with his eldest kids after returning to Kenya.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

Babu Owino says no man is righteous asks Kenyans to let DJ Evolve rest | Tuko TV

Source: Breaking News
President Uhuru Kenyatta's decision to lift the cessation of movement and open up places of worship, a move that transferred the duty to guard the country against COVID-19 from the state to citizens, leads in national dailies on Tuesday, July 7.

The newspapers also give special reportage on the events that transpired on Saturday, July 7, 1990, when a group of youthful leaders took to the streets and demanded the reinstatement of multiparty democracy. The day is popularly known as Saba Saba.

READ ALSO: Kakamega pastor busted in the act with congregant's wife, escapes death by whisker

As of Monday, July 6, Kenya had recorded 8,067 cases of COVID-19 which included 164 deaths and 2,414 recoveries. Photo: Photo: UGC.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Dead on arrival: Kanye West misses voter registration deadlines for presidential bid in six states

1. Daily Nation

Even as Kenyans residing in urban centres breathed a sigh of relief after President Uhuru eased lockdown measures, a section of citizens living in rural areas has expressed displeasure in the move.

The residents said most of their relatives who had lost jobs in Nairobi were likely to start trooping to the villages thus increasing risk of contracting COVID-19.

The daily also reports that reopening of the country is set to trigger a spike in COVID-19 cases which will overwhelm the health system.

According to the newspaper, Kenyas are likely to start facing days when they will spend a lot of time looking for hospital beds for their loved ones in case they fell ill. This is despite counties gobbling up KSh 11 billion to step up preparedness to fight the scourge.

READ ALSO: Sue Uhuru if he eases COVID-19 prevention measures - Bungoma woman

2. The Star

Despite President Uhuru paving way for resumption of upcountry travel, a section of long-distance bus operators have said they may not be back on their routes as soon as Kenyans expect.

The investors said it may take some time before they acquire all certifications needed by the Ministry of Health aimed at stemming spread of COVID-19.

They have, however, urged the public to carry their own sanitisers while travelling.

"We will do our best to play with the rules but some of the recommendations might be a burden to the industry since revenue is down by 60%," said Matatu Owners Association Chairman Simon Kimutai.

READ ALSO: Co-op Bank, Laikipia County Government partner to launch Laikipia Enterprise Fund

3. People Daily

The newspaper reports that Deputy President William Ruto has continued to cut the image of an isolated man following his absence at Harambee House on Monday, July 6, when President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed the nation.

On the same day, the president sent a delegation to Malawi led by Baringo senator Gideon Moi, one of Ruto's fiercest political enemies, to attend the inauguration of newly elected President Lazarus Chakwera.

Meanwhile, the daily describes the president's decision to lift cessation of movement as a double-edged sword.

Despite giving Kenyans some relief when he kick-started the phased reopening of the country, Uhuru also sought to clarify that the decision could be rescinded if it encouraged the spread of coronavirus.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus update: National tally crosses 8,000 mark as 127 people recover

4. Taifa Leo

President Uhuru has urged Kenyans to use the 21 days he announced the commencement of phased reopening of the country to step up the fight against coronavirus pandemic.

In as much as the decision allowed Kenyan residing in hardest-hit areas like Nairobi and Mombasa to visit their rural areas, Uhuru said it will be prudent for citizens not to rush upcountry.

In his address, Uhuru observed that most elderly people who were at the greatest risk of succumbing to the virus resided in rural areas.

It is in this light that he urged city dwellers to shelve their urge to go home until a time when the pandemic will have been crashed in a move to prevent the virus from spilling to the villages.

READ ALSO: Afisa wa kike asababisha ajali na kubomoa ukuta wa kanisa

5. The Standard

Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) George Magoha is today expected to issue a new academic calendar that will be used by schools as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his address today, Magoha will make public findings and recommendation of the Sarah Ruto led taskforce that was charged with drafting a new calendar and formulating policies that will guide learning amid the public health crisis.

In his earlier address, the CS had hinted that learners may have to wait until January 2021 for them to be able to go back to class.

It had, however, emerged that candidates and learners in institutions of higher learning may be allowed in schools from September 2020.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

Babu Owino says no man is righteous asks Kenyans to let DJ Evolve rest | Tuko TV.

Source: Tuko News
- Investigations linked Peter Segane, Jimmy Suuna and Avola Kennedy to illegal acquisition of land belonging to Museveni

- The three suspects had managed to alter five title deeds which were already registered in the president's name

- The Chief Magistrates Court in Mpigi ordered the three be remanded to until July 28 pending the conclusion of investigations

Three men in Uganda have been arrested for allegedly grabbing a parcel of land belonging to President Yoweri Museveni.

Peter Segane, Jimmy Suuna and Avola Kennedy were arraigned after investigations linked them to illegal acquisition of five title deeds that had already been registered in Museveni's name.

READ ALSO: Mass exodus: Kenyans flock various bus stations in Nairobi to travel upcountry

President Yoweri Museveni in a past address. Three men have been arrested for grabbing his land. Photo: Yoweri K. Museveni.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Kakamega pastor busted in the act with congregant's wife, escapes death by whisker

The Head of State House Anti-Corruption Unit, Edith Nakalema, told Nile Post they identified inconsistencies and various lapses in the manner in which the deeds were processed.

"We identified several lapses in the processing of the titles at the levels of the Area Land Committee, District Land Board and Ministry of Lands. Working with the police, investigations were initiated and the suspects were arrested, Nakalema said.

READ ALSO: Woman regrets getting married to two blood brothers, says it ruined their families

READ ALSO: Afisa wa magereza ashtakiwa kwa kumnajisi binti ya afisa mwenzake

Avola who is a cartographer with the Lands Ministry was believed to have facilitated the transfer of title deeds for the property located at Kabulasoke sub-county in Gomba district.

The Chief Magistrates Court in Mpigi ordered the three be remanded until July 28 pending the conclusion of investigations.

This was not the first case of land grabbing targeting Museveni as a similar incident had been reported in 2018.

A commission of inquiry into land matters that was formed in 2018 discovered the president was a victim of illegal transfer of property.

At that time, suspected forged secondary deeds for his land at Kisozi Ranch in Maddu sub-county in the same district where the recent case was exposed.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Babu Owino asks Kenyans not to put pressure on DJ Evolve while he is still recovering| Tuko TV.

Source: Tuko.co.ke
- The disciplinary process began in 2019 when Malala was suspended and summoned to show cause why he should not be expelled from ANC party

- The Kakamega senator, however, did not honour the summon leading to his expulsion for his continued dalliance with the Orange party

- Office of Political Parties Registrar noted the process was not conducted within the stipulated time in line with of article 49 of ANC Constitution

The Amani National Party (ANC) will have to go back to the drawing board after its attempt to eject Kakamega senator Cleophas Malala flopped.

The Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu returned the verdict in favour of Malala on grounds that the manner in which he was expelled from the party was not in tandem with the law.

READ ALSO: 3 men in court for grabbing President Yoweri Museveni's land

Musalia Mudavadi,s party ANC had resolved to punish Malala over his dalliance with ODM. Photo: ANC Party.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: CS Magoha cancels 2020 academic year, learners to repeat classes in 2021

Nderitu said her office was not in a position to endorse and execute the Musalia Mudavadi-led outfit's request due to glaring gaps in procedures and processes preceding its resolution.

Subsequent to the review of the submission on the expulsion of the said party member against the applicable laws including the ANC Party Constitution, the Office is unable to execute your request," she explained.

READ ALSO: 3 men in court for grabbing President Yoweri Museveni's land

READ ALSO: Mass exodus: Kenyans flock various bus stations in Nairobi to travel upcountry

According to the office, the disciplinary process was not conducted within the stipulated time in line with Article 49 of the ANC Constitution.

The registrar also noted that even though the party disciplinary committee had resolved to oust the MP, the decision was not approved by the National Governing Council.

The team suspended Malala in November 2019 over his conduct and summoned him to appear before the disciplinary committee to answer to charges but he did not.

READ ALSO: Afisa wa magereza ashtakiwa kwa kumnajisi binti ya afisa mwenzake

The council then sat on June 29, and approved the expulsion of the firebrand youthful politician for his continued dalliance with the ODM party.

"Your utterances, and activities at the political rally convened by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) at Kibra on October 27, 2019, prejudiced the integrity and reputation of the ANC Party, its members, and employees," the council stated.

The senator has been at loggerheads with the leadership of ANC since 2018 when he made it clear to the party he was ready to bear the consequences of associating with Raila Odinga.

Malala said his party leader was simply jealous of his political rise and feared that he was getting more attention than him in Western Kenya.

"I have really come from far. The first position I held was an MCA. I was then appointed deputy speaker in the Kakamega county assembly. Later, I was elected senator after which I became the deputy minority leader.

Recently, God worked miracles and I led the committee which listened to the impeachment motion against governor Waiguru. They should stop being jealous. Leadership comes from God," he said.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Babu Owino asks Kenyans not to put pressure on DJ Evolve while he is still recovering| Tuko TV.

Source: Tuko News
FORT WORTH, Texas  The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is endorsing the introduction of two bills that will expand options for meat processors and increase the availability of beef to consumers.

The Direct Interstate Retail Exemption for Certain Transactions (DIRECT) Act of 2020, introduced by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, would allow meat processed at state-inspected facilities to be sold directly to consumers across state lines through e-commerce.

The Requiring Assistance to Meat Processors for Upgrading Plants (RAMP UP) Act would provide federal grants for existing meat processors to move from state to federal inspection, which will similarly allow for increased interstate meat sales.

The supply chain challenges brought about by COVID-19 left many consumers hungry for beef they could not find, Robert E. McKnight Jr., president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, said in a statement.

Despite the retail demand, cattle producers could not sell their cattle because of the reduced processing capacity. Although temporary, the slowdowns at major beef packers highlighted the need for additional capacity and regulatory flexibility at smaller meat processors.
The Presidents Honor Roll recognizes students who achieved a semester grade point average of 3.7 or higher on a 4.0 scale. The Deans Honor Roll acknowledges those who achieved a grade point average from 3.4 to 3.69. The Bison Honor Roll recognizes part-time students who completed between 6 to 11 hours with a grade point average of 3.4 or higher with no grade lower than a C.

With its campus located in Shawnee, OBU offers 10 bachelors degrees with 88 fields of study and five masters degree programs. The Christian liberal arts university has an overall enrollment of 1,868, with students from 35 states and 34 other countries. OBU has been rated as one of the top 10 regional colleges in the West by U.S. News and World Report for 28 consecutive years and Oklahomas highest rated regional college in the U.S. News rankings for 25 consecutive years. OBU is one of three universities in Oklahoma and the only private Oklahoma university listed on Great Value Colleges rankings of 50 Great Affordable Colleges in the Midwest. The Wall Street Journal ranks OBU second in the nation for student engagement among all U.S. colleges and universities. Forbes.com consistently ranks OBU as a top university in Oklahoma and the Princeton Review has named OBU one of the best colleges and universities in the western United States for 15 consecutive years.
Former Duet chef is pursuing new projects

Nico Albert, executive chef of Duet restaurant since it opened in the fall of 2018, has been laid off because of the downturn in business due to the coronavirus, she said when contacted Tuesday.

She said she is among many restaurant workers who have lost jobs during the pandemic.

I am sympathetic to the difficult position (owners) Tuck and Kate (Curren) were put in, and I understand they had to make the right decision for the survival of their business, Albert said

I do think in the end it is for the best. I have been taking advantage of the slowdown in the restaurant business to pursue other projects involving Indigenous foods that I have had brewing for some time. I will provide more details when they become available.

Albert, who is of Acadian and Cherokee ancestry, has appeared in a PBS series on American Indian food and the Tulsa World-sponsored Taste of the City event.

The owners of Duet, 108 N. Detroit Ave., did not respond to a request for comment as of this writing.

However, it did post the following July 3 on Facebook:
George Floyds name is now added to a long list of Black men, women and children illegally executed with impunity, including Rubin Stacy right here in Broward County. On July 16, 1935, Stacy was accused of a crime by a white woman. Three days later, Stacy was delivered by the sheriffs deputy into the hands of a large mob who had gathered to watch and participate in his illegal public execution. His lifeless body was left hanging for days from a pine tree, a public spectacle gathering white families, including small children, and further terrorizing the Black community. Rubin Stacy is remembered by his family and community and memorialized in the National Museum of Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.
Less than two weeks after reopening, Circle Cinema is closing its movie theater again.

The reason is due to rising numbers of new infections of COVID-19 in the state of Oklahoma and in Tulsa County, with both reporting record highs Tuesday, according to state health officials.

Tuesday was the theaters final day until it reopens again.

Despite an increase in our safety measures that went above and beyond health department guidelines, we cannot in good conscience remain open in a time of increased risk, said Chuck Foxen, Circles film programmer.

It looks like we will be closing until at least Aug. 7, with continued reevaluation through monitoring case numbers and community health factors.

The art-house theater, which opened in 1928, closed in March for three months due to the pandemic before reopening to the nonprofits membership June 26 and to the public just last Friday, July 3.

It did so after implementing new health-and-safety measures to make guests feel comfortable enough to come back to the movies.

These included new Plexiglas shields, a touchless payment system, socially distanced seating and delays between showtimes for deeper cleaning of auditoriums.
Goodwins request includes the quick removal of an officer for things such as excessive use of force and a review of deadly and excessive force standards.

It also involves the review of penalties for improper use of body cameras.

For years we have tried to get something passed at the Capitol, Goodwin said. We are going to try again. We want anyone that would vote against or choose not to hear a particular bill  to bring all these folks to the table and see if we can come up with some reasonable legislation that has consequences that will make Oklahoma better.

Rep. Denise Brewer, D-Tulsa, asked for a study on electric cars in Oklahoma, including taxes.

She said Oklahoma is No. 1 in the country for electric car recharging stations.

If we can get more electric vehicle business in Oklahoma, it creates jobs, helps the economy and it becomes a destination for electric vehicles across the country traveling, Brewer said.

Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City, requested a study on how COVID-19 has affected employment and employees. He said it will also delve into unemployment claims, which many Oklahomans have had difficulty filing.
With 858 new COVID-19 cases reported in Oklahoma on Tuesday, the state has set a new record for the number of new cases reported in a single day and has landed on New Yorks travel advisory list.

Oklahomas last peaks were reported on June 30 and July 4, with 585 and 580 new cases, respectively.

The states seven-day rolling average of new cases has grown to a new high of 495. In Tulsa County the seven-day rolling average continued to climb back toward a previous high, 147.6 on June 25, reaching 134.4 on Monday.

From Tuesdays spike, 261 of the new cases were reported in Tulsa County. That marks the highest reporting day yet for Tulsa County, with a previous high of 259 on June 23, according to state data. The Tulsa Health Department reports 1,000 active cases, an increase of about 9%, across the county.

Oklahomas COVID-19 increases have put the state on New Yorks travel advisory list, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.

New York state currently has a list of 19 states, all of which have significant community spread, that officials say meet the metrics to qualify for travel advisories. Travelers from those states must quarantine for 14 days upon entering New York.

The quarantine applies to any person arriving in New York from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average.

Oklahomas overall cumulative positive testing rate is 5%, a state report says.

State health officials also reported five new deaths from across Oklahoma on Tuesday. Residents from Carter, Delaware, Garvin, McCurtain and Muskogee counties died recently from the disease, according to Oklahoma State Department of Health data. All except one, a Garvin County man, were older than 65. The man from Garvin County was in the 50-64 age group.

The most recent series of deaths pushes the states accounting of COVID-19 deaths to 404. However, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which lag behind local reporting, indicate that 415 Oklahomans have died from the disease. The difference was not explained.

A revised Tulsa County report includes 71 fatal COVID-19 cases; officials say the decline from the countys previous death toll is due to an address change.

State health officials also report high numbers of people hospitalized due to the disease. COVID-19-related hospitalizations on Tuesday stood at 458 patients, the highest total since early April. Of those patients, 178 are in intensive care and 126 are being evaluated for potentially having the virus, according to the states executive order report.

Almost 3,300 Tulsa County patients are considered recovered, according to Tulsa Health Department data.

Until this spike, hospitalizations had not exceeded 400 since April.

An Oklahoma City hospital announced Tuesday that it is reopening a shuttered facility to make room for more patients, according to a report from The Oklahoman.

Due to the growing number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Integris Baptist Medical Center announced that it would reopen its Portland campus, which temporarily closed in April.

As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rapidly increase across the state, the Northwest Expressway campus of Integris Baptist Medical Center is experiencing capacity constraints, said Integris spokeswoman Brooke Cayot. To continue caring for our patients with non-COVID-19 needs and the growing number of COVID-19 patients, we have decided to open our Portland campus.

The Portland Avenue campus was a key component of the states hospital surge plan and was to be used if the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients surged beyond the states existing hospital capacity. The state terminated its lease with Integris, effective June 30, The Oklahoman reported.

Baylee Lakey, spokeswoman for Gov. Kevin Stitt, said that the governor continues to receive regular updates from the team at (the Oklahoma State Department of Health), who is actively working to combat COVID-19 and provide Oklahomans with the most up-to-date info.

Currently, OSDH is developing a color-coded map that will help provide additional public health guidance for Oklahoma counties and communities. The governor remains fully focused on the health and safety of Oklahomans while also supporting businesses that are going above and beyond to protect their customers and neighbors as they safely reopen, Lakey said.

Bruce Dart, Tulsa Health Department executive director, cautioned last week that if people fail to normalize mask-wearing, hand washing and physical distancing, then we have great potential to be overwhelmed in the public-health and health-care systems.

COVID-19 is most commonly spread through respiratory droplets, so public health officials encourage people to wear a mask or cloth face covering and to stay at least 6 feet from other people who dont live with them.

Masks are vital when social distancing is difficult. A snug fit that covers the mouth and nose is the most effective, according to public health officials.

In addition, people should avoid being in group or mass gatherings.

Frequent and thorough handwashing with soap and water or use of hand sanitizer also can help prevent the spread of the disease, health experts say.

Those seeking to be tested for COVID-19 may find resources on the Oklahoma State Department of Healths website, where testing sites are listed by county.

Harrison Grimwood 918-581-8369 harrison.grimwood @tulsaworld.com Twitter: @grimwood_hmg
I want to make it clear that not only was my voice taken from me, but my choices, my right to be the very best mother I had always been before and should have been able to continue to be, my safety, my sense of security, and myself, she said. Ive never in my life met anyone so good at what he loves to do, and that is to prey on the vulnerable.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Palms trafficked the victim in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas and Houston. He forced the victim to advertise online and book hotel rooms, particularly in areas close to higher-paying and wealthier clients, according to the news release.

He provided the money to advertise and book the rooms but did not allow his name to be associated with the activity in an effort to distance himself legally from the activity, prosecutors said.

A Tulsa Police Department vice officer testified that he met the victim at a hotel in November 2018 after answering an online advertisement. The officer noticed Palms watching him from the bottom of the stairs as he entered the hotel, according to the release.

Once he was in a room with the victim, he identified himself as a police officer, and the two discussed the trafficking operation.
Attorney General Mike Hunter complained Monday that advocates for convicted murderer Julius Jones have manipulated the facts of his case to mislead the public in an orchestrated effort to get him off death row and perhaps out of prison entirely.

He said he was speaking out on behalf of murder victim Paul Howell and his family.

The pain of their loss is revisited with each misguided public appeal on Mr. Jones behalf, he said of the family. Julius Jones had his day in court, numerous times.

Jones, 39, is facing execution for the 1999 fatal shooting of Howell, an Edmond insurance executive, during a carjacking. Jurors chose the death penalty as his punishment at a 2002 trial.
The Tulsa school board welcomed two new members before replacing its president and vice president during a somewhat contentious virtual meeting Monday evening.

Jerry Griffin and John Croisant joined the board for the first time since being elected last week. Both were sworn in and talked about assuming their new responsibilities for the next four years.

Id just like to thank everybody for their vote and for all the support in the community, said Griffin, a University of Oklahoma professor who beat longtime District 6 representative Ruth Ann Fate by 33 votes. I look forward to this adventure.

Croisant, an Allstate agent who taught at Edison High School for 12 years and was elected to District 5, thanked those who voted despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

I know this was a difficult process for everyone, he said. Just the fact that so many people turned out to vote  not just for our race but for many others  says a lot about the people of Tulsa. They really want to support people who are going to go out and support them to the best of their ability.
Oklahomans who travel to New York state must quarantine for 14 days, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.

New York state currently has a list of 19 states, "all of which have significant community spread," that officials say meet the metrics to qualify for travel advisories.

The quarantine applies to any person arriving in New York from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

As states around the country experience increasing community spread, New York is taking action to ensure the continued safety of our phased reopening," Cuomo said, also adding Kansas and Delaware to the list Tuesday.
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It is time for the Republicans and evangelical Christians to stop defending President Donald Trump.

The more they defend him, the worse he gets. He is so self-centered, it is sickening to observe.

And the Republican Party is so corrupt they don't care that he has divided our country. They just want control.

I guess they think the only way to do that is to let Trump rule the country. He may be the first dictator of America, unless the Democrats can cast enough votes to overrule that.

Please support the peaceful protesters. They are the backbone of this country.

Margaret Harrison, Henryetta

Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to letters@tulsaworld.com.

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As the Parliament is set to debate a bill on July 2nd for the establishment of a new pricing arrangement at the fuel pumps, will getting the oil refinery in Point-a-Pierre back up and running have an impact on the new pricing system?
What grade would you give the Florida Legislature for how it works? Why? I would give the Florida Legislature a D. When the will of the citizens of Florida is well-known, the Republican majority in the legislature continues to ignore what Floridians want and supports the needs of special interests. They have repeatedly interfered with the implementation of Amendment 4, passed by 65% of voters. They have ignored the nearly 77 per cent of Floridians calling for universal background checks for all gun purchases. They have refused to acknowledge the healthcare needs of Floridians by refusing to expand Medicaid. For the past ten years, they have raided the Sadowski fund of million of dollars. They have continued to divert funding from the public school system to private schools. In spite of bills introduced by Democrat representatives to address these issues, the Republican leadership puts obstacles in the way, often preventing these proposals from even receiving a hearing in committee.
Improving the level of training of specialists, the exchange of experience and the implementation of joint projects between Ukraine and the Netherlands were the main topics of a working visit by Ukraine's Ambassador to the Netherlands Vsevolod Chentsov to the Netherlands Agricultural and Horticultural Association (ZLTO) in s'-Hertogenbosch, according to Ukrinform's correspondent in The Hague.

"Our task is to maximally assist Ukrainian and Dutch farmers in establishing cooperation, as well as attracting scientific and educational potential for the needs of agriculture and the food industry," Chentsov said.

ZLTO Chairman Wim Bens, in turn, said that Ukraine had great opportunities for the development of farming.

"When we look at Ukraine, we see a big country with incredible opportunities. But there is also something to work on. When we talk about investing in countries like Ukraine, we must always consider infrastructure. For example, in the EU, in particular, in the Netherlands, there's extensive infrastructure, a lot of knowledge, modern technologies, favorable conditions for doing business. Our farmers can go to a country like Ukraine, but they need infrastructure: roads, a network of laboratories, qualified specialists on the ground," he told Ukrinform.

The participants in the meeting noted the positive impact that land reform would have on the development of the agricultural sector in Ukraine. At the same time, for Dutch farmers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, the ability to acquire land ownership, which is traditional for Dutch companies in this sector, is extremely important. It is also a prerequisite for financing infrastructure projects by Dutch financial institutions and expanding lending to agricultural companies.

"I learned a lot about Ukraine when I was in school and later at university, in particular, about opportunities for agriculture. We talked to the Ukrainian ambassador, as well as to a Dutch farmer working in Ukraine. So I'm sure we can interest Ukraine in Dutch farming and, vice versa, Dutch farmers in Ukraine," ZLTO board member Hendrik Hoeksema told Ukrinform.

op
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii has held a working meeting with Azerbaijani Ambassador to Ukraine Elmira Akhundova in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry's press service has reported.

According to the report, the parties discussed the state of and prospects for further cooperation between the two countries in various areas.

"Vladyslav Kryklii stressed that Ukraine highly values friendly relations with Azerbaijan and is interested in developing mutually beneficial cooperation, in particular, in the field of trade and transport," the report said.

The official praised the results of the 12th meeting of the joint Ukrainian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, which took place in Kyiv on January 30-31, 2020. He also recalled that in order to fulfill the agreements reached during the commission meeting, the ministry had sent for consideration by the Azerbaijani side a number of infrastructure projects in the field of transport for their possible implementation at the expense of a related state target loan from Azerbaijan.

Kryklii said Ukraine expected a positive decision from the Azerbaijani side and was ready to provide all necessary additional information on these projects.

He said that Ukraine expressed its interest in increasing the number of permits, liberalization or free access to the market of road transport services and was ready to hold a regular meeting of the joint commission on international road transport to discuss this issue.

The parties also discussed the possibility of resuming direct scheduled air services between the two countries.

op
Russia's full-scale military aggression against Ukraine in the near future is unlikely for a number of reasons, according to Serhiy Rakhmanin, the head of the parliamentary faction of the Holos party, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.

"First of all, talks about increasing the [Russian] group are just talks. Frankly, on the contrary, a huge Russian group that is being deployed on the Ukrainian borders has been slowed and delayed in time and space for at least one-and-a-half years. That is, it had to be completed by the end of this year, but they do not have the capacity to deploy this group. This shows that the situation is quite difficult for them due to the instability of oil prices and COVID-19," he said on the Freedom of Speech program on the ICTV television channel on Monday, July 6.

In his opinion, now is the worst time to carry out a full-scale invasion from a political point of view. After all, local elections will be held in Ukraine in the fall, and according to the ratings, "pro-Russian forces have strengthened their positions in our country in comparison with the parliamentary elections of 2019."

Therefore, Rakhmanin said, if there is full-scale aggression by Russia now, or even a small provocation on its part, "it sharply reduces the chances of pro-Russian forces, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is the last person who needs it."

op
The Coordination Council for Public Administration Reform has discussed the Public Administration Reform Strategy until 2021, progress in reforming ministries and the issue of remuneration of civil servants.

Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleh Nemchinov wrote this on Facebook.

"The eighteenth meeting of the Coordination Council for Public Administration Reform took place on July 6. Members of the Coordination Council and invited participants discussed the implementation of the Public Administration Reform Strategy until 2021, progress in reforming ministries, selection and appointment of reform experts, and remuneration of civil servants, he wrote.

The minister noted that the meeting was held in the format of a video conference. MPs, representatives of the Accounting Chamber, ministries, central executive government bodies, NGOs, as well as European experts from the SIGMA Program and the EU project EU4PAR took part in the meeting, chaired by Nemchinov.

As reported, the government approved the Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine in February 2019 and extended its implementation until 2021.

As expected, the implementation of the strategy is aimed at "more efficient and accountable public administration system that works in the public interest, ensures the sustainable development of the country and provides quality services."

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Lithuania is committed to developing a strategic partnership with Ukraine and will make efforts to consolidate international support for reforms.

Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Ukraine Valdemaras Sarapinas said this at a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar on July 6, 2020, the Foreign Ministrys press service reported.

The interlocutors discussed preparations for a meeting of the Council of Presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania, which will be held this year, and other bilateral events within trade, economic, and investment cooperation, as well as European integration.

Bodnar thanked the Lithuanian diplomat for supporting Ukraine in obtaining an Enhanced Opportunity Partner status and for helping to counter Russian aggression against Ukraine, which is an important component of security and defense cooperation.

The Lithuanian ambassador also expressed support for the reform process in Ukraine and assured of readiness for close cooperation to prepare Ukraine Reform Conference, which was to be held these days in Vilnius, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, Bodnar congratulated Lithuania on Statehood Day, which is celebrated annually on July 6.

As reported, on June 12, the North Atlantic Council recognized Ukraine as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner.

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The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has expressed a decisive protest against a new wave of illegal searches and detentions of Crimean Tatars carried out on July 7 by the Russian occupation authorities in various districts of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service has reported.

According to available information, at least six Ukrainian citizens were illegally detained as a result of searches - Emil Ziyadinov, Ismet Ibragimov, Alim Sufyanov, Seyran Khayretdinov, Oleksandr Sizikov, Vadym Bektemirov, Muratov Zekirya.

"Such actions of the Russian Federation are a continuation of repressive practices directed against Ukrainian citizens in the occupied Crimea, who seek to fully realize their human rights and fundamental freedoms. What is common for Ukraine and other democracies on the territory of the occupied Crimea is regarded as a threat and terrorist activity by the occupying power. Moreover, targeted searches of the homes of Crimean Muslims are evidence of religious persecution," the report reads.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanded that Russia faithfully fulfill its international legal obligations as an occupying power, which includes, in particular, an end to repression against the local population of the occupied Crimean peninsula.

Ukrainian diplomats called on the international community to continue to actively advocate for the protection of the rights and freedoms of the inhabitants of the Crimean peninsula and to increase pressure on Russia to end human rights violations in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

Early on Tuesday, July 7, in four districts of Russia-occupied Crimea, Russian security forces conducted searches in seven Crimean Tatar homes and detained several people.

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Today, July 7, the EU transferred a direct payment of over EUR 11.5 million to the state budget of Ukraine. The funds are aimed to support the further development of public administration in Ukraine, notably to boost its performance and resilience amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

This is stated in a press release posted on website of the European External Action Service.

The public administration reform is one of the key reforms carried out by Ukraine, and the EU continues to support these efforts by sharing knowledge, best practices and providing substantial financial support. Now more than ever, it is important to ensure respect for the core principles of public governance, accountability and transparency in order to nurture the confidence of citizens and business in state institutions and thus help faster recovery from the severe health and economic crises, said Ambassador Matti Maasikas, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine.

To get the budget support funds from the EU, Ukraine needed to make progress in public administration reform (PAR), in particular improve and further digitalise the inter-connectivity of state registries and public services (e-Health, civil status registry, etc) and continue renewal of the personnel and human resource (HR) management in government institutions (e.g. introduction of HR information system). Still, the EU keeps monitoring the credibility of the latest legislative changes in the area and transparency of simplified recruitment of civil servants amid the current crisis.

In total, the EU has assigned EUR 90 mln for 2016-2021 budget support for public administration reform.

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She supervises about 800 people, many of whom are unhappy with her management style. Shortly after she took office in January 2017, some of the offices most skilled workers quit in disgust. More recently, staffers have decried her handling of the coronavirus, saying she was too slow to institute safety measures and too quick to reopen.
Two Ukrainian experts will be accredited to analyze the "black boxes" of the UIA plane, which was downed in Iran, during the expert examination in France.

"Currently, the flight recorders of the downed Boeing 737 are being transferred to France which has the necessary technical capabilities to download and analyze them. Two Ukrainian experts will be accredited to conduct the expert examination. Iranian officials pledged to hand over the 'black boxes' by July 20," Deputy Justice Minister of Ukraine Valeria Kolomiets said at a joint video conference meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhenii Yenin and the relatives of those killed in the plane crash, the Ministry of Justice posted on Facebook.

The official recalled that President Volodymyr Zelensky had approved in June the membership of delegation to negotiate with Iran in connection with the downing of the UIA plane in January. In early July, the countries, whose citizens died in the crash, including Ukraine, signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation.

The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane (flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after it took off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport at about 06:00 Tehran time (04:30 Kyiv time) on January 8. There were 176 people on board  nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK). They all died.

On January 11, Iran admitted that its military had accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accepted full responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian airliner. It emerged later that the UIA plane had been shot down by two missiles of the Tor-M1 air defense system, which Iran received from Russia.

Six people charged with the downing of flight PS752 were detained in Iran.

At the ICAO Council meeting on June 26, the Iranian representatives agreed to send flight recorders to France for download and analysis by July 20.

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Ukraine highly appreciates the consistent support of Croatia in the struggle for its sovereignty and territorial integrity and progress through European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk said this at a meeting with Croatian Ambassador to Ukraine Anica Djamic, the Ukrainian parliament's press service reported.

Kondratiuk congratulated Djamic on the successful holding of the July 5 parliamentary elections in Croatia.

"The interlocutors discussed the situation in the two countries in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as issues of cooperation in the field of tourism, given that at this stage, Croatia is one of the few countries where Ukrainians can go on vacation this summer," the report reads.

Djamic, in turn, stressed the importance of the systematic, dynamic and mutually beneficial development of cooperation between Croatia and Ukraine in bilateral and multilateral dimensions.

Kondratiuk and Djamic also exchanged views on the agenda of Ukrainian-Croatian cooperation in the second half of 2020.

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Ukraine and the European Union prepare a number of mutually beneficial proposals, the implementation of which will contribute to the deepening of further cooperation.

"We prepare a number of mutually beneficial initiatives that should take Ukraine-EU relations to a new level. Ukraine remains a reliable and predictable trading partner. We are determined to accelerate the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and are also open to trade and economic cooperation in world markets," Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said during a video conference round table "Ukrainian reforms: What's next?" organized by the Chatham House, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to him, Ukraine also already makes a contribution to the Euro-Atlantic security and is ready to strengthen its cooperation with the Alliance. "We are not looking for protection, we are looking for partnership. We very much appreciate NATO's decision to grant Ukraine EOP status," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister also stressed that despite the difficult situation related to the spread of coronavirus infection in the world, Ukraine and international partners had managed to take a number of successful steps towards deepening cooperation. "Over the past month, we have achieved quite impressive success in this cooperation. This includes the signing of a new program with the IMF, the agreement with the EU on macro-financial assistance, the tranches we received from the IBRD, three agreements with the EU, in particular in the field of support for small and medium-sized businesses and farmers. There are a lot of negotiations, plans, agreements for the future," he said.

At the same time, Shmyhal acknowledged that Ukraine still had unsolved problems. In particular, he mentioned corruption, populism of politicians, shifting the focus of political discussions, attacks on the Western vector of development carried out by pro-Russian forces inside and outside the country.

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Anurith, a 29-year-old asylum-seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, sits with her children after undergoing a health screening near the border crossing in Zombo, Uganda.  UNHCR/Rocco Nuri

More than 3,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) arrived in Uganda between Wednesday and Friday last week (1  3 July) during a temporary opening of two border crossing points at Golajo and Mount Zeu, north-western Uganda.

The new arrivals were previously part of a larger group of approximately 45,000 people, according to local DRC authorities, who had attempted to flee towards the Ugandan border with the DRC shortly after deadly clashes erupted between armed militia groups in Ituri province on 17 and 18 May. While some have been able to return to their areas of origin, others had remained close to the border, unable to cross for more than a month due to closure of borders on the Uganda side to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Sixty-five per cent of the new arrivals are children. The group also included 33 pregnant women, two of whom were immediately taken to Zeu Health Center III last week, where they each gave birth  one to a baby girl and one to a boy.

Some of the refugees shared heart-wrenching accounts of militia attacks on their villages with our staff. Many of them told us that they were separated from their families and had little time to pack any belongings or look for family members before fleeing. Very few were able to carry personal items and most fled barefoot with only the clothes they were wearing.

The group have been taken to the Zeu Farm Institute, an old training centre for farmers in Zombo district, which is now serving as a quarantine facility. To support the centre, UNHCR has installed 318 family tents, as well as nine water tanks, health screening areas, toilets and handwashing facilities. In addition, UNHCR and partners are providing food, water, medical checks and temporary shelter, and health teams and an ambulance are on stand-by in case anyone requires hospitalization.

The Ugandan Health Ministry has been conducting sample COVID-19 testing, with the first 570 samples returning negative. Refugees have received doses of Vitamin A and vaccinations against cholera, measles, rubella and polio.

Following the mandatory quarantine period of 14 days, in line with national guidelines and protocols, they will be transported to existing refugee settlements.

UNHCR welcomes the decision by the Government of Uganda to allow the group of refugees to enter the country and receive life-saving aid and protection. This effort demonstrates how, through quarantines, health screenings and other measures, States can uphold their obligations under international law during the pandemic while at the same time limiting potential transmission of the virus.

With over 1,000 COVID-19 cases in Uganda, UNHCR continues to support the Government with its COVID-19 response, by constructing and strengthening quarantine and isolation facilities and increasing handwashing supplies and availability of masks. Many of our transit and reception facilities across the country have been converted into quarantine centers, where we are supporting hundreds of Ugandans and refugees on a daily basis.

However, the refugee response in Uganda continues to face multiple challenges due to underfunding, including severe food ration cuts. UNHCR has received just 18 per cent of the US$357 million required for its operation in Uganda in 2020. In the immediate term, US$28 million is urgently needed to continue the current level of assistance to refugees in Uganda, including basic health services. UNHCR appeals for international solidarity to help Uganda uphold its commitments towards the Global Compact on Refugees and maintain its progressive refugee policy during these difficult times.

News footage available for media and broadcasters:

Uganda offers hope, opens border for thousands fleeing violence in DRC:

INTERNATIONAL: https://media.unhcr.org/Share/7q64kbge8gk1u02w38fs104gs70o54bg

Despite COVID-19, Uganda opens border for thousands fleeing violence in DRC:

BROLL: https://media.unhcr.org/Share/g25226u6t6ps2y4g8ca31dmvl0ldr1e5

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EU allocates over EUR 11.5 mln for public administration reform in Ukraine

In total, the EU has assigned EUR 90 million for 2016-2021 budget support for public administration reform.

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Representatives of Oleg Bakhamtyuk's UkrLandFarming company and lawyers are not allowed to attend a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, where the issue of closing a criminal case against the shareholder by a court decision will be considered, despite an officially submitted application for participation.

An appeal by the UkrLandFarming group of companies to Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov was published yesterday, which notes the relevant Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy will hold a meeting on July 8, during which it will consider the closure of the case related to VAB Bank under the ruling of Kyiv's Pechersky district court, which is final and not subject to appeal. The committee did not invite the side of UkrLandFarming shareholder Oleg Bakhmatyuk, as well as the side of another person involved in the case, former Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Oleksandr Pysaruk, to represent their positions, although representatives of the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office and the Office of the Prosecutor General were invited to consider this issue.

Yesterday, according to the existing procedure, the anti-corruption committee was officially informed both by e-mail and phone about the list of persons, company representatives and lawyers who should be present at the committee meeting to objectively and comprehensively cover the circumstances of the process. Today it became known the committee's secretariat had refused to consider this message and did not allow the company's representatives to attend the meeting. Following a phone talk with a representative of the secretariat, it became known the decision on admission to the committee meeting is taken by Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, MP Anastasia Radina. As reported earlier, Radina and First Deputy Head of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy Yaroslav Yurchyshyn had repeatedly made public allegations of guilt against Oleg Bakhmatyuk despite court rulings and well-known facts that denied this.

"It seems the committee leadership has decided to appoint us guilty a priori, and do this despite the rulings of the courts, despite the evidence of our innocence, without giving us the opportunity to defend ourselves publicly and openly. This resembles the traditions of a 'fair trial' of the totalitarian Stalinist regime with its 'NKVD troikas' and the lack of legal protection for victims of the trial," UkrLandFarming said. The company believes "some lawmakers are afraid of people who have the courage to refute their unfounded statements."

As reported earlier, on June 25, the Office of the Prosecutor General complied with the judgment handed down by Kyiv's Pechersky district court, canceling the motion by the first deputy prosecutor general on the resumption of criminal proceedings related to the provision of a stabilization loan by the NBU to Oleg Bakhmatyuk's VAB Bank. The court ruling is final and not subject to appeal. Findings of examinations of the Deposit Guarantee Fund and statements by the NBU confirmed the loan funds had been spent for their intended purpose, i.e. they were received by bank depositors.
The meeting should take place after it is clear that Paris agreements have been fulfilled.

Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov says the meeting of the Normandy Four leaders may take place in Berlin in August.

"Perhaps the next Berlin already as a meeting of the political leaders of four countries of the Normandy format should take place after it is clear that Paris [agreements] has been fulfilled," he said during a Svoboda Slova [Freedom of Speech] TV panel show.

Read alsoPresident's Office: Normandy Four Berlin Summit closer after political advisers' meeting

"I am convinced such a meeting is possible during August. This is possible provided that we're really moving toward the meeting," the minister added.

At the same time, Reznikov said he does not idealize Ukraine's opponents in the negotiation process.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Paris on December 9, 2019, to discuss ways to end the war in Donbas.

In particular, they reaffirmed their commitment to the full and comprehensive ceasefire regime by the end of 2019 and supported the arrangement within the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on the disengagement of troops and weapons at three new sites in eastern Ukraine by the end of March 2020.

They encouraged the Trilateral Contact Group to promote the release and exchange of detained persons associated with the conflict by the end of the year on an "all for all" basis, starting with "all identified for all identified."

The parties expressed their interest in reaching agreements within the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group on all legal aspects of the law on the special order of local self-government (on the special status) of certain districts in Donetsk and Luhansk regions  as specified in the Comprehensive Set of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements of 2015  to ensure its continued operation.

They also consider it necessary to incorporate the so-called "Steinmeier formula" into Ukrainian law according to the version agreed by the Normandy Four leaders and the Trilateral Contact Group.
Broward College is cutting jobs of mid-level employees who have been there 20 to 30 years without any senior management taking even a penny of a pay cut. Theres more than $12 million in management salaries in the budget, and despite colleges all over the country making salary cuts, Broward College, which was in fairly dire straits prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, did not implement a single salary reduction of anyone in administration or management. More than 65 members of management make over $100,000. I spoke at the board of trustees meeting and my suggestion that they cut these six-figure salaries as colleges all over the country are doing was ignored.
The launch is scheduled for September.

Ukrainian specialists are now involved in preparations for the launch of Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket on schedule.

A group of employees of SE Yuzhnoye State Design Office and Hartron-Arkos Ltd. in April 2020 left for the United States to participate in preparations for the launch of Northrop Grumman's Antares, the press service of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) told UNIAN.

Read alsoUkraine lifts ban on private firms' space-related activities

It is scheduled to deliver cargo to the International Space Station by NASA's order in September this year.

The full group began work on the program after a two-week quarantine upon arrival in the United States, it said.

On June 19, fifteen specialists who took part in the electrical tests of the first stage of the Antares launch system at the rocket launch site on Wallops Island returned to Ukraine; one remained in the United States to perform scheduled work.

In early July, two more Ukrainian specialists arrived in the United States, and three more experts on the fuel control system are expected to arrive soon.

Arrangements for the Ukrainian specialists' flight, in particular securing the necessary permits for their departure became possible particularly thanks to the support and interagency coordination of actions by Ukraine's NSDC, it said.

As UNIAN reported, Ukraine's space enterprises and Northrop Grumman have been cooperating for several years to date. The corporation orders two rockets every year.
The U.S. diplomats reiterate Russia must free all Ukrainian political prisoners.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv says it is deeply concerned by the reported searches and detentions of Crimean Tatars on July 7.

Read alsoUN chief publishes report on situation of human rights in occupied Crimea

"We are deeply concerned by the reported searches and detentions of Crimean Tatars this morning. Russia has no right to harass and detain Ukrainians on Ukrainian soil. Russia must free all Ukrainian political prisoners. Crimea is Ukraine," the embassy said on Twitter.

As reported earlier, at least six Crimean Tatars were detained by the Russian occupying authorities after searches on the morning of July 7.
The report covers the period of July 1 to December 31, 2019, and draws heavily from the work of the Office's Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has publishes an interim report on the "Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine," as mandated by United Nations General Assembly resolution 74/168.

The report covers the period of July 1 to December 31, 2019, and draws heavily from the work of the Office's Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, according to a statement by Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The report notes that human rights violations involving torture and other ill-treatment perpetrated by law enforcement agencies continued in Crimea. It is particularly concerning that, in all documented cases in which victims made credible complaints to the courts and law enforcement authorities, no perpetrator was held accountable.

Read alsoRFE/RL: Ukraine's foreign minister says Russia-annexed Crimea's 'de-occupation is inevitable'

It is also reported there are concerns about inadequate conditions of detention in Crimea, which could amount to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Moreover, the ongoing criminalization of freedom of expression on social media is also worrisome, with journalists and media workers continuing to face interference with their professional activities. Several civil society groups faced obstacles in organizing conferences, public discussions and other meetings.

In addition, the report provides several examples where, in violation of international humanitarian law, the Russian Federation failed to uphold its obligations as the occupying Power in Crimea. Transfers of detainees from occupied territory to the territory of the occupying Power, continue to violate the prohibition on individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as on deportations of protected persons. The report also notes that the Russian Federation continues to apply its criminal legislation in Crimea, contrary to its obligation to respect the criminal laws of the occupied territory, and that it carried out its tenth military conscription campaign in Crimea, in violation of international humanitarian law.
Over 420 firefighters and rescuers are now involved in operations to put out the fires.

Two large-scale wildfires have been reported in Luhansk region's Novoaidarsky district, Ukraine's east.

One of the fires has spread to a village, where one person has been killed, four more have been injured, Ukraine's State Emergency Situations Service reported on July 7.

Read alsoStriking twice: Rainfalls cause new flooding in Zakarpattia (Photos, videos)

On the afternoon of July 6, a fire broke out on an area of about 50 hectares near the village of Oskolonivka in Novoaidarsky district, which is part of the Borovsky and Okhtyrsky forestry departments, the agency reported. On the morning of July 7, the fire was contained on an area of about 85 hectares.

Gusts of wind (up to 25 meters per second) and high air temperatures (+38 C) let the fire spread to the village of Smolianynove, where one person was killed and another four were hospitalized, according to preliminary reports.

As of 17:00 Kyiv time on July 7, as many as 361 Emergency Situations Service workers and 85 pieces of equipment were involved in putting out the fire.

In addition, 37 tank trucks and 220 firefighters and rescuers from the service's units in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Poltava regions are heading for the scene.

Also, firefighters are engaged in eliminating the forest fire on an area of about 40 hectares near the village of Kapitanove, Novoaidarsky district. Sixty-three workers and 16 pieces of equipment are engaged in the operation.

The military have also been engaged in the efforts to put out the fire near the village of Oskolonivka, the Headquarters of the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas said.
The fire area is currently about 100 hectares.

Luhansk region's Governor Serhiy Haidai says that arson may be behind the wildfires that are currently raging in Ukraine's east.

"It has not been analyzed yet, but it could be an arson attack," he told Radio NV.

Gusts of wind are an obstacle to preventing the spread of the fires.

"It's been 38 [degrees Celsius] for almost a week. There are [fire] protection belts, but yesterday [the wind was so strong] that a burning [pine] cone reached us while we were 50-60 meters away from the epicenter [of the fire]," he said. "When the fire is spreading along the tops [of the trees], I've just witnessed that the entire forest has caught fire within one and a half to two minutes."

Police and patrols visit houses and evacuate local residents, he said.

Read alsoUPDATE - Wildfires in Luhansk region: Number of victims grows to five dead, nine injured (Photos)

"But it's very hard to talk with older people, they don't want to leave homes. They say: 'We were born here and we will die here.' I've tried to persuade some of them for half an hour because they say: 'No, these are our houses, we won't go anywhere,'" he said.

According to him, many law enforcement officers are engaged in anti-looting efforts.

"I've spoken with the defense minister, the Joint Forces Operation's commander. Equipment has departed for us from the city of Dnipro, from Donetsk region. There will be a lot of equipment. But in some areas, the fire front is so massive that quadcopters fall because of the temperature," he added.

The fire area is currently about 100 hectares.

As UNIAN reported earlier, two large-scale wildfires were reported in Luhansk region's Novoaidarsky district, Ukraine's east. On the afternoon of July 6, a fire broke out on an area of about 50 hectares near the village of Oskolonivka in Novoaidarsky district, which is part of the Borovsky and Okhtyrsky forestry departments. On the morning of July 7, the fire was contained on an area of about 85 hectares. Gusts of wind (up to 25 meters per second) and high air temperatures (+ 38 C) let the fire spread to the village of Smolianynove.

The death toll as of Tuesday evening was five people, nine other victims have been hospitalized.

Also, firefighters are liquidating a fire on an area of about 40 hectares near the village of Kapitanove in Novoaidarsky district.
In particular, about 4,500 tonnes of fuel and over 20 trucks of ammunition and military equipment have been delivered to the occupying forces' formations and units since June 15.

Spokesman for Ukraine's Defense Ministry Dmytro Hutsuliak has said Russia continues to supply military hardware, weapons and ammunition to the occupying forces in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Read alsoUkraine to look into possibility of deploying OSCE peacekeepers to Donbas  minister

"Russia continues to provide the occupying forces in the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions with weapons, ammunition, fuels and lubricants and other military equipment through border sections not controlled by Ukraine," he said at a briefing on Tuesday with reference to intelligence data.

In particular, according to Hutsuliak, about 4,500 tonnes of fuel and over 20 trucks of ammunition and military equipment have been delivered to the occupying forces' formations and units since June 15.

In addition, armored vehicles restored at repair plants of the Russian military industrial complex were delivered in separate columns.
The Joint Forces returned fire to each enemy attack.

Russia's hybrid military forces on July 6 mounted seven attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with one member of the Joint Forces reported as wounded in action.

"The Russian Federation's armed formations violated the ceasefire seven times on July 6," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said on Facebook in an update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on July 7. "As a result, one Ukrainian serviceman was wounded in enemy shelling."

Read alsoUkraine to look into possibility of deploying OSCE peacekeepers to Donbas  minister

Russian-led forces opened fire from proscribed 122mm artillery systems, 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, and heavy machine guns.

Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the villages of Novhorodske, Zaitseve, Pivdenne, Khutir Vilny, Verkhniotoretske, and Starohnativka.

The Joint Forces returned fire to each enemy attack.

"Since Tuesday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions three times near the villages of Novotoshkivske, Starohnativka and Vodiane, using 120mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, machine guns, and rifles," the update said.

No casualties have been reported among Ukrainian troops since Tuesday midnight.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are working out plans to respond to all military threats from Russia, including in the Crimean direction.

Commander of the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Serhiy Nayev says there is no direct threat of the Russian invasion yet, however, the Ukrainian army is preparing for any scenario.

Speaking during a Svoboda Slova [Freedom of Speech] TV panel show, he said the Ukrainian military had reinforced all types of intelligence to obtain information on the status and nature of the Russian armed forces' actions, according to the RBC Ukraine media outlet.

Read alsoNavy commander tells of preparations to repel Russia's full-scale aggression

"All state intelligence agencies, as well as the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including the commander in chief, the chief of the General Staff and the defense minister are taking part. We receive daily information about the Russian armed forces, their presence, accumulation, and increase in the number," he said.

Nayev stressed the Ukrainian Armed Forces were working out plans to respond to all military threats from Russia, including in the Crimean direction.

In addition, he said the commander of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, who had announced Russia's possible military invasion from Crimea, "exaggerated and does not have full information."

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's Navy Commander Oleksiy Neizhpapa said the threat of full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine had not disappeared.
Since mid-June Hungarian authorities had removed 938 cubic metres of waste from the Tisza river.

Hungary's president called on Ukraine and Romania on Tuesday to stop polluting two major rivers that flow across Hungary after floods in the past weeks brought in dirty carpets of plastic bottles from its neighbours.

In letters to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, published on President Janos Ader's official website, Ader said Hungarian authorities could not clean up all the waste in the Tisza and Szamos rivers, Reuters said.

Read alsoUK to provide relief aid to Ukraine's flood-hit west

It is disappointing that pollution of the Tisza river with waste has not been reduced ... and poses a lasting threat to the fragile ecosystem of the river, Ader said in the letter to Zelensky. He asked the Ukrainian president to help to resolve the problem urgently.

"Our machines are no longer able to handle the piles of garbage that come in unstoppable quantities," Ader said.

Ader, whose role in Hungarian politics is largely ceremonial, said in the letters that since mid-June Hungarian authorities had removed 938 cubic metres of waste from the Tisza river and 846 cubic metres of waste from the Szamos river.

The Tisza, one of the main rivers in eastern Europe, starts in Ukraine and flows across Hungary to join the Danube in Serbia. The Szamos flows from Romania to Hungary and joins the Tisza there. Massive pollution on the two rivers has been a problem for years.

The Ukrainian and Romanian presidents' offices were not immediately available for comment.
Ukrainian experts from the National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation will be in France from July 20 to July 25.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) says five days have been booked for reading out the data recorder and cockpit voice recorder of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 downed in Iran on January 8, 2020.

"As for the [black] boxes  we are sending two of our representatives. The French side has confirmed it is ready to accept them," Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Enin said at a briefing on July 6, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

Read alsoUkraine doesn't rule out suing Iran over downing of UIA plane

The equipment is expected to arrive from Iran to France on July 20, after which it will be analyzed by France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety.

"They've booked five days for themselves," he said.

According to him, even one or one and a half days will be enough to analyze the flight recorders, depending on the complexity of the decryption.

Enin also said that Ukrainian experts from the National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation would be in France from July 20 to July 25.

At the same time, the technical investigation will be completed when Iran agrees to sign the corresponding protocol.
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Australian authorities were preparing to close the border between the country's two largest states, as the country's second-largest city, Melbourne, recorded two deaths and its highest-ever daily increase in infections on Monday.

The border between the states of New South Wales - home to Sydney - and Victoria - home to Melbourne - is due to be shut late Tuesday.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian was a critic of states that closed their borders to her state when Sydney had Australia's largest number of coronavirus cases. But she said she changed her stance because the situation in Melbourne was unprecedented and indicated the pandemic was in a new phase.

The overwhelming majority of new infections detected in Melbourne in recent weeks were from community transmission. Everywhere else in Australia, the vast majority of people who tested positive for the virus 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 Monday. ``It's a new part of the pandemic and, as such, it requires a new type of response.''

The Victorian government locked down 36 of the most virus-prone Melbourne suburbs last week and at the weekend added another four suburbs because of the disease spread.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said of the 127 new cases recorded overnight, 53 were among 3,000 people who have been confined by police to their apartments in nine public housing blocks since Saturday.

Australia's Acting Chief Medical Officer Paulk Kelly has described the high-rises as ``vertical cruise ships'' because of the high risk of virus spread.

Police allege a 32-year-old man bit a police officer on Monday as he attempted to leave a high-rise in the suburb of Flemington. He would be charged with assault, resisting police and attempting to breach a pandemic order, Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said.

The infections announced Monday surpassed the first surge of infections in Melbourne that peaked on March 28 at 111 cases recorded in a day.

Daniels said he agreed with Berejiklian and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a Sydney resident, that the border needed to close. Three in five Australian residents live in Sydney or Melbourne and the air services between the two cities before the pandemic were among the busiest in the world.

``I think it is the smart call, the right call at this time, given the significant challenges we face in containing this virus,'' Andrews said.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd confirmed that federal authorities agreed with the closure. The federal government had previously opposed any internal border closures aimed mostly at stopping spread from Victoria and New South Wales. Morrison had urged state leaders to open their borders for the good of the economy.

Kidd said that only 16% of new cases detected in Australia in the past week had been infected overseas. Two weeks ago, 50% of new cases were people infected overseas and detected in hotel quarantine, he said.

``The situation in Melbourne has come as a jolt, not just of the people of Melbourne but people right across Australia who may have thought that this was all behind us. It is not,'' Kidd said.

Outside of Victoria, another 13 cases reported in the past 24 hours were people infected overseas. Of those, 10 had been in hotel quarantine in New South Wales and three in Western Australia

New South Wales police will enforce the Victorian border closure. Some flights and trains services would continue for travelers who are given permits and exemptions, Berejiklian said.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said officers would use drones to detect people who attempt across the border via forest tracks to avoid the 55 policed road and bridge crossings.

Nationwide, Australia has recorded more than 8,500 total infections and 106 deaths.

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Academics behind a new research project are appealing to British residents in Spain to take part in their investigation. Their aim is to understand if British people are thinking of returning to the UK in the current climate.

The study is led by two expert researchers of retirement migration to Spain, Dr Jordi Giner from the University of Valencia and Dr Charles Betty, a British expat who last year became the oldest person from the UK to be awarded a PhD for his work. Charles was also given the MBE in the New Year's Honours for his work in the community.

"It is important to understand the current situation of British people in Spain and if Brexit and Covid are impacting on their lives and decisions to return. We can then try to ensure the right support is in place for them," said Charles.

Dr Charles Betty

British people living in Spain for all or part of the year are invited to complete the online survey by clicking here.

Participants will not be asked for personal details.
Austin Beutner has been an investment banker, first deputy mayor of Los Angeles, and publisher and chief executive of the Los Angeles Times. But none of those jobs were tougher than the position he is soon leaving after the grueling COVID-19 year: superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified Sc
A celebration of the life for John Robert "Bobby" Brown, 72, will be held at his residence on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 10 a.m. Bobby was born in Dublin, but his home was Baldwin County. He was predeceased by his parents, John Preston "Pete" Brown and Virginia Watson Brown. He was retired
Only 40% of students in China who previously intended to study overseas still plan to, while just under 50% of those who had studied overseas plan to return to their study after the borders reopen.

These are results from our unpublished survey of 1,012 students we conducted in China between June 5 and 15. We asked them whether they would continue with their plan to study abroad post COVID-19.

These findings are not surprising. Due to growing tensions between China and the West  even before COVID-19  middle-class parents in China had become increasingly concerned about the safety of, and possible discrimination against, their children abroad, including in the US and Australia.

The pandemic seems to have accelerated this trend.

What students say about studying in Australia

Of the 1,012 students we surveyed, 404 had registered to study abroad in the next three years (in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore) and 608 had been studying overseas (including in Australia, US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Japan) before COVID-19 .

In the questionnaire, we presented interviewees with considerations and asked them to nominate which ones would influence their decision about whether to study in Australia after COVID-19, as well as in other countries.

The first group (group A) includes 304 students who had studied in Australia but who were not able to return due to travel restrictions.

Of these, 50% were undergraduates, 42% graduates, 5% doctoral students, and 3% vocational education or high school students.

The second group (group B) includes students who had never studied abroad before but had registered their intention to in the next three years, including in Australia, before COVID-19.

The second group also answered Australia-specific questions.

Not many students in either group considered issues such as more expensive air travel, less freedom in China and online lectures as critical factors influencing their decision to study in Australia.

But the two groups reacted to some factors quite differently. The students who had studied in Australia before considered the following factors as more critical to their decision:

returnees with Australian degrees are not more competitive in Chinas job market compared to graduates from top-tier universities in China

life is more convenient, safe and easier at home and I dont want to go abroad to endure the hardship as a foreign student

improved political stability and economic prospects in China

less of a chance of landing a good job with an Australian degree in China

no need to go abroad if lectures are delivered online.

The group of students who hadnt yet studied in Australia but planned to, considered the following factors as critical:

media reported cases of Chinese being discriminated against or abused in Australia

deterioration in Sino-Australia relations

not many outstanding returnees from Australia are visible in the media to represent the success of Australian education

Australian universities lowered the entry standard for foreign students due to COVID-19

Australian degrees are perceived to be less valuable compared to degrees from other English-speaking countries, especially the US and the UK, by HR personnel in China.

What the students said

Not surprisingly, both groups considered the Chinese governments warnings against visiting, or studying in, Australia important. A decision to study and live abroad is often made by the whole family in China. Official voices weigh significantly in such decisions.

A student who had done some of her master degree in a Melbourne university said:

After the Chinese New Year, Australian borders were closed to Chinese students due to COVID-19. Direct travel was not allowed. So I travelled to Thailand and spent 14 days in a small hotel in Bangkok before I landed in Melbourne. I had to be self-quarantined for 14 days in my rented room. Then I found all lectures were moved online and the situation of COVID-19 became serious in Melbourne. The PM urged international students to go home. My parents were so worried. They paid for an over-priced air ticket and a quarantine-hotel in Shanghai for me for 14 days before I could go back to my hometown. When the [Chinese] government announced the travel and study warnings, I couldnt convince my parents that things arent that bad in Australia. They listened to the government and believed the official voices rather than their own daughter.

There have been cases (though isolated ones) of Asians or Chinese people being bullied in Australia due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, social media in China often distorts such cases and amplifies the (mis)perceptions. And the tensions between China and Australia have enhanced these negative perceptions.

A reporting database for anti-Asian racism in Australia during the COVID-19 outbreak has received more than 170 responses since it launched a fortnight ago, with the Human Rights Commission also seeing a spike in racial discrimination complaints. https://t.co/qZsY7NMzY0  Asher Wolf (@Asher_Wolf) April 17, 2020

Sending their children abroad was once a privilege for elites with intellectual, economic or political power in China. But this is now quite common among middle-class Chinese families.

Chinese families spend a large amount of money on their childrens education. Better opportunities (either in the host country or on returning home) after study abroad is an underlining reason Chinese families invest in their children.

Australia has attracted many Chinese students in recent decades. But if Chinese students with Australian degrees are less appreciated or less competitive compared to those who study in other countries or in local universities, families will look for other options.

A Chinese student who had been studying at a Sydney university told us:

We are the clients and the degrees are a commodity; we pay for our degrees. What if the commodity loses its value? The clients will surely walk away.

COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the number of Chinese students likely to study in Australia. But the downward trend started way before the pandemic.

Australian universities need to adjust their strategies for a future that will not only deliver value for Chinese students, but also strengthen a positive perception about this value.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that the country's government adopted measures to enhance control over currency fluctuations, media reported on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2020) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that the country's government adopted measures to enhance control over Currency fluctuations, media reported on Tuesday.

According to the official IRNA news agency, Rouhani said that the government would sue exporters refusing to supply foreign exchange from exports in accordance with existing rules and in a timely manner.

Meanwhile, those exporters who comply with the rules would be granted concessions by the government.
Valdosta, GA (31601)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 79F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Isolated thunderstorms during the evening. Cloudy skies after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
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COVID-19 has taken a toll on the financial sustainability of Ivory Coasts Radio Nationale Catholique forcing Church authorities to temporarily close the radio station.

Agenzia Fides  Abidjan & Vatican Radio English Africa Service  Vatican City

Institutions of the Catholic Church everywhere are not immune to the economic consequences caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In Ivory Coast, Radio Nationale Catholique defined as the national Voice of the Gospel has been forced to suspend broadcasts.

A bitter option

The financial situation of the Radio station requires decisions to be made about its future. Therefore, in compliance with state regulations, the Church is suspending broadcasts and all radio related activities. It is the bitter option that we have had to take, said Fr Augustin Obrou, the National Executive Secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications. Fr. Obrou made the announcement to stunned members of staff at Radio Nationale Catholique, in Abidjan.

Church will not abandon staff

The Church says it will not abandon the thirty members of staff and has put in place a social plan to sustain the survival of staff members and their families. Part of the plan entails a fundraising campaign.

The goal is to get the financial resources to be distributed equally to each employee, added the National Executive Secretary. If the funds collected are sufficient to run the station, the Church hopes to reopen the radio station and resume broadcasts.

A tool of evangelisation silenced

Radio Nationale Catholique is a nationwide radio station of Ivory Coasts Catholic Church. It broadcasts on FM in Abidjan, Gagnoa, Abengourou, Bondoukou and other in parts of the country. The radio was established on 2 February 2001 and was officially inaugurated by the Bishops Conference of Ivory Coast on 24 June 2006.

The radio station has been broadcasting 24 hours a day. It has been seen as the Churchs tool for evangelisation and the promotion of human development.
President Rodrigo Duterte on July 3 signed the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which local and international rights and civil society groups fear could be used to target critics and dissenters.

By Robin Gomes

Leaders of men and women religious orders of the Philippines on Monday welcomed a petition by lawyers, religious and other civic leaders seeking to move the Supreme Court to annul the provisions of a controversial anti-terror law that comes into effect in a fortnight.

Assault on human dignity and rights

Local and international rights groups acknowledge the Philippines has serious security issues but fear the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 could be abused to target critics of the government. The legislation provides for appointing an anti-terrorism council that can designate who is a suspected "terrorist".

In a statement on Monday, the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), which brings together the heads of men and women religious orders, said in faith and in conscience they cannot accept a law that may assault human dignity and human rights.

Ahead of the signing of the legislation, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. expressed concern saying it could have a "chilling effect" on human rights in the country.

The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 empowers authorities to conduct surveillance of terrorist suspects for 60 days, to arrest them without a warrant, and to hold them for 24 days. In the event of an acquittal, suspects are not entitled to damages for wrongful arrest.

The Act broadens the definition of "terrorism" to cover incitement, something that civil society groups regard as dangerous, as it could be used to limit freedom of expression.

Fighting Covid-19 fallout is the priority

At a time when their people are battling the effects of Covid-19, the AMRSP lamented, it finds "no reason to pass a law that does not serve to alleviate their miserable plight. Unemployment, the closure of businesses, the continuing spread of the virus, and the lack of relief for our people, the men and women religious said, are the most pressing concerns at this time.

In a previous statement, the AMRSP joined other voices in expressing opposition to the draconian measure they firmly believe will stifle basic rights and freedoms.

The stated purpose of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, is to prevent, prohibit and penalize terrorism in the Philippines. Dutertes government said the law does not violate the rights of the people, and is needed to fight communist and Islamic rebels in different parts of the country.

Moving the Supreme Court

The AMRSP welcomed 3 petitions filed by an opposition member and two groups of lawyers, urging the Supreme Court to issue a restraining order on the new law.

The religious hope that the countrys apex court will be guided by the common good of all and by the Philippine Constitution so that the light of rule of law and of justice shine ever bright.

The AMRSP encouraged all religious men and women, people of goodwill and all who cherish their rights and freedoms to stand their ground and be with the poor so that truth, justice and peace may prevail.

Inhuman and Unjust law

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has not yet made a statement on the legislation. However, Bishop Jose Bagaforo of Kidapawan, chairman of Caritas Philippines, denounced it as inhuman and unjust and said that it threatens the values of freedom, justice and compassion.

He alleged the law is an attempt to silence critics who disagree with the government. He said it is meant to stifle peoples freedom of expression, academic freedom, the right to organize human and social development, and even freedom of the press.
The people of the Dominican Republic head to the polls on Sunday to choose a new president

Opposition Candidate Luis Abinader of the Modern Revolutionary Party, who has recovered from testing positive for COVID-19 last month, is twenty points ahead of former Public Works Minister Gonzalo Castillo in opinion polls leading up to the election.

Castillo is the candidate of the Dominican Liberation Party, which has ruled the Dominican Republic for the last sixteen years.

To win outright in the first round, and avoid a second round runoff, a candidate has to gain more than 50 percent of the vote. Former President Leonel Fernandez is trailing a distant third in the election sprint, while outgoing president Danilo Medina, who won last time around, is barred by the Constitution from competing this time.

The pandemic has hit the population hard and affected the tourism industry. Battling corruption is another a key issue.

The electorate will also vote for 190 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 32 Senators.
Vietnams National Assembly passed the revised Law on Enterprises and the Law on Investment aimed to make doing business in Vietnam less cumbersome.

Both laws will take effect on January 1, 2021, and are timely given the passage of the new free trade agreements such as the EVFTA and the CPTPP.

While the government is likely to issue forthcoming circulars and decrees on implementation, Vietnam Briefing highlights the main points on the revised laws.

On June 17, Vietnams National Assembly (NA) passed the amended Law on Investment and Law on Enterprises, both of which will take effect on January 1, 2021.

The amended Law on Enterprises simplifies the business registration process, redefines state-owned enterprise (SOE), and excludes household business from the scope of the current law. The amended Law on Investment provides updates on conditional business lines, investment incentives, support mechanisms while removing administrative approval for certain types of investment projects.

To understand the changes, Vietnam Briefing discusses these key updates in detail:

Changes to the Law on Enterprises

Removal of seal specimen

The amended Law on Enterprises removes the procedure to notify the seal specimens, including the carving seal and digital signatures, to the Business Registration Authority (BRA). Additionally, enterprises are allowed to decide on the type, number, form, and content of the seals for its branch, representative offices (ROs) and other units without notifying the BRA.

The requirement on changes to the personal information of a businesses manager has also been removed.

Separate law for household businesses

Due to the differences between household businesses and enterprises, the NA voted to form a separate law for household business. Until this law is issued, the government will oversee regulations related to household businesses.

New definition of SOE

Enterprises with more than 50 percent of the charter capital owned by the State will be considered SOEs as compared to the current ratio of 100 percent. Article 88 of the Law on Enterprises also divides types of SOE according to the different levels of ownership.

Protection for minority shareholders

The revised law removes the requirement that a shareholder or a group of shareholders must hold ordinary shares for at least six consecutive months to exercise the rights of shareholders. Moreover, shareholder(s) that own five percent or more of common shares have the following rights:

Review, search, and extract the minutes books and resolution, decisions of the Board of Directors, financial statements, except documents related to trade and business secrets;

Request a convening of a general meeting of shareholders in some specific cases; and

Request the Supervisory Board to examine each specific issue related to management and administration when deeming it necessary.

Changes to the Law on Investment

Conditional business lines

Among the new changes, the law makes amendments to the list of sectors and business lines requiring conditional market access. Conditional market access are business lines in which the investment must satisfy specific statutory conditions in order to gain market access. Especially, the amended law outlaws debt collection services, while abolishing or reducing conditions for 22 business lines, such as commercial arbitration, and franchising and logistics services.

In addition, several sectors have been added to the list that are subject to conditional market access. These are:

Tobacco detoxification provision services;

HIV/AIDS treatment;

Elderly care;

Water sanitization;

Architectural services;

Import press distribution services;

Electronic identification and authentication services;

Fishing vessel registration; and

Fishing vessel crew training, among others.

The law also contemplates a list of business lines restricted to foreign investment. The NA Standing Committee has emphasized the need to balance national security and investment attraction for socio-economic development, especially for coastal and remote areas.

Incentives and investment support

To ensure the quality of foreign investment, the amended law includes specific conditions for sectors that are entitled to investment incentives. These include:

Innovation-related sectors such as Information Technology (IT), R&D, digital content, hi-tech, new and clean energy, and production of intermediate goods participating in value chains and industry clusters, among others;

To ensure the effectiveness of incentive schemes, maintaining incentives is conditional to the performance of the previous support package. More specifically, the government would set a definite term for incentives and would extend or scrap it in accordance with the outcome of the incentive;

The Prime Minister can apply special incentives to create a favorable mechanism and policies to attract FDI inflows. Notably, the law allows a maximum discount rate of more than 50 percent compared to the highest level prescribed by the current law; and

The law also provides special incentives for projects with an investment capital of over VND 3 trillion (USD 128.4 million), and VND 10 trillion (USD 428 million), with certain conditions.

Investment procedures

The law removes the need for a Merger and Acquisition (M&A) approval if the transaction does not result in an increase of foreign investors ownership ratio in the target company. M&A transactions that result in an increase of foreign investors ownership ratio in the target company, and exceeds the 50 percent of shares or charter capital would be subject to an M&A approval.

In addition, projects with an investment capital of VND 10 trillion (US$428 million) will not be required approval from the Prime Minister.

Takeaways

The amended Law on Investment helps resolve overlapping investment-related laws, clarifies the principles and conditions to select investors for projects involving land use, including the auction of land use rights, bidding to select investors, and the approval of investors and investment practices. The amended Law on Enterprises addresses unnecessary administrative procedures, extends the scope of SOE, and entitles minority shareholders with more rights. These changes underline the governments efforts to further improve Vietnams business environment as well as the countrys rankings in the Ease of Doing Business report by the World Bank.
Talley Student Union shines its lights on October 9, 2019. Talley was originally built in June of 1972, but didn't become the Student Union until it was later renovated in 2011. Its grand opening after its renovation was in June of 2015.
Vietnamese workers are inching through the vicissitudes of the global pandemic

Trang, a worker currently residing in Kim Chung commune, Hanoi, said that during the 10 years working at North Thang Long Industrial Zone, she and her husband have never seen their income slashed sharply.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in town, Trang and her husband could barely work, and their family of four had to scrimp and save due to the halved income. Notwithstanding, Trang still finds herself luckier than many others who have been laid off, losing their jobs due to the companys closure.

Now as the outbreak has been eased in Vietnam, our salary has become a bit more stable than during peak times, however, our work has yet to return to normal, said Trang. I am upset because the outbreak really pushed us to a dead-end, not to mention those who lost their jobs. I hope this hardship will soon end so that things can get back on track again.

Trang is one of thousands of labourers whose jobs have been affected by the recent coronavirus pandemic. A survey of some 131,000 enterprises by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) showed that by mid-April, Vietnams labour market was experiencing a severe employment crisis when about five million employees from at least 59 cities and provinces in Vietnam had lost their jobs. Among them, 1.2 million people were in the manufacturing and processing industry, 1.1 million work in retail and commerce, and 740,000 were in hospitality.

According to the GSO survey, 85 per cent of the participating businesses claimed that they are suffering from pandemic impacts. Meanwhile, 67 per cent of the surveyed businesses said they had resorted to lay-offs, furloughs, and wage cuts.

As of May, when the pandemic was gradually controlled, 70,000-80,000 workers who previously lost their jobs returned to work, but many businesses continued to face difficulties due to the stagnant export markets.

Nguyen Thi Quyen, deputy director general of the Department of Employment under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA), said that the first five months of 2020 witnessed over 430,000 people applying for unemployment benefits, equalling an increase by 128 per cent on-year. In May alone, there were nearly 160,000 applicants, equalling 145 per cent of the same period last year.

The MoLISA estimates that 7.2 million workers could lose their jobs during the remainder of this year if the pandemic worsens around the globe. Quyen said that, in the worst-case scenario, Vietnam could be severely affected by the global situation, impacting around 90 per cent of the local businesses.

Even under the most optimistic scenario, between 3-3.5 million workers could become unemployed and up to 75 per cent of the businesses could be affected.

Amid this situation, many organisations and businesses came up with timely measures to support workers, especially in industrial zones where there are mostly foreign-invested enterprises  one of the groups that have been most affected by COVID-19.

As such, starting from June 20, the Embassy of New Zealand is working with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the International Labour Organization in Vietnam to establish a zero-VND supermarket for around 1,500 workers in Hanois Dong Anh area and Thang Long Industrial Park (IP) who have been economically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each customer who visits this special supermarket, operated by the trade union of Thang Long IP, can pick up a package of groceries worth around VND200,000 ($8.70) for no charge.

This project demonstrates the strong partnership between New Zealand and Vietnam, said New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Wendy Matthews. This is a practical initiative to help ease the economic impacts of COVID-19 on Thang Long workers and their families.

In late May, the VGCL decided to provide each of its members and workers VND500,000 ($21.70) nationwide.

Within April and May, trade unions in Hanoi organised visits and supported nearly 60,000 workers under difficult circumstances. While the city is home to more than 4,000 businesses, with more than 160,000 employees affected by the pandemic, The Hanoi Confederation of Labour supported 1,590 labourers in manufacturing, business, and private educational establishments. The total support is valued at VND1.59 billion ($70,000).

Following the programme, the citys labour federation also granted an additional 1,500 second-phase support packages to workers in the city, each offered VND1 million ($43.40) and 500g of rice.

According to Dinh Quoc Toan, chairman of the Trade Union of Hanoi Industrial and Export Processing Zones Management Authority, the union also advises businesses to offer workers the best suitable solutions, such as allowing employees to take a leave or work alternately while receiving up to 75 per cent of their salaries.

In addition, the trade union has visited and offered its support to employees in hardship. At the same time, the trade union called for the landlords and local authorities to direct rent exemptions or reductions during the pandemic. In the coming time, the trade union plans to give out another 1,000 support packages, each also worth VND500,000 ($21.75), to employees affected by the epidemic to help reduce their difficulties and gradually gain back stability in life.
The national steering committee asked DOE to stick to the power price at the LNG Bac Lieu project

To date, Delta Offshore Energy Pte., Ltd (DOE) was granted the investment registration certificate for the $4 billion Bac Lieu liquefied natural gas (LNG) power project with the capacity of 3,200MW. The investor started to build the feasibility report for the project and is working to complete the investment preparation within this year.

DOE selected Bechtel Group from the US as the strategic partner in charge of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

In addition, it had an official online working session for the first time with Electrivity of Vietnam (EVN) to discuss works related to the project in April with the target of signing the PPA before this October.

According to the investors plans, the first phase of the project with the capacity of 800MW is expected to start operation in 2024 and the construction of the entire project is expected to be completed in December 2027. The complex of LNG port and warehouse will be located at the coastal area of Bac Lieu, 35 kilometres from the power plant.

The investor wants EVN to issue guidance on the nation's power demand, the operation time, progress, and the connection method to the national grid, which will be the basis for technical design to serve for building the PPA contract.

Responding to DOEs requirement, the National Steering Committee for Electricity Development proposed EVN to reach an agreement with the investor about the target and the progress of the project so that they can sign the framework agreement.

The committee noted in a report submitted to the prime minister that, It is necessary to require the investor to keep its commitment about the selling price of 7 US cent per kWh to save time for negotiating the PPA."

At present, a series of investors expect to add their projects to the national power development plan in 2021-2030, with vision to 2045 (Power Plan VIII) but lack a framework on selling price. Thus, the National Steering Committee for Electricity Development asked the Electricity Regulatory Authority to complete the price framework for power plants using LNG in the third quarter of this year and submit it to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for consideration.
Facebook and Google have dozens of thousands of advertisers in Vietnam

Under the new tax law, banks are allowed to deduct taxes for cross-border service suppliers on their earnings from Vietnam following Clause 27 of the Law on Tax Administration. That means banks are allowed to take taxes out of the bank accounts of companies which have been making transactions with overseas services suppliers, especially Facebook and Google.

In addition to the local authorised partners, the two tech titans also have dozens of thousands of advertisers who are mainly small- and medium-sized enterprises and individual online vendors. However, only authorised partners have been paying foreign contractor withholding tax for Facebook and Google at the rate of 5 per cent. According to a VIR source, there are dozens of authorised partners of Facebook and Google in Vietnam.

The source also revealed that the giants sign about 10 contracts annually with authorised companies with the value of VND200-300 million ($8,700-13,000) each. Calculated with the 5 per cent foreign contractor withholding tax rate, these firms pay about $4,350-6,500 a year in total.

According to Nguyen The Trung, chairman of local tech company DTT Group, every transaction Facebook and Google make in Vietnam are valuable. With global earnings of $55 billion with more than 2.4 billion users, earning about $15-20 from each user. Thus, in Vietnam, with its more than 60 million users, Facebook earned about $1 billion last year.

Local tax supervision has yet to be extended to these transactions, Trung told VIR. Facebook only pays about one-tenth of the value that authorised partners bring to it in Vietnam, ignoring its tax obligations after thousands of other advertisers.

The biggest problem is how to supervise the money flows between local individual advertisers and overseas suppliers. Accordingly, as they perform transactions via personal credit cards, the people did not have to pay any tax for the suppliers until now, resulting in great amounts of lost tax revenue for the state for years.

With the fresh legislative changes, banks will soon be able to check individuals' bank accounts and deduct taxes from them.

According to market research company ANTS, Facebook and Google currently occupy about 70 per cent of the local advertising market and the proportion is forecast to keep growing in the years ahead. Therefore, to force giants to fulfil their tax duties in Vietnam, the new tax law is necessary.
Dabaco delays rectifying lasting pollution debacle

In a discussion with VIR about the air pollution caused by a farm of Dabaco Group JSC, a multi-field group specialising mainly in animal feed, cattle, and poultry breeding as well as food processing, reported last week, Duong Van Chu, director of Dabaco Tuyen Quang Breeding Pig Co., Ltd., did not deny the issue. He said that the waste treatment system of the farm includes three huge biogas tanks (thousands of cubic metres each), along with a sump tank, settling tank, and filter tank.

After settling and filtration, the pig manure is pressed into dry manure, which will be sold to locals to fertilise plants, Chu said.

The company also mixes probiotics into pig feed to make the manure less odorous.

Explaining the stench that the locals of Hop Hoa commune complained of in recent weeks, Chu assumed responsibility and said that he would carefully look through the workflow and the performance of all staff. There were probably some mistakes in the workflow, like workers did not clean pigsties properly or the wrong dosage of probiotics were added to the feed. I will look into this, Chu promised.

According to Chu, the farms waste treatment system was designed to be able to handle the farms maximum designed capacity. However, there are only 1,200 sows, 20,000 pigs, and 15,000 gilt pigs, equivalent to about 70 per cent of the maximum capacity.

He said that the farm and the company office were built solidly and are not yet affected by depreciation. Dabaco also conducted a serious environmental impact assessment before building the farm, under the supervision and inspection of the provincial government, Chu added.

Although the director reaffirmed that the farms waste treatment system is running at the proper capacity, this is not the first time that locals have complained of air pollution. Last year, after several weeks of suffering the stench of pig manure, local complaints prompted the dispatch of an independent observation team from Hanoi to inspect the air quality around Dabacos farm.

The observation team reported at the end of last February that all indices were within the acceptable limit, the director of Dabaco Tuyen Quang said, showing the report to VIR.

However, as the company begins to head back towards maximum capacity, it is looking to request more land from the provincial government to accommodate 3,000 more sows in the coming years. This means the air and river pollution may become worse if workflow issues and waste treatment systems are not properly worked out.

While the locals are unsure of benefits the company is generating for Tuyen Quang, they are aware of the tremendous after-tax profit that Dabaco has reported thanks to the increasing price of live hogs. In the first half of the year, the group gained VND744 billion ($32.35 million) in profit, 27 times as much as in the year before and surpassing the annual plan by 63 per cent.

If Dabaco continues to focus more on profitability than the safe operation of its large-scale farms, pollution incidents like Tuyen Quang could be a recurring problem of growing severity and impact on the health of locals  an especially concerning thought in light of the relatively low penalties for discharging wastewater.

These fines are now only about 0.1-0.2 per cent of the profit the group made in the first half, which is not deemed a large enough deterrent.
Yanai Hisayuki - Chief administrative officer, Nidec Chaun Choung Vietnam Corporation Ever since 2018 when Nidec laid its first project in Vietnam, we have seen rapid changes in Vietnams economy, but still it is very open and friendly to foreign enterprises. The investment environment in Vietnam has always been appealing, even in the middle of this current pandemic. The Vietnamese government has done an incredible job in protecting the country as well as maintaining economic growth. Japanese investors assess this as a big achievement and appreciate what the Vietnamese government has done. As we have a big investment in a high-technology project in Hoa Lac High-tech Park, our expectations range from receiving the highest incentives under law to having support from the authorities in implementation of the project. We have recorded interruption in the project progress due to the pandemic, hence our expectation is to catch up with the planned progress in order to promote project efficiency and meet global demand. Vietnam has always been an attractive investment environment to the world on the strength of good infrastructure, dynamic market, cheap materials, and cultural diversity. There are, however, still some weaknesses. The first to mention is air pollution, which is a major problem for citizens in Vietnam and particularly in Hanoi. With the rapid growth of many industrial zones across the country, the Vietnamese government should take action to protect the environment, and secure healthy living conditions for both investors and citizens. Secondly, the condition of freeways in Vietnam is still poor and many potholes appear. This also lowers the volume of freight transported, causing a rise in transportation costs for investors. Ywert Visser - Vice chairman, EuroCham Vietnam It is already clear that Hanoi is a national leader when it comes to overseas investment, as it attracted more than $8.4 billion in 2019. Economic growth today here in Hanoi has more than doubled over the past decade, and is not just because it is Vietnams capital  its also a direct result of positive administrative reforms and acted as a magnet for investors. In particular, the rise in digital service associates and business registration tax declarations help to reduce the administrative burden on companies. Hanois strong infrastructure network and good connections to industrial and export zones make it an obvious choice for overseas companies looking to invest in Vietnam. And this will even become more prominent in light of upcoming implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement with a huge favour on taxes, which opens up new chapters for European investment and innovation. In order to continue attracting foreign direct investment now and in the future, our members recommend continuation of development of online resources, specifically for investors from the EU. Aleksandrs Parfjonovs - Head of Vietnam Operations Grindeks JSC There has been positive development in the investment climate in Vietnam, but there is still a lot of work to be done. An online registration platform was launched recently, easing the process of submitting applications for pharmaceutical registration. It is a great incentive, which however needs to be also be implemented efficiently. I represent the Hanoi offices of two pharmaceutical companies, and our main focus is being able to bring high-quality medical products to Vietnamese people within short times frames. We hope, as pharmaceuticals contribute to more than 10 per cent of Vietnamese imports, that this industry will get more support for high-quality EU-branded generics. We are constantly working on increasing our product portfolio in Vietnam, as it is our key market in Southeast Asia, with the highest growth expected. We are planning on significantly increasing our revenues over upcoming years, but in order to do so, we hope there will be more support in the timely review of pharmaceutical applications.
The local price of pigs has dropped due to imports from Thailand

According to a report published by the Import Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in June, the price of pigs in the local market decreased to better compete with imported pigs.

Notably, in the northern region, the price stands at VND85,000-91,000 ($3.70-3.96) per kg, while in the central region it is VND84,000-88,000 ($3.65-$3.80) and VND85,000-88,000 in ($3.70-3.80) the southern region.

The department forecast that prices will continue to decline in the coming weeks as pig imports from Thailand increase. These imported pigs fetch VND81,000  82,000 ($3.52-3.56) per kg.

According to statistics published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of now, enterprises registered to legally import 800,000 pigs from Thailand.

Although the African swine fever is now under control and the pig herds are being repopulated, local supply still falls short of demand. Besides, repopulation progresses quite slowly because the price of breeding pigs has been soaring and farming households' concerns of another ASF outbreak.

The total pig population across the country decreased by 7.5 per cent on-year in June and the pork output reached 1.6 million tonnes, down 8.8 per cent.

According to the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, eight registered Vietnamese businesses are eligible to import live pigs from Thailand with the estimated number of more than 1.9 million animals.

The ministry had given the green light to the import of live pigs from Thailand for farming and slaughter starting from June 12.
Luxury staycation at LALYA NINH VAN BAY

This summer season is a great chance to plan a perfect weekend trip with LAlyas limited exclusive offer. With its amazing packages, you and your family can wake up to the islands sunrise, beautiful sky, and pristine nature. LAlya Ninh Van Bays traditional style along with its innovative, exquisite cuisine awaits to mesmerise all your senses.

Especially after Vietnam successfully battled the COVID-19 pandemic, it is an ideal time for locals and expatriates living in Vietnam to explore the luxurious staycation experience.

From now until August 31, with only VND5,550,000 ($240), you and your loved ones can enjoy a night at the resorts Hill Rock Pool Villa for two adults, including a free one-way airport transfer for one-night reservations and a free two-way airport transfer for two-night reservations; complimentary VND1,000,000 credit (for villas with two guests) or VND2,000,000 credit (for villas with four guests) for using the spa or food and beverage services, starting from the third night. The package also offers a 24-hour butler service; two-way boat transfers upon check in and check out; daily breakfast, fresh fruits, and afternoon tea; sport activities, such as kayaking and fishing, and many other bonuses.

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Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy represents Vietnam in a video conference held by the UN Security Council to discuss the operation of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA). (Photo: VNA)

Quy, head of Vietnams Mission to the UN, made the statement during a video conference held by the UN Security Council to discuss the UNRCCAs operation.

He spoke highly of the role of the UNRCCA and Natalia Gherman, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia and the UNRCCAs Head, in fostering preventive diplomacy in Central Asia and the positive security, social and economic progress in this region.

He said he hopes the UNRCCA will continue supporting the five Central Asian countries, consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, in strengthening transboundary water management, fostering regional cooperation and empowering the youth and women.

Gherman briefed participants of the UNRCCAs activities since the last meeting in January which focused on providing help for the regional states to contain the spread of the coronavirus, promoting regional social-economic growth, and tackling non-conventional security challenges such as terrorism and extremism, as well as transnational crimes and climate change.

The centre has also helped these five countries in managing transboundary water issues and increasing the youth and womens participation in preventive diplomacy, she said.
Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

The new patients, including 12 males and two females, returned home from Bangladesh via Van Don airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh on July 3 and were immediately put into quarantine at a military camp in Bim Son town, the central province of Thanh Hoa.

At present, they are being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No. 2 in Dong Anh, Hanoi.

By 6pm on July 6, Vietnam recorded a total of 369 COVID-19 infections, including 229 imported ones. The country has gone through 81 consecutive days without local transmissions.

On the same day, two patients were declared fully recovered, raising the total recoveries to 342 or 92.7 percent. They are Patient 239, who is a 22-year-old Vietnamese man, and Patient 91, the British pilot.

Currently 12,291 people who had contact with COVID-19 patients and returned home from pandemic-hit areas are being quarantined either at hospitals, concentrated establishments or at home.
In the Philippines, an old photo of a human-sized bat resurfaced on Twitter and took the Internet by storm. While the picture seems to show a 'human-size' horror hanging from a roof upside down, it is actually a smart camera trick.

A giant golden-crowned flying fox, a sizeable fruit-eating bat from the Asian archipelago, is shown on the photo. This 'human-sized' creature likes to tightly wrap its giant black wings around itself and hang from rafters, giving them a distinctly vampire-like appearance.

ALSO READ: [VIRAL] Scientists Named New Species Discovered on Twitter, Named After the Social Media Platform

Giant flying fox resurfaces on Twitter

A Twitter user with the @AlexJoestar622 handle posted a picture of a giant golden-crowned flying fox hanging from a wire attached to a building's roof on June 24.

Remember when I told y'all about the Philippines having human-sized bats? Yeah, this was what I was talking about pic.twitter.com/nTVIMzidbC  Alex is a :)- lordt era (@AlexJoestar622) June 24, 2020



"Remember when I told y'all about the Philippines having human-sized bats?" the user asked. "Yeah, this was what I was talking about."

While the giant golden-crowned flying fox is significantly larger than the average Mariana fruit bat, it is certainly not 'human-sized.'

With some forced perspective photography, the kind that allows people to 'hold up' buildings like Pisa's Leaning Tower, the bats can look much more significant than they really are.

The article was more than 260,000 times liked and received thousands of comments. Since then, the photo, which first became viral on Reddit in 2018, has received almost 270,000 likes and over 72,000 comments.

One user wrote in response he'd be leaving the country if the bat woke up and flew straight at people.

"This bat is taller than me and [I'm] both horrified and impressed in equal measure," another added. The third commenter joked it's a vampire.

Facts-check: Giant flying fox

One Twitter netizen was quick to point out the real size of the bat. The user said: "Heya, from the Philippines here. I can confirm this, they have a huuuuuge wingspan but the bodies are not really that big, more or less like the same body as a medium (bit smaller) sized dog." The netizen added these "really gentle" mammals only eat guavas most of the time.

Snopes verified its validity in 2019. According to Bat Conservation International, the giant golden-crown flying fox is native to the Philippines. It may have a wingspan of 5 feet 6 inches.

While the flying mammals may have a wingspan of up to 5 ft. 6 in., slightly above the average women's height in the US, the bats only grow to around one foot.

The bat feeds only on fruits, and can usually be found in unspoiled forests. The organization notes that while the golden-crown flying fox plays an essential role in "multiple forest ecosystems in which it lives," the huge bat is an endangered species.

ALSO READ: [VIRAL] Couple's Ring Doorbell Captures Bizarre Moment: Three Men Caught a Snappy Reptile in Florida Home

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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U.S. President Donald Trump spent the 4th of July weekend at Independence Day celebrations in South Dakota and Washington. He used both events to deliver a strong message on law and order, the platform that his campaign is focusing on ahead of the November election. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara traveled with Trump to South Dakota and brings us the story. VOA Khmer's Hong Chenda narrates.
Weeks before the national high school examinations, students would have likely been poring over their textbooks, revising lessons, and meeting with teachers and classmates to prepare for the important test ahead.



That is not the case this year because students are still unaware of when these examinations will be held, which are usually conducted in late July or early August. As the number of novel coronavirus cases increased in Cambodia, the Education Ministry decided to close schools indefinitely on March 14, to prevent the spread of the virus, which has so far resulted in 141 positive cases and zero deaths.



VOA Khmer spoke to students that are nonetheless moving ahead with their preparations for the annual test. They are busy flicking between Telegram groups and Zoom calls, discussing their notes with friends and attempting to understand the syllabus.



In recent weeks, the government has put off reopening schools, leaving students to make do with makeshift online classes as the only way to prepare for the yet-be-scheduled examination. The Education Ministry said it was unsure when to conduct the examination, but had indicated that it will be an online test.



Heng Seng Hout, a grade 12 student at Preah Yukunthor High School in Phnom Penh, has always dreamed of becoming a doctor. Since the school closures, he has been studying with the E-School Cambodia smartphone application, which is a privately-owned application that cooperates with the Education Ministry. It is meant for students in secondary and high school. Studying with the application had made it much harder to absorb the lessons, Heng Seng Huot said. He was unable focus on instructions given by teachers in the videos on the application, often learning little to nothing from the session. When I study with my teachers in person, it's one way of teaching [that works], he said. When I study with other teachers online through an e-learning app, it's a totally different method. Sometimes I just don't understand.

The Education Ministry has said it been unable to fully meet the demands on online pedagogy, especially in the provinces. It has instead looked to ease this transition to online learning by producing videos of classroom sessions for students to view on local television or through livestreams on social media platforms.



Heng Seng Hout said these videos were not sufficient to understand grade-12 lessons, which are often complicated and require one-on-one explanation from a teacher to comprehend. Given these obstacles, the high school student wants the government to delay the exams for now.



For me, I feel concerned as the national exam approaches because we haven't studied well enough, he said. Over in Kandal province, Khat Sreyna, another 12th grader at Serei Mongkol High School Mukh Kampul District, is dealing with a slightly different approach to teaching amid a pandemic. At her school, teachers have been using conference call service Zoom to teach mathematics, but for every other subject they are only given exercise sheets. Khat Sreyna was unsure why other teachers did not use Zoom or similar video conferencing applications to teach students, presuming that they too did not have the necessary equipment or training for an online pedagogy.



The lack of interaction with teachers and the delay in getting a teacher to reply to a query was frustrating, Khat Sreyna said, and there was a lot she was not understanding.



It's hard to know talk about [the exams]...because there are many hard concepts to fully understand, said the 18-year-old high schooler.

Khat Sreyna is also concerned for some of her friends, who might struggle without in-person teaching. She said they were unable to grasp the curriculum in the current situation.



I think that [online learning] can help only some students because honestly speaking even in school, where the teachers are strict, there are those who still didn't fare well, Khat Sreyna said.



Ros Soveacha, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Education, acknowledged the problems associated with online or distance learning. However, his solution for students was to watch the televised broadcasts of daily classes at a neighbors home, if they couldnt afford a smartphone. For students who can't afford smartphones, the [Education Ministry] encourages them to watch TVK 2, which is a channel broadcasting teaching material, at their neighbor's homes for now, he said. The spokesperson also appealed to teachers to work closely with students under their supervision to ease any issues faced by online learning. VOA Khmer spoke to teachers who said it was challenging to teach in the current environment and that there was little time to perfect these new teaching methods, referring to the streaming of educational content on TV or the use of social media to organize classrooms.
President Donald Trump's niece offers a scathing portrayal of her uncle in a new book obtained by The Associated Press Tuesday that credits a "perfect storm of catastrophes" for exposing the president at his worst.

Mary L. Trump, a psychologist, writes that the coronavirus pandemic, the possibility of an economic depression and deepening social divides have brought out the "worst effects" of Donald Trump's pathologies, which were less evident when the country had a stable economy and the lack of serious crises.

Those factors, along with "Donald's penchant for division, and uncertainty about our country's future have created a perfect storm of catastrophes that no one is less equipped than my uncle to manage," she writes in Too Much and Never Enough, How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man.

Mary Trump is the daughter of Trump's older brother, Fred Jr., who died after a struggle with alcoholism at age 42.

In the book, Mary Trump makes several revelations, including alleging that the president paid a friend to take the SATs  a standardized test widely used for college admissions  in his place. She writes that his sister, Maryanne, had been doing his homework for him, but she couldn't take his tests. Donald Trump worried that his grade point average, which put him far from the top of the class, would "scuttle his efforts to get accepted" into the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, which he transferred to after two years at Fordham University in the Bronx.

"To hedge his bets he enlisted Joe Shapiro, a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker, to take his SATs for him. That was much easier to pull off in the days before photo IDs and computerized records. Donald, who never lacked for funds, paid his buddy well."

And she writes, in awe, of Trump's ability to gain the support of prominent Christians and White Evangelicals, saying, "The only time Donald went to church was when the cameras were there. It's mind boggling. He has no principles. None!"

Mary Trump traces much of her pain to the death of her father, who died when she was 16, and her grandfather Fred's penchant, as she describes it, to sow division in the family.

"The atmosphere of division my grandfather created in the Trump family is the water in which Donald has always swum, and division continues to benefit him at the expense of everybody else. It's wearing the country down, just as it did my father, changing us even as it leaves Donald unaltered," she wrote. "It's weakening our ability to be kind or believe in forgiveness, concepts that have never had any meaning for him."

Trump, who rarely admits regret, told The Washington Post last year that he regretted having tried to pressure his brother to join the family business  something Fred, who had long wanted to be a pilot, had no interest in doing.

"It was just not his thing. ... I think the mistake that we made was we assumed that everybody would like it. That would be the biggest mistake. ... There was sort of a double pressure put on him," Trump told the paper.

Trump has also cited his brother's struggle with alcohol as one of one of the reasons he doesn't drink.

Early publication

Publisher Simon & Schuster announced Monday that they would be publishing the book two weeks early, on July 14, citing "extraordinary interest." The revised date came after a New York appellate court cleared the way for the book's publication following a legal challenge.

Robert Trump, the president's younger brother, had sued Mary Trump to block publication, arguing in legal papers that Mary Trump was subject to a 20-year-old agreement between family members that no one would publish accounts involving the core family members without their approval.

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.

In the book, Mary Trump said she didn't take her uncle's run for the presidency seriously when he first ran.

"'He's a clown,' my aunt Maryanne said during one of our regular lunches at the time. 'This will never happen.'"

"I agreed," Mary Trump wrote.

She said she declined an invitation to attend her uncle's election-night party in New York City four years ago, convinced she "wouldn't be able to contain my euphoria when Clinton's victory was announced."

Instead, she found herself wandering around her house a few hours after Trump's victory was announced, fearful voters "had chosen to turn this country into a macro version of my malignantly dysfunctional family."

She writes that current challenges have weakened the president's usual tools for shielding himself from blame.

"His ability to control unfavorable situations by lying, spinning, and obfuscating has diminished to the point of impotence in the midst of the tragedies we are currently facing," she writes.

"His egregious and arguably intentional mishandling of the current catastrophe has led to a level of pushback and scrutiny that he's never experienced before, increasing his belligerence and need for petty revenge as he withholds vital funding, personal protective equipment, and ventilators that your tax dollars have paid for from states whose governors don't kiss his ass sufficiently," Mary Trump wrote.

White House reaction

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said of the book: "It's ridiculous, absurd accusations that have absolutely no bearing in truth. I have yet to see the book, but it is a book of falsehoods."

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said in an interview with Fox News that "there are too many books out there that are never fact checked," adding, "I believe family matters should be family matters."
A South Sudanese diplomat in the United States sparked an online uproar when he was seen urinating during a live Facebook political discussion.

Panelists were discussing the appointment of a governor for Upper Nile state on Friday when Gordon Buay, South Sudans deputy ambassador to the U.S., was seen walking to the bathroom wearing only a shirt and relieving himself, in full view of all other panelists.

The video went viral, with many social media users calling on Buay to step down.

Some commentators accused Buay of being intoxicated during the panel discussion, noting that he was shouting at other panelists.

While some of the panelists appeared shocked to see Buay relieve himself, a few smiled and laughed.

The video was removed from Youtube on Saturday afternoon but a clip was shared widely on social media minutes after organizers removed the original video. Buay posted a message on his Facebook page urging people not to believe what he called a fake video.

Buay did not respond to numerous attempts by VOAs South Sudan in Focus to reach him for comment. South Sudanese government officials have also declined to comment.

Buays behavior tarnished the image of South Sudan and immediate disciplinary action should be taken against the top diplomat, said political analyst James Okuk of the Center for Strategic Studies in Juba.

Such kind of behavior in line with diplomatic ethics has not happened anywhere in the history of international relations. So it is really shameful and is tainting the image of South Sudan and it should not be taken lightly in Juba, Okuk told South Sudan in Focus.

Okuk, a former diplomat to Khartoum and Brazil, said diplomats should always be sensitive about how they present themselves to the public.

Pretending to defend the government while naked and also trying to talk in a chaotic manner when he is drunk and then going to the toilet to pee without switching off the camera of the phone and coming back to defend saying there was nothing wrong.

Something just really must be done, Okuk said.

Okuk said Buay should be recalled and investigated.

Shortly after Buay urinated, moderator Peter Keny ended the discussion, following a heated argument between Buay and other panelists.

Thank you so much, brother, I really appreciate the time and I thank you, ambassador. South Sudanese that is your ambassador Gordon Buay, let us end the show, thank you so much, God bless you, said the moderator.

Ambassador Buay was among 43 diplomats who were recalled and returned to Juba in February. In March, South Sudans Ambassador to the U.S. Mayen Dut Wol wrote a letter canceling Buays recall.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has fired Health Minister Obadiah Moyo, who is linked to a $60 million shady deal involving the purchasing of COVID-19 test kits and other materials without following laid down government procedures.

In a tweet today, Information Secretary Nick Mangwana said Dr. Moyo has been removed from the post of cabinet minister with immediate effect.

A letter signed by Cabinet secretary, Misheck Sibanda, reads, Please be advised that His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde E. D. Mngangagwa, has in terms of Section 340, subsection (1), paragraph (f) as read with section 104, subsection (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, removed Dr. Obadiah Moyo from the office of Cabinet Minister with immediate effect for conduct inappropriate for a Government Minister.

Dr. Moyo was recently arrested and ordered to pay $50,000 by a Harare magistrate following revelations of alleged inappropriate conduct over the purchase of the COVID-19 materials sourced by Drax International said to be headed by Delish Nguwaya in Harare.

Police investigations have revealed that Dr. Moyo allegedly gave the company the greenlight to purchase the COVID-19 kits and other items without going to tender.

Nguwaya, who was also arrested recently, was also granted $50,000 bail today by a local magistrates court.

Dr. Moyo was unavailable for comment as he was not responding to calls on his mobile phone.

Nguwaya has been linked to the first family but the government has dismissed such reports.
Five members of my family were killed by a wrong-way drunk driver on January 6, 2019. That day was the most devastating day of my life. In an instant, I lost my only sibling and best friend, Rima (38); my brother-in-law, Issam (42); my two nieces, Isabella (12) and Giselle (7); and my nephew, Ali (13). My world crumbled to pieces. That feeling is even more palpable this month, with Rimas birthday being June 12.
The European Union is initiating to set more restrictions on the activities and responsibilities of Tech giant companies. Margrethe Vestager, EU digital policy and antitrust chief, disclosed that this would have a tremendous impact on the taxes, privacy, and online content after implementing the limits. The continuing attempts at gaining power and influence by these Tech giants like Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon.

The European Commission is submitting proposals intended to affect these dominating companies. EU official Vestager also hopes to use the plans to change the companies' responsibilities that will go further to the current laws.

Vestager said, "It's a full complex of things. It's not done with just one piece of legislation."

He then added, "After the first mandate and the first specific competition cases, what I have seen very clearly is that we need rigorous competition-law enforcement, but we also need regulation."

The initiatives cover several areas and have been outlined over the last few weeks by the European Commission. Last week, Vestager pointed out three areas that are anticipated to be affected by new legislation, which is to be presented to the European Parliament before the end of 2020.

The Content Moderation

One area is to determine what the responsibilities of tech companies are regarding content posted by users. Under public consultation, the changes to the current Digital Services Act would update rules initially determined in 2000, in which the information is outdated.

According to the competition chief, The Digital Service Act was created when no one could have foreseen the situation we're in today. He then added, "that platforms would not just be channels, but full ecosystems were a lot of what is ongoing and monetized by the platform itself."

The Current rule segregates platforms such as social media platforms from being sued for controversial or misleading content. However, there have been suggestions of scaling back protections by lawmakers in both the EU and the United States to curtail misinformation, with the rules, thought to be the EU's solution. Vestager suggests the states would allow for the creation of redress mechanisms for removing content.

Vestager added, "As part of the same measures, companies operating such platforms would have to establish themselves as business entities within Europe to allow them to be governed by these sets of rules."

Apple commented on the Digital Services Act proposals and suggested that the "limited liability regime has helped deliver choice and innovation," but simultaneously advising for any new rules to be flexible. "What makes sense for public-facing, content-sharing platforms may not be appropriate or technically feasible for services used to facilitate private communications or storage," Apple continued.

The Competition among the Giants

As per Vestager, she wanted to have a refined investigative power to order companies within a sector to change how they behave, curb monopolies, and "prevent new gatekeepers from arising."

The Legislation proposals also incorporate measures to prevent significant firms from grinding smaller competitors in the market. This initiative is inspired by the antitrust cases laid against Google.

The Commission is running an investigation with Apple, explicitly covering App Store and its Apple pay.

The Digital Taxes

EU is preparing to proceed with the Digital Taxes despite the disagreement with US lawmakers over the matter. According to Vestager, the digital tax that affects Apple and other large-scale multinational tech firms is justified because it is fair.

"So many businesses have to work very hard to make a profit, and from that profit to then pay taxes," Vestager suggested. "They should not be met with competitors for capital, skilled employees and customers who do not contribute to society. That has nothing to do with where you come from; it has to do with doing business in an equal manner."

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on robocalls to cell phones on Monday, rejecting a bid by political consultants to open the floodgates for campaign ads and other communications.

In a decision that divided the court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh writes that an exception to the ban created by Congress is unconstitutional under the First Amendment -- and that the overall ban should remain in place.

"Americans passionately disagree about many things. But they are largely united in their disdain for robocalls," Kavanaugh writes. "The Federal Government receives a staggering number of complaints about robocalls ... The States likewise field a constant barrage of complaints."

Robocalls to cell phones were banned by Congress under the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which limits the use of automatic dialing systems and pre-recorded voice messages in order to protect Americans from intrusion. The law imposes liability of up to $1,500 for any call or text message made or sent without prior express consent. An exception was added to the law in 2015 that exempts government debt collection services from that law.

Kavanaugh wrote that while the invalidation of the TCPA was of chief concern to the plaintiffs in the case, invalidating the 2015 exception puts the speech of political consultants on equal footing as that of government debt collection. Under the ruling, both forms of speech are prohibited in robocalls to mobile phones.

"Severing the 2015 government-debt exception cures the unequal treatment and constitutes the proper result under the Court's traditional severability principles," Kavanaugh wrote.

The case was closely watched in political circles due to the potential impact on political advertising.

Challengers argued that the exemption could be considered a "content based restriction," which refers to a law that applies differently depending on the content of a certain kind of speech. The First Amendment prohibits the government from "restrict[ing] expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content."

A federal appeals court held last year that the government debt exemption violated the First Amendment because it banned some calls based on content, but allowed others. The court said, however, that the provision could be severed and the rest of the law could remain in effect. This ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court.

The legal doctrine used by Kavanaugh in the opinion, known as severability -- where Kavanaugh decided against invalidating the entire law while ruling one provision unconstitutional -- could have wide implications for future cases heard by the court.

"The result is not especially surprising given the uphill battle the government faced in defending such a content- based speech restriction. But the implications of the Court's decision to save the rest of the statute are potentially quite significant," said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

"How courts should treat the rest of a statute when one provision is unconstitutional is at the heart of the major Obamacare challenge the Justices are set to hear next fall," Vladeck added. "Today's decision suggests that only Justices [Clarence] Thomas and [Neil] Gorsuch are sympathetic to Texas's argument in that case that the entire ACA should be struck down."

The case entered the national consciousness during oral arguments in June for what happened on the telephone call between lawyers and the justices.

As the court was hearing oral arguments remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, lawyer Roman Martinez, representing the challengers, was speaking when the distinct sound of a toilet flushing came over the speakers. Martinez was unfazed by the distraction, and the court has not identified the culprit.
The DeKalb County Revenue Commissioner is closing its offices after an employee tested positive for coronavirus.

The Fort Payne and Rainsville offices will be closed from July 8 to July 10 so that employees can get tested.

Those offices will reopen on July 13.

As of Tuesday, July 7, the Alabama Department of Public Health reports 761 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in DeKalb County.
If you live or work in Madison County, the new mandatory mask ordinance is now in effect.

Huntsville Police say while violating the ordinance could lead to a citation, officers are not trying to issue any. Instead, they say they want to take an educational approach, and will have masks readily available in their cars for anyone who needs one.

"To provide this order in order to protect our community and preserve the ability of our health care system to handle the patient load that is currently coming into our hospitals," said Dr. Karen Landers with the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Landers says police officers can decide how to respond to someone violating the mask ordinance and it's at the individual officer's discretion on whether or not to take action.

"Any enforcement activity will be left up to the local law enforcement," said Landers.

Huntsville Police said if someone violates the ordinance, they could be issued a citation up to $500, but it's something they don't want to have to do.

"Would educate a person and provide them information about the fact that there is a health order in Madison County. Some people may not be aware, especially if they come from another county," said Landers.

Landers says people walking into a business without a mask aren't the only ones who would be violating the ordinance. A business owner who does not require customers to wear masks inside can be ticketed too.

"Businesses should follow the order of the health officer. They should follow the order for customers to wear the mask," said Landers.

The Madison County Sheriff's Office says violating the ordinance is an arrestable offense, but they don't plan on arresting people.

Instead they are also taking an educational approach. Officials with the Madison County Sheriff's Office say if they receive a call about someone not wearing a mask, they will evaluate the situation.

Madison Police told WAAY 31 that their chief sent out an email Tuesday morning reviewing the ordinance and how to respond to it. The department says it is also focusing on educating the public, rather than issuing tickets.
State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey released a roadmap to reopening Alabama schools on June 26, largely leaving decisions on individual school plans up to local school boards and superintendents.

Mackey said reactions to the state guidelines have been favorable.

The response has been very positive. People like having some local discretion and yet also having some true guidance from the State Department of Education, he said.

Mackey says local leaders have been asking what if questions regarding the guidelines in the reopening plan.

We have three webinars over the next few days to help local principals and curriculum directors fill in their understanding so they can best help make the roadmap happen on the ground, he said.

Despite positive reception, many difficult barriers lie ahead for students and staff, especially as school closures and quarantines may occur only in certain parts of the state.

Theres no questions were going to have to deal with large gaps in learning and achievement over the next few months, Mackey said. There will be additional gaps if we do have to have large scale closures over the coming years, so weve done what we can to try to mitigate that, but I have said and I truly believe it will take us 2-3 years to really get beyond the impacts of coronavirus on schools.

Beyond increased stress for students and teachers with new learning formats, Mackey says the focus on health and sanitary measures to combat coronavirus adds pressure to school nurses.

We are very worried about the increased burden on our nurses. We are seeking some additional money to hire more nurses across the state and also to extend nurse contracts, Mackey said.

The problem, however, is even if granted the money, Mackey says they are unsure of how many nurses are available for hire due to their increased demand in the healthcare system.

With all the uncertainty during this difficult time, what parents and guardians can be certain of according to Mackey is the support and encouragement of their students' teachers.

Teachers care deeply about the children that come into their classrooms. They cared deeply about those children before COVID-19 and they still do now and if anything, those teachers are even more concerned about the health and welfare and social wellbeing and development of those children, Mackey said. You should continue to have faith in the same people who have loved and cared for your children pre-COVID-19.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday, July 6, that the United States is "looking at" banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, according to Reuters.

In an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, Pompeo was asked whether the U.S. considers a ban on Chinese social media apps, "especially TikTok." He said they are taking the possible move "very seriously."

"With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too," Pompeo told Ingraham. "I don't want to get out in front of the President [Donald Trump], but it's something we're looking at," he added.

The State Secretary also warned that people should only download the app they if want their "private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party."

TikTok has not yet issued a statement over the Washington's top diplomat's claims, which came consequently to the increasing friction between the U.S. and China. The political tensions have already spilled over into technology, trade, and national security.

TikTok has been receiving criticisms from U.S. politicians who tag the video app as a threat to national security because of its ties to China. TikTok is owned by startup ByteDance, which is alleged to "support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party."

While it is owned by ByteDance, TikTok has already previously explained that it operates autonomously with its data centers located outside of China. The company also added that none of its data is subject to Chinese law.

The video app also said the data for its American subscribers are stored in the U.S. with a backup in Singapore.

TikTok became the first Chinese social media platform to gain a significant amount of users from outside China. It rose to popularity early this year in western countries, particularly the U.S.

Analytics company Sensor Tower said TikTok had the highest quarterly downloads in history with more than 315 million downloads during the first quarter of this year.

Read also: China Asks "Fair" Treatment after France Bans 5G Technology for Huawei

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Nearly 400 calls on fireworks in the city limits of Waco and one fatal shooting kept local authorities busy during Fourth of July weekend festivities, officials said.

Waco police responded to 388 calls concerning illegally discharged fireworks between 5 p.m. Friday to Monday morning, Waco police Officer Garen Bynum said. Waco fire marshals also spoke with 17 callers in-person about concerns about fireworks throughout Waco on Independence Day, Waco fire Chief Deputy Kevin Vranich said.

Fireworks calls increased some 37 percent over last years Fourth of July weekend, when police responded to 284 such calls. Bynum said officers expected a busier holiday after local fireworks shows were canceled due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

Part of the reason I think we knew we were going to be busier was because of the lack of any real fireworks show in the city, Bynum said. We were definitely busier and we had extra officers on patrol so we could go to every call we could.

No major injuries were reported in Waco due to fireworks, officials said.

Fire marshals assisted police in enforcement efforts, Vranich said. Any caller who requested to meet with a fire marshal was in contact with an officer during the holiday, he said.
Aguilar is charged with helping Robinson dismember, burn and dispose of Guillens body in a remote spot near the Leon River in Belton.

U.S. Army officials Monday announced that DNA analysis confirmed the remains found in the shallow grave as those of Guillen.

Aguilar has told investigators she recognized the victim as Guillen and an attorney for Guillens family said the remains were those of the missing soldier.

According to the federal criminal complaint, on June 21, what appeared to be the burned remains of a plastic tote or tough box were found in an area near Farm-to-Market Road 436 and West Main Street in Belton. An analysis of Robinsons phone showed his phone was in that area about 2 a.m. on April 23. The phone then tracked along the Leon River in a northward direction, where it remained for about two hours, according to the complaint.

Around 1 p.m. on June 30, contractors working on a fence near the Leon River discovered what appeared to be human remains. When authorities searched the area, they found scattered human remains that appeared to be placed into a concrete-like substance and buried, according to court records.
Waco City Council on Tuesday will swear in Darius Ewing as newly appointed District 4 councilman in a socially distanced proceeding, then vote on incentives for new employers coming to Waco.

Typically, new council members are sworn in in front of a live audience, but due to safety measures against COVID-19, Ewing will be the only member physically present while others watch from screens.

Waco City Council meetings are livestreamed at www.wccc.tv and on the citys local cable channel. Public comments can be submitted before 11 a.m. Tuesday, at http://www.waco-texas.com/council-speaker.asp, citysecretary@wacotx.gov or 254-750-5750.

The council will hold the swearing-in at 3 p.m., followed by a work session and the 6 p.m. business session.

Were all going to be on a Zoom call, Ewing said. I will be at City Hall in-person to be sworn in while everyone else is Zooming in.

After he is sworn in, the council will take turns sharing their comments and parting remarks to former Councilman Dillon Meek, who is stepping down because of a change in residency as he eyes a mayoral run in November. Then Ewing will introduce himself in a statement.
Washington, D.C. U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that $1.6 million has been awarded to support the redevelopment and revitalization of small businesses in Maine that have suffered financial harm as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding, awarded through the Economic Development Administrations (EDA) CARES Act Recovery Assistance Program, will support Androscoggin, Kennebec, Somerset, Waldo, Aroostook, Washington, Penobscot, Oxford, Cumberland, and York counties.

This public health and economic crisis has taken a toll on many small businesses and communities throughout Maine, said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement. We welcome this funding that will support these organizations in their ongoing efforts to connect small businesses, individuals, and families with the resources they need to weather this difficult time.

The funding is allocated as follows:

Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments has been awarded $400,000.

Kennebec Valley Council of Governments has been awarded $400,000.

Northern Maine Development Commission has been awarded $400,000.

Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission has been awarded $400,000.

This funding will assist the organizations with developing an economic recovery plan, deploy disaster recovery coordinators, provide needed technical assistance to local stakeholders, and fund necessary technology and staff support for pandemic-response activities. Senators Collins and King recently announced similar funding for the Eastern Maine Development Corporation.

The CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, provided EDA with $1.5 billion for economic development assistance programs to help communities respond to the coronavirus.
Home security cameras are used to ensure safety at homes, but as it turns out, would-be burglars could actually use these systems to tell whether we are at home or not based on a recently published study.

New Study Tackles Privacy Risks of Security Cameras

In a report by CNN, the study was carried out by a team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Science and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and was able to conclude that burglars could look at the camera's uploaded data to tell whether someone is in or not.

They wouldn't have to check the footage itself even to tell what people inside are doing.

The team gathered data from a big company in China that manufactures Internet Protocol (IP) security cameras that allow homeowners to check their homes remotely.

If you have a home security camera, it connects to the internet. It will send a live video feed of what's going on at home through the dedicated app on your smartphone. Still, researchers suggest that the traffic generated by these devices could reveal information that could compromise your privacy.

According to the researchers, this is the first study that tackles the security risks of video streaming traffic.

So, how could criminals tell whether someone is at home?

Read Also: iPhone Warning: These Popular Websites Rumored Snooping Your Personal Data

How Can Burglars Use the Data?

According to the study's lead author, Gareth Tyson, from QMUL, there is an increase in the data upload of the unencrypted data when the security camera is recording something that is moving, so would-be burglars could tell whether someone is home by it.

The data could even change when someone is sitting or running.

Nevertheless, Tyson said that it would take someone with some technical know-how to read the data, but it's impossible for someone to create a program that could easily do it and sell it online for these criminals.

Tyson also said that he had not seen any direct evidence of this kind of attack in homes, but it could potentially happen.

"They monitor the camera traffic over an extended period of time, and by looking at the patterns that are generated by those cameras over maybe a week, they then start predicting the following week when you're most likely to be in the house," the researcher told the news outlet.

Could it be Prevented?

Manufacturers can inject random data on their systems to avoid these kinds of attacks, so criminals would find it hard to find a pattern.

The researchers did not analyze data from Nest and Xiaomi, which are owned by Google and among the most common security cameras, but Tyson said these security cameras present the same privacy risks.

CNN tried to reach out to both brands but has not offered any comments as of writing.

Tyson and his team are planning on expanding their research to find a way to increase the security camera's performance and ultimately create a more intelligent system and reduce the privacy risks that come with it.

Read Also: [TIPS AND TRICKS] How to Know if Girlfriend, or Anyone, is Spying on Your Android Device

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Monroe, GA (30655)

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Facebook groups were discovered selling looted skulls, and other human remains. According to Fox News' latest report, an American collector stole a skull with a "very dark ancient patina" after visiting Tunisia in 2013. He entered the Sousse catacombs, an ancient necropolis that holds some of the oldest Christian burials in the world, which was under renovation at that time.

In a private Facebook group, the American collector listed for sale the stolen skull for $550, and he took FB story to inform his buyers about the looting in the sales listing. According to Live Science's previous report, other members of the private Facebook groups were excited about the looted skull, posting their comments on how "beautiful" the human remains.

However, the collector didn't realize that the Facebook group used for selling the looted human skull was not private. A Live Science reporter, disguised as a collecter interested in skulls, infiltrated the private Facebook groups, including other groups alike, tracking down the human remains, which were sold online for about 10 months.

A world where human bones and other remains are usually sold with little information about their origins was unlocked by the Live Science investigation, raising questions about how they were stolen or acquired. The report confirmed that the American collector admitted that he looted the human skull. Countless of other human remains with no backstories were documented.

The human skulls are just the tip of the iceberg?

The skulls were looted in Sousse catacombs. Apart from skulls, the remains of children, infants, and fetuses were also being sold in private Facebook groups. One of the buyers commented on a post that they were looking for skeletal pieces or organs of dead children.

It was confirmed there were shoppers who successfully bought many of the children's remains on black markets on Facebook. However, the sellers and other buyers didn't disclose any information about their motives for collecting fetus or child remains. A mummified child, which was said six years old when he or she died in the 1700s, was sold at a higher price. The mummified remain was posted for 11,000 euros or $12,400. The seller stated on the post, in all caps, that the mummified child was "NOT A GRAVE ROBBERY," however, there was no information about the origin which was given.



Live Science talked to a number of experts, stating that the social media platform must enforce its existing policy to ban the sale of human remains on Facebook.



Archeologist Shawn Graham of Carleton University in Ontario and Damien Huff of Carleton University said that the law enforcement agencies need to be more efficient at implementing existing laws against the sale of human remains.

Also Read: People Are Willing to Pay Over $300,000 For This NASA Perfume

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Culture capital status for Bergamo and Brescia is seen as a symbol of hope and rebirth for two cities devastated by the coronavirus.

Italy's chamber of deputies and senate have approved the candidature of Bergamo and Brescia as the Italian Capitals of Culture 2023 in a symbol of hope and rebirth for the two cities which were devastated by the covid-19 pandemic.

The culture capital status will see the cities bypass the usual application process as part of Italy's 55 billion stimulus package to help the nation rebuild itself after the coronavirus emergency, reports Artribune.

The move has also seen two historic rivals join forces, using culture as a starting point in their recovery after their darkest days as the epicentre of Italy's covid-19 crisis.

Piazza della Loggia in Brescia.

The mayor of Brescia, Emilio Del Buono, said the candidature could be "symbol of a recovery of the country, of a heavily wounded north," reports Artribune.

This view was echoed by his counterpart in Bergamo, Giorgio Gori, who pointed out that culture was among the sectors to suffer the most during the carnage wreaked on the region by the coronavirus.

The two cities have until the end of January 2022 to present a unified project to Italy's culture ministry, outlining a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening their cultural heritage.

Cover image: Bergamo.
Zaia declares zero tolerance policy in the Veneto region which includes Venice.

Italy's north-eastern Veneto region has introduced fines of 1,000 for those who break quarantine rules, amid a fresh outbreak of covid-19 caused by a businessman from Vicenza who failed to self-isolate on returning to the region from Serbia on 25 June, despite feeling symptoms the same day.

Veneto governor Luca Zaia announced the new fines, which will be applicable at regional level, and expressed his anger at the "irresponsible behaviour" of the businessman who is now in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

When the 64-year-old man first developed symptoms of covid-19, the day of his return to Italy, he delayed informing health authorities and initially resisted being admitted to hospital.

The man was part of a group of four men who travelled to Serbia on a business trip, and later to the pilgrimage site of Medjugorje in Bosnia, before returning by car to Vicenza and Verona in Italy, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

Despite his symptoms, on his return to Italy the man went to a funeral and a birthday party attended by more than 100 guests. As a result there are now at least five people infected and another 89 have been placed in isolation.

Zaia said he believes that, in such cases, "compulsory hospitalisation is fundamental" - a proposal echoed by Italy's health minister Roberto Speranza, who said he is considering allowing hospitals to "section" people who refuse to be admitted for covid-19.

Zaia also said that the so-called "Patient 0" in Serbia, who reportedly infected the Italian businessman, died last week.

Serbia has since declared an emergency situation in the capital Belgrade as covid-19 infections continue to rise, reports Reuters.
Italy's health ministry orders one-week flight ban from Bangladesh.

Italy is suspending all flights from Bangladesh for one week due to a significant number of passengers who tested positive for covid-19 on a flight to Rome on 6 July, the Italian health ministry has announced.

During the week-long flight ban, the government will draw up new precautionary measures for all arrivals from outside the EU and the Schengen area, the health ministry said in a statement.

The move comes as Italian health authorities registered 39 positive coronavirus cases among passengers arriving in Rome from Bangladesh in the last few days.

The Lazio Region, which raised the alarm, began "blanket testing" for covid-19 among the local Bangladesh community on 6 July.

Photo: RAI News
Outdoor sculpture exhibition planned in central Rome.

The squares of the historic centre of Rome could soon be home to large-scale works by Spanish artist Manolo Valdes, reports Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

A temporary exhibition comprising 10 monumental works by the world-renowned sculptor is scheduled from 14 October until 10 January 2021.

The proposed venues include Piazza S. Silvestro, Piazza S. Lorenzo in Lucina and Piazza della Pilotta, reports La Repubblica.

The outdoor display, promoted by the Terzao Pilastro foundation, will retrace the career of Valdes and will be one of the first major post-lockdown cultural events in the city.

Born in Valencia in 1942, the New York-based artist is best known for monumental sculptures such as the Pamela Hat.

Photo: La Repubblica
Doctors in Italy make medical history.

Two female Siamese twins joined at the head were separated by surgeons at Rome's Bambino Gesu children's hospital last month, in the first such case in Italy and possibly the world, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

The twins, from the Central African Republic, had been joined since birth from the back of the head, with their cranium and much of their vein system in common, hospital sources told ANSA.

The girls were separated on 5 June during a risky 18-hour operation, following three extremely delicate operations over the previous year.

The first operation was conducted in May 2019, the second in June 2019, and the third last month.

All procedures were successful despite a high risk of haemorrhage and ischemia, reports ANSA.

The hospital announced the news today, a month after the final operation, and doctors say that the two-year old girls - Ervina and Prefina - are doing well.

Photo Bambino Gesu
Sophia Loren, from her home in Geneva, mourns the death of Ennio Morricone, who made cinema great and often moved her as a spectator.

"I passed a really sad morning. As soon as I heard the news, I started to watch pieces of all the films he had composed the music for, and they are beautiful, starting with those directed by Sergio Leone that leave an indelible trace inside," Loren said in an interview published on the Corriere della Sera website."Im still upside down. I assure you that this morning (ed. yesterday) I had very bad moments", says Sophia,: "Unfortunately, we have never worked together and it's one of my biggest regrets, but what do you want, our work is like this".Morricone, says Loren, "was a man full of warmth, with a really big soul. And he left us. We saw each other during a gala in America, one of those official evenings that bring together many film celebrities, and it was a pleasure to talk to him in person because I was lucky enough to have sat next to him," she recalls. He was "an adorable man, sensitive, wonderful, even handsome and very charming as a whole. A great loss. Unfortunately, we are more and more alone, the great ones go away little by little, but it's the law of life".Ph: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com
Facial recognition has been widely used by authorities to identify alleged 'criminals' in a specific court case. It has been the basis of most arrests in the United States. Now, the technology is being scrutinized for its failed system towards correctly identifying who's the suspect and who's not. And that issue also applies, even to our politicians.

How bad is facial recognition?

As first reported via Threatpost, over 100 politicians-- both from the United States and the United Kingdom governments-- are mistagged as 'criminals' with the usage of Amazon's facial recognition.

Paul Bischoff, a consumer privacy expert and the editor of the 'pro-consumer website' Comparitech, made interesting findings proving how bad is the facial recognition used by authorities.

In his May 28 blog, he told everyone to not fully trust the accuracy of Amazon's Rekognition after his team found the faces of 73 U.K. politicians and 32 U.S. Congressmen identified as law-breakers with pending cases in the court. How did it happen?

As explained, the Rekognition was used to compare both images of 1,959 lawmakers in both countries, from the images of 25,000 randomly selected arrest photos from the Jailbase website.

The experiment was repeated only once each image, and the results were tallied averagely. Comparitech used an 80 percent confidence threshold to process the images. Rekognition, however, incorrectly identified the faces of the arrested criminals from the politicians.

However, when the confidence threshold was made higher to above 95% matches, the results ended up into zero matches.

"Be skeptical any time a company invested in face recognition peddles metrics about how well it works. The statistics are often opaque and sometimes downright misleading," said Bischoff on the blog.

Facial recognition is also 'biased'

Aside from proving how inaccurate facial recognition was, another theory that they prove is how racial bias is these types of technology.

Data shows that out of the 12 politicians who were misidentified at a confidence threshold of 90% or higher, six were politicians in 'color.' This shows that facial recognition has misidentified more non-white people compared to white people.

"Putting too much faith in face recognition can lead to false arrests," said him. "But whether you agree with police use of face recognition or not, one thing is certain: it isn't ready to be used for identification without human oversight."

Amazon, Microsoft, Google refuse to sell facial recognition to police

Recently, leading tech companies Amazon, Microsoft, and Google decided to refuse to sell facial recognition to police departments after cases of misidentified criminals in their database.

Amazon specifically announced a one-year moratorium from using the technology since the racial arrests were held with the usage of their technology.

ALSO READ: Disney Is Using Deepfakes and Facial Recognition To Bring Back Dead Actors

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
China on Monday accused the U.S. of flexing its military muscles in the South China Sea by conducting joint exercises with two U.S. aircraft carrier groups in the strategic waterway.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the exercises were performed totally out of ulterior motives'' and undermined stability in the area.

Against such a backdrop, the U.S. deliberately dispatched massive forces to conduct large-scale military exercises in the relevant waters of the South China Sea to flex its military muscle, Zhao said at a daily briefing.

The U.S. Navy said over the weekend that the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan along with their accompanying vessels and aircraft conducted exercises designed to maximize air defense capabilities, and extend the reach of long-range precision maritime strikes from carrier-based aircraft in a rapidly evolving area of operations.''

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and routinely objects to any action by the U.S. military in the region. Five other governments claim all or part of the sea, through which approximately $5 trillion in goods are shipped every year.

China has sought to shore up its claim to the sea by building military bases on coral atolls, leading the U.S. to sail warships through the region in what it calls freedom of operation missions. Washington does not officially take a stand on the rival territorial claims in the region, but is closely allied with several of the claimants and insists that the waters and the airspace above be free to all countries.

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Did you know that mobile phones are proven to be seven times dirtier than toilet seats at home? That means every touch of your phones without you wiping sterilizers can get you nasty diseases amid a pandemic. Samsung, however, has a solution against this. A UV sterilizer and a 10W wireless charger in one device.

Can your chargers do this?

Since the Coronavirus strikes the world, everyone is eager to get cleaned and be sterilized to all their body parts. However, they didn't know that cellphones could bring the same deadlier diseases once it is not cleaned properly.

Samsung has a perfect solution to this problem. The popular South Korean mobile phone company has recently released a new device that can be used as a phone sterilizer and wireless charger in one.

On Tuesday, July 7, Samsung reveals their own UV sterilizer that boasted of killing 99% bacteria and germs in a phone within 10 minutes of charging.

"The UV Sterilizer effectively kills up to 99% of bacteria and germs, including E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans, according to tests done by two independent test and certification institutes, Intertek and SGS. That's not all - we've designed it to fit a variety of device sizes so you can sterilize many of the products you use the most," said on the official press release.

Samsung's UV sterilizer has dual UV lights that protect both top and bottom of a phone. It also has this slick design that can be put inside a bag for easier access, or bring it anywhere-- just like a regular wireless charger.

For the charger purpose itself, the device is a 10W wireless charger. It has a single button to turn on the UV sterilizer and automatically turns off once 10 minutes is done.

"Now, you'll be able to quickly disinfect your smartphone, earbuds, and glasses, in just 10 minutes, wherever you are," Samsung said.

Selected countries already had Samsung's UV sterilizers, such as Germany, Singapore, Romania, and Hong Kong. The United States markets are not yet advised to have the same products, but it could be soon. German Samsung stores sell this device for almost $65.

Can UV sterilizers really help against COVID-19?

As Samsung releases a new UV sterilizer, people are now discussing whether UV sterilizers could wipe off coronavirus from your phones.

The National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine said via The Verge that UV light could probably erase viruses like SARS-CoV-2 off of our phones. However, evidence of its accuracy is not yet fully proven by experts. Hospitals also refuse to use ultra-violet light to disinfect people since this light may cause cancer and damages the eyes and skin of a person.





 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Blackshear, GA (31516)

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Come join us in the remembrance of Timothy Alvin Hill who passed away Dec. 20, 2020. The Celebration of Life will be held June 26 at Eastside Park Kiwanis Cabin in Washington at 3 p.m.
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Bayer's plan for moving on from its Roundup legal woes hit a snag barely two weeks after it announced a nearly $US11 billion ($15.8 billion) settlement of claims the popular weedkiller causes cancer when a judge expressed scepticism about its proposed treatment of future claims.

US District Judge Vince Chhabria described a plan to create a class-action case for future litigants as problematic in a court filing on Monday (US time) and said he was "tentatively inclined" to reject it. He set a July 24 hearing date. Shares of Bayer, which inherited the weedkiller through its purchase of Monsanto, fell as much as 7.1 per cent in Frankfurt intraday trading, the most since March 12.

A US judge has expressed concern over Bayer's proposed treatment of future claims against Roundup. Credit:AP

Bayer's plan for the future class would establish a scientific panel to determine whether Roundup's active ingredient causes cancer, while still potentially allowing users of the herbicide to press claims. Many lawyers not participating in the settlement say the plan is designed to protect Bayer.

The San Francisco-based judge's misgivings won't derail the majority of the nearly $US11 billion settlement, as any change to the handling of future claims wouldn't necessarily affect the rest of the deal. The company has already agreed to resolve about 95,000 of 125,000 existing lawsuits and has earmarked money it expects to cover the remaining cases.
An unlikely session of gains for Australian shares was quickly derailed by news Melbourne would be heading back into coronavirus lockdown for six weeks.

The benchmark ASX 200 was up by 0.7 per cent with less than an hour of trade left on Tuesday, unmoved by the Reserve Bank of Australias outlook on the economy and defying earlier news that new coronavirus infections had hit a record daily high 191 in Melbourne.

Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to reporters on Tuesday afternoon. Credit:Paul Jeffers

But the damage was done when Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the rumours: Stage 3 COVID-19 restrictions would be reinstated across Metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire.

The index duly sagged back to 6012.9, losing 1.7 points for the day.

The big banks gave up their earlier gains to finish in the red, while property stocks booked heavy losses.

Shopping centre manager Scentre dropped 4.4 per cent, Vicinity 4.9 per cent, and Stockland 2.9 per cent while Shopping Centres Australasia fell 3 per cent.

It is a sagely warning of the economic danger that COVID-19 continues to inflict on the world, said ONADAs senior Asia-Pacific analyst Jefferey Halley.

Sadly, if the situation in the United States and across Latin America can't ram that message home, nothing probably will.

Wall Street actually provided local investors a solid lead after US markets brushed aside virus concerns upon resumption from a three-day break.

But futures soured throughout the local session as concerns mounted over the success of the forced US reopenings. The death toll in the country passed 130,000 as several southern and western states reported more worrying surges.

The local COVID-19 hotspot Melbourne, which represents nearly 25 per cent of the nations economy, will return to a state of hibernation.

Under the citys new lockdown, people will not be allowed to leave home unless for essential reasons such as medical and caregiving, shopping for essential items, work and study and exercise.

Retail businesses will remain open subject to density limits, markets will be for food and drink only and hairdressers will remain open. Hospitality businesses will return to takeaway only.

Predictably, certain travel and consumer discretionary stocks took a major hit on Tuesday.

Virus-afflicted Flight Centre dropped 4 per cent to $10.98, Webjet shed 3.2 per cent to$3.30, Corporate Travel dropped 4.7 per cent to $9.83, and Qantas lost 3.4 per cent to $3.66.

Crown Casino fell 3.6 per cent to $9.15, Smiggle owner Premier Investments dipped 3.4 per cent to $16.66, and auto group AP Eagers lost 4.8 per cent to $6.53.

The materials sector was the major force preventing local stocks from falling further on Tuesday, with iron ore giant BHP added 1.3 per cent to $36.10, Rio Tinto up 0.9 per cent to $96.29, and Fortescue Metals gaining 6.3 per cent to $14.80.

Gold miners were strong on an uptick precious metals prices, with Newcrest adding 2.6 per cent to $33.09 and Northern Star 2.5 per cent higher at $13.94.
Doctors working in major Sydney and Melbourne hospitals fear an escalation of coronavirus outbreaks spread by healthcare workers, accusing hospital administrators of "bullying" those who demand protective masks - including on COVID-19 wards.

Three doctors who spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs said nurses, physicians and ward orderlies were being forced to work in unsafe conditions, with contaminated bins "overflowing" and access to masks restricted.

Healthcare workers fear being infected with COVID-19 due to restrictions on who can access protective equipment. Credit:Jon Super

Hundreds of healthcare workers are among the 8586 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia to date, including 88 in NSW and 216 in Victoria, where recent infections have been detected in nurses and other workers at the Northern Hospital, the Alfred, the Epworth and the Royal Melbourne.

A specialist doctor at a major Melbourne public hospital said medical staff anxious about contracting SARS-CoV-2 and unable to access hospital supplies were forbidden from bringing their own cloth or surgical masks to wear.
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.
South Africa: COGTA committee extends condolences to Kegakilwes family

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

The Mpumalanga Department of Education has directed the Nkangala District Director to immediately suspend a teacher from Silamba Secondary School in KwaMhlanga for allegedly assaulting two women. The teacher was caught on a video that went viral on social media, allegedly assaulting two women. Mpumalanga MEC for Education, Bonakele Maj... See more
A first case of an HIV-positive man who went into long-term remission after being treated for less than a year with an intensified multi-drug cocktail of AIDS medicines added to hopes on Tuesday of a possible future cure for the disease.

The 34-year-old Brazilian, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2012, was treated with a base of antiretroviral therapy, or ART, which was boosted with additional antiretrovirals, plus a drug called nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3.

The intensified treatment was halted after 48 weeks, doctors said on Tuesday, and 57 weeks later his HIV DNA in cells and his HIV antibody test remain negative.

"This case is extremely interesting, and I really hope that it may boost further research into an HIV cure," Andrea Savarino, a doctor at Italy's Institute of Health who co-led the trial, said in an interview with the UK charity NAM AIDSmap.

He cautioned, however, that four other HIV-positive patients treated in the trial with the same intensified drug cocktail saw no positive effect against the AIDS-causing virus.

"The result is highly likely not to be reproducible," he said. "This a very first (preliminary) experiment, and I wouldn't foresee beyond that."

As scientists race to develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, the struggle goes on to find a cure for HIV, which has infected more than 75 million people and killed almost 33 million since the AIDS epidemic began in the 1980s.

Patients who have access to AIDS drugs are able to control the virus and keep the disease in check, and there are many ways to stop it spreading, but 38 million people are currently living with HIV.

Hopes of a cure for AIDS have been boosted in recent years by two separate cases of remission in men who are described by HIV doctors as "functionally cured" after being treated with highly risky and complex bone marrow transplants.

Commenting on this latest case, which was presented at an AIDS conference in San Francisco, Sharon Lewin, an HIV specialist at Australia's Doherty Institute, said it was "very interesting" but raised many questions.

"As this man was part of a larger clinical trial, it will be important to fully understand what happened to the other participants," she said in an emailed comment.

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Pennsylvania has added Delaware to its quarantine list along with three other states in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus 
Blackout Day encourages those who have to buy something to spend their money at a Black-owned business.
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I cover a range of stories for WDRB, but really enjoy tracking what's going on at our State Capitol. I grew up on military bases all over the world, but am a Kentuckian at heart. I'm an EKU alum, and have lived in Louisville for 30 years.
Police searching for suspect in a Georgia murder last seen in southern Indiana
State police in Kentucky, Indiana, want help from public in 'Best Looking Cruiser' competition
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.

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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.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati is again taking flak for not wearing a mask during an event in his city.

A photo is circulating on social media of Diodati celebrating Saturdays grand opening of Sticks & Bricks Realty Ltd. on Thorold Stone Road, where he is seen holding a bottle of champagne and laughing with fellow participants.

Some people on social media criticized the mayor for not wearing a mask in the photo.

Diodati also faced criticism in May when a short video during a religious celebration showed he was not wearing a mask or physically distancing.

Diodati said much like the May gathering, some of the participants at Saturdays event were wearing masks and people were also physically distancing.

He said there were no microphones at Saturdays event, so people who spoke could not wear a mask and be heard.

People were trying to spread out as best as they could, Diodati said.

Its not too hard to catch somebody, with the right angle, at the right moment, being too close together. The main thing is it was an outside event. It was a hot day, and everybody was trying to get to the shade.

He said speeches lasted only a few minutes.

Youve got to take your mask off, or you cant be heard.

Diodati said participants were conscious and respectful of each others space.

He said its frustrating some people want to use the pandemic to target others by posting photos to social media and criticizing them.

The last thing we want to do is pit one neighbour against another and have people waving their finger in other peoples faces.

Diodati said he had a mask during Saturdays event and always carries one in each pocket.

In my car, I have two different Ziploc bags filled with masks. Ive got surgical kind, peace of mind kind, and Ive got some other fun, decorative kind. Typically, I put it on only if I cant physically distance. If I feel people are getting too close, I put it on.

Jim ONeill, the broker of record for Sticks & Bricks Realty Ltd., said Diodati took off his mask so the crowd gathered  and properly physically distanced  in front of the business could hear him.

Not everybody was wearing masks, but we were socially distancing, he said.

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The mayor only removed his mask to speak to the safely distanced group who came out because we had no microphone and were 15 feet from Thorold Stone Road. If you know Thorold Stone Road, its pretty busy (with traffic).

ONeill said hes disappointed Diodatis critics are trying to use the photo to score political points at his expense instead of focusing on the fact a business opened during the middle of a pandemic.

We called the city ahead. We made sure we did everything by the book. Im not best friends with Jim Diodati, (but) he came out and did an amazing job, he said, adding Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates also attended the event.
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.

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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.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Saudi Arabia has issued guidelines for about 1,000 pilgrims who will be allowed to perform the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca later this month, an experience that will be unlike any before because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The pilgrims will only be able to drink holy water from the Zamzam well in Mecca that is packaged in plastic bottles, and pebbles for casting away evil that are usually picked up by pilgrims along hajj routes will be sterilized and bagged ahead of time. Pilgrims will also have to bring their own prayer rugs.

The guidelines were announced Monday as Saudi authorities prepare for a very limited hajj, which for the first time will not include pilgrims from outside the country. Instead, the kingdom said that 70% of pilgrims allowed to make the pilgrimage this year will be from among foreign residents of Saudi Arabia and 30% would be Saudi citizens.

Saudi pilgrims will be selected from among healthcare workers and security personnel who have recovered from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. The government said their selection represents a token of appreciation for their role in providing care during the pandemic.

Saudi Arabia has one of the Middle Easts largest outbreaks of the virus, with infection rates rising by 3,000-4,000 cases daily. More than 213,000 people have contracted the virus in the kingdom so far, including 1,968 who have died.

The new guidelines also mandate that the foreign residents making this years pilgrimage should be between the ages of 20 and 50, and that they have not performed the hajj before. The pilgrims will have to quarantine before and after the hajj, and they will be tested for the coronavirus. Those eligible have until Friday to submit an application through the Hajj Ministrys website.

Saudi Arabia has dramatically scaled back the hajj due to concerns about overcrowding at the annual pilgrimage, which usually draws about 2.5 million people, saying its decision was aimed at preserving global public health.

At the hajj, the crowds move, pray and stand in extremely close proximity, often squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder, as they carry out five days of rites around Mecca. As part of the new safety measures this year, authorities said anyone participating in the hajj will not be allowed to touch the cube-shaped Kaaba, which is Islams holiest site and the metaphorical house of God.

Pilgrims this year will also have to wear masks, maintain physical distance during prayers and sleep in tents that follow guidelines on social distancing.

In other developments in the Middle East, Irans health ministry on Tuesday announced the highest single-day spike in deaths from coronavirus, with 200 new fatalities. Spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said that was an increase of 40 from Monday, when 160 were reported to have died of COVID-19.

She blamed the spike on large gatherings for weddings and other ceremonies, where people do not observe distancing regulations. Iran on Sunday instituted mandatory mask-wearing even as its public increasingly shrugs off the danger of the virus. Iran has reported more than 245,000 cases of the virus so far and 11,931 deaths.

Elsewhere, Israels parliament passed an emergency bill early Tuesday allowing the government to impose immediate decisions on combating a renewed outbreak of the coronavirus without standard parliamentary approval.

Lawmakers supporting the bill said it was essential, given the fast-spreading nature of the virus, but some opposition lawmakers decried the sidelining of the legislature as another step in undermining the foundations of Israeli democracy under the guise of an emergency.

The Israeli government reimposed new restrictions on the public on Monday, limiting gatherings and ordering reception halls, restaurants, bars, theatres, fitness centres and pools be shut down again.

Just weeks ago, Israel had appeared to have contained its initial outbreak after imposing strict measures early on in the pandemic. But it has experienced a steady uptick following an easing of restrictions in May. Currently, Israel is reporting upward of 1,000 new cases a day  higher than its peak during the previous wave.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was largely seen as having capably handled the outbreak, has suffered in opinion polls more recently amid the new surge and economic consequences of the pandemic. He convened Tuesday a high-profile consultation that included international economist Stanley Fischer, a former governor of the Bank of Israel.

But a top health ministry official stepped down to protest the handling of the latest uptick in cases. Sigal Sadetsky, who headed the department of public health services, said in a lengthy resignation letter that the handling of the pandemic had lost direction. Since the start of the outbreak, Israel has seen more than 31,000 cases and 338 deaths.

The outbreak has also hit the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority extended a lockdown for an additional five days.

The stay-at-home orders allow people to go out only for food or medicine, and ban most intercity travel. The lockdown, imposed last Friday, had been set to expire Wednesday.

After the authority largely contained a first wave of cases, infections have skyrocketed in recent weeks, with over 4,000 cases in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the Dubai Financial Market, the sheikhdoms stock exchange, reopened on Tuesday, when the city-state also began welcoming tourists again. The market closed mid-March over the pandemic, but trading continued online throughout the closure.

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We ensured that there is physical distancing between investors and employees offices, which is the most important element for safety during this time, market official Jamal al-Khadhar told The Associated Press. There are glass barriers, there are iPads that people can use for any transactions, theres also a whole setup and sanitizers available and the entire market was sanitized to implement safety measures.

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Associated Press writers Aron Heller in Jerusalem, Malak Harb in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
JACKSON, Miss. - At least eight Mississippi lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus after working several weeks in a Capitol where many people stood or sat close together and did not wear masks.

Among those who have publicly acknowledged having COVID-19 are Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the 52-member Senate, and House Speaker Philip Gunn, who presides over that 122-member chamber.

The state health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, said Tuesday that there are also at least 11 other suspected cases of the virus among legislators and Capitol employees. In addition, Dobbs said the virus is spreading in social gatherings across the state. Dobbs said, for example, he was told about teenagers having a party on a Pearl River sandbar in Jackson during the July 4 weekend and about people going without masks in restaurants and other public settings.

You cant put a lot of people together in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century and expect nothing bad to happen, Dobbs said during a news conference. Its just absolutely an insane thought process.

Mississippi legislators were at the Capitol for most of June and on July 1, wrapping up their annual session that was interrupted for several weeks by the pandemic.

Gunn, 57, announced Sunday that he had tested positive for the virus. Hosemann, 73, has informed members of the Senate he tested positive for the virus and will follow State Health Department guidelines by self-quarantining and working at home, his spokeswoman Leah Rupp Smith said Tuesday.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, 46, said Monday he was in isolation with his wife and their three daughters at the Governors Mansion. They were tested for the coronavirus after he came into contact with a lawmaker who tested positive last week.

My girls and I tested negative for COVID-19, Reeves wrote Tuesday on Twitter. Limited contact with the people who were diagnosed, but better safe than sorry! If someone you know gets the virus, get a test!

Reeves will follow social distancing guidelines and will continue to reduce contact with others as dramatically as possible, while still completing his duties as governor, his spokeswoman, Renae Eze, said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says even if people test negative for COVID-19 and feel healthy, they should remain in quarantine since symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure.

The Health Department said Tuesday that Mississippi  with a population of about 3 million  has had at least 32,214 confirmed cases and 1,158 deaths from the coronavirus as of Monday evening. That was an increase of 957 confirmed cases and 44 deaths from numbers reported a day earlier; the latest count included 10 deaths between June 17 and June 28, with information from death certificates arriving later.

The number of coronavirus infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected without feeling sick. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up within weeks. For others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause severe symptoms and be fatal.

Dobbs said the rapid increase in cases is stressing the health care system, including emergency rooms.

My greatest fear is starting to be realized because there are people in ERs now across the state who cant get a bed, they cant get transferred where they need to go, and were sending them out of state, Dobbs said

Speaking of the Legislature, Dobbs said its risky to have any group of people in close proximity for an extended time.

We know they were very busy and doing some really important work over the past couple of weeks, but its going to be risk, especially if people dont maintain that distancing and masks, Dobbs said.

Gunn and Hosemann stood near Reeves and others last week as the governor signed a bill retiring Mississippis 126-year-old state flag that had the Confederate battle emblem. None wore masks.

Democratic Rep. Bo Brown of Jackson announced last week that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Republican Rep. Greg Haney of Gulfport announced Tuesday that he has the virus.

We dont know where we got it, Haney told The Associated Press. We had to eat out, so we could have got it from a waitress, waiter, you know, you cant wear your mask while you eat.

The Health Department had free drive-thru COVID-19 testing Monday for legislators and others who work in the Capitol. Dobbs said 270 were tested.

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Leah Willingham is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
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Tiffany Gering

Age: 40

City: Chelan

Party: Republican

Work history: Chief operating officer, Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce, 2014 to present.

Experience: Served as secretary and on the scholarship committee for Lake Chelan Rotary, 2006 to present.

Education: Bachelor's in business administration, 2002, Seattle Pacific University.

Personal: I have two little girls who are the loves of my life. They were nothing short of a miracle. At birth, my oldest weighed 3 pounds, 2 ounces. and my youngest was just 2 pounds. We spent many months living in Spokane at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. My NICU graduates are healthy and give me a run for my money every day. Two toddlers keep me busy, but I also enjoy spending time with family and friends  whether out supporting local restaurants, attending church or at Rotary  as well as reading, working out and being outside.

Website: electtiffanygering.com
AGAWAM, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Middle school students in Agawam were allowed to celebrate their last day of school with ice cream after all. The annual tradition was called into question Wednesday when an email to parents from school administrators said Friendlys would not be able to serve stude
Truckloads of food and medicine bearing the United Nations insignia are getting ensnared in a political struggle between Russia and the West, with millions of Syrians caught in the middle.

Russia has been working since late last year to effectively end a U.N. humanitarian operation that delivers goods to Syrians from neighboring countries, arguing it undermines the sovereignty of President Bashar Assad's regime. But alarm over the spread of covid-19 and the humanitarian toll it's wreaking have emboldened Western countries' efforts to extend the aid, with a key U.N. vote expected Tuesday.

The latest U.N. resolution drafted by Germany and Belgium expresses "grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Syria and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," and calls for keeping two border crossings open for a year, according to a copy seen by Bloomberg.

"For those who are in Syria, it is going to be a dire situation if we are not able to have the border crossings," U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said in an interview last week. "We have 11 million people in Syria and we have a regime there that can absolutely care less about its people."

U.S. envoy James Jeffrey and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin have held meetings in recent days in an effort to forge a compromise before the program expires on Friday, diplomats said.

Since late last year, Russia has clashed with Western powers who argue that the cross-border operations are necessary to save Syrian lives. In January, Moscow scored an initial victory: Under the threat of a Russian veto that would have ended all aid, the Security Council agreed to cut the number of crossings to two from four, while reducing their mandate to six months from a year.

"Russia is driven by the objective of having Assad regain control of the whole country," Germany's ambassador, Christoph Heusgen, said in a news conference last week. "And to have U.N. crossing points into Syria, where the U.N. has sovereignty, is something that doesn't comply with the expectations of the Russians."

Germany and Belgium last month introduced a resolution that sought to extend the two existing crossing points for a year while reopening a third crossing in the northeast. In the latest text, Germany and Belgium appear to have backed off from that demand in an attempt to compromise with Russia.

"Council members should not cave in to Russia's threats," said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch. "Syria needs the northwest and the northeast. Removing the northeast crossing could mean a virtual death sentence for many Syrians."

As covid-19 spreads in Syria, NGOs and the U.N. are warning of a catastrophe if aid is not maintained. In addition to urgent aid needs in the northwest - the last rebel stronghold in Syria - restrictions on aid are hampering the delivery of medical supplies to the northeast, Human Rights Watch said in a report in April.

The threat is not just from the outbreak itself, which so far has been limited, but from the already worsening economic and humanitarian crisis prompted by the virus, said Mark Lowcock, the U.N.'s head of humanitarian aid.

Lowcock reported that Syrian authorities have confirmed 256 cases of the coronavirus that causes the disease covid-19, though testing is "extremely limited." Undernourishment is so bad that some households are cooking weeds to survive, he told the Security Council.

The tussle over aid is at the heart of what to do with Syria as the war enters its 10th year with hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced and in desperate need of aid. Russia and China argue that much of the suffering is due to Western sanctions and economic blockades.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the West of using aid as a "political tool" for dividing Syrians. The West argues that a genuine political process that is inclusive of all Syrians must first take place before the country receives reconstruction aid.

Russia may not be able to lean on China, as it did in December when the number of aid corridors was reduced. While China joined Russia in vetoing an initial resolution in December, China has given mixed signals over whether it will support continuing the aid this time.

"With regard to cross-border humanitarian assistance, we take note that there are still needs for such operations in Syria, while relevant parties have different positions on the cross-border mechanism," China's Ambassador Zhang Jun told the Security Council in late June.
Today

Mainly cloudy with some rain or rain showers through early afternoon, then drying and maybe clearing late in the day. Much cooler and less humid.

Tonight

Becoming mainly clear and much cooler.

Tomorrow

Mostly sunny and refreshing!
BERN TWP., Pa. - A piece of Berks County history hit the road Tuesday.

The former Epler schoolhouse -- a more than 170-year-old building near the airport in Bern Township -- has been saved from the wrecking ball thanks to private donors and the group Friends of Epler Schoolhouse.

"It makes my heart race," said Jane Goetz, a member of the group.

"We are so thrilled that the community stepped up and we saved this little piece of Berks County history," said Bonnie Schaeffer, another member.

They had the help of Upper Tulpehocken Township-based Wolfe Home & Building Movers, which gave spectators a lesson they never took before. Much like a space shuttle going to the launchpad, the house was moved at a snail's pace through the DirectLink parking lot, onto Route 183, then onto Red Bridge Road.

"This company can move houses and even school houses," said Dan Tobias, another member of Friends of Epler Schoolhouse.

But there's no journey without adversity; the crawler lost a tire in the process. Engineers at Wolfe quickly got the house back on track. With the day finally coming to an end, the company's air horn blared - final school bell, if you will - signaling the building is in its new home.

The one-room schoolhouse will now serve as an educational center for Berks County Heritage Center programs.

If poetry was ever taught inside this schoolhouse, today, it's poetry in motion.
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US is still 'knee-deep' in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Fauci says
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Delaware is among three states added Tuesday to an advisory covering anyone traveling from states with high COVID infection rates to Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

The list is now at 19 and the mid-Atlantic state is the first in the Northeast to join the list requiring visitors or people returning to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival here.

Oklahoma and Kansas were also added to the list Tuesday and no state was dropped, Gov. Ned Lamont and the govenors of New York and New Jersey announced.

Delaware, a popular weekend destination known for its beaches, is within a few hours drive from most of Connecticut, indicating the virus is creeping back toward the Northeast. Connecticut has reported low infection rates and declining hospitalizations and deaths in recent weeks.

The list also includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

The travel advisory, implemented two weeks ago, is mostly voluntary in Connecticut. New Yorks Gov. Andrew Cuomo has threatened fines for noncompliance.

Lamont said Monday that travel from out-of-state visitors has declined since the quarantine.

I did talk to a number of the airlines, and theyve had double the number of cancellations that they have anticipated, Lamont said. There are many fewer people coming form Florida, Arizona, South Carolina, now even California than there was before.

Lamont said the three states have pushed social media advertising about the advisory in infected states such as Florida, Arizona and Texas, garnering more than 1 million impressions. The advisory is announced in every airport in the region, and on every flight, and New Yorks John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports require visitors from covered states to sign a form stating their plans for quarantine.

I think people know that this region, not just Connecticut, is being very strict on the quarantining and it is discouraging a lot of out-of-state visitation from those states, Lamont said.

He said there is no plan to add a testing site at Bradley International Airport, though that had previously been discussed. There are more than 130 testing sites in the state.

Anyone who needs a test doesnt have to travel far to get one, said Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, who said hes not aware of any major airports with testing.

States are added to the list based on two criteria  a new daily positive test total higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a 10 percent or higher positive test rate over a 7-day rolling average.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt


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Ordinarily, the Royal Winnipeg Ballets wardrobe department would be crafting beautiful costumes and tutus for dancers to wear onstage. But with performances or tours cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the companys costumers have pirouetted to mask making  and they are doing so for a good cause.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ordinarily, the Royal Winnipeg Ballets wardrobe department would be crafting beautiful costumes and tutus for dancers to wear onstage. But with performances or tours cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the companys costumers have pirouetted to mask making  and they are doing so for a good cause.

For the past six weeks, the RWBs wardrobe team has been making non-medical masks to donate to the Winnipeg Boldness Project, an innovative community research project that works to develop community-led solutions to the complex social issues faced by the families living in Winnipegs Point Douglas neighbourhood.

In June, just over 500 masks were distributed via Boldness to several of its community partners, including Wahbung Abinoonjiiag, North Point Douglas Womens Centre, Andrews Street Family Centre and Blue Thunderbird Family Care. Another 500 masks will be distributed this week.

David Warburton is the director of touring and business development at the RWB and is a team leader on what has been dubbed the Mask Project. He also became chair of the RWBs risk management and response group when the coronavirus crisis began.

"One of the things in our process was to not only to look at how we were shutting down but also to start thinking about how we would reopen," he says. "Masks, I think, were always going to be part of any type of reopening strategy."

Alena Zharska, head of wardrobe at Royal Winnipeg Ballet, along with other staff have been creating high-quality face masks for the Winnipeg Boldness Project. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

When the RWB initially sourced masks for its dancers, students and staff, however, Warburton says the company was underwhelmed by both the low quality and the relatively high cost.

So, the RWB decided to design and make its own, following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and the Masks Now Coalition in the U.S.

"We felt very satisfied with the quality of work we could do," Warburton says. "We have one of the best wardrobe facilities in the country as well as some of the most talented people working there."

Alena Zharska, head of wardrobe at RWB, and her team  Laura Elliott, Diana Miller, Noel De Leon and Emily Woodman  are on track to make more than 3,500 three-layer cotton masks, which come in an array of colours and patterns.

Some of those masks will be for company dancers and the RWB Schools students when they return to the studio; Zharska had to come up with a design for masks that were not only light enough to be danced in, but also fit securely around dancers faces. When designing the masks to be donated, Zharska avoided having sizes so that they could be used by anyone.

Mask making is certainly unusual work for her department, Zharska acknowledges with a laugh, but even though they arent using their estimable talents for costuming right now, "we are so happy we have at least opportunity to help other people," she says.

Seamstress Diana Miller makes masks in the RWB wardrobe department. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

"When you feel that you can give to people something, I think its a really, really good feeling. We want to help people solve some of their issues because some of the (community) centres cannot reopen without masks."

Indeed, supplying RWB-made masks to community groups and individuals in need was always on the companys radar. Warburton met Diane Roussin, the project manager of the Winnipeg Boldness Project, last November at the Winnipeg Indigenous Accord All Partners Gathering, which was hosted at the RWB.

"I remember being so blown away by the work they were doing, and so I immediately thought of them because we dont have those same connections in the community," he says.

Roussin, for her part, was thrilled to get Warburtons call. "Our community would otherwise not ever have access to those kinds of masks," she says.

Indeed, as Roussin points out, the families Boldness works with in Point Douglas do not necessarily have the resources to navigate a pandemic.

"Folks were managing decently, but I think the technology piece was an issue," she says of those first couple weeks, when the world migrated online. "Folks just didnt have access to good quality screens or good quality Wi-Fi. But their biggest concern, really, was their kids, and kids being at home, and every kind of concern about small spaces with lots of people, not being able to go outside, having kids at home all day long. Kids dont have an individual screen, or quiet corners of the house to do school work  theyre all the kitchen table with everybody else. So we quickly moved to get our parents online."

RWB staff deliver masks to Wahbung Abinoonjiiag, one of the Boldness Projects partners in Point Douglas. (Supplied)

Homeschooling at the kitchen table with inadequate technology  as well as the sudden absence of school nutrition programs  werent the only challenges faced by community parents. Having the resources to follow public health guidelines also presented barriers.

"One of our parents had to got get tested because of where she was working, because lots of our folks had to keep going to work, had to keep riding the buses," Roussin says. "Once she had been tested, she was given instructions about not using the same utensils and staying this far away and not using the bathroom, and she just flat-out said, I cant. I live in a house with my partner and my kids and my grandkids. I cant."

As things begin to open up, masks have become a larger part of that public-health conversation, but, again: procuring quality masks presents another barrier for community members and organizations who are juggling other considerations, such as food. The Mask Project will allow community services to reopen, and will also get masks into the hands of those who need them.

Roussin says the reaction from her community to the ballet-made masks has been gratitude and, in some cases, surprise.

"I think our community is used to not getting the highest quality of things," she says. "I think having special access to this quality, their reaction is, oh, wow. I think people are deeply appreciative. And I think having masks is helping, as we get to venture out a little bit more, relieve a bit of the anxiety and apprehension."

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @JenZoratti
ALGIERS, Algeria - After decades in a French museum, the skulls of 24 Algerians decapitated for resisting French colonial forces were formally repatriated to Algeria on Friday in an elaborate ceremony led by the teary-eyed Algerian president.

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This article was published 3/7/2020 (353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The remains of 24 Algerians are carried by members of the Algerian Republican Guard at the Moufdi-Zakaria culture palace in Algiers, Friday, July, 3, 2020. After decades in a French museum, the skulls of 24 Algerians decapitated for resisting French colonial forces were formally repatriated to Algeria in an elaborate ceremony led by the teary-eyed Algerian president. The return of the skulls was the result of years of efforts by Algerian historians, and comes amid a growing global reckoning with the legacy of colonialism. (AP Photo/Toufik Doudou)

ALGIERS, Algeria - After decades in a French museum, the skulls of 24 Algerians decapitated for resisting French colonial forces were formally repatriated to Algeria on Friday in an elaborate ceremony led by the teary-eyed Algerian president.

A 21-gun salute thundered from Algiers international airport as a military plane touched down, carrying the remains. Boats in the ports of Algiers sounded their horns to welcome the arrival.

The return of the skulls was the result of years of efforts by Algerian historians, and comes amid a growing global reckoning with the legacy of colonialism.

The valiant resistance fighters who refused the colonization of their country by imperial France were displayed immorally for decades, like vulgar objects of antiquity, without respect for their dignity, their memory. That is the monstrous face of colonization, Algerian army chief Said Chengiha said in a speech.

Algeria is living a special day today, he said.

The 24 fought French colonial forces who occupied Algeria in 1830 and took part in an 1849 revolt. After they were decapitated, their skulls were taken to France as trophies.

In 2011, Algerian historian and researcher Ali Farid Belkadi discovered the skulls at the Museum of Man in Paris, across from the Eiffel Tower, and alerted Algerian authorities.

The researcher lobbied for years for their return, and Algerias then-president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, eventually launched the formal repatriation request. French President Emmanuel Macron agreed in 2018 but bureaucratic obstacles delayed the return until now.

The remains will be on public display at the Palace of Culture in the capital Saturday, and then will be buried in a special funeral east of Algiers on Sunday  the 58th anniversary of Algerias independence from France after a long and bloody war.

In tears, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune presided over Fridays ceremony, alongside the heads of both houses of parliament and top military officials. Three MiG jets escorted the Algerian Ilyushin military plane carrying the remains.

The skulls were placed in coffins wrapped in the Algerian flag, and carried by soldiers across the tarmac as a military band played.

Historians welcomed the return of the remains, but say they are just part of Algerias history that is still in French hands.

We have recovered part of our memory, historian Mohamed El Korso told The Associated Press. But the fight must continue, until the recovery of all the remains of the resistance fighters, which number in the hundreds, and the archives of our revolution.
OTTAWA - Legendary investor Warren Buffett's decision to walk away from a proposed export terminal for liquefied natural gas in Quebec is being held up in a new report as a sign that the LNG sector in Canada and elsewhere is on shaky ground.

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This article was published 6/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb., Sunday, May 5, 2019. A new report is holding up legendary investor Buffett's decision to walk away from a proposed liquefied natural gas project in Quebec in March as one sign that the LNG sector in Canada and elsewhere is on shaky ground. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Nati Harnik

OTTAWA - Legendary investor Warren Buffett's decision to walk away from a proposed export terminal for liquefied natural gas in Quebec is being held up in a new report as a sign that the LNG sector in Canada and elsewhere is on shaky ground.

The Global Energy Monitor report released Monday says Buffett's move in March underscores the growing political and economic uncertainty that LNG projects are facing even as governments around the world tout liquefied natural gas as a clean alternative to coal power.

Canada has emerged as a major proponent of expanding liquefied natural gas as a way to fight climate change abroad and create jobs and revenue at home, with numerous multibillion-dollar projects to facilitate LNG exports to Asia and elsewhere in the works.

Yet Global Energy Monitor suggested Buffett's decision to withdraw investment firm Berkshire Hathaway's planned $4-billion investment in an LNG export terminal in Saguenay, Que., is a sign of things to come.

Neither Buffett nor Berkshire Hathaway explained their reasons for the move, but the company behind the terminal project blamed "the current Canadian context"  an apparent reference to nationwide rail blockades and protests against the Coastal GasLink pipeline in B.C. at the time.

"While many projects face opposition from local communities, the case of the Energie Saguenay LNG Terminal in Quebec shows the potential for a local protest to galvanize a national movement," said the Global Energy Monitor report.

Global Energy Monitor is an international non-governmental organization that catalogues fossil-fuel infrastructure around the world and advocates for more investments in renewable energy.

Monday's report goes on to suggest that political opposition is only one of many new challenges to the LNG sector, with another being a dramatic drop in the price of gas due to an oversupply at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has sent demand plummeting.

The result: plans to build pipelines, terminals and other infrastructure in Canada and around the world have been put on hold  or dropped entirely.

The report lists 13 LNG projects in Canada alone that have been cancelled or suspended in recent years. That includes a $10-billion LNG export facility in Nova Scotia, which is now in limbo as the company behind the project tries to decide whether to move ahead or not.

Pieridae Energy, the company behind the Nova Scotia project, announced in May a delay in making a final decision on proceeding. Spokesman James Millar said that was due to technical obstacles created by COVID-19, not market conditions.

One project apparently not affected is LNG Canada's Coastal GasLink pipeline, which was the target of this year's protests and blockades over a route that crosses traditional Wet'suwet'en territory in British Columbia. The company said last month that it plans to have 2,500 people working on the 670-kilometre pipeline from Dawson Creek to Kitimat by September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2020.
Former Snap Fitness franchisee Ryan Sourisseau is fighting to defend his reputation after misinformation from corporate head office was provided to the Free Press.

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This article was published 7/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Snap Fitness franchisee Ryan Sourisseau is fighting to defend his reputation after misinformation from corporate head office was provided to the Free Press.

Sourisseau claims that allegations made against him by Snap Fitnesss vice-president of brand performance were false. The Free Press was told by a company vice-president that Sourisseau "elected to act in violation of Snap Fitness policy and guidance for Canadian clubs" and that "We have terminated the franchise agreements for these clubs and have demanded that this franchisee refund membership dues collected for these months."

In fact, Sourisseau said he has been doing everything he can to refund those fees that were paid and that he closed his three Winnipeg locations on Portage Avenue, Osborne Street and St. Marys Road and ended his relationship with the brand before his franchise was terminated.

The "policy" in question is related to membership fees for April. While Sourisseau admits that about five per cent of his members did pay in April, he said he has emailed them all saying those fees will be refunded.

Monthly members of Snap Fitness are billed every two weeks for $22.50.

Sourisseau said that there has been bad blood between him and head office for a few years, despite the fact that his former Osborne Street location was at one time the top performing Canadian location for three years in a row.

He believes that the long-standing dispute hes had with the company might be why company vice-president Brian Tietz told the Free Press information that was incorrect.

Sourisseau said that long before the COVID-19 pandemic forced all non-essential businesses to close, he had written many emails to head office concerned about financial arrangements that Sourisseau believed were unfair to franchisees.

Christina Clark, the spokeswoman for Snap Fitness Franchisee Association (which is in the middle of a legal dispute with the corporation), accused the corporation of throwing Sourisseau under the bus.

"Ryan is a long-term franchisee who has poured his heart and soul into the business," Clark said.

Last December, the franchise owners of 335 Snap Fitness locations filed a lawsuit against the corporation for material breach of contract for forcing the franchisees to buy a proprietary club management software system developed by a Snap Fitness-owned affiliate that failed to meet industry security standards.

In 2018, that software was hacked and members were left without access to their facilities and accounts for almost two weeks.

Sourisseau is part of that legal action.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
CALGARY - A Saskatchewan man who had a heart attack after a hike in the Rocky Mountains says it was divine intervention that the same cardiac surgeon who helped resuscitate him near the trail would operate on him days later.

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This article was published 6/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dr. Corey Adams speaks with Shirley and Darrell Parker in this June 3, 2020 handout photo. A Saskatchewan man who suffered a heart attack after a hike in the Rocky Moutains last month says it was divine intervention that a cardiac surgeon happened to be on the same trail that day. Dr. Corey Adams helped resuscitate Darrell Parker, who was lying unconscious and blue at the side of a road near Canmore, Alta. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta *MANDATORY CREDIT*

CALGARY - A Saskatchewan man who had a heart attack after a hike in the Rocky Mountains says it was divine intervention that the same cardiac surgeon who helped resuscitate him near the trail would operate on him days later.

Darrell Parker, his wife, Shirley, and their son and daughter-in-law were hiking on June 20 at Grassi Lakes, a popular trail near Canmore, Alta.

Dr. Corey Adams and his family, who had recently moved to Calgary from St. John's, N.L., were enjoying their first hike in the Rockies in that day along with some friends.

"I don't have a lot of recollection of that day itself," Parker, 60, said Monday while recovering at home in Paradise Hill, Sask. "I lost 99 per cent of it during the event."

His wife said they hiked to the end of a trail and back, sat down for a snack and started making their way back to their truck.

"Darrell fell behind us and we never thought anything of it," she said. "He usually walks slower than we do."

Their son, Travis, went back to look and saw that Parker had collapsed by the road and people were trying to help him.

Adams was two cars behind the commotion.

At first he thought there had been a crash, but then someone told him that a man was unconscious.

A bystander was performing CPR when Adams and his wife, who is a gynecologist, asked if they could help.

"We repositioned him and actually found that he was completely blue and had no pulse," Adams said.

They tried to resuscitate Parker for 20 minutes. When paramedics arrived, they used defibrilators to shock his heart into restarting. They also inserted a breathing tube.

Once Parker was stable enough, he was rushed to hospital in Canmore and from there to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.

He woke up after a few days in an induced coma in the intensive care unit. Adams came to visit and explained what had happened.

"It felt like there was some divine intervention happening," Parker said.

Adams, with the Libin Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Calgary, performed five bypasses on Parker during a more than four-hour operation nine days after the heart attack.

"I'm very encouraged with his prognosis," Adams said. "I bet you next year this time he's back doing that hike again."

Parker was discharged from hospital Sunday. He said he had no idea he had heart blockages and frequently goes for long walks.

He figures it will be three months before he can return to work in the oilfields, where he's often alone in remote locations.

"If this would have happened to me at work, it probably wouldn't have ended up the same way. If this would have happened to me at my home, it wouldn't have turned out the same way," he said.

"It was the best place in the world for this to happen, where it happened. The right people were there ... it's a divine event that saved my life somehow."

He said his three children and four grandchildren can't wait to visit.

Adams said Parker owes his survival to a group of strangers who pitched in to help.

"It was a very good team effort and that's the reason in my mind why Darrell is here today," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2020
There has been a lot of jubilation because of the Jubilee Fund lately.

The fund, created during the jubilee year of 2000 by several local churches, is a non-profit lender. It offers loans to organizations and individuals who would not be able to get a loan through banks or other financial institutions. The fund's mission is to help finance projects that will not only reduce poverty, but also have a positive social impact.

That's why the Jubilee Fund's recent announcement about Pollock's Hardware Co-op is so great.

You see, back in 2008, when the neighbourhood hardware store was being saved from closure by transitioning from a private business to a co-op with community members, it needed financial help. The Jubilee Fund, partnering with Assiniboine Credit Union, gave the co-op a $67,000 loan guarantee which was used to buy inventory for the store and help it get on its feet.

Since then, the fund gave the co-op another $50,000 in loan guarantees to help with its cash flow and keep people employed.

But no more. Pollock's Hardware Co-op is now a charter member of the Jubilee Fund's 'Paid in Full Club' after paying off the last of its loans.

"Pollock's Hardware Co-op has struggled over the years to fight off the big box stores and remain a community asset," the fund said in a recent statement. "These difficulties just seem to make the volunteers and staff try harder. Much of the stock has changed, but you can still find 'that one item' that the other stores will never stock."

Now that the loan has been repaid, the money the co-op was paying the Jubilee Fund allows them to have more financial breathing room every month, and its continuing business still relies on the mix of member support and loyal customers.

With the loan paid back, the Jubilee Fund can put that money back out into the community, helping another poverty reduction project.

In fact, it has already done that. Last week, the Jubilee Fund announced a $110,250 loan has been given to the Portage la Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation in collaboration with the local branch of the Royal Bank of Canada.

The CRC is a charitable organization that serves as the delivery point for both federal and provincial support programs for residents living in Portage. Their programs include the Wawokiya Project, which gives intervention and case management for at-risk people; the Local Immigration Partnership, which looks for ways Portage can be more welcoming to newcomers; and Reaching Home, which helps homeless people find housing.

The loan allows the CRC to put down a down payment on a mortgage to buy a 5,000-square-foot commercial building with 10 offices and two boardrooms.

"By providing a down payment loan for Portage la Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation Inc., to become their own landlord, it increases their options to respond to unforeseen events and in difficult times and maintain services," the Jubilee Fund says.

"The rent they paid will now go towards paying a mortgage and will eventually provide additional equity that could come in handy someday."

People at both Pollock's Hardware Co-op and the Community Revitalization Corporation will be singing hallelujah to the Jubilee Fund.

And we should join in their rejoicing by saying thanks to all three of them because without them our communities would be weaker, but with them our communities are stronger.

 Kevin Rollason
When David Riddle pictures in his mind the Assiniboine and Red rivers, he imagines Metis children running along the banks in the mid-1800s, pumping their arms, trying to get captains of the riverboats trudging through the water to toot their horns.

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This article was published 7/7/2020 (349 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When David Riddle pictures in his mind the Assiniboine and Red rivers, he imagines Metis children running along the banks in the mid-1800s, pumping their arms, trying to get captains of the riverboats trudging through the water to toot their horns.

The history of the rivers and the people who lived along them are immense, the retired archeologist told the Free Press.

Its why when he heard about the City of Winnipegs plans to stabilize and redevelop the south bank of the Assiniboine River east of Assiniboine Park, he worried the appropriate precautions wouldn't be taken to preserve or seek out that history.

"This area has been used for 7,000 years at least, (it) has seen a whole series of cultures live on the edge of the river, and almost certainly there are remains of those cultures in the ground. In what condition? Nobody knows. You have to do work to be able to find that out," Riddle said.

When Riddle reached out to civic administration, he was originally told monitoring would be taking place as the project was pursued. "Which is like saying, Were going to watch the thing be destroyed and not really do very much," he said.

The citys proposed revitalization of the south bank of the river involves, among other things, moving a section of Wellington Crescent further south, costing an estimated $9.6 million to rebuild the roadway between Fulham Avenue and Grenfell Boulevard.

Coun. Kevin Klein (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) was already eager to press pause on the Wellington riverbank project due to cost concerns. After speaking with Riddle, hes doubled down in his desire for the city to take a step back.

"Weve waited 11 years, the riverbank is in no more danger today than it was a year ago, or two years ago. So, the project can be paused, we can wait another year and do this properly. It is Metis land. We acknowledge that were on the home of the Metis  it deserves, and the people deserve  for us to do the proper due diligence of archeological study on that land," Klein said in an interview.

The City of Winnipeg has publicly promised on the projects webpage to pursue a heritage resource impact assessment. Between the assessment and Kleins involvement, Riddle said he is more assured his concerns are being taken seriously.

There still remains a great deal to learn about the Indigenous cultures that lived on the land before the 1700s, Riddle said, and due to a lack of written historical records, archeological exploration is the main way to learn more.

"The (Indigenous) people who lived here before have a right to have their history known," Riddle said. "We have neglected this for quite a while in terms of standing up to make sure that the heritage resources that are in the ground are protected  and if they cant be protected because of some kind of development, that they be mediated."

 with files from Joyanne Pursaga

sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca
Top British and EU negotiators will dine at Number 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, kicking off the latest round of Brexit talks that have all but stalled amid differences, with the top EU official saying he wants an agreement, "but not at any price".

Last week's round was cut short with both sides saying that, while they wanted an agreement, they had yet to overcome the gulf in positions that could see Britain leaving a status-quo transition period at the end of this year without a trade deal.

After leaving the EU in January, Britain is keen to strike out alone, pursuing trade deals with other countries and setting up its own sanctions regime, and has insisted it should not have to sign up to the bloc's standards.

Brussels has also stood firm, with EU negotiator Michel Barnier posting a picture of himself and his team travelling on a train to London on Tuesday and saying: "The EU wants an agreement - and we are doing everything to succeed - but not at any price."

Brussels has said there can be no new economic partnership without robust guarantees to ensure fair competition.

"(UK negotiator) David Frost and Michel Barnier are having dinner at Number 10 this evening for informal talks," said a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"The dinner tonight kicks off the talks and then tomorrow there'll be teams of officials from the UK and from the EU sitting down having further discussions."

The pound shrugged off earlier weakness and climbed 0.3% on the day to $1.2529, with analysts terming the dinner as a sign of potential positive news for Brexit negotiations.

With a starter of asparagus and a dessert of summer fruits, Downing Street might be hoping to sweeten the talks, although the main course of fillet of halibut might be a nod to another stumbling block in the talks over fisheries.

Asked whether Britain had new proposals, the spokesman said: "I am sure discussions will cover everything from what the EU calls the level playing field through to governance structures."

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MBABANE  His Majesty King Mswati III has called for African nations to unite in creating their own digital market that will promote made in Africa goods and services.



The King believes that all African stakeholders should work together to shape the continents digital transformation, using the means that are at their disposal.

This is contained in the Kings keynote address on the occasion of the first Africa Integration Day and the launch of the African e-commerce platform.

The King said the continents post-COVID-19 recovery would be based on a collective response and there was a need to take the occasion of the first Africa Integration Day celebration as the appropriate moment to pledge commitment to come out as a united force, that would shape the global post-COVID-19 environment.



His Majesty said the social enterprise approach of the African e-Trade group is aimed at uplifting all Africans so that they could be meaningful players in the digital economy.

The African e-Trade Group is a social enterprise initiated by a group of African, multi-stakeholder and multi-talented professionals and entrepreneurs.



Boost



The African e-Trade Group works to empower the African digital economy and this work focuses on a trading platform and capabilities that boost African trade and African exports. Actually, the regional headquarters of the African e-Trade Group for Southern Africa and West Africa have been awarded to the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Republic of Guinea respectively, two member states of the African Union.



What is important is that we should be organised, coordinated in order to avoid duplication of efforts and resources, and to reach tangible results in the most efficient manner. This is so much more necessary in light of the global pandemic we are faced with, he said. The King said he was looking forward to the opportunities for women and youth that would be unlocked through the groups initiatives.



He said there was a need to empower these sectors to create innovations that could be tested and connected to the continental platform so that the continent can create African millionaires more easily than before.



We want these innovations to be registered and protected, and this is part of the work that will be done in research and innovation centres at each of the regional headquarters. We want women and youth to be leading in the boardrooms across the continent, as they are now leading more and more in the political and civil society sphere, he said.



His Majesty said they welcomed the information that the African e-Trade group top leadership would comprise of more than 50 per cent of women and given its sector, they believed it would attract a lot of young professionals and create about 30 000 jobs, when it has reached full operations.



Impact



He said these initiatives were impressive because they provided a holistic approach. He said, however, it would not have the desired impact if stakeholders on the continent did not support it.

Putting it into local context, the King said in the kingdom of Eswatini, substantial progress had been made in establishing the regional office to serve Southern Africa, and the country had already started to register SMEs on the platform and encouraging them to link up with their brothers and sisters across the continent.



Let Africa have its own large branded platform, equivalent to the likes of Amazon and Alibaba, promoting the production and trade of made in Africa goods and services, including quality standards and intellectual property rights. We are waiting anxiously to hear the name of the African e-commerce platform that will be announced by our chairman (Cyril Ramaphosa), he said.

The King said he was calling upon all the leaders across the continent to support this social enterprise that would have 600 000 SMEs trading on the platform in four years, creating 22 million jobs.



Support



Let us also support an initiative that will focus on changing of the mindset of entrepreneurs from a survival mode to a competitive sphere; strengthen e-government services so that we can deliver more to the people, he added.



The King said he had accepted the responsibility to lead the establishment of the African heads of state advisory council, to provide oversight and guidance to the Ae-trade group as it rolled out the platform across all regions on the continent. He also commended his Excellency President Alpha Conde of Guinea for his leadership of the initiative in West Africa.



We are united in our conviction that we need African designed and led solutions to solve our continental problems for the Africa we want. We can only rest when all 55 countries are on board and have created a truly integrated marketplace, he said.

The King then unveiled the name of the new tool called afrisnap that was designed by the African e-Trade group.

He said the name was selected by young people and it was easy to remember, and already available for use by any country that wished to do so.
A Winnipeg police officer has stepped down from the Bear Clan board of directors, after controversial social media posts resulted in a public call for her removal.

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A Winnipeg police officer has stepped down from the Bear Clan board of directors, after controversial social media posts resulted in a public call for her removal.

Const. Rejeanne Caron, who was the Saint BonifaceSaint Vital Conservative candidate in the 2019 federal election, had sat on the Bear Clan volunteer community patrols board for nearly two years.

SUPPLIED Rejeanne Caron was the Saint BonifaceSaint Vital Conservative candidate in the 2019 federal election.

Carons personal Twitter account, which was public up until recently, allegedly included tweets that suggested those who support the police defunding movement should not be allowed to call 911 and denied systemic racism in policing.

An online petition calling for her removal from the board, which had just more than 2,000 signatures before it was closed, was started by an anonymous Bear Clan member. The document said Caron had "used her social media presence to judge the community and to make excuses for police violence in an inappropriate and confrontational manner."

A statement from Caron on the matter, released July 2, did not acknowledge the tweets, but said she would be resigning. It further criticized Bear Clan executive director James Favel, stating he "used his position and our organization as a means to build his own public and political persona."

Favel said he had seen multiple tweets from Caron's account that came across as "racist and highly problematic," and said the Bear Clan has screenshot copies. He called the situation "disheartening" and the first time the volunteer group has had to deal with a situation like this.

"I feel badly that things went this way, but I do not feel badly for standing up for my community, I dont feel the least bit awkward about resisting those ideologies," he said.

Plans were already underway to vote to remove Caron from her position on the board, Favel said, but she resigned the same day, before the group had a chance to do so.

The Bear Clan has a social media policy that dictates how volunteers should conduct themselves online, Favel said, but this incident will influence future edits made to governance documents.

Caron describes herself as a "front-line police officer" in her Twitter profile.

When asked to speak on the Winnipeg Police Services social media policy, a spokeswoman for the WPS noted Carons profile also included a statement that said: "The views expressed are my own," and the WPS would not comment further.

Favel said the situation was an example of the responsibility of the higher standard community representatives should work toward.

"You cant be jumping on those bandwagons and sharing those ideologies and not expect to have some fallout," he said.

Winnipeg Police Board chairman and St. Norbert-Seine River Ward Coun. Markus Chambers said Monday he had no knowledge of the incident outside of what hed seen on social media. He echoed Favels thoughts on the responsibility of public-service workers when operating on social media.

"Its not just police officers, were all being held to a higher standard when it comes to these issues of the past where before there was less accountability, now we have to be accountable for our actions, what we say and what we do in the public space," he said.

Its not a police board matter to look into the situation, Chambers said  complaints regarding officer conduct go through the WPS professional standards unit  but officers who have public lives online should know they could be perceived as speaking on behalf of the WPS.

"As an individual, if you say something, people might not take notice. But if you say something as a member of a police service, or a teachers union if you represent yourself as a larger group, it could come back and definitely have repercussions," he said.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_
First Nations leaders gave Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister a tongue-lashing Monday, accusing him of paternalism, anger and underlying issues with Indigenous people, and allowing systemic racism to continue.

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First Nations leaders gave Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister a tongue-lashing Monday, accusing him of paternalism, anger and underlying issues with Indigenous people, and allowing systemic racism to continue.

"Hes using that office to work against Indigenous economic projects," Dennis Meeches, Long Plain First Nation Chief and Treaty 1 spokesman, said at a news conference Monday outside the Peguis Building on Portage Avenue.

Pallister is overstepping his jurisdiction by threatening First Nations their video lottery terminal agreements would be terminated if they didnt agree in writing to enforce a smoking ban, said Meeches, who was flanked by Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Arlen Dumas, Brokenhead Ojibway Chief Deborah Smith and Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson.

"Whenever we want to do land transfers or something innovative in this province, the systemic racism rears its head and tries to cause complications," said Dumas.

The chiefs listed other examples: Pallister telling a First Nation not to have a powwow during COVID-19; telling First Nations cannabis retailers they have to charge a provincial "social responsibility fee" (which amounts to a tax); singling out First Nations gaming sites in the Phase 3 pandemic recovery reopening plans.

The only gaming facilities that allow smoking are run by First Nations; only non-smoking sites have been allowed to reopen.

"Its, If you dont play ball, were shutting your economies down," said Meeches. "Its really strong-arming First Nation governments."

The revenue from VLTs and gaming on First Nations pay for things such as funerals for elders and recreation for youth, said Hudson, whose entrepreneurial First Nation raised an estimated $40 million in own-source revenue last year.

"They have no right to take away our right to generate those revenues," he said, adding Treaty 1 businesses bring $9.3 billion to the province and more than $3 billion to Winnipeg and area. The group is developing the former Kapyong barracks site in southwest Winnipeg.

"Theres an opportunity here for the premier to engage, but its not happened," said Meeches.

A spokeswoman for the Manitoba premier dismissed the complaints, saying the VLTs and smoking situation is "simply about public health" and "the government continues to achieve tangible results by working together with Indigenous leaders and communities."

She gave the example of Pallister and Dumas taking a "critical step towards reconciliation" by signing a memorandum of understanding that begins the process of establishing a Manitoba First Nations Airport Authority.

However, Dumas said Monday that Manitoba First Nations may have to "reconsider" such arrangements with the province.

"Weve come to those conversations as a meaningful partner," he said. "If the relationship is not going to be respected, maybe we need to reconsider those conversations.

"When First Nations do well, everyone around us does well."

In February, Dumas credited "constructive dialogue" with the province for a deal that would see First Nations take over ownership of 23 northern airports. He said he has since soured on working with Pallister for using the pandemic to usurp First Nations sovereignty and jurisdiction.

Instead of working with them, Pallister is talking at them, Dumas said.

"I think this (VLT) move by the Pallister government is very opportunistic and its deceitful," he said. "The issue is about jurisdiction, not smoking."

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
A black Toyota Sienna minivan pulled up to city hall Tuesday morning, with an Uber logo on its front window and the mayor of Winnipeg in the backseat.

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A black Toyota Sienna minivan pulled up to city hall Tuesday morning, with an Uber logo on its front window and the mayor of Winnipeg in the backseat.

Michael van Hemmen, head of city operations for Uber Canada, was behind the wheel. He and Mayor Brian Bowman emerged from the vehicle with face masks on, flashing thumbs-up in celebration of the ride-hailing giants long-awaited arrival in Winnipeg.

"Simple message," Bowman said, standing at an Uber-branded lectern outside city hall. "Winnipeg, your Uber has finally arrived."

Bowman touted the company, which treats its drivers as contractors rather than employees, as a positive addition to the city, "increasing employment opportunities" and offering more choice in the transportation marketplace.

While other Canadian-owned ride-hailing companies, such as TappCar and Cowboy Taxi, have been operating in Winnipeg for a couple of years, Bowman said Uber is the first major international ride service in the city.

Uber had previously resisted coming to Winnipeg, due to what it called Crown corp. MPI's restrictive insurance structure.

In some other Canadian cities where the company operates, drivers have unionized, citing labour concerns such as pay below minimum wage, lack of benefits, and a restrictive arbitration process that requires workplace complaints to be heard in the Netherlands.

Ubers entry into the local marketplace comes as the Winnipeg Community Taxi Association asked council for temporary relief from city fees in response to the industrys massive revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bowman said the California-headquartered companys arrival would lead to increased competition and improved service for residents. He and van Hemmen said it would also lead to employment opportunities, as prospective drivers can sign up for flexible work shifts to earn income on demand.

"Ultimately, what Winnipeggers have been demanding, and I've been quite public about now for about three years, is they're looking for choice. And so I think the question should be: what do Winnipeggers want?" the mayor said.

"And they'll have that option now to use an international brand, as well as the existing brands in the ride-sharing space, as well as the taxi industry and public transportation as well as single-occupancy vehicles and active transportation," he said.

"All of those choices are what citizens expect in a modern growing city."

Uber's arrival was also greeted by MADD Winnipeg president Trevor Ens, who said it provides yet another way to avoid drinking and driving.
OTTAWA  Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde says provincial governments that want to cling to their jurisdiction over child welfare are the biggest barrier to implementing new legislation giving Indigenous communities control over their children's well-being.

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OTTAWA  Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde says provincial governments that want to cling to their jurisdiction over child welfare are the biggest barrier to implementing new legislation giving Indigenous communities control over their children's well-being.

"Lets be open and frank about it. One of the biggest challenges is to working with premiers and the appropriate ministers," Bellegarde told the Free Press Tuesday morning.

Bellegarde and Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller signed an agreement in Ottawa this morning that is the next step forward in implementing Bill C-92.

The bill passed in the last Parliament and took effect Jan. 1, setting national standards for Indigenous jurisdiction over child and family services.

However several provinces are concerned about the impact on their roles in child-welfare programs, and Quebec is challenging the constitutionality of the bill in court.

Bellegarde would not say Tuesday which provinces are causing the biggest problem.

"Im not going to throw anybody under the bus," he said.

Premier Brian Pallister has said he supports the intent of the bill, but feels Ottawa has consistently failed to consult with Manitoba, which leads the country in child apprehensions.

Last December, he pushed premiers to demand clarity on how the bill would work, with Alberta asking to delay its implementation for fear of children falling between jurisdictional cracks.

Manitobas system is currently semi-devolved, with First Nations and Metis authorities administering agencies that follow provincial laws, and receive funding from Ottawa and the province.

That limits how band councils can spend money on prevention and education, and funding structures in Manitoba have only recently starting shifting away from being linked to how many kids get taken out of their homes.

The agreement signed today is a guide for discussions between Ottawa and First Nations governments as each community moves to assert its control of child welfare for its own kids, recognizing Indigenous laws and customs.

Bellegarde says those discussions must also happen with provincial governments, which he said is one of the biggest barriers to reducing the number of Indigenous children in foster care in Canada.

"Its one thing to have a law, but its really important for the implementation of it to bring about change thats so desperately needed," he said on Parliament Hill.

Tuesdays agreement does not apply to Metis or Inuit groups; Ottawa says it is crafting different approaches for each. It also does not prescribe a funding formula, instead creating a body to figure out how to finance child welfare, an issue advocates have flagged since the Liberals starting talking about devolving child welfare.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Peter Nygard is the subject of an ongoing Winnipeg Police Service investigation after multiple women stepped forward to file formal criminal complaints against the embattled fashion mogul for alleged sexual assault.

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Peter Nygard is the subject of an ongoing Winnipeg Police Service investigation after multiple women stepped forward to file formal criminal complaints against the embattled fashion mogul for alleged sexual assault.

While it was known Nygard was the subject of an investigation in the U.S. by a joint child-exploitation task force, this is the first confirmation that a criminal probe into the allegations against him is underway in his hometown.

The Free Press confirmed the existence of the WPS investigation through interviews with alleged victims. It's not clear when the criminal probe was launched or how many women have filed complaints.

Police did not respond to a Free Press request for comment Monday afternoon. In the past, the WPS has said the agency does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations unless they lead to charges being laid.

CP While it was known Nygard was the subject of an investigation in the U.S. by a joint child-exploitation task force, this is the first confirmation that a criminal probe into the allegations against him is underway in his hometown. (Annie I. Bang / Canadian Press/AP/Invision files)

In the face of mounting rape allegations, Nygard, 78, has repeatedly maintained his innocence, claiming hes at the centre of an elaborate conspiracy orchestrated by people with personal vendettas against him who are intent on ruining his reputation.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

KC Allan, 58, confirmed to the Free Press she filed a criminal complaint with the WPS on June 29, providing her incident number and the name of the investigator who interviewed her.

Allan says Nygard violently raped her shortly after she graduated high school in the fall of 1979 at the age of 17.

"It was full, fast and violent, and when it was over it was abrupt. In no way, in his mind, could he have fooled himself into thinking it was seduction," Allan said.

On the night in question, Allan  a Winnipegger who now lives in the U.S.  said she was out dancing with a friend at a club in the Exchange District and Nygard, then 38, was also there.

When it was time to leave, Allan said she went to catch a cab, but Nygard appeared and offered to drive her home instead and she agreed.

But instead of driving to Fort Garry, where she lived with her parents, Allan said Nygard drove to one of his properties, saying he needed to stop by the office.

When they got there he invited her inside to take a look, and they ended up inside his "executive suite," she said.

"We werent there but seconds and he pushed me backwards onto his bed. He used his body weight and forearm across my throat to pin me. He ripped off my dress and underwear and he vaginally raped me," she said, adding he did not wear a condom.

After the assault, Allan said Nygard drove her home. She never saw him in person again.

A total of 57 women have joined a class-action lawsuit, first made public in February 2020, against the fashion mogul in U.S. court, detailing allegations of rape, drugging and sodomy.

Jay Prober, one of Nygards attorneys, did not respond to a request for comment Monday. In previous interviews, Prober has repeatedly said the women accusing Nygard of sexual assault are lying.

"As I predicted before, more women are, in fact, jumping on what they perceive to be the money train, the gravy train. They see this as a cash cow. I believe that explains the rather ludicrous number of (accusers)," Prober previously told the Free Press.

The accusations against Nygard went public in February 2020 when a group of 10 women filed a class-action lawsuit against the fashion mogul in U.S. court, detailing allegations of rape, drugging and sodomy.

Allan has since signed on to the lawsuit as well, bringing the total number of public accusers up to 57.

When Allan first learned of the existence of the lawsuit, she said she wasnt interested in joining, since shed long since gotten over the assault. But after she saw comments made by Prober to media outlets where he accused women of lying for money, she said she felt she had to step forward.

"Youre used to hearing lawyers say things like, Well mount an aggressive defence, or, We will be vindicated in court. But Jay Prober called these women liars. Its bullying, its unethical, its misplaced and its poor representation for his client," she said.

"On both sides of this equation, he is the only proven paid liar that I know of. Hes being paid and hes lying about me. I cant speak about these other women, since theyre Jane Does, but hes lying about me and hes paid to do it."

Reva Steenbergen, 53, a Winnipegger who now lives in Ontario, has also joined the lawsuit. She said she plans to file a formal criminal complaint against Nygard.

When she was younger, Steenbergen was a successful nude model who worked under the name Riva Rose, and landed cover spots on magazines including Penthouse. However, Steenbergen said she aspired to transition into mainstream modelling, so when her friend offered to introduce her to Nygard, she thought it was her big break.

After an initial meeting with Nygard, in March 1992, Steenbergen said he told her shed be flown to the Bahamas for a photo shoot that would be used for his fashion line.

Steenbergen said she was taken to Nygard Cay  his luxurious property in a gated community in the island nation  and wasn't allowed to leave without his approval.

Steenbergen said she initially rebuffed his sexual advances and repeatedly made clear she had travelled to the Bahamas for a modelling opportunity and nothing else.

She said Nygard eventually raped her on back-to-back nights.

"He was rough. He held my hands down on the bed, and he did what he did I cant tell you how disorienting this was. Twice, different nights, two nights in a row," she said.

The allegation has not been proven in court.

Steenbergen said the assault had a significant negative impact on her life. She said her motivation for stepping forward isnt to seek money, but to see Nygard held accountable.

Allan echoed those comments, saying shes motivated only by a feeling of responsibility to stand with other women alleging similar experiences."I dont feel personal pain about this anymore. I feel frustration. All our institutions failed us... but the harm is no longer with me," she said.

"All that resides with me now is a burning desire for social justice."

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe
A second teen arrested following a spate of Winnipeg shootings last week  one of them fatal  made his first court appearance Monday, with a prosecutor telling a judge the Crown will be seeking an adult sentence, if convicted.

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A second teen arrested following a spate of Winnipeg shootings last week  one of them fatal  made his first court appearance Monday, with a prosecutor telling a judge the Crown will be seeking an adult sentence, if convicted.

The 15-year-old boy was arrested July 3  the same day a 14-year-old male co-accused made his first court appearance at the Manitoba Youth Centre.

Both teens are charged with first-degree murder in the Canada Day shooting death of 27-year-old Danielle Cote, and attempted murder and aggravated assault in connection to two more shootings July 1-2 that injured three people.

Winnipeg police investigate after a woman was killed and a man injured in a shooting near Salter and Flora in the early hours of July 1, 2020. (Jesse Boily / Winnipeg Free Press files)

The minimum sentence for a youth convicted as an adult of first-degree murder is life in prison, with no chance of parole for seven years.

The 15-year-old, appearing by video from the Winnipeg Police Service downtown central processing unit, appeared to smirk occasionally as a court clerk read out the charges against him. Later, he stretched out in his chair and fiddled with his handcuffs as Crown attorney David Burland read out a list of people he was to have no contact with, including alleged victims and co-accused.

The teen answered with a simple "Yes," when provincial court Judge Julie Frederickson asked if he understood the no-contact instructions.

No parents or family members were present in court on the teens behalf. His next court date is Aug. 14.

"We are going to need disclosure; I anticipate we are going to need another month for that to happen," the boys lawyer, Josh Anstett, told Frederickson.

The 14-year-old co-accused, currently in quarantine at Manitoba Youth Centre, appeared in court briefly Monday via video, with his lawyer, Hillarie Tasche, quickly adjourning the case to July 8 to receive disclosure.

"We dont think anything substantial will happen that day," Tasche said, adding any future possible bail hearing will require a special sitting.

The teen, dressed in a green T-shirt and pants, responded with an impatient, "Yeah, yeah," when asked if he understood what was happening in court.

City police have said they dont believe the co-accused knew Cote nor the other shooting victims.

Police say the first incident occurred at approximately 2:30 a.m. July 1, when an injured 44-year-old man was found on Balmoral Street, near Cumberland Avenue, after he had been struck by a vehicle. Police later learned the man had been shot prior to being hit by the car.

Less than an hour later, a 17-year-old girl and a male were shot at on the 100 block of Isabel Street. The pair were not injured and did not initially report the shooting, police said. The 14-year-old accused is the lone suspect in that incident.

At 3:15 a.m., Cote and a 18-year-old male cousin were shot while walking on the 400 block of Flora Avenue. Cote died at the scene; her cousin was treated for injuries in hospital.

On July 2, at approximately 12:30 a.m., a 40-year-old man was shot at The Forks and another man was stabbed. The 40-year-old shooting victim was in hospital in stable condition.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his colleagues have been thinking for a couple of years now about whether to use equipment from Huawei Technologies in this countrys fifth generation (5G) telecom networks. Events, however, have made the answer increasingly obvious.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his colleagues have been thinking for a couple of years now about whether to use equipment from Huawei Technologies in this countrys fifth generation (5G) telecom networks. Events, however, have made the answer increasingly obvious.

U.S. intelligence agencies have been publicly warning since February 2018 that Chinese companies such as Huawei are obliged by Chinese law to assist intelligence efforts of the Chinese government. Consequently, Huawei equipment in the telecom networks of the U.S. and its allies could be used to gather information on behalf of Chinese spy agencies.

The Trump administration has been warning for more than a year that it will restrict intelligence-sharing with countries that use Huawei equipment in their networks.

U.S. intelligence agencies have been warning since February 2018 that Chinese companies such as Huawei are obliged by Chinese law to assist intelligence efforts of the government. (Tony Gutierrez / The Associated Press files)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in January that he would allow Huawei equipment in parts of the U.K., but not close to nuclear reactors or other sensitive locations. This week, however, the government received another report on the subject from a cyber-security section within its top intelligence agency, warning the government away from Huawei. A faction within the ruling Conservative Party was urging Mr. Johnson to close the door on the Chinese firm.

In this country, Bell Canada and Telus Corp. announced in June that they had contracted with Sweden-based Ericsson and Finland-based Nokia for 5G network equipment. Ericsson was already the main supplier to Rogers Communications. Because of these commercial connections, Canadian telecom companies will be able to build their 5G networks and serve their customers without Huawei equipment.

Canada has direct, painful experience of doing business with Huawei. Chinese security forces kidnapped two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, in December 2018 because Canada had arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou as she changed planes in Vancouver. U.S. prosecutors have charged her with fraud and sought her extradition to face trial in New York. The two Michaels are being held as hostages in an effort to exempt Ms. Meng from submission to U.S. courts.

In these circumstances, Canada would be extremely unwise to choose Huawei as a partner or a supplier in its advanced telecom networks. We already know what kind of partner Huawei is: you dont dare make them mad or your citizens suddenly disappear into Chinas prisons as hostages.

The great appeal of Huawei equipment is price. They undersell Nokia and Ericsson. But if you save a few million dollars and then live in constant fear of your supplier because its countrys government is a ruthless hostage-taker, what kind of saving is that?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a decision to make. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files)

The telecom companies are building their new, high-volume networks with Nokia and Ericsson equipment. That work can continue. The government might have to require them to replace Huawei equipment they are already using, but the companies can already see which way the wind is blowing, a wind that favours Nokia and Ericsson.

The U.S. and China are both trying to win the decisions they want from the Canadian government. The U.S. provides reasons and threatens to stop telling secrets to Canadian intelligence agencies if we disregard its advice. China imprisons innocent Canadians on its territory and threatens them with life sentences. It should be blindingly obvious which argument Canada should listen to.

Fifty years ago, Canada hoped China, once it was brought into the United Nations and the world trading system, would accept the rules by which other great nations live. It hasnt worked yet.
A former East St. Paul fire truck is being rewarded for a fine career with retirement to South America.

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A former East St. Paul fire truck is being rewarded for a fine career with retirement to South America.

The pumper truck is headed to Lima, Peru via Firefighters Without Borders Canada (FWBC), an organization that has been helping firefighters in developing countries since 2002. They work to train local recipient crews and have completed more than 25 projects in 20 countries.

The idea for the donation came from within the department, East St. Paul fire chief Ray Riddolls said in a release.

"Donating equipment to departments in other parts of the world to improve their safety is important to members of the East St. Paul Fire Department and Im proud of our team for reaching out to Firefighters Without Borders Canada and making this happen," Riddolls said.

"Our guys are dedicated to keeping East St. Paul safe, and when there is an opportunity to help out in other parts of the world, they put in the effort there too."

East St. Pauls mayor echoed Riddolls sentiments.

"Council was very proud to support the request of our fire separtment and donate this equipment to FWBC," Mayor Shelley Hart said.

"We appreciate the efforts our members went to make this donation happen."

The 1989 Spartan Fort Garry engine can no longer be certified to Canadian standards but is in good shape and should be able to remain in service for years, East St. Paul believes.

The pumper is in storage until it can be transported to an American air force base in North Dakota, from where it will be shipped to Peru at no charge through the Denton Program, which lets private American citizens and organizations ship humanitarian goods around the world on military cargo planes when space is available.

Firefighters Without Borders Canada is the only non-American charity that particpates in the Denton Program.
The province's chief public health officer admits his views on mask wearing have evolved since the early days of the pandemic, but he says Manitoba is far from mandating the use of face coverings.

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The province's chief public health officer admits his views on mask wearing have evolved since the early days of the pandemic, but he says Manitoba is far from mandating the use of face coverings.

Dr. Brent Roussin once questioned the benefits of wearing masks, stressing hand-washing, physical distancing and staying home when sick as keys to preventing the spread of COVID-19.

On Monday, at his first news conference in more than a week, Roussin said wearing a mask "has its place."

"Certainly, in situations where people can't maintain physical distancing, then certainly using a face mask is reasonable," he said, adding that it must be worn properly to be useful.

Some municipalities in Ontario have mandated face-mask use in public, and others are considering it.

More than 200 scientists recently urged the World Health Organization to do more to address airborne spread of the coronavirus.

Roussin said that for now, Manitoba will continue to focus on what's worked well here, so far.

"I'm confident that the major spread of this virus is through droplet spread through people who are displaying symptoms," he said.

Those jurisdictions contemplating mandatory use of masks are "dealing with relatively higher rates of circulation of this virus, so they're doing whatever they can to limit the spread," he said.

Manitoba has not reported a new COVID-19 case since June 30. The case count remained at 325 Monday. Fourteen of the cases are active. There are no individuals in hospital with the virus.

In answer to a reporter's question, Roussin said he does not wear a mask when he ventures in public.

"I'm certainly fortunate. I don't find myself in situations where I can't maintain physical distancing. For brief exchanges where you can maintain physical distancing, wearing a mask is less important. It's more so in those places where you can't maintain that physical distancing. Then you can choose to do that in addition to all the other protective measures," he said.

Meanwhile, he again expressed concern Monday about long-haul truckers being unfairly stigmatized by reports that some have been infected by COVID-19.

In the past, the Manitoba Trucking Association has told of truckers being denied table service in restaurants.

Roussin said he's received emails from truckers saying they've even been denied certain health services.

The chief public health officer provided few details. He said, however, he was unaware of anyone in the public health system denying service to truckers.

"It would be more a private-type of provider  allied health is what I've been informed of," Roussin said, without being more specific.

Terry Shaw, executive director of the trucking association, said he has not heard of any of his members' drivers being denied health services of any kind.

The association is asking Manitoba Health for more information about Roussin's assertion.

Shaw said he received numerous media calls for comment Monday about the doctor's remarks.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Theres nothing unusual about the Pallister government tapping private clinics to help clear a backlog of elective surgeries postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The province, including under the former NDP government, has been contracting with the private sector for years to provide health-care services to Manitobans.

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This article was published 6/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Theres nothing unusual about the Pallister government tapping private clinics to help clear a backlog of elective surgeries postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The province, including under the former NDP government, has been contracting with the private sector for years to provide health-care services to Manitobans.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen last week issued a request for proposal for a wide range of elective surgeries, including ophthalmology and pediatric dental surgery. The move comes after more than 7,000 procedures were put on hold starting in March to free up hospital capacity in the event of a spike in COVID-19 patients.

Not surprisingly, Manitobas public-sector unions lit their hair on fire over the announcement, claiming the move was another example of the Tory governments alleged agenda to privatize health care.

If a health-care service isnt provided by a government agency or a not-for-profit organizations run by the province, unions are automatically opposed to it. Profit, they claim, has no place in health care  even if private organizations can provide services to government more efficiently, and at a lower cost, than government.

There has always been a blend of private and public providers in Manitobas healthcare system, including for services that fall under the Canada Health Act, which does not ban provincial governments from contracting with private providers.

The reality is, profit has been part of the health-care system for years, including under the NDP from 1999 to 2016. The privately-owned Western Surgery Centre, for example, has been providing safe, reliable services for the Manitoba government for years. The clinic performed 1,403 cataract surgeries for the province in 2019-20.

Dynacare, also privately owned, provides a wide range of lab testing for the province, including blood work. The province has for decades contracted with private providers for blood tests and X-rays.

Private home care has been used in Manitoba for many years to cover peak demand periods. The province is also filled with walk-in clinics and family doctors offices whose physicians bill government directly, but who operate privately.

There has always been a blend of private and public providers in Manitobas health-care system, including for services that fall under the Canada Health Act, which does not ban provincial governments from contracting with private providers. What it does prohibit, among other things, is physicians billing patients directly for "medically necessary" services.

Dynacare, privately owned, provides a wide range of lab testing for the province, including blood work. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Thats not what Friesen announced last week: the elective surgeries in question are insured services paid for by government. Like many elective procedures, some may be performed in hospital or an urgent care centre, some may be done in a private facility. In all cases, patients dont pay directly for the service; the government picks up the tab.

So whats wrong with government putting out a RFP to both the private and public sectors, as Friesen did, to see who can do the procedures at the best price in a timely fashion?

Nothing.

In fact, Manitobans should always demand government contract with organizations that can provide the best service at the best price. If patients are getting quality service and are covered under medicare, does it really matter whos providing the service?

It shouldnt.

Like all medical facilities, private clinics must be accredited and certified. They are staffed with licensed doctors and professionals, just like public-sector entities.

Opposition to Friesens announcement had everything to do with ideology and nothing to do with ensuring Manitobans receive quality health care. Public-sector unions dont like the idea of private organizations providing health-care services because it offends their ideological beliefs. They have no evidence private clinics provide inferior or unsafe care.

If public-sector hospitals or urgent care centres can provide government with the best service at the best price to help reduce the backlog of elective surgeries, thats where the procedures should be performed. If private clinics can handle some or all of the load at a preferred price, then they should get some, or all, of the contracts.

The only thing that should matter is whether patients are receiving timely, quality care  and taxpayers are getting the best bang for their buck.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca
MANZINI - In what could be described as a first of its kind, police had to ferry three corpses to the mortuary from the same area in one day.



This happened on Sunday at Ekutsimuleni. In the first incident, the police had to ferry the corpse of Nhlanhla Emanuel Motsa, who passed away after he was allegedly hacked by his brother with a shovel.



This then led to the arrest of Mbuso Simon Motsa (28) of Ekutsimuleni, who was charged with the murder.

He appeared before Manzini Acting Magistrate Sicelo Lokotfwako yesterday.



Mbuso allegedly committed the offence on Sunday at Ekutsimuleni in the Manzini Region.

The accused person did wrongfully, unlawfully and intentionally kill one Nhlanhla Emanuel Motsa by hacking him with a shovel several times on the head and thus committed the said offence, reads part of the charge sheet.



Defence



During his court appearance, Mbusos right to legal representation was explained to him and he elected to conduct his own defence.

Mbuso was not made to plead during his court appearance, but instead he was remanded in custody until July 15, 2020 pending committal to the High Court.

He was also advised to move his application for bail at the High Court.



Meanwhile, according to statements recorded and submitted in court, the accused allegedly had an altercation with his younger sister prior to the accident.

On the day the accident occurred, it was alleged that the deceased confronted, the accused and probed why he was troubling their younger sister.

However, during the confrontation, Mbuso, who was said to have been clearing the yard using the shovel in question, allegedly pounced on his brother and hacked him with the shovel.



It was also alleged that after committing the murder, the accused did not attempt to evade the scene, but instead took his clothes, which were soaked in blood, and washed them.

After that he was alleged to have taken a shower, eaten his meal and waited for the police to apprehend him.

On another note, the police had to ferry the corpse of a community police member from the same area.



The community police member is believed to have committed suicide as he was found hanging from the rafters of his house.

Information gathered was to the effect that the community police member, whose name could not be immediately ascertained, had been allegedly summoned by the areas headman to answer on accusations of illegally selling land in the area. It was said that after receiving the summons, the deceased pretended like he would report to the royal kraal the following day, however, he did not honour the invitation and when his whereabouts were sought, he was found hanging from the rafters in his house.



Dead



In another incident, a 66-year-old man of the same area, identified as Samuel Magunekane Tsabedze, was also found dead in his house on the same day.

It was said that Tsabedzes unresponsive body was discovered by his children, who reside at Malindza area.

It was gathered that the elderly man lived alone at Ekutsimuleni and was known to be a sickly person.



It was also gathered that the residents of the area were left with more questions than answers regarding Tsabedzes death.

A litany of allegations on how he could have met his death were made but these cannot be printed as they were not proven.

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the incidents.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this July 17, 2019, file photo, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks during a Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis on Capitol Hill in Washington. When the United States erupted in unrest following Martin Luther King Jr.Aos assassination in 1968, his hometown of Atlanta was one of the few major cities to maintain relative peace. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms invoked that history in a passionate and deeply personal plea for protesters to go home. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Monday that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

The 50-year-old Democrat is among the women named as a potential vice-presidential running mate for presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden.

"COVID-19 has literally hit home. I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive," Bottoms tweeted.

She told MSNBC that she decided her family members should get tested again because her husband literally has been sleeping since Thursday. She said the only other symptoms she and her husband have been experienced are those similar to allergies they have.

It leaves me for a loss for words because I think it really speaks to how contagious this virus is, Bottoms told MSNBC. Weve taken all of the precautions that you can possibly take. We wear masks, were very thoughtful about washing our hands, I have no idea when and where we were exposed.

Bottoms national profile has risen in recent months both as a mayor handling the coronavirus pandemic and amid the national reckoning on race that has followed a white Minneapolis police officers killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on May 25.

A first-term mayor, Bottoms issued a firm plea for peaceful protest as demonstrators gathered on downtown streets after Floyds killing  and urged the protesters to get tested for COVID-19. She invoked Atlantas civil rights history and her personal experience as the mother of Black sons. She won plaudits from progressives after firing Atlanta officers for using excessive force during the protests.

She has also been noted for earlier criticizing Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on his slowness to order Georgians to shelter in place and his quickness to lift that order.

Bottoms was an early and vocal supporter of Biden, who has been considering Bottoms as his possible vice-presidential running mate in his own presidential bid.

Violence in the city has grown worse since protesters burned down a fast food restaurant where a white officer fatally shot Rayshard Brooks after he seized a stun gun and ran. Armed people have been manning roadblocks at the site and an 8-year-old girl was shot dead near the site on Saturday. At the same time, some police officers have been refusing to answer calls, angry that the district attorney has charged officers in the Brooks shooting.

Atlanta police again broke up the roadblocks at the site Monday, but that wasn't enough for Kemp, who said he was mobilizing up to 1,000 National Guard troops after a spike in shootings in Atlanta.
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro said Tuesday he has tested positive for the new coronavirus after months of downplaying its severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/7/2020 (349 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this May 26, 2020 file photo, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, wearing a face mask with a logo of the Federal Police, leaves his official residence of Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil. Bolsonaro won the presidency in 2018 with a campaign that emphasized law and order, and said police should be able to kill criminals with almost no legal constraints in order to curb homicides. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, FIle)

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro said Tuesday he has tested positive for the new coronavirus after months of downplaying its severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country.

The 65-year-old right-wing populist who has been known to mingle in crowds without covering his face confirmed the results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters huddled close in front of him in the capital, Brasilia.

He said he is taking hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug that he, like President Donald Trump, has been promoting even though it has not been proven effective against COVID-19.

I'm, well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations, Bolsonaro said. I thought I had it before, given my very dynamic activity. Im president and on the combat lines. I like to be in the middle of the people.

Brazil, the world's sixth-biggest nation, with more than 210 million people, is one of the outbreak's most lethal hot spots. More than 65,000 Brazilians have died from COVID-19, and over 1.5 million have been infected.

Both numbers are the worlds second-highest totals, behind those of the U.S., though the true figures are believed to be higher because of a lack of widespread testing. On Tuesday alone, 1,254 deaths were confirmed.

A worker cleans outside the presidential residence, Alvorada Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Bolsonaro said Tuesday he has tested positive for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Other world leaders who have had bouts with COVID-19 include British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Britain's Prince Charles, Prince Albert II of Monaco and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Bolsonaro is the democratic leader who has most denied the seriousness of this pandemic, said Mauricio Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. "Him getting infected is a blow to his credibility. It will be seen as another example of the failure of his coronavirus response.

Bolsonaro has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus and that it would be nothing more than a little flu if he were to contract it.

He has also repeatedly said that there is no way to prevent 70% of the population falling ill with COVID-19 and that local authorities' efforts to shut down economic activity would ultimately cause more hardship than allowing the virus to run its course.

For nearly two months, Brazils fight against COVID-19 has been in the hands of an interim health minister with no health experience before April. He took over after his predecessor, a doctor and health care consultant, quit in protest over Bolsonaros support for hydroxychloroquine.

Bolsonaro on Tuesday likened the virus to a rain that will fall on most people and said that some, like the elderly, must take greater care.

"You can't just talk about the consequences of the virus that you have to worry about. Life goes on. Brazil needs to produce. You need to get the economy in gear,? he said.

FILE - In this May 15, 2020, file photo, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro wears a mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic during an event at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil. Bolsonaro said Tuesday, July 7, he tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the viruss severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Brazilian cities and states last month began lifting restrictions that had been imposed to control the spread of the virus, as deaths began to decline along with the caseload in intensive care units.

Bolsonaro supporter Silas Ribeiro said on the streets of Rio that the president is correct in saying the dangers of the virus have been exaggerated.

Our president is a popular man. He is showing that he isnt afraid to die, said Ribeiro, 59. He is going to have health and get through this sickness.

Speaking near recently reopened shops in Rio, Wesley Morielo said he hopes Bolsonaro's sickness prompts him to reassess his stance.

"I think everything he said before, of not giving importance to COVID-19, came back against him,? said Morielo, a 24-year-old student.

The World Health Organizations emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, wished Bolsonaro a speedy recovery and said his infection brings home the reality of this virus" by showing that it doesn't distinguish between prince or pauper.

The president told reporters he underwent a lung X-ray on Monday after experiencing fever, muscle aches and malaise. As of Tuesday, his fever had subsided, he said, and he attributed the improvement to hydroxychloroquine.

He stepped back from the journalists and removed his mask at one point to show that he looks well.

Brazils benchmark Ibovespa stock index fell after Bolsonaro's announcement, and closed 1.2% down on the day.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly visited the hospital since taking office, requiring several operations to repair his intestines after he was stabbed on the campaign trail in 2018.

He said on Tuesday that he cancelled a trip this week to the country's northeast region and will continue working via videoconference and receive rare visitors when he needs to sign a document.

Unlike Britain's prime minister, who moderated his rhetoric after testing positive for the virus, Bolsonaro will probably not change his stance, said Leandro Consentino, a political science professor at Insper, a university in Sao Paulo.

He's going down a path of trying to indicate to his base of support that COVID-19 is just a little flu and take advantage of the illness to advertise for chloroquine, Consentino said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Bolsonaro posted a video to Facebook of him taking his dose of hydroxychloroquine. I trust hydroxychloroquine. What do you think? he said while laughing.

Over the weekend, the Brazilian leader celebrated American Independence Day with the U.S. ambassador to Brazil, then shared pictures on social media showing him in close quarters with the diplomat, several ministers and aides. None wore masks.

The U.S. Embassy said on Twitter that Ambassador Todd Chapman is not showing any symptoms but would be tested.

Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with the Trump in Florida. Members of his delegation to the U.S. were later reported to be infected.

AP video producer Diarlei Rodrigues contributed to this report from Rio.
The laws passed in the lame-duck session require Kaul to get permission from a GOP-controlled legislative committee to settle lawsuits, and they guarantee the Legislature can intervene in many cases using its own attorneys rather than those from the state Department of Justice.

Republicans also gave the Legislature greater control over the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.s governing board and suspended the governors authority to appoint the agencys CEO until September of 2019, after which Evers appointed Missy Hughes to replace retiring CEO Mark Hogan.

Republicans also confirmed dozens of former Republican Gov. Scott Walkers political appointees during the lame-duck session. Evers rescinded 15 of those appointments after a lower court told him he could essentially fire them, but the Supreme Court later restored the appointees to their posts.
As his son, Tim, would later share at Georges retirement from State Farm in 2005, it suited him to be a small-town insurance agent. If you had a flooded basement, George would go to your house to help you clean up and dry out. If you had a car accident, George would meet you at the hospital and remind you that you are important, not the vehicle. If your young driver wanted to buy motorcycle insurance, George would explain the perils of driving a motorcycle and try to talk the young person out of the purchase altogether. Tim shared there was a young man in Sycamore who faced many hardships and challenges. George set out to help him by first guiding him to find a job. Then, George drove him to work in Rockford for months until the young man had enough money to put a down payment on a reliable car. Then, he sold him an insurance policy. Tim remarked, That was making quota my dads way.
Cameron Boyce's family and friends paid tribute to the actor one year after his death.

The late star died on July 6th last year aged 20 after he suffered a seizure in his sleep due to epilepsy, and now his loved ones have taken to social media in his memory.

On Monday (06.07.20), his father shared a photo of them together and wrote: "His memory is a blessing"

Cameron's 'Descendants' co-star Sofia Carson offered an emotional message on her own Instagram account as she described him as an "angel".

She said: "To our angel,

"It's been 365 days of missing you. And every day, we miss you a little more. Not having you, hurts too much.

"But somehow, you still manage to light up our whole entire world.

"Our Cam. Our forever boy. Our sunshine wearing shoes. I miss you. So much. I love you. And I will love you. Forever."

Dove Cameron - who also appeared in the Disney Channel movies - shared a photo on social media and described his death as "so unjust".

She added: "One year without your light. something cosmic broke the day you left, something seemingly so impossible, so unjust, so unnatural.

"The universe cannot repair the gap in her weaving. you were huge. i will love you forever, just like this. (sic)"

Meanwhile, 'Jessie' actress Skai Jackson shared a clip of her late co-star, as she wrote: "1 year without you Cameron. I miss you so much, I think about you always"

Following his tragic death, his family set up the Cameron Boyce Foundation to provide "young people artistic and creative outlets as alternatives to violence and negativity".

This week, the organisation shone a light on the K(no)SUDEPNOW initiative to raise awareness and end Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy.

The charity wrote: "Today, though our hearts are heavy, we choose to honour the incredible legacy Cameron leaves behind, and our commitment to use our resources to make our world a better place.

"We are so grateful for your love and support, and we will continue onward in our fight to end SUDEP. Please visit KNOWSUDEPNOW.org to learn more about how you can help. Much love, TCBF."
MBABANE - The High Court was abruptly closed and fumigated yesterday amid fears that two judges tested positive for COVID-19.

News that the two judges, a male and female, had tested positive started circulating on Sunday.



Yesterday, it seemed like it would be business as usual, something which concerned staff as they decried that they could not continue working under such circumstances.



It was at around 1pm when a directive was issued for staff to vacate the premises and go home for the fumigation exercise to take place.

When one of the judges was sought for comment, he requested not to comment, saying he was yet to inform the authorities regarding his status.

A message was sent to Chief Justice (CJ) Bheki Maphalala to establish the measures his office would take to ensure the safety of staff and the public but he had not yet responded by the time of compiling this report.



A call was also made to his cellphone number, but it rang unanswered. It should be noted that following the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Law Society of Swaziland (LSS) displayed its urgent desire to meet with the CJ to discuss plans for containment of the virus in the countrys courts.
(The Center Square)  A small Catholic school in suburban Milwaukee is getting another chance for some state aid after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a ban on sending public money to religious schools.

The Supreme Court ordered that a lower court once again hear the case involving St. Augustine School in Richfield.

St. Augustine applied for, and was denied, state money for busing because another Catholic school in the area already got state aid. Wisconsin law at the time provided busing aid to just one religious school per school district. St. Augustine, and the family who wanted school uses for their kids, sued in 2016. They lost twice, and then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019.

Last week the Supreme Court ordered a new hearing after the recent Espinoza v. Montana ruling.

"The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit for further consideration in light of Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue," the court said in a written order.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty followed and helped in both cases. WILL said the decision in Espinoza v. Montana struck down that state's Blaine Amendment and opened the door for school choice and religious schools across the country.

The Courts decision reinforces the idea that our Constitution forbids government discrimination against religious organizations. If the state creates a public benefit or program, religious organizations may not be excluded," WILL President Rick Esenberg said of the Espinoza decision.

On Monday, Esenberg doubled down on that idea.

"St. Augustine and its families were denied a public benefit because they believe they are called to follow their faith in the Catholic tradition, but in a different way from and outside the auspices of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. They were penalized for what they believe. Our Constitution does not permit that," Esenberg added.

St. Augustine board principal Tim Zignego said the case is, and always has been, about fairness.

"Whether schools and parents receive state aid should not depend on the way the school defines its religious identity," Zinego said.

A new hearing date has not been set.
At least five people have died after shots were fired at the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi, according to rescue officials on Monday.

Policemen and security officials are among those confirmed dead, according to Mohammad Azeem, an official with the Edhi rescue center, a prominent local charity service.

Rescue and paramilitary security personnel are at the scene in an ongoing operation, Azeem said.

Video shows security and barricades outside the stock exchange in Karachi, according to CNN affiliate Geo News.

Abid Ali, director of the Pakistan Stock Exchange, said in a media briefing on Geo News that four attackers entered the compound and started firing but were killed by security forces.

"There were four attackers who came from the parking lot, they threw a grenade at the main entrance of the KSE (stock exchange) and then started firing indiscriminately," Ali said.

"The attackers were wearing uniform that looked like police uniforms, all four have been killed and the situation is currently under control."

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Maj. Gen. Omar Ahmed Bukhari, the director general of the Pakistan Rangers Sindh, a paramilitary force under command of the country's military.

"We are investigating further, to find out who these people are," Bukhari said.

A BLA source, confirming the claim, said: "Majeed Brigade of Baloch Liberation Army today has carried out a self-sacrificing attack on Karachi stock exchange. Our fighters are inside the building and have taken control of the area."

The BLA has conducted a low-level separatist insurgency against targets in Pakistan for nearly two decades. The group was initially formed due to anger over the state's perceived monopoly over Balochistan province's mineral resources.

It has previously killed and kidnapped Chinese engineers working in the province.

A tweet from the official Twitter page of the Pakistan Stock Exchange said, "The situation is still unfolding and management, with the help of security forces, is managing the security and controlling the situation," it said.

"We will issue a more detailed statement in due course once the situation is under control and more details are known. For now firing has stopped and reinforcement are in place," the tweet read.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange administration sent out a message saying that "rangers" had entered the compound and that "four terrorists" were dead.

The administration told workers inside the building to stay on the higher floors and that "the rangers will comb the compound and then let everyone leave in an orderly fashion."

The Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi is the country's largest. It's located in the city's financial hub, where all major banks and financial services are located and where there is usually a heavy security presence.
Phoenix police officers shot and killed a man inside a parked car July 4 in an incident captured on bystander video, sparking renewed protests in the Arizona city.

The video shows police threatening to shoot the man before firing a barrage of bullets into the vehicle. Police said the officers fired after the man refused to drop a gun and pointed it toward them. But his sister disputes that he had a gun.

The Phoenix Police Department released video from a body-worn camera Monday afternoon from an officer who arrived on scene after the shooting. The video showed the officer wearing the camera reach into the car where the man was sitting and pull out a gun.

The Maricopa County medical examiner's office has not released the man's autopsy results and has not released information about the manner of his death.

The fatal shooting comes amid nationwide protests against police violence, and bystander video of the incident set off further protests in Phoenix on Sunday night outside a police station. The killing was the 28th officer-involved shooting in Maricopa County this year, according to CNN affiliate KPHO/KTVK.

Police eventually asked the protesters to disperse and they complied, and no arrests were reported, according to KPHO/KTVK.

"As we continue to see, they're not hearing us, so we are going to be out here every day and we are going to utilize every disruptive, non-violent demonstration tactic that we have in order to make sure that they hear us loud and clear," protester Jacob Raiford told the station.

In a Facebook post, City Council member Carlos Garcia identified the man who was killed as James "Jay" Garcia. (The two do not appear to be related.) According to public records, James Garcia was 28.

Carlos Garcia criticized the police's use of force in the incident and cast doubt on their description of events.

"It does not shock us that despite all the scrutiny from community Phoenix PD continues to respond violently to calls. But, we must all continue to ask for transparency and accountability," he wrote on Facebook.

"The department also issued a premature statement leaving out facts about the case. We cannot allow for dishonest narratives to be built by violent departments. We will continue to call for independent investigations into officer involved shootings."

What the videos show

Police said they received a 911 call on July 4 from a man who said he was stabbed in June and that the person responsible was back in the area threatening him, according to a statement from police Monday afternoon.

When police arrived, the caller told officers the man who stabbed him had a knife and another person had a gun. The man directed officers to a house where they found several people, including a man in a car on the driveway.

"Officers talked to the man for approximately 10 minutes, asking him to leave his car so they could secure the scene. He refused and eventually rolled up the windows and pulled out a gun," police said in the statement.

"Officers ordered the man to drop the gun but he refused," the statement read. "The man repeatedly told officers to shoot him and lifted the gun toward the officers. That's when two officers fired their weapons."

A video of the incident, posted to social media by relatives of James Garcia, shows at least four officers surrounding the car. One officer can be heard threatening to shoot the person in the driver's seat if they don't stop moving. Seconds later, another officer can be seen swinging an object into the passenger's side of the car.

Around 10 shots can be heard on the video immediately after the sound of glass breaking. Garcia was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The bystander video does not show most of the 10-minute interaction between police and Garcia.

The body camera video released by police Monday shows the officer running toward the car where the man was shot as other officers stand around it, some with guns drawn. It said the officer arrived immediately after the shooting.

Two other officers are still pointing their weapons at the man in the driver's seat, who appears slumped over. The video released by the department blurs his body.

The officer wearing the camera says, "Let me glove up," and is seen putting on gloves. He asks where the gun is, and is told that it's in the man's lap.

The video shows the officer reach into the car through the shattered driver's side window and lift out a black gun. He then shouts, "Gun is secure."

James Garcia's sister, Jacqueline Fernandez, said in a separate Facebook post that her brother was "unarmed sleeping in the car" when police shot him. Fernandez and another family member did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Phoenix Police Department said it is not releasing body-worn videos from the officers directly involved in the shooting until after all witness and officer interviews are completed, so as not to compromise its investigation.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) -The future of Chauncey Hill Mall is still being determined but according to the City of West Lafayette, it will eventually be torn down.

"We are glad to see that a buyer has finally come through, said West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis. That place has kind of been the last waning product that needs to be addressed with the state street project."

Chauncey Hill Mall has been around for decades and not much about it has changed.

"Chauncey Hill Mall was always sort of that unfortunate misrepresentation of what a great community we live in here at West Lafayette," added Mayor Dennis.

As we previously reported, half of the ownership of Chauncey Hill Mall and Chauncey Hill Annex has been purchased by Muinzer and T2 Capital Management.

"Our understanding is that the old structure is going to be scrapped and a new structure is going to be placed there," added Mayor Dennis.

While there is no plan put in place yet, the city is hopeful the new construction will include more modern retail space.

"What we are encouraging is commercial retail we'd like to see some more businesses there that are going to be suitable for our student population as well as the static population in the near-campus areas," said Mayor Dennis.

However, the details are still being worked out.

"Dealing with the developers there is some interest in having some form of student housing component there that wouldn't be our first choice, added Mayor Dennis. We definitely wouldn't participate financially in that."

We spoke with a few businesses that are still operating at Chauncey Hill Mall. They said the majority of them are currently leasing their storefronts on a month to month basis. They are still waiting to hear from the new developer on when they will need to leave.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  The Tippecanoe County Health Department said a cluster of Five Guys employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Health Department Administrator Khala Hochstedler said a cluster means three or more.

She told News 18 contact tracers tracked down the COVID cases to the Five Guys on S. Creasy Lane.

That location is closed indefinitely while employees are to self-quarantine for two weeks.

Five Guys was deep cleaned Monday and a sign out front said the store is closed.

As we previously reported earlier Monday people who dined there from June 29th - July 2nd should monitor their health conditions.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis and the City of West Lafayette are working to introduce face mask requirements to the city.

It's the next step the city is considering to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. They hope to follow mandates recently issued by several counties in Northern Indiana, requiring masks to be worn in public.

"What we're asking is nothing compared to what might have to be done should this break horribly bad," said Dennis.

Since the start of July, Tippecanoe County has seen more than 60 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Dennis said he understands peoples' frustration with being asked to wear a mask.

"Mandating that wearing a mask is an issue that cuts close to the wick to everybody," said Dennis. "I know that there are some people that have issues with claustrophobia, they have issues with breathing and things like that. I understand that. But for the general population, this is just a whisper, not a shout."

Dennis is pushing to see a county-wide mandate with support from Lafayette and Tippecanoe County leaders. West Lafayette City Council has discussed a city-wide ordinance if a county-wide mandate does not happen.

"It's imperative that we take a very aggressive step in trying to minimize the number of cases that we have here in West Lafayette," said Dennis.

Guidelines for the ordinance would discussed during a public meeting due to it being a topic of major debate.

Indianapolis recently introduced mask requirements last week to mixed reviews.

Here in West Lafayette - Mayor Dennis said he would like to have regulations in place by the end of the week.
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Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 92F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

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MANZINI  The reopening of schools was quite disorderly yesterday. This is because in most schools visited by this publication, there were certain things that had not been done to make the environment conducive for the pupils.



The first challenge had to do with transportation of pupils, to the actual observation of social distancing and lack of water tanks. At Matsapha High School, popularly known as Swazi National High, the Form Vs were divided into three groups of 19 pupils.



They were then sensitised on hygiene and how to prevent the spread of COVID -19. The Head teacher, Brian Dlamini, said each lecture on hygiene had been apportioned one hour per group and the school had 257 learners in Form V.



Wander



While some of the pupils were in the three classrooms learning about hygiene, about 200 pupils were left to wander within the school premises, with some basking in the sun, while others were in silos chatting with friends after the three months they had spent away from school.



Schools were last operational on March 18, 2020.

Those who were basking in the sun were seated in close proximity, without observing the social distancing space of 1.5 metres. It was chit-chat, laughter and frequent clapping of high fives.



The same applied for those who were wandering around the school yard or standing along the corridors  they did not observe social distancing. While this was happening, some teachers were in the staffroom, preparing for their turn to engage with the learners.



The schools janitor was found fumigating some of the classrooms and laboratory as it was said he could not complete the task on Monday. Dlamini said they had dedicated yesterday to empowering the pupils with hygiene in the era of COVID -19.



The head teacher explained that the pupils filled in a form at the main gate where they recorded their residential address and temperature reading.

A hands-free hand sanitiser station was found mounted by the gate, operated through a foot pedal.



A security guard found at the gate said his task was to ensure that no person entered the schools yard without sanitising and having his/her temperature taken. Also, he said there was no person that would be let into the school if his or her temperature recording was over 37.5C.



If this happened, the guard said he was ordered to let the individual stand aside for a few minutes before checking that persons temperature again. While this was going on, at the entrance of the school gate were two groundsmen who were digging a hole where a sanitiser booth would be mounted.



Minimise



The head teacher said the booth was aimed at making sure that any person who entered their premises had their clothes sanitized as well. This, he said, was to minimise the risk of having their surfaces contaminated by the clothing of pupils, teachers and parents who had been exposed to the virus through their mode of transport.



Dlamini explained that the school had to divert its budget in order to be COVID-19-compliant. This was evident in that the school had stickers to demarcate the social distancing in classrooms and along the corridors. In every other corner there were hands-free stands with sanitisers while there were also hand-washing basins. Despite the great effort to afford the pupils a safe environment, there were still shortcomings in that some of the hand-washing basins donated by government through the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) were not operational.



St Michaels High School pupils also had a tough time adhering to social distancing.

Pupils who were queuing to be let into the school premises were found in close proximity to one another, while waiting to be registered, screened and sanitised.

The security guard would often shout at the pupils while queuing to observe the social distance of 1.5 metres. The pupils would spread apart only to be in close proximity again in a few minutes.



At the entrance of the school, the janitor and security guard were carrying a sanitiser and a thermometer to screen and sanitise the pupils hands.

Also, a teacher joined the pair to record the names of the pupils and their readings.
Photo by Russ Olivo

The downtown Woonsocket property known as the Commercial Block is being eyed as the possible site for the future Woonsocket Education and Industry Center, a proposed center for vocational training that would serve the northern Rhode Island region..
A long line of socially-distancing customers waited in line outside Ann & Hope in Cumberland last Friday. The store will be closing soon and customers were anxious to take advantage of the marked-down prices. Only 100 customers were allowed in at a time.
Based in Oxford, England, the University of Oxford has been a place of learning since the 11th century. It is also the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Over the centuries, many noteworthy people, from world leaders, to famous explorers, have graduated from the university, and have had the privilege of calling themselves Oxonians, the name given to the schools alumni. Here are some of the most famous Oxford alumni.

10. Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679

Thomas Hobbes by John Michael Wright

Hobbes graduated from the University of Oxford in 1608. He wrote several works on the topics of science and philosophy, but he is probably best known for his famous work, The Leviathan. He believed in the existence of a contract between the rulers of a society and those whom they ruled over, arguing that the job of rulers was to ensure security for those whom they ruled, and in exchange, the members of society were to give them their loyalty, without question. Hobbes was famously quoted for saying that life without a structured society, based on his theories, would be, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

9. Adam Smith, 1723-1790

A sketch of Adam Smith facing to the right.

Smith is one of the most important philosophers in the fields of political economics and economics in general. He first studied at the University of Glasgow. After graduating, he was offered a scholarship to do postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford. Smith is best known for his work, entitled, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, in which he outlined his theories on politics, economics, and morality. To this day, Smiths work is used as a basis for studying modern economics.

8. Cecil Rhodes, 1853-1902

Cecil Rhodes.

Rhodes attained a degree at Oxford University in 1881, and a year later, helped found a company that would go on to become a giant of the diamond mining business: De Beers. His leadership would help the British Empire expand its territory in South Africa. Part of Rhodes policies included increased segregation of the native population of South Africa from white colonists. Thus, Rhodes is often considered to be the person who laid the cornerstone for the Apartheid system. The coveted Rhodes Scholarship is named for him.

7. Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

Oscar Wilde. Image credit: Napoleon Sarony/Public domain

Wilde was a playwright, poet, and author. He graduated with a degree from the University of Oxford in 1878. His works include his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and plays, like Lady Windermeres Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde was a fan and advocate of the Aesthetic art movement in England, which was very popular during his time. His life, unfortunately, did not end well, as he was tried and convicted of sodomy, and sentenced to prison. Three years after his release, he passed away from meningitis.

6. J.R.R. Tolkien, 1892-1973

Most people know Tolkien from his two famous works, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, which were eventually made into blockbuster films in the first two decades of the 21st century. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a BA in 1915 and an MA in 1919. In addition to his aforementioned works, Tolkien also taught English language and literature, and was even on the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary for a brief time.

5. Lester B. Pearson, 1897-1972

Lester B. Pearson. Image credit: Nobel Foundation, Associated Press/Public domain

Pearson emerged as a skilled diplomat, and later became the Prime Minister of Canada. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a BA in modern history in 1923, and an MA in 1925. His greatest work as a diplomat came in the midst of the 1956 Suez Crisis, in which he proposed that a team of international peacekeepers backed by the United Nations enter the combat zone to oversee the withdrawal of British and French troops, who had attacked Egypt for seizing the Suez Canal. Pearsons grand idea would earn him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957, as he had established the foundations for modern UN peacekeeping which endure to this day.

4. Rupert Murdoch, 1931-

Murdoch with his third wife, Wendi, in 2011. Image credit: David Shankbone/Wikimedia.org

Born in Australia, Rupert Murdoch graduated from the University of Oxford in 1952. He went on to become one of the most powerful media moguls in the world, founding the media holding company, News Corp., in 1979, and subsequently purchasing 20th Century Fox Film Corp. in 1985. Murdoch later founded the right-wing, 24 hour news channel, known as Fox News. In 2019, he sold most of 20th Century Fox (now called 21st Century Fox), including Fox News, to the Walt Disney Company.

3. Aung San Suu Kyi, 1945-

Aung San Suu Kyi arrives to give a speech to the supporters during the 2012 by-election campaign at her constituency Kawhmu township, Myanmar on 22 March 2012. Image credit: Htoo Tay Zar/Wikimedia.org

Suu Kyi has long been regarded as the leader of the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Her work won her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She was born in Burma, and later studied at the University of Oxford, graduating in 1967. She was also given an honorary degree from the university in 2012. Her reputation, however, has taken a beating since she became the State Counselor, the de facto head of the Burmese government, as she failed to speak out or act in order to halt the atrocities against Burmas Rohingya Muslim minority at the hands of the countrys military. As a consequence, in 2017, a painting of her was removed from Oxford Universitys facilities.

2. Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007

Benazir Bhutto, photographed at Chandini Restaurant, Newark, CA by iFaqeer. Image credit: iFaqeer/Wikimedia.org

Bhutto was a former Prime Minister of Pakistan. In fact, she was the first woman ever to lead a Muslim nation. She attended Harvard University, and afterwards, studied at the University of Oxford, where she attained a degree in 1977. She was elected Pakistans prime minister for the first time in 1988, then again in 1993. In 2007, after years of exile, Bhutto returned to Pakistan to contest parliamentary elections. Her life ended in December of that year, when she was assassinated by a suicide bomber during a campaign rally.

1. Tony Blair, 1953-

Blair in 2007

Blair was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for ten years, from 1997 to 2007. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a law degree in 1975. As Prime Minister, his legacy includes the conclusion of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which was designed to end decades of conflict in Northern Ireland. It also includes giving home rule to Scotland and Wales, setting up parliaments in the two UK countries, and allowing them more control over their own affairs. The most controversial part of his legacy was arguably supporting the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, as it was an unpopular war in many circles. Blair was accused, along with U.S. President George W. Bush, of fabricating the case for war.
MBABANE - Battle lines have been drawn between government and SNAT over the opening of schools in the country amid the surge in COVID-19 cases.

The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) yesterday filed an urgent application at the Industrial Court, wherein it is challenging the reopening of schools.



The teachers argued that they had conducive independent inspections in more than 22 schools and found that the conditions were not conducive.

It was further their contention that in the event they proceeded to resume duties, there was a high likelihood of infections among them.

The application is, however, being met with resistance from government.



Interdicting



In its application, SNAT is among other prayers seeking an order interdicting the minister of Education and Training and the prime minister (PM) from directing that all high schools with Form V in the Kingdom of Eswatini should be required to open.

Respondents in the matter are the minister of Education and Training, the prime minister and the attorney general.



The association is further praying for an order directing the minister and PM to provide all teachers with all the personal protective equipment (PPE) prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), to avoid the contracting and transmission of COVID-19.



The teachers averred that this would enable them to perform their obligations without limiting the generality hereof to provide adequate ablution facilities, water, hand sanitisers, face masks, disposable gloves, cleaning and sanitising material for all classrooms as well as appropriate safety.



The applicant (SNAT) also wants the court to direct government to comply with the provisions of Section 9 and 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, together with the directive issued by the PM to the effect that all persons, including teachers, staff and learners should wear face masks in public spaces such as schools.



SNAT is pleading with the court to direct government to provide its members with a safe and healthy workplace, with appropriate safety conditions as per the dictates of the Act, by ensuring that all workplaces at every school were sanitised.



The association also wants the State to be interdicted from subjecting its members to any changes of the terms and conditions of employment as per the directive of the principal secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training.



The respondents should be interdicted from declaring that the non-attendance by members of the applicant to their respective workplaces is a violation of the terms and conditions of employment, reads one of the prayers. It wants the court to declare that, until there has been compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, all schools in the Kingdom of Eswatini are not safe places to work in. In the event government fails to comply, SNAT wants the court to order it to suspend the opening of all schools until it has complied.



Alternatively, the association is praying for an order, that pending compliance, government should be ordered to provide training to its members on long distance teaching, via available technology, for the purpose of teaching the learners remotely and to provide the learners with adequate equipment and devices to learn remotely.



Urgent



SNAT lawyer, Lucky Howe, contended that the application was urgent in that the teachers had been directed by government to proceed to open high schools in Eswatini.

The matter is urgent and I am of the considered view that it is because of the danger to the applicant and the students which is imminent. From the information and daily report by the PM, the rate of infection is climbing at an alarming rate thus exposing the teachers and the students, argued the senior lawyer.

Giving a background of the matter, SNAT, through its President Mbongwa Dlamini, submitted that on or about March 17, 2020, the PM, as the head of the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, issued a notice in terms of which he declared a national disaster.

The said notice, according to the president, was per provisions of Section 26 of the Disaster Management Act of 2006 due to the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak. According to Dlamini, the effect of the said notice and announcement by the PM was that members of the society of Eswatini were required, with immediate effect, to reduce movement and contact with others and maintain social distancing.



He submitted that this led to the issuance of the COVID-19 Regulations, Legal Notice 72 of 2020, dated March 27, 2020.

The second respondent has made it mandatory that the members of the applicant must comply with the same at the workplace. The said legal notice dictated the new conditions for all the citizens and persons in Eswatini, which included steps to be taken by all to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the sanctions for not doing so.



Masks



It further dictated a requirement of wearing face masks by all at all times and maintaining a social distance between persons, submitted Dlamini.

He mentioned that the same notice, together with the regulations, dictated the type of masks to be worn under the second schedule and the use of hand sanitisers and the requirement to keep hands clean and washed with soap and water as often as possible.



It was, according to the president, added that the masks should be changed every six to eight hours and disposed of if they were non-reusable.

The president said an announcement was made by the second respondent on a number of occasions, further restricting the liberties on the citizens, whereby the mandatory wearing of masks was made and the police service was instructed to ensure that all persons in public should wear them (masks) at all times. The applicant said a further legal notice was issued in line with Legal Notice 24 of 2020 by the council chairman of the Swaziland Standards Authority, which listed the standards for masks and sanitisers to be used by members of the public in line with the government restrictions.



It must be noted that the restrictions are without exception to anyone and must be complied with and remain in place to date, highlighted the president.

He averred that the minister of Labour and Social Security issued guidelines on employment contingency measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic under Legal Notice 22 of 2020, which applied to all employers and employees, organisations, federations and more importantly, the respondents.

The president said the notice in its purpose and objectives was clear that it was to provide for the standard measures in the workplace during the COVID-19 period and national emergency.



The same notice under Section 3 (h), proceeds to provide that the safety and health of the workers in the workplace is paramount and those who will be exposed must be catered for by the employers. Section 5 (c), read with (d) of the regulations, stipulates that as such the applicants must be provided for with the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE), they require to perform their duties and must not be exposed to hazardous and unsafe working conditions, Dlamini stated.



He submitted that the PM made several statements and announcements in relation to the coronavirus, where he outlined the limitations and relaxation of the measures to be practises by the nation.



Statements



The statements, according to Dlamini, were taken from the Eswatini Government website and have not been subsequently changed or altered. He said on March 17, 2020, the PM made an announcement to the effect that all citizens must observe social distancing and limitations on numbers of citizens in gatherings to not more than 50 and that all citizens were to keep a distance of one metre away from each other.



On March 24, 2020, the president submitted, the respondent further announced a lockdown throughout the country, which directed that all employers must maintain a maximum density of one person per square metre at the workplace at all times.

The public, according to the presidents affidavit, was further directed to maintain not more than 20 persons in public spaces and the directive remains in place and applies to the applicants workplace.



Dlamini submitted that on March 27, 2020, the PM changed the social distance rules from one metre to two and that on April 22, 2020, a further announcement was made directing members of the public to wear face masks or cloth coverings.



The State, through Assistant Attorney General Mbuso Simelane, is opposing the application and will file its detailed papers today.

The matter will be heard today.
The last day to register to vote in August's election is Tuesday. The Davidson County Election Commission office will be open until 7 p.m. to allow those wishing to register to do so.
Comments



With our Ministry of Education, teachers, parents and Parliament failing to reach common ground, the disorganisation that welcomed pupils back to class at some schools yesterday should not surprise anybody.



Getting to school was not easy for some, neither was it safe for others, as the promised special transport for the pupils was hard to find. Public transport operators gave no preference to pupils who were rendered latecomers, while some of those who did get on the vehicles didnt get to see or use the sanitisers pronounced the day before. We must fix this urgently as lives are at stake.



It provides little comfort that teachers are divided over the stance taken by their association, SNAT, to stay home. The organisation has dragged government to court to reverse the schools opening decision, stopping short of describing it as ill-timed and downright dangerous to both its members and the pupils who would be exposed to the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, due to ill-preparedness.



Cabinets assessment prior to yesterday was that a majority of schools were well prepared with the essential hygiene facilities,with the exception of a few institutions that still had much to do. A political decision has been made and at this stage only a court order or a sharp spike in infections can change it. Even then, the minister of Education has said only the affected school would be closed.



As it stands, parents are forced to place their trust in teachers and government to keep their children safe on the assumption that Cabinet knows what it is doing and is well-prepared for the consequences. Yes, truth be told, we cannot run away from COVID-19 by hiding behind closed doors forever.



What is critical now, however, is how best we protect our children by providing all that is necessary to minimise the risk of infection. It goes without saying that parents should expect top-up fees to return by COVID-19 demand in order to foot the bill for the sanitisers, water, soap, screening themometers and masks for both pupils and teachers, because government has shown serious shortcomings in this regard with frontline workers. There can be no compromise on these essentials.
Estimates from the United Nations, the International AIDS Society, the Stop TB Partnership and the Imperial College London predict the supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic could lead to at least one million extra deaths caused by AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as resources traditionally used to fight these diseases are diverted to combat outbreaks of COVID-19.

A majority of these deaths are likely to occur in Africa, where there have been more than 481,000 cases and at least 11,400 deaths caused by the coronavirus. Countries including South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria have been particularly hard hit. While the total case and death numbers are currently lower than other regions of the world, including the United States, India and Brazil, the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly warned of the dangers of the pandemic in Africa, which has some of the least developed health care infrastructure in the world.

At the same time, the virus is claiming the lives of nurses, doctors and other medical workers as they try to fight and contain the pandemic. The situation has also meant that institutions such as Medecins Sans Frontieres, which have in the past provided resources to fight HIV/AIDS, have been forced instead to focus on treating patients with COVID-19.

A man holds his 10-month-old baby daughter who suffers from polio, in Suleiman Khel, Pakistan, May 6, 2020 (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

The looming crisis was highlighted by Dr. Anton Pozniak, president of the International AIDS Society. He told CNN, The social distancing efforts and lockdowns to control the spread of [coronavirus] have disrupted HIV prevention and treatment programs and put vital HIV research on hold.

His comments were highlighted by the release of the United Nations Global AIDS Update 2020, which paints a dire picture for the years-long progress in eliminating the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Its models show that, if medical supplies for AIDS are disrupted for six months, there will be between 471,000 and 673,000 excess AIDS-related deaths in in sub-Saharan Africa alone by the end of 2021.

The report also summarizes the state of the fight against that pandemic over the past ten years. There are currently 38 million people living with HIV worldwide, but only 25.4 million are currently getting some form of treatment, a gap of 12.6 million human beings. At the same time, there was a 23 percent reduction of new HIV infections from 2010 to 2019, mostly focused in eastern and southern Africa. At the same time, there has been a rise in infections elsewhere in the world, including a 72 percent increase in eastern Europe and central Asia, a 22 percent increase in the Middle East and North Africa and a 21 percent increase in Latin America.

In total, there were 690,000 AIDS-related deaths in 2019, along with 1.7 million new infections worldwide. UN models had estimated that 2020 would have been the first year the number of AIDS-related deaths fell below 500,000, to 470,000. Instead, the skyrocketing coronavirus pandemic threatens to set back control over HIV by at least 12 years.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted at yesterdays opening of the 23rd International AIDS conference that, A new WHO survey showed access to HIV medicines has been significantly curtailed as a result of the pandemic. Seventy-three countries have reported that they are at risk of stock-outs of antiretroviral medicines (ARVs). ARVs are one of the main ways that HIV is treated. They must be taken regularly to keep patients healthy and prevent onward transmission of the virus.

The findings of this survey are deeply concerning, Dr. Tedros concluded.

A similar report from Imperial College London shows that malaria epidemics in the same region, sub-Saharan Africa, could spread unchecked in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, causing at least 380,000 more deaths than expected.

Malaria is caused by a parasite primarily transmitted through mosquito bites, which introduces the disease from the mosquitos saliva into a victims blood. Its symptoms include fever, tiredness, vomiting, headaches, seizures, coma and death. There were 228 million reported infections in 2018 worldwide resulting in 405,000 deaths. The disease is most common in Africa, Asia and Central and South America.

While it is deadly, the most effective way of controlling the spread of malaria is by distributing insecticide-treated mosquito nets. They cost about $2 each, last up to four years and protect on average two people each. There is a large risk, however, that as the pandemic continues to grow exponentially in regions already hard hit from malaria, the supply chains for new nets will collapse. This threatens to double the number of expected deaths caused by malaria.

It should also be noted that in the Imperial College article, it projects that in a scenario where the coronavirus is either not contained or suppression measures are liftedthe current situation in the United States, Brazil, India, South Africa and other countriesthe ultimate death toll for the pandemic itself will be on the order of 3.3 million.

The coronavirus pandemic has also exacerbated the risk of contracting and dying from tuberculosis. The Stop TB Partnership recently released findings showing that, even if there is some form of lockdown and recovery to halt the coronavirus, there could still be 6.3 million excess infections and 1.4 million excess deaths of tuberculosis. To quote from the report, global TB incidence and deaths in 2021 would increase to levels last seen in between 2013 and 2016 respectively  implying a setback of at least 5 to 8 years in the fight against TB, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TB is currently the number one cause of death from an infectious disease on the planet and has been one of the most lethal bacteria throughout history. There were about 10 million active cases worldwide in 2018, and nearly one in four people are suspected to have a latent TB infection. While it is manageable with antibiotics, it still kills an estimated 1.5 million people each year. The pathogen is also one of the more resistant to treatment with drugs.

Having tuberculosis also places one at greater risk of dying from COVID-19. In India, which currently has 720,000 coronavirus cases and more than 20,000 confirmed deaths, there are about 7,370 new cases of TB and 1,230 new deaths caused by the disease each day. It amounts to about 2.7 million new tuberculosis infections and just under 450,000 new deaths each year. The combination of the two diseases has the potential to produce a public health catastrophe in the country and region of epic proportions.

These dangers also exist in large parts of Africa. Nigeria and South Africa have the second and fourth highest death rates of tuberculosis in the world, respectively, and fourth and second highest death rates of COVID-19 in Africa. Indonesia, which has the third highest death rate of TB in the world, is one of the countries hit hardest by the pandemic in southeast Asia, sitting at 65,000 cases and growing.
The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter will assist autoworkers and other workers in establishing safety committees. Email the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter at autoworkers@wsws.org.

Autoworkers at Fiat Chryslers Jefferson North and Sterling Heights plants have urged workers in other auto plants and industries to build rank-and-file safety committees to fight the spread of coronavirus in the factories. Late last month, workers at the two Detroit area assembly plants established safety committees after FCA management and the United Auto Workers refused to release information about COVID-19 cases in their plants or to take any serious measures to protect them from the deadly disease.

It was apparent that we needed rank-and-file committees because the safety of workers is being disregarded, said a worker at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) where workers set up a committee after they halted production over reports that a material handler had tested positive. We heard that a TPT (temporary part-time worker) was put in the work area believed to be infected, and she was forced to work two hours before management even came to disinfect the area.

There is no sense of urgency from the company or the UAW. All they care about is keeping the line running and producing the trucks. No workers should be literally risking their lives so the companys numbers and profits can go up. We have to create our own safety committees opposed to the UAW and FCA, because they are aligned over the bottom line of profit. If they are organized, then we, as workers, have to organize to protect ourselves and our families.

Ford Dearborn Truck workers (Photo: Ford Media)

Even though management and the UAW are aware of many cases, including at least 22 at a General Motors assembly plant in Arlington, Texas and another 12 at a GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, GM's policy is to not confirm the number of coronavirus cases in its plants, the Detroit Free Press reported last week. The same is true for FCA and other automakers, with a spokesperson for Toyotas US automotive operations telling the Wall Street Journal, Just announcing the number of COVID cases at a given site is not productive.

The automakers and other large employers have rejected regular testing of employees, the only means to contain the virus. According to an article by Bloomberg News titled Employers Find Testing Employees More Trouble Than Its Worth, only six percent of the 40 large employers they polled are conducting on-site testing. Testing is not really available, feasible or easy, and its not a solution you can do for every employee, every day, said Lauren Vela, senior director for the Pacific Business Group on Health, which represents large employers like Microsoft Corp. and Walmart Inc.

The UAW has also said that regular testing is not practical. Instead, the UAW, whose top leaders are negotiating with the US Justice Department to avoid a federal takeover because of widespread corruption, including taking bribes from Fiat Chrysler management, has joined the automakers efforts to intimidate workers who refuse to work under unsafe conditions. Last week, the UAW issued a joint statement with FCA management suggesting that it was unsafe habits of workers outside the plants that were responsible for any infections.

Nor are workers getting any aid from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA and its state-level equivalents have received more than 20,000 COVID-related complaints from workers this year, but have issued only one citation, according to Bloomberg.

FCA workers at Sterling Heights and the Jefferson North Assembly Plant (JNAP) in Detroit, where a safety committee has also been set up, issued a list of six demands, which they are encouraging workers at other plants to adopt and expand upon.

The demands are:

1. Workers must be immediately notified of any cases of COVID-19 and what areas were affected. This information cannot be kept secret from workers.

2. When a case is confirmed, the factory should be closed for 24 hours for deep cleaning, not just the affected area, but the whole plant. Preventative maintenance is needed to ensure a safe and comfortable working environment.

3. Social distancing must be implemented when entering and leaving the plant and during bathroom, lunch and other break times.

4. The line must be stopped for 10 minutes every hour to enable workers to take off their masks, rest and cool off.

5. Workers must have regular, universal testing. Temperature checks and self-reporting symptoms are not enough.

6. If conditions are not safe, workers have the right to refuse to work without threat of retaliation by management and the union.

Building rank-and-file safety committees is absolutely necessary, a Jefferson worker said. Everyone in the plant stood up and stopped work because management and the union are sweeping everything under the rug. When the plants reopened on May 18, the line started a half-hour after we arrived so we could clean our work areas and shut down a half-hour earlier so they could be cleaned again before the next shift. Now we start 10 minutes later and work flat-out until the end of the shift.

The cleaning process is almost nonexistent. In their statements to the media, the company and the UAW make it sound like they are going above and beyond to protect us. Thats a lie. Its business as usual. The union safety committee sides with management. When we protested, they union stewards were nowhere to be found. Thats why we set up our own safety committee.

Another JNAP worker said, They cant wait to get back to full production for their 2021 launch. The plexiglass and shower curtains are not the cure-all. In every local union contract, the workers always said the ventilation in the plant sucks, its so smoky its like there is a fire in the plant. After every deal with the union, the company promises to repair the fans and the heating and cooling system, but nothing happens.

Now we have COVID. How are they going to guarantee that the air is okay now? The full cleaning they did in April was it. Now theyre putting everything on the workers. If you catch it, its your fault. But we didnt build this plant.

If you look at the way the corporations work, someone did a cost benefit analysis when they rushed to reopen the plants. How many lives of the autoworkers it will cost? How many of us have to die to build the Jeep Grand Cherokees? Now, theyre saying If you dont want to be there, you commit economic suicide because we are going to cut you off of unemployment benefits.

But if the workers get together and talk to each other, we can decide to make the adult decisions needed to save lives. They are making monetary decisions. For them, the end, making profits, justifies the means. But we are not human capital stock, like one of Trumps aides said. We are not cattle. Workers care for each other, we are trying to do what is right, but they are trying to repress us. The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter is a wonderful resource to utilize, so people can know what is going on and come together to protect ourselves.

A worker at FCA Trenton Engine plant, just south of Detroit, added, They made us think we were going to be safe when we came back into the plant. But theyre not sanitizing or social distancing, and it is frightening. Workers need breaks to remove their masks, but all the company wants is for you to work harder and harder.

The union is not standing up for us. They are on managements side. We need a committee of our own to stand up for ourselves. Workers in all the industries are experiencing this. We need a voice of our own.

A Ford worker at the Dearborn Truck Plant said that because large numbers of workers have called off out of concerns over COVID-19, management claims it does not have enough relief workers to fill in when an individual worker needs to take a bathroom break. Instead, they are carrying out mass relief, with everybody taking the break at the same time. There is no way to social distance that way.

We have to take control over our own safety, he said. We are the ones whose priority is safety. We will not take risks for extra profits. Autoworkers need to link up with workers in other industries in the US and internationally, he said. We should just stop production if there is an infection in the plant. We dont know where that infected worker may have been.

When we are in charge of safety, we will say, No work, until the safety committee deems it safe.
As the number of Illinois COVID-19 cases rise, Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, has moved the state into phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan. The new development eases phase 3 restrictions, allowing previously halted activities and businesses to resume with rules such as 50 percent maximum capacity or less, social distancing measures, and mandatory masks.

COVID-19 cases are growing out of control across the United States, with over 130,000 deaths. Despite Illinois sharing the trend with a growth in new cases, the state is reducing social distancing measures. According to Worldometer, the lowest 7-day-average cases of COVID-19 in Illinois was 602 on June 18. This week, Illinoiss 7-day-average increased to 800 and the rate of infection will only grow as social distancing measures are relaxed without any measures for containment.

The reopening in Illinois is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration, with the support of the Democrats, Republicans, and the media, to force workers back to work under conditions where doing so risks sickness and death. Pritzker was asked by a reporter during a press conference on June 17 if he would consider closing the economy again in Illinois, Pritzker responded, Im not considering moving back to a previous stage as you know in our restore Illinois plan. He continued, We will be, as you know evaluating adjustments that may need to be made along the way. Because during phase four we want to make sure that businesses are continuing to reopen.

In an effort to defuse opposition to this homicidal return to work campaign, the Pritzker administration announced a $900 Million Package Community and Business Grant Programs for Illinois. Similarly, City of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, also a Democrat, is implementing a $1.13 billion COVID-19 grant program. Both programs are funded by federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) act, which transferred trillions to the stock market while only providing a pittance for social relief.

The pandemic has decimated the lives of workers across the country. The national unemployment rate currently stands at roughly 15 percent as compared to only 3.5 percent last May. In Illinois, at the end of May, unemployment rose to 14.7 percent statewide, compared to 3.5 percent last May, totaling 738,500 lost jobs. In the Chicago region, which includes the city of Chicago and large suburbs like Naperville, unemployment surpassed the state total, reaching 15.4 percent compared to 3.3 percent last year.

Unemployment is leading to sharp increases in food insecurity among Chicago workers. In May, the Greater Chicago Food Depository stated it is serving 76 percent more people in need of food than in January. Lightfoots program will not address the massive needs of workers. Of the $1.13 billion, $403 million will go to COVID-19 Direct Response and $376 million to Airport assistance. This leaves only approximately $350 million for social programs, a pale comparison to Chicagos $1.8 billion 2020 police department budget.

Moreover, only $4.5 million will go to food assistance, $10 million for mental health, and $11 million for community Healthcare Infrastructure. This distribution is not an adequate amount to have any meaningful effect. Many of these social programs were cut by previous Democratic administrations of Chicago such as Rahm Emmanuels notable closing of schools and mental health institutions as cost-cutting measures.

In a conference call reported in the Chicago Tribune, Lightfoot warned of possible austerity measures. The magnitude of the problems and the challenges that we all face is such that only the federal government has the resources and the wherewithal to act at a scale thatll make a meaningful difference, Lightfoot said. Without that, we are looking at a lot of really, really difficult or impossible choices. Adding, Ultimately though, all options including raising property taxes and including layoffs have to remain on the table.

Before the pandemic, according to census.gov, some 20 percent of Chicagos residents lived in poverty, 1 in 10 residents lived in extreme poverty while 1 in 4 children lived in poverty. This staggering social inequality will only be exacerbated by the pandemic, soaring unemployment and looming cuts to social services.

Pritzkers COVID-19 assistance programs fails to meet the pressing needs of Illinois workers. Under the state program, the Illinois Housing Development Authority is launching two programs. The Emergency Rental Assistance is a $150 million program that provides $5,000 grants in emergency rental assistance to Illinois tenants who are unable to pay their rent, which is estimated to amount to approximately 30,000 renters who are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic in the state, and the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, which is expected to assist approximately 10,000 eligible homeowners who are unable to pay their mortgage.

The amount of people expected to be reached by these programs is a fraction of a percent of the population that requires assistance and will serve no one in a reasonable capacity. Before the pandemic hit, blockclubchicago.com reported that Chicagos five eviction courts were seeing around 23,000 eviction cases each year. With massive unemployment, this number will grow sharply.

Illinois is a state which according to Forbes has a total of 17 billionaires with Governor Pritzker himself being among them, having a combined net worth of $52.5 billion. This amount of wealth is more than enough to provide the necessary health care and social assistance to maintain social distancing and eliminate the outbreak, except it is wasted and hoarded in the hands of a few.

To fight against this homicidal policy of herd immunity and austerity, workers will find a solution only in an international and socialist program independent from all capitalist factors. The Socialist Equality Party is running Joseph Kishore and Norissa Santa Cruz in the presidential election to fight for an independent, working class alternative to the political and economic system that insists that workers must suffer all the consequences of the pandemic while the rich get bailed out.

We encourage all students and workers to join the Socialist Equality Party and fight for the formation of new revolutionary leadership in the working class.
In common with many other businesses, Germanys Commerzbank is using the coronavirus pandemic to implement preexisting plans to restructure and shed jobs. More than 11,000 of the banks total staff of 40,000, and 400 of its 1,000 branches, are slated to be cut as part of a new round of austerity.

The Commerzbank executive, financial investors, the German government, the European Central Bank (ECB), the works council and the trade union Verdi have all been haggling behind the scenes for months over plans for a massive restructuring of the financial institution.

When Commerzbank CEO Martin Zielke announced in September last year that 4,300 jobs and 200 branches would be cut, Verdi signaled its agreement in principle. Stefan Wittmann, Verdi trade union secretary and member of the supervisory board of Commerzbank, spoke out against a reduction of staff in branches, but was not opposed to job cuts in administration. The issue was not whether but how to implement these cuts, he explained to the business newspaper Handelsblatt.

Approval on the part of the trade union stimulated the banks shareholders desires for even bigger returns. They declared that the savings package was far from sufficient, prompting a group of financial institutions led by US financial investor Cerberuswhich holds five percent of Commerzbankto call for a much larger package of cuts. The ECBs banking supervisory authority also pressed for steeper cuts.

The German government, Commerzbanks largest single shareholder since the 2008 financial crisis with a 15.6 percent stake, commissioned an expert opinion from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). According to reports from Bloomberg, BCG recommended a cost reduction up to three times larger than the target set by the Commerzbank executive.

Commerzbank CEO Zielke then drew up new savings plans, which according to press reports are expected to eliminate over 11,000 jobs and 400 branches. The proposal was to be presented to the supervisory board last Wednesday. In order to save face, the employees representatives in the Verdi trade union requested a postponement of the meeting on the grounds that they had not been informed about the details of the cuts package. This is a gross deception on the part of the union.

Verdi occupies several seats on the supervisory board of the bank and is well informed about all developments. In the past, the works council and union have always been involved in job cuts within the bank, repeatedly declaring that such measures must be carried out in a socially acceptable manner. This was the case after the takeover of Eurohypo in 2005, the purchase of Dresdner Bank in August 2008, and after the financial crisis of 2008-09.

Once again, they are playing the same game. Uwe Tschage, chairman of the general and company works council and also deputy chair of the supervisory board, told Handelsblatt that he would not stand in the way of job cuts as long as they were socially acceptable.

There must be no compulsory layoffs; we will fight for this, Tschage said. Commerzbank must choose an appropriate period and make sufficient money available for part-time work for older employees, and other similar measures. Tschage said he wanted to be able to understand why and where management was cutting jobs. He expected the federal government, as a major shareholder, to support him in ensuring that employees were treated decently.

According to Tschage, it is important that the bank remains stable and can continue to develop even after the restructuring, i.e., that it once again generates more profit!

Verdi functionary Wittmann complained that the trade union was not on board when the governmentrepresented by state secretary for finance Jorg Kukies (the former head of the US investment bank Goldman Sachs in Germany)negotiated with the leadership of Commerzbank and financial investor Cerberus on cost reductions.

The German government, which has been Commerzbanks largest single shareholder since the 2008 financial crisis, has not the slightest intention of standing up for the interests of the companys workforce. It is seeking instead to implement drastic measures to support the standing of the bank, which runs the accounts for around 30 percent of German foreign trade and is market leader in German corporate banking.

The aim of the government and financial investors is to secure the banks capital, which has shrunk by 30 percent since the beginning of the year due to the fall in share prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In so doing, they are not taking the interests of the employees into account. The unions campaign aimed at raising hopes in the federal government is utterly fraudulent.

Last year, on the initiative of finance minister Olaf Scholz, the government advocated the merger of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank to create a strong German financial champion. At the time, Verdi spoke out against the merger and celebrated its subsequent failure as a victory that would secure jobs. Now it is clear that this was only meant to lull the workforce into a false sense of security. Even back then, investors demanded massive job cuts at both institutions, irrespective of the outcome of the merger talks.

Deutsche Bank then commenced slashing a fifth of its workforce. Commerzbank, which still had about 39,800 employees at the end of March, now plans to cut one in four jobs.

Despite this, Verdi is continuing to deceive its members by raising hopes for support from the government and the Social Democratic Party, SPD. Tschage recently said, I also expect support here from the federal government as a major shareholder, while stating that the SPD, in particular, had to work toward this goal as part of ruling government coalition.

Verdi is playing the same game in the aviation industry and in the closure of the Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt storesit makes futile appeals to the business and political forces with whom it works closely behind the scenes. At the same time, the union strictly rejects the mobilization of the working class and a genuine fight to defend jobs.

The grand coalition government of conservative parties and the SPD is the most right-wing and anti-working-class government since the Federal Republic of Germany came into existence. The last time the SPD filled the post of chancellor, the party, in a coalition with the Greens, created a huge low-wage sector by introducing miserly Hartz IV welfare payments as part of its Agenda 2010. Under CDU chancellor Angela Merkel, the SPD went on to support an increase in retirement age, the ruination of the health care system, the bankrupting of the Greek working class by a strict austerity policy and a massive increase of military spending.

The staff of Commerzbank, which according to trade union figures is still 30 percent organized by Verdi, must draw the consequences from past experiences, break with the union and take action themselves. In order to defend jobs, independent action committees must be set up to join forces with all workers in the finance industry and other sectors across national borders, on the basis of a socialist program.

The secret talks behind the backs of workers must be stopped, the accounts of the banks must be opened up and the institutions expropriated and put under the control of the working class. Such a bank must serve the needs of the people, not profit maximization for financial investors. To implement this strategy, it is necessary to build the Socialist Equality Party as a mass party of the working class.
The Supreme Court on Monday in a unanimous 9-0 decision in Chiafalo v. Washington ruled that electors in presidential elections must cast their votes in the Electoral College for the candidate who won the popular vote in their state.

This case arose in the aftermath of the 2016 election when a handful of Democratic members of the Electoral College attempted to deprive Donald Trump of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Although Trump lost the popular vote by three million votes, he carried 30 states with a combined total of 306 electoral votes.

A handful of Democratic electors, however, announced that they would vote for a moderate Republican rather than Hillary Clinton in the hopes that they could convince enough Republican electors to cast similar votes, thereby reducing Trumps total below the 270 needed for election.

If that occurred, the Constitution would then require that the presidential winner would have to be decided by the House of Representatives, controlled at the time by Republicans, which could have elected a Republican other than Trump.

More than 30 states have laws penalizing or forbidding faithless electors, those who run on a slate chosen by the Democratic or Republican parties but then choose to vote for someone other than that partys candidate. The case decided by the 9-0 vote involved the state of Washington, which fined its faithless electors, while a separate order without an opinion upheld the Colorado law, under which one of that states electors was removed and replaced by another Democrat who voted for Clinton.

In unanimously ruling that all electors must vote for the presidential candidate who won their states popular vote, the Supreme Court is attempting to avert a potential constitutional crisis in the upcoming election, when the contest between President Trump and his presumptive Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, could well come down to a handful of electoral votes.

The legitimacy of elections, and in particular, presidential elections, was clearly on the mind of the court when it heard oral arguments on this case in May. Justice Samuel Alito observed that if the popular vote is close, the possibility of changing just a few votes [in the Electoral College] would rationally prompt the losing party ... to launch a massive campaign to try to influence electors, and there would be a long period of uncertainty about who the next president was going to be.

Similarly, Justice Brett Kavanaugh alluded to what he called the chaos principle of judging, which suggests that if its a close call ... we shouldnt facilitate or create chaos.

The unease in which the Supreme Court, comprised of some of the most class-conscious representatives of the ruling class, views the upcoming election is a backhanded acknowledgement that masses of people are deeply alienated from the two-party political system and view the entire electoral process as corrupt and illegitimate.

Not only has the voters will been nullified in two out of the last five presidential elections, with the popular vote winner turning into the Electoral College loser in both 2000 and 2016, but in the 2016 election, 47 percent of those who were eligible to vote for president chose not to do so.

Both capitalist parties have sought to discredit the electoral process, with the Democrats claiming Trumps 2016 victory was the product of Russian interference, while Trump now claims that any effort to accommodate the election process to the health concerns of the coronavirus pandemicwith more extensive early voting and greatly expanded voting by mailamounts to rigging the election.

A 9-0 vote in the Supreme Court must reflect serious fears in the US ruling elite over allowing another element of uncertainty and arbitrariness in the already arcane and thoroughly antidemocratic process through which American presidents are selected.

Although many Americans think that they elect the president and vice president, in fact, it is the Electoral College, an obscure intermediary mechanism, that formally determines who wins the election.

There is an elector for every member of the House of Representatives and the Senate plus an additional three for people who live in the District of Columbia for a total of 538 with 270 votes needed for majority. If there is a tie or no candidate receives a majority, then the election goes to the House of Representatives.

This system had been considered a formality because usually the winner of the popular vote also wins the Electoral College vote. But twice in the past two decades the winner of the popular vote did not become president, and instead the winner in the Electoral College prevailed.

In 2000, George W. Bush became president, winning five more Electoral College votes than Al Gore, though Gore won roughly half a million more popular votes. In that election the winner was dependent on the result from Florida in which Bush held a lead of a few hundred votes out of six million cast. Legal issues arose regarding recounts, disputes over ballots and voters intent, and the Florida state supreme court ordered all votes to be counted after the state government, headed by Bushs brother Jeb, had halted any further counting or examination of ballots.

The election was eventually decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in the infamous case of Bush v. Gore that upheld the termination of the vote counting in Florida and thereby installed Bush in the White House, following Gores abject capitulation to the 5-4 court decision.

Sixteen years later came Trump's Electoral College win, by a wider margin, although his loss in the popular vote was also much wider, three million votes.

To further underscore the undemocratic character of presidential elections, the Supreme Court reiterated in Bush v. Gore that there is no constitutional right to vote for president or for presidential electors. The state legislatures have chosen to use statewide elections to select electors, but they could simply appoint the electors if they choose, the justices declared.

It is noteworthy that both the Democratic and Republican parties sided with the state laws on faithless electors, upheld by the court. Both parties are concerned that the entire antidemocratic apparatus of the Electoral College has come increasingly under scrutiny, after the debacles of 2000 and 2016, and they oppose any significant change in the electoral structure, which includes the longstanding political monopoly of the two corporate-controlled parties.
After the removal of coronavirus restrictions, a boat carrying dozens of immigrants believed to come from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran sank in eastern Turkeys Lake Van on June 27.

So far, rescue workers have only recovered bodies of 10 migrants. But it is believed that the boat still at the bottom of the lake was carrying at least 60 or more people. While local residents have claimed that more than 100 immigrants might have lost their lives, at least 11 people were arrested about the incident.

This tragedy is not the first. Last December, seven died and 64 others were rescued when a boat sank carrying refugees and immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Migrants reportedly are forced to travel by boat over Lake Van to bypass police checkpoints on land.

Van, a city on the Iranian border, is a transit point for immigrants fleeing war, persecution and poverty from Central and South East Asian countries that have been devastated by imperialist interventions. Many immigrants travel through Turkey as a transit country and then follow the Aegean Sea route through Greece in hope of reaching Europe.

A paramilitary boat searches Lake Van on July 1, 2020 during the search-and-rescue operations after a boat sank carrying 60 migrants. (DHA via AP)

Last week, the Turkish Coast Guard Command also rescued 35 migrants and is still searching for four others after their boat capsized off the coast of Ayvalk in Turkeys western Balkesir province near the Aegean Sea, opposite the Greek island of Lesbos. Turkeys state-owned TRT Haber claimed that the rubber boat carrying the migrants was punctured by the Greek Coast Guard, who also removed the fuel tank and pushed migrants toward the Turkish coast.

In early March, Turkey opened its gates for migrants wanting to cross to Europe, accusing the European Union (EU) of failing to keep its promises in a 2016 migrant deal. Turkeys attempt to use refugees to blackmail the European NATO powers into backing Ankaras war aims in Syria led to a new crisis on its western border. President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government indicated that Ankara would no longer block some 3.5 million Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands of more immigrants from leaving the country for Europe.

At that time, refugees took to boats on the Aegean Sea, marching to the Greek and Bulgarian borders. Heavily armed police and military units intervened against helpless refugees who have fled the conflicts in the Middle East to seek refuge in Europe. With EU support, Greek soldiers fired tear gas at refugees including women and children and even used live ammunition, killing and injuring several on the border.

After March 11, when the first case was traced in Turkey, the Erdogan government long continued to encourage immigrants to go to the border with Greece. However, the government suspended this policy temporarily after a meeting between Turkish and EU officials in early March amidst a growing COVID-19 outbreak in Europe, leaving them to their fate during the pandemic across Turkey.

In early June, the International Organisation for Migrants (IOM)-Turkeys emergency coordinator, Mazen Aboulhosn, stated: The COVID-19 epidemic hit migrant and refugee communities in the larger cities such as Istanbul, Izmir and Gaziantep particularly hard, adding: Hundreds of thousands of migrants were among the first to lose their jobs, causing an immediate financial burden for them and their families. Many are still not able to afford food, medicine and healthcare.

Studies reveal the COVID-19 pandemics disproportionate health and social impact on migrants. Fully 63 percent of refugees have had difficulty getting food during the pandemic, and more than 88 percent reportedly had no employment, compared to 18 percent before the outbreak. While the Health Ministry has still refused to make public the full coronavirus data in Turkey, there is little information about the health situation facing millions of refugees and immigrants who lack basic social rights in the country.

Today, the coronavirus pandemic is not under control in Turkey or elsewhere in the world. As a result of the policies of normalisation and the return to work in the interests of the ruling class, the number of daily cases has risen more than 1,000 again.

Immigrants, who live in crowded houses or packed like sardines in vehicles, are one of the largest risk groups. The camps, often funded by the EU and lacking basic sanitation, are in grave danger of succumbing to COVID-19.

The plight of asylum seekers in Turkey and Greece is the product of the EUs brutal policies. A rotten deal between the EU, Turkey and Greece in March 2016 established Greece as the EUs jailer of refugees and obliged the Erdogan regime to ensure that refugees from the war zones in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan will not make their way to Europe.

The agreement mandates that all refugees entering Greece via irregular routesthat is, those making the dangerous journey via boat from Turkey to Greecewill be deported back to Turkey. Only those who can prove that they would be persecuted in Turkey can obtain asylum in Greece. Once in Greece, they are interned until their applications for asylum are processed; most are denied and sent back to Turkey.

The nearly 5 million refugees and immigrants who live in Turkey amount to a significant fraction of the approximately 79.5 million refugees fleeing imperialist war and poverty around the globe.

It is a critical task of the international working class, in particular in Turkey and Greece, to defend refugees. They must be released from detention camps, receive medical care and obtain full democratic rights, including citizenship rights. They must have the right to settle in the country of their choice and study, live, and work as they please.
With tens of millions of workers facing the triple threat of the cutoff of the $600 weekly federal supplement to their state unemployment compensation, the resumption of evictions in most states, and a renewed upsurge in the coronavirus pandemic, the response of the US Congress was to go on vacation.

The Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate adjourned July 3 without taking up an extension of the $600 weekly supplement provided in the CARES Act, which is set to expire on July 25. Congress will not return to work until Monday, July 20, and there is little prospect that the full supplement will be extended, given intransigent opposition from corporate America, which has branded the payments a disincentive to forcing workers back into unsafe workplaces.

The $600 supplement has been a lifeline for tens of millions of workers thrown onto unemployment lines by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis. Large numbers of workers, particularly those in part-time and other contingent forms of work, actually saw an increase in income, because combined state and federal benefits brought them up to nearly $1,000 a week--above the official poverty line.

The looming unemployment benefit cutoff coincides with the expiration of temporary eviction moratoriums in 20 states, including Texas and Wisconsin. Eviction bans in nine others are set to expire by the end of the month, as well as the federal ban, which affects only properties insured or underwritten through federal agencies. A study by the real estate firm Amherst projects that almost 28 million households are at risk of eviction due to job losses related to the pandemic.

The Trump administration and most congressional Republicans are opposing renewal of the $600 unemployment supplement, proposing either a complete cutoff, an extension at a much lower level, or the transformation of the unemployment benefit into an incentive bonus for going back to workessentially paying workers to risk their lives and the lives of their families and friends under conditions of a worsening pandemic.

The same options have been embraced by sections of the Democratic Party, with at least one prominent Democrat, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a multimillionaire, telling a local Chamber of Commerce that the $600 benefit discourages work. Some Senate Democrats have proposed to extend the supplement at lower levels indexed to the official unemployment rate (which grossly undercounts the actual jobless toll).

The House of Representatives passed an extension of the $600 benefit into early 2021, but the vote in May on the so-called Heroes Act was purely for show. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders knew the bill would go nowhere given Republican opposition. The vote allowed them to proclaim their sympathy with struggling workers at zero cost.

The 18 days until the cutoff will be consumed by backroom horse-trading between the House Democrats, the Senate Republicans and the White House, with all factions vying for the support of Wall Street and big business.

Since the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the response of all factions of the US ruling establishment has been to prioritize support for Wall Street. After enacting a multitrillion-dollar bailout of the big corporations, they soon dropped efforts to contain the pandemic as well as measures to further ameliorate its economic impact on workers.

The end of the federal $600 unemployment supplement would plunge millions of families overnight into poverty, under conditions where there are 19.3 million people drawing jobless benefits, compared to just 1.7 million in early March. That number is three times higher than the peak during the 2008-2009 Great Recession.

Jobless benefits vary widely state by state, but generally provide only a fraction of prior wages. In Florida, for example, the maximum weekly benefit is a starvation level $275.

More than one million new claims for unemployment have been filed in each of the past 16 weeks, another staggering number that speaks to the depth of the economic catastrophe engulfing the US.

Adding to the hardship, food prices are rising at the fastest rate in 50 years. The Consumer Price Index for food is up 3.4 percent and accelerating, but it is much higher for staple goods like canned food and pasta.

Perhaps the most immediate threat to large numbers of working class families hit hard by unemployment is that they have been unable to make rent payments in April, May and June, and now face the threat of imminent eviction and homelessness. A similar situation confronts millions of homeowners who face foreclosure.

The COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project based in Colorado warned that 20 percent of the 110 million renters in the US are at risk of eviction by September 30, some 500,000 in the state of Colorado alone.

Breonne DeDecker, a housing rights advocate in New Orleans, warned, Extra unemployment is going to expire, and the CARES Act protections are going to expire, and we are going to see a huge public health and housing crisis the likes we havent seen since immediately post Katrina. DeDecker added, Ultimately, reopening eviction court without ensuring that tenants can actually deal with their accumulated rent debts is a disaster.

Eviction filings through June 27 were up 13 percent compared with previous years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The state lifted a foreclosure moratorium in late May.

An eviction moratorium in Pennsylvania expires July 10 and the one in Michigan expires July 15. In Arizona, currently the site of a major coronavirus resurgence, the statewide ban on evictions expires July 22.

Pennsylvania housing advocates expect a surge of evictions when the moratorium expires. Kenneth Pick, executive director of the Berks County redevelopment authority in the city of Reading, warned that the end of the moratorium could lead to a surge in evictions and a potential homelessness crisis.

We think there will be a considerably large number of people facing eviction when the moratorium is finally lifted, he said, adding that the numbers still were not clear. No one has been able to figure it out because no one has been able to file evictions.

A study by the Urban Institute estimated that there were 8.9 million renter households where at least one person lost a job between February and April. Many of these households were already in precarious financial straits and could face eviction once moratoriums end.

The economic fallout from the pandemic has been especially severe for immigrant workers, who are not eligible for unemployment benefits and may fear to challenge evictions due to their immigration status.

The threat of mass impoverishment for millions of unemployed workers takes place under conditions of rising social anger expressed in the mass protests over police violence and job actions by autoworkers, nurses and other sections of workers over lack of protection from the spread of COVID-19.

This poses the necessity for the working class to establish its political independence from the parties of big business and advance a socialist program directed against the capitalist system, whose only solution to the mounting crisis is war and social reaction. No progressive resolution to the present crisis is possible except by breaking the stranglehold of Wall Street over economic and political life.
Amid the worst coronavirus outbreak in Australia since late March, the Labor government in the most affected state, Victoria, had planned to send teachers, school staff and students back into classrooms when holidays end on July 13. Late today, as COVID-19 infections hit a new peak, Premier Daniel Andrews announced a partial one-week extension of the school holidays for some students in Melbourne, but not the rest of the state.

The delay in reopening schools in no way changes the reckless and dangerous character of government policy and must be opposed. The Committee for Public Education calls on teachers, parents and school workers to organise safety action committees and demand the suspension of the school system in the state as part of a comprehensive public health and safety plan to protect the working class.

Across Australia and internationally, teachers and workers need to form rank-and-file safety committees to take action to bring the worsening pandemic under control. Mass action by the working class, coordinated on a global scale, is necessary to save millions of lives that are now at risk.

Term 2 in Victoria concluded on June 26, just as community transmission of COVID-19 began to escalate in several working-class suburbs of northern and western Melbourne. On June 30, the state Labor government of Premier Daniel Andrews announced a month-long partial stay at home lockdown affecting 36 Melbourne suburbs and around 311,000 residents.

On July 3, three inner suburbs were added to the lockdown list, including nine high-rise public housing estates. For at least five days a hard lockdown is being imposed on more than 3,000 residents, who will be literally locked inside their flats in those estates. Hundreds of police are now stopping people entering and leaving these areas.

In the past three weeks, more than 33 schools and a dozen kindergartens have been closed across Melbourne due to students and educators testing positive to COVID-19. The outbreaks were initially contained within northern, western and southeastern suburbs but now new outbreaks have been revealed in outer west and inner suburban schools. Since June 26, 24 schools have closed for deep cleaning, with several schools and childcare centres experiencing two or three outbreaks.

At Al-Taqwa College in the outer-west, which has 2,000 students and 300 staff, 90 students and staff members have tested positive. The college is the first school community to be placed into quarantine, with all students and staff being tested for COVID-19 and self-isolating for 14 days.

Despite this extraordinary situation, the state government, backed by the federal Liberal-National government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Australian Education Union (AEU), insists that it is safe for all primary and secondary schools to resume next week.

Preparations to railroad teachers back into schools are based, not on considerations of public safety, but economic production and corporate profit. The political establishment regards keeping the schools open as critical to ensure that coronavirus response measures do not adversely affect big business. Teachers and school staff are being treated as expendable child minders, used to ensure that their students parents can continue to attend workplaces.

The months-long misinformation campaign of Morrison and Andrews, insisting that opening schools amid a pandemic is safe because children are less susceptible and less infectious than adults, has been thoroughly exposed. Last week, Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton acknowledged there was worrying evidence of student-to-student and teacher-to-teacher, especially teacher-to-teacher, transmission.

Just two days earlier, Andrews had declared: We are seeing no real evidence of transmission between kids and adults [and] no real evidence that school attendance is a big driver of the spike in cases.

The government and the media are clearly attempting to downplay the seriousness of the situation. There are no published government tallies of the total number of school closures, nor are the numbers of teachers and students testing positive consistently released. In recent weeks, nearly every day, the media has announced school closures daily but then quickly dropped the news of each outbreak. Such is the lack of information that parents are ringing talk-back radio to report school closures that governments have not announced.

In these circumstances, the claim by state and federal governments that reopening schools remains safe, expresses their complete indifference toward the lives of educators and students. Numerous experiences internationally underscore the dangers. In Israel, to take just one example, in early June, just two weeks after returning to full schooling, more than 100 schools had to be closed again as COVID-19 infections rapidly spread, including in one school where 116 students and 14 teachers got sick.

While children are less susceptible to serious COVID-19 symptoms than older people, they are not immune. Medical scientists also are continuing to investigate a serious and painful coronavirus-related disease affecting some young children, known as multisystem inflammation syndrome (MIS-C), which in the US has required intensive care treatment for previously healthy children.

The out-of-control catastrophe now unfolding in the US, Brazil, India, the UK and many other countries underscores the danger of initially low COVID-19 infection rates escalating dramatically as a consequence of government inaction and indifference.

In New South Wales, the most populous Australian state, school outbreaks are reportedly fewer than in Victoria, at this stage, with seven schools closed since a full return to face-to-face teaching. COVID-19 is not contained by state borders, however, nor stopped at the school gate. The rapid spread in Victoria is warning to school staff and parents in every state and territory.

Teachers cannot simply wait upon events. Nor can they place any trust in the teacher unions. The primary function of the union bureaucracy throughout the pandemic has been as a messenger for state and federal governments, and their education departments. Up until late last week, despite the wave of school outbreaks, the union had not uttered a word of concern. This is despite the fraudulent claims of AEU president Meredith Peace, in the latest union magazine, that the health and safety of members has been top of the list.

Last week, Peace made the extraordinary statement, reported in the Age, that schools had not experienced significant problems with transmission after returning from remote learning. Asked about the possibility of temperature checks in schools, she said the jury was out on whether this was an effective measure. At this point, the AEU has made clear its support for the scheduled reopening of the schools on July 13. At every step, the AEU has backed the government, without a word of criticism, contemptuously dismissing through its actions the concerns and anger that have emerged among its members.

From the beginning of the pandemic, the Committee for Public Education has sought to mobilise teachers independently of the union and employers.

Our campaign in defence of teacher and student safetygrounded on the best available scientific knowledge and prioritising the needs of the working class over the demands of the corporate elitehas been vindicated by the latest developments. On March 18, as national daily new coronavirus infections neared their peak of that month, the CFPE issued a public statement demanding, among a range of comprehensive emergency measures, the immediate suspension of the education system, including primary and secondary schools, universities, tertiary education institutions and child-care centres, as an emergency step to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

On May 28, as state governments were rushing to reopen the schools, the CFPE issued a statement demanding that school systems must be closed in states and territories where community transmission is underway.

These demands were issued not as pleas to the state and federal governments but as calls for action from below. The CFPE reiterates our call for teachers, parents and education workers to form safety action committees in every school in Australia. Contact the CFPE and we will extend every assistance in this necessary work!

The situation is especially urgent in Melbourne, the current epicentre of the pandemic in Australia. Teachers cannot allow themselves to be used as guinea pigs in an experiment that is ultimately aimed at ensuring the continued flow of corporate profits. Teachers must use the time provided by the term break to develop the widest democratic discussion among themselves, sharing accurate scientific information and forming the closest connections between schools, parents and the community as action committees are built.

These committees also will need to discuss the complex series of measures necessary to support families and working-class communities as schools remain closed until the coronavirus pandemic is contained. The guiding principle must be that the provision of the necessary financial, logistical, medical and other support is not an individual or a family-based responsibility, but a social responsibility. This will require substantial additional public expenditure on social and medical infrastructure.

Enormous sums are availableas the governments aggressive $270 billion military expansion announced last week demonstrates. But directing the resources required to defeat the coronavirus pandemic, and to provide a universal, high quality public education system for all, requires a struggle against the capitalist profit system and all its political defenders.

We encourage all teachers seeking to fight to contact the CFPE:

Email: cfpe.aus@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/commforpubliceducation

Twitter: @CFPE_Australia

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Broader reopening of the schools in the UK leads to spread of COVID-19 infections

[30 June 2020]

Parents speak out about the rushed reopening of the schools in Australia

[16 June 2020]
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday announced a phased reopening of the country, with the resumption of international flights from August 1 as well as the lifting of internal travel restrictions.

The move comes as pressure mounts to kickstart the countrys ailing economy after nearly four months of coronavirus restrictions that have devastated key industries such as tourism.

Kenyatta said in a televised address that international air travel into and out of the territory of Kenya shall resume effective 1 August 2020.

He also announced that a ban on movement in and out of the capital Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and northeastern Mandera, would be lifted from July 15.

However, a curfew from 9pm to 4am will remain in place for another 30 days.

Kenya has recorded just over 8,000 cases of the virus and 164 deaths  the highest official figures in East Africa  and has seen a steep increase in numbers in recent weeks, with a fatality rate of 2.09 percent.

Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe on Sunday warned our healthcare facilities risk being overwhelmed.

Fewer than 200,000 people have been tested in the population of 47 million people.

 Reopening conditional 

In June, Kenyatta had said that before lifting restrictions, the country would need to have contained infections with numbers headed downwards; the health care system must be prepared to deal with a surge in infections; and the capacity for surveillance and contact tracing must be in place.

He said Monday that experts looking at those conditions determined we have not met the irreducible minimum 100%.

However, they agreed we have reached a reasonable level of preparedness across the country to allow us to reopen, he said.

Kenyatta also warned the reopening was conditional.

Any trends that signal a worsening of the pandemic, we will have no choice but to return to the lockdown, he said.

Kenyatta also announced that places of worship will be allowed to reopen, but with a maximum of 100 people attending.

He urged citizens to continue to implement social distancing, and to avoid travel as much as possible, asking them to, exercise cautious optimism and avoid reckless abandon.

Like many nations in East Africa, Kenya took swift action to combat the coronavirus, closing its borders on March 25 when it had only 25 cases, shutting schools and imposing a curfew while advising people to work from home.

The restrictions were a blow to millions of poor in the city who live hand to mouth.

Jobs have been lost, businesses have closed and livelihoods endangered. And this is the sorry state of things the world over, said Kenyatta.

In recent weeks Nairobi has become busier, with traffic jams returning to the streets of the capital and restaurants re-opening.

Masks are obligatory in the country, but Kagwe has warned of increasing laxity which he said could spell disaster in coming days.

We have observed that many of our people are going about their everyday activities as if we are in normal times, he said Sunday, citing overloaded public transport and house parties.

SOURCE> AFP
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) held the partys first election rally for the 2020 general Sri Lankan elections streamed on its Facebook page on June 28. The SEP is fielding a total of 43 candidates in the Colombo, Jaffna and Nuwara Eliya districts. The elections are scheduled for August 5.

The meeting was addressed by SEP General Secretary Wije Dias, leading election candidates and a member of IYSSE. Around 100 people from Sri Lanka and internationally participated in the event. About 2,000 have since viewed the video, with many added greetings or comments.

A screenshot from the online meeting

Vilani Peiris, a longstanding SEP member and the leader of the Colombo district party slate, chaired the meeting. She said that President Gotabhaya Rajapakse and his Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) hope to win a two-thirds majority in the parliament in order to rewrite the constitution and allow him to assume dictatorial powers.

The official opposition parties, she said, have only minor tactical differences with Rajapakse. She pointed out that the pseudo-left organisations aid the capitalist parties.

The Nava Sama Samaja Party leader Wickremabahu Karunaratne is contesting the election under the banner of pro-imperialist United National Party. The Frontline Socialist Party has expressed readiness to rally with progressive elements in right-wing parties to defend democracy. In its election campaign the SEP oppose all these parties and fights for political independence of the working class and for socialist policies.

W.A Sunil, a member of the SEP Political Committee and a candidate in the Colombo district, said that big business, with the Rajapakse governments support, is carrying out massive job and wage cuts in order to impose the economic burden of pandemic crisis on all working people. He explained how the trade unions were active partners in this onslaught.

SEP Political Committee member M. Thevarajah is leading the SEPs list in the Nuwara Eliya district. He told the meeting how the government and the corporations are forcing employees back to work without proper COVID-19 protection and health care facilities.

Plantation employers, with the assistance of unions, have cut wages and increased workloads. Sporadic struggles have erupted, he said, noting that workers at one estate in Maskeliya are fighting to form an action committee to defend their wages and conditions.

Speaking on behalf of the IYSSE, Prageeth Aravinda said that the hurried re-opening of the economy has increased the threat to the lives of young people worldwide.

Young workers face economic disaster due to job cuts amid COVID-19, he said, adding that the government decision to re-open schools without providing proper coronavirus protection was putting students as well as teachers at risk. Youth and students can only defend their right to education and proper health care by uniting in a struggle to develop an independent political movement of the working class, he said.

Wije Dias, delivering the final speech, said that COVID-19 has exposed the viciousness of the international capitalist system before the masses in every country. The explosion of world capitalist crisis, which began with the crisis of international banking and financial system in 2008, has been aggravated to an unprecedented level by the pandemic.

Dias pointed out that the international working class had started to resist government and company demands that they ignore the dangers posed by COVID-19 and return to work.

Broad sections of the working class, particularly in the auto industry in US, are recognising that neither the trade unions nor any bourgeois party will come to their aid in this life-threatening situation. Workers have taken the initiative to organise independent rank-and-file committees to defend their jobs and their lives, he said.

As workers resistance increases, Dias continued, President Donald Trump is intensifying his social counter-revolutionary measures at home and his war policy abroad.

This is the political context of the elections in Sri Lanka. Under these conditions, where there is no democratic environment, a fair election is not possible. Exploiting the pandemic, President Rajapakses government has intensified its moves towards a presidential dictatorship, Dias said.

The speaker explained said that Rajapakse had won the presidential election by exploiting the mass anger against Sirisena and Wickremesinghes so-called good governance administration. He promised disciplined and efficient rule. These promises have been exposed in the first six months of his regime as bogus.

The Sri Lankan ruling class is well aware that it will face insurmountable political challenges from the broad resistance developing among the working class, rural poor and youth to the austerity program that it will implement in the coming months. Preparing for this development, Rajapakse has placed retired and in-service military officers in almost all key centres of power and called for a two-thirds parliamentary majority at this general election.

Pointing to dangers facing the working class and the SEP, Dias said: The real meaning of the efficiency intended by the Rajapakse regime was exposed when we posed some questions to the secretary of the Defence Ministry, retired major general Kamal Gunaratne, about the harassment of three SEP candidates contesting the election in the Jaffna district.

On three different occasions, men from the military intelligence unit have visited our comrades homes and demanded they provide personal information about themselves and their families.

Dais explained that the SEP sent its first letter to the defence secretary on June 20 and demanded a prompt reply.

No reply has been received, not even an acknowledgement, let alone an explanation for the illegal intervention by the military against the SEPs constitutionally guaranteed rights. The lesson is that Rajapakses efficiency only applies to its suppression of democratic rights.

The military harassment and witch hunt against the SEP is because the ruling elite knows that it is the only party that opposes the continued military occupation of the North and East. The SEP is also the only party that fights for the release of all political prisoners and campaigns for a proper accounting of the forcible disappearances of people during the war, he said.

The speaker reviewed the political role of the pseudo-lefts and particularly the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) leaders who attempt to hoodwink the working people and youth. They call for a common platform of all those interested in democracy, in the name of defending democratic rights. This is like the reactionary and fraudulent campaign conducted by the Nava Sama Samaja Party and the United Socialist Party in protest against the murders carried out during the former Mahinda Rajapakse regime. These organisations established a platform of freedom and used it to promote the right-wing [UNP leader] Ranil Wickremesinghe as a defender of freedom, thus paving the way for him to become prime minister in 2015

They did not divulge whose freedom they defend Likewise, the FSP does not speak about this in their agitation for democracy. Their abstract slogans for freedom or democracy are political traps for the working people and youth.

There are burning issues in relation to the democratic rights of people in Sri Lanka. This is because it is a capitalist country, with a historically belated development, and therefore has many unresolved democratic problems. We of the Fourth International, basing ourselves on Trotskys theory of Permanent Revolution, insist that these democratic problems can find no solutions under capitalist rule.

Solutions to these questions can only be achieved under a dictatorship of the working class, Dias said. He explained that the reformists, pseudo-lefts and the trade union bureaucracies, which tail end one or another one of the bourgeois parties, block this path.

Thirty years of war in Sri Lanka, has added new democratic problems for the oppressed Tamil community in the North and East. Large areas of agricultural lands cultivated for many generations by the Tamil community have been grabbed by the military and exploited under their control. Other land is used for military camps. Only a workers and peasants government can address these democratic issues.

Dias urged listeners to read and discuss the SEPs international socialist program. We propose the building of action committees in all workplaces and agricultural areas, as well as in education and cultural sectors, to fight for the fundamental demands of the respective sectors in the struggle for a socialist program.

Dias concluded by explaining that the SEP are producing four newsletters (panivida) for workers in the garment, health, education and immigrant sectors and called on all workers in these areas to register as subscribers for their respective panivida.

The SEP is dedicated to the fight for an international socialist perspective within the working class in Sri Lanka and South Asia and we invite all the listeners this meeting to join us in that fight.

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Fight for an international socialist program against war, social devastation and dictatorship

[21 March 2020]
The mass infection at the Tonnies meat processing factory in North Rhine-Westphalian (NRW), where over 1,500 workers became infected with COVID-19, has become a symbol of the ruthlessness with which employers and politicians are exposing the working class to the risk of the pandemic.

A video was made public early on showing how protection against the coronavirus at the Tonnies plant in Rheda-Wiedenbruck was being disregarded. Now the whistle-blower who shared the video is having to fight for her job in court.

Thousands of people are all sitting around one table, the worker said. Thats Tonnies. How can you protect yourself here? The video that circulated on the internet with this comment has circulated around the world. It shows a view into a canteen, where hundreds of employees sit and eat close to each other at the tables: Keeping their distance is impossible.

A screenshot from the Tonnies video

The video was taken by the employee of a catering company that runs the canteen at Tonnies. In the meantime, the worker has been banned from the factory, sacked without notice, and is currently fighting for her job at the Bielefeld Labour Court.

This treatment of a courageous worker, who should have received a prize as a whistle-blower, is of a piece with the actions of employers and politicians of all stripes. To keep business going and make a profit again, they are prepared to do anything, covering up and playing down the extent and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in factories and businesses.

At the same time, the pandemic is running out of control worldwide, and the number of new infections is also rising again in Germany, where the total number of people infected with coronavirus is approaching the 200,000 mark. On Sunday, 196,335 cases of COVID-19 were officially registered, although the number of unreported cases is high because there is still little testing.

More than 9,000 people have died of the virus so far, 21 of them in the district of Gutersloh, where Tonnies is located. Almost 500 people in this district are still ill, with incalculable consequences for their entire lives. Three of them are still being given artificial respiration in various hospitals.

More and more children and young people are also becoming ill with COVID-19. Although over 80 percent of those who die of coronavirus are senior citizens over 70, they make up only 20 percent of the number of people who fall ill. Since the beginning of June, one fifth of all those who fall ill are children and young people in the age group from 0 to 19 years old. This is related to the fact that schools and day-care centres have reopened under unsafe conditions.

Last week, the number of new infections in Germany rose by almost 40 percent compared to the previous week. An analysis by the Guardian, based on data from Oxford University, puts Germany among the 10 countries where a second wave of infection is feared and expected.

Above all, people who work and live in precarious conditions are those being affected. The coronavirus outbreaks of recent weeks in high-rise buildings in Gottingen, Magdeburg and several housing estates in Berlin bear witness to this.

Politicians and the authorities are reacting to this by quarantining people out of sight, suppressing information and keeping quiet. The daily news hardly reports such outbreaks, whereas every relaxation of the protective measures and the opening up of holiday areas is extensively celebrated.

The latest statements by Armin Laschet (Christian Democratic Union, CDU), NRW state premier, are also significant. At his press conference on June 30 he admitted he had relied on the principle that companies would take personal responsibility. In other words, he left it up to the employers whether and how they protected their employees from COVID-19.

Laschet repeated his absurd assertion that the lifting of the lockdown and the opening of businesses in Germany had not provoked a new outbreak of the infection, but that the infections had mainly been brought in from abroad, mostly by returning holidaymakers.

Laschet emphasized that the NRW state government would decide on the reopening of Tonnies according to regulatory actions. The time for cooperation was over, he said. We will now proceed strictly according to law and orderwhich only suggests that law and order had not been applied previously.

The Tonnies scandal has not only exposed the CDU and the close ties between the state government and the meat baron, but also the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Former SPD leader and federal economics minister Sigmar Gabriel was on the payroll of Clemens Tonnies as an adviser from March to May 2020. He is said to have received 10,000 per month plus daily payments and expenses.

During his time as economics minister, Gabriel had described the operation of notorious sub-contractorsand especially the conditions at Tonnies!as a disgrace for Germany. But he is suspected of having held a protective hand over the slaughterhouse giant even back then.

Bild-Zeitung quoted a letter by Robert Tonnies, nephew of the company boss and co-owner of the company. In it, he accuses Gabriel of having saved the meat company from a million-euro fine imposed by the Federal Cartel Office, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economics. In the letter, Robert Tonnies asks whether Gabriels fee can be understood as retrospective reward for advantages enjoyed by the company during the time of his government activity. Gabriel categorically denies the accusation.

Meanwhile, in East Westphalia, Tonnies and the media are trying to play down the conditions that led to the mass illnesses. The video by the caterer, it is said, was already in circulation on March 28, and not in April, under conditions of general lockdown.

What a pathetic argument! It had been known at the latest since the end of February that the highly contagious pandemic was also raging in the country and spreading at breakneck speed. The curve of infection cases also rose exponentially in Germany. The horrific images from the overcrowded hospitals in northern Italy had been circulating since mid-March at the latest, and on March 22, the state of NRW issued a decree that a minimum distance of 1.5 metres must be maintained at workplaces as well.

Several Romanian workers have confirmed in a film by broadcaster ntv.de that they were unable to maintain such a distance at Tonnies, even during the pandemic. One worker told his family that he had to work even when he was already sick. Another former Tonnies worker described how cramped the factory was until the very end: In a space of only two metres, four of us stood at the conveyor belt, she reported.
There is mounting anger over the Victorian state Labor governments decision to impose a hard police lockdown on some 3,000 residents in nine inner-city Melbourne public housing towers.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Saturday afternoon that the residents would not be permitted to leave their apartments for a minimum of five days and as long as two weeks. The unprecedented move, backed by the federal Liberal-National government, came as the states surge in coronavirus infections continued to spiral out of control.

Community transmission appears to be rampant, with 191 new cases announced in Victoria today, the highest daily tally since the pandemic began in March. Some 69 residents of the Flemington and North Melbourne towers have tested positive for COVID-19, but health authorities have warned that as many as 300, or 10 percent, may be infected already.

Public housing resident pleads for help (Photo: Instagram - australiaaustraliathisisyou)

Residents in the towers and working people more broadly have condemned the punitive, police-state measures to which the tenants have been subjected. The buildings have been flooded with 500 police officers, but tenants who are sick have not been evacuated and few health or cleaning measures have been put in place to prevent further transmission.

The residents were given just half an hours notice of the lockdown, and some only found out from media reports or when dozens of police arrived. A letter distributed by Victorian authorities in the towers yesterday revealed that the stay-at-home order came into effect at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, some 30 minutes before it was publicly announced.

Some residents have said officers were already in place before Andrews made the announcement. The police claimed not to know what was taking place, but said they had been instructed to prevent residents from leaving their buildings.

In comments to the press and on social media, many tenants have spoken out about the lack of adequate services and food.

Lucy, a single mother, is locked in a three-bedroom apartment with her seven children. Because there was no notice of the lockdown, she had limited supplies of meat, but no vegetables or milk. She was provided with a phone number to ask for supplies.

She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): I was waiting all day and all night [on Sunday] and they came at midnight. I opened the door and it was one soup packet and five meat pies and that was it Its not enough for eight people in the houseI will give it to my kids and Ill be left here starving myself.

Amr Osman, a young worker, began sharing his experiences on Twitter shortly after the lockdown was imposed.

On Sunday, Osman wrote that just 25 to 30 boxes of food supplies had been provided to his tower, which has hundreds of residents. He said that they contained 3 tuna cans, [a] packet of pasta, tomato paste. On Monday, he tweeted that the government had literally left single mums with 4 to 5 little babies with no baby formula, no milk and no bread.

At least in the first two days of the lockdown, the food packages were dumped in a communal area of Osmans building. The residents were not notified, so some did not know there were supplies. Osman wrote: Im literally nearly in tears from the amount of mothers me and the boys distributed food to that were crying when we gave them food.

Food supplied to feed a household of six people (Photo: Facebook - Dima Abdu)

The decision to place food in foyers calls into question the stated purpose of the lockdown. It contradicts the Victorian governments declaration that it is essential for residents to stay within their own apartments to prevent mass transmission in the crowded towers.

Other residents said they only began to receive sufficient food on Monday, some 36 hours into the lockdown. This coincided with supplies being brought in by charity groups. In other words, it appears that the government had not secured sufficient foodstuffs for the residents, before forcing them to stay inside.

Reports are continuing to emerge of Muslim residents being given pork products and of some food being out-of-date or nutritionally inadequate. Because it is a hard lockdown, friends and relatives have been unable to bring supplies to their loved ones. Community groups have been compelled to organise deliveries of culturally-appropriate foods, sourced from local restaurants.

In at least some of the towers, food donations from mosques and other community organisations have been confiscated by the police. In an indication that the food supply remains perilous, journalists outside one tower block reported today that a resident began screaming that they were hungry and did not have enough to eat.

Some have voiced fears about access to medication. Janine Kelly, a 50-year-old in one of the Flemington buildings who suffers emphysema, told the Special Broadcasting Service that she had phoned a health department hotline on Sunday to ask for supplies of her medication. As of Monday night, she still had received no reply. She also had not been tested for COVID-19, despite being in an at-risk demographic.

Others said they have not been able to get through to government hotlines. It was left to the residents themselves to translate information on the lockdown and necessary preventative measures into ten written languages and five oral dialects.

There are growing concerns over the mental health consequences of the lockdown and the lack of information. The towers are home to some of the most vulnerable layers of the population, including refugees who have fled wars and oppression, non-English speaking migrants, and workers and young with complex addiction and psychological issues.

Ahmed Dini, a 32-year-old who lives in one of the North Melbourne towers, told the ABC there was no trust between the authorities and the residents. We should have seen buses and cars full of healthcare and mental health workers and social workers, not the police, he said.

Dini explained: [W]e know some people who use drugs and substances and have been locked away and will go into withdrawal which could spark domestic violence. We need people to make mental health calls; we are asking for counsellors to share their numbers so people can call them directly. Im scared the longer we go, the more [mental health] problems we are going to have.

Others pointed to the repressive character of the massive police mobilisation. Tekeste Hailu, a 27-year-old who lives with his elderly grandmother, told the ABC that people in the towers were scared of the police.

Hailu noted that many residents, including himself, are of African descent. The police have been at the forefront of a years-long witch-hunt by the political and media establishment, falsely demonising African youth as gang members, and routinely harassing them.

Especially with whats happening in the current situation with the police and the African background, all the youths are very terrified of the police, Hailu said. Now theyre coming around, getting them to be under a lockdown, its obviously going to trigger a lot of trauma.

Hailu said residents would have been willing to stay at home and be tested, instead of just bombarding us with 500 police at once and locking us down There was no time to have air or anything, the basic human rights. No food, no nothing, they just sent us to lockdown.

The dangers of a state crackdown were underscored yesterday, when a 32-year-old man attempted to flee one of the Flemington blocks. He was arrested and has been charged with assaulting police, resisting arrest and violating health orders.

The lockdown reveals the class character of the official response to the pandemic. Over the past month, restrictions have been prematurely lifted to ensure the profits of big business. Now that government policies have resulted in a surge of infections, the most vulnerable sections of the working class are being subjected to police-state measures.

The poor conditions in the apartments, moreover, are an indictment of successive Liberal-National and Labor governments. They have deliberately run down existing public housing blocks and failed to build new stocks. This is part of a broader austerity offensive to cut social spending and restructure society to boost corporate profit.
United States

California farm workers strike over COVID-19 infections

Non-union pistachio workers began picketing June 25 in the town of Wasco, California, after discovering via a television report that their fellow workers tested positive for COVID-19. They continue to hide everything from us, Veronica Perez told the Associated Press. All we are asking is that all our rights are fulfilled and they treat us as essential workers and give us a safe place to work.

Perez says Primex Farms, which harvests pistachios from a 5,000-acre operation, held no meeting to alert workers of the infections and only began providing masks recently. Previously, they would only sell masks for $8 each.

Primex has publicly admitted to 31 cases of COVID-19, but subsequent reports now place the number of infected workers at 76. Some 50 out of 400 workers launched their protest and have voted each day to continue picketing in Wasco. As a result, the company has finally shut down their operation for deep cleaning.

Unions file lawsuit against Las Vegas, Nevada casinos over major failure to protect workers from coronavirus

Two Las Vegas unions filed suit last week against three major casino companies in US District Court charging management failed to notify workers of COVID-19 infections and did not immediately shut down areas of infection or conduct contact tracing, and alleging cases where the casinos did not put up plexiglass safety barriers in specific areas. Local 226 of the Culinary Union and Bartenders Union Local 165 launched the suit under conditions where the coronavirus has caused the deaths of at least 19 union members and their dependents in the period since March 1.

The lawsuit describes the incredible incompetence of management in the case of Sixto Zermeno, a bellman at The Signature at the MGM Grand casino. Upon contracting COVID-19, Zermeno immediately called in succession the front-line manager, front-desk manager and general manager. From there he was passed off to the scheduling system which informed him they were not responsible and he was told to call MGM Resorts corporate office. The corporate office conducted no inquiry about possible contacts with coworkers and provided no guidance.

The lawsuit, which seeks injunctive relief, alleges that the Las Vegas Casinos reopened June 4 with lax rules and procedures and provided workers with flatly false information about how COVID-19 spreads and what its symptoms are, in an effort to keep workers on the job and revenues flowing.

Canada

Montreal dockworkers launch limited strike

Longshoremen, heavy equipment operators, mechanics and ships helpers at the Port of Montreal conducted a 40-hour strike last week to press their demands for a new contract that addresses the oppressive working conditions on the docks. There are 1,125 workers in the Canadian Union of Public Employees bargaining unit. The strike was the outcome of lengthy government-union negotiations aimed at ensuring that the action would have the minimum impact possible, with only a portion of the workforce allowed to participate due to essential services regulations.

Over the past 20 months the workers have three times voted overwhelmingly for strike action. Yet until last week no strike had taken place as the union bowed to employer interference and federal government foot-dragging in the strike authorization process.

In the current negotiations a number of grievances have been highlighted for remediation. Current scheduling practices force workers to labor 19 days out of every 21. Due to the expansion in the volume of imports and exports at the port, the Maritime Employers Association has insisted on a three-fold increase in the pace of work during weekend shifts. In addition, a vicious disciplinary regime has resulted since the last contract was signed in 2013. There have been more than 30 firings and over 1,000 suspension days levied against members who have resisted the brutal working conditions.

After the first strike vote in December 2018, the Canada Industrial Relations Board convened to decide which, if any, essential products would be declared for the various cargoes regularly loaded and unloaded at the port. Federal regulations allow for any service necessary to prevent imminent and serious danger to the health and safety of the public to be designated as essential. Brazenly, the Maritime Employers Association had insisted that all tasks performed by the dockworkers fall under an essential designation.

Latin America

Belizean port workers protest wage cut

Workers for the Port of Belize Limited (PBL) began daily one-hour protests in front of the port in Belize City July 1. The port workers, members of the Christian Workers Union (CWU), chanted and held picket signs denouncing a 10 percent wage cut announced by PBL management, who are using the loss of revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic to unload the brunt of the crisis on the workers.

The CWU has called on PBL to make its financial records available to determine if the wage cut is justified. The authorities refused to do so, drawing workers criticisms that the PBL is showing bad faith and disrespect for the workers. A CWU spokesman told reporters that the union wants a tripartite discussion, involving the PBL, CWU and the Labor Ministry, to resolve this tension that we have here.

Ecuadorian unions ratify national protest against anti-worker law

Members of the General Union of Workers of Ecuador (EGTE) voted in assembly July 2 to hold a nationwide protest against the recently passed Humanitarian Aid Law. Ecuadors National Assembly approved the law, presented as an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but numerous organizations oppose it as yet another neoliberal measure to attack labor rights and working class living standards.

A press release by the United Workers Front, to which the UGTE is affiliated, pointed out that the struggle will be legal, juridical, but also in the streets, and therefore, we called it for July 16, in the entire country, against this perverse law and neoliberal policy. Mobilizations, including strikes and marches, will take place in the capital Quito and other cities and will involve organizations of workers, peasants, housewives, teachers and indigenous people.

Other demands of the protests will be the jailing of corrupt officials and defense of retired workers in the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute system.

Teachers in Bolivia picket in defense of public education

Teachers in Cochabamba picketed and held a hunger strike July 1 in front of their union headquarters to demand respect for free education, promotions of categories, the annulment of virtual classes and the firing of Education Minister Victor Hugo Cardenas.

Members of the Confederation of Urban Teachers of Bolivia had taken a similar action on June 29 at the Teachers Social House in La Paz. Both groups denounced Cardenas as incompetent and arrogant in their call for his resignation.

Regarding the implementation of Supreme Decree 4260, which legalizes and regulates virtual education, a Confederation statement explained that it opposes the decree because it is rather ambiguous and unconstitutional when it indicates that the state will not derogate an additional amount, being that education is the priority of the state. The teachers fear that the decree will further open the door for the privatization of education.

Chilean supermarket workers strike over pay, pandemic response

Employees of the Unimarc supermarket chain in three Chilean communitiesArica, Parinacota and Tarapacawent on strike July 3. About 760 members of the workers union voted in favor of the action due to the inadequacy of managements offer. The walkout resulted in the closure of 10 Unimarc stores.

The offer would have raised monthly wages for part-timers by between 2,200 and 7,000 pesos (US$2.74 and $8.72), while the union was asking for between 30,000 and 35,000 (US$37 and US$44), which is nothing considering that the supermarkets have gained a lot in the framework of the pandemic, said union president Manuel Jeria.

According to Jeria, almost 70 percent of the workers earn less than 350,000 pesos [US$436]; we have a workforce that is 80 percent women, homeowners, the majority of supermarkets have older adults and we hope that the business puts its hand on its heart and invests in workers.

Workers have also complained that Unimarc has not invested in adequate PPE or taken necessary measures in response to the pandemic, exposing workers to risk of infection.
As the nation confronts a pandemic, high unemployment and social unrest in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing, Americans are desperately seeking adult presidential leadership to right the ship of state and reassure them about their future.

Instead, Americans receive never-ending rants from a detached president during this moment of crisis. President Donald Trump obsesses over perceived personal affronts, petty grievances, slights, betrayals and matters not relevant to issues crying out for serious, measured responses.

Worse, Trump has undermined his own administration's attempts to guide us through the pandemic with absurd, science-denying comments over the possible benefits of injecting disinfectant and the perils of excessive Covid-19 testing. He has further plunged the country into a completely counterproductive debate by politicizing the wearing of masks.

This president has the attention span of a gnat. Trump couples that with an alarming ignorance of American history and a complete disinterest in matters of public policy. He has focused on defending military bases named for Confederate traitors and fighting the release of tell-all books by his former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, and his niece, Mary Trump.

Bolton's book is both shocking and unsurprising as he lays out Trump's misdeeds, unfitness, and incompetence in the performance of his presidential duties. Mary Trump, whose book has yet to be released, tells readers everything they need to know in the title: "Too Much and Never Enough, How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man."

Trump demands loyalty yet inspires none outside of his immediate family.

According to a recent Monmouth University poll, the president's approval rating has dropped to 41%, and he is polling behind Joe Biden by 12 points. With numbers like these, the GOP must brace itself for what could easily be a devastating election night on November 2nd.

This would likely take down the Senate, much as Trump cost the GOP House in 2018. The never-ending disruptive chaos and daily White House inanities reflected in these dismal numbers have finally caught up to the president.

The GOP must return to the politics of inclusion and addition, not exclusion and subtraction. The demographic death march on which Trump has led the GOP will result in an electoral train wreck unless the party changes course. Rather than denying demographic reality, try embracing it by reaching out and broadening the appeal to constituencies beyond a shrinking base.

Speaking to people of color, religious minorities and the LGBTQ community will demand a policy platform that is socially tolerant and sensible, constructively engaged on the international stage and supports reasonably regulated free markets.

Trump and "Trumpism" make it virtually impossible to accomplish these objectives with the constant policy and rhetorical drumbeat of xenophobia, nativism, isolationism, protectionism, and, at times, nihilism. Trumpism's glorification and celebration of ignorance, demagoguery, and wanton cruelty is no way to build a party platform and governing majorities on a national basis.

Social tolerance means accepting a diversity of views on issues like reproductive rights, support of LGBTQ issues, immigration reform and universal background checks.

As one of the last two pro-choice House Republicans in 2018 (currently there are none), I understand the political consequences for not strictly conforming to GOP orthodoxy on issues beyond reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood.

I deviated from GOP doctrine on embryonic stem cell research; the outrageous federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo case in 2005; repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell; marriage equality, nondiscrimination and hate crimes protections for the LGBTQ community; legalizing the Dreamer or DACA population; and voicing opposition to unsustainable positions on defunding and repealing Obamacare.

For these and other matters of doctrinal apostasy, I was routinely called a RINO (Republican In Name Only), squish and capitulator by the self-designated chiefs of the Republican/Conservative purity police, who much prefer excommunication to conversion  even though the positions I held were broadly supported by the American people.

These self-righteous, sanctimonious frauds have revealed themselves as phonies in the Trump era and have abandoned any pretense of fidelity to principle or good character. Ratings, clicks, cash and access trump all else.

On the international stage, the GOP must reengage with traditional democratic allies, isolate hostile foreign actors and stop the assault on the American-led, rules-based order and multilateral institutions, imperfect as they are, that have largely advanced the national interest over the past 75 years.

Never in my lifetime could I have imagined an American president manipulated so easily and ignominiously by a Russian autocrat to advance Russian national interests. Trump insults faithful democratic allies, undercutting the intelligence community, attacking NATO and condemning the European Union.

More astonishing is Trump's passive, non-response to reported Russian bounty payments made to Taliban insurgents who killed American troops in Afghanistan, about which Trump said he wasn't even briefed because the intelligence was inconclusive. If this doesn't succeed in offending Republican sensibilities, nothing will.

Walking away from agreements on trade and climate change will not solve problems. Trashing multilateral organizations and alliances does not protect American interests, as the world is not self-ordering absent American leadership and engagement.

America First, a term fraught with historical baggage, increasingly feels like America Alone. At a time when there is a bipartisan and international consensus on Chinese trade and human rights abuses, Trump is simply incapable of marshaling friends, partners and allies to address this common threat.

By isolating America and failing to advocate for democratic values, containing China becomes an even more daunting and delicate undertaking. The GOP must help America reclaim the mantle of global leadership. The alternative will be a globally destabilizing political vacuum filled by nations and actors that do not share our values or interests. Whatever its faults, Pax Americana beats all the other alternatives.

With an increasingly leftward-drifting Democratic Party under pressure from extreme elements, there is an opportunity for the GOP to speak to the political center of the country. That, however, requires serious, constructive engagement on issues like climate change, immigration, gun safety and other issues not traditionally in the Republican wheelhouse or comfort zone.

As the far-left wing of the Democratic Party continues down a frightening path openly hostile to industrial and agricultural America with policies like the Green New Deal or abolishing ICE, the time to engage and offer real policy alternatives is here and now.

Sadly, Trumpism is simply unable and incapable of responding with the kind of leadership this moment demands. Republicans find themselves left with the leader of Abraham Lincoln's party defending confederate statuary and waging war on masks during a pandemic. It saddens me deeply that an electoral disaster might be the impetus to force a desperately needed course correction.

After Mitt Romney's unsuccessful 2012 presidential race, the Republican National Committee wisely performed a very useful autopsy that identified ways to broaden the GOP's base and appeal to new voters. The GOP discarded those findings.

Instead, a program and platform tailored to the whims of one hopelessly uninformed and unfit individual took their place. If there is a 2020 Democratic electoral rout, there won't be a need for another GOP autopsy. Everyone already knows what -- and who -- killed the patient.
No matter what happens this fall, the Republican presidential nomination will be open in 2024.

Which means that even before we find out whether President Donald Trump will be finishing up his second term or Joe Biden will be ending his first, the jockeying for what the post-Trump Republican Party will look like has already begun. (Worth noting: If Trump loses in 2020, there is a non-zero chance he runs again in 2024.)

And Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is one of the earliest movers in that early fight to be the new (or next) face of the GOP.

"After this November election is over, regardless of who wins, there are a large majority of Americans who are completely convinced our political system is fundamentally broken, and they're going to be looking for something different," Hogan told The New York Times in advance of the release of a memoir later this month about his time as a Republican governor in one of the most Democratic states on the country and his battle against cancer while in office. "We have an election coming up -- we'll see what happens there -- but I've been leading the nation's governors through one of the biggest crises in our lifetime."

It's not terribly surprising that Hogan is making sure that he's deeply involved in the conversation about where the Republican Party goes post-Trump. The Maryland governor actively considered a primary challenge to Trump in 2020 before, smartly, deciding against it. (Whatever you think of Trump, beating him in a Republican primary at this moment is impossible.) And he has remained a consistent critic of Trump's leadership style and governance-by-tweet. "His entire administration is telling everyone to take it seriously while he tells everybody to not take it seriously," Hogan told the Times of Trump's response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

But if Hogan's interest in what's next for the party isn't a shock, it is a test. A test, specifically, of whether an anti-Trump lane exists -- or will exist -- in a party that has repeatedly put aside its past beliefs in order to declare fealty to a man who wasn't a Republican up until a few years before he decided to run for president.

Looking at the current state of the party, there's scant evidence that someone with Hogan's profile -- a moderate focused far more on results than ideology, who has been willing to speak out against Trump -- would have much of a chance of winning anything. Former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona was no moderate (he had one of the most conservative voting records during his time in the House and Senate) but he was still driven out of office by Trump after writing a book critical of the President and the broader GOP. Michigan Rep. Justin Amash left the Republican Party -- with a major assist from Trump -- after he publicly declared his support for Trump's impeachment. Amash, like Flake, was one of the most conservative members of Congress by voting record.

To date, the only successful attempt to create a political brand within the GOP built, at least in part, on resistance to Trump is Utah Sen. Mitt Romney. But Romney was a) already a national figure before coming to the Senate in 2018 and b) represents a state that has long been deeply suspicious of Trump's brand of Republicanism.

Now, circumstances change. If, say, Trump not only loses his bid for a second term this fall but also plays a role in Republicans relinquishing their Senate majority and falling further into the minority in the House -- all of which is decidedly possible at the moment -- then the desire for an anti-Trump or some sort of post-Trump figure may well be higher. Maybe significantly so.

Hogan's flirtation with the possibility of a national bid down the line is a bet that whether or not that GOP doomsday scenario comes to pass this fall, there will be room for someone like him, who wants to move the party beyond Donald Trump. That even beyond the "Never Trumpers," which never amounted to enough people to matter within the modern-day Trump GOP, there will be a sizable contingent of Republicans who want a clean break from the Trump years.

It's an intriguing bet. Because what's become abundantly clear over the past year or two is that there will be a whole lot of competition within the Republican Party to be the next Donald Trump come 2024. Vice President Mike Pence will be in that mix, as will Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) -- not to mention the possibility that Donald Trump Jr. or Ivanka Trump signals interest in continuing their father's political legacy.

The "next Trump" lane, in short, is going to get very, very crowded very, very quickly. But Hogan is, at the moment, the only potential future face of the GOP that is fishing in the anti-Trump waters. (Florida Sen. Marco Rubio could try to be in that space, too, although his general support for Trump over the past three years will complicate that effort.)

Of course, for Hogan's bet to pay off, there needs to be an anti-Trump lane within the GOP's 2024 nomination fight. And at the moment, there isn't. But the best politicians are the ones who see where their party and the country is headed (Bill Clinton in 1992, Barack Obama in 2008) before everyone else. Maybe Hogan is that guy.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Police in Bloomington are searching for two people who were in a car that struck a woman, knocking her unconscious, and dragged a man during a protest to demand arrests after a group of white men were caught on video assaulting a Black man at a nearby lake.

Police officers responded to the collision around 9:30 p.m. Monday near the Monroe County Courthouse in downtown Bloomington, Police Cpt. Ryan Pedigo said in an email Tuesday.

A male passenger got out of a red Toyota car and went to move an electric scooter that had been left in the road near the protest site, Pedigo said. A 29-year-old woman approached the car as if to stop it moving forward, placing her hands on the hood, he said.

The driver accelerated into the woman, launching her onto the hood. At that point, a 35-year-old man grabbed the drivers side of the car and held on as the vehicle continued to accelerate. Both were eventually flung to the ground and the car fled the scene, Pedigo said.

The woman was knocked unconscious and suffered a cut to her head, while the man scraped his arm. She was transported by ambulance to a hospital but her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, Pedigo said. Authorities have not released the identities of the two who were injured and nor said if they were participating in the protest.

The red Toyota has not been located and investigators are still trying to determine the identities and location of the male passenger and female driver, police said in a news release.

Several protesters provided police with cellphone footage, Pedigo said.

The protesters had gathered in Bloomington, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Indianapolis, to demand arrests in an assault on Vauhxx Booker, a local civil rights activist and member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, over the Fourth of July weekend.

Vauxx, of Bloomington, said one of the white men who attacked him and pinned him to a tree at Lake Monroe threatened to get a noose. The attackers accused him and his friends of trespassing on private property.

___

Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
(CNN) -- The Trump administration has notified Congress and the United Nations that the United States is formally withdrawing from the World Health Organization, multiple officials tell CNN, a move that comes amid a rising number of coronavirus cases throughout the Americas in the last week alone.

Sen. Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee tweeted the news Tuesday.

"Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the @WHOin the midst of a pandemic. To call Trump's response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice. This won't protect American lives or interestsit leaves Americans sick & America alone," he wrote.

A State Department official confirmed that "the United States' notice of withdrawal, effective July 6, 2021, has been submitted to the UN Secretary-General, who is the depository for the WHO."

The letter addressed to the UN is very short, around three sentences, a source briefed on the correspondence told CNN, and it will trigger a one-year withdrawal timeline. However, this source also cautioned that they cannot confirm they saw the final version of the letter.

The news confirms that the administration intends to move forward with its plan to withdraw from WHO after members of the GOP China task force urged President Donald Trump last month to reconsider his decision to terminate relations with the international body, arguing the US can do more to affect change as a member.

Despite alleging that the World Health Organization "enabled" the Chinese government's sweeping cover-up of the coronavirus pandemic's origins, House Republicans ultimately disagreed with the administration's decision to withdraw from the WHO in a report released last month outlining the findings of a months-long investigation into the virus' origins.

Trump initially announced his intention to withdraw from WHO in May and has consistently accused the organization of aiding China in covering up the origins of the virus. He has also claimed that if the WHO had acted appropriately, he could have instituted a travel ban on people coming from China sooner.

While the move is likely to prompt bipartisan backlash, the decision can be reversed if Trump loses the presidential election in November, a point that was reiterated by a UN diplomat Tuesday.

"Whatever is done now can be reversed in the year to come, because it will not be final," the UN diplomat said, pointing to how long the process of withdrawal will take.

Trump's decision to permanently terminate the US relationship with the WHO follows a years-long pattern of railing against global organizations, with the President claiming that the US is being taken advantage of. The President has questioned US funding to the United Nations and NATO, withdrawn from the Paris climate accord and repeatedly criticized the World Trade Organization.

But health experts, US lawmakers and world leaders have expressed concern over defunding the organization amid a pandemic.

After Trump's announcement in May, a WHO spokesperson told CNN, "We have no comment to offer at this point."

The-CNN-Wire

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As a game of who knew what when plays out with the administration -- this time about US intelligence that Russia was allegedly paying Taliban proxies to kill US and British troops in Afghanistan -- we can't lose sight of the big picture: Putin feels increasingly empowered under this President and that's a dangerous outlook for US national security.

It is important to understand whether President Donald Trump was briefed on this intel if it was, in fact, reliable intelligence. If he's lying in his denial about being briefed and he did know that our forces were at risk, Americans would have reason to assess that Russia paying for the murder of Americans isn't a redline for Trump.

The New York Times, which broke the story, reported Trump was briefed on the bounty information back in March.

Trump said that is not true, before tweeting on Sunday: "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!"

There are in fact times when Presidents are not briefed on threat reporting, but that's normally because the intelligence isn't reliable if it is still being vetted and there isn't a lot of confidence in its veracity.

In this particular case, there are indicators that officials had at some degree of confidence in the intelligence. A US official with knowledge of the matter confirmed to CNN that some measures were taken to protect US troops in light of the intelligence. It is possible that these measures were taken as an added precaution while the intel was being vetted, but this is the kind of development you typically flag for a US President.

The New York Times reported that a White House meeting was held to discuss possible response options. Even if this was a working level meeting, it is atypical to hold a White House meeting about responding to threat streams if you think they don't exist.

Plus, according to the Times' reporting, the intel was shared with the UK, implying a level of relative confidence in its veracity. It does not appear that reliability was a limiting factor here. Even if the intel was still being vetted, there were people who thought it was reliable enough to respond to in various ways. Based on my four years at the White House, that typically warrants at least a mention to the President.

Reliable intelligence on threats to Americans may be provided to the President in a number of ways: The Presidential Daily Briefing, briefing memos, oral briefings ahead of calls with counterparts and more. So, while reliable intelligence would likely be available to a President, there's no guarantee this President chose to digest it.

He has had a closed door policy when it comes to intelligence on other threats to Americans -- like Covid-19 or North Korea. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton recently said in an ABC News interview that Trump received intelligence briefings relatively infrequently and that he rarely read much when he did. So it wouldn't be out of character for Trump to opt out of intelligence briefings that would have contained this recent threat reporting.

The only other explanation is that multiple members of Trump's handpicked team failed, on multiple occasions, to brief him on this intelligence or to make him aware that vetting of this threat reporting was underway. Any way you cut it, incompetence brings with it fatal consequences. Actions were not taken to punish Russia for allegedly targeting Americans.

This failure to hold Putin accountable unfortunately comes as no surprise. If the intelligence is correct, four years into Trump's Presidency, Putin feels omnipotent enough to try to kill Americans. Trump has inaccurately blamed former President Barack Obama for letting Russia invade Ukraine when the reality is that Trump created an environment in which he's not only letting Putin attack our democracy, he is potentially letting Putin attack US soldiers.

Trump's failure to personally hold Putin accountable for myriad previous illegal operations would give the Russian leader good reason to think that Trump's a pushover even when it comes to the physical well-being of American troops.

Trump has shown little reluctance about cajoling and rewarding despots who harm Americans. Just look at his praise for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un even after American Otto Warmbier died following being jailed by Pyongyang. Or Trump's decision to "stand with Saudi Arabia" after the Saudi Crown Prince was accused of ordering the murder of American resident Jamal Khashoggi.

When it comes to the Russian president, the administration not only failed to impose penalties on Putin -- Trump offered Putin prizes like inviting him to attend a G7 meeting and announcing a drawdown in US forces in Germany which undoubtedly pleases Putin.

The who-knew-what-when trail is important to follow, but we do have to remember that to date, Russia has not been punished. That means that there may be ongoing, live threat streams to our personnel wherever Russia can pay proxies to try to kill them.

If the allegations are true, the first order of business must be imposing costs on Russia so that they don't do this again. That will require the President absorbing the intelligence and using it (and not his insatiable desire to placate Putin) to drive real, informed policy decisions. It will concurrently require the President to coordinate with allies. A coordinated response to Putin will be more impactful.

Unfortunately, if past is prologue -- Trump has an allergy to exactly those two things: integrating intelligence and coordinating with allies.

It's hard to imagine the President standing up to Putin based on what appears to be his desire to keep Putin happy. But if the reports are true and murdering Americans isn't a red line for POTUS, it's hard to imagine what is.
NASHVILLE (WTVA) - The U.S. Marshals Service has captured an inmate who escaped from the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

Law enforcement officers captured Arthur Lestrick in a wooded area behind a hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, the Marshals Service confirmed to WTVA Tuesday afternoon.



Mugshot of Arthur Lestrick shown on MDOC's website as of July 7, 2020. Mugshot of Arthur Lestrick shown on MDOC's website as of July 7, 2020.

Corrections officers at Parchman discovered Lestrick, 40, missing from Unit 28 early Sunday morning.

Lestrick is serving a life sentence for capital murder in Copiah County.

Edited to clarified Lestrick was captured in a wooded area behind the hotel.
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a leading financial institution, has announced raising the percentage of foreign ownership to 40%, from 25%, of its issued capital effective from July 6.

The announcement came after obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, the Securities and Commodities Authority, as well as the banks shareholders during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last March, said a statement.

Jawaan Awaidha Suhail Awaidha Al Khaili, Chairman of the ADIB, stated: This move came in response to the heightened interest from international investors in ADIBs shares, as well as in line with our efforts and commitment to diversifying the banks investor base. This milestone will help strengthen the UAE and Abu Dhabis positions as one of the most attractive markets for foreign direct investment, through contributing to increasing cash inflows, which will benefit both shareholders and the wider stock market. This will also boost the attractiveness of ADIBs shares, given the added value that the stock provides to investors.

He added: "This decision will further enable the implementation of our strategy and investment in areas that will enhance our customers banking experience through investing in our leading digital banking capabilities and services. We have adopted a five-year strategic plan that aims to solidify ADIBs leading position, improve the efficiency of its services, and develop its organisational system, allowing the bank to maintain business momentum, strengthen its performance and generate long-term sustainable value for its shareholders. 

ADIBs issued and subscribed capital stands at AED3.632 billion with an authorised capital of AED 4 billion.  TradeArabia News Service
JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann tested positive for COVID-19, his staff confirmed Tuesday.

He informed members of the state Senate, and hell self-quarantine and work from his home.

Delbert Hosemann Delbert Hosemann

Gov. Tate Reeves announced Tuesday he tested negative for the virus.

Related - Gov. Tate Reeves: 'My girls and I tested negative for COVID-19'

According to The Associated Press, during a Facebook Live video Monday afternoon, Reeves said a large number of legislators have tested positive for the virus. The state health department hasn't released more information. At least two members of the Mississippi House of Representatives, including House Speaker Philip Gunn, have tested positive for the virus in the last week. Neither had severe symptoms.
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Rain early. A mix of sun and clouds by afternoon. Cooler. High 73F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low near 50F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Oakland, MD (21550)

Today

Cloudy. Periods of rain this morning. Cooler. High 61F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 42F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Clarksburg, WV (26301)

Today

Cloudy with rain ending for the afternoon. Cooler. High around 70F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low around 45F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
The Downtown Farmers Market will begin its season from 4-7 p.m. July 9 and continue every Thursday through Sept. 3.
Air Products, in conjunction with Acwa Power and Neom, announced the signing of an agreement for a $5-billion world-scale green hydrogen-based ammonia production facility powered by renewable energy in Saudi Arabia.

The project, which will be equally owned by the three partners, will be sited in Neom, a new model for sustainable living located in the northwest corner of Saudi Arabia, and will produce green ammonia for export to global markets.

The joint venture project is the first partnership for Neom with leading international and national partners in the renewable energy field and it will be a cornerstone for its strategy to become a major player in the global hydrogen market.

It is based on proven, world-class technology and will include the innovative integration of over four gigawatts of renewable power from solar, wind and storage; production of 650 tons per day of hydrogen by electrolysis using thyssenkrupp technology; production of nitrogen by air separation using Air Products technology; and production of 1.2 million tons per year of green ammonia using Haldor Topsoe technology. The project is scheduled to be onstream in 2025.

Air Products will be the exclusive off-taker of the green ammonia and intends to transport it around the world to be dissociated to produce green hydrogen for the transportation market.

We are honoured and proud to partner with Acwa Power and Neom and use proven technologies to make the worlds dream of 100 percent green energy a reality, said Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer for Air Products. Harnessing the unique profile of Neoms sun and wind to convert water to hydrogen, this project will yield a totally clean source of energy on a massive scale and will save the world over three million tons of CO2 emissions annually and eliminate smog-forming emissions and other pollutants from the equivalent of over 700,000 cars.

Mohammad A Abunayyan, Acwa Power Chairman, said: Stemming from our belief in Vision 2030 and HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans aspirations for Neom to become the global pioneer in sustainable living, the Board of Directors and Management of Acwa Power are proud to take part in this groundbreaking and first-of-its-kind investment in the world.

"Acwa Power has a proven track record of leveraging pioneering renewable technologies to deliver carbon-free power at the lowest cost. With our global experience, we are confident that our collaboration with an industry-leading company like Air Products will create significant opportunities in the production of green hydrogen, and further us in our goal to help countries meet their clean energy targets and unlock significant socio-economic benefits. Based in Neoms Industrial Cluster, and enabled by its unique mandate, this investment will integrate and localize cutting-edge technologies that will harness solar and wind power to produce sustainable and globally accessible green energy.

Neom CEO Nadhmi Al Nasr said: This partnership reflects our deep commitment to developing a carbon positive society which will be a beacon for sustainable living and a solution to many of the environmental challenges facing the world. This demonstrates the ability of Neom to generate significant partnership opportunities for international and national investors.

"This is a pivotal moment for the development of Neom and a key element in Saudi Vision 2030 contributing to the Kingdoms clean energy and circular carbon economy strategy. As the worlds largest renewable hydrogen project, Neoms Board of Directors, headed by HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the companys executive team are delighted to announce this significant milestone for Neom in becoming a global leader in green hydrogen production and green fuels. We are also excited that two world-class organizations, Air Products and Acwa Power, have joined us in developing this major project, the first of many developments at this scale that will put Neom at the heart of a new future society. TradeArabia News Service
At a glance

Following some criticism of the process so far in what would be a historic land deal, Wyoming's top five elected leaders voted Monday to submit a bid to Occidental Petroleum to buy roughly 5 million acres of property and mineral rights in southern parts of the state.
A group of armed black protesters gathered in Stone Mountain, Georgia, on July 4 before marching into the towns famed park, which is home to a carving of Confederate leaders.

The armed group reportedly marched through the park, leaving with an escort from Stone Mountain Park Police.

11Alive.com reported the group was calling for the removal of Confederate-era monuments.

In this footage shot by Naomi Rutagarama, the protesters march past her as she records from a car. One protester says, Black power, and another says, Black love, black love.

Rutagarama told Storyful the protest was peaceful and organized. Credit: Naomi Rutagarama via Storyful
On Mondays Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News host Tucker Carlson attacked Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a possible pick for Joe Bidens running mate and veteran who lost both legs in Iraq in 2004 when the helicopter she was piloting was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Over the weekend, Duckworth said in an interview with CNN that we should listen to the argument from those who believe monuments to George Washington should be taken down because he owned slaves. So Carlson took some shots at Duckworth and, despite her years of service and the sacrifices shes made for this country, he accused her of hating the United States.

Youre not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military. Most people just ignore her. But when Duckworth does speak in public, youre reminded what a deeply silly and unimpressive person she is, Carlson said, adding, Its long been considered out of bounds to question a persons patriotism. Its a very strong charge and we try not ever to make it. But in the face of all of this, the conclusion cant be avoided. These people actually hate America. Theres no longer a question about that.

Duckworth, a Purple Heart recipient who retired a lieutenant colonel in 2014 after 23 years of service, hit back at Carlson in a tweet.

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But Duckworth wasnt Carlsons only target. He soon concluded that all of the Democratic Party leadership despises the United States.

Tucker Carlson Tonight airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on Fox News Channel.

Watch Beto ORourke slam Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and his death cult:

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MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Eight years after a suicide bomber destroyed the building, Somalia has reopened its imposing national theatre in Mogadishu as a symbol of culture in the heart of a city often defined by violence.

The theatre, whose stage is underpinned by bright yellow pillars and is decorated in the light blue of the national flag, was opened in 1967 and closed in 1991 as the Horn of Africa country plunged into civil war.

Clan-based warlords blasted each other with anti-aircraft guns as they fought over the theatre, which they used as a base. Its roof collapsed a year into the conflict.

It reopened in 2012 after African Union and government troops beat back the al Shabaab insurgents from the capital, but was blown up two weeks later.

Abdi Abdulahi, the theatre's director, said it took 1,000 lorry trips to clear the rubbish and sand which had piled up in the building since then.

He said security forces would protect the theatre and even the new coronavirus would not deter them from putting on shows.

President Mohammed Abdullahi joined a choir on stage during a ceremony to mark the official opening last week.

"We build our country if we all stand together," the president said, citing donations from business people for the reconstruction and the government employees who worked on it.

(Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Katharine Houreld and Janet Lawrence)
Two years after director Yorgos Lanthimos turned Tony McNamaras script The Favourite into a twisted, Oscar-winning look at the British court of Queen Anne, McNamara himself has applied the same sensibility to 18th-century Russia in The Great. The Hulu series stars Nicholas Hoult as the egotistical but inept Peter III and Elle Fanning as his young, naive wife Catherine, who would go on to lead Russia for more than 30 years.

The opening credits to each episode call The Great an occasionally true story, and certainly theres a distinctly modern sensibility and a load of deliberate anachronisms in the portrayal of the dysfunctional Russian court. The series is blackly comic feast centered on the delicious feuding between Hoult, played by The Favorite vet Nicholas Hoult, and Catherine, played by Elle Fanning with a breezy combination of innocence and steel. Fanning, who also served as an executive producer on the series, spoke to TheWrap about The Great on the day that Hulu renewed it for a second season.

You got involved with this before it actually was a TV series, right?

Yes, thats true. I was sent a film script, which was written by Tony based off a (2008) play that he put on in Australia. Tony, I guess, had been thinking of me, but the young Catherine was just a small kind of sliver in that big script, because it really spanned her entire life.

And theres so much information there, it just seemed right that this should be a television series. And I was allowed to hop on board as an executive producer of the show before it was picked up. It was stepping into that role behind the scenes, which is something Ive wanted to do for a long time, but then also getting to play an incredible character with the best script Ive ever read.

Also Read: Elle Fanning's Catherine the Great Plots Against Her 'Idiot' Husband in Hulu's 'The Great' Teaser (Video)

I would also think that being a producer for the first time might have helped, since Catherine was stepping into a new, more powerful role as well.

Totally. There was such a parallel there. Much like Catherine is finding her voice and her authority in this story, I was doing the same. My confidence had to build, because I would have a lot of notes and sometimes I wouldnt say anything. I realized I have to speak up. Maybe Im not always right, but we have to at least have the conversation. Over those six months, my voice got pretty big, I have to say I, which I was happy about.

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As a producer, did you have certain priorities going into this?

Yeah. Its such a specific tone, so I think every decision was always talked about in regards to this tightrope that everybody is walking  not just the characters, but the production design and costumes have to fit this world. No ones really seen a world like this before  its completely created by us. It has little modern touches, but also things that you dont normally see.

We filmed in London, so obviously Im sure they film a lot of BBC period dramas and theyre used to that. So even in big banquet scenes or party scenes, everybody would have the most perfect etiquette. I would look around and be like, We need to shake it up, you know? Id tell the first AD, They can eat with their hands.

I remember even the candelabras, people were cleaning the candle wax off of them and Im like, In Peters court, they wouldnt do that. So it was about making sure we had enough broken chairs and broken glass. Those details really mattered.

Also Read: 'The Great' Renewed for Season 2 at Hulu

The show is so much fun, but also involves torture and murder and chopped-off heads at the dinner table for dessert.

We really found our stride in when we were filming that severed-heads dessert scene. I was like, This is so us, you know? This is our Russia. We have a severed head next to a lemon sorbet. This is our show summed up in one scene.

There are bizarre things happening and funny things happening, but there are such high stakes involved that its important when things do get serious that you feel this emotional connection that doesnt feel out of the blue. So I think for all of us, even though we were telling jokes, it all has to come from a really truthful place that makes the audience feel for each character.

Its also a show about a young woman trying to exercise agency in an environment that is set up to give her no control over her own life. Was it important to you that it deal with issues like that?

Completely. I think thats whats so intriguing about the story and about the real Catherine the Great. Although were not a historical document by any means, we still tried to capture the essence of what Catherine the Great did and how incredible she was. Most everyone that I talked to, what they know her for is this rumor that she had sex with a horse, which is so reductive and sad. We reduce this incredible woman who brought female education, art, science  she was the longest ruling woman ruler of Russia, and we reduce her to this rumor and thats what people know her for.

So it was important that she was really humanized. I think her youth is so important. Especially in the beginning, shes still optimistic and romantic. And then she goes into this upside-down world and reality slaps her and she realizes, OK, I have to do something about it. So many people that are in situations like that say, Oh, OK, Ill just live with it. And she decides shes not going to live with it, even if she is completely out of her depth at times.

And I love playing her arrogance. Shes very arrogant at times  she doesnt know anything shes talking about, but shes good at faking it. Theres so much more to explore with her.

Also Read: 'The Great' Creator Was Inspired to Write the Show When He Learned Catherine the Great 'Maybe Fornicated With a Horse'

And as arrogant as she is, anytime shes in a room with Peter, shes at best the second most arrogant person in the room.

Yeah, thats true. And Nicholas Hoult is so fantastic. Obviously Nick was in The Favourite, so he was used to Tonys writing and the comedic timing of everything. So he really kept me on my game in that way. But also, to add so many layers to him where he could just be easily written off as nasty and the enemy  actually, sometimes I watch and Im like, Oh, hes kind of playing Catherine. Hes a little smart. Or hes like this man-child and you kind of pity him. And I think thats how Catherines feeling too, because she absolutely hates him but at times hes kind of amusing to her. I think there is an odd romantic feeling there.

You play a real historical figure, but the opening credits spell out that its only occasionally true. Did you feel as if you had to research what she was really like and what really happened?

Yeah, that was another tightrope to balance. That was something I talked about with a lot of the other cast members. Because I think they went into it and theyre like, All right, were going to research this time period. And we went to the first table read and Tony was like, Put away the history books. You dont need to do any of that. I fairly quickly realized that our scripts are the Bible for us, and thats all I really needed. I researched a bit. I looked at her handwriting, which was obviously all in Russian. One of the first pieces of information I learned about her is that she invented the roller coaster, and Im like, OK, that tells me pretty much all I need to know. She sounds like someone I would want to be friends with.

What was the most challenging part of playing her?

Just in a technical sense, comedy. Ive explored comedy a bit, but this is my first major comedy. I think for me it was getting that rhythm and the timing and reading a script and knowing, Thats a joke and I want to hit the joke.

And I learned to not be embarrassed. In comedy that thats the key ingredient, to just let yourself go and be uninhibited. Im quite a silly, uninhibited person in my real life. But when you get on a set around tons of people, with the outrageous things Tony has us doing, you have to commit. I think maybe that was the biggest challenge that I learned along the way. Just go there do full-on do it. And if you fall on your face, you can do it again.

Are there any particular examples of things that when you were doing them, you were thinking, I cannot believe that Im doing this?

The peeing-on-wheat scenes, that was pretty outrageous. (The scenes depict an early kind of pregnancy test: If the wheat blooms, the woman is pregnant.) In Episode 10, I have a scene with Aunt Elizabeth (Belinda Bromilow), and I have to hold in my pee. I felt like I wasnt committing completely on that day. I realized that when youre holding in your pee and then finally you do release it, how good that feels. So I was like, We have to do another take and get that feeling right. I had to embarrass myself.

You were one of two series about Catherine the Great this year, the other being Catherine the Great with Helen Mirren. Did you watch any of her take on Catherine?

I feel like it came out while we were shooting, so I didnt watch it. And I didnt watch any of the Catherine the Great movies, because I didnt want to get it in my head. But I should now.

I think its interesting  what does that say about our world that so many things are being made about Catherine the Great now? I think the themes are very relevant and modern to today, with this woman taking charge and taking on the men. Thats pretty fascinating.

Watch the video of the interview above.

Read original story How The Great Star Elle Fanning Handled Producing, Comedy and That Peeing Scene (Video) At TheWrap
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) together with the worlds largest cruise company, Carnival Corporation & plc  will host the WTTC/Carnival Corporation Global Science Summit on Covid-19.

Taking place from 1400 hours to 1730 GMT on July 23, the summit, which is open to the public, 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.

This unique virtual Summit is hosted by WTTC, which represents the global Travel &Tourism private sector, and Carnival Corporation, the worlds largest cruise company, and is free to attend. Carnival Corporation is the parent company of nine cruise brands that includes Princess Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK).

The summit will discuss practical approaches to living in a world with Covid-19

Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: 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."

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.

 Transmission: 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.

 Therapeutics: 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.

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. - TradeArabia News Service
Jordan McGraw has a lot to celebrate this July.

In addition to becoming engaged to E! News' very own Morgan Stewart, the son of Dr. Phil will be moving into a spanking new $10 million home. According to Variety, the Beverly Hills mansion was gifted to Jordan by his parents Robin McGraw and Dr. Phil.

His new 6,500 sq. ft. estate is situated on the hillside of one of Beverly Hills' most exclusive neighborhoods. It comes complete with all the amenities one could need and more, including a pool, wine room and outdoor kitchen.

Moreover, Jordan will have plenty of space to entertain or host guests, with four beds and four and a half baths. Plus, there's an extra room that could potentially serve as a home gym or an extra closet.

The indoor and outdoor living spaces blend together thanks to pocket doors that give the house a 180 degree view of the hillside.

Celebrity Real Estate: Breakover Homes

Jordan's new home stands in stark contrast to the estate he previously owned in Beverly Hills.

In January, Jordan sold a $5 million home that can only be described as eccentric. He bought the mansion in 2007 and previously shared that he decorated it in the style of Tim Burton's numerous movies, like Alice in Wonderland and A Nightmare Before Christmas.

The 34-year-old's move to the upscale and modern home comes as he and girlfriend Morgan Stewart celebrate their engagement. The artist and Nightly Pop host announced the happy news on Saturday, July 4, which was met with congratulations from their family and friends, including Dr. Phil himself. The TV personality wrote on Jordan's Instagram reveal, "Morgan, Robin and I are so thrilled for you and Jordan. So proud to add you to the family! Love you both!!!"

Meanwhile, E! News' hosts of Daily Pop couldn't help but share their excitement for the happy couple. To see what Erin Lim, Justin Sylvester and Victor Cruz had to say, check out the video above!
By Giulia Segreti

ROME (Reuters) - Ennio Morricone, the Oscar-winning 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, died on Monday. He was 91.

Morricone broke his femur 10 days ago and died at dawn in a clinic in Rome, his lawyer Giorgio Assumma told Reuters.

Outside the clinic, Assumma handed reporters a death notice written by the composer himself, beginning "I, Ennio Morricone, am dead."

In a moving one-page text, Morricone thanked his close friends and family for their companionship, naming his children and grandchildren and saying "I hope they understand how much I loved them."

He dedicated "the most painful goodbye" to his wife Maria Travia, whom he married in 1956, saying "to her I renew the extraordinary love that bound us together and that I am sorry to abandon."

He said he wanted a private funeral because "I don't want to disturb."

TRIBUTES

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 Spaghetti Westerns as well as epic crime drama "Once Upon a Time in America".

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.

"We will forever remember, with infinite gratitude, the artistic genius of Maestro Ennio Morricone. He made us dream, moved us ... writing memorable notes that will be unforgettable in the history of music and cinema," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Twitter.

State President Sergio Mattarella said Morricone had "greatly contributed to spreading and reinforcing the prestige of Italy in the world."

Italian film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis said: "With Ennio Morricone goes a part of world cinema. His humility, combined with a greatness he never flaunted, allowed him to support small and big movies, giving them a unique soul that made them perfect and unforgettable."

Morricone is survived by his wife, three sons Andrea - a composer and conductor - Giovanni and Marco, and his daughter Alessandra.

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina, Giulia Segreti and Gavin Jones; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
Click here to read the full article.

(Press Association) Johnny Depp has arrived at the High Court for the first day of his libel case against The Sun over allegations of domestic violence.

The 57-year-old actor is suing the tabloids publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over an article which called him a wife beater and referred to overwhelming evidence he attacked Amber Heard, 34, during their relationship, which he strenuously denies.

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Depp was wearing a face covering and sunglasses as walked into the main entrance of the Royal Courts of Justice in central London. More than 30 photographers were waiting at the entrance as the Hollywood star arrived at 9.55AM. Depp was called as the first witness in the trial.

His former wife, Amber Heard, has also arrived for the start of the three-week trial. Wearing a red face covering, she walked into court holding hands with two women.

In an April 2018 column, The Suns executive editor Dan Wootton asked how Harry Potter author JK Rowling could be genuinely happy Depp had been cast in the latest film in the Fantastic Beasts spin-off franchise despite the allegations by Heard.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star denies ever having been violent to Heard, and claims the article included quotes from alleged victims of disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein in order to finish his career by linking the allegations against him to the #MeToo and Times Up movements.

NGN is defending the article as true and says Depp was controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs between early 2013 and May 2016, when the couple split.

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The publisher relies on 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence, including what Heard describes as a three-day hostage situation in Australia in March 2015 when Depp lost the tip of his middle finger in disputed circumstances. Depp failed in a last-minute bid to stop his ex-wife attending until she is called to give evidence.

The court is expected to hear evidence by videolink from Depps former partners actresses Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder, who both say he was never violent to them, as well as Heards friends who claim they were present when Depp was abusive.

Heards former assistant Kate James, who claims she was asked to lie to the Australian authorities over the couple bringing their dogs into the country illegally in 2015, is also among the witnesses due to give evidence.

Depps case was almost thrown out of court last week after NGNs lawyers said they were not given texts between him and his assistant Nathan Holmes, which apparently showed the star asking for happy pills and whitey stuff, shortly before the 2015 trip to Australia.

The trial judge, Mr Justice Nicol, ruled Depp was in breach of a court order to provide documents which have been disclosed in separate libel proceedings against Heard in the US, but said the case should still go ahead.

The High Court has previously heard around 70,000 of Depps texts were accidentally sent to NGN by his former lawyers, which included messages sent to actor Paul Bettany in November 2013 in which Depp wrote: Lets burn Amber.

He also said: Lets drown her before we burn her!!! I will f**k her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she is dead.

Another text sent by Depp  to his friend Christian Carino on August 15 2016, around the time he and Heard broke up  said Heard was begging for global humiliation and that she was going to get it.

The message added: I have no mercy, no fear and not an ounce of emotion or what I thought was love for this gold-digging, low-level, dime-a-dozen, mushy, pointless, dangling, overused flappy fish market.

Depps lawyers claim Heard was conducting two extra-martial affairs  with SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk and actor James Franco  at the time of the alleged abuse and say secret recordings of the couples conversations show she was the aggressor of the pair.

The trial was originally due to start in March but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and is now going to occupy five courtrooms, with the lawyers and judge in court, journalists in another courtroom and members of the public in three others to ensure social distancing.

The actors case against NGN and Wootton arises out of the publication of an article on The Suns website on April 27 2018 with the headline Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be genuinely happy casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?

The words wife beater were removed from the headline the following morning and were not used in the print edition, but Depp says the article still caused serious harm to his personal and professional reputation and significant distress and embarrassment.

Depps libel claim against Heard in Virginia  over a December 2018 column in the Washington Post which said the actress received the full force of our cultures wrath for women who speak out, but did not mention Depp by name  is due to begin next January.

The pair met on the set of 2011 comedy-drama The Rum Diary  based on a novel by Depps friend, Hunter S Thompson, who he played in the 1998 film Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas  and began living together in 2012 before marrying in Los Angeles in February 2015.

Heard obtained a restraining order against Depp in LA shortly after the couple split in 2016 and donated her $7M divorce settlement to charity.

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Cary Fukunaga (Credit: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Cary Fukunaga has said that he is 'mentally finished' with Bond movie No Time To Die, and won't be using the delay in its release to make any changes.

The Beasts Of No Nation helmsman was set to release the 25th Bond film in April this year, but the plans were postponed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking to Empire magazine, he said: You could just fiddle and tweak and it doesnt necessarily get better.

For all intents and purposes, we had finished the film. I had mentally finished the film. Mentally and emotionally.

Read more: 15 actors who could be the new Bond

The making of the movie was not without its hiccups.

Daniel Craig as James Bond in a still from No Time To Die.(Eon/Universal)

After first director Danny Boyle departed the project, Fukunaga took over, only for star Daniel Craig to injure his ankle while filming in Jamaica, needing surgery in the US.

An on-set explosion at Pinewood also left a crew-member with minor injuries.

The director has suffered similar adversity, with his 2009 movie Sin Nombre.

Cary Fukunaga (Director), Daniel Craig (James Bond) and Lashana Lynch (Nomi) on the 007 sound stage at Pinewood Studios from NO TIME TO DIE, a DANJAQ and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film. (Nicola Dove  2019 DANJAQ, LLC AND MGM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

He continued to Empire: My first movie, Sin Nombre, came out during swine flu [pandemic in 2009], and it came out in cinemas in Mexico right when the President of Mexico said, Do not go to cinemas.

Read more: Craig hints at No Time to Die connection to Casino Royale

So I had trauma from that experience, and as I was following the news of this, almost every day I was asking [the producers], Whats the plan, guys? Because this isnt stopping.

Lea Seydoux, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Ana de Armas, Daniel Craig, Naomie Harris and Lashana Lynch (Credit: AP Foto/Leo Hudson)

No Time To Die, starring Craig in his last appearance as James Bond, alongside Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas, will now be released on 12 November.
Having worked well together on the 2018 certified gold hit "Sail Away", Mme and Ricky Ducati recently reconnected to create a whole album together. The result is Flashback FM (due early next year) and, as the name suggests, it'll be a collection of nostalgic takes on French pop and West Coast hedonism; specifically disco, electro, hip-hop and funk. To give us an idea of what's in store, the pair have just revealed the project's first single, "Got It Made", as well as some fresh new visuals.

Similar to how the radio stations in the Grand Theft Auto games transport the player to a specific mood or moment in time, "Got It Made" suggests Flashback FM will do the same. Slick, stylish and just a little irreverent in a uniquely French way (the surreal visuals play that last element up particularly well), "Got It Made" is a highly danceable take on the unabashed decadence of the 1970s and '80s.

Speaking with Complex via email, Mme explained, "We imagined 'Got It Made' as a time travel to the '70s/'80s Los Angeles, taken from an imaginary pop radio station  we really would have loved to know California at this time. We wanted the video to be a visual interpretation of it, which ended up being something completely unique, flashing back to two crash test dummies (us) dancing their feelings into this time period, enjoying the ride."
On Tucker Carlson Tonight Monday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson attacked Democratic senator out of Illinois, Tammy Duckworth, a possible pick for Joe Bidens running mate and veteran who lost both legs in Iraq in 2004 when the helicopter she was piloting was struck by a rocket propelled grenade. Over the weekend, Duckworth said in an interview with CNN that we should listen to the argument from those who believe monuments to George Washington should be taken down because he owned slaves. So Carlson took some shots at Duckworth and, despite her years of service and the sacrifices shes made for this country, he accused her of hating the United States.
Click here to read the full article.

Warner Bros Television Group on Tuesday revealed the 12 directors selected for the 2020 Warner Bros Television Directors Workshop, which will be held virtually this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The redesigned program has been condensed into two weeks (from the usual nine) of online learning, with lectures led by co-teachers Bethany Rooney and Mary Lou Belli along with various showrunners, directors, cinematographers and editors. The practical directing work normally done on Warners sets will now be done using co-habitating actors, with the directors work with them remotely.

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The program launched in 2013 with the aim to directors from other creative fields for the transition to TV, and to spur equity and inclusion by providing opportunities for female helmers and those from underrepresented groups. It has seen 100% of the graduates from the past four classes go on to direct episodes of Warner Brosproduced series. Alums include Pamela Romanowsky, Marcus Stokes, Jennifer Phang, Alexis Ostrander, David Rodriguez, Sherwin Shilati, Michael Goi, Antonio Negret, Jude Weng and Jaffar Mahmood.

Heres the roster for this years program, which was culled from more than 500 applicants and begins this week:

Omer Ben-Shachar

Born and raised in Tel-Aviv, Israel, writer/director Omer Ben-Shachar won a 2019 Student Academy Award for his short film Tree #3. The film also won Urbanworlds Best Young Creator Award, the Palm Springs ShortFests Audience Award, and AFIs Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence Award, among other accolades. An AFI Conservatory alum, Omer is currently part of the 201920 Viacom Viewfinder Emerging Directors Program and is a BAFTA LA Newcomers Program participant. He was named to Forbes Israels 30 Under 30 list in 2020.

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Auden Bui

Born in Vietnam, Auden Bui is a Directors Guild of America Awardwinning writer/director. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from UC Berkeley before pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at USCs School of Cinematic Arts. Her graduate film, The Lost City of Tomorrow, was the recipient of many awards, including the DGA Student Film Award. An avid seeker of unfamiliar adventures, she has been to seven continents (Antarctica twice) and has a life goal of visiting every country before the age of 40.

Meredith Danluck

Meredith Danluck began her career as an artist working in film and video. Her work has exhibited at festivals and institutions such as MoMA, PS1, Venice Biennale, the Toronto International Film Festival, South by Southwest, Tribeca, and Sundance. She participated in the 2013 Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs for her first narrative feature, State Like Sleep, starring Michael Shannon and Katherine Waterston. She has worked on tour visuals for John Legend, Jay-Z and Beyonce, and served as an executive producer and director for Vice Media. She is currently developing her next narrative feature with the production company Sight Unseen.

Melissa Hickey

Born on the Texas-Mexico border, Melissa Hickey is a writer/director with a Masters in Directing from the AFI Conservatory. Her short film Ni-Ni premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and won a DGA Student Film Award for Female Director, the Imagen Foundation Award for Best Short Film, and AFIs Richard P. Rodgers Spirit of Excellence Award. She is an inaugural member of Ryan Murphys Half Initiative, a fellow of the Sony Diverse Directors Program, an Academy Nicholls Semifinalist, and a Sundance Screenwriters Intensive fellow.

Tiffanie Hsu

Tiffanie Hsu is a writer/director whose work has played at Sundance, Cannes, HBO, and Netflix. She was selected as an HBO Visionary for her short film Wonderland, and is developing the feature adaptation in both the Sundance and Film Independent Screenwriting Labs. She is an alumna of UCLAs School of Theater, Film, and Television; AFIs Directing Workshop for Women; and Sonys Diverse Directors Program. She grew up in Wisconsin, Taiwan, and Southern California, and got her start directing stop-motion animation and location-specific Shakespeare.

Marie Jamora

Marie Jamora was the first Filipinx director accepted into AFIs Directing Workshop for Women in 2020. Her short film Flip the Record won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at Urbanworld, and her first feature, What Isnt There, premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival. She is the executive producer and director of Family Style, an Asian food and pop culture series from Justin Lins YOMYOMF channel and Warner Bros. Stage 13. She was recently named one of the Five Visionary Asian-American Female Filmmakers in KORE magazines New Hollywood issue.

Tahir Jetter

An alum of the Sony Diverse Directors Program, Tahir Jetters feature film How to Tell Youre a Douchebag and his short film Close both premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He is currently developing several projects for film and television.

Anna Kerrigan

Anna Kerrigans films and web series have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won awards at Outfest and the Tribeca Film Festival, and been nominated for a Gotham Award. She has written and directed short films for Funny Or Die, Amazon, and Refinery 29, and is a Film Independent and Sundance Fellow. Indiewire recently featured Kerrigan as one of 20 exciting female filmmakers to watch, pointing to her new feature Cowboys, starring Steve Zahn, Jillian Bell and Ann Dowd.

Stacey Muhammad

New Orleans native Stacey Muhammad was one of 13 helmers chosen by the Directors Guild of America for its inaugural Commercial Directors Diversity Program. Her recent directing work includes an episode from the fourth season of Warner Horizon Scripted Televisions Queen Sugar for OWN, and commercials for the Ad Council/AARP. Shes currently working on her first feature, The Return, and been attached to direct a reimagining of the 1932 film White Zombie.

Yoko Okumura

Yoko Okumura most recently directed and co-wrote the story for the Ball of Twine episodes of Quibis Sam Raimi horror anthology 50 States of Fright, starring Ming-Na Wen (Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) and Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark). She is an alum of the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative, The FOX Directing Program, and the Sundance Women in Film Financing Intensive. Yoko graduated from both the CalArts school of Film/Video and the AFI Directing Program.

Solomon Onita Jr.

Solomon Onitas films have garnered global acclaim. He recently completed his debut feature film Tazmanian Devil, and also wrote and directed the short film Joy, which addresses the critical subject of female genital mutilation around the world. Joy has screened at more than 60 film festivals, was a finalist in the HBO Short Film Competition, and was subsequently distributed on all of HBOs platforms.

Leena Pendharkar

Leena Pendharkar is an award-winning writer/director. Her sophomore film, 20 Weeks, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was released on Hulu and in theaters in 2018. She has also directed numerous short films, including the recent Awaken, starring Parminder Nagra, which is traveling the festival circuit. She is also currently in the CBS Diverse Directors program.

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Deutsche Bank maintained its relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein despite multiple suspicious transactions and red flags that could have been related to his alleged sex trafficking operation, New York States Department of Financial Services announced Tuesday.

In a report detailing the conclusions of an investigation into the banks handling of Epsteins accounts from his onboarding in 2013 until his departure in 2018, regulators said Deutsche Bank processed hundreds of transactions totaling millions of dollars that should have raised particular concern in light of Epsteins well-publicized history of criminal sexual misconduct -- details that could prompt further investigation into allegations Epstein ran a sex trafficking operation.

Those transactions identified by state regulators included payments to individuals who have been publicly accused in lawsuits filed by Epsteins alleged victims to have played a role in enabling the sexual abuse of young women; payments totaling over $7 million to law firms for what appear to be settlements as well as payments totaling over $6 million to law firms for what appear to be legal expenses for Epstein and his alleged co-conspirators; and payments to Russian models and other women with Eastern European surnames to cover hotel expenses, tuition and rent.

Whether or to what extent those payments or that cash was used by Mr. Epstein to cover up old crimes, to facilitate new ones, or for some other purpose are questions that must be left to the criminal authorities, but the fact that they were suspicious should have been obvious to Bank personnel at various levels, regulators concluded. The Banks failure to recognize this risk constitutes a major compliance failure.

According to the terms of its settlement with regulators, Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $150 million in penalties and consented to continue its cooperation with an independent monitor to address the breakdowns of its internal safeguards.

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PHOTO: Handout provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement of Jeffrey Epstein posing for a sex offender mugshot after being charged with procuring a minor for prostitution on July 25, 2013. (Florida Department of Law Enforcement via Getty Images, FILE)

(MORE: 'Truth and Lies: Jeffrey Epstein' Podcast)

In response to questions from ABC News, a spokesperson for the bank issued a statement expressing regret over its relationship with Epstein.

We acknowledge our error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and shortcomings, the spokesperson said. Immediately following Epsteins arrest, we contacted law enforcement and offered our full assistance with their investigation. We have been fully transparent and have addressed these matters with our regulator, adjusted our risk tolerance and systematically tackled the issues. We have invested almost $1 billion in training, controls and operational processes, and have increased our anti-financial crime team to over 1,500 people.

Our reputation is our most valuable asset, the spokesperson added, and we deeply regret our association with Epstein.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hailed the action in a separate statement.

"No matter how rich, how big or how powerful an institution you are, predatory behavior of any type will not be tolerated in New York, Cuomo said. For years, Mr. Epstein's criminal, abusive behavior was widely known, yet big institutions continued to excuse that history and lend their credibility or services for financial gain.

The report offers the strongest evidence to date that Epsteins alleged sex trafficking operation continued well beyond his 2008 guilty plea. Its revelations could spark further criminal investigation by the Department of Justice, which just last week charged Epsteins longtime companion Ghislaine Maxwell with facilitating his alleged sexual abuse of young women in the 1990s, or civil action from the Federal Reserve, which regulates private banks operating in the United States.

(MORE: Former Jeffrey Epstein companion Ghislaine Maxwell arrested)

Those investigators are likely to focus on The Butterfly Trust, an Epstein-related entity identified in the report that opened accounts at Deutsche Bank in early 2014, which had listed several of Epsteins alleged co-conspirators among its beneficiaries.

The existence of co-conspirators as beneficiaries of the trust created the very real risk that payments through the Trust could be used to further or coverup criminal activity and perhaps even to endanger more young women, New York State regulators determined.

Regulators appear to suspect that The Butterfly Trust could have been a primary vehicle for Epsteins alleged sex trafficking operation. Epstein used the trust and various other accounts to send over 120 wires totaling $2.65 million to beneficiaries  including some transfers to alleged co-conspirators or women with Eastern European surnames, regulators note, as well as make lawsuit settlement payments to alleged victims, and rent, legal, and immigration expenses made to or on behalf of young (albeit adult) women, according to the report.

The report also highlights the actions of Epsteins personal attorney, identified in the report as ATTORNEY-1, who reportedly made about 100 withdrawals from Epsteins accounts totaling more than $800,000 in cash over a four-year period.

The transactions in question occurred roughly two to three times per month, all in the amount of $7,500 per withdrawal, the Banks limit for third-party withdrawals, regulators determined. When Bank personnel asked ATTORNEY-1 why Epstein needed cash, ATTORNEY-1 replied Epstein used it for travel, tipping and expenses.

According to the report, ATTORNEY-1 twice asked bank officers how often he could make such large withdrawals without triggering requirements that the bank alert the U.S. Treasury Department.

Breaking up transactions to avoid the [Currency Transaction Report] reporting, regulators noted, is a criminal offense commonly referred to as structuring.

Brad Edwards, who represents dozens of Epsteins alleged victims, believes that a steady flow of cash an essential part of Epsteins alleged operation.

Jeffrey Epstein wasn't going to an ATM machine, Edwards told ABC News. For Epstein's operation to work, he needed an abundance of cash at all times, and there had to be others willing to go get the cash and make sure that it was always on hand.

PHOTO: A branch of the German bank Deutsche Bank pictured with a sculpture of the 'Gutenberg' monument, Feb. 1, 2018, in Frankfurt. (Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images, FILE)

(MORE: 'Truth and Lies: Jeffrey Epstein' Podcast)

The report makes clear that Deutsche Bank failed to act even when Epsteins account activity was flagged for additional scrutiny by its internal anti-financial crime department. Regulators cite numerous instances in which bank officers escalated concerns about Epstein-related transactions to bank executives, who permitted the activity to continue with minimal increased oversight.

Throughout the relationship, very few problematic transactions were ever questioned, regulators concluded, and when they were, they were usually cleared without satisfactory explanation.

It was only in December 2018, following renewed interest in Epsteins case sparked by a Miami Herald article that reexamined his 2008 plea deal, that Deutsche Bank notified Epstein it would be terminating their relationship.

According to Roddy Boyd, the founder of The Foundation for Financial Journalism, the report describes a profound failure of the banks regulatory framework.

The order revealed that while Deutsche Bank had a fully staffed and functioning compliance operation, it was as if it was designed only for show, Boyd told ABC News. A great deal of paper was generated, many meeting meetings were held, and yet no matter how troubling Epstein's financial transactions were, the bank would only extend greater privileges and opportunity.

For Edwards, it is yet another example of the way Epsteins money compelled powerful individuals and institutions to stay silent.

I think that over the course of the last 30 years, there's been dozens, if not hundreds, of people who could have stopped Epstein abuse in its tracks, Edwards told ABC News. And one way or the other, through his money and resources, he was able to cause a lot of people to put their heads in the sand, including major financial institutions.

Deutsche Bank maintained accounts for Jeffrey Epstein despite 'red flags': Regulators originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Donald Trump continues to reiterate his absurd stance on the relationship between COVID-19 testing and positive cases. Hes tweeted several times about it, using his tried-and-true tactic of repeating the same narrative over and over in the hopes that people will eventually come to see it as true even when it flies in the face of reason.

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So massive and so good, he says, once again employing the vocabulary of someone on the receiving end of impressively sized penetration in a badly written hardcore porn film.

On June 15, at an event for seniors at the White House, he said, If we stop testing right now, wed have very few cases, if any.

OMG you guys, I have an idea. Lets stop testing for cancer. BOOM, I just cured cancer. Wow, Im a genius!

Any kindergartner can understand that casting a wider net catches more fish. We all can understand that the more you test for anything, the more cases you will find, whether its cancer or depression or ADHD.

Duh, Mr. Trump, you incompetent sack of damp yeast.

Newsday LLC/Getty

Trump is either too stupid to understand the nuance of statistics or he understands the data perfectly well and is counting on the likelihood that his frothing-at-the-mouth followers dont.

Heres the (quite frankly obvious) nuance that Trump is either too stupid to grasp or is intentionally leaving out: The two metrics we need to follow are, first, the number of tests, and second, the number of positives.

Its called the positivity rate. If the positivity rate is too high, not only does it mean the virus is more prevalent in the community, it is also an indication of many more positive cases going untested.

I am perfectly aware that Im preaching to the choir right now. If you read this publication, and if you clicked this link, you likely already comprehend this nuance. Ill spell it out anyway in case you want to use the explanations here to help you argue with anti-maskers and virus-deniers.

Why do we test?

Contrary to what our president says, we dont test just to see how many cases we have. Of course, thats part of it, but the more critical reasons for testing are to learn the rate of community spread and to identify confirmed cases so we can track down their close contacts and ask them to isolate so as to stop further spread. This is called contact tracing, and other countries have used it with great success to flatten the curve. Weve done a slipshod job of it thanks to our rotting pumpkin of a president.

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I mean, look at these charts from Johns Hopkins as of July 3. Check out those percent positive numbers. The number of new cases is outpacing the number of tests being done. Thats a big problem. It means COVID-19 is becoming more prevalent in a population. It absolutely is not a simple function of more tests capturing more positives. The percent positive number is extremely relevant, and its the number that Trump is sure his followers are too dimwitted to grasp.

Source: Johns Hopkins

A rising percent positive number indicates an increasing rate of community spread.

Source: Johns Hopkins

And if anyone gives you the line, But death rates are falling! bonk them on the head with a six-foot pole and remind them that death rates always lag behind testing. It goes: positive cases  ICUs fill up (yep, this is happening!)  people fucking die.

Each step has a lag time of approximately two weeks, people. This is real basic logic. Its not string theory.

And if anyone tells you, But these cases are mostly young people! bonk them again on the head with a six-foot pole and remind them that those young people spread the virus to elderly or high-risk people because they think theyre invincible and because theyre self-absorbed AF. This also has a lag time of two weeks. All these young people who arent worried theyre gonna die? Theyre coughing on the eggplants at your local grocery.

Testing Will Ultimately Help The Economy

When it comes to Trump, the irony is that hes ramming his big orange cabbage head into the sand and encouraging others to do the same because he thinks hes saving the economy when in fact hes doing the opposite. If Trump had listened to experts from the beginning, if hed told everyone to quarantine for two weeks, if after that hed publicly encouraged everyone to wear masks (if hed made this possible by incentivizing textile companies to shift to the making of masks and other PPE), if hed set up a nationalized system of rigorous contact tracing, wed be fucking done with this. Really. We would be done. The economy would have already bounced back and wed be going about business almost as normal, albeit while wearing masks, but we sure as Yosemite Sam would not be seeing these massive spikes in places like Arizona, Florida, and Texas, where ICUs are filling up and non-emergent procedures are being cancelled so that doctors can handle the influx of sick people.

Source: Johns Hopkins

Source: Johns Hopkins

But, sadly, whats done is done and we cant undo it. Now we need to worry about how to handle this utter disaster moving forward. Trump would like everyone to believe that testing for COVID-19 is a threat to the economy, when exactly the opposite is true. If everyone is sick, how will they work? Teachers? Doctors? Nurses? Grocery store workers? Not testing is the real threat to the economy. We need to know where cases are rising and with whom. We need to trace contacts and quarantine folks whove been exposed. Again, this is not complicated logic. Its common fucking sense.

Back in April, the World Health Organization published guidelines for how to manage outbreaks, and *insert maniacal laughter here* the United States has followed very few of them. The few guidelines we did follow, we did so spottily and noncommittally. We are an international laughing stock.

Testing is not a double edged sword as Trump has stupidly claimed. Its a necessary tool to manage the spread of COVID-19. And anyone who commits to believing that a rise in cases is no more than a reflection of increased testing is just as delusional as our president.

See the original article on ScaryMommy.com
President Donald Trump has formally started the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization, making good on threats over the UN body's response to the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday.

The United States is the largest financial contributor to the WHO -- which leads the fight on global maladies from polio to measles to mental health -- but it has increasingly been in Trump's crosshairs as the coronavirus takes a heavy toll.

After threatening to suspend the $400 million in annual US contributions and then announcing a withdrawal, Trump has formally informed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that he has started the US pullout, a State Department spokesperson said.

The withdrawal is effective in one year -- July 6, 2021 -- and Joe Biden, Trump's presumptive Democratic opponent, is virtually certain to stop it and stay in the WHO if he defeats Trump in the November election.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for Guterres, confirmed that the United States gave its notice.

Under conditions set when the United States entered the World Health Organization in 1948, Washington has to give a one-year notice to pull out -- and meet its remaining assessed financial obligations, Dujarric said.

"To call Trump's response to COVID chaotic and incoherent doesn't do it justice," said Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, who said that Congress was notified.

"This won't protect American lives or interests -- it leaves Americans sick & America alone," he said.

Trump has accused the World Health Organization of bias toward China, saying it ignored early signs of human-to-human transmission of the deadly virus.

While many public health advocates share some criticism of the WHO, they question what other powers the world body had other than to work with China, where COVID-19 was first detected late last year.

Critics say Trump is seeking to deflect criticism from his own handling of the pandemic in the United States, which has suffered by far the highest death toll of any nation.

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There could be a connection between a persons blood type and their coronavirus risk. (Photo: Getty Images)

Recent studies suggest there may be a link between a persons blood type and their risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus.

A June 17 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine focused on potential genetic factors in severe cases of COVID-19 with respiratory failure. The study involved nearly 2,000 patients with COVID-19 at seven hospitals located in Spain and Italy. Researchers observed that type O blood was associated with slightly more protection from the virus, while those with type A blood may be more vulnerable to the disease.

According to the studys authors: Our genetic data confirm that blood group O is associated with a risk of acquiring COVID-19 that was lower than that in non-O blood groups, whereas blood group A was associated with a higher risk than non-A blood groups.

Dean Winslow, MD, an infectious disease physician at Stanford Health Care, tells Yahoo Life that the study results are very interesting, adding: I think the association they came up with is real. They found that patients with blood type O seem to be slightly protected from infections  period. And folks with blood type A were basically not protected from infection at all; they had a trend that was statistically significant of requiring oxygen supplementation or mechanical ventilation.

This isnt the first study to find correlations between blood types and the risk of COVID-19. Another study, conducted by Chinese researchers in March, found that blood group A was associated with a higher risk for acquiring COVID-19 compared with non-A blood groups, whereas blood group O was associated with a lower risk for the infection compared with non-O blood groups, according to the studys authors.

Iahn Gonsenhauser, MD, chief quality and patient safety officer at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life that, while there are a handful of studies that have found type O blood appears to correlate with lower risk and better outcomes for COVID-19 and type A blood with a higher risk and poorer outcomes, its really important to understand that these are observational studies. They can show us a correlation, but they cant show us a cause. Theyre showing us there's a pattern and they've identified a pattern and not whether they are [the cause] or are incidental.

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However, Gonsenhauser notes that the study is a reasonable observation, adding: There are other related scientific findings and evidence that would suggest that this relationship may, in fact, be causal.

Winslow says blood type might be just one more factor that may explain why certain individuals respond differently to this virus.

But this doesnt mean that people with type O blood should be less worried about the coronavirus in general. "They have a decreased risk to get infected and to develop severe disease," one of the studys co-authors, Andre Franke, a professor of molecular medicine at the University of Kiel in Germany, told NBC News. "However, this is only a relative risk reduction, i.e. there is no full protection. Among our patients who died there were also many with blood group O." (Yahoo Life reached out to Franke, who was unavailable for comment.)

Adds Gonsenhauser: These findings should not change anybodys behavior. We still need to be social distancing and wearing masks. Those are our best tools.

For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

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Just as Joan Figols' seven-year journey to fatherhood was about to end, a pandemic struck.

The Spanish dairy farmer, who lives in Barcelona with his husband Alex Fernandez, was anxiously awaiting the birth of their son Lluc in March when suddenly the U.S. border closed to European flights, in hopes of curbing the spread of COVID-19. Since Spain was one of the countries hardest hit at the time, the two were stuck an ocean away with only weeks to go until their surrogate, based in Boise, Idaho, was due to deliver.

In this week's issue of PEOPLE, Figols, 40, and Fernandez, 38, recall their frantic next steps, starting with the moment they realized they'd have to fight for entrance into the country in order to be with their son.

Our battle with the embassies started the moment the U.S. border was closed to European flights, says Fernandez, recalling their desperate efforts as they scrambled to collect the necessary documents. We sent hundreds of emails asking for permission to travel, but we were always denied because Lluc hadnt been born yet.

RELATED: 4 Surrogates Share Why They Carried Babies for Other Families  and Whether They'd Do It Again

Lluc finally arrived on April 24 weighing 6.8 lbs.  and the excited dads couldn't be there to take care of him.

In came Nicole Williamson, whose Boise-based surrogacy agency A Host of Possibilities made Lluc's birth possible. With no other options, the 40-year-old mom of two stepped in to care for little Lluc while Figols and Fernandez continued applying for permission to travel.

Williamson kept them as updated as she could on their baby boy through daily video calls and constant updates on everything from his doctors visits to how he was sleeping and eating.

Nicole and her family have been like guardian angels for us, says Fernandez.

You just do what you need to do to make sure people are taken care of, says Williamson, whos been a surrogate four times herself (PEOPLE followed her story in our Nov. 4, 2019, issue) and recently cared for two other babies because of the pandemic.

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For more on Figols', pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now, or subscribe here.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Finally, the request was approved  but just for Figols. Fernandez was forced to stay behind, with no explanation, while his husband set off for Idaho to get their newborn. He flew into Idaho and waited five days for the results of his negative COVID-19 test when Williamson finally brought Lluc over to meet his dad, six weeks after he was born.

It had been such a long road to get here and then to finally have him in my arms, says Figols, who video chatted with Fernandez when Lluc arrived. It was an emotional reunion.

There were so many things that happened in Llucs first six weeks that they didnt get to experience, admits Williamson. But seeing Joan hold him for the first time really was amazing.

Figols stuck around for a few days, navigating being a new dad while connecting with Fernandez through video chats and anxious to get the final document they needed for Lluc to fly back home. They finally made it back on June 16.

It felt like such a relief when they finally got here, says Fernandez, who drove the six hours to the Madrid airport to pick them up. Until he was here, it felt like our problems werent over yet.

Now safe at home in Spain, Lluc is already sleeping through the night and being showered with attention during the day from his extended family  including his nine cousins and 12 aunts and uncles.

We got a good little boy, says Fernandez, who adds that theyre both eager to provide Lluc with a sibling in the not-so-distant future. In a year well have another one.

Adds Figols: And anyone asksof course, wed do it all over again.

Williamson's story and the world of surrogacy are explored in the documentary Made in Boise, all about the agency that's helping make dreams come true for hundreds of parents. Directed by Beth Aala, the documentary is available now on Amazon Prime Video and GooglePlay.

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.
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Like other schools, colleges and universities are in the midst of finalizing their plans for how to educate students while protecting them from the novel coronavirus. Will they remain online only, invite all students back to campus, or provide a hybrid of the two approaches so that fewer students will crowd together in buildings? U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just complicated matters for the many schools with foreign students enrolled.

Back when all campuses shut down in the spring, ICE temporarily suspended a rule for type F-1 (academic coursework) and M-1 (vocational coursework) nonimmigrant student visas that had previously limited the number of online classes students could take. On Monday, instead of simply extending that suspension, the agency announced that in order to stay in the U.S., students can take some but not all their courses online. If their school goes online-only, theyve got to pack their bags.

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The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States, an ICE press release reads. 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. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.

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There are so many consequences to a policy like this, and none of them are pleasant.

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According to the Brookings Institute, in most states, nonimmigrant foreign students account for more than 5 percent of student enrollment in undergraduate institutions  and those numbers are much higher in California, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. These students typically pay full tuition, to the annual tune of $2.5 billion. So, on a very basic level, this rule could deprive schools of a lot of much-needed money right now. Less cash from foreign students means less scholarship money for American students in need.

Schools dont just want foreign students for their money. Having an international student body, with perspectives of people from all corners of the world, enriches the education of all who attend. Schools that want to maintain that atmosphere and that tuition money are going to have to offer in-person classes in the fall. Thats regardless of the fact that it may not be safe for students, and even less safe for professors who are older or have other underlying conditions that put them at risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

Were leaving the worst for last: This is awful news for students who just want to get a quality education in this country. Even with online classes, thats not going to be easy for many going back to home countries with unreliable internet, inconvenient time zones, or lack of access to apps restricted in some locations.

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Will students ultimately decide to transfer to U.S. schools that have in person classes, even if theres a risk to their health? Will they instead choose to go to schools in countries that havent become completely hostile to immigrants?

One ray of hope: Experts think the rule will be face legal challenges right away.

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[T]his is almost certainly going to be challenged in court. I cant give anyone specific legal advice on their cases (especially because I am not an expert on student visas), but I wouldnt encourage anyone to book a flight home this exact moment, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an attorney at the American Immigration Council, wrote on Twitter. Lawsuits are inevitable.

Can you believe were thinking about going back to school already? Whether your kids are going to a classroom or not, these school supplies make learning fun.

Launch Gallery: 18 Fun School Supplies to Make Back-to-School Exciting

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There's nothing that gives us more glee than all of the best, most sought-after beauty products strategically grouped together to deliver a truly foolproof shopping experience (especially right now when IRL beauty shopping is a thing of the past). As if answering our prayers, Net-a-Porter did just that. Say hello to the retailer's annual Beauty Hall of Famea drool-inducing edit highlighting its creme de la creme assortment of skin, makeup, hair, body, and fragrance heroes carefully chosen to represent the brand's curated vault of beauty must-haves.

NAP explains that its Hall of Fame is comprised of the most trustworthy products that will stand the test of time and satisfy even the nitpickiest and most discerning beauty consumers. There are some products that stand out from the crowdand our overcrowded bathroom shelvesbecause they work well, are a pleasure to use, and deliver results we can see, adds Newby Hands, NAP's global beauty director, in a press release. Intrigued? We have a hunch you know what to do here, but to get you started, we're highlighting the NAP Beauty Hall of Fame picks our editors are especially besotted with. Keep scrolling! Your beauty wish list is hankering for an update.

Skincare

La Mer The Lifting and Firming Mask ($250)

Questions about and product recommendation requests for "tech neck" have been a resounding theme thus far in 2020. I have a few favorites that I suggest to anyone who asks, but this one from La Mer is my favorite, hands down. It contains two cutting-edge ingredient complexesthe brand's hero Concentrated Miracle Broth and a super-special Lifting Ferment. Together, they help tighten, firm, and hydrate the skin to visibly reduce the signs of aging.

The Nue Co. The Pill ($85)

I recommend you read our full review of this multitasking serum here, but in short, I'd personally dub this the best new serum of 2020. I've used it religiously every morning since the day it launched, and my skin (almost instantly) became smoother, clearer, brighter, and all-around healthier looking.

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Augustinus Bader The Face Oil ($230)

Face oil fiends, rejoice! The legendary name Augustinus Bader has blessed us all with a very new, very luxurious option. Yep, it has the same TFC8 technology that's made the entire line the stuff of skin-transformative legends, but this bottle is also anchored with beautiful oils like babassu, argan, hazelnut, and karanja. There's no stickiness, greasiness, or residue here, so this oil is perfectly suitable for all skin types. Just be sure to use it sparingly and as the very last step in your skin routine to reap the glowiest result.

Cosmydor E/1 Essential Care Vanilla ($47)

What's dreamier than an all-in-one face and hand cream that's specially blended in Paris, smells like vanilla, and utilizes ingredients like sesame oil, shea butter, beeswax, peach leaf, apple, and raspberry extract to resuscitated your skin? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Victoria Beckham Beauty x Augustinus Bader The Healthy Skin Set ($320)

We're still recovering from the fact that two of our favorite names in beauty (Victoria Beckham and Augustinus Bader) decided to collab and bless us with some of the most luxurious skincare necessities. And bless NAP for pairing our two favorites in this (very giftable!) set. Apply this priming moisturizer and serum before your foundation, and you literally won't know what hit you.

Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Hyaluronic Marine Meltaway Cleanser ($30)

Associate beauty editor Courtney Higgs and I are both newly obsessed with the latest launch from Dr. Dennis Gross. It's free of oil and other potentially pore-clogging ingredients, but it works similar to an oil cleanser, in that you apply it to dry skin, massage it around until you feel like all of the gunk has been purged from your pores, and rinse. Trust usafterward, your complexion will look plump, luminous, and supple. I've been using it every morning after I sweep my face with micellar water.

Tata Harper Water-Lock Moisturizer ($70)

It's impossible to choose a favorite skin savior from organic and nontoxic brand Tata Harper, but with winter just around the corner, we're strategically keeping this water-locking face moisturizer on deck at all times.

Dr. Barbara Sturm Serum Discovery Set ($325)

We know the leap to Dr. Barbara Sturm is not a painless one. (The price points are quite hefty.) We do think the products are worth the investment, but it all comes down to finding the specific formulas that will support your skin the most. This handy Discovery Set is the perfect way to dip your toe in and test-drive a few different options for the price of one.

Noble Panacea The Brilliant Prime Radiance Serum ($253)

Pretty much 90% of the brands on the skincare market are telling us that their product will make our skin glow. Our job? Weeding out all the phonies. That's why we're currently infatuated with Noble Panacea's The Brilliant Prime Radiance Serum, which utilizes super-smart ingredients like glycolic acid and bakuchiol (nature's alternative to retinol) to melt away dullness and reinstate smoothness, radiance, and an even skin tone. Plus, the handy little packs make it so easy to bring your serum with you wherever, whenever.

Makeup

Westman Atelier Eye Love You Mascara ($62)

According to Courtney, this is pretty much the only clean mascara worth spending your hard-earned money on. Have you seen her lashes? I'm following her lead and already added this stunning wand to my cart.

Victoria Beckham Beauty Bitten Lip Tint in Cherie ($36)

When in doubtor whenever you're just not sure what you want to do with your lipsreach for Posh's very own Bitten Lip Tints. This new shade, Cherie, couldn't be prettier and seamlessly amplifies your natural hue. Plus, it's spiked with amazing ingredients like squalane and hyaluronic acid so your pout doesn't go scaly or prune-y this winter.

Victoria Beckham Beauty Lid Lustre in Blonde ($36)

This lustrous lid topper is another standout from VBB. Wear it on its own or on top of literally any other shadow, and you'll look like a million bucks in two seconds flat. Courtney and I both love the shade Blonde for an eye-popping result.

Hourglass Cosmetics Ambient Lighting Infinity Powder ($50)

For anyone who assumes all finishing powders only result in the chalkiest, flashback-caked disasters of our nightmares, think again. This one from Hourglass gives you the perfect lighting effect its name hints at and magically pulls together any makeup vibe with long-lasting finesse.

Westman Atelier Lip Suede ($85)

Consider this hydrating four-in-one lip compact legendary makeup artist Gucci Westman's personal holiday gift to you and yours this season. (It's one of our all-time favorite lip products.)

Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks Blush Stick ($50)

And while you're at it, we highly recommend complementing your blushing lip look with matching apples and cheekbones. These handy sticks come in the most stunning array of colors (Poppet is a must!) and are so easy to use, blend, and incorporate into your routine no matter how maximalist or minimalist you are.

Tom Ford Beauty Traceless Soft Matte Foundation ($88)

Tom Ford's new foundation does, indeed, live up to its lofty name. The flexible, undetectable finish covers your bases in terms of cake-proof coverage, it's resistant to sweat and humidity, and it won't change color once you apply it. Oh, and it's filled with amazing additions such as hyaluronic acid and vitamins C and E that a dry winter complexion will oh so happily lap up.

Christian Louboutin Beauty Holiday Lip Coffret ($270)

The ultimate gift: three different shades of classic red as interpreted by Louboutin's beauty team. As someone who owns all three, you definitely deserve to treat yourself and a loved one.

Fragrance

Tom Ford Bitter Peach Eau de Parfum ($350)

Sorry, but Courtney and I can't contain ourselves over Tom Ford's brand-new fragrance launch, and I'm of the firm belief that every human being needs it in their life. I have never smelled something so juicy, complex, and all-around addicting. It lingers and melts into your skin for a really warm and beautiful finish, but the mix of peach, davana (an aromatic herb native to India), and patchouli is so uniqueI've never smelt anything like it. I can't get over it, and the second I spritzed it, I knew it was over for me and every other perfume I ever claimed to love.

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait de Parfum ($425)

Floral, woody, and a tad bit spicy, this stunning French fragrance is the ultimate find for anyone looking to reinvigorate their winter perfume collection. Key notes include jasmine, cedarwood, and a light touch of sparkling saffron.

Byredo Gypsy Water Perfumed Oil Roll-On ($78)

Each and every scent from Byredo has managed to gain an entirely devoted cult following, but Gypsy Water (a campfire-inspired melding of bergamot, amber, and vanilla), if we were hard-pressed to guess, would have to be at the top of the leaderboard. If you're looking to save some money before you go all the way, we suggest sacrificing your pulse points to the brand's perfectly proportioned roll-on perfume oils until you find your favorite scent.

Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady Eau de Parfum ($390)

I don't know (truly) if I've ever met a beauty editor who hasn't lusted after a bottle of this iconic perfume from the legendary nose of Frederic Malle and master perfumer Dominique Ropion. Fun fact: The fragrance is named after the 1881 novel of the same name (by Henry James) and gets its magnetic reputation from the rich mix of Turkish rose essence, patchouli, benzoin, cinnamon, sandalwood, musk, and frankincense. It's expensive, yes, but it will last you, or whoever you gift it to, a lifetime.

Le Labo Eau de Parfum Discovery Set ($30)

This Discovery Set from Le Labo contains all of the brand's most prized scentsAnother 13, Bergamote 22, Rose 31, Santal 33, and The Noir 29. Get them all and then pick your poison.

L'Objet Oh Mon Dieu No.69 Incense ($55)

Incenseyou either love it or hate it. Since we fall into the latter grouping, we can't not mention how divine this 60-stick set from L'Objet is. As it's purposely reminiscent of 1969 Paris, light one and subsequently melt into warm notes like cognac and caramel followed by muskier strides of leather and oakmoss.

Gucci A Forgotten Rose Perfume Oil ($410)

This beautiful bottle of perfume oil from Gucci is a true collector's item for anyone out there who loves rose. It's anchored with musk and vibrant pink pepper, and there's nothing more chic than dabbing it on each morning or evening with the apothecary-modeled pipette.

Diptyque Minthe Eau de Parfum ($175)

You can't go wrong with anything from French perfume house Diptyque, but this refreshing blend of mint, geranium, and patchouli is so unexpected and unique that it's gained a fast and furious following since its launch only a couple of years ago.

Bodycare

Ouai Chill Pills Bath Bombs ($30)

For the ultimate bathing experience, simply pop one of these adorable pills into your tub and sit back and relax into the physical and emotional healing powers of jojoba oil, safflower oil, hemp seed, jasmine, and rose.

Grown Alchemist Amenity Kit ($35)

We're in love with the idea of this thoughtful Amenity Kit from the Australian brand Grown Alchemist. You'll get three of its most-wanted productslip balm, body moisturizing cream, and hand cream.

Byredo Tulipmania Hand Scrub ($71)

Hands need a re-up? Scale back the flakes, cracks, and scales with a weekly scrub ritual. (Trust usyou will thank us later!)

Senteurs d'Orient Orange Blossom Bath Salts ($35)

FYI: These are not your average bath salts. Truly transportive, Senteurs d'Orient's Orange Blossom Bath Salts are the next best thing to traveling to France. Incredibly unique, they're inspired by traditional Lebanese white coffeea soothing herbal beverage that's simultaneously sweet, floral, and woody. Plus, the formula is infused with magnesium and calcium for upmost muscle relaxation. Simply pour one pouch into the bathtub, and you have a DIY spa.

Augustinus Bader The Body Lotion ($95)

Augustinus Bader first entered the realm of bodycare a couple of years ago when it launched The Body Cream ($165), and this year, the brand has treated us to two equally glorious follow-upsthis lotion and The Body Oil ($95)so you can choose your preferred vehicle for max body hydration.

Haircare

Iles Formula Spa Pack ($149)

If your hair is on the mend or if you're just in the mood to give your strands a loving dose of TLC, we recommend this high-performance Spa Pack from Iles Formula. You get the Haute Performance Shampoo, the Haute Performance Hair Mask, the Haute Performance Conditioner, and a breakage-discouraging detangling brush.

T3 Lucea ID 1-Inch Straightening Flat Iron ($235)

Think of this new flat iron from the hair gods at T3 as your current flat iron but, like, 10.0. (It's basically the iPhone of hot tools.) Just enter your hair texture and length, and it will set to your optimum custom temperature. Oh, and as if that wasn't already cool enough, it even has a specific setting for second-day hair when you might be veering a little more oily.

Philip B Peppermint Avocado Scalp Scrub ($75)

There are two types of people in this world: those who love a good scalp scrub and those who would rather rub actual sand in their hair and call it dayaka those who don't care too much. Well, I am here to say that I used to be a member of the latter club until I tried this peppermint and avocado number from Philip B. I should have known I'd love it since everything I've tried from the brand has been shockingly effective, but I couldn't believe the results from this stuff. I had less itch and fewer flakes, and I looked like I had twice the amount of hair thanks to how savvily the formula lifted away strand-flattening buildup. Not to mention, the special combination of sea salt, witch hazel water, arnica flower extract, aloe, and avocado, peppermint, and eucalyptus oils just feels really dang good.

Slip 12 Small Silk Hair Ties ($75)

Whether you opt for this small size or the large, everyone needs these best-selling scrunchies in their life.

Sisley Paris Restructuring Nourishing Balm ($120)

This product has only been out for a couple of months, but I've already gotten every single person in my life hooked on it. Seriously, it's magic. I'd been struggling to keep the lengths of my bleached hair soft, shiny, and strong this year, and this nourishing balm-to-oil formula completely saved the day after just one use. My mom, who is in her 70s and is dealing with some minor hair loss and lots of dryness, is also obsessed. Put it on dry hair and let it sit for at least a half hour (I like to let it marinate for at least a full day or night) and then rinse, shampoo, and condition as normal. Oh, and I probably shouldn't forget to mention that it smells like something concocted in the heavens.

Want Even More? Shop Our Fave Beauty-Boosting Tools & Accessories From Net-a-Porter

Tom Ford Beauty Brush Cleanser ($35)

Just like applying sunscreen and brushing your teeth, cleaning your makeup brushes every single day is paramount. (I've found it to be one of the most significant determiners between breaking out and, well, not breaking out.) Tom Ford's formula is a forever favorite.

Artis Elite Black 5 Brush Set ($170)

Chic? Check. Giftable? Check. Flawless product application guaranteed? Check.

Nannette de Gaspe Art of Noir Roller Noir ($40)

If you've been wanting to board the buzzy micro-needling bandwagon, we welcome you! And we highly recommend you have this top-rated model in hand when you do so.

Slip Embroidered Silk Queen Pillowcase ($89)

Investing in a pure silk pillowcase might seem unnecessary, but once you see the results (e.g. creaseless morning face, softer hair, and so much more), you'll be a lifelong believer.

MZ Skin Germanium Contouring Facial Roller ($105)

No shade intended, but if you thought you loved your jade roller, wait until you get your hands on this line-lessening and puff-reducing germanium roller from MZ Skin founder Dr. Maryam Zamani.

Hourglass Cosmetics Curator Lash Instrument ($78)

If you're a lash person (like myself), hold on tight because this odd-looking contraption yields falsie- and extension-level results sans appointment. Use it with the brand's primer and mascara, and you'll find this rod-like, bristle-free tip coats every last millimeter of every last lash to give you amazing definition, coverage, and length. (It's almost absurd.)

Nurse Jamie Beauty Stamp ($50)

If a roller with needles freaks you out but you still want all of the skin-rejuvenating benefits of micro-needling, Nurse Jamie's beloved stamp might be a great compromise. Essentially, this brilliant little gadget creates microimpressions along the top dermal layer to improve the texture, tone, and firmness of your complexion.

NuFace Fix Line Smoothing Device Kit ($149)

NuFace's microcurrent devices are legendary for helping to firm, lift, tighten, and all-around Benjamin Button any areas that are beginning to sag. We're especially huge fans of this nifty little wand that targets fine lines and wrinkles on the mouth, eyes, and forehead, making it a must for anyone looking to lessen signs of aging.

ReFa Carat Ray Face and Body Roller ($320)

Red carpets might not be a thing at the moment, but back in the day when we would pepper top makeup artists for their best skin-prep recommendations, they'd always reveal a collection of skincare devices from ReFa as an inarguably important part of their kits. This face and body roller is the do-it-all model we favor.

Nars Eyelash Curler ($20)

While an eyelash curler may seem a tad basic at this point, it's still one of the most important tools in our arsenal for a Bambi-inspired flutter.

Nurse Jamie Beauty Bear Age Defy Pillow in White ($69)

Meet the somewhat surprising item at the top of our beauty wish list this season. Here's the 411: It's a uniquely shaped, satin-covered pillow that provides superior head, neck, and lumbar support, so you can get the good night's sleep that you deserve. Plus, that satin covering we mentioned? It helps minimize wrinkles and is nonabsorbent, so your skin products and natural oils stay on your face and not your bedding.

The Light Salon Boost Advanced LED Light Therapy Decolletage Bib ($545)

The chest is one of the biggest culprits for sun damage. And while you maybe never thought you'd wear a bib again, this cutting-edge LED light therapy device is so cool and effective that it just might convince you.

Dermaflash Luxe Anti-Aging Exfoliating Device in Navy ($199)

If you're missing your facials or other fun treatments like peels or microdermabrasion, this popular exfoliating and peach fuzzremoving device will be your new MVP (now and long after spas and offices open back up again).

Ziip Device + Golden Conductive Gel Duo ($495)

I feel like I talk about this high-end (but seriously effective) device until I'm blue in the face practically every day of my life. You can read my full review here, but essentially, this adorable little device sculpts and lifts the heck out of your face using cutting-edge microcurrent technology (a treatment that's typically offered in office and that celebrities love). Though it's an investment upfront, microcurrent treatments cost this much and then some when you go to see a professional. So really, you're saving money in the long run. You'll just have to restock on the special gel that you're required to use in tandem with your device.

Slip Silk Eye Mask ($50)

A beautiful silk eye mask is never a bad idea. I repeat, never. Plus, how stunning is this festive plum color?

This article was published at an earlier date and has since been updated.

Up next, These 2020 Beauty Advent Calendars Are So Good They Made Our Hearts Skip a Beat

This article originally appeared on Who What Wear

Read More from Who What Wear
Photo credit: ELIZA MORSE/NETFLIX

From ELLE

Back in 1980, Virginia-born author Sherryl Woods decided shed had enough of cynicism. Trained as a journalist and working toward a career as a television critic, shed always promised herself shed never boast the edge she saw in her fellow reporters. I had always said that if I got to the point where all I was doing was complaining, I would do something else, she says.

Photo credit: David Livingston - Getty Images

So she pivoted into the world of romance writingher favorite genre to readwhere happy endings seemed, at minimum, a charming possibility. At first intimidated by life without a recorder, she found herself remarkably adept at churning out hits, and by 1986, she was writing fiction full-time. She's now published well over 100 books, and as her prolific Chesapeake Shores series was snatched up by Hallmark, she turned to producer Dan Paulson and her TV agent Jody Hotchkiss to get her beloved Sweet Magnolias series on the screen, too.

Netflix eventually laid claim to the story of Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), Helen (Heather Headley) and Dana Sue (Brooke Elliot), three women in South Carolina who make up the Sweet Magnolias crew. In May, the show debuted to a wildly enthusiastic audience in quarantine, which launched the series to the No. 1 slot in Netflixs Top 10 in the U.S. Now, as viewers await news of a season 2, ELLE.com connected with Woods to hear her thoughts on the seriesand why shes already dreaming up plot points for years down the road.

How did the Sweet Magnolias books come to be?

Sweet Magnolias started because I wanted to write several books about three friends, whod each known one another from the time they were kids, and were now at turning points in their lives. I wanted to see how they shepherded each other through these particularly difficult times. The first book focuses on Maddie, the second on Dana Sue, and the third on Helen. In the TV series, all three are blended together with threads from each book.



But I feel like, as somebody who has not married and does not have kids, friends are really important in my life. And that's one of the things I think is so timely about this series on Netflix: We are going through uncharted territory every single day now with our families. We need people we can make contact with, who can tell us what they're doing and share resources. I also wanted the series to deal with issues that really resonated with women today.

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What was your involvement with the Netflix series in particular?

I'm an executive producer on the show, in the sense that I do see scripts and dailies. I can give notes. And if anything raised a red flag to me in the scripts or anywhere along the way, [producer Dan Paulson] and I would have a discussion or [showrunner Sheryl Anderson] and I would have a discussion.



And so I came at this much more pragmatically than I think a lot of authors might, because I understand why changes from the books have to be made. They're making good television. I made hopefully good books. So it's different. Somebody asked me the other day if I embraced [changes between the books and the show] with open arms, and I said, "Well, maybe not open arms, but certainly with pragmatic understanding of why things needed to be a certain way." I think the casting is just wonderful. JoAnna Garcia Swisher and Heather Headley and Brooke Elliot have certainly captured those three Magnolias.



Sweet Magnolias hit No. 1 on Netflix, and it was in the top 10 for weeks. What has it been like to witness that fan reaction?

Having been a television critic, I feel like this and Chesapeake Shores have brought my career full-circle. It's been wonderful to see how people have related to this showthe ones who get it. Now, I still see the comments from people, and you can have 5 million positive reviews and the one that'll stick is the one that's negative. But its more people who feel the show's not exactly like the books. And I'm so flattered they care that much about the books! But on the other hand, I want to say, "Come on, it's really good TV. It's okay." The short answer is it's very rewarding to see how well people are relating to it. They're really getting it.

Who was the most interesting character for you to watch become flesh and blood?

Dion Johnstone, who plays Erik, popped off the screen for mebecause there's a chemistry that is so subtle but unmistakable between him and Helen. And to watch how they convey that without obviously conveying it? There's a twinkle in his eye or a little remark that is so much like the smart banter I like to write in my books.

Photo credit: ELIZA MORSE/NETFLIX

Each of these womenMaddie, Dana Sue, and Helenare at transitional points in their lives. Theyre each on the cusp of major personal and professional change. Why was that where you wanted each to start?

I think its something that's very real for a lot of women who've had their careers and have done well, but theres something else they want. Trying to figure out that balance is something we've all struggled with at one time or another and found different solutions for. And no one solution is wrong or right. It's what works for you and what works for your family. Sometimes it's hard to accept that you can do something that's not charted and still be just fine.



Photo credit: Netflix

We dont have a confirmed Season 2 yet, but I dont think its too early to predict well get one. If you could have your way with the scripts, what do you want to see next?

I think season 2 will continue to show us, for example, what's happening between Maddie and Cal. Is that moving forward or not? Is Dana Sue going to be with Ronnie, or is she going to be with Jeremy? And is Helen going to move forward in a new way? I do have some clues about where season 2 is going to go, but I think a lot of it is going to be further exploration of what's been started this season. We're going to see where Isaac fits in, in the community. And we're going to see other sides of people's personalities, and we're going to see what happens with Erik and Helen.



But longer termbecause I'd like to believe it's going to go longer, even longer-term than season 2one of the things the books do is introduce a lot of characters who bring in other issues. Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue can't have every issue known to every woman in the country. Their lives would be a mess if that happened. So I would like to see some character arcs where we explore other things women can relate to.

If there is one thing from your books you could snap have appear in the show, what would it be?

I've not talked to Sheryl Anderson about when or if, but there are two stories that are very important from the teen perspective. One is anorexia. The other one, in a much later book called Catching Fireflies, dealt with teen bullying and school bullying. There are certain topics that are really sensitive to me, and teen bullying is one of them. And having the opportunity within this series to explore that in a book mattered to me. So I would like to see them get [into the show] at some point.

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Photo credit: Netflix

From Oprah Magazine

The second episode of Unsolved Mysteries focuses on the disappearance and murder of Patrice Endres, a 38-year-old hairdresser from Georgia.

Entitled "13 Minutes," the episode raises multiple theories about what happened to Endres in 2004.

Patrice Endres's son, Pistoland much of the internetsuspect Endres's second husband, Rob.

Along with the suspicious death of Rey Rivera and the horrific demise of the Dupont de Ligonnes family, Netflix's new Unsolved Mysteries revival looks into the disappearance and murder of Patrice Endres.

Endres disappeared from her hair salon in Cummings, Georgia on April 15, 2004. But for her son, Pistol Black, and her loved ones, the loss remains raw. Black, along with Endres's second husband, Rob, and her close friends, are featured in the second episode of Netflix's new Unsolved Mysteries.



Entitled "13 Minutes," the episode is named for a span of unaccounted time on the day Endres disappeared from her salon, Tambers Trim N Tan, located on a busy road. Endres placed a phone call at 11:37 a.m., but didn't pick up the next call that came in at 11:50 a.m. In that time period, she was thought to have been abducted.

Photo credit: Netflix

When investigators turned up, they found traces of a day interrupted: Lunch next to the counter, and a cash machine still open. "It's like she walked out of the front door and kept walking," Pistol said in the episode. However, there was sign of a struggle: Two witnesses saw a blue carperhaps a Chevy Lumina, or a Ford Taurusparked in the driveway, and a man and a woman wrestling in the front seats.



The investigation reached confounding dead ends. But in 2005, two years after she disappeared, Endres's loved ones had to give up hope: Her remains were located in the back of Lebanon Baptist Church.

To this day, nobody has been charged in Endres's murder. However, the episode of Unsolved Mysteries raises a few prevailing theoriesincluding one that Twitter users definitely seem to favor. Perhaps, if tips pour in from Netflix's subscribers, those theories my change.

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Theory: Patrice Endres was killed by serial killer Gary Hilton.

Between the years of 2005 and 2008, Gary Michael Hilton killed four hikers in Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia. He was ultimately caught and arrested in 2008, and sentenced to death in Florida. Today, he remains on death row.

While he was convicted for other murders, Georgia investigators suspect that Hiltonalso known as "National Forest Serial Killer," may be behind Endres's death. The facts add up. According to special agent Mitchell Posey, Hilton conned people out of money in person and over the phone. His favorite place to visit, apparently, was a hair salonlike Endres's. And his favorite time to visit? Lunch time, when Endres disappeared.

"Gary Hilton doesn't need a motive. Gary Hilton hunts for people," Posey added on the show. "He hunts for opportunities." Further, investigators have not been able to find an alibi for Hilton on that day.

Theory: Patrice Endres was killed by Jeremy Jones, a suspected serial killer.

In 2004, Jeremy Jones was arrested in Mobile, Alabama, and convicted of murdering 45-year-old Lisa Marie Nichols in 2005. To this day, Jones remains on death row.

While speaking to Alabama investigators, Jones confessed to multiple other murdersincluding, perhaps, Endres's. "He talked about how he needed to tell us about a hairdresser in Georgia," an investigator recalled in Unsolved Murders.

According to Jones's testimony, he forced a woman in the hair salon to help him jumpstart his car. She said she had a family that loved her very much. She started crying which started to make me cry, Jones said, during a confession included in Unsolved Mysteries. Jones also claimed he had put the woman's body in a nearby riverbut no body was found.

Ultimately, Jones redacted his confession. He later told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he had made up the story to get better food and extra jail visitation and phone privileges.

"We found no evidence to link Jeremy Jones to the kidnapping of Patrice Endres, but that does not eliminate Jeremy Jones as a suspect," Posey said. According to an Alabama investigator, he knows things that might be impossible for him to know otherwise.

Theory: Patrice Endres's husband, Rob, is behind her murder.

Multiple suspects are raised in Unsolved Mysteriesbut one, in particular, hits close to home. Endres's loved ones remain suspicious of her second husband, Rob. "I think Rob had something to do with my mother's murder," Pistol said. Endres's friend shares the same concern.

Judging by Twitter reactions, many viewers agree with Pistol. Rob's behavior raised "red flags" for these viewers, especially the fact that he sleeps with her ashes, and toted her skull around for some time.

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According to Pistol, his mother wanted to divorce Rob, who Pistol described as jealous (in the episode, Rob denies that Patrice ever mentioned a divorce). In the day's after Endres's disappearance, Rob behaved strangely: He wouldn't let Pistol back the housenot even to collect his belongings. Rob went as far as to change the locks of his home. I didnt want Pistol in the house because, you know, I didnt like him, Rob explains, without blinking.



Later on in Unsolved Mysteries, Rob vehemently denies the murder allegations and provides an alibi in the form of a gas station receipt. He seems to be visibly grieving the loss of his wife. At the same time, though, he ponders what may have happened to Endres in an eerie, deadpan manner: Was she kept captive for a while? I hate to say this, but was she somebodys...toy?

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While investigators agree the timeline would have made it difficult for Rob to abduct his wife, they have not ruled him out as a suspectand that's enough to fuel viewers' theories. Ultimately, though, that's all these are: Theories. Over a decade later, and investigators are still trying to learn what happened in that 13 minute-span.

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Indonesia is not only Southeast Asias most populated country, but also one of the worlds fastest-growing economies. But many people, especially outside of major cities, still lack access to basic financial services like bank accounts. Payfazz is one of several tech startups focused on solving that problem by finding innovative ways to give more Indonesians access to financial services. The company announced today that it has raised a $53 million Series B led by B Capital and Insignia Ventures Partners.

Previous investors, including Tiger Global, Y Combinator and ACE & Company, also returned for the round. New backers include strategic investor BRI Ventures, the venture arm of BRI, one of Indonesia's largest banks. Payfazz's last round of funding was a $21 million Series A announced in September 2018, led by Tiger Global. Its total raised to date is now more than $74 million.

Founded in 2016 by Hendra Kwik, Jefriyanto Winata and Ricky Winata, Payfazz is an alum of Y Combinators accelerator program.

There is a growing list of Indonesian financial tech startups, including Modalku, KoinWorks and Kredivo, that focus on consumer and small business financing, while larger and more diversified tech companies like Gojek and Grab are working their own online payment tools and other services. Payfazz differentiates with a portfolio of mobile services that make it easier for Indonesians to handle routine financial tasks, including bill payments and loans, even if they live in rural areas without banks. The company says it currently serves 10 million monthly active users, and plans to expand its offerings to include more digital financial products.

The company uses a network of financial agents to reach customers because many banks dont open branches in rural areas, Kwik told TechCrunch. "Due to high fixed costs, traditional banks find it economical to operate only in cities and urban areas with high density and foot traffic," he said. "This leaves a huge unfulfilled and underserved banking need in rural areas where banking access is very difficult."

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Payfazzs network currently includes about 250,000 agents, most of whom are located in small stores. Users deposit cash with the agents, who serve as go-betweens with banks. This allows Payfazzs users to have a balance they can use to pay phone, electricity and other bills. Payfazz also recently launched loans and payments for offline retailers.

Kwik said Payfazz built an agent network because even though smartphone penetration is high in Indonesia, many people havent used direct digital banking services before, so talking to a Payfazz agent helps familiarize them with the process. Because most of its agents are based out of warung or kirana stores, or neighborhood shops that sell food and other necessities, they are easier for people in rural areas and small towns to access than banks, ATM machines or convenience store chains.

"Our agents are small businesses and people who have lots of traffic from rural areas populations in their places. It can be warung and kirana stores, telco stores, small restaurants or even someones house," Kwik said. "They are the perfect profile to become our agents because theyre ubiquitously distributed and have high coverage in rural areas."

He added that Payfazz also gives agents an opportunity to earn extra income. Payfazz takes a 0.5% to 1% commission on every transaction, and agents are allowed to set the margins they charge customers for transactions, usually between 5% to 9%. Before signing on an agent, Payfazz screens them using KYC ("know your customer") and verification technology to gauge trustworthiness, traffic and sales potential.

While Grab Financial and other Southeast Asian fintech companies may eventually become Payfazzs competitors, Kwik said he currently sees them as potential partners.

"The reason is simply because most of these providers still focus their market and resources in the cities and urban areas, like many of the traditional banks. Meanwhile, Payfazz focuses all its market and resources in rural areas," he added. "Payfazz can help other banks and financial service providers to expand their reach to rural areas and capture hundreds of millions of users and billions of dollars of revenue opportunity there."

In a statement about the funding, Insignia Ventures founding managing partner Yinglan Tan said, "We have been privileged to have supported Payfazz since their early days. We believe that this path to taking their fintech ecosystem from Indonesia to the rest of the region will meet the pressing needs of many more of Southeast Asias digital consumers, and are excited to see how Hendra and the Payfazz team will build on top of the portfolio of services that millions of Indonesians are already using."
How to access Village Board meetings

If youre using a computer, first time Zoom users will need to download the Zoom app.

Virtual Village Board meeting attendees will have the option to join via video, or just with audio. If you cant join via computer audio, you can call in over the phone.

People using smartphones and tablets also need to download the Zoom app.

Zoom village board meetings are televised by OCA Media on Spectrum Cable channel 983 and TDS cable channel 1019. Login information will be published when the next Village Board agenda comes out, which will likely be Friday, July 10.

The public may send written comments to the board on an issue listed in the agenda by emailing phaag@vil.oregon.wi.us.

And if you do not have internet access, contact Peggy Haag for accommodations 24 hours in advance of the meeting at 835-6282.
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A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 58F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
Greensboro, NC (27407)

Today

Thunderstorms this morning, then variable clouds during the afternoon with still a chance of showers. High 78F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 60F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday we were invited to our neighbors house to light off some fireworks. This has been a tradition that sadly is on it last year because they are moving. Thankfully, they are still in the county  they will just not be next door. They have five kids in all three schools and they are the best behaved kids we could wish for. Last summer, after my stroke, the oldest girl came over and mowed our lawn. Brenda, the wife, is a nurse and she checked in on me often. Andrew, the husband, is from England and has the best accent in the world. We will miss them terribly and we can only hope for great new neighbors. Their house has been on the market for a couple of weeks and they have had a steady stream of lookers, so it probably wont be on the market long. The kids had a ball lighting off their fireworks and it was a great evening.
She will be working in YMCs quick care clinic and be seeing patients for acute or same day needs when their regular provider is unavailable. She can evaluate, diagnose, prescribe treatment, refer for specialty care and arrange for follow up care with the patients primary provider.

Outside of the clinic setting, her interests include cooking, reading, traveling, going to Broadway shows, and spending time with her family and friends.

Your photos could be featured in Midwest Banks 2021 calendar

Are you interested in photography? Do you have some great pictures youre taken here in Nebraska? Heres a chance to be a part of something that will hang in a lot of homes or businesses.

We would like you to be a part of our 2021 Midwest Bank Calendar, said Barry Redfern, president of the York branch of Midwest Bank. Submit your favorite photos of our beautiful Nebraska scenery through September 2, 2020. Winners will be selected before September 13, 2020 and featured in our 2021 Midwest Bank calendar. If your photo is selected, you will also receive a $25 gift card. Dont miss this opportunity to see your favorite Nebraska photos in print.

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Stoughton, WI (53589)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 73F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy in the evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers after midnight. Low 58F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
The epidemic has significantly reduced tourism, but in recent weeks the willingness to travel has increased, according to the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU), writes uzletem.hu.

The abolition of the quarantine obligation, the months spent in solitary confinement, and the good weather all increased the willingness to travel.



According to surveys, 40% of Hungarians say there is no reason to fear tourist travel after the epidemic.



The published analysis also shows that day trips, mainly active leisure activities and city visits, are 11% more popular than last year.



Those traveling for a few days are mostly looking for wellness weekends, while those planning for as long as a week would rather go to other countries. In the case of a destination abroad, however, many are afraid of getting stuck there, the website notes.
It suffices to say that as societies develop, better and advanced learning techniques emanate. And without early and sufficient adaptation, generations lose valuable skills that would mould them to better citizens. Ghana, having spotted an impending clash between the old and new in-demand skills in the industry, embarked on the establishment of a new curriculum that will dominate the school's learning systems. The GES (Ghana Education Service) in conjunction with the Ghana National Association of Teachers developed a new standard-based curriculum. The GES new curriculum is drawn on best practices all over the globe and is to be utilized by educators in basic schools all over Ghana.

Image: facebook.com, @ges.gov.gh

Source: Facebook

The modern curriculum is designed with recognition of the difficulty of modern times and the importance of quality education. What does this mean to Ghanaians that are looking to give their children the best knowledge? If the implementation goes according to plan, the country's expected to see a gradual rise in literacy and retention of learned skills.

The GES new curriculum for SHS is one of the most significant developments in the education sector by far. It is a phenomenal achievement that will improve the relevance of education, far from the previous system that acted as a mere conveyor belt, passing young people to the world.

Features of the GES new curriculum

What are the key features of basic school curriculum in Ghana? The newly introduced reforms in Ghanas education system are going to revamp its education sector and produce highly-skilled individuals.

As the government is struggling to equip teachers with the prerequisite skills necessary for successful implementation of the curriculum, logistical matters have created another quagmire. What are the elements of the GES new curriculum that make it more appealing than its predecessor?

At the kindergarten level, the learning areas will be reduced to four from seven. These are going to be integrated into themes. Teachers will be tasked to go more in-depth, considering the reduced learning areas.

Lower and upper primary subjects are going to be as before. However, the curriculum proposes fewer concepts that have more depth for every idea. The new system places more focus on proper literacy and numeracy as they are the pillars of all advanced studies.

The GES new curriculum is standard-based, meaning that every student or learner ought to demonstrate competency and mastery of knowledge.

All students (P2, P4 and P6) will undergo a mandatory assessment to check and track their performance.

Students from P1 to P6 are required to study history as a mandatory subject. This is integral as students ought to be conversant with their identity to be confident and patriotic.

Additionally, RME and PE will be a standalone subject. PE will be taught practically.

French education will be taught in Upper Primary.

READ ALSO: GES recruitment portal for teaching and non-teaching staff: application, forms

Nationwide implementation

Image: facebook.com, @ges.gov.gh

Source: Facebook

Already, you can access GES new curriculum PDF to familiarize with the advanced education system. It is apparent it is more about reading, writing, arithmetic, and creativity, the foundation skills for extended learning for students.

The curriculum intends to provide students with skills, both soft and hard, to allow them to navigate the modern world and the inherent challenges. However, how is the government planning to implement this holistic approach to learning?

First, teachers have been trained nationwide in the curriculum to equip them with the appropriate foundation skills to impart ideal knowledge through the new learning system. These are master trainers that in turn, train other district and regional trainers, and the chain continues.

Additionally, the government embarked on a nationwide professional development process to create a conducive environment for adaptation of the GES new curriculum. Therefore, they created learning communities whereby educators share ideas and experiences.

One of the most critical elements of successfully implementing the new GES curriculum is the learning material. This way, new curriculum textbooks are paramount for ease of transition to new and better standards. The government, through relevant supply channels, is distributing new curriculum material like textbooks and teaching-learning resources.

On top of this, School Management Committees, School Performance Appraisal Meetings, PTA's and much more play a vital role in the successful delivery of the new curriculum. They are the main pillars in ascertaining that all learning centres undergo proper transition.

Education experts believe that the primary aim of a curriculum is to ascertain students receive integrated and coherent learning experiences. The GES scheme of work aims at fulfilling this objective. With an education system that focuses on examination results and outcomes, the GES new curriculum could not have come at a better time in Ghana. Download GES new curriculum and familiarize with the new system. Know what your child is going to study and motivate them to achieve their best.

READ ALSO:

My family rejected me for going into comedy as a 1st class student - Ghanaian comedian Ajeezay reveals

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Source: Yen
- Habeeba Olayinka outmatched many at the University of Ibadan as she graduated with 7.0 CGPA

- The brilliant lady achieved the feat in her masters programme in the school's department of botany

- Habeeba academic achievement is a perfect example that there are geniuses in the country

A Nigerian lady, Habeeba Olayinka, has shown that Nigeria is talented with many brilliant minds in the country.

Habeeba finished her masters from the department of botany at the University of Ibadan with an amazing 7.0 CGPA in 2019.

According to Safiyanu Yakubu, she was the best graduating student of her set in 2019.

A collage of Habeeba and the UI's gate. Photo sources: LinkedIn/Safiyanu Yakubu/UI

Source: UGC

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Egoagwuagwu Agnes Maduafokwa is another beautiful mind the country is blessed with.

She is the candidate with the highest score in the 2020 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations otherwise known as Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Egoagwuagwu scored 365 out of 400. She is the president of the maths club and the first assistant head girl of Louisville Girls High School, Ijebu-Itele in Ogun state.

She said she wants to study engineering at the university where she will be able to apply mathematical concepts to solve societal issues.

The brilliant girl is from Ihiala in Anambra state and she sat for the UTME exam on Saturday, March 14, at St Michael Otedola Education Centre in Epe, Lagos state. She had 72 in Use of English, 99 in Mathematics, 99 in Physics, and 95 in Chemistry.

In other news, a Nigerian made it again on the international scene. Patrick Okigbo III and other world professionals was appointed as senior fellows at Harvard University.

The news of the appointment was disclosed on Wednesday, July 1, by Victoria Omachi who said that the appointees will be working on strengthening the connection between theory and practice.

The fellows were sponsored by a Harvard Kennedy School faculty member each, and 12 people are chosen every year.

Before a person is chosen, they must have a minimum of 20 years of professional experience and are required to attend and present at seminars, conferences, and lunches as they carry out independent research projects.

Okigbo is the founder of Nextier, a policy think-tank firm with a focus on making governance and development.

He has received so many grants and served on several government committees. He had his MBA from Emory University.

Ghanaian female accounting graduate and mushroom farmer recounts her experience:

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- Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has stated it will no longer attend to urgent cases

- This is due to an increase in coronavirus infections among its staff members

- In a memo sighted by YEN.com.gh, the suspension will be in force for two weeks

Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Source: UGC

Source: UGC

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes

The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has stated that it will no longer attend to urgent cases due to an increase in coronavirus infections among its staff members.

The Deputy Director of Medical Affairs revealed that a majority of the surgical staff were currently self-isolating.

In a memo sighted by YEN.com.gh, the suspension will be in force for two weeks.

COVID-19: Korle Bu to stop treating urgent cases for 2 weeks; staff are infected - Management Source:UGC

Source: Original

READ ALSO: 4 Ghanaian doctors who have died from COVID-19 in Ghana

There has been a recent surge of COVID-19 infections among staff working in the surgical areas. This has necessitated self-isolation of majority of these staff.

Hence a decision has been taken to suspend all urgent cases for two (2) weeks. All emergency cases will continue as before, the memo said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Public Affairs at the facility, Mustapha Salifu, said in a statement that the suspension of urgent services will afford the hospital the chance to re-organise itself for the resumption of regular services.

READ ALSO: Seven more die of COVID-19 in Ghana; total death toll is 129

In other news, seven more persons have died of COVID-19 in Ghana increasing the death toll to 129, according to the latest Ghana Health Service report on 6 July.

Additionally, 992 new coronavirus cases have increased the total case count to 21,077.

The recoveries have shot up to 16,070 with the active cases standing at 4,878.

READ ALSO: Jane Opoku-Agyemang is a God-fearing woman  Mahama

"One hour for Church and more hours for voter registration doesn't make sense" - Pastor laments:

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Source: Yen.com.gh
Ghana has been named as one of 10 countries on the African continent driving the increase in COVID-19 cases.

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Technical Officer for Africa, Dr. Mary Stephen, Ghana, and the rest of the continent must consciously put in urgent measures to stop any form of health crisis.

In an interview on Joy Prime on Monday, July 6, 2020, The WHO official said the 10 countries driving the outbreak must act now.

President Akufo-Addo is currently on a 14-day self-isolation after he came into contact with a COVID- positive patient. Source: YEN.com.gh

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Seven more die of COVID-19 in Ghana; total death toll is 129

We are seeing an increasing trend in Covid-19 cases. 10 countries are driving this outbreak with South Africa reporting the highest number of cases. Nigeria and Ghana are also part of these countries, she said.

As at Monday, July 6, 2020, Africas confirmed cases pegged at 476,967 with active cases of 238,319. 227,282 persons recovered whiles 11,366 succumbed to COVID-19.

Out of the infections, Ghana contributed 20,085 including 122 deaths.

Dr Stephen also called on African countries to ramp up their health systems in order to identify infected persons; isolate and treat them.

The Global Health Expert urged citizens to strictly adhere to the various precautionary measures as their respective countries take steps to fight the virus.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic across the world and Africa is getting serious and worse by the day.

The casualties cut across all age groups. While each death is reported with a sombre mood and with condolences to affected families, some of the casualties have united some countries.

Yenkasa: Traders at kaneshie market protest over GHC2.20p levy | #Yencomgh

Source: Yen.com.gh
- Kenyan Ministry of Education has announced that all primary and secondary schools would reopen in 2021

- All students would resume studies in their current classes and not in their next classes

- Colleges and universities will prepare to re-open in September 2020 with strict guidelines

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes

The Kenyan Ministry of Education has announced that all primary and secondary schools would reopen next year.

The ministry said all students would resume studies in their current classes and not in their next classes

The Education Minister, George Magoha said no final-year national examinations would be held for primary and secondary pupils this year.

READ ALSO: Ghana's senior minister Osafo-Maafo tests positive for COVID-19

Those exams are usually held in October and November each year.

However, colleges and universities will prepare to re-open in September this year with strict guidelines, the minister says.

Schools across Kenya closed in March after the countrys recorded its first coronavirus cases.

On Monday, Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta reopened the borders of three counties that had been closed as part of the lockdown.

He then gave the education ministry 24 hours to give guidelines about the school calendar.

READ ALSO: Seven more die of COVID-19 in Ghana; total death toll is 129

In other news, scores of parents have stormed the Accra Girls Senior High School in Accra to pick up their wards to the house.

Their fear comes after six students of the school were confirmed to have tested positive and subsequently picked up to isolation facilities.

Some parents who spoke in an interview with TV3 indicated that they cannot rest knowing very well that their wards might be at risk of catching the virus.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Worried parents storm Accra Girls SHS to take their wards home

Ghanaian taxi driver invents hand washing machine tap for cars:

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Source: Yen News
- The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) is in the process of establishing a crowdfunding system in Ghana

- Challenges resulting from the outbreak of the coronavirus has pushed the start of operations to the year 2021

- When complete, the system will make funds available to MSMEs in Ghana

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Ghana has hinted about plans for introducing crowdfunding in Ghana.

YEN.com.gh understands that it is possible the regulator of Ghanas capital market would establish a framework for the start of the programme.

Information available shows that despite setbacks present due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, everything could be ready by 2021.

READ ALSO: COPEC calls for subsidies for trotro and taxi drivers

Per a report by thebftonline.com, the plan is to make the package attractive to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

SEC explained that its fund would serve as a pool of resources from which entrepreneurs can easily finance their operations.

Director-General of SEC, Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh Source: Pulse Ghana

Source: UGC

It added that mechanisms are being implemented to ensure investors are not defrauded by entrepreneurs.

In other news, the World Bank has announced a $250 million package to support the Ghana Development Finance Project.

Financial intermediaries in the country, such as Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, are expected to benefit from the package.

The World Bank revealed that it is collaborating with the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana to implement the project.

READ ALSO: Parliament issues caution to MASLOC over 55% loan recovery rate

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- The Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) has expressed concerns about a 50% fall in mortgage and housing deals

- The fall has been attributed to the outbreak of the coronavirus

- It has also been revealed that the pandemic has led to a 30% fall in the operational capacity of real estate and house developers

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) has revealed that the outbreak of the coronavirus has led to a 50% fall in mortgage and housing deals.

GREDA explained that the negative effect of COVID-19 has also led to a fall in the operational capacity of only 30% for real estate and house developers.

A housing expert, Foster Osae-Akonnor, also disclosed that general demand for housing and mortgage deals have reduced all over the country.

Samuel Atta Akyea, Works and Housing Minister Source: kasapafmonline.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: SEC hints of introducing crowdfunding in Ghana

He added that there is an urgent need for the government to provide incentives for sector players such as architects and contractors to save it from collapse.

A Ghana Web report shows that COVID-19 has also led to a negative effect on both domestic and non-resident mortgage clients.

YEN.com.gh has also learned that the Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, recently announced that a new Rent Bill (Rent Bill, 2020) has been prepared and presented to the cabinet for approval.

The bill, when approved, is expected to alleviate the seemingly biased practices of some landlords such as wrongful termination of contracts, eviction, and other outrageous demands for rent advances.

In other news, the Director of the Institute of Social, Statistical and Economic Research at the University of Ghana, Professor Peter Quartey, has called for a careful reopening of Ghanas borders.

According to him, the process must be done slowly and cautiously so that the coronavirus does not pose a threat to health and life.

He added that he agrees it is necessary to reopen the borders in order to revive economic activities, but it is essential that safety protocols are adhered to.

READ ALSO: Kotoka International Airport has not been sold - Ministry of Aviation

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If there is one thing that has kept the world going despite COVID-19 lockdown, it is the Internet. And it is digital PR, thousands of stories that are circulated to promote and propagate everything from a Bollywood celebrity to an upcoming idea that keeps the Internet running. One company that has been doing a great job in digital PR communications, even during the present pandemic, is Savin Communications and the men behind it  Saurav Chaudhary and Animesh Kumar. Their good performance despite all odds is thanks to their ethical way of working and realizing the trends in digital communication.

However, things were not always good for Saurav, who is the co-founder of Savin Communications with Animesh. Before he embarked upon this satisfying journey called Savin Communications, his professional life remained a roller-coaster ride, with steep crests and troughs.

Early Career

Saurav holds a degree in journalism with 8-year-long work experience in the PR sector. He was at the peak of his career between 2014 and 2016, when he was working with the Goldmine PR firm. However, in 2016, after he had left Goldmine, he did some freelance PR work but mostly survived on his savings because of no steady work coming his way. 2017 remained a more or less jobless year for me despite the fact that he launched his company, Savin Communications, in this year. It was not long before he had to take up a job offer to work as PR Manager with Edtech company, Testbook.com. He worked there between January-April 2018 but was back into survival mode with everything working against him. Again, the next two years were going to be full of challenges, failures and despair for Saurav.

Lady Luck Shines

In March 2018, Saurav married Sonal and she came into his life as a pillar of support. It was a time when Saurav was almost out of money and every day was an uncertainty. Speaking about his wifes contribution to his success, Saurav says, My wife Sonal is the person who has always supported me and just because of her support, I am able to take big decisions easily. She has always cheered me up and told me not to give up. We had rough times monetarily but the best part is she has always supported me in all my decisions.

2019  the Revival Year

By 2019, Saurav had tried every idea of business and had failed on most of the fronts. However, in April 2019, things started working out in his favor as they went into Digital PR. Saurav was joined by his old classmate from Bokaro, Animesh, who holds a B.Tech degree in Computer Science with 6-year-long experience in digital domain. Animesh is today the Co-Founder-COO of Savin Communications and takes care of the operations and sales part of the company work. Speaking about this school friend and business partner, Saurav says that Animesh has always trusted him with the business decisions. Even during the failures, Animesh has always had Sauravs back and has always pushed him to move on from the setbacks.

Inspiration for Savin

What inspired Saurav to launch a PR firm himself was the knowledge that access to this part of business is not easy. Saurav says it was the changing pattern of PR industry and his own experience that pushed him to start Savin Communications as an affordable and easily accessible PR engine for individuals and companies. He explains, New startups struggles to get their story published in major news portals. I thought I should come up with a solution to benefit these people and help them to reach the masses.

Eureka Moment

Savin Communications eureka moment came in 2019 itself, when their existing clients starting ramping up the digital coverage for themselves, allowing the company to consolidate itself. In the 3 years since it has been in business, Savin Communications has published more than 2000 articles and its client-list is 250 names long and counting. These include some of the prominent bloggers/social media influencers in the fields of fashion, lifestyle, health, Bollywood and finance.

COVID-19 & 30% Growth Rate

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown on March 24th, things got more interesting for the company. The demand for digital PR shot up amidst its clients and between the month of March and April, Savin Communications recorded 30% increase in their business. Speaking about this phase, Saurav says, The valuation of company is at Rs. 6 crores & we are looking to increase it at least two-fold in this financial year. The entire business had been managed on the cash flow from the clients. No investment or loan has been incurred by the agency till date. Now we are in the expansion mode and working more digital solutions for our clients.

Speaking of Mentors

Apart from Sonal and Animesh, two other persons who have had his back all these years of struggle and survival are Mr. Vinay Kumar, the national bureau chief of The Hindu newspaper and Mr. Sudhir Rohilla, both of whom he considers his mentors. In fact, both Kumar and Rohilla are also on the Board of Directors of Savin Communications. While Kumar guided him through the rough patch of his life, Saurav says that Rohilla has shown me the right path on how to do fair and ethical business.

About the Future

Since 2019, the company has built its own network of associates in India and abroad. Saurav tells that at present, they are working with more than 10 PR agencies and 50 associates. To address the challenge of having access to good, readable content, they have also created a pool of writers, with experience in industry and creating cutting-edge content. Saurav and Animesh are going to build this network of writers and associates further, so that they can expand themselves further. Speaking about the future plans, Saurav says that he wants to show the world what we have done and what we are planning to do with the future PR.

He signs off by saying, All I say is that we are living in a Digital Ecosystem.

Going by the trends during the lockdown, this Digital Ecosystem is going to be around for a long time.

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New Delhi: India on Tuesday raised with the US its decision to withdraw US visas from foreign students if their universities switch to online-only classes, official sources said.

The issue was raised by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla during an online meeting with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale.

The sources said the US side took note of it and said they will keep the best interests of the Indian students in mind and would try and mitigate the impact of the decision.

It also conveyed to India that detailed guidelines for implementation of the decision are yet to come out.

In a move that will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students, the US immigration authority announced that foreign students will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only classes in this fall semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The US immigration agency said that the students currently staying in the US and enrolled into such programmes "must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to an institute with in-person tuition to remain in lawful status."
New Delhi, July 7 (UNI) The Health Ministers of India and Sweden on Tuesday discussed co-operation in the field of health and medicine.

Swedish Minister for Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren digitally called upon Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare to discuss bilateral co-operation in the field of health, particularly the status and containment measures for Covid-19 in the two countries, and the future vision for handling it.

Ms Hallengren congratulated Dr Harsh Vardhan on being elected Chair of WHO Executive Board and praised India for increasing the testing capacity so that more and more people can be diagnosed and treated early.
New Delhi: Highlighting how Pakistan continues to support terror amidst coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, India has said, Pakistan must introspect upon why it is universally acknowledged as the "international epicentre of terrorism and the best safe haven for terrorists".

Speaking at the Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week, Mahaveer Singhvi Head of Indian Delegation said, "While the world is coming together to battle the pandemic, it is unfortunate that Pakistan, a state which sponsors cross border terrorism, continues to use every opportunity to peddle false narratives and make baseless, malicious and egregious allegations against India and interfere in our internal affairs."

The statement was made during "The global scourge of terrorism: Assessment of high-risk threats and trends including the rise of violent extremism and hate speech in a pandemic environment when India called on the international community to ask Pakistan "to take sustained, verifiable and irreversible actions against terror outfits operating on the territory under its control".

India listed out the Pakistani role in the terror attack on the Indian mission in Kabul, Mumbai terror attack of 2008, Pathankot attack of 2016, Uri and Pulwama. Bringing to notice the recent comments by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the national parliament terming 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden a martyr, Singhvi said, "This is a chilling reminder of the patronage, that the international terrorists receive in Pakistan."

In the past, Pakistans PM has publicly acknowledged the presence of up to 40,000 terrorists in his country and a recent report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council reported that around 6,500 Pakistani terrorists belonging to LeT and JeM are operating in Afghanistan.

On Pakistan raking Kashmir issue, India said the country "continues to peddle false and motivated narrative on the situation in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir" while it seeks "to portray its military, financial, logistical support to cross border terrorism against India as a freedom struggle. It is also peddling misinformation about Indias domestic legislation and policies".

India also pointed out the human rights violations in Balochistan, Kyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the "systematically and consistently discriminated against its religious and cultural minorities". Singhvi said, "Members from minority communities have held high offices in India, including presidents and prime ministers. Pakistan, being a theocratic State, may find it difficult to fathom Indias secular credentials."

Singhvi also added, "The least, Pakistan could do, therefore, is to look into its own sorry state of affairs and put its house in order before pointing finger at others and spewing venom against the democratically elected Indian government and its leaders."
Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam improved considerably on Monday (July 6, 2020) with the number of affected districts coming down. The death toll increased by one on Monday as one more person lost his life in the deluge. The total death toll due to Assam flood now stands at 62.

According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person was killed in the flood at Raha of Nagaon district. Out of the 62 killed, 38 persons were killed by flood and 24 died due to landslides.

An official said that Assam flood has affected nearly four lakh people across 15 districts. The reports of ASDMA stated that more than 3.86 lakh persons are affected due to floods in Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Biswanath, Chirang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat and Tinsukia districts.

The flood situation has improved in Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Bongaigaon, Hojai, Udalguri, Majuli and West Karbi Anglong districts.

Barpeta is the worst-hit district with around 2.23 lakh people suffering, followed by Goalpara with more than 68,500 people and Dhubri with over 27,000 persons.

NDRF, SDRF and district administrations have rescued 128 persons during the last 24 hours in two districts, the bulletin said.

More than 6.8 lakh persons were suffering due to the flood in across 17 districts until Sunday (July 5, 2020) . At present, 647 villages are under water and 32,215.39 hectares of crop areas have been damaged, ASDMA said.

The National Disaster Response Force, Assam State Disaster Response Force personnel, along with the local administration, are continuously working to rescue the affected people and render relief services, including distribution of relief material to the marooned villagers.

(PTI input)
Today (July 7) is the 21st death anniversary of the hero of the 1999 Kargil war, Captain Vikram Batra, who sacrificed his life for India while fighting Pakistani intruders. After the Kargil war, Captain Batra was posthumously honored with Paramveer Chakra, India's highest military award.

Captain Batra was born on September 9, 1974 in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh and he started his military life on December 6, 1997 with the 13th battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles of Indian Army. Captain Batra was posted in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh when he was summoned to join the troops in Dras sector of Jammu and Kashmir during Kargil war.

On June 6, Captain Batra reached Dras and was kept on the reserve for the 2nd battalion of Rajputana Rifles by the 56 Mountain Brigade whom he was reporting to. The 2nd battalion of Rajputana Rifles was later tasked to recapture the Tololing mountain ridge from Pakistani intruders. It is a known fact that the fight for Tiger Hill was the fiercest battle in the Kargil war.

On June 20, Captain Batra led his team in the fight for control of the Peak 5140. Captain Batra led from the front and also engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy soldiers and later sent out the message in codeword 'Yeh Dil Maange More' to inform his seniors that Indian troops had recaptured Peak 5140.

After recapturing Point 5140, Captain Batra was given the target of hoisting the Indian flag at Point 4875vand he embarked on the mission along with other colleagues including Lieutenant Anuj Nayyar and Lieutenant Naveen. On July 7, Batra started the mission to reclaim Point 4875, which is located in Mushkoh Valley. Point 4875 is around 16,000 feet high but Captain Batra moved ahead without worrying about the enemy firing.

The battle to reclaim Point 4875 turned very dangerous as Pakistani intruders kept firing from machine gun. Lt Naveen suffered a bullet injury in his leg and Captain Batra ran to save his partner's life. Just when Captain Batra was trying to drag Lieutenant Naveen to safety the enemies targeted him and opened fire at him. Captain Batra succeeded in saving himself from the enemy bullets but a stray splinter from a rocket-propelled grenade hit him in the dead and he was martyred immediately.

The Northern Command of Indian Army remembered Captain Batra and Rifleman Samjay Kumar for their bravery in recapturing Point 4875. "21 Years of Kargil Mushkoh Day,when most conspicuous bravery of Captain Vikram Batra, PVC(P) & Rfn Sanjay Kumar, PVC in face of enemy facilitated capture of Pt 4875 by 13 JAK RIF; both awarded PVC,a rare & distinct first in Indian Army history," tweeted Northern Command of Army.

Captain Vikram Batra was posthumously conferred with the Param Vir Chakra on August 15, 1999 by the then President KR Narayanan. Captain Vikram Batra displayed the most conspicuous personal bravery and leadership of the highest order in the face of the enemy and made the supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Indian Army," his award citation read.
Amid the ongoing border tension between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since the last several weeks, sources on Tuesday asserted a reduction of China's People's Liberation Army at the Pangong Tso Lake of eastern Ladakh. The sources added that the disengagement in Patrolling Point 15 will finish by July 8 (Wednesday) and that in Patrolling Point 17 Alpha in will finish in the next two days.

In a bid to avoid accidental friction, patroling has been suspended in the disengaged area temporarily but both sides have not given up the right to patrol.

However, according to earlier reports, Chinese PLA is yet to retreat its troops from Depasang plains near Dault Beg Oldie. To start the disengagement process at the LAC multiple rounds of Corps Commander-level talks were held between two nations.

The Indian Army is also concerned that each step of disengagement process is easily reversible by Chinese PLA as long as they remain deployed in strength from Finger 4-8, which is around 8 kms, patrolled by both India and China until now, along LAC.

On July 6, the Chinese military withdrew its forces, including tents and vehicles by almost 1.5 kms from three friction points  Galwan Valley, Gogra and Hot Spring sectors. Chinese's PLA reportedly removed their tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14. Rearward movement of vehicles of the PLA were also removed at General area Galwan, Hotsprings and Gogra Post, official sources added.

However, Army sources had on July 6 informed that Chinese heavy armoured vehicles were still present in the depth areas in the Galwan river area. "The Indian Army is monitoring the situation with caution," Army sources informed.

In the last round of military talks held between the two-nation at Chushul sector on the Indian side of the LAC, India reiterated its demand for the pullback of Chinese troops from friction site along the LAC. According to sources, India had asked the Chinese side to return to pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC.

At least three rounds of Corps Commander talks were held between the two in an attempt to de-escalate tension in eastern Ladakh and finalise modalities for disengagement of troops from the sensitive region. The tension between the two sides at LAC escalated after the violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Galwan Valley on the intervening night of June 15-16 that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
New Delhi: Amid ongoing heightened tension between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since last eight weeks, the latest update has surfaced that Chinese's People's Liberation Army is yet to withdraw its troops from all friction points. According to reports, Chinese PLA is yet to retreat its troops from Depasang plains near Dault Beg Oldie and Pangong Tso of eastern Ladakh.

Chinese PLA not retreating its forces from these regions is a matter of concern amid July 6 report that stated that China taking the disengagement process at the LAC after multiple rounds of Corps Commander-level talks between two nations.

The Indian Army is also concerned that each step of disengagement process is easily reversible by Chinese PLA as long as they remain deployed in strength from Finger 4-8, which is around 8 kms, patrolled by both India and China until now, along LAC.

On July 6, the Chinese military withdrew its forces, including tents and vehicles by almost 1.5 kms from three friction points  Galwan Valley, Gogra and Hot Spring sectors. Chinese's PLA reportedly removed their tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14. Rearward movement of vehicles of the PLA were also removed at General area Galwan, Hotsprings and Gogra Post, official sources added.

However, Army sources had on Monday informed that Chinese heavy armoured vehicles were still present in the depth areas in the Galwan river area. "The Indian Army is monitoring the situation with caution," Army sources informed.

In the last round of military talks held between the two-nation at Chushul sector on the Indian side of the LAC, India reiterated its demand for the pullback of Chinese troops from friction site along the LAC. According to sources, India had asked the Chinese side to return to pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC.

At least three rounds of Corps Commander talks were held between the two in an attempt to de-escalate tension in eastern Ladakh and finalise modalities for disengagement of troops from the sensitive region. The tension between the two sides at LAC escalated after the violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Galwan Valley on the intervening night of June 15-16 that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
The Centre on Tuesday decided to rationalise syllabus for classes 9-12 of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) up to 30 per cent by retaining the core subjects, amid the ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 crisis. Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank announced the decision.

"Looking at the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and the world, CBSE was advised to revise the curriculum and reduce course load for the students of Class 9th to 12th. Considering the importance of learning achievement, it has been decided to rationalize syllabus up to 30% by retaining the core concepts," he tweeted.

Looking at the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and the world, #CBSE was advised to revise the curriculum and reduce course load for the students of Class 9th to 12th. @PMOIndia @HMOIndia @PIB_India @MIB_India @DDNewslive @cbseindia29 @mygovindia  Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 7, 2020

To aid the decision, a few weeks back I also invited suggestions from all educationists on the reduction of #SyllabusForStudents2020 and I am glad to share that we received more than 1.5K suggestions. Thank you, everyone, for the overwhelming response.@PIB_India@MIB_India  Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 7, 2020

He added, "To aid the decision, a few weeks back I also invited suggestions from all educationists on the reduction of Syllabus For Students 2020 and I am glad to share that we received more than 1.5K suggestions. Thank you, everyone, for the overwhelming response."

On June 6, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had pitched for a 30 per cent reduction in syllabus for all grades to make up for the loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and advocated reopening of schools wih reasonable precautions. In a letter written to HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Sisodia asserted that since people need to learn to live with coronavirus now, it would be better if the already existing learning spaces like schools, take up that role.

Noting that online teaching can only complement learning in schools and not replace it, he said, it would be a "historical blunder" if the "opportunity" is let to pass by not trusting schools with a bigger and bolder role, which is, to prepare children for better and responsible life and not just for a few lessons of their textbooks.

A nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24 and it came into effect on March 25. The schools and colleges continue to remain closed amid the pandemic.
New Delhi: In a shocking incident, an Ayurvedic spa centre owner made her pet dog attack and bite a female staff when she demanded her salary. The salon staff named Sapna got 15 stitches on her face and her two teeth broken after the owner's dog attacked her.

The Delhi police took 20 days' time in filing an FIR in the incident and that too after the interference of local MLA and NGO in the matter. The incident took place on June 11 and the FIR was registered on July 2.

Meanwhile, the police has taken no action on the accused salon owner named Nikita.

The victim Sapna worked in Indu Ayurveda Spa Centre from the month of January to March before the lockdown began in the city and therefore she was demanding salary for her services provided in the spa centre during this time.

After receiving no help from the police, Sapna got her treatment done in AIIMS hospital. Currently, the spa owner escaped from her local address.
Two jawans have been injured and one terrorist killed in an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Gusoo village of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday (July 7) morning.

The jawan was earlier declared dead by Jammu and Kashmir police top officials but he was later revived by the doctors. The jawan is said to be in critical condition. A Jammu and Kashmir police officer was also injured in the encounter.

A Jammu and Kashmir police official said a joint team of Police, 53 RR and CRPF laid a cordon-and-search-operation in Gusso area after receiving a tip-off about the presence of some terrorists in the area. The officer added that when joint team cordoned the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists fired upon the security forces. The fire was retaliated by the security forces, which triggered the encounter. According to Jammu and Kashmir police officer, the terrorists were asked to surrender first but they opened fire on the security forces.

Sources in police said two to three terrorists are believed to be trapped in the area. One Army man and a cop got injured in the firing. The operation is still on.
NEW DELHI: Indian Air Forces (IAF) MiG-29 fighter aircraft and Apache attack helicopter conducted night sorties at the forward bases near India-China border to keep an eye over the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the aftermath of the Galwan Valley clashes between Indian and the Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh last month, said reports on Tuesday.

Night operations have an inherent element of surprise. The IAF is fully trained and ready to undertake entire spectrum of operations in any environment with help of modern platforms and motivated personnel, Group Captain A Rathi, senior fighter pilot at a Forward Air Base near India-China border, was quoted as saying.

The patrolling by IAFs MiG-29 fighter aircraft and Apache attack helicopter comes amid heightened tension between the two countries post the Galwan Valley clashes in the night of June -15-16 in which at least 20 India soldiers and an unverified number of Chinese troops were killed.

The Indian Army and IAF have ramped up their operations long the LAC after the Galwan incident and the focus shifted back on LAC after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Ladakh recently.

PM Modi visited Ladakh to review the situation at the LAC and later met the injured soldiers at the General Hospital at Leh on Friday. While interacting with them, PM Modi told them that their bravery will be a source of inspiration for times to come" and added that 130 crore Indians are proud of them.

"We will never bow down to any power of the world, said the Prime Minister in a veiled reference to China. post-Galwan Valley clashes, the Indian Air Force has raised the alert level in all its front-line bases tasked to keep an eye on the LAC, the 3,500 km de-facto border between the two nuclear-powered countries.

The IAF has also pressed into service a fleet of C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft as well as C-130J Super Hercules in transporting heavy military equipment and weaponry to several forward bases to further ramp up India's military preparedness in the region.

The IAF is also using its Ilyushin-76 fleet to transport troops to various areas along the Line of Actual Control, the 3,500 km de-facto border between India and China, news agency PTI quoted Defence sources as saying.

The sources said that the Air Force has already moved a sizeable number of its frontline Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 aircraft to several key airbases including Leh and Srinagar.

It has also deployed Apache attack choppers and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to transport troops to various forward locations. The frontline fighter jets have increased their sorties in Ladakh and nearby areas in the last few days as part of the increased alert level, and probably as a response to expanded activities of the Chinese air force, the people said.

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that China has reportedly agreed to pull back its troops and vehicles and has moved by almost 1.5 kilometres back at three friction points  Galwan, Hot Springs and Gogra.

Army sources said that disengagement with PLA, as agreed upon at Corps Commander-level talks, has started as per agreed terms in the Corps Commander's meeting.

According to reports, Chinese's PLA was seen removing their tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14. Rearward movement of vehicles of the PLA was also seen at General area Galwan, Hotsprings and Gogra Post, official sources added.

However, 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. Senior army officials from the Indian side confirmed that a physical verification has been conducted to verify these claims.

The tension between India and China escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. India has been insisting on the restoration of status quo ante 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. However, there was no visible sign of end to the standoff though the two sides agreed to initiate disengagement of the forces from the region.

India on Thursday said it expected China to ensure expeditious restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas in sync with provisions of relevant bilateral pacts.

Following the Galwan Valley clashes, the Army has sent thousands of additional troops to forward locations along the border besides moving in heavy weapons.
New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) Situation Report on July 6, 2020, showed that India has one of the lowest cases of COVID-19 per million population. Indias cases per million population is at 505.37 while the global average is at 1453.25.

Chile has witnessed 15,459.8 cases of COVID-19 per million population, while Peru, the United States (US), Brazil and Spain have 9070.8, 8560.5, 7419.1 and 5358.7 cases per million population respectively.

The WHO Situation Report also shows that India has one of the lowest deaths per million population. Indias cases of death per million population is at 14.27 while the global average is more than its four times, at 68.29.

#CoronaVirusUpdates: India has one of the lowest deaths per million population. Indias cases of death per million population is 14.27 while the global average is more than its four times, at 68.29.#StaySafe #IndiaFightsCorona #IndiaWillWin @ICMRDELHI pic.twitter.com/10YfvDIrbq  #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) July 7, 2020

The UK has witnessed 651.4 cases of COVID-19 related deaths per million population, while the metric for Spain, Italy, France and the US is 607.1, 576.6, 456.7 and 391.0 respectively.

India has ramped up the hospital infrastructure to adequately and effectively manage the cases. The preparedness included arrangement of oxygen support, ICU and ventilator facilities. As on 7th July 2020, there are 1201 Dedicated COVID Hospitals, 2611 Dedicated COVID Healthcare Centres and 9909 COVID Care Centres to look after COVID patients from those with very severe to very mild symptoms.

Such level of preparedness has shown results in continuously improving the Recovery Rate and resulting in low Case Fatality Rate.

Early detection and timely effective clinical management of COVID-19 cases have resulted in increasing daily recoveries. During the last 24 hours, a total of 15,515 COVID-19 patients have been cured, taking the cumulative figure of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients to 4,39,947 as of today.

Coordinated efforts at all levels of the national and State governments for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19 are showing encouraging results with consistently increasing gap between Recoveries and Active cases.

As of July 7, there are 1,80,390 recovered cases more than the active COVID-19 cases. The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has increased to 61.13% today.

Presently, there are 2,59,557 active cases and all are under medical supervision.

Enhanced focus on Test, Trace, Treat, further augmented with various measures has facilitated widespread COVID-19 testing by States/UTs.

This has resulted in more than 2 lakh tests being conducted per day. During the last 24 hours 2,41,430 samples have been tested. With this hike, the nationwide samples tested for COVID-19 stands at 1,02,11,092 as of now.

With 793 labs in the government sector and 322 private labs, there are as many as 1115 labs in the country.

These include:

 Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 598 (Govt: 372 + Private: 226)

 TrueNat based testing labs: 423 (Government: 388 + Private: 35)

 CBNAAT based testing labs: 94 (Government: 33 + Private: 61)
New Delhi, Jul 7 (UNI) Exchanging views on a number of regional and global issues of shared interest, India and the US on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to work towards ensuring a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale held virtual Foreign Office Consultations on Tuesday.

They reviewed the entire gamut of engagements under the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, including political, economic, commercial, regional and international cooperation, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Both the nations agreed on the need to deepen cooperation in the United Nations, especially during India's membership of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2021-2022.

In the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, they agreed to further strengthen the bilateral health partnership, including on pharmaceuticals and vaccine development.

Mr Shringla and Mr Hale also discussed ways to further enhance mutually beneficial trade and people-to-people ties, including through visa facilitation for students and professionals.

They agreed to remain in touch and move forward on the bilateral agenda through a range of mechanisms like the 2+2 Ministerial that India will host later this year, it added.

UNI ASH/VT PS 2024
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday asserted that Indias pro-active, pre-emptive and graded approach ensured a plateaued coronavirus COVID-19 graph and a significant number of unoccupied beds at any point of time in the three-tiered COVID health infrastructure assembled by the Centre.

Swedish Health and Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren called upon Vardhan to discuss co-operation in the field of health and medicine. The two ministers discussed the status and containment measures for COVID-19 in the two countries and the future vision for handling it.

On the lessons India learned while handling the COVID-19 pandemic, Vardhan said, India has a recovery rate of more than 61 per cent and mortality of as low as 2.78 per cent in spite of being a country of 1.35 billion. 2.5 lakh people are being tested every day. From a single lab four months back, the country now has more than 1100 labs to diagnose COVID-19.

Vardhan stated that India has used the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity. This has happened because of our dynamic and visionary Prime Minister who has led from the front, and the Whole of Government approach adopted at various levels. From January 8, one day after China alerted the world on the novel pathogen, the government has coordinated amongst its different branches for point of entry surveillance at the sea and land ports, and airports," he said.

"It strengthened its community surveillance, issued detailed health and travel advisories, and also evacuated thousands of citizens and foreign nationals too. India now has over 100 PPE manufacturing units manufacturing 5 lakh PPE per day and has also similarly ramped up its production of N95 masks and ventilators, the minister added.

Hallengren congratulated Vardhan on being elected Chair of WHO Executive Board and praised India for increasing the testing capacity so that more and more people can be diagnosed and treated early.

Vardhan spoke about the decade of vibrant Indo-Swedish partnership which oversaw ten bilateral meetings at the joint working group level. He also mentioned the path-breaking achievements of the Centre in the recent years, The Ayushman Bharat Yojana covers a massive 550 million people, maternal and infant mortality have been reduced, India has made giant strides in its target to eliminate TB by the year 2025, while Indias Digital Health Program promises to integrate IT into the healthcare system. He further said that India has undertaken pioneering research in antibiotic resistance.
New Delhi: Amid ongoing India-China border row in the east Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control, paratroopers of Indian Army are also playing a crucial role in defence of the country. Since Paratroopers are the elite soldiers guarding the nation, their training and other facts always create curiosity about these ferocious fighters.

Key facts about the Indian Army Paratroopers are given below:

-Motto: Shatrujeet (The Conqueror)

-Paratroopers special forces unit "Para Commandos" was formed in 1965.

-Para Commandos specialize in surgical strikes and combat mission in the enemy territory.

-Parachute Regiment consists of PARA and PARA (SF) Battalions, which are the elite volunteer force of the Indian Army.

-The Regiment has the honour of being conferred the Bravest of the Brave distinction.

The Regiment has already been awarded 8 Ashok Chakras, 11 Maha Vir Chakras, 21 Kirti Chakras, 106 Shaurya Chakras, 63 Vir Chakras and 491 Sena Medals and the list continues to grow.

Elite Status: The Paratroopers by virtue of the tough selection, rigorous training and continuous deployment/ preparation are given the elite status throughout the Indian Army. Wearing the maroon beret distinguishes them from the rest and is a recognition of the ELITE across all armies of the world.

Soldiers of PARA and PARA (SF) Regiments are assigned with the tasks, which are of special nature and demand very high standards of physical fitness and mental robustness.

Today the Indian Parachute Regiment and Special Forces are considered amongst the best in the world including the British SAS, US Special Forces, Navy SEALs and Israeli Sayeret Matkal and Flotilla 13.

Few outlaws, few good men started a tradition of valour and sacrifice. The saga continues till date with Parachute Regiment being the most decorated regiment in the world despite it being only raised in WWII and despite it competing amongst the best of the best who have been there for centuries.

These Paratroopers wear the Maroon Beret and pin to their chest The Balidaan Badge  the winged blade of sacrifice, a badge to die for.

Earning this badge is not an easy task as one has to go through exercises which require them to demolish structures, evade capture, survive in the wild, give emergency medical aid and converse in a range of languages.

The official website (http://www.joinindianarmy.nic.in/) for recruitment of Paratroopers clearly states about their job profile as: "During operations, soldiers of PARA and PARA (SF) Regiments are assigned with the tasks, which are of special nature and demand very high standards of physical fitness and mental robustness. Upon joining the service and for carrying out the special tasks, they are required to undergo Specialization Training at the respective battalions after clearing their probation and based on their aptitude, they may undergo specialization training."
History-sheeter Vikas Dubey, main accused in the Kanpur encounter case, has been absconding for 110 hours and more than 100 teams of the Uttar Pradesh police are engaged in the search operation. More than 200 policemen are suspected of having connection with Dubey. Eight police personnel were killed during a raid which was carried in the wee hours of July 3 to arrest Dubey and his gang members in Kanpur.

The Special Task Force (STF) is questioning Jai Vajpayee, a close aid of Dubey. It is being told that Vajpayee has close relations with many police officers. A search was conducted in the village of Dubey where the police recovered three indigenous bombs during the search. So far four accused have been arrested in the Kanpur police murder case but the UP Police has not been able to nab Dubey yet.

The UP Police has put up posters of Dubey on the National Highway. IG Laxmi Singh of Lucknow has started investigating the case. On the other hand, the victim's family has expressed confidence in the government's investigation.

The police have arrested two women for being an accomplice to gangster Vikas Dubey during police raid at his house in Bikru village of Kanpur on July 3. In a related development, the state government led by Yogi Adityanath ordered a magisterial enquiry into the encounter case.

According to reports, Dubey's daughter-in-law Chama, maid Rekha Agnihotri and a neighbour have been arrested for helping the gangster and his men by providing them support and information about police personnel's position during the encounter. In fact, Chama is accused of not opening the door of her house despite insistence by police personnel, who was looking for a hideout to save himself from bullets unleashed by Dubey's men during the gunfight.

On the other hand, maid Rekha and neighbour Suresh Varma were seen informing Dubey's men of policemen's location. According to police, they were seen screaming, "Kill all cops, no one should remain alive."

It is to be noted that maid Rekha Agnihotri is married to Dayashankar Agnihotri, the main aide of Dubey. Dayashankar was arrested from Kalyanpur area by the police hours after the Kanpur encounter. During interrogation, he revealed to the police that Dubey had received a call from the Chaubepur police station, informing him that a team of police would launch a raid at his Bikru house past midnight. He also revealed that Dubey had got the power line of his area cut before the police team arrived at the location.

Eight police personnel including DSP Devendra Mishra were gunned down in Bikru village near Kanpur by the henchmen of Dubey. Seven others, including a civilian, were injured in the attack from a rooftop on a police team after it entered the village to arrest the gangster, a history-sheeter who has faced about 60 criminal cases.
Kanpur: The Uttar Pradesh government has appointed Lucknow range IG Laxmi Singh to investigate the role of police personnel in Kanpur encounter case that claimed lives of at least eight policemen including DSP Devendra Mishra. According to reports, Singh, who reached Kanpur on Tuesday (July 7), will probe links between wanted gangster Vikas Dubey and police personnel.

The case was initially investigated by Kaknpur ADG JN Singh.

A probe has also been launched against Kanpur former SSP Anant Dev Tiwari for allegedly ignoring martyred CO Devendra Misrha's letter for taking action against Chaubepur SO Vinay Tiwari. The case of the letter, purportedly written by Mishra in the month of March this year had reportedly pointed out towards a nexus between SO Vinay Tiwari and gangster Dubey to the then SSP Anant Dev. The letter has been widely shared on social media; however, police have maintained that it is not traceable and efforts would be made to locate it.

Tiwari along with a few other officials of Bilhaur, Kakwan and Shivrajpur police stations have also come under suspicion of having a nexus with the gangster and providing him a shield against any police action.

The Special Task Force today detained and questioned Jai Bajpai, a close aide of Dubey, who is believed to have taken care of all his financial transactions. The police detained him from his residence in Kanpur and carried out a search at his house.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Police has intensified its search for Dubey and his associates and a close watch is being kept on inter-state and Indo-Nepal border, to nix any possibility of gangster's arrest.

Police have also issued posters of 15 associates of Dubey who are believed to have been part of the encounter that left eight policemen dead in the village of Bikruin the Choubepur suburb of Kanpur district. The bloodbath had taken place on July 3 morning.

In a related development, the Kanpur police is on hot pursuit of Vikas Dubey's wife Richa Dubey, who is said to have fled the house in Bikru village with her son, minutes after the bloodbath took place. Sources said that the police have recovered her mobile phone during a search of the house and it has been found that the phone was connected to the CCTVs installed in Dubey's house. The police have already contacted all relatives of Richa but she is nowhere to be found, even though she is a member of the zila panchayat.

Almost four days after the ambush, gangster Vikas Dubey has not been arrested by the police. The reward on him has been increased from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh.
In a bid to nab history-sheeter Vikas Dubey, the team of Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Tuesday brought Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan under its radar after sources informed of his escape in either of these regions. The UP Police is in touch with the Haryana Police in its man-hunt for Dubey and the search for the gangster in the state has been tightened.

The Haryana Police crime branch on Tuesday conducted a raid at the Sri Sasaram Hotel located at Badkhal Chowk in Haryana's Faridabad but the police could not find anything, according to sources. The sources said that the police conducted a raid after a CCTV footage of the hotel showed his presence in its premises. The police had taken the DVR of CCTV footage of the hotel with them.

Dubey, the main accused in the Kanpur encounter case, has been absconding for over 110 hours and more than 100 teams of the UP police are engaged in the search operation. More than 200 policemen are suspected of having connection with Dubey. Eight police personnel were killed during a raid which was carried in the wee hours of July 3 to arrest Dubey and his gang members in Kanpur.

The STF has been questioning Jai Vajpayee, a close aid of Dubey. It is being told that Vajpayee has close relations with many police officers. A search was conducted in the village of Dubey where the police recovered three indigenous bombs during the search. So far four accused have been arrested in the Kanpur police murder case but the UP Police has not been able to nab Dubey yet.

The UP Police has put up posters of Dubey on the National Highway. IG Laxmi Singh of Lucknow has started investigating the case. On the other hand, the victim's family has expressed confidence in the government's investigation.

The police have arrested two women for being an accomplice to gangster Vikas Dubey during police raid at his house in Bikru village of Kanpur on July 3. In a related development, the state government led by Yogi Adityanath ordered a magisterial enquiry into the encounter case.

According to reports, Dubey's daughter-in-law Chama, maid Rekha Agnihotri and a neighbour have been arrested for helping the gangster and his men by providing them support and information about police personnel's position during the encounter. In fact, Chama is accused of not opening the door of her house despite insistence by police personnel, who was looking for a hideout to save himself from bullets unleashed by Dubey's men during the gunfight.

On the other hand, maid Rekha and neighbour Suresh Varma were seen informing Dubey's men of policemen's location. According to police, they were seen screaming, "Kill all cops, no one should remain alive."

It is to be noted that maid Rekha Agnihotri is married to Dayashankar Agnihotri, the main aide of Dubey. Dayashankar was arrested from Kalyanpur area by the police hours after the Kanpur encounter. During interrogation, he revealed to the police that Dubey had received a call from the Chaubepur police station, informing him that a team of police would launch a raid at his Bikru house past midnight. He also revealed that Dubey had got the power line of his area cut before the police team arrived at the location.

Eight police personnel including DSP Devendra Mishra were gunned down in Bikru village near Kanpur by the henchmen of Dubey. Seven others, including a civilian, were injured in the attack from a rooftop on a police team after it entered the village to arrest the gangster, a history-sheeter who has faced about 60 criminal cases.
New Delhi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched an investigation into the Kerala smuggling case to find out who was trying to smuggle gold to India under its consulate's name in the southern state and had sent the cargo addressed to it.

According to local authorities, Sarith Kumar, a former PRO at the consulate and one Swapna Suresh, working with Kerala govt IT Company were involved in the gold smuggling racket. A major political row has broken in Kerala after customs seized the diplomatic baggage containing gold worth crores a few days ago.

A statement by the UAE mission in Delhi said, "The authorities have stressed that the culprits who not only committed a major crime but also sought to tarnish the reputation of the UAE mission in India will not be spared. We remain committed to cooperating with Indian authorities in getting to the root of the crime."

The mission pointed out that the "employee in question was fired for misconduct long preceding this incident. At this time, it appears that this individual exploited his knowledge of the missions channels to engage in criminal activity."

The UAE Embassy has also "utterly condemns the attempted misuse of diplomatic channels by an individual engaged in smuggling activity".

Swapna Suresh was working as a manager at the Kerala State Information technology infrastructure limited company and was hired by IAS official M Sivasankar. Sivasankar, principal secretary to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has been now removed and has been replaced by Mir Muhammad Ali. The opposition in the state is now seeking a wider probe into the matter.
New Delhi: In what may come as a major setback for majorly Indian students, the United States on Monday said that it would not allow foreign students to stay in the country if all of their classes move online in the fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 200,000 Indian students are currently pursuing various courses in the US. Indian students form the 2nd highest number of foreign students in the US after Chinese students.

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. The U S Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U S Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States, US Immigration and Custom Enforcement said in a statement.

However, 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. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings, it added.

It may be noted that F-1 nonimmigrant students pursue academic coursework and M-1 nonimmigrant students pursue vocational coursework while studying in the United States.

The US ICE further added that Non immigrant students within the US are not permitted to take a full course of study through online classes.

The department advised schools to update their information in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) within 10 days of the change if they begin the fall semester with in-person classes but are later required to switch to only online classes, or a nonimmigrant student changes their course selections, and as a result, ends up taking an entirely online course load.

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, the official release said.
Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram: Customs on Monday arrested a man, who claimed himself to be a former employee of foreign country's consulate in Kerala, in connection with the seizure of gold worth over Rs 15 crore from a "diplomatic baggage" at an airport in the state.

The man was arrested following his interrogation in connection with the seizure of gold from the diplomatic baggage from Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Sunday, the Customs officials said.

The gold weighing over 30 kg was seized from a diplomatic baggage that had landed by air cargo at Thiruvananthapuram international airport recently.

The Customs has said it suspected a smuggling syndicate had misused the name of a person who enjoys diplomatic immunity.

On Monday, Customs personnel said they were looking for a woman, also claiming herself to be a former employee of the consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, in connection with the case.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress and BJP alleged the woman was now working in the state IT department and sought a CBI probe as they targeted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who holds the portfolio.

Vijayan said he was unaware of the factors behind the appointment of the woman and would look into the matter.

Customs officials said the arrested man appeared to be involved in the "illegal trade" and "handled fictitious kinds of documents" in connection with the case.

According to them, the man did not cooperate with the agency in the investigation, which is a criminal offence. "Law says if somebody is guilty of offence in an illegal trade involving over Rs 1 crore, then he has to be produced before the magistrate for judicial custody. We are doing that," Customs Commissioner (Preventive) Sumit Kumar

Officials said the man had not been working for the consulate for at least one year.

"Prior to that he claims to be an employee of the consulate. He had some fake, old identity card. But during the process he had been operating on behalf of the consulate, misleading people. He even had called senior officials using his fake ID," official sources said.

Earlier in the day, a senior customs official, who spoke to PTI on condition of anonymity, said they were also investigating how unauthorised people can be associated with the clearance of the cargo.

The investigation would also look into the possible role of any employee of the consulate, the official added.

"Right now we are investigating how can unauthorised people be associated with official clearance of diplomatic cargo. How come former employees of the consulate handled the consignment, who sent it from outside and whom it was meant to be given to", the official said.

Noting that suspected smuggling of gold worth over Rs 15 crore was not by "a small chain", the official said it was very clear that the cover of diplomatic consignment was being used for the purpose.

"Even then they had done deep concealment. Without information no way we could have made the seizure", the official said.

Airport sources had said the gold was concealed in a baggage consisting of bathroom equipment.

After the seizure, Customs Commissioner (Preventive) Sumit Kumar had said: "We suspect scamsters have used the name of the consignee with diplomatic immunity... It is understood the syndicate operating behind this has filed the papers for the consignment in the name of a person with diplomatic immunity."

In Thiruvananthapuram, senior Congress Leader Ramesh Chennithala sought a CBI probe into the matter alleging that the Chief Minister's Office had "become a den of criminals", a charge rejected by Vijayan.

State BJP chief K Surendran claimed the customs authorities had received a call from the CMO soon after the seizure.

The IT department is under the Chief Minister and his Principal secretary M Sivasankar holds additional charge of Secretary of the department also.

When the media sought his response to the charges of the opposition leaders, the Chief Minister said he was not aware about the factors behind the woman's appointment and the matter would be looked into.

"This was a major haul that happened in the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. I would like to congratulate the Customs team that monitored the smuggling activity and seized the gold. It seems like they have details of those involved in the matter and the Customs will act soon," Vijayan said.

Dismissing the BJP chief's charge that the CMO was involved in the matter, Vijayan said his office had never entertained anyone involved in any sort of corruption and the people of the state know that. He also said that those involved would not be able to escape and would be brought to justice.

Chennithala alleged the Chief Minister's Office tried to interfere in the matter.

"A criminal gang is operating in the CM's office. The chief minister should clarify about the persons from his office who allegedly tried to interfere in the investigation.

"The IT department is directly under chief minister. How does a person facing a crime branch probe get a job in the department? I demand a CBI probe to bring out the matter," Chennithala said.

The BJP chief also alleged the woman was earlier questioned by the crime branch in another case and sought to know how she was appointed in the IT department.

However, official sources said the woman appointed as coordinator on contract for six months in the Space Park under the IT department has been sacked in the backdrop of her name cropping up in the gold smuggling case.
Kathmandu: A Nepalese lawmaker was sacked by her party on Tuesday (July 7) for defying its decision to unanimously endorse the constitutional amendment to revise the country's map to include three strategically key Indian territories, according to media reports.

The Opposition Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) decided to sack Sarita Giri for breaching the party whip to withdraw her amendment registered at the Parliament Secretariat against the Nepal government's second amendment to the Constitution.

A three-member panel led by party general secretary Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav recommended that the party sack Giri from both as a lawmaker and the party member, and the meeting of the officer bearers of the party took the decision on Tuesday, the Kathmandu Post said.

The Constitution amendment, which was aimed at updating the new administrative and political map of the country on the national emblem, was unanimously endorsed by the House of Representatives on June 18.

The SJP and the main Opposition Nepali Congress had backed the move by the government of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.

Contrary to her party's official position on the endorsement of the new map, lawmaker Giri registered a separate amendment proposal at the Parliament Secretariat.

Giri sought to retain the old map on the national emblem arguing that there was no clear evidence to claim Lipmiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani as Nepali territories.

The Samajbadi Party had asked Giri to withdraw the amendment and warned her of internal action, but Giri had refused to take back her amendment proposal.

The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.

Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.

Nepal later released the revised political and administrative map of the country laying claim over the strategically key areas, more than six months after India published a new map in November 2019.

India had then sternly asked Nepal not to resort to any "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims.
NEW DELHI: Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari chaired a Group on Infrastructure meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday via webcast.

Union Minister for Railways and Commerce Shri PiyushGoyal, Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Information & Broadcasting and Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Shri Prakash Javadekar, and Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways Gen (Retd) V K Singh participated in the meeting. Senior officers of the Ministries of Road Transport & Highways, Railways, Power, Environment and Forests, Railway Board, NHAI and representatives from the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka attended the same.

The meeting considered several issues, in respect of pending infrastructure projects, for resolution. A major issue raised in the meeting pertained top outstanding forest clearance for 187 highway projects. It was also noted that many projects had not yet applied for Stage II forest clearance. The concerned officers were directed to initiate the process for the same immediately.

It was stressed in the meeting that level crossings on National Highways need to be removed, as they constitute major accident spots. It was pointed out that while their designs had been approved at 167 locations, but the work has not yet started.

MoUs were signed in this respect over 5 years ago, and there is need to improve performance. In this direction, it was agreed to monitor the projects under Setubharatam programme on monthly basis. It also was underlined that 30 road projects are pending with Railways. However, the Railway Minister assured to resolve these within two days.

A major issue before infrastructure projects is tree cutting, however, there are ambiguities over inclusion of certain local breeds of shrubs and plants in forest cover. An example of Babool or Kikar was presented in the meeting.

This being an exotic Arabian shrub, its inclusion in the definition of trees is causing hindrance while considering forest clearance for several projects. In Delhi, an ambitious project monitored by PMO, the Dwarka Expressway, is facing such 1939 Babool shrubs in a total of 6364 trees. It was pointed out that many States like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh do not cover this shrub in land revenue code as tree.

Gadkari expressed his satisfaction over progress on outstanding issues by way of meetings between senior level officers of various ministries. He said, he always feels that instead of wasting time and energy on written communications, it is always worthy to sit together and thrash out issues before each other. He directed that henceforth a joint meeting be held between Chairman Railway Board, Director General Forests and Director General Roads. He said, a meeting every month will solve many issues.

Environment Minister Javadekar was requested to direct the Forest officers posted in States to follow and implement the circulars and orders issued by MoE&F and CC. Special High-Powered committees on forest issues can be conducted as is being done in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh. It was felt that this step will remove many hindrances in the way of infrastructure projects, which will save both time and money.

Rail Minister Goyal lauded the idea of this meeting, and said this is a good initiative of Gadkari. He said, he also got to learn a lot from this experiment of all stakeholders sitting together for thrashing out the issues before them. He requested Gadkari to guide the Group on Infrastructure on the steps to improve citizens cause. He said, Railway and Highway projects should ideally run parallel to each other, however, due to difference in gradients, they sometimes part away. But, together these two bodies can build a number of projects.

Gen (Retd) V K Singh said, the meeting was fruitful. He said, the infra sector is the backbone of economy, and its speed decides the speed of other sectors. He called upon infra professionals to improve their procedures to enhance the pace of their projects. He opined that Railways and Highways sectors should make combined projects to save cost and to improve usability.
Mumbai, Jul 7 (UNI) Car major, Maruti Suzuki India Limited has partnered with Axis Bank to offer easy financing options for the potential car buyers.



Axis Bank is one of the key partners of Maruti Suzuki for dealer inventory as well as retail financing solutions.



As a part of the tie-up, Axis Bank will offer attractive flexi EMI options to ease the liquidity and repayment stress of customers during these tough times. Axis Bank offers auto loans to a wide category of customer segments, salaried, self-employed and with or without income proof customers.



Elaborating on the customer-centric initiative Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India said, 'One of the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic has been change in people's behaviour when it comes to mobility. Concern over safety and maintaining social-distancing has uptick the preference for having a personal vehicle. We are confident that this association with Axis Bank will help our customers in offering convenient, affordable and cost-effective finance solution for buying cars. With this tie-up our customers will have a wide array of easy finance options to choose from.'







Elaborating on the partnership, Mr Pralay Mondal, Executive Director (Retail Banking), Axis Bank said, 'Its always been our endeavor to engage with our esteemed clients and offer them customized finance solutions for different customer needs. Our primary objective has always been to provide ease and convenience for our customers. The COVID-19 Pandemic has created a need for more creative and flexible financing options for Maruti Suzuki car buyers and our best-in-class financing solutions will provide the much-needed hassle-free experience of car buying and financing.'



UNI JS SB 1213
Patna: A close relative of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had been staying at his official residence in Patna, has tested positive for COVID-19, PTI quoted unnamed sources as saying. They said test reports of the relative, niece of the chief minister, came out on Monday after which she was taken to the isolation ward at a hospital in Patna for treatment.

Kumar and four of his secretaries had got themselves tested for coronavirus earlier on Saturday after they attended an event in which Acting Chairman of the state Legislative Council Awadhesh Narayan Singh, who tested positive for coronavirus, had participated in. The CM's test reports are said to have returned negative.

The sprawling 1, Anney Marg premises were, meanwhile, was sanitised thoroughly.

A health department official said members of affected person's family have been put on quarantine and asked not to move out of the house.

The Bihar government on Tuesday set up a ventilator-equipped hospital and three separate teams of doctors from Patna at the residence of CM Nitish in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to an order signed by additional secretary, the doctors at the CM's residence will work in three shifts to assure round the clock duty.

The medical equipment for the hospital too will come from PMCH, as per an order by the PMCH after the health secretary directed the hospital to do so as a precautionary measure against COVID-19.
A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to 122 Malaysian nationals, who were charge-sheeted for attending Tablighi Jamat Markaz at Nizamuddin in the national capital by violating visa conditions, indulging in missionary activities illegally and violating government guidelines, issued in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur granted the relief to the foreigners on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000. Until the case is over, these people cannot go back to Malaysia.

The accused foreign nationals were produced in the court through video conferencing. The Crime Branch officials were there to identify the accused where they are staying. During the hearing, Malaysia High Commission officials were also present through video conferencing. The accused were also identified by the Malaysia High Commission official.
Mumbai: Maharashtras ruling party Shiv Sena has yet again made a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for being unable to prevent the rapid rise of coronavirus cases across the country.

In a strongly worded editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, the party took a jibe at PM Modi who had expressed confidence that the battle against COVID-19 would be won in 21 days. The party said that it has been over 100 days and the crisis still persists.

The war of Mahabharata lasted for 18 days. Prime Minister Modi had exuded confidence (in March) that we will win this battle against COVID-19 in 21 days. But it has been over 100 days and the coronavirus still persists and those fighting it have become tired, the Shiv Sena said in its mouthpeice.

The Sena editorial said that the fight against COVID-19 is more difficult than the mythological war of Mahabharata, adding that the battle against the pandemic will continue till 2021 as the disease vaccine won't be available before that.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party expressed serious concern over India reporting the third-highest COVID-19 cases in the world.

It is unfortunate and serious for the country, which is dreaming to become a financial superpower, to report over 25,000 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, the Sena said.

We left Russia behind in terms of the number of cases. We will attain the number one slot in this unfortunate area if the number of cases continue to go up," it said.

It added that patients are recovering on a big scale in Maharashtra, but the situation in some areas of the state turns one restless. The editorial citing the example of Thane district, which has been a major COVID-19 hotspot.

The Saamana editorial went on to say that several politicians, public representatives, policemen, health workers and other administrators are getting infected by the disease, and this does not suit the country and states.

Though the party didnt name anyone, it said that questions are being raised as to how many days the lockdown will continue.

But when you open the door (ease restrictions), the "messengers (threat) of coronavirus" is right out there, the Marathi publication said. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has relaxed lockdown restrictions to some extent, but the threat is still not over, the Sena said.

India's COVID-19 tally raced past the seven-lakh mark on Tuesday after a single-day spike of 22,252 infections, five days after crossing the six-lakh post, while the death toll breached the 20,000 mark, according to the Union Health Ministry's data.

It took 110 days for coronavirus infections in the country to reach the one-lakh, while just 49 days more to go past the seven-lakh mark. This is the fifth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 20,000.

The country's coronavirus infection caseload increased to 7,19,665 on Tuesday, while the death toll climbed to 20,160 with 467 persons succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of recoveries stands at 4,39,947, while there are 2,59,557 active cases of coronavirus infection at present in the country.
NEW DELHI: Amidst the ongoing LAC standoff and the diplomatic tensions with China, the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has sought suggestions from the Commerce Ministry on how to curb imports from the hostile neighbouring country, sources said on Tuesday.

This is part of the measures taken by the Narendra Modi to put more diplomatic and economic pressure on China in the aftermath of the Galwan Valley clashes in eastern Ladakh in which 20 Indian soldiers and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops were killed.

According to sources, the PMO has asked the Commerce Ministry to suggest steps through which imports from China can be reduced. The PMO has also reviewed the issue of the free trade agreement (FTA) from other countries as well.

Sources claimed that the government is constantly reviewing the FTA to prevent the dumping of cheap goods in the country in the name FTA from other countries. It is likely that in such a scenario, the government might take strict steps to reduce imports from many more countries in the days to come in order to further embolden the ''Self-Reliant India'' campaign.

The government' is also reviewing the import of goods from ASEAN countries, including South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore etc.

The PMO has also sought product-wise details of cheap imports, tax disadvantages (if any) and comparison with the domestic prices from all sectors. The move aims at curbing low-quality imports from China, to promote manufacturing at the domestic level under the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission.

A Reuters report claimed that the Centre is reviewing around 50 investment proposals involving Chinese companies under a new screening policy.

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, it quoted sources as saying.

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 coronavirus outbreak. However, industry executives say a deterioration in bilateral relations since a clash along the countries` contested border last month, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, could further delay approvals.

Last week, the Narendra Modi government banned 59, mostly Chinese, mobile apps including Bytedances TikTok and Tencent`s WeChat, in its strongest move yet targeting China in the online space since the border crisis erupted last month.

The move has potentially dented big Chinese businesses` expansion plans for the South Asian market. Chinese companies` existing and planned investments in India stand at more than $26 billion, research group Brookings said in March.

In an unprecedented move, India on Monday (June 29) banned 59 Chinese mobile apps including TikTok, UC Browser and Cam Scanner among others.

A statement from the government said that the apps are 'engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order'.

It is believed that the Centre decided to ban these apps due to the ongoing tensions between India and China at the Line of Actual Control. Indian experts maintained that even if the relationship with China does not deteriorate, these apps should not have been allowed to operate in India.
Hyderabad: Residents of Hyderabad city were surprised to see the demolition of decades-old Secretariat building, facing the famous Hussainsagar lake, at the stroke of midnight on Monday (July 7). Police personnel blocked every road leading to the Secretariat in the morning and that's when everyone in the city came to know about the big demolition.

Armed with High Court clearance, the Telangana government started the demolition to construct a brand new Secretariat in place of the existing one. The issue has earlier raised a huge political storm with the opposition parties accusing the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)-led government of "ignoring" the severe COVID-19 pandemic situation and taking up the construction activity for a new Secretariat.

"It clearly shows the lopsided priority of the TRS government. At a time when the state is in severe financial distress due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation, what was the need to go for the construction of new Secretariat building? The same construction money could have been used to pay salaries of government employees, help poor, and those who have lost jobs," charged Dr Sravan Dasoju, spokesperson, AICC.

The Secretariat premises, which is functioning from the last five decades, once had administrative offices of Nizam. Spread across 25 acres, this was a power center till the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Since Telangana state was formed, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao choose not to function from here due to "Vastu dosha".

"KCR is behaving like a dictator. Though the Telangana High Court has given the green signal, KCR should have at least postponed the construction and instead should have used the money in increasing Covid-19 tests across the state. The situation arising due to Covid-19 is precarious in the state. KCR is interested only for name and fame and is not worried to save people's lives in this hour of need," says NV Subash, spokesperson, Telangana BJP.

Not bothered with criticism, the Telangana Chief Minister's office, however, has released a design of the new Secretariat building.

"Building of new Secretariat was envisaged a few years back. What's wrong in going ahead with the construction. Telangana High Court has also given green signal. Chief Minister KCR feels all the administration work should be carried out from one place and the present premises is not suitable," said B Vinod Kumar, vice-chairman Telangana planning commission.

It is expected to cost a staggering Rs 500 crores approx to build this new Secretariat which will have six lakh sq ft built-up area. It is expected to take at least 2-3 years to complete the project.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday called Centre's decision of conducting final-year examinations in universities by September-end as 'shock to all', adding that implementing the call would endanger the wellbeing of students, parents and teachers the coronavirus COVID-19 situation.

On July 6, the Union HRD Ministry announced that UGC will conduct the exam which was deferred from July to September. The decision by the HRD Ministry came following a nod from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to conduct the exams as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The state Education Minister Uday Samant in a letter to HRD Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' stated the current situation of Maharashtra as the worst affected state with more than two lakh cases confirmed so far.

He wrote, "In such unforeseen, uncertain and critical challenging situation, conduction of final year exams of approximately more than ten lakh students seems highly infeasible task and if conducted, would endanger the wellbeing of students, parents, teachers, supporting staff and other machinery involved in the process."

"Most of the educational institutes, hostels and other facilities have been acquired by the administration for quarantine and other COVID purposes. Due to this pandemic situation, most students will have travelled back to their home towns. Hence to appear for exams students have to travel back to cities/town, wherein their travel, accommodation, food etc. will be the biggest concern and may hamper the health," he wrote.

"There have been incidences in other states and countries wherein exams were conducted and a large number of students got infected by the virus. Hence, I had earlier pleaded UGC to cancel final year exams vide letter dated 17th May 2020 citing the pandemic situation," he wrote further.

Samant added, "Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Puducherry have taken the decision not to conduct terminal exams. Even IIT Mumbai, Kharagpur, Kanpur. Roorkee has also cancelled their final semester exams. To ensure academic credibility, career opportunities, future prospects and simultaneously to safeguard principles of health, safety, fair and equal opportunity for students; Government of Maharashtra in consultation with the Vice-Chancellors of universities and all concerned stakeholders, has arrived at the decision to award degree certificates based on evaluation of student's performances of previous semesters and internal assessment, since conduction of examination by other modes (online/offline/blended) is not feasible."

"Also to ensure confidence, satisfaction. competence, performance and credibility, willing students have been given the opportunity to improve the grade by appearing for exams, which would be conducted when the situation becomes conducive to conduct exams. I am of the opinion that the revised guidelines issued by UGC dated 6 July 2020 are not mandatory but mere advisory like the earlier guidelines," he added.

"In view of above facts and uncertainty of pandemic crisis, I kindly request and hope that in the interest of physical/mental wellbeing of students and future prospects, you will issue uniform guidelines about awarding degrees to final year students based on an appropriate formula, as since the students are the pivotal soul of the entire educational ecosystem," read the letter.

The announcement has put to rest speculations that the exams for final-year students may be cancelled in view of the COVID-19 situation. The UGC's panel of experts, headed by Haryana University vice-chancellor R C Kuhad, was on June 25 asked to review the final-year examination guidelines issued on April 29. The examinations were scheduled to be held in July.

The HRD Minister, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', took to Twitter to say, "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.."
The Tamil Nadu government is expected to declare the Tamil Nadu 12th result 2020 on Tuesday (July 7). The result will be announced online on tnresults.nic.in website, dge1.tn.nic.in and dge2.tn.nic.in.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan had said that Class 12 answer sheet evaluation is almost complete and that the Tamil Nadu 12th result 2020 will be released in the first week of July.

Here's how to check your Class 12 Board result 2020 online:

Step 1: Head to the official website of Tamil Nadu results (tnresults.nic.in).

Step 2: Click on the Tamil Nadu HSE (+2) March 2020 Exam Results link

Step 3: Enter your roll number and other login details as asked

Step 4: Click on the submit button

Step 5: Now you can see the result displayed on the website

It is to be noted that the students will have to collect the original marksheet from their respective schools because the class 12th result 2020 released online is only provisional. TN HSC result 2020 includes students basic details like name, roll number, marks obtained in the exam, grades, etc.

Around 8.5 lakh students appeared for the Tamil Nadu 12th exam 2020. They must keep their date of birth and registration number ready to check Tamil Nadu HSC result 2020 as soon as the result is announced. They can also access Tamil Nadu HSC result 2020 through mobile application, and SMS.

In 2019, Tamil Nadu12th result was declared on April 19 and the exams were held from March 1 to March 19, 2019.
The Tamil Nadu Class 12 result 2020 may be announced by the state government on Tuesday (July 7), according to reports. Once declared, the results will be available online on tnresults.nic.in, dge1.tn.nic.in and dge2.tn.nic.in.

The Class 12 examinations were held in March but the evaluation of answer sheets got delayed due to the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent nationwide lockdown imposed by Prime Minister to curb the spread of the deadly virus in the country.

It is to be noted that Tamil Nadu Board Class 10 exams were scrapped due to coronavirus and the government had decided to promote students on the basis of internal assessment marks and attendance.

Here's how to check Tamil Nadu Class 12 Board result 2020 online:

Step 1: Head to the official website of Tamil Nadu results (tnresults.nic.in).

Step 2: Click on the Tamil Nadu HSE (+2) March 2020 Exam Results link

Step 3: Enter your roll number and other login details as asked

Step 4: Click on the submit button

Step 5: Now you can see the result displayed on the website

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan had said that Class 12 answer sheet evaluation is almost complete and that the Tamil Nadu 12th result 2020 will be released in the first week of July.

In 2019, Tamil Nadu12th result was declared on April 19 and the exams were held from March 1 to March 19, 2019. Around 91.3 percent students had passed the exam in 2019.
Kolkata: A district court in West Bengal's east Burdawan on Monday (July 6) awarded a death sentence to a 38-year-old man found guilty of raping and murdering several women.

Kamaruzzaman Sarkar, was known as a serial 'chain killer' for strangling his female victims with bicycle chains, was sentenced to be hanged to death by additional district and session judge Tapan Kumar Mondal. According to reports, he used to enter the victim's house posing as a government official and strangulate them using a cycle chain. The link earned him the title of 'chain man' in the district.

During interrogation, he revealed that he used to choose his targets carefully - women who used to stay alone. While targetting his prey, he used to dress up well and enter their houses on the pretext of noting electricity meter. Upon being convinced that the woman is alone at her house, he used to strangulate with the chain and hit them on the head repeatedly with an iron stick to ensure they die. He also admitted to having caused several sexual assaults to a few women during the attack.

He told police that some women were successful in escaping the attack. He said that even though he stole a few exensive items from victim's house a few times, theft was never his motive.

Originally hailing from Murshidabad district, Sarar is married and has three children, two sons and a daughter in east Burdwan. He used to deal with scrap metal.

Sarkar has cases registered against him of raping and killing five women, which is under trial in five other courts. In Hooghly and east Burdawan, he is charged of carrying out murderous attack on three women. In a few other cases, he has been charged of robbing the victims. The crimes took place between 2015-2019 until he was arrested.

Following the court's order, his lawyer said that an appeal would be filed before the Calcutta High Court, challenging the conviction and the death sentence.
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi once again lashed out at the government questioning why "China allowed to justify the murder of 20 unarmed jawans in our territory."

The statement of Rahul Gandhi comes a day after National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval held talks with Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi

Taking to Twitter, Gandhi, said, ''National interest is paramount. GOI's duty is to protect it. Then, 1 - Why has Status Quo Ante not been insisted on? 2 - Why is China allowed to justify the murder of 20 unarmed jawans in our territory? 3 - Why is there no mention of the territorial sovereignty of Galwan valley?''

National interest is paramount. GOI's duty is to protect it. Then,

1. Why has Status Quo Ante not been insisted on?

2. Why is China allowed to justify the murder of 20 unarmed jawans in our territory?

3. Why is there no mention of the territorial sovereignty of Galwan valley? pic.twitter.com/tlxhl6IG5B  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 7, 2020

On Sunday evening, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi over video call. According to sources, talks, which continued for almost 2 hours, were held in a cordial and forward-looking manner.

China had said the front-line troops are taking effective measures and making progress to disengage and ease the tensions in the Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control with India.

Meanwhile, China's People's Liberation Army was seen removing tents and structures at patrolling point 14, the sources said in New Delhi, adding the rearward movement of vehicles of Chinese troops was seen in the general area of Galwan and Gogra Hot Springs.

India and China have agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest the complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity.
New Delhi: Markets opened with minor gains on Tuesday amidst positive global cues.

The BSE Sensex rose 70.29 points or 0.19 percent to 36,557.57 in early trade while the NSE Nifty fell 6.15 points to 10,757.50. Nifty had topped 10,800 at opening.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last down 0.25%, a seemingly inevitable correction after sharp gains of 7% in just five days that took it to a 4-1/2-month high. Japan`s Nikkei gave up 0.7% while U.S. stock futures shed 0.3% in Asia after hefty gains on Monday in the wake of surging Chinese shares, a Reuters report said.

In the previous session on Monday, the BSE Sensex rose 465.86 points or 1.29 percent to close 36,487.28 at while the NSE Nifty edged higher by 156.30 points or 1.47 percent to 10,763.65.
New Delhi: Actress Tanushree Dutta is hailed as the torchbearer of MeToo movement in Bollywood. Her lawyer Nitin Satpute has reacted to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death by suicide. The 34-year-old actor was found hanging at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020.

Tanushree Dutta's lawyer Nitin Satpute told Zee News that although prima facie Sushant's case looks like that of a suicide, yet new layers are unfolding each day which makes it imperative that proper investigation must be carried out to find the truth.

After this incident, nepotism and favouritism have once again become the topic of discussion online. Satpute said, "In 2007, Tanushree Dutta was sexually harassed but the case was filed in 2017 at that point of time, even she thought of committing suicide. But then she fought her own battle. Similarly, if during the investigation, it comes out that Sushant was abetted to suicide then those who are behind this act must be punished."

Several people have approached me to find out the truth in Sushant's case and find out whether anyone tried to corner him or he was subjected to nepotism.
New Delhi: In the latest development in Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide case, the Mumbai Police has questioned a few journalists over articles published by them on the late actor earlier and during the investigation, a reporter claimed that his source is an actress.

According to the reporter, the actress in question had given information about Sushant Singh Rajput to him. She was also seen at Sushant's funeral and claims to be his friend, sources said on Tuesday.



The Mumbai Police is yet to question the actress. However, she is likely to be called for interrogation soon. The cops want to investigate what was her motive behind passing on the information about Sushant to the reporter.



Sushant died by suicide on June 14 in Mumbai. He was said to be under stress and depression for some months.

As of now 34 people, including Sushant's family members, his close friend Rhea Chakraborty, 'Dil Bechara' director Mukesh Chhabra and actress Sanjana Sanghi, Yash Raj Films (YRF) casting director Shanoo Sharma and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, have been questioned in the actor's suicide case.

ALSO READ: Sushant Singh Rajput not dropped from any of my films, he wanted to focus on Yash Raj Films' project, Sanjay Leela Bhansali tells Mumbai Police

Sushant starred in films like 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story', 'Shuddh Desi Romance', 'Raabta', 'Chhichhore', 'Kedarnath' and 'Sonchiriya'. The aforementioned 'Dil Bechara' will be his last film. It will release on Disney+ Hotstar on July 24.
New Delhi: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's former manager Disha Salian's family has issued a statement reacting to the rumours on social media surrounding her. Disha died by suicide on June 8, just a few days before Sushant's death. She jumped off the 14th floor of a building in Mumbai's Malad.

The statement issued by her family was shared by actor Varun Sharma on social media. Disha had managed Varun too.

"Dear all, Whoever is reading this, you may or may not be knowing us and Disha in person. But we all have one thing in common. We all are humans and have the ability to feel. Thus we hope you all understand our pain," read an excerpt from the statement.

"We lost someone we loved. The loss is too deep and grave to be processed. It`s a difficult situation for us as we are still trying to come to terms with her demise. But at the same time, what`s more upsetting are the several unnecessary rumours, conspiracy theories and speculations that are not just fake but are also hampering the wellbeing of her parents and close ones," the family added.

They further urged people to "help them heal by not entertaining or spreading fake rumours".

"Disha was someone's daughter, someone's sister and someone's friend. You all have someone who is fulfilling these roles in your lives. Look at them and tell us, how would you be feeling if same would be happening to your dear ones," the Salian family said.

"Empathy is the basic quality that makes us human. So let`s be human first. Please let her Rest in Peace and let's spread kindness," the statement concluded.

Varun shared the statement with the caption, "Let's not be insensitive, let's be more responsible rather than populating baseless allegations, let's act human, please. Let's respect the departed soul and remember her with a smile Thats the least we can do."

Apart from Sushant and Varun, Disha had also reportedly managed TV star Bharti Singh. Her death was mourned by several celebs, including Sushant, who died by suicide on June 14.
New Delhi: Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who was questioned by Mumbai Police in Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide case on Monday, revealed that he wasn't in touch with the late star since many years. On being interrogated about the depression angle, Bhansali said that he wasn't aware of it too as he was not very close to Sushant.

Sushant died by suicide at the age of 34 in Mumbai. He was said to be under stress and depression for some months.

The Mumbai Police is currently investigating his suicide case. Besides Bhansali, 33 people, including Sushant's family members, his close friend Rhea Chakraborty, 'Dil Bechara' director Mukesh Chhabra and actress Sanjana Sanghi, Yash Raj Films (YRF) casting director Shanoo Sharma, have been interrogated so far.

Bhansali reached the Bandra police station in Mumbai with his legal team around 12.30 pm and left at about 3.30 pm.

Bhansali was interrogated over two of his films - 'Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela' and 'Bajirao Mastani' - which apparently were first offered to Sushant. It was being said that Sushant couldn't star in both the movies because of his contract with YRF.

On being questioned about the two films, Bhansali told the cops that at that time, Sushant wanted to focus on YRF's 'Paani' and declined to work on two big films at the same time. According to the filmmaker, he never "dropped" Sushant from any of his movies.

"I approached Sushant twice - during 'Ram-Leela' (2013) and later for 'Bajirao Mastani' (2015) - however, during that period he was busy prepping for 'Paani'. As a director, I wanted his full attention and dedication on my projects, but owing to his tight schedule, he himself rejected both the films. After which, I never spoke to Sushant about the films," Bhansali said, as per sources.

"Sushant was never dropped from any of my films nor was he replaced. I met him first in 2012 while I was casting actors for my show 'Saraswati Chandra'. He wasn't cast in the show but I was impressed by his acting skills," he added.

'Paani' was to be directed by Shekhar Kapur. However, the project didn't take off. Kapur is also likely to be questioned by Mumbai Police over his tweet - "Knew the story of the people that let him down as he would weep on his shoulder."

I knew the pain you were going through. I knew the story of the people that let you down so bad that you would weep on my shoulder. I wish Iwas around the last 6 months. I wish you had reached out to me. What happened to you was their Karma. Not yours. #SushantSinghRajput  Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) June 15, 2020

Sushant Singh Rajput starred in films like 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story', 'Shuddh Desi Romance', 'Raabta', 'Chhichhore', 'Kedarnath' and 'Sonchiriya'. The aforementioned 'Dil Bechara' will be his last film. It will release on Disney+ Hotstar on July 24.
FLORIDA: Scientists have confirmed a rare case of a brain-eating amoeba in the Hillsborough County of Florida and warned the residents to avoid nasal contact with tap water.

The warning from the Health Department of Florida came after it was confirmed that one of the residents has contracted Naegleria fowleri or the brain-eating amoeba, according to a CBS report.

Naegleria fowleri, the microscopic single-celled amoeba, is known for infecting the brain tissues.

The disease is commonly called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). These microbes are found in warm freshwater and enter the body through the nose and travel up to the brain and the spinal cord.

Some of the initial symptoms of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and stiff neck.

As the amoeba starts to attack the brain tissue, one can also experience confusion, lack of attention, loss of bodily control, seizures and hallucinations.

Scientists say that Naegleria fowleri is found in warm freshwater such as lakers, rivers and hot springs, and also in swimming pools that aren't properly chlorinated.

In order to keep themselves safe, the Health Department of Florida has warned people to avoid swimming in freshwater sources like lakes, especially when the water is warm.

The notice also mentioned that there have been only 37 reported cases of the amoeba in Florida since 1962.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only four people in the US out of 145 have survived brain-eating amoeba infection from 1962 to 2018.

"Adverse health effects on humans can be prevented by avoiding nasal contact with the waters, since the amoeba enters through nasal passages," the health department said in its advisory.
The third episode of BGR Talks is now live. And this time the publication spoke with CEO of Digital Publishing at Zee Group, Rohit Chadda. He has been the talk of the investment banking and entrepreneurial circles since he began his career co-founding Foodpanda back in 2012.

Foodpanda was a success story under Rohit following which he created a multi-channel offline payments platform called PayLo in 2015. And finally in 2019 he joined as the CEO of digital publishing at Zee Group. The Zee Digital publishing business under him has prospered and even attained milestones like achieving 150 million users in just about a year.

BGR India started off the conversation asking Rohit about how his education in Delhi Technological University and IIM Calcutta helped in his career. He opined that top-quality education is not the only important aspects of attending these institutions. But it is also the company of the other fellow top students of the country or the world and the learning you get from them is unparalleled. This network that is created with the other students and colleagues is also invaluable.

The conversation moved on to the success Foodpanda has had under him and he mentioned that the company was a classic example of great execution of an existing idea. The app formula was already present in the developed markets and brought it to emerging markets with their own set of parameters. Foodpanda was later acquired by Delivery Hero and is presently available in more than 50 countries. The execution was key which helped it grow at such speed. If things were to be done differently, Foodpanda could have tried to own the entire value chain. This would start with ordering and end with delivery.

From startups to corporate

He spoke about the shift from the startup culture to a corporate one and said that startups essentially have a different model when compared to corporate. Startups essentially rely on the speed of execution and agility, and it is about quickly adapting to changes. A lot of startups have been able to take on corporate because of this. And this principle is what he has implemented in Zee. This has been the reason for the success that Zee is presently experiencing.

As for the success of Zee in achieving 150 million users in just about a year, two aspects have contributed the most. These include a change in culture and business. The change in culture boils also down to the feeling of ownership in the company. Talking about the business-end, a tech, and a data-oriented approach is key. As for future plans, Zee will be focusing on vernacular content, as well as more relevant content. While from a business perspective, improve the product so it sells itself.

Evolution of tech

In terms of the evolution of technology, things have changed rapidly but the principles have remained the same while its the sample set that has increased. In terms of brands, it can reach users even better now, which results in more informed decisions. And as a result of the covid situation, professionals have to change their approach to business and how they conduct business. The change in the situation has increased the adoption of the virtual method of communication.

As for technologies that will play a bigger role in the future of digital publishing space, deep technologies will play a huge role. AI will play a key role in automating and personalize and making things convenient for users. And as for the debate of the dependencies on search engine and

independent news aggregators, it is here to stay. While news publishers should definitely grow their own stickiness and pushing their own direct sources.

The interview ended on a personal note and asked if he still enjoys using Apple products. He answered that he enjoys and finds the seamless ecosystem that Apple provides. Along with the ease of use and form factor of the Apple products, he appreciates that Apple focuses more on quality over speed of delivery.
New Delhi: Search engine giant Google is learned to have struck down 25 apps for phishing on the Facebook login credentials of users.

According to the French cyber-security firm, Evina the new malware steals Facebook logins and could effectively ruin your online and offline life.

New ways of perpetrating fraud are regularly brought to the attention of our cybersecurity experts and we recently discovered new malware that steals Facebook logins. This malware could effectively ruin your online and offline life by making off with the credentials of one of your most valued pieces of digital real estate. The malware was embedded in a large number of popular apps, Evina wrote in a blog post.

Super Wallpapers Flashlight Padenatef Wallpaper Level Contour level wallpaper iPlayer & iWallpaper Video Maker Color Wallpapers Pedometer Powerful Flashlight Super Bright Flashlight Super Flashlight Solitaire Game Accurate scanning of Meade Classic card game Junk file cleaning Synthetic Z File Manager Composite Z Screenshot Capture Daily Horoscope Wallpapers Wuxia Reader Plus Weather Anime Live Wallpaper iHealth Step Counter com.tgyapp.fiction

We had Google shut down those applications. Evina managed to successfully reverse-engineer the malware which enabled us to protect end-users against it, the cyber research firm said.

The above malicious apps, Evina says, collectively had over 25 lakh downloads.

The security firm further said that when an application is launched on your phone, the malware queries the application name and if it is a Facebook application, the malware will launch a browser that loads Facebook at the same time.

The browser is displayed in the foreground which makes you think that the application launched it. When you enter your credentials into this browser, the malware executes java script to retrieve them. The malware then sends your account information to a server, it added.
San Francisco: The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will grill the CEOs of US tech giants Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon during an antitrust hearing on July 27.

Apple's Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai and Amazon's Jeff Bezos will testify before the antitrust panel that is working on proposals to reform and regulate the digital market.

The hearing would mark the first time all four top executives testify together in front of Congress, virtually or in-person depending on the panel's call in the Covid-19 pandemic times.

"Since last June, the Subcommittee has been investigating the dominance of a small number of digital platforms and the adequacy of existing antitrust laws and enforcement," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) said in a statement on Monday.

"Given the central role these corporations play in the lives of the American people, it is critical that their CEOs are forthcoming. As we have said from the start, their testimony is essential for us to complete this investigation".

The House Judiciary Committee announced its antitrust probe into the four tech giants in June last year.

Last month, the committee sent letters to technology giants Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Alphabet (Google's parent company), asking them to confirm if their chief executives will testify as part of the committee's tech competition investigation.

Committee chair David Cicilline said the documents that the investigators sought were "essential" to the probe and that requests like this were part of the "appropriate process" to obtain them.

"The only CEO who has expressed reservation about appearing, through a representative, has been Amazon," Cicilline said. "No one in this country is above the law ... nobody is above answering a congressional subpoena".

The lawmakers want the tech giants to furnish documents that have been produced in relation to other competition probes and internal communications.

The letters that the committee sent also posed questions related to possible harms to competition in the market.

In addition to the antitrust probe, Apple's App Store policies are also faceing scrutiny from the US Department of Justice.
Hyderabad: The Roads and Buildings department of Telangana has started demolishing the old secretariat building in Hyderabad to build a new one in the Saifabad area, the heart of Hyderabad city.

According to reports, the demolition work began last night. The police have closed all the roads leading to secretariat building.

The demolition of the old structure began after the Telangana high court cleared the K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Telangana governments proposal for the construction of a new secretariat building in Saifabad.

The High Court last week dismissed PILs filed by activists against the demolition.

Last year, the Chief Minister KCR, as he is popularly known, had decided to demolish the existing structure and build a Vaastu-compliant new Secretariat building.

KCR had earlier announced to build an expansive new Secretariat to accommodate all offices in one place.

The Telangana Chief Ministers office has meanwhile released the design of the new secretariat building.
New Delhi, Jul 7 (UNI) Expressing concern on the loss of employment opportunities for Indians in the United States and the Gulf by the decision of US government to suspend H1B visas and that of the Government of Kuwait to limit the number of Indians, the Congress on Tuesday said the Narendra Modi government should stand up to the threats being imposed on the Indian employees abroad.

In a statement here, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal said, 'The decision by the United States to suspend H-1B Visa with effect from June 24, 2020 will result in about two lakh Indians being sent back home.

'Additionally, of all the 85000 H-1B Visas, since more than 60,000 were being availed by the Indians, it would mean as many lost job opportunities for Indians.

'A bigger tragedy is staring at Indians in the Gulf with the Government of Kuwait bringing about a Legislation, limiting the number of Indians not to exceed more than 15 per cent of total expat population.

'This in effect would mean that 8.5 lakh Indians in Kuwait, who were till now sending home hard currency and sustaining the economy of many states like Kerala, would be forced to leave Kuwait and come back home, where nothing, but despair awaits them.

'In 2018, India received close to 4.8 billion US Dollars (around Rs 35,939 crore at present rate) from Kuwait as remittances.

'The failure of the Modi Government in not creating job opportunities at home, as also buckling down to even hitherto friendly states in securing India's interest, is more telling than ever before.

'It is demanded that the Modi Government wakes up and takes necessary measures to arrest the continuous downslide by addressing issues at home and standing up to the threats being imposed on the Indian employees abroad,' he added.

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Kanpur: The Kanpur Police on Tuesday transferred ten police constables from the police line to the Chaubepur police station, which is under investigation in connection a recent encounter here, in which history-sheeter Vikas Dubey, along with his men, allegedly opened fire on the police team and killed at least eight cops.

The transfer order was passed by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kanpur Mohit Agarwal. These ten policemen will now take charge of the Chaubepur police station.

The IG Kanpur further said that all personnel posted earlier at the Chaubepur police station are under the scope of investigation in connection with the Kanpur encounter involving gangster Vikas Dubey.

The Kanpur Police had last week suspended three police personnel on suspicion that they were involved in passing on information to Vikas Dubey hours before the local police conducted a raid to arrest him.

Vinay Tiwari, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Chaubepur Police Station in Kanpur district, was suspended for fleeing from the spot during a raid to arrest the gangster Dubey in Bikru village.

The STF probing the case had found Vinay Tiwari had tipped off Dubey at least five hours before the police carried out the raid at Bikru village to arrest the gangster and his men.

Tiwari was apparently miffed with his seniors over some issue and hence was leaking out the information to the gangster, said sources.

In fact, Tiwari is also said to have visited Dubey's now-demolished house a few days ahead of the raid-encounter took place, thus raising suspicion on his link with the notorious criminal.

Kanpur IG also informed that 25 teams from 40 police stations have been formed to investigate the details of the case and nab the dreaded gangster.
At least 21 people were killed and 15 others injured on Tuesday when a bus fell into a lake of Anshun city in China's Guizhou Province, according to Chinese media. According to CGTN, there were students among the passengers.

The incident took place around 11.45 am (China Time) as the bus crashed through a guardrail and slide down the Hongshan reservoir, according to Chinese media CGTN. Those injured were admitted to a hospital for treatment. The bus was pulled out of the water.

However, the cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained. There is also no clarification on the number of passengers on board the bus at the time of the accident. The rescue operations are currently underway.

This is a developing story. More details are awaited.
Amid the border dispute between China and Bhutan, the Bhutan Embassy on Tuesday asserted that the boundary between the two nations is under negotiation and has not been demarcated. An official statement said that so far, 24 rounds of ministerial level boundary talks have been held.

The 25th round of boundary talks has been delayed due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. All disputed areas will be discussed during the next round of boundary talks which will be held as soon as it is mutually convenient, added the statement.

In June, China had claimed that the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary situated in Bhutan is a "disputed" territory. The remarks were made by China at the 58th meeting of the Global Environment Facility Council during which it tried to "oppose" funding to a project for the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, calling it a "disputed" territory.

This has evoked a strong reaction from Bhutan which sent a strong note to the Chinas representative handling Bhutan. The note said, "Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is an integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan."

Interestingly, this wildlife sanctuary has never been a part of any global funding. It is also for the first time that it has come up as a project at the international platform, which China grabbed it as an opportunity to lay claim to the land.

Meanwhile, the Chinese move is being watched carefully by India since the area is close to Tawang, the main town in Arunachal Pradeshs Kameng sector. China, as is well known, describes entire Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet and claims ownership.

Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the eastern most part of the country in Trashigang Dzongkhag, Eastern Bhutan.

It encompasses a total area of 740.60 square kilometer covering almost three fourth of Merak and Sakteng geogs under Trashigang Dzongkhag and part of Lauri geog under Samdrupjonkhar Dzongkhag.

The Sanctuary is situated in the remotest part of the country where only limited developmental programs have been implemented in the two geogs so far. Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) is a national park in the far eastern region of Bhutan, bordering the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The sanctuary is adorned with a diverse ecosystem ranging from warm broadleaf forests to alpine meadows.
NEW DELHI: China is interfering in Nepals internal politics through its embassy and making efforts to keep the embattled Prime Minister KP Olis government afloat, sources said on Tuesday.

Sources have warned that Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi, has held several meetings with dissident Nepali leaders, including Nepal Communist Party leaders, and stepped up its efforts to mediate and keep the Oli government afloat.

On clear instructions from Chinas ruling Communist Party of China, the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal is trying to exert his influence in the internal politics of Nepal.

As per information, Hui Yanqi held a meeting with one of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal at his latter's residence in Koteshwar on Sunday and showed concern over the growing rift in ruling NCP.

Ambassador Hou also met with President Bidya Bhandari after meeting the senior NCP leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is under mounting pressure to step down.

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.

KP Sharma Oli on Monday held another round of talks with the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda' to sort out their differences as the party's crucial Standing Committee meeting was once again postponed till Wednesday, in a bid to provide them more time to agree on a power-sharing deal.

The meeting of the ruling party's 45-member powerful Standing Committee was scheduled to be held on Monday. But it was postponed at the last minute. The political future of 68-year-old Oil will now be decided on Wednesday during the Standing Committee meeting.

The differences between the two factions of the NCP - one led by Oli and the other led by 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.

On Monday, Oli and Prachanda held another round of talks to sort out their differences. The two top leaders have held a series of talks in recent days amid the intense intra-party rift over Oli's style of functioning and anti-India statements.

Their meeting on Monday ended on a "positive note", according to a local newspaper. The two leaders will again meet on Tuesday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late on Monday that the United States is "certainly looking at" banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.

"I don`t want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it`s something we`re looking at," Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News.

US lawmakers have raised national security concerns over TikTok`s handling of user data, saying they were worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies "to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party."

The app, which is not available in China, has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots to appeal to a global audience and has emphasized its independence from China.

Pompeo`s remarks also come amid increasing U.S.-China tensions over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, China`s actions in Hong Kong and a nearly two-year trade war.

TikTok, a short-form video app owned by China-based ByteDance, was recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps after a border clash between India and China.

Reuters reported late on Monday that TikTok would exit the Hong Kong market within days, deciding to do so after China`s establishment of a sweeping new national security law for the semi-autonomous city.
Resolutions against 3 Farm laws, CAA will be adopted in TN Assembly : Stalin 22 Jun 2021 | 1:21 PM Chennai, June 22 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin

today announced that resolutions against the Centre's three

Farm laws and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would

be adopted in the Budget session of the Assembly. see more..

TN prepared to face third wave of COVID : Minister 22 Jun 2021 | 1:10 PM Chennai, June 22 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian

today informed the State Assembly that the state government is fully

prepared to face if there is a break out of third wave of COVID pandemic. see more..

IIIT-Hyderabad welcomes Silicon Labs as first Corporate Founding Partner for Smart City Living Lab 22 Jun 2021 | 1:10 PM Hyderabad, Jun 22 (UNI) The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) on Tuesday announced that Silicon Labs  a leading provider of silicon, software and solutions for a smarter, more connected world  is the corporate founding partner for its new Smart City Living Lab. see more..

Thunderstorm & Lighting likely to occur in AP, Telangana: Met 22 Jun 2021 | 1:10 PM Hyderabad, Jun 22 (UNI) Thunderstorm and lightning is likely to occur at isolated places in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam on June 23, 24, 25 and 26, Meteorological Centre said on Tuesday. see more..
Egypts budget for the current 2020/2021 fiscal year, which began on 1 July, is elastic enough to deal positively with the economic impact of the coronavirs crisis, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said in a statement on Tuesday.

Maait added that the government is ready to take all necessary actions to curtail the negative impacts of the crisis on the national economy.

The FY2020/2021 budget will be revised, in coordination with parliament, after the end of its first quarter in accordance with the developments in the crisis, according to Maait.

The minister said that the budget's allocations have been disbursed, and the ministry has notified the entities that provides health care services to stick to the prices that are set by the Egyptian Authority for Unified Purchasing and Medical Supply.

"They were also instructed to stock pharmaceuticals according to the latest international standards  to contribute to localising the pharmaceuticals industry in the Egyptian market in light of the presidential directives of fast-tracking the implementation of the national project of strategic stores for medical stockpiles that aims at fulfilling the current and future domestic consumption of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies," Maait said.

Maait stressed that the FY2020/2021 budget was drafted in accordance with the presidential directives to rationalise public spending amid the COVID-19 crisis, as well as to rearrange priorities in a way that helps maintain the gains of the countrys economic reform programme.

He added that every entity that benefits from the FY2020/2021 budget has to prepare a monthly cash flow plan that includes the expected revenues and expenditure as indicated by the average monthly flows over the past five years.

Egypts FY2020/2021 budget is the largest budget in the countrys history, at EGP 2.2 trillion, due to the increase in the public investment allocations over all sectors, in addition to the rise in the allocations for priority sectors including health care and education amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Short link:


UW Speech, Hearing Clinic Reopens to New Safety Restrictions and Appreciative Patients

UW Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic audiology supervisor Teresa Garcia performs a standard hearing exam on Eleanor Downey. Downey is the director of the UW Division of Social Work in the College of Health Sciences. (UW Photo)

As the University of Wyoming plans to welcome back students to campus this fall, a top priority for the universitys restart is the health and safety of students, staff and faculty.

The UW Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic, part of the Division of Communication Disorders, located in the College of Health Sciences, reopened its doors to patients in late June. The clinic has implemented a strategic plan of safety guidelines aimed at preventing clinic staff and patients from possible exposure to the coronavirus responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Teresa Garcia, supervisor of clinical services in audiology, says steps are taken before seeing each patient to protect against contact infections.

Before each patient and in between all patients, the waiting room area and testing booth area are cleaned and wiped down with a sanitizing spray, Garcia says. Surfaces that are difficult to clean or that may be affected by the repeated use of a sanitizing spray are covered in a barrier film.

While entry to most UW campus buildings is still restricted to faculty, staff and students, patient access to the clinic is scheduled so that clinic staff can meet each patient outside at the time of his or her appointment, and then escort that patient along with a caregiver inside, so only one group is inside the clinic at that time.

Heather Malek, a senior office associate, serves as the receptionist for the clinic and, in most cases, is the first contact for patients entering the facility.

Patients are asked to call when they get into the parking lot so that Heather may let them into the building. This ensures there are no other patients in the front office area and to limit the amount of time they are in the building waiting, Garcia says. All patients and accompanying caregivers are required to wear a face covering the entire time they are in the clinic, just as the reception staff and myself also wear a mask whenever there is face-to-face interactions. We also have placed a Plexiglas barrier around our front desk area to help ensure safety.

Garcia points out that patients returning to the clinic have expressed their appreciation for the extra precautions taken by clinic staff to ensure safety.

Our patients are very pleased to have us open again, and most appreciate that we are taking extra precautions to limit exposure with things like wearing masks, she says. They also appreciate that they are the only people in the front office area besides Heather and myself. We also offer to come out to their car to do things like pick up hearing aids that need to be repaired so that they do not need to come into the office area.

Since reopening, the clinic reports seeing 63 audiology patients.

Like many health care facilities around Wyoming, the UW Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic uses telehealth for certain patient/provider interactions. However, as Garcia explains, certain hearing tests still need to be done with the patient in the testing booth using calibrated equipment.

While no UW speech-language pathology students are currently working in the Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic on campus, 36 graduate students have received enriched telepractice training this summer from the clinic faculty and at clinical sites around the state and region. The division began intensive telepractice training last summer at the Maggie Scarlett Summer Speaker Series, and the division has made telepractice a priority over the last several years.

Our graduate clinicians are ready for this, says Mark Guiberson, director of the UW Division of Communication Disorders. With our students fully immersed in providing telepractice services this summer and this coming fall, it means we are reaching patients, clients, students and families who otherwise would not be getting any speech-language services.

Currently, there are 27 patients enrolled in the summer Speech and Language Telepractice Clinic. Some 207 sessions have been completed, with 366 sessions remaining.

With the clinic having been open for only a few weeks, every available appointment time has been filled and is filled for the next two weeks, Garcia says. However, we are seeing fewer patients in our day due to scheduling patients further apart to allow time for cleaning and air exchange in the front office and booth.

To arrange an audiology appointment, call (307) 766-6426 or email SHClinic@uwyo.edu.
KELLIE FOY is News Editor for The Vidette. She can be contacted at vidette_kafoy1@ilstu.edu Follow her on Twitter at @kellie_foy

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Cultural Development Summer Programme

Gibraltar Cultural Services, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, will be coordinating a cultural development summer programme dedicated to young people.

This follows from the very successful cultural activities held at the John Mackintosh Hall for children not attending school in Years 3, 4 and 5.

The activities offered in the programme are all geared to children and young people. The summer programme will be held from the 6th to 24th July 2020. Some activities will continue out of this timeframe, with some organisations running their activities during the month of August.

The aim is to invest in young people, offering opportunities for growth and development. The sessions will be fun and educational, some targeted at beginners and others more specialised and focused.

GCS will also be running its summer Art Treasure Hunt focusing on the Mario Finlayson National Gallery. The aim is for young people and their families to appreciate the work of local artists and the interesting buildings within which they are housed.

The Minister for Culture, the Hon Prof Dr John Cortes MP, said: It gives me great pleasure to present a varied development programme that has been co-ordinated by Gibraltar Cultural Services for the Ministry for Culture. It is imperative that we provide activities for our youth throughout the summer, keeping strictly within COVID guidelines, as set by the Director of Public Health.

We always want to get more young people involved in all forms of cultural and heritage activities, as this programme will provide a platform that will contribute to our communitys cultural growth. I look forward to the participation of many of our youth in this unique and very special summer programme.
Govt Welcomes EU Approval for COVID Business Measures

The Government has said it welcomes the fact that the European Commission has today approved the umbrella measures taken in Gibraltar to support business and employment as listed in the notice at https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEX_20_1289

The Commission was notified by the Government of the details of the scheme as is required by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). They have found the measures listed to be compatible with the TFEU under the terms of the Temporary Framework which it has adopted to facilitate the clearance of State Aid measures for the purposes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The amount involved is an estimate of the cost of the measures to be adopted. It includes the  24 million guarantee taken by the Government to Parliament recently. Government has said 'it is not, for the avoidance of doubt, a grant of  100 million awarded by the EU to Gibraltar.'

Member States of the European Union have taken emergency measures to assist businesses as a result of COVID-19. In its analysis of the Gibraltar measures, the Gibraltar economy has been treated and analysed in the same way as the economy of a Member States for these purposes. Indeed, the Commission has found that the Gibraltar measures are necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State...since it meets all the relevant conditions of the Temporary Framework.

The United Kingdom and Gibraltar left the European Union on 31 January this year and are now in the transitional period which comes to an end on 31 December 2020.

The Chief Minister of Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC MP, said: "The approval of these measures is an important underpinning of the work done in Gibraltar to secure our businesses and their employees in this difficult period. The work we have done now enjoys the approval of the EU Commission. I want to thank everyone in the office of the Financial Secretary, particularly Mr Albert Mena, and the teams working with us round the clock on these issues for helping us to deliver this important and very positive result."
From 29 June to 2 July, at the request of the State Revenue Committee of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan Customs) and with support from United States Aid (USAID) Central Asia, the World Customs Organization (WCO) successfully delivered the first virtual mission in the area of SAFE/AEO (Authorized Economic Operator). The purpose of this exercise was to support Kazakhstan Customs to study matured AEO programmes while exploring the approach to implementing Article 7.7 of the World Trade Organizations Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA), which deals with Authorized Operators (AO).

In the opening session, the WCO Secretariat and Ms.Aliya Jetibayeva, Director of the Methodology Department of the State Revenue Committee, Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan, shared thoughts about the emerging and evolving situation arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Providing trade security and facilitation measures for businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, is urgently needed in order to avoid disruption in international trade and sustain business continuity.

The first part of the mission took the form of a webinar for the sharing of information regarding the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards and SAFE Package updates, linkages between the WCOs AEO programme and the TFAs AO scheme, AEO minimum criteria, and best practices for AEO and MRA implementation. Kazakhstan Customs took the initiative of inviting other Central Asian Customs Administrations to join the webinar. Representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan shared details of their AEO schemes.

In the second part of the mission, WCO experts and Kazakhstan Customs conducted a gap analysis on the SAFE/AEO Programme Standards as compared to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) AEO legislation. Kazakhstan Customs colleagues had an opportunity to receive recommendations on how to make the current AEO provisions adaptable to the WTOs TFA requirements for the implementation of the Article 7.7  AO scheme.

For more information about the WCOs SAFE Package, or the linkages between the WCOs SAFE/AEO programme and the TFAs AO scheme, please contact Facilitation@wcoomd.org.
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The Paducah Board of Commissioners. PHOTO:Paducah Board of Commissioners, courtesy of Youtube.

Commissioners Approve Sale of Genova Building

By West Kentucky Star Staff





At a called meeting on Tuesday, Commissioners voted on and approved the sale of the building, located at 5400 Commerce Drive, for $3.6 million. The building is being sold to KSR Legacy Investment Corporation.







The building is jointly owned by the City and McCracken County, with the McCracken County Fiscal Court scheduled to vote on the sale of the building at a called meeting Wednesday.







During the meeting, City Manager Jim Arndt shared his thoughts on the decision.







"What KSR Legacy is bringing is 125 jobs at $17 an hour. It's a tremendous investment in our community, and this gets us out of debt on that facility." Arndt continued, "We have a private company taking over a facility to provide a private service which is a wonderful thing for the City."







In May, Greater Paducah Economic Development announced that Utah-based Plastic Services and Products, LLC would re-establish production at the site with 125 employees.







You can see the full meeting at the link below.





PADUCAH - The Paducah Board of Commissioners have approved the sale of the former Genova Products building.
Man Jailed on Meth, Pot Charges After Traffic Stop

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MCCRACKEN COUNTY - A traffic stop Monday in McCracken County led to the arrest of a Marshall County man on methamphetamine and marijuana charges.Just after midnight, a deputy stopped a car for traffic violations in the 1500 block of Husband Road. During the stop, the deputy searched the vehicle.During the search, the deputy reportedly found approximately five grams of methamphetamine, as well as a small amount of marijuana.The driver, 32-year-old Cody Lowery of Benton, was arrested and lodged in the McCracken County Regional Jail. He's charged with possession of marijuana and possession of methamphetamine.
1899

Having occupied Egypt in 1882, Britain puts Sudan  conquered by Mohamed Ali in 1820  under its imperial rule. A governor-general, appointed by Egypt with British consent, administers it.

The British begin construction of the Aswan Low Dam. Designed to store annual floodwater and augment dry season flows, it will bolster irrigation and help support Egypts growing population.

1902

The Aswan Low Dam is completed, and opens on 10 December.

The dam, though its scale is unprecedented at the time, operates as designed but later provesto have an inadequate reservoir capacity.Its height is raised twicebut it still fails to keep up with growing irrigation demands, eventually leading to the floating of the idea of an Aswan high dam in the 1950s.

15 May 1902: the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty

Ethiopias Emperor Menelik and British envoy Lt. Col. John Lane Harrington sign an agreement to secure the flow of the Nile downstream in Addis Ababa.

Article three of the treaty stipulates: His Majesty the Emperor Menelik II, King of Kings of Ethiopia, engages himself towards the Government of His Britannic Majesty not to construct, or allow to be constructed, any work across the Blue Nile, Lake Tsana, or the Sobat which would arrest the flow of their waters into the Nile except in agreement with His Britannic Majestys Government and the Government of the Soudan.

At the time Ethiopia has no irrigation schemes to speak of.

Unlike future Nile water agreements signed by colonial powers which excluded Addis Ababa, this is the only agreement signed by Ethiopia guaranteeing the unhindered flow of the Nile. The treaty remains the most authoritative instrument defining the water rights of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia until the second half of the 20th century.

1929: Nile Waters Agreement

Egypt and Great Britain, representing Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and Sudan, sign an agreement giving Cairo the right to veto projects higher up the Nile that affect its water share.

The agreement allocates 55.5bcm of water to Egypt and 18.5bcm to Sudan.

1935

Italy invades Ethiopia, and Britain recognizes the de jure status in1936.

1954

Soon after the 1952 July Revolution brings the Free Officers to power Egypts new leadership takes up the reins of the ambitious Aswan High Dam project, conceived in the last years of the monarchy. Cold War political maneuvering leads to the withdrawal of funding pledged by world powers and construction is delayed for years. Work on the project eventually resumes in 1958 with USSR support.

1956

Ethiopia contests  to little effect  the validity of the Anglo-Ethiopian treaty, on the grounds that Britain recognized Italys de jure occupation of Ethiopia.

8 November 1959: Egypt-Sudan Nile waters agreement

Egypt and Sudan sign the agreement, which supplements the 1929 treaty, in Cairo. It allows both countries full, rather than partial use, of Nile waters, and confirms Egypts right to 55.5 bcm annually, and Sudans to 18.5 bcm.

The agreement is designed to allow Egypt to build the Aswan High Dam that affects Sudan, which is why Khartoum is a party, but does not affect Ethiopia, which is therefore not included as a party to the treaty.

9 January 1960

Having secured Egypts share of Nile water, construction of the Aswan High Dam begins. It is Egypts biggest national project since the Suez Canal and its grand modernization project. The dam is a symbol of nationalism and independence that will put the Nile River under the control of man for the first time in history.

Addis Ababa becomes a reliable partner of the West in its struggle against the communist East during the Cold War, and Haile Selassie wins American support for plans to develop his country through large-scale water infrastructures.

Between 1956 and 1964 the United States Bureau of Reclamation conducts a survey of the Blue Nile, which is eventually used to identify the site for the Ethiopian dam project.

1970

Construction of the Aswan High Dam (AHD) is completed. It is fully operational two years later.

The dam is 111 meters high, with a crest length of 3,830 metres, and a volume of 44.3 million cubic meters. The $1 billion project captures the Nile river in its reservoir, Lake Nasser, which is the third largest in the world with a capacity of 169 bcm. It is constructed to control two annual floods so that, in the event of drought, Egypt can still have sufficient water.

AHD releases approximately 55.5bcm annually and provides Egypt with half of its power.

1974

Emperor Haile Selassie is overthrown by the Derg, a Marxist-Leninist military junta. Ethiopia descends into civil war  accompanied by economic decline and periodic famines  for the next three decades.

1991

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRD) deposes autocrat President Mengistu Haile Mariam. He is succeeded by Meles Zenawi who rules for the next two decades.

1993: the Cairo Cooperation Framework

Egypt and Ethiopia pledge not to implement water projects harmful to the interests of the other, and to consult over projects to reduce waste and increase the flow of Nile water.

1995

A new constitution is promulgated, creating the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with Meles Zenawi as prime minister.

February 1999: The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)

The initiative, supported by the World Bank, brings together Nile Basin countries. They agree to develop the river in a cooperative manner and share the socioeconomic benefits.

It NBI is hailed as a milestone for regulating the way the Nile is used within an institutional framework for the first time in almost a century.

October 2009

The Ethiopian Government surveys the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 15 km east of the border with Sudan.

June 2010

Egypt and Sudan freeze their membership of the NBI after six member states sign the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), also known as the Entebbe Agreement, which seeks to redraw Egypt and Sudans Nile water share.

Egypt, a water impoverished nation with a population of 83 million, is completely dependent on the Nile (and the Aswan High Dams reservoir Lake Nasser) forfresh water, 85 per cent of which originates in Ethiopia.

November 2010

A design for an Ethiopian dam to be built in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, dubbed Project X at the time, is accepted.

December 2010

Project X, now known as the Millennium Dam project, is launched.

2011

February: Hosni Mubarak steps down in February in the face of a mass uprising. The constitution is suspended, parliament is dissolved and a transitional period, which will continue until 2012, begins. Later Cairo will view this period, when Egypt is consumed by internal instability, as an opportunity which Addis Ababa grabbed to impose a new reality on the ground vis-a-vis the dam.

31 March: A day after the Millennium Dam project is made public a US$4.8 billion contract is awarded to the Italian company Salini Costruttori. The dam's foundation stone is laid on 2 Aprilby Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Thedesign phase of the project was kept secret by the Ethiopian government until a month ago.

The planned hydropower plant has a 6,500 MW generating capacity and a 74 bcm reservoir. It is projected to increase electricity access in Ethiopia to 50 per cent, a make Ethiopia Africas largest power exporter. The GERD is a source of national pride and a symbol of Ethiopias renaissance and, like the Aswan High Dam, its modernization.

15 April: Ethiopias Council of Ministers renames the Millennium Dam (originally Project X) the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

2011-2013

A trilateral technical joint committee is formed to discuss all issues pertaining to the dam. An international panel of experts (IPoE) from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, supplemented by four international experts, is established.

The IPoE produces a report, based on agreed Terms of Reference, covering, among other things, the safety and stability of the dam, hydrological studies, and its environmental and social impacts.

On 8 March, 2012 Sudans president Omar El-Bashir tells the newly appointed Ethiopian ambassador to Khartoum that his country supports GERD.

Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood is elected president of

Egypt in May 2012.

Meles Zenawi, Ethiopias prime minister who ruled the country for two decades, dies in August 2012. He is succeeded by Foreign Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in September.

2013-2014

The Tripartite National Committee holds technical talks on how to move forward and address the IPoEs 2011 recommendations, which include the conduct of additional studies to assess the dams impact.

Ethiopia shares design and technical information but fails to produce documents on the socio-economic, hydrologic and environmental impacts of GERD during and after the filling period.

Ethiopias parliament ratifies a controversial treaty to replace the 1959 Nile water agreement.

May: Egypts state statistics agency (CAPMAS) releases a report documenting the decline in water resources per capita. In 2013 it stood at 663m3 per capita, having declined from 1,672 m3 in 1970, and 2,526 m3 in 1947. The agency predicts that by 2025 the annual figure will dwindle to 582 m3 per person.

IPoE issues a report that concludes the documents submitted by Ethiopia assessing GERDs impact on downstream riparian states contain insufficient detail on the planned operation of the dam. The report also points to flaws in GERDs design specifications, casting doubt over the dams structural safety and stability.

28 May2013: Ethiopia starts diverting the Blue Nile to make way for GERD.

3 July 2013: President Mohamed Morsi is deposed by the military following popular protests. GERD negotiations are put on hold.

2014-2015

GERD talks resume after Egypts defence minister Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi is elected president in June 2014.

The tripartite committee selects a French and a Dutch consultancy firm to conduct the GERD impact studies recommended in 2013.

Legal and political negotiations lead to the trilateral agreement, the Declaration of Principles (DoP), signed by the three heads of state in March 2015 in Khartoum.

The three countries commit to take all necessary measures to avoid causing significant harm to one another. They agree to ask for mediation should they fail to solve outstanding disputes over the dam through negotiations.

In fifth principle enshrined in the DoP states that the studies recommended by the IPoE will be used as the basis for the rules governing the filling and operation of GERD, and that the entire negotiating process should be completed within 15 months.

For the next five years Ethiopia fails to deliver on a single DoP commitment.

2016-2017

The French engineering consultancies Artelia and BRLi Group are hired early in 2016. Regular meetings between technical and political parties are held to define the scope of the studies and put a team of consultants together. Disagreements over the baseline to be used to assess GERD impacts lead to delays in starting the studies.

May 2017: The French consultancy firms issue their preliminary reports. Egypt accepts them in October. Sudan and Ethiopia express reservations.

Egypt fears that, depending on the timetable for filling the reservoir, its supply of Nile water could be seriously compromised. A reduction of 1bcm availability at at the Aswan Dam will result in 294,000 feddan of agricultural land being taken out of production, a 2,2 per cent increase in agricultural imports and the loss of 290,000 seasonal jobs.

2018

Ethiopia rejects an Egyptian suggestion that the World Bank be invited to observe, and when necessary mediate, the work of the Tripartite National Committee. Tripartite meetings resume.

February: Ethiopian Prime Minister Desalegn resigns amid anti-government protests. He is succeeded in April by Abiy Ahmed Ali, leading to a temporary reduction in tensions with Egypt. Tripartite meetings on technical studies of continue though there is little, if any, sign of progress. Cairo blames the lack of any advance on deliberate obfuscation and prevarication by Ethiopia to buy time.

May: Following a nine party ministerial meeting Ethiopia is delegated to communicate feedback from the three countries on technical issues to the French consultancy BRLi Group. The email is never sent.

In the summer a National Independent Scientific Research Group (NISRG) is formed comprising 15 experts from the three countries. It is mandated to formulate technical modalities for the filling and operation of GERD.

The research group establishes four principles as basic parameters for an agreement on the dam. They include: adopting an adaptive and cooperative approach to the filling and operation of GERD; close coordination between the operation of GERD and the Aswan High Dam; agreed mechanisms for both dams to adapt to changes in the hydrological conditions of the Blue Nile and to share the burden of future droughts, and an agreed minimum level of water to be released from GERD to ensure the Aswan High Dam remains at sustainable levels- - once the water level at the GERD reaches a level that enables it to generate hydropower.

2019

Egypt makes a proposal on the operation of GERD, based on NISRG principles. It is rejected in August by Ethiopia.

Al-Sisi calls for international intervention in the negotiations during the UN General Assemblys 74th session. In the same session Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde reiterates her countrys commitment to reaching a deal.

Following meetings of the irrigation and water resources ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, the spokesperson of the Egyptian Ministry of Water Recourses and Irrigation states that negotiations have reached a dead-end due to Ethiopias intransigency.

Ethiopia presents a proposal that Egypt rejects because its does not include operational rules for the GERD, and offers to negotiation them annually.

In response to Egypts request for a mediator the United States becomes involved in the dispute in November. The US calls on the three sides to put forth good faith efforts to reach an agreement that preserves those rights, while simultaneously respecting each others Nile water equities.

2020

January: delegations from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan meet three times in Washington. Ethiopia pulls out of the final meeting ,where a deal was to be signed, in late February, calling for more time for internal consultations. After holding bilateral talks with Egypt and Sudan, the US releases a statement saying it believed an agreement had been reached. Sudan declines to formally consent to the text, leaving Egypt as the only country to initial the deal.

March: Sudan registers an official objection to a resolution proposed by Egypt to the Arab League supporting both Egypt and Sudan in the dispute on the grounds it was issued without consultation with Khartoum. The resolution passes without Sudans signature.

1 April: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announces that his country will start filling the GERD reservoir during the coming rainy season. He puts huge emphasis on the dam as a symbol of our sovereignty and unity". Ethiopian officials say construction of the dam is 72.4 per cent complete.

3 April: The electricity grids of Egypt and Sudan are officially connected, with an initial capacity of 60 megawatts. The extension of the grid to Sudans northern regions is completed as part of efforts to expand the power supply to Khartoum.



10 April: Ethiopia offers a partial agreement to both Egypt and Sudan that would only cover the first stage of the GERD filling which both countries reject.

12 April: Ethiopia announces it will start filling the reservoir in the wet season at end of June-July or September, in the absence of any agreement.

President Al-Sisi and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok send letters to Ethiopias premier Abiy Ahmed rejecting his proposal for a transitional agreement on the initial filling of GERD in mid-July.

11 May: Egypt submits a 17-page letter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) protesting Ethiopias actions and demanding that it halt construction until an agreement is reached.

18 May: Addis Ababa sends a letter to the UNSC saying Ethiopia has no legal obligation to seek Egypts approval to fill GERD and blames Cairo for the deadlock in talks.

19 June: Abiy Ahmed announces the dam will commence filling unilaterally in July with or without an agreement. Hours later, Egypt seeks UN Security Council intervention, describing the situation as an imminent threat to international peace and security.

The move comes under Article 35 of the UN Charter which entitles member states to alert the Security Council of any situation that might lead to international friction, or that is likely to endanger international peace and security.

22 June: Ethiopia responds in a letter to the UNSC, which avoids mentioning the earlier announcement of filling the dam without an agreement, and criticises Egypt for building the Aswan High Dam 50 years ago.

27 June: After mediation from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, chair of the African Union (AU), the leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan speak by phone and agree to resume talks. Sudan and Egypt say Ethiopia agreed to holding off on filling the reservoir as negotiations continued, while Ethiopia makes no mention of a delay.

Ethiopia is scheduled to begin filling the GERD within the next two weeks, during which the remaining construction work will continue, Addis Ababa says in a statement.

3 July: Trilateral talks resume via videoconference under the AUs auspices. Egypts Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Atti says talks will continue in the attendance of 11 observers from the EU, the US, the AU Commission, and legal and technical experts.

No consensus has been reached "at the technical and legal levels, he says. The main point of contention is filling the reservoir during drought and prolonged drought.

In a statement, Sudans irrigation ministry says any agreement should have a binding nature and should include a comprehensive mechanism for resolving future disputes.

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Sheriff's Office to Receive Funding for Training

By West Kentucky Star Staff





In a Tuesday press release, McCracken County Sheriff Matt Carter says one of the major hurdles his team has faced in light of the pandemic has been a lack of professional development training offered through the Department of Criminal Justice. The pandemic has caused many of their training opportunities to be cancelled over the last couple of months.







Carter shares that due to a generous donation from the McCracken County Sheriff's Foundation, his deputies will now have access to an "exciting and very functional training platform" at no cost to the taxpayer or the McCracken County Fiscal Court.







Going forward, the McCracken County Sheriff's Office will be partnering with PoliceOne Academy to provide virtual training to their deputies. Carter says much of the training has received national certification through the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement. The partnership will provide over 400 courses to McCracken County deputies, including the following:







 Anti-Bias Training for Law Enforcement;



 Cultural Awareness and Diversity Overview;



 De-Escalation and Minimizing Use of Force;



 Ethics in Law Enforcement;



 Hate Crimes Training for Law Enforcement;



 Implicit Bias;



 Interacting with the Mentally Ill as a First Responder;



 Racial Profiling Part 1;



 Suspects in Medical Distress;



 Understanding and Responding to Excited Delirium Calls.







The McCracken County Sheriff Foundation is a non-profit organization is funded through private donations and maintains funds separate from the McCracken County Sheriff's Office.







Anyone interested in donating can learn how to do so at the link below.

MCCRACKEN COUNTY - The McCracken County Sheriff's Office has received funding for professional development training from the McCracken County Sheriff Foundation.
Heat Index Will Be Near 100 All Week

By National Weather Service

PADUCAH - A humid air mass sitting on top of much of the Ohio Valley isn't going anywhere soon, and it will cause the heat index to build toward 100 each day through the weekend.Afternoon highs are expected to be in the lower 90s outside of isolated shower and thunderstorm activity this week. Any brief rains won't have much effect in relieving the uncomfortable conditions.If it occurs as expected, the heat will tend to have a cumulative effect on anyone involved in outdoor activity.The National Weather Service office in Paducah issued a special statement on Tuesday about the heat and humidity, saying that if you are active outdoors, take breaks, and drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids.On the Net:
Man Jailed after Reported Burglary, Vehicle Thefts

By West Kentucky Star Staff

GRAVES COUNTY - A Mayfield man has been arrested after two vehicle thefts and a burglary were reported in Graves County.The Graves County Sheriff's Department responded at 2:30 am Monday to a burglary alarm at Stop and Go convenience store at the intersection of Kentucky Highways 131 and 58 near Mayfield. Deputies found the front doors smashed, possibly by a vehicle.About 30 minutes later, Mayfield Police Department requested help getting a driver to stop his vehicle, but officers from both agencies lost sight of the pickup truck. When the owner of the truck was contacted, he said his Dodge truck had apparently been stolen and there was a Kia van abandoned in his driveway.At 3:34 am, someone called 911 to report that a Dodge pickup had just pulled into his place of employment, and the driver got out and stole his Nissan Xterra. When the victim attempted to open the door and remove the suspect, the man accelerated, busting through a chain-link fence to drive away on Highway 45.Surveillance video from Stop and Go showed the white truck smashing the doors of the business, but the driver was apparently scared by the store's audible alarm, and left.About 10:30 am, Carlisle County Sheriff Will Gilbert found the Xterra in a church parking lot in Miburn, and said the suspect was asleep in the back seat. Graves County deputies went to the church and arrested 22-year-old Dolton Lee Graves.He was charged with two counts of automobile theft, leaving the scene of an accident, criminal mischief, wanton endangerment, and on two outstanding warrants.
Gov. Beshear's Tuesday COVID-19 Update

By West Kentucky Star Staff

FRANKFORT - Gov. Andy Beshear updated Kentuckians Tuesday afternoon on the state's continued efforts in the fight against COVID-19.Beshear announced 371 new cases of the virus on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in Kentucky to 17,519. He also reported nine new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths to 602."Today is a tough day in our fight against the coronavirus. While we've long noted that case numbers fluctuate due to differences in reporting  and that weekends often see lower tallies that sometimes catch up during the week  today's numbers are cause for serious concern," Beshear said. "We have worked too long and hard, and sacrificed too much, to squander the gains we have made in this fight. However, the only way to secure our safety is to recommit ourselves to doing what we all know is required of us: washing our hands frequently, staying at least six feet from others, avoiding crowds, getting tested frequently and cooperating with contact tracers if they call with information."At least 4,841 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.Beshear also announced that he has extended his executive order prohibiting price gouging during the pandemic. Anyone with information about unfair sales or billing practices is encouraged to contact the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Hotline at 888-432-9257 or fill out a complaint form online.On the Net:
KDE Releases New Health, Safety Advice for Schools

By West Kentucky Star Staff

FRANKFORT - The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) released new reopening guidance on Monday on school workplace health and safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The document, COVID-19 Considerations for Reopening Schools: Workplace Health and Safety, provides information on how to create healthful environments for employees and students in the return to school. It also encourages districts to work with their local health departments and agencies to ensure their policies continue to align with state and federal guidance.

The document includes plans for and details on a variety of topics, including health and safety teams, and mitigation strategies, and includes links to resources and support.

More guidance and resources can be found on KDEs COVID-19 webpage.
Since 2018, the city of Brentwood has successfully partnered with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the Tennessee Dangerous Drugs Task Force and the Williamson County Anti-Drug Coalition to operate a prescription drug drop box in the lobby of Brentwood City Hall.
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After nine years of Ethiopian intransigence and evasiveness Egypt was forced to turn to the UN Security Council (UNSC) in an attempt to check Addis Ababas bid to begin filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam reservoir unilaterally, without a prior agreement with Sudan and Egypt.

Ethiopia, which recently thumbed its nose at a US-World Bank brokered draft agreement based on the input of the three principles, rushed to the arms of Pretoria, in its capacity as chair of the African Union, crying that African problems require African solutions.

Evidently, Africa was born yesterday: clearly Ethiopia did not think it existed last year when Egypt chaired the AU, or during the eight years of negotiations before that.

Ethiopia believes that by confining the management of this dispute to AU headquarters in Addis Ababa it can keep its behaviour hidden from the world as it continues to procrastinate and evade accountability. Meanwhile, lets not forget that Ethiopia, which now touts its African affiliation and wants to keep the negotiations African, is the same Ethiopia that contracted an Italian firm to build the dam, a Chinese firm to build its electricity grid and zero African firms for any construction or engineering works related to the dam. To Ethiopia, Africa is only good as a negotiating shield, which is why Egypt was right to give the AU talks two weeks and to ensure that the UNSC was abreast of this process, especially since it is still the UNSCs role to resolve disputes that threaten international peace and security.

While the Egyptian presidents statements following the meeting of the AU Bureau attended by the heads of state of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia were balanced and consistent with Egypts diplomatic heritage, those of the Ethiopian prime minister were tendentious and intransigent. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed clung tenaciously to his African solutions only routine, despite how dependant his country is on the World Food Programme, World Bank assistance and loans, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisations food security and irrigation development programme, and other UN organisations.

As for the Ethiopian water resources minister, his tack was to unleash a vicious attack on Egypt based entirely on falsehoods and misinformation. Describing the 1959 Nile Waters agreement as a colonialist document despite the fact that both Egypt and Sudan were fully independent sovereign states at the time, the minister claimed that Egypt obtained 87 per cent of Nile water, Sudan only 13 per cent and Ethiopia, the source of 85 per cent of Nile water, zero per cent. If he is going to try to drive a wedge between Sudan and Egypt, which appears to be one aim here, he should be less fanciful with the facts. The truth is that Ethiopia obtains the largest share of Nile water, mostly from Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile. The 55 billion m3 of water from this it uses to generate electricity at the Chara Dam. Around the lake it has constructed numerous freshwater stations, factories and farms, including fish farms which yield more than 100,000 tons of fish a year.

In addition, Ethiopia has nine billion m3 from the Takezi Reservoir which it uses to generate electricity and produce drinking water. Ethiopia thus has 64 billion m3 from Lake Tana and the Takezi Reservoir, while Egypt and Sudan obtain 60 billion m3 from the Blue Nile and Atbara. This, alone, betrays the fiction being marketed by the Water Tower of Africa, as Ethiopia has been dubbed. It claims that it does not get a drop of water from the Nile whereas, in fact, it gets the lions share.

By contrast, the countries at the headwaters of the White Nile  the other tributary to the River Nile  have no problem with acknowledging that they receive most of the waters of this branch of the Nile, whether from Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world, or Lakes Kayoga, George, Edward and Albert, through which the Nile proceeds to South Sudan. Similarly, South Sudan acknowledges that it sits atop some 40 billion m3 of water in the Sudd, the largest freshwater marsh in the world.

Ethiopia wants to throw dust in everyones eyes with its fiction about the Blue Nile and by ignoring the nine other river basins it possesses. Ethiopia has 10 river systems, complete with lakes and tributaries, all fed by abundant rainfall. Egypt has only a single river, the Nile, that cleaves its way through the desert which covers 93 per cent of the country. Ethiopia receives 937 billion m3 of rainfall. Egypt receives about 18 billion m3. Compared to Ethiopias 1650 m3 of water per capita, Egyptians obtain only 500 m3 of water per person per year, which is below international water scarcity levels.

The Ethiopian minister deliberately overlooks such facts and continues to weave his fictions. He claims that GERD will help Sudan access more than seven billion m3 of the Blue Nile which goes to Egypt but is actually a part of Sudans quota. He does not bother to explain how this will work. He also overlooked the fact that the Roseires, Sennar and Khashm Al-Girba dams ensure that Sudan does receive its full quota of Blue Nile waters. In fact, the latter dam was constructed after the 1959 Nile Water agreement precisely for this purpose. Sudan also has the Jebal Aulia dam on the White Nile and the Merowe Dam north of the confluence of the White and Blue Nile.

Nor does the Ethiopian minister mention the fact his government will deduct 15 billion m3 from Sudan and Egypts quotas during the seven years it will take for the first filling of the GERD reservoir or that it intends to deduct 17 billion m3 more on a permanent basis. If GERD is supposed to be for electricity production, as Ethiopia claims, why does it need to retain such a large amount of water. And by what mathematic feat will Sudans quota increase?

The Ethiopian water minister is unconcerned by such inconsistencies as he proceeds to toss in red herrings. Ethiopia does not recognise Egypts historic rights to the Nile. If anything, we should be talking about accepted rights, a principle recognised under international law and that refers to the amount of water that Egypt received from the Nile as the result of its natural flow for thousands of years. But even this is beside the point, because Egypt did not bring up the 1959 Nile Water agreement in the negotiations. That agreement grants Egypt a quota of 55.5 billion m3 of the waters of the entire Nile system to which the Blue Nile contributes only 49 billion. There is no connection between Egypts quota and negotiations over the dam.

The Ethiopian minister has indulged in familiar appeals to pity. The majority of Ethiopians have to carry wood on their backs for fuel and lighting because they have no electricity, whereas all Egyptians have electricity, he said. What about the Sudanese? Moreover, what about the Nile River Basin Initiative (NRBI) report last year that found that 100 per cent of Ethiopias urban inhabitants and 60 per cent of rural inhabitants have electricity. Apart from this, is it fair to equate the right to electricity with the right to life, which is at stake for the Egyptian people.

It is hard to make up for lost lives, whereas electricity can be produced from a number of alternative sources which Ethiopia also possesses in abundance: wind on the Ethiopian plateau and sunshine. Meanwhile, while millions of Ethiopians are carrying wood on their backs, according to their ministers narrative, their government is selling the power generated from the three dams on the Omo River to Kenya and Djibouti. They will probably have to go on carrying wood on their backs in order to sustain their ministers ad misericordiam appeals for future dams.

Turning back to Egypt, the minister argues that Egypt loses 10 billion m3 of water due to evaporation from Lake Nasser. Before the High Dam, Egypt lost 22 billion m3 of water to the Mediterranean which means that dam has made at least 12 billion m3 available to the people if we factor in that 10 billion m3 ostensibly lost through evaporation. Evidently, he would rather Egyptians not have that extra water at all, because he makes no mention of the 45 billion m3 lost through evaporation and transpiration in the Sudanese marshlands in the Sudd and Sobat. He also overlooks the approximately five billion m3 that will be lost to evaporation from the GERD reservoir, not to mention the equal quantity of water lost due seepage.

On its official webpage, Addis Ababa claims that Egypt exports water in the form of $5 billion worth of agricultural products, yet claims water poverty. Ethiopia exports five times that amount, but it felt no need to add this on its website, or the fact that Egypt imports 65 per cent of its basic foodstuffs at a cost of $15 billion a year, precisely because of its water scarcity. Instead, the Ethiopian misinformation campaign bills GERD as a Sudanese dam because it will enable Sudan to cultivate the area around Roseires and other areas three times a year instead of twice. It does not mention that GERD will withhold the fertile silt from the water that reaches the Roseires and Sannar dams, which may never refill after Ethiopia completes its dam from which Addis Ababa will dispense judicious amounts like a parent giving his children a daily allowance for a school lunch. If, indeed, Sudan plans to keep that land under cultivation after Ethiopia closes the taps to a trickle it will have to construct an enormous irrigation network to the tune of billions of dollars. It will also have to use tons of chemical fertilisers to compensate for the loss of Nile silt, and incalculable quantities of insecticides and other products to fight the insects and diseases that will infest Sudanese soil as it succumbs to salinisation due to the lack of annual replenishment from Nile floods.

Is Ethiopia going to fork out some money to help the Sudanese make the necessary readjustments to their agricultural economy? Not very likely. More in keeping with the current Ethiopian governments thinking is the conclusion, drawn by the German Strategic Studies Institute, that Addis Ababa plans to aggravate Egypts water poverty in order to force Egypt to purchase water from Ethiopia. Such realities should help the international community to appreciate the true nature of Ethiopias intentions.

The writer is a professor of soil and water sciences at Cairo Universitys Faculty of Agriculture.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua)  Tuesday marks the 83rd anniversary of the Lugou Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937, which is recognized as the start of Japan's full-scale invasion of China, and China's whole-of-nation resistance against Japanese aggression.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has on many occasions stressed remembering history and cherishing peace. The following are some highlights of his quotes.

 War is like a mirror. Looking at it helps us better appreciate the value of peace.

 The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War were a decisive battle between justice and evil, between light and darkness, and between progress and reaction.

 The Communist Party of China played a central role that was key to the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

 The great spirit of resisting aggression is part of the precious cultural wealth of the Chinese people. It will always provide a strong impetus for the Chinese people to overcome all difficulties and obstacles and strive for national rejuvenation.

 The Chinese and Japanese people should pass on their friendship from generation to generation, learn the lessons of history and look forward, to make joint contribution to world peace.

 China is a staunch advocate and strong defender of world peace. The Chinese people will stay committed to the noble cause of peace and development of mankind.

(Source: Xinhua)
Zhou Xiufang and her students

Zhou Xiufang is a retired teacher from Ningbo, a city in East China's Zhejiang Province. She began teaching children in remote, mountainous regions of Southwest China's Guizhou Province and Central China's Hunan Province when she was in her late sixties. Many people call Zhou the "Grandma support teacher." Zhou has encouraged her big family, including her sons and in-laws, to support her while she teaches children in remote, mountainous areas. Zhou and her family are regarded as "love carriers," because they have helped build 29 Hope primary schools, and because they have helped more than 400 impoverished children receive an education.

Teaching, As a Senior

Zhou realized the importance of an education when she was a primary school student. "My family was poor when I was young. The head teacher paid my education fees, so I did not drop out of school. I was a lucky child, who was able to continue my studies," Zhou recalled. As a result of her own experience, she hopes to help children from impoverished families receive an education.

In 2014, Zhou, who was then 66, and who had retired from her job as a teacher, heard on the news that a school in Huishui County, in Guizhou Province, was recruiting teachers. Zhou jumped at the opportunity; she applied to teach at the school, and she packed a small bag and headed for Guizhou.

Zhou returned to Ningbo, to gather with her family, during Spring Festival of 2015. A friend told her that Tonglin Primary School, in Jiuxijiang Town, in western Hunan's Xupu County, was in dire need of teachers. Zhou traveled to Jiuxijiang to visit the school. She was shocked when she saw a teacher, who was also more than 60 years old, teaching 16 students in a wooden classroom. That person was the only teacher at Tonglin Primary School. Zhou decided to relocate to Xupu County so she could teach at Tonglin Primary School.

Zhou took more-advanced education concepts and more inspirational teaching methods to the school. She encouraged students to expand their horizons. She visited the homes of students from poverty-stricken families. She bought school uniforms for her students, so the students could wear thicker clothes. She helped the school purchase and install computers, so the students could use the computers to make video calls to their parents, who worked outside of their hometown.

Zhou Xiufang

Zhou has earned more than 7,000 yuan (US $1,000) a month since her retirement. She has spent more than 100,000 yuan (US $14,286) to support students in remote, mountainous regions in Guizhou and Hunan since 2014. She once had just 3.6 yuan (51 US cents) left on her salary card. "But, as I saw happy smiles on my students' faces when they were in school, I felt I was such a 'rich' person!" Zhou said.

During the years Zhou has worked in the mountains, she has endured pain, due to inflammation of her joints, especially while she has lived in cold, humid places. She has often had to climb  up and down  the mountains to visit her students. Once, Zhou was exhausted after she walked along the mountain roads for more than eight hours. She fainted and fell to the ground. Her family worried about her. However, Zhou said, "Even if one day I die on my way to teach my students, I hope I will be buried in the place, where I have been with my lovely students."

Zhou Xiufang dispatches the books to the students.

Building 29 Schools

"I can teach my students, and I can help them obtain knowledge. But what can I do to change the poor conditions of their school?" Zhou asked herself, shortly after she began teaching at Tonglin Primary School. To solve this problem, she posted what she saw and heard at the school on WeChat, so the information could be shared with a group of students she had taught before she retired. One of her students, Zhang Gang, who owns a company in Shanghai, noticed Zhou's message and went to Hunan to visit her.

"Mrs. Zhou taught me when I was studying at a primary school in Ningbo. Many of my former classmates have heard that our teacher has been teaching in impoverished, mountainous regions. We all respect her very much," Zhang said. He was greatly moved by his teacher's kind deeds, so he donated more than 300,000 yuan (US $42,857) to refurnish Tonglin Primary School, and to improve the school's facilities.

Following Zhang's lead, more and more of Zhou's former students have helped build a combined 29 Hope primary schools in Xupu County. Zhou has also helped Xupu County form a one-on-one education partnership with Ningbo's Yinzhou District. An education base was established in Xupu County in November 2018. Teachers from Yinzhou District have since been encouraged to teach in Xupu County. Principals and young teachers from Xupu County have also been invited to Yinzhou District, to learn the good education practices of urban schools.

Zhou Xiufang and her students

Influence on Her Family

As Zhou continues to age, she has to endure more pain  caused by inflammation in her joints and ears  as she lives in mountainous regions to teach children. "As long as my knees are still OK for me to continue walking, I will keep moving on my way to teach and support my students in the mountains," Zhou says.

During the past several years, Zhou's sons and daughters-in-law have been influenced by her warmhearted deeds. They have been helping 16 of Zhou's students, who are from poverty-stricken families. They have bought a lot of clothes for those students. In 2014, after they heard that Zhou was teaching 11 orphans, all from the Bouyei ethnic group, in a primary school in Guizhou, they bought clothes and quilts for those orphans.

Every summer vacation, Zhou Xiufang's youngest son, Zhou Xin, travels with his wife and daughter to Xupu County, in Hunan, to visit his mother. Zhou Xin's family lives at the school, so they spend time with the students. Zhou Xiufang's granddaughter, Gao Qianyi, studies in Hangzhou (capital of Zhejiang Province). Her class has formed a partnership with a Grade-5 class in Jiuxijiang, in Xupu. Students from the urban school write letters to students in the small town. They also exchange gifts. Gao's school has organized its students to visit primary schools in rural areas of Hunan Province. "We experienced a different life, and we felt the happiness of lending a helping hand. When we saw the students in the mountains looked excited as they received books and toys they had never seen before, we were very happy too," Gao said.

Zhou Xiufang was extremely busy in 2019, because she was helping build 10 Hope primary schools in Hunan. Liu Yizhen, wife of Zhou Xiufang's eldest son, Su Yi, moved to Hunan to look after Zhou Xiufang. At that time, Zhou Xiufang had difficulty walking, because the inflammation in her joints was getting worse. Su sometimes went to Hunan to visit his mother; he took medicine to his mother, and he helped her arrange the schools' affairs. After Zhou Xiufang told her son the students were preparing to give a dance performance, Su immediately purchased costumes the students would need to wear.

In addition to Zhou Xiufang's sons, her in-laws' families have also offered help. When Zhou Xiufang's students, who were from impoverished families, fell ill, her in-laws contacted hospitals, and they collected donations to pay the students' treatment fees.

"Without the great support I have received from my big family, I could not have achieved my goal of helping so many children," Zhou Xiufang says. Her sons and daughters-in-law are content as well, because they have joined their mother's effort to do kind deeds.

A family's photo of Zhou Xiufang

Photos Supplied by Zhou Xiufang and Zhang Jiamin

(Source: Women of China English Monthly June 2020 issue)
Police issue stark warning to those driving under the influence after series of arrests across north Wales

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jul 7th, 2020

Police have issued a stark warning to those who risk their lives and the lives of others by driving under the influence of drink and drugs.

It comes after a series of cases dealt with by the Roads Policing Unit over the last few days whereby several individuals have failed the roadside breath and drugs test.

A man who was caught driving at speed with no headlights on Kingsland Road in Holyhead during the early hours of this morning was also over the legal drink drive limit, and as a result has been charged and will appear before court very soon.

On Saturday afternoon a 25-year-old man tested positive for cannabis at the roadside near Mold and was arrested. He was also wanted by Merseyside Police for another offence.





A 26-year-old man was stopped by officers in Wrexham during the early hours of Saturday morning and tested positive for cannabis.

On the same day a 40-year-old man was arrested after being stopped by officers in Llanfairfechan where he tested positive for cocaine and cannabis, a 28-year-old man tested positive for cannabis at the roadside in Wrexham and was arrested and a 41-year-old man was arrested in Holyhead after testing positive for cocaine.

A 43-year-old woman was arrested in Pwllheli after testing positive for cocaine and alcohol. Her vehicle was also seized due to having no insurance.

Other recent examples include a 27-year-old woman who was arrested in St Asaph last night (Monday) after testing positive for cannabis and cocaine at the roadside.

On Sunday, a woman was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving in Colwyn Bay, a man was arrested in Bethesda Bach on the outskirts of Caernarfon after testing positive for cannabis at the roadside, and a 28-year-old man was also arrested for a fourth time in the space of a month after failing the roadside drugs test. His vehicle was seized with the aim of applying to the court for a forfeiture order.

On Friday other drug-drive related arrests were made in Wrexham, Northop and Colwyn Bay.

Now as travel restrictions have been eased North Wales Police are reminding motorists that they will continue to crack down on those caught driving whilst under the influence and are warning that education and enforcement to remind drivers of their responsibilities will be stepped up.

Sergeant Trystan Bevan of the Roads Policing Unit said: Despite our repeated warnings regarding the dangers of drink and drug driving, people are still choosing to risk their own lives and the lives of other road users by taking to the roads whilst under the influence.

Those arrested on suspicion of drug driving now have an anxious wait for the results of further tests.

If convicted of drug driving they could face being disqualified, receive a fine, a prison sentence and a criminal record. Few people also realise that a drug drive conviction also means greater insurance costs and the possibility of being unable to travel to countries such as the USA.

Some have also been charged with drink driving and will appear before court over the coming weeks.

He added: Driving with excess alcohol or whilst under the influence of drugs is not just a criminal offence but also completely unacceptable which puts lives at risk.

There are no words to describe the devastation caused by drink and drug driving. Having to tell someone their loved one has been killed because a driver made the selfish decision to get behind the wheel whilst under the influence is the worst part of our job.

Anyone who is considering driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs should know that we will be out and about waiting for them  please dont think the rural nature of the region affords you protection because it doesnt.

A 54-year-old woman was stopped on the A55 near Bangor at approximately 6am this morning and provided a positive roadside breath test. She later passed the breath test procedure in police custody and was released without charge.

The same thing also happened to another driver  a 63-year-old woman was stopped in Hope near Wrexham when she failed the roadside breath test, but later passed the procedure in custody.

Sergeant Bevan added: Despite the two individuals passing the breath test procedure in custody, both took a risk by driving after drinking alcohol.

Patrols will continue as part of our ongoing commitment to keeping the roads safe for all and to provide a high visibility reassurance to our communities, and we will continue to take action against drivers who commit offences on our roads.

If you have information relating to someone you think is driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs, please contact North Wales Police on 101 or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency always dial 999.
Testing capacity in Wales up to 15,000 a day  BMA Cymru asks for regular frontline NHS tests

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jul 7th, 2020

British Medical Association Cymru is supporting calls for all NHS frontline workers to be regularly tested for Covid-19, whether they are showing symptoms or not.

Currently, the testing policy relates to all symptomatic critical workers and to all symptomatic members of their household over five years of age, including adults and children.

Leading doctors in Wales argue that as plans are discussed for the resumption of services, staff across the NHS should have frequent tests, to ensure the safety of patients and healthcare workers.

Dr Phil Banfield, Chair BMAs Welsh Consultants Committee, said: We support regular testing for all NHS frontline workers, in particular those who are asymptomatic and are not tested under current rules. At the beginning of the pandemic, The World Health Organisation said the response to the pandemic needed testing, testing, testing, and this remains the case.





He added: If we want normal NHS services to resume, this is a sensible approach to ensure doctors can continue to offer the best care, whilst ensuring the safety of themselves and their patients. As people are brought back to Covid light areas for treatment, unless asymptomatic staff are also tested, theres the chance they could pass the virus onto patients.

Testing needs to be frequent and regular to minimise further spread following a potentially false negative result. We must also continue to take precautions when a negative result is received.

Whilst theres uncertainly if there will be a second wave of Covid-19, the best way to mitigate against this is to start with our healthcare workers, who are dealing with patients, in close contact, day in, day out.

Dr Banfield also called for results to be returned more quickly and for antibody testing for frontline workers. He said: Delays in test results being returned need to be addressed urgently, along with antibody testing, even if this is a one-off occurrence. We need to know that doctors who are in close contact with patients are not carrying and spreading the virus unnecessarily, whilst getting doctors back into work as safely as possible after self-isolating.

We want to see real-time data on the number of tests being carried out at a much more local level, to enable the public and profession to have confidence that their NHS is safe to access. This will enable those with the greatest clinical priority to receive the care they urgently need.

At yesterdays Welsh Government briefing we asked First Minister Mark Drakeford about the call for the frequent testing, and also noted that there are around 3,000 tests a day taking place across Wales in total.

Previously the the total figure of possible daily tests has been over 12,000  so we asked for the current testing capacity, and if the extra unused testing resource would be put to full use every day.

Mr Drakeford said: The current testing capacity is 15,000 , up from the 12,500 we were reporting last week. So youre right, there is room to do more testing where that is required.

We remain in conversations with the BMA and others about making the best possible use of that testing. As you saw in the figures I quoted in the beginning, at the height of the pandemic, 45% of all tests carried out were positive, we are carrying far more tests than we were at that point, but the number of the percentage of positive tests has fallen to 3.5% percent.

It is important to use your tests carefully to focus where the need is greatest so we remain in conversations with the BMA and others to make sure that we make the very best use of the capacity we have.
Welsh Government write off 470m health board debts

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jul 7th, 2020

Health Minister, Vaughan Gething, has effectively written-off the 470m owed by NHS organisations in Wales so they can focus on recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

At todays lunchtime Welsh Government briefing it was explained that since 2014 the Welsh Government has provided strategic cash support of 470m for historic debt and this will now not have to be repaid. Eight out of the eleven NHS organisations in Wales broke even in 2019-20.

Back in April Wrexham.com asked the First Minister about writing off of health board debt in Wales, as earlier that day it had been announced England had done so to the tune of 13bn. At the time First Minister Mark Drakeford called it an accountancy exercise noting no consequential because this is not real money, pointing out that the level of indebtedness of trusts in Wales are simply not of the same order as England.

Mr Gething said today, It is now six years since the NHS Finance Act 2014 introduced the duty to break even over a three-year period. This years accounts show four health boards havent been able to operate within their budgets since 2014 and together have amassed deficits of more than 600m. We have provided strategic cash support of almost 470m to these health boards over this period.





This level of historic deficit is clearly a barrier to the NHS as it starts to plan for the term recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and it holds these health boards back from achieving financial balance.

Until now, there has been an expectation NHS organisations would repay this deficit and the cash support. To do this, they would need to generate underspends. I have decided the 470m of cash support will not need to be repaid and when an organisation achieves its three-year break-even duty, it will not be required to repay any historic deficits.

This will provide certainty to these organisations, helping them to focus on the immediate recovery from coronavirus, while also planning for the future and striving for financial balance.

A summarised account of the Health Boards, NHS Trusts and Health Education and Improvement Wales, will be published in August following sign-off by the Auditor General for Wales.

A written statement gives more detail to the finances, explaining As in previous years, the four health boards that have failed to meet their statutory financial break-even duty for the three-year period of assessment have received qualified regularity opinions from the Auditor General for Wales on their 2019-20 accounts.

Overall, the 2019-20 outturn for NHS Wales was a deficit of 89 million, reduced from 96 million in 2018-19. Whilst I continue to have concerns about the financial position of the three health boards that continue to be in deficit, I am pleased at the progress Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has made in 2019-20 with the development of an approvable Integrated Medium Term Plan as well as ending the financial year in balance. Their experience demonstrates that it is possible for organisations to come out of the higher levels of escalation and intervention by Welsh Government and return to routine levels of monitoring.

It is now six years since the implementation of the NHS Finance Act 2014 and the introduction of the three year break even duty. The last two years in particular have seen a sustained improvement in overall financial performance and the number of organisations now in financial balance. However, the four organisations that have been unable to operate within their budgets over this period have accumulated deficits totalling over 600 million since 2014. In addition, Welsh Government has had to provide strategic cash support totalling nearly 470 million to these organisations to enable them to meet their financial obligations to staff and suppliers whilst in deficit.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-05 03:10:25|Editor: huaxia

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RABAT, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Morocco registered 534 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the tally of infections in the North African country to 13,822, the Ministry of Health said.

The death toll from the virus reached 232, as two new fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours, said Hind Ezzine, head of the department of epidemic diseases of the Ministry of Health, at a regular press briefing.

The number of cured patients has increased to 9,329 with 169 new recoveries, Ezzine added.

China has helped Morocco in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

A batch of medical supplies donated by the government of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was transported on June 8 to Casablanca-Settat in Morocco.

On May 14, China Development Bank sent a batch of donation, including respirators and medical protective masks, to Morocco to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

China's Guizhou Province has also donated 15,000 surgical gloves, 20,000 medical masks and 2,000 protective suits to help Moroccan medical workers fight the pandemic. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-05 23:31:13|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

- - - -

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Health Ministry on Sunday said that 2,125 new COVID-19 cases were reported, bringing the total infection cases in the country to 60,479.

The ministry also reported 105 more deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 2,473.

It also said that 1,940 people recovered during the day, the highest single-day recoveries so far, bringing the total recoveries from the disease to 33,017.

- - - -

STOCKHOLM -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday that it appreciated Sweden setting up a commission to review the country's handling of the coronavirus crisis.

"Sweden has done something very important by starting an investigation to understand how the strategy worked. The WHO really appreciates this initiative, which other countries should also learn from," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet.

The Swedish government appointed a commission on June 30 to evaluate the country's coronavirus strategy and the roles of the government, public agencies and regional authorities in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus and its impact.

- - - -

MUMBAI -- At least 12 percent of Indian start-ups have shut operations while another 60 percent are operating with disruptions due to the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, according to a survey released by an industry body on Sunday.

As per the survey covering 250 start-ups, only 22 percent of the start-ups have cash reserves to meet the fixed cost expenses of their companies over the next three to six months.

Besides 250 start-ups, the survey jointly conducted by industry body FICCI and Indian Angel Network (IAN), also interviewed 61 incubators and investors, who indicated that investments will continue to be low over the next six months.

- - - -

DAMASCUS -- Syria on Sunday reported 20 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the war-torn country, according to the state news agency SANA.

With the new infections, Syria has so far recorded 358 cases since March, with 126 recoveries and 13 deaths.

The infection toll is increasing in Syria on a daily basis as the government has eased the COVID-19 restrictions.

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PRETORIA -- The South African military's health personnel on Sunday continued to reinforce the medical profession with the deployment of their staff in Eastern Cape Province to help fight COVID-19.

A total of 35 military nurses, 12 doctors and five clinical associates from the South African Military Health Services (SAMHS) left Pretoria to the Eastern Cape for deployment on Sunday.

- - - -

ACCRA -- Ghana confirmed 697 more infections of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, bringing its total cases to 20,085, the latest data from the Ghana Health Service said.

The data reported 14, 870 recovered cases, as 540 new recoveries were confirmed. With five more deaths, the country's COVID-19 death toll rose to 122.

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RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday additional facilities for foreigners who were affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.

Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement that the new facilities aim to promote the government's efforts to minimize the economic impacts on them from the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported on Sunday 3,580 new COVID-19 infections, increasing the total number of confirmed cases to 209,509. The recoveries rose to 145,236 with 1,980 new ones, and death toll rose to 1,916 following 58 fatalities reported in the last 24 hours.

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KATHMANDU -- The Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border point, one of the key trade routes between Nepal and China, will reopen on Monday after closure for six months due to snowfall and COVID-19, a senior official of Rasuwagadhi Customs Office of Nepal said.

It is one of the two main border points for international trade between the two neighbors. The Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border crossing has remained closed since January, initially due to snowfall blocking the roads in the bordering region and later due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The Tatopani-Zhangmu, another border point, reopened in late March after closing in January.

"We have reached an understanding with the Chinese side to resume operation of this border point starting from Monday for the import of goods from China," Punya Bikram Khadka, chief customs officer at the Rasuwagadhi Customs Office, told Xinhua on Sunday. "There has been an understanding that 120 tonnes of goods will be delivered to Nepal every day initially."

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DOHA -- Qatar's Health Ministry on Sunday reported 616 new infections of COVID-19, increasing the total tally of the Gulf state to 99,799.

Meanwhile, 1,897 people recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 92,284, while five others died, raising the fatalities to 128, official Qatar News Agency quoted a statement by the ministry as saying.

A total of 381,434 persons in Qatar have undergone lab tests for COVID-19 so far, it added.

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BEIJING -- Beijing had reported single-digit COVID-19 cases for seven consecutive days by Saturday, local authorities said Sunday.

The number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases reached a peak in Beijing on June 13 and 14 and then started declining in general, local officials told a press briefing.

From June 11 to July 4, the city reported 334 confirmed locally transmitted cases, 47 percent of whom are workers of the Xinfadi food market, according to the press conference. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-06 23:54:47|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Belarus expressed regret over the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, the two countries said in a joint statement Monday.

"This step can seriously damage the architecture of pan-European security and the arms control system," read the statement issued as signatories of the treaty met in Vienna on Monday to assess the consequences of the U.S. pullout from the treaty.

Russia and Belarus, as member states of the treaty, are ready for equal and mutually respectful dialogue aimed at finding a comprehensive solution to the problems of fulfilling the agreement, with no ultimatums and taking into account all its parties' interests and concerns, it said.

Russian and Belarusian delegations distributed the joint statement among the participants at the Vienna meeting, according to the statement published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In May, U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States was withdrawing from the Treaty on Open Skies, the latest move to abandon a major international arms control agreement.

Trump accused Russia of not adhering to the treaty, which Moscow has repeatedly denied.

The treaty, which became effective in 2002, is aimed at building confidence and familiarity among states-parties through their participation in the overflights.

Currently, 35 nations, including Russia, the United States, and some other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, have signed it. But Kyrgyzstan, which signed the treaty, has not yet ratified it. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 00:05:06|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday urged France to make independent choices over 5G network construction that serve its own interests, and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for all companies including Chinese ones.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily press briefing when commenting on media reports that Huawei will be allowed to access France's 5G network, but will only get limited license.

"We hope France can uphold an objective and fair attitude, respect market rules and the will of enterprises, make independent choices that serve its own interests, and take concrete actions to provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for all companies including Chinese ones," Zhao said.

He noted that the French government had said publicly on many occasions that it would not take discriminatory measures against specific countries or companies on 5G-related matters, let alone exclude Huawei.

"China always believes that 5G technology is a frontier technology that leads the fourth Industrial Revolution and offers a valuable platform, and the development and utilization of 5G in a globalization era happens naturally as all countries undertake extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared outcomes," he added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 00:07:58|Editor: huaxia

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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) and Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, attend a joint press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on July 6, 2020. Turkey on Monday vowed to retaliate the European Union if the bloc decides to impose new sanctions on Turkey due to disagreement over the Eastern Mediterranean. (Xinhua)

ANKARA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Monday vowed to retaliate the European Union if the bloc decides to impose new sanctions on Turkey due to disagreement over the Eastern Mediterranean.

"Taking decisions against Turkey will not resolve the existing problems, on the contrary, it will deepen them. If the EU takes additional measures against Turkey, we'll have to respond," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at a joint press conference with Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

"If EU further sanctions Turkey, we also have steps to take in the field, in the Eastern Mediterranean," the minister stated.

"EU should better be part of the solution instead of part of the problem," he added.

Borrell, for his part, said the current ties between Turkey and the EU are far from being idealistic and there are "immediate and serious problems" that need to be addressed.

"We have to change the dynamic of our relationship. We have to follow a more positive track so that we can avoid additional problems," he said.

France has called for an EU meeting to discuss further sanctions on Turkey due to the dispute in the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya.

Turkey signed military cooperation and maritime memoranda of understanding in November last year with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord of Libya led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj. Enditem
By Friday, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia must decide whether or not there is any reason to continue the current round of negotiations sponsored by the African Union in the hope of reaching an agreement over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).According to the assessment of an Egyptian government source who spoke on Tuesday afternoon, the possibility of a deal emerging is unlikely.The source spoke after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told his countrys parliament on Tuesday morning that his government will start filling the GERD reservoir this month with or without an agreement with Egypt and Sudan.Ahmed said that the filling, involving five billion m3, will be conducted in a way that does not inflict serious harm on Sudan and Egypt, and that parallel to the first-filling process negotiations would continue in the hope of reaching an agreement.The recent round of talks was initiated by South Africa, the current chair of the African Union (AU), on 3 July, a week later than expected. There were no great expectations they would succeed after close to a decade worth of negotiations had failed to reach a deal.According to most concerned diplomatic sources, Addis Ababa seems determined to make good on its official statements that it will begin filling the dam this rainy season regardless of a deal being reached or not.Egypt had hoped that growing international pressure on Addis Ababa would result in a legally binding agreement, including mitigation measures during periods of drought and a dispute settlement mechanism, being reached before the first filling but up until Monday this week the official word in Cairo was anything but optimistic.Only one of five sources who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly believed international pressure would lead Addis Ababa to possibly continue the negotiations for another week or two to reach an agreement and then embark on the filling.An extension of the AU talks was not ruled out by most of the sources who spoke during the week, though they argued such an extension was more likely to be a continuation of the open-ended talks strategy that Ethiopia has engaged in since the signing of the Declaration of Principles in 2015 rather than the prelude to a deal.According to Cairo-based foreign diplomats who have followed the talks closely, Egypt may have been willing to acquiesce to 40 billion m3 being released annually from GERD, for both Sudan and Egypt, during the filling process, but any flexibility by Cairo could not have embraced a figure approaching 30 billion m3.Nor was Egypt willing to forgo a legally binding agreement and replace it with Ethiopias proposal of rules and guidelines.For Egypt, according to one negotiator, a compromise is not without a limit and has to be reciprocated. After all, he said, as far as we are concerned, no deal is better than a bad deal  we cannot sign to a deal that would compromise a strategic interest like water security.In the opinion of Cairo officials it is now likely that Abiy Ahmed will give the go ahead to start filling in the next two weeks. He might start without taking the full five billion m3 but this is not going to force us into signing a bad deal just to secure a piece of paper, said one.There is an almost unanimous assessment among sources that Egypt remains unwilling to actively undermine GERD. But they qualified the upgrade of Egyptian contacts with some of Ethiopias neighbours, including Eritrea, whose President Isaias Afwerki was in Cairo for talks with President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, as sending a message to Addis Ababa that despite Egypts commitment to a diplomatic process that secures the interests of all sides, Cairo could push back if and when it has to.The same sources agree that it is also unlikely that Egypt will recall its ambassador to Ethiopia. The scenario they most expect involves an uphill diplomatic battle. Egypt, they say, will continue to put pressure on Ethiopia and insist on taking the file back to the UN Security Council (UNSC) if the AU fails to secure a deal.Last month Egypt presented the UNSC with a draft resolution calling on the three countries  Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia  involved in the dispute to refrain from taking unilateral measures.As Al-Ahram Weekly went to press there was no significant advance in Cairos attempts to get the UNSC to adopt the draft resolution. The problem, according to New York-based sources, is that some UNSC member states were loath to help Egypt with the GERD problem, while others were opposed in principle to the UNSC becoming involved in matters relating to the construction and operation of dams by upstream countries.The same sources say that even so Egypt managed to get the UNSC to hold a meeting on GERD late last month despite an aggressive diplomatic attempt by Ethiopia to block it, and Cairo will be willing to keep ramping up the diplomatic pressure, possibly by presenting the UNSC with another draft resolution condemning any unilateral move by Ethiopia and demanding the filling be suspended pending an agreement.The GERD dispute is unfolding simultaneously with fast moving developments in Libya, a crucial and explosive national security front for Egypt.It is a very complex situation in Libya now, said a concerned government source.He spoke 24 hours after the Turkish Minister of Defence acknowledged that Al-Watiya air base in Libya had been hit by air strikes from unidentified foreign planes.While many speculate that France was behind the strikes neither Paris nor Ankara, who are at loggerheads over the situation in Libya, have acknowledged this.France, along with Egypt, the UAE, Jordan and Russia, has been supporting the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar against Fayez Al-Sarrajs Government of National Unity (GNA). And despite the dismay of Haftars backers over his performance, they remain determined to stop the advance of pro-GNA militias that include many Islamist fighters.The big question now is how, where and when Turkey will respond to the strike.Cairo-based Western diplomats say the strike places Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a difficult position. According to concerned Cairo officials, it is one thing if the Turkish-French stand-off is fought out within NATO, and quite another if the squabble continues on the ground in Libya.If the Turkish reaction takes place in Libya it will be in one of two directions: either Erdogan will send Libya-based Islamist militias south to the borders of Libyas southern neighbours, the Sahel and Sahara states that are crucial to the strategic interests of France in Africa, or get them to move east, possibly towards Sirte and Al-Jufra.On Tuesday, the Turkish chief of staff was quoted as saying that the strikes on Al-Watiya would prompt his country to act to move against Sirte and Al-Jufra to end the military stalemate.According to Cairo officials, any move south means Egypt will have to worry about the impact of Sahel and Saharan security on its own. But if the direction of Erdogans possible show of force is to the east Cairo will have to consider all its options.Late last month President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi was explicit about the red line Cairo had drawn around Sirte and Al-Jufra since when there has been intense political intervention to get the Turkish-supported GNA to refrain from advancing further east.This week, there was no certainty over the fate of Ankaras understandings with concerned international capitals, including Washington, to suspend any military advance to the east to allow for a political window to open.Egypt, say official sources, supports giving a political settlement in Libya a chance as long as it excludes Jihadists. However, the same sources add, a political deal in Libya cannot be based on a fait accompli whereby Turkey is left in control of Egypts western neighbour.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 00:15:43|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Rebutting U.S. politicians' slanderous remarks, China on Monday urged the United States to respect facts and stop political maneuvering over COVID-19.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing, refuting a U.S. politician's allegation that China has never reported the virus outbreak to the World Health Organization (WHO), following WHO's recent update on the timeline of its response to COVID-19.

The U.S. side's allegation totally goes against the facts, Zhao said.

China, as a State Party to the WHO's International Health Regulations, has conscientiously performed its duties and obligations under the regulations in an open, transparent and responsible manner, and timely shared COVID-19 information with the WHO, relevant countries and regional organizations, as well as China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

"The timelines published by both the Chinese government and the WHO have clearly shown that China has shared epidemic information with the international community in a timely and transparent manner," Zhao said.

On Dec. 31 last year, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission released a statement on the situation of pneumonia in the city on its official website, and China reported to the WHO at the earliest possible time, Zhao said, adding that this fact cannot be clearer.

"By distorting facts and telling lies, certain U.S. politicians aim to frame China and the WHO for their own political agenda," Zhao said. "We urge them to respect facts and stop political maneuvering." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 00:29:22|Editor: huaxia

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WINDHOEK, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China has donated COVID-19 related supplies worth 40 million Namibian dollars (2.35 million U.S. dollars) to Namibia to assist the country in fighting the virus, political counselor of the Chinese embassy in Namibia Yang Jun said on Monday.

"We continue to pledge our support and our additional support is on the way. We hope the equipment donated is serving a good purpose in assisting the Namibian people," Yang said.

He was speaking on the occasion where Chinese tech company Huawei donated two Thermal Imaging Temperature Measurement Systems to Namibia's Ministry of Health and Social Services to assist in the fight against COVID-19.

Yang said the Chinese government through the embassy in Namibia is keen to support Namibia as a brother and as a way of cementing long-standing relations.

"The Chinese government has played a solid role in supporting Namibia and other African countries in dealing with the challenge of COVID-19. As a government we encourage our Chinese business community operating in Namibia to also contribute to Namibia's fight against the virus, " he said.

Presenting the donation, Huawei's Namibia representative Sam Liu said his company is in solidarity with the Namibian government in combating the pandemic.

"As a leading information communication technology company, we would like to help the ministry with the visual imaging technology which can identify victims of COVID-19 by picking high temperatures from afar, hence reducing further spread. Huawei believes that the donation will go a long way in combating the spread of the virus," Liu said.

Namibian Minister of Health and Social services Kalumbi Shangula said Namibia appreciates the donation by Huawei and the continued support by the Chinese government.

"During this time of challenges, we have been humbled by the outpouring of assistance from all partners including Huawei Technologies. We greatly appreciate the continued support and hope the non-contact temperature thermometers will greatly assist us in dealing with this pandemic," he said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 00:42:23|Editor: huaxia

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Hong Kong residents celebrate passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

-- Social unrest, the failure of the rule of law and a lack of protection for corporate assets and personal safety are genuine factors that would undermine investors' confidence in Hong Kong.

-- "We strongly believe that only with national security safeguarded, can Hong Kong enjoy long-term stability and security."

HONG KONG, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government firmly rejected recent public remarks made by the Consul General of the United States of America to Hong Kong on The Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR.

Chief Secretary for Administration of the HKSAR government Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, joined by Secretary for Security of the HKSAR government John Lee Ka-chiu, met with the U.S. consul-general Hanscom Smith on Monday to register the HKSAR government's grave concern over the matter.

The spokesman said, "National security is a matter within the purview of the central authorities. In a unitary or federal state, legislation on national security is invariably carried out by the central authorities rather than local governments.

"As the highest organ of state power in China, the National People's Congress has the constitutional power and the duty to enact national security legislation for the HKSAR. The national law enacted has taken into account Hong Kong's actual situation."

The spokesman stressed that the implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle in the HKSAR is entirely an internal matter of China. No other state or legislature has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, in such internal affairs.

"The national security law seeks to prevent, suppress and impose punishment for four types of acts and activities that seriously endanger national security," said the spokesman.

It targets an extremely small minority of people without adversely affecting the basic rights and freedoms legitimately enjoyed by Hong Kong people, the spokesman added.

It is an important step towards improving the "one country, two systems" institutional system and represents an essential and timely decision for restoring stability in Hong Kong, said the spokesman, adding that the law will not affect the high degree of autonomy, judicial independence and the rule of law in Hong Kong.

Social unrest, the failure of the rule of law and a lack of protection for corporate assets and personal safety are genuine factors that would undermine investors' confidence, the spokesman noted.

"As a matter of fact, these were the factors that led to the fall of Hong Kong's international rankings in the past year. The U.S. has its own national security legislation, but we have never heard that such legislation affected the economic development and business environment of the U.S."

The national security law can promptly reverse the chaotic situation of the past year and restore stability in Hong Kong, and it thereby would improve Hong Kong's business and investment environment, said the spokesman.

"We strongly believe that only with national security safeguarded, can Hong Kong enjoy long-term stability and security," said the spokesman.

The spokesman said the legislation will be conducive to Hong Kong continuously improving its strengths, attracting overseas talents and strengthening its status as an international financial center as well as a shipping and trading hub, in addition to giving impetus to promoting the development of innovation and technology.

"Our much-valued institutional strengths and core competitiveness will also remain intact. They include the rule of law and judicial independence, open and flexible markets, a simple and low tax regime, an efficient public sector and a favorable business environment with a level playing field."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 01:39:36|Editor: huaxia

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-Confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Arab states fight side by side with solidarity and mutual assistance.

-Experts believed the ministerial meeting has shown again the willingness by China and the Arab world to strengthen cooperation in face of the pandemic.

-The joint fight against COVID-19 and the unswerving efforts in promoting cooperation in various fields have laid a solid foundation for building a China-Arab community with a shared future.





CAIRO, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum was held on Monday via video link, highlighting China-Arab solidarity in fighting COVID-19 as well as their consensus on advancing relations.

In his congratulatory letter to the virtual meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and Arab states have offered mutual assistance and staunch support to each other, and engaged in close cooperation since the COVID-19 outbreak, while stressing that under the current circumstances, it is more necessary than ever for the two sides to step up cooperation and join hands in tiding over difficulties.

"I hope China and Arab states can take the meeting as an opportunity to enhance strategic communication and coordination, steadily advance cooperation in various fields including pandemic response, promote the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future to continuously go deeper and more practical, so as to better benefit the peoples of the two sides," Xi added.

Workers carry boxes of medical equipment donated by China in Damascus, capital of Syria, on June 24, 2020.

Co-chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the meeting was attended by foreign ministers of the Arab League (AL) member states, along with AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

AL chief Aboul-Gheit said in a statement that holding the meeting amid ongoing world challenges reflects the keenness of the Middle East and China, voicing confidence that the Arab-China relations will be lifted to a new level following the meeting.

FRIEND IN NEED

Two weeks ago, leaders of various political parties in the region attended the China-Arab States Political Parties Dialogue Extraordinary Meeting, during which a joint declaration was issued, hailing the mutual support in combating COVID-19 and envisioning brighter prospects for future cooperation.

Such a friendship was lauded again at Monday's ministerial meeting, during which Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said the friendly ties between Arab countries and China are exemplary, as recently shown in their joint combat against COVID-19.

Noting that the two sides commit themselves to fighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said at the meeting that Arab-China relations have been growing stronger over time and have made good progress in recent years.

Indeed, amid the raging pandemic, China and Arab states have been fighting side by side, a welcome move from people on both sides.

When China was in the depths of its own fight against COVID-19, Arab states showed solidarity with China by voicing support and donating medical supplies. Some famous landmarks, including ancient temples in Egypt and the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates, were lit up in the colors of China's national flag.

As the pandemic started to rage in the Arab world, China delivered much-needed supplies and shared its experience combatting the disease via video conferences with medical staff from 21 Arab states and sent medical experts to eight Arab states.

Chinese medical experts and Iraqi medical workers pose for a photo with a new medical device in Baghdad, Iraq, March 19, 2020. A new PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab built by the Chinese team of experts was inaugurated in Baghdad.

During their stay in Iraq, a group of seven Chinese medical experts built a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on Chinese donations of nucleic acid test kits and other equipment, and installed an advanced CT scanner at a quarantine center in a Baghdad hospital. The PCR lab has finished testing over 17,000 samples since its establishment at the end of March.

In Saudi Arabia, the worst-hit Arab country, a team of eight Chinese medical experts offered on-spot assistance. China and Saudi Arabia also signed a deal worth 265 million U.S. dollars to expand Saudi Arabia's COVID-19 testing capacity.

In its latest medical aid, the Chinese government delivered a batch of supplies to the AL on Sunday. Hossam Zaki, assistant secretary general of the AL, said the donation "reflects the depth of cooperation and friendship between the Arab League and China, especially in the light of the current circumstances and challenges the world faces."

"China has proven to be a true friend of the Arabs and all countries that have suffered from the danger of this pandemic, and I believe that the Arabs will not forget this great humanitarian stance from China," said Iraqi political expert Nadhum Abdullah.

Experts believed the ministerial meeting has shown again the willingness by China and the Arab world to strengthen cooperation in face of the pandemic.

The ministerial meeting was convened at "an important time under challenges that need further coordination and cooperation between China and the Arab states," said Ali Yousif, executive director of the Arab-Chinese Friendship Societies' League, an affiliate of the AL.

Lebanese expert Mahmoud Raya said against the background of jointly fighting COVID-19, the ministerial meeting has grown in importance, "as it brings Chinese and Arab officials in direct contact to discuss practical and effective plans to deepen cooperation in the face of this dangerous epidemic."

BRIGHTER FUTURE

Braving the challenges of the pandemic, China and the Arab world have been working to maintain projects related to the Belt and Road.

Chinese medical team members hold a meeting with their Kuwaiti counterparts in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate, Kuwait, on April 29, 2020.

At the Central Business District site, some 50 km east of Egypt's capital Cairo, Egyptian and Chinese engineers and workers are working tirelessly to advance construction while actively implementing pandemic prevention measures.

Undertaken by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), the project in Egypt's new administrative capital involves the construction of 20 towers, including a 385-meter-high skyscraper expected to be the tallest in Africa upon completion.

Ahmed al-Banna, Egyptian designer and consultant of the project, said the CSCEC not only ensured the project's continuous production, but also implemented effective anti-pandemic measures.

During the ministerial meeting, Aboul-Gheit said 19 Arab states have signed bilateral agreements with China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Calling for more cooperation along the Belt and Road, Wajdi Makhamreh, capital market and investment banking expert and independent economist in Jordan, said Belt and Road projects "will help the economies of the Arab world and Jordan recover in the aftermath of the losses in light of the coronavirus crisis."

Ahmed al-Deek, advisor to the Palestinian foreign minister, sees the BRI as a "lifeboat" for poor countries through "creating investment projects capable of eradicating poverty."

Arab officials and experts said the joint fight against COVID-19 and the unswerving efforts in promoting cooperation in various fields have laid a solid foundation for building a China-Arab community with a shared future.

At the ministerial meeting, Youssouf said Djibouti welcomes the call for jointly building a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era, adding that it is a timely proposal and that his country is willing to work with China to lift the China-Arab strategic partnership to a new level.

Nasser Bouchiba, president of the Africa-China Cooperation Association for Development in Morocco, said the joint fight against COVID-19 has given a new meaning to the China-Arab community with a shared future, and mutual help through the hard times will bring China and the Arab world closer. (Video reporters: Cao Peixian, Tang Jiefeng and Ji Ze; Video editor: Zhang Yichi.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 06:02:20|Editor: huaxia

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RIGA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- An outbreak of African swine fever has been reported at a farmstead in western Latvia, the Baltic state's veterinary authority informed Monday.

The first case of African swine fever in domestic pigs in Latvia this year has been found at Krauli, a farmstead in the western Latvian municipality of Gudenieki, Kuldiga district, the Latvian Food and Veterinary Service said.

Representatives of the veterinary authority arrived at the affected farmstead and are taking measures to prevent the disease from spreading. All 31 pigs on the farm will be put down.

The farmstead has been quarantined, encircling the territory with a 3-kilometer protection zone and a 10-kilometer monitoring zone. In this territory, increased biosafety measures will be taken to control the registration and transportation of pigs and pig meat.

An epidemiological probe is underway to determine how the infection reached the pig farm.

The first case of African swine fever in Latvia was reported in June 2014 when three dead wild boards tested positive for the infection. A total of 165 cases of African swine fever have been recorded in Latvia's wild boar population this year. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 09:18:48|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to extend its loan scheme to hospitals and manufacturing units interested in producing protective gears and equipment to combat COVID-19.

In a statement released on Monday, the bank said that in view of health emergency in the country, the hospitals which are treating non-COVID-19 patients can also get facilitated by the SBP's scheme.

The scheme will be valid for both new hospitals and expansion of old hospitals and medical centers if they meet the minimum requirements of the bank including being 50-bed territory care hospital equipped with 24-hour emergency center, in-house laboratory facility, ICU with ventilators and operation theater facility.

"In order to facilitate entities planning to engage in manufacturing of mask/protective dresses/testing kits/hospital beds/ventilators and other items to combat COVID-19, it has been decided to allow subject facilities to such entities," the statement added.

The financial support will be given under Refinance Facility for Combating COVID-19, introduced by the central bank earlier this year, initially to provide easy loans to the hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 09:28:07|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday announced that international students may have to leave the United States if their universities switch to online-only courses for the fall 2020 semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Otherwise they will risk violating their visa status.

"Nonimmigrant students within the United States are not permitted to take a full course of study through online classes," said the ICE in a statement.

"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," said the statement.

Under the new guidelines modified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) run by the ICE, the U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester, nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States.

Active nonimmigrant students currently in the U.S. 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, said the statement.

"If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings," the statement said.

Meanwhile, nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools operating under normal in-person classes are bound by existing federal regulations. Eligible F students may take a maximum of one class or three credit hours online, according to the statement.

Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools adopting a hybrid model mixing online and in person classes, will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online, said the statement, noting these schools must certify to SEVP, through the Form I-20.

"The above exemptions do not apply to F-1 students in English language training programs or M-1 students pursing vocational degrees, who are not permitted to enroll in any online courses," said the statement.

Schools should update their information in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) within 10 days of the change if they begin the fall semester with in-person classes but are later required to switch to only online classes, or a nonimmigrant student changes their course selections, and as a result, ends up taking an entirely online course load, the statement added.

F-1 nonimmigrant students pursue academic coursework and M-1 nonimmigrant students pursue vocational coursework while studying in the United States.

The SEVP had allowed for foreign students to take their spring and summer 2020 courses online while remaining in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement came as numerous U.S. higher education institutions are beginning to make the decision to transition to online courses as a result of the pandemic. Harvard and Princeton said Monday they will allow some students back to campus for the fall term, but offer most instruction online even for those who return in person.

Brad Farnsworth, vice president of the American Council on Education, told CNN that the announcement caught him and many others by surprise.

"We think this is going to create more confusion and more uncertainty," said Farnsworth, questioning what would happen if the public health situation deteriorates in the fall and universities that had been offering in-person classes feel they have to shift all courses online to stay safe.

"The bigger issue is some of these countries have travel restrictions on and they can't go home, so what do they do then?" asked Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, "It's a conundrum for a lot of students."

International enrollment in the U.S. is down in every category, undergraduate, graduate and non-degree, with 269,383 enrolled in the 2018-2019 school year, compared with a high of 300,743 new students in 2015-2016, according to the Institute of International Education.

Data from the U.S. Commerce Department showed that international students contributed 45 billion U.S. dollars to the country in 2018.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to publish the procedures and responsibilities in the Federal Register as a Temporary Final Rule. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 09:32:21|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The concessional agreement of the 700.7-MW Azad Pattan Hydropower Project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been signed, a breakthrough for the implementation of the project, according to China Gezhouba Group.

The signing of the agreement between China Gezhouba Group, the investor of the project, and the Pakistani side was witnessed on Monday by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, ministers and representatives of the project partners.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Khan expressed pleasure over the progress of the project, adding that it would provide green and cheap energy and would help the country save the environment.

"I am happy because this project is under CPEC and it is not a loan but an investment which will benefit Pakistan from all sides," said the prime minister during the ceremony telecasted live at local TVs, adding that CPEC is a great project which would take Pakistan to progress.

According to China Gezhouba Group, the project on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis will be built at the Jhelum River. With a total investment of 1.54 billion U.S. dollars, the construction period of the project is expected to be 69 months and the hydropower plant will be generating some 3.265 billion units of clean energy per year and provide relief to the water shortage in the local areas once commissioned.

A large number of jobs will also be created during the construction period of the project, and the development of local transportation industry, building materials industry and other hydropower related industries will be promoted, said the Chinese company. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 09:46:34|Editor: huaxia

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HARARE, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday said his government is concerned about the recent spike in local transmissions of COVID-19.

He urged communities to stop harboring returnees who would have escaped from, or not passed through quarantine centers.

Zimbabwe's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 716 on Sunday with about two-thirds being imported.

Speaking after receiving an assortment of goods from various organizations, Mnangagwa said it was imperative that those returning to the country from abroad go through the mandatory 21-day quarantine period.

"We are getting worried because we now see a small trend of internal transmission. We are doing our best to do contact tracing," he said.

"We would like to appeal to our people, families, communities that if a family member has just arrived from abroad, we must insist to find out if they have a certificate showing they have been quarantined for the required period and have been released. This is for the protection of the family itself and for the protection of the community," he added.

Mnangagwa said there are still a large number of Zimbabweans outside the country awaiting repatriation. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 09:47:55|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, July 7 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people have been killed and scores others injured in separate rain-related accidents in Pakistan's southern city Karachi due to the first seasonal monsoon rain on Monday, local media reported.

After weeks of extremely hot weather the residents of Karachi found solace when the first monsoon rain in the ongoing summer season poured in the port city of over 20 million people, but at the same time the unfortunate incidents of electrocution, roof collapse and uprooting of trees and billboards claimed seven lives.

Rescue teams said that most of the fatalities including those of a woman and two kids happened due to electrocution, whereas the injured included those who got hit by trees, billboards and other flying objects in the strong wind.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), rainfall up to 43 mm was recorded in the city, and it wreaked havoc in the areas where it was coupled with heavy winds.

Rescue teams said that the rainwater inundated several low-lying areas of the city, creating trouble for the residents. Road traffic was also disrupted in several areas after rainwater submerged highways and other roads.

Electric poles also uprooted in several areas of the city, resulting in hours-long suspension of electricity supply.

The provincial disaster management authority of Sindh province, where Karachi is located, issued a warning of urban flooding in parts of the city and other areas of the province.

The authority said heavy rainfall is expected in the province due to the monsoon and the residents and concerned departments of the urban areas should remain alert and take necessary precautionary measures during the forecast periods to avert any unfortunate incident.

The PMD forecast more rains on the same pattern in the city for the next two days. Enditem
Ordinary Iranians did not need to hear it, but nonetheless top Iranian officials stated the obvious many times in the last few days: this year has been the toughest so far on Iranians.

The economic situation is getting worse and coronavirus infections remain remarkably high despite three months of lockdown. US sanctions are getting more severe and thus Irans capabilities to financially support its people or allies in Lebanon and Iraq are declining.

And amid all of that, Iran appears to be facing a covert war targeting some of its medical and nuclear facilities.

On Sunday, the government confirmed that a damaged building at the underground Natanz nuclear site was a new centrifuge assembly centre.

Iranian officials said initially there had only been minor damage at the plant caused by fire. But later Iran admitted that significant damage had been caused by the mysterious incident.

According to a statement by Irans Atomic Energy Organisation, the damage could set back the countrys nuclear programme by months.

Iranian officials hinted that the Natanz incident was sabotage by Irans enemies. But they stopped short of accusing Israel or the US.

MYSTERIOUS INCIDENTS: The incident was the latest in a series of six involving sensitive Iranian sites.

The first incident was on 26 June  an explosion at a weapons depot in Parchin near Tehran. Footage captured by locals showed a huge arc-like fireball lighting up the sky.

The Iranian Defence Ministry claimed it was the consequence of a gas storage facility leak at the Parchin military base.

Hours later the same day, and 600 miles to the south of Parchin, a power cut hit the city of Shiraz.

Shiraz is home to a major air base and the Iranian militarys 55th Airborne Brigade. No explanation has been given for the cut.

Then, on 30 June, an explosion killed 19 people at a medical clinic in central Tehran. State media showed extensive damage, with injured people stretchered to ambulances. Iranian media said the explosion was the result of a gas leak.

On 2 July, an incident was reported by Iranian media at the Natanz nuclear facility. The explosion happened at about 2am.

And on 3 July, a huge fire in Shiraz, the same town hit by the power outage days earlier.

On 4 July, a fire knocked out a power station transformer in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. There is no known military or nuclear facility in Ahvaz.

ACTIONS BETTER LEFT UNSAID: No one claimed direct responsibility, but Israeli officials hinted that the country might be behind the massive fire at the Natanz nuclear site, potentially intensifying a long-running covert war.

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.

Asked about the incidents at strategic sites in Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters: Clearly we cant get into that.

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 programme attributed to Israel.

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 US are believed to have created the Stuxnet computer virus, which attacked Irans nuclear programme a decade ago. At the time, Ashkenazi was Israels military chief of staff.

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 very alarming incidents prompted Irans Revolutionary Guards Navy chief Ali Reza Tangsiri to declare, Iran has established underground onshore and offshore missile cities all along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that would be a nightmare for Irans enemies.

The announcement comes after the European Unions top diplomat said he received a letter from Iran that triggers a dispute mechanism in the international agreement limiting Tehrans nuclear ambitions, citing concerns that Britain, France and Germany are not living up to their side of the deal.

The nuclear accord has been unravelling since President Trump pulled out in 2018, unleashing sanctions designed to cripple the Iranian economy.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell gave no details about the nature of Irans implementation issues with Britain, France and Germany.

In a tweet 19 June, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif said the three countries must stop public face-saving and muster the courage to state publicly what they admit privately: their failure to fulfil even (their) own JCPOA duties due to total impotence in resisting US bullying.

Zarifs letter to Borrell was sent a day after the fire broke out at the Natanz underground facility.

EMOTIONS RUNNING HIGH: The growing problems in Iran are political assets that the hardliners in the country are willing to exploit. And they blame all the countrys difficulties on moderate politicians like President Hassan Rouhani who trusted the West and agreed to the nuclear deal.

No wonder Iranian lawmakers heckled Zarif at the Iranian parliament on Sunday throughout his speech, with some even chanting, Death to the liar!

An angry Zarif told the hardliner lawmakers with a forced smile that Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had once called him honest and brave.

The aim of the ugly confrontation in parliament could be purely internal; that is, to increase the isolation felt by reformists in Iran, who are going through a difficult time.

But the message the hawks in the US administration will get is that the impact of sanctions is devastating. Thus, they must continue and increase.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 09:50:58|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The week-long UN Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week kicked off Monday to discuss the strategic and practical challenges of countering terrorism in a global pandemic environment.

Speaking at the high-level opening session, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "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."

The UN chief warned that "ISIL, Al-Qaida, 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."

The secretary-general urged member states to keep the momentum in the fight against terrorism and be innovative in their responses, which must protect and promote human rights. "We must commit to do more and better. As in every other area of our mission. Our work should be assessed by the difference we make in people's lives," he stressed.

The Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week encompasses a total of 10 webinars and interactive discussions, in which more than 1,000 representatives will address key counter-terrorism topics in light of the COVID-19 crisis across all four pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 09:59:36|Editor: huaxia

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JAKARTA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 6.1 magnitude rocked Indonesia's western Central Java province on Tuesday morning, but was not potential to trigger a tsunami, the meteorology and geophysics agency said here.

There were no preliminary reports on casualty or damages resulted from the earthquake, the local disaster management agency disclosed.

The quake struck at 5:54 a.m. Jakarta time Tuesday (2254 GMT Monday) with the epicenter at 53 km northwest Jepara district of the province and the depth at 578 km under sea bed.

The agency did not issue a warning for tsunami.

In the nearest area to the epicenter, Jepara district, the quake did not trigger panic and cause damages or casualty, Secretary of Disaster Management Agency in Jepara District Aprilia Elisiawati told Xinhua.

"There is no building damaged and the people did not panic here," she said.

Indonesia has been frequently jolted by earthquakes as it lies on a vulnerable quake hit zone called the "Pacific Ring of Fire." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 10:06:43|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The National Center for Disease Control of Libya on Tuesday reported 71 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national count to 1,117.

Meanwhile, the center has reported 269 recoveries and 34 deaths across the country so far.

On Monday, the UN-backed government extended nationwide curfew for 10 days in further efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, with some precautionary measures already in place for a time, including ban on public gatherings. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 10:07:24|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has renewed its call for repatriation of the Afghan refugees and said the return of over two million refugees should be a part of the peace process in Afghanistan.

Pakistan made the gesture on Monday while participating in a virtual conference on Afghanistan titled "Strengthening Consensus for Peace" hosted by the government of Afghanistan on Monday, the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said.

Pakistan still hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration cards, according to the UN refugee agency. Besides registered refugees, Pakistan also hosts about a million unregistered refugees.

According to a statement from the ministry, Pakistani participants urged the international community to support a time-bound and well-resourced program for the return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with dignity and honor.

Pakistan stressed that the signing of a U.S.-Taliban peace agreement had created an opportunity that must be seized by the Afghan leadership to work together and achieve an inclusive and comprehensive political settlement, the statement said.

The Pakistani side reiterated that there was a need for the international community to focus on ensuring an early start and successful completion of Intra-Afghan Negotiations and not let these be derailed by "spoilers" who did not wish to see the return of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 10:11:28|Editor: huaxia

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PYONGYANG, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is unwilling to talk face to face with the United States and urged South Korea to stay away from meddling in Pyongyang's affairs, a senior DPRK diplomat reaffirmed on Tuesday.

"Explicitly speaking once again, we have no intention to sit face to face with the U.S.," Kwon Jong Gun, director general of the Department of U.S. Affairs of the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kwon was reaffirming a statement issued earlier by Choe Son Hui, first vice-minister of foreign affairs of DPRK, who said last weekend that the DPRK had no interest in holding another DPRK-U.S. summit before the U.S. election in November, which was proposed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in last Wednesday.

"Time will show whether its efforts will succeed or it will only suffer a loss and ridicule," Kwon said, referring to Seoul's proposal.

Kwon also asked the South Korean leader not to become a "meddlesome man who had again indicated his intention to arbitrate between the DPRK and the U.S. regardless of time."

The South Korean government seems "to have a bad ear or are guided by the habit of always talking in their own favor" as there was no change in their efforts to mediate a DPRK-U.S. summit, Kwon added.

The statement was issued when U.S. special envoy for the DPRK Stephen Biegun is set to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday for talks with his South Korean counterpart amid stalled nuclear talks on the Korean peninsula. Biegun said recently that the proposed DPRK-U.S. summit was unlikely to happen before the U.S. presidential election in November, citing COVID-19 as a reason.

DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump met three times in 2018 and 2019. But talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula between the DPRK and the United States have been stalled since the Hanoi Summit between their leaders in February 2019 failed to reach an agreement. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 10:43:40|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua writer Zhang Xin

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- At the 44th session of UN Human Rights Council, the United States and some other Western countries once again attacked China over what they claim human rights abuses, which have been categorically rejected by dozens of other nations.

Those Western countries' human rights platitude this time is as groundless as those they made before, if not more, and further unveils their deep-rooted egotism and prejudice towards China.

However, China's human rights progress in recent decades is too substantive to be denied or distorted.

Those with clear eyes will not miss China's all-out poverty reduction efforts, which decreased impoverished population from 98.99 million to 5.51 million between 2012 and 2019.

"The world already recognizes, or should recognize, what tremendous progress China has made with poverty down by more than two-thirds in the last five years," David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme, said on the sidelines of the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos.

Those with unbiased minds will not mistake China's counterterrorism efforts in Xinjiang for human rights abuses. That is because they know a safe, stable and prosperous Xinjiang is fundamental to the protection of human rights.

According to statistics, from 1990 to the end of 2016, separatist, terrorist and extremist forces launched thousands of terrorist attacks in Xinjiang, killing a large number of innocent civilians and hundreds of police officers, and causing considerable damage to property.

With decisive law-based anti-terror and de-radicalization measures, Xinjiang has not seen violent terrorist incidents for three years in a row, and the rights to life and happiness of all ethnic groups there have now been well safeguarded.

And those with caring hearts will not ignore China's human rights achievements in the fight against COVID-19.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese government has upheld the spirit of putting human lives first, taken rigorous measures to contain the disease, and done what it can to help those who are struggling to weather the pandemic.

The journal Science reported in April that the measures imposed by China during the outbreak's first 50 days may have prevented more than 700,000 infections across the country.

Yet the irony is that when those China hawks in Washington once again pointed their accusing fingers at Beijing, the skyrocketing pandemic infections and deaths, as well as the burning protests over racial discrimination in the United States have exposed the true and deteriorating human rights situation back in their own yards.

It is now crystal clear that those anti-China Western political opportunists should do some immediate soul-searching on human rights protection, the very topic on which they are so used to lecturing others.

They should wake up to the fact that throwing mud at China will not only never help improve the human rights situation in their own countries, but also further lay bare their political incompetence to solve basic social problems.

Of course, just as you cannot wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep, it is almost impossible to expect those die-hard Western China-detractors to stop poking their noses into China's internal affairs on the pretext of human rights any time soon or ever.

However, if those Western interventionists still believe they can twist China's human rights record or bully Beijing over this matter, they are simply barking up the wrong tree. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 10:46:13|Editor: huaxia

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BUJUMBURA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The Burundian government on Monday kicked off a mass screening campaign in the commercial captial Bujumbura to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Three sites of a technical school, a hotel and a Catholic parish were chosen to screen people who voluntarily receive the test for the coronavirus.

The campaign was kicked off in the commercial capital Bujumbura as it hosts the majority of the novel coronavirus cases in the central African nation, Health Minister Thaddee Ndikumana told a press briefing later on Monday.

Over 419 people had been screened in the three sites by the evening, far more than the expected number of around 250, said Ndikumana.

Those who got screened will get the results in less than 24 hours, he said.

The minister also said the government plan to start the screening in the countryside next week by Friday, which will be done at provincial towns.

Since late March, more than 3,000 people were screened and 191 of them tested positive for COVID-19, including one death, and 80 percent of the infected have been discharged from hospital, according to the official.

On June 30, Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye said COVID-19 is "a big enemy" for Burundians and he commits to combating the virus.

The president announced that the soap price will be reduced up to 50 percent by the government funding to boost hygiene, while the price of water will be reduced by the government in some parts of the country including major towns until the pandemic is eradicated. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 10:54:10|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- An acting envoy of the United Nations (UN) to Libya on Monday expressed regrets over the death of two mine clearance workers in the south of the capital Tripoli.

"I am deeply saddened by the deaths of another two mine clearance workers who passed away in the line of duty, sacrificing their lives to ensure that neighborhoods are free from explosive devices and remnants of war," Stephanie Williams, the UN secretary-general's acting special representative for Libya, said in a statement.

The statement said that since late May, explosive devices indiscriminately laid by forces affiliated with the east-based army in civilian neighborhoods have reportedly killed and injured 81 civilians and 57 non-civilians, which is a "potential violation of international law."

"The UN and the international community reaffirm their continued support to Libyan partners, communities, and stakeholders who are working tirelessly to rid Libya of the threat of booby traps, including improvised explosive devices, land mines, and explosive remnants of war," it said.

Tripoli has witnessed deadly armed clashes between the UN-backed government and the east-based forces for more than a year. The UN-backed government has recently announced the takeover of all of western Libya after the withdrawal of the eastern-based army.

The UN-backed government has accused the east-based army of laying landmines in civilians' areas before leaving the region, while the east-based army has not responded yet. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 10:58:14|Editor: huaxia

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ALGIERS, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Algerian Health Minister Abderrahman Benbouzid said Monday that a renewal of nationwide lockdown "is not on the agenda right now," but the government will choose "a targeted lockdown" in regions with a significant increase in coronavirus cases.

"The failure to comply with precautionary and preventive measures" were among many reasons for the rebound of cases in Algeria, Benbouzid said in a press conference.

As of Monday, Algeria had 16,404 confirmed cases with 959 deaths.

The country reported the first infection with the coronavirus on Feb. 25, an Italian national who was subsequently sent back home.

Algeria has taken preventive measures, including lockdown, since March to contain the spread of the pandemic, and has resumed economic and commercial activities since June 7 as part of the effort to ease the lockdown. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 11:02:49|Editor: huaxia

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MUSCAT, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The building of a China-Arab community with a shared future will enhance China-Arab relations, said Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah on Monday.

He made the remark at the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, held Monday via video link, and co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

During the meeting, the two sides released an action plan for the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum 2020-2022, which, the Omani minister said, will "lead to fruitful and direct results on the Arab and Chinese sides."

He spoke highly of China's stance on Arab issues, especially the Palestinian cause, and hailed the cooperation in various fields between the two countries, including investment and maintaining global peace.

Both countries have sincere desires to enhance bilateral relations and advance their mutual interests, he said. Enditem
Since the end of May, the battle lines between the forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez Al-Sarraj and the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by General Khalifa Haftar west of Sirte and Al-Jufra in the centre of the country have remained the same. Meanwhile, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has been working with the US on negotiations with the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and GNA, on one side, and the LNA and regional and international parties on the other, to resume oil production, which stopped in January. The possibility of a successful return to the political process is highly unlikely right now.

GNA forces, with Turkish support, succeeded in late May to push back LNA forces, who are supported by Egypt, the UAE, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France and Jordan, out of the capitals southern suburbs, Tarhuna region and Al-Watiya Airbase. This means LNA fighters have returned to their positions before the attack on Tripoli in April 2019.

INSISTING ON SIRTE AND JUFRA: GNA forces are persistent in regaining control of the coastal city of Sirte and Al-Jufra Airbase, since they are in the administrative jurisdiction of west Tripoli territories, before sitting at the negotiating table based on the countrys three provinces (Barqa, Tripoli, Fezzan). The LNA refuses to withdraw from these two areas since they threaten the security of the ports and oil fields, which are a strategic card in the hands of the forces in the East.

Both sides insist on pursuing military operations while intense diplomatic efforts are underway to jumpstart the deadlock and force local forces to restart talks and the political process under UN auspices, aiming to develop the political agreement signed in Skhirat in late 2015 as part of the three-track Berlin process (political, security/military, economic).

NEGOTIATING WITH REGIONAL POWERS TO RESUME OIL PRODUCTION: Last week, the NOC revealed negotiations were underway with regional countries about resuming operations, and for the first time accused these countries  as announced by NOC Chairman Mustafa Sonallah in a statement last week and a television interview Sunday  of endorsing the shutdown of oil production. He did not specify which countries and only said they are involved in the Libyan crisis since 2014.

Oil fields and production were shut down several times since 2012 due to local disputes, with the sector used as leverage in the political conflict to secure more economic gains and financial advantage, which undermined the countrys production capacity and seriously damaged the sectors infrastructure. The last shutdown resulted in more than $6.5 billion in losses, according to the latest NOC figures. Current talks to restart oil production have revived hope that the country could avoid imminent financial crisis and military escalation, and pave the way for relaunching the UN sponsored political process. If talks fail, these hopes will be dashed, especially since each side is unwilling to compromise. Meanwhile, there was an air strike on Al-Watiya Airbase (140 kilometres southwest of Tripoli) Saturday, which Turkey wants to rehabilitate and operate as part of its plan to establish two land and naval bases in Libya.

ATTEMPTS TO END THE STALEMATE: The attack on Al-Watiya was an attempt to end the stalemate since combat forces on both sides remain in their positions with foreign support, which has increased since fighting began in Tripoli in April 2019. This has further embroiled foreign powers in the crisis and now they have a greater role in managing the conflict than domestic forces. Although Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and France supported the LNA in its war on terrorism and armed groups, Haftars military campaign allowed Russia and Turkey to establish a foothold and play a bigger role than traditional forces in the Libyan crisis since 2014. Ankara, supporting the GNA, and Moscow, backing the LNA, tried to coordinate their operations away from Western powers and other players involved in the crisis. In January, Russia hosted Al-Sarraj and Haftar for indirect talks to urge them to sign a ceasefire agreement. However, these failed because Haftar refused to sign the deal and left Moscow.

The military involvement of Turkey and Russia in Libya, division in European ranks, and the USs hesitation have obstructed the Berlin process which was launched at an international summit on 19 January in the German capital, even though the summit created a three-track roadmap to draft a political agreement.

CONSULTATIONS AND PREPARING FOR TALKS: Parliament Speaker in Tobruk Aguila Saleh held several overseas meetings and local ones with civil forces in East Libya to bolster his political position in upcoming talks. Saleh wants to be included in the new executive body that will be formed in future negotiations, after he gained the strong support of Egypt, the UAE and Russia. He also has strong political backing at home from the federal forces, tribes in the East, and supporters of the ousted regime who want to return to the political scene. However, although these three fronts give Saleh a broad margin for political manoeuvring with them and foreign supporters, they also limit his movement in the face of his political rivals who also want to make gains if the political process restarts. Especially federal forces and supporters of the former regime, who also have back channels of communication with influential players in west Libya.

Saleh, whom domestic allies describe as shrewd, also has to wrangle with political division in parliament. The majority of MPs opposed to the war moved to meet in the capital Tripoli, and formed a new leadership council for parliament after they were joined in April 2019 by several MPs who boycotted parliament sessions in Tobruk since the 2014 election.

Forces in the East, which lately agreed to resume oil production, are demanding that the GNA carry $50 billion in debt spent on the war effort, while other Libyan sources revealed that a proposal was made to negotiators to freeze revenues, not production, until a political agreement is reached. In Tripoli, the Central Bank of Libya refuses to take on this debt since it would hurt the states financial condition due to unstable revenues, a freeze on overseas accounts, and talk about freezing future oil sales.

Al-Sarraj continues to pursue his alliance with Turkey, which has helped GNA forces militarily in thwarting Haftars attempt to seize power in the capital. The operation ended Haftars political ambition and opened him up to criticism by his foreign backers. Political powers in Tripoli demand that Haftar be removed from the political scene, and their control restored in Sirte and Al-Jufra, before they return to the negotiating table.

So far, diplomatic concerns about escalation on the ground and restarting the war are limited to the GNAs desire to continue fighting in the East, while forgetting that a substantial number of refugees from Benghazi, Derna and the oil crescent insist on returning to their homes and recovering their rights in the East. The authorities there are not considering opening a dialogue with them to avoid retaliation operations by their kin who want to return home. Meanwhile, everyone is waiting for the overhaul of UNSMILs role.

DIVIDING UNSMIL: UNSMILs role has essentially come to a halt since the resignation of former mission head Ghassan Salame in early March, due to international disagreement about the missions mandate, and insistence by the US to separate UNSMIL from the UN diplomatic mission to Libya. UN Secretary- General Antonio Guterres said that Hanna Tetteh, former Ghanaian foreign minister and current UN representative to the African Union, should lead UNSMIL. But this appointment remains uncertain because the US disagrees, even though diplomats anticipated Washington would approve the appointment which requires Security Council approval.

On 12 June, Reuters news agency quoted diplomats as saying that before Washington approves Tetteh, it wants Guterres to appoint a special envoy to mediate a peace deal in Libya. The source said the US suggested former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, but some Security Council members disagree with the USs proposal to divide the UN mission.

Since Salame resigned, Guterres appointed American Stephanie Williams, who served as deputy head of UNSMIL for political affairs, as acting special envoy and head of mission until the restructuring of the organisation. At which point, Williams could be removed from Libya altogether, even though some Libyans want her to continue leading the mission since she participated in drafting the peace plan and oversaw UNSMILs operations and activities.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 11:05:41|Editor: huaxia

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AUCKLAND, New Zealand, July 7 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand needs further and joint efforts to address the increasingly mental health distress among the Asian population caused by COVID-19, a counselor from a New Zealand mental health provider told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The Asian Family Service, New Zealand's only service provider for people of Asian background who are affected by mental health issues and gambling harm, has witnessed a surge in the demand for its mental health support service since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Its free multi-language telephone counseling service, Asian Helpline, received a notable increase in the number of calls in April when compared with April 2019. The total duration of calls has also increased by 146.5 percent.

Asian Family Service's national director Kelly Feng told Xinhua that its organisation is seeing more diverse family distress, mental health and social care needs from the Asian people in New Zealand which likely reflects the broader inequity issues experienced by Asian communities.

"In addition to concerns around race-related bullying and discrimination in schools and workplaces, mental health problems brought to the attention of our clinicians since the COVID-19 outbreak covered a wide range of social groups and issues. For example, we are receiving a higher number of cases involving immigrant Asian women experiencing family violence," said Feng.

A national survey by the Trace Research released last week also indicated a high level of anxiety and nervousness among the New Zealand Asian community.

The research surveyed 580 Asian New Zealanders across the country and found almost 44 percent of them experienced some form of mental distress since COVID-19 Level Four lockdown.

Nervousness and anxiety are the most widely experienced (57 percent), followed by little interest or pleasure in doing things (55.2 percent), uncontrollable worrying (47.4 percent) and feeling down and hopeless (44 percent).

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Asian Family Service has strived to provide help to the vast majority of the Asian population in New Zealand within its capacity, such as translation of culturally and linguistically appropriate resources, online and phone counseling, social media and media reach-out. However, Feng urged that a concerted effort nationwide should be done to help the Asian population in New Zealand.

"The early announcement of the New Zealand government decision on full lockdown means that many Asian communities were not able to receive direct information through their preferred language, and this was due to a lack of appropriate language information," said Feng.

"Asian people who have limited English have found it challenging to navigate an over-complicated system to access information and services at a time when they are extremely vulnerable. Some of our counselors have been working on the voluntary capacity to help with translation to support some of the Asian communities."

"Asian people need to be identified as a priority group in national health/mental health policies and action plans," she pointed out. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 11:34:09|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on July 6, 2020 shows a container train from China's Wuhan entering a railway station in Kiev, Ukraine. The first direct container train, which left the central Chinese city of Wuhan on June 16, arrived in Kiev Monday, opening up new opportunities for China-Ukraine cooperation, said Ukrainian officials. (Photo by Sergey Starostenko/Xinhua)

KIEV, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The first direct container train, which left the central Chinese city of Wuhan on June 16, arrived in Kiev Monday, opening up new opportunities for China-Ukraine cooperation, said Ukrainian officials.

"Today's event has important symbolic significance for Sino-Ukrainian relations. It means that future cooperation between China and Ukraine within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative will become even closer," said Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Fan Xianrong during a ceremony to mark the train arrival here.

"Ukraine will show its advantages as a logistics center connecting Europe and Asia, and Sino-Ukrainian economic and trade cooperation will become even faster and more convenient. All this will bring even more benefits to the peoples of the two countries," he said.

Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii, who also attended the ceremony, said this is the first step of regular container transportation from China to Ukraine.

"This is the first time that Ukraine has not just been used as a transit platform for container transportation from China to Europe, but acted as the final destination," said Kryklii.

Ivan Yuryk, acting head of Ukrainian Railways, told Xinhua that his country plans to expand the route of the container train.

"We have big expectations as to this container route. We can receive (trains) not only in Kiev but also in Kharkiv, Odessa and other cities," said Yuryk.

"For now, we've made plans with our partners about one train per week. It's a reasonable volume for a start," said Oleksandr Polishchuk, first deputy head of Liski, a branch company of Ukrainian Railways that specializes in intermodal transportation.

"One time per week allows us to improve the technology, work out necessary procedures with customs and controlling authorities, as well as with our clients," Polishchuk said.

The official added that one train can transport up to 40-45 containers, which adds up to a total of 160 containers per month. Thus Ukraine will receive up to 1,000 containers till the end of this year.

"In 2019, China became Ukraine's most important trading partner," said Ukrainian economist Olga Drobotyuk in a recent interview with Xinhua. "The launch of such trains can help to further expand and strengthen trade, economic, political and cultural cooperation between the two countries."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 11:42:27|Editor: huaxia

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TUNIS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs Noureddine Erray on Monday called for further economic, social and cultural cooperation with China.

Cooperation with China should be deepened in fields where China is the global leader, the minister said at the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum held Monday via video link.

It is also important to activate Arab-Chinese cooperation in the tourism sector, Erray added.

The minister highlighted the importance of international solidarity in the face of challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Erray reiterated Tunisia's support for the Palestinian people, stressed the need to defend the unity of Arab states, and urged political settlement of crises, including the Libyan crisis. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 11:51:34|Editor: huaxia

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AMMAN, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Monday said holding the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) shows the commitment of the Arab states and China to cooperation and achieving mutual interests.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi made the remarks at the opening of the meeting Monday, where he stressed that holding the event online due to the coronavirus epidemic, shows the connectedness of all countries and the importance of multilateral international action to face challenges.

The forum was co-chaired by Safadi and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and attended by ministers of foreign affairs of the Arab League member states and its secretary-general.

In his speech, Safadi said international cooperation is required to face the pandemic as well as to meet the rights of people to education, work, health services, and growth.

The minister added that any country needs to respect international law and the principles of good-neighbourliness, without interfering in countries' internal affairs, and that multilateral action is needed to overcome challenges and resolve regional crises.

On the Palestinian issue, he said that Jordan appreciates China's stance in supporting Palestinians' rights to freedom and independence, rejecting the annexation plan of occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law and endangerment of all chances of just and comprehensive peace.

"Jordan looks forward to working with China and all members of the international community to find true solutions to achieve peace," which Safadi said "cannot be done as long as the occupation remains and without establishing an independent Palestinian state within the June 4, 1967 lines as per the two-state solution."

The minister added that the Middle East suffers from several crises in Syria, Yemen, and Libya, and leads a war against terrorism.

Solving the regional crises requires international cooperation based on the principle of avoiding interference in internal affairs and respecting international law, said the minister. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 12:05:17|Editor: huaxia

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HEFEI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The national college entrance examination starting Tuesday morning did not proceed as scheduled in Shexian County, east China's Anhui Province, due to severe flooding caused by torrential rains, local authorities said.

According to the county government, the flood had disrupted local transport, preventing some examinees from reaching examination venues on time.

The provincial education department is responding to the emergency situation. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 12:19:20|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) take effect on Tuesday, the HKSAR government said when the implementation rules were gazetted on Monday evening.

Article 43 of the national security law stipulates various measures that the department for safeguarding national security of the Police Force of the HKSAR may take when handling cases concerning offence endangering national security, and authorizes the HKSAR chief executive, in conjunction with the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR (National Security Committee) to make relevant implementation rules for the purpose of applying the measures stipulated under Article 43.

At the first meeting of the National Security Committee on Monday, the chief executive, in conjunction with the National Security Committee, exercised the power under Article 43 of the national security law to make relevant implementation rules for law enforcement agencies such as the department for safeguarding national security of the Hong Kong Police Force to implement the measures stipulated under Article 43, the HKSAR government said in a statement.

The implementation rules provide for rules that relevant officers should observe when carrying out the specific measures concerned to prevent, suppress and impose punishment for offences endangering national security, and relevant offences and penalties for the effective implementation of the measures, so as to improve the enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security.

An HKSAR government spokesman pointed out that the implementation rules, formulated for the exercise of various measures by relevant officers, clearly set out in detail the procedural requirements, circumstances that must be met and conditions for approval when implementing those measures.

The purpose is to ensure that when relevant officers exercise powers and apply measures under Article 43 of the national security law to enforce the law, the objectives of preventing, suppressing and imposing punishment for any acts and activities endangering national security can be achieved, while the requirement under the general principles of the national security law to respect and protect human rights, as well as the protection of various rights and freedom in accordance with the law can be complied with.

The implementation rules include search of places for evidence by law enforcement officers and related agencies; restriction on persons under investigation from leaving Hong Kong; freezing, restraint, confiscation and forfeiture of property related to offences endangering national security; removal of messages endangering national security and request for assistance; requiring political organizations and agents of foreign countries and China's Taiwan to provide information on activities concerning Hong Kong; application on authorization for interception of communications and covert surveillance; requirement to furnish information and produce materials.

The HKSAR government representatives will brief members of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR on the content of the national security law and the implementation rules. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 12:38:17|Editor: huaxia

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SUVA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Fiji reported on Tuesday two more new COVID-19 cases, bringing the current number of active cases to three in the island nation.

Fiji's Acting Permanent Secretary for the Health Ministry James Fong said on Tuesday that one patient is a 37-year-old man, whose father, a 66-year-old man had been tested positive on Monday. They have been moved to a hospital in Lautoka, the second largest city of Fiji for treatment.

The other confirmed case is a 36-year-old woman who was confirmed on Tuesday morning. All of them returned to Fiji from India on a repatriation flight on Saturday.

Fong said that the rest of the 105 passengers on the same flight will be tested on Wednesday.

He stressed the importance for Fijians to work together in fighting COVID-19.

Fiji has reported 18 COVID-19 patients so far, and the country declared on June 5 itself free of COVID-19 after the remaining three patients had fully recovered. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 12:46:55|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, July 6 (Xinhua) -- More than 40 shooting incidents have taken place in New York City on the July 4th weekend, killing at least nine people, local authorities said Monday.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) confirmed that from Friday to Sunday, 63 people were shot in 44 incidents, leading to at least nine fatalities.

According to the NYPD, the majority of the shootings occurred between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, killing three people and injuring 34 others.

The NYPD released its citywide crime report for June on Monday, showing that there were 205 shooting incidents the previous month, a 130.3-percent increase from a year ago.

Meanwhile, 528 shootings were recorded citywide in the first six months this year, compared with 362 a year ago, the report showed.

"The sharp increase in shootings and violence in New York puts innocent people at risk and tears at the fabric of life in our city," said New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea in the report.

The NYPD is also facing challenges, including deep budget cuts and a surge of retirements, according to the report.

Facing mounting pressure from protesters who call for "defunding the police," New York City slashed 1 billion U.S. dollars from the NYPD budget for the fiscal year 2021, and diverted the funding to youth and social services.

In an interview with local news channel NY1 on Monday, Shea blamed the surge in gun violence on the city's efforts to decrease the population on Rikers Island, where a notorious jail complex is located with some 10,000 beds.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of prisoners have been released from the jail to avoid the clustering of infections.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that a number of reasons have contributed to the spike in shootings, including coronavirus-led court closures, economic damages, and that "people have been pent up for months and months."

He said he would talk to community leaders on how to deploy police and the approaches they take, among other topics.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also said he is "very concerned" about the rising number of shootings in the city.

"And again, it's the communities that in many ways need the most, pay the highest price," said Cuomo at his briefing.

Cuomo said the state police is working with the NYPD, while the state's and New York City's criminal justice personnel will talk about possible measures to contain the rise of gun violence.

Meanwhile, the July Fourth weekend has seen COVID-19 cases surge in a number of U.S. states and authorities rise to tighten up measures to curb the spread of the virus. However, U.S. President Donald Trump continued his attempt to downplay the threat of the coronavirus in his speech marking Independence Day.

On Saturday, Trump said in his remarks that 99 percent of coronavirus cases in America "are totally harmless" -- a dangerously misleading claim which U.S. experts say contains no evidence.

The U.S. death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic passed 130,000 Monday with a total of over 2.9 million infections, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 12:51:30|Editor: huaxia

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MEXICO CITY, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus epidemic in Mexico could last until next April, with infections expected to rise during the October flu season and through winter, Mexico's Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell told local media on Monday.

"Flu season begins in October and there are some reasonable assumptions that we could also have a spike in COVID-19 along with the flu throughout the fall-to-winter season," the minister was quoted as saying, adding that the epidemic in Mexico could last "until March to April of next year."

The Latin American country has registered 261,750 confirmed cases in total, with 31,119 overall deaths, putting it in fifth place worldwide in terms of fatalities from COVID-19, according to the latest Johns Hopkins University tally.

Lopez-Gatell has continually reviewed forecasts about when the crisis would peak, and said the death toll and infection tally are likely higher than reported figures.

The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimated that Mexico will report more than 88,000 deaths from the epidemic by October. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 13:20:57|Editor: huaxia

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MANILA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A small airplane crash-landed into the sea off Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines on Tuesday morning, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said.

CAAP Area Manager Antonio Alfonso said the chartered plane went down shortly after taking off from the Zamboanga airport at around 9:30 a.m. local time.

All the four people on board, including the two pilots, safely exited the plane, which was headed to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental Province in the central Philippines.

Initial investigation showed that the plane's left engine malfunctioned, forcing the pilots to make a crash landing into the sea. Enditem
In our modern world, most of the peoples and nations living on Earth seek to live in harmony and peace. But seemingly not Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Last week, a Turkish court heard a petition seeking to convert the Hagia Sophia museum back into a mosque, over which the US State Department issued a statement urging Turkey not to do so. Considered a symbol of religious tolerance and cultural diversity, being a mix of Christian Byzantine and Ottoman Empire architecture and historical richness, the Haiga Sophia museum was chosen a world heritage site by the UNESCO in 1985.

Earlier last month, the US State Department issued its 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom. It is written in a language far from objectivity, was the Turkish Foreign Ministrys curt description of the reports contents on Turkey. In a statement 1 July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 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 US State Department sees any change in the status of the museum as diminishing the legacy of this remarkable building and its ability to serve humanity as a much-needed bridge between those of different faiths and cultures. It is a testament to religious expression and to artistic and technical genius, reflected in its rich and complex 1,500-year history, Pompeos statement read.

It is not surprising that Turkey ignores or denies the findings in the US religious freedom report, because what the civilised world sees as a violation, abuse or crime, Turkey sees as a normal and even a glorified action. We see the usurpation of churches and their conversion into mosques or other types of facilities as an insult to human rights and religious freedom. But NATO, UN and Council of Europe member Turkey has turned the violation of human rights into a proud tradition, Greek genocide scholar Vassilios Meichanetsidis told Al-Ahram Weekly.

In 1935, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, its first president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, ordered the building to be transformed into museum. While many consider it to be a good decision, Meichanetsidis thinks that it was actually another desecration of a historic non-Muslim place of worship. Churches are built as churches and not as mosques or museums, he said. On Tuesday, while speaking to a congregation at a church in Istanbul, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, warned that if Turkey persists with plans to reconvert Hagia Sophia into a mosque, it risks turning Christians against Muslims.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT ON TURKEYS MINORITIES: Lets not forget that Turkey and its predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, have a century old history of genocide against Greeks, Assyrians and Armenians, who constitute minorities in the country today.

According to the US State Departments report, the Turkish government continues to limit the rights of non-Muslim religious minorities, especially those not recognised under the governments interpretation of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, which includes only Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Christians, Jews and Greek Orthodox Christians.

The Armenian Apostolic Orthodox community elected a new patriarch in December. Members of the community and rights organisations criticised [Turkish] government interference in the election process. Minority communities continued to object to the prevention of governing board elections for religious foundations, states the US report.

Another violation towards the Armenian minority mentioned in the report is the incident of forced conversion of a 13-year-old Armenian Orthodox child to Islam on a programme broadcast live by a televangelist on Turkish TV, during the Holy month of Ramadan last year, without his parents permission. Members of the Armenian community and members of parliament (MPs) denounced the action, states the US report.

Professor Anahit Khosroeva, senior researcher at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences in Armenia, thinks that this is not the only case. It mainly takes place among the citizens who left Armenia and got married to Turks or Kurds, according to statistics. I know several other cases of converted Armenian women over recent years. However, although all these cases have been widely publicised in the Turkish media, conversion is not a normal phenomenon among Armenians, she said.

Khosroeva holds the communitys officials partly responsible. The role of the Armenian Patriarchate in Constantinople should be significant here. Because it is known that Armenians are not so welcomed by the government of Turkey, especially the refugees, and their children cannot attend public schools. In addition, Armenians are isolated from the traditional community. Its here that the Patriarchate must show its role by integrating these people into community life, she told the Weekly.

The US report also states that according to media reports, isolated acts of vandalism of places of worship continued to occur, noting a February incident when an unidentified person or persons sprayed graffiti on the Surp Hreshdagabed Armenian Church in the Balat district of Istanbul with derogatory messages on the door and walls. Police had opened an investigation and received security camera footage of the incident. HDP MP Garo Paylan condemned the attack. According to the community, the perpetrators had not been found by years end, states the US report.

Khosroeva thinks this, too, is not new. Vandalism against the Christian sanctuaries and culture, in addition to a continuous disrespectful attitude towards the feelings of [Christian] believers existed before the Ottoman genocide of Christians, between 1914 and 1923, and unfortunately it still exists. Its very offensive for citizens of the same state or country to see notes on the walls of their churches full of hatred, or emptied garbage cans at the entrance of an Armenian church in Erzurum, where also unknown people left a note saying Erzurum residents, this is our homeland, Khosroeva told the Weekly.

In March, President Erdogan raised the possibility, during a televised interview, that the status of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul could be changed from a museum to a mosque, adding that the name could change to Ayasofya Mosque. The government took no action following the presidents comments.

The US report also mentions that in November last year, the Council of State (the highest administrative court) ruled a former church and mosque now serving as Chora Museum should be returned to its status as a mosque. The museum, famed for its mosaics and frescos depicting Christian imagery, was originally constructed and repeatedly renovated as the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Saviour in the fifth century, and then converted into the Kariye Mosque in 1511 before becoming a museum in 1945.

Hagia Sophia and Chora are the property of the Republic of Turkey and all means of authority [over museums] are a matter of Turkeys internal affairs, Turkeys Foreign Ministry spokesman stated in response to the US report on religious freedoms, who called on the US to focus on its own domestic problems, like Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia, and not to draw the worlds attention away from US protests.

Why do Turkish authorities take pleasure in converting churches into mosques in 2020?

Istanbul has dozens of mosques. Just next to Hagia Sophia there is the Blue Mosque and there are many other mosques across the city. I am afraid that the conversion of Hagia Sophia and Chora again into mosques represent Turkish Islamist triumphalism over Christianity and seemingly brings votes and support to the ruling party from Islamists and nationalists. In their imagination, this is what conversion represents, Meichanetsidis told the Weekly.

Episodes of massacres and cultural attacks were the precursors to the great genocide of the 20th century. Assyrians in Turkey, also known as Chaldean and Syriac, faced ethnic and religious persecution beginning in the mid-1800s. We have not been able to secure our own state, therefore our persecution is perpetual. The fact that the Turkish government has been denying the 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom should not come as a surprise, for the state has repeatedly denied its crimes against Christians. And let us not forget the direct involvement of the Kurds, a group which also denies their actions against all Christians, especially the Assyrians. Unless the Western countries and their allies in the region do not pressure Turkey to start honouring religious freedom and start protecting its own citizens, regardless of their faith, we will continue to witness the disappearance of the Christian community, an event which is a tragedy for all of humanity, founder and President of Iraqi Christian Relief Council Juliana Taimoorazy of Assyrian origin, based in the US, told the Weekly.

This is not a mentality of our times, but of some dark ages of the past, where fanaticism, destruction and barbarism prevailed. Islam is a religion of peace, respect and civilisation. Greeks and Arabs have been the initiators and bearers of religious and spiritual traditions with a universal impact, Meichanetsidis said.

The US government estimates the total population of Turkey at 81.6 million (midyear 2019 estimate). According to the Turkish government, 99 per cent of the population is Muslim, approximately 77.5 per cent of which is Hanafi Sunni. Non-Muslim religious groups are mostly concentrated in Istanbul and other large cities, as well as in the southeast. Exact figures are not available, however these groups self-report approximately 90,000 Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Christians (including migrants from Armenia); 25,000 Roman Catholics (including migrants from Africa and the Philippines) and 16,000 Jews. There are also approximately 25,000 Syrian Orthodox Christians (also known as Syriacs); 15,000 Russian Orthodox Christians (mostly immigrants from Russia who hold residence permits) and 10,000 Bahais.

According to the US State Department report, estimates of other groups include fewer than 1,000 Yezidis; 5,000 Jehovahs Witnesses; 7,000-10,000 members of Protestant denominations; fewer than 3,000 Chaldean Christians and up to 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians.

Although the Jewish community in the country is diminishing, the US report states that Jewish citizens have expressed concern about anti-Semitism and threats. According to members of the community, the government continues to coordinate with them and is responsive to requests for assistance. But not all agree. Anti-Semitism has been widespread in Turkey since the early years of the Turkish Republic. Jews in Turkey were exposed to a pogrom, their freedom of movement was restricted several times, the public use of their Ladino language  alongside other non-Turkish languages  was banned and the media targeted them extensively in the 1920s and 1930s.

Today, making hostile statements against Jews and Israel is a popular trend in Turkey and it is the government that is leading and fuelling this hostility, Turkish journalist and political analyst Uzay Bulut, who often writes about Jewish-related issues, told the Weekly.

According to the US report, the government of Turkey has continued to permit Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Jewish religious community foundations to operate schools under the supervision of the Ministry of National Education.

Children of undocumented Armenian migrants and Armenian refugees from Syria could also attend but they were not permitted to receive diplomas, as the government classify legal migrant and refugee children as visitors, the report states.

The government has continued to provide funding for public, private and religious schools teaching Islam. It did not do so for minority schools recognised under the Lausanne Treaty, except to pay the salaries for courses taught in Turkish, such as Turkish literature. The minority religious communities funded all their other expenses through donations, including from church foundations and alumni, states the report.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 13:24:30|Editor: huaxia

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WELLINGTON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with the number of active cases in the country remaining at 22, all in managed isolation or quarantine facilities, according to the Ministry of Health.

It has been 67 days since the last local transmission was reported, said a ministry's statement.

Tuesday's cases were returnees who are staying at a hotel in Christchurch. One is a woman in her 20s, and the other is a woman in her 30s, who are from the same extended family, and arrived in New Zealand from Afghanistan on a repatriation flight on July 2, it said.

Tests were conducted as part of a routine testing around the third day of their stay in a managed isolation facility, it added.

The country has confirmed 1,186 cases, which is the number reported to the World Health Organization, according to the ministry.

Two people have recovered from COVID-19, and the death toll stood at 22. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 13:34:59|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Health Minister has declared that domestic border closures were "necessary" to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

New South Wales (NSW) will close its border with Victoria from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the latter state.

Despite the federal government having repeatedly called for domestic borders to be re-opened, Health Minister Greg Hunt told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday that closures were "always planned" in the event of an outbreak.

"Right from the start in February we've talked about the concept of rings of containment -- whether it's been suburbs, broader areas such as northwest Tasmania, or when it's required to take that step," he said.

"Now is the moment when we believe that step, for the first time, is required and necessary and it relates specifically and exclusively to the challenges that Victoria is facing. I know it's difficult and I know it's challenging."

"We have been through this already. In March, what we saw was that -- and in April -- Australians had difficult restrictions put in place. We were able to deal with it, we were able to rise to it, and we were able to flatten that curve," said the minister.

The border closure was announced by the NSW government on Monday when Victorian authorities revealed that there were 127 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state -- a record high daily increase.

It will be the first time that the border between Australia's two most populous states has been closed in about 100 years.

The Department of Defence on Monday night confirmed that up to 500 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel would be deployed to enforce checkpoints at border crossings.

"This assistance is in addition to approximately 200 ADF medical personnel currently supporting public health testing initiatives as part of the Operation COVID-19 Assist," a Defence spokesperson told News Corp Australia.

"About 190 of these members are involved in the Victorian government's public health testing initiatives, with the remainder involved in planning and headquarters roles."

In a move that has further isolated Victoria from the rest of Australia, Northern Territory (NT) Chief Minister Michael Gunner has announced that residents of the greater Melbourne area will continue to be subjected to mandatory 14-day quarantine periods when the NT border re-opens on July 17.

Gunner said on Monday night that he had made the decision that all of Melbourne is a hotspot.

"These rules apply to everyone, not just Victorians. That includes Territorians. Territorians should reconsider any planned travel to any location in Melbourne in the near future," he said.

"Right now, the problem is confined to Melbourne, but we will keep a watching brief on the rest of Victoria. Hotspot areas may be added prior to July 17, depending on the health advice."

"However, I want to make clear that no area in the greater Melbourne region will be removed from the list prior to July 17. They will stay shut off from the Territory until further notice," said Gunner.

As at 3 p.m. on Monday, a total of 8,586 cases have been reported in Australia, including 106 deaths, and 7,420 have been reported as recovered from COVID-19. And the number of new cases in last 24 hours is 140, according to figures from the Department of Health.

The department also said that over the past week, there has been an average of 90 new cases reported each day. Of the newly reported cases, the majority have been from Victoria. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 13:54:17|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 death toll topped 130,000 in the United States on Monday with over 2.9 million infections, as the country's top infectious diseases expert called for actions to stop the virus resurgence in many states.

"We had been in a situation (where) we were averaging about 20,000 new cases a day," Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a livestream with Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health on Monday.

The U.S. death toll from the pandemic reached 130,090 on Monday; the country currently has 39.72 deaths per 100,000 residents, placing it among the top 10 countries in the world in that metric, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

A series of circumstances associated with various states and cities trying to open up in a bid to get back to some form of normality, has led to a situation where the country now has "record-breaking cases," Fauci said.

As more and more new cases spread to younger people, some of whom are flocking to bars and other places, Fauci urged them not to think of themselves as invincible and warned that they could spread the virus to others.

"You're part of the propagation of the pandemic so it's your responsibility to yourself, as well as to society, to avoid infection," Fauci said.

Europe managed to suppress the virus after an initial spike and now is dealing with little blips as it reopens, but U.S. communities "never came down to baseline and now are surging back up," Fauci said.

Coronavirus cases were growing in 36 states in the United States as of Sunday, based on a seven-day moving average, according to a CNBC analysis of JHU data.

In Arizona, 89 percent of the state's intensive care unit beds were full Monday morning, the state's Department of Health announced, as COVID-19 cases in the recently hard-hit state surpassed 100,000, reported the Washington Post.

Florida has seen its caseload soar past 10,000 per day and 200,000 overall, and in Miami-Dade County, authorities reversed course on a reopening plan, issuing an emergency order to shut down gyms, party venues and restaurants, with exceptions for takeout and delivery, which will go into effect on Wednesday, it added.

California on Monday told six more counties to close indoor operations for many businesses and all bars, bringing the number of counties on its list of closing indoor operations to 23, as the state experiences a surge in coronavirus cases.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced Monday that face coverings will be mandatory inside buildings, and he asked residents to comply voluntarily.

Texas reached 200,000 total cases on Monday, just 17 days after crossing the 100,000 threshold, a figure that took the state nearly four months to hit, according to a report by Statesman News Network.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta which is the capital city of southeastern U.S. state of Georgia, said Monday that she has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Bottoms, 50, has gained national attention in recent weeks for her handling of the pandemic and protests against racism and police brutality.

As of Monday afternoon, Georgia had 97,064 cases, said the state's Department of Public Health.

New York City, once the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States, entered phase three of reopening on Monday without resuming indoor dining.

City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that major indicators kept showing signs of progress. Daily number of people admitted to hospitals for suspected COVID-19 fell to 62 on Sunday, as positivity rate in citywide testing dropped to 1 percent, the lowest level since the crisis began.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at his briefing on Monday that casinos and movie theaters statewide will remain closed as the state government continues to review facts to ensure their safe reopening.

He also said the New York State Department of Health, in consultation with other groups, is finalizing guidance on the possible reopening of schools in September. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 13:56:49|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian parliament on Tuesday approved a law on new composition of the country's cabinet two weeks after the regular parliamentary elections.

The ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP) won a landslide victory in the regular parliamentary elections on June 24, taking 62 seats out of 76 in the unicameral parliament.

After the parliamentary election victory, Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, leader of the MPP, was re-elected for a second four-year term as the prime minister of Mongolia.

According to the law, the new government has 14 ministries. Khurelsukh is expected to appoint new ministers within this week. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 14:11:12|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported five new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking its national count to 225, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said on Tuesday.

The new patients are Mongolian nationals who have recently returned home from Russia via Altanbulag border point, said Dulmaa Nyamkhuu, head of the NCCD, at a daily press conference.

Meanwhile, six more patients have recovered, raising the national tally to 194, he added.

All the confirmed cases in Mongolia were imported, mostly from Russia, according to the center.

No local transmissions or deaths have been reported in Mongolia so far. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 14:21:31|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan government has suspended the release of the last batch of Taliban inmates over their involvement in serious crimes, local media reported on Tuesday.

"The Afghan government on Monday once again stated its firm stance of not releasing nearly 600 Taliban prisoners who are reportedly guilty of serious crimes beyond membership in the Taliban," Tolo News TV said.

In early March, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani issued a decree to release 5,000 Taliban inmates on parole, and the Taliban agreed to release 1,000 soldiers but the exchange of prisoners was repeatedly delayed.

The exchange of prisoners is part of a peace deal inked between the Taliban and the United States in Qatar in February. However, the Afghan government was not a signatory of the deal.

So far, more than 4,000 Taliban prisoners and over 500 Afghan security force members were released.

Tolo News added that the government called on the Taliban group "not to request specific individuals for release," when Taliban repeatedly said they have handed over a specific list of their comrades to U.S. officials during the peace talks.

"The United States has agreed with the Taliban about the release of 5,000 prisoners ... We do not expect the Taliban to tell us who should be released," presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi was quoted as saying.

The disputes over release and exchange of prisoners between the Afghan government and the Taliban remained the main hurdle ahead of the intra-Afghan peace talks. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 14:31:51|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Tuesday marks the 83rd anniversary of the Lugou Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937, which is recognized as the start of Japan's full-scale invasion of China, and China's whole-of-nation resistance against Japanese aggression.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has on many occasions stressed remembering history and cherishing peace. The following are some highlights of his quotes.

-- War is like a mirror. Looking at it helps us better appreciate the value of peace.

-- The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War were a decisive battle between justice and evil, between light and darkness, and between progress and reaction.

-- The Communist Party of China played a central role that was key to the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

-- The great spirit of resisting aggression is part of the precious cultural wealth of the Chinese people. It will always provide a strong impetus for the Chinese people to overcome all difficulties and obstacles and strive for national rejuvenation.

-- The Chinese and Japanese people should pass on their friendship from generation to generation, learn the lessons of history and look forward, to make joint contribution to world peace.

-- China is a staunch advocate and strong defender of world peace. The Chinese people will stay committed to the noble cause of peace and development of mankind. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 14:39:59|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Eight people and thousands of livestock animals were killed and thousands of homes were flooded as a heavy rain caused flash floods in some provinces of Mongolia on Friday and Saturday, the country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reported on Tuesday.

"A total of eight people, including two children lost their lives due to the heavy rain-triggered floods in Umnugovi province in the south and Sukhbaatar province in the east on July 3," NEMA said in a statement.

More than 7,000 livestock animals were killed in three provinces, namely Tuv and Govisumber in the central and Arkhangai in the central-west due to the floods, the report said.

In addition, a total of 2,360 homes in some provinces such as Khentii, Tuv and Khuvsgul were flooded, it said.

Meteorologists forecast heavy rains to hit a large part of the country in the coming days, urging citizens, especially herders, to take extra precautions. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 14:52:32|Editor: huaxia

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NANGARHAR, Afghanistan, July 7 (Xinhua) -- At least three Afghan Local Police (ALP) personnel were killed and five people injured after a suicide car bomb blast rocked a district bazaar in the country's eastern province of Nangarhar on Tuesday, a provincial government spokesman confirmed. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 15:08:56|Editor: huaxia

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BISHKEK, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan's total number of COVID-19 cases passed 8,000 on Tuesday.

Head of the country's Health Ministry Ainura Akmatova said that 450 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 8,141.

All the new cases are contacts of confirmed patients, and 78 of them are medical workers.

Akmatova said that seven patients died from the disease in various facilities, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to 99.

As of Tuesday, 602 people remained hospitalized, 21 patients are in intensive care, while 4,524 asymptomatic patients are in home quarantine. Enditem
Hong Kong: Alfred Sit inspects food project

Secretary for Innovation & Technology Alfred Sit today visited the Hong Kong Chinese Church of Christ Grace Elderly Activity Centre to know more about an anti-epidemic food support programme.

The programme was launched under the Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund) food support flagship project, FOOD-CO.

Mr Sit learnt about the anti-epidemic food support programme via the FOOD-CO platform and watched a demonstration on how the platform could boost food distribution efficiency with the aid of information technology and data analysis to help people affected by the pandemic.

He said: "The impact of COVID-19 on our economy has been swift and severe, with the grassroots being hard hit. I am grateful to our service operators for joining hands with the Government and lending a helping hand to people in need through the anti-epidemic food support programme via the FOOD-CO platform.

"The SIE Fund will continue to foster cross-sectoral collaboration to benefit more people in need and promote social inclusion."

Mr Sit then joined volunteers to distribute food packs containing fast food shop cash coupons, fresh food, oatmeal, noodles and canned food to families in need.

To observe proper social distancing during the pandemic, service operators will register the families in need in advance to shorten the time for collection and queuing.

Mr Sit encouraged service operators to continue to drive innovative programmes to strengthen social cohesion.

This story has been published on: 2020-07-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Many quarters in Europe found it hard to take Turkeys Happy Europe Day greetings seriously this year. As numerous commentaries in the European press have observed, Turkey has never been so far from Brussels as it is today under Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

But even as he reminded Europeans (fawningly in the opinion of some Turkish opposition members, cynically according to others) how his country had celebrated the occasion since 1999, which was when Turkey was accepted as a candidate for EU membership, the Turkish autocrat knew that accession would never happen as long as he remained in power.

Indeed, the climate between Ankara and major European capitals has never been so toxic. Erdogans Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Minister of Defence Hulusi Akar were probably not exaggerating when they said the EUs warning to Europeans to avoid travel to Turkey had less to do with the Covid-19 pandemic than it did with politics.

The same day that the EU issued its list of Covid-related travel restrictions into the EU, Bundestag member Michael Brand urged a travel warning to Turkey for other reasons.

Responding to the latest in a series of trials against human rights activists, lawyers and other professionals, Brand said: The shameful ruling against four internationally recognised human rights defenders makes it shockingly clear that the Turkish leadership does not want to see an end to the persecution of courageous activists who campaign for human rights and fundamental freedoms The proceedings and the rulings show that, in Turkey, arbitrariness prevails, not justice. There is no independent judiciary free from intervention by the Turkish government under President Erdogan.

Dunja Mijatovic, Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, seconded his view. That same Friday, she denounced the numerous and systematic criminal proceedings in Turkey against human rights defenders as an abuse of the judicial process.

As this was far from the first time Germans and other Europeans have been caught in the mangle of Erdogans judiciary, Brand, a member of the ruling Christian Democratic Union, called on the government to issue a travel warning for Turkey during the summer season.

With this arbitrary justice, nobody can be sure that he or she will not be arrested on flimsy grounds while on vacation in Turkey, or even innocently charged and detained.

The absence of the rule of law in Turkey is only one aspect of Ankaras increasingly tense relationship with Europe. Recently, Turkeys illegal and aggressive activities in the Mediterranean have become another source of flying sparks.

In fact, today the EU Parliament is scheduled to discuss mounting tensions between Turkey and some EU and NATO members as a result of Ankaras military adventure in Libya. Then on 13 July, EU foreign ministers will meet to discuss Turkeys continued drilling operations in Cypriot economic waters despite EU sanctions.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has already hinted at the possibility of tougher sanctions. As Greece has been the victim of numerous provocative Turkish incursions into its territorial waters and air space, it is not surprising that a Greek official would caution against Ankaras flouting of the principles of international law and urge a coordinated, unified European response to Turkeys attempts to sow turmoil at the borders of Europe.

If relations between Turkey and Europe in general are fraught, temperatures between it and France have soared following French accusations that a Turkish warship locked a French ship in its targeting radar, an act that French military officials have described as extremely aggressive.

The French ship was participating in Operation Irini to enforce the UN arms embargo to Libya.

President Emmanuel Macron denounced Turkeys historic and criminal responsibility in the Libyan conflict on the part of a government that pretends to be a member of NATO whenever that serves its ends.

Cavusoglu shot back that the French reaction was destructive and, drawing on the NATO card, he charged that France was helping Russia gain a foothold in Libya.

Burak Bekdil, a Turkish political analyst, sheds light on an aspect of the Turkish drive to gain a foothold in Libya beneath the headline Turkey and Qatar: Love in Bloom on the Middle East Forum website.

Few Qataris who fought the Ottoman colonialists to gain their independence in 1915 and end the 44-year-long Turkish rule in the peninsula would ever have imagined that their grandchildren would become Turkeys closest strategic allies The ideological kinship between the two Sunni Muslim countries, which is based on passionate political support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood (and a religious hatred of Israel), seems to have produced a bond that threatens Western interests.

Fearful that Frances campaign to halt Turkeys repeated violations of the embargo and its history of persistent falsification and trafficking may jeopardise Ankaras agenda in Libya, where Turkey has just established two military bases, Turkish officials decided that the best defence was offence. So Cavusoglu accused France of lying about the naval incident and demanded a French apology.

Significant French voices believe France should go one better. Former EU Parliament member Aymeric Chauprade was quoted by the AhvalNews site as saying, I believe that as long as we do not get an apology [from Turkey] and as long as it continues its military operations in Libya, we should freeze our diplomatic relations with Ankara and veto any accession talks between Turkey and the EU. What we should have done long ago is to ban Turkish political activities on our soil.

In their desperation to counter Pariss moves in the EU and NATO, some of Turkish officials accusations against Paris have become so wild that one might think one is in a Turkish courtroom.

Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Spokesman Omer Celik has accused France of complicity in the mass graves that were unearthed after Haftars forces retreated from Tarhuna in Libya. France is posing as a human rights defender to get away with crimes by blaming Turkey, in order to cover up for Macrons partys losses in the French local elections, he added.

Celiks remarks elicited the bitter wit of Turkish opposition circles who rhetorically reminded Celik of the AKPs major defeats in last years municipal elections and asked, is Erdogans adventure in Libya in order to cover up for those losses?

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 15:39:58|Editor: huaxia

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Afghan security force members inspect the site of a car bomb blast in Khewa district bazaar in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, July 7, 2020. At least three Afghan Local Police (ALP) personnel were killed and five people wounded after a suicide car bomb blast rocked a district bazaar in the country's eastern province of Nangarhar on Tuesday, a provincial government spokesman confirmed. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

NANGARHAR, Afghanistan, July 7 (Xinhua) -- At least three Afghan Local Police (ALP) personnel were killed and five people wounded after a suicide car bomb blast rocked a district bazaar in the country's eastern province of Nangarhar on Tuesday, a provincial government spokesman confirmed.

"The explosion occurred roughly at 10:30 a.m. (local time) in Khewa district bazaar. Afghan National Police secured the site after the blast. The initial information found that eight people were affected by the incident," spokesman Attaullah Khogiani told Xinhua.

The obvious target of the attack was Mir Zaman, an ALP commander, who was killed with two other ALP constables.

The Afghan government established the ALP or community police a decade ago to protect villages and districts around the country where the army and police have limited presence.

Khogyani noted that an investigation is underway.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Taliban militants and militants of the Islamic State (IS) group have presence in the mountainous province, 120 km east of Kabul.

Militancy and counter-militancy traditionally get momentum in spring and summer, which are commonly known as the fighting season in Afghanistan. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 15:52:21|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a technical assistance grant of 440,000 U.S. dollars to help address and prevent domestic violence in Mongolia amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank's office in Mongolia said Tuesday.

"Aside from its severe economic impacts, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on domestic violence in Mongolia," said Veronica Mendizabal Joffre, the ADB's social development specialist, adding that with the technical assistance, the bank aims to "maintain critical response mechanisms for domestic violence and enhance preventive action."

Police records for the capital city of Ulan Bator showed a 63-percent increase in reported domestic violence cases, with 3,100 during the first quarter of 2020 compared to 1,900 in the same period last year, the bank said.

Mongolia has 14 shelters and 15 one-stop service centers that provide attention, counseling services and short-term safe accommodations to victims of domestic violence.

According to the ADB, the assistance will boost the safety of first responders during the pandemic, and support the expansion of information technology and digital infrastructure of the National Legal Institute and the National Center Against Violence (NCAV) to complement existing hotlines and counseling services.

In light of the increased demand for psychosocial counseling during the COVID-19 crisis, an additional counselor under the NCAV will also be provided for the duration of the technical assistance, the bank said.

Virtual training programs will also be conducted for first responders in emergency response in cases of sexual violence, for shelter operators on stress management and mental health, and police psychologists, it added.

As of Tuesday, Mongolia has confirmed 225 COVID-19 imported cases.

The country has reported no local transmissions or deaths so far. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 15:56:15|Editor: huaxia

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MALE, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Officers of the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) and the Maldives Police Service (MPS) have been instrumental in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was quoted as saying in local media on Tuesday.

"The engagements of the military officers have been extraordinary and are a testament of their commitment to national service," a press release by the President's Office said.

In an event held to acknowledge the role of the MNDF in the fight against COVID-19, Solih praised MNDF officers for their dedication in performing duties to the country and people, despite the threats to their life during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Solih also praised the Maldives Police Service (MPS) for their hard work during a two-month lockdown in the Greater Male' Region enforced on April 15.

The government will work on progressive reforms including legislative and policy changes while expanding resources and training opportunities for the police, the president said.

Maldives currently has 2,491 confirmed cases of COVID-19, out of which 2,113 have fully recovered and 12 have died, according to data from the Health Protection Agency. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 16:46:58|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan government has suspended the release of the last batch of Taliban inmates over their involvement in serious crimes, local media reported on Tuesday.

"The Afghan government on Monday once again stated its firm stance of not releasing nearly 600 Taliban prisoners who are reportedly guilty of serious crimes beyond membership in the Taliban," Tolo News TV said.

In early March, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani issued a decree to release 5,000 Taliban inmates on parole, and the Taliban agreed to release 1,000 soldiers but the exchange of prisoners was repeatedly delayed.

The exchange of prisoners is part of a peace deal inked between the Taliban and the United States in Qatar in February. However, the Afghan government was not a signatory of the deal.

According to the agreement, the exchange of prisoners had to take place in early March before the start of the intra-Afghan peace talks involving Taliban delegation and government representatives.

So far, more than 4,000 Taliban prisoners and over 500 Afghan security forces had been released.

The two sides were agreed to kick start the intra-Afghan talks in Qatar shortly after the release of the prisoners. Local experts believe that the latest suspension of Taliban inmate's release may delay the Taliban and government peace negotiations.

Under the agreement, about 10,000 U.S. and NATO-led coalition forces would leave Afghanistan by July next year depending on whether the Taliban meet the conditions envisaged in the agreement, including severing ties with foreign terrorist groups.

On Monday, the Afghan president inaugurated a consultative regional meeting via a video conference under the theme of "support of consensus for peace" and discussed the peace process with the delegations of 20 countries, Afghan strategic partners and the United Nations, according to the country's presidential palace.

"We all are facing terrorism threats, and danger from regional criminal networks and extremism. Security, stability and interest connect us with each other. Regional understanding also makes us stay alongside each other, and as a regional cross, Afghanistan can play a significant role for the stability and prosperity of the region," President Ghani told the participants via video conference.

The president noted that "our perspective is that Afghanistan should remain the center for stability and regional development and growth crossroad."

Touching on threats and dangers against peace, the president noted that the peace process would face serious challenges if the Taliban militants persist in war and continue to fight with the Afghan security forces.

President Ghani regretted over the growing violence and said the level of the current violence was higher compared to last year.

The UN reports suggested that the Taliban were yet to fulfill their promises and still have links with some foreign terrorist networks, he said.

The Taliban should consider a reduction in violence after the peace deal but contrary to the Afghans' desire, the Taliban have increased violence and conducted violent attacks all over the country within the past four months, Ghani noted.

"We have taken great steps in order to help the Taliban give up violence, release our prisoners and they should remain committed to direct peace talks. They must observe humanitarian ceasefire to help us fight COVID-19 well, but regretfully, violence increased against the people of Afghanistan," Ghani said.

President Ghani added that the international consensus for ending war exists and the regional and neighboring countries' support for strong regional consensus would help Afghanistan to reach peace and stability.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 17:06:49|Editor: huaxia

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ISTANBUL, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish coast guard and police on Tuesday caught a total of 276 illegal migrants and eight human traffickers in a vessel off Turkey's Aegean shore, the coast guard announced on its website.

The coast guard teams, police forces, and anti-smuggling and organized crime units conducted a joint operation both from the sea and the land to catch the migrants off the western province of Izmir, the statement said.

The migrants intended to sneak into Europe on a merchant ship, the guard added, noting that the human traffickers were detained after the operation.

Meanwhile, the NTV broadcaster put the number of the migrants on the vessel at 268, adding that they were all having difficulties in breathing when they were caught.

It added that the refugees were of different nationalities from Bangladesh, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Central African Republic.

Since the start of this year, a total of 11,856 migrants attempted to reach Greece via Turkey's seas, down from 14,332 over the same period in 2019, according to the latest figures released by the Turkish coast guard.

The Aegean Sea was once the main route for migrants trying to reach Europe via Turkey. A deal was signed between Turkey and the European Union in March 2016 to curb the flow of illegal immigration. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 17:11:04|Editor: huaxia

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RIYADH, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Business 20, a group affiliated to the Group of 20, has recommended a series of recommendations calling for global collaboration to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and help post-pandemic economic recovery, according to a report released here on Monday.

"As the voice of business to the G20, we are well-positioned to identify solutions to ensuring business continuity and supporting society at large given the impact of this pandemic. And we recognize governments cannot do it alone," Yousef Al-Benyan, chair of the B20 Saudi Arabia, told an online press conference to launch the Special Report to the G20.

The report, published on the B20 website, advocates building health resilience, including accelerating the development and availability of a COVID-19 vaccine, strengthening future pandemic preparedness and opposing new trade restrictions on medical products and services.

It says the G20 must work to safeguard human capital, which means protecting employee health and jobs in order to minimize unemployment, as well as allow for free flow of labor.

It calls for the prevention of financial instability, including avoiding negative spillovers on financial markets, increasing support for vulnerable economies, and increasing capital allocation to enterprises and infrastructure projects.

Moreover, the report also proposes unclogging global supply chains, accelerating digital infrastructure, as well as reviving productive sectors, which includes ensuring energy market stability and revitalizing travel and tourism.

"We can only achieve that through cooperation and collaboration between governments, global governance institutions and businesses," Al-Benyan added.

For this to happen, the chair said he believes international institutions such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, and the World Health Organization should play a key role in accelerating health and economic recovery after the pandemic.

In March, B20 Saudi Arabia established an initiative to address the impact of COVID-19 on the business world, through which the organization has consulted more than 750 business leaders from the G20 countries and beyond, including those from multinational corporations and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Saudi Arabia will host the 15th G20 Summit in Riyadh in November. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 17:41:14|Editor: huaxia

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KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia reported six new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, the country's Health Ministry said, pushing the national total to 8,674 cases.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press release that of the new cases, four are imported and two are local transmissions.

Another five cases had been released, bringing the total cured and discharged to 8,481 or 97.8 percent of all cases.

Among the remaining 72 active cases, two are being held in intensive care and both of them are in need of assisted breathing.

No new deaths had been reported, leaving the total deaths at 121. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 17:54:27|Editor: huaxia

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DHAKA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's COVID-19 cases reached nearly 169,000 Tuesday after over 3,000 new infections were detected.

Senior Health Ministry official Nasima Sultana said in a briefing Tuesday afternoon that "3,027 new COVID-19 positive cases and 55 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh."

"The number of confirmed infections in the country totaled 168,645 while fatalities stood at 2,151," the official said.

According to the official, 13,173 samples were tested in the last 24 hours in labs across the country.

She said the total number of recovered patients in the country stands at 78,102 including 1,953 on Tuesday.

Bangladesh recorded highest 4,019 cases in a 24-hour period on July 2.

The country reported the highest 64 deaths of COVID-19 patients in a day on June 30. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 18:00:44|Editor: huaxia

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China's national college entrance exam, also known as the gaokao, began Tuesday amid the waning COVID-19 epidemic. The exam, deemed one of the most important events for Chinese students, is also the largest organized event held in the country since the outbreak of COVID-19. A total of 10.71 million students are sitting this year's exam in China starting July 7, an increase of 400,000 over last year, according to the Ministry of Education.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 18:11:26|Editor: huaxia

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HARARE, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe recorded another COVID-19 death on Monday, bringing the country's death toll to nine.

Cases have also risen to 734 after 18 people tested positive, the Ministry of Health and Child Care said in an update Tuesday morning.

The new cases include 16 citizens who returned from South Africa and two local transmissions.

"Today we regret to report a facility death of a male aged 54 from Bulawayo Province who tested positive yesterday (Sunday) with no history of travel and had co-morbidities," the ministry said.

Sixteen more people recovered from the infection, raising the total number of recoveries to 197 while active cases are 528.

The country has so far done a total of 80,654 COVID-19 tests.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has since expressed concern over the rising number of local transmissions in the country in recent weeks, although imported cases still account for the bulk of the cases. Enditem
One hilarious joke once circulating in Iraq referred to an imaginary anti-concern medicine named after former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, known as much for his diplomatic cliches voicing concern over the tragic events in the country while lacking in action to stop them.

The fictional drug came in 200 mg tablets in blister packs advertised mockingly on social media as being a way to calm and pacify people in a state of trauma in the dystopian world of conflict-torn Iraq that many Iraqis blamed on UN failures in their country.

Soon the fictional drug became a political metaphor for UN dysfunction in ending the civil wars in Libya, Syria and Yemen and its critical failures in addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict and the crises in Sudan, Lebanon and the Western Sahara.

Since 2003 when the United States invaded Iraq and triggered a geopolitical earthquake in the Middle East, more than a dozen UN envoys have tried to play the role of healer in the regions civil wars, with none of them having any luck.

Whereas the Iraqis hoped the UN would stand by its mission of helping to turn Iraq into a functioning state following the US-led invasion in 2003, the organisation did little to create the conditions for that to happen.

Instead of taking radical action to turn Iraqs fortunes around, UN leaders said much but did little to bring about much-needed change in Iraq.

The UN has been blamed for much of the impasse in Iraq over the last 17 years, primarily for its failure in state-rebuilding efforts and the rehabilitation of an Iraqi society wrecked by the US occupation, prolonged civil conflict and governmental dysfunction.

The UN Security Council authorised the creation of a UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) in 2003 that was expected to anchor support for the countrys political transition with the strategic objective of creating genuine democracy in Iraq.

But instead of seeing the peaceful and prosperous future the UN was tasked to help the Iraqis to achieve, Iraq today is one of the most miserable countries in the world to live in. Eight UN diplomats have headed UNAMI since its inception, but Iraqis remember nothing tangible of what they have delivered apart from empty rhetoric.

In the case of Syria, the UN has unequivocally failed in handling the conflict in which over half a million Syrians have been killed and over 11 million have been made either refugees or been internally displaced.

Over nearly ten years, the organisation has failed to take any meaningful action to prevent the conflict in the country spiralling into a full-scale civil war, with atrocities including murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances becoming all too common.

Several UN special envoys to Syria have failed to put forward workable plans to stop the bloodshed in Syria and find a political solution that could end the conflict through a nationally accepted transition.

As the UN has remained largely on the sidelines, foreign players have stepped in to fill the vacuum, establishing cozy relations with various Syrian parties through supplies of money, food, weapons and personnel.

Nearly 10 years since its formation after the outbreak of civil war in Yemen, the UN mission to this country is also still an enigma, and the UN has been impotent as Yemen has slipped into a bloody civil war.

Around 10,000 civilians have been killed in the war and hundreds of thousands more have suffered from famine or poor health conditions, turning the country into the worlds largest humanitarian disaster.

In 2012, the UN secretary-general established the Office of the Special Envoy to the Secretary-General on Yemen to facilitate the countrys transition and provide support for national reconciliation.

But the three diplomats, Jamal Benomar, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and Martin Griffiths, who have since worked as UN special envoy to Yemen have simply demonstrated the UNs failure to fulfil its obligations to end the quagmire in the country.

In Libya, the UN has failed every step of the way since 2011 to broker a reconciliation agreement and end the civil war between rival factions in the countrys east and in the capital Tripoli.

In recent months, Libya has been plunged further into chaos, with the UN failing to name a new special envoy to replace Ghassan Salame, a French-Lebanese diplomat who resigned in March after admitting he had made little progress in ending the hostilities.

Elsewhere in the Arab world, the UN has had a dangerous history of failing to uphold its responsibility in line with its Charter, whether in lending impetus to the search for political solutions or maintaining regional peace and stability.

More than 73 years after the UN Security Council Resolution to partition Palestine, the UN is still failing to uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinians to self-determination and to have a homeland of their own.

To no ones surprise, the UN has had no effect in deterring Israel from annexing the Palestinian land it occupied in wars, and it has failed to make sure that Israel faces the consequences.

At a time when the Middle East is threatened with the grave impacts of Israels plans to fully colonise Palestine, the UN has been failing to act collectively to stop the annexation, which is a flagrant violation of its Charter, dozens of UN Resolutions and international law.

Like his predecessor, current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern about Israels plans to impose its sovereignty over territories it has annexed in the West Bank, but he has stopped short of taking meaningful action to make Israel abandon its plans.

In Lebanon, where the UN has a resident coordinator designated to lead UN agencies in helping the beleaguered country solve its multiple crises, the UN has again failed its most important tests.

The UN cannot excuse itself for the decades of political turmoil, communal discord, foreign intervention, poor governance and chronic corruption that have led Lebanon to the verge of collapse.

Under various resolutions, the UN was committed to help Lebanon withstand regional challenges and ensure its ability to address the growing security, economic, social and humanitarian challenges facing the country.

Yet, as Lebanon faces the prospects of bankruptcy, famine and political chaos as never before, the UN seems to care less about helping Lebanon through such crises than about policing the border with Israel.

In Sudan, the UN has undertaken to assist the political transition worked out between Sudans military and civilian opposition alliance through the 2019 landmark power-sharing deal.

But it remains to be seen how the UN will help Sudan to make progress towards democratic governance, sustainable peace and the protection and promotion of human rights.

The more than half-century-old dispute that pits Morocco against the Algeria-backed insurgent group the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara has also eluded attempts by the UN at conflict-resolution.

The UN has foundered in its efforts to reach a lasting deal over a territory that Morocco has declared to be historically part of the North African kingdom, risking pushing the region into more prolonged conflict.

The UN has stalled in many other parts of the world with catastrophic consequences in such places as Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Myanmar, but its failings in the Arab world have been even wider.

As the turmoil in many Arab countries goes from bad to worse with more negative outcomes certainly to come, nothing can symbolise the failure of the UN system to achieve its goal of maintaining international peace and security more than its failures in the Arab world.

Across the region, countries that emerged from two devastating world wars, colonial scheming and fierce struggles for independence are unravelling while the region as a whole is facing Balkanisation.

While failures of state and nation-building, along with policy choices in many Arab countries and regional dynamics, may be blamed for much of the impasse, the situation can also be attributed to the paralysis of the UN system and the organisations lack of resolve in protecting the regional order and standing up to the political agendas of the great powers.

Today, in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, UN missions are mostly guided or influenced by the policy directions of the veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, impacting their effectiveness.

Supporters of the UN have long argued that the organisation is no more than the sum of its parts and that it can do no more than what its most powerful members allow it to do.

What these advocates of the UN role fail to admit is that by being subservient to its most powerful members, the organisation is becoming a club of the few, with their decisions likely to determine the UN agenda.

The UNs operations in the four Arab countries reviewed above have often been disastrous, and the organisation has failed to stand up for its duties and prevent local crises turning into an international match manipulated by the geopolitical ambitions of members of the UN Security Council.

But turning a blind eye to the heavy involvement of the major powers in the conflicts in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen will not only render UN missions ineffective, but could also make the UN itself complicit in the evil schemes to remake the region.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 18:12:07|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of 10.71 million Chinese students Tuesday began taking the annual national college entrance examination, known as the Gaokao, amid strict COVID-19 control measures at exam centers across the country.

This year's Gaokao, the most important event for Chinese students, has been delayed by one month due to the epidemic. More than 7,000 exam centers have been set up, with around 400,000 examination rooms, while 945,000 people work as invigilators or service providers.

In Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, body temperature checkpoints have been set up at the entrance of exam centers, and disinfection is carried out after every exam.

At Xi'an Huanghe Middle School, students went through two temperature checks before entering the exam rooms. In between the checks, students waited in the school playground for ID verification.

The school also set up three spare exam rooms for quarantine, where students with fever and cough are sent after a diagnosis.

In Yinchuan, the capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, local educational authorities reduced the number of students in each exam room from 30 to 25 and replaced fingerprints with facial recognition to avoid contact.

According to the Ministry of Education, daily temperature checks and health monitoring of Gaokao candidates and staff began across the country 14 days before the exam. Emergency plans have also been drawn in flood-hit areas.

With the one-month delay, China has entered one of the hottest months and educational authorities have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of heat on students' performance.

In south China's Guangdong Province, local educational authorities said air conditioners had been installed at all exam centers across the province this year for the 674,000 students.

Similar measures have also been taken in central China's Wuhan, a city formerly hit hard by the novel coronavirus, where about 59,000 students are taking Gaokao at 58 air-conditioned test centers.

Society has also been mobilized to make it more convenient for students to take the Gaokao.

In Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, 10 volunteer service stations have been set up across the city to provide students and parents with epidemic control information, psychological counseling, free rides to exam centers, and traffic guidance.

The service has been provided for over 10 years during the Gaokao, but this year volunteers serve with extra care, requiring students and parents to wear masks and providing disinfectants.

Xiao Dan, a health worker in northeast China's Jilin Province, is serving during the Gaokao for the first time in her 23-year career, and admits to being under pressure.

In charge of epidemic prevention at an exam center, she determines whether a student needs to use spare exam rooms or undergo nucleic acid tests.

One week before the exam, Xiao and her team had started disinfecting exam centers and making preparations. She arrived at the school two and a half hours before the first exam Tuesday to rehearse the process again.

"My child is in the second year of high school, so I very much understand how the parents feel. I am also trying my best to make sure all goes well for the students," Xiao said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 19:05:26|Editor: huaxia

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HELSINKI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Finland's goods volumes of foreign sea transport in May stood at 8.5 million tonnes, down by five percent from the same month last year, Statistics Finland reported on Tuesday.

The goods volume of sea freight in exports in May was 14 percent less than a year ago, while imports increased by six percent year on year, according to Statistics Finland.

Numbers published by Statistics Finland indicated the lowest monthly sea freight volume this year -- around seven million tonnes -- had been in February, when Finnish forest industries were affected by wide domestic strikes. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 19:19:21|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran recorded 200 death cases from COVID-19 within the past 24 hours on Tuesday, the highest daily number of deaths since the outbreak of the disease in the country in February.

With the new fatalities, the death toll rose to 11,931, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily update.

Over the past 24 hours, 2,637 new infections were registered, taking the total confirmed novel coronavirus cases to 245,688, according to Lari.

Among the new patients, 1,455 were hospitalized.

So far, there have been 207,000 recoveries, while 3,270 still remain in critical condition, she said.

According to the health spokeswoman, 1,846,739 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran as of Tuesday.

She said that 20 provinces are either at high risk or on alert condition over the disease.

The Iranian health officials have made it mandatory to wear face masks in indoor public places to prevent virus contraction. They have also ramped up measures for restoration of restrictions in high-risk areas.

Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19.

Iran and China have offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

In mid-February, at the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Iran lit up the Tehran Azadi (Liberty) Tower to show its solidarity with China, and donated 3 million masks to China.

In return, China delivered several shipments of medical supplies to Iran. On Feb. 29, a five-member Chinese medical team visited Iran for a month-long mission to help Iran fight the pandemic. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 19:21:44|Editor: huaxia

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CAPE TOWN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday urged the South African government to urgently engage the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regarding the increasing Islamic State (ISIS) threat in northern Mozambique.

This came after ISIS, in the form of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaah or Al-Shabaab, warned South Africa not to get involved in the current conflict in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province.

South Africa cannot afford to ignore this threat from ISIS or take its warning lightly, the DA said in a statement.

"As a member of both SADC and the African Union (AU) we have an obligation to safeguard the stability of our country and our neighbors," DA Shadow Minister of Defence Kobus Marais said.

To ensure that the threat ISIS poses to South Africa, Mozambique and the rest of SADC, be dealt with in a decisive manner, it is time that all SADC nations come together to strategize and collectively find solutions to the problem, Marais said.

He suggested that the South African National Defense Force (SANDF), which is part of an established SADC Force in collaboration with the AU, should be deployed against the ISIS terrorists in northern Mozambique with the consent of the AU and the United Nations.

Marais urged Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to reprioritize the SANDF troops currently deployed in South African streets to rather act on its normal mandate and safeguard South African borders and regain regional stability.

"The minister needs to also play open cards with South Africans and be honest about the threat facing our neighboring nation," said Marais.

Mozambique is a popular holiday destination, and many South Africans have friends or family living and working in Mozambique.

With the duel threat of ISIS and COVID-19 plaguing the country, transparency from the minister will go a long way in alleviating the extra worry the situation might cause South Africans, said Marais.

"South Africa is not an island. We are part of the great African family and must support Mozambique," he said.

The security situation in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province has rapidly deteriorated recently following attacks by Al-Shabaab militants on civilians. The extremist group has been attempting to set up madrassas, or Islamic religious schools, that preach an extreme form of Islam in the province. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 19:24:38|Editor: huaxia

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Video: The COVID-19 death toll tops 130,000 in the United States on July 6, 2020 with over 2.9 million infections, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU). (Xinhua)

A series of circumstances associated with various states and cities trying to open up in a bid to get back to some form of normality, has led to a situation where the country now has "record-breaking cases."



WASHINGTON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 death toll topped 130,000 in the United States on Monday with over 2.9 million infections, as the country's top infectious diseases expert called for actions to stop the virus resurgence in many states.

"We had been in a situation (where) we were averaging about 20,000 new cases a day," Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a livestream with Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health on Monday.

The U.S. death toll from the pandemic reached 130,090 on Monday; the country currently has 39.72 deaths per 100,000 residents, placing it among the top 10 countries in the world in that metric, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

A series of circumstances associated with various states and cities trying to open up in a bid to get back to some form of normality, has led to a situation where the country now has "record-breaking cases," Fauci said.

As more and more new cases spread to younger people, some of whom are flocking to bars and other places, Fauci urged them not to think of themselves as invincible and warned that they could spread the virus to others.

"You're part of the propagation of the pandemic so it's your responsibility to yourself, as well as to society, to avoid infection," Fauci said.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrives to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on COVID-19: Update on Progress Toward Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School in Washington, D.C., the United States, on June 30, 2020. (Al Drago/Pool via Xinhua)

Europe managed to suppress the virus after an initial spike and now is dealing with little blips as it reopens, but U.S. communities "never came down to baseline and now are surging back up," Fauci said.

Coronavirus cases were growing in 36 states in the United States as of Sunday, based on a seven-day moving average, according to a CNBC analysis of JHU data.

In Arizona, 89 percent of the state's intensive care unit beds were full Monday morning, the state's Department of Health announced, as COVID-19 cases in the recently hard-hit state surpassed 100,000, reported the Washington Post.

People lounge on the beach in Cocoa Beach, Florida, the United States, on May 28, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Florida has seen its caseload soar past 10,000 per day and 200,000 overall, and in Miami-Dade County, authorities reversed course on a reopening plan, issuing an emergency order to shut down gyms, party venues and restaurants, with exceptions for takeout and delivery, which will go into effect on Wednesday, it added.

California on Monday told six more counties to close indoor operations for many businesses and all bars, bringing the number of counties on its list of closing indoor operations to 23, as the state experiences a surge in coronavirus cases.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced Monday that face coverings will be mandatory inside buildings, and he asked residents to comply voluntarily.

A customer wearing a face mask looks at a takeout menu at a Chinese restaurant in Houston, Texas, the United States, on July 2, 2020. (Photo by Lie Ma/Xinhua)

Texas reached 200,000 total cases on Monday, just 17 days after crossing the 100,000 threshold, a figure that took the state nearly four months to hit, according to a report by Statesman News Network.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta which is the capital city of southeastern U.S. state of Georgia, said Monday that she has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Bottoms, 50, has gained national attention in recent weeks for her handling of the pandemic and protests against racism and police brutality.

As of Monday afternoon, Georgia had 97,064 cases, said the state's Department of Public Health.

Manicurists work on customers' hands at Sundays Nail Studio, a nail salon in Manhattan of New York City, the United States, on July 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

New York City, once the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States, entered phase three of reopening on Monday without resuming indoor dining.

City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that major indicators kept showing signs of progress. Daily number of people admitted to hospitals for suspected COVID-19 fell to 62 on Sunday, as positivity rate in citywide testing dropped to 1 percent, the lowest level since the crisis began.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at his briefing on Monday that casinos and movie theaters statewide will remain closed as the state government continues to review facts to ensure their safe reopening.

He also said the New York State Department of Health, in consultation with other groups, is finalizing guidance on the possible reopening of schools in September. 
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 19:25:59|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Tuesday as the yen's appreciation against the U.S. dollar prompted investors to secure gains following the market's three-day winning streak, although hopes for China's continued recovery from the pandemic underpinned the market's downside.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 99.75 points, or 0.44 percent, from Monday to close the day at 22,614.69.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, dropped 5.44 points, or 0.34 percent, to finish at 1,571.71.

Despite solid gains on Wall Street overnight helped by data showing a rise in U.S. services industry activity in June, brokers here said investors took to profit-taking following the market's three-day winning streak.

Rather than chase the market's upside, they added that the yen's rise against the U.S. dollar amid concerns that the market may be overheating. The ongoing unease about the global and domestic pandemic also saw investors predominantly opt for security and lock in gains.

Data released Tuesday showing that Japan's household spending dropped a record 16.2 percent from a year earlier in May amid coronavirus-induced business and social restrictions, did little to bolster sentiment, with concerns also rising over a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, analysts here said.

The Tokyo metropolitan government confirmed 106 new daily COVID-19 infections in the capital on Tuesday, with the number of new cases topping 100 for the sixth straight day in Tokyo.

The city of 14 million has been grappling with a resurgence of cases recently since the government lifted a nationwide state of emergency declared over the virus' spread in late May.

"Sell orders came in when the Nikkei topped 22,500 and investors' profit-taking capped shares' upside. Investors remained cautious about economic situations in Japan," Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co., was quoted as saying.

But the market's downside was supported by China's continued recovery from the pandemic, which has helped underpin sentiment here of late, strategists said, as Japanese manufacturers have seen output restored to pre-pandemic levels in the world's second-largest economy.

"Some factors behind China's recent rally were that China quickly contained the virus and headed towards economic recovery," Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Securities, was quoted as saying.

"The focus is on whether Japan's upcoming data will also show a stronger tendency toward recovery," Hiroki added, referencing the Cabinet Office's Economy Watchers Survey, due to be released on Wednesday, as an indication of Japan's economic situation.

After announcing hefty losses for the March to May quarter with sales diving almost 50 percent form a year earlier due to the pandemic, department store operator Takashimaya Co. Ltd. dropped 2.6 percent.

Pharmaceutical issues were also sold following recent rallies spurred by continued efforts to develop new drugs to help alleviate symptoms of COVID-19 as well as vaccines against the pneumonia-causing virus.

As such, Eisai retreated 1.4 percent, while Astellas Pharma ended the 2.2 percent lower.

By the close of play, pharmaceutical, land transportation, and electric power and gas-related issues comprised those that declined the most, and issues that fell outpaced those that rose by 1,281 to 805 on the First Section, while 84 ended the day unchanged.

On the main section on Tuesday, 1.093 billion shares changed hands, rising from Monday's volume of 1.025 billion shares.

The turnover on the second trading day of the week came to 2.126 trillion yen (19.744 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 19:28:42|Editor: huaxia

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BUDAPEST, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Tourism nights spent in Hungarian commercial accommodation establishments plunged by 92.7 percent year-on-year in May, according to the data published by Hungarian central statistical office (KSH) Tuesday.

"In May, as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, international tourists spent 98 percent and domestic tourists 86 percent fewer tourism nights in commercial accommodation establishments compared to the same period of the previous year," KSH informed in a statement.

"The number of foreign arrivals and foreign tourism nights in May decreased by 99 percent and 98 percent respectively, with 4,000 guests spending 22,000 tourism nights in accommodation establishments," KSH added.

Domestic tourism in Hungary restarted operations in May thanks to the gradual lifting of the coronavirus restrictions, the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU) said earlier.

"International arrivals for tourism purposes were almost completely missing in May," the MTU said, adding that the coronavirus has had a demonstrable effect on Hungary's tourism industry as tourist groups have not left China for European destinations.

"Chinese tourists represented 5-6 percent of the total guest traffic, most of whom arrived in Budapest in groups," it said.

According to the China National Tourist Office in Budapest, 277,389 Chinese tourists visited Hungary in 2019, an 8.36 percent increase year-on-year. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 19:30:14|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua writer Zhang Xin

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- In a ministerial meeting held via video link on Monday, foreign ministers of China and Arab countries, as well as other ministerial officials, highlighted the solidarity between the two sides in fighting COVID-19 and their consensus in strengthening bilateral ties.

This was the second time within two weeks that joint efforts to combat COVID-19 has been hailed by both sides, following a meeting among Chinese and Arab political parties ending on June 24.

Sprouting along the ancient Silk Road, the centuries-old friendship between China and Arab countries has been considerably enriched since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, and more recently during the global pandemic.

As China was battling COVID-19 earlier this year, the Arab world quickly voiced support for China and donated medical supplies. When the pandemic began to ravage the Arab region, China delivered medical resources to and shared experience with its Arab friends despite being in the middle of its own COVID-19 battle.

So far, Chinese medical experts have shared experience in combating the disease with their counterparts from 21 Arab countries via video conferences. Furthermore, they helped Iraq build its first PCR lab to test for the virus. Batches of Chinese medical supplies are continuously delivered to Arab countries in need.

Iraqi Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi called China a good friend standing together with Iraq through hard times. Tunisian Foreign Minister Noureddine Erray said that cooperation with China should be deepened. Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf called the friendly China-Arab ties exemplary.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. The mutual support and assistance between China and Arab countries amid the pandemic will help them overcome the current difficulties, and solidify the foundation for cooperation in the future.

China and Arab countries share similar interests and common dreams, such as national rejuvenation and peaceful development. Their shoulder-to-shoulder fight against COVID-19 strengthens this relationship.

In the face of rising unilateralism and protectionism amid the pandemic, both China and the Arab world have stressed the importance of international solidarity and cooperation, supporting the key role of the World Health Organization and rejecting any politicalization of the virus.

With global economic growth under threat, both China and Arab countries have pledged to continue joint projects under the Belt and Road, such as the Hassyan clean coal power plant in Dubai, with significant progress made despite the pandemic.

The challenge of COVID-19 has reinforced the foundation of the China-Arab strategic partnership and enhanced the friendship between the Chinese and Arab peoples.

Today, the pandemic continues to rage across the world. As President Xi said in his congratulatory letter to the ministerial meeting, it is more necessary than ever for the two sides to step up cooperation and join hands in tiding over their present difficulties.

Words are only leaves, but actions bear fruits. Facing the future, China and Arab countries should continue the COVID-19 fight and the Belt and Road construction with joined hands, and promote the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future for the benefit of their peoples. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 19:37:42|Editor: huaxia

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KUWAIT CITY, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait on Tuesday reported 601 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 51,245 and the death toll to 377, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Currently, 9,353 patients are receiving treatment, including 159 in ICU, the statement added.

The ministry also announced the recovery of 514 more patients, raising the total recoveries in the country to 41,515.

Kuwait started on June 30 the second phase of restoring normal life, which will last for three weeks.

Kuwait and China have been supporting each other and cooperating closely in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kuwait donated medical supplies worth 3 million U.S. dollars to China at the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak.

On April 27, a team of Chinese medical experts visited Kuwait to assist the Gulf country's anti-coronavirus fight, through sharing their experience and expertise in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 19:42:07|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, has recently sent a reply letter to Antoinette Sassou N'guesso, first lady of the Republic of the Congo, and a message to first ladies of other African countries, expressing gratitude for the countries' help to China's fight against COVID-19.

Peng said she appreciates the valuable support of African countries for the Chinese people when China struggled to prevent and control the coronavirus outbreak, and expressed her sincere sympathy for the African people over the pandemic.

In the face of the unexpected outbreak, Peng said, it is crucial for all countries to help each other, unite and cooperate with each other so as to prevail over the disease.

To express the friendly feeling of the Chinese people towards the African people, the Chinese government will donate a batch of anti-pandemic supplies through the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) to 53 African countries to help women, children and adolescents, Peng said.

In her recent letter to Peng, Antoinette Sassou N'guesso, also OAFLAD rotating chairperson, spoke highly of China's role in fighting the pandemic.

On behalf of the first ladies of the OAFLAD members, she called on the Chinese side to pay attention to women, children, adolescents and other people in Africa, and provide medical supplies to them.

Chinese aid materials have been delivered to various countries recently and Antoinette Sassou N'guesso, other first ladies and senior officials of the countries concerned attended the hand-over ceremonies respectively.

Those countries expressed gratitude for China's care and help for African women, children and adolescents, saying that China provided help when it was needed most, which reflected the profound friendship between African countries and China sharing weal and woe.

The African countries said they stand ready to strengthen cooperation with China against the pandemic and deepen the traditional friendship between the two sides. Enditem
Iraqi troops are reinforcing their positions along the border with Turkey to prevent Turkish forces from advancing deeper into Iraqi territory after more than two weeks of airstrikes and Turkeys establishment of more than ten posts inside Iraqi territory.

Turkey has bombarded Kurdish villages in northern Iraq leaving more than half a dozen civilians dead, and Iraqi troops have advanced in response almost 15 km into Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iraq is in an awkward position, as the government of the semi-autonomous Kurdish Region has not taken a strong position in opposing the Turkish attacks, while the internal pressures on the newly appointed government in Baghdad have been mounting.

Iraq is still negatively affected by US and Iranian influence, limiting its capabilities of defending itself. Pro-Iranian Shiite militias that are almost as strong as the Iraqi army are at odds with the Iraqi government. With reports of Iran supporting the Turkish attacks on northern Iraq and even coordinating the joint bombing of the Yazidi area of Sinjar with Turkey, these militias are unlikely to fight against the Turkish incursions into Iraq.

Apart from Qatar, all the Arab countries have condemned the Turkish attacks on Iraq and its continued military violation of Iraqi sovereignty. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Kuwait have expressed their backing for Iraq against the Turkish aggression. However, Turkey has refused to stop its military campaign on Iraqi territory and has vowed to continue its incursions.

Qatar is the only Gulf country not to support Iraq against the Turkish and Iranian military incursions, explained by the fact that Qatar is an ally of Iran and Turkey and is cooperating with Ankara in the latters campaigns in Syria and Libya.

Kuwait strongly condemned the Turkish and Iranian military attacks on northern Iraq. The official Kuwaiti news agency KUNA quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying that these interventions constitute a flagrant violation of Iraqs sovereignty and are against all international norms and legal rules. They pose a threat to Iraqs security and the regions stability.

The official said that Kuwait stood by Iraq and backed the measures the Baghdad government was taking to safeguard its sovereignty, security and stability. Kuwait has good relations with both Turkey and Iran, even if it is not an ally of either, and its relations with its neighbour Iraq have been improving in recent years.

Saudi Arabia has taken a similar position, noting that the Turkish and Iranian military interventions in Iraq threaten regional security and are in violation of international law. Saudi Arabias relations with Iraq have been improving recently.

The UAE also condemned Turkey and expressed its support for Iraq in facing the Turkish aggression. The UAE denounces the Turkish and Iranian military interventions in Iraq through their bombing of areas in northern Iraq, which constitute a violation of the sovereignty of a fellow Arab country and have led to intimidation and the spread of terror among innocent civilians, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

The UAE has good relations with the Kurds, and it has been supporting them as part of efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq and Syria. In recent years, the UAE has led efforts to counter the Iranian influence in Iraq by bolstering ties with Baghdad. Saudi Arabia has been following the same approach, and recent efforts to rebalance the oil market were an opportunity for closer Saudi-Iraqi cooperation.

The Gulf countries learned their lesson from letting Iran extend its influence in Iraq and Syria until it had penetrated into Yemen. They are determined not to let Turkey repeat that example, particularly as Turkey is also using the Muslim Brotherhood and its terrorist offshoots as a lever in the region. For the UAE, countering Turkish expansionism is at the heart of its fight against terrorism.

In the past, Turkey exploited its relations with Saudi Arabia as a cover for its expansionist intentions, until these relations became strained more than a year ago. Business and trade relations worth tens of billions of dollars between Turkey and the Gulf countries are now declining due to policy differences.

After invading parts of northwestern Syria, Turkey has now embarked on wide-ranging attacks on other Arab countries. Many Western analysts see this as a manifestation of internal troubles facing the ruling party led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after almost all his allies deserted him.

Executive Director of the Middle East Centre for Reporting and Analysis, a Western think tank, Seth J Frantzman, has been quoted as saying that Ankaras latest attacks on Iraq, driven by its ruling party, are yet another militarist adventure by a ruling party that appears to need to carry out a new military operation every month as part of a trend that combines demagoguery at home and invasions abroad.

Last year, Turkey threatened to invade eastern Syria, telling Washington it would begin bombing the region until the Trump administration appeased Ankara and withdrew US troops from the area.

After its October offensive in Syria in which some 200,000 people were forced to flee their homes, Ankara signed a deal with the militia-backed government in the Libyan capital Tripoli to help it fight against the Libyan National Army and secure Turkeys energy demands in the Mediterranean.

Turkey started shipping thousands of Syrian mercenaries to Libya to fight on behalf of the Tripoli government and sent drones and arms to establish a foothold there.

In December and January, it stoked tensions with Russia and the Syrian regime in Idlib in northwest Syria. It then threatened to send Syrian refugees to Europe during the crises of February and March.

In April and May, it returned to focus on the fighting in Libya, while at the same time increasing its airstrikes on Iraq and starting a full offensive on 17 June.

The Gulf countries are becoming increasingly concerned by Turkeys military interventions abroad, since it has also been trying to intervene in Yemen, relying on its relations with Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in Yemen and its presence in Somalia through relations with the Al-Shabab terrorist group.

As a result, the Gulf countries backing of Iraq in the face of Turkish aggression is also a strategic stand against Turkish expansionism elsewhere in the region.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 20:02:59|Editor: huaxia

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LISBON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Economy Minister Pedro Siza Vieira announced Tuesday the opening of a new credit line of 1 billion euros (1.13 billion U.S. dollars) aimed at helping recover small business activities.

"In the week of July 20, we are going to open a new credit line aimed at a set of economic activities, but focusing exclusively on micro and small companies," announced the minister during a meeting at the parliament.

The minister said the government is already working together with banking institutions so that support reaches "the largest number of companies as quickly as possible."

According to him, the tourism sector will also have the additional advantage of converting 20 percent of the loan into a "lost fund" payment with no deadline for return, if they keep their current jobs and generate new openings.

"It is necessary to pay very special attention to the Algarve region, which is extremely dependent on tourism," said the minister, revealing that the government is preparing a specific program to support the south region.

The objective of the Portuguese government is to reactivate the country's economy, which suffered a severe blow from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The European Commission has lowered its economic forecasts for Portugal this year, now estimating a contraction of 9.8 percent of GDP, a steeper drop than the previous projection of 6.8 percent and the Portuguese government's estimate of 6.9 percent. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 20:14:41|Editor: huaxia

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Cai Qi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, presides over a ceremony held to mark the 83rd anniversary of China's whole-of-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A ceremony was held Tuesday in Beijing to mark the 83rd anniversary of China's whole-of-nation resistance war against Japanese aggression.

The Lugou Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937, is recognized as the start of Japan's full-scale invasion of China, and China's whole-of-nation resistance against it.

Tuesday's event was held near the bridge, at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

It was presided over by Cai Qi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC.

More than 200 people, including family members of military leaders and martyrs of the war, attended the ceremony.

People offered floral tributes and bowed to pay respects to those who died in fighting the Japanese aggression more than eight decades ago. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 20:21:28|Editor: huaxia

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The number of Europe-bound freight trains departing from the city of Yiwu in east China reached 296 in the first half of this year, up 151.1 percent year on year, railway sources said Sunday. A train loaded with 100 TEUs of cargo departed from Yiwu, the country's small-commodity hub, bound for Madrid, Spain, last Friday. It was the 300th China-Europe freight train to leave the city since Jan. 1. By Friday, a total of nearly 25,000 TEUs of commodities had been transported by freight trains from Yiwu to Europe. Since May 5, the city has seen the departure of 20 or more China-Europe trains on a weekly basis. Railway authorities say the city aims to launch 1,000 freight trains to Europe in 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 20:32:39|Editor: huaxia

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GUIYANG, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Two former senior executives of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd., China's top liquor brand, are being investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, the Guizhou provincial discipline inspection and supervisory authorities said on Tuesday in separate statements.

One of the executives is Zhang Jiaqi, former deputy general manager of the company, and the other is Li Mingcan, vice president of the Moutai Institute, according to the Guizhou provincial commission for discipline inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the provincial supervisory commission.

Li served as deputy general manager of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd. between January 2017 and March 2020.

Moutai is a sorghum-based spirit produced by Kweichow Moutai, and is China's top brand of baijiu (white alcohol). The liquor, often served on official occasions and at state banquets, is considered a luxury item and has long been a popular gift. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 20:40:38|Editor: huaxia

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XIAMEN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The world's largest containership, HMM GDANSK, called at the port of Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province on Tuesday.

HMM GDANSK is a new ship to join the "Silk Road Shipping," an alliance jointly initiated in late 2018 by dozens of ports, carriers and logistics service providers in countries along the Belt and Road (B&R).

Running at its highest capacity, the Songyu Container Terminal of Xiamen will load and unload nearly 3,000 containers. The ship will carry goods including clothes, electronic products and mechanical products to the main harbors including Rotterdam of the Netherlands, Hamburg in Germany and Belgium's Antwerp by way of the Strait of Malacca, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar.

The 399.99-meter-long ship has a capacity of 24,000 TEUs, with a total carrying capacity of 224,900 tonnes.

Xiamen is an important port for the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2019, an average of nearly 70 vessels en route to B&R countries stopped by Xiamen each week. However, the number droped sharply in the first half of the year due to the unexpected outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

According to the Xiamen Port Holding Group Co., Ltd., the vessel's joining shows its confidence in the port of Xiamen and China's economy.

Statistics show that Xiamen port had handled 1,005,000 TEUs in June, hitting a record high. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 20:47:46|Editor: huaxia

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LUANDA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A new series of banknotes made of polymer are due to enter into circulation in Angola from July 30, the governor of the National Bank of Angola (BNA) Jose Lima Massano said on Tuesday.

The governor explained that the new banknotes, including 200 (0.35 U.S. dollars), 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 Kwanza, would enter into circulation gradually from July 30.

Despite the legal provision, the 10,000 Kwanza banknotes are not expected to enter into circulation unless it proves necessary, said Massanbo.

The entry into service will be progressive in order to allow people to understand its characteristics and ensure that it is available in national territory, he said.

The new banknotes will coexist with the existing ones of the 2012 series until December 31, 2021.

The BNA will publish the timetable for the withdrawal of the older banknotes; in the meantime, the coins will remain in circulation without any change.

Massano explained that with the polymer banknotes there is the possibility of better usage and financial savings in the management of currency circulation.

"No less important is the fact that the new substrate is recyclable, making them more environmentally friendly", Massano said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 20:48:57|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Japanese civil groups issued a joint statement on Tuesday to commemorate the 83rd anniversary of the "July 7 Incident," calling on people not to forget history, oppose the war and enhance the friendship between Japan and China.

On July 7, 1937 Japanese soldiers attacked Chinese forces at the Lugou Bridge, also known as the Marco Polo Bridge, marking the beginning of Japan's full-scale invasion of China and eight-year atrocities perpetrated by Japanese army on Chinese civilians.

Japanese civil groups Japan-China Friendship August 15 Association and Continuing the Miracle of Fushun Society, among some others, used to organize a rally at the anniversary. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak this year, they issued a joint statement instead.

Japan must recognize the nature of the aggressive war, and only through a true understanding and reflection upon history can there be real peace between neighboring countries, they said in the statement.

Meanwhile, the civil groups vowed to continue to work together to safeguard peace of Japan and the world at large and maintain Japan-China friendship.

Mitsuyoshi Himeda, head of Continuing the Miracle of Fushun Society told Xinhua that recognizing and facing up to history is an important prerequisite for people from Japan and China to deepen understanding and enhance mutual trust.

Nobuo Okimatsu, a 95-year-old member of Japan-China Friendship August 15 Association, said the Japanese people should study history seriously and develop a correct view of history.

Japanese invasion of China has inflicted untold sufferings on the Chinese people. If this fact can not be frankly acknowledged, there will be no real Japan-China friendship, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 20:57:37|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi co-chair the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum via video link, July 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

-Words are only leaves, but actions bear fruits.

-Facing the future, China and Arab countries should continue the COVID-19 fight and the Belt and Road construction with joined hands, and promote the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future for the benefit of their peoples.

by Xinhua writer Zhang Xin

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- In a ministerial meeting held via video link on Monday, foreign ministers of China and Arab countries, as well as other ministerial officials, highlighted the solidarity between the two sides in fighting COVID-19 and their consensus in strengthening bilateral ties.

This was the second time within two weeks that joint efforts to combat COVID-19 has been hailed by both sides, following a meeting among Chinese and Arab political parties ending on June 24.

Photo taken on May 6, 2016 shows the view of Liwa desert, some 240 kilometers southeast of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE, located at the intersection of the Belt and Road Initiative, is an important partner for China to promote the Belt and Road Initiative. (Xinhua/Li Zhen)

Sprouting along the ancient Silk Road, the centuries-old friendship between China and Arab countries has been considerably enriched since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, and more recently during the global pandemic.

As China was battling COVID-19 earlier this year, the Arab world quickly voiced support for China and donated medical supplies. When the pandemic began to ravage the Arab region, China delivered medical resources to and shared experience with its Arab friends despite being in the middle of its own COVID-19 battle.

So far, Chinese medical experts have shared experience in combating the disease with their counterparts from 21 Arab countries via video conferences. Furthermore, they helped Iraq build its first PCR lab to test for the virus. Batches of Chinese medical supplies are continuously delivered to Arab countries in need.

Iraqi Minister of Transport Abdullah Luaibi (L) presents a bouquet to Tao Zhongquan, head of the Chinese medical team, at the Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad, Iraq, April 26, 2020. (Xinhua)

Iraqi Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi called China a good friend standing together with Iraq through hard times. Tunisian Foreign Minister Noureddine Erray said that cooperation with China should be deepened. Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf called the friendly China-Arab ties exemplary.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. The mutual support and assistance between China and Arab countries amid the pandemic will help them overcome the current difficulties, and solidify the foundation for cooperation in the future.

China and Arab countries share similar interests and common dreams, such as national rejuvenation and peaceful development. Their shoulder-to-shoulder fight against COVID-19 strengthens this relationship.

A billboard reading "Thanks for the white army" in Arabic is seen on a street in Cairo, Egypt, on May 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

In the face of rising unilateralism and protectionism amid the pandemic, both China and the Arab world have stressed the importance of international solidarity and cooperation, supporting the key role of the World Health Organization and rejecting any politicalization of the virus.

With global economic growth under threat, both China and Arab countries have pledged to continue joint projects under the Belt and Road, such as the Hassyan clean coal power plant in Dubai, with significant progress made despite the pandemic.

Chinese medical team members hold a meeting with their Kuwaiti counterparts in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate, Kuwait, on April 29, 2020. (Xinhua)

The challenge of COVID-19 has reinforced the foundation of the China-Arab strategic partnership and enhanced the friendship between the Chinese and Arab peoples.

Today, the pandemic continues to rage across the world. As President Xi said in his congratulatory letter to the ministerial meeting, it is more necessary than ever for the two sides to step up cooperation and join hands in tiding over their present difficulties.

Words are only leaves, but actions bear fruits. Facing the future, China and Arab countries should continue the COVID-19 fight and the Belt and Road construction with joined hands, and promote the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future for the benefit of their peoples. 
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 21:01:01|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a loan of 661.8 million euros (about 750 million U.S. dollars) to provide budgetary support to Kazakhstan in fighting COVID-19.

The loan will finance Kazakhstan's COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program, which supports the country's immediate COVID-19 health policy response, social protection and employment recovery measures, as well as stimulus measures, AIIB said Monday in a statement on its website.

Funded by AIIB's Crisis Recovery Facility and co-financed with the Asian Development Bank, the financing will fund measures to mitigate the impacts of higher food prices on vulnerable groups, an increase in social payments, new tax incentives to alleviate the financial burden of businesses and cash payments to the unemployed, the AIIB said.

Without a fiscal response, the economy of Kazakhstan is expected to contract in real terms by 5.5 percent in 2020, while poverty rates may reach 11-13 percent from the current 6.6 percent level, according to the statement.

As of end-June 2020, AIIB has approved a total of 13 projects amounting to over 5.5 billion dollars to support 11 members to navigate the challenges brought by the pandemic.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 21:07:08|Editor: huaxia

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Employees wearing face masks work at a restaurant in Tripoli, Libya, on July 5, 2020. (Photo by Mohamed Arhoma/Xinhua)

TRIPOLI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- More than three months ago, Ihab Al-Shiby had to close his fast food restaurant in the center of Libya's capital Tripoli as part of a series of precautionary measures against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Al-Shiby's restaurant was one of the hundreds of restaurants and cafes in the capital city affected by the anti-coronavirus measures.

The recent war between the east-based army and the UN-backed government in and around Tripoli also impacted the restaurant business in Tripoli.

"My restaurant, like others, was negatively affected by the war that erupted last year as people couldn't move freely in Tripoli for fear of indiscriminate shelling," Al-Shiby told Xinhua.

"Since early March and with the outbreak of the pandemic, the government has issued a decision to close restaurants and cafes. That's when my private project, which employs 15 people, was completely shut down," he explained.

Now, Al-Shiby noted the reopening of his restaurant after nearly four months of closure has made him feel relieved.

"The optimism is mixed with caution and suspicion because the conditions for reopening cafes include either serving by deliveries or handing over the food to customers outside," Al-Shiby said.

"This reduces the number of served meals and therefore, we will face difficulties in continuing work," he added.

Mariam Al-Tuhami, a customer, said she misses the past experiences at restaurants which have been gone due to the recent war and the pandemic.

"Prices of some restaurant meals have increased by 25 percent to 50 percent ... making us think twice before buying meals from restaurants," she told Xinhua.

A few days ago, the Libyan authorities allowed certain businesses, including restaurants and cafes, to reopen under strict conditions.

Customers are not allowed to eat inside restaurants and meals are either handed over to customers outside or delivered.

Only half of the workers are allowed to be present at the same time, along with strict controls related to sterilization and disinfection. Violators are fined or even have their licenses revoked.

Omar Hassan, a restaurant's worker, feels happy to come back to work, as he has been unemployed for more than three months.

"I lost hope that restaurants will reopen soon, especially since I spent years of cooking courses and training. This is the only job I have mastered to earn a living," Hassan told Xinhua.

"With the current gradual resumption of work, we feel helpful because this is a positive thing and things will return to normal with time," he said.

According to the Libyan National Center for Disease Control, the total confirmed COVID-19 cases in Libya has so far increased to 1,046, including 261 recoveries and 32 deaths.

Tripoli had witnessed more than a year of deadly armed conflict between the UN-backed government and the east-based army, before the UN-backed government recently announced its takeover of all western Libya after withdrawal of the rival east-based army.
The Nakba (catastrophe) refers to the expulsion of the Palestinians from Palestine in 1948, their transformation into refugees in the remainder of Palestinian land in Gaza and the West Bank, neighbouring Arab countries and elsewhere in the Palestinian diaspora, and the Israeli massacres and other war crimes that brought this about. The Palestinian Nakba was a catastrophe for the Arab countries that took part in a war against what they saw as gangs of fanatics bent on realising a historical myth and that ended up building camps for the Palestinian refugees in anticipation of their eventual return to their homeland.

The second Nakba occurred in June 1967 when Israel defeated three Arab countries and occupied the West Bank and Gaza. The whole of historic Palestine had now fallen under the Israeli occupation. The October War in 1973 opened horizons to a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Egypt succeeded in regaining the occupied Sinai, Syria regained some of its occupied territory and the Palestinians, through organised resistance and popular uprising, succeeded in creating the first Palestinian national governing authority on Palestinian land.

Before the first Nakba, UN Resolution 181, the Partition Resolution, gave the Jews 55 per cent and the Palestinian Arabs 44 per cent of historic Palestine and declared Jerusalem an international zone. The Palestinians and Arabs rejected the plan that they regarded as unjust and prejudicial. Israeli acceptance was tactical. It paved the way for international recognition for a state that would come to encompass 78 per cent of historic Palestine. The remaining 22 per cent became the subject for negotiations between the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) and Israel in the framework of the Oslo process, which envisioned the establishment of an independent Palestinian state next to Israel.

Today, the Palestinians are facing a looming third Nakba thanks to Washingtons so-called Deal of the Century. Israel has already annexed East Jerusalem and has won recognition for Greater Jerusalem as the Israeli capital from the US and other countries. Israel now plans to annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Annexation includes not just the settlements, which house some 450,000 Jewish settlers, but also their surrounding land, infrastructure and connecting thoroughfares. Israel also plans to annex the Jordan Valley. Not only will the third Nakba, like its predecessors, bring expulsions of Palestinians from the annexed land, it could augur a fourth: a mass expulsion of Palestinians from the whole of Palestine.

Current Israeli moves and the American actions that have encouraged them are playing out against a regional and international backdrop completely different to that which existed at the times of the previous catastrophes. Whereas then, the Arab-Israeli conflict was the main Middle Eastern issue, today it is rivalled by several other issues, because the existential threats to Arab countries have multiplied, especially those coming from Iran and Turkey, and the entire region is bristling with heavy weapons, warring ideologies and blood-soaked legacies. The collapse of states, civil warfare and general upheaval that was ushered in by the so-called Arab Spring greatly weakened the Arab side in Arab-Israeli equations. More serious yet is the enduring Palestinian rift. The Palestinian political forces that were once able to create the first Palestinian governing authority are now effectively split into two geopolitical entities: one in Areas A and B in the West Bank and the other in Gaza. Otherwise put, the Muslim Brotherhood, in its Hamas edition, managed to achieve what it has tried and failed to do in other Arab countries. It has destroyed one of the most important prerequisites of statehood, geographic unity, even before the establishment of the state in this case. This success is due, at least in part, to the Palestinian Authoritys (PA) failure to achieve another important criterion of statehood: monopoly on the legitimate use of force. While this is the most serious case of Palestinian division, it is hardly the first. The militant Palestinian resistance has been beset by division from the outset. The PLO would lock horns with the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) at first, and then with other organisations that sprouted and vied for leadership. Each of these organisations had their own foreign policy based on which countries they were affiliated with and which they opposed. Each had their own concept of Palestinian national security.

In the 70 years since the first Nakba, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been governed by a basic law called the power to create realities on the ground. On the one hand, waves of Jewish migrants to Palestine gave rise to permanent social and economic entities, statehood, transfers of settlers into the territories occupied in 1967 and continued construction and expansion of settlements until they reached their current size. On the other, the Palestinians succeeded in remaining on Palestinian land despite all. Currently, there are about six million Palestinians and six million Israelis in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. Despite the demographic parity (Palestinians may even outnumber Israelis slightly), there is a gross geographic disparity that gives the Israelis far more land than under the Partition Resolution, much more than the boundaries before the 1967 War and even more than the situation on the ground stood at the time of the Oslo Accords. Also, despite the demographic parity, Palestinians are divided into those living in Israel, fighting for equal rights and simultaneously advocating a single civil democratic state for both Arabs and Jews, Hamas in Gaza which has its sights set on establishing an Islamic state for itself at all costs and is prepared to live with an endlessly protracted truce with Israel in order to accomplish that end, and the Palestinians in the West Bank who are divided between those who favour the one-state solution and the approximately 37 per cent who favour continuing negotiations towards the two-state solution out of the belief that the trend globally and in the US and Europe in particular may be favourable to Palestinian rights.

Paradoxically, after annexing Jerusalem and declaring its intent to unilaterally annex West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley, Israel asked to resume negotiations with the Palestinians in the framework of the two-state solution. Effectively this would mean repartitioning the West Bank since Gaza would opt to stay out of the negotiating process. The PA, for its part, sent a message to the International Quartet (Russia, the EU, the US and the UN), expressing its willingness to resume negotiations, but on condition they pick up where they left off after the previous round. That occurred years ago, between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The distance between the two sides is enormous. Israel wants ratification of its annexation of Palestinian territories. The PA wants to resurrect the Oslo framework and the progress it had so far made towards the realisation of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. It is a situation that offers little prospect for concrete results, unless Israel either presses forward with its plans, as it has done before, or offers concessions on things to which it had no right to begin with, such as the Jordan Valley. It could freeze its plan to annex that in exchange for economic gains from Arab countries, for example.

Whatever the case, the Arabs need at this stage to take a fresh look at a reality shaped by a complex weave of local, regional and international factors, and to derive a new strategy accordingly.

The writer is chairman of the board, CEO and director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 21:23:04|Editor: huaxia

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Rescuers firm a dike in Wuxing District, Huzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, July 7, 2020. China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters upgraded the emergency response for flood control from level IV to level III on Tuesday, as incessant downpours continued to wreak havoc across vast stretches of the country. The headquarters said it would guide local authorities to strengthen their forecast capabilities, improve the patrolling of rivers and reservoirs, and ensure the livelihoods of people affected by the floods. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters upgraded the emergency response for flood control from level IV to level III on Tuesday, as incessant downpours continued to wreak havoc across vast stretches of the country.

Due to severe flooding, the headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management on Monday dispatched nine more work teams to various regions, including Sichuan, Chongqing, Hunan and Jiangxi. Previously, teams had been sent to assist in flood relief in Hubei and Anhui.

The headquarters said it would guide local authorities to strengthen their forecast capabilities, improve the patrolling of rivers and reservoirs, and ensure the livelihoods of people affected by the floods.

Since June, continuous downpours have lashed large parts of southern China, and the waters of many rivers in the affected regions have exceeded warning levels.

China has a four-tier flood control emergency response system, with level I representing the most severe.

Meanwhile, the country's national observatory on Tuesday afternoon issued an orange alert, the second highest in its four-tier, color-coded alert system, for rainstorms from Tuesday night to Wednesday night. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 21:37:30|Editor: huaxia

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COLOMBO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan authorities on Tuesday said that 300 guests would be allowed to attend weddings amidst strict health guidelines as COVID-19 spread eased in the island country.

A statement from the government information department said that the maximum number of guests at a wedding should be limited to 50 percent of the seating capacity of the venue and a maximum of 300 persons. This includes the bridal group, band members, and any performing artists.

Space allocation at the wedding venue must ensure physical distancing of at least one meter between all participants.

Sri Lanka has to date detected 2,078 positive COVID-19 cases but has recorded a high recovery rate of over 90 percent with 1,955 patients recovering and being discharged from hospital.

Eleven deaths have been reported from the virus.

The country has not reported any positive COVID-19 cases since April 30.

Capital Colombo resumed economic operations in the last week of May after being shut for nearly two months and since then the country has seen the gradual re-opening of several sectors.

However, authorities have urged people to abide by all health guidelines such as wearing masks and maintaining social distancing and keeping hand hygiene. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 21:50:44|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government on Tuesday maintained its assessment that the economy in May was "worsening," with its index of business conditions dropping to the lowest level in nearly 11 years.

According to the Cabinet Office, the coincident index of business conditions for the recording month dropped 5.5 points from April to 74.6 against the 2015 base of 100, the worst since 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

The decline was the fourth largest since comparable data became available in January 1985, while its level of 74.6 was the seventh lowest, the government's figures showed.

The figure retreated for the fourth consecutive month, the office's data showed, and came on the heels of a 8.7-point decline logged in April.

According to local media, the data reflected the magnitude of the economic fallout from a nationwide state of emergency over the COVID-19 outbreak.

The government first declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and other urban areas in early April and later expanded it to cover the whole country. During the emergency period through May 25, businesses shuttered operations and people were requested to refrain from making nonessential trips outdoors in a bid to prevent the further spread of the virus.

With new cases of COVID-19 emerging in Tokyo and other areas, public concerns over a second wave of infections are again weighing on the full resumption of business. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 21:58:52|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on Tuesday denied foreign reports of an explosion at a nuclear site in central Iran, official IRNA news agency reported.

In a statement, the AEOI's public relations office dismissed the reports about explosion in Shahid Rezaei Nejad nuclear complex in the central province of Yazd as "false news and rumors."

The reports are Israel's "propaganda" to "promote disappointment and are in line with U.S. pressures on Iranians," said the AEOI statement.

The satellite images published by some media are not related to Shahid Rezaei Nejad nuclear site, the statement noted.

On July 2, Iran said a fire at the country's Natanz nuclear facility caused no damage to the establishment but affected a structure housing stock items. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 22:01:35|Editor: huaxia

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DAKAR, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action reported this Tuesday 69 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 7,547 in the West African country.

Out of 693 tests carried out in the past 24 hours, 69 came back positive, the ministry's director of Prevention Dr. Mamadou Ndiaye said during the daily briefing.

According to Ndiaye, the new cases included 43 follow-up contact cases, 23 community transmission cases and three imported ones detected at the airport.

Some 114 patients tested negative after treatments and were discharged from hospitals and treatment centers, bringing the recovery number to 5,023 since the outbreak of the pandemic on March 2.

A total of 137 patients had lost their lives to COVID-19 in Senegal.

Senegalese president Macky Sall will end his 14-days self-quarantine Tuesday evening. But his minister of Tourism and Air Transport Alioune Sarr was put under isolation Monday after being in contact with a coronavirus carrier.

The later was supposed to meet the European Union ambassador to Senegal Tuesday to discuss the reopening of EU airspace for Senegalese. His deputy will continue the negotiations with EU representatives.

According to local media, with EU banning Senegalese entering Schengen zone, Senegalese national carrier Air Senegal would lose 40 percent of its revenue on Dakar-Paris route alone.

Senegalese government expects to resume flights to EU after July 15 in order to boost its tourism, a main source of income for Senegal.

Senegalese president Macky Sall already announced that his country's economic growth would be no higher than 1.1 percent in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 22:07:32|Editor: huaxia

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PHNOM PENH, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court on Tuesday charged Battambang provincial deputy governor Sou Arafat and local tycoon Sang Than with committing corruption in regards to a land dispute, a court's spokesman said.

The kingdom's Anti-Corruption Unit arrested Arafat on July 1, four days after apprehending Than for allegedly paying bribes to occupy 5,000 hectares of land, which is equal to a quarter of the total land in Kors Kralor district in northwestern Battambang province.

"Deputy prosecutor Soeun Moniroth decided to charge Sang Than with masterminding intentional destruction and dishonest embezzlement and paying bribes, while Sou Arafat was charged with intentional destruction and dishonest embezzlement and accepting bribes," Phnom Penh Municipal Court's spokesman Kuch Kimlong told reporters.

Arafat, who is also the head of the provincial committee for land dispute resolution in Kors Kralor, was accused of forging fake documents related to the size of the land, which resulted in Than possessing 5,000 hectares and caused land conflicts with dozens of residents.

On June 27, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen also issued a sub-decree which terminated Mao Sokchan from his post as Kors Kralor district governor. Sokchan was not arrested or taken in. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 22:21:17|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of 172 Mongolian nationals on board a chartered flight arrived at Ulan Bator's Chinggis Khaan International Airport on Tuesday from South Korea amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Mongolia's State Emergency Commission (SEC).

The repatriated group consisted of pregnant women, the elderly, children, disabled and sick people and those with financial and other problems, the SEC said, adding that the passengers will be isolated at designated facilities for 21 days.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Mongolia has chartered flights to evacuate around 12,000 of its nationals from various countries.

Mongolia has confirmed 225 COVID-19 cases, all of which are imported, mostly from Russia, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 22:32:42|Editor: huaxia

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ANKARA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces killed two members of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), and detained at least three others in northern Syria, Turkey's defense ministry said Tuesday.

The two "neutralized" YPG members "were preparing an attack in the Operation Euphrates Shield zone," the ministry tweeted.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralize" to imply the "terrorists" in question who were killed or captured.

The ministry also said the security forces arrested one YPG fighter in the Operation Euphrates Shield region and at least two others in the Operation Olive Branch region.

"They were attempting to disrupt peace and security" in northern Syria, it added.

Turkey sees the YPG group as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The Turkish army launched Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016, Operation Olive Branch in 2018, Operation Peace Spring in 2019, and Operation Spring Shield in 2020 in northern Syria in order to create a YPG-free zone along its border within the neighboring country.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than 30 years, which has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 22:43:26|Editor: huaxia

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JOHANNESBURG, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The South African police on Tuesday destroyed over 30,000 firearms, said the law enforcement agents.

The police said the guns were melted by steel company Arcelor Mittal Steel in their presence.

"Most of the destroyed firearms had been seized by the police during intelligence-driven operations and through tip-offs from citizens concerned with the proliferation and circulation of illegal firearms in their respective communities," said the police spokesperson Brenda Muridili.

She stated that the proliferation of illegal firearms and ammunition pose a threat to the safety and security of the country. The police will continue to remove dangerous firearms from the wrong hands.

"In the last financial year, 2019/2020, the police destroyed over 52,000 firearms on two occasions. Over 33,000 firearms have now been destroyed for the first half of this financial year. The latest destruction included 30,913 handguns, 1,452 rifles and 894 shotguns as well as 725 firearm parts," she said.

The police appealed to the public to report those with illegal firearms since they are sued to commit violent crimes.

Muridili said if a firearm holder passes away, the relatives have to surrender it to the police. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 23:21:01|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's foreign reserves rose to 38.2 billion U.S. dollars by the end of June from 36 billion dollars in May, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said Tuesday in a statement.

Egypt's foreign reserves hit 45 billion dollars in March and had since been declining because of a drop in the foreign investments and the halt of tourism, the main source of the country's foreign revenues.

The CBE has said that it has been using the foreign net reserves to meet the market's need for foreign currency amid COVID-19 concerns.

"The current average of foreign reserves covers about eight months of Egypt's imports," the CBE said, noting the global average stood at nearly three months.

In May, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved 2.77 billion dollars in emergency funding to Egypt to help it address the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June, the IMF approved a separate 5.2-billion-dollar standby loan agreement with Egypt. Enditem
Since the spread of turmoil and chaos in the Arab region, Egypts national security has faced increasingly grave threats from all directions. If at first the most serious emanated primarily from the northeast, the most dangerous now loom from the directions of Libya and Ethiopia. They have excited intense concern and discussion in intellectual and journalistic circles, and among the public at large, except for an errant minority serving the interests of Ankaras  imperialist project who have made it their job to mock Egyptian abilities and sap morale on the Libyan front, and paradoxically to goad decision-makers into impetuous actions on the Ethiopian front. But rather than dwelling on such contradictory attitudes, I will focus on the two major trends in Egyptian public opinion with regard to the Libyan and Ethiopian challenges: one conservative and the other imprudent. I will presume good faith and sincere concern for Egypts interests and welfare in both cases.

The conservatives understandably fear the consequences of direct military intervention in Libya. They caution against a repetition of the Egyptian experience in Yemen in the 1960s and warn that the terrorist militias and mercenaries in Libya are backed by the second largest army in NATO. Now, firstly, there is vast difference between the two cases. Egypts intervention in Yemen was part of Gamal Abdel- Nassers pan-Arab project and motivated by the setback in that project due to the breakup of the union with Syria. It could thus be said to have been an offensive military action. In Libya, by contrast, military intervention would be unquestionably defensive, especially given that Egyptian national security has already been jeopardised from that direction on numerous occasions and Egypt has twice been forced to take action beyond its borders. Second, unlike Yemen, Libya is right next door to Egypt, which presents great logistical advantages. Third, direct intervention in Yemen began slowly, using ground forces, and without sufficient study. When the actual situation became clear, Egyptian troops in Yemen increased to 70,000, although they would be reduced by about half in a subsequent phase. Possible intervention in Libya would not begin with a ground offensive.

Recall that when the president told the armed forces to be ready for operations abroad, he was at a recently inaugurated airbase speaking to the air force, even if the tenor was more general. The president also spoke of training and arming young men from the Libyan tribes which, in turn, responded enthusiastically to these remarks. This brings me to the fourth observation, which is that Egypt is very clear about the red line it has drawn, and the ninth largest army in the world is very capable of carrying out the threat to act against forces that overstep that line. This fact has given prevalence to a scenario favouring aversion of escalation and, indeed, stimulated widespread international action to promote a ceasefire. But what would happen in the event that equations turned sour? Clearly, if others cannot help deter terrorism, Egypt will have no choice but to act in defence of its national security, regardless of the sacrifices. Egypt and its army have a long and honourable record of victorious battles against adverse odds. The October War is a prime example. Egypt is ready to act, if necessary, especially in light of historys lesson that appeasement is the worst response to an expansionist hegemonic project. One would think Western powers would be more conscious of this lesson, given how their policy of appeasement helped unleash Hitler and World War II.

With regard to the crisis surrounding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), I am disturbed by commentaries that urged recourse to military action on the grounds that the military balances between Egypt and Ethiopia are in our favour. As sincere as I believe these commentators are in their concern for Egypts welfare, their view is dangerously over-simplistic. I should stress, firstly, that any decision to undertake military action is primarily political one and, accordingly, should be subject to political calculations before military ones. A prime factor to be borne in mind, in this case, is that Egypt is a country that respects and upholds international law, which means that any military action would need authorisation from the UN Security Council or the African Union. Such authorisation would not be forthcoming. If Egypt were to act unilaterally, it would be called to account and risk losing its base of African support. The question of Ethiopias right to development versus Egypts right to its fair share of Nile water is not as clear cut as the question of the terrorist threat from Libya, which almost all members of the international community acknowledge and oppose.

Some will remind me that I have frequently spoken of collusions against Egypt and cited reports of certain countries that have tried to use Ethiopia to settle their scores with Egypt, and they will ask me why I do not invoke defence of national security regardless of the sacrifices in this case. To me the answer is clear: because the political and economic loss would be overwhelming. Does that mean that we should accept less than our rights? Of course not. But who said that use of force has to be limited to bombing the dam? What about economic pressures and sanctions? Surely these would be easier, more cost effective and more potentially successful in the event efforts fail to produce a negotiated solution. And who said diplomatic efforts have totally failed? Let us recall that Egyptian diplomacy has achieved no small progress in this dispute during the past six years. A major landmark is the agreement on the Declaration of Principles of 2015, which has become a binding legal frame of reference. Then last year Egypt succeeded in internationalising the issue by bringing in the US as a mediator in collaboration with the World Bank. This effort culminated in a draft agreement initialled by Egypt and snubbed by Ethiopia. Egypt then took internationalisation to a level that made Ethiopia panic  the UN Security Council (UNSC). At which point the African Union stepped in, if only to pre-empt the UNSC.

Ethiopia exposed the weakness of its position in the UNSC. In contrast to Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukrys forceful arguments, the Ethiopian delegate could only reiterate feeble excuses for rejecting UNSC intervention. Moreover, a number of UNSC members made it clear that they opposed any unilateral action on the part of any party in this dispute, which is exactly the thrust of the Egyptian-sponsored resolution. While it is difficult to depend on a definitive stance from the UNSC, we are still at the beginning of the road and there are other options available. Egypts position will grow stronger the longer Ethiopia remains stubborn and inflexible. What is important is to sustain our efforts until we achieve our goal.

The writer is professor of political science at Cairo University.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 23:30:44|Editor: huaxia

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PARIS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Rodin museum in Paris, which was primarily dedicated to the works of French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), reopened to the public on Tuesday after months of closure due to the coronavirus crisis.

Like other culture icons in the French capital emerging out of the anti-epidemic lockdown, the Rodin Museum now put hand gel at disposal, encouraged ticket-buying online, implemented a specific queuing system and required all visitors aged over 11 to wear masks, respect social distancing rules and follow visiting route marks.

Unlike pre-pandemic days when tourists crowded every landmark site in Paris, the reopening did not bring a long queue to the Museum.

The closure in the past months had cost the museum around 4 million euros (4.4 million U.S. dollars), reported French media.

Located on the left bank of the Seine River, the Rodin Museum, which was opened since 1919, is France's only national museum to be self-financing, without any state subsidy.

Apart from ticket office, shop sales and rental of spaces for private events, it also sells "official reproductions" of Rodin's work.

To recover, the museum launched a call for donations. "The Rodin museum is very affected economically by the context of a global pandemic," it said on its website and social media platform. "Your donation is more than ever useful." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 23:42:29|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Union Delegation to Libya announced on Tuesday the allocation of 100,000 euros (112,947 U.S. dollars) in emergency assistance for displaced Libyans fleeing armed conflict.

"An intensification of conflict in Libya and shifting frontlines have resulted in a new spike of displacement," the EU delegation noted in a statement.

The EU funding will support the Libyan Red Crescent Society in delivering "emergency assistance to 2,500 of the most vulnerable people temporarily housed in schools in the eastern cities of Ejdabia, Tobruk, Shahat, Bayda, Bani Walid and Benghazi," the statement said.

The funding is part of the EU's contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the statement explained.

In recent weeks, more people have had to flee areas around the cities of Tarhouna, Bani Walid and Sirte, bringing the total number of the displaced people from these areas to 27,750, according to the statement.

The UN-backed Libyan government and the rival east-based army had been engaged in a deadly armed conflict in and around the capital Tripoli for more than a year, before the UN-backed government recently announced the takeover of all western Libya after withdrawal of the east-based army from the region.

"With no end in sight to the conflict, over 400,000 Libyans continue to be internally displaced," the statement said.

Libya has been suffering escalating violence and political instability ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 23:46:04|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, held via video link on Monday, adopted the Amman Declaration and an action plan for the forum to deepen cooperation and ties between China and Arab states.

The Amman Declaration expresses the desire of China and Arab states to deepen relations, elaborates common and basic principles on international relations, and reiterates mutual support on the issues of core interests and major concerns.

The declaration also shows the positions of both sides on major regional and international issues, and stresses jointly building a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era.

Both sides spoke highly of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and its broad prospect for mutually-beneficial cooperation, and agreed that the two sides should advance mutual consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits within the framework of the Belt and Road.

They stressed in the declartaion that China and Arab countries should achieve common development, mutual benefit and win-win results, strive to jointly build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era, and make contributions to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

A China-Arab Summit, to be hosted by Saudi Arabia, is welcomed by both sides.

They agreed to foster a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and mutually-beneficial cooperation. Both sides support multilateralism rather than hegemonism in order to achieve peace and stability in the world, read the declaration.

All countries should abide by the principle of good-neighborliness, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-aggression and non-interference in each others' internal affairs, respecting and supporting each other in choosing their own development path and socia system, it said.

China will endorse reforms of the UN Security Council to increase the representativeness of developing countries including the Arab nations in the council, the declaration said.

The Arab countries stressed their support for China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, noting that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. They firmly uphold the one-China principle, and oppose the so-called "Taiwan Independence" in any form.

The Arab countries support China's position on the Hong Kong issue and its efforts to defend the national security within the framework of "one country, two systems", and oppose interference in internal affairs, it added.

Both sides have made crucial efforts to take care of their ethnic minorities, said the declaration, adding that China welcomes representatives of Arab League and its member states to visit Chinese provinces, including Xinjiang.

The two sides denounce terrorist activities in all forms, actively combat extremist ideology, acts of terrorism and incitement to terrorism, eradicate the root causes of terrorism, and cut off its sources of funding.

Both sides oppose linking terrorism to any ethnic group, religion, country or civilization and call on all countries to refrain from providing any form of public or private support to entities or individuals involved in terrorist activities, the declaration said.

In a joint declaration on fighting COVID-19 with solidarity, also released at the ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, the two sides agreed to carry out cooperation against the pandemic within the health cooperation mechanism under the framework of the forum.

They encouraged continuous cooperation in jointly building the Belt and Road while preventing and controlling the pandemic. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 00:01:02|Editor: huaxia

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NEW DELHI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- India's agricultural ministry Tuesday said it has carried out locust control operations on 275,887 hectares of land in nine states.

Of the 275,887 hectares, Locust Circle Offices (LCOs) in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have carried out control measures on 143,422 hectares, as local governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh, Haryana and Bihar have carried out control measures on 132,465 hectares.

The agricultural ministry has pressed in aerial spraying capacity for anti-locust operations. A Bell helicopter has been deployed in Rajasthan for use in Scheduled Desert Area as per the need.

The authorities have also sought assistance from Indian Air Force (IAF) to conduct trials in anti-locust operation by using a Mi-17 helicopter.

"IAF started participating in anti-locust operations from 5th July by deploying the Mi-17 helicopter for aerial spraying in Jodhpur district. This is first of its kind event in the history of locust control in India," the agriculture ministry said.

Meanwhile, officials said five companies with 15 drones are deployed at Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Nagaur and Phalodi in Rajasthan for effective control of locusts on tall trees and in inaccessible areas through spraying of pesticides.

"Presently 60 control teams with spray vehicles are deployed in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and more than 200 Central government personnel are engaged in locust control operations. In addition, today 20 spray equipments have reached India," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, except Rajasthan, no significant crop losses have been reported in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh, Bihar and Haryana.

Last month the swarms reached Indian capital city - New Delhi, prompting authorities to issue advisories.

Locust, a large-sized insect is a short-horned grasshopper of migratory habit, which attacks crops or green vegetation. It causes extensive damage due to its feeding behaviour.

Officials say the locust swarms usually enter the scheduled desert area of India through Pakistan for summer breeding in the month of June and July with the advent of monsoon. This year, however, the incursions of locust hoppers and pink swarms have been reported much earlier.

The migratory pest has the ability to fly hundreds of kilometres collectively. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 00:21:55|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, learns about the safety of people's lives and property after floods in Guakou Village, Tongren City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 6, 2020. Li made an inspection tour to the cities of Tongren and Guiyang in southwest China's Guizhou Province from Monday to Tuesday. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

GUIYANG, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stressed the importance of ensuring people's well-being, and advancing reform and innovation to boost development.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during his inspection tour to the cities of Tongren and Guiyang in southwest China's Guizhou Province, from Monday to Tuesday.

In his visit to a company in Tongren, Li encouraged enterprises to expand production, promote industrial poverty alleviation, and create more jobs for migrant workers.

He urged governments at all levels to make all-out efforts to secure and boost employment.

Guizhou has suffered from severe and widespread floods since June. While visiting the Guakou Village in Tongren, the premier stressed the need to take various measures to ensure the safety of people's lives and property.

He said related departments should coordinate financial support for the reconstruction of destroyed houses and facilities, and priority should be given to poverty-stricken households and disaster-stricken areas.

Despite the disruptions from the COVID-19 epidemic and floods, all-out efforts should be made to win the tough battle of poverty alleviation this year, no matter how difficult it is, Li said when talking with local villagers.

He underlined the need to prevent people from falling back into poverty due to the epidemic or disasters.

While visiting a data center in Guiyang, Li acknowledged the great potential of the city in developing a big data industry, and urged related departments to step up support for the construction of new types of infrastructure to bolster the growth of emerging industries.

In his visit to a government service center in the province, Li stressed the importance of solving financing problems for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as for science and technology firms, to boost their development. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 00:28:31|Editor: huaxia

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BERLIN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Following a COVID-19 outbreak at Germany's largest meat processing company Toennies, the number of new infections in the district Guetersloh fell below the critical mark, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said Tuesday.

The seven-day incidence stood at 35 in the Guetersloh district in Germany's federal state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) on Tuesday, "well below" the critical mark of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the RKI.

Shortly after the COVID-19 outbreak at Toennies in mid-June, the seven-day incidence in the district had peaked at 270, according to the RKI. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany's federal states had agreed that above the threshold of 50, regional restrictions to protect the population would become necessary.

The outbreak at the slaughterhouse left around 1,500 employees infected and strict contact restrictions had been reimposed in Guetersloh and neighboring districts.

On Monday, the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia (OVG) "temporarily suspended" the reimposed restrictions in the Guetersloh district, saying that the measures were no longer appropriate.

District administrator Sven-Georg Adenauer said on Monday that he was "happy for the citizens of the entire district of Guetersloh. Hopefully the time of stigmatization is over now." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 00:48:43|Editor: huaxia

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-- The moment of truth has arrived for Chinese authorities, students and parents as the national college entrance exam, also known as the gaokao, began Tuesday after it had been delayed for one month due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

-- Over 10 million students sit this year's national college entrance exam, deemed the most important event for them as it provides a fair opportunity to set the directions for their future careers.

-- The organization of such a large-scale annual gaokao highlights the country's effective regular epidemic control after it had won strategic achievements in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

by Xinhua writers Qiang Lijing, Zhong Qun, Zhao Wanwei, and Yu Pei

BEIJING/WUHAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The moment of truth has arrived for Chinese authorities, students and parents as the national college entrance exam, also known as the gaokao, began Tuesday after it had been delayed for one month due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Over 10 million students sit this year's national college entrance exam, deemed the most important event for them as it provides a fair opportunity to set the directions for their future careers.

Nationwide, more than 7,000 exam sites have been set up, with around 400,000 examination rooms, while 945,000 people work as invigilators or service providers for the exam.

Examinees enter an exam site in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, July 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

The organization of such a large-scale annual gaokao highlights the country's effective regular epidemic control after it had won strategic achievements in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In Beijing, nearly 50,000 students take the exam this year. A total of 132 schools have been arranged as exam sites in the capital city.

At Beijing No. 12 Middle School in Fengtai District, examinees entered the campus on Tuesday morning before passing through a blue tent, where their body temperatures were checked by an automatic electronic thermometer one by one.

A policeman guides the orderly parking of a car sending an examinee to an exam site in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Fengtai has seen an outbreak of new infections since June 11, and the epidemic control measures are particularly tight. A total of 660 students were scattered in 33 classrooms, with 20 examinees and two invigilators in each room. The space between each desk was expanded to at least one meter.

Li Ke, the mother of a high school graduate in Beijing, said, "It's really not easy for this year's examinees."

"This year is very special. Some excellent students who had intended to apply for overseas universities may choose to sit the exam too, which will make the competition fiercer," she said.

Different from previous years, fewer parents were waiting in front of school gates during the exam this year. In line with epidemic prevention measures, community workers helped to persuade eager parents not to gather outside the exam sites as they normally do the other years.

Since June 11, Beijing has seen a resurgence in locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, prompting the municipal government to tighten containment measures. Thanks to the efforts, the city reported no new confirmed domestically transmitted cases on Monday after it had reported single-digit cases for eight consecutive days.

An examinee claps with a teacher outside an exam site in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

Beijing has not mandated that all examinees take a nucleic acid test but has required all invigilators to take the test seven days before the exam. All people at the exam sites must wear face masks throughout the exam, according to Li Yi, spokesperson for the Beijing municipal education commission.

Beijing has also stepped up the monitoring of examinees' health. The health condition of all the high school graduates will be monitored by their schools on a daily basis starting from the 14th day before the examination.

Due to the epidemic situation, Beijing required that each exam site should have no less than three spare rooms in case of emergencies. Sanitizers, napkins and face masks are provided at the door of every classroom.

Spare exam sites have also been arranged in Beijing for students who show abnormal physical conditions, or are under quarantine, authorities said.

No confirmed or suspected cases have been reported among Beijing examinees.

In Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, a series of strict anti-virus measures were also put in place to ensure the safety and health of over 59,000 examinees for the exam, according to the Wuhan Admission and Examination Office.

An examinee has his hands sanitized at an exam site in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)

Similar to Beijing, all the staff and candidates in Wuhan, once hit hard by COVID-19, were required to have their temperature taken daily and recorded 14 days in advance. Epidemic prevention staff are responsible for disinfecting the exam sites and related facilities before and after each test.

But, unlike in Beijing, examinees here can decide whether to wear masks during the exam, as the city is now identified as at low risk, according to the Wuhan Admission and Examination Office.

Jiang Xinrun, a graduate of the middle school affiliated to Hubei University, said, "The pandemic did have some influence on our preparation for the gaokao, but the darkest days have passed. I am confident that our efforts won't be in vain."

At No. 15 Middle School of Wuhan, teachers remained in constant contact with the students about their academic progress as well as their psychological well-being before the exam. Meanwhile, the school also provided psychological counseling for the students.

An examinee passes a teacher who encourages examinees outside an exam site in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

The exam began as rainstorms have recently battered some places in south and east China, causing traffic problems for some examinees.

The examination did not proceed as scheduled in Shexian County, east China's Anhui Province, as torrential rain caused severe flooding in the county.

River water overflowed into downtown streets of the county seat, and most of the 2,000-plus examinees were unable to reach their exam sites on time, according to the local authority.

The provincial education authority said the exams on Chinese language and math on Monday will be rescheduled for the affected students.

(Wang Xiaojie, Tian Zhongquan, Liao Jun contributed to the story; Video reporters: Meng Jing, Wang Pu, Pang Yuanyuan, Yu Guoqing, Rao Rao, Wang Siban, Fang Yadong; Video editor: Liu Yuting)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 00:50:34|Editor: huaxia

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CHONGQING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Hu Chunhua has called for multiple measures to consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation and ensure high-quality victory in the battle against poverty.

Hu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour to southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from Monday to Tuesday.

During his visit to deeply impoverished villages, industrial centers and relocation settlements in Wushan County of Chongqing, Hu stressed the importance and urgency of consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively preventing regions and people falling back to poverty.

Hu urged efforts to improve weak links in education, health care and the safety of housing and drinking water, promote the growth of poverty alleviation industries, and broaden employment channels for migrant poor laborers.

He also called for strengthening support for populations relocated from inhospitable areas and those relocated for the building of the Three Gorges project and facilitating their employment.

Hu called for greater efforts to support the development of ethnic minority areas to ensure all ethnic groups to march into a moderately prosperous society side by side. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 01:55:14|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his British counterpart Dominic Raab held a phone conversation on Tuesday to discuss regional issues including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Libyan crisis and the Nile dam dispute.

On the Palestinian-Israeli issue, Shoukry underlined the importance of achieving just and comprehensive peace based on the UN-proposed two-state solution, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez said in a statement.

The phone talk came as Israel is planning to further annex occupied Palestinian lands, including the Jordan Valley and the northern West Bank.

The Egyptian top diplomat warned that any unilateral move would "undermine stability and peace opportunities in the region," Hafez said.

Raab tweeted following his call with Shoukry that they held important discussions on the Middle East peace process and the UK's support for a two state-solution, as well as other regional issues.

The two officials also discussed the situation in the war-torn Libya, which has been locked in a civil war since the ouster and killing of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Shoukry warned against foreign intervention in Libya, stressing the need for "a comprehensive political solution" to restore the national state of Libya and its institutions.

They also addressed the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that Ethiopia is building on the Nile River.

Over the past few years, tripartite talks held by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on the rules of filling and operating Ethiopia's grand hydropower dam have been fruitless, amid Egyptian concerns that the GERD would affect Egypt's annual share of Nile water.

Shoukry highlighted the necessity to reach "a comprehensive, fair and balanced agreement by the three countries on filling and operating the dam, while refraining from any unilateral action before concluding a prior agreement," Hafez said.

The talks also discussed the growing Egyptian-British relations and their cooperation on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The UK remains committed to furthering our strong ties with Egypt to tackle the wider challenges posed by coronavirus," Raab tweeted. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 02:35:12|Editor: huaxia

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RABAT, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of 228 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Morocco on Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections to 14,607.

The number of people cured from the coronavirus increased to 10,639, with 466 new recoveries, Hind Ezzine, head of the Epidemic Diseases at the Department of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health, said at a regular press briefing.

Ezzine added that the country's COVID-19 death toll rose to 240, after three new fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours.

Morocco on Tuesday imposed quarantine on the staff of three local prisons in Tangier, Safi and Moul El Bergui, as part of the efforts to contain the COVID-19 spread.

Meanwhile, the government announced a gradual reopening of mosques throughout the country for the daily five prayers as of July 15, excluding the Friday prayer.

China has helped Morocco in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

A batch of medical supplies donated by the government of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was transported on June 8 to Casablanca-Settat in Morocco.

On May 14, China Development Bank sent a batch of donation, including respirators and medical protective masks, to Morocco to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

China's Guizhou Province has also donated 15,000 surgical gloves, 20,000 medical masks and 2,000 protective suits to help protect Moroccan medical workers fighting the pandemic. Enditem
Libya has been witnessing recently a very rapid pace of political and military transformation. And no doubt Libya is an integral element of Egypts national security strategy, either due to border security, countering radicalisation and terrorism or fighting the phenomenon of illegal immigration through the coasts of the Mediterranean, all core Egyptian strategic interests. However, the latest developments in Libya show there is a dual path currently. One has to do with new international and regional alliances that Egypt is trying to mobilise to stop Turkish intervention in Libya, and another has to do with military developments with regards to reaching a state of ceasefire and ensuring that the dividing line between the east and the west at the city of Sirte is not crossed by any military force.

The international community has been moving during the past week on the Libya file. France, Italy and Germany declared their refusal of any foreign intervention in Libya and made clear the necessity to go back to a political process under the supervision of the United Nations. Moreover, tensions between France and Turkey have been escalating recently due to the Turkish role in Libya, spilling out on the NATO platform. Moscow hosted Aguila Saleh, head of the Libyan parliament, in an official visit to meet with the ministers of defence and foreign affairs, and the US communicated with Fayez Al-Sarraj, the prime minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. Al-Sarraj also met with the Turkish minister of defence in Tripoli last week.

The overall scene heralds a sort of a resurrection of the role of the international community in the Libyan matter. The coronavirus had put the role of the international community and its institutions in limbo on several files, specifically in the Arab world, like Syria, Libya and Yemen. But Egypts long-term interests in Libya makes it obliged to act. Egypts main allies at the moment are the European countries that refuse the Turkish military presence in Libya and in the South of the Mediterranean, including France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Cyprus. At the same time, alliances with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia still exist and are active. However, the role of both Russia and the US is still not clear, and their interference within the Libyan interior remains to be seen.

Militarily, the situation is becoming more complex. As mentioned earlier, Egypt has set a faultlines at Sirte and Al-Jafra. However, Turkey does not always respect the norms of the international community in its foreign policy. This means that Egypt might face a dilemma in seeing a necessity for military intervention while its political position refuses foreign intervention in Libya and respecting the arms embargo decision taken by the UN Security Council. This contradiction requires lots of coordination between the different divisions within the Egyptian state, specifically the armed forces, the presidency and intelligence institutions.

It is highly unlikely that Egypt will officially and directly intervene militarily in Libya; this option is in last place on its list of priorities. The new challenge that Egypt is facing today on Libya is trying to pressure the international community to stop Turkish military intervention while trying to minimise political and geographical divisions within the Libyan interior. This is political work that the armed forces will not be bureaucratically involved in, according to the Egyptian state structure. However, there will be a high level of coordination between political and military institutions in Egypt during the coming phase concerning developments in the situation in Libya.

The Libyan interior remains at this moment very far from a moment of reconciliation and a new beginning for an effective political process. Both sides remain in a state of denying the legitimacy of each other, and these positions are stated clearly through the media. The east believes that the GNA is based on the Skhirat Agreement, and those who signed this agreement were not authorised by the Libyan people through fair and transparent elections, according to Saleh. The West, on the other hand, sees General Khalifa Haftar as a war criminal who should not be present in any negotiations. Between these contradicting positions, a political solution in Libya seems far-fetched at the moment.

Egypt is facing a new reality in Libya that it has to adapt to for the sake of its national interests. Either on the political or military levels, Egypts positions must be flexible in the coming months, in service of the Egyptian vision for the Libyan conflict.

*The writer is a senior researcher and director of the Programme for Mediterranean and North African Studies at the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 03:50:51|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Nearly two out of five Italian businesses are in danger of closing down amid the economic slowdown sparked by the global coronavirus outbreak, with new economic models predicting that the Italian economy will be the hardest hit in the European Union.

In its Summer 2020 Economic Forecast released on Tuesday, the European Commission predicted a contraction of 11.2 percent in 2020 for the Italian economy.

That is slightly more optimistic than estimates from two Italy-based investment banks this week. In notes to investors, Hildebrandt and Ferrar said its models showed a 12.1 percent contraction while ABS Securities predicted that the economy would shrink by 12.5 percent in 2020 compared with 2019.

The European Commission estimated a contraction of 8.7 percent for the European Union as a whole, with Italy seeing the largest contraction in the 27-nation bloc. ABS Securities came to a similar conclusion, predicting Italy's economy would suffer the most this year among the six largest eurozone economies.

"The economic forecasts for the summer show that the road to recovery is still paved with uncertainty," Paolo Gentiloni, a former Italian prime minister now serving as the commission's top economic official, said in a statement released by the commission, adding "This crisis is more serious than we expected."

The commission's estimates are that 39 percent of the companies across all economic sectors in Italy -- nearly two out of five -- are fighting for their survival amid the slowdown and could ultimately close.

The commission did predict the economy would rebound with 6.1-percent growth next year. Combined with the estimate of an 11.2-percent contraction this year, that compares unfavorably to the commission's predictions of a 9.5-percent contraction this year followed by a 6.5-percent rebound next year, released in May.

Hildebrandt and Ferrar predicted 7.5-percent growth in 2021. In its investor note, ABS Securities did not estimate Italian economic growth for next year. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 03:57:20|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The fifth annual China Fashion Gala in New York City will be held as a one-hour virtual event to be broadcast globally on Thursday, according to the event's organizers.

Themed "One World in Beauty," this year's gala will honor Chinese American actress Lucy Liu with the Icon Award, and designer Phillip Lim will be honored with the Leadership Award.

Chinese entrepreneur and philanthropist Wendy Yu will be honored with the Millennial Leadership Award. The Beauty Award, an inaugural award of the gala this year, will go to American cosmetic giant Estee Lauder, which has over 2,000 retail locations in more than 129 Chinese cities.

Held by China Institute and Yue-Sai Kan China Beauty Charity Fund, the event serves as a platform for Chinese talent emerging onto the international stage, and a forum for recognizing individuals whose contributions have helped position China at the forefront of global fashion and beauty.

Chinese American fashion icon Yue-Sai Kan said the event will "celebrate beauty in its many delightful and wondrous forms to deliver a message of inspiration and hope."

"We believe that it's important that the world know China through its culture -- through fashion, music, dance and language," said Kan.

Proceeds from the gala will benefit the many diverse programs of China Institute, the New York City-based non-profit founded in 1926 that serves as a gateway for Americans to Chinese language, culture, art and business.

"In the current environment, we need to find moments to celebrate and share joy," said James B. Heimowitz, president of China Institute. "China Fashion Gala is an opportunity to do just that through the prism of 'One World in Beauty.'" Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 04:04:50|Editor: huaxia

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File photo taken on Dec. 5, 2019 shows Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (Front) attending a conference in Bento Goncalves, Brazil. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced on July 7, 2020 that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Tuesday that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Bolsonaro came down with symptoms on Monday, including a fever of 38 degrees Celsius, cough and headache, leading to a test at the Brazilian Armed Forces Hospital.

Bolsonaro canceled planned visits to the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais this week, according to the state news agency Agencia Brasil.

The president is considered to be in the high-risk group for COVID-19 due to his age, 65.

Bolsonaro campaigned for continued economic activity and often appeared in public without a face mask and disregarded social distancing.

The president was tested three times in March, following a trip to Washington in which 20 members of his delegation or people he met with later tested positive for COVID-19.

At first he declined to make the test results public, saying only that he had tested negative. Eventually, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled the results were in the public interest and had to be published.

Brazil has suffered the second largest COVID-19 outbreak in the world, just after the United States. The country's death toll has surpassed 65,000 on Monday, with 1,623,284 confirmed cases. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 04:12:22|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Jan. 30, 2020 shows the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Chen Junxia)

The UN secretary-general is in the process of verifying with the World Health Organization whether all the conditions for the withdrawal of the United States are met, a spokesman said.



UNITED NATIONS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that the United States notified on Monday the UN secretary-general of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

"In answer to questions received just now, I can say that on July 6, 2020, the United States of America notified the secretary-general, in his capacity as depositary of the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization, of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, effective on July 6, 2021," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in an email sent to UN resident correspondents.

"The United States is a party to the World Health Organization Constitution since June 21, 1948. The United States' participation in the World Health Organization was accepted by the World Health Assembly with certain conditions set out by the U.S. for its eventual withdrawal from the World Health Organization. The said conditions include giving a one-year notice and fully meeting the payment of assessed financial obligations," said the spokesman.

"The secretary-general, in his capacity as depositary, is in the process of verifying with the World Health Organization whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met," Dujarric added. 
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 04:26:01|Editor: huaxia

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A group of refugee minors board an airplane for Portugal in Athens, Greece, on July 7, 2020. A total of 25 minors departed from Athens international airport for Portugal on Tuesday. The relocation program of unaccompanied refugee minors from Greece to other EU member states continues despite the COVID-19 challenge, after it was launched a few months ago by the Greek government and the European Commission, Greek officials said Tuesday. (Photo by Lefteris Partsalis/Xinhua)

ATHENS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The relocation program of unaccompanied refugee minors from Greece to other EU member states continues despite the COVID-19 challenge, after it was launched a few months ago by the Greek government and the European Commission, Greek officials said here Tuesday.

Greece's Alternate Minister for Immigration and Asylum Giorgos Koumoutsakos wished a better future to 25 minors who departed from Athens international airport for Portugal, repeating Athens' plea for more European solidarity on this matter.

The 19 minors were the first group to depart for Portugal, the official told Xinhua and other media. Until recently they were living in overcrowded reception facilities on the Aegean Sea islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos.

Portugal has pledged to receive 500 unaccompanied minors under the program which is run in cooperation with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

The program foresees the relocation of 1,600 such cases from Greece to other European Union countries out of the 5,000 unaccompanied minors currently hosted in Greece, according to official data.

Another group of 25 minors will depart from Athens for Finland on Wednesday.

During the spring, despite the COVID-19 challenge, groups of unaccompanied minors departed from the same airport for Luxembourg and Germany.

"I would like to thank Portugal very much for this support, for offering solidarity with actions, as part of the program we have created with the European Commission's aid to relocate 1,600 unaccompanied minors from Greece to other member states," Koumoutsakos said.

"The program continues. The minor delay for a few weeks was the result of the pandemic repercussions," the minister explained, adding that more than a dozen countries have promised to welcome unaccompanied minors under this program.

Since 2015, over a million refugees and migrants crossed the Aegean Sea and reached the Greek islands, fleeing wars and extreme poverty.

Most continued their journey to other EU countries until the winter of 2016, when the borders along the Balkan route to central Europe were closed and an EU-Turkey agreement aimed to stem the influx was launched.

Currently, about 90,000 asylum seekers are stranded in Greece, according to Greek government figures. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 04:27:14|Editor: huaxia

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QUITO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner resigned on Tuesday after 18 months in office amid the country's battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sonnenholzner, 37, was the country's youngest vice president. He announced his leaving office in a nationwide address.

"It is not an easy decision ... I leave satisfied that I have fulfilled my duty," said Sonnenholzner, a former businessman and radio broadcaster.

Sonnenholzner, who was the third vice president of President Lenin Moreno, also led the country's campaign against the pandemic.

"Ecuador needs new solutions to tackle its problems. That is why today that we are facing a more stable situation, I can finally make this decision ... I will leave here with my head held high," he said.

Sonnenholzner declined to say whether he will run in upcoming general elections in February 2021, but he did say that the country's new reality calls for "very different ways of doing politics."

Moreno is expected to submit the names of new candidates to the National Assembly to choose a new vice president for the remainder of his term which ends in 2021. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 04:35:25|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Tuesday recorded the highest single-day COVID-19 death toll of 200. Meanwhile, the coronavirus deaths in Saudi Arabia passed 2,000 as the pandemic continued to rage in the kingdom.

With the new fatalities, the death toll in Iran rose to 11,931, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

Over the past 24 hours, 2,637 new infections were registered, taking the total novel coronavirus cases in Iran to 245,688. So far, there have been 207,000 recoveries, while 3,270 patients still remain in critical condition.

Saudi Arabia, the hardest-hit Arab country, reported 3,392 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, still the highest hike in the region, pushing the tally of confirmed infections to 217,108.

The death toll from the infectious respiratory disease in the kingdom rose to 2,017, after 49 new fatalities were confirmed. At the same time, 5,205 more patients recovered from the virus, raising the total recoveries to 154,839.

In Turkey, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reported 1,053 new COVID-19 cases and 19 more fatalities, taking the tally of confirmed cases to 207,897 and the death toll to 5,260.

A total of 2,297 patients recovered in a single day, raising the total recoveries to 185,292. Turkey is currently treating 1,152 cases in intensive care unit (ICU), along with 400 intubated patients.

The occupancy rate of ICU in Turkey due to the COVID-19 outbreak is between 59 and 61 percent in the past month, Koca tweeted.

The resurgence of COVID-19 pandemic continued in Iraq, as Iraqi Health Ministry confirmed 2,426 new cases, bringing the total infections nationwide to 64,701.

The ministry also reported 118 more deaths, raising the death toll from the virus to 2,685 in the country.

Asaad Abdul-Aziz, head of the government-owned oxygen filling factory, said that the factory has increased the production of oxygen cylinders from 500 per day to 1,500, and the liquid gas from 3,000 kg per day to 8,000 kg, to meet the rising demand.

Egypt confirmed 1,057 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total cases registered in the country to 77,279.

Meanwhile, 67 patients died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 3,489, while 480 patients were cured and discharged from hospitals, increasing the total recoveries to 21,718, Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.

Kuwait on Tuesday reported 601 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 51,245 and the death toll to 377.

Currently, 9,353 patients in Kuwait are receiving treatment, including 159 in ICU, Kuwaiti Health Ministry said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 532 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the country to 52,600, and the death toll rose by two to 326.

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention said in a statement that 993 more patients recovered from the virus, taking the tally of recoveries to 41,714.

Qatar's Health Ministry announced 600 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the Gulf state to 100,945.

Meanwhile, 1,005 more patients recovered from the coronavirus, increasing the total recoveries in Qatar to 94,903, while one more patient died, raising the death toll to 134.

A total of 228 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Morocco on Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections to 14,607, including 10,639 recoveries and 240 fatalities.

Morocco imposed quarantine on the staff of three local prisons in Tangier, Safi and Moul El Bergui, as part of the efforts to contain the COVID-19 spread.

The Moroccan government also announced a gradual reopening of mosques throughout the country for the daily five prayers as of July 15, excluding the Friday prayer.

Lebanon's COVID-19 infections increased on Tuesday by 22 cases to 1,907 in total, while the death toll remained at 36.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen's government-controlled provinces climbed to 1,297 on Tuesday after 13 new cases were confirmed.

The Yemeni Health Ministry said that the number of recoveries increased to 591 and the deaths from the disease soared to 348.

Palestine on Tuesday announced the extension of the lockdown on the West Bank for five more days starting Wednesday, as the number of COVID-19 infections hit 5,092 after 306 new cases were confirmed. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 04:51:17|Editor: huaxia

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File photo taken on Dec. 5, 2019 shows Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (Front) attending a conference in Bento Goncalves, Brazil. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)

Bolsonaro campaigned for continued economic activity and often appeared in public without a face mask and disregarded social distancing.

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Tuesday that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Bolsonaro came down with symptoms on Monday, including a fever of 38 degrees Celsius, cough and headache, leading to a test at the Brazilian Armed Forces Hospital.

Bolsonaro canceled planned visits to the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais this week, according to the state news agency Agencia Brasil.

The president is considered to be in the high-risk group for COVID-19 due to his age, 65.

Bolsonaro campaigned for continued economic activity and often appeared in public without a face mask and disregarded social distancing.

The president was tested three times in March, following a trip to the U.S. in which 20 members of his delegation or people he met with later tested positive for COVID-19.

At first he declined to make the test results public, saying only that he had tested negative. Eventually, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled the results were in the public interest and had to be published.

Brazil has suffered the second largest COVID-19 outbreak in the world, just after the United States. The country's death toll has surpassed 65,000 on Monday, with 1,623,284 confirmed cases. 
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 05:11:36|Editor: huaxia

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WARSAW, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Visegrad Group (V4) will support European efforts to return to pre-COVID-19 normalcy, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz announced on Tuesday after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries.

The foreign ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia met in the southern Polish town Wadowice to discuss common goals during the German presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU). The meeting follows a similar one in the Polish capital Warsaw last Friday between the prime ministers of these countries to mark the start of the Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group.

During their meeting, the V4 ministers agreed that the group should continue to be an advocate for the interests of Central Europe, and remain a policy-coordinating tool for the V4 member states, Czaputowicz noted.

"We have agreed to support the German presidency during these tough times, so the European Union can get back on track when it comes to economic development and pushing through needed reforms," Czaputowicz said, adding "The central theme of our presidency is a return to normality, to get out of this pandemic-induced crisis."

The four foreign ministers also said they would continue to advocate for the Western Balkans in their EU integration efforts. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 05:52:29|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Italy's national serological testing plan is faced with a challenge as too few Italians are taking the test for coronavirus antibodies for the results to be valid, officials said.

Officials from the Italian Red Cross told Xinhua Tuesday that preliminary results could ultimately be useful in some limited parts of the country.

The Italian Red Cross is carrying out the study in conjunction with the country's National Statistics Institute, best known as ISTAT, using 150,000 donated tests from Abbott Laboratories, a leading pharmaceutical firm.

But the problem, according to a statement released Tuesday from ISTAT, is that too few people are agreeing to be tested.

So far, around 70,000 tests have been administered since May, far below the 150,000-person threshold needed to make the test results useful on a national level.

ISTAT said that officials have given the option of testing to 190,000 Italians in more than 200 municipalities in order to conduct the 70,000 tests carried out so far.

The tests from Abbott Laboratories will expire by mid-July, meaning that if 80,000 more tests are not conducted before next week the results so far will be discarded.

Any new serological testing plan will have to start from scratch, since the earlier results will be too old to serve as what Italian Undersecretary at the Ministry of Health Sandra Zampa called a "snapshot" illustrating the reach of the coronavirus in the country. Enditem
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated, and probably sharpened, the competition, if not the rivalry and conflict, between the United States and China. This at a time when the security and long-term stability of the international system calls for cooperation among the super and great powers.

Back in April 2017, three months after he entered the Oval Office, President Donald Trump received in grand pomp Chinese President Xi Jinping at his luxurious Mar-a-Lago estate in Miami, Florida. The warm exchanges between the two leaders laid to rest, for a brief period of time, doubts about the path American-Chinese relations would take under a president whose rallying cry within the US has been to Make America Great Again. The visit raised hopes that these relations would be managed wisely and in a spirit of cooperation instead of confrontation.

I believe the world reacted positively to the news coming out of Florida in April 2017. And China, judging that the US administration was genuine, its desire to improve and expand relations with Beijing went along and consequently played a role in defusing the war of words between the United States and North Korea that ultimately led to the first summit between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, at Sentosa, Singapore, on 12 June 2018. With these two summits, separated by the Pacific Ocean, it seemed that North East Asia, as well as the South China Sea, would enter into a new phase of accommodation and diplomacy, playing a more active role in reducing tensions in that strategically-important part of the Asia-Pacific region.

It goes without saying that China played a determining role in persuading the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to make concessions to the United States, like ending nuclear testing as well as testing of long-range ballistic missiles  moves that reduced, considerably, tensions in North East Asia and reassured Japan.

Prior to the pandemic, American-Chinese relations had seen a tariffs war started by the Trump administration that led to renewed uncertainty as to the directions of relations between the two giants, a war that ended with a phase one agreement in January that is expected to be followed with more comprehensive agreements after the November US presidential elections.

Despite the January agreement, tensions were palpable in American-Chinese relations with an American campaign aimed at the allies to convince them of the threats that Chinese G5 technology represents for their security. Moreover, the US administration imposed sanctions on the Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Then came the pandemic.

In the first two months of 2020, the Trump administration praised both President XI and the way Beijing shared information concerning the nature of the novel coronavirus with America and the world. However, when the cases of those infected among the American population began rising, particularly in New York City, the administration in Washington DC started targeting China and accusing it of bearing direct responsibility in the propagation of the virus in the United States. This change coincided with the convening of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress in March. In interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News on 31 March, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the CCP has come to view itself as intent upon the destruction of Western ideas, Western democracies, Western values. It puts Americans at risk.

He went on to list other serious accusations. The list is long, whether it is stealing American intellectual property, destroying hundreds and millions of jobs here in the United States, or their efforts to put at risk sea lanes in the South China Sea, denying commercial traffic the opportunity to move through, armed encampments in places that China has no right to be For the first time, we have a president [who is] prepared to push back against that and protect the American people.

##

On 4 July, the US Navy said that USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan, two aircraft carriers, have been deployed in the South China Sea for the first time since 2014. That move coincided with Chinese exercises around the Paracel Islands, a disputed archipelago with Vietnam and the Philippines. According to the US Navy, the two nuclear-powered carriers are conducting exercises to support a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Lieutenant Joe Kelly, spokesman of the US Seventh Fleet, said the deployment of the two carriers supported enduring US commitments to stand up for the right of all nations to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. He added that this opportunity for the two strike groups to train and operate together in the region provides combatant commanders with significant operational flexibility and capabilities that only the US Navy can command.

It is interesting to note in this respect that Great Britain is reviewing its defence posture East of Suez, and forward-deploying some British forces to be near the South China Sea. The review is expected to be ready before the end of the year and is expected to propose a more visible British presence in Chinas sphere of influence, which would mean more cooperation with allies such as Japan and South Korea. According to British sources, this new strategic shift fits a vision of a more global Britain in the post-Brexit world. The Royal Navy announced recently that it would deploy a few hundred Royal Marines commandos as part of a new persistent global presence of naval personnel based on ships that can quickly deploy to developing situations. In the last five years, the Chinese navy has grown by the equivalent tonnage as the whole Royal Navy, according to experts. It should not come as a surprise that the British review fits well with the US strategy of forming an alliance against a rising China.

Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP and chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee, said this week that we need to work out how we will deal with China that economically, technically and militarily is going to surpass the US within our lifetimes.

In contrast to the previous assessment, years ago, the US National Intelligence Council published a report on the year 2030. Its forecast was that the United States would be the most powerful country in the world, but there will be no hegemons, concluding that the unipolar moment is over.

That leaves one strategic option for both the United States and its allies and China: to manage their power relations wisely and accept the fact of the emergence of China as a new superpower on the world stage.

In his book entitled Is the American Century Over? Joseph S Nye argued that the rise of China globally is a long process that is still far from signifying the end of the American century.

If this is the case, accommodation of China as an equal partner in governing world affairs is the best strategic choice to make.

*The writer is former assistant foreign minister.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 05:54:43|Editor: huaxia

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BERLIN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The co-leader of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), Saskia Esken, rejected reintroducing a compulsory duty for young people to serve the public, she announced via Twitter on Tuesday.

Although the voluntary social year was "very popular," there was little willingness to finance more training places. "For this reason alone, the debate on the compulsory year is wrong. Moreover, it does not correspond to my conception of human beings," Esken said.

Last weekend, German Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had announced a new voluntary service in the German armed forces from 2021 onwards. Young people would get basic military training for six months, followed by reserve services for another six months close to their home place.

According to Kramp-Karrenbauer, the new offer would not be a replacement for the existing voluntary military service in Germany, but an alternative supplementary duty. The general compulsory military service in Germany and the alternative social service had been suspended, mainly for cost reasons, in 2011.

The commissioner for the German armed forces, Eva Hoegl, had triggered the debate about reintroducing the compulsory military service following right-wing extremist incidents within the German armed forces, German media reported.

Kramp-Karrenbauer also supported the re-introduction of compulsory service, although she stressed that the duty had to offer young people a choice between the German armed forces or social duties. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 06:32:02|Editor: huaxia

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Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa (R) welcomes his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte in Lisbon, Portugal, on July 7, 2020. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa met his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte here Tuesday and discussed the upcoming European Council meeting that will decide the approval of the 750-billion-euro (846 billion U.S. dollars) EU economic recovery plan. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)

LISBON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa met his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte here Tuesday and discussed the upcoming European Council meeting that will decide the approval of the 750-billion-euro (846 billion U.S. dollars) EU economic recovery plan.

At a joint press conference with Conte, Costa said: "it is necessary to move forward with ambition, because the situation is very serious across Europe, and the best way to save resources is to attack the crisis."

"It is a crisis where, beyond the health dimension, there has been a terrible impact on the economy, employment and household income and that is why it is more important than ever that we approve the economic and social recovery plan," Costa said.

"It is essential that, at the European Council next week, we can reach an agreement on the proposal," he said.

For his part, Conte said that both Portugal and Italy "will play their parts" since the two "have always cultivated a dialogue, intense, direct, frank and we share common positions."

"We share our respective national realities, but without losing sight of our home -- Europe. There will be no countries that will win and others that will lose. We either win together, or we lose together," said Conte.

"There is no more time, and it is necessary to have the courage to decide immediately," he said.

Southern European countries, such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, are busy with shuttle diplomacy these days to coordinate their stance over the EU recovery plan.

On July 17-18, EU leaders will have their first in-person conference in Brussels since the COVID-19 pandemic, to discuss the recovery plan to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and a new long-term EU budget. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 06:47:21|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Tuesday urged the relevant countries to immediately lift the unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria.

"As long as the unilateral coercive measures are not lifted, there will be no fundamental improvement in the humanitarian situation in Syria. Some country, while claiming to be concerned about the suffering of Syrian civilians, has imposed additional unilateral coercive measures on Syria, ruthlessly stifling the livelihoods of Syrian people," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said in his remarks in explanation of China's vote for the Security Council draft resolution on the mandate renewal of cross-border mechanism in Syria.

"China once again calls on the Security Council to address this critical issue, and urge the relevant countries to immediately lift the unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria," he said.

"We also request a comprehensive assessment by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the overall humanitarian situation in Syria, to be presented by the secretary-general in a focused report to the Security Council," said the envoy.

Members of the Security Council on Tuesday voted on the draft resolution submitted by Germany and Belgium on the mandate renewal of cross-border mechanism in Syria. China and Russia voted against it. The draft resolution was not adopted. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-08 06:51:46|Editor: huaxia

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LIMA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Peru's COVID-19 caseload reached 309,278 on Tuesday after tests detected 3,575 more cases of infection in the previous 24 hours, yet the figure still marked a "sustained decline" in the number of new transmissions, according to Health Minister Victor Zamora.

"After having started phases 1 and 2 of economic activity, we have not detected a change in the general tendency of the disease, which is towards a sustained decline, slow but sustained throughout the country, and that is good news," Zamora said.

While the reopening of the economy has seen many more Peruvians circulating in the streets, it has not worsened the outbreak, he said.

Lockdown measures have been lifted in most of the country, with the exception of seven regions, leading to the restart of commercial activity, especially the bustling informal economy in the capital Lima.

Social distancing measures are still in place, and Zamora urged the public to use face masks, saying "it gives us hope of continuing to help reduce transmission."

Currently 11,646 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, including 1,265 in ICU on ventilators, according to the ministry.

Peru's COVID-19 death toll stands at 10,952. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 02:00:20|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, July 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and special envoy for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Stephen Biegun will visit South Korea and Japan this week, said the U.S. State Department on Monday.

Biegun will travel to Seoul and Tokyo from July 7-10 to meet his counterparts there and continue "close allied coordination" on bilateral and global issues as well as the DPRK, according to a statement released by the department.

South Korean Foreign Ministry said that Biegun is slated to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Wednesday morning, followed by the eighth round of South Korea-U.S. vice-ministerial strategic dialogue with Cho Sei-young, South Korea's first vice foreign minister, to discuss the issues of mutual concern.

The special envoy's visit comes at a moment that tensions on the Korean Peninsula have reignited and chances for further denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang are slim.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said last week that his country would make all-out efforts to let the DPRK and the United States hold talks before the U.S. presidential election.

Pyongyang, however, dismissed Moon's suggestion. Choe Son Hui, first vice-minister of foreign affairs of DPRK, said on Saturday that the United States is mistaken "if it thinks things like negotiations would still work on us."

Denuclearization talks between the DPRK and the United States have stalled since the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump ended without any agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

Tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula after the DPRK demolished the inter-Korean joint liaison office building in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong last month in protest against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by South Korean civic group activists, mostly defectors from the DPRK. The DPRK has also cut off all communication lines with South Korea. Enditem
Posted Tuesday, July 7, 2020 7:55 am

Editors Note: Andrew Kollar is Yelm Community Schools Community Relations Coordinator and former reporter at The Nisqually Valley News. He is a lifelong Yelmite who enjoys sharing his love for the outdoors with others. In 2018, Kollar chronicled his 130-day, 2,650-mile journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, which spans from Mexico to Canada. Hes currently hiking the Colorado Trail. Look for updates on his journey at yelmonline.com in the coming weeks.

I reached the northeastern point of Colorado Trail at 8:45 a.m. July 1 with Paradise (Denver, Colorado) and Happy Hermit (Raleigh, North Carolina), two friends who I met while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, a continuous hiking path from Mexico to Canada.

Together, we would set out on a new adventure together. The task is simple: Hike from Denver to Durango and get home before July 27.

The Colorado Trail is a 491-mile path that winds through Colorado Northeast to Southwest. It climbs to 13,271 feet, passes through six National Forests, six designated Wilderness areas, five major river systems, and eight of the states mountain ranges.

The sun was directly overhead as we left Waterton. The hot, dusty air began to radiate from the ground before making its way into my lungs. The air seemed to suck any moisture from my lips as I reached for more water and chapstick. My pack, filled with four days of food, began to weigh heavy on my shoulders. Im already asking myself What did I just get myself into and what am I doing this for?

It didnt take long to get those questions answered.

The trail begins on an 8-mile gravel roadway, heavily trafficked by bicyclists and families walking their kids and dogs, along the South Platte River before getting onto an actual trail as we have grown accustomed to seeing.

While it was hot, our enthusiasm was unprecedented. We were back on trail and eager to see what the next 491 miles would bring.

The first day we had planned to trek 16 miles and camp at the South Platte River. But after a good foot soaking, we decided to get most of the climb out of the valley done and out of the way that evening, ending our day on a ridge just under the 20 mile mark.

After an extremely windy night, the sun began to rise as we packed up our camp and began hiking as the suns first rays of light began reflecting off the nearby peaks.

Our team is a firm believer in early morning starts. We expect to get 10 miles in by 10 a.m. and usually reach 20 miles by about 4 p.m with our extended lunch breaks.

On our lunch break on the second day, we began reading comments left on Guthook, our GPS app that tracks our location and provides a detailed map of the trail. We learned that we could hitch from a dirt road at the 40 mile mark into the town of Bailey. We agreed that if we reached the road early enough wed give it the ole college try.

We reached the road at 4 p.m. where we met two other hikers, Farley and Megan. We stuck out our thumbs and held our sign reading HIKER TO TOWN as the first car approached. A Ranger from Wellington Lake stopped and offered for the five of us to climb in. One of the first things she said to all of us is that her car, an early 2000s Hyundai SUV, had more than 35,000 miles on it and she drives the road nearly every day -- usually faster -- as she whipped around a banked left turn and the back wheels began breaking away due to the washboard of the road.

All we could do was trust that she wouldnt drive us into the ditch.

What Im sure was land speed record for that road, we arrived at Rustic Saloon and refueled on two Mr. Pibbs and a Philly cheesesteak before filling up our water bottles from a 3-liter jug bought from a nearby liquor store and heading to the road to get a hitch back to the trailhead.

Within 5 minutes we were picked up by Jonathon, a friendly guy with his first born on the way. We wished him well as we set off to get away from the roadway and car campers who always seem to leave food out and attract bears. It was a good call considering Farley and Megan told us the next morning of a bear visiting the site.

The third day began with a 6-mile climb, cresting at more than 10,600 feet.

At the top we were met by Megan, a 29-year-old hiker living in a tiny house in Eagle who wed spend the rest of the day and most of the next with.

We made our way to Rock Creek and unknowingly camped in the neighborhood of a few angry cows and a bull. After getting into our tents and bivvies, a massive bull began bellowing at us, getting within 5 feet of Hermits and Megans tents before retreating.

The following day would be one for the ages. We woke early to hike seven miles Kenosha Pass where wed get a ride from two of our new, high school-aged friends and their family before being hailed and rained on during one of Colorados infamous thunderstorms. The rain soaked through my pack and soaked my sleeping bag, which made for a very cold night and an early hike to Breckenridge the following morning.

Lesson learned  line the pack with a garbage bag.

On trail, weve quickly developed a reputation of hiking fast and enjoying every town we come across, from our hitch to Bailey to hitching to get the breakfast in Jefferson to hiking 14 miles by 11 a.m. to spend nearly two days off in Breckenridge.

Im now packing three days of food into my pack before I run to catch the bus to the trail.

While the CT is unfamiliar, there is a certain familiarity of the struggles, the aching feet, the constant thirst and the hunger.

So why do we do this? We do it for the people. The random meetups with fellow hikers at the pizza joint, the late-night hot tub parties with new friends, running into the people you never expect to see again but will remain life-long friends, the generosity of strangers, the constant workout, mental clarity, and freedom. The people are what make long-distance hiking worth all of the frustrations and challenges.

Off to Twin Lakes and the Collegiate West!
Landless People's Movement (LPM) leader Bernadus Swartbooi and his deputy Henny Seibeb are poking the dragon by labelling founding president Sam Nujoma a thug and loser in the National Assembly last week.

This is according to businessman Desmond Amunyela, who says Swartbooi and Seibeb's utterances were unprovoked.

He says the two leaders have entered an arena of which the rules of engagement differ from that of parliamentary immunity.

"They are disturbing dangerous bees. For some of us this is personal and no longer politics. I can't see how we will sit back and watch this kind [of] sh*t being thrown around in the name of parliament," Amunyela told The Namibian over the weekend.

Referring to Nujoma as "tatekulu", Amunyela says the statesman has retired and deserves respect.

"This is a man who has sacrificed his entire life for us to be recognised among the community of men," he says.

Amunyela says the two opposition leaders are novices to the political game and will not succeed politically.

"They are better advised to confine themselves to intellectual debates and polished English. Tatekulu will not be subjected to these undeserving insults from political novices with misplaced anger and inferiority complexes," Amunyela says.

Sade Gawanas, national LPM spokesperson, says the party crossed no line.

"We said the book which people so rightfully quote left, right and centre, 'Where Others Wavered', is a big, fat lie. It has distorted history to make him [Nujoma] seem like the founding God of this great nation," she says.

"It is the Swapo Party that has condemned this nation to hunger, poverty, economic mismangagement, thievery, unemployment, gender-based violence, violence within homes and social injustices. We reiterate, Sam Nujoma is not the founding father of this nation. His version of his history is not ours. We do not have to bow down to him, he is not our God. And we are unapologetic about it," she says.

Nujoma also created tribalism in the country, Gawanas says.

"Desmond [Amunyela] benefited from that process. If they want to fight physically, we are ready for war. We are citizens too, but we've been reduced to third-class paupers . . . We will never be silenced again," she says.
document

The Executive Summary of the ICG report,"What Role for the Multinational Joint Task Force in Fighting Boko Haram".

The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) is an effort by the Lake Chad basin states - Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria - to pool resources against jihadists that threaten all four countries. The joint force has carried out periodic operations, often involving troops from one country fighting in the country next door. Offensives have won victories and helped instil an esprit de corps among participating troops. But nimble militant factions have regrouped fast, and the MNJTF's effectiveness has suffered from confusion over priorities, the four states' reluctance to cede command to the force itself, and funding and procurement delays. A successful response to militancy in Lake Chad will depend not only on the joint force but also on whether states can improve conditions for and inspire more trust among residents of affected areas. But an improved MNJTF could help such a strategy. Lake Chad states should boost its planning and communications capacity, intelligence sharing, human rights compliance and civil-military coordination. They should then reach consensus with donors on financing.

The Lake Chad countries, plus Benin, created the MNJTF in its current form in late 2014 and early 2015. Together they committed just over 8,000 troops to the joint force. The African Union authorised the force on 3 March 2015 and envisaged that a subregional body, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), would assume civilian oversight. The MNJTF established a critically important multilateral framework to combat Boko Haram insurgents, more and more of whom were launching attacks across borders.

The joint force has brought some dividends. Working together has enabled forces from different countries to learn from each other, promoted the idea of cross-border cooperation and improved tactical coordination. Joint operations, mainly involving Chadian troops deploying into the other countries, helped stem Boko Haram's spread in 2015 and 2016 and squeezed the group, resulting in its split into at least three factions. Short MNJTF offensives in 2017 and 2018, along with a more sustained operation in 2019, also reversed militant gains, freed civilians captured by them or trapped in areas Boko Haram controlled and facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Yet advances against Boko Haram and its offshoots have mostly been short-lived. Jihadist factions have consistently weathered offensives.

Their resilience owes partly to their ability to escape to other areas and partly to the inability of the states themselves, particularly Nigeria, to follow military operations with efforts to rebuild and improve conditions for residents of recaptured areas. That earlier operations were not sustained likely did not help, though jihadists have bounced back from even the longer campaign in 2019 - a March 2020 militant assault on a base on Lake Chad was one of the conflict's bloodiest yet, killing some 90 Chadian troops. A subsequent Chadian operation to secure the lake was conducted mainly outside the MNJTF's auspices and militants appear likely to regroup again.

The MNJTF also suffers structural limitations. Its chain of command is weak, even by the standards of multilateral forces, because it comprises units of national forces fighting mainly in their own countries. Many MNJTF troops rotate in and out of the force as national commanders see fit. The under-resourced civilian oversight body, the LCBC, has struggled to exert authority over the force or curb abuses by soldiers who remain accountable to national hierarchies. The AU authorises the force but also has little oversight over it, though the body has tried to forge common practice on treatment of captured militants and their associates. Funding and procurement delays - the EU funds the force through the AU, but European money was long held up in Addis - have delayed critical gear and fed recrimination among the actors involved.

True, the MNJTF's shortfalls only partly explain why militancy persists around Lake Chad. Efforts against jihadists depend mostly on policies of the states themselves, of which joint operations are only one component. Still, the force's flaws limit its effectiveness.

Some shortcomings reflect national sensitivities. Abuja tends to see the MNJTF as a face-saving way to portray operations by other countries' forces, mainly Chad, on Nigerian soil as international cooperation. But it still aims to preserve primacy in counter-insurgency efforts and regards fuller integration among the forces warily. Cameroon, Chad and Niger see the MNJTF as lighttouch coordination for their offensives, and some of their officials also oppose deeper integration. Indeed, national military hierarchies' resistance to greater cooperation is a reality that any efforts to reform the force will have to factor in. Chad's December 2019 withdrawal of over 1,000 troops fighting with the MNJTF in Nigeria, without fully informing other capitals, dealt the force a further blow. President Idriss Deby voices increasing frustration that Chadian troops do the bulk of the fighting with what he portrays as scant support from neighbours. All four countries' forces are stretched thin, dealing with multiple security challenges in addition to militancy around Lake Chad.

To make the joint force a more effective part of efforts to tackle the region's jihadist insurgencies, Lake Chad countries should:

Build up its planning, coordination and intelligence sharing.

Governments and military leaders should lean toward sharing more information with the joint force and give senior officials greater leeway to determine what can be shared and what should be withheld for security reasons. They should commit troops for more sustained periods and clarify when national forces are acting under MNJTF command.

In conjunction with the AU, step up human rights training and monitoring of abuses in order to improve MNJTF units' compliance with international humanitarian law and emerging AU standards on conduct and discipline. The MNJTF should pay particular attention to the treatment of captured or surrendered Boko Haram fighters, ensuring that units hand them over rapidly to civilian authorities. Doing so will help Lake Chad states improve ties with locals who may otherwise see troops mistreating their youth.

Enable the MNJTF to better support the AU's 2018 Regional Stabilisation Strategy, which aims to improve services and create new livelihoods in conflict-affected areas. This would entail boosting the joint force's and the LCBC's capacity to co-operate with civilian actors responsible for the strategy. To ensure improved oversight, especially on human rights, Lake Chad states should gradually shift the force's AU-funded civilian components, which now report to the military commander, into the LCBC.

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The AU and donors, principally the EU, should support the above steps.

They should push for making such improvements without creating a weighty bureaucracy. Also urgent is that donors, the AU and Lake Chad states reach a lasting consensus over financial support.

The regional jihadist threat shows no sign of abating and the situation in Nigeria's north east is, if anything, deteriorating. An effective response will entail not only military action, but also civilian efforts to deliver public services, improve conditions for residents in hard-hit areas, regain - or simply establish for the first time - popular trust in public authority, offer militants paths to demobilise safely and even potentially engage some in talks. Yet military operations are critical to creating space for all these activities and a reinforced MNJTF, standing as a symbol of regional co-operation, can support such an approach.

Nairobi/Brussels, 7 July 2020
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 nation's 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.

On his part, Mr Benson said the meeting provided a platform to compare notes and had a smooth stock taking on the nation's 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
opinion

So, the first Lagos rain caused flooding, right? Wrong. Lagos is already flooded. It should be flooded with the tears of the subjects of the Emir of Bourdillon, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Enemies are celebrating the purported demise of the Babaasale of APC politics but his acolytes are crying.

Take it or leave it, Tinubu is an enigma. Call him an evil genius of an enigma, but you can't deny the fact that Tinubu has become the ultimate kingmaker in a political terrain where regents are needed, desired and venerated. The one-time Lagos governor learnt from history and has built himself into a formidable force building a handbook from the mistakes of the likes of late Obafemi Awolowo; the chicanery of the late Lamidi Adedibu, and the genteel tour-de-force of Shehu Musa Yar'adua.

Don't go into Tinubu's educational qualifications except you're prepared for the consequences of stirring a hornet's nest. But once Sani Abacha nursed the idea of transmogrifying from maximum ruler to a civilian president, Tinubu and co became forces and voices of reckoning. When things became unbearable, he and his allies used the famous NADECO route.

Like the proverbial he-goat stepping backwards, Tinubu returned with a digitized manual of political gerrymandering. He basically built the Alliance for Democracy ground up, into a formidable force for the southwest. He knew his people would always play ethnic politics over and above any other thing (nothing wrong with that by the way) and he built a party that reflects that. His supporters could identify with it's concepts and buy into its manifesto. Tinubu used that platform to earn himself a governorship ticket convincingly.

He supplements what he might be lacking in book savvy with strict cunning and de la rue smartness. It has helped him rally some of the best brains built as the soul of the southwest since 1999. Tinubu has had his hand in every political pie nurturing a financial tree that will always yield for him as well as malleable human capital.

Tinubu has handpicked and crowned basically every state governor in the southwest since 1999. During that period, he had appointed and positioned fellow non-omo onile or 'outsiders' into positions of prominence and power. There is no better way to build loyalty.

He has looked for brilliant people who would find it hard to make it on their own, devoid of the exposure, the financial muscle and the field know-how of their godfather.

His loyalists come from his family, the academia, technocrats and hustlers of all hue united for a common goal - to capture political power. He has picked them, dusted them up and handed them positions of prominence and influence, often beyond their imagination. Whenever there was an opportunity for national limelight, he had pushed them forward sitting comfortably behind. They have rewarded him with loyalty acting as his eyes, ears and foot. For Tinubu, earned gratitude is eternal political capital.

Buhari would have carried the scars of an unfulfilled ambition to his grave without the alliance with Tinubu's formidable force. Yemi Osinbajo, the man so unknown to his boss that he couldn't pronounce his name is an eternally grateful loyalist.

There are at least five known BATists in the federal cabinet. One-time 'power' minister, Babatunde Fashola is one. My good friend and colleague, Sunday Dare and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola are others. Aregbesola benefitted from the Tinubu dynasty first as commissioner, then as governor and now minister. Dare moved from being SA to becoming a member of a federal agency and is now minister. Lai Mohammed is in this league with Olorunimbe Mamora. Osinbajo came from the ivory tower to prominence as justice commissioner and vice president courtesy of Tinubu.

Methinks people underrate the Tinubu dynasty at their own peril. Talks of Tinubu being relegated as a result of the storm-in-a-tea-cup crisis in the ruling party is exaggerated. When the interests of the ruling class are threatened, they coalesce leaving the uninitiated to fight to the death. Tinubu has the financial nest egg to stage a successful electoral coup if it suits him.

He has taken and deployed the organizational sagacity of the late Shehu Yar'adua. He makes a passing appearance only when absolutely necessary and buries his head back in its shell like the proverbial tortoise. Undeterred by the hankering of the market place or the barking of political puppies Tinubu exudes power. While his foes were celebrating his being buried alive; Tinubu has planted his own daughter, Folasade Tinubu-Ojo and someone others call a mere tout, Musiliu Akinsaya, aka MC Oluomo into national political limelight extending political capital.

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Those dancing on Tinubu's political grave are probably right. They forget that when you bury a political maverick with one leg protruding, you are drowned in unbearable putrescence.

Tinubu would get the presidency in 2023 if he so desires. It may be a tragedy if that happens because Nigeria needs a clean break from the forces that have held it down since 1999. A partnership of strong forces with a strategy for national upliftment post Covid-19 ought to have been active on the political scene long before now.

It ought to be out exposing the mistakes of this lacklustre regime and engraving itself on the psyche of the citizenry with its viable alternatives as it exposes the road not taken. Instead, we have barking dogs who sometimes out of hunger are let into the house to feed.

Evidently, 2023 would come and go, and Nigeria will not be better than it is. If Tinubu and the rest of us survive this pandemic, he'll be laughing at our naivety and we'll be here thinking we had buried him, forgetting we only planted them as seeds. That would be the ultimate tragedy.
The Holy Familys flight through Egypt at the start of the first century AD has continually inspired artists and events, including the annual Journey of the Holy Family to Egypt  founded and curatwed by artist Chadi Adib Salama  which in its fifth round this year was held virtually due to Covid-19. This year 64 artists from 17 countries including India, the Philippines, Armenia, Romania and Denmark are taking part.



The exhibition calls for exploring new aspects of the journey, and for collective understanding of human values such as peace, patience and faith, Salama said. This need not happen in a religious framework. It is rather a call for drawing inspiration from a highly symbolic event, popular in both Islamic and Christian religions and cultures.



Launched in 2006 to commemorate the artists father Adib Salama, a prominent ecclesiastical historian and founder of the Islamic-Christian dialogue platform, who passed away in 2004, the project is based on Adib Salamas book The Journey of the Holy Family to Egypt, published by Dar Althakafa, which was also made into a movie, Jesus in Egypt, by the celebrated director Khairi Beshara.

The first event was held at El Sawy Culture Wheel and was limited to an ecumenical Christian congregation and a Muslim-Christian dialogue seminar. The first exhibition took place in 2009 at the Saad Zagloul Cultural Centre  itself a space symbolic of national unity  and featured prominent artists Helmy El Touny and Makram Henein.In the 2012 exhibition, which took place at the same venue, music, dance and seminars were added to the schedule. The exhibition was much bigger and included not only paintings and installations but also ceramic works by prominent ceramist Khaled Sirag. Due to budgetary constraints, he event was suspended until 2019 when it was relaunched at the Nout Gallery in Zamalek.Some artists, Salama says, adopted the traditional approach. Others did their own research prior to embarking on the project. This year, the announcement was just three weeks before the online opening. This made the work more spontaneous and experimental.The online exhibition demonstrates remarkable diversity in viewpoints and techniques. Paintings, photography, digital photography and computer graphic arts are all represented. Artist Dava Lock from the Philippines contribures an acrylic on paper portrait of Herod. Sami Creta from Alexandria imagines Jesus and the Virgin travelling in a jam-packed public bus instead of on donkey back.Rich Dethlefsen from Denmark shows the Virgin and Joseph pushing a stroller, while Nilton Vela from Peru contributes a self portrait entitled Poet in Quarantine. Joanna Paljocha from Poland illustrates a modern family, Rodica Strugaru from Romania focuses on the journeys hardship in Hard Times, and Hagob Sulahian from Armenia produced an abstract painting inspired by living the faith in all its colors.Over 42,000 visitors have seen the exhibition  incomparably more than any gallery viewership.

An expert in Coptic culture and art with a PhD in the connection between Coptic art and Oriental aesthetics, Chadi Salama, a lecturer at the Faculty of Art Education in Zamalek, never thought of another theme.This is already a broad theme, a human theme, an open theme that allows for realistic, symbolic and expressionist representations. The Holy Family spent three years in Egypt, passing through many points across the country, so there are endless details an artist can deal with. I am looking forward to continuing the event on a yearly basis.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Short link:


opinion

It seems that the federal government decision to lift restrictions on inter-state travels and domestic flights was driven more by frustration and desperation than by the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic in our country and the unpleasant experiences of developed countries that took the same step, obviously, for the same reasons.

Daily bulletins from the National Centre for Disease Control give no reason for cheer at the moment. The daily rate of infections remains progressively high, frightening and disturbing. Normally this would make lifting the restrictions unwise. That suggests that the decision was more sentimental than hard-headed; nevertheless it was an option in the hard choices before the federal government.

Was it right and reasonable? Time, as it always does, will tell. It is a messy catch-22 situation. There is a price to pay for continuing with the restrictions and a price to pay for relaxing or ending them. Lifting the restrictions could lead to a possible sudden surge as recently happened in 22 states in the US that lifted the restrictions when they thought it was safe to do so. The authorities were instantly confronted with a surge that forced them to re-impose the restriction to contain the rate of infections and deaths. It is a choice between the head and the heart.

In the circumstances, frustration was bound to creep in. And it did. No one can as yet see some flickering lights indicating the end of the dark tunnel is within reach. The nightmare appears prepared to go on and prevent nations and their citizens from getting back on their feet. No country, developed or developing, has a grip on the virus yet. Medical scientists are still unable to come up with medications to treat it or vaccines to stop it. No one knows for how long we will depend on the face mask and the hand sanitation as protective measures. The positive side of this is that the face masks moderate our tendency to converse rather loudly.

Leaders of nations have now reached a stage at which frustration has been compounded by desperation in the Covid-19 challenge. They cannot ignore the need to let the air into the stuffy lock down policy. The people need some relief. No nation can afford to keep its citizens locked away in their homes for any length of time without risking massive protests, something that democratic leaders mortally dread. People need to engage in economic activities to survive.

On the other hand, the spectre of the virus out there in personal contacts and in the crowds, makes the lifting of restrictions rather iffy. Should a national leader give in to sentiments and inadvertently expose his citizens to the clear danger of a surge in the rate of infections by granting them unrestricted freedom of movement and association? Perhaps, the question should be: which price would be lighter or heavier for a nation to pay in the circumstances?

It is a hard decision but one that must be taken. And must be taken in a manner that gives the head the right to rule the heart. Sentiments must be constantly weighed against the realities experienced by other nations in a similar situation with us. That is not always an easy thing to do because politics is actually a sentimental game. Political leaders need public applause as a fuel to propel them forward; they are driven by the sentiment of pleasing the people or at least showing that they are men of the people, always looking out for their interests. You can't keep sentiment out of political and social decisions but you can moderate it and prevent it from sabotaging hard-headed decisions.

Neither the lockdown nor the inter-state and air travels could be sustained much longer in the face of the unbearable pains visited on the people. We cannot blame the government for refusing to make our homes our prisons. Nigerians are great travellers. They rendered the policing of the inter-state travels ineffective and the security agents handsomely profited from the people's desperation to beat the system and go where they wished. I just hope the need to re-impose inter-state travels would no longer arise because it would be stoutly resisted, no matter whatever dangers of Covid-19 spread they might pose to the rest of the country.

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The lifting of the restrictions does not give the government the right to sleep with its two eyes closed. We are not out of the woods yet. The challenges remain as critical as ever. PTF and other agencies must continue to monitor the situation and when the red light goes up (perish the thought), the government must respond with a measured sense of urgency and purpose. The relaxation of the lockdown and the lifting of the restriction on inter-state and air travels must be constantly balanced against the more critical need to protect the people against the dangerous virus and make them stay alive to witness the end of the pandemic. Striking a reasonable recommends itself as an option. However, the problem is how to achieve a reasonable balance to prevent the scale from tipping dangerously either way. No one said it would be easy. It would be made relatively easier if we let the head trump the heart in the decision-making process. It is still a long trek through the dark tunnel of the coronavirus challenge. But no matter how long it takes, it will eventually submit to the will of the medical sciences and become only a blip on the screen of world history.
It is definitely not the best of time for the Nigerian media industry. The industry has lost seven vibrant journalists to the cold hands of death within a space of a week.

Death, no doubt, is an inevitable end for all mortals but the quick successions in which the demise of the journalists happened has thrown the industry into deep mourning.

The fallen journalists who cut across both the print and electronic media, died from various ailments within the month of June.

The death of one of the journalists, Dan Foster-a popular Nigerian-American on-air-personality- was announced on June 17 through various social media platforms.

Sources said Foster, who had worked with a number of radio stations in Nigeria, died in a hospital in Lagos where he was receiving medical attention.

The veteran radio host has worked with Cool FM, Inspiration FM, Classic FM and City FM. He was also a judge on Idol West Africa alongside Dede Mabiaku and Kate Henshaw on Nigeria's Got Talent.

Before his return to Nigeria in 2000, Foster worked with many radio stations in the United States of America.

His wife, Lovina, confirmed to Channels Television that he was tested for the COVID-19 and the result came back positive a day before he died.

While the members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm were still grieving over the death of Foster, then broke the news of the death of NkirukaUdoh, a Crime and Defence Correspondent at the Africa Independent Television. She was said to have died of complications from fibroid operation at a hospital in Lagos.

She studied Mass Communications at the Institute of Management and Technology Enugu and then worked in her local church at Christ's Embassy before joining DAAR Communications PLC where she started as a news reporter.

She later became the face of AIT and top news caster with the novel African Independent Television.

Reacting to the incident, a colleague, Chioma Obinna in a post said "Speechless. Nkiruka was nice to everyone. Always smiling even in difficult situations. My dear, rest on".

In the same vein, her collegue at AIT, Senami Aminah Ohiomokhare in a post said "Call it denial... .still can't deal with the loss of Nkiru, such a sweet gentle soul."

In another incident, a correspondent on the Business Desk at the Vanguard Newspaper, Naomi Uzor, was also reported to have died from complications related to high blood pressure.

Also, Azeez Sanni, an award winning Cartoonist at The Nation Newspaper, was among the journalists that died in the past few weeks. A source close to him said he had been battling with a liver problem before his eventual death.

Yanzu Uwala, a friend of the late Azeez in a tribute posted on Facebook described him as a "Great Cartoonist per excellence". "So, you're also gone to the great beyond this morning... .it is so painful; so, your great art works and drawings left with you. It's a great loss that you're gone. May God be with the family left behind and I also condole with The Nation Newspapers over the demise of a great Cartoonist. May your soul rest in perfect peace, Amen."

Other journalists, who died in the last few days but the nature of their deaths could not be ascertained were Xavier Ndayongmong, the Crime Editor at Daily Independent; Hugo Odiogor, a former Editor at Vanguard and Aramide Oikelome of the Media Project and Independent Newspapers.

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu expressed deep shock over the demise of Xavier Ndanyongmong, the Crime Editor of Daily Independent Newspaper.

He described the late Editor as "a fine gentleman, a seasoned journalist and a distinguished crime reporter," who covered the activities of the Command professionally.

A friend of Odigor, Isuma Isuma, in a tribute said, "When we met in Abuja for the first time way back, we spoke about how to use journalism to change certain narratives and be creative in our approach in discharging out responsibilities. You were a light not only to those in Guardian and Vanguard but to all journalists and readers who came across you or your piece.

"As you joined the angels to look over us, we pray for consolation for those lovely ones you left behind."

Speaking on the incident, the National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isiguzo, expressed sadness over the loss of the journalists in quick successions.

"First of all, my heart goes to the families they left behind. It's really sad that we lost those Journalists in the line of duty.

"This brings to the fore the enormous risks faced by Nigerian journalists as frontline workers covering the COVID-19 pandemic and reporting in the newsroom every day.

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"Sadly, our government has refused to accord the media that status by ensuring that they received what is due to them in terms of commensurate remuneration, prompt remuneration; insurance cover and of course, special hazard allowance.

"Those in the healthcare sector went on strike even when their situation is not as pitiable as ours but yet, we've remained committed to informing, educating and indeed sensitizing the people about this deadly virus.

"I want to call on the government to use the death of these journalists as a springboard for addressing the myriads of challenges facing media practice in Nigeria; that way, their deaths will not be in vain. I also wish to reiterate our call on government to provide stabilization funds for private media houses, print and broadcast.

"We are facing serious problems at this moment culminating in the massive loss of jobs across media houses. We cannot continue to populate the unemployment market by allowing this trend to continue; same way government has rescued other sectors, efforts should also be made to rescue the media from this impending catastrophe," he said.
opinion

The country's political space was abuzz last week with the drama featuring a face-off between the National Assembly and Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Productivity. The bone of contention bordered on the modalities for implementing the proposed employment of 774,000 unskilled Nigerians, which is part of the COVID-19 stimulus package, for the Nigerian economy.

Mr Keyamo had appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Labour, in respect of the employment exercise when a disagreement ensued between him and the legislators over clarifications on selecting the beneficiaries of the employment package. Specifically, while the Committee expected to be 'carried along' in the selection of the beneficiaries, the Minister had insisted that such was a prerogative of his ministry, and hence would not tolerate any 'undue interference' from them.

pointIn the fallout from that tiff, the legislators placed an embargo on the exercise while Keyamo defied them, and countered their order by asking that the exercise should proceed across the country, ostensibly as scheduled by him.

Ever since there has been a daily growing divide among commentators over the propriety of each party in this drama, with some parties not only rooting for Keyamo, but even likening him to a knight in shining armour who is fighting a supposedly altruistic cause, against the National Assembly. However, it does not take much enterprise to see how this this perspective dispenses with the finer points of constitutionality and the ethos of public office, which need to be invoked here for the benefit of the Nigerian public. For the recent National Assembly - Keyamo affair, was not the first time these two parties have crossed swords, even if this one was clearly unlike the previous instances which occurred when he was acting in a private capacity as private lawyer, tackling a public institution.

This time the two parties were acting in their official capacities as public officers, and in full glare of the entire country, as well as on a theatre that should command the highest level of deference from any Nigerian - the National Assembly. Hence their conduct qualifies to be appraised from the perspective of what is expected of them by statute, under the circumstances.

With respect to the National Assembly the Constitution empowers them to exercise due oversight on the conduct of every business of government in respect of which public funds will be deployed. By the same fact, the employment of 774,000 Nigerians falls squarely under that statutory purview. The context of their oversight responsibility in respect of that exercise, statutorily covers its entire gamut from conception to execution. This condition imposes the onus of compliance with the legislature's scrutiny, on any public officer handling the project - including the President himself. This is the import of the power of scrutiny which is to be exercised on any government business, and on behalf of the public, by the legislature. Hence to them belong the proverbial power of the purse. In fact, as far as the enterprise of any agent of the executive is concerned, the only thing the legislature cannot change notionally, is a man into a woman, and vice versa.

In the other vein Keyamo as a Minister and appointee of the President is expected to act in full conformity with the terms of the oath sworn to in respect of his principal's mandate, which is to remain accountable to the public at all times, especially when confronted by the duly elected representatives of the Nigerian people, the National Assembly in particular. Considering that the President is on oath to uphold the provisions of the Constitution while all Ministers are also sworn to follow the President as their principal in being guided by the Constitution, Keyamo's conduct in this instance fails by any standard as unbecoming of a minister and high public officer, faced with the routine matter of scrutiny over his enterprise, supposedly on behalf of the public.

For the purpose of clarification, the employment of 774,000 Nigerians is not one of Keyamo's private projects, but a public service initiative which is intended to be executed in line with the extant provisions for public service delivery. Hence his conduct before the National Assembly Committee on the matter, demonstrated a disturbing penchant of obduracy by an individual, who is inclined to inject his personal idiosyncrasies into a purely public matter. This is why his conduct must be seen as most reprehensible, by any well thinking Nigerian.

Meanwhile, as distasteful as the development was, it draws attention to at least two unfortunate features of Nigeria's jaundiced democracy, which if not addressed now, may spawn untoward developments sooner than later. That is putting it mildly. In one vein is that Keyamo's grandstanding before the National Assembly constitutes just one more episode of a long running show featuring serial and deep-seated denigration of the institution and its processes by several agents of the executive arm. Almost on a daily basis Nigerians are confronted with one tale or the other of glaring instances of miscarriage of government business in which appointees of the executive arm routinely malign and snub the National Assembly, in order to deny it its statutory responsibility of oversighting the conduct of government business in which they have vested interest. Meanwhile, the institution fails to respond accordingly, even if it is to restore its own integrity. Secondly, since the return of democracy in Nigeria over 20 years ago in 1999, the National Assembly as the apex agency in the country's legislative establishment, is yet to drive a uniform regime of legislative culture and practice across the various tiers of governance. Hence the country's legislative establishment remains largely comatose with the state assemblies running as mere rubber stamp facilities to state governors for approving budgets and appointees in government, while the local government legislative chambers hardly see room to even express themselves. The inevitable result is the current state of drift in which the Nigerian democracy project has found itself, with just anybody directing scum and scorn at the institution.

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As for the Keyamo affair, in saner environments his proclivities should have been visited by his outright sack by the President, or at least extracting a written apology to the National Assembly by him, to atone for the outrage, while the project should be handled directly by his superior minister until he purges himself of the odium of self-conceitedness in public office. However if such does not happen in his case, it should also not be surprising. After all this is Nigeria with several precedents on his matter.

The foregoing notwithstanding, the onus still lies on the National Assembly to be inspired by the Keyamo affair, and work towards redeeming its fast waning integrity as well as growing public misgivings over its relevance. It was established to serve as the eyes, ears and voice of the Nigerian public. However, many Nigerians are daily developing disappointment over its performance in that regard, and this is significant. Hence, just as the Holy Bible warns of how salt which has lost its taste is discarded and trodden under the foot, the Keyamo affair should serve as a lesson to the Ninth National Assembly, to do the needful, and promptly too.
opinion

The African Development Bank (AfDB) whose Nigerian chief executive, Dr Akin Adesina, has been at the centre of an on-going controversy over ethical issues has received a rating of AAA/A-1+ in the latest assessment report on the bank released on June 19, 2020 by Standard and Poor(S&P) the highly reputable international financial rating agency. In layman terms this is equivalent to a score of excellent or distinction. The report proceeds to say that with this rating, the outlook for the bank is strong, stable and reliable.

As a private agency which places high score on reputation, S&P could not have been coerced or unduly influenced to arrive at this verdict. Indeed against the background of the on-going hiatus involving the bank's Nigerian chief executive, the rating agency will be expected to go over the bank's operations with a more than normal diligence. But for S&P to return such a clean bill of operational health is a clear testimony that the controversies swirling around Dr Adesina had to do with issues other than his competence and performance as the bank's chief executive.

In a little over a month in August, the bank's board of directors would be expected to renew Adesina's appointment for another five year term being the sole candidate for the position. But some very influential shareholders of the bank, notably the United States of America, France, and some Nordic countries are balking at Adesina's reappointment. The Americans have rallied the naysayers to insist that Dr Adesina step aside for a probe by an independent investigator into some 16 allegations of misconduct levelled against Dr Adesina by whistle-blowers within the bank. The governance and ethics committee headed by a Japanese director of the bank had thoroughly investigated the allegations and absolved Adesina of any wrongdoing. And the Bank's Board of Directors had also endorsed the findings of the ethics committee giving Dr Adesina the all clear. But the Americans and their allies would have none of it.

If both the ethics committee and board of Directors of the bank have not found anything untoward in the allegations against Dr Adesina and if reputable rating agencies like S&P have through a rigorous assessment returned a credit rating of excellent in favour of the bank, nobody need be told that the Americans have reasons other than ethical management of the bank for their posture.

Indeed with the coming of the Trump administration, America has been behaving like a bull in a China shop internationally (no pun intended) tearing off agreements the country had entered into, threatening multilateral agencies and alliances like NATO, United Nations, and the European Union. In the wake of the Covid-19 global pandemic, the Americans had demanded that the Ethiopian Director General of the World Health resign and threatened to withdraw their financial contribution to the institution if he did not.

Independent observers attribute this behaviour to the deep unease and misgivings Americans have on the on-going shifts in world geopolitics in which American dominance is being challenged by aggressive new powers like China. In step with this development, nowadays the Americans see the hand of the Chinese in every international/multilateral institution whose chief executive or board of Directors try to steer an independent course. It is therefore not surprising that just as the Americans had accused the WHO Director General of pandering to Chinese interests on the Covid-19 and hence asking for his resignation and the subsequent threat to withdraw their contribution, the same is also implied in the case of Dr Adesina in the AfDB.

In this regard it is highly commendable that the African bloc shareholders have risen in stout defence of Dr Adesina and the bank. It is also praiseworthy that president Buhari as the leader of Nigeria which is the largest single shareholder in the bank and the country which Dr Adesina hails from has expectedly supported him to the hilt. Nigeria has rallied a coalition of critical African and Asian stakeholders of the bank in support of Dr Adesina reappointment bid in August. It greatly helps that president Buhari's chief of staff, professor Ibrahim Gambari is himself a man with the necessary diplomatic credentials to follow through this task.

It is just as well because it is the Africans who more than anybody else can really testify to the worth of Dr Adesina and the difference he has been making at the AfDB. Under Dr Adesina's watch the bank's capital base has increased exponentially from some 100 billion to 208 billion US dollars. This means more funds available to undertake those interventions in support of the critical sectors of African development like agriculture, entrepreneurship, small and medium business and infrastructure.

Dr Adesina has also been driving robustly, the AfDB's "high five" mission thrust on African development; lighting up and powering Africa, feeding Africa, industrializing Africa, integrating Africa through infrastructural projects and developing and raising the quality of life in Africa.

By the reckoning of the Americans, this ambitious independent initiative of the AfDB uncannily resembles "Belt and Road" project with which China hopes to worm its way into the world. The fact that Dr Adesina is aggressively pursuing this initiative at this point in time is enough for the paranoid and petulant Americans to want to put a spanner in the works. And the fact too that the Chinese are stealthily but steadily pushing into Africa is predictably making the Americans go hot under the collar. Under the circumstances if the Africans cave in to the demand of the Americans, the so called outside investigator will almost certainly work to the American answer.

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However in what can be seen as a victory for the steadfastness of the African bloc on the issue of Dr Adesina, the AfDB's board of Directors have spurned the demand by the Americans for an outside probe and instead on June 5, 2020 appointed a panel of three eminent but neutral international figures to review the process which exonerated Dr Adesina and recommend remedial measures if needed in the future. This is in tandem with Nigeria and Africa's position on the issue. This panel is headed by the respected Mary Robinson, human rights lawyer and former Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland.

This development goes to show that in the emerging world African countries can only remain relevant if they steadfastly and collectively defend their interests.
Cadres of RPF-Inkotanyi in Gatsibo District are set to inaugurate offices in the city of Kabarore as part of events lined up to celebrate the 26th anniversary of the liberation struggle.

The building, worth more than Rwf130 million, was a contribution from the cadres.

Emmanuel Munyaburanga, a 67-year-old cadre from Rwimbogo Sector, said every cadre contributed depending on their capacity, and the achievement shows that they are proud to be part of the transformative era of the country under RPF-Inkotanyi.

Munyaburanga is now a mosle farmer in Rwimbogo Sector, and he attributes his accomplishments to the leadership of RPF and President Paul Kagame, "who loves Africans in general and Rwandans in particular."

He grows maize on 12 hectares and banana on three hectares. He also has modern breed cattle in a 25-hectare farm.

Gatsibo District Mayor Richard Gasana, who is also RPF chairperson in the district, said that they celebrate 26 years of Rwanda's liberation by liberating themselves from renting.

"RPF-Inkotanyi is not just people, it is actions," he noted.

Gasana said the building will be inaugurated on July 11.
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 don't have a shop, I was able to pay my daughter's 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.

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 husband's 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 don't 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."

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.

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.

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, we've 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.

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"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. Let's take care of the institution problem. If we have functional agencies and laws in place, there won't 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: "There's 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.

"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 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 Akeredolu's deputy, Agboola Ajayi, left the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Ajayi has recently been screened to contest for the PDP's primary. On Sunday, he asked Mr Akeredolu to hand over to him having tested positive for coronavirus.

Mr Akeredolu is yet to react to the resignation of the SSG.

The Ondo governorship election is scheduled to hold in October.
After more than three months of closure during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, Egyptian archaeological exhibitions abroad have resumed, and visitors to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the US can now enjoy some of the most astonishing underwater discoveries of all time for the next six months in the Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Sunken Cities exhibition that has been touring major cities.



This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see treasures recovered from two powerful ancient Egyptian cities that sank into the Mediterranean more than 1,000 years ago. Destroyed by natural catastrophes in the eighth century CE, Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus were once mighty centres of trade where Egyptian and Greek cultures merged in art, worship, and everyday life.



In the centuries since their demise, these two cities were known only by scattered mentions in ancient writings. No physical trace of their splendour and magnificence was found, and even their true names grew obscure. But today maritime archaeologist Franck Goddio and his European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) have given new life to these sunken cities. Presenting nearly 300 objects from IEASMs discoveries from the Mediterranean waters of Abu Qir Bay off Alexandria and some of Egypts most important museums, the exhibition allows visitors to reconnect with these once-lost cities.



Goddio, the leader of the underwater archaeological missions that recovered the artefacts, said that the IEASMs underwater excavations had fundamentally changed our understanding of the cultures, faiths, and history of Egypts Mediterranean region. The exhibition features a staggering array of objects from these excavations, supplemented by treasures from museums across Egypt. The objects on view piece together the economic and cultural significance of these destroyed cities and showcase the artistry, religious practices, and traditions of their people.



Thonis-Heracleion was once Egypts premiere centre for trade with the Greek world, while the nearby city of Canopus drew pilgrims from across the Mediterranean, particularly for rites dedicated to the god Osiris. Artefacts from these cities attest to the range of human experience in this ancient land, and visitors can gain insight into Egypts powerful Ptolemaic kingdom, the Graeco-Egyptian blending of cultures, and the god Osiris, who figured prominently in everyday life.



The Virginia exhibition is the last stop before the objects return to Egypt, and the works of art on display include everything from jewellery and coins to utilitarian and ritual objects and from coffins and steles to the colossal statue of the fertility god Hapy, the largest discovered representation of an Egyptian god. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience first-hand the material culture of Ptolemaic Egypt, a golden age of human creativity in science as well as the visual and literary arts. Film footage and photographs illustrate underwater expeditions and dramatic rediscoveries, as deep-sea divers solve a 1,000-year-old mystery through archaeological research and innovation.



According to Mustafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) in Egypt, the Virginia Museum is permitting only 35 visitors every 15 minutes in order to implement physical distancing between people in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. It has taken all necessary precautionary measures to maintain the hygiene and safety of visitors, and visiting hours have been extended from 9am to 10pm in order to prevent crowding.



Waziri said that the exhibition displays 293 objects excavated from beneath the Mediterranean. Enormous care had been taken in recreating the Alexandrian theme, he said, and the different galleries of the exhibition had been designed to resemble the sunken cities in Abu Qir Bay, with all the galleries painted light blue and dark sandy-red to reflect the colours of the sea and sand.



Giant plasma screens showed films documenting the progress of marine archaeologists as they uncovered the mysteries of Alexandrias ancient Eastern Harbour within the display. A prologue and an epilogue provided information about the underwater missions of the IEASM that discovered the treasures and the natural disasters that had led to the submergence of the area more than 1,000 years ago, he added.



The block-busting nature of the show has been underlined in a US city that already boasts one of the worlds finest collections of Egyptian antiquities. The exhibition of these Egyptian treasures is one of the cultural highlights of the year, Goddio earlier commented, adding that the exhibition was an ideal opportunity to encourage people to visit Egypt and to explore its art and culture.



He said that the design of the exhibition in Virginia was different from earlier outings in Paris and London and the United States. It had a different sonography focusing more on museological techniques and history than on a spectacular ambience, he said.



It is divided thematically, and among the objects on show are three giant pink granite colossi featuring the Nile god Hapi, a statue of a Ptolemaic king, and an unidentified Egyptian queen dressed as Isis.



There is a customs stelae from Heracleion with inscriptions in hieroglyphics and Greek, a black granite sphinx representing king Ptolemy XII, father of the more famous Cleopatra, a head of Serapis, and the Naos of the Decades, a black granite shrine covered with figures and hieroglyphic texts relating to the ancient calendar.



Pots and pans, knives and forks, and bottles and plates are exhibited alongside navigational instruments, cannons, swords and guns from the French general Napoleons fleet, sunk by the British admiral Nelson during the Battle of Abu Qir off Alexandria in 1798. Golden rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets are also displayed.



A bronze statuette of a Pharaoh discovered in the temple of Amun-Gereb in Thonis-Heracleion is an undoubted masterpiece. It depicts a Pharaoh in a striding, confident pose wearing the blue crown and royal headdress of ancient Egypt.



His belt buckle is roughly inscribed with the Pharaohs name. It is difficult to read, but it suggests that the statuette was probably an already ancient object when it was placed in the temple of Amun-Gereb as a symbol of dynastic continuity, an exhibition curator told the Weekly.



Amun-Gereb was revered as the god who granted the pharaohs the sacred right to rule, and masterpieces from several Egyptian museums, such as the Apis bull from the Serapeum in Alexandria, are also on show in the exhibition alongside magnificent recent finds from the sea.



One such piece is a stunning sculpture from Canopus representing the eldest daughter of Ptolemy I, the founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, Arsinoe II. This Graeco-Macedonian queen became a goddess beloved of both the ancient Egyptians and the Greeks after her death, and she is depicted in the statue as the embodiment of Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of beauty.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Relations between the US and China have crashed of late, turning from a trade fight and then a war of words over the origins of the Covid-19 to a more important investigation of individual companies and the global economy. Relations between the two countries have been strained since 2018, and things could get uglier as other countries get hauled into the conflict.



According to Mustafa Metwali, an IT project manager at Summit Technology Solutions, there is now a race between the US and China to dominate the new 5G communications technology, part of a race for web predominance among countries contending as suppliers.



Its thought our future will depend on the protection of technological supremacy, Metwali said. This is at the centre of the dispute between the US and China over industrial espionage and trade.



The battle is over who will manufacture and lead the coming age of web and media communications innovation called 5G. It has also been bogged down in conspiracy theories related to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.



According to journalist Alexander Morgan writing in Euronews, one Western conspiracy theorist, UK national Barrie Trower, has even speculated that 5G is to blame for the rapid spread of Covid-19. Trower believes that 5G degrades the immune system and that the dangers are being covered up by powerful forces in the global telecommunications industry, he said.



The theory started to spread through Internet influencers and public figures with significant followings, who began sharing it with the public. It has been scientifically proven that Covid-19 is caused by a virus transmitted by respiratory droplets and cannot be transmitted via radio waves.



There is no evidence that 5G is harmful to humans, and it is simply the next generation of wireless network technology, following on from the other four generations that preceded it. Diaa Al-Maraghi, networks planning manager at Telecom Egypt (TE), explained, saying that 1G was the technology that empowered us to make remote calls; 2G brought messaging abilities; 3G brought web browsing to the masses; 4G made remote video a reality and through its association with GPS empowered services like Uber.



We are presently living in a 4G world, yet progress to 5G is beginning, and it will accelerate over the next couple of years. 5G will be different from previous upgrades, however. For one thing, information will move around much quicker. It is also about machine-to-machine connections. Thinks about billions of machines, or the Internet of Things. This means that everything from washing machines to self-driving vehicles can be connected on 5G.



Metwali connected todays digital transformations with the importance of 5G, adding that digital systems and the economy all depend in one way or another on the availability of a reliable network infrastructure for mobile devices. This is the link between the coming 5G networks and the growth of one of the most promising future technologies, namely the Internet of Things.



According to Al-Maraghi, 5G technology is the future of worldwide broadcast communications, offering more data transmission than anybody can imagine at the moment. For example, telesurgery using a 4G connection is much slower, expanding the danger of mix-ups, but it can be safely practiced with 5G.



But the rollout of 5G requires millions of dollars to install the fibre-optic systems required for high-data networks and millions more to work them. Moreover, companies and countries that plan and put resources into this new technology will have a major stake in how 5G transmits data and how others are to access the system.



If its China that controls the technology, the outcome could be terrible for the American and European companies that used to dominate broadcast communications, and it will mean a new future controlled by Chinese companies.







CHINA AND 5G: Something along these lines was said in a speech at the Hudson Institute, a thinktank, in Washington in October 2018, when US Vice President Mike Pence said that through its Made in China 2025 plan, the Chinese Communist Party has set its sights on controlling 90 per cent of the worlds most advanced industries, including robotics, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence.



To win the commanding heights of the 21st-century economy, Beijing has directed its bureaucrats and businesses to obtaining American intellectual property, the foundation of our economic leadership, by any means necessary.



For Al-Maraghi, China is already dominating the technology, as it has the largest number of patents in 5G technology. 5G depends on fibre-optic systems that are pricey to install and require infrastructure investments of billions of dollars. China is offering to construct and install those networks at low costs, with specialists keen to help those buying them from China.



However, Mathias Johansson, head of Ericsson Egypt and Saudi Arabia, a Swedish communications technology company, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Ericsson was ready for the race as a technology leader in 5G. Pioneering customers select us as their 5G partner, and we were first with commercial live networks in four continents. This includes multiple service providers in the United States, South Korea, and Europe, as well as in Australia and the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. We have more than 90 commercial 5G agreements or contracts with unique service providers, of which 40 are live networks.



In the biggest 5G market, South Korea, which had reached 4.5 million subscribers by the end of 2019, our mid-band 5G delivers better coverage, 100 per cent better uplink speeds, and five per cent better download speeds than the second-best competitor when measured in the same city, he said.



Meanwhile, the Trump administration in the US has attacked the Chinese company Huawei for what it claims has been Huaweis attempts to grab market share in 5G. The dispute broke into full public view in December 2018 when Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis CFO and daughter of its founder, was arrested in Canada at the command of the US government on allegations of fraud. US federal prosecutors have also accused Huawei of stealing competitive innovations from US company T-Mobile.



The dispute between Huawei and Washington is happening against the background of the strengthening of worldwide rivalries amid a tariff war between the United States and China.



According to John Calabrese, a researcher at the US Middle East Institute, a thinktank in Washington DC, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle for well over a decade and the Trump administration since coming to office have sought to keep Huawei out of the American market. He added that US officials have stressed that the Chinese Communist Party could utilise Huawei as a weapon to control innovation and as an intermediary for Chinese state security.



Huawei, ZTE, and challengers such as Nokia, Ericsson, Cisco, and Samsung together accounted for 80 per cent of worldwide service equipment provider market revenue in 2018, Calabrese said. A report in his article said that China holds a narrow lead in the global race to 5G, and that out of the four companies dominating the global market for 5G networks, China is dominating with the companies Huawei and ZTE, the others being European or American.



But US concerns stem not just from the quick increase made by Chinese companies in their quest for market dominance of 5G, but also from some of the strategies they have used to accomplish it.



The Trump administration, citing US national security, has mounted a hostile campaign against Huawei. US officials have campaigned with other countries worldwide to reject Huawei 5G technology and slow the companys move into other markets. Strains between US officials and Huawei heightened in May, when talks between Washington and Beijing were abandoned.



On 15 May US President Donald Trump banned US firms from buying or utilising Huawei telecoms gear. The US Commerce Departments Bureau of Industry and Security included Huawei and 68 of the companys non-US partners on a list that forces those wanting to dealt with them to register contracts and movements.







LESSONS FROM HISTORY: One former Japanese prime minister has urged China to build on his countrys experience to make the US-China trade war into an opportunity to transform Chinas economy and society.



According to Yasuo Fukuda, speaking in 2019, the ongoing trade war between China and the US is different from the one between the US and Japan in the 1980s, but the two trade wars do have a lot in common.



First, both involve the worlds largest and second-largest economies; second, China is the country with the largest trade surplus with the US, and this spot was held by Japan during the 1980s; third, China is highly dependent on the US market, and so was Japan. The US approach and the intensity of the trade wars are also more or less the same.



It might be useful for China to see how Japan responded to the US during its trade war in the 1980s, he said.



After US president Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, the United States began constraining Japan to open its market to American companies and reduce the trade imbalance between the two nations. While Japan consented to measures on the number of vehicles it sent to the United States, alarm over Japanese trade still developed, and legislators on both sides acted.



In endorsing a bill calling for US trade retaliation against Japan, Robert Packwood, at that point Republican Party leader of the US Senates finance committee, vowed to give Tokyo an eye for an eye... that is all they understand. During a 1985 finance committee hearing, Democratic senator Max Baucus said that Reagan predicted a future in which commerce will be king, the eagle will soar, and America will be the mightiest trading nation on Earth. Well, commerce may be king. And eagles may be soaring. But theyre not American eagles. Americas trade performance has never been worse.



That year, five nations, including the United States, West Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan, signed the Plaza Accord, devaluing the US dollar against the Japanese yen and the German Deutsche Mark. This prompted an expansion in US exports and a lowering of its trade deficit with numerous European nations.



However, the Plaza Accord was not the end of US activity against Japan. In 1987, Washington put heavy duties on $300 million worth of Japanese imports, successfully blocking them from the American market. As the yens value increased, Japanese products started to be increasingly costly. Endeavours by Japans central bank to keep the yen low started an asset bubble, the breakdown of which helped drive the nation into a downturn and subsequently a lost decade.



Japans export and GDP growth essentially halted in the first half of 1986, market analysts Joshua Felman and Daniel Leigh wrote in a report for the International Monetary Fund. They inferred that while the Plaza Accord did not cause Japans financial downturn, it did trigger problems.



The US could take a similarly forceful approach in forcing Beijing to bend to its demands. According to journalist Arthur Herman writing in the US magazine Forbes, the situation now is that a number of nations are turning to the Chinese version of 5G while the US fails to act. One telecom operator in some 48 nations has an agreement or is reportedly testing gear made by Huawei, which has allegedly had strong ties to Chinas military and intelligence services.



Ten nations have declared arrangements to begin using Huawei gear in their 5G systems, including the UK, Portugal, Italy, Mexico, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia. Only the US and Australia have an outright ban on using Huawei. Canada has not joined the boycott.



The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has not yet reached the same market penetration, but between now and 2025 the MENA region is probably going to see the quickest development of any region aside from Sub-Saharan Africa for mobile broadband use and smartphone adoption, reaching the level in Gulf markets.



In the latter, there is a clear perception that technologies like 5G can catalyse a digital transformation, support their respective national development visions/agendas, and significantly boost GDP. In the meantime, Gulf telecoms administrators have kept on building the framework required for the early adoption of 5G. The company Ooredoo has introduced more than 85 5G network towers in and around Doha in Qatar. Saudi Arabia has more than 1,000 towers equipped for supporting 5G, and the UAE has its sights set on arriving at that achievement by the end of 2020.



Ziad Abdel-Tawab, former head of information at the governments decision support centre in Cairo, declared that Egypt started to introduce 4G services in mid-2017, so its still early to move completely to 5G technology, at least in the very near future.



Firstly, the cost of the infrastructure will take a lot of investment by the government and mobile network operators. Secondly, the area of the country makes it more convenient to start in phases and in certain projects such as in the smart cities. Thirdly, we need to take into account the key aspects of digital transformation and plan the 5G network cost-effectively with a focus on enhancing customer experience and maximising returns on investment. These things need to be revised both after the coronavirus period and after studying the early implementations in Europe and the US.



For Al-Maraghi, we have already taken steps towards the strategy of Digital Egypt. The first stage in the pilot digitisation project in Port Said was launched in mid-2019, for example.



The trade war between China and the US has made the idea of expanding 5G in the US costly, and the procedures against Huawei have slowed developments more. The main reason is the US fear of security threats from China, with the US expressing fears about Huaweis capability to be used as a covert agent of the Chinese government.



The US is putting pressure on its allies and its own telecom companies to come up with a better plan for building 5G. China is waiting for time to run out on the Trump administration, with Trump due to run for re-election later this year.



However, waiting for Trump to go, if he does, will not in itself be the solution to Chinas leadership of 5G. Though the current conflict looks in part politically motivated, there is a real conflict of economic interests between China and the United States.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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